Theo Smart
@theosmart.bsky.social
Senior technical editor at ICAP @Columbia U, and write rare disease reports on the side. Views my own. Interested in life & literature from anthropology to zoology. Originally, I wanted to focus cultural anthro w/ folklore studies, until life happened.
Where I am right at the moment
November 19, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Where I am right at the moment
Cockington last month
November 17, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Cockington last month
Some more Greenwich pub pics
October 16, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Some more Greenwich pub pics
They Fought Outbreaks Worldwide. Now They’re Fighting for New Lives. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/h...
They Fought Outbreaks Worldwide. Now They’re Fighting for New Lives.
www.nytimes.com
October 13, 2025 at 12:38 PM
They Fought Outbreaks Worldwide. Now They’re Fighting for New Lives. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/h...
Reposted by Theo Smart
On this date, Matthew Shephard died 27 years ago. He was beaten, tortured, and left for dead on fence for being gay. Please keep him and his wonderful mother Judy in your thoughts. And let's all work for a world where such horrific things do not happen to anyone. ❤️🏳️🌈
October 13, 2025 at 12:25 AM
On this date, Matthew Shephard died 27 years ago. He was beaten, tortured, and left for dead on fence for being gay. Please keep him and his wonderful mother Judy in your thoughts. And let's all work for a world where such horrific things do not happen to anyone. ❤️🏳️🌈
Reposted by Theo Smart
A Cornell University researcher has been developing an artificial heart for children for more than 20 years. Now, his research is on hold and his lab is shut down.
This 4-year-old's heart is failing. A federal grant that might help him was canceled
A Cornell University researcher has been developing an artificial heart for children for more than 20 years. Now, his research is on hold and his lab is shut down.
n.pr
October 12, 2025 at 9:59 PM
A Cornell University researcher has been developing an artificial heart for children for more than 20 years. Now, his research is on hold and his lab is shut down.
Reposted by Theo Smart
“The administration did not like that CDC data did not support their narrative, so they got rid of them. They didn’t like that CDC policy groups would not rubber stamp their unscientific ideas, so they got rid of them”.
The damage to the CDC is “beyond repair”.
The damage to the CDC is “beyond repair”.
‘The damage is beyond repair’: The CDC faces another round of deep staff cuts | CNN
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suffered another round of deep staff cuts late Friday, with disease detectives, outbreak forecasters, policy and data offices among those impacted, ac...
edition.cnn.com
October 11, 2025 at 10:31 PM
“The administration did not like that CDC data did not support their narrative, so they got rid of them. They didn’t like that CDC policy groups would not rubber stamp their unscientific ideas, so they got rid of them”.
The damage to the CDC is “beyond repair”.
The damage to the CDC is “beyond repair”.
Reposted by Theo Smart
Per CDC source: At internal leadership meeting this afternoon, it was shared that 1,257 people were RIF'd at CDC. Number may not be final. Apparently, chief of staff was unaware that RIFs were going to occur so not clear who is making decisions. (Short 🧵)
October 11, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Per CDC source: At internal leadership meeting this afternoon, it was shared that 1,257 people were RIF'd at CDC. Number may not be final. Apparently, chief of staff was unaware that RIFs were going to occur so not clear who is making decisions. (Short 🧵)
Reposted by Theo Smart
The mass layoffs of federal workers on Friday night swept up the top two leaders of the federal measles response team, those working on Ebola and dozens of other infectious disease experts
(Gift article)
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/h...
(Gift article)
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/h...
C.D.C. Layoffs Included 2 Top Measles Experts Amid Rising Cases
www.nytimes.com
October 11, 2025 at 6:37 PM
The mass layoffs of federal workers on Friday night swept up the top two leaders of the federal measles response team, those working on Ebola and dozens of other infectious disease experts
(Gift article)
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/h...
(Gift article)
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/h...
