Sign in

Daniel Dvorkin

@danielmedic.bsky.social
5.9K followers 541 following 2.3K posts

Bioinformaticist / biostatistician, veteran USAF medic and Army infantryman, armchair paleontologist, occasional science fiction author, long-ago kickboxer, oldbat goth, vaccinated liberal patriot.

PostsRepliesMedia
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
We've understood the physics of bumblebee flight for decades, and the idea that "science doesn't know how they fly" comes from a single flawed paper in the 1930s. So I am completely unsurprised that someone with a Tesla profile pic thinks "but bumblebees!" is a flex. 🧪
0246
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Good crunchy analysis here. The short version is that all but the earliest ceratopsians could and likely did use their heads and horns as weapons for mate competition, and in some cases predator defense. Don't make the horned walking tank angry. You wouldn't like it when it's angry. 🧪 🦖
peerj.com
060
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Conspiracy theorists of all types are irritating as hell, but 9/11 conspiracy theorists are fucking ghouls. 🧵
132
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
A story in three parts.
030
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
I use #AI in my #bioinformatics work, and I have a somewhat better opinion of it than most people I know, because it's quite good at certain tasks. #Maps ... aren't among them. (via @mhboroson.bsky.social) 🧪 🖥️ 🧬 🧵
4175
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Amateurs. In the Air Force, we resorted to cannibalism when the coffeemaker broke.
030
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Recently I had cause to use the phrase "Branch Covidians". To be clear, BCs are the antimaskers / antivaxers who took the side of a virus over their fellow human beings. I'm not sure if I was the first person to start using the phrase or not, but that was always what it meant. 🧪 ⚕️ #medsky
3204
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
This morning I woke up from a #dream about a long-dead friend. 🧵
110
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
My previous Mastodon instance, qoto(dot)org, died a messy death. Now I'm @medigoth@mstdn.science for those who may be interested.
010
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Well, this is horrifying. If anything worthy of the name "United States of America" exists after the next few years, we'll need some changes to ensure continued survival. Ensuring the independence of Congressionally mandated agencies and chartered organizations will be an unsexy but vital step. 🧪 ⚖️
courthousenews.com
Under pressure from Trump, National Academy of Sciences pulls climate chapter from judicial manual
The nonprofit organization said it would conduct an independent review on the climate section of its scientific handbook made for federal judges, after criticism it unfairly targets fossil fuel compan...
37333
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Small victories are the only kind we have these days, so I'll take them where I can get them.
020
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Because of course they did. ⚕️🧪🧵
reuters.com
US Senate panel votes to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress
A U.S. Senate committee voted on Thursday to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after the former top U.S. infectious ​disease official refused to answer questions about his handling of the...
272
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
So Blanche pretends to kill the Treason For Fun And Profit slush fund, and Cornyn and Tillis pretend to believe him, and there are just enough "yea" votes to allow Collins to vote "nay" so Maine voters know she's Very Concerned. Do I have that right?
0103
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Opening for Nasty Women and Bad Hombres, please welcome ... COCKY DEMONS!
110
Reposted by Daniel Dvorkin
Hoodlum 🇺🇸 @nothoodlum.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
The caller on Rand Paul’s virtual town hall is all of us.
1306168654864
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
A quick FAQ for the #RandPaul Show: 🧪⚕️ #medsky 🧵
192
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
After reading numerous #paleoclimatology papers, and crunching numbers for #SeawayStation, I decided #Colorado ca. 70 million years ago had a climate most like that of South Carolina in the present day. Not exactly, of course, but a good analogue, and a touchstone for end-Cenozoic readers. 🚀 🦖 ✍️ 🧵
110
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
The scientific corollary to Murc's Law is the idea that it's always scientists' job to communicate better, not everyone else's to pay attention. 🧪 (via @arctomet.bsky.social)
56319
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
More helpful debunking of what may be the world's most irritating hagiography. #Tesla was a smart person with a few good ideas and a terminal inability to turn them into anything that worked. His modern-day cultists are the same, only without the "smart" bit.
earlyradiohistory.us
Nikola Tesla: The Guy Who DIDN'T "Invent Radio"
392
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Someone should tell #Hegseth that hair gel interferes with #testosterone production.
072
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
I gloomily suspect #masstransit in the #Denver #metro area is in a death spiral. Sure, cutting service will save money in the short term. But it will make the whole system less useful, reducing ridership, requiring more cuts ... you know the rest.
denverite.com
RTD could kill the free 16th Street shuttle and several rail lines under budget cut proposals
The FreeRide would be eliminated in four of five scenarios RTD has pitched to save money.
