Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Jenna Ahart @jennaahart.bsky.social · 14h

First exoplanet story since August—reclaiming my brand

MIT Technology Review @technologyreview.com · 1d

Earth’s turbulent atmosphere makes it hard to detect new planets from the ground. Astronomer Rebecca Jensen-Clem is working out how to find them anyway.

An Earthling’s guide to planet hunting

Earth’s turbulent atmosphere makes it hard to detect new planets from the ground. Astronomer Rebecca Jensen-Clem is working out how to find them anyway.

www.technologyreview.com

Reposted by Jenna Ahart

Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 15h

Not common to see a 7-byline story in the wild, but that's what the situation calls for when the government shuts down and every science agency needs to be checked in on for RIFs, grant terminations, and general dysfunction.

Our update on what the chaos means for science here:

Scientists lose jobs and grants as US government shutdown takes a toll

Hundreds of people at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have received layoff notices, and work at many federal laboratories has been suspended.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Jenna Ahart

Nature @nature.com · 1d

Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Pewter Howitt share economics prize for work that underlines the importance of investing in research and development.

go.nature.com/4hj9NNV

Economics Nobel prize won by researchers who showed how science boosts growth

Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Pewter Howitt share economics prize for work that underlines the importance of investing in research and development.

go.nature.com

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Reposted by Jenna Ahart

Reuters @reuters.com · 1d

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to lay off about 550 workers reut.rs/4302N2L

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to lay off about 550 workers

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said on Monday it will cut nearly 550 jobs as part of a restructuring, not related to the current U.S. government shutdown.

reut.rs

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Jenna Ahart @jennaahart.bsky.social · 1d

Hi Caroline! This chart refers only to laureates who moved before winning their prizes! So anyone who stayed in their home country isn’t represented here. That distinction should be noted in the graphic in the full article.

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Reposted by Jenna Ahart

Magdalena Skipper @magdalenaskipper.bsky.social · 5d

Less than 70% of science Nobel prize winners awarded this century hail from the country in which they were awarded their prize.
“Mobility benefits everyone. Each newcomer brings fresh ideas, new techniques & different ways of looking at old problems”
🧪 #academicSky
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

More than 30% of this century’s science Nobel prizewinners immigrated: see their journeys

The most common destination for eventual Nobel laureates in physics, chemistry and medicine since 2000 is the United States, Nature has found.

www.nature.com

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Jenna Ahart @jennaahart.bsky.social · 5d

And in case a flow chart is more your speed:

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Jenna Ahart @jennaahart.bsky.social · 5d

The US is currently the top destination for future science Nobelists, but its future is murky amid rampant grant cuts and stricter immigration policies. Caroline Wagner told me such restrictions will “will slow the rate of highly novel research, period.”

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Jenna Ahart @jennaahart.bsky.social · 6d

Who said the science part of Nobel week is over!? In my new analysis for Nature, over 30% of science laureates from this century have immigrated, and two thirds came to the US.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

More than 30% of this century’s science Nobel prizewinners immigrated: see their journeys

The most common destination for eventual Nobel laureates in physics, chemistry and medicine since 2000 is the United States, Nature has found.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Jenna Ahart

Nature @nature.com · 6d

Of the 202 Nobelists who have been awarded prizes in physics, chemistry and medicine this century, less than 70% hail from the country in which they were awarded their prize, a Nature analysis shows.

go.nature.com/48UbZJp

More than 30% of this century’s science Nobel prizewinners immigrated: see their journeys

The most common destination for eventual Nobel laureates in physics, chemistry and medicine since 2000 is the United States, Nature has found.

go.nature.com

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Reposted by Jenna Ahart

Alexandra Witze @alexwitze.bsky.social · 6d

You've probably heard how a high percentage of #Nobel laureates are immigrants. The US in particular has benefited from the influx of bright minds.

@jennaahart.bsky.social ran the data for this century's Nobel prizewinners — and shows more than 30% immigrated. 🧪

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

More than 30% of this century’s science Nobel prizewinners immigrated: see their journeys

The most common destination for eventual Nobel laureates in physics, chemistry and medicine since 2000 is the United States, Nature has found.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Jenna Ahart

Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 8d

You are on this council meme but we do not grant you the rank of master, but with quantum computing

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Jenna Ahart @jennaahart.bsky.social · 8d

Big day for physics teachers who tell their students “If you slap the desk, there’s a 1 in 5.2^61 chance that your hand will pass right through”

Nature @nature.com · 8d

John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis have been awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics for demonstrating quantum physics on the macroscopic scale

go.nature.com/3WnEUhE

Groundbreaking quantum-tunnelling experiments win physics Nobel

John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis discovered quantum physics on a macroscopic scale, paving the way for quantum computing.

go.nature.com

Reposted by Jenna Ahart

Nature @nature.com · 9d

Researchers question whether autonomous AI scientists are possible or even desirable.

