Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Christie Aschwanden @cragcrest.bsky.social · 2d

Congratulations to this year's Victor Cohn Prize winner, @charlespiller.bsky.social casw.org/news/charles...

Charles Piller wins 2025 Victor Cohn Prize - CASW

Christie Aschwanden @cragcrest.bsky.social · 3d

Do not give in to despair. Instead, connect with people in your community and find your shared values. Let's dismantle the us vs them mindset. We are all in this together. The future is not yet written! We can make a better tomorrow.

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Reposted by Christie Aschwanden

Mike Boylan-Kolchin @mbkplus.bsky.social · 14d

Taking the side a few people who disagree with the dominant scientific consensus and claiming that is letting science guide our decision making is pure gaslighting. No consensus is sacred, but not all claims (or all scrutiny) are equally valid. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 14d

Thune on Trump's Tylenol claims: "I think science ought to guide these discussions and our decision-making around our health. There are studies out there that they reference, but I think there are an awful lot of people in the medical community who come to a difference conclusion about Tylenol."

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Christie Aschwanden @cragcrest.bsky.social · 14d

The sitting President of the United States is once again issuing threats to the media. THIS IS NOT OK. "I think we’re going to test ABC out on this. Let’s see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative." variety.com/2025/tv/news...

Trump Rages at Jimmy Kimmel and ABC as Late-Night Show Returns: ‘A True Bunch of Losers!’

President Donald Trump slammed ABC's decision to bring Jimmy Kimmel back to late-night TV.

variety.com

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Christie Aschwanden @cragcrest.bsky.social · 15d

"He's gunning for our journalists too...they want to pick and choose what the news is." "It's so important to have a free press and it's nuts that we're not paying more attention to this." youtu.be/c1tjh_ZO_tY?...

Jimmy Kimmel is Back!

YouTube video by Jimmy Kimmel Live

youtu.be

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Reposted by Christie Aschwanden

Laura Helmuth @laurahelmuth.bsky.social · 15d

Health and science reporters should lead the coverage of all these health-related conspiracy theories & newsroom leaders should keep their both-sides political reporters out of their way.

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Christie Aschwanden @cragcrest.bsky.social · 15d

Interesting shift in public opinion about DOGE, among both supporters and critics of trump. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/int...

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Christie Aschwanden @cragcrest.bsky.social · 15d

Happy publication day @juliabelluz.bsky.social !!

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Reposted by Christie Aschwanden

Dan de Kadt @dandekadt.bsky.social · 16d

Interesting we seem to accept "science is broken" while still receiving medical treatments for illnesses, flying airplanes that are extraordinarily safe, using generative AIs to develop glue-based lasagne recipes, admiring EVs and Starlink, and so on and so on.

Almost as if science is not broken.

Opinion | ‘The Power of Science to Solve Problems Is Almost Limitless’

www.nytimes.com

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Christie Aschwanden @cragcrest.bsky.social · 19d

"Yudkowsky and Soares are earnest; unlike many of the loudest prognosticators around AI, they are not grifters. They are just wrong. They are as wrong as the so-called accelerationists, who insist that AI will unleash a utopia of universal income and leisure."

The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 19d

The new book “If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies” aims to explain why superintelligent AI would eliminate humanity. But along the way, the authors “fail to make an evidence-based scientific case for their claims,” Adam Becker argues:

The Useful Idiots of AI Doomsaying

Those who predict that superintelligence will destroy humanity serve the same interests as those who believe that it will solve all of our problems.

bit.ly

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Reposted by Christie Aschwanden

The Onion @theonion.com · 19d

Fearful Americans Stockpiling Facts Before Federal Government Comes To Take Them Away https://theonion.com/fearful-americans-stockpiling-facts-before-federal-gove-1819579589/

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Reposted by Christie Aschwanden

Effin' Birds @effinbirds.com · 21d

A painting of a bird beside the text "not this shit again"

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Reposted by Christie Aschwanden

Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 24d

Ironically, had the Kirk assassination not happened, the three big stories this past week would have been.
-The Trump birthday note
-Trump tells Republicans not to negotiate with Democrats (which likely kills Obamacare subsidies)
-The CPI report shows tariffs are affecting inflation

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Christie Aschwanden @cragcrest.bsky.social · Sep 5

I've seen a lot of incorrect uses and understandings of p-values, but this one made me do a literal LOL. It's a hilarious example of how a certain type of smug person who writes letters to the editor to take issue with news stories can get things so, so wrong. cdapress.com/news/2025/se...

