Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Randy Feenstra (IA-04)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-Hull) announced that his office will host two in-person passport fairs in Council Bluffs and Sioux City.
Iowans interested in attending must register beforehand by either emailing our office atIA04passports@mail.house.govor calling our office at 202-225-4426.
“I’m excited to announce that our office will hold two passport fairs in Council Bluffs and Sioux City. These events are a great opportunity for Iowans to have their questions answered by professionals and submit applications to get a new passport or renew an existing passport,” saidRep. Feenstra. “I encourage anyone who needs help with their passport to attend one of our passport fairs, and as always, I urge Iowans who need assistance with federal agencies to contact our office online at Feenstra.House.Gov or by phone at 202-225-4426.”
Constituents who wish to get a new passport or renew an existing passport must come with a completed application, government-issued ID, proof of citizenship, a State Department approved 2”x 2” printed passport photo, and method of payment (money order, credit card, or check; cash will not be accepted).
The passport fair in Council Bluffs will be held on Tuesday May 13th from 9 AM – 4 PM at the Council Bluffs Chamber of Commerce office. The address is 149 West Broadway Council Bluffs, IA 51503.
The passport fair in Sioux City will be held on Wednesday May 14th from 9 AM – 4 PM at the Sioux City Public Library in the Gleeson Room. The address is 529 Pierce Street Sioux City, IA 51101.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Kat Cammack (R-FL-03)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Last night, the House Judiciary Committee reviewed its budget reconciliation plans, including Rep. Cammack’s REINS Act. After several hours of debate, the committee voted to advance its plans to further President Trump’s agenda with Republican support around 11pm ET.
Rep. Cammack introduced the REINS text considered by the House Judiciary Committee as a standalone piece of legislation in H.R. 3058. The bill includes vital REINS Act (H.R. 142) components, including approval by Congress of major rules that affect spending.
Watch the Judiciary Committee markup on reconciliation here.
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WASHINGTON — Throughout May, the Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Cemetery Administration is joining forces with non-profit organizations Carry The Load, Travis Manion Foundation and Victory for Veterans to pay homage to Veterans interred in VA National Cemeteries through a series of events, volunteer opportunities and shared stories.
Through coordination between the National Cemetery Administration, Carry The Load, the Travis Manion Foundation and Victory for Veterans there will be over 70,000 anticipated volunteers visiting 54 VA national cemeteries throughout Memorial May. NCA has collaborated with Carry the Load for eight years, the Travis Manion Foundation for four years and Victory for Veterans for two years on Memorial May activities. Volunteers can learn more about events remembering and honoring military service members interred in VA’s 156 national cemeteries at the organization links below and on the NCA Memorial May webpage.
“These collaborations allow us to express our collective appreciation for Veterans’ service and sacrifice,” said Acting Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs Ronald Walters. “Through shared efforts, we honor their legacy and ensure their stories are never forgotten.”
Carry The Load Memorial May Activities
Beginning May 1, Carry The Load volunteers will visit 17 VA national cemeteries, traveling thousands of miles along three routes culminating in CTL’s signature May 25-26 Dallas Memorial March along the historic Katy Trail. Marchers carry signs, banners and American flags honoring a fallen friend or family member. Those who want to participate should register in advance.
Travis Manion Foundation Memorial May Activities
This year’s Travis Manion Foundation’s The Honor Project will be the largest in its history with 2,500 volunteers visiting over 50 cemeteries in more than 25 states throughout Memorial Day weekend. Family and friends are invited to submit a Fallen Heroes request and a foundation volunteer will visit the gravesite, lay a hand-crafted commemorative token and pause for a moment of reflection.
Victory for Veterans Memorial May Activities
Volunteers with Victory for Veterans will recognize Veterans by placing a flower on every Veteran’s grave. Since 2021, the program has expanded operations to place flowers at 10 VA national cemeteries. It’s expected that this year may exceed 390 volunteers with over 27,000 flowers placed. Visit the list of partnering VA national cemeteries, if you’d like to participate.
Over 5.4 million people — including 4.1 million Veterans from the Revolutionary War to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — are buried in VA national cemeteries. NCA honors eligible Veterans, active-duty service members, and eligible family members with final resting places in national shrines and with lasting tributes that commemorate their service and sacrifice to our Nation.
VA also encourages all Americans to use the Veterans Legacy Memorial to share memories and stories about Veterans they’ve loved and lost. VLM is the nation’s largest online memorial space dedicated to Veterans, with more than 10 million interactive pages where family, friends, and others can submit written tributes, photos, biographies, documents, and other information.
For information about VA burial benefits, visit any one of VA’s 156 national cemetery locations, visit online at VA burial benefits and memorial items or call toll-free at 800-827-1000. To pre-plan a burial for you and your family, visit NCA’s pre-need eligibility website.
Reporters and media outlets with questions or comments should contact the Office of Media Relations at vapublicaffairs@va.gov
Veterans with questions about their health care and benefits (including GI Bill). Questions, updates and documents can be submitted online.
Contact us online through Ask VA
Veterans can also use our chatbot to get information about VA benefits and services. The chatbot won’t connect you with a person, but it can show you where to go on VA.gov to find answers to some common questions.
Learn about our chatbot and ask a question
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Bankruptcy filings rose 13.1 percent during the 12-month period ending March 31, 2025. That is a similar rate of acceleration as in the Dec. 31, 2024, quarterly report, but new bankruptcy cases remain significantly lower than after the 2007-08 Great Recession.
According to statistics released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, total filings rose to 529,080 cases, compared with 467,774 cases reported during the year ending March 31, 2024.
Business filings increased 14.7 percent, from 20,316 in March 2024 to 23,309 in the newest report. Non-business filings rose 13.0 percent, from 447,458 in March 2024 to 505,771 in March 2025.
Bankruptcy totals for the previous 12 months are reported four times annually.
For more than a decade, total filings fell steadily, from a high of nearly 1.6 million in September 2010 to a low of 380,634 in June 2022. Total filings have increased each quarter since then, but they remain far lower than historical highs.
Business and Non-Business Filings, Years Ending March 31, 2021-2025
Year
Business
Non-Business
Total
2025
23,309
505,771
529,080
2024
20,316
447,458
467,774
2023
14,467
388,806
403,273
2022
13,160
382,213
395,373
2021
19,911
453,438
473,349
Total Bankruptcy Filings By Chapter, Years Ending March 31, 2021-2025
Year
Chapter
7
11
12
13
2025
320,571
8,844
259
199,130
2024
271,825
8,036
155
187,539
2023
231,200
5,371
148
166,449
2022
265,071
4,333
228
125,655
2021
345,224
7,823
487
119,502
Additional statistics released today include:
Business and non-business bankruptcy filings for the 12-month period ending March 31, 2025 (Table F-2, 12-month),
A comparison of 12-month data ending March 2024 and March 2025 (Table F),
Filings for the most recent three months, (Table F-2, 3-month); and filings by month (Table F-2, January, February, and March),
Bankruptcy filings by county (Report F-5A).
For more on bankruptcy and its chapters, view the following resources:
On April 13th, 2025, three foreign nationals were spotted crossing into Canada via the Fort Erie train bridge to a waiting vehicle on the Canadian side.
One individual was apprehended immediately, a second migrant escaped on foot and was later apprehended. A third migrant managed to enter a waiting vehicle, and while fleeing the scene, nearly struck several of the RCMP Border Integrity Members who were responding. On April 23, the migrant, along with the driver of the vehicle, turned themselves in to police.
Alexander Cardenas, a Cuban national, was transferred to the Peace Bridge port of entry in Fort Erie. After being assessed by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), the subject was found to be ineligible to enter Canada and was subsequently returned to the US.
The driver of the vehicle, Yenny Justo, is the wife of Cardenas. She has been arrested and faces charges for Dangerous Operation of a Conveyance (Sec. 320.13 of the Criminal Code), Conspiracy and Fail to Report under the Customs Act (Sec. 465(1)(c) of the Criminal Code). Justo was held for a bail hearing in St. Catharines court.
The Niagara-on-the-Lake RCMP Border Integrity Unit currently maintains a 24/7 presence at the railway bridge. The RCMP have arrested several people attempting to make illegal entry into Canada since this new presence was initiated. All individuals arrested were processed by the CBSA in accordance with the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) and subsequently found to be inadmissible to Canada. They were returned to the U.S.
Members of the Niagara-on-the-Lake RCMP are actively conducting patrols along the border in this area on land, water and air to disrupt cross-border criminal activity.
The RCMP is committed to working with our partners to protect the residents and communities of Canada. Our collaboration with local police partners and the CBSA continues to provide positive results for Canada.
The strategic deployment of RCMP Border Integrity Officers between the Ontario Ports of Entry has proven to be a successful tactic in preventing illegal migration into Canada. Our Border Integrity Officers work with our CBSA partners, 24/7, enforcing Canada’s borders.” – Superintendent Dale Foote, Officer IN Charge of Central Region (Ontario) Border Integrity
“Our strong partnership with the RCMP has enabled the continued success in apprehending those circumventing legal immigration routes. The diligent work of our Canada Border Services Agency inland team led to the identity and location of the subjects in this case.” – Abeid Morgan, Director, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) Intelligence and Enforcement Operations Division
Fast Facts
In Canada, border security and integrity is a shared mandate between the RCMP and the CBSA. The RCMP is responsible for protecting over 9,000 kilometres of Canada’s border between ports of entry, while the CBSA.
The RCMP Niagara-on-the-Lake Border Integrity Unit is tasked with the prevention and detection of the cross-border smuggling both to and from Canada. This unit supports four CBSA ports of entry by conducting larger criminal investigations that start at the port. The unit is also tasked with protecting the border area between the ports from Cobourg on Lake Ontario to Port Burwell on Lake Erie. The members of the unit will often be found in boats ensuring vessels are complying with reporting requirements when entering Canada.
If you have any information related to smuggling, drug importation, trafficking, or possession, or wish to report other criminality, you can contact the Ontario RMP at 1-800-387-0020, the confidential CBSA Border Watch toll-free line at 1-888-502-9060 or anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), at any time.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Charles J. Russo, Joseph Panzer Chair in Education and Research Professor of Law, University of Dayton
Supporters of charter schools rally outside the Supreme Court building on April 30, 2025, during oral arguments over a proposed Catholic charter school.AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein
As demonstrators gathered outside, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on April 30, 2025, about whether Oklahoma can operate the nation’s firstfaith-basedcharter school. St. Isidore of Seville would be a virtual, K-12 school run by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa.
Charters are typically public schools of choice, funded by taxpayer dollars. Unlike regular public schools, they are free from most state regulations on curriculum and teacher qualifications. Until now, however, charters, like other public schools, have been secular.
The litigation over St. Isidore reveals a built-in tension in the First Amendment religion clauses, under which “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” While the free exercise clause guarantees people the right to believe as they wish, controversy remains over what constitutes an “establishment” of religion.
Here, the specific question is the extent to which, if any, states can spend public funds to allow parents to enroll their children in a faith-based charter school. Supporters are appealing a 2024 ruling from the Supreme Court of Oklahoma, which held that a religious charter school violated state law, as well as the Oklahoma and federal constitutions.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court bench in the state Capitol building in Oklahoma City. AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki
On the other hand, the attorney for St. Isidore’s challengers – led by Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who blocked the school’s opening – said that a victory for St. Isidore “would result in the astounding rule that states not only may but must fund and create public religious schools, an astounding reversal from this court’s time-honored precedents.”
It remains to be seen whether a ruling in favor of St. Isidore’s would prove to be a win for religious freedom, as Stitt claimed, or a threat. Even so, as a professor focused on education law, I believe an order to continue expanding taxpayer aid to faith-based institutions looks more likely after Wednesday’s arguments, where five of the eight participating justices seemed sympathetic to St. Isidore.
