Richard Sever
@richardsever.bsky.social
Chief Science and Strategy Officer, openRxiv. Co-Founder, bioRxiv and medRxiv.
Yep - that’s what I’m intrigued by. Because it’s not quite pseudoscience but as you say something where there are just many better candidates one should choose first given finite resources. So why a serious researcher would endorse this is interesting
February 10, 2026 at 5:06 PM
Yep - that’s what I’m intrigued by. Because it’s not quite pseudoscience but as you say something where there are just many better candidates one should choose first given finite resources. So why a serious researcher would endorse this is interesting
this is why I'm interested. Is the decision indicative of a different type of worry? bsky.app/profile/rich...
right, like taxol. I'm just interested in the logic that gets someone like Letai to endorse this. While there is some logic to it, seems like there are much more promising avenues to pursue. So it's not entirely crazy COVID-type nonsense just not smart science - i.e. a different type of concern
Distill Hiatus
After five years, Distill will be taking a break.
distill.pub
February 10, 2026 at 4:31 PM
this is why I'm interested. Is the decision indicative of a different type of worry? bsky.app/profile/rich...
right, like taxol. I'm just interested in the logic that gets someone like Letai to endorse this. While there is some logic to it, seems like there are much more promising avenues to pursue. So it's not entirely crazy COVID-type nonsense just not smart science - i.e. a different type of concern
Distill Hiatus
After five years, Distill will be taking a break.
distill.pub
February 10, 2026 at 4:30 PM
right, like taxol. I'm just interested in the logic that gets someone like Letai to endorse this. While there is some logic to it, seems like there are much more promising avenues to pursue. So it's not entirely crazy COVID-type nonsense just not smart science - i.e. a different type of concern
Further details of our withdrawal processes are here. TLDR: you can label a paper 'withdrawn' but it remains accessible precisely because it will have been downloaded and traces remain online elsewhere, so a transparent record of what happened is needed connect.biorxiv.org/news/2023/08...
Preprint withdrawals
bioRxiv - the preprint server for biology, operated by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a research and educational institution
connect.biorxiv.org
February 9, 2026 at 12:11 PM
Further details of our withdrawal processes are here. TLDR: you can label a paper 'withdrawn' but it remains accessible precisely because it will have been downloaded and traces remain online elsewhere, so a transparent record of what happened is needed connect.biorxiv.org/news/2023/08...
That is tragic. But the articles and complaints referenced are not about that: they are about the snow being dirty, getting in people's way, etc. It is the temperature not the after effects of the snowstorm that is killing people.
February 8, 2026 at 6:48 PM
That is tragic. But the articles and complaints referenced are not about that: they are about the snow being dirty, getting in people's way, etc. It is the temperature not the after effects of the snowstorm that is killing people.
Meanwhile I remember 2016 under De Blasio when they didn’t get the ploughs out in time…
February 8, 2026 at 3:43 PM
Meanwhile I remember 2016 under De Blasio when they didn’t get the ploughs out in time…
Maybe - but two weeks of sub-zero temperatures plus polar vortex is unusual after snowfall. And look how other cities grind to a halt under 1”.
February 8, 2026 at 3:39 PM
Maybe - but two weeks of sub-zero temperatures plus polar vortex is unusual after snowfall. And look how other cities grind to a halt under 1”.
Reposted by Richard Sever
7️⃣ chablis, frascati, merlot, retsina, riesling, cabernet, grenache, chardonnay, chianti, pinotage, sauternes, weißherbst, zinfandel. A set of zebrafish mutants with defects in embryonic hematopoiesis.
journals.biologists.com/dev/article-...
journals.biologists.com/dev/article-...
Characterization of zebrafish mutants with defects in embryonic hematopoiesis
ABSTRACT. As part of a large scale chemical mutagenesis screen of the zebrafish (Danio rerio) genome, we have identified 33 mutants with defects in hematopoiesis. Complementation analysis placed 32 of...
journals.biologists.com
January 28, 2026 at 10:29 AM
7️⃣ chablis, frascati, merlot, retsina, riesling, cabernet, grenache, chardonnay, chianti, pinotage, sauternes, weißherbst, zinfandel. A set of zebrafish mutants with defects in embryonic hematopoiesis.
journals.biologists.com/dev/article-...
journals.biologists.com/dev/article-...
We should certainly consider whether how much should go into a paper (too much these days), whether some things should even be a paper (not the human genome), and the importance attached to them over other outputs. But I'm not sure the "livestream from my lab" is something anyone really wants 2/2
February 5, 2026 at 10:28 PM
We should certainly consider whether how much should go into a paper (too much these days), whether some things should even be a paper (not the human genome), and the importance attached to them over other outputs. But I'm not sure the "livestream from my lab" is something anyone really wants 2/2
It's appealing in some respects, but I just don't see that's how traditional academic careers operate or syntheses of most ideas/conclusions. You can clearly have continual data generation but that doesn't mean the narratives should not be more discrete. Plus it's not really how citation works. 1/2
February 5, 2026 at 10:26 PM
It's appealing in some respects, but I just don't see that's how traditional academic careers operate or syntheses of most ideas/conclusions. You can clearly have continual data generation but that doesn't mean the narratives should not be more discrete. Plus it's not really how citation works. 1/2
Linking the narrative with data, code, methods, and context is something everyone wants to see, but at some point most people most of the time want to draw a line under a project, mark it complete and move on. Will that change? 2/2
February 5, 2026 at 9:31 PM
Linking the narrative with data, code, methods, and context is something everyone wants to see, but at some point most people most of the time want to draw a line under a project, mark it complete and move on. Will that change? 2/2
look forward to reading it! Lots to think about around these issues
February 4, 2026 at 7:05 PM
look forward to reading it! Lots to think about around these issues
Meanwhile on the AI question John's argument "generating hypotheses has never been the bottleneck for science" reminds me of something a PI at the LMB once said to me, "Everyone has ideas. That's not the difficult bit..."
February 4, 2026 at 2:58 PM
Meanwhile on the AI question John's argument "generating hypotheses has never been the bottleneck for science" reminds me of something a PI at the LMB once said to me, "Everyone has ideas. That's not the difficult bit..."
Yep - 100% my thinking (also in the US)
February 3, 2026 at 11:44 PM
Yep - 100% my thinking (also in the US)