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Blog

Below are a few of the latest posts in my blog. You can see a full list by year to the left.

Fundamentals: What is Cloud-Optimized Scientific Data?

The article I wish I could have read back when I first heard of Zarr in 2018. Explains how object storage and conventional filesystems are different, and the key properties that make Zarr work so well in cloud object storage.

Date: April 17, 2025 | Author: Tom Nicholas | Tags: cloud, zarr, netcdf, earthmover, open-science
Science needs a social network for sharing big data

Imagine being able to visit one website, search for any scientific dataset from any institution in the world, preview it, then stream the data out at high speed, in the format you prefer. We have the technology - here's what we should build.

Date: January 18, 2025 | Author: Tom Nicholas | Tags: open-science, frost
Xarray x NASA: xarray.DataTree for hierarchical data structures

How xarray's new DataTree feature came about, and thoughts on how public agencies can support the open-source scientific software that they depend on.

Date: December 19, 2024 | Author: Tom Nicholas | Tags: code, python, xarray, open-science
Cubed: Bounded-memory serverless array processing in xarray

Cubed was designed to address the main problems with Dask, so I integrated it with Xarray.

Date: June 01, 2023 | Author: Tom Nicholas | Tags: code, python, xarray, dask, cubed, open-science
Dask.distributed and Pangeo: Better performance for everyone thanks to science / software collaboration

Dask's distributed scheduler algorithm got a major fix after we tested its' limits on a huge oceanography analysis problem.

Date: January 04, 2023 | Author: Tom Nicholas | Tags: code, python, dask, open-science
Unit-aware arithmetic in Xarray, via pint

All scientific computations involve units, so let's make our analysis software aware of them.

Date: August 30, 2022 | Author: Tom Nicholas | Tags: code, python, xarray, pint, open-science, physical-units
Easy IPCC part 1: Multi-Model Datatree

Analysing CMPI6 data as a motivation for xarray DataTree.

Date: August 29, 2022 | Author: Tom Nicholas | Tags: code, python, xarray, open-science, climate-science, datatree
The faulty science, doomism, and flawed conclusions of Deep Adaptation

Calling out pseudoscience claiming that societal collapse due to climate change is inevitable.

Date: July 14, 2020 | Author: Tom Nicholas | Tags: climate-science, misinformation
Oxford University Divestment Explained

Thought's on Oxford University's fossil fuel divestment motion.

Date: April 22, 2020 | Author: Tom Nicholas | Tags: climate, oxford
Coronavirus: The Simplest Model

Solving the simplest possible epidemiological model of the spread of COVID-19.

Date: March 20, 2020 | Author: Tom Nicholas | Tags: code, python, modelling, covid-19
Nuclear Fusion: too late for the climate

Don't let politicians use funding for nuclear fusion research as greenwashing.

Date: September 30, 2019 | Author: Tom Nicholas | Tags: fusion, energy, climate