Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

The Kid Should See This @tksst.bsky.social · 12h

⚖️🏛️ Why can't the President declare war? Why does Congress control the military's budget yet can't command it? Constitutional law expert Gloria J. Browne-Marshall explains how the three-branch system works and how "We, the People" has expanded over time. #government

👉 Learn more: zurl.co/9Ajkn

Animated illustration showing the three branches of US government as cartoon characters with puzzle pieces connecting them, representing checks and balances in the constitutional system.

The Kid Should See This @tksst.bsky.social · 14h

🐭🎬 Louimax the #mouse wishes he could be a grown up so he could fly airplanes, eat candy on Mondays, and watch TV all night. But when his granddad takes him fishing, he learns something about rushing to grow up. #animation

👉 Learn more: thekidshouldseethis.com/post...

Fabric toy mouse looking at its reflection in a bathroom mirror while brushing teeth at a miniature sink.

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The Kid Should See This @tksst.bsky.social · 14h

🦴🪨 T. rex skeletons and amber-preserved insects are famous #fossils, but what exactly makes something a fossil? @amnh.org curator Roger Benson explains how bones, teeth, footprints, and even poop can become part of the fossil record. #history

👉 Learn more: thekidshouldseethis.com/post...

T. rex skull fossil and amber piece containing a preserved insect, illustrating two types of fossil preservation methods.

The Kid Should See This @tksst.bsky.social · 17h

🔬🪸 At Scripps Institution of Oceanography, researchers developed the BUMP – a microscope that lives underwater and measures coral health in real time by capturing how efficiently the algae inside #coral are converting light into energy. #science

👉 Learn more: thekidshouldseethis.com/post...

Coral polyps with extended tentacles glowing blue under fluorescent microscope illumination, showing red coral tissue structure beneath.

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The Kid Should See This @tksst.bsky.social · 23h

💁🏻‍♀️ ICYMI: 🌊🏚️ A scanning torpedo glides through Folsom Lake, using ultrasonic pulses to map a Gold Rush mining town submerged since 1955. Mark Rober & Dr. Todd Kincaid scanned 30,000 acres, searching for western-style hotels and saloons under 1.3B tons of #water. #science

👉 Learn more: zurl.co/8iBtZ

Two men inside a two-person submarine surrounded by murky blue-green water, with the pilot pointing upward toward instrument gauges on the control panel.

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The Kid Should See This @tksst.bsky.social · 1d

👩🏻‍💻🇬🇧 In 1842, Augusta Ada Lovelace of London created the world's first computer algorithm for Charles Babbage's theoretical Analytical Engine, envisioning machines that could compose music and create art over a century before computers existed. #science #history

👉 www.zmescience.com/science/n...

Celebrating Ada Lovelace: The World's First Programmer Who Saw a World that Wasn't There Yet

Ada Lovelace Day is celebrated on the second Tuesday of October.

www.zmescience.com

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The Kid Should See This @tksst.bsky.social · 1d

🗣️📜 UCLA linguists created audio reconstructions of Proto-Indo-European, the theoretical common ancestor of most European and some Asian languages spoken 6,000 years ago. The project includes readings of ancient fables. #language #history

👉 www.openculture.com/2025/10/...

Hear What the Language Spoken by Our Ancestors 6,000 Years Ago Might Have Sounded Like

As scholars of ancient texts well know, the reconstruction of lost sources can be a matter of some controversy. Open Culture, openculture.com

www.openculture.com

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The Kid Should See This @tksst.bsky.social · 1d

🧠📝 NYU researchers demonstrate that kidney and other non-neural cells can form cellular memories by responding to chemical signals. #biology #science

👉 www.zmescience.com/science/n...

