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Natasha Loder

@natashaloder.bsky.social
16K followers 4K following 1.8K posts

Health Editor, The Economist. free words: overmatter.substack.com/subscribe

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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 4h
I’m currently enjoying a G&T with a lemon from our own tree—which feels like a small triumph.
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 4h
That looks bloody amazing.
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Honestly LLMs right now feel like some intern has been given the corporate credit card and has gone mad. These firms are crazy if they think workplaces can support that kind of spending.
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Its lawyers are planning for the possibility that some shareholders survive to sue.
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
My husband quips that the offer price will be $666 per share.
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Anthropic, devoted roughly a third of its IPO prospectus to warnings of the “existential risks to humanity” of its technology, ahead of its listing" Its lawyers are apparently planning for the possibility that some shareholders survive to sue. #AI
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
It’s just shocking what is considered normal. The norms of warfare protect every single one of us.
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The Economist @economist.com · 27/09/2026
AI prose is distinguishable by word and punctuation choice as well as sentence and paragraph structure. But its hallmarks are not what you might expect. Read our full investigation
bit.ly
How to spot AI writing
Large language models like long words and em-dashes—or do they?
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
This absolutely should not be allowed to happen. Iranians need medicines and it is up to the international community and America to make sure they get them. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... Medicines run short in Iran under US sanctions
giftarticle.ft.com
Medicines run short in Iran under US sanctions
Washington’s campaign to isolate the Islamic republic has made securing pharmaceuticals increasingly difficult
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Really troubling account of the gutting of America’s public health agency. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/26/h...
nytimes.com
‘Zombified’ C.D.C., Hobbled by Cuts, Struggles to Fulfill Scientific Mission
The agency has lost its independence and nearly a third of its staff, as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and associates have tightened control.
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Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
News networks should stick to their principles and pause the pool while any outlet is being excluded. Otherwise they will be next. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/26/b...
nytimes.com
TV Networks to Resume Trump Coverage, Even as White House Excludes CNN
The White House TV pool went dark this past week amid a standoff between CNN and the president. Network leaders, however, believe an indefinite suspension may be untenable.
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
No—Chimps. They eat infants.
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Scott Nover @scottnover.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
BREAKING: TV pool will not be providing coverage of presidential events until further notice b/c of CNN's ban, pool chair and FOX News Washington Bureau Chief Bryan Boughton said. It's effectively a boycott by the fellow members — ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX: www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Stop eating. It is good for the economy.
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Spies and scientists have long been intertwined in coronavirus research. That changes how we view the history of this area of science.
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Gilles Demaneuf @gdemaneuf.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
1/4 None of this is particularly new, but most people still don't realise how crucial this is to the COVID origin question, and to understanding the institutional reactions to that question. @natashaloder.bsky.social released a nice little primer.
A city skyline is illuminated by lightning beneath a stormy sky filled with floating virus images, symbolizing the pandemic's impact.
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Inquisitive Monkey @inquisitivemonkey.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Further data points that may help this investigation The mysterious "second peak" papers Part 1: Findings www.researchgate.net/publication/... Part 2: Analysis www.researchgate.net/publication/...
researchgate.net
ResearchGate | Find and share research
Access 160+ million publication pages and connect with 25+ million researchers. Join for free and gain visibility by uploading your research.
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Part 3: will look at what little we know about the connections between scientists and the IC in biodefense and consider the recent shift in funding for biodefense out of the NIH. overmatter.substack.com/p/the-secret...
overmatter.substack.com
The secret non-secret history of coronavirus research
The wall between civilian science and biodefense intelligence was dismantled on purpose twenty years ago
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
"Secret non-secret" isn't a contradiction. It is all public information--but laid out two decades of entanglement between virology and intelligence begs the unanswered question of where the lines between the two were drawn. Or whether they even existed.
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Looking at the timeline of research that followed, risky science, military ties, and funding of foreign labs one has to wonder about the new collection strategies and "aggressive' and integrated targeting of work of interest to the IC.
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
The 2005 WMD Commission called biological weapons the intelligence community's "greatest" challenge, and recommended aligning spies more closely with scientists "inside government and out." Some of what it proposed literally couldn't be published, even unclassified.
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
2003: the National Intelligence Council warns that a natural disease outbreak and a bioweapon release can look identical. 2003: CIA workshop concludes "traditional intelligence" can't handle future bioweapons threats and calls for a wholly new relationship between spies and scientists.
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Rand Paul tweeted on X in August that the CIA funded NIAID for "forensic microbiology" R&D. That one line sent me down a rabbit hole: when exactly did coronaviruses become a bioterrorism concern—and what ties to intelligence never made it into the public record?
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
None of this shows us where covid came from. But 20 years of intelligence agencies quietly cosying up to coronavirus research changes how you read everything history. New piece: the secret non-secret history of coronavirus research. 🧵 overmatter.substack.com/p/the-secret...
