Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Kim Bellard @kimbbellard.bsky.social · 5h

Sigh.

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 7h

Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE

nyti.ms

Kim Bellard @kimbbellard.bsky.social · 7h

The good news: #AI isn't killing @wikipedia.org yet. 👏

The bad news: the anti-woke mob is doing its best to do just that. 😒

kimbellard.medium.com/the-vultures...

The Vultures Are Circling Wikipedia

I must admit, for several years now I’ve worried that my beloved Wikipedia could not survive in an AI era. Honestly, it’s hard to imagine…

kimbellard.medium.com

Kim Bellard @kimbbellard.bsky.social · 16h

😑

Charles Ornstein @charlesornstein.bsky.social · 17h

ProPublica analyzed dozens of hours of audio and video footage of speaking events for Linda McMahon’s appointees, as well as their writings, and found that a recurring theme is the desire to enable more families to leave public schools. @megomatz.bsky.social @jsmithrichards.bsky.social

These Activists Want to Dismantle Public Schools. Now They Run the Education Department.

Under Trump, the Department of Education has been bringing in activists hostile to public schools. It could mean a new era of private and religious schools boosted by tax dollars — and the end of publ...

www.propublica.org

Kim Bellard @kimbbellard.bsky.social · 16h

More evidence that the Administration's war on science is a war on our long-term future.

@standupforscience.bsky.social @cdelawalla.bsky.social

Laura Helmuth @laurahelmuth.bsky.social · 17h

Six of the nine Nobel Prize winners this year work in the U.S.
Three of the six were born outside the U.S., which is the pattern most years. No country has benefited more from welcoming immigrants from around the world.
www.nobelprize.org

The official website of the Nobel Prize - NobelPrize.org

The Nobel Prize rewards science, humanism and peace efforts. This is one of the central concepts in the will of Alfred Nobel, and it also permeates the outreach activities that have been developed for...

www.nobelprize.org

2

Kim Bellard @kimbbellard.bsky.social · 16h

He's just now realizing this? 🙄

Kim Bellard @kimbbellard.bsky.social · 1d

You might be interested in this:
medium.com/@kimbellard/...

The Vultures Are Circling Wikipedia

I must admit, for several years now I’ve worried that my beloved Wikipedia could not survive in an AI era. Honestly, it’s hard to imagine…

medium.com

Kim Bellard @kimbbellard.bsky.social · 1d

You might be interested in this:

medium.com/@kimbellard/...

The Vultures Are Circling Wikipedia

I must admit, for several years now I’ve worried that my beloved Wikipedia could not survive in an AI era. Honestly, it’s hard to imagine…

medium.com

Kim Bellard @kimbbellard.bsky.social · 1d

👏

1

Kim Bellard @kimbbellard.bsky.social · 1d

I could accept if #Wikipedia is superseded by #AI (although that doesn't seem to be happening yet), but not if it were to go under for being too "woke." 🙄

medium.com/@kimbellard/...

The Vultures Are Circling Wikipedia

I must admit, for several years now I’ve worried that my beloved Wikipedia could not survive in an AI era. Honestly, it’s hard to imagine…

medium.com

Kim Bellard @kimbbellard.bsky.social · 2d

I thought the biggest threat to @wikipedia.org was going to come from #AI. It turns out that a more immediate threat may be it being perceived as too "woke."

H/T @esimperl.bsky.social @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social

kimbellard.medium.com/the-vultures...

The Vultures Are Circling Wikipedia

I must admit, for several years now I’ve worried that my beloved Wikipedia could not survive in an AI era. Honestly, it’s hard to imagine…

kimbellard.medium.com

1

Kim Bellard @kimbbellard.bsky.social · 2d

Cool!

IEEE Spectrum @spectrum.ieee.org · 6d

Whole Genome Sequencing Will Transform Our Understanding of Life. The Earth BioGenome Project is using cutting-edge tech like long-read sequencing to map the DNA of 1.8 million organisms. Researchers anticipate major discoveries in evolution and medicine.

Mass-Scale Genome Sequencing Will Change Our Understanding of Life

The Earth BioGenome Project aims to sequence 1.8 million species. It's one of the most ambitious science projects ever, and it will revolutionize biology

spectrum.ieee.org

1

Kim Bellard @kimbbellard.bsky.social · 2d

Huh. 😲

IEEE Spectrum @spectrum.ieee.org · 2d

“I want to be clear that we have not broken the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. But in certain cases, we can get around it.”

