Stats For Bios
@statsforbios.bsky.social
Statistics for biologists, medics, statisticians. Anyone really. By Tim Lucas, lecturer in epi/stats.
I used to make models that tried to look a bit like the real world. Now I rarely do that. Instead I make models that ask questions about the real world.
And this is reflected in a fundamental change in what interests me. My core interest now is "what sort of questions can be answered?".
And this is reflected in a fundamental change in what interests me. My core interest now is "what sort of questions can be answered?".
December 20, 2025 at 8:41 PM
I used to make models that tried to look a bit like the real world. Now I rarely do that. Instead I make models that ask questions about the real world.
And this is reflected in a fundamental change in what interests me. My core interest now is "what sort of questions can be answered?".
And this is reflected in a fundamental change in what interests me. My core interest now is "what sort of questions can be answered?".
"Church-Turing thesis, Theodore Roszak version: Computers are ridiculous. So is science in general."
From Gödel, Escher, Bach.
Think I can get behind this.
From Gödel, Escher, Bach.
Think I can get behind this.
December 20, 2025 at 8:18 PM
"Church-Turing thesis, Theodore Roszak version: Computers are ridiculous. So is science in general."
From Gödel, Escher, Bach.
Think I can get behind this.
From Gödel, Escher, Bach.
Think I can get behind this.
Reposted by Stats For Bios
The {spatialRF} R package is back from the dead 🧟
Version 1.1.5 🚑, now available on CRAN, patches issues introduced by recent API changes across several dependencies.
A development roadmap for the coming months is available here:: blasbenito.github.io/spatialRF/ar...
#rstats
Version 1.1.5 🚑, now available on CRAN, patches issues introduced by recent API changes across several dependencies.
A development roadmap for the coming months is available here:: blasbenito.github.io/spatialRF/ar...
#rstats
Development Roadmap
blasbenito.github.io
December 20, 2025 at 9:17 AM
The {spatialRF} R package is back from the dead 🧟
Version 1.1.5 🚑, now available on CRAN, patches issues introduced by recent API changes across several dependencies.
A development roadmap for the coming months is available here:: blasbenito.github.io/spatialRF/ar...
#rstats
Version 1.1.5 🚑, now available on CRAN, patches issues introduced by recent API changes across several dependencies.
A development roadmap for the coming months is available here:: blasbenito.github.io/spatialRF/ar...
#rstats
"the task of replacing a burnt-out light bulb may turn out to require moving a garbage bag; this may unexpectedly cause the spilling of a box of pills, which then forces the floor to be swept so that the dog won't eat the pills."
Glad to see Hal's lightbulb is in Gödel, Escher, Bach
Glad to see Hal's lightbulb is in Gödel, Escher, Bach
December 19, 2025 at 10:16 PM
"the task of replacing a burnt-out light bulb may turn out to require moving a garbage bag; this may unexpectedly cause the spilling of a box of pills, which then forces the floor to be swept so that the dog won't eat the pills."
Glad to see Hal's lightbulb is in Gödel, Escher, Bach
Glad to see Hal's lightbulb is in Gödel, Escher, Bach
Have intros in papers got a lot shorter? Trying to find a good example for a student and half the papers I'm looking at have an intro section that's 3 or even 2 paragraphs long.
December 19, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Have intros in papers got a lot shorter? Trying to find a good example for a student and half the papers I'm looking at have an intro section that's 3 or even 2 paragraphs long.
Reposted by Stats For Bios
I'll forever be reminded of this blog post blog.genesmindsmachines.com/p/if-your-ra...
If your random seed is 42 I will come to your office and set your computer on fire🔥
Figuratively. More likely you'll get a stern talking to.
blog.genesmindsmachines.com
December 18, 2025 at 8:19 PM
I'll forever be reminded of this blog post blog.genesmindsmachines.com/p/if-your-ra...
My band released music. Metal/hardcore type stuff if you're interested. First song has catchiest chorus of any song from any band I've been in. Which makes me happy. open.spotify.com/album/255oBg...
Forget My Eyes
open.spotify.com
December 18, 2025 at 1:37 PM
My band released music. Metal/hardcore type stuff if you're interested. First song has catchiest chorus of any song from any band I've been in. Which makes me happy. open.spotify.com/album/255oBg...
I got a model with attention running in R (lots of help from chatgpt). Now to see what the smallest model/dataset that actually does something interesting is. All just play to help myself understand.
Really good explanation of attention in llms.
One bit it doesn't cover is how the different bits are learned from data.
www.adaptive-ml.com/post/attenti...
One bit it doesn't cover is how the different bits are learned from data.
www.adaptive-ml.com/post/attenti...
December 18, 2025 at 8:59 AM
I got a model with attention running in R (lots of help from chatgpt). Now to see what the smallest model/dataset that actually does something interesting is. All just play to help myself understand.
