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Dan Vergano

@danvergano.bsky.social

4.1K followers 1.2K following 940 posts

Senior Editor at Scientific American. - Views expressed in anything I post are my own. They have not been reviewed or approved by Springer Nature. - RT's not endorsements. - Signal: Delta.357 https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-vergano-93908b4/

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Dan Vergano @danvergano.bsky.social · 18d

ScienceWriters2025 will take place in Chicago, November 7-9

sciencewriters2025.org

North America's largest gathering of science writers. An important coming together in a pivotal year for science.

Early bird registration ending Oct. 1

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 1d

New reporting: many apparently fired at CDC in 'error'. This is a failure by design given that the admin does not care about fulfilling agency missions. This is the kind of error that should have political consequences.

Unserious people cause real-world harm.

🎁
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/h...

Trump Administration Will Rehire Scores of Experts Fired in Error

www.nytimes.com

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Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 1d

guys i'm beginning to think they haven't thought this through

Lena Sun @lenasun.bsky.social · 1d

BREAKING: Some of the layoffs at CDC are being REVERSED.
Here is my updated story.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

More than 1,000 CDC staff receive layoff notices during government shutdown

Another round of mass layoffs has struck CDC. The agency had already been cut during a reorganization this year, and more employees are now being shed amid the government shutdown.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 1d

“We can give $20 billion to Argentina but we can’t afford the CDC’s measles experts” is a hell of an argument

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Angie Rasmussen @angierasmussen.bsky.social · 1d

For more information about the Friday night massacre at CDC, I wrote up an analysis of who got terminated and what that means for public health.

Grateful to @saveamericamvmt.bsky.social for supporting and amplifying. We are in really terrible trouble.

rasmussenretorts.substack.com/p/the-death-...

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Lena Sun @lenasun.bsky.social · 1d

NEW: @CDCgov hit hard by massive firings that several staff describe to me as a “bloodbath.”
Among those RIFd:
—leadership of the center for immunization and respiratory diseases;
—leadership of global health center
—leadership of the measles outbreak response; 1/4

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Dan Vergano @danvergano.bsky.social · 1d

Would be happy to see that as well. But when they raise the cardiac issue, it's grounds to ask for full test results. Reporters have an obligation to ask.

Dan Vergano @danvergano.bsky.social · 1d

Then shouldn't be a problem to release his validated ECG results for the world to see, per this memo.

White House press pool should request this at next Leavitt event. Otherwise unconfirmed, should not be reported as reliable.

Reuters @reuters.com · 2d

Trump, 79, has "cardiac age" of 65-year-old, doctor says reut.rs/4mZNZbu

Trump, 79, has "cardiac age" of 65-year-old, doctor says

Donald Trump was found to be in "exceptional health" in a medical evaluation, the U.S. president's doctor said in a memo released by the White House on Friday, with his "cardiac age" 14 years younger than in "chronological age."

reut.rs

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 1d

We could get rid of half of the radiative forcing of climate caused by aviation if we could get airlines to stop making contrails, mostly by flying a few thousand feet higher or lower.

New open-access paper from a climate physics perspective.

agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...

A Stylized Study of the Climate Response to Longwave and Shortwave Forcing at the Altitude of Aviation‐Induced Cirrus

For the same magnitude of LW and SW forcing at the altitude of aviation-induced cirrus, climate sensitivity is larger when the forcing is imposed at high latitudes For the same change in concentr...

agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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whet moser @whetmoser.com · 1d

one thing that’s definitely new over the past decade or so is the number of bumper stickers and signs threatening to kill you

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Scientific American @sciam.bsky.social · 2d

Surgeons in China transplanted part of pig liver into a patient with an incurable cancerous tumor, and it functioned for more than a month

In a First, Pig Liver Helped a Cancer Patient Survive for More Than a Month

Surgeons in China transplanted part of pig liver into a patient with an incurable cancerous tumor, and it functioned for more than a month

www.scientificamerican.com

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Dan Vergano @danvergano.bsky.social · 2d

American Federation of Government Employees:

"These workers show up every day to serve the American people, and for the past nine months have been met with nothing but cruelty and viciousness from President Trump. Every single American citizen should be outraged."

www.afge.org/publication/...

AFGE President Everett Kelley Condemns Trump Administration Illegal Mass firings

Largest federal employee union demands Congress end the government shutdown immediately.

www.afge.org

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Dan Vergano @danvergano.bsky.social · 2d

see 57% of Republican ads in Va's race - www.notus.org/2025-electio...

propaganda in action

Republicans Go All In on Anti-Trans Messaging

More than half of Republican ads in Virginia are focused on trans issues. Not everyone in the party thinks it’s the right political play.

www.notus.org

Reposted by Dan Vergano

David Roberts @volts.wtf · 2d

All I want in life is to persuade everyone, when encountering politics & culture, to ask, "why are we talking about this?" I mean that very literally: anything you encounter on your screens reflects a choice. Someone covered that, talked about that, rather than the many other things out there. Why?

