Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Alex Ji @alexji.bsky.social · 30m

I’m no expert, but we did go from coding in binary -> assembly -> FORTRAN/C -> Java/C++ -> Python/R. At each step we traded raw efficiency(/energy cost) for user convenience. It does take different thinking and teaching/learning for each step. LLM coding seems like it will be the next step..

Terry McGlynn @hormiga.bsky.social · 2h

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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Reposted by Alex Ji

Melanie D’Arrigo @darrigomelanie.bsky.social · 1d

I feel like this photo of masked, armed men pepper spraying a pastor protecting his community is going to be a defining picture of this moment in America for a long, long time.

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Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 3d

We must now start calling this what it is: Trump’s Invasion. It started with federal agents, it will soon include deploying federalized members of the Illinois National Guard against our wishes, and it will now involve sending in another state’s military troops.

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Alex Ji @alexji.bsky.social · 7d

🫠🫠🫠

Reposted by Alex Ji

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 7d

"There's artificial intelligence, and then there's actual intelligence."

Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 7d

We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.

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Alex Ji @alexji.bsky.social · 8d

For those frantically trying to submit their Gemini proposals tonight, it’s broken:
www.gemini.edu/news/science...

Gemini Proposal Server Offline

A network outage in Chile has caused a loss of connectivity to our backend servers for proposals for 2026A. We do not know at this stage how long it will take to restore the service. We will update he...

www.gemini.edu

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Reposted by Alex Ji

Helen Czerski @helenczerski.bsky.social · 12d

In discussion with a computer scientist from the University of Cambridge last night:

Me: "you've described some of the things that AI is good at. How would you describe the category of things it's not good at?

**pause**

Him: "Anything where it has to be right".

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El Espectro 👻 🎃 @telescoper.bsky.social · 12d

R.I.P. George F. Smoot (1945-2025)

We will no doubt read many official obituaries in days to come, but all I can say is that he was a character, a very original thinker, a fine scientist, and a very nice man. Along with many others, I will miss him enormously.

R.I.P. George F. Smoot (1945-2025)

We will no doubt read many official obituaries in days to come, but all I can say is that he was a character, a very original thinker, a fine scientist, and a very nice man. Along with many others, I will miss him enormously.

telescoper.blog

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Alex Ji @alexji.bsky.social · 13d

😭

SMBC Comics @smbccomics.bsky.social · 14d

This print was added to our store by popular demand.

PRINT ◆ smbc-store.myshopify.com/products/aut...
ORIGINAL COMIC ◆ www.smbc-comics.com/comic/autism...

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Reposted by Alex Ji

Alex Ip 葉清霖 @alexip718.com · 13d

Here we go!

Over 13,000 H-1B workers have joined 200+ land-grant, sea-grant, and R1 research institutions so far this fiscal year.

I also found that public institutions in large, Republican states are disproportionately affected by Trump's $100,000 H1-B fee.

Find your state or your school:

The Xylom @thexylom.com · 13d

EXCLUSIVE: A new analysis by The Xylom's @alexip718.com shows for the first time just how much America’s top research institutions have grown to depend on H-1B skilled workers — and how this delicate balance might be disrupted by U.S. President Donald Trump’s crackdown on legal immigration.

The Most Detailed Maps of H-1B Visa Holders Joining America's Top Research Institutions

A new analysis by The Xylom shows for the first time just how much America’s top research institutions have grown to depend on the specialized knowledge of H-1B skilled workers — and how this…

www.thexylom.com

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Reposted by Alex Ji

Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · 13d

We're actually having trouble securing a spot in Chicago, our hometown :(

(This is mostly because it's such short notice, btw.)

Let us know if you're interested in screening Bad Pedophile and you have a big space in town: [email protected]

Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · 13d

Do you want to screen Jeffrey Epstein: Bad Pedophile in your town or city, unlike a cowardly major movie chain?

Email us at [email protected].

We'll allow you to screen it for free.

Yes, again, this is real.

Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · 13d

A very big Onion announcement:

The Onion has spent the last two months working on a masterpiece.

It's a documentary titled Jeffrey Epstein: Bad Pedophile.

It's so good, in fact, we were set to release it in theatres nationwide on October 2nd.

Then two weeks ago, Charlie Kirk was shot.

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Reposted by Alex Ji

James Davenport @jradavenport.com · 14d

Here is a review article I'm giving my students that Payne-Gaposchkin wrote a year before she died, where she reflects on what's been learned on variable stars in here career. She concludes: If I were beginning again, it is there [LMC/SMC] that I should search.

ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1978ARA%...

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Reposted by Alex Ji

chigeek.bsky.social @chigeek.bsky.social · 15d

The annual pumpkin display at the entrance of Governor Pritzker’s personal residence on Astor Street. He is the pumpkin king. Illinois produces the most pumpkins, including canned, than any other state in the U.S., twice as many as the next five states combined.

My photo taken last year of Governor J.B. Pritzker’s personal residence on Chicago’s Astor Street showcasing an impressive pumpkin and gourd display.

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Reposted by Alex Ji

Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 24d

Yesterday's piece from @jamellebouie.net is the only high-profile piece I've seen that specifically discusses the watchlist, its effect on academics, and its effect on public attitudes toward academia as a whole. (gift link)

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/13/o...

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LIGO Scientific Collaboration @ligo.org · 24d

A timeline of GW150914. A story that begins a billion years ago and ends with our first #GravitationalWave detection 10 years ago today

Discover more in the @ligomagazine.bsky.social ligo.org/wp-content/u...

