Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Asher Wolf

Hend Amry @libyaliberty.bsky.social · 28m

MIT’s reply to Trumps shocking attack on education is a master class in deft rhetorical communication and positioning. It refutes without ceding ground. It negates without naming the charge. It accuses and rejects while sounding compliant. What a breath of fresh air after endless disappointments

Josh Moody @byjoshmoody.bsky.social · 46m

MIT rejects "compact" proposed by the Trump administration.
MIT prez wrote: it "would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution" and "is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone."
orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

Regarding the Compact | MIT Organization Chart

orgchart.mit.edu

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Richard Westmoreland ✓⃝ @rswestmore.land · 57m

Congratulations to Jimmy Kimmel for winning the Nobel Peace Prize

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Dr Space Junk (Alice Gorman) @drspacejunk.bsky.social · 3h

Do we really want 250,000 mirrored satellites in Low Earth Orbit? Hasn't the Starlink megaconstellation already done enough damage?
🧪 @mjibrown.bsky.social

A US startup plans to deliver ‘sunlight on demand’ after dark. Can it work – and would we want it to?

Satellites beaming sunlight down to Earth sound like science fiction – and they have astronomers very worried.

theconversation.com

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Clément Canonne @ccanonne.github.io · 3h

Once again, dispiriting and deeply upsetting to see how CSIRO researchers and staff are treated (and have been for, what — two years now?)

And for no good reason, at a time when Australia should protect and cherish its science agency! The very much not lost art of shooting oneself in the foot.

Guardian Australia @australia.theguardian.com · 13h

The mood is ominous at CSIRO as jobs disappear ‘by stealth’ – and staff are wondering who’s next

National scientific agency has been ‘reshaping its research portfolio’ since 2024, to deal with an imminent funding cliff * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The mood in parts of Australia’s national scientific agency is low after a mystery number of AI, robotics and data researchers were quietly let go within the last year. Since the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation announced it was “reshaping its research portfolio” to deal with an imminent funding cliff in 2024, speculation about whose jobs are on the line has spread like wildfire. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

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Jon Piccini @jonpiccini.bsky.social · 4h

In my classroom, there is always a delay. Between question and answer. That space—the stutter, the pause, the gesture—is where actual teaching happens. Not in the bullet points or the Google Doc comments, but in the moment someone says, “I don’t know if this makes sense, but—” and suddenly it does.

Human Error Is the Point: On Teaching College During the Rise of AI - The Rumpus

My syllabus is a mess of half-remembered intentions. I re-use icebreakers that I know don’t work. I forget to grade the first assignment until Week Four. I write emails that begin with “So sorry for t...

therumpus.net

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Stef "inclusion is a human right" Christensen @wikisteff.bsky.social · 1h

Spokesrepublican

ProPublica @propublica.org · 12h

Kristi Noem, while governor of South Dakota, supplemented her roughly $130,000 salary by secretly accepting $80,000 donated to a political nonprofit she was affiliated with, records show.

She never disclosed this income on federal ethics forms.

(Published June)

Kristi Noem Secretly Took a Cut of Political Donations

A dark money group paid $80,000 to Noem’s personal company when she was governor of South Dakota. She did not include this income on her federal disclosure forms, a likely violation of ethics requirem...

www.propublica.org

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David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 58m

nso group as an american company???

a 🧵 👇

John Scott-Railton @jsrailton.bsky.social · 2h

NEW: Pegasus spyware coming to America?

An ex-Adam Sandler producer with ties to China is trying to acquire NSO Group.

Again.

Simonds fronted this before in 2023 & failed. But the backers haven't given up. Why?

Where is the money coming from? 1/

www.globes.co.il/news/article...

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Mark Bray @mark-bray.bsky.social · 13h

Our plane to Spain is in the air!

🙌🙌

Thank you so much to the countless people supporting us in every way and in particular all of the Rutgers students and faculty who have supported us every step of the way.

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Purplepingers ☭ @purplepingers.bsky.social · 2h

Nelson Alexander requiring tenants to use an AI chatbot to report urgent repairs. Reportedly this chatbot cannot differentiate between urgent and non-urgent repairs. Incredible.

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Tom Studans @maximumwelfare.bsky.social · 2h

www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw...

Revealed: NSW Police ‘significantly’ overstated antisemitic attacks

An internal review of Operation Shelter found a “significant number” of cases had been mischaracterised as motivated by anti-Jewish sentiment.

www.smh.com.au

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Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 2h

Quite a pointed message:

Reuters @reuters.com · 4h

'When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognize courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist,' the Norwegian Nobel Committee said as it announced Maria Corina Machado as the winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize

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Kelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 1h

Weird that a campaign of murdering Venezuelan fishermen didn't win him the Nobel.

