Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Daniel Khent @danielkhent.bsky.social · 6h

I don't really have a favorite quote. She kicked off speculative fiction by adding a little fantastic extrapolation to the scientific environment at the time, and she brought a timeless theme into sharp focus. I wonder what she would come up with in the context of our AI / LLM froth.

Daniel Khent @danielkhent.bsky.social · 8h

Mary Shelley Invented Science Fiction—and Pioneered Polyamory Too

Heinlein has nothing on Mary Shelley.

#scifi

www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/st...

Mary Shelley Invented Science Fiction—and Pioneered Polyamory Too

As another Frankenstein film debuts, here’s a full accounting of the writer’s tangled romantic history, involving Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, and her own sister.

www.vanityfair.com

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Daniel Khent @danielkhent.bsky.social · 6d

#alanwatts

Daniel Khent @danielkhent.bsky.social · 7d

“Beyond Alcubierre: A Tour of Modern Warp-Drive Physics”

spacetime metric engineering

#scifi #science

medium.com/@timventura/...

Beyond Alcubierre: A Tour of Modern Warp-Drive Physics

Thirty-one years after Miguel Alcubierre proposed a spacetime “warp bubble,” the field has matured from a single, exotic metric into a…

medium.com

Daniel Khent @danielkhent.bsky.social · 7d

An FPGA-Based Mechanical Keyboard

FPGAs used in finance to get an edge, soon to be used by gamers?

#technology #gaming

hackaday.com/2025/10/01/a...

An FPGA-Based Mechanical Keyboard

You can buy all kinds of keyboards these days, from basic big-brand stuff to obscure mechanical delicacies from small-time builders. Or, you can go the maker route, and build your own. That’s…

hackaday.com

Daniel Khent @danielkhent.bsky.social · 7d

Kafka’s Amerika / Der Verschollene (“The Missing Person”)

“Amerika is not America; it is a cipher for Kafka’s dream of a country he never visited.”

#literature

lithub.com/uncanny-pres...

Uncanny Prescience: Revisiting Kafka’s Amerika

Unlike the obsessive protagonists of The Trial and The Castle, who draw us into their labyrinthine thinking, Karl Rossmann, the naive young hero of Kafka’s Amerika or, to use Kafka’s own title, Der…

lithub.com

Daniel Khent @danielkhent.bsky.social · 14d

“Scientists achieve electrically driven perovskite laser using dual-cavity design.”

If only Mars had high concentrations of perovskite instead of perchlorates then we could make Mars a giant space laser.

#scifi

phys.org/news/2025-09...

Scientists achieve electrically driven perovskite laser using dual-cavity design

In a recent Nature study, scientists have demonstrated an electrically driven perovskite laser using a dual-cavity design, addressing a challenge that has persisted in the field for over a decade.

phys.org

Reposted by Daniel Khent

#BruceSterling @bruces.bsky.social · 18d

*Some very familiar scenes in downtown Ibiza right now if you've ever seen a mild hurricane drenching a town in the Texas Gulf Coast #Gabrielle

*Of course this is Spain and they're not supposed to get any Caribbean hurricanes #climatecrisis

2 15 45

Daniel Khent @danielkhent.bsky.social · 19d

Inside the Nuclear Bunkers, Mines, and Mountains Being Retrofitted as Data Centers

#datacenters

www.wired.com/story/inside...

Inside the Nuclear Bunkers, Mines, and Mountains Being Retrofitted as Data Centers

Companies are going to great lengths to protect the infrastructure that provides the backbone of the world’s digital services—by burying their data deep underground.

www.wired.com

Daniel Khent @danielkhent.bsky.social · 21d

“Otherworldly, Forgotten Houses in 'America the Abandoned'”

#gothic ruin in America

www.thisiscolossal.com/2025/09/brya...

Bryan Sansivero Documents Otherworldly, Forgotten Houses in 'America the Abandoned'

The new volume from Artisan Books gathers 200 of Sansivero's enigmatic photos.

www.thisiscolossal.com

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Daniel Khent @danielkhent.bsky.social · 21d

The Pueblo Revolt. August 10, 1680

“Pueblo warriors … carried out a coordinated attack on Spanish missionaries and colonists across New Mexico. Within a few days, they had driven virtually all Spaniards out of the province.”

Had no idea--

#americanhistory

archaeology.org/issues/march...

Features - The First American Revolution - Archaeology Magazine - March/April 2017

Exploring the legacy of the New World’s most successful native rebellion

archaeology.org

1

Daniel Khent @danielkhent.bsky.social · 28d

“cloud coverage falling by about 1.5% per decade”

Complex interaction between climate change and clouds: isccp.giss.nasa.gov/role.html

#climatechange

www.science.org/content/arti...

Earth’s clouds are shrinking, boosting global warming

Narrowing storm bands may be a surprising and dangerous new feedback of climate change

www.science.org

1

Daniel Khent @danielkhent.bsky.social · 28d

Dynamic holographic display with addressable on-chip metasurface network based on lithium niobate photonics

yea, yea, where is my holowatch?

