Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Brian Umberger

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 4h

Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE

nyti.ms

41 710 1.6K

Reposted by Brian Umberger

Laura Helmuth @laurahelmuth.bsky.social · 15h

Six of the nine Nobel Prize winners this year work in the U.S.
Three of the six were born outside the U.S., which is the pattern most years. No country has benefited more from welcoming immigrants from around the world.
www.nobelprize.org

The official website of the Nobel Prize - NobelPrize.org

The Nobel Prize rewards science, humanism and peace efforts. This is one of the central concepts in the will of Alfred Nobel, and it also permeates the outreach activities that have been developed for...

www.nobelprize.org

24 430 1.1K

Brian Umberger @brianumberger.bsky.social · 2d

No matter what comes after the … in this headline, I’ll pass 👎

Screencap of a headline that reads “OpenAI wants to make ChatGTP into a universal … “

2

Reposted by Brian Umberger

Compound Interest | Chemistry infographics @compoundchem.com · 2d

We're firmly into autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, so it's once again time to share one of my favourite chemistry infographics on the kaleidoscope of chemical colours found in autumn leaves! 🍂
www.compoundchem.com/2014/09/11/a...

#ChemSky 🧪

Infographic on the chemistry of the colours of autumn leaves. Green is caused by chlorophyll, carotenoids and flavonoids give yellows, and oranges come from carotenoids, which also contribute to reds along with anthocyanins.

1 54 140

Brian Umberger @brianumberger.bsky.social · 3d

The Onion, anatomy edition 🦴🩻💀

The Onion @theonion.com · 3d

New Study Shows That Bones Are Incredibly Cool

2

Reposted by Brian Umberger

SfN Journals @sfnjournals.bsky.social · 8d

#JNeurosci: Kashefi et al. dissociate between the “what” and “how” components of motor sequence learning and provides evidence for the development of motoric sequence representations that guide optimal movement execution.
https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0299-25.2025

7 13

Brian Umberger @brianumberger.bsky.social · 4d

Will do! I hope the new setting is a good fit.

1 1

Brian Umberger @brianumberger.bsky.social · 4d

I had a conference in Pittsburgh in August and was duly impressed. Spending much of my time near the convention center, I really liked the water walkway to the riverfront trail. A nice touch when it could have been just a utilitarian underpass.

Underground walkway with water features on both sides

1 4

Reposted by Brian Umberger

Genevieve Lakier @genevievelakier.bsky.social · 5d

The Trump Administration’s “Compact of Excellence” for Universities is... far from excellent! Indeed, it’s unconstitutional. In this post, let me count the ways.

blog.dividedargument.com/p/the-uncons...

The Unconstitutional Conditions Doctrine and the Compact for Excellence

Members of the Trump administration love to say that federal funding is a privilege not a right and therefore something that can be granted or withheld based on changing administrative priorities.

blog.dividedargument.com

5 230 560

Reposted by Brian Umberger

JJ @jjodx.bsky.social · 4d

First first author paper of Anouck Matthijs on the fact that aging does not affect the ability to compensate for interaction torques during movement planning. Both the timing and scaling of anticipatory EMG activity are preserved with age.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Adults up to 80 years old maintain effective movement planning when facing complex body dynamics

Aging can significantly impact motor performance, especially in highly complex tasks such as multi-joint movements where the nervous system needs to adequately coordinate mechanical interactions betwe...

www.biorxiv.org

5 12

Brian Umberger @brianumberger.bsky.social · 7d

Merriam-Webster’s “large language model” 😜

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

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

4

Reposted by Brian Umberger

Britton Sauerbrei @brittonsauerbrei.bsky.social · 7d

My department at Case Western Reserve is recruiting an Assistant / Associate Professor of Neurosciences - come be our colleague!
www.nature.com/naturecareer...

4 12

Reposted by Brian Umberger

NPR @npr.org · 7d

Today marks the first day in public media’s history without federal funding. And we’re not going anywhere.

Listeners like you keep our mission alive. Protect one of the last places where America comes together to hear itself.

Stand with us today. Donate at this link: n.pr/46wamAj

690 9.7K 31K

Reposted by Brian Umberger

Lauren J. Young @laurenjyoung.bsky.social · 7d

“I think chimpanzees have helped people understand that we are part of and not separated from the animal kingdom, and that has opened the way to having respect for the other amazing beings with whom we share the planet.” —Jane Goodall, @sciam.bsky.social www.scientificamerican.com/article/jane...

Jane Goodall, Trailblazing Primatologist and Chimpanzee Conservationist, Has Died

The anthropologist was famous for her pioneering research with chimpanzees and her influence on conservation

www.scientificamerican.com

1 16 62

Reposted by Brian Umberger

Tarkesh Singh @tarkeshsingh.bsky.social · 8d

The Department of Kinesiology at Penn State is inviting applications for an open-rank faculty position in sensorimotor control and rehabilitation neuroscience. Please share this opportunity with interested colleagues in your network.

psu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/PSU_Academic...

