Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Randall Kramer

Natural History Museum, London @nhm-london.bsky.social · 19d

If there’s one place on Earth you don’t want to be, it’s in the mouth of a Komodo dragon.

Not convinced? No problem - you can see all of their deadly dental secrets in this week’s #SurprisingScience 🦎 ☠️

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Prof Gavin Yamey @gavinyamey.bsky.social · 27d

Zero traffic deaths is achievable, with political will

Celeste Headlee @celesteheadlee.bsky.social · 27d

The capital of Finland hasn't had a traffic death in a full year. Lower speed limits, plentiful speed cameras, 1,500+ km of bike lanes, infrastructure for pedestrians, and a new tram line.
When you prioritize people and not vehicles, you can save lives while protecting the environment.

Helsinki records zero traffic deaths for full year

Helsinki has completed 12 months without a single traffic fatality, a milestone credited to lower speed limits, safer infrastructure, and years of consistent planning, officials say.

www.helsinkitimes.fi

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Dr. Tom Frieden @drtomfrieden.bsky.social · Sep 1

I joined eight former CDC directors—spanning Republican and Democratic administrations—to share this warning: our nation’s health is at risk.

The very systems that protect us from disease, cancer, and future health threats are being dismantled.

Opinion | We Ran the C.D.C.: Kennedy Is Endangering Every American’s Health

www.nytimes.com

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Randall Kramer @rakramer.bsky.social · Aug 12

A powerful, must-read commentary by my Duke colleagues.

Prof Gavin Yamey @gavinyamey.bsky.social · Aug 12

🚨New peer-reviewed commentary that I co-authored with Chris Beyrer is now out in the journal Vaccine, gift link below

We show the ways in which the MAHA & MAGA guys—RFK Jr, Makary, Bhattacharya, Prasad—have dismantled the US vaccine regulatory framework

authors.elsevier.com/a/1lbDt,60n7...

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VACCINE
Commentary
The dismantling of the U.S. vaccine regulatory framework
Gavin Yamey, Chris Beyrer
Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

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Randall Kramer @rakramer.bsky.social · Aug 11

Great news for the long struggling USFWS red wolf restoration program in North Carolina

Southern Environmental Law Center @selc.bsky.social · Aug 11

GREAT NEWS: On August 8, the Fish and Wildlife Service shared the that the world’s only wild population of red wolves has grown by as many as 16 pups. The births are a critical step forward for a wild population that numbered only seven wolves in 2020: www.selc.org/news/hope-fo...

Hope for red wolves

Full tree canopies and blooming goldenrod. Shifting bird sightings with migrating flocks. The thrum of cicadas, late sunsets, and lightning bugs. The final remnants of summer are all around — and in ...

www.selc.org

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Katharine Hayhoe @katharinehayhoe.com · Jul 28

The New York Times recently covered work by The Nature Conservancy in their 50 States, 50 Fixes series! This edition focuses on restoring peat bogs in North Carolina.

North Carolina’s Bogs Have a Dirty Secret, and That’s a Good Thing

www.nytimes.com

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Randall Kramer @rakramer.bsky.social · Jul 18

Congratulations Fidy! A well deserved recognition of your path breaking work in Madagascar!

Fidy Rasambainarivo @fidydvm.bsky.social · Jul 18

Excited, surprised and proud to share the news about my @MaxwellHanrahan Award in Field Biology! The award recognizes my work in infectious disease ecology and wildlife conservation in #Madagascar. To learn more about the award: www.maxwell-hanrahan.org/programs/fie...

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Bill McKibben @billmckibben.bsky.social · Jul 9

Among all the big bad things happening on our planet, there's one Big Good Thing, the sudden, startling rise of solar energy.
It changes the power dynamic, in every sense of the word 'power.'
www.newyorker.com/news/annals-...

4.6 Billion Years On, the Sun Is Having a Moment

In the past two years, without much notice, solar power has begun to truly transform the world’s energy system.

www.newyorker.com

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Robert Califf @robcaliff.bsky.social · Jul 2

Staggering numbers cited by Dr Faust this morning. We need to "preserve the documents" so this can be rebuilt in the best possible way at some point in the future.

open.substack.com/pub/insideme...

This list of terminated USAID awards should break your heart. New study finds cuts will cause 14 million deaths by 2030.

Plus six other stories, including a rundown on the healthcare impacts of the tax cut bill passed by the Senate yesterday.

open.substack.com

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Randall Kramer @rakramer.bsky.social · Jul 2

A very insightful take on the U.S. drug pricing problem and how best to solve it by Rob Califf

Robert Califf @robcaliff.bsky.social · Jul 1

A view of the "re-importation issue" that may not be popular with some people.

substack.com/home/post/p-...

“Re-Importing” Drugs from Canada: Really?

