WTH is ILR?

WTH is ILR? by Alex Washburne & Jamie Morton Jamie and I have penned a popularization of the isometric log-ratio transform with the intention to allow non-mathematicians to understand the intuition behind what it is, why we use it, and how different methods use the same tool in different ways. The full write-up is available …

Tesla introduces “Bioweapon Defense Mode”

Tesla Motors showed off some tests of their amusingly-named “Bioweapon Defense Mode” on their blog earlier this week. While the demo is raising some skeptical eyebrows among actual biodefense experts, you don’t need crazy movie-plot scenarios to imagine the utility of a more serious approach to indoor air quality in vehicles — air quality in …

You Know Your Field Has Made It When …

I have nothing to add to this. The Onion picks up on the recent study by Caporaso and colleagues A study that swabbed office buildings in major cities found that the bacterial profile of the swabs corresponded to their location, suggesting that cities each have their own “bacterial fingerprint.” What do you think? Source: Study: …

A microbiology of the built environment April Fools’ joke

Well I am sad I missed this yesterday but there was an April Fools’ joke published in the Western University Gazette that had a microbiology of the built environment angle. “We’re holding Ivey business classes in there to decontaminate the premises,” Chakma said. Source: English Department relocated to broom closets | Spoof | westerngazette.ca “There …

What’s Your Kardashian Index?

Today a colleague sent me a link to a Genome Biology paper entitled “The Kardashian index: a measure of discrepant social media profile for scientists.”  At first glance, it reminded me of Greg Caporaso’s post about Twitter last month.  But as I continued to read, the slight truth behind the premise described in the paper fascinated, …

Ooh look – an ad for a building sterilization system pretending to be news

Grr.  These types of stories really bug me: British technology set to banish germs in hospitals and homes | City & Business | Finance | Daily Express.  It is in theory a news story.  But it is pretty much an advertisement for this Odorox building sterilization system with no critical reporting. Here are some claims in …