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Darren Incorvaia

@megadarren.bsky.social

Science journalist and silly billy Staff writer at Fierce Biotech, other words in NYT, Science, Science News, etc. Inveterate invertebrate evangelist Opinions mine! Signal: dinc.49

2,438 Followers  |  542 Following  |  184 Posts  |  Joined: 01.05.2023  |  1.915

Latest posts by megadarren.bsky.social on Bluesky

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Protein Powders and Shakes Contain High Levels of Lead - Consumer Reports CR tests of 23 popular protein powders and shakes found that most contain high levels of lead.

my latest investigation for @consumerreports.org is based on months of reporting and 60+ lab tests of leading protein supplements

we found that most protein powders and shakes have more lead in one serving than our experts say is safe to have in a day (🧡)

www.consumerreports.org/lead/protein...

14.10.2025 16:37 β€” πŸ‘ 3388    πŸ” 1908    πŸ’¬ 168    πŸ“Œ 1010
CBS News: Some NYPD officers worry about Mandani becoming NYC mayor the Free Press reports.

CBS News: Some NYPD officers worry about Mandani becoming NYC mayor the Free Press reports.

Promoting the editor-in-chief's personal side project. Zero named sources in a story that promotes the editor-in-chief's personal political position. Misspelling the subject's name. It took one day for CBS News to become a conservative blog.

www.cbsnews.com/video/some-n...

13.10.2025 16:02 β€” πŸ‘ 5899    πŸ” 1781    πŸ’¬ 155    πŸ“Œ 172
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welcome to the new era of CBS News, where brave truth-telling takes precedence over spelling Zohran Mamdani’s name correctly

13.10.2025 15:35 β€” πŸ‘ 1273    πŸ” 221    πŸ’¬ 52    πŸ“Œ 52

What The Hell Is Going On, a thread:

I’ve seen some thinkpieces and posts about Portland protests that fail to understand the long-term hyperspecificity of Portland culture/humor, and frame it as a sort of shitposting meme-pilled ironic thing. Which is wrong.

So I’m gonna give you my breakdown.

13.10.2025 14:00 β€” πŸ‘ 1680    πŸ” 593    πŸ’¬ 39    πŸ“Œ 135
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The following is REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.

09.10.2025 20:23 β€” πŸ‘ 55876    πŸ” 22724    πŸ’¬ 1880    πŸ“Œ 2166
SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems...
SIMON: What?
SHAPIRO: ...Or saying...
SIMON: You imagine that?
SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over.
SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level.
SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this.
SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.

SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems... SIMON: What? SHAPIRO: ...Or saying... SIMON: You imagine that? SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over. SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level. SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this. SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.

David Simon, creator of β€˜The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)

09.10.2025 04:42 β€” πŸ‘ 28148    πŸ” 8905    πŸ’¬ 340    πŸ“Œ 919

Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this yearβ€˜s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE

08.10.2025 23:29 β€” πŸ‘ 4683    πŸ” 1819    πŸ’¬ 140    πŸ“Œ 79

The person with the single greatest access to real and true information in the history of humanity believes in his soul that Portland is burning to the ground because the tv told him so

08.10.2025 21:21 β€” πŸ‘ 178    πŸ” 33    πŸ’¬ 9    πŸ“Œ 2
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Here’s a little news break for your social feed. There’s nothing like a crisp autumn morning in Portland, Oregon.

OPB captured the Rose City sunrise by drone on Tuesday, Oct. 7, showcasing the Willamette River, bridges, skyline and view of Mount Hood.

πŸŽ₯ by Stephani Gordon, OPB

08.10.2025 16:50 β€” πŸ‘ 86    πŸ” 26    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 11
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After high-profile FDA exit, Peter Marks lands at Eli Lilly Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D., the former head of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Resea | Six months after his departure from the federal government, Peter Marks, M.D...

Big breaking news AND I got to use the word ass in a story, what a thrill (technically it's in a quote but whatever still counts) www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/form...

07.10.2025 19:54 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

That's a style thing for Fierce, definitely not my preference!

06.10.2025 17:33 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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3 immunologists win Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovery of regulatory T cells The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to three pioneering immunologists for their work on regu | The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to three pion...

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is here and it's a doozy: the discovery of regulatory T cells! I woke up at 2am to write this story so if you see any typos, no you didn't:

06.10.2025 11:28 β€” πŸ‘ 41    πŸ” 10    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0
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Federal agents knock down elderly couple during Portland protest An 84-year-old said she sustained a concussion and was hit with a projectile after she and her husband, a Vietnam vet, were knocked down by federal officers.

An 84-year-old said she sustained a concussion and was hit with a projectile after she and her husband, a Vietnam vet, were knocked down by federal officers.

05.10.2025 02:15 β€” πŸ‘ 2370    πŸ” 1390    πŸ’¬ 88    πŸ“Œ 162

this is wild: while Stephen Miller's guy was in Minnesota for his uncle's funeral, somebody was able to see his entire phone and take pictures of his Signal group chats talking about military deployments to Portland, and brought them to the Strib (gift link: www.startribune.com/trump-offici...)

04.10.2025 01:13 β€” πŸ‘ 8230    πŸ” 3834    πŸ’¬ 270    πŸ“Œ 457
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Paramount Officially Acquiring The Free Press and Making Bari Weiss CBS News Editor in Chief: Report Paramount Skydance will be officially acquiring The Free Press and hiring its founder Bari Weiss as editor in chief of its CBS News division, with the deal to be announced this coming Monday, accordin...

In case it wasn’t clear, the anti-DEI crusade has never been about merit. Zero news experience. Never been a reporter. Elevated to Editor in Chief of CBS News, one of the most storied news institutions in the nation. www.mediaite.com/media/news/p...

