Josh Fischman
@jfischman.bsky.social
Senior medicine editor at Scientific American. Health podcast host. Assigning stories on health, biology, science & politics, cute animals
New research on postpartum depression shows it is not like other depressions biologically. It stems from dramatic changes in hormone levels that come with pregnancy and childbirth. A new drug, zuranolone, offsets that drop-off, and can do it within days. Read about how it works here:
Postpartum Depression Gets a New, Fast-Acting Fix in a Pill
Deep emotional distress after birth kills many mothers. A new kind of drug offers better, faster treatment
www.scientificamerican.com
November 18, 2025 at 9:26 PM
New research on postpartum depression shows it is not like other depressions biologically. It stems from dramatic changes in hormone levels that come with pregnancy and childbirth. A new drug, zuranolone, offsets that drop-off, and can do it within days. Read about how it works here:
Trump officials are making Obamacare more expensive and promoting other insurance plans so bad--they don't cover surgery and leave patients with $100,000s of bills-- that they've been banned or restricted in 14 states.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
The cheap health insurance promoted by Trump officials has this catch
As millions brace for higher insurance prices, plans touted by the Trump administration are attracting attention. They are cheaper, but coverage is often skimpy.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 16, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Trump officials are making Obamacare more expensive and promoting other insurance plans so bad--they don't cover surgery and leave patients with $100,000s of bills-- that they've been banned or restricted in 14 states.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
Reposted by Josh Fischman
So in addition to having to deal with the presence of these three men, all of whom were credibly accused with sexual misconduct against women that I knew, worked with, and/or was friends with, I actually had to deal with being professional while answering a question from one like it was normal
November 16, 2025 at 7:14 PM
So in addition to having to deal with the presence of these three men, all of whom were credibly accused with sexual misconduct against women that I knew, worked with, and/or was friends with, I actually had to deal with being professional while answering a question from one like it was normal
Reposted by Josh Fischman
The far right is obsessed with Lord of the Rings and Musk keeps posting about "hobbits" because modern scientific racism owes more to fantasy worlds and gaming systems than genetic science, and they see both as effective mediums for right-wing propaganda www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Why Elon Musk Needs Dungeons and Dragons to Be Racist
The fantastical roots of “scientific racism”
www.theatlantic.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:42 PM
The far right is obsessed with Lord of the Rings and Musk keeps posting about "hobbits" because modern scientific racism owes more to fantasy worlds and gaming systems than genetic science, and they see both as effective mediums for right-wing propaganda www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Trump still wants to deny food to 40 million Americans who will otherwise go hungry, at the same time he spends millions of $$$ redecorating a White House ballroom. Marie Antoinette echoes, right? www.nytimes.com/live/2025/11...
Trump Administration Live Updates: President Appeals to Supreme Court After Losing Bid to Curtail Food Stamp Aid
www.nytimes.com
November 8, 2025 at 12:26 AM
Trump still wants to deny food to 40 million Americans who will otherwise go hungry, at the same time he spends millions of $$$ redecorating a White House ballroom. Marie Antoinette echoes, right? www.nytimes.com/live/2025/11...
Reposted by Josh Fischman
Back when I was at The Post, every Friday at 10pm I'd plug my data/visualizations/jokes newsletter.
Well, it's back. In 12 hours, the all-new How To Read This Chart lands in mailboxes. Sign up for free!
howtoreadthisch.art
Well, it's back. In 12 hours, the all-new How To Read This Chart lands in mailboxes. Sign up for free!
howtoreadthisch.art
How To Read This Chart
37% data. 42% visualizations. 210% jokes.
howtoreadthisch.art
October 11, 2025 at 2:07 AM
Back when I was at The Post, every Friday at 10pm I'd plug my data/visualizations/jokes newsletter.
