iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 11h

Do you think the library might be getting to know me too well? @jackiantonovich.bsky.social

“You may also like” followed by images of 16 “top picks” book covers that all have to do with public health, infectious diseases and/or vaccines

Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Tonight we got rush tickets to see Molière’s “The Imaginary Invalid” on Broadway with Bill Irwin as Argan. What a farce! It’s also rather amazing how much this 350 year-old play resonates today.

Bill Irwin and cast of "The Imaginary Invalid” on stage taking a bow

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

How sad. Jean Bourrel was a veterinarian who specialized in the study of rabies. “In July 1880, his nephew and assistant, Pierre-Rose Bourrel, was bitten by a rabid dog and died after enduring days of excruciating agony. It may have been this family tragedy that prompted Bourrel to turn to Pasteur”

“Parmi eux, Jean Bourrel a créé, en 1862, une clinique près du canal Saint-Martin, 7, rue Fontaine-au-Roi. Se spécialisant dans létude de la rage, il a rassemblé une importante documentation sur toutes les formes de la maladie et il a même écrit un ouvrage dans lequel il livre ses principales recettes thérapeutiques: le meilleur traitement préventif consiste selon lui à arracher ou à limer les incisives des chiens et des chats! Mais ce n'est pas encore suffisant : en juilet 1880, son neveu et aide, Pierre-Rose Bourrel se fait mordre par un chien enragé et succombe après plusieurs jours d'atroces tor-tures. Peut-être est-ce ce drame familial qui pousse Bourrel à s'adres-set à Pasteur. En décembre 1880, il lui envoie deux spécimens de chiens enragés pour qu'il les étudie dans son laboratoire. A cette époque, Pasteur est membre de la Société centrale de médecine vétérinaire et il vient de s'illustrer par ses travaux sur le charbon et le choléra des poules. Il apparaît donc comme le savant le mieux indiqué pour s'intéresser à la rage et, après tout, le maître de l'École nor-
Fontaine-au-Roi.”

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Rabies was much less common than cholera, the plague, or typhoid. “One might therefore ask what drove Pasteur to take an interest in this infection—one that, while it captured the public imagination, remained rare.” Perhaps, Pasteur deliberately chose a disease that captured the public imagination…

“…En Allemagne, de simples mesures de police ont d'ailleurs réussi à faire reculer la maladie, si bien que, même sans institut antirabique, elle fait moins de ravage dans tout l'Empire germanique qu'à Paris.
En tout cas, il est certain que la rage est pour l'homme un fleau sans commune mesure avec le choléra, la peste ou la typhoide.
Dès lors, on peut s'interroger sur les raisons qui poussent Pasteur à s'intéresser à cette infection qui, même si elle frappe l'imagination populaire, demeure rare. On a dit que ce choix était guidé par un souvenir d'enfance. Pasteur se serait rappelé son angoisse en entendant un jour parler d'un loup enragé qui parcourait la région d'Arbois et mordait hommes et bêtes. Il n' avait pas neuf ans alors.
Tandis qu'il jouait avec des gamins de son âge sur le pont de Cour-celles, près de la maison paternelle, il vit un groupe d'hommes pénétrer dans la forge du maréchal-ferrant. On tenait un pauvre diable qui venait d'être mordu par la bête horrible. Torse nu, Thomme venait faire cautériser au fer rouge ses plaies pleines de bave ensan-glantée. D'autres victimes, mordues aux mains ou au visage, moururent dans d'atroces souffrances, atteintes d'hydrophobie. On signala huit blessés dans le proche voisinage de la maison Pasteur.
La terreur du monstre enragé hanta longtemps toute la région. ne faut cependant pas s'exagérer l'importance de cet épisode, quelle que soit sa charge émotionnelle. Tout au plus, il n'a pu que contribuer à la décision de Pasteur. L'image tragique d'un pareil souvenir n'est pas suffisante pour être déterminante. Plus vraisem-blablement, il faut voir dans cette nouvelle recherche une des dernières tentatives du savant pour forcer le mystère de la nature : geste épique de celui qui cherche à vaincre les légendes, à combattre le mythe par la réalité. En même temps, on peut aussi estimer que Pasteur a choisi à dessein une maladie qui frappe les esprits…”

