Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Nick Hopkinson

@copddoc.bsky.social

Merry Christmas Mr Mandela.

December 25, 2025 at 10:44 PM

Nick Hopkinson

@copddoc.bsky.social

A heavy moral burden as Palestine Action hunger strikers risk death.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

A heavy moral burden as Palestine Action hunger strikers risk death | Letters

Letters: Dr David Nicholl and Dr John Kalk discuss medical ethics in relation to the care of prisoners on hunger strike, and Dr Jonathan Fluxman calls on Labour to act now before the worst happens

www.theguardian.com

December 23, 2025 at 8:18 PM

Reposted by Nick Hopkinson

Julia Raifman, ScD

@juliaraifman.bsky.social

Did you know?

CDC has an RSV dashboard

As we roll out monoclonal antibodies for infant RSV, the rate of infant hospitalizations is under 10% what it was 2 years ago & 34% vs last year

Many more kids home & healthy for the holidays

Still early but hope it continues

www.cdc.gov/resp-net/das...

Cumulative Infant RSV hospitalizations by season for 0-1 year olds

Table available at:
https://www.cdc.gov/resp-net/dashboard/index.html

December 21, 2025 at 12:45 PM

Nick Hopkinson

@copddoc.bsky.social

Happy birthday, Tony Wheeler.

December 21, 2025 at 1:02 PM

Reposted by Nick Hopkinson

Mike Daube

@mikedaube.bsky.social

This level of industry opposition makes the measure look better and better.

Nick Hopkinson @copddoc.bsky.social · 7d

Debunking claims that the smokefree generation (which applies to all tobacco products) conflicts with EU law.
And other attempts to delay UK law in the courts which have failed over the last 20 years @ashorguk.bsky.social @whofctc.bsky.social @europeanrespsoc.bsky.social ash.org.uk/media-centre...

Does the Smokefree Generation Really Break EU Law? Industry vs Evidence - ASH

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) is a campaigning public health charity that works to eliminate the harm caused by tobacco.

ash.org.uk

December 19, 2025 at 10:56 AM

Nick Hopkinson

@copddoc.bsky.social

Debunking claims that the smokefree generation (which applies to all tobacco products) conflicts with EU law.
And other attempts to delay UK law in the courts which have failed over the last 20 years @ashorguk.bsky.social @whofctc.bsky.social @europeanrespsoc.bsky.social ash.org.uk/media-centre...

Does the Smokefree Generation Really Break EU Law? Industry vs Evidence - ASH

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) is a campaigning public health charity that works to eliminate the harm caused by tobacco.

ash.org.uk

December 19, 2025 at 10:24 AM

Nick Hopkinson

@copddoc.bsky.social

Australia has now banned engineered stone, after hundreds of tradespeople were diagnosed, while in California, 435 silicosis cases in engineered stone workers have been confirmed since 2019, with 25 of them workers dying. archive.ph/yobET#select... @asthmaandlung.org.uk #RespEd #LungSky

archive.ph

December 18, 2025 at 1:34 PM

Reposted by Nick Hopkinson

Steve Griffin

@profstevegriffin.bsky.social

So, to those who say "masks don't work", cite the flawed Cochrane report, insist upon an unfeasible RCT, accuse folks of panic, and undermine public health on social and mainstream media during a flu/RSV epidemic...

1. Seasonal viruses may be "normal", but they do immense harm.

December 12, 2025 at 11:07 AM

Reposted by Nick Hopkinson

Prof Danny Altmann

@daltmann.bsky.social

Get your flu vaccine and protect Gran at Xmas👇

December 17, 2025 at 3:05 PM

Reposted by Nick Hopkinson

Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her)

@moudhy.bsky.social

Clay letters from ancient Mesopotamia are alive with idiom, sayings, and everyday language that I love.

Here are just a few random ones so you can enjoy them too.

December 17, 2025 at 3:47 PM

Reposted by Nick Hopkinson

𝖂𝖊𝖗𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖎𝖒𝖊𝖗

@wertheimer.bsky.social

As our own species is in the process of proving,
one cannot have superior science and inferior morals.
The combination is unstable and self-destroying.

Arthur C. Clarke
16 Dec 1917🎂
#BookSky📘

December 16, 2025 at 11:26 AM

Nick Hopkinson

@copddoc.bsky.social

"integration of tobacco cessation into mental health services — supported by political will, training, and equitable resourcing — is both necessary and achievable." www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/... @ashorguk.bsky.social @ash.org

The Epidemic of Tobacco Harms among People with Mental Health Conditions | NEJM

High rates of tobacco use among people with mental health conditions contribute to their increased morbidity and mortality, but tobacco cessation interventions can be effective in this population.

www.nejm.org

December 16, 2025 at 4:08 PM

Reposted by Nick Hopkinson

Martin McKee

@martinmckee.bsky.social

🧵1/ Flu is surging again, & patterns look uncomfortably familiar. The lesson from covid remains unchanged: individual responsibility isn’t enough. We need systemic measures that make protective behaviours easy. @profstevegriffin.bsky.social Stephen Reicher & I offer some thoughts @bmj.com

December 16, 2025 at 11:49 AM

Reposted by Nick Hopkinson

Robin Ince

@robinince.bsky.social

Very sad that I felt I had no choice but to resign from The Infinite Monkey Cage - a victory for the transphobes and other bigots - I did it because so much of the media has chosen to believe the kind and empathetic people are a fiction - they are real and so often unrepresented.

