Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Libby Robin @libbydeq.bsky.social · 7h

Happy Birthday Wendy!

Libby Robin @libbydeq.bsky.social · 9h

They "have to work" - so you can't... The parked truck with the lads having lunch in it under the window of my office, with a bass that shakes my building is my bete noir. I can't even tell you what the "music" is - it is too loud to hear. We will all be deaf before they turn 35...

Sportsbet dines with government minister at Labor fundraiser despite calls to reject lobbying from industry

Libby Robin @libbydeq.bsky.social · 9h

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne... If “events create opportunities for constructive dialogue on issues that matter to Australia’s economy and community” why are they priced out of the reach of ordinary voters? Gambling is destructive & Aust does more of it than elsewhere. No public interest here

Exclusive: Dinner occurred on the same day that four crossbench MPs held a press conference calling on government to ignore lobbying from gambling industry

Libby Robin @libbydeq.bsky.social · 1d

University of Melbourne rated best in Australia in global rankings report Goodo. But are we really considering the cost of "rankings"? What about collaborative collegialism? Too much focus on scores & pubs in the "right" journals is bad for the public interest which 🇦🇺universities also serve

Fiery Senate exchange reveals investigation into coal firm allegedly clearing endangered greater glider habitat

Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 1d

#Breaking | ANU College of Arts & Social Sciences will not face structural changes at this time. No renaming, merging, or disestablishment of areas. Change management appears to have been halted, even walked back completely. It’s unclear the impacts of this announcement on the school of music.

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Libby Robin @libbydeq.bsky.social · 1d

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne... #MagneticSouth needs to focus more on the greater glider, less on "what is within the law" ... the law is a last resort. Is Magnetic South an environmental thug or not? More trees is good for gliders, good for emissions. Why not spare this special area?

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young called environment department bureaucrats ‘weak’ - though later withdrew the remark

Libby Robin @libbydeq.bsky.social · 1d

More a naughty toddler than a parent...

Libby Robin @libbydeq.bsky.social · 1d

Sad that we've lost the various arts of letter-writing. Cheap and cheerful stamp collecting taught me a lot of geography. Tanzania had great stamps too. US and Britain (anonymous stamps!) weren't very interesting. Now almost all our news fed from US... instantly with no stamp art.

Libby Robin @libbydeq.bsky.social · 1d

Love resisting "the pull of known outcomes" ... 20/20 hindsight can definitely skew the unfolding ...

Libby Robin @libbydeq.bsky.social · 1d

Never been to Luxembourg but their stamps were always great!

Scientists win Nobel Prize in Chemistry for work in 'metal-organic frameworks'

Libby Robin @libbydeq.bsky.social · 1d

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10... Congratulations all - esp Richard Robson from Australia.

Scientists Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar Yaghi win the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for the development of metal-organic frameworks", the award-giving body announces.

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

Susie Protschky @susieprotschky.bsky.social · 1d

If you prefer to read the text, it’s now available too - research.vu.nl/ws/portalfil...

research.vu.nl

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Libby Robin @libbydeq.bsky.social · 1d

News Corp executive warns AI firms attempting 'Grand Theft Australia'

News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller issued a call to arms for all media companies to stand together and demand the government rule out any changes to copyright laws.

As if to prove a point, leaked Qantas group chats reveal a gross problem

Center for Anthropocene History @anthropocenekth.bsky.social · 1d

Open PhD position at KTH: "AI Planetary Futures: Climate and environment in Silicon Valley's AI paradigm". Apply by Oct 23! lnkd.in/dCs8eZjb

The project analyzes the climate and environmental aspects of Silicon Valley-based general-purpose AI systems developed by Big Tech companies.

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Libby Robin @libbydeq.bsky.social · 2d

www.crikey.com.au/2025/10/08/q... Getting second hand old planes from USA... what could possibly go wrong?🤔

The embattled airline is already facing turmoil over its union bargaining with staff and pilots, as well as backlash over a decision to close regional crew bases.

Can wise heads fix the hard problem of AI policy?

Libby Robin @libbydeq.bsky.social · 2d

www.crikey.com.au/2025/10/08/a... We should not discount the emissions budget caused by AI data centres. This is not just "productivity". Keeping a lid on emissions might force more transparency in the sector too. We have a "known issue" here already.

