Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Val Delane

Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social · 21h

Researchers in Taiwan have added a brand-new biochemical cycle to plants, allowing them to absorb & use carbon dioxide more efficiently than photosynthesis alone. Test plants carrying the “McG cycle” grew up to 3x larger, with bigger leaves & far more seeds and fats buff.ly/FIUA8Ca
#ShareGoodNewsToo

New pathway engineered into plants lets them suck up more CO₂

Engineered pathway lets carbon be plugged directly into key metabolic pathways.

buff.ly

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Reposted by Val Delane

Emily Gorcenski @emily.gorcen.ski · 1d

Humanity has tried for 1000s of years to find the perfect set of written rules that make civilization and we have never succeeded. Civilization only works because people are generally decent and intolerable of jerks. Rules come later as a way to generate gradients of power and accountability.

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Val Delane @valdelane.net · 1d

Hell yeah

Val Delane @valdelane.net · 5d

We're trained to crave and celebrate heroes, instead of changing the conditions that require them.

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Val Delane @valdelane.net · 5d

"I suspect we need less individual heroes, and more stories of distributed heroism, where heroes are people who work with others in concert towards a greater goal." Vigorous agreement to everything from here to end of your post. It would make a difference if we all were steeped in community stories.

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Reposted by Val Delane

Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 8d

"Enceladus ticks all the boxes to be a habitable environment that could support life: the presence of liquid water, a source of energy, a specific set of chemical elements and complex organic molecules."
🧪🪐🔭
www.esa.int/Science_Expl...

ESA Space Science @science.esa.int · 9d

🆕 The discovery of new complex organic molecules at Saturn's #Enceladus enhances the likelihood that the moon is habitable 🪐

On Earth, these molecules are involved in chemical reaction chains that lead to the more complex molecules essential for life.

Read more 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
🔭 🧪 ☄️

Scientific illustration showing a cross-section of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. It features three labelled layers: An ice shell at the top, with visible cracks releasing jets of water vapour into space; an ocean in the middle, depicted as a large body of water beneath the ice; a rocky core at the bottom, shown emitting heat that may drive the jets. In the background, Saturn and its rings are visible in space.

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Reposted by Val Delane

Lora Kolodny @lorak.bsky.social · 9d

Please - stop doing the screenshot no link thing on Bluesky. This platform does not punish you for posting a URL. You picked up the habit from Meta apps? Stop doing Mark Z's bidding. Link ESPECIALLY to authors, reporters, bloggers, etc. where you quote the work.

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Val Delane @valdelane.net · 9d

Fuck yeah, buddy! Congratulations!

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Val Delane @valdelane.net · 10d

If the posted media is a stated eyewitness account of the poster, that might be citizen or pro journalism you can weigh into evidence as well—but look for confirmation from a separate reputable source. 2/2

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Val Delane @valdelane.net · 10d

Mental health tip in these trying times: Ignore emotionally charged content based on a screenshot, photo, or video unless it is accompanied by a link to a reputable, dated source that you verify. Even that isn't a guarantee of quality, but it will filter out most of the crap. 1/2

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Reposted by Val Delane

Nanoraptor @nanoraptor.danamania.com · 12d

Actually y'know, fuck my doomerism.

A sign, in green, stating WELCOME with triangle and exclamation mark. Below is the text which reads as follows:
This place is a blessing
and part of a system of blessings

cherish it deeply!

Sending this blessing was meaningful to us.
We considered ourselves a joyful community.

This place is a place of honor
many cherished deeds are celebrated here
everything valued thrives here.

What is here was nurturing and delightful to us.
This blessing is a message of hope.

The hope is in a special location
it radiates outward from a center
the center of hope is here
of a unique shape and size
and beneath us.

The hope is ever-present, in your time,
as it was in ours.

The hope is for the spirit, and it can heal. The form of
the hope is a flow of light. The hope is shared freely when you lovingly engage with this place physically.

This place is best embraced and cared for.

