Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Shannon E French

@sefrench.bsky.social

2.1K followers 1.4K following 2K posts

Philosophy Prof, International Ethics Center Director, Author of Code of the Warrior. Fields: Military Ethics and Ethics & Emerging Technology. Views I post are mine alone and not any employer’s or sponsor’s, etc. Reposts are not necessarily endorsements.

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Shannon E French @sefrench.bsky.social · Aug 19

Whoohoo! IT HAS ARRIVED!

I gotta admit, the thrill of opening a box of freshly published books with my name on them never gets old. Thank you, @bloomsburyacad.bsky.social for a great author experience thus far.

I hope those of you with an interest in the subject enjoy the new material! #booksky

Image shows four copies of the new book The Code of the Warrior, by Shannon E French, third edition, out with Bloomsbury press. The cover is gold with white and black lettering, and has pictures of a battle axe, a katana, an assegai, and an assault rifle. The books are propped up on a dark green velvet couch.

8 8 47

Shannon E French @sefrench.bsky.social · 15h

Honest question - why do you “appreciate the effort”? Wouldn’t any effort be better spent supporting and endorsing the younger candidates, rather than joining the race themselves?

1 1

Reposted by Shannon E French

Jenny Cohn @jennycohn.bsky.social · 17h

Balaji (a close associate of Thiel & Andreessen) leads the “network state” movement, which encourages tech elites to build their own “countries” by acquiring physical territory w/in host countries & building “parallel institutions” to replace existing ones in media, education, finance, & science 1/

81 390 640

Reposted by Shannon E French

University of Oxford @ox.ac.uk · 1d

#OnThisDay in 1920, the first women received their Oxford degrees 🎓

📷 | St Anne's College Oxford

Black and white image of the first degree day for women, 14th October 1920.

3 15 50

Shannon E French @sefrench.bsky.social · 17h

These Russian X-bloggers aren’t in charge of anything, but they’re clearly being encouraged by those who are to try to make Poland and other NATO countries afraid. Putin knows he’s losing against Ukraine, but he’s still hoping the weakness of U.S. support for our European allies gives him an opening

WarTranslated (Dmitri) @wartranslated.bsky.social · Sep 14

Meanwhile, Russian Z-bloggers suddenly decided to voice their stance toward Poland.

1 2

Reposted by Shannon E French

mtsw @mtsw.bsky.social · 1d

You're living through one of the biggest technological transformations in world history and it has nothing to do with AI

Jan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · 1d

Grid scale batteries are changing our electricity system. Excellent new visual story on batteries in FT today shows just how far this technology has evolved.

Fasten your seatbelts, this is just the beginning.

ig.ft.com/mega-batteri...

32 590 2.1K

Reposted by Shannon E French

James @gravitysra1nbow.bsky.social · 1d

Average operator attempting to conduct a raid with the Anduril google glasses NODs flashing 38 different icons in front of their face:

18 29 360

Reposted by Shannon E French

John Collins @logicallyjc.bsky.social · 1d

This is the way.

430 2.9K 12K

Reposted by Shannon E French

Frances Larina @franceslarina.bsky.social · 1d

It's so important to keep the "non-consensual" part of generative AI front and center.

Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 1d

I don't know how many times to point out that is absolutely ghoulish and non-consensual and disgusting behavior.
To exploit the image of a dead woman who was also exploited in real life so you can live out your momentary fantasies of "what is possible" with AI is bad science journalism, also.
Sick.

October 10, 2025

4 min read

Marilyn Monroe in Game of Thrones? AI Could Make It Happen Soon

Despite early, and familiar, copyright growing pains, Sora may be the prelude to AI-generated on-demand TV and movies

Screenshot includes an AI generated image of what looks like a human cross between Daenaerys Targaryen and Marilyn Monroe on the back of a dragon.

30 110

Reposted by Shannon E French

Tim Mak @timkmak.bsky.social · 3d

Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

In 2022, Oleksandr, a Ukrainian marine, helped blow up the Kozarovychi Dam to stop the Russians.

Now, as Russia threatens NATO, Europe considers all options, including turning their own borders into wetlands.

