Sign in

Nat Lash

@natlash.bsky.social
6.3K followers 355 following 143 posts

Reporter and developer on ProPublica’s news applications team. Tracking disease on the molecular level 🧬 and land use from outer space 🛰️ NathanielLash.com

PostsRepliesMedia
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 11h
For some reason this photo breaks me a little.
010
Reposted by Nat Lash
Annie Waldman @anniewaldman.bsky.social · 11h
NEW: As Trump’s White House and influencers keep touting the unproven benefits of raw milk, hundreds across the country are falling ill from outbreaks. Some people get severe indigestion. And some nearly die. Here's the story of one toddler who drank it. 🧵👇 www.propublica.org/article/cali...
propublica.org
A Girl Nearly Died After Drinking Raw Milk. The State Did Little to Punish the Unlicensed Farmer Who Sold It.
California is teeming with black-market dairies, propped up by consumer demand fueled by misinformation. With evidence against one raw goat milk farm, regulators could have sought punitive action. But...
37939462
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 11h
In my core I know that just because music is made of sounds, sounds are not music. But the pressure to believe the opposite — that words make writing, pixels make a picture, a list of notes makes thinking — is inescapable today. Of course we all feel like we're losing our goddamn minds.
031
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Nathan F: "I've seen you without your clothes on before. Never thought I'd see you naked"
100
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Ugh, what a nightmare for these families. whyy.org/articles/chi...
whyy.org
Philadelphia health officials report possible measles exposure at CHOP’s NICU
Officials said they’re working to administer a preventative antibody treatment to all infants in the NICU to help protect them from measles.
041
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
“It does not know enough about pathogens, because we don’t know enough about pathogens.” As usual, a very timely, thorough piece from Katherine Wu www.theatlantic.com/health/2026/...
theatlantic.com
The AI Pandemic Isn’t On Its Way
Yet plenty of others might be, thanks to evolution.
032
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Apropos of nothing: www.cdc.gov/wastewater/e...
010
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
This is exactly what they said would happen in that one song
040
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Fresh language in today's CDC measles update. The asterisk for deaths this year stands, and establishes new goalposts: "*The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) does not currently have any death records from 2026 that indicate measles is the underlying cause." www.cdc.gov/measles/data...
CDC's table of deaths from measles, listing an asterisk for 2026 and 3 for 2025.
020
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
🤷‍♂️ www.cdc.gov/measles/data...
CDC notice about delay in weekly measles case data update.
020
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
CDC/FDA still report 345 cases related to this tainted jalapeño outbreak. Meanwhile, the cluster of Salmonella Javiana isolates is up to 447. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pathogens/tr...
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Isolates SNP Tree Viewer - Pathogen Detection - NCBI Isolates SNP Tree Viewer
000
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
These bot accounts annoy the hell out of me when they have images that have nothing to do with the text, and everything is utterly unsourced. The actual source is still super neat! But I guess not what the engagement bait factory wanted?
Cuneiform tablets from the Yale Babylonian collections
121
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Thrilled to learn that our work on H5N1 won a National Edward R. Murrow Award! www.rtdna.org/2026-nationa...
in bold: Excellence in Innovation

