Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Olivia Rudgard

Ben Gartside @bengartside.bsky.social · 19d

Exc: 13 Afghans who worked with the British Army are being deported back to Afghanistan despite being under the care of the British High Commission in Pakistan after delays getting them to the UK.

inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Afghans who worked for the British Army are deported back to the Taliban

Pakistan expels 13 Afghans despite them being under the care of the UK's relocation scheme

inews.co.uk

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Reposted by Olivia Rudgard

Davey Alba @davey.bsky.social · 20d

NEW: Bloomberg obtained 100s of pages of agency emails & other docs via FOIA, shedding new light on how disaster-related misinfo affects the govt's emergency response, sucks up resources & puts staff at risk.

with @zhirji.bsky.social @jasonleopold.bsky.social

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Headline: Chaos Inside FEMA as Death Threats Distract from Hurricane Response

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Reposted by Olivia Rudgard

Eric Roston @eroston.bsky.social · Sep 8

🚨Hot off the press🔥
LIGHTS OUT
How Trump's war on climate science is weakening the US

A feature about the White House's "cluster-bomb approach" to dismantling the world's most sophisticated scientific apparatus. By @zhirji.bsky.social @blkahn.bsky.social and me

🎁🔗 www.bloomberg.com/features/202...

Trump Is Dismantling Climate Science at a Dangerous Pace

The White House has blocked efforts to measure, respond to and fight global warming. That puts all Americans at risk.

www.bloomberg.com

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Reposted by Olivia Rudgard

Coco Liu @cocojournalist.bsky.social · Sep 2

Glaciers in Central Asia have long managed to withstand rising temperatures and changing weather patterns. But now, the outlook is worsening. My latest for @bloomberg.com

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Even the Most-Resilient Glaciers Are Falling Victim to Climate Change

Researchers studying the health of glaciers say that one in Tajikistan likely reached its tipping point in 2018.

www.bloomberg.com

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Olivia Rudgard @oliviarudgard.bsky.social · Sep 1

I love this so much

Jo Kibble (Political Animal) @politicanimal.bsky.social · Sep 1

“These buses are beautiful, London is beautiful.’ Incredibly wholesome content. www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...

The TikTok ‘Bus Aunty' who celebrates London’s buses

Bemi Orojuogun was shocked that her videos celebrating London's buses got such a large following.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Reposted by Olivia Rudgard

Zahra Hirji @zhirji.bsky.social · Aug 29

This summer, I visited Glen Kenny's heat lab in Ottawa to see where he -- and many others -- repeatedly put their bodies on the line to better understand how high heat can damage the human body and how to keep people safe.

Full story @bloomberg.com with gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Scientist Shuts Himself in 104F Chamber in Quest to Study Heat Stress

Research is reshaping the health protections deployed by governments and companies as the human and economic toll from a hotter world keeps mounting.

www.bloomberg.com

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Olivia Rudgard @oliviarudgard.bsky.social · Aug 29

New: Some of the world's best chefs are switching to induction for reasons that are nothing to do with climate and everything to do with how they run their professional kitchens. Featuring some (hopefully) mouthwatering dish descriptions - I'm no food critic but I did my best!

Gift link:

With Induction Stoves, Chefs Discover a Foolproof Path to Perfection

From Michelin kitchens to home wok burners, induction delivers consistency that gas can’t match.

www.bloomberg.com

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Reposted by Olivia Rudgard

Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · Aug 28

Had a fun time writing about bread and circuses vs. bread and roses and whether in crises we're allowed to have fun. www.meditationsinanemergency.com/circuses-vs-...

Circuses vs. Roses: Notes on Pleasure and Scold Culture

Someone made this extra-grumpy meme about the fact that football player and podcaster Travis Kelce proposed to pop superstar Taylor Swift and now they're engaged, or rather about the fact that of cour...

www.meditationsinanemergency.com

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Reposted by Olivia Rudgard

Coco Liu @cocojournalist.bsky.social · Aug 26

Extreme heat is taking a toll on the US’s aging bridges. Here comes the "bridge doctors" who enlist AI and automation to detect hidden dangers before it's too late. My latest for @bloomberg.com (read on for free for 7 days) www.bloomberg.com/news/feature... #infrastructureresilience #climatetech

Are Bridges Near You Safe? This MRI-Like Scan May Prevent Disaster

Extreme heat is taking a toll on the US’s aging bridges. These researchers are enlisting AI and automation to perform drive-through inspections.

