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AI for good

An illustration of an urban heat island.

NASA/JPL-Caltech

Jasna Budhathoki and Jenish Budhathoki, a sister-brother team, have completed an award-winning AI / machine learning project that promises to save lives. The Heat-Sccape: Mapping Urban Heat from Space project uses satellite imagery to measure land surface temperatures at the neighborhood level and identify urban areas most vulnerable to extreme heat. It combines physics-based modeling with machine learning.

The need

There are up to 12,000 heat-related deaths each year in the U.S. alone. In most counties communities of color experience significantly higher surface temperatures than white, wealthier neighborhoods. Those areas can be up to 7 ℉ warmer.

Heat-Sccape uses high-resolution land surface temperature (LST) maps to identify the hottest neighborhoods. Those are overlaid with income and demographic data. This enables directing cooling resources to areas with the greatest need. Those resources could include urban greening, cool roofs, or hydration stations.

In terms of climate resilience, the project can track surface temperature trends, measure whether mitigation investments are working, and forecast heat risk. Results can be available within minutes of satellite overpass, leading to alerts when
heat thresholds are exceeded, with risk summaries downlinked directly to city systems.

See more about the project including technical details.

Work on the project (from Jenish)

In the qualifying round, we used a neural network to process satellite images and mark every pixel that was a building or paved surface. We trained the network on 27,000 labeled images, letting it guess, measure how wrong it was, and adjust itself millions of times.

Our final round task was to turn a satellite’s raw heat readings into ground temperatures, accurate to about a degree. There were two main issues we encountered for this task: first, the heat signal has to cross the whole atmosphere to reach the satellite, and water vapour absorbs some of it in transit, so every surface reads colder than it really is. And second, materials differ in how efficiently they emit heat. A metal roof and a patch of grass at exactly the same temperature send out different amounts of infrared, so the satellite reads them as different temperatures when they are not. We corrected the first using the fact that water vapour interferes unevenly across wavelengths, so the difference between two detectors reveals how much interference there was, and the second by looking up NASA’s measured emissivity at each exact coordinate. Because we only had 574 labelled examples which is not enough for a large model, we used physics for retrieval and used a small machine learning model to remove the leftover error. That finished ninth internationally with a bronze medal.

Bronze award

The team won a Bronze Medal at the AI and Space Computing Challenge 2026, a global competition held under the United Nations’ “AI for Good” initiative, placing seventh worldwide in the “Space Intelligence for Resilient Cities” track. Jenish led the team through both rounds, from the initial proposal to the final submission,

From a MyRepublica article:

“I had already spent a lot of time working with climate data at Duke, so when I came across this challenge, I knew exactly what kind of problem I wanted to solve,” Jenish said. “Leading a team was intimidating at first, but once we had a clear plan, it became more about doing the work. I learned as much from this project as I have from any class.”

Jasna said the project involved “a lot of late nights” alongside her work but was especially rewarding because she got to build something with her brother and watch him lead the project.

The team completed the project, shortly after Jenish graduated from high school and before starting college at Macalester. During his gap year, he gained research experience working with climate datasets at Duke University. Jasna developed the machine-learning model used to refine the team’s temperature predictions. She is a software development engineer at Amazon with a recent MA in data science from Columbia University.

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Transforming education in Nepal

From the Collaborative Schools Network:

[CSN] transforms the quality of education in Nepal’s public schools in partnership with local government. We achieve this by directly managing some schools and through providing curriculum materials and coaching to scores of other schools across the country. This film showcases what we have achieved in 2025-26 and the values that drive us. We would like to express our gratitude to our teachers, staff members, local government partners and donors who help us to put students first.

See the 2025-26 impact report here: https://youtu.be/Jbwb0XHPYSQ?si=KhF2jCC-5kol6x2q

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Attean Lake

The prettiest lake in Maine? Maybe. I’m not sure.

The competition includes Sebago, Moosehead, Kezar, Jordan, Mooselookmeguntic, and many more of Maine’s 6,000 lakes. Just to enter the contest you’re required to have crystal-clear waters, a ring of mountains, too many islands to count, sandy beaches, huge, lichen-covered boulders, hidden coves, steep, rocky cliffs, herons, loons, moose and bears. Gorgeous sunsets and sunrises are a given.

