Andy Hickl

Time to try something new.

Welcome to the Bluesky account for Stand Up for Science 2025!

Keep an eye on this space for updates, event information, and ways to get involved. We can't wait to see everyone #standupforscience2025 on March 7th, both in DC and locations nationwide!

#scienceforall #sciencenotsilence

Professors please pull up a chair.

I’ve been talking to my classes about what has been going on. I explained indirect costs to them. I talked to them about what a probationary employee is in the government.

At the end of class they asked if we could talk about it more. (1/)

If you believe theory, computation, and data science hold the key to the next great breakthroughs in biology, let’s talk.

We're looking for a visionary leader to help drive this effort. As Director of Studio D3, you’ll shape the future of data-driven discovery at the Allen Institute, guiding a team at the cutting edge of computation and biology. 🧪

That’s where Studio D3 comes in. Studio D3 brings together world-class theoreticians, computational biologists, and engineers to turn data into discovery. From decoding cellular organization to building #AI-driven models of biological function, the work we do transforms our understanding of life.

Here at the Allen Institute, our teams get to work with some of the largest biological datasets ever collected. But data alone isn’t enough. We need bold theoretical models, innovative analytical frameworks, and scalable computational methods to extract the principles that govern life.

We’re #hiring a Director for Studio D3, our center for data-driven discovery at the @alleninstitute.bsky.social. 🧪

www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/41...

Instead of undermining established therapies, we should be investing in understanding the root causes of these conditions and developing new ways to prevent and treat them. 🧪

Given that nearly 3 billion people worldwide live with brain diseases—ranging from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s to ADHD and depression—our priority should be expanding access to effective treatments, not restricting them. 🧪

Decades of research show SSRIs are safe and non-addictive when used as prescribed, yet stigmatizing them could discourage people from seeking help. 🧪

RFK Jr. is already taking aim at antidepressants The new HHS secretary has made baseless claims that the drugs are addictive and cause violent behavior.

Mental health treatments should be guided by science, not misinformation. With 13% of American adults relying on SSRIs to manage depression and anxiety, the new HHS Secretary’s unscientific claims about these medications are cause for outrage 🧪

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Oh. My. God.

grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

Researchers trained an OpenAI rival in half an hour for less than $50 Doing a DeepSeek.

Seeing a lot of hype about AI models trained for “under $50.” Let’s be real—these models are distilled from much larger models trained with massive resources. Distillation is useful, but calling it “cheap training” seems misleading. What am I missing?

www.theverge.com/news/607341/...

US scientists must resist Trump’s efforts to tear down research It is misguided for academics to pre-emptively self-censor, tempting though that may seem

Aptly put:

Tom Frieden, a former CDC director, compared the halting of outbreak updates to “finding out that your local fire department has been told not to sound any fire alarms”.

www.ft.com/content/6067...

The story of this climate data resource should serve as a cautionary tale: we need to act as a community to ensure vital datasets and analytics platforms are safe from political shifts. We should start planning for the self-sustaining, resilient infrastructure needed to protect scientific work

Scientists restore climate justice data tool after Trump administration took it offline When the Trump administration deleted a key climate justice tool, a group of data scientists raced to bring it back online — restoring access in under 48 hours.Anika Jane Beamer reports for Inside Cli...

When the Trump administration took a key climate justice tool offline, a coalition of data scientist heroes restored it within 48 hours.
🧪

www.ehn.org/scientists-r...

This is your chance to shape the future of AI-driven discovery. If you have an idea — big or small — that could push the boundaries of what’s possible, we want to hear it.

Submit your ideas and be part of the conversation. Let’s build the future together.

Ask Anything Change Everything Submissions are open for ideas of how artificial intelligence (AI) could unlock discoveries that advance our knowledge of fundamental biology.

What AI should exist — but doesn’t yet — to transform biology?

The Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group has launched the Ask Anything, Change Everything campaign to gather bold ideas on how AI can revolutionize our understanding of fundamental biology.

alleninstitute.org/ask-anything...

Using smaller, open-source models like Llama-3.1-8B, Aviary achieves expert-level performance at 100x lower inference costs compared to frontier LLMs. A major leap for accessible, scalable AI in science.

Aviary from FutureHouse provides a new framework for training language agents on real-world scientific challenges, including protein stability, DNA engineering, and literature-based question answering. 🧪

arxiv.org/pdf/2412.21154

The Mandalorian and Grogu celebrating Christmas from an AI image generator

Merry Christmas (to those who celebrate)

Photo credit: Grok

Inside me are two wolves: one wants to make cinnamon rolls from scratch and the other doesn't want to go to the grocery store

Okay they're not wolves more like sloths

OpenScholar: Synthesizing Scientific Literature with Retrieval-augmented LMs Scientific progress depends on researchers' ability to synthesize the growing body of literature. Can large language models (LMs) assist scientists in this task? We introduce OpenScholar, a specialize...

The Allen Institute and the University of Washington have released a new AI search tool to answer scientific queries of OpenAccess content

Preprint released in @arxiv-cs-cl.bsky.social

OpenScholar: Synthesizing Scientific Literature with Retrieval-augmented LMs

arxiv.org/abs/2411.14199

Cell Type Taxonomies A-Z: Webinar Series Webinar series covering everything and anything cell types starting in January 2024. Hosted by the Allen Institute.

Meet ACE - a new tool for comparing annotations across Allen Institute transcriptomic taxonomies!

Join us for a webinar on how to use it in your #neuroscience research, incl. studies using our Alzheimer's datasets.

📆 Dec. 18, 9:30am PT
💻 Webinar
🎟️ alleninstitute.org/events/cell_...

#neuroskyence

Internship & Postbaccalaureate Programs Students and early-career professionals in lab research, biology, neuroscience, immunology, and others should apply for our internships and fellowships.

alleninstitute.org/careers/inte... Internships and Postbac opportunities open at the Allen Institute, applications close January 7th 2025. Great opportunity for anyone interested in life sciences research or science-support careers.

Spread the word!

Neural diversity is key to collective artificial learning Many of the world's most pressing issues, such as climate change and global peace, require complex collective problem-solving skills. Recent studies indicate that diversity in individuals' behaviors i...

Cool Yule read: this article highlights how behavioral diversity in artificial intelligence “teams” can significantly enhance problem-solving & adaptability, something that could change how we approach challenges in (AI) research. 🧪

arxiv.org/abs/2412.16244

Sea snakes regain advanced color vision, recovering a complex trait once lost to evolutionary time Nine species of sea snakes have now been identified as having regained the genetic requirements for advanced color vision, demonstrating that once a complex trait has been lost to evolutionary time, i...

Whoa: 9 sea snake species have regained the genetic requirements for advanced color vision, showing that complex traits lost to evolution can be regained. phys.org/news/2024-12...

I’m so stealing this idea. Such a cool way to ensure #deib is built into a team’s mindset. Thanks for sharing, @sarahstern.bsky.social

Opinion | This year, be thankful for AI in medicine The technology is making health care more accurate and less expensive.

The Washington Post nails it: AI is transforming healthcare, from diagnostics to personalized treatments. 2025 will be the year of AI in life sciences—thoughtful integration is critical. 🧪

Read more: www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...