Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Eric Kessler

Union of Concerned Scientists @ucs.org · Aug 28

This week, multiple leaders from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were ousted or resigned due to continued political interference and pressure to limit vaccine access – actions that defy the scientific evidence and endanger our health. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

CDC in crisis: who are the top officials resigning or being forced out?

Four senior officials resign in protest at health secretary’s handling of vaccine policy and agency’s direction

www.theguardian.com

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Jeremy Faust, MD @jeremyfaust.bsky.social · Aug 28

Massive walkout underway at CDC.

RFK jr. must resign so that we can be safe.

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QIP 2025 Conference @qip2025.bsky.social · Jul 23

"The benefits and costs of quantum error correction with erasure qubits"
youtu.be/k2hgiodDJYs
SPEAKER: Shouzhen Gu
AUTHORS: Shouzhen Gu, Yotam Vaknin, Alex Retzker, Aleksander Kubica

Shouzhen Gu: "The benefits and costs of quantum error correction with erasure qubits" (QIP 2025)

YouTube video by QIP2025

youtu.be

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QIP 2025 Conference @qip2025.bsky.social · Jul 24

"On the Computational Complexity of Schrödinger Operators"
youtu.be/z4xgJ8N986k
SPEAKER: Yufan Zheng
AUTHORS: Jiaqi Leng, Yizhou Liu, Xiaodi Wu, Yufan Zheng

Yufan Zheng: "On the Computational Complexity of Schrödinger Operators" (QIP 2025)

YouTube video by QIP2025

youtu.be

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Randall Munroe @xkcd.com · Jul 21

Replication Crisis

xkcd.com/3117/

4-panel comic. (1) [Person 1 with ponytail flanked by person with short hair and another person speaking into microphone at podium] PERSON 1: In the early 2010s, researchers found that many major scientific results couldn’t be reproduced. (2) PERSON 1: Over a decade into the replication crisis, we wanted to see if today’s studies have become more robust. (3) PERSON 1: Unfortunately, our replication analysis has found exactly the same problems that those 2010s researchers did. (4) [newspaper with image of speakers from previous panels] Headline: Replication Crisis Solved

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Eric Kessler @emkessler.bsky.social · Jul 21

Welcome to #AmazonBraket, IQM Emerald! 54 qubits, 99.5% 2Q fidelity, dynamic circuits. Super excited to see this live! aws.amazon.com/blogs/quantu...

⚛️🧪 #QuantumComputing

Amazon Braket launches new 54-qubit superconducting quantum processor from IQM | Amazon Web Services

Amazon Braket enables customers to design and run quantum algorithms on a broad selection of quantum hardware through a unified interface. Today, we expand the hardware available on Braket with the ge...

aws.amazon.com

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Michael Brett @michaelsbrett.bsky.social · Jun 25

Just wrapped an exciting capstone project at UW's Quantum Technologies program! Students used Amazon Braket + NVIDIA's new CUDA-Q Dynamics to simulate quantum systems in diamond (NV centers)

This is the first time seeing CUDA-Q Dynamics on AWS

aws.amazon.com/blogs/quantu...

Modeling a nitrogen-vacancy center with NVIDIA CUDA-Q Dynamics: University of Washington Capstone Project | Amazon Web Services

Defects in crystals are leading qubit candidates for quantum information networks. The ability to efficiently model defects, like nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers, and their environment would deepen our ...

aws.amazon.com

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Eric Kessler @emkessler.bsky.social · Jun 20

@mcbride.house.gov I just wanted to say, this was a very beautiful and inspiring conversation with Ezra Klein.

Eric Kessler @emkessler.bsky.social · Jun 17

Even after setting the bar really (!) low they never stop surprising me with their level of incompetence. www.propublica.org/article/trum...

DOGE Developed Error-Prone AI Tool to “Munch” Veterans Affairs Contracts

We obtained records showing how a Department of Government Efficiency staffer with no medical experience used artificial intelligence to identify which VA contracts to kill. “AI is absolutely the wron...

www.propublica.org

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Quantinuum @quantinuum.bsky.social · May 12

🚀 Quantinuum is now on Bluesky!

As the world’s largest integrated quantum company, we are leading in the development of the most powerful quantum computers and advanced software solutions.

Follow us to stay updated on our #quantumcomputing journey!

Quantinuum | Accelerating Quantum Computing

Our trapped ion quantum computers and software solutions are the highest performing in the industry, enabling our users to solve industry's most complex problems.

www.quantinuum.com

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Riverlane @riverlane.com · May 9

We’d love to find more #QEC experts here on BlueSky and have created this starter pack to help connect the error correction community.

