Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Dr. Adeene Denton

Dylan Flesch @dylanflesch.bsky.social · 48m

Happy #BannedBooksWeek. If you love libraries and hate censorship, I'd encourage you to do more than just read a banned book this week. Here are a few ideas:
1. Get involved in your local public library board
2. Join or start a friends group
3. Organize a people's assembly for your public library

1 50 95

Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 4h

Folks, I am very overwhelmed right now!! If you need something from me, it had better be a crisp high five because that's all the energy I've got. If you catch me at the right moment I might be able to give you a high five AND a down low.... maybe

9

Reposted by Dr. Adeene Denton

Remi Kanazi @remikanazi.bsky.social · 7h

If a ceasefire holds, you boycott Israel HARDER, you divest, you push for sanctions. You don't perform for apartheid. You don't whitewash genocide. You don't pretend like Israel isn't still a violent occupier stealing land and collectively punishing Palestinians daily

9 230 500

Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 6h

Folks, this song has the juice

2 6

Reposted by Dr. Adeene Denton

Jennifer Ouellette @jenlucpiquant.bsky.social · 14h

One NASA science mission saved from Trump’s cuts, but others still in limbo arstechnica.com/space/2025/1...

One NASA science mission saved from Trump’s cuts, but others still in limbo

“Damage is being done already. Even if funding is reinstated, we have already lost people.”…

arstechnica.com

10 22

Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 10h

Actually, I have a LOT of work to do today so I'm going to see if this strat still works when I'm 31 instead of 23

Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 11h

I wrote the last chapter of my master's thesis in five hours while listening solely to Rubberband Man by the Spinners on repeat. It was a glorious moment of pure flow state, and I actually kind of recommend doing something like that at least once to surprise yourself with your own abilities!

Dane 🔜 NYCC AA L-34 @monkeyminion.com · 23h

I wrote a 15 page report on heraldic symbolism in medieval armor and weapon design for my art history class the night before it was due (8am class). Made up 90% of it (only found one book for reference) and got an A. GenAI could fucking never.

1 7

Reposted by Dr. Adeene Denton

Ted McCormick @tedmccormick.bsky.social · 14h

A striking thing about articles I’ve read claiming to “study the effects” of generative AI on student writing skills and consumption of information is that (1) they nearly always find the effects are negative and (2) most “conclusions” are still written assuming that we must use AI, for some reason.

20 480 1.4K

Reposted by Dr. Adeene Denton

Ted McCormick @tedmccormick.bsky.social · 13h

Generative AI, in both form and content, and whether looked on favourably or critically, seems to embody a collective hopelessness about the prospect of human learning and creativity, if not human knowledge altogether. It’s as if climate change had fans.

11 200 820

Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 10h

Thanksgiving virtual dance party sounds awesome!

1

Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 11h

It's so good that just thinking about it to write these posts has me listening to it again

1

Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 11h

Also, credit to The Spinners because even after listening to it probably over 100 times, I still love Rubberband Man

3 10

Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 11h

I wrote the last chapter of my master's thesis in five hours while listening solely to Rubberband Man by the Spinners on repeat. It was a glorious moment of pure flow state, and I actually kind of recommend doing something like that at least once to surprise yourself with your own abilities!

Dane 🔜 NYCC AA L-34 @monkeyminion.com · 23h

I wrote a 15 page report on heraldic symbolism in medieval armor and weapon design for my art history class the night before it was due (8am class). Made up 90% of it (only found one book for reference) and got an A. GenAI could fucking never.

wrote 20 pages on Faulkner's The Bear four hours before final papers were due on trucker pills and coffee and cigarettes and got an A, fuck you.
You people couldn't hang with real slackers.
finn
wokeupchic • 4d
It's fuck Al till your homework due in 25 minutes

1 1 11

Reposted by Dr. Adeene Denton

Prof Gavin Yamey @gavinyamey.bsky.social · 14h

“A study, published on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that last season’s 2024–2025 mRNA COVID vaccines reduced people’s risk of emergency department visits by 29%, their risk of hospitalizations by 39% & their risk of death by 64%”

Benefits were seen even if 0 risk factors

Soren Larsen (SEGL) @sorenlarsen.bsky.social · 16h

Annual COVID Vaccines Protect People against Severe Disease, Even with Prior Immunity

"The new research also “calls into question the idea that younger individuals and those without risk factors don’t need the vaccine,” Viswanathan says."

Annual COVID Vaccines Save Lives, New Study Shows

A new study shows that receiving an updated COVID vaccine reduced people’s risk of severe disease and death in all age groups, regardless of immunity from prior infection or vaccination

www.scientificamerican.com

7 260 550

Reposted by Dr. Adeene Denton

David “Big Daddy (nonsexual)” Precht @davidprecht.bsky.social · 1d

Every ceasefire the IDF fire never ceases

Al Jazeera English @aljazeera.com · 1d

BREAKING: Israeli war planes continue to launch raids on Gaza City as Palestinians celebrate the ceasefire announcement, according to an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent on the ground.

