Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Catalina I. Fernández, PhD

Anne Pisor @annepisor.bsky.social · 7d

📢 Come join us! Penn State Anthropology is hiring *two tenure-track assistant professors*, one in human reproductive ecology and one in archaeology. Here are just a few reasons why working at Penn State is awesome:

A photo of the Susan Welch Liberal Arts building at sunrise

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Reposted by Catalina I. Fernández, PhD

Karen Benjamin Guzzo @karenguzzo.bsky.social · 12d

New Bluesky rule: you can’t post a figure showing dramatic decline in the TFR without either explaining what TFR can, and can’t tell us, or posting the excellent explainer by @scientificdiscovery.dev on the topic.

Why the total fertility rate doesn’t necessarily tell us the number of births women eventually have

The fertility rate is commonly confused with the eventual number of births per woman. This can result in misinterpreting the impact of policies and trends over time.

ourworldindata.org

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Reposted by Catalina I. Fernández, PhD

Zach Bigalke (he/him/his) @zbigalke.bsky.social · 15d

A few friendly reminders about autism:

- Autism is not inherently a bad thing.
- Autism is not a death sentence.
- Autism is not a pejorative term.
- Autism is not a moral failing.
- Autism is not something to shame or ridicule.
- Autism is not something to hide.
- Autism is not a crime.

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Reposted by Catalina I. Fernández, PhD

Sherry Pagoto, PhD @drsherrypagoto.bsky.social · 14d

Survey by the American Association of Professors shows nearly 1 in 4 professors in the US South are considering leaving their state due to the political climate.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

‘Fear and hopelessness’: study finds one in four professors consider leaving US south

Survey by American Association of Professors shows nearly quarter of respondents are switching due to states’s politics

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Catalina I. Fernández, PhD

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 15d

Universal childcare wouldn't just relieve working families of a massive cost burden. It improves the whole economy.

"There are a lot of reasons building a child care system that works for everyone is important to our children, to parents, to employers and to economic growth."

How Universal Child Care Could Change the Economy

www.nytimes.com

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Kevin Hall @kevinh-phd.bsky.social · 16d

Thanks to Sandee LaMotte @cnn.com for interviewing me about topics from my new book FOOD INTELLIGENCE with @juliabelluz.bsky.social that will be published tomorrow! www.cnn.com/2025/09/22/h...

Stop blaming yourself for your expanding waistline. It’s the food supply, expert says | CNN

A leading nutrition researcher overturns nutritional myths that have led to fat-shaming in his new book, “Food Intelligence.” Here’s who to blame instead.

www.cnn.com

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Reposted by Catalina I. Fernández, PhD

Ewa Batyra @ewabatyra.bsky.social · 16d

One more week left to apply for a 3-year postdoc in Demography (deadline: Sept 30, 12:00 midday UK time). Join me at the Sociology Department in Oxford to study global fertility change as part of the DIVREP project!👇

Sociology at Oxford @sociologyoxford.bsky.social · Aug 20

🚨 New Job Alert! 🚨

Join Dr @ewabatyra.bsky.social as a Postdoc Researcher in Demography!

Contribute to a global study on disparities in reproductive behaviour, focusing on childbearing age & fertility levels 👨‍👩‍👦‍👦

Apply now 👉 www.sociology.ox.ac.uk/event/postdo...

We're hiring: Postdoctoral Researcher in Demography, deadline: 30 September 2025

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Reposted by Catalina I. Fernández, PhD

Colin Carlson @colincarlson.bsky.social · 21d

Climate change is causing excess deaths at every scale, from global trends in the burden of disease down to the number of people who die in the first 24 hours of a heat wave or hurricane.

Extended Data Table 1: a compendium of estimates of deaths attributed to anthropogenic climate change

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Reposted by Catalina I. Fernández, PhD

Colin Carlson @colincarlson.bsky.social · 21d

🚨 NEW: Climate change is already causing 30,000 deaths per year - a global annual economic loss of $100-350B USD - but the true damage is probably 10x higher. Out TODAY in Nature Climate Change: the first systematic look at the science of "health impact attribution" 🔓 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

"Health losses attributed to anthropogenic climate change," a brief communication in the journal Nature Climate Change. There's a map showing regions of the world, and pie charts of relevant studies as they apply to different health impacts like "heat-related deaths" and "maternal and child health"

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Reposted by Catalina I. Fernández, PhD

Haneul Jang @haneuljang.bsky.social · 25d

💙New paper!💙

How is knowledge transmitted across generations in a foraging society?

With @danielredhead.bsky.social
we found: In BaYaka foragers, long-term skills pass in smaller, sparser networks, while short-term food info circulates broadly & reciprocally

academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...

