Tanya Lewis

Tanya Lewis

@tanyalewis.bsky.social

40

Posts

Senior editor, health & medicine @sciam.bsky.social. New Yorker. Like dogs and bad puns.

Posts Replies Media

We're used to Covid peaks in the winter, but why does the disease see upticks every summer as well? To find out why, I talked to @linseymarr.bsky.social, Joseph Allen and Peter Chin-Hong, for @sciam.bsky.social: scientificamerican.com/article/covi...

COVID Rates Are Rising Again. Why Does SARS-CoV-2 Spread So Well in the Summer?scientificamerican.com A combination of human behavior and immunity, the environment, and SARS-CoV-2 itself explains why the virus surges during both hotter and colder months

SCOTUS just overturned a ruling that supported scientific expertise in fed. regulations for decades. "Rolling back Chevron is going to create a huge paradigm shift in how the government works and even how Congress legislates." By @meghanbartels.bsky.social www.scientificamerican.com/article/supr...

Supreme Court’s ‘Chevron Deference’ Decision Could Make Science-Based Regulation Harderwww.scientificamerican.com The Supreme Court overturned Chevron deference, a 40-year legal principle that has shaped the role of government agencies. The outcome could affect medication approval, pollution regulation, and more

SCOTUS dismisses Idaho abortion case, allowing emergency abortions while the case moves through lower courts. The court chose not to codify protections for pregnant people's health, leaving doctors and patients in limbo. My story @sciam.bsky.social www.scientificamerican.com/article/supr...

Supreme Court Blocks Idaho's Total Abortion Ban—For Nowwww.scientificamerican.com A Supreme Court decision allows emergency abortion care despite a state ban in Idaho while the case works its way through lower courts

SCOTUS is set to rule soon on "Chevron Defense," a policy of deferring to federal agencies' expertise on ambiguous regulations. Striking it down could limit FDA's ability to regulate drugs or EPA's to regulate pollution. By @meghanbartels.bsky.social www.scientificamerican.com/article/supr...

Supreme Court’s ‘Chevron Deference’ Decision Could Make Science-Based Regulation Harderwww.scientificamerican.com The Supreme Court is considering the fate of Chevron deference, a 40-year legal principle that has shaped the role of government agencies. The outcome could affect medication approval, pollution regul...

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Today I learned that there are no limits on freight train length, and they can be miles long. A new study finds that long trains are more likely to derail than multiple short ones. “We desperately need a law in this country to cap the length of a train” 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/long...

Longer Freight Trains Are More Likely to Derailwww.scientificamerican.com Replacing two 50-car trains with a single 100-car train increases the odds of derailment by 11 percent, according to a new risk analysis

The SCOTUS ruling on abortion pill access is a win for reproductive rights, but "it would be foolish to declare victory," one legal expert says. Here's how future cases and new and existing laws could threaten abortion access: www.scientificamerican.com/article/abor... @sciam.bsky.social

Abortion Pill Access Is Still Under Threat After Supreme Court Ruling, Legal Experts Warnwww.scientificamerican.com “It would be foolish to declare victory” for abortion rights, one expert says of the recent Supreme Court challenge to medication abortion access

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Yes, of course, there absolutely IS science to support the advice to stand six feet or more away from people who might be infected with a deadly respiratory virus www.scientificamerican.com/article/marj... by @tanyalewis.bsky.social

Marjorie Taylor Greene's Attacks of Fauci Over COVID’s Six-Foot Rule Not Based in Sciencewww.scientificamerican.com Attacks on Anthony Fauci over guidance on masking and social distancing issued during the COVID pandemic ignore the science on viral spread

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This is a great conversation with @deborahb.bsky.social about food safety. "If I could persuade people not to think of regulation as a pejorative term, my life’s work would be done." 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-... by @tanyalewis.bsky.social on Scientific American

The Sordid History of U.S. Food Safety Highlights the Importance of Regulationwww.scientificamerican.com Author and science journalist Deborah Blum describes how an Indiana chemist kicked off the first major food regulation in the U.S.

