Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by KF McReynolds

Elee Shimshoni, PhD @eleeshimshoni.bsky.social · 10d

🧪We joined the party and provided a detailed response to RFK and Trump's latest statement on Tylenol use during pregnancy and Autism:

www.lbscience.org/en/2025/09/2...

@lbscience.org

Tylenol and Autism – Setting the Record Straight - Little, Big Science

Autism is an umbrella term for neurodevelopmental conditions that manifest, among other things, as difficulties in communication and social interaction. The diagnostic criteria for autism and other fo...

www.lbscience.org

1 16 28

Reposted by KF McReynolds

Hillary Rodham Clinton @hillaryclinton.bsky.social · 29d

Great news. Let's do this everywhere. www.krqe.com/news/politic...

Governor announces New Mexico will now provide free universal child care

NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – New Mexico is becoming the first state in the U.S. to offer free early childhood education to every family in the state. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced a universal ch…

www.krqe.com

470 4.5K 17K

Reposted by KF McReynolds

C&EN (Chemical & Engineering News) @cenmag.bsky.social · Aug 25

Handheld test for urinary tract infections takes 30 min

After an easy prep, samples are loaded directly into a detector and can be tested for antibiotic resistance. cen.acs.org/analytical-c... #chemsky 🧪

Handheld UTI test takes 30 min

After an easy prep, samples are loaded directly into a detector and can be tested for antibiotic resistance

cen.acs.org

2 4 16

KF McReynolds @feministscientist.bsky.social · Jul 26

She passed away at age 37 from ovarian cancer.

6

KF McReynolds @feministscientist.bsky.social · Jul 26

Happy Birthday, Rosalind Franklin. She captured an X-ray diffraction image of DNA and stated that a helical structure was probable. Watson and Crick then created a detailed model based on her results. They initially received credit for the discovery and were awarded the Nobel Prize after her death.🧪

6 94 230

Reposted by KF McReynolds

Science Magazine @science.org · Jul 16

Barbie, in the eponymous 2023 hit movie, sings, What Was I Made For?

A new version of the celeb Mattel doll has a clear answer: to help children who have type 1 diabetes feel more included. scim.ag/4eSKAsg

Meet the diabetes researcher behind Barbie’s new pink (insulin) pumps

New line of dolls aims to help children with type 1 diabetes feel more included

scim.ag

8 40

KF McReynolds @feministscientist.bsky.social · Jun 25

Congratulations to this year’s Frontiers Planet Prize winners. Launched in 2022, the prize aims to accelerate breakthrough solutions for planetary health. Prof Zahra Kalantari, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and Dr Arunima Malik, University of Sydney, are the first women to receive this honor. 🧪

For the first time, women scientists win $1 million climate research prize

Following criticism for all-male winners in the past, women earned two of the three Frontiers Planet Prizes this year

www.science.org

11 41

Reposted by KF McReynolds

Prof Sam Illingworth @samillingworth.com · Jun 23

🧠 Parenthood in academia affects mental health – but not equally

Academic mothers face a much higher risk of depression than fathers or non-mothers. Risk is greatest for those without support, or who are Black or have disabled children.

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#SciComm #AcademicSky 🧪

The impact of parenthood on mental health within the academic community: highlighting vulnerabilities and identifying high-risk groups - Humanities and Social Sciences Communications

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications - The impact of parenthood on mental health within the academic community: highlighting vulnerabilities and identifying high-risk groups

www.nature.com

20 52

KF McReynolds @feministscientist.bsky.social · Jun 22

Congratulations to Salk Assistant Professor, Deepshika Ramanan, who has been named a Rita Allen Foundation Scholar. The distinction comes with funding for up to five years to support her research on the mechanism of maternal immunity transmission through breastmilk. 🧪

Salk Institute scientist Deepshika Ramanan named Rita Allen Foundation Scholar - Salk Institute for Biological Studies

LA JOLLA—Salk Assistant Professor Deepshika Ramanan has been named a Rita Allen Foundation Scholar, a distinction given to early-career leaders in the biomedical sciences whose research holds exceptio...

www.salk.edu

11 79

Reposted by KF McReynolds

Scott McGrath @smcgrath.phd · Jun 19

🧪 For the first time, women have won the $1.1M Frontiers Planet Prize. The shift follows criticism of past all-male winners, but the award's solo-winner model is still debated for obscuring the work of large research teams.

