Mark Fitzgerald
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mfitzg79mark.bsky.social
Mark Fitzgerald
@mfitzg79mark.bsky.social
Organic chemist with a weird accent from New Jersey
Reposted by Mark Fitzgerald
“Some people have to work around here”

TT: usatodaypets
January 31, 2026 at 5:47 PM
Reposted by Mark Fitzgerald
The research of Dr. Gladys West, who died Jan. 17 at 95, laid the groundwork for the GPS.

Thanks in part to her, anyone with a smartphone can navigate easily from one place to the next, without having to stop to ask for directions.
Mathematician Gladys West dies at 95. She was a hidden figure behind GPS.
Without the mathematical model that she helped refine, “the extraordinary positioning, navigation, and timing accuracy of GPS would be impossible to achieve.”
www.washingtonpost.com
January 31, 2026 at 8:30 PM
Reposted by Mark Fitzgerald
Nearly half of the databases that the CDC used to update regularly — surveillance systems that tracked public health information like Covid vaccination rates and hospitalizations for respiratory syncytial virus — have been paused without explanation, according to new research.
Dozens of CDC databases are not being updated — most related to vaccines, study finds
The agency plays a key role in tracking the disease spread and vaccination rates. Last year, it seemed to back away from some of that work, according to new research.
nbcnews.to
January 27, 2026 at 12:20 AM
Reposted by Mark Fitzgerald
Hats, scarves, mittens, etc. are for amateurs. Julian faced the storm in his tuxedo like a sophisticated gentleman.
January 27, 2026 at 12:13 AM
Reposted by Mark Fitzgerald
In a world gone mad
It's still Moose Monday.

Hang in there folks
We're going to put an end to the fascist attempt to take over the country.
January 27, 2026 at 12:18 AM
Reposted by Mark Fitzgerald
“.. Is this a normal request?

No, it’s highly unusual.”

@nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/26/u...
January 27, 2026 at 12:36 AM
Reposted by Mark Fitzgerald
Point blank.
10-shots.
Execution.
A US citizen, a VA ICU Nurse.
Then lying.
Blocking a real investigation.
January 26, 2026 at 1:00 AM
Reposted by Mark Fitzgerald
Starting a civil war for control of a country you already control, real brain genius shit dudes
January 25, 2026 at 10:12 PM
Reposted by Mark Fitzgerald
Covered jar by John McCoy Pottery. Visit my new website and get 20% off any item $35.00 or more. www.JohnMcCoyPottery.shop.com. Use coupon code WelcomeBsk26 #handmadepottery #ceramicart #homedecor #johnmccoypottery
January 19, 2026 at 4:35 PM
Reposted by Mark Fitzgerald
Column: To keep monthly payments manageable, an increasing share of borrowers are rolling over large amounts of debt from a previous vehicle, stretching new loans out to seven or more years. We are seeing the “rent-ification” of car ownership.
Column | Why you may just be renting your car even if you have a loan
Rolling debt and seven-year loans are leaving households underwater on their car, making ownership unaffordable.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 18, 2026 at 7:00 AM
Reposted by Mark Fitzgerald
The National Science Foundation sign on our Eisenhower Av building is now gone.

The NSF mural in the foyer is removed and torn off in sheets.

We were supposed to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the agency in May 2025. That never happened.
January 18, 2026 at 2:00 AM
Reposted by Mark Fitzgerald
Novel agonists for mu opioid receptor selectively facilitate GTP release, enhancing analgesic efficacy and revealing new insight into GPCR functions. PMID:41407861, Nature 2025, @Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09880-5 #Medsky #Pharmsky #RNA #ASHG #ESHG 🧪
GTP release-selective agonists prolong opioid analgesic efficacy | Nature
G-protein-coupled receptors act as guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) and facilitate the activation of heterotrimeric G proteins by exchanging GDP for GTP1. This exchange function is not unidirectional2. Here we demonstrate that an agonist can show selective affinity for an active state that prefers the release of GTP. Specifically, for the mu opioid receptor, we show that several agonists have state-selective affinities for promoting GTP release versus GTP binding. We identify two agonists that show a marked preference for promoting release. In mice, marginally efficacious doses of the release-preferring agonist enhance and prolong the antinociceptive effects of morphine and fentanyl without enhancing the respiratory and cardiac effects of fentanyl. Although these observations are limited to simple measures of thermal nociception, they may point to a way to bifurcate physiological responses to such agonists. We propose that the active-state selectivity of an agonist may determ
doi.org
January 17, 2026 at 6:00 PM
Reposted by Mark Fitzgerald
#PedSky #MedSky #EpiSky #policysky #polisky #neuroskyence #neurosci #PainResearch🛟 🫁💊🧪

Kudos to the American Thoracic Society @atscommunity.bsky.social for speaking out !

