Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Richard Vranch @richardvranch.bsky.social · 3h

Good morning!

Richard Vranch @richardvranch.bsky.social · 3d

The marvels of modern tech. Tonight’s improv team at the Comedy Store was photographed by Salim at the interval and displayed in the merchandise display by the end.

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Richard Vranch @richardvranch.bsky.social · 4d

See you later!

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Richard Vranch @richardvranch.bsky.social · 4d

That Diego Riviera Touch #mexicanmorecambeandwise

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James Moules @jamesmoules.bsky.social · 9d

I’m old enough to remember when a comment like this would have been a resigning matter…

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 9d

Robert Jenrick complained of ‘not seeing another white face’ in part of Birmingham

Shadow justice secretary criticised for suggesting he could tell how integrated Handsworth was based on 90-minute visit Robert Jenrick complained about visiting an area of Birmingham where he “didn’t see another white face” and said it was not the kind of country he wanted to live in. After highlighting the lack of white people, the shadow justice secretary said it was not about “the colour of your skin or your faith” and he wanted people to live alongside each other. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

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Richard Vranch @richardvranch.bsky.social · 9d

Maybe this year...

Richard Vranch @richardvranch.bsky.social · Oct 8

Nobel prize for Physics today. Good luck everyone.

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Richard Vranch @richardvranch.bsky.social · 9d

Centre of Mass.

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Simon Gosden @simongosden.bsky.social · 12d

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Richard Vranch @richardvranch.bsky.social · 13d

london.thecomedystore.co.uk/event/the-co...

The Comedy Store Players 2025-10-05

london.thecomedystore.co.uk

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Dr Rachel Clarke @drrachelclarke.com · 14d

Here I am in 2020 in the flimsiest, most pitful PPE - like so many other NHS staff, some of whom died from the Covid they caught in their hospitals.

Tory peer Michelle Mone - who today lost her legal case & must repay the govt £122m - dares to claim she’s been ‘scapegoated’.

What, Michelle? 🧵

Rachel wearing very flimsy looking apron, mask and visor in NHS setting

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Full Fact @fullfact.org · 26d

We’ve seen social media posts claiming 70% of those arrested at the ‘Unite the Kingdom’ march were counter-protesters.

There’s no evidence for this. The Met Police said only one of the 24 arrests was someone believed to be involved in the counter-protest.

What do we know about the arrests at the ‘Unite The Kingdom’ march? – Full Fact

Claims that most of those arrested were counter-protesters don’t tally with what the police have said.

fullfact.org

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CUDDY @ptcontagion.bsky.social · Sep 15

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Richard Vranch @richardvranch.bsky.social · Sep 16

I really enjoyed @quantick.bsky.social 's latest book 'And Other Stories.' Highly recommended.

Photo of David Quantick's book And Other Stories

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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · Sep 15

Barrister cites fictitious case (from ChatGPT). When challenged by Tribunal, uses ChatGPT to confirm the case exists. This does not go well.

tribunalsdecisions.service.gov.uk/utiac/2025-u...

Tribunal decisions

tribunalsdecisions.service.gov.uk

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Joel Morris @gralefrit.bsky.social · Sep 14

Saying that the St George flag waved at a far-right march is a symbol which “belongs to all of us” is like calmly discussing the elegance of Sanskrit symbolism and design during a Nuremberg rally.

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Ian Betteridge @ianbetteridge.com · Sep 14

TERFs regard people like Lizzy as just collateral damage, and believe hating trans people justifies it. The right-wingers they make common cause with want all women to be tradwives. Either way, women of all kinds are the targets.

Aliza Adi (she/her) @alizaadi.bsky.social · Sep 13

Another cis woman harmed by #LaboursTransBan and the Prime Minister’s weaponised transphobia

Told to use the men's toilets bcos strangers refuse to believe she's a woman - she’s just tall

A direct result of the government legitimising narrow, sexist beauty standards and giving cover to harassment

Cornish model, 6ft 3in, 'told to use men's toilets'

Lizzy Groombridge, 30, says people assume she is male

www.cornwalllive.com

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Ben Goldsborough MP @bengoldsborough.bsky.social · Sep 13

Foreign billionaires don’t get to incite violence against Britain.