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Dr Ingrid M @ingridm.bsky.social · 4h

the laughable idea that giving NSW Police more powers can solve social problems.

archive.md/2025.10.10-0...

archive.md

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Alec Muffett @alecmuffett.bsky.social · 3h

The bad news is: the fact that the vote was cancelled signals that they want to have yet another go. We still have to fight Chat Control.
https://alecmuffett.com/article/116838
#ChatControl #EndToEndEncryption #OnlineSafety #censorship #privacy #surveillance

The bad news is: the fact that the vote was cancelled signals that they want to have yet another go. We still have to fight Chat Control.

If it had gone to a vote and lost then they would be in a bad place for another attempt, so they cancelled the vote in order to keep the idea warm for next time. Keep this link handy, we will need …

alecmuffett.com

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Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 3h

I think it was @hannahfearn.bsky.social who was asking what's up with the govt's ability to read the room ...
In what world is the response to high-profile and vocal groups of parents raising concerns about teens and smartphones to propose digital ID for teenagers?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Government to consult on digital IDs for 13-year-olds

There has been a backlash to the announcement a UK-wide digital ID scheme will be introduced by 2029.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Asher Wolf @asherwolf.bsky.social · 2h

Plotting revenge

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Snoodle @icecream-noodle.bsky.social · 3h

I'm waiting 12 to 18 months to be booked in, not seen, booked in 🤡

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Carly Page @carlypage.bsky.social · 3h

Cops have seized the latest incarnation of Breach Forums, which had become the public-facing leak shop for Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters' latest extortion campaign.

The group claims the takedown has "no impact" on its planned leak of ~1 billion Salesforce records www.theregister.com/2025/10/10/c...

Cops seize Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters' BreachForums domain

: US and French fuzz pull the plug on Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters' latest leak shop targeting Salesforce

www.theregister.com

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Asher Wolf @asherwolf.bsky.social · 3h

Kid: mud wasps don’t have stingers. Just leave it

Asher Wolf @asherwolf.bsky.social · 5h

Obligatory photo

Mud wasp nest forming next to the back porch door

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Quiet Kooky @quietkooky.bsky.social · 4h

I've been comparing UK-AU stories for future plans. Here in the UK I was referred, as a result of abs scans, for "urgent surgery". At 31 weeks I was called to discuss the need to speak to a consultant. (Very grateful that my husband's insurance meant I was several months post-surgery by then.)

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Hel in a hand basket @helodare.bsky.social · 5h

It was bad in 2017, when I was waiting for exploratory surgery. I was moved up when I said I had anxiety post BC. Doubt that would fly now

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Tom Quinn @tomquinn.bsky.social · 5h

Kidnapped in international waters, extraordinary rendition to a genocidal state, and then imprisoned indefinitely.

You'd think this would trigger the immediate expulsion of the Israeli Ambassador for these inexcusable actions against an Australian citizen.

Dave Earley @earleyedition.bsky.social · 5h

An Australian woman who has not agreed to sign a waiver acknowledging she sought to 'illegally break Israel’s naval blockade' on Gaza will be “indefinitely detained” in Israel’s Ketziot prison unless she agrees to sign the waiver.

Australian woman on pro-Palestinian aid flotilla will be ‘indefinitely detained’ by Israel unless she signs waiver

Madeleine Habib, who captained the Conscience ship, was arrested by Israeli forces on 8 October and detained in Israel’s Ketziot prison

www.theguardian.com

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Asher Wolf @asherwolf.bsky.social · 4h

A very long time I pulled out the stats and showed the reports to a politician and the particular hospital they approached about it just said “oh that’s not true”. And the weak added politician just dropped the issue

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Cail Young @cail.bsky.social · 4h

Post-initial-appointment times are tracked, are KPIs for health services, and in the case of Victoria are public data in aggregate.

So is the retrospective wait times for initial appointments.

BUT

The current appt wait list size or duration is NOT. So services have no incentive to reduce it.

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Cail Young @cail.bsky.social · 4h

In fact, because the wait time states only count once the initial appointment happens they are incentivised NOT TO give appointments to older cases because it’ll throw their stats out.

Data for VIC is here: vahi.vic.gov.au

| Victorian Agency for Health Information

vahi.vic.gov.au

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