Martin Michaelis (he/him)
@martmichaelis.bsky.social
Academic researcher working on cancer, viruses, and meta-research in the life sciences. Opinions are my own.
In the UK, 249 individuals received compensation for harm caused by #COVID19 #vaccines. Given that more than 50 million people were vaccinated, this reflects about 0.0005% of the population and appears not to be an unrealistic number. #vaccination #vaccine #MedSky 🧪
Firm assessing Covid vaccine harm replaced after costs spiral to £48m
The figure paid to Crawford & Company Adjusters is eight times the original estimate for the work.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 18, 2026 at 9:24 AM
In the UK, 249 individuals received compensation for harm caused by #COVID19 #vaccines. Given that more than 50 million people were vaccinated, this reflects about 0.0005% of the population and appears not to be an unrealistic number. #vaccination #vaccine #MedSky 🧪
There does not appear to be an obvious difference between the outcomes of intermittent fasting and other forms of calorie restriction diets. Beware of health topics that are dominated by belief and ideology instead of evidence and by influencers, who make a living out of their advice. 🧪 #MedSky
Intermittent fasting for adults with overweight or obesity - Garegnani, LI - 2026 | Cochrane Library
Select your preferred language for Cochrane reviews and other content. Sections without translation will be in English.
www.cochranelibrary.com
February 18, 2026 at 9:05 AM
There does not appear to be an obvious difference between the outcomes of intermittent fasting and other forms of calorie restriction diets. Beware of health topics that are dominated by belief and ideology instead of evidence and by influencers, who make a living out of their advice. 🧪 #MedSky
What is the human benefit of an economic system that thrives on exploitation? #economy #economics #capitalism #PoliSky #EconSky
Plan to increase youth minimum wage could be delayed
Government sources tell BBC News they could slow down plans to make minimum wage equal across age groups.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 18, 2026 at 8:53 AM
What is the human benefit of an economic system that thrives on exploitation? #economy #economics #capitalism #PoliSky #EconSky
Resist the beginnings, or is this already more than just beginnings?
Stephen Colbert says CBS didn't air interview out of fear of FCC
Colbert kicked off Monday's episode of "The Late Show" by saying that the network's lawyers told him he could not have Texas state Rep. James Talarico on the broadcast.
www.nbcnews.com
February 17, 2026 at 10:44 PM
Resist the beginnings, or is this already more than just beginnings?
We need rational evidence-based discussions on topics like migration, not belief, propaganda, and hatred. #PoliSky #EconSky
UK migration could be negative this year – how will that hit the economy?
Universities, builders and health trusts are feeling the squeeze, as thinktank says effect of zero net migration could be similar to Brexit
www.theguardian.com
February 14, 2026 at 3:29 PM
Hypernormalisation describes how "everyone in the Soviet Union knew the system was failing, but no one could imagine any alternative to the status quo". Everyone maintained "the pretense of a functioning society." Are we now at a similar stage with #capitalism? #PoliSky #EconSky
HyperNormalisation - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
February 14, 2026 at 12:47 PM
Hypernormalisation describes how "everyone in the Soviet Union knew the system was failing, but no one could imagine any alternative to the status quo". Everyone maintained "the pretense of a functioning society." Are we now at a similar stage with #capitalism? #PoliSky #EconSky
Great podcast with Louisa Munch. #education has a value in itself in a democracy equipping voters with the critical skills needed to identify the real issues and to tackle them. We need more collaboration, less competition, a world that provides a decent place to everyone. #PoliSky #EconSky
Radical with Amol Rajan - Knowledge and Nostalgia: Why a University Education Should Be Free (Louisa Munch) - BBC Sounds
Academic Louisa Munch argues that you shouldn’t have to pay for higher education.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 14, 2026 at 12:28 PM
Great podcast with Louisa Munch. #education has a value in itself in a democracy equipping voters with the critical skills needed to identify the real issues and to tackle them. We need more collaboration, less competition, a world that provides a decent place to everyone. #PoliSky #EconSky
"Businesses can either lead transformative change or risk extinction. All businesses depend on and impact nature". Destroying our livelihoods for the benefit of our economy is an obviously flawed, self-destructive approach. 🧪 #PoliSky #EconSky
www.ipbes.net
February 14, 2026 at 11:23 AM
Jeder kann in den sozialen Medien (fast) alles posten. Deshalb sollte der erste Schritt immer sein, die Informationsquellen sorgfältig zu prüfen.
#Misinformation #disinformation #propaganda #AllesLüge
#Misinformation #disinformation #propaganda #AllesLüge
Wie Storm-1516 Deutschland immer wieder ins Visier nimmt
Ein internationales Netzwerk verbreitet russische Propaganda über die Bundesregierung und Bundeskanzler Merz. Was ein Fußballstadion in Brasilien damit zu tun hat. Von A. Echtermann.
www.tagesschau.de
February 14, 2026 at 11:17 AM
Jeder kann in den sozialen Medien (fast) alles posten. Deshalb sollte der erste Schritt immer sein, die Informationsquellen sorgfältig zu prüfen.
