Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Hisham Zerriffi @hishamzerriffi.bsky.social · 1h

I can see that. No pun intended. best of luck!

Hisham Zerriffi @hishamzerriffi.bsky.social · 1h

Somehow I missed this announcement. Don’t worry. Current me just got future me a nice gift from the People‘s Cooperative Bookstore.

Do yourself a favour on pre-order one for yourself. @amalelmohtar.com is a wonderful writer and apparently preorders are huge for authors.

Amal El-Mohtar @amalelmohtar.com · May 7

Absolutely thrilled to share the cover to next year's short story collection coming out from @tordotcom.bsky.social! I'm obsessed with it!

Comes out March 24, 2026, but you can pre-order it now wherever you like getting your books! Here's Macmillan's link.

us.macmillan.com/books/978125...

On a gradient background that goes from blush-pink at the top to a muddy green at the bottom, a book cover. Super-imposed on a pastoral, oil-painting style image depicting a forested foreground and a hilly background beneath a soft champagne sky, is superimposed a 3-dimensional rhomboid-shape, the facets of which play with space. One facet shows a pale cloudy sky, and from it, a brown hare emerges chasing the hind legs and bushy tail of a wolf, the rest of which vanishes out of the rhomboid frame. The rhomboid's other facets -- which create the kind of infinity loop of an Escher painting -- are either blush-pink or covered in the greenery from the background. Above the rhomboid is the title, and the subtitle "Stories"; below it are the words New York Times Bestselling & Award-winning Author Amal El-Mohtar. My name and the word "Stories" are in the same blush-pink as the rhomboid's facets.

Hisham Zerriffi @hishamzerriffi.bsky.social · 3h

Huh. Well lucky you can wait I guess. For me it was pretty obvious. I was having to take my glasses off to read.

Oh, and the ones that have an invisible separation are pretty nice for not being obvious

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Hisham Zerriffi @hishamzerriffi.bsky.social · 4h

A few years back I told my eye doc I was having trouble seeing up close while reading. They asked how old I was and then responded to my age with:

”oh, you’re just getting old. You need bifocals”

Harsh but true.

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Hisham Zerriffi @hishamzerriffi.bsky.social · 5h

Hey game designers and companies:

If your pulling from other cultures for your game please say upfront who from the region/culture you had on writing/design or at least hired as consultant.

Of course, if you didn’t do any of that, we’re needing to have a whole other convo I guess?

#TTRPG

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Hisham Zerriffi @hishamzerriffi.bsky.social · 7h

Ok, that’s great. Honestly, it is. There needs to be accountability. But it also seems like all this came to light because of some internal fighting. So what if we had never seen those chats? How many other chat groups are there out there like this.

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Hisham Zerriffi @hishamzerriffi.bsky.social · 7h

The oldest in this age range would have been voting in their first presidential election in Bush v. Kerry. Still thinking through what that means.

Hisham Zerriffi @hishamzerriffi.bsky.social · 11h

Calling Young Republicans the “youth wing“ of the party doesn’t capture how bad this is.

No excuse at any age but some might be tempted to chalk it up to age. Membership age for this org. is 18 to *40*. Some have jobs in government. We’re not talking abt high schoolers.

Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan.bsky.social · 12h

“Epithets like “f----t,” “retarded” and “n--ga” appeared more than 251 times combined”

If you ever had any doubt that the youth wing of the GOP is fully radicalized and proudly racist these days:

‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat

Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape.

www.politico.com

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Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan.bsky.social · 12h

“Epithets like “f----t,” “retarded” and “n--ga” appeared more than 251 times combined”

If you ever had any doubt that the youth wing of the GOP is fully radicalized and proudly racist these days:

‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat

Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape.

www.politico.com

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Goodman Games @goodmangames.bsky.social · 12h

Jennell Jaquays was a pioneering creator in both tabletop and video gaming.

She created two immense and now legendary adventures, Dark Tower and The Caverns of Thracia. Nearly 50 years later, both are now beloved by a new generation of players.

Read more: goodman-games.com/remembering-...

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Jessica Green @greenprofgreen.bsky.social · 14h

@aradwanski.bsky.social preview of Carney’s likely climate strategy confirms that Canada is, yet again, refusing to deal with the oil and gas sector, which generates around 1/3 of Canada’s emissions. Carney is gambling w Canada's economic future & he should know better. 🧵

Carney’s climate vision to deprioritize emissions targets, focus on economic advantages

‘Climate competitiveness strategy’ expected this month as Prime Minister seeks to reframe Canada’s approach to environment, energy

www.theglobeandmail.com

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Hisham Zerriffi @hishamzerriffi.bsky.social · 1d

I’m just listening to the Fireside now and this is 100% the case I’m sure.

I heard that “Mintgomery” line in the original episode while cooking and I swear to god I nearly burned my apartment done because I couldn’t keep it together.

@brennanleemulligan.bsky.social is a menace.

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Hisham Zerriffi @hishamzerriffi.bsky.social · 1d

Doesn’t say for this specific facility and cost is definitely an issue. My point was about the importance of storage in general.

But at the end they do note that liquid air can be significantly cheaper than other storage alternatives.

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Hisham Zerriffi @hishamzerriffi.bsky.social · 1d

The liquid air alternative to fossil fuels

My students often ask what tech I think is the most promising for the energy transition. There is no silver bullet. But I do tell them that batteries and other energy storage solutions (and other energy carriers) are an exciting and important space

The liquid air alternative to fossil fuels

An overlooked technology for nearly 50 years, the first liquid air battery facility is finally set to power up in 2026.

www.bbc.com

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Hisham Zerriffi @hishamzerriffi.bsky.social · 1d

I have the Coyote and Crow rulebook. I even brought it into my Sustainable Futures class as an example of how we can use games to tell different stories of the past and future.

