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Zoya Teirstein

@zteirstein.bsky.social
3K followers 424 following 53 posts

Climate change + human health reporter @Grist. Opinions expressed here belong to my mom. Signal: zoyateirstein.58

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Reposted by Zoya Teirstein
Zeke Hausfather @zekehausfather.com · 13/07/2026
With all the July model runs now in, it is very likely that 2026 will see the largest El Niño event since records began in the late 1800s – and potentially by a truly mind-blowing margin. The median estimate is now 3.6C, roughly 0.8C hotter than the prior record (2.75C). www.theclimatebrink....
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Clayton Page Aldern @compatibilism.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Late to the publication of this piece because I'm out on sabbatical, so in case you ALSO missed @zteirstein.bsky.social's masterful overview of the climate × health intersection for @grist.org, it is here: grist.org/article/how-... Watch this space! Rumor has it Zoya has a book brewing...
grist.org
How climate change gets under the skin
What we know, so far, about the lasting effects of climate change on your health and the body’s vital systems.
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Zoya Teirstein @zteirstein.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
Gun 🤝 foot
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Reposted by Zoya Teirstein
John R. Platt @johnrplatt.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
Climate vs. Teeth. @earthislandjournal.bsky.social www.earthisland.org/journal/inde...
earthisland.org
When the Heat Steals Your Smile
A dentist documents how extreme heat is turning Pakistani farmworkers’ mouths into hostile environments for their own teeth.
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Reposted by Zoya Teirstein
Kylie Mohr @thatsmohrlikeit.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
"Not preparing for wildfire smoke is a policy choice." Tremendous reporting by @zteirstein.bsky.social grist.org/health/wildf...
grist.org
Wildfire smoke engulfed their cities. Did it make their babies sick?
Years wildfire scares, parents are left wondering if their children's chronic illnesses began with what was in the air before they were born.
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Reposted by Zoya Teirstein
Akshat Rathi @akshatrathi.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
There was some concern that export figures in March 2026 may have been higher because of expiring tax rebates. But April figures out now and the world continues to want Chinese solar panels, batteries, and electric cars in record amounts. www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202... 🎁🔗
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Antonia Juhasz @antoniajuhasz.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
MAHA? NAH Trump’s EPA Vows to Fight ‘Forever Chemicals’ by … Loosening Regulations. “It seems like they have largely adopted the positions of the chemical industry.” by @zteirstein.bsky.social www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
rollingstone.com
Trump's EPA Vows to Fight 'Forever Chemicals' by … Loosening Regulations
Donald Trump and his administration say they're “completely committed” to removing forever chemicals, but they're loosening restrictions on them.
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Reposted by Zoya Teirstein
Press at Moms Clean Air Force @moms-press.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Wildfire smoke engulfed their cities. Did it make their babies sick? Reporting by @zteirstein.bsky.social & Jess Davis. grist.org/health/wildf...
grist.org
Wildfire smoke engulfed their cities. Did it make their babies sick?
Years wildfire scares, parents are left wondering if their children's chronic illnesses began with what was in the air before they were born.
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Reposted by Zoya Teirstein
PM2.5 Kills ~9 Million People Each Year Worldwide @tkovach.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
"Parents are left wondering whether asthma, developmental delays, and other health problems suffered by their children began with what was in the air before they were born — and whether it’s safe to raise a family in a place where every summer brings the same threat back to their doorsteps."
grist.org
Wildfire smoke engulfed their cities. Did it make their babies sick?
Years wildfire scares, parents are left wondering if their children's chronic illnesses began with what was in the air before they were born.
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Reposted by Zoya Teirstein
Jeff Goodell @jeffgoodell.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
A/C can be a life-saver, but it's also a technology of forgetting. Forgetting how we built cool buildings in hot places for thousands of years. Wind towers, dog trot homes, even just transoms above doors to let heat escape rooms. (lots more in ch. 11, The Heat Will Kill You First)
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Craig Spencer MD MPH @craigspencer.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
A year ago I warned what would happen if the US tore down our disease detection system around the world With Hantavirus & Ebola we are seeing VERY clearly what we’ve lost And why it matters Read my @theatlantic.com piece from last year outlining what happened www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
theatlantic.com
The Diseases Are Coming
Elon Musk’s slash-and-burn government tear will have lasting effects on global health.
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Reposted by Zoya Teirstein
I Scare You Like Sound Dog @chadstanton.blacksky.app · 10/05/2026
“After Britain abolished slavery on 1 August 1834, £20m was paid in compensation to enslavers for loss of their “property”. The enslaved people themselves received nothing.”
