Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Peter Tennant @pwgtennant.bsky.social · 2d

Just because an LLM can produce a report with various figures & charts doesn't mean it is good at statistics.

Because good statistics is not about producing code.

It's about deep knowledge of study design & conduct. In my opinion, 95% of all data science problems come from poor questions & design.

Terry McGlynn @hormiga.bsky.social · 2d

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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Ada Lovelace Institute @adalovelaceinst.bsky.social · 2d

📣Job alert: We're hiring a Public Services Research Lead!

This role will develop and lead the delivery of Ada’s work on public sector use of data and AI.

Closing: 09:30 GMT, 29 October 2025

www.adalovelaceinstitute.org/job/public-s...

Public Services Research Lead

The Ada Lovelace Institute is hiring a Public Services Research Lead to evaluate and shape UK public service decisions about the use of data and AI.

www.adalovelaceinstitute.org

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Lisa Diedrich @lisadiedrich.bsky.social · 4d

Stuart Hall took Thatcherism seriously & tried to understand its affective & aspirational appeal. Trumpism operates differently, as @cnewf.bsky.social notes, but the need to offer a cultural & political counter-strategy is key. I keep thinking about Hall’s adept use of new forms of media.

Matt Seybold @mattseybold.bsky.social · 4d

Great call to arms by @cnewf.bsky.social, following the tactic of Jed Esty's "Future of Decline" by looking to Stuart Hall & the New Left, & urging us to forego "private agency within our universities" in favor of "collective agency by running them."

Academics Must Seize the Means of Knowledge Production - Public Books

Trumpism has canceled the knowledge society.

www.publicbooks.org

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Paul T. Levin @paultlevin.bsky.social · 7d

““They dragged little Greta [Thunberg] by her hair before our eyes, beat her, and forced her to kiss the Israeli flag. They did everything imaginable to her, as a warning to others,” the Turkish activist ErsinÇelik, a participant in the Sumud flotilla, told Anadolu news agency.”+

Israel accused of detaining Greta Thunberg in infested cell and making her hold flags

Activist tells Swedish officials she has been subjected to harsh treatment, including insufficient food and water

www.theguardian.com

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Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 12d

Current wearables innovation is mainly invested in figuring out the right form factor to convince people to adopt an always on camera and mic.

Cutest AI Ever? This Wearable Kitten-Shaped Camera Won Me Over

The Looki L1 is a fascinating addition to the burgeoning landscape of AI wearables. Plus, you can buy one now for $199.

www.cnet.com

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Paul Waldman @paulwaldman.bsky.social · 12d

1. More Americans work at the Cheesecake Factory than in the entire coal industry, and that won't change. It's because of automation, not snooty libs.

2. Coal energy is now more expensive than wind and solar.

3. So this means: higher energy prices, more pollution, no jobs benefit. Genius!

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 12d

Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Fox: "We're announcing today expanded programs to help the American coal industry. We're helping it because for years it has been under assault. It was out of fashion with the chardonnay set in San Francisco, Boulder, and NYC ... coal just makes the world go round."

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Greg Davenport @gfazh.bsky.social · 12d

Yep since 2019 we’ve paid £10-£15k in visa fees including around £5k to the NHS during which time my wife had no access to public funds and was paying income tax and NI like everyone else. Stop pretending it isn’t already a massive rip off and overwhelmingly net positive for the country.

Dan Sohege @danielsohege.bsky.social · 12d

Migrants already "earn the right to settlement" through extortionate visa costs, which can run into tens of thousands of pounds. They prop up key services, including through the Immigration Health Surcharge.

Pushing the hostile environment on steroids helps no-one.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Mahmood demands migrants earn right to settlement in UK

New tests will include learning English to a high standard, paying National Insurance and not claiming benefits.

www.bbc.co.uk

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🇬🇾🗽Sydette The Dreaded Gorgon🗽🇬🇾 @blackamazon.bsky.social · 12d

Absolutely.

That’s how the media covers everything right now.

The aggressors are people

The victims are sad collateral.

The current administration and most of research is guided by people who share that model

Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 12d

I think the Trump admin assumed no one would try to find out who the people on the boats they blew up really were

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Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · 12d

About to be the family that owns TikTok.

Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 13d

Larry Ellison envisions a surveillance state in which techbros rule. '“Citizens will be on their best behavior, because we’re constantly recording and reporting everything that is going on,” Ellison said in an hour-long Q&A during Oracle’s Financial Analyst Meeting last week.'

Larry Ellison predicts rise of the modern surveillance state where ‘citizens will be on their best behavior’ | Fortune

Oracle's Larry Ellison believes citizens and police alike will be under constant surveillance of each other.

fortune.com

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Quite Uninteresting @quiteuninteresting.bsky.social · 17d

Really important piece by Roxane Gay: “Civility obsessives love a silver-tongued devil, wearing a nice suit, sporting a tidy haircut, while whispering sweet bigotries.” 🎁 link: @roxanegay.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/o...

