Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Owen Atkin @owenatkin.bsky.social · 8d

Monday 29th September 2025 on the Main Range of Kosciuszko National Park - just 2.5 hours drive from Canberra. Great backcountry ski conditions for this time of year!

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Owen Atkin @owenatkin.bsky.social · Aug 27

www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2...

Mitch Brown’s coming out shows the AFL what courage and grace look like | Jonathan Horn

In revealing why it took him so long to come out as bisexual, the former West Coast Eagle highlights just how far the sport has to go

www.theguardian.com

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Owen Atkin @owenatkin.bsky.social · Aug 18

Paris Braces for a Future of Possibly Paralyzing Heat www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/w...

Paris Braces for a Future of Possibly Paralyzing Heat

www.nytimes.com

Owen Atkin @owenatkin.bsky.social · Aug 17

Farm Creek - between Perisher and Guthega

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Owen Atkin @owenatkin.bsky.social · Aug 16

Today. Australia. What’s not to like?

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Owen Atkin @owenatkin.bsky.social · Aug 16

Plants are such tricky critters - love it.

Linalool-triggered plant-soil feedback drives defense adaptation in dense maize plantings | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Linalool-triggered plant-soil feedback drives defense adaptation in dense maize plantings

High planting density boosts crop yields but also heightens pest and pathogen risks. How plants adapt their defenses under these conditions remains unclear. In this study, we reveal that maize enhance...

www.science.org

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Owen Atkin @owenatkin.bsky.social · Jul 24

"2023 set new records in the duration, extent, and intensity of [marine heatwaves]"

Record-breaking 2023 marine heatwaves | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Record-breaking 2023 marine heatwaves

The year 2023 witnessed an extraordinary surge in marine heatwaves (MHWs) across Earth’s oceans, setting new records in duration, extent, and intensity, with MHW activity totaling 53.6 billion °C days...

www.science.org

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Owen Atkin @owenatkin.bsky.social · Jul 16

In June, I went to Antwerp, London and Berlin to watch my son play hockey with Australia’s national field hockey team. The best part was the game in London when all his team mates wore rainbow socks as LGBTQ+ allies. To learn why, listen to this podcast.

open.spotify.com/episode/2AFb...

Davis Atkin: Australia’s first out gay male hockey international on showing up for the queer community, representing on the world stage, and redefining masculinity

The Jack Murley Sports Show · Episode

open.spotify.com

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Owen Atkin @owenatkin.bsky.social · Jul 15

This article provides a comprehensive update on greenhouse gas emissions and associated warming across the planet - a great resource for those with an interest in past, present and future aspects of climate change.

essd.copernicus.org/articles/17/...

Indicators of Global Climate Change 2024: annual update of key indicators of the state of the climate system and human influence

Abstract. In a rapidly changing climate, evidence-based decision-making benefits from up-to-date and timely information. Here we compile monitoring datasets (published at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenod...

essd.copernicus.org

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Owen Atkin @owenatkin.bsky.social · Jul 13

My walk to work this AM reminds me that for all the stresses created by ANU budget cuts, #canberra remains a great place to live and work.

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Reposted by Owen Atkin

Emi Tanaka @emitanaka.org · Jul 10

We're pleased to welcome Yidi Deng, last of 3 postdocs we hired for Analytics for the Australian Grains Industry project!

Yidi has an impressive list of work from his PhD in developing and applying statistical methods for single cell data integration analysis.

🔗 anu-aagi.github.io/news/posts/2...

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Owen Atkin @owenatkin.bsky.social · Jul 10

Why would you cut NASA Earth Science Division when it couples a small cost to a high return on investment? Why? ". This investment ...spur(s) technological innovation and high-tech jobs......."
@science.org
NASA Earth Science Division provides key data | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

NASA Earth Science Division provides key data

In May, the US administration proposed budget cuts to NASA, including a more than 50% decrease in funding for the agency’s Earth Science Division (ESD) (1), the mission of which is to gather knowledge...

www.science.org

Owen Atkin @owenatkin.bsky.social · Jul 2

Even when accounting for climate adaptation strategies, agric production will fall in the coming decades as the planet warms, with a production drop that is equivalent to 4.4% of daily calorie requirements per 1 °C in temperature

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Impacts of climate change on global agriculture accounting for adaptation - Nature

Analysis of data on six stable crops, capturing two-thirds of global crop calories, allows estimation of agricultural impacts and the potential of global producer adaptations to reduce outpu...

www.nature.com

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Owen Atkin @owenatkin.bsky.social · Jul 1

How the Hottest Place in India Survives www.nytimes.com/2025/07/01/w...

