Delthia Ricks
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dricks.bsky.social
Delthia Ricks
@dricks.bsky.social
4.6K followers 2.1K following 2.9K posts
Science writer, author, essayist & avid gardener.
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dricks.bsky.social
Delthia Ricks @dricks.bsky.social · Dec 21
The stark contrast between Rwanda’s handling of a deadly Marburg virus outbreak this year & the rest of the world’s chaotic response to #Covid provides textbook lessons in how to properly respond to a threat and how to make a threat worse www.telegraph.co.uk/global-healt...
The contrast between Rwanda’s handling of Marburg and the chaotic response to Covid-19 is stark
The country’s response prevented a crisis – and provided the world with a valuable blueprint for effective outbreak control
www.telegraph.co.uk
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
dricks.bsky.social
Vaccine maker Sanofi, a multinational company based in Paris, said it will no longer develop an mRNA vaccine for the flu. Word of the cancellation comes as flu cases continue to soar & pediatric flu deaths so far have reached 52. The vast majority of those children hadn't been vaccinated👇
Unvaccinated kids hit hard with flu as pediatric deaths rise to 52
The vast majority of children who have died of flu so far this season did not get the flu shot, the CDC reported Friday.
www.nbcnews.com
February 2, 2026 at 9:08 PM
dricks.bsky.social
Extortion👇
theferocity.bsky.social Saeed Jones @theferocity.bsky.social · 3h
“U.S. President Donald Trump demanded Harvard pay $1 billion in a settlement in a Truth Social post Monday night, pushing back against reports that the White House would no longer demand a cash payment from the University.”
Trump Calls for $1 Billion Settlement From Harvard | News | The Harvard Crimson
U.S. President Donald Trump demanded Harvard pay $1 billion in a settlement in a Truth Social post Monday night, pushing back against reports that the White House would no longer demand a cash payment...
www.thecrimson.com
February 3, 2026 at 12:42 PM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
stevevladeck.bsky.social
Even if you don't have time to read all 83 pages of Judge Reyes's opinion barring the Trump administration from rescinding Temporary Protected Status for 350,000+ Haitians, please at least check out the four-page introduction.

It's a tour de force:

