C. Brandon Ogbunu
@cbo.bsky.social
Scientist + Humanist + Pugilist.
70% Smoke. 30% Stack.
"Tip your hat; pop the chain; short Joe Louis; then wipe his nose with the hook. It's that simple." (c) Brother Naazim Richardson
https://linktr.ee/chike98
70% Smoke. 30% Stack.
"Tip your hat; pop the chain; short Joe Louis; then wipe his nose with the hook. It's that simple." (c) Brother Naazim Richardson
https://linktr.ee/chike98
Pinned
1/5
🦖 Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park (1990) turns 35 in November. In a new preprint, I argue that it was a prescient meditation on evolutionary genetics, complexity, & control. I also examine analogous efforts of today (e.g. “de-extinction.")
Select points below:
ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...
🦖 Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park (1990) turns 35 in November. In a new preprint, I argue that it was a prescient meditation on evolutionary genetics, complexity, & control. I also examine analogous efforts of today (e.g. “de-extinction.")
Select points below:
ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
🆕 in "Ecological Monographs": Static models miss the mark—adding nonlinear, density-based facilitation helps predict coexistence, persistence, and realistic community dynamics
📄Neighbor density-dependent facilitation promotes coexistence and internal oscillation
doi.org/10.1002/ecm....
📄Neighbor density-dependent facilitation promotes coexistence and internal oscillation
doi.org/10.1002/ecm....
November 10, 2025 at 7:45 PM
🆕 in "Ecological Monographs": Static models miss the mark—adding nonlinear, density-based facilitation helps predict coexistence, persistence, and realistic community dynamics
📄Neighbor density-dependent facilitation promotes coexistence and internal oscillation
doi.org/10.1002/ecm....
📄Neighbor density-dependent facilitation promotes coexistence and internal oscillation
doi.org/10.1002/ecm....
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
The Long-Term Evolution Experiment has returned home. Led by Professors Richard Lenski (@relenski.bsky.social) and Jeffrey Barrick, this groundbreaking work continues to reveal how bacteria evolve in real time. 12 flasks. 1 legacy.
🔗https://tinyurl.com/f6vjyjvr
🔗https://tinyurl.com/f6vjyjvr
November 10, 2025 at 3:25 PM
The Long-Term Evolution Experiment has returned home. Led by Professors Richard Lenski (@relenski.bsky.social) and Jeffrey Barrick, this groundbreaking work continues to reveal how bacteria evolve in real time. 12 flasks. 1 legacy.
🔗https://tinyurl.com/f6vjyjvr
🔗https://tinyurl.com/f6vjyjvr
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
1/ A concerning flu "variant" may be driving an early rise in cases in the UK.
The virus is an H3N2, but has mutations that suggest it may evade some prior immunity.
We're not seeing much activity in the US, but that may be changing.
A 🧵 on what signals I'm watching.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
The virus is an H3N2, but has mutations that suggest it may evade some prior immunity.
We're not seeing much activity in the US, but that may be changing.
A 🧵 on what signals I'm watching.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
New flu virus mutation could see ‘worst season in a decade'
Leading flu experts say they will not be surprised if this year's is the worst flu season for a decade.
www.bbc.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:16 AM
1/ A concerning flu "variant" may be driving an early rise in cases in the UK.
The virus is an H3N2, but has mutations that suggest it may evade some prior immunity.
We're not seeing much activity in the US, but that may be changing.
A 🧵 on what signals I'm watching.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
The virus is an H3N2, but has mutations that suggest it may evade some prior immunity.
We're not seeing much activity in the US, but that may be changing.
A 🧵 on what signals I'm watching.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Seems bad…
Our 2017 @nationalacademies.org report on “Human Genome Editing: Science, Ethics, and Governance" (www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/hum...) was designed to prevent exactly this kind of rogue science. One of the many reasons why we need industry-independent regulatory frameworks for emerging tech …
Genetically Engineered Babies Are Banned. Tech Titans Are Trying to Make One Anyway.
