Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted

Matt Gabriele @profgabriele.com · 10h

I know this case is all over - & it should be - but Turning Point USA has waged a harassment campaign against faculty for more than a decade. I know of at least a half dozen other faculty, personally, who have received death threats and several of those who felt so unsafe they too left their homes

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 11h

Are we great yet?

Mark Bray, a Rutgers University professor and expert on anti-fascist groups, is fleeing to Spain with his family due to death threats that stem from a campaign by Turning Point USA and other conservative groups to get him fired, falsely labeling him as an antifa member.

Antifa expert at Rutgers University says he is moving to Spain because of death threats

An expert on anti-fascist groups who teaches at New Jersey’s flagship state university is moving his family overseas.

apnews.com

17 280 980

Reposted

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 10h

There’s a reason academics universally rejected the initial push to canonize Charlie Kirk as a saint devoted to free speech.

We know all too well that’s the exact opposite of reality.

Matt Gabriele @profgabriele.com · 10h

I know this case is all over - & it should be - but Turning Point USA has waged a harassment campaign against faculty for more than a decade. I know of at least a half dozen other faculty, personally, who have received death threats and several of those who felt so unsafe they too left their homes

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 11h

Are we great yet?

Mark Bray, a Rutgers University professor and expert on anti-fascist groups, is fleeing to Spain with his family due to death threats that stem from a campaign by Turning Point USA and other conservative groups to get him fired, falsely labeling him as an antifa member.

18 380 1.7K

Reposted

Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 10h

None of us can do everything but each of us can do SOMETHING.

8 320 970

Reposted

Anne Fausto-Sterling @birdlady.bsky.social · 10h

Another report on conditions at the US National academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Turmoil at US science academy as Trump cuts force layoffs

Efforts by leaders of the US national academies to adjust to the new political reality have spurred member concerns about capitulation and censorship.

www.nature.com

2 5

Reposted

Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 10h

I'm doing another print run of these "Biology is Bigger than Binaries" shirts!

Back, quite literally, by popular demand. Bullying works, sure, but so does a bunch of nice cutie patooties politely asking!

Order 'em now, I'll mail 'em in early November.

SquidFacts.net

a woman with short bown hair, glasses, and tassel earrings, wears a purple KN95 and looks cool as hell in her biology is bigger than binaries shirt, in orange

a woman with green glasses takes a selfie lookin' cool as hell in her pink biology is bigger than binaries shirt. She's also got ice cream, that lucky dog.

a woman with long brown hair and glasses hangs out in the back yard with her pink biology is bigger than binaries shirt

A man with a hat and sunglasses stands in hero-pose with his biology is bigger than binaires shirt (orange)

11 130 390

Reposted

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 1d

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

140 1.8K 4.6K

Reposted

Izzy Jayasinghe @ijayas.bsky.social · 14h

Ah, a classic moment of @nature.com recognizing the scientific contributions of both genders: man and machine.

Prof Anna Watts @profannawatts.bsky.social · 15h

Lol the Nobels can't even acknowledge women's contribution to discovery. But sure let's acknowledge The Machines.

Headline from an article in Nature this week that states "Prizes must recognize machine contributions to discovery. The future of science will be written by humans and machines together. Awards should reflect that reality."

3 26 110

Reposted

Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 14h

Brett Kavanaugh assures me this is the sort of minor inconvenience that shouldn't disturb anyone.

CollinCountyDems @collincountydems.bsky.social · 15h

This is terrifying!

ICE breaks into this woman’s car in the pick-up line at West Loop Elementary school in Chicago and detains her before she can pick her kids up from school. (They were eventually let go after showing their documents)

This is Trump’s America.

7 450 1.3K

Reposted

Hillary J. Haldane @hillaryjhaldanephd.bsky.social · 1d

I was especially appalled by what the brilliant Madeleine Pape found in her research on the cherry-picking of sources for the UNSRVAW’s report on violence against girls/women in sport. So many people in power continue to abuse their position to promote dangerous ideas about trans women. ⚧️🏳️‍⚧️

1 1 3

Reposted

Hillary J. Haldane @hillaryjhaldanephd.bsky.social · 1d

So many good presentations on trans inclusion in sport at @playthegame-org.bsky.social. I strongly recommend reading Agustín Fuentes’ Sex is a Spectrum for those who need evidence to support the effort to makes sport safe, inclusive, and enjoyable for ALL women.
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

Sex Is a Spectrum

Why human biology is far more expansive than the simple categories of female and male

press.princeton.edu

2 2 7

Reposted

American Association of Biological Anthropologists @bioanth.org · 3d

#AABA2026 abstracts are due next week! Submit your abstract for presentation in Denver!

American Association of Biological Anthropologists @bioanth.org · 24d

📣 The abstract portal for #AABA2026 in Denver is open! Please read the abstract guidelines carefully before submitting your abstract. Submissions are due by October 15, 2025. bioanth.org/95th-annual-...

2 3

Reposted

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒 @marspidermonkey.bsky.social · 2d

I love gibbon songs! #primates

Oakland Zoo @oaklandzoo.bsky.social · 2d

Here it is, the signature soundtrack of Oakland Zoo (sound UP 🎶)

Gibbons make these whooping sounds for many reasons -- to send an alert about predators, as mating calls, to announce their territory to neighbors, or to strengthen social bonding.

2 9

Reposted

Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 2d

Never before in American history has one state's military force been deployed in another state over its objection.

I say never because the Civil War involved states whose governments legally ceased to exist, their offices vacated by constructive resignation, with no legitimate governors to object.

80 1.5K 5.9K

Reposted

Anna Kornbluh @annakornbluh.bsky.social · 2d

www.newsweek.com/university-d...