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
"On December 2, 1783, then-Commander-in-Chief George Washington penned: “America is open to receive not only the Opulent & respected Stranger, but the oppressed & persecuted of all Nations & Religions.”1 More than two centuries later, Congress reaffirmed President Washington’s vision by establishing the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program. See 8 U.S.C. § 1254a (TPS statute). It provides humanitarian relief to foreign nationals in the United States who come from disaster-stricken countries. It also brings in substantial revenue, with TPS holders generating $5.2 billion in taxes annually. See Part VI. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem has a different take. [screenshot of tweet]. So says the official responsible for overseeing the TPS program. And one of those (her word) “damn” countries is Haiti. Relevant here, three days before making the above post, Secretary Noem announced she would terminate Haiti’s TPS designation as of February 3, 2026. See 90 Fed. Reg. 54733 (Nov. 28, 2025) (Termination). Plaintiffs are five Haitian TPS holders. They are not, it emerges, “killers, leeches, or entitlement junkies.” They are instead: Fritz Emmanuel Lesly Miot, a neuroscientist researching Alzheimer’s disease, Dkt. 90 (Second Am. Compl. (SAC)) ¶ 1; Rudolph Civil, a software engineer at a national bank, id. ¶ 2; Marlene Gail Noble, a laboratory assistant in a toxicology department, id. ¶ 3; Marica Merline Laguerre, a college economics major, id. ¶ 4; and Vilbrun Dorsainvil, a full-time registered nurse, id. ¶ 5. They claim that Secretary Noem’s decision violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. § 706(2), and the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The Government counters that the Court does not have jurisdiction, and, in any case, the Secretary did not violate the law. Plaintiffs seek to stay the Secretary’s decision under 5 U.S.C. § 705 pending the outcome of this litigation. See Dkt. 81 (§ 705 Mot.). To decide their motion, the Court considers first whether it has jurisdiction. It does. See Part II. It then considers: whether Plaintiffs have a substantial likelihood of success on the merits; whether they will be irreparably harmed absent a stay; and whether a merged balance of the equities and public interest analysis favors a stay. See Part III. Each element favors Plaintiffs. See Parts IV, V, and VI. Plaintiffs charge that Secretary Noem preordained her termination decision and did so because of hostility to nonwhite immigrants. This seems substantially likely. Secretary Noem has terminated every TPS country designation to have reached her desk—twelve countries up, twelve countries down. See Section IV.A.2. Her conclusion that Haiti (a majority nonwhite country) faces merely “concerning” conditions cannot be squared with the “perfect storm of suffering” and “staggering” “humanitarian toll” described in page-after-page of the Certified Administrative Record (CAR). See Section IV.A.3.a. She ignored Congress’s requirement that she “review the conditions” in Haiti only “after” consulting “with appropriate agencies.” 8 U.S.C. § 1254a(b)(3)(A); see Section IV.A.1. Indeed, she did not consult other agencies at all. See id. Her “national interest” analysis focuses on Haitians outside the United States or here illegally, ignoring that Haitian TPS holders already live here, and legally so. See Section IV.A.3.b. And though she states that the analysis must include “economic considerations,” she ignores altogether the billions Haitian TPS holders contribute to the economy. See id. The Government’s primary response is that the TPS statute gives the Secretary unbounded discretion to make whatever determination she wants, any way she wants. And, yes, the statute does grant her some discretion. But not unbounded discretion. To the contrary, Congress passed the TPS statute to standardize the then ad hoc temporary protection system—to replace executive whim with statutory predictability. See Section I.A. As to irreparable harm, the Government contends that, at most, the harms to Haitian TPS holders are speculative. But the Department of State (State) warns [screenshot] Dkt. 100 (§ 705 Reply) at 20–21.4 “Do not travel to Haiti for any reason” does not exactly scream, as Secretary Noem concluded, suitable for return. And so, the Government studiously does not argue that Plaintiffs will suffer no harm if removed to Haiti. Instead, it argues Plaintiffs will not certainly suffer irreparable harm because DHS might not remove them. But this fails to take Secretary Noem at her word: “WE DON’T WANT THEM. NOT ONE.” See Section IV.B.2.b. Finally, the balance of equities and public interest favor a stay. The Government does not cite any reason termination must occur post haste. Secretary Noem complains of strains unlawful immigrants place on our immigration-enforcement system. Her answer? Turn 352,959 lawful immigrants into unlawful immigrants overnight. She complains of strains to our economy. Her answer? Turn employed lawful immigrants who contribute billions in taxes into the legally unemployable. She complains of strains to our healthcare system. Her answer? Turn the insured into the uninsured. This approach is many things—in the public interest is not one of them. For the reasons below, the Court GRANTS Plaintiffs’ Renewed Motion for a Stay Under 5 U.S.C. § 705, Dkt. 81.
February 3, 2026 at 1:06 AM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
cwebbonline.com
Anyone with a heart and soul should agree that children and babies do not belong behind bars. Thousands of kids will carry a lifetime of trauma and PTSD, done in our name, funded by our tax dollars.
February 3, 2026 at 4:47 AM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
publichealthguy1.bsky.social
as someone who worked in rural health policy, this is not a real thing. this is actually called giving up on rural america after your party broke everything and can’t put it back together. perfect time to exploit people with scams
atrupar.com Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 17h
Dr Oz on rural healthcare: "There's no question about it, whether you want it or not -- the best way to help some of these communities is gonna be AI-based avatars"
February 3, 2026 at 5:22 AM
dricks.bsky.social
Vaccine maker Sanofi, a multinational company based in Paris, said it will no longer develop an mRNA vaccine for the flu. Word of the cancellation comes as flu cases continue to soar & pediatric flu deaths so far have reached 52. The vast majority of those children hadn't been vaccinated👇
Unvaccinated kids hit hard with flu as pediatric deaths rise to 52
The vast majority of children who have died of flu so far this season did not get the flu shot, the CDC reported Friday.
www.nbcnews.com
February 2, 2026 at 9:08 PM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
dricks.bsky.social
In the lab: An intranasal #birdflu vax currently being studied in animal models apparently guards against highly pathogenic strains. Known as H5N1 avian flu, the virus jumped from wild birds to farm animals in the US, then to people. It has caused >70 human cases since 2024, including 2 fatalities👇
Intranasal Bird Flu Vaccine Protects Against Highly Pathogenic Strains in Rodents
Prior seasonal influenza virus immunity did not impair antibody responses or protection conferred by the intranasal H5N1 vaccine.
www.genengnews.com
February 2, 2026 at 2:29 PM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
compoundchem.com
February is #NationalGrapefruitMonth – did you know that grapefruit and grapefruit juice can affect some medications? This graphic explains why: www.compoundchem.com/2014/03/07/w...