How the Hottest Place in India Survives

www.nytimes.com

Owen Atkin @owenatkin.bsky.social · Jun 22

Fantastic to see the Australian mens (field) hockey team beat England 4:3 yesterday in London - wearing rainbow socks to show their support for inclusiveness in sport
www.hockey.org.au/news/blake-g...

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Owen Atkin @owenatkin.bsky.social · Jun 18

Prospects for cereal self-sufficiency in sub-Saharan Africa | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

PNAS

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...

www.pnas.org

Owen Atkin @owenatkin.bsky.social · Jun 16

Great to see a focus in @science.org on impacts of heat on forest systems.

Tropical forests are heating up. Can they cope? | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

Tropical forests are heating up. Can they cope?

Scientists are pushing plants beyond their comfort zone to test their resilience to warming

www.science.org

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Owen Atkin @owenatkin.bsky.social · Jun 5

my @anuagrifood.bsky.social Director Message for May 2025 is now out. It provide a examples of how we are ensuring researchers and students understand the needs of the agrifood industry, and a new industry member of our Agrifood Hub: PHENOSPEX.

www.linkedin.com/pulse/from-d...

From the Director: May update

The re-election of Labor in May’s Federal election was soon followed by another drop in the Reserve Bank of Australia’s official interest rate, with the hope that cost of living pressures will fall in...

www.linkedin.com

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Reposted by Owen Atkin

James Schnable @szintri.bsky.social · Jun 2

Protecting against downside risk doesn’t have to come at the expense of continued increases in the yield potential.
No evidence of a tradeoff between yield stability and maximum yield in an analysis of hybrid performance across 34 environments. New pub led by @jensinadavis.bsky.social

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Owen Atkin @owenatkin.bsky.social · Jun 2

www.science.org/content/arti...

Final NSF budget proposal jettisons one giant telescope amid savage agencywide cuts

Trump’s 57% proposed cut to agency would drop grant success rates to 7% and gut education and training

www.science.org

Owen Atkin @owenatkin.bsky.social · May 22

For those with an interest in year to year changes in the global carbon cycle, the latest assessment is just out.
@anuagrifood.bsky.social

essd.copernicus.org/articles/17/...

Global Carbon Budget 2024

Abstract. Accurate assessment of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and their redistribution among the atmosphere, ocean, and terrestrial biosphere in a changing climate is critical to bette...

essd.copernicus.org

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Owen Atkin @owenatkin.bsky.social · May 21

A half-century of climate change in major agricultural regions: Trends, impacts, and surprises | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

A half-century of climate change in major agricultural regions: Trends, impacts, and surprises | PNAS

Efforts to anticipate and adapt to future climate can benefit from historical experiences. We examine agroclimatic conditions over the past 50 y fo...

www.pnas.org

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Owen Atkin @owenatkin.bsky.social · May 13

Awesome imagery www.nytimes.com/2025/05/12/s...

1 Astronaut, Many Cameras and 220 Days of Amazing Images From Space

www.nytimes.com

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Owen Atkin @owenatkin.bsky.social · May 11

Rainbow chard from the vege garden - doing well in late Autumn here in Canberra.

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Owen Atkin @owenatkin.bsky.social · May 11

And to rest of the world, @rohanconnolly65.bsky.social is talking about the greatest game on Earth - Aussie Rules!

Rohan Connolly @rohanconnolly65.bsky.social · May 11

What an amazingly tight round of footy! Eight of nine games decided by 15 points or less! The margins ... 14, 15, 8, 10, 5, 2, 4, draw!! Bloody unbelievable!! #AFLCatsGiants #afltigerseagles #aflnorthlions

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