Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Matt @xenomatt.bsky.social · 1d

Looking forward to everyone's least-favourite sexual matador throwing an absolute shitfit when he comes in last.

Matt @xenomatt.bsky.social · 1d

Given the calibre of people we're dealing with here, it's probably safe to assume that they get confused about things like this, so who knows what they actually meant?

Matt @xenomatt.bsky.social · 1d

Administrators all over the place heaving a great sigh of relief that a sticky problem has gone away on its own, I suspect.

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Matt @xenomatt.bsky.social · 1d

All of it, but start with the Discworld books. And this thread will probably be useful:

bsky.app/profile/rinc...

Micah @rincewind.run · Jul 17

A DISCWORLD PRIMER*

*or, why should I read this thing that everyone keeps going on about?

Come on in, sit down, pull up a chair. If you have followup questions, feel free to ask me or @ankhmorporkcity.watch, we're always happy to help.

(1/a lot, idk, we'll figure this out as we go)

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Matt @xenomatt.bsky.social · 2d

Well, this made me laugh 🤿🐟

KOJAMF🤘🖤🤘 @kojamf.bsky.social · 3d

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Matt @xenomatt.bsky.social · 2d

A shortpouch pygmy pipefish (Acentronura breviperula), doing a very good job of pretending to be a stick. Pic from Anilao.

#MarineLife 🌿🐟

A small, wormlike fish. It is brown and holding itself straight to resemble a stick or the stalk of a plant. Its tail is curled around a piece of weed.

#Wildlife #Nature

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Matt @xenomatt.bsky.social · 2d

I'd be interested to find out which one of them would be more offended by this, given how they feel about each other.

Reposted by Matt

Robert Boessenecker, Dr. of Whaleontology ™️ @coastalpaleo.bsky.social · 4d

A few more shots of the baby octopus 🥰🦑🦀

A baby octopus in a tidepool; it's light tan with many visible chromatophores. Its tentacles are wrapped around backwards, and it's sitting between a couple of mussel shells on some sand grains.

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Matt @xenomatt.bsky.social · 3d

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand:

Eunice aphroditois in bathroom

(this is nothing to do with my profession, but I think it's suitably horrifying :)

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 3d

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand:

Archives banned making copies.

Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · 3d

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand:

New library catalogue website.

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Reposted by Matt

TrustedReveler @trustedreveler.bsky.social · 8d

LA: we will fight you.

Chicago: we will fight you.

PDX: we will make you endure week after week of of improv theater.

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Reposted by Matt

derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 5d

in 2011, the president of antifa hired me to give fashion consultancy to the organization. i recommended everyone wear navy suits with tan shoes, dress sneakers, and golf polos with slim chinos. if you arrested everyone today wearing these things, you'd destroy antifa

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Matt @xenomatt.bsky.social · 4d

In the absence of proof, I shall continue to believe that it's a rock with a tongue :)

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Matt @xenomatt.bsky.social · 4d

It's good to get these reminders that there are still a lot of decent people in the US, given how relentlessly awful most of the news coming from there seems to be at the moment.

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Matt @xenomatt.bsky.social · 5d

Just got around to listening... lots of fun! But I'm afraid the winner has to be "shrimposter syndrome" :)

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Matt @xenomatt.bsky.social · 5d

World octopus day, you say? Very well, then... here is an octopus (possibly a male argonaut). No clue what the jellyfish is. The jellyfish is swimming down to try and get away from the bright flashing lights.
Pic from a blackwater dive in Balayan Bay, Anilao.

🦑🌿 #Invertebrates

A jellyfish, upside down because it's swimming downwards. On top of its bell is an octopus; it is translucent/white with some visible brown organs.

#Nature #Wildlife #Macro #WildlifePhotography #NaturePhotography #UnderwaterPhotography

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Matt @xenomatt.bsky.social · 5d

Congrats on 300! TBQH I'm amazed you're still going... but I'm really enjoying them!

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Matt @xenomatt.bsky.social · 5d

Machado has publicly called for assistance from the US/Trump. I can't help wondering how much assistance Trump will be willing to give someone who just snaffled the Nobel Prize he covets.

