Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Lee Billings @leebillings.bsky.social · 1d

Now on @sciam.bsky.social: This year’s physics Nobel goes to 3 researchers who demonstrated quantum tunneling on a superconducting chip. By bringing this microscopic effect into the macroscale world, they laid important foundations for quantum computing.

www.scientificamerican.com/article/2025...

This Year’s Nobel Prize in Physics Is Awarded to Three Scientists for Work in Quantum Mechanics

John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis shared the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics for their work showing how bizarre microscopic quantum effects can infiltrate our large-scale, everyday world

www.scientificamerican.com

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 2d

Your daily moment of zen:

Rescued bear cubs at the Kilham Bear Center in New Hampshire are given a donated pile of apples & acorns every year to fatten up before their first hibernation.

Kilham is focused on rehab & release, run by competent rehab experts.

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Lauren J. Young @laurenjyoung.bsky.social · 2d

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Medicine goes to some neat fundamental research on the immune system: peripheral immune tolerance. It's what keeps the body's defense mechanism in check—and could be key to new therapies for autoimmune disorders. @sciam.bsky.social www.scientificamerican.com/article/2025...

This Year’s Medicine Nobel Goes to Discovery of Why the Body Doesn’t Attack Itself

Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi shared the Nobel prize for their work on peripheral immune tolerance, a process that is key to organ transplants and treatment of autoimmune disease...

www.scientificamerican.com

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Robin Lloyd @robinlloyd.bsky.social · 5d

Same and same! Great read on rocks.

MissReadsALot @theresjustnopo1.bsky.social · 24d

Started a new book. I've been fascinated with geology since the intro class I took my freshman year at Smith. This book puts me right back there again, curious to learn more with each page. It's SO good!

Turning to Stone: Discovering the Subtle Wisdom of Rocks by Marcia Bjornerud.

White bookcover with multiple colored "stones" on it, the text reads: Turning to Stone: Discovering The Subtle Wisdom of Rocks by Marcia Bjornerud.

The book is award winning, holding the John Burroughs Medal for Natural History Writing.

It's easy to see why, with writing this clear and fascinating.

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Robin Lloyd @robinlloyd.bsky.social · 11d

😵‍💫😌

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Deborah Blum @deborahb.bsky.social · 12d

Listeria is a dangerous bacteria, with a 20 percent case-fatality rate. It also survives refrigeration. So if you have these meals at home, toss them now.

The Associated Press @apnews.com · 12d

Federal health officials are warning consumers not to eat certain heat-and-eat beef meatball pasta meals sold at Walmart stores nationwide.

Listeria found in Walmart meatball meals may be linked to deadly fettuccine outbreak

Federal health officials are warning consumers not to eat certain heat-and-eat beef meatball pasta meals sold at Walmart stores nationwide.

bit.ly

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Rebecca R Helm @rebeccarhelm.bsky.social · 14d

I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA

10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)

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Robin Lloyd @robinlloyd.bsky.social · 14d

Early-bird reg. discount for ScienceWriters2025, the annual conference for science journalists and science writers, ends next Weds (Oct 1). I plan to attend SciWri, as usual. It's always great. Let's all attend to re-energize, learn, make job connex & hang out in Chicago. sciencewriters2025.org

Welcome - ScienceWriters2025

ScienceWriters is an annual conference for professionals and students who produce material about science, health, engineering, and technology for the public.

sciencewriters2025.org

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Gregg Gonsalves @gregggonsalves.bsky.social · 16d

The @washingtonpost.com story on Tylenol & autism leaves out a MAJOR 2.5M sibling-controlled study of children in Denmark, which "found no evidence that acetaminophen use during pregnancy was associated with children’s risk of autism, ADHD or intellectual disability." jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Acetaminophen Use During Pregnancy and Children’s Risk of Autism, ADHD, and Intellectual Disability

This nationwide cohort study with sibling control analysis examines the association of acetaminophen use during pregnancy with children’s risk of autism, ADHD, and intellectual disability.

jamanetwork.com

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Sarah Lewin Frasier @sarahexplains.bsky.social · 19d

We've reached 6,000 confirmed exoplanets! I talked with @aussiastronomer.bsky.social about where things go from here. (A great graphic by @unamandita.bsky.social visualizes the amazing jumps in planet finds since the first ones were confirmed in the 1990s.)

Want to Get Away? NASA Now Offers More Than 6,000 Alien Worlds to Daydream About

It’s a crowded galaxy, the latest exoplanet tally shows

www.scientificamerican.com

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 21d

The buff-tip moth (Phalera bucephala) has mastered a very particular kind of camouflage.

When they close their wings up, they resemble a broken twig.

Native to large parts of Europe, there's regional pattern variation that reflects the local tree species. This one best resembles birch twigs?

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Allison Parshall @parshallison.bsky.social · 26d

Take my weekly science quiz for @sciam.bsky.social ! This week: psychedelics and sexual parasites www.scientificamerican.com/game/science... 🧪

Multiple choice question reading "What is the hallucinogenic compound found in 'magic mushrooms'?" Answer options are psilocybin, mescaline, dimethyltryptamine, and omeprazole.

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Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 28d

This is really interesting. I learned something!

Meghan Bartels @meghanbartels.bsky.social · 28d

Today is the peak of Atlantic hurricane season. And yet, there's not even a hint of a hurricane anywhere in sight. What gives? Some cool weather stuff here: 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/atla...

