Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Elise Cutts @elisecutts.bsky.social · 19h

If Google Scholar could just... you know, create RSS feeds for following researchers instead of needing to use their clunky email alerts, that'd sure be swell...

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Elise Cutts @elisecutts.bsky.social · 23h

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin!

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Elise Cutts @elisecutts.bsky.social · 1d

While it still makes me nervous sometimes, I'm starting to like writing without the security blanket of a copywriter on my blog because at least it's obvious I'm not a computer. There are too many stupid typos and clunky phrases for that lol

Elise Cutts @elisecutts.bsky.social · 1d

I feel like I need an xkcd comic to teach me the proper terminology or something

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Elise Cutts @elisecutts.bsky.social · 1d

Splotch is the word I didn't know I needed for describing astronomy things, thank you haha

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Reposted by Elise Cutts

Artemy Kolchinsky @artemyte.bsky.social · 1d

After a long time in the making, my paper on nonequilibrium thermodynamics of Darwinian evolution has been published in Philosophical Transactions B. Updated version: arxiv.org/abs/2112.02809

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Reposted by Elise Cutts

Sean Carroll @seanmcarroll.bsky.social · 1d

After stretching a bit last year, this year the Nobel committee was determined to give the prize to the physicsiest physics that ever physicsed.

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 1d

Breaking News: The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis for their work in quantum mechanics.

Nobel Prize in Physics Is Awarded for Work in Quantum Physics

The prize was awarded to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis.

nyti.ms

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Elise Cutts @elisecutts.bsky.social · 1d

Now I'm never going to be able to un-see this as a kind of karma for the AI Nobel lol.

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Elise Cutts @elisecutts.bsky.social · 1d

I'm uh, just going to leave this here...

(I think this time it's a magnitude 6.2, btw)

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Elise Cutts @elisecutts.bsky.social · 1d

Oh wow. It's even with the same 2 spots psychologist he's been co-authoring the Loeb Scale etc. papers with.

Thanks.

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Elise Cutts @elisecutts.bsky.social · 1d

What is this about him heading an international directorate?

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Reposted by Elise Cutts

Nature @nature.com · 1d

BREAKING: The Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret, and John M. Martinis "for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit"

Stay tuned for more.

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Elise Cutts @elisecutts.bsky.social · 1d

"They were still in the wild and there are plenty of grizzly bears there, so he was quite worried when she let out a yell," Perlmann told Reuters.

"Fortunately, it was the Nobel Prize."

What a plot twist. 🐻🧪

www.reuters.com/world/call-w...

www.reuters.com

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Reposted by Elise Cutts

Linguistic Discovery @linguisticdiscovery.com · 2d

The Tsimane language only has basic color terms for blackish, whitish, and reddish.

However, Spanish-Tsimane bilinguals are starting to rework the Tsimane color system.

www.scientificamerican.com/article/bili...

@elisecutts.bsky.social

Bilingualism Is Reworking This Language's Rainbow

The Tsimane’ language divides the rainbow into blackish, reddish and whitish. But bilingual Spanish and Tsimane’ speakers are changing that

www.scientificamerican.com

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Elise Cutts @elisecutts.bsky.social · 2d

I think I could eat chicken tikka masala every day, for every meal lol. It's one of those dishes I just never get tired of. Perfection.

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Reposted by Elise Cutts

Dr Delyth Badder @folklorewales.com · 3d

Six weeks ago, I picked up a year-old tawny owl with a broken leg off the main road near our home and dropped him off at our nearest vet.

After a few days, I received one of the most bizarre phone calls I’ve ever had, asking “So when are you coming to pick up your owl?” 🧵

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Elise Cutts @elisecutts.bsky.social · 3d

Yup!

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Reposted by Elise Cutts

Dr. Jens Foell @jensfoell.de · 3d

Pssst— early risers can already watch our brand-new episode of MAITHINK X [in German] right here: www.zdf.de/video/shows/...

It’s all about the functions and/or dangers of radiation. Both the kind of radiation that actually exists and the kind that people make up sometimes. Check it out!

5G, WLan & Co: Wann ist Strahlung schädlich?

Handys, Mikrowellen, WLAN, 5G – wir sind überall von Strahlung umgeben. Viele Menschen machen sich Sorgen um gesundheitliche Schäden durch Strahlung.

www.zdf.de

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Elise Cutts @elisecutts.bsky.social · 3d

This same thing exists in the germanosphere, but has a different name — funny enough, another French borrowing, "Raclette."

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Elise Cutts @elisecutts.bsky.social · 3d

🚨 Astobio alert 🚨

@royalsocietypublishing.org recently put out a whole special issue on the origins of life edited by @ricardsole.bsky.social, Chris Kempes and Susan Stepney

I wondered why there were so many origin of life papers coming up in my Google Scholar alerts recently... 🧪

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences: Vol 380, No 1936

royalsocietypublishing.org

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Elise Cutts @elisecutts.bsky.social · 5d

If you've been seeing the videos and posts going around about US generals not clapping for Hegseth and Trump, this is helpful context:

www.snopes.com/news/2025/10...

Posts claim military leaders didn't clap for Hegseth, Trump. Here's what we know

Social media posts claimed that an assembly of military leaders did not applaud the defense secretary and president during speeches in late September.

www.snopes.com

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Reposted by Elise Cutts

Jonathan O'Callaghan @astrojonny.bsky.social · 5d

Interstellar comet 3I/Atlas is flying past Mars today. Might get some cool views!

skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-ne...

Mars Orbiters Will Have Front-row Seats to Interstellar Comet

Spacecraft orbiting the Red Planet will aim a suite of instruments at Comet 3I/ATLAS to capture details about this enigmatic object.

skyandtelescope.org

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Reposted by Elise Cutts

George Musser @georgemusser.com · 5d

In this bizarre #opticalillusion, an object seems to switch direction when viewed in a mirror. Mathematician and puzzle-maker Kokichi Sugihara wrote it up for the @euromathsoc.bsky.social magazine at euromathsoc.org/magazine/art... and created a very helpful video at youtu.be/vGxTKpOt6xU?....

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Reposted by Elise Cutts

Jacob Aron @jjaron.bsky.social · 5d

Really cool story - bird species from across the world make the same sound to warn against cuckoos, and they can even understand each other. Feeds into ideas Darwin had about the origin of language! www.newscientist.com/article/2498...

20 bird species can understand each other’s anti-cuckoo call

Several species of birds from different continents use and understand similar alarm calls when they see an invader that might lay an egg in their nest – this shared call hints at the origin of languag...

www.newscientist.com

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Elise Cutts @elisecutts.bsky.social · 5d

Wow. That this works across species is incredible!

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