This is the saddest day of my professional life.
Today is not only the final recording of the latest series of The Infinite Monkey Cage, it is my last ever Monkey Cage.
I never thought that I would have to leave the show. I always imagined going on until | dropped dead under the studio lights due to a brain aneurysm caused by my final attempt to understand notions of quantum gravity or the shock of being told about fly maggot infestations in the sacks of macaque monkeys.
I resigned in September, after sixteen years of dedication to the show,
A show that I named and helped develop over all those years.
Unfortunately, my opinions outside the BBC have been considered problematic for sometime, whether it has been voicing support for the trans community, criticism of Donald Trump, numerous other outlandish opinions, including once gently criticising Stephen Fry.
These things were considered to conflict with being a freelance BBC science presenter

In a recent meeting where BBC Studio executives again voiced problems with me, I realised my choices.
Obedience and being quieter to remain making Monkey Cage, or 'Resign and have the freedom to speak out against what I believe are injustices'.
•
I chose the latter.
It broke my heart.
I love this show and I love the audience, and it is because of the audience in particular, that this decision was so difficult to make.
I kept thinking about all the extremist voices promoting hate and division. They are being given so many platforms, while voices that represent kindness, open mindedness, empathy seem to be scarcer and scarcer.
I felt I couldn't pamper myself with the luxury of silence.
One of my many privileges is that I am able to resign and I can speak out even if it is to the detriment of my career.

I have thought a lot about my heroes, Sinead O Connor, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and so many more.
I think of Sinead's words, "the job of an artist is to be themselves at any cost".
James Baldwin said prejudice was really just a word for cowardice.
Audre Lorde, viewing her life, wrote that her only regrets were her silences.
I think of my father as I resign, he brought me up to believe in fairness , justice and kindness.
Though my heart is broken, it is also full of fire.
I apologise to our incredible listeners for my departure, your love of the show means a great deal.
I am so sorry to let you down.
I hope that you can understand my reasoning.
I have to accept that I am not what the current
BBC expects of their freelance presenters.

Despite this I should add that I have always worked far more than my contracted hours to try and ensure the show was always the best it could be, as well as making myself accessible and responsive to the audience wherever and whenever I met them. Every night, we have recorded, I have been filled with determination to make the best show possible. This was not
"just a job"
I hope that with my departure I can be a better ally to the LGBTQ community, to the neurodivergent community, to activists fighting against those who aim to brutalise society, to those currently in prison on hunger strike, and to all those who fight for a more inclusive world.
From many conversations, I know there are many Monkey Cage listeners who support these communities and activists too.
The strawberry is dead.
Long live the strawberry. B

December 13, 2025 at 12:02 AM

Nick Hopkinson

@copddoc.bsky.social

Shameless corruption vs paralysing cowardice. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

The Reith Lectures - Rutger Bregman - Moral Revolution - 1. A Time of Monsters - BBC Sounds

Dutch historian Rutger Bregman delivers his first BBC Reith Lecture: Moral Revolution.

www.bbc.co.uk

December 13, 2025 at 6:37 PM

Nick Hopkinson

@copddoc.bsky.social

Joy

December 11, 2025 at 10:56 PM

Nick Hopkinson

@copddoc.bsky.social

More tobacco sleaze www.eureporter.co/uncategorize...

EU officials’ contacts with tobacco industry under scrutiny after new report questions transparency

A new report by two anti-tobacco advocacy groups has raised concerns about the transparency of interactions between European Union officials and the tobacco industry, prompting renewed debate over how...

www.eureporter.co

December 11, 2025 at 4:06 PM

Reposted by Nick Hopkinson

The BMJ

@bmj.com

Comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights is inherently social and political.

Yet the current funding environment sidelines this reality, privileging what's apolitical, say @khosla.bsky.social @pascaleallotey.bsky.social Sofia Gruskin #SRHR #HumanRightsDay
www.bmj.com/content/391/...

December 10, 2025 at 4:33 PM

Nick Hopkinson

@copddoc.bsky.social

Our glorious editor @bmj.com

December 10, 2025 at 8:34 PM

Reposted by Nick Hopkinson

ATS Blue Journal

@atsblueeditor.bsky.social

A Long-Term Physical Activity Coaching Program for Patients with COPD

Maintaining long-term physical activity in COPD is a challenge. This study compares intense vs light telecoaching
@atscommunity.bsky.social #medsky

🔓 Open Access

🔗 tinyurl.com/2rj977p8

December 5, 2025 at 4:56 PM

Nick Hopkinson

@copddoc.bsky.social

Associations between time spent on social media and both smoking and vaping among children. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC... #LungSky #RespEd @ashorguk.bsky.social @imperialnhli.bsky.social

December 9, 2025 at 3:13 PM

Nick Hopkinson

@copddoc.bsky.social

London Youth Vaping Position Statement
www.londontobaccoalliance.org.uk/resources/lo... From the London Tobacco Alliance @ashorguk.bsky.social #LungSky #RespEd

London Youth Vaping Position Statement

A clear, evidence-based framework for preventing youth vaping.

www.londontobaccoalliance.org.uk

December 9, 2025 at 2:52 PM

Reposted by Nick Hopkinson

Royal College of Physicians

@rcphysicians.bsky.social

On the latest episode of Newcross Healthcare’s #VoicesofCare podcast, Prof Mumtaz Patel joined to discuss the need for radical reform of medical training, the daily cultural & operation pressures facing physicians & the importance of supporting female medical leaders.

🎧 ow.ly/FsCb50XFGKv