Barbara Sannwald
barbarasannwald.bsky.social
Barbara Sannwald
@barbarasannwald.bsky.social
Lifelong learner. Traveler. Book-lover.

Professional data wrangler with interest in bioinformatics.

Co-Founder and Director of Secular Hub.
Reposted by Barbara Sannwald
For decades, the US government has painstakingly kept American science #1 globally—and every facet of American life has improved because of it. The internet? Flu shot? Ozempic? All grew out of federally-funded research. Now all that's being dismantled. 1/ www.technologyreview.com/2025/02/21/1...
The foundations of America’s prosperity are being dismantled
Federal scientists warn that Americans could feel the effects of the new administration's devastating cuts for decades to come
www.technologyreview.com
February 21, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Reposted by Barbara Sannwald
February 14, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Reposted by Barbara Sannwald
The entire archive of CDC datasets can be found here.

HUGE shoutout to data archivists- this work is important 👏🙌🏻

archive.org/details/2025...
February 1, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Reposted by Barbara Sannwald
To our American friends who may now be struggling to find health information on US websites: Please check out the Public Health Agency of Canada's website for helpful resources, updated dashboards & practical health tips.

🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦

canada.ca/en/public-he...
February 1, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Reposted by Barbara Sannwald
The price of eggs in the US is spiking, mostly due to #H5N1 bird flu. Solving the problem requires urgent, important communications from the CDC & FDA* and rapid development of research by the NIH**

* Currently paused by Executive Order
** Grant reviews now all canceled
www.kcur.org/news/2025-01...
Egg prices are soaring again. Here’s why and what to expect
Bird flu has killed millions of hens in recent weeks, shrinking the supply of eggs and hiking up prices at grocery stores.
www.kcur.org
January 23, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Reposted by Barbara Sannwald
www.unchartedblue.com/its-time-to-...

🧪 It’s time to start paying attention. Let’s not repeat the same mistakes from 5 years ago…
It's time to talk about H5N1 flu
This is not the time to panic. However, it may be an excellent time to make sure you are paying attention to news about H5N1 flu.
www.unchartedblue.com
December 31, 2024 at 4:48 PM
Reposted by Barbara Sannwald
With confirmation hearings coming up soon for Trump’s nominees to his cabinet, we’re taking a step back to answer some basic questions.

Here are some useful refreshers on the process and what these leaders of government departments actually do.

First up: why do we even have confirmation? 🧵
Why does the Senate confirm Trump’s picks for key posts — and how? A legal scholar explains the confirmation process and the ‘constitutional loophole’ of recess appointments
Senators have the power to approve or reject a president’s cabinet nominees. A loophole allows presidents to do an end run around the Senate – but Senate leaders have to agree to it.
theconversation.com
December 27, 2024 at 3:24 PM
Reposted by Barbara Sannwald
For your weekend relaxation: 1.5 billion years of plate tectonics in 60 seconds.

Fun to locate your hometown (or ancestral town) and track where it's been over the years...or how long it's even existed as a physical location. 🧪

theconversation.com/witness-1-8-...
December 21, 2024 at 10:15 PM
Reposted by Barbara Sannwald
🚨 JOURNALISM JOB ALERT🚨
@propublica.org is hiring a reporter to cover climate change as an investigative beat, examining how decisions by individuals, corporations and governments are shaping life-and-death outcomes for people across the U.S. and the world.

Details, including salary range, 👇
Reporter, Climate
New York, New York, United States
boards.greenhouse.io
December 17, 2024 at 10:08 PM
Reposted by Barbara Sannwald
Vaccines are a moral good. As an example, smallpox was eradicated in the 1970s because of the smallpox vaccine. Smallpox used to kill about 30% of people who got it, and it was highly contagious — airborne like the flu or Covid.
December 15, 2024 at 11:02 PM
Reposted by Barbara Sannwald
Hi Adam, I take your point that the quadratic formula can be presented in a way that does not inspire understanding or affection. And it sounds like that's how it was taught to you. So let me try to make a better case for it. Here's how I discussed it in my book The Joy of x. (1/9)
December 15, 2024 at 1:31 AM
Reposted by Barbara Sannwald
Also too, here's @laminda.bsky.social great starter pack of independent news outlets! Essential in 2024 and beyond! go.bsky.app/2Fq4P6e
December 12, 2024 at 9:24 PM
Reposted by Barbara Sannwald
Always timely reminder that as billionaire-owned national papers continue to fail us miserably, LOCAL journalism becomes more important than ever! Here's a starter pack of a bunch of local journalists and outlets! Knock yourselves out! go.bsky.app/FzSc9z
December 12, 2024 at 9:23 PM
Reposted by Barbara Sannwald
Found a useful site called clearsky.app that shows you which Bsky starter packs you are listed on (via @joshuaerlich.bsky.social).
ClearSky
ClearSky
clearsky.app
December 4, 2024 at 12:59 PM
Reposted by Barbara Sannwald
"Since starting my PhD, I have looked for ways to streamline my literature-review workflow. 10 years later, I have finally landed on a process that can streamline my academic writing." New @natureportfolio.bsky.social, Candice Chu walks us through her AI-infused literature-management system. 🧪
Banish the PDF-hunting blues with these AI and digital tools
Ten years in the making, Candice P. Chu’s workflow takes some of the pain out of reference management.
www.nature.com
December 5, 2024 at 12:07 AM
Reposted by Barbara Sannwald
"One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us."

-Carl Sagan, A Demon Haunted World, 1995
December 2, 2024 at 5:25 PM
Reposted by Barbara Sannwald
Our new study shows that SARS-CoV-2 spike protein accumulates & persists in the body for years after infection, especially in the skull-meninges-brain axis, potentially driving long COVID. mRNA vaccines help but cannot stop it🔬🧠🦠🧵Your weekend read👇
@cellpress.bsky.social
cell.com/cell-host-mi...
November 29, 2024 at 4:01 PM
Reposted by Barbara Sannwald
"Even a cursory reading of the country’s founding documents and great speeches makes clear that America is a political organization with a reliance on our values." How many of us can really say what they are?

New from @markhertling.bsky.social: www.thebulwark.com/p/i-helped-t...
I Helped the Army Remember Its Values. I Wish I Could Do the Same for the Country.
The virtues we uphold define who we are as soldiers or civilians, individuals or a nation.
www.thebulwark.com
November 28, 2024 at 2:52 PM
Reposted by Barbara Sannwald
Chinese state media is publicly admitting that Musk has been allowing America’s hostile foreign adversaries to use Twitter as a propaganda distribution channel (paying off influencers, using bots etc) but that it is is less effective than planned due to the mass exodus from Twitter to BlueSky.
November 26, 2024 at 2:49 PM
Reposted by Barbara Sannwald
Neptune
Oil, 8x6 in
On EveryDayOriginal.com tomorrow!

In 1840s, mathematicians realized that observations of Uranus could be explained by the presence of another, as yet unknown planet. They predicted where this planet would have to be based on Uranus’s orbit and that is where Neptune was found.
November 19, 2024 at 4:38 PM