Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Katie Wilkinson @drkwilkinson.bsky.social · 2h

This Lost Science series at @nytimes.com is a depressing look at the incredible science and training lost to grant cancellations and mass federal firings. Here's one about important work to understand how air pollution can lead to infertility.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/c...

She Found a Link Between Air Pollution and Infertility

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Katie Wilkinson

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 6h

Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE

nyti.ms

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Amanda Jo LeBlanc Ph.D. @hoosierderby-phd.bsky.social · 1d

Oh hey! I wrote this! (Pre-Covid, so like…25 years ago?) 😂

American Physiological Society @apsphysiology.bsky.social · 1d

The days are getting shorter and for some people, the darkness means depression creeps in. Learn about seasonal affective disorder and what you can do to push away the blues: https://ow.ly/By4R50X7IrP #ISpyPhysiology CC: Amanda Jo LeBlanc Ph.D. 🧪

Close-up of a diagnostic assessment form showing 'Seasonal Affective Disorder' written as the mental illness diagnosis with a pen and prescription bottles nearby.

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FASEB @faseborg.bsky.social · 2d

FASEB opposes DHS’s proposal to eliminate “duration of status” for F & J visa holders. This change would create unnecessary administrative & financial burdens on international scholars, discourage future talent from training in the U.S., & ultimately weaken the STEM workforce. 🔗 buff.ly/dllo65l

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alison (she/her) FREE LINK @alisonborealis.bsky.social · 4d

Never forget that chemical warfare including tear gas is not only illegal in actual war, but carries powerfully damaging chemicals including abortifacients that can cause lasting harm to people's reproductive cycles.

dr. caitlin m. green @caitlinmoriah.bsky.social · 4d

unbelievable amounts of gas right in front of the apartments by the ICE facility in portland. guys in fatigues in the middle of the road

Screen grab from a tiktok live showing billowing clouds of gas in the middle of the road. police stand in the road between camera and gas clouds

Two armed men in camo stand outside in the road between the camera and an apartment complex

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Bryan White, MS Bio, MPH 🧬 @crvscience.com · 4d

Homie got 229 pairs of chromosomes

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202...

This tiny butterfly has the most chromosomes of any animal on Earth

Scientists have confirmed that the Atlas blue butterfly carries the most chromosomes of any animal, with 229 pairs. Unlike duplication, its chromosomes split apart, reshaping its genome in surprising ...

www.sciencedaily.com

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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 7d

People think they’re taking down a rich intellectual sinecure but they’re mostly terrorizing committed public servants who make $58,000 a year after 15 years of experience at a school that has to budget creatively so students can access textbooks.

Emily Farris @emayfarris.bsky.social · 7d

This new column by @tressiemcphd.bsky.social makes me think about when I recently had to talk to the police for yet another safety plan, I tried to “lighten” the mood by saying that we all knew this wasn’t my first rodeo. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/o...

For at least the past 15 years, my colleagues in academia have grappled with angry letters to university officials for doing their jobs. They have weathered campaigns for their firing. They have contended with an internet army obsessed with doxxing them, their parents, their kids. I’ve been contacted by the F.B.I. more than once in my career. Not because I hold any important state secrets or know a biker gang but because one of my colleagues has lived with so much sustained harassment from right-wing “activists” that it has become a matter of federal concern. Watch lists (one of which was constructed by Kirk’s organization) do not distinguish between public intellectuals at wealthy enclaves and hoi polloi who teach popular classes at cash-strapped schools. In either case, an army of trained provocateurs stands ready to destroy their lives to prove their bona fides as conservative activists.

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Sweta Agrawal @hokuba.bsky.social · 7d

The Agrawal lab is moving! This January we will be setting up shop at #UBC in Vancouver, in the department of #Zoology! We are actively recruiting at all levels, especially masters and PhD students. These position are #funded! Please send anyone interested my way!

