Carl Zimmer
@carlzimmer.com
NYT columnist. Signal: carlzimmer.51 Newsletter: https://buttondown.com/carlzimmer/ Web: http://carlzimmer.com [This account includes a tweet archive]
RFK told Dana Bash that Lyme disease “almost certainly” came from gain of function research. Which is utterly false. www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdi...
Lyme Disease Did Not Come From a Secret Military Lab, Contrary to FDA Chief's Claim
Bacterium that causes it circulated long before the lab opened, decades of evidence show
medpagetoday.com
I'm not sure folks have realized just how crazy the second half of 2026 and 2027 will be for global temperatures – on the back of a record-smashing El Niño event. Here is my latest estimate of where both years will end up compared to global temperatures since 1850.
A freelance reporter has been fighting a subpoena from the Trump administration seeking to force him to reveal his sources for a New York Times article about a failed top secret mission in North Korea. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/01/u...
Justice Dept. Subpoenas Times Freelancer in Effort to Identify Sources
A previously undisclosed subpoena, involving reporting on a failed SEAL Team 6 mission in North Korea, reflects the government’s expanding campaign to investigate leaks of secrets.
nytimes.com
It's been two and a half months since the Ebola outbreak in the DRC was declared and it is now the biggest the country has ever experienced and the second largest the world has ever seen. Dozens of cases continue to be reported each day across three separate provinces. 🧪 insp.cd/sitrep-n077-...
For a disease as spectacularly scary as smallpox, its history is remarkably mysterious. Here is my look at what ancient DNA from the viruses is revealing. Gift link: nyti.ms/4vTU11D
‘This Is Very Strange’: Ancient Smallpox May Have Been Less Deadly (Gift Article)
Scientists have found smallpox viruses in the remains of people in Chile from around 500 years ago, revealing how the virus may have evolved into a global killer.
nyti.ms
The policy take-home of our new study, in 15 words: 🏭 Fossil fuels kill children 🔋 Decarbonization will slow malaria expansion 🦟 Malaria eradication will save lives everywhere 🔓 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The past and future impact of climate change on childhood malaria in Africa - Nature
Climate and econometric modelling reveal that human-induced climate change is shifting the burden of childhood malaria in Africa.
nature.com
my god www.reuters.com/world/africa...
US government map of Africa mislabels every country at global conference
A U.S. government map of Africa mislabeled every country during a State Department presentation at a global conference in Brazil this week, causing a stir among attendees who took screenshots and po...
reuters.com
I finished another really interesting read by science writer @carlzimmer.com called “Air-Borne”—a history of studying life in our atmosphere. Meanwhile: Once eradicated in the U.S., measles has made a sad comeback in the U.S. due to falling vaccination rates. www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...
NEW At a lunch at his northern Virginia golf course in May, president Trump told his health secretary RFK Jr. that he had the yips. Our look inside Trump's push to get Kennedy to do more on vaccines: www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Trump Turns Up the Heat on RFK Jr. to Cut Back Childhood Vaccines
The president is focused on the shots’ alleged tie to autism, even though White House advisers wanted to tone down attention to the issue ahead of the midterms.
wsj.com
NEW: A large trove of Claude-generated documents have been exposed to the web and indexed by Google. We reviewed what appear to be real medical records, the full names and phone numbers of school-aged children, and company documents marked for internal use only. futurism.com/artificial-i...
A Whole Bunch of People's Claude Chats Are Publicly Accessible Online, and There's Some Wildly Private Stuff in There
A trove of documents generated by Anthropic's Claude were indexed by Google. They included medical records and student information.
futurism.com
NEW: In a stunning admission, the Trump administration admitted in court documents that it canceled billions in energy grants to states "based solely" on politics -- and whether that state was represented by Democrats and backed Harris in 2024. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/b...
Trump Administration Admits Canceling Grants to States That Did Not Vote for Him
Federal officials said in court documents that they halted billions of dollars in funding for energy projects to states “based solely” on whether they backed President Trump in the 2024 election.
nytimes.com
Can a cancer become a new species of parasite? Here's my story on the discovery of a transmissible cancer lurking in Vermont catfish. Gift link: nyti.ms/4whfi6v
Deep in This Lake, a Contagious Cancer Is Spreading (Gift Article)
Transmissible tumors have been reported in a handful of animal species, but never before among fish. Is it possible in humans?
nyti.ms
NEW: As cyclosporiasis cases jumped, the company linked to the outbreak - Taylor Farms - effectively delayed a recall that mounted in consumer confusion. Gift link for @business www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
As Parasite Spawned Chaos, Taylor Farms Slow-Walked Its Response
The US Food and Drug Administration had apologized, Taylor Farms said in a post on X. An agency lab test linking its produce to the country’s worst cyclosporiasis outbreak in decades was a false posit...