First, do the teachings of “a privately owned and run school constitute state action simply because it contracts with the state to offer a free educational option for interested students?” In other words, is a charter school a state actor?
Second, the justices will weigh how the First Amendment religion clauses apply to a faith-based charter school. According to the First Amendment, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” The question is whether Oklahoma violates the free exercise clause by excluding schools from the charter program “solely because the schools are religious.” If so, is the exclusion justified by concerns about the government “establishing” religion?
The dispute over St. Isidore comes at a time when the Supreme Court has been steadily expanding the limits of aid to faith-based schools. Starting in 2016, a trio of cases have held that states cannot deny institutions and believers generally available, taxpayer-funded aid based solely on their religions. These cases covered aid to enhance playground safety at a Missouri preschool, the right to participate in Montana’s educational tax credit program, and providing tuition assistance to Maine parents in districts lacking public secondary schools.
The other issue – the “state actor” question – essentially asks whether a state-funded school teaching Catholicism would constitute the government promoting a religion, in violation of the First Amendment’s prohibition against doing so.
The Supreme Court building on April 30, 2025, the day of oral arguments in St. Isidore’s case. AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein
Drummond, Oklahoma’s attorney general, is also a Republican. However, he reversed his predecessor’s action allowing St. Isidore’s creation, arguing that the school “misuses the concept of religious liberty by employing it as a means to justify state-funded religion.”
In a 2024 brief to the Supreme Court, Drummond noted that Oklahoma’s “charter schools bear all of the hallmarks of a public school,” such as being entirely state-funded. During April arguments, his attorney emphasized that charters are “required to be public schools by the Congress of the United States and the legislatures of 47 states.”
If this argument prevails, it means St. Isidore is a government actor, and therefore it cannot promote any one religion over another.
The state action claim may be difficult for St. Isidore’s supporters to overcome. However, the ace in the hole is the Supreme Court’s recent trend of expanding the boundaries of government aid to faith-based schools and their students.
Justice Amy Barrett, a supporter of increased aid to faith-based schools, recused herself from participating in the oral arguments, without explanation. This leaves five justices who support expanding public aid for faith-based schools: Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Roberts.
Oral arguments
During questioning, Roberts commented that St. Isidore’s creation seems like “much more comprehensive [state] involvement” with a religious organization, compared with the previous cases that expanded taxpayer aid to religious schools – leaving the door open to speculation over how he might vote. Nevertheless, he and the other four proponents of aid appeared open to St. Isidore’s argument that to exclude faith-based schools from charter programs is unconstitutional discrimination on the basis of religion.
“All the religious school is saying is don’t exclude us on account of our religion,” Kavanaugh commented. He added, “You can’t treat religious people and religious institutions and religious speech as second class in the United States.”
The remaining justices – Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson – appeared skeptical of expanding state aid to faith-based schools.
Illustrating the tensions within the First Amendment, Sotomayor remarked to the attorney representing St. Isidore, “what you’re saying is the free exercise clause trumps the essence of the establishment clause.”
Jackson said to the same attorney that St. Isidore is “not being denied a benefit that everyone else gets. It’s being denied a benefit that no one else gets, which is the ability to establish a religious public school.”
If Roberts agrees with these three justices, resulting in a 4-4 tie, the judgment of the Supreme Court of Oklahoma would remain undisturbed.
In the words of the baseball sage Yogi Berra, “it ain’t over ‘till it’s over.” The court is expected to rule near the end of its term, likely in late June.
Charles J. Russo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Heated tobacco products are often marketed by tobacco companies as less harmful than cigarettes, but they can pose health risks to users, according to a new review I co-authored in the journal Tobacco Control. Evidence on their health risks in people who smoke is limited, sometimes contradictory, and hard to make sense of.
Heated tobacco products are electronic devices that heat tobacco so users can inhale nicotine. Common brands include IQOS, available in the U.S., and Ploom and Glo, sold in other countries.
Heated tobacco products are different from e-cigarettes, though they may look similar. E-cigarettes, which are also called vapes, heat a liquid containing nicotine but not tobacco, whereas heated tobacco products heat actual tobacco leaf. Heated tobacco products are also different from traditional cigarettes, which burn tobacco rather than heating it. These distinctions matter because it’s the burning of tobacco leaf – not the nicotine – that directly causes the disease and death associated with smoking.
There is limited long-term data about the health harms of heated tobacco products. My colleagues and I analyzed the available data, drawn from 40 clinical trials, that followed participants who used these products for a year or less. We looked at molecular changes in the blood, breath and urine, called biomarkers, to explore the potential risks of heated tobacco products.
The studies we reviewed reported changes in 143 different biomarkers, including measures linked to heart disease and cancer. But drawing clear conclusions from the data was hard because of issues with the available evidence. Of the 40 studies, 29 were funded by the tobacco industry. Furthermore, 31 of the 40 studies were conducted in confined settings, meaning that participants’ activities and their use of the assigned product were controlled. This may not reflect heated tobacco products’ real-world use.
If heated tobacco products are less harmful than cigarettes, we would expect to see largely beneficial effects in smokers who switched to them. However, the evidence we reviewed was inconclusive. Though most studies suggested that heated tobacco products might reduce risks of disease compared with smoking, other studies found no difference, or even the potential of increased risk. Compared with quitting smoking completely, use of heated tobacco products had more consistently harmful effects.
Tobacco companies claim that heated tobacco products pose less of a health risk than cigarettes.
Few studies have directly compared the effects of heated tobacco products with e-cigarettes. However, many independently funded, longer-term studies have examined e-cigarettes and have shown they can help people stop smoking and reduce health risks in people who switch completely from smoking to vaping.
Why it matters
Heated tobacco products may be coming to a town near you – or already be there. They are already widely used in Japan. IQOS was removed from the U.S. market in 2021 after a court ruled that the product had infringed on an existing patent. However, following a flurry of promotional activities, IQOS relaunched in March 2025 in Austin, Texas. Like most heated tobacco product brands, IQOS is owned by one of the largest cigarette companies in the world, Philip Morris International.
The company claims it wants to bring IQOS to the U.S. market to provide smoking adults a “better alternative” to cigarettes. But the science we’ve reviewed on whether heated tobacco products are truly healthier is inconclusive. Our review found inconsistencies in data on health effects, and other research suggests these products may not help smokers quit.
What still isn’t known
We do not know the long-term health effects of heated tobacco products, nor whether they can actually reduce the risk of disease and death in people who switch from smoking to using heated tobacco products. It is also unclear how heated tobacco products fit into the wider tobacco and nicotine market, especially in light of other available products and interventions already proved to help smokers quit.
While our findings do not rule out the possibility that these products have fewer health risks than cigarettes, they provide little support for such claims.
Jamie Hartmann-Boyce receives research funding for tobacco related research from the US NIH-FDA and Cancer Research UK. She has provided research consultancy for the Truth Initiative. Her involvement in this work was not funded and the views expressed here are those of the researchers and do not necessarily represent those of her funders. Other authors of this work are funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies as part of the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco use. This funder had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Indu Subramanian, Clinical Professor of Neurology, University of California, Los Angeles
U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at an April 16, 2025, news conference in Washington, D.C.Alex Wong via Getty Images
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has attracted a lot of attention for his raspy voice, which results from a neurological voice disorder called spasmodic dysphonia.
Kennedy, 71, says that in his 40s he developed a neurological disease that “robbed him of his strong speaking voice.” Kennedy first publicly spoke of the quiver he had noticed in his voice in a 2004 interview with journalist Diane Rehm, who also had spasmodic dysphonia.
In 2005, Kennedy was receiving shots of botulinum toxin, the neurotoxin that is now used in Botox as well as to treat migraines and other conditions, every four months. This first-line treatment for dysphonia helps to weaken the vocal folds that contract abnormally with this condition. He used botulinum toxin injections for 10 years and then stopped using them, saying they were “not a good fit” for him.
Kennedy initially developed symptoms while in the public eye teaching at Pace University in New York. Some viewers wrote to him suggesting that he had the condition spasmadic dysphonia and that he should contact a well-known expert on the disease, Dr. Andrew Blitzer. He followed this advice and had the diagnosis confirmed.
I am a movement disorders neurologist and have long been passionate about the psychological and social toll that conditions such as dysphonias have on my patients.
Kennedy says his condition began in 1996, when he was 42.
Typically, a neurologist may suspect the disorder by identifying characteristic voice breaks when the patients is speaking. The diagnosis is confirmed with the help of an ear, nose and throat specialist who can insert a small scope into the larynx, examine the vocal folds and rule out any other abnormalities.
The most common type of spasmodic dysphonia is called adductor dysphonia, which accounts for 80% of cases. It is characterized by a strained or strangled voice quality with abrupt breaks on vowels due to the vocal folds being hyperadducted, or abnormally closed.
In contrast, a form of the condition called abductor dysphonia causes a breathy voice with breaks on consonants due to uncontrolled abduction – meaning coming apart of the vocal folds.
Potential treatments
Spasmodic dysphonia is not usually treatable with oral medications and sometimes can get better with botulinum toxin injections into the muscles that control the vocal cords. It is a lifelong disorder currently without a cure. Voice therapy through working with a speech pathologist alongside botulinum toxin administration may also be beneficial.
Surgical treatments can be an option for patients who fail botulinum toxin treatment, though surgeries come with risks and can be variably effective. Surgical techniques are being refined and require wider evaluation and long-term follow-up data before being considered as a standard treatment for spasmodic dysphonia.
The sudden, uncontrollable movements caused by irregular folding of the vocal folds are referred to as spasms, which gave rise to the name spasmodic dysphonia.
Dysphonias fall into a broader category of movement disorders
Spasmodic dysphonia is classified as a focal dystonia, a dystonia that affects one body part – the vocal folds, in the case of spasmodic dysphonia. Dystonia is an umbrella term for movement disorders characterized by sustained or repetitive muscle contractions that cause abnormal postures or movements.
Another type, called blepharospasm, involves involuntary muscle contractions and spasms of the eyelid muscles that can cause forced eye closure that can even affect vision in some cases. There can be other dystonias such as writer’s cramp, which can make the hand cramp when writing. Musicians can develop dystonias from overusing certain body parts such as violinists who develop dystonia in their hands or trumpet players who develop dystonia in their lips.
Stigmas and psychological distress
Dystonias can cause tremendous psychological distress.
Many dystonias and movement disorders in general, including Parkinson’s disease and other conditions that result in tremors, face tremendous amounts of stigma. In Africa, for instance, there is a misconception that the affected person has been cursed by witchcraft or that the movement disorder is contagious. People with the condition may be hidden from society or isolated from others due to fear of catching the disease.
In the case of spasmodic dysphonia, the affected person may feel that they appear nervous or ill-prepared while speaking publicly. They may be embarrassed or ashamed and isolate themselves from speaking to others.
My patients have been very frustrated by the unpredictable nature of the symptoms and by having to avoid certain sounds that could trigger the dysphonia. They may then have to restructure their word choices and vocabulary so as not to trigger the dysphonia, which can be very mentally taxing.
Some patients with dysphonia feel that their abnormal voice issues affect their relationships and their ability to perform their job or take on leadership or public-facing roles. Kennedy said in an interview that he finds the sound of his own voice to be unbearable to listen to and apologizes to others for having to listen to it.
A 2005 study exploring the biopsychosocial consequences of spasmodic dysphonia through interviews with patients gives some insight into the experience of people living with the disorder.
A patient in that study said that their voice sounded “like some kind of wild chicken screeching out words,” and another patient said that it “feels like you’re having to grab onto a word and push it out from your throat.” Another felt like “there’s a rubber band around my neck. Someone was constricting it.” And another said, “It feels like you have a sore throat all the time … like a raw feeling in your throat.”
