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Alex Diaz-Papkovich

@alexandr.bsky.social
742 followers 905 following 193 posts

Statistician and mathematician. Postdoc working on population genetics at the Data Science Institute at Brown University. UWaterloo, Carleton, and McGill alum. Skeets are my own. He/him. github.com/diazale

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Reposted by Alex Diaz-Papkovich
C. Brandon Ogbunu @cbo.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
In my latest for @undark.org, I compare AI adoption in science to the Ship of Theseus: "If you swap out every wooden plank on a ship over time, is it still the same vessel?" I argue that science derives authority from something more than data generation + publication. undark.org/2026/09/25/o...
undark.org
AI Presents Science with a ‘Ship of Theseus’ Problem
Opinion | AI can replace each part of the scientific process, leaving the enterprise recognizable but devoid of human judgment.
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Alex Diaz-Papkovich @alexandr.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
really neat tool! (as noted, the corrected URL is www.observingthecity.ca/intersection...)
observingthecity.ca
Toronto Intersection Counts
Every Toronto intersection the City has counted, mapped by how its traffic splits between cars, trucks, buses, people walking and people cycling.
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Reposted by Alex Diaz-Papkovich
Madeleine Bonsma-Fisher, PhD @mbonsma.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
In a massive dataset of over 10,000 cities around the world, the strongest association with distance travelled by cycling was not climate, topography, or even infrastructure - it was *gasoline prices* doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
Figure 3 from "Global health and climate benefits from walking and cycling infrastructure" by Adam Millard-Balla, Monisha Reginalda, Yasmina Yusufa, and Christopher Bian. The figure shows factors associated with distance travelled by cycling and walking, arranged in order of effect size. For cycling, the largest effects are gasoline prices, GDP per capita, rail service, steep terrain (negative effect), minimum temperature (negative effect), population density, and bicycle lanes. For walking, the largest effects are population density, gasoline prices, bicycle lanes, and maximum temp (negative effect).

Fig. 3 Caption: Factors influencing active travel. Each coefficient represents the impact of a one-SD change in each variable on the share of kilometers traveled by cycling (A) and walking (B). For each city-level variable such as density, the model estimates a separate coefficient for each country. The shaded area shows the distribution of country-level coefficients; for density, for example, the effect on walking ranges from about zero to ~0.11, excluding one outlier. For country-level variables such as gasoline prices, there is only a single coefficient. Variables are ordered by the size of their absolute effect in the median country—density and gasoline prices have the greatest impact on walking and gasoline prices and income (GDP per capita) on cycling. The minimum temperature variable shows the marginal effect of both the linear and squared terms.One might expect climate to have a major impact on active travel, and many studies highlight the impact of weather on daily and seasonal travel decisions (9, 25). However, in our model, there is a negligible association between precipitation and the mode shares of walking and cycling. Hotter temperatures decrease walking but have no effect on travel by bicycle. Colder temperatures only reduce walking and cycling in colder climates (SI Appendix for further Discussion). At the national level, gasoline price has the largest association with the share of travel by active modes. A one-SD increase in the price per liter (equivalent to US $0.40) is associated with a ~1.0 percentage point increase in walking and a ~0.5 percentage point increase in cycling—notable given that the mode share of cycling across the entire dataset is just ~0.9%. These findings echo a large volume of research that shows how vehicle travel declines in line with rising fuel prices (26). Gasoline prices also have an indirect effect in promoting denser, mixed-use development (27).
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Reposted by Alex Diaz-Papkovich
Asher Cutter @asherdcutter.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Come to @romtoronto.bsky.social and EEB in Toronto! ROM is seeking entomologist/arachnologist curator who would also be faculty in EEB at UofT royalontariomuseum.applytojob.com/apply/mdMTpA...
royalontariomuseum.applytojob.com
Curator of Insects & Arachnids - Royal Ontario Museum - Career Page
Apply to Curator of Insects & Arachnids at Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, ON, Canada.
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Alex Diaz-Papkovich @alexandr.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
had to check to make sure this wasn't the *other* front-page FT story today about crypto being used to evade sanctions to buy oil
screengrab of the art and headline from the Financial Times reading "How Poland lost $230mn trying to buy Venezuelan oil with crypto". The illustration (by Emanuel Santos) is a man falling a great distance, his face obscured by a shadow or possibly crude oil; he is surrounded by falling barrels of oil, Tether crypto coins, and oil tankers

