Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Sören @sporen.bsky.social · 25d

It really is impressive how the media immediately jumped to blaming the organized "left" (to the extent it exists in the US)/democrats when there is extensive, easily found footage from prominent right-wing pundits and Republican electeds/officials openly fomenting violence. They think we're stupid.

Sören @sporen.bsky.social · 25d

Gavin should drastically change his approach toward the homeless if he actually wants to show a contrast with this sort of horrific comment.

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Julian Schrader @julianschrader.bsky.social · Sep 6

Thrilled to see my Tansley insight review published in @newphyt.bsky.social!

I provide an overview of recent advances in integrating plant traits into island ecology and highlight key opportunities for future research in island systems.

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Trait‐based island biogeography as a tool for studying future ecological communities

Understanding the future of ecological communities under global change is among the most pressing challenges in plant ecology. Islands, with their reduced species diversity and clear boundaries, have...

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 27d

Pundits are focusing on Kirk’s willingness to debate people while studiously ignoring the people whose basic humanity he was willing to debate

Dag. @3fecta.bsky.social · 27d

The lionization of Charlie Kirk genuinely proves the point about centrists and leading media figures. The man dehumanized women, minorities, transgendered people, Muslims, etc was building bridges by debating others on these views that all these people are less than human. What a great guy.

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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 28d

"The worst person to ask about what socialism is is a Republican, who doesn’t know what socialism means, and will tell you that everything is socialism. The second worst...is a leftist college professor, who...will tell you that nothing qualifies"

wrecked

www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/new-york-s...

New York Socialist City

Where taking care of everyone is common sense.

www.hamiltonnolan.com

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Damian Carrington @dpcarrington.bsky.social · 28d

Fossil-fuel firms receive US subsidies worth $31bn each year, study finds

- Figure calculated by @oilchange.bsky.social has more than doubled since 2017 but is likely a vast understatement

#climatecrisis
Story by @dharna.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Fossil-fuel firms receive US subsidies worth $31bn each year, study finds

Figure calculated by Oil Change International has more than doubled since 2017 but is likely a vast understatement

www.theguardian.com

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James Bradley @drbradbrad.bsky.social · 28d

2 Postdoc vacancies: Microbial dormancy in the cryosphere
@erc.europa.eu #ERC_SIESTA
📢 PLEASE RT

Experimental:
🧬 Single cell microbial activity measurements, flow cytometry, omics, biogeochem

Modelling:
🖥️ Bioenergetics, thermodynamics, ecological, biogeochem

☀️ Marseille, France
‼️ Apply by 30 Sept

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ACLU @aclu.org · Sep 8

Despite today’s outrageous ruling, we all have the right to go about our daily lives free from racial profiling by the federal government.

We will never stop fighting for our civil liberties and our immigrant communities.

Maroon graphic reading "Today's Supreme Court order puts people at grave risk, allowing federal agents in Southern California to target individuals because of their race, how they speak, the jobs they work, or just being at a bus stop or the car wash when ICE agents decide to raid a place. For anyone perceived as Latino by an ICE agent, this means living in a fearful ‘papers please’ regime, with risks of violent ICE arrests and detention." This quote is attributed to Cecillia Wang, the National Legal Director of the ACLU.

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Liz Szabo @lizszabo.bsky.social · Sep 8

Nearly 46% of U.S. families don’t have the money to change their children’s diapers “as often as necessary,” the Syracuse team writes in a New England Journal of Medicine Perspective.

www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

Diaper Need — An Underrecognized Social Driver of Health | NEJM

Unmet diaper need in low-income families affects children’s well-being, families’ financial constraints, and caregivers’ mental health. A Syracuse pediatric medical home is attempting to address ...

www.nejm.org

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Ralph Janik @ralphjanik.com · Sep 7

We all need to cancel our Google, Meta, Microsoft and what have you-accounts asap. The Trump administration is weaponising its tech industry et vice versa.

Claas Gefroi @claasgefroi.bsky.social · Sep 6

Der militarisch-industrielle Komplex vergangener Jahrzehnte war ein Witz gegen das, was gerade in den USA entsteht: die allumfassende Herrschaft eines oligarchischen politisch-techindustriellen Bündnisses.

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NPR @npr.org · Sep 4

A federal judge in Boston said she found it "difficult to conclude anything other than that [the Trump administration] used antisemitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically-motivated assault on this country's premier universities, and did so in a way that runs afoul of [federal law]."