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Zoya Teirstein @zteirstein.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
I went to a small fishing town in west Florida to talk to shellfish growers about vibrio vulnificus, more commonly known as “flesh-eating bacteria.” As conditions for outbreaks ripen, shellfishers and scientists have vastly different views on how to protect the public. grist.org/health/vibri...
grist.org
A deadly bacteria is creeping up the Atlantic Coast. How worried should you be?
Warming ocean waters are priming beaches and raw shellfish for Vibrio. Scientists are trying to stay one step ahead.
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Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
This was a tough one to write, and I took a bit of a personal risk sharing my own career-long process of discovery from tentatively swayed by the potential for deep-sea mining to convinced that we are simply not ready.
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Rocky Kistner @therockyfiles.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
Sounds of silence: study finds declining bird populations in North America. "...it’s even worse when that loss is stronger with each year, because eventually you will get to the point of no population left.” @sarahkaplan48 @washingtonpost wapo.st/4cRKORA
wapo.st
North American birds are dying off faster. It signals a human crisis, too.
The accelerating decline of birds is a bellwether of far deeper biodiversity crisis — one that threatens not only beloved species but the humans who live alongside them.
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Sky Marchini @sky.skymarchini.net · 12/02/2026
the US coal mining industry employees ~50k people. For some perspective, The Gap has about 82,000 employees
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Zoya Teirstein @zteirstein.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
There is no evidence that vaccines cause autism, but there is growing research that shows a link between wildfire smoke exposure in pregnant mothers and autism diagnoses. Two studies published in the last month indicate wildfire smoke has profound neurological impacts: grist.org/health/growi...
grist.org
Growing evidence points to link between autism and wildfire smoke
Two new studies have identified an alarming connection between exposure to wildfire smoke during pregnancy and autism in young children.
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Reposted by Zoya Teirstein
Rhett Ayers Butler @rhettayersbutler.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
The Washington Post’s decision to cut a large share of its climate and environmental reporters is not just a newsroom story; it reflects a broader weakening of the institutions that sustain a shared, reliable public record on complex and contested issues. news.mongabay.com/2026/02/what...
news.mongabay.com
What is lost when environmental coverage is cut
Word that the Washington Post would be cutting roughly one-third of its staff spread quickly this week. Among those affected were at least a dozen reporters, editors, and visual journalists covering c...
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Whitney Bauck @whitneybauck.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
"The relative fragility of Trump’s assault on bedrock environmental and climate laws could be a product of the president’s prioritization of political dominance over lasting change." Great and surprisingly encouraging piece by @zteirstein.bsky.social for @grist.org grist.org/politics/how...
grist.org
How permanent is Trump's assault on climate action?
Trump’s attacks on bedrock environmental and climate laws are inherently fragile — and could reflect the president’s preference for political dominance over lasting change.
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Leo Hickman @leohickman.carbonbrief.org · 23/01/2026
I've attended many climate COPs over the years and it seems some nations... *cough* ...are very well versed indeed in this now-declassified "Simple Sabotage Field Manual" first issued by the CIA in 1944
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Shannon Osaka @shannonosaka.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
Scientists were frustrated by a piece in the Guardian earlier this week that seemed to call into question the science on microplastics in the body. I wrote about why researchers are certain microplastics are in the human body -- and what we still don't know: www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
washingtonpost.com
A scientist questioned new microplastics findings. Then other researchers fired back.
A prominent scientist criticized microplastics research methods. Others are defending the work.
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Nathan Grubaugh @nathangrubaugh.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
Variations in annual dengue intensities are explained by temperature anomalies Our new work led by Abbey Porzucek, @rafalpx.bsky.social, @colincarlson.bsky.social, Dan Weinberger to develop a method to compare relative dengue intensity between years and countries. www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6...
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Zoya Teirstein @zteirstein.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Good story on what happened in Tehran and why the politically difficult thing to do is almost always the way out.
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Reposted by Zoya Teirstein
Damian Carrington @dpcarrington.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
Global temperature projected to hit 1.7C in 2027, according to @drjamesehansen.bsky.social et al, boosted by a return of El Niño #climatecrisis (PDF) www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailin...
columbia.edu
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Zoya Teirstein @zteirstein.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
On the 10th Anniversary of the Paris climate agreement, a chilling paragraph from the negotiated final outcome of the 30th Conference of the Parties in Brazil last month: a request for nations to start counting their dead.
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Zoya Teirstein @zteirstein.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
Propublica doing what the government won’t: disease surveillance.
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Zoya Teirstein @zteirstein.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
The final plenary here in Belém just fell apart after Colombia registered an objection over lack of fossil fuel phaseout language in the final text. “This is not a point of order. It’s an objection.” Do Lago has paused the gaveling to confer with objectors. Stay tuned!
