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Category: Education

  • MIL-OSI: Risk Strategies Annual Education Practice Student Health Plan Survey Finds Costs Rising Nationwide

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    BOSTON, May 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Risk Strategies, a leading national specialty insurance brokerage and risk management and consulting firm, today released the findings of its Annual Student Health Plan Benchmarking Survey. For the fourth consecutive year, managing student health plan costs remains the top priority for nearly 90% of educational institutions surveyed.

    Conducted midyear 2024, the survey of approximately 170 colleges and universities showed an overall average plan cost rise of 7.1% with schools in the survey’s Eastern region seeing increases of 10% or more. Other regions surveyed experienced more moderate hikes of 5% or less. The survey also noted a decline in enrollment in student health plans, from 29% in 2023 to 24% in 2024.

    “While student health plans are generally more stable in cost than employer-based plans, they are not immune to larger pricing trends,” said Terry Lyons, National Education Practice Leader, Risk Strategies. “Our survey shows the higher education industry is working hard to manage the issue and meet student needs.”

    To address rising costs, 32% of schools indicated that they had adjusted medical benefits offerings, and 18% said they had modified the prescription drug coverage offered in the plan. The most common changes included:

    • Higher copays and deductibles, with the average deductible increasing from $300 to $360
    • Shifts from copays to coinsurance for specialty drugs, rising from 12% to 27%
    • Increase in insurance verification for waiver/opt-out enrollment

    “With plan costs increasing and enrollments in those plans declining, we see institutions working to find new ways to engage their students about the value of plan coverage,” said Elizabeth Marks, Senior Strategy Consultant, Student Health, Risk Strategies National Education Practice. “Clarifying plan benefits and emphasizing affordability will likely be key elements of this effort.”

    In other findings from this edition of the survey, mental health remained an important focus, though it ranked fourth nationally as a priority (76%) – lower than in previous years. It does remain, however, a leading priority for small schools (88%) and institutions in the East (91%). The survey also indicated that more schools (89% in 2024, up from 74% in 2023) are offering wellness programs, though smaller institutions face resource constraints.

    To access the full results of the survey, please click here.

    To learn more about Risk Strategies, please visit risk-strategies.com.

    About Risk Strategies

    Risk Strategies, part of Accession Risk Management Group, is a North American specialty brokerage firm offering comprehensive risk management services, property and casualty insurance and reinsurance placement, employee benefits, private client services, consulting services, and financial & wealth solutions. The 9th largest U.S. privately held broker, we advise businesses and personal clients, have access to all major insurance markets, and 30+ specialty industry and product line practices and experts in 200+ offices – Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Grand Cayman, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Montreal, Nashville, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Toronto, and Washington, DC. RiskStrategies.com.

    Media Contact 
    Alana Bannan
    Senior Account Executive
    rsc@matternow.com  
    (720) 400-8025

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Rudy R. Miller Among Most Generous Donors to National Museum of the United States Army Campaign

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    FORT BELVOIR, Va., May 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Army Historical Foundation announced that Rudy R. Miller has presented a gift to the campaign for the National Museum of the United States Army that qualifies him for the Foundation’s One-Star Circle of Distinction. The Museum, which will debut a special Revolutionary War exhibit in June marking the 250th Birthday of the U.S. Army and next year’s 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding, has been praised as one of the top military museums in the nation.

    Rudy R. Miller stated, “I became a member and early supporter of The Army Historical Foundation and the National Museum of the United States Army a few years ago. In 2024, I was very proud to become a lifetime member of The 1814 Society, which shares a commitment and desire to see the Army’s history preserved and exhibited for future generations. I have great respect for our flag plus symbols of our nation’s freedom and independence.”

    Miller continued, “I was born in Tennessee and raised in Virginia. My grandfather, father, uncle, brother, and myself all served in the U.S. Army. I am a passionate, motivated individual, a serial entrepreneur, and a philanthropist. I’m inspired by the Foundation’s challenge coin which has the following words engraved, “ENGAGE * EDUCATE * INSPIRE * HONOR * PRESERVE!”

    The Army Historical Foundation serves as the official fundraising organization for the National Army Museum as part of its mission to preserve and present the history of the American Soldier. The Museum, which is owned and operated by the U.S. Army, is the first to tell the entire history of the nation’s oldest military service, immersing visitors in the Army story through compelling galleries, moving exhibits, a multisensory 300-degree theater, tranquil rooftop garden, and hundreds of historic artifacts rarely or never-before seen by the public.

    “Rudy Miller has led a lifetime of service to our great nation, and we are deeply grateful that he has made a defining gift toward the Foundation’s mission to preserve and present the history of the American Soldier,” said retired Brig. Gen. Burt Thompson, president of The Army Historical Foundation. “With Rudy’s support, we will be better able to remind the nation of all we owe those who wore the Army uniform, including Rudy himself and the members of his proud military family.”

    Rudy R. Miller’s contribution places him among the campaign’s most generous donors. Mr. Miller is Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Miller Capital Corporation, a private equity firm and an affiliated company of The Miller Group of entities, established in 1972. Mr. Miller was Founder and Chairman of the Board of Miller Capital Markets, a FINRA member investment banking firm, from 2006 through 2012. He previously served over 20 years as a certified arbitrator for the NASD (now known as FINRA). He has years of executive-level experience owning, operating, and advising national and international corporations, from NYSE listed public companies to emerging-growth private companies, through varying economic climates. He has worked with various U.S. government contractors and possesses the ability to address crisis issues on behalf of his clients as one of his crucial skillsets. In 2025, Miller Capital was voted Best of Our Valley – Best Investment Firm for the sixth consecutive year by Arizona Foothills Magazine’s readers who responded with hundreds of thousands votes.

    Mr. Miller served in the United States Army, U.S. Army Reserve, and the U.S. Air Force Reserve, in the Vietnam era, and received honorable discharges as a Noncommissioned Officer. Mr. Miller also has an aviation background and is listed on the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Wall of Honor. Prior to his military service, he served as a fireman and first responder. Mr. Miller earned his Bachelor and Master of Business Administration degrees from Pacific Western University.

    President of the United States of America, Ronald W. Reagan, presented Mr. Miller the Medal of Merit in appreciation of his support and service as a member of a Presidential Task Force. Miller was honored to be the keynote speaker at a U.S. Navy Relinquishment of Command and Retirement Ceremony aboard the USS Midway Museum, San Diego, California in 2018. Mr. Miller accepted an invitation in 2014 to become a member of Thunderbird Field II Veterans Memorial, Inc., a non-profit organization for veterans and non-veterans. He was selected by the Board of Directors to be the Chairman of the Advisory Board where he developed and managed its Aviation Scholarship Program. Prior to retiring from Tbird2 in 2024, he served as Co-Chairman of the Scholarship Committee and a key fundraiser. He was the recipient of the first Tbird2 Leadership Award. Mr. Miller’s philanthropic endeavors include support for the non-profit arts community, athletic foundations, universities, community colleges, numerous non-profit entities, and veterans’ projects.

    In 2008, Mr. Miller instituted the annual Rudy R. Miller Business – Finance Scholarship in support of Arizona State University, in particular the W. P. Carey School of Business. His active involvement at the University also included having served as a member of ASU’s Dean’s Council of 100. In 2023, Mr. Miller was selected by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to join two influential advisory boards for both the College of Aviation (COA) and the College of Business, Security and Intelligence (CBSI). In addition to joining Embry-Riddle’s COA and CBSI advisory boards, Miller has established scholarships for students, both veterans and non-veterans, at both colleges. He also set up a fund to support COA simulator training to improve commercial pilot safety (ISCP) as well as a fund to support CBSI students with CompTIA Security+ courseware and exam fees.

    In January 2024, Mr. Miller accepted a position on the Advisory Board at CrossFirst Bank (Phoenix, Arizona), a subsidiary of CrossFirst Bankshares, Inc. Effective March 1, 2025, First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ: BUSE), the holding company for Busey Bank, acquired by merger CrossFirst Bankshares, Inc. Mr. Miller agreed to continue to serve on the Busey Bank (Arizona) Advisory Board.

    For more information about Rudy R. Miller and The Miller Group of entities, please visit www.themillergroup.net.

    Individuals and organizations that wish to support the Foundation’s mission can make a gift through its website at armyhistory.org. The Foundation can also arrange for large group visits and special events at the Museum. The Museum is open every day, except December 25, with free admission and parking.

    About The Army Historical Foundation
    The Army Historical Foundation establishes, assists, and promotes programs and projects that preserve the history of the American Soldier and promote public understanding of and appreciation for the contributions by all components of the U.S. Army and its members. The Foundation serves as the Army’s official fundraising entity for the Capital Campaign for the National Museum of the United States Army. The award-winning, LEED- certified Museum opened on November 11, 2020, at Fort Belvoir, Va., and honors the service and sacrifice of all American Soldiers who have served since the Army’s inception in 1775. For more information on the Foundation and the National Museum of the United States Army, visit www.armyhistory.org.

    Official photographer for The Miller Group and its affiliated entities – Gordon Murray, 480 205-9691 (www.flashpv.com)

       
    Contact: Contact:
    The Army Historical Foundation Miller Capital Corporation
    Lydia Pitea Kristina McDaniel
    Senior Donor Relations Manager Vice President Admin & Corporate Controller
    lydia.pitea@armyhistory.org kmcdaniel@themillergroup.net
    973.632.1244 602.225.0505
       

    Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ec64ce26-7579-48b1-9fe9-9388078f1411

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3b9eef90-f7c5-427f-9de6-05efa2a0daf5

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/cf3a312d-a7fa-4374-9fb0-efebf75aa551

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e0d35d5a-9a50-4004-886c-a838fc8936c5

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a0900908-b6ab-4d6f-bf2f-e3bc81e5ba64

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: expert reaction to ARIA’s announcement on research projects in the Exploring Climate Cooling programme

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Scientists comment on new research projects as part of ARIA’s Exploring Climate Cooling programme. 

    Prof Stuart Haszeldine, Professor of Carbon Capture and Storage, School of School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, said:

    “Humans are losing the battle against climate change.  Engineering cooling is necessary because in spite of measurements and meetings and international treaties during the past 70 years, the annual emissions of greenhouse gases have continued to increase.  The world is heading towards heating greater than any time in our civilisation.

    “Many natural processes are reaching a tipping point, where the earth may jump into a different pattern of behaviour.  Geological records of the past 20,000 years around the UK and globally show that rapid changes can happen within a few years and can take tens to hundreds of years to recover.

    “Natural processes can cool the climate, notably volcanic eruptions can place tiny rock particles and sulphur gases high into the stratosphere.  In the geological and recent past, these have cooled earth temperatures by 1 or 2 degrees C for 2 to 5 years.  The scientific understanding of short timescale earth behaviour is not yet good enough to make reliable predictions.  So research is needed, together with testing of remedies in the real world not just in laboratories.

    “Projects in geo-engineering will be subject to unusually strong and transparent governance.  Strong public reactions have resulted from previous investigations.  And novel and appropriate communication is especially needed, to explain to citizens in urban and remote communities how and why this work is necessary.

    “In a world before satellites and computer models for weather forecasting – the best that humans could do was appeal to the weather gods.  Or look out of the window to watch the rainstorm approach.  Or the drought continue.  Now humans need more information to work out how the climate, not just the imminent weather, can be predicted and managed.  Before making big interventions, it’s necessary to make sure the modelling works in controlled experiments.  And also to understand who could be winners or losers during global geo-engineering.  Ignoring the problem is not an answer to a situation which humans have created.”

     

    Dr Naomi Vaughan, Associate Professor of Climate Change, Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, UEA, said:

    Question: Lots of scientists, including many who research SRM, say they don’t want it to ever have to be deployed.  Why is that?

    “SRM methods do not address the causes of climate change – SRM methods seek to cool the climate by reflecting more sunlight back to space to offset the warming we are causing by increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere that come from the burning of coal, oil and gas and deforestation.

    “Deployment is a major issue for SRM ideas, because the way that SRM balances out the warming we’ve caused is not a perfect offset.  Deploying SRM would create a new risk to global society – the risk of stopping the SRM whilst greenhouse gas concentrations were still high, as it would cause very rapid warming.  To stop SRM once it had been deployed safely, would require global society to reach net zero emissions and pay to remove large amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere.

    “It’s for these reasons that many scientists are cautious about SRM research because of how it could be used or misused in the future.”

     

    Dr Phil Williamson, Honorary Associate Professor, UEA, said:

    “The ARIA research programme focuses on technical capabilities for five specific cooling approaches.  Progress will undoubtedly be made, with one or more indicating that we could abandon net-zero knowing there would be a safety net to avoid climate catastrophe.  Yet the most crucial component of the initiative is the one concerning ethics and governance: is there any chance at all that there could ever be international agreement on such action?  In our divided world, the answer is no.  We would then be faced with the intolerable situation of the global climate being controlled by the most powerful nations (maybe our friends, maybe our foes) with scant regard for worldwide human rights, despite ARIA’s stated concerns regarding “impacts on the Global South”.”

     

    Prof Mike Hulme, Professor of Human Geography, University of Cambridge, said:

    “£57m is a huge amount of tax-payers money to be spent on this assortment of speculative technologies intended to manipulate the Earth’s climate.  I say this because these technologies will always remain speculative, and unproven in the real world, until they are deployed at scale.  Just because they “work” in a model, or at a micro-scale in the lab or the sky, does not mean they will cool climate safely, without unwanted side-effects, in the real world.  There is therefore no way that this research can demonstrate that the technologies are safe, successful or reversible.  The UK Government is leading the world down what academic analysts call ‘the slippery slope’ towards eventual dangerous large-scale deployment of solar geoengineering technologies.  This is public money that would be far better invested in enhancing technologies to reduce dependence on fossil fuels or to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.”

     

     

     

    https://www.aria.org.uk/opportunity-spaces/future-proofing-our-climate-and-weather/exploring-climate-cooling

     

     

    Declared interests

    Prof Stuart Haszeldine: “Stuart Haszeldine has no competing interests.  His research on climate engineering is not funded by ARIA, or UKRI or commercial companies.”

