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Nicoletta Lanese (she/they)

@nicolanese.bsky.social
352 followers 114 following 80 posts

Health editor @ Live Science. Shop steward @ Future US Union / WGAE. 🏳️‍🌈 @ everywhere. nicolettalanese.com

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Reposted by Nicoletta Lanese (she/they)
Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 07/03/2025
NIH just posted this news announcement. "Today the National Institutes of Health is announcing plans to centralize peer review of all applications for grants, cooperative agreements and research and development contracts within the agency’s Center for Scientific Review (CSR)"
nih.gov
NIH centralizes peer review to improve efficiency and strengthen integrity
The proposed approach is expected to save more than $65 million annually.
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Nicoletta Lanese (she/they) @nicolanese.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
Live Science will be covering @standupforscience.bsky.social irl from several locations tomorrow 🧪 Are you planning to attend in your area? Let us know why! cc @killgrove.bsky.social @livescience.com @cdelawalla.bsky.social
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Reposted by Nicoletta Lanese (she/they)
Writers Guild of America East @wgaeast.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
Solidarity with our members in the CBS New Digital Union as we begin bargaining today. We're fighting for a strong first contract for workers at CBS' digital platforms including CBSNews.com, its mobile site, social media channels and the CBS News app. Fair contract here we come! 💪 #UnionStrong
CBS News Digital Union
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betsy ladyzhets 😷 @betsyladyzhets.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
Join us at the Nonbinarian Bookstore in Brooklyn or virtually on Zoom on March 18!!!
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Nieman Lab @niemanlab.org · 04/03/2025
The hope: The L.A. Times will appear more "objective" if it presents both sides of an issue. The reality: Kind of a mess.
buff.ly
The L.A. Times adds AI-generated counterpoints to its opinion pieces and guess what, there are problems
The hope: The L.A. Times will appear more "objective" if it presents both sides of an issue, even if one side's written by a human and the other side is generated by AI. The reality: Kind of a mess.
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Nicoletta Lanese (she/they) @nicolanese.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
🧪💉🦠 #SciCom
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Nicoletta Lanese (she/they) @nicolanese.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
ICYMI: A few stories from the @livescience.com health desk: 1) A yet-unidentified illness has killed 53 people and potentially infected hundreds more in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. WHO is investigating. www.livescience.com/health/virus... By Patrick Pester + me /1
livescience.com
Mystery illness kills over 50 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
A yet-unidentified illness has killed 53 people and potentially infected hundreds more in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The World Health Organization is investigating the outbreak.
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Nicoletta Lanese (she/they) @nicolanese.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
In the category of "small things I can control," I've volunteered as a clinical trial participant! And before you ask, yes, I'm pretty sure its lines of funding are (currently) beyond federal interference. For the moment, it's full steam ahead — hoping to spin a story out of it, so more to come 💉💊
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Reposted by Nicoletta Lanese (she/they)
Kristian G. Andersen @kgandersen.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
It is worth paying close attention to the new bill "Dangerous Viral Gain of Function Research Moratorium Act" introduced by Senator Roger Marshall. If enacted, it will effectively stop all of virological research, including for vaccines. www.marshall.senate.gov/wp-content/u... 🧵👇
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Dan Diamond @ddiamond.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
Elon Musk said DOGE made a mistake by cutting USAID’s Ebola prevention but it had been “restored.” That’s not true, current and former officials told me and @johnphudson.bsky.social. “There have been no efforts to ‘turn on’” Ebola prevention, said Nidhi Bouri, who oversaw team until January.
washingtonpost.com
Musk claims DOGE ‘restored’ Ebola prevention effort. Officials disagree.
USAID’s initiatives to fight Ebola and other diseases have been gutted, current and former agency officials said.
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The Transmitter @thetransmitter.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Exclusive: NIH appears to archive policy requiring female animals in studies www.thetransmitter.org/policy/exclu...
thetransmitter.org
Exclusive: NIH appears to archive policy requiring female animals in studies
Such a shift would “put us back in the dark ages in terms of our science,” says neuroscientist Anne Murphy, who helped to formulate the original policy.
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Madison Pauly @msjpauly.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
LGBTQ federal workers say they're terrified they're about to be fired for their gender identity, sexual orientation, or past efforts to support other queer and trans employees—in other words, a second Lavender Scare. Honored to have their trust with this story: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
LGBTQ federal workers brace for a McCarthyist purge
"They’re not asking people ‘Are you gay? Are you lesbian?’ They’re asking, ‘Who is participating in DEI?'"
