Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Christina Easton @chreaston.bsky.social · 2d

I only wanted 'bread'. Initially.

1 4

Christina Easton @chreaston.bsky.social · 2d

Context: Me winding down for bedtime with some mandatory University health and safety training.

Christina Easton @chreaston.bsky.social · 2d

But then why are they there?

2 1

Reposted by Christina Easton

Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · 6d

For years I got Gandhi (who is 156 today, the International Day of Non-Violence) backwards. I thought he developed nonviolent methods to end British rule, but this gets the ends and means the wrong way round. It's rather that he had to end British rule to make space for nonviolence. (1/8)

Gandhi statue in Parliament Square, London. (Prioryman CC-BY-SA 4.0.)

2 15 56

Christina Easton @chreaston.bsky.social · 8d

Really super event from #LSEevents. Wish I could join after for the plant-based canapes!

Christina Easton @chreaston.bsky.social · 8d

Jane's answer: Probably not, but it could help us get closer to understanding them, whilst we retain a sense of the mystery that surrounds such animals.

1 1

Christina Easton @chreaston.bsky.social · 8d

I asked the panel about the organisms of the deep sea - could AI ever help us understand them, given how completely 'other' they are to us?

1

Christina Easton @chreaston.bsky.social · 8d

Aristotle's most important contribution and legacy

The Ass is the father of the legs @internethippo.bsky.social · 8d

You don't want a sandwich to be too dry but you also don't want it to be too wet. Aristotle called this "the golden mean"

2

Christina Easton @chreaston.bsky.social · 8d

AI without ethical constraints is dangerous. We need to change the way people think about animals, if we're to use AI technologies well. #lseevents

Christina Easton @chreaston.bsky.social · 8d

AI use for "precision livestock farming" COULD be used to promote animal welfare, but more likely it'll be used for greater capital returns.

Christina Easton @chreaston.bsky.social · 8d

Due to continued human population growth increasing demand for animal products, most animals are not / will not be farmed in a way that involves any significant interaction with farmers or anything approaching traditional farming.

Jeff Sebo speaking at #lseevents

1

Christina Easton @chreaston.bsky.social · 8d

@birchlse.bsky.social asking if we could replace animals in scientific research with AI models instead.

#lseevents

1 3

Christina Easton @chreaston.bsky.social · 8d

"If we can understand animals better, we'll be able to relate to them better."

Jane Lawton explaining the value of using AI to decode animal communication.

#LSEevents

Christina Easton @chreaston.bsky.social · 8d

@birchlse.bsky.social explaining the priorities of the new Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience. I'm just so glad this work is being done - it is SO important.

#lseevents

3 9

Christina Easton @chreaston.bsky.social · 8d

This man, Jeremy Coller, is highly impressive! He describes himself as a "failed philosophy student" yet understands, and acts on, the value of funding philosophising about animal sentience. Humble, generous, and sensitive to the feelings of animals. #lseevents

2

Reposted by Christina Easton

Alexander J. Stein @ajstein.bsky.social · 9d

Meat is a leading emissions source – but less than 4% of #climate news stories mention animal #agriculture as source of #carbon emissions. #Meat production alone is responsible for 60% of the food sector's climate #emissions. That's in part because ruminant… (1/2) www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Meat is a leading emissions source – but few outlets report on it, analysis finds

Sentient Media reveals less than 4% of climate news stories mention animal agriculture as source of carbon emissions

www.theguardian.com

3 23 43

Christina Easton @chreaston.bsky.social · 8d

Oh, I only just realised Grumpy Philosopher is you! 😅
Best wishes for successful picketing.

1

Christina Easton @chreaston.bsky.social · 9d

Got my Pure profile set up. Apparently my most important key word is... kitchen. Yes, kitchen. 🤣🤔

Christina Easton @chreaston.bsky.social · 13d

Now, that's not a reason to NEVER fly. But it's a reason to take it a hell of a lot more morally seriously. Come on people, there's just one earth and it's pretty fucked, can we just try and fuck it up a little bit less? /5

Christina Easton @chreaston.bsky.social · 13d

A return flight from London to San Francisco emits around 5.5 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per person. That's more than twice the emissions produced by a family car in a year. /4

1

Christina Easton @chreaston.bsky.social · 13d

What makes that hard is seeing everyone else doing it, and regularly. (And when I say "everyone", I mean friends/family/fellow academics. Most of the world's population don't fly, which is why the fact it makes up 2.4% of emissions underplays what a difference it makes.) /3

1

Christina Easton @chreaston.bsky.social · 13d

In this time, have I still managed to enjoy myself, and progress an interesting career? Yes.
Have I missed out on interesting holidays and had to turn down free trips to universities in exciting places? Also yes. /2

1

Christina Easton @chreaston.bsky.social · 13d

It's now been over 5 years since I last got on a plane.

A thread about my feelings on this... /1

1

Christina Easton @chreaston.bsky.social · 13d

"I keep coming back to the fact that, for the likes of Trump... women’s suffering during pregnancy isn’t a bug. It’s a feature. It’s the proper order of things. It’s natural."

says @katemanne.bsky.social here: substack.com/home/post/p-...

The Trump Administration Wants Pregnant Women to Suffer

When ableism meets misogyny: Tylenol edition.

substack.com

2

Christina Easton @chreaston.bsky.social · 13d

Here I am discussing what might be more or less fair ways to recruit soldiers into the military. www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2Mv...

Could Germany bring back military conscription as it rebuilds army?

YouTube video by Roundtable

www.youtube.com