Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Nadieh Bremer @nadiehbremer.com · Mar 25

NEW WORK! ✨

I got to create this 2-page spread for an article in @sciam.bsky.social on the puzzling lack of worlds outside our solar system in a certain size range; the "Radius Gap."

Visualizing several hundred exoplanets as a polar plot + contours.

www.scientificamerican.com/article/exop...

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Rory Michaelson 🏳️‍⚧️💚 @rorymichaelson.com · Mar 25

Bella Ramsey explains a (probably autistic person) spotted signs of autism correctly which led to formal diagnosis and Bella gaining better self-understanding and improved quality of life. Helen Coffey questions why neurodivergent people help each other and wants them to stop.

Fuck off, Helen.

Trash news story saying we need to stop diagnosing each other with autism and adhd

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Congresswoman Valerie Foushee @foushee.house.gov · Mar 20

I stand with NASA employees, who are being villainized across the board by this Administration and facing threats of unjustified layoffs.

I'm proud to introduce the Saving NASA's Workforce Act with Ranking Member Lofgren to prevent these workforce reductions.

foushee.house.gov/media/press-...

Committee Leaders Introduce Bills to Stop Trump & Musk’s Reckless Firings of Critical Federal Workforce | U.S. Congresswoman Valerie Foushee

The Official U.S. Congressional website of Congresswoman Valerie Foushee

foushee.house.gov

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Sean D. Johnson @seanjohnson.bsky.social · Mar 17

Trans Americans are ~2x more likely to serve in the US uniformed services than cis Americans. This is an abhorrent and discriminatory revocation of benefits that they earned, a betrayal of our veterans.

Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · Mar 17

The VA has ceased all gender affirming care for trans veterans.

This is a campaign of eradication.

www.advocate.com/news/va-stop...

Trump administration announces end to gender-affirming care for transgender veterans

The announcement comes days after the VA denied it was rolling back policies for trans people’s dignity.

www.advocate.com

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Heidi B. Hammel @hbhammel.bsky.social · Mar 17

Nothing to see here. Just JWST 🔭 IMAGING A PLANETARY SYSTEM AROUND ANOTHER STAR. Look at the different planet colors! Go NASA science!!! science.nasa.gov/missions/web...

NASA’s Webb Images Young, Giant Exoplanets, Detects Carbon Dioxide - NASA Science

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured direct images of multiple gas giant planets within an iconic planetary system. HR 8799, a young system 130

science.nasa.gov

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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · Mar 16

I in fact turned down a job at a top private school to come to the University of New Hampshire. Twice. Because public universities matter, and they especially matter in rural communities where they are major economic engines.

$100 million being stolen from Maine is catastrophic. PAY ATTENTION.

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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · Mar 16

The continued focus of the media and general public on Columbia’s loss of $400 million which is a much smaller sum of money to an Ivy League institution than $100 million is to Maine is elitist bullshit that treats regional schools and their student and alum communities like we are disposable

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Democracy Forward @democracyforward.org · Mar 12

If you, or someone you know, was a part of the first group of federal employees that were unlawfully fired by the Trump administration - your deadline to appeal to the MSPB is this Friday, March 14. Go to civilservicestrong.org to learn more. #CivilServiceStrong

Democracy Forward @democracyforward.org · Mar 10

This Friday, March 14, marks 30 days since Trump’s unlawful mass firing of federal workers began—and the last day for many to appeal to MSPB. Democracy Forward is fighting back to protect our workforce. Resources + appeal guide: civilservicestrong.org. #CivilServiceStrong

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The Planetary Society @planetarysociety.bsky.social · Mar 7

There are reports The White House is considering a 50% cut to NASA’s science programs, and 25% of its overall budget, which would be catastrophic for both current and planned missions. But, there is still time for the administration to reconsider. Read our full statement ⬇️

