Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Nic Duquette @nicduquette.bsky.social · 1h

I like the idea of the global science system not moving to one research hegemony but a collection of small credible countries like Switzerland and Australia

We can't replace the NIH, but we can recreate it in the aggregate

a man wearing a watch is sitting at a table with other men

ALT: a man wearing a watch is sitting at a table with other men

media.tenor.com

Reposted by Nic Duquette

Olivier Simard-Casanova @o.simardcasanova.net · 1h

The data is from April but holy moly

Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD DSc(hon) @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social · May 30

No words

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Olivier Simard-Casanova @o.simardcasanova.net · 1h

Here lies my productivity

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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 4h

Deep dive into the surge in US pedestrian deaths:

"It’s not that more pedestrians are getting hit by vehicles; it’s that the ones that are getting hit are more likely to die."

"[That] seems like fairly strong evidence for the theory that the rise in large SUVs is behind the uptick in ped deaths."

Why Are So Many Pedestrians Killed by Cars in the US?

It’s unfortunately not uncommon for pedestrians to be killed by cars in the US.

www.construction-physics.com

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Erin Biba @erinbiba.bsky.social · 20h

Astonishing how many of you "montreal bagel" people think you could even get on the ballot to begin with

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Nic Duquette @nicduquette.bsky.social · 20h

Now somebody needs to invent a mechanism where real estate developers can pay LA Metro to run a rapid bus past the parcels where they want to put lots of housing

Nic Duquette @nicduquette.bsky.social · 20h

Woah, SB79 is law

cayimby.org/news-events/...

Governor Newsom Signs Historic Housing Legislation. SB 79 Culminates Eight-Year Fight to Legalize Homes Near Transit.

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Senate Bill 79, a bill that will make it legal to build more homes near the highest capacity transit stops across California.

cayimby.org

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Nic Duquette @nicduquette.bsky.social · 1d

I for one am looking forward to the first development RCTs that test for effective strategies for increasing literacy, preventing deadly childhood disease, etc. in the USA

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Filipe Campante @filipecampante.bsky.social · 1d

It might be hard to convey to people outside economics just how seismic this is. The Trump effect has most certainly arrived to US academia.

Florian Scheuer @florianscheuer.bsky.social · 1d

I am delighted to share that Nobel laureates Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee will join our Department of Economics @econ.uzh.ch at the University of Zurich on July 1, 2026, as Lemann Foundation Professors of Economics.

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 1d

Immigrant Nobel Prize winners exiting the United States

Florian Scheuer @florianscheuer.bsky.social · 1d

I am delighted to share that Nobel laureates Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee will join our Department of Economics @econ.uzh.ch at the University of Zurich on July 1, 2026, as Lemann Foundation Professors of Economics.

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Florian Scheuer @florianscheuer.bsky.social · 1d

I am delighted to share that Nobel laureates Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee will join our Department of Economics @econ.uzh.ch at the University of Zurich on July 1, 2026, as Lemann Foundation Professors of Economics.

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Nic Duquette @nicduquette.bsky.social · 1d

theonion.com/drake-catche...

Drake Catches Himself Singing ‘Not Like Us’ In The Shower

theonion.com

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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 1d

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 3d

i’d say the real killer feature of EVs is basically the lack of real maintenance costs.

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Nic Duquette @nicduquette.bsky.social · 2d

Our public schools now require students to put their phones in a special locked pouch during the day to limit distraction, but they also give every child a chromebook 🧐

Nic Duquette @nicduquette.bsky.social · 2d

Eventually I'll post an updated version where the date I abandoned a project is marked with a little skull

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Nic Duquette @nicduquette.bsky.social · 2d

Anybody who wants to do this can get my code here

www.nicolasduquette.com/datacode.html

Note, I don't currently track my own work this way because I don't like the answer

Nicolas J. Duquette

www.nicolasduquette.com

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Conor Sen @conorsen.bsky.social · 3d

“Either this machine will be powerful enough to take your job or it’ll blow up and you’ll lose your job in a recession” is a tough outlook for white collar workers over the next few years.

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Nic Duquette @nicduquette.bsky.social · 3d

Going to be pretty annoyed if decades of effort to build a very decent urban rail system didn't increase transit ridership, but tariffing the auto industry to hell and/or an oil shock does the trick

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Nic Duquette @nicduquette.bsky.social · 3d

Wild to think that system ridership is still so far below where it was 10 years ago, especially now that the downtown connector is open

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Nic Duquette @nicduquette.bsky.social · 3d

The E line. Definitely a large chunk of the extra people are getting on/off at the connection with the K line (which goes to LAX, although they mostly don't look like they are to/from a flight)

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Nic Duquette @nicduquette.bsky.social · 3d

Huh, bus ridership is down more but train is also down slightly.

opa.metro.net/MetroRidersh...

Metro Ridership

opa.metro.net

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Nic Duquette @nicduquette.bsky.social · 3d

My train is busier than ever. I would guess that if you disaggregated by mode that train ridership would be gradually increasing and local buses are struggling

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Genevieve Kanter @profgenkanter.bsky.social · 3d

Aaand (checks notes) right on schedule...

We found that about 1/3 of FDA appointees go to industry within 2 years after their exit from the agency (rates were even higher at CDC and CMS).

www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/...

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David Brady @davebrady72.bsky.social · 4d

My colleague & friend Richard Green raises good reason to NOT sign Trump’s compact: “the president “is a person who has not kept agreements for a very long time. If we are going to sell our soul, let’s not sell it to someone who is going to pull the football away.”

www.latimes.com/california/s...

USC faculty members denounce Trump compact that would shift university to the right

The USC Academic Senate held a special meeting to discuss the Trump administration's education compact, which was presented to the school last week.

www.latimes.com

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