Also, it’s just a gorgeous piece of work with amazing art.

Go support them if this is your jam.

Coyote & Crow Games @coyoteandcrow.bsky.social · 1d

Happy Indigenous Peoples Day! Today we celebrate the heritage, beauty, and perseverance of hundreds of cultures and nations across North America that have thrived and endured here for thousands of years, and will be around for thousands more.
If you want to support this Native: bit.ly/3L67Yrs

A display of Coyote & Crow, the roleplaying game, Wolves, the cooperative board game, Naasii, the Coyote & Crow Dice Game, and a set of custom dice for the RPG. All created by Cherokee Nation citizen, Kenna Alexander.

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Hisham Zerriffi @hishamzerriffi.bsky.social · 1d

Water flowing through El Charco del Ingenio in San Miguel de Allende

Also at my photo site:
pixelfed.social/p/nomademode...

Black and white image of water flowing throw a high desert scrub landscape. The water has been slowed down so it looks silky and smooth.

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Hisham Zerriffi @hishamzerriffi.bsky.social · 1d

I believe the traditional way to celebrate National Boss’s Day is to blast Springsteen while supporting whatever union might be picketing locally.

John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 1d

Today I learned there is such a thing as National Boss's Day, and that allegedly it is this Thursday and I SWEAR TO GOD that if I find out any of you have participated in such a craven act of subservience to the ownership caste I will find you and give you SUCH a noogie

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Hisham Zerriffi @hishamzerriffi.bsky.social · 1d

Marking today by making a donation to the Indian Residential School Survivors Society.

You can donate below as well (or suitable org wherever you are).

And, yes, I know #IndigenousPeoplesDay here is at summer solstice and not today. Your point is?

Donate Now — IRSSS | Indian Residential School Survivors Society

Your generosity helps provide barrier-free support to IRS Survivors and their families. As a registered Canadian charity (#864829536RR0001), IRSSS relies on donors like you to continue this vital work...

www.irsss.ca

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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 1d

Today I learned there is such a thing as National Boss's Day, and that allegedly it is this Thursday and I SWEAR TO GOD that if I find out any of you have participated in such a craven act of subservience to the ownership caste I will find you and give you SUCH a noogie

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Mauricio Drelichman @mdrelichman.bsky.social · 1d

Elated at Joel Mokyr's Nobel Prize! You can find numerous accounts -now multiplying by the minute- of his scholarly contributions. Today I want to celebrate the man and the mentor.

Joel Mokyr at the 2011 conference in his honour at Northwestern.

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Thomas Lecaque @tlecaque.bsky.social · 1d

Christopher Columbus was dragged back to Spain in chains by a crusading knight, convicted of tyranny and immeasurable cruelty, pardoned by Isabella but banned from returning to Hispaniola.

Fuck Columbus.

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Coyote & Crow Games @coyoteandcrow.bsky.social · 1d

Happy Indigenous Peoples Day! Today we celebrate the heritage, beauty, and perseverance of hundreds of cultures and nations across North America that have thrived and endured here for thousands of years, and will be around for thousands more.
If you want to support this Native: bit.ly/3L67Yrs

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Ross Miller @rosshm16.bsky.social · 1d

Outstanding interview, so many great quotes here. Loved the weightroom analogy:

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Hisham Zerriffi @hishamzerriffi.bsky.social · 2d

To be fair, not sure I knew these were all the same and that they are large small cats and not “big cats” before moving to British Columbia.

Anyway, fun and informative thread of facts here. And, of course, brassica oleracea makes an appearance.

Josie Duffy Rice @jduffyrice.bsky.social · 2d

so no one was going to tell me that mountain lions and cougars are the same animal? as are pumas? and panthers?????????

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Josie Duffy Rice @jduffyrice.bsky.social · 2d

so no one was going to tell me that mountain lions and cougars are the same animal? as are pumas? and panthers?????????

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Hisham Zerriffi @hishamzerriffi.bsky.social · 2d

Yup. That’s the one. Like you, I’m really hoping they have something interesting or different planned. I mean, any group can be the bad guys but there’s a long history here of it being done particularly badly with Arabs.

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Hisham Zerriffi @hishamzerriffi.bsky.social · 2d

Damn. It’s an “Arabs are the bad guys“ season on one of my fave shows.

Don’t get me wrong. Arabs can be the bad guys. But you’ll forgive me if my trust in that being done in a nuanced way that doesn’t just resort to base stereotypes is in the cellar.

The track record ain’t great.

a man with a beard says " deep sigh " in front of some ferns

Alt: a man with a beard says " deep sigh " in front of some ferns

media.tenor.com

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Hisham Zerriffi @hishamzerriffi.bsky.social · 2d

So One Piece showing up twice in my feed today. Pretty sure the Gen Z protestors in Nepal, Madagascar and Morocco understand it better than Thiel

www.npr.org/2025/10/05/n...

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Hisham Zerriffi @hishamzerriffi.bsky.social · 2d

Alleyway in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

Also on my photo site at: pixelfed.social/p/nomademode...

A narrow alleyway that curves to the left. It’s framed by two walls, each painted in red on the bottom and the yellow (left) and off-white (right) about 3 feet from ground. The buildings in the alley are mainly brick. There is a motorcycle parked in the alley

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Hisham Zerriffi @hishamzerriffi.bsky.social · 2d

“Your job is not to turn in completed assignments; it's to learn how to think.”

Ted Chiang‘s succinct summary of the issue with using AI in education.

I’m not a sports guy but the athlete metaphor he uses in this interview is pretty spot on.

The Incompatibilities Between Generative AI and Art: Q&A with Ted Chiang

cdh.princeton.edu

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