Time for Mamdani and Obama to go to a baseball game with the Pope. Let’s just blow this whole thing wide open.

The air is full of DNA — here’s what scientists are using it for Airborne genetic material can be used to paint a picture of ecosystem health, watch for invasive species and even identify humans.

A new @nature.com feature by Aisling Irwin explores how airborne environmental DNA is becoming a powerful tool for tracking biodiversity.
A fascinating look at how much information is floating around us every day.
Credit: Aisling Irwin / Nature (2026)
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Key protein may explain why triple-negative breast cancer spreads so fast Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have identified a protein that plays a central role in enabling aggressive breast cancer cells to spread to other parts of the body.

A key protein, PKC-eta, has been identified as a driver of metastasis in triple-negative breast cancer, highlighting a potential target for future therapies to limit cancer spread. doi.org/hbxfrq

A rendered image of a tuberculosis colony.

An ultrasensitive test detects tuberculosis DNA in an unexpected number of US patients. 🧬

Up to 16% of respiratory samples collected at 2 Boston hospitals tested positive for tuberculosis DNA.

Read more: ow.ly/SRU050YJZ6l

A scientist drills a skull in search of ancient human DNA

Until now, scientists have identified only a few dozen variants that went through natural selection in humans in the past 10,000 years. A new study claims to find hundreds--maybe thousands. Here's my story on the provocative research, and the mixed reception it's getting. Gift link: nyti.ms/4tSJH9G

Oh hey there

SCREAMING

ME: I need to insert a footnote
MICROSOFT WORD: *spitting blood* fuck you, fuck your mother and fuck your footnote

Passport to Pimlico precedent dictates that you would have to be a Duke of Burgundy. Or something

Is hib a useful vaccine to get for a 65 year old that was never vaccinated?

Imagine trusting science to bring astronauts to the moon and back but not trusting science to develop safe vaccines.

A long look at a QUICK STRIKE The grim realities of a faux nuclear war plan from 1958

For DOOMSDAY MACHINES this week, a post that has in some sense been in the making for something like a decade. It is a very close look at the "war plan," QUICK STRIKE, featured in the formerly classified 1958 film "The Power of Decision," produced for the USAF. doomsdaymachines.net/p/a-long-loo...

What’s perhaps most incredible about Nay Bhattacharya doing a government censorship is that he has whined about being “censored” for SIX DAMN YEARS, yet he was NEVER censored by the government himself.

Now he’s actually done it. He’s used his governmental power to censor a scientific study.

Between the Impossible and the Inevitable: The Case for Defiance (aka Never F**king Surrender) I have been hesitating to hit send on this one, because across the world we are all under the shadow of Trump's threat to commit war crimes that will "eradicate a whole civilization" in Iran while Ira...

Claims we have no power to impact what happens are nevertheless an intervention in what will happen, by discouraging participation, by encouraging passivity, surrender, acquiescence. If you insist that a given outcome is inevitable, you are lobbying against resistance.

Meningitis Deaths Top 250,000 a Year, Despite Global Decline Meningitis incidence and mortality rates have declined globally since 1990, but progress toward meeting the 2030 WHO reduction targets is lagging, new research shows.

"Meningitis was responsible for 259,000 deaths globally in 2023, with children younger than 5 years accounting for [over a 1/3]. ...substantial declines since 1990, progress is insufficient toward meeting the ... (WHO)’s reduction targets ..."
www.medscape.com/viewarticle/... via @medscape.com

Wastewater Surveillance Works: A new Pandemic Center report illustrates the uses, methods, and challenges

From poliovirus to measles, wastewater is our best early-warning system for disease. 🧪

Our new report, Wastewater Surveillance for Infectious Diseases, explores how to scale this critical tool globally.

i think i have it from previous correspondence, Bluesky has frozen me out of DMs

Amazon at risk from mineral extraction for clean energy The global energy transition is putting increasing pressure on Amazon territories, rich in critical minerals.

Demand for minerals used in clean technologies could double by 2030 or quadruple by 2040.

In the Amazon, that demand is already translating into growing mining pressure across conservation areas.
#SciComm #CleanEnergy

@dankaszeta.bsky.social hi Dan, I have recently met a young graduate in nuclear physics, can I send you his cv on email? you may have some ideas for employment to suggest to him. thanks David

The thing is, in any other context, a reprieve from nuclear war or whatever would have been greeted with celebrations and joy all round.

Now we just get to look forward to whatever crisis will be in two weeks time.

Manufactured omnicrisis is really tricky.

BREAKING: New York Times is reporting that experts are dubious about the legitimacy of the FIFA peace prize.

COVID-19 and Solid Organ Transplantation: What We Learned and Where We are Going - Current Infectious Disease Reports Purpose of Review The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound global impact with extensive implications for solid organ transplantation. This review summarizes key lessons learned by the transplant community...

#ProTransplant
Doch #MaskeAuf im Krankenhaus?
"Transplant recipients experienced higher rates of hospitalization, mortality, & ICU admissions, with only modest benefit from antivirals. Reduced vaccine efficacy underscored the need for improved preventive strategies"
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Who got the meat? What 10,000 years of European bones suggest about diet inequality Access to nutritious food is a fundamental pillar of human success, but such access has been unequal throughout history.

Analysis of 10,000 years of European bone isotopes indicates persistent gender-based inequality in access to animal protein, with men consistently consuming more meat than women.