story at: https://giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/actions/redeem/8d0c18d7-c89c-4f80-871b-d964c0a2b809
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Reposted by Alex Diaz-Papkovich
Dr Lindsay Tedds @lindsaytedds.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
The overall response rate for the 2026 Census of population reached 98.4% nationally. 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 www.canada.ca/en/statistic...
canada.ca
Statistics Canada thanks Canadians for their exceptional participation in the 2026 Census - Canada.ca
Thanks to outstanding participation across the country, the final response rate for the Canadian census is among the highest ever recorded.
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Alex Diaz-Papkovich @alexandr.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I wore this shirt to a Jimmy Eat World concert and got a compliment on it (from a fan, not from Jimmy) so if you want to be cool I recommend you buy it
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Reposted by Alex Diaz-Papkovich
Boston Review @bostonreview.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
“Mathematics only makes sense as a gift economy. It has no trade secrets. Substituting a monetizable ersatz culture for the one evolved through historical experience is a particularly insidious form of knowledge collapse.” Mathematician Michael Harris on the AI companies coming for math:
bostonreview.net
Knowledge Collapse
AI companies are racing to mechanize mathematics. Where does that leave human understanding?
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Reposted by Alex Diaz-Papkovich
Ben Martin @benjaminmartin.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Come be my colleague! Montreal is a great place to live and work! Tenure Track position at @mcgill.ca in quantitative cell biology with a research program to address fundamental questions in biology. @futurepislack.bsky.social mcgill.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/McGill_Caree...
mcgill.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com
Assistant Professor in Quantitative Cell Biology - Department of Biology
Please refer to the How to Apply for a Job (for External Candidates) job aid for instructions on how to apply. If you are an active McGill employee (ie: currently in an active contract or position at ...
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Alex Diaz-Papkovich @alexandr.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
"A 2024 city staff estimate for removing the bike lanes pegged the cost at $48 million"
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Alex Diaz-Papkovich @alexandr.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
is there a German word for when a city places signage telling cyclists/scooters not to use the sidewalk “for safety” next to an obviously unsafe road?
A notice on a Toronto sidewalk saying "DON'T RIDE ON THE SIDEWALK"The busy intersection of Queen and Roncy, with multiple lanes of traffic including large vehicles, parked vehicles along the curb, and streetcar rails. A bike lane is visible I. The distance, unfortunately it is 10 metres long and goes straight into a parked carA sign at a bus station in Waterloo, ON saying "No riding or parking on sidewalk"The intersection of University and Albert in Waterloo, ON. The intersection is very large and designed to encourage turns at high speeds.
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Reposted by Alex Diaz-Papkovich
James McLeod @jamespmcleod.ca · 19/08/2026
By tracking mentions of sovereignty in the House of Commons, and conducting linguistic analysis, we can say that there's never been another moment like this in Canadian political history. Cool analysis by my colleagues at @canadianshieldinstitute.ca. canadianshieldinstitute.ca/updates/cana...
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Reposted by Alex Diaz-Papkovich
Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
New from 404 Media: we solved which AI company is buying massive shipments of rare books, scanning and destroying them to train AI. We put an Apple AirTag in a rare book, followed it. It ended up at an Amazon facility. Its logo is a dinosaur ripping through a book www.404media.co/we-tracked-a...
404media.co
We Tracked a Shipment of Rare Books. It Ended at an Amazon AI Training Facility
We placed a tracking device in a shipment of rare books to see which AI company was buying it, and found an Amazon facility where Amazon scans and destroys books.
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Reposted by Alex Diaz-Papkovich
Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Bloor Street is the spine of the bike network in Toronto. Ripping it out would be like removing Saint-Denis in Montreal.
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Reposted by Alex Diaz-Papkovich
Saloni @scientificdiscovery.dev · 11/08/2026
BIG NEW piece by me. A few years ago, if you asked me to summarize my entire worldview in one article, I would’ve said it was too broad and too difficult. But this year, I decided to do it.
worksinprogress.co
Every disease is a policy failure
Few people know how much medicine has progressed in their lifetimes. Fewer know how much faster it could be progressing.
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Alex Diaz-Papkovich @alexandr.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
the only way for bluesky to grow is to allow users that are not 38 and that is a sacrifice i am not willing to make
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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Concerning thread about how Wikipedia and, especially, Grokipedia promote genetic essentialism even though academic research does not support these views
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Alex Diaz-Papkovich @alexandr.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
How does human genetics research live in the information ecosystem? Is it misused? Misrepresented? In my paper with @sramach.bsky.social, we tackle this question with 25 years of Wikipedia data, AI chatbot responses, and pages from Grokipedia www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
From Wikipedia to AI: Measuring 25 years of synthesis of human genetics research in the public-facing information ecosystem
Genetics research frequently intersects with ethnicity, nationality, and race, making it uniquely vulnerable to misrepresentation. Yet, 25 years after the initial sequencing of the human genome, there...
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Alex Diaz-Papkovich @alexandr.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
new #00ff00 just dropped
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Reposted by Alex Diaz-Papkovich
Kenny Uong @kennyuong.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
7/29/26 update: @pvdstreets.org has raised $1840.21 for their PVD Streets Summer Boost - 12% of their goal! 👏🏽🎉 Anonymous donor will match gifts dollar for dollar up to $2500 total! Help us continue the fight for safer streets & better transit in Providence! secure.everyaction.com/ojBkTWTHC0yj...
PVD Streets Summer Boost

