Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Tony Nuspl

@tonynuspl.bsky.social

Plug in your location, find how much you're at risk from #floodwaters in the next 5, 50, or 100 years

Bringing new meaning to the term #coastalretreat

#EnvScience
#EnvHist
#RisingOceans
#RetreatToHigherGround
#disasterpreparedness
#RiskDistributionSociety

app.climatecentral.org/coastal-risk...

screencap of the map provided for the Massachusetts coastline, estuaries, and inland waters, from online tool
https://app.climatecentral.org/coastal-risk-finder

February 16, 2026 at 5:47 PM

Tony Nuspl

@tonynuspl.bsky.social

Scandinavian countries are way ahead on this curve.
#BrightGreenEnvironmentalism

February 15, 2026 at 4:44 PM

Tony Nuspl

@tonynuspl.bsky.social

Over the decades, downhill skiing has contaminated the mountainsides with PFAS, glycerin, shellac, even whale oil, kerosene, and spermaceti. The forever chemicals even got into the aquifers.
#envhist
#fluoroban
#replacementproducts

Grist @grist.org · 6d

This week's high octane ski races have a unique environmental backstory: They're the first Olympic races without fluoro waxes -- a source of speed, and of PFAS contamination https://bit.ly/4qeunSj

The Olympics are ditching PFAS waxes — and the ‘ridiculous’ speed they gave skiers

A key source of speed is gone, as concerns over toxic “forever chemicals” reshape Olympic skiing and the science behind winning on snow.

bit.ly

February 14, 2026 at 5:43 PM

Tony Nuspl

@tonynuspl.bsky.social

"...more people lived in the classic-era Maya lowlands than on the Italian peninsula during the peak of the Roman empire – all crammed into an area a third of the size"

#worldhistory
#archeaology
#comparativegeography
#collapsology
#Biosphere
#NatureReserve
#LongRead

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 5d

Apocalypse no: how almost everything we thought we knew about the Maya is wrong

For many years the prevailing debate about the Maya centred upon why their civilisation collapsed. Now, many scholars are asking: how did the Maya survive?

www.theguardian.com

February 14, 2026 at 3:30 AM

Tony Nuspl

@tonynuspl.bsky.social

The Fourth Estate undermined by "corporate-style consulting firms" imposing their #bizmodel "market-driven metrics'

#EducationalConsulting
#PrivatizationoOfPublicGoods
#CapitalismWithoutHumans
#Enshittification
#universitycorporateinvasion
#educatedcitizenry

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

‘Just not monetizable’: humanities programs face existential crisis at US universities

Fears over the future of humanities spread amid layoffs and restructurings at scores of public and private universities

www.theguardian.com

February 12, 2026 at 8:11 PM

Tony Nuspl

@tonynuspl.bsky.social

Maggie Smith (1934 – 2024) #lastfourwatched of her portrayals of characters in tv or film 🎥🎬
#filmsky #moviesky
#filmadaptation #letterboxd
#GridArt #gridmix

stills from her performances in 1985, 2001, 2007, and 2022, a collage of 4 images (created using Grid Art app):
column left:
top-left and bottom-left: her Oscar-nominated roles for both A Room with a View (1985, adapted from E. M. Forster's 1908 novel) and Gosford Park (2001, written by Julian Fellowes);
colum right:
top-right, the role that earned her three Emmy Awards, as Violet Crawley in the British period drama Downton Abbey (2010–2022, written by Julian Fellowes et.al.)
and bottom-right, her portrayal of Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter film series (2001–2011, based on the novels of J.K. Rowling)

