@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

@brianvastag@mas.to · 1d ago

Rode the new Skyline rail towards town. It now goes two stops east from HNL. Someday...maybe... it'll make it to Waikiki.

It's automated and comfy. Just taking forever to build because any infrastructure in the US is a challenge and then you have to add on the Hawaii-hard-mode factor.

#Hawaii #transit #rail

View on mas.to

5

0

1

0

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

@brianvastag@mas.to · 1d ago

Hello Honolulu.

View on mas.to

6

0

1

0

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

@brianvastag@mas.to · 2d ago

At least the Brits remain a little bit sane.

"The UK saw no compelling evidence of an imminent threat of an Iranian missile attack on Europe, or of Iran securing a nuclear weapon. This is the first time it has become clear that Britain was so closely involved in the talks, and so had good reason to decide whether diplomatic options had been exhausted and a US attack was necessary.

Instead the UK regarded the attack as unlawful and premature..."

#USpol #Iran

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/17/uk-security-adviser-attended-us-iran-talks-and-judged-deal-was-within-reach

View on mas.to

1

0

5

0

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

@brianvastag@mas.to · 3d ago

The State of Hawaii doesn't really broadcast this, but after a lot of rain, the nearshore ocean is polluted with human and cattle feces and lots of other nasty run-off. We have thousands of cesspools on Kauai and many thousands of cattle. The county posts these brown water advisories but definitely does not advertise them widely.

This message brought to you by me seeing visitors swimming in literal human 💩 today.

#Hawaii #travel #tourism #ocean

View on mas.to

80

0

81

0

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

@brianvastag@mas.to · 3d ago

Wow there is so much advance hype for Project Hail Mary.

But why would I watch a 20-minute video called, "An Astrophysicist Breaks Down Project Hail Mary with Ryan Gosling" before seeing the film? Why would I want to see the Mythbusters guy explain the spaceship?

I read the book and still don't want to see this much of it in advance.

#movies #film

View on mas.to

4

0

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

@brianvastag@mas.to · 3d ago

Happening now...
,💤💤💤

#seal #Hawaii #beach #ocean

View on mas.to

9

0

1

0

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

@brianvastag@mas.to · Mar 09, 2026

Looks like spotify is now generating AI music & attaching it to the names of real jazz artists like Nat Adderley & other musicians, deceased and living.

Friggin' nightmare for artists. Kill it with fire, please....

#music #AI #fake #jazz

https://www.honest-broker.com/p/is-spotify-enabling-massive-impersonation

View on mas.to

44

0

54

0

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

@brianvastag@mas.to · Mar 06, 2026

Found a new pet for @tayfonay@beige.party

#pigs

View on mas.to

10

3

5

0

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

@brianvastag@mas.to · Mar 02, 2026

Sade at Live Aid will set you straight.

(The official Live Aid channel posted most of the performances in recent years....a goldmine of greatness.)

https://youtu.be/bFgv8Jq4xN0

#music

View on mas.to

9

0

5

0

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

@brianvastag@mas.to · Mar 01, 2026

Stolen from some other social media: Seen at today's Minnesota United FC soccer game.

#MLS #soccer #Andor

View on mas.to

19

0

9

0

Thread context 2 posts in path

Parent @brianvastag@mas.to Open

on mas.to

Open ancestor post

Current reply

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

@brianvastag@mas.to · Feb 28, 2026

The best repository of FOIAed documents on this topic and other once-secret stuff is the Black Vault, run by FOIA madman John Greenwald Jr. The other day he said on Reddit the whole site had been deleted from its host but he had backups... John is the real deal ...he FOIAs like crazy, doesn't take no for an answer, and delivers whatever the gov't coughs up. https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/

View full thread on mas.to

3

0

2

0

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

@brianvastag@mas.to · Feb 25, 2026

Just watched a video about a lady who went scuba diving in all 7 oceans and the reporter said she didn't "mind" swimming with whales and sharks. Seeing the large pelagic animals is a goal, bruh.

#scuba

View on mas.to

10

0

1

0

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

@brianvastag@mas.to · Feb 25, 2026

My raspberry pi5 Plex media server is working exactly as intended - I never have to think about it or touch it. This is how computering should be.

View on mas.to

5

0

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

@brianvastag@mas.to · Feb 24, 2026

Really good reporting from Richard Stone in Science magazine - lays out the evidence for and possibly against Trump admin claims of a Chinese nuclear test in 2020.

Tl;dr - Monitoring shows small blast at Chinese test site but impossible to determine if it was nuclear without more evidence (which the US govt may have).

#USpol #China #nuclear

https://www.science.org/content/article/allegations-chinese-nuclear-blast-may-reignite-weapons-testing?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

View on mas.to

0

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

@brianvastag@mas.to · Feb 24, 2026

Someone added a giant Buc-eeeeee's to Cities Skylines II and now it's possible to accurately model an Interstate interchange in Kansas. Hey, I don't kink shame.

View on mas.to

1

0

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

@brianvastag@mas.to · Feb 24, 2026

Comment period is open for NIH-funded long covid clinical trials in their RECOVER-TLC program.

