Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Kat Long @katlong.bsky.social · 6d

It was epic! Thanks @callanbentley.bsky.social !

Callan Bentley @callanbentley.bsky.social · 7d

Took a group of science journalists from @dcswa.bsky.social out for a 530-million-year stroll along the Billy Goat Trail today. ⚒️

Callan and a motley crew of 14 hikers stand on the edge of Mather Gorge under blue skies.

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Kat Long @katlong.bsky.social · 21d

Hey, were you lucky enough to spot a harlequin duck in Newport, Rhode Island, on February 10, 1991? And did you lose your bird book/life list in the Everglades recently? This person found it! 👇

Jen Golbeck @jengolbeck.bsky.social · 22d

I found this birding book along the side of the road on the Tamiami trail in the Everglades on 8/25/25. It is so well loved with sightings going back decades. If you're a birder (I am not) please spread the word and hep me find the owner so they can be reunited

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Reposted by Kat Long

Bradford Pearson @bradfordpearson.bsky.social · 25d

There are so many people who, despite everything, still want to be journalists. If you call yourself a journalist and choose to use AI to write your stories, please quit so someone else can take your seat.

Oliver Darcy @oliverdarcy.bsky.social · 25d

Scoop: Business Insider informed its staff this week that they are allowed to use ChatGPT to generate first drafts of their stories, while also indicating the newsroom will not disclose such A.I. use to readers.

Details in @status.news: www.status.news/p/business-i...

Business Insider and the Bots

The Axel Springer-owned newsroom is buzzing over new ChatGPT writing guidelines—part of an aggressive A.I. strategy pushed by its German parentco and detailed in a memo obtained by Status.

www.status.news

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Reposted by Kat Long

Toastie @btoastie.bsky.social · 26d

RIP GOAT

Be like Robert. Support badass journalism.

1970s black and white photo of Robert Redford leaning against a brick wall wearing sunglasses and reading High Country News magazine.

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Kat Long @katlong.bsky.social · Aug 25

💀

The Onion @theonion.com · Aug 25

Overwhelmed Archaeologists Struggling To Keep Pace With Glut Of Early Humans Thawed Out By Climate Change https://theonion.com/overwhelmed-archaeologists-struggling-to-keep-pace-with-1841766142/

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Kat Long @katlong.bsky.social · Aug 23

Great Falls of the Potomac never gets old

A postcard shot of Great Falls off the Potomac River, a series of rocky waterfalls and stony shoreline

A huge cream colored mushroom, possibly an oyster mushroom, that looks like it has petals like a flower

Another photo of Great Falls that is angled diagonally so I can get as much of the waterfalls in the photo as possible

A sign on a wooded trail that describes Matildaville, a village built in 1790 that is just ruins now

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Reposted by Kat Long

Paul Clammer @paulclammer.bsky.social · Aug 23

The loss of any specialist online media is always a sad thing, but the Polar Journal has been an excellent reporter of Artic & Antarctic affairs, so its closure will be very keenly felt - especially when these regions stand in the very frontline of the climate crisis.

Polar Journal @polarjournal.bsky.social · Aug 22

For six years, we've shared the stories of the polar worlds. Now, our own story is coming to a close. We've written a final message to our incredible community to say thank you and goodbye. Our journey will end on August 31, 2025. Read our full farewell here
polarjournal.net/a-farewell-f...

A Farewell from the Polarjournal.net Team To our Incredible Community | Polar Journal

After six years, the voyage of polarjournal.net has come to an end and the team bids a heartfelt Goodbye to all of you

polarjournal.net

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Kat Long @katlong.bsky.social · Aug 22

I saw the “Degenerate Art: The Fate of the Avant-Garde in Nazi Germany” exhibit at the Smithsonian’s S. Dillon Ripley Center in 1991 and it had a profound impact on my young self. Is this campaign of purely ideological censorship👇 any different?

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · Aug 22

Breaking news: The White House has increased its pressure on the Smithsonian, calling out a list of exhibitions and materials mentioning race, slavery, transgender identity and immigration to bolster President Trump’s ongoing criticism of the institution.

