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Peter Tennant

@pwgtennant.bsky.social
8.8K followers 2.1K following 5.2K posts

Epidemiologist. Causal inference researcher and trainer. Based at @lida-leeds.bsky.social See my Intro to Causal Inference Course: www.causal.training See the Causal Inference Interest Group: ciig-seminar.github.io

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Peter Tennant @pwgtennant.bsky.social · 16h
Discovered today that some of my emails are also getting stuck on the server. I sent an email this morning, it was in my sent box, but was not recieved by the recipient. When I sent a follow up email 3 hours later, they both arrived simultaneously. If you need me, DM me here or on LinkedIn!
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Peter Tennant @pwgtennant.bsky.social · 22h
I'm getting very bored of peer reviewers asking for more and more additions while editors keep demanding you stick to the original word limit. I've just had a journal ask me to cut a manuscript by 500 words, and I'm tempted to just remove all the pointless additions demanded by the peer reviewer.
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Caroline Lucas @carolinelucas.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Delighted that @europeanmovement.co.uk is stepping up its campaign to rejoin the EU - good for the economy & for the environment, and ever more urgent in an increasingly insecure world with a totally unreliable US & feral President
independent.co.uk
Labour voters overwhelmingly want Andy Burnham to commit to rejoining EU, poll shows
Exclusive: New 10-year plan for re-entry to the European Union in 2036 being put to the prime minister
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Matt Green @mattgreencomedy.com · 10/10/2026
Last night I saw a man outside Clapham Junction station shouting obscenities at everyone who walked past. At one point he got up, went over to a cafe, opened the door and just screamed for a bit before walking off. It was like he was the personification of X.
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Jose Pina-Sánchez 🇪🇺 @jpinasanchez.eurosky.social · 09/10/2026
Reading to/with my children has been by far the one activity where I have experienced the most joy and connection with them. So much so we keep doing it even though the eldest is already in high school, which makes it a bit awkward. Hard to overstate how unbelievably shallow these people are.
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Peter Tennant @pwgtennant.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
I'm very excited to hear this critical examination of causal triangulation! Triangulation is something that I have always thought is a 'good idea', but which I've been somewhat skeptical about, due to a lack of formalism.
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Peter Tennant @pwgtennant.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Is anyone else having problems with emails completely vanishing from their (outlook 365) mailbox? Not being deleted or moved to junk, completely disappearing with no trace. At first I thought I was being absent minded but it's happened twice recently with specifically memorable emails.
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Eiko Fried @eikofried.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Ever since this happened, I have never given journals sole ownerhip of my supplemental materials .. eiko-fried.com/blog/supplem...
eiko-fried.com
Supplementary materials fail | Eiko Fried
A few months ago, we published a new paper Fried, E. I., van Borkulo, C. D., Cramer, A. O. J., Boschloo, L., Schoevers, R. A., & Borsboom, D. (2017). Mental disorders as networks...
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Peter Tennant @pwgtennant.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
How all 'outcome focussed' AI enthusiasts seem to me
My wife: Can you read our baby a book?
Me: I can just play an audiobook from my phone.
My wife: But then it won't be in your voice.
Me: I can train a voice model.
Parenting hits different when you work in Al.
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Peter Tennant @pwgtennant.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
My friends and I posting on BlueSky
static.klipy.com
Charlie Day Conspiracy: Pepe Silvia
ALT: Charlie Day Conspiracy: Pepe Silvia
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public health guy @publichealthguy1.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
my friends and i posting on bluesky
MR BURNS READING LITERARY CONTENT BY APES: IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES, IT WAS THE BLURST OF TIMES?
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Peter Tennant @pwgtennant.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
I'm very excited to hear this critical examination of causal triangulation! Triangulation is something that I have always thought is a 'good idea', but which I've been somewhat skeptical about, due to a lack of formalism.
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Georgia Tomova @georgiatomova.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Super excited for our next CIIG seminar on causal triangulation with Keling Wang 💃 See the abstract and register here: ucl.zoom.us/meeting/regi... See more about the CIIG and subscribe: ciig-seminar.github.io
Causal Inference Interest Group seminar on 9th November 2026 3pm GMT.
Title:The more independent evidence, the more we should believe? On the nature, goals and reasoning process of causal triangulation.
Speaker: Keling Wang, Erasmus MC
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Butlerian Jihadist of House Dornick @shimminykricket.blacksky.app · 08/10/2026
Harvard just dropped a study AI productivity in software engineering and it found the average increase in productivity from using Claude code is.....zero and for exactly the reasons you'd think fion.ac/jellyfish.pdf
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Iris van Rooij 💭 @irisvanrooij.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
How come Wikipedia is doing better than academic publishing? Btw love that icon: 🚫🤖 🔗 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pragmat...
	