#ChemSky 🧪
Infographic on the chemistry of grapefruit. Grapefruit and grapefruit juice interact with a large number of drugs, usually resulting in adverse effects. These interactions are caused by a class of compounds called furanocoumarins, in particular the compounds bergamottin and dihydroxybergamottin. Furanocoumarins inhibit some forms of an enzyme, CYP3A4, responsible for breaking down drugs in the body. As the prescribed doses of drugs take into account how quickly the drug is broken down in the body, this can cause higher concentrations of the drug in the bloodstream, which in turn can result in unpleasant side effects. The colour of pink and red grapefruits is caused by the compound lycopene.
February 2, 2026 at 4:02 PM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
plosbiology.org
How are energy #metabolism pathways distributed across the #cortex? @alaindagher.bsky.social &co map five pathways in the human #brain, linking metabolic organization with brain structural & functional properties, as well as developmental dynamics @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4c1JVp8
Left: Pathways involved in brain energy metabolism. Energy metabolism refers to processes involved in energy production from nutrient molecules. Glucose is the main energy source in the brain under normal physiological conditions. Glucose entering brain cells can be utilized in three parallel pathways. It can be processed through glycolysis to produce 2 ATP and 2 pyruvate molecules (blue). Lactate dehydrogenases catalyze the interconversion of lactate and pyruvate (purple). Pyruvate is transported into mitochondria, where it enters the TCA cycle to generate high-energy electron carriers NADH and FADH2 (green), driving the complete oxidation of glucose through the mitochondrial electron transport chain (red). Glucose entering the brain can also enter the PPP. PPP is an anabolic pathway that uses glucose to produce 5-carbon sugars and NADPH, an essential co-factor used in nucleotide and lipid biosynthesis (yellow). Glucose can also be stored in the form of glycogen via glycogen synthase, a process mainly active in astrocytes. Right: Energy pathway maps. Colors show z-scored mean expression values across all genes in each pathway. ppp, pentose phosphate pathway; tca, tricarboxylic acid cycle; oxphos, oxidative phosphorylation; lactate, lactate metabolism and transport.
February 2, 2026 at 5:25 PM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
nickburgis.bsky.social
Impressive advance in Huntington's Disease Research via supplementation with a glycolytic regulator biomolecule: F2,6BP restores mitochondrial genome integrity in Huntington’s Disease 🧪
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
F2,6BP restores mitochondrial genome integrity in Huntington’s Disease
Several reports have indicated that impaired mitochondrial function contributes to the development and progression of Huntington’s disease (HD). Mitoc…
www.sciencedirect.com
February 2, 2026 at 7:20 PM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
erictopol.bsky.social
The time of day for cancer immunotherapy is associated with major outcomes. Early is better. Results from a randomized trial of lung cancer, backs up the importance of our circadian rhythm and immune system
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
February 2, 2026 at 4:10 PM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
anodynesix.bsky.social
"The solution is simple: allow Palestinians their freedom and their rights. ... [T]hat solution is beyond the imagination of [US and Israeli leadership]."
February 2, 2026 at 12:28 AM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
bachynski.bsky.social
“This isn’t just a policy change. It’s a betrayal of more than a century of hard-won victories by public health heroes who fought, often at great personal and professional sacrifice, to establish a principle that should be beyond debate: American lives have value.”
The EPA just erased a century of public health progress
Former Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Dean Michelle A. Williams on the EPA’s incorrect and morally wrong decision.
www.statnews.com
February 2, 2026 at 12:14 PM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
microbesinfect.bsky.social
Fimbriae potentiate #Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans for periodontal disease

