Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Whitney Zahnd @whitneyzahnd.bsky.social · 6h

Not unhinged, but if you're in the sciences of any kind, make time for reading fiction and/or narrative non-fiction. I didn't get back into regularly reading these types of books again until this past summer, and I wish I'd done it A LOT sooner.

Rachel Feder @rachelfeder.bsky.social · 1d

Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat

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Whitney Zahnd @whitneyzahnd.bsky.social · 8h

NHANES also provided data for a first-generation college student's master's thesis.🙋‍♀️

Whitney Zahnd @whitneyzahnd.bsky.social · 8h

NHANES gave the first clear evidence that too many Americans had too much lead in their blood leading to unleaded gasoline requirements, and its data are part of children's growth charts ubiquitous in pediatricians' offices.

Make Our Children Healthy Again??

www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/...

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Reposted by Whitney Zahnd

Arielle Zionts @ajzionts.bsky.social · 16h

The Rural Health Transformation Program appears to be the biggest one-time spending aimed at rural health.

But it's dwarfed by regular Medicare+Medicaid spending in rural areas and is in the same bill that will cut MORE from rural health. Also, the new funding may not all go to rural areas.

Arielle Zionts @ajzionts.bsky.social · 16h

RFK Jr calls the Rural Health Transformation Program the "biggest infusion of federal dollars into rural health" in U.S. history. That's Mostly False.

By me: politifact.com/factchecks/2025/oct/13/robert-f-kennedy-jr/rfk-jr-misses-mark-rural-health-care-funding

RFK Jr. misses mark in touting rural health transformation fund as historic infusion of cash

At a September Senate hearing, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. boasted about a rural health in

politifact.com

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Reposted by Whitney Zahnd

Jacqueline Antonovich @jackiantonovich.bsky.social · 16h

In 1972, a whistleblower leaked to the press the details of the highly unethical & racist Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments run by the United States Public Health Service. Because of that (and other unethical experiments) Congress passed the National Research Act of 1974, which includes the IRB process.

HELLody SchreiBOO @melodyschreiber.com · 18h

The entire HR department at the CDC is gone. Everyone at the IRB, which makes sure studies are conducted ethically and rigorously, and the ethics office, which oversee conflicts of interest for CDC leaders and advisory committee members, were also let go.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

‘Instability and confusion’ as CDC slashes 1,300 jobs before reinstating half

Trump administration says 700 notices were sent in error, while top CDC officer says ‘they didn’t think through what they were doing’

www.theguardian.com

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Whitney Zahnd @whitneyzahnd.bsky.social · 1d

Congrats to my doctoral student, Gawain Williams, on his first, first-authored paper! His work identified racial disparities in prostate cancer treatment receipt in Iowa. It's important to examine these disparities, even (or especially) in homogeneous states. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Client Challenge

link.springer.com

Whitney Zahnd @whitneyzahnd.bsky.social · 1d

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Whitney Zahnd @whitneyzahnd.bsky.social · 1d

Good thing she has connections to the person who did the cover art.

Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 1d

Andrea Sachs just called saying she needs a copy of the unpublished manuscript for the New Merriam-Webster 12th Edition Collegiate Dictionary for Miranda Priestly's twins, even though it isn't being released until November 18???

Whitney Zahnd @whitneyzahnd.bsky.social · 1d

“It is unfortunate that we will not be able to benefit by treating qualifying patients at home, where they are most comfortable and recover faster,” Junis said. “Our digital hospital program has allowed us to free up beds for our sickest patients who need them most.”

Iowa Capital Dispatch @iowacapitaldispatch.com · 1d

The federal government shutdown is forcing a reckoning for two remote health care programs because they automatically expired Oct. 1, Stateline reports.

Shutdown forces Medicare patients off popular telehealth and hospital-at-home programs • Iowa Capital Dispatch

The federal government shutdown is forcing a reckoning for two remote health care programs because they automatically expired Oct. 1.

iowacapitaldispatch.com

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Whitney Zahnd @whitneyzahnd.bsky.social · 3d

This precisely outlines the reasons he should resign.

