Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

barbylon @barbylon.bsky.social · 11m

They're all in my Wildlife Treasury!

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barbylon @barbylon.bsky.social · 11m

Also "palm trees are tall grasses" is correct enough to send people into a science spin (in a good way)

barbylon @barbylon.bsky.social · 15m

I know the original guitarist from Panthera!

Gwen 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️♿ @gwenverbsnouns.bsky.social · 7h

panther just isn't a scientific term. it means whatever people say it does colloquially.

calling pumas panthers is no more or less correct than jaguars or leopards

now, *panthera* is a scientific term, and it refers to the genus which includes jaguars, leopards, lions, snow leopards, and tigers.

Reposted by barbylon

Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 3d

We need to talk about Russell Vought – But Properly

Why certain mainstream outlets insist on sanitizing Vought as a devout “small government” conservative – and what actually animates his war against pluralistic democracy.

Some thoughts from my new piece:

🧵

We need to talk about Russell Vought – But Properly

Why certain mainstream outlets insist on sanitizing Vought as a devout “small government” conservative – and what actually animates his war against pluralistic democracy

steady.page

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barbylon @barbylon.bsky.social · 18h

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand.

The valve stuck open.

Sarah Tuttle @niais.bsky.social · 19h

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand.

"Patchy clouds, 83% humidity"

Andrew Spooky Bones MD @apbohn.bsky.social · 23h

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand:

"Nice person, painless jaundice."

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Megan Piontkowski illustration @meganpiont.bsky.social · 19h

I was commissioned to make a zine for the No Kings 2 protest on Saturday Oct 18th!

If you wonder “what can I do?” this zine is for you. It’s packed with things that you can do from wearing a “no ICE” pin to organizing a visibility brigade with your friends.

drive.google.com/file/d/1TJnH...

Hand holding a black and white illustrated zine of two people holding signs that say “we marched! Now what?”

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Thor Benson @thorbenson.bsky.social · 1d

All of this is illegal, for the record

Lena Sun @lenasun.bsky.social · 2d

NEW: @CDCgov hit hard by massive firings that several staff describe to me as a “bloodbath.”
Among those RIFd:
—leadership of the center for immunization and respiratory diseases;
—leadership of global health center
—leadership of the measles outbreak response; 1/4

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Lena Sun @lenasun.bsky.social · 2d

NEW: @CDCgov hit hard by massive firings that several staff describe to me as a “bloodbath.”
Among those RIFd:
—leadership of the center for immunization and respiratory diseases;
—leadership of global health center
—leadership of the measles outbreak response; 1/4

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Anna Gifty @itsafronomics.bsky.social · 1d

lol gentle reminder that DEI is not illegal. Supporting marginalized groups is not illegal. Anyone reneging on support is making a CHOICE to do so.

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squawky.bsky.social @squawky.bsky.social · 2d

Planetary geology folks, section meetings for GSA are in the spring. Smaller, but cheaper than a half week of LPSC, posters double the size, talks 17 minutes, abstracts 345 words. Come meet some of your local colleagues!

(LPSC was my first meeting, I love going - but hate what it has become.)

barbylon @barbylon.bsky.social · 2d

Planetary scientists - we have a continual lament that goes like, waaah we have too many meetings how can we work and put in so many abstracts! Here's a solution! Choose a different meeting!

Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 2d

It's really disheartening to try to talk to colleagues about boycotting a conference that removed all its records of abstracts pertaining to DEI, only for the response to largely be "I don't want to go, but..." But what??? Each of us has agency! You can choose not to go!

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barbylon @barbylon.bsky.social · 2d

I know the LPSC community has been so close knit for so many years. If you take your cohort to a different meeting you can help create and continue that sense of community.

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barbylon @barbylon.bsky.social · 2d

Planetary scientists - we have a continual lament that goes like, waaah we have too many meetings how can we work and put in so many abstracts! Here's a solution! Choose a different meeting!

Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 2d

It's really disheartening to try to talk to colleagues about boycotting a conference that removed all its records of abstracts pertaining to DEI, only for the response to largely be "I don't want to go, but..." But what??? Each of us has agency! You can choose not to go!

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 2d

Re-upping this piece on news that Vought is firing federal employees:
*Vought lying that shutdowns compel layoffs, never have before.
*Layoffs are a choice, the shutdown is an excuse.
*Comes on top of existing RIFs, will make restoring govt services harder post-shutdown.
substack.com/home/post/p-...

Shutdown hostage taking

Russ Vought's threatens more mass firings; SCOTUS blesses his de facto impoundment

substack.com

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Emily J @emexastris.bsky.social · 2d

Reminder that the Trump administration has been illegally and capriciously firing workers since January, them doing it during a shutdown just means they're still doing it.
www.politico.com/live-updates...