Goal: $15,000.00
Amount Raised: $1,840.21

DOLLAR FOR DOLLAR MATCH!
Beginning July 21st, an anonymous donor will match gifts dollar for dollar up to $2,500 total! Chip in today and double your impact in the streets!

Help Us Keep Driving Change in the Streets!
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Reposted by Alex Diaz-Papkovich
beetle moses @beetlemoses.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Three panel comic. Panel 1: two friends are playing cards. There is a birdcage hanging behind them, just peaking out of frame. Friend 1 asks, “does your bird talk?” To which friend 2 replies, “Please… don’t.” Panel 2: friend 2 continues, head in hand, “he’s on this alpha male influencer thing right now.” Behind him, the bird - posed and wearing sunglasses and a leather jacket - is leaning forward on a tiny easy chair in his enclosure. Panel 3: with his hands clasped, easing back into his chair, the bird says, “stops eating seeds. Focus on your net worth.”
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Alex Diaz-Papkovich @alexandr.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
If you're posting photos of wildfires or wildfire smoke, please consider uploading it to Wikimedia Commons so there's a free public repository of the effects of climate change commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
commons.wikimedia.org
Wikimedia Commons
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Reposted by Alex Diaz-Papkovich
Greg Annandale @gregannandale.com · 13/07/2026
I made an animation which shows the effects of air pollution on pedestrians waiting to cross the road, along with what can be done to reduce its harmful effects: stepback.gregdev.com Thank you to @ianwalker.bsky.social for the inspiration for doing so during a conversation a couple of weeks' back!
stepback.gregdev.com
'Step back' - air pollution at pedestrian crossings
Every busy road produces a cloud of pollution you can't see. Where you stand in it matters more than most people might realise.
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Reposted by Alex Diaz-Papkovich
Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
victory lapping on this one
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Alex Diaz-Papkovich @alexandr.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Built a proof-of-concept interactive map based on the news stories I collected: 2,202 incidents involving 1,724 pedestrians, 400 cyclists, 279 others, and 252 structures. diazale.github.io/death_by_car/
diazale.github.io
Car Crashes in Canada
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Reposted by Alex Diaz-Papkovich
Aaron Wherry @aaronwherry.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
static.klipy.com
Goose
ALT: Goose
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Reposted by Alex Diaz-Papkovich
Randall Munroe @xkcd.com · 24/06/2026
Sports Commentary xkcd.com/3262/
Comic. [A person and a second person with a ponytail sitting at a table with a screen showing a soccer game behind them.] PERSON 1: They could be in trouble. Over the last 36 years, they’ve gone 0 for 2 when they’ve scored in the 37th minute to lead 2-1 against a team whose country comes before theirs alphabetically. [caption] I wish sports commentators hadn’t discovered p-hacking.
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Alex Diaz-Papkovich @alexandr.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
with the stanley cup playoffs over the world cup is now satisfying my thirst for offside reviews
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ℳatt @matttomic.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
There are very few God-given rights we have as Canadians but one of them, for a good long 75 years, has been that anyone with an antenna or an internet connection should be able to watch hockey on Saturday night for free on our taxpayer-supported public broadcaster. This shit sucks
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Alex Diaz-Papkovich @alexandr.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
oof. Getting CBC's Saturday night broadcasts on rabbit ears are what got me into hockey as a kid, sad to see it go.
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Alex Diaz-Papkovich @alexandr.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Canadian map for anyone curious (blue requires front plates, red does not)
A map of Canada with provinces and territories coloured by whether front licence plates are required.

