Revathe Thillaikumar
@revathe.bsky.social
Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow @ the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior | PhD @ JNCASR, India | sociality, learning, development, allomaternal care, culture | Asian elephants & great apes | she/her
Reposted by Revathe Thillaikumar
I'm teaching Statistical Rethinking again starting Jan 2026. This time with live lectures, divided into Beginner and Experienced sections. Will be a lot more work for me, but I hope much better for students.
I will record lectures & all will be found at this link: github.com/rmcelreath/s...
I will record lectures & all will be found at this link: github.com/rmcelreath/s...
December 9, 2025 at 1:58 PM
I'm teaching Statistical Rethinking again starting Jan 2026. This time with live lectures, divided into Beginner and Experienced sections. Will be a lot more work for me, but I hope much better for students.
I will record lectures & all will be found at this link: github.com/rmcelreath/s...
I will record lectures & all will be found at this link: github.com/rmcelreath/s...
Reposted by Revathe Thillaikumar
the reason its bad to run universities like businesses is that almost all businesses fail on any reasonable timeline of evaluation.
hudson's bay made it the longest and even they only got to about half an oxford of longevity
hudson's bay made it the longest and even they only got to about half an oxford of longevity
They claim financial exigency, but then turn down $4 million pledges to keep the PhD programs open and disregard financial analyses that point to the real problem—bad real estate deals, spending on consultants, and their own salaries 2/2
December 6, 2025 at 5:42 PM
the reason its bad to run universities like businesses is that almost all businesses fail on any reasonable timeline of evaluation.
hudson's bay made it the longest and even they only got to about half an oxford of longevity
hudson's bay made it the longest and even they only got to about half an oxford of longevity
Reposted by Revathe Thillaikumar
A study on 1.7 million people in Hong Kong shows superior hybrid immunity to Covid in people who got vaccinated before infection vs. people who got infected first. "Our findings are a direct rebuttal to arguments for natural immunity," the authors write. doi.org/10.1016/j.va...
Redirecting
doi.org
December 6, 2025 at 5:02 PM
A study on 1.7 million people in Hong Kong shows superior hybrid immunity to Covid in people who got vaccinated before infection vs. people who got infected first. "Our findings are a direct rebuttal to arguments for natural immunity," the authors write. doi.org/10.1016/j.va...
Reposted by Revathe Thillaikumar
Spotify is garbage on every count: Its treatment of artists, its ICE advertising, the CEO's investment in military AI, its leading role in the commodification and AI slopification of music, its terrible audio quality—you name it.
So I quit, and put together a complete guide to getting off Spotify:
So I quit, and put together a complete guide to getting off Spotify:
How to quit Spotify
This Black Friday, here's a guide to finding the best Spotify alternative
www.bloodinthemachine.com
December 3, 2025 at 12:09 AM
Spotify is garbage on every count: Its treatment of artists, its ICE advertising, the CEO's investment in military AI, its leading role in the commodification and AI slopification of music, its terrible audio quality—you name it.
So I quit, and put together a complete guide to getting off Spotify:
So I quit, and put together a complete guide to getting off Spotify:
Reposted by Revathe Thillaikumar
Cool paper documenting ecological insights about Indian tropical savannas in traditional literature between the 13th and 20th century. Grassland-scrubland biomes are often misconceived as deforested and/ or degraded wastelands. So, important paper.
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Utilizing traditional literature to triangulate the ecological history of a tropical savanna
Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 5, 2025 at 3:54 AM
Cool paper documenting ecological insights about Indian tropical savannas in traditional literature between the 13th and 20th century. Grassland-scrubland biomes are often misconceived as deforested and/ or degraded wastelands. So, important paper.
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Reposted by Revathe Thillaikumar
The #ASABWinter2025 Tinbergen lecture will be by @toshitakaszk.bsky.social on animal linguistics. He’s studied the communication system of Japanese tits, revealing striking parallels with human language, incl. referential calls, compositional messages & symbolic gestures.
A talk not to be missed…
A talk not to be missed…
December 3, 2025 at 4:55 PM
The #ASABWinter2025 Tinbergen lecture will be by @toshitakaszk.bsky.social on animal linguistics. He’s studied the communication system of Japanese tits, revealing striking parallels with human language, incl. referential calls, compositional messages & symbolic gestures.
A talk not to be missed…
A talk not to be missed…
Reposted by Revathe Thillaikumar
Commissions for 2026 are now open!
Researchers, labs, institutions:
I’m taking new projects. If you need scientific illustrations for figures, posters or presentations, contact me at [email protected]
Let’s bring your research to life with detailed, engaging art! #SciArt
Researchers, labs, institutions:
I’m taking new projects. If you need scientific illustrations for figures, posters or presentations, contact me at [email protected]
Let’s bring your research to life with detailed, engaging art! #SciArt
December 2, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Commissions for 2026 are now open!
