Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Vijay Marupudi

CantlonLab @cantlonlab.bsky.social · 3d

The AAUP is doing a skills training for campus organizing. Is your school participating?

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

AAUP Organize Every Campus: Core Skills Training (Oct 2025 Registration Form)

Chapters are encouraged to send at least five people to the training. Please choose one person to serve as a coordinator for your chapter. *Only the coordinator should complete this registration* If...

docs.google.com

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Vijay Marupudi @vijaymarupudi.bsky.social · 7d

Sigh... Hoping universities say no

Trump offers universities a choice: Comply for preferential funding

Who needs peer review? Plan offers easier grants to schools that agree to limits.

arstechnica.com

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Reposted by Vijay Marupudi

Martha W. Alibali @marthaalibali.bsky.social · 13d

Very disappointed on behalf of all the second-year graduate students (including one from my group) who could have applied last year, but who waited until this fall, based on the rule that you can only apply once!

Kosta Boskovic @kostaboskovic.bsky.social · 13d

Extremely disappointing decision from the NSF today to exclude second-year graduate students from eligibility for the GRFP. I and many other second-year grads purposely held off from applying in our first year to be able to do so now...

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Vijay Marupudi @vijaymarupudi.bsky.social · 20d

I hope people will speak out about the threats to freedom of sppech which are happening at this very moment

Reposted by Vijay Marupudi

Jeff Greene @jeffgreene.bsky.social · 21d

Pay. For. News.

Conrad Hackett @conradhackett.bsky.social · 21d

83% of US adults haven't paid for news in the last year.

About half (49%) say their main reason is they can find plenty of free news elsewhere.
www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...

Chart showing among the 83% of U.S. adults who have not paid for news in the past year, the most common reason they cite is that they can find plenty of other news articles for free. About half of those who don’t pay for news (49%) say this is the main reason.

Indeed, many news websites do not have paywalls. Others have recently loosened paywalls or removed them for certain content like public emergencies or public interest stories.

Another common reason people don’t pay for news is that they are not interested enough (32%). Smaller shares of Americans who don’t pay for news say the main reason is that it’s too expensive (10%) or that the news provided isn’t good enough to pay for (8%).

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Reposted by Vijay Marupudi

Science Homecoming @sciencehomecoming.bsky.social · 22d

Participation has been outstanding at every level, across diverse science fields. We’ve published nearly 300 articles in local hometowns. 🧪🏠 Write yours today with help here:

sciencehomecoming.com

Published authors by career stage: Pre-doc 42%, Post-doc 18%, Faculty 39%

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Vijay Marupudi @vijaymarupudi.bsky.social · 27d

From the home of the free speech movement

UC Berkeley shares 160 names with Trump administration in ‘McCarthy era’ move

Prominent professor Judith Butler among students and faculty investigated for ‘alleged antisemitic incidents’

www.theguardian.com

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Vijay Marupudi @vijaymarupudi.bsky.social · 27d

perfors.net/blog/saving-...

Saving the starfish | Andrew Perfors

A parable for a struggling world

perfors.net

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Reposted by Vijay Marupudi

samuel mehr @mehr.nz · Sep 10

psych departments post a faculty job that has nothing to do with AI challenge

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Vijay Marupudi @vijaymarupudi.bsky.social · 28d

I've lived under multiple repressive and dysfunctional governments where political violence was a real possibility. Life in those places is horrible. I specifically wanted to come to the US to avoid this. What a shitty situation.

Vijay Marupudi @vijaymarupudi.bsky.social · 28d

Political violence is bad, no matter who it is. When people's lives are at stake, the people who you want to be in power won't want it.

Just cause the the people in power are disgraceful doesn't mean that people should stoop to their level.

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Reposted by Vijay Marupudi

Paul Smaldino @psmaldino.bsky.social · Sep 8

I'm a bit more enthusiastic about interdisciplinarity than other-Paul, but I endorse this 1000%:
"If you’re genuinely interested in a domain, you should be engaged with the work of other smart people who approach the issue—even if they are housed in different parts of the university."

Paul Bloom @paulbloomatyale.bsky.social · Sep 8

smallpotatoes.paulbloom.net/p/the-only-i...

