Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Marc Scully @marcscully.bsky.social · 18h

American social psychology; British social psychology; European social psychology.

Ryan Teague Beckwith @ryanbeckwith.bsky.social · 2d

Editor in chief, city editor, features editor

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Centre for the Sciences of Place and Memory @memoryplace.bsky.social · 17h

Meet our people @tmcasimiro.bsky.social is an archaeologist specialising in material culture, urban marginality, and the intersections of place and memory, community archaeology, waste and urban ecologies, the archaeology of abandonment, and non-human interactions in urban and non-urban spaces.

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Dr. Damien P. Williams Wants A Better Sociotechnical Paradigm @wolvendamien.bsky.social · 18h

I just… jfc why don't these companies and politicians listen?

👻 Autumn Nash 🎃 @withenoughcoffee.com · 18h

At first the Discord hack didn’t seem that bad because it was initially the third party help desk.

But then you find out they had got there age verification data. Come to find out they got 1.5 TB of government id and age verification data. This is going to become a case against age verification.

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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 1d

analytic philosopher, continental philosopher, African Studies theorist

Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 1d

quantitative methods, qualitative methods, mixed methods

Photo of a Kansas City Chiefs press conference with Andy Reid, Travis Kelce, and Patrick Mahomes. Reid is wearing a gray suit and red tie with a lapel pin. Kelce is wearing a camp-style short-sleeved shirt with a bird print, along with a suede cap, and Mahomes is wearing a white collared shirt, a pink checkered double-breasted vest, and a pale pink tie.

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Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.bsky.social · 23h

😍😍 and this entire dish is vegan-friendly

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 1d

did i eat this entire plate of ethiopian? yes, i did.

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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 23h

If you're in Ireland, you're looking for a copy of The First Fire of Halloween and you don't want to order one from the Evil Empire, it's available from Antonia's Books, an indie bookshop, at antoniasbookstore.com/product/the-...

A púca comes to #Halloween Hill!

#SpeirGorm #PucaFestival #Samhain

Alt-Text: An image of the cover of the book set against a background similar to that used on the cover, a dark sky over a field. Under the words 'Here, why has he no trousers on? Why would someone take his trousers?'

The front cover itself features a púca, the mythical Irish shape-changer, as a muscular human figure with a goat's head. He's standing in a field in darkness, with a fire blazing in front of him. Inset in the dark sky above and behind him are a pair of yellow goat's eyes. The title is in orange against the sky, and my name is in black against the fire.

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Open Research and Public Engagement Roadmap @engagedroadmap.bsky.social · 23h

Drop in to our information coffee morning to chat and connect with others shaping the future of open research

Tuesday 21 October 2025, 11am–12pm
Trinity Long Room Hub

@tcddublin.bsky.social
@norfireland.bsky.social

#openresearch #publicengagement

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Dialectical Systems @dialecticalsys.bsky.social · 1d

How does life emerge from nonlife?

New special issue of the Royal Transactions brings together leading thinkers on the origins of life—where chemistry meets information, and evolution unfolds through the “adjacent possible.”

dialecticalsystems.eu/publications...

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Gail Drakes @gaildrakes.bsky.social · 1d

Are you a non-Black person pissed at Bluesky leadership and feeling a little jealous of all the good vibes coming from Blacksky?

There are Blacksky adjacent options for you! Here’s info from the Blacksky migration guide!

docs.blacksky.community/migrating-to...

Screengrab from Blacksky migration guide:

blacksky algorithms

A Warning: Anyone else using a blacksky.app handle will receive a warning at first and then a suspension.

Alternative PDSs for Everyone
Blacksky Algorithms also operates two other
PDSs that are open to anyone:
• myatproto.social - Open to all
• cryptoanarchy.network - Open to all

These servers run on the same infrastructure as blacksky.app and are maintained by the same team, but are available for anyone to use regardless of background.

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Jennifer Kretchmer @dreamwisp.bsky.social · 1d

Because it feels relevant as we continue to evaluate the media and our representatives’ statements, my favorite way to identify the active vs. passive voice.

A post by Rebecca Johnson:
“I finally learned how to teach my guys to ID the passive voice. If you can insert "by zombies" after the verb, you have passive voice.”

A tumblr respond from mightymur:
“The final, brilliant word on passive voice.
"She was killed [by zombies.]"<--passive
"Zombies killed [by zombies] her." <-- active”

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Grem, of 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐏 🔜 MCAtlanta! @gremlin.world · 3d

I will never not repost this

(Sound on for maximum effect)

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Glyn Moody @glynmoody.bsky.social · 2d

Europe's future is at stake: Open letter against #ChatControl - tuta.com/blog/open-le... "European SMEs have united to direct a strong open letter to urge ministers of #EU member states to oppose Chat Control and to defend privacy and a strong European tech industry."

