Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by James Catterson

Mike Duquette @mikeduquette.bsky.social · 14h

Heartbroken that, per his social media accounts, Drew Struzan has left us. His poster and album art was quite simply shorthand for imagination for countless young people.

E.T. Adventure poster, 1990. I still have one of these hanging in my childhood bedroom.

Star Wars Special edition triptych, 1997. I remember seeing all of these in the paper as each film was re-released and just felt a burst of energy those mornings.

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Disappointed Optimist @disappoptimism.bsky.social · 1d

If this happened at a steel plant there would be talk of government bail out to secure jobs

LopaLeach @lopa.bsky.social · 4d

Cuts equivalent to 15,000 jobs planned at UK universities – UCU www.timeshighereducation.com/news/cuts-eq...

Cuts equivalent to 15,000 jobs planned at UK universities – UCU

Proposed job losses almost triple since March as unions prepare to vote on nationwide industrial action

www.timeshighereducation.com

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Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · 1d

The right-wing campaign group that helped topple Roe v Wade in the US is now working to roll back abortion laws in the UK, with the help of Nigel Farage.

Its first step? Trying to create a debate around "free speech"
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/w...

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Alejandro Montenegro @aemonten.bsky.social · 4d

PREACH!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Reaffirming the value of model organisms in training scientific minds - Nature Cell Biology

As biomedical research prioritizes human models and translational promise, classic model organisms are increasingly dismissed. Here we argue that they have a lasting value, both in enabling discovery and in cultivating scientific thinking, by training researchers in systems reasoning, integrative thinking and independent inquiry.

www.nature.com

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Tim Mosca (he/him) @drosophilosophy.bsky.social · 4d

This morning at CSHL, Kristen Davis from the lab gives an amazing talk on her work studying the sexually dimorphic mechanisms of synapse formation! Such a great job, Kristen!!!

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Sam Thorpe @samthorpe.bsky.social · 4d

Incredibly useful new story by @jburnmurdoch.ft.com on the 'crisis' for young college grads. Most analyses compare mid-20s workers with/without a degree. But as John points out, the relevant comparison group is actually *new entrants* with/without a degree - most non-degree workers enter at 18-19.

What the graduate unemployment story gets wrong

People with a degree are faring better, not worse than their non-graduate counterparts

www.ft.com

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Annika Barber @annikabarber.bsky.social · 4d

A depressing graphic, but a wonderful defense of our tiniest lab partners! 🦠🪱🪰

Alejandro Montenegro @aemonten.bsky.social · 4d

PREACH!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Reaffirming the value of model organisms in training scientific minds - Nature Cell Biology

As biomedical research prioritizes human models and translational promise, classic model organisms are increasingly dismissed. Here we argue that they have a lasting value, both in enabling discovery and in cultivating scientific thinking, by training researchers in systems reasoning, integrative thinking and independent inquiry.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by James Catterson

Keith W. Dickinson @keithwdickinson.bsky.social · 6d

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

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Ceiling Cat @ceilingcat.bsky.social · 13d

“My eyes! The goggles do nothing!”

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Jill 💙🌊🌊💙 @pumpkin061.bsky.social · 13d

Dr. Jane Goodall, the legendary animal rights advocate, has died at 91. Dr. Goodall's life was a beacon for progressive activism, a bridge between science & moral purpose. Rest in power, Dr. Goodall.The fight continues,for animals, for the planet, for the future &your voice will forever guide us.

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Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 15d

Just fuck off with this. How about start the conversation by highlighting how much immigrants contribute to the UK - not least by propping up the NHS and social care system!

Also - forced volunteering is not volunteering, it's unpaid labour.

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Cahir O'Kane @cahirokane.bsky.social · 18d

59 mutations that suppress neurodegeneration induced by dNmant depletion in a Drosophila screen, including the known pro-degenerative molecule dSarm. Lots of new potential anti-degeneration drug targets to explore here.

bioRxiv Neuroscience @biorxiv-neursci.bsky.social · 19d

A dNmnat-sensitized in vivo platform for unbiased discovery of regulators of neurodegeneration https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.25.678663v1

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Greg Priest @gregpriest.bsky.social · 19d

Thomas Hunt Morgan was born OTD in 1866.

