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Zahra Fakhraai

@zahrafakhraai.bsky.social
1K followers 699 following 846 posts

Ran away from the other place to increase entropy. 🇨🇦🇮🇷 🇺🇸👩🏼‍🔬🥁🍁🖖🏼

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Reposted by Zahra Fakhraai
ProPublica @propublica.org · 12/10/2026
ProPublica designed a reporting experiment to demonstrate how easy it can be to open private schools that might then access public money. We succeeded in opening two schools. No credentials or background checks required.
propublica.org
How ProPublica Reporters Became Private School Owners in 24 Hours
The reporting experiment demonstrates how easy it can be to open private schools that might then access public money. No credentials or background checks required.
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Will Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social · 19h
My probe into how local cops in Pa.'s York County teamed with ICE to bust 500-plus immigrants on busy highways, terrifying the Haitian community and shattering families over a busted headlight 287(g) has made York the worst place for immigrants in the eastern U.S. www.inquirer.com/opinion/york...
inquirer.com
How York County became the most dangerous place for immigrants in the eastern U.S. | Will Bunch
Local cops working with ICE in York County, Pa. have made hundreds of arrests, with many more afraid to leave home.
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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
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Princess Vimentin PhD | Cancer Biologist @princess-vimentin.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
I have some very intelligent Indian friends who are in OPT. Some 420,000, or roughly one-third, of international students participated in OPT in 2025–26, making it the largest pipeline of global talent into the US workforce. This will hamper academic research. 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
US proposes $100,000 charge for international students to do post-graduate work
Proposed rule would choke off a crucial STEM talent pipeline, policy specialists say
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Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
🧪⚛️ A summary of science policy/funding news, much from the last couple of weeks. Pretty intense period. nanoscale.blogspot.com/2026/10/scie...
nanoscale.blogspot.com
Science policy/funding updates, early October edition
This post is a bit later than I'd wanted, due to a combination of work and wanting to be in the right frame of mind to write about what's ne...
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KittyKatGirl😻🙏💞🐞 @mary1kathy.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Her career has spanned from defending the rights of an imprisoned Nelson Mandela to leading a panel that found that Israel committed genocide in Gaza. Congratulations, excellent choice! apnews.com/article/nobe...
apnews.com
South African-born jurist Navi Pillay wins Nobel Peace Prize for her work in international justice
Navi Pillay, a former U.N. human rights chief, has won the Nobel Peace Prize. The South Africa-born Pillay was honored for her efforts to promote peace and international law.
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Zahra Fakhraai @zahrafakhraai.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
I can't get over the love streaming thing. Like sure you may be able to avoid seeing it or protect your kids, but all the memes and AI versions will make it to the public domain. Can't fathom the level of harm and trauma the kids will face and its downstream effect.
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Ars Technica @arstechnica.com · 08/10/2026
arstechnica.com
R.I.P. Margaret Hamilton, whose code saved the Apollo 11 Moon landing
Hamilton also coined the term "software engineering" and founded two successful software companies.
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Peter Sagal @petersagal.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
One of the first things Fidel Castro did upon taking power was televising live executions by firing squad.
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Carolyn Bertozzi @carolynbertozzi.bskyverified.social · 09/10/2026
Unclear? Coming out to family and friends at that age can be life threatening, more-so now than a few years ago esp in geographies where parents are emboldened to abuse their queer kids. youtu.be/MvzPPOhod4s?...
youtu.be
Why Can't We End Homelessness? | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)
YouTube video by Real Time with Bill Maher
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Zahra Fakhraai @zahrafakhraai.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Meanwhile we don't even have that much to pay their salaries thanks to NSF withholding the money Congress allocated. Whose gonna pay this even? Up next, $100k for F1 visa. 🤡
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cara giaimo @cjgiaimo.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
i was fortunate enough to profile Margaret Hamilton in 2019. A really kind and curious person. This was my favorite story she told me:
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Zahra Fakhraai @zahrafakhraai.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
How much is EM paying to destroy Microsoft as a rival? Or is it Google who is paying for it?
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Zahra Fakhraai @zahrafakhraai.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
This is so wrong on so many levels that I can't even start. For one thing unions! (Which you didn't support ) Prevent this. Meanwhile we have student, postdoc, and faculty in visa limbo, unable to do their job, or see their loved ones, including some from India where his in-laws are from.
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Morgan Fischer @morgfisch.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Democrat congressional candidate Bernadette Greene-Placentia was hit over the head and raped in Maricopa County while repairing a damaged campaign sign in August. "I need to let women know that it's okay to talk about it," she told me. Full story: www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/congres...
phoenixnewtimes.com
Congressional candidate is raped while repairing her campaign signs
Embarrassed, she initially didn’t want to report attack. Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office's investigation is ongoing.
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Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
🧪⚛️ This is an important point that may well get lost on the public. Having AI crank out unreviewed, unvalidated preprints by the hundreds does *not* mean that we can decide that physics and math are now solved and thus need to support.