bloomberg.com
Did Thoreau encounter contagious cancer? A new study finds transmissible tumors in catfish--and raises questions about whether they could arise in humans someday. Gift link: nyti.ms/4whfi6v
Deep in This Lake, a Contagious Cancer Is Spreading (Gift Article)
Transmissible tumors have been reported in a handful of animal species, but never before among fish. Is it possible in humans?
nyti.ms
"This summer proves we don’t have to wait until the future for climate change to smack us in the face. From torrid heat waves, to deadly flash floods, to raging wildfires and their associated acrid smoke — the signs are all around us, right now." www.cnn.com/2026/07/20/c...
Fires, floods and record heat: This is the summer of compounding disasters | CNN
This summer has proven we don’t have to wait for climate change to smack us in the face. The signs of global warming are all around us, right now.
cnn.com
The Trump administration sought the phone records of several New York Times journalists and their relatives — including one reporter’s mother. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/20/b...
Trump Administration Sought Phone Records of Times Journalists and Their Relatives
The government is aggressively seeking the confidential sources of Times reporters who wrote about the president’s new Air Force One. The Times has asked a judge to quash the subpoenas.
nytimes.com
NEW: Taylor Farms said the lettuce associated with cyclospora & explosive diarrhea went to 27 states, but did not name the companies. It doesn't have to, said Sandra Eskin: “Without this essential information, a recall is not going to be effective.” www.nytimes.com/2026/07/18/h...
Taylor Farms Expands Iceberg Lettuce Recall to 27 States (Gift Article)
The implicated products were marketed under several brands, and had been shipped as recently as Thursday.
nytimes.com
A lot of attention has gone to Kennedy making cyclosporiasis optional for FoodNet reporting. But cuts to state and local health departments -- and the loss of CDC expertise -- are a much bigger deal. My latest: www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
Trump’s deep public health cuts hinder response to record US cyclosporiasis outbreak
Experts say layoffs, reduced disease surveillance and Medicaid cuts have made the foodborne parasite more difficult to track and contain
theguardian.com
Seven American aid workers are being quarantined at a recently built US facility on an air base in Kenya — the first to be monitored at the site — even as the Trump administration announced a new Ebola-related travel ban this week. 🎁 🔗 www.nytimes.com/2026/07/17/w...
7 Americans Sent to Disputed Kenya Ebola Site After New Trump Travel Ban (Gift Article)
The aid workers were on the frontline in the fight against the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and have shown no symptoms, their employer said.
nytimes.com
Left: Venus, 1 March 1982 Centre: Titan, 14 January 2005 Right: Boston, 15 July 2026
Cyclospora Linked to Taylor Farms Lettuce Sent to Taco Bell. Gift link: nyti.ms/4vGiNCl
Cyclospora Linked to Taylor Farms Lettuce Sent to Taco Bell (Gift Article)
Federal officials worked with Michigan investigators to trace the outbreak to iceberg lettuce, which may also have gone to other vendors.
nyti.ms
Every single regulatory grade monitor in the Chicago area is recording over 400 µg/m³ of PM2.5 smoke pollution. This is so far beyond anything in the historical record it’s difficult to communicate how extreme this event really is
Kalshi Will Offer Sports-Style Betting on Drug Trial Results www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Kalshi Will Offer Sports-Style Betting on Drug Trial Results
Kalshi Inc. is expanding in biotechnology by offering wagers on the outcomes of clinical trials and regulatory decisions, giving traders a more direct way to bet on key industry catalysts.
bloomberg.com
Biologists pinpoint how common virus triggers multiple sclerosis www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Biologists pinpoint how common virus triggers multiple sclerosis
A connection between Epstein–Barr virus and MS has long been suspected, but the underlying mechanism was unclear until now.
nature.com
Tim Harford writes about me in the Financial Times. He claims I think it’s hopeless for scientists to try to explain their work to the public. That’s false. I suspect link rot and Harford’s faulty memory are to blame. I’ll explain my actual view below. 🧪 1/10 giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
Explain it to me like I’m 10
Simplifying how we explain complex concepts can lead to surprising benefits
giftarticle.ft.com
A new trial is launching to test a drug for Bundibugyo virus: an antiviral that might stop its spread. www.cidrap.umn.edu/ebola/gilead...
Gilead launches Ebola antiviral trial in DR Congo as cases near 2,000
The antiviral would be given as post-exposure prevention.
cidrap.umn.edu