February 11, 2026 at 4:02 PM

Tony Nuspl

@tonynuspl.bsky.social

Alexander Calder (1898–1976) monumental 1965 'stabile' (his #neologism), a violently vibrant #surrealist sculpture depicting 'the Lord of the Dance', located in front of Westin Hotel, Crown Center, Kansas City.
photo©TonyNuspl2017
#publicart
#publicspaces
#FotoVorschlag Öffentliche Kunst
#arthistory

alt-text: Outdoor sculpture in the following media: sheet metal, bolts, and red paint. Created in Roxbury, CT; moved to KC in 1974.
The artwork is contrasted against the background cladding on the building serving as backdrop--very much a canvas against which the positive space and bold forms of the sculpture jump out. Two of the semi-circles are edged with shapes meant to symbolize tongues of flame, as in the Nataraja Bronze. The public work stands 18' high (or 5.5m tall), at the corner of Grand Ave. & Pershing, not far from the sidewalk.
from the description at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art (Wash.D.C.): "Six-legged stabile. Two of the legs have multiple 'arms' extending from them. The sculpture is fabricated from sheets of steel, cut and brightly painted red. The planes of flat steel intersect at angles, giving depth and width to the sculpture."
Also from the same period Calder's 'Teodelapio' (1962), situated in Spoleto, Italy, standing 59' high (18 m tall) and Calder's' 'Stegosaurus' (1972), some 40' high (or 12m tall), in Hartford, CT

February 10, 2026 at 4:40 PM

Tony Nuspl

@tonynuspl.bsky.social

"Hoarfrost, Sky-Portal"
©TonyNuspl2013
from a series "Nature Without Her Diadem" (2013-2023)
re-post from 2023 on Fadebook
#NegativeSpace
#FotoVorschlag
#SecretSpaces
#landscapephotogaphy
#treecanopy
#Zen #photographers

February 9, 2026 at 4:51 PM

Tony Nuspl

@tonynuspl.bsky.social

French government switching to non-U.S. Visio, in order to reduce dependency on proprietary offerings. #Microsucks will lose 2.5 million customers.

DitchMicrosoft club gains yet another country member

#visioconférence
#visiophonie
#CentaurYourCellphone
#privacy-o-meter

itdaily.com/news/softwar...

France switches to homemade Zoom alternative Visio

By 2027, the French government will replace all external video conferencing tools with Visio, an internally developed and secure alternative to Zoom and Teams, among others.

itdaily.com

February 9, 2026 at 3:57 PM

Tony Nuspl

@tonynuspl.bsky.social

And follow the embedded link to the same author's earlier piece, also in The Conversation, "Troy’s fall was partly due to environmental strain – and it holds lessons for today"

#envhist
#ClassicsInTranslation
#archealogicalrecord
#AsiaMinor

Peter Gainsford @kiwihellenist.bsky.social · 15d

Stephan Blum emphasises that the city of Troy was characterised by millennia of peaceful occupation, trade, and continuity, generation after generation.

(The site was peacefully abandoned twice - first around 950 BCE, then resettled, then abandoned again in the mediaeval period.)

Rethinking Troy: how years of careful peace, not epic war, shaped this bronze age city

The real heartbeat of Troy is a story that history has long forgotten.

theconversation.com

February 9, 2026 at 2:53 AM

Tony Nuspl

@tonynuspl.bsky.social

Need to know: Block #AIvideos on YouTube, channels such as MaveLoop, with "AI content shield" add-on or browser extension in Firefox
(Block specific YouTube channels you've learned to hate, from your home page)
#opensourcewebbrowser
#petpeeves
#FirstWorldProblems
addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefo...

AI Content Shield - AI Detector & Content Blocker – Get this Extension for 🦊 Firefox (en-US)

Download AI Content Shield - AI Detector & Content Blocker for Firefox. AI Detector and AI Content Blocker - Protect your feed with AI Content Shield: block AI videos, posts, articles, and features on...

addons.mozilla.org

February 7, 2026 at 2:36 PM

Tony Nuspl

@tonynuspl.bsky.social

Two views of San Antonio
©TonyNuspl2022
#Palaces&Gardens
#SecretPlaces
#urbanphotography
#historicplaces
#travelphotography
#gardenscape

diptych: two views of walled gardens, both romantic restoration projects, of two urban historic sites, depicting what they might have looked like when San Antonio, previously known as San Antonio de Béxar, was part of the Spanish frontier, moving eastwards and northwards, within 'las Provincias Internas de Oriente' of the Spanish Empire in N.America. Both gardens are organized around a central fountain, with old growth trees providing a canopy overhead. Groundskeepers not depicted. No staffage at all.
Img left: multiple-arched garden wall is visible, as well as a walkway
Img right: garden wall is partly obscured, in the background, with a closed gate; an organic pattern in the walkway, in the foreground.
copyright notice for both photos: bottom right, img right

February 6, 2026 at 5:07 PM

Tony Nuspl

@tonynuspl.bsky.social

The Thwaites Glacier's ice shelf is being eroded from underneath by warmer waters. Will it break free from its moorings?
#DoomsdayGlacier
#TippingPoints #Oceanography
#GlobalWarming vs #Cryosphere2026
#envhist
youtu.be/k_2YcyN3IiQ?...

