Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Paul R. Pival he/him @ppival.bsky.social · 1d

Welcome to LIL’s Data.gov Archive Search | Library Innovation Lab lil.law.harvard.edu/blog/2025/10...

#OpenGov

Welcome to LIL’s Data.gov Archive Search | Library Innovation Lab

Card Division of the Library of Congress, ca. 1900–1920. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Data.gov

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Paul R. Pival he/him @ppival.bsky.social · 1d

Canada’s National Observer unveils a powerful tool for fighting disinformation www.nationalobserver.com/2025/10/08/n...

You have to register to get access, but mine came through in less than an hour. YMMV

ht @Researchbuzz

#OpenGov #OpenData

Canada’s National Observer unveils a powerful tool for fighting disinformation

Civic Searchlight brings together municipal meeting transcripts from across Canada into a searchable database for the first time. It has already been used to fight disinformation, report on impact,…

www.nationalobserver.com

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Paul R. Pival he/him @ppival.bsky.social · 2d

UNC schools of data science and information science to merge, forming unnamed ‘School of AI’ www.dailytarheel.com/article/univ...

ht @researchbuzz

#LISEducation #LibraryEducation

Reposted by Paul R. Pival he/him

Paul Fairie @paulisci.bsky.social · 2d

Just got vaccinated today -- Albertans, do remember to double check phase 1 eligibility, it's a lot broader (and freer) than many people seem to think.

Paul Fairie @paulisci.bsky.social · 11d

Albertans: if you're looking for a COVID vaccine, remember to check the list of medical conditions that qualify you for Phase I (it's more inclusive than I'd have guessed). You can book the appointments through MyAHSConnect.

Eligible underlying medical conditions
cerebrovascular disease
chronic liver diseases
chronic lung diseases
chronic kidney diseases
cystic fibrosis
diabetes mellitus, type 1 and type 2
disabilities (for example, Down syndrome, learning, intellectual, or developmental disabilities; ADHD; cerebral palsy; congenital disabilities; spinal cord injuries)
heart conditions (for example, cardiomyopathies, coronary artery disease, heart failure, etc.)
mental health disorders (limited to: mood disorders, including depression; schizophrenia, spectrum disorders)
obesity
pregnancy
tuberculosis
Eligible immunocompromising conditions
cancer (currently receiving treatment)
HIV infection
primary immunodeficiency diseases
solid organ or blood stem cell transplant
use of corticosteroids, other immunosuppressive medication or CAR T-cell therapy

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Paul R. Pival he/him @ppival.bsky.social · 2d

AI Tools for Academic Libraries: AI Programming and Coding Tools - Choice 360 www.choice360.org/libtech-insi...

Off to explore kimi.com

AI Tools for Academic Libraries: AI Programming and Coding Tools - Choice 360

Many AI tools support coding and programming. Which are the best for librarians? This post from OCUL examines the product landscape.

www.choice360.org

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Paul R. Pival he/him @ppival.bsky.social · 2d

What a fascinating comparison! And this study has been out for over a year?!

The carbon emissions of writing and illustrating are lower for AI than for humans - Scientific Reports www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Attn: @andymasley.bsky.social

#Energy #AI

The carbon emissions of writing and illustrating are lower for AI than for humans - Scientific Reports

Scientific Reports - The carbon emissions of writing and illustrating are lower for AI than for humans

www.nature.com

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Paul R. Pival he/him @ppival.bsky.social · 2d

Australian University caught out using AI to wrongly accuse students of cheating with AI www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...

#AcademicIntegrity #AI #FFS

University caught out using AI to wrongly accuse students of cheating with AI

An Australian university has accused thousands of its students of cheating with artificial intelligence. The problem? Many have done nothing wrong.

www.abc.net.au

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Paul R. Pival he/him @ppival.bsky.social · 2d

Employees regularly paste company secrets into ChatGPT www.theregister.com/2025/10/07/g...

This article includes some amazing estimates of ChatGPT's market share!

