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Andrew Kniss

@wyoweeds.bsky.social

4.6K followers 1.3K following 560 posts

I kill things for science (mostly plants). I study crops, weeds, and sometimes other things at a University in Wyoming (but this is a personal account). I like taking photos and writing #Rstats code, but not at the same time. PlantOutOfPlace.com

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Andrew Kniss @wyoweeds.bsky.social · Aug 2

Nearly 20 or so years ago, my friend Gustavo and I learned what manure tea is. I'd like to tell you all a story about that experience. #Agriculture #Science #Friendship

Reposted by Andrew Kniss

Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 9h

www.wweek.com/culture/2025...

Can you put into words what that purpose is? You and the frog have really become icons of this protest.

There’s been a nice overall whimsy that has shown up. The frog is amazing. We had a bunch of other inflatable people here last night, too. I saw people playing Twister the other day.

What they rely on is fear. So by coming out in an absurdist manner, it speaks to them, to some extent, that we’re actually not that afraid.

It also dismantles their narrative a little bit. When they try to describe this situation as “war-torn,” it becomes much harder to take them seriously when they have to post a video saying [U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security] Kristi Noem is up on the balcony staring over the Antifa Army and it’s, like, eight journalists and five protesters and one of them is in a chicken suit.

Andrew Kniss @wyoweeds.bsky.social · 9h

Tonight I learned that I follow more baseball people than football people.

Reposted by Andrew Kniss

The Daily Show @thedailyshow.com · 14h

The following is REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.

Andrew Kniss @wyoweeds.bsky.social · 13h

this might be the most typo-ridden thread I've ever written

Andrew Kniss @wyoweeds.bsky.social · 13h

SO: We don't do studies to make proof.

If your goal is to generate data in support of something, you'll probably succeed. But if your goal is to actually learn the truth, then you should be doing studies to disprove or invalidate your best hypotheses.

Andrew Kniss @wyoweeds.bsky.social · 13h

And if you fail to disprove your idea? Well, that's often the strongest evidence that the idea is correct! The best hypotheses and theories are the ones that remain intact after many attempts to disprove them.

Andrew Kniss @wyoweeds.bsky.social · 13h

The best way to have a hypothesis or theory stand the test of time, is to do our best to prove it wrong. Find the biggest weakness or alternate explanation and rigorously test those things. If you disprove your idea, then you've learned something extremely important!

Andrew Kniss @wyoweeds.bsky.social · 13h

So what *should* we do if we want to really learn if our idea is correct?

We should try to *disprove* our idea.

Andrew Kniss @wyoweeds.bsky.social · 13h

If I'm motivated to support an idea, I can think of LOTS of ways to generate data to support the idea. But this is a problem. Generating data to find 'proof' of something doesn't lead us towards finding the truth; it just further entrenches us in believing that idea (even if it's wrong).

Andrew Kniss @wyoweeds.bsky.social · 13h

And also, if our goal is to prove something, there's LOTS of ways to generate data that support our idea. Like just look at the internet — you can find data to support ANYTHING. A dozen years ago, there was some 'science' that sequenced bogfoot's DNA.

Andrew Kniss @wyoweeds.bsky.social · 13h

Designing a good study to test our ideas can often be counter-intuitive. If, for example, we want to know if X causes Y, then we typically don't to set up a study to try to "prove" that X causes Y. In part, becuase causal studies are challenging, and there can be a lot of confounding factors.

Andrew Kniss @wyoweeds.bsky.social · 13h

We want to know if our ideas are correct or not. So we do research! Designing studies to test our ideas is one of the most difficult but rewarding parts of the job, in my opinion.

Andrew Kniss @wyoweeds.bsky.social · 13h

Scientists have ideas about how things work. Sometimes our ideas are wrong, and sometimes our ideas are correct. And most often, we're probably in the middle somewhere. Not completely wrong, but we not fully understand the whole process/system/whatever.

Andrew Kniss @wyoweeds.bsky.social · 13h

My quoted tweet below was mocking RFK Jr. because he should know better as head of HHS and someone who claims to 'follow the science.' But also - I think this is a common misconception so I'm going to address it earnestly.

Why do we conduct research, if not to 'make proof?'

Andrew Kniss @wyoweeds.bsky.social · 14h

I, a scientist, definitely do studies to make proof.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 17h

RFK Jr on Tylenol and autism: "It is not proof. We're doing the studies to make the proof."

Andrew Kniss @wyoweeds.bsky.social · 14h

I, a scientist, definitely do studies to make proof.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 17h

RFK Jr on Tylenol and autism: "It is not proof. We're doing the studies to make the proof."

Andrew Kniss @wyoweeds.bsky.social · 1d

I stopped reading papers regularly when everything went online... I'd always look through the table of contents when a new issue arrived in the mail, and read or skim the ones that seemed interesting. I find it harder to catch up without that regular physical reminder.

Andrew Kniss @wyoweeds.bsky.social · 1d

(these are my two most highly cited papers...)

Andrew Kniss @wyoweeds.bsky.social · 1d

I published 2 papers as a direct result of some Twitter discussions that made me go find data to answer questions.

1) www.nature.com/articles/nco...

2) www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Andrew Kniss @wyoweeds.bsky.social · 1d

The photo is straight out of the camera, but for some reason looks to me like the duck was just pasted there with a photo editor. 😂🦆 #photography

A photo of a duck walking on grass with cat tails in the background. You can't see the ducks legs, so it kind of looks like the duck was badly photos hopped into the scene.

Andrew Kniss @wyoweeds.bsky.social · 6d

Obviously, nobody really knows. But if that's the perception of people close to the issue? Jeez.

Andrew Kniss @wyoweeds.bsky.social · 6d

Someone who is relatively well connected at USDA told me yesterday that lots of folks in DC have the over/under for the shutdown at 30 days...

Andrew Kniss @wyoweeds.bsky.social · 7d

Those were the days.

a pixelated image of a cartoon character with a blue nose

Alt: an animated gif image of Ren & Stimpy (cartoon characters) with tears in their eyes with the text "Memories..." appearing at the bottom

media.tenor.com

Andrew Kniss @wyoweeds.bsky.social · 7d

#bees #flowers #photography

A yellow and orange bee visiting a purple flower against a green background.

Andrew Kniss @wyoweeds.bsky.social · 7d

Please post the Snakes on a Plane thing there and report back what you find.

Andrew Kniss @wyoweeds.bsky.social · 7d

I saw this post 5 days after it was released. Snakes on a Plane was released nearly 20 years ago, and I still haven't seen it.

I don't know whether this is evidence in support of, or against your claim.