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Nat Lash

@natlash.bsky.social
6.4K followers 356 following 145 posts

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

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Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 18h
This was a neat honor for our 🐔 🦠 🌬️ reporting. Thanks, @journalists.org + @ufjschool.bsky.social ! www.jou.ufl.edu/2026/10/02/b...
jou.ufl.edu
Bloomberg News and ProPublica win ONA’s 2026 UF Investigative Data Journalism Award
Bloomberg News and ProPublica are the winners of the 2026 University of Florida Award in Investigative Data Journalism, presented by the Online News
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Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 20h
Wait wut www.nytimes.com/2026/10/05/s...
70. Blue whales are the biggest animals ever to exist on Earth. Where are their babies born?
Helen Scales, marine biologist
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Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
For some reason this photo breaks me a little.
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Annie Waldman @anniewaldman.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
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...
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Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
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.
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Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
NYT hasn't yet listed Firefly in 100-20 best shows of 21st Century. This can only mean it's Number 1. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
nytimes.com
The 100 Best TV Shows of the 21st Century
More than 500 influential stars, showrunners and other notable names in the world of TV voted on the best series released since Jan. 1, 2000. See what they chose.
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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"
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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.
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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.
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Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Apropos of nothing: www.cdc.gov/wastewater/e...
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Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
This is exactly what they said would happen in that one song
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Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
"It's me, the reporter. I am the exclusive"
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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.
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Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Super well deserved -- Congrats!
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Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
🤷‍♂️ www.cdc.gov/measles/data...
CDC notice about delay in weekly measles case data update.
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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
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Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
YBC 5471: peabody.collections.yale.edu/view/object/... And translation from Marten Stol: archive.org/details/lett...
YBC 5471 translation
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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
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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
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Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
back-to-back release of phoebe bridgers and billy strings really turning things around
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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! 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️
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Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Some of the latest samples in the cluster were collected weeks ago, so expect this count to grow just based on the reporting lag. The last update from FDA (Aug 5) regarding Salmonella Javiana outbreak is 345 cases: www.fda.gov/food/outbrea...
fda.gov
Outbreak Investigation of Salmonella: Jalapeño (August 2026)
Do not eat, serve, or sell recalled fresh jalapeños from Sinaloa, Mexico distributed by Coast Citrus Distributors. FDA’s investigation is ongoing.
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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
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Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Oof
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Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
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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."
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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.
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Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Okay but actually this is a great premise for a roguelite
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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...
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Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Ok one of those games then
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Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Good ol’ O157:H7 cheese
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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!
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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
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Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
static.klipy.com
Jack Nicholson's Evil Smile
Alt: Jack Nicholson's Evil Smile
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Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
seriously though if i ran a newspaper there'd be a lot of this
J Jonah Jameson (animated) meme of "i want pictures of spiderman" but it actually says "i need more WGS of MeV"
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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...
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Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
The masses were clamoring for more molecular epidemiology for investigative journalism
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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
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Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
🥺
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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
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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
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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...
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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.
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Elizabeth Lopatto @lopatto.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
the west wing is less realistic than battlestar galactica NEXT QUESTION
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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Nat Lash @natlash.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
To my knowledge, they're still aboard. apnews.com/article/hant...
apnews.com
Inside the cruise ship at the center of a rare hantavirus outbreak
Footage obtained by The Associated Press of a cruise ship in a rare-virus outbreak shows deserted decks and medical teams in protective gear as the vessel and its nearly 150 passengers and crew waited...
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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.
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