Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Stephanie Harris @mllesharris.bsky.social · 8h

Why stop there? There are talented academics in universities all around the world.

Times Higher Education (THE) @timeshighered.bsky.social · 8h

UK and US researchers must forge closer ties amid “significant political changes”, the Russell Group has said, urging the UK government to consider new ways of collaborating and removing barriers to long-term partnerships

#AcademicSky #EduSky

Expanding visa eligibility ‘can deepen UK-US research links’

Russell Group calls for long-term partnerships to be secured amid political uncertainty

www.timeshighereducation.com

Reposted by Stephanie Harris

Alan Beattie @alanbeattie.bsky.social · 1d

Henceforth the red robes will only be worn as an away kit when the Canadian Supreme Court is playing the US one.

Pwnallthethings @pwnallthethings.bsky.social · 1d

Tragic news from Canada where the Canadian Supreme Court has gone from the official dress on the left to the one on the right

Canadian Supreme court. Everyone is dressed in bright red wooly gowns, with a beige trim. It looks sort of like a Santa robe

The Canadian Supreme court. Everyone is dressed in black gowns with a bright white kravat, and two thin red vertical lines on the side of the robe

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Stephanie Harris @mllesharris.bsky.social · 1d

Me: failing the don’t live somewhere with an idiot MP for the past 10 years. First Philp, now her.

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 1d

Katie Lam outflanks Reform on unachievable slogans, by proposing the breach of a Treaty commitment, that will harm UK citizens in the EU & scrap the UK-EU relationship on the economy & everything else
www.politico.eu/article/eu-c...

EU citizens living in UK shouldn’t be allowed welfare benefits, says Tory rising star

Katie Lam — who is earning plaudits on the Conservative right — calls for Brexit withdrawal agreement to be reopened.

www.politico.eu

Stephanie Harris @mllesharris.bsky.social · 1d

And it wasn’t even the first time!

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Stephanie Harris @mllesharris.bsky.social · 1d

We went to the shelter with the aim of getting two cats and found three together and, well, we couldn’t leave just one behind.

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Stephanie Harris @mllesharris.bsky.social · 2d

This is how I found out and hopefully you too

Mollie Goodfellow @hansmollman.bsky.social · 2d

Knickers at half mast today everyone, for Jilly Cooper x

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Stephanie Harris @mllesharris.bsky.social · 2d

It reads like the world’s lamest cheer.

a man and a woman are dancing in front of a sign that says fast lake spartans chess team

Posted from Graysky - get the app to view and post GIFs!

tenor.com

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Stephanie Harris @mllesharris.bsky.social · 4d

I had to turn all push notifications off as it kept notifying me that someone I follow liked a mutual’s post. Repeatedly. Unless you need to respond promptly you might find it easier to just go in once a day and look at your notifications.

Reposted by Stephanie Harris

Dr. Heather Hinam 🍁 🇨🇦 @secondnaturemb.bsky.social · 4d

As it turns out, coyotes are good climbers. They loped up and down these limestone cliffs like they were mountain goats. #mammals 🌿

A coyote perches on a few, small moss-covered ledges sticking out from an otherwise pretty shear limestone cliff. Boreal trees grow on the edges and on top of the cliffs.

A coyote perches on a few, small moss-covered ledges sticking out from an otherwise pretty shear limestone cliff. It's looking down at other coyotes (out of frame) on the ground. Boreal trees grow on the edges and on top of the cliffs.

A large coyote with a decent-sized fish in its mouth pauses in its climb up a limestone cliff. It's partially obscured by the frees growing on the cliffs.

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Reposted by Stephanie Harris

Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 4d

This is absolutely right on every point and everyone who sits on a governing board or serves as president or provost or similar should please make the time to read it.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/o...

Opinion | Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Just Extortion

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Stephanie Harris

J Bogart @jonathanbogart.net · 6d

R.I.P.

A cartoon panel from The Far Side by Gary Larson. Two gorillas are sitting in a tree. One with cat-eye glasses is picking something off the other's back. The caption reads:

"Well, well -- another blonde hair. ... Conducting a little more 'research' with that Jane Goodall tramp?"

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Stephanie Harris @mllesharris.bsky.social · 6d

I’m biased, but would definitely like to see a more toothy government in these instances.

dag @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 7d

This is the judgment on the PPE/Medpro claim.

A cracking £122m win for the Government Legal Service

And is wonderful to see the government bringing a claim in contract against a shoddy supplier.

This does not happen often, and it should happen far more.

www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/u...

www.judiciary.uk

Reposted by Stephanie Harris

Ben Yong @bymyong.bsky.social · 8d

"There have likely been 10,000 or more university redundancies in the academic year 2024-25..."

Political Quarterly @politicalquarterly.bsky.social · 8d

UK higher education now faces a very bleak future, retreating in the face of little public sympathy and limited political interest.

