Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Rob Thomas

samuel mehr @mehr.nz · Dec 14

it's wild that R, the ubiquitous statistical computing language, was co-created by a Māori prof (Ross Ihaka) — and yet the vast majority of scientists who use R don't know

this is like inventing the toaster. possibly the largest impact of a single member of an indigenous community on modern science

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Dr Alex Bond @thelabandfield.bsky.social · 3h

Well, it's official. After our paper last year (onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....), the Slender-billed Curlew is officially declared Extinct today.

Scientists dream of describing new species, not writing their obituary and epitaph, knowing that they are gone forever #ornithology

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Ryan Katz-Rosene, PhD @ryankatzrosene.bsky.social · 10h

About *a third* of global fossil fuel CO2 emissions emitted during the Industrial age have occurred in roughly the last 17 years. The previous third was emitted over a period of roughly 26 years. The first third was emitted over a period of about 131 years.

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Wilson Ornithological Society @wilsonornithsoc.bsky.social · 17h

BIRDBASE, a new publicly available dataset, brings together "ecological and life history traits for 11,589 bird species across 254 families." #ornithology

Explore a bird database with 11,500 species

Twenty-six years ago, a PhD student's unanswered question sparked a bird data revolution.

www.popsci.com

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BOU @bou.org.uk · 1d

NEW on the #BOUdiversityBlog from Ellie Leech

Redressing the balance: why gender equity matters to BTO

bou.org.uk/blog-leec...

#ornithology 🪶

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Jason Moore @moorejh.bsky.social · 1d

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MarcM381 @aquilabirding2.bsky.social · 1d

WHITE-THROATED NEEDLETAIL ‼️ Tophill low, Yorkshire.
📷 photo credit to follow.

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Andy Williams @llantwit.bsky.social · 3d

“Uni defends new Kazakhstan campus amid human rights concerns” - BBC News

“The UCU, said it was not opposed to the venture in principle, but that it had serious concerns regarding staff workload and the speed with which it had been set up.”

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Cardiff University defends Kazakhstan campus amid concerns

Hundreds of students have started lectures at the new campus, which is 3,712 miles from Cardiff.

www.bbc.com

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Rob Thomas @robthomasbirds.bsky.social · 3d

Ah, looking forward to this!

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Rob Thomas @robthomasbirds.bsky.social · 3d

Ah no -that’s really bad

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A Sharpe Photography @asharpephotography.bsky.social · 4d

The birds panicking as these 5 kite surfers came in way too close. They couldn't settle as they'd immediately panic again. As a results the godwits, all the spoonbills and half the avocets now left the lagoon @harbourbirds.bsky.social @dorsetwildlife.bsky.social @footprintecology.bsky.social

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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 4d

BBC accused of 'extraordinary' anti-Green bias after party say the Laura Kuenssberg Show scrapped a promised interview with @zackpolanski.bsky.social on Sunday.

Green sources say the show also refused to interview Polanski after he was elected as leader last month

bylinetimes.com/2025/10/06/b...

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The Seabird Group @theseabirdgroup.bsky.social · 4d

We have vacancies available on our committee! 🕊️👨‍👨‍👧👩‍👩‍👦

We are recruiting for 5 roles:

Secretary 👩‍🏫
Assistant Journal Editor 📉
Social Media Lead 🤳
Assistant Newsletter/ Social Media Support 🤝
Website Officer 🧑‍💻

Feel free to DM for details & email [email protected] to apply (deadline 31 Oct) 📥

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Donnachadh McCarthy @donnachadhmc.bsky.social · 4d

Please help combat BBC news blackout of Green Party!
@zackpolanski.bsky.social was the only party leader not interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg during their party conference.
So please RT his cracking conference speech..

Donnachadh McCarthy @donnachadhmc.bsky.social · 6d

Whatever your party politics, @zackpolanski.bsky.social leaders speech deserves to be heard..

www.youtube.com/live/TZx9Vng...

Leader's Speech - Zack Polanski at Green Party Conference 2025

YouTube video by Green Party of England & Wales

www.youtube.com

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News Eye @newseye.bsky.social · 4d

NEW: Extraordinary scenes in Amsterdam this afternoon (Sunday, Oct 5).

