Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Kendra "Gloom is My Beat" Pierre-Louis @kendrawrites.com · 18h

For some context the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly report in addition to being just a good read, to quote wikipedia, "is the main vehicle for publishing public health information and recommendations that have been received by the CDC from state health departments. "

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 18h

BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 10h

My quote of the day

Nobody ever thanks you for saving them from the disease they didn't know they were going to get.

William Foege

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Renée Graham 🏳️‍🌈 @rygraham.bsky.social · 8h

Last month Trump said he wanted proof that COVID vaccines are effective. Yesterday, during his "semiannual" physical, Trump received a COVID vaccine as well as a flu shot.

That's because vaccines — which Trump's administration have made harder to get — work.

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BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · 8h

Standing in solidarity with colleagues at the CDC who were fired as part of yet another RIF wave.
We are all less safe without their expertise and dedication.

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 18h

BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:

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Ed Belongia MD @belongia.bsky.social · 6h

CDC has been a global leader in public health & played a key role in smallpox eradication. Health depts in red states & blue states rely on CDC expertise & support. The CDC EIS program trains the next generation of public health leaders & disease detectives.

They are burning it to the ground.

JAMA Health Forum Oct 9, 2025 by LO Gostin and P Lurie.
Abstract
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has long served as the cornerstone of the US
public health system, combining technical expertise, evidence-based policy recommendations, and high-quality health information. Yet, it is undergoing profound weakening by the Trump administration, including major funding cuts, the dismissal and resignation of experienced senior staff, and the erosion of its scientific independence. With tightening political control, public trust in
the CDC is diminishing. Undermining the agency’s reputation and capacities will reverberate for generations, making the nation less prepared for future health emergencies, including diseases of
pandemic potential. At this perilous moment, we document the current assault on the CDC that will inevitably have serious repercussion

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Elisabeth Bik - Perpetrator 5, a fraudulent microbiologist @elisabethbik.bsky.social · 14h

Trump Administration Lays Off Dozens of C.D.C. Officials
“Disease detectives,” high-ranking scientists, the entire Washington office and the staff of a weekly public health journal were among those who learned late Friday that they would lose their jobs.
#GiftLink

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/u...

Trump Administration Lays Off Dozens of C.D.C. Officials

www.nytimes.com

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Amy Maxmen, PhD @amymaxmen.bsky.social · 2d

🧵RFK "HIV-doesn't-cause-AIDS" Jr. is now linking circumcision with autism.

This nonsense was posted by his anti-vax group Children's Health Defense years ago, and I looked into it.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS9D...

SHOCK CLAIM: RFK Jr. Says Children Circumcised Early Have Twice The Autism Rate Due To Tylenol Use

YouTube video by Forbes Breaking News

www.youtube.com

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Prof Gavin Yamey @gavinyamey.bsky.social · 2d

“A study, published on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that last season’s 2024–2025 mRNA COVID vaccines reduced people’s risk of emergency department visits by 29%, their risk of hospitalizations by 39% & their risk of death by 64%”

Benefits were seen even if 0 risk factors

Soren Larsen (SEGL) @sorenlarsen.bsky.social · 2d

Annual COVID Vaccines Protect People against Severe Disease, Even with Prior Immunity

"The new research also “calls into question the idea that younger individuals and those without risk factors don’t need the vaccine,” Viswanathan says."

Annual COVID Vaccines Save Lives, New Study Shows

A new study shows that receiving an updated COVID vaccine reduced people’s risk of severe disease and death in all age groups, regardless of immunity from prior infection or vaccination

www.scientificamerican.com

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Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 3d

"consuming AI art is like eating styrofoam"

The always brilliant The Oatmeal on the emptiness and sadness of AI art

theoatmeal.com/comics/ai_art

A screenshot of the Oatmeal comic, featuring a colorful meal on a plate with emojis around it, the text reads: "Someone once told me that art is like emotional nutriton. That made sense to me. Art feeds my feelings (accompanied by a smiley face and sad face emoji). And if thats the case, consuming AI art is like eating styrofoam"

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Nanjala @nanjala.bsky.social · 6d

I’ve known both David Adler and Zukiswa Wanner for many years and I’m truly saddened to receive news of their unjust detention in Israel. Both of them sailed with the Global Sumud Flotilla to demand an end to the blockade on Gaza and are being unjustly detained with no contact for four days.

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Autistic Book🇨🇦 🍁🇺🇦 @autisticbook.bsky.social · 6d

An RFK jr. Antivax cottage industry by the pathological homeopathic quacks. Parents tell the guy which vaccine they gave the child.The guy will formulates a detox based on the info 250.00 a treatment.
This is not medicine or truth.
Austistic kids dont need to be detoxed.
Vaccines are safe.

