Jonathan Lambert

Babies take a lesson from soldiers in the war against malaria Inspired by a military strategy to ward off disease-carrying mosquitoes, researchers see if the technique will help cut malaria infections in little ones.

In many parts of rural Africa, babies bop around on mom's back during the daytime, where they're exposed to malaria. Treating those baby wraps with permethrin cuts that risk drastically.

"It was a level of effect that was beyond even our wildest expectations."

www.npr.org/sections/goa...

All Life on Earth Today Descended From a Single Cell. Meet LUCA. | Quanta Magazine The clearest picture yet of our “last universal common ancestor” suggests it was a relatively complex organism living 4.2 billion years ago, a time long considered too harsh for life to flourish.

www.quantamagazine.org/all-life-on-...

Coming soon! The Best American Science & Nature Writing 2025 Discover the 2025 Best American Science & Nature Writing anthology, curated by Susan Orlean and featuring exceptional science writing that explores the wonders of our natural world.

My first time appearing in the "Notables" section of a book I eagerly await each year!

For a @quantamagazine.bsky.social story I wrote last fall about LUCA.
jaimealyse.beehiiv.com/p/basnw25

Jane Goodall, legendary primatologist, has died at age 91 Jane Goodall, primatologist who transformed our understanding of the lives of apes, has died, according to an announcement from the Jane Goodall Institute.

JUST IN: Jane Goodall, primatologist who transformed our understanding of the lives of apes, has died, according to an announcement from the Jane Goodall Institute.

Today marks the first day in public media’s history without federal funding. And we’re not going anywhere.

Listeners like you keep our mission alive. Protect one of the last places where America comes together to hear itself.

Stand with us today. Donate at this link: n.pr/46wamAj

From vultures to hyenas: How scavengers protect human health : Short Wave Worldwide, populations of scavenging animals that feed on rotting carcasses are declining. Scientists are finding that this can seriously hurt human health. NPR science reporter Jonathan Lambert has b...

Had a blast going on Short Wave to talk scavengers and why they're surprisingly important for human health.
www.npr.org/2025/10/01/n...

Neglected form of diabetes with unusual symptoms finally gets its own name An unusual type of diabetes linked to malnutrition now has a name. Scientists are calling for wider recognition of the newly classified Type 5 diabetes to spur better treatments.

Researchers have known about a form of diabetes linked to malnutrition for 70 years, but it's been largely neglected. That's a problem for patients, since standard treatment can be lethal.

Now, scientists are hoping a new name - Type 5 diabetes - will spur more research.
www.npr.org/sections/goa...

Official communication from FDA to physicians on acetaminophen use in pregnancy acknowledges there is no causal link between its use in pregnancy and autism. Also states clearly that this is the safest over the counter treatment for fever and pain in pregnancy. It is very different from what was communicated at the press conference.

This is the official communication from the FDA to physicians on acetaminophen use in pregnancy.
- They acknowledge the lack of a causal link with autism
- Essentially tell physicians to keep doing what we've been doing anyway
It's very different from the press conference.
Pass it on.

World health officials reject Trump's claims that Tylenol is linked to autism The President says pregnant women should stay away from Tylenol due to possible autism link. World health authorities strongly disagree, say the drug is safe in pregnancy.

We did!
www.npr.org/2025/09/23/g...

World health officials reject Trump's claims that Tylenol is linked to autism The President says pregnant women should stay away from Tylenol due to possible autism link. World health authorities strongly disagree, say the drug is safe in pregnancy.

"Don't pay any attention whatsoever to what Donald Trump says about medicine ... I've just got to be really clear about this: there is no evidence to link the use of paracetamol by pregnant women to autism in their children. None." -- UK Health Secretary

www.npr.org/2025/09/23/g...

Vaccine ‘skeptics’ among new advisers joining CDC committee Some have little to no documented experience with vaccines while others have undermined their safety

The meeting of CDC vaccine advisers is getting underway soon. Meet the new members, some of whom have said we need to stop giving Covid vaccines and reexamine the childhood immunization schedule.

“As Christians, we should not fear death,” one new adviser said.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Draft agenda for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) meeting, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, scheduled for Thursday, September 18, 2025. The meeting begins at 10:00 AM with welcome and roll call by Dr. Martin Kulldorff (ACIP Chair) and Dr. Mina Zadeh (CDC). At 10:30 AM, Dr. Kulldorff provides work group updates. At 11:00 AM, the committee discusses measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV) vaccines, with presentations by Dr. Arjun Srinivasan and Dr. John Su, followed by proposed recommendations. Lunch is at 1:00 PM. At 1:30 PM, Hepatitis B vaccine discussions begin, including presentations by Dr. Adam Langer and Dr. John Su. After a 4:00 PM break, agency updates from CDC, CMS, FDA, HRSA, IHS, and NIH start at 4:15 PM, followed by public comment at 4:30 PM. At 5:00 PM, votes are held on MMRV and Hepatitis B vaccines and Vaccines for Children (VFC) program, with Dr. Jeanne Santoli joining Dr. Kulldorff. The meeting adjourns at 5:30 PM.

The CDC has released the agenda for this week’s vaccine advisory meeting. The first item of business: MMR vaccines. 👀👀👀

www.cdc.gov/acip/meeting...

In 2022, the name 'monkeypox' was rejected as inapt. Now the U.S. is reviving it The World Health Organization nixed the name "monkeypox." The virus is spread by rodents and small mammals. And there's a stigma factor. Mpox took its place. Why has the U.S. returned to "monkeypox"?

HHS now referring to mpox as "monkeypox" again.