Patients in the study described feeling hopeless and disheartened, less confident and less competent. The emotional toll can be huge. One patient said, “I used to be very outgoing and now I find myself avoiding those situations.” Another said, “People become condescending like you’re not capable anymore because you don’t speak well.”
As conditions such as spasmodic dysphonia become better recognized, I am hopeful that not only will treatments improve, but that stigmas around such conditions will diminish.
Indu Subramanian does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
The Colorado June air was thick with summer heat. Mosquitoes rose in clouds around us, testing our resolve while we gathered our cameras and sensors. We walked into the wetland, down the unmarked path until the cattails rose shoulder-high. The sounds of frogs and crickets filled the air as we set up our cameras and waited. Then we spotted them: tiny lights lifting from the grasses, blinking in slow rhythms.
In the past few years, we have observed and filmed elusive bioluminescent fireflies all over Colorado, racing each summer against their brief and unpredictable flashing season.
The authors − Orit, left, and Owen − in the field, taking notes and observing specimens. Nolan R. Bonnie and Mac Stone
Last year in early June it was too early, we thought, for fireflies in Colorado. For weeks we had been checking weather forecasts, comparing them to previous years, waiting for warmer nights and rising temperatures − the signs that would tell us it’s firefly time.
Then we got a tip. A friend mentioned seeing one or two flashes near their property. The next morning we packed our gear, rearranged our schedules and contacted our volunteer network. The field season began in a literal flash.
As adults, fireflies live and flash for only about two weeks a year − and even then, just for a few hours each night. It’s easy to blink and miss the entire season. The next generation overwinters underground as larvae, emerging as adults the following year, though development may take up to two years in arid climates. Making the most of that narrow window is one of the many reasons we rely on volunteers who help us spot the first flashes and record observations across Colorado.
Western fireflies face unique environmental challenges
Our work joins a growing chorus of scientific observation focused on western fireflies, which pop up across the arid landscape near temporary wetlands, marshes, drainages, desert rivers and other water sources. Because of the dry landscape, these populations tend to be fragmented, isolated to where the water is and nowhere in between.
The fireflies of the Photuris genus along the Front Range, for example, still do not have a species name and appear to be genetically distinct from other Photuris around the country. Preliminary genetic results suggest at least one new species might be found here. The genetic data also suggests at least five different bioluminescent species of fireflies are present in Colorado.
How flash patterns help fireflies (and us) tell species apart
Males produce a series of flash-on, flash-off events, each with specific durations and pauses. These Morse code-like signals communicate what type and how fit the fireflies are to potential mates in the darkness.
When females detect a suitable male, they respond with their own unique flash pattern.
Our work piggybacks on this evolutionary adaptation. We first recorded populations from around the U.S. using two video cameras, which allowed us to accurately track individual fireflies in three dimensions and separate their flash patterns.
We used the data on the flash behavior from different species to train a neural network that can classify the firefly’s flash pattern with a high degree of accuracy. Our algorithm learns the unique flash patterns from our data and can identify the species of firefly that is present in a video.
This is a powerful tool for firefly conservation efforts. The camera footage can cover more time and ground than field surveys conducted by humans, and our algorithm can more quickly identify species that might be threatened.
Fostering community engagement with citizen science
Based on our success with community science data collection across other states, including Tennessee, South Carolina and Massachusetts, we wanted to apply the same principles to Colorado’s firefly populations. This is a big undertaking: There are dozens of fragmented sites where fireflies are active across Colorado, and more are reported by volunteers every season. Our team of two cannot visit and survey every site during the short firefly season.
In 2023 we put out our first call for volunteers in Colorado. Since that time, 18 community members in Boulder, Fort Collins, Divide and Loveland joined the filming effort. We provide cameras for the volunteers, who bring them to their nearby wetlands and set them up in the fading light.
Last summer we partnered with local land management agencies in Boulder, Fort Collins and Loveland to host informative community events, where we spoke about firefly biology and conservation to audiences of all ages. On many of those nights, as the flashes began, we heard the excitement build: quiet gasps, hushed enthusiasm and a whisper such as, “Look at that beautiful streak of light!”
Fireflies have an important story to tell, and here in Colorado that story is just beginning. Their brief flashes each summer help us learn about communication, ecology and how these delicate insects respond to an ever-changing world.
Orit Peleg receives funding from the City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks, CU Boulder’s Timmerhaus Fund Ambassadors, National Geographic Society, and Research Cooperation for Science Advancement.
Owen Martin receives funding from Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP).
Flourishing is about your whole life being good, including the people and places around you.Westend61 via Getty Images
What does it mean to live a good life? For centuries, philosophers, scientists and people of different cultures have tried to answer this question. Each tradition has a different take, but all agree: The good life is more than just feeling good − it’s about becoming whole.
More recently, researchers have focused on the idea of flourishing, not simply as happiness or success, but as a multidimensional state of well-being that involves positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning and accomplishment − an idea that traces back to Aristotle’s concept of “eudaimonia” but has been redefined within the well-being science literature.
Flourishing is not just well-being and how you feel on the inside. It’s about your whole life being good, including the people around you and where you live. Things such as your home, your neighborhood, your school or workplace, and your friends all matter.
Do people in some countries thrive more than others? What makes the biggest difference in a person’s well-being? Are there things people can do to improve their own lives? Understanding these trends over time can help shape policies and programs that improve global human flourishing.
What does the flourishing study focus on?
The Global Flourishing Study is a five-year annual survey of over 200,000 participants from 22 countries, using nationally representative sampling to understand health and well-being. Our team includes more than 40 researchers across different disciplines, cultures and institutions.
With help from Gallup Inc., we asked people about their lives, their happiness, their health, their childhood experiences, and how they feel about their financial situation.
The study looks at six dimensions of a flourishing life:
Happiness and life satisfaction: how content and fulfilled people feel with their lives.
Physical and mental health: how healthy people feel, in both body and mind.
Meaning and purpose: whether people feel their lives are significant and moving in a clear direction.
Character and virtue: how people act to promote good, even in tough situations.
Close social relationships: how satisfied people are with their friendships and family ties.
Financial and material stability: whether people feel secure about their basic needs, including food, housing and money.
We tried to quantify how participants are doing on each of these dimensions using a scale from 0 to 10. In addition to using the Secure Flourish measure from Harvard’s Human Flourishing Program, we included additional questions to probe other factors that influence how much someone is flourishing.
For example, we assessed well-being through questions about optimism, peace and balance in life. We measured health by asking about pain, depression and exercise. We measured relationships through questions about trust, loneliness and support.
Who is flourishing and why?
Our first wave of results reveals that some countries and groups of people are doing better than others.
We were surprised that in many countries young people are not doing as well as older adults. Earlier studies had suggested well-being follows a U-shape over the course of a lifespan, with the lowest point in middle age. Our new results imply that younger adults today face growing mental health challenges, financial insecurity and a loss of meaning that are disrupting the traditional U-shaped curve of well-being.
Married people usually reported more support, better relationships and more meaning in life.
People who were working – either for themselves or someone else – also tended to feel more secure and happy than people who were seeking jobs.
People who go to religious services once a week or more typically reported higher scores in all areas of flourishing – particularly happiness, meaning and relationships. This finding was true in almost every country, even very secular ones such as Sweden.
It seems that religious communities offer what psychologists of religion call the four B’s: belonging, in the form of social support; bonding, in the form of spiritual connection; behaving, in the cultivation of character and virtue through the practices and norms taught within religious communities; and believing, in the form of embracing hope, forgiveness and shared spiritual convictions.
But some people who attend religious services also report more pain or suffering. This correlation may be because religious communities often provide support during hard times, and frequent attendees may be more attentive to or more likely to experience pain, grief or illness.
Your early years shape how you do later in life. But even if life started off as challenging, it doesn’t have to stay that way. Some people who had difficult childhoods, having experienced abuse or poverty, still found meaning and purpose later as adults. In some countries, including the U.S. and Argentina, hardship in childhood seemed to build resilience and purpose in adulthood.
Globally, men and women report similar levels of flourishing. But in some countries there are big differences. For example, women in Japan report higher scores than men, while in Brazil, men report doing better than women.
Where are people flourishing most?
Some countries are doing better than others when it comes to flourishing.
Indonesia is thriving. People there scored high in many areas, including meaning, purpose, relationships and character. Indonesia is one of the highest-scoring countries in most of the indicators in the whole study.
Mexico and the Philippines also show strong results. Even though these countries have less money than some others, people report strong family ties, spiritual lives and community support.
Japan and Turkey report lower scores. Japan has a strong economy, but people there report lower happiness and weaker social connections. Long work hours and stress may be part of the reason. In Turkey, political and financial challenges may be hurting people’s sense of trust and security.
One surprising result is that richer countries, including the United States and Sweden, are not flourishing as well as some others. They do well on financial stability but score lower in meaning and relationships. Having more money doesn’t always mean people are doing better in life.
In fact, countries with higher income often report lower levels of meaning and purpose. Meanwhile, countries with higher fertility rates often report more meaning in life. These findings show that there can be a trade-off. Economic progress might improve some things but weaken others.
One of the authors reflects on what the survey data reveals about what helps people truly flourish across the world.
The big picture
The Global Flourishing Study is helping us see that people all over the world want many of the same basic things: to be happy, healthy, connected and safe. But different countries reach those goals in different ways. There is no one-size-fits-all answer to flourishing. What it means to flourish can look different from place to place and from one person to another.
One challenge with the Global Flourishing Study is that it uses the same set of questions in all 22 countries. This method, known as an etic approach, helps us compare results across cultures. But it can miss the nuance and local meanings of flourishing. What brings happiness or purpose in one country or context might not mean the same thing in another.
We consider this study to be a starting point. It opens the door for more emic studies – research that uses questions and ideas that fit the values, language and everyday life of specific cultures and societies. Researchers can build on this study’s findings to expand how we understand and measure flourishing around the world.
Tyler J. VanderWeele reports consulting fees from Gloo Inc., along with shared revenue received by Harvard University in its license agreement with Gloo according to the University IP policy.
Byron R. Johnson and Victor Counted do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Data source: CME Group, Bloomberg L.P. Note: Refinery margin is calculated as the 3-2-1 crack spread on the U.S. Atlantic Coast, which represents two barrels of gasoline and one barrel of distillate fuel oil minus three barrels of Brent crude oil. 1Q25=first quarter of 2025
During the first quarter of 2025 (1Q25), crude oil prices generally decreased while U.S. refinery margins initially increased before decreasing in the final month of the quarter. In this quarterly update, we review petroleum markets price developments in 1Q25, covering crude oil prices, refinery margins, biofuel compliance credit prices, and natural gas plant liquids prices.
Crude oil prices After reaching a quarterly high of $82 per barrel (b) on January 15, crude oil prices generally declined through the end of the first quarter, settling at $75/b on March 31. Although our preliminary world petroleum supply and demand estimates suggest global consumption outpaced production—which typically puts upward pressure on prices—oil prices largely fell following concerns surrounding future economic growth.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. GDP declined 0.3% in 1Q25. This marks the first economic contraction since 1Q22. Economic growth concerns weigh on oil prices because a decline in economic activity reduces demand for oil.
Refinery margins U.S. refinery utilization started 2025 at 93% but fell below 90% beginning in mid-January, ending the quarter at 86%. Midwest utilization was particularly high, remaining above 90% through all but the last week of the quarter. West Coast utilization fell from 80% to 90% in January and February to below 75% in late March, partly due to an outage at PBF Energy’s Torrance refinery as well as a major outage at the company’s Martinez refinery, both in California. East Coast utilization started the year at 83% but decreased below 60% in late February and through March, ending the quarter at 59%. This reflects normal spring maintenance and a major turnaround at Phillips 66’s Bayway refinery in Linden, New Jersey. After undergoing seasonal maintenance, Gulf Coast utilization began increasing in March going into the second quarter as refiners prepare for the summer demand season.
