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criticascience.bsky.social @criticascience.bsky.social · Aug 5

From Critica: Vaccination rates among US kindergarten children have fallen to their lowest levels in years, as exemptions rise sharply. It is imperative that public health officials unite to reassure people that these vaccinations are essential and safe.
www.cdc.gov/schoolvaxvie...

Vaccination Coverage and Exemptions among Kindergartners

View national and state-level school vaccination coverage and exemption estimates.

www.cdc.gov

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criticascience.bsky.social @criticascience.bsky.social · Aug 4

From Critica: The US Department of Energy issued a report disputing that climate change is significant or a function of human activity, but experts contend that report is misguided and wrong.
www.science.org/content/arti...

Contrarian climate assessment from U.S. government draws swift pushback

Researchers say DOE report cherry-picks data to downplay threat of greenhouse gases

www.science.org

criticascience.bsky.social @criticascience.bsky.social · Aug 1

From Critica: Here's another important reason to support mRNA technology.

Nature @nature.com · Aug 1

Two vaccine candidates using mRNA technology elicit a potent immune response against HIV

go.nature.com/4ov7WZI

mRNA vaccines for HIV trigger strong immune response in people

Results from early-stage trial show that 80% of participants who received one of two HIV vaccine candidates produced antibodies against viral proteins.

go.nature.com

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criticascience.bsky.social @criticascience.bsky.social · Aug 1

From Critica: During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic there were many attempts to stoke doubt and fear about face masks. Here is a study showing that one of these fears, that toddlers who wear face masks can't learn, is baseless.
neurosciencenews.com/mask-languag...

Masks Don’t Muffle Word Learning: Toddlers Learn Without Seeing Mouths - Neuroscience News

Toddlers as young as two can successfully learn new words even when a speaker’s mouth or eyes are covered, a study shows.

neurosciencenews.com

criticascience.bsky.social @criticascience.bsky.social · Jul 31

From Critica: In states like Texas, wind and solar energy are key to helping farmers and small communities remain economically viable.
theconversation.com/how-wind-and...

How wind and solar power helps keep America’s farms alive

Rural counties also benefit in jobs, manufacturing and tax revenue that will be hard to replace as the US government slashes support for the industries.

theconversation.com

criticascience.bsky.social @criticascience.bsky.social · Jul 30

From Critica: Eliminating the EPA endangerment finding will be devastating to the world's efforts to contain climate change. It is imperative that this not happen.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/29/c...

In Game-Changing Climate Rollback, E.P.A. Aims to Kill a Bedrock Scientific Finding

www.nytimes.com

criticascience.bsky.social @criticascience.bsky.social · Jul 29

From Critica: We have found guidelines from USPSTF to be generally balanced and important. It is unclear why there is now a proposal to fire all of its members.
www.medpagetoday.com/primarycare/...

RFK Jr. Reportedly Planning to Fire All USPSTF Members

Move would come on the heels of abrupt cancellation of task force meeting

www.medpagetoday.com

criticascience.bsky.social @criticascience.bsky.social · Jul 28

From Critica: In an important comment piece in The Lancet, five scholars detail efforts to preserve threatened US public health institutions and call for more concerted effort to advocate for science-based public health policies.
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Building a resistance to US assaults on public health

The administration of US President Donald Trump has launched a full-fledged assault on science and public health;1 its “flood the zone” strategy created chaos and initially overwhelmed potential oppos...

www.thelancet.com

criticascience.bsky.social @criticascience.bsky.social · Jul 24

From Critica: It is important that we understand the facts about gain-of-function research, a necessary method to understand the biology of viruses and get ahead of potential spread to humans.
theconversation.com/gain-of-func...

Gain-of-function research is more than just tweaking risky viruses – it’s a routine and essential tool in all biology research

From cancer immunotherapy and antibiotics to GMO crops and pandemic surveillance, gain of function is a cornerstone of basic research.

theconversation.com

criticascience.bsky.social @criticascience.bsky.social · Jul 23

From Critica: We are deeply concerned by US HHS Secretary Kennedy Jr.'s announcement that he plans to make significant changes in the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, a move that could jeopardize the supply of childhood vaccines.
www.propublica.org/article/rfk-...

RFK Jr. Wants to Overhaul a Vital System That Supports Childhood Immunization

The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program stabilizes the nation’s childhood immunization system while paying those harmed by rare side effects. If the program topples, it could threaten access to vaccin...

www.propublica.org

criticascience.bsky.social @criticascience.bsky.social · Jul 22

From Critica: Dr. Jen Gunter reviews the scientific literature to dispute the FDA's director's statements about menopause hormone therapy. She demonstrates that the issues are complex and require medical expertise to unravel.
vajenda.substack.com/p/marty-maka... @Dr. Jen Gunter

Marty Makary's Many Blind Spots about Menopause Hormone Therapy

His book is a master class in cherry picking

vajenda.substack.com

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criticascience.bsky.social @criticascience.bsky.social · Jul 21

From Critica: Jeremy Faust explains that contrary to media reports the FDA did not in fact give full approval to Moderna's pediatric Covid-19 vaccine and why this could jeopardize the safety of children at risk.
www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/faus...

Opinion | FDA Didn't Really Give 'Full Approval' to Moderna's Pediatric COVID Vaccine

Decision was limited to children who are at increased risk of severe disease

www.medpagetoday.com

criticascience.bsky.social @criticascience.bsky.social · Jul 15

From Critica: We published this today on MedPage Today: Can a Novel Motivational Interviewing Technique Help in the Measles Outbreak? www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/seco... @medpagetoday.bsky.social @gfriedman.bsky.social and visit Critica at www.criticascience.org

Opinion | Can a Novel Motivational Interviewing Technique Help in the Measles Outbreak?