Trump administration illegally froze billions in Harvard funds, judge rules

The ruling is a legal victory for Harvard but the White House says it will appeal the decision.

n.pr

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · Sep 2

The president is sending the military to control American cities and if you're a reporter who's framing that illegal power grab as "pushing the boundaries of constitutionality" or "acting boldly to fight crime" or whatever, please go find another line of work where you won't get us all killed.

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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · Sep 3

So our military just bombed a boat in international waters and extrajudicially killed suspected drug traffickers without so much as a conversation, let alone a trial?
Then posted it on social media?

And we’re all supposed to just trust their account?

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Bob Kopp @bobkopp.net · Sep 2

The Department of Energy hired five academics to raise doubts about climate change. 85+ climate experts (organized by @andrewdessler.com) reviewed their report. Our conclusion, detailed in 450 pages of analysis: it is biased, full of errors, and not fit to inform policy making.

DOEresponseSite

On July 29, 2025, the Department of Energy (DOE) published a report from its Climate Working Group (CWG). This report features prominently in the EPA's reconsideration of its 2009 Endangerment Finding...

sites.google.com

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NPR @npr.org · Sep 2

More than 85 scientists say that a recent U.S. Department of Energy report is full of errors and misrepresents climate science.

Dozens of scientists find errors in a new Energy Department climate report

More than 85 scientists say that a recent U.S. Department of Energy report is full of errors and misrepresents climate science.

n.pr

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samuel mehr @mehr.nz · Dec 14

it's wild that R, the ubiquitous statistical computing language, was co-created by a Māori prof (Ross Ihaka) — and yet the vast majority of scientists who use R don't know

this is like inventing the toaster. possibly the largest impact of a single member of an indigenous community on modern science

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Drop Site @dropsitenews.com · Aug 31

⛓️ NEW | On the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club warned that Israel is committing this crime on a mass scale against thousands from Gaza — including women and children.

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Sören @sporen.bsky.social · Aug 30

I also can't imagine these vehicles on European roads, most of which are narrow

Sören @sporen.bsky.social · Aug 29

I think these people learned the lesson from Trump (and the Iraq War etc. beforehand) that you should never leave public life despite your horrifically wrong views lending intellectual credibility to slaughter

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Sören @sporen.bsky.social · Aug 29

It certainly is impressive the amount of cognitive dissonance our supposed public "intellectuals" can withstand

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Sören @sporen.bsky.social · Aug 29

It's startling to read that. I stupidly assumed that an opposition party concerned for the well-being of its' constituents would meet more frequently!

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Dr. Nick Posegay @nposegay.bsky.social · Aug 27

There will be many casualties from UChicago ending ('pausing') PhD admissions in Humantities, but one which I am keenly aware of: this is close to a death sentence for teaching cuneiform in the United States (esp. Sumerian, Hittite, Elamite, Eblaite, Luwian) and it will affect the whole world.

Annette Yoshiko Reed @annetteyreed.bsky.social · Aug 27

“Chicago has long helped to keep alive tiny fields & esoteric areas of humanistic study... Without the univ’s support, & the continued training of grad students who can keep these bodies of kn going, entire spheres of human learning might eventually blink out.” www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...

If the University of Chicago Won’t Defend the Humanities, Who Will?

Why it matters that the University of Chicago is pausing admissions to doctoral programs in literature, philosophy, the arts, and languages

www.theatlantic.com

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · Aug 28

Full resignation letter from Demetre C. Daskalakis, a CDC leader, does not hold back.
"The recent shooting at CDC is not why I am resigning. My grandfather, who I am named after, stood up to fascist forces in Greece and lost his life doing so. I am resigning to make him and his legacy proud."

My resignation letter from CDC.

Dear Dr. Houry,

I am writing to formally resign from my position as Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), effective August 28, 2025, close of business. I am happy to stay on for two weeks to provide transition, if requested.

This decision has not come easily, as I deeply value the work that the CDC does in safeguarding public health and am proud of my contributions to that critical mission. However, after much contemplation and reflection on recent developments and perspectives brought to light by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., I find that the views he and his staff have shared challenge my ability to continue in my current role at the agency and in the service of the health of the American people. Enough is enough.

While I hold immense respect for the institution and my colleagues, I believe that it is imperative to align my professional responsibilities to my system of ethics and my understanding of the science of infectious disease, immunology, and my promise to serve the American people. This step is necessary to ensure that I can contribute effectively in a capacity that allows me to remain true to my principles.

