Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Sophie Burnham @sophieburnham.bsky.social · 39m

Oh my god, does this make me a nepo baby?

Sophie Burnham @sophieburnham.bsky.social · 13h

If you get really lucky, your dad's a sailor so the knowledge is sort of already grandfathered in.

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Sophie Burnham @sophieburnham.bsky.social · 13h

You there, boy, what day is it?

Why, it's Bloodtide day, sir!

Sophie Burnham @sophieburnham.bsky.social · 21h

BLOODTIDE, the second book and feral middle child of the Ex Romana trilogy, hits shelves today! Read more queer, anti-fascist books!

astrapublishinghouse.com/product/bloo...

Bloodtide - Astra Publishing House

The fate of the empire hangs in the balance in the second installment of the genre-bending Ex Romana trilogy Perfect for readers of Saara El-Arifi and C. L. Clark and stories with strong, queer voices...

astrapublishinghouse.com

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Reposted by Sophie Burnham

DAW Books @dawbooks.bsky.social · 18h

Winner of the Sidewise Award for Alternate History, Bloodtide by Sophie Burnham is out TODAY! Following Sargassa, this second book of the Ex Romana trilogy is masterfully crafted with its captivating characters, plot, romance, and political intrigue ❤️

buff.ly/8fC4t8U

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Reposted by Sophie Burnham

Paul "Princejvstin" Weimer📷🚀 🚀 📸 @princejvstin.com · 21h

Happy Happy release day @sophieburnham.bsky.social !!

sophieburnham.substack.com/p/blood-in-t...

blood in the water

it's a book two birthday!

sophieburnham.substack.com

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Sophie Burnham @sophieburnham.bsky.social · 21h

Thank you!!

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Sophie Burnham @sophieburnham.bsky.social · 21h

BLOODTIDE, the second book and feral middle child of the Ex Romana trilogy, hits shelves today! Read more queer, anti-fascist books!

astrapublishinghouse.com/product/bloo...

Bloodtide - Astra Publishing House

The fate of the empire hangs in the balance in the second installment of the genre-bending Ex Romana trilogy Perfect for readers of Saara El-Arifi and C. L. Clark and stories with strong, queer voices...

astrapublishinghouse.com

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Reposted by Sophie Burnham

Lauren MacIvor Thompson @lmacthompson1.bsky.social · 4d

I am writing this because it has swiftly become crystal clear to me that many people have no idea what is happening or how this works. Here is a thread for non-academics to put into context what just happened to Dr. Mark Bray, a fellow historian.

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Reposted by Sophie Burnham

javier grillo-marxuach @okbjgm.bsky.social · 1d

the degree to which i feel like i am living in the pre-title montage of a post-apocalyptic movie cannot be overstated.

Eric Reinhart @eric-reinhart.com · 1d

This is an alarming compression of the planetary destruction timeline: with the massive growth of the AI bubble, data centers are expected to consume up to 12% of total US electricity by 2028, up from 4.4% in 2023.
www.cnn.com/2025/10/13/t...

Sora 2 and ChatGPT are consuming so much power that OpenAI just did another 10 gigawatt deal | CNN Business

OpenAI is partnering with Broadcom to design and develop 10 gigawatts of custom AI chips and systems, a massive amount of power that will use as much electricity as a large city. The move further high...

www.cnn.com

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Reposted by Sophie Burnham

QueerAF @wearequeeraf.com · 2d

Thinking globally, but acting locally sparked a movement, that has ultimately spread the Safe Space initiative nationwide

https://www.wearequeeraf.com/how-my-local-action-turned-into-a-national-movement-creating-safe-spaces-for-trans-people/

How my local action turned into a national movement creating safe spaces for Trans+ people

Thinking globally, but acting locally sparked a movement, that has ultimately spread the Safe Space initiative nationwide

www.wearequeeraf.com

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Reposted by Sophie Burnham

Alexis Ames @alexisames.bsky.social · 3d

I've been sitting on this blog post since August, but I finally posted yesterday about my plan to publish my gay sci-fi book: alexisamesbooks.com/2025/10/10/a.... I'd like to say that my marketing in the coming months will be better than this but tbh that's probably a lie. #WritingCommunity #SFF

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Reposted by Sophie Burnham

Liz Bourke @hawkwinglb.bsky.social · 1d

I keep returning to this piece on the emotional and political logic of sharing deepfakes by people who *know* they're fakes. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/se...

