Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by James Antill

Laurasaurus

@laurasaurus.bsky.social

I’m howling.

Recently, Clifford "Buzz" Grambo decided to upgrade his electric scooter. The old one he had purchased online only reached 16 mph and wasn't cutting it anymore. He needed to go faster to keep up with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement cars he chases around Baltimore. So, Grambo bought a Segway MAX G3, which features a 2,000-watt motor and can get up to 28 mph.
"The first time I caught up to them, I could tell that they already knew who I was," he told me when we first spoke on the phone in late October. "They had seen me before, so they thought they were just going to speed away. I was like, ha-ha bitches, I got a new scooter!"

November 20, 2025 at 2:16 PM

Reposted by James Antill

Jason Bergman

@jasonxbergman.bsky.social

My latest at @comicsjournal.bsky.social: I talked to @oglaf.bsky.social! Not the character, but rather, the people who create it.

They don't do many interviews, so this was a real treat. They're funny people! Turns out they're not super private, just...really bad at PR?

www.tcj.com/talking-ogla...

Talking Oglaf with Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne: 'We'd stay up all night drawing stuff to make each other laugh' - The Comics Journal

Other than some time off every year for Christmas, Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne have delivered a new Oglaf comic, skewering fantasy tropes with absolutely not safe for work humor, every week since 2008...

www.tcj.com

November 10, 2025 at 4:23 PM

Reposted by James Antill

Artologica aka Michele Banks

@artologica.net

#sciart www.quantamagazine.org/origami-patt...

Origami Patterns Solve a Major Physics Riddle | Quanta Magazine

The amplituhedron, a shape at the heart of particle physics, appears to be deeply connected to the mathematics of paper folding.

www.quantamagazine.org

November 4, 2025 at 2:36 PM

Reposted by James Antill

Chris Murphy

@chrismurphyct.bsky.social

One week after Trump pardoned Binance’s owner (for a stunning array of crimes related to terrorist and sex predator financing), Binance starts promoting Trump crypto.

The White House is a full time, 24/7 corruption machine.

October 28, 2025 at 10:07 PM

Reposted by James Antill

Violet Blue®

@violetblue.bsky.social

FWIW, this 10-chapter serial is scary, funny, engages with real history and creepy urban legends, and also copes with witnessing the real-time horrors unfolding in America. It's centered on the experience of expats, immigrants, queer, and Indigenous characters surviving colonialist BS.

Violet Blue® @violetblue.bsky.social · Oct 2

B is for BELIEVE.

www.patreon.com/posts/ghost-...

Book cover black background and gold lettering in the style of an Ouija board. Text reads: The Ghost Hunter's Guide to the Alphabet. Beneath in revese, text reads: By Violet Blue Pōneke Wellington. At the very bottom it reads "Goodbye." Woodcut style images include a wind god, a sun god, a feather, the "one common skull" (gravestone detail), two floating hands with eyes reaching up above and down below, trees native to Aotearoa, a tabby cat, ferns, a laser Kiwi bird lasering a headstone, and at the center is a steamship on the water.

October 2, 2025 at 9:30 PM

James Antill

@jamesantill.bsky.social

For when you can't go outside:

#birdphotography #birds #photography #nature

www.birdpoty.com/2025-winners

View the Bird Photographer of the Year 2025 Winners — Bird Photographer of the Year

The competition celebrates the best bird photography from around the world.

www.birdpoty.com

October 1, 2025 at 12:55 AM

Reposted by James Antill

Ian Scott

@polpo.org

Yesterday we visited Green Mountain Falls, CO to visit the kinetic sculpture Off the Beaten Path by Patrick Shearn. I wasn’t ready for just how dynamic it was even in the slightest breeze. Reminds me of a murmuration of starlings. Incredible artwork. It’ll only be up through October 19th.

September 2, 2025 at 7:47 PM

Reposted by James Antill

Susie Dent

@susiedent.com

Sometimes the historical dictionary offers solace through the existence of an obsolete word that is sorely needed now. One of them is ‘respair’, recorded just once, in the 15th century. It means fresh hope, and a recovery from despair.

July 26, 2025 at 8:59 AM

Reposted by James Antill

Opal

@opalescentopal.bsky.social

With Tom Lehrer's passing, I suppose this is a moment to share the story of the prank he played on the National Security Agency, and how it went undiscovered for nearly 60 years.

July 27, 2025 at 9:01 PM

James Antill

@jamesantill.bsky.social

Charlie doesn't like the sun, or heat/humidity, but has a lot of excess energy this morning. Photo taken moments before chaos/violence was chosen, as the solution.

Tuxedo cat staring through the thin in a felt box of a cat tower, at his "sister" grey cat.

July 25, 2025 at 6:19 PM

James Antill

@jamesantill.bsky.social

Informative and only a couple of minutes long.