In February, refinery crack spreads—a proxy for refining margins—for gasoline were about 35 cents per gallon (cpg) at New York Harbor, about 8 cents above the 2020–24 average. Los Angeles crack spreads were about 70 cpg in February, about 9 cents higher than average. In March, crack spreads fell to 23 cpg at New York Harbor and 61 cpg at Los Angeles, both below their five-year averages for the month. Crack spreads for distillate fuel oil, which had been below average through most of 2024, increased this winter. This increase is partially supported by heating oil consumption in response to cold weather.
Biofuel compliance credit prices The prices for biomass-based diesel (D4) and ethanol (D6) renewable identification number (RIN) credits—the compliance mechanism used for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—have been higher in 1Q25 than in 2024 because of higher feedstock prices and less production of biodiesel and renewable diesel—the two fuels that generate most D4 RINs. RIN prices peaked in late February and again in late March, when they were higher than at any time since 2023.
In 1Q25, D4 RINs traded at a slight premium to D6 RINs because of low biomass-based diesel production. We estimate that the combined domestic production of biodiesel and renewable diesel for January 2025 decreased by about 30% from the previous month to about 230,000 barrels per day, the least since December 2022.
Data source: Bloomberg L.P. Note: RIN=renewable identification number; 1Q25=first quarter of 2025
Natural gas plant liquids The natural gas plant liquids (NGPL) composite price at Mont Belvieu, Texas, rose 10% in 1Q25 compared with the previous quarter to an average of $8.10 per million British thermal units, driven by gains in ethane and propane prices.
Most NGPL prices follow crude oil prices, except for ethane, which is linked to natural gas prices. Ethane prices climbed 4% from January 1 to March 31, following a sharp rise in the Henry Hub natural gas price (21%). Propane prices increased 7% because of strong heating demand this winter, especially in January. Normal butane and isobutane prices decreased about 20% over the quarter, dropping at a faster rate than West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices. Natural gasoline prices fell 1% throughout 1Q25 and have been at a premium to crude oil prices on a heat-value basis.
Data source: Bloomberg L.P. Note: 1Q25=first quarter of 2025
Principal contributor: Petroleum and Liquid Fuels Markets Team
GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands, May 01, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Greenlight Reinsurance, Ltd. (“Greenlight Re” or the “Company”), a subsidiary of Greenlight Capital Re, Ltd. (NASDAQ: GLRE), today announced the appointment of Martin Vezina as Head of Underwriting Analytics with immediate effect. In this capacity, Vezina will play a pivotal role in overseeing Greenlight Re’s underwriting analytics and pricing function and will be based out of the Company’s headquarters in Grand Cayman.
“I am excited to join Greenlight Re and look forward to the continued enhancement of the Company’s underwriting platform. Through my prior collaboration with various members of the Greenlight Re team, I have come to recognize the value in the Company’s combination of technical expertise and deep industry knowledge,” said Vezina.
Tom Curnock, Group Chief Underwriting Officer, said, “Martin brings over 30 years of experience in reinsurance, with a diverse background in underwriting and pricing functions. Martin will play a pivotal role advancing the use of analytics to inform underwriting decisions and aid in shaping our strategic direction. With his extensive experience in the Property Catastrophe and Insurance-Linked Securities space, we are fortunate to welcome such a high caliber addition to our team.”
About Martin Vezina Vezina has held various senior underwriting positions at Allianz, New Ocean Capital, AQR Re, and Markel (previously Alterra/Harbor Point Re/Chubb Re). He also held actuarial roles at American Re and Overseas Partners Re early on. Vezina holds a Bachelor of Science. in actuarial science from Laval University and holds the professional designations: Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society, Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter, Associate in Reinsurance, and Certified Catastrophe Risk Analyst. Vezina’s appointment at Greenlight Re is subject to applicable immigration approvals.
About Greenlight Capital Re, Ltd. Greenlight Capital Re, Ltd. (www.greenlightre.com) provides multiline property and casualty insurance and reinsurance through its licensed and regulated reinsurance entities in the Cayman Islands and Ireland, and its Lloyd’s platform, Greenlight Innovation Syndicate 3456. The company complements its underwriting activities with a non-traditional investment approach designed to achieve higher rates of return over the long term than reinsurance companies that exclusively employ more traditional investment strategies. In 2018, the company launched its Greenlight Re Innovations unit, which supports technology innovators in the (re)insurance space by providing investment capital, risk capacity, and access to a broad insurance network.
Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws. We intend these forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements in the U.S. Federal securities laws. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements made on the company’s behalf. These risks and uncertainties include the impact of general economic conditions and conditions affecting the insurance and reinsurance industry, the adequacy of our reserves, our ability to assess underwriting risk, trends in rates for property and casualty insurance and reinsurance, competition, investment market fluctuations, trends in insured and paid losses, catastrophes, regulatory and legal uncertainties and other factors described in our Forms 10-K and 10-Q filed with the Securities Exchange Commission. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.
Investor Relations Contact Karin Daly Vice President, The Equity Group Inc. +1 212 836 9623 IR@greenlightre.ky
LONDON, May 01, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Tokio Marine HCC International (TMHCCI), a member of the Tokio Marine HCC (TMHCC) group of companies based in Houston, Texas, today announced that Thibaud Hervy, previously Chief Underwriting Officer (CUO) – Specialty Lines, has been promoted to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of TMHCCI and Simon Button, formerly CUO – London Market, has been promoted to CUO of TMHCCI. These appointments take place with immediate effect subject to regulatory approval.
This news follows the recent announcement of Barry Cook as Deputy CEO of TMHCC. He is one of the London Market’s longest-serving CEOs, having spent more than 20 years leading TMHCCI. In handing over the leadership of TMHCCI, Mr. Cook will focus on his new role at TMHCC.
Mr. Hervy joined the business in 1999 as an Underwriter in HCC Global’s Financial Lines team, covering France and the Benelux region. Following this, he went on to play a central part in the rollout of the company’s underwriting strategy around the world, undertaking a number of senior roles, before being promoted to Managing Director of HCC Global in 2010. Mr. Hervy was appointed CUO – Specialty Lines of TMHCCI in 2014 and has been key to driving the continued development of the business’ long-term underwriting and distribution strategies.
Mr. Button takes up the role of CUO of TMHCCI. He joined the company in 2000 and has held several leadership roles across TMHCCI’s Property, Marine and Energy underwriting divisions. In his expanded responsibilities, Mr. Button will play a pivotal role in shaping TMHCCI’s underwriting strategy as it continues to expand its offerings.
“Barry’s impact on our international business cannot be overstated. When he took the helm in 2005, TMHCCI was a small player in London. Today, Barry leaves it a $2.8 billion market leader with an excellent track record of success over decades. He has been instrumental in building a business which continues to set new standards and achieve exceptional results,” said Susan Rivera, TMHCC’s CEO. “I am delighted to be working even more closely with Barry in his new role, and in Thibaud, we have the ideal candidate to carry on his legacy. As we embark on an exciting new chapter, Thibaud will spearhead our international growth and the expansion of our product suite.”
Ms. Rivera added, “I am also delighted to announce Simon’s appointment as CUO of our International business. The risk landscape and the needs of our insureds are evolving. Key challenges such as the global transition to more sustainable practices also present significant business opportunities. Thibaud and Simon’s expertise will be core to the new offerings we are developing and to achieving new heights of excellence in service and innovation for our clients.”
Mr. Cook commented, “I am proud to pass the baton of leadership of TMHCCI to Thibaud and Simon. I have had the pleasure of working with them for decades, and their vision and expertise continue to impress. I am certain that TMHCCI will continue to go from strength to strength under their management.”
About Tokio Marine HCC Tokio Marine HCC is a member of the Tokio Marine Group, a premier global company founded in 1879 with a market capitalization of $70 billion as of December 31, 2024. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Tokio Marine HCC is a leading specialty insurance group with offices in the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom and Continental Europe. Tokio Marine HCC’s major domestic insurance companies have financial strength ratings of ‘A+’ (Strong) from S&P Global Ratings, ‘A++’ (Superior) from AM Best, and ‘AA-’ (Very Strong) from Fitch Ratings; its major international insurance companies have financial strength ratings of ‘A+’ (Strong) from S&P Global Ratings. Tokio Marine HCC is the marketing name used to describe the affiliated companies under the common ownership of HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc., a Delaware-incorporated insurance holding company. For more information about Tokio Marine HCC, please visit www.tokiomarinehcc.com.
CHICAGO, May 01, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Formidium UK Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Formidium Corp., a global leader in fund administration solutions and technology, has successfully acquired assets of Praxonomy Ltd. This strategic acquisition aims to strengthen Formidium’s corporate services portfolio by integrating Praxonomy’s flagship cloud-based board management solution, Boardlogic.
Praxonomy, a UK-based software company, specialized in optimizing board governance through secure, intuitive, and efficient technology. Its primary product, Boardlogic, is a purpose-built collaboration platform designed exclusively for boards of directors. The platform facilitates seamless meeting management, secure document sharing, real-time communication, and informed decision-making, all within a highly secure and cost-effective environment. Praxonomy’s user-friendly approach ensures easy adoption, helping boards enhance governance, efficiency, and compliance.
Nitin Somani, Founder & CEO of Formidium, commented, “We have had a strong relationship with Praxonomy as a customer for many years, and we are thrilled to integrate it into our product portfolio. This acquisition enhances our technology offerings and strengthens our global presence in board management solutions, supported by an exceptional team.”
Jay M. Shaw, Co-founder & CEO of Praxonomy Ltd, added, “Formidium’s asset acquisition marks an exciting milestone for Boardlogic, offering a unique opportunity to connect with a global audience and access its existing client base. With the support of a larger organization, Boardlogic will gain increased visibility, enhanced marketability, and the ability to scale more effectively.”
About Formidium
Formidium is one of the leading fund administrators globally serving alternatives funds. Since 2016, the firm has built a global presence with offices in the U.S., India, Canada, Singapore and UK, supporting over 600 clients, over 1,700 multi-asset funds, and managing $28B+ in assets under administration (AUA) across 25+ jurisdictions.
Formidium’s proprietary technology solutions provide unparalleled flexibility to meet bespoke client needs, far exceeding off-the-shelf systems. The firm delivers comprehensive services to alternative investment funds globally, including Net Asset Value (NAV) reporting, year-end tax and financial reporting, cross-currency integration, and full compliance support. It’s cloud-native, scalable SaaS platform enables automated workflows, real-time data access, and modular capabilities for seamless growth.
MELVILLE, N.Y., May 01, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Data Storage Corporation (Nasdaq: DTST) (“DSC” and the “Company”), a leading provider of multi-cloud hosting, managed cloud services, disaster recovery, cybersecurity, and IT automation, integrating seamlessly with AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud, today announced plans to host a conference call at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, May 15, 2025, to discuss the Company’s progress and the financial results for the first quarter of 2025, which ended March 31, 2025.
The conference call will be available via telephone by dialing toll-free 877-407-9219 for U.S. callers or for international callers +1-412-652-1274. A webcast of the call may be accessed at DSC Q1 2025 Earnings Call or on the Company’s News & Events section of the website, www.dtst.com/news-events.
A webcast replay of the call will be available on the Company’s website (www.dtst.com/news-events) through November 15, 2025. A telephone replay of the call will be available approximately three hours following the call, through May 22, 2025, and can be accessed by dialing 877-660-6853 for U.S. callers or + 1-201-612-7415 for international callers and entering conference ID: 13753165.