Well, it's back. In 12 hours, the all-new How To Read This Chart lands in mailboxes. Sign up for free!
howtoreadthisch.art
Well, it's back. In 12 hours, the all-new How To Read This Chart lands in mailboxes. Sign up for free!
howtoreadthisch.art
Reposted by Josh Fischman
💊MedSky💊 ADHD
A recent study published in the British Medical Journal has shown that medications like methylphenidate (brand name Ritalin) can significantly reduce these harmful outcomes in newly diagnosed patients.
A recent study published in the British Medical Journal has shown that medications like methylphenidate (brand name Ritalin) can significantly reduce these harmful outcomes in newly diagnosed patients.
ADHD Drugs Do Much More Than Help You Focus, Study Reveals
An ADHD diagnosis means a person is prone to impulsivity and distractibility, which can manifest in the form of substance misuse, traffic accidents, criminality and even suicidal behavior.
www.sciencealert.com
October 25, 2025 at 10:57 PM
💊MedSky💊 ADHD
A recent study published in the British Medical Journal has shown that medications like methylphenidate (brand name Ritalin) can significantly reduce these harmful outcomes in newly diagnosed patients.
A recent study published in the British Medical Journal has shown that medications like methylphenidate (brand name Ritalin) can significantly reduce these harmful outcomes in newly diagnosed patients.
Ancient DNA shows it wasn't just frigid cold that doomed Napoleon's army in Russia. It was disease-causing bacteria, now recovered from old soldiers' teeth. 🧪 @nature.com has a good story: www.nature.com/articles/d41... For more ancient plague DNA: www.scientificamerican.com/article/solv...
How Napoleon’s army met its doom: DNA reveals surprise illnesses had a role
Remains of some of the 300,000 soldiers who died on the retreat from Moscow reveal two bacterial diseases that probably added to the death count.
www.nature.com
October 24, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Ancient DNA shows it wasn't just frigid cold that doomed Napoleon's army in Russia. It was disease-causing bacteria, now recovered from old soldiers' teeth. 🧪 @nature.com has a good story: www.nature.com/articles/d41... For more ancient plague DNA: www.scientificamerican.com/article/solv...
Not sure I agree that eagle skeleton below is "not so spooky." But it looks great.
We asked our veterinarians to provide an "inside" look at some of our animals and their not-so-spooky skeletons. 💀
October 15, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Not sure I agree that eagle skeleton below is "not so spooky." But it looks great.
What to do with a mentally declining president? A former White House doctor tells us. 🧪 #medsky
On today's Science Quickly, I interviewed a former White House doctor about the president's care, aging and more: "It is a fact of science, it's not a political attack, that humans past the age of 60... start to have cognitive decline."
"We have a gerontocracy."
Listen on @sciam.bsky.social 🎧
"We have a gerontocracy."
Listen on @sciam.bsky.social 🎧
Transforming Presidential Health Care: Insights from a Former White House Doctor
A former White House physician reveals the medical realities of caring for the president of the U.S.
www.scientificamerican.com
October 10, 2025 at 3:47 PM
What to do with a mentally declining president? A former White House doctor tells us. 🧪 #medsky
Now RFKjr claims circumcision and Tylenol cause autism. A claim without any good evidence. What does the science show? Read it here: www.scientificamerican.com/article/rfk-...
RFK, Jr., Cites ‘Truly Appalling’ Studies to Tie Autism to Circumcision and Tylenol
Studies suggesting circumcision rates are linked with autism are “riddled with flaws”
www.scientificamerican.com
October 10, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Now RFKjr claims circumcision and Tylenol cause autism. A claim without any good evidence. What does the science show? Read it here: www.scientificamerican.com/article/rfk-...
And we have more details, about how these Nobel-winning sponges started with diamonds, how they neutralize nerve gas, and are being used in cancer treatment. And what they have in common with Harry Potter books & movies, though they are science and not magic. Link below..🧪
Finally! After decades of also-runs, amazing molecular cages-which can do everything from trapping greenhouse gases to delivering and releasing drugs at specific parts of the body- won the Chemistry Nobel. Read @megha.bsky.social 's story, here, and watch for updates today.