Silicon Valley startups are pushing the boundaries of reproductive genetics, hoping to prevent diseases as well as improve chances for a high IQ and other traits.
www.wsj.com
November 9, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Seems bad…
This is…outstanding. If I may, I urge us to read it carefully, and appreciate the details, the shape, the picture it paints.
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 2:46 AM
This is…outstanding. If I may, I urge us to read it carefully, and appreciate the details, the shape, the picture it paints.
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Bluetorial-Jim Watson
I met Jim Watson a few times but did not know him well. However, I was greatly influenced by his book “The Double Helix”. He was a complicated human being with some very, very bad features, but some good contributions.
What follows is my personal perspective.
1/41
I met Jim Watson a few times but did not know him well. However, I was greatly influenced by his book “The Double Helix”. He was a complicated human being with some very, very bad features, but some good contributions.
What follows is my personal perspective.
1/41
a cartoon says hey everybody an old man 's talking while bart simpson looks on
ALT: a cartoon says hey everybody an old man 's talking while bart simpson looks on
media.tenor.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Bluetorial-Jim Watson
I met Jim Watson a few times but did not know him well. However, I was greatly influenced by his book “The Double Helix”. He was a complicated human being with some very, very bad features, but some good contributions.
What follows is my personal perspective.
1/41
I met Jim Watson a few times but did not know him well. However, I was greatly influenced by his book “The Double Helix”. He was a complicated human being with some very, very bad features, but some good contributions.
What follows is my personal perspective.
1/41
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Pinball model of development and reprogramming. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
November 8, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Pinball model of development and reprogramming. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
I’ve been casual student of physics for four decades. Why did no one ever explain to me so clearly what a conservation law is?
From Susskind and Hrabovsky (2014) The Theoretical Minimum.
—
This is why reading basic material from brilliant thinkers is so often worth the investment.
From Susskind and Hrabovsky (2014) The Theoretical Minimum.
—
This is why reading basic material from brilliant thinkers is so often worth the investment.
October 25, 2025 at 7:43 AM
I’ve been casual student of physics for four decades. Why did no one ever explain to me so clearly what a conservation law is?
From Susskind and Hrabovsky (2014) The Theoretical Minimum.
—
This is why reading basic material from brilliant thinkers is so often worth the investment.
From Susskind and Hrabovsky (2014) The Theoretical Minimum.
—
This is why reading basic material from brilliant thinkers is so often worth the investment.
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
This was a fantastic read. Nice surprise that it had guest-star @carlbergstrom.com who I guess still has not see the lyrebird :-)
lareviewofbooks.org/article/what...
lareviewofbooks.org/article/what...
What Isn’t Intelligence? | Los Angeles Review of Books
Patrick House is inspired by Blaise Agüera y Arcas’s “What Is Intelligence?” to think about what might constitute the difference between artificial and natural intelligence.
lareviewofbooks.org
October 25, 2025 at 12:12 PM
This was a fantastic read. Nice surprise that it had guest-star @carlbergstrom.com who I guess still has not see the lyrebird :-)
lareviewofbooks.org/article/what...
lareviewofbooks.org/article/what...
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Scientists feel that the pressure to publish is rising, but that the time and resources they have to do the necessary research are falling, according to a survey of 3,200 researchers
go.nature.com/4hNDvuN
go.nature.com/4hNDvuN
Pressure to publish is rising as research time shrinks, finds survey of scientists
Researchers feel that pressures to publish are increasing, but the time and resources available to do research are decreasing, according to a survey by Elsevier.
go.nature.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Scientists feel that the pressure to publish is rising, but that the time and resources they have to do the necessary research are falling, according to a survey of 3,200 researchers
go.nature.com/4hNDvuN
go.nature.com/4hNDvuN
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
One of my favorites is the Michelson-Morley experiment (a null result!). Only 173 citations (?!) for effectively ending the search for luminiferous aether and paved the way for relativity.
I can't think of many other field-ending papers, but they can be massively impactful by redirection.
I can't think of many other field-ending papers, but they can be massively impactful by redirection.
November 7, 2025 at 12:32 PM
One of my favorites is the Michelson-Morley experiment (a null result!). Only 173 citations (?!) for effectively ending the search for luminiferous aether and paved the way for relativity.
