Nicholas Mancuso
@nmancuso.bsky.social
Associate Professor at USC. Genetics/Stats/ML. Husband and father. GA➡️CA. He/him. Views are mine.
www.mancusolab.com
www.mancusolab.com
Pinned
Nicholas Mancuso
@nmancuso.bsky.social
· Nov 17
a cartoon character with a skull on his face
ALT: a cartoon character with a skull on his face
media.tenor.com
Who dares to disturb my slumber
IMPEACH NOW
Breaking News: Explosions were reported in Venezuela’s capital, with eyewitnesses describing smoke coming out of military installations and aircraft overhead. Follow live updates.
Live Updates: Explosions Are Reported in Venezuela’s Capital
It was not immediately clear what caused the blasts. The United States has been building pressure on Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s authoritarian president, for months.
nyti.ms
January 3, 2026 at 7:37 AM
IMPEACH NOW
Reposted by Nicholas Mancuso
January 3, 2026 at 7:07 AM
Reposted by Nicholas Mancuso
"the researchers found that withdrawing support for rapidly advancing mRNA vaccine technology could result in over 49,000 preventable deaths annually among patients diagnosed with four major cancers"
A new report from researchers at the Yale School of Public Health warns that the U.S. government’s abrupt cancellation of funding for mRNA vaccine research could have devastating health and economic consequences for the nation.
New report sounds alarm on health fallout from mRNA vaccine funding cuts
A new report from the Yale School of Public Health warns that the U.S. government’s abrupt cancellation of funding for mRNA vaccine research could have
ysph.yale.edu
December 23, 2025 at 2:50 AM
"the researchers found that withdrawing support for rapidly advancing mRNA vaccine technology could result in over 49,000 preventable deaths annually among patients diagnosed with four major cancers"
2026 looking brilliant
A judge has tossed the racketeering charges filed by the Georgia attorney general against activists who protested against Atlanta's Cop City facility.
Fulton judge dismisses RICO charges against training center protesters
In his order issued Tuesday, the judge said Attorney General Chris Carr did not have the authority to bring RICO charges.
www.ajc.com
January 1, 2026 at 7:59 PM
2026 looking brilliant
Reposted by Nicholas Mancuso
In this in-depth interview Billie Jean Sweeney — a former editor at The New York Times — details how the paper shifted towards openly promoting anti-trans hatred, why this was directed from the very top, how some staff pushed back and the immense damage done by the NYT legitimizing bigotry.
'A directive from above': Former NYT editor lays out how the paper pushes anti-trans bigotry
In this in-depth interview, former New York Times editor Billie Jean Sweeney details how the paper shifted towards openly promoting anti-trans hatred, how some staff tried to stop it, how it's directe...
transnews.network
January 1, 2026 at 6:32 PM
In this in-depth interview Billie Jean Sweeney — a former editor at The New York Times — details how the paper shifted towards openly promoting anti-trans hatred, why this was directed from the very top, how some staff pushed back and the immense damage done by the NYT legitimizing bigotry.
Reposted by Nicholas Mancuso
fwiw I get asked sometimes about why I say this so confidently, and a lot of those asks come with an ask for my source code
a big reason I don't share prompts/code publicly is, tbh, I think I have a better enough mousetrap that somebody will make and save a lot of money by hiring me to work on this
a big reason I don't share prompts/code publicly is, tbh, I think I have a better enough mousetrap that somebody will make and save a lot of money by hiring me to work on this
this is Truth. LLMs really shift the pain-in-the-ass curve so far down that you can do stuff that 1) substantially helps the users who use your stuff, and 2) you never thought was possible.
