Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Vivek Srikrishnan

Micah @rincewind.run · 3d

it is more important to read books you actually enjoy reading than books that are Literature

Rachel Feder @rachelfeder.bsky.social · 3d

Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat

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Professa Murray @kalimurray.bsky.social · 5d

What drives me nuts about this dialogue: diversity and inclusion training was a corporate response to the statutory requirements civil rights laws. None of these laws have been repealed by Congress. Congress can pass the laws under Section 5 of the 14th Amendment, which has also not been repealed.

Anna Gifty @itsafronomics.bsky.social · 5d

lol gentle reminder that DEI is not illegal. Supporting marginalized groups is not illegal. Anyone reneging on support is making a CHOICE to do so.

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leon @leyawn.bsky.social · 5d

i’m running for president in 2028, this is my platform:

- no more spam texts and calls
- smaller cars with weaker headlights
- imprison every person in ice and the trump administration on a remote island for a thousand years

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Julia Nordblad @julianordblad.bsky.social · Mar 13

My article is out! On how ‘ecosystem services’ went from a word for those aspects of nature that economics cannot express to a word for nature's economic value, and how concerns for planetary habitability disappeared from the environmentalist vocabulary.

www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

The Nature of Planetary Habitability: A Conceptual History of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services | Environmental History

Abstract This essay traces the conceptual history of biodiversity and ecosystem services from the late 1970s to the early 2000s. In contrast to recent historical studies that have interpreted biodiver...

www.journals.uchicago.edu

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Ian Carrillo @iansociologo.bsky.social · 5d

Beware of AI videos like the one below.

And, AI sucks for many reasons, but among the worst is that it destabilizes our shared reality.

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Jessica Hullman @jessicahullman.bsky.social · 5d

Think of how much better off we'd be if every established researcher got in the habit of writing papers entitled "Second thoughts on [thing I'm famous for]"

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hannah gais @hannahgais.bsky.social · 6d

Those are three people in inflatable frog suits.

@MrAndyNgo
Now that the local and national press have started to cover the Portland ICE area round-the-clock in reaction to the President, Antifa have devised a plan where they are encouraging one another to come in animal costumes.

The costumes serve the function of masking the violent extremism to make the direct action appear like a family-friendly gathering on camera, and to whitewash the past ultraviolence.

In 2019, Antifa devised a similar plot by giving out free "milkshakes" at a protest. But they couldn't contain their bloodthirst and nearly killed me when they saw me. In 2020, they mobilized a fake "Wall of Moms" where female Antifa supporters and members wore yellow shirts to act as human body shields while violent rioters behind them hurled projectile weapons.

photo of three people in inflatable frog costumes

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Costa Samaras @costasamaras.com · 6d

Picture how big the Hoover Dam is. An absolute unit. The Hoover Dam has a power capacity of 2 gigawatts (GW).

The solar farm that the Admin just cancelled could have produces 6.2 GW of power. That's more than 3 Hoover Dams.

jael holzman @jael.bsky.social · 6d

SCOOP: The Bureau of Land Management says the largest solar project in Nevada — the Esmeralda 7 mega-farm — has been canceled

The news was quietly dropped via a sudden website update with no public word from any of the companies involved or a statement from the agency

@heatmap.news

Esmeralda 7 Solar Project Has Been Canceled, BLM Says

It would have delivered a gargantuan 6.2 gigawatts of power.

heatmap.news

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Particularly Miffed @miffedinparticular.bsky.social · 10d

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Kevin St. Alder @kevinstalder.bsky.social · 6d

Statement from the Nobel Peace Prize Committee 👏 🙏

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Willamette Week @wweek.com · 6d

Jack Dickinson, 26, says “we’re winning this.”

An Interview With the Portland Chicken

Rachel Saslow

www.wweek.com

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Vivek Srikrishnan @vsrikrish.bsky.social · 6d

HAHA, I used the same meme in a Slack post about this!