Scientists Found That Memory Can Happen Outside The Brain

Even kidney cells show signs of memory, researchers say

www.zmescience.com

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The Kid Should See This @tksst.bsky.social · 1d

🌊🏚️ A scanning torpedo glides through Folsom Lake, using ultrasonic pulses to map a Gold Rush mining town submerged since 1955. Mark Rober and Dr. Todd Kincaid scanned 30,000 acres, searching for western-style hotels and saloons under 1.3B tons of #water. #science

👉 Learn more: zurl.co/8iBtZ

The Kid Should See This @tksst.bsky.social · 1d

⛵📚 Historians at University of Notre Dame and UCLA examined what would have happened if #Columbus failed to reach the Americas, concluding that Portuguese or Spanish explorers would have arrived soon after due to profitable Atlantic exploration. #history

👉 www.livescience.com/archaeol...

What if Christopher Columbus had never reached the Americas?

How would history have unfolded if Christopher Columbus had never reached the New World?

www.livescience.com

The Kid Should See This @tksst.bsky.social · 1d

🐘🔨 Researchers at Sapienza University in Rome discovered evidence that hominins butchered straight-tusked elephants 400,000 years ago and fashioned their bones into large tools when stone was scarce. #archaeology #history

👉 www.discovermagazine.com/unk...

Unknown Early Hominins Ate Elephants and Then Used Their Bones to Make Tools

Learn more about the archaeological discovery of an ancient elephant carcass surrounded by hundreds of butchery tools.

www.discovermagazine.com

The Kid Should See This @tksst.bsky.social · 1d

🧊🦠 Researchers at Caltech and University of Colorado Boulder reactivated microbes frozen in Alaskan permafrost for up to 40,000 years and found they rapidly resume producing carbon dioxide when warmed. #climate #science

👉 www.livescience.com/planet-e...

Scientists 'reawaken' ancient microbes from permafrost — and discover they start churning out CO2 soon after

Researchers incubated permafrost samples from Alaska at different temperatures and found that microbes from the last ice age can reactivate and resume breaking down carbon.

www.livescience.com

The Kid Should See This @tksst.bsky.social · 1d

🔫🇪🇸 Archaeologist Deni Seymour discovered a 480-year-old bronze "wall gun" at a Spanish settlement in Arizona, the oldest firearm ever found in the continental United States. #archaeology #history

👉 www.popularmechanics.com/sci...

Archaeologists Accidentally Discovered the Oldest Gun Ever Found in America

“I was in shock.”

www.popularmechanics.com

The Kid Should See This @tksst.bsky.social · 1d

💁🏻‍♀️ ICYMI: 🪶📚 Long before European settlers arrived, North America was home to many Indigenous Peoples who spoke hundreds of languages. Their ancestors came from East Asia around 25,000 years ago, migrating across the continent. #history #culture

👉 Learn more: thekidshouldseethis.com/post...

Animated illustration showing two Indigenous people in traditional orange and yellow clothing standing beside a campfire near a waterway, with a canoe in the foreground and forest silhouettes in the background, accompanying the title "Indigenous People before the 13 Colonies."

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The Kid Should See This @tksst.bsky.social · 1d

🎹🌱 In 1976 composer Mort Garson created "Mother Earth's Plantasia," an all-Moog synthesizer album supposedly designed to help plants grow. It was distributed only with the purchase of a houseplant or a Simmons mattress. #music #history

👉 www.openculture.com/2025/10/...

The 1976 Synth Album That Promised to Help Your Plants Grow: Discover Mother Earth’s Plantasia

In 1973, Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird's The Secret Life of Plants became a bestseller. Open Culture, openculture.com

www.openculture.com

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The Kid Should See This @tksst.bsky.social · 1d

💁🏻‍♀️ ICYMI: 👻🫙 White fabric soaked in equal parts water and white glue stiffens into ghostly folds as it dries over a foam ball. The #ghost floats inside a glass jar above moss and tiny handmade mushrooms, creating a woodland #Halloween scene with curiosity cabinet vibes.

👉 Learn more: zurl.co/YQBeE

A glass jar contains a small white fabric ghost figure floating above moss and red-spotted mushrooms, displayed on a dark wood surface alongside a carved jack-o'-lantern, vintage books, and a lantern against a teal background with "Ghost in a Jar" text.