#scifi

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Dynamic holographic display with addressable on-chip metasurface network based on lithium niobate photonics - Light: Science & Applications

Light: Science & Applications - Dynamic holographic display with addressable on-chip metasurface network based on lithium niobate photonics

www.nature.com

Daniel Khent @danielkhent.bsky.social · 28d

Clownfish and Anemones Are Disappearing Because of Climate Change

#climatechange

www.bu.edu/articles/202...

Clownfish and Anemones Are Disappearing Because of Climate Change

A new study led by Boston University marine biologists reveals that heat waves are threatening the future of the fish made famous by "Finding Nemo"

www.bu.edu

1

Reposted by Daniel Khent

Pascal Savelon 🎷 @psavelon.bsky.social · Sep 13

1979 - An evening with Oscar Peterson - Concertgebouw - Amsterdam

#OscarPeterson (p), #HerbEllis (g), #RayBrown (b), #JeffHamilton (dr)

#jazz jazzsky

1 4

Daniel Khent @danielkhent.bsky.social · Sep 13

Global agricultural land use peaked in the early 2000s and has been slowly falling ever since.

Note: deforestation in biodiversity-critical tropical regions continues at alarming rates.

#rewilding #agriculture

www.bbc.com/future/artic...

The rewilding milestone Earth has already passed

The world's use of farmland has peaked, bringing the chance to turn over more space to nature. How far could the trend go?

www.bbc.com

Daniel Khent @danielkhent.bsky.social · Sep 6

The measure of a Gorn.

About time.

#startrek

www.inverse.com/entertainmen...

20 Years Later, Star Trek Finally Fixed A Divisive Canon Retcon

What do the Gorn look like anyway? 'Strange New Worlds' has provided an answer to this pesky 'Star Trek' canon problem.

www.inverse.com

1

Daniel Khent @danielkhent.bsky.social · Sep 6

Microsoft’s analog optical computer

Still wonder if analog computing has a part to play in AI

#analogcomputing #AI

news.microsoft.com/source/featu...

news.microsoft.com

Daniel Khent @danielkhent.bsky.social · Sep 6

Microbes found in Yellowstone can breathe two different elements

Yellowstone microbes, so cutting edge.

#science

www.earth.com/news/microbe...

Microbes discovered in Yellowstone can breathe two different elements to produce energy

Scientists found a microbe in a Yellowstone hot spring, Aquificales, that can use oxygen and sulfur at the same time to produce energy.

www.earth.com

2

Daniel Khent @danielkhent.bsky.social · Aug 31

Tibetan solar plant nearly the size of Chicago

#solarpunk #renewableenergy#agrivoltaic

www.zmescience.com/ecology/rene...

The World’s Largest Solar Plant is Rising in Tibet. It's So Vast It's the Size of Chicago

A desert covered in solar panels and sheep could mark the beginning of the end for coal in China.

www.zmescience.com

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Daniel Khent @danielkhent.bsky.social · Aug 30

The prompt popped up a lot less for me but still pops up...

Daniel Khent @danielkhent.bsky.social · Aug 30

For those #writing in google docs and the "Help me write" prompt is driving you to distraction:

sas-lps.freshdesk.com/support/solu...

Turn off Google Chrome "Help Me Write"

You can turn off "Help Me Write" using these steps: Click the three vertical dots in the upper-right corner of Chrome. Click Settings. Click Privacy and security. Scroll down...

sas-lps.freshdesk.com

1

Daniel Khent @danielkhent.bsky.social · Aug 30

The Korea Institute of Science and Technology developed a highly efficient water electrolysis catalyst that reduces the amount of iridium used to 1/20 of that of commercial catalyst. (Nov 2024)
Paves Way for $1 per Kg Hydrogen

#renewableenergy

fuelcellsworks.com/2024/11/05/f...

Breakthrough Catalyst Paves Way for $1 per Kg Hydrogen - Fuelcellsworks

KIST team develops high-efficiency water electrolysis catalyst with 1/20th of catalyst usage, reducing iridium usage and hydrogen production costs.

fuelcellsworks.com

Daniel Khent @danielkhent.bsky.social · Aug 29

Ultra-thin perovskite solar technology

Solar Gliders? Sailboats? Kites?

#solarpunk #renewableenergy

www.pv-magazine.com/2024/05/09/p...

Powering drones with ultra-thin, flexible perovskite PV cells

An Austrian research team has demonstrated lightweight, flexible and ultra-thin perovskite solar technology in palm-sized autonomous drones, showcasing the stability and energy-harvesting potential of...

www.pv-magazine.com

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Daniel Khent @danielkhent.bsky.social · Aug 23

“Warp Drive: Scientists Say a Physical Warp Drive Is Now Possible”

Possible? Still requires huge amount of energy, but at least we dodged the negative energy thing.
Oh, and not faster than light … still …

#scifi

www.popularmechanics.com/science/a656...

Scientists Announce a Physical Warp Drive Is Now Possible. Seriously.

Humans are one step closer to traveling at faster-than-light speeds.

www.popularmechanics.com

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