SCORES: Idaho Department of Education releases 2025 ISATs

The author was correct to begin the article by stating “overall scores remained mostly stable when compared to last year’s results.” However, I take issue with the author’s subsequent interpretation o...

cdapress.com

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Christie Aschwanden @cragcrest.bsky.social · Aug 26

"The future is uncertain, and I know this is an unsettling time for many of us," [public health director in Lubbock, Texas] wrote. "Every day we show up and do our jobs is an act of resilience." 👊

Dorit Reiss @doritreiss.bsky.social · Aug 26

As measles surged in Texas, Trump administration's actions hampered CDC's response www.cbsnews.com/news/measles... via @cbsnews.com.web.brid.gy @amymaxmen.bsky.social

As measles surged in Texas, Trump administration's actions hampered CDC's response

Trump officials sowed fear and confusion among CDC scientists, slowing their response to the measles outbreak in West Texas.

www.cbsnews.com

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Reposted by Christie Aschwanden

Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · Aug 25

Had a deep & fun (how often do you get both?) convo w/Rosemerry and @cragcrest.bsky.social on the Emerging Form pod. I'm a regular listener to these discussions with authors & creatives, & every episode provides insights...I hope I did the same for others! emergingform.substack.com/p/episode-14...

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Christie Aschwanden @cragcrest.bsky.social · Aug 24

I wish we could make them care, sigh.

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Christie Aschwanden @cragcrest.bsky.social · Aug 24

How do we get congress to see this?

Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · Aug 24

New York Times story with profiles of researchers whose grants were terminated.

[Gift Link]

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/24/o...

Opinion | America First? Not When It Comes to Your Health.

www.nytimes.com

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Christie Aschwanden @cragcrest.bsky.social · Aug 22

Journalists Are Just as Fucked Up as Everyone Else. Admitting It Might Help Us Save Democracy. "In today’s world, we have an obligation to do better. And to make the people in power sweat. Important @carakelly.bsky.social piece on why journalists must do better. thebarbedwire.com/2025/08/18/j...

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Reposted by Christie Aschwanden

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · Aug 19

1. The philosophy of science sometimes gets an unearned reputation as a purely academic exercise that offers little by way of concrete tools for advancing research.

This is wrong.

And today, as we grapple with how AI is changing the nature of scientific activity, it's desperately wrong.

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Christie Aschwanden @cragcrest.bsky.social · Aug 19

Oh hey, here's that government waste DOGE was looking for... www.nytimes.com/2025/08/15/t...

SpaceX Gets Billions From the Government. It Gives Little to Nothing Back in Taxes.

www.nytimes.com

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Christie Aschwanden @cragcrest.bsky.social · Aug 18

😂

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Christie Aschwanden @cragcrest.bsky.social · Aug 18

something tells me that there were no women involved in this decision.

Brian Stelter @brianstelter.bsky.social · Aug 18

As the cable news channel MSNBC splits up with NBC News, it is also dropping the "NBC" from its name: Later this year, it will become MS NOW, which stands for My Source for News, Opinion, and the World. Here's my full story: www.cnn.com/2025/08/18/m...

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Christie Aschwanden @cragcrest.bsky.social · Aug 15

Very excited about @juliabelluz.bsky.social ‘s
Forthcoming book!

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Christie Aschwanden @cragcrest.bsky.social · Aug 14

Infuriating to see so much of my work STOLEN. Not going to take this lying down.

Ruth EJ Booth (she/they) @ruthejbooth.bsky.social · Aug 14

"If your books were uploaded to LibGen/fed into the LLMs, add your name to the potential class action lawsuit by tomorrow." Details:

LibDem database: www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

Attorney form: www.lieffcabraser.com/anthropic-au...

(This information comes via a reliable Discord source.)

Search LibGen, the Pirated-Books Database That Meta Used to Train AI

Millions of books and scientific papers are captured in the collection’s current iteration.

www.theatlantic.com

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