02.10.2025 20:22 β€” πŸ‘ 16408    πŸ” 6007    πŸ’¬ 854    πŸ“Œ 564
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Jane Goodall Is More of a Dog Person, Actually (Published 2024)

Devastated to hear that Jane Goodall has passed away. Interviewing her was one of the highlights of my career and was especially important to me as an early-career journalist. She was kind and sharp and really really loved dogs (and Dave Matthews) (and chimps) www.nytimes.com/2024/03/27/s...

01.10.2025 18:29 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

The language of non-consent around AI is really telling. "It's too late to be scared." "It's here whether we want it or not." "You'll have to learn to work with it." "You can't fight the inevitable."

All just variations of "you're not allowed to say no." Creepy technology made by creepy people.

01.10.2025 15:37 β€” πŸ‘ 3941    πŸ” 1615    πŸ’¬ 49    πŸ“Œ 57
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Trump Public Health Officials Attacked mRNA Vaccines, CDC For Years Before August 8 Shooting The violence has put misinformation spreaders under the microscope. Many are working inside HHS.

NEW: All eyes have been on RFK Jr. since a gunman, believing the mRNA vaccine had harmed him, shot up the CDC campus on August 8.

But a number of Trump public health officials have spent years attacking the CDC and fear-mongering about the COVID vaccines.

We documented them in this big report.

28.09.2025 13:46 β€” πŸ‘ 180    πŸ” 75    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 5
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The Most Detailed Maps of H-1B Visa Holders Joining America's Top Research Institutions A new analysis by The Xylom shows for the first time just how much America’s top research institutions have grown to depend on the specialized knowledge of H-1B skilled workers β€” and how this…

EXCLUSIVE: A new analysis by The Xylom's @alexip718.com shows for the first time just how much America’s top research institutions have grown to depend on H-1B skilled workers β€” and how this delicate balance might be disrupted by U.S. President Donald Trump’s crackdown on legal immigration.

25.09.2025 16:08 β€” πŸ‘ 187    πŸ” 118    πŸ’¬ 9    πŸ“Œ 19
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'Alternative history' of the NIH shows how a 40% budget cut may thwart new medicines An β€œalternative history” has revealed the potential impacts a smaller National Institutes of Health would have had on past drug developmentβ€”and the results

To understand how budget cuts could impact the NIH, economists looked to the past--and their alternate history revealed how Trump-level defunding would have undercut breakthrough new medicines of the 21st century πŸ§ͺ my story:

25.09.2025 18:01 β€” πŸ‘ 13    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 2

I guess he's not an Amanda Seyfried superfan either!

25.09.2025 16:02 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

"Let me check your story out" is a wild thing to say to one of the most infamous fraudsters of the 21st century

25.09.2025 15:56 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin ✨ figured out what stars are made of ✨ when she was just 25. πŸ”­πŸ§ͺ

Her PhD thesis basically established the Harvard astro department β€” at a time when Harvard didn't officially allow woman students.

I wrote this little profile to mark the 100th anniversary of her thesis:

24.09.2025 09:14 β€” πŸ‘ 1870    πŸ” 864    πŸ’¬ 21    πŸ“Œ 36
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Kennedy Claimed Autism β€˜Destroys’ Lives. Autistic People Disagree.

Amid the [gestures at everything], I've been meaning to re-up this piece from April.

β€œβ€˜Nonspeaking’ does not mean β€˜non-listening,’” a formerly nonspeaking woman told me. β€œI was aware of the terrible things people were saying about me, when they discussed me like I wasn’t even there.”

24.09.2025 21:44 β€” πŸ‘ 207    πŸ” 63    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 1

acetaminophenomenon

23.09.2025 22:54 β€” πŸ‘ 80    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 8    πŸ“Œ 0
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Disgust, horror, and "elimination": Trump and RFK Jr.'s eugenicist autism conference The most striking omission from Monday's White House pageant: autistic people.

β€œThe long history of trying to β€˜cure’ or eliminate autism has been a history of terrible abuse and dangerous sham treatments."

I spoke to @autisticadvocacy.org's Greg Robinson and @drstevenkapp.bsky.social about the awful autism presser yesterday. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

23.09.2025 19:20 β€” πŸ‘ 494    πŸ” 204    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 5
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let me share a little story about a remarkable wasp that I encountered yesterday in our local deserts

I stumbled across her, and scrambled to get a few crappy photos .... but then realized that she had a burrow, perhaps a better photo op was possible ??

here she is at her burrow entrance.

23.09.2025 01:23 β€” πŸ‘ 669    πŸ” 174    πŸ’¬ 30    πŸ“Œ 14
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πŸ“½οΈ WATCH: Epidemiologist Erin McCanlies spent much of the past 20 years studying how parents’ exposure to toxic chemicals affects the chances that they will have an autistic child.

RFK Jr. cut her entire division β€” yet promises to identify the causes of autism by September: https://propub.li/4nhXQua

21.09.2025 21:01 β€” πŸ‘ 3041    πŸ” 1558    πŸ’¬ 96    πŸ“Œ 89
Autism and Vaccines Answers to common questions about vaccine safety and autism.

Just in case it finally disappears, the CDC page I've been obsessively refreshing for months is currently still there, confirming that vaccines do not cause autism

22.09.2025 20:57 β€” πŸ‘ 682    πŸ” 201    πŸ’¬ 15    πŸ“Œ 4
President Trump Makes an Announcement on Medical and Scientific Findings for America's Children
YouTube video by The White House President Trump Makes an Announcement on Medical and Scientific Findings for America's Children

After blaming rising autism rates on acetaminophen (which he couldn't pronounce), Trump is now railing against vaccines in a manner that is largely incoherent www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3ia...

22.09.2025 20:56 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

@megadarren is following 20 prominent accounts