Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Trevor Padgett @trevorpadgett.bsky.social · 11d

Explore Taiwan's aquatic plants with the new Botanical Wonders (@taiwanplusshows) episode on youtube!

Lotus & water lily species have evolved unique ways to live submerged in water, including Taiwan's beautiful endemic minimalist － the yellow water lily.

youtu.be/43it_bWEFy4?...

How These Plants Thrive in Water ǀ Botanical Wonders

YouTube video by TaiwanPlus

youtu.be

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Reposted by Trevor Padgett

Gary Sands @yangguizi.bsky.social · 19d

Of the reported cases, 50 people were “disappeared” after entering China, 19 were detained and 119 had their movement restricted in some form, the MAC said on social media on Wednesday. www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/...

Nine Taiwanese a month vanish or held in China - Taipei Times

Bringing Taiwan to the World and the World to Taiwan

www.taipeitimes.com

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Reposted by Trevor Padgett

Chris Martine | Plants are Cool, Too! @martinebotany.bsky.social · 19d

Awesome: Undergraduate and professor discover several new species of violets in the mountains of Virginia.

“Put very simply, we looked."

#iamabotanist #plantpeopleFTW

www.ohio.edu/news/2025/09...

A botanical breakthrough: OHIO undergraduate and professor discover several new species of violets in the mountains of Virginia

OHIO senior Collin Thacker, under the mentorship of professor Harvey Ballard, discovered four new species of violets in the mountains of Virginia, including two tucked away in Shenandoah National Park...

www.ohio.edu

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Reposted by Trevor Padgett

Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 20d

I wanted to get a video of this ghost crab but every time I got close to their hole they scuttled back in, so I tried getting clever with it. I made a little sandcastle and shoved my phone into it, hit record, and walked away. Crab was VERY suspicious of this addition to their environment.

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Reposted by Trevor Padgett

Kolas Yotaka @kolas-yotaka.bsky.social · 20d

Without clear planning and sustained coordination with the US, Taiwan will struggle to keep pace with China’s advances and regional stability will suffer. More critically, failure by Taiwan to skillfully manage internal political contradictions will weaken Taipei’s credibility and reputation abroad.

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Reposted by Trevor Padgett

Bloomberg News @bloomberg.com · 20d

President Donald Trump has declined to approve a more than $400 million military aid package for Taiwan as he seeks a trade deal with China, according to the Washington Post

Trump Halts $400 Million in Taiwan Military Aid, Post Reports

President Donald Trump has declined to approve a more than $400 million military aid package for Taiwan as he seeks a trade deal with China, according to the Washington Post.

bloom.bg

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Trevor Padgett @trevorpadgett.bsky.social · 20d

Pometia pinnata (Fiji Longan, Island Lychee) is a massive evergreen tree with monstrous buttress roots native to Taiwan.

Join us to explore how this unique tree is central to the Yami (Tao) people of Orchid Island & how it fits into the island ecosystem.

#Taiwan

www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1Cl...

What This Tree Means To Indigenous Culture ǀ Botanical Wonders

YouTube video by TaiwanPlus

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Trevor Padgett

Michael E. Mann @michaelemann.bsky.social · 21d

The concluding paragraph of #ScienceUnderSiege
(www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/micha...)

And so we choose to do battle against the forces of darkness,
#ghting back against a malevolent movement that represents all that
is bad in the world— fascism, authoritarianism, racism, misogyny,
and bigotry— a movement that uses antiscienti#c disinformation as
its preferred weapon. We do this not because our success is guaranteed.
Given the forces mobilized against us, we are clearly the underdog.
And no white wizard will come to our rescue. But we have truth
and justice on our side. And the stakes simply couldn’t be greater. We
#ght for a livable planet, for us, our children, and future generations.
Because it’s worth #ghting for.8

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Reposted by Trevor Padgett

Michael E. Mann @michaelemann.bsky.social · 25d

We're excited to see that #ScienceUnderSiege has broken the top 1000 on Amazon.

Please consider purchasing from e.g. @barnesandnoble.com or your local independent bookseller (or ask your local library to acquire). Thanks!

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Trevor Padgett @trevorpadgett.bsky.social · 26d

Read more about the "out of Taiwan" evidence here:

t.co/76BGh3qrLc

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1518576112

t.co

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Trevor Padgett @trevorpadgett.bsky.social · 26d

New BOTANICAL WONDERS episode on YT: Paper mulberry

Used for food (leaves, fruit), rope (bark, roots), tool handles (wood), ..., throughout the Pacific, recent work has shown that - just like Austronesian languages - it too has an "out of Taiwan" history!

youtu.be/i235W7_arqg?...

#Tawan

This Tree Is Culturally Significant. Here's Why. ǀ Botanical Wonders

YouTube video by TaiwanPlus

youtu.be

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Reposted by Trevor Padgett

Zeke Hausfather @hausfath.bsky.social · Sep 4

I'm not sure many folks realize just how persistent the warming from CO2 is.