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Zoya Teirstein @zteirstein.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
A fire broke out in the pavilion section of #COP30 in Belém this afternoon, forcing an evacuation of the entire conference and the cancellation of meetings today. Source of fire unclear and future of the conference, in its second to last day, also unclear.
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Zoya Teirstein @zteirstein.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
So thrilled to share the launch of this new project, Vital Signs, with climate desk readers. @who.int says climate change threatens to erode 50 years of public health gains. What does that look like? We’ll be reporting from five continents. First story in the series: grist.org/health/valle...
grist.org
In Arizona, a fight against a deadly fungus is under threat from Trump’s health policies
What one Arizona doctor’s quest to stop valley fever says about America’s preparedness for climate-driven disease.
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Reposted by Zoya Teirstein
Jeff Goodell @jeffgoodell.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
“How do you do that to people?” one homeowner asked. “How do you insure people in the South, take all of these premiums, and then just belly-up?” Great reporting on insurance industry woes and trickery from @zteirstein.bsky.social | grist.org/economics/in...
grist.org
They survived the hurricane. Their insurance company didn't.
Hurricane Ida revealed a fragile insurance industry ill-prepared for the consequences of climate change. More than four years later, what's changed?
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Emily Pontecorvo @emilypont.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
Catching up on this vital series from @grist.org on the "Disaster Economy" - such good reporting here from @zteirstein.bsky.social on insurance bankruptcies leading to mergers and payouts for execs while families are left high and dry. grist.org/economics/in...
grist.org
They survived the hurricane. Their insurance company didn't.
Hurricane Ida revealed a fragile insurance industry ill-prepared for the consequences of climate change. More than four years later, what's changed?
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Clare Fieseler, PhD @fieseler.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
SCOOP from me: I uncovered that the Interior Department just quietly defunded *two* multimillion dollar research programs studying how whales move and behave near U.S. wind farms actively being built. Trump blames wind turbines for whale deaths, then cuts vital research on the topic. 🧵
canarymedia.com
Trump claims ‘wind mills’ kill whales but quietly torpedoes the…
The Interior Department defunds two vital research programs that track North Atlantic right whales near active offshore wind construction sites.
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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
Supersoaker winters and parched summers in the American West fuel soil-borne fungus. This piece traces newly built testing protocols, real-time surveillance, and a near-ready dog vaccine that could pave the way for a human shot. By @zteirstein.bsky.social in @grist.org
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In Arizona, a fight against a deadly fungus is under threat from Trump’s health policies
What one Arizona doctor’s quest to stop valley fever says about America’s preparedness for climate-driven disease.
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Zoya Teirstein @zteirstein.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
Bodes well for multilateral climate negotiations next month
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Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists @thebulletin.org · 11/10/2025
"If you live in the United States, you could be forgiven for thinking that renewable energy is on the outs," writes @zteirstein.bsky.social. But the world is betting on solar and wind, despite Trump's championing of fossil fuels in the US.
thebulletin.org
Despite what’s happening in the USA, renewables are winning globally
Wind and solar power are meeting and even exceeding a global rise in energy demand.
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Zoya Teirstein @zteirstein.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
Big huge thanks to @seywarddarby.bsky.social for this thoughtful summary of my recent piece on valley fever for the @longreads.com newsletter. Full piece is here: grist.org/health/valle...
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Jessica Kutz @jkutzie.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
This is a great read by @zteirstein.bsky.social. Living in Arizona, Valley Fever is scary! This piece breaks down the threat perfectly, how climate is turbocharging it, and the challenges to protect the public under an administration attacking public health. grist.org/health/valle...
grist.org
In Arizona, a fight against a deadly fungus is under threat from Trump’s health policies
What one Arizona doctor’s quest to stop valley fever says about America’s preparedness for climate-driven disease.
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NBC News @nbcnews.com · 15/09/2025
SPECIAL REPORT: A large swath of the U.S. currently does not have the basic, ground-level immunity necessary to stop the spread of viruses that had once receded into the past, a six-month NBC News investigation in collaboration with scientists at Stanford University finds.
nbcnews.to
Data investigation: Childhood vaccination rates are backsliding across the U.S.
A monthslong NBC News data investigation finds that much of the U.S. doesn't have the protection needed to stop the spread of deadly diseases. St. Louis is a window into the problem communities face nationwide.
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Sharon Lerner @fastlerner.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
❤️ data (and amazing work by @zteirstein.bsky.social ‪ @compatibilism.bsky.social and Jesse Nichols) grist.org/business/a-l...
grist.org
A look at the growing ‘disaster economy’ turning crisis into cash
Disasters are big business. These charts show just how big.