www.bloomberg.com

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Olivia Rudgard @oliviarudgard.bsky.social · Aug 26

Millions are confronting a terrifying reality: When sweat can’t evaporate, heat kills. Incredible on-the-ground reporting & photos by colleagues in India. Gift link:

India’s Extreme Heat Crisis Is Killing Citizens and Testing Cities’ Livability

Millions in the country are confronting a terrifying reality: when sweat can’t evaporate, heat kills.

www.bloomberg.com

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Olivia Rudgard @oliviarudgard.bsky.social · Aug 22

Something for the weekend.. Did you know you could go 'wild' swimming in Canary Wharf? What London's most unlikely open water swimming spot tells us about how work & life is changing. Gift link:

In the Heart of London Finance, Canary Wharf Becomes a Swim Spot

Once the domain of 19th century trade ships, Canary Wharf’s docks now host ducks, endangered eels — and a surge of urban swimmers.

www.bloomberg.com

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Reposted by Olivia Rudgard

ProPublica @propublica.org · Aug 22

On the left: Nate Cavanagh, a 28-year-old DOGE staffer and college dropout.

On the right: Mohammad Halimi, a 53-year-old exiled Afghan scholar.

This is the story of how DOGE targeted Halimi on social media.

Then the Taliban took his family. 🧵

Photo of DOGE staffer Nate Cavanagh, a 28-year-old white man in a blue pullover, carrying a black backpack.

Photo of 53-year-old Afghan scholar Mohammad Halimi. He is sitting, wearing white pants and shirt with a brown vest.

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Olivia Rudgard @oliviarudgard.bsky.social · Aug 20

Great story about how Europe's tourism industry is changing because of climate change. We always take our summer holiday in September now in part because no kids & it's cheaper but also because peak summer heat in southern Europe just doesn't sound that fun to me any more

Laura Millan @lauramillan.bsky.social · Aug 20

🏖️NEW: Overtourism and climate change have created a dangerous feedback loop that endangers Southern Europe’s tourism industry

www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Hotter Summers and Overcrowding Threaten Europe’s Tourist Economies

Overtourism and climate change have created a dangerous feedback loop that endangers Southern Europe’s tourism industry

www.bloomberg.com

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Olivia Rudgard @oliviarudgard.bsky.social · Aug 19

‘What if the real doomer scenario is that we pollute the internet and the planet, reorient our economy and leverage ourselves, outsource big chunks of our minds, realign our geopolitics and culture, and fight endlessly over a technology that never comes close to delivering on its grandest promises?’

Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · Aug 18

no, yeah, everything's fine...why do you ask? www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

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Reposted by Olivia Rudgard

Caroline Fiennes @carolinefiennes.bsky.social · Aug 17

!!! A church will be moved down the road on Tuesday!

It'll be live-streamed. It's wild. It's in Kiruna, Sweden's most northern town (I've been there): the whole town is being moved to get to iron ore under it.

The church is wooden and square, inspired by Sami tents.

lkab.com/en/events/th...

The moving of Kiruna Church - LKAB

The move of Kiruna Church is a world-unique event and will take place over two days between 19-20 August 2025.

lkab.com

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Olivia Rudgard @oliviarudgard.bsky.social · Aug 19

no worries! really great piece

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Olivia Rudgard @oliviarudgard.bsky.social · Aug 19

'In many ways, the summer of 1976 was Britain’s first real taste of a new normal.' Really great data-packed story and thread here about the mythical 1976 heat wave and what it tells us about climate change.

Meike Eijsberg @meikeeijsberg.bsky.social · Aug 15

🚨NEW: Why your nostalgia for the summer of 1976 is wrong

telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/08...

A charts and data thread🧵⬇️
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Why your nostalgia for the summer of 1976 is wrong

That year’s heatwave may remain a cultural reference point, but compared to today’s climate it doesn’t look so special

telegraph.co.uk

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Reposted by Olivia Rudgard

Duncan Robinson @duncanrobinson.bsky.social · Aug 14

Netflix should do "Senescence"

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Olivia Rudgard @oliviarudgard.bsky.social · Aug 14

I know summer downpours are the hardest thing to predict, because you don't know where exactly the energy is going to build up sufficiently to create lightning/rain

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Olivia Rudgard @oliviarudgard.bsky.social · Aug 11

I love the anecdote about the golf cart driver distracted by their phone *nearly* crashing, as proof that these vehicles are dangerous. Because we know phone distraction has never caused a proper car to crash, definitely not

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Olivia Rudgard @oliviarudgard.bsky.social · Aug 11

Very interesting that if you don't use words like 'EV' or 'micromobility' or 'bicycle' people really love small electric vehicles that allow them an escape from the hassle of driving an SUV

Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · Aug 11

Interesting article about golf carts becoming more popular in the U.S. as on-the-road vehicles www.wsj.com/lifestyle/go...

