Becca Bright
@becca-bright.bsky.social
This week is your last chance to buy Island Press books at 50% off. Ask me for holiday gift recommendations!
📢 BIG NEWS! Island Press is holding a #SimplyEverything sale! ALL our books are 50% off for ONE WEEK only! Find your next great read and save big! Use code HALF at checkout! 🌍📚 Islandpress.org/half
November 10, 2025 at 11:03 PM
This week is your last chance to buy Island Press books at 50% off. Ask me for holiday gift recommendations!
Reposted by Becca Bright
Some people think ChatGPT has a place writing things like news briefs, stuff written to a specific style and tone and, y'know, kinda boring.
So Science did a study.
ChatGPT failed.
Why? It got stuff wrong. "Also, extensive editing for hyperbole was needed." www.science.org/content/blog...
So Science did a study.
ChatGPT failed.
Why? It got stuff wrong. "Also, extensive editing for hyperbole was needed." www.science.org/content/blog...
Can ChatGPT help science writers?
www.science.org
September 22, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Some people think ChatGPT has a place writing things like news briefs, stuff written to a specific style and tone and, y'know, kinda boring.
So Science did a study.
ChatGPT failed.
Why? It got stuff wrong. "Also, extensive editing for hyperbole was needed." www.science.org/content/blog...
So Science did a study.
ChatGPT failed.
Why? It got stuff wrong. "Also, extensive editing for hyperbole was needed." www.science.org/content/blog...
Reposted by Becca Bright
Don't miss this stellar interview with Priyanka Kumar for her book - out on 9/25 - THE LIGHT BETWEEN APPLE TREES with Utah Public Radio "Access Utah" with Tom Williams. cc @islandpress.bsky.social 👋 @iammblankenship.bsky.social www.upr.org/show/access-...
Rediscovering the wild through a beloved American fruit on Access Utah
As a child in the foothills of the Himalayas, Priyanka Kumar was entranced by forest-like orchards of diverse and luscious fruit — especially apples.
www.upr.org
September 16, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Don't miss this stellar interview with Priyanka Kumar for her book - out on 9/25 - THE LIGHT BETWEEN APPLE TREES with Utah Public Radio "Access Utah" with Tom Williams. cc @islandpress.bsky.social 👋 @iammblankenship.bsky.social www.upr.org/show/access-...
Reposted by Becca Bright
Founded 180 years ago today, @sciam.bsky.social is the oldest continually published mag in the US. A fun history dive here to celebrate: 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/report/celeb...
If you think it’s cool a science mag holds the record, please consider subscribing to kick off our next 180 years.
If you think it’s cool a science mag holds the record, please consider subscribing to kick off our next 180 years.
Celebrating 180 Years of Scientific American
Since 1845, SciAm has chronicled the science shaping our world. Explore our legacy in this special anniversary package.
www.scientificamerican.com
August 28, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Founded 180 years ago today, @sciam.bsky.social is the oldest continually published mag in the US. A fun history dive here to celebrate: 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/report/celeb...
If you think it’s cool a science mag holds the record, please consider subscribing to kick off our next 180 years.
If you think it’s cool a science mag holds the record, please consider subscribing to kick off our next 180 years.
Reposted by Becca Bright
The Trump admin wrongly sent Kilmar Abrego Garcia to a horrific El Salvadoran prison.
Now, just days after he was reunited with his family, they’re trying to deny him his rights and deport him to Uganda.
Kilmar—like everyone—deserves a fair hearing to defend himself.
Now, just days after he was reunited with his family, they’re trying to deny him his rights and deport him to Uganda.
Kilmar—like everyone—deserves a fair hearing to defend himself.
August 25, 2025 at 1:52 PM
The Trump admin wrongly sent Kilmar Abrego Garcia to a horrific El Salvadoran prison.
Now, just days after he was reunited with his family, they’re trying to deny him his rights and deport him to Uganda.
Kilmar—like everyone—deserves a fair hearing to defend himself.
Now, just days after he was reunited with his family, they’re trying to deny him his rights and deport him to Uganda.
