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Ann Finkbeiner

@annfinkbeiner.bsky.social
5.7K followers 735 following 1.8K posts

Freelance science writer, mostly astro, some natsec sci, some women-in-astro, some grief psych, otherwise whatever I can get paid to write about. I love Baltimore, I do.

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Reposted by Ann Finkbeiner
Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 2h
For the past year, Defend Public Health member Dr. Benedicte Callan @benecal.bsky.social has led our Whopper of the Week effort that highlights a falsehood by RFK Jr. and why it matters. We will never run out of material. Here she writes about the lessons learned from her Herculean efforts.
medpagetoday.com
Opinion | Lessons From a Year of RFK Jr. Disinformation
His lies hide an ugly political agenda that is disastrous for public health
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Tod Lauer @todlauer.bsky.social · 1h
I wonder what ever came of Freeman Dyson's vacuum cleaner file. People kept sending him irate letters over the years yelling at him about Dyson vacuum cleaner issues, which he kept.
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Los Angeles Times @latimes.com · 1h
Effort to save California's iconic Joshua trees scrapped after Trump administration blocks funding
latimes.com
Effort to save California's iconic Joshua trees scrapped after Trump administration blocks funding
A slate of projects aimed at preserving the future of California's iconic Joshua tree in has been scrapped after the Trump administration blocked more than $25 million in funding for national parks this year.
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United Farm Workers @ufw.bsky.social · 2h
"Antonia" has worked in agriculture in Gonzales, CA for 25 years. "Right now I am weeding with a hoe, removing weeds from the lettuce. At the end of the day I am very tired from walking all day long."#WeFeedYou
A worker weeding young lettuce plants with a hoe
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Julia Goolia @juliagoolia9.bsky.social · 2h
College spring break, Daytona, 1991. A guy in our group passed out drunk. All the women painted his nails and giggled. He was so mad when he woke up — did not find it funny at. all. I wonder if he thinks about that when he reads about college sexual assault. His daughter is a college freshman.
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James Urbaniak @jamesurbaniak.bsky.social · 2h
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 02/10/2026
The horror of the Cornell rape case is how ordinary it is | Moira Donegan
theguardian.com
The horror of the Cornell rape case is how ordinary it is | Moira Donegan
Many men rape; many men giggle encouragingly, or shrug indifferently, when their friends rape. Many men rape, and few seem to think that it’s a very big deal
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Eric Columbus @ericcolumbus.bsky.social · 4h
UPDATE: Tom Cotton responds. (And he’s right!)
Tom Cotton & ial
@SenTomCotton
X.com
No one likes changing the clock, me included, but Congress has enacted permanent Daylight Savings Time multiple times before and repealed it each time once Americans experienced absurdly late sunrises in the winter. Arkansans don't want their kids going to school in the pitch dark, and I'll always put Arkansas first.
1:10 PM • 10/3/26 • 59K Views
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Senator Ron Wyden @wyden.senate.gov · 8h
My investigators have confirmed the Trump administration is hiding interview documents it conducted with some of Epstein’s banks, and there could be more. There’s no limit to how far Scott Bessent, Kash Patel and Todd Blanche will go to continue this cover up.
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The Rooster @rooster.info · 22h
Republicans have gone beyond scraping the bottom of the barrel trying to defend Senate appointee Jon Husted. www.news5cleveland.com/news/politic...
news5cleveland.com
Woman accusing Sherrod Brown of forcing transgender surgeries isn’t from Ohio, didn’t have procedure as minor
In an attack ad against U.S. Senate candidate Sherrod Brown, a woman accuses the Democrat of pushing transgender surgeries on minors "like her." She didn't have surgery until she was an adult.
