Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Dave Vanness

Stacie Dusetzina @dusetzinas.bsky.social · 18h

Nothing says this is a nothing burger (h/t @julierovner.bsky.social) like a 5PM Friday announcement and this phrase: "Specific terms of this agreement remain confidential."

www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre...

AstraZeneca announces historic agreement with US Government to lower the cost of medicines for American patients

www.astrazeneca.com

1 5 20

Reposted by Dave Vanness

USC Schaeffer @schaeffer.usc.edu · 18h

Pfizer and now AstraZeneca struck deals with the White House to provide "most-favored nation" pricing in Medicaid. But as USC Schaeffer’s Darius Lakdawalla explains to @cbsnews.com, the effect may be small since Medicaid already gets the “best price” by law.

Trump unveils deal for AstraZeneca to cut Medicaid drug prices and join "TrumpRx" site

Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca will offer U.S. patients discounted prices for some drugs, President Trump announced Friday, the second major drug company to strike a deal with the administration.

www.cbsnews.com

2 5

Dave Vanness @djvanness.bsky.social · 18h

Heap paradox solved!

1

Reposted by Dave Vanness

Springer Nature @springernature.com · 18h

Starting a PhD can feel like stepping into uncharted territory. Although universities offer orientation programmes and guidance, some of the most valuable lessons come from those who’ve walked the path before.

Nature’s survey of PhD candidates reveals some hard-won wisdom:

#PhDchat #AcademicSky

27 things we wish we’d known when we started our PhDs

Nature’s survey of PhD candidates reveals hard-won wisdom on choosing supervisors, managing mental health and surviving academic culture.

spklr.io

2 2

Dave Vanness @djvanness.bsky.social · 21h

My next beach read!

2

Dave Vanness @djvanness.bsky.social · 22h

It's finally happened. This is the first set of Nobel laureates that I've never (to my knowledge) read a word of. I think this means I'm old (and in a niche field).

1 7

Reposted by Dave Vanness

Paul Kelleher 🎃 @paulkelleher.net · 1d

Editorial Manager account created

Marjorie James Keenan @unenthusiast.com · 2d

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

rm -rf ~/

hammancheez @hammancheez.bsky.social · 2d

"The chancellor approved it"

5 8 62

Dave Vanness @djvanness.bsky.social · 1d

There's a perception (borne out by stats) that he can't win against top teams. It's become an expectation - and recruitment is based on expectations. What boggles my mind is that we're spending almost $50 million to lose a coach when we're closing 7 campuses and maybe our public TV/radio station.

1

Dave Vanness @djvanness.bsky.social · 1d

I think your payout is $25 million. Couldn't we have tried a swap?

1 1

Dave Vanness @djvanness.bsky.social · 1d

$48 million. SMH

2

Dave Vanness @djvanness.bsky.social · 1d

...except where he let JD have almost a full minute of free airtime to state his grievances. Should have cut him off after 10 seconds.

1 34

Reposted by Dave Vanness

Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 1d

Pope Leo quotes Hannah Arendt:

“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction and the distinction between true and false no longer exist."

www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news...

Pope Leo calls for news agencies to stand as bulwark against "post-truths," lies and manipulation

Pope Leo XIV has encouraged international news agencies to stand firm as a bulwark against the "ancient art of lying" and manipulation.

www.cbsnews.com

170 3.1K 9.4K

Dave Vanness @djvanness.bsky.social · 2d

They're at the "executing the hostages" stage.

Sara Partridge, PhD @sarapartridge.bsky.social · 2d

There are reports that the *entire* office of special education at the US Dept of Education has been cut. These hardworking folks ensure kids with disabilities get equal access to a quality education.

America’s children deserve better than this.

2

Reposted by Dave Vanness

Theresa Kim, PhD, MS @tyk314.net · 2d

1. My father's funeral was this week. This morning, I attended my first @nihvigils.bsky.social with my family. I shared my father's story. My father immigrated from South Korea. This was possible with #NSF funding. I know we are sister agencies, but science is under attack in multiple departments.

7 20 120

Dave Vanness @djvanness.bsky.social · 2d

I am so sorry for your loss. Your father sounds like he was an amazing person. Thank you for sharing this story.

1 5

Reposted by Dave Vanness

Kevin Carey @kevincarey1.bsky.social · 2d

It's clearer by the day that Columbia making a deal with Trump in July was a catastrophe for higher education as a whole. It gave terrible people a bottomless appetite for extortion. The other eight universities must follow MIT's lead.