Kilmar—like everyone—deserves a fair hearing to defend himself.
On the bright side, the George Saunders short story about this is going to be incredible
Strong nominee for Worst Article of 2025 right here lads.
There’s a lot of competition for most dystopian tech headline of the day or week, but this is definitely a front runner.
August 6, 2025 at 7:07 PM
On the bright side, the George Saunders short story about this is going to be incredible
Reposted by Becca Bright
NEW: An Irish tourist visiting the US was jailed by ICE for 3 months after overstaying 3 days due to medical issue. Thomas agreed to be deported, but instead went to federal prison where he recounted horrific conditions + no medical care.
“Nobody's safe from the system if they get pulled into it"
“Nobody's safe from the system if they get pulled into it"
Irish tourist jailed by Ice for months after overstaying US visit by three days: ‘Nobody is safe’
Exclusive: For roughly 100 days, Thomas says he faced harsh detention conditions, despite agreeing to deportation
www.theguardian.com
July 15, 2025 at 6:41 PM
NEW: An Irish tourist visiting the US was jailed by ICE for 3 months after overstaying 3 days due to medical issue. Thomas agreed to be deported, but instead went to federal prison where he recounted horrific conditions + no medical care.
“Nobody's safe from the system if they get pulled into it"
“Nobody's safe from the system if they get pulled into it"
Reposted by Becca Bright
Beyond parody. Elon lines his pockets by equipping essential government agencies with AI that spits out anti-Semitic slop.
July 14, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Beyond parody. Elon lines his pockets by equipping essential government agencies with AI that spits out anti-Semitic slop.
Reposted by Becca Bright
You are cordially invited to our Anti-Prime Sale, where every purchase will financially support bookstores, NOT billionaires 🥳
July 8, 2025 at 2:05 PM
You are cordially invited to our Anti-Prime Sale, where every purchase will financially support bookstores, NOT billionaires 🥳
Reposted by Becca Bright
They are doing Defund The Police in reverse: Gutting the social safety net and giving unlimited power to a vast, violent gestapo to deal with the consequences.
With this vote, Congress makes ICE the highest-funded federal law enforcement agency in history, with more money per year at its disposal over the next four years than the budgets of the FBI, DEA, ATF, US Marshals, and Bureau of Prisons combined.
🚨🚨 NEW: House passes sprawling domestic policy bill, sending it to Trump's desk
Final House vote is 218-214, with TWO Rs voting no (Massie & Fitzpatrick).
Senate passed it 51-50.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...
Final House vote is 218-214, with TWO Rs voting no (Massie & Fitzpatrick).
Senate passed it 51-50.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...
July 3, 2025 at 7:09 PM
They are doing Defund The Police in reverse: Gutting the social safety net and giving unlimited power to a vast, violent gestapo to deal with the consequences.
Reposted by Becca Bright
I don’t think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ ICE.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
July 3, 2025 at 6:58 PM
I don’t think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ ICE.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
Reposted by Becca Bright
Worth putting it on the record here, though you probably already know it: “Alligator Alcatraz” is a concentration camp.
Hmm, let’s see… mass detention of civilians without trial or traditional legal protections on the basis of identity (race, religion, ethnicity, political affiliation) rather than any criminal act, often for an indefinite period and done principally to expand political power. Check.
July 1, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Worth putting it on the record here, though you probably already know it: “Alligator Alcatraz” is a concentration camp.
Reposted by Becca Bright
Trump's use of the military in LA is illegal—he said so himself. He wants violence and escalation, and doesn't care who gets hurt. He loves to emulate authoritarians, and the way he's doing that now is very dangerous. Everyone who cares about the rule of law should oppose it.
June 10, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Trump's use of the military in LA is illegal—he said so himself. He wants violence and escalation, and doesn't care who gets hurt. He loves to emulate authoritarians, and the way he's doing that now is very dangerous. Everyone who cares about the rule of law should oppose it.
