I told a joke about at the @agbiodata.bsky.social conference about scientific data not being FAIR, but I can't share it here.

This exact same type of behavior happened in the late 2010s whenever a company mentioned "blockchain".

Polymarket betting history for the 2026 Fide Candidates Tournament Winner. Fabiano Caruana is the current favorite at 31%.

The FIDE Candidates Tournament starts tomorrow and the elder statesmen of the competition (33 and 38 respectively...*cough*) are the favorites to win based on Polymarket. While both Fabiano and Hikaru have been going strong recently, can't help but think the door might be starting to close on them.

Circular baked goods that is topped with crushed pistachios.

Cross section of the date cake: walnut-stuffed dates over a layer of cardamom halva topped with crushed pistachios.

Ranginak (a traditional Persian date dessert) is genuinely one of the most tasty treats I've ever made. Cardamom halva with dates and roasted walnuts is an incredible flavor combination. It's also gorgeous to look at.

Coconuts

This is a fantastic course at a great institution! Please apply (and come say hi if you attend)!

Impossible Trident optical illusion.

Giving these vibes.

I'm starting to realize that getting down to a healthy BMI is a weighty endeavor.

Cookie sheet covered with 2 different types of hamentaschen.

First time making hamentaschen. Need to work on the anesthetics, but nothing can be bad about a butter cookie filled with fruit preserve. Happy Purim to all who celebrate!

Leader of Columbia Brain Institute Quits Over Friendship With Epstein

Gift link from the NYT story about Axel and Epstein. When I was at Columbia he ran a lab where sexual harassment of women was business as usual. We all knew. We all warned each other.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/25/n...

Here to lend support. Like I said, I wondered how many other women noticed and resented this. I know Nancy and I weren’t the only ones who did.

Picture of a building covered in snow from a low angle.

Picture of the Delbrück laboratory covered in snow.

@cshlnews.bsky.social was looking particularly beautiful after the snow (and after the grounds crew made it safe to walk and drive around)

The grounds crew at @cshlnews.bsky.social is incredible. The amount of snow they clear in such a short time is really impressive.

A reminder that if you can donate blood, please do so (especially if you're in the northeast USA and can donate through a state or local center). Winter storms can worsen blood shortages so this is a way to do something very impactful for your community.

A spiral bun with lots of icing sugar.

A wire rack of spiral buns with lots of icing sugar

Baking mallorcas to match the fresh snow we got overnight.

Fingers crossed for Zanesville.

My quote of the day

It might seem unfair to reward a person for having so much pleasure over the years, asking the maize plant to solve specific problems and then watching its responses.

Barbara McClintock

Watching The Queen of Chess documentary with my wife (who is not a chess player) and had to pause when we were both sure we saw a quick glimpse of Stephen Fry in one of the 1988 Olympiad segments...only to find that it was in fact the famous actor who's a chess buff and covered it for the BBC.

Abdusattorov Wins Tata Steel Chess Masters, Woodward Takes Challengers GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov called it a "dream come true" as he defeated GM Arjun Erigaisi's Evans Gambit to win the 2026 Tata Steel Chess Masters with 9/13.

Congrats to Abdusattorov on winning this one. And the Americans did admirably: Neiman finished 5th and Woodward won the Challengers division (with Ivanchuk right behind)! Yip also gained nearly 20 rating points and is well on her way to getting her GM title.

Mentoring graduate students is simultaneously a confidence-building and humbling activity. A conversation about using multiple genomic approaches to understand a complex trait was immediately followed by me having to look up a codon chart since I couldn't remember the sequences for stop codons.

Online chess board from black's position

I was studying this position from an opening preparation. Black is completely winning (-3) in this but only with a single correct move. Can you find it and why is it winning?

Online chess board from black's perspective.

Another fun chess position from a practice game. White was already losing, but is now lost after bxc5. Black has a single superior move to win material and infiltrate into white's position. What is it and what's the follow up?

Nominating @rasmansa.bsky.social to solve.

Preprints of pandemic potential - new historical piece from me on the history of bioRxiv/medRxiv, their role in the pandemic, and the way forward. 1/n journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

#PAG33 is in full swing! Come say hi and be sure to attend our USDA Databases workshop on Tuesday at 6:20pm in Palm 8.

Wait, am I the only person who takes conference notes in markdown format on Visual Studio Code?

Home page for GramenePlants, a comparative genomics resource for plant scientists and breeders.

I'll be at PAG33 running a USDA database workshop! Come say hi if you're in San Diego. And be sure to check out our plant comparative genomics database: GramenePlants.

www.gramene.org

Yep! But what is the follow up?

Online chess board from black's perspective.

More online chess during the holiday. White was in a worse position, but is now completely lost. What is the only correct move for black to win material?

Online chess board from white's perspective.

More tactics in my adventures to discover some new openings. Opponent misplayed, but I missed the mate in 8 (with best play from black)! What is the best move for white in this position and why?

That is a checkmate, but what if black plays Bf8?