Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Gillian Shorter PhD @gwshorter.bsky.social · 2d

Great read!

Reposted by Gillian Shorter PhD

Colin Murray @colinmurray.bsky.social · 22d

A new Explainer out from @aoifemod.bsky.social and me detailing the UK's ECHR commitments under the 1998 Agreement in response to recent speculation. It is short, because there is very little to say - the UK's obligations are evident on the B/GFA's plain text:

caj.org.uk/wp-content/u...

2 70 120

Reposted by Gillian Shorter PhD

Colin Murray @colinmurray.bsky.social · 8d

Important to hear Hilary Benn affirm, in his Labour Conference Speech, that the official position is that the UK leaving the ECHR would indeed undermine the UK's commitments under the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement 1998:

2 54 190

Gillian Shorter PhD @gwshorter.bsky.social · 10d

Legend

1

Reposted by Gillian Shorter PhD

Guy Felicella @guyfelicella.bsky.social · 10d

HIGH RENT means MORE TENTS! ⛺

BUILD SUPPORTIVE HOUSING.

1 6 23

Reposted by Gillian Shorter PhD

Ben Scher @ben-scher.bsky.social · 19d

I’m glad to share a new article published as part of HRJ’s special collection: "Harm Reduction in Europe: Histories, Choices and Hopes."

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

@gwshorter.bsky.social @dkhumphreys.bsky.social @bchrisinger.bsky.social 1/2

1 2 5

Gillian Shorter PhD @gwshorter.bsky.social · 25d

Looking sharp!

Gillian Shorter PhD @gwshorter.bsky.social · 27d

Instant follow. Yes Maggie!

1

Reposted by Gillian Shorter PhD

Drug Science @drugscience.bsky.social · 29d

Festival drug-related deaths are rising, but they don’t have to.

In memory of Ellie Rowe and others who have tragically lost their lives at Boomtown in years past, a new blog reinforces the critical role of harm reduction services like The Loop at UK festivals.

drugscience.org.uk/b...

What can Boomtown 2025 teach us about responding to drug use?

In 2013 Wendy Teasdill’s daughter, Ellie Rowe, died at Boomtown festival as a result of taking a combination of ketamine and alcohol. Neither were taken in excess but the combination was fatal. She did not know what she was doing.

www.drugscience.org.uk

1 2

Reposted by Gillian Shorter PhD

Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · Sep 6

Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia:
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...

We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n

Abstract: Under the banner of progress, products have been uncritically adopted or
even imposed on users — in past centuries with tobacco and combustion engines, and in
the 21st with social media. For these collective blunders, we now regret our involvement or
apathy as scientists, and society struggles to put the genie back in the bottle. Currently, we
are similarly entangled with artificial intelligence (AI) technology. For example, software updates are rolled out seamlessly and non-consensually, Microsoft Office is bundled with chatbots, and we, our students, and our employers have had no say, as it is not
considered a valid position to reject AI technologies in our teaching and research. This
is why in June 2025, we co-authored an Open Letter calling on our employers to reverse
and rethink their stance on uncritically adopting AI technologies. In this position piece,
we expound on why universities must take their role seriously toa) counter the technology
industry’s marketing, hype, and harm; and to b) safeguard higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, and scientific integrity. We include pointers to
relevant work to further inform our colleagues.

Figure 1. A cartoon set theoretic view on various terms (see Table 1) used when discussing the superset AI
(black outline, hatched background): LLMs are in orange; ANNs are in magenta; generative models are
in blue; and finally, chatbots are in green. Where these intersect, the colours reflect that, e.g. generative adversarial network (GAN) and Boltzmann machine (BM) models are in the purple subset because they are
both generative and ANNs. In the case of proprietary closed source models, e.g. OpenAI’s ChatGPT and
Apple’s Siri, we cannot verify their implementation and so academics can only make educated guesses (cf.
Dingemanse 2025). Undefined terms used above: BERT (Devlin et al. 2019); AlexNet (Krizhevsky et al.
2017); A.L.I.C.E. (Wallace 2009); ELIZA (Weizenbaum 1966); Jabberwacky (Twist 2003); linear discriminant analysis (LDA); quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA).

Table 1. Below some of the typical terminological disarray is untangled. Importantly, none of these terms
are orthogonal nor do they exclusively pick out the types of products we may wish to critique or proscribe.

Protecting the Ecosystem of Human Knowledge: Five Principles

96 1.6K 3.1K

Gillian Shorter PhD @gwshorter.bsky.social · Aug 29

Very relatable!

Reposted by Gillian Shorter PhD

Beau Kilmer @beaukilmer.bsky.social · Aug 22

🚨Pls spread the word!

