Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Dylan Schwilk

Emissary Of Night | ليلى @diplomatofnight.com · 21h

“The alleged underground Hamas command center at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, used to justify an unprecedented assault on the biggest medical center in Gaza, was actually an animation the IDF had used the previous year, saying at the time it was a tunnel beneath a UN school.”

Jack Sapoch @jacksapoch.bsky.social · 1d

NEW: Since October 2023, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit has released dozens of 3D animations illustrating alleged Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iranian sites

The style is now unmistakable: satellite zoom-ins, black & white wireframes, and red-textured houses - a new visual language of war

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Reposted by Dylan Schwilk

Heather Randell @heatherrandell.bsky.social · 1d

The thing is, to be able to determine whether AI-generated code is “legit”, you need to know both statistics and coding yourself. If we no longer teach students to learn, think, and struggle—without the help of AI—the next generation will have no clue what is and isn’t legit.

Terry McGlynn @hormiga.bsky.social · 1d

Y'all. I just got ChatGPT to do everything in R for this manuscript. I mean EVERYTHING. And it's all legit and reproducible. I'm shook.

How are we mentoring our trainees in statistics now? Who needs to learn coding in R line by line, and who doesn't?

scienceforeveryone.science/statistics-i...

Statistics in the era of AI

How do we mentor, teach, and do stats when AI can do so much of the work?

scienceforeveryone.science

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Travis @someforeignfield.bsky.social · 1d

It's clear that when the US wants a ceasefire deal, one miraculously occurs. Makes the "working tirelessly for a ceasefire" stuff from last year even more disgusting.

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 3d

I’ve also heard instances of this at UVa: well-qualified faculty members who want to teach topics of great current interest and importance are being discouraged from doing so because it feels risky.
It’s truly a shame.

Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 4d

I was told not to teach a class on the intellectual histories of Zionism and Anti-Zionism next year - not because they doubted I could teach it fairly, but because it would attract too many politicians scrutinizing the syllabus.

A society where that is a valid fear is no longer fully democratic.

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Reposted by Dylan Schwilk

Nick Cunningham @nickcunningham.bsky.social · 3d

“By 2028, an average family in the region will be paying around $70 a month extra on their electricity bills because of forecasted data center growth”

I'm once again asking why ratepayers are subsidizing AI titans?

www.eenews.net/articles/dat...

Data center boom sparks sticker shock for PJM ratepayers

New analyses show that costs passed on to utility customers to guarantee future electricity demand are rising rapidly.

www.eenews.net

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Nathan Kalman-Lamb @nkalamb.bsky.social · 6d

MSF staff are universally understood to be engaged in an essentially sacred form of work. For a state to nonetheless continuously murder them is a testament to a truly unthinkable degree of depravity.

msf.org/msf-denounce...

This morning, an attack carried out by Israeli forces killed Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) staff member, Omar Hayek, and seriously injured four others. The attack took place on a street where our teams were waiting to take a bus to the MSF field hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza.

All staff were wearing MSF vests, clearly identifying them as medical humanitarian workers.
We express deep sorrow and outrage over the killing, which occurs less than two weeks after another MSF colleague, Hussein Alnajjar, was killed by the Israeli forces, in Deir Al Balah.

Our thoughts are with Omar’s family and colleagues at this tragic time. Omar, 42 years old, is the fourteenth MSF colleague to be killed in Gaza since 7 October 2023.

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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 6d

This is a truly hopeful story on the data center front, and I hope folks will give this and our episode from last week a listen to understand the data center playbook and what is becoming a community organizing blueprint.

Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 6d

One city decided it didn’t want a data center and the community had about three weeks to organize. We talked with Dr. Mike Bogan from the University of Arizona about what went into Tucson’s efforts, including his role as a scientist, and learned A LOT www.watertalkpodcast.com/episodes/epi...

Episode 72: A Blueprint for Community Organizing around Data Centers — Water Talk

A conversation with Professor Michael Bogan (University of Arizona School of Natural Resources and the Environment) about data center water use, the concept of water neutral development, and community...

www.watertalkpodcast.com

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Reposted by Dylan Schwilk

John Warner @biblioracle.bsky.social · 7d

University of Texas leaping to the top of the rankings of higher ed institutions most eager to cozy up to the authoritarian, taking over the top spot from previous leader, Columbia University. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...

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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 7d

Let’s not forget the nectar-feeding bats! 🦇 Ipomoea ampullacea is a night-blooming, bat-pollinated species from western Mexico. 🦇 📷: Efraín Octavio Aguilar Pérez CCBYNC4 #Convolvulaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Night photo of a single white, short-tubed, trumpet-shaped flower with exserted stamens.

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Dylan Schwilk @schwilk.org · 7d

Thinking of y'all.

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Reposted by Dylan Schwilk

High Country News @highcountrynews.org · 7d

Who is furloughed, and who isn’t, remains uncertain, according to agency employees and observers interviewed by High Country News; it is not being carried out in an orderly or consistent fashion across the agency.

Shutdown causes ‘confusion’ across the Forest Service - High Country News

Prescribed burns are on hold during shutdown while logging continues.

buff.ly

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Reposted by Dylan Schwilk

Tim Steller @timsteller.bsky.social · 7d

The University of Arizona faculty are slamming the deal offered by the Trump administration and demanding that it be rejected.
tucson.com/news/local/e...

