Alex Franks
@amfranks.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Statistics
afranks.com
afranks.com
Reposted by Alex Franks
wikipedia's data shows that AI is siphoning traffic away from the site, which is a danger to its sustainability. ironically Wikipedia is more important than ever to users who want reliable information instead of slop, and to AI companies that need it for training data www.404media.co/wikipedia-sa...
Wikipedia Says AI Is Causing a Dangerous Decline in Human Visitors
“With fewer visits to Wikipedia, fewer volunteers may grow and enrich the content, and fewer individual donors may support this work.”
www.404media.co
October 17, 2025 at 1:15 AM
wikipedia's data shows that AI is siphoning traffic away from the site, which is a danger to its sustainability. ironically Wikipedia is more important than ever to users who want reliable information instead of slop, and to AI companies that need it for training data www.404media.co/wikipedia-sa...
Who is teaching causal inference at the undergrad level? What do you cover? Recommended textbooks? Slides you're willing to share? Advice? #stats
October 9, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Who is teaching causal inference at the undergrad level? What do you cover? Recommended textbooks? Slides you're willing to share? Advice? #stats
Reposted by Alex Franks
Congestion pricing by the # ‘s 6 months in:
* 67k fewer drivers entering zone daily
* Delays in Holland Tunnel down 65%
* Traffic deaths down 32% so far in 2025
* $500m projected this year for MTA capital improvements
* B’way attendance +12%
* Subway ridership +7%
So yes this program is a SUCCESS.
* 67k fewer drivers entering zone daily
* Delays in Holland Tunnel down 65%
* Traffic deaths down 32% so far in 2025
* $500m projected this year for MTA capital improvements
* B’way attendance +12%
* Subway ridership +7%
So yes this program is a SUCCESS.
July 6, 2025 at 1:50 AM
Congestion pricing by the # ‘s 6 months in:
* 67k fewer drivers entering zone daily
* Delays in Holland Tunnel down 65%
* Traffic deaths down 32% so far in 2025
* $500m projected this year for MTA capital improvements
* B’way attendance +12%
* Subway ridership +7%
So yes this program is a SUCCESS.
* 67k fewer drivers entering zone daily
* Delays in Holland Tunnel down 65%
* Traffic deaths down 32% so far in 2025
* $500m projected this year for MTA capital improvements
* B’way attendance +12%
* Subway ridership +7%
So yes this program is a SUCCESS.
Reposted by Alex Franks
I don’t think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ ICE.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
July 3, 2025 at 6:58 PM
I don’t think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ ICE.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
Reposted by Alex Franks
This is downtown Santa Barbara right now. The No Kings protest stretches for over a mile along the water. The cars who drive by are all honking in support. Probably the biggest protest this community has ever seen.
June 14, 2025 at 6:17 PM
This is downtown Santa Barbara right now. The No Kings protest stretches for over a mile along the water. The cars who drive by are all honking in support. Probably the biggest protest this community has ever seen.
Reposted by Alex Franks
We feed you.
They hunt us.
They hunt us.
June 11, 2025 at 5:05 AM
We feed you.
They hunt us.
They hunt us.
Reposted by Alex Franks
At the risk of sounding like a big nerd, I love when assumed/perceived trends are found to be the result of the Simpson's paradox! Here, the gender-equality paradox is getting fried! 🧪 #science 📊 #stats #equality
“The gender-equality paradox entails that countries with more equality have larger gender differences in behavior. Positive associations between equality & gender differences disappear or reverse when accounting for cultural clusters of countries. The paradox appears to be a methodological artifact”
Simpson’s gender-equality paradox | PNAS
Several cross-country examinations have found larger gender differences in Western
countries. More recently, it has been argued, from an evolutiona...
www.pnas.org
June 11, 2025 at 6:37 AM
Reposted by Alex Franks
@noahgreifer.bsky.social was my post-doc and I cannot recommend him more highly if you need a super smart statistical consultant / programmer. He is the force behind MatchIt, cobalt, and other packages, and is also just a fantastic team member.
Starting to look like I might not be able to work at Harvard anymore due to recent funding cuts. If you know of any open statistical consulting positions that support remote work or are NYC-based, please reach out! 😅
June 5, 2025 at 12:04 AM
@noahgreifer.bsky.social was my post-doc and I cannot recommend him more highly if you need a super smart statistical consultant / programmer. He is the force behind MatchIt, cobalt, and other packages, and is also just a fantastic team member.
