Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Dr. Katharine Dickson

Josh Chafetz @joshchafetz.bsky.social · 5h

johnson threatened by ostentatious display of no this is too easy I can’t

The Oregonian @oregonian.com · 6h

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson calls Sunday's naked bike ride in protest of the Portland ICE facility and and Trump troop deployment "the most threatening thing I’ve seen yet"

www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...

15 32 210

Reposted by Dr. Katharine Dickson

Angie Rasmussen @angierasmussen.bsky.social · 9h

I don't think people realize what an immediate impact this is going to have on outbreak response and containment.

Ferric Fang, MD @fangferric.bsky.social · 9h

According to a state epidemiologist, "CDC personnel who normally share information with state officials during outbreaks have been eliminated."

Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 1d

“One veteran researcher who still has his job (and, like other public-health workers I spoke with for this story, requested anonymity for fear of losing it) told me he believes that Kennedy’s ultimate goal is to “silence the scientific voice of career CDC scientists.””

16 200 570

Dr. Katharine Dickson @metaomicsnerd.bsky.social · 8h

I was raised by two people who were first-generation college and master’s degree graduates and I occasionally wonder how that shaped my trajectory

"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 13h

It's always striking seeing other academics talk about their academic parents and be reminded that close to a quarter of all tenure-line academics have at least one PhD parent.

That's not a critique, but I always wonder how different it would be to have a parent who already understood academia.

1 8

Dr. Katharine Dickson @metaomicsnerd.bsky.social · 9h

I am currently making spaghetti from Research Spaghetti

3

Dr. Katharine Dickson @metaomicsnerd.bsky.social · 9h

one of my favorite things about my housemates is that one of them regularly has access to Research Food, by which I mean things like bread and spaghetti made for science

3 5

Dr. Katharine Dickson @metaomicsnerd.bsky.social · 12h

This post was inspired by both writing a section of manuscript on carbohydrate-active enzymes and looking at the leftover gloop of juice and soluble fiber in my glass

2

Dr. Katharine Dickson @metaomicsnerd.bsky.social · 12h

I should make another post series on the wonderful world of carbohydrates in biology, because carbs are wild

1 6

Reposted by Dr. Katharine Dickson

paris martineau @paris.nyc · 13h

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

250 2.9K 5.3K

Reposted by Dr. Katharine Dickson

Amanda Katz @katzish.bsky.social · 14h

Unbelievable story of Afghan refugee, a highly vetted fluent English speaker who helped the US against the Taliban and now lives here with his US citizen kids, declared “illegal” and perhaps about to be shipped home by the Trump admin to his likely death

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 14h

He supported America’s war, escaped Afghanistan and started a family in the U.S.

Then ICE arrested him.

If he is deported, he expects the Taliban to kill him.

America saved him from the Taliban. Trump wants to send him back.

He supported America’s war, escaped Afghanistan and started a family in the U.S. Then ICE arrested him. If he is deported, he expects the Taliban to kill him.

www.washingtonpost.com

27 400 850

Reposted by Dr. Katharine Dickson

Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 1d

If you are applying for a faculty job in Texas, argue for a higher salary than you'd get at other institutions. The lack of real tenure protections is a de facto compensation cut and you should negotiate accordingly.

Texas search committees know that getting good candidates is an uphill battle.

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 1d

If you make "controversial statements" outside of classroom, that the President of the university dislikes, you can be summarily fired even if you are tenured.

Julie Greene @greeneland.bsky.social · 1d

I just learned, Thomas Alter, tenured professor, has been terminated effective immediately. Shame on Texas State! We mst build support for Tom. spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/south-tex...

3 40 210

Reposted by Dr. Katharine Dickson

Khoa @khoavuumn.bsky.social · 15h

Paper under review for 6 months at a journal

38 42 340

Reposted by Dr. Katharine Dickson

Economic Policy Institute @epi.org · 13h

Did you know that kids as young as 10 can be employed on farms, and there are no limits on how many hours they can work?

Federal child labor laws are much weaker in agriculture, the most dangerous industry for children.

But states can step in to keep kids safe: www.epi.org/publication/...

