Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Chase Million @millionconcepts.com · 11h

pdr supports it! 😁

github.com/MillionConce...

Reposted by Chase Million

barbylon @barbylon.bsky.social · 18h

Excellent piece from the Planetary Society highlighting some of the human stories of NASA's workforce losses: www.planetary.org/articles/400...

4,000 gone: Inside NASA’s brain drain

In exclusive interviews, ex-NASA scientists speak out on the impact of the agency's mass departures.

www.planetary.org

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Reposted by Chase Million

Kevin 🚀🤠 @astro-cowboy.bsky.social · 17h

The entire NASA budget is $25B.

More Perfect Union @moreperfectunion.bsky.social · 17h

BREAKING: The Trump administration is doubling its Argentina bailout to $40 billion.

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Chase Million @millionconcepts.com · 1d

I wonder how the user of Wal-mart Realm feels about this news. The future comes at you fast.

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Reposted by Chase Million

Moby Dick @mobydickatsea.bsky.social · 2d

your whales must be seen before they can be killed

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Reposted by Chase Million

Bob Pappalardo @rpappalardo.bsky.social · 2d

A dark day is coming.

Reuters @reuters.com · 2d

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to lay off about 550 workers reut.rs/4302N2L

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to lay off about 550 workers

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said on Monday it will cut nearly 550 jobs as part of a restructuring, not related to the current U.S. government shutdown.

reut.rs

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Reposted by Chase Million

Scientific American @sciam.bsky.social · 2d

Texas lawmakers want to move the Smithsonian’s retired space shuttle to Houston. It’s “a vanity project that is apt to destroy a near-priceless American treasure,” one historian says

The Strange Saga of the Great Texas Space Shuttle Heist

Texas lawmakers want to move the Smithsonian’s retired space shuttle to Houston. It’s “a vanity project that is apt to destroy a near-priceless American treasure,” one historian says

www.scientificamerican.com

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Reposted by Chase Million

Reuters @reuters.com · 2d

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to lay off about 550 workers reut.rs/4302N2L

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to lay off about 550 workers

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said on Monday it will cut nearly 550 jobs as part of a restructuring, not related to the current U.S. government shutdown.

reut.rs

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Reposted by Chase Million

Heidi B. Hammel @hbhammel.bsky.social · 5d

🔭 Kudos to the Rubin team time.com/collections/...

Vera C. Rubin Observatory: The Best Inventions of 2025

Find out why Vera C. Rubin Observatory is on TIME's list of 2025's best inventions.

time.com

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Chase Million @millionconcepts.com · 8d

I did really innovative work on a physics problem set in 2003. Got an answer that nobody expected. Some called it "completely wrong." Nobody says that anymore. Maybe they forgot. But maybe history has vindicated me. I'll sleep with my phone next to me tonight, just in case.

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Reposted by Chase Million

Casey Dreier @caseydreier.bsky.social · 10d

Today is our Save NASA Science Day of Action! You can take actions online to support the nearly 300 registered participants on the ground with me here in the D.C.

planetary.org/dayofaction

The Day of Action to Save NASA Science

Take action with us to help reject cuts that threaten NASA's science and exploration programs.

planetary.org

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Reposted by Chase Million

Gene J. Mikulka @genejm1017.bsky.social · 9d

Via @bigthink.com - Thousands of #NASA Employees bid farewell to the NASA they knew bigthink.com/starts-with-...

Thousands of NASA employees to bid farewell to the NASA they knew

As October begins, thousands of longtime NASA employees are leaving the agency. 4000+ will exit by January 9, 2026, changing NASA forever.

bigthink.com

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Chase Million @millionconcepts.com · 10d

Should we create an OpenPlanetary Photojournal?

Reposted by Chase Million

Al Sweigart @alsweigart.bsky.social · 10d

Curl project maintainers have had enough of AI slop "contributions":

"We still have not seen a single valid security report done with AI help."

"We are effectively being DDoSed. If we could, we would charge them for this waste of our time."

www.linkedin.com/posts/daniel...

#hackerone #curl | Daniel Stenberg | 254 comments

That's it. I've had it. I'm putting my foot down on this craziness. 1. Every reporter submitting security reports on #Hackerone for #curl now needs to answer this question: "Did you use an AI to fin...

www.linkedin.com

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Reposted by Chase Million

Jennifer Ouellette @jenlucpiquant.bsky.social · 13d

This U.S. Government Shutdown Is Very Bad for Science www.nature.com/articles/d41...

This US government shutdown is different: what it means for science

President Trump’s budget office lays out guidelines for mass lay-offs across the federal government.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Chase Million

MAST - Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes @mast-news.bsky.social · 13d

Feature update: we've added album previews to our JWST Search interface! Also included with our update is a Light/Dark mode toggle. archive.stsci.edu/contents/new...

The JWST image preview feature; seven images are displayed in a grid.

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Chase Million @millionconcepts.com · 13d

This immediately ends all research in all topics. There can be no research into history, sociology, economics... also agriculture, meteorology... physics and chemistry... engineering.

There is no line of research at any university that is not "related to societal and political events." None. Zero.

Chase Million @millionconcepts.com · 13d

It is not possible to "abstain from actions or speech related to societal and political events." Nobody can do this. On account of we exist in societies as political creatures. This is not a good faith request. It is a demand for complete control over speech and actions.

4. - INSTITUTIONAL NEUTRALITY
Signatories shall maintain institutional neutrality at all levels of their administration. This requires policies that all university employees, in their capacity as university representatives, will abstain from actions or speed related to societal and political events except in cases in which external events have direct impact on the university.
Policies requiring institutional neutrality must apply with equal force to all of the university's academic units, including all colleges, facilities, schools, departments, programs, centers, and institutes.

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Reposted by Chase Million

Chase Million @millionconcepts.com · 21d

Science thrives on honest discussions of uncertainties, unknowns, biases, and alternative explanations. This is exploited by dishonest people who only speak in absolutes.

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Chase Million @millionconcepts.com · 14d

It looks like we are authorized to continue working on NASA grants as long as they don't require access to NASA installations or personnel. But disbursements of funds may not occur because there will not be people to review them. Orgs will have to decide if they want to float the expenses.

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Chase Million @millionconcepts.com · 14d

SciX is created by and for working scientists. It has powerful literature informatics capabilities to, e.g., help you uncover research trends and cross-discipline synergies. It is very much worth reading the documentation, because there are more useful features than I could possibly summarize.

Science Explorer

Science Explorer is a digital library for astronomy, physics, and earth science, providing access to 20+ million records and advanced research tools.

scixplorer.org

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Chase Million @millionconcepts.com · 14d

Science Explorer (SciX) is out of beta! This integrated data and literature search platform, by the same folks who created the Astrophysics Data System (ADS), expands the approach across allied domains including planetary science, geophysics, heliophysics, earth science, and biological science.

The SciX Adventure Begins: Exploring the Universe of Research Together

scixplorer.org

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Reposted by Chase Million

Chandelis Duster @chandelis.bsky.social · 15d

“It would require turning off 20 space missions in space now that are returning good science. Literally just turning them off and letting them tumble into the darkness.”

@caseydreier.bsky.social at @planetarysociety.bsky.social warns what could happen if proposed NASA science cuts take place.

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Chase Million @millionconcepts.com · 15d

I do not have any information about the _source_ of the change in guidance. Some of what I know is from, like, people-who-know-people. So OMB may not have stepped back. Like I said, I remain cautious. But I am more optimistic than before.

Chase Million @millionconcepts.com · 16d

Pics or it didn't compile.

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