At the Peak of Hurricane Season, the Atlantic Is Quiet. Here’s Why

Hurricane activity in the Atlantic basin is historically at its peak on September 10—but not this year

www.scientificamerican.com

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CASW @sciencewriting.bsky.social · Sep 2

Congratulations to @maxkozlov.bsky.social for winning the 2025 Evert Clark/Seth Payne Award! The judges recognized his @nature.com investigations of turmoil at the NIH as essential, thorough and timely.

Kozlov will be honored in November at #SciWri25.

casw.org/news/max-koz...

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Robin Lloyd @robinlloyd.bsky.social · Aug 30

What a heroic person! Legend. The M
Susan Lindee quote in obit is powerful: "They [women scientists] were invisible to history,” Professor Lindee added. “Their stories show us exactly how power works. That’s her real legacy.”

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Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · Aug 30

Her work had such an impact on me as a new graduate student. Why wasn't I being taught about any of these amazing science women? Oh. That's why.

Will Thomas @williamthomas.bsky.social · Aug 30

Good to see the New York Times has a lengthy obituary for Margaret Rossiter

Margaret W. Rossiter, 81, Dies; Wrote Women Scientists Into History

www.nytimes.com

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Your Internet Friend Tom Tomorrow @tomtomorrow.bsky.social · Aug 29

happy skynet becomes self aware day to all who celebrate

Dates in Movies @datesinmovies.bsky.social · Aug 29

Aug 29th 1997 - Skynet become self aware.

📽️📅 Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

3 Screenshots from the movie "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" (1991): First, a man in a suit sits in a clinical, white-walled room watching a TV monitor that displays a woman in a white tank top sitting at a table across from another man; the subtitle reads "- I'm sure it feels real to you. - On August 29, 1997...". Second, a close-up of the TV monitor shows the same woman and man in the interview room, with the subtitle "anyone not wearing two-million sunblock is gonna have a real bad day. Get it?". Third, the terminator is driving a car through a desert looking at a passenger with the subtitle "The computer becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29."

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Robin Lloyd @robinlloyd.bsky.social · Aug 28

Scientific American magazine is 180 years old. To celebrate, they're offering digital subs for $18 (about half price). Offer ends 9/2.
www.scientificamerican.com/getsciam/

Subscribe to Scientific American

Subscribe to Scientific American Magazine

www.scientificamerican.com

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CASW @sciencewriting.bsky.social · Aug 27

Heads up science writers: Tomorrow 8/28 is the deadline to apply for a #SciWri25 Support Grant! Funds are available for both in-person and virtual attendees to help with travel, caregiving, and other costs. Plus: free registration.

sciencewriters2025.org/grants/

Grants - ScienceWriters2025

sciencewriters2025.org

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Clara Moskowitz @clarakm.bsky.social · Aug 28

Today marks 180 years of @sciam.bsky.social! I've been here for nearly 12 years and I couldn't be prouder to be a Scientific American. Here's my favorite cover, and the first special issue I edited. Happy 180th! sciam.com/180

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Josh Fischman @jfischman.bsky.social · Aug 27

COVID vaccines-which saved 1.4 million lives 2020-2024 (jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...) won't be easy to get now, though the disease still kills 100 people weekly. Today FDA changed approval to cover only senior citizens; kids/adults w/ health problems will have to jump thru unknown hoops.🧪🩺

COVID Vaccines Are Still Saving Lives—But They Will Be Harder to Get This Year

Many questions still surround COVID vaccine access this fall, but here’s what we know so far

www.scientificamerican.com

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Meghan Bartels @meghanbartels.bsky.social · Aug 13

To celebrate its 180th birthday (!!) @sciam.bsky.social is running a photo contest (details here: sciam.com/180contest) to take #SciAmInTheWild. Where do you read about science?

A magazine with an eyeball on the cover for a story titled “Anatomy of an Insight” tucked behind an optical machine

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Robin Lloyd @robinlloyd.bsky.social · Aug 12

Good start. Would also need it to be enforced. Plenty of speeding where I live already.

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Scientific American @sciam.bsky.social · Aug 11

The Perseids are the best annual meteor shower, but this year’s show will be dimmed by a bright gibbous moon

Catch Some Meteor Magic with This Year’s Perseids

The Perseids are the best annual meteor shower, but this year’s show will be dimmed by a bright gibbous moon

www.scientificamerican.com

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Perry Barber @umpireplb.bsky.social · Aug 11

Thanks to Dan Epstein for talking to me about the significance of recent events in Atlanta. I don't claim any credit for Jen's talent or success, but she's my "protegé" for the same reason I say that about EVERY woman who's out there umpiring baseball in 2025. They're all my babies! Look at us fly!

Daniel R. Epstein @depstein1983.bsky.social · Aug 11

I spoke with @umpireplb.bsky.social about her 45-year career in umpiring, and about watching her protégé, Jen Pawol, become the first woman to umpire a regular-season MLB game.

You can read this at @baseballprospectus.com with a basic (free) subscription.

www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article...

Sharing a Historic Moment With Perry Barber, the Matriarch of Women in Umpiring | Baseball Prospectus

Reflections on Jen Pawol's landmark accomplishment last weekend.

www.baseballprospectus.com

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