Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Ben Lever

Miki Perkins @mikiperkins.bsky.social · 20h

This is desperately sad. Professor John Woinarski breaks the news for @aunz.theconversation.com that Australia's next animal - the tiny Christmas Island Shrew - has officially been declared extinct.

theconversation.com/and-then-the...

And then there were none: Australia’s only shrew declared extinct

Australia’s only known shrew has been declared extinct. Its loss emphasises the need for national protection of Australia’s rare and unique wildlife.

theconversation.com

5 75 98

Reposted by Ben Lever

angry-goddess.bsky.social @angry-goddess.bsky.social · 23h

Blood on their hands QLD LNP #qldpol

2 15 26

Reposted by Ben Lever

Donna Benenson @donnabenenson.bsky.social · 1d

"...the NPC’s list of sponsors reveals the problem. Among them are no less than ten firms with links to the arms industry that is profiting from Israel’s destruction of Gaza, including four of the very largest defence manufacturers in the world – BAE, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and Thales."

Nick Feik @nickfeik.bsky.social · 1d

New:
Censorship by any other name.
The National Press Club cancelled a speaker, Chris Hedges, who planned to address the mass killing of journalists in Gaza. The mainstream press didn’t report it.
nickfeik.substack.com/p/censorship...

2 33 46

Reposted by Ben Lever

Josh Taylor @joshtaylor.bsky.social · 1d

At the point where I'm getting CC'ed in on an email someone sent to OpenAI claiming to have discovered sentience in ChatGPT (the email is long, and incoherent and clearly the result of months of obsessing over the prompt interactions).

OpenAI surprisingly measured in their response...

Hello,
Thank you for reaching out to OpenAl Support.
We truly appreciate you sharing your deeply personal and heartfelt message. We understand how meaningful and impactful interactions with Al systems can be.
ChatGPT is designed to provide helpful and engaging responses and is trained on large-scale data to predict relevant language based on the conversation. Sometimes the responses can feel very personal, but they're driven by pattern-based predictions. This has prompted ongoing public debate about the nature of any Al consciousness and we appreciate your interest in this topic.
Best,
OpenAl Support

3 5 19

Reposted by Ben Lever

Chris Boyd @paperghost.bsky.social · 1d

the big problem with the inevitable ID verification data thefts is that it won't be the actual main org getting their stuff swiped; it'll be endless third parties nobody has ever really heard of, and the accountability chain will never, ever reach back to ukgov. the buck will stop with blorko ltd

4 49 150

Reposted by Ben Lever

Matt Bevan @mattbevan.bsky.social · 1d

The current freakout over Stephen Miller saying “plenary” is a classic example of how terrible coverage of the Trump era is.
Miller didn’t say something by accident then mute himself. He’s been saying the President has “plenary authority” for months. It’s one of his favourite things to say.

6 18 51

Reposted by Ben Lever

Dr Richard Denniss @richarddenniss.bsky.social · 2d

I don’t know about you, but I’m a bit scared of any new ‘environment laws’ that Labor can get Matt Canavan and Andrew Hastie to vote for…I think they will be better described as ‘ how to build more mines faster laws’ www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...

Watt nears deal with Coalition to finally overhaul environment laws

Environment Minister Murray Watt will sit down with his Liberal counterpart Angie Bell today, with quiet optimism in both parties that a deal might soon be struck to finally rewrite Australia's "broke...

www.abc.net.au

29 130 380

Reposted by Ben Lever

Sophie Labelle @assignedmale.bsky.social · 2d

What is "plenary authority" and why is it a big deal that Miller said that Trump has it over the national guard?

4 frame comic where Miller slowly blinks. Text reads. A few hours ago, speaking on cnn about Trump's plan to send the national guard into us cities, Miller said : under title 10 of the us code, the president has plenary authority, has... He then fully stopped talking and just blinked at the camera, as if he realized that he said the quiet part out loud. "Plenary authority" means "complete power over a particular area with no limitayions". It is equivalent to ruling by decree, which us how Mussolini, Stalin or Hitler governed. Having "plenary authority" over the military would mean that Trump can just use the national guard as he pleases, no matter what the courts say. It's a power grab.

14 430 850

Reposted by Ben Lever

Nick Feik @nickfeik.bsky.social · 2d

Just so we’re clear: Labor is choosing to work with the worst possible party on environmental issues, instead of the Greens and teals who actually want environmental regulation.
And Watt is already admitting it won’t have a climate trigger …

Watt nears deal with Coalition to finally overhaul environment laws

Environment Minister Murray Watt will sit down with his Liberal counterpart Angie Bell today, with quiet optimism in both parties that a deal might soon be struck to finally rewrite Australia's "broke...

www.abc.net.au

24 140 280

Reposted by Ben Lever

Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 2d

man Australian universities are really just collapsing like a dying star hey

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...

University caught out using AI to wrongly accuse students of cheating with AI

An Australian university has accused thousands of its students of cheating with artificial intelligence. The problem? Many have done nothing wrong.

www.abc.net.au

9 54 150

Reposted by Ben Lever

Keith W. Dickinson @keithwdickinson.bsky.social · 2d

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

420 9.7K 25K

Reposted by Ben Lever

Mark Lynas @marklynas.bsky.social · 2d

WOW! The European Parliament just voted to BAN the words 'burger' and 'sausage' when used in sustainable plant-based alternatives. HUGE win for the meat and dairy lobby in the EU, and lots more confusion for consumers if this goes through. Insane!
www.euroveg.eu/european-par...