If you're ever feeling that your work is uending and unedifying, remember that he once said this: "Two years work wasted, I have been breeding those flies for all that time and I've got nothing out of it."

🌱🐋🧪 #HistSTM

Photograph of Morgan's Fly Room at Columbia University, around 1920. American Philosophical Society.

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Andy Arthur💃🏰⚓🦌 Threadinburgh 🧵 @threadinburgh.scot · 20d

Look what we have here then.

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John Swinney @johnswinney.bsky.social · 20d

This is dangerous, reckless, anti-science nonsense.

Paracetamol is safe to use and Nigel Farage should stop spreading misinformation.

LBC @lbc.co.uk · 20d

"We were told thalidomide was a safe drug and it wasn't..."

Nigel Farage says he has 'no idea' if Donald Trump is right about paracetamol being linked to autism.

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James Catterson @scotsfriction.bsky.social · 20d

🤯"data shows the disease was slowed by 75% in patients" 🤯

Huntington's disease successfully treated for first time.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Huntington's disease successfully treated for first time

One of the most devastating diseases finally has a treatment that can slow its progression and transform lives, tearful doctors tell BBC.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Dorian Lynskey @dorianlynskey.bsky.social · 21d

It is possible to cherish the BBC as an institution while also saying that BBC News is failing very badly, day after day, in its duty to inform and that it always fails in a right-wing direction. It desperately needs to recover its integrity

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Brendel @brendelbored.bsky.social · 22d

Trump: don’t take acepitoemponoene

RFK Jr: *moth crawls out of mouth*

A nude man is in the background, only referred to as “the colonel”

Person watching on tv: well if they say so

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John Ngo @johntngo.bsky.social · 22d

🚀 Our new paper is out @natmethods.nature.com!

Kuffer & Marzilli engineered conditionally stable MS2 & PP7 coat proteins (dMCP & dPCP) that degrade unless bound to RNA, enabling ultra–low-background, single-mRNA imaging in live cells.

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧬 www.addgene.org/John_Ngo/

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Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · 22d

So cool they discovered the cause of autism on basically day they guessed they would. I’m also glad they are withholding this information for a few days to prep for a WrestleMania-style announcement. This is how science works.

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Naomi Klein @naomiaklein.bsky.social · 22d

If you, like me, are the parent of a neuro-atypical child dreading this autism press conference, please remember: These are the people hurting our kids. Not us. They are the ones stigmatizing and pathologizing them. They are the ones peddling untested science. And we should be very, very angry.

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Dani Garavelli @danigaravelli.bsky.social · 23d

"The only thing that could've increased the humiliation would have been the holding up of a dog biscuit tho' a treat for rolling over was proffered in the form of a tech deal, which Starmer wolfed down with all the grateful tail-wagging the president demands." My @heraldscotland.bsky.social column.

Why are even the most powerful so afraid of standing up to Donald Trump?

Trump’s UK visit exposed a humiliating deference from Starmer, royals and politicians alike, says our multi award-winning opinion columnist Dani…

www.heraldscotland.com

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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 25d

This Onion story is a little too on the nose.

Left Foot Forward @left-foot-forward.bsky.social · 25d

A group called 'Our Party' is trying to take over 'Your Party'

A group called ‘Our Party’ is trying to take over ‘Your Party’

They've called for Corbyn and Sultana to 'hand the reins over to the grassroots membership'

leftfootforward.org

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WEFAIL @wefail.bsky.social · 26d

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Barack Obama @barackobama.bsky.social · 26d

After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like.

Let’s be clear about what happened to Jimmy Kimmel

Trump’s most brazen attack on free speech yet.

www.yahoo.com

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