Researchers, labs, institutions:
I’m taking new projects. If you need scientific illustrations for figures, posters or presentations, contact me at [email protected]
Let’s bring your research to life with detailed, engaging art! #SciArt
Researchers, labs, institutions:
I’m taking new projects. If you need scientific illustrations for figures, posters or presentations, contact me at [email protected]
Let’s bring your research to life with detailed, engaging art! #SciArt
Reposted by Revathe Thillaikumar
The most basic of data exploration and quality checks would have identified this as a clear spurious correlation from confounded data. Same as with the National IQ case. It's deceptive and plays to people's confirmation bias. The goal is to get people to think every correlation you like is causal.
November 28, 2025 at 11:31 PM
The most basic of data exploration and quality checks would have identified this as a clear spurious correlation from confounded data. Same as with the National IQ case. It's deceptive and plays to people's confirmation bias. The goal is to get people to think every correlation you like is causal.
Reposted by Revathe Thillaikumar
Come join this exciting workshop on social network analysis and social transmission, all within a Bayesian framework!! 💻
And many thanks to @danielredhead.bsky.social and @mchimento.bsky.social for conducting it, I'm looking forward 🤩
More information below 👇
And many thanks to @danielredhead.bsky.social and @mchimento.bsky.social for conducting it, I'm looking forward 🤩
More information below 👇
⏰ Reminder: 10 days left to submit your abstract for Culture Conference 2026!
🧠 Workshop details are now live! Join us for a hands-on day on cutting-edge tools for analysing social networks & social transmission (registration opens soon).
Find all details here: culture-conference.com/workshop/
🧠 Workshop details are now live! Join us for a hands-on day on cutting-edge tools for analysing social networks & social transmission (registration opens soon).
Find all details here: culture-conference.com/workshop/
November 28, 2025 at 9:23 AM
Come join this exciting workshop on social network analysis and social transmission, all within a Bayesian framework!! 💻
And many thanks to @danielredhead.bsky.social and @mchimento.bsky.social for conducting it, I'm looking forward 🤩
More information below 👇
And many thanks to @danielredhead.bsky.social and @mchimento.bsky.social for conducting it, I'm looking forward 🤩
More information below 👇
Reposted by Revathe Thillaikumar
We are happy to announce that registration for ISBE2026 is now open! We encourage you to register as soon as possible to take advantage of reduced fees and to plan your trip and accommodation in advance.
Please read the information on www.isbe2026.com before proceeding with your registration.
Please read the information on www.isbe2026.com before proceeding with your registration.
November 28, 2025 at 6:57 AM
We are happy to announce that registration for ISBE2026 is now open! We encourage you to register as soon as possible to take advantage of reduced fees and to plan your trip and accommodation in advance.
Please read the information on www.isbe2026.com before proceeding with your registration.
Please read the information on www.isbe2026.com before proceeding with your registration.
Reposted by Revathe Thillaikumar
The problems with academic publishing in one graph. The big for-profit publishers get product for free and sell it back to us. Their profits rival those from the big tech companies. This is money that could have supported research, teaching and graduate students.
From: danielroelfs.com/pos...
From: danielroelfs.com/pos...
November 27, 2025 at 8:06 PM
The problems with academic publishing in one graph. The big for-profit publishers get product for free and sell it back to us. Their profits rival those from the big tech companies. This is money that could have supported research, teaching and graduate students.
From: danielroelfs.com/pos...
From: danielroelfs.com/pos...
Reposted by Revathe Thillaikumar
Happy to share my new paper on the nutritional ecology of elephants🌿🐘
Should elephants graze or browse? The nutritional and functional consequences of dietary variation in a mixed-feeding megaherbivore royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
@ncbsbangalore.bsky.social @royalsocietypublishing.org
Should elephants graze or browse? The nutritional and functional consequences of dietary variation in a mixed-feeding megaherbivore royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
@ncbsbangalore.bsky.social @royalsocietypublishing.org
November 27, 2025 at 11:35 AM
Happy to share my new paper on the nutritional ecology of elephants🌿🐘
Should elephants graze or browse? The nutritional and functional consequences of dietary variation in a mixed-feeding megaherbivore royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
@ncbsbangalore.bsky.social @royalsocietypublishing.org
Should elephants graze or browse? The nutritional and functional consequences of dietary variation in a mixed-feeding megaherbivore royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
@ncbsbangalore.bsky.social @royalsocietypublishing.org
Reposted by Revathe Thillaikumar
Excited to introduce the Latent Layers Framework – now out in @behavecol.bsky.social – to help think through when and why network differences confound inference in (comparative) social network analysis! 🧵
tinyurl.com/3k3yahwy
tinyurl.com/3k3yahwy
November 24, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Excited to introduce the Latent Layers Framework – now out in @behavecol.bsky.social – to help think through when and why network differences confound inference in (comparative) social network analysis! 🧵
tinyurl.com/3k3yahwy
tinyurl.com/3k3yahwy
Reposted by Revathe Thillaikumar
Come and join our lab! We have TWO fully funded PhD positions AND a paid field assistant opportunity in our Behavioral Ecology group @uni-goettingen.de & @primatenzentrum.bsky.social. Projects will be part of @rtg2906-curiosity.bsky.social & @sfb1528.bsky.social!!
