The meeting of the United States Preventative Services Task Force has been canceled again—another attack on public health by RFK Jr.
This is an independent group that reviews scientific research for things like cancer screenings. Their recommendations must be covered by insurance.
MAHA!
Science-Based Medicine: Latest Science on Origins of SARS-CoV-2
by Steven Novella
bit.ly/4aMa3n2
Thanks @scifri.bsky.social for having me on to talk about federal research budgets. TLDL: Congress voted to reject the president's big science cuts, but the White House is slow to release those approved funds. 🧪
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...
"Under pressure from RFK Jr, American medical schools have agreed to rework their curriculums to teach more about nutrition."
As if patients eat what their doctors tell them to.
I honestly never thought our (well American) educational institutions would be so spineless and starstruck @joho.bsky.social . Yes, modernize the curriculum but not based on charlatans’ and influencers’ “feels”.
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/04/u...
New YouGov poll finds that for the first time, a majority of Americans disapprove of Trump *strongly.* His overall approval is down to 38%, a new second-term low.
When is the last time a majority has disapproved strongly of a president?
KFF-Peterson Health System Tracker chart shows the share of total health spending by percentile in 2023. The bar chart shows that most health spending comes from a small share of the population, including older adults and people reporting fair or poor health.
In any given year, a small portion of the population is responsible for a very large percentage of total health spending.
See how spending varies by health status, age, sex and more: https://on.kff.org/4u6zqYj
a pack of kittens closes in a a large dog standing on a chair
David Attenborough [whispering]:
“As the predators close in on their helpless prey, we can only watch in silent horror, for it is not man’s role to interfere in the hierarchy of nature.”
Don’t be evil.. but if you’re going to be evil, be spectacularly evil.
04.03.2026 15:31 — 👍 8 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
So... A friend was supposed to give a PURELY SCIENTIFIC talk at NIH within the next couple of weeks and it was cancelled because of a "new process" where all speakers/talks have to be CLEARED BY A POLITICAL APPOINTEE.
04.03.2026 14:52 — 👍 351 🔁 158 💬 17 📌 18“The Trump administration has no plan in Iran. This illegal war is based on lies, and it was launched without any imminent threat to our nation. Donald Trump still hasn’t given a single clear reason for this war, and he seems to have no plan for how to end it.”
04.03.2026 13:41 — 👍 4 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0Bismarck apparently said it first: “Fools learn from experience. I prefer to learn from the experience of others.”
04.03.2026 12:24 — 👍 10 🔁 4 💬 1 📌 0Casey Means still doesn’t have the votes. Keep the letters coming.
04.03.2026 13:06 — 👍 105 🔁 44 💬 1 📌 0
The genomic evidence is a technicality at this point, in my opinion. It's clear we do not meet the intent of holding measles elimination status. The PAHO meeting to decide on our status has been moved to November to allow for completed analysis. www.cidrap.umn.edu/measles/bhat...
04.03.2026 13:03 — 👍 10 🔁 7 💬 0 📌 0They say it prevents dyslexia
04.03.2026 02:37 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0idk that seems to be the understatement of the week. this is actually happening, postdocs and RAs are being let go, and projects falter. 'could face funding gaps'? this is actually happening at a large scale. 'Worry' doesnt reflect the existential crisis that many of my colleagues are in.
03.03.2026 17:37 — 👍 40 🔁 15 💬 3 📌 0
It appears we may have replaced Ayatollah Khamenei with Ayatollah Khamenei
03.03.2026 23:32 — 👍 3669 🔁 939 💬 418 📌 658
Walgreens pharmacy sign that reads “get your shongles shit today”
Remember everyone
02.03.2026 19:44 — 👍 616 🔁 116 💬 10 📌 6
Thousands in Iran attend burial of children killed in bombing of school. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/w...
03.03.2026 21:50 — 👍 246 🔁 111 💬 16 📌 14
Melania Trump presides over the UN security council speaking about children in danger while the United States and Israel bomb a girls' school.
Monero Rapé, Mexico 🇲🇽 @monerorape.bsky.social
1/ If I hear one more public official call indoor air filters a "band-aid," I'm going to explode! Filtering indoor air should be as standard as filtering water. Full stop. 🧵
03.03.2026 20:55 — 👍 233 🔁 81 💬 4 📌 15
Judge Vacates Punishments of Columbia Students Who Occupied a Building www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/n...
03.03.2026 19:55 — 👍 6 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 2
PAHO scheduled an April review of whether the US should lose its measles elimination status for the first time since 2000. HHS asked to push it to November, to analyze more data. 🧐
1,100 cases in 8 weeks. November is an interesting choice.
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/02/w...
"Since Trump took office 13 months ago, NIH has posted only 84 NOFOs, down from 787 in the previous year. Many more are in limbo. NIH has 323 opportunities listed as 'forecasted.' ... many on the list were announced in 2024 and ’25 and still are not open."
03.03.2026 18:58 — 👍 27 🔁 17 💬 2 📌 3Sounds like the Trump cabinet
03.03.2026 18:43 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0Jim O'Neill has officially been nominated to be NSF Director as of yesterday.
03.03.2026 17:15 — 👍 7 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 0
“I think the current director is not following the recommendations of his staff,” Bourla said.
www.cnbc.com/2026/03/02/p...
interviews for this poll were conducted both before and after Trump launched his war against Iran.
03.03.2026 14:55 — 👍 401 🔁 93 💬 8 📌 2
This feels like a helpful primer for understanding AI in general. It makes programmers more efficient on the front end because they can generate more code. But it makes them less efficient afterwards because it vastly increases the amount of time they spend tweaking and fixing bugs.
03.03.2026 14:03 — 👍 876 🔁 164 💬 27 📌 20
