Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Karen Yip @kbyip.bsky.social · 1m

The round gravel appearing items are polymetallic nodules. Mineral deposits on the seafloor. The ROV is at 5176m deep on the abyssal plain.
The animals seen include variety of sponges, some coral, snails, ctenophores, urchins, sea stars, some shrimp, sea cucumbers…

Reposted by Karen Yip

Dr. Shannon Cofield 🪨🗺️🌊 @geoshanz.bsky.social · 1h

🔔 DIVE HAPPENING NOW

My colleagues (👋 Amanda!) are narrating this gorgeous dive in the Cook Islands abyssal plains.

Forbidden truffles 🪨🪨🪨

Link below to watch livestream 🧪🌊

Cook Islands abyssal plain nodule field (credit: Nautilus Live, expedition NA176)

Cook Islands close up of nodule field (credit: Nautilus Live, expedition NA176)

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Reposted by Karen Yip

Dr. Judith Hubbard @judithgeology.bsky.social · 3d

October 10th was marked by two M7+ earthquakes on the same day - 14,000 km apart! How unusual is that? We crunch some numbers.

Also: what’s going on in the Drake Passage? 2025 has seen three mid-M7 earthquakes there, after decades of relative seismic silence. What can the limited data tell us?

⚒️ 🧪

Another mid-M7 earthquake in the Drake Passage

The third large earthquake to strike between South America and Antarctica this year

earthquakeinsights.substack.com

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Karen Yip @kbyip.bsky.social · 5d

Alex “what a cool little dude”
is exactly what I was thinking

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Karen Yip @kbyip.bsky.social · 5d

looking forward to the descriptions, by those who study such things, of how this event is related or not related to the nearby event in late August. fascinating!

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Reposted by Karen Yip

Jason "Jay" R. Patton @earthjay.bsky.social · 5d

#EarthquakeReport for M 7.6 #Earthquake offshore of #Chile #Argentina #Antactica

left-lateral (?) strike-slip earthquake mechanism

in same location as 22 Aug '25 M7.5 earthquake: earthjay.com?p=12404

earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/...

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Karen Yip @kbyip.bsky.social · 6d

“Why aren’t they buried?” Is not an answer I have. I think that’s part of the mystery

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Reposted by Karen Yip

Allen AC @allenac009.bsky.social · 6d

“…the Red Line from the University of Houston-Downtown to the Texas Medical Center is one of the most successful transit projects in the country.

Yet, Mayor John Whitmire has chosen to undermine this backbone of Houston’s transit system.”

www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/edit...

Why is Mayor Whitmire breaking the one part of Metro that didn’t need fixing?

Without explanation or warning, Houston changed downtown and midtown traffic signals so that the Red Line light rail is often stuck at red lights.

www.houstonchronicle.com

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Karen Yip @kbyip.bsky.social · 7d

I even try to close them. I restart the work computer once a week... and still it's at least 15-20 once I really get the browser up and worked.
And at home? multiple windows with many tabs. couldn't even guess.

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Karen Yip @kbyip.bsky.social · 10d

Barf!

Reposted by Karen Yip

Save Standard Time @savestandard.bsky.social · 12d

“Keeping clocks on Standard Time year-round would reduce the prevalence of obesity and strokes.” #DitchDST #SaveStandardTime

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Reposted by Karen Yip

Texas Conference of the AAUP @texasaaup.bsky.social · 12d

👏👏👏

Lisa Diedrich @lisadiedrich.bsky.social · 12d

As a UVA alum, I signed this petition opposing the Trump admin's latest attempt to extort & destroy US universities. alumni.controlshift.app/petitions/tr...

STAND WITH YOUR SCHOOL: Trump attacks 9 universities. Sign the alumni petition now.

Are you an alum from one of the 9 schools Trump just attacked? Sign this alumni petition now to support your school, defend democracy, and build a grassroots movement for campus freedom across America...

alumni.controlshift.app

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Reposted by Karen Yip

Texas Conference of the AAUP @texasaaup.bsky.social · 12d

“By even considering signing, [universities] would be giving in to the kind of leveraging of speech power that…poses a serious threat to the (democratic + truth-seeking) values that the First Amendment protects.”

Are you listening, @utaustin.bsky.social?? 🤨

Genevieve Lakier @genevievelakier.bsky.social · 12d

The Trump Administration’s “Compact of Excellence” for Universities is... far from excellent! Indeed, it’s unconstitutional. In this post, let me count the ways.

blog.dividedargument.com/p/the-uncons...

The Unconstitutional Conditions Doctrine and the Compact for Excellence

Members of the Trump administration love to say that federal funding is a privilege not a right and therefore something that can be granted or withheld based on changing administrative priorities.

blog.dividedargument.com

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Reposted by Karen Yip

Gregg Gonsalves @gregggonsalves.bsky.social · 12d

Now we have the Trump Administration's "nice university ya' got there, shame if anything should happen to it" campaign centered around a mafia-style protection racket they call "The Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education." Did we help make it happen? 1/ www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/o...

