Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Eric Hittinger @elephanteating.bsky.social · 1d

Damn, man. Sorry

2

Eric Hittinger @elephanteating.bsky.social · 7d

Data extraction is entirely solar powered - even a low ambient light is sufficient!

Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 7d

We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.

1

Eric Hittinger @elephanteating.bsky.social · 13d

Id be the first to sign up

1

Eric Hittinger @elephanteating.bsky.social · 13d

I'll take two

1 1

Eric Hittinger @elephanteating.bsky.social · 13d

What if all our garbage-related conflict with racoons eventually leads to them being able to count to 7?

1 2

Reposted by Eric Hittinger

Susan Kaye Quinn is Writing Solarpunk 🌞🌱 @susankayequinn.bsky.social · 14d

They've lost the 9yos

JA Westenberg
@Daojoan@mastodon.social

My 9 year old and his classmates have started using “that’s AI” to mean “I don’t believe you.”

Me: we’re having dinosaur meat for dinner

Kiddo: that’s AI
Sep 24, 2025, 07:36 AM

110 2.9K 11K

Eric Hittinger @elephanteating.bsky.social · 14d

And I'm finally going to upgrade from a Level 1 to a Level 2 charger since we now have 2 EVs and one as a pure EV. But the L1 charger was perfectly fine for the last 4 years!

Eric Hittinger @elephanteating.bsky.social · 14d

Well friends, I'm sad to report that after 17 years of being a 1-car family, we have now purchased a 2nd car. When we left DC in 2008, we sold off one car and just had the (infrequently-used) Prius. We kept that workhorse of a vehicle until we moved to France in 2019.

1 2

Reposted by Eric Hittinger

Eric Hittinger @elephanteating.bsky.social · 14d

Well friends, I'm sad to report that after 17 years of being a 1-car family, we have now purchased a 2nd car. When we left DC in 2008, we sold off one car and just had the (infrequently-used) Prius. We kept that workhorse of a vehicle until we moved to France in 2019.

1 1 1

Eric Hittinger @elephanteating.bsky.social · 14d

So we just got a used ID4 (for $24K, including a 7-yr warranty) in order to take advantage of the tax credits before they run out at the end of the month.

Eric Hittinger @elephanteating.bsky.social · 14d

In France, we had zero cars (which is, IMHO, the ideal number of cars to own). But upon returning to Rochester in 2021 we bought a used Chevy Volt (for just $15k). R hates the Volt and argues that a family of 4 plus a dog might need more than a single small sedan.

1 1

Eric Hittinger @elephanteating.bsky.social · 14d

Well friends, I'm sad to report that after 17 years of being a 1-car family, we have now purchased a 2nd car. When we left DC in 2008, we sold off one car and just had the (infrequently-used) Prius. We kept that workhorse of a vehicle until we moved to France in 2019.

1 1 1

Eric Hittinger @elephanteating.bsky.social · 15d

Einstein said that the most powerful force in the universe was "compound interest", but I'd like to nominate "technological progress" as a strong competitor.

Alex Pawlowski @apawlows.bsky.social · 15d

Pretty neat

Graph of lifecycle carbon footprint of Rivian vehicles grams of CO2 equivalent/ mile. Trend shows on target for 2030 target to halve lifecycle emissions. Article has more information about how.

1 2

Eric Hittinger @elephanteating.bsky.social · 21d

Neat! I like keeping up with RI events through your local-focused posts. Thanks.

