Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Katharine Gammon @kategammon.bsky.social · 7d

Jane Goodall was a massive inspiration. Seeing that animals are actually just like us allows people to find empathy in so many parts of the natural world.

Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 7d

Jane Goodall's work insisting, with evidence from her brilliant and tenacious fieldwork, that we were not so separate from animals, and they were much more like us than the Eurocentric theorists asserted, was so important.

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Katharine Gammon @kategammon.bsky.social · 28d

I'm here! Let's hang!

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Katharine Gammon @kategammon.bsky.social · Sep 1

Thank you!

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Katharine Gammon @kategammon.bsky.social · Jul 30

Excellent investigative work. I'm so curious what Criscitiello would say, if she'd been willing to comment.

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Katharine Gammon @kategammon.bsky.social · Jun 27

I'd like to report a crime.

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Katharine Gammon @kategammon.bsky.social · Jun 26

Lovely piece. So cool to think of the way modern and ancient weave together.

Reposted by Katharine Gammon

Keili Bartlett @keilibartlett.bsky.social · Jun 26

As Jaws turns 50, @kategammon.bsky.social takes a look at the science advisor behind the movie -- and how what he did after Jaws transformed our understanding of sharks again. In @nautil.us: nautil.us/the-shark-wh... 🦈

The Shark Whisperer

Donald Nelson spent his life undoing the damage that Jaws did to the perception of sharks.

nautil.us

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Katharine Gammon @kategammon.bsky.social · Jun 6

I traveled down to Orange County to drink some water that had, just an hour before, been ice-tea-colored sewage. Spoiler alert: the water tasted like water.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘Tastes like water’: how a US facility is recycling sewage to drink

A California project can turn sewage into drinking water in less than an hour and could be a blueprint for other water-scarce regions

www.theguardian.com

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Katharine Gammon @kategammon.bsky.social · Jun 6

Hi Michael! I'm a freelancer.

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Reposted by Katharine Gammon

Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @helenbranswell.bsky.social · May 2

This is likely the weirdest and most interesting story you could read today. From @usha.bsky.social.
www.statnews.com/2025/05/02/d...

Snake enthusiast survived hundreds of bites. Now his blood is aiding the search for a universal antivenom

Blood from a snake enthusiast who's been bitten hundreds of times aided the search for a universal snakebite treatment

www.statnews.com

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Katharine Gammon @kategammon.bsky.social · May 1

For @sierramagazine.bsky.social, I wrote about some tiny hopeful news: a lot of climate projects are baked into the DOD's goals, so even though the word climate may not appear, "mission readiness" includes those efforts -- both now and in the future. www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2025-...

Why the Best Place for Climate Science Might Be at the Department of Defense

Expect the DOD to swap the words "climate change" for "military preparedness"

www.sierraclub.org

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Katharine Gammon @kategammon.bsky.social · Apr 28

Such a pleasure to speak with Alan, Susan and Lawrence about their beautiful works of science and personal narrative. Read these books!

Alan Townsend @alantownsend.bsky.social · Apr 28

So enjoyed being part of the @latimes.com book festival. Brings me hope in a darker time to see so many people gather around the power of books and reading. Special thanks to @kategammon.bsky.social Susan Weiss Leibman and Lawrence Ingrassia for a great panel discussion. #latimesfob

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Katharine Gammon @kategammon.bsky.social · Apr 25

Very excited to moderate a panel with Lawrence Ingrassia, Susan Weiss Liebman, Alan Townsend at the LA Times Festival of Books this weekend. Say hi if you're around Sunday! #latfob

events.latimes.com/festivalofbo...