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Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 2d

MIT's response to the Trump admin's proposed "compact" is excellent and should be a model for other universities. orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

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Dana R. Fisher (aka the Apocalyptic Optimist) @fisherdanar.bsky.social · 2d

Important reminder here that the US is not the only place where fossil fuel interests are pushing back hard against climate science and clean energy 👇

Saint Vice @savic.bsky.social · 2d

BBC decided to cancel a podcast on heat pumps deeming the topic "controversial" because it presented that the technology could contribute to net zero reducing carbon emmissions.

In 2025 an anti-science posture is not only valid, but required in any debate to be considered "balanced" 😬

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ProPublica @propublica.org · 2d

NEW: Nevada could’ve fined Elon Musk’s Boring Co. more than $3 million, but regulators are seeking a reduced penalty of $242,800, citing an “extraordinary number of violations.”

Elon Musk’s Boring Co. Accused of Nearly 800 Environmental Violations on Las Vegas Project

Nevada could’ve fined the company more than $3 million, but regulators are seeking a reduced penalty of $242,800, citing an “extraordinary number of violations.”

www.propublica.org

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Dan Vergano @danvergano.bsky.social · 2d

Scientific American: What It’s like to Be the President’s Doctor

A former White House physician reveals the medical realities of caring for the president of the U.S.

www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/epis...

"The current president, who’s 79, he would benefit from a neurocognitive assessment."

Transforming Presidential Health Care: Insights from a Former White House Doctor

A former White House physician reveals the medical realities of caring for the president of the U.S.

www.scientificamerican.com

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Dan Vergano @danvergano.bsky.social · 3d

RFK, Jr., Says Tylenol Use for Circumcision Causes Autism. Here’s Why That Claim Is Flawed

Studies suggesting circumcision rates are linked with autism are “riddled with flaws”

www.scientificamerican.com/article/rfk-...

RFK, Jr., Cites ‘Truly Appalling’ Studies to Tie Autism to Circumcision and Tylenol

Studies suggesting circumcision rates are linked with autism are “riddled with flaws”

www.scientificamerican.com

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Mike the Mad Biologist and Tsar of All the Antifas @mikethemadbiol.bsky.social · 3d

Kinsley gaffe, the scientific hypothesis edition.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 3d

RFK Jr on Tylenol and autism: "It is not proof. We're doing the studies to make the proof."

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Zahra Hirji @zhirji.bsky.social · 3d

Exclusive: FEMA Tells Staff to Name Whistleblowers or Risk Losing Jobs

Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

FEMA Tells Staff to Name Whistleblowers or Risk Losing Jobs

Investigators are looking for staffers who anonymously endorsed an open letter criticizing the Trump administration’s cuts to disaster funding.

www.bloomberg.com

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 4d

The first episode of Collateral Damage, my reported podcast with The Intercept, went up today.

Hope you’ll check it out and, if you enjoy it, give it a favorable rating or review.

Eternal thanks to my producers @lauraflynn.bsky.social and Andrew Stelzer for making it happen.

Ep. 1 Dirty Business: The Atlanta Narcotics Unit’s Deadly Raid on 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston.

Podcast Episode · Collateral Damage from The Intercept · 10/08/2025 · 55m

podcasts.apple.com

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Dan Vergano @danvergano.bsky.social · 3d

Am, J, of Public Health: "The Supreme Court’s 2024–2025 Term: Eroding Public Health, Health Equity, and Access to Justice"

ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10....

"the Supreme Court no longer accepts that its mission includes protecting socially marginalized groups."

The Supreme Court’s 2024–2025 Term: Eroding Public Health, Health Equity, and Access to Justice | AJPH | Vol. 115 Issue 11

American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) from the American Public Health Association (APHA)

ajph.aphapublications.org

Reposted by Dan Vergano

Michael E. Mann @michaelemann.bsky.social · 4d

Among other things, we discussed how Fox News and the Murdoch media empire are perhaps the most dangerous force in the world today...

Michael E. Mann @michaelemann.bsky.social · 4d

Examining the rise of the anti-science movement | Had a fantastic conversation with Major Garrett about my new book w/ @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social, #ScienceUnderSiege, on @cbsnews.com #TheTakeout:
www.cbsnews.com/video/examin...

Examining the rise of the anti-science movement

Critics say Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Trump administration have been pushing an anti-science agenda. The new book, "Science Under Siege," argues it's not just the federal governme...

www.cbsnews.com

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Lee Billings @leebillings.bsky.social · 4d

Now on @sciam.bsky.social: Quantum tunneling is a big deal—literally. Here’s @dangaristo.bsky.social explaining the science behind yesterday’s announcement of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics.

www.scientificamerican.com/article/this...

Quantum Tunneling Is a Big Deal. This Year's Nobel Physics Prize Shows Why

The Nobel Prize in Physics for 2025 honors scaled-up quantum physics—while sidestepping controversies swirling around quantum computing

www.scientificamerican.com

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Meghan Bartels @meghanbartels.bsky.social · 4d

The science is in: COVID boosters are worth it, even if you've been vaccinated and/or infected before. Stay safe out there, friends!: 🧪 🛟 www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-...

Annual COVID Vaccines Save Lives, New Study Shows

A new study shows that receiving an updated COVID vaccine reduced people’s risk of severe disease and death in all age groups, regardless of immunity from prior infection or vaccination

www.scientificamerican.com

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