Author | Lightnews

Matt Healy

@matthewdhealy.bsky.social

380 followers 610 following 1.5K posts

Techbio, Virology, Drug Discovery, Data, Midwest, Engineering, NLP, science, theology, history of science https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6439-5038

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Matt Healy @matthewdhealy.bsky.social · Jun 27

The meaning of my new profile image:

“Not just a poetic metaphor but scientific fact: the carbon in our cells, the calcium in our bones, and even the gold in our rings were all forged in stars that exploded long before our solar system formed. We don’t just come from the stars. We ARE stardust.”

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Matt Healy @matthewdhealy.bsky.social · 21h

A “Chordate GOP” would need to re-evolve a spine, a head, and bilateral sense — in other words, rediscover both principles and perception. Until then, the currents of media and money will keep its Cnidarian descendant pulsing and drifting, beautifully efficient at stinging but incapable of steering.

Matt Healy @matthewdhealy.bsky.social · 1d

America’s governing paralysis has a biological analogue. The Republican Party has evolved into a cnidarian life form — decentralized, translucent, and reactive. Like a jellyfish, it has no brain, only a nerve net that fires when touched. Stimuli come from grievance media, campaign donors, and online mobs; the organism pulsates, lashes out, then drifts on. It can sting, but it cannot steer. That’s why serious policy — on AI governance, climate adaptation, or infrastructure — now emerges mainly from states, courts, and foreign allies. The national party long ago surrendered thought for reflex.

Matt Healy @matthewdhealy.bsky.social · 23h

Screenshot of an X post. The top post, by user “Quack man (@dwdlisney55),” says: “But it is what they voted for. Trump was very clear as to what he was going to do. No excuses.”

Below it is a quoted post from Jessica Tarlov (@JessicaTarlov) dated Oct 22, reading: “Donald Trump is building a ballroom twice the size of the White House. He says it’s ‘his money,’ but it’s really from companies chasing favors. Meanwhile, farmers can’t sell soybeans and the government’s shut down. This isn’t what Americans voted for.”

The quoted post includes a photo of Jessica Tarlov speaking on television, wearing a red blazer and glasses, against a blue studio background.

Matt Healy @matthewdhealy.bsky.social · 1d

Reposted by Matt Healy

Conservation of Anger Momentum @primarylupine.bsky.social · 1d

Even more circular, allegedly, Biff Tannen's character in BTTF 2 was based on Trump.

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Reposted by Matt Healy

Total Lowlife Hat @kenwhite.bsky.social · 1d

I for one think the Epstein Ballroom will be magnificent. I love the decor theme of “what if Uday Hussein ran a Ramada Inn.” And giving it a theme song everyone will associate with it is a stroke of brilliance! “Thank Heaven for Little Girls” is very catchy.

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Matt Healy @matthewdhealy.bsky.social · 1d

Mayo Clinic will be out of network for some big Medicare Advantage programs, but will accept traditional Medicare. Just more evidence that Medicare Advantage is fundamentally flawed.

www.kttc.com/2025/10/22/m...

Mayo Clinic will be out-of-network for certain Medicare Advantage plans in 2026

UnitedHealthCare (UHC) and Humana both confirmed to KTTC they would not provide individual Medicare Advantage plans for Mayo Clinic patients, starting Jan. 1.

www.kttc.com

Matt Healy @matthewdhealy.bsky.social · 1d

Google Power Tower. One of the most cost-effective exercise devices put there. A major part of my recovery from chemo.

Reposted by Matt Healy

John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 1d

Oooooh just thought of something I could post that immediately reminded me that the person who needs my warning about "The Failure Mode of Clever" the most is 100% me

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Matt Healy @matthewdhealy.bsky.social · 2d

Many say Roe v. Wade created the Religious Right—but that’s misleading. The real spark was racism. Two little-known cases, Green v. Connally and Coit v. Green, ended tax exemptions for segregation academies that sprang up after Brown v. Board.

Matt Healy @matthewdhealy.bsky.social · 3d

The “good people” Trump has pardoned sometimes go on to commit new crimes — but I can’t find anyone systematically tracking it. From what I can piece together, the numbers are surprisingly vague.

A pardoned Capitol rioter was arrested last weekend for allegedly threatening to kill House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, according to CBS News. That made me wonder how many of the “good people” Trump has pardoned have gone on to commit new crimes — but I can’t find anyone systematically tracking it.
From what I can piece together, the numbers are surprisingly vague:
First-Term Trump Pardons: about 237
Of those, at least 10 —and possibly as many as 30 — have been convicted or indicted for serious offenses committed after receiving their pardons.
Second-Term Trump Pardons: roughly 1,500 to 1,600, including large numbers of Jan 6 defendants.
Of those, already several have landed back in the headlines for new legal trouble — and the term isn’t even over.

