Trait coevolution and causal inference using generalized dynamic phylogenetic models Phylogenetic comparative methods are widely used to study trait coevolution across biological and cultural domains. The most common methods are phylogenetic generalized linear (mixed) models, phyl...

Our paper on generalized dynamic phylogenetic models is finally out in MEE 🥳 The brainchild of @err-ring.bsky.social, GDPMs open up a vast new space for comparative studies on complex, coevolving traits, greatly aided by @scottclaessens.bsky.social's work on the accompanying R package. Check it out!

I'm coming back from Australia at the wrong time from what I've heard! Gum trees NEVER make me want to rip my nose and eyes from my face.

Average Bsky poster: "We must inaugurate a Second Reconstruction with blood and fire."

Average Democratic politician: "We are in a war for the Republic, which is why I propose a 23.7% tax cut."

Average liberal columnist: "For too long the transgenders have blocked research into the racial IQ gap."

Ah, yes! You just articulated it perfectly--100% agreed.

Eh, we all have our outspoken phases when we realize how much bullshit there is the world. I still cringe at my militant atheist phase--thank god that was limited to my high school years for the most part...

"abrasive" lol I barely know you, but have appreciated your contributions here since discovering your bsky! Nice voice of reason in the midst of contemporary madness, I say.

You could fund 20 NSFs for this money

God, if I have to hear one more time about how we need Trump's "business acumen" to take care of the deficit... 🙄

I have to dig further into the mathematics and their approximation strategy, but I wonder if this paves the way for extensions to OU-like dynamics as well...difficult because then the loci would no longer act independently, right? Gah, I have some reading to do! So exciting.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Oh my god, yes! YES! I'm so glad folks figured this out. Leave it to Cécile and Paul haha

Man, I think that hits the nail on the head for...so many things that aren't up to snuff in our academic institutions. :/

But I guess I've been well, as much as can be expected in these times! Miss chattin' away with you in lab haha How the heck are you?!

This is such a good point. Reminds me of when well-intended programs/initiatives end up benefitting the most priveleged among underrepresented groups before the folks that need it the most...

Comic. [Two people looking at a board with apparent formula (3.1.3.1)/(3.1.2.1)] PERSON: Do mammologists think these are hard? I mean, this one just evaluates to 3/2. [caption] Mathematicians encounter dental formulas

Dental Formulas

xkcd.com/3213/

Oof, well, thanks for giving me excuses to keep up my anti-LLM coding attitude for at least a little longer!

I just don't see the appeal of it all still...I got into this field because I like knowing how things work under the hood.

"The Islamists oppose women getting an education," I mutter, as I aim my missile at the girls school

The U.S. and Israel continue to be the biggest threats to children (and humanity).

So how many of my colleagues are PAYING OpenAI to use their LLM again???? You see where your money is going?

An historic black and white illustration of a paper nautilus floating on the ocean. There are boats, a city and hills in the background.

🎉 Huge news for BHL: The Field Museum is taking over the hosting of BHL’s website, servers & infrastructure, ensuring long-term stability and access for its 63+ million pages of open biodiversity literature. Learn more:
blog.biodiversitylibrary.org/2026/02/tran...
#BHLTransition #ILoveBHL 🌍 📚 🧪

US-Israeli strike on girls' school kills at least 85 students, Iran's judiciary says At least 85 students have been killed in US-Israeli strikes that hit an Iranian girls' school in Hormozgan province, Iran's judiciary said on Saturday. Washington has not commented on the reported str...

We killed 85 schoolgirls. We are not the good guys.

Phage–host interactions are a key driver of microbial ecology, but observing them in nature is hard!
With metaHi-C, we detect freshwater phage–host pairs and link their infection dynamics to evolution.

Together with @nadal-molero.bsky.social & Ana Martin-Cuadrado

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

The HPC Carpentry logo. Woodworking tools are arranged to spell out the letters HPC, framed inside a circular saw blade design. The logo is centered inside a hexagon with orange border.

HPC Carpentry @hpc-carpentry.bsky.social will become the latest Lesson Program of The Carpentries @hpc-carpentry.bsky.social in September 2026 🎉

They join our existing lesson programs: Data Carpentry, Library Carpentry, and Software Carpentry.

carpentries.org/blog/2026/02...

Functionally, this is the end of foundational science research in many fields in the United States, the money taken away to subsidize already wealthy billionaires and their companies.

What the ‘Birthday Paradox’ Can Teach Us About Black History Opinion | Statistics can help fill in historical gaps, revealing surprising and empowering things about the past and present.

New for @undark.org

On: "The Birthday Paradox," the transatlantic slave trade, ancestral bonds, and the hidden power of statistics.

"Family is family, whatever our genetic relationship. Impressively, the birthday paradox study captures this possibility."

undark.org/2026/02/27/o...

Reposting this because I'll never pass up an opportunity to introduce people to the wonderful world of sheoaks.

To be clear, this is family of ANGIOSPERMS with feaux needles/cones most closely related to BIRCHES.

Oh, and they also fix nitrogen to boot! Then again, so do the closely-related alders.

We're excited to be recruiting an NSF funded postdoc to work in the Villanea lab at CU Boulder. We're specifically interested in candidates who want to work at the intersection of population genetics, ancient DNA, and computer modeling. Please RT

jobs.colorado.edu/jobs/JobDeta...

I was always so infuriated by the "increasing transparency" rhetoric thrown around last year. This admin has consistently only made things more opaque so it never has to justify their blatantly ideological decisions. I'm so sorry--none of this should be happening, especially to young scientists...

I already shared the preprint for this month's ago, but I still find this to be one of the coolest new discoveries! The idea of "ghost kingdoms" of life just never really occurred to me before, but of course it's completely possible when you think about it.

It's never as simple as we'd like, eh? Well, at least there's no shortage of puzzles to solve!

And still no Dem leaders have gone to Minneapolis. No donor efforts to alleviate anything. Just leave people out to fend for themselves.

When @omearabrian.bsky.social saw the manuscript, he described it as: ‘What if this figure could be an entire paper?’

I choose to interpret that as high praise.

Now accepted at AmNat: The geometry of macroevolution (with Dan Rabosky). www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...