Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Natalie Brito

Indivisible ❌👑 @indivisible.org · 11h

Letitia James is being criminally charged for the ‘crime’ of holding Trump accountable. This indictment is the clearest sign yet that Trump’s project isn’t just corruption — it’s monarchy. He’s using the power of the federal government to punish his public servants and protect himself.

New York Attorney General Letitia James charged in fraud case after pressure campaign by Trump

New York Attorney General Letitia James has been charged as part of a mortgage fraud investigation aggressively pushed by the Trump administration.

apnews.com

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Reposted by Natalie Brito

Chaz Firestone @chazfirestone.bsky.social · 18h

This is a big one! A 4-year writing project over many timezones, arguing for a reimagining of the influential "core knowledge" thesis.

Led by @daweibai.bsky.social, we argue that much of our innate knowledge of the world is not "conceptual" in nature, but rather wired into perceptual processing. 👇

Screenshot of a paper abstract:

“Core knowledge” refers to a set of cognitive systems that underwrite early representations of the physical and social world, appear universally across cultures, and likely result from our genetic endowment. Although this framework is canonically considered as a hypothesis about early emerging conception — how we think and reason about the world — here we present an alternative view: that many such representations are inherently perceptual in nature. This “core perception” view explains an intriguing (and otherwise mysterious) aspect of core-knowledge processes and representations: that they also operate in adults, where they display key empirical signatures of perceptual processing. We first illustrate this overlap using recent work on “core physics”, the domain of core knowledge concerned with physical objects, representing properties such as persistence through time, cohesion, solidity, and causal interactions. We review evidence that adult vision incorporates exactly these representations of core physics, while also displaying empirical signatures of genuinely perceptual mechanisms, such as rapid and automatic operation on the basis of specific sensory inputs, informational encapsulation, and interaction with other perceptual processes. We further argue that the same pattern holds for other areas of core knowledge, including geometrical, numerical, and social domains. In light of this evidence, we conclude that many infant results appealing to precocious reasoning abilities are better explained by sophisticated perceptual mechanisms shared by infants and adults. Our core-perception view elevates the status of perception in accounting for the origins of conceptual knowledge, and generates a range of ready-to-test hypotheses in developmental psychology, vision science, and more.

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Dr Jen Ryan @drjenryan.bsky.social · 1d

Memory problems will change how you see the world...literally 👀

Across two new papers, we examined the eye movement patterns of younger adults, older adults, individuals with mild cognitive impairment, and amnesic cases.

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Amy Feldman @amyfeldman7.bsky.social · 2d

Six former surgeons general appointed by every President since George HW Bush warn that RFK Jr. is endangering the health of the nation, calling his policies/positions a “profound, immediate + unprecedented threat”

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Opinion | Six surgeons general: It’s our duty to warn the nation about RFK Jr.

We took an oath to declare dangers when we found them. We’re doing that again today.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 3d

I have been trying to get this published as an op-ed, but I am going to post it here since I think it is timely in light of the "consent" extortion events.

Deafening Quiet from the Scientific Establishment

jeremymberg.github.io/jeremyberg.g...

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jeremymberg.github.io

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Natalie Brito @nataliebrito.bsky.social · 4d

What an amazing message of hope during these dark times ✨

KOJAMF🤘🖤🤘 @kojamf.bsky.social · 5d

Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.

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Boaz Nash @boazhsan.bsky.social · 4d

I think a lot of us realize that some day our posts may be used against us. Given how online this government is, I don't think contributing to the online rhetoric is meaningless.
There's been a steady destruction of the democratic government with an underlying fascist ideology.

Tom Nichols @radiofreetom.bsky.social · 5d

If we were living under fascism, none of you would be here daring to post things. You'd be erasing your social media accounts and keeping your head down; you'd know that peacocking your faux-bravery on a network would expose you to being disappeared.
You have no idea what "fascism" really means.

shane @mouthfulofcavities.bsky.social · 5d

the regime is zip tying toddlers and ripping them away from their mothers unclothed... calling it fascism upsets this neo-con.

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Natalie Brito @nataliebrito.bsky.social · 5d

Terrible. Homophobic, xenophobic, and wants to work with Trump 😵‍💫

Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 6d

Japan set for first female PM after Sanae Takaichi wins leadership race on.ft.com/3VLPNtx

Japan set for first female PM after Sanae Takaichi wins leadership race

Arch-conservative who models herself on Margaret Thatcher beats Shinjiro Koizumi in second-round party vote

on.ft.com

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southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 7d

I love when student journalists break a crazy story, especially about their own school. This one is extraordinarily macabre. www.uscannenbergmedia.com/2025/10/01/u...