Opinion | Civility Is a Fantasy

www.nytimes.com

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Zeerak Talat زیرک ظلعت (they/them) @zeerak.bsky.social · 12d

Lovely that Labour is following the strong Tory tradition of marching out some black or brown person for immigration related policies.

Love the “how could we be racist when a brown person agreed to it”

Athena Kugblenu @athenakugblenu.bsky.social · 12d

imagine being a consultant doctor here and having to go out litter picking to be given your citizenship lol

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Shabana Mahmood to demand migrants earn right to settled status

New tests will include learning English to a high standard, paying National Insurance and not claiming benefits.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Kasia @scullingmonkey.bsky.social · 12d

Learning English to a high standard is important, for example the meaning of “to volunteer”

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Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 12d

Just fuck off with this. How about start the conversation by highlighting how much immigrants contribute to the UK - not least by propping up the NHS and social care system!

Also - forced volunteering is not volunteering, it's unpaid labour.

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Zeerak Talat زیرک ظلعت (they/them) @zeerak.bsky.social · 12d

I think it’s time for me to bundle Labour in with the other right wing parties (ie the tories and reform).

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Zeerak Talat زیرک ظلعت (they/them) @zeerak.bsky.social · 12d

And the reasoning of the politicians is the same: they don’t care about the state of the country, they care about their own egos and being voted in.

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Zeerak Talat زیرک ظلعت (they/them) @zeerak.bsky.social · 12d

It’s so sad/funny. Labour is doing exactly what the social democrats in Denmark did 20-30 years ago. Invoking the same strawmen, supporting similar policies, alienating the same voting base, and shifting the country to the right.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 12d

Supporting Reform’s ‘racist policy’ does not make voters racist, says Rachel Reeves – UK politics live

Chancellor backs Keir Starmer’s statement that policy to end indefinite leave to remain is racist, but says many Reform supporters would be ‘horrified’ by it

www.theguardian.com

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Paul Bernal @paulbernal.bsky.social · 12d

Well, yes it does.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 12d

Supporting Reform’s ‘racist policy’ does not make voters racist, says Rachel Reeves – UK politics live

Chancellor backs Keir Starmer’s statement that policy to end indefinite leave to remain is racist, but says many Reform supporters would be ‘horrified’ by it

www.theguardian.com

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Mignon Fogarty @grammargirl.bsky.social · 14d

This is the most complete information I've seen about the Anthropic copyright settlement — dates of when things are likely to happen, what to do now, and what it all means for different types of writers. nwu.org/anthropic/

Settlement of AI lawsuit gets tentative approval; some writers will get paid, but mostly only if they make claims | NWU

On September 25, 2025, Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California gave preliminary (tentative) approval to a proposed $1.5 billion settlement of some of the...

nwu.org

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Matthew Holehouse @matthewholehouse.bsky.social · 15d

Rachel Reeves, at IPPR, says the idea of the populist right that foreign workers depress domestic workers’ wages is simplistic and wrong…

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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 14d

We have 20 years of UK evidence that says Rachel Reeves is correct about this.

Deeply depressing that some in government (let alone other parties) seem incapable of grasping it.

migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/br....

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EssayWells @essaywells.bsky.social · Sep 10

Why is the whole AI thing always about grassroots resistance and top-down treachery :(

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Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 14d

I wonder if this guy is related to "Boris Johnson" who introduced "voter id" as Prime Minister in 2023 ... off the back of some crazy US conspiracy theories ... and in the process, made digital ID pretty much inevitable.

Johnson says he will never use government ID

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Iris van Rooij 💭 @irisvanrooij.bsky.social · 14d

There is absolutely no good faith reason to use the term “AI” for any technology one is selling.

It serves only for dazzling people into thinking the technology has capabilities that it doesn’t.

If one wants a technology to be trustworthy, just use a transparent, informative term without hype.

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Angry @angrystaffer.bsky.social · 15d

Trump just signed a an EO that allows the full power or the federal government to go after extremist groups.

Stephen Miller predictably went on a rant about Antifa, but not a *single* reporter asked if they’d be going after right wing extremists too.

Shameful.

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Kaius ⛔ Hyena VTuber @ DAKI OUT NOW @kaius.bsky.social · 16d

huge news but the fight isn't over as they're still maintaining a relationship with the IDF outside of this service being pulled, but this is legitimate living proof that the BDS boycotts get results

Julia Carrie Wong @joolia.bsky.social · 16d

Microsoft will no longer allow Israel to use its cloud services to enable its mass surveillance of occupied Palestinians – "the first known case of a US technology company withdrawing services provided to the Israeli military since the beginning of its war on Gaza"

Microsoft blocks Israel’s use of its technology in mass surveillance of Palestinians

Exclusive: Tech firm ends military unit’s access to AI and data services after Guardian reveals secret spy project

www.theguardian.com

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