I can't think of many other field-ending papers, but they can be massively impactful by redirection.
I can't think of many other field-ending papers, but they can be massively impactful by redirection.
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
With 2508 citations in 127 years, Student (1908) introducing the t-test wins for huge actual impact with moderate citation impact: www.jstor.org/stable/23315...
Now, how about huge actual impact and minimal citation impact?
Now, how about huge actual impact and minimal citation impact?
November 7, 2025 at 11:49 AM
With 2508 citations in 127 years, Student (1908) introducing the t-test wins for huge actual impact with moderate citation impact: www.jstor.org/stable/23315...
Now, how about huge actual impact and minimal citation impact?
Now, how about huge actual impact and minimal citation impact?
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
I’m stuck in bed between chemo treatments for metastatic coloncancer, wearing a take-home chemo pump attached to my chest.
I wanted to share my advice that you can benefit from ‘Letting Your Colleagues In’ don’t need to struggle alone
@insidehighered.com
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/care...
I wanted to share my advice that you can benefit from ‘Letting Your Colleagues In’ don’t need to struggle alone
@insidehighered.com
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/care...
Consider Sharing Health Challenges With Colleagues (opinion)
Being open with my colleagues about my cancer diagnosis has allowed me to access an enormous source of support and comfort.
www.insidehighered.com
November 6, 2025 at 3:15 PM
I’m stuck in bed between chemo treatments for metastatic coloncancer, wearing a take-home chemo pump attached to my chest.
I wanted to share my advice that you can benefit from ‘Letting Your Colleagues In’ don’t need to struggle alone
@insidehighered.com
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/care...
I wanted to share my advice that you can benefit from ‘Letting Your Colleagues In’ don’t need to struggle alone
@insidehighered.com
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/care...
Post-election column for @undark.org:
"The questions [about political identity] are more than casual curiosities but can be formalized into a technical research agenda dedicated to investigating the sometimes-hidden forces that craft political identity."
undark.org/2025/11/06/o...
"The questions [about political identity] are more than casual curiosities but can be formalized into a technical research agenda dedicated to investigating the sometimes-hidden forces that craft political identity."
undark.org/2025/11/06/o...
The Increasingly Complex Science of Political Identity
Opinion | Understanding why people vote the way they do has emerged as a cutting-edge scientific question requiring new tools.
undark.org
November 6, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Post-election column for @undark.org:
"The questions [about political identity] are more than casual curiosities but can be formalized into a technical research agenda dedicated to investigating the sometimes-hidden forces that craft political identity."
undark.org/2025/11/06/o...
"The questions [about political identity] are more than casual curiosities but can be formalized into a technical research agenda dedicated to investigating the sometimes-hidden forces that craft political identity."
undark.org/2025/11/06/o...
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Sociologist Patricia Kingori is helping to expose contract cheating by scholars in high-income countries
go.nature.com/485uRU7
go.nature.com/485uRU7
Shadow scholars: inside Kenya’s multibillion-dollar fake-essay industry
Sociologist Patricia Kingori is helping to expose contract cheating by scholars in high-income countries.
go.nature.com
November 6, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Sociologist Patricia Kingori is helping to expose contract cheating by scholars in high-income countries
go.nature.com/485uRU7
go.nature.com/485uRU7
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Ok, just wow. If the content of this article is right, this is depressing. We're slowly reaching the point where ~100% of what I was taught in Social Psych was either innocently wrong or plainly frauded
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Debunking “When Prophecy Fails”
In 1954, Dorothy Martin predicted an apocalyptic flood and promised her followers rescue by flying saucers. When neither arrived, she recanted, her group dissolved, and efforts to proselytize ceased....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 5, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Ok, just wow. If the content of this article is right, this is depressing. We're slowly reaching the point where ~100% of what I was taught in Social Psych was either innocently wrong or plainly frauded
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
This book coming out in early 2026 looks interesting.
November 5, 2025 at 10:28 PM
This book coming out in early 2026 looks interesting.
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
If you're looking for a faculty position at the intersection of ecology and computing (both broadly defined), please apply to this joint search between the CEE Department and the College of Computing at MIT: cee.mit.edu/people/share...