Transmission networks of long-term and short-term knowledge in a foraging society

Abstract. Cultural transmission across generations is key to cumulative cultural evolution. While several mechanisms—such as vertical, horizontal, and obli

academic.oup.com

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Reposted by Catalina I. Fernández, PhD

Christina Warinner @christinawarinner.bsky.social · 23d

We're organizing a new CARTA symposium this November 7 on "Ancient DNA: New Revelations"! We have an amazing lineup of speakers who will showcase the biggest discoveries in ancient DNA over the past 5 years - and offer a sneak peek of what's next. Mark your calendars and don't miss it!

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Reposted by Catalina I. Fernández, PhD

Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · Sep 6

Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia:
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...

We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n

Abstract: Under the banner of progress, products have been uncritically adopted or
even imposed on users — in past centuries with tobacco and combustion engines, and in
the 21st with social media. For these collective blunders, we now regret our involvement or
apathy as scientists, and society struggles to put the genie back in the bottle. Currently, we
are similarly entangled with artificial intelligence (AI) technology. For example, software updates are rolled out seamlessly and non-consensually, Microsoft Office is bundled with chatbots, and we, our students, and our employers have had no say, as it is not
considered a valid position to reject AI technologies in our teaching and research. This
is why in June 2025, we co-authored an Open Letter calling on our employers to reverse
and rethink their stance on uncritically adopting AI technologies. In this position piece,
we expound on why universities must take their role seriously toa) counter the technology
industry’s marketing, hype, and harm; and to b) safeguard higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, and scientific integrity. We include pointers to
relevant work to further inform our colleagues.

Figure 1. A cartoon set theoretic view on various terms (see Table 1) used when discussing the superset AI
(black outline, hatched background): LLMs are in orange; ANNs are in magenta; generative models are
in blue; and finally, chatbots are in green. Where these intersect, the colours reflect that, e.g. generative adversarial network (GAN) and Boltzmann machine (BM) models are in the purple subset because they are
both generative and ANNs. In the case of proprietary closed source models, e.g. OpenAI’s ChatGPT and
Apple’s Siri, we cannot verify their implementation and so academics can only make educated guesses (cf.
Dingemanse 2025). Undefined terms used above: BERT (Devlin et al. 2019); AlexNet (Krizhevsky et al.
2017); A.L.I.C.E. (Wallace 2009); ELIZA (Weizenbaum 1966); Jabberwacky (Twist 2003); linear discriminant analysis (LDA); quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA).

Table 1. Below some of the typical terminological disarray is untangled. Importantly, none of these terms
are orthogonal nor do they exclusively pick out the types of products we may wish to critique or proscribe.

Protecting the Ecosystem of Human Knowledge: Five Principles

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Reposted by Catalina I. Fernández, PhD

Sheina Lew-Levy @sheinalew.bsky.social · 28d

@durhampsych.bsky.social current has 5 (FIVE!!) PhD studentships being advertised!

3 to work with me on children as agents of cultural evolution

2 to work with @drboothroyd.bsky.social on examining school-based body image interventions.

Please share and apply!

www.durham.ac.uk/departments/...

Fees and Funding - Durham University

www.durham.ac.uk

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Reposted by Catalina I. Fernández, PhD

Lynda Boothroyd @drboothroyd.bsky.social · 28d

PhD post! 2 students sought to join the BIRES project, taking a body image intervention developed in Nicaragua and Colombia and examining how (and if!) It can be adapted in other LatAm and African youth.
Please share with your students.

#PsychSciSky
#Anthropology

www.durham.ac.uk/departments/...

Title of Project: Examining school-based body image interventions in Africa and/or Latin America

Start Date: January, April or October 2026

Application Deadline: 20th October 2025

For more information including how to apply please see: PhD advert BIRES studentship

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Reposted by Catalina I. Fernández, PhD

Royal Society Publishing @royalsocietypublishing.org · Aug 21

This #RSOS study derives a new theoretical growth model permitting exploration of how genes, diet, and disease, through their effects on body proportions and #metabolism, cause variation in children’s growth trajectories: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... @catferna.bsky.social

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Reposted by Catalina I. Fernández, PhD

Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · Aug 14

As always, Ted Chiang is great in this interview.
cdh.princeton.edu/blog/2025/08...

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Catalina I. Fernández, PhD @catferna.bsky.social · Aug 12

Short kids are malnourished, right? well, only maybe! In our recent paper at #RSOS we present a new theoretical model
of growth, exploring of how 🧬, 🥘, & 🦠, through their effects on body proportions & metabolism, cause variation in 👶 🚸growth trajectories. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

A causal model of human growth and its estimation using temporally sparse data | Royal Society Open Science

Existing models of human growth provide limited insight into underlying mechanisms responsible for inter-individual and inter-population variation in children’s growth trajectories. Building on genera...

royalsocietypublishing.org

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Reposted by Catalina I. Fernández, PhD

Heidi Colleran @heidicolleran.bsky.social · Jul 9

“How do we in the 21st century idolise a [family] model that is built on exclusion and patriarchy and call it “God’s design”?”

