Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 15h

(And do give @sketchplanations.bsky.social a follow if you're looking for something to make your feed a bit more interesting and hopeful! Jono's making such great stuff over there.)

Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 17h

An encouraging kick in the pants from Jane Goodall's mum, courtesy of @sketchplanations.bsky.social:

sketchplanations.substack.com/p/and-above-...

(I'd add: you have to keep experimenting, because about half of everything you creatively cook up is only going to work for a while. Reinvent madly.)

Sketchplanations illustration of a quote by Jane Goodall's mother: "If there's something you really want, you're going to have to work really hard, take advantage of opportunity, and above all, never give up."

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Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 16h

Hah wow. Hell yes to more of this.

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Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 17h

An encouraging kick in the pants from Jane Goodall's mum, courtesy of @sketchplanations.bsky.social:

sketchplanations.substack.com/p/and-above-...

(I'd add: you have to keep experimenting, because about half of everything you creatively cook up is only going to work for a while. Reinvent madly.)

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Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 17h

That's fabulous.

Reposted by Mike Sowden

Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 1d

Anyway, today is World Migratory Bird Day, so I invite you to spend a minute contemplating those extraordinary journeys, perhaps by looking at the European Migration Atlas. migrationatlas.org

Bird Migration Atlas

This online Migration Atlas covers the huge geographical area represented by two continents, encompassing the flyways between Eurasia and Africa. Movements in time and space of 300 bird species are ma...

migrationatlas.org

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Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 1d

Proud of my other half for talking about a very difficult topic in the hope it helps a few other folk: open.substack.com/pub/thefeelg...

What if...a conversation about suicide could save a life?

It's World Mental Health Day and we must keep talking openly about it.

open.substack.com

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Reposted by Mike Sowden

Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 1d

Here’s the map for the swallow. Each dot represents a bird, and each line links the places where they were found.

A map of Europe and Africa, with multicoloured dots, and connecting lines leading roughly north to south.

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Reposted by Mike Sowden

Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 2d

There are four house martins feeding above my head. They’re six inches long and are about to travel 6,000 miles. That’s about 63 million times their body length. The lunatics.

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Reposted by Mike Sowden

Django Wexler @djangowexler.bsky.social · 2d

My boss: so how's our fourth quarter looking?

Me, the sales manager at the company that makes inflatable frog suits: well, you're never going to believe this, but

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Reposted by Mike Sowden

Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 2d

Here I am. Once again. I'm out of archaeologists.

We matched 576 groups w/archaeologists, leaving 13 groups unmatched. This brings me pain! We've never run out of scientists like this before. 598 requests for one category is A LOT. But still.

Archaeologists 🥺
www.skypeascientist.com/sign-up.html

Sign Up

Skype a Scientist gives you the opportunity to connect with students and the public around the world.

www.skypeascientist.com

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Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 2d

Dear Ig Nobel Awards: you have the opportunity to do the funniest thing next September. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ig_Nobe...

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Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 2d

He deserves inclusion in an entirely new category of these: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ig_Nobe...

Ig Nobel Prize - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 2d

Exactly.

Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 2d

A good overview: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Other overviews, not so good. It's so daft to report this like a Nobel Prize is an Elon Musk style popularity poll that can be spam-gamed at the last minute - even to enrage Trump, who probably thinks it works exactly like that.

Nobel Peace Prize: Inside room where it gets decided – but will Trump get his wish

For the first time in its 125-year history, the committee allows an exclusive behind-the-scenes glimpse.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 2d

It seems Trump was never, ever going to "win" the Nobel Peace Prize. I know headline-writers are having fun with this, but putting aside how absurdly unfit he is to be picked - nominations (338) closed in January, and I think Trump wasn't included? So they'd have to BREAK the rules. Pls report this!

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Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 2d

I know the answer to this!

They're the last place you had them, Mac - which may or may not be the last place you'd think of looking.

Hope that helps.

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Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 2d

*have side-eyed

Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 2d

Yes, I think it's wise to be wary, without discounting its potential value! There's such an interesting tension here: some folk responded to this thread saying "can we PLEASE stop assessing the value of Art in purely financial terms?" while others are side-eyed these wellbeing calculations.

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Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 2d

Using social media to process my deep feelings of rejection.

Post by Mike Sowden on Substack Notes: "It's fine, Ill deal with my disappointment by invading *scored out* Greenland */scored out* Greenock, which is just up the road from me. And by" invade" I mean "walk around it while being wearily side-eyed by the locals, which is the JD Vance definition".

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Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 2d

Some of that was only barely grammatical.
This is because I myself am only barely grammatical, and this is a style choice, except when it isn't, which is always.

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Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 2d

Yes, absolutely. It's often how grim stories get suppressed - but my personal obsession is the good stuff, the little empowering things that can give you hope, the momentous science breakthroughs & make you curious about what most people are *really* like if you had the chance to sit down with them.

David Roberts @volts.wtf · 2d

All I want in life is to persuade everyone, when encountering politics & culture, to ask, "why are we talking about this?" I mean that very literally: anything you encounter on your screens reflects a choice. Someone covered that, talked about that, rather than the many other things out there. Why?

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Reposted by Mike Sowden

David Roberts @volts.wtf · 2d

All I want in life is to persuade everyone, when encountering politics & culture, to ask, "why are we talking about this?" I mean that very literally: anything you encounter on your screens reflects a choice. Someone covered that, talked about that, rather than the many other things out there. Why?

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Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 2d

Disappointed that my efforts to restrain my fury at not being able to find my glasses in the morning because I'm not wearing my glasses have ONCE AGAIN been snubbed by the Nobel Peace Prize committee. But, fine.

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Reposted by Mike Sowden

Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 3d

I am fascinated with this thing.

No, it's not Andy Warhol buried under leaves. It's entirely natural, it was discovered by the climatologist who originated the hypothesis of continental drift, and it was only fully explained in 2015.

If you don't know, just *enjoy* not knowing, and feast yer eyes.

A strange object laying on leaves in a forest that looks like Andy Warhol's hair.

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Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 3d

I posted this on Threads, it went low-key viral, and now dozens of people are posting they've bought it, some showing the sale confirmation they received. Social media is, sometimes, such a glorious thing.

Sale confirmation from Cards Against Humanity saying: "Thank you for your pre-order and for supporting the American Libraries Association! We hope you enjoy your Informational product this holiday season, your heart warmed by the knowledge that you didn't give Donald Trump a fucking cent."

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