Europe's future is at stake: Open letter against Chat Control | Tuta

European SMEs have united to direct a strong open letter to urge ministers of EU member states to oppose Chat Control and to defend privacy and a strong European tech industry.

tuta.com

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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · Sep 19

Everybody makes money out of academic authors except the authors...News.

Wiley is the latest academic publisher to reach a multi-million deal to allow access to its content to AI developers, with no opt out, let alone payment, for the authors who created that content.

Wiley set to earn $44m from AI rights deals, confirms “no opt-out" for authors

The US publisher is the latest to capitalise on deals to give tech firms access to its authors’ content to train their Large Language Models (LLMs).

www.thebookseller.com

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Iris van Rooij 💭 @irisvanrooij.bsky.social · 3d

“Being able to detect & counteract all these 3 together comprises the bedrock of skills in research methods in a time when AI is used uncritically (see Table 1). The inverse: not noticing these are at play, or even promoting them, could be seen as engaging in questionable research practises (QRPs)”

The three aforementioned related themes sketched out in this section, will play out in the AI-social psychology relationships we will examine — namely:

a. misunderstanding of the statistical models which con- stitute contemporary AI, leading to inter alia thinking that correlation implies causation (Guest, 2025; Guest & Mar- tin, 2023, 2025a, 2025b; Guest, Scharfenberg, & van Rooij, 2025; Guest, Suarez, et al., 2025);

b. confusion between statistical versus cognitive models when it comes to their completely non-overlapping roles when mediating between theory and observations (Guest & Martin, 2021; Morgan & Morrison, 1999; Morrison & Morgan, 1999; van Rooij & Baggio, 2021);

c. anti -open science practices,such as closed source code, stolen and opaque collection and use of data, obfuscated conflicts of interest, lack of accountability for models’ architectures, i.e. statistical methods and input-output mappings are not well documented (Barlas et al., 2021; Birhane & McGann, 2024; Birhane et al., 2023; Crane, 2021; Gerdes, 2022; Guest & Martin, 2025b; Guest, Suarez, et al., 2025; Liesenfeld & Dingemanse, 2024; Liesenfeld et al., 2023; Mirowski, 2023; Ochigame, 2019; Thorne, 2009).

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Chibdm @chibdm.bsky.social · 2d

Robin Williams' daughter has some quality thoughts on AI slop

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Nicole Rust @nicolecrust.bsky.social · 2d

I get it. Similar thoughts inspired me to write a book. I began pessimistic, like this author, but I came out on the other side with renewed optimism.

As a counterpoint to the blog below, this podcast could be titled, "Why Nicole Rust stayed"

www.fchampalimaud.org/news/episode...

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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 3d

Of all Jim Gavin’s gaffes, it turns out it was his spare one that took him down.

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Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · 3d

Make a document on here and you'll have a similar experience cryptpad.fr/drive/

I used this more than surf tbh

Encrypted Drive

CryptPad: end-to-end encrypted collaboration suite

cryptpad.fr

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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 3d

When I turned 30 I had not yet written my first published book or my first published novel and did not know (or know of) some of the most important people in my life. I didn't know how much my life could still change, and did, after the age of 30. There is so much your life still yet to live.

essencesimmone.blacksky.app @essencesimmone.blacksky.app · 5d

Those who are 35+, what advice do you have for people just entering their 30s?

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Dr. Damien P. Williams Wants A Better Sociotechnical Paradigm @wolvendamien.bsky.social · Jul 30

Again: Marginalized people are disproportionately harmed by the spread of "AI" because the people who use it are essentially being trained to think the machine is "like us" & can speak "for us," even as it simultaneously pressures you to disbelieve *Actual Us* when we tell you "it's not & it cant."

Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) @autisticadvocacy.org · Jul 29

Generative AI changes what things mean because it focuses on words, not the meaning. It adds words, changes meaning, and makes "plain language" that is not accessible. We know, because we tested it. Generative AI has no place in plain language. autisticadvocacy.org/2025/07/asan...

Dark grey textured background. There’s a lighter grey box with text that reads: Artificial intelligence is when a computer program does things that normally need to be done by humans. We call artificial intelligence “AI” for short. There are lots of different kinds of AI.
The way AI works is by using data from people. Data is information a computer can read. AI programs read data made by people to understand what to do.
Generative AI is a specific kind of AI. Generative AI can use data to make new things.
Generative AI can create many kinds of new things, like:
text
images
music/movies
and more
People have already started using generative AI to write plain language.