Claire Wilmot | Fascistic Dream Machines

Part of the misunderstanding of the deepfake threat stems from the idea that it is a problem of bad information, rather...

www.lrb.co.uk

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Reposted by Sophie Burnham

Nick Harkaway @nickharkaway.com · 2d

This is a) utterly terrifying and b) vital. Don’t turn away. The crisis is fixable because it is, ultimately, political. We know the chemistry. We decline the action necessary.

Gregory Norminton @gregorynorminton.bsky.social · 2d

The headline news that won't be headline news.

'A tragedy': World may have reached first climate 'tipping point' as coral reefs face collapse

Warm-water coral reefs - on which a billion people and a quarter of all marine life depend - are on the brink of collapse, according to a major new scientific study

www.businessgreen.com

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Sophie Burnham @sophieburnham.bsky.social · 1d

This is the plot of Sargassa and Bloodtide btw

donni saphire @donni.bsky.social · 5d

It’s actually pretty bad for your mental health to know stuff

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Sophie Burnham @sophieburnham.bsky.social · 1d

Bloodtide is out tomorrow and I feel really normal about it!!!!

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Reposted by Sophie Burnham

Ian Green @ianthegreen.bsky.social · 1d

I've decided that whilst critical success is lovely, I'd like to sell some books.

If you liked EXTREMOPHILE, recommend it to a pal! (If your pal is fucking COOL and not a narc)

Eco-terrorism biohacking body horror, smart shit with dumb characters. Your new favourite book

Ian Green @ianthegreen.bsky.social · Oct 30

'A visceral, doesn't-give-a-damn biopunk thriller that treats the "punk" part of that subgenre not as mere window-dressing but as an antifascist shriek... vital and urgent SF that reaches places realist writing never could' ― @interzone.press

If you like cool shit get this 🕶️

geni.us/extremophile

Extremophile

Pre-order now:

geni.us

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Reposted by Sophie Burnham

🇵🇸 Caleb 𓇼 ⋆｡˚ 𓆝⋆｡˚ 𓇼 🏳️‍⚧️ @littlestpersimmon.bsky.social · Aug 12

Medievalists making gay male characters for their historical novel: what if he was a monk

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Reposted by Sophie Burnham

Ms T 🐘💙🎵📚 @elephantlass.bsky.social · 3d

Sunday

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Reposted by Sophie Burnham

Andrew Lawrence @ndrew.bsky.social · 3d

every single tech idea is like “soon our robots will be capable of playing catch with your kid, freeing you up to spend more time working on your employers’ spreadsheets”

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Reposted by Sophie Burnham

Kelly McCullough @kellydmcc.bsky.social · 3d

The economics of AI (LLM) data centers continue to be utterly unworkable. This whole thing is going to crash sooner rather than later and leave a giant smoldering crater where a big chunk of the economy used to be.

The Pleasure Vice Principle (he/him/his) @hannibaltabu.bsky.social · 4d

I saw the dot coms crash from a front row seat. AI is running out of money way faster.

The evangelism is insecurity from people who made the wrong bet. I’ve seen it before. futurism.com/future-socie...

AI Data Centers Are an Even Bigger Disaster Than Previously Thought

An investment manager realized he made a crucial mistake — and that his grim prediction about AI investments may not have been cynical enough.

futurism.com

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Reposted by Sophie Burnham

Juno Rylee Schultz @junoryleejournalism.com · 6d

David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)

SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems...
SIMON: What?
SHAPIRO: ...Or saying...
SIMON: You imagine that?
SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over.
SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level.
SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this.
SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.

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Reposted by Sophie Burnham

DEMSEC @demsec.bsky.social · 7d

Stephen froze like a deer in the headlights and pretended to have connection issues because he unintentionally gave away the game plan.

“Plenary authority is complete, absolute power over a specific area or issue, with no significant limitations."

Show people this clip. This is an insane slip up.

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Sophie Burnham @sophieburnham.bsky.social · 7d

Listen, if anyone's responsible for this I'm guessing it's actually you 😌

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Sophie Burnham @sophieburnham.bsky.social · 7d

I also have the full moon and inflammatory cytokines whispering hateful shit in my ear, if it's any consolation

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Reposted by Sophie Burnham

DAW Books @dawbooks.bsky.social · 7d

The winner of the Sidewise Award for Alternate History, Sargassa, is out in paperback! This is the first in a speculative trilogy that is equal parts political intrigue, queer romance, and revolution. Read this? Preorder Bloodtide, book 2, out next week!

buff.ly/vY1LYFw

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