Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Dr Duncan Forgan @dh4gan.bsky.social · 2d

This is doing a barrel roll when your plane is about to nosedive into a mountain

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Dr Duncan Forgan @dh4gan.bsky.social · 10d

Grotesque

Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 11d

Larry Ellison envisions a surveillance state in which techbros rule. '“Citizens will be on their best behavior, because we’re constantly recording and reporting everything that is going on,” Ellison said in an hour-long Q&A during Oracle’s Financial Analyst Meeting last week.'

Larry Ellison predicts rise of the modern surveillance state where ‘citizens will be on their best behavior’ | Fortune

Oracle's Larry Ellison believes citizens and police alike will be under constant surveillance of each other.

fortune.com

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Dr Duncan Forgan @dh4gan.bsky.social · 10d

At last. The fact it takes two weeks of triangulation by a horde of consultants to get to this simple statement is worrying.

We need leadership, not a bellwether. Fascism is knocking at the door for God’s sake

Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot.bsky.social · 10d

NEW - Keir Starmer says that Reform UK's policy to abolish indefinite leave to remain is " a racist policy. I do think it is immoral.”

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Reposted by Dr Duncan Forgan

Lorraine Wilson @rainewilson.bsky.social · 11d

Scary news A:
I've finally moved from Substack to Patreon (losing all my subscribers as a result 😱).
If you've ever enjoyed my articles please come subscribe - All my craft and publishing posts are always free because accessibility matters, so I'd love any boosts too🖤
patreon.com/LorraineWilson

Lorraine Wilson | Patreon

Speculative fiction author, tea drinker, cat herder

patreon.com

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Reposted by Dr Duncan Forgan

Edinburgh SFF @edinburghsff.com · 23d

What a weekend! We’re over the moon for the winning ESFF writers at @bloodyscotland.bsky.social -

@davegoodman.bsky.social, Debut Prize for A Reluctant Spy, @tariqashkanani.bsky.social the McIlvanney Prize for The Midnight King, & @marcorinaldi.bsky.social winning Pitch Perfect for Dark Waters

🎉

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Dr Duncan Forgan @dh4gan.bsky.social · 24d

This inner tension of “we are strong and winning” and “we’re just one step from crushing defeat” is an essential psychological component of fascism. You can see it at play repeatedly in Nazi Germany etc

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 25d

a question I often find myself asking these days: "are these the moves of a movement that feels that it's winning or one desperately afraid that it's about to lose everything?"

onion person @junlper.beer · 25d

what we’ve seen from the right is the most insane case of cancel culture i’ve ever witnessed. the left has never even done close to a fraction of a fraction of what they want to do now

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Reposted by Dr Duncan Forgan

Nanoraptor @nanoraptor.danamania.com · 25d

Canonically Ellie Sattler and Alan Grant are time lords, and their TARDIS is bigger on the inside.

Top is the outside of their trailer, bottom is a scene immediately after on the inside of the same trailer.

A couple of screenshots from Jurassic Park, one where Alan Grant is about to enter an old on-site aluminium trailer, and the second a shot inside the trailer. On the top it looks a little over two metres wide. In the bottom shit, the interior looks more like five metres wide, perhaps six.

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Reposted by Dr Duncan Forgan

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · Sep 6

Can Tylenol sue this quack? Because it seems they should sue this quack

George Pearkes @peark.es · Sep 5

WSJ reports RFK Jr has instructed HHS to link autism with Tylenol use during pregnancy and folate deficiency.

Exclusive | RFK Jr., HHS to Link Autism to Tylenol Use in Pregnancy and Folate Deficiencies

Kennedy’s autism report, touted by Trump, will suggest that using the pain reliever during pregnancy may be linked to the developmental disorder.

www.wsj.com

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Reposted by Dr Duncan Forgan

flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · Sep 6

Farage is a 100% media creation by a bunch of important people who believe tax avoidance by the wealthy is great. Why would we ever expect this to be different?

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Dr Duncan Forgan @dh4gan.bsky.social · Sep 5

Moon-moons

Sarah Cupcakes @cupcakesarenice.bsky.social · Nov 12

I have a game. What were you "known" for on Twitter?

I'll go first. I'm the woman who caused Dave Ramsey to mass-block Royals Twitter.