#GW10Years ⚛️🧪🔭

Screenshot of the LIGO Magazine, showing a colorful numerical relativity simulation of GW150915 along with the headline "A perfect source: Timeline of GW150914".

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Reposted by Alex Ji

Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 27d

ARP! ARP! ARP! ☄️🔭 arxiv.org/abs/2509.09011

Interacting galaxies from the Arp-Madore catalog, viewed with the Hubble Space Telescope.

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Alex Ji @alexji.bsky.social · Sep 4

CAL-CITE CAL-CITE CAL-CITE

👻SAAAAAAAAHHHHHHvik Ford 🎃 @saavikford.bsky.social · Sep 4

This is NOT A DRILL! It’s time to vote for THE BEST MINERAL…

CALCITE!!!

Thanks to its birefringence, under the name Icelandic spar, it made a critical contribution to our understanding of the wave nature of light! It even appears in the title of Christiaan Huygens ‘Treatise on Light’. ⚛️

#MinCup25

Mineral Cup #MinCup25 @mineralcup.bsky.social · Sep 4

#MinCup25 Round 1 Match 4: This match of heavy hitters is bound to end in heartbreak as classic #calcite faces off against futuristic #perovskite.

We love them both, but only one can continue on to Round 2!

Vote: www.mineralcup.org/2025/vote/r1...
Results: www.mineralcup.org/2025/results...

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Reposted by Alex Ji

PHD Comics @phdcomics.com · Sep 2

The Path

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Reposted by Alex Ji

Rowina Nathan ✨ @pinkastrophysicist.bsky.social · Aug 26

The results of the 4th Gravitational Wave observing run are out! 👀 arxiv.org/abs/2508.18080, arxiv.org/abs/2508.18081, arxiv.org/abs/2508.18082, arxiv.org/abs/2508.18083, arxiv.org/abs/2508.18079

GWTC-4.0: An Introduction to Version 4.0 of the Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog

The Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog (GWTC) is a collection of short-duration (transient) gravitational wave signals identified by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration in gravitational-wave data pro...

arxiv.org

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Alex Ji @alexji.bsky.social · Aug 19

This is what I have always suspected…

Jennifer Ouellette @jenlucpiquant.bsky.social · Aug 19

This Famous Star Is a Total Fraud, Astronomers Say. Earendel may not just be a single star, but a whole group of them. gizmodo.com/the-farthest...

This Famous Star Is a Total Fraud, Astronomers Say

Earendel may not just be a single star, but a whole group of them.

gizmodo.com

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Reposted by Alex Ji

💀Adina Feinstein PhD 💀 @afeinstein20.bsky.social · Jul 30

this is due to a combination of (a) having a wayyy bigger than expected incoming class and (b) the state of federal funding

as much as it sucks, it's important to be transparent about where we stand. hopefully other departments will follow

Yvette Cendes @whereisyvette.bsky.social · Jul 30

Sign of the times- Michigan State, one of the biggest astronomy programs in the USA, is not accepting ANY applications for its graduate program this year 😖

🔭🧪🎢

Text detailing how MSU isn’t accepting grad applications for astronomy on their website

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Alex Ji @alexji.bsky.social · Aug 11

Wow we have already got 250k+ classifications with almost 1000 volunteers! I have to say it is much more satisfying than I expected to find the known objects, even when it turns out to be a simulated object. And then even better when you pick a good one and the “you found it” pop up doesn’t show up

Alex Ji @alexji.bsky.social · Aug 5

We’ve got a new zooniverse program called Dwarf Quest! Help us find members of our Milky Way’s galactic entourage in data from the Dark Energy Camera
www.zooniverse.org/projects/ywy...

Zooniverse

The Zooniverse is the world’s largest and most popular platform for people-powered research.

www.zooniverse.org

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Alex Ji @alexji.bsky.social · Aug 5

We’ve got a new zooniverse program called Dwarf Quest! Help us find members of our Milky Way’s galactic entourage in data from the Dark Energy Camera
www.zooniverse.org/projects/ywy...

Zooniverse

The Zooniverse is the world’s largest and most popular platform for people-powered research.

www.zooniverse.org

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Reposted by Alex Ji

Maytera Marble @mayteramarble.bsky.social · Aug 5

So you’re telling me the Wizard of Oz presented itself as a towering force of overwhelming technology, only to be unmasked as just some guy, off-screen?

Crimson Mayhem @crimsonmayhem.bsky.social · Aug 5

So apparently, it may turn out that The Wizard of Oz at the Las Vegas Sphere wasn’t entirely made in AI and Google threw the VFX crew under the bus by claiming it was all done by artificial intelligence.

If true, then fucking yikes.

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Reposted by Alex Ji

The Open Journal of Astrophysics @ojastro.bsky.social · Aug 5

New Publication at the Open Journal of Astrophysics: "Spectroscopic Analysis of Pictor II: a very low metallicity ultra-faint dwarf galaxy bound to the Large Magellanic Cloud" by Andrew Pace (U. Virginia, USA) and 32 others based in the USA, UK, Canada, Chile and Spain

doi.org/10.33232/001...

Spectroscopic Analysis of Pictor II: a very low metallicity ultra-faint dwarf galaxy bound to the Large Magellanic Cloud | Published in The Open Journal of Astrophysics

By Andrew B Pace, T. S. Li & 31 more. Magellan/IMACS and Magellan/MIKE spectroscopy of the ultra-faint dwarf (UFD) galaxy Pictor II, which is located only 12 kpc from the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC).

doi.org

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