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Chemjobber @chemjobber.bsky.social · 19h
The ability of the AIP to have good statistical data about PhDs in physics in the 1960s and 1970s is remarkable #chemjobs
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Bill McKibben @billmckibben.bsky.social · 4h
ICE's shameless stupid cruelty continues unabated. Here's a truly wrenching account from our wonderful local Vermont newspaper, which I imagine could be multiplied a thousandfold every day across America. Many thanks to Liza Cochran, its author bravelittlevoices.substack.com/p/terror-in-...
bravelittlevoices.substack.com
Terror in the Backyard:
ICE’s Shadow Surge in Vermont
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Jacob Rubashkin @rubashkin.bsky.social · 4h
The Cornell Daily Sun breaks some news — Cornell Police made a drug-related arrest at the Chi Phi house the night *before* the alleged assault took place. Drug violations can result in immediate interim suspension, but that doesn’t seem to have happened. www.cornellsun.com/article/2026...
cornellsun.com
CUPD Made Drug Arrest at Chi Phi 22 Hours Before the Alleged Sexual Assault
Records show Cornell knew of drug activity at the Chi Phi house 22 hours before a former student alleges she was assaulted there.
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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 4h
Great, but polls don't count! Make a plan and VOTE!
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Peter Sagal @petersagal.bsky.social · 4h
Just saw a US Army recruitment ad that was one big bug shy of Starship Troopers.
static.klipy.com
Starship Troopers: I'm Doing My Part
ALT: Starship Troopers: I'm Doing My Part
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 5h
This one is doing the rounds
A picture of Elon Musk, via the London Economic. The quote says “If a monkey hoarded more bananas than it could eat, while most of the other monkeys starved, scientists would study that monkey to figure out what the heck was wrong with it. When humans do it, we put them on the cover of Forbes.“ – Nathalie Robin Justice. 
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Russ The Tedious Ghost @russ41.bsky.social · 3h
May [redacted] come quickly to her enemies.
Robo Nixon from Futurama with Angie Nixon's headshot superimposed over Richard Nixon's caricatured face.
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bjkeefe @bjkeefe.bsky.social · 3h
Another heads-up. Here is a site run by the League of Women Voters: www.vote411.org/check-regist...
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Notice how they also brag about the number of naturalizations having plummeted; a sign of how much they detest legal immigration. /also, the removals number is largely fake. The actual number is 650-700k.
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Ana Marie Cox @anamariecox.com · 9h
ONE MILLLLLIONNN dollars. I laughed! $500 is a decent bid at someone’s vote (not $5000, but still good) but to make a difference in any specific race you’d have to target exactly the right people, which I think would be 1) very difficult and 2) more obviously illegal.
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Ana Marie Cox @anamariecox.com · 8h
I didn’t even get to the main point of the article: a much bigger dispersement—20 million Medicare enrollees—but a hilarious pittance: $90 to offset increased healthcare costs, which doesn’t even cover half the increase in Medicare premiums ($17/mo)! I am still laughing at ONE MILLION PEOPLE.
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Your Local Epidemiologist @ylepidemiologist.bsky.social · 8h
5/ Ultimately, this comes down to a pretty simple question: Do the benefits of Covid vaccination still outweigh the risks? This is normally a question that would be answered by ACIP, which is the committee that once guided evidence-based U.S. vaccine policy, but they haven't met in a long time.
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Cheryl Rofer @cherylrofer.bsky.social · 8h
RAISES NEW QUESTIONS, New York Times? RAISES NEW QUESTIONS? How about REVEALS THE DEPTH OF WITKOFF'S AND KUSHNER'S CORRUPTION?
nytimes.com
U.S.-Russia Talks on Ukraine Now Involve an Oil Deal Tied to Trump Allies (Gift Article)
President Vladimir V. Putin brought up a sale of Russian energy assets with President Trump’s envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, pushing a deal that raises new questions about conflicts of inter...
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Adam Willis @adampwillis.bsky.social · 9h
Barely a week after our story on a northeast Maryland fight between neighbors and a dairy farmer over pollution of a beloved trout stream, the water again brimmed with dead fish — almost 11,000 of them. Video courtesy of neighbor Chris Thomas: www.thebanner.com/community/cl...
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 13h
No one can fill this void left by the theft of basic research funding.
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bjkeefe @bjkeefe.bsky.social · 10h
"Every editor of every newspaper should get on a big bus and drive to DC and look at the gouge in the land where the ballroom is supposed to be. There are something like 20 Pulitzers down in there waiting to be found." h/t @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social
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Michael Spicer @michaelspicer.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Most TV is just this now.