It's time we ended our dependence on cars and reclaimed city streets for people. Staff editorial from our @sciam.bsky.social April issue: www.scientificamerican.com/article/we-n...

We Need to Make Cities Less Car-Dependentwww.scientificamerican.com Reducing the need for car travel is better for health, the environment and public safety

Bird flu caught the dairy industry off guard. @meghanbartels.bsky.social digs into why cow farmers were less prepared than poultry ones, and what needs to happen to prevent further spread. 🧪@sciam.bsky.social www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...

How Bird Flu Caught the Dairy Industry Off Guardwww.scientificamerican.com Understanding how avian influenza jumped into cows can help shape the path to stopping the virus’s spread

Ever tried sleeping on the floor to help with back pain? We asked experts what the actual evidence says about the practice and whether it helps. By Matt Fuchs for @sciam.bsky.social 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-s...

Is Sleeping on the Floor Good for Your Back?www.scientificamerican.com Scientific American asked experts whether sleeping on a hard surface is actually beneficial for back pain

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A group of scientists is trying to cryopreserve tissue from *every* endangered animal in the U.S., as a "just in case" measure

How a Cloned Ferret Inspired a DNA Bank for Endangered Specieswww.scientificamerican.com The birth of a cloned black-footed ferret named Elizabeth Ann, and her two new sisters, has sparked a new pilot program to preserve the tissues of hundreds of endangered species “just in case”

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Should you fear bird flu reaching you and your family? New podcast from @tanyalewis.bsky.social and I & @sciam tells you why to chill-- for now. www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/epis...

How Big a Threat Is Bird Flu?www.scientificamerican.com Cows and at least one person in the U.S. have been sickened by avian influenza. We asked experts about the risk to humans.

Pregnancy and birth cause notable brain changes, most of which bounce back—except for changes in the default mode network, a brain circuit that could enable empathy/bonding with the child. By Gina Jiminez for @sciam.bsky.social: www.scientificamerican.com/article/preg... 🧪

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Showed my husband this graphic I worked on today and his reaction was “wow that’s sickening” so I guess mission accomplished www.scientificamerican.com/article/64-0...

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"The moon is responsible for every giant leap that we have made as a species. It really has guided everything that's ever happened on this planet, from the evolution of life on land to our ideas as a human species" - @rboyle31.bsky.social & @clarakm.bsky.social 🧪 🔭 🌔

Without the Moon, Human Society Might Not Existwww.scientificamerican.com The moon helps us keep time, inspires religions and shapes science, yet it still keeps secrets from us.

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One underappreciated danger of electing anti-science conspiracy theorists is that they appoint anti-science conspiracy theorists to important positions. Covid vaccines don't contaminate your DNA & it endangers public health for a surgeon general to say they do 🧪 by @tanyalewis.bsky.social

No, COVID mRNA Vaccines Won't Damage Your DNAwww.scientificamerican.com You have a “better chance of becoming Spider-Man” than being harmed by DNA from COVID vaccines

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So the darkness or faintness of a home COVID test line does correlate with viral load, and taking a few tests in a row can show whether somebody's getting better or sicker 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-f...

Do Fainter Lines on Home COVID Tests Mean You're Getting Better?www.scientificamerican.com The colors of lines on COVID tests can show whether you’re getting healthy or staying sick—if they’re interpreted the right way

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Addressing widespread misconceptions like this should be a top priority for journalism organizations. Instead they're obsessed with "fostering debate" — an approach that reinforces the misconceptions even more.

The US media is failing the public.

