Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Douglas Long

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 3d

"Why is antagonizing the existing bluesky userbase harmful to bluesky inc's goals?

It feels odd to even have to answer this question"
azhdarchid.com/jay-graber-c...

Jay Graber Confuses the Gas and Brake Pedals

As your new Head of Comms I advise you to please stop posting this shit.

azhdarchid.com

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Reposted by Douglas Long

🏳️‍⚧️ Josephine Riesman @josie.zone · 3d

It is morally wrong to want a computer to be sentient. If you owned a sentient thing, you would be a slaver. If you want sentient computers to exist, you just want to create a new kind of slavery. The ethics are as simple as that. Sorry if this offends

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Douglas Long @minimillian.bsky.social · 3d

I was an undergrad in 1995, just about to declare a major in astronomy. This really felt like the world changed overnight, although I still didn’t suspect the role it would play in my career over the next 30 years.

The epic hunt for a planet just like Earth

Exoplanet hunters Christopher Watson and Annelies Mortier explain the long search for a 'twin Earth' capable of sustaining life.

www.bbc.com

Douglas Long @minimillian.bsky.social · 4d

I called him a mean name today, too.

Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 4d

Trump hates to be the object of humor. He understands that humor can be a more powerful antidote to tyranny than any other form of criticism.

I'm sure he'd hate it if you shared this cartoon. [Cartoon by Jon Adams/The New Yorker]

Reposted by Douglas Long

Anil Dash @anildash.com · 6d

@852dude.bsky.social this! www.anildash.com/2016/05/15/m...

Message from The Artist - Anil Dash

A blog about making culture. Since 1999.

www.anildash.com

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Reposted by Douglas Long

Asha Rangappa @asharangappa.bsky.social · 8d

I can’t believe I’m watching interviews of city mayors talking about how they are coordinating with other mayors to discuss how to protect their residents FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

I know we are “used to it” but it is absolutely insane

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Reposted by Douglas Long

Garry Kasparov @garrykasparov.bsky.social · 9d

Or Russia. Not a coincidence that dissidents from authoritarian nations and reporters that covered those places have been waving their arms over what the Trump White House has been doing since 2017 while most US opposition and media have been sedately concerned. It’s not confusing to us at all.

Brian Klaas @brianklaas.bsky.social · 11d

So much has gone wrong in US press reporting on Trump because the White House reporters are people who have exclusively covered US politics.

They need people who have worked in Hungary, Turkey, etc. The relevant knowledge isn't Reagan factoids; it's the dynamics of competitive authoritarianism.

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Douglas Long @minimillian.bsky.social · 10d

What flavor of chips did his red envelope come in?

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Douglas Long @minimillian.bsky.social · 14d

This was great!

Elise Cutts @elisecutts.bsky.social · 14d

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin ✨ figured out what stars are made of ✨ when she was just 25. 🔭🧪

Her PhD thesis basically established the Harvard astro department — at a time when Harvard didn't officially allow woman students.

I wrote this little profile to mark the 100th anniversary of her thesis:

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Reposted by Douglas Long

Markus Pössel @mpoessel.de · 17d

Point of view: It’s March 2, 1930, and you are a fairly liberal German. That being the case, you buy your go-to Sunday paper, „Vossische Zeitung“. On page 5, you find a note on the funeral of the young Nazi Horst Wessel, who had died a few weeks after being shot. [A #Vossische1933f prequel.] 1/

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Reposted by Douglas Long

Mike Black @mikeblack114.bsky.social · 17d

who was President from 1 Jan 20 until 20 Jan 21 continues to be the defining political question of our time

collie.bsky.social @collie.bsky.social · 17d

Trump was still President when he was banned from Twitter and Facebook

Katie Fallow @katiefallow.bsky.social · 17d

It says something about Trump’s all-out war on free speech that the New York Times couldn’t find a more credible person than “presidential historian” Craig Shirley to defend it. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/21/u...

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Reposted by Douglas Long

Dave Lee @davelee.me · 19d

Dutch late night TV has its take

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Reposted by Douglas Long

BladeoftheSun @bladeofthes.bsky.social · 20d

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Douglas Long @minimillian.bsky.social · 20d

Remember when Disney OPPOSED fascism? Good times, good times…

A 1940’s ad for Walt Disney’s Donald Duck in “Der Fuehrer’s Face”. A small Donald Duck hits a large Adolph Hitler in his left eye with a tomato. Red text at the top reads “Here’s the PICTURE from which the SONG SENSATION was taken!”

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Reposted by Douglas Long

Kelly Lepo @kellylepo.bsky.social · 21d

Join us tonight at 7 p.m ET. I'll be chatting with Dr. Néstor Espinoza about how JWST is Exploring Distant Exoplanet Atmospheres.

