Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Mattias Sherman

Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 5d

As a theoretical cosmologist, I'm frequently asked "what is the benefit of the work you're doing for people's lives?" Nothing I work on makes money or cures disease.

There are a few different answers one can give, at various levels of "convincing" / "actually relevant to why the work is done."

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ICP2026 Stockholm @palaeogenomics.bsky.social · 7d

🦴🧬🦴🧬🦴

Abstract submission is now open for the 1st International Conference on Palaeogenomics!

June 23–26 2026, in Stockholm.

Join researchers from across the field for 4 days and >100 talks (+ poster sessions)!

Submit abstracts here 👉
icp2026.palaeogenomics.org/abstracts/

Deadline: Nov 30th

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Dave Vanness @djvanness.bsky.social · 9d

A lot of people think that every international student admitted means one fewer spot for domestic students, when the opposite is more likely true - the tuition revenue international students bring allows public universities to provide substantial discounts to domestic students, improving access.

Nick Fleisher @nickfleisher.bsky.social · 9d

30% drop year over year!

Amid visa restrictions, international freshmen enrollment plummets at UW-Madison

This year’s number of international freshmen is the lowest recorded since at least 2015.

www.jsonline.com

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Nikolay Oskolkov @oskolkov.bsky.social · 4d

Our method, GENome EXogenous (GENEX) sequence detection, for identifying microbial-like regions in eukaryotic reference genomes is online in GigaScience track.smtpsendmail.com/9032119/c?p=...

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Jennifer Campbell-Smith, PhD 𓄿𓃥 @jcampbellsmith.bsky.social · 5d

"I Contain Multitudes"

This digitally painted piece honors coyote by tracing its lineage from the first cells of life to the animal trotting our cities and the wilderness today.

The thread gives descriptions of all the extinct organisms shown in this piece (not to scale)

This digitally painted piece honors the survivor spirit of the coyote by tracing its lineage from the first cells of life to the animal trotting our landscapes today. Below the horizon, carefully chosen ancestors mark pivotal moments in adaptation, each contributing to the form and survivor we see today. Above the horizon, Coyote stands alert at the center, framed by both Denver’s skyline and a mountain backdrop, symbols of their ability to thrive in cities as well as wilderness. Embedded in the ground are the skulls and bones of carnivores whose lineages ended long ago, emphasizing Coyote’s persistence in contrast.

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HAAM-community @haam-community.bsky.social · 7d

🚨 The first HAAM elections are now open!

👥 Meet the candidates: haam-community.github.io/election2025/

🗳️ Cast your vote: forms.gle/6PKTRkqKn57J...

🔒 Voting closes 10 Oct, 23:59 CET!

⚠ HAAM Election 2025 ⚠ · HAAM Community

haam-community.github.io

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Seema Sheth @seemasheth.bsky.social · 11d

Tenure-track Assistant Professor position in Bioinformatics in the Department of Biology at the University of San Francisco
usfca.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/USF_Fu...

Assistant Professor, Tenure-Track, Department of Biology, University of San Francisco

Job Title: Assistant Professor, Tenure-Track, Department of Biology, University of San Francisco Job Summary: The Department of Biology at the University of San Francisco invites applications for a fu...

usfca.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com

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Dr Amanda 💀 Markham @archaeoamanda.bsky.social · 10d

So I caved and set up an account here. Not expecting anyone to interact however as this place seems very quiet! I’m here for #AboriginalArchaeology #humanosteology #zooarchaeology
#AustralianArchaeology
#archaeology.
Say hi and give me a follow

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Sally Aitken 🇨🇦 @sallyaitken.bsky.social · 13d

We are searching for a Forest Ecophysiologist (tenure track Assistant or Associate Professor) to join the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, University of British Columbia Faculty of Forestry. Please share! Details are here: ubc.wd10.myworkdayjobs.com/ubcfacultyjobs

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Kevin Daly @gingerhowley.bsky.social · 10d

Very happy to see our pre-print on ancient Irish goat genetics on bioRxiv #aDNA #spiergorm

I want to acknowledge this was only possible through the work of the late Dr. Judith Findlater, along with Prof. Eileen Murphy at @qubelfastofficial.bsky.social.

