Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists @thebulletin.org · 23h

This interview by @mattyfield.bsky.social, part of the Bulletin's September magazine, is available to all readers for a limited time.

1 1

mattyfield.bsky.social @mattyfield.bsky.social · 1d

chicago.suntimes.com/news/2025/10...

Attorney for woman shot by Border Patrol claims officer said 'Do something b----' before shooting

Body-camera video appears to contradict the government's claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorn...

chicago.suntimes.com

mattyfield.bsky.social @mattyfield.bsky.social · 5d

Ok, wtf is this? "U.S. Border Patrol agents rappelled from Blackhawk military helicopters onto the roof of a South Shore apartment building"

In the annals of militarizing a supposed "law enforcement" operation, this is above and beyond.
chicago.suntimes.com/news/2025/10...

FAA restricts private drones over Chicago as feds step up immigration arrests

The Federal Aviation Administration set the sweeping restrictions Wednesday at the request of the Department of Homeland Security.

chicago.suntimes.com

mattyfield.bsky.social @mattyfield.bsky.social · 8d

NASA plans to decommission perfectly functioning satellites with climate monitoring missions, ostensibly to save money, @jessimckenzi.bsky.social reports. @thebulletin.org
thebulletin.org/2025/09/nasa...

NASA missions at risk under the Trump administration

The Trump administration has proposed cancelling more than 40 NASA missions, including at least 14 Earth science missions.

thebulletin.org

1 3 2

Reposted

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists @thebulletin.org · 12d

Call for Earth or climate scientists at US federal agencies from the Bulletin's climate editor, @jessimckenzi.bsky.social. Contact info in her profile. ⬇️

Jessica McKenzie @jessimckenzi.bsky.social · 13d

feel like this is a long shot (everybody keeps telling me nobody wants to talk) but if you work at a federal agency that does Earth or climate science—bonus points if you're a scientist yourself—and you want to tell me about your anxieties as the budget deadline approaches, i would love to talk!

1 3 7

mattyfield.bsky.social @mattyfield.bsky.social · 13d

Must have been a couple busy weeks for the mainstream US media. Missed this one. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Anti-Islamic US biker gang members run security at deadly Gaza aid sites

BBC identifies members of Infidels MC gang hired as armed security at US and Israel-backed aid sites.

www.bbc.com

mattyfield.bsky.social @mattyfield.bsky.social · 13d

Some people are saying the US should counter nuclear threats by building thousands of weapons. But Putin offered this week to continue to adhere to limits of the New START treaty. Trump should take him up on that offer. @thebulletin.org
thebulletin.org/2025/09/puti...

Putin just gave Trump the opportunity to maintain nuclear restraint. Will he seize it?

Extending New START will also give time for Trump to work with Russia and China on future arms control accords.

thebulletin.org

1

Reposted

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 13d

Harry Enten: "The more RFK Jr is trying to implement his policies, the further down his net approval rating goes. And at this particular point, 21 points underwater is not a place you want to be."

630 2.6K 10K

Reposted

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists @thebulletin.org · 14d

Telling assembled world leaders at the United Nations that their countries "are going to hell" and asking "what is the purpose of the UN" is probably not the best way for President Trump to start the process of earning buy-in for a bioweapons prevention plan, writes @mattyfield.bsky.social.

Trump dissed world leaders at the UN while asking for their help on a bioweapons prevention plan

President Donald Trump pledged to spearhead an international effort to use AI to verify compliance with the global biological weapons treaty Tuesday. That will require buy-in from the world leaders…

thebulletin.org

3 18 23

Reposted

Sara Goudarzi @saragoud.bsky.social · 14d

A technical standard has become the invisible infrastructure connecting AI to the rest of our digital world. But MCP wasn’t built for what it’s doing now and its widespread adoption introduces privacy and security challenges, writes Abi Olvera in a new piece for @thebulletin.org.

The risks in the protocol connecting AI to the digital world

Model context protocol (MCP), the infrastructure connecting AI to the rest of our digital world, wasn’t built for what it’s doing now.

thebulletin.org

2 3

mattyfield.bsky.social @mattyfield.bsky.social · 14d

thebulletin.org/2025/09/trum...

Trump dissed world leaders at the UN while asking for their help on a bioweapons prevention plan

President Donald Trump pledged to spearhead an international effort to use AI to verify compliance with the global biological weapons treaty Tuesday. That will require buy-in from the world leaders he...

thebulletin.org

1 2

Reposted

François Diaz-Maurin @francoisdm.bsky.social · 15d

Join us this on Thursday! Stellar panel with @ucs.org's president, @gretchentg.bsky.social, and former science advisor to President Obama, John Holdren.

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists @thebulletin.org · 16d

Earlier this year, President Donald Trump issued an executive order and budget proposal aimed at cutting support for the scientific research community.

How will possible cuts affect scientists, and what solutions may exist? This Thursday, join the Bulletin for an expert discussion.

Under Attack: Science, Research, and the Trump Administration

Thursday, September 25, 2025 at 10:30 A.M. CDT / 11:30 A.M. EDT

pages.thebulletin.org

2 4

mattyfield.bsky.social @mattyfield.bsky.social · 19d

Wherein an impressive historian realizes an important truth about Trump while watching "Love Island." @thebulletin.org
thebulletin.org/premium/2025...

“He’s basically running a reality TV show": Francis Gavin on Trump’s impact on the US, its allies, and the post-war world order

When it comes to the post-Cold War order, the president doesn't really make a distinction between allies or adversaries. They're all just the competition.

thebulletin.org

Reposted

François Diaz-Maurin @francoisdm.bsky.social · 19d

The United States needs a Peace Summit. Now.

thebulletin.org/2025/09/afte...

