Rachel Fairbank
@sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social
Science journalist, with bylines in Nature, National Geographic, the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Houston Chronicle. I cover a mixture of health topics, with a focus on conditions such as autism, ADHD, ME/CFS, POTS and Long COVID.
Reposted by Rachel Fairbank
I really don't want to speak ill of the dead... but James Van der Beek's wife was anti-vaxx and while he was fundraising for treatments he never made clear if it was an issue that he didn't have health insurance vs the treatments were of the kind (untested) insurance wouldn't cover.
February 11, 2026 at 8:58 PM
I really don't want to speak ill of the dead... but James Van der Beek's wife was anti-vaxx and while he was fundraising for treatments he never made clear if it was an issue that he didn't have health insurance vs the treatments were of the kind (untested) insurance wouldn't cover.
There’s a penis scandal brewing in the world of ski jumping.
Sometimes, the stories just write themselves.
defector.com/penis-scanda...
Sometimes, the stories just write themselves.
defector.com/penis-scanda...
Artificially Large Skier Penises Should Stay Legal | Defector
To ski jump is to momentarily become a god. The track is narrow and slick, and the athletes plummet down the sloped hill at almost 60 mph. They leave the track and take up, up, up into the sky, where ...
defector.com
February 11, 2026 at 6:15 PM
There’s a penis scandal brewing in the world of ski jumping.
Sometimes, the stories just write themselves.
defector.com/penis-scanda...
Sometimes, the stories just write themselves.
defector.com/penis-scanda...
“Hockey is the sport where people looked at ice and thought, yes, this is where we should run at full speed.”
www.instagram.com/reel/DTTh0BK...
www.instagram.com/reel/DTTh0BK...
Instagram
Create an account or log in to Instagram - Share what you're into with the people who get you.
www.instagram.com
February 7, 2026 at 6:21 AM
“Hockey is the sport where people looked at ice and thought, yes, this is where we should run at full speed.”
www.instagram.com/reel/DTTh0BK...
www.instagram.com/reel/DTTh0BK...
“Did I get the recommendation based on my skills or my appearance?”
Being a woman is a lot of fun, that’s for sure.
Being a woman is a lot of fun, that’s for sure.
This is the Yale professor's explanation for why he described the physical attractiveness of a student in an email to Epstein. He explicitly says he regrets nothing about their association.
Again, I'm so happy Yale hired David Brooks to restore trust.
yaledailynews.com/articles/gel...
Again, I'm so happy Yale hired David Brooks to restore trust.
yaledailynews.com/articles/gel...
February 5, 2026 at 5:55 PM
“Did I get the recommendation based on my skills or my appearance?”
Being a woman is a lot of fun, that’s for sure.
Being a woman is a lot of fun, that’s for sure.
The stuff coming out about the Epstein files is incredibly hard to read right now. In light of all of these new revelations, I hope all my fellow survivors are taking time to care for their mental health.
February 2, 2026 at 4:28 PM
The stuff coming out about the Epstein files is incredibly hard to read right now. In light of all of these new revelations, I hope all my fellow survivors are taking time to care for their mental health.
My son had ice cream for breakfast and was an hour late to school.
Follow me for more parenting advice.
Follow me for more parenting advice.
January 27, 2026 at 2:45 PM
My son had ice cream for breakfast and was an hour late to school.
Follow me for more parenting advice.
Follow me for more parenting advice.
People keep comparing what’s happening now to Nazi Germany, but I suspect the more realistic comparison is slavery/segregation, as so much of our current horrors are based on this history.
January 25, 2026 at 10:00 PM
People keep comparing what’s happening now to Nazi Germany, but I suspect the more realistic comparison is slavery/segregation, as so much of our current horrors are based on this history.
Reposted by Rachel Fairbank
ICE executed an ICU nurse in broad daylight in full view of the public.
This has nothing to do with immigration. It’s about sending a message.
The fascists want violence. They want to justify more brutality.
This has nothing to do with immigration. It’s about sending a message.
The fascists want violence. They want to justify more brutality.
“As of Saturday evening, the family said they had still not heard from anyone at a federal law enforcement agency about their son’s death.”
The man killed by a US Border Patrol officer in Minneapolis was an ICU nurse, family says
Family members say the man who was killed by a federal officer in Minneapolis was an intensive care nurse at a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospital who cared deeply about people and was upset ...
apnews.com
January 25, 2026 at 3:57 AM
ICE executed an ICU nurse in broad daylight in full view of the public.
