Josh Knecht
@knechtfour.bsky.social
PhD student studying evolutionary genetics at Binghamton University.
Reposted by Josh Knecht
Non-disabled people taking advantage of accommodations is an order of magnitude less of an issue than people with disabilities not being accommodated appropriately.
December 2, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Non-disabled people taking advantage of accommodations is an order of magnitude less of an issue than people with disabilities not being accommodated appropriately.
Reposted by Josh Knecht
one thing worth observing here is that so many of these pundits aren't earnestly trying to understand what happened in the world as much as they are shadowboxing with people they don't like on the internet. stringinamaze.net/p/the-pundit...
December 3, 2025 at 2:40 AM
one thing worth observing here is that so many of these pundits aren't earnestly trying to understand what happened in the world as much as they are shadowboxing with people they don't like on the internet. stringinamaze.net/p/the-pundit...
Reposted by Josh Knecht
“The math is brutal and the juxtaposition stark: millions for OpenAI while pink slips go out to longtime lecturers. The CSU isn’t investing in education—it’s outsourcing it, paying premium prices for a chatbot many students were already using for free.“
www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
AI is Destroying the University and Learning Itself
Students use AI to write papers, professors use AI to grade them, degrees become meaningless, and tech companies make fortunes. Welcome to the death of higher education.
www.currentaffairs.org
December 3, 2025 at 2:58 AM
“The math is brutal and the juxtaposition stark: millions for OpenAI while pink slips go out to longtime lecturers. The CSU isn’t investing in education—it’s outsourcing it, paying premium prices for a chatbot many students were already using for free.“
www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
Reposted by Josh Knecht
Does anyone here know about Hi-C heatmaps? What do you think of this one? I feel like the patterns of the first and last five chromosomes are different. Would you agree? What do you think that is? Asking for a friend.
December 2, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Does anyone here know about Hi-C heatmaps? What do you think of this one? I feel like the patterns of the first and last five chromosomes are different. Would you agree? What do you think that is? Asking for a friend.
Reposted by Josh Knecht
We are recruiting Guest Faculty for the 2026 Amazon Research Initiative for Educators in the Peruvian Amazon!!
🌴 🐸 🐒 🦎 🌱
@morphoinstitute.org
July 11-25, 2026 at the Amazon Conservatory for Tropical Studies (morphoinstitute.org/actsperu/)
For more info and to apply: forms.gle/hxgaiPuYhdfD...
🌴 🐸 🐒 🦎 🌱
@morphoinstitute.org
July 11-25, 2026 at the Amazon Conservatory for Tropical Studies (morphoinstitute.org/actsperu/)
For more info and to apply: forms.gle/hxgaiPuYhdfD...
2026 Amazon Research Initiative for Educators Guest Faculty Questionnaire
When: July 11-25, 2026 in Loreto, Peru
Where: Amazon Conservatory for Tropical Studies in the Napo-Sucusari Biological Reserve, Loreto, Peru (outside of the city of Iquitos)
ARIE Program Details: w...
forms.gle
December 2, 2025 at 8:47 PM
We are recruiting Guest Faculty for the 2026 Amazon Research Initiative for Educators in the Peruvian Amazon!!
🌴 🐸 🐒 🦎 🌱
@morphoinstitute.org
July 11-25, 2026 at the Amazon Conservatory for Tropical Studies (morphoinstitute.org/actsperu/)
For more info and to apply: forms.gle/hxgaiPuYhdfD...
🌴 🐸 🐒 🦎 🌱
@morphoinstitute.org
July 11-25, 2026 at the Amazon Conservatory for Tropical Studies (morphoinstitute.org/actsperu/)
For more info and to apply: forms.gle/hxgaiPuYhdfD...
