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Natasha Gilbert

@byng.bsky.social
1.3K followers 317 following 66 posts

Investigative Journalist. Covering science, health and the environment. Yogi, hiker, fan of science and nature. Signal: @ngreports.30 www.bynatashagilbert.com

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Reposted by Natasha Gilbert
Geoff Brumfiel @gbrumfiel.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
NEW: Google adds AI to satellite images, raising fears of deepfakes in the sky. Full story here: www.npr.org/2026/07/31/n...
An AI-generated image of fires burning on Iran's Kharg Island.
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Reposted by Natasha Gilbert
Deborah Blum @deborahb.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
In the last couple weeks, we've seen a remarkable number of food recalls due to salmonella contamination. So many, in fact, that it's worth our time to take a deeper look at some of the reasons why. 1/10
nbcchicago.com
Dozens of popular snacks recalled due to salmonella contamination. See the growing list
The salmonella concerns have led to a number of popular products pulled from grocery store shelves, including popcorn, chips, nuts and more.
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Natasha Gilbert @byng.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
“There's a lot of pesticides in there. Sometimes at levels that are not necessarily great for bees.” Scott McArt, entomologist at Cornell University, found that bees from last year's mass die-off were highly contaminated with low levels of pesticides. @ejtodaynews.bsky.social
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Natasha Gilbert @byng.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Honeybee colonies collapsed in 2024/2025. It was the nation’s worst-ever mass honeybee die-off. The USDA says the bees died from viruses spread by parasitic mites. But beekeepers told me they disagree for a story in @sierramagazine.bsky.social www.sierraclub.org/sierra/where...
sierraclub.org
Where Have All the Bees Gone?
The mystery surrounding a mass die-off frustrates beekeepers and the bee industry
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Natasha Gilbert @byng.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
Renewable technologies need a multitude of critical minerals. The seabed could supply these riches. But at what cost? My latest on #deepseamining in Knowable Magazine knowablemagazine.org/content/arti...
knowablemagazine.org
Mining the deep ocean
Renewable technologies need a multitude of critical minerals. The seabed could supply these riches. But at what cost?
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Reposted by Natasha Gilbert
Richard Van Noorden @richvn.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Several scientists linked to Jeffrey Epstein are now facing consequences, reports @byng.bsky.social | @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Scientists face fallout for past associations with Epstein
Jack Horner, who was a consultant for the Jurassic Park films, is among the researchers whose work or careers have been affected because of revelations from newly released documents.
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Natasha Gilbert @byng.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
More researchers face consequences for their links to #Epstein. Jack Horner, who was a consultant for the Jurassic park films, is no longer employed at Chapman University. See my story for Nature www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Scientists face fallout for past associations with Epstein
Jack Horner, who was a consultant for the Jurassic Park films, is among the researchers whose work or careers have been affected because of revelations from newly released documents.
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Reposted by Natasha Gilbert
koenfucius @koenfucius.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
Carbon capture can be an instrument to combat climate change, but it divides opinions, writes @byng.bsky.social: buff.ly/lAFMPCB
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Reposted by Natasha Gilbert
Sentient @sentientmedia.org · 08/01/2026
People tend to eat less meat and animal products, such as beef, pork, seafood and eggs, as well as fewer processed foods, when taking GLP-1 drugs for weight loss, according to new research. @byng.bsky.social reports:
buff.ly
GLP-1 Users Lose Weight, and Their Taste for Meat
People taking blockbuster drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy report eating less meat, dairy and processed foods. These shifts could reshape the food system.
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Reposted by Natasha Gilbert
Sentient @sentientmedia.org · 02/10/2025
Factory farm dust can spread E. coli and could have sparked a large food poisoning outbreak in 2018, a new study published in the Science of the Total Environment shows. @byng.bsky.social reports:
buff.ly
How Factory Farm Air Pollution Can Spread Dangerous Bacteria
Factory farm dust can spread E. coli and could have sparked a large food poisoning outbreak in 2018, a new study shows.
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Natasha Gilbert @byng.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
I wrote about how Trump's huge $100K fee hike for visas for foreign talent will impact researchers. Story in @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Trump’s $100K visa fee for foreign talent: how will it affect researchers?
The rollout of the H-1B visa change has sown confusion – and some fear another ‘body blow’ for US science.
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Natasha Gilbert @byng.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
Are you a #researcher or work at a #university that is affected by the #H-1B visa fee hike? Please consider talking to me for a story in @nature.com. For secure comms I'm on Signal: @ngreports.30. Please repost for reach.
