David Firth
@firthstat.bsky.social
Research in #statistics, University of Warwick. https://warwick.ac.uk/dfirth
Also @firthstat@fediscience.org (Mastodon)
Current main interest is compositional data analysis. Programming in #rstats
Also @firthstat@fediscience.org (Mastodon)
Current main interest is compositional data analysis. Programming in #rstats
Reposted by David Firth
Okay, this is quite outstanding from Bedford Council.
February 19, 2026 at 8:26 AM
Okay, this is quite outstanding from Bedford Council.
Reposted by David Firth
“Parents are being urged to make sure their children are vaccinated before the return to school after the half term break”
West Midlands measles vaccine plea ahead of half term
The region accounts for more than a quarter of all cases in England, officials say.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 16, 2026 at 1:31 PM
“Parents are being urged to make sure their children are vaccinated before the return to school after the half term break”
Reposted by David Firth
The bicycle is an underrated invention
Bikes allow us terrestrial folk to be more like fish in terms of efficiency when travelling, and beat pretty much every organism, as well as all powered vehicles.
buff.ly/vcH5TLu
Bikes allow us terrestrial folk to be more like fish in terms of efficiency when travelling, and beat pretty much every organism, as well as all powered vehicles.
buff.ly/vcH5TLu
February 12, 2026 at 5:35 PM
The bicycle is an underrated invention
Bikes allow us terrestrial folk to be more like fish in terms of efficiency when travelling, and beat pretty much every organism, as well as all powered vehicles.
buff.ly/vcH5TLu
Bikes allow us terrestrial folk to be more like fish in terms of efficiency when travelling, and beat pretty much every organism, as well as all powered vehicles.
buff.ly/vcH5TLu
Where do parents find the time to parent? Less sleep, work and screens.
Amazing chart feat. in @alphaville.ft.com Further Reading.
homeeconomics.substack.com/p/where-do-p...
Amazing chart feat. in @alphaville.ft.com Further Reading.
homeeconomics.substack.com/p/where-do-p...
February 13, 2026 at 10:25 AM
Reposted by David Firth
Just because someone is rich and highly successful in business doesn't mean their brain can't be utterly melted online.
February 11, 2026 at 5:32 PM
Just because someone is rich and highly successful in business doesn't mean their brain can't be utterly melted online.
Reposted by David Firth
A reminder that, while some of the damage that Trump & GOP are doing might seems temporary, the damage they're doing to the planet is permanent:
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/c...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/c...
Trump Allies Near ‘Total Victory’ in Wiping Out U.S. Climate Regulation
www.nytimes.com
February 10, 2026 at 1:48 PM
A reminder that, while some of the damage that Trump & GOP are doing might seems temporary, the damage they're doing to the planet is permanent:
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/c...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/c...
Reposted by David Firth
BREAKING: UK govt auction secures 4.9GW new solar at £65/MWh and 1.3GW new onshore wind at £72/MWh, 13% and 21% below the price cap respectively.
All due online by 2029.
All due online by 2029.
February 10, 2026 at 7:25 AM
BREAKING: UK govt auction secures 4.9GW new solar at £65/MWh and 1.3GW new onshore wind at £72/MWh, 13% and 21% below the price cap respectively.
All due online by 2029.
All due online by 2029.
Reposted by David Firth
Join us on 24 March for our Discussion Meeting on 'Regression by composition' (Farewell et al.), online or at Imperial College London. Explore innovative statistical modelling and join the debate!
📅 24 March 2026, 4–6pm
🎓 Introductory DeMO: 2:15pm–3:15pm
rss.org.uk/training-eve...
📅 24 March 2026, 4–6pm
🎓 Introductory DeMO: 2:15pm–3:15pm
rss.org.uk/training-eve...
February 2, 2026 at 5:25 PM
Join us on 24 March for our Discussion Meeting on 'Regression by composition' (Farewell et al.), online or at Imperial College London. Explore innovative statistical modelling and join the debate!
📅 24 March 2026, 4–6pm
🎓 Introductory DeMO: 2:15pm–3:15pm
rss.org.uk/training-eve...
📅 24 March 2026, 4–6pm
🎓 Introductory DeMO: 2:15pm–3:15pm
rss.org.uk/training-eve...