Reposted by Josh Knecht
it's wild that R, the ubiquitous statistical computing language, was co-created by a Māori prof (Ross Ihaka) — and yet the vast majority of scientists who use R don't know
this is like inventing the toaster. possibly the largest impact of a single member of an indigenous community on modern science
this is like inventing the toaster. possibly the largest impact of a single member of an indigenous community on modern science
December 14, 2023 at 10:35 AM
it's wild that R, the ubiquitous statistical computing language, was co-created by a Māori prof (Ross Ihaka) — and yet the vast majority of scientists who use R don't know
this is like inventing the toaster. possibly the largest impact of a single member of an indigenous community on modern science
this is like inventing the toaster. possibly the largest impact of a single member of an indigenous community on modern science
Reposted by Josh Knecht
Science question: does your lab have a MinION sequencer and does it work well? Worth the money? (thanks for any opinions!)
December 2, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Science question: does your lab have a MinION sequencer and does it work well? Worth the money? (thanks for any opinions!)
Reposted by Josh Knecht
One week left to sign up for my online regression course raising funds for World Central Kitchen and United Farm Workers! Come learn how to actually justify statements like “a linear model is good enough for this application”. For course and registration details see betanalpha.github.io/courses/.
December 2, 2025 at 5:18 AM
One week left to sign up for my online regression course raising funds for World Central Kitchen and United Farm Workers! Come learn how to actually justify statements like “a linear model is good enough for this application”. For course and registration details see betanalpha.github.io/courses/.
Reposted by Josh Knecht
Like, on the one hand, the story certainly gives me the facts to assess that myself, and that's all well and good; but on the other hand concluding that there does need to be improved safety oversight really misses the point that the administration is absolutely not actually concerned about safety
December 1, 2025 at 11:30 PM
Like, on the one hand, the story certainly gives me the facts to assess that myself, and that's all well and good; but on the other hand concluding that there does need to be improved safety oversight really misses the point that the administration is absolutely not actually concerned about safety
Reposted by Josh Knecht
New post by me on #MITPressReader @mitpress.bsky.social
On the 100th anniversary of the #ScopesMonkeyTrial
the ways we depict #evolution can still give an erroneous progressive view (that evolution leads to humans or ‘increased complexity’).
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/is-our-pictu...
On the 100th anniversary of the #ScopesMonkeyTrial
the ways we depict #evolution can still give an erroneous progressive view (that evolution leads to humans or ‘increased complexity’).
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/is-our-pictu...
December 1, 2025 at 5:56 PM
New post by me on #MITPressReader @mitpress.bsky.social
On the 100th anniversary of the #ScopesMonkeyTrial
the ways we depict #evolution can still give an erroneous progressive view (that evolution leads to humans or ‘increased complexity’).
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/is-our-pictu...
On the 100th anniversary of the #ScopesMonkeyTrial
the ways we depict #evolution can still give an erroneous progressive view (that evolution leads to humans or ‘increased complexity’).
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/is-our-pictu...
Reposted by Josh Knecht
being ruled by tiny men bereft of both curiosity and the ability to feel wonder is a terrible fate
November 30, 2025 at 3:39 PM
being ruled by tiny men bereft of both curiosity and the ability to feel wonder is a terrible fate
Reposted by Josh Knecht
if youre trans and youre struggling to justify why you as a person should be allowed to take up space in the universe just consider that by your sheer existence you make a lot of the worst people on earth mad enough that they will die early deaths from stress. so thats a p good reason
November 21, 2025 at 1:37 AM
if youre trans and youre struggling to justify why you as a person should be allowed to take up space in the universe just consider that by your sheer existence you make a lot of the worst people on earth mad enough that they will die early deaths from stress. so thats a p good reason
Reposted by Josh Knecht
I’m guessing once the actual data comes out, time for another how-not-to-do-science example for the #causalinference portion of my biostats class.