Here is a set of 1000-year climate model runs (using FaIR) simulating one year of CO2 emissions (40 gigatons in 2020); a millennia later the world has not cooled back down!

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Trevor Padgett @trevorpadgett.bsky.social · Sep 4

New Episode on YT: Taiwan Sugar Palm!

Found in the understory of Taiwan's forests, 'Arenga engleri' is a palm species with multiple important roles in Taiwan. In this episode of Botanical Wonders we explore it's ecology & its role in hunting and fishing!

youtu.be/opgJjoxQtkY?...
#Taiwan #ecology

How This Plant Links Culture and the Land ǀ Botanical Wonders

YouTube video by TaiwanPlus

youtu.be

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Reposted by Trevor Padgett

Helen Davidson @heldavidson.bsky.social · Sep 3

Exclusive from me: China drilling for oil and gas inside Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

China drilling for oil and gas inside Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone

Exclusive: Experts say the move could be part of Beijing’s ‘greyzone’ grab for disputed territory

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Trevor Padgett

Sense Hofstede @sensehofstede.nl · Sep 2

China drilling for oil and gas inside Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone – The Guardian: ‘However, there is no sign of the Taiwan government having responded to it, despite frequently enforcing its EEZ elsewhere.’

China drilling for oil and gas inside Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone

Exclusive: Experts say the move could be part of Beijing’s ‘greyzone’ grab for disputed territory

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Trevor Padgett

Evan Frost @wildwoods.bsky.social · Sep 2

Going, going, almost gone...

Go Green @ecowarriorss.bsky.social · Sep 2

Orangutan habitat under siege as palm oil company clears forest in Borneo
Up to 10,000 hectares (nearly 25,000 acres) of forest could be lost
Nearly 150,000 individuals lost between 1999 and 2015
They will not stop until every last Orangutan is gone

news.mongabay.com/2025/04/oran...

Orangutan habitat under siege as palm oil company clears forest in Borneo

JAKARTA — A palm oil company is gearing up to expand into critical orangutan habitat in Indonesian Borneo, raising alarms over the survival of the critically endangered great apes. PT Equator Sumber R...

news.mongabay.com

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Trevor Padgett @trevorpadgett.bsky.social · Sep 1

(the ficus may actually be leaning towards "geocarpy", where the fruit are born under the ground; our human terms don't always clearly explain the variety of the natural world properly!)

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Trevor Padgett @trevorpadgett.bsky.social · Sep 1

Cauliflory (nothing to do with the vegetable)

Often flowers (which become fruit) grow from positions on branches, often as individual flowers of various forms of flower clusters.

In some trees, the flowers grow directly on the trunk, like Baccaurea sp. (left) and many figs (Ficus; right)

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Trevor Padgett @trevorpadgett.bsky.social · Sep 1

New Episode: Botanical Wonders

Coastal forests are a unique ecosystems where ocean meets land & land meets ocean.

Globally, these forests have faced severe decline. However, the species that call this enigmatic ecosystem home can teach us about resilience & innovation.

youtu.be/SIDNLVZR25A?...

How These Plants Protect the Coastline | Botanical Wonders

YouTube video by TaiwanPlus

youtu.be

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Trevor Padgett @trevorpadgett.bsky.social · Sep 1

For those eager fo scale:

Trevor Padgett @trevorpadgett.bsky.social · Sep 1

Forest treasures:

If you slow (and look!) down, there are captivating stories unfolding all over the forest floor.

Names of these mycological treasures: Marasmiaceae, Amanita, Cryptotrama, Unknown [infecting fruit of Barringtonia sp., probably racemosa]

#vietnam
#mycology #fungi

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Reposted by Trevor Padgett

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · Aug 30

Cyclists, don't forget to wear hi viz!

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Reposted by Trevor Padgett

Neil Shubin @neilshubin.bsky.social · Aug 28

Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Scopes trial telling students in central Tennessee about their inner fish.

I’m so grateful to the high school and middle school teachers who brought their students from small schools to the event (some from almost an hr away).

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Trevor Padgett @trevorpadgett.bsky.social · Aug 28

'Fungi farming' (Macrotermitinae) termites collect woody material and bring it back to the nest (to a specific area called a "comb"), where the wood is infected with a certain unique fungi that breaks down both cellulose and lignin.

Afterwards: termites feast!

#Vietnam #nature #invertebrate

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Trevor Padgett @trevorpadgett.bsky.social · Aug 28

How to eat a tree
(and other woody matter):

Digesting lignin/cellulose in woody material is tough. To make them consumable, termites evolved 2 main strategies.

Internal digestion (most termites): gut bacteria digests

External digestion (Macrotermitinae): cultivate fungi to digest it for you!

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