🔴 LIVE update: aje.io/xqppys

1 75 120

Reposted by Dr. Adeene Denton

Blue sky nice guy @rajandelman.bsky.social · 1d

The world is profoundly evil and you have to keep on truckin'

7 64 340

Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 1d

Ahhhhhhhh my favorite Pratchett!!

1

Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 1d

And we are live! Check out some chill new alt releases: 1190.radio

1 3

Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 1d

If you’re having a hard time this week, so am I! I’ve made a soft and easy show for you this week on The Search for Planet 9, my radio show that’s coming up at 9 am PT/12 pm ET 😊 listen here: 1190.radio

KVCU Radio 1190 – 1190 AM Boulder & 92.9 FM Denver

1190.radio

1

Reposted by Dr. Adeene Denton

Kea Wilson @keawilson.bsky.social · 2d

Thrilled that someone finally made a documentary about the rail trail movement that treats that history for what it is: a fascinating and shockingly controversial story about the right to public space, which is every bit as epic as the battle against the highway movement (which sometimes overlaps).

The Shocking Untold History of America's Rails-to-Trails Movement — Streetsblog USA

Some of the fiercest battles for the future of public space in America have happened on abandoned railway corridors — and the battles aren't over yet.

usa.streetsblog.org

3 20 76

Reposted by Dr. Adeene Denton

Dr. Divya 🇵🇸🧿 (offline) @divyampersaud.com · 1d

Please share: now 12 hours to go on today’s giving circle drive—daily because the needs are escalating, so WE escalate.

Nya’s family is mostly kids, and they’re malnourished; it’s still a famine. YOU can help them eat. Not hopeless. Give/find her link here—10/500 chuffed.org/project/hope...

A pink banner titled “Keep hope alive: a Gaza giving circle,” with the text: “We are a team of volunteers in the US and UK helping our friends on the ground keep their families and neighbors alive with food, water, & shelter. More than ever, they need our sustainable support.” On the right is an ink sketch of a crouching falcon, below which says “click weekly to join: https://tinyurl.com/HopeGivingCircle,” underlined with green colored pencil. The background has a watercolor effect.

1 9 6

Reposted by Dr. Adeene Denton

Preorder Read This When Things Fall Apart @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 1d

"There just isn’t enough time. There’s only what we manage to make of it—what we build, what we protect, what we remember to carry to the car. The gas mask. The snacks. The question we forgot to ask. The name of the person taken." My latest.

The Emergency Is the Atmosphere

“It’s meant to exhaust us. It’s meant to destroy us."

organizingmythoughts.org

13 250 630

Reposted by Dr. Adeene Denton

Sarah J. Jackson @sjjphd.bsky.social · 2d

Discussing this phenomenon w/ a group of profs. Someone morbidly joked, “& northern profs are fleeing the country.” The next person said…”even if we were all willing & able to abandon this place there are not enough jobs for us globally and the U.S. employs a huge # of international scholars too.”

‘Fear and hopelessness’: study finds one in four professors consider leaving US south

Survey by American Association of Professors shows nearly quarter of respondents are switching due to states’s politics

www.theguardian.com

16 140 490

Reposted by Dr. Adeene Denton

Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 2d

Tuesday mood:

A panel from Delicious in Dungeon (also called Dungeon Meshi) of the cat girl Izutsumi. She is staring off into space, thinking in a frustrated way as the wind blows past her. Her thoughts form the text of the panel: I can't see the people I like when I want to see them. If I only eat the things I like, it'll be bad for my health. Not to mention that if I only do things I like, I won't even be able to eat at all.

1 1 8

Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 2d

Spark Space is doing critically needed work in their community, and anyone focused on local education efforts and student safety should think hard about how they can chip in to support them. This is the on-the-ground work we need to be uplifting right now!

Dr. Divya 🇵🇸🧿 (offline) @divyampersaud.com · 2d

I don’t care about being correct. If you care about digital rights, this is a volunteer-run tech space supporting dozens of kids for their exams this week. In Gaza City. Which is being invaded.

They rely on us to cover fuel costs for their generator. Chip in: chuffed.org/project/spark-space-gaza

🇵🇸 Gaza Needs Your Support: Help Build a Lifeline for Students and Remote Workers!

In Gaza, war has destroyed homes, blocked roads, and left countless people without work. Yet, amidst the rubble, hope remains. Students and remote workers face daily struggles—power outages, broken in...

chuffed.org

2 1

Reposted by Dr. Adeene Denton

Sídhe Press @sidhepress.bsky.social · 2d

We are back with our next reading! Please join us on 2 November, 7 pm GMT on Zoom. More infos about the fundraisers we are reading for & tickets in the link & in our bio. #WeKeepTelling
buytickets.at/sdhepress/18...
@workshops4gaza.bsky.social @divyampersaud.com

Title: “We Keep Telling: a reading series for Gaza.” Text: “Online on Zoom. 2 November, 7pm GMT, tinyurl.com/wekeeptelling.” In the background is a painting of a dancing Palestinian woman in a white, short-sleeved thobe with red tatreez and a keffiyeh tied around her waist. Her long black hair is swirling around her and covering her face. A dove stands on one of her outstretched hands, and another dove dances around her other hand. In the lower left, the painting is signed “Marah.”

10 10