Dr. Vaskar Nepal
@nepalvaskar.bsky.social
Assistant Professor of Biology at Western Illinois University; Research and teaching on aquatic animals; fish-lover; #Rstats; Dad x2
Reposted by Dr. Vaskar Nepal
Wild mammals once dominated the mammal kingdom. Not anymore. Today, humans and our livestock account for 98% of the world’s land mammals by weight, while wild land mammals are just 2%.
November 24, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Wild mammals once dominated the mammal kingdom. Not anymore. Today, humans and our livestock account for 98% of the world’s land mammals by weight, while wild land mammals are just 2%.
Reposted by Dr. Vaskar Nepal
Good old Woz. Good for him.
November 21, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Good old Woz. Good for him.
Reposted by Dr. Vaskar Nepal
Reposted by Dr. Vaskar Nepal
for the humanity left in us 🖤
November 20, 2025 at 10:33 PM
for the humanity left in us 🖤
Reposted by Dr. Vaskar Nepal
This may be the best thing ive read yet on AI in higher ed, and its written by a Yale undergrad. Highly recommend.
Inside Yale’s Quiet Reckoning with AI | The New Journal
Amid ChatGPT's rising popularity and a computer science cheating scandal, Yale students, professors, and administrators wrestle privately with the proper role of AI in education. What happens when eve...
thenewjournalatyale.com
November 16, 2025 at 5:56 PM
This may be the best thing ive read yet on AI in higher ed, and its written by a Yale undergrad. Highly recommend.
Reposted by Dr. Vaskar Nepal
A few years ago, I gave a talk, and when we arrived at the facility, this sign was used to reserve a parking spot for me.
Mom and dad kept the sign and this was what I saw when I walked into their house.
Mom and dad kept the sign and this was what I saw when I walked into their house.
November 15, 2025 at 1:09 PM
A few years ago, I gave a talk, and when we arrived at the facility, this sign was used to reserve a parking spot for me.
Mom and dad kept the sign and this was what I saw when I walked into their house.
Mom and dad kept the sign and this was what I saw when I walked into their house.
Reposted by Dr. Vaskar Nepal
We are phasing out the terms “extant” and “extinct” from our exhibits and will now refer to species as either “Darwinners" or “Darlosers.”
November 15, 2025 at 4:42 PM
We are phasing out the terms “extant” and “extinct” from our exhibits and will now refer to species as either “Darwinners" or “Darlosers.”
Reposted by Dr. Vaskar Nepal
Ichthyologist Fang Fang Kullander would have been 63 years old today. She travelled the globe for her taxonomical studies of freshwater fish and her work with Fishbase, but passed away at the age of 47 in 2010 from gall duct cancer.
#WomenInSTEM #Ichthyology #FishSky #BioSky 🧪🐟
#WomenInSTEM #Ichthyology #FishSky #BioSky 🧪🐟
November 14, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Ichthyologist Fang Fang Kullander would have been 63 years old today. She travelled the globe for her taxonomical studies of freshwater fish and her work with Fishbase, but passed away at the age of 47 in 2010 from gall duct cancer.
#WomenInSTEM #Ichthyology #FishSky #BioSky 🧪🐟
#WomenInSTEM #Ichthyology #FishSky #BioSky 🧪🐟
Reposted by Dr. Vaskar Nepal
Reposted by Dr. Vaskar Nepal
Wake up babe sesame street just dropped some new iconic scicomm
October 21, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Wake up babe sesame street just dropped some new iconic scicomm
Reposted by Dr. Vaskar Nepal
Any published papers in the wild with a declared use of AI for analyzing the data yet? We know people are doing it. Probably quite often. So there must be one where use was declared?
November 9, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Any published papers in the wild with a declared use of AI for analyzing the data yet? We know people are doing it. Probably quite often. So there must be one where use was declared?
Reposted by Dr. Vaskar Nepal
Native Americans used gar scales as arrowheads, native Carribeans used gar skin as breastplates, and early colonizers wrapped gar skin around their plow blades. In other words, it's really hard to get through gar skin
5/8
5/8
November 7, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Native Americans used gar scales as arrowheads, native Carribeans used gar skin as breastplates, and early colonizers wrapped gar skin around their plow blades. In other words, it's really hard to get through gar skin
5/8
5/8
Reposted by Dr. Vaskar Nepal
The gar swim bladder functions as a lung and they must surface periodically to gulp air. Studies have shown that gar switch between breathing air and breathing water based on temperature. Warm water holds less oxygen, so they breathe air more in warm temps
6/8
6/8
November 7, 2025 at 6:57 PM
The gar swim bladder functions as a lung and they must surface periodically to gulp air. Studies have shown that gar switch between breathing air and breathing water based on temperature. Warm water holds less oxygen, so they breathe air more in warm temps
6/8
6/8
Yikes. I talk about this every time I teach my students about DNA structure.
Scientific breakthroughs are rarely unique; someone else would’ve made them soon enough. But when prominent scientists cause harm, that harm isn’t inevitable; the world might simply have been better had the harm not been inflicted.
liorpachter.wordpress.com/2018/05/18/j...
liorpachter.wordpress.com/2018/05/18/j...