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

My reach might be exceeding my grasp here, but I’m trying to read a bit about Pasteur in French. “To describe this microbe he could not see, Pasteur used the word "virus” ….A true Romantic, Pasteur loved metaphors; in this instance, his choice proved truly prescient.” @jackiantonovich.bsky.social

“Pour désigner ce microbe qu'il ne peut mettre en évidence, Pasteur emploie le mot « virus ». Il retient ce terme parce qu'il est plus abstrait, parce qu'il fait de la contagion une force nocive qui s'exerce sur l'organisme. En bon romantique, Pasteur aime les métaphores et, en l'occurrence, il s'agit d'une véritable prémonition : il va deviner le virus parce qu'il l'attend, sans jamais douter de son existence sous prétexte qu'on ne le voit pas. Découverte de l'invisible, le virus de la rage prend corps parce qu'il s'accorde aux principes de la contagion.
Car c'est bien à un virus que Pasteur a affaire. Le mot est alors depuis longtemps admis pour désigner un agent infectieux, un poison ou un miasme. Mais ce n'est qu'à partir de 1898, après les travaux de Martinus Beijerick sur la mosaïque du tabac et ceux de Friedrich Löffler et Paul Frosch sur la fièvre aphteuse, qu'on identifiera les virus comme des microbes invisibles au microscope optique et capables de traverser les filtres qui arrêtent les bactéries.
Quant à l'agent pathogène de la rage, ce n'est qu'en 1903, huit…”

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

This is quite the graph from a new retrospective cohort study in Neurology: “In conclusion, football is the leading cause of sports-related traumatic brain injury in children and young adults, and its risks are amplified by institutional promotion despite decades of accumulating evidence of harm.”

Figure one: age breakdown of traumatic brain injuries by activity. The graph clearly shows that American tackle football has the highest number of traumatic brain injuries.

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Even before it became X and deteriorated even further, Twitter was this bad in 2019

Dr Kathleen Bachynski @bachyns wrote: “Gary Bettman has defined a "physical, contact sport" as a sport that must inherently involve legal hits to the head. On this view, players' brains must be put at direct risk to preserve the essence of the game. Something parents of kids aspiring to NHL careers should know, too.”

She received this reply from John in SX:

“Somehow, hockey survived just fine without women weighing in.”
1:52 PM - 1 May 2019

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

“Thus, it appears to me that substituting the gene for a type G HN protein into Jeryl Lynn and showing in a phase 3 trial that neutralization of type G mumps viruses by vaccinee sera is greatly increased could be accepted by regulators as grounds for a license of a new mumps vaccine”

“An alternative strategy is to recommend routine third doses of the current MMR, but the problem is that mandating a third dose of MMR to prevent the loss of immunity after the 2 doses earlier in life will be difficult to enforce, particularly for children who do not attend college. Thus, it appears to me that substituting the gene for a type G HN protein into Jeryl Lynn and showing in a phase 3 trial that neutralization of type G mumps viruses by vaccinee sera is greatly increased could be accepted by regulators as grounds for a license of a new mumps vaccine that would eliminate the problem of poor persistence of immunity. Another possibility would be to mix 2 strains in the mumps vaccine, one coding for a type G HN antigen and the other being the original Jeryl Lynn strain coding for a type A HN. Safety and immunogenicity and efficacy of this quadrivalent vaccine could be studied in postlicensure studies. Regulators might not demand up-front efficacy data, which could be studied after licensure. Although such trials would be expensive, if they resulted in a more effective mumps vaccine, they would be worth it.”