Space Telescope Science Institute @stsci.edu · 22d

TOMORROW (Sept. 17, 7 p.m. ET): STScI's Dr. Néstor Espinoza will explore some of the most exciting findings #NASAWebb is unveiling about the atmospheres of distant exoplanets. 🔭 🧪
https://youtube.com/live/i466qvWBQ1o?feature=share

Alien Skies: Exploring Distant Exoplanet Atmospheres with Webb

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is humanity's sharpest eye to look at the infrared Universe. From being able to detect the faint glow of the first galaxies to being able to characterize the atmospheres of Earth-sized worlds, the observatory's uniq...

youtube.com

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Reposted by Douglas Long

Brett Morris @brettmorr.is · 21d

We're looking for atmospheres on rocky planets. Like scifi, but real. Here's the data, go learn from it! 🌎🔭🧪

MAST - Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes @mast-news.bsky.social · 21d

New HLSP: First results from the Rocky Worlds DDT program are now available at MAST! This release includes calibrated light curves, model fits, preliminary eclipse depth estimation, and auxiliary data for GJ 3929 b. archive.stsci.edu/hlsp/rocky-w... #HLSP #RockyWorlds #JWST #HST #Exoplanets #MAST 🔭

An example fit to a JWST/MIRI F1500W eclipse observation of GJ 3929b collected by the Rocky Worlds DDT Program.

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Reposted by Douglas Long

Taylor Bell @taylorbell275.bsky.social · 21d

Excited to share the 1st High-Level Science Product release from the Rocky Words DDT! Each RWDDT eclipse will result in HLSPs which you can use for preliminary science investigations or as a starting point for your own reduction/fit. Awesome work by Tyler Baines, Achrène Dyrek, and the RWDDT CIT
🪐🔭

MAST - Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes @mast-news.bsky.social · 21d

New HLSP: First results from the Rocky Worlds DDT program are now available at MAST! This release includes calibrated light curves, model fits, preliminary eclipse depth estimation, and auxiliary data for GJ 3929 b. archive.stsci.edu/hlsp/rocky-w... #HLSP #RockyWorlds #JWST #HST #Exoplanets #MAST 🔭

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Douglas Long @minimillian.bsky.social · 22d

Join us for a SPECIAL JWebbinar this Thursday, September 18 at 1:00 EDT where we'll host a community forum with members of the JWST Users Committee (JSTUC)! The committee members will introduce themselves and what they do, as well as answer questions and listen to feedback from attendees.

🔭

Special JWebbinar - JSTUC Community Forum

www.stsci.edu

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Reposted by Douglas Long

Star Wars Holocron @swholocron.bsky.social · 23d

“The pace of oppression outstrips our ability to understand it. And that is the real trick of the Imperial thought machine. It's easier to hide behind 40 atrocities than a single incident”

Every day this line feels more and more relevant.

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Douglas Long @minimillian.bsky.social · 26d

The Empire Strikes Back for the Atari 2600

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Reposted by Douglas Long

Dr Ryan MacDonald @distantworlds.space · 29d

We observed the habitable zone planet TRAPPIST-1e with JWST to search for an atmosphere.

You've seen the headlines, now let's dive into the science! 🧪

THREAD (1/N)

#Exoplanets 🔭

A rocky planet in its star’s ‘habitable zone’ could be the first known to have an atmosphere – here’s what we found

The largest telescope in space has been trained on a rocky exoplanet.

theconversation.com

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Douglas Long @minimillian.bsky.social · 29d

Join us tomorrow (September 10) at 11:00 EDT to learn about What's New in JWST Cycle 5! Presenters will cover policy changes, tips on proposal writing, and updates to available tools.

🔭

JWebbinar 45 - What's New in JWST Cycle 5

www.stsci.edu

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Douglas Long @minimillian.bsky.social · Sep 8

I think Jessie has the best summary of our results

Dr. Jessie Christiansen @aussiastronomer.bsky.social · Sep 8

After nearly a decade of saying which JWST result I was most excited about, it's here:

JWST SPECTRA OF THE HABITABLE TRAPPIST-1 PLANETS!

TRAPPIST-1 E!!!

IT'S ... A FLAT LINE!

BUT NOT AS FLAT AS IT COULD BE!?

IS THERE AN ATMOSPHERE?!?!?

WE STILL DON'T KNOWWWWW.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/08/s...

Hopeful Hint of an Earthlike Atmosphere on a Distant Planet

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Douglas Long

AAS Press Office @press.aas.org · Sep 8

Space Telescope Science Institute: NASA JWST Looks at Earth-Sized, Habitable-Zone Exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 e webbtelescope.org/contents/new...

NASA Webb Looks at Earth-Sized, Habitable-Zone Exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 e

webbtelescope.org

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Douglas Long @minimillian.bsky.social · Sep 8

But, for now-

Charlie I Got A Rock GIF

ALT: Charlie I Got A Rock GIF

media.tenor.com

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