BREAKING: Texas Democrat Taylor Rehmet just won a *massive* landslide to flip a deep-red Senate district. He's up by 14 points in a Trump+17 seat—an overperformance of more than 30 points. How did he do it? Here's our full writeup:

A huge political earthquake in Texas tonight as Democrats flipped a State Senate seat from red to blue in a district Trump won by 17 points. Trump personally waded in — endorsing the Republican and personally urging base turnout — and was dealt a massive loss.

A machine learning tool has flagged over 250,000 cancer research papers as potentially fabricated, highlighting a growing issue of paper mill activity across scientific publishing.

Analysis of genetic and health data from 750,000 individuals has identified 22 genes linked to higher Epstein-Barr Virus levels, which are associated with increased risk of chronic diseases. doi.org/hbmrq3

Stating the obvious about who are actually destroying the US daringfireball.net/linked/2026/...

To those few who have any doubt... www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

New deep-learning algorithms, ClairS-TO and Clair3-RNA, improve the accuracy and accessibility of genetic mutation detection in cancer diagnostics and RNA sequencing using long-read technologies. doi.org/hbmjfk

AI-driven protein design is enabling the rapid creation of anti-CRISPR molecules, offering a precise method to control gene editing activity and reduce off-target effects in CRISPR applications. doi.org/hbmjb6

Point blank. 10-shots. Execution. A US citizen, a VA ICU Nurse. Then lying. Blocking a real investigation.

Fuck ICE. Fuck anyone that supports ICE. Fuck these murderous scumbags just stealing people off the street and out of their homes. I hope every single one of these pieces of shit is held accountable for their actions.

🍵 Green tea won’t detox your liver. But it might quietly defend it. That’s not hype—it’s catechins nudging fat and inflammation down. Small rituals matter more than we think. #HealthHacksThatWork #HealthTips #NutritionScience

Despite the recent report that cancer incidence among those under 50 has increased, cancer deaths from the five most prevalent cancers among those under 50 decreased, except for colorectal cancer. So maybe early detection rather than any cancer epidemic, but of course CRC is worrying. doi.org/qnzw

Covers of the 2 leading science journals this week @science.org and @nature.com www.science.org/content/arti... www.nature.com/immersive/d4...

Good!

Woodland birds, such as blue tits, produce more chicks in areas with abundant native trees like oaks, highlighting the ecological value of native tree planting in urban environments. doi.org/hbkjqr

It's kinda rich for US officials to be lecturing others on territorial claims (cough, cough *Greenland*), when the US literally has claimed islands solely on the basis of the presence of shi... err... "guano". en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guano_I...

Horses can detect human fear through scent alone, influencing their behavior and physiology even without visual cues, which may have important implications for animal welfare and training practices. doi.org/hbkbfr

I keep saying the GOP wants to kill old ppl. To reduce SS and Medicaid payments bc then they’d have to pay back all the money they borrowed. Why is RFK telling ppl not to get flu shot? Bc it’s old ppl who are affected most. journals.plos.org/plosone/arti....

Tylenol during pregnancy is safe without increased risk of autism, ADHD, or intellectual disability of offspring A new review of the evidence just out www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

ICE kidnaps three Oglala Sioux tribal members and commits blatant extortion by trying to coerce the tribe to make an "immigration agreement" with ICE and DHS. On brand for the criminal Trump gang. www.msn.com/en-us/news/u...

Omega-3 supplements did not provide additional benefit over placebo in improving depressive symptoms among children and adolescents receiving standard treatment. doi.org/hbh6sg

Vaccines, the most impressive public health intervention in medical history, and where we could be headed if there was not efforts to negate truth, facts, and evidence A great, open-access, review and perspective by @scientificdiscovery.dev

Juvenile kittiwake #birdoftheday #blackandwhite

A post from the President of Colombia. Unfortunately, couldn't post a translation. TL;DR Despite the words of Orange Top and the Batista-wannabe, I am the leader of the Colombian people. And if you want to mess with us, you will get Vietnam x10. x.com/petrogustavo...

Article in print and link to publication www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A.I. detecting early pancreatic cancer in China, based on @naturemedicine.bsky.social validation publication "I think you can 100% say AI saved their lives." gift link www.nytimes.com/2026/01/02/w...

A new method called CHANGE-seq-BE enables more sensitive and efficient detection of off-target genome edits from base editors, supporting safer and more precise genome editing applications. doi.org/hbhpzx

U.S. “accidentally” kidnaps Venezuela’s president in a freedom-related misunderstanding. Officials stress this was not an invasion, coup, or oil grab — just a very aggressive concern for democracy. Pedo Trump is now “evaluating options” for the next humanitarian snatch-and-grab. Greenland or Canada

Same people celebrating Donald Trump invading Venezuela would be celebrating Adolf Hitler invading Czechoslovakia. And believe me it is exactly the same, next is Poland (Greenland), and then France (Canada).

President Trump is taking 325 mg of aspirin a day to prevent heart disease. His doctors advise him to take 81 mg. Both are wrong. Here’s why. New edition of Ground Truths, open-access erictopol.substack.com/p/the-lowdow...

This about sums it up, folks. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

A new chemical vapor deposition technique enables MXene synthesis at significantly lower cost and higher purity, supporting broader applications in energy storage and advanced materials. doi.org/cbgscw

During COVID-19 lockdowns, urban dark-eyed juncos developed longer, thinner beaks, resembling their wild counterparts, highlighting rapid physical adaptation to changes in human activity. doi.org/hbf5mp

The 3D organization of the human genome over time (The "4D nucleome") in embryonic stem cells and fibroblasts. doi.org/qjw5

Bias in training data can cause AI models to overestimate their ability to predict antibiotic resistance, highlighting the need to account for bacterial evolutionary relationships in model development. doi.org/hbfzxf

Amid the gloom and doom, science has made progress in making the world a better place. doi.org/qjvm

In a large study, risk-based breast cancer screening was found to be at least as effective as annual screening, with higher overall biopsy rates, mostly in the higher risk groups. medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12...

An accurate blood test for sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) doi.org/hbfw6p

A new statistical method generates more accurate confidence intervals for spatial data, improving the reliability of analyses in fields such as environmental science, economics, and epidemiology. doi.org/hbfjgw

New in the December 11, 2025, issue of NEJM: High-Dose Influenza Vaccine in Older Adults (DANFLU-2 trial) nej.md/4lPGMtT High-Dose Influenza Vaccine and Hospitalizations (GALFLU trial) nej.md/46712T2

A study of over one million cases of 14 psychiatric disorders identifies five genomic factors which explain the majority of genetic variance of the disorders. They identified 238 loci associated with these factors. doi.org/qh4q

Altered signaling between transitional epithelial cells and immune cells in the lung has been linked to the progression of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, highlighting potential therapeutic targets. doi.org/hbd75m

In an EHR dataset, an apparent trend in the data was explained by a diagnostic process improvement in one large practice group during the study period. The trend disappears after correction for this artifact. EHR datasets are useful, but must be analyzed with care. doi.org/qhht

US budget cuts supposedly targeting illegal and undocumented immigrants (a group with very low access to healthcare) also affect millions of legal immigrants, US citizens, and family members. doi.org/qhhs

I’m from the generation that remembers when these diseases ran rampant. Perhaps we need to be reminded with a dose of repeated history