White House targets ‘woke’ Smithsonian content in new list

The White House on Thursday released an article outlining Smithsonian exhibitions and materials it considers “woke” or anti-American.

wapo.st

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Kat Long @katlong.bsky.social · Aug 20

Looks like we have the data to back up anecdotal evidence that Bluesky is better for science AND science journalists. I used to get tons of ideas for stories, info on new research, and connections on the old place. I hope we can make it even better over here!

David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · Aug 19

Hey everybody! @drjuliawester.bsky.social and I have a new paper!

We surveyed over 800 scientists, science communicators, and science educators who use social media.

Conclusion: Scientists no longer find Twitter useful or pleasant, and many have switched to Bluesky! 🧪🌎🦑

doi.org/10.1093/icb/...

Scientists no Longer Find Twitter Professionally Useful, and have Switched to Bluesky

Synopsis. Social media has become widely used by the scientific community for a variety of professional uses, including networking and public outreach. For

doi.org

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Kat Long @katlong.bsky.social · Aug 19

Thanks! I’m hard at work on it!

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Kat Long @katlong.bsky.social · Aug 19

Sadly, yet more evidence that the #Svalbard ice of just 200 years ago is gone. William Scoresby Jr, subject of my biography project, described in 1820 glacier fronts 200 meters high where they meet the sea. When I saw the same #glaciers in 2023 they didn’t even reach the shoreline.

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Melaine Le Roy @subfossilguy.bsky.social · Aug 19

2024 glacier loss in Svalbard was beyond imagination! 😱

- Anomaly of up to 4 SD!
- Amounts to ~61.7 Gt => 1% of the total ice volume
- Comparable to that of the Greenland ice sheet (55 Gt), which is 50 x larger!

... Otherworldly! 🪐

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Svalbard’s 2024 record summer: An early view of Arctic glacier meltdown? | PNAS

A record-breaking melt season affected the Arctic glaciers of Svalbard in summer 2024 by a substantial margin. Across the entire archipelago, glaci...

www.pnas.org

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Reposted by Kat Long

Sara Catterall @scatterall.bsky.social · Aug 18

This guy again. If he spent any time at all with current biographers, he'd know how thoroughly the theoretical topics he suggests are and have been under "serious consideration, or even discussion" not to mention the books and articles written...

There Are Too Many Overweight Biographies

Is biography necessary? Sigmund Freud didn’t think it was, or at least thought it wasn’t primary when it came to understanding a person’s true nature. Mark Twain felt that a

www.commentary.org

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Reposted by Kat Long

Duncan Stibbard Hawkes @dstibbardhawkes.bsky.social · Aug 5

Our species, too, has been known to partake. The contemporary Anglosphere/Western distaste for offal and insects is just that: contemporary and Western.

Kat Long @katlong.bsky.social · Jul 31

Super fascinating explanation of a new paper in Science Advances suggesting that Neanderthals’ original paleo diet included big ol’ piles of ~maggots~

John Hawks @johnhawks.net · Jul 27

People eat food in many ways that may offend the palates of those who didn't grow up with their customs. Eating fermented or putrifying meat is common among traditional hunting societies but overlooked by many who study past hunters like Neanderthals.

www.johnhawks.net/p/bizarre-fo...

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Reposted by Kat Long

Matt Shipman (he/him) @shiplives.bsky.social · Aug 4

This is an interesting piece. Well worth a read.
#ScienceWriting #Journalism 🧪

www.nature.com/articles/d44...

Why newsrooms must rethink science journalism before the next crisis

Despite climate extremes, pandemics and a global AI revolution, science reporting remains underfunded and undervalued.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Kat Long

Geographical Magazine @geographical.co.uk · Aug 1

Huge hidden flood bursts through Greenland ice sheet surface https://geographical.co.uk/science-environment/huge-hidden-flood-bursts-through-greenland-ice-sheet-surface

Huge hidden flood bursts through Greenland ice sheet surface

First ever recorded instance of flood highlights destructive potential of meltwater stored beneath Greenland ice sheet

geographical.co.uk

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Kat Long @katlong.bsky.social · Jul 31

Super fascinating explanation of a new paper in Science Advances suggesting that Neanderthals’ original paleo diet included big ol’ piles of ~maggots~

John Hawks @johnhawks.net · Jul 27

People eat food in many ways that may offend the palates of those who didn't grow up with their customs. Eating fermented or putrifying meat is common among traditional hunting societies but overlooked by many who study past hunters like Neanderthals.

www.johnhawks.net/p/bizarre-fo...