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Peter Tennant @pwgtennant.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Me pressing the "seems like AI slop" button on LinkedIn
static.klipy.com
Apartemen7 App: Hand Pressing Button
ALT: Apartemen7 App: Hand Pressing Button
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Sarah Wieten @sarahwieten.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Having a "seems like AI slop" option on LinkedIn is very funny to me.
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Antoine Vernet @antoinevernet.com · 07/10/2026
Publisher saying to tick the box to say that author understand they discourage the use of AI, then the next statement is "Please be aware we feed all your information through our own AI tool" 🤪
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Nicole Rust @nicolecrust.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Just like that: poof & gone. RIP *all* of NSF social, behavioral and economic research (including psyc & cogneuro). I’m speechless.
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Some people here don't seem to have understood the purpose of a political party. It's not the same as a protest movement. It is a vehicle designed to get into government, to change legislation and make a material difference to the lives of people at home and abroad.
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Dr Dean Burnett @drdeanburnett.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
"By using AI, tasks like essays that used to take hours can be completed in minutes!" Sure, like how if I arrive at the gym and immediately go for a shower, my workout is done in record time. And if I throw my sandwiches straight in the bin, I can finish my lunch in under 10 seconds.
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Peter Tennant @pwgtennant.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
So the sea is boiling, the earth is scorched, the fish are dying, and the actual plague is back. All sounds rather biblical. Still, at least we’re continuing to maximise shareholder value.
static.klipy.com
Moses: The Ten Commandments
ALT: Moses: The Ten Commandments
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tenuretracker.info @tenuretracker.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
My developer colleagues that like hand smithing lines of code moan and groan, the ones that like to Ship More Working Stuff think it’s amazing
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Sarah Wieten @sarahwieten.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
If anybody reading this is a working scientist who would be interested to learn about and co-develop a public philosophy of science course for scientists, dm me, thanks! Shares appreciated!
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Peter Tennant @pwgtennant.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Now more than ever I think practicing scientists need an education in the underlying philosophy of science. Otherwise - as you can see - we are arguing about what science is (and isn't) without any real foundation. And huge decisions are being influenced from positions of relative ignorance.
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Michael Fry @bigdirtyfry.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
The first season of Heroes is incredible TV and then they opened season two in “Ireland” and the less we say about that the better.
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Peter Tennant @pwgtennant.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
"Not always towards the null: reconsidering the direction of overadjustment bias" - read our new paper in the @intjepidemiol.bsky.social led by Frerik Smit! Overadjustment for a mediator is often thought to 'bias towards the null', but the bias can be in any direction - as the paper explains!
academic.oup.com
Not always towards the null: reconsidering the direction of overadjustment bias
Abstract. Overadjustment bias occurs when adjusting for a variable increases rather than decreases bias. It commonly arises in studies estimating the total
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Peter Tennant @pwgtennant.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
I wonder if the way a person reacts to LLMs might, at least partly, be driven by whether they're process orientated or outcome orientated. So someone who enjoys writing papers may feel they're losing something. But someone who enjoys publishing and sharing papers might feel they gaining something.
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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 05/10/2026
This is your occasional reminder that generative "AI" in particular could have been developed on public domain materials and/or licensed and compensated works but the major players intentionally, methodically and systemically chose to steal labor from working creative folks instead
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Ryan Radecki MD MS @www.evidencetriage.com · 05/10/2026
Too real. The most enthusiastic uptake in my environment seems to be for creating uninspiring “policy” documents that will live in a dusty corner of Sharepoint. Where it Matters, LLM output tends to be as much an impediment as an accelerator.
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Peter Tennant @pwgtennant.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I understand knowledge workers using LLMs. We're under such heavy time pressure that it's hard to resist. What I don't understand is knowledge workers who ENJOY using LLMs. It's like they never actually enjoyed their job. I know that thinking and writing is hard. But the labour creates the reward!
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Peter Tennant @pwgtennant.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
😂
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Georgia Tomova @georgiatomova.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
"We'll probably have flying cars in 2026" 2026: Triple-checking online stock images to make sure people don't have 7 fingers.
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McGill School of Population and Global Health @mcgillspgh.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The McGill University Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (@healthsciences.mcgill.ca) invites applications for the position of Chair of the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health. Learn more & apply by Nov 1: mcgill.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/McGill...
mcgill.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com
CHAIR OF THE MCGILL UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF EPIDEMIOLOGY, BIOSTATISTICS, AND OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH
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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John Bull @garius.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
My teacher brother has just informed me that his primary school kids now refer to anything shit or old fashioned as "Brexit". Which has made my morning.
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Jeremy Labrecque @jeremylabrecque.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
When I was a PhD student, I thought the most challenging thing in epi was how to answer a question. Now, figuring out what question people are trying ask is the most challenging part of my work.
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worm @rfksbrainworm.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
If you ever wondered why visible light is those particular wavelengths, it's because life evolved to see in the narrow range where water is transparent
Diagram of absorption of emf by water. There's a gap right that dips in the 500 nm range
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
I don’t think everyone realizes how bad things are for US science: For the fiscal year that just ended, the Trump regime withheld $1.4 billion from the National Science Foundation’s research budget, which is about 1/5 of its primary research budget.
nytimes.com
National Science Foundation Diverted $1.4 Billion in Science Funds Mandated by Congress (Gift Article)
The move, affecting about one-fifth of the National Science Foundation’s primary research budget, is the latest sign of how the White House is asserting more control over grants.
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Dustin A. Chacón @lingdustin.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I've heard people make claims that AI would lead to a new Renaissance, but I didn't imagine it'd happen like this:
Screenshot of a Tweet from Pope Leo XIV. It reads: 