    Dr Naomi Vaughan: “No industry links.  I worked on a NERC-funded geoengineering research project, which included SRM, in 2010-2014.”

    Dr Phil Williamson: “Formerly employed by Natural Environment Research Council, including as Science Coordinator of UK Greenhouse Gas Removal Programme (2016-2020); now retired, with no external funding.  Lead author of two reports (2012, 2016) on Climate Geoengineering for UN Convention on Biological Diversity.”

    Prof Mike Hulme: “I am a signatory to the international Solar Geoengineering Non-Use Agreement: https://www.solargeoeng.org/.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: We honor and remember: events dedicated to Victory Day were held at the State University of Management

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –

    On May 7, the State University of Management held celebrations dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

    Veterans, staff and students of the university traditionally gathered for a ceremonial rally at the Memorial Stone to honor the memory of fallen soldiers.

    The rector of the State University of Management Vladimir Stroev gave a welcoming speech, emphasizing the importance of preserving the memory of ancestors.

    “This year is a special date, we are celebrating 80 years since the Great Victory. It is especially important to talk about this to our youth, who, unfortunately, can hardly communicate with living veterans of the Great Patriotic War, while experiencing events very similar to the past war years. Even 10 years ago, it would have been difficult to imagine that the enemy would again be at the threshold of our land and even on this sacred holiday for us would not abandon attempts to enter our territory. Right now, civilians, our fellow citizens, are dying. I would like to see another common victory in the near future, which we will also celebrate and the history of which we will pass on to our descendants,” said Vladimir Stroyev.

    The veteran of the Great Patriotic War and participant in the military operations, Mikhail Spektr, addressed the audience.

    “In two days we will celebrate the greatest holiday of our time. Not only soldiers in the trenches worked for this victory, but also women and children. Not only Germany was against us, but all of Europe, as it is now. We won then, and our grandchildren and great-grandchildren have not disgraced the Russian land and are winning today. We will win,” concluded Mikhail Naumovich.

    The ceremonial meeting ended with a flower-laying ceremony at the memorial to the fallen participants of the Great Patriotic War.

    After this, everyone who wanted could try the soldier’s porridge and attend a festive concert, which featured singer Natalia Manulik, children’s brass bands from Moscow, students from the Pre-University of the State University of Management and students from our university.

    The concert began with a video greeting from the Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of Russia Olga Petrova and a minute of silence in memory of the fallen heroes of the Great Patriotic War. In addition to the performances, the concert included an award ceremony for the winning teams of the patriotic game “Zarnitsa”, which had been held earlier at the State University of Management.

    Commemorative events dedicated to Victory Day and the Day of Military Glory of Russia are held at the State University of Management every year. Traditionally, they are held at the Memorial Stone, a memorial complex erected on the Alley of Veterans in honor of the students, staff, and teachers of the Moscow Engineering and Economics Institute (MIEI) who died in the Battle of Moscow and on the Rzhev-Vyazma line in the ranks of the 7th Division of the People’s Militia. The memorial complex was opened in 2006 in honor of the anniversary of the end of the Great Patriotic War and contains soil from the sites of fierce battles for Moscow in its foundation.

    Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 05/07/2025

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Teachers Want More Professional Development — and Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Delivers

    Source: Samsung

    America’s teachers are hungry for more — and better — professional development opportunities. It’s a consistent message Samsung Electronics America has heard over the 15 years of running Samsung Solve for Tomorrow, the nationwide STEM competition that empowers educators to help public middle and high school students create real-world solutions for community issues — and prove that STEM is about more than equations, coding, and lab experiments. It’s about creativity, critical thinking, and making a lasting difference.
    Our latest survey, The State of STEM Education, confirms it: an overwhelming 97% of teachers said they would like additional support or resources to help them bring emerging tech and educational concepts into their STEM teaching. Specifically, they rank access to professional development and training as an urgent need on a par with updated curriculum resources, and alongside priorities like improved technology and collaboration with industry professionals.
    Responding to this call for educator support, Samsung created the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Teacher Professional Development program seven years ago. Since then, we’ve been expanding and evolving the program, introducing new subject areas and offering flexible, virtual  learning experiences to make educator professional development even more accessible. This year’s seventh annual Teacher Professional Development expanded further, offering nearly 200 teachers three separate virtual workshops focused on critical areas shaping the future of STEM education: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Design Thinking, and Entrepreneurship.

    The interactive virtual sessions wove subject-expert presentations together with engaging breakout discussions, giving educators the opportunity to connect, share ideas, and exchange teaching experiences. Led by experts in their respective fields — AI with longtime Teacher Professional Development partner MindSpark Learning, Entrepreneurship with BUILD.org, and Design Thinking with Samsung Education Solutions coaches — participants worked together to develop and present plans and solutions in response to challenges posed by the session facilitators. This approach was designed to mirror the collaborative, real-world problem-solving educators foster in their own classrooms.
    At a time when America’s education sector is facing uncertainty and increased pressure on resources, the feedback we received from teachers validates Samsung’s continued investment in their professional development:
    “You are providing a service that is not otherwise available to small rural school districts struggling with budgetary constraints. It is very much appreciated.”
    “I anticipate the sessions benefitting me in the classroom a couple of different ways: 1) using the knowledge gained from the session to be cognizant of the potential to take an engineering design project to an actual product fit for patent or even marketing; 2) embracing artificial intelligence so that students will see it as a resource to help them develop more thorough prompts and to know it’s not a secret tool you shouldn’t let teachers know you are using.”
    “The information presented in the sessions will enable us to create more thorough design proposals and will allow us to use AI tools to help us throughout the project development life cycle.”

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Global: The MMR vaccine doesn’t contain ‘aborted fetus debris’, as RFK Jr has claimed. Here’s the science

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Hassan Vally, Associate Professor, Epidemiology, Deakin University

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the United States’ top public health official, recently claimed some religious groups avoid the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine because it contains “aborted fetus debris” and “DNA particles”.

    The US is facing its worst measles outbreaks in years with nearly 900 cases across the country and active outbreaks in several states.

    At the same time, Kennedy, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, continues to erode trust in vaccines.

    So what can we make of his latest claims?

    There’s no fetal debris in the MMR vaccine

    Kennedy said “aborted fetus debris” in MMR vaccines is the reason many religious people refuse vaccination. He referred specifically to the Mennonites in Texas, a deeply religious community, who have been among the hardest hit by the current measles outbreaks.

    Many vaccines work by using a small amount of an attenuated (weakened) form of a virus, or in the case of the MMR vaccine, attenuated forms of the viruses that cause measles, mumps and rubella. This gives the immune system a safe opportunity to learn how to recognise and respond to these viruses.

    As a result, if a person is later exposed to the actual infection, their immune system can react swiftly and effectively, preventing serious illness.

    Kennedy’s claim about fetal debris specifically refers to the rubella component of the MMR vaccine. The rubella virus is generally grown in a human cell line known as WI-38, which was originally derived from lung tissue of a single elective abortion in the 1960s. This cell line has been used for decades, and no new fetal tissue has been used since.

    Certain vaccines for other diseases, such as chickenpox, hepatitis A and rabies, have also been made by growing the viruses in fetal cells.

    These cells are used not because of their origin, but because they provide a stable, safe and reliable environment for growing the attenuated virus. They serve only as a growth medium for the virus and they are not part of the final product.

    You might think of the cells as virus-producing factories. Once the virus is grown, it’s extracted and purified as part of a rigorous process to meet strict safety and quality standards. What remains in the final vaccine is the virus itself and stabilising agents, but not human cells, nor fetal tissue.

    So claims about “fetal debris” in the vaccine are false.

    It’s also worth noting the world’s major religions permit the use of vaccines developed from cells originally derived from fetal tissue when there are no alternative products available.

    Are there fragments of DNA in the MMR vaccine?

    Kennedy claimed the Mennonites’ reluctance to vaccinate stems from “religious objections” to what he described as “a lot of aborted fetus debris and DNA particles” in the MMR vaccine.

    The latter claim, about the vaccine containing DNA particles, is technically true. Trace amounts of DNA fragments from the human cell lines used to produce the rubella component of the MMR vaccine may remain even after purification.

    However, with this claim, there’s an implication these fragments pose a health risk. This is false.

    Any DNA that may be present in this vaccine exists in extremely small amounts, is highly fragmented and degraded, and is biologically inert – that is, it cannot cause harm.

    Even if, hypothetically, intact DNA were present in the vaccine (which it’s not), it would not have the capacity to cause harm. One common (but unfounded) concern is that foreign DNA could integrate with a person’s own DNA, and alter their genome.

    Introducing DNA into human cells in a way that leads to integration is very difficult. Even when scientists are deliberately trying to do this, for example, in gene therapy, it requires precise tools, special viral delivery systems and controlled conditions.

    It’s also important to remember our bodies are exposed to foreign DNA constantly, through food, bacteria and even our own microbiome. Our immune system routinely digests and disposes of this material without incorporating it into our genome.

    This question has been extensively studied over decades. Multiple health authorities, including Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration, have addressed the misinformation regarding perceived harm from residual DNA in vaccines.

    Ultimately, the idea that fragmented DNA in a vaccine could cause genetic harm is false.

    The bottom line

    Despite what Kennedy would have you believe, there’s no fetal debris in the MMR vaccine, and the trace amounts of DNA fragments that may remain pose no health risk.

    What the evidence does show, however, is that vaccines like the MMR vaccine offer excellent protection against deadly and preventable diseases, and have saved millions of lives around the world.

    Hassan Vally 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.

    – ref. The MMR vaccine doesn’t contain ‘aborted fetus debris’, as RFK Jr has claimed. Here’s the science – https://theconversation.com/the-mmr-vaccine-doesnt-contain-aborted-fetus-debris-as-rfk-jr-has-claimed-heres-the-science-255718

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Indonesia’s ‘thousand friends, zero enemies’ approach sees President Subianto courting China and US

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Gilang Kembara, Research Fellow, Nanyang Technological University

    Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto participates in a panel discussion in Antalya, Turkey, on April 11, 2025. Photo by Ahmet Serdar Eser/Anadolu via Getty Images

    For much of April and into May, a team of negotiators from Indonesia have been in Washington to discuss trading relations between the world’s largest economy and another forecast to be in the Top 5 within a generation.

    The Southeast Asian nation was among those hit hard by the across-the-board tariffs announced on April 2, 2025, by President Donald Trump, with a proposed 32% levy on its exports to the U.S. Trump subsequently backpedaled, putting in place a 90-day pause on any additional tariffs beyond a new 10% minimum.

    So far, Indonesia – whose-second largest export market is the United States – has signaled its intent to negotiate rather than respond with countermeasures like some other countries targeted by Trump, such as China and Canada.

    Indonesia may even offer to relax protectionist policies aimed at boosting domestic manufactures as a concession. “People who have known me for a long time would say I’m the most nationalist person … but we have to be realistic,” said President Prabowo Subianto.

    The issue of Trump’s tariff policy is a major early test for Subianto, a right-wing populist whose worldview was shaped by decades of military experience. He views Indonesia and its place in the broader world through a lens of realist power politics – wanting to ensure Indonesia possesses adequate hard military power and robust economic performance.

    Through pushing both, Subianto hopes to ensure that Indonesia is not easily swayed by foreign influence and can avoid domestic discontent due to any economic malaise. His approach to ruling the nation of over 280 million people is driven by a desire to retain friendly relations with the United States and China, retaining close economic and security cooperation with both.

    U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with Indonesian Foreign Minister Sugiono at the State Department in Washington, D.C., on April 16, 2025.
    Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

    Good neighbors, multilateral expansion

    Since declaring independence from the Netherlands almost 80 years ago, Indonesia’s foreign policy has been tied to a doctrine of “Bebas dan Aktif,” or “Free and Active.”

    Formulated by the country’s first president, Sukarno, at the onset of the Cold War, the policy intended to keep the country officially nonaligned from any major power bloc. While moving much closer to the West and the U.S. during the subsequent longtime authoritarian presidency of Suharto, Jakarta retained its official independent position in foreign policy.

    Subianto served in the military during the reign of Suharto, who was also at one point his father-in-law.

    As Indonesia’s leader, Subianto has pledged to enact a so-called foreign policy philosophy of “zero enemies, one thousand friends.” That approach stems from two main considerations. First, he seeks to secure economic agreements that will help fulfill his promise of 8% annual economic growth. Second, he aims to strengthen defense procurement and security cooperation to bolster Indonesia’s military position.

    Toward multilateralism

    As a part of his vision, Subianto has attempted to reframe some of the considerations that have long guided Jakarta’s foreign policy strategy.

    For decades, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, has served as Indonesia’s collective security buffer, forming a crucial component of its “Mandala” – or concentric circles – foreign policy perspective. However, the current administration has thus far appeared indifferent to using the regional body as a source of projecting power, as underscored by Indonesia’s absence from the ASEAN informal consultations on conflict-ridden Myanmar in December 2024.

    That is just one of several indications that Subianto is attempting to shift Indonesia’s role from a regional actor to an active global player.

    A crucial development in that more assertive approach came with the country’s accession in January 2025 to the BRICS groups of nations, the first time a Southeast Asian nation has been admitted.

    In a further bid to multilateral engagement, Indonesia has initiated plans to pursue membership in two transnational economic groupings: the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

    Much of this inclination toward multilateral engagement is rooted in Subianto’s worldview that can be summed up as this: “If you’re not at the table, you’re likely to end up on the menu.”

    The crucial China and US relationships

    And yet, despite Subianto’s broader multilateral ambitions, it is the U.S. and China that remain the critical relationships.

    During the early weeks of his presidency, Subianto made China his first overseas bilateral visit. It resulted in agreements between China and Indonesia worth up to US$10 billion, primarily focused on green energy and technology.

