Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Kit Yates @kityates.bsky.social · 13m

His dad was Scottish (Sean Connery), so it checks out.

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Kit Yates @kityates.bsky.social · 17m

Who is reviewing post-boxes and why do the reviews vary so wildly?

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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 2h

She's nothing if not predictable, is she? I know the Tories aren't keen on anything Green these days, but pretty much all they've done this week is recycle stuff they've been banging on about--for the most part fruitlessly--for the last decade and a half. And today it's "Mickey Mouse" degrees. 🙄

Badenoch: Curb students taking 'rip-off' degrees such as English

The performing arts, sociology and anthropology are among the subjects the Conservatives would like to cut

inews.co.uk

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Kit Yates @kityates.bsky.social · 2h

Bit niche I think, but apparently this parking spot is reserved for female rock climbers.

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The Secret Barrister @barristersecret.bsky.social · 1d

This is a lie.

There are many criticisms you might sensibly and truthfully make of the Sentencing Council and the Sentencing Guidelines. I’ve been making them for years.

But this is an outright lie. Pure fabrication. A fraud on the public.

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Caroline Steel @carolinesteel.bsky.social · 18h

I have a new favourite podcast series. So if you’re going to listen to one thing I’ve worked on - pick this!

Producer Florian and I have been looking for somewhere on Earth unaffected by humans. A place we haven’t changed, in any way.

Looking for No Man’s Land.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

BBC Radio 4 - Looking for No Man's Land

A quest to find a place on Earth unaffected by humans... if it exists.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Philip Ball @philipcball.bsky.social · 17h

2012 Nobel laureate John Gurdon has died. His work was central to both the development of animal cloning and the possibility of reprogramming cells to a different state. A giant of cell and developmental biology.
www.magd.cam.ac.uk/news/profess...

Professor Sir John Gurdon FRS (1933-2025) | Magdalene College

Magdalene College is deeply saddened to announce the death of Professor Sir John Gurdon FRS, who served as Master of the College from 1995 to 2002.

www.magd.cam.ac.uk

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Prof Sheena Cruickshank @sheencr.bsky.social · 1d

Somewhat ironic that when I was interviewed for this article on fresher's flu I was just getting over a nasty cold myself potentially acquired in various teaching activities. Some quick takes on this for all new students (and not just freshers). 🧪🧵
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

What exactly is freshers' flu - and why do so many get it?

It's not the actual flu, and it's rarely serious, but when thousands of students arrive on campus they bring a cocktail of viruses.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Prof Nisreen Alwan @nisreenalwan.bsky.social · 2d

Lancet editorial asks ‘why do racism& discrimination matter to science &medicine?’ and gives reasons. But do we even need to justify? They matter because we’re humans. Needing to justify is kind of part of the problem of silence. Resisting them is everybody’s lane.
www.the-lancet.com/journals/lan...

The far-right and health: an evolving political crisis

Across Europe and North America, racism, xenophobia, and far-right nationalism have become normalised in public and political discourse, leading many people to feel anxiety and fear of violence, discr...

www.thelancet.com

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Steve Griffin @profstevegriffin.bsky.social · 4d

How many FRSs interfere with overseas politics, finance right-wing groups, dismantle US scientific infrastructure, perform Nazi salutes on camera, and use the largest social media platform on earth to promote disinformation on vaccines, COVID, climate change...etc?

Naughty boy? Outright disgrace.

The Royal Society @royalsociety.org · 6d

"I am increasingly concerned over threats to the values that allow science to flourish." Read the full statement from the President of the Royal Society Sir Adrian Smith: royalsociety.org/news/2025/10...

A statement from the President of the Royal Society | Royal Society

A statement from the President of the Royal Society regarding threats to the values that allow science to flourish.

royalsociety.org

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Binita Kane @binitakane.bsky.social · 5d

Brilliant article by a teacher highlighting the current dire situation for teachers and kids every winter when it comes to infection risk and spread. We continue to fight for our kids to have the right to breathe clean air.

stevebheadteacher.wordpress.com/2025/09/30/d...

Dear Bridget Phillipson, Please Can We Talk About Health?

Dear Bridget Phillipson, Please can we talk about health? It’s autumn 2025. We’re one month into the school year, in England. Two of my children are ill, again.With Covid, again.It&#821…

stevebheadteacher.wordpress.com

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Steve Griffin @profstevegriffin.bsky.social · 5d

The kids are not, and never were, OK💔

Brave testimony from @sammiemc.bsky.social on the impact of #LongCovidKids on her own, & 1000s of other families.

The gaslighting & influence of certain "public health" figures what wholly unacceptable 🤬

@longcovidkids.bsky.social

youtu.be/DFykYkqr5Z4?...

Covid 19 Inquiry | Module 8 Oral Evidence of Sammie McFarland, Long Covid Kids | 01 10 2025

YouTube video by Long Covid Kids

youtu.be

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Leon Simons @leonsimons.bsky.social · 5d

In a functioning society, this would have been front page news everywhere.

In our society, this didn't make the fine print.

As @georgemonbiot.bsky.social pointed out once, it's quite depressing to check the headlines when you know what the real headline should be...

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Michael @michaeljsc.bsky.social · 5d

The not-quite-correction is really funny. “A lot” rather than “a majority”.

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Tyler King @tyleraking.com · 5d

AUTHORS: It’s time to submit your claims for the Anthropic copyright settlement.

1. Look yourself up here: secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup

2. File your claim here: secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com

Form asks for ISBN and copyright reg # for each work. Can find in step 1.