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Reposted by Natasha Gilbert
Erin Sikorsky @erinsikorsky.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
The National Academies' response to the EPA's proposed removal of the endangerment finding is out today. It does not mince words about the effect of GHGs on the climate. Kudos to the authors. Key paragraph below; you can read the whole thing here: nas.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?...
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Reposted by Natasha Gilbert
Gary Ruskin @garyruskin.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
World Health Organization Foundation’s growing ‘dark money’ problem raises conflict of interest concerns Via @byng.bsky.social @usrighttoknow.bsky.social usrtk.org/healthwire/w...
usrtk.org
WHO Foundation’s growing ‘dark money’ problem raises conflict of interest concerns
The transparency of donations to the WHO Foundation -- which raises funds and gives grants to the WHO -- has sunk over its first 3 years of operations.
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Reposted by Natasha Gilbert
Zeke Hausfather @zekehausfather.com · 29/07/2025
The EPA cited my paper in their argument against the endangerment finding today. However, their point is completely backwards: my paper actually supports the EPA's 2009 range of 1.8C to 4C warming by 2100. www.nature.com/artic...
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Reposted by Natasha Gilbert
Sarah Kaplan @sarahkaplan48.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
“Unlike shooting or bombing, if killing stops, the dying won’t stop. It’ll still continue for some time,” said Alex de Waal, executive director of the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University. “Starvation in war like this is a massacre in slow motion.” wapo.st/4lj3yKB
wapo.st
Gazans are starving. Here’s what lack of food does to the human body.
Children suffering under severe food shortages can face lifelong consequences.
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Natasha Gilbert @byng.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
Trump’s hatchet job on science will cost the US economy more than it will save, says analysis reported by @statnews.com www.statnews.com/2025/07/28/n...
statnews.com
New analysis predicts sprawling effects of proposed NIH budget cuts
Initial analyses of the Trump administration’s proposed NIH cuts neglect key aspects of their long-term economic and health impact, study says.
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Reposted by Natasha Gilbert
Dr Kat Day (she/her) 🌖 @chronicleflask.katday.com · 28/09/2024
This graph is astonishing. The people that bang on about “natural birth” and “women have been doing this forever without help” need to be forced to stare at this until their eyes water.
Graph of maternal mortality rate against year for the UK. Rate bounces until and down around 500 deaths per 100,000 births until about 1940, when it falls sharply. It’s been very low (~1–3 per 100,000) ever since.
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Natasha Gilbert @byng.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
Cutting back on just a little bit of the meat you eat can make a big difference to water quality in rivers and streams across the US. A research paper in the journal Nature Food has the numbers. www.nature.com/articles/s43...
nature.com
Changes in meat consumption can improve groundwater quality - Nature Food
Most studies on the potential of meat alternatives to mitigate environmental pollution look at greenhouse gas emissions, but groundwater quality remains understudied. Using a groundwater nitrate pollu...
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Natasha Gilbert @byng.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
The latest strategy to Make American Healthy Again: cancel any oversight of the most dangerous pesticides that farmers use. civileats.com/2025/06/03/u...
civileats.com
USDA Drops Rules Requiring Farmers to Record Their Use of the Most Toxic Pesticides
Pesticide watchdog groups say the regulations should be strengthened, not thrown out.
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Natasha Gilbert @byng.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
"You're just not welcome." Scientists told me how they are grappling with the US plan to revoke Chinese student visas. Read more in @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
‘You’re just not welcome’: researchers grapple with US plan to revoke Chinese student visas
Scientists are eyeing their legal options in anticipation of new immigration actions.
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Reposted by Natasha Gilbert
Geoff Brumfiel @gbrumfiel.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
NASA to end work in nuclear thermal and nuclear electric propulsion for deep space exploration. arstechnica.com/space/2025/0...
arstechnica.com
Some parts of Trump’s proposed budget for NASA are literally draconian
“That’s exactly the kind of thing that NASA should be concentrating its resources on.”…
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Gary Ruskin @garyruskin.bsky.social · 27/05/2025
We are glad to see Pig-2-Bac getting some attention, but @sentientmedia.org's new article about it is quite similar to the one we published in March. Our original article (3/31/25): usrtk.org/factory-farm... Sentient’s version (5/22/25): sentientmedia.org/scientists-f... @dawnattride.bsky.social
usrtk.org
Breathing injustice: How a new scientific tool could help communities oppose industrial animal farming pollution
A new scientific test can identify and measure the amount of pig manure in dust that settled in and around neighbors’ homes.
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Natasha Gilbert @byng.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
The chemical lobby asked Trump admin to black out sites of high risk chemical plants. They greased their ask with $$$ for his inauguration fund. Guess what happend? www.levernews.com/the-governme...
levernews.com
The Government’s Chemical Disaster Tracking Tool Just Went Dark
The chemical lobby demanded Trump make the locations of high-risk chemical plants secret. The EPA did just that.