Pettiness and vengeance for a perceived slight will probably outweigh everything else, to Maduro's benefit.

kottke.org @kottke.org · 5d

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado wins the Nobel Peace Prize. “When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognize courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist.” [apnews.com]

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado wins the Nobel Peace Prize

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has won the Nobel Peace Prize. The Norwegian Nobel committee praised her as a key unifying figure in the opposition, advocating for free elections and representative government.

apnews.com

Matt @xenomatt.bsky.social · 5d

This is nice to read about!

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Creatures buried in soil for over a century burst back to life in Toronto waterfront

A project to restore coastal wetland leads to astonishing discoveries of a host of life: seeds and plant scraps, as well as water fleas, worms, larvae and plankton

www.theguardian.com

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Matt @xenomatt.bsky.social · 5d

My first thought was that it looks like some sort of carnivorous hippo, which is a truly terrifying idea.

Jason Bittel @bittelmethis.bsky.social · 6d

Shark peeps -- is this really a greenland shark? I'm reading that the bottom teeth are more interlocking, and the nose doesn't seem right either. Mislabled? 🧪🦑

animals.howstuffworks.com/fish/sharks/...

Reposted by Matt

David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 7d

Friends, please join me in welcoming the Manta Trust to Bluesky! They’ve left Twitter and are setting up shop here.

🧪🌎🦑🦈 #SciComm

Manta Trust @mantatrust.bsky.social · 7d

Some of our ocean’s most iconic species are vanishing — whale sharks, oceanic whitetip sharks, manta and devil rays.

Join us in calling for action. Sign the petition today: only.one/act/cites-2025

#CITESCoP20 #SaveTheMantas

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Matt @xenomatt.bsky.social · 6d

I had absolutely no idea that this happened!

Rebecca R Helm @rebeccarhelm.bsky.social · 7d

Many sea stars begin life as young fairy-like creature (called a brachiolaria) that float through the open ocean. Eventually, a small star forms within them (here in yellow). The fairy-like brachiolaria sinks under the star’s weight, and the star pops out!
🎥@the_story_of_a_biologist (on Insta)

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Reposted by Matt

Comfortably Numb @numb.comfortab.ly · 6d

Nobel Committee should just troll Trump, and give Obama a second Peace Prize.

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Reposted by Matt

ElieNYC @elienyc.bsky.social · 7d

Ubisoft: "Okay, so in this game you fight the Klan"
Marketers: "You can't sell that in America"
Ubisoft: "Why?"
Marketers: "Umm [gestures broadly]. The Klan fucking won?"
Ubisoft: "Merde."
Marketers: "Yeah, we've asked for the Statue back but they're being dicks about that too."

Stephen Totilo @stephentotilo.bsky.social · 7d

SCOOP: Last year, Ubisoft cancelled an Assassin's Creed game set during Reconstruction. Was to feature a Black Assassin who, among other things, fought the rise of the Klan

Sources: Leadership nixed it over concerns re: U.S. political climate, backlash to Yasuke

www.gamefile.news/p/scoop-ubis...

Scoop: Ubisoft cancelled a post-Civil War Assassin’s Creed last year

Company leadership deemed the project too controversial for the moment, sources tell Game File

www.gamefile.news

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Reposted by Matt

Australian Society for Fish Biology @austsocfishbiol.bsky.social · 8d

📢 SARDI have #marine #jobs available:

🐟 Research Officer
🐟 Estuarine & Coastal Moorings National Data Lead
🐟 Estuarine & Coastal Moorings National Coordinator
🐟 Senior Research Scientist (x2)
🐟 Field Operations Manager
🐟 Senior Research Services Officer

🚨 16 Oct
👀 iworkfor.sa.gov.au

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Matt @xenomatt.bsky.social · 8d

Chromodoris magnifica, Anilao. Many nudibranchs can absorb toxins or stinging cells from the things they eat, and repurpose them for their own defences. The bright colours are... fair warning :)

#MarineLife #Invertebrate #Nudibranch 🌿

A brightly-coloured sea slug. It has orange rhinopores and gills. The body is covered in black and blue stripes; there is a white marginal band with a yellow stripe in the middle. Its head is raised slightly off the coral its moving over

#Macro #UnderwaterPhotography #Wildlife #WildlfePhotography #Nature #NaturePhotography

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