ingfeichen

Freelance scribe of science stories for & others. NYC native who defected to California. @ingfeichen.bsky.social

[ingfeichen @ingfeichen]

The #ACIP meeting has put it in the spotlight, but most people don't know much about #hepatitisB or why vaccines against the hep B virus are one of the great public-health success stories. Chronic HBV infection is oft underdiagnosed & undertreated ...

[ingfeichen @ingfeichen]

ICYMI... Days before Palisades inferno, firefighters were ordered to leave smoldering burn site https://t.co/yNhZ7Cv0K0

[ALERTCalifornia @ALERTCalifornia]

Boo! We see you. These curious ravens were interacting with the reflective camera dome on the ALERTCalifornia Briones Tabletop camera. Happy Halloween 🐦‍⬛ 🎃

[Colin McCarthy @US_Stormwatch]

Jamaica is about to be slammed by one of the strongest landfalling hurricanes in world history, as Melissa, against all odds, continues to strengthen up to landfall with sustained winds of 180 mph and gusts up to 225 mph.

At a loss for words at this point.

[Los Angeles County @CountyofLA]

A Red Flag Warning, Wind Advisory, and Heat Advisory are in effect for portions of L.A. County — including the Western San Gabriel Mountains, Santa Susana Mountains, Antelope Valley, and edges of the Santa Clarita Valley.

📍Red Flag Warning: 6 a.m. Tuesday – 6 p.m. Wednesday

[Native Santa Cruz @NativeSantaCruz]

In otter news…

I don’t like the term ‘aggressive’, but that’s what the warning signs along West Cliff say.

I’ve got no proof, but I’m feeling more and more that these incidents over the last 10 days are all the same otter and a female one that’s likely pregnant. The characteristics are similar to 841 and it’s possible it’s her, but again, there’s no way of knowing.

Whomever this otter is, it’s worth protecting and I know 99% of surfers are doing what the can to stay away them. A reminder that if a sea otter try’s to get on your board, splash water at it, slap your board loudly with your hand and if needed, roll off the board and use it as shield between you and the otter.

https://t.co/VAs1q1JziW

[ingfeichen @ingfeichen]

A story I wrote for https://t.co/5wFZi0Ny7B looks at the wickedly complicated problem of #wildfires that threaten housing communities & the dilemma of how to make older residences truly #firesafe. Featuring Alex Maranghides @NIST & other leaders in fire prevention world

[The New Yorker @NewYorker]

For the large majority of the approximately 50 million U.S. homes in the wildland-urban interface—which are the middle ground between developed and undeveloped terrain—fire prevention is often voluntary and ad hoc, falling to individual homeowners. https://t.co/GTE2aeaG9P

[ingfeichen @ingfeichen]

Chaos on day 2 of the ACIP meeting as the panel indefinitely postponed a vote on a #hepatitisB vaccine
https://t.co/G0BHq41qj0

[ingfeichen @ingfeichen]

... and it can take a terrible multi-generational toll on families. The human side of this story is why the universal birth dose vax is so important. This is why it matters: https://t.co/x4pjVWBgjN

[ingfeichen @ingfeichen]

The #ACIP meeting has put it in the spotlight, but most people don't know much about #hepatitisB or why vaccines against the hep B virus are one of the great public-health success stories. Chronic HBV infection is oft underdiagnosed & undertreated ...

[Zeke Lunder ~ The Lookout @wildland_zko]

The current administration is cutting tribal engagement budgets for Federal land management agencies in the name of reducing DEI. Disregarding native knowledge is one of the root causes of our forest health and wildfire crises. https://t.co/TcbMWf3sky

[Retraction Watch @RetractionWatch]

"The scientific literature is an essential ocean of knowledge, in which floats an alarming amount of junk."

Our @ivanoransky and @armarcus reflect on RFK Jr.'s use of scholarly papers in his confirmation hearings.
https://t.co/6N9wNfQ0Dx

[Tom Cova @tjcova]

“It’s tough to say because without knowing exactly where a fire is going to start and how quickly it’s going to spread, I cannot say for sure if there is sufficient time to evacuate.” -R. Cohen #wildfire #evacuation
https://t.co/PKQd7vOuTx

[Boone @BooneAshworth]

talked with @watchdutyapp about what it's like being the platform that everyone turns to during a horrible fire, how they keep info flowing despite a flood of shitposts and misinformation online, and what happens in the next disaster
https://t.co/HJ14qe2WNH

[ingfeichen @ingfeichen]

And even more stressful: "The drive was even more harrowing because her mother, who has Alzheimer's disease, kept wanting to open the car window. With the air full of smoke and ashes, Meyer said they didn't use the car AC because she didn't want to run out of gas."

