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Carl Zimmer

@carlzimmer.com

51K followers 1.6K following 24K posts

NYT columnist. Signal: carlzimmer.51 Newsletter: https://buttondown.com/carlzimmer/ Web: http://carlzimmer.com [This account includes a tweet archive]

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · Mar 9

"Air-Borne shows us the ways seeing where we live means listening deeply — and being prepared to see what’s perhaps never been seen.“ Grateful for this perceptive review from Robert Sullivan in the New York Times Book Review. Gift link: nyti.ms/3XAWM9E

"Take a Deep Breath. If You Dare." In “Air-Borne,” his detailed and gripping account of aerobiology, Carl Zimmer uncovers the mysteries filling our lungs. [Illustration with viruses and people in masks]

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Reposted by Carl Zimmer

Dan Diamond @ddiamond.bsky.social · 1d

“Secretary Kennedy is entitled to his views. But he is not entitled to put people’s health at risk.”

Six former surgeons general condemn RFK Jr.

Opinion | Six surgeons general: RFK Jr. is a threat to the health of Americans

It was our duty in office to warn of dangers when we found them. We’re doing that again today.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Jake Scott, MD @jakescottmd.bsky.social · 1d

“We have 1,544 measles cases this year, 92% in unvaccinated people, and 3 deaths. The problem isn’t the vaccine — it’s that people aren’t getting it. O’Neill hasn’t offered a single scientific rationale for breaking up MMR.”

@aniloza.bsky.social
@statnews.com
www.statnews.com/2025/10/06/t...

Acting CDC director calls for MMR vaccine to be broken up into three shots

There's no evidence that breaking up the MMR shot would make the immunization safer or more effective.

www.statnews.com

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Reposted by Carl Zimmer

Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 7d

Hey everyone! I'm extremely excited to announce that today marks the release of the 10th Anniversary Edition of Steve Silberman's ground-breaking NeuroTribes, with a new foreword by John Elder Robison.

Neurotribes by Steve Silberman: 9780399185618 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

This New York Times–bestselling book upends conventional thinking about autism and suggests a broader model for acceptance, understanding, and full participation in society for people who think differ...

www.penguinrandomhouse.com

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 4d

1500th bat species discovered in Africa www.batcon.org/press/1500th...

1,500th Bat Species Discovered in Africa's Equatorial Guinea

Breakthrough marks global milestone in biodiversity.

www.batcon.org

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Reposted by Carl Zimmer

Science Friday @scifri.bsky.social · 5d

Drama in the field of human origins! Some anthropologists are raising an eyebrow at a new study that claims our species could have emerged at least half a million years earlier than we thought.

Anthropologists Have A Bone To Pick With New Skull Finding

A reconstruction of an ancient skull suggests that humans could have evolved half a million years earlier than thought. Not so fast, some say.

buff.ly

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 6d

I never met Jane Goodall, but she loomed over much of my reporting over the years. With @emilyanthes.bsky.social I wrote a piece about her scientific legacy. Gift link: nyti.ms/46PGBtd

nyti.ms

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 6d

Jane Goodall, Eminent Primatologist Who Chronicled the Lives of Chimps, Dies at 91. Gift link: nyti.ms/48FOuUn

nyti.ms

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 7d

I'm hosting @samkean.bsky.social at Yale on Monday 10/6 for a talk about his wonderful books. Details here: poynter.yale.edu/events/2025-...

Sam Kean, Bringing History to Life in Journalism, Podcasts, and Books: A Conversation with Best-Selling Author Sam Kean

poynter.yale.edu

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 8d

Energy Dept. adds ‘climate change’ and ‘emissions’ to banned words list www.politico.com/news/2025/09...

Energy Dept. adds ‘climate change’ and ‘emissions’ to banned words list

It is the latest in a series of Trump administration efforts to dispute, silence or downplay climate change.

www.politico.com

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Reposted by Carl Zimmer

Linsey Marr @linseymarr.bsky.social · 9d

Influenza A virus RNA found in airborne particles from pigs across a range of particle sizes. For reference a 10 micron particle takes ~8 minutes to settle to the ground from a height of 5 feet. That's plenty of time for it to drift around and be inhaled by others.