Mueller, She Wrote @muellershewrote.com · Jul 25

In light of Tulsi’s recent ridiculous claims, a friend just posted this old explainer from 6 years ago about the scope of the Russia investigation that I’d completely forgotten about! 😂 youtu.be/o-CCxLmkn-w?...

How the Mueller Report is Like a Pizza

YouTube video by MSW Media

youtu.be

July 25, 2025 at 4:30 PM

Reposted by James Antill

🏳️‍🌈 HeroRareheart 🏳️‍⚧️

@herorareheart.bsky.social

Finally, I can post this video I've been hanging on to since somebody sent it to me.

July 14, 2025 at 6:08 PM

Reposted by James Antill

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory

@vrubinobs.bsky.social

Our favorite kinds of fireworks are the cosmic kind 🌟🎆

Our #RubinFirstLook image of the Trifid and Lagoon Nebulae has plenty of cosmic fireworks to explore! Let the bright, young stars in these clusters add some sparkle to your #FourthOfJuly holiday ✨🔭🧪

📷: NSF–DOE Rubin Obs.

Dense field of blue and yellow stars against a vibrant, glowing backdrop of orange and red nebula clouds.

Dense cluster of bright blue stars shining like beacons against wispy nebula cloud of orange and blue. The background is filled with countless smaller stars.

Image of a globular cluster with a radiant core and a mix of blue and orange stars spread throughout against a yellow-orange background of wispy nebula clouds.

July 4, 2025 at 2:15 PM

Reposted by James Antill

Sophia Babai

@swingingstorm.bsky.social

My mom and stepdad are from the same diaspora group as Zohran Mamdani’s dad (same like “my stepdad was kicked out of the same town and knows some of his classmates”) and apparently the New York Times doesn’t understand how diaspora works, so I am going to tell you a little about my mom’s people!

July 3, 2025 at 11:25 PM

Reposted by James Antill

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory

@vrubinobs.bsky.social

Yesterday we released our cosmic treasure chest...and now it's yours to explore! With ✨~10 million galaxies✨ in the image, there's plenty to find.

Pan, zoom, and hunt for gems in this treasure chest using Skyviewer - and be sure to share your favorites with us! 🔭🧪

➡️ skyviewer.app/explorer

$A field of galaxies of many shapes, sizes and colors, as well as the bright multi-colored points of stars. At left is a large elliptical galaxy, smooth like a polished stone. At right lies a large spiral galaxy that is nearly a ring, with bright golden core. To its lower left is a smaller spiral with a barred core. At top and bottom, two bright stars shine brightly with multi-colored diffraction spikes emanating out. In the background, hundreds of galaxies are just smudges of various colors.$

A field of galaxies of many shapes, sizes and colors, as well as the bright multi-colored points of stars. At top left is a large galaxy that is smooth like a stone, with wisps like cotton candy spiral from left and right. In the background, hundreds of galaxies of many shapes are just smudges of various colors against the black of space. / A field of galaxies of many shapes, sizes and colors, as well as the bright multi-colored points of stars. At bottom left is an elegant two-armed galaxy, with arms extended like a dancer viewed from above. The bright points of three stars form a triangle at top center. In the background, hundreds of galaxies of many shapes are just smudges of various colors against the black of space.

$A field of galaxies of many shapes, sizes and colors, as well as the bright multi-colored points of stars. At top right is a large galaxy with two whirling spiral arms wrapping around like a hug. At bottom left, two smooth elliptical galaxies appear near each other, like champagne glasses in the midst of a cheers. A bright star above the pair has red, green, and blue diffraction spikes emanating out. In the background, hundreds of galaxies of many shapes are just smudges of various colors.$ A field of galaxies of many shapes, sizes and colors, as well as the bright multi-colored points of stars. At center is a spiral galaxy peppered with tight, knotted clumps of vivid blue, young stars. In the background, hundreds of galaxies of many shapes are just smudges of various colors against the black of space.

A field of galaxies of many shapes, sizes and colors, as well as the bright multi-colored points of stars. At center is a spiral galaxy peppered with tight, knotted clumps of vivid blue, young stars. In the background, hundreds of galaxies of many shapes are just smudges of various colors against the black of space.

June 24, 2025 at 11:47 PM

Reposted by James Antill

Reactor Magazine

@reactorsff.bsky.social

We're here, we're queer, and we're looking towards the future! Author @leemandelo.bsky.social recommends five works rooted not just in where queer and trans stories have been–but where they *could* be 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

reactormag.com/five-stories...

What If Things Were Different? — Five Works of Queer and Trans Futurity - Reactor

Celebrating queer SFF stories about making communities, surviving together, and maybe even flourishing

reactormag.com

June 24, 2025 at 2:13 PM

Reposted by James Antill

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory

@vrubinobs.bsky.social

If there's one thing you should know about NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory, it's this:

✨It's going to build the greatest time-lapse movie of the cosmos ever made✨

And tomorrow is the world's first preview of how Rubin will #CaptureTheCosmos in the coming decade! 🔭🧪