Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Forget Pi Day. Today is Pythagorean Triple Square Day.

Randall Howard @randallh.bsky.social · 21d

I almost missed Pythagoras Day yesterday: 9 + 16 = 25 where the date calls out the iconic triangle of 3, 4, 5
www.popsci.com/science/what...

September 16, 2025 holds extra special mathematical significance.

www.popsci.com

2

Reposted by Randall Howard

Sustainability @sustainableplanet.bsky.social · Sep 1

Two remarkable Ambassadors for our Planet, 99 year old Sir David Attenborough and 91 year old Dr. Jane Goodall. They’ve dedicated their lives to educate and protect.. 🌍

#janegoodall #davidattenborough #nature #chimpanzees #wildlife #environment #drjanegoodall #jane #sirdavidattenborough #bbc #bsky

270 2.6K 14K

Randall Howard @randallh.bsky.social · Aug 24

The most unexpected impact of the #ClimateCrisis, but it makes total sense. After over 100 years of dropping childbirth mortality, heat is a new threat that is reversing that trend. Yet society continues on oblivious to each new existential threat.
[paywalled]
www.economist.com/internationa...

A burning threat to pregnant women

Alarming new research on the link between heat and dangerous pregnancies

www.economist.com

‘The King Lear in I Am the Walrus? That came from John Cage’: Paul McCartney on the Beatles’ debt to great avant-garde composers

Randall Howard @randallh.bsky.social · Aug 20

Wonderful history of the intersection between The Beatles and many avant-garde composers I was tuned into

www.theguardian.com/music/2025/a...

In the mid-60s, the Beatles tuned in to the world’s most audacious experimental musicians. Paul McCartney reveals how many of the Fab Four’s ‘far-out’ masterpieces were inspired by their sonic breakth...

www.theguardian.com

Opinion | How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again

Randall Howard @randallh.bsky.social · Jul 9

A lovely birthday dinner with a paired tasting menu and first time with a new chef who is bringing exceptional passion and creativity to his new role

2

Randall Howard @randallh.bsky.social · Jul 4

TRUMP = Making China Great Again

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/03/o...

Time For Canada To Dump The Big Three & Go Electric With China - CleanTechnica

2 2

Randall Howard @randallh.bsky.social · Jul 3

Food for thought ...
particularly as the Big 3 are pushing Canada to go backwards to polluting #ICE cars, while the US administration seems determined to pull the whole country back 30 years while the world moves to the future.

A stark choice for sure

cleantechnica.com/2025/07/03/t...

Detroit automakers are failing Canada. PM Mark Carney must choose between their nostalgia and a vibrant EV future powered by China's industry leaders.

cleantechnica.com

China's Clean Energy Boom Could Win the Race to Power the Future

Randall Howard @randallh.bsky.social · Jun 30

The contrast between Chinese and US strategic investments in energy is striking. For China, we are seeing the Power Law in action over a 15 year steady build. On the other hand, the US is actively reverting to the 20th Century
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Beijing is selling clean energy to the world, Washington is pushing oil and gas. Both are driven by national security.

Randall Howard @randallh.bsky.social · Jun 18

A pioneer who helped pave the way for today's innovation. Don Eaton, who 30 years ago led Elora Environment Centre to help NRCan develop Energuide for Houses, deployed 24 blower doors and was the lead trainer/expert across Canada. RdH Building Science doing final WBATT on our carbon zero home

Don Eaton checking out blower door tests in 2025

UK government dropped health push after lobbying by ultra-processed food firms

Randall Howard @randallh.bsky.social · May 29

A dinner with changemakers near Halifax Harbour. Connections coming from the 2023 Canada/UK Social Innovation Immersion and the more recent Emerging Tech Fellowship around AI and its use in the philanthropic world

Louise Adongo, Alex Tveit, Randall Howard, Tracey Robertson

Reposted by Randall Howard

PortfolioCarmel @portfoliocarmel.bsky.social · May 20

Pub Day *today* for EMPIRE OF AI—
Karen Hao’s @karenhao.bsky.social deeply reported, many-years-in-the-making book on Open AI—which Sam Altman hopes no one will read.

So let’s all read it.
• bookshop.org/p/books/empi...

🎩to @moonalice.com, which is how I learned of it—and to Bluesky, for existing.

11 23

Randall Howard @randallh.bsky.social · May 18

Similar to tobacco company and oil & gas lobbying, UK food companies bow to pressure from purveyors of Ultra Processed Foods to remove recommendation for "minimally processed and nutritious food"

www.theguardian.com/society/ng-i...