The Kid Should See This @tksst.bsky.social · 2d

🤖🧠 Researchers at Wiley found that scientists' trust in #AI dropped significantly in 2025 despite increased usage, with concerns about AI hallucinations rising from 51% to 64%. #science

👉 futurism.com/artificial-inte...

The More Scientists Work With AI, the Less They Trust It

A preliminary report shows that researchers' confidence in AI software dropped off a cliff over the last year.

futurism.com

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The Kid Should See This @tksst.bsky.social · 2d

🪶📚 Long before European settlers arrived, North America was home to many Indigenous Peoples who spoke hundreds of languages. Their ancestors came from East Asia around 25,000 years ago, migrating across the continent. #history #culture

👉 Learn more: thekidshouldseethis.com/post...

The Kid Should See This @tksst.bsky.social · 2d

👻🫙 White fabric soaked in equal parts water and white glue stiffens into ghostly folds as it dries over a styrofoam ball. The #ghost floats inside a glass jar above moss and tiny handmade mushrooms, creating a woodland #Halloween scene with curiosity cabinet vibes.

👉 Learn more: zurl.co/YQBeE

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The Kid Should See This @tksst.bsky.social · 2d

💁🏻‍♀️ ICYMI: 🐢🌊 Ancient mariners that shared the planet with dinosaurs, sea #turtles have navigated our oceans for 100 million years. All 7 species now face threats from fishing nets, plastic pollution, and climate change, but #conservation efforts show hope for recovery.

👉 Learn more: zurl.co/uISFw

Leatherback sea turtle on a sandy beach at sunset, with spotted dark skin pattern and large flippers, ocean waves and forested coastline in background.

The Kid Should See This @tksst.bsky.social · 2d

💁🏻‍♀️ ICYMI: 👸📄 What happens when a princess has nothing left but a paper bag and her prince needs rescuing? Elizabeth uses cleverness instead of force to outsmart a dragon in this classic tale that flips fairy tale expectations. #literature #books

👉 Learn more: thekidshouldseethis.com/post...

Book cover of "The Paper Bag Princess" by Robert Munsch and Michael Martchenko, showing Princess Elizabeth in a paper bag dress at a yellow castle entrance, facing a large green dragon with smoke and flames.

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The Kid Should See This @tksst.bsky.social · 5d

🐢🌊 Ancient mariners that shared the planet with dinosaurs, sea #turtles have navigated our oceans for 100 million years. All 7 species now face threats from fishing nets, plastic pollution, and climate change, but #conservation efforts show hope for recovery.

👉 Learn more: zurl.co/uISFw

The Kid Should See This @tksst.bsky.social · 5d

👸📄 What happens when a princess has nothing left but a paper bag and her prince needs rescuing? Elizabeth uses cleverness instead of force to outsmart a dragon in this classic tale that flips fairy tale expectations. #literature #books

👉 Learn more: thekidshouldseethis.com/post...

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The Kid Should See This @tksst.bsky.social · 5d

🧲💧 Scientists developed magnetic powders that attach to tiny plastic particles in #water and can be pulled out with strong magnets. The method removes 92-96% of microplastics from drinking water and wastewater, and costs about $41 to treat 1,000 liters. #science

👉 phys.org/news/2025-10-specia...

We tested if a specialized magnetic powder could remove microplastics from drinking water: The answer is yes

Microplastics are the crumbs of our plastic world, tiny pieces that come from bigger items breaking apart or from products like synthetic clothing and packaging. They're now everywhere. Scientists estimate ...

phys.org

The Kid Should See This @tksst.bsky.social · 5d

🐵🌍 Scientists in the UK discovered that #chimpanzees acted as "proto-gardeners" helping African rainforests recover from a major collapse 2,500 years ago. #climate

👉 theconversation.com/when-chi...

When chimps helped cool the planet

What chimpanzees can teach us about climate change

theconversation.com