it is actually a concern I have: that product managers are not going to understand what is now reasonable
it is actually a concern I have: that product managers are not going to understand what is now reasonable
To the extent that LLMs shift the Pareto curve on time spent vs quality level of code, I'd much rather people spend the extra time improving code quality. Do the thing that's annoying to write and has many edge cases to test but has a cleaner UX. Aggressively refactor. Tackle the TODOs
January 1, 2026 at 4:21 PM
fwiw I get asked sometimes about why I say this so confidently, and a lot of those asks come with an ask for my source code
a big reason I don't share prompts/code publicly is, tbh, I think I have a better enough mousetrap that somebody will make and save a lot of money by hiring me to work on this
a big reason I don't share prompts/code publicly is, tbh, I think I have a better enough mousetrap that somebody will make and save a lot of money by hiring me to work on this
God help us if our 6YO ever notices his shirt size
December 31, 2025 at 6:25 PM
God help us if our 6YO ever notices his shirt size
December 30, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Reposted by Nicholas Mancuso
I enjoy her username, it always makes me think that she’s playing a game of chess with only an understanding of the rules of tic tac toe. And her columns and posts seem to bear that out.
Boycotting Constitution Hall because the DAR won’t let Marian Anderson sing has costs. It may end opera. Is that worth it? By Megan McArdle, 1939
December 30, 2025 at 7:17 PM
I enjoy her username, it always makes me think that she’s playing a game of chess with only an understanding of the rules of tic tac toe. And her columns and posts seem to bear that out.
Reposted by Nicholas Mancuso
Jonathan Anomaly responds in a long comment to my post criticizing his writing on eugenics and that of his company Herasight. He argues against several specific points and I encourage reading it in full.
open.substack.com/pub/theinfin...
open.substack.com/pub/theinfin...
December 29, 2025 at 3:33 AM
Jonathan Anomaly responds in a long comment to my post criticizing his writing on eugenics and that of his company Herasight. He argues against several specific points and I encourage reading it in full.
open.substack.com/pub/theinfin...
open.substack.com/pub/theinfin...
Reposted by Nicholas Mancuso
nothing like getting a tornado warning on xmas eve
in los angeles
in los angeles
December 24, 2025 at 6:31 PM
nothing like getting a tornado warning on xmas eve
in los angeles
in los angeles
Reposted by Nicholas Mancuso
Author of LAFD Palisades fire report declined to endorse final version, called it 'highly unprofessional'
Author of LAFD Palisades fire report declined to endorse final version, called it 'highly unprofessional'
The author of the Los Angeles Fire Department's after-action report on the Palisades fire declined to endorse the final report because of substantial deletions that altered his findings, calling the edited version "highly unprofessional and inconsistent with our established standards."
www.latimes.com
December 23, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Author of LAFD Palisades fire report declined to endorse final version, called it 'highly unprofessional'
Reposted by Nicholas Mancuso
Happy to highlight an essay I wrote together with @marcdemanuel.bsky.social,
@natanaels.bsky.social and Anastasia Stolyarova, trying to think through what sets the mutation rate of a cell type in an animal species: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 1/n
@natanaels.bsky.social and Anastasia Stolyarova, trying to think through what sets the mutation rate of a cell type in an animal species: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 1/n
What sets the mutation rate of a cell type in an animal species?
Germline mutation rates per generation are strikingly similar across animals, despite vast differences in life histories. Analogously, in at least one somatic cell type, mutation rates at the end of l...
www.biorxiv.org
December 22, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Happy to highlight an essay I wrote together with @marcdemanuel.bsky.social,
@natanaels.bsky.social and Anastasia Stolyarova, trying to think through what sets the mutation rate of a cell type in an animal species: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 1/n
@natanaels.bsky.social and Anastasia Stolyarova, trying to think through what sets the mutation rate of a cell type in an animal species: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 1/n
Xmas came early by watching all the great content of Jake Paul getting his ass beat
December 21, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Xmas came early by watching all the great content of Jake Paul getting his ass beat
Reposted by Nicholas Mancuso
Blows my mind it hasn't even been a full year of congestion pricing in NYC yet. Years of cranks whining about it and then you just DO IT and everything is instantly better and everyone gets used to it and moves on. We should do good things more often!
PS - T-minus 12 days to Streets Mayor Mamdani!
PS - T-minus 12 days to Streets Mayor Mamdani!
