Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Tamar Haspel @tamarhaspel.bsky.social · 12h

Good thing you probably don't need more protein anyway

paris martineau @paris.nyc · 17h

my latest investigation for @consumerreports.org is based on months of reporting and 60+ lab tests of leading protein supplements

we found that most protein powders and shakes have more lead in one serving than our experts say is safe to have in a day (🧵)

www.consumerreports.org/lead/protein...

Protein Powders and Shakes Contain High Levels of Lead - Consumer Reports

CR tests of 23 popular protein powders and shakes found that most contain high levels of lead.

www.consumerreports.org

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Tamar Haspel @tamarhaspel.bsky.social · 13h

TIL about "heavy soda," fountain drinks that have more syrup than normal - making them sweeter, more viscous, and higher in calories.

People love the stuff, apparently.
foodinstitute.com/focus/move-o...

Move Over Dirty Soda, Heavy Soda Goes Viral - The Food Institute

Heavy soda — an ultra-sweet, syrup-heavy twist on fountain drinks — is gaining viral traction and nostalgic appeal.

foodinstitute.com

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Reposted by Tamar Haspel

Cynthia Graber @cagraber.bsky.social · 14h

I don't know how many Gastropod folks are on here, but we're looking for questions for our upcoming Ask Gastropod ep! Do you have a question that you haven't been able to figure out, a food science and/or history conundrum that's left you perplexed? We're here for you - email [email protected]!

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Reposted by Tamar Haspel

Helen Rosner @hels.bsky.social · 1d

Hey if you have a culinary or restaurant or cooking or grocery or whatever question that I can answer — etiquette, advice, culture explainer, vibe prompts, etc — for my (ostensibly) food-related sporadic advice column, please send it to [email protected] with “Helen Help Me” in the subject line!

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Reposted by Tamar Haspel

Chris Lintott @chrislintott.bsky.social · 1d

Cosmologists! We have a faculty job going here in Oxford - happy to answer questions. Brief version is that this remains a great & collaborative place to do science and the students are superb. 🔭 www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOP628/a...

Associate Professor of Cosmology at University of Oxford

Recruiting now: Associate Professor of Cosmology on jobs.ac.uk. Click for details and explore more academic job opportunities on the top job board

www.jobs.ac.uk

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Reposted by Tamar Haspel

Frank Harrell @f2harrell.bsky.social · 22h

Getting rid of academic journals in favor of capturing ongoing comments and suggestions from experts would make the world a better place.

Matti Vuorre @matti.vuorre.com · 1d

Against Publishing: universonline.nl/nieuws/2025/...

Preprints are read, shared, and cited, yet still dismissed as incomplete until blessed by a publisher. I argue that the true measure of scholarship lies in open exchange, not in the industry’s gatekeeping of what counts as published.

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Tamar Haspel @tamarhaspel.bsky.social · 23h

Yeah, sodium was also my first thought on the weight difference.

Tamar Haspel @tamarhaspel.bsky.social · 1d

To be fair, they did keep calories constant on this one. The UPF group didn't consume more calories, they just ate crappier food.

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Tamar Haspel @tamarhaspel.bsky.social · 1d

Aha! So it's the waterfront. Thanks!

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Tamar Haspel @tamarhaspel.bsky.social · 1d

Boston in 1860!

But where in Boston? North End? Can anyone identify it?

Isaac Rowlett @isaacrowlett.bsky.social · 1d

Boston, MA — 165 years ago today

Taken from a hot air balloon, this photo is one of the first examples of urban aerial photography.

It pre-dates the US Civil War and it was taken more than 40 years before the Wright brothers’ first airplane flight.

Aerial photo of Boston from 1860 showing densely packed multistory buildings

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Tamar Haspel @tamarhaspel.bsky.social · 1d

In honor of Columbus Day, a few thoughts from @charlescmann.bsky.social, who knows more than most of us about the man and the event the day is supposed to mark.

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 1d

As the guy in the White House has recently insisted, today is Columbus Day. What to do about it, given Indigenous peoples’ entirely merited dislike of the whole thing? A couple-three ideas that I've been thinking about. 1/

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Tamar Haspel @tamarhaspel.bsky.social · 1d

Yeah, that's pretty bad.

What's depressing is that we could have a bad-off all day long, posting studies competing for worst. There's just SO MUCH crap.

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Tamar Haspel @tamarhaspel.bsky.social · 1d

Them's fightin' words! Got a worse one at your fingertips?

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Tamar Haspel @tamarhaspel.bsky.social · 1d

Also, they don't report the primary registered outcome (sperm DNA methylation, which they say they will report in a future paper), and they don't say why.

And it doesn't seem to occur to them that sat fat, sugar, and fiber, rather than processing, might be the issue.

HT @garrettbroad.bsky.social

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Tamar Haspel @tamarhaspel.bsky.social · 1d

Yeah, that's right. Worse outcomes, at least a little, on the UPF diet. (Note: "trending toward" = "not statistically significant.")

Also, they found that CRP (a marker of inflammation) increased on the minimally processed diet, but they didn't mention that til the discussion section at the end.

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Tamar Haspel @tamarhaspel.bsky.social · 1d

This may be the worst nutrition trial I've ever seen.

Subjects got a minimally processed diet or an ultra-processed diet, ostensibly to test the effect of processing.

But the UPF diet was higher in sat fat, sugar, refined grains, & lower in fiber.

What happened?
www.cell.com/cell-metabol...

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Tamar Haspel @tamarhaspel.bsky.social · 1d

That's exactly what I mean by doing an RFK Jr. imitation.

Ignore the preponderance of the evidence, and instead cite (and kinda misunderstand) an outlier position, and act like it's a mic drop moment.

You might want to read Mike's original piece.

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Tamar Haspel @tamarhaspel.bsky.social · 1d

This is the left doing its best RFK Jr. imitation, ignoring the preponderance of the evidence on a substance that they really really really want to hate.

Glyphosate's combination of safety & effectiveness makes it the best broad-spectrum herbicide we've ever had.

Michael Grunwald @mikegrunwald.bsky.social · 3d

Everyone: ROUNDUP IS KILLING YOU!

Me in NYT: There’s no evidence of that.

Letters to NYT: Well, the science must be biased, and anyway Roundup is killing milkweed and bacteria even if it isn’t killing us, and in any case you sound like an agribusiness shill.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/o...

🤷‍♂️

Opinion | Debating the Dangers of a Pesticide

www.nytimes.com

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Tamar Haspel @tamarhaspel.bsky.social · 2d

If the bobcat chases the deer away, they go elsewhere. If, on the other hand, I take a deer away, it's taken away for good. So I'd bet the trees are rooting for me!

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Tamar Haspel @tamarhaspel.bsky.social · 2d

As long as he/she doesn't scare the deer away ...

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Tamar Haspel @tamarhaspel.bsky.social · 2d

Bobcat?

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Tamar Haspel @tamarhaspel.bsky.social · 2d

Of course! Shit happens. Appreciate the quick correction.

I should have realized it was just an editing mistake - I know you too well to think you'd gotten it wrong!

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Tamar Haspel @tamarhaspel.bsky.social · 2d

Phew! You had me worried that I hadn't been clear about this!

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Tamar Haspel @tamarhaspel.bsky.social · 2d

I mean, seriously! This is how that column starts.

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Tamar Haspel @tamarhaspel.bsky.social · 2d

Yo Tim! Why do you cite me as supporting processing as a proxy for badness when the column you link to specifically says it isn't?

Also, I'm here all the time saying it's a lousy proxy for badness, and other things (calorie-density, deliciousness, etc.) are the real problems?

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