Old Goats: 3,000 years of genetic connectivity of the domestic goat in Ireland

The domestic goat likely first arrived to the island of Ireland as part of the introduction of agriculture approximately 5,900 years ago, and remains a part of the island's biocultural heritage. Howev...

www.biorxiv.org

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Daniel Bolnick @danielbolnick.bsky.social · 15d

Our department is adopting a 2-semester core course for entering grad students, 1 semester of grad evolution, 1 semester of ecology. I'd love to see what other depts are doing with equivalent EEB grad core courses, so if you teach one & are willing to share a syllabus & reading list please LMK

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Suzanne Pilaar Birch @suziebirch.bsky.social · 15d

Perfect multispecies collaboration example! 😂

depths of wikipedia @depthsofwikipedia.bsky.social · 16d

imagine if a family of beavers randomly showed up right now and finished whatever thing you've been putting off

In early 2025, beaver activity in the Brdy Protected Landscape Area, Czech Republic, contributed to the restoration of a wetland ecosystem. A family of beavers constructed a series of dams that coincidentally accomplished environmental goals of the Czech government, which had delayed its proposed project since 2018 for bureaucratic and financial reasons. The beaver-built dams saved the Czech government approximately US$1.2 million,

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Mattias Sherman @mattiassherman.bsky.social · 16d

If you work with #aDNA in or around London, you might be interested in joining us this Wednesday for a talk from @boothicus.bsky.social on integrating archaeology and ancient DNA, the first of this year's talk series organised by the London aDNA Network! Get in touch if you'd like to come along!

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Mattias Sherman @mattiassherman.bsky.social · 16d

We organise these talk+networking events every other month (typically at UCL) on various aDNA topics with researchers at every career stage, so feel free to check out our website and sign up for our mailing list: london-adna-network.github.io/index.html

london-adna-network.github.io

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Mattias Sherman @mattiassherman.bsky.social · 16d

If you work with #aDNA in or around London, you might be interested in joining us this Wednesday for a talk from @boothicus.bsky.social on integrating archaeology and ancient DNA, the first of this year's talk series organised by the London aDNA Network! Get in touch if you'd like to come along!

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Reposted by Mattias Sherman

Tom Booth @boothicus.bsky.social · 17d

Maybe worth highlighting that the people in this article identified through genetic ancestry testing very recent ancestors that in most cases met the social/legal criteria for citizenship in different countries. Your DNA doesn’t define your identity/belonging.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Citizenship: How ancestry DNA tests can lead to a new passport

The presenter of the BBC's DNA Trail explains how she battled to become a New Zealand citizen.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Ewan Birney @ewanbirney.bsky.social · 17d

Postdoc in genomics or X-ray imaging - broadly defined? Want to run your own lab? PI in Cell biology and want to lead an area of science, hiring faculty and setting direction of an area? Want work in Europe's leading life science laboratory, working language English? Check out the jobs below!!

EMBL @embl.org · Aug 7

We’re looking for curious, innovative science leaders at EMBL Heidelberg! 🔬🧬🦠

Join a vibrant, interdisciplinary community where collaboration and innovation are nurtured at all levels.

Take a look at these four open positions 👇

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Dr Alessio Veneziano @aveneziano.bsky.social · 17d

Natural disasters 🌪️ continue to kill years after they happen! Indirect effects of natural disasters could explain the observed higher mortality in south east US 🇺🇸! Data can save lives!

#science #data #climate 🧪 📊 🌍

Climate News @climatenews.bsky.social · 18d

Excellent new video from PBS Terra about the long term climate change impact on the probability of death across the USA:

Did Scientists Just Figure Out Why People Die A DECADE Earlier in the Southeast US?