Reposted by David Firth
Another exciting workshop to be held at Warwick Statistics this coming June: The ProbAI Theory of Scaling Laws Workshop from 22-24 June!
Website of the workshop: warwick.ac.uk/fac/sc...
Registration open until 31 March on a first-come-first-serve basis: warwick.ac.uk/fac/sc....
Website of the workshop: warwick.ac.uk/fac/sc...
Registration open until 31 March on a first-come-first-serve basis: warwick.ac.uk/fac/sc....
January 29, 2026 at 12:38 PM
Another exciting workshop to be held at Warwick Statistics this coming June: The ProbAI Theory of Scaling Laws Workshop from 22-24 June!
Website of the workshop: warwick.ac.uk/fac/sc...
Registration open until 31 March on a first-come-first-serve basis: warwick.ac.uk/fac/sc....
Website of the workshop: warwick.ac.uk/fac/sc...
Registration open until 31 March on a first-come-first-serve basis: warwick.ac.uk/fac/sc....
Reposted by David Firth
Okay, we're screwed.
UK announces Meta-backed AI team to upgrade public services
The British government said on Tuesday it had recruited a team of artificial intelligence specialists to build AI tools to improve transport, public safety and defence, using funding from Meta .
www.reuters.com
January 27, 2026 at 2:43 PM
Okay, we're screwed.
Reposted by David Firth
Mistaking correlation for causation doesn’t just waste research funding, it can shape real-world health advice.
In our new blog, Prof. George Davey Smith, 2025 MRC Millennium Medal winner, explains why he encourages scientists to look for ways they might be wrong.
www.ukri.org/blog/why-evi...
In our new blog, Prof. George Davey Smith, 2025 MRC Millennium Medal winner, explains why he encourages scientists to look for ways they might be wrong.
www.ukri.org/blog/why-evi...
Why evidence matters in health research
Professor George Davey Smith explains why he encourages scientists to look for ways they might be wrong.
www.ukri.org
January 26, 2026 at 10:45 AM
Mistaking correlation for causation doesn’t just waste research funding, it can shape real-world health advice.
In our new blog, Prof. George Davey Smith, 2025 MRC Millennium Medal winner, explains why he encourages scientists to look for ways they might be wrong.
www.ukri.org/blog/why-evi...
In our new blog, Prof. George Davey Smith, 2025 MRC Millennium Medal winner, explains why he encourages scientists to look for ways they might be wrong.
www.ukri.org/blog/why-evi...
Reposted by David Firth
So @soumayakeynes.ft.com wrote this about buying Greenland, but it turns out it already has wider application
www.ft.com/content/3fb7...
www.ft.com/content/3fb7...
January 23, 2026 at 3:01 PM
So @soumayakeynes.ft.com wrote this about buying Greenland, but it turns out it already has wider application
www.ft.com/content/3fb7...
www.ft.com/content/3fb7...
Reposted by David Firth
On Multiple Time Scales and Collapsibility. David Oakes. Lifetime Data Analysis. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
On Multiple Time Scales and Collapsibility - Lifetime Data Analysis
In this anniversary issue I briefly review some work on the notion of collapsibility and indicate some lingering questions.
link.springer.com
January 23, 2026 at 2:11 PM
On Multiple Time Scales and Collapsibility. David Oakes. Lifetime Data Analysis. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Reposted by David Firth
Isn't this a telling aspiration? To want robots to look after your kids, so you can do stuff, rather than robots to do stuff, so you can spend time with your kids?
The darkness inside these shrivelled men must be like a gaping unfillable void.
The darkness inside these shrivelled men must be like a gaping unfillable void.
January 22, 2026 at 5:39 PM
Isn't this a telling aspiration? To want robots to look after your kids, so you can do stuff, rather than robots to do stuff, so you can spend time with your kids?
The darkness inside these shrivelled men must be like a gaping unfillable void.
The darkness inside these shrivelled men must be like a gaping unfillable void.
Unclear who is responsible for this. Chiltern? Arriva (the parent company)? Porterbrook (apparently owns the rolling stock?)
A murky world of shareholders, CEOs etc.
This used to be a great rail service.
A murky world of shareholders, CEOs etc.