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Annie Roth @annieroth.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Looking for a scientist who can speak to the effectiveness of using species recovery (think beavers, bison, etc) efforts to reduce the severity/spread of wildfires. This is for an article, not the film. DM me or comment below!
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Nicoletta Lanese (she/they) @nicolanese.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
This case report — uncovered by @laminda.bsky.social for our "Diagnostic dilemma" series at @livescience.com —highlights a little-known risk of seeing your favorite bands in concert 👇
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Nicoletta Lanese (she/they) @nicolanese.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Finished my 1st read of "The Will to Change," and it's as timely a text as ever (although it could benefit from more queer perspectives imo). I wouldn't say it's a hopeful read, as the struggle it outlines is ongoing and has no simple solutions. But it's an important read, nonetheless! #booksky
Cover of "the will to change" by bell hooksA page of the book with a section bracketed that reads: "the ability to critique oneself and change and to hear critique from others is the condition of being that makes us capable of responsibility."
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Reposted by Nicoletta Lanese (she/they)
Megha Satyanarayana @megha.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
Cross Currents: why is the trump administration and rfk going after prozac and adderall for kids? my latest for scientific american www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-...
scientificamerican.com
Why Is the Trump Administration Villainizing Mental Health Meds for Kids?
A federal commission to examine U.S. chronic disease could undercut real treatment for kids with depression, ADHD and other mental health challenges
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Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez @mvgutierrezmd.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
I've been processing the termination of the HHS Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Long COVID, of which I was an unpaid volunteer member. This decision doesn’t just eliminate a committee—it diminishes the voices of millions suffering. 🧵
Snippet from the White House announcement saying secretary of HHS shall terminate the advisory committee on Long Covid
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Alexander McNamara @albeardyeditor.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
This is a great feature on #eDNA by our Planet Earth editor Hannah Osborne. We're using a new article template, which i think looks really lush thanks to @marilynperkins.bsky.social's excellent design skills. What do you think? www.livescience.com/planet-earth...
livescience.com
Invisible DNA lurks everywhere in the environment — and we're on the verge of decoding its secrets
Environments are littered with the DNA of the creatures that inhabit them. Analyzing it could provide a real-time view of how our planet is changing.
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Nicoletta Lanese (she/they) @nicolanese.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
Reposting this, as the deadline is approaching 👀
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Nicoletta Lanese (she/they) @nicolanese.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
ICYMI: A couple highlights from the @livescience.com health desk this week 🧪🧠 1) An improvement to an existing AI-based brain decoder can translate a person's thoughts into text without requiring hours of training. www.livescience.com/health/mind/... By @skylerdware.bsky.social /1
livescience.com
AI 'brain decoder' can read a person's thoughts with just a quick brain scan and almost no training
An improvement to an existing AI-based brain decoder can translate a person's thoughts into text without hours of training.
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Reposted by Nicoletta Lanese (she/they)
Alexander McNamara @albeardyeditor.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
Make your mind up 😂 www.livescience.com/space/astero...
livescience.com
NASA changes odds of the asteroid hitting Earth in 2032 yet again — but this time it's good news
NASA increased the chances of asteroid 2024 YR4 hitting Earth to 1 in 32, or 3.1%, on Tuesday, but they're now back down to 1 in 67, or 1.5%.
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Amy Maxmen, PhD @amymaxmen.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
Here's why reporters should question HHS' explanation that the vaccine advisory meeting ACIP is delayed to give the public time to comment. This agenda was *supposed* to be open for comment starting Feb 1. But comments were closed. See the federal register document.
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Amanda Heidt @scattercushion.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
🧪 New #sourcerequest: I'm looking to speak with students or early career academics who use AI for data collation, experimental planning, literature review, writing, referencing and statistical analysis. I'd love to hear about the specific tools you use and how you use them.
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Nicoletta Lanese (she/they) @nicolanese.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
"The Committee on Science, Space and Technology is surveying the impact of the Trump Administration's mass firings of fed employees from science agencies." 👇 democrats-science.house.gov/sciencefirings (Caveat: I can't speak to the security on the backend of this site - just passing the link along.)🧪
democrats-science.house.gov
Were you fired by President Trump? | House Committee on Science, Space and Technology