This has nothing to do with immigration. It’s about sending a message.
The fascists want violence. They want to justify more brutality.
This has nothing to do with immigration. It’s about sending a message.
The fascists want violence. They want to justify more brutality.
My son is learning about Martin Luther King and Ruby Bridges in school. I’m glad he’s learning this history, I’m glad he feels comfortable asking me questions about it, but coming up age appropriate explanations that don’t sugarcoat history is hard.
January 25, 2026 at 6:47 PM
My son is learning about Martin Luther King and Ruby Bridges in school. I’m glad he’s learning this history, I’m glad he feels comfortable asking me questions about it, but coming up age appropriate explanations that don’t sugarcoat history is hard.
Reposted by Rachel Fairbank
A reminder to the news media: “conflicting accounts” is what you say BEFORE the incontrovertible video evidence appears. After that, your job is to ask why one side is lying, not to repeat the lie and pretend no one knows the truth.
January 25, 2026 at 12:28 PM
A reminder to the news media: “conflicting accounts” is what you say BEFORE the incontrovertible video evidence appears. After that, your job is to ask why one side is lying, not to repeat the lie and pretend no one knows the truth.
My son may have been born in Texas, but he’s currently rocking the New York cold weather uniform of shorts with a winter jacket.
January 24, 2026 at 4:01 PM
My son may have been born in Texas, but he’s currently rocking the New York cold weather uniform of shorts with a winter jacket.
“I don’t know how many lessons I had on ‘don’t have sex before marriage,’ ” Elizabeth says in the documentary. “But no one had discussed with me the difference between consensual sex [and] intimacy versus rape. I felt a lot of shame, and I felt like I was filthy.
www.netflix.com/tudum/articl...
www.netflix.com/tudum/articl...
Raised Mormon, Elizabeth Smart Forges Her Own Path
“I don’t believe anything anyone sells me anymore.”
www.netflix.com
January 22, 2026 at 2:56 PM
“I don’t know how many lessons I had on ‘don’t have sex before marriage,’ ” Elizabeth says in the documentary. “But no one had discussed with me the difference between consensual sex [and] intimacy versus rape. I felt a lot of shame, and I felt like I was filthy.
www.netflix.com/tudum/articl...
www.netflix.com/tudum/articl...
My husband has clocked that I’ve started working on my book again. Apparently the tell is that I will randomly stop what I’m saying/doing, only to stare off in the distance.
The absent-minded writer is in the building, y’all.
The absent-minded writer is in the building, y’all.
January 21, 2026 at 3:57 PM
My husband has clocked that I’ve started working on my book again. Apparently the tell is that I will randomly stop what I’m saying/doing, only to stare off in the distance.
The absent-minded writer is in the building, y’all.
The absent-minded writer is in the building, y’all.
Reposted by Rachel Fairbank
You cannot overstate how startling it is to see a politician just say the thing with clarity and poise. No fearful hemming. No overwrought qualifying down til it’s meaningless. No lingering sense that there is a loyalty to a donor class or an ideology of stasis that they’d never admit to.
Mamdani: "I am in support of abolishing ICE. What we see is an entity that has no interest in fulfilling its stated reason to exist. We're seeing a government agency that is supposed to be enforcing some kind of immigration law, but instead what it's doing is terrorizing people."
January 20, 2026 at 6:17 PM
You cannot overstate how startling it is to see a politician just say the thing with clarity and poise. No fearful hemming. No overwrought qualifying down til it’s meaningless. No lingering sense that there is a loyalty to a donor class or an ideology of stasis that they’d never admit to.
Reposted by Rachel Fairbank
COW TOOLS COW TOOLS COW TOOLS
Back-scratching bovine leads scientists to reassess intelligence of cows
Brown Swiss in Austria has been discovered using tools in multiple ways – something only ever seen in humans and chimpanzees
www.theguardian.com
January 19, 2026 at 4:06 PM
COW TOOLS COW TOOLS COW TOOLS
If you see my eye twitching, it’s because I just finished a 1,000 piece puzzle…only for there to be two missing pieces.
January 18, 2026 at 12:05 AM
If you see my eye twitching, it’s because I just finished a 1,000 piece puzzle…only for there to be two missing pieces.
Reposted by Rachel Fairbank
Absolutely right.
And I think it's especially true in this case as ICE has been a magnet for thugs who couldn't cut it in the military or normal law enforcement but desperately want to be respected as A Troop.
This is why it's particularly effective when actual veterans show up to mock them.
