Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Sarah Derouin

Eos @eos.org · 2d

Satellites might be able to fill in gaps in understanding about urban greenhouse gas emissions. Story by @sarahderouin.com
eos.org/research-spo...

Satellite Scans Can Estimate Urban Emissions - Eos

As more cities strive to meet climate goals, space-based observations may help fill in the gaps on tracking emissions.

eos.org

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Sarah Derouin @sarahderouin.com · 2d

Grim findings from Georgetown scholars on SNAP funding www.georgetownpoverty.org/issues/snap-...

SNAP Changes Will Upend State Budgets - Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality

SNAP is a lifeline for more than 42 million people, providing food that stabilizes families and strengthens communities, but the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) of 2025 made seismic changes to the ...

www.georgetownpoverty.org

Reposted by Sarah Derouin

ACLU @aclu.org · 5d

BREAKING: Our client Mario Guevara, an Emmy-winning journalist detained by ICE in retaliation for livestreaming law enforcement activity, will be deported tomorrow to El Salvador.

Mario and his family are being punished for his reporting. This cruelty is meant to stifle our free press.

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Reposted by Sarah Derouin

Ryan Marino, MD @ryanmarino.bsky.social · 7d

This is why we fund scientists to study things like oyster slobber even if you don’t think it sounds important

Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 9d

⚠️ Chinese researchers have invented bone glue that mimics how oysters stick to surfaces underwater.

The adhesive can reportedly repair orthopedic fractures in 2-3 minutes, even in blood-rich environments, and is bioabsorbable.

interestingengineering.com/science/chin...

China's oyster-inspired 'bone glue' bonds fractures in minutes

A new oyster-inspired Bone-02 adhesive can revolutionize bone repair without metal fasteners.

interestingengineering.com

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Reposted by Sarah Derouin

Alexandra Witze @alexwitze.bsky.social · 9d

A leading Democrat in the Senate just released an important report documenting how NASA has been working to implement the president's proposed budget, not Congressionally approved funds, in slashing missions. Read more ⬇️

SpacePolicyOnline @spacepolicyonline.bsky.social · 9d

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), top Democrat on Senate Commerce Cmte, is out with a Democratic staff report: "The Destruction of NASA's Mission: Whistleblowers Reveal OMB's Unconstitutional Plot to Gut the Agency."
www.commerce.senate.gov/services/fil...

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Sarah Derouin @sarahderouin.com · 13d

I really should yeet them… I mean, a undergrad field book?? But it feels weird. Scanning is a cool idea

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Sarah Derouin @sarahderouin.com · 13d

I haven’t been a field geologist for more than a decade, yet throwing out these old notebooks is proving hard. There’s a lot of work (and geography) filling these pages 🧪

A stack of old, yellow “rite-in-the-rain” notebooks with labels of locations or projects

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Reposted by Sarah Derouin

NPR @npr.org · 19d

The National Park Service faced a deadline this week to address signs that "inappropriately disparage" historical figures. One target is George Washington's house in Philadelphia, where he held enslaved people. n.pr/46rokSO

Trump moves to scrub national parks sites of signs that cast America in a 'negative light'

The National Park Service faced a deadline this week to address signs that "inappropriately disparage" historical figures. One target is George Washington's house in Philadelphia, where he held enslaved people.

n.pr

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Reposted by Sarah Derouin

Zahra Hirji @zhirji.bsky.social · 20d

New docs obtained via FOIA reveal how the personal attacks to FEMA staff last hurricane season were much worse than previously known, including swatting & doxxing of officials.

Story @bloomberg.com, w/ @davey.bsky.social @jasonleopold.bsky.social (gift link): www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Chaos Inside FEMA as Death Threats Distract From Hurricane Response

Internal documents show how online conspiracies and personal attacks disrupted FEMA during back-to-back hurricanes last year.

www.bloomberg.com

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Reposted by Sarah Derouin

Eos @eos.org · Aug 20

Coal production, and its associated greenhouse gas emissions, could drop sharply in the next quarter century, according to new #AGUPubs research. Story by @sarahderouin.com.

eos.org/research-spo...

By 2051, Emissions from Coal Mining on Federal Lands Could Drop by 86% - Eos

Researchers predict that if early 2024 policies hold, emissions related to coal’s extraction, transportation, and combustion will drop over the next 25 years.

eos.org

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Sarah Derouin @sarahderouin.com · 22d

I love seeing Matt’s @retrodotcards.com games come to life. But the tributes to our beloved dog Franny makes everything he does so much sweeter.

retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 22d

My picross game for the Nintendo e-Reader, Pixel Pup, will have themed puzzle collections. The first theme is "entomology", so I'm exploring costumes for Franny (the game's mascot)

#gamedev #indiedev #videogamesonpaper

Six different ideas for Franny the dog with an "entomology costume". She is low res pixel art, and the six different costumes are: bug antenna, holding a bug net, a bee costume, holding a bug display box, big fly eyes, and holding a magnifying glass.

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Sarah Derouin @sarahderouin.com · Jul 19

The Edelman Fossil Park & Museum is a fantastic blend of architecture and smart engineering. Designers and engineers melded mass timber, low-carbon concrete and renewable energy to take sustainability to a new level. My latest for ASCE:
www.asce.org/publications...

