Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

David Hsu @dhsu.bsky.social · 1d

Two delightful geographic aspects of this year's Nobel Prize in Physics for quantum tunneling:

1. Award to an American, a Brit, and a Frenchman (sounds like a WW2 movie or joke)
2. All 3 affiliated with the University of California (Berkeley and Santa Barbara)!

www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physi...

Nobel Prize in Physics 2025

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2025 was awarded to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis “for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electri...

www.nobelprize.org

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David Hsu @dhsu.bsky.social · 1d

Nobel Prize Week, a great week to celebrate how scientific research can improve everyone's lives and how discovery helps to understand our place in the universe. I'm especially excited by prizes given to multiple countries, a reminder to work together. wapo.st/3WmtESD

Nobel Prize for medicine awarded for discoveries about the immune system

Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi shared the Nobel Prize for fundamental discoveries about how the immune system keeps itself in check.

wapo.st

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David Hsu @dhsu.bsky.social · 13d

I was a reader of his for many years. Rest in peace. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/b...

Five Pearls of Wisdom From a Legend of Financial Writing

www.nytimes.com

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David Hsu @dhsu.bsky.social · 14d

Trump administration chooses the nuclear option. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/w...

Iranian Diplomats in the U.S. Are Barred From Shopping at Costco

www.nytimes.com

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David Hsu @dhsu.bsky.social · 18d

I haven’t been on social media much lately, but where can I read coherent reactions to, and thoughts about, this article? (Coherent, so not the comments section)
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/m...

It Isn’t Just the U.S. The Whole World Has Soured on Climate Politics.

www.nytimes.com

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David Hsu @dhsu.bsky.social · 23d

Very satisfying to overhaul the bike I ride everyday. Everything wore out at once, so I replaced the front rim; tires; grips; brake pads, levers, and cables; and chain. Rides like a dream now!

Picture of a blue Brompton folding bicycle.

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David Hsu @dhsu.bsky.social · 26d

So much good food there also.

David Hsu @dhsu.bsky.social · 28d

Goodbye for a couple of days.

Picture of hardcover copy of Mick Herron’s new novel, “Clown Town”

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David Hsu @dhsu.bsky.social · 29d

I don't think I'm spoiling the last line by quoting it, from this fine essay:

"We need to get up from under our desks and persuade our fellow citizens that the institutions that they have helped create with their tax dollars are incredibly precious and important." www.nytimes.com/2025/09/08/o...

Opinion | We Are Watching a Scientific Superpower Destroy Itself

www.nytimes.com

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David Hsu @dhsu.bsky.social · Sep 8

(Unknown to me, but maybe you, the Babylonians, and their followers knew all along)

David Hsu @dhsu.bsky.social · Sep 8

Nice to see the NYT building such nice interactive tools. I clicked on it out of curiosity; the architecture of the article, links, and graphics drew me in; and now I find that I would have been the previously unknown 13th Babylonian sign. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Your Zodiac Sign Is 2,000 Years Out of Date (Gift Article)

Over millennia, our view of the stars has shifted, because of Earth’s wobble. It may be time to rethink your sign.

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by David Hsu

Molly Ploofkins @mollyploofkins.bsky.social · Sep 5

Mike Johnson claims that Trump was an FBI informant who was trying to take down Jeffrey Epstein.

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David Hsu @dhsu.bsky.social · Sep 5

Important local special election. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

The cat mayoral race: meet 11 runners and riders in the US’s most furious – and furriest – election

It has been the talk of Somerville, Massachusetts this summer, with the winner announced later today. Will it be the candidate who promises free kibble or the one who speaks gnomically of ‘CRIME’?

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by David Hsu

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · Sep 5

"NUMBERS ALWAYS TEND TO BENEFIT THE LEFT"

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · Sep 5

CNN: When the jobs report comes out, are you going to believe the numbers?

REP. RANDY FINE: Um, I'm going to look at the numbers. Look, the people who put these numbers together are human & fallible and make mistakes

C: It wasn't that they make mistakes

F: Numbers always tend to benefit the left

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David Hsu @dhsu.bsky.social · Sep 5

Wow that is not a good jobs report.

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David Hsu @dhsu.bsky.social · Sep 3

Climate deniers set pen to paper in order to provide an alternative evidentiary basis, but doing shoddy and rushed work also just seems to open them up to ridicule. Read some of the scathing comments. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/02/c...