Getting there

A history filled with people such as Joseph Attean, a great Penobscot leader, and incidentally, Thoreau’s guide, or the World War II POW camp near Jackman helps.

Judges of lake beauty are required to consider views from each of the 360 degrees as they turn their gaze around. By those criteria, Attean Pond, known to locals as Attean Lake, is one of the best. It’s medium-sized with 2,800 acres and 40 islands.

To get there you head north from Portland. If you’re relying on a car or truck, you’ll want to plan your route to take into account the Roadless Rule, which has protected forests for decades. (The US Forest Service now proposes to end that rule.)

Be sure to use Mapquest. For some idiotic reason, Apple and Google maps now have glitches, labeling Lake Ontario, for example, as Lake America.

Once you reach Solon, you’ll be on the Old Canada Road. It’s a treat itself, especially after the multilane highways and crowds of the Maine coast. Near Jackman, you turn off on a dirt road to Attean Lake.

We canoed and camped at the lake 46 years ago. Back in 2013 we took the Bow Trip, which starts and ends there, using the Moose River for most of its journey.

Attean Lake Lodge

This time we sought luxury for aged bones and decided to stay at Attean Lake Lodge. Once at the Attean Landing, we waited for a small boat to take us to the resort, where no vehicles are allowed. The lodge is run by the fourth generation of the same family, with the fifth generation of pre-teens learning how to do it.

We were offered a rustic cabin, with no electricity, no wifi, an no cell service. But the lodge provided excellent dining, with breakfasts on the veranda. That called for caps and jackets since it was often below 50 ℉. Dinners were in the lodge itself or occasionally outside with buffet in a picnic area. Bag lunches were provided for expeditions by canoe or hiking.

We saw trillium, lichen and mosses of many kinds, herons and loons.

The guests ranged in age from under one to over 90.

We had several canoe trips, excellent, moderately challenging hikes, and time to enjoy the scenery. It was a perfect case of retreating to be restored going forward.

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Devastating Flood in Nepal

A number of people who have expressed concern about the situation in Nepal or specifically about the impact on my colleagues and friends there. 

As you know there has been devastating recent flooding in China and Nepal. The impact appears greatest along the Trishuli River and the hydropower plants. There are more than 1000 dead and 4000 missing.

The Guardian has fairly good coverage of the floods in Nepal and Tibet. Unfortunately, the recent flooding may be just a harbinger of disasters to come. The Himalayan glaciers are part of what has been called Earth’s third pole. They are melting due to climate change, a process that threatens buildings, agriculture, and drinking water for nearly two billion people who live downstream.

My colleagues are located to a large part east of the flooding. As one says “The situation is truly terrible, and I fear the number of victims will continue to rise significantly. We are not operating in that region, so none of our schools or staff have been directly affected, but everyone is feeling the loss.”

The Nuwakot district has been a center for much of the destruction, but also as a site for refugees. It’s hilly there, so areas higher up are less affected. Susan and I visited there about ten years ago. We walked on one of the bridges that has been recently destroyed and stayed at Famous Farm Nuwakot, a rustic resort higher up.

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Communiversity in Nepal

I thought you might like to see a new masters program developed by my colleagues in the communiversity group at Kings College in Kathmandu.  It’s a full-throated application of community as curriculum. 

Kings College is now moving full speed ahead with its Masters in Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The basic idea has been piloted over the last few years.

Below, you can watch a short video that explains the vision here. It’s amazing to see what they’ve accomplished in such a short time and how it meshes so well with current needs in Nepal. I wish I could travel to see it in all three sites (with more on the way).

MSIE | Nepal’s first Experiential, Residential, Traveling Master’s Degree

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Freedmen and Southern Society Project

In a discussion group focused on John Dewey, we’ve been reading Eddie S. Glaude, Jr’s 2007 book, In a shade of blue: Pragmatism and the politics of Black America. It’s an excellent application of Deweyan pragmatism to the current challenges facing African Americans today.