We cannot stay silent. 1/5

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

Elon Musk calls for change of UK government at Tommy Robinson rally

Elon Musk spoke with Tommy Robinson via a video link to the thousands of people at Saturday’s ‘unite the kingdom’ rally

www.independent.co.uk

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Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · Sep 13

Before the Nazis engaged in mass murder of Jews, they did mass murder of people with mental illness and disabilities.

Alt text: Screenshot of a Wikipedia entry for “Aktion T4,” the Nazi German euthanasia programme. The text explains that Aktion T4 was a campaign of mass murder by involuntary euthanasia targeting people with disabilities and the mentally ill in Nazi Germany. It notes that the term was first used in postwar trials against doctors involved in the killings. “T4” comes from the street address Tiergartenstraße 4 in Berlin, where the Chancellery department overseeing the program was based. The program authorized German physicians to select patients deemed incurably sick for a so-called “mercy death” (Gnadentod). It also states that in October 1939, Adolf Hitler signed a backdated euthanasia order authorizing his physician Karl Brandt and Reichsleiter Philipp Bouhler to begin the killings.

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Mat Ricardo @matricardo.bsky.social · Sep 10

So happy that this is being received so positively...
6 THINGS I DIDN'T KNOW WERE AUTISM

#actuallyautistic #autistic #autism #audhd #neurodiverse

www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1Wv...

6 Things I Didn't Know Were Autism

YouTube video by Mat Ricardo

www.youtube.com

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Richard Vranch @richardvranch.bsky.social · Sep 3

Sneak preview of the improv line-up @thecomedystore.co.uk on Sunday 2nd November. With special guest Julian Clary. Full details and ticket link via www.comedystoreplayers.com/events/comed...

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Jon Vernon @onlyindevon.co.uk · Aug 29

The Freddy Mercury hoovering display team were also a particular highlight...

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Helen Czerski @helenczerski.bsky.social · Aug 29

Great work here from @carbonbrief.org , debunking common myths about solar power.

The reason that solar power makes so much sense is fundamental physics - it takes energy in its most useful form, as soon as it arrives on Earth, before it's "taxed" in entropy. Making use of it is a slam-dunk win.

Factcheck: 16 misleading myths about solar

Carbon Brief factchecks 16 of the most common myths about solar power

interactive.carbonbrief.org

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Richard Vranch @richardvranch.bsky.social · Aug 28

Excellent as always. Congratulations all round.

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · Aug 27

Here's how the real two-tier Britain works:
1. Whatever Nigel Farage says, however stupid, is looped and discussed by the media, while left-wing voices are treated as noises off.
2. Tiny far-right protests get massive airtime, while 10s of 000s gathering for Palestine or green causes are ignored.🧵

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Vagina Museum @vaginamuseum.bsky.social · Aug 27

Today in AI Is Not A Good Source For Learning About The World's Most Misunderstood Body Part, meet this ChatGPT gem.

Funnily enough, we're actually going to talk about how most of this is kinda sorta right (for small values of right), as a cautionary tale about generative AI.

Screenshot of a reddit post: ChatGPT asked if I wanted a diagram of what's going on inside my pregnant belly.

A screenshot of ChatGPT's response. It is a side view of a foetus gestating in the uterus. The foetus is head-up with no umbilical cord or placenta. Behind the uterus is the rectum, which is unlabelled. Trailing down from between the rectum and spine, extending beneath the buttocks to the inner thigh is a yellow line labelled "pudendal nerve. At the front is an oval-shaped part labelled "cervix". And then we really struggle to image describe this bit. The uterus and the bladder are both attached to a single part which is long inside, then extends downwards into a penis with a single exist. This penis is labelled "rectum".

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