Faculty chair slams 'dirty compromises' White House asks of University of Arizona

White House asks the U of A and eight other universities to pledge support for President Trump's political priorities in return for priority access to federal funds.

tucson.com

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Dylan Schwilk @schwilk.org · 7d

I might be a total weirdo, but there is this one benefit.

Dylan Schwilk @schwilk.org · 7d

I had to sign in to office365/outlook/whatever recently while on a classroom computer and was immediately assaulted by intrusive "AI" help. I've never been so happy that I run linux for everything in the lab and use emacs and plain text for everything from lecture presentations to email.

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Bluesky mods aid genocide by banning Palestinians @pastures.myatproto.social · 8d

Whatever happens, this is more proof that if you want the world to be better you just have to make it so. Take a risk and put yourself in the situation you want to improve. Whether or not this flotilla reaches Gaza, there will need to be another even larger. I hope to God I can join it

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Dylan Schwilk @schwilk.org · 8d

Many vessels of the Samud flotilla still sailing in international waters despite ongoing piracy attempts. www.youtube.com/live/uEN2bWF...

24/7 LIVESTREAM OF GLOBAL SUMUD FLOTILLA

YouTube video by Global Sumud Flotilla

www.youtube.com

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Bluesky mods aid genocide by banning Palestinians @pastures.myatproto.social · 8d

Rima Hassan on the Captain Nikos is urging people to contact their political leadership and protest in the streets to put pressure on our governments for Gaza and the flotilla.

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Jack Mirkinson @jackmirkinson.bsky.social · 8d

Today in @thenation.com: Taqwa Ahmed Al-Wawi, a 19-year-old in Gaza, describes what it's like to be so scarred by genocide that you lose your very ability to speak.

Taqwa is brilliant and profound and deserves to be listened to. Please read her words. www.thenation.com/article/worl...

In my own life, it feels like there is a constant fog inside me. I often know what I want to say, but the words just don't come. My thoughts get tangled, and even when I try to speak, my voice falters or dies in my throat. Sometimes my body reacts too-my chest tightens, my hands shake, or I find myself frozen, unable to move forward. It's not just about grief or fear; it's the sensation of being muted from within. I feel as if my inner landscape has been shrouded in silence, and navigating even simple conversations or expressing my needs becomes exhausting. Every attempt to speak out loud feels like breaking through an invisible barrier, and the frustration of being trapped in my own mind is overwhelming.

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Dylan Schwilk @schwilk.org · 8d

Summary of discovery here. knightcolumbia.org/content/land...

Landmark Trial Ends, With Court’s Ruling to Come; Record Uncovers New Details on Ideological-Deportation Policy and Its Effects on Academic Life

knightcolumbia.org

Dylan Schwilk @schwilk.org · 8d

Worth reading the decision and summary of discovery in American Association of University Professors v. Rubio
knightcolumbia.org/documents/ah...

Opinion

knightcolumbia.org

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Reposted by Dylan Schwilk

Bluesky mods aid genocide by banning Palestinians @pastures.myatproto.social · 9d

They're getting close

globalsumudflotilla.org/tracker/

Sumud flotilla 150km NW of Port Said heading towards Gaza

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Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 9d

Adorable IG Babies of Gaza Page Is Now a Haunting War Memorial

A photography studio in Gaza—dedicated to creating portraits of newborn babies—is posting stunning images of the babies who have died in this war.

From Jan of 2024 on Yahia, who is no more. 💔

www.thedailybeast.com/baby-photogr...

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Andrew Hipp @andrewlhipp.bsky.social · 11d

Fascinating essay by @martinebotany.bsky.social on spiny solanums (tomato et al. relatives) as an example of all the important natural history research left to be done. Great observations on pollination and symbiosis... A very inspiring Sunday morning read!

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

The inherent values of observation and description: A case study in the spiny solanums of Australia

Click on the article title to read more.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Emma Whitford @emmawhitford.bsky.social · 9d

Texas Tech isn't the only university system handing down chilling, verbal-only directives banning discussions about transgender identity. If this is happening at your institution, I want to know about it--reach me on Signal at emmawhitford.96

www.insidehighered.com/node/192421/...

Texas Ban on Transgender Course Content Sows Chaos

Verbal-only policies prohibiting academic discussions of trans identity appear to be extending beyond the Texas Tech system and now include anti-trans curricular reviews.

www.insidehighered.com

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Steph likes the outdoors @dendromecon27.bsky.social · 11d

The continued lack of mainstream media coverage, or more important, analysis of whether this is legal, is driving me up a wall. Even political podcasts barely mention the impending lay offs or dig in to legality.

bsky.app/profile/dend...

Steph likes the outdoors @dendromecon27.bsky.social · 12d

Democrats are saying shutdown RIFs are illegal but what are they doing to prepare for that legal battle??? My guess is not a whole lot
federalnewsnetwork.com/government-s...

Feasibility of RIFs around a government shutdown called into question

Despite a White House directive on further RIFs, some questioned the ability for agencies to put together those plans just days before a government shutdown.

federalnewsnetwork.com

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