Emma Smith
@3mm4sm1th.bsky.social
Science and health journalist based in NYC
Reposted by Emma Smith
The US may be headed for a rough flu season, with a virus that causes more severe symptoms than the one last year and seems to be spreading more rapidly and earlier than usual.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/h...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/h...
Early Signs Point to a Harsh Flu Season in the U.S.
www.nytimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:16 PM
The US may be headed for a rough flu season, with a virus that causes more severe symptoms than the one last year and seems to be spreading more rapidly and earlier than usual.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/h...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/h...
Giving back to Montana with my first story for @scienceline.org — Selenium contamination from Canadian coal mines may threaten Montana birds. One of the many stories I’ve reported on during my first semester with @nyu.edu SHERP.
#environmentalcontamination
scienceline.org/2025/11/sele...
#environmentalcontamination
scienceline.org/2025/11/sele...
Selenium contamination from Canadian coal mines may threaten Montana birds - Scienceline
Selenium is seeping into Montana waterways from Canadian coal mines, and putting local birds and other wildlife in danger.
scienceline.org
November 19, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Giving back to Montana with my first story for @scienceline.org — Selenium contamination from Canadian coal mines may threaten Montana birds. One of the many stories I’ve reported on during my first semester with @nyu.edu SHERP.
#environmentalcontamination
scienceline.org/2025/11/sele...
#environmentalcontamination
scienceline.org/2025/11/sele...
Reposted by Emma Smith
I first heard about orcas attacking white sharks while working as a field biologist in South Africa. Back then, no one had really seen it. Now, scientists in both South Africa and Mexico have drone footage.
my latest for @nytimes.com (gift link!)
#marinelife
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/03/s...
my latest for @nytimes.com (gift link!)
#marinelife
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/03/s...
In Mexico, Killer Whales Take Down Great White Sharks
www.nytimes.com
November 3, 2025 at 9:58 PM
I first heard about orcas attacking white sharks while working as a field biologist in South Africa. Back then, no one had really seen it. Now, scientists in both South Africa and Mexico have drone footage.
my latest for @nytimes.com (gift link!)
#marinelife
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/03/s...
my latest for @nytimes.com (gift link!)
#marinelife
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/03/s...
Reposted by Emma Smith
Measles could officially become endemic again in the U.S. The country (and Canada) risk losing their measles elimination status if they have a year of continuous transmission, which could have happened already. By @sipappas.bsky.social @sciam.bsky.social www.scientificamerican.com/article/meas...
North America May Soon No Longer Be Officially Measles-Free, Experts Say
A meeting of the Pan American Health Organization this week will address the resurgence of measles in the Americas
www.scientificamerican.com
November 5, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Measles could officially become endemic again in the U.S. The country (and Canada) risk losing their measles elimination status if they have a year of continuous transmission, which could have happened already. By @sipappas.bsky.social @sciam.bsky.social www.scientificamerican.com/article/meas...
Reposted by Emma Smith
My interview with @humbertobasilio.bsky.social @sciam.bsky.social
www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-...
www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-...
FDA Questions Safety of Aluminum in Vaccines. Here's What the Science Says
The FDA wants to reevaluate the use of aluminum adjuvants despite a long record of safe use in vaccines
www.scientificamerican.com
October 18, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Reposted by Emma Smith
Through blackwater photos, scientists have found an interaction rarely seen before. Baby fish might be using free-living anemones to protect themselves from predators in the deep sea. The photos are a delight.
my latest for @nytimes.com (gift link!) #marinelife
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/16/s...
my latest for @nytimes.com (gift link!) #marinelife
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/16/s...
Armed With Anemones: How Some Young Fishes Survive in the Sea
www.nytimes.com
October 21, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Through blackwater photos, scientists have found an interaction rarely seen before. Baby fish might be using free-living anemones to protect themselves from predators in the deep sea. The photos are a delight.
my latest for @nytimes.com (gift link!) #marinelife
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/16/s...
my latest for @nytimes.com (gift link!) #marinelife
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/16/s...
Reposted by Emma Smith
“I’m battling with the school because they don’t believe anything is wrong with Dakota. They don’t believe he has long Covid. They don’t believe long Covid exists.”
Long Covid Is Real -- And It's Changing an Entire Generation
bit.ly
October 17, 2025 at 2:00 AM
“I’m battling with the school because they don’t believe anything is wrong with Dakota. They don’t believe he has long Covid. They don’t believe long Covid exists.”