#Misinformation #disinformation #propaganda #AllesLüge
#Misinformation #disinformation #propaganda #AllesLüge
In 1980, 2.6 million people dies from #Measles. If we stop vaccinating, we will get there again... #vaccine #vaccines #vaccination #MedSky #PoliSky 🧪
www.reuters.com/business/hea...
www.reuters.com/business/hea...
In Mexico, at least 28 have died from measles outbreak that started 2025
Mexican Health Minister David Kershenobich said on Wednesday that at least 28 people in the country have died from the measles outbreak that began in 2025.
www.reuters.com
February 12, 2026 at 9:31 PM
In 1980, 2.6 million people dies from #Measles. If we stop vaccinating, we will get there again... #vaccine #vaccines #vaccination #MedSky #PoliSky 🧪
www.reuters.com/business/hea...
www.reuters.com/business/hea...
We are cultivating the next human pathogen... 🧪 #MedSky
Polymerase mutations underlie early adaptation of H5N1 influenza virus to dairy cattle and other mammals - Nature Communications
Avian influenza jumped from wild birds into dairy cattle. Here, the authors report that two mutations in the viral polymerase helped the virus to quickly adapt to cattle. Mutations increased the polym...
www.nature.com
February 12, 2026 at 9:22 PM
We are cultivating the next human pathogen... 🧪 #MedSky
It may well be the end of the world as we know it... And if it is, it will not be fine... #ClimateAction #ClimateAction #ClimateCrisis
🧪 #PoliSky #EconSky
🧪 #PoliSky #EconSky
The risk of a hothouse Earth trajectory
Earth’s climate is now departing from the stable conditions that supported human civilization
for millennia. Crossing critical temperature thresholds may trigger self-reinforcing
feedbacks and tipping...
www.cell.com
February 11, 2026 at 11:00 PM
It may well be the end of the world as we know it... And if it is, it will not be fine... #ClimateAction #ClimateAction #ClimateCrisis
🧪 #PoliSky #EconSky
🧪 #PoliSky #EconSky
What puzzles me most is how people can think that a nastier world could be a better world... #acceptance #respect #misogeny #racism #PoliSky
The rise of vice-signalling: how hatred poisoned politics
Over the last 10 years, the terms of political debate have changed completely – and week by week they seem to get worse
www.theguardian.com
February 11, 2026 at 10:53 PM
What puzzles me most is how people can think that a nastier world could be a better world... #acceptance #respect #misogeny #racism #PoliSky
The difference between #climate and #weather: "January 2026 was the fifth warmest on record...a stark reminder that the climate system can sometimes simultaneously deliver very cold weather in one region, and extreme heat in another." 🧪 #PoliSky
Copernicus: Fifth-warmest January sees 2026 start with weather extremes across both hemispheres
The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts on behalf of the European Commission with funding from the EU, routinely publishes mo...
climate.copernicus.eu
February 11, 2026 at 10:20 PM
A society is doomed when individuals receive high salaries for the responsibility that comes with their jobs and then refuse to accept any responsibility, when things go wrong and even try to game the system in their favour... #economy #business #economics #capitalism #PoliSky #EconSky
Water bosses in England exploiting bonus loophole face crackdown
Exclusive: Ministers to act after last year’s legislation ‘outwitted’ by failing firms paying millions to executives
www.theguardian.com
February 8, 2026 at 12:33 PM
A society is doomed when individuals receive high salaries for the responsibility that comes with their jobs and then refuse to accept any responsibility, when things go wrong and even try to game the system in their favour... #economy #business #economics #capitalism #PoliSky #EconSky
#Democracy at risk, an unsettling read:
"The most chilling thing is what happens to society, but also to individuals. Fear becomes internalised, and we begin to censor our own thoughts. We wonder if the law will actually protect us if they come for us one day." #PoliSky 1/2
"The most chilling thing is what happens to society, but also to individuals. Fear becomes internalised, and we begin to censor our own thoughts. We wonder if the law will actually protect us if they come for us one day." #PoliSky 1/2
After years spent documenting state terror, I know it when I see it. And I see it now in the US and Israel | Janine di Giovanni
It’s chilling to watch as Trump and Netanyahu adopt the methods of regimes their countries once condemned, says war correspondent and author Janine di Giovanni
www.theguardian.com
February 8, 2026 at 12:02 PM
#Democracy at risk, an unsettling read:
"The most chilling thing is what happens to society, but also to individuals. Fear becomes internalised, and we begin to censor our own thoughts. We wonder if the law will actually protect us if they come for us one day." #PoliSky 1/2
"The most chilling thing is what happens to society, but also to individuals. Fear becomes internalised, and we begin to censor our own thoughts. We wonder if the law will actually protect us if they come for us one day." #PoliSky 1/2
It may well be that the far right exploits justified criticism of liberalism. However, it does not provide any credible solutions. If we want to make the world a better place, we will not achieve this by making it nastier... #PoliSky
The biggest threat facing Europe is not a Trump invasion. It’s his global political revolution | Mark Leonard
I am convinced that Europe’s ‘new right’ is a radically contemporary movement. Defeating it means understanding its critique of liberalism, says Mark Leonard of the European Council on Foreign Relatio...