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Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 07/10/2026
ICE has ordered 6,650 pairs—and says it'll ignore any bans.
motherjones.com
Study: Shock gloves traumatized Army volunteers
After tests, military personnel said "just seeing the glove" that ICE plans to adopt scared them into obedience.
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 07/10/2026
For over a decade, the National Science Foundation’s SBE has funded my work, leading to discoveries that have improved how we do science, including mechanisms for efficient grant proposal contests that are now used worldwide.
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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 05/10/2026
Literally everything I've written for public consumption is in the training data, often in more than one language. Via the Anthropic settlement I'm getting (not nearly enough) compensation for about 20 of them, but it's doubtful I'll ever get compensation for 28 years of writing on my blog, etc.
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Andrew Deck @andrewdeck.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
ChatGPT is adding the signatures of real New Yorker cartoonists to its AI-generated images. So far, I've found the signatures of more than 15 contributors. "It’s slop, and unlike the other slop that I’ve encountered, this is slop that’s pretending to be me." www.niemanlab.org/2026/10/chat...
Left: A cartoon generated by ChatGPT and signed with Emily Flake’s signature that was posted to a Reddit forum in June. Right: A real Emily Flake cartoon published in The New Yorker on August 20, 2026 and licensed via The Cartoon Bank.
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Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 05/10/2026
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has declared a statewide disaster emergency due to the measles outbreak. This was avoidable.
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Barred and Boujee aka Madiba Dennie @audrelawdamercy.blacksky.app · 05/10/2026
for reference, in the Dobbs opinion, Alito was like, women generally don't _plan_ to get an abortion, so how could they have a reliance interest in abortion? which is kind of an extension of 'you want health insurance? what, you plan on being sick?'
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Small victory
nytimes.com
After Outcry, Monitors the Trump Administration Tried to Scrap Return to Sea (Gift Article)
Under pressure from Congress, a network of ocean monitors that provides vital data to meteorologists, climate scientists, oceanographers and the fishing industry is being restored.
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Andre the Chemist @andrechemist.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I just don't see the endgame here (or I do but just hate it) A.I. uses online data to make it unnecessary to go to websites... but 5, 10, etc years down the road, those websites won't exist to feed those A.I. systems
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Sameer Kankali Ⓥ☮✌🏼🌱💚🍉🐸🐮🐷📚📖♟️✊🏼 @sameerkankali.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
fightbacknews.org/articles/gia...
fightbacknews.org
Giant community-made “MN Stolen Neighbors” quilt unveiled at the state capitol
By Alvin Sheng and Owen Lubozynski Saint Paul, MN – Dozens gathered at the Minnesota State Capitol on Tuesday, September 22 to unveil th...
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
No one can fill this void left by the theft of basic research funding.
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Bethany Brookshire @beebrookshire.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Yes. I did indeed wear a fart sensor for science. The hardest part was honestly not telling everyone I encountered that I was wearing it. Anyway if you want to know how much I fart, here you go: www.snexplores.org/article/burp...
snexplores.org
Burps and farts: Why the body is such a gas
People make a lot of gas, and it’s got to come out one end or the other. Understanding those farts and burps could tell us a lot about our health.
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Mark Peifer (He, him) @peiferlabunc.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
In case you still think MDPI journals are a solid place to publish. this gem was "published in August 2023 in the MDPI journal Atmosphere".
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Zahra Fakhraai @zahrafakhraai.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
🧵
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worm @rfksbrainworm.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
If you ever wondered why visible light is those particular wavelengths, it's because life evolved to see in the narrow range where water is transparent
Diagram of absorption of emf by water. There's a gap right that dips in the 500 nm range
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Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
🧪. It is unconscionable that OMB and agency acting leadership are just ignoring congressional appropriations. There is no benign reason for telling an agency to underspend its budget by 19% !!
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Zahra Fakhraai @zahrafakhraai.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Can't get more heartbreaking. She had cancer. She could've been protected if others were vaccinated. Vaccines are community care and we're falling the most vulnerable members of our society 😔
inquirer.com
A 20-year-old Amish woman with leukemia got measles and died in Pa.’s largest outbreak in three decades
After measles swept through her household, the young woman wanted to get vaccinated. Her doctor said she couldn't because she had leukemia and the treatments had weakened her immune system.
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Princess Vimentin PhD | Cancer Biologist @princess-vimentin.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
This is huge! Another cancer responds well to immunotherapy. A child had metastatic liver cancer. The patient had chemotherapy & a liver resection. No avail. Then: Two infusions, eight weeks apart. Doctors saw complete regression. No systemic toxicity. 🧪 www.bcm.edu/news/care-st...
bcm.edu
CARE study reports complete regression of liver cancer in a child treated with novel immunotherapy
A new report in the New England Journal of Medicine by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children’s Hospital and Seattle Children’s...
