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Sarah Zhang @sarahzhang.bsky.social · May 28

As I wrote in the story, the geography of the current outbreak means it's at a critical inflection point. We don't have enough sterile flies.

Well, yesterday, the USDA announced a new sterile fly facility in Mexico. Will it be enough? www.usda.gov/about-usda/n...

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Sarah Zhang @sarahzhang.bsky.social · May 28

...unfortunately, the barrier failed, and screwworms are now creeping their way back to the U.S. My story in @theatlantic.com about the current outbreak:

www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...

The ‘Man-Eater’ Screwworm Is Coming

After a decades-long campaign to beat the parasites down to Panama, they’re speeding back up north.

www.theatlantic.com

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Sarah Zhang @sarahzhang.bsky.social · May 28

A few years ago, I went to Panama to see the "sterile fly barrier" that keeps a flesh-eating parasite out of the U.S.

It's one of the wildest things I've ever written about it...

www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...

America’s Never-Ending Battle Against Flesh-Eating Worms

Inside the U.S. and Panama’s long-running collaboration to rid an entire continent of a deadly disease

www.theatlantic.com

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Sarah Zhang @sarahzhang.bsky.social · May 28

The bad news is that outbreak is bad; the good news is a lot of stuff is finally happening at least www.usda.gov/about-usda/n...

www.usda.gov

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Reposted by Sarah Zhang

Sarah Zhang @sarahzhang.bsky.social · May 16

🧵 Last year, I came across one of the most harrowing studies I've ever read.

It found that 1 in 4 unresponsive brain-injury patients—many considered vegetative—might be cognitively aware but trapped inside their bodies. Could this be true? What did it mean?

www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

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Sarah Zhang @sarahzhang.bsky.social · May 16

There is a lot we still don't know—might never know—about the inner lives of unresponsive patients.

Ian's mom says his story is not a sad story though, and you may be genuinely surprised by some of the weird and funny twists of fate. Read it here:
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

The Mother Who Never Stopped Believing Her Son Was Still There

For decades, Eve Baer remained convinced that her son, unresponsive after a severe brain injury, was still conscious. Science eventually proved her right.

www.theatlantic.com

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Sarah Zhang @sarahzhang.bsky.social · May 16

Other brain-injury patients have appeared to answer yes/no questions correctly in an fMRI machine, despite having no ability to communicate otherwise.

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Sarah Zhang @sarahzhang.bsky.social · May 16

Like many people, probably, I came in knowing little beyond the Terri Schiavo controversy, and I found the boundary between consciousness/unconsciousness to be less absolute than I thought.

Vegetative patients, for example, have temporarily "awakened" and started speaking on Ambien.

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Sarah Zhang @sarahzhang.bsky.social · May 16

I spent the past several months with the family of one patient in the study, Ian, who was injured in a car crash in 1986. His mother has never stopped believing he could understand her.

Today in @theatlantic.com, Ian's story:

www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

The Mother Who Never Stopped Believing Her Son Was Still There

For decades, Eve Baer remained convinced that her son, unresponsive after a severe brain injury, was still conscious. Science eventually proved her right.

www.theatlantic.com

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Sarah Zhang @sarahzhang.bsky.social · May 16

🧵 Last year, I came across one of the most harrowing studies I've ever read.

It found that 1 in 4 unresponsive brain-injury patients—many considered vegetative—might be cognitively aware but trapped inside their bodies. Could this be true? What did it mean?

www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

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Sarah Zhang @sarahzhang.bsky.social · May 12

Ok is something going on with the supply chain for clear plastic bags?

I bought 3 different brands of "clear" bags from Amazon (ty NYC recycling rules) that were all white, despite old reviews w photos of clear bags. And our latest box of diapers also switched from clear to white plastic sleeves.