Reposted by Matt Healy

Patrick McCann @pjmccann3.bsky.social · 4d

Calling all #virologists🧪

@amersocvirology.bsky.social @europeanvirology.bsky.social @cansocvirol.bsky.social @ausvirologysoc.bsky.social @cidrap.bsky.social @utrechtvirology.bsky.social @matthewdhealy.bsky.social @angierasmussen.bsky.social @wallenmiller.bsky.social

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Public trust in science has declined since COVID — virologists need to unite around safety standards

Creating international viral biosafety guidelines are key to clearing up confusion, regaining trust and ensuring that essential research continues.

www.nature.com

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Matt Healy @matthewdhealy.bsky.social · 6d

Dunning-Kruger: it's more complicated and more subtle than most articles about it say. Here's an interview with Dunning himself.

www.openmindmag.org/articles/dav...

David Dunning: Overcoming Overconfidence

Dunning, co-discoverer of the Dunning-Kruger effect, investigates the misinformation gap built into our brains: We don't know what we don't know.

www.openmindmag.org

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Matt Healy @matthewdhealy.bsky.social · 7d

Online we can self-assemble faster than ever—sometimes for rescue, sometimes for ruin. Gutenberg’s press birthed both science and religious wars; the digital press may prove just as double-edged.

Matt Healy @matthewdhealy.bsky.social · 8d

GOP doesn't want you to know this:

"The main reason for the shortfall is rising inequality: a growing share of wages are going to people making more than the Social Security maximum, and income above the maximum isn’t taxed."

paulkrugman.substack.com/p/the-clean-...

Matt Healy @matthewdhealy.bsky.social · 8d

Stolen from a comment:

WEI Hire

White
Entitled
Incompetent

MANY examples in this Administration

Matt Healy @matthewdhealy.bsky.social · 8d

Both Left and Right are missing key issues after the Kirk shooting.

The Right is fixated on blaming mostly peaceful protesters — as mainstream media keep pointing out — while the Left tends to focus on gun laws.

I support stronger U.S. gun control, but even British-style laws might not have stopped the Kirk shooting. The shooter used an old bolt-action rifle and had a clean record. Someone like that could probably still legally own a rifle in the U.K. for sport or pest control, as thousands of people there do.

The real gap is security design, not just legislation or ideology: how to protect open events from motivated individuals who can plan, practice, and act with minimal warning.

Matt Healy @matthewdhealy.bsky.social · 8d

I’ve seen claims that officers focused on peaceful protesters with a Pride banner just before the shot that killed Charlie Kirk — but I haven’t found any confirmation from reputable sources.

What is documented: only about six officers for ~3,000 people, no bag checking, and no security on nearby rooftops.

So the banner-diversion story is unverified. But given the stakes, FBI/ATF should examine every credible lead on security failures and rapidly issue clear, specific guidance campuses can implement now. After the Trump and Kirk shootings, rooftops and other elevated points nearby especially need active monitoring.

Far more people than you might think could acquire the skill needed for a long shot with an old rifle in just a few months if they're motivated.

Matt Healy @matthewdhealy.bsky.social · 8d

The Pope is a Sox fan from Chicago. Yesterday at a Vatican event somebody in the crowd yelled "Go Cubs".

His Holiness retorted, in both English & Spanish, "They lost!"

Matt Healy @matthewdhealy.bsky.social · 8d

Kristi Noem, like so many of the women around Trump, appears to have had their standard plastic surgery procedure: extract the soul, emulsify it, and use the emulsified remnants to fill in facial contours.

Matt Healy @matthewdhealy.bsky.social · 10d

The ugly reality resulting from machismo, bigotry, and secrecy:

www.politico.com/news/magazin...

Matt Healy @matthewdhealy.bsky.social · 10d

Another volunteer at the thrift store asked me about current virus counts; I replied that since this time of year is usually a seasonal low for respiratory viruses I hadn't checked in a while. So today I checked.

Matt Healy @matthewdhealy.bsky.social · 10d

Charlie Kirk’s last words were the start of his reply to an audience member who’d pointed out mass shooters are mostly straight white men, almost never trans

DOJ report on U.S. political violence (mostly Islamist/far-right, RARELY left) vanished soon after Kirk shot

Hate lies about who’s dangerous

Matt Healy @matthewdhealy.bsky.social · 10d

Rudeness changes meaning with direction.

Downward, it’s “discipline.”
Upward, it’s “incivility.”
Truthward, it’s “polarization.”

The question isn’t who’s rude — it’s who profits from our politeness.

Matt Healy @matthewdhealy.bsky.social · 11d

Just saw yet another post decrying "incivility"

But what exactly is meant by that word?

Powerful being rude to Powerful?
Powerful being rude to Powerless?
Powerless being rude to Powerless?
Or Powerless being rude to Powerful?

The claim that Powerful would listen better to Powerless if they asked nicely is BS.

Failure to continue discrimination in one's favor does not constitute discrimination. And the claim that the current Administration values competence over DEI is preposterous: in the exact fields in which I have the deepest expertise this Administration has hired utterly incompetent leaders.

Matt Healy @matthewdhealy.bsky.social · 13d

GOP's Obamacare cuts will hit their voters especially hard.

NY Times graph of Obamacare enrollment by Congressional District, showing how GOP's Obamacare cut will hit their voters especially hard.