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Listen, a new type of heart disease is rising. 1/3 of US adults have risks for CKM syndrome, @tanyalewis.bsky.social and I report in our SciAm podcast "Your Health Quickly." CKM is when heart, kidneys, & metabolism interact to cause heart attacks, strokes & more. (About an 8-minute listen) 🧪🩺

A New Type of Heart Disease is on the Risewww.scientificamerican.com Problems with the heart, kidneys and metabolic health are all connected

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US Covid hospitalizations are on the rise, now >20,000 new admits/week, and this wave is just getting started as the JN.1 variant becomes dominant and wastewater levels surging in the Midwest with other regions to follow. The booster protects vs JN.1!

In a rare bit of positive Covid news, long Covid rates appear to be declining. Millions are still struggling with these lingering symptoms though, and it's not clear if the trend will continue. By Shannon Hall for @sciam.bsky.social www.scientificamerican.com/article/long... 🧪

Long COVID Rates Appear to Be Decreasingwww.scientificamerican.com Here’s why Long COVID may be declining and what we know about the trend so far

The war in Gaza has devastated hospitals, threatening staff and patients and cutting off critical supplies like fuel and medicine. I talked to Northan Hortado of Doctors Without Borders/MSF USA about the toll war takes on health care facilities & those who depend on them @sciam.bsky.social

How the War in Gaza Has Devastated Hospitalswww.scientificamerican.com The Israel-Hamas war has disrupted hospitals’ access to electricity, fuel and medicine. A physician from Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières explains why health care is so vulnerabl...

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"Enforcement cameras will save lives but on the other hand I won't be able to speed anymore." Umm, yes. www.nationalreview.com/corner/down-...

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The pandemic caused a baby boom 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/covi... by @tanyalewis.bsky.social with great graphics by @unamandita.bsky.social

COVID Caused a Baby Bump when Experts Expected a Drop. Here's Whywww.scientificamerican.com During the COVID pandemic, the U.S. initially saw a drop in births followed by a bump

Surgeons at @nyulangonepccsm.bsky.social have completed the first successful face and whole eye transplant, in a man who suffered severe electrical burns. He doesn’t yet have sight in the transplanted eye but it appears healthy. My story @sciam.bsky.social www.scientificamerican.com/article/doct...

Doctors Complete First Successful Face and Whole-Eye Transplantwww.scientificamerican.com Surgeons transplanted part of a face and an entire eyeball into a man with severe electrical burns. He is not yet able to see out of the eye, but preliminary evidence suggests it may retain some funct...

ICYMI: Are ultra-processed foods bad for you? What counts as "ultra-processed"? And why is it so hard to study? Our intern Lori Youmshajakean gives me and @jfischman.bsky.social the scoop on the latest Your Health, Quickly: Produced by @carinleong.bsky.social and Elah Feder 🧪

What are Ultra-Processed Foods, and Are They Bad for You?www.scientificamerican.com More than half of our diet is foods that have been industrially processed in some way, and it may be harmful to our health

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This is a smart explanation of how the "masks don't work" message spread & why we know masks do work (and so does flossing) even if there aren't randomized controlled trials to prove it 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/what...

What Went Wrong with a Highly Publicized COVID Mask Analysis?www.scientificamerican.com The Cochrane Library, a trusted source of health information, misled the public by prioritizing rigor over reality

I've been working on this story for over a year, and it's without a doubt the most personal story I've ever written: Surgeons Aim to Transplant Organs from Pigs to Humans to Help Solve the Donor Shortage @sciam.bsky.social

Surgeons Aim to Transplant Organs from Pigs to Humans to Help Solve the Donor Shortagewww.scientificamerican.com Advances are increasing the supply of organs. But this isn’t enough. Enter the genetically modified donor pig

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I had so much fun running around the SciAm office with @kelsoharper.bsky.social and yelling about Luddites! www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8MoG9WG/

Scientific American on TikTokwww.tiktok.com The Luddites didn’t hate technology—but they did fight the way it was used to exploit humans. 🎤 Sophie Bushwick, Kelso Harper 🎞️ Kylie Murphy #scientificamerican #stemtok #sciencetok #tech...