Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Erin E. Worrel @erinerex.bsky.social · 12h

Right wingers have a superpower where they are always assumed to be arguing in good faith, despite proving again and again and again and again and again and AGAIN that they never are

Elizabeth Spiers @espiers.bsky.social · 12h

I was trying to put my finger on what bothered me about this portrayal and I think it’s that it just takes the guy’s words at face value, like he was a nice guy and reaction to Charlie Kirk’s death just pushed him over the edge www.nytimes.com/2025/10/12/u...

She Despised Charlie Kirk. He Resolved to Make People Like Her Pay.

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Erin E. Worrel

Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 14h

It is October 2025, the assault on what is left of American democracy is escalating, and one of the New York Times’ most influential formats insists on presenting one of the Trumpist regime’s leaders as a devout “small government” conservative with a great work ethic.

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Erin E. Worrel @erinerex.bsky.social · 12h

I wish there were consequences for being a lying sack of shit

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Erin E. Worrel @erinerex.bsky.social · 14h

I highly recommend Survival of the Richest by Douglas Rushkoff, which details this phenomenon, known as "The Mindset"

BOO-trous BOO-trous-Ghoulie @dlbowman76.com · 15h

This small paragraph is a keeper:

"To be clear, when — or if — AGI might ever be realized remains unclear. As Wendy Hall, professor of computer science at Southampton University, told the BBC, AI industry leaders tend to “move the goalposts” on their superintelligence predictions."

Numerous Billionaires Preparing for End of Society

Billionaires are (still) doomsday prepping. AI — the tech many of them are building — has them more paranoid than ever.

futurism.com

Erin E. Worrel @erinerex.bsky.social · 1d

Great job voters!

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 1d

Ha ha ha they're like authoritarians www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

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Erin E. Worrel @erinerex.bsky.social · 1d

Great job voters!

USA TODAY @usatoday.com · 1d

The Education Department laid off nearly everyone at the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

Education Department wipes out special ed office in shutdown layoffs, union says

The Education Department laid off nearly everyone at the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

bit.ly

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Erin E. Worrel @erinerex.bsky.social · 1d

American voters, with generous help from the media, both legacy press and viral social media, decided to commit suicide last November. Great job everyone!

Erin E. Worrel @erinerex.bsky.social · 1d

The life we all knew is gone. It's easy to take something like basic public health measures for granted. It's one of those things that works via absence, as in, you don't die of dysentery every week.

Great job voters!

David S. Bernstein @dbernstein.bsky.social · 1d

… “CDC is being eviscerated right now. America is not going to have any kind of outbreak response capacity after tonight.” One virologist tweets

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Erin E. Worrel @erinerex.bsky.social · 1d

Great job voters!

Sara Partridge, Ph.D. @sarapartridge.bsky.social · 1d

There are reports that the *entire* office of special education at the US Dept of Education has been cut. These hardworking folks ensure kids with disabilities get equal access to a quality education.

America’s children deserve better than this.

Erin E. Worrel @erinerex.bsky.social · 1d

Journalist Katherine Stewart calls them "reactionary nihilists" in her most recent book and yep, that's it. Perfect description.

Erin E. Worrel @erinerex.bsky.social · 1d

Great fucking job voters. I will never stop being mad about this state of affairs. Just a total failure from top to bottom.

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 2d

BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:

Erin E. Worrel @erinerex.bsky.social · 1d

Great job voters!

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Erin E. Worrel @erinerex.bsky.social · 2d

We are being ruled by nihilists. Thank you so much voters!

jael holzman @jael.bsky.social · 3d

SCOOP: The Bureau of Land Management says the largest solar project in Nevada — the Esmeralda 7 mega-farm — has been canceled

The news was quietly dropped via a sudden website update with no public word from any of the companies involved or a statement from the agency

@heatmap.news

Esmeralda 7 Solar Project Has Been Canceled, BLM Says

It would have delivered a gargantuan 6.2 gigawatts of power.

heatmap.news

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Reposted by Erin E. Worrel

jael holzman @jael.bsky.social · 3d

SCOOP: The Bureau of Land Management says the largest solar project in Nevada — the Esmeralda 7 mega-farm — has been canceled

The news was quietly dropped via a sudden website update with no public word from any of the companies involved or a statement from the agency

@heatmap.news

Esmeralda 7 Solar Project Has Been Canceled, BLM Says

It would have delivered a gargantuan 6.2 gigawatts of power.

heatmap.news

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Erin E. Worrel @erinerex.bsky.social · 2d

How embarrassing for everyone involved lol

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Erin E. Worrel @erinerex.bsky.social · 2d

Reposted by Erin E. Worrel

David Williams @se7en-driver.bsky.social · 3d

2/ Remains to be seen how many normies fall for that, but the majority of media outlets haven't exactly acquitted themselves well in unequivocally calling bullshit on bullshit.

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Erin E. Worrel @erinerex.bsky.social · 2d

Voters in the US decided to commit national suicide rather than have a Black woman as POTUS

Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 2d

Thoughtful and well-informed op-ed from @ianlmorgan.bsky.social

Definitely worth a read!

www.the-scientist.com/nih-leadersh...

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NIH Leadership Is Failing Early Career Researchers

Halted training programs, funding chaos, and hiring freezes jeopardize advancement options for early career researchers.

www.the-scientist.com

Reposted by Erin E. Worrel

Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 2d

Thoughtful and well-informed op-ed from @ianlmorgan.bsky.social

Definitely worth a read!

www.the-scientist.com/nih-leadersh...

1/2

NIH Leadership Is Failing Early Career Researchers

Halted training programs, funding chaos, and hiring freezes jeopardize advancement options for early career researchers.

www.the-scientist.com

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Erin E. Worrel @erinerex.bsky.social · 2d

This is how they are framing it, huh? We are in danger, girl. I'm going to show up anyway because freedom of speech is in the very First Amendment of the US Constitution. Tom Emmer is a shameless piece of shit.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Emmer: "This is about one thing and one thing alone -- to score political points with the terrorist wing of their party, which is set to hold a hate America rally in DC next week."

Erin E. Worrel @erinerex.bsky.social · 2d

Voters in the US decided to commit national suicide instead of having a black woman as POTUS. Great job everyone!

Florian Scheuer @florianscheuer.bsky.social · 2d

I am delighted to share that Nobel laureates Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee will join our Department of Economics @econ.uzh.ch at the University of Zurich on July 1, 2026, as Lemann Foundation Professors of Economics.

🧵 1/7

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Erin E. Worrel @erinerex.bsky.social · 3d

Super cool stuff. There are several naked mole rat research colonies in the US at publically funded universities and the Smithsonian Zoo. Funding science is critical.

Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 3d

Why does the naked mole rat have the longest lifespan of any rodent, nearly 40 years?
A 30-year long mystery unraveled @ScienceMagazine today!
Its cGAS enzyme in cells has 4 missense mutations that upends its function, promoting DNA repair and suppressing inflammation
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Erin E. Worrel @erinerex.bsky.social · 3d

I don't know man, maybe women just don't want to have 5+, even with generous paid leave and a robust social safety net.

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Erin E. Worrel @erinerex.bsky.social · 3d

*Gasp* she's glorious!

Erin E. Worrel @erinerex.bsky.social · 4d

I hate that I know who he is. This is very bad, indeed.