It’s just a start – if you’re working QEC, please follow this account and message us. We’ll happily add you to the pack!

go.bsky.app/RiZfVco 🧪

🧵[2/2]

Riverlane's Quantum Error Correction Pack

Join the conversation

go.bsky.app

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Physghoul 👻 @physgal.bsky.social · May 4

Always going to share stories about one of my favorite #WomenInPhysics 🎢 ⚛️ 🧪

Bob Lynn @boblynn.bsky.social · May 4

The Uncrowned Queen of Nuclear Physics: How Chien-Shiung Wu Changed Science While Being Denied Her Due
bob-lynn.medium.com/the-uncrowne...

#WomenInSTEM #STEM

The Uncrowned Queen of Nuclear Physics: How Chien-Shiung Wu Changed Science While Being Denied Her…

In the pantheon of 20th century physics giants, one name remains criminally under-celebrated. While Einstein, Oppenheimer and Feynman have…

bob-lynn.medium.com

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Alán Aspuru-Guzik @aspuru.bsky.social · Apr 23

I am glad that this profile written by Luc Rinaldi for Toronto Life Magazine is out. It is about what I am doing and where I am going. Thanks to Luc for the time he took to write this piece. #chemsky #compchemsky

Acceleration Consortium @accelerationc.bsky.social · Apr 23

"The Magic Lab: @aspuru.bsky.social and his multinational team of mad scientists are combining chemistry, robotics and AI to fight climate change, streamline organ transplants and supercharge the scientific method." Via Luc Rinaldi for @torontolifemag.bsky.social. torontolife.com/deep-dives/t...

The Magic Lab: How chemist and computer scientist Alán Aspuru-Guzik brought self-driving laboratories from Harvard to Toronto - Toronto Life

Alán Aspuru-Guzik and his multinational team of mad scientists are combining chemistry, robotics and AI to fight climate change, streamline organ transplants...

torontolife.com

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Eoin Higgins @eoinhiggins.bsky.social · Apr 15

MIT following Harvard's lead here

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Barack Obama @barackobama.bsky.social · Apr 15

Harvard has set an example for other higher-ed institutions - rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom, while taking steps to make sure students can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate and mutual respect. Let’s hope others follow suit.

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Eric Kessler @emkessler.bsky.social · Apr 15

Glad to see this response by @harvard.edu. What else is an endowment for if not this
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Read Harvard’s Response to the Trump Administration

Harvard University’s lawyers responded on Monday to the Trump Administration’s letter demanding a series of policy changes, saying the demands were unlawful and that Harvard would not comply.

www.nytimes.com

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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · Apr 11

I will surely come up with something thoughtful to say about the proposal to cut NASA's science budget in half, and especially one that reminds everyone that the cosmos is worth our curiosity and NASA explores it quite cheaply but also, FUCK FUCK FUCK, that's a major cut to climate change science 🧪

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Nick Hedley @nickhedley.bsky.social · Apr 4

Because it's been a shit week, here's some good news to cheer you up. A thread with 10 cool stories from around the world:

1. China now has more #wind and #solar than thermal generating capacity and is installing 1 million solar panels EVERY SINGLE DAY.

theprogressplaybook.com/2025/03/25/i...

In numbers: China hits fresh milestones in its energy transition

Wind and solar have overtaken thermal plants (coal, gas, oil, and bioenergy) in terms of generating capacity.

theprogressplaybook.com

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Nick Hedley @nickhedley.bsky.social · Apr 4

10. Now free from Russia’s grid, Lithuania is quickly advancing towards 100% renewable power by 2030

theprogressplaybook.com/2025/02/11/f...

Free from Russia's grid, Lithuania advances towards 100% renewable power by 2030

Lithuania plans to procure at least 800MWh of energy storage to help it achieve its goal of reaching 100% renewable electricity by 2030.

theprogressplaybook.com

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Nicolas Fulghum @nicolasfulghum.bsky.social · Apr 4

NEW | Fossil fuels fall below 50% of US electricity for the first month on record 🇺🇸

Among all the turmoil, some positive news from the latest @ember-energy.org data for March 2025:

🏆↘️ The share of fossil fuels fell to a record low of 49.2%

🏆↗️ Wind and solar power hit a new record high of 24.4%

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H!ghFidelity @h1ghfidelity.bsky.social · Apr 5

Mood

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Hanna Herbst @hhumorlos.bsky.social · Mar 30

More than 1,600 readers answered our poll; many said they were looking for jobs in Europe and Canada.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

75% of US scientists who answered Nature poll consider leaving

More than 1,600 readers answered our poll; many said they were looking for jobs in Europe and Canada.

www.nature.com

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Matthew Thomas Miller (He/Him) @mtmiller.bsky.social · Mar 21

This is not an exaggeration at all.

Read this, and then do the most meaningful thing you can to resist it:

(1) Join @aaup.bsky.social to help fight on national level,

(2) Organize, organize, organize with your AAUP chapter at your university level.

Now.

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/16/o...