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Natasha Gilbert @byng.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
Trump Ambassador to UK has big stake in big beef - set to benefit from US-UK trade deal. www.desmog.com/2025/05/15/d...
desmog.com
Trump’s UK Ambassador Has Investments in Industries Set to Benefit from Trade Deal
President Donald Trump’s UK ambassador holds shares worth hundreds of millions in the key sectors that stand to benefit from last week’s UK-U.S. trade agreement. Stephens played a key role in pushing ...
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Natasha Gilbert @byng.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
Meet the PR company behind the spin on Tyson's "climate smart" beef. Midan Marketing says you can "do the climate a solid" by eating Tyson's Brazen Beef. But beef will never be climate smart. Its #GHGs are just too high - 5 times that of other livestock. My latest for @usrighttoknow.bsky.social
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Reposted by Natasha Gilbert
Gary Ruskin @garyruskin.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
The public relations campaign spinning Tyson’s brazen “climate-smart” beef claims Via @byng.bsky.social @usrighttoknow.bsky.social usrtk.org/factory-farm...
usrtk.org
The PR campaign spinning Tyson’s brazen “climate-smart” beef claims
Producing beef is a large source of greenhouse gas emissions. Meat companies like Tyson have hired public relations firms to clean up their image.
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Reposted by Natasha Gilbert
Richard Van Noorden @richvn.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
Trump proposes unprecedented budget cuts for US science in next fiscal year NASA cut by 24% NIH cut by 40% EPA cut by 55% NSF cut by 56% Analysis from @maxkozlov.bsky.social @dangaristo.bsky.social @alexwitze.bsky.social and @nature.com team www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Trump proposes unprecedented budget cuts to US science
Huge reductions, if enacted, could have ‘catastrophic’ effects on US competitiveness and the scientific pipeline, critics say.
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Reposted by Natasha Gilbert
Cory Booker @corybooker.com · 30/04/2025
Trump has been president for 100 days—and he’s made a deliberate attempt to flood the system and exhaust the public. It can be hard for most people to keep up. That's by design. As a candidate, Trump said he'd lower prices. As president, here's what he's done 🧵
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Natasha Gilbert @byng.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
FDA Layoffs Will Hamper Efforts to cut antimicrobial overuse in farm animals. My new story for US Right to Know. “It seems less likely than ever that progress on this ticking time bomb will be made under the current administration.” #AMR #FDA #CVM #indsutrialfarming #antimicroibals
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Reposted by Natasha Gilbert
NPR @npr.org · 28/04/2025
EXCLUSIVE: Two DOGE employees have access to a network used to transmit classified nuclear weapons data and a separate network used by the Department of Defense, sources tell NPR.
npr.org
DOGE employees gain accounts on classified networks holding nuclear secrets
Two DOGE employees have access to a network used to transmit classified nuclear weapons data and a separate network used by the Department of Defense, sources tell NPR.
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Natasha Gilbert @byng.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
"This is a terrible, terrible thing to have happen," says Sarah Temkin, a gynecological oncologist on news that the Trump administration is killing a crucial decades long study on women's health. Story in @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
NIH guts its first and largest study centered on women
The Women’s Health Initiative has produced numerous influential findings
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Reposted by Natasha Gilbert
Magdalena Skipper @magdalenaskipper.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
The US administration’s grant terminations, indirect-cost cap etc triggered a host of lawsuits: here’s a guide to what’s next @nature.com 🧪 #AcademicSky www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
NIH cuts triggered a host of lawsuits: Nature’s guide to what’s next
A host of legal claims aim to roll back the Trump administration’s grant terminations, indirect-cost cap and more.
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Natasha Gilbert @byng.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
Pharmaceutical drug pollution changes behaviors in Atlantic salmon that are critical to survival, finds a new study in @science.org
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Natasha Gilbert @byng.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
Climate concerns crush plans for megafarm in UK www.theguardian.com/environment/....
theguardian.com
Plan for Norfolk megafarm rejected by councillors over environmental concerns
Application, submitted by Cranswick, would have created of the largest industrial poultry and pig units in Europe
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Reposted by Natasha Gilbert
Gail Hansen @gailrhansendvm.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
And second unvaccinated child needlessly dies because of lack of vaccination.
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Natasha Gilbert @byng.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
Lame.