About Data Storage Corporation Data Storage Corporation (Nasdaq: DTST) through its subsidiaries is a leading provider of multi-cloud hosting, fully managed cloud services, disaster recovery, cybersecurity, IT automation, and voice & data solutions. Recognizing that data migration is a critical step in transitioning from on-premises systems to the cloud, DSC provides comprehensive migration services to ensure seamless, secure, and efficient data transfer, minimizing downtime and optimizing performance.
Through its owned and operated cloud platform, built on IBM Power Cloud infrastructure, DSC delivers managed high-performance, scalable, and secure cloud solutions with interoperability across its infrastructure partners, AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud.
Tier 3 data centers support the Company’s CloudFirst platform deployments across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. DSC provides mission-critical solutions to a diverse clientele, including Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, educational institutions, and healthcare organizations.
As a leader in the multi-billion-dollar managed cloud hosting and business continuity market, DTST is recognized for its expertise in cloud infrastructure, IT modernization, and data migration, enabling clients to transition to the cloud with confidence and operational continuity.
For more information, please visit www.dtst.com or follow us on X @DataStorageCorp.
Safe Harbor Provision This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, that are intended to be covered by the safe harbor created thereby. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Statements preceded by, followed by or that otherwise include the words “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “projects,” “estimates,” “plans” and similar expressions or future or conditional verbs such as “will,” “should,” “would,” “may” and “could” are generally forward-looking in nature and not historical facts, although not all forward-looking statements include the foregoing. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can provide no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations and assumptions from those set forth or implied by any forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include the Company’s ability to grow its presence in Europe. These risks should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read together with the other cautionary statements included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it was initially made. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise.
CALGARY, Alberta, May 01, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — geoLOGIC is launching an innovative training program to prepare young Canadians for a career in the energy industry.
The Sustainability in Energy Micro-Credential®for Students addresses vital topics such as climate change, energy security, environmental sustainability, and Indigenous reconciliation.
The free 35-hour online program is geared to university, college and polytechnic students in Canada as well as recent graduates. The micro-credential covers a wide range of issues that are important to the energy sector. These include emissions reduction technologies, water management, environmental reporting standards, and Indigenous investment and partnership agreements.
“Canada’s energy sector is continuously evolving and offers excellent career opportunities across several provinces,” said program director Bemal Mehta, geoLOGIC’s Managing Director, Energy Intelligence. “The micro-credential provides vital new skills that can support learners on their career journey.”
The program is sponsored by Pathways Alliance. Pathways Alliance represents six of Canada’s largest oil sands producers working together to provide energy the world needs while advancing environmental innovation.
For more information on the program and to apply:
geoLOGIC provides premium quality energy data, analytics, software, news and training solutions. The company is headquartered in Calgary with teams in London and Houston.
Chicago, IL., May 01, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Applied Systems® today announced that Applied Epic has been recognized with highest overall score in Insurance Agency Management Systems, outranking competitors in all 12 feature sets including task management, policy management, payment processing, sales tools and more. The rankings are made up of more than 1,000 customer reviews with nearly 70% of those reviews scoring Applied Epic 5 stars.
Applied Epic is the world’s most widely-used agency management system that provides customers with automated capabilities for each stakeholder within the business to better manage operations, and relationships with insurer partners and insureds, while also delivering the choice for integrating both Applied and non-Applied technology for easy and secure flow of data in and out of the application. Notably, seven of the top 10 largest brokers ranked by Business Insurance in 2024 have chosen Applied Epic to automate their operations and create more intelligence and productivity.
“We are proud to see Applied Epic recognized as the top insurance agency management system by our clients on G2,” said Anupam Gupta, chief product officer, Applied Systems. “Applied Epic is differentiated by its vertical, insurance-specific focus and built by world-class engineers who closely partnered with our agency customers to uniquely understand the workflows of the independent agency, creating unmatched value for our customers as evident in its review scores.”
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The Applied products and logos are trademarks of Applied Systems, Inc., registered in the U.S.
About Applied Systems Applied Systems is the leading global provider of cloud-based software that powers the business of insurance. Recognized as a pioneer in insurance automation and the innovation leader, Applied is the world’s largest provider of agency and brokerage management systems, serving customers throughout the United States, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, and the United Kingdom. By automating the insurance lifecycle, Applied’s people and products enable millions of people around the world to safeguard and protect what matters most.
ROAD TOWN, British Virgin Islands, May 01, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — RWAI is your AI agent for crypto research, reporting and token launches. It helps you find high-potential projects, guides developers in making their tokens launch-ready, and supports institutions in tokenizing and listing real-world assets.
$RWAI is launching on Virtuals on May 5, with TGE going live May 6 at 11:00 AM UTC.
Listing on Virtuals: May 5
TGE (Token Generation Event): May 6 at 11:00 AM UTC
Launch page: https://app.virtuals.io/geneses/344
RWAI is proudly backed by RWA Inc. To celebrate this milestone and show appreciation to our most engaged community members, we’re launching an exclusive $50,000 $RWAI giveaway, to be distributed among users who reach Gold+ tier on the RWA platform.
How to Join the Giveaway
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Stake $RWA on the official RWA Investor Platform.
Reach Gold+ tier, unlocking access to premium features and rewards.
RWA Inc specializes in connecting funders to premium RWA and DePIN startups. Through our platform, funders can access carefully vetted projects to which we have provided advisory, acceleration and go-to market support. We facilitate different fundraising opportunities for clients. Our formats create investment opportunities for anyone interested in participating in RWA and DePIN startups, staying true to our mission of creating global accessibility to RWA investments.
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SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 01, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Silvaco Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SVCO) (“Silvaco” or the “Company”), a provider of TCAD, EDA software and SIP solutions that enable semiconductor design and digital twin modeling through AI software and innovation, today announced a strategic research and development partnership with Professor Jin Jang and the Advanced Display Research Center (ADRC) at Kyung Hee University (KHU), South Korea. This four-year collaboration, which officially commenced on February 1, 2025, aims to advance display technology innovation through the integration of FTCO™ (Fab Technology Co-Optimization) with AI-driven Digital Twin modeling.
Under the partnership, Silvaco will fund Ph.D. students at KHU and closely collaborate with Prof. Jang’s team to provide high-quality measurement data for emerging display technologies—specifically Micro-LED and OLED. The joint research effort will combine this experimental data with Silvaco’s industry-leading simulation tools and FTCO solution platform to create a comprehensive display technology Digital Twin spanning process, device, and circuit levels.
“Our goal is to demonstrate how FTCO and AI-enabled Digital Twins can revolutionize the development and production of advanced display technologies,” said Prof. Jin Jang. “The collaboration with Silvaco allows us to bridge physical experimentation with virtual modeling, creating a robust foundation for faster, more accurate decision-making in fabs.”
Silvaco’s role in the partnership includes running corresponding TCAD simulations and developing a complete FTCO flow using Victory TCAD™ simulators with Victory DoE™ and Victory Analytics™ in conjunction with its EDA tools, SmartSpice™ and UTMOST IV™. Combined with experimental data from KHU, this FTCO-based Digital Twin will enable fab engineers to simulate the impact of process variations on device and circuit performance in real-time, significantly accelerating optimization cycles in manufacturing environments.
“Partnering with Professor Jin Jang and the ADRC team marks a major step forward in applying FTCO and Digital Twin approaches to optimize next generation display technologies,” said Eric Guichard, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the TCAD business unit at Silvaco. “With their world-class expertise in Micro-LED, OLED devices, and related circuits combined with our advanced simulation and analytics platforms, we aim to unlock new levels of efficiency in process optimization, design, and yield improvement. This partnership represents a unique fusion of academic research paving the way for future innovations in display manufacturing and beyond.”
About Silvaco Silvaco is a provider of TCAD, EDA software, and SIP solutions that enable semiconductor design and digital twin modeling through AI software and innovation. Silvaco’s solutions are used for semiconductor and photonics processes, devices, and systems development across display, power devices, automotive, memory, high performance compute, foundries, photonics, internet of things, and 5G/6G mobile markets for complex SoC design. Silvaco is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and has a global presence with offices located in North America, Europe, Brazil, China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan. Learn more at silvaco.com.
Suggesting that a river could be alive has the potential to change everything. Robert Macfarlane, one of Britain’s best-read writers on the natural environment, has done just this in his latest book.
At one level, Is A River Alive? is a travelogue of adventuring in extreme environments: a lucid, lyrical addition to a genre Macfarlane has made his own. His odyssey through the cloudforests of Ecuador, the stricken rivers of Chennai in India and the tumultuous rapids of the Mutehekau Shipu in north-east Canada has it all: larger-than-life companions, astonishing revelations about the natural world and inadvisable levels of personal risk (including some particularly scary whitewater kayaking).
Like all good odysseys, it’s a journey of psychological and spiritual self-discovery with a profound sense of nostos, an ancient Greek word meaning the journey home. But it’s much more than that.
This is a quest with an agenda and an urgency and one that puts its cards on the table from the outset. If a river is alive, our perceptions, laws and politics must change course to recognise that, Macfarlane argues.
That recognition must be rapid, because we’re already seeing the consequences of treating rivers – and the natural world – as “limitless source and limitless sump”, as he puts it. As an illustration, think of Lake Ontario in the 1990s, which he suggests was so chemically polluted that you could develop photographic film in its water.
This is new territory for Macfarlane, who shows a sharper critical edge than in his earlier work but also engages more personally and emotionally with his material. Wrecked or restored relationships between humans and the natural world prompt the writer, like a contemporary William Blake, to throw down a moral gauntlet to those who hold economic and political power.
While lacking the anticolonial anger of Indian author Amitav Ghosh’s polemic The Nutmeg’s Curse, Macfarlane comes to comparable conclusions. Ghosh declares in his book that “if non-human voices are to be restored to their proper place, then it must be, in the first instance, through the medium of stories”. Is A River Alive? seeks to do that.
Macfarlane engages seriously with knotty complexities. A river may be alive, but not in any way that can be readily incorporated into human systems. “If you interrogate a mystery, don’t expect answers in a language you can understand,” he muses. He also insists on the necessity of opening our perceptions to the life of and in a river: “to imagine that a river is alive causes water to glitter differently.”
Macfarlane adopts an animist outlook, declaring non-human entities to have voices and worth in and of themselves. His stance is part of a wave of thinking and writing that is transporting such beliefs from the margins of western spirituality and scholarship into mainstream literature.
This is vital work, but the challenge shouldn’t be overestimated. If you address these questions from a government perspective, you quickly get quagmired in legal systems and questions of ownership. The result, critics say, is ecological injustice, silencing the voices of nonhumans and of the humans who speak up for them. Yet action to give legal rights to rivers is increasing, from the Rio los Cedros in Ecuador to the Whanganui in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Logics of inaction
These are important victories, and work to foreground the rights of nature is gathering pace in the UK. In my own city of Sheffield, my colleagues and I are part of a growing network of academics and community organisations working with the River Dôn project, exploring how the river that runs through our city centre could be given a voice, legal status and, we hope, stronger protection from environmental damage.
This work joins an increasing flow of thinking in universities, cities and communities that challenges extractive mindsets. But such voices remain sidelined even as the evidence of the damage wrought by the rapacious exploitation of Earth becomes starker.
My own research has shown how “logics of inaction” persist – even when policymakers know they need to invest in and protect the natural world (in cities, urban parks and wild places), they find reasons to avoid doing so. More often than not, it comes down to money – finances are too tight, or the benefits aren’t obviously quantifiable.
Even when the benefits of natural spaces are compiled and described in terms that pose no philosophical challenge – they support human health and wellbeing, relationships, participation in society – these benefits are deemed insufficient to stop the cycle of neglect. Indeed, as UK chancellor Rachel Reeves recently declared, developers should “stop worrying about bats and newts” and “focus on getting things built”.