The recent change in the adult and children’s immunization schedule threaten the lives of the youngest Americans and pregnant people. The data analyses that supported this decision have never been shared with CDC despite my respectful requests to HHS and other leadership. This lack of meaningful engagement was further compounded by a “frequently asked questions” document written to support the Secretary’s directive that was circulated by HHS without input from CDC subject matter experts and that cited studies that did not support the conclusions that were attributed to these authors. Having worked in local and national public health for years, I have never experienced such radical non-transparency, nor have I seen such unskilled manipulation of data to achieve a political end rather than the good of the American people.

It is untenable to serve in an organization that is not afforded the opportunity to discuss decisions of scientific and public health importance released under the moniker of CDC. The lack of communication by HHS and other CDC political leadership that culminates in social media posts announcing major policy changes without prior notice demonstrate a disregard of normal communication channels and common sense. Having to retrofit analyses and policy actions to match inadequately thought-out announcements in poorly scripted videos or page long X posts should not be how organizations responsible for the health of people should function. Some examples include the announcement of the change in the COVID-19 recommendations for children and pregnant people, the firing of scientists from ACIP by X post and an op-ed rather than direct communication with these valuable experts, the announcement of new ACIP members by X before onboarding and vetting have completed, and the release of term of reference for an ACIP workgroup that ignored all feedback from career staff at CDC.

Their desire to please a political base will result in death and disability of vulnerable children and adults. Their base should be the people they serve not a political voting bloc.

I have always been first to challenge scientific and public health dogma in my career and was excited by the opportunity to do so again. I was optimistic that there would be an opportunity to brief the Secretary about key topics such as measles, avian influenza, and the highly coordinated approach to the respiratory virus season. Such briefings would allow exchange of ideas and a shared path to support the vision of “Making America Healthy Again.” We are seven months into the new administration, and no CDC subject matter expert from my Center has ever briefed the Secretary. I am not sure who the Secretary is listening to, but it is quite certainly not to us. Unvetted and conflicted outside organizations seem to be the sources HHS use over the gold standard science of CDC and other reputable sources. At a hearing, Secretary Kennedy said that Americans should not take medical advice from him. To the contrary, an appropriately briefed and inquisitive Secretary should be a source of health information for the people he serves. As it stands now, I must agree with him, that he should not be considered a source of accurate information.

The intentional eroding of trust in low-risk vaccines favoring natural infection and unproven remedies will bring us to a pre-vaccine era where only the strong will survive and many if not all will suffer. I believe in nutrition and exercise. I believe in making our food supply healthier, and I also believe in using vaccines to prevent death and disability. Eugenics plays prominently in the rhetoric being generated and is derivative of a legacy that good medicine and science should continue to shun.

The recent shooting at CDC is not why I am resigning. My grandfather, who I am named after, stood up to fascist forces in Greece and lost his life doing so. I am resigning to make him and his legacy proud. I am resigning because of the cowardice of a leader that cannot admit that HIS and his minions’ words over decades created an environment where violence like this can occur. I reject his and his colleagues’ thoughts and prayers, and advise they direct those to people that they have not actively harmed.

For decades, I have been a trusted voice for the LGBTQ community when it comes to critical health topics. I must also cite the recklessness of the administration in their efforts to erase transgender populations, cease critical domestic and international HIV programming, and terminate key research to support equity as part of my decision.

Public health is not merely about the health of the individual, but it is about the health of the community, the nation, the world. The nation’s health security is at risk and is in the hands of people focusing on ideological self-interest.

I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for the opportunities for growth, learning, and collaboration that I have been afforded during my time at the CDC. It has been a privilege to work alongside such dedicated professionals who are committed to improving the health and well-being of communities across the nation even when under attack from within both physically and psychologically.

Thank you once again for the support and guidance I have received from you and previous CDC leadership throughout my tenure. I wish the CDC continued success in its vital mission and that HHS reverse its dangerous course to dismantle public health as a practice and as an institution. If they continue the current path, they risk our personal well-being and the security of the United States.

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الكسندرا ميراي @lexialex.bsky.social · Aug 27

Nuns and priests to stay in Gaza despite evacuation orders

Milan (AsiaNews) - The Greek Orthodox Primate of Jerusalem, Theophilos Ill, and the Primate of the Latins, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, issued a joint statement (available on their websites)
In it they note that, faced with the suffering of a people in what can already be described as "hell" on earth, a reference to the threats made by Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz against Hamas, the clergy and nuns of the Catholic and Greek Orthodox Churches in Gaza forcefully affirm their decision to remain.
Despite the offensive undertaken by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), they will neither evacuate nor flee, but will live up to their mission, bear witness to mercy and Christian charity in a Gaza Strip ravaged by hunger and war, and continue to provide assistance and aid to those unable to leave.

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Sören @sporen.bsky.social · Aug 27

Vox populi

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