By Glen O'Hara, Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at Oxford Brookes University

politicalquarterly.org.uk/blog/where-n...

Where now for Britain’s Universities?

UK higher education now faces a very bleak future, retreating in the face of little public sympathy and limited political interest.

politicalquarterly.org.uk

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Reposted by Stephanie Harris

Ele Willoughby @minouette.bsky.social · 9d

Though kyanite is used in the arts, hematite is the most important pigment left standing, & vital to millennia of art history so easily wins the art vote. Red ochre, earth, Venetian red, mars red & English red. A stable, rich, vibrant red in cave paintings through contemporary paintings! #MinCup25

An image of a cave painting and analysis of pigments used. There’s a rotund beige horse outlined in black from the Lascaux caves, and a collection of squares of browns and black labelled with the mineral pigment used to produce these colours at Lascaux. 6 squares are due to Goethite in umbers and browns. 2 dark browns from Hematite. Black from magnetite. 5 brown squares from: Lepidocrocite, Akaganeite, Maghemite, Feroxyhyte, Ferrihydrite and Fe(III) hydroxy-Sulfate.

Kyanite is a naturally occurring aluminum silicate mineral that typically forms as bladed crystals, and occasionally it occurs as radiating masses of crystals. The name kyanite is derived from the Greek word kyanos which means “blue.” Gem quality kyanite has a royal blue color similar to fine sapphire. This material is highly prized by those who cut gemstones. Kyanite can be cut en cabochon, faceted, or fashioned into beads, however its variability in hardness and color zoning can make it difficult to fashion and facet. Transparent intense blue kyanite is beautiful and is considered to be an exotic gemstone because it is not often seen in jewelry. Kyanite is predominately found in shades of blue and green, but it can also be yellow, white and orange. This 5.87ct gem is an intense deep blue color and the largest and finest kyanite from Nepal in the National Gem Collection. Smithsonian Museum"

Johannes Vermeer, Girl With a Pearl Earring
ca 1665

Medium: Oil
Support: Canvas
Size: 44.5 cm x 39 cm
Art period: Baroque
Mauritshuis, The Hague
Painting

This is the famous painting of the young Dutch woman in gold jacket with white collar, gold and blue turban with large pearl earrings looking over her shoulder at the viewer, against a near-black background.

“Vermeer, Girl with a Pearl Earring is an exceptional example of Vermeer’s genius, it is a portrait of an unknown girl or maybe a generalized female head (called a ‘tronie’ in Netherlands). The pigment analysis revealed a limited palette consisting of red, brown and yellow ochre, natural ultramarine, indigo, lead white, and the rare yellow pigment weld (luteoline).”

Red ochre is hematite.

Via ColourLex

Edgar Degas, Portrait of Elena Carafa
ca 1875

Medium: oil
Support: canvas
Size: 70,1 x 55 cm
Art movements: Impressionism, Realism

National Gallery London
NG4167

“The sitter for this portrait, Elena Carafa, was Degas’ first cousin, who lived with her sister Camilla and their mother Stefanina, Duchess Montejasi-Cicerale, in Naples.
The portrait of Elena Carafa by Edgar Degas shows an assured young lady” wearing a black dress and blue shawl, seated back in a floral armchair with red floral wallpaper and white door behind her. She has dark brown hair piled high on her head and looks at the viewer with her chin forward like she’s daring you to judge her.

Uses red ochre (hematite) as a pigment

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Stephanie Harris @mllesharris.bsky.social · 8d

I think it’s a Ghost thing as when someone else switched over from Substack all the newsletters went into my spam. I got that fixed and yours haven’t suffered the same fate. So if you haven’t already I suggest you talk to the Ghost people to see if they need to reconfigure.

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Stephanie Harris @mllesharris.bsky.social · 8d

What could possibly go wrong?

404 Media @404media.co · 9d

New: landlords are demanding potential tenants hand over employer login credentials so a tool can verify their income. We were sent screenshot of the tool, Argyle, downloading much more data than necessary to approve the renter. "Opt-out means no housing" www.404media.co/landlords-de...

Landlords Demand Tenants’ Workplace Logins to Scrape Their Paystubs

Screenshots shared with 404 Media show tenant screening services ApproveShield and Argyle taking much more data than they need. “Opt-out means no housing.”

www.404media.co

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Stephanie Harris @mllesharris.bsky.social · 9d

Fair enough. I don’t think he was but I would prefer if you were right!

Stephanie Harris @mllesharris.bsky.social · 10d

As I said the first post, in which he says that Starmer should wait until something truly racist is said, contradicts the second.

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Reposted by Stephanie Harris

Stephen Graham @stephengraham.bsky.social · 10d

The 'Riyadh Comedy Festival' reminds me of the story of Freddie Starr performing in the Middle East, under instruction not to swear or refer directly to Prince Hussein.

