Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Hypatia L.A. Seneschale ↙️↙️↙️ (she/her) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

@femiyahtzee.bsky.social

8.2K followers 12K following 2.2K posts

metacognition zealot & public library evangelist, writing about law, ethics, media, and SFF. I was a guest on Women at Warp once. “Terrifyingly brilliant. Brilliantly terrifying.” — opposing counsel “Very special.” — my mom https://www.laseneschale.com/

www.laseneschale.com

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Hypatia L.A. Seneschale ↙️↙️↙️ (she/her) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @femiyahtzee.bsky.social · Feb 13

“Can you believe Elon asserted that it’s a crime for a journalist to disclose the identifies of his crew, while he doxxed the daughter of the judge who is faithfully applying the law?”

Yes.

What you see as “hypocrisy” on his part is just authoritarianism. 1/🧵

3 21 98

Hypatia L.A. Seneschale ↙️↙️↙️ (she/her) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @femiyahtzee.bsky.social · 2h

There’s some poetic justice in his box office numbers staying under 18–just like his victims. May every studio that keeps casting him see nothing but failure

Cosmic Marvel @dailycosmicmarvel.bsky.social · 1d

‘TRON: ARES’ has earned $14.3M in its opening day at the domestic box office.

For comparison, ‘MORBIUS’ opened to $17.3M.

Reposted by Hypatia L.A. Seneschale ↙️↙️↙️ (she/her) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 1d

Writing something about ICE and sweet Jesus it is so incredibly dark what they are doing to these cities. We have all seen the videos, but when you wade into the details of their actions, it is extraordinarily bleak.

80 790 3.6K

Hypatia L.A. Seneschale ↙️↙️↙️ (she/her) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @femiyahtzee.bsky.social · 5h

Page one??? Buddy, what are you talking about—we’re not even in the first *volume* anymore, let alone the first chapter.

Andrew Weinstein @andrewjweinstein.com · 1d

It's wild that we've reached a point where the President openly admits to firing people for political reasons, and his OMB director tweets about it like it's a victory. This is page one of the authoritarian playbook, happening in plain sight.

1 1 12

Reposted by Hypatia L.A. Seneschale ↙️↙️↙️ (she/her) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Pam Keith @pamkeithdc.bsky.social · 6h

The niche of my law practice is representing women, minorities and whistleblowers in vindicating their civil rights in employment.

Having done this work for years now, I have come to understand something that I feel like sharing this morning:

White people and Black people have a VERY different

28 170 560

Hypatia L.A. Seneschale ↙️↙️↙️ (she/her) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @femiyahtzee.bsky.social · 6h

I’m not a Christian anymore because of religious trauma, but I still appreciate liberation theologians and the energy they are bringing to the current moment.

1 14

Hypatia L.A. Seneschale ↙️↙️↙️ (she/her) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @femiyahtzee.bsky.social · 6h

For those who are not aware, taking the Monstrance out of the church is an act of reverence. The fact that they’re taking it to people who have been kidnapped to affirm they are children of god is a big deal and a critical counterpoint to the brand of Christianity the Republican regime is invoking.

Rich Raho @richraho.bsky.social · 22h

Chicago priest Fr. Larry Dowling describes procession to ICE facility: “No one had the courage to speak directly to us. No one from Homeland Security could stand in the presence of the Monstrance holding the Blessed Sacrament. No wonder. Evil is repelled, recoils in the presence of Christ.”

1 8 49

Hypatia L.A. Seneschale ↙️↙️↙️ (she/her) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @femiyahtzee.bsky.social · 6h

Free speech zones walked so free speech curfews could run.

Karl (sad trombone noise enthusiast) @brainnotonyet.bsky.social · 19h

“Free speech curfew” is one of the most authoritarian and dystopian terms I think I have ever heard.

1 7

Hypatia L.A. Seneschale ↙️↙️↙️ (she/her) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @femiyahtzee.bsky.social · 6h

“Marked for Destruction” is the perfect metaphor for what the Republican regime is doing to this country.

derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 15h

About a month ago, the Trump administration got rid of the de minimis exemption, whereby packages valued under $800 could slide in without import duties. Now there's a backlog as the government can't process all of this paperwork, leading to UPS just destroying packages

Business Insider headline reads: UPS is telling customers that their packages coming to the US are marked for destruction.

