Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Carl Zimmer

Dan Vergano @danvergano.bsky.social · 3h

AFGE late-night update to CDC layoff number

In total, 4,300 dedicated public servants are no longer serving at CDC. The effective reduction in workforce is approximately 33%.

16 16

Reposted by Carl Zimmer

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 5h

Months before catastrophic floods swept through an Alaska Native village on Sunday, the Trump administration canceled a $20 million grant meant to protect the community from extreme flooding. At the time, the EPA administrator said he was eliminating "wasteful DEI and Environmental Justice grants."

E.P.A. Canceled $20 Million Flood Protection Grant to Alaska, Parts of Which Just Flooded

The remote village of Kipnuk planned to use the money to protect against flooding. On Sunday, it was inundated.

nyti.ms

50 530 840

Reposted by Carl Zimmer

Reuters @reuters.com · 1d

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to lay off about 550 workers reut.rs/4302N2L

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to lay off about 550 workers

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said on Monday it will cut nearly 550 jobs as part of a restructuring, not related to the current U.S. government shutdown.

reut.rs

45 300 470

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 1d

W.H.O. Warns of Sharp Increase in Drug-Resistant Infections.
Gift link: nyti.ms/4mZ2c8B

W.H.O. Warns of Sharp Increase in Drug-Resistant Infections

The U.N. health agency found that one in six infections worldwide was resistant to the most commonly available antibiotics.

nyti.ms

3 30 45

Reposted by Carl Zimmer

Jennifer Nuzzo, DrPH, SM @jennifernuzzo.bsky.social · 3d

Some of these people have now been fired and rehired TWICE since January. The current state of dysfunction is mind boggling.

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 3d

OOOPS! UPDATE: Two HHS officials tell me that disease detectives, measles response officers, global health officials and the MMWR staff were laid off by mistake and will be reinstated. But Washington office is still RIFed

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 4d

BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:

33 730 2.4K

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 3d

Update from @apoorvanyt.bsky.social Trump Administration Will Rehire Scores of Experts Fired in Error. Gift link: nyti.ms/48JjSSf

Trump Administration Will Rehire Scores of Experts Fired in Error

Friday’s layoffs swept up scientists involved in responding to the measles outbreak and running an influential journal. An official acknowledged the mistakes on Saturday.

nyti.ms

4 23 68

Reposted by Carl Zimmer

Apoorva Mandavilli @apoorvanyt.bsky.social · 3d

The mass layoffs of federal workers on Friday night swept up the top two leaders of the federal measles response team, those working on Ebola and dozens of other infectious disease experts
(Gift article)

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/h...

C.D.C. Layoffs Included 2 Top Measles Experts Amid Rising Cases

www.nytimes.com

7 130 180

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 3d

“The White House’s mass firing of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff on Friday has decimated offices related to injury prevention, respiratory disease surveillance, and chronic disease.” www.statnews.com/2025/10/11/c...

‘It’s a massacre’: CDC battered by government shutdown firings

The White House’s mass firing of CDC staff on Friday has decimated offices related to injury prevention, respiratory disease surveillance, and chronic disease, according to four people familiar with t...

www.statnews.com

5 39 94

Reposted by Carl Zimmer

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 4d

FULL STORY HERE: Emails began flooding CDC inboxes late Friday night announcing dozens of layoffs. HR people brought back from furlough to oversee the RIFs. Disease detectives, entire Washington office, global health, injury prevention, MMWR staff among those hit.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/u...

Trump Administration Lays Off Dozens of C.D.C. Officials

www.nytimes.com

67 830 1.5K

Reposted by Carl Zimmer

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 4d

BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:

860 8.5K 15K

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 5d

We will be writing more of these. If you’re a scientist and your science has been disrupted, we want to hear from you: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/c...

Has Your Scientific Work Been Cut? We Want to Hear.

www.nytimes.com

57 78

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 6d

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 year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE

nyti.ms

140 1.8K 4.7K

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 6d

A Shortlist of Federal Data the Trump Administration Has Tampered With or Destroyed talkingpointsmemo.com/news/a-short...

A Shortlist of Federal Data the Trump Administration Has Tampered With or Destroyed

The scale and scope of federal data and statistics that have been...

talkingpointsmemo.com

40 67

Reposted by Carl Zimmer

Dan Diamond @ddiamond.bsky.social · 7d

“Secretary Kennedy is entitled to his views. But he is not entitled to put people’s health at risk.”

