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Kathryn

@kathrynas.bsky.social
4.3K followers 461 following 146 posts

Past-Chair of the Women’s Caucus at CASWE-ACFTS, P.hD. student, MSW, Long COVID research, therapist, equity advocate, intersectional feminist, mom. Not totally here. Still more there. Thoughts my own.

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Reposted by Kathryn
Hazel Newlevant @newlevant.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
anyway, I quite enjoyed the Leadership Action Hour on Healthy Air in NYC Schools today. Improving IAQ in schools has so many potential collaborators and such far-reaching consequences! 💨
My COVID zine in English and Spanish, open to the spreads about CO2 readings and the ASHRAE 241 ventilation standard.
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Jessica Ellis @baddestmamajama.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
People will cut out artificial food dyes, spend hours at the gym, drink vitamin infused water…and then go to the airport and rawdog breathing in an airborne pathogen that can disable you permanenty and is basically guaranteed to be there.
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Dr. Jen Irwin @drjenirwin.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
“‘Outdated’ health policies surrounding Covid still pose a danger today, says U of C researcher” Sept 18, 2026 @mark-ungrin.bsky.social 👏 www.ctvnews.ca/calgary/arti...
ctvnews.ca
‘Outdated’ health policies surrounding Covid still pose a danger today, says U of C researcher
University of Calgary professor Mark Ungrin has dedicated years of research highlighting what he believes is of significant concern to all Canadians’ health.
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Dick Zoutman @dickzoutman.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
The federal body responsible for that guidance is the NAC-IPC, infection prevention & control mentioned exactly once, in an appendix, described only “administratively”. No evaluation of its pandemic performance. No link drawn to the masking problem issue above. 😖
canada.ca
Report of the Expert Panel for the Review of the Federal Approach to Pandemic Science Advice and Research Coordination: The Time to Act is Now - Canada.ca
The key message of this report is that Canada needs to take further action now if it is to be adequately prepared for future health emergencies.
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Dick Zoutman @dickzoutman.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Buried in one paragraph: the panel admits advisory bodies “lost months” on masking issue because dominant clinical opinion said masks didn’t work because they were missing aerosol expertise. This is the single most important line in the report but gets NO follow-up.
canada.ca
Report of the Expert Panel for the Review of the Federal Approach to Pandemic Science Advice and Research Coordination: The Time to Act is Now - Canada.ca
The key message of this report is that Canada needs to take further action now if it is to be adequately prepared for future health emergencies.
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Dr. Jen Irwin @drjenirwin.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Long-term neurological & cognitive impact of C-19…125 studies, 4+ million participants. Findings included: fatigue 43.3% memory disorders 27.8% cognitive impairment 27.1% sleep disorders 24.4% concentration impairment 23.8% headache 20.3% depression 14.0% pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Long-term neurological and cognitive impact of COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis in over 4 million patients
Neuropsychiatric symptoms emerged early in the COVID-19 pandemic as a key feature of the virus, with research confirming a range of neuropsychiatric manifestations linked to acute SARS-CoV-2 infection...
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Dr. Jen Irwin @drjenirwin.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
I’m old enough to remember when protecting children was considered a moral, social, and political imperative. 😷
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David Keegan @drdavidkeegan.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
🚨🚨🚨 jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... “These findings suggest that approximately 1 in 6 patients with COVID-19 develops postacute sequelae, predominantly chronic conditions currently invisible to surveillance systems, representing an accumulating rather than resolving health care burden.”
jamanetwork.com
Long COVID Persistence and Surveillance Gaps Across 58 US Hospitals
This cohort study quantifies the gap between true postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 burden and diagnostic code–based estimates, determines the proportion representing chronic disease, and characterizes...