This used to be a great rail service.
January 15, 2026 at 9:24 PM
Unclear who is responsible for this. Chiltern? Arriva (the parent company)? Porterbrook (apparently owns the rolling stock?)
A murky world of shareholders, CEOs etc.
This used to be a great rail service.
A murky world of shareholders, CEOs etc.
This used to be a great rail service.
Thanks for actual data! Naturally some operators must have older than average rolling stock. Chiltern looks anomalous though.
January 15, 2026 at 9:03 PM
Thanks for actual data! Naturally some operators must have older than average rolling stock. Chiltern looks anomalous though.
@chilternrailway.bsky.social Only 3 coaches on my train between Birmingham and London today, same on the way back. Hopelessly inadequate. What's the reason?
January 15, 2026 at 8:39 PM
@chilternrailway.bsky.social Only 3 coaches on my train between Birmingham and London today, same on the way back. Hopelessly inadequate. What's the reason?
Reposted by David Firth
Reposted by David Firth
(3/3) @jamesbowes01.bsky.social analysis, on which the Times article is based, explains the numbers and why the government's "earned settlement" proposals are a disaster economically as well as morally. [end]
ukandeu.ac.uk/the-coming-c...
ukandeu.ac.uk/the-coming-c...
The coming collapse in immigration to the United Kingdom - UK in a changing Europe
James Bowes analyses the fall in net migration to the UK as a result of government policies and explores some of the political and economic consequences.
ukandeu.ac.uk
January 10, 2026 at 3:57 AM
(3/3) @jamesbowes01.bsky.social analysis, on which the Times article is based, explains the numbers and why the government's "earned settlement" proposals are a disaster economically as well as morally. [end]
ukandeu.ac.uk/the-coming-c...
ukandeu.ac.uk/the-coming-c...
Reposted by David Firth
"move slow and repair things" could save the world
January 10, 2026 at 10:36 AM
"move slow and repair things" could save the world
Reposted by David Firth
If a Pakistani Muslim owned X, distributed indecent images of girls on a platform where govt do their PR, where some receive payments for posts, they would have distanced themselves by now. X would be shutdown and Braverman and Farage would be calling for a ban and investigation into Pakistani men.
January 9, 2026 at 4:12 PM
If a Pakistani Muslim owned X, distributed indecent images of girls on a platform where govt do their PR, where some receive payments for posts, they would have distanced themselves by now. X would be shutdown and Braverman and Farage would be calling for a ban and investigation into Pakistani men.
Agreed, it works well for people like us who already have driving licence and/or passport. But effectively excludes anyone without either, as it's too hard to prove identity. Not good in that regard.
January 9, 2026 at 2:37 PM
Agreed, it works well for people like us who already have driving licence and/or passport. But effectively excludes anyone without either, as it's too hard to prove identity. Not good in that regard.
Reposted by David Firth
I call on my party and my government to remove themselves entirely from X and communicate with the public where they actually participate online and can be protected from such illegality.
January 8, 2026 at 12:31 PM
I call on my party and my government to remove themselves entirely from X and communicate with the public where they actually participate online and can be protected from such illegality.
Reposted by David Firth
Forensic analysis of objective video evidence. This is how you serve readers searching for clarity.
January 8, 2026 at 1:00 PM
Forensic analysis of objective video evidence. This is how you serve readers searching for clarity.
Reposted by David Firth
Farage: "I believe in vaccinations when they're vaccinations. I don't think what happened with Covid were vaccinations. You have to keep having them every 6 months."
Conspiratorial nonsense.
Some vaccinations like Covid shots require multiple/seasonal doses because immunity fades & viruses change.
Conspiratorial nonsense.
Some vaccinations like Covid shots require multiple/seasonal doses because immunity fades & viruses change.
January 7, 2026 at 1:11 PM
Farage: "I believe in vaccinations when they're vaccinations. I don't think what happened with Covid were vaccinations. You have to keep having them every 6 months."
Conspiratorial nonsense.
Some vaccinations like Covid shots require multiple/seasonal doses because immunity fades & viruses change.
Conspiratorial nonsense.
Some vaccinations like Covid shots require multiple/seasonal doses because immunity fades & viruses change.