The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology
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The Open Notebook @theopennotebook.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
Don’t miss this AI tipsheet for journalists, from @bwfund.bsky.social fellow @emmalgometz.bsky.social, with @caiwei.bsky.social, @alexandreorrico.nucleo.jor.br, @rodneygibbs.com @nicolakimjones.bsky.social and more. 🧪
theopennotebook.com
Key Questions for Journalists to Consider Before Using Generative AI - The Open Notebook
Generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT or DeepSeek, are increasingly on the lips of industry leaders in journalism. But with the technology’s opacity and rapid development, writers should carefully cons...
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Kristina Killgrove @killgrove.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
People ask this question a LOT, so I talked to some amazing folks and wrote a short explainer. tl;dr - Leave it, take a pic, tell the SHPO. 🏺🧪
livescience.com
What should I do if I find a cool artifact in the US?
Spotting artifacts in the U.S. is common, but archaeologists want you to leave them in place.
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Nicoletta Lanese (she/they) @nicolanese.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
Sharing this, in part, because I've gotten well-meaning questions from folks who are trying to make to make sense of the "COVID origins controversy." From outside the world of medicine, virology + epidemiology, it's hard to clock that the CIA's "reports" aren't actually adding new info: 🧪🦠
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Nicoletta Lanese (she/they) @nicolanese.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
Interested in interning for @livescience.com? Applications are open! 📰🧪 The internship runs 10 weeks and is remote, tho interns can work out of our NYC office if they like. Pay is $16.50/hr for 29.5 hrs/wks (East Coast time). You'd be writing many story types across our verticals! /1
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Lisa Grossman @astrolisa.bsky.social · 15/02/2025
I went to AAAS this weekend and talked to lots of scientists about how they're feeling In These Times www.sciencenews.org/article/defu...
sciencenews.org
The mood is ‘uncertain, anxious’ at 2025’s first big U.S. science meeting
Scientists are losing funding and even their jobs under the new Trump administration. Researchers at the AAAS meeting shared fears and coping strategies.
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Nicoletta Lanese (she/they) @nicolanese.bsky.social · 15/02/2025
Despite this year's #AAASmtg unfolding at the same time as major strikes against the American scientific enterprise, I'm leaving feeling hopeful about our community's ability to overcome, and about all the incredible science that speakers presented. Thanks to all that made it happen 👏
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Nicoletta Lanese (she/they) @nicolanese.bsky.social · 15/02/2025
Obviously this is equal parts horrifying, discriminatory and ascientific But also, it has the visceral 'old man yells at cloud' energy you might expect in the darkest corners of internet forum comment sections
Screenshot from the CDC website that reads: Per a court order, HHS is required to restore this website as of 11:59PM ET, February 11, 2025. Any information on this page promoting gender ideology is extremely inaccurate and disconnected from the immutable biological reality that there are two sexes, male and female. The Trump Administration rejects gender ideology and condemns the harms it causes to children, by promoting their chemical and surgical mutilation, and to women, by depriving them of their dignity, safety, well-being, and opportunities. This page does not reflect biological reality and therefore the Administration and this Department rejects it.
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Reposted by Nicoletta Lanese (she/they)
Katie Langin @klangin.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Dear federal scientists: If you have been affected by the probationary firings and would be willing to speak with Science, please reach out to me by email (klangin@aaas.org) or on Signal. We can guarantee annonymity.
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Nicoletta Lanese (she/they) @nicolanese.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Really excellent discussion with Sean Gallagher, Kei Koizumi, Kate Stoll and David Goldston on how science policy comes to be, and factors to consider under Trump 2.0: #AAASmtg
A stage with four panelists seated next to each other as a crowd watches
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Nicoletta Lanese (she/they) @nicolanese.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Deeply appreciated the candor from AAAS CEO Sudip Parikh today. Now is not the time to mince words. RFK is unfit — point-blank. #aaasmtg
Photo of a man in a jacket giving a talk. The caption reads "let me just say this clearly. Robert f. Kennedy Jr is not the right person to lead the department of health and human services. Not the right person."
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Nicoletta Lanese (she/they) @nicolanese.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
My personal favorite of the ice-breaker questions at #AAASmtg Speed Networking 🙃 :
Slide show displaying text that reads: What's your favorite way to unwind given the current landscape?
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Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 13/02/2025
Incredible news! The Trump administration's under 19 trans care ban has been BLOCKED in federal court via a bench temporary restraining order. The administration CANNOT withhold funds from hospitals providing trans youth care. ACLU statement here:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 13, 2025