Open-Rank Faculty Position in Sensorimotor Control and Rehabilitation Neuroscience

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS: CURRENT PENN STATE EMPLOYEE (faculty, staff, technical service, or student), please login to Workday to complete the internal application process. Please do not apply here, a...

psu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com

19 13

Reposted by Brian Umberger

Jason Franz @franzbiomech.bsky.social · 7d

Brand new POSTDOC opportunity in my lab (!!) will help lead a multi-institutional collaboration designed to enhance understanding of anatomic variability in Achilles tendinopathy toward more effective, personalized clinical interventions.

Learn more and apply: unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/307...

1 10 7

Reposted by Brian Umberger

Jonathan A. Michaels @jonathanamichaels.bsky.social · 7d

The neural control & computation lab is recruiting!

If you're interested in using large-scale neural population recordings to study how the brain learns to produce complex and flexible behaviours, please get in touch.

www.ncclab.ca

5 43 95

Reposted by Brian Umberger

Peter Brannen @peterbrannen.bsky.social · 8d

Was struck when I visited the grave of Eisenhower, the archetypal 20th c. warrior, he chose the inscription above his tomb, ”Every gun made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed“

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 8d

Hegseth: "We unleash overwhelming and punishing violence on the enemy. We also don't fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt, and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement."

1 26 77

Reposted by Brian Umberger

Ross Miller @rosshm16.bsky.social · 8d

Tenure-track faculty position at Assistant or Associate Professor rank, including expertise in Biomechanics, available in the Dept. of Kinesiology, University of Mary Washington (Fredericksburg, VA, about 50 miles south of DC):

jobs.umw.edu/jobs/assista...

Assistant/Associate Professor of Biological Sciences - Fredericksburg, Virginia, United States

Title: Assistant/Associate Professor of Biological Sciences VP Area: Provost - UMW Department: Biological Sciences Campus Location: Main Campus Advertised Range: Commensurate with experience Job S...

jobs.umw.edu

6 4

Reposted by Brian Umberger

Lena Ting @lenating.bsky.social · 9d

haha, here is one of my writing guides stating how to check that your topic sentence is the first sentence of the paragraph. scholarblogs.emory.edu/neuromechani...

Writing your NIH Significance section

scholarblogs.emory.edu

1 4

Reposted by Brian Umberger

Pam Davis-Kean, PhD @umpamdk.bsky.social · 9d

Thank you all the program officers at NIH that persisted through the 2025 fiscal year and were able to fund 99% of the total FY2024 budget. I know this has take a toll on everyone at NIH. Thank you for supporting important health and behavior science and helping to keep the U.S. a leader in science.

Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 9d

The fiscal year ends tomorrow.

Here are results from NIH Reporter downloaded an hour ago.

The total amount of funding committed for FY2025 at this point is 99.0% of that for FY2024. The same difference could be due to a variety of technical factors.

1/3

$A graph showing the fraction of annual grant funding committed for NIH for fiscal years 2015 to 2025. The fiscal year 2025 lagged behind but then caught up over the last two months.$

3 34 190

Reposted by Brian Umberger

Christian Hubicki @chubicki.bsky.social · 9d

Poor students got the rug pulled from under them.

The National Science Foundation’s premiere funding award for grad students shrank their eligibility pool without warning.

1st year PhD students who waited until their 2nd to submit their once-ever application were just told they’re not eligible.

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 12d

NSF GRFP is out 2.5 months late w/key changes

1. 2nd year graduate students not eligible.

2. "alignment with Administration priorities"

3. Unlike prior years, they DO NOT specify the expected number of awards... that is a BIG problem.

a brief 🧵 w/receipts

www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)

www.nsf.gov

3 1 18

Brian Umberger @brianumberger.bsky.social · 9d

Reviewer (2) gripe: Apparently, I'm outmoded to assume the first sentence of a paragraph, or sometimes the second sentence, is a topic sentence that indicates the main idea of the paragraph, followed by a series of sentences containing related evidence and analysis. #Dinosaur #AcademicChatter

2 5

Reposted by Brian Umberger

Julien Ochala @droch.bsky.social · 13d

Postdoc opportunity in muscle cell biology! You would not only be involved in an ambitious project but would also help develop cutting edge methods! Highly recommended! @robertseaborne.bsky.social

Postdoctoral Research Associate in Muscle Biology and Genomics | King's College London

www.kcl.ac.uk

6 5

Reposted by Brian Umberger

Theresa Kim, PhD, MS @tyk314.net · 13d

The end of FY 2025 is coming, and #OMB appears perfectly content to use us as targets. We are not their chess pieces. We serve our PIs. We are here in our personal capacities. Follow the #NIH.

1 25 64