The problem with AI is no-one is quite sure what its impacts will be. They could be positive or negative, significant or colossal. So how do governments prepare?

OpenAI signs first ever Australian government contract

Libby Robin @libbydeq.bsky.social · 2d

www.crikey.com.au/2025/10/08/o... There is just one new idea coming at us from all angles. Every second headline is "AI" ... So venture capitalists have invested heavily in AI futures, but those of us waiting in queues serviced by chatbots & despairing of getting human care are *already fed up*.

The ChatGPT-maker's first contract with Treasury might be small, but as one firm's analysis of procurement argues, it could be the first step towards a lucrative whole-of-government deal.

Libby Robin @libbydeq.bsky.social · 2d

Australian politics live: Tony Abbott suggests UK put migrants in English channel ‘mothership’ . Not a new idea Tony. This harks back to the Hulks of Dickens' era. Except these people haven't even stolen a loaf of bread...

Students' lives shattered as top universities sued over unaccredited courses

Libby Robin @libbydeq.bsky.social · 2d

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10... Maybe "job ready" isn't an international qualification? I hope students are not further punished for accreditation of degrees invented by unqualified execs. While 🇦🇺 teachers & students work in good faith, US is suspicious of all foreign quals. A perfect storm.

Students have been left with HECS debts and careers that are "non-existent" after completing degrees that were not accredited. Class actions have been launched against two Australian universities.

Cars left with bullet holes, windows smashed after dramatic arrest in Sydney

Libby Robin @libbydeq.bsky.social · 2d

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10... Windscreen correct in the story. But image caption has US English windshield
... "One SUV had bullet holes in the front and rear windshield."@abcnewsbot.bsky.social
This is *news* not LAPD ... and it's in 🇦🇺

A major police operation has taken place in Sydney's south-west after tactical operations officers conducted a "high risk" arrest on a suburban street.

ehs.se/kalender/tel... @carsoncenter.bsky.social @mesh-research-hub.bsky.social @aehhub.bsky.social

Nick Feik @nickfeik.bsky.social · 2d

The TAS govt has just put fmr minister Roger Jaensch on the committee which is supposed to scrutinise the implementation of the many Commission of Inquiry recommendations … which was Roger Jaensch’s responsibility. #politas
Never change, TAS. This is sure to get to the bottom of whose fault it is.

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David Farrier @david-farrier.bsky.social · 3d

Still can't quite believe it, but Vanity Fair Italy interviewed me about Nature's Genius
www.vanityfair.it/article/davi...

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Libby Robin @libbydeq.bsky.social · 3d

Telling a Different Story - Religion, Extractivism and (Green) Colonialism in Europe - Enskilda Högskolan Stockholm

Welcome to a conference that explores the intersections of religion, spirituality, colonial legacies, and ecological sustainability in European contexts. It encourages a conversation across discipline...

ehs.se

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Libby Robin @libbydeq.bsky.social · 3d

Deloitte to pay money back to Albanese government after using AI in $440,000 report

Partial refund to be issued after several errors were found in a report into a department’s compliance framework

Algorithm to be used for NDIS plans

Libby Robin @libbydeq.bsky.social · 3d

Let's hope the researchers at Melb Uni tried out the tool from the receiving end... if not they will have to pay back their contractual earnings like Deloitte did...

The Saturday Paper @thesaturdaypaper.com.au · 3d

A new tool, developed by the University of Melbourne, is set to be used by the NDIA to determine funding, writes Rick Morton. The tool – called I-CAN version 6 – collects self-reported questionnaires and feeds them into algorithms to generate “typical support packages”. satpa.pe/pZD0DgV

The government is using an ‘instrument’ designed by the University of Melbourne to reassess support payments for disabled people.

satpa.pe

Deloitte to pay money back to Albanese government after using AI in $440,000 report

Libby Robin @libbydeq.bsky.social · 3d

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne... AI doesn't save human scrutiny. It can obstruct "productivity". Don't fail to employ responsible humans to test drive your so-called "solutions". Or you have to pay back your earnings...

Partial refund to be issued after several errors were found in a report into a department’s compliance framework

www.crikey.com.au/2025/10/07/a...

Libby Robin @libbydeq.bsky.social · 3d

And Australia's worst company is...

The inaugural winner of the Alan Bond Award for Corporate Misconduct goes to an Australian icon that has truly demonstrated awfulness across a wide range of criteria.