Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Svasti Haricharan

LOLGOP ❌👑❌ @thefarce.org · 17h

If you're a California voter, please vote YES ON 50 and send that ballot back ASAP so the volunteers don't waste any time on you. And maybe volunteer if you have the time.

linktr.ee/cadem

Sweet Californians, send those ballots back ASAP, so the volunteers don't need to bother with you.

TikTok video by LOLGOP

www.tiktok.com

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Svasti Haricharan @svasti.bsky.social · 3d

In the background, research labs across the US closing shop because of the funding landscape and PhD programs on pause. Even if this person was doing exemplary research, the obvious corruption erodes NIH reputation 🧪

🪾santiago, phd 🐈‍⬛ @santiagokique.bsky.social · 4d

Even though it's crisis #192308 in our current time, I don't think it's sufficiently sunk in with ppl in the academic community that getting federal funding for your research will primarily depend on whether Trump political appointees find you and your work useful
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

Changes at NIH Give Political Appointees Greater Power To Fund or Block Research - KFF Health News

The National Institutes of Health’s long-held standard of peer review for grantmaking has been subverted by President Donald Trump and NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, who gave unprecedented power to po...

kffhealthnews.org

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Svasti Haricharan @svasti.bsky.social · 4d

I'm not seeing a lot of Prop 50 information in the wild, important to spread the word

Gabe Ortíz @tusk81.bsky.social · 4d

“With Proposition 50, Californians can fight back against Trump, ensuring that the upcoming battle for control of Congress is waged on a level playing field.” www.independent.com/2025/09/29/s... #YesOnProp50

Santa Barbara County Residents Show Support for Proposition 50

“Yes on 50” demonstrations popped up at several locations along Highway 101 on Saturday, September 27.

www.independent.com

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Reposted by Svasti Haricharan

Susan @suziqleathers.bsky.social · 6d

General Mattis dropped this Statement today.

Read through to completion below as it is long.

And please Share.

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Reposted by Svasti Haricharan

Governor Gavin Newsom @governor.ca.gov · 6d

IF ANY CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY SIGNS THIS RADICAL AGREEMENT, THEY'LL LOSE BILLIONS IN STATE FUNDING — INCLUDING CAL GRANTS — INSTANTLY.

CALIFORNIA WILL NOT BANKROLL SCHOOLS THAT SELL OUT THEIR STUDENTS, PROFESSORS, RESEARCHERS, AND SURRENDER ACADEMIC FREEDOM.

New York Times: "Trump Administration Asks Colleges to Sign ‘Compact’ to Get Funding Preference."

The White House asked nine top universities to pledge support for President Trump’s agenda to help ensure access to research funding.

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Svasti Haricharan @svasti.bsky.social · 7d

"Freedom is a fragile thing and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people.

President Ronald Reagan (January 5, 1967).64"

Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 8d

Another scathing ruling from Judge William Young

[Gift link]

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/u...

Judge Rules Trump Unlawfully Targeted Noncitizens Over Pro-Palestinian Speech

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Svasti Haricharan

Dominique Baker @bakerdphd.bsky.social · 7d

"To achieve any of those goals, we will have to become far less complacent and far less scared. We also will have to organize. Because no citizen who simply settles for being a consumer of democracy should expect to have a real democracy ever again."

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/o...

Opinion | Mourn, or Else

www.nytimes.com

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Svasti Haricharan @svasti.bsky.social · 8d

Remember this? When our VP talked rationally about the need for AI regulation? And we declared unregulated AI a catastrophic danger? I miss 2023. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

UK, US, EU and China sign declaration of AI’s ‘catastrophic’ danger

Bletchley summit communique does not agree to set up testing hub in UK, as some in government had hoped

www.theguardian.com

Svasti Haricharan @svasti.bsky.social · 8d

It does sometimes feel like many are so overwhelmed by the messages coming out of this administration that the impulse is to treat it as a joke, with disbelief. But it is not a joke and we indulge our disbelief at our own peril. Use America's cities as training grounds for our military. Not a joke.

Jack Tripper @chadstanton.blacksky.app · 8d

““We should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military.””

They’re not being coy about their vision for the future.

Trump Administration Live Updates: President Tells Top Brass American Cities Should Be ‘Training Grounds’ for Military

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Svasti Haricharan

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 8d

the president of the united states wants to use the american military to kill american citizens on american soil. that's the whole story!

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Svasti Haricharan @svasti.bsky.social · 9d

"This is a good way to lead students astray,” said Jonathan S. Masur,.. professor at the University of Chicago Law School.... “So I think that everyone needs to take a little bit of a deep breath and slow down.” Educators, think long and hard before going the AI route. Early signs suggest harm>good

Ben Williamson @benpatrickwill.bsky.social · 12d

OpenAI's VP for education recently said the company wanted to become "core infrastructure" for schools and universities. Any infrastructure, though, always depends on habituating users to its technical affordances - so I've been trying to track how it's doing that 🧵 www.nytimes.com/2025/06/07/t...

Welcome to Campus. Here’s Your ChatGPT.

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Svasti Haricharan

Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · Jul 30

👇🎯 What we have learned these last six months is that a great many of our colleagues, leaders, & institutions are not in the business of education.

Justin Zimmerman @jztidecat.bsky.social · Jul 30

We teach what we teach. The end. The first amendment exist or it doesn’t. We are in the business of education or we aren’t. There’s no middle ground.

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Reposted by Svasti Haricharan

Michael Yarbrough (he/him) @mwyarbrough.bsky.social · 11d

It is funny for sure. The reason for the difference is that the closer analogy here is between Columbia's board and ABC's executives, who responded similarly. Kimmel is more like Columbia faculty who have resisted their bosses' capitulation. The recurring pattern is: management cowers, labor fights.