People, don't share PII with chatbots!

Employees regularly paste company secrets into ChatGPT

: Microsoft Copilot, not so much

www.theregister.com

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Paul R. Pival he/him @ppival.bsky.social · 3d

Buckle Up, the Smart Glasses Backlash Is Coming gizmodo.com/buckle-up-th...

Sobering thoughts for this Meta Ray-Ban wearer :-/

Buckle Up, the Smart Glasses Backlash Is Coming

Is this #glassholes 2.0?

gizmodo.com

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Paul R. Pival he/him @ppival.bsky.social · 3d

#OpenData #OpenGov #ABEducation #ABLeg

Robson Fletcher @robsonfletcher.com · 3d

“It might cause a bit of angst to put some of the stuff out in the public domain but, hey, we do live in a democracy,” said University of Alberta professor Darryl Hunter.

“Student-teacher ratio is a key performance indicator for any system … and people want to know what these numbers are.”

ANALYSIS | Alberta stopped tracking class sizes. Then it changed its funding formula. Now, it's a teachers' strike issue | CBC News

Get a rough idea of how much Alberta’s teaching staff has grown compared to how much student enrolment has grown since the funding formula for school boards was changed.

www.cbc.ca

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Paul R. Pival he/him @ppival.bsky.social · 5d

Google Gemini’s $27 Pro Plan Is Free for Canadian Students: gemini.google/students/

Sadly for me, it is actually STUDENTS, not EDUCATORS...

Gemini for Students — your AI study buddy from Google

Unlock Gemini's power for school & beyond, from homework help to video creation. Get more Gemini with Google AI Pro and start your free trial now!

gemini.google

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Paul R. Pival he/him @ppival.bsky.social · 6d

I'm a little behind on that book - about 30% in, but am finding it fascinating - PEOPLE are ALWAYS the real story!

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Reposted by Paul R. Pival he/him

Jessica Horton @jessicahorton.bsky.social · 6d

Last week I was scheduled to give a presentation on grassroots activism at a university conference on censorship. That conference was censored to the point of being cancelled. So in honor of banned books week, here is some of the info I would have shared on fighting book bans at a local level:

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Paul R. Pival he/him @ppival.bsky.social · 7d

As always, the more you know...

Just a few chats with a biased AI can alter your political opinions www.psypost.org/just-a-few-c...

Just a few chats with a biased AI can alter your political opinions

Artificial intelligence chatbots are now a part of daily life, but these systems contain inherent biases from their training data. A new study investigates a pressing question: How might a chatbot's…

www.psypost.org

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Reposted by Paul R. Pival he/him

Indivisible ❌👑 @indivisible.org · 7d

Before you hit the streets on No Kings Day, join the @aclu.org’s know your rights, protest safety, and de-escalation training to take action safely and confidently. Learn how to protect yourself and your community while standing up for your rights.

No Kings: Protest Safety, Know Your Rights & De-Escalation Training

I'm attending this event - sign up now to join me!

act.aclu.org

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Paul R. Pival he/him @ppival.bsky.social · 8d

One of these four red flags is seen before 99.6% of heart attacks newatlas.com/heart-diseas...

Blood pressure ≥120/80 mm Hg or on treatment
Total cholesterol ≥200 mg/dL or on treatment
Fasting glucose ≥100 mg/dL, diagnosis of diabetes or on treatment
Past or current tobacco use

One of these four red flags is seen before 99.6% of heart attacks

In a massive international study, researchers identify four precise warning signs of a heart attack, stroke or heart failure, and understanding these measurable risk factors could help people…

newatlas.com

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Paul R. Pival he/him @ppival.bsky.social · 9d

I didn't count, but about 20 thoughtful open-ended questions await you in this survey.

Help define the next chapter of Canada's AI leadership ised-isde.canada.ca/site/ised/en...

"We're inviting founders, researchers, workers, creators, students, public servants, and community voices to weigh in."