    The visit, which was especially notable given that Jakarta appeared to move closer to China’s position on conflicting territorial claims in the South China Sea can be seen as part of a broader shift toward Beijing.

    China’s massive population already serves as a lucrative export destination for Indonesian goods. Since 2016, China has been Indonesia’s biggest export market, beating out Japan and the U.S.

    That shift is likely to pick up pace in light of Trump’s tariffs, with Jakarta seeking to offset the increasing cost of American trade. And though Jakarta has signaled neutrality regarding the wider U.S.-Chinese dispute, officials in Jakarta and Beijing agreed in mid-April to boost mutual defense cooperation in the South China Sea.

    At the same time, the U.S. holds a particularly important place in Subianto’s mind. As a young soldier, Subianto spent time at military bases in the U.S., where he underwent special forces and counterterrorism training.

    He was later subjected to a travel ban from the U.S. from 2000 to 2020 on account of myriad allegations of human rights abuses related to his time in Indonesia’s special forces unit, Kopassus, which led to his being forcibly discharged from the Indonesian military in 1998.

    Yet the ban was rescinded after then-President Joko Widodo appointed Subianto to be Indonesia’s defense minister, and he was subsequently invited to Washington in 2020 during the first Trump administration.

    Washington was Subianto’s second official presidential visit destination in November 2024. During his trip, Subianto met with President Joe Biden to discuss Indonesia-U.S. bilateral relations, regional security issues and various other global matters. Subianto also had a brief phone call with President-elect Trump to congratulate him on his election victory.

    That relationship with Trump is likely to be a crucial one now, especially given the stakes of the mutual trading relationship.

    The U.S. is Indonesia’s second-biggest trading partner, after China. The value of trade between the two parties amounted to about $38.3 billion in 2024, with Indonesia exporting $28.1 billion to the U.S. while importing $10.2 billion. Seeking to avoid tariffs of 32%, an Indonesian trade delegation has been negotiating with Trump administration officials, signaling its intent to buy more American goods, make trade concessions and even lower local content requirements on Indonesian-made goods to allow more American-made components.

    Promoting pragmatism

    There are, of course, ongoing differences between Indonesia and the U.S. – not only the ongoing trade issue but also other areas, including the Israel-Hamas war. Indonesia, the largest majority Muslim country in the world, has been a staunch supporter of Palestinian rights and highly critical of Israeli policy.

    Yet even here, Subianto seemingly is open to pragmatism, with reports that the Indonesian government is floating the idea of normalizing ties with Israel in a bid to ease entry into the OECD.

    In a similar vein, one can expect that Subianto will opt for pragmatism in his dealings with Trump, prioritizing Indonesia’s security and defense cooperation with Washington, while sidestepping any issues that might divide them along the way.

    Under Subianto, Indonesia is embarking on a foreign policy that stresses the importance of maintaining robust and active bilateral ties with the U.S. At the same time, it is strengthening its China relationship. And away from both, it is asserting its own independence through bolstering its position in numerous multilateral bodies.

    How Subianto handles those various dynamics is likely to be a defining issue of his presidency.

    Gilang Kembara 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.

    – ref. Indonesia’s ‘thousand friends, zero enemies’ approach sees President Subianto courting China and US – https://theconversation.com/indonesias-thousand-friends-zero-enemies-approach-sees-president-subianto-courting-china-and-us-252219

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: North Korean spy drama in China may signal Beijing’s unease over growing Pyongyang-Moscow ties

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Linggong Kong, Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science, Auburn University

    Chinese authorities in the northeastern city of Shenyang reportedly arrested a North Korean IT specialist in late April 2025, accusing him of stealing drone technology secrets.

    The suspect, apparently linked to North Korea’s main missile development agency, was part of a wider network operating in China, according to the story, which first appeared in South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency. In response, Pyongyang was said to have recalled IT personnel in China.

    The story was later circulated by several Chinese online outlets. Given the tight censorship in China, this implies a degree of tacit editorial approval from Beijing – although some sites later deleted the story. In a response to Yonhap over the alleged incident, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson noted that North Korea and China were “friendly neighbors” that maintained “normal” personnel exchanges, without denying the details.

    The incident suggests a rare semipublic spat between the two neighboring communist countries, contradicting the image of China and North Korea as “brothers in arms.”

    As a scholar of Northeast Asian security, I see the arrest – which has gotten little attention in English-language media – as representative of a wider, more nuanced picture of the two countries’ current relations. There are signs that Beijing is growing frustrated with Pyongyang – not least over North Korea’s increasing closeness with Moscow. Such a development challenges China’s traditional role as North Korea’s primary patron.

    In short, the arrest could be a symptom of worsening ties between the two countries.

    Beijing’s dilemma over North Korea

    North Korea has long been seen by Beijing as both a strategic security buffer and within its natural sphere of influence.

    From China’s perspective, allowing a hostile force to gain control of the peninsula – and especially the north – could open the door to future military threats. This fear partly explained why China intervened during the Korean War of 1950-1953.

    Beyond security, North Korea also serves as an ideological ally. Both countries are run by communist parties — the Chinese Communist Party and the Workers’ Party of Korea — although the former operates as a Leninist party-state system with a partial embrace of market capitalism, while the latter remains a rigid socialist state characterized by a strong personality cult.

    Chinese President Xi Jinping holds a welcoming ceremony for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Beijing on Jan. 8, 2019.
    Xinhua/Li Xueren via Getty Images

    Even today, Chinese state media continues to highlight the bonds of “comradeship” with Pyongyang.

    However, Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions have long troubled Beijing. North Korea has conducted multiple nuclear tests since 2006 and is now believed to possess nuclear weapons capable of targeting South Korea, Japan and U.S. bases in the region.

    China supports a denuclearized and stable Korean peninsula – both for regional peace and economic growth. Like the U.S., Japan and South Korea, China opposes nuclear proliferation, fearing North Korea’s periodic tests could provoke U.S. military action or trigger an arms race in the region.

    Meanwhile, Washington and its allies continue to pressure Beijing to do more to rein in a neighbor it often views as a vassal state of China.

    Given China’s economic ties with the U.S. and Washington’s East Asian allies – mainly South Korea and Japan – it has every reason to avoid further instability from Pyongyang.

    Yet to North Korea’s isolationist rulers, nuclear weapons are vital for the regime’s survival and independence. What’s more, nuclear weapons can also limit Beijing’s influence.

    North Korean leader Kim Jong Un worries that without nuclear leverage, China could try to interfere in the internal affairs of his country. After the death if Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il, in 2011, Beijing was thought to favor Kim Jong Un’s elder half-brother Kim Jong Nam as successor — possibly prompting Kim Jong Un to have him assassinated in 2017.

    But despite ongoing tensions over the nuclear issue, China has continued to support the North Korean regime for strategic reasons.

    For decades, China has been Pyongyang’s top trading partner, providing crucial economic aid. In 2023, China accounted for about 98% of North Korea’s official trade and continued to supply food and fuel to keep the regime afloat.

    Pyongyang pals up with Putin

    Yet over the past few years, more of North Korea’s imports, notably oil, have come from another source: Russia.

    North Korea and Russia had been close allies during the Cold War, but ties cooled after the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s.

    More recently, a shared hostility toward the U.S. and the West in general has brought the two nations closer.

    Moscow’s international isolation following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine and its deteriorating ties with South Korea in particular have pushed it toward Pyongyang. North Korea has reportedly supplied large quantities of ammunition to Russia, becoming a critical munitions supplier in the Ukraine war.

    Though both governments deny the arms trade – banned under United Nations sanctions – North Korea is thought to have received fuel, food and access to Russian military and space technology in return. On March 8, 2025, North Korea unveiled a nuclear-powered submarine that experts believe may involve Russian technological assistance.

    By 2024, Russian forces were using around 10,000 shells per day in Ukraine, with half sourced from North Korea. Some front-line units were reportedly using North Korean ammunition for up to 60% of their firepower.

    High-level visits have also increased. In July 2023, Russia’s defense minister, Andrey Belousov, visited Pyongyang for the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice, followed by Kim Jong Un’s visit to Russia in September for a summit with President Vladimir Putin.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un share a toast during a reception in Pyongyang on June 19, 2024.
    Vladmir Smirnov/AFP via Getty Images

    In June 2024, Putin visited Pyongyang, where the two countries signed a comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement, including a pledge that each would come to the other’s aid if attacked.

    Soon after, North Korea began sending troops to support Russia. Intelligence from the U.S., South Korea and Ukraine indicates that Pyongyang deployed 10,000 to 12,000 soldiers in late 2023, marking its first involvement in a major conflict since the Korean War. North Korean soldiers reportedly receive at least US$2,000 per month plus a bonus. For Pyongyang, this move not only provides financial gain but also combat experience should war ever reignite on the Korean Peninsula.

    Why China is worried

    China, too, has remained on friendly terms with Russia since the war in Ukraine began. So why would it feel uneasy about the growing closeness between Pyongyang and Moscow?

    For starters, China views Pyongyang’s outreach to Moscow as a challenge to its traditional role as North Korea’s main patron. While still dependent on Chinese aid, North Korea appears to be seeking greater autonomy.

    The strengthening of Russia–North Korea ties also fuels Western fears of an “axis of upheaval” involving all three countries.

    Unlike North Korea’s confrontational stance toward the West and its neighbor to the south, Beijing has offered limited support to Moscow during the Ukraine war and is cautious not to appear part of a trilateral alliance.

    Behind this strategy is a desire on behalf of China to maintain stable relations with the U.S., Europe and key Asian neighbors like Japan and South Korea. Doing so may be the best way for Beijing to protect its economic and diplomatic interests.

    China is also concerned that with Russian support in nuclear and missile technologies, Pyongyang may act more provocatively — through renewed nuclear tests or military clashes with South Korea. And this would only destabilize the region and strain China’s ties with the West.

    A defiant and provocative Pyongyang

    The timing of the alleged spy drama may offer further clues regarding the state of relations.

    It came [just a day after] North Korea officially confirmed it had deployed troops to aid the Russian war effort. It also announced plans to erect a monument in Pyongyang honoring its soldiers who died in the Ukraine war.

    The last spy case like this was in June 2016 when Chinese authorities arrested a North Korean citizen in the border city of Dandong. It reportedly followed Pyongyang informing China that it would permanently pursue its nuclear weapons program.

    The China-North Korea relationship deteriorated further when North Korea successfully tested a hydrogen bomb in September 2016, prompting Beijing to back U.N. Security Council sanctions against Pyongyang.

    Again, this time North Korea shows little sign of bending to China’s will.
    On April 30, Kim oversaw missile launches from North Korea’s first 5,000-ton destroyer, touted as its most heavily armed warship.

    None of which will help ease Beijing’s concerns. While China still sees Pyongyang as a critical buffer against U.S. influence in Northeast Asia, an increasingly provocative North Korea, fueled by a growing relationship with Russia, is starting to look less like a strategic asset — and more like a liability.

    Linggong Kong 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.

    – ref. North Korean spy drama in China may signal Beijing’s unease over growing Pyongyang-Moscow ties – https://theconversation.com/north-korean-spy-drama-in-china-may-signal-beijings-unease-over-growing-pyongyang-moscow-ties-255698

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: AI isn’t replacing student writing – but it is reshaping it

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Jeanne Beatrix Law, Professor of English, Kennesaw State University

    Studies have shown that many students are using AI to brainstorm, learn new information and revise their work. krisanapong detraphiphat/Moment via Getty Images

    I’m a writing professor who sees artificial intelligence as more of an opportunity for students, rather than a threat.

    That sets me apart from some of my colleagues, who fear that AI is accelerating a glut of superficial content, impeding critical thinking and hindering creative expression. They worry that students are simply using it out of sheer laziness or, worse, to cheat.

    Perhaps that’s why so many students are afraid to admit that they use ChatGPT.

    In The New Yorker magazine, historian D. Graham Burnett recounts asking his undergraduate and graduate students at Princeton whether they’d ever used ChatGPT. No one raised their hand.

    “It’s not that they’re dishonest,” he writes. “It’s that they’re paralyzed.”

    Students seem to have internalized the belief that using AI for their coursework is somehow wrong. Yet, whether my colleagues like it or not, most college students are using it.

    A February 2025 report from the Higher Education Policy Institute in the U.K. found that 92% of university students are using AI in some form. As early as August 2023 – a mere nine months after ChatGPT’s public release – more than half of first-year students at Kennesaw State University, the public research institution where I teach, reported that they believed that AI is the future of writing.

    It’s clear that students aren’t going to magically stop using AI. So I think it’s important to point out some ways in which AI can actually be a useful tool that enhances, rather than hampers, the writing process.

    Helping with the busywork

    A February 2025 OpenAI report on ChatGPT use among college-aged users found that more than one-quarter of their ChatGPT conversations were education-related.

    The report also revealed that the top five uses for students were writing-centered: starting papers and projects (49%); summarizing long texts (48%); brainstorming creative projects (45%); exploring new topics (44%); and revising writing (44%).

    These figures challenge the assumption that students use AI merely to cheat or write entire papers.

    Instead, it suggests they are leveraging AI to free up more time to engage in deeper processes and metacognitive behaviors – deliberately organizing ideas, honing arguments and refining style.

    If AI allows students to automate routine cognitive tasks – like information retrieval or ensuring that verb tenses are consistent – it doesn’t mean they’re thinking less. It means their thinking is changing.

    Of course, students can misuse AI if they use the technology passively, reflexively accepting its outputs and ideas. And overreliance on ChatGPT can erode a student’s unique voice or style.

    However, as long as students learn how to use AI intentionally, this shift can be seen as an opportunity, rather than a loss,

    Clarifying the creative vision

    It has also become clear that AI, when used responsibly, can augment human creativity.

    For example, science comedy writer Sarah Rose Siskind recently gave a talk to Harvard students about her creative process. She spoke about how she uses ChatGPT to brainstorm joke setups and explore various comedic scenarios, which allows her to focus on crafting punchlines and refining her comedic timing.

