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mostlymicrobes.bsky.social
#scimom #scicomm sharing stories of our #microbe world. Associate Professor @TowsonU! @microbialTowson @craftymicrobiology #microbiome #microbiology #GirlScoutAlum www.mostlymicrobes.com
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Whooping cough (pertussis) is also known as “100 day cough” bc it can cause 100 days of coughing so severe that rib fractures are common. It also makes small children stop breathing without warning, often fatally. Vaccination can prevent up to 89% of infections but requires boosting every few years

Excited to give a virtual seminar in the NASA LIFE RCN series next Tuesday June 10th, at 8am PST/11am EST. I'll be talking about the Chitin Raft Hypothesis and the rise of planktonic marine cyanobacteria. 🧪🦠⚒️🌐 #Paleobio #MEvoSky #MicroSky www.lifercn.org/events/2025-...

The Truth Of The Matter And They Are Not Bringing Jobs Back….

If signed, Indiana bill will require faculty at public colleges and universities to post their syllabi online and undergo “productivity” reviews. www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...

This is such a cool tool and exactly how we should have framed NIH research all along: Taxpayers fund scientists to understand disease and discover new treatments—and we deliver. It’s public investment that saves lives and improves health for everyone. Direct ROI. 🧪🧫 #IDsky #GastroySky

🙏 We need your help 🙏 The government continues to cancel grants at both NIH and NSF to censor science it doesn't like. We're tracking terminations to organize and advocate. Please report your terminated grants: NIH: forms.gle/J2znQ7y7YpeP... NSF: airtable.com/appGKlSVeXni... w/ @noamross.net

So some good news: recruitment has resumed for postbac and postdoc programs at NIH www.training.nih.gov/research-tra...

Here in Princeton, NJ, a town of about 30,000 people, the crowd at the #HandsOff protest. Appeared to be about 1300-1500 people, as high as 5% of the population. It's the largest event I have seen in this public space.

Do not normalize children dying from measles. Measles was previously eliminated in the US, thanks to vaccines. When children die from measles, it means that adults have catastrophically failed to protect them because they have rejected basic science.

New pancoronavirus antiviral targets the main protease (Mpro) of the two different coronaviruses that cause Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and COVID-19. Via @laurahowes.bsky.social @cenmag.bsky.social cen.acs.org/acs-news/acs...

Cannot recommend highly enough if you need. I have, and was just so grateful to have the resource.

Please repost: Postdoc position in antibiotic discovery in a large multidisciplinary project combining high-throughput approaches, microscopy, AI, and hit-to-lead optimization at @umontreal.ca and @mila-quebec.bsky.social. Apply to [email protected]. See lnkd.in/dVVk4N3s. #microsky

My friend and colleague Alison Pouliot has co-written an important book on "wild mushrooming," and I'm glad that we at the Rachel Carson Center can publish an excerpt. You will also find a part of her 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘍𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘪 on our Portal, and soon an excerpt from 𝘔𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘙𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘴.

It's a star! ⭐ Kirkus Reviews calls @karenlloyd.bsky.social, "one of those rare gifted writers who can be broadly profound as she is precise" in their STARRED review of Intraterrestrials. Check it out: www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews...

www.fastcompany.com/91291116/tru...

USDA has eliminated two food safety advisory committees for microbiological contamination and meat inspection. Most recently, they had been reviewing regulatory approaches in response to the fatal Listeria outbreak from Boar’s Head meats and fatal Cronobacter contamination in powdered infant formula

In the US alone, each year, norovirus causes ~20 million acute gastroenteritis cases, 70,000 hospitalizations, up to 800 deaths, at a cost of ~$10.6 billion annually. An pill vaccine shows considerable promise in a clinical trial, establishing mucosal immunity www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

An important statement from the American Bar Association. www.americanbar.org/news/abanews...

I got laid off today, with the rest of 18F. 18F was an elite federal software shop. We made gov't websites work better, more efficiently for the American people. We saved taxpayers from getting screwed over by contractors. And were fired for it. We made this website to tell our story: 18f.org

If you're of a certain age in this measles outbreak, this is worth your attention!! I was in the yellow. Several years ago our school made faculty provide proof of vaccination. I got tested for antibodies & had minimal protection so I got revaxxed. So happy I was able to get informed and protected!

We are experiencing an assault on science unparalleled by anything I’ve seen in my life. It’s not one issue or another anymore, the entire institution is under attack by the most powerful individuals in the country. This Friday, where will you be? standupforscience2025.org

Francis Collins, the NIH Director for 12 years, led the Human Genome Project and other NIH efforts for 32 years, resigned today. Key words from his resignation letter www.nytimes.com/2025/03/01/u...