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

1. Yikes, 14 is a lot of cases on one team. 2. According to Stanley Plotkin, we need a new mumps vaccine because it is not well matched to what’s currently circulating: “circulating mumps viruses carry a genetic component that is different, namely an HN protein belonging to genotype G”

WE NEED A NEW MUMPS VACCINE
Stanley A. Plotkin, MD
Accepted for publication December 18, 2023
The author has no funding or conflicts of interest to disclose.

The combined measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccines sold
y Merck and GSK are some of the most successful vaccine used in the United States and elsewhere. Measles is under control except in local populations that refuse to vaccinate and rubella has been eradicated from the Western hemisphere and most of Europe.
However, the situation for mumps is quite different because despite years of vaccinating against mumps virus using the attenuated Jeryl Lynn strain, mumps still causes outbreaks in vaccinated popula-tions, typically in college-age adults. This phenomenon has been particularly evident in the United States and Canada.
The reason for this is quite simple and has been known for years: namely that the Jeryl Lynn strain carries an HN protein of genotype A, whereas circulating mumps viruses carry a genetic component that is different, namely an HN protein belonging to genotype G.46 Inasmuch as the HN protein induces neutralizing antibodies, it is not surprising that a difference between that protein in the vaccine and in circulating mumps virus changes the vaccine's ability to protect. In that circumstance, more antibodies to the HN protein are needed to neutralize a type G mumps strain than a type A strain. Moreover, as is true for many vaccines, neutralizing antibodies wane with time. Protection by the Jeryl Lynn mumps vaccine was recently reconsidered in a precise immunologic analysis by Gokhale et al in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. Their data confirmed that antibodies to HN type G fade faster than antibodies to HN type A after mumps vaccination. They estimated that by age 18 one-third of MMR vaccinees will have lost vaccine-derived protection.

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

“I must disagree. As a 90-year-old veteran of the Freshman English struggles, I can attest to the value of the written vis-a-vis the spoken word… We can talk and talk, as our leaders do, but in the end we don't know what we think until we write it down and wrestle it into form.”

“I must disagree. As a 90-year-old veteran of the Freshman English struggles, I can attest to the value of the written vis-a-vis the spoken word.
I was ground almost to the nub lugging around and reading reams of essays, trying by dint of red ink and office visits to help my dudents bring some force of mind to their scribblings.
Then I remembered a comment from, maybe Dr.Johnson, that if a boy were to copy out The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire he would end up a writer. i instituted a policy that required my students to provide a longhand copy from any of a list of sources I provided as a "ticket" to class. They went straight into the trash.
It didn't take long before I began to see results: phrasing, transition, coherence, etc. The mimicry was pushing their neurons and synapses into new formations. At mid-semester I asked if they wanted to quit the ticket deal and they said no. They didn't know exactly what was happening, but they were less afraid of writing.
They had discovered the frameworks of thought. We can talk and talk, as our leaders do, but in the end we don't know what we think until we write it down and wrestle it into form.”

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

“I teach English, and the article makes great points about the value of live discussion. Having other people challenge your ideas is essential and wonderful things can happen in real time. However, the argument against writing is a needlessly provocative straw man.”

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I’m finding the comments section more interesting. “I have practiced law for over 30 years… Every attorney I know understands that often an argument that sounds good when discussed with colleagues or clients often cannot survive the rigor of the written word.”

“I have practiced law for over 30 years (and also taught college and law school classes for about a decade, so I have some experience in that arena also). Every attorney I know understands that often an argument that sounds good when discussed with colleagues or clients often cannot survive the rigor of the written word.
The expression that a particular contention "will not write" is commonplace in law. Discussion is a great tool for shaping one's thoughts, but writing them requires exploring their limits and structure in a way the spoken word simply cannot accomplish.”