Tear Gas and Pepper Spray Pose Serious Respiratory Risks, ATS Warns
American Thoracic Society | Tear Gas and Pepper Spray Pose Serious…
Even brief exposure can trigger lung injury, infections, and long-term breathing problems in the public.
site.thoracic.org
January 17, 2026 at 11:08 PM
Reposted by Mark Fitzgerald
I've said this before and I'll say it again.
It would only take a tiny handful of Republican Congress members or senators to stop the slide of America toward authoritarian fascism, but nope. They're all in.
January 5, 2026 at 2:59 AM
Reposted by Mark Fitzgerald
New in PN: Trump's despotism extends to DC golf courses

"The withdrawal of opportunities for public recreation goes hand in hand with Trump’s larger program of dismantling public services and core components of the welfare state."
Trump's despotism extends to DC golf courses
He views the entire world as a private club he owns and profits from.
www.publicnotice.co
January 17, 2026 at 5:52 PM
Reposted by Mark Fitzgerald
This just in…
January 17, 2026 at 7:14 PM
Reposted by Mark Fitzgerald
I absolutely love these animal-face terracotta rhyta (drinking horns). When you slug down your wine, you look like you’re wearing an animal mask, which seems hilarious to your fellow drunk revelers. 🐏🍷🏺 #ancientbluesky
Yes, the ram was a favorite symbol of strength, among other attributes, in the Greek and Roman cultures (and Assyrian, et al). My favorite representation is probably a ram-headed rhyton - a drinking cup - like the one below.

Greek, from Apulia, Italy, ca. 370-350 BCE. 🏺

#BritishMuseum 📸 me
January 17, 2026 at 5:37 PM
Reposted by Mark Fitzgerald
After a West Virginia shelter dog named Dawson escaped from his gated enclosure and then used his teeth to open the front door on Jan. 4, a search began.
January 11, 2026 at 7:01 PM
Reposted by Mark Fitzgerald
The Empire State Building honors Bob Weir.
January 11, 2026 at 2:13 AM
Reposted by Mark Fitzgerald
Multiple monkeys are on the loose in St. Louis, Missouri, according to local officials, who urged anyone who spotted one of the primates to report its location to the city’s animal control department.
Monkeys Are on the Loose in St. Louis, City Officials Say
As many as four vervet monkeys were spotted in a neighborhood in North St. Louis on Thursday, city officials said. No one knows how they got there.
nyti.ms
January 10, 2026 at 10:15 PM
Reposted by Mark Fitzgerald
BAIRD: Trump’s MBS directive “blurs the line between market-driven utility and political manipulations. .. Buying assets explicitly to manipulate mortgage rates reintroduces political risk into a market that has spent more than a decade trying to distance itself ..”
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
January 10, 2026 at 3:12 PM
Reposted by Mark Fitzgerald
underrated artist right here music.apple.com/us/album/bad...
Bad As They Seem by Hayden on Apple Music
Song · 1995 · Duration 3:30
music.apple.com
January 10, 2026 at 12:44 AM
Reposted by Mark Fitzgerald
Walz: "It's beyond me that apparently from the federal government, the Homeland Security director herself, has already determined who this person who, what their motive was, and they hadn't even been taken out of the vehicle. We're not living in a normal world."
January 7, 2026 at 9:14 PM
Reposted by Mark Fitzgerald
Reminder: ICE has a budget bigger than most militaries around the world.

It has increased its spending on weapons by 700% since Trump took office.

Trump is building his own personal military to terrorize American cities, trample on civil rights, and intimidate his opponents.
January 7, 2026 at 8:15 PM
Reposted by Mark Fitzgerald
January 3, 2026 at 11:30 PM