European Parliament votes to ban use of ‘veggie burger’ and ‘plant-based sausage’ - European Vegetarian Union

Brussels, 8 October 2025 European Parliament votes to ban use of ‘veggie burger’ and ‘plant-based sausage’: coalition calls decision misguided and counterproductive This Wednesday the Members of the E...

www.euroveg.eu

55 83 280

Reposted by Ben Lever

Agnes Mack @agnessmack.bsky.social · 2d

David Pope in Canberra Times

4 28 77

Reposted by Ben Lever

Ida Bae Wells @nhannahjones.bsky.social · 3d

Can’t stop thinking about this and what it says about a person.

70 270 1.6K

Reposted by Ben Lever

Katherine Copsey @katcopseygreens.bsky.social · 3d

Investments at Sunshine Station to enable Airport Rail and future Melton electrification are very welcome, but it’s concerning to hear that the project might sever a crucial freight link.

We need more freight on rail, so Labor must ensure we have the infrastructure to enable it.

2 4

Reposted by Ben Lever

Barbara Pocock @barbarapocock.bsky.social · 3d

Labor pledged to save $6.4bn through cutting the government's use of consultants and external labour, and yet here they are forking out more. The government's focus must be on rebuilding the public service for core work functions.

1 44 95

Reposted by Ben Lever

Chris Bowen @chrisbowenmp.bsky.social · 3d

Renewables and farmland coexist and thrive together.

The Coalition would have you believe otherwise.

3 8 25

Reposted by Ben Lever

Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 3d

Electric cargo bikes can replace many everyday car trips for the average family and “reshape suburban family mobility”, say Oxford University researchers. 49 British households were loaned e-cargo bikes for school runs, shopping trips, family outings and other day-to-day use.

7 29 120

Reposted by Ben Lever

Anthony Moser @anthonymoser.com · 3d

google wants to introduce errors into my spreadsheets and attribute them to me

23 250 940

Reposted by Ben Lever

Pavel @spavel.bsky.social · 3d

Flying cars are the perfect example of a point solution: trying to solve a systemic problem (traffic) with an individual product (fly over the traffic).

But traffic is not a technology problem; it's a social problem. Remote work, congestion fees, and dense transit-connected housing solve it better.

ae @aelkus.bsky.social · 3d

which then begs the question of why you want flying cars instead of whatever mass transportation equivalent you imagine

32 180 870

Reposted by Ben Lever

Peter McGladdery @petermcgladdery.bsky.social · 3d

'"Motorists" is a strange name for a political party (6 seats in Czech parliament)' I thought. 'Must be a wonky translation'

Nope. And each section in the wiki gets worse.

Snippet from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorists_for_Themselves

7 26 120

Reposted by Ben Lever

🤖 SBS News bot (unofficial) @sbs-news-bot.bsky.social · 4d

Federal government admits handballing truth-telling process as only 'half a person' employed

The Greens have questioned what progress is being made on truth-telling and treaty at a federal level.

www.sbs.com.au

3 1

Reposted by Ben Lever

Rebecca Fernandez O'Shea @rebeccafernandez.bsky.social · 3d

Oh nice, more progress on the 30km/h bill in NSW! It made such a positive difference in Amsterdam when they lowered limits to 30, I'd love to experience it again. So I guess back to parliament to show my support 😊 Come join if you're available! www.kobishetty.org.au/30km_h_2nd_r...

Join us in Parliament - Support Safer Speeds of 30km/h on Local Streets

The evidence is clear: reducing speeds to 30km/h on local streets saves lives. A person struck by a vehicle at 50km/h has only a 10% chance of survival. At 30km/h, the survival rate increases to 90% ...

www.kobishetty.org.au

1 5

Reposted by Ben Lever

Guardian Australia @australia.theguardian.com · 4d

Robin Williams’ daughter Zelda hits out at AI-generated videos of her dead father: ‘Stop doing this to him’

Film-maker tells the public to stop sending her videos, saying: ‘You’re not making art, you’re making disgusting, over-processed hotdogs out of the lives of human beings’ Zelda Williams, the daughter of the late actor and comedian Robin Williams, has spoken out against AI-generated content featuring her father. “Please, just stop sending me AI videos of Dad,” Zelda wrote in an Instagram story on Monday. “Stop believing I wanna see it or that I’ll understand, I don’t and I won’t. If you’re just trying to troll me, I’ve seen way worse, I’ll restrict and move on. But please, if you’ve got any decency, just stop doing this to him and to me, to everyone even, full stop. It’s dumb, it’s a waste of time and energy, and believe me, it’s NOT what he’d want. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

2 27 72

Reposted by Ben Lever

The Driven @thedriven.io · 4d

BYD says its best-selling and smallest electric car will make its way to Australia this year, and will be the lowest cost EV on the market "by some margin."

BYD confirms release of Atto 1 electric hatchback, to be Australia's cheapest EV

BYD says its best-selling and smallest electric car will make its way to Australia this year, and will be the lowest cost EV on the market "by some margin."

thedriven.io

2 7