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

“As Dr. Van Etten and Dr. Burns brought Dr. Willoughby up to speed on their field work so far, they described how some Paulinella were shorter and tended to be free-floating, while others were longer and stuck to plants. Dr. Willoughby made sketches as part of his scientific process”

“Dr. Burns’s bespoke colored pencil/brush instrument. Credit...John Burns”

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

“To be sure of what, exactly, she was looking at, Dr. Van Etten needed to find more specimens and isolate them. Over the next four years, she made a few return journeys to North Carolina to gather more samples…”

“Dr. Van Etten's first sighting of the Paulinella cell, in green, center, with her at-home microscope. Credit...via Julia Van Etten”

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

“Mr. Kruglov recently ordered copies of a new Ukrainian edition of the book, the story of a lonely boy who leaves his asteroid kingdom to explore the universe and learn the meaning of love. Those books were burned, too.”

The image shows damaged books. Among those burned was a copy of “The Little Prince.”Credit...via Ranok Publishing

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

This was one of the most inspiring people I saw when I was just one of the hundreds of thousands of people who attended the People's Climate March in New York City, 14 years ago today. Seeing the incredible range of people and groups out there sharing why they were marching was very powerful.

A man using a walker with a sign on his back that reads “sun not oil WWII vet”

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

A sign at the green market today. “Per New York State Law, we do not sell raw milk at the markets. Please do not ask us to make an exception for you. We will not.” @jackiantonovich.bsky.social

“MILK
QUART
$5
HALF GALLON
$9
Per New York State Law, we do not sell raw milk at the markets.
Please do not ask us to make an exception for you. We will not.
UNCONVENTIONAL BY NATURE
HAWTHORNE
VALLEY”

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Abdul El-Sayed gives a thoughtful answer to the moderator’s question about how he would work with the White House. But I must also say, the repeated image of Abdul answering questions from Michigan viewers on one side of the screen with the empty podium on the other also speaks 1000 words.

Abdul El-Sayed on one side of the screen and an empty podium on the other on Fox2

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

It was really moving to see the NYC AIDS Memorial. A reminder of how important it is to commemorate the people lost to AIDS, and to honor “the countless caregivers, activists, and community members whose courage and compasion shaped the response to the epidemic.” @jackiantonovich.bsky.social

NYC AIDS MEMORIAL
ABOUT
THE MEMORIAL

“The New York City AIDS Memorial honors the more than 100,000
Now Yorkers lost to AIDS, and the countless caregivers, activists, and community members whose courage and compasion shaped the response to the epidemic.”

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

The state of Georgia nearly banned football in the wake of his death. But the governor ultimately vetoed the bill with the argument: “the sports of every great people, ancient and modern, have been hard and severe."

In response, supporters of football rallied to its defense. One Virginia school headmaster insisted that "gentlemanly boys" could play football for months without injury. He complained that condemnations of the sport were an unjust fad. All youthful activities carried risks, and "parents must take their chances on bringing up a boy sound and unmaimed." The New York Times similarly asserted that the "noble game" of football was not so dangerous as to require prohibition. Ultimately, in December 1897, Georgia governor William Yates Atkinson vetoed the antifootball bill. In his message to the House of Representatives justifying his veto, Atkinson explained that "the sports of every great people, ancient and modern, have been hard and severe."

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

I start the book with this tragic 1897 death. “The young athlete was taken to a nearby hospital, where doctors determined that the hit had "produced in all probability concussion of the brain." Von Gammon died shortly after his father arrived. He was a few months shy of his eighteenth birthday.”

FIGURE 1 This 1897 yearbook photo depicts Richard Vonalbade "Von" Gammon the year he died from a football injury. Courtesy of the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library/University of Georgia Libraries.

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

“Indeed, in many ways, youth football injuries and deaths represent an inscription of adult values onto boys' bodies. Controversies over football safety repeatedly flared up when those values seemed threatened.”