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Natasha Gilbert @byng.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
Among the fraud, waste, and abuse that the Trump Administration is allegedly digging out, will they overlook billions in tax breaks for oil and gas? insideclimatenews.org/news/2403202...
insideclimatenews.org
Congress Is Searching for Trillions of Dollars in Cuts. Will the Oil Industry’s Tax Breaks Skate By? - Inside Climate News
With a $4.5 trillion fight over tax cuts looming, the oil and gas industry wants to protect billions of dollars in tax benefits it enjoys and get new ones, too.
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Natasha Gilbert @byng.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
“I think it could get to thousands and thousands of cases.” The Texas measles outbreak spreads. Story in @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Measles is surging in the US: how bad could it get?
Researchers flag groups that should get an extra dose of measles vaccine as case numbers continue to rise in Texas and neighbouring states.
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Reposted by Natasha Gilbert
Brad Johnson @climatebrad.hillheat.com · 20/03/2025
Another member of Congress thinks it's time for Schumer to pass the torch. #chuckchuck
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Virginia Gewin @virginiagewin.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
“This measure was taken by the U.S. authorities because the researcher’s phone contained exchanges with colleagues and friends in which he expressed his political opinion on the policies of the Trump administration on research,” he added.
thedailybeast.com
French Scientist Refused Entry to U.S. Over Texts Criticizing Trump
The researcher, who was headed to a conference in Houston, was subjected to a “random” security check and detained after officials went through his cellphone.
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News Eye @newseye.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
Holy shit. Republican Harriet Hagemen got torn apart at a town hall in Wyoming last night. In a state that voted for Trump by 46 points. She tried defending DOGE and it went as well as you’d imagine. “Deport Elon, Deport Elon!” Watch to the end…
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Robert Hirschfeld @rfhirschfeld.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Is there any industry more coddled than commodity agriculture? They’re exempt from nearly every regulation, control both political parties, crush any bill that threatens their free rein to pollute, and still get taxpayers to bankroll the whole operation. www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/...
dtnpf.com
USDA Details $10 Billion Economic Aid Payments for Commodity Producers
Producers should see payments as early as this week under the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program, according to USDA. The $10 billion economic aid package was passed by Congress in December to addr...
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Natasha Gilbert @byng.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
"This is a wrecking ball assault on the science that protects the air we breathe and the water we drink from toxic chemicals and pollution." Trump admin plans to cut EPA science & research arm www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/c...
nytimes.com
Trump Administration Aims to Eliminate E.P.A.’s Scientific Research Arm
More than 1,000 chemists, biologists and other scientists could be laid off under a plan to dismantle the Office of Research and Development.
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Brad Johnson @climatebrad.hillheat.com · 18/03/2025
This is open partisan political retribution. It is criminal and treasonous.
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Natasha Gilbert @byng.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
Why are egg prices still so high? Maybe because egg companies are illegally fixing prices. DoJ to investigate.
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Reposted by Natasha Gilbert
Chris Jones @theswinerepublic.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
pollution from Smithfield & John Morrell is “enough to contaminate about 80 billion gallons of water beyond the safe drinking water standard for nitrate,” says Jones, author of The Swine Republic, an exposé of the science & politics of agriculture & pollution in Iowa. usrtk.org/factory-farm...
usrtk.org
Blood, body parts and bacteria pollute wastewater from meatpacking plants. New rules could help clean it up
Slaughterhouses and meat and poultry processing plants are among the nation’s most polluting industries.
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Natasha Gilbert @byng.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
Blood, body parts and bacteria pollute wastewater from meatpacking plants. New rules could help clean it up. But legal experts worry that Trump's EPA may renege on a court order to finalize the rules. A new story from me for @usrighttoknow.bsky.social usrtk.org/factory-farm...
usrtk.org
Blood, body parts and bacteria pollute wastewater from meatpacking plants. New rules could help clean it up
Slaughterhouses and meat and poultry processing plants are among the nation’s most polluting industries.
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Reposted by Natasha Gilbert
Gary Ruskin @garyruskin.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
Blood, body parts and bacteria pollute wastewater from meatpacking plants. New rules could help clean it up. Via @byng.bsky.social @usrighttoknow.bsky.social usrtk.org/factory-farm...
usrtk.org
Blood, body parts and bacteria pollute wastewater from meatpacking plants. New rules could help clean it up
Slaughterhouses and meat and poultry processing plants are among the nation’s most polluting industries.
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Reposted by Natasha Gilbert
FarmSTAND @farmstand.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
How did we get here with bird flu? Highly concentrated, industrialized animal agriculture. “Concentration may lead to efficiencies, but it also comes with brittleness. As a nation, we have too many eggs in one industrialized basket.”
civileats.com
Op-ed: Egg Prices Are Soaring. Are Backyard Chickens the Answer?
As egg prices increase, backyard chicken flocks have become more appealing. Though the risk bird flu exposure is low, it’s not zero.
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