Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Kevin J. CREATURE @kevinjkircher.com · 1d

Over 40% of corn grown in Indiana is used to make ethanol that cars burn. One acre of corn yields about 16,500 vehicle-miles per year of ethanol, which sounds high until you realize that one acre of solar yields about 2,700,000 vehicle-miles per year: 16,000% more driving for a given plot of land.

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Emily Pontecorvo @emilypont.bsky.social · 7d

The post-pandemic dip in gasoline consumption in California is pretty stunning

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Joey Politano🏳️‍🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 17d

Solar power also continues to skyrocket in Texas, with solar generation up 45% compared to last year and setting a new record high!

a graph of US solar power generation in texas

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Joey Politano🏳️‍🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 17d

Official data is in today, and America set a new record-high for solar power in July, with generation up 30% compared to last year!

A graph of monthly solar generation in the US

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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 17d

Again, with the essential use of sibling controls, in a nationwide prospective study in Sweden of ~2.5 million children, no increased risk even with higher dose exposure
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Let's talk about "gold standard science"

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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 17d

A new large study of alcohol intake using genetics (Mendelian randomization) finds a dose-response relationship for risk of dementia with no protective effect at low levels of intake
ebm.bmj.com/content/earl...

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Gregg Gonsalves @gregggonsalves.bsky.social · 19d

The @washingtonpost.com story on Tylenol & autism leaves out a MAJOR 2.5M sibling-controlled study of children in Denmark, which "found no evidence that acetaminophen use during pregnancy was associated with children’s risk of autism, ADHD or intellectual disability." jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Acetaminophen Use During Pregnancy and Children’s Risk of Autism, ADHD, and Intellectual Disability

This nationwide cohort study with sibling control analysis examines the association of acetaminophen use during pregnancy with children’s risk of autism, ADHD, and intellectual disability.

jamanetwork.com

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Zack Labe @zacklabe.com · 19d

Happy September equinox 2025! Enjoy your week! 🌞

Understanding seasons - graphic shows the incoming solar radiation around the two equinoxes (sun passes over the equator)...

Download this visualization at zacklabe.com/arctic-clima...

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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 24d

Big randomized trial of a GLP- pill (vs placebo) achieves significant weight loss
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

Orforglipron, an Oral Small-Molecule GLP-1 Receptor Agonist for Obesity Treatment | NEJM

Orforglipron, a small-molecule, nonpeptide oral glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist, is being investigated as a treatment for obesity. In this phase 3, multinational, randomized, doubl...

www.nejm.org

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Doug Lewin @douglewin.bsky.social · Sep 4

Today in Texas solar provided more than one-third of the power for 8 straight hours, peaking over 29,000 megawatts at 1:25 for the 3rd highest total ever.

Last night, batteries set an all time record @ 7.3 gigawatts.

Despite an 80 GW peak, prices have been <2.5c/kWh all day.

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EV Curve Futurist @evcurvefuturist.com · Sep 4

It took 68 years to build the first 1 TW of solar, just 2 years to add the second. At the current pace, we’re on a 1.5-year doubling curve: 4 TW by 2026, 8 TW by 2028, and 10–14 TW by 2030. Panels aren’t the limit anymore—BESS & lithium are. ⚡☀️🔋 #EnergyTransition #Solar #BESS #Lithium #LFP

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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · Sep 2

A nasal spray reduced the risk of Covid infections in a double blind, placebo controlled randomized trial
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

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Dave Jones @cleanpowerdave.bsky.social · Sep 2

NEW DATA: ANOTHER year and EVEN HIGHER installations☀️ Solar's rise is absolutely mindblowing🤯

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SETI Institute @setiinstitute.bsky.social · Sep 1

#PPOD: A gigantic jet was photographed from the International Space Station by astronaut Nichole Ayers on 3 July 2025. Gigantic jets are transient luminous events (TLEs) that appear to initiate as an intracloud flash between the middle negative and upper positive charge regions in a thundercloud. 🧪

Taken from the ISS, a gigantic jet spears up from a thunderstorm cloud near the Texas-Mexico border. The spear is blue-white at the cloud, with a massive light spreading out in all directions. Near the top of the jet, the lightning turns to red and branches out. In the foreground is the Canadarm2. The city lights of Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, and Houston are to the northeast, and Torreón, Mexico, to the southwest.

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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · Aug 31

How much protein should you consume?
erictopol.substack.com/p/our-preocc...

Our Preoccupation With Protein Intake

The data on high protein diets, bars, supplements, and powders will surprise you

erictopol.substack.com

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prmbh.bsky.social @prmbh.bsky.social · Aug 31

More evidence for the efficacy of GLP1s in HFpEF #jama - jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Semaglutide and Tirzepatide in Patients With Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction

This study evaluates the effectiveness and safety of semaglutide and tirzepatide in patients with cardiometabolic heart failure with preserved ejection fraction in clinical practice.

jamanetwork.com

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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · Aug 29

The #1 cause of death in women is heart disease. A new report makes the case for treating women with statins who have a high inflammation marker (hs-CRP) but no traditional risk factors academic.oup.com/eurheartj/ad...

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Dave Jones @cleanpowerdave.bsky.social · Aug 26

Many countries in Africa are now importing solar panels at scale.

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Luca @lucagalletti.bsky.social · Aug 24

Gliding in for a landing

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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · Aug 23

More on the protective effect of estrogen open.substack.com/pub/erictopo...

New Anti-Aging Evidence For Estrogen

Organ Clocks Add to the Benefits of Replacement After Menopause

open.substack.com

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Dr. Tessa Fisher @tessafisher.bsky.social · Aug 18

Found out today that by using millisecond pulsars as your reference points, you can determine your position in the galaxy down to 7km or less, which is frankly a ridiculous degree of accuracy on the cosmic scale #PSETI2025

A science poster on pulsar positioning system and its use in the search for technosignatures

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Animals R Us… 🐾 @animalsrus.bsky.social · Aug 17

Adorable baby horse figuring out his new legs… 😊🥰
He is so fast now you see him now you don’t… ❤️

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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · Aug 10

Could a metal ion supplement that cost pennies per day protect from Alzheimer's disease?
erictopol.substack.com/p/lithium-an...

lithium ion trapped by beta-amyloid and the way to get around it

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Doug Lewin @douglewin.bsky.social · Aug 6

Heat index in Houston is 111. Air conditioning demand is high. Gas & coal plant outages are up sharply. But prices in Texas are the lowest in the country ($20/MWh). Why? Texas' nation leading solar resources are generating >30% of the power needed on peak. #txlege #txenergy

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John Hanger @jrfhanger.bsky.social · Aug 5

Global ICE sales peaked in 2016 at 80.47 million autos and fell to 62.05 million in 2024! They may fall below 50 million by 2028.

EV sales were 1.8 million in June or ~21.6 million/yr.

EV sales may be 30 million in 2028, pushing ICE below 50 million. ourworldindata.org/electric-car... #energysky

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