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Karen Attiah @karenattiah.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
You can read Jamal’s work here. It was the honor of my life to have been his editor at the Washington Post. Rest in peace, Jamal. And I’m sorry the Washington Post opinions page ended up betraying what we both stood for. www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-...
washingtonpost.com
Opinion | Read Jamal Khashoggi’s columns for The Washington Post
Jamal Khashoggi, a veteran Saudi journalist who Turkish officials say was killed in Istanbul after walking into the consulate of Saudi Arabia, had been writing a column for The Post since last year.
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Karen Attiah @karenattiah.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Today, 8 years ago, my friend, Saudi Journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered.
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Karen Attiah @karenattiah.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Mike Pompeo has been rewarded with a teaching fellowship at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. The same school that canceled my class on media, race and international affairs. @columbiasipa.bsky.social share.google/KEvTy5yER71U...
share.google
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to join SIPA faculty
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will join the School of International and Public Affairs as a fellow at SIPA’s Institute of Global Politics in March, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
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Mike Boylan-Kolchin @mbkplus.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Not the worst outrage of this admin, not by a long shot, but diverting 1/5th of the NSF's research budget is awful
nytimes.com
National Science Foundation Diverted $1.4 Billion in Science Funds Mandated by Congress
The move, affecting about one-fifth of the National Science Foundation’s primary research budget, is the latest sign of how the White House is asserting more control over grants.
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Amy Maxmen, PhD @amymaxmen.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Absolutely stunning/horrifying to see a 5th measles death in PA. This means the outbreak is probably far higher than numbers count, seeing as roughly 1-3 people die per 1,000. Many people aren't being tested. Also: I'm going to states now for info, not the CDC* app.powerbigov.us/view?r=eyJrI...
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Matthew Cortland (they) @matthewcort.land · 02/10/2026
States do not have the money to backfill Medicaid.
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Pat G🇨🇦 🍁🏳️‍🌈🍉 @pguist.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
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Immigrant Boo👻 @porcupunk.eurosky.social · 01/10/2026
This is a policy choice.
whyy.org
Philly could lose nearly 8,000 affordable rentals over the next decade. Here's why
Amid a housing shortage, researchers say it’s unclear how many of these units will be preserved as affordable rentals. About 43,000 could vanish statewide.
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Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
As @colesci.bsky.social says, there are sincere, serious people in meta science, but I worry that there is an undercurrent akin to “don’t trust anything, do your own research” lurking there. Real metascience about funding methods is very hard and not just “try something different right now !!”
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Zahra Fakhraai @zahrafakhraai.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
It is called HF and many chemists use it daily. It's used in industry too. And Philly once dodged a full blown disaster of it, thanks to an engineer. The difference between HF and AI? HF is very highly regulated, and the near disaster in Philly was actually a direct result of deregulation.
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Zahra Fakhraai @zahrafakhraai.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
You mean idea guy like Goebbels was in 1940? What is this article even? I don't dare to click, but seriously, wtaf media?
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Denis - The COVID Info Guy @thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
"COVID fatigue linked to reduced brain blood flow" Brain scans found lower overall cerebral blood flow in people with Long COVID, especially in regions involved in attention, sensory processing and cognitive control. Lower blood flow was also linked to slower reaction times and concentration.
medicalxpress.com
COVID fatigue linked to reduced brain blood flow
Playing with your children or meeting a friend for coffee are everyday activities that many people move between without giving much thought to how much mental or physical energy they take.
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NY Times Pitchbot @nytpitchbot.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Shoot this into my veins.
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The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 01/10/2026
Pennsylvania reported Wednesday that a fifth person who had measles has died as rising infections in the state continue to push up the country’s record-breaking count of cases.
washingtonpost.com
Pennsylvania reports 5th measles-associated death as outbreak continues
Cases in the state, home to the country’s largest ongoing measles outbreak, have climbed to 943 across 39 counties.
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Zahra Fakhraai @zahrafakhraai.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Millions of Iranians were holding their breaths. If that plane crashed, there would be no telling how badly they'd be collectively punished for a crash in the wrong part of the world. I am extra grateful for the heroes who saved not just their lives, but those of people caught in reckless violence.
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Walker Bragman @walkerbragman.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The bullying and harassment that this will enable is the point. This administration wants to make life unbearable for “undesirable” populations. It’s fascist scapegoating 101. thehill.com/homenews/edu...
thehill.com
Education Department formally rescinds Title IX protections for LGBTQ students
The Education Department announced Monday it has formally rescinded the Biden-era Title IX interpretation that gave sex-based discrimination protections to students on the basis of sexual orientati…
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The Onion @theonion.com · 01/10/2026
“You would just never imagine that bright young students—at an Ivy League institution, of all places—could be capable of such grotesque behavior.” — Kara Lanchester, Missouri resident
theonion.com
Nation Horrified To Think Sexual Assault Could Happen On College Campus
WASHINGTON—Expressing shock and disgust that an unspeakable crime could occur at a place of higher learning, the U.S. populace was reportedly horrified this week to think that sexual assault could hap...
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