Nsikan Akpan

Dynamics of natural selection preceding human viral epidemics and pandemics Using a phylogenetic framework to characterize natural selection, we investigate the hypothesis that zoonotic viruses require adaptation prior to zoon…

One of the study's main takeaways: "Laboratory and gain-of-function passage produce distinct evolutionary signatures"

... aka something I've been saying since 2020, based on other research.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Scientists Get a Glimpse of How New Pandemics Are Made

"Researchers have devised a new tool for discerning between naturally occurring viral outbreaks and those resulting from lab accidents."

📝: Carl Zimmer

I'll give one guess on what they found for SARS-CoV-2 🙂...

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/09/s...

In 25-Country Survey, Americans Especially Likely To View Fellow Citizens as Morally Bad | Pew Research Center Across 25 countries, Americans are the most likely to see the morality and ethics of people in their country as somewhat or very bad.

Fwiw, I think most of you are great ...

www.pewresearch.org/religion/202...

Bluesky CEO Jay Graber Is Stepping Down Venture capitalist Toni Schneider will take over as interim CEO as Bluesky’s board of directors hunts for a permanent replacement.

EXCLUSIVE: Jay Graber stepping down as CEO of Bluesky www.wired.com/story/bluesk...

Weight-loss jab could be made for $3 a month, study finds Cheap semaglutide, the drug in Ozempic and Wegovy, could help millions with diabetes and obesity in 160 countries

Weight-loss jab could be made for $3 a month 👀

📝: Kat Lay www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

At least 13 hospitals and health facilities hit during attacks on Iran, WHO says Global health body investigating reports that four medics are among the 1,230 people killed in Iran since start of war

WHO hub in the Middle East has frozen emergency assistance due to bombings. They've stalled shipments of medical supplies, eg $6m in medicines for Gaza & polio supplies to Afghanistan & Pakistan.

WHO says >100,000 people displaced from Tehran & >60K from Lebanon. www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

Exclusive | FDA’s Controversial Vaccines Chief Will Leave the Agency FDA’s Controversial Vaccines Chief Will Leave the Agency

BIG, but also fool me once, you know...

"Vinay Prasad will depart in April, after a year leading the FDA division that approves vaccines and biotech drugs"

📝: Liz Essley Whyte / WSJ www.wsj.com/health/healt...

Most trusted group? Primary care providers

The data reinforces why public health messaging should target them.

No problem! I'd want someone to tell me.

The reason the Middle East has so much oil is the same reason it’s all stuck there now A continental collision trapped oil within what is today Iran. The same collision explains why that oil is trapped behind the Strait of Hormuz now

Fascinating new piece by @sipappas.bsky.social looking at the geology behind the geopolitics:

🧪

Small typo here:

Damn

Congrats!

Inside the plan to kill Ali Khamenei Israel spent years hacking Tehran’s traffic cameras and monitoring bodyguards ahead of the assassination of Iran’s supreme leader

"Nearly all the traffic cameras in Tehran had been hacked for years, their images encrypted and transmitted to servers in Tel Aviv and southern Israel, according to two people familiar with the matter."

📝: Mehul Srivastava, James Shotter, Neri Zilber and Steff Chávez

First mRNA COVID-flu combo vaccine set for European approval Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) backs Moderna’s mCombriax vaccine for adults aged 50 and over.

Coming to Europe...

#Medsky #IDsky #influenza #COVID #vaccines #Moderna #MRNA

Pokémon turns 30 — how the fictional pocket monsters shaped science The Japanese media sensation has inspired generations of researchers in fields as diverse as evolution, biodiversity and research integrity.

Pokémon turns 30 — how the fictional pocket monsters shaped science - Miryam Naddaf

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

In puzzling outbreak, officials look to cold beer, gross ice, and ChatGPT An AI chatbot convinced health investigators they had the right answer.

In puzzling outbreak, officials look to cold beer, gross ice, and ChatGPT - Beth Mole arstechnica.com/health/2026/...

just gonna share some interesting science and health news in case people need a distraction

Human brain cells on a chip learned to play Doom in a week Neuron-powered computer chips can now be easily programmed to play a first-person shooter game, bringing biological computers a step closer to useful applications

Human brain cells on a chip learned to play Doom in a week - Alex Wilkins www.newscientist.com/article/2517...

“.. By Forbes estimates, the elder Ellison, who is also Oracle’s largest shareholder, doesn’t have enough cash on hand to fulfill his part of Paramount’s $111 billion offer for Warner Bros. Discovery.”

@forbes.com $ORCL $PSKY
www.forbes.com/sites/phoebe...

Ann Godoff, a Top Editor and Publisher of Best Sellers, Dies at 76

My long-time editor at Penguin Press died this week and I can't let her go without telling you how remarkable - talented, tough, generous, kind - she was and how much she'll be missed. And how lucky I was to work with her. (gift article) @penguinpress.bsky.social

"The company has enrolled tens of thousands of people across nearly 200 employers. Twin gets paid only when users achieve certain clinical outcomes, such as lower blood sugar, weight loss, or the reduction of metabolic medications."

pretty small sample size, fwiw

Public Health Backlash Hurts Master's Program Enrollment | Think Global Health New caps on student loans and federal job cuts could be steering some away from degrees in public health

Educators fear that disappearing public health jobs and backlash against the field could soon impact enrollment in programs training the next generation of experts who keep us safe and healthy. @thinkglobalhealth.org www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/publ...

DHS agents detain Columbia student after entering University-owned residence, Shipman reports <i>This is a developing story. Check back for updates. </i>

“Our understanding at this time is that the federal agents made misrepresentations to gain entry to the building to search for a ‘missing person.’” - acting Columbia University President Claire Shipman

📝: Nadia Knoblauch and Dora Gao

www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2026/02...

DHS agents detain Columbia student after entering University-owned residence, Shipman reports <i>This is a developing story. Check back for updates. </i>

Fwiw, Columbia Spectator had this info a while ago

The Washington Spirit’s new uniforms, unveiled today, are inspired DC’s iconic cherry blossoms.
washingtonian.com/2026/02/26/c...

😶‍🌫️

He’s either running out the clock or this is going to be soooo long.

South Carolina seeks non-CDC reinforcements to contain growing measles outbreak A dozen public health experts are arriving in South Carolina to help the state contain the largest U.S. measles outbreak in more than 30 years, but they're not coming from the Centers for Disease Cont...

Awkward: South Carolina seeks non-CDC reinforcements to contain growing measles outbreak

📝: Julie Steenhuysen and Chad Terhune

www.reuters.com/world/south-...