Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Soh Kam Yung @sohkamyung.bsky.social · 5h

The caterpillar of a Fruit-piercing Moths (genus Eudocima) spotted at Thomson Nature Park, Singapore on 5 Oct 2025. A close-up look reveals subtle colour patterns

On iNaturalist [ www.inaturalist.org/observations... ].

#iNaturalist #Nature #Photography #Singapore #Insects #Moths #Lepidoptera

A dark grey caterpillar on a twig. It is holding its tail in the air. The front part of the body is bent double so that the head is near the middle of the body. A rainbow like sheen can be seen on the side of the body.

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Reposted by Soh Kam Yung

James Davis Nicoll @jdnicoll.bsky.social · 5h

The Cool War by Frederik Pohl

A hapless minister is drafted into international intrigue.

jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/just-...

Just Another Day in Paradise

Frederick Pohl’s 1981 The Cool War is a near-future stand-alone science fiction fix-up. Many Americans chafe at the endless energy shortages, rampant crime, spiralling bigotry, and endless crises they...

jamesdavisnicoll.com

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Soh Kam Yung @sohkamyung.bsky.social · 6h

"As the Earth moves through space, it wobbles. Researchers in Germany have now directly observed this wobble with the highest precision yet thanks to a large ring laser gyroscope they developed for this purpose."

#Physics #Gravity #Sensors

Optical gyroscope detects Earth's rotation with the highest precision yet – Physics World

With further improvements, the instrument could enable direct tests of relativistic effects

physicsworld.com

Soh Kam Yung @sohkamyung.bsky.social · 6h

"Just before flying, the earwig unfurls the hindwings, and all the tightly packed creases elegantly open as thin, delicate wings stretching out to more than 10 times their folded size. The process takes place without the use of muscles."

#Origami #Nature #Biology #Biomechanics

Animal origami: The physics of nature’s folds

Insects that tuck away wings; a protist with an accordion-like neck — studying these clever creases may inspire foldable structures for drones

knowablemagazine.org

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Soh Kam Yung @sohkamyung.bsky.social · 6h

iNaturalist now has options to flag artificially generated content.

"iNaturalist has introduced a new flag for artificially generated content, and a new Data Quality Assessment metric for evidence that is has been edited in a way to make it inaccurate"

#iNaturalist

New tools to flag and assess evidence on iNaturalist

Main points: Media attached to iNaturalist Observations are evidence and should be accurate It’s easier than ever to now generate realistic-seeming but inaccurate evidence iNaturalist has introduced a...

www.inaturalist.org

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Soh Kam Yung @sohkamyung.bsky.social · 6h

"Edited by geoscientists Max Wisshak and Hazel A. Barton, it combines a mouth-watering photographic portfolio with a series of informative essays to share this cave’s spectacular beauty with the wider world."

#Caves #Reviews #Lechuguilla #Books

Book review – Lechuguilla Cave: Discoveries in a Hidden Splendor

Lechuguilla Cave features otherworldly photos and high production values, providing an unforgettable trip into one of the world’s most extraordinary caves.

inquisitivebiologist.com

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Hannah @wilderhomestead.bsky.social · 1d

25/10 sp last night, even with good conditions (cloud cover and mild). 4 Merv’s bumped the numbers up, Dark Sword Grass, Barred Sallow, Red-Green Carpet and Brown Spot Pinion creeping the new garden list up to 20. North Herefordshire #TeamMoth

Two of the 4 Merveille du Jour caught last night in the moth trap. North Herefordshire SO24

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Soh Kam Yung @sohkamyung.bsky.social · 9h

"Boyanov and colleagues tackle the following questions: Under what conditions do viscous compact objects such as neutron stars reflect or absorb gravitational waves? And to what extent do these interactions mimic those of black holes?"