Details in thread. Please re-post!
Details in thread. Please re-post!
November 25, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Come and join our lab! We have TWO fully funded PhD positions AND a paid field assistant opportunity in our Behavioral Ecology group @uni-goettingen.de & @primatenzentrum.bsky.social. Projects will be part of @rtg2906-curiosity.bsky.social & @sfb1528.bsky.social!!
Details in thread. Please re-post!
Details in thread. Please re-post!
Reposted by Revathe Thillaikumar
Join me as 3-year #postdoc to study Demography of "Reproductive Ageing"
-menopause 🩸infertility 💉older fathers 👨👧 and more
-novel data sources from around the world
-population-level understanding of causes and consequences of reproductive ageing
+ Wonderful research community @mpidr.bsky.social
-menopause 🩸infertility 💉older fathers 👨👧 and more
-novel data sources from around the world
-population-level understanding of causes and consequences of reproductive ageing
+ Wonderful research community @mpidr.bsky.social
📢Job Offer‼️New Max Planck Research Group on Reproductive Ageing
Interview with D. Susie Lee 이수지 Leader of the Group:
https://www.demogr.mpg.de/go/RGRA
Job:
https://www.demogr.mpg.de/en/career_6122/jobs_fellowships_1910/postdoc_research_scientist_in_the_reproductive_ageing_research_group_14844/
Interview with D. Susie Lee 이수지 Leader of the Group:
https://www.demogr.mpg.de/go/RGRA
Job:
https://www.demogr.mpg.de/en/career_6122/jobs_fellowships_1910/postdoc_research_scientist_in_the_reproductive_ageing_research_group_14844/
November 25, 2025 at 7:02 AM
Join me as 3-year #postdoc to study Demography of "Reproductive Ageing"
-menopause 🩸infertility 💉older fathers 👨👧 and more
-novel data sources from around the world
-population-level understanding of causes and consequences of reproductive ageing
+ Wonderful research community @mpidr.bsky.social
-menopause 🩸infertility 💉older fathers 👨👧 and more
-novel data sources from around the world
-population-level understanding of causes and consequences of reproductive ageing
+ Wonderful research community @mpidr.bsky.social
Reposted by Revathe Thillaikumar
Nevada, like many other states in the West, doesn’t charge corporate income tax, and it has also enacted deep tax cuts specifically for data centers that set up shop in the state. That includes abatements of up to 75% on property tax for a decade or two.
November 24, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Nevada, like many other states in the West, doesn’t charge corporate income tax, and it has also enacted deep tax cuts specifically for data centers that set up shop in the state. That includes abatements of up to 75% on property tax for a decade or two.
Reposted by Revathe Thillaikumar
Data centers popping up on Indigenous lands everywhere, but especially perilous to us desert tribes where water availability for crops and for communities have new competition.
The data center boom in the desert
The AI race is transforming northwestern Nevada into one of the world's largest data-center markets—and sparking fears of water strains in the nation’s driest state.
www.technologyreview.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Data centers popping up on Indigenous lands everywhere, but especially perilous to us desert tribes where water availability for crops and for communities have new competition.
Reposted by Revathe Thillaikumar
Our New Paper is out in Nature Human Behaviour: 🚨 Culture is critical in driving orangutan diet development past individual potentials! 🦧 www.nature.com/articles/s41.... See 🧵
Culture is critical in driving orangutan diet development past individual potentials - Nature Human Behaviour
Howard-Spink et al. develop an empirically based model of orangutan diet development, which suggests that social learning is vital for orangutans to acquire varied diets.
www.nature.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Our New Paper is out in Nature Human Behaviour: 🚨 Culture is critical in driving orangutan diet development past individual potentials! 🦧 www.nature.com/articles/s41.... See 🧵
Reposted by Revathe Thillaikumar
Oops. Ooooooooooooops.
