Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Nicholas Allott @nicholasallott.bsky.social · 4d

Thank you! There are so many where she's just a black hole or a blur. This one worked because she saw something outside and had to stare for a moment.

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Nicholas Allott @nicholasallott.bsky.social · 4d

Another eventful Saturday afternoon
#caturday
#catsofbluesky

Black and white cat, with a strange expression

Black and white cat, eyes only just open

Black and white cat, head down, front paws lightly curled, deep asleep

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Nicholas Allott @nicholasallott.bsky.social · 4d

Like this

Black cat sleeping curled up, revealed to be brown in strong sunlight

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Nicholas Allott @nicholasallott.bsky.social · 4d

Back turned, I think! What had you done?

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Nicholas Allott @nicholasallott.bsky.social · 4d

The secret of black cats showing there! (I mean, they are brown really, but you can only see that in strong light.)

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Nicholas Allott @nicholasallott.bsky.social · 4d

What a handsome fluffy fellow!

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Nicholas Allott @nicholasallott.bsky.social · 4d

What an expression! It's a nice photo.

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Nicholas Allott @nicholasallott.bsky.social · 4d

A beauty! I hope she got what she wanted.

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Nicholas Allott @nicholasallott.bsky.social · 4d

Black cats are normally quite hard to photograph. I like how this one turned out.
#caturday (as they say, although it’s actually from yesterday evening)

Black cat, sitting on a table and staring into the distance. I think she had seen a bird.

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Nicholas Allott @nicholasallott.bsky.social · 4d

This is great. Clear, very well informed, and rightly passionate.

Arthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · 8d

It’s out! I spoke to @zoejardiniere.bsky.social about migration, the realities, the challenges and how to confront the real threat of far right takeover of our country on a platform of fear and disinformation.

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/b...

Reposted by Nicholas Allott

Zoe Gardner @zoejardiniere.bsky.social · 6d

People recognised as refugees fleeing persecution & granted the right to live in the UK to be denied the right to be joined safely by their spouse & children.

This Labour govt is a moral void, a stinking darkness, an empty hollow of cowardice & contempt. #r4today www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Starmer to end asylum ‘golden ticket’ of resettlement and family reunion rights

People granted asylum will have to earn right to invite family in plan charities call ‘straight from populist playbook’

www.theguardian.com

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Nicholas Allott @nicholasallott.bsky.social · 6d

There's a good article that's effectively a summary here:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Everything politicians tell you about immigration is wrong. This is how it actually works | Hein de Haas

Escaping poverty, violence and the climate crisis are factors, but the main driver is rich societies demanding cheap labour, says migration scholar Hein de Haas

www.theguardian.com

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Nicholas Allott @nicholasallott.bsky.social · 6d

I have found this book really useful
www.penguin.co.uk/books/455478...

How Migration Really Works

Global migration is not at an all-time high. The climate emergency will not lead to mass migration. Border restrictions have actually produced more migration. These statements might sound counterintui...

www.penguin.co.uk

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Reposted by Nicholas Allott

Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 8d

That's quite the chart annotation.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

A chart of "Major concerns of PhD candidates." The top text says, "Financial pressures top the list of concerns faced by PhD candidates, but concerns differ among the sexes. Those studying in the United States rank the political landscape as their main worry." The chart shows that in the full survey, political landscape is the biggest concern for about 20% of students (a bit higher for women than men) but there's an annotation saying "In US PhD students, this rose to 64%". Overall, the highest-rated concern was financial pressures at around 40%.

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Reposted by Nicholas Allott

James McEnaney @jamesmcenaney.bsky.social · 9d

Filling classrooms with computers didn't have the huge and positive impact on learning that was promised. Filling them with tablets hasn't done it either.

I know this might sound absurd to many (especially politicians) but what if we filled them with highly skilled and properly supported educators?

Anne Lutz Fernandez @lutzfernandez.bsky.social · 9d

Say it often, say it loud:

"Overall, research has not supported the common-sense presumption that digital approaches to schooling are better than non-digital alternatives. At the broadest level, widespread computer use in education has been found to be associated with lower student achievement."

Fit for Purpose? How Today’s Commercial Digital Platforms Subvert Key Goals of Public Education

Digital educational platforms have become ubiquitous in American classrooms, with tools like Google Workspace for Education, Kahoot!, Zearn, Khan Academy, and many others now structuring curriculum, i...

nepc.colorado.edu

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Reposted by Nicholas Allott

Chris Dillow @chrisdillow.bsky.social · 10d

Instead of judging individuals by what they contribute to society, why not judge society by what it contributes to individuals? Like, y'know, civilized people would.

Dan Sohege @danielsohege.bsky.social · 10d

Dehumanisation as policy.
It ignores people's actual lives and experiences in favour of some sick idea that migrants are just resources to be used and discarded at will.
It is incredible how Labour has become, in practice, the most anti-immigration government in decades.
news.sky.com/story/shaban...

Shabana Mahmood vows law reforms to prove migrants 'contribute' to UK society

The home secretary signalled in her first major interview since taking over the reins that she believed migration "has been too high".

news.sky.com

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Nicholas Allott @nicholasallott.bsky.social · 11d

Developments continue

Black and white cat, on his back, one front paw stretched straight out in the air

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Nicholas Allott @nicholasallott.bsky.social · 11d

It’s a developing situation

Black and white cat sleeping, furry tummy up, big back feet pointed towards the viewer

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Nicholas Allott @nicholasallott.bsky.social · 11d

Lazy Saturday afternoon

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Reposted by Nicholas Allott

Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · May 8

There is an increasingly common and very lazy notion that universities are left biased. That needs countering as universities are under attack in the US but also elsewhere.

I wrote a thread about it.

Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · Apr 28

Listening to Rest is Politics, Rest is Politics US, and reading respected commentators, it's striking how 'left-wing bias' in universities is now taken for granted. That matters, especially in the US, where academia faces political attack. Thoughts from having worked in US/UK universities. 🧵

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Reposted by Nicholas Allott

Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · 15d

#1
Following on from my earlier thread about claims of “bias” in universities (link below 👇), I was struck by James Marriott’s column in today’s Times. It’s full of anecdote & caricature. The real story of UK universities is structural, financial, and political. 🧵
👉 bsky.app/profile/prof...

Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · Apr 28

Listening to Rest is Politics, Rest is Politics US, and reading respected commentators, it's striking how 'left-wing bias' in universities is now taken for granted. That matters, especially in the US, where academia faces political attack. Thoughts from having worked in US/UK universities. 🧵

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Nicholas Allott @nicholasallott.bsky.social · 16d

“Unless we recognise the difference between for-profit firms and not-for-profit institutions, the sector will continue down a path of waste, inefficiency, and erosion of confidence.”

Nicholas Allott @nicholasallott.bsky.social · 16d

“…vice chancellors, free of ownership constraints, act more like temporary executives than institutional stewards. […] universities cannot be run on the cheap, but pretending they are businesses is not the solution. It is the problem.”
…

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Nicholas Allott @nicholasallott.bsky.social · 16d

“The danger of calling them businesses is that it justifies practices that corrode trust in the sector. Students see themselves charged more while receiving less. Staff see their work devalued and casualised.”
…

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Nicholas Allott @nicholasallott.bsky.social · 16d

The conclusion is worth quoting at length:
“Universities are not airlines or hotels. They are public-serving institutions that educate, research, and train. They need to be managed responsibly, with budgets balanced and surpluses reinvested. But they should not be mistaken for corporations.”
…

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