1 1

Reposted by Eric Hittinger

Kevin J. CREATURE @kevinjkircher.com · 21d

1) New paper! Replacing US fossil-fueled vehicles & appliances with electric versions could improve health & climate outcomes, but could cost up to $790 billion in distribution grid reinforcement. Strategic demand-side management could cut 2/3 of those costs.🔌💡

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

"Science for society" blurb from the paper:

In a future with clean electricity and full electrification of buildings and private vehicles, the United States would emit about half the greenhouse gas pollution than it does today. However, buildings and vehicles would also use much more electricity, especially in the coldest weather. Here, we show that reinforcing distribution grids to accommodate these new peaks in electricity demand could cost Americans $2,800–$6,400 per household. We also show that “smart electrification”—accompanying electrification with measures that mitigate electricity demand peaks, such as reducing thermal demand, improving equipment efficiencies, and coordinating device operation—could reduce grid reinforcement costs by over two-thirds. We believe that achieving an affordable, all-electric future will require cooperation between engineers to develop enabling technologies, social scientists to guide technology development toward people’s wants and needs, and policymakers to pass laws or incentives that shape technology adoption.

17 78 240

Reposted by Eric Hittinger

Ala Alrababah @aalrababah.bsky.social · 22d

🚨 New working paper alert 🚨
Missing summer — and the Tour de France? Don’t worry, we got you covered. 🚴‍♂️🚴‍♂️🚴‍♂️
In this paper, we show that being on the route of Tour de France reduces far-right voting. osf.io/preprints/so...

15 88 270

Eric Hittinger @elephanteating.bsky.social · 25d

Yes, RIT recently forced everyone to use Outlook so I am still a bit new at it. So I did just lose a file that I spent about 4 hours editing, something that wouldn't happen it I was allowed to continue using gmail. I was making sure to save frequently, but apparently to the wrong location!

2 4

Eric Hittinger @elephanteating.bsky.social · 25d

Absolutely bananas that if you open a file directly from Outlook and edit it then save and close the file, that the file gets deleted from your computer. I understand that it was a temporary file that I was supposed to save to a different location, but what a crazy design choice...

1 6

Reposted by Eric Hittinger

Institute for Policy Integrity @policyintegrity.bsky.social · Sep 8

Calling law students 🎙️ 🏛️ Are you interested in #environmental law, #energy law, environmental justice, or regulatory #policy? We’re hiring for several research assistant positions that start this fall semester. ⚡🏛️ 🌎 Apply now!

policyintegrity.org/about/jobs

Jobs

The Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University School of Law regularly hires legal/economic fellows and other staff members to conduct research, contribute to policy advocacy efforts, and p...

policyintegrity.org

1 4 2

Eric Hittinger @elephanteating.bsky.social · Sep 7

Not sure who needs to hear this, but: watching Inglorious Basterds is an act of resistance.

1 2

Eric Hittinger @elephanteating.bsky.social · Sep 5

The drunk drivers have weaved back into our lane...

#EnergySky

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · Sep 5

INGRAHAM: Why are electricity prices today still as high as they are and in some cases increasing?

ENERGY SECRETARY CHRIS WRIGHT: We had 100 years of flat to declining inflation-adjusted electricity prices until President Obama decided we've gonna save the world with renewable power.

3

Reposted by Eric Hittinger

Institute for Policy Integrity @policyintegrity.bsky.social · Sep 4

We're hiring! 🏛️ 📝 Policy Integrity is hiring an attorney or senior attorney with a primary focus on emerging administrative law issues. This position may be based in New York City or Washington, DC.

Applications due October 1!

policyintegrity.org/about/jobs/a...

Attorney or Senior Attorney

The Institute for Policy Integrity (Policy Integrity) seeks applicants for an attorney or a senior attorney position with a primary focus on appellate litigation and emerging administrative law issues...

policyintegrity.org

2

Eric Hittinger @elephanteating.bsky.social · Sep 3

Not for me

1 1

Eric Hittinger @elephanteating.bsky.social · Sep 3

Volt is a PHEV, I should say explicitly. But with 50 miles range, we use it mostly as an EV.

1

Eric Hittinger @elephanteating.bsky.social · Sep 3

Still about 50 miles in the best weather. Less in winter, but hard to know exactly because it tends to run the engine for short periods of time to use the waste heat as cabin heat.

1 1

Eric Hittinger @elephanteating.bsky.social · Sep 3

For those keeping score at home, the 2016 Chevy Volt, which I bought for $15k back in 2020, continues to be a very good electric car.

6 2 18