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Corey S. Powell @coreyspowell.bsky.social · 15h
In astronomy, modest data points can hide stories of extreme drama. Here, each purple and white dot indicates a place where planets are colliding & destroying each other, releasing huge clouds of debris. (Artist's interpretation at right.) 🧪🔭 science.nasa.gov/missions/web...
Left: By investigating the compositions of extreme debris disks, scientists inferred that silica-rich disks are produced by high-energy impacts of Mars-sized objects, while silica-poor disks are created by less energetic events from Moon-sized bodies.
Right: The types of collisions within young stellar systems known as extreme debris disks are relevant to scientists’ understanding of our own solar system, which is thought to have undergone similar impact events that created our Moon and shaped Earth’s initial state.
Artwork: NASA, ESA, CSA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI)
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
There are a lot of Trump officials who need to be impeached, but Russell Vought -- the quarterback of all the Project 2025 fuckery and a central player in the administration's overreach -- really needs to be at the top of the list.
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 16h
I don’t think everyone realizes how bad things are for US science: For the fiscal year that just ended, the Trump regime withheld $1.4 billion from the National Science Foundation’s research budget, which is about 1/5 of its primary research budget.
nytimes.com
National Science Foundation Diverted $1.4 Billion in Science Funds Mandated by Congress (Gift Article)
The move, affecting about one-fifth of the National Science Foundation’s primary research budget, is the latest sign of how the White House is asserting more control over grants.
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Ross @rossengineer.bsky.social · 13h
Gone in seconds, deported in days. Taken off a plane and left in a country she's never seen. ICE-CBP is a terror operation.
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Eric Lipton NYT @ericlipton.nytimes.com · 12h
JUST POSTED: Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff have pushed a multibillion oil deal with Russia as part of peace talks that will bring profits to their family business partners. A new front for Trump-era conflicts of interest. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/03/u...
nytimes.com
U.S.-Russia Talks on Ukraine Now Involve an Oil Deal Tied to Trump Allies (Gift Article)
President Vladimir V. Putin brought up a sale of Russian energy assets with President Trump’s envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, pushing a deal that raises new questions about conflicts of inter...
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Ross @rossengineer.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
In case it is not obvious -
Chart from post below annotated with presidential administrations, showing how job growth has stalled under Trump.
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Colette Delawalla, PhD @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 23h
If someone needs a source to talk about how fundraising on the left for politically oriented endeavors is like pulling teeth out with a pair of rusty tongs…🙋🏻‍♀️
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James Fallows @jfallows.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Someone should do a piece on this. There is *SO* much more money easily available on the right.
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 02/10/2026
President Trump directed staff to use taxpayer money for TV ads praising him and his presidency, setting in motion a $20 million contract that used funds from the Department of Homeland Security, according to people familiar with the matter. nyti.ms/4jBqx63
President Trump stands in a dark suit and red tie. A crowd of people and a large American flag are in the background. A headline reads: "Trump Directed Use of Taxpayer Money for Ads Praising His Presidency." Photo by Doug Mills for The New York Times.
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Science Magazine @science.org · 02/10/2026
In a new #ScienceReview, researchers argue that menopause research needs a major rethink, shifting from a one-size-fits-all view of the transition to a precision medicine approach that accounts for differences in symptoms, timing, genetics and hormone treatments. scim.ag/4hAtykK
scim.ag
Reframing menopause and menopause hormone therapy as opportunities for healthy aging
Menopause is an important biological transition with up to 72 symptoms that shapes aging trajectories across organs and encompasses ~40% of the female lifespan. Although menopause awareness is increas...
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Mike Boylan-Kolchin @mbkplus.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Not the worst outrage of this admin, not by a long shot, but diverting 1/5th of the NSF's research budget is awful
nytimes.com
National Science Foundation Diverted $1.4 Billion in Science Funds Mandated by Congress
The move, affecting about one-fifth of the National Science Foundation’s primary research budget, is the latest sign of how the White House is asserting more control over grants.