Tyler King @tyleraking.com · 11d

🚨AUTHORS: The judge has approved the settlement in the Anthropic copyright case. By 10/2 you will be able to look up your name/works on the settlement website to see if you are eligible for payments. Which Authors Guild explained will be split evenly between authors/publishers who both hold rights.

What Authors Need to Know About the $1.5 Billion Anthropic Settlement - The Authors Guild

Background Bartz v Anthropic is one of the major copyright lawsuits brought by authors against an AI company for using books without permission to train large language models. It was filed by nonfict...

authorsguild.org

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Kit Yates @kityates.bsky.social · 5d

"The syndicate makes the profit. And everybody has a share."?

Phillips OBrien @phillipspobrien.bsky.social · 5d

So the US subsidizes Argentina to sell soybeans to China, which means China doesn’t have to buy US soybeans, which means the US is going to have a massive bailout of its own soybean farmers.
This might be the single worst policy in the history of policies.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 5d

Bessent: "It's unfortunate that Chinese leadership has decided to use American soybean farmers as a hostage or pawn in the trade negotiations. American farmers overwhelmingly voted for President Trump ... you should expect news on Tuesday on substantial support for our farmers."

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Kit Yates @kityates.bsky.social · 5d

Great to see @theguardian.com taking up the baton on academic fraud after my @livescience.com op-ed!
www.theguardian.com/science/audi...

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Canada Healthwatch 🍁 @canadahealthwatch.ca · 5d

Fraud is causing a crisis in science — here's what we need to do to stop it www.livescience.com/human-behavi... @kityates.bsky.social @livescience.com

More news → CanadaHealthwatch.ca 🍁

In 2023, 10,000 scientific papers were retracted after they were found to be fraudulent.

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Miranda Green @greenmirandahere.bsky.social · 7d

Delighted to see the commitment from the IFS @helenmiller.bsky.social to examining the differential impact on men and women of policy (this one on retirement age) ifs.org.uk/publications...

How do people already out of employment fare when the state pension age rises? | Institute for Fiscal Studies

This report studies a group disproportionately affected by state pension age increases: those who had left paid work before the state pension age.

ifs.org.uk

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Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 6d

📢 I've decided to do regular 2-3 mins video updates of latest authoritarian antics of Trump administration on YouTube & TikTok.

Have been inspired by reading how many people get their news there and how dominated it is by the right.
www.tiktok.com/@profchristi...

www.youtube.com/@ProfChristi...

Professor Christina Pagel

I'm Professor Christina Pagel at University College London. My research is in health systems. I'm passionate about science, public health, supporting diversity in the sciences, and protecting liberal ...

www.youtube.com

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Kit Yates @kityates.bsky.social · 6d

Every single comment I saw on this from the science media centre said this is a bad/dangerous/stupid/shortsighted idea.
www.ft.com/content/fdcb...

Badenoch pledges to ditch flagship UK climate change law

Tory leader reaches out to voters hit by high energy bills but faces backlash from business and within the party

www.ft.com

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Kit Yates @kityates.bsky.social · 6d

This is very sad news.

We need more passionate advocates for science and our planet like Goodall.

Jane Goodall, chimpanzee expert and animal rights campaigner, dies age 91 - follow live

The primatologist was a "tireless advocate" for species protection, her institute says in a tribute.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Kit Yates @kityates.bsky.social · 6d

Actions speak louder than words.

This is a whole load of empty words and no concrete actions.

The silence is deafening.

The Royal Society @royalsociety.org · 6d

"I am increasingly concerned over threats to the values that allow science to flourish." Read the full statement from the President of the Royal Society Sir Adrian Smith: royalsociety.org/news/2025/10...

A statement from the President of the Royal Society | Royal Society

A statement from the President of the Royal Society regarding threats to the values that allow science to flourish.

royalsociety.org

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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 6d

On 15th Sept, billionaire & Royal Society fellow Elon Musk called for political & interethnic violence, to pre-empt (ie, begin) a civil war. ("Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die."). A fortnight later, the Society expresses its disapproval

The Royal Society @royalsociety.org · 6d

"I am increasingly concerned over threats to the values that allow science to flourish." Read the full statement from the President of the Royal Society Sir Adrian Smith: royalsociety.org/news/2025/10...

A statement from the President of the Royal Society | Royal Society

A statement from the President of the Royal Society regarding threats to the values that allow science to flourish.

royalsociety.org

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Reposted by Kit Yates

Tony Yates @t0nyyates.bsky.social · 6d

The RS surely has a duty to 'police the personal political opinions' of a Fellow if those opinions and actions act against the scientific process and community.

James Ball @jamesrball.com · 6d

The Royal Society has met to discuss Elon Musk – and they’re NOT removing his fellowship. They are criticising him publicly, but stopping short of actual removal.

This feels like the kind of compromise that will please *absolutely nobody*.

“I am increasingly concerned over threats to the values that allow science to flourish. Today at a meeting of the Royal Society’s Council, I led a discussion regarding some of those threats.

“Science thrives when individuals and institutions have the freedom to carry out research without fear of discrimination, censorship, or other restrictions that would hinder their work. In support of that, Council believes that it is not the role of the Royal Society to police the personal political opinions of individual Fellows and disciplinary procedures should not be initiated because of a Fellow’s social and political views.

“However, the Society can and will criticise Fellows who act in a way that runs counter to the values of tolerance, courtesy and respect for others that allow science to flourish. Elon Musk’s contribution to the ‘Unite the Kingdom’ rally is an example of a growing tendency towards the use of the language of violence, and narratives of division and polarisation. This language and these narratives threaten the values that enable science to thrive and the Royal Society rejects them, from wherever they originate.”

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