Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Laura

Grace Blakeley @graceblakeley.substack.com · 1h

The far right is corrupt to the core #Reform

Laura @lleigha.bsky.social · 17h

"Countries that neglect science become dependent on those that don’t. U.S. post-WWII dominance came from basic science investments...Long-term military and economic advantage (nuclear weapons, GPS, AI) trace back to scientific research ecosystems."

Elf M. Sternberg @elfsternberg.bsky.social · 17h

No startups, no science: How the Republican Administration switched off America's most important engine of economic success.

steveblank.com/2025/10/13/n...

Steve Blank No Science, No Startups: The Innovation Engine We’re Switching Off

Tons of words have been written about the Trump Administrations war on Science in Universities. But few people have asked what, exactly, is science? How does it work? Who are the scientists? What d…

steveblank.com

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ireadok.bsky.social @ireadok.bsky.social · 3d

We're living through the stupidest time in history - vast numbers of people who have the world's accumulated knowledge at their fingertips are incapable of recognising the basics of reality.

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Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 4d

MIT's response to the Trump admin's proposed "compact" is excellent and should be a model for other universities. orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

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Anita Leirfall @anitaleirfall.bsky.social · 8d

Why Cartesianism appealed to women and became the inspiration for a pioneering feminist, Poullain de la Barre; and why Cartesianism was not the only option for women philosophers of the age. | @histphilosophy.bsky.social www.historyofphilosophy.net/cartesianism... #Descartes #women #philsky

www.historyofphilosophy.net

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Thony Christie @rmathematicus.bsky.social · 8d

Italian Jesuit Matteo Ricci, whose mathematical abilities, acquired from Clavius, made it possible for him as the first European in the 17th century to penetrate Chinese society & build a bridgehead for the Jesuit mission, was born 6 October 1552 #histsci
thonyc.wordpress.com/2012/10/06/a...

An Italo-Chinese Jesuit

The first history of science post that I wrote for The Renaissance Mathematicus was about the Jesuit mathematicus and educational reformer Christoph Clavius and his introduction of the mathematical…

thonyc.wordpress.com

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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 10d

This is so good from Cory Doctorow on all the tricks Amazon uses to get both consumers to pay more, and how businesses on the platform end up paying it 45-51 cents on every dollar.

Plus he rightly calls for regulatory change, not just individual consumer action
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

Sick of scrolling through junk results, AI-generated ads and links to lookalike products? The author and activist behind the term ‘enshittification’ explains what’s gone wrong with the internet – and ...

www.theguardian.com

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Laura @lleigha.bsky.social · 12d

"Am I a fool? Am I unfit to be the Emperor? What a thing to happen to me of all people!"

"The Emperor's New Clothes," by Hans Christian Andersen

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sanctorium.bsky.social @sanctorium.bsky.social · 14d

“…the thing with October is, I think, it somehow gets in your very blood. Unapologetically. Almost ruthlessly.”

Anne Sexton

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Jenny Richards @jennyrichards.bsky.social · 25d

@sarahebull.bsky.social Here is my favourite resource; it was my go-to for early modern handwriting long before I arrived in Cambridge: www.english.cam.ac.uk/ceres/ehoc/

English Handwriting 1500-1700: An Online Course

www.english.cam.ac.uk

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Senator Mark Warner @markwarner.bsky.social · Sep 12

In case you missed it….Senate Republicans voted down an amendment to make more of the Epstein files public – the next move in their coordinated attempt to cover this story up.

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BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · Aug 28

Do NOT allow them to rewrite history with disinformation. #COVID vaccines worked remarkably well and allowed us to come out of a global pandemic. A picture is worth a thousand words.

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LouFromBoston @loufromboston.bsky.social · Sep 7

Tariffs are a GOP tax increase on everyday Americans. They can’t call it a tax increase because that is hugely unpopular, but tariffs is their tricky way to hide it. The money is coming out of our pockets is to pay for the tax cuts for billionaires. Trickle up economics.

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Dante Alexander @tolby.bsky.social · Sep 2

There’s no political genius to what Trump does. It’s political arson. He sets one fire. People demand to know what that fire was all about and why he started it, and his response is to start a second fire. And when asked about the second fire, he starts a third. Etc., etc..