3 4

Reposted by Hypatia L.A. Seneschale ↙️↙️↙️ (she/her) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

thetranscendedman @atranscendedman.bsky.social · 1d

Florey Institute scientists found that male mice infected with SARS-CoV-2 before conception produced offspring with higher anxiety, linked to RNA changes in their sperm.

The study suggests COVID-19 infection in fathers may affect future generations.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Paternal SARS-CoV-2 infection impacts sperm small noncoding RNAs and increases anxiety in offspring in a sex-dependent manner - Nature Communications

Whether paternal pre-conceptual SARS-CoV-2 infection impacts sperm RNA content, or effects offspring phenotypes, has not been previously investigated. Here authors report changes in sperm noncoding RNAs in SARS-CoV-2 infected sires and increased anxiety-like behaviors in offspring.

www.nature.com

4 20

Reposted by Hypatia L.A. Seneschale ↙️↙️↙️ (she/her) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Isabelle Marie @isabellemarie.bsky.social · 1d

Le squelette quasi-complet d'un fossile de crocodile datant du Jurassique a été dévoilé dans l'Hérault, une découverte "exceptionnelle".
www.franceinfo.fr/culture/en-i...

EN IMAGES. Le squelette quasi-complet d'un fossile de crocodile datant du Jurassique a été dévoilé dans l'Hérault, une découverte "exceptionnelle"

Le squelette a été apporté au musée par un promeneur, curieux, qui l'avait trouvé par hasard à quelques dizaines de kilomètres de Montpellier.

www.franceinfo.fr

1 10 26

Reposted by Hypatia L.A. Seneschale ↙️↙️↙️ (she/her) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Kendra "Gloom is My Beat" Pierre-Louis @kendrawrites.com · 19h

Men would rather collapse a government than go to therapy

26 340 1.9K

Reposted by Hypatia L.A. Seneschale ↙️↙️↙️ (she/her) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Andrew Lawrence @ndrew.bsky.social · 1d

every single tech idea is like “soon our robots will be capable of playing catch with your kid, freeing you up to spend more time working on your employers’ spreadsheets”

120 2K 9.1K

Reposted by Hypatia L.A. Seneschale ↙️↙️↙️ (she/her) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 1d

“We can give $20 billion to Argentina but we can’t afford the CDC’s measles experts” is a hell of an argument

270 5.3K 18K

Reposted by Hypatia L.A. Seneschale ↙️↙️↙️ (she/her) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Kaya Wanu. @kayawanu.bsky.social · 13h

Anything less than leave it in the ground, stop burning fossil fuels will never be enough and that is the crux of the matter.

Yung En Chee @yungenchee.bsky.social · 19h

Climate warming's already amplifying hazards such as heatwaves, extreme rainfall, dangerous fire weather, droughts, floods, & sea-level rises & in turn multiplying threats & risks of compound events

🇦🇺's fossil fuel exports contribute accelerated pollution & CC impacts no matter where they're burned

Labor is close to a deal on environmental law reforms. There are troubling signs these will fall short

Labor is close to a deal on its environmental law reforms. Will they strong enough to protect nature?

theconversation.com

2 13 26

Hypatia L.A. Seneschale ↙️↙️↙️ (she/her) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @femiyahtzee.bsky.social · 1d

Cry havoc and let slip the frogs of war

1 2 17

Reposted by Hypatia L.A. Seneschale ↙️↙️↙️ (she/her) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Jack Tripper @chadstanton.blacksky.app · 2d

“We should replace Bad Bunny with Lee Greenwood” is an also a perfect summation of the “deal” they’ve offered universities.

50 490 3.3K

Reposted by Hypatia L.A. Seneschale ↙️↙️↙️ (she/her) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Henning @geohenning.bsky.social · 3d

I'm looking for recommendations for more books like these - about the history of geology or connected to major geologic events from the past in any way. ⚒️ #Geology

Four books. "Extinctions: How Life Survives, Adapts and Evolves" by Michael J. Benton.
"The Map That Changed the World" by Simon Winchester
"Ghosts of the Tsunami" by Richard Lloyd Parry
"Ein Riss durch die Welt" by Simon Winchester

22 8 35

Hypatia L.A. Seneschale ↙️↙️↙️ (she/her) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @femiyahtzee.bsky.social · 2d

The US caps the income of disabled people but not billionaires.