2025 Chemistry Nobel Goes to Molecular Sponges That Purify Water, Store Energy, and Clean Up the Environment
Three scientists, including one from the U.S., share the 2025 Nobel Prize in chemistry for developing “metal-organic frameworks,” versatile molecular cages that can trap contaminants, store energy and...
www.scientificamerican.com
October 8, 2025 at 11:17 PM
And we have more details, about how these Nobel-winning sponges started with diamonds, how they neutralize nerve gas, and are being used in cancer treatment. And what they have in common with Harry Potter books & movies, though they are science and not magic. Link below..🧪
Finally! After decades of also-runs, amazing molecular cages-which can do everything from trapping greenhouse gases to delivering and releasing drugs at specific parts of the body- won the Chemistry Nobel. Read @megha.bsky.social 's story, here, and watch for updates today.
2025 Chemistry Nobel Goes to Molecular Sponges That Purify Water, Store Energy, and Clean Up the Environment
Three scientists, including one from the U.S., share the 2025 Nobel Prize in chemistry for developing “metal-organic frameworks,” versatile molecular cages that can trap contaminants, store energy and...
www.scientificamerican.com
October 8, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Finally! After decades of also-runs, amazing molecular cages-which can do everything from trapping greenhouse gases to delivering and releasing drugs at specific parts of the body- won the Chemistry Nobel. Read @megha.bsky.social 's story, here, and watch for updates today.
And... the Nobel Prize for physics goes to quantum tunneling: showing that the smallest of the small takes place on a relatively big scale. Basically this is what makes electrical circuits in computers work. 🧪
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/s...
Nobel Prize in Physics Is Awarded for Work in Quantum Mechanics
www.nytimes.com
October 7, 2025 at 11:03 AM
And... the Nobel Prize for physics goes to quantum tunneling: showing that the smallest of the small takes place on a relatively big scale. Basically this is what makes electrical circuits in computers work. 🧪
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/s...
If you want to understand why 3 scientists got the Nobel Prize in Medicine today for discovering what keeps our immune systems from running amok--and how that keeps you healthy-- read this @laurenjyoung.bsky.social story:
www.scientificamerican.com/article/2025... #medsky 🧪
www.scientificamerican.com/article/2025... #medsky 🧪
This Year’s Medicine Nobel Goes to Discovery of Why the Body Doesn’t Attack Itself
Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi shared the Nobel prize for their work on peripheral immune tolerance, a process that is key to organ transplants and treatment of autoimmune disease...
www.scientificamerican.com
October 6, 2025 at 9:09 PM
If you want to understand why 3 scientists got the Nobel Prize in Medicine today for discovering what keeps our immune systems from running amok--and how that keeps you healthy-- read this @laurenjyoung.bsky.social story:
www.scientificamerican.com/article/2025... #medsky 🧪
www.scientificamerican.com/article/2025... #medsky 🧪
Jane Goodall celebrated. 🧪
Jane Goodall was one of my first scientific idols. She reminded us that the natural world is not simply an object of study but a living, breathing subject: "In a flash of 'outsight' I had known timelessness and quiet ecstasy, sensed a truth of which mainstream science is merely a small fraction."
October 2, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Jane Goodall celebrated. 🧪
Jane Goodall appreciation, from Scientific American. www.scientificamerican.com/article/jane... 🧪
Jane Goodall, Trailblazing Primatologist and Chimpanzee Conservationist, Has Died
The anthropologist was famous for her pioneering research with chimpanzees and her influence on conservation
www.scientificamerican.com
October 2, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Jane Goodall appreciation, from Scientific American. www.scientificamerican.com/article/jane... 🧪
For you free speech and US Constitution fans, a federal judge just ruled this: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/u...
Judge Rules Trump Unlawfully Targeted Noncitizens Over Pro-Palestinian Speech
www.nytimes.com
September 30, 2025 at 11:03 PM
For you free speech and US Constitution fans, a federal judge just ruled this: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/u...