Timothy McBride @mcbridetd.bsky.social · 3d

“It’s imperative that we remove officials with conflicts of interest and catastrophically bad judgment, and political agendas,” HHS Secretary Kennedy said

Timothy McBride @mcbridetd.bsky.social · 3d

“The administration did not like that CDC data did not support their narrative, so they got rid of them. They didn’t like that CDC policy groups would not rubber stamp their unscientific ideas, so they got rid of them"

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Whitney Zahnd @whitneyzahnd.bsky.social · 3d

I like the mockumentary style camera work! 😹

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Whitney Zahnd @whitneyzahnd.bsky.social · 3d

CDC Office of Rural Health still standing (for now at least).

“Still Standing” message from the Director of the CDC Office of Rural Health.

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Whitney Zahnd @whitneyzahnd.bsky.social · 3d

Damn.

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 3d

Per CDC source: At internal leadership meeting this afternoon, it was shared that 1,257 people were RIF'd at CDC. Number may not be final. Apparently, chief of staff was unaware that RIFs were going to occur so not clear who is making decisions. (Short 🧵)

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Whitney Zahnd @whitneyzahnd.bsky.social · 3d

Same!

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Whitney Zahnd @whitneyzahnd.bsky.social · 4d

As a lefty, I'm obligated to point out that the WNBA first-team is 80% left handed! 👏

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Whitney Zahnd @whitneyzahnd.bsky.social · 4d

As a lefty, I'm obligated to point out that the WNBA first-team is 80% left handed! 👏

WNBA @wnba.com · 4d

The all WNBA First-Team hooped all szn long and earned the honors for their grit and elite play on the floor 👏

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Whitney Zahnd @whitneyzahnd.bsky.social · 5d

If you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything.

🎃 public HELLth guy 🎃 @publichealthguy1.bsky.social · 5d

gold standard science baby!!

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 5d

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

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Whitney Zahnd @whitneyzahnd.bsky.social · 6d

Describe your Bluesky account with a single image

A woman sitting comfortably in a chair and reading while surrounded by cats

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Whitney Zahnd @whitneyzahnd.bsky.social · 6d

He is so good at these!

ArtButMakeItSports @artbutmakeitsports.bsky.social · 6d

Totem Inschrift, by Carl Heidenreich, 1963, 📸 by @GoslingPhoto

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Whitney Zahnd @whitneyzahnd.bsky.social · 6d

And this administration is going to stop collecting data on food insecurity.

Barn Raiser @barnraiser.bsky.social · 6d

Food insecurity rates are rising faster in farm-dependent counties than almost anywhere else in the nation

barnraisingmedia.com/these-rural-...

These Rural Counties Grow Crops for the World. They’re Also Going Hungry.

Food insecurity rates are rising faster in farm-dependent counties than almost anywhere else in the nation.

barnraisingmedia.com

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Whitney Zahnd @whitneyzahnd.bsky.social · 7d

Finger lickin’ good health policy analysis.

Larry Levitt @larrylevitt.bsky.social · 7d

With KFF getting mixed up with KFC, it's better than with our old name (Kaiser Family Foundation), where we got mixed up with Kaiser Permanente. We have no connection at all to the HMO.

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Whitney Zahnd @whitneyzahnd.bsky.social · 7d

Writers—we use em dashes without wasting water.

Shannon Stirone @shannonstirone.bsky.social · 7d

Here’s the thing I wish everyone could hold in their minds about writers—we love em dashes. We use em dashes. We are humans and not AI. We will not be deleting our em dashes just because AI uses them too. We were here first. You can pry my em dashes from my cold dead hands. F*ck AI.

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Whitney Zahnd @whitneyzahnd.bsky.social · 7d

This framing of the environmental impact of inhalers is terrible.

CNN @cnn.com · 8d

The people who are most vulnerable to the hard-to-breathe air that comes with climate change may inadvertently be adding to the problem, new research finds. https://cnn.it/4pWQMoh

Whitney Zahnd @whitneyzahnd.bsky.social · 11d

@catsofyore.bsky.social

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Reposted by Whitney Zahnd

Joyce White Vance @joycewhitevance.bsky.social · 12d

As if irony isn’t already dead, the Hatch Act violation on the DOJ website, which blames Democrats for the shutdown, appears on the page advising DOJ employees they are subject to the Hatch Act. joycevance.substack.com/p/a-note-abo...

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