Cheng Soon Ong

🌍 How can we build equitable global biodata partnerships?

A new report explores how researchers in low-resource settings use open biodata & what gets in the way.

Global Engagement Manager for EMBL-EBI Data Services ThankGod Ebenezer shares the report insights.

www.ebi.ac.uk/about/news/p...

Emulation of a Target Trial of Antihypertensive Medications on Weight Change - Journal of General Internal Medicine Background Weight gain after starting antihypertensive medications is a frequent concern for patients, but there is limited data on expected weight change after initiation of these medications. A comparative effectiveness trial to evaluate this outcome would not be feasible. Objective To estimate and compare average weight change under initiating and adhering to commonly prescribed, first-line antihypertensive medications as monotherapy by emulating a target trial. Design Retrospective observational cohort study over 24 months of follow-up using electronic health records (EHR). Participants 141,260 patients prescribed one of seven antihypertensives between 2010 and 2019 across 8 US health systems. Main Outcome and Measures We examined mean weight change associated with initiation of and adherence to amlodipine, atenolol, hydrochlorothiazide, losartan, metoprolol, or propranolol, relative to lisinopril, at 6, 12, and 24 months after initiation. To adjust for baseline confounding and informative outcome measurement, we used inverse probability weighting with repeated outcome marginal structural models. Key Results After baseline and time-varying covariate adjustment, initiation of and adherence to lisinopril were associated with mean weight loss at 6 months (− 0.69 kg, 95% CI − 0.92, − 0.47), 12 months (− 0.58 kg, 95% CI − 1.05, − 0.30), and 24 months (− 1.121 kg, 95% CI − 2.013, − 0.46). Compared to lisinopril, the estimated 6-month weight change was higher for patients prescribed hydrochlorothiazide (0.68 kg, 95% CI 0.31, 1.04), losartan (0.54 kg, 95% CI 0.17, 0.93), metoprolol (1.38 kg, 95% CI 0.95, 1.76), and propranolol (1.03 kg, 95% CI 0.346, 1.62). At 12 months, metoprolol (1.74 kg, 95% CI 1.03, 2.41) and propranolol (1.72 kg, 95% CI 0.06, 3.235) continued to show higher weight change compared to lisinopril. Conclusion We observed small differences in weight change across antihypertensive medications, with lisinopril leading to weight loss and metoprolol and propranolol to modest weight gain. Clinicians should consider potential weight gain when selecting antihypertensive medications.

You shouldn't use change scores in randomised controlled trials. And you really shouldn't use them in observational studies. So please please don't use them in target trial emulations!

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

This is a nice paper. It faces down a common problem: in order to explain to why a common approach cannot work even in theory, we first need to teach a framework in which regression is not magic that tells us which variables on right cause the variable on left. It's exhausting.

Anyway great paper!

I guess because software allows it, ppl keep trying to estimate diversification rates on phylogenies. This is not in principle possible, because infinite combinations of diversification and extinction rates can explain almost any tree. Short, clear recent-ish paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Scientists develop first ‘accurate blood test’ to detect chronic fatigue syndrome Research could offer hope for ME patients – but some experts urge caution and say more studies needed

ME/CFS is a devastating condition that has long been denied, dismissed, psychologised and underdiagnosed. Research is at last starting to catch up with it, with glimmers of hope for those who have been left untreated for so long.
There's a huge BUT coming ...🧵
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Applications for JamCoders, a 1 month free algorithms & programming camp for Jamaican high schoolers, are now open.

Head over to jamcoders.org.jm#apply. No programming experience required for students.

We're looking for students & teaching assistants.

Deadline January 31.

I have been trying to get this published as an op-ed, but I am going to post it here since I think it is timely in light of the "consent" extortion events.

Deafening Quiet from the Scientific Establishment

jeremymberg.github.io/jeremyberg.g...

1/14

Robert Jenrick complained of ‘not seeing another white face’ in Birmingham neighbourhood Shadow justice secretary criticised for suggesting he could tell how integrated Handsworth was based on short visit

Why is nobody calling these people what they are: racists

And why does this racist still have such an elevated position in the conservative party?

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

UTS Governance Project Survey: A Staff-Led Collaborative Project The UTS Governance Project is an independent, staff-led initiative to strengthen transparency, accountability and participation in how our university is run. Inspired by the ANU Governance Project, ...

Can you help us boost this signal? UTS colleagues are doing a governance project to talk back to the consultant led 'reform' of their university.

Please repost!! UTS people please have your say!

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Volume 298

proceedings.mlr.press/v298/

Proceedings of Machine Learning for Healthcare 2025

Is now available on PMLR

Surveying the State of Writing Education in Physics and Astronomy Writing is a critical skill for modern science, enabling collaboration, scientific discourse, public outreach, and more. Accordingly, it is important to consider how physicists and astronomers are tra...