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Mark Ungrin @mark-ungrin.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
So for anyone in Ontario wondering why infection control practice is so backwards here even away from the usual suspects, it turns out there's misinformation embedded directly in the CPSO infection control guidance, which incorrectly directs physicians to wear a medical mask for airborne pathogens.🙄
Physicians must undertake Routine Practices and Additional Precautions4, including:
hand hygiene for patient and physician safety, in accordance with Appendix B: Ontario’s Just Clean Your Hands Program: Your 4 Moments for Hand Hygiene and Appendix C: Hand Hygiene Methods;
wearing gloves if there is expected exposure to blood, body fluids, secretions, skin rash or non-intact skin;
wearing a medical mask when required to prevent transmission of infectious agents in droplets and airborne particles, and during aseptic and invasive procedures; and
wearing eye protection and a gown when required to protect eyes, skin, and clothing from blood, body fluids, secretions, or excretions.

Source:  https://www.cpso.on.ca/Physicians/Policies-Guidance/Policies/Infection-Prevention-and-Control-for-Clinical-Offi
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Malgorzata (Gosia) Gasperowicz @gosiagasperophd.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
Public Health officials should not generate mask phobia and mask aversion in the public. (Even if personally they have a mask aversion). It’s horribly irresponsible.
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Admirable Women @admirablewomen.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Congrats to Julie K. Brown! She was awarded a #Pulitzer Prize special citation today for her groundbreaking reporting in 2017 & 2018 for the Miami Herald exposing Jeffrey Epstein's systematic abuse of young women and the justice system & powerful network of associates that protected him for years.
A powerful narrative portrait of Julie K. Brown, the Miami Herald investigative journalist celebrated for her "Perversion of Justice" series, which exposed the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein and led to her 2026 Pulitzer Prize special citation. Brown sits in the heart of a newsroom, leaning forward with her hands clasped over the back of a vibrant lime-green chair. Her expression is steady and resolute, a faint, knowing smile playing on her lips. She has shoulder-length, strawberry-blonde hair and wears a crisp, white short-sleeved linen top. Her look is punctuated by bold, artistic accessories: a long necklace featuring large, multi-colored geometric beads and matching statement earrings. The background is filled with the tools of her trade: Dell computer monitors and large wall-mounted screens displaying blurred news segments, including one featuring her own likeness. The composition is balanced and centered, capturing a mood of quiet authority and tireless determination. This image stands as a tribute to Brown’s historical significance in journalism, marking her as a champion for victims whose reporting forced a global reckoning on power and systemic failure.
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Bean & Sprout's Mom @beansproutsmom.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
"Individuals with SARDs [systemic autoimmune disease] were more likely to have SARS-CoV-2 antigen positivity at months 3 and 6 following COVID-19 infection compared with individuals without SARDs, not explained by demographics, variant, vaccination, or treatment."
Among 210 individuals with SARDs in RheumCARD and 348 individuals without SARDs in RECOVER-Adult, any SARS-CoV-2 antigen positivity was more common in those with SARDs (36.7% in RheumCARD vs. 18.9% in RECOVER-Adult; p<0.001). Those with SARDs had higher odds of nucleocapsid antigen positivity (adjusted OR 3.73, 95% CI: 1.28-10.85) or any antigen positivity (adjusted OR 2.89, 95% CI: 1.43-5.85) 3 months after COVID-19 infection and higher odds of nucleocapsid antigen positivity (adjusted OR 6.62, 95% CI: 1.09-40.30) 6 months after COVID-19 infection.
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Mark Ungrin @mark-ungrin.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Excellent work by @cape-acep.bsky.social, demonstrating the value of the labour movement not just for workers, but for everyone else as well. A good hard kick at the "Don't Look Up" narrative being sold by the people who let #longCOVID run wild and are now trying to bury it (and their victims).
Accessibility by design
Accessibility cannot be treated as a compliance exercise or an after-the-fact
accommodation process. It must be built into the design of the workplace itself. The
promise of the Accessible Canada Act was to create a barrier-free Canada by 2040. That
goal cannot be achieved if federal workplaces continue to rely on reactive, individualized
processes that force disabled employees to fight for basic participation. This means
removing barriers wherever possible, rather than accommodating individuals negatively
impacted by them.
Accessibility by design means recognizing that barriers exist across physical environments,
workplace culture, policies, and legislation. It also means acknowledging the conditions
shaping the workforce today. Canada is experiencing a mass disabling event driven in large
part by the ongoing transmission of COVID-19 and other communicable diseases.