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Paige Vega @paigeblank.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
This latest story builds on Expecting worse: Giving birth on a planet in crisis, a project by @vox.com, @grist.org and @19thnews.org that examines how climate change impacts reproductive health — from menstruation to conception to birth. Explore the full series here: www.vox.com/climate/3515...
vox.com
Expecting worse: Giving birth on a planet in crisis
How climate change transforms our reproductive lives, from menstruation to fertility to pregnancy.
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Paige Vega @paigeblank.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
Climate change reshapes reproductive health — from conception to birth. Now, in a new collab with our friends at @grist.org, new data show how heat, poor air and floods are rewriting the earliest stages of life. @zteirstein.bsky.social at @vox.com: www.vox.com/climate/4578...
vox.com
The health risks from climate change that almost no one talks about
Rising temperatures are rewriting the earliest stages of life.
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Clayton Page Aldern @compatibilism.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
With @zteirstein.bsky.social and Jesse Nichols for @grist.org, here’s a chart-heavy look at some of the dynamics underlying the business of disaster: grist.org/business/a-l...
grist.org
A look at the growing ‘disaster economy’ turning crisis into cash
Disasters are big business. These charts show just how big.
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Reposted by Zoya Teirstein
Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
U.S.-funded contraceptives worth nearly $10 million are being sent to France from Belgium to be incinerated, after Washington rejected offers from the U.N. and family planning organisations to buy or ship the supplies to poor nations, two sources told Reuters. www.reuters.com/legal/litiga...
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Tristan Ahtone @tahtone.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
In March, a jury ordered Greenpeace to pay $666 million to the companies behind the Dakota Access pipeline. But Indigenous leaders, water protectors, activists, and court records agree: Greenpeace played a bit part in the Standing Rock movement, at best. grist.org/project/indi...
grist.org
Standing Rock was an Indigenous-led movement. Why did Greenpeace take the fall?
The inside story of how Greenpeace stood with water protectors — and got hit with a $666 million court judgment.
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whet moser @whetmoser.com · 12/07/2025
the times is reporting that fema let call center operator contracts expire on july 5, the day after the texas flood, and calls answered went from 99.7% that day to 36% the next to 16% the next www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/c...
nytimes.com
FEMA Didn’t Answer Thousands of Calls From Flood Survivors, Documents Show
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Clara Jeffery @clarajeffery.bsky.social · 12/07/2025
A 15-yo is now caring for his little brothers bc ICE snatched their mom. And another family that the local Santa Barbara paper found, pretty much same thing. Think how many stories aren’t being told www.independent.com/2025/07/11/c...
independent.com
Children Left Alone After Mothers Arrested in Immigration Raids
"I just hope I get my mom back," says 15-year-old Juan Martinez, who is now caring for his brothers, ages 8 and 9.
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Capital & Main @capitalandmain.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
A community’s rapid response to a heavily militarized raid targeting undocumented immigrants in Los Angeles’ diverse MacArthur Park neighborhood helped stave off authorities. capitalandmain.com/when-ice-cam...
capitalandmain.com
When ICE Came Up Empty
A community’s rapid response to a heavily militarized raid targeting undocumented immigrants in Los Angeles’ diverse MacArthur Park neighborhood helped stave off authorities.
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Zoya Teirstein @zteirstein.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
The conversation around who should shoulder the blame for what in Texas overlooks the larger context: Trump has eliminated pretty much all disaster preparedness funding the federal government offers. Including the resilience program HE established. grist.org/extreme-weat...
grist.org
This Texas county asked for disaster resilience help. The flood came first.
The Trump administration is making it harder for places like Kerr County to get ready for disasters.
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Zoya Teirstein @zteirstein.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
Wind and solar projects that start construction before July 2026 or are placed in service by 2027 would be able to take advantage of existing tax credits. Under the IRA, those credits were set to continue in some form until the country achieved its climate goals. grist.org/politics/sen...
grist.org
Senate Republicans just voted to dismantle America's only climate plan
Critics are calling it "the most anti-environmental bill of all time."
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Jacob Bogage @jacobbogage.bsky.social · 21/06/2025
👀 Scoop: Trump and Republicans want USPS to sell off its brand new EVs and chargers. That would mean literally **ripping up post office parking lots** to auction off assets with no private-sector value. It’s buried in the Senate’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.” www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
The Senate’s version of Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill would see the General Services Administration take possession of the nearly 7,200 new postal EVs and associated infrastructure and put the assets up for auction. The proposal is unlikely to generate much revenue for the government; there is almost no private-sector interest in the mail trucks, and used EV charging equipment — built specifically for the Postal Service and already installed in postal facilities — generally cannot be resold.

“The funds realized by auctioning the vehicles and infrastructure would be negligible. Much of infrastructure is literally buried under parking lots, and there is no market for used charging equipment,” Peter Pastre, the Postal Service’s vice president for government relations and public policy, wrote to senators this month.
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