Opinion | Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Just Extortion

www.nytimes.com

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Karen Yip @kbyip.bsky.social · 12d

👏👏 I need a better solution for my own stack of “still wearable but I’m not putting it in the drawers”

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marinefreshwater.bsky.social @marinefreshwater.bsky.social · 12d

Calling all marine & freshwater sciences students 📣

@marinefreshwater.bsky.social has a new #StudentPrize!

The first winner will be announced in 2027 to allow time for submissions and nominations.

More details:
www.publish.csiro.au/mf/forauthor...

#MarineFreshwaterRes

CSIRO PUBLISHING

Awards and Prizes

www.publish.csiro.au

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Reposted by Karen Yip

AAUP chapter @UT Austin @utaustinaaup.bsky.social · 13d

It’s a 1️⃣-2️⃣punch: The State of Texas, the Regents, & the President dissolve the Faculty Council. Then Trump offers a compact that will affect academic freedom, curriculum, student recruitment, research priorities, the future of academic programs. Once faculty had a voice in such decisions. No longer.

AAUP chapter @UT Austin @utaustinaaup.bsky.social · 19d

✴️For the first time since 1945, UT does not have a representative faculty council.

Our press release on the replacement of an elected Faculty Council with faculty advisory bodies composed entirely of appointees of President Davis.

docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Press Release 9.27.2025.docx

PRESS RELEASE American Association of University Professors (AAUP) chapter at The University of Texas at Austin Contact: Pauline Strong, PhD, Chapter President, [email protected] _________________...

docs.google.com

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Reposted by Karen Yip

Andy Whitmore @more-whit.bsky.social · 13d

Any article with a headline about barbie crabs and sea pigs is just reeling me in ...

Barbie crabs, sea pigs, and 40 new species discovered in a giant underwater canyon

Argentina explores Mar del Plata Canyon for the first time: 40 new species are discovered and the country is captivated by the live broadcast

www.earth.com

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Reposted by Karen Yip

GeoSPACE Field Course @geospace-field.bsky.social · 14d

The application window for GeoSPACE 2026 is now open! Join us online or in-person in Arizona for a two-week planetary geology field camp through @ufgeology.bsky.social. Open to geo-gators as well as visitors from other schools. If you are looking for an accessible field camp, check us out! ⚒️

5 students from the University of Florida do the "gator chomp" at Sunset Point Arizona during the 2025 field course.

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Reposted by Karen Yip

jen rice @jenrice.bsky.social · 14d

hi from EL PASO 🫡 excited to be here so i can keep you posted on a major hearing in federal court to decide whether TX can use its new gerrymandered congressional map in next year's election. here's my day 1 recap:

www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

Minority Voters Argue Texas Gerrymander Driven By Race as Hearing Kicks Off

Read more here.

www.democracydocket.com

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Karen Yip @kbyip.bsky.social · 15d

We remember.

Moms Demand Action @momsdemand.bsky.social · 15d

Today in 2015, a gunman armed with six firearms, including an AR-style rifle, shot and killed nine people and wounded nine others at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon.

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Karen Yip @kbyip.bsky.social · 15d

We remember.

Students Demand Action @studentsdemand.bsky.social · 15d

Eight years ago, a gunman armed with more than 20 assault weapons and high-capacity magazines opened fire on a crowd at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. Sixty people were shot and killed, and more than 400 others were shot and wounded. It is the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history.

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Karen Yip @kbyip.bsky.social · 15d

Watching the lava fountains can be mesmerizing & beautiful or I start to fixate on how it matches the anger in my brain about our government. Molten rock shooting out of Earth.
A good stream to have on today as I think about the USGS & NPS staff across the country also.

Dr. Erik Klemetti Gonzalez @erikklemetti.bsky.social · 15d

And apparently Kīlauea doesn't think much of the shutdown either. New eruptive episode has begun: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk0t...

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Reposted by Karen Yip

Jason "Jay" R. Patton @earthjay.bsky.social · 15d

#EarthquakeReport for M 6.9 #Lindol #Earthquake offshore of the #Philippines

left-lateral (?) strike-slip earthquake mechanism
possibly associated with Philippine fault system (?)
interpretive poster

tectonics in 2022 report earthjay.com?p=10210

earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/...

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Reposted by Karen Yip

Justin Zimmerman @jztidecat.bsky.social · 19d

Faculty should strike. Shut it all down. We teach from research not the whims of dummies.

Texas Tribune @texastribune.org · 19d

Breaking: Texas Tech chancellor limits academic mentions of transgender and nonbinary identities at five universities.

Texas Tech chancellor limits academic mentions of transgender and nonbinary identities at five universities

Advocacy groups say the new state law, presidential executive order and gubernatorial letter Tedd Mitchell cited do not prohibit classroom discussions of particular LGBTQ+ identities.

www.texastribune.org

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