Researchers face serious obstacles to measuring Antarctica’s fastest-melting glacier

YouTube video by PBS NewsHour

youtu.be

February 5, 2026 at 6:55 PM

Tony Nuspl

@tonynuspl.bsky.social

Celebrating 1 year as a child of bluer skies: an old book review for H-Net (Humanities Network, Michigan State University), of Proving Grounds (2015)

disclaimer/correction: I have not been affiliated with RSU for some time.
#envhist
#antiwar #historians
@HNetreviews
www.h-net.org/reviews/show...

digital image based on real world data by Arthur Trembanis (University of Delaware) showing a part of the Pacific Proving Grounds, a weapons range in the BikiniAtoll, published in an article entitled "Enormous Craters Blasted in Seafloor by Nuclear Bombs Mapped for the First Time" written by Mindy Weisberger, published 10Dec2019 in LiveScience
with photo caption: Using data from sonar, researchers created the first map of an underwater nuclear battlefield in Bikini Atoll. (Image credit: Arthur Trembanis). This illustration is NOT in the book, Proving Grounds (2015).

February 4, 2026 at 4:36 PM

Tony Nuspl

@tonynuspl.bsky.social

in the photo: the decommissioned Maanshan-2, a 938-MW pressurised water reactor in Pingtung County, Taiwan, that permanently shut down on 17 May 2025. The island nation has now abandoned nuclear power altogether.

Nuclear creates tons of #radioactivewaste each year.

theecologist.org/2026/jan/28/...

Nuclear industry 'is fizzling out'

Investors take note: nuclear power has spent 25 years in stagnation, while renewable energy has seen unprecedented growth.

theecologist.org

February 3, 2026 at 3:37 PM

Tony Nuspl

@tonynuspl.bsky.social

Organisers framed the Milano/Cortina #WinterGames as "rooted in sustainability rather than scale". Milan–Cortina d'Ampezzo "placed environmental concerns at the heart of their bid, promising reduced carbon emissions and protection of ecosystems."
#ClimateCrisis
www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/j...

Winter Olympics preview: one week to go until Milano Cortina 2026

We set the scene in Italy as final preparations are made for the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics

www.theguardian.com

February 2, 2026 at 7:14 PM

Tony Nuspl

@tonynuspl.bsky.social

With photovoltaic panels on the bonnet (hood, 'frunk'), roof and tailgate (trunk). Nissan says drivers could reduce external charging frequency by between 35% and 65%.
#SolarTech
#PoweredByTheSun
#ConceptCar
#NextGenSolar
#Stunday
evsandbeyond.co.nz/nissan-unvei...

Nissan unveils solar-powered Ariya concept

Nissan has unveiled a solar-powered version of its Ariya electric SUV, showcasing how future electric vehicles could generate their own

evsandbeyond.co.nz

February 1, 2026 at 4:49 PM

Tony Nuspl

@tonynuspl.bsky.social

Live streaming Formula ePrix in Miami City, on ROKU Sports, today

GEN3 Evo car: 0-60mph in 1.82 secs, 30% faster than current Formula 1 car, with up to 350kw (470 hp) on demand, top speed of over 320 km/h (200 mph)

#motorsport
#MiamiCityPrix
#FormulaERacing

therokuchannel.roku.com/browse/w.r2B...

January 31, 2026 at 6:06 PM

Tony Nuspl

@tonynuspl.bsky.social

Tomorrow, 31 January: the last FormulaE race to be held in the Americas this season (2025-2026)
graphic of the 4 leading FormulaE racing teams (by number of wins), as of the day before the 2026 #MiamiEPrix
#motorsport
#FormulaERacing
#RegenBraking