Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Mo Torres

taber @kvetch.gay · 2h

Incredibly cool: "half of the species responded to the end of the eclipse by singing a dawn chorus despite the 'night' lasting only a few minutes" is mind-blowing! The whole paper is free to read:

Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 5h

I have to fan-girl for a minute here. My friend @rosvall-lab.bsky.social built an app to gather data on bird behavior during the 2024 solar eclipse. 10,000+ citizen scientists contributed (including my kids), and the resulting paper was published in Science today!

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Total solar eclipse triggers dawn behavior in birds: Insights from acoustic recordings and community science

On 8 April 2024, a total solar eclipse disrupted light-dark cycles for North American birds during the lead-up to spring reproduction. Compiling more than 10,000 community observations and artificial ...

www.science.org

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Mo Torres @motorres.bsky.social · 4h

“Students [who thought they’d be graduating] from a highly ranked 100 year old institution, and are now told that they’re going to be getting a degree from a department in an ill-conceived ‘School of AI’ are feeling, rightfully, betrayed… to get this now-tarnished and politically co-opted degree.”

UNC schools of data science and information science to merge, forming unnamed ‘School of AI’

SDSS Dean Stanley Ahalt will be made dean of the new school while SILS Dean Jeffrey Bardzell will stand as the University’s Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer and Vice Provost for AI.

dailytarheel.com

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Reposted by Mo Torres

aaron from queens from twitter @aaronnarraph.bsky.social · 14h

the background on zohran's colbert appearance is jaw-droppingly disgusting

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Rachel Porter @rachelporter.bsky.social · 14h

Just published at PNAS (@pnas.org): “Electing amateur politicians reduces cross-party collaboration”

We show that districts electing first-time members of the U.S. House experience substantial declines in bipartisan representation in the subsequent Congress.

🧵1/4

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Mo Torres @motorres.bsky.social · 13h

❤️❤️❤️

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LPE Blog @lpeblog.bsky.social · 14h

Today, Matthew Dimick explains why one of the most famous arguments against addressing inequality through predistribution fails on its own terms.

After Neoliberalism: Predistribution and the Law and Economics of Income Inequality

Law and Economics scholars argue that if income redistribution is to happen at all, it should occur exclusively through the tax system, rather than through supposedly less efficient methods…

lpeproject.org

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Reposted by Mo Torres

Jewish Voice for Peace @jvp.bsky.social · 1d

First ceasefire, then Palestinian liberation.

Today, after more than two years of the US-backed Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, President Trump announced that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of ceasefire agreement.

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Timnit Gebru @timnitgebru.bsky.social · 2d

A someone who has written extensively about the eugenic roots that permeates those who claim to be building so-called artificial general intelligence, I'm here to tell you to please NOT compare criticism against corporations claiming to build a machine god, with eugenics. The audacity.

if you're writing a sentence that sounds like eugenics but you go "oh that's fine to say because it's not a real person" (whatever that means) you may want to consider what made you okay with saying that.

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Mo Torres @motorres.bsky.social · 2d

accidentally doing a genocide every time i clear my stata cache

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Luke Herrine @lookheron.bsky.social · 2d

Just want to make some deals, Mr President

Debt Collective 🟥 @debtcollective.bsky.social · 2d

Now: Debt Collective Raises Hand to Purchase Chunk of Federal Government Student Debt Portfolio

The Debt Collective has purchased billions in household debt over the past decade

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, after a new POLITICO report that the Trump administration is “exploring options to sell off parts of the federal government’s $1.6 trillion student loan portfolio to the private market,” the Debt Collective is announcing its willingness to purchase the entire portfolio for its true market value. The Debt Collective will then subsequently cancel the debt.

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Debt Collective 🟥 @debtcollective.bsky.social · 2d

New POLITICO report: Trump admin is “exploring options to sell parts of the government’s $1.6T student loan portfolio to the private market.”