Participants » Festival of Books 2025 » L.A. Times - Festival of Books

Find your favorite authors and celebrities in this alphabetical list of this year’s participants. View the schedule to learn more about each event.

events.latimes.com

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Reposted by Katharine Gammon

Ed Hawkins @edhawkins.org · Apr 21

“Never have we so hurt and mistreated our common home as we have in the last two hundred years. Reducing greenhouse gases requires honesty, courage and responsibility. Those who will have to suffer the consequences will not forget this failure of conscience and responsibility.” — Pope Francis

Pope Francis receiving a warming stripes stole. Photo: Vatican Media

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Reposted by Katharine Gammon

Darren Incorvaia @megadarren.bsky.social · Apr 8

“De-extinction” is to biodiversity loss what “Mars colonization” is to climate change—wishful thinking that is at its core impossible but nevertheless sucks up attention and resources from actual solutions to these crises (which, ultimately, might be the whole point)

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Reposted by Katharine Gammon

Michael del Castillo @delcastillo.bsky.social · Apr 6

America’s arteries are clogged. THIS is the solution: ‘Even a freeway is redeemable’: world’s largest wildlife crossing takes shape in Los Angeles: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025... by @kategammon.bsky.social via @theguardian.com #borderless

‘Even a freeway is redeemable’: world’s largest wildlife crossing takes shape in Los Angeles

A wildlife crossing across the 101 freeway will connect two parts of the Santa Monica mountains for animals

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Katharine Gammon

Ben Goldfarb @bengoldfarb.bsky.social · Apr 1

"Bluefish tuna were overfished in the mid-Atlantic this month because NOAA did not issue the regulation to close the fishery after fishermen filled the quota in mid-January."

Who could have predicted this! 🤷‍♂️

www.reuters.com/world/us/how...

How Trump’s regulatory freeze is disrupting the US fishing industry

From the Atlantic to Alaska, fishermen say overfishing and fleet delays are shaking up a $320 billion industry.

www.reuters.com

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Katharine Gammon @kategammon.bsky.social · Apr 2

You should check out Princeton's president. He's the real deal (I'm an alum).

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Katharine Gammon @kategammon.bsky.social · Apr 1

You're very welcome. Thanks for reading and responding!

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Reposted by Katharine Gammon

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · Mar 30

This is cool. The Guardian recreated a searchable climate future risk tool (wildfire, extreme heat, drought, hurricane, and coastal flood) for the US that was developed by FEMA but deleted by the Trump administration’s ‘climate’ purge.

Trump’s ‘climate’ purge deleted a new extreme weather risk tool. We recreated it

The Guardian has recreated a searchable climate future risk tool developed by Fema but then deleted

www.theguardian.com

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Katharine Gammon @kategammon.bsky.social · Mar 31

Also in the post-fire environmental world: surfers, swimmers and beachgoers have been worried about what is lurking in the ocean after the fire debris runoff. Some answers have finally appeared: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

‘God knows what’s in the water’: Los Angeles surfers in limbo as wildfire toxins linger

In a city where surfing is a way of life, the wait to get back in the water has been agonizing. But new research offers a glimmer of hope

www.theguardian.com

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Katharine Gammon @kategammon.bsky.social · Mar 31

When the fires raged through LA, air toxins popped off the charts. But the AQI was often in the "good zone." That's because traditional air quality monitoring systems don't catch everything -- but some newer tech can. I wrote about it, for @sciam: www.scientificamerican.com/article/urba...

As fires burned in Los Angeles this year, newer toxin monitors found contaminants not measured by standard methods

As fires burned in Los Angeles this year, newer toxin monitors found contaminants that aren’t measured by standard methods. Now scientists and officials are pushing for better detection

www.scientificamerican.com

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Katharine Gammon @kategammon.bsky.social · Mar 24

The tech that makes emissions disappear into thin air? Carbon rapture.

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Reposted by Katharine Gammon

Virginia Gewin @virginiagewin.bsky.social · Mar 24

“We can see with our own eyes how extreme heat and extreme weather are harming people’s health,” said Veena Singla, an adjunct assistant professor at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.

NIH Ends Future Funding to Study the Health Effects of Climate Change

It’s unclear whether the guidance will impact active grants, but it appears to halt opportunities for future studies. One climate health expert said the directive would have a “devastating” impact on ...

www.propublica.org

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Katharine Gammon @kategammon.bsky.social · Mar 20

I wrote about new research showing that fish in the wild can recognize individual divers -- and why we should be considering fish as individuals, too. For @nautil.us:

nautil.us/when-fish-fo...

When Fish Follow You

Some wild fish may recognize individual humans in the sea

nautil.us

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