Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Chris Stokel-Walker @stokel.bsky.social · 10h

Tesla is reportedly struggling to make the hands on its Optimus humanoid robot work, pushing back audacious targets to scale up production. So why not just... avoid humanoid design? My latest for @fastcompany.com explains why it's not as simple as that www.fastcompany.com/91418249/do-...

Do robots dream of perfect hands?

Why we're so obsessed with giving robots human digits.

www.fastcompany.com

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Chris Stokel-Walker @stokel.bsky.social · 15h

It's that time of year again... @time.com's Best Inventions list is out, and I was honoured to contribute 34 entries to this year's roster. Have a read of the 300 inventions that made the cut here time.com/collections/...

The Best Inventions of 2025

Here are the 2025 best inventions making the world better, smarter, and more fun.

time.com

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Reposted by Chris Stokel-Walker

Rowan Hooper @rowhoop.bsky.social · 18h

Proof - if it was needed - that big energy firms are not investing in renewables and are unduly promoting their work on the energy transition - by @stokel.bsky.social www.newscientist.com/article/2499...

Top 250 oil and gas firms own just 1.5% of the world's renewable power

Despite public promises by many fossil fuel firms that they are investing in the green transition, it turns out that they have made little contribution to the growth of renewable energy

www.newscientist.com

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Chris Stokel-Walker @stokel.bsky.social · 19h

I'm running a @journoresources.org.uk event in November on how to use AI... carefully... in elements of the journalistic process like a first pass at finding contacts, managing overflowing email inboxes and more. Tickets are just a fiver ex VAT - sign up here www.tickettailor.com/events/journ...

Buy tickets – How To Use AI To Be An Efficient Journalist – Zoom

How To Use AI To Be An Efficient Journalist – Zoom, Thu 20 Nov 2025 - Have you felt intimidated by the uptake of AI in the media industry? Are you looking to downscale your fear and increase your conf...

www.tickettailor.com

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Chris Stokel-Walker @stokel.bsky.social · 21h

The world's biggest energy firms are responsible for less than 1.5% of renewables - something researchers suggest show their efforts are little more than marketing hype. My latest for @newscientist.com www.newscientist.com/article/2499...

Top 250 oil and gas firms own just 1.5% of the world's renewable power

Despite public promises by many fossil fuel firms that they are investing in the green transition, it turns out that they have made little contribution to the growth of renewable energy

www.newscientist.com

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Reposted by Chris Stokel-Walker

The Nerve @thenerve.news · 1d

Bernard Manning rides again: how TikTok and Instagram are promoting racist “jokes” to teens

Sketches from the 70s & 80s featuring slurs including the N word are going viral on social media, shared by millions and boosted by algorithms

@stokel.bsky.social reports

www.thenerve.news/p/bernard-ma...

Composite of Bernard Manning clips on social media with the title: Bernard Manning rides again: how TikTok and Instagram are promoting racist “jokes” to teens

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Chris Stokel-Walker @stokel.bsky.social · 1d

Bernard Manning was perhaps the most distasteful comedian of his time. TikTok and Instagram have hosted videos, seen by millions, calling people "P***" and "N*****". For @thenerve.news, I asked both why they were still hosted. They disappeared soon after. www.thenerve.news/p/bernard-ma...

Bernard Manning rides again: how TikTok and Instagram are promoting racist “jokes” to teens

Social media algorithms boosting N-word and P*k* jokes have been propelling racist comments into users’ feeds. One platform has deleted the videos after being approached by The Nerve

www.thenerve.news

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Chris Stokel-Walker @stokel.bsky.social · 2d

@stevenjcbuckley.bsky.social Hello - have DMd you!

Reposted by Chris Stokel-Walker

Jacob Aron @jjaron.bsky.social · 6d

Some cheerful news on a Friday afternoon www.newscientist.com/article/2498...

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Chris Stokel-Walker @stokel.bsky.social · 3d

The folks at @backmarketofficial.bsky.social asked me to look into which of the latest iPhones might be worth your money (and which aren't). Read my review here www.backmarket.co.uk/en-gb/c/ipho...

iPhone 17 Review – innovative or a let down? | Back Market

The highly anticipated new iPhone 17 generation from Apple has had plenty of hype—but is it really worth yet another upgrade?

www.backmarket.co.uk

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Chris Stokel-Walker @stokel.bsky.social · 6d

The widely held belief that happiness in life is shaped like a U-curve may be wrong, a new study I wrote up for @newscientist.com finds. Come for the info, stay for the slightly messy academic arguments www.newscientist.com/article/2498...

Your happiness in life may not be U-shaped - here's how it could vary

We thought happiness peaked at the beginning and end of life, but a study from Germany suggests a more pessimistic outlook for our later years

www.newscientist.com

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Reposted by Chris Stokel-Walker

Chris Stokel-Walker @stokel.bsky.social · 6d

We need to stop Sora and Meta Vibes before we're submerged in AI slop. My latest for @fastcompany.com featuring a clutch of experts www.fastcompany.com/91414236/ope...

We need to stop the slop of OpenAI's Sora and Meta's Vibes AI video apps before it's too late

The new slop that just dropped risks drowning us all in a sea of vibes-based garbage where 'the feeling behind the image is what's true.'

www.fastcompany.com

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Chris Stokel-Walker @stokel.bsky.social · 6d

This highlights the challenge of trying to surface interesting preprints as a journalist. If you're a researcher who does the sort of work I'd cover for New Scientist etc, please do email me your ideas. Otherwise I might not see them - even as I use an LLM to filter up interesting papers for me

Sung Kim @sungkim.bsky.social · 6d

I know people are submitting AI-generated papers and some are AI-assisted, but…

There were 26,646 new submissions to arXiv in September 2025.

