Josh Fischman

Vaughn Cooper’s new Scientific American article offers a clear look at the potential threats posed by mirror‑life. He trained with MGI's Rich Lenski @relenski.bsky.social, whose contributions to the field are referenced in the piece. Important context for a complex topic.

Ok will change to "closer." Pass that along to Tom, if you would. Your story was one of our 5 most popular reads this week. (The denominator under that 10 is all the stories published in our 180-year history, technically. More realistically it's the 40 we have published in the last 2 weeks.)

Trump’s Chilling Weaponization of Confidential Government Records Remind me—who else in history made lists of Jewish intellectuals and people with disabilities?

What happens when the person being watched and discriminated against is you? www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-chil...

@vscooper.micropopbio.org hi Vaughn. Would it be more accurate, in the subhed, if we changed "are close" to "are moving closer"?

RFK Jr. is moving to remake a little-known vaccine panel. It could have big consequences Firing the advisory panel's members could be a first step toward revamping the vaccine injury compensation system.

RFKjr and HHS are making it easier to sue pharma for health problems that occur after vaccination. Any vaccination. Will this stop development of new vaccines (because pharma will be sued for anything and stop developing new vaccinations). Or help people with real injuries? What do you think? 🧪

Live Updates: Venezuelan Opposition Leader Gives Trump Her Peace Prize

Donald Trump grabs Nobel Peace Prize--with somebody else's name on it-- from original winner after leading bombing that killed more that 100 people. at the point of a gun www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01...

Probiotics Help Only a Few Relatively Rare Diseases, according to Strong Science Popular supplements with billions of “good” microbes really help only a few illnesses, research shows

Expensive Probiotic Supplements only work for a very few diseases, and not overall gut health, Scientific American reports. Save your money. 🧪 share.google/nbkhbPmzWpZP...

Something odd here. 2 of the scientists from Denmark showed live vaccines are extra powerful, protecting babies from diseases beyond the intended one. Measles and the TB vaccine do this. One researcher, Christine Benn, wrote a popular article on this, below. How did this get seen as anti-vax? 🧪

CDC awards $1.6 million for hepatitis B vaccine study by controversial Danish researchers

More "gold standard science" from Trump and RfkJr. They gave $1.6 million to Danish scientists for a study apparently designed to prove a childhood vaccine doesn't work. While cutting billions from research in the US. www.cidrap.umn.edu/childhood-va...

Eleven clinical trials that will shape medicine in 2026 - Nature Medicine Nature Medicine asks leading researchers to name their top clinical trial for 2026, from long-awaited vaccines for infectious diseases to new treatments for advanced cancers and long COVID.

11 medical experiments that will shape our health in 2026: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

They trigger reward systems instead.

A 25mg pill always costs more than a 1mg pill of the same compound, though. A stroll through CVS tells you that.

I think it's more general. Like: the effective dose for people may be closer to the 25mg that worked best in the trials. And not the 1.5mg whose cost was cited by the pharma co. In that case cost would be higher than $149/ month. How much higher? Thoughts, @laurenjyoung.bsky.social ?

Does the Spectator article you reference give a source for that high number? I read it and couldn't see a source.. Perhaps i missed it?

U.S. Approves Wegovy Weight-Loss Pill, a Move That Could Transform Health Care A pill version of the popular GLP-1 weight-loss drug Wegovy has been green-lit for use in the U.S. Here’s what that means for health care

Math/money problem with the new Wegovy GLP-1 weight loss pill. www.scientificamerican.com/article/wego... The pill is $149/month for 1.5 mg. But in the clinical trial showing success, the daily pill was 25 mg. That's 16.7 HIGHER. www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.... So is that $2488.30 per pill? 🧪 #medsky

Jim Beam Halts Production, as Whiskey Market Struggles

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/d...

Jim Beam Halts Production, as Whiskey Market Struggles

For astounding appropriateness, this story on whisky industry death knells was written by a Times obituary writer. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/d...

So true.

Thanks for the compliment and glad you liked it.

Thank you for the nice note.

First RFKjr cuts HHS' own research about stopping childhood diseases. Now he cuts grants to pediatricians for stopping infant deaths. Seems much more like mindless revenge and less like making America healthy. 🧪 #medsky

Heart and Kidney Diseases, plus Type 2 Diabetes, May Be One New Syndrome Treatable with New Drugs These three disorders could really be “CKM syndrome,” which can be treated with drugs like Ozempic

3 killers really may be 1 disease. Read how in new SciAm issue: www.scientificamerican.com/article/hear... 🧪 #medsky

Australia announces strict new gun laws. Here's how it can act so swiftly Less than 48 hours after the deadly attack at Sydney's Bondi Beach that left more than a dozen dead, Australian authorities announced proposals for sweeping new gun laws.

Right after yesterday's gun massacre in Australia, some US gun enthusiasts said it indicated gun safety laws don't work. Wrong. Australia hasn't had mass shootings since 1996 while US has them all the time. Australia reaction to the massacre was to move for stricter laws because they work:

🧪

A photograph of a flat, soft-bodied springtail, looking face-on towards the camera as it crawls on the surface of some decaying wood.

There are few soil animals as adorable as the 'podgy' springtails!

This Platunurida sp. is a cousin of the famous 'giant' springtails in New Zealand. Instead of colourful spines, it has a flattened body, enabling it to squeeze into cracks in decaying logs where it lives.

#TheWorldBeneathOurFeet 🧪📸

Sr. Editorial Director, Print Position Overview: Do you love print? Do you thrive on imagining eye-catching front of the book treatments, deeply reported features, and powerful photo essays? This is an incredible and rare opportun...

Challenging but rewarding journalism job. www.technologyreview.com/job/editoria...

FDA to lower number of trials required for approval of drugs, other medical products | Matthew Herper | 11 comments Now the FDA is lowering the number of trials required for approval of drugs and other medical products from two to one, a major change to how approval works, according to and interview Lizzy Lawrence ...

FDA, under Trump, reduces # of drug trials to 1, from 2 or more. More danger for you, more profits for pharma business. www.linkedin.com/posts/matthe...

CDC Vaccine Panel in Disarray Over Hepatitis B Vote Members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices seemed confused on a proposed recommendation for the hepatitis B vaccine birth dose

CDC's advisory committee on vaccines (appointed by RFKjr) today cannot figure out their own 3 alternatives for the hepatitis B birth dose. Members said they were confused by the info they were given, reports @laurenjyoung.bsky.social in @sciam.bsky.social now. Could keep the dose--or not. 🧪 #medsky

vm.tiktok.com/ZTHTG9E4S83A... Why @ellecordova.bsky.social rules.

Wow. This feels like one of the most important science stories I've read in a long time.

PPD is serious, life-altering stuff and the not-insignificant odds of developing it is something that weighs seriously in my own deliberations about having kids or not.