Federal workers unions call on Schumer, Jeffries to hold the line even if it means a shutdown

“Federal workers will willingly forego paychecks in the hopes of preserving the programs we have devoted our lives to administering,” the unions said.

www.politico.com

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Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 2d

Breaking: MIT just became the first university to reject an agreement that would trade support for the Trump admin's higher education agenda in exchange for favorable treatment.

"Fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief." www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...

M.I.T. Rejects a White House Offer for Special Funding Treatment

www.nytimes.com

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Bobby Kogan @bbkogan.bsky.social · 2d

Three key points:
1) The admin has been planning mass firings to begin in October since February
2) The work necessary to carry out mass firings is illegal during a shutdown, violating the Antideficiency Act, which carries a criminal penalty
3) This harms America, ridding us of talent and expertise

Russ Vought v @russvought
The RIFs have begun.
12:27 PM • 10/10/25 • 15K Views

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Mount St. Helens in 1980 @mountsthelens1980.bsky.social · 3d

#MSH45 | Richard Lasher
You've been at a job long enough to know a decent colleague to chat with.

The more you get to know them, the more they share. What's fact or fiction? You don't know, but you listen.

Then there's one story that's so over the top—a bona fide lie. But then, a photo appears.

A red Ford Pinto hatchback angles across a narrow gravel forest service road, a blue enduro motorcycle on a rear hitch carrier. Tall firs frame the view. Beyond them, a towering ash cloud from a pyroclastic density flow billows skyward. Photo by Richard Kent Lasher, May 18, 1980.

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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 3d

I have to fan-girl for a minute here. My friend @rosvall-lab.bsky.social built an app to gather data on bird behavior during the 2024 solar eclipse. 10,000+ citizen scientists contributed (including my kids), and the resulting paper was published in Science today!

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Total solar eclipse triggers dawn behavior in birds: Insights from acoustic recordings and community science

On 8 April 2024, a total solar eclipse disrupted light-dark cycles for North American birds during the lead-up to spring reproduction. Compiling more than 10,000 community observations and artificial ...

www.science.org

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Laura Hollister @xenolith.bsky.social · 3d

Which is why I repost so many items to do with fascism instead of talking about geology and education.
It’s too important to ignore .

Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 3d

Sometimes we need a moment, but if you tune out completely, they win. Fascism doesn’t need your support, just your silence.

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🇬🇾🗽Sydette The Dreaded Gorgon🗽🇬🇾 @blackamazon.bsky.social · 3d

Soo everytime America swears that something has never happened before

It has happened and usually to a Black person

History may not fully repeat but it rhymes with

Citizen.Coping @propcazhpm.bsky.social · 3d

In 1857, Thomas Howland became Providence, RI's first Black elected official.

Later that year, he decided to emigrate to Liberia with his wife & daughter after the Dred Scott case denied Black people protections of U.S. citizenship. He was denied a passport.

Thomas Howland, 1856
John Blanchard

Portrait of a distringuished Black man from the 19th centrure wearing fine clothes, including high collar and tie of the day.
Museum Text:
Thomas Howland, the subject of this unusually expressive portrait, was a dock worker in Providence, Rhode lsland, In 1857 he became the city's first Black elected oficial when he was amed warden of its Third Ward. However, that same year he decided to emigrate to Liberia with his wite and daughter, perhaps in response to the recent Supreme Court decision in the Dred Scott case that denied African Americans the protections of U.S. citizenship. Because of this decision, Howland's application for a passport was denied, despite his status as a free man with the right to vote in his home state (he did eventually make it to Liberia). Howland's confident posture echoes that of the earlier Portrait of a Gentleman shown nearby, the fashionable attire of both sitters serving to reinforce thelir self-possession.

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barbylon @barbylon.bsky.social · 3d

cool

barbylon @barbylon.bsky.social · 3d

The one we had to take prior to this iteration taught me how to pick my way through a field of land mines by probing the ground with a ballpoint pen. Life skills.

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perfect knight @shiningknightx.bsky.social · 3d

"we cant uninvent ai" no we cant but we couldnt uninvent nfts either and nobody gives a fuck about them anymore

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Jack Tripper @chadstanton.blacksky.app · 4d

““I don’t know what the Supreme Court will decide,” Ms. Wilcox said. “But I had to fight this. Not just for me, but for working people, including those who have cases before the N.L.R.B., and to fight for the agency.””

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/u...

Trump Fires Black Officials From an Overwhelmingly White Administration

www.nytimes.com

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barbylon @barbylon.bsky.social · 4d

Those were some very enjoyable games to watch, great playing.

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