underlined: What the U.S. Government is Dismissing That Could Seed a Bird Flu Pandemic 
ProPublica,  new york, ny
061
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
back-to-back release of phoebe bridgers and billy strings really turning things around
010
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
I'm on parental leave for a few more weeks, but I like peeking at new isolates! 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️
030
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
The SNP cluster of Salmonella Javiana is wild: over 400 nearly identical clinical samples, all submitted over the last few weeks. Is there anything going on with Salmonella right now??? www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pathogens/tr...
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Isolates SNP Tree Viewer - Pathogen Detection - NCBI Isolates SNP Tree Viewer
120
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Oof
000
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
011
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
This is really important work -- the genetic diversity seen so far suggested a start of the Ebola outbreak around mid-March. But the epi turned up hundreds of Ebola-like cases going back as far as January. www.science.org/content/arti...
screenshot of text: "Until now, estimates about when the epidemic started had relied mostly on genetic evidence. Comparing the sequences of Ebola virus found in patients allows scientists to build a family tree and estimate the age of the earliest common ancestor. One such analysis, posted online in early July, suggested the earliest cases occurred in mid-March. But most of the genomes analyzed so far came from Bunia, where the disease erupted later. “I think January is plausible … because we don’t have many sequences from Mongbwalu,” says an author of the analysis, evolutionary biologist Andrew Rambaut of the University of Edinburgh."
012
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
There are only two solutions here: tear up all the Pinot and replace it exclusively with Merlot, or fast track a Sideways reboot. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/u...
nytimes.com
Sales Are So Low, California Wineries Are Burning Their Vineyards (Gift Article)
The rise and fall of pinot noir symbolizes the larger struggles of the wine industry as younger generations turn to other beverages.
000
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Okay but actually this is a great premise for a roguelite
120
Reposted by Nat Lash
Krishna Karra @krishnakarra.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
NEW: we documented the fallout of a USAID irrigation system project in southern Kenya, leading to the worst flood the village of Kimorigo had seen in atleast a decade. read our story 🎁: www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
0107
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Ok one of those games then
010
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Good ol’ O157:H7 cheese
050
Reposted by Nat Lash
Lisa Song @lisalsong.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Drop everything and read Annie's story. I've been looking forward to this since she started reporting on it. Among other things, I've started scrutinizing the cheese at grocery stores to make sure everything I buy is made from pasteurized milk!
13014
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Appreciate the write-up from the folks at CIDRAP on what our analysis of measles virus genome sequences says about the U.S. elimination status
020
Reposted by Nat Lash
Ken Schwencke @schwanksta.com · 08/06/2026
@natlash.bsky.social compared samples of measles from the US and Canada and found that the Texas out leak last year and the ongoing Utah outbreak strains are very closely related. Just out @propublica.org: projects.propublica.org/measles-outb...
19520
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
The masses were clamoring for more molecular epidemiology for investigative journalism
1142
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
NWS *and* H5? What a week for Texas cattle 👎
National Milk Testing Status, with "affected" status for California, Idaho, Utah and Texas
043
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Spelunking for brains on a design problem I'm wigging out on, feel the need to emphasize how much of a foundational document this is: bost.ocks.org/mike/constan...
bost.ocks.org
Object Constancy
010
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Oof, after just a month of no detections, HPAI is back in the Amish duck-farming region in Northern Indiana. 5 cases reported since May 4, mostly on duck farms. Remind me how this was addressed in another densely duck-farmed region hit by constant waves of H5 2.3.4.4b? www.in.gov/boah/species...
5 cases in LaGrange presumptively positive since May 4
031
Reposted by Nat Lash
Dr Emma Hodcroft @firefoxx66.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Nextstrain #ANDV trees updated with a few improvements: - 2 outbreaks marked - host scientific/common name added - province now visible on map - date colouring added Here's a quick tour of how to change colours, geography & names! Links to trees here (scroll down): nextstrain.org/groups/hodcr...
25428
Reposted by Nat Lash
Jessica Lussenhop @jlussenhop.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
🎧 It's launch day! 🚀 Our VERY FIRST EPISODE of "Paper Trail" is now live. You can listen at the link below or subscribe in all the normal podcast places: www.propublica.org/podcast/what...
propublica.org
What the FDA Won’t Tell You About Your Medications
For years, the FDA said generics are just as safe as brand-name medications. ProPublica found that this isn’t always true.
412651
Reposted by Nat Lash
Elizabeth Lopatto @lopatto.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
the west wing is less realistic than battlestar galactica NEXT QUESTION
274496
Reposted by Nat Lash
Jennifer Nuzzo, DrPH, SM @jennifernuzzo.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
I'm not particularly worried there will be much onward spread of hantavirus from M/V Hondius passengers. But I am concerned that authorities are making confident statements based on VERY LIMITED data. IMO, there's too little data to say need symptoms to transmit or need close, prolonged contact.
1247
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Preliminary analysis shows the sequences from the MV Hondius hantavirus patients are virtually identical. Supports theory of one spillover from rodent to first patient and subsequent human-to-human spread on the cruise ship. virological.org/t/preliminar...
SNPs of sequences from cases. 2,3,6 are identical, cases 7 and 5 have one mutation each on L protein
031
Reposted by Nat Lash
Duaa Eldeib @deldeib.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
This was a hard story to report. Newborns who don’t get a vitamin K shot are 81 times more likely to develop a condition where they bleed uncontrollably. But more and more families are declining the shot. And babies are dying. www.propublica.org/article/more...
propublica.org
Babies Are Bleeding to Death as Parents Reject a Vitamin Shot Given at Birth
A lifesaving injection given at birth to prevent severe bleeding has become collateral damage of the anti-vaccine movement.
20545151992
Reposted by Nat Lash
jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 06/05/2026
horrible. this country’s turn away from science based medicine in the name of “wellness” is killing children and will kill a lot more. www.propublica.org/article/more...
propublica.org
Babies Are Bleeding to Death as Parents Reject a Vitamin Shot Given at Birth
A lifesaving injection given at birth to prevent severe bleeding has become collateral damage of the anti-vaccine movement.
470160106041
Reposted by Nat Lash
shawn @mulchy.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
i love it when east coast journalists visit www.politico.com/news/magazin...
POLITICO