#Physics #AstroPhysics #NeutronStars #GravitationalWaves

Viscous Stars Can Reflect Gravitational Waves like Black Holes Do

A neutron star’s viscosity determines how the star interacts with gravitational waves, a behavior that could be useful to the study of neutron-star interiors.

physics.aps.org

Reposted by Soh Kam Yung

Andy Brunning @andy.compoundchem.com · 21h

My self-imposed #scicomm challenge of putting together an infographic in a few hours on the Nobel Prize in Chemistry is concluded for another year!

Compound Interest | Chemistry infographics @compoundchem.com · 21h

The 2025 #NobelPrize in Chemistry was awarded today for the development of metal-organic frameworks, molecular sponges with applications in gas storage, water purification and more: www.compoundchem.com/2025/10/08/2...

#ChemSky 🧪

Infographic on the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, awarded to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, and Omar M. Yaghi for the development of metal-organic frameworks. The infographic explains that metal-organic frameworks are molecular sponges built up from metal ions and organic compounds that act as linkers. Small molecules such as gases can move into and out of cavities in these frameworks. The graphic highlights some of the MOFs the laureates have developed and concludes by looking at possible future uses of MOFs, including gas storage and extracting water from air.

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Veeloxxy Bites @the-episiarch.bsky.social · 14h

⚡Shocking truth⚡ about fish lice:
I've written a post about Dolops discoidalis, a species of fish louse which also happens to be the first ectoparasite to be documented from the electric eel 🧪
#Invertebrate
dailyparasite.blogspot.com/2025/10/dolo...

<i>Dolops discoidalis</i>

The electric eel , also known as poraquê , is a formidable animal. Not only is it capable of stunning its prey with an electrifying shock, ...

dailyparasite.blogspot.com

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Soh Kam Yung @sohkamyung.bsky.social · 13h

The pincers are also used while feeding.

An example: www.inaturalist.org/observations...

Genus Paratemnoides

Paratemnoides from Yio Chu Kang, Singapore on December 22, 2024 at 10:44 AM by Soh Kam Yung

www.inaturalist.org

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Aussie Moths @wa-moths.bsky.social · 1d

From @theconversation.com - What’s the difference between moths and butterflies?

#mothsmatter #ausinverts #wildoz #Lepidoptera
theconversation.com/whats-the-di...

What’s the difference between moths and butterflies? Look at their antennae

With the warmer weather come more of these fluttering insects – which can be easily confused with each other.

theconversation.com

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Reposted by Soh Kam Yung

Veeloxxy Bites @the-episiarch.bsky.social · 1d

Tired: Labubus
Wired: Labouls
Laboulbeniales are a group of fungi that live on the carapace of insects. One species - Rickia wasmannii - lives on ants, and they make their host less aggressive, especially towards other laboul-infect ants
#Invertebrate
dailyparasite.blogspot.com/2023/04/rick...

<i>Rickia wasmannii </i>

Rickia wasmannii is a fungus that lives on ants, and when it comes to ants and fungi most people usually think of Ophiocordyceps , i.e. the...

dailyparasite.blogspot.com

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Reposted by Soh Kam Yung

Darren Naish @tetzoo.bsky.social · 1d

Sloth World, Part 1! There are a LOT of sloths, let's look at some recent developments... tetzoo.com/blog/2025/10... #mammals #fossils #xenarthrans

Sloth World, 2025 (Part 1) — Tetrapod Zoology

Like me, you are no doubt a big fan of sloths...

tetzoo.com

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Reposted by Soh Kam Yung

Colin Purrington @colinpurrington.bsky.social · 1d

Scooped scarab (Onthophagus hecate) that I found inside a rotting walnut fruit. They also like dung and carrion (don't judge). #beetles #coleoptera #insects #scarabaeidae

Black, rotund, armored beetle that has a rounded, spatula-like extension on its head. It's crawling on the rubberized grip on my gardening gloves.

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Reposted by Soh Kam Yung

Tolkien Society @tolkiensociety.org · 23h

On 8 October 2015: The Art of The Lord of the Rings was published.