overmatter.substack.com
The secret non-secret history of coronavirus research
The wall between civilian science and biodefense intelligence was dismantled on purpose twenty years ago
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Part 2 of a series on the origin of Covid and coronavirus research. overmatter.substack.com/p/the-secret...
overmatter.substack.com
The secret non-secret history of coronavirus research
The wall between civilian science and biodefense intelligence was dismantled on purpose twenty years ago
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Part 2: overmatter.substack.com/p/the-secret...
overmatter.substack.com
The secret non-secret history of coronavirus research
The wall between civilian science and biodefense intelligence was dismantled on purpose twenty years ago
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
I know a data-journalist troll when I see one.
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
For years I've been told that aviation emissions are negligible, so don't worry your little head about them. But I've kept pointing out that there are - and will be - no good technical solutions, and they'll keep growing. Now we know just how big the problem is. www.carbonbrief.org/ccc-heathrow...
carbonbrief.org
CCC: Heathrow expansion could push flights to ‘80% of UK emissions by 2050’ - Carbon Brief
Aviation is on track to be responsible for 80% of the UK’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2050, according to the Climate Change Committee (CCC).
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
👉
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Where did Covid come from? The public scientific evidence points to the Huanan market. But China’s withholding of early-outbreak data, samples and records means the case is not closed. A short, non-technical guide to why reasonable people remain uncertain. overmatter.substack.com/p/in-brief-4...
overmatter.substack.com
In Brief #4: A Dummies Guide to the Origin of Covid
Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Ambiguity
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Where did Covid come from? The public scientific evidence points to the Huanan market. But China’s withholding of early-outbreak data, samples and records means the case is not closed. A short, non-technical guide to why reasonable people remain uncertain. overmatter.substack.com/p/in-brief-4...
overmatter.substack.com
In Brief #4: A Dummies Guide to the Origin of Covid
Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Ambiguity
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The Long Read Club @longreadsclub.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
"A gripping, astonishing story: a mother reckoning with the disease that upended her daughter's life. You won't forget it. 🦉 #LongReadsClub #SaturdayLongReads www.thecut.com/article/pans...
thecut.com
When a Sore Throat Attacks the Brain
My child caught a cold and then lost her ability to function. The fight to access treatment for her illness, called PANS, has overtaken our lives.
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Why thank you.
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One True Sentence @nico0511.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
This is really good stuff…takes me back to writing my GHS thesis during the height of the pandemic, the ‘market’ theory always instinctively Takes me to Paul Farmer (RIP) in ‘Fevers, Feuds & Diamonds’…think you might just have a new subscriber!
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
I’m not particularly good on NHS these days. I did a BBC doc after Covid on waiting lists when 7m first seemed like a large number.
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Thanks!
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
overmatter.substack.com/p/in-brief-4...
overmatter.substack.com
In Brief #4: A Dummies Guide to the Origin of Covid
Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Ambiguity
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
This is just horrendous. The police should absolutely investigate.
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
overmatter.substack.com/p/in-brief-4...
overmatter.substack.com
In Brief #4: A Dummies Guide to the Origin of Covid
Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Ambiguity
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Reposted by Natasha Loder
Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
The latest shingles-vaccine research points to possible cardiovascular benefits—while a growing body of evidence suggests it may also reduce or delay dementia diagnoses. Read about it here. overmatter.substack.com/p/your-anti-...
overmatter.substack.com
Your anti-ageing stack should include this injectable
The shingles vaccine seems to reduce the risk of dementia. There is speculation that it might slow down ageing
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Trying to decide whether my first chapter draft is the mad scribbler or the woman with the breakfast on her T-shirt
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Interesting.
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darren32359.bsky.social @darren32359.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
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Thor Benson @thorbenson.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
I wrote about the Nepal flooding disaster and how climate change likely contributed to it for @rollingstone.com
rollingstone.com
Did Climate Change Cause the Flooding in Nepal?
We spoke with scientists about how "a landslide with a piece of glacier on top" caused devastation in the Himalayas.
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
The latest shingles-vaccine research points to possible cardiovascular benefits—while a growing body of evidence suggests it may also reduce or delay dementia diagnoses. Read about it here. overmatter.substack.com/p/your-anti-...
overmatter.substack.com
Your anti-ageing stack should include this injectable
The shingles vaccine seems to reduce the risk of dementia. There is speculation that it might slow down ageing
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Awful.
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Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
That is the third story today I read about peoples cats coming home after time away. Do you think it’s the change in seasons?
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Henry Gee 亨利·纪 @endofthepier.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
‘The Decline & Fall of the Human Empire’ is Editor’s Pick at Amazon www.amazon.com/Decline-Fall...
amazon.com
The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire: Why Our Species Is on the Edge of Extinction
The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire: Why Our Species Is on the Edge of Extinction - Kindle edition by Gee, Henry. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire: Why Our Species Is on the Edge of Extinction.
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Adam Kinzinger @adamkinzinger.substack.com · 31/08/2026
The Pentagon influencer scandal keeps getting bigger. More partisan online personalities. More government jobs. More taxpayer money. Who hired them, what are they being paid to do, and are military officers violating the UCMJ? This deserves answers.
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