Quantum Sensors Sidestep Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle

Can quantum sensors really measure both position and momentum with precision? Find out how scientists are sidestepping Heisenberg's limits.

spectrum.ieee.org

Kim Bellard @kimbbellard.bsky.social · 2d

It is shocking, shameful, but not at all surprising that our criminal "justice" system has been turned into a revenue extraction enterprise, primarily from low income families, especially people of color. 😞

H/T @joesoss.bsky.social @joshuapage.bsky.social

share.google/UmJgJMgcTr34...

Legal Plunder

A searing, historically rich account of how US policing and punishment have been retrofitted over the last four decades to extract public and private revenues from America’s poorest and most vulnerabl...

share.google

Kim Bellard @kimbbellard.bsky.social · 5d

😁

I'm sure it dates me, but Velveeta was an integral part of my childhood. 🙄

Richard Kadrey @richardkadrey.bsky.social · 6d

It delights me that AMC's FearFest horror film series is sponsored by Velveeta

Kim Bellard @kimbbellard.bsky.social · 11d

🤔
H/T @mims.bsky.social

www.wsj.com/tech/ai/worl...

What Are ‘World Models’? The Key to the Next Big AI Leap

To develop knowledge beyond text and videos, AIs must have realistic virtual playgrounds where they can make mistakes and learn.

www.wsj.com

1 2

Kim Bellard @kimbbellard.bsky.social · 12d

It's a small sample size, but encouraging nonetheless.

www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/20...

A school in Kentucky banned phones. Remarkable things started happening.

After Ballard High School banned phones, they saw a 67% increase in students checking out library books.

www.washingtonpost.com

1

Kim Bellard @kimbbellard.bsky.social · 13d

Gives you some perspective, doesn't it?

How Many Countries Fit in Africa? Visualizing its True Size share.google/P72YaxP9KJoR...

How Many Countries Fit in Africa? Visualizing the Continent’s True Size

Investigate how many countries fit in Africa and discover why map projections hide the continent’s true size.

share.google

Kim Bellard @kimbbellard.bsky.social · 13d

This may be one of the few pieces of good news I've seen lately. #SupportUkraine!

The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 13d

Negotiations have stalled. Trump keeps changing his policies. Ukrainians, backed by Europeans, are taking matters into their own hands, @anneapplebaum.bsky.social writes:

Ukraine’s Plan to Starve the Russian War Machine

Negotiations have stalled. Trump keeps changing his policies. Ukrainians, backed by Europeans, are taking matters into their own hands.

bit.ly

Kim Bellard @kimbbellard.bsky.social · 14d

🙏

1

Reposted by Kim Bellard

Dr Rasu Shrestha @rasushrestha.bsky.social · 14d

“The United States faces a future in which climate-induced harm continues to worsen and today’s extremes become tomorrow’s norms.”
~ The National Academy of Sciences

Superb and timely write up by @kimbbellard.bsky.social

#climatechange

Matthew Holt @boltyboy.bsky.social · 14d

You may have heard from a very reputable scientific source, the President of the US or his head of the EPA, that climate change is a myth. @kimbbellard.bsky.social is here to remind you that it's not

thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2025/09...

And Yet It Moves – The Health Care Blog

thehealthcareblog.com

2 1 4

Kim Bellard @kimbbellard.bsky.social · 14d

What do you get when you try to mix politics and science? Politics. That's why it is important for scientists - and the rest of us - to keep standing up for science.

Take, for example, climate change.

@standupforscience.bsky.social

kimbellard.medium.com/and-yet-it-m...

And Yet It Moves

Science buffs will recognize the title as the (possibly apocryphal) quote Galileo muttered after he was forced by the Catholic Church to…

kimbellard.medium.com

1

Kim Bellard @kimbbellard.bsky.social · 14d

Thanks to @boltyboy.bsky.social for publishing!

Matthew Holt @boltyboy.bsky.social · 14d

You may have heard from a very reputable scientific source, the President of the US or his head of the EPA, that climate change is a myth. @kimbbellard.bsky.social is here to remind you that it's not

thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2025/09...

And Yet It Moves – The Health Care Blog

thehealthcareblog.com