And I think it's especially true in this case as ICE has been a magnet for thugs who couldn't cut it in the military or normal law enforcement but desperately want to be respected as A Troop.
This is why it's particularly effective when actual veterans show up to mock them.
one of the most effective weapons we have against fascism is mockery, especially when its really funny
It occurs to me all the yelling at ICE in MPLS isn't merely funny. Getting made fun of like this is awful for morale. ICE is losing field officers faster than it can wave them through training, and a big part of it is how little of this these little weasels can take.
January 12, 2026 at 5:42 PM
Absolutely right.
And I think it's especially true in this case as ICE has been a magnet for thugs who couldn't cut it in the military or normal law enforcement but desperately want to be respected as A Troop.
This is why it's particularly effective when actual veterans show up to mock them.
And I think it's especially true in this case as ICE has been a magnet for thugs who couldn't cut it in the military or normal law enforcement but desperately want to be respected as A Troop.
This is why it's particularly effective when actual veterans show up to mock them.
Is a book considered romantasy if the main male character is good at communicating; emotionally literate; and regularly cooks and cleans?
January 16, 2026 at 2:43 AM
Is a book considered romantasy if the main male character is good at communicating; emotionally literate; and regularly cooks and cleans?
Reposted by Rachel Fairbank
New from Medscape (widely used by healthcare professionals)
"Multiple Abnormal Responses to Exertion Seen in ME/CFS" by @miriametucker.bsky.social
www.medscape.com/viewarticle/...
Sympathetic article.May require free registration
#MEcfs #CFS #PwME #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #ChronicFatigueSyndrome
"Multiple Abnormal Responses to Exertion Seen in ME/CFS" by @miriametucker.bsky.social
www.medscape.com/viewarticle/...
Sympathetic article.May require free registration
#MEcfs #CFS #PwME #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #ChronicFatigueSyndrome
January 9, 2026 at 12:58 PM
New from Medscape (widely used by healthcare professionals)
"Multiple Abnormal Responses to Exertion Seen in ME/CFS" by @miriametucker.bsky.social
www.medscape.com/viewarticle/...
Sympathetic article.May require free registration
#MEcfs #CFS #PwME #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #ChronicFatigueSyndrome
"Multiple Abnormal Responses to Exertion Seen in ME/CFS" by @miriametucker.bsky.social
www.medscape.com/viewarticle/...
Sympathetic article.May require free registration
#MEcfs #CFS #PwME #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #ChronicFatigueSyndrome
I took a wrong turn on the way home, and there was a train…coming through a bunch of townhomes. The train looked like it’d also gotten lost on the way home.
I would not want to live in one of those townhouses.
I would not want to live in one of those townhouses.
January 6, 2026 at 10:03 PM
I took a wrong turn on the way home, and there was a train…coming through a bunch of townhomes. The train looked like it’d also gotten lost on the way home.
I would not want to live in one of those townhouses.
I would not want to live in one of those townhouses.
2025 Unwrapped:
Oura is telling me I took 213 naps this year, which means I’m going to call 2025 my year of rest.
2024 ended on a pretty bad note, with a COVID reinfection leading to my worst crash to date. I’m happy to report I’ve recovered, and am better than I have been in years.
Oura is telling me I took 213 naps this year, which means I’m going to call 2025 my year of rest.
2024 ended on a pretty bad note, with a COVID reinfection leading to my worst crash to date. I’m happy to report I’ve recovered, and am better than I have been in years.
December 29, 2025 at 10:58 PM
2025 Unwrapped:
Oura is telling me I took 213 naps this year, which means I’m going to call 2025 my year of rest.
2024 ended on a pretty bad note, with a COVID reinfection leading to my worst crash to date. I’m happy to report I’ve recovered, and am better than I have been in years.
Oura is telling me I took 213 naps this year, which means I’m going to call 2025 my year of rest.
2024 ended on a pretty bad note, with a COVID reinfection leading to my worst crash to date. I’m happy to report I’ve recovered, and am better than I have been in years.
Reposted by Rachel Fairbank
Wrote about how disappointing it is that Jon Stewart punched down on people masking at @motherjones.com, when people should mind their own business and leave mask wearers be. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Hey Jon Stewart, jokes about wearing masks aren't funny
Critics of the Daily Show host say he's a hypocrite.
www.motherjones.com
December 29, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Wrote about how disappointing it is that Jon Stewart punched down on people masking at @motherjones.com, when people should mind their own business and leave mask wearers be. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...