Edited by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull, this books gives a valuable insight into J.R.R. #Tolkien as an artist and features nearly 200 sketches, drawings, maps and paintings by J.R.R. Tolkien. An essential purchase. #BookSky

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D. Allan Drummond @dadrummond.art · 1d

Loving the burst of pseudoscorpion posts! Gave this grabby guy some bristles and a bit more attitude 😈 (remember in reality they’re like sesame seeds with attitude) #arachtober

A gray resin sculpture of a pseudoscorpion, sitting in my open hand against a white background.

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Soh Kam Yung @sohkamyung.bsky.social · 19h

No idea. It has been identified as belonging to subfamily Cryptinae by others.

The linked iNat observation for the wasp is at www.inaturalist.org/observations... . You are welcome to suggest an ID.

Subfamily Cryptinae

Cryptinae from Central Water Catchment, Singapore on July 18, 2021 at 11:55 AM by Soh Kam Yung. This observation is for the wasp

www.inaturalist.org

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Soh Kam Yung @sohkamyung.bsky.social · 1d

My first pseudoscorpion observation was pure luck. Happen to see this wasp and took a shot. It was only later did I see what was hanging on the antenna.

On iNaturalist [ www.inaturalist.org/observations... ]

A brown pseudoscopion hanging on to the antenna of a wasp. The wasp is yellow with black stripes and transparent wings.

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Soh Kam Yung @sohkamyung.bsky.social · 1d

"Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi are awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2025 for the development of a new type of molecular architecture."

#NobelPrize2025 #Chemistry #Materials

Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2025

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2025 was awarded jointly to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi "for the development of metal–organic frameworks"

www.nobelprize.org

Reposted by Soh Kam Yung

Locus Magazine @locusmag.bsky.social · 1d

Alexandra Pierce reviews THE YEAR’S TOP HARD SCIENCE FICTION STORIES 9 edited by @infinivoxsf.bsky.social: “The stories are genuinely varied, every one deserved to be there, and I discovered some authors I had not previously encountered.”

The Year’s Top Hard Science Fiction Stories 9 edited by Allan Kaster: Review by Alexandra Pierce

The Year’s Top Hard Science Fiction Stories 9, Allan Kaster, ed. (Infinivox 978-1-88461-282-4 $19.99, 316pp, tp) June 2025. Cover by Maurizio Manzieri. The latest Year’s Top Hard Science Fiction St…

locusmag.com

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Corey S. Powell @coreyspowell.bsky.social · 1d

Amazing: Comet ATLAS formed some 8 billion years ago. It made about 3 dozen circuits around our galaxy. It entered our our solar system & just passed 30 million kilometers from Mars...

...where ESA's ExoMars orbiter captured these images of the interstellar comet! 🧪🔭

www.esa.int/Science_Expl...

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Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 1d

A textbook image I did a few years ago showing a trap-jaw ant (Odontomachus rixosus) with her mandibles held open and trigger hairs forward, and then in the closed position.

The snapping shut of the trap is one of the fastest measured animal movements.

A split-screen image showing (top) a face view of an elongated ant standing on a reflective surfave, facing us with toothy brown jaws held 180 degrees open, and (bottom), the same ant with jaws closed, the bluntly toothed tips held together.

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WeRateDogs @weratedogs.com · 2d

This is Eeyore. He led a sheriff's deputy to his grandma after she fell during their walk. We are awarding him the incredibly rare 15/10 (FB: OkaloosaSheriff)

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Soh Kam Yung @sohkamyung.bsky.social · 2d

A Copper-cheeked Frog (Chalcorana labialis) spotted at Lower Peirce Reservoir Park, Singapore on 5 Oct 2025, resting on a tree trunk above a stream.

On iNaturalist [ www.inaturalist.org/observations... ].

#iNaturalist #Nature #Photography #Singapore #Amphibians #Amphibia #Frogs #Anura

A green frog resting on a tree trunk. It has a white lip, with a copper patch located behind the eye.

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