Scott Bartell

[Physics In History @PhysInHistory]

"The value of a college education is not the learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think."

-- A. Einstein (1879 - 1955)

[Eric Feigl-Ding @DrEricDing]

🧪FLU VACCINE EFFECTIVENESS—Everyone is asking if flu vaccine works this year or not… short answer is YES. Long answer—UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) report that the 2025/26 formulated vaccine is currently ~75% effective at preventing Emergency Room visits and 73% hospital admission in children aged 2 to 17 years, while 30 to 40% effective in adults for ER and hospital admissions. Not perfect but still decent for adults, and great for kids. But why is there a vaccine-flu partial mismatch? New H3N2 VARIANT of Subclade K. So… at the end of the southern hemisphere (SH) 2025 influenza season and the start of the northern hemisphere (NH) 2025/26 season (ie too late to remake this year’s vaccine formula), a rapid increase in influenza A(H3N2) subclade K (formerly J.2.4.1) incidence was observed, with subclade K projected to dominate among H3N2 viruses during the 2025/26 season [1-3]. This marks a notable A(H3N2) virus evolution after the current seasonal 2025-26 vaccine strains were selected (based on the J.2 subclade). ➡️Do not let anti vaxxers try to tell you vaccines don’t work at all. They do by LOWERING YOUR RISK, even with mismatch it still lowers your risk by a lot, especially for kids! Get your flu shot. Tell your family and friends. 🙏
https://t.co/ZM8c8cKjdV

[Steve McGuire @sfmcguire79]

The most incredible part of this report might be when Harvard acknowledges that its pedagogical crisis is partly due to coddling underprepared students:

“For the past decade or so, the College has been exhorting faculty to remember that some students arrive less prepared for college than others, that some are struggling with difficult family situations or other challenges, that many are struggling with imposter syndrome-and nearly all are suffering from stress.”

“Unsure how best to support their students, many have simply become more lenient. Requirements were relaxed, and grades were raised, particularly in the year of remote instruction. This leniency, while well-intentioned, has had pernicious effects.”

Faculty have also adopted new methods of evaluation:

Many of us shifted from high-stakes exams to more frequent lower-stakes assignments, believing that this would help students retain the material. A number have found, however, that lower-stakes assignments are more effective at rewarding effort than at evaluating performance, giving students the false sense that they'd mastered material that still eludes them. Similarly, faculty shifted from exams and papers to alternate modes of assessment, such as creative assignments and group projects, in the hopes of increasing student engagement with their courses. A number struggled, however, to assess these assignments in a sufficiently differentiated way. Finally, some faculty have eschewed conventional grading, turning instead to ‘ungrading’ or ‘contract-based learning’ or other systems in which students earn As for completing all assigned work. There is a pedagogical case to be made for these alternate approaches, but they're fundamentally at odds with our current grading system, which relies on grades to differentiate.”

[John Law @JohnLawMedia]

Is it too late for #Colbert to have #JimmyKimmel on tonight for the biggest FU to MAGA ever?

[Marlene Robertson🇨🇦 @marlene4719]

This fool has no idea how to hold a leash. It’s going to take a lot more than a rented dog to make him not weird.

[Scott Bartell @CaliProf]

@MauiElectric Power is out in Kaanapali too

[Wen Public Health @UCIPublicHealth]

#InTheMedia: New study discovered #foreverchemicals are found in almost half of U.S. drinking water. @CaliProf says, "Those who have the chemicals in their water should be concerned about elevated risks of cancer & other illnesses."

https://t.co/THNJtAFSuL

#PFAS #cancer

[Scott Bartell @CaliProf]

Now hiring! https://t.co/V4JH1uvtE9

[CDC Environment @CDCEnvironment]

Curious to know how much PFAS you may have been exposed to? The PFAS Multi-site Study (#PFASmss) is enrolling eligible community members to learn more about #PFAS exposures and potential health effects. See if there’s a study site near you: https://t.co/msRij16zd2 #ATSDR

[Angry Staffer @Angry_Staffer]

This.

[David Hogg 🟧 @davidhogg111]

The internet did everything to our parents that they said it would do to us.

[Scott Bartell @CaliProf]

https://t.co/QfsOvUl0Me

[zeynep tufekci @zeynep]

Exactly.

We'd have been so much better off by recognizing the scientific contributions of Linsey and people like her, instead of impeding it, and dismissing them as "engineers" who couldn't contribute to the science of viral transmission.

Reality turned out to be the opposite.

[Jon Stewart @jonstewart]

Friends. Tonite I am sad. @TuckerCarlson believes me too short to date…and yet somehow, miraculously, I remain tall enough to not know what Victor Orban’s ass tastes like! Is it goulash Tucky? Seems like it would be goulash.

[Steven Zeitchik @zeitchikWaPo]

Imagine being so insecure in your world view that you're triggered because a fellow diner doesn't eat meat
https://t.co/kz328Z9JJh

[Scott Bartell @CaliProf]

Searching for a full-time Clinical Research Coordinator for the UCI PFAS Health Study! Apply here: https://t.co/ThPq6r9rxW

[Scott Bartell @CaliProf]

UC Irvine is studying the health effects from drinking #PFAS-contaminated water in Anaheim, Garden Grove, Orange, and Yorba Linda. Take part and receive up to $75 in gift cards: Learn more at https://t.co/fcr4byarwF or call 949-824-7729. UCI IRB #20205839, CDC IRB #7207.

[Scott Bartell @CaliProf]

@UCIrvine_MBA @aravosis @UCIrvine @DeanRameen @IanOWilliamson @JohnAPerez If this is true UCI should remove his faculty profile, which is still up more than a year after your tweet (https://t.co/XGaH953DAk). If emeritus, he's retired but still holds an unpaid faculty position and certain faculty voting rights at UCI. Let's be more transparent.

[Scott Bartell @CaliProf]

@MartinWisckol @CAWaterAlliance @MavensNotebook @BCWaterNews @WaterFdn @OCWDWaterNews This is good news, but PFAS chemicals remain in the body for years after exposure. We're now doing a PFAS health study at UCI, including free PFAS blood measurements for some people in north and central OC. Learn more at https://t.co/sqUyztR9RR