Disability rates are rising according to data from Statistics Canada, and scientific guidance
from the OƯice of the Chief Science Advisor of Canada has documented the long-term
impacts of post-COVID conditions on cognitive, cardiovascular, and functional health.
COVID-19 remains a leading cause of death in Canada and contributes to the conditions
that drive the two leading causes of mortality, including cardiovascular disease. These
realities shape the accessibility needs of the workforce and cannot be ignored in any
serious assessment of workplace accessibility.
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Dr. Jen Irwin @drjenirwin.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Outstanding submission by the Canadian Association of Professional Employees, representing 27,000+ members, to the Auditor General - no head-in-the-sand here; this union is clear that COVID-19 remains a threat to employees (w & w-out disability) & they want action! www.acep-cape.ca/en/news/subm...
acep-cape.ca
Submission to the Auditor General on behalf of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees’ Disability Justice Caucus | CAPE
Please see this submission to the Auditor General on behalf of the Can
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Da(N95)iella [fka DaniAtomicus] @sharpflower.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
“The pandemic continues to pose a risk to workers. Indoor air quality, ventilation, and infection prevention are fundamental workplace safety issues.”
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MJ Nabuurs @mjnabuurs.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Great to hear from others who see the variety of issues surrounding this trial & potential for issues with similar ones. Rigour is always important, but esp when results are disseminated during a global public health crisis, potentially impacting the health and well-being of those who heed them.
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Senator Paula Simons 🇨🇦 @senatorpaulasimons.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
I spent my first couple of years as a Senator, pre Covid, with a near-perpetual cold. I flew twice every week, and hosted a viral buffet. Now, I mask every flight, and so far - touch wood - I’ve gone all winter without a sniffle. People laugh and even yell at me sometimes. But my nose isn’t stuffy!
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NB COVID info @nbcovidinfo.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
So listen. We have this data. Showing hospital admissions for ‘resp’ infections 2x pre-pandemic. But ALL school absence discussions - see CBC! See the National last night! IGNORE growing illness as biggest absence factor (or ANY factor!). This is horrible reporting/journalism. /1
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Mark Ungrin @mark-ungrin.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
Meanwhile, one more nail in the coffin of MAHA's "overdiagnosis" / anything-but-COVID moral panic. Keep the receipts from all those negligent medical influencers who insisted there was no need to worry about letting kids get infected, that COVID isn't airborne and that respirators don't work.
academicpedsjnl.net
School Difficulties and Long COVID in Children and Adolescents
Pediatric Long COVID (LC) is an infection-associated chronic condition following SARS-CoV-2 infection. While research has begun to elucidate clinical phenotypes, functional impacts are not well descri...
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Kathryn @kathrynas.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Well yeah, cleaning the air would probably make kids and teachers less sick, but it’s ToO eXPenSIve. Would it be less than $28.9 million per person? Less than $28.9 million in total?
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Kathryn @kathrynas.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
👇👇👇
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The Vertlartnic @thev.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Authorities Frustrated By Awareness Of Long Covid Outside Of Designated Long Covid Awareness Day
An authority
Headline:
Authorities Frustrated By Awareness Of Long Covid Outside Of Designated Long Covid Awareness Day 
Story by Sam Likewise and Clark Cubicle

Photo from Unsplash
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Kathryn @kathrynas.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
How much of “learning loss” is actually cognitive dysfunction due to neurological injury?
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Kathryn @kathrynas.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
What does attendance in 2026 have to do with COVID-19? A 🧵
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🇨🇦Ian - #RLessThanOne @simpson-ian.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
"Current IPC guidelines (as in the National IPC Manuals) should be revised." "The airborne route is dominant via aerosols containing the SARS-CoV-2 virus and that the droplet paradigm was adhered to inappropriately along with fomite transmission."