 

CONTACT

Gillian Branstetter, gbranstetter@aclu.org

Tom Warnke, twarnke@lambdalegal.org

 

BALTIMORE – In a victory for transgender youth, their families, and their medical providers, a federal district court today issued a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of a Trump administration executive order attempting to shut down access nationwide to gender-affirming medical care for transgender people under 19. The decision by Judge Brendan Hurson was issued from the bench with a written order to come soon.

 

The nationwide restraining order prohibits federal agencies from conditioning or withholding federal funding based on the fact that a healthcare entity or health professional provides gender-affirming medical care to a patient under nineteen.

 

“Good and decent parents of transgender kids should never be in the frightening position of having their child’s prescribed, medically necessary care canceled at the whim and threat of a politician. But that’s exactly what President Trump’s executive order did to PFLAG families with trans youth and young adults nationwide,” said Brian K. Bond (he/him), Chief Executive Officer of PFLAG National. “Today’s decision rights a grievous wrong to our nation's families and children, and PFLAG families will be vigilant to ensure our transgender loved ones receive the healthcare they need—as this legal ruling demands.”

 

“Forcing providers to withhold medically-necessary, evidence-based care not only threatens patient health and well-being, but also undermines the integrity of our healthcare system in its entirety,” said Alex Sheldon (they/them), GLMA executive director. “Today's intervention by the court underscores the cruelty and recklessness that is embedded in this order and affirms our commitment to resist the administration’s extremist agenda that targets trans and non-binary young people and privileges political ideology over medical expertise. We are hopeful that…In the first week after the order was signed, some hospitals across the country — in Massachusetts, Maryland, Washington, Colorado, and Virginia at least — abruptly halted medical care for transgender people under age 19, canceling appointments and turning away patients, including some who had been receiving this care for most of their life. This prompted protests of support for transgender youth and in opposition to the order nationwide.

 

On Feb. 4, a lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal, the ACLU of Maryland, and law firms Jenner & Block and Hogan Lovells on behalf of transgender young adults and adolescents and their families whose health care has been disrupted by President Trump’s order. Also joining the case as plaintiffs are PFLAG National, the nation’s largest organization supporting LGBTQ+ people and their families, with over 550,000 members and supporters and nearly 350 chapters across the country; and GLMA, the country’s largest organization of LGBTQ and allied health professionals.

 

"Across the country, this unlawful order from the president has sown fear among transgender youth and confusion among their providers,” said Joshua Block, senior staff attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project. “But today’s decision should restore both their access to healthcare and protections under the Constitution. Providers who’ve suspended healthcare for their transgender patients should be left with no doubt that they can lift those suspensions and continue to provide healthcare and act in their best medical judgment without risking their funding or worse.

 