Of special interest to me is the stellate ganglion nerve block. Luke Liu, a pain medicine doc in Anchorage, pioneered SGBs (injection of lidocaine in the neck) for long covid. My late partner Beth Mazur & I traveled to Alaska in 2022 & worked with Luke. 1/2

#LongCovid #medicine #MEcfs #research

https://fnih.org/our-programs/recover-tlc-will-advance-long-covid-research/recover-tlc-clinical-trials/

View on mas.to

1

0

1

0

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

@brianvastag@mas.to · Feb 24, 2026

Gotta hand it to Ian McEwan, who wrote two of the most vile characters I can recall in recent fiction in his latest, "What We Can Know."

#books #bookstodon

View on mas.to

2

0

1

0

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

@brianvastag@mas.to · Feb 23, 2026

Did any public health officials during the early pandemic point out that state & local governments have the power to restrict movement/travel during severe weather for the safety of everyone? 'Cause a pandemic is severe weather for everyone's health.

https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/blizzard-travel-conditions-pennsylvania-new-jersey-delaware/

View on mas.to

2

0

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

@brianvastag@mas.to · Feb 23, 2026

Notorious socialists Goldman Sachs estimates AI investment contributed absolutely nothing to US economic growth.

https://wapo.st/4kT3oLl (gift link)

View on mas.to

17

0

14

0

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

@brianvastag@mas.to · Feb 23, 2026

Not many trombone players get major newspaper obituaries...godspeed Willie Colon. (I used to play a bit...it is the most charismatic instrument lol.)

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/feb/23/willie-colon-was-an-explosive-energy-source-who-took-salsa-into-the-stratosphere

View on mas.to

8

0

6

0

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

@brianvastag@mas.to · Feb 22, 2026

Oh look, there's a Hawaii group on Lemmy.

Exciting.

Oh. Zero comments on nearly every post. Well kudos to the posters who soldier on.

https://lemmy.ml/c/hawaii

#Hawaii

View on mas.to

2

0

1

0

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

@brianvastag@mas.to · Feb 22, 2026

I have a friend who is really caught up in needing to know the political views of the (US) athletes he watches and that is a recipe for being constantly enraged or disappointed.

I gently suggested maybe he should just not watch sports but apparently that is not an option.

View on mas.to

2

0

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

@brianvastag@mas.to · Feb 22, 2026

PBS/Passport is showing an American Masters documentary on Sun Ra.

Good stuff. Tune your streaming devices to Saturn...

Interesting to contrast Sun Ra's Afrofuturism, which was asexual or maybe post-sexual, with Fela Kuti's Afrobeat movement, which was hypersexual.

Sun Ra: Do The Impossible - About the Documentary | American Masters | PBS

https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/sun-ra-do-the-impossible-documentary/37455/

#jazz #music

View on mas.to

5

0

2

0

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

@brianvastag@mas.to · Feb 22, 2026

I'm sure US automakers backing off from EVs while a fossil fuel industry handmaid is in charge for now will work out great for them in the long run.

They're gonna ask for another trillion dollar bailout in a few years, right?

View on mas.to

11

0

5

0

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

@brianvastag@mas.to · Feb 19, 2026

I guess I have to read about this in Al Jazeera...FBI agent* wrote that Epstein was a "Mossad agent" and someone offered him the opportunity to buy expensive buildings used by DOD and the FBI.

The rabbit hole is deeper than that ice core from Antarctica that holds 23 million years of climate history.

Edit: FBI informant, not agent.

#Epstein

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/19/files-reveal-epstein-was-offered-chance-to-buy-us-pentagon-fbi-buildings

View on mas.to

53

0

66

0

Thread context 2 posts in path

Parent @PhilipCJames@mas.to Open

@PhilipCJames@mas.to

The geology of chocolate bars... It's more than 50 years since we left the Moon and, as far as I can see, we still have no equivalent for the prefix in the word 'Geology', the science of the physical

Current reply

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

@brianvastag@mas.to · Feb 02, 2026

@PhilipCJames@mas.to why doesn't 'exo-geology' work?

View full thread on mas.to

0

1

0

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

@brianvastag@mas.to · Jan 28, 2026

My friend Michelle Nijhuis writes about another crisis in Minnesota...Republicans trying to destroy the wonderful Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness on the Canadian border by opening it to mining. Gross. #Minnesota #conservation #USpol https://conservationworks.substack.com/p/the-other-crisis-in-minnesota

View on mas.to

3

0

6

0

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

@brianvastag@mas.to · Jan 28, 2026

Five things at risk if the regime shutters the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, including safe air travel. Good piece explaining why it would hurt everyone. #USpol #weather #climate #science https://eos.org/opinions/what-americans-lose-if-their-national-center-for-atmospheric-research-is-dismantled

View on mas.to

8

0

16

0

Boosted by

CM Harrington @octothorpe@mastodon.online

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

Brian Vastag

@brianvastag@mas.to

Occasional science reporter at The Washington Post and elsewhere. Disabled by complex chronic post-viral illness. Living on # Kauai # Hawaii . Sometimes SCUBA diver.

mas.to

@brianvastag@mas.to · Dec 31, 2025

Folks interested in science should be interested in Retraction Watch, which is now 15 years old. Started by medical journalists Ivan Oransky & Adam Marcus, the site is the only one (that I know of, anyway) that uncovers and tracks scientific retractions, errors, and other controversies. My best friend of 27 years happens to work there too, but that's besides the point! They do vital work no one else is doing. Their year-end summary is impressive. #science https://retractionwatch.com/

View on mas.to

20

0

41

0

Brian Vastag

Posts

Media