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

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

www.nytimes.com

16 340 1.7K

Reposted by Dave Vanness

Trending Stocks @trending-stocks.bsky.social · 2d

Timed Bitcoin short nets $192M. #econsky

Unusual Whales @unusualwhales.bsky.social · 2d

BREAKING: Look at this.

A new crypto account was opened yesterday morning.

30 minutes BEFORE Trump's announcement of 100% tariffs on China, it added a huge multi-million dollar levered Bitcoin short position, per YF.

The market dumped.

The trader made +$192 million in two hours.

Unusual.

1 2 4

Dave Vanness @djvanness.bsky.social · 3d

That's legit. For me, lox and scallion cream cheese on sesame, untoasted.

Also, everything bagels are kind of bad.

2

Dave Vanness @djvanness.bsky.social · 3d

Remember this like it was yesterday. Also, I am old.

Isaac Rowlett @isaacrowlett.bsky.social · 3d

Milwaukee, 43 years ago today

$By Paul G. Hayes of The Journal Staff Milwaukee burst with unrestrained joy Sunday night because its baseball team had brought home the American League pennant. It was a party unmatched in the memories. that large fraction of people 25 years old and younger who attended. For happiness, its nearest rival was 25 years ago, a party for the world champion Milwaukee Braves. For public affection, you had to go back to the end of World War II. For drinking, it might have surpassed Milwaukee's celebration of the end of Prohibition.$

7

Reposted by Dave Vanness

Ryan Marino, MD @ryanmarino.bsky.social · 4d

ER doc here! There is no such thing as “an ER model” hospital. An ER w/o a hospital is like a bandaid on a bullet hole. What if you need surgery? Cardiac cath? Specialist care? Increased distance means delays, which mean real harms & even deaths. But, also, when hospitals close their ERs close, too…

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 4d

SCARBOROUGH: The Nebraska Rural Health Association says at least 6 rural hospitals would have to close bc of the big beautiful bill

FLOOD: Here's the deal: Some hospitals that are rural hospitals are going to eventually have to transition from being acute bed hospitals into being an ER model

38 130 470

Reposted by Dave Vanness

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 3d

Immigrant Nobel Prize winners exiting the United States

Florian Scheuer @florianscheuer.bsky.social · 4d

I am delighted to share that Nobel laureates Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee will join our Department of Economics @econ.uzh.ch at the University of Zurich on July 1, 2026, as Lemann Foundation Professors of Economics.

🧵 1/7

48 870 3K

Dave Vanness @djvanness.bsky.social · 3d

Content collinearity.

Julia M. Rohrer @dingdingpeng.the100.ci · 4d

A student wrote me to ask whether it's okay that he'd always miss part of my confirmatory factor analysis class due to an overlap with another course, and I told him it's probably okay, given that the other course is linear algebra I for math students.

4

Dave Vanness @djvanness.bsky.social · 4d

That's a hell of an instrumental variable, folks. Not a good one, but a hell of a one.

Justin Baragona @justinbaragona.bsky.social · 4d

Besides linking Tylenol in pregnant women to autism, RFK Jr. now says circumcision is part of the reason why kids are autistic.

"Children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism, and it's highly likely because they're given Tylenol. None of this is positive..."

3 9

Reposted by Dave Vanness

Peter Tennant @pwgtennant.bsky.social · 4d

What percentage of the health research funding pot do you think goes on methods and meta science?

Around 2% (if you add together all mention of research design and methodologies across all areas from research.hscni.net/sites/defaul...)

Just 2% spent on the part that underpins EVERYTHING we do.

Dr Will Ball @wpball.com · 4d

Reading some interest stats about health research funding in the UK in recent years.

- Only 7% goes to Mental Health research
- Only 5% of that MH funding goes to studies related to prevention

2 6 18

Reposted by Dave Vanness

George Pearkes @peark.es · 4d

Absolute banger of a blog post from Dallas Fed economist Anton Cheremukhin who estimates breakeven payrolls have fallen to *30k* thanks to rapid declines in population growth.
www.dallasfed.org/research/eco...

Chart showing estimates of US population growth at monthly frequencies from 2017-2025 from BLS, BEA/Census, CBO, and author's calculations

Estimated monthly contributions to monthly breakeven payroll growth across population, changes in institutionalization/civilian status, and labor force participation 2017 - 2025

Estimated monthly breakeven payrolls rate from 2022-2025

5 30 140