“The president’s orders sought to take away from transgender young people the very care that they, their families, and their medical providers all agree is best for them – medical care that is evidence-based and well-established. But these decisions are for patients, their families, and their doctors to make, not for politicians or Washington bureaucrats,” said Omar Gonzale…
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Trans Journalists Association @transjournalists.org · 13/02/2025
Need help covering the cost of a conference, training, workshop, coaching, or other career opportunity? Apply now for a $250 or $500 stipend to support your work. Deadline: March 17. Details & application 👇 www.transjournalists.org/2025-level-u...
transjournalists.org
TJA's new Level Up Initiative could fund your next step
Want help geting your journalism career to the next level? Apply now for $250 and $500 stipends that will support journalists' attendance at trainings, panels, conferences, and more.
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Nicoletta Lanese (she/they) @nicolanese.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
If you're attending the #AAASMtg and want to pitch @livescience.com or learn more about our reporting, hmu! I'll be in attendance I head up our Health vertical, but can also speak to topics we regularly cover across the site 💫 @aaas.org #ScienceNews #SciComm 🧪🧬💊💉🌌
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Mindy Weisberger @laminda.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
BOOKS HAVE ARRIVED, and oh my lord they are gorgeous! HUGE thanks to everyone at @hopkinspress.bsky.social who made this happen, with a special shoutout to art director Molly Seamans and designer/illustrator @kglyder.bsky.social for a cover that I fell in love with the first time I saw it 🧟‍♀️
Two copies of a book lying on a white table. The cover is black, and on it are illustrations of zombified ants. Text on the cover reads: “Rise of the Zombie Bugs: The Surprising Science of Parasitic Mind Control, by Mindy Weisberger”
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Nicoletta Lanese (she/they) @nicolanese.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
'Epigenetic clocks' have been having a moment, even becoming available as consumer products aimed at measuring 'biological age.' But what makes them tick? We're not 100% sure, but a new line of research could move us closer: 🧪🧬💊 #ScienceNews www.livescience.com/health/agein...
livescience.com
Biological aging may not be driven by what we thought
A new study draws a line between random genetic mutations and predictable epigenetic changes used to measure biological aging.
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Nicoletta Lanese (she/they) @nicolanese.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
Shout-out to @sipappas.bsky.social for jumping on this story for @livescience.com 🧪💊💉📰 www.livescience.com/health/medic...
livescience.com
Hims & Hers Super Bowl controversy: What the ad left out about its 'alternative' weight-loss drugs
The telehealth company Hims & Hers put out a Super Bowl ad that skimped on clarifying that its compounded semaglutide medications aren't FDA-approved.
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Amanda Heidt @scattercushion.bsky.social · 10/02/2025
🧪Surprise, I'm back with another #breakingnews request. If you work in biomedical research (infectious disease, chronic disease, food safety, drug safety, vaccines, etc.), I'd love to hear (very soon) about how you think your field will fare under RFK's leadership of HHS. Please share widely!
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Nicoletta Lanese (she/they) @nicolanese.bsky.social · 18/01/2025
A shred of good news today (Although this NY Mag article gives Paul *way* too much leniency — a very both-sides take on her objectively atrocious columns.)
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Nicoletta Lanese (she/they) @nicolanese.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
The FDA proposes lowering nicotine in cigarettes to curb addiction and save lives: 🦗🦗🦗🦗🦗 The FDA bans Red No. 3 on a legal technicality likely irrelevant to human health: 💥🚨🎇📣‼️
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Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 10/01/2025
Happening now, the first anti-trans hearing of 2025 in the United States. HB121 in Montana is a full adult bathroom ban in publicly owned buildings. It targets all trans adults and the trans reps Zooey Zephyr/SJ Howell. I am covering it live. Watch with me: sg001-harmony.sliq.net/00309/Harmon...
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Nicoletta Lanese (she/they) @nicolanese.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
As @laminda.bsky.social can probably attest, it was tempting to slip a pun into this one 😅 As I was editing it, I just figured Reddit users would fill in the puns for us once it published. 🧪
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Nicoletta Lanese (she/they) @nicolanese.bsky.social · 07/01/2025
The debate around fluoride and IQ continues, with one side saying: "Hey, these studies are very flawed." And the other saying: "But what if we acted like they were good...?" 🤔☝️ From @bethmariem.bsky.social 🦠🦷🧪 arstechnica.com/health/2025/...
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Mindy Weisberger @laminda.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
When a surgeon nicked his palm while operating on a cancerous tumor, he inadvertently transplanted the tumor into his own hand—DNA tests showed that the growths were genetically identical. My latest in the Diagnostic Dilemmas series for @livescience.com, highlighting unusual medical case reports 🧪
livescience.com
Diagnostic dilemma: A surgeon accidentally transplanted a tumor into his own hand
In an unusual case, a surgeon developed a cancerous lump on his hand that stemmed from an injury he sustained while performing surgery.
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Nicoletta Lanese (she/they) @nicolanese.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
An excellent long-read about the current (and awful) state of things, by @amymaxmen.bsky.social at @kffhealthnews.bsky.social kffhealthnews.org/news/article... 🧪🦠💉
kffhealthnews.org
How America Lost Control of the Bird Flu, Setting the Stage for Another Pandemic - KFF Health News
Exclusive reporting reveals how the United States lost track of a virus that could cause the next pandemic. Problems like the sluggish pace of federal action, a deference to industry, and neglect for ...
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