James Watson in his own words
“Some anti-Semitism is justified” “Whenever you interview fat people, you feel bad, because you know you’re not going to hire them” “Japan should be bombed for d…
liorpachter.wordpress.com
November 8, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Yikes. I talk about this every time I teach my students about DNA structure.
Reposted by Dr. Vaskar Nepal
Scientists filmed bats to see how they communicate while swarming. They found a surprise: In urban settings, rats attack bats. What are the implications for bats ... and virus spread to humans? n.pr/3WNy2KL
Wait, what? A RAT caught and ate a BAT? And there's video! What does it portend?
Scientists filmed bats to see how they communicate while swarming. They found a surprise: In urban settings, rats attack bats. What are the implications for bats ... and virus spread to humans?
n.pr
November 8, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Scientists filmed bats to see how they communicate while swarming. They found a surprise: In urban settings, rats attack bats. What are the implications for bats ... and virus spread to humans? n.pr/3WNy2KL
I read through a few lectures, and I am very impressed with how clear this is. This should be very useful for beginners. I may refer my students to this as a resource.
You can now find a recording of my course "Introduction to Bayesian Statistics in R & brms" on youtube.
Slides & code available here: github.com/benjamin-ros...
#Rstats
Slides & code available here: github.com/benjamin-ros...
#Rstats
Introduction to Bayesian Statistics in R & brms - YouTube
The course offers a straightforward and practical approach to applied statistics using Bayesian inference for ecologists.
www.youtube.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:06 AM
I read through a few lectures, and I am very impressed with how clear this is. This should be very useful for beginners. I may refer my students to this as a resource.
Reposted by Dr. Vaskar Nepal
![Comic. PERSON 1 with white hat: How tall are you? PERSON 2: 5ft 24cm [caption] When switching to metric, make the process easier by doing it in steps.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreifptvo6h6kdpf75j3i443ospzumiii7a3pblah2urjrawmyymh3ga@jpeg)
November 6, 2025 at 11:33 PM
Nice story. Should read.
"Is Molly here?"
This morning, I dropped my 3-year-old at daycare—usually my wife's routine, but today was different.
This morning, I dropped my 3-year-old at daycare—usually my wife's routine, but today was different.
November 7, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Nice story. Should read.
Reposted by Dr. Vaskar Nepal
Hey we all blunder into doing hard things, and some of us reluctantly do hard things on purpose, but none of us do them because they’re hard.
November 7, 2025 at 2:14 AM
Hey we all blunder into doing hard things, and some of us reluctantly do hard things on purpose, but none of us do them because they’re hard.
Reposted by Dr. Vaskar Nepal
Personally, I do things not because they’re easy, but because I incorrectly thought they’d be easy
November 6, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Personally, I do things not because they’re easy, but because I incorrectly thought they’d be easy
Reposted by Dr. Vaskar Nepal
deep cut! `fortunes::fortune("dog")`: "Firstly, don't call your matrix 'matrix'. Would you call your dog 'dog'?
Anyway, it might clash with the function 'matrix'." -- Barry Rowlingson, R-help (October 2004)
Anyway, it might clash with the function 'matrix'." -- Barry Rowlingson, R-help (October 2004)
November 7, 2025 at 3:06 AM
deep cut! `fortunes::fortune("dog")`: "Firstly, don't call your matrix 'matrix'. Would you call your dog 'dog'?
Anyway, it might clash with the function 'matrix'." -- Barry Rowlingson, R-help (October 2004)
Anyway, it might clash with the function 'matrix'." -- Barry Rowlingson, R-help (October 2004)
Reposted by Dr. Vaskar Nepal
Do you teach #rstats? Do your students complain about how lame and old-fashioned dplyr is? Don't worry: I have the solution for you: github.com/hadley/genzp....
genzplyr is dplyr, but bussin fr fr no cap.
genzplyr is dplyr, but bussin fr fr no cap.
GitHub - hadley/genzplyr: dplyr but make it bussin fr fr no cap
dplyr but make it bussin fr fr no cap. Contribute to hadley/genzplyr development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
November 6, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Do you teach #rstats? Do your students complain about how lame and old-fashioned dplyr is? Don't worry: I have the solution for you: github.com/hadley/genzp....
genzplyr is dplyr, but bussin fr fr no cap.
genzplyr is dplyr, but bussin fr fr no cap.
Reposted by Dr. Vaskar Nepal
Another #GarWeek spotlight species is the Bowfin. Check out this young of the year bowfin from a Green Bay coastal wetland. #GreatLakes
November 6, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Another #GarWeek spotlight species is the Bowfin. Check out this young of the year bowfin from a Green Bay coastal wetland. #GreatLakes
Hey Gar (and other toothy fish) enthusiasts, my lab group is looking for length, weight and location data for alligator gar and emerald/eyetail bowfin from across their range for a study. If you have any, can you share? #GarWeek
November 5, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Hey Gar (and other toothy fish) enthusiasts, my lab group is looking for length, weight and location data for alligator gar and emerald/eyetail bowfin from across their range for a study. If you have any, can you share? #GarWeek