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Alex de Campi @alexdecampi.bsky.social · Aug 27

Part 2: If your work is on LibGen, tell the class action lawyers!

(Note: you don’t get an email confirmation of submission)

Please see next skeet for an important note

www.lieffcabraser.com/anthropic-au...

Anthropic Authors’ Rights Class Action – Author Contact Page – Lieff Cabraser

www.lieffcabraser.com

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Dr Robert Bohan @robertbohan.bsky.social · Aug 11

🧵 Rogier van der Weyden (1399/1400-1464) was one of the most famous & respected Early Netherlandish painters of his time. He was forgotten until the 19th century & is now ranked with Van Eyck & Robert Campin in importance. [1]

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David Roberts @volts.wtf · Aug 23

They didn't attempt a violent coup because of the left. They aren't destroying US science & academia because of the left. They're not embracing open racism & nazi ideology because of the left.

They are adults, making choices, doing things of their own volition, and they bear the responsibility.

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Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · Aug 24

"The Apprentice" was FICTION. Trump was not successful in real estate. He lost a fortune by his incompetence. It was through Daddy's hundreds of millions of dollars, Deutsche Bank loans, and sets built to make Trump's offices look prosperous that was he able to fool Americans about he success.

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · Aug 24

fwiw it's not hard to craft a line that nods to kitchen table issues but still captures some urgency. "you put this asshole in office to make your life easier but all he's done is cut taxes for his rich buddies, kidnapped your neighbors and sent the military to tell you to shut up when you complain"

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Susan Klaiber @susanklaiber.bsky.social · Aug 23

"The sole concessions to modernity are safety boots for everyone, glasses for those cutting stone, & ropes and carabiner clips for people working on the castle’s #medieval -style timber scaffolding (which itself must be health & safety approved)." #architecture

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

‘It’s back to the future’: the 13th-century castle built by hand in France

A quarter of a century after our first visit, the Guardian returns to Guédelon to find old-fashioned toil has built “thoroughly modern” architectural laboratory

www.theguardian.com

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Physicians for a Healthy Democracy @physiciandemocracy.medsky.social · Aug 23

How U.S. Tariffs Will Hit Key Products

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Simon Rosenberg @simonwdc.bsky.social · Aug 8

Maybe the kompromat Putin had on Trump all along was some form of the Epstein files. We've always wondered what could Putin have on Trump? Why did Trump always bend the knee? Perhaps we are learning, now.

bsky.app/profile/simo...

Simon Rosenberg @simonwdc.bsky.social · Aug 8

Yes, I think there should be far more discussion about whether the reason for the White House going into full Cabinet level battle mode over Maxwell is that she is blackmailing Trump, and that Trump may now be officially compromised.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Trump officials reportedly met at White House to discuss strategy around Epstein files

Legal group sues for records related to officials’ correspondence about Epstein documents and about Epstein and Trump’s relationship

www.theguardian.com

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Eric J. Harvey, Ph.D. @blindscholar.bsky.social · Aug 1

It's out, and now free to download for the next 2 weeks!
Go give my new book a read (it's short enough to finish in a sitting) and then share it far and wide to your friends who live for the connections between myth, ritual, and economics (all of them)!

Reading Creation Myths Economically in Ancient Mesopotamia and Israel

Cambridge Core - Archaeology: General Interest - Reading Creation Myths Economically in Ancient Mesopotamia and Israel

www.cambridge.org

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Chaucer Doth Tweet @levostregc.bsky.social · Aug 15

*THE OPEN ACCESS COMPANION TO THE CANTERBURY TALES*, a free, scholer-produced onlyne resource for teachinge and learninge *The Canterbury Tales* at the universitye level: opencanterburytales.lsusites.org

The Open Access Companion to the Canterbury Tales – The new way to learn about old books

opencanterburytales.lsusites.org

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Jeff (Gutenberg Parenthesis) Jarvis @jeffjarvis.bsky.social · Aug 13

It is economic fascism in Mussolini's model and communism in Stalin's, authoritarianism by any definition. But the #BrokenTimes crowns the worst businessman alive CEO of the world.
Trump Has Made Himself Commander in Chief of the Chip Industry www.nytimes.com/2025/08/13/t...

Trump Has Made Himself Commander in Chief of the Chip Industry

www.nytimes.com

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