"It just falls in line with the playbook of this administration to go back to controversial terms ... This is a simple provocation."
www.npr.org/sections/goa...

Love, drugs and condoms: Couples with different HIV status face a new reality They're called "serodiscordant" couples. One is HIV positive, the other negative. Aid from the U.S. enabled them to obtain medicines and condoms for protection — until this year.

They're called "serodiscordant" couples. One is HIV positive, the other negative. Aid from the U.S. enabled them to obtain medicines and condoms for protection — until this year.

TB is the #1 killer among infectious diseases. A new study says its toll could mount New research estimates that as many as 2.2 million more people could die of tuberculosis if U.S. cuts to foreign aid become permanent.

New research estimates that U.S. cuts to TB programs could cost as many as 2.2 million additional lives by the end of the decade. Even short-term disruptions could cost tens of thousands.
www.npr.org/sections/goa...

Scientists take on Trump: the researchers fighting back Through lawsuits, grant tracking, whistle-blowing and more, resistance to the US war on science is growing.

Often the news happens so quickly that there's little time for it, so we took a step back to talk about the stories of the researchers who have been fighting back against the Trump administration's assault on science.

w/ @maxkozlov.bsky.social and @heidiledford.bsky.social

In April NPR profiled people who couldn't get their HIV drugs. How are they faring now? In Zambia, we met people who are HIV positive, couldn't get drugs to suppress the virus after U.S. aid cuts and were seeing symptoms. We checked in on them — and the man who's been their champion.

This why accurate journalism and reporting matters so much . After @npr.org reported on these individuals who faced death without access to ART after the US pulled foreign funding, the Zambian government stepped up, got in contact and providing life saving meds. A win!
www.npr.org/sections/goa...

It's true! 500 days of bargaining with @society4science.bsky.social and still no contract! Big thanks to @wbng.org for working hard to help us secure the fair deal our workers deserve! If you'd like to help, be sure to sign our petition below!

#faircontractNOW #Solidarity #workerrights

WHO head says mpox no longer represents a public health emergency of international concern, citing sustained declines in the hardest hit countries. Still a continental emergency in Africa.

Exclusive: RFK Jr. and the White House buried a major study on alcohol and cancer. Here’s what it shows. Kennedy wants to “Make America Healthy Again” — but doesn’t want you to see a report that could do just that.

Exclusive: RFK Jr. and the White House buried a major study on alcohol and cancer. Here’s what it shows.

www.vox.com/health/46008...

Congratulations Max!!! So richly deserved!

Gravity Is Gone Independent reporting and commentary on science, politics, and policy

My pre-labor day reward was to get laid off, do me a favor and sign up to get my now-independent reporting and writing

Leaving aside the typical histrionics, this seems to be Trump beginning to distance himself from Kennedy (who’s “ripping apart” CDC), and inviting mainstream physicians and scientists to defend the vaccines, so Trump can then say, I got them to explain it better and vaccines are OK.

Photos: Mother Nature must be really annoyed at our fakery A polar bear in a zoo, a hotel balcony overlooking elephants, a tree mural shrouded by haze: They're images from the new book The Anthropocene Illusion, about the way humans are remaking Earth.

It was a pleasure talking with Zed Nelson about his arresting new book "The Anthropocene Illusion."

Fair warning, the photos may leave you feeling a sort of gnawing emptiness at our capacity for artifice and delusion... at least that was my reaction.
www.npr.org/sections/goa...

How Elon Musk’s billionaire Doge lieutenant took over the US’s biggest MDMA company Antonio Gracias is part of the growing movement among Silicon Valley’s right wing enamored with the therapeutic and commercial potential of drugs like MDMA

every good Silicon Valley therapeutic ecstasy company takeover starts on the Playa www.theguardian.com/technology/n...

Reginfo.gov is currently undergoing revisions. Until this temporary issue is resolved, data related to EO 12866 reviews and information collection requests (ICRs) may not accurately update. EO 12866 meeting requests and public comments submitted for ICRs will be handled via email until this issue is resolved. To view an updated list of all actions under EO 12866 review, please click here. To request an EO 12866 meeting, please send an email to MBX.OMB.OIRA.EO12866Requests@omb.eop.gov For EO 12866 Meeting Requests, please use the following subject line: "EO 12866 Meeting Request: [RIN] [Rule Title]." The Regulatory Identification Number (RIN) can be found on reginfo.gov. Please list the requestor's name and affiliation, as well as anticipated attendees in the body of the email request. To submit a comment on an information collection request, please email your comment to MBX.OMB.OIRA.ICRComments@omb.eop.gov with the subject line: "ICR Comment: [OMB Control Number] [Collection Title]."

Today is the ninth day that the homepage of Reginfo.gov — the federal government website for informing the public about what survey data and other information agencies collect — has displayed a notice saying it's "currently undergoing revisions" with no further explanation

Breaking: BILL CASSIDY is calling for CDC's vaccine advisers meeting to be postponed.

"If the meeting proceeds, any recommendations made should be rejected as lacking legitimacy given the seriousness of the allegations and the current turmoil in CDC leadership."

Inside the CDC director's ouster: Kennedy demanded acceptance of new vaccine policies; Susan Monarez refused Susan Monarez’s resistance to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s moves to assert control over vaccine guidance is at the center of her dismissal as CDC director

"She had two lines in the sand ... One was anything that was deemed illegal. And the second was anything that she felt flew in the face of science. And she says she was asked to do both of those.”
www.statnews.com/2025/08/28/c...

Update — hearing that the White House has formally fired Monarez, per two admin sources.

Monarez's lawyers said earlier tonight she had neither resigned nor been fired