Bizarre foods: Neanderthal edition

Scientists propose a maggot-fueled hypothesis for the diets of ancient hunters

www.johnhawks.net

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Kat Long @katlong.bsky.social · Jul 28

“If there was a toolbox for understanding Antarctica, an icebreaker like the [RV Nathaniel B.] Palmer is ‘the hammer.’”

NSF plans abrupt end to lone U.S. Antarctic research icebreaker

Imminent termination of the RV Nathaniel B. Palmer shocks polar scientists

www.science.org

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Kat Long @katlong.bsky.social · Jul 25

“Those islands don’t know what it’s like to be a natural ecosystem without humans.” A fascinating look at how Indigenous peoples in the Southeast U.S. shaped coastal islands with oyster shells over 5,000 years 🏺🧪

SAHND and SHEL Archaeology and Ecology Labs @sahndshel.bsky.social · Jul 25

A great write-up of a recent paper led by lab Co- Director Jake Holland-Lulewicz (@archaeojake.bsky.social) published in @commsearth.nature.com on the legacies of past Indigenous land use on modern coastal ecosystems of the American southeast! #archaeology #ecology www.psu.edu/news/liberal...

Q&A: Discarded ancient 'trash' now protecting Georgia barrier islands | Penn State University

Penn State Assistant Professor of Anthropology Jacob Holland-Lulewicz and colleagues recently published research on how oyster shells discarded over thousands of years by Indigenous people have helped...

www.psu.edu

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Kat Long @katlong.bsky.social · Jul 23

I HAVE GROWN TOMATOES IN MY GARDEN

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Kat Long @katlong.bsky.social · Jul 21

Important thread from scientists on the ground in Svalbard: “We came ready to dig snowpits & drill frozen soils. But we sampled thawed ground, bare-handed, with a spoon 💦
We came for snow sampling. But we got rain 🌧️
It felt like we’d prepared for the Arctic of the past.”

James Bradley @drbradbrad.bsky.social · Jul 21

What does a warmer Arctic winter look like? 🥵🌡️💦
We went to Svalbard to study the frozen winter but encountered 4.7°C & rain 🌧️
Shocked, unsettled & forced to rethink our entire plan, we document in @natcomms.nature.com what we saw & what it means for a rapidly changing Arctic
🧵👇
tinyurl.com/r85d3bpf

Svalbard winter warming is reaching melting point - Nature Communications

The Arctic winters are changing fast. In February 2025, Svalbard endured rain, thawing tundra, and pooling meltwater. The Comment by Bradley and coauthors describes how winter warming is reshapin...

tinyurl.com

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Kat Long @katlong.bsky.social · Jul 21

“Knowing how sound propagates, where currents flow, or how ice forms and moves can determine success or failure, especially in environments such as the Arctic, where rapid warming is transforming the strategic landscape.”

Opinion | To lead at sea, we must understand the sea

The U.S. still has an advantage on the waves, but ocean science needs more — not less — investment.

www.washingtonpost.com

Kat Long @katlong.bsky.social · Jul 20

One benefit of the daily thunderstorms and record humidity in D.C. this month is 🍄 Mushroom Mania 🍄 in my local woods! Please help ID. All taken today at Lake Needwood in Rockville, Md.

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Reposted by Kat Long

PBS News @pbsnews.org · Jul 11

A State Department employee shared with PBS News an image from inside the department. The image includes a piece of paper taped to a mirror with the words, "Colleagues, if you remain: RESIST FASCISM. Remember the oath you vowed to uphold."

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Reposted by Kat Long

Rona Kobell @rkobell.bsky.social · Jul 6

What if a forest closed without warning? That's the fear for #Patuxent Research Refuge, where #RachelCarson discovered the harms of DDT. Part of it is opens one day a week. Only five staffers monitor the entire 12,000 acres. #Trumpcuts @sejorg.bsky.social

www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/cl...

Trump administration may close Maryland refuge popular with birders

Patuxent Research Refuge’s North Tract in Laurel has cut visiting hours. Could the Trump administration could close it entirely?

www.thebaltimorebanner.com

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