www.theguardian.com
February 7, 2026 at 11:28 AM
It may well be that the far right exploits justified criticism of liberalism. However, it does not provide any credible solutions. If we want to make the world a better place, we will not achieve this by making it nastier... #PoliSky
If you are not responsible for your own account, who is? If you do not think you are responsible for your own account, what do you think you are responsible for? And would you trust (and vote for) a person, who does not accept responsibility even for their own account? #PoliSky
Trump refuses to apologize for video with racist imagery of Obamas posted on his social media
Only a smattering of Republicans spoke out about clip in which Obamas’ faces were superimposed on bodies of apes
www.theguardian.com
February 7, 2026 at 10:43 AM
If you are not responsible for your own account, who is? If you do not think you are responsible for your own account, what do you think you are responsible for? And would you trust (and vote for) a person, who does not accept responsibility even for their own account? #PoliSky
""We are the only major [health] system in the world that allows the free market to run loose," said John McDonough, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health professor." Proper #healthcare for everyone should be a basic human right. #MedSky #PoliSky #EconSky
US healthcare needs fixing, but there's no agreement on how to do it
Is there the political will to fix the US health horror stories?
www.bbc.co.uk
February 6, 2026 at 11:19 PM
""We are the only major [health] system in the world that allows the free market to run loose," said John McDonough, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health professor." Proper #healthcare for everyone should be a basic human right. #MedSky #PoliSky #EconSky
#Evidence that #statins are safer than thought. Safety surveillance data are important to identify rare risks that have been missed in clinical trials. Without #placebo controls, however, events can easily be falsely attributed to a treatment due to the temporal vicinity. #MedSky 🧪
Assessment of adverse effects attributed to statin therapy in product labels: a meta-analysis of double-blind randomised controlled trials
Adverse event data from blinded randomised trials do not support causal relationships
between statin therapy and most of the conditions (including cognitive impairment,
depression, sleep disturbance, ...
www.thelancet.com
February 6, 2026 at 8:39 AM
#Evidence that respiratory syncytial virus (#RSV)-related hospitalisations are associated with an increased cardiovascular risk in the aftermath. 'Common colds' may be more dangerous than we thought, and natural infections do not seem to be beneficial. #MedSky 🧪
Risk of Cardiorespiratory Events Following RSV-Related Hospitalization
This self-controlled case series assesses the risk of cardiorespiratory events 180 days after hospitalization for respiratory syncytial virus infection in adults.
jamanetwork.com
February 5, 2026 at 9:06 AM
#Evidence showing that #COVID19 #Vaccines provided protection from severe disease and death in 2024-2025. #vaccine #vaccination #MedSky 🧪 #PoliSky
Estimated 2024-2025 COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness Against Severe COVID-19
This case-control study estimates vaccine effectiveness of the 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccines against severe COVID-19 and investigates whether it varied by SARS-CoV-2 lineage or spike protein mutations.
jamanetwork.com
February 5, 2026 at 8:57 AM
The human cost of a lack of universal #HealthInsurance: "The US health care system imposes...cost burdens on a much higher share of the population than suggested by cross-sectional analyses; policies that reduce such costs could improve the well-being of individuals..." #MedSky #PoliSky #EconSky
Burdensome Health Care Spending Over Time in the US
This cohort study assesses burdensome out-of-pocket health care costs over a 4-year period among individuals in the US.
jamanetwork.com
February 3, 2026 at 10:07 PM
The human cost of a lack of universal #HealthInsurance: "The US health care system imposes...cost burdens on a much higher share of the population than suggested by cross-sectional analyses; policies that reduce such costs could improve the well-being of individuals..." #MedSky #PoliSky #EconSky
This should be no-brainer in a civilised, supportive, and caring society. #cancer #ChildhoodCancer #PediatricCancer #CancerCare #children #MedSky #PoliSky #EconSky
Families of children with cancer to have travel costs covered
The government sets aside £10 million a year to help families and young people under 24 access cancer treatment.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 3, 2026 at 1:45 PM
This should be no-brainer in a civilised, supportive, and caring society. #cancer #ChildhoodCancer #PediatricCancer #CancerCare #children #MedSky #PoliSky #EconSky
#SocialMedia use in #adolescents: It is complicated, no area for simplistic bans and knee-jerk reactions. We need to embrace the complexity, do proper research, and make evidence-based decisions (which should be a general rule anyway). #adolescence #MedSky #PoliSky #AcademicSky
Social Media Use and Well-Being Across Adolescent Development
This cohort study investigates 3-year longitudinal associations between after-school social media use and well-being among Australian students in grades 4 through 12.
jamanetwork.com
February 3, 2026 at 7:32 AM
#SocialMedia use in #adolescents: It is complicated, no area for simplistic bans and knee-jerk reactions. We need to embrace the complexity, do proper research, and make evidence-based decisions (which should be a general rule anyway). #adolescence #MedSky #PoliSky #AcademicSky