The only interdisciplinary conversations worth having

(This is a niche post of interest to a relatively narrow community of scholars.

smallpotatoes.paulbloom.net

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Reposted by Vijay Marupudi

Conrad Hackett @conradhackett.bsky.social · Sep 7

In 2019, 70% of Republicans said science has had a mostly positive effect on society. A few years later, fewer than half of Republicans (47%) said so.
www.pewresearch.org/science/2023... 🧪🌐

‪Conrad Hackett‬
‪@conradhackett.bsky.social‬
· 9mo
We often worry about the wrong things.

People killed annually by
Sharks 10
Elephants 100
Hippos 500
Snails 10,000
Dogs 25,000
Snakes 50,000
People 475,000
Mosquitoes 725,000
🧪
This graphic, created for Bill Gates' website, shows that diseases transmitted by mosquitoes are responsible for vastly more human deaths than other animals. While sharks inspire fear in many, they kill few people.
ALT

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‪Conrad Hackett‬
‪@conradhackett.bsky.social‬
· 9mo
Disease prevalence in US states before & after vaccine introduction

Graphic from Edward Tufte
More graphics.wsj.com/infectious-d... 🧪
Graphic shows dramatic reduction in polio, rubella, mumps, measles, and hepatitis A cases after the introduction of vaccines for each disease.
ALT

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‪Conrad Hackett‬
‪@conradhackett.bsky.social‬
· 1mo
About 1 in 4 U.S. adults worry they or someone close to them could be deported.
www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...

About 1 in 4 U.S. adults worry they or someone close to them could be deported
About four-in-ten immigrants (43%) say they worry a lot or some, up from 33% in March.
www.pewresearch.org

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‪Conrad Hackett‬
‪@conradhackett.bsky.social‬
· 3d
Disease prevalence in US states before & after vaccine introduction 🧪

From Edward Tufte & graphics.wsj.com/infectious-d...

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‪Conrad Hackett‬
‪@conradhackett.bsky.social‬
· 9mo
Americans killed annually by
All Islamic jihadist terrorists 9
Armed toddlers 21
Lightning 31
Lawnmowers 69
Busses 264
Falling out of bed 737
Being shot by another American 11,737

2017 estimates. The Royal Statistical Society gave this compilation its International Statistic of the Year award.
Chart compiling statistics on the number of Americans killed annually various causes. Includes source notes.
ALT

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‪Conrad Hackett‬
‪@conradhackett.bsk…

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Reposted by Vijay Marupudi

Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · Aug 30

Here's a #GiftLink for those who want to read the full NYT obit of historian of science & gender, Margaret Rossiter. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/29/s... #histSTM 🧪🗃️

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Reposted by Vijay Marupudi

Sam Gershman @gershbrain.bsky.social · Aug 28

RIP foreign PhD students in the US. So sad and self-defeating.

www.politico.com/news/2025/08...

Trump administration plans to limit how long foreign students can study in the US

Foreign students have been allowed to stay in the country for as long as they were full-time students making progress in their degrees.

www.politico.com

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Vijay Marupudi @vijaymarupudi.bsky.social · Aug 24

www.cell.com/trends/cogni...

Understanding individual differences to specific rewards through music

Understanding reward processing is essential for comprehending human behavior, from motivation and learning to affective disorders and addiction. Most research assumes a global sensitivity to reward, ...

www.cell.com

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Reposted by Vijay Marupudi

CantlonLab @cantlonlab.bsky.social · Aug 20

Children build math skills on a “cognitive bridge” between space & number. But where does it come from? Our new study finds monkeys transfer learning and abstractions across geometry & numerosity, revealing the evolutionary roots of basic math development. 🧪🧠

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Cognitive bridge between geometric and numerical learning in monkeys | PNAS

Educational research highlights strong developmental links between numerical and spatial cognition in humans, often shaped by cultural tools like t...

www.pnas.org

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Reposted by Vijay Marupudi

Gordon Pennycook @gordpennycook.bsky.social · Aug 19

If these rules were in place 2 years ago (when I was deciding if I should leave Canada for the US), I absolutely would NOT have come to the US. Just on principle.

I suspect the same is true for MANY international scientists & scholars. Presumably this is why these new rules are being put in place

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · Aug 19

NEW: McCarthyism returns to immigration law, as @USCIS announces that it will begin screening applicants for immigration benefits for "Anti-America ideologies or activities." The term has no prior precedent in immigration law and its definition is entirely up to the Trump admin.