Reposted by Becca Bright
ATTN: If you work at any Smithsonian and have any info regarding Trump’s action purporting to fire the head of the National Portrait Gallery (and any related actions), please reach out from a non-work phone. I’m at crg.32 on Signal.
May 30, 2025 at 7:09 PM
ATTN: If you work at any Smithsonian and have any info regarding Trump’s action purporting to fire the head of the National Portrait Gallery (and any related actions), please reach out from a non-work phone. I’m at crg.32 on Signal.
Reposted by Becca Bright
First comprehensive piece of coverage on the trans healthcare ban. Please share far and wide www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
Trump’s ‘One, big, beautiful bill’ would transgender care on Medicaid and Obamacare
‘It's one more example of health care that they're trying to rip away,’ Rep. Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender member of Congress, tells The Independent
www.independent.co.uk
May 22, 2025 at 2:31 PM
First comprehensive piece of coverage on the trans healthcare ban. Please share far and wide www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
Reposted by Becca Bright
Today on Volts: are we moving inexorably toward a "hydrogen economy"? No, says Joe Romm in his newly updated book. "Clean hydrogen" faces all the same limitations it always has, which will almost certainly confine it to expensive niche applications. Direct electrification is always preferable.
Taming the hydrogen hype
Team Electron takes on the hydrogen hype and its underlying motivations.
www.volts.wtf
May 14, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Today on Volts: are we moving inexorably toward a "hydrogen economy"? No, says Joe Romm in his newly updated book. "Clean hydrogen" faces all the same limitations it always has, which will almost certainly confine it to expensive niche applications. Direct electrification is always preferable.
Reposted by Becca Bright
If you want to hear the best arguments against hydrogen as a climate solution, this podcast is for you!
Today on Volts: are we moving inexorably toward a "hydrogen economy"? No, says Joe Romm in his newly updated book. "Clean hydrogen" faces all the same limitations it always has, which will almost certainly confine it to expensive niche applications. Direct electrification is always preferable.
Taming the hydrogen hype
Team Electron takes on the hydrogen hype and its underlying motivations.
www.volts.wtf
May 14, 2025 at 7:33 PM
If you want to hear the best arguments against hydrogen as a climate solution, this podcast is for you!
Reposted by Becca Bright
NEW from @nytimes.com: A bone-chilling account. A Venezuelan man detained alongside the 238 sent to El Salvador on March 15 seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth. His name isn't among the names of those sent to CECOT that day and no one spotted him among those men. He's just... gone.
April 22, 2025 at 1:13 PM
NEW from @nytimes.com: A bone-chilling account. A Venezuelan man detained alongside the 238 sent to El Salvador on March 15 seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth. His name isn't among the names of those sent to CECOT that day and no one spotted him among those men. He's just... gone.
Reposted by Becca Bright
I feel like we need to keep saying this because it’s so insane: This is a legal U.S. resident who has been detained for over a month now for his political opinions.
The Department of Homeland Security denied Mahmoud Khalil permission to attend the birth of his first child, who was delivered at a New York hospital on Monday, according to emails reviewed by The New York Times.
Mahmoud Khalil’s Son Arrives After ICE Refuses to Let Him Attend Birth
Mr. Khalil, a permanent resident detained in Louisiana, had requested a monitored furlough for the birth. His request was denied in less than an hour.
www.nytimes.com
April 22, 2025 at 1:28 AM
I feel like we need to keep saying this because it’s so insane: This is a legal U.S. resident who has been detained for over a month now for his political opinions.
Reposted by Becca Bright
The Justice Department spent the weekend defying a federal court, and this morning Trump and his top officials revealed that they will defy the Supreme Court, refusing to take ANY steps to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia back from El Salvador. We have passed the point of crisis: slate.com/news-and-pol...
April 14, 2025 at 5:24 PM
The Justice Department spent the weekend defying a federal court, and this morning Trump and his top officials revealed that they will defy the Supreme Court, refusing to take ANY steps to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia back from El Salvador. We have passed the point of crisis: slate.com/news-and-pol...
Reposted by Becca Bright
Colossal Bioscience did not revive dire wolves, despite a sensationalist Time Magazine cover story.
