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andycarstens.bsky.social
Freelance science journalist and writer based in Colorado.🌈🦄🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈 https://andycarstens.com/
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Acquaintance after learning my husband lost 10 pounds: *looks at me* Are you jealous? I was dumbfounded. One of those, if I could go back moments I’d say: why should I be, please explain.

That fool wouldn’t know biological truth if it burrowed like a worm into his brain.

Not my husband trying to show me the delta crash video on the way to the airport. 🛑

LGBTQI people aren’t DEI, we are people Whole ass human beings

This is where you go to tell the National Park Service to restore the word "transgender" in its entry on the Stonewall monument. (Scroll down.)

A major flaw in our government is that politicians and judges are often not qualified to evaluate science. We have many laws rooted in stigma vs. research (eg HIV criminalization). Now we have policymakers labeling work they don’t comprehend as “woke” or “DEI.” Real people and the planet will pay.

U.S. Senators: If Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. takes over the Department of Health and Human Services, people will die who could have lived. If you vote today to confirm him, their deaths will be on your hands. slate.com/technology/2...

The pages that are set to be revived include information for patients about HIV testing and HIV prevention medication, guidance on contraceptives and data on adolescent and youth mental health.

Horrific. Reporters are beginning to collect the names of specific people that Musk and Trump have killed by abruptly terminating USAID—in this case Pe Kha Lau, a Burmese woman living in Thailand

🧪Surprise, I'm back with another #breakingnews request. If you work in biomedical research (infectious disease, chronic disease, food safety, drug safety, vaccines, etc.), I'd love to hear (very soon) about how you think your field will fare under RFK's leadership of HHS. Please share widely!

#teachers and #professors, what tools are you using to detect whether students used AI to write their assignments? Are there any that work well yet?

I have run out of patience with the apparent silence of most US science institutions (and not just US) in the face of Trump & Musk's rampage. There are of so many facets of that, but in this column for @chemistryworld.com I talk about the assaults on inclusion. www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/scie...

We @propublica.org are tracking who is working with Elon Musk and what they are doing. We have 20+ names so far including some that haven't yet been reported. Help us investigate and send us tips 🔎: www.propublica.org/tips/federal... projects.propublica.org/elon-musk-do...

Yeah so the Constitution isn’t really in effect right now

Losing NOAA would be devastating. Project 2025 authors want to get rid of it because it monitors climate change, and privatize the information it currently provides for free, so you'll have to buy information about the weather and the winds (imperative for mariners).

Exclusive: Federal workers have filed an emergency motion requesting a restraining order to disconnect the DOGE server that's being used to conduct Trump's "deferred resignation program." The workers had previously accused DOGE of illegally bypassing a mandated privacy audit. By me at @wired.com:

🚨BREAKING. From a program officer at the National Science Foundation, a list of keywords that can cause a grant to be pulled. I will be sharing screenshots of these keywords along with a decision tree. Please share widely. This is a crisis for academic freedom & science.

Hi, I am @motherjones.com' disability reporter. In the following weeks, I am very interested in hearing how tariff nonsense impacts getting your meds and medical equipment. My email to get in touch is [email protected]. Reposts appreciated.

USAID is a criminal organization,” Mr. Musk wrote on Sunday in a social media post that many aid workers saw as confirmation the agency would soon be absorbed into the State Department and that some viewed as a potential threat to their personal safety. “Time for it to die.” THIS HAS TO STOP.

Breaking news: The White House has removed two top security officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development, the world’s largest provider of food assistance, after they refused to let representatives of Elon Musk access restricted spaces.

is it good or bad that a billionaire oligarch with close ties to foreign dictators is currently downloading the most sensitive information the us federal government has about its citizens to his own private servers?

Still some joy happening 👏👏👏

I spoke to #WHO 's Mike Ryan, in Uganda helping with the #Ebola response. Six contacts are ill, but not yet clear if they have Ebola. Vaccination could start Sunday. WHO is covering off key programs hit by the Trump admin's aid freeze, including border screening. www.statnews.com/2025/02/01/u...

FYI the first Saturday in February is Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day (if you already had breakfast you can eat ice cream for second breakfast) slate.com/life/2025/01...

Ace Robinson & some of the world's leading experts have developed "Saving Our People: Black Global Response to Shift in USA Health Policy" to help communities navigate health funding cuts. I'm proud to moderate this discussion. Join us on Feb 5 at 2 PM (EST). Details are in the attached picture.

A thoughtful summary and good reporting from James Salanga at The Objective: objectivejournalism.org/2025/01/as-t...

they are stealing data from the american people and depriving us of the transparency that we are entitled to by law. none of this is legal and not a single federal employee has any reason to comply.

Deletion Day. When they said “nothing on the internet ever disappears,” I guess they meant nudes, not decades of public health and science data. Poof.

They’ve wiped STI and PrEP guidelines off the CDC website. Thankfully the folks at nnptc.org have migrated the information over to their website.

CDC’s clinical guidelines for PrEP — which all but eliminates HIV risk — have been removed from CDC’s website. This is what you get when you search. Expanding PrEP access is essential to end HIV infections. They want people to get HIV as some sort of punishment for being immoral.

🚨 The CDC website is purging resources on LGBTQ+ health, diversity, equity, and health disparities. This is not just a bureaucratic change. It’s a dangerous decision with profound negative public health consequences. Let’s break down the harm this will cause. 🧵⬇️

I am sure LGBTQ employees are now wondering if they can talk about their personal lives with colleagues. If they do, will they be automatically labeled DEI hires and terminated? Fear is no way to lead.

Pasteurization temperatures inactivate #H5N1 effectively. We know that raw milk contains replicating virus and can a source of infection for this virus. #RFKJr is a raw milk enthusiast who should not lead HHS esp NOT in the middle of an uncontrolled #H5N1 outbreak. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

NEW issue OUT NOW! Juan Michael Porter II, Mark S. King, Deborah Norris and more! Download your free PDF here: mega.nz/file/Rz1xkAZ... Or Browse online here: issuu.com/pozplanetmag...

Just in case anybody has doubts about what "Make America Healthy Again" really means, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. filed a trademark request to use the slogan to market supplements, essential oils & cryptocurrency. Scammity scam-scam scamming scammer. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Reporters: Please stop calling things DEI that are not DEI. This is only cementing the propaganda being used to legitimize the dismantling of all types of initiatives that are not DEI as well as legitimize efforts to end civil rights enforcement. Be specific with your language. Be accurate.

if you cared about morale and recruitment you would not alienate a group that disproportionately enlists into the military, but if you are a white nationalist…

I love how during this HHS secretary confirmation hearing, people keep saying they “believe the science” and then say stuff that is completely contradictory to science, including RFK Jr himself. When the scientists are all screaming no, please listen to us! Call your senators!!

I commend Dr. Kennedy-Meltzer on the courage of sharing this with the public. I beseech people to see reason: there is no one more anti-qualified to serve as secretary of HHS. www.statnews.com/2025/01/28/k... www.documentcloud.org/documents/25...

Six years ago, I gave this commentary on Trump's first trans military ban. Every word is still true. There is zero credibility to what Trump claims now about trans service members. This attempted ban is cruel, unnecessary, and it will make our nation far less safe. www.youtube.com/watch?v=oILW...