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Vivek Srikrishnan @vsrikrish.bsky.social · 7d

Some real quality concern trolling here: "Pielke said that Otto’s inclusion in the IPCC report could harm the international scientific body’s reputation."

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Adam Keiper @adamkeiper.com · 7d

"For Democrats, this particular moment of cartoonish graft presents a huge opportunity to unify around an anti-corruption platform.…Their agenda must meet the moment and include game-changing initiatives that let voters know they recognize corruption is pervasive."
www.thebulwark.com/p/anti-corru...

How Anti-Corruption Can Be a Winning Issue for Democrats

It’s a powerful, unifying theme—and it’s tied to the crisis of democracy under Trump.

www.thebulwark.com

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Kelsey Hightower @kelseyhightower.com · 7d

One day the industry will recognize the drawbacks of AI agents and nondeterministic automation, and rediscover the UNIX philosophy of chaining together small purpose built tools in a low cost and predictable way, otherwise known as shell scripts.

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Steve Bowen @stevebowen.bsky.social · 7d

An escalation of wood / furniture pricing will drive higher replacement costs and more expensive insurance claims from natural catastrophes.

Bloomberg News @bloomberg.com · 7d

US homebuilders and retailers warn that higher costs could push housing prices and furniture costs higher as the trade fight over wood products escalates once again. Here’s what to know.

Trump’s Wood Tariffs Are Coming. Who Will Be Hit Hardest

President Donald Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs on imported lumber and wood products that his administration says are needed to protect the US economy and boost domestic manufacturing. Starting Oct. 14, softwood lumber will face 10% duties, while kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, and other finished wood goods will be hit with 25% tariffs that rise further in January.

bloom.bg

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Vivek Srikrishnan @vsrikrish.bsky.social · 7d

Same thing businesses have known for ages about violating regulations. That get a competitive advantage, that might not get punished at all, and if they do the punishment is far lower than the benefits they gained.

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Adam Gurri @adamgurri.liberalcurrents.com · 7d

The scientific community needs a war mindset too open.substack.com/pub/donmoyni...

Deafening Quiet from the Scientific Establishment

Leaders are underestimating the risks of not fighting back

open.substack.com

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 7d

Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE

nyti.ms

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Quinta Jurecic @qjurecic.bsky.social · 7d

he's going to come after you either way, so you might as well act with integrity

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Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 8d

I will not back down.

Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power.

What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?

Donald Trump Truth Social Post: Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers! Governor Pritzker also.

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darth™️ @darthbluesky.bsky.social · 7d

"we are going to murder americans without due process"
~pam bondi, US attorney general

Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 8d

My gosh. After the US bombed multiple boats in the middle of the ocean, murdering people on grounds that they were allegedly "carrying drugs," the US Attorney General says "Just like we did with cartels, we're going to take the same approach, President Trump, with Antifa."

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Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · 8d

"It wanted to signal strength. Instead, it’s revealing its weakness. The administration’s need to break the academy is forcing it to make a desperately risky gamble." www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/o...

Opinion | You Beat Trumpism by Banding Together. It’s as Hard and as Simple as That.

www.nytimes.com

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Dan Davies @dsquareddigest.bsky.social · 9d

So it's a big problem - southeast England in general has a big problem with its aquifer, which can't be wished away however convenient it would be if there was enough water for the economic growth we wanted. There are solutions that people are working on but they need more Investment...

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InfluenceMap @influencemap.bsky.social · 8d

📢 🚨New Report - How the UK oil and gas industry spent 15 years pushing for subsidies & incentives for Carbon Capture and Storage rather than regulatory accountability or science-based emissions reductions; maintaining a funding pipeline for a technology yet to deliver on its promises 👇

The UK Oil and Gas Industry's Advocacy on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)

New analysis from InfluenceMap suggests that for more than 15 years, the oil and gas industry has systematically pushed the UK government to adopt a costly, emissions-intensive energy policy agenda de...

influencemap.org

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