Come for the $1 hot dog, stay for the

I'm delighted to release the first half of my new open-access online textbook in human population genetics:
web.stanford.edu/group/pritchar…

Got flagged by airport security because my son had a Magic 8 Ball in his backpack. Two TSA agents debated whether it was ok. My husband said, “If only we had a simple way to answer a yes or no question…” Crickets.

Well said. I will add, having been actively involved in policy solutions to the AMR problem since 2003, hyperbole DOES NOT HELP! We are substantially better off today than in 2009. The Chicken Little syndrome costs credibility. Constant exaggeration makes solutions less likely.

One big lesson from humanity's history is that pandemics happen all the time.

Our ancestors couldn't do much about them, but our situation today is different — and so I think we should learn this history lesson and reduce the risk of pandemics.

This chart is from Saloni's

Called last night at 1am about an almost pan-resistant organism.
First time in ages since I've needed to remote in and review all the microbiology at night to formulate a plan.
I wonder if the rest of healthcare appreciates how common these organisms are becoming and the

Bureaucracy is a ratchet. Whether from external or internal sources, if there are people whose job it is to insert process or oversight, this will continue to increase unless you actively audit to evaluate the impact on outcomes and work to reduce/replace

While some journals ask you not, my philosophy is that if they do the “reject and resubmit” business then they forfeit any claim until it’s under review again

Checkmate, dd/mm/yy

Given the national return on investment from the NSF (both in economic value and improvement in lives) over the last half century+, underfunding it simply an epic own goal by congress

Phillip Kyriakakis seems hard to argue that one edition of a language model that won’t last more than a year (they’re already training llama4, which will cost more), and is not unique in its capabilities, is more impactful than the largest portfolio of basic scientific research in the US

Looking back at it, they may have been right. We all wish criticism was always constructive. But it isn’t. Learning to profit from *destructive* criticism is the real superpower.

It's started! The 2024 Harvard Microbial Sciences Initiative (MSI) symposium is underway! Kicking us off is Dr. Tanja Bosak talking about the search for life on Mars (past and present).
#MSISymposium

In absolute awe at these old MIT course posters designed by Dietmar Winkler in the 60's: