Uku Vainik
@ukuvainik.bsky.social
Professor of behavioral genetics with my own twins. I mix behaviour and genetics at Tartu & McGill to understand obesity. I also mix global music as a DJ.
Reposted by Uku Vainik
Happy birthday, Emil du Bois-Reymond!
The Greatest Unknown Intellectual of the 19th Century
Emil du Bois-Reymond proclaimed the mystery of consciousness, championed the theory of natural selection, and revolutionized the study of the nervous system. Today, he is all but forgotten.
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu
November 7, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Happy birthday, Emil du Bois-Reymond!
Reposted by Uku Vainik
The rapid growth in Mendelian randomization studies. Gibran Hemani, Stefan Stender, Frank J. Wolters, Albert Hofman & George Davey Smith. European Journal of Epidemiology. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
The rapid growth in Mendelian randomization studies - European Journal of Epidemiology
European Journal of Epidemiology -
link.springer.com
November 6, 2025 at 2:20 PM
The rapid growth in Mendelian randomization studies. Gibran Hemani, Stefan Stender, Frank J. Wolters, Albert Hofman & George Davey Smith. European Journal of Epidemiology. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Reposted by Uku Vainik
For the last 50 years, we've designed cars to be safe...
For the 50th-percentile male.
Well, that's actually not 100% correct.
According to Stanford's report**, we introduced "female" crash test dummies in the 1960s, but...
1/
#CausalSky #ScienceSky #MLSky #EpiSky #StatSky #AISky
For the 50th-percentile male.
Well, that's actually not 100% correct.
According to Stanford's report**, we introduced "female" crash test dummies in the 1960s, but...
1/
#CausalSky #ScienceSky #MLSky #EpiSky #StatSky #AISky
November 5, 2025 at 8:16 AM
For the last 50 years, we've designed cars to be safe...
For the 50th-percentile male.
Well, that's actually not 100% correct.
According to Stanford's report**, we introduced "female" crash test dummies in the 1960s, but...
1/
#CausalSky #ScienceSky #MLSky #EpiSky #StatSky #AISky
For the 50th-percentile male.
Well, that's actually not 100% correct.
According to Stanford's report**, we introduced "female" crash test dummies in the 1960s, but...
1/
#CausalSky #ScienceSky #MLSky #EpiSky #StatSky #AISky
Reposted by Uku Vainik
We love a good 'association as as fluid' metaphor, but this guy takes it to the next level.
12/10 for the reminder that conditioning on a collider doesn't just mess with your identification; it can also flood your basement.
12/10 for the reminder that conditioning on a collider doesn't just mess with your identification; it can also flood your basement.
I built a DAG diagram with garden hoses for teaching.
Pictured: a collider bias diagram, inspired by a blocked pipe situation I experienced (which I credit with giving me the intuition though it also ruined my belongings in the flooded cellar).
Pictured: a collider bias diagram, inspired by a blocked pipe situation I experienced (which I credit with giving me the intuition though it also ruined my belongings in the flooded cellar).
October 31, 2025 at 9:47 AM
We love a good 'association as as fluid' metaphor, but this guy takes it to the next level.
12/10 for the reminder that conditioning on a collider doesn't just mess with your identification; it can also flood your basement.
12/10 for the reminder that conditioning on a collider doesn't just mess with your identification; it can also flood your basement.
Reposted by Uku Vainik
The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Authority at the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Authority is looking for an applied statistician with expertise in Bayesian statistics or causal inference
statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2025/11/03/t...
statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2025/11/03/t...
The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Authority at the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Authority is looking for an applied statistician with expertise in Bayesian statistics or causal infer...
statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu
November 3, 2025 at 9:31 PM
The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Authority at the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Authority is looking for an applied statistician with expertise in Bayesian statistics or causal inference
statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2025/11/03/t...
statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2025/11/03/t...
Lovely interview! We always preprint our analyses coming from @estbiobank.bsky.social, and personality X job satisfaction is no exception!
@renemottus.bsky.social
@renemottus.bsky.social
For Maris Vainre & coauthors, sharing their preprint led to coverage in New Scientist, 1,800+ downloads, & invites to discuss their work.