    Note how Siskin used AI in ways that didn’t supplant the human touch. Instead of replacing her creativity, AI amplified it by providing structured and consistent feedback, giving her more time to polish her jokes.

    Another example is the Rhetorical Prompting Method, which I developed alongside fellow Kennesaw State University researchers. Designed for university students and adult learners, it’s a framework for conversing with an AI chatbot, one that emphasizes the importance of agency in guiding AI outputs.

    When writers use precise language to prompt, critical thinking to reflect, and intentional revision to sculpt inputs and outputs, they direct AI to help them generate content that aligns with their vision.

    There’s still a process

    The Rhetorical Prompting Method mirrors best practices in process writing, which encourages writers to revisit, refine and revise their drafts.

    When using ChatGPT, though, it’s all about thoughtfully revisiting and revising prompts and outputs.

    For instance, say a student wants to create a compelling PSA for social media to encourage campus composting. She considers her audience. She prompts ChatGPT to draft a short, upbeat message in under 50 words that’s geared to college students.

    Reading the first output, she notices it lacks urgency. So she revises the prompt to emphasize immediate impact. She also adds some additional specifics that are important to her message, such as the location of an information session. The final PSA reads:

    “Every scrap counts! Join campus composting today at the Commons. Your leftovers aren’t trash – they’re tomorrow’s gardens. Help our university bloom brighter, one compost bin at a time.”

    The Rhetorical Prompting Method isn’t groundbreaking; it’s riffing on a process that’s been tested in the writing studies discipline for decades. But I’ve found that it works by directing writers how to intentionally prompt.

    I know this because we asked users about their experiences. In an ongoing study, my colleagues and I polled 133 people who used the Rhetorical Prompting Method for their academic and professional writing:

    • 92% reported that it helped them evaluate writing choices before and during their process.

    • 75% said that they were able to maintain their authentic voice while using AI assistance.

    • 89% responded that it helped them think critically about their writing.

    The data suggests that learners take their writing seriously. Their responses reveal that they are thinking carefully about their writing styles and strategies. While this data is preliminary, we continue to gather responses in different courses, disciplines and learning environments.

    All of this is to say that, while there are divergent points of view over when and where it’s appropriate to use AI, students are certainly using it. And being provided with a framework can help them think more deeply about their writing.

    AI, then, is not just a tool that’s useful for trivial tasks. It can be an asset for creativity. If today’s students – who are actively using AI to write, revise and explore ideas – see AI as a writing partner, I think it’s a good idea for professors to start thinking about helping them learn the best ways to work with it.

    Jeanne Beatrix Law 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.

    – ref. AI isn’t replacing student writing – but it is reshaping it – https://theconversation.com/ai-isnt-replacing-student-writing-but-it-is-reshaping-it-254878

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How to manage financial stress in uncertain times

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Jeffrey Anvari-Clark, Assistant Professor of Social Work, University of North Dakota

    Having an action plan for personal finance is critical in uncertain times. Photo by Nicolas Guyonnet/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images

    American families are struggling to keep up with their bills.

    The cost of food soared by more than 23% from 2020 to 2024. Other price increases, which are especially steep for vehicles, insurance, child care and housing, come as nearly 40% more people are behind on their credit card payments than in 2022.

    Now, uncertainty arising from zigzagging tariffs, firing of tens of thousands of federal workers and contractors, and massive cuts and freezes to federally funded programs means that more people are increasingly pessimistic about the economy.

    As an assistant professor of social work, I have found through my research that differences in how people experience, behave toward and feel about their personal finances have as much of an impact as do their age and gender on certain financial decisions. And those decisions, in turn, can affect their income and wealth moving forward.

    Improving your ‘financial efficacy’

    Scholars like me use the term “financial efficacy” when we’re assessing whether someone has personal finance know-how and the ability to put it to good use. People with a high level of financial efficacy can be more able to weather bouts of financial hardship and build wealth.

    Although everyone’s situation is unique and individual resources vary, there are still five broad areas that personal finance experts say are linked to good financial outcomes: emotional regulation, problem-solving skills, an ability to achieve goals, self-confidence and risk management.

    1. Being calm and carrying on

    Remaining calm in the face of a potential – or real – financial crisis tends to make it easier to think through important decisions. In contrast, reacting out of fear often leads to mistakes or quick fixes with costly long-term consequences. For example, rushing to fix a problem could lead you to take out a pay-day loan with high interest rates and fees.

    That’s why you should avoid making big financial decisions in a hurry.

    Waiting until you feel calm, perhaps giving yourself 24 hours to think it over, can protect you from making a bad situation worse. But don’t wait too long – procrastination can lead to late fees and compound your problems.

    Keeping your emotions under control depends on having healthy coping mechanisms for stressful situations. And having healthy habits helps to manage that stress.

    Consult an expert if you’re not sure how to tackle a financial challenge.
    Photo by Jeff Gritchen/Digital First Media/Orange County Register via Getty Images

    2. Problem solving with some creativity

    Solving financial problems is an exercise in improvisation. This includes finding creative ways to increase your income through a new job or side hustles and to reduce your expenses. Or look for solutions that will buy you more time, such as negotiating a repayment plan for an outstanding bill.

    This perseverance and resourcefulness often requires relying on skills you’ve used in the past. And it may help if you seek advice from people who you know have made good financial choices before.

    When in doubt about how to solve a financial problem, go see a financial counselor or social worker who can help assess your situation and identify the next steps. But be wary of the so-called finfluencers – short for financial influencers – who are active on social media. Instead, learn from the experts who focus on consumer protection and unbiased education.

    3. Setting goals and keeping track of them

    Achieving goals can be a short-term activity, like solving an immediate problem, or a longer-term process. It means keeping a clear outcome in mind and being able to tell when you’ve met a goal. More complex goals may need to be broken down into multiple milestones to stay on track.

    Whenever you’re in deep financial trouble, try to closely monitor your income and expenses. Adapt your budget according to what’s important to you. This will increase your sense of control over the situation.

    Tally up all your debt, including from credit cards, autos, student loans, medical or utility bills, and home mortgages. Figure out what you owe and to whom, and put together a plan to repay them. And if this feels overwhelming, that’s OK: A credit counseling nonprofit can help walk you through the process.

    Listing all your debt on paper or in a spreadsheet helps reduce anxiety and fear of the unknown. Having the plan helps you see a real way toward a financially stronger future. Then, take action and start paying them down.

    One possibility is to ask creditors for an extension or modified repayment schedule for a mortgage or car loan. Communicating with them up front shows them you are taking responsibility, and they will be more likely to work with you.

    Americans now owe an average of $6,455 in credit card debt. Paying in full during the grace period instead of later, with interest, can result in a substantial difference in what you owe.

    You never know when extra savings will come in handy.
    Faga Almeida/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

    4. Gaining more self-confidence through practice

    It’s always easier to be confident that you can achieve something if you’ve done it before. This is how confidence builds on itself.

    But what if you’re in a new situation? It can help reflecting back on your personal history, realizing that you’ve met challenges in the past, and being reasonably assured that you can do it again. Such confidence then helps you keep calm, think through some solutions and see that you can achieve your goals.

    Improving your money management confidence and skills can reduce your anxiety and stress in the moment. It can show you those areas of your financial life that are within your control and illumine the way forward to a healthier financial future.

    5. Planning ahead reduces your risks

    Even if your finances are OK today, I would advise you to plan ahead. It’s important to identify your own informal safety nets before you need them.

    Let’s say you had to pay an unexpected $400 bill. How would you handle it?

    Would you call a friend or a relative? Have that amount saved up, ready and waiting for emergency use? Cover it with your income? According to the Federal Reserve, only 63% of Americans could cover a $400 financial shock with the cash they have on hand.

    By regularly setting aside some of the money you earn, you can simultaneously manage your risks better and develop the skills to achieve bigger goals.

    Managing your own financial risks means doing your best to prevent a bad situation from getting worse. It also means you might be able to prevent a catastrophe in the future or be able to deal with it better.

    Having insurance policies, such as life and disability, homeowners or renters, and health and auto, is part of this. But so are maintaining enough savings to cover an emergency or having multiple income streams.

    The steps you take can also include something less tangible, such as caring for your health or tending to your relationships with friends and relatives so you can call on them when times are truly tough. Or better yet, they’ll be able to call on you.

    Jeffrey Anvari-Clark 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.

    – ref. How to manage financial stress in uncertain times – https://theconversation.com/how-to-manage-financial-stress-in-uncertain-times-255583

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Repealing the estate tax could create headaches for the rich – as well as worsen inequality

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Reid Kress Weisbord, Distinguished Professor of Law and Judge Norma Shapiro Scholar, Rutgers University – Newark

    As it stands, only a tiny fraction of America’s wealthy are ever subjected to the estate tax. Krisanapong Detraphiphat/Getty Images

    Nothing is more certain than death and taxes, Benjamin Franklin famously declared. And, since 1916, the federal government has imposed an estate tax on the transfer of property owned at death.

    But the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers may be on the verge of changing all that. GOP legislators are now considering a massive bill that includes major tax law changes and could pass by June or July 2025. Among the measures under consideration in both the House and Senate is the Death Tax Repeal Act, which would end the federal estate tax and reduce the tax rate on lifetime gifts.

    If the Death Tax Repeal Act were to become law, it would happen at a pivotal moment. In the coming years, baby boomers are expected to leave an estimated US$84 trillion to their heirs, in what’s been called the largest wealth transfer in human history.

    As law professors who specialize in trusts and estates, we’re interested in what might happen next. Interestingly, while the long-term impact to the federal budget would be significant, repealing the estate tax would complicate estate planning for the wealthy taxpayers who might not save all that much money. To understand why, let’s consider how the estate tax works now.

    Estate planning under current law

    The estate tax – which opponents of the policy have long derided as “the death tax” – is imposed on property that is transferred at death. It is part of the federal gift and estate tax system, which imposes a 40% tax on gifts made during life or transferred at death. Supporters of the estate tax argue that it reduces inequality and encourages charitable giving.

    But most Americans, even the very rich, will never pay any gift or estate tax. That’s because millions of dollars of assets transferred after death are completely exempt from it.

    For 2025, the cumulative gift and estate tax exemption is $13.99 million for individuals and $27.98 million for married couples. The current exemption doubled under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law in 2017. And it sunsets this year. Unless Congress passes new legislation, the exemption amount will go back to its 2017 base of $5 million for individuals, plus an inflation adjustment. That would increase the number of estates on which it would be levied.

    If the Death Tax Repeal Act passes, of course, then there will be no federal transfer tax imposed on estates.

    The estate tax is a lightning rod on Capitol Hill, even though it doesn’t affect many Americans. In 2022, the U.S. Treasury collected $22.5 billion in estate tax revenues from 3,170 estates. More than 3 million people died, so only 0.1% of decedents left enough assets for their estates to pay the tax.

    The big freeze: How the ultrarich reduce their tax liability

    Beyond taking advantage of this generous exemption, wealthy taxpayers currently use several planning techniques to reduce or eliminate estate taxes.

    A common strategy involves minimizing tax on assets that are likely to grow in value. Suppose, for example, a person owns property worth $25 million, and they have already used up their exemption (currently $13.99 million). If that $25 million property appreciates in value to $125 million, and the person waits until death to transfer it to the next generation, the entire investment – all $125 million – would be subject to the 40% estate tax.

    To reduce those taxes without entirely giving up control, sophisticated “estate freeze” planning techniques allow owners to keep some powers over the gifted property while transferring it for gift tax purposes before assets appreciate in value. In our example, if the $25 million asset were transferred through a freeze device such as an intentionally defective grantor trust, then the only tax would be a 40% gift tax on the $25 million. All of the appreciation – the other $100 million – would incur no gift or estate tax.

    Other estate planning techniques could further reduce the valuation for transfer tax purposes through minority interest, lack of marketability and other discounts. It’s through techniques like this that wealthy Americans are able to pass along approximately $200 billion each year in inherited assets without paying estate taxes.

    The Death Tax Repeal Act would not directly affect the tax treatment of charitable giving at death – over $40 billion – but it could alter incentives for philanthropic giving.

    Repealing the estate tax could upend existing estate plans

    If Congress repeals the estate tax but keeps the gift tax as proposed, many estate freeze planning techniques previously used by the ultrarich would become obsolete. There would be no incentive to make a lifetime gift of property that would appreciate: Individuals who hold onto their property until death would avoid both federal transfer and capital gains taxes.

    As a result, repealing the estate tax would turn existing estate plans on their head. Estate freeze strategies are premised on a calculated trade-off: To reduce or eliminate estate taxation at death, wealthy donors choose to make lifetime gifts even though doing so alters lifetime ownership rights, generates gift tax liability and sacrifices other tax benefits at death.

    Without an estate tax, existing estate freeze plans lock in the costs of lifetime gifting without any payoff at death. What’s more, some estate freeze plans can’t be changed. For example, an intentionally defective grantor trust must be irrevocable to freeze valuation for gift tax purposes.

    So while repealing the estate tax might seem appealing to wealthy Americans, the actual tax benefit could be modest at best for taxpayers who established estate plans under the current system. Financial advisers have also expressed concern about creating new estate plans designed to benefit from estate tax repeal because a future Congress could revive the tax.

    Repealing the estate tax could also have macroeconomic implications. Tax incentives to retain ownership until death could tie up capital in ways that dampen economic growth. Individuals tend to become increasingly risk-averse with age, so the Death Tax Repeal Act could skew investments toward safer asset classes. That could deprive younger generations of access to capital for new ventures, such as startups.

    The bottom line is that repealing the estate tax may hurt both taxpayers and the government. People with sufficient wealth to exhaust the high exemption are likely to have established estate plans that can’t be changed to benefit from estate tax repeal. Meanwhile, for new estate plans that seek to retain property ownership until death, the government will lose an important source of tax revenue – $22.5 billion in 2022 – collected from a tiny number of very wealthy estates that can afford to pay the tax.