Reposted by Emma Smith
Children and teenagers are twice as likely to develop long Covid after a second coronavirus infection as after an initial infection, a large new study has found.
Long Covid Risk for Children Doubles After a Second Infection, Study Finds
The new research provides evidence that Covid reinfections can increase the risk of long-term health consequences.
nyti.ms
October 1, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Children and teenagers are twice as likely to develop long Covid after a second coronavirus infection as after an initial infection, a large new study has found.
Reposted by Emma Smith
Study in JAMA Pediatrics estimates that vaccinating pregnant women against COVID-19 prevented 7,000 hospitalizations in infants and 3,000 in pregnant women from January 2024 to May 2025.
#Medsky
www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/cov...
#Medsky
www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/cov...
COVID vaccines may have averted thousands of hospital stays in infants, pregnant women over 18 months
www.cidrap.umn.edu
September 30, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Study in JAMA Pediatrics estimates that vaccinating pregnant women against COVID-19 prevented 7,000 hospitalizations in infants and 3,000 in pregnant women from January 2024 to May 2025.
#Medsky
www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/cov...
#Medsky
www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/cov...
#LongCOVID community, please share: I am working on an audio story and am hoping to speak with people who have tinnitus or hearing loss following a COVID infection.
Please message me if you are open/ interested in speaking with me. Thank you!
Please message me if you are open/ interested in speaking with me. Thank you!
September 27, 2025 at 9:11 PM
#LongCOVID community, please share: I am working on an audio story and am hoping to speak with people who have tinnitus or hearing loss following a COVID infection.
Please message me if you are open/ interested in speaking with me. Thank you!
Please message me if you are open/ interested in speaking with me. Thank you!
Reposted by Emma Smith
A drug that provides near-perfect protection against HIV with shots just twice a year will be made available at $40 per patient annually in low- and middle-income countries, offering new hope for ending the HIV epidemic.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/h...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/h...
Philanthropies Strike a Promising Deal to Turn Back H.I.V.
www.nytimes.com
September 24, 2025 at 12:29 PM
A drug that provides near-perfect protection against HIV with shots just twice a year will be made available at $40 per patient annually in low- and middle-income countries, offering new hope for ending the HIV epidemic.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/h...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/h...
Reposted by Emma Smith
Confused by patchwork COVID vaccine guidelines across states? @sciam.bsky.social has a map with the latest info from the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations. We'll keep tracking updates. 📊 @unamandita.bsky.social ✏️ @jaimieseaton.bsky.social. www.scientificamerican.com/article/covi...
What State-by-State Rules Mean for Your COVID Shot
With federal vaccine guidance under fire, states are forging their own immunization paths
www.scientificamerican.com
September 17, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Confused by patchwork COVID vaccine guidelines across states? @sciam.bsky.social has a map with the latest info from the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations. We'll keep tracking updates. 📊 @unamandita.bsky.social ✏️ @jaimieseaton.bsky.social. www.scientificamerican.com/article/covi...
Reposted by Emma Smith
A Senate hearing offered no sign that health secretary RFK Jr. intends to slow down his effort to upend U.S. health agencies. Here are some takeaways.
www.statnews.com/2025/09/04/h...
www.statnews.com/2025/09/04/h...
The big takeaways from health secretary RFK Jr.’s contentious Senate hearing
A Senate hearing offered no sign that health secretary RFK Jr. intends to slow down his effort to upend U.S. health agencies. Here are some takeaways.
www.statnews.com
September 4, 2025 at 7:07 PM
A Senate hearing offered no sign that health secretary RFK Jr. intends to slow down his effort to upend U.S. health agencies. Here are some takeaways.
www.statnews.com/2025/09/04/h...
www.statnews.com/2025/09/04/h...
Reposted by Emma Smith
The talented @tarahaelle.bsky.social has a public facebook post setting out the timeline and explaining the events in relation to the CDC firings and resignations. www.facebook.com/tara.haelle/...
Tara Haelle
The past 72 hours have been absolute chaos at the CDC, and you wouldn’t be blamed for having no idea what’s going on. But the chaos will affect all of us, so you need to know. Here’s the shortest...
www.facebook.com
August 30, 2025 at 5:01 PM
The talented @tarahaelle.bsky.social has a public facebook post setting out the timeline and explaining the events in relation to the CDC firings and resignations. www.facebook.com/tara.haelle/...