USC sold dead bodies to U.S. military to train IDF medical personnel

A review of seven years’ worth of contracts unveiled more than $860,000 to use cadavers in surgical trainings involving the Israeli Defense Forces.

www.uscannenbergmedia.com

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Natalie Brito @nataliebrito.bsky.social · 6d

We don’t have “gifted” elementary schools in NYC, it is simply an accelerated curriculum with more resources and support. This coming from a mom of a 3rd grader in a G&T program.

Dropping this here for all the NYC parents currently losing their minds:

edadvance.substack.com/p/all-studen...

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Governor Gavin Newsom @governor.ca.gov · 8d

Jane Goodall was a global legend at the forefront of discovery — breaking through barriers for women in primatology, science, and beyond.

Her curiosity, strength, and kindness changed the world, bridging countries and cultures in pursuit of a better future.

Jane Goodall: April 3, 1934 – October 1, 2025

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Burrito Justice @burritojustice.bsky.social · 9d

quick while the government is shut down let’s all switch to metric

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Roxane Gay @roxanegay.bsky.social · 9d

If any other president in all of history said the military should use American cities as a training ground he would be removed from office that same day. The hardest thing to tolerate in all this is how relatively silent elected democrats are. It’s ridiculous.

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Natalie Brito @nataliebrito.bsky.social · 9d

Posted on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development website (www.hud.gov) 😵‍💫

Website that says: The Radical Left are going to shut down the government and inflict massive pain on the American people unless they get their $1.5 trillion wish list of demands. The Trump administration wants to keep the government open for the American people.

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MeidasTouch @meidastouch.com · 9d

How humiliating for the United States military

Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 9d

This is the cringiest MF on the planet. He’s actually saying this to our most senior military officers from around the world.

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Natalie Brito @nataliebrito.bsky.social · 10d

Congrats Katie!

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Natalie Brito @nataliebrito.bsky.social · 11d

Worth the wait :)

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digby @digby56.bsky.social · 12d

Nobody cares about the victims in the Dallas ICE shooting apparently. The first I've heard about one of them was on CNN today. He's fighting for his life in the hospital --- he was brought to the US when he was 13. He's 33 now. No criminal record.

I just don't know what to say anymore.

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Laura Belin @laurarbelin.bsky.social · 13d

Breaking news from Des Moines: ICE has detained Dr. Ian Roberts, the superintendent of Iowa's largest school district.
The Des Moines Public Schools said "We have no confirmed information as to why Dr. Roberts is being detained or the next potential steps."
www.bleedingheartland.com/2025/09/26/i...

ICE detains Des Moines Superintendent Dr. Ian Roberts

Iowa's largest school district had "no confirmed information" on why ICE detained Dr. Ian Roberts, the superintendent since 2023.

www.bleedingheartland.com

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Natalie Brito @nataliebrito.bsky.social · 12d

Historical nuance, sincerity, storytelling, AND evidence-based solutions?!

I’ve never heard a politician speak like this, and definitely not about Black maternal health. This is amazing.

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 13d

UNTIL IT'S DONE, Ep. 2

When the Brownsville Clinic opened in 1916, it was the first birth control center in America. Its very existence felt impossible. For young women, it was a lifeline.

109 years later, the Clinic is long closed—but Brownsville mothers are still struggling.

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Laura Bassett @lebassett.bsky.social · 16d

More than 1800 detainees are missing after the closure of Alligator Alcatraz. Their families and lawyers can’t find them and they’ve vanished from the ICE database. Feels like this should be a much bigger story www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...

Hundreds of Alligator Alcatraz detainees drop off the grid after leaving site

As of the end of August, the whereabouts of two-thirds of more than 1,800 men detained at Alligator Alcatraz during the month of July could not be determined by the Miami Herald.

www.miamiherald.com

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ACOG @acog.org · 17d

ACOG reaffirms that acetaminophen is safe for managing pain and fever during pregnancy. No reputable studies support suggestions like those in HHS’s recent announcement linking acetaminophen use in pregnancy to autism; in fact, high-quality studies show no such risk. https://bit.ly/47Wxc59

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Jamie Hanson @jamielarsh.bsky.social · 17d

🧠📊 New research examines potential bias in brain age algorithms across racial groups

📈 Study of 6 popular algorithms found lower accuracy for African American participants (r=0.51-0.85) compared to White/Hispanic participants (r=0.57-0.89)/1

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Koraly @drkoraly.bsky.social · 17d

Call for Editorial Fellows at Developmental Psychology!

*Early Career (w/i 10yrs PhD)

*Commitment to addressing the needs of underserved populations or increasing access to psychological knowledge & publishing

*1-yr term; $1,000 USD

www.apa.org/pubs/journal...

@apajournals.bsky.social

www.apa.org

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Andres Bendesky @bendeskylab.com · 19d

Tenure-track Assistant Professor in Computational Ecology and/or Evolution @columbiauniversity.bsky.social.
Deadline to apply September 30.
Reach out if you have questions.

apply.interfolio.com/172496

Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio

apply.interfolio.com

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