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #OpenAccess #OralHealth #PeriodontalDisease #MicroSky #MedSky #IDSky
February 1, 2026 at 8:17 PM
dricks.bsky.social
In the lab: An intranasal #birdflu vax currently being studied in animal models apparently guards against highly pathogenic strains. Known as H5N1 avian flu, the virus jumped from wild birds to farm animals in the US, then to people. It has caused >70 human cases since 2024, including 2 fatalities👇
Intranasal Bird Flu Vaccine Protects Against Highly Pathogenic Strains in Rodents
Prior seasonal influenza virus immunity did not impair antibody responses or protection conferred by the intranasal H5N1 vaccine.
www.genengnews.com
February 2, 2026 at 2:29 PM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
dricks.bsky.social
Evidence has been rising in recent yrs suggesting the gut microbiome influences how well cancer treatments work. An underlying mechanism remained elusive. Now, scientists have revealed how gut microbes help the amino acid asparagine increase tumor growth or activate immune cells against it👇
Gut Microbes Shape Cancer Growth and Immunity Through Asparagine Metabolism
Gut bacteria control how dietary asparagine is used, determining whether it fuels tumor growth or enhances CD8⁺ T-cell–mediated immunity.
www.genengnews.com
February 1, 2026 at 2:09 PM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
dricks.bsky.social
Black History Month: Ernest Everett Just, 20th century biologist, earned a zoology PhD from U. of Chicago (1916) & was a pioneering biologist at Howard Univ; the Marine Biological Lab at Woods Hole & Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Biology, Berlin. He's renowned for fertilization & cell surface studies
February 1, 2026 at 4:01 PM
dricks.bsky.social
A measles outbreak at a Texas concentration camp👇
robertscotthorton.bsky.social Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 1d
ICE now confirming that there is a measles outbreak at the Texas concentration camp where young Liam was held.
February 2, 2026 at 2:34 AM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social
Italians protest ICE's presence at the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics, CNN's Antonia Mortensen reports from Milan, where around 8,000 people showed up to protest.
February 1, 2026 at 2:49 AM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social
Spot on 🎯
February 1, 2026 at 2:58 PM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social
America is a police state.
February 1, 2026 at 10:08 PM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social
The Trump administration intends to appeal a judge’s order that released a 5-year-old child from ICE detention. This appeal could potentially lead to the child’s return to ICE custody.
February 1, 2026 at 11:52 PM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
cwebbonline.com
When a president talks about skipping elections and floating an unconstitutional 3rd term, it’s not hard to see what this is and what it isn’t.

Seizing election material in a state that already counted the 2020 results three separate times isn’t about election integrity.

It’s about preparation.
February 1, 2026 at 8:34 PM
Reposted by Delthia Ricks
muellershewrote.com
Can you imagine if I sold supplements on my podcast? DO YOU HAVE LOW E? BOOST YOUR ESTROGEN WITH MY CLINICALLY ADJACENT YAM CREAM!
maddow.bsky.social Rachel Maddow @maddow.bsky.social · 1d
"Among the hires at CBS News announced by Weiss is a doctor who claims he reduced his biological age by 20 years with cold plunges; that cod liver oil treats autism; and that Alzheimer’s and dementia can be reversed with supplements he sells on his online store."

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Bari Weiss’s new CBS hires include ‘germ theory denialist’ doctor
Dr Mark Hyman, who claimed he reduced his biological age by 20 years, brought on as a contributor
www.theguardian.com
February 1, 2026 at 8:42 PM