Is a River Alive? may not stem the tide of environmental destruction. But for those frustrated by the logics of inaction of short-term decision-making, it provides timely and necessary inspiration.
Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?
Julian Dobson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Donald Trump’s tariffs will make many things more expensive for his fellow US citizens. The price of imported cars, building materials and some tech will go up – and so will the cost of the food on American dining tables.
The US currently imports around 16% of its food supply, with a large proportion of its fruit and vegetables coming from countries now hit by tariffs.
Mexico stands out. It supplies over half the fresh fruit and nearly 70% of the fresh vegetables consumed in the US.
And even when it comes to home grown produce, the US still depends on imported fertiliser for its crops, with Canada providing up to 85% of its neighbour’s supply.
So grocery bills for American families, especially for fresh produce (and processed foods dependent on foreign ingredients) will get higher. But there will also be a noticeable effect on food prices outside the US.
The consequences could be particularly serious for developing economies that rely on stable international prices to secure affordable food imports. The prices of many global staples including maize, wheat and soybeans are benchmarked against US markets so when disruptions occur, they reverberate globally.
Research I conducted with a colleague found that when international prices are disturbed, local food prices, especially in developing countries, go up.
Take global maize prices, which this year rose by 7% between April 2 (Trump’s “liberation day”) and April 11. Our study suggests this will immediately lead to a similar increase in local maize prices in places like sub-Saharan Africa.
This is where many of the world’s poorest people live, with hundreds of millions in households earning below the World Bank’s poverty line of US$2.15 (£1.61) per day. When much of that income is spent on food, a 7% increase in the price of maize could be devastating.
Growth market
According to another study, tariffs on agricultural products such as fertiliser will increase global production costs, potentially lowering crop yields and worsening food insecurity.
While the US has reduced tariffs on Canadian potash from 25% to 10%, other fertiliser producers face steeper levels (up to 28% for another major exporter, Tunisia, before Trump’s reciprocal tariffs were paused).
This is especially worrying for agriculture in countries like Brazil, India and Nigeria, which are still reeling from fertiliser shortages caused by the war between Russia and Ukraine. As with food costs, US tariffs are likely to drive up prices in the global fertiliser market, making it more expensive for everyone, everywhere.
And when the cost of farming rises, crop production can suffer. This could significantly weaken food production in developing countries that are already battling climate change and volatile markets.
Another study I conducted found that countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Somalia – already struggling with food insecurity – are among the most vulnerable to local food price shocks. These economies depend heavily on food imports and face high exposure to currency fluctuations and transport costs.
If the trade war escalates, farmers in these regions may be forced to abandon staple crops for cash commodities such as cocoa or coffee, deepening their reliance on volatile global markets and reducing their food self-sufficiency. Global inequality will worsen unless things change.
One option would be to protect essential agricultural imports, especially fertilizers and staple foods, from punitive tariffs. This would stabilise prices and protect vulnerable economies. The recently announced 90-day pausefor negotiations offers a glimmer of hope, but it must be used wisely to build a more equitable trading system.
In the long term, developing countries need to bolster the resilience of their food systems. My research recommends investing heavily in mechanised agriculture which is resilient to climate change, incentivising farmers with government support, and strengthening regional trade.
The global food system is heavily interconnected. Decisions made in Washington can quickly affect food prices in Lagos, Cairo and New Delhi. And if tariffs go unchecked, they may unleash a silent and subtle crisis – one measured not in GDP, but in millions of empty stomachs.
Lotanna Emediegwu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
A soil boring boat used to collect geological information from the seafloor.(Shutterstock)
The international legal order is floundering. The geopolitical and resource policy priorities of the United States are shifting.
These changes now implicate the international framework for governing the seabed: on April 24, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order that moves toward allowing deep-sea mining by the Americans.
What is the difference — for marine environments — between excavation under an international legal framework or U.S. domestic law? Both systems permit state and private organizations to mine vulnerable marine ecosystems: does an international framework offer stronger environmental protections than U.S. law?
The international seabed zone encompasses 54 per cent of the planet’s surface. The designation was created in 1994 under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). When described as the “constitution for the oceans,” UNCLOS deceivingly implies that its role is protective. However, the treaty functions as architecture for exploiting ocean resources.
It does this by dividing the ocean into zones that control how and where nations and corporations can exploit the seas. As well, it supports the idea of the ocean as a vast, exploitable resource. Weak environmental protections are offered in return. UNCLOS speaks little of either the ocean itself or of diverse human-ocean relationships.
UNCLOS established the International Seabed Authority (ISA) to manage the international seabed as the “common heritage of humankind.” Since it was established 30 years ago, the ISA has prioritized the development of a regulatory framework for commercial mining. But the ISA’s stewardship of the deep seabed as humankind’s common heritage involves more than the advancement of commercial mining.
Given the multiple ocean crises intensifying under the impacts of climate change, it is bewildering that the ISA could still be pursuing such a destructive regime.
Under UNCLOS, the ISA has legal responsibilities to protect the marine environment. Yet it doesn’t have a comprehensive environmental policy, environmental management plan or dedicated scientific division. This is despite the central role marine science plays in understanding and protecting the ocean. Instead, the ISA appears to be patching together environmental regulations on the fly.
Extractive interests
The scientific data that the ISA relies on comes from the very companies seeking to mine the seabed. Commercial miners conduct their own environmental assessments and benchmarks, and as such, the ISA’s governance approach appears to be one of companies self-regulating.
It is now finalizing regulations to allow commercial mining in the Clarion–Clipperton zone of the North Pacific Ocean. If all exploration licences currently issued in this zone are converted to exploitation licenses, this will be the largest mining operation the planet has ever experienced.
The ISA’s 170 members, including the U.S., have upheld a consensus-based governance approach. In doing so, they’ve prevented any unilateral claims to the international seabed. Although the U.S. never ratified UNCLOS, it too has largely observed the consensus-based legal order. Until now.
The Metals Company (TMC), a Canadian deep-sea mining company, recently announced its intention to bypass the ISA and work with the Trump administration to pursue seabed mining in international waters. To do so, it will rely on the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act (DSHMRA), administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA). Congress had previously noted that this domestic law was always considered a temporary measure until the development of an acceptable system under UNCLOS.
In principle, NOAA’s deep ocean scientific expertise enables it to competently oversee U.S. seabed mining. This includes assessing the potential environmental impacts of mining and ensuring the protection of the marine environment. It has already developed DSHMRA mining regulations within a “precautionary and adaptive management framework.”
Before granting a mining licence, NOAA is required to prepare and publish an environmental impact statement. However, recent staff cuts and the new administration’s rollback of marine environmental protections potentially compromise its oversight capacity.
How NOAA’s scientific teams feel about fast-tracking a “gold rush” is another story.
The ISA has denounced its snubbing by The Metals Company. However, by shopping around for a jurisdiction of convenience, TMC has inadvertently shone a spotlight on gaps in the ISA’s environmental governance approach.
Without a foundational science policy or in-house scientific expertise, the ISA is ill-equipped to safeguard the deep ocean. Marine science offers a way to better understand the deep ocean and its vulnerabilities and can help re-imagine the ISA’s direction toward a more generative role as an environmental steward.
Through marine social sciences, ocean humanities and Indigenous knowledge, other pathways can be explored toward a better understanding of human-ocean relationships. The ISA has the potential to step up to its planetary stewardship role by developing policy guidelines to guide such transitions. The oceanographic background of the ISA’s new secretary-General, Leticia Carvalho, bodes well. Perhaps this may happen through a renewed focus on marine science — time will tell.
Susan Reid does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Keroles Riad, Postdoctoral fellow, Energy and Particle Technology Laboratory, Carleton University
Fire is how most widely used nanoparticles — and by extension nanotechnologies — are made.(Shutterstock)
Fire is arguably humanity’s earliest discovery. It was pivotal in advancing society — underpinning many of humanity’s most transformative inventions, from cooking and forging weapons to generating energy and enabling car combustion engines.
Today, fire continues to be the gateway to some of the most cutting-edge nanotechnologies currently being developed for use in cancer treatments and as breath sensors for early detection of diabetes and other metabolic diseases.
Fire is how most widely used nanoparticles — and by extension, nanotechnologies — are made. For example, a third of a car tire’s weight is comprised of carbon black nanoparticles, which are made using fire. These nanoparticles help to reinforce the tire. The white paint we use on our walls and the coatings on some pills contain fire-made titania nanoparticles. Similarly, fumed silica — which is used in the optical fibres needed for internet and communication systems — are also forged in fire.
I specialize in making nanoparticles in fire — specifically using a technology called flame spray pyrolysis.
In my research, I burn flammable chemicals that contain the target metal elements to form my nanoparticles. Everything gets oxidized during combustion: carbon becomes CO2, hydrogen becomes water vapor and metal elements become metal oxides.
During the milliseconds that these metal oxide particulates spend inside the fire, they collide and grow into nano- or micro-particles. I collect these particles on a filter on top of the fire. Important properties such as the size and crystal structure of the nanoparticles that are produced depend on how much time these particles spend inside the fire.
The more time the particles have to collide inside the forging fire, the larger they grow. We can also make complicated particles consisting of multiple elements by burning a mixture of different chemicals. This process is both versatile and scalable — allowing millions of tonnes of nanoparticles to be produced each year.
Carbon black is a nanoparticle that is produced through flame spray pyrolysis. (Shutterstock)
Overcoming limitations
Being able to mass-produce nanoparticles has been one of the biggest challenges of producing nanotechnologies on a larger scale. This is because most of the nanoparticles used in nanotechnologies can only be made via “wet chemistry,” or by using liquids.
It can take hours of working with liquid in beakers, mixing them, heating them, then separating and centrifuging them just to obtain tiny amounts of material. These processes are often too expensive and too dangerous to scale enough for viable commercialisation.
For instance, quantum dots (nanoparticles made from semiconducting materials which have both optical and electrical properties) — the discovery of which was celebrated by the Chemistry Noble Prize in 2023. These have the potential to revolutionize many technologies — including solar cells, carbon capture and contrast agents used in medical imaging.
However, quantum dots are hardly ever used in those technologies on a large scale because the prohibitive cost of making them via wet chemistry can be as high as US$45,000 per gram.
But unlike wet chemistry, fire is simple, cheap, scaleable and surprisingly safe. So when processes that allow for the production of high value nanoparticles, such as quantum dots, with fire are developed, costs drastically drop and they become immediately scaleable and of potential interest to industry.
Fire can also produce harmful particles and by-products.
For instance, if you place a napkin in front of the exhaust of your car, black stuff will accumulate on it. This black residue is soot particles produced by the fire burning inside the engine. Similarly, smoking cigarettes causes soot to form and accumulate in a smoker’s lung, often causing cancer.
Flame spray pyrolysis technology has also been used to simulate combustion conditions to not only study the impact of generated soot more accurately, but also test process changes that could virtually eliminate soot emissions. For example, one study used flame spray pyrolysis to show that injecting air downstream of jet fuel combustion can reduce soot emission by more than 90 per cent. Flame spray pyrolysis could continue to be a useful tool in researching the impacts of pollution.
The future of nanoparticles
But not all nanoparticles can be produced by fire. As such, research exploring new recipes and processes to make high-value nanoparticles that are not yet possible to make in fire could have a large impact.
For example, a major focus of my current work is to explore the possibility of using fire to make graphene. Graphene is the strongest material known at the nanoscale. My previous work shows that by using ultraviolet light, graphene can be transformed into strong macroscopic structures — possibly allowing it to be used in 3D printing.
Graphene is the strongest material known at nanoscale. (Shutterstock)
Further, there’s massive untapped potential in nanomedicine to integrate the nanoparticles that are already possible to make in fire. Only about 30 types of nanoparticles are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration — such as those used in COVID-19 vaccines, as well as iron-based nanoparticles used for treating anemia and kidney disease.