Reposted by Alex Franks
Trump proposes unprecedented budget cuts for US science in next fiscal year
NASA cut by 24%
NIH cut by 40%
EPA cut by 55%
NSF cut by 56%
Analysis from @maxkozlov.bsky.social @dangaristo.bsky.social @alexwitze.bsky.social and @nature.com team
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
NASA cut by 24%
NIH cut by 40%
EPA cut by 55%
NSF cut by 56%
Analysis from @maxkozlov.bsky.social @dangaristo.bsky.social @alexwitze.bsky.social and @nature.com team
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Trump proposes unprecedented budget cuts to US science
Huge reductions, if enacted, could have ‘catastrophic’ effects on US competitiveness and the scientific pipeline, critics say.
www.nature.com
May 2, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Trump proposes unprecedented budget cuts for US science in next fiscal year
NASA cut by 24%
NIH cut by 40%
EPA cut by 55%
NSF cut by 56%
Analysis from @maxkozlov.bsky.social @dangaristo.bsky.social @alexwitze.bsky.social and @nature.com team
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
NASA cut by 24%
NIH cut by 40%
EPA cut by 55%
NSF cut by 56%
Analysis from @maxkozlov.bsky.social @dangaristo.bsky.social @alexwitze.bsky.social and @nature.com team
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Alex Franks
The man at left separated the mother and baby at right. The mother is now in Venezuela. Baby daughter, in foster care in the US, exact location unknown.
Dad? He's in CECOT prison without trial — because he had tattoos.
Dad? He's in CECOT prison without trial — because he had tattoos.
April 29, 2025 at 8:02 PM
The man at left separated the mother and baby at right. The mother is now in Venezuela. Baby daughter, in foster care in the US, exact location unknown.
Dad? He's in CECOT prison without trial — because he had tattoos.
Dad? He's in CECOT prison without trial — because he had tattoos.
Reposted by Alex Franks
🧵In March I wrote about how Trump's attacks on science & universities followed the authoritarian playbook & set out Qs as warning signs for escalation.
🚨 THESE ARE NOW HAPPENING
This 🧵is on how those warning sign Qs have been realised
full post:
christinapagel.substack.com/p/warning-si...
1/15
🚨 THESE ARE NOW HAPPENING
This 🧵is on how those warning sign Qs have been realised
full post:
christinapagel.substack.com/p/warning-si...
1/15
April 29, 2025 at 6:01 PM
🧵In March I wrote about how Trump's attacks on science & universities followed the authoritarian playbook & set out Qs as warning signs for escalation.
🚨 THESE ARE NOW HAPPENING
This 🧵is on how those warning sign Qs have been realised
full post:
christinapagel.substack.com/p/warning-si...
1/15
🚨 THESE ARE NOW HAPPENING
This 🧵is on how those warning sign Qs have been realised
full post:
christinapagel.substack.com/p/warning-si...
1/15
Reposted by Alex Franks
Wow. Randall Monroe is not fucking around *at all*.
April 25, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Wow. Randall Monroe is not fucking around *at all*.
Reposted by Alex Franks
“When the men approached me, my first thought was that they …. wanted to harm me.”
As a woman who spent a career working alone in weird and dangerous situations, my first concern was being hurt.
Thanks, @cambridgeday.bsky.social for being one of the few news outlets to capture that.
As a woman who spent a career working alone in weird and dangerous situations, my first concern was being hurt.
Thanks, @cambridgeday.bsky.social for being one of the few news outlets to capture that.
April 12, 2025 at 11:55 AM
“When the men approached me, my first thought was that they …. wanted to harm me.”
As a woman who spent a career working alone in weird and dangerous situations, my first concern was being hurt.
Thanks, @cambridgeday.bsky.social for being one of the few news outlets to capture that.
As a woman who spent a career working alone in weird and dangerous situations, my first concern was being hurt.
Thanks, @cambridgeday.bsky.social for being one of the few news outlets to capture that.
Reposted by Alex Franks
She is still in custody www.wbur.org/news/2025/04...
Tufts student details harrowing transport by ICE, lack of food and medical care in detention
Rümeysa Öztürk's sworn statement was filed alongside a motion from her attorneys seeking her immediate release from detention while they fight the revocation of her visa.
www.wbur.org
April 12, 2025 at 12:22 AM
She is still in custody www.wbur.org/news/2025/04...
Reposted by Alex Franks
Working with an interdisciplinary team, we have developed a website to communicate how the White House's proposed cuts to health research would cause losses of $16B and 68,500 jobs.
Find out how your community may be impacted.
Explore more at SCIMaP: scienceimpacts.org
a 🧵
Find out how your community may be impacted.
Explore more at SCIMaP: scienceimpacts.org
a 🧵
March 28, 2025 at 2:15 AM
Working with an interdisciplinary team, we have developed a website to communicate how the White House's proposed cuts to health research would cause losses of $16B and 68,500 jobs.
Find out how your community may be impacted.
Explore more at SCIMaP: scienceimpacts.org
a 🧵
Find out how your community may be impacted.
Explore more at SCIMaP: scienceimpacts.org
a 🧵
Reposted by Alex Franks
What people in every part of higher education need to understand is that Republicans now want to do to universities what they’ve tried to do to labor unions: erase them from the institutional landscape. The question is how much you want to collaborate in your own destruction.