Read the full story: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

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Jenna Ahart @jennaahart.bsky.social · 9d

Happy Nobel week to you and yours!🏅

In the latest from @nature.com: Could AI take home a science Nobel—no human needed?

Some say yes, and soon. 🧪

For more: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Will AI ever win its own Nobel? Some predict a prize-worthy science discovery soon

Other researchers question whether autonomous AI scientists are possible or even desirable.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Jenna Ahart

Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 15d

That's quite the chart annotation.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

A chart of "Major concerns of PhD candidates." The top text says, "Financial pressures top the list of concerns faced by PhD candidates, but concerns differ among the sexes. Those studying in the United States rank the political landscape as their main worry." The chart shows that in the full survey, political landscape is the biggest concern for about 20% of students (a bit higher for women than men) but there's an annotation saying "In US PhD students, this rose to 64%". Overall, the highest-rated concern was financial pressures at around 40%.

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Reposted by Jenna Ahart

NPR @npr.org · 29d

Pythagorean Triple Square Day, as one man affectionately calls 9/16/25, is a day like no other this century.

On 9/16/25, celebrate a date of mathematical beauty

Pythagorean Triple Square Day, as one man affectionately calls 9/16/25, is a day like no other this century.

n.pr

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Reposted by Jenna Ahart

Jonathan O'Callaghan @astrojonny.bsky.social · 29d

That's quite the headline

NYT headline saying "Happy birthday LIGO, now drop dead" on a story about LIGO

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Reposted by Jenna Ahart

LIGO Scientific Collaboration @ligo.org · Sep 12

"This detection will quickly 'become one of my favourites', says David Reitze, executive director of the LIGO laboratory"

@jennaahart.bsky.social reviews some of our greatest discoveries, including the new #GW250114 in Nature News

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

#GW10Years 🧪⚛️🔭

Artistic interpretation of a binary black hole. It is probably more colourful than the real thing. Credit: Aurore Simonnet (SSU/EdEon)

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Reposted by Jenna Ahart

LIGO Scientific Collaboration @ligo.org · Sep 14

Happy birthday to GW150914, our first (of many) #GravitationalWave discoveries, detected 10 years ago today!

#GW10Years 🧪⚛️🔭

🖼️: @chirpmass.bsky.social

A cartoon of a 10th birthday cake being swallowed by a black hole.

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Reposted by Jenna Ahart

Alexandra Witze @alexwitze.bsky.social · Sep 11

Ten years ago, the #LIGO gravitational-wave detectors in Louisiana and Washington first heard the ripples in spacetime created by some of the most violent cosmic collisions. For @nature.com, @jennaahart.bsky.social looks back at LIGO's greatest hits: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

#physics 🧪

Clearest gravitational-wave detection yet confirms Hawking’s black-hole theory

Discovery joins a list of the greatest hits of the LIGO detector, which ten years ago became the first to detect gravitational waves.

www.nature.com

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Jenna Ahart @jennaahart.bsky.social · Sep 11

New from Nature: Latest LIGO results from GW250114 confirm Hawking’s black hole area theorem with 99.999% confidence!!

“It was the perfect 10-year anniversary present.”

More on this detection and LIGO’s other greatest hits from its first decade of discovery 🧪🔭

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Clearest gravitational wave detection yet confirms Hawking’s black hole theory

Discovery joins a list of the greatest hits of the LIGO detector, which ten years ago became the first to detect gravitational waves.

www.nature.com

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Jenna Ahart @jennaahart.bsky.social · Aug 30

Amazing early birthday present for GW detections !!

Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · Aug 26

128 new mergers between black holes and neutron stars.

Today we're revealing the biggest ever update to our count of gravitational wave detections. New data from May 2023 to January 2024 has more than doubled the number we've seen.
🧵 1/3

@ligo.org #Virgo #KAGRA #GravitationalWaves 🔭 #GWTC-4 #O4a

An image with a black hole merger in the background. The text reads "128 new mergers revealed: LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA GWTC-4.0".

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Reposted by Jenna Ahart

Alexandra Witze @alexwitze.bsky.social · Aug 28

Do you drink Budweiser or Sam Adams? Here's @jennaahart.bsky.social with the latest science on what that says about the chemistry of your taste preferences 🍻🧪

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Beer lovers fall into two flavour camps — which one are you in?

Research shows that beer drinkers are split depending on which types of flavour chemicals they prefer.

www.nature.com

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Jenna Ahart @jennaahart.bsky.social · Aug 29

New from Nature on last week’s ACS meeting: the science behind your favorite beer

Can next year’s meeting explain the magic of pink whitney @acs.org?

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Beer lovers fall into two flavour camps — which one are you in?

Research shows that beer drinkers are split depending on which types of flavour chemicals they prefer.

www.nature.com

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