Their study explores whether people in certain professions are more or less satisfied with their jobs & lives. Read more in our Q&A!
🏢
Their study explores whether people in certain professions are more or less satisfied with their jobs & lives. Read more in our Q&A!
🏢
Q&A with Maris Vainre: Job Satisfaction and the Power of Preprints
For Maris Vainre and her team, sharing their preprint led to media attention, high downloads, and invites to discuss their findings. She shares what inspired the study, how preprints accelerate scientific progress and real-world impact, and more.
www.cos.io
November 3, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Lovely interview! We always preprint our analyses coming from @estbiobank.bsky.social, and personality X job satisfaction is no exception!
@renemottus.bsky.social
@renemottus.bsky.social
Reposted by Uku Vainik
Whoever wins the #worldseries tonight is going to make a legion of fans for life
The psychology of fans &identification with teams is fascinating
Like goslings, boys imprint on the team that wins when they are young. A championship leads them to identify with a team for life, especially boys 8-12
The psychology of fans &identification with teams is fascinating
Like goslings, boys imprint on the team that wins when they are young. A championship leads them to identify with a team for life, especially boys 8-12
November 2, 2025 at 1:08 AM
Whoever wins the #worldseries tonight is going to make a legion of fans for life
The psychology of fans &identification with teams is fascinating
Like goslings, boys imprint on the team that wins when they are young. A championship leads them to identify with a team for life, especially boys 8-12
The psychology of fans &identification with teams is fascinating
Like goslings, boys imprint on the team that wins when they are young. A championship leads them to identify with a team for life, especially boys 8-12
Which way does causality flow?💦
I built a DAG diagram with garden hoses for teaching.
Pictured: a collider bias diagram, inspired by a blocked pipe situation I experienced (which I credit with giving me the intuition though it also ruined my belongings in the flooded cellar).
Pictured: a collider bias diagram, inspired by a blocked pipe situation I experienced (which I credit with giving me the intuition though it also ruined my belongings in the flooded cellar).
October 31, 2025 at 5:43 AM
Which way does causality flow?💦
Reposted by Uku Vainik
Fantastic opportunity at The Hospital for Sick Children. Please repost. www.nature.com/naturecareer...
SCIENTIST – Developmental, Stem Cell & Cancer Biology Program - Toronto (City), Ontario (CA) job with The Hospital for Sick Children - Developmental & Stem Cell Biology Program | 12848200
Discovery-based and/or translational research using model organism genetics and/or stem cell and organoid platforms to study paediatric cancer.
www.nature.com
October 28, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Fantastic opportunity at The Hospital for Sick Children. Please repost. www.nature.com/naturecareer...
Reposted by Uku Vainik
We currently have multiple job openings (post-doc/assistant prof/associate prof) listed on our website, see thread below if you don't want to miss out!
bga.org/content.aspx...
bga.org/content.aspx...
BGA Job Listings - Behavior Genetics Association
bga.org
October 28, 2025 at 6:16 PM
We currently have multiple job openings (post-doc/assistant prof/associate prof) listed on our website, see thread below if you don't want to miss out!
bga.org/content.aspx...
bga.org/content.aspx...
Reposted by Uku Vainik
📢 Two weeks left to apply for a (2-year) research fellowship @iast.fr
A fantastic opportunity to work full-time on your own research, in an interdisciplinary environment, and in a lovely city in the South of France.
Deadline: November 15, 2025
How to apply: www.iast.fr/research-fel...
A fantastic opportunity to work full-time on your own research, in an interdisciplinary environment, and in a lovely city in the South of France.
Deadline: November 15, 2025
How to apply: www.iast.fr/research-fel...
Research Fellowships
Each year, IAST invites applications for post-doctoral Research Fellowships, which offer candidates an opportunity to devote themselves full-time to their research at the start of their careers. Fello...
www.iast.fr
October 28, 2025 at 1:44 PM
📢 Two weeks left to apply for a (2-year) research fellowship @iast.fr
A fantastic opportunity to work full-time on your own research, in an interdisciplinary environment, and in a lovely city in the South of France.
Deadline: November 15, 2025
How to apply: www.iast.fr/research-fel...
A fantastic opportunity to work full-time on your own research, in an interdisciplinary environment, and in a lovely city in the South of France.
Deadline: November 15, 2025
How to apply: www.iast.fr/research-fel...
Reposted by Uku Vainik
Can apple cider vinegar make you lose weight?
Probably not. My piece this week takes a look at a fascinating example of unreliable science, forensic metascience, and seriously problematic data.
gidmk.substack.com/p/apple-cide...
Probably not. My piece this week takes a look at a fascinating example of unreliable science, forensic metascience, and seriously problematic data.
gidmk.substack.com/p/apple-cide...
Apple Cider Vinegar For Weight Loss - A Study That May Never Have Happened At All
Some fascinating insights into the world of scientific integrity.
gidmk.substack.com
October 29, 2025 at 4:45 AM
Can apple cider vinegar make you lose weight?
Probably not. My piece this week takes a look at a fascinating example of unreliable science, forensic metascience, and seriously problematic data.
gidmk.substack.com/p/apple-cide...
Probably not. My piece this week takes a look at a fascinating example of unreliable science, forensic metascience, and seriously problematic data.
gidmk.substack.com/p/apple-cide...
Reposted by Uku Vainik
We wrote an article explaining why you shouldn't put several variables into a regression model and report which are statistically significant - even as exploratory research. bmjmedicine.bmj.com/content/4/1/.... How did we do?
October 27, 2025 at 5:39 PM
We wrote an article explaining why you shouldn't put several variables into a regression model and report which are statistically significant - even as exploratory research. bmjmedicine.bmj.com/content/4/1/.... How did we do?
So sad that my causal inference lecture & seminar is done for this year 😅
When researchers bring up confounders without ever having declared the actual analysis goal
October 28, 2025 at 4:40 PM
So sad that my causal inference lecture & seminar is done for this year 😅
Reposted by Uku Vainik
When researchers bring up confounders without ever having declared the actual analysis goal
October 28, 2025 at 10:24 AM
When researchers bring up confounders without ever having declared the actual analysis goal
@kerliilv.bsky.social võtab ülihästi ja ülikiirelt meie uurimisküsimused kokku! @estbiobank.bsky.social
ut.ee/et/uudis/kol...
ut.ee/et/uudis/kol...
October 28, 2025 at 9:39 AM
@kerliilv.bsky.social võtab ülihästi ja ülikiirelt meie uurimisküsimused kokku! @estbiobank.bsky.social
ut.ee/et/uudis/kol...
ut.ee/et/uudis/kol...
Reposted by Uku Vainik
We built the openESM database:
▶️60 openly available experience sampling datasets (16K+ participants, 740K+ obs.) in one place
▶️Harmonized (meta-)data, fully open-source software
▶️Filter & search all data, simply download via R/Python
Find out more:
🌐 openesmdata.org
📝 doi.org/10.31234/osf...
▶️60 openly available experience sampling datasets (16K+ participants, 740K+ obs.) in one place
▶️Harmonized (meta-)data, fully open-source software
▶️Filter & search all data, simply download via R/Python
Find out more:
🌐 openesmdata.org
📝 doi.org/10.31234/osf...
October 22, 2025 at 7:34 PM
We built the openESM database:
▶️60 openly available experience sampling datasets (16K+ participants, 740K+ obs.) in one place
▶️Harmonized (meta-)data, fully open-source software
▶️Filter & search all data, simply download via R/Python
Find out more:
🌐 openesmdata.org
📝 doi.org/10.31234/osf...
▶️60 openly available experience sampling datasets (16K+ participants, 740K+ obs.) in one place
▶️Harmonized (meta-)data, fully open-source software
▶️Filter & search all data, simply download via R/Python
Find out more:
🌐 openesmdata.org
📝 doi.org/10.31234/osf...
Reposted by Uku Vainik
This is something that Canada should also be doing more!
www.zdnet.com/article/euro...
www.zdnet.com/article/euro...