I do hope that nobody has been given or denied a job/promotion based on their SpringerNature citation counts in the past 15 years.
arxiv.org/pdf/2511.01675
h/t @nathlarigaldie.bsky.social
I do hope that nobody has been given or denied a job/promotion based on their SpringerNature citation counts in the past 15 years.
arxiv.org/pdf/2511.01675
h/t @nathlarigaldie.bsky.social
November 7, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Oops. Ooooooooooooops.
I do hope that nobody has been given or denied a job/promotion based on their SpringerNature citation counts in the past 15 years.
arxiv.org/pdf/2511.01675
h/t @nathlarigaldie.bsky.social
I do hope that nobody has been given or denied a job/promotion based on their SpringerNature citation counts in the past 15 years.
arxiv.org/pdf/2511.01675
h/t @nathlarigaldie.bsky.social
Reposted by Revathe Thillaikumar
📢Jumping back on here amidst busy fieldwork to announce
📢 🌍🦁 Our Tsavo Simba Project website is LIVE!
From the red-dust plains of Tsavo straight to your 💻🤩
Dive into our research, field stories & lion insights 🦁💛
🔗 www.tsavosimba.com
#jointhepride #tsavosimbaresearchproject #nsffunded
📢 🌍🦁 Our Tsavo Simba Project website is LIVE!
From the red-dust plains of Tsavo straight to your 💻🤩
Dive into our research, field stories & lion insights 🦁💛
🔗 www.tsavosimba.com
#jointhepride #tsavosimbaresearchproject #nsffunded
TSAVO SIMBA RESEARCH PROJECT
Spanning ~40,000 km², Kenya’s Tsavo Conservation Area is the country’s largest protected wilderness—an expansive, semi-arid landscape shaped by dramatic shifts in habitat, water, and wildlife...
www.tsavosimba.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:56 PM
📢Jumping back on here amidst busy fieldwork to announce
📢 🌍🦁 Our Tsavo Simba Project website is LIVE!
From the red-dust plains of Tsavo straight to your 💻🤩
Dive into our research, field stories & lion insights 🦁💛
🔗 www.tsavosimba.com
#jointhepride #tsavosimbaresearchproject #nsffunded
📢 🌍🦁 Our Tsavo Simba Project website is LIVE!
From the red-dust plains of Tsavo straight to your 💻🤩
Dive into our research, field stories & lion insights 🦁💛
🔗 www.tsavosimba.com
#jointhepride #tsavosimbaresearchproject #nsffunded
Reposted by Revathe Thillaikumar
Recruiting a PhD student to join us at Univ Canterbury (Christchurch, NZ) to study how people perceive animal minds & how those perceptions shape moral concern, behaviour, & policy. Scholarship info:
www.canterbury.ac.nz/research/abo...
Rolling review starts Dec 2025 • Flexible Feb–July 2026 start
www.canterbury.ac.nz/research/abo...
Rolling review starts Dec 2025 • Flexible Feb–July 2026 start
November 19, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Recruiting a PhD student to join us at Univ Canterbury (Christchurch, NZ) to study how people perceive animal minds & how those perceptions shape moral concern, behaviour, & policy. Scholarship info:
www.canterbury.ac.nz/research/abo...
Rolling review starts Dec 2025 • Flexible Feb–July 2026 start
www.canterbury.ac.nz/research/abo...
Rolling review starts Dec 2025 • Flexible Feb–July 2026 start
Reposted by Revathe Thillaikumar
Love this idea! Going to have to submit something
We publish *imaginary* research abstracts!
The Journal of Imaginary Research is now accepting submissions of new short fictional pieces. Click to read:
Why Abstract fiction?
The theme
How to get started
What to submit to us
What *not* to submit
journalofimaginaryresearch.home.blog/2025/10/28/c...
The Journal of Imaginary Research is now accepting submissions of new short fictional pieces. Click to read:
Why Abstract fiction?
The theme
How to get started
What to submit to us
What *not* to submit
journalofimaginaryresearch.home.blog/2025/10/28/c...
Call for Abstracts – Journal Of Imaginary Research Volume 11
The Journal of Imaginary Research is now accepting submissions of new short fictional pieces for our annual volume produced each November to celebrate Global Academic Writing Month. We pu…
journalofimaginaryresearch.home.blog
November 22, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Love this idea! Going to have to submit something
Reposted by Revathe Thillaikumar
Episode 46: Sapiens
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
Sapiens
Podcast Episode · If Books Could Kill · 11/20/2025 · 1h 38m
podcasts.apple.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Episode 46: Sapiens
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
Reposted by Revathe Thillaikumar
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
November 20, 2025 at 5:32 PM
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