Help define the next chapter of Canada's AI leadership

Current status: Open from October 1 to October 31, 2025 Canada helped invent modern AI. To stay a leader—and protect our digital sovereignty—we're running a 30-day national sprint to shape a renewed…

ised-isde.canada.ca

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Paul R. Pival he/him @ppival.bsky.social · 10d

😮
European Death Zones googlemapsmania.blogspot.com/2025/10/euro...

"in most of the continent's regions, more people are now dying than are being born"

#datavis

European Death Zones

Maps Mania is a blog dedicated to tracking the very best digital interactive maps on the internet and the tools used to create them.

googlemapsmania.blogspot.com

Paul R. Pival he/him @ppival.bsky.social · 11d

Introducing Kagi News | Kagi Blog blog.kagi.com/kagi-news

This app might be worth a look. I think I like the "Today in History" section best!

#News

Introducing Kagi News | Kagi Blog

*A comprehensive daily press review with global news.

blog.kagi.com

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Reposted by Paul R. Pival he/him

AAUP @aaup.org · 12d

BREAKING: WE WON!!!
💥 💥 💥

Federal Judge William G. Young ruled today in our lawsuit against the Trump administration that the policy of arresting, detaining, & deporting noncitizen students & faculty members for their pro-Palestinian advocacy violates the 1st Amendment.

Full ruling here:

Findings of Fact & Conclusions of Law – #261 in American Association of University Professors v. Rubio (D. Mass., 1:25-cv-10685) – CourtListener.com

Judge William G. Young: ORDER entered. FINDINGS OF FACT AND RULINGS OF LAW, PURSUANT TO FED. R. CIV. P. 52(A)(Sonnenberg, Elizabeth) (Additional attachment(s) added on 9/30/2025: # 1 Main Document) (J...

www.courtlistener.com

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Paul R. Pival he/him @ppival.bsky.social · 13d

There are some important observations and considerations in this post!

The Petrol Tank for AI Discovery Might be Running Dry as Publishers close access to scholarly content such as abstracts due to AI incentives aarontay.substack.com/p/the-petrol...

#metadata #LLMs #Scholarship

The Petrol Tank for AI Discovery Might be Running Dry as Publishers close access to scholarly content such as abstracts due to AI incentives

Elicit.com, Consensus, and Undermind.ai are among the new leading comprehensive cross-disciplinary “AI-powered academic search engines” today.

aarontay.substack.com

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Paul R. Pival he/him @ppival.bsky.social · 13d

opi: dailynous.com/2025/09/22/w...

What Will Academia.edu Do with Its New Rights to Your Name, Likeness, and Voice? (updated) - Daily Nous

Users of the Academia.edu service are cancelling their subscriptions in response to perceived overreach by the firm in its recent update to its terms of service. Catching users' attention was a new pa...

dailynous.com

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Paul R. Pival he/him @ppival.bsky.social · 13d

There have been quite a few updates to the Product Tracker in the last week - sadly no super easy way to filter them, but if you CTRL-F and search for Sept they'll come up.

Paul R. Pival he/him @ppival.bsky.social · 13d

Ithaka Generative AI Product Tracker docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Product Tracker

Generative AI Product Tracker Ithaka S+R’s Generative AI Product Tracker lists generative AI products that are either marketed specifically towards postsecondary faculty or students or appear to be…

docs.google.com

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Reposted by Paul R. Pival he/him

Tara Calishain @researchbuzz.bsky.social · 15d

#mushrooms #sustainability #bathrooms

'UBC researchers are launching the world’s first mushroom-powered waterless toilet, the MycoToilet, at the UBC Botanical Garden on Sept. 26. '

news.ubc.ca/2025/09/ubc-...

UBC launches world’s first mushroom-powered waterless toilet - UBC News

UBC researchers are launching the world’s first mushroom-powered waterless toilet at the UBC Botanical Garden on Sept. 26. The MycoToilet turns human waste into nutrient-rich compost and features a mo...

news.ubc.ca

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