Faculty Position in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Schwarzman College of Computing - cee.mit.edu
The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), together with the Schwarzman College of Computing (SCC) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge MA, seeks candidate...
cee.mit.edu
November 5, 2025 at 7:27 PM
If you're looking for a faculty position at the intersection of ecology and computing (both broadly defined), please apply to this joint search between the CEE Department and the College of Computing at MIT: cee.mit.edu/people/share...
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Intraspecific Reaction Norm Variation Controls the Eco-Evolutionary Consequences of Environmental Change by Wieczynski et al.
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
University of Chicago Press Journals: Cookie absent
www.journals.uchicago.edu
November 5, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Intraspecific Reaction Norm Variation Controls the Eco-Evolutionary Consequences of Environmental Change by Wieczynski et al.
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Interesting story in this preprint.
A male infant was diagnosed with Fanconi anemia due to an X-linked frameshift mutation.
Three years later, his hematopoiesis became normal (without intervention). How?
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
A male infant was diagnosed with Fanconi anemia due to an X-linked frameshift mutation.
Three years later, his hematopoiesis became normal (without intervention). How?
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
Multi-lineage natural gene therapy mediated by embryonic triploid mosaicism in the context of Fanconi anaemia
Fanconi anemia is a rare inherited bone marrow failure syndrome caused by inactivation of genes in the Fanconi anemia/BRCA DNA repair pathway. We report a patient with X-linked Fanconi anemia, and aty...
www.medrxiv.org
November 5, 2025 at 8:04 AM
Interesting story in this preprint.
A male infant was diagnosed with Fanconi anemia due to an X-linked frameshift mutation.
Three years later, his hematopoiesis became normal (without intervention). How?
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
A male infant was diagnosed with Fanconi anemia due to an X-linked frameshift mutation.
Three years later, his hematopoiesis became normal (without intervention). How?
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Another casualty of the LLM revolution.
In "arXiv’s CS category, review articles and position papers must now be accepted at a journal or a conference and complete successful peer review."
In "arXiv’s CS category, review articles and position papers must now be accepted at a journal or a conference and complete successful peer review."
Attention Authors: Updated Practice for Review Articles and Position Papers in arXiv CS Category – arXiv blog
blog.arxiv.org
November 2, 2025 at 4:58 AM
Another casualty of the LLM revolution.
In "arXiv’s CS category, review articles and position papers must now be accepted at a journal or a conference and complete successful peer review."
In "arXiv’s CS category, review articles and position papers must now be accepted at a journal or a conference and complete successful peer review."
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Been reading "What is Innateness?" by Paul Griffiths (2002) philpapers.org/rec/EGRWII in which he offers this very sound advice:
November 2, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Been reading "What is Innateness?" by Paul Griffiths (2002) philpapers.org/rec/EGRWII in which he offers this very sound advice:
Rank the championship-level sports watching experiences by some measure of stress level*, even when the viewer has no allegiance. My (biased) list:
1) Baseball
2) Tennis
3) Boxing
4) Basketball
5) Hockey/Football
(All are very stressful)
*thinking average level, but min2min flux is relevant
1) Baseball
2) Tennis
3) Boxing
4) Basketball
5) Hockey/Football
(All are very stressful)
*thinking average level, but min2min flux is relevant
November 2, 2025 at 2:09 AM
Rank the championship-level sports watching experiences by some measure of stress level*, even when the viewer has no allegiance. My (biased) list:
1) Baseball
2) Tennis
3) Boxing
4) Basketball
5) Hockey/Football
(All are very stressful)
*thinking average level, but min2min flux is relevant
1) Baseball
2) Tennis
3) Boxing
4) Basketball
5) Hockey/Football
(All are very stressful)
*thinking average level, but min2min flux is relevant
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Yes - isometric scaling as a way to understand the benefits and costs of being small versus large. Haldane's Harpers article from 1926 is an amazing example of popular science writing.
October 31, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Yes - isometric scaling as a way to understand the benefits and costs of being small versus large. Haldane's Harpers article from 1926 is an amazing example of popular science writing.