Required: Ontario, Manitoba, BC
Not required: Yukon, NWT, Nunavut, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CAplatemounting.svg
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Alex Diaz-Papkovich @alexandr.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
i mean this is just funny
Scoresheet from the 2nd and 3rd period of Game 3 in the Stanley Cup Final. The Vegas Golden Knights take a 4-0 lead in the 2nd on a Mitch Marner natural hat trick (the fastest ever). Canes tie it at 4-4 following 3 goals in 39 seconds (the fastest ever) and a pulled goalie PPG.
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Alex Diaz-Papkovich @alexandr.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
lol Providence requires bars have one parking spot per 500 square feet of a building. If the bar is over 10,000 square feet it also requires four bicycle spaces.
A table of parking regulations for Providence, Rhode Island.

City of Providence 14 - 5
Zoning Ordinance Article 14. Off-Street Parking and Loading
TABLE 14-1: 

BUILDING USE, MINIMUM REQUIRED VEHICLE SPACES, MINIMUM REQUIRED BICYCLE SPACES (REQUIRED TOTAL/PERCENTAGE REQUIRED THAT SHALL BE LONG-TERM)

Amusement/Entertainment/Sports Facility
- Outdoor
1 per 1,000sf GFA + 1 per 1,000sf of
outdoor area
Over 10,000sf GFA:
1 per 2,500sf GFA
Animal Care Facility 1 per 1,000sf GFA Over 10,000sf GFA:
1 per 2,500sf GFA
Apartment Dormitory 1 per 4 bedrooms 1 per 5 bedrooms 80%
Art Gallery 1 per 500sf GFA Over 10,000sf GFA:
1 per 2,500sf GFA
Arts Studio 1 per 500sf GFA Over 10,000sf GFA:
1 per 2,500sf GFA
Bar 1 per 500sf GFA Over 10,000sf GFA:
1 per 2,500sf GFA
Bed and Breakfast 1 space + 1 per 2 guestrooms
Body Modification Establishment 1 per 500sf GFA Over 10,000sf GFA:
1 per 2,500sf GFA
Broadcasting Facility 1 per 1,000sf GFA Over 10,000sf GFA:
1 per 5,000sf GFA
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Alex Diaz-Papkovich @alexandr.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
This CBC essay about a family moving from Toronto to Saskatchewan is framed as escaping “busy city life” but most of it is about how cars and gridlock made their lives unbearable www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
I knew something had to change when I saw my husband standing in our veranda after work, looking tired, stressed and broken-hearted, as if the world hung on his shoulders.
These days, laughter rarely reached his eyes.
The fatigue was always there. It had become his natural state.
When our daughter started school, living in the city meant our otherwise 10-minute drives in opposite directions became hour-and-a-half commutes each way in rush-hour gridlocks.
Our discontent with our busy life just kept brewing. My husband expressed the weight of missing the milestones, the absence in our young daughter's days, and the tiredness that felt like a noose on days he was present.communications business. In 2021, I landed in the Greater Toronto Area, pursuing yet another dream - migrating to Canada and advancing my career in communications.
This city was even busier than Kingston, Jamaica. I hated the pace and the long commutes from one end of the region to the next.communications business. In 2021, I landed in the Greater Toronto Area, pursuing yet another dream - migrating to Canada and advancing my career in communications.
This city was even busier than Kingston, Jamaica. I hated the pace and the long commutes from one end of the region to the next.
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Mark Yesilevskiy @markwhyy.com · 05/05/2026
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Alex Diaz-Papkovich @alexandr.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
just lol if the habs win this with two crazy bounces on like 8 shots
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Kenny Uong @kennyuong.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Uuugh!! 🫠
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CJ Fogler @cjzero.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
Jeremy Swayman allows a goal from the neutral zone, Denmark leads 2-1 on Nicholas Jensen's shot
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Darren Dahly @statsepi.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
Holy shit 👀
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Alex Diaz-Papkovich @alexandr.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
every super bowl should have a sacrificial drake
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The War on Cars @thewaroncars.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