"That's what the Babel of languages is like here. I'm the resulting chromatic chords, we can see that the gods detest tediousness and humans cannot tolerate sameness." The Future of Silence, Kim Aeran
December 18, 2025 at 8:56 AM
"That's what the Babel of languages is like here. I'm the resulting chromatic chords, we can see that the gods detest tediousness and humans cannot tolerate sameness." The Future of Silence, Kim Aeran
Incredible hand-drawn #dataviz here. Subject matter (F1) may be uninteresting to you but it's definitely worth the watch anyway.
youtube.com/shorts/VACix...
youtube.com/shorts/VACix...
The 2025 F1 Season Down To The Finest Details ✍️
YouTube video by FORMULA 1
youtube.com
December 15, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Incredible hand-drawn #dataviz here. Subject matter (F1) may be uninteresting to you but it's definitely worth the watch anyway.
youtube.com/shorts/VACix...
youtube.com/shorts/VACix...
Really good explanation of attention in llms.
One bit it doesn't cover is how the different bits are learned from data.
www.adaptive-ml.com/post/attenti...
One bit it doesn't cover is how the different bits are learned from data.
www.adaptive-ml.com/post/attenti...
December 13, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Really good explanation of attention in llms.
One bit it doesn't cover is how the different bits are learned from data.
www.adaptive-ml.com/post/attenti...
One bit it doesn't cover is how the different bits are learned from data.
www.adaptive-ml.com/post/attenti...
There is no reason to put a qr code somewhere that people will be viewing in their phones/computers. That's what links are for.
The only (debatable) use of a qr code is printed media or slides. I.e. places people can see but aren't controlling the device.
The only (debatable) use of a qr code is printed media or slides. I.e. places people can see but aren't controlling the device.
December 10, 2025 at 8:57 AM
There is no reason to put a qr code somewhere that people will be viewing in their phones/computers. That's what links are for.
The only (debatable) use of a qr code is printed media or slides. I.e. places people can see but aren't controlling the device.
The only (debatable) use of a qr code is printed media or slides. I.e. places people can see but aren't controlling the device.
Reposted by Stats For Bios
Today is the last day to submit proposals to speak at the rainbowR conference 🌈 Deadline is midnight, Anywhere on Earth time.
#RStats #QueerData
#RStats #QueerData
Would you like to present at the inaugural rainbowR conference?
If you're LGBTQ+, we'd love you to tell us
🦄💻 How you use R
🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ How you work with LGBTQ+ data
Call for submissions extended to December 8th.
conference.rainbowr.org/abstracts
#RStats #QueerData
If you're LGBTQ+, we'd love you to tell us
🦄💻 How you use R
🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ How you work with LGBTQ+ data
Call for submissions extended to December 8th.
conference.rainbowr.org/abstracts
#RStats #QueerData
Abstracts – rainbowR conference
conference.rainbowr.org
December 8, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Today is the last day to submit proposals to speak at the rainbowR conference 🌈 Deadline is midnight, Anywhere on Earth time.
#RStats #QueerData
#RStats #QueerData
How the fuck is office 365 13GB!? It does the same thing it did 10 years ago. It does the same thing as libre office which is probably like 13kb.
Laptop hard drives aren't particularly getting bigger. But software bloat is. Gimme a 4TB laptop hard drive and you can have your 13GB word processor.
Laptop hard drives aren't particularly getting bigger. But software bloat is. Gimme a 4TB laptop hard drive and you can have your 13GB word processor.
December 3, 2025 at 12:18 PM
How the fuck is office 365 13GB!? It does the same thing it did 10 years ago. It does the same thing as libre office which is probably like 13kb.
Laptop hard drives aren't particularly getting bigger. But software bloat is. Gimme a 4TB laptop hard drive and you can have your 13GB word processor.
Laptop hard drives aren't particularly getting bigger. But software bloat is. Gimme a 4TB laptop hard drive and you can have your 13GB word processor.
Well I can safely conclude that chatgpt is unable to usefully help me with my stata problem.
I want to:
define a likelihood function
evaluate that likelihood over a grid
plot it
I want to:
define a likelihood function
evaluate that likelihood over a grid
plot it
December 2, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Well I can safely conclude that chatgpt is unable to usefully help me with my stata problem.
I want to:
define a likelihood function
evaluate that likelihood over a grid
plot it
I want to:
define a likelihood function
evaluate that likelihood over a grid
plot it
Two factor is just so annoying. Trying to log in to a shared band email address (not something I use weekly). Having to text the old guitarist to get him to 2FA me.
I just want to sign a waiver and have an insecure email address. This is not an important piece of private identity.
I just want to sign a waiver and have an insecure email address. This is not an important piece of private identity.
November 26, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Two factor is just so annoying. Trying to log in to a shared band email address (not something I use weekly). Having to text the old guitarist to get him to 2FA me.