Chris Stokel-Walker @stokel.bsky.social · 6d

We need to stop Sora and Meta Vibes before we're submerged in AI slop. My latest for @fastcompany.com featuring a clutch of experts www.fastcompany.com/91414236/ope...

We need to stop the slop of OpenAI's Sora and Meta's Vibes AI video apps before it's too late

The new slop that just dropped risks drowning us all in a sea of vibes-based garbage where 'the feeling behind the image is what's true.'

www.fastcompany.com

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Reposted by Chris Stokel-Walker

Chris Stokel-Walker @stokel.bsky.social · 12d

My latest for @inc.com looks at startups working to repurpose the waste heat from data centres www.inc.com/chris-stokel...

How Companies Are Repurposing Surplus Heat From Data Centers

Data centers generate a lot of heat, which usually goes to waste. These companies see that as an opportunity. But can they scale?

www.inc.com

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Reposted by Chris Stokel-Walker

Chris Stokel-Walker @stokel.bsky.social · 8d

For @nikkei.com Digital Governance, my report on the ground in Estonia about how the country's tech sector is responding to the threat of Russian incursions www.nikkei.com/prime/digita...

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Reposted by Chris Stokel-Walker

Chris Stokel-Walker @stokel.bsky.social · 8d

One of the downstream effects of ten-figure sums being spent on data centres by big tech companies could well be that the advertisers who buy ads through their platforms end up footing the bill. My latest for The Current on the ad industry's fears www.thecurrent.com/marketing-st...

10-figure bills for data centers ultimately leave advertisers on the hook | The Current

Ad market experts worry walled gardens may pass on costs in an ad market already lacking full transparency.

www.thecurrent.com

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Reposted by Chris Stokel-Walker

Chris Stokel-Walker @stokel.bsky.social · 7d

Earlier this year my grandad died after spending three months in hospital. He was there because he contracted delirium, an alarmingly common and worrying fatal disease (as bad as heart attacks). So for the @bmj.com I asked: why don't we talk about it? www.bmj.com/content/391/...

Why can’t we do anything about delirium?

Tens of thousands of NHS patients will develop delirium—and an alarming proportion die after the illness. Yet few people talk about it. Chris Stokel-Walker explores why My grandad had always said he ...

www.bmj.com

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Chris Stokel-Walker @stokel.bsky.social · 7d

Earlier this year my grandad died after spending three months in hospital. He was there because he contracted delirium, an alarmingly common and worrying fatal disease (as bad as heart attacks). So for the @bmj.com I asked: why don't we talk about it? www.bmj.com/content/391/...

Why can’t we do anything about delirium?

Tens of thousands of NHS patients will develop delirium—and an alarming proportion die after the illness. Yet few people talk about it. Chris Stokel-Walker explores why My grandad had always said he ...

www.bmj.com

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Chris Stokel-Walker @stokel.bsky.social · 8d

One of the downstream effects of ten-figure sums being spent on data centres by big tech companies could well be that the advertisers who buy ads through their platforms end up footing the bill. My latest for The Current on the ad industry's fears www.thecurrent.com/marketing-st...

10-figure bills for data centers ultimately leave advertisers on the hook | The Current

Ad market experts worry walled gardens may pass on costs in an ad market already lacking full transparency.

www.thecurrent.com

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Chris Stokel-Walker @stokel.bsky.social · 8d

For @nikkei.com Digital Governance, my report on the ground in Estonia about how the country's tech sector is responding to the threat of Russian incursions www.nikkei.com/prime/digita...

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Chris Stokel-Walker @stokel.bsky.social · 9d

Hi Philip, hope you're well - could I get a quick DM when you see this please? Writing about it for New Scientist and would love to include your thoughts. Thanks!

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Chris Stokel-Walker @stokel.bsky.social · 12d

My latest for @inc.com looks at startups working to repurpose the waste heat from data centres www.inc.com/chris-stokel...

How Companies Are Repurposing Surplus Heat From Data Centers

Data centers generate a lot of heat, which usually goes to waste. These companies see that as an opportunity. But can they scale?

www.inc.com

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Chris Stokel-Walker @stokel.bsky.social · 13d

What does the Intel-Nvidia deal mean for Intel, and can it reverse their downward trajectory and travails? My latest for @tomshardware.com digs in www.tomshardware.com/tech-industr...

The state of Intel: What the company's $5 billion deal with Nvidia could mean for the floundering chipmaker — Investments, capex, and the beating heart of x86

An eye-watering and mind-boggling deal saw computer chips’ new king supplant what used to be the old name in town – but what does it all mean for Intel?

www.tomshardware.com

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Chris Stokel-Walker @stokel.bsky.social · 13d

I co-bylined @theipaper.com's Big Read online today and in the paper tomorrow on the tension and defiance in the Baltics, including coverage from me on the ground in Tallinn inews.co.uk/news/world/f...

'Russia doesn't give a s**t': Fear and defiance in the Baltics as they face Putin

Putin is testing Nato’s eastern flank, raising fears of what comes next

inews.co.uk

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