As a health/science journo, I deeply appreciate this coverage by @theguardian.com & @scienceweekly.bsky.social. I just emailed them. This coverage is critically important! If you have some spoons, please email them! Thank you @bhanlon15.bsky.social for spreading the word.
Appreciate The Guardian's Science Weekly coverage of ME last week?
If so and feel inclined/have the spoons, you can write a thanks to scienceweekly@theguardian.com
Hopefully hearing positive responses to this coverage may hopefully encourage future coverage
www.theguardian.com/science/audi...
If so and feel inclined/have the spoons, you can write a thanks to scienceweekly@theguardian.com
Hopefully hearing positive responses to this coverage may hopefully encourage future coverage
www.theguardian.com/science/audi...
Can science crack the mystery of ME? – podcast
Madeleine Finlay speaks to science editor Ian Sample about a new study of how genes affect people’s chances of developing ME/CFS, and to Nicky Proctor who has ME and took part in the research. She als...
www.theguardian.com
August 26, 2025 at 10:20 PM
As a health/science journo, I deeply appreciate this coverage by @theguardian.com & @scienceweekly.bsky.social. I just emailed them. This coverage is critically important! If you have some spoons, please email them! Thank you @bhanlon15.bsky.social for spreading the word.
Reposted by Emma Smith
I'm so glad to see @latimes.com run my story on how the CDC was hampered from doing its most essential role -- emergency response -- as measles exploded in Texas.
Public health budget cuts and political meddling has real repercussions on lives. www.latimes.com/science/stor...
Public health budget cuts and political meddling has real repercussions on lives. www.latimes.com/science/stor...
As measles cases soared, Texas sought help from Trump's CDC. No one answered
The Trump administration’s actions sowed fear and confusion among CDC scientists that kept them from performing the agency’s key function: emergency response.
www.latimes.com
August 26, 2025 at 4:27 PM
I'm so glad to see @latimes.com run my story on how the CDC was hampered from doing its most essential role -- emergency response -- as measles exploded in Texas.
Public health budget cuts and political meddling has real repercussions on lives. www.latimes.com/science/stor...
Public health budget cuts and political meddling has real repercussions on lives. www.latimes.com/science/stor...
Reposted by Emma Smith
A new long-term study suggests that the more heat waves people are exposed to, the more their body’s aging process accelerates
This Is How Extreme Heat Is Aging Your Body
A new long-term study suggests that the more heat waves people are exposed to, the more their body’s aging process accelerates
www.scientificamerican.com
August 26, 2025 at 4:45 PM
A new long-term study suggests that the more heat waves people are exposed to, the more their body’s aging process accelerates
Reposted by Emma Smith
For some scientists fighting partisan attacks, the goal is to defend their work from political interference. But in retaliating, @katherinejwu.com reports, they also run the risk of advancing the narrative that they want to fight.
Scientists Are Caught in a Political Trap
Fighting back against the Trump administration means they start to look more like activists.
bit.ly
August 23, 2025 at 2:01 PM
For some scientists fighting partisan attacks, the goal is to defend their work from political interference. But in retaliating, @katherinejwu.com reports, they also run the risk of advancing the narrative that they want to fight.
Reposted by Emma Smith
For the people who still think #Covid isn't a big deal, here's more research on negative long-term vascular effects from even a mild case. But #vaccinated people have *less* damage — all the more reason the Covid #vaccine should be available to anyone who wants it. sciencedaily.com/releases/202...
Even mild Covid may leave blood vessels five years older
Researchers discovered that Covid accelerates blood vessel aging by about five years, especially in women. Even mild infections increased arterial stiffness, with vaccinated individuals showing less d...
sciencedaily.com
August 20, 2025 at 7:58 PM
For the people who still think #Covid isn't a big deal, here's more research on negative long-term vascular effects from even a mild case. But #vaccinated people have *less* damage — all the more reason the Covid #vaccine should be available to anyone who wants it. sciencedaily.com/releases/202...
Reposted by Emma Smith
In @nytopinion.nytimes.com “If the United States abandons mRNA, it will not simply be forfeiting a public health advantage. It will be ceding a strategic asset,” writes Rick Bright, the former director of BARDA, a U.S. pandemic response agency.