The approach focuses on community-level change in a public forum

www.medpagetoday.com

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criticascience.bsky.social @criticascience.bsky.social · Jul 14

From Critica: A Washington Post editorial suggests that likely new CDC director Susan Monarez could be an important voice to preserve vaccine access and "push back against false information about vaccines." www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
And follow Critica at www.criticascience.org

Opinion | The woman who could impede RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine agenda

Susan Monarez deserves to be confirmed as CDC director.

www.washingtonpost.com

criticascience.bsky.social @criticascience.bsky.social · Jul 11

From Critica: Here's an example of misinformation. But no, the horrible Texas floods were not caused by cloud seeding. Climate change made the floods much worse.
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

He seeded clouds over Texas. Then came the conspiracy theories.

Cloud seeding couldn’t have caused the floods that killed more than 100 people, experts say. But rumormongers suggested a link to one company’s work.

www.washingtonpost.com

criticascience.bsky.social @criticascience.bsky.social · Jul 9

Here is our July Psychology Today blog post. Comments welcome. Visit Critica at www.criticascience.org
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/deny...

Toward a Better Understanding of Electroconvulsive Therapy

When we don't understand how something works, we often fear it. That has been the case with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), but new research may be shedding needed light.

www.psychologytoday.com

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Reposted

Nature @nature.com · Jul 8

The frequency of the longest and most dangerous heatwaves is increasing as the planet warms

https://go.nature.com/4ktlzVZ

Hot air: the most extreme heatwaves are accelerating the fastest

Tropical regions where heatwaves are already common will be hardest hit by this trend.

go.nature.com

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criticascience.bsky.social @criticascience.bsky.social · Jul 8

From Critica: Several major medical societies are taking legal action to challenge the CDC decision to stop recommending Covid-19 vaccines for pregnant women and "healthy children." Scientific evidence clearly supports this legal challenge.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/07/h...

Medical Societies Sue Kennedy and H.H.S. Over Vaccine Advice

www.nytimes.com

criticascience.bsky.social @criticascience.bsky.social · Jul 7

From Critica: Despite attempts to stifle its development, our friend Jeff Levy-Lyons pointed out this article demonstrating that offshore wind energy projects are flourishing in the US.
commonwealthbeacon.org/opinion/offs...

Offshore wind is alive and well. Maybe we should just keep quiet about that. - CommonWealth Beacon

Is it possible that the predictions of the death of offshore wind power – one of our single best tools in the fight against climate change – were greatly exaggerated?

commonwealthbeacon.org

criticascience.bsky.social @criticascience.bsky.social · Jul 3

From Critica: Scientists say that the gradual nature of climate change makes people ignore it because "the human brain tends to overlook small, creeping change." They suggest strategies to overcome the so-called "boiling frog effect."
www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...

Why climate change fades into the background – and how to change that

The public is tuning out the seemingly slow warming of the world, but it doesn't have to be that way, argue Grace Liu and Rachit Dubey

www.newscientist.com

Reposted

Atul Gawande @agawande.bsky.social · Jun 28

"The anti‑vax movement, once seen as confined to the U.S., is now spreading globally." An excellent, if sobering, piece from Rivka Galchen.

The New Yorker @newyorker.com · Jun 27

A recent study devised forecasts for the next 25 years if vaccination rates decline by various rates. A ten-per-cent drop in measles vaccination, for example, would lead to some 11 million additional cases.

Calculating the Damage of Vaccine Skepticism

It’s clear that we’re on the precipice of a surge in preventable diseases. But how bad will it get?

www.newyorker.com

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criticascience.bsky.social @criticascience.bsky.social · Jul 2

From Critica: Using CRISPR gene editing, scientists can make plants that will boost food production and decrease food waste.
www.newscientist.com/article/2479...

England has just given the thumbs up to gene-edited plants. Hooray!

A UK parliamentary committee has greenlit gene-edited plants. This is great news, as it will boost food production and reduce waste, says Michael Le Page

www.newscientist.com

criticascience.bsky.social @criticascience.bsky.social · Jul 1

From Critica: In another blow to science, the US administration proposes to cancel a mission to return rocks from Mars.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/trum....

Trump Seeks to Cancel NASA’s Mars Sample Return—And Scientists Are Outraged

After billions of dollars in spending and decades of planning, NASA may be forced to abandon precious samples of air, rock and soil on the Martian surface. Experts are furious

www.scientificamerican.com

criticascience.bsky.social @criticascience.bsky.social · Jun 30

From Critica: The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports that millions of people will lose health care insurance if the "Big, Beautiful Bill" passes. That would be a disaster that must be avoided.
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Trump's budget: Nearly 12 million estimated to lose health coverage, says CBO

The spending plan could also add nearly $3.3tn (£2.4tn) in debt, according to non-partisan analysis.

www.bbc.com

criticascience.bsky.social @criticascience.bsky.social · Jun 27

From Critica: Yesterday's AHIP decision to remove the preservative thimerosal from flu vaccines is a colossal waste of time: almost no vaccines actually contain it, there is no evidence it is harmful, and it doesn't involve the toxic form of mercury.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

RFK Jr. wins his fight against a rare, safe flu-shot ingredient

A CDC panel’s vote to stop recommending thimerosal-containing flu shots would have limited impact, but it illustrates how the anti-vaccine movement is achieving its goals.

www.washingtonpost.com