All those approved nanomedicines are given via injections. This leaves plenty of room to explore the benefits of inorganic nanoparticles in medicine — especially orally administrated therapeutics.
Keroles Riad is the founder and CEO of O Nanotech Solutions, a startup that produces flame-made quantum dots. He also receives funding from NSERC as a Canada Banting Postdoctoral Fellow. He also receives funding from MITACS as a part of their Accelerate Entrepreneur Program. He holds both scholarships at Carleton University. He is also the CEO of enuf, a Bcorp-certified social enterprise focused on sustainable waste management.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Elizabeth Castaldo Lundén, SweAmfo/ASF Research Fellow at USC School of Cinematic Arts | Fulbright Scholar, University of Southern California
The annual Met Gala in New York City is a dazzling collision of celebrity, fashion and media frenzy.
The event is ostensibly a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, which houses a vast collection of historical costumes and fashion artifacts.
But for many people, it’s that time of year when their social media feeds become awash with posts, stories and live streams of A-list actors, musicians and influencers ascending the iconic steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art to showcase their elaborate outfits.
The gala has come a long way since its early days as an intimate fundraising event for the local fashion industry and New York’s old-guard elite.
Through my research at the Met’s Thomas J. Watson Library, I discovered the ways in which a former fashion editor named Diana Vreeland elevated this formerly stuffy charity ball into a global media sensation.
A low-key affair
Philanthropist and arts patron Irene Lewisohn launched the Museum of Costume Art in 1937 to promote the preservation and study of historical clothing. In 1946, New York fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert helped bring the museum’s collection under the purview of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, with the caveat that it would operate independently of the museum’s budget. It was then renamed the Costume Institute.
In 1948, Lambert organized the inaugural gala to raise funds for the institute. The following year, Lord & Taylor president Dorothy Shaver established a formal management structure for both the institute and its annual gala, streamlined operations, and helped burnish the reputation of the fledgling institution among New York’s social elite. During her tenure, gala revenues climbed steadily, from US$31,723 in 1949 to $118,775 in 1958 – roughly $1.3 million in today’s dollars.
The Met Gala that Shaver shaped looked similar, in many ways, to today’s: There was a theme, a formal dinner, live entertainment and a fashion parade that attendees could participate in. There were also a photographers row, where guests could be snapped by famed fashion photographers for a fee, and raffles with department store prizes.
After Shaver’s death in 1958, department store executives continued to steer the gala, but attendance and revenue waned. In 1961, in an effort to cut costs and revive interest, the event was moved into the museum itself.
The gala needed a reinvention. Soon, it would get one.
Vreeland’s vision
Diana Vreeland took the reins of the Met Gala in 1973.
She’d had a storied career in fashion journalism, including stints as fashion editor of Harper’s Bazaar and editor-in-chief of Vogue.
Vreeland, however, understood that in order for the gala to grow, it needed to become a newsworthy event that would be of interest to those who might not even attend the gala itself. So she selected spectacular, sometimes controversial themes that would generate interest from the press.
Vreeland’s first exhibition in 1973 was bold: a tribute to a single designer, Cristóbal Balenciaga.
Some curators also bristled at Vreeland’s unorthodox approach to exhibition planning, such as blurring time periods, displaying clothes without providing historical context and prioritizing beauty over scholarship.
Nonetheless, critics deemed the gala and its accompanying exhibition a huge success. American designer Stan Herman declared that the garments “belong in a museum, like good paintings.”
Models and actresses wear costumes and masks for the Costume Institute’s 1974 exhibition ‘Romantic and Glamorous Hollywood Design.’ Diana Vreeland is seated in the center, sans mask.
Buzz and pizzazz
Before Vreeland, coverage of the gala was limited to society pages and publications like Women’s Wear Daily.
Vreeland knew how to generate buzz because she thought like an editor. She also knew how to charm the press. Vreeland popularized words like “pizzazz,” “splendeur” and “deeveen.” She told tales of discovering model and actress Lauren Bacall and the work of fashion designer Roy Halston. She regaled reporters with stories of allegedly visiting Buffalo Bill in Wyoming.
Under Vreeland’s leadership, media coverage of the gala and exhibitions exploded, with articles appearing in The New York Times, The New Yorker, New York Magazine, People, Interview, Le Figaro, Le Monde, Revista Hola!, ABC de las Americas, Il Tempo, Paris Herald Tribune and Tokyo’s High Fashion, among others. During her tenure, she also opened the doors to reporters and photographers so they could cover the night of the event.
With “The World of Balenciaga,” Vreeland also pioneered the use of corporate sponsorships to finance the exhibitions and parties. In 1982, Pierre Cardin Management funded “La Belle Époque,” a Met Gala theme associated with the relaunch of the famed Paris restaurant Maxim’s, in which Cardin had invested.
The show was launched amid rumors of the designer’s declining health and growing criticism of the museum being exploited as a publicity platform.
“One day the god of the Temple of Dendur will cry: ‘I am not on earth to share a museum with a bunch of fashion freaks!’” critic John Heilpern groused in the East Side Express.
The following year, Ralph Lauren became the central sponsor and guest of honor for “Man and the Horse.”
Diana Vreeland and designer Ralph Lauren at the 1984 gala, which was themed ‘Man and the Horse’ and sponsored by Lauren. Sonia Moskowitz/Getty Images
The Met set
Under Vreeland, a new kind of guest list also emerged.
Vreeland embraced this shift. She made space at the gala for the likes of Andy Warhol, Bianca and Mick Jagger, Halston and his Halstonettes, David Bowie, Cher, Diana Ross, Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson.
Their presence helped transform the gala from society soirée to pop culture phenomenon.
After Vreeland’s death in 1989, the event lost some its splendor under the guidance of museum curators. Women’s Wear Daily columnist Aileen Mehle later lamented the decline, writing that the event had become “a far cry from the dear old Diana Vreeland days when that fashion oracle called the Costume Institute’s shots, and elegance and anticipation abounded.”
In the late 1990s, however, the museum curators who had run the event since Vreeland’s death ceded control back to the fashion industry. High-end brands like Chanel, Versace and Christian Dior sponsored the Met Gala, while fashion editors such as Liz Tilberis and Anna Wintour chaired the event.
By channeling Vreeland’s vision, they were able to turn the gala into the global media spectacle it is today, which now thrives in an era of social media and global branding.
This year’s theme, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Styles,” is co-chaired by rapper-producer Pharrell Williams, who is also the artistic director of Menswear at Louis Vuitton. The LVMH conglomerate – Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton – is the sponsor, showing how the gala continues to operate as a platform where corporate branding, celebrity culture and high culture converge.
But so far, zoos are not among the many issues the Trump administration has focused on.
That might no longer be the case.
Trump issued an executive order on March 27, 2025, to restore “truth and sanity” at federal history sites.
“Over the past decade, Americans have witnessed a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history,” Trump wrote in the executive order, “replacing facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth.” As a corrective, he instructed Vice President JD Vance to ferret out “improper ideology” at the Smithsonian Institution, a group of museums and research centers created and funded by the federal government.
The executive order also applied to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., which has been part of the Smithsonian since 1890.
NBC “Late Night” host Seth Meyers joked about the executive order on his show on April 2, characterizing it as evidence of an authoritarian personality.
“Seriously, what the hell is ‘improper’ ideology at the zoo? Trump is starting to get into weird dictator s—,” Meyers said.
Meyers’ astonishment should come as no surprise. Zoos go to great lengths to portray themselves as scientifically objective and politically neutral.
Yet as a scholar of wars’ effects on American culture and society, I know that zoos have always been ideological, sending subtle – and not so subtle – messages about topics that have little to do with animals.
Historically, zoos have been used to justify colonial exploitation. They have lent weight to eugenicist ideas about racial hierarchy. And they have served as backdrops for all kinds of political theater.
During the 1920s and 1930s, for example, Italian strongman Benito Mussolini liked to climb inside the lion cage at the Rome Zoo to demonstrate the courage and vitality he associated with fascist politics.
Benito Mussolini, the longtime fascist dictator of Italy, visits a zoo in Rome in 1924.
World war zoos
Zoo ownership and funding models depend on the individual zoo, but many zoos receive at least some government funding to operate.
At the start of World War II, most governments required zoos to embrace an ideology of sacrifice – a willingness to set the needs of the state above their own.
For zoos in North America and the British Empire, this meant slashing workers’ pay, rationing food supplies and offering uniformed soldiers special access to zoo facilities.
It also meant destroying animals considered a threat to public safety, especially in the event of a bombing or assault that could set them free. In 1939, the London Zoo killed more than 200 animals, starting with the black widow spiders and venomous snakes. Other zoos did the same, slaughtering their animal collections as a precaution against possible escape.
Joan the hippo at the London Zoo gets a drink of water in June 1939. Fox Photos/Getty Images
Authoritarian governments during World War II exercised almost total control over their nations’ zoos.
Under Adolf Hitler, German zoos enforced “Aryan-only” visitation policies, festooned their grounds with swastikas, hosted galas for Nazi dignitaries and exhibited animals looted from zoos in occupied nations.
In Japan, the governor of Tokyo ordered the Ueno Zoo to carry out a series of “propaganda killings” aimed at strengthening public commitment to the wartime struggle. Starting in August 1943, zoo staff shot, electrocuted, stabbed and strangled more than 20 animals, including a polar bear, an American bison, a python and a leopard cub.
Tokyo’s zoo also starved to death three elephants named Jon, Tonki and Hanako. Weeks after the zoo held an official funeral for its animals, two of the three elephants that were not actually dead continued to suffer, their cages covered in bunting so the public would not see the ghastly evidence.
Even as the fighting raged, the Soviet government directed its zoos to develop practical measures to help the war effort. At the Moscow Zoo, staff taught people how to breed mice and rabbits for medical applications, such as vaccine testing.
All the while, Soviet zoo employees had to demonstrate ideological vigilance in the workplace. Any slipup could mean official sanction, loss of position or worse.
Cold War zoos
During the Cold War, governments around the world continued to view zoos through an ideological lens.
This was especially true in Berlin, where the city’s two zoos – one in the capitalist West, the other in the communist East – became symbols of competing ideological worldviews.
No zoo animals were more ideologically fraught in the Cold War than giant pandas, endemic to the forested mountains of central China.
In the 1950s and 1960s, American zoos were denied permission by the U.S. government to import pandas from China. The State Department considered them “enemy goods.”
First lady Pat Nixon welcomes pandas to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., in 1972.
That changed in 1972, when President Richard Nixon, during a thawing of the Cold War, famously returned from China with Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, the first giant pandas who were gifted to and exhibited in the U.S. in decades.
The National Zoo unveiled China’s latest “soft power ambassadors” in January 2025. Three-year-old pandas Bao Li and Qing Bao are set to remain in D.C. for 10 years – long enough to win the hearts and minds of millions of zoo visitors.
John M. Kinder does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
An Asian American and lifelong liberal from the San Francisco Bay Area, I became a first-time gun owner as a 42-year-old in 2011. I began a now 14-year journey into an unfamiliar and complex world of firearms. In my work, I draw on both my personal experiences and sociological observations to understand the long-standing presence of a robust legal gun culture in America.
In contrast to the dominant scholarly approaches, which focus on gun deviance and harm, I find there is more to firearms than criminal violence, injury and death; more to gun owners than straight white men; and more to gun culture than democracy-destroying right-wing politics.
Let me share five observations essential to understanding guns in America:
1. Guns are normal
About 86 million American adults – 1 in 3 – own at least one of the estimated 400 million firearms in the U.S. today.
Imagine if everyone who uses TikTok in the U.S. owned a gun – and then add the population of New York City. That is enough gun owners to fill over 1,000 NFL stadiums.
