Diogo Melo
@damelo.net
Evolutionary biologist, programmer, crappy musician. Assistant professor at the University of São Paulo. Formerly a postdoc at Princeton EEB. damelo.net
Reposted by Diogo Melo
Filling out a banking form that asks for my occupation, and in what I am choosing to consider as a sign of the times, "journalist" is not a selectable option, but "cryptocurrency" is
November 10, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Filling out a banking form that asks for my occupation, and in what I am choosing to consider as a sign of the times, "journalist" is not a selectable option, but "cryptocurrency" is
Reposted by Diogo Melo
Reposted by Diogo Melo
This term is so social media-brained. Coined by people who can't imagine themselves without an audience, or that anyone could genuinely want to pass time in any other form than Stare at Phone
November 10, 2025 at 11:34 AM
This term is so social media-brained. Coined by people who can't imagine themselves without an audience, or that anyone could genuinely want to pass time in any other form than Stare at Phone
Reposted by Diogo Melo
Good to see someone involved in the field describing the techbro fantasies as “bullshit”. But note the link between this nonsense and eugenicist ideas from Altman. These people are rich, stupid and influential, which = dangerous.
Investors’ ‘dumb transhumanist ideas’ setting back neurotech progress, say experts
Investors’ ‘dumb transhumanist ideas’ setting back neurotech progress, say experts
Fascination of investors such as Elon Musk with uploading their brains to computers is hindering progress in curing disease, say scientists
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:53 AM
Good to see someone involved in the field describing the techbro fantasies as “bullshit”. But note the link between this nonsense and eugenicist ideas from Altman. These people are rich, stupid and influential, which = dangerous.
Reposted by Diogo Melo
Reposted by Diogo Melo
Reposted by Diogo Melo
lol she got his ass and he knows it
November 9, 2025 at 3:36 PM
lol she got his ass and he knows it
Reposted by Diogo Melo
Friendly reminder that the book "In COVID's Wake" is revisionist bullshit. Listen to actual experts
November 8, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Friendly reminder that the book "In COVID's Wake" is revisionist bullshit. Listen to actual experts
Reposted by Diogo Melo
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 Diogo Melo
Very good post. I very much agree with the overall position.
How can we reform science? I have some ideas. But I am not sure you’ll like them, because they don’t promise much. elevanth.org/blog/2025/07...
Which Kind of Science Reform
What hope is there for science reform, if we can't agree on what to reform? Right now, principles are more important than practices.
elevanth.org
November 8, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Very good post. I very much agree with the overall position.
Reposted by Diogo Melo
If you believe either that Franklin discovered the double helix, and / or Watson and Crick stole her data, ask yourself how you know this. Then take a read of this article.
If I see one more stupid Rosalind Franklin take I'm going to lose my mind. Thank god for @matthewcobb.bsky.social and @nccomfort.bsky.social. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the discovery of DNA’s structure
Franklin was no victim in how the DNA double helix was solved. An overlooked letter and an unpublished news article, both written in 1953, reveal that she was an equal player.
www.nature.com
November 8, 2025 at 7:32 AM
If you believe either that Franklin discovered the double helix, and / or Watson and Crick stole her data, ask yourself how you know this. Then take a read of this article.
Reposted by Diogo Melo
just unbelievable ugliness, from a character who stumbled into the frame once and only once
why anyone listened is beyond me
why anyone listened is beyond me
November 8, 2025 at 4:35 AM
just unbelievable ugliness, from a character who stumbled into the frame once and only once
why anyone listened is beyond me
why anyone listened is beyond me
Reposted by Diogo Melo
Scientific breakthroughs are rarely unique; someone else would’ve made them soon enough. But when prominent scientists cause harm, that harm isn’t inevitable; the world might simply have been better had the harm not been inflicted.
liorpachter.wordpress.com/2018/05/18/j...
liorpachter.wordpress.com/2018/05/18/j...
James Watson in his own words
“Some anti-Semitism is justified” “Whenever you interview fat people, you feel bad, because you know you’re not going to hire them” “Japan should be bombed for d…
liorpachter.wordpress.com
November 8, 2025 at 4:29 AM
Scientific breakthroughs are rarely unique; someone else would’ve made them soon enough. But when prominent scientists cause harm, that harm isn’t inevitable; the world might simply have been better had the harm not been inflicted.
liorpachter.wordpress.com/2018/05/18/j...
liorpachter.wordpress.com/2018/05/18/j...
Reposted by Diogo Melo
`filter_out()` is not just syntactic sugar!
If you've used `filter()` to drop rows, you've likely had to sprinkle in `& !is.na(col)` all over the place. No more! `filter_out()`'s default behavior should line up much better with your expectations around `NA`s when dropping rows.
If you've used `filter()` to drop rows, you've likely had to sprinkle in `& !is.na(col)` all over the place. No more! `filter_out()`'s default behavior should line up much better with your expectations around `NA`s when dropping rows.
November 7, 2025 at 4:03 PM
`filter_out()` is not just syntactic sugar!
If you've used `filter()` to drop rows, you've likely had to sprinkle in `& !is.na(col)` all over the place. No more! `filter_out()`'s default behavior should line up much better with your expectations around `NA`s when dropping rows.
If you've used `filter()` to drop rows, you've likely had to sprinkle in `& !is.na(col)` all over the place. No more! `filter_out()`'s default behavior should line up much better with your expectations around `NA`s when dropping rows.
Reposted by Diogo Melo
Much like abolishing ICE, court packing must be the moderate position
This just into the newsroom
WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court issues emergency order temporarily blocking full SNAP food aid payments.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court issues emergency order temporarily blocking full SNAP food aid payments.
