Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland - ISD Bund e.V. @isdbund.bsky.social · 2d

Anti-immigration politics contribute to racism in Germany

www.dw.com/en/anti-immi...

Anti-immigration politics contribute to racism in Germany – DW – 10/08/2025

Far-right gains, economic stagnation and increased political focus on migration can be major drivers of racial discrimination in European countries such as Germany.

www.dw.com

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Gina Ippolito @ginaippy.bsky.social · 5d

Hopefully everyone in CA already knows this, but just in case someone doesn’t - there’s a special election happening right now. It’s REALLY important that you vote, and it’s REALLY important that you vote YES on Prop 50.

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James Grama @dalaigrama.bsky.social · 5d

Spell your name with movie titles

Jurassic Park
Arrival
My Neighbor Totoro
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse

Jared Dubin @jadubin5.bsky.social · 6d

Spell your name with movie titles

Jaws
Arrival
Rounders
Everybody Wants Some
Dazed and Confused

Got three of my ~five favorite movies in there. Hell yeah.

Joe Galaxy @lightandrhythm.bsky.social · 6d

Spell your name with movie titles 🍿

Sicario
There Will Be Blood
Evil Dead
Vertigo
Eddington

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Jamie Cummins @jamiecummins.bsky.social · 22d

Can large language models stand in for human participants?
Many social scientists seem to think so, and are already using "silicon samples" in research.

One problem: depending on the analytic decisions made, you can basically get these samples to show any effect you want.

THREAD 🧵

The threat of analytic flexibility in using large language models to simulate human data: A call to attention

Social scientists are now using large language models to create "silicon samples" - synthetic datasets intended to stand in for human respondents, aimed at revolutionising human subjects research. How...

arxiv.org

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Darren Naish @tetzoo.bsky.social · Sep 7

I am opposed to AI products and services because of the extra power they require... IN A CLIMATE CRISIS. I am opposed to AI results - texts and illustrations - because they've been created unethically, via theft and non-consensual use of the work of others. Share if you agree.

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James Grama @dalaigrama.bsky.social · Aug 31

But wait 100% of my knowledge about candy corn in the free market comes from this source which I’m almost certain is completely true

youtu.be/o4vVGG_FcvY?...

Lewis Black - Candy Corn!

YouTube video by Lewis Black

youtu.be

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James Grama @dalaigrama.bsky.social · Aug 14

@melodyannross.bsky.social

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Emily Higgs Art @emilyhiggs-art.bsky.social · Jul 15

Nyctosaurus ~ night lizard 🌌🦎
.
4/5 complete!
.
I looked at a lot of modern day sea birds for inspiration of this design and I noticed a lot had simple colour palettes or strong lines so I felt this would be suitable for this pterosaur…but I couldn’t resist a flourish of colour on the crest tips!

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Amazing Digital Carcass @amagire.bsky.social · Jan 20

is it time to bust out my "bigfoot is bears" photo collection again? if your mental image of a bear is a thick-furred, fat glossy male bear in autumn, you're probably not prepared for how weird their proportions can look in spring, or when walking upright, like they frequently do.

a bear walking upright, away from a trail camera

a skinny bear standing up on its hind legs, rummaging through a picnic area

a skinny bear with rangy, ape-like proportions, walking on all fours

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Dr Suresh Singh @palaeosingh.bsky.social · Apr 4

For this #FossilFriday, I thought l'd share this photo of a Redondasaurus skeleton on display at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science. While it looks like a #crocodile, it’s actually an ancient relative of theirs from the #Triassic - a #phytosaur.

#Paleontology #Science

🧵 1/

The mounted skeleton of the phytosaur, Redondasaurus, with its open jaws facing the viewer. On display at the Museum of Natural History & Science in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.

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Philipp Krämer @phkraemer.bsky.social · Mar 25

Just a reminder that "Creoles are the simplest languages of the world" is not an established fact in creolistics but very much a controversial position. Maybe not a statement linguists should uncritically repeat in passing during a lecture on an unrelated topic.