For the first time, women scientists win $1 million climate research prize

Following criticism for all-male winners in the past, women earned two of the three Frontiers Planet Prizes this year

www.science.org

5 16

Reposted by KF McReynolds

Robert “The Bobby Yaga” McNees @mcnees.bsky.social · Jun 18

Sally Ride became the first US woman in space #OTD in 1983.

She was one of three mission specialists aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger for STS-7. At age 32 she was also the youngest US astronaut. 🧪 🔭 👩‍🔬

Image: NASA

2 67 230

Reposted by KF McReynolds

Prof Sam Illingworth @samillingworth.com · Jun 9

🌾🔥 Climate shifts, failed crops – and women’s health suffers

In drought-prone southern Ethiopia, changing rainfall and crop failures are linked to rising malnutrition in women. Food insecurity directly mediates this climate–health crisis.

🔗 doi.org/10.1371/jour...

#SciComm #ClimateHealth 🧪

Effect of climate variability, crop production, and household food insecurity on malnutrition among women: A mediation analysis from a drought-prone area in Southern Ethiopia

Malnutrition is viewed as one of climate change’s five most considerable adverse health impacts. This study, from a drought-and famine-prone food insecure setting in the Rift Valley of southern Ethiop...

doi.org

1 8 16

KF McReynolds @feministscientist.bsky.social · Jun 7

Congratulations to Dr. Tova Holmes and colleagues on receiving a grant from the Simon’s Foundation. Their proposal aims to advance the field of particle physics by working towards the creation of a muon collider. 🧪 @tovaholmes.bsky.social

Tova Holmes wins Simons Foundation support for muon collider groundwork

University of Tennessee, Knoxville Assistant Professor Tova Holmes is part of a scientific trio that won $1 million from the Simons Foundation to break new ground in particle physics an...

www.eurekalert.org

2 19

Reposted by KF McReynolds

François Levrier @francoislevrier.bsky.social · Jun 3

Adelaide Ames was born #OTD in 1900. She worked with H. Shapley at Harvard, publishing a catalog of galaxies that pointed to an heterogeneous distribution across the sky, eventually leading to the concept of superclusters.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelaid...

1 11 25

Reposted by KF McReynolds

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory @vrubinobs.bsky.social · Jun 2

A quarter for your thoughts? 🪙

We think Vera C. Rubin is a great choice to be honored with a quarter... and with an observatory! Rubin was an accomplished astronomer who provided the first convincing evidence of dark matter, influencing a new subfield of astrophysics. 🧪🔭

A black and white photo of astronomer Vera Rubin standing at the eyepiece of a large telescope. The background is a teal-hued landscape in the dry Chilean mountains. In the bottom third, text reads "U.S. Mint American Women Quarters Program. Dr. Vera Rubin is now on a U.S. quarter!" To the right of the text is an image of the Vera Rubin quarter.

26 85

Reposted by KF McReynolds

Shicheng Guo @shihcheng.bsky.social · May 26

A fungal metabolite from the gut helps counter liver disease by reducing metabolic disorders. A surprising ally for liver health! PMID:40310928, Science 2025, @ScienceMagazine https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adx1789 #Medsky #Pharmsky #RNA #ASHG #ESHG 🧪

https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adx1789

No description available

doi.org

3 18

Reposted by KF McReynolds

Nature Portfolio @natureportfolio.nature.com · May 23

The authors of a Comment article in Nature “urge STEMM scientists in the United States to avoid the mistakes of the past and instead stand together and fight for both personal and academic freedom.” #Academicsky 🧪

US researchers must stand up to protect freedoms, not just funding

Curtailment of freedoms and disregard for the rule of law in the United States is destroying the ability of science to serve the nation’s, and the world’s, interests. Researchers can take action.

go.nature.com

2 36 77

Reposted by KF McReynolds

Javi Ibarrondo @jibarrondo.bsky.social · May 16

www.motherjones.com/politics/202... 🧪

RFK Jr. is coming for abortion pills

He's relying on shoddy science to make his case.

www.motherjones.com

22 42 100

Reposted by KF McReynolds

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

"Women are PIs on 58% of the canceled grants, although they are PIs on only 34% of all active NSF grants.