During my two tenures as FDA Commissioner, there were many times when I would have personally chosen to take a different policy route than the one chosen by the administration, but as a Presidential a...

substack.com

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INDY Week @indyweek.bsky.social · Jun 25

"I want readers to learn that Native nations have been here for millennia. They have been complicated and powerful, and changing over time. And maybe even more importantly, I want readers to know that Native nations are still here today."

Talking to North Carolina’s Latest Pulitzer Prize Winner

Durham historian Kathleen DuVal's latest book, "Native Nations: A Millennium in North America," spans more than 700 pages.

indyweek.com

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Kate Aronoff @katearonoff.bsky.social · Jun 18

Wild how the Fed chair saying that *entire regions of the United States* won’t be able to get a mortgage in the next decade barely registered as a news event

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Randall Kramer @rakramer.bsky.social · Jun 17

GSMNP - Truly one of the nation’s best biodiversity reserves.

www.chicagotribune.com/2025/06/15/t...

Today In History: Great Smoky Mountains National Park established

On June 15, 1934, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most-visited national park in the United States, was established by Congress.

www.chicagotribune.com

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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · Jun 12

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."

-Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953

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Randall Kramer @rakramer.bsky.social · Jun 5

Go Gavin! Great music as always!

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Randall Kramer @rakramer.bsky.social · Jun 3

The collapse of insect populations in protected areas

‘Half the tree of life’: ecologists’ horror as nature reserves are emptied of insects

A new point in history has been reached, entomologists say, as climate-led species’ collapse moves up the food chain even in supposedly protected regions free of pesticides

www.theguardian.com

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Alexandrea J. Ravenelle @ajravenelle.bsky.social · May 30

I’m one of 20 assistant professors in A&S at UNC who has had their tenure decision deferred.

I was planning to spend my summer editing my third book. Now? 🤷🏻‍♀️

www.wral.com/video/unc-fa...

UNC faculty concerned over lack of tenure for professors

WRAL has obtained a letter from the faculty chair to the dean and chancellor at UNC-Chapel Hill expressing concern about a lack of tenure for certain professors.

www.wral.com

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BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · May 24

Every time I see a case of severe malaria requiring IV artesunate I am reminded of how completely bonkers drug pricing in the US is. A treatment course anywhere else in the world is <100$ in the US it's $30,000. Pls take malaria prophylaxis if indicated for travel.🙏🏽
www.statnews.com/2021/06/11/u...

Unaffordable treatment for severe malaria highlights U.S. drug market pitfalls

It is shocking to think that U.S. citizens may receive better treatment for severe malaria at lower cost in a low-income country than they would at home.

www.statnews.com

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Randall Kramer @rakramer.bsky.social · May 23

Oil and Gas Companies Are Trying to Rig the Marketplace

Andrew Dessler @andrewdessler.com · May 23

It's impossible to discuss the energy transition without acknowledging the fragile state of our democracy.

And it's impossible to acknowledge the fragile state of our democracy without seeing how fossil-fuel interests are undermining it to stop the energy transition.

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Boze the Library Owl @sketchesbyboze.bsky.social · May 17

one thing I respect about medieval beekeepers is their total commitment to looking like Doctor Who villains

[image of real-life beekeeper costume and a detail from a painting by Peter Brueghel the Elder]

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STAT @statnews.com · May 14

Top FDA aide Tracy Beth Hoeg was reportedly involved with the delay in approving Novavax’s Covid-19 vaccine. Former FDA head @robcaliff.bsky.social says allowing political appointees to weigh in on approvals could be opening Pandora’s box:

#STATSummit

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Robert Califf @robcaliff.bsky.social · May 12

Depressing, but helpful, update from Dr Faust. The deaths of so many people because of our sudden termination of support is gut-wrenching.

open.substack.com/pub/insideme...

How many kills does DOGE have? How many scientific breakthroughs have been stifled by President Trump's administration?

Some trackers worth tracking.

open.substack.com

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Randall Kramer @rakramer.bsky.social · May 9

Paywall

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CSAE @oxfordcsae.bsky.social · May 7

Are you an African scholar pursuing a career in economics? Apply to be a CSAE Visiting Fellow in 2026 online today.

#EconSky @oxfordecondept.bsky.social @blavatnikschool.bsky.social @odid-qeh.bsky.social @oxmartinschool.bsky.social

⏰31 May 2025. www.csae.ox.ac.uk/visiting-fel...

CSAE VISITING FELLOWSHIPS

CSAE Visiting Fellowships

www.csae.ox.ac.uk

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BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · Apr 30

Uganda stopped a Sudan Ebola virus outbreak in under 3 months.
No chaos. Just fast action, local leadership, and a rapidly implemented vaccine trial.
Maybe the problem isn’t capacity in Africa after all—maybe it’s the story we keep telling about it.
open.substack.com/pub/bktitanj...

Africa’s Outbreak Response Is the Global Standard Now

From outbreak containment to clinical innovation, African nations are setting new global standards for success

open.substack.com

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