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Riley Black 🦕 🏳️‍⚧️ @restingdinoface.bsky.social · Mar 25

One of the coolest parts of this new find? Duonychus comes with a preserved claw sheath, so we can see what the claw really looked like! The researchers estimate the claws could have grabbed vegetation up to about four inches in diameter as the reptile foraged. 🧪

The fossil claws of the dinosaur Duonychus. One has a preserved sheath, showing the curve

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Riley Black 🦕 🏳️‍⚧️ @restingdinoface.bsky.social · Mar 25

We get a new dinosaur today! Meet Duonychus, a therizinosaur with only two fingers on each hand. I’ll tell you more at NatGeo.

www.nationalgeographic.com

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James Grama @dalaigrama.bsky.social · Mar 12

If you do one thing today, read this.

Nome @nome.bsky.social · Mar 12

I have been doing entirely too much earnest posting about deep things recently, I need to do a proper thread about hippo testicles or something just to keep myself sane.

Oh by the way hippos have migratory testicles.

a statue of a hippopotamus with its mouth open and teeth showing .

Alt: A hippo being tossed a watermelon, which it crushes in its massive jaws.

media.tenor.com

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Ned Richardson-Little @historyned.bsky.social · Feb 25

Once again, the rise of the AfD and its relatively greater popularity in the East has led to yet another round of discussion around the legacy of the GDR and contemporary German politics. A short thread:

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Rob Ford @robfordmancs.bsky.social · Feb 24

Why does 25% AfD among young men spark a thousand "what is going on with young men?" posts yet Die Linke 34% among young women generates...nothing at all?

Yes, young men voting for the radical right is an important phenomenon. But so is young women going rad left *at even higher rates*.

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Andrea Corpolongo, Ph.D. @archeanandrea.bsky.social · Feb 22

Don't sit in silence while history repeats itself.

On March 7th, join a #standupforscience2025 protest against political interference in science.

Rallies will take place in DC and capital cities across the US: standupforscience2025.org/local-event-...
🧪

Philip Ball @philipcball.bsky.social · Feb 22

Today's extract from Serving the Reich.
What makes it worse is that I don't even need to add any explanatory comment, do I?

Extract from the book Serving the Reich about the failure of universities, academies and scientific institutions to respond to Nazi expulsions.

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MJB @costarmoricn.bsky.social · Feb 22

www.change.org/p/petition-t...

Sign the Petition

Petition to Ban Platform X (formerly Twitter) in the European Union

www.change.org

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Tristan J. Stock @archelosaurian.bsky.social · Feb 22

Something that I don't think is discussed enough in #paleontology circles is just how much parental investment is seen in #hadrosaurs. Cause, like, they're doing quite a lot of work compared to what is typical of all other #archosaurs.

#Dinosaurs #Maiasaura

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Daniela Sepehri @danielasepehri.bsky.social · Feb 15

41.406 rechtsextreme Straftaten, darunter 1443 Gewalttaten, im Jahr 2024. Ein Rekordhoch. Wo sind die x-Punkte-Pläne? Wo sind die Talk Shows? Wo sind die Debatten zu Gewaltkultur in Deutschland? 1/

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Omar Wasow @owasow.bsky.social · Feb 4

Judge rules that Black church in DC, which won a $2.8 million default judgment against the Proud Boys, now gains control over the trademark “Proud Boys.” The far-right group is barred from selling any related merchandise or symbols without the consent of the church. Gift link:

Proud Boys Lose Control of Their Name to a Black Church They Vandalized (Gift Article)

A judge awarded the trademarked name and symbols to a Washington church to help satisfy a $2.8 million judgment against the far-right group.

www.nytimes.com

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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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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · Jan 28

American science and medicine has been thrown into chaos and uncertainty over the past week. Here are some stories to get up to speed. 1/12

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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · Jan 28

"A group of American oligarchs want to undermine European institutions because they don’t want to be regulated."

@anneapplebaum.bsky.social must read on Musk and electoral interference in Europe, and beyond

www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

Europe’s Elon Musk Problem

He and other tech oligarchs are making it impossible to conduct free and fair elections anywhere.

www.theatlantic.com

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Michael Pleyer @symbolicstorage.bsky.social · Jan 24

Would be super grateful if all #language #langsky and #linguistics peeps could share this postdoc job offer.

Michael Pleyer @symbolicstorage.bsky.social · Jan 24

JOB ALERT! Come work with me!
34-Month Postdoc Position here at the Center for Language Evolution Studies, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń in my project "Paths to Polysemy"
Job offer here: www.umk.pl/en/jobs/?tas...
Please repost & share widely!

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