Grey textured background. Text reads: In our statement, we explain the reasons why people should not use generative AI to write in plain language. Plain language is an important part of making things accessible for people with disabilities. Using generative AI makes “plain language” that is not actually accessible. We hope anyone who writes in plain language will not use generative AI.
Here are the reasons we talk about in our statement:
Generative AI changes what things mean
Plain language is an idea that is too new for generative AI to understand
Generative AI focuses on words, not ideas
Generative AI has discrimination built-in
Plain language is by and for disabled people
Read our full statement to learn more about each of these reasons.

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Anise K. Strong @anisekstrong.bsky.social · 3d

This is the most amazing bit of cross-cultural mythmaking ever. I wonder if this was inspired by myths of Talos? Anyhow, I am very sorry that the secretive guild of ancient Roman robot engineers never existed, though pleased they were appropriately unionized.

Rakesh Khanna @blaftrakesh.bsky.social · 3d

When I was researching my book Ghosts, Monsters, and Demons of India, I learned of a 1000-year-old myth about Roman tech being used to build killer robots to guard the Buddha's remains in Pataliputra, and a Hungarian folklorist read my book & got excited about it, & she managed to dig up a🧵(1/3)

Romanised Pali manuscript of the Lokapannati

Ghosts, Monsters, and Demons of India
p. 60
Bhoota Vahana Yanta
Bhoota Vahana Yanta means “spirit movement machine.” The term is used
for several varieties of robot drone assassins and sword-wielding machine-
men mentioned in the Lokapannati, a Pali-language text written between
1000 and 1200 CE by Saddhammaghosa of Thaton, but concerning
events that took place much earlier, around 500 to 200 BCE.
According to the story, robots were first invented by engineers of the
early Roman Republic. These robots were used for commerce, in agriculture,
as a police force, and as executioners. The secret of how to build these
spirit-engines was fiercely protected. If any engineer dared to take the designs
out of the city, one of his own executioner robots would come after
him and kill him.
At that time, in Pataliputra (then in the kingdom of Magadha, now
Patna in the state of Bihar), there lived a young man who had heard of the
Romans’ magical androids. He became so determined to learn the secrets
of their manufacture and share them with the people of Magadha that he
arranged his own death. Then, on his deathbed, he vowed to be reincarnated
as a Roman.
This indeed took place. In his new life, the man grew up to join the
Roman guild of engineers. He even married the daughter of the Master
Robot-Maker, and had a son by her.
Once he learned the secrets of the Bhoota Vahana Yanta, the man resolved
to transfer the information back to Pataliputra. But he was well
aware that now, since he was a member of the guild, he would be killed as
soon as he left. So he cut a gash in his thigh, inserted the plans in his flesh,
and sewed the wound back up.

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PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 5d

Beyond "innate versus learned"
Amazing thread 🧵

Gregory Kohn @kohngregory.bsky.social · 5d

This is an awe-inspiring and fascinating study that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. However, the overall framing in terms of "innate versus learned” is unnecessary. The innate versus acquired dichotomy is outdated and has been for a long time. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Learned use of an innate sound-meaning association in birds - Nature Ecology & Evolution

Over 20 species of geographically and phylogenetically diverse bird species produce convergent whining vocalizations towards their respective brood parasites. Model presentation and playback experiments across multiple continents suggest that these learned calls provoke an innate response even among allopatric species.

www.nature.com

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Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · 5d

guess one has big buxx behind it I GUESS just guessing

Richard D. Morey @richarddmorey.bsky.social · 5d

Also - contrast b/w the response when I advocate teaching R instead of SPSS -- "No hurry, let's not rush into it" (still waiting) -- & others re: use of LLMs -- "It's inevitable, we're behind; need it implement it ASAP!" -- is telling. Learning to code is freeing. Overhyped LLMs create dependency.

Excerpt from Guest & van Rooij, 2025:

As Danielle Navarro (2015) says about shortcuts through us-
ing inappropriate technology, which chatbots are, we end up dig-
ging ourselves into “a very deep hole.” She goes on to explain:

"The business model here is to suck you in during
your student days, and then leave you dependent on
their tools when you go out into the real world. [...]
And you can avoid it: if you make use of packages
like R that are open source and free, you never get
trapped having to pay exorbitant licensing fees." (pp.
37–38)

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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 4d

Another huge crowd out in Dublin today to protest against Israel’s genocide. We had young kids with us, and as ever, it was a peaceful, well organized and good-natured crowd. #FreePalestine #SanctionsNow #SpeirGorm

The front of the march on a bright day on O’Connell Street in Dublin. Banners and Palestinian flags visible.

In the March, looking south along O’Connell Street.

The crowd coming over O’Connell Bridge. Palestinian and INTO union flags.

Making the turn past Trinity college onto College Green.

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Dr. Cat Hicks @grimalkina.bsky.social · 4d

This needs to be said a million more times

Paul Hünermund @p-hunermund.com · 5d

And then, in practice, it might actually be better to run a large-scale observational study, but with data on exactly the population you care about.

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