Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

William Russell @robotowilliam.bsky.social · 1h

Does anyone doubt that the world would be instantly a better place if every generative AI model could be poisoned and never work again?

We can dream, can't we

LLMs are in trouble

YouTube video by ThePrimeTime

www.youtube.com

Reposted by William Russell

Annette Gordon-Reed @agordonreed.bsky.social · 4h

1)You may remember the articles criticizing liberal students for their hesitancy to make friends with conservative students—alleging that they were less open-minded than their conservative counterparts.

Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · 11h

Here are the little darlings they’ve created. Horrifying.

www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

‘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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William Russell @robotowilliam.bsky.social · 1h

"just 2% of students aged between 13 and 18 said they did not use AI for their schoolwork, while 80% said they regularly used it"

I am so glad I'm not a teacher in this new age. I honestly don't know how I'd approach this. It seems unsolvably awful.

Pupils fear AI is eroding their ability to study, research finds

One in four students say AI ‘makes it too easy’ for them to find answers

www.theguardian.com

William Russell @robotowilliam.bsky.social · 1h

Roko's Basilisk is bullshit (and Roko is a massive wanker), but that's not the reason is it? Isn't the idea that you are more likely to be a computer copy than the real thing, since there are many copies and only one original?

Reposted by William Russell

Richy Craven @richycraven.bsky.social · 3h

M&S mini thread for a Wednesday morning.

One day, the second time I worked there, I was ringing up a women's order and asked if she wanted cash back.

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Reposted by William Russell

c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 16h

Referring to global history during the 'Victorian era', but de-centering Europe:
The Meiji era of Japan lasted from 1868 to 1912.

So:
"Cowboys were roaming warrior-gunmen who managed cattle empires for the noble class in early Meiji-era America."

"The Meiji Emperor 明治5年. Albumen silver print. Uchida Kuichi was the only photographer granted a sitting by the Emperor Meiji and in 1872 Uchida photographed the Emperor and Empress Haruko in full court dress and everyday robes. In 1873, Uchida again photographed the Emperor, who this time wore military dress, and a photograph from this sitting became the official imperial portrait (Ishii and Iizawa). Copies of the official portrait were distributed among foreign heads of state and Japanese regional governmental offices, but their private sale was prohibited. Nevertheless, many copies of the photograph were made and circulated on the market. (Kinoshita). Published in the Japanese book, Meiji Tenno gyoden (Tokyo: Kaneo Bun'endo, 1912)"

CREDIT: Uchida Kuichi - Tenno Yondai No Shozo "天皇四代の肖像", published by Mainichi Shinbun Sha 毎日新聞社, 1999.

"A historical photograph of a group of cowboys from the American West, likely from the late 19th century. The photograph appears to be a promotional image for Buffalo Bill's Wild West show"

The name "Johnny Baker" is written at the bottom, either as the photographer or labeling a gentleman in fancy hat holding a long rifle.

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Reposted by William Russell

Jil Hue @jil-hue.bsky.social · 5h

I just realized my life can be sectioned by Adventure Time characters. Marcelline and Lemongrab as a teen, then I went straight into BMO. After having a child I started as Simon. Now I'm slowly descending into becoming Ice King. Let's meet all up for tea when I'm Treetrunks.

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Reposted by William Russell

River Action @riveractionuk.bsky.social · 6h

🚨 NEWS! Red Tractor ad banned for misleading environmental claims 🚨

A TV ad by the UK’s biggest farm assurance scheme has been banned after the @adstandards.bsky.social found “insufficient evidence” that Red Tractor farms met basic environmental standards.

READ MORE: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Red Tractor ad banned for misleading environmental claims

The Advertising Standards Authority upheld a complaint by environment charity River Action.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Reposted by William Russell

Jean-François Cudennec @jfcudennec.bsky.social · 4h

Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards are out !

And like every year, it's just a big "wow".

Photo of an egret flying over a fish which is crossing the sea surface trying to catch a smaller fish, halfway in its mouth (maybe I'm not clear but the image is really incredible)

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William Russell @robotowilliam.bsky.social · 6h

Wow, I watched this as a kid in the UK! I'd forgotten it existed, there are never any references to it anymore. What is with that weird pink bad guy...? 😆

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Reposted by William Russell

Eric Turkheimer @ent3c.bsky.social · 1d

In 2018, Charles Murray challenged me to a bet: "We will understand IQ genetically—I think most of the picture will have been filled in by 2025—there will still be blanks—but we’ll know basically what’s going on." It's now 2025, and I claim a win. I write about it in The Atlantic.

Your Genes Are Simply Not Enough to Explain How Smart You Are

Seven years ago, I took a bet with Charles Murray about whether we’d basically understand the genetics of intelligence by now.

www.theatlantic.com

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Reposted by William Russell

Bo Thompson @gaudipern.bsky.social · 17h

The use of AI to marionette a woman whose tortured existence was spent trying to carve her own life and identity out of the space men forced her into is both damningly macabre and a surprisingly perfect encapsulation of the problems with this ghoulish use of technology.