I refuse to shut up about this: NYC started charging $9 to bring a car into our most transit-rich zone, the haters & trolls predicted doom, but traffic evaporated instantly and here’s Times Square tonite (even after the holiday tourists have left). For a better future, build transit & price driving!
December 20, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Blows my mind it hasn't even been a full year of congestion pricing in NYC yet. Years of cranks whining about it and then you just DO IT and everything is instantly better and everyone gets used to it and moves on. We should do good things more often!
PS - T-minus 12 days to Streets Mayor Mamdani!
PS - T-minus 12 days to Streets Mayor Mamdani!
Grateful for being sick and avoiding food, bc xmas cookies are coming soon.
December 19, 2025 at 3:25 AM
Grateful for being sick and avoiding food, bc xmas cookies are coming soon.
Look, I didn't think this would take off like it did
He tried to steal a plane but crashed straight into a hangar in Van Nuys, police say
He tried to steal a plane but crashed straight into a hangar in Van Nuys, police say
A would-be aircraft thief trespassed at a Van Nuys Airport flight school and crashed a plane into the wall of a hangar, authorities say.
www.latimes.com
December 19, 2025 at 3:23 AM
Look, I didn't think this would take off like it did
Reposted by Nicholas Mancuso
Looking for something to read that doesn't make you feel awful about everything?
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Grab (or gift!) a yearly subscription to BW/DR—including full access to our entire 140+ issue archive—for just $19.
Coupon code: HOLIDAY2025
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$29/year — Full Access Subscribe now to receive full access to Bright Wall/Dark Room, including each new essay we publish & our entire 140+ issue archive! Bright Wall/Dark Room is 100% independent, ru...
www.brightwalldarkroom.com
December 17, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Looking for something to read that doesn't make you feel awful about everything?
Grab (or gift!) a yearly subscription to BW/DR—including full access to our entire 140+ issue archive—for just $19.
Coupon code: HOLIDAY2025
Grab (or gift!) a yearly subscription to BW/DR—including full access to our entire 140+ issue archive—for just $19.
Coupon code: HOLIDAY2025
Reposted by Nicholas Mancuso
Published online on Jan 2, 2025 and just appeared in the December 2025 issue!
A language model predicts the effects of genetic variants in the human genome go.nature.com/4gWppWg
rdcu.be/eUK6Z
rdcu.be/eUK6Z
A DNA language model based on multispecies alignment predicts the effects of genome-wide variants - Nature Biotechnology
A language model predicts the effects of genetic variants in the human genome.
go.nature.com
December 19, 2025 at 3:02 AM
Published online on Jan 2, 2025 and just appeared in the December 2025 issue!
Reposted by Nicholas Mancuso
[The most miserable, unpleasant person you’ve ever met]
“I was discriminated against just for being white!”
“I was discriminated against just for being white!”
December 19, 2025 at 12:52 AM
[The most miserable, unpleasant person you’ve ever met]
“I was discriminated against just for being white!”
“I was discriminated against just for being white!”
Reposted by Nicholas Mancuso
The name "Popular Science" doesn't mean we shift our coverage depending on public opinion. It means we cover relevant subjects that are rigorously researched, reliable, and grounded in reality.
And trans lives are grounded in reality.
We see y'all. No matter what.
www.popsci.com/science/tran...
And trans lives are grounded in reality.
We see y'all. No matter what.
www.popsci.com/science/tran...
First-of-a-kind study shows encouraging data for trans kids who socially transition
Ninety-four percent of participants in a new study stood firm in their trans identity after five years, and "detransitioning" is rare.
www.popsci.com
December 18, 2025 at 5:16 PM
The name "Popular Science" doesn't mean we shift our coverage depending on public opinion. It means we cover relevant subjects that are rigorously researched, reliable, and grounded in reality.
And trans lives are grounded in reality.
We see y'all. No matter what.
www.popsci.com/science/tran...
And trans lives are grounded in reality.
We see y'all. No matter what.
www.popsci.com/science/tran...