Big change: FDA to impose strict new vaccine requirements under RFK Jr ally
Vinay Prasad signaled changes to annual flu shots, concurrent vaccines + more
Prasad said his team found link between covid-19 shots and kids' deaths, necessitating a new approach overall
with @rachelroubein.bsky.social
Vinay Prasad signaled changes to annual flu shots, concurrent vaccines + more
Prasad said his team found link between covid-19 shots and kids' deaths, necessitating a new approach overall
with @rachelroubein.bsky.social
FDA to impose strict new vaccine requirements, claiming child covid shot deaths
Vinay Prasad, the nation’s top vaccine regulator, said his team concluded that coronavirus shots were linked to children’s deaths, necessitating a new approach.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 29, 2025 at 3:25 PM
I’m guessing once the actual data comes out, time for another how-not-to-do-science example for the #causalinference portion of my biostats class.
Reposted by Josh Knecht
The same people who naively embrace "genetics" as the explanation for complex social outcomes (e.g., poverty, crime, "IQ" / standardized test scores) are happy to reject genetic explanations for autism in favor of half-baked, unsupported theories that allow them to blame moms. And sell them stuff.
November 28, 2025 at 5:59 PM
The same people who naively embrace "genetics" as the explanation for complex social outcomes (e.g., poverty, crime, "IQ" / standardized test scores) are happy to reject genetic explanations for autism in favor of half-baked, unsupported theories that allow them to blame moms. And sell them stuff.
Reposted by Josh Knecht
The problem with fetishizing the rule of law is that people have to break the law to resist fascism, state violence, and oppression. This has always been true, and is very much the case RIGHT NOW.
November 29, 2025 at 1:44 AM
The problem with fetishizing the rule of law is that people have to break the law to resist fascism, state violence, and oppression. This has always been true, and is very much the case RIGHT NOW.
Reposted by Josh Knecht
I'm increasingly interested in race science as a form of cultivated, weaponized statistical illiteracy. Take this figure, one of the most common propaganda plots, plotting national IQ data against education polygenic scores. "The correlation is so high! Clearly IQ differences are genetic!"
Oops!
Oops!
November 28, 2025 at 11:31 PM
I'm increasingly interested in race science as a form of cultivated, weaponized statistical illiteracy. Take this figure, one of the most common propaganda plots, plotting national IQ data against education polygenic scores. "The correlation is so high! Clearly IQ differences are genetic!"
Oops!
Oops!
Reposted by Josh Knecht
The media treated Biden's pardon of Hunter for trumped-up gun possession charges as more scandalous - far more scandalous - than Trump's pardon of war criminal serial killer Eddie Gallagher. And here we are:
Exclusive: Hegseth ordered everyone killed in the first alleged drug boat strike on Sept. 2, prompting a second hit to finish off survivors in the water in a mission led by SEAL Team 6. Ordering no quarter could legally perilous www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill all crew members in the Sept. 2 strike on a suspected drug boat. Navy SEALs fired a second missile.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 28, 2025 at 6:38 PM
The media treated Biden's pardon of Hunter for trumped-up gun possession charges as more scandalous - far more scandalous - than Trump's pardon of war criminal serial killer Eddie Gallagher. And here we are:
Reposted by Josh Knecht
Reposted by Josh Knecht
Applications now open for the International Travel Stipends to attend #Evol2026! Funds cover registration, travel, food, and lodging. Apply by January 30: www.evolutionsociety.org/content/soci... @evolmtg.bsky.social
November 26, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Applications now open for the International Travel Stipends to attend #Evol2026! Funds cover registration, travel, food, and lodging. Apply by January 30: www.evolutionsociety.org/content/soci... @evolmtg.bsky.social
Reposted by Josh Knecht
this is just gutter racism
Stephen Miller is now arguing that assimilation is fundamentally impossible and that certain cultures are not compatible with Western civilization
November 28, 2025 at 12:59 PM
this is just gutter racism
Reposted by Josh Knecht
Suggested curse:
May everyone responsible for this ballroom construction be faced with, at minimum, 3 people singing "Why have a ballroom with no balls?" from For the First Time In Forever at them daily.
May everyone responsible for this ballroom construction be faced with, at minimum, 3 people singing "Why have a ballroom with no balls?" from For the First Time In Forever at them daily.