A slow-rolling cavalry is conquering America's public roads.
Golf carts are becoming street legal in one community after another as families ditch their minivans and SUVs when they want to
run a quick errand or ramble around town.
Dan Pearson bought a six-seat cart this summer after the village board he leads in the Chicago suburb of East Dundee, IIl., approved the vehicles. As he drove through downtown on a recent afternoon, pedestrians gawked and diners waved. "Dude, I love it," a man called out as Pearson cruised past.
"It's fun to get out," Pearson said. "People tend to talk to people in a small little cart as opposed to a big car or truck."

"We all hate you," a Florida motorist snapped on TikTok when slow-moving carts on a coastal road clogged traffic in both directions.
"Get off your golf cart and drive a regular car."
Paul Ernest, a photographer who lives in McKinney, Texas, said a golf cart driven by a young girl, her eyes fixed to her smartphone, almost collided with his pickup truck on a neighborhood road earlier this summer. Some states including Texas require a driver's license to take a cart on public roads.
"These things are dangerous," he said.
"They're around vehicles much bigger than they are, and when they're operated by children with no adult supervision, it's just a recipe for disaster."
The momentum, however, belongs to the carts.
Golf carts designed for the road have been around since the early 2000s, but demand has soared in the past five years. Mark Rickell, a sales executive at cart maker Club Car, estimated the total U.S. market for the vehicles at $5 billion, up from $1 billion before the pandemic.

South Carolina law allows golf carts to travel on public roads with a speed limit of 35 mph or less and within 4 miles of the driver's home.
The vehicles don't need a license plate but must have a permit.
Other states allow municipalities to decide, and some are pumping the brakes. Last year, the beach town of Norwalk, Conn., rejected a request to allow the vehicles. Police said carts had been acting as rogue food-delivery services, and they worried young drivers would take them for wintertime joy rides.
In Elburn, Ill., a petition to legalize golf carts on local roads was signed by nearly 600 people
—more than typically vote in municipal elections. The village board debated a proposed ordinance for seven months before unanimously voting against it in June, citing the potential for carts crossing busy highways.

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Reposted by Olivia Rudgard

Zahra Hirji @zhirji.bsky.social · Aug 8

Some of the most commonly prescribed & over-the-counter drugs share the same little-known side effect: increasing the risk of heat-related illness. Examples range from antihistamines (i.e. Benadryl) to diuretics (i.e. chlorthalidone), and many more.

Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Some Common Medications Have a Little-Known Side Effect

Those taking certain drugs to treat heart diseases, allergies and other maladies are at a higher risk of heat-related illness.

www.bloomberg.com

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Olivia Rudgard @oliviarudgard.bsky.social · Aug 6

New from me: Two major UK heat pump installers have been told not to run their ads again without information about who is eligible for government subsidies. Ruling follows a similar decision last week about Octopus's heat pump ads. Gift link:

UK Heat Pump Ads Banned Over Misleading Claims

Two major installers have been told not to run their ads again without full information about who is eligible for government subsidies.

www.bloomberg.com

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Olivia Rudgard @oliviarudgard.bsky.social · Aug 1

New from me & @bloomberg.com colleagues @priazrocha.bsky.social & Eamon Farhat: A fresh salvo in a series of very public disagreements between Centrica and Octopus Energy. And of course it's about heat pumps. Gift link:

UK’s Two Biggest Energy Suppliers Escalate Spat in CEO Turf War

A dispute between Britain’s two biggest energy suppliers escalated after Octopus Energy said it would report its rival Centrica Plc to the country’s advertising watchdog.

www.bloomberg.com

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Olivia Rudgard @oliviarudgard.bsky.social · Jul 17

If you're in the UK, have a search here: www.froglife.org/what-we-do/t...

Find your nearest toad crossing

www.froglife.org

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