Good for Beavers, Bad for Russia

In 2022, Ukraine blew up the Kozarovychi Dam to stop the Russians. Now, Europe wants to copy this strategy — turning wetlands into defenses.

open.substack.com

3 25 96

Shannon E French @sefrench.bsky.social · 2d

Looks fantastic - bravo!! 🤩

Reposted by Shannon E French

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Trump: "I don't think there's anything that's gonna get me in heaven. I think I'm not maybe heaven bound. I may be in heaven right now as we fly on Air Force One. I'm not sure I'm gonna be able to make heaven."

1.4K 1K 4.9K

Reposted by Shannon E French

Jeffrey Shallit 🇺🇦 @shallit.bsky.social · 2d

Today in the annals of LLM-generated academic paper stupidity: authors submit a paper clearly written by an LLM containing at least three hallucinated references that don't exist, of which two were allegedly written.... by me, the editor of the journal.

And the cover letter suggested I referee it!

6 12 72

Shannon E French @sefrench.bsky.social · 2d

*and, not but

Shannon E French @sefrench.bsky.social · 2d

I understand. But it gives me hope that a figure with so much power and influence is recognizing the moment we’re in and truly meeting it well.

1 1

Shannon E French @sefrench.bsky.social · 2d

Me too

Shannon E French @sefrench.bsky.social · 2d

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

Student defends moral relativism.

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 2d

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 · 2d

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

New library catalogue website.

Reposted by Shannon E French

Edmonds Scanner @edmondsscanner.bsky.social · 20d

Do something nice for yourself every day.
Enjoy some tea, take a little nap, or shamble through the catacombs beneath crumbling castles and find the bones of ancient kings to snack on.

1 20 67

Reposted by Shannon E French

Angela Pashia, ACC @angelapashia.com · 4d

And also, if you can’t stand on principle, stand on self preservation. Signing won’t stop this regime from attacking. Signing signals weakness, that you’re an easy target.

There is absolutely nothing to be gained by signing this.

Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 4d

More of this. Signing this authoritarian devil’s bargain would betray higher education’s independence and the pursuit of knowledge.

Jay D. Aronson @jaydaronson.bsky.social · 4d

MIT rejects "the Compact"
orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

8 29

Shannon E French @sefrench.bsky.social · 3d

That is what we traditionally have for Thanksgiving! 🦞

Shannon E French @sefrench.bsky.social · 3d

Our daughter sends us actual postcards from college and it’s the cutest thing ever! But I’m not sure how I’m going to hold out until Thanksgiving to see her. 🦃🍂🍁❤️

1 10

Reposted by Shannon E French

Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 3d

Manly men brutalize, terrorize a teen girl

Redsky @redsky.pirhoo.com · 3d

Northwest Chicago Suburb: ICE Agents Rip 15-Year-Old Girl from Car, Slam Her to Ground She Screams Im 15! as Man Kneels on Her Neck

Link | Subreddit

Northwest Chicago Suburb: ICE Agents Rip 15-Year-Old Girl from Car, Slam Her to Ground She Screams Im 15! as Man Kneels on Her Neck

www.reddit.com

42 520 1.4K

Reposted by Shannon E French

I 💙 Dogs @dogs100.bsky.social · 3d

Behave

3 29 210

Reposted by Shannon E French

NightMar on Hicks Street, Part 4: The Rabbit’s Revenge @histoftech.bsky.social · 4d

The Virginia Senate just told UVA it’s not getting state funding if it accepts the compact since UVA exists to serve Virginia, its residents, & their interests—not be a tool of the federal govt. Scoop from our student newspaper, who’ve been doing vital reporting www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025...

39 1.1K 3.8K

Reposted by Shannon E French

MAKS 25 👀🇺🇦 @maks23.bsky.social · 3d

🙏🇺🇦 In Ukraine, civilian casualties from Russian strikes increased sharply in 2025: the total number of casualties in the first nine months of the year increased by 31% compared to 2024, - UN

❗️At least 214 civilians were killed and nearly 1,000 wounded in September 2025.

4 38 130

Reposted by Shannon E French

Siva @sivav.bsky.social · 4d

Everything is horrible but we still can take the time to rub the belly of a golden retriever

3 3 51