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Starre Vartan

@starrevartan.bsky.social

540 followers 230 following 860 posts

🧬 Science Journo| 🏺 Sculptor of ceramics & words 📖 Author: The Stronger Sex (Seal Press/Hachette, 2025) 🌊 Wild swimmer | 💃 Ecstatic Dancer | 🌍 Trailrunner 🇦🇺🇺🇸 dual citizen Bylines: Nat Geo, Undark, SciAm (+ pods), my book 👇 🔗 https://tinyurl.com/ye7nrwp7

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Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · Jul 15

Its my pub day! You can now get my book everywhere is the US & Canada! (UK, Australia, New Zealand, China, and Korea coming soon). Order it to join in on a celebration of the female body's strength!

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Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 3h

Really comprehensive reporting here. Glad I never jumped on the protein bandwagon (been vegetarian for 30 years, lift weights, have plenty of muscle at my 60 grams or so a day!) If you want protein in your smoothie, throw in a handful of nuts!

paris martineau @paris.nyc · 18h

my latest investigation for @consumerreports.org is based on months of reporting and 60+ lab tests of leading protein supplements

we found that most protein powders and shakes have more lead in one serving than our experts say is safe to have in a day (🧵)

www.consumerreports.org/lead/protein...

Protein Powders and Shakes Contain High Levels of Lead - Consumer Reports

CR tests of 23 popular protein powders and shakes found that most contain high levels of lead.

www.consumerreports.org

Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 4h

Haha! Just what I was thinking, in visuals.

Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 4h

I saw this story on TikTok and thankfully @jessicavalenti.bsky.social covered it in full on her newsletter. This woman lives in a Blue State and was denied care!

Kelly @broadwaybabyto.bsky.social · 5h

“Please someone listen to me, I don’t want to die”

These are the words of a woman named Harmonie who had an ectopic pregnancy

Her obgyn refused to help, citing a
1% chance the fetus could survive

She lives in a blue state & still couldn’t access the life saving care she needed

Illinois Woman Denied Treatment for Ectopic Pregnancy

10.14.25

open.substack.com

Reposted by Starre Vartan

Emory Human Health @emorycshh.bsky.social · 1d

Next Up on @marynmck.bsky.social's Health Storytelling LIVE Author Q&A series... @starrevartan.bsky.social, author of The Stronger Sex, What Science Tells Us About the Power of the Female Body.

We hope you will join us on Wednesday, Oct. 22 at 6pm ET, on YouTube www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ759jdlDwA

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Reposted by Starre Vartan

Molly Jong-Fast @mollyjongfast.bsky.social · 1d

Solidarity is the only way

800 5.5K 23K

Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 2d

So if you want to read the excellent, full piece on Republican Beauty Standards it's now only available on the Wayback Machine b/c someone pressured MarieClaire UK to pull the piece and heavily edit it. Now even our BEAUTY COVERAGE in THE UK is being censored!!! WTF. web.archive.org/web/20251005...

The MAGA Beauty Aesthetic Tells the Story of America Today

In Trump’s circle, performing femininity is a strategy

web.archive.org

Reposted by Starre Vartan

bioGraphic @biographic.bsky.social · 5d

In case you missed it: we are hard at work on a deep dive into how the Trump Administration's policies are affecting biodiversity.

bioGraphic's news editor, @colinschultz.bsky.social, wants to know: what do you, our readers, want to know more about this topic? What questions do you have?

Colin Schultz @colinschultz.bsky.social · 8d

1/ 🧪🍃🐙📰 We @biographic.bsky.social have been hard at work for the past 8 months developing a deep, rich, behind-the-scenes feature story exploring how the Trump Administration's cuts to international conservation are affecting biodiversity on the ground.

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Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 5d

OK, thanks. I'm wondering if there's a pattern here at all....since this seems to have happened a few times to others including you and I've never heard of this before. I'm already nervous enough flying into/out of the US.

Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 6d

ahahahahahaha!

Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 6d

I love it when academics publish papers that are like, "I checked and I'm still right"
www.jstor.org/stable/24393...

In this paper I review research since 2000 and conclude
that it has vindicated this view

Reposted by Starre Vartan

Kelly @broadwaybabyto.bsky.social · 6d

The petition for Rodney Taylor, a disabled double amputee being held in an ICE camp, is over 3300 signatures!

Rodney has been in the US since he was 2 years old.

He was days away from receiving new prosthetic legs when ICE grabbed him.

He’s in solitary confinement & facing deportation to Liberia

Help Rodney Taylor, a Disabled Double Amputee Being Held by ICE

Rodney has been in the country more than 40 years. He's in solitary confinement in Georgia, being denied disability accommodations and having his medical needs ignored. He must be released.

www.disabledginger.com

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Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 6d

And what kind of work does your wife do? (in general)? I'm asking these questions as a dual citizen who travels in/out of the US and I'm concerned about not being able to get back to Australia when I need to.

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Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 6d

Were you leaving the US?

Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 6d

Was this in the US?

Reposted by Starre Vartan

Jacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 7d

I've been working on a book proposal and alternating between "this is meaningful" and "this is pointless," and a friend recently shared this quote that she stumble on in a Goodreads review: "Every book is a grand gesture of optimism on the part of both the reader and writer." Keep creating, friends.

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Reposted by Starre Vartan

Kelly @broadwaybabyto.bsky.social · 7d

We’ve known for years that many viruses are oncogenic in nature… there’s ample evidence to suggest Covid is as well.

Yet another reason to wear a good quality mask like an N95, get boosted, clean the air and keep fighting for paid time off & better mitigations!

Megaholt 𓅃 @megaholt.medsky.social · 7d

That’s…not good.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40813533/

SARS-CoV-2 infection heightens the risk of developing HPV-related carcinoma in situ and cancer - PubMed

SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with elevated risks of HPV-related carcinoma in situ and cancer, irrespective of age or race. The findings underscore the importance of understanding the interplay b...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 7d

Oh I would have been out there in 20 minutes. FIVE HOURS???

Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 7d

What a badass Fred is!!!!

Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 7d

when you try and get your PhD advisor to review your manuscript 😂

Nobel committee unable to reach prize winner who is ‘living his best life’ hiking off grid

Fred Ramsdell was among those honoured with a 2025 Nobel Prize in Medicine but might not know because he is somewhere in Idaho and uncontactable

Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 7d

You can see one of the Guard is trying to push her away but she stood her ground and got her shot. That's toughness.

Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 7d

So much is so crappy right now, but then you turn in a big edit to your editor and the first email in your inbox is new research from Japan:
"Slime Mold Metabolites Are a Promising, Eco-Friendly Repellent of Root-Knot Nematodes"
And you know you are living your best life.

Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 7d

I've heard that argument before and it's a good one! It's basically how people would like to live. I noticed a lot of New England small cities were like this and one of the reasons I liked living there - they were built before cars were dominant. Look for a town built in the mid-1800s.

Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 7d

Man, I'm always looking up. Pointing stuff out, laughing at bird antics, noticing clouds, etc. Didn't know that's weird for adults!

Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 7d

I do too. I'm always pointing stuff out. Can't wear hats (unless super-necessary for sun protection) because how am I supposed to see properly with a hat on? Never dated a man who wears a baseball cap b/c of this. Blinkering oneself.

Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 8d

Even as a fairly rebellious woman—even I didn't think there was this much leeway on the rules. I'm superpissed.

Anna Gifty @itsafronomics.bsky.social · 8d

lol this entire era of politics has proven to me that rules are indeed fake

Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 8d

THE. FUCKING. GOAT.

KOJAMF🤘🖤🤘 @kojamf.bsky.social · 10d

Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.

Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 8d

This quote really sums up why so many sexual predators will never admit what they've done - it's ALL about them at the expense of others, always: "I don't accept being labelled a rapist," he protested. "It's too heavy a burden for me to carry."