After Charlie Kirk's killing, an expert in political violence explains how to stop it

In the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination, University of Chicago Professor Robert Pape has an idea for stopping political violence from spiking in the United States: a peace summit, of sorts, involv...

thebulletin.org

2 3

Reposted

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists @thebulletin.org · 20d

Robert Pape, a professor at the University of Chicago, has been studying political violence for 30 years. There's one central factor, he says, that is responsible for the increasingly violent tenor of US politics today. ⬇️

After Charlie Kirk's killing, an expert in political violence explains how to stop it

In the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination, University of Chicago Professor Robert Pape has an idea for stopping political violence from spiking in the United States: a peace summit, of sorts,…

thebulletin.org

1 8 12

Reposted

Kai Kupferschmidt @kakape.bsky.social · 20d

“ABC and CBS are making a serious miscalculation. Their servility to Trump will not earn them peace, only greater pressure.”

That’s the German professional association of journalists, @djv.de, calling on major US media to support their journalists instead of preemptively silencing them.

Nicht vor MAGA-Kult einknicken

Der Deutsche Journalisten-Verband ruft die Verantwortlichen der großen US-Medien dazu auf, ihren Journalistinnen und Journalisten den Rücken zu stärken, statt…

www.djv.de

73 1.4K 4.2K

mattyfield.bsky.social @mattyfield.bsky.social · 20d

I talked with political violence expert Robert Pape about how to stop violence from escalating. He told me about one (probably deceptively) simple solution. @thebulletin.org
thebulletin.org/2025/09/afte...

After Charlie Kirk's killing, an expert in political violence explains how to stop it

In the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination, University of Chicago Professor Robert Pape has an idea for stopping political violence from spiking in the United States: a peace summit, of sorts, involv...

thebulletin.org

Reposted

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists @thebulletin.org · 23d

A recent project asked what the telltale signs of a bioweapons program would be. There are gaps in the information members of the global bioweapons treaty can access, but new approaches and technologies can help. ⬇️

How new technology could make it easier to identify covert bioweapons programs

"Verifying compliance with the bioweapons treaty is hard. But hard does not mean impossible."

thebulletin.org

5 11

Reposted

Gregory Koblentz @gregkoblentz.bsky.social · 23d

Good new article in @thebulletin.org by @filippalentzos.bsky.social @haileywingo.bsky.social Jez Littlewood & @albertomuti.bsky.social on options for verifying BWC:

How new technology could make it easier to identify covert bioweapons programs
thebulletin.org/2025/09/how-...

How new technology could make it easier to identify covert bioweapons programs

A recent project asked what the telltale signs of a bioweapons program would be? There are gaps in the information members of the global bioweapons treaty have access to, but new approaches and techno...

thebulletin.org

2 4

mattyfield.bsky.social @mattyfield.bsky.social · 25d

"SSPE is a brain disorder that typically develops anywhere from two to 10 years after the initial measles infection, according to county health officials — and after the patient appears to fully recover."
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

L.A. County child dies of rare measles complication years after infection

The child contracted measles before being old enough to vaccinate, officials said — adding that the case highlights the importance of community immunity.

www.washingtonpost.com

mattyfield.bsky.social @mattyfield.bsky.social · 25d

My take on the bad takes on Charlie Kirk's death. @thebulletin.org thebulletin.org/2025/09/terr...

Terrible takes on the Kirk killing, starting with Trump’s

The president of the United States did not seem intent on lowering the temperature of US politics following the assassination of right-wing star Charlie Kirk.

thebulletin.org

3 3

mattyfield.bsky.social @mattyfield.bsky.social · 27d

Who doesn't have time to read about bog bodies?
thebulletin.org/2025/09/tick...

Ticking time bogs: How to save a vast archive of human history—and a vital carbon sink

Climate change and extractive industries have decimated Ireland’s peat bogs. Archaeologists, environmentalists, and energy developers are clashing over the best way to steward these ecosystems and the...

thebulletin.org

1

Reposted

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists @thebulletin.org · Sep 7

Google recently launched a new feature that allows users to customize their search experience by selecting preferred news sources.

If you're looking to stay up to date with news and expert analysis on existential risks, it's easy to add the Bulletin as a preferred news publisher.

How to add the Bulletin as a preferred news source on Google

Add the Bulletin as a preferred news source on Google to see more of our content in your search results related to existential risks. We show you how—it only takes one click.

thebulletin.org

4 6 12

mattyfield.bsky.social @mattyfield.bsky.social · Sep 5

Read Leon Botstein's piece on Trump's disingenuous Trojan Horse-like assault on US universities, a sabotage of a big part of what's made this country great culturally and economically. @thebulletin.org @bardcollege.bsky.social
thebulletin.org/premium/2025...

Autocracy and the university in America today

From its immigration and deportation policies to its highly publicized assault on several of America’s leading universities, the Trump administration seems determined to upend decades of close coopera...

thebulletin.org

Reposted

Brandy Zadrozny @brandyzadrozny.bsky.social · Sep 5

Kennedy on a media tear to make it seem like he’s got widespread support. The anti-vaxx movement has been very very good at using social media to appear huge, when it has in fact been a small but vocal and well-organized minority with opinions way outside the mainstream. Unclear whether it’ll work.

Post from the bad place — Calley Means on Fox News with Jesse Watters supporting RFK jr

88 390 1.3K