Scientific American @sciam.bsky.social · 2d

Despite early, and familiar, copyright growing pains, Sora may be the prelude to AI-generated on-demand TV and movies

Want to See Marilyn Monroe in Game of Thrones? AI Could Make It Soon

Despite early, and familiar, copyright growing pains, Sora may be the prelude to AI-generated on-demand TV and movies

www.scientificamerican.com

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Reposted by William Russell

Techpriest @techpriest.bsky.social · 19h

Literature is indistinguishable from magic in allowing one life to reach others across space & time. An author can be dead for decades, centuries or thousands of years, be read in entire continents the author never visited or even knew existed, and still make people feel and live differently

John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 21h

Tell me your most life-affirming literary opinion.

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William Russell @robotowilliam.bsky.social · 17h

Who's the artist who created that banner?

Reposted by William Russell

Jared Holt @jaredlholt.bsky.social · 18h

One of the craziest stories I've seen in a long time. If you think Trump and his administration are extreme and depraved, just wait until you learn about the young guns who are positioning themselves to take over the reigns in the next few decades

www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

‘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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Reposted by William Russell

Angela Collier @acollierastro.bsky.social · 19h

English vloggers will announce a 'cheeky drink' after work and then film themselves having 3 cocktails at 7pm. On a weekday.

I should move to England.

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William Russell @robotowilliam.bsky.social · 19h

The presentation went down well, we vibed and I'm looking forward to working with them starting next month :D

William Russell @robotowilliam.bsky.social · 21d

Ugh. Interview tomorrow for a job I'd really like. Prepared a presentation about myself. As usual no idea if it'll go down super well or fall completely flat. People either get me or they don't. A lot don't...

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William Russell @robotowilliam.bsky.social · 19h

This was definitely one of the Top 5 PhD rejections I got

William Russell @robotowilliam.bsky.social · Feb 6

"The person we ultimately selected had several years of experience working with indigenous communities in Peru and teaching them stingless beekeeping"

You just have to laugh. Who are all these people??

Excerpt of a rejection letter stating, "we decided to interview 4. Of those, 3 had experience working with stingless bees, the 4th person had experience working with smallholder farmers in Africa on biodiversity projects. The person we ultimately selected had several years of experience working with indigenous communities in Peru and teaching them stingless beekeeping. So the main advantage they had was that their background fitted the project really well."

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William Russell @robotowilliam.bsky.social · 19h

Good news came indeed! I officially have an income again, and I can take a break from applying to PhDs for a while.

...and that is a weight off my mind, believe you me.

William Russell @robotowilliam.bsky.social · 10d

Ugh, one of the hard-drive in my NAS seems to have failed, leaving me without redundancy. Should be replaced ASAP, but I have no money right now! 😭

Guess I'll just leave it turned off and hope I get good news next week about that job interview...

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William Russell @robotowilliam.bsky.social · 20h

Society has been going down the pan since they put trailers for the trailer at the start of movie trailers

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Reposted by William Russell

Celeste Labedz @celestelabedz.bsky.social · 1d

A lot of comments on Mars rovers or Moon landings, but it's important to remember that the planet NASA studies most is Earth. This is less about cutting flashy things like moonwalks and more about keeping communities in the dark on climate, weather, agriculture, pollution, natural hazards, and more.

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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Reposted by William Russell

Vivek Nityananda @viveknityananda.bsky.social · 20h

😂😂😂

Hari Kunzru @harikunzru.bsky.social · 20h

So you want to reduce non white immigration by setting … an exam? In 20 years you’ll be complaining (again) that there are too many Asians.

András Forgács W @andraswf.bsky.social · 1d

Well this will certainly do it www.gov.uk/government/n...

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William Russell @robotowilliam.bsky.social · 22h

Woohoo!

Exeter Marine @exetermarine.bsky.social · 22h

POSITIVE NEWS 🗣️

Green turtles move from ‘Endangered’ to ‘Least concern’ on the IUCN Red List, thanks to decades of hard work by conservationists globally.

Read the full assessment - iucnredlist.org/fr/species/4615/285108125

Footage from Open Planet / @brendangodley.bsky.social

🦑🌍🌐🌊🐟🐢

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Reposted by William Russell

Shen Comix @shenanigansen.bsky.social · 22h

An idea for this guy

The green guy described at the end of this comic this is reposting is stopping a massive sword, like the Dragon Slayer sword from Berserk, with the pointer finger of his left hand. He is now revealed to also wear loose warm-grey sweatpants and white poofy sneakers. Text says "Idea: He DOES have immense strength and magic, but it's all concentrated in 1 finger."

That same guy is on one knee, firing a massive blast of magic from the pointer finger of his left hand. The blast is colorful, with stripes of yellow, green, and purple, and stars, arrows, and spirals of various colors within it. He is steadying himself against the clearly substantially force of the blast, like he just fired a rocket launcher.

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Reposted by William Russell

Ian McQue @ianmcque.bsky.social · 1d

Another day, another ai enthusiast warning me I’ll get ‘left behind’ if I’m not careful. He makes the future of entertainment sound delightful

An ai arsehole tries to defend his use of ai

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