August 19, 2025 PA-2025-16
Policy Alert
SUBJECT: Clarifying Discretionary Factors in Certain Immigration Benefit Requests
Purpose
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is updating policy guidance in the USCIS
Policy Manual regarding the factors that officers may consider in certain benefit requests where an
exercise of discretion is required, including factors relating to aliens’ past requests for parole and
any involvement in anti-American or terrorist organizations.
Background
For certain immigration benefit requests, such as adjustment of status, the alien bears the burden of
proof to demonstrate that a favorable exercise of discretion is warranted.1 For these benefit requests,
the discretionary analysis is a separate component of adjudicating the benefit request which occurs
after an officer determines whether all threshold eligibility requirements have been met. The act of
exercising discretion involves weighing positive and negative factors and considering the totality of
the circumstances in each case. There are various factors officers may consider when conducting a
discretionary analysis, including facts relating to an alien’s conduct, character, family ties,
immigration history, and any humanitarian concerns.
USCIS guidance provides that an alien’s compliance with immigration laws is a relevant factor when
determining if a favorable exercise of discretion is warranted. USCIS is updating the Policy Manual
to provide additional guidance for officers on the significant negative discretionary weight USCIS
assigns in circumstances where an alien has endorsed, promoted, supported, or otherwise espoused
the views of a terrorist organization or group, including those who support or promote anti-American
ideologies or activities, antisemitic terrorism, antisemitic terrorist organizations, and antisemitic
ideologies, in any case involving an exercise of discretion.2
In cases where the alien has engaged in such activities, USCIS will enforce all relevant …

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Vijay Marupudi @vijaymarupudi.bsky.social · Aug 19

Couldn't find anything simple and easy to use, so I made a tool to generate auditory numerosity stimuli for ANS studies in Python. Feel free to use it!

gitlab.com/vijaymarupud...

Vijay Marupudi / auditory-numerosity · GitLab

GitLab.com

gitlab.com

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Reposted by Vijay Marupudi

Nicole McNeil @nicolemmcneil.bsky.social · Aug 18

Science belongs to all of us! Check out this piece Clarissa Thompson and I wrote for a small town paper in southwestern PA as part of the brilliant Science Homecoming @sciencehomecoming.bsky.social series by @cantlonlab.bsky.social and @spiantado.bsky.social. www.dailycourier.com/opinion/why-...

Why science belongs to all of us

Growing up in our small towns outside Pittsburgh in the 1980s, we never knew science and math weren’t “for us.” We counted from 1-12 with Sesame Street’s jazzy “Pinball Number

www.dailycourier.com

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Reposted by Vijay Marupudi

Adele Goldberg @adelegoldberg.bsky.social · Aug 17

A brilliant linguist and sociolinguist, RIP
Gift article from NYT www.nytimes.com/2025/08/15/u...

Robin Lakoff, Expert on Language and Gender, Is Dead at 82

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Vijay Marupudi

Allie Sinclair @asinclair.bsky.social · Aug 4

📣 New preprint from the SCIMaP team!

Across three studies, we show that communicating the economic impact of NIH funding cuts—especially with interactive quizzes and maps—decreases approval and motivates action to oppose the cuts, across the political spectrum. 🧵 1/8
osf.io/preprints/ps...

OSF

osf.io

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Vijay Marupudi @vijaymarupudi.bsky.social · Aug 8

Consider donating to Save The Children if you've got the spare cash to help the children in Gaza

They have excellent scores on Charity Navigator <https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/060726487>

Charity Organization for Children

Save the Children is a leading humanitarian organization for children. Our charity has changed the lives of over 1 billion children in the U.S. and around the world.

www.savethechildren.org

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Vijay Marupudi @vijaymarupudi.bsky.social · Aug 8

Holy moly

Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · Aug 8

These changes in personality are pretty shocking

Reposted by Vijay Marupudi

Panayiota (Pani) Kendeou @kendeou.bsky.social · Aug 7

🎓 Excited to share our review paper on Generative AI and Misinformation in Education! 🤖📚

#GenerativeAI #EdTech #AIInEducation #Misinformation #DigitalLiteracy #EducationResearch #AIEthics

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

GenAI and misinformation in education: a systematic scoping review of opportunities and challenges - AI & SOCIETY

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) has emerged as a transformative and disruptive force in education and society, with the potential to both create and correct misinformation. In education, mi...

link.springer.com

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