Excellent piece by @briles34.bsky.social on writing in the discipline. It’s depressing that we think that theoretical physics expertise is not just more important but INFINITELY more important than writing to… *writing* PhD dissertations (on any subfield of astro, say). arxiv.org/abs/2510.03493

Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.

the past few weekends here and there spread through a few months have been fun for me. i vibe-coded and along the way learned various services that enable one to rapidly deploy a trial version of a web service.

an awsome era for software development!

WoroniAustralia Institute Analyses ANU Budget Reports—No Deficit Found - Woroni The Australia Institute has released its audited analysis of ANU’s 2023 and 2024 budget. ANU’s unaudited deficit was reported at $142.5 million, while its audited revenue showed a surplus of $89.9 mil...

“Herein lies the question: if not to sustain ANU’s once diverse range of courses and degrees, and if not to retain the knowledge and skills of its academics, then what is that $232.4 million revenue for?”

www.woroni.com.au/news/austral...

We're looking for a new actuarial professor. careers.pageuppeople.com/513/cw/en/jo... @monashebs.bsky.social @monashuniversity.bsky.social #actuarial

📢Several PhD and Postdoc positions in my group (focusing on AI for Scientific Discovery in Physics) at @unituebingen.bsky.social

If you are excited about using AI to design new ways for observing the universe, please apply here: uni-tuebingen.de/en/128980#c2...

How Vite Became the Backbone of Modern Frontend Frameworks We talk to Evan You about Vite's journey from a prototype inspired by ES Modules to the industry-standard build tool. Also: Vite+ and AI.

Vite: The Documentary is just ONE WEEK AWAY!!

While you wait, have a read of this article from our friends at The New Stack, where @evanyou.me chats a little about Vite's evolution and where it's headed.

thenewstack.io/how-vite-bec...

Image shows just two example headlines from prominent media outlets earlier this week, heralding a newly published discovery that supposedly "rewrites human evolution". Left side, from the BBC: "Million-year-old skull rewrites human evolution, scientists claim"; right side, from the New York Post: "1M-year-old skull discovery could change everything we know about human evolution".

New analysis of a 1-million yr old fossil skull captured worldwide media attention this week, with many headlines saying it requires a complete rewrite/rethink of human evolution. This is an intriguing study & it's brilliant to see so much public enthusiasm for deciphering our origins, but....1/n 🧪

Is Best-of-N really the best use of your inference compute?

Introducing Fusion-of-N: a simple and powerful way to advance inference and distillation beyond Best-of-N.

How to rapidly search the world’s microbial DNA By making the world’s microbial DNA easier to explore, LexicMap helps researchers track outbreaks, study antibiotic resistance, and understand microbial diversity.

There are millions of openly available microbial genomes, but searching them can be slow.

Until now 🥁

Introducing LexicMap, a new alignment tool that lets scientists search these data in minutes, helping track antibiotic resistance, trace outbreaks, and more.

www.ebi.ac.uk/about/news/r...
🦠

Over 350 registrations for OSI's Deep Dive: Data Governance conference tomorrow. Will you be joining us? https://opensource.org/datagovernanceconf

Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show that it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand)
Results:
Last week: 100% RE
Last 213 weeks: 98.5% RE (1/5)

The richest man on earth owns X.

The second richest man on earth is about to be a major owner of TikTok.

The third richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

The fourth richest man owns The Washington Post.

See the problem here?

AI Essentials: Getting Started with Artificial Intelligence (Microcredential) www.tafesa.edu.au/xml/course/s...

I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA

10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)

YouTube video by Machine Learning Street Talk The Real Reason Huge AI Models Actually Work

My full interview with MLStreetTalk has just been posted. I really enjoyed this conversation! We talk about the bitter lesson, scientific discovery, Bayesian inference, mysterious phenomena, and key principles for building intelligent systems. www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-jT...

Use of paracetamol during pregnancy unchanged in the EU | European Medicines Agency (EMA) Paracetamol medicines can be used in pregnancy, in accordance with official recommendations

Paracetamol remains an important option to treat pain or fever in pregnant women.

Following rigorous assessment of the available scientific data, we find no evidence that taking paracetamol during pregnancy causes autism in children.

Read more 👉 www.ema.europa.eu/en/news/use-...

this news cycle has me thinking about a science fiction series I've loved - the Terra Ignota books by @adapalmer.bsky.social. One theme in those novels is (not named as such) neurodivergence, but more broadly, fighting for the right to raise children who are different. It is a good cause.

The Universal Turing Machine is available to read for free, and is an inclusive platform for memoir. Everyone can write for the Universal Turing Machine, of any age and from anywhere, on the principle that everyone’s life-story is equally valid. universalturingmachine.co.uk/contact-cont...

YouTube video by National Press Club of Australia IN FULL: Dr Vanessa Pirotta's Address to the National Press Club of Australia

This week I delivered my first National Press Club address.

Using my personal story of what it’s like to be a marine scientist, I was raw and vulnerable. Even detailing some of the lowest lows.

Watch: m.youtube.com/watch?v=gCsL...

Photos by @fernandapedroso.photography