Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Daniel Frankel

Steve Portugal @sjportugal.bsky.social · 20d

We're looking for a new postdoc on our new BBSCR grant (Graham Taylor/Tim Guilford/Cait Newport). See link below!

my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...

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Daniel Frankel @cyberplasm.bsky.social · 12d

Darwin on top form

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Daniel Frankel @cyberplasm.bsky.social · 12d

Well here’s a life update !! I’ve resigned from my job in the sustainable tech startup . It was a good 2.5 years but time to move on. The question is what to do next . I mist likely will be starting up my own company!!

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Daniel Frankel @cyberplasm.bsky.social · Aug 6

If replicated in humans this could revolutionise the treatment of Alzheimer’s

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

New hope for Alzheimer’s: lithium supplement reverses memory loss in mice

Studies in rodents and humans suggest that low levels of the metal contribute to cognitive decline.

www.nature.com

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Daniel Frankel @cyberplasm.bsky.social · Jul 30

Well it's been 2 years and 2 months since I left academia (after being in academia for 25 years!!). Start up life is pretty crazy but still infinitely less stressful than academia. I should have made the transition 15 years earlier!!

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Daniel Frankel @cyberplasm.bsky.social · Jul 30

Home electronics projects are fun..next up a radio controlled car

Daniel Frankel @cyberplasm.bsky.social · Jun 7

I must be bored, I just typed in to Google “Karoline Leavitt, what does she do all day?”

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Daniel Frankel @cyberplasm.bsky.social · May 28

Darwin on top form

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Daniel Frankel @cyberplasm.bsky.social · May 28

Roses in the new old house

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Daniel Frankel @cyberplasm.bsky.social · May 28

I’ve just discovered Toast of London

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Daniel Frankel @cyberplasm.bsky.social · May 10

A cheeky question to anyone working on photovoltaics out there. Is is relatively straightforward to build an Arduino based device for measuring the efficiency (I-V curves) of a dye sensitised solar cell?

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Reposted by Daniel Frankel

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · May 8

The UK’s Advanced Research and Innovation Agency (ARIA) is funding Solar Radiation Modification (SRM) projects including thickening Arctic sea ice to make it more reflective, Marine Cloud Brightening (MCB) and Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI).

Experiments to 'dim the Sun' one step closer in the UK

Geo-engineering experiments such as Solar Radiation Modificaton could be happening in the UK after major government funding

www.bbc.com

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Daniel Frankel @cyberplasm.bsky.social · Apr 22

Returned to Newcastle last week for some business meetings. It was so strange being back after 2 years away. The new Engineering building looks quite fancy…

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Daniel Frankel @cyberplasm.bsky.social · Apr 17

Wow , it looks like Harvard is gonna be destroyed. Are we living in a nightmare?

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Reposted by Daniel Frankel

Adam Rutherford @adamrutherford.bsky.social · Apr 17

Just a little update for the busy, from the world of science:

1) There's no life on K2-18b
2) Vaccines cause adults
3) They are not Dire Wolves

Carry on.

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Reposted by Daniel Frankel

Laura Howes @laurahowes.bsky.social · Apr 12

If you want to read one more dire wolf take this week, i can thoroughly recommend @maxhenrybarnhart.bsky.social's deep dive on what scientists make of the announcement, just why it broke like it did, and what that means for conservation work more broadly.
@cenmag.bsky.social 🧪

Dire wolf debate raises concerns on scientific overhype

Even de-extinction advocates say that Colossal Biosciences’ claims are misleading

cen.acs.org

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Daniel Frankel @cyberplasm.bsky.social · Apr 2

At Cambridge University today , meetings in Chemical Engineering. Can feel the intense brainwaves radiating from the Cavendish lab

Daniel Frankel @cyberplasm.bsky.social · Mar 28

Darwin and his friend Baxter

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Reposted by Daniel Frankel

Jacob Kimmel @jacobkimmel.bsky.social · Mar 23

each year @newlimitbio.bsky.social, we share an update on our progress with the public

this week, we revealed the early results from our programs in metabolism & immunology. we’re starting to see the first hints of reprogramming medicines on the horizon.

watch here: m.youtube.com/watch?v=HR0-...

NewLimit Progress Update 2025

YouTube video by NewLimit

m.youtube.com

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Reposted by Daniel Frankel

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · Mar 22

I'm probably getting fired.

Stephanie M. Lee @stephaniemlee.bsky.social · Mar 21

"On October 8, 1931, a law went into effect requiring every Italian university professor to sign an oath pledging their loyalty to the government of Benito Mussolini. Out of over 1,200 professors in the country, only 12 refused. All of them were immediately fired." www.chronicle.com/article/what...

Opinion | What Autocrats Want From Academics: Servility

In 1931, Italian scholars were made to take loyalty oaths. Will that happen to us?

www.chronicle.com

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Daniel Frankel @cyberplasm.bsky.social · Mar 13

Hmm somehow ended up at Imperial College today !! Looks quite fancy these days

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Reposted by Daniel Frankel

George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · Mar 7

This guy, @albertburneko.bsky.social, is a genius. Please read his brilliant article on Elon Musk's deranged and morally repugnant Mars colonisation schtick. defector.com/neither-elon...

Neither Elon Musk Nor Anybody Else Will Ever Colonize Mars | Defector

Mars does not have a magnetosphere. Any discussion of humans ever settling the red planet can stop right there, but of course it never does. Do you have a low-cost plan for, uh, creating a gigantic ac...

defector.com

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Daniel Frankel @cyberplasm.bsky.social · Mar 9

How the Royal Society has any association with the Nazi conman Elon Musk is beyond belief. The Royal Society is a disgrace to scientists in the UK.

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Reposted by Daniel Frankel

Ruprecht Polenz @polenz.bsky.social · Mar 4

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · Feb 18

I continue to be surprised that more of the learned societies are not coming out with statements like this

(And well done to @planetarysociety.bsky.social for being clear and simple, and bold, in this statement)

🧪 - if the cuts haven't hit an agency near you - it seems to be a "yet" issue 😭

The Planetary Society @planetarysociety.bsky.social · Feb 18

The Planetary Society strongly opposes the sudden, indiscriminate dismissal of more than 1,000 scientists, engineers, and explorers at NASA — the largest involuntary workforce reduction since the end of the Apollo program.

Read more on our stance. ⬇️

The Planetary Society Strongly Opposes Mass Layoffs of Probationary…

Sudden, indiscriminate layoffs at NASA do not serve the national interests in space leadership.

www.planetary.org

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