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Reposted by Val Delane

Steve 🏳️‍🌈🇬🇧 @wohyeahwohyeah.bsky.social · 13d

Timeline cleanser 🐈

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Reposted by Val Delane

Nanoraptor @nanoraptor.danamania.com · 13d

We took the coastal road into town after dark, headlights cutting through the mist and clarifying nothing in the haze but movement. The sea, close and unseen, whispered secrets.

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Reposted by Val Delane

NE Ohio Regional Sewer District @neorsd.org · 13d

highway may not be the infrastructure analogy you were looking for.

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission @cpsc.gov · 13d

Good morning to everyone joining us on the information superhighway.

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Reposted by Val Delane

Elise Cutts @elisecutts.bsky.social · 16d

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin ✨ figured out what stars are made of ✨ when she was just 25. 🔭🧪

Her PhD thesis basically established the Harvard astro department — at a time when Harvard didn't officially allow woman students.

I wrote this little profile to mark the 100th anniversary of her thesis:

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Val Delane @valdelane.net · 20d

www.privacyguides.org/articles/202...

Stay Safe, but Stay Connected

Balancing data protection and online connection can be difficult. Nevertheless, it's an essential skill to be able to stay safe online while staying connected.

www.privacyguides.org

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Val Delane @valdelane.net · 22d

D'oh

Reposted by Val Delane

Dave Itzkoff @ditzkoff.bsky.social · 23d

Robert Redford playing a gentle incarnation of death, coming for a frightened old woman in The Twilight Zone episode "Nothing in the Dark" (1962). An extraordinary performance then, terribly bittersweet today

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Reposted by Val Delane

Beth Winegarner @bethwinegarner.bsky.social · 24d

If you like selkie stories (and who doesn't?), I hope you'll enjoy my new story, "I Would Breathe Water," in Club Chicxulub vol. 4, "Limbo."

clubchicxulub.com/club-chicxul...

Club Chicxulub Journal Vol. 4, Limbo – Club Chicxulub

clubchicxulub.com

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Val Delane @valdelane.net · 26d

listed.valdelane.net/65186/202509...

20250912 Marching cadences | Val Delane —

listed.valdelane.net

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Reposted by Val Delane

Annalee Newitz @annaleen.bsky.social · 29d

Now more than ever we need The Middleman!!

javier grillo-marxuach @okbjgm.bsky.social · Sep 10

you’re welcome - archive.org/details/the-...

The Middleman - Complete Series : Javier Grillo-Marxuach : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Wendy Watson, a struggling artist, is recruited by a secret agency to fight against evil forces.[3] The pilot episode features a super-intelligent ape who...

archive.org

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Reposted by Val Delane

Beth Winegarner @bethwinegarner.bsky.social · Sep 9

If you've been wanting to read a chapter from "San Francisco's Forgotten Cemeteries," now's your chance.

"Historians aren’t certain how many graves remain at City Cemetery. Researcher Alex Ryder believes it’s at least 10,000 but is probably closer to 20,000 or more."

Left Behind | The Order of the Good Death

Author Beth Winegarner reveals the dead who still lie beneath some of San Francisco's most cherished destinations in her book,

www.orderofthegooddeath.com

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Val Delane @valdelane.net · Sep 8

Certainty is halfway round the world
before curiosity has got its boots on

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Reposted by Val Delane

Nanoraptor @nanoraptor.danamania.com · Sep 7

It has been suggested to me that these sound like band names.

A poster for a concert. the text is in distorted psychedelic lettering, stating that THE BRAIN presents HEADCUSTARD, THE ANXIETY POTATOE, SACK OF PASTE, BAD IDEA JELLY. £4 entry, saturday september 6 11pm.

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Reposted by Val Delane

Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · Sep 7

Best glory I’ve ever seen from a plane! It’s an optical phenomenon that occurs when light interacts in and around tiny droplets of water in the clouds, in the direction opposite the sun. More complex than a rainbow. Here’s a link to some more info: www.zmescience.com/science/phys... #optics #physics

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