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.

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"?

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? 🧪

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...

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? 🧪

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...

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

They trigger reward systems instead.

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

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

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

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

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:

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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 🧪📸

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

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'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.

New research on postpartum depression shows it is not like other depressions biologically. It stems from dramatic changes in hormone levels that come with pregnancy and childbirth. A new drug, zuranolone, offsets that drop-off, and can do it within days. Read about how it works here:

Trump officials are making Obamacare more expensive and promoting other insurance plans so bad--they don't cover surgery and leave patients with $100,000s of bills-- that they've been banned or restricted in 14 states. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

So in addition to having to deal with the presence of these three men, all of whom were credibly accused with sexual misconduct against women that I knew, worked with, and/or was friends with, I actually had to deal with being professional while answering a question from one like it was normal

The far right is obsessed with Lord of the Rings and Musk keeps posting about "hobbits" because modern scientific racism owes more to fantasy worlds and gaming systems than genetic science, and they see both as effective mediums for right-wing propaganda www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

Trump still wants to deny food to 40 million Americans who will otherwise go hungry, at the same time he spends millions of $$$ redecorating a White House ballroom. Marie Antoinette echoes, right? www.nytimes.com/live/2025/11...

Back when I was at The Post, every Friday at 10pm I'd plug my data/visualizations/jokes newsletter. Well, it's back. In 12 hours, the all-new How To Read This Chart lands in mailboxes. Sign up for free! howtoreadthisch.art

💊MedSky💊 ADHD A recent study published in the British Medical Journal has shown that medications like methylphenidate (brand name Ritalin) can significantly reduce these harmful outcomes in newly diagnosed patients.

Ancient DNA shows it wasn't just frigid cold that doomed Napoleon's army in Russia. It was disease-causing bacteria, now recovered from old soldiers' teeth. 🧪 @nature.com has a good story: www.nature.com/articles/d41... For more ancient plague DNA: www.scientificamerican.com/article/solv...

Not sure I agree that eagle skeleton below is "not so spooky." But it looks great.

What to do with a mentally declining president? A former White House doctor tells us. 🧪 #medsky

Now RFKjr claims circumcision and Tylenol cause autism. A claim without any good evidence. What does the science show? Read it here: www.scientificamerican.com/article/rfk-...

And we have more details, about how these Nobel-winning sponges started with diamonds, how they neutralize nerve gas, and are being used in cancer treatment. And what they have in common with Harry Potter books & movies, though they are science and not magic. Link below..🧪

Finally! After decades of also-runs, amazing molecular cages-which can do everything from trapping greenhouse gases to delivering and releasing drugs at specific parts of the body- won the Chemistry Nobel. Read @megha.bsky.social 's story, here, and watch for updates today.

And... the Nobel Prize for physics goes to quantum tunneling: showing that the smallest of the small takes place on a relatively big scale. Basically this is what makes electrical circuits in computers work. 🧪 www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/s...

If you want to understand why 3 scientists got the Nobel Prize in Medicine today for discovering what keeps our immune systems from running amok--and how that keeps you healthy-- read this @laurenjyoung.bsky.social story: www.scientificamerican.com/article/2025... #medsky 🧪

www.cnn.com/2025/10/06/s... #medsky 🧪

Jane Goodall celebrated. 🧪

Jane Goodall appreciation, from Scientific American. www.scientificamerican.com/article/jane... 🧪

For you free speech and US Constitution fans, a federal judge just ruled this: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/u...

A little geometry quiz with your Barcelona architecture tour (and you thought you'd just be able to gawk at Gaudi and drink wine. Sorry. The NY Times isn't about fun): www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

www.scientificamerican.com/article/tyle... and--to understand WHY the autism-Tylenol connection is so flimsy: www.scientificamerican.com/article/does... 🧪 #MedSky

7 ways RFKjr and Trump are only pretending to want better evidence about vaccine safety and effectiveness (COI note: written by a former executive for Moderna but it's still really on target.) www.statnews.com/2025/09/05/m... 🧪 #medsky

Texas A&M fired their President, a course lecturer, and 2 administrators because they presented evidence there are more than 2 genders. Good evidence too. Do you think they should be fired? www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/u...

Cut off the heads of worms and they still remember stuff when heads regrow. Dose them with anti -depressants, though, and that doesn't happen. What do anti depressants really do?

Seems to me that 1) law officers must be able to conceal identities at times, such as going undercover to gather evidence; 2) agents must reveal SOME identifying information during enforcement activity, like arrests. The Cal mask law weakens both. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/u...

AI now scans for bird flu and measles news, but state public health officials say outbreaks can go undetected as the U.S. guts national and global tracking. Read the new story by Charlie Schmidt in @sciam.bsky.social. www.scientificamerican.com/article/trum...

Bluesky needs this Twitter classic from @ellearmageddon.bsky.social.