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Dr. Sarah Parcak @indyfromspace.bsky.social · 7d

MAGA: Professors are indoctrinating the students with WOKE DEI TRANSGENDERISM

Professors: Why has Canvas auto converted all my grades to 0% in the final tally *spends 4 hours fixing it*

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 7d

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Ryan Marino, MD @ryanmarino.bsky.social · 8d

This is why we fund scientists to study things like oyster slobber even if you don’t think it sounds important

Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 9d

⚠️ Chinese researchers have invented bone glue that mimics how oysters stick to surfaces underwater.

The adhesive can reportedly repair orthopedic fractures in 2-3 minutes, even in blood-rich environments, and is bioabsorbable.

interestingengineering.com/science/chin...

China's oyster-inspired 'bone glue' bonds fractures in minutes

A new oyster-inspired Bone-02 adhesive can revolutionize bone repair without metal fasteners.

interestingengineering.com

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San José Spotlight @sanjosespotlight.com · 8d

Federal immigration agents will be required to remove masks and identify themselves in San Jose.

San Jose approves plan for ICE agents to identify themselves - San José Spotlight

Federal immigration agents will be required to remove masks and identify themselves in San Jose. In addition, all law enforcement officers must wear clear identification and agency affiliation when co...

sanjosespotlight.com

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Ron Chusid @rchusid.bsky.social · 8d

Study in JAMA Pediatrics estimates that vaccinating pregnant women against COVID-19 prevented 7,000 hospitalizations in infants and 3,000 in pregnant women from January 2024 to May 2025.
#Medsky
www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/cov...

COVID vaccines may have averted thousands of hospital stays in infants, pregnant women over 18 months

www.cidrap.umn.edu

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 9d

Who, specifically, advised this? Is this in writing?

I ask as a white American of eastern European ancestry and a proud SACNAS member. It is a great organization.

Laura Lopez @ohdearz.bsky.social · 9d

Ohio State just advised all staff and students not to attend the SACNAS (Society for the advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science) annual meeting of 6000+ scientists -- which is in Columbus, OH this year! -- saying it may be exclusionary, even though it is open to all.

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Katie Wilkinson @drkwilkinson.bsky.social · 9d

A banger and the remix is a great song to illustrate action potential thresholds and how to get twitch vs tetanic muscle contractions w some physics of energy in soundwaves. First day of Neurophys students have to figure out what is happening. youtu.be/fr7Vra9Ok9c?...

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Dave Vanness @djvanness.bsky.social · 9d

A lot of people think that every international student admitted means one fewer spot for domestic students, when the opposite is more likely true - the tuition revenue international students bring allows public universities to provide substantial discounts to domestic students, improving access.

Nick Fleisher @nickfleisher.bsky.social · 9d

30% drop year over year!

Amid visa restrictions, international freshmen enrollment plummets at UW-Madison

This year’s number of international freshmen is the lowest recorded since at least 2015.

www.jsonline.com

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Lauren Kuehne @omfishient.bsky.social · 9d

Updated petition re: devastating #GRFP eligibility changes is out - please sign and share if you can!

bsky.app/profile/jaso...

Jason Williams @jasonwilliamsny.bsky.social · 9d

The new #NSF #GRFP application now excludes 1000’s of students, including those who were told they could apply this year, or who planned to apply next year.

We have a new specific petition urging #NSFGRFP undo this harmful action. If you are impacted sign here: laurenkuehne.github.io/grfpChanges/

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Bex, if you can keep it @bextraordinary.bsky.social · 10d

Was just talking to a prof friend about this. Teaching students about AI takes away already-short time to teach them our *actual subjects* that they need to master *before* they use AI so they can assess if its output is actually correct! Jumping into AI use early is cart-before-horse stuff.

Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 10d

I realize many people don’t quite get that not every single professor in every single university teaches computer science and might actually be trained in and invested in teaching other things, like let’s say, history? Or poetry.
Or sociology.
It is not our job to teach students how to use AI.

matt94250.bsky.social @matt94250.bsky.social · 10d

If you don’t teach your students how to use AI, you’re doing them a huge disservice because they won’t have jobs in the future.

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Katie Wilkinson @drkwilkinson.bsky.social · 11d

Daughter and I got ours at Kaiser today and in the information packet this time they had disclosures about the CDC ‘guidance’. Between CA guidance plus Kaiser’s own decision to cover for everyone it was no hassle at all.

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Katie Wilkinson @drkwilkinson.bsky.social · 11d

All scientists can easily respond to this and you can choose to stay anonymous. I modified my comment from the FASEB response. We all know that international scientists are essential to US science and that these proposed rules are cruel to our colleagues. www.regulations.gov/comment/ICEB...

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Katie Wilkinson @drkwilkinson.bsky.social · 11d

Very easy to add a comment against the proposed shortened visa time for students and postdocs. These proposed changes mean visa holders have no guarantee they can finish their degrees or positions and will hurt US innovation and the economy.

Dr. Kat Napaaqtuk❄️ @napaaqtuk.bsky.social · 11d

Comment period ends on Monday for a proposed rule change that would terminate student visas after 4 years. It also puts limits on exchange visitors and reps of foreign media, and shortens the length of time at the end of the visa from 60 days to 30 days.

www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...

Establishing a Fixed Time Period of Admission and an Extension of Stay Procedure for Nonimmigrant Academic Students, Exchange Visitors, and Representatives of Foreign Information Media

Unlike most nonimmigrant classifications, which are admitted for a fixed time period, aliens in the F (academic student), J (exchange visitor), and most I (representatives of foreign information media...

www.federalregister.gov

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Tara C. Smith @aetiology.bsky.social · 12d

Not only is this bonkers in general, but there are no single measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines manufactured in the US. (Or anywhere else I suspect?) Tylenol is safe in pregnancy, MMR is safe, hepB vaccine is safe at birth, no other vaccines need to be spaced out, autism is primarily genetic.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 12d

Highly normal. Nothing to see here, folks.

Pregnant Women, DON’T USE TYLENOL UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, DON’T GIVE TYLENOL TO YOUR YOUNG CHILD FOR VIRTUALLY ANY REASON, BREAK UP THE MMR SHOT INTO THREE TOTALLY SEPARATE SHOTS (NOT MIXED!), TAKE CHICKEN P SHOT SEPARATELY, TAKE HEPATITAS B SHOT AT 12 YEARS OLD, OR OLDER, AND, IMPORTANTLY, TAKE VACCINE IN 5 SEPARATE MEDICAL VISITS! President DJT

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Jason Williams @jasonwilliamsny.bsky.social · 13d

Please share with anyone who cares about NSF support for graduate students and take 30 seconds to sign and leave a comment.

The deadline for the 2025 Graduate Research Fellowship Program is about one month away and literally no one can apply. #NSFGRFP

jasonjwilliamsny.github.io/grfp2025/

An Open Letter to U.S. STEM Leadership on the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program

jasonjwilliamsny.github.io

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Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽 @needhibhalla.bsky.social · 13d

"the benefits of NIH research in general are wide and diffuse. A very large number of advances—roughly one in two during the 21st century—are linked to NIH grants that are cut in our counterfactual scenario."

Drug Monkey @drugmonkey.bsky.social · 13d

This may be the most important paper ever published about NIH funded research.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

What if NIH had been 40% smaller?

Replaying history with less NIH funding shows widespread impacts on drug-linked research

www.science.org

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Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽 @needhibhalla.bsky.social · 13d

I often emphasize that there are rarely "silver bullets" that magically solve problems but vaccines are one of the closest things we have and it's mind-boggling and enraging to watch this "debate" unfold during my lifetime

Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 14d

The polio immunisation program started in the USA in 1955.

Look what happened next.

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