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Thiru Balasubramaniam @thirugeneva.bsky.social · 6d

43 years ago on 5 Oct 1982, the New York Times published this piece on this fun piece on WIPO negotiations: "An international patent conference opened today that pits the Reagan Administration against the third world and some Western allies." @profseanflynn.bsky.social @roneilll.bsky.social

U.S. AND THE THIRD WORLD AT ODDS OVER PATENTS (Published 1982)

www.nytimes.com

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Jannis J Grimm @jannisgrimm.bsky.social · 7d

Criticism of biased media coverage of Gaza is often discarded as baseless..

so we set out to study the coverage of Palestinian and Israeli victims by German press systematically!

The resulting study 'Hierarchies in Death' was just published #OA by Peacebuilding www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

www.tandfonline.com

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Galaxy Project @galaxyproject.bsky.social · 10d

On Day 1 of European Galaxy Days, Mina Hojat Ansari presented FAIRYMAGS: A Galaxy Workflow for MAG Recovery Applied to Termite Microbiomes.
Read more: https://elixir-europe.org/how-we-work/scientific-programme/commissioned-services/science/bfsp/fairymags

##termite ##EGD2025 ##microbiomes (1/2)

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rahaeli @rahaeli.bsky.social · 11d

Hey remember when the CDC dropped 6 of the 8 foodborne illnesses from the nationwide monitoring system in July and one of them was listeria? Mentioning for no particular reason www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

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Peter van Heusden (he/him) 🗿 @pvanheus.bsky.social · 12d

I feel like they add this kind of stuff because they think the devastating impact on people in Kenya isn't enough to get their readers interested. I hope they underestimate their readers.

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Dorottya Nagy @dotnagy.bsky.social · 12d

To summarise our recent pre-print: Autocycler, the automated consensus assembler, when used with Nanopore long-read only Enterobacterales assemblies, produces more complete chromosomes and plasmids, with an accuracy comparable to hybrid assemblies.

Figure 2 from my recently pre-printed manuscript on the completeness and accuracy of Nanopore long-read only bacterial genome assembly for Enterobacterales. a) tile plot of chromosome circularisation, with assembler on the x-axis and sample on the y-axis, shows that the consensus long-read only assembler, Autocycler, circularised more chromosomes at 95% (87/92) than any other long-read or hybrid assembler. b) complex upset plot of plasmid reconstruction, showing that the best plasmid reconstruction was achieved by long-read assemblers incorporating the separate plasmid assembly tool, Plassembler, namely Autocycler and Hybracter, reconstructing >96% of plasmids.

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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 16d

In a new book, local cartographer Peter Slingsby explains that vernacular place names are a crucial part of human heritage, and why it’s been so rewarding for him to map place names in the Cederberg.

Read groundup.org.za/article/hund... by John Yeld

Hundreds of unique Cederberg place names rescued from potential extinction

Names like Slangbosfontein, Katstertdrif, Pendoornkraal, Sterrebosbank, Vogelgesang, Haasvlakte, and Jakkalskop

groundup.org.za

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elia ayoub 🌱 @ayoub.bsky.social · 13d

Random, but I’m still looking for stable employment (research/analysis/writing/teaching) and I’m happy to send along my CV in English/French. Job has to be in the UK, Canada or online.

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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 13d

"But that’s why we must commit to a fuller vision of democracy: to reclaim power in the workplace and daily life, and set an economic agenda that will actually make...lives better. The most effective counterforce to resist authoritarianism is our class solidarity."

labornotes.org/blogs/2025/0...

We Who Believe in Democracy Must Fight to Make It Real

We wake daily to new spectacles of violence and humiliation: kidnappings in broad daylight, attacks on unions, LGBTQ people, women, and immigrants, the erosion of long-cherished rights. It’s no longer...

labornotes.org

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The People's Fabric @peoplesfabric.com · 13d

I’m out, I'm sore. I'll have more later, but right now I have to say a couple of things. First, walking out of there to learn about the kindness, support, and quick action from so many of you all has meant the world to me, my wife, and co-founder, Raven. Thank you.

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Sarah Tuttle @niais.bsky.social · 14d

This is the most excellent local headline writing.

"DID YOU GIVE WATER TO A BAT NEAR THE ARBORETUM? IT HAD RABIES."

(this is explicitly for @andreagrimes.com )

Did you give water to a bat near the Arboretum? It had rabies

A rabid bat was found in Seattle near the Washington Park Arboretum. Here's what to know, and what to do if you think you might have been exposed.

www.seattletimes.com

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Peter van Heusden (he/him) 🗿 @pvanheus.bsky.social · 13d

Isn't this fear of obsolescence exactly fuel to their fire? Btw from the underlying research: "People with no religious affiliation [..] were the only category aside from Muslims that grew as a percentage of the world’s population" (and now are the 3rd biggest group worldwide)

Peter van Heusden (he/him) 🗿 @pvanheus.bsky.social · 13d

So very much reminds me of the Niger Delta (see e.g. the documentary The Drilling Fields). Terrible

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Jan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · 14d

In 2005 I spent 5 months in Ecuador investigating oil extraction.

Around then German bank WestLB funded a new Andes pipeline despite past spills.

What I saw was shocking and mostly unseen. This 2022 video shows just one example of repeated spills poisoning rivers and communities.

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