Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

David Wallace-Wells @dwallacewells.bsky.social · 8h

“Starbucks holds nearly $2 billion of customers’ money in its rewards program. That’s more than the total deposits managed by 85 percent of chartered banks, making the coffee chain one of the biggest financial institutions in the country.” jacobin.com/2025/10/bank...

Everything Is Becoming a Bank

Most major corporations — from airlines to social media platforms — now aspire to become unregulated banks. Bankification today accounts for the highest profit margins in the US economy, crippling pro...

jacobin.com

4 21 48

Reposted by David Wallace-Wells

Nature @nature.com · 16h

Antimicrobial resistance is projected to cause 39 million deaths worldwide over the next 25 years

go.nature.com/42x5KHD

The rise of ‘nightmare bacteria’: antimicrobial resistance in six charts

Data reveal how the global challenge to reduce deaths and infections from drug-resistant bacteria is not going according to plan.

go.nature.com

3 43 67

David Wallace-Wells @dwallacewells.bsky.social · 1d

“The hundreds of billions of dollars companies are investing in AI now account for an astonishing 40 per cent share of US GDP growth this year. And some analysts believe that estimate doesn’t fully capture the AI spend, so the real share could be even higher.” www.ft.com/content/6cc8...

America is now one big bet on AI

It’s seen as the magic fix for every threat to the US economy

www.ft.com

1 12 25

Reposted by David Wallace-Wells

Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · 2d

All I ask is that you watch and listen for 2 mins.

youtu.be/AxZDE8PBhFk

Amazing Grace

YouTube video by Save America Movement

youtu.be

81 830 1.8K

Reposted by David Wallace-Wells

New Scientist @newscientist.com · 2d

Antarctica may have passed a climate tipping point of no return, scientists are warning, with mounting evidence that a sudden slump in sea ice formation since 2016 is linked to human-induced ocean warming.

Antarctica may have crossed a tipping point that leads to rising seas

Scientists are beginning to understand the sudden loss of sea ice in Antarctica – and there is growing evidence that it represents a permanent shift with potentially catastrophic consequences

www.newscientist.com

1 21 26

Reposted by David Wallace-Wells

David Roberts @volts.wtf · 2d

"There are currently one to two Starlink satellites falling back to Earth every day ... Soon, McDowell told us, there will be up to 5 satellite reentries per day." 😳

1 to 2 Starlink satellites are falling back to Earth each day

earthsky.org

48 290 590

David Wallace-Wells @dwallacewells.bsky.social · 2d

“Over 89,000 electric trucks were sold worldwide in the first half of 2025, up 140% from the same period last year. China accounted for almost 80,000 of those, with sales in Europe making up most of the balance. US sales shrunk to just 200 units.” about.bnef.com/insights/cle...

Clean Trucking Takes Off | BloombergNEF

Sales of electric heavy trucks are taking off. The analyst team at BloombergNEF recently published a comprehensive factbook that digs into details on sales, policies, truckmaker strategies, technology...

about.bnef.com

1

David Wallace-Wells @dwallacewells.bsky.social · 6d

“They are forced to say, pathetically, that what the Trump administration has done is unlawful, instead of insisting, without hesitation or equivocation, that it is wrong.” www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...

The Moral Stupefaction of the American Public - Boston Review

Trump’s actions are illegal, yes. Worse than that, they are wrong—precisely what the legality debate is meant to obscure.

www.bostonreview.net

11 20

Reposted by David Wallace-Wells

Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 6d

Doing some historical research for a project and while it's an obvious point that we all "know" in some sense, it's bracing and shocking to be reminded of just how violent a place America has been throughout its history.

300 480 3.7K

Reposted by David Wallace-Wells

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 6d

TRUMP TO CITY: DROP DEAD

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/n...

A yellow crane extends from a barge on the water, with a city skyline in the background. The image includes a breaking news headline about Trump officials withholding funds from NYC for infrastructure projects.

6 27 83

David Wallace-Wells @dwallacewells.bsky.social · 6d

The week of Biden’s inauguration more than 20,000 Americans died of COVID—an annualized pace above one million deaths per year. That death has been diminished by revisionist memory, but less well known is that the next winter the toll got awfully close—19,000 per week, an annualized toll of 988,000.

1 2 13

Reposted by David Wallace-Wells

muscular baby jeb lund @mobute.bsky.social · 6d

Per-student costs were always MUCH higher than the average, but DeSantis and pals' spending spree has depressed every significant academic metric, hemorrhaged faculty, eliminated the school's strong points and replaced it with an athletic program no one in their right mind could give a shit about.

Will Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social · 6d

You'll be shocked to learn New College of Florida is on the brink of implosion just a couple of years after DeSantis engineered an extreme right-wing takeover

Fun fact: NCF's new overlords spend $134K per student (!!...the average at other FL publics is $10K) www.insidehighered.com/news/governa...