Dr Duncan Forgan @dh4gan.bsky.social · Sep 1

The HBO drama covering this week in politics will be barely comprehensible to anyone

minty tear gas @nihilamacabre.bsky.social · Sep 1

Somebody is throwing things out of a window of the White House

wtaf

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Dr Duncan Forgan @dh4gan.bsky.social · Aug 28

The Arrested Development “but it might work for us” meme, for the idea you can win politically if you out-fascist a fascist

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Dr Duncan Forgan @dh4gan.bsky.social · Aug 28

i.imgflip.com/a4fo3t.jpg

The arrested development “but it might work for us” meme, applied to people trying to out-fascist the fascists

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Dr Duncan Forgan @dh4gan.bsky.social · Aug 26

Jira is absolutely Gojira with all the “go” stripped out

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Dr Duncan Forgan @dh4gan.bsky.social · Aug 26

It is damning that not a single person involved in training chatGPT will ever be held responsible for this

Pohutukawa @pohutukawa.bsky.social · Aug 26

Here it is, hope the gift article works.

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/t...

A Teen Was Suicidal. ChatGPT Was the Friend He Confided In.

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Dr Duncan Forgan

flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · Aug 26

I could not more wholeheartedly agree but if the government won’t even say this stuff is wrong, wildly reckless and evil, then why would we expect the world’s most intentionally poisonous media outlets to step in and do it on their behalf

simon wren-lewis @sjwrenlewis •7h New post: Reform and the UK press
mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2025/08/reform…
We have reached the point where a majority of the print media are in effect encouraging civil unrest and racial hatred, yet thanks to political short termism this press remains essentially unaccountable for their behaviour

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Reposted by Dr Duncan Forgan

Jason Wright @astrowright.bsky.social · Aug 26

Sigh.
sites.psu.edu/astrowright/...

HST Has Conclusively Shown that Avi Loeb is Wrong About 3I/ATLAS

The recent JWST observations have firmly shown that 3I/ATLAS is a comet—an interesting and anomalous one in some ways, but definitely not a spacecraft. This has not stopped Avi Loeb from continuing to...

sites.psu.edu

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Dr Duncan Forgan @dh4gan.bsky.social · Aug 26

We’re heavily into you now. Sorry, I don’t make the rules

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Dr Duncan Forgan @dh4gan.bsky.social · Aug 16

When (if) I write the next edition of Solving Fermi’s Paradox, I’ll be adding “Poster’s Madness” to the Catastrophic solutions

CosmicRami 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @cosmicrami.com · Aug 16

“One [Avi Loeb’s readers] wrote about their fatalism about the Dark Forest scenario he’s described, and how they’re choosing to spend their remaining time with loved ones, hoarding canned goods.”

This is the kinda stuff where I think his claims about a spaceship move from the harmless to dangerous.

Steve Desch @deschscoveries.bsky.social · Aug 15

My complaints have not yet been resolved.

medium.com/@steve.desch...

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Reposted by Dr Duncan Forgan

CosmicRami 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @cosmicrami.com · Aug 16

“One [Avi Loeb’s readers] wrote about their fatalism about the Dark Forest scenario he’s described, and how they’re choosing to spend their remaining time with loved ones, hoarding canned goods.”

This is the kinda stuff where I think his claims about a spaceship move from the harmless to dangerous.

Steve Desch @deschscoveries.bsky.social · Aug 15

My complaints have not yet been resolved.

medium.com/@steve.desch...

There’s No “I” in Team. But There Is One in “ALIENS”

Yelling “Tarantulas!” in a crowded movie theater has its time and place. If you’re enduring Madame Web, everyone will be relieved you…

medium.com

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Reposted by Dr Duncan Forgan

shit whistle @guntoucher.bsky.social · Aug 14

[XENOMORPH ALIEN SKITTERS AT FULL SPEED DOWN CORRIDOR CEILING]

ME: (sighing) is this about sex or death

[XENOMORPH STOPS, UNSURE HOW TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION]

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Dr Duncan Forgan @dh4gan.bsky.social · Aug 12

If I were Harvard, I would be concerned about the barrage of headlines that effectively equate “Harvard Scientist” with “Florida Man”

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Dr Duncan Forgan @dh4gan.bsky.social · Aug 12

It is well within the power of journalists to simply stop interviewing this individual

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Dr Duncan Forgan @dh4gan.bsky.social · Aug 12

This is verging on dangerous misinformation. For the sake of one man’s ego entire droves of scientists are having their careers mangled, and the public’s trust in science continues to be poisoned. The man needs to be censured

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Reposted by Dr Duncan Forgan

Rafe Meager (they/them) @economeager.bsky.social · Aug 8

Oh so it does have phd level intelligence

Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · Aug 7

Google Gemini doesn’t appear to be doing too well:

‘"I am a disgrace to this planet. I am a disgrace to this universe. I am a disgrace to all universes . . . I am a disgrace to all possible and impossible universes and all that is not a universe," the bot continued.’

Google says it's working on a fix for Gemini's self-loathing 'I am a failure' comments

Google Gemini users said the bot is sharing self-loathing messages while attempting to solve tasks, including "I am a disgrace to this universe."

www.businessinsider.com

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