Last week, we discussed Glaude’s chapters 3 and 4, including a section on Ira Berlin (pp. 99-105). What Glaude has to say about Berlin was fine on its own, but it seems abstract and narrowly focused on only one, albeit important, issue: forced conversion to Christianity.

Freedmen and Southern Society Project

Glaude missed a great opportunity to talk about the Freedmen and Southern Society Project (FSSP). Leslie Rowland and Ira Berlin started the FSSP in 1976.

A central aim of the project was edit a documentary history of the transition from slavery to freedom in the US South. The documents include letters, affidavits, testimony, reports, petitions, legal proceedings, and other material by slaves and former slaves, slaveholders and former slaveholders, military officers and soldiers, agents of the Freedmen’s Bureau, and other participants in the drama of emancipation. The project built a social history of emancipation during the time when four million people gained their freedom (paraphrasing text from FSSP).

Pragmatism as a tool for inquiry

In contrast to the section in Glaude’s book, the FSSP offers an amazingly comprehensive look at slavery in the US, Emancipation, Reconstruction, and the after-effects. It documents the experience through the words of slaves and ex-slaves themselves, as well as others, making a compelling case for Glaude’s theory of African-American agency in a time of unconscionable institutional oppression.

Along the way, though probably without intending to do so, FSSP demonstrates Glaude’s goal of showing the value of Deweyan pragmatism—considering the whole situation and grounding conclusions in ordinary experience.

Additional reading

Note that four volumes for general readers and classroom use have also been published by the Project:

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After the storm

Wellfleet experienced a devastating storm in February this year. We’re still coping with the aftermath, including fallen trees everywhere.

You can see a sample of the destruction below. We saw these on a walk near Slough Pond to the house of Marcel Breuer, which was recently restored by the Cape Cod Modern House Trust. The house itself came through unscathed.

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America Last: The destruction of our country

The buffoon pretending to lead our Nation adopted “America First” as a slogan for his foreign policy.

A focus on nationalism and economic protectionism?

“America First” emphasizes the current focus on nationalism and economic protectionism. It also draws on a long history, including that of the nativist American Party, Woodrow Wilson’s attempt during WWI to define the loyalty of immigrant communities, Warren G. Harding’s focus on isolationism and protectionism, and the isolationism promoted by “America First Committee” during WWII. The Ku Klux Klan also adopted the slogan.

DJT has managed to retain all of the negative aspects of “America First.” He has destroyed foreign alliances and instigated wars in ways that hurt, not help, the US. He’s taken away health care and labor rights; he’s attacked immigrants who keep the country going; he’s damaged democracy, our courts and legislatures; he’s celebrated corruption at all levels; and he’s destroyed our natural environment.

In an alternate history, one could imagine America First calling on us to address problems at home. It might suggest acting so as to benefit the US over other countries, in a selfish, but at least understandable way. That is not what’s happening.

Mining in the BWCA

The Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) wilderness in northern Minnesota is an international treasure whose value cannot be measured in conventional economic terms. It’s part of a huge wilderness area spanning Canada and the US. There are thousands of lakes and streams, Indian pictographs, diverse species of plants and animals, dark skies with views of the Milky Way and the Aurora Borealis. Nevertheless, it’s worth noting that it supports 17,000 jobs and over $1Bin economic activity each year.

The US Senate, with DJT’s support, passed House Joint Resolution 140 this week. The vote permits mining near and upstream of the BWCA. The end of the ban opens the door for Twin Metals Minnesota, a Chilean mining operator, to move forward with a long-planned copper-nickel sulfide project near Birch Lake, within the watershed of the Boundary Waters. The copper mined there will most likely be sold to China. Wikipedia has a good summary of the issues around the plans to build the mine.

America Last

Less than a year ago, I posted (Permanent destruction of a precious wilderness) about this possibility. If there were any positive meaning to “America First” it would be that we should seek to preserve precious wilderness rather than sell it off to DJT’s billionaire buddy, Jean-Paul Luksic Fontbona, chairman of Antofagasta PLC.