Saturday was staggering around Greenwich looking for the right pub to decompress and then go back to hotel around 7 pm to sleep off the jet lag
October 5, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Saturday was staggering around Greenwich looking for the right pub to decompress and then go back to hotel around 7 pm to sleep off the jet lag
I am interested in this and hope Conan is in there somewhere.
Today's the big day, friends - my new book, Lost Worlds: The Rise and Fall of Human Societies from the Ice Age to the Bronze Age, is available for preorder! Smash that link and purchase from your retailer of choice, if that's the kind of thing you're into. www.harpercollins.com/products/los...
Lost Worlds
The creator of the hit podcast Tides of History offers a new look at humanity’s deep past, showing us how our world was built not by inevitability, but by t...
www.harpercollins.com
October 3, 2025 at 1:42 AM
I am interested in this and hope Conan is in there somewhere.
Reposted by Theo Smart
"We recently had a study on reducing infections in newborns halted. Not being able to complete this work has serious negative implications for being able to take care of these vulnerable newborns," shared ID physician Ebbing Lautenbach, MD, MPH, MSCE, FIDSA, of @pennmedicine.bsky.social.
October 2, 2025 at 9:24 PM
"We recently had a study on reducing infections in newborns halted. Not being able to complete this work has serious negative implications for being able to take care of these vulnerable newborns," shared ID physician Ebbing Lautenbach, MD, MPH, MSCE, FIDSA, of @pennmedicine.bsky.social.
Reposted by Theo Smart
Kenya and Zambia battle mpox spikes as African countries manage multiple health threats
Africa CDC also noted cholera surges in Chad, Burundi, and Angola along with hopeful signs in the DRC's Ebola outbreak.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/m...
Photo: NIAID/Flickr cc
Africa CDC also noted cholera surges in Chad, Burundi, and Angola along with hopeful signs in the DRC's Ebola outbreak.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/m...
Photo: NIAID/Flickr cc
October 2, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Kenya and Zambia battle mpox spikes as African countries manage multiple health threats
Africa CDC also noted cholera surges in Chad, Burundi, and Angola along with hopeful signs in the DRC's Ebola outbreak.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/m...
Photo: NIAID/Flickr cc
Africa CDC also noted cholera surges in Chad, Burundi, and Angola along with hopeful signs in the DRC's Ebola outbreak.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/m...
Photo: NIAID/Flickr cc
Reposted by Theo Smart
The impact of cuts in the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief funding for #HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis in sub-Saharan Africa: a modelling study www.thelancet.com/journals/lan... #PEPFAR
The impact of cuts in the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief funding for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis in sub-Saharan Africa: a modelling study
Our projections show the substantial detrimental impacts that cuts to PEPFAR funding
could have. Mitigation measures, including funding through alternative international
donors or domestic government ...
www.thelancet.com
October 2, 2025 at 5:10 PM
The impact of cuts in the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief funding for #HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis in sub-Saharan Africa: a modelling study www.thelancet.com/journals/lan... #PEPFAR
A fun post about ancient camel 🐪 art or perhaps hobo codes.
Rock Art Discovery Reveals Unknown Arabian Nomads from 12,000 Years Ago www.scientificamerican.com/article/rock...
12,000-Year-Old Life-Sized Camel Etchings Reveal a Lost World in the Desert
Camels in ancient Arabia may have led hunter-gatherers through deserts once thought uninhabitable
www.scientificamerican.com
October 2, 2025 at 1:38 PM
A fun post about ancient camel 🐪 art or perhaps hobo codes.
Reposted by Theo Smart
“.. Deploying troops inside the country as an arm of law enforcement is not what the founding fathers wanted .. They feared that the government could use a standing army to suppress dissent and establish tyranny.”
@nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/u...
@nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/u...
October 2, 2025 at 10:21 AM
“.. Deploying troops inside the country as an arm of law enforcement is not what the founding fathers wanted .. They feared that the government could use a standing army to suppress dissent and establish tyranny.”
@nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/u...
@nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/u...
Reposted by Theo Smart
"A similar raid was carried out in suburban Elgin, when agents led by U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem rode in a military vehicle and blew down the front door of a home where they detained six people, including two U.S. citizens."
The Department of Homeland Security said federal agents with Border Patrol, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested 37 people in the raid.
trib.al/xWByeBG
trib.al/xWByeBG
Massive immigration raid on Chicago apartment building leaves residents reeling: 'I feel defeated'
The Department of Homeland Security said federal agents with Border Patrol, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested 37 people in the raid.
trib.al
October 2, 2025 at 10:45 AM
"A similar raid was carried out in suburban Elgin, when agents led by U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem rode in a military vehicle and blew down the front door of a home where they detained six people, including two U.S. citizens."
Reposted by Theo Smart
Scientists rappelled down cliffs to reach the nests of bearded vultures, which have a diet of bones and paint their feathers red with mud. Inside the nests were perfectly preserved human artifacts from the Middle Ages. By me, for Nat Geo: www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/arti... 🧪
Found: 650-year-old shoe, in vulture nest
Many unexpected human artifacts have been preserved, for centuries, in vulture nests.
www.nationalgeographic.com
October 1, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Scientists rappelled down cliffs to reach the nests of bearded vultures, which have a diet of bones and paint their feathers red with mud. Inside the nests were perfectly preserved human artifacts from the Middle Ages. By me, for Nat Geo: www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/arti... 🧪
Reposted by Theo Smart
The Damage Done: @marianneguenot.bsky.social tells the story of clinical trials derailed by the administration's reckless science policy, across kidney disease, HIV, Alzheimer's disease, and cancer. Years of work and money thrown away, at times just short of a cure.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The damage done - Nature Medicine
When clinical trials are suddenly halted by US funding cuts, there are repercussions for investigators and patients, and they do not stop at borders.
www.nature.com
September 30, 2025 at 10:27 PM
The Damage Done: @marianneguenot.bsky.social tells the story of clinical trials derailed by the administration's reckless science policy, across kidney disease, HIV, Alzheimer's disease, and cancer. Years of work and money thrown away, at times just short of a cure.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Theo Smart
I hope it's clear to everyone now that Trump really is going for it - he's trying to become a dictator. I don't know if he'll succeed, but he's working to install himself as an autocrat unaccountable to voters. And he's weaponizing the military against Americans who oppose him as part of that effort
September 30, 2025 at 4:59 PM
I hope it's clear to everyone now that Trump really is going for it - he's trying to become a dictator. I don't know if he'll succeed, but he's working to install himself as an autocrat unaccountable to voters. And he's weaponizing the military against Americans who oppose him as part of that effort
Reposted by Theo Smart
Targeted attack on a dockside restaurant in North Carolina. Three dead. Suspect a former Marine sniper in Iraq and Haiti who tried to sue the US govt for “genocide against straight men by the LGBQT community.”
Flags at half mast? Endless op-eds? Victims’ faces on coins?
www.cnn.com/2025/09/28/u...
Flags at half mast? Endless op-eds? Victims’ faces on coins?
www.cnn.com/2025/09/28/u...
Man in custody after 3 killed, at least 8 injured in shooting at a waterfront bar in North Carolina, officials say | CNN
A 40-year-old man is facing murder charges after allegedly pulling up on a boat to a waterfront bar in North Carolina Saturday night and opening fire, killing three and injuring at least eight others.
www.cnn.com
September 28, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Targeted attack on a dockside restaurant in North Carolina. Three dead. Suspect a former Marine sniper in Iraq and Haiti who tried to sue the US govt for “genocide against straight men by the LGBQT community.”
Flags at half mast? Endless op-eds? Victims’ faces on coins?
www.cnn.com/2025/09/28/u...
Flags at half mast? Endless op-eds? Victims’ faces on coins?
www.cnn.com/2025/09/28/u...