Humans have used projectile weapons like rocks and spears from the beginning. This unbroken history continues in every society, with firearms as the weapon of choice in all but the most isolated communities. People who could legally own guns in colonial America commonly did so. Even today, civilian firearms ownership remains exceptionally high in the U.S. compared with other industrialized nations.
The right of everyday Americans to own guns is a deep part of American culture, enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and many state constitutions.
Before the mid-1800s, people primarily used firearms for practical purposes: hunting for food, defense from and offense against indigenous populations, controlling enslaved people, expanding territory and fighting against oppressive rulers.
Kevin Dixie, at a firearms retailer and gun range in Ballwin, Mo., believes that gun rights are about empowering minority communities and ensuring freedom for every American. AP Photo/Jeff Roberson
Starting in the mid-1800s, Americans developed a more complex gun culture that included recreational hunting, organized target shooting and gun collecting. These elements continue today, but, in a shift, Americans increasingly own guns for self-defense.
Gun Culture 2.0 is more diverse and inclusive than the United States’ historical gun culture because security is a universal human concern.
The response to feelings of insecurity varies. Portfolios of protective measures in the U.S. include home security systems, dogs, the hyperlocal social networking service Nextdoor, gated communities and firearms.
4. Guns are lethal tools
Many tools like knives and chainsaws are lethal, meaning they have the capacity to cause death. Guns differ because their lethality is by design. Consequently, guns can make dangerous situations more deadly.
While the U.S. has a moderate overall suicide rate compared with other developed countries, it has a firearm suicide rate that substantially exceeds these other nations. This is because firearms are widely available and highly lethal. When people attempt suicide using guns, they die in up to 90% of cases.
Similarly, although the U.S. is not exceedingly violent or criminal compared with peer nations, its criminal violence is more deadly because these lethal tools are more frequently involved.
Starting in the mid-1800s, Americans developed a more complex gun culture that included recreational hunting, as depicted in this 1852 lithograph of woodcock hunters. Universal History Archive/Getty Images
5. Guns are paradoxical
Despite high rates of firearm suicide and homicide, most guns in the U.S. will not kill anyone, and most American gun owners will not commit violence against themselves or others. My calculations, based on the 2023 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, indicate that just one gun death occurred per 8,560 firearms and 1,840 gun owners – meaning at least 99.99% of guns and 99.95% of gun owners were not directly involved in fatalities that year.
These observations collectively point to a final insight: Guns resist simple categorization and embody multiple paradoxes.
To different people, they are fun and frightening, dangerous and protective, diffuse and concentrated, unifying and divisive, attractive and repulsive, interesting and controversial, useful and useless, good and bad, and neither good nor bad.
This is to say, guns are not inherently anything. They take on different meanings according to the various purposes to which people put them.
A realistic view requires maintaining a clear-eyed understanding of the lethal capabilities of firearms. But the tendency to focus exclusively on firearms-related harms, while understandable, becomes a problem, in my view, when it fails to acknowledge the normality of guns and the diversity of gun owners.
David Yamane has received funding from The Louisville Institute for the Study of American Religion to study church security. He is a member of the Liberal Gun Club, National African American Gun Association, and National Rifle Association, and financially supports the Liberal Gun Owners 501c4 and Walk the Walk America 501c3 organizations.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By David L. Di Maria, Vice Provost for Global Engagement, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Boston University students march to demand the school declare itself a sanctuary campus to protect their peers from the federal government regardless of their immigration status, on April 3, 2025.Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
In early April 2025, the Trump administration terminated the immigration statuses of thousands of international students listed in a government database, meaning they no longer had legal permission to be in the country. Some students self-deported instead of facing deportation.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently announced that it would reverse the terminations after courts across the country determined they did not have merit.
Inserting additional bureaucracy into current processes could make the U.S. a less attractive study destination. I believe this would ultimately hamper the Trump administration’s ability to achieve its “America First” priorities related to the economy, science and technology, and national security.
The U.S. hosts 16% of all students studying outside of their home country, down from 22% in 2014 and 28% in 2001, according to the Institute of International Education. Of the more than 1 million international students who were present in the U.S. during the 2023-2024 academic year, 54% came from just two countries, China and India.
International students in the U.S. are already subjected to intense screening and continuous monitoring. These measures include:
• Vetting the student’s school. Before they can apply for a visa, international students must be admitted to a school authorized by the Department of Homeland Security to enroll people on student visas.
• Vetting at the embassy. As part of the visa application process, international students are subjected to national security reviews carried out by various intelligence and law enforcement agencies. In some cases, such as when a U.S. consular officer in their home country decides that more information is required from external sources to determine visa eligibility, additional screenings occur. That is done through a process known as administrative processing.
• Vetting upon arrival. When they arrive in the U.S., international students are again screened by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer. If the officer is unable to verify any information, the student is sent to secondary inspection, a secure interview area where the student waits while officers complete additional assessment. The student is then either admitted to the U.S. or forced to depart the country.
• Ongoing monitoring while in the U.S. If permitted to enter the country, students must enroll full time, earn good grades and notify their school within 10 days of substantive changes to their circumstances.
Examples include a change to their address, academic major or financial sponsor. And school officials are required to report this information to the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s National Security Investigations Division.
Given the current level of screening and monitoring already imposed on international students in the U.S., it is unclear how additional measures would add value.
Boston University police officers speak to each other as students protest outside a dean’s office demanding the school declare itself a sanctuary campus, on April 3, 2025. Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Trump administration officials have underlined the importance of recruiting top global talent. And Trump has said that international students who graduate from U.S. colleges should be awarded a green card with their degree.
During the 2023-2024 academic year, international students contributed US$43.8 billion to the U.S. economy through tuition and living expenses, which supported an estimated 378,175 U.S. jobs.
Their contributions don’t end following graduation, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. Many go on to launch successful startups at a rate that is eight to nine times higher than their domestic peers. In fact, 25% of billion-dollar companies in the U.S. were founded by a former international student.
Such companies include Eventbrite, Grammarly, Moderna, OpenAI, Robinhood and SpaceX.
Consider that 45% of STEM workers in the U.S. holding a doctoral degree were born outside the U.S.
A 2024 report cautions that the U.S. is failing to develop domestic STEM talent at all levels of the education system. Just 3.2% of U.S. high school graduates are estimated to enter the STEM workforce.
Moreover, the country’s ability to attract and retain international STEM talent is decreasing due to immigration restrictions and increased global competition.
Finally, international students are critical to establishing global networks and promoting soft power diplomacy. This is evidenced by the U.S. having graduated more world leaders than any other nation.
Further restricting the ability of international students to study in the U.S. will ultimately redirect talent to other countries, allies and adversaries alike.
David L. Di Maria does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: United States of America – The White House (video statements)
“The companies represented in this room have collectively announced more than $2 trillion in new investments, and we have a total of close to $8 trillion. Every new investment, every new factory, and every new job created is a sign of strength in the American economy.” –President Donald J. Trump
This May, nearly 8,000 people will receive undergraduate and graduate degrees at 17 ceremonies held in four different locations at UConn, a multiday extravaganza of accomplishment that could scarcely have been imagined the first time the institution celebrated its graduates.
The year was 1883, just two years after the school first opened its doors. The school didn’t award bachelor’s degrees for its first decade, and so everyone who completed their course of studies received a two-year certificate. And the graduating class in that very first year wouldn’t have needed Gampel Pavilion to hold it: there were just six students finishing their studies, all boys, some of whom later went on to finish high school.
That first ceremony was held in a grove of oak trees, near what is now Holcomb Hall, and each graduating student read a final paper as part of the exercises. They wore suits for the occasion; UConn ceremonies didn’t feature the familiar cap and gown regalia until 1907.
While that first ceremony looked completely different from what students experience today, it was the first step in a long history of commencement ceremonies celebrating the most important part about UConn: the students.
Editor’s Note: The following article by Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor Sandra Chafouleas originally appeared in Psychology Today.
KEY POINTS
Doechii’s “Anxiety” nails both the physical and mental symptoms of anxiety.
The song guides us to notice anxious thoughts as “passing through.”
Multiple coping options exist: observe thoughts, avoid judgment, calm body, and connect with others.
Families can use the song to talk about anxiety and healthy coping options.
Doechii’s “Anxiety” is bigger than pulsating rhythms and unflinching lyrics. In a year thus far dominated with uncertainty, it represents more than popular music. It captures how many of us feel right now. When it pops into our playlists, we might wonder: was the timing of release planned or coincidental? Doechii has nailed it, tapping into our shared whole-body experience.
The song and accompanying video work so well in showing exactly how anxiety feels in our bodies and minds. When Doechii sings, “Breathing shallow, mind won’t settle / Tomorrow’s problems here today”, she is describing the hallmark features of anxiety. Think about quick and short breaths, racing thoughts, and worrying about things that haven’t happened yet. Anxiety feels like “Anxiety” sounds, with brilliant mirroring of how the experience can hijack us.
Doechii does more than describe the symptoms of anxiety. In the middle, she attempts to shift perspective: “Notice it, name it, watch it go / It’s not you, it’s just passing through.” This part shows us the beginnings of how to escape from anxiety’s hold. Emotion science tells us that we can learn to observe our thoughts rather than be consumed by them. This awareness, for example, can be found in the core elements of approaches like mindfulness-based cognitive therapy or acceptance and commitment therapy. For listeners of the song, this reframing can begin to open multiple pathways for healthy responding to anxiety. We need different options as a single approach doesn’t work for each person or across every situation.
Here are some examples to explore:
Recognize thoughts as just thoughts: When we view a worried thought as “just anxiety talking,” we can acknowledge the intrusion without it taking over how we define who we are or what we do.
Just notice without judging: When we observe our thoughts, feelings or sensations without labeling, we can create space to be less reactive to anxiety.
Use our bodies to calm down: When we are anxious, we experience sensations in our body like tight muscles or shallow breathing. We can do deep breathing, relax our muscles, or move our bodies to feel better.
Connect with others: When we feel alone in holding our anxious feelings, we can reach out with someone we trust to remind us that we are not alone. Sharing with others can help us as well as the other person.
Helping Our Kids Handle Anxiety
For parents, Doechii’s song also could open doors to talking about anxiety with our kids, especially our teens. When our kids are feeling mixed up inside, hearing a parent say, “I totally get this song – sometimes I feel just like it” could help. When we share our own worries while talking through healthy coping options, we teach important life skills. This doesn’t mean that we should dump adult problems on our kids. It’s about showing kids how to acknowledge and work through those tough feelings like tension or worried thoughts.
Here are simple things parents can try:
Talk out loud about your own experiences: When you feel worried, say something like: “I’m nervous about my big meeting tomorrow. My heart is beating fast and my throat feels tight. I need to try something to calm my body down. I’m going to take five deep breaths and see what happens.”
Discuss the difference between helpful and unhelpful worry: Talk through situations about when worry could actually be useful (I need to plan out when and how to study for this test) and when it might be taking over (If I don’t ace this test, I won’t do well in anything and there goes my future). Notice opportunities to catch and shift unhelpful feelings before they spin even bigger.
Create solutions together: Work together to come up with simple activities that family members can use when feeling anxious—like a special way of deep breathing, counting things you can see in the room, or shaking out your arms and legs to release tension.
Have kids take the lead in solutions: Instead of jumping in to fix kids’ feelings of anxiety, try first asking them to share what’s happening. Let them take the lead in answering “What could we try?” Encouraging their problem solving in the moment helps build skills for handling future worries on their own.
Doechii has created more than entertainment with “Anxiety”; she’s offered a useful tool for our times. We identify with it because anxiety is a likely visitor throughout our lives, and especially now. Let’s use the song to shine light on our capacity to respond in healthy ways. We have a shared role in deciding what to do when anxiety shows up, an important lesson for both caregivers and kids.