CHICAGO — Nobody asks "who sent ya?" when you walk into Manny's Deli, pick up a tray and deliberate over pastrami or corned beef to go with your latke.

This South Loop institution welcomes every element of Chicago. That was evident last week when we took "On The Road" to the American city that's perhaps most consumed by its own politics.Manny's crowd spanned class and racial lines. They were united in caloric excess, the Chicago way. It's one of the few things that links a city otherwise balkanized by neighborhood, class, ethnic group, even baseball allegiance.

Another is its obsession with its own politics, particularly its mayors (pronounced locally as: Da Mare). Presidents and senators are fine — and one of their own will open his presidential library next month in Hyde Park
- but the adage that all politics is local really could have been coined for Chicago.
2020431
Reposted by Nat Lash
Hannah Fresques @fresques.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
So proud of data reporters @sophiechou.bsky.social and @harucoryne.bsky.social, who are Pulitzer Prize winners today. They made sense of tens of thousands of scanned, hand written forms to uncover how the Connecticut DMV allows tow companies to sell people’s cars www.propublica.org/article/prop...
propublica.org
ProPublica and The Connecticut Mirror Win Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting
The award, for uncovering predatory state towing practices, marks ProPublica’s 9th Pulitzer; two additional investigations were named finalists.
02912
Reposted by Nat Lash
Lisa Gartner @lisagartner.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Incredibly proud of these people and this work! @sfchronicle.com forever. Thank you @pulitzerprizes.bsky.social! www.pulitzer.org/finalists/cy...
pulitzer.org
Pulitzer Finalist: Cynthia Dizikes and Joaquin Palomino of the San Francisco Chronicle
For their meticulous and heart-wrenching reporting on California’s psychiatric hospitals that put profits over patients and endangered some of the state’s most vulnerable citizens.
001
Reposted by Nat Lash
Andrew Ba Tran @abtran.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
We got our hands on internal ICE records that show how widespread use of force, like punches, kicks, takedown maneuvers, restraint holds, and less-lethal weapons such as Tasers and pepper spray in detention centers has grown wapo.st/4tdgBRA (1/)
310368
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
SNEAK PEAK
000
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Not me subtweeting every damn unattributed graphic that is accompanied with “🤯”
010
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Making a mental note to outline that 10k word story on weather record vandalism
010
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
In great company here for my final year as a “young” journalist 😬😬
071
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
iykyk 😭😭😭
table of MCMC logs
100
Reposted by Nat Lash
Lisa Gartner @lisagartner.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Feeling so grateful and excited to join the @nytimes.com investigations team www.nytco.com/press/new-de...
nytco.com
New Deputy Editor for Investigations | The New York Times Company
141
Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
I cannot for the life of me parse this as 3 priorities but maybe it's because just saying "data" doesn't really count as an idea.
010
Reposted by Nat Lash
Retro Tech Dreams @retrotechdreams.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Myst (1993)
1344482