    And, of course, repeal would also abandon the original purpose of the estate tax, which sought to reduce extreme concentrations of wealth.

    The authors 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.

    – ref. Repealing the estate tax could create headaches for the rich – as well as worsen inequality – https://theconversation.com/repealing-the-estate-tax-could-create-headaches-for-the-rich-as-well-as-worsen-inequality-254871

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Measles could again become widespread as cases surge worldwide

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Rebecca Schein, Assistant Professor of Infectious Disease Pediatrics, Michigan State University

    Measles is one of the most infectious diseases on the planet. Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Library via Getty Images

    Globally, measles is on the rise across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, South America and parts of Europe. In 2025, North and South America saw 11 times more cases than during the same period last year. In Europe, measles rates are at their highest point in 25 years.

    In the U.S., as of May 2, 2025, health authorities have confirmed 935 cases of measles affecting 30 states. This is a huge surge compared with the 285 cases reported in 2024. A large measles outbreak is happening in Canada, too, with over 1,000 cases.

    The Conversation asked Rebecca Schein, a specialist in pediatric infectious diseases, to explain what this spike at home and abroad might mean for a disease that was declared eliminated from the U.S. in 2000.

    How do measles cases this year compare with previous years?

    From 2000 to 2010, less than 100 measles cases were reported each year in the U.S. Since 2010, there have been isolated outbreaks, mainly in unvaccinated communities, with approximately 200 to 300 cases a year. The latest major outbreak in the U.S. was in 2019, with 1,274 cases, primarily in the New York City metropolitan area and parts of New Jersey.

    Cases fell in 2020 to 2023 during the COVID-19 pandemic, returning to prepandemic levels in 2024. Currently, most U.S. cases are coming from an epidemic in Texas, with 702 confirmed cases as of May 6. Of these, 91 people were hospitalized and three people, two of them children, died. Measles cases are still being reported. Texas is one of 12 measles outbreaks documented in the U.S. in 2025 to date.

    The World Health Organization has declared both North and South America to be at high risk for measles. Canada reported a total of 1,177 cases as of April 19, with 951 of them linked to an outbreak that began in New Brunswick in October 2024 and spread to seven provinces. In 2023, there were 12 measles cases in all of Canada.

    Mexico reported 421 confirmed measles cases as of April 18, and another 384 cases are under investigation. There are also small measles outbreaks in South America, with Belize reporting its first two cases since 1991. Brazil reported five cases, and in Argentina there are 21 confirmed cases of measles, mainly in the capital city of Buenos Aires.

    U.S. exports these days include measles.

    In Europe, measles cases rose tenfold, hitting 35,212 in 2024, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

    How did the US eliminate measles?

    Measles is one of the most contagious infections ever identified. One person with measles can spread the infection to 12 to 18 others. That number, which epidemiologists call R0, is 1 to 4 for the flu and 2 to 5 for COVID-19.

    In 1912, measles became a nationally reportable disease tracked by all the health departments in the U.S. At that time, there were about 3 million to 4 million cases and 6,000 deaths each year in the country. Medical care improved and the death rate decreased, but cases spiked to epidemic levels every two to three years.

    It was not until 1963, when the first measles vaccine became widely available, that cases dropped dramatically. The current measles vaccine, which is called the MMR vaccine because it also includes vaccines against mumps and rubella, was released in 1971. In 1977, the U.S. government launched the National Childhood Immunization Initiative to ensure that school children received vaccination against polio, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, mumps, rubella and measles. Vaccination rates in children starting elementary school rose to 96% by 1981. Beginning in 1993, the Vaccines for Children program helped ensure that every child could receive vaccinations regardless of ability to pay.

    Vaccination programs were a resounding success. By 2000, measles cases arising in the U.S. had fallen to zero, with infections occurring only in people who traveled abroad. That year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared that measles was eliminated in the country.

    Why are rising measles rates so worrisome?

    Measles is a virus, like the common cold. Unlike bacterial infections, which can be treated with antibiotics, viral infections are typically not treatable but can often be prevented through vaccination programs.

    Vaccination stimulates the body’s immune system to make antibodies to fight a specific infection. For most people, just one dose of the measles vaccine protects them from infection. The second dose helps ensure long-term protection. Measles is so infectious that 95% of the population must be vaccinated to protect the community, a concept called herd immunity.

    A man holds a sign at a rally for science in St. Paul, Minn., on March 7, 2025.
    Universal Images Group via Getty Images

    During the past 20 years, however, vaccination rates are decreasing globally, with an especially sharp drop during the pandemic from limited exposure to medical care. Aligned with this trend, measles cases in the U.S. have been rising. As a result, some infectious disease experts worry that measles is heading toward becoming a common infection again.

    What happens if measles rates continue to rise?

    Public health officials define endemic infections as being consistently present within a region. For example, the common cold and now COVID-19 are endemic in the U.S.

    A higher-than-normal number of cases in an area is termed an outbreak. For measles, an outbreak is defined as more than three cases in a county or local area. When cases from an outbreak spread outside the local area, that is an epidemic, and if an epidemic spreads into many countries across the world, it becomes a pandemic.

    The measles outbreak in Texas started in January 2025 as an outbreak in six counties and quickly reached epidemic levels, hitting a total of 29 counties and a count of 702 cases as of May 6.

    A 2022 study used a computer algorithm to model the trajectory of measles cases in the U.S. given the drop in vaccination rates during the pandemic. If children who missed vaccines due to the pandemic do not receive catch-up vaccinations, and vaccine hesitancy continues at current rates, the study found, then 21% of U.S. children – about 15 million – will be vulnerable to measles over the following five years. That is well below the number needed to prevent measles outbreaks.

    A study using a similar approach published in April 2025 found that measles is likely to become endemic again in the U.S. and predicted that the country could experience 850,000 cases over the next 25 years if vaccination rates remain the same. If vaccine rates decrease further, the study found, case numbers could increase to 11 million over the next 25 years.

    What would it take to reverse the rise in measles?

    Reversing this trend will require steadily increasing community vaccination rates. The April 2025 study found that boosting community vaccination rates by 5% would tamp down the increase in cases to between 3,000 and 19,000 over the next 25 years.

    Another epidemiological model that estimates measles spread, published in February, predicted that by intervening early in an outbreak with local health department support, measles outbreaks can be contained as long as 85% of the population is vaccinated against the disease.

    That, of course, requires ensured ongoing access to free and accessible childhood vaccinations and restoration of the public’s trust in measles vaccines.

    Rebecca Schein 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.

    – ref. Measles could again become widespread as cases surge worldwide – https://theconversation.com/measles-could-again-become-widespread-as-cases-surge-worldwide-255501

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Contaminated milk from one plant in Illinois sickened thousands with ‘Salmonella’ in 1985 − as outbreaks rise in the US, lessons from this one remain true

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Michael Petros, Clinical Assistant Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago

    A valve that mixed raw milk with pasteurized milk at Hillfarm Dairy may have been the source of contamination. This was the milk processing area of the plant. AP Photo/Mark Elias

    In 1985, contaminated milk in Illinois led to a Salmonella outbreak that infected hundreds of thousands of people across the United States and caused at least 12 deaths. At the time, it was the largest single outbreak of foodborne illness in the U.S. and remains the worst outbreak of Salmonella food poisoning in American history.

    Many questions circulated during the outbreak. How could this contamination occur in a modern dairy farm? Was it caused by a flaw in engineering or processing, or was this the result of deliberate sabotage? What roles, if any, did politics and failed leadership play?

    From my 50 years of working in public health, I’ve found that reflecting on the past can help researchers and officials prepare for future challenges. Revisiting this investigation and its outcome provides lessons on how food safety inspections go hand in hand with consumer protection and public health, especially as hospitalizations and deaths from foodborne illnesses rise.

    Contamination, investigation and intrigue

    The Illinois Department of Public Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention led the investigation into the outbreak. The public health laboratories of the city of Chicago and state of Illinois were also closely involved in testing milk samples.

    Investigators and epidemiologists from local, state and federal public health agencies found that specific lots of milk with expiration dates up to April 17, 1985, were contaminated with Salmonella. The outbreak may have been caused by a valve at a processing plant that allowed pasteurized milk to mix with raw milk, which can carry several harmful microorganisms, including Salmonella.

    Overall, labs and hospitals in Illinois and five other Midwest states – Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin – reported over 16,100 cases of suspected Salmonella poisoning to health officials.

    To make dairy products, skimmed milk is usually separated from cream, then blended back together in different levels to achieve the desired fat content. While most dairies pasteurize their products after blending, Hillfarm Dairy in Melrose Park, Illinois, pasteurized the milk first before blending it into various products such as skim milk and 2% milk.

    Subsequent examination of the production process suggested that Salmonella may have grown in the threads of a screw-on cap used to seal an end of a mixing pipe. Investigators also found this strain of Salmonella 10 months earlier in a much smaller outbreak in the Chicago area.

    Salmonella is a common cause of food poisoning.
    Volker Brinkmann/Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology via PLoS One, CC BY-SA

    Finding the source

    The contaminated milk was produced at Hillfarm Dairy in Melrose Park, which was operated at the time by Jewel Companies Inc. During an April 3 inspection of the company’s plant, the Food and Drug Administration found 13 health and safety violations.

    The legal fallout of the outbreak expanded when the Illinois attorney general filed suit against Jewel Companies Inc., alleging that employees at as many as 18 stores in the grocery chain violated water pollution laws when they dumped potentially contaminated milk into storm sewers. Later, a Cook County judge found Jewel Companies Inc. in violation of the court order to preserve milk products suspected of contamination and maintain a record of what happened to milk returned to the Hillfarm Dairy.

    Political fallout also ensued. The Illinois governor at the time, James Thompson, fired the director of the Illinois Public Health Department when it was discovered that he was vacationing in Mexico at the onset of the outbreak and failed to return to Illinois. Notably, the health director at the time of the outbreak was not a health professional. Following this episode, the governor appointed public health professional and medical doctor Bernard Turnock as director of the Illinois Department of Public Health.

    In 1987, after a nine-month trial, a jury determined that Jewel officials did not act recklessly when Salmonella-tainted milk caused one of the largest food poisoning outbreaks in U.S. history. No punitive damages were awarded to victims, and the Illinois Appellate Court later upheld the jury’s decision.

    Raw milk is linked to many foodborne illnesses.

    Lessons learned

    History teaches more than facts, figures and incidents. It provides an opportunity to reflect on how to learn from past mistakes in order to adapt to future challenges. The largest Salmonella outbreak in the U.S. to date provides several lessons.

    For one, disease surveillance is indispensable to preventing outbreaks, both then and now. People remain vulnerable to ubiquitous microorganisms such as Salmonella and E. coli, and early detection of an outbreak could stop it from spreading and getting worse.

    Additionally, food production facilities can maintain a safe food supply with careful design and monitoring. Revisiting consumer protections can help regulators keep pace with new threats from new or unfamiliar pathogens.

    Finally, there is no substitute for professional public health leadership with the competence and expertise to respond effectively to an emergency.

    Michael Petros 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.

    – ref. Contaminated milk from one plant in Illinois sickened thousands with ‘Salmonella’ in 1985 − as outbreaks rise in the US, lessons from this one remain true – https://theconversation.com/contaminated-milk-from-one-plant-in-illinois-sickened-thousands-with-salmonella-in-1985-as-outbreaks-rise-in-the-us-lessons-from-this-one-remain-true-254036

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Spacecraft can ‘brake’ in space using drag − advancing craft agility, space safety and planetary missions

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Piyush Mehta, Associate Professor of Space Systems, West Virginia University

    Planetary space probes such as Mars Odyssey use a technique called aerobraking to save fuel. NASA/JPL

    When you put your hand out the window of a moving car, you feel a force pushing against you called drag. This force opposes a moving vehicle, and it’s part of the reason why your car naturally slows to a stop if you take your foot off the gas pedal. But drag doesn’t just slow down cars.

    Aerospace engineers are working on using the drag force in space to develop more fuel-efficient spacecraft and missions, deorbit spacecraft without creating as much space junk, and even place probes in orbit around other planets.

    Space is not a complete vacuum − at least not all of it. Earth’s atmosphere gets thinner with altitude, but it has enough air to impart a force of drag on orbiting spacecraft, even up to about 620 miles (1,000 kilometers).

    As an aerospace engineering professor, I study how drag affects the movement of spacecraft in orbit. Aerobraking, as the name suggests, is a type of maneuver that uses the thin air in space to apply a drag force in the direction opposite to a spacecraft’s motion, much like braking in a car.

    Changing an orbit

    In space, aerobraking can change the orbit of a spacecraft while minimizing the use of its propulsion system and fuel.

    Spacecraft that orbit around Earth do so in two types of orbits: circular and elliptical. In a circular orbit, the spacecraft is always at the same distance from the center of the Earth. As a result, it’s always moving at the same speed. An elliptical orbit is stretched, so the distance from Earth − and the speed the craft moves at − changes as the spacecraft travels along the orbit.

    The closest point in an elliptical orbit around Earth, where the satellite or spacecraft is moving fastest, is called the perigee. The farthest point, where it’s moving slowest, is called the apogee.

    The apogee is the point farthest from Earth in an elliptical orbit, while the perigee is the point closest to Earth.
    Iketsi/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

    The general idea behind aerobraking is to start in a large circular orbit and maneuver the spacecraft into a highly elliptical orbit, so that the lowest point in the orbit − the perigree − lies in the denser part of the upper atmosphere. For Earth, that’s between about 62 and 310 miles (100 and 500 kilometers), with the choice depending on time required to complete the orbit change.

    As the spacecraft passes through this lowest point, the air exerts a drag force on it, which reduces the stretch of the orbit over time. This force pulls the craft toward a circular orbit smaller than the original orbit.

    Aerobraking brings a spacecraft from a large, circular orbit into a highly elliptical orbit, into a smaller, more circular one.
    Moneya/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

    The first maneuver to put the spacecraft in an elliptical orbit so that drag can take effect does require using a propulsion system and some fuel. But once it’s in the elliptical orbit, drag from the atmosphere slows the craft, and it doesn’t need to use much, if any, fuel.