4 8

Reposted by Hypatia L.A. Seneschale ↙️↙️↙️ (she/her) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Andy Merrill “Brak” & I maybe love🫘 @amerrill2.bsky.social · 6d

There needs to be a Star Trek show where Jeffrey Combs plays every character.

Kind of like Orphan Black but Star Trek.

unic0de @unic0de.bsky.social · 6d

He's my favourite ten guys from Star Trek

11 24 210

Reposted by Hypatia L.A. Seneschale ↙️↙️↙️ (she/her) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Nirmalya Kajuri @kajunut.bsky.social · 3d

"Black holes give off the impression of being dark and brooding, absorbing all the light around them. But they are secretly musical."

I wrote about the music of black holes in my latest post. 🧪⚛️

open.substack.com/pub/nirmalya...

Black Hole Beats

Ringing Black Holes can give Ringo Starr a run for his money

open.substack.com

5 16

Reposted by Hypatia L.A. Seneschale ↙️↙️↙️ (she/her) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Ele Willoughby @minouette.bsky.social · 4d

Some of my octopus prints for World Octopus Day this October 8! 🧪🐡🐙

First up my lino block print of a charming Grimpoteuthis octopus, one of a genus of pelagic cirrate (finned) octopods known as the dumbo octopuses. The fins reminded scientists of ears of the elephant in Disney’s 1941 film Dumbo.

My 9.25” x 12.5” Lino block print of a Grimpoteuthis octopus, one of a genus of pelagic cirrate (finned) octopods known as the dumbo octopuses. The octopus is mostly bluish with red at the top and on its ear-like fins. Its tentacles are brown and all spiralling up close to its body. The dark water around it is blue-black.

1 8 44

Reposted by Hypatia L.A. Seneschale ↙️↙️↙️ (she/her) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Leah Shaffer @leahshaffer.bsky.social · 6d

The wonderful thing about vaccines is they can save your life and the lives of those around you multiple times in many different ways. A shield for life, with benefits scientists are just beginning to unlock.🩺 🧪

BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · 6d

People vaccinated against shingles had significantly lower dementia risk than those who got a control (pneumococcal) vaccine:
- 33 % lower after the live-attenuated Zostavax
- 27 % lower after ≥ 2 doses of the recombinant Shingrix
Protection tracked with how well the vaccine prevents shingles

1 6 27

Hypatia L.A. Seneschale ↙️↙️↙️ (she/her) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @femiyahtzee.bsky.social · 6d

I understand the impulse to justify investment based on the utility of scientific discoveries, but I personally think we need to abandon altogether the framing that knowledge is only valuable if it can be commodified. Knowledge has value. Full stop.

Ryan Marino, MD @ryanmarino.bsky.social · 11d

This is why we fund scientists to study things like oyster slobber even if you don’t think it sounds important

Leah 🐸 McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 13d

⚠️ Chinese researchers have invented bone glue that mimics how oysters stick to surfaces underwater.

The adhesive can reportedly repair orthopedic fractures in 2-3 minutes, even in blood-rich environments, and is bioabsorbable.

interestingengineering.com/science/chin...

1 5 13

Reposted by Hypatia L.A. Seneschale ↙️↙️↙️ (she/her) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Artologica aka Michele Banks @artologica.net · 6d

Ink paintings of mitosis in drosophila embryos were a little too niche for the art festival crowd, but I know my Blooskies will love them #sciart 🧪🪰 www.etsy.com/shop/artolog...

1 31 120

Hypatia L.A. Seneschale ↙️↙️↙️ (she/her) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @femiyahtzee.bsky.social · 7d

Credible evidence that hundreds of women were victimized by a man who was financially, socially, and politically connected to major players in both political parties is not a red herring.

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 7d

Welker: They say the house is not in session because you don't want to swear in the newly elected democratic congresswoman who would be a critical vote to releasing the Epstein files.

Johnson: It's totally absurd. This has nothing to do with that. It's another red herring.

1 1 9