The HPV vaccine is amazing. “The new report found that from 2008 to 2022, rates for precancerous lesions decreased about 80% among 20- to 24-year-old women who were screened for cervical cancer. The estimates were published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

To all of Maryland's federal workers who are being harmed by the actions taken in Washington, we encourage you to visit our Public Servants Support Website and see what resources are available. response.maryland.gov/federalpubli...

Was nice to contribute a quote to celebrate the amazing artist Jane Hartman @trilobiteglass.bsky.social! #microsky If you don't have a piece of Jane's art - you gotta take a look: www.etsy.com/shop/trilobi... 🧪🦠🍎 issuu.com/bethesdamaga...

Breaking: FDA's March meeting to select flu shot strains for 2025-2026 season has been canceled per email sent to committee members, a VRBPAC member told me. drug companies need about 6 months leeway to make shots in time for fall vax campaigns. #healthpolicy

The first measles death in the US in a decade -- the tragic, preventable death of a child whose parents chose not to protect them with vaccination -- should spark an immediate nation-wide campaign to ensure all children are protected against preventable diseases. Anything less is unconscionable.

Finally finally - this #bookreview 📖 is out of my favorite kids #microbiology book - SICK: The Twists and Turns of Animal Germs. I loved it so much, did a #luxart piece to celebrate! Read the full review here: www.researchgate.net/publication/... 🧪🦠🧫🪲🍎#Edusky - check it out!

let’s see how it plays out, but the media coverage of the past week meant that the policy couldn’t linger in the shadows anymore keep talking to non-scientists about what you do and why it matters to them

Covid vaccines and the reduced the risk of Long Covid in kids and teens jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

With the demise of Joann's, I'm going to share a few online resources I've found. It's by no means exhaustive, but hopefully it helps folks find what they need. 🧵

Great write up at @thetransmitter.bsky.social on the seeming erasure of SABV in the new era of NIH. Gotta say The Transmitter is killing it the last few weeks, first to report on the Federal Register block and now this. Leading the charge! 💪 www.thetransmitter.org/policy/exclu...

New #Azolla #microbiome #CCGP paper! With @tribblelab.bsky.social @crothfels.bsky.social and @fernway.bsky.social bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

FEDERAL RESEARCH LAB SCIENTIST IN 1965: After five years and seventy million dollars we have invented a new type of plastic that prevents communists from being able to climb ladders too fast FEDERAL RESEARCH LAB SCIENTIST IN 2025: My cure for cancer was shelved because it might benefit Hispanics

And here's the infuriating part: most major outlets don't allow noting funding sources, per editorial policy. Here's a recent exchange I had with an op-ed editor at a major outlet about that point (my request was not granted). Recent events show the need to change these editorial policies...

At least 12 universities now have hiring freezes and nearly 30 have cut PhD admissions this year If you hear of other places you can add them to this google doc:

A few people have kindly lobbed this into the tl, but here's my own gift link: Me, in NYT Opinion, arguing we're not failing to handle H5N1 flu in cattle because the response is based on plans for bird flu in poultry and doesn't match dairy farming structures. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/20/o...

maybe of more general interest... absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2025/02/14/w...

As always, @chriswarcraft.bsky.social is a real one.

Without #NOAA data it is virtually impossible to make highly accurate regional & local weather 🌦️ ❄️ ⚡ forecasts. Most founding fathers kept #weather records. Many of the oldest US weather stations are at old family farms. NOAA is literally more American 🇺🇸 than apple pie, which originated in England.

My mom's involved in a women's group in a red state and I tried to summarize whats been going on in science for them. One action item shared: If you're eligible (10-40yrs), go get your HPV vaccine. You don't have time to fight cancer, you've got fascists to defeat!

If I had a band or a label, I would do a punk cover of "No More Kings" from Schoolhouse Rock. And then I would gather a bunch of people to write a whole album of next-generation Schoolhouse Rock songs, with songs about Social Security and Medicaid and NOAA. I am not kidding in the least.

Alright I’m back. This is a really disingenuous characterization of the situation. So first, yes the primary source of avian influenza are ducks and geese. Who have pretty big migration patterns making it fairly easy to spread virus far and wide.

DOGE recommended firing workers at: -FDA, which oversees Neuralink -FAA, which oversees SpaceX -USAID, which probed Starlink -CFPB, which oversees Tesla's financing arm and a potential payment platform on X. "Conflict of interest" is a severe understatement.