Sarah Nowak, PhD

Don't parents by definition... have children?

Reflecting on what she learned and experienced since her physics degree, Nowak’s suggestion to a junior researcher in today’s uncertain times is to focus on what drew them into research in the first place: “Most people who go into academic and scientific research are guided by their values — whether that’s curiosity, a love for the scientific method or a belief that advances in science, technology and medicine can help make the world a better place. My advice is to remember to let those values guide you and find community with others who share them.”

It's the 20th anniversary of Nature Physics and my first paper, which appeared in that first issue. I was asked to reflect on the past 2 decades and offer thoughts for todays' junior researchers. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

We got a power crisis on our hands, you get that nuclear power plant started like I asked?

Sure did boss, real far away, just like you asked, true story.

What.

NIH released its Autism Data Science Initiative Funding Opportunities announcement. It doesn't use a normal NIH funding mechanism, so there's less transparency and standardization to the process than is typical. It also has a crazy fast timeline. dpcpsi.nih.gov/autism-data-... #medsky #sciencesky

The hummingbirds are here! Yes, this is basically my profile picture, but that was last year and this is today. #vermont #birding

bleeding heart flowers in front of a mossy tree trunk

We get spring late in #vermont, but even more than bulbs, my bleeding hearts are my favorite sign.

5 Places to Turn for Accurate Health Information (Gift Article) Changes to federal health websites have raised concerns about their reliability. These independent sources offer an alternative.

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/28/w... #medsky #sciencesky

YouTube video by More Perfect Union Building Trades President responds to unlawful deportation of union worker

"you call us... and that includes all of us, including our brother, SMART apprentice Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who we demand be returned to us and his family now."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=K31t...

Like "censoring" the idea the vitamin A can be just as effective against measles as the vaccine? www.nytimes.com/2025/03/25/h...

It seems like this call could be interpreted to include pretty much any public health messaging, including things like smoking increases the risk of lung cancer. #medsky

Oh FFS

RFK Jr.’s Prescription for Bird Flu on Farms: Let It Spread (Gift Article) The health secretary has suggested allowing the virus to spread, so as to identify birds that may be immune. Such an experiment would be disastrous, scientists say.

What could go wrong?
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/18/h... #sciencesky #medsky

Kennedy Links Measles Outbreak to Poor Diet and Health, Citing Fringe Theories (Gift Article) In a recent interview, the health secretary also suggested that the measles vaccine had harmed children in West Texas, center of an outbreak.

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/10/h...

Vaccines are "recommended" for West Texans, but the risks of immunization have been underestimated, he said. Mr. Kennedy acknowledged that vaccines "do prevent infection" and said that the federal government was helping ensure that people have access to "good medicines, including those who want them, to vaccines." "In highly unvaccinated communities like Mennonites, it's something that we recommend," he said.

"In highly unvaccinated communities like Mennonites, it is something we recommend." - RFK Jr. He seems to be implying the reverse as well -- that it is ok, perhaps even recommended, to free ride on community immunity where vaccination rates are high. #medsky #sciencesky

AAP, physician groups urge NIH to restore funding for vaccine uptake studies The call to restore grant funding to study vaccine hesitancy and uptake comes amid a large measles outbreak in Texas and New Mexico, where most of those infected are unvaccinated children.

publications.aap.org/aapnews/news... #medsky #sciencesky

This pairs well with my last post bsky.app/profile/snow...

Image of a made for you spotify mix called Protest Songs Mix. "Protest Songs music picked just for you"

This is what happens when you listen to (We're in the middle of a) Hostile Government Takeover on repeat on Spotify. This is a real mix I saw today in my app.

Today, a reporter from the Russian state news agency TASS gained unauthorized access to the Oval Office. How does one gain unauthorized access to the Oval Office? Meanwhile, AP and Reuters were blocked.

Cancelled Amazon prime today

F.D.A. Cancels Meeting of Vaccine Experts Scheduled to Advise on Flu Shots (Gift Article) The cancellation plays into fears among scientists who worry that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will use his position as health secretary to sow doubts about vaccines.

NEWS

The FDA, which operates under the authority of Robert Kennedy Jr., canceled the meeting to discuss next year’s flu vaccines.

This could interfere with or delay production of flu vaccines.

86 children and 19,000 adults have died from flu this season.

About 430,000 people were hospitalized.

Multimillion-dollar Biden-era COVID-19 vax project halted by Trump’s HHS Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. paused a $240 million contract to create a new coronavirus vaccine.

The large clinical trial of a new Covid vaccine pill (not shot) was halted by RFK Jr www.aol.com/multimillion...
The Covid nasal vaccines may be next up to be axed.

I'm excited to share that @sanders.senate.gov and Senator Peter Welch will be joining our tele-townhall so Vermonters can hear from us together!

Join us on Wednesday, February 26, at 6:30PM. RSVP at balint.house.gov/live. Talk to you soon!

Gift link.

The actual story of the shackled people being deported without even being told where they were being taken — maybe to countries where they’d face torture or death — while their terrified children cried.😢

The White House posted that pic with “ASMR” tag.

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/w...

Trump Administration Live Updates: President Calls Zelensky a ‘Dictator’ Who Took U.S. Money to Go to War

This kind of foreign policy gaslighting frightens me more than anything else.
www.nytimes.com/live/2025/02...

The intention is incredibly bad, and if this is a real list, the execution is incredibly stupid. Bias has a technical meaning important for evaluating the performance of statistical/machine learning/AI methods that has nothing to do with the specifics of the application, just one of many examples.

Why Did the LA Times Edit This RFK Jr. Article to Be More Pro-Trump? The op-ed writer slammed both the paper and its owner, Patrick Soon-Shiong.

"Why Did the LA Times Edit This RFK Jr. Article to Be More Pro-Trump?"
newrepublic.com/post/191007/...

Did RFK Jr. or Michelle Obama say it about food? Take our quiz Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has vowed to take on the food industry, echoing Michelle Obama’s efforts to improve nutrition in America. Test to see if you know who said what on U.S. nutrition.

This is NOT the way to cover RFK Jr. Are there some areas where he might be reasonable? Sure. Someone doesn't have to be terrible on *every* aspect of policy to be a terrible choice to lead a gov't agency.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/inter...

Some Raw Truths About Raw Milk (Gift Article) Despite the serious risks of drinking it, a growing movement — including the potential health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — claims it has benefits. Should we take them more seriously?

Interesting article about some of the *correlations* between raw milk consumption and reduced allergies that drive the raw milk movement. (Does *not* suggest that the benefits outweigh the risks, only that there's interesting science to be done.)
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/13/m...

The state of the Arctic: High temperatures, melting ice, fires and unprecedented emissions The Arctic tundra has switched from a carbon sink to a source of emissions, according to a NOAA report.

ICYMI: the NOAA says continuing permafrost thaws have flipped the Arctic from a carbon sink to a source of emissions

Elucidating regulatory processes of intense physical activity by multi-omics analysis - Military Medical Research Background Physiological and biochemical processes across tissues of the body are regulated in response to the high demands of intense physical activity in several occupations, such as firefighting, l...

Small but interesting study. Anecdotally, I've definitely experienced low-level illness seemingly turning into full-blown illness following dumb decisions to not scale back on relatively intense planned exercise.
mmrjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....