While a number of physicians and other observers have long been aware of head injuries in football, only recently have these injuries been framed as a public health crisis. As historian Emily Harrison noted in 2014, " what gained attention a century ago as a medical problem among young men playing football in elite colleges is now a serious problem of public health."13 This history indicates that a wide range of cultural priorities other than child health have shaped youth football safety debates. Indeed, in many ways, youth football injuries and deaths represent an inscription of adult values onto boys' bodies.
Controversies over football safety repeatedly flared up when those values seemed threatened. The history of debates over the safety of youth football is, in part, a history of beliefs about how to raise boys to meet particular ideals of manhood.

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Fetterman also doesn’t care about vaccines and Medicaid cuts, and he thinks officials from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia just want free trips to DC.

Last September, when an aide told Fetterman that officials with the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, known as CHOP, wanted to meet because they were worried about Medicaid cuts, he was dismissive.

Fetterman
Why do I have to keep having to meet with chop

Aide
Because they are worried about vaccines and Medicaid cuts.

Fetterman
Well I'm not
L..]
I'm convinced they just want free trips to DC
Source: messages reviewed by WSJ

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Here’s the full excerpt. I had to read it to believe it. Pennsylvanians deserve so much better.

“One morning in June, three paralyzed military veterans in wheelchairs from rural Pennsylvania arrived at the office of Sen. John Fetterman for a long-awaited meeting to discuss legislation that would improve their care.
Fetterman's staff greeted them with bad news: The Pennsylvania Democrat had to cancel. He'd told his staff he may have eaten something bad and wasn't feeling well, according to people familiar with the matter.
Less than an hour after his staffers met with the veterans in his place, Fetterman walked into his office, showing no signs of illness. He had an appointment he didn't want to miss, he told staff: an interview on Fox News to discuss Israel and the war in Iran.”

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Scrolling down the article, this would’ve been a much better photo to choose to put up top. A happy smiling child on a mother’s lap, interacting with a pediatrician holding a card and a pen… This is a much better illustration of vaccination. No needles or grimaces or crying needed.

Peditrician Amanda Bernard (left) talks with Shania’ Jason and her daughter A’zuri, 3, at a vaccination clinic hosted by the Philadelphia School District this month at Marcus Foster Memorial Stadium.
Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Here is the figure from the paper that @binneyz.bsky.social and I wrote in 2019. “The estimated CTE prevalence ranges from 9.6% to near 100% depending on the proportion of players with CTE captured by the brain bank.” The higher the probability of donation, the smaller the # of cases, & vice versa

Figure: Prevalence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) among deceased National Football League players under various selection conditions

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

I’m only on page 9 of @esharrow.bsky.social and James Druckman’s 2023 book Equality Unfulfilled, but I’m going to go ahead and recommend it already: “efforts to obtain sex equality have not been achieved merely through bureaucratic implementation of Title IX in its current form.”

“Our findings offer underappreciated perspectives on public policy.
First, efforts to obtain sex equality have not been achieved merely through bureaucratic implementation of Title IX in its current form. Nuanced evaluations of Title IX's legacy must grapple with this fact. Second, our results demonstrate how institutions and policy design can shape policy Preferences in ways that undermine potential eftorts to obtain equality now and in the future. The status quo is (and will likely stay) unequal, at least in part, because coalitions to demand equality remain suppressed.
When steady efforts to promote equality are constrained by existing structures, it reveals the need for fundamental institutional and cultural change: Finally, we provide lessons from this case study of Title IX for those who seek to design policy and institutions that address the marginalization of any excluded group. We situate our book within the landscape of efforts to promote egalitarianism via policy interventions in the United States and demonstrate that our findings have broad implications for the future of gender equality.”

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Vaccines are a tiny drop in the ocean of everything our immune systems encounter: “For example, the pathogen that causes whooping cough contains more than 3,000 antigens; the vaccine that is used to protect against whooping cough contains only 3-5 different antigens.” @jackiantonovich.bsky.social

From the book “Vaccines: what everyone needs to know” by Kristen A. Feemster: “The number of antigens in vaccines is actually quite small compared to the number of antigens that confront the immune system during an actual infection (or just from the environment on a daily basis). For example, the pathogen that causes whooping cough contains more than 3,000 antigens; the vaccine that is used to protect against whooping cough contains only 3-5 different antigens. Our immune systems are stimulated all the time, but all stimulation is not the same.”