The values, needs, and opinions of ordinary Americans no longer seem to matter. While maintaining all of the noxious aspects of America First, DJT has managed to turn it on its head, effectively implementing America Last.

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Democratic Education: Finding Hope in Challenging Times

My latest book has just been published. It’s Democratic Education: Finding Hope in Challenging Times.

Here’a an excerpt:

This book opens with a quote from John Dewey’s 1938 essay, “Democracy and Education in the World of Today.” In that essay, Dewey calls on us to educate “the youth of the country in freedom for participation in a free society.” He points out that the “anti-democratic states of Europe … take seriously the formation of the thoughts and minds and characters of their population for their aims and ideals.” The same could be said of anti-democratic forces within the United States today. They take seriously, and act, by taking over school boards, regimenting curricula, banning books from school libraries, and even working to fire individual teachers. They operate at multiple levels, from the individual classroom to national test services and educational publishers.

The political action occurs through multiple forms of schooling as well. The charter school movement began as a better way to meet the needs of low-income and minority students, specifically as an alternative to troubled urban schools. It is becoming essentially a mechanism to provide public funding for private schools, often representing residential segregation by class and race. Private and religious schools, which often promote only limited democracy, are flourishing, promoting ideologies that may afford little opportunity for democratic education. The concerted effort to promote anti-democratic ideology also occurs through the public schools, which have become a political battleground as different sides vie to select or control superintendents, curriculum developers, and local curricula. It occurs through informal education, such as 4-H, scouts, museums, and libraries. And, it occurs through colleges and universities, which increasingly are under fire for their programs and how they deal with freedom of speech.

All too often, advocates of democracy fail to, as Dewey advocates, “take as seriously the preparation of the members of our society for the duties and responsibilities of democracy.” Their focus is on national or state politics, not the painstaking work of local democracy. Even at the national level, education seems less urgent than many other issues. But urgency is not the same as importance. As parents know, young people move ever so rapidly into adulthood, with jobs, families, and civic engagement, including voting. Moreover, in the long run, democracy can only be maintained by the young, not by laws, rules, regulations, amendments, hard-fought court appointments, Presidents, or other mechanisms. If we want to keep democracy we must keep democratic education.

In a landmark legal case, a precursor to Watergate, Judge Damon Keith ruled that the Government could not wiretap U.S. citizens without a warrant. He famously wrote, “Democracies die behind closed doors.” In just five words, Keith captured an essential aspect of democratic education: A democracy requires that citizens not be kept in the dark. Education can illuminate that space. The Washington Post adapted Keith’s saying for its motto: “Democracy dies in darkness.”

Democracy is the means to practice intelligent moral inquiry together, bringing light, and seeking solutions to common problems. It enables democratic education while requiring democratic education as its foundation. That education is training for communal life, a democratic way of living. It enables democracy while being dependent upon it. Thus, democracy and democratic education reinforce and shape one another; they are mutually constituted. Even in the darkest times, we can work to make them stronger.

Learning is fundamental to our humanity. It occurs beyond the formal classroom—in the workplace, in the home, online, in libraries and museums. It is essential to our enterprises, whether political, social, or intellectual. There is no reasonable way to separate discussion of democracy from education. We need critical, focused, and compassionate understanding of education, not quibbles about mechanical procedures. That highlights the importance of democratic ed-u cation, especially education with democracy, in which students learn democracy through their work on democratic practice.

Announcements, Reviews

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Storm visions

It’s difficult to capture the feel of the Blizzards of 2026 in a few photos.

There are now hundreds of trucks here, many brought in from other states. There are trucks to plow snow, to restore cable (=internet) service, to repair electric lines. All of the local motels are fully booked with workers, coming from Western Mass, Indiana, and other far-flung places. Local oil and propane companies are stretched thin as customers call to get their heat, well water, and cooking restored.

Tree wells; this one reached dangerous proportions later on
Our driveway
A view out one window showing a rain chain and a Japanese maple covered in snow
Down the hill behind our house
Our deck, with soft snow pillows
Top of our driveway; note the street sign
Downed power, cable, and telephone lines everywhere
Suprising number of pine trees down or with lost branches