The Planetary Society: reported cuts to NASA would amount to an…

The Planetary Society, the world’s largest independent space interest organization, issued a statement in response to recent reports that the White House…

www.planetary.org

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Corey S. Powell @coreyspowell.bsky.social · Feb 23

Far beyond Pluto, trillions of cold comets circle the sun in a lazy swarm called the Oort Cloud. A new simulation indicates what this comet-cloud looks like: a loose spiral that resembles a miniature galaxy. 🧪🔭

arxiv.org/abs/2502.11252

The spiral structure in the inner Oort cloud viewed by a distant observer along the Galactic node direction (intersection of the Galactic and ecliptic planes). The distribution of bodies was obtained from the Galaxy simulation in Nesvorny ́ et al. (2023). To show things clearly, here we isolated the inner Oort cloud from the more spherical outer Oort cloud by plotting bodies, 34,000 in total, with a < 5,000 au. If the outer Oort cloud were plotted in the figure, it would appear as a large, roughly spherical envelope of the spiral. The classical Kuiper belt with r < 100 au is not shown here – it would appear as a doughnut-like central concentration of bodies aligned with the ecliptic plane.

The spiral structure in the inner Oort cloud viewed by a distant observer along the Galactic plane. The distribution of bodies was obtained from the Galaxy simulation in Nesvorny ́ et al. (2023). To show things clearly, here we isolated the inner Oort cloud from the more spherical outer Oort cloud by plotting bodies, 34,000 in total, with a < 5,000 au. If the outer Oort cloud were plotted in the figure, it would appear as a large, roughly spherical envelope of the spiral. The classical Kuiper belt with r < 100 au is not shown here – it would appear as a doughnut-like central concentration of bodies aligned with the ecliptic plane.

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Rachel Lense is Professionally Curious @rachellense.bsky.social · Jun 14

I made this Pride flag using only NASA images and our team thought it would be cool to share on social (I work on the NASA heliophysics communications team), but it's getting all sorts of hate on the bird app and Fbook. Thought y'all might be more appreciative of it here. ☺️🏳️‍🌈💖

A pride flag with every color band represented by a NASA image. White is Earth clouds, pink is aurora, blue is the Sun in a specific wavelength, brown is Jupiter clouds, black is the Hubble deep field, red is the top of sprites, orange is a Mars crater, yellow is the surface of Io, green is a lake with algae, blue is Neptune, and purple is the Crab Nebula in a specific wavelength.

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choir Collaboration @choirastro.bsky.social · Feb 19

GoFundMe: www.gofundme.com/f/mutual-aid...

RequestAid: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

MoreInfo: www.choircollaboration.com/mutual-aid

choir - mutual aid

In direct response to the federal funding freeze outlined by OMB Memorandum M-25-13 and any ensuing directives imposed by the current administration which may prove harmful to our space sciences commu...

www.choircollaboration.com

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Arianna Long @astroarianna.bsky.social · Feb 19

we're organizing to help folks in astronomy + planetary sciences who've lost their jobs without warning, or have important initiatives that suddenly lost funding, due to the recent executive orders.

please share with your networks!! #extragalactic #exoplanets #astronomy #cosmology

choir Collaboration @choirastro.bsky.social · Feb 19

MUTUAL AID ALERT:
Stand with our community in Astro+ adjacent fields impacted by the attack on DEIA, support our community by giving aid through our GoFundMe. See links in thread!
- choir collab, @blackinastro.bsky.social, Astro Poverty Survey Team, MVMT Consulting @dranicole.bsky.social)

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choir Collaboration @choirastro.bsky.social · Feb 19

MUTUAL AID ALERT:
Stand with our community in Astro+ adjacent fields impacted by the attack on DEIA, support our community by giving aid through our GoFundMe. See links in thread!
- choir collab, @blackinastro.bsky.social, Astro Poverty Survey Team, MVMT Consulting @dranicole.bsky.social)

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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · Feb 18

DON’T MEMORY HOLE ELON MUSK’S NAZI SALUTE

It’s been 4 weeks and 1 day since Elon Musk loudly vocalized his support for Nazi ideology

Everything that has happened since has happened with the guidance of an open Nazi

This should be repeated in articles, regularly

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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · Feb 9

Besides being cruel, anticipatory obedience doesn’t work www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/scie...