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Maxwell Smith, PhD @maxwellsmith.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Percentage of Ontario high school students missing 10% or more of their classes: 2017-18: 40% 2021-22: 47% 2022-23: 64% 2023-24: 59.5% 2024-25: 59.8% ON's proposed policy solution? Award grades for attendance. Forget addressing root causes of increased absences. globalnews.ca/news/1180158...
globalnews.ca
High school attendance drops to 40% in Ontario as government considers changes | Globalnews.ca
The Ford government is currently considering giving students in grades 9 to 12 credit on their final marks if they attend class as part of new legislation.
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Kathryn @kathrynas.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Really taking this undermining the experts thing to a holy new level, huh?
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Kathryn @kathrynas.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Oh, chronic absenteeism after the pandemic has risen to over 60% for high school students in Ontario? That’s because IT’S NOT AFTER THE PANDEMIC Kids are missing school because they are sick, and this is happening on a global scale. @globalnews.ca apple.news/A59EHd4IQS-O...
apple.news
High school attendance drops to 40% in Ontario as government considers changes — Global News
The Ford government is currently considering giving students in grades 9 to 12 credit on their final marks if they attend class as part of new legislation.
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Kathryn @kathrynas.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
With Long COVID now being the most common chronic childhood illness, can we see how forced attendance policies are a special kind of cruelty? They punish kids further for adults’ failure to protect them.
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Tania J. Spencer @taniaspencer.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
1/ Two years ago, this British school introduced high-efficiency particulate air ( #HEPA) filtration units into classrooms - "According to the school’s attendance data, the impact has been striking": Via @kathrynas.bsky.social www.portsmouth.co.uk/education/th...
portsmouth.co.uk
The 5p Solution: How clean air is transforming attendance and learning in one Hampshire school
Generations of pupils have learned in stuffy classrooms filled with recycled air, but a Hampshire school is now breathing new life into the way lessons are taught.
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🇨🇦 Kari Raymer Bishop @kariraymerbishop.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
How to ensure that sick kids show up to school so everyone else can be infected too.
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Kathryn @kathrynas.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
As funded disinformation was for tobacco, funded disinformation is for climate change and COVID.
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Dr. Jen Irwin @drjenirwin.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Can anyone think of any reasons for this?! 🤦🏻‍♀️ “Speaking on attendance, Calandra said he has seen absenteeism “creeping up” before the COVID-19 pandemic, and has yet to return to normal levels.” www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/poli...
ctvnews.ca
Ontario introduces sweeping changes to education. Here’s what it means for students and their parents
The Ontario government will cut the number of trustees at the Toronto District School Board nearly in half and create new non-elected executive roles as part of a bill aimed at overhauling school gove...
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Karuna S @karunas.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
💯 agree with this. I see so many people and orgs acknowledging the absence problem and blaming it solely on youth mental health. There is a problem with mental health in youth too but this policy change won’t address that either.
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Yale Environment 360 @yalee360.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
In a first last month, renewables supplied more power to the U.S. than natural gas, a milestone in the shift to clean energy.
e360.yale.edu
In a First for the U.S., Renewables Generate More Power Than Natural Gas
In March, for the first time, renewables supplied more power to the U.S. than natural gas, a milestone in the transition to clean power. However, rising power demand is complicating the shift away from fossil fuels by extending the lives of many aging coal power plants.
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Kathryn @kathrynas.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Absences have increased on a global scale, with illness the most common cause. Politicians have responded to decreased performance & ‘absenteeism’ by calling for attendance policies, based on the assumption that morality & discipline are at fault. Same old bias w/ no evidentiary basis. 🧵
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Mark Ungrin @mark-ungrin.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
A reminder that any analysis of pandemic impacts on kids / education / economy that does not include a serious examination of the effects of #longCOVID is worthless, and one that does not even mention it should be assumed to be deliberately deceptive unless there's a good reason to think otherwise.
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Bean & Sprout's Mom @beansproutsmom.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
For #Vancouver #immunocompromised airborne-aware gang, this dentist www.4thavenuedental.ca has special immunocompromised patient days, N95s, HEPAs, minimal staff, no other patients (h/t @chantzy.bsky.social, I think?) I was able to book within a week. Currently, no long waits :-)
4thavenuedental.ca
Fourth Avenue Dental Clinic Vancouver | Kitsilano Dentist
Fourth Avenue Dental Clinic has been offering Kitsilano & surrounding area of downtown Vancouver, quality dentistry services for over 15 years in a fun atmosphere.