An estimated 250,000 bring the city to a standstill; people all wearing red to show solidarity with Palestine 🇵🇸

(🎥 Ahmed Zantac)

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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

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Colpizen @colpizen.bsky.social · 7d

BIRDERS of Palestine
birdersofpalestine.com

Today I recieved my postcards of palestinian birds, photos taken by Mandy & Lara Sirdah aka @sirdahtwins on instagram, #Palestinianwatchbirders

A reminder to find ways to support Palestinians as much as you can in the face of genocide and displacement.

Photographs of Palestinian birds including the famous sunbird, male and female.
(from left to right from top to bottom:
Female Palestine sunbird
Male Palestine sunbird
Western yellow wagtail
Stone chat
White-throated kingfishers)

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Reposted by Rob Thomas

My Zero Carbon #ClimateAction @myzerocarbon.org · 13d

.
‘We’ve done it before’: how not to lose hope in the fight against ecological disaster | Climate crisis | The Guardian

Find out more: www.theguardian.com/news/20...

#ClimateAction

‘We’ve done it before’: how not to lose hope in the fight against ecological disaster

Some days it can feel as if climate catastrophe is inevitable. But history is full of cases – such as the banning of whaling and CFCs – that show humanity can come together to avert disaster

www.theguardian.com

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Naomi Klein @naomiaklein.bsky.social · 8d

Israel has just arrested Greta Thunberg and many others.

Statement from the Global Sumud Flotilla:

“People of conscience have been abducted. The flotilla broke no laws. What is illegal is Israel’s genocide, Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza, and Israel’s use of starvation as a weapon.”
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Naomi Klein @naomiaklein.bsky.social · 8d

Close to 65k watching the livefeed from the Global Sumud Flotilla off the coast of Gaza.

Israel seems to be intercepting right now.

All eyes needed.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEN2...

24/7 LIVESTREAM OF GLOBAL SUMUD FLOTILLA

YouTube video by Global Sumud Flotilla

www.youtube.com

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Connolly for President @catherinegalway.bsky.social · 8d

Statement from Catherine Connolly following reports of Irish citizens among those abducted by Israeli forces this evening.

“Israel’s illegal seizure of boats participating in the Global Sumud Flotillas mission to bring humanitarian aid to the starving people of Gaza is another brazen breach of international law.

“It has been reported that Irish citizens are amongst those abducted by Israeli forces. The Department of Foreign Affairs must immediately demand the release of all those taken illegally by the Israeli military.

“There have been enough words. The Irish government and other governments must take action to face down Israel’s genocidal campaign and to protect all those on the flotilla.

“All those abducted must be released and the flotilla must be given safe passage to complete its humanitarian mission to ensure the people of Gaza receive the food and other humanitarian aid they so desperately need.”

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Rob Thomas @robthomasbirds.bsky.social · 8d

So sad to hear that Jane Goodall has passed away - a life well lived in promoting the understanding and conservation of our fellow inhabitants of our one wild and precious planet.

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Rob Thomas @robthomasbirds.bsky.social · 9d

Hey Siri! Show me what a fascist looks like.

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 9d

An unprecedented violation of our civic and Constitutional traditions. Calling every military leader in the world back to the U.S. to hear a wildly inappropriate partisan campaign speech followed by a fascist call to use the military against Americans.

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Rob Thomas @robthomasbirds.bsky.social · 9d

Storm petrels showing well in Edinburgh this afternoon. Please park sensibly outside Topping’s bookshop. Will be searched for by Dawn, who works in the non-fiction section.

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El Espectro 👻 🎃 @telescoper.bsky.social · 10d

A meme for the modern university...

Meme showing a worker labelled "academic staff" digging a hole in the ground while 10 others look labelled with management titles such as "Director of Human Resources" look on. The caption underneath reads "The only way we can cut costs is to reduce the number of academic staff..."

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BTO | British Trust for Ornithology @btobirds.bsky.social · 11d

1/ New study! #Seabirds are among the most threatened groups of birds globally, and a new study looked at how emerging technologies can be optimally harnessed in seabird monitoring. ➡️ www.bto.org/new-tech-seabird-monitoring #Ornithology

Guillemots together on the top of a rock face. Wording above reads: New Study. Opportunities and challenges for new technologies in seabird population monitoring. www.bto.org/new-tech-seabird-monitoring

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