"In this era of artificial intelligence, it is becoming urgen to distinguish human art from what machines produce. There is an ontological difference, even before an aesthetic one, between art and what a machine can generate through statistical calculation based on millions of images created by others. Algorithms lack the spark of humanity. For this reason, the Church wishes to renew an alliance with artists and cultural institutions to safeguard our humanity."
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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
New from @timnitgebru.blacksky.app and me: "It is high time for us to regulate usage of systems sold as “AI”, not because they are magical machines, but because they are error-prone products that shouldn’t be used in high stakes scenarios." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Forget ‘superintelligence’: error-prone AI nearly sparked world war three this month | Timnit Gebru and Emily M Bender
The risks of AI aren’t what we think they are, as a recent security incident between China and the United States reveals
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Peter Tennant @pwgtennant.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
"Not always towards the null: reconsidering the direction of overadjustment bias" - read our new paper in the @intjepidemiol.bsky.social led by Frerik Smit! Overadjustment for a mediator is often thought to 'bias towards the null', but the bias can be in any direction - as the paper explains!
academic.oup.com
Not always towards the null: reconsidering the direction of overadjustment bias
Abstract. Overadjustment bias occurs when adjusting for a variable increases rather than decreases bias. It commonly arises in studies estimating the total
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Paquito Bernard @paquitobernard.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Slow #epidemiology 'This means clearer questions, more rigorous designs, more transparent reporting, and more thorough sensitivity analyses. In other words, embracing the cutting edge of practice, not regurgitating the past.' #research #AI #health zenodo.org/records/2308...
zenodo.org
Why epidemiology should not be automated: the case for Slow Epidemiology
EXTRACT:Bann et al. pose the question, ‘why can’t epidemiology be automated (yet)?’, as though the automation of epidemiology is both inevitable and desirable [1]. They describe a future of ‘1-click r...
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Peter Tennant @pwgtennant.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Is anyone else suddenly overwhelmed with AI written emails enquiring about PhD opportunities? I've had five this week. It used to be around once a month!
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Peter Tennant @pwgtennant.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
"Is an ultra-processed chocolate cake materially more harmful than a home-made one?" I enjoyed contributing to this response to The Lancet series on ultra-processed foods, which outlines some key limitations in the evidence that 'ultra-processing' is specifically harmful to health.
link.springer.com
Public health policy should be grounded in established evidence that acknowledges uncertainty: a response to The Lancet series on ultra-processed foods - BMC Medicine
Background The recent three-part Lancet series on ultra-processed foods (UPFs) argued that the displacement of traditional diets by UPFs is a major driver of poor diet quality and diet-related chronic...
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Michael Spicer @michaelspicer.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Most TV is just this now.
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Per Engzell @pengzell.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
This is a good policy, and I'm waiting for journals to do the same. Next, for all hiring, promotion and grants you should only be able to submit your 5 best or most relevant works.
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Peter Tennant @pwgtennant.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
"Is an ultra-processed chocolate cake materially more harmful than a home-made one?" I enjoyed contributing to this response to The Lancet series on ultra-processed foods, which outlines some key limitations in the evidence that 'ultra-processing' is specifically harmful to health.
link.springer.com
Public health policy should be grounded in established evidence that acknowledges uncertainty: a response to The Lancet series on ultra-processed foods - BMC Medicine
Background The recent three-part Lancet series on ultra-processed foods (UPFs) argued that the displacement of traditional diets by UPFs is a major driver of poor diet quality and diet-related chronic...
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Peter Tennant @pwgtennant.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
"In 1994, Doug Altman famously remarked that ‘We need less research, better research, & research done for the right reasons’. His words have never been more relevant." Read a free copy of our @intjepidemiol.bsky.social letter on 'why epidemiology should not be automated': zenodo.org/records/2308...
Front page of manuscript from pre-print server
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