Six former surgeons general condemn RFK Jr.

Opinion | Six surgeons general: RFK Jr. is a threat to the health of Americans

It was our duty in office to warn of dangers when we found them. We’re doing that again today.

www.washingtonpost.com

74 1K 3.4K

Reposted by Carl Zimmer

Jake Scott, MD @jakescottmd.bsky.social · 8d

“We have 1,544 measles cases this year, 92% in unvaccinated people, and 3 deaths. The problem isn’t the vaccine — it’s that people aren’t getting it. O’Neill hasn’t offered a single scientific rationale for breaking up MMR.”

@aniloza.bsky.social
@statnews.com
www.statnews.com/2025/10/06/t...

Acting CDC director calls for MMR vaccine to be broken up into three shots

There's no evidence that breaking up the MMR shot would make the immunization safer or more effective.

www.statnews.com

5 46 85

Reposted by Carl Zimmer

Ward Q. Normal (he/him) @wardqnormal.bsky.social · 14d

Hey everyone! I'm extremely excited to announce that today marks the release of the 10th Anniversary Edition of Steve Silberman's ground-breaking NeuroTribes, with a new foreword by John Elder Robison.

Neurotribes by Steve Silberman: 9780399185618 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

This New York Times–bestselling book upends conventional thinking about autism and suggests a broader model for acceptance, understanding, and full participation in society for people who think differ...

www.penguinrandomhouse.com

5 62 200

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 10d

1500th bat species discovered in Africa www.batcon.org/press/1500th...

1,500th Bat Species Discovered in Africa's Equatorial Guinea

Breakthrough marks global milestone in biodiversity.

www.batcon.org

2 26 110

Reposted by Carl Zimmer

Science Friday @scifri.bsky.social · 11d

Drama in the field of human origins! Some anthropologists are raising an eyebrow at a new study that claims our species could have emerged at least half a million years earlier than we thought.

Anthropologists Have A Bone To Pick With New Skull Finding

A reconstruction of an ancient skull suggests that humans could have evolved half a million years earlier than thought. Not so fast, some say.

buff.ly

1 14 73

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 13d

I never met Jane Goodall, but she loomed over much of my reporting over the years. With @emilyanthes.bsky.social I wrote a piece about her scientific legacy. Gift link: nyti.ms/46PGBtd

nyti.ms

8 49 300

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 13d

Jane Goodall, Eminent Primatologist Who Chronicled the Lives of Chimps, Dies at 91. Gift link: nyti.ms/48FOuUn

nyti.ms

4 43 160

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 14d

I'm hosting @samkean.bsky.social at Yale on Monday 10/6 for a talk about his wonderful books. Details here: poynter.yale.edu/events/2025-...

Sam Kean, Bringing History to Life in Journalism, Podcasts, and Books: A Conversation with Best-Selling Author Sam Kean

poynter.yale.edu

7

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 15d

Energy Dept. adds ‘climate change’ and ‘emissions’ to banned words list www.politico.com/news/2025/09...

Energy Dept. adds ‘climate change’ and ‘emissions’ to banned words list

It is the latest in a series of Trump administration efforts to dispute, silence or downplay climate change.

www.politico.com

18 77 120

Reposted by Carl Zimmer

Linsey Marr @linseymarr.bsky.social · 15d

Influenza A virus RNA found in airborne particles from pigs across a range of particle sizes. For reference a 10 micron particle takes ~8 minutes to settle to the ground from a height of 5 feet. That's plenty of time for it to drift around and be inhaled by others.

1 36 86

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 15d

Pigs exhale airborne flu. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Size distribution and viral RNA load of influenza virus-laden airborne particles emitted from pigs over the course of an H1N1 infection - Scientific Reports

Scientific Reports - Size distribution and viral RNA load of influenza virus-laden airborne particles emitted from pigs over the course of an H1N1 infection

www.nature.com

2 12 30

Reposted by Carl Zimmer

Jonathan Jarry @jonathanjarry.bsky.social · 18d

I read close to 50 papers in order to give an evidence-based, accurate response to Monday's press conference.

There's a lot to unpack here. I hope you find this informative.

Cc: @mcgilloss.bsky.social

www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/...

All About the Tylenol-Autism Brouhaha

At an unhinged press conference last Monday, Donald Trump and his medical acolytes revealed an actionable cause of autism at long last: Tylenol. In what felt like a social media post come to life, Tru...

www.mcgill.ca

7 36 73