Beautiful short article on the diversity of African family systems
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

Diverse, communal, gender-fluid: African families’ true history is being whitewashed | Wambui Kimani

Rightwing moralists are pushing the nuclear family as the ideal path. But this is a neo-colonial mindset that is truly unAfrican

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Catalina I. Fernández, PhD

Eleanor Power @eapower.bsky.social · Apr 21

Two more weeks to apply! Spread the word and reach out with any questions.

Eleanor Power @eapower.bsky.social · Apr 1

🚨Job alert! Two-year postdoc to join the Rep2SI project at @lsemethodology.bsky.social! We're looking for a modeller to join our team of ethnographers & experimentalists studying the role of reputation and reputational concern in perpetuating social inequality.
Apply by 4 May: tinyurl.com/yjccd3vv

Rep2SI: Reputation & the Reproduction of Social Inequality. A Leverhulme-funded project based at the LSE, combining ethnography, economic games, and modelling. We're looking for a modeller to join our core team as a two-year postdoctoral research officer.

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Reposted by Catalina I. Fernández, PhD

Prof. Gillian Brown @gillianrbrown1.bsky.social · Apr 16

Excellent plenary talk by @heidicolleran.bsky.social at #ehbea2025, critiquing the concept of 'natural fertility': "pregnancy probabilities are culturally determined by cultural rules everywhere".

Speaker standing in front of projected slide.

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Catalina I. Fernández, PhD @catferna.bsky.social · Apr 8

My bestie is hiring. I wish she would hire me! You will get the absolute best possible mentor/advisor!

Jennifer Cullin, PhD @jennifercullin.bsky.social · Mar 7

🚨Hiring postdoc🚨 Please share widely. Dept of Anthro @ Indiana University is hiring a postdoc in human biology/bioanthropology to start Aug 1. 2-year position; $62k/yr; full-time benefits included. Apply by 4/30. Find me to chat at HBA/AABA meetings next week! indiana.peopleadmin.com/postings/28546

Post-Doctoral Researcher in Human Biology

The Department of Anthropology (https://anthropology.indiana.edu/) at Indiana University invites applications for a two-year post-doctoral research position in Human Biology under the supervision of D...

indiana.peopleadmin.com

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Reposted by Catalina I. Fernández, PhD

Kate Clancy @kateclancy.bsky.social · Apr 4

I went to a pelvic PT after my 2nd birth, my PT was also recently postpartum. Carle Health only allotted 15 minute breaks. So the pp therapist caring for pp people had to stop breastfeeding at 3mo because her employer, a healthcare provider, didn't have long enough breaks to support pumping.

Dr. Cecília Tomori @drtomori.bsky.social · Apr 4

➡️As we call for action, we need to recognize that breastfeeding & formula feeding are part of the same interdependent infant feeding landscape. Most people (~85%) in the US want to breastfeed and start out doing so but can't continue because of structural barriers. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Breastfeeding: crucially important, but increasingly challenged in a market-driven world

In this Series paper, we examine how mother and baby attributes at the individual level interact with breastfeeding determinants at other levels, how these interactions drive breastfeeding outcomes, a...

www.thelancet.com

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Reposted by Catalina I. Fernández, PhD

Cara Ocobock @caraocobock.bsky.social · Apr 3

Fun video folks at @sciam.bsky.social put together on why 50deg days in spring feel warmer than in fall

How a cold winter changes your body

YouTube video by Scientific American

youtu.be

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Reposted by Catalina I. Fernández, PhD

Dr Sarah Myers @drsarahmyers.bsky.social · Apr 3

Excited to see this out doc'ing 1st steps in collecting prospective daily data to tease apart links between infant feeding, social support & maternal mental health! Collab between researchers at @brunelcce.bsky.social BirthRites @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social @ucl.ac.uk Best Beginnings & new mums!

Abbey Page @abbeyepage.bsky.social · Apr 3

🤩📣 New paper on participant-led methodological development for collecting high-resolution data on the post-natal period 👩‍🍼

with @drsarahmyers.bsky.social @ehemmott.bsky.social @rebeccasear.bsky.social and the Best Beginnings Team ❤️

funded by @britishacademy.bsky.social

summary 🧵👇

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Reposted by Catalina I. Fernández, PhD

Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · Mar 26

Excellent critique of childhood development interventions: "The privileged of Global North & South can find solace in the idea they have little responsibility for inequality. If bad childcare & poor brain development are major contributing factors to poverty, then it's parents’ job to overcome it"

The problem with parenting interventions in the Global South | Aeon Essays

Early childhood development interventions in the Global South is a huge industry built on highly questionable assumptions

aeon.co

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