    Aerobraking brings a craft from a large orbit to a small orbit and is not reversible − it can’t increase the size of an orbit. Increasing the size of an orbit or raising the spacecraft to a higher orbit requires propulsion and fuel.

    Aerobraking uses

    A common case where spacecraft controllers use aerobraking is when changing the craft’s orbit from a geostationary orbit − GEO − to a low Earth orbit, LEO. A GEO orbit is a circular orbit with an altitude of roughly 22,236 miles (35,786 km). In GEO, the spacecraft makes one orbit around Earth in 24 hours, so the spacecraft always stays above the same point on Earth’s surface.

    In GEO orbit, a spacecraft orbits with Earth and stays above the same point on the surface the whole time.
    MikeRun/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

    Before aerobraking, the spacecraft’s onboard propulsion system thrusts in the opposite direction of the GEO orbit’s motion. This thrust puts it into an elliptical orbit. The craft passes through the atmosphere multiple times, which eventually circularizes the orbit.

    Once it makes it to LEO, the spacecraft may need to use a little bit of fuel to propel itself up into its target orbit. Usually, the lowest point of the original elliptical orbit is lower than the final target circular orbit.

    This process is conceptually similar to how the U.S. Space Force’s X-37B used aerobraking in early 2025.

    The U.S. Space Force reported that its unmanned spaceplane, X-37B, used aerobraking. This test demonstrated the craft’s agility and maneuverability.

    Another application for aerobraking is to make a spacecraft deorbit − or reenter the atmosphere − after it has stopped working. This way, the company or agency can dispose of the spacecraft and avoid creating space junk, since it will burn up in the lower atmosphere.

    NASA’s Mars reconnaissance orbiter used aerobraking to orbit around Mars.
    NASA/JPL

    Aerobraking for interplanetary missions

    A few Mars missions, including the Mars reconnaissance orbiter and the Mars Odyssey orbiter, have used aerobraking to reach their target orbits around the red planet.

    For interplanetary missions like these, scientists use aerobraking in conjunction with the craft’s onboard propulsion system. When a spacecraft arrives at Mars, it does so in a hyperbolic orbit.

    While an elliptical orbit is closed, a hyperbolic orbit doesn’t go all the way around a planet.
    Maxmath12/Wikimedia Commons

    Unlike a circular or an elliptical orbit, the spacecraft’s path in hyperbolic orbit won’t keep it orbiting around Mars. Instead, it would fly through and depart Mars − unless it uses thrust from its propulsion system to get “captured” into a closed elliptical orbit.

    As the spacecraft arrives at Mars, the onboard propulsion system fires to provide the force necessary to capture the spacecraft into a highly elliptical orbit around Mars. Once captured, scientists use aerobraking over several orbital passes through the atmosphere to achieve the final orbit, generally a circular one.

    Aerobraking maneuvers can result in significant fuel savings. As humans get closer to landing on the surface of the red planet, the fuel savings enabled by aerobraking could save mass and allow each spacecraft headed to Mars to take more supplies.

    In the grand arc of space exploration, aerobraking is not just a maneuver. It has a crucial role to play in the future of space operations and planetary missions and colonization.

    Piyush Mehta receives funding from multiple federal agencies – NASA, NSF, NOAA, IARPA, and DoD.

    – ref. Spacecraft can ‘brake’ in space using drag − advancing craft agility, space safety and planetary missions – https://theconversation.com/spacecraft-can-brake-in-space-using-drag-advancing-craft-agility-space-safety-and-planetary-missions-254038

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Was it a stone tool or just a rock? An archaeologist explains how scientists can tell the difference

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By John K. Murray, Ph.D. Candidate in Anthropology, Arizona State University

    Stone tools are deliberately made by the hands of hominins, like these worked on by the author. John K. Murray

    Have you ever found yourself in a museum’s gallery of human origins, staring at a glass case full of rocks labeled “stone tools,” muttering under your breath, “How do they know it’s not just any old rock?”

    At first glance, it might seem impossible to decipher. But as an experimental archaeologist with over a decade of experience studying and manufacturing stone tools, I can say that there are telltale signs that a rock has been modified by humans or our very ancient ancestors, hominins.

    This process, known as flintknapping, can be boiled down to mastering force, angles and rock structure. When done properly, flintknapping creates the recognizable features that archaeologists use to identify stone tools.

    A demonstration of traditional flintknapping techniques.

    Why do stone tools matter?

    John Murray demonstrates his flintknapping skills for the Glendale Community College Anthropology Club.
    John K. Murray

    Stone tools are rocks that have been selected for use or intentionally altered. This technology appeared around 3.3 million years ago and became essential to hominins – all the living and extinct species that belong to the human lineage. Currently, we Homo sapiens are the only living hominin.

    We are not the only living species to make and use stone tools, though – many other primates do – but the extent to which hominins modify them is unparalleled in the animal kingdom. Monkeys and other apes may hold a large stone in their hands to crack a nut on a flat, tablelike stone.

    But most hominins don’t rely on stones collected as-is. They modify and shape them into useful tools for a variety of tasks, including cutting meat or plants, woodworking, scraping hide and even as projectiles.

    Stone tools are important to archaeologists because they are durable and preserve well. This makes them some of the best evidence for hominin behavior and allows us to better understand how different populations adapted to local environments across time and large geographic regions.

    How are stone tools made?

    Hominins manufacture stone tools by fracturing or abrading rock. Here, I am going to focus on fractured or flaked stone technology because tools made through this technique dominate the archaeological record.

    The process of flaking involves applying force to the edge of a stone, known as the striking platform, through percussion or pressure to remove portions of the rock, which are called flakes. With some guidance from a teacher and plenty of practice, flintknappers can learn how to identify a promising platform on a chunk of stone, called a core, and consistently remove flakes from it. When struck, the platform is removed from the core and is a key feature of the flake.

    Flakes offer an immediate sharp cutting edge. A flintknapper can also further modify them into more specific shapes for other uses. An iconic example of this is the hand ax, which is a core that’s been flaked into a teardrop shape.

    Cores, left, are the object being struck by the flintknapper, and flakes, right, are the sharp-edged material removed from the core. Some cores, like this one from the archaeological site Pinnacle Point 5-6 in South Africa, can be as small as the tip of a finger.
    John K. Murray

    We often use hammerstones or large pieces of antler, called billets, to strike the core’s edge. Repetitive flaking not only allows a flintknapper to produce a significant amount of sharp cutting edge in the form of flakes, but gives them the ability to shape the core to their desired form … often with the risk of personal injury along the way. My fingers can attest to this!

    A modern flintknapper’s toolkit consists of leather pads, gloves, safety glasses, antler billets (left), hard hammerstones (right), and abraders (center-right with grooves), used to rub the edge of the stone to strengthen the platform before striking.
    John K. Murray

    However, not every type of rock has the characteristics needed to be flaked into a tool. You want the stone to exhibit what’s called conchoidal fracture. If you’ve ever seen glass break, you’ve witnessed conchoidal fracture. This smooth break, with concentric wavelike ripples, is defined by the physics of how force moves through different materials.

    Obsidian hand ax made by John Murray, showcasing examples of conchoidal fracture produced while making flakes to shape it.
    John K. Murray

    When an experienced knapper is preparing to remove a flake, we understand how the material we’re working will break when we strike it, so we can predict the shape and size of the tools that we are producing. A stone like obsidian, which is volcanic glass, is the poster child for conchoidal fracture.

    Of course, there is a lot of variation in the quality of rock that hominins have used for manufacturing stone tools, and many have made use of lesser quality stone. Even some of the earliest toolmakers were preferentially selecting rocks for certain properties, such as durability.

    How can you recognize stone tools?

    You may hear people saying that rocks that they found in their garden were tools because they “fit perfectly in the hand” or are “tool shaped.” But it’s not quite that straightforward. Although shape and function may play a role in the final product of a stone tool, it is not the smoking gun.

    Archaeologists can determine whether a chunk of rock is a stone tool based on clues left behind from the process of conchoidal fracture during flintknapping.

    One such clue is the presence of flake scars, or what we call negative removals, which can be found on both cores and flakes. These have characteristic ridges on one or more sides of the rock that outline previous flake removals – hence the use of the term scar.

    When we see multiple flake scars that are consistent in their orientation and size as opposed to being random, it is likely the stone in question was deliberately worked on by a hominin.

    The second feature is what we call the bulb of percussion. This is a bulge in the flake, just below the striking platform, that results from the concentration of force when the knapper struck it.

    Considering that producing a bulb of percussion requires the rock to be struck on a platform at a specific angle with enough force to detach it from the stone, it is improbable that this feature would be created through natural processes – but not impossible. Scientists have found naturally produced sharp stone fragments, or naturaliths, all over the world, even in Antarctica.

    However, when a lot of flakes with these diagnostic characteristics are found together, it’s unlikely they were created naturally.

    A hand ax made by John Murray shows many flake scars, some of which are outlined in black. The inner surface of three flakes shows the bulb of percussion just below the platform.
    John K. Murray

    The final thing to consider when determining whether a rock is a stone tool is the context in which it was found. Are there many stones in the area that exhibit the characteristics that we look for when trying to identify a stone tool? Is the stone tool made of an exotic material, or is it like the rest of the rocks near it?

    If you find a lot of stone tools in the same area made from one type of rock, you might have stumbled across an ancient flintknapping workshop. However, if you discover a tool that was made from a type of stone that can only be found hundreds of miles away, maybe someone traded for this material or carried it with them.

    Try it for yourself

    I think the best way for you to be able to learn to recognize whether a chunk of stone was a tool or just a rock is to try flintknapping yourself. I have taught more than 100 people of all ages to manufacture stone tools, and most agree: It is harder than you’d think.

    This experience puts you into the minds of our hominin ancestors, trying to tackle one of the earliest problems our lineage faced: getting a sharp edge from a chunky piece of rock.

    John K. Murray 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.

    – ref. Was it a stone tool or just a rock? An archaeologist explains how scientists can tell the difference – https://theconversation.com/was-it-a-stone-tool-or-just-a-rock-an-archaeologist-explains-how-scientists-can-tell-the-difference-251126

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: The Lindsay Chorale to Perform Free Concert at the Guildhall in Support of Mayor’s Charity

    Source: Northern Ireland – City of Derry

    The Lindsay Chorale to Perform Free Concert at the Guildhall in Support of Mayor’s Charity

    7 May 2025

    Derry City and Strabane District Council is delighted to announce that renowned Saintfield-based choir, The Lindsay Chorale, will be performing a special concert at the Guildhall on Sunday 18th May.

    The event, which takes place from 3pm, hopes to raise much needed funds for the Mayor’s chosen charity, The BUD Club, a vital local organisation supporting children and young adults with additional needs.

    Established in 1997, The Lindsay Chorale is known for its rich repertoire of classical, sacred, and contemporary choral music. Their visit to Derry~Londonderry offers music lovers a unique opportunity to hear one of Northern Ireland’s most accomplished amateur choirs in the majestic surroundings of the Guildhall. Having previously performed with The Priests and for Derry Girls creator, Lisa McGee, audience members are in for a treat with this special afternoon of music.

    The choir will be led by Musical Director Keith Acheson on the day. Keith is an Irish composer and conductor based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. After obtaining a BMus (Hons) in 1996 he was awarded a PhD in Composition from the Ulster University. Along with many pieces for choir, he has had work performed by the likes of the Ulster Orchestra, Gemini Ensemble, HuuJ Ensemble and Arco String Quartet.

    Taking to the famous Guildhall organ, Daniel Clements will accompany the choir and provide the decadent musical background that will add to the atmospheric afternoon.

    Speaking ahead of the event, Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Cllr Lilian Seenoi-Barr, encouraged the public to come along and support the cause:

    “I’m absolutely thrilled to welcome The Lindsay Chorale to our beautiful Guildhall for what promises to be a very special afternoon of music and community spirit. This free concert is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy world-class choral singing while supporting a cause that is close to my heart. The BUD Club provides life-changing support for families across our district, and I would encourage everyone to come along, donate what they can, and enjoy a truly uplifting event.”

    The choir, which has performed across the UK and Ireland, also expressed their excitement about the upcoming concert:

    “We are honoured to be performing in the historic Guildhall and to be part of an event that supports such an inspiring local charity. Music has the power to connect communities, and we hope our performance will not only entertain but also make a meaningful contribution to the vital work of The BUD Club,” said Keith Acheson, Musical Director.

    The concert is free to attend, and no booking is required. The concert will start at 3pm, and seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Voluntary donations will be collected on the day in aid of The BUD Club.

    For more information about the Mayor’s charity, please visit:
     www.derrystrabane.com/about-council/mayor/mayor-s-charity

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Lofgren, Matsui, Merkley Reintroduce Legislation to Give Individuals an Opportunity to Invest in Building America’s Clean-Energy Future

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose)

    Modeled after WWII victory bonds, Clean Energy Victory Bonds would spur investment in clean-energy projects, create jobs, & help U.S. fight the climate crisis

    WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Representatives Zoe Lofgren (CA-18) and Doris Matsui (CA-07) and U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) reintroduced the Clean Energy Victory Bond Act, bicameral legislation to give individuals the opportunity to buy Clean Energy Victory Bonds and help build America’s clean-energy future. Modeled after the highly successful victory bonds sold during World Wars I and II, which raised billions of dollars to finance the costs of war, Clean Energy Victory Bonds would help the country create jobs and save taxpayers money while investing in clean-energy infrastructure and fighting the climate crisis, protecting future generations.

    The bill would direct the U.S. Secretaries of Treasury, Energy, and Defense to develop and issue $50 billion in Clean Energy Victory Bonds that support energy efficiency, solar, wind, geothermal, and electric vehicle efforts. For as little as $50, all Americans would be able to voluntarily purchase these Treasury bonds to invest in clean energy.