YouTube video by PBS Terra

youtu.be

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EMBL-EBI Training @training.ebi.embl.org · 19d

Thank you to everyone who joined us this week for the @embo.org Practical Course 'Methods for infectious disease modelling using genomics'.

Join us for 2026's EMBO Practical Course. Sign up for 'Causality in biomedicine' alerts and hear as this new course develops: www.ebi.ac.uk/training/eve...
🧬🧫

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Tom Booth @boothicus.bsky.social · 18d

“Today, we’re very similar to each other. Even the most different people are at most maybe 200,000 years separated, with little gene flow,” Reich said. “But 70,000 years ago, there were at least five groups far more different from each other than any groups living today.”

Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 18d

“The big perspective change from ancient DNA study is that people living today are almost never the descendants of the people in the same place thousands of years before”

news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...

Pure bloodlines? Ancestral homelands? DNA science says no. — Harvard Gazette

Geneticist explains recent analyses made possible by tech advances show human history to be one of mixing, movement, displacement.

news.harvard.edu

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Vincent J Lynch 🐘🦣🦥 🦇🐋🐢🐍 @devoevomed.bsky.social · 19d

Don’t fall for the #ColossalBio PR #DisInformation, they’re making GMO pigeons not dodos #ExtinctionIsForEver 🐓≠🦤 🧪

Colossal Biosciences @itiscolossal.bsky.social · 20d

Dodo De-Extinction Thread 🧵

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KamilSJaron.bsky.social @kamilsjaron.bsky.social · 20d

It's that time of the year again... Soon the applications for 12 PhD positions at @sangerinstitute.bsky.social will open. Interested in genomics and thinking about doing a PhD? Join us at Sanger. www.sanger.ac.uk/about/study/...

4-Year PhD Programme

The Wellcome Sanger Institute have a 4-year PhD programme and a Clinical PhD programme in genomics and genetics, registered with the University of Cambridge, which are open to UK and overseas applican...

www.sanger.ac.uk

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Matthew Cobb @matthewcobb.bsky.social · 20d

And no gene editing

Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social · 20d

Blue iguana climbs back from the brink. Grand Cayman’s blue iguana, once down to fewer than 25 individuals, now numbers more than 1,000 in the wild. Captive breeding, habitat restoration and community engagement reversed what was nearly a Caribbean extinction. CNN buff.ly/GKiJpcz
#ShareGoodNewsToo

The ‘blue dragon’ is back from the brink | CNN

Habitat loss and invasive cats and dogs pushed blue iguanas to the brink of extinction. Now, thanks to ongoing conservation efforts, populations are on the rise.

buff.ly

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Tom Booth @boothicus.bsky.social · 20d

The tool that archaeogeneticists around the globe have been crying out for!

No more months spent laboriously cross-referencing genetic relatedness, osteological attributes and archaeological context whilst scribbling endless iterations of circles and squares!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Fault-tolerant pedigree reconstruction from pairwise kinship relations

Pedigrees reconstructed from biologically related ancient genomes have revealed many insights into (pre)history. To our knowledge, all reported ancient pedigrees have been manually reconstructed, as e...

www.biorxiv.org

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EvolDir @evoldir.bsky.social · 20d

The Naturhistoriska riksmuseet seeks a Tenure-Track group Leader (DDLS fellow). Deadline: Nov 15. Benefits include 17 M SEK in start-up funds. More info: https://www.scilifelab.se/career/research-fellowship-in-data-driven-evolution-and-biodiversity/ #job

Research Fellowship in Data driven evolution and biodiversity

About the workplace The Swedish Museum of Natural History (NRM) is a major research institute located in Stockholm. NRM research activities combine venerable tradition and modern scientific methods, where state-of-the-art […]

www.scilifelab.se

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