He came on and said 'Which one of you fuckers is Prince Hussein?' and the curtain immediately came down.

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Stephanie Harris @mllesharris.bsky.social · 10d

This idea that you shouldn’t call something out for what it is until certain people are comfortable with it really annoys me. The Nazis who were put on trial at Nuremberg were the same who were elected in 1933. It’s not better that they got to commit genocide before we all agreed they were bad.

James O’Brien @mrjamesob.bsky.social · 10d

This is good (for once). Farage has to stay front & centre for almost 4 more years & I don’t see how he can without edging ever closer to the National Front credo that’s always animated him. For now, Starmer must wait until he’s *blatantly* racist before using the term. Otherwise it loses power 1/2

Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot.bsky.social · 10d

NEW - Keir Starmer says that Reform UK's policy to abolish indefinite leave to remain is " a racist policy. I do think it is immoral.”

Stephanie Harris @mllesharris.bsky.social · 10d

Your second point contradicts your first. These ideas are being detoxified *now*. Things that we never would have imagined being ok even last year are ok now. Waiting until that perfect moment when Farage says something so incontrovertibly racist means we’ll be waiting until it’s too late.

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Reposted by Stephanie Harris

Law Paw Calendar (Billable Hour) @lawpawcalendar.bsky.social · 11d

URGENT UPDATE! WE NEED YOUR HELP
Thanks to everyone who has entered, we've had some amazing pictures.
BUT we have not received enough entries!
We know social media is a mess & that you're all very busy, but we need your help.

Entries are now open until *5th October*

Law Paw Calendar (Billable Hour) @lawpawcalendar.bsky.social · Sep 5

The legal world’s favourite (/only) pet calendar is back for 2026, and looking for your entries!

Email [email protected] by 26th September to secure your pet’s place in the calendar.

A number of calendars featuring pictures of pets in legal themes

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Stephanie Harris @mllesharris.bsky.social · 15d

The fact that the letting agent knows what they’re doing and arguing it’s reasonable makes this extra special. There is part of me that would like to play the argument out that but for the home the work would not have been created. I feel that’s… weak.

Additional Terms
IP Assignment by Tenant
1. The Tenant agrees that any intellectual property, moral rights, copyright, design rights, trade secrets or proprietary information of any kind (including but not limited to inventions, discoveries, designs, processes, improvements, works of authorship, software, data, photographs, recordings, artwork, ideas or other creative or inventive output) which are conceived, created, developed or reduced to practice by the Tenant, alone or with others, during the tenancy and in relation to the residential premises (or using the landlord's materials, tools, facilities or resources) (hereafter "Works") shall immediately upon creation be the sole and exclusive property of the Landlord
2. The Tenant hereby assigns to the Landlord all right, title, and interest in and to the Works (including all intellectual property rights therein) without further consideration.
3. The Tenant waives (to the extent legally possible) any moral rights in respect of the Works in favour of the Landlord.
4. The Tenant agrees to execute all documents, do all acts and things reasonably necessary (at the Landlord's expense) to give effect to this clause, including registration of any rights or filing of any applications required to perfect the Landlord's ownership.
5. This clause survives the termination or expiration of the tenancy agreement with respect to any Works created during the tenancy.
Hi bro,
No stress. That is a pretty standard term in agreements these days. Its to help not have any disagreements in the event of certain situations. Its nothing to get worried about.
If you need help understanding call me on
• Otherwise lets get this agreement signed and get going!! Please get lets get this done before EOFY today so you
can secure you're new place.
After the call today the landlord has decided to not longer consider you're application for
Good luck in you're future search.

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Stephanie Harris @mllesharris.bsky.social · 15d

Can you believe there are countries where it’s normal to heat your house using electricity and it doesn’t push you into poverty.

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Reposted by Stephanie Harris

Nathan Edwards @grackle.space · 16d

dudes rock

Tumblr post from every-lemon
Sep 8

so my spouse is part of a weirdly intense but mostly benign men's workout group that meets at like, 5:30am outside every day, even in winter. they do a lot of burpees and lugging cinder blocks up hills and stuff.
they take turns leading the workouts and tomorrow is his turn. I asked what he was planning. he handed me a sheet of William Carlos William poems from a large stack he'd printed.
I said "what" and he explained, helpfully, "it's a William Carlos William themed workout." I asked what inspired it and he said "l've been planning this for months."

Follow up tumblr post
every-lemon
Sep 9
it was a smash hit.
a dozen guys showed up (more than usual). spouse brought a red wheelbarrow and they took turns bringing cinder blocks up the hill with it. then they broke up in teams and did a relay with an "icebox" (cooler filled with 40lbs of ice). at the end he opened the cooler to reveal it was full of beach plum lacroix and all the guys cheered. they drank sparkling water as he read 'approach of winter' out loud.
he was home by 6:30am.

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