We just texted Doug Ford to invite him to our live show in Toronto tonight. We'll follow up if he responds. boxoffice.hotdocs.ca/websales/pag...
text message that says "Hello Premier Ford. I'm one of the hosts of a podcast called The War on Cars. We have a new book out called Life After Cars and are in Toronto on our book tour. We'd like to invite you and a guest to our live show at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema at 7 PM. We'd love to see you there and talk about the province's stance on bike lanes and active transportation. Please let me know if you can make it! Many thanks! (I'm also named Doug.)
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The War on Cars @thewaroncars.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
Toronto! We're coming to the modern birthplace of The War on Cars to rally the troops in their fight against Ontario Premier Doug Ford. Presale tix are available right now for our Patreon members as well as supporters of @cycletoronto.bsky.social. Sign up to get the promo code. This one will be big!
patreon.com
Live in Toronto! Patreon Presale. | The War on Cars
Get more from The War on Cars on Patreon
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depths of wikipedia @depthsofwikipedia.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
wikipedia turns 25 today! the last unenshittified major website! backbone of online info! triumph of humanity! powered by urge of unpaid randos to correct each other! somehow mostly reliable! "good thing wikipedia works in practice, because it sure doesn't work in theory" - old wiki adage
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Alex Diaz-Papkovich @alexandr.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
This whole situation is awful for Brenna but I also want to highlight that these cuts are impacting Canadian research. Canadian scientists (funded by Canadian tax dollars) have worked on this data and planned projects around it. Now it's stalled.
I just feel very devastated. One of our goals was to publish this huge database of African genomes. This resource would be available to thousands of biomedical researchers in the United States and globally. Now I don’t have money to pay to host the data or run an analysis. I have 200 terabytes of data that’s just sitting on a server in Quebec. It’s very sad.
Brenna Henn is a geneticist at the University of California, Davis.
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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 02/01/2026
Brenna Henn Wanted to Improve Genetic Medicine. Then Her N.I.H. Grant Was Cut.
nytimes.com
Brenna Henn Wanted to Improve Genetic Medicine. Then Her N.I.H. Grant Was Cut.
Brenna Henn had a long-term grant to study the genetic diversity of Africans and people of African descent. Then her N.I.H. funding was cut.
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The War on Cars @thewaroncars.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
TORONTO! Save the date. We'll be coming to what is arguably the birthplace of the war on cars for a live show on February 5th, 2026. Patreoners will get first dibs on tickets. Stay tuned for more details! Doug Ford will not be our special guest. www.patreon.com/c/thewaronca...
patreon.com
The War on Cars | Patreon
Creating a podcast about the fight against car dominance
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Nandita Garud @nanditagarud.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
Grateful to share our paper on gene-specific selective sweeps in human gut microbiomes, now out in Nature! It has been a joy to work with @rwolff.bsky.social, whose insights and hard work made this possible. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Gene-specific selective sweeps are pervasive across human gut microbiomes - Nature
Development and application of the integrated linkage disequilibrium score (iLDS) reveals both selective pressures impacting the human gut microbiome and the mechanisms by which gut bacteria adapt to ...
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Alex Diaz-Papkovich @alexandr.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
we’re gonna have figure panels that double as codons at this rate
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Tiara Mack @mackdistrict6.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
My heart breaks for every student and community across our nation. A fresh pain, an old wound. Yes, here. Yes, our community. Yes, Brown. Yes, this tragic, preventable horror happened again. We can prevent gun violence. We chose not to.
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