Exclusive: Guardian investigation reveals guidance for retailers in England changed after campaign by global food firms

www.theguardian.com

Randall Howard @randallh.bsky.social · May 13

Ditching Energy Star which saves Americans $500B and energy and known by 90% seems the height of insanity. For Canadians:
- we also rely on it and would need a replacement,
- ironically, program might be ripe for a reboot as I see the EU program as superior
[Paywall]
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/y...

The Energy Star Program May Go Away. Who Could Preserve It?

White House calls Amazon ‘hostile’ for reportedly planning to list tariff costs

Reposted by Randall Howard

Ricky Davila @therickydavila.bsky.social · Apr 29

Propagandist sycophant Karoline Leavitt accuses Amazon of committing a hostile political act for planning to show the additional cost of trade war tariffs next to the price of items.

No, it’s called transparency, consumers will be paying extra due to the trade war tariffs.

41 140 680

Randall Howard @randallh.bsky.social · Apr 29

Radical transparency is the only way to show how punitive and irrational Trump tariffs really are
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

US press secretary criticizes e-commerce giant after report says company will inform customers how much tariffs will cost them

www.theguardian.com

#nacosummit #angelinvesting #innovation #deeptech #impactinvesting… | Randall Howard

Randall Howard @randallh.bsky.social · Apr 27

Headed to Ottawa for mission critical discussions, requiring action, in early stage risk capital
#NACOSummit @adrenalinefund.bsky.social @HighlineBeta @TandemLaunch @springofficial.bsky.social
www.linkedin.com/posts/randal...

This year's #NACOSummit finds Canada at a crossroads: the day after our Federal election during a time when Canada seems under siege by the US president. This unprecedented onslaught might also cr...

www.linkedin.com

'Meadowscaping': The people turning their lawns into meadows

Randall Howard @randallh.bsky.social · Apr 27

We plan to have this in our landscaping of our Carbon Zero new home. Overall, we aim to sequester a multiple of normal landscaping practice
www.bbc.com/future/artic...

Turning lawns into meadows can have big benefits for people, wildlife and the climate. Here's why 'meadowscaping' has become the latest gardening craze.

www.bbc.com

Trump Keeps Declaring Fake Emergencies That Make Our Real Emergency Worse | Common Dreams

Reposted by Randall Howard

Kara Swisher @karaswisher.bsky.social · Apr 23

Resistance is NOT futile

Justin Baragona @justinbaragona.bsky.social · Apr 23

Check out how the anchors of CBS Evening News ended their broadcast tonight:

590 4.4K 25K

Randall Howard @randallh.bsky.social · Apr 10

Every year we relay climate action, the problem grows bigger

Canuckstan @jonchevreau.bsky.social · Apr 10

Trump Keeps Declaring Fake Emergencies That Make Our Real Emergency Worse #USpol www.commondreams.org/opinion/trum...

Pre-Trump, there was one true emergency on our planet—its rapid heating. Now of course there’s another—the implosion of economies.

www.commondreams.org

1 1

Randall Howard @randallh.bsky.social · Apr 10

It's about time

Krassensteins @krassenstein.bsky.social · Apr 9

Randall Howard @randallh.bsky.social · Apr 10

The bitter truth laid bare. Read it and weep . . .
Thomas Freidman, as usual, nails it
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/o...

Opinion | What Trump Just Cost America

Do you think these former close U.S. allies are ever going to trust getting into a trench with this administration again?

2025 Middlebrook Prize for Young Canadian Curators Awarded to Tristan Sauer – Middlebrook Prize for Young Canadian Curators

Randall Howard @randallh.bsky.social · Apr 6

Given the current times, the focus on technology and the internet at this fraught time, really resonated with me.

Middlebrook Prize for Young Canadian Curators @mpfycc.bsky.social · Apr 6

Tristan Sauer selected as 2025 Middlebrook Prize winner for "Soft Internet Theory confronts the threat artificial intelligence poses to cyberspace by calling attention to the handmade and the human heartbeat that once gave the internet its revolutionary potential"
middlebrookprize.ca/2025-middleb...

middlebrookprize.ca

Randall Howard @randallh.bsky.social · Apr 6

Samantha Brennan @samanthabrennan.bsky.social · Apr 3

Congrats to Tristan Sauer,
www.instagram.com/sauer.trista...
winner of the 2025 Middlebrook Prize for Young Canadian Curators.

Opinion | I Just Saw the Future. It Was Not in America.

Randall Howard @randallh.bsky.social · Apr 2

As @donaldjtrump-maga.bsky.social worked to destroy Western economic leadership the pendulum continues to swing ever eastward www.nytimes.com/2025/04/02/o...

Beijing’s message to America: We’re not afraid of you. You aren’t who you think you are — and we aren’t who you think we are.