Graph of receptor binding curves showing an ancestral and recent H5N1. The ancestral virus does not bind NeuGc receptor well, whereas the recent virus birds NeuGc and NeuAc containing receptors equally.

Really excited to be able to share our latest preprint, describing how during its evolution in cattle, H5N1 has got better at using a type of alternative receptor that's abundant in cows, but not found in humans and birds.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Infographic on a light cyan background titled "The 6 Rules of Good Dataviz" in bold teal text, with subtitle "Day 2 · Pictogram | Each rule illustrated as a self-referential mini chart." Below are six mini charts arranged in two rows demonstrating each rule. Top row, left to right: First panel (pink background) shows two bar charts side by side — a muted blue-purple bar labeled "mean bars only ✗" and a taller green bar, illustrating a don't. Second panel shows a scatter plot of blue and green dots labeled "show distribution ✓," demonstrating data spread. Third panel shows a vertical bar chart with diagonal rotated labels ("Another Cat," "Last One," "Third Grp," "Very Long Label") marked "rotated labels ✗." Fourth panel shows a horizontal bar chart with the same labels on the left, marked "flipped horizontal ✓," with green bars. Fifth panel (yellow border, cream background) is highlighted as Rule 2: "Readable base size · ≥ 14 for charts · ≥ 16 for social," showing three text examples: "8 pt — too small ✗" in pink, "14 pt — minimum ✓" in gray, and "16 pt — social ✓✓" in larger gray text. Bottom row: Rule 3 panel (lavender background) titled "Colorblind-safe palettes · viridis default · no rainbow / red-green," showing a viridis color swatch (dark purple to yellow) labeled "colorblind-safe ✓" and a rainbow swatch labeled "inaccessible ✗." Rule 4 panel (pink border) titled "Gray out · saturate focal · ggforce callouts · color title words not legends," showing a scatter plot with gray dots and a dashed teal ellipse highlighting green focal points. Final panel shows a bar chart and a dot plot side by side, both using teal tones, with categories Delta, Beta, Epsilon, Alpha, and Gamma. Footer reads "#30DayChartChallenge 2026 · Ilya Kashnitsky @ikashnitsky.phd · Data: Author's personal dataviz principles."

Infographic poster titled **"efficient dataviz principles"** in large bold black text, subtitle: **"my core (non-negotiable) rules"**. Faint chart graphics appear in the background. Six labeled sections on a light blue and white background. **Rule 0: Visualize the data.** Five chart thumbnails progress from a mean-line bar chart (NO) and scatter plot (NO) to a bell curve, small-multiples grid, and layered chart (all checkmarks). Gold banner: "Never collapse a dataset to summary statistics without showing the underlying distribution or variation. Use small-multiples, faceting, or layering." **Rule 1: Text horizontal.** Angled axis labels on a bar chart marked with a red X; horizontal bar chart with readable labels marked with a checkmark. Text: "All axis labels, annotations, and legends must be horizontally readable. Never use rotated, angled, or vertical text." **Rule 2: Maximize font size on slides.** Tiny-text slide (NO) versus large-text slide (checkmark). Code shown: `theme(text = element_text(size = 14))`. Three illustrated figures clap. Caption: "Prioritize legibility." **Rule 3: Colorblind-friendly palettes.** Rainbow color wheel marked NO; viridis swatches for categorical and continuous data marked as correct. Functions cited: `scale_color_viridis_d()`, `scale_fill_viridis_d()`, `scale_color_viridis_c()`. **Rule 4: Highlight the story.** Scatter plot with a bold red arrow among gray dots (checkmark). Spotlight illustration labeled "narrative." Text: "Use color, size, or opacity to emphasize the key insight." **Rule 5: Simplicity over complexity.** Multi-category bar charts and stacked area charts marked NO; dotplot and simple line plot marked correct. Text: "One strong chart beats three weak ones. Remove decorative elements." Footer: #30DayChartChallenge 2026 · Ilya Kashnitsky · @ikashnitsky.phd.

DAY 2 -- pictogram #30DayChartChallenge
Drawing my dataviz "rules" (github.com/ikashnitsky/...). Two versions here: a poster coded in R (ugly) and one generated by nanobanana 🤩
🔗 #rstats code: github.com/ikashnitsky/...
🧙‍♂️ pplx: www.perplexity.ai/search/day-2...
💎 gemini: g.co/gemini/share...

happy birthday!

Disingenuous prick. He has embedded transphobia as policy. He has denied young trans people access to medication and support. His government has brought back a version of Section 28 against trans young people. He is actively denying trans and non-binary individuals safety and respect.

SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 are transmitted through the air between ferrets over more than one meter distance - Nature Communications Some epidemiological data suggests that SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted through the air over longer distances. Here, Kutter et al. show in the ferret model that SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV can be transmitte...

Never forget the ferret experiment. Showed that SARS-CoV-2 was airborne. Was dismissed by infectious disease doctors "animal data, doesn't count". Many humans died as a result.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

What Would We All Say If Iran Razed MIT Because of Military-Related Research? Israel and the U.S. are destroying universities in Iran that have ties to military research, but scores of U.S. and Israeli schools do it.

The destruction of parts of two universities in Iran fits with Israel’s M.O. of crippling countries’ ability to rebuild.

To really illustrate how profoundly stupid, self-absorbed, & unthinking antivaxxers are just consider the very-easily-predictable results of what would happen if they got their way & stopped other people from vaccinating. They’d suffer and die, too. Cause vaccination isn’t just an individual choice.