November 8, 2025 at 3:13 AM
Much like abolishing ICE, court packing must be the moderate position
Reposted by Diogo Melo
In a 6-3 decision SCOTUS rules “It’s legal to starve the poor if Daddy says so”. Sotomayor, Jackson, Kagan dissent
WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump administration turns to Supreme Court to block order to fully fund SNAP food aid payments.
November 8, 2025 at 12:38 AM
In a 6-3 decision SCOTUS rules “It’s legal to starve the poor if Daddy says so”. Sotomayor, Jackson, Kagan dissent
Reposted by Diogo Melo
You can’t really blame arXiv for the decision to stop publishing computer science stuff (given the flood of slop) but this is also a textbook example of a global public good being gratuitously degraded www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Preprint site arXiv is banning computer-science reviews: here’s why
The repository is taking steps to tackle a surge in low quality, AI-generated content.
www.nature.com
November 7, 2025 at 11:28 PM
You can’t really blame arXiv for the decision to stop publishing computer science stuff (given the flood of slop) but this is also a textbook example of a global public good being gratuitously degraded www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Diogo Melo
Reposted by Diogo Melo
I saw him give a talk at Harvard. He opened by saying he'd taught there so he could marry a rich younger woman, and it had worked.
Then he complained that Salvador Luria really should have gotten over the Holocaust.
The main thrust of his talk was explaining that Rosalind Franklin was a b*tch.
Then he complained that Salvador Luria really should have gotten over the Holocaust.
The main thrust of his talk was explaining that Rosalind Franklin was a b*tch.
November 7, 2025 at 8:00 PM
I saw him give a talk at Harvard. He opened by saying he'd taught there so he could marry a rich younger woman, and it had worked.
Then he complained that Salvador Luria really should have gotten over the Holocaust.
The main thrust of his talk was explaining that Rosalind Franklin was a b*tch.
Then he complained that Salvador Luria really should have gotten over the Holocaust.
The main thrust of his talk was explaining that Rosalind Franklin was a b*tch.
Reposted by Diogo Melo
It's really important to note that not only was Watson a racist and misogynist but his contribution to the double helix was listening to a Rosalind Franklin lecture and getting mad because Francis Crick wouldn't invite him to his sex parties.
Hey folks, as news of Watson's demise spreads, please don't set aside his weighty legacy of misogyny and racism. He was truly among the worst of us. www.vox.com/2019/1/15/18...
DNA scientist James Watson has a remarkably long history of sexist, racist public comments
“People say it would be terrible if we made all girls pretty,” he said in 2003. “I think it would be great.”
www.vox.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:59 PM
It's really important to note that not only was Watson a racist and misogynist but his contribution to the double helix was listening to a Rosalind Franklin lecture and getting mad because Francis Crick wouldn't invite him to his sex parties.
Reposted by Diogo Melo
His death will put end the tradition of him nearly running over Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory researchers with his car, a story I've heard on at least half a dozen different occasions.
November 7, 2025 at 8:02 PM
His death will put end the tradition of him nearly running over Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory researchers with his car, a story I've heard on at least half a dozen different occasions.
Reposted by Diogo Melo
One of the funniest days of all time
HAPPY FOUR SEASONS TOTAL LANDSCAPING DAY TO ALL WHO CELEBRATE
November 7, 2025 at 9:20 PM
One of the funniest days of all time
Reposted by Diogo Melo
Do you teach #rstats? Do your students complain about how lame and old-fashioned dplyr is? Don't worry: I have the solution for you: github.com/hadley/genzp....
genzplyr is dplyr, but bussin fr fr no cap.
genzplyr is dplyr, but bussin fr fr no cap.
GitHub - hadley/genzplyr: dplyr but make it bussin fr fr no cap
dplyr but make it bussin fr fr no cap. Contribute to hadley/genzplyr development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
November 6, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Do you teach #rstats? Do your students complain about how lame and old-fashioned dplyr is? Don't worry: I have the solution for you: github.com/hadley/genzp....
genzplyr is dplyr, but bussin fr fr no cap.
genzplyr is dplyr, but bussin fr fr no cap.
This would unironically help me understand heights in American
![Comic. PERSON 1 with white hat: How tall are you? PERSON 2: 5ft 24cm [caption] When switching to metric, make the process easier by doing it in steps.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreifptvo6h6kdpf75j3i443ospzumiii7a3pblah2urjrawmyymh3ga@jpeg)
November 6, 2025 at 11:42 PM
This would unironically help me understand heights in American
Reposted by Diogo Melo
🚨 Come join the fantastic long-tailed tit team 🚨
🐦We are recruiting a field technician to collect behavioural data on a long-term studied population of wild long-tailed tits (passerine birds).
🪶20 months contract in Sheffield, UK.
🌲Deadline: 23/11/2025.
jobsite.sheffield.ac.uk/job/Technici...
🐦We are recruiting a field technician to collect behavioural data on a long-term studied population of wild long-tailed tits (passerine birds).
🪶20 months contract in Sheffield, UK.
🌲Deadline: 23/11/2025.
jobsite.sheffield.ac.uk/job/Technici...
November 5, 2025 at 9:32 AM
🚨 Come join the fantastic long-tailed tit team 🚨
🐦We are recruiting a field technician to collect behavioural data on a long-term studied population of wild long-tailed tits (passerine birds).
🪶20 months contract in Sheffield, UK.
🌲Deadline: 23/11/2025.
jobsite.sheffield.ac.uk/job/Technici...
🐦We are recruiting a field technician to collect behavioural data on a long-term studied population of wild long-tailed tits (passerine birds).
🪶20 months contract in Sheffield, UK.
🌲Deadline: 23/11/2025.
jobsite.sheffield.ac.uk/job/Technici...