Stephen Turner
@stephenturner
Associate Professor and Research Dean at UVA School of Data Science, #Rstats enthusiast, dad, runner, guitar noise-maker. Views my own. Web: Newsletter:
grants[.]gov alerts on watched opportunities: lots going straight from "forecasted" to "archived" 😢 simpler.grants.gov/opportunity/...
Neat. Positron now recognizes a pyproject.toml, offers to build an environment with one click using uv 🚀 opensource.posit.co/blog/2026-07...
DARPA biotech office: Multiscale Reasoning For Human Physiology sam.gov/workspace/co...
ARPA-H looking to accelerate ibogaine therapy sam.gov/workspace/co...
“God has helped us, and so will AI”: How the Terrorist Group Boko Haram Uses Frontier AI casp.ac/reports/ai-e... #biosecurity
We just launched a new pilot for Assured Enrollment in our BSDS program here at the University of Virginia School of Data Science. More info: datascience.virginia.edu/degrees/bsds...
Breaking my AI Dry July to ask America's next top model, 5.6-Sol, a very important question that most people get obviously wrong despite all the available evidence. Sol gets it correct on the first try.
Data visualization of the week right here www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
Bookmarking microsoft/Data-Science-For-Beginners: 10 Weeks, 20 Lessons, in Python or #Rstats, translations available in 50+ languages github.com/microsoft/Da... Guide for teachers: github.com/microsoft/Da...
This is amazing. Over 140k comments and counting on proposed OMB amendments. Here's mine. www.regulations.gov/comment/OMB-...
The Hitchhiker's Guide to Agentic AI: From Foundations to Systems (603 pages) arxiv.org/abs/2606.249...
I got it to help me with a literature review, and then with a data collection and analysis project using the IUCN Red List API in #Rstats. It didn't one-shot everything, but it's a real step change from how I'd have approached the same work last week.
Claude Science: Protein alignments, genomic tracks, persistent #Rstats and Python kernels, preconfigured for genomics, single-cell, connects to 60+ databases
From OpenAI: GeneBench-Pro: Evaluating Multistage Statistical Reasoning in Genomics, Quantitative Biology, and Translational Biomedicine: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
I getting a pre-submission peer review on a manuscript is a great use for AI. You don't need a third-party tool. GPT-5.x and Opus 4.x are good, and open/community development of these skills/harnesses is the way. I wrote a Claude skill wrapping the Consensus MCP to do this. doi.org/10.59350/b35...
Our library just subscribed to LeapSpace researcher.elsevier.com. Beyond the Consensus-like chatbot backed by papers, there's a "writing coach" section. You type in some words. Select a claim. Gives you references to back up that claim. Mixed feelings on this one.
Needs a home equity loan to buy a MBP with RAM prices these days
That the most comfortable (and least fashionable) pair of shoes I own is now an AI company is peak 2026