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 9d

Pigs exhale airborne flu. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Size distribution and viral RNA load of influenza virus-laden airborne particles emitted from pigs over the course of an H1N1 infection - Scientific Reports

Scientific Reports - Size distribution and viral RNA load of influenza virus-laden airborne particles emitted from pigs over the course of an H1N1 infection

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Carl Zimmer

Jonathan Jarry @jonathanjarry.bsky.social · 11d

I read close to 50 papers in order to give an evidence-based, accurate response to Monday's press conference.

There's a lot to unpack here. I hope you find this informative.

Cc: @mcgilloss.bsky.social

www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/...

All About the Tylenol-Autism Brouhaha

At an unhinged press conference last Monday, Donald Trump and his medical acolytes revealed an actionable cause of autism at long last: Tylenol. In what felt like a social media post come to life, Tru...

www.mcgill.ca

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 12d

Million-year-old skulls in China are adding some big wrinkles to the history of modern humans, Neanderthals, and Denisovans. BBC report: www.bbc.com/news/article... & @johnhawks.net take: www.johnhawks.net/p/the-proble...

The problem skulls from Yunxian

The relationships of fossils from deep time in China may help reveal ancestral connections for the Denisovans

www.johnhawks.net

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 12d

Wall-to-wall Ambulocetus!

Three screens with my slides for a talk at Notre Dame

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 13d

Hello @notredame.bsky.social ! Looking forward to my lecture tomorrow. Details here: science.nd.edu/events/2025/...

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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 15d

This ought to be engraved somewhere.

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Maia Szalavitz @maiasz.bsky.social · 15d

Autistic people deserve much better, my latest www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/o...

Opinion | Autistic People Deserve Better Than This

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Carl Zimmer

Seung Min Kim @seungminkim1.bsky.social · 15d

WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump uses platform of presidency to promote unproven ties between Tylenol, vaccines and autism without new evidence.

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 15d

Greetings, people of @notredame.bsky.social ! I'll be visiting on Thursday for a public lecture on writing about science in these unprecedented times. science.nd.edu/events/2025/...

An Evening With Carl Zimmer, science journalist and book author

Carl Zimmer is an award-winning New York Times columnist and author of 15 books about science. His talk, "Science, science communications and science jo...

science.nd.edu

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 19d

I'm headed to Notre Dame next week to give a public lecture on Thursday 9/25 about science writing in an age of all this. Details here: science.nd.edu/events/2025/...

An Evening With Carl Zimmer, science journalist and book author

Carl Zimmer is an award-winning New York Times columnist and author of 15 books about science. His talk, "Science, science communications and science jo...

science.nd.edu

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 20d

How Did Hands Evolve? The Answer Is Behind You. (My story of some surprising evo-devo!) nyti.ms/42Cg8xH

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Dan Diamond @ddiamond.bsky.social · 21d

Set aside any personnel disputes

The big stakes behind today’s CDC hearing: the fate of the childhood vaccine schedule

— Monarez says RFK Jr told her the schedule would change asap and she had to be “onboard”

— She says RFK Jr told her he talks “every day” with Trump about changing the schedule

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 21d

Ousted CDC director says Kennedy plans to change pediatric vaccine schedule www.statnews.com/2025/09/17/m...

Ousted CDC director says Kennedy plans to change pediatric vaccine schedule

Ousted CDC director Susan Monarez told lawmakers that her boss, health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., told her he plans to change the childhood vaccine schedule this month.

www.statnews.com

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Reposted by Carl Zimmer

Thijs Kuiken @thijskuiken.bsky.social · 22d

Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 detected in dairy cows in Nebraska: first time in this state. Total now comes to 1,080 dairy farms infected in 18 states of the USA since March 2024. See map (not yet updated with Nebraska case) for overview.

www.aphis.usda.gov/news/agency-...

Number of confirmed cases in dairy cow farms by state, from March 2024 to 2 September 2025. Source: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-detections/hpai-confirmed-cases-livestock

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Josie Glausiusz @josiegz.bsky.social · 23d

On the Trump administration's cruel disbanding of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium: my op-ed @statnews.com

My 12-year-old son died from brain cancer. This research would have helped children like him

www.statnews.com/2025/09/15/p...

The Trump admin’s cruel disbanding of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium

My 12-year-old son died from brain cancer. The defunding of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium will deny treatments to children like him.

www.statnews.com

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