    The sale of the $50 billion worth of bonds annually could be leveraged to inject $150 billion into clean-energy innovation and create more than one million jobs.

    “As climate-related emergencies become more and more common, I often hear from people who want to do their part in the fight against climate change, but don’t know how. The Clean Energy Victory Bond Act provides Americans with an opportunity to invest, within their means, in innovative technologies that will yield profits both for themselves and the world,” said Congresswoman Lofgren, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. “This is my seventh time reintroducing this bill. I feel strongly that, as momentum continues to build in California and around the country to be good stewards of our environment, we must employ proven economic growth-based tactics to tackle climate change. We all benefit when we invest in the future.”

    “Now, more than ever, we need collective action to fight climate change and support smart climate solutions,” said Congresswoman Matsui. “This legislation gives everyday Americans the opportunity to invest in the clean energy transition and help grow the American economy. This investment will flow back into our communities, creating good-paying jobs, lowering energy costs, and helping to make communities across the country more resilient to climate change, while also providing a strong return on investment and helping American families to safely and reliably grow their savings with government-backed bonds.”

    “Clean energy is America’s future, no matter how hard President Trump and his handpicked Fossil Fuel Cabinet try to sabotage its deployment,” said Senator Merkley. “As the Trump Administration slashes federal funds for renewable energy projects nationwide – including right here in Oregon – I’m fighting to advance solutions that will help end our dangerous dependence on fossil fuels and instead invest in public health and our environment. This bill expands access to affordable clean energy for families across America, delivering bold action to tackle climate chaos and creating jobs in the 21st-century economy.”

    Background

    The Clean Energy Victory Bonds would raise extra funds for investment in clean-energy and energy-efficiency deployment, including by:

    • Providing additional support to existing federal financing programs available to states for energy efficiency upgrades and clean energy deployment;
    • Providing funding for clean energy investments by all federal agencies;
    • Providing funding for electric grid enhancements and connections that enable clean energy deployment;
    • Providing funding to renovate existing inefficient buildings or building new energy efficient buildings;
    • Providing tax incentives and tax credits for clean energy technologies;
    • Providing funding for new innovation research, including ARPA-E, public competitions similar to those designed by the X Prize Foundation, grants provided through the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy of the Department of Energy, or other mechanisms to fund revolutionary clean energy technology;
    • Providing additional funding for zero-emission vehicle infrastructure and manufacturing;
    • Providing additional funding to existing federal, State, and local grant programs that finance clean energy projects; and
    • Providing prioritized funding for clean energy projects that are located in and reduce energy rates in disadvantaged and vulnerable communities.  

    The Clean Energy Victory Bonds would:

    • be available to the public in denominations as low as $50;
    • accrue interest based on savings achieved through reduced-energy spending by the federal government and interest collected on loans provided from proceeds of the bonds; and
    • be capped at $50 billion each year.
    Click here for full text of the Clean Energy Victory Bond Act.

    In Connecticut, “Green Liberty Bonds” have been issued, and batches have sold out because the demand is so great. 

    Support from Sustainability & Business Groups

    The bill is supported by numerous organizations, includingGreen America, Communitas Financial Planning PBC, Transformative Wealth Management, Natural Investments, American Sustainable Business Council, Impact Investors, School Sisters of Notre Dame Collective Investment Fund, Figure 8 Investment Strategies, Greenvest/Vanderbilt Financial Group, Change the Chamber, Harkins Wealth Management, SharePower Responsible Investing, Your Best Path, LLC, and Chicory Wealth.

    “Americans from around the country support clean energy that will create jobs while addressing the climate crisis. In World War II, Victory Bonds offered Americans a way to support the war effort. Now, Clean Energy Victory Bonds will offer all Americans a safe investment, open to anyone, to support the rapid adoption of the solar, wind, and battery storage technologies that will benefit communities, workers, and the planet,” said Todd Larsen, Executive Co-Director For Consumer and Corporate Engagement, Green America.

    “Clean Energy Victory Bonds will provide a much-needed economic boost to our businesses and economy. This bill provides a reliable and highly-accessible financing mechanism that allows all Americans to provide the needed dollars for building a vibrant economy.” In an environment of reduced Federal Government spending this enables everyone to invest and work hand in hand with the private sector,” said David Levine, Co-founder and President, American Sustainable Business Council.

    “Taking a step forward to adjust our energy industry to meet the needs of the changing country, the Clean Energy Victory Bonds Act uses historical precedence to advance the U.S. toward a cleaner, brighter future for youth like us. While the transition to a clean energy economy may seem ambitious at times, this Act will allow everyday Americans to create an economy that works for all of us. It provides Americans the opportunity to help incentivize cleaner infrastructure and energy, paving the way for future steps to better our nation’s energy and climate,” said Evey Mengelkoch, Erika Pietrzak, and Sarah Hill, Climate Fellows of Change the Chamber

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: NANO Nuclear Energy Completes Retrofit of its New York State Nuclear Technology Testing Facility 

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Facility operations to commence shortly to construct and test NANO Nuclear’s ALIP subsystem as well as key components of its microreactors in development

    New York, N.Y., May 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — NANO Nuclear Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: NNE) (“NANO Nuclear” or “the Company”), a leading advanced nuclear technology and energy company, today announced the completion of the retrofitting of its multimillion-dollar demonstration and testing facility in Westchester County, New York.

    The facility is now ready to play a central role in supporting the non-nuclear mechanical and thermal test work necessary to develop its microreactors (in particular ZEUSTM) and commercial products, such as its Annular Linear Induction Pump (ALIP), a critical non-nuclear subsystem for liquid metal and molten salt reactor technologies which NANO Nuclear plans to separately commercialize in the coming years. Testing at the Westchester facility is expected to commence shortly and continue throughout 2025 and into the future. The data generated will contribute to the final design and integration strategy for ALIP in both terrestrial and space reactor applications.

    The facility retrofit was executed in collaboration with aRobotics Company, a New York-based engineering and advanced fabrication firm specializing in robotic systems, component inspection, and high-precision prototyping. The firm led the mechanical build-out of the facility and the fabrication of test hardware and support structures for the development of NANO Nuclear’s products, as well as NANO Nuclear’s ongoing SBIR Phase III commercialization program for ALIP.

    “The Westchester County demonstration facility has been completed on schedule and to specification, and we’re pleased to extend our collaboration on critical ALIP components and our broader reactor portfolio with aRobotics, a fellow New York State headquartered company,” said Jay Yu, Founder and Chairman of NANO Nuclear. “This multimillion‑dollar facility will be central to our R&D program, giving us the resources to conduct essential physical testing and confirm that our non‑nuclear systems perform at their highest level.”

    Figure 1 – Image of Redeveloped NANO Nuclear’s Demonstration Facility for Key Components of its Nuclear Microreactor Designs in Westchester County, NY.

    The newly redeveloped testing site includes:

    • A Liquid-Metal and Molten-Salt Test Loop for evaluating fluid dynamics and pump efficiency.
    • A magnetic field mapping system for characterizing ALIP’s electromagnetic properties.
    • A custom-engineered thermal chamber for assessing high-temperature material behavior and component resilience.

    “Completing the redevelopment of this dedicated test facility is a significant milestone in our ALIP roadmap,” said Dr. Carlos O. Maidana, Head of Thermal Hydraulics and Space Program at NANO Nuclear. “The ability to perform real-time, high-fidelity component testing allows us to validate software models and refine system performance before moving to larger-scale assembly.”

    Figure 2 – Image of NANO Nuclear’s Annular Linear Induction Pump (ALIP) Technology Model (left) and Liquid-Metal and Molten-Salt Test Loop (right).

    The Westchester County demonstration facility will serve as a high-fidelity mechanical testbed for subsystems critical to reactor operation. These tests will inform future licensing, support industrial partnerships, and advance NANO Nuclear’s development, regulatory licensing and commercialization objectives. The facility now houses NANO Nuclear’s Liquid‑Metal and Molten‑Salt Test Loop, along with a magnetic‑field mapping system that will support development and commercialization activities for ALIP. In addition, a purpose‑built heat chamber, designed for evaluating reactor components and subsystems, has been installed at the site.

    “This facility gives us the infrastructure to simulate core pump operations in a safe, non-nuclear setting,” said James Walker, Chief Executive Officer of NANO Nuclear. “It’s close proximity to our New York City corporate headquarters enhances operational coordination and will serve as a valuable hub for collaborators and stakeholders to observe the development process firsthand.”

    About NANO Nuclear Energy, Inc.

    NANO Nuclear Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: NNE) is an advanced technology-driven nuclear energy company seeking to become a commercially focused, diversified, and vertically integrated company across five business lines: (i) cutting edge portable and other microreactor technologies, (ii) nuclear fuel fabrication, (iii) nuclear fuel transportation, (iv) nuclear applications for space and (v) nuclear industry consulting services. NANO Nuclear believes it is the first portable nuclear microreactor company to be listed publicly in the U.S.

    Led by a world-class nuclear engineering team, NANO Nuclear’s reactor products in development include patented KRONOS MMR™Energy System, a stationary high-temperature gas-cooled reactor that is in construction permit pre-application engagement U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in collaboration with University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U. of I.), “ZEUS”, a solid core battery reactor, and “ODIN”, a low-pressure coolant reactor, and the space focused, portable LOKI MMR™, each representing advanced developments in clean energy solutions that are portable, on-demand capable, advanced nuclear microreactors.

    Advanced Fuel Transportation Inc. (AFT), a NANO Nuclear subsidiary, is led by former executives from the largest transportation company in the world aiming to build a North American transportation company that will provide commercial quantities of HALEU fuel to small modular reactors, microreactor companies, national laboratories, military, and DOE programs. Through NANO Nuclear, AFT is the exclusive licensee of a patented high-capacity HALEU fuel transportation basket developed by three major U.S. national nuclear laboratories and funded by the Department of Energy. Assuming development and commercialization, AFT is expected to form part of the only vertically integrated nuclear fuel business of its kind in North America.

    HALEU Energy Fuel Inc. (HEF), a NANO Nuclear subsidiary, is focusing on the future development of a domestic source for a High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) fuel fabrication pipeline for NANO Nuclear’s own microreactors as well as the broader advanced nuclear reactor industry.

    NANO Nuclear Space Inc. (NNS), a NANO Nuclear subsidiary, is exploring the potential commercial applications of NANO Nuclear’s developing micronuclear reactor technology in space. NNS is focusing on applications such as the LOKI MMR™ system and other power systems for extraterrestrial projects and human sustaining environments, and potentially propulsion technology for long haul space missions. NNS’ initial focus will be on cis-lunar applications, referring to uses in the space region extending from Earth to the area surrounding the Moon’s surface.
    For more corporate information please visit: https://NanoNuclearEnergy.com/

    For further NANO Nuclear information, please contact:

    Email: IR@NANONuclearEnergy.com
    Business Tel: (212) 634-9206

    PLEASE FOLLOW OUR SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES HERE:

    NANO Nuclear Energy LINKEDIN
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    Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

    This news release and statements of NANO Nuclear’s management in connection with this news release contain or may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In this context, forward-looking statements mean statements related to future events, which may impact our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as “expects”, “anticipates”, “intends”, “plans”, “believes”, “potential”, “will”, “should”, “could”, “would” or “may” and other words of similar meaning. In this press release, forward-looking statements related to, among other items, NANO Nuclear’s use of its new testing facility and its development and other plans in general. These and other forward-looking statements are based on information available to us as of the date of this news release and represent management’s current views and assumptions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, events or results and involve significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may be beyond our control. For NANO Nuclear, particular risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in our forward-looking statements include but are not limited to the following: (i) risks related to our U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) or related state or non-U.S. nuclear fuel licensing submissions, (ii) risks related the development of new or advanced technology and the acquisition of complimentary technology or businesses, including difficulties with design and testing, cost overruns, regulatory delays, integration issues and the development of competitive technology, (iii) our ability to obtain contracts and funding to be able to continue operations, (iv) risks related to uncertainty regarding our ability to technologically develop and commercially deploy a competitive advanced nuclear reactor or other technology in the timelines we anticipate, if ever, (v) risks related to the impact of U.S. and non-U.S. government regulation, policies and licensing requirements, including by the DOE and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, including those associated with the recently enacted ADVANCE Act, and (vi) similar risks and uncertainties associated with the operating an early stage business a highly regulated and rapidly evolving industry. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this news release. These factors may not constitute all factors that could cause actual results to differ from those discussed in any forward-looking statement, and NANO Nuclear therefore encourages investors to review other factors that may affect future results in its filings with the SEC, which are available for review at www.sec.gov and at https://ir.nanonuclearenergy.com/financial-information/sec-filings. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as a predictor of actual results. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this news release, except as required by law.

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Rosneft enterprises’ teams hold events in honor of the Great Victory anniversary

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Rosneft – Rosneft – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    Rosneft and its subsidiaries organize and participate in events in honor of the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. The company holds hundreds of events throughout Russia, which are designed to pass on to the younger generation the historical memory of the immortal feat of our people who liberated the world from fascism. Among the heroes of the front and the home front are many workers in the oil industry.

    Oil workers demonstrated mass heroism in the battles of the Great Patriotic War and labor valor at enterprises in the rear. The Red Army was supplied with fuel and lubricants in the required quantities. During the war, the few remaining specialists, women and teenagers who replaced the men who went to the front, achieved a significant increase in the volume of oil production and refining. New fields were discovered, oil refineries were put into operation. Thanks to the selfless work of oil workers, our country won the “war of motors”, which brought the overall Victory closer.

    The Company’s employees congratulate veterans of the Great Patriotic War and oil industry workers in different regions of the country on Victory Day. Festive concerts are held for them, where the winners of the corporate competition “Energy of Talents” perform. Rosneft volunteers also visit veteran oil workers at home, convey congratulations and memorable gifts from the teams of the enterprises.

    With the support of Rosneft, the Sretensky Monastery Choir is touring 24 cities across the country with the musical program “Dedicated to the Great Victory”. The production is based on real stories about the fates of heroes who walked the miles of war from Moscow to Berlin and the best works of the front-line years.