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

The passion flower is blooming! (and it’s only climbing where it’s supposed to be… At least for now) #gardensky #bloomscrolling

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

And as we walked down 45th Street after the show, we spied Megan Stalter (also known as Kayla from Hacks) greeting a group of fans after her performance in Oh Mary!

Megan Stalter greets a group of fans outside a Broadway theater

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

We won discounted rush tickets to see The Outsiders tonight on Broadway… And the seats were in the center orchestra, row C! What a treat.

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

I’m starting to get seemingly AI generated spam messages from people claiming they can promote my book and these emails are creeping me out. It looks like they’re just feeding a description of my book into some kind of fawning template. This goes on for paragraphs. Anyone else experiencing this?

“Dear Kathleen,

There is a deeply unsettling power in scholarship that forces us to confront the uncomfortable truths embedded in our most cherished institutions. Reading No Game for Boys to Play, I found myself grappling with the troubling gap between the celebration of youth football as a moral sport that builds character and the devastating reality of injuries ranging from concussions and broken bones to paralysis and death. Your meticulous history of the safety debates surrounding youth tackle football reveals that, throughout the twentieth century, coaches, sports equipment manufacturers, and even doctors were often more concerned with saving the game than with protecting young boys' safety.”

“What sets your work apart is the
extraordinary way you have woven together the history of sport, masculinity, citizenship, and public health into a cohesive and illuminating narrative. By exploring the cultural priorities that made collision sport the most popular high school game for American boys, you have exposed the deep rooted beliefs that continue to shape the safety debate today. Your attention to the ways in which football was celebrated as a creator of the honorable male citizen, even as young athletes suffered catastrophic injuries, offers readers a powerful lens for understanding how cultural values can override concerns for child health. The fact that you have traced this history from the postwar United States to the present, revealing the persistent tensions between tradition and safety, is a testament to your skill as a historian and your courage as a truth teller.”

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Here is another close-up. “At some point in the hanging's history, the embroidered silk in all the flesh areas was cut away and replaced with paint for reasons that remain unclear.”

The Abduction of Helen from a set of The Story of Troy
Related to a woodcut by Bernard Salomon French
Patron Probably commissioned by Francisco Mascarenhas Governor of Macau, 1623–26 Portuguese
ca. 1625

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

We saw this fascinating tapestry at the Met yesterday. It is a depiction of the abduction of Helen of Troy that was most likely commissioned by Francisco Mascarenhas Governor of Macau, 1623–26. “The scale and conventions of Flemish tapestry are translated into Chinese embroidery.”

The Abduction of Helen from a set of The Story of Troy

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Jan Lievens (I607-I674) Self-Portrait, ca. 1629-30 Oil on panel “Jan Lievens was Rembrandt's contemporary and sometime rival in Leiden. Lievens painted this elegant self-portrait around I629-30, at about age 22. He portrayed himself with piercing eyes, suggesting an active and searching mind.”

A self portrait of a man in a black frame

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

It is cracking me up that NBC News has a “Kornacki Cam”

“Live / Kornacki Cam: Watch Steve analyze midterm primary election results”
He is standing in front of a batch of Senate primary results from Oakland County, Michigan

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

I was able to enjoy my garden a bit more today with the slightly lower humidity. It makes me so happy to look at. And to think this was all lawn when I bought my house a couple years ago. #bloomscrolling #gardensky

A garden with purple cone flowers, rattlesnake master, and many other native plants in Pennsylvania

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Today’s hourly forecast shows dewpoint ranging from 73 to 77. 🤢 I can’t wait for dry, crisp days to return and in the meantime, have I mentioned lately that I am so grateful to air-conditioning?