130
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
010
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
My refrigerator has killed as many people as Victor Marx. FEAR IT.
100
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Research for details of life at #SeawayStation has led me to a paper by de Winter et al. Mayhap I should ensure my musket and rapier are ready for action. ✍️ 🦖 🚀
100
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Fred Rogers has killed as many people as Victor Marx. FEAR HIM.
120
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
This is true. It is also true that a lot of #writers seem to enjoy playing with #dystopian tropes waaay too much, and their stories come across as #cautionary tales about as convincingly as 1930s #gangster movies. ✍️
000
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
The Chicxulub impactor has killed as many humans as Victor Marx. FEAR IT.
000
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
My six-pound cat has killed as many people as Victor Marx. FEAR HER.
010
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
I've killed as many people as Victor Marx. FEAR ME.
020
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
All the #Marxist #Republicans must be very happy.
coloradosun.com
Victor Marx wins Colorado’s three-way Republican primary for governor, edging out Barbara Kirkmeyer
Marx had 39.9% of the vote to Kirkmeyer’s 39.4% when the race was called
010
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
#Platner was hand-picked by #Sanders and enthusiastically supported by the #DSA. #Liberals by and large were cautious about him, and many pointed out early on that he had a lot of problematic history. 🧵
130
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
The conversation about Graham #Platner, and what #Maine #Democrats should do next, has reinforced my opinion that many #lefties have an absolutely #MAGA-level preference for style over substance.
210
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
This is a truly impressive level of courage. 🧵
yahoo.com
Active Duty Air Force Major Arrested After Calling For Trump's Impeachment
Air Force Major Jason Watson called the Iran war "an unconstitutional usurpation of Congress’ authority."
150
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
Little Bobby Tables is now old enough to be Little Billy Ignore Instructions' father.
010
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world that #TheExpanse was hard SF. 🚀
quora.com
What is the most unrealistic that a hard sci-fi can be before it becomes soft?
Daniel Dvorkin's answer: You could say zero lack of realism is allowed—absolutely everything must be based on our current scientific understanding of the universe, no exceptions—or you could say space...
010
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Squirrels love the smell of (long) pork in the morning.
020
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Seen in the wild: the #ReflectingPool liner was cut by Sealant Team Six.
071
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
When I first heard "the plural of #anecdote is not #data," I thought it was very clever, and repeated it endlessly. So did, and do, a bunch of other people. 🧪 🧵
131
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Those algaefa protistas have gone too far!
120
Reposted by Daniel Dvorkin
Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. @arctomet.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Heard rumors about this project long ago, and glad to see it coming out. Focusing on the science over reconstructing past environments, @pbseons.bsky.social has a full-length TV documentary series coming out: www.popsci.com/science/pbs-...
popsci.com
Watch an exclusive clip from new PBS series 'EONS: LIFE AND DEATH ON PANGEA'
The six-episode series brings The Great Dying to life.
65115
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
So do all who live to see such times.
031
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Stop me before I snark again! Actually ... don't. 🧪
070
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Ever since the beginning of the internet, I've been waiting for an e-mail from Money. Today it finally arrived. If you need me, I'll be on my yacht.
010
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Common #AI #writing tricks. All of these can be useful techniques, but they’re best as seasoning rather than main ingredients. #LLMs don’t do subtlety.
000
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
"Okay sweetie, before we go back to the apartment, you either have to put your paw booties on, or put the cigarette out. Your choice."
120
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Lawful good: capitalize genus, leave species lower-case. Lawful evil: capitalize both genus and species. Neutral evil: write both in all upper-case. Chaotic evil: "tReX". 🦖 🧪 🦕
0130
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
As in a fervific dream.
000
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
"Homes, schools, and a state-of-the-art hospital" ... all owned and run by a single company. Sounds like KOMUNIZM to me!
000
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
One of the copy-and-paste #antivax talking points is that #polio was caused by #DDT. For everyone repeating this vile lie:
120
Daniel Dvorkin @danielmedic.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
"You picked up the leash and said 'walkies!' Then you got distracted and I never had my walk. I'm sorry it's come to this, but I really have no choice."
theguardian.com
Dog shoots woman with shotgun at Nebraska convenience store
Police responded to reports of gunfire at store in town of Scottsbluff, and found the culprit to be a dog
011