March 27, 2025 at 12:10 PM
What people in every part of higher education need to understand is that Republicans now want to do to universities what they’ve tried to do to labor unions: erase them from the institutional landscape. The question is how much you want to collaborate in your own destruction.
Reposted by Alex Franks
This is completely terrifying, a huge violation of the first amendment, and part of the coopting of a distorted version of anti-semitism to justify persecution of people speaking out against Israel's genocide. And the broader pursuit of a police state.
Not sure if this has been shared here yet, but this is video of Rumeysa Ozturk's arrest posted by WCVB. It's terrifying.
March 26, 2025 at 5:47 PM
This is completely terrifying, a huge violation of the first amendment, and part of the coopting of a distorted version of anti-semitism to justify persecution of people speaking out against Israel's genocide. And the broader pursuit of a police state.
Reposted by Alex Franks
This is horrible to post, but I may as well post it. We are essentially shutting down research operations in my group, which is focused on treatments for pediatric brain cancer. I’m a well funded investigator, and there’s no choice. Science can’t function without the stability of NIH
March 15, 2025 at 5:32 PM
This is horrible to post, but I may as well post it. We are essentially shutting down research operations in my group, which is focused on treatments for pediatric brain cancer. I’m a well funded investigator, and there’s no choice. Science can’t function without the stability of NIH
Reposted by Alex Franks
I just heard this as well. The entire staff of the National Center for Education Statistics, created in 1867, has been fired.
March 12, 2025 at 1:20 AM
I just heard this as well. The entire staff of the National Center for Education Statistics, created in 1867, has been fired.
Reposted by Alex Franks
DOGE savings (WSJ): $2.6b
TSLA subsidies (10 years): $15b
Annual increase in deficit: $900b
Cuts to Medicare: $880b
TSLA subsidies (10 years): $15b
Annual increase in deficit: $900b
Cuts to Medicare: $880b
February 26, 2025 at 12:12 AM
DOGE savings (WSJ): $2.6b
TSLA subsidies (10 years): $15b
Annual increase in deficit: $900b
Cuts to Medicare: $880b
TSLA subsidies (10 years): $15b
Annual increase in deficit: $900b
Cuts to Medicare: $880b
Reposted by Alex Franks
If people were really just dying from chronic diseases then how come they weren’t dying from their chronic diseases until after March, 2020?
February 22, 2025 at 6:33 PM
If people were really just dying from chronic diseases then how come they weren’t dying from their chronic diseases until after March, 2020?
Reposted by Alex Franks
If anyone who receives this would like help writing a suitable prompt injection for when they use an LLM to evaluate responses, I am at your service. DM or @hmason.64 on Signal.
Here’s the email everyone is getting from OPM. Embarrassing stuff.
February 22, 2025 at 10:50 PM
If anyone who receives this would like help writing a suitable prompt injection for when they use an LLM to evaluate responses, I am at your service. DM or @hmason.64 on Signal.
Reposted by Alex Franks
NEW: Texas Banned Abortion. Then Sepsis Rates Soared.
ProPublica’s first-of-its-kind analysis is the most detailed look yet into a rise in life-threatening complications for women experiencing pregnancy loss under Texas’ abortion ban.
ProPublica’s first-of-its-kind analysis is the most detailed look yet into a rise in life-threatening complications for women experiencing pregnancy loss under Texas’ abortion ban.
Texas Banned Abortion. Then Sepsis Rates Soared.
ProPublica’s first-of-its-kind analysis is the most detailed look yet into a rise in life-threatening complications for women experiencing pregnancy loss under Texas’ abortion ban.
www.propublica.org
February 20, 2025 at 12:10 PM
NEW: Texas Banned Abortion. Then Sepsis Rates Soared.
ProPublica’s first-of-its-kind analysis is the most detailed look yet into a rise in life-threatening complications for women experiencing pregnancy loss under Texas’ abortion ban.
ProPublica’s first-of-its-kind analysis is the most detailed look yet into a rise in life-threatening complications for women experiencing pregnancy loss under Texas’ abortion ban.
Reposted by Alex Franks
after the overturning of roe, black infant mortality has spiked nearly 11% in states with abortion bans:
www.reuters.com/world/us/inf...
www.reuters.com/world/us/inf...
Infant mortality rises in states with abortion bans, study finds
Increases in infant mortality have been found in U.S. states that enacted abortion bans or severe restrictions after the Supreme Court overturned the landmark ruling that guaranteed a right to the procedure, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.
www.reuters.com
February 14, 2025 at 7:46 PM
after the overturning of roe, black infant mortality has spiked nearly 11% in states with abortion bans:
www.reuters.com/world/us/inf...
www.reuters.com/world/us/inf...