Mass timber helps create fossil-fuel-free home for fossils in New Jersey

Climate-smart approaches like geothermal and mass timber create a sustainable and beautiful building for the Edelman Fossil Park & Museum.

www.asce.org

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Reposted by Sarah Derouin

Carmen Drahl @carmendrahl.bsky.social · Jul 15

Tomorrow 1PM ET: My colleague @sarahderouin.com will be hosting a supportive virtual gathering for caregivers who are members of @sciencewriters.org . Join me!  Event link: www.nasw.org/events/careg... 
Not a member? nasw.org/join

Community wellness check-in for caregivers

In response to members’ feedback, and on the heels of our Caregiver Pilot Project, we are holding a community wellness event for caregivers.

www.nasw.org

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Sarah Derouin @sarahderouin.com · Jun 25

Proud of @retrodotcards.com creator Matt Greer and a recent article in 404 media about his work: www.404media.co/balatro-port...

Balatro Ported to the Gameboy Advance’s e-Reader

A software engineer made a version of the game that runs off code printed onto a small card.

www.404media.co

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Reposted by Sarah Derouin

molly taft @mollytaft.com · May 21

SCOOP from me: the mass exodus of employees from NOAA is decimating a tiny office that literally keeps our measurements of latitude and longitude accurate — and, former employees tell me, endangers the science of how the US understands global measurements:

Trump Cuts Are Killing a Tiny Office That Keeps Measurements of the World Accurate

A tiny but crucial agency that maintains physical coordinates like latitude and longitude in the US is struggling as the Trump administration forces out federal employees.

www.wired.com

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Reposted by Sarah Derouin

WIRED @wired.com · May 21

SCOOP: Less than two weeks before the start of hurricane season, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) rescinded the agency’s strategic plan, which includes a document that guides agency priorities when responding to disasters, WIRED has learned.

FEMA Has Canceled Its Four-Year Strategic Plan Ahead of Hurricane Season

Multiple FEMA employees tell WIRED that they did not know of another time when a strategic plan was rescinded without another in place.

www.wired.com

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Reposted by Sarah Derouin

Eos @eos.org · May 19

Cutting down trees in Brazil is causing it to rain less.
New research in @aguadvances.bsky.social, words by @sarahderouin.com. eos.org/research-spo...

Deforestation Is Reducing Rainfall in the Amazon - Eos

Researchers found that between 2002 and 2015, a 3.2% reduction in Brazilian forest cover led to a 5.4% reduction in precipitation levels.

eos.org

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Reposted by Sarah Derouin

Eos @eos.org · May 14

New research estimates that over the past 30 years, nearly 700,000 people died prematurely as a result of combined heat and pollution events. Eighty percent of these deaths were in the Global South. Words by @sarahderouin.com

eos.org/research-spo...

Heat and Pollution Events Are Deadly, Especially in the Global South - Eos

Researchers found that the combination of heat waves and high PM2.5 pollution led to nearly 700,000 premature deaths in the past 30 years—most of which occurred in the Global South.

eos.org

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Reposted by Sarah Derouin

Grist @grist.org · May 8

The Trump administration has all but stopped enforcing environmental laws.

grist.org/accountabili...

#EPA #Environment #Pollution #Climate #Laws #Regulation

The Trump administration has all but stopped enforcing environmental laws

The EPA is the nation's top environmental cop. In the last few months, the federal agency has significantly scaled back pollution enforcement.

grist.org

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Reposted by Sarah Derouin

Steve Liesman @steveliesman.bsky.social · May 6

Brilliant to eliminate Energy Star, a program that costs $32m but delivered $40b in annual savings. None other than the US chamber of commerce tried to save it as a model of business/government partnership. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/c...

E.P.A. Plans to Shut Down the Energy Star Program

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Sarah Derouin

Eos @eos.org · May 2

Pairing firsthand knowledge with scientific data collection can help communities predict neighborhood flooding risks. How a community science effort identified flooding hazards on Little Cumberland Island, Ga. Story by @sarahderouin.com. eos.org/research-spo...

Flood Prediction Could Boost Road Resilience off Georgia’s Coast - Eos

Researchers and community members worked together to develop recommendations for how Little Cumberland Island can mitigate flooding hazards.

eos.org

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Sarah Derouin @sarahderouin.com · Apr 30

👏🏻🤩👏🏻

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Reposted by Sarah Derouin

Erik Hoffner @erikhoffner.bsky.social · Apr 15

Official confirmation now from USDA terminating the Expanding #Agroforestry Project effective immediately

Amazing they didn’t work “woke” into this disdainful press release that will hobble climate smart ag and hurt actual farmers: www.usda.gov/about-usda/n...

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Reposted by Sarah Derouin

Chesapeake Bay Foundation @chesapeakebayfdn.bsky.social · Apr 8

The fate of billions of dollars in farm conservation funding that was to be spent over the next several years, including hundreds of millions of dollars in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, is in limbo as the USDA reviews its programs and grants

Farm conservation work in Chesapeake region hit hard by federal funding freeze

Amanda Lee-Milner was looking for a way to get her goats something more to eat and help them get a bit of shade.

www.bayjournal.com

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Reposted by Sarah Derouin

KRohlyPoly @krohlypoly.bsky.social · Apr 2

431,000 households in Michigan rely on this funding to heat and cool their homes.

Most of the northern part of the state also just got hit by a massive ice storm and then more snow last night.

This is unconscionable.

#LIHEAP

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