Making genetically modified animals that are cosplaying as extinct species is not de-extinction.
Making genetically modified animals that are cosplaying as extinct species is not de-extinction.
Dire wolves were not close relatives of gray wolves. They last shared a common ancestor more than 5 million years ago. What Colossal has done is make something new and slapped a dire wolf sticker on it, as if an organism equals a hypothetical genome.
Dire Wolves Were Not Really Wolves, New Genetic Clues Reveal
The extinct giant canids were a remarkable example of convergent evolution
www.scientificamerican.com
April 7, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Colossal Bioscience did not revive dire wolves, despite a sensationalist Time Magazine cover story.
Making genetically modified animals that are cosplaying as extinct species is not de-extinction.
Making genetically modified animals that are cosplaying as extinct species is not de-extinction.
Reposted by Becca Bright
Join us next week on 4/17 for a book event with PCSSM Senior Research Fellow Dr. Joe Romm who will be giving a talk on his complete revision of his 2004 book "The Hype About Hydrogen" with an introduction by @michaelemann.bsky.social.
Register here: web.sas.upenn.edu/pcssm/calend...
Register here: web.sas.upenn.edu/pcssm/calend...
April 8, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Join us next week on 4/17 for a book event with PCSSM Senior Research Fellow Dr. Joe Romm who will be giving a talk on his complete revision of his 2004 book "The Hype About Hydrogen" with an introduction by @michaelemann.bsky.social.
Register here: web.sas.upenn.edu/pcssm/calend...
Register here: web.sas.upenn.edu/pcssm/calend...
Reposted by Becca Bright
The Constitution is clear: the President can't arrest people he disagrees with.
By detaining Mahmoud Khalil — a legal permanent resident whose American wife is 8-months pregnant — Donald Trump seeks to undermine basic freedoms.
We must oppose this move toward authoritarianism.
By detaining Mahmoud Khalil — a legal permanent resident whose American wife is 8-months pregnant — Donald Trump seeks to undermine basic freedoms.
We must oppose this move toward authoritarianism.
March 17, 2025 at 7:24 PM
The Constitution is clear: the President can't arrest people he disagrees with.
By detaining Mahmoud Khalil — a legal permanent resident whose American wife is 8-months pregnant — Donald Trump seeks to undermine basic freedoms.
We must oppose this move toward authoritarianism.
By detaining Mahmoud Khalil — a legal permanent resident whose American wife is 8-months pregnant — Donald Trump seeks to undermine basic freedoms.
We must oppose this move toward authoritarianism.
Reposted by Becca Bright
KEEP CALLING. PEEL OFF ALL DEM SENATORS YOU CAN.
☎️: (202) 224-3121
Tell them to vote NO on Cloture and NO on CR. Vote is pushed to after 1:15ish for now. Situation is fluid.
The only public YES votes are Schumer and Fetterman. They need 7-8 total. KEEP CALLING.
Call retiring Senators too!
☎️: (202) 224-3121
Tell them to vote NO on Cloture and NO on CR. Vote is pushed to after 1:15ish for now. Situation is fluid.
The only public YES votes are Schumer and Fetterman. They need 7-8 total. KEEP CALLING.
Call retiring Senators too!
March 14, 2025 at 2:59 PM
KEEP CALLING. PEEL OFF ALL DEM SENATORS YOU CAN.
☎️: (202) 224-3121
Tell them to vote NO on Cloture and NO on CR. Vote is pushed to after 1:15ish for now. Situation is fluid.
The only public YES votes are Schumer and Fetterman. They need 7-8 total. KEEP CALLING.
Call retiring Senators too!
☎️: (202) 224-3121
Tell them to vote NO on Cloture and NO on CR. Vote is pushed to after 1:15ish for now. Situation is fluid.
The only public YES votes are Schumer and Fetterman. They need 7-8 total. KEEP CALLING.
Call retiring Senators too!
Reposted by Becca Bright
Free Mahmoud Khalil
March 11, 2025 at 12:40 AM
Free Mahmoud Khalil