Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Ken Penton

Better Streets Newham @betterstsnewham.bsky.social · 2d

We all love trees 🌳 on our streets. Did you know that Newham has signed up to @treesforstreets.bsky.social ? Or that trees can actually make our streets safer?

www.treesforstreets.org/how-street-t...

How Street Trees help make our roads safer - Trees for Streets

Trees may just be the perfect traffic calming measure to keep our streets safe - find out how they impact the way we drive.

www.treesforstreets.org

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Reposted by Ken Penton

Justin Hendrix @justinhendrix.bsky.social · 4d

Macron remarks are notable- some quotes: "We have been incredibly naive in entrusting our democratic space to social networks that are controlled either by large American entrepreneurs or large Chinese companies, whose interests are not at all the survival or proper functioning of our democracies."

Defend Democracy @defenddemocracy.bsky.social · 5d

President Macron: “Europeans, let's wake up!

We have been incredibly naive in entrusting our democratic space to social networks.”

defenddemocracy.eu/macron-democ...

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Jan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · 11d

Pollutting now and cleaning up later is not a viable strategy: Direct Air Capture (DAC) is hitting a hard reality check.

Costs are falling much slower than anticipated, casting doubts on the nascent technique’s role in tackling climate change.

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Christopher Mims @mims.bsky.social · 12d

*The AI boom = one of the costliest building sprees in world history

* Past 3 years' commitments are greater than the cost of building the U.S. interstate highway system

* Consumers must spend $800 billion on AI within a few years, to justify investment from 2023-24

www.wsj.com/tech/ai/ai-b...

This week, consultants at Bain & Co. estimated the wave of AI infrastructure spending will require $2 trillion in annual AI revenue by 2030. By comparison, that is more than the combined 2024 revenue of Amazon, Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta and Nvidia, and more than five times the size of the entire global subscription software market.

Morgan Stanley estimates that last year there was around $45 billion of revenue for AI products. The sector makes money from a combination of subscription fees for chatbots such as ChatGPT and money paid to use these companies’ data centers.

How the tech sector will cover the gap is “the trillion dollar question,” said Mark Moerdler, an analyst at Bernstein.

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Scott Galloway @profgalloway.com · 14d

I often say you can have it all, just not all at once. This guy might be an exception.

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Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 14d

1/ A longtime Wired editor just wrote a mush-brained essay about how he totally missed the political rot of Silicon Valley (& still doesn't get it).

But in the late 1990s, a Wired journalist warned of a toxic ideology bubbling up from tech. Paulina Borsook has largely been erased. Let's change that

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Emily Atkin @emorwee.bsky.social · 16d

Anyway here's the real article, please share this one and not that one heated.world/p/charlie-ki...

Charlie Kirk was a fossil fuel industry plant

Big Oil's money gave Kirk a larger platform to spread baseless climate conspiracy theories—as well as other extremist views.

heated.world

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Emily Atkin @emorwee.bsky.social · 16d

An article from a site called "Clean Tech Times" about Charlie Kirk and Big Oil money is trending in r/energy on Reddit

It's a completely plagiarized, unauthorized, unlinked version of an article I published the day before

I have no idea what to do about it except complain. It's so fucked up.

From the energy community on Reddit: Big oil’s shadow network pumped millions into Charlie Kirk’s culture war machine

Explore this post and more from the energy community

www.reddit.com

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Colin Carlson @colincarlson.bsky.social · 21d

🚨 NEW: Climate change is already causing 30,000 deaths per year - a global annual economic loss of $100-350B USD - but the true damage is probably 10x higher. Out TODAY in Nature Climate Change: the first systematic look at the science of "health impact attribution" 🔓 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

"Health losses attributed to anthropogenic climate change," a brief communication in the journal Nature Climate Change. There's a map showing regions of the world, and pie charts of relevant studies as they apply to different health impacts like "heat-related deaths" and "maternal and child health"

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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 17d

Reform are now coming after people with permanent residency. It'll be citizens next. No one is safe from authoritarian governments.

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Christian Flachsland @chflachsland.bsky.social · 16d

Update of perhaps my favorite global climate policy indicator: The production gap report.

In fact, the gap between countries' planned fossil fuel extraction and global climate targets has widened.

Turning the tide on these indicators is essential for climate policy success.

productiongap.org

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Reposted by Ken Penton

Reuters @reuters.com · 16d

US judge rules Trump cannot block offshore wind project, Orsted shares jump reut.rs/4pzMxiv

US judge rules Trump cannot block offshore wind project, Orsted shares jump

A federal judge on Monday granted a request by Danish offshore wind developer Orsted to restart work on the nearly finished Revolution Wind project, which President Donald Trump's administration halted last month.

reut.rs

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Kevin J. CREATURE @kevinjkircher.com · 21d

1) New paper! Replacing US fossil-fueled vehicles & appliances with electric versions could improve health & climate outcomes, but could cost up to $790 billion in distribution grid reinforcement. Strategic demand-side management could cut 2/3 of those costs.🔌💡