Spending Soars, Rankings Fall at New College of Florida

Student outcomes and rankings are slipping at the liberal arts college while spending is up. Critics believe the college is at risk of implosion, and some are calling for privatization.

www.insidehighered.com

3 15 96

David Wallace-Wells @dwallacewells.bsky.social · 7d

Trust in the CDC to deliver reliable vaccine information has fallen among Democrats from 88% in 2023 to 72% in 2025, according to KFF. Trust among Republicans has grown only from 40% to 44%. The Dem drop is 4x the GOP improvement. Overall, only 37% trust RFK Jr. on vaccines.

9

David Wallace-Wells @dwallacewells.bsky.social · 7d

14 52 180

David Wallace-Wells @dwallacewells.bsky.social · 7d

“A broad shift to electric vehicles -- which are quieter than traditional vehicles -- could yield noise reduction benefits of $77.3 billion, concentrated among low-income families in dense urban areas.” www.nber.org/papers/w34298

The Traffic Noise Externality: Costs, Incidence and Policy Implications

Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

www.nber.org

8 47 180

David Wallace-Wells @dwallacewells.bsky.social · 8d

5 8 33

David Wallace-Wells @dwallacewells.bsky.social · 8d

Tax breaks, tax credits, and subsidies are on the list.

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 8d

The Department of Energy has added these terms to its growing “list of words to avoid” because words are dangerous:

climate change
green
decarbonization
emissions
energy transition
sustainability
sustainable
clean energy
dirty energy
carbon footprint
CO₂ footprint
tax breaks
tax credits
subsidies

Energy Dept. adds ‘climate change’ and ‘emissions’ to banned words list

It is the latest in a series of Trump administration efforts to dispute, silence or downplay climate change.

www.politico.com

1 13 34

David Wallace-Wells @dwallacewells.bsky.social · 8d

According to the WHO, “unpublished estimates from rural Uddanam in Andhra Pradesh—a major farming region and a recognized hotspot for kidney disease—have suggested that CKDu could be affecting as much as between 40 and 60% of the population in that region.” e360.yale.edu/features/ind...

Heat Stress Is a Major Driver of India’s Kidney Disease Epidemic

Cases of chronic kidney disease unrelated to pre-existing conditions are on the rise in India and other tropical nations. As climate change raises temperatures and humidity, the disease is increasingl...

e360.yale.edu

5 17

Reposted by David Wallace-Wells

Steve Randy Waldman @interfluidity.com · 9d

“Neo-hustle-culture is a modern twist on Weber’s Protestant ethic: if the world is soon to be divided into the blessed and the damned, the techno-kings and the techno-peasants, anxious technologists should work as hard as they can to prove they deserve to end up on the right side of that divide.”

David Roberts @volts.wtf · 9d

A fantastic guide to the current terminology & thinking of the Silicon Valley bros, who are riding high at the moment.

(I really can not exaggerate how aesthetically & morally repulsive I find every bit of this.)

are you high-agency or an NPC?

AI anxiety and the new language of silicon valley

jasmi.news

2 8 17

David Wallace-Wells @dwallacewells.bsky.social · 9d

1 10

David Wallace-Wells @dwallacewells.bsky.social · 10d

“The average [Californian] born in 2024 will likely face up to $500,000 in additional lifetime costs from climate crisis, and those who experience more severe effects will see up to $1m in costs." www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

‘Hidden costs’ of climate emergency are worsening California’s affordability crisis – report

University of California, Berkeley, study found that those who experience severe effects will see upto a $1m in costs

www.theguardian.com

7 52 98

Reposted by David Wallace-Wells

Daisy Dunne @daisydunne.carbonbrief.org · 11d

NEW:🌎Half of global emissions covered by 2035 climate pledges after UN summit in New York🌎

China, Russia, Turkey and 8 other nations announced new pledges at the UN climate summit

But two-thirds of countries are still to announce their new NDCs

Analysis⬇️

www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-hal...

1 17 32

Reposted by David Wallace-Wells

David Roberts @volts.wtf · 11d

Remember how lefties used to say "abolish ICE" back in the 2010s, and got roundly scolded by the centrists for it ever since, and now events have shown beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were 1000% on the correct side of history, but somehow they're still being scolded? Fun.

83 890 4.2K

David Wallace-Wells @dwallacewells.bsky.social · 11d

“Mr. Tamura, a former high school football player, shot himself in the chest after shooting four people and left behind a note that said his motive was anger at the National Football League, which he blamed for hiding the effects of C.T.E.” www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/u...

Gunman Who Attacked Midtown Office Building Had C.T.E.

www.nytimes.com

3

Reposted by David Wallace-Wells

John Horgan @johnhorgan.bsky.social · 11d

1/n A few days ago, an article appeared in The Atlantic with a bold headline “Left-wing terrorism is on the rise.”

www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Left-Wing Terrorism Is on the Rise

For the first time in more than 30 years, attacks by the far left outnumber those by the far right.

www.theatlantic.com

29 230 490