Will Ratcliff
@wc_ratcliff
Followers
9K
Following
29K
Media
1K
Statuses
15K
Evolutionary biologist. Prof. at Georgia Tech & Director @QBioS_GT PhD program. NO LONGER ACTIVE HERE. @wcratcliff.bsky.social
Atlanta, GA
Joined August 2016
I’m delighted that our paper on the Multicellularity Long Term Evolution Experiment (MuLTEE) has, at long last, been published. This paper establishes the foundations of what I’d like to work on for the rest of my career. 1/25 Free, full access link: https://t.co/lWh33eHQrf
52
466
2K
First time logging back in here in several months and it's...nice again?
11
0
22
When you're the size of a pencil tip, water can feel as viscous as jelly. To get out of this jam, unicellular stentors team up to vacuum in more prey. These 'Family Style' meals may have been a key early step towards multicellularity Latest for @nytimes:
nytimes.com
Under microscopes, scientists found that giant single-cell organisms were able to vacuum up more food when they are stuck together.
1
2
9
Exciting news! @wc_ratcliff and I published an essay last week in @Nature reviewing the substantial contributions of 'long-term' studies to evolutionary biology https://t.co/ockiXJTVrv 1/n
2
39
177
Scientists, is it even worth the effort to post here anymore? For comparison, my twitter post about two recent big papers got a whopping 5 likes. My post at the other place got a lot of community engagement. Either the community here is dead, or algo attention is pay to play.
92
34
492
Here's my interview with @stevenstrogatz on @QuantaMagazine's Joy of Why podcast. This was *so much fun*. I was nervous going into it (I really look up to Steve!), but I had a blast and I think this is the best interview I've ever done. Thanks for having me on, folks!
In the history of evolution, multicellularity has evolved independently at least 50 times. But we’ve only figured that out in the past few decades. Listen to the first episode of the new season of “The Joy of Why” with co-hosts @stevenstrogatz and @JannaLevin.
3
21
91
Detailed tweetorials of each can be found here: Snowflake yeast stable whole genome duplication: https://t.co/eEOc1cx9ed Review of long-term experiments in evo bio:
1
0
2
Links to the papers: Snowflake yeast stable whole genome duplication: https://t.co/K6rPTd3OXe Review of long-term experiments in evo bio:
nature.com
Nature - Long-term studies provide insights into the complex interplay between evolutionary process and pattern across multiple systems and timescales.
1
0
1
Check this out: snowflake yeast on this week's cover of Nature. We have two papers in this issue: 1) A paper examining whole genome duplication in the MuLTEE 2) A review of long-term experiments in evolutionary biology led by @jamesTstroud
1
5
22
Great to see the impressive work of my colleagues @wc_ratcliff @jamesTstroud and others to understand the evolution of multicellular life featured on the cover of @Nature
1
7
18
New major paper from our lab: https://t.co/K6rPTd4mMM Interested in learning more? Come read about it at BlueSky, the new home of science twitter. Deep dive here: https://t.co/eEOc1cxH3L Huge thanks to @NIH and @HFSP for supporting this work!
nature.com
Nature - In the Multicellularity Long Term Evolution Experiment, diploid yeast evolve to be tetraploid under selection for larger multicellular size, revealing how whole-genome duplication can...
1
11
22
Fun discussion, thanks @DubladJitender!
Hi everyone. Here's my conversation with William Ratcliff (@wc_ratcliff) and Michael Levin (@drmichaellevin). We discuss how cells cooperate, evolve, and contribute to life's diversity. Topics include the evolution of multicellularity, the role of bioelectricity in evolution, and
2
7
43
There are a lot of great conferences out there, but this one is pretty special. If you've never been, but work in microbial eco/evo, please apply! Awesome science and conversations. If you're an old-timer, you know what this is about, and should apply too (and give a poster!).
0
0
3
Yo folks, it is time to apply to *hands down the best conference in microbial evolution and ecology*: https://t.co/EHV9qLptDR We begin reviewing apps in 10 days! We strongly encourage everyone to give a poster. DM w/ questions.
2
11
26
When I'm writing a grant, first thing I do when I wake up is read the whole draft, top to bottom. Morning brain is by far the most attentive and capable of reading it like my referees will (i.e., seeing it with fresh eyes, not taking the shortcut of filling in the details).
I still do this most days and I think it works great. My morning brain (right after 1hr exercise and 1 coffee) is quite eager to work and I go directly to the one top priority item. The energy decreases over time and with every distracting item loaded into the context window.
0
2
24
I read Parable of the Sower over break. Brilliant book, but wild to see this come full circle in such short order
1
0
2
I checked out one of these cited papers at random, and the abstract reads like a textbook example of GPT-isms. "by delving deeper into this multifaceted and intricate phenomenon..."
2025 resolution: get more citations at any cost Next paper: (via Philip Cohen. The culprit paper: https://t.co/vVFYeO4qIw)
0
0
9
Oh, and apparently there are no refunds. If this is the case @OpenAI, I will issue a credit card chargeback for this unauthorized expense, @Visa. https://t.co/M0rtX4kNz5 These are clearly predatory practices, I am appalled.
community.openai.com
Edit: Well that’s obnoxiously well hidden. Service credit terms Original: Are you sure all credit still expire? I just signed up for the API and funded it, but there is no mention ANYWHERE of credits...
0
0
0
1. I clearly am not using the API, I just wanted to try it out once. 2. The default settings are that API credits expire after a year (why?), that you save credit card info, AND that you automatically charge $20 to an account when it is empty. This is theft and you know better
1
0
1