Heidi Yang

We are thrilled to announce the first official release (v0.1.8) of #𝗯𝗲𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗿, the successor to one of our flagship tool, #𝗯𝗲𝗱𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀! Based on ideas we conceived of long ago (!), this was achieved thanks to the dedication of Brent Pedersen.

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An ancient recombination desert is a speciation supergene in placental mammals - Nature Deep learning methods identified a large and evolutionarily conserved X-linked low recombination region in placental mammals that serves as both a barrier to gene flow in hybridizing lineages and an accurate phylogenomic marker.

Nature research paper: An ancient recombination desert is a speciation supergene in placental mammals

go.nature.com/47UiBWa

NEW pub in @science.org 🥳

Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?

For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.

We provide new evidence suggesting that...

🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Opinion | The Playbook Used to ‘Prove’ Vaccines Cause Autism (Gift Article) Data can easily be manipulated to show causation that doesn’t exist.

Vaccines do not cause autism.

But some people will never stop trying to prove that they do.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

I tried to explain university finances, indirect costs, and the extortionary demands that the Trump admistration is making of many universities.

A diagram showing the growth of a Ginkgo biloba long shoot with various stages illustrated in a simplified slightly stylised manner.

I'll be posting a Patreon post later today, but while I was writing it, I realised that I needed to produce an additional diagram because.... not many people seem to know how #Ginkgo actually grows!!!
Anyway, here's that diagram:
Ginkgo long shoot development.

#paleobotany #botany #plants #trees

Bracing analysis from Columbia Law School’s David Pozen about the significance and implications of Columbia’s settlement with Trump. balkin.blogspot.com/2025/07/regu...

Week 28 July 28 - Aug 1, 2025 - failing down the garden path

Each Friday I summarize what happened in science 🧪& higher ed. This was Week 28:

- $300M frozen at UCLA + updates on university “deals”
- jobs report, Bureau of Labor Statistics firing & data quality fears
- Corporation for Public Broadcasting shutting down

+ more at buttondown.com/liminalcreat...

ICE on campus? Know your rights. www.immigrantdefenseproject.org/know-your-ri...

The End of Science’s Peacetime Opinion | Defending the practice of science from its adversaries will require dealing with some uncomfortable truths.

"One thing is certain: The changes we make ourselves will be healthier than the ones our adversaries demand."

New work for @undark.org:
undark.org/2025/02/06/o...

Congrats José!! Excited to read!

The structure of the environment influences the patterns and genetics of local adaptation Abstract. Environmental heterogeneity can lead to spatially varying selection, which can, in turn, lead to local adaptation. Population genetic models have

The structure of the environment influences the patterns and genetics of local adaptation