University drops bid to fire professor for Charlie Kirk post

Phillip Michael Hook wrote online that he did not “give a flying f***” about Kirk, whom he described as a “hate spreading Nazi.”

www.newsweek.com

16 41

anthrofuentes.bsky.social @anthrofuentes.bsky.social · 2d

Join us: Beyond the Binaries: The New Science of Sex and Gender gsws.sas.upenn.edu/events/2025/...

[Penn Anthro Colloquium] Beyond the Binaries: The New Science of Sex and Gender

Monday, October 13, 2025 - 12:00pm to 1:30pm

3 9

Reposted

Will Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social · 4d

Trump and Vance want badly to stop you from using the f-word

That's because if we accurately call out rising fascism from the streets of Chicago to the waters of the Caribbean, we will understand that we must fight back with the moral strength of war

My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/trum...

Why we can’t allow Trump to ban that other f-word | Will Bunch

The column the Trump regime wants to ban: America has to call out surging fascism in order to defeat it.

www.inquirer.com

14 280 790

Reposted

Marc Kissel @marckissel.bsky.social · 6d

Rubber duck debugging might be the norm, but my students have upgraded to "3D printed axolotl Debugging" in our #Rstats course cause ya gotta embrace whatever joy you can these days (thanks to @jennakissel.bsky.social for realization that w/ 3d printer we could go all in here)

Photo shows nine small axolotl figurines that were 3d printed in pastel colors.

1 6 27

Reposted

Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 6d

super cool study found human artifacts in Bearded vulture nests, incl. "weaponry like a crossbow bolt and wooden lance, decorated sheep leather, and parts of a slingshot....a shoe made from twigs and grass is ~675-years-old." link to paper: doi.org/10.1002/ecy..... www.popsci.com/environment/... 🧪🌍🦉

Multi-generational vulture nests hold 700 years of human artifacts

Crossbow bolts, sandals, slingshots, and more.

www.popsci.com

26 890 2K

Reposted

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 6d

🫡

How to Turn Off AI Tools Like Gemini, Apple Intelligence, Copilot, and More - Consumer Reports

AI features are crowding into Google search, Gmail, iPhones, Windows laptops, and other products. If you're suffering from AI overload, these settings can help.

www.consumerreports.org

48 5.4K 8.3K

Reposted

John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 6d

Great to be a guest on @scifri.bsky.social today on this really intriguing paper and the challenges it has posed to conventional ways of thinking about human origins.

Science Friday @scifri.bsky.social · 6d

Drama in the field of human origins! Some anthropologists are raising an eyebrow at a new study that claims our species could have emerged at least half a million years earlier than we thought.

Anthropologists Have A Bone To Pick With New Skull Finding

A reconstruction of an ancient skull suggests that humans could have evolved half a million years earlier than thought. Not so fast, some say.

buff.ly

2 9 50

Reposted

Ryan Anderson @anthropologia.bsky.social · 6d

Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas: "And as soon as the game is over and the lights are off, when I take my car and drive to my place, I’m an immigrant too." From this piece by Bruce Schoenfeld: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/m...

The L.A. Dodgers Risk Alienating Their Fans or Angering Trump

www.nytimes.com

1 4

Reposted

Calum Cunningham @calxcunningham.bsky.social · 7d

Out today in @science.org, we show wildfire disasters have surged in the last decade, as climate change intensifies fire weather and exacerbates other vulnerabilities.

📄 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

With @pyrogeog.bsky.social @climate-guy.bsky.social

Climate-linked escalation of societally disastrous wildfires

Climate change and land mismanagement are creating increasingly fire-prone built and natural environments. However, despite worsening fire seasons, evidence is lacking globally for trends in socially ...

www.science.org

3 29 60

Reposted

Roxane Gay @roxanegay.bsky.social · 7d

I really need all of us to abandon any impostor syndrome. It’s time.

Ida Bae Wells @nhannahjones.bsky.social · 7d

In case it wasn’t clear, the anti-DEI crusade has never been about merit. Zero news experience. Never been a reporter. Elevated to Editor in Chief of CBS News, one of the most storied news institutions in the nation. www.mediaite.com/media/news/p...

Paramount Officially Acquiring The Free Press and Making Bari Weiss CBS News Editor in Chief: Report

Paramount Skydance will be officially acquiring The Free Press and hiring its founder Bari Weiss as editor in chief of its CBS News division, with the deal to be announced this coming Monday, accordin...

www.mediaite.com

140 1.5K 7.7K

Reposted

Doctor Memory @blank.org · 7d

Stipulating in advance that I probably agree with everyone’s critiques of Newson:

This is the way. Make it clear in advance that compliance has a price too.

Governor Gavin Newsom @governor.ca.gov · 7d

IF ANY CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY SIGNS THIS RADICAL AGREEMENT, THEY'LL LOSE BILLIONS IN STATE FUNDING — INCLUDING CAL GRANTS — INSTANTLY.

CALIFORNIA WILL NOT BANKROLL SCHOOLS THAT SELL OUT THEIR STUDENTS, PROFESSORS, RESEARCHERS, AND SURRENDER ACADEMIC FREEDOM.

New York Times: "Trump Administration Asks Colleges to Sign ‘Compact’ to Get Funding Preference."

The White House asked nine top universities to pledge support for President Trump’s agenda to help ensure access to research funding.

24 250 1.4K

anthrofuentes.bsky.social @anthrofuentes.bsky.social · 7d

No. Absolutely not. "Trump Administration Asks Colleges to Sign ‘Compact’ to Get Funding Preference"

1 2