Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Tom Langen @calocitta.bsky.social · 3d

True local newspapers - those that have local journalists that know and report on their locality - are dying. If your region still has a true local paper, subscribe. Journalists need to eat, too, and we all need to be informed.

1

Tom Langen @calocitta.bsky.social · 3d

Local journalism is essential for an informed public. I often disagree with editorials in the Watertown Daily Times, but that struggling newspaper still manages to hang on and report the local news, including important long-form stories on things that should matter to us.

1 1

Tom Langen @calocitta.bsky.social · 3d

Do you care about the water you drink and recreate in? Here is a long article about PFAS and local water quality in the North Country of New York . It is excellent local environmental reporting by the Watertown Daily Times. 🌎

Watertown takes in millions of gallons of landfill runoff. Environmental groups worry that’s bringing in toxic PFAS chemicals

WATERTOWN — Each year, thousands of trucks filled with the liquid runoff collected at major landfills across New York are driven into Watertown, taken to the city’s sewage treatment plant,

www.nny360.com

1 1

Tom Langen @calocitta.bsky.social · 5d

The Gullah communities were first neglected, and then had their land stolen by 'quasi-legal' and criminal means all along the coast of South Carolina, Georgia, and northern Florida. It's nice to read about a win, for once.

Georgia supreme court sides with Gullah Geechee residents fighting to protect land

Decision reversed lower court ruling that weakened zoning restrictions put in place decades ago to preserve lands

www.theguardian.com

2 7

Tom Langen @calocitta.bsky.social · 8d

OMG. The only person who doesn't see what a weak, whiny, uninspiring, ineffective military leader Pete Hegseth is, is Pete Hegseth. He couldn't lead me into Starbucks, let alone battle.

2 9

Tom Langen @calocitta.bsky.social · 9d

So far.

1 7

Tom Langen @calocitta.bsky.social · 9d

Important news. Sadly, a change in the requirements will exclude a great number of graduate students who had planned to submit a proposal to the program in their second year of graduate studies.

Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 12d

NSF Graduate Fellowship announcement is finally posted!

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

1/2

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)

www.nsf.gov

2

Tom Langen @calocitta.bsky.social · 10d

The first big skeins of geese are coming in from the North to my area of New York now. Here's my article on how they know when to migrate. 🦉🌿

How do geese know how to fly south for the winter?

Geese honk loudly and point their bills toward the sky when they’re ready to start the migration. Here’s how they know it’s time, how they navigate and how they conserve energy on the grueling trip.

theconversation.com

4

Tom Langen @calocitta.bsky.social · 10d

I see a red-eared slider turtle, too.

1

Tom Langen @calocitta.bsky.social · 10d

I led a walk to this place today - Rainbow Falls in the Adirondack Park. 🌿

Fast flowing stream framed by trees in autumn color and a rainbow.

4

Tom Langen @calocitta.bsky.social · 12d

Among other things, the firearms safety here is highly questionable. ICE must hire, have a morning of onboarding, give 'em a mask - flack jacket - hand gun, and send them straight out onto the street.

3

Tom Langen @calocitta.bsky.social · 12d

On brand for someone who has the First Crusade motto tattooed to his arm.

1 8

Tom Langen @calocitta.bsky.social · 12d

As someone who knows the NSF GRFP well, this is awful. One month out from the application deadline and there is no solicitation yet?

Jason Williams @jasonwilliamsny.bsky.social · 12d

Please share with anyone who cares about NSF support for graduate students and take 30 seconds to sign and leave a comment.

The deadline for the 2025 Graduate Research Fellowship Program is about one month away and literally no one can apply. #NSFGRFP

jasonjwilliamsny.github.io/grfp2025/

An Open Letter to U.S. STEM Leadership on the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program

jasonjwilliamsny.github.io

1 2 3

Reposted by Tom Langen

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · Jul 30

Motherfucking wind farms…

1.2K 18K 47K

Tom Langen @calocitta.bsky.social · 17d

Jenny Jones warned
She would wear purple
When she grew old

Summer now wears it
A rich purple cloak
New England asters

Autumn aster starburst
Amid goldenrod glow
Seasonal finale
Before winter’s long dark

🌿 #poetry

New England and oldfield asters (flowers) blooming in a field.

2

Tom Langen @calocitta.bsky.social · 17d

American Movie Theater, Canton NY

Theater marquee:
AMERICAN
LOVE CANNOT BE REGULATED

2

Tom Langen @calocitta.bsky.social · 19d

On Science Friday today...
🦉🧪🌎🌿
www.sciencefriday.com/segments/con...

How Conservation Efforts Brought Rare Birds Back From The Brink

The merlin, sandhill crane, and pileated woodpecker were once rare in North America. Environmental conservation fueled their resurgence.

www.sciencefriday.com

3

Tom Langen @calocitta.bsky.social · 19d

Hands down.

1

Tom Langen @calocitta.bsky.social · 20d

On the radio this morning. A great partnership between SUNYs Potsdam & ESF, Clarkson University, and the St. Lawrence County Department of Public Health. 🧪🌎🌿

Always fun to hear my voice on the radio on the drive to work.

Make sure to donate to your local public radio station.

How trapping mosquitoes in St. Lawrence County is preparing the North Country for climate change

Last year, mosquito-borne illnesses erupted in New York State. It pushed public health officials in St. Lawrence County to start a mosquito surveillance program.

www.northcountrypublicradio.org

1

Tom Langen @calocitta.bsky.social · 23d

This Friday, Sept 19th, I will be on public radio's Science Friday, chatting with Ira Flato about the surprising recovery of once-rare birds. It will be available to stream or podcast after.
And remember to throw some green to your local public radio station. Now more than ever they need it. 🦉🧪🌎🌿

ScienceFriday.com

Brain fun, for curious people.

www.sciencefriday.com

2 1 2

Reposted by Tom Langen

uk-news.bsky.social @uk-news.bsky.social · 29d

The surprising recovery of once-rare birds

https://www.europesays.com/uk/410798/

When I started bird-watching as a teenager, a few years after the first Earth Day in 1970, several…#uk #news #uknews

The surprising recovery of once-rare birds - United Kingdom

When I started bird-watching as a teenager, a few years after the first Earth Day in 1970, several species that once thrived in my region were nowhere to be

www.europesays.com

1

Reposted by Tom Langen

Sherman P. Bastarache @ideinpublishing.bsky.social · 28d

The surprising recovery of once-rare birds
theconversation.com/the-surprisi...

The surprising recovery of once-rare birds

It’s not every day that you see a 4-foot-tall bird, but it’s happening more often. Several fascinating species are nesting in and near towns once again.

theconversation.com

1

Reposted by Tom Langen

Gary McFarlane @garym6942.bsky.social · 28d

The surprising recovery of once-rare birds - What has brought these species back while others are disappearing? theconversation.com/the-surprisi... #conservation #environment #biology #SciChat

The surprising recovery of once-rare birds

It’s not every day that you see a 4-foot-tall bird, but it’s happening more often. Several fascinating species are nesting in and near towns once again.

theconversation.com

3 5

Tom Langen @calocitta.bsky.social · 29d

I have a article that just dropped, about the return of merlin, pileated woodpecker, sandhill crane, and other birds. I hope you like it. 🦉🧪🌎🌿

theconversation.com/the-surprisi...

The surprising recovery of once-rare birds

It’s not every day that you see a 4-foot-tall bird, but it’s happening more often. Several fascinating species are nesting in and near towns once again.

theconversation.com

3 5

Tom Langen @calocitta.bsky.social · 29d

Everything is Awesome - The Lego Movie
It's an absolute earworm