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Kathryn @kathrynas.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Looks like we’re just going to crank up the puppy mill about it. apple.news/Ap1akgrQDQuK...
apple.news
Ontario to cut length of teacher education programs nearly in half
Prospective teachers in Ontario will soon have to spend less time in the classroom as the Ford government moves to condense teacher education programs into 12 months.
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Kathryn @kathrynas.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
A worthwhile read 👇 “Reconstruction has to do three things at once: rebuild the constraint pipeline that connects evidence to consequence, address the humiliation and exclusion that drove defection in the first place, & build infrastructure that works at the speed the current environment demands.”
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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 07/04/2026
I really appreciated this video by Kihana Wilson (who is not on Bluesky, alas) about the mixed feelings of #Artemis II. Follow her on Instagram (www.instagram.com/the_astro_st...) if you're over there!
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jess m. ☕🍂 @jametc.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
ITS US YOU GUYS!!!!
a screenshot of the NASA livestream from Artemis II, where a tiny crescent of earth is seen far behind the moon, also a crescent!!!
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Mark Ungrin @mark-ungrin.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
This is why no one trusts the revolving door of medical self-regulation except the insiders it protects. Medicine requires community oversight just like policing. As the Great Aerosol 🤬-up proves, the Thin White Line and its coverups are a threat to us all. www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/arti... 🧵:
An Ontario neurosurgeon specializing in pain medicine is facing a six-month licence suspension following a review of his alleged medical misconduct, which includes a patient’s death after a nerve-blocking procedure and an explicit order to stop performing the injections was allegedly broken.

In a Feb. 9 decision made by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO), a five-person panel delivered the penalty against Stefan Joseph Konasiewicz, who has clinics in Toronto, Hamilton and Newmarket and was previously the subject of a year-long medical supervision in connection with separate allegations of professional incompetence in 2022.
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Bean & Sprout's Mom @beansproutsmom.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
"No people were involved in the creation of these opinions." 🫠
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Karen James @kejames.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
So, to sum up, a couple of days ago Christina Koch became the first woman to see Earth in its entirety, and today – right now, in fact – she is the first woman to see the Moon up close, and the first woman to see the far side. 🥹
Christina Koch’s facial profile backlit by Earth in the background, through the spacecraft window
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Malgorzata (Gosia) Gasperowicz @gosiagasperophd.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Please say Airborne. Measles is airborne. It transmits via aerosols. Inexplicit messaging is a form of misinformation. It’s ‘misleading by omission’. #StopMisinformation #StopMeasles #MeaslesIsAirborne
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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
NASA just dropped this image of Artemis II astronaut Christina Koch looking back at us. The first woman to ever see our planet in its entirety. I’m not crying you’re crying 🥹🔭🧪 📸: NASA
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Bean & Sprout's Mom @beansproutsmom.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Respie'd at ONCOLOGIST. Dr: You aren't sick are u? Me: No. I follow Health Can & CSA standards. Hoping to start PhD in Mech eng & infection control. U are gonna see lots changes next few yrs. Doc: Re? Me: mitigation of infectious aerosols Dr: God I hope that doesn't mean masks all the time
media.tenor.com
a little girl says what 's a moral compass in a prime video ad
ALT: a little girl says what 's a moral compass in a prime video ad
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Dr. Jen Irwin @drjenirwin.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
The sooner we normalize wearing respirators the better 👇 www.ctvnews.ca/canada/artic...
ctvnews.ca
Summer air quality alerts will become routine in U.S. without action: UWaterloo study
A new study out of the University of Waterloo is underlining how North American air quality could deteriorate by the end of the century unless efforts are taken to fight climate change.
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Dr Noor Bari @njbbari3.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
At some point we have to come to terms with the fact that life will give us lemons, and we can’t just “I don’t wanna…” our way out of it. And media has a big role to play in this.
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