Brendel @brendelbored.bsky.social · 11d

It is really funny that Jimmy Kimmel Live showed more moral fortitude and adherence to a system of values than Columbia University

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Svasti Haricharan @svasti.bsky.social · 12d

NCI's 2027 annual plan includes a proposed budget increase that would let them fund the same number of awards as FY24 while transitioning to MYF. They emphasize clinical trials, cancer prevention and basic cancer research and training as funding priorities. The proof is in the pudding I suppose. 🧪

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Svasti Haricharan @svasti.bsky.social · 12d

"A flagship example is Gleevec (imatinib, approved in 2001), the first BCR-ABL kinase inhibitor, which transformed chronic myeloid leukemia from a fatal illness into a manageable condition and whose foundational patents ultimately trace back to NIH-funded work on the BCR-ABL oncoprotein"

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Svasti Haricharan @svasti.bsky.social · 12d

"Of the 557 drug approvals in our sample, 331 (59.4%) have a patent that cites a research publication acknowledging NIH support. Indeed, more than half of approved drugs (286, or 51.4%) are linked to at-risk research—research funded by grants that would have been cut under a 40% budget reduction." 🧪

Drug Monkey @drugmonkey.bsky.social · 13d

This may be the most important paper ever published about NIH funded research.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

What if NIH had been 40% smaller?

Replaying history with less NIH funding shows widespread impacts on drug-linked research

www.science.org

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Reposted by Svasti Haricharan

Tamara Stawicki, PhD @tamarastawicki.bsky.social · 12d

I missed World Dense Breast Day. I have a family history of breast/ovarian cancer & extremely dense tissue. I am lucky to have insurance that covers supplemental screening with no copay/deductible. Though we recently switched to self insured which exempts us from state law, so 🤞 that remains true.

DenseBreast-info.org @densebreastinfo.bsky.social · 13d

Proud to be featured on WTAE-TV Pittsburgh: DBI's @drwendieberg.bsky.social on #WorldDenseBreastDay & why breast density awareness matters.

🎥 Watch here: www.wtae.com/article/pitt...

Pittsburgh doctor designates Sept. 24 as World Dense Breast Day

About 40% of cancers are missed on the mammogram in dense breasts, and it's a risk factor for developing breast cancer. That's about four times as much risk if you have a dense breast compared to the ...

www.wtae.com

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Svasti Haricharan @svasti.bsky.social · 13d

Yes, please, this, talk to people who are doing the work. We've been dealing with ever-increasing enrollment of students in parallel with significant loss of state funding in the context of the turmoil of federal funding chaos. A culture of victimhood doesn't even make the top 100

Kevin Reuning @reuning.bsky.social · 13d

Im begging the NYT to spend time talking to people who actually teach and work at universities. Especially ones that don't have billion dollar endowments.

My issues are AI use, crumbling infrastructure, vanishing staff, unfunded state mandates, a customer service model of education...

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Svasti Haricharan @svasti.bsky.social · 14d

Oh look, scientists making the world better. Again.

Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 14d

Wow www.bbc.com/news/article...

Huntington's disease successfully treated for first time

One of the most devastating diseases finally has a treatment that can slow its progression and transform lives, tearful doctors tell BBC.

www.bbc.com

Reposted by Svasti Haricharan

Matt Sikora @mjsikora.bsky.social · 14d

This is right up there with interviewing Peter Navarro the other day - pandering to MAGA isn't going to get your funding back, NPR.

There is no 'both sides' to acetaminophen and autism, it's a safe drug during pregnancy.

NPR @npr.org · 14d

The science on Tylenol and autism isn't clear, despite President Trump's claims. Here's what parents need to know to make their own decisions about acetaminophen.

When it comes to Tylenol, what are parents to do?

The science on Tylenol and autism isn't clear, despite President Trump's claims. Here's what parents need to know to make their own decisions about acetaminophen.

n.pr

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Svasti Haricharan @svasti.bsky.social · 15d

Don't 👏🏽fill👏🏽 the👏🏽 void👏🏽 with👏🏽 bullshit 👏🏽

Dr. Jonathan N. Stea @jonathanstea.bsky.social · 15d

This isn’t about left versus right.

It’s about science versus pseudoscience.

- Dr. Jessica Knurick

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Reposted by Svasti Haricharan

SDSU Research Foundation @sdsurf.bsky.social · 15d

Johamy Morales, SDSU Alumni and Artistic Director at Seattle Children’s Theatre, shares her journey from growing up in an underserved Hispanic community in Southern California to finding her identity and artistic voice at San Diego State University.

Read the full interview here: tiny.cc/q7es001

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Svasti Haricharan @svasti.bsky.social · 16d

The papers that HHS cites to bolster their claim appear to have convinced many people that this is a legit scientific observation. But the citations actually show no correlation between Tylenol use and autism. PSA: Don't believe something because someone provides a citation. Go read the cited paper🧪

David Nauen @mengdie.bsky.social · 16d

🧪
>77 million votes. Today the big reveal on autism: Tylenol. "I'm making these statements from me, I'm not making them from these doctors." youtu.be/esKFMCb_hYU?...
The viewer comments below the video are the only glimmer of hope.

LIVE: Trump makes an announcement on autism

YouTube video by Associated Press

youtu.be

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Svasti Haricharan @svasti.bsky.social · 16d

It's just too much liquid. Which is why we should stop breastfeeding babies. Lots and lots of liquid

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Svasti Haricharan @svasti.bsky.social · 16d

First time that spending 40 minutes waiting on hold to cancel a subscription has felt morally triumphant. Ah, this brave new world we live in 😂

Oliver Darcy @oliverdarcy.bsky.social · 16d

Breaking: Jimmy Kimmel to return Tuesday.

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