Scientific institutions have a long history of anticipatory obedience

Societies should learn from this and speak up to support inclusion

www.chemistryworld.com

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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · Feb 9

Lots of anticipatory obedience from scientific institutions including ones that are home to astronomers and physicists, like Brookhaven National Lab and Vera Rubin Observatory. 🧪 🔭 ⚛️ #giftlink

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/09/s...

A Sweeping Ban on D.E.I. Language Roils the Sciences (Gift Article)

President Trump’s executive order is altering scientific exploration across a broad swath of fields, even beyond government agencies, researchers say.

www.nytimes.com

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Neil Lewis, Jr. @neillewisjr.bsky.social · Feb 8

1/8. This week I had a few different conversations with scholars who, in the face of the attacks on science and institutions of learning in the U.S., are wondering what to do. One suggestion I have is: keep doing your work. It matters in and of itself. Why do I say that? A few reasons.

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Megan Zahneis @mzahneis.bsky.social · Feb 5

Are you a PhD student whose funding is in jeopardy because of recent executive actions, or a faculty member in a program dealing with these considerations? @mkhaw.bsky.social and I want to hear from you @chronicle.com. DM or email! #AcademicSky #PhDSky #HigherEd

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Z Samudzi @zsamudzi.bsky.social · Feb 5

“…the most-effective segregationists were in courtrooms and boardrooms making policy that reinforced separation through seemingly race-neutral systems that were justified by appeals to some higher principle such as ‘merit’ or ‘community control of schools.’”

theemancipator.org/2025/01/28/t...

Eliminating DEI isn't just racist — it's segregationist

New segregationists’ need to use euphemisms shows the weakness of their intellectual position and the Civil Rights Movement’s moral clarity.

theemancipator.org

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Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · Feb 4

BREAKING: New lawsuit challenges Trump's anti-diversity executive orders, alleging Spending Clause, vagueness (Due Process), free speech (First Amendment), and separation of powers violations. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

The President can have his own views about these matters. He can try to make his
views into policy. But he cannot seize Congress’s power of the purse. He cannot deny due
process to millions of Americans. And he cannot abridge or disrupt the free speech of those who
disagree. Those are the constitutional and legal transgressions of the J20 and J21 Orders. To
remedy these harms, and to defend core Constitutional rights, Plaintiffs bring this suit.

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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · Feb 4

*this is illegal*

FYI 🧪 🔭 ⚛️

Darby Saxbe @darbysaxbe.bsky.social · Feb 4

🚨BREAKING. From a program officer at the National Science Foundation, a list of keywords that can cause a grant to be pulled. I will be sharing screenshots of these keywords along with a decision tree. Please share widely. This is a crisis for academic freedom & science.

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Darby Saxbe @darbysaxbe.bsky.social · Feb 4

🚨BREAKING. From a program officer at the National Science Foundation, a list of keywords that can cause a grant to be pulled. I will be sharing screenshots of these keywords along with a decision tree. Please share widely. This is a crisis for academic freedom & science.

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BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · Jan 30

As we watch all mention of diversity actively get scrubbed from the NIH website in real time it's important to know that, we were not taking over anything, we were just trying to exist.
- Only 2% of NIH R01 grants are awarded to Black investigators.
The goal is total erasure/elimination.

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Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · Jan 28

DEI public favorability continues to be +19.

Pundits are wrong that:

1) DEI is unpopular. It's popular.

2) This recent support is thermostatic. This is NOT thermostatic. DEI favorability has been high throughout its existence (second pic).

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