A little geometry quiz with your Barcelona architecture tour (and you thought you'd just be able to gawk at Gaudi and drink wine. Sorry. The NY Times isn't about fun): www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Barcelona Is Made of Math (Gift Article)
A virtual tour of the architecture in a city where mathematics and exploration meet.
www.nytimes.com
September 28, 2025 at 12:02 AM
A little geometry quiz with your Barcelona architecture tour (and you thought you'd just be able to gawk at Gaudi and drink wine. Sorry. The NY Times isn't about fun): www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.scientificamerican.com/article/tyle... and--to understand WHY the autism-Tylenol connection is so flimsy: www.scientificamerican.com/article/does... 🧪 #MedSky
Tylenol Is Popular and Safe, Yet Nobody Knows How It Works
The common pain reliever is safe when used as directed, research shows. But scientists remain puzzled by one aspect: how it reduces pain and fever
www.scientificamerican.com
September 23, 2025 at 12:58 AM
www.scientificamerican.com/article/tyle... and--to understand WHY the autism-Tylenol connection is so flimsy: www.scientificamerican.com/article/does... 🧪 #MedSky
7 ways RFKjr and Trump are only pretending to want better evidence about vaccine safety and effectiveness (COI note: written by a former executive for Moderna but it's still really on target.) www.statnews.com/2025/09/05/m... 🧪 #medsky
The Trump administration’s endless quest for vaccine data is public-health gaslighting
RFK Jr. and the rest of the Trump administration are using seven kinds of rhetorical sleight-of-hand around vaccines and transparency.
www.statnews.com
September 22, 2025 at 12:30 AM
7 ways RFKjr and Trump are only pretending to want better evidence about vaccine safety and effectiveness (COI note: written by a former executive for Moderna but it's still really on target.) www.statnews.com/2025/09/05/m... 🧪 #medsky
Texas A&M fired their President, a course lecturer, and 2 administrators because they presented evidence there are more than 2 genders. Good evidence too. Do you think they should be fired? www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/u...
Texas A&M President to Step Down After Controversy Over ‘Gender Ideology’
www.nytimes.com
September 19, 2025 at 4:22 AM
Texas A&M fired their President, a course lecturer, and 2 administrators because they presented evidence there are more than 2 genders. Good evidence too. Do you think they should be fired? www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/u...
Cut off the heads of worms and they still remember stuff when heads regrow. Dose them with anti -depressants, though, and that doesn't happen. What do anti depressants really do?
Final version:
"The Role of Bioelectrical Patterns in Regulative Morphogenesis: An Evolutionary Simulation and Validation in Planarian Regeneration"
ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/110...
🧪
"The Role of Bioelectrical Patterns in Regulative Morphogenesis: An Evolutionary Simulation and Validation in Planarian Regeneration"
ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/110...
🧪
The Role of Bioelectrical Patterns in Regulative Morphogenesis: An Evolutionary Simulation and Validation in Planarian Regeneration
Endogenous bioelectrical patterns are an important regulator of anatomical pattern during embryogenesis, regeneration, and cancer. While there are three known classes of instructive bioelectric patter...
ieeexplore.ieee.org
September 13, 2025 at 4:28 AM
Cut off the heads of worms and they still remember stuff when heads regrow. Dose them with anti -depressants, though, and that doesn't happen. What do anti depressants really do?
Seems to me that 1) law officers must be able to conceal identities at times, such as going undercover to gather evidence; 2) agents must reveal SOME identifying information during enforcement activity, like arrests. The Cal mask law weakens both. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/u...
California Lawmakers Pass Bill That Would Ban Masks for ICE Agents
www.nytimes.com
September 13, 2025 at 2:11 AM
Seems to me that 1) law officers must be able to conceal identities at times, such as going undercover to gather evidence; 2) agents must reveal SOME identifying information during enforcement activity, like arrests. The Cal mask law weakens both. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/u...