Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Daniela Scur

Paul Raschky @raschky.bsky.social · 1d

We have put together a template repository, the SoDa Replicator, to help you build reproducible and collaborative projects and have the content automatically reviewed against a custom replication checklist. Feedback welcome.

github.com/sodalabsio/s...

Video tuorials: youtube.com/@sodareplica...

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

lnkd.in

3 3

Daniela Scur @danielascur.bsky.social · 1d

Again, the dictionary account FTW

Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 1d

Mars was the Roman god of war.
That’s why we say ‘martial arts,' ‘martial law,' and 'court martial.'

Marshall was the Roman god of designer fashion at discount prices.
That’s why we have Marshall’s.

5

Reposted by Daniela Scur

WeRateDogs @weratedogs.com · 1d

This is Barrett. He keeps trying to howl along with his big sister Hazel. Personally finds the practice repulsive but refuses to be left out. 13/10 for both (TT: jennyrae23)

72 350 4.2K

Daniela Scur @danielascur.bsky.social · 4d

I feel seen

The Ass is the father of the legs @internethippo.bsky.social · 4d

"We're going to create superintelligence" How about making outlook search work first. How about that

10

Daniela Scur @danielascur.bsky.social · 5d

Lol the JUDGEMENT in her eyes, right??? "Uhm........ Do I have to draw this for you? It happens every day. How do you not know this already?"

2

Daniela Scur @danielascur.bsky.social · 5d

My doggo Arran SENSES 3pm. She decided that's ball time, and every day anyone is home at 3pm she will come and do her ball dance until you to outside and play ball with her.

Aussie Shephard dog sneaking her face around a chair, begging to go outside and play ball

1 3

Reposted by Daniela Scur

Rafiuddin (Rafi) Najam @rnajam.bsky.social · 5d

Exciting news. We are hiring a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Public Policy. Focus areas: environmental policy, international development, or poverty.
Link:
unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/307...

Submission Deadline: November 3, 2025.
Don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions.

Assistant Professor

This position is located in the Department of Public Policy within the College of Arts and Sciences. This tenure-track position includes 40% teaching, 40% research, and 20% service to the department. ...

unc.peopleadmin.com

8 6

Daniela Scur @danielascur.bsky.social · 6d

Bestie sent me this today:

"I just saw a video where a woman said:

'I'm not being mean, I'm just not actively making you comfortable'

And henceforth I will be using that line until the day I die."

And oh sister, I love it.

1 6

Reposted by Daniela Scur

Paul Bruno @paul-bruno.com · 8d

For grad students or postdocs out there: let me know if you'd like to present in my department's (Ed Policy, Org, & Leadership) Quantitative Working Group meeting Wednesday of next week (October 8) at 3pm Central time. Work at any stage is fine, it's very informal. I have a presenter gap this month.

2 12 4

Reposted by Daniela Scur

Rafe Meager (they/them) @economeager.bsky.social · 9d

Today let us read Baydin et al (2018) Automatic Differentiation in Machine Learning: A Survey

arxiv.org/pdf/1502.05767

I have screenshotted the first three paragraphs of the introduction. It reads:

Methods for the computation of derivatives in computer programs can be classified into four
categories: (1) manually working out derivatives and coding them; (2) numerical differentiation using finite difference approximations; (3) symbolic differentiation using expression
manipulation in computer algebra systems such as Mathematica, Maxima, and Maple; and
(4) automatic differentiation, also called algorithmic differentiation, which is the subject
matter of this paper.
Conventionally, many methods in machine learning have required the evaluation of
derivatives and most of the traditional learning algorithms have relied on the computation of gradients and Hessians of an objective function (Sra et al., 2011). When introducing
new models, machine learning researchers have spent considerable effort on the manual
derivation of analytical derivatives to subsequently plug these into standard optimization
procedures such as L-BFGS (Zhu et al., 1997) or stochastic gradient descent (Bottou, 1998).
Manual differentiation is time consuming and prone to error. Of the other alternatives, numerical differentiation is simple to implement but can be highly inaccurate due to round-off
and truncation errors (Jerrell, 1997); more importantly, it scales poorly for gradients, rendering it inappropriate for machine learning where gradients with respect to millions of
parameters are commonly needed. Symbolic differentiation addresses the weaknesses of
both the manual and numerical methods, but often results in complex and cryptic expressions plagued with the problem of “expression swell” (Corliss, 1988). Furthermore, manual
and symbolic methods require models to be defined as closed-form expressions, ruling out
or severely limiting algorithmic control flow and expressivity.
We are concerned with the powerful fourth technique, automatic differentiation (AD).
AD performs a non-standard interpretation of a given c…

1 5 21

Daniela Scur @danielascur.bsky.social · 10d

Except now I have this song in my head

1

Daniela Scur @danielascur.bsky.social · 10d

10/10. No notes.

McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 10d

It's Avril Lavigne's birthday today, so we are contractually obligated to re-share this banger from our archives.

The Girl from Avril Lavigne’s “Sk8er Boi” Responds 18 Years Later

I’m the unnamed girl from Avril Lavigne’s 2002 hit, “Sk8er Boi” and I’m here to set the record straight after 18 years of silence. I’m finally read...

buff.ly

1 3

Reposted by Daniela Scur

VoxDev @voxdev.bsky.social · 28d

🆕 Culture and economic development 📢

Today on VoxDevTalks, Natalie Bau (UCLA), @saralowes.bsky.social (@ucsandiego.bsky.social) & @eduardomontero.bsky.social (Harris School of Public Policy) discuss how culture shapes economic policy and, consequently, development: voxdev.org/topic/instit...

6 10

Reposted by Daniela Scur

Peter Hull @instrumenthull.bsky.social · 12d

Come hear what Larry Katz, Xavier D'Haultfoeuille, Kei Hirano, Francesca Molinari, and Andres Santos think about publishing econometrics in general interest journals!

Tomorrow's Chamberlain Seminar: 12pm ET

1 6 19

Daniela Scur @danielascur.bsky.social · 12d

RIGHT??? I'm obsessed with it. When I move it comes with me in my hand luggage!

1 4

Daniela Scur @danielascur.bsky.social · 12d

Highlight of my day was not just having lunch with the amazing Claudia Goldin, but learning she's responsible for my favourite kitchen item: my ice cream scoop.

She has not just been an inspiration for my professional life but has also directly, heavily improved my personal life!

What a star.

An ice cream scoop on a countertop, but not just any ice cream scoop - a Claudia Goldin ice cream scoop!

Claudia Goldin giving a lecture in a university hall with slides behind her

1 1 18

Reposted by Daniela Scur

Jonathan Thong @jcht.bsky.social · 15d

Fellow econ folks! We are hiring! Come work with me and my delightful colleagues at The University of Melbourne!

Applications close November 23, 2025

Link: unimelb.wd105.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/UoM_Ex...

20 21

Reposted by Daniela Scur

Dina Pomeranz @dinapomeranz.bsky.social · 17d

We're hiring a research associate or research manager for a project in the DRC! This is a great opportunity for anyone who is interested in gaining very hands-on research and work experience in a low-income country in partnership with the local government. Also a great preparation for a PhD.

1 14 17

Reposted by Daniela Scur

Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 19d

I wanted to get a video of this ghost crab but every time I got close to their hole they scuttled back in, so I tried getting clever with it. I made a little sandcastle and shoved my phone into it, hit record, and walked away. Crab was VERY suspicious of this addition to their environment.

660 6.7K 30K

Reposted by Daniela Scur

WeRateDogs @weratedogs.com · 21d

This is Douglas. He just got a new stuffed duck friend and is so excited. Thinks he's gonna call them Ducklas. 12/10 (IG: thatgoldendouglas)

a photo of a golden retriever puppy, named Douglas, sitting on a black bed in a playpen. Douglas is sweetly looking up at the camera with a stuffed duck in his mouth.

47 390 4.2K

Reposted by Daniela Scur

WeRateDogs @weratedogs.com · 22d

This is Finny. He doesn’t go chasing waterfalls. He carefully studies their timing and arrives in advance. 14/10 very impressive (TT: jordancain70)

250 2.5K 16K

Daniela Scur @danielascur.bsky.social · 24d

This is why one should follow the dictionary account

Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 26d

‘Booty’ and ‘butt’ are synonyms.

‘Call’ and ‘dial’ are synonyms.

But, a ‘booty call’ and a ‘butt dial’ are VERY different things.

6 53

Reposted by Daniela Scur

McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 26d

"As if the dancing weren’t enough, when my kids yell 'HEAVY,' I’m expected to pantomime that whatever I’m holding is unbearably heavy. That works fine with a pen. It’s even manageable with a cup of hot coffee. But when holding your best friend’s newborn?"

An Open Letter to Bluey’s Parents: Please Stop

Mum. Dad. Let me begin by saying I’m a fan. You are truly two of the finest method actors of your dog generation. Your commitment to playing Ground...

buff.ly

1 11 54

Daniela Scur @danielascur.bsky.social · 28d

🫂❤️

Reposted by Daniela Scur

Princeton Research Program in Development Economics @princetondevo.bsky.social · 29d

🚨🚨 Pre-doc Hiring! 🚨🚨

We are hiring pre-docs to start in Princeton in Summer 2026, supporting Pascaline Dupas, @thomasfujiwara.bsky.social @seema.bsky.social and Mica Sviatschi. This is a great opportunity to gain experience in development economics research before applying to PhD programs. Link 👇

1 7 8