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Gillian Brockell @gillianbrockell.com · 02/10/2026
This is a better epilogue to my January story about the private equity firm profiting off of ICE's cruelest flights than I could have ever possibly hoped for. CHICAGO: You went to the mat and protected (at a minimum!) thousands of immigrants from torture. Take a bow. prospect.org/2026/10/02/i...
prospect.org
The City That Brought Down an ICE Airline - The American Prospect
In Chicago, progressive alderpeople held up a contract until a private equity firm was forced to dispatch Omni Air International, protecting thousands of immigrants from deportation.
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 02/10/2026
The accounts of the Chi Phi members accused in the Cornell sexual assault case frequently contradicted each other and generally ran counter to Jane Doe's statements in 2024, documents found. The majority said they did not think the woman appeared intoxicated, and all the men denied any wrongdoing.
nyti.ms
Chi Phi Members Accused in Cornell Sex Assault Lawsuit Give Varying Accounts of Night
Their accounts, detailed in hundreds of pages of investigative files obtained by The New York Times, were disjointed and sometimes contradictory. All the men denied any wrongdoing.
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Southwest Florida Man @swflman.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
this is genuinely funny to layout how many of the tech AI ppl mtg with trump are immigrants or children of immigrants
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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
"The Trump corporate tax cut was a wealth transfer (from the bottom to the top). Full stop."
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David @crookedknight.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Rarely has this XKCD been more on point
Stick-figure comic of a man in a lab coat standing on a chair, pointing a pistol at a desk that has a tray and a microscope on it.

"When you see a claim that a common drug or vitamin 'kills cancer cells in a petri dish,' keep in mind: So does a handgun."
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Paul Voosen @voosen.me · 02/10/2026
Update on this: Alan Stern, New Horizons's PI, just told me that the instruments will stay on until Oct 12, when the first opportunity comes to send instructions to turn them off in this new fiscal year. So there's still some time.
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Paul Voosen @voosen.me · 28/09/2026
New Horizons is now *three days away* from shutting off its two heliophysics instruments, simply because NASA has not provided the $2M in funding it had promised to the mission last year or this year. There is no science basis for shutting these off. Our earlier coverage:
science.org
NASA’s New Horizons mission may shut down two instruments over lack of funding
Decision risks “incalculable loss” of data from the edge of the Sun’s influence, scientists say
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Bethany Brookshire @beebrookshire.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
And the fact that one major measure is selfies to show your "facial aging" That tells you everything. That tells you what this is really for. It's not about health, fear of mortality, no. This? This is very expensive vanity.
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Bethany Brookshire @beebrookshire.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I don’t want to see a bunch of wanna be Brian Johnsons, vampirically sucking their own longevity off the backs of everyone else. Anyway, this person just turned 40 and is doing the study for free, she doesn't have data yet. She's doing it for six months. There I read it so you don't have to.
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G Elliott Morris @gelliottmorris.com · 02/10/2026
NEW: Amid rising diesel prices, Republicans turn against Trump for first time on handling inflation. A majority of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (52%) now say they disapprove of Donald Trump’s handling of prices: www.gelliottmorris.com/p/2026-10-02...
gelliottmorris.com
Amid rising diesel prices, Republicans turn against Trump for first time on handling inflation
In our September poll, 52% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents disapprove of Trump's handling of prices. That could be dragging down Republican Senate candidates in red states
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Leslie Gray Streeter @lesliegraystreeter.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I wrote a @thebaltimorebanner.com column about a recent controversy about a white executive wearing cornrows. What is the line between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation? www.thebanner.com/opinion/colu...
thebanner.com
Streeter: When it comes to cornrows, where’s the line between appropriation and appreciation?
COLUMN | If cornrows were the reason for the dismissal of the executive director of the Baltimore Rock Opera Society, I think it's a well-intentioned but misguided attempt to avoid cancellation. Eyes ...
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Jennifer Smith Richards @jsmithrichards.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I've been a reporter for a long time and this might be the strangest thing I've ever done. We've been reporting on privatization of schools this year and found that just about anyone can open a private school in most states. So we asked, Could reporters do it?
propublica.org
Almost Anyone Can Start a Private School. We Put This to the Test.
Our reporting has shown how easily people — some with questionable backgrounds — have founded their own private schools in barns, strip malls and other places. That led us to an experiment: If the hur...
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