Opinion | America Is Giving Up a Lifesaving Medical Breakthrough: mRNA
Giving up on mRNA is a dangerous decision.
nyti.ms
August 18, 2025 at 6:30 PM
In @nytopinion.nytimes.com “If the United States abandons mRNA, it will not simply be forfeiting a public health advantage. It will be ceding a strategic asset,” writes Rick Bright, the former director of BARDA, a U.S. pandemic response agency.
Reposted by Emma Smith
The CDC shooting was public health’s Jan. 6
In RFK Jr.’s America, it will never be safe to practice public health or medicine, writes Colin J. Carlson and Sean Kennedy.
www.statnews.com/2025/08/15/c...
In RFK Jr.’s America, it will never be safe to practice public health or medicine, writes Colin J. Carlson and Sean Kennedy.
www.statnews.com/2025/08/15/c...
The CDC shooting was public health’s Jan. 6
“In RFK Jr.’s America, it will never be safe to practice public health or medicine," write an epidemiologist and a former CDC staffer.
www.statnews.com
August 15, 2025 at 6:01 PM
The CDC shooting was public health’s Jan. 6
In RFK Jr.’s America, it will never be safe to practice public health or medicine, writes Colin J. Carlson and Sean Kennedy.
www.statnews.com/2025/08/15/c...
In RFK Jr.’s America, it will never be safe to practice public health or medicine, writes Colin J. Carlson and Sean Kennedy.
www.statnews.com/2025/08/15/c...
Reposted by Emma Smith
The @washingtonpost tracked where Trump's forces are patrolling in Washington. Spoiler alert: They're not where the crime is.
August 17, 2025 at 8:07 PM
The @washingtonpost tracked where Trump's forces are patrolling in Washington. Spoiler alert: They're not where the crime is.
Reposted by Emma Smith
#CDC has been advised of another 3 children who died from #flu in the 2024-25 season, bringing the confirmed pediatric death toll to 270. This number could rise further; pediatric deaths are often reported months later.
Most weren't vaccinated.
This is beyond tragic.
www.cdc.gov/fluview/surv...
Most weren't vaccinated.
This is beyond tragic.
www.cdc.gov/fluview/surv...
August 15, 2025 at 3:12 PM
#CDC has been advised of another 3 children who died from #flu in the 2024-25 season, bringing the confirmed pediatric death toll to 270. This number could rise further; pediatric deaths are often reported months later.
Most weren't vaccinated.
This is beyond tragic.
www.cdc.gov/fluview/surv...
Most weren't vaccinated.
This is beyond tragic.
www.cdc.gov/fluview/surv...
Reposted by Emma Smith
NEW: The bipartisan Senate Appropriations Committee has rejected Trump’s proposed $18 billion, 40% cut to the National Institutes of Health budget and endorsed a $400 million increase.
DO NOT GIVE UP! Our advocacy is working. Keep speaking up and calling your elected officials.
DO NOT GIVE UP! Our advocacy is working. Keep speaking up and calling your elected officials.
August 1, 2025 at 1:36 AM
NEW: The bipartisan Senate Appropriations Committee has rejected Trump’s proposed $18 billion, 40% cut to the National Institutes of Health budget and endorsed a $400 million increase.
DO NOT GIVE UP! Our advocacy is working. Keep speaking up and calling your elected officials.
DO NOT GIVE UP! Our advocacy is working. Keep speaking up and calling your elected officials.
Reposted by Emma Smith
Forty percent of Americans plan to get a Covid shot this fall -- of that, two-thirds are worried they won't be able to and/or that insurance won't cover it. Vaccine uptake is already low. Recent policy changes will only discourage vaccination more, and it will cost lives. www.kff.org/health-infor...
KFF Tracking Poll on Health Information and Trust: COVID-19 Vaccine Update | KFF
As federal vaccine policy changes, this poll finds that most adults do not expect to get a COVID-19 vaccine this fall , and many parents are confused and uncertain about whether the vaccine is recomme...
www.kff.org
August 1, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Forty percent of Americans plan to get a Covid shot this fall -- of that, two-thirds are worried they won't be able to and/or that insurance won't cover it. Vaccine uptake is already low. Recent policy changes will only discourage vaccination more, and it will cost lives. www.kff.org/health-infor...