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Sarah Zhang @sarahzhang.bsky.social · Apr 29

recently got some nice news — my magazine story about a cystic fibrosis breakthrough won first place for consumer feature in AHCJ's journalism awards

www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

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Sarah Zhang @sarahzhang.bsky.social · Apr 29

i have to admit, i think bone-in, skin-on thighs are great the day of, but they take on a weird leftover flavor the next day that i find very, very off-putting

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Sarah Zhang @sarahzhang.bsky.social · Apr 29

something i was surprised to learn while reporting this story is that the boneless, skinless chicken thigh—staple of weeknight dinner recipes—was not actually widely available until the 2000s

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Sarah Zhang @sarahzhang.bsky.social · Apr 28

IT'S THIGH TIME FOR CHICKEN

The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · Apr 28

After a decades-long run, America’s white-meat era may finally be ending, @sarahzhang.bsky.social reports:

The End of Chicken-Breast Dominance

The price of boneless chicken thighs is finally catching up with the price of white meat.

bit.ly

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Sarah Zhang @sarahzhang.bsky.social · Apr 9

if you are looking for distraction in these uhh tumultuous times, Bracket City is now on @theatlantic.com and it is the perfect fun-sized diversion www.theatlantic.com/games/bracke...

Bracket City

The Atlantic covers news, politics, culture, technology, health, and more, through its articles, podcasts, videos, and flagship magazine.

www.theatlantic.com

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Sarah Zhang @sarahzhang.bsky.social · Apr 2

"Zoom in on a silica gel bead with a scanning electron microscope, and its smooth surface turns discontinuous...

That single gram of silica gel could have an internal surface area of eight hundred square meters—the size of almost two basketball courts"

www.scopeofwork.net/silica-gel/

How Silica Gel Took Over the World

Silica gel packets seem like the only thing keeping our packaged food crispy and our belongings free of mildew. How on earth did they all get here?

www.scopeofwork.net

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Reposted by Sarah Zhang

The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · Mar 11

"The vaccination has stuff we don't trust," said the father of the 6-year-old girl who died from measles at the end of last month. Tom Bartlett visited with a family confronting an unthinkable tragedy:

The Texas Girl Who Died From Measles

Her father tells her story.

www.theatlantic.com

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Sarah Zhang @sarahzhang.bsky.social · Feb 25

one of the things scientists got wrong at the beginning of the pandemic is thinking "the coronavirus mutates slowly." my look back on what happened and why COVID ended up surprising us so much.

www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...

COVID Broke the Rules of Virus Evolution

Why did this coronavirus change faster than scientists expected?

www.theatlantic.com

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Sarah Zhang @sarahzhang.bsky.social · Feb 25

i actually reached out to her multiple times for the story and would have really loved to include her perspective. my article ended up focused on highly mutated variants from persistent infections, which afaik is not how we think D614G evolved, but i 100% agree her work was unfairly dismissed.

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Reposted by Sarah Zhang

Nancy Kathryn Walecki @nancywalecki.bsky.social · Jan 16

My neighbor Arthur made my childhood magical, and he died in the Palisades Fire. Here is my thank you to him, in @theatlantic.com: www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...

Not Everything Can Be Rebuilt

Arthur made my childhood neighborhood magical. Now both are gone.

www.theatlantic.com

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Sarah Zhang @sarahzhang.bsky.social · Jan 2

Missed this last week—what a nice surprise to be among so many reporters I admire! ty @jasonmast.bsky.social

Ben Lokshin @ben.lok.sh · Dec 26

Some great winter reading on this list, including @sarahzhang.bsky.social's excellent piece on how Trikafta changed the lives of people with CF

We wish we’d written that: STAT staffers share their favorite stories of 2024

In STAT's "jealousy list" for 2024, STAT staffers explain what makes a selection of stories they read in other publications so compelling.

www.statnews.com

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Sarah Zhang @sarahzhang.bsky.social · Dec 18

hidden in plain sight in the name!

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Reposted by Sarah Zhang

Joe Slater @joeinaustralia.bsky.social · Dec 17

I just can't stop thinking about this story by @sarahzhang.bsky.social

America’s Never-Ending Battle Against Flesh-Eating Worms

Inside the U.S. and Panama’s long-running collaboration to rid an entire continent of a deadly disease

www.theatlantic.com

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Sarah Zhang @sarahzhang.bsky.social · Dec 16

this big bloomberg investigation into the global supply chain for human eggs is incredible, and this scene about a fertility drug purified from the urine of postmenopausal women is especially wild

www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

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