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

"Science for society" blurb from the paper:

In a future with clean electricity and full electrification of buildings and private vehicles, the United States would emit about half the greenhouse gas pollution than it does today. However, buildings and vehicles would also use much more electricity, especially in the coldest weather. Here, we show that reinforcing distribution grids to accommodate these new peaks in electricity demand could cost Americans $2,800–$6,400 per household. We also show that “smart electrification”—accompanying electrification with measures that mitigate electricity demand peaks, such as reducing thermal demand, improving equipment efficiencies, and coordinating device operation—could reduce grid reinforcement costs by over two-thirds. We believe that achieving an affordable, all-electric future will require cooperation between engineers to develop enabling technologies, social scientists to guide technology development toward people’s wants and needs, and policymakers to pass laws or incentives that shape technology adoption.

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Reposted by Ken Penton

Fossil Fuel Treaty @fossiltreaty.bsky.social · 21d

📖 Cradle to Grave: The Health Toll of Fossil Fuels and the Imperative for a Just Transition delivers the first global overview of these interconnected harms—grounded in science, human stories, and a call to action.

➡️ @gchalliance.bsky.social new report:
climateandhealthalliance.org/cradle-to-gr...

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Reposted by Ken Penton

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 21d

Are you an early career researcher interested in themes of truth, justice and peace? We are hosting a symposium in Bonn to encourage collaboration between UK and German scholars. We'll cover travel, accommodation and visa costs. Apply by 29th October
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/the-...

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the British Academy Knowledge Frontiers Symposium 2026

www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk

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Reposted by Ken Penton

Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · Sep 5

Honking endorsement for Farage, Johnson et la, without a moment’s reflection that 10 years of UKIPified Tory govt created the mess they’re railing about — booming benefits bills, bond market routs, immigration surges, trade slump and investment slumps. Bring back Boris and Nadine! That’ll fix it. 🙈

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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · Sep 5

‘If no one were exposed to air pollution, there would be three fewer cases of dementia for every 100 people who develop it now’
on.ft.com/45Rpury

Exposure to air pollution increases risk of dementia, scientists say

Study of people living in US cities finds link with a type of the disease called Lewy body

on.ft.com

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Will Jennings 🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · Sep 4

It's really a miracle he can make it up a flagpole!

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C40 Cities @c40cities.bsky.social · Sep 3

Cities are stepping up their game to beat an invisible opponent: air pollution.

Clean air is vital to our health, our freedom and the strength and safety of our communities.

When we breathe cleaner air, our families, friends, and future all win.

Breathe cleaner. Live better.

#ItsInTheAir

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Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · Sep 3

US Democrats are currently giving UK politicians & journalists a lesson in how to hold Nigel Farage to account.

It'd be nice if they paid attention.

bsky.app/profile/acyn...

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · Sep 3

Moskowitz: Do you think the Epstein list should come out?

Farage: I have no opinion on it.

Raskin: It’s been reported that he’s called for it to be released

Moskowitz: I have it here. Do you agree with yourself?

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Sam Bright @writesbright.bsky.social · Sep 3

For the second year in a row, Reform has banned me from attending its annual conference.

So much for “free speech” etc. etc.

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James Ball @jamesrball.com · Sep 3

Nigel Farage is about to give evidence to the US Congress on threats to free speech in the UK.

So here's one for him: Reform UK has just banned me (and @thenewworldmag.bsky.social) from attending its party conference this weekend. www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-w...

Chicken Farage bans The New World

It claims to be the party of free speech, but this last-minute decision to stop me attending tells a very different story

www.thenewworld.co.uk

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Steve Peers @stevepeers.bsky.social · Aug 23

Freedom of speech is not unlimited and the laws of this country restrict it for people who advocate others to be burned to death. It's not difficult.

Roland Smith @rolandmcs.bsky.social · Aug 23

This felt inevitable: an interview with Allison Pearson given top billing in the Telegraph.

Connolly suggests Starmer should relearn what freedom of speech means and "what the laws are in this country".

I think he knows but Connolly/Pearson clearly don't. No lessons have been learned in prison.

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Marios Richards @mariosrichards.bsky.social · Aug 5

(Context: Tom Harris' "On leaving Labour substack")

I have read this paragraph maybe 12 times at this point - including reading up and down through the article to see if there was some context that would make it Not Insane.

How can this happen to someone?

Marios Richards @mariosrichards.bsky.social · Aug 5

@rentouljohn.bsky.social tell me you're seeing this!

Had to re-read this paragraph and the ones either side to see if there was some way he was maybe referencing the 1975 ref (but it would of course still be completely insane - even then 55% of Lab voters voted Remain).

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Ken Penton @kenpenton.bsky.social · Aug 5

He hailed a black cab. Put a £20 note in my hand and told me the driver to take me home. He then said “When I was your age people the age I am now looked after me. Make sure you do the same when you are older.” I have never forgotten his act of kindness and have sought to do the same. 2/2

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