Europe's plan to ditch US tech giants is built on open source - and it's gaining steam
One topic dominated the recent 2025 OpenInfra Summit Europe, and it wasn't AI.
www.zdnet.com
October 26, 2025 at 2:25 PM
This is something that Canada should also be doing more!
www.zdnet.com/article/euro...
www.zdnet.com/article/euro...
Reposted by Uku Vainik
What was life really like before vaccines? The story of what happened to 8-year old George Williams in August 1852 gives us a glimpse.
open.substack.com/pub/epiellie...
open.substack.com/pub/epiellie...
Here's what life before vaccines was really like
The morning of August 2nd 1852 promised a lovely summer’s day in London. But not for 8 year old George Williams.
open.substack.com
October 26, 2025 at 2:11 PM
What was life really like before vaccines? The story of what happened to 8-year old George Williams in August 1852 gives us a glimpse.
open.substack.com/pub/epiellie...
open.substack.com/pub/epiellie...
Reposted by Uku Vainik
Excited to share our preprint on PGI portability across ancestries—now on bioRxiv. With co-authors @aysuo.bsky.social, @paturley.bsky.social, @alextisyoung.bsky.social, and @Dan_J_Benjamin. Preprint: doi.org/10.1101/2025... Thread below for details.
September 18, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Excited to share our preprint on PGI portability across ancestries—now on bioRxiv. With co-authors @aysuo.bsky.social, @paturley.bsky.social, @alextisyoung.bsky.social, and @Dan_J_Benjamin. Preprint: doi.org/10.1101/2025... Thread below for details.
Cool educational thread on vitamin B12
🧪🍎📃
Vitamin B12 is a rather unique vitamin.
Only certain bacteria and archaea can make it, not plants or animals.
Animals require B12 and can obtain and store it, which is why meat and fish are well-known sources for humans.
But what about non-animal foods? Can they provide any B12 at all?🧵⤵️
Vitamin B12 is a rather unique vitamin.
Only certain bacteria and archaea can make it, not plants or animals.
Animals require B12 and can obtain and store it, which is why meat and fish are well-known sources for humans.
But what about non-animal foods? Can they provide any B12 at all?🧵⤵️
October 25, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Cool educational thread on vitamin B12
Reposted by Uku Vainik
Galton calling for data sharing in 1901 - does anyone know of earlier examples?
October 24, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Galton calling for data sharing in 1901 - does anyone know of earlier examples?
Reposted by Uku Vainik
Happy to share a new peer-reviewed study on PubMed. Blessing eggs creates bigger and tastier chickens (p < 0.001). pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41035978/
October 22, 2025 at 11:48 PM
Happy to share a new peer-reviewed study on PubMed. Blessing eggs creates bigger and tastier chickens (p < 0.001). pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41035978/
Reposted by Uku Vainik
Lugege Bolti kontekstis:
pluralistic.net/2025/10/23/t...
pluralistic.net/2025/10/23/t...
Pluralistic: Checking in on the state of Amazon’s chickenized reverse-centaurs (23 Oct 2025) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
pluralistic.net
October 24, 2025 at 7:12 AM
Lugege Bolti kontekstis:
pluralistic.net/2025/10/23/t...
pluralistic.net/2025/10/23/t...
Reposted by Uku Vainik
Kuidas tänapäeval osx eesti keelt oskama pannakse? Grammarly reklaame ja tüütust ei taha, Filosoft paistab olevat tegevuse lõpetanud. Mingi universaalne spelleritootja samuti. Autokorrekt teeb võõra arvuti peal töötades palju nalja ja maha tuleb seda erinevatest programmidest võtta ükshaaval.
October 23, 2025 at 10:51 AM
Kuidas tänapäeval osx eesti keelt oskama pannakse? Grammarly reklaame ja tüütust ei taha, Filosoft paistab olevat tegevuse lõpetanud. Mingi universaalne spelleritootja samuti. Autokorrekt teeb võõra arvuti peal töötades palju nalja ja maha tuleb seda erinevatest programmidest võtta ükshaaval.