Similarly, Blacks are PIs on 17% of the terminated grants, although they make only 4% of the total pool. Hispanic PIs and those with disabilities were twice as likely to lose a grant."

David Malakoff @davidmalakoff.bsky.social · May 13

Another scoop from Jeff Mervis (@policyhound.bsky.social): NSF's ~1400 grant terminations have disproportionately affected PIs from groups underrepresented in science: women, racial & ethnic minorities, & those with disabilities. 1/3
www.science.org/content/arti...

Trump officials take steps toward a radically different NSF

Efforts to shrink staff, budget, and focus have alarmed members of Congress

www.science.org

32 950 1.3K

Reposted by KF McReynolds

IRB Barcelona @irbbarcelona.org · May 12

#DorothyHodgkin unveiled the structures of penicillin, B12 & insulin using X-ray crystallography—earning the 1964 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Her work shaped modern medicine & broke barriers for women in science.

#WomenInSTEM #NobelPrize

🧪

11 25

Reposted by KF McReynolds

Ele Willoughby @minouette.bsky.social · May 12

Happy birthday to founder of modern nursing, social reformer, statistician, data visualization innovator and writer Florence Nightingale (1820 – 1910)!⁠ 🧪🐡👩🏼‍🔬🧮 #histsci
Nightingale earned the nickname “The Lady with the Lamp” during the Crimean War, from a phrase used by The Times, describing her 🧵

My linocut portrait of Florence Nightingale in blue with her oil lamp in gold with orange flame with her rose diagram of mortality for 1855 and 1856 clearly showing that lack of hygiene was the biggest killer of those injured in the Crimean War

1 23 98

Reposted by KF McReynolds

Prof Sam Illingworth @samillingworth.com · Apr 29

🧠🔬 Hidden Cause of Alzheimer’s?

A new study found the brain protein PHGDH can drive Alzheimer’s even without risky genes.

Blocking it helped brain models recover – offering a new treatment idea.

🔗 www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
#SciComm 🧪

Transcriptional regulation by PHGDH drives amyloid pathology in Alzheimer’s disease

This study uncovers a previously unknown role for PHGDH in Alzheimer’s disease, showing that its transcriptional regulatory activity—distinct from its known metabolic function—initiates early disease ...

www.cell.com

5 17

Reposted by KF McReynolds

Kelsey Johnson @profkelsey.bsky.social · Apr 17

I can think of a long list of things that would do more for women. Like, oh I don’t know, maybe actually supporting women who don’t have millions of dollars to spend on going to space for a 10min joy ride. 🔭🧪

7 51 230

Reposted by KF McReynolds

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · Apr 16

Thirty-eight of 43 experts cut last month from the boards that review the science and research that happens in laboratories at the National Institutes of Health are female, Black or Hispanic, according to an analysis by the chairs of a dozen of the boards.

Women, minorities fired in purge of NIH science review boards

Scientists, with expertise in fields that include mental health, cancer and infectious disease, typically serve five-year terms and were not given a reason for their dismissal.

www.washingtonpost.com

650 5.3K 10K

Reposted by KF McReynolds

Nereide @drnereide.bsky.social · Apr 16

2/2
depth of her research career, whose work revolutionized medicine, biology, and agriculture.

The scope of his legacy is immense.

Read this article: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

🧪 ⚛️ #histsci #WomenInStem #WomenInScience

Rosalind Franklin was so much more than the ‘wronged heroine’ of DNA

One hundred years after her birth, it’s time to reassess the legacy of a pioneering chemist and X-ray crystallographer.

www.nature.com

2 10 40