I just want to sign a waiver and have an insecure email address. This is not an important piece of private identity.
I just want to sign a waiver and have an insecure email address. This is not an important piece of private identity.
Reposted by Stats For Bios
CANSSI postdoc w/ Alex Stringer (Waterloo) www.alexstringer.ca and me (McMaster): implementing/exploring Gauss-Hermite quadrature methods in lme4/glmmTMB canssi.ca/wp-content/u... (Alex has shown that Laplace approx is sometimes awful, we'd like to provide alternatives!) canssi.ca/program/dist...
Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowships – CANSSI
canssi.ca
November 24, 2025 at 10:04 PM
CANSSI postdoc w/ Alex Stringer (Waterloo) www.alexstringer.ca and me (McMaster): implementing/exploring Gauss-Hermite quadrature methods in lme4/glmmTMB canssi.ca/wp-content/u... (Alex has shown that Laplace approx is sometimes awful, we'd like to provide alternatives!) canssi.ca/program/dist...
I've been using dreaming Spanish for a couple of years and think it's great. They just released dreaming French if you're looking to learn.
www.dreaming.com/french
www.dreaming.com/french
November 20, 2025 at 7:36 PM
I've been using dreaming Spanish for a couple of years and think it's great. They just released dreaming French if you're looking to learn.
www.dreaming.com/french
www.dreaming.com/french
Brighton, Brighton by the sea, we are Brighton, Brighton by the sea and we'll viz you up, whoever you may be cause we are Brighton, Brighton by the sea.
Day 17 #30DayMapChallenge - Sussex Street Network Orientation
I used {OSMnx} in #Python which can be used to visualise street network orientations using polar plots. Some places (e.g. Haywards Heath) are sprawling while others (Brighton & Hove) are more clearly organised grid-like.
#dataviz
I used {OSMnx} in #Python which can be used to visualise street network orientations using polar plots. Some places (e.g. Haywards Heath) are sprawling while others (Brighton & Hove) are more clearly organised grid-like.
#dataviz
November 20, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Brighton, Brighton by the sea, we are Brighton, Brighton by the sea and we'll viz you up, whoever you may be cause we are Brighton, Brighton by the sea.
Huh, never thought of Brighton as a grid. The area I grew up in up in, and place I hung out in like the Lanes weren't. Guess lots of Hove and along the seasfront is.
Day 17 #30DayMapChallenge - Sussex Street Network Orientation
I used {OSMnx} in #Python which can be used to visualise street network orientations using polar plots. Some places (e.g. Haywards Heath) are sprawling while others (Brighton & Hove) are more clearly organised grid-like.
#dataviz
I used {OSMnx} in #Python which can be used to visualise street network orientations using polar plots. Some places (e.g. Haywards Heath) are sprawling while others (Brighton & Hove) are more clearly organised grid-like.
#dataviz
November 20, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Huh, never thought of Brighton as a grid. The area I grew up in up in, and place I hung out in like the Lanes weren't. Guess lots of Hove and along the seasfront is.
"I’m more likely now to check the weather forecast for night than day." @mothyblackburn.bsky.social in The Jewel Box. This really tickled me for some reason.
November 19, 2025 at 10:19 PM
"I’m more likely now to check the weather forecast for night than day." @mothyblackburn.bsky.social in The Jewel Box. This really tickled me for some reason.
Oh wow. Mind blown. #StatsSky
The default prior for the intercept in both {rstanarm} and {brms} are very wide.
Counterintuitively - being on the logit scale, this is actually translates to a **strong** prior that p(y=1) is near 1 or near 0.
Always check your priors!
#rstats
Counterintuitively - being on the logit scale, this is actually translates to a **strong** prior that p(y=1) is near 1 or near 0.
Always check your priors!
#rstats
November 18, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Oh wow. Mind blown. #StatsSky
Wow sheets and pages are shit. A) just bad (possibly subjective and that I'm not used to them) and B) really un-interoperable with office.
If libre office can do it I'm sure apple can.
If libre office can do it I'm sure apple can.
November 15, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Wow sheets and pages are shit. A) just bad (possibly subjective and that I'm not used to them) and B) really un-interoperable with office.
If libre office can do it I'm sure apple can.
If libre office can do it I'm sure apple can.
Got back from ASTMH to discover that the Canadian dollar is worth half of what I thought it was! Those beers suddenly feel much less of a burden on my wallet.
November 15, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Got back from ASTMH to discover that the Canadian dollar is worth half of what I thought it was! Those beers suddenly feel much less of a burden on my wallet.
Don't apologise for small font on slides, fix it! Streamline sentences, prioritise content and spread over multiple slides.
November 13, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Don't apologise for small font on slides, fix it! Streamline sentences, prioritise content and spread over multiple slides.