We're announcing our willingness to purchase the portfolio for its market value. We will then subsequently cancel the debt.
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

Trump administration considers sale of federal student loan debt

The discussions have taken place among senior Education Department and Treasury Department officials.

www.politico.com

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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 3d

this feels like forty years ago but it was 2023

www.newsweek.com/nancy-pelosi...

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Luke Herrine @lookheron.bsky.social · 3d

In which I explore how changes in state-level public higher ed governance during the neoliberal era opened space for more recent authoritarian crackdowns.

lpeproject.org/blog/the-neo...

The Neoliberal Foundation of the Authoritarian Turn in Higher Education

Recent authoritarian attacks on higher education mark a significant shift from the neoliberal era, which celebrated institutional independence from the state, the role of education in boosting worker…

lpeproject.org

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Reposted by Mo Torres

Kim Wood @drkimwood.bsky.social · 3d

"To forgo the shiny new AI tools and embrace the Herculean process of learning is not easy, and it takes a ridiculous amount of time. But it’s up to us to decide whether or not we value the process." Yeah, this clever, humorous, and insightful essay from a student columnist is worth your time.

Scott L Greer @scottlgreer.bsky.social · 3d

Thoughtful essay

“we are in danger of forgetting the greatest untapped resource on any college campus — the professors. We are surrounded by human experts, yet we are being encouraged to take our questions to robots”

AI ate my homework: My experience with the University’s AI toolkit

I don’t understand AI enough to properly dislike it. And I’m curious as to why the University is pushing this tool so much if it inherently devalues learning. So I immersed myself in artificial intell...

www.michigandaily.com

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Reposted by Mo Torres

Adam Bonica @adambonica.bsky.social · 3d

During a shutdown, the federal government can deploy troops to invade US cities but can’t send WIC funds to states to feed infants and children. Speaks volumes about how the rules around shutdowns systematically serve GOP priorities while harming everyone else.

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jeff computers @helldude.bsky.social · 4d

its truly remarkable, you have to really take the measure of it and it's almost hard to comprehend it, but the president of the united states is having texas invade illinois and oregon just to make twitter content

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Emissary Of Night | ليلى @diplomatofnight.com · 4d

Those who are so inclined to immediately dismiss all the seemingly grandiose reports of torture and abuse in the Israeli prison system should read this report from B'Tselem entitled: "Welcome to Hell: The Israeli Prison System as a Network of Torture Camps"

In some cases, witnesses described other IPS personnel being present during attacks by the IRF. They stood idly by and did nothing to protect the victims, their presence essentially lending legitimacy to the actions. The presence of IPS officers and the participation of dozens of IPS guards in the assaults indicates that these were not isolated incidents or the work of a rogue guard.
On 9 November 2023, at around 2:00 P.M., a force of 20 masked officers from the IRF and DU arrived with a dog. They opened the cell door and attacked
Some of the
us with batons. Two of them grabbed me forces filmed
and hit me in the back with batons. One of us with cell
them grabbed my head while I was on the phones and
floor and hit me in the face with a baton.
cameras. I
My face and right eye started bleeding. I heard the
told them in Hebrew, "I'm going to die," and officer tell
one of them said that he wanted me to die.
the others in
Others told me to shut up.
Hebrew: "We're
After they beat us up for about 10 minutes, they tied our hands behind our backs with
loresee wins
zip ties. They fastened them so tight that I felt them cutting into my hands. The beating continued, and members of the forces stepped on my chest and head. There were also two officers in the cell, and one of them ordered them to beat us. The members of the forces laughed among themselves. They took some clothes away from inmates. They dragged some of us on the floor and forced others to kiss one of the officer's shoes.
I saw them grab some inmates by the testicles, and the inmates screamed and cried. The officers also pressed their batons against