[Tom Cova @tjcova]

Evacuees describe harrowing escape: “No one could move.” One evacuee reported that she was trapped for 4 hours trying to get 7 miles to Westwood. #evacuation #PalisadesFire https://t.co/s0t5Tpbfxr

[ingfeichen @ingfeichen]

In addition to Palisades & Eaton fires, more new blazes popped up tonight across SoCal during this extreme Santa Ana wind event. It's shaping up as worst-case scenario of staggering proportions ... Hope Los Angelenos take evacuation preparations seriously
[map via @watchdutyapp]

[Michael Wara @MichaelWWara]

The best WUI firefighting force in the world is in this area but they will struggle to control a fire burning under these conditions. Incident command pivoted a few minutes ago to focussing solely on evacuation and is not attempting to defend structures.

[John Lindsey @PGE_John]

Since 1991, I’ve been forecasting waves along the Central Coast, and this recent swell event was the longest period/wavelength I’ve ever witnessed. The waves were heavy, breaking with incredible force. I captured these photos at Estero Bluffs State Park on Monday, December 23.

I received several emails—mostly from surfers—inquiring about a study published in Nature Communications by the Institute of Marine Sciences at UC Santa Cruz. The study found that wave power has increased globally by 0.4% per year since 1948, correlating with rising sea surface temperatures.

About eight years ago, I wrote a column on increasing wave energy, drawing from data collected by the waverider buoy at Diablo Canyon Power Plant. This buoy, deployed along the Pecho Coast (between Point San Luis Lighthouse and Point Buchon), has been in operation since June 1983—making it one of the longest-running wave monitoring stations on the West Coast.

Over the past 40 years, Diablo Canyon Waverider buoy’s data archive at the Coastal Data Information Program (CDIP) at Scripps Institute of Oceanography shows about a 5% increase in long-period wave events. This trend is directly linked to more intense storms in the Pacific, characterized by lower air pressures and stronger winds.

On December 20, a mid-latitude cyclone near the international dateline rapidly intensified, dropping from 973 millibars to 941 millibars (27.79 inHg) in just 12 hours—a remarkable 32-millibar drop, far exceeding the 24-millibar threshold needed to classify a storm as a “bomb cyclone.” Based on wave spectral analysis from the Diablo Canyon buoy, the storm may have been even more intense than surface charts and models suggested.
Unfortunately, NOAA marine buoy #4605 – WEST CALIFORNIA was out of service, limiting the accuracy of the wave forecast.

The trend of longer-period, more powerful swell events is expected to persist as the planet continues to warm.

[Elisabeth Bik @MicrobiomDigest]

Infamous paper that popularized unproven COVID-19 treatment finally retracted

Study on hydroxychloroquine by Didier Raoult and colleagues gets pulled on ethical and scientific grounds

@cathleenogrady reports @ScienceMagazine

https://t.co/QSVhFLHwMp

[Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @HelenBranswell]

.@CDC has confirmed an #H5N1 #birdflu case in Louisiana, in a person believed to have been infected through contact with infected birds in a backyard flock. This person is seriously ill, the first such case recorded in the US. Similarities to the recent BC case. https://t.co/nLE2on0Q4v

[ingfeichen @ingfeichen]

Moving the needle on hep B is complicated and difficult, even in the U.S. The biggest obstacle is that the fight is vastly under-funded, drawing far less attention and money than infectious scourges such as HIV and tuberculosis (8/8)

[ingfeichen @ingfeichen]

My latest work. Many of those who are chronically infected with the #hepatitisB virus don’t know it & they run a terrible risk of dying of liver disease. A Vietnamese-American family learned this in the most heart-rending way. May the story of Todd Doan be a blessing for others

[The New Yorker @NewYorker]

Chronic hepatitis B afflicts a staggering 254 million people around the planet—a number that approaches the adult population of the U.S. Why isn’t more being done to address it? https://t.co/j0N6D7K6b5