If they ever get around to building this thing, it should be bulldozed on Day 1 of a new administration. No messing around, no hemming and hawing about procedure or costs. Order heavy equipment in and start knocking it down immediately, as surely as an overthrown tyrant's statues would be torn down.
Even the architect Trump hired to build his massive addition to the White House objects to the president's vision. The two have argued about the size of the 90,000-sq-foot project that would dwarf the mansion. @jonathanreports.bsky.social @ddiamond.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
November 28, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Suggested curse:
May everyone responsible for this ballroom construction be faced with, at minimum, 3 people singing "Why have a ballroom with no balls?" from For the First Time In Forever at them daily.
May everyone responsible for this ballroom construction be faced with, at minimum, 3 people singing "Why have a ballroom with no balls?" from For the First Time In Forever at them daily.
Reposted by Josh Knecht
Labor gaining just the tiniest amount of power relative to capital a few years back absolutely broke employers' brains
While work-life balance may give you a sense of happiness and fulfillment, it isn’t always realistic, says Walmart executive vice president and chief people officer Donna Morris.
Walmart exec: ‘I’ve never believed in the term work-life balance’—this is the mantra that made her highly successful instead
Many professionals see work-life balance as a non-negotiable. Walmart CPO Donna Morris says people should practice work-life integration instead. Here's why.
cnb.cx
November 27, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Labor gaining just the tiniest amount of power relative to capital a few years back absolutely broke employers' brains
Reposted by Josh Knecht
I'm old.
If you're not, listen to this.
Get a guitar or some drums, or a trumpet. Pick up a brush, a pencil, some clay or a welder.
Just make shit. It doesn't have to be good (eventually it will be) just make music, art or write or whatever.
It's literally never been more important.
If you're not, listen to this.
Get a guitar or some drums, or a trumpet. Pick up a brush, a pencil, some clay or a welder.
Just make shit. It doesn't have to be good (eventually it will be) just make music, art or write or whatever.
It's literally never been more important.
November 27, 2025 at 4:21 AM
I'm old.
If you're not, listen to this.
Get a guitar or some drums, or a trumpet. Pick up a brush, a pencil, some clay or a welder.
Just make shit. It doesn't have to be good (eventually it will be) just make music, art or write or whatever.
It's literally never been more important.
If you're not, listen to this.
Get a guitar or some drums, or a trumpet. Pick up a brush, a pencil, some clay or a welder.
Just make shit. It doesn't have to be good (eventually it will be) just make music, art or write or whatever.
It's literally never been more important.
Reposted by Josh Knecht
Again, turkeys are 70-80% off from today onwards and last a year in the freezer.
If you’ve got a chest freezer in the garage that’s good soup, stew, and smoker meat for the whole winter for a really good price.
If you’ve got a chest freezer in the garage that’s good soup, stew, and smoker meat for the whole winter for a really good price.
November 27, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Again, turkeys are 70-80% off from today onwards and last a year in the freezer.
If you’ve got a chest freezer in the garage that’s good soup, stew, and smoker meat for the whole winter for a really good price.
If you’ve got a chest freezer in the garage that’s good soup, stew, and smoker meat for the whole winter for a really good price.
Reposted by Josh Knecht
New #mimulus preprint! We found grandparental environments exhibit strong effects on the fitness of their grand-offspring and whether this was positive or negative depended on the historical environment, showing TGP is locally adaptive
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Transgenerational plasticity affects fitness and mediates local adaptation
Transgenerational plasticity (TGP) could be as decisive of a factor in phenotypic outcomes as allelic variation and within-generation plasticity. While TGP is often associated with priming offspring t...
www.biorxiv.org
November 26, 2025 at 5:42 PM
New #mimulus preprint! We found grandparental environments exhibit strong effects on the fitness of their grand-offspring and whether this was positive or negative depended on the historical environment, showing TGP is locally adaptive
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...