Keter
Welcome to Hell
the genitals of some inmates. The stream of insults didn't stop: "motherfuckers," "sons
None of us could move,
of bitches," "dogs," "ISIS." Some of the forces
not even to
filmed us with cell phones and cameras. I go to the
heard the officer tell the others in Hebrew:
bathroom.
"We're livestreaming for Ben Gvir."
We were all
The attack lasted a long time, more than half dizzy and lost
an hour of nonstop beating. It looked like they balance.
wanted to cause as much damage as possible.
My right eye
When it was over, I felt I was going to pass swelled up,
out. Afterwards, we lay on the floor for hours.
and I was
None of us could move, not even to go to the afraid I'd lose
bathroom. We were all dizzy and lost balance.
my sight. We
My right eye swelled up, and I was afraid I'd were in a very
lose my sight. We were in a very bad state. One bad state.
prisoner said in tears that they'd raped him
One prisoner
with a stick.
said in tears that they'd
After that incident, we lived in constant fear.
raped him
Also, we were shocked by the screams of with a stick.
inmates being beaten in other cells. We were
afraid all the time, day and night, that the forces would attack us again.
From the testimony of Firas Hassan
50, a father of four and resident of Hindaza in Bethlehem District, who was held in the Negev Prison (Ketziot) | Full testimony

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Reposted by Mo Torres

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 4d

I do not regret to inform you that we are going to win

Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 4d

This video of Chicagoans intervening to save a man from being abducted off the streets by ICE is making the rounds on Instagram.

Community action works.

Source: www.instagram.com/reel/DPZL2AL...

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Mo Torres @motorres.bsky.social · 4d

Debra’s right about this but it was actually Ms. Rachel who did 9/11. Let that sink in.

Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 5d

The funniest thing in the world is someone posting something egregiously fake followed by “let that sink in.”

Debra Messing: @emmabenson92 I have nothing against Socialism, don't know where you got that. I voted against M because he celebrated 9/11.
Let that sink in. I love my country. My reasoning is not Islamophobia. I I've chosen to live in the most beautifully diverse city in the world.

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Paul T. Levin @paultlevin.bsky.social · 5d

““They dragged little Greta [Thunberg] by her hair before our eyes, beat her, and forced her to kiss the Israeli flag. They did everything imaginable to her, as a warning to others,” the Turkish activist ErsinÇelik, a participant in the Sumud flotilla, told Anadolu news agency.”+

Israel accused of detaining Greta Thunberg in infested cell and making her hold flags

Activist tells Swedish officials she has been subjected to harsh treatment, including insufficient food and water

www.theguardian.com

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jon ben-menachem @jbenmenachem.com · 5d

the decline of organized labor in the US is a large problem

The Associated Press @apnews.com · 5d

Over 2 million people across Italy have rallied in more than 100 cities for a one-day general strike.

2 million rally in Italy for Gaza as general strike halts key services

Over 2 million people across Italy have rallied in more than 100 cities for a one-day general strike.

bit.ly

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Daniel Denvir @danieldenvir.bsky.social · 8d

New @thedigradio.bsky.social: first of two w @melindacooper.bsky.social on Counterrevolution: Extravagance and Austerity in Public Finance. How neoliberalism remade US capitalism into an engine for endless asset appreciation, and the attendant reactionary politics www.thedigradio.com/podcast/coun...

Counterrevolution w/ Melinda Cooper

Featuring Melinda Cooper on Counterrevolution: Extravagance and Austerity in Public Finance. Neoliberalism remade the American economy into an engine for the appreciation of assets stretching from the...

www.thedigradio.com

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Reposted by Mo Torres

London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 6d

‘Like James Baldwin, she thought social revolution required a reckoning of all relationships, including the individual’s relationship to herself.’

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor (@keeanga.bsky.social) on Audre Lorde: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor · I do not have to be you: Audre Lorde’s Legacy

Lorde never had to persuade her comrades about a strategy, tactic or new idea, lose an argument in order to maintain a...

www.lrb.co.uk

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Mo Torres @motorres.bsky.social · 7d

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