Child labor standards: State solutions to the U.S. worker rights crisis

What does current federal law say about child labor? The 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) sets guidelines for the hours and nonhazardous jobs for which employers can hire minors under 16. The FLSA...

www.epi.org

1 15 29

Dr. Katharine Dickson @metaomicsnerd.bsky.social · 13h

time to dust off my Nintendo Switch Lite for more Pokemon

1

Dr. Katharine Dickson @metaomicsnerd.bsky.social · 13h

Add in logistics like transportation, coordination, and supposed intermediaries, and that's going to grow.

There is also no plausible payment or legal infrastructure that would accomplish this without people leaking records.

tl;dr conspiracists aren't smart!!!!!

5

Dr. Katharine Dickson @metaomicsnerd.bsky.social · 13h

Assuming this Saturday's No Kings protest draws about as many people as the last one did, we should see about 5 million people show up.

A modest estimate of how much you could pay the average person to show up purely for money is about $100.

That's $500 million right there, 6.7% of his net worth.

1 4

Dr. Katharine Dickson @metaomicsnerd.bsky.social · 13h

The org he gave it to, the Open Society Foundations, does way more for the world than a single protest generally does.

Second of all, he's a billionaire, but a single-digit billionaire. Something like $7.5 billion of net worth this month.

1 3

Dr. Katharine Dickson @metaomicsnerd.bsky.social · 13h

Politics and conspiracism aside for the moment, I need to talk for a second about how the "Is George Soros Paying No Kings Protesters?" math DOES NOT MATH.

First of all, this is a guy who has given nearly two thirds of his original fortune away to philanthropy. 🧵

1 5

Dr. Katharine Dickson @metaomicsnerd.bsky.social · 15h

The President and Vice President are exempt from the Hatch Act, but other government employees are not.

1

Reposted by Dr. Katharine Dickson

Fausto Rodríguez Zapata @minorallele.bsky.social · 15h

‘Am I redundant?’: how AI changed my career in bioinformatics www.nature.com/articles/d41...

1 3

Dr. Katharine Dickson @metaomicsnerd.bsky.social · 15h

I think I can tell why the author’s still single.

1 15

Dr. Katharine Dickson @metaomicsnerd.bsky.social · 15h

These people can’t even reason through this logically. George Soros has a net worth of $7.5 billion. Paying 5 million protesters enough to show up purely for money would put a huge dent in it at best.

1

Dr. Katharine Dickson @metaomicsnerd.bsky.social · 16h

The tl;dr on this one seems to be “a legitimate need to heal childhood trauma turned horribly wrong”

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 1d

Florida’s surgeon general’s anti-vax beliefs are only the tip of a very deeply weird iceberg.

Joseph Ladapo’s guiding voice? His wife, who believes she can talk to “Archangel Michael, Mary Magdalene, and many other beings of light.”

From medicine to mysticism: the radicalization of Florida's top doc

Joseph Ladapo was a normie—until he met his wife and a guru into levitating and communicating with spirits.

www.motherjones.com

1 3

Dr. Katharine Dickson @metaomicsnerd.bsky.social · 1d

having the finishing of multiple manuscripts and a job search to balance is turning me into a very experienced zombie waiter

7

Reposted by Dr. Katharine Dickson

Gillian Brockell @gbrockell.bsky.social · 1d

There are many duties and FAA regulations being violated on these flights. There have been at least five documented emergencies, and we're lucky migrant passengers haven't died yet. www.propublica.org/article/insi...

Inside ICE Air: Flight Attendants on Deportation Planes Say Disaster Is “Only a Matter of Time”

Current and former flight attendants for GlobalX, the private charter airline at the center of Trump’s immigration crackdown, expressed concern about their inability to treat passengers humanely and t...

www.propublica.org

1 3 7

Reposted by Dr. Katharine Dickson

Nature @nature.com · 1d

Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Pewter Howitt share economics prize for work that underlines the importance of investing in research and development.

go.nature.com/4hj9NNV

Economics Nobel prize won by researchers who showed how science boosts growth

Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Pewter Howitt share economics prize for work that underlines the importance of investing in research and development.

go.nature.com

3 73 200