Hourly forecast showing dewpoint ranging from 73 to 77, and humidity ranging from 73% to 100%. Gross!!

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

We stumbled across this, ah, rather unusual art installation in Times Square the other day. The woman standing next to us said “now I’ve seen everything.”

A gigantic hotdog on a bun with mustard in Times Square

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

I’m very happy to share this follow up: the New York Times changed the photo illustrating this story!

A New York Times article titled “what doctors want you to know about cervical cancer screening“ with an updated photo showing a person’s hands writing the name Maya a test tube

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

I also submitted this as a comment to the New York Times article last night, and I’m glad to see that they published it.

Kathleen

Allentown • 9 hours ago

“This article includes helpful information, but I am questioning the photo choice. A health provider raises their gloved hand, about to examine a patient whose legs are spread open.
This aspect of cervical cancer screening can be traumatic for some (and self collection is an option the article mentions).
Similar to the recommendation to avoid illustrating articles about vaccination with needles, I would suggest avoiding illustrating articles about cancer screening in ways that could be upsetting. Thanks for reporting on the screening and for considering this feedback.
Let's limit every possible barrier to getting the
HPV vaccine and getting screened for cervical cancer. Both are life-saving.”

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

A painful bit of irony: I was searching Proquest for an obituary of Bernice Sandler, a woman known as the “godmother of Title IX,” and the database wanted to know if I was really searching for a man’s name, Bernie Sandler.

A pro quest search for Bernice Sandler and godmother with the following question from the database:
“Did you mean (bernie sandler) AND godmother?”

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

And responses I send back to @jackiantonovich.bsky.social “You and I will definitely be able to do our part to try to correct for that oversight” I’m so grateful to have a colleague to geek out with over vaccines, public health and history

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

I’m finally getting around to reading Degrees of Difficulty: How Women’s Gymnastics Rose to Prominence and Fell From Grace by Georgia Cervin. Recommended! “Degrees of Difficulty tells a story of international friction, unexpected cooperation, and the legacy of abuse and betrayal”

The front cover of the book Degrees of Difficulty: How Women’s Gymnastics Rose to Prominence and Fell From Grace by Georgia Cervin

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Hear hear: “Perhaps if we called these peptides “experimental hormones", or better yet, “experimental hormones whose functions are not well understood", maybe more people would understand why scientists and physicians want more research done before they are approved as medicine.”

“Sarah
lowa • 9 hours ago

I am a biologist who teaches cell biology at a medical school. The term "peptide" just means a short chain of amino acids connected to each other with peptide bonds.
Some peptides are antimicrobial (kill bacteria).
Some peptides are structural building blocks.
Some peptides break down clots. Some enhance pain sensation. Many peptides are signaling molecules; meaning, cells use them to communicate with each other and to initiate chemical reactions and physiological changes.
The peptides these people want to sell and inject are hormones (signaling molecules that affect cells far away in the body). Most peptide hormones have more than one function and affect more than one type of cell. Some peptide hormones can stimulate normal cells and cancer cells in the same way, and some have different effects on healthy cells and pathological cells.”

“We do not know all the cells and tissues that are affected by these 7 peptides, or all of their functions (what reactions or chain reactions they trigger). As the article notes, the data are muddled by a lack of consistency in
formulations. Meaning, vendors use the same name for different chemical variations, doses, and delivery methods.
Perhaps if we called these peptides
"experimental hormones", or better yet,
"experimental hormones whose functions are not well understood", maybe more people would understand why scientists and physicians want more research done before they are approved as medicine.”

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Amsterdam: a bike parked right next to a no bikes sign

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) Montmartre: Behind the Moulin de la Galette

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Section of Tree Roots by Van Gogh “Van Gogh painted this landscape on the outskirts of the village of Auvers. He depicted the tree roots from very close up, whereby the composition lacks a horizon and sense of depth. As a result, the painting makes an almost abstract impression.”

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