@issdrugpolicy.bsky.social continues to support & expand #drugpolicy research in the global south

We have a new working group (led by Bisi Akintoye, Gideon Lasco & Rosario Queirolo) & are offering 25 free memberships for ECRs in the global south

www.issdp.org/new-issdp-in...

New ISSDP initiatives to increase global south participation

The ISSDP Board is delighted to introduce two new initiatives to increase global south engagement in the Society. These were announced at the 2025 ISSDP Annual General Meeting and received strong s…

www.issdp.org

2 1

Reposted by Gillian Shorter PhD

The Loop @theloopuk.bsky.social · Aug 21

This weekend at Lost Village we’re testing confiscated/found drugs & urgent samples from medics. Findings help spot trends & keep people safe. Alerts shared here & on the LV app – please spread the word.

1 2

Reposted by Gillian Shorter PhD

Homeless Connect @homelessconnect.bsky.social · Aug 21

The housing crisis in NI is worsening, with over 32,000 households now facing homelessness, up 136% in the last decade. Without urgent funding for social housing, more families will be left behind.

Full statement from Homeless Connect: bit.ly/41iUnm9

4 3

Reposted by Gillian Shorter PhD

Pam Lock @pamplemoussepam.bsky.social · Aug 19

Please help. Please sign & share. I work on a degree programme known as ELCE for mature students who didn't or couldn't do a degree at 18. Bristol uni has decided to close it. Bristol was set up to serve this community & now we are losing our most accessible degree.

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Save our pioneering widening participation undergraduate degree in English Literature and Community Engagement at the University of Bristol

19 August 2025 Dear Evelyn Welch (Vice-Chancellor) cc Judith Squires (Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost), Tansy Jessop (Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Students) The School of Humanities has ...

docs.google.com

8 9

Reposted by Gillian Shorter PhD

Harm Reduction International @harmreductionintl.bsky.social · Aug 19

Your voices have value! If you are someone who uses c0c4in3, our partners from @echelecabeza and @institutoriamx would like to hear from you as part of the research to develop a public policy proposal for c0c41n3 regulation.

Fill the survey: https://forms.gle/JTW89nTqQZQYmYrW6

3 4

Gillian Shorter PhD @gwshorter.bsky.social · Aug 19

Amazing news. Very well done @yvettemp.bsky.social !

3

Reposted by Gillian Shorter PhD

Maia Szalavitz @maiasz.bsky.social · Aug 14

Non-abstinent recovery is more common than recovery that excludes all psychoactive substances other than caffeine & nicotine. So why don't we talk about it? In light of new attacks on harm reduction, it's critical to do do.... my latest www.nytimes.com/2025/08/14/o...

Opinion | I’m in Addiction Recovery and I Still Drink Wine

www.nytimes.com

1 8 24

Gillian Shorter PhD @gwshorter.bsky.social · Aug 16

This is a horror show. Shame. Absolute shame. Those poor individuals in that tent. Undoubtedly traumatized from living on the streets and then this. Disgusting and inhumane and cruel. What is wrong with these people. How are they so dead inside.

Guy Felicella @guyfelicella.bsky.social · Aug 16

This is someone's home.
This is all they have.
This is how homeless people are treated.
This is cruel.

Reposted by Gillian Shorter PhD

Claire Zagorski, MSc, EMT-P @clairezagorski.bsky.social · Aug 14

Before you say “ugh, just go to drug treatment”, I request that you do a trial run. I don’t say this to be smug. It’s just worse than you know.

Figure out where you would go to access buprenorphine and/or methadone. Without health insurance. When can they see you? What will it cost?

🧵

3 11 45

Reposted by Gillian Shorter PhD

Dr. Gail Saltz @drgailsaltz.bsky.social · Aug 14

Shame, discrimination and stigma have been linked to adverse health outcomes — and pride could be the antidote

Pride is good for you, science says

Shame, discrimination and stigma have been linked to adverse health outcomes — and pride could be the antidote

buff.ly

2 4

Reposted by Gillian Shorter PhD

Jen @ladyjenpool.bsky.social · Aug 12

Hey, as a librarian I need to tell you:

Our funding depends on usage.

So go ahead and check out that book even if you don't think you'll finish it. No one will know. Check out that DVD even though you might not like it. Get ambitious in your quest for knowledge.

200 5.7K 13K

Reposted by Gillian Shorter PhD

Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · Aug 14

As always, Ted Chiang is great in this interview.
cdh.princeton.edu/blog/2025/08...

12 480 1.6K

Reposted by Gillian Shorter PhD

DrugWise @drugwise.bsky.social · Aug 12

RADAR alert issued on nitazenes and contamination of the drugs supply - publichealthscotland.scot/news/2025/au...

3 3

Gillian Shorter PhD @gwshorter.bsky.social · Aug 9

Brilliant news Amy. Looking forward to seeing the work develop

1