    More than 100 thousand Rosneft employees in more than 40 regions of Russia are taking part in the all-Russian action “Immortal Regiment” in various formats. On the eve of Victory Day, Rosneft enterprises held “Minutes of Silence” in memory of those killed in the war, as well as “Memory Watch”, during which workers began their work shift with portraits of relatives who had fought in the Great Patriotic War.

    About 1,000 employees of 33 Rosneft subsidiaries took part in a collective reading of the poem “Motherland” by poet Konstantin Simonov. Samotlorneftegaz employees read the famous lines at the monument “To fellow countrymen who died during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945” in the Victory Park of Nizhnevartovsk, unfurling an 80-meter St. George ribbon.

    More than 500 employees of the Samara group of Rosneft enterprises, veterans and employees of Rosneft enterprises, students, volunteers and residents of the Samara region in the city of Novokuibyshevsk next to the memorial complex to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War also unfurled an 80-meter St. George ribbon, honored the memory of the fallen heroes with a minute of silence and laid flowers at the Eternal Flame.

    Rosneft pays special attention to the formation of spiritual and patriotic values in the younger generation. Veteran oil workers together with current employees of the Company held “Lessons of Courage” in schools, universities and colleges, where children were told about how oil industry enterprises worked during the Great Patriotic War. Students, including students of “Rosneft classes” and schoolchildren from the “Movement of the First” were able to personally communicate with witnesses of those events. Also, for schoolchildren of Ufa, Samara, Gubkinsky, Saratov, Nizhnevartovsk, the settlement of Tazovsky in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District, they organized screenings of the documentary “War of Motors” about the significant contribution of oil workers to the Great Victory, which was filmed with the support of Rosneft.

    Samotlorneftegaz and Sevkomneftegaz held a patriotic event “Victory Waltz” in Nizhnevartovsk and Gubkinsky, in which representatives of three generations took part: veterans, employees of enterprises and students of “Rosneft-classes”. Volunteers danced a waltz to “Blue Scarf”, which was performed for soldiers on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War by Klavdiya Shulzhenko and other famous artists.

    On the eve of the Great Victory, the Company’s volunteers organized a number of large-scale clean-up days: they repaired, renovated, and tidied up memorials and monuments to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War. Volunteers from the Kuibyshev Oil Refinery and the Novokuibyshevsk Petrochemical Company tidied up more than 60 graves of front-line soldiers in Samara. Volunteers from Samotlorneftegaz tidied up the territory of the memorial complex “To fellow countrymen who died during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945” in Nizhnevartovsk. Udmurtneft employees helped to improve the monument to those killed during the war in the village of Svetloye, Votkinsk District; with the participation of the enterprise, memorials were also arranged in six other settlements of the Udmurt Republic. Bashneft organized the cleaning of the territory and renovation of elements of the park near the monument to “Ishimbay oil workers who died in battles for the Motherland” in the city of Ishimbay. Schoolchildren of the “Movement of the First” actively participated in all the events.

    The company organized mass car rallies in different regions of Russia, in which more than 1 thousand people took part. Employees of the enterprises RN-Yuganskneftegaz, Tyumenneftegaz, RN-Uvatneftegaz, Kharampurneftegaz, ROSPAN International, RN-Purneftegaz, and the corporate scientific institute in Tyumen held a joint campaign in the Tyumen region, the Yamalo-Nenets and Khanty-Mansiysk autonomous districts, covering 1,418 km in cars with Victory Banners – this distance corresponds to the number of days that the Great Patriotic War lasted.

    In Krasnoyarsk Krai, a motorcade of RN-Vankor workers drove a thousand kilometers across the tundra with the Victory Banner from the Vankor field to the port of Bukhta Sever on the shore of the Kara Sea. Bashneft organized a 160-kilometer motor rally of 50 cars in the Republic of Bashkortostan between the cities of Labor Valor Ishimbay and Ufa. During the Great Patriotic War, oil from Ishimbay was sent to Ufa for processing at the Ufa Oil Refinery (now Bashneft-UNPZ), the plant’s fuel went to the needs of the front and the rear.

    Volunteers from the Saratov Oil Refinery, RN-Vedomstvennaya Okhrana, and IK SIBINTEK drove a motorcade with jubilee symbols along the streets of Saratov from the oil refinery to the memorial complex to the soldiers-drivers. During the war, columns of cars with food, military equipment, uniforms, and fuel produced at the Saratov Oil Refinery went through Saratov to Stalingrad. During the fierce battles for Stalingrad, the Saratov-Stalingrad highway was called the “road of life” in the besieged hero city. Rosneft-Kuban Oil Products workers drove 150 km in 20 cars as part of the patriotic motor rally “Krasnodar-Novorossiysk”. Employees of the Komsomolsk Oil Refinery organized a motor rally from the Memorial Complex in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, where oil refiners laid flowers at the Eternal Flame. The column of more than 50 cars with anniversary symbols and Victory banners was headed by a Ural motorcycle from the 1970s.

    In addition, in various regions, the Company’s employees have created routes for auto tourists to memorial sites dedicated to the Great Patriotic War. Rosneft gas stations broadcast congratulations on the anniversary of the Victory, songs from the war years, and distribute St. George ribbons during the holidays. A number of stations have themed photo zones, field kitchens, and concerts by creative groups with a patriotic repertoire.

    Rosneft traditionally takes part in federal and regional events to green the territories on the eve of Victory Day. As part of the international action “Garden of Memory”, together with activists of the “Movement of the First”, Orenburgneft employees planted more than 10 thousand pine seedlings on 4.5 hectares of the Buzuluk pine forest, damaged by a natural fire, and 1.5 thousand pine trees in the steppe territory of the Kurmanaevsky district of the Orenburg region. “Kurgannefteprodukt” organized the planting of 20 thousand tree seedlings in the form of a geoglyph (an inscription made up of trees) “80 years of Victory”. Also, the geoglyph “80” appeared through the efforts of Bashneft-Dobycha employees in the city of Neftekamsk in the Republic of Bashkortostan. Employees of the corporate institute “VNIKTIneftekhimoborudovanie” took part in the landscaping of the slope of Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd: they prepared the territory of the future alley and planted 80 silver maple seedlings.

    The Company’s employees took part in dozens of sports, intellectual competitions and contests dedicated to the Victory anniversary. Thus, Rosneft held corporate snowboarding competitions dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Victory. More than 100 oil industry athletes from 35 subsidiaries gathered at the ski center in Baikalsk (Irkutsk Region). And in Tomsk, they organized the “Victory Ski Slope” at a distance of 200 meters – it became a symbol of memory of the heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad, which lasted 200 days and became a turning point in the Great Patriotic War.

    Commemorative museum exhibits have been organized at the enterprises, and street photo exhibitions reflecting the selfless labor of oil workers in the rear and the heroism of front-line soldiers have opened in the cities where the Company is present. A photo exhibition titled “Fuel of Victory” has opened in the Muzeon Arts Park in Moscow. In Ufa, Bashneft opened a photo exhibition about the contribution of Bashkir oil workers to the Victory in a park on the Belaya River embankment and laid out a memorial alley of apple and fir trees. In Saratov, an exhibition of patriotic drawings by children of Rosneft employees has been placed on the Cosmonauts Embankment.

    The employees of Verkhnechonskneftegaz initiated and created with their own hands the memorial “Memory Flame” in the shift camp of the Verkhnechonskoye field. On memorable dates for the country it will be lit as a symbol of the undying national memory of those who gave their lives on the battlefields.

    One of the central events of the anniversary year in Buzuluk (Orenburg region) and in Ryazan was the creation of large-scale murals with the support of Orenburgneft and the Ryazan Oil Refining Company, respectively.

    Rosneft contributes to preserving the historical memory of the events of the Great Patriotic War, the immortal feat of veterans who fought on the front lines and forged the Great Victory in the rear. Their unconditional love for the Motherland and patriotism are an unshakable example for current and future generations.

    Department of Information and Advertising of PJSC NK Rosneft May 7, 2025

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Major grants for community organisations

    Source: Scotland – City of Aberdeen

    The Belmont Cinema, an all-ability wheelchair swing project, youth club equipment, and a community radio station are among a raft of local organisations which are to benefit from grants totalling £965,000 approved today.

    Aberdeen City Council’s Finance and Resources Committee agreed the monies for projects around the city including The Belmont Community Cinema Project, Aberdeen Deeside Rotary Trust, Kingswells Community Centre, and Station House Media Uni (SHMU).

    Committee Convener Councillor Alex McLellan said: “These are major projects which have been awarded funding today and the monies will assist the organisations in bringing forward their respective projects. 

    “These grant applications, from a number of partners and third sector organisations, will make a positive impact on our city in their own way.”

    Council Culture spokesperson Councillor Martin Greig said: “These grants will make a positive difference for organisations and people across Aberdeen. I look forward to seeing the progress on all of these projects in the coming months.”

    A report to committee said the grants awarded included:

    • Aberdeen Deeside Rotary Trust – all-ability wheelchair swing project – £13,000;
    • Aberdeen Performing Arts – building management system upgrade at HMT – £48,895;
    • Aberdeen Science Centre – community engagement and accessibility project – £73,198;
    • Alcohol and Drugs Action – family harm reduction/recovery support – £19,801;
    • Aberdeen City Council – Bucksburn Swimming Pool recommissioning project – £173,140;
    • Befriend a Child – family support project – £19,152;
    • Belmont Community Cinema – improving the entrance project – £100,000;
    • Citymoves Dance Agency – United Aberdeen Dance project – £47,089;
    • Community Outreach Group – upgraded kitchen – £3,800;
    • Denburn Residents and Tenants Association – Upper Denburn Gardens – £10,000;
    • East Grampian Coastal Partnership – Aberdeen City Coastal Path Study – £9,450;
    • Grampian Cardiac Rehabilitation Association – specialist exercise service for people with cardiac and chronic health conditions in Aberdeen – £15,000;
    • Grampian Women’s Aid – support services – £45,470;
    • Growing2gether – strengthening communities by building local skills, wellbeing and resilience project – £28,865;
    • Instant Neighbour – Upcycle Inc Project – £10,000;
    • Kingswells Community Centre – youth club equipment – £876;
    • Sound Scotland – Soundcommunities year 2 – £24,000;
    • Station House Media Unit – extension to Station House – £110,000;
    • Techfest – TechFests Blueprint Challenge: A Future Highstreet – £10,000;
    • The Kings Community Foundation – the Bridge Centre Retrofit – £50,000.

    The report to committee said allocation of grant funding is from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). The UKSPF money was allocated to the City Council by the UK Government. The core UKSPF element can be used across three priority areas – community and place, supporting local business, and people and skills.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Graduate Student Research Symposium Recognizes Academic Excellence and Innovation

    Source: US State of Connecticut

    For the first time at UConn, graduate students across all seven campuses had the opportunity to present their work at a single event: the Graduate Student Research Symposium. 

    Much of UConn’s graduate students’ research addresses real-world issues, allowing this inaugural symposium to not only celebrate academic excellence, but to also spotlight the impact graduate research has on Connecticut and beyond.  

    “Graduate students are having such a large impact on our community and on our state,” said Joy A. Hamer ’25 JD, the chief organizer of the symposium. “It was my mission to unite all seven of UConn’s branch campuses and showcase the hard work of our students.”

    Hamer, who serves as the graduate student trustee on the UConn Board of Trustees, started envisioning the event that ultimately became the poster competition while campaigning for her trustee position. A key part of her campaign was going to all of UConn’s campuses and meeting with graduate students to hear about their experiences and find ways to help them succeed.

    “Ultimately, what I found is most graduate students—irrespective of location or field of study—are conducting research that is very much interdisciplinary. For example, students studying pharmacy in Storrs, law in Hartford, or marine biology in Avery Point may all be focusing their research on environmental sustainability. Unfortunately, as we’re so dispersed across the state, a lot of our research becomes siloed,” said Hamer. 

    Alvaro Daniel Pantoja-Benavides shares his research on agricultural practices (Paula Steele / UConn Photo)

    Hamer’s mission was to highlight not only the work of graduate students but also how their research benefits the places where they live and work, which culminated in the April 23 symposium held at Rome Commons Ballroom at UConn Storrs.

    With scores of posters on display and hundreds in attendance, the symposium showcased the impressive breadth and depth of graduate research at UConn.

    In the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources’ Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, Ph.D. candidate Alvaro Daniel Pantoja-Benavides presented his findings regarding the extent to which the Gray Water Footprint (GWF) – the volume of fresh water required to assimilate pollutants to meet water quality standards – can be used as an indicator to compare the environmental impacts of agricultural practices. His work provides insight into how irrigation and fertilizing strategies can be advanced while maintaining sustainable practices.  

    “This has given me great opportunities to show how research can impact the environment and agriculture,” said Pantoja-Benavides. “If we know how to utilizes strategies to practice agriculture better and teach people more about it, it will benefit so many.”

    Each student who competed in the Symposium Poster Competition had their work categorized into one of six interdisciplinary research categories, with each category recognizing a winner and runner-up, followed by the winners competing in a final round. The overall winner and runner-up in the final round both came from the department of Molecular and Cellular Biology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. 

    Ph.D. candidate Caroline Vieira da Silva won overall in the Cognition, Health, and Medicine category and then won the final round for her research titled, “Identification and characterization of the surface layer protein AvsA in outer membrane vesicles, antibiotic resistance, and in vivo host colonization in Aeromonas veronii.” Ph.D. candidate Sarah Pasqualetti came in first in the Economy, Energy, and Environment category, and was the overall runner-up for her work with microplastics.  

    One goal Hamer kept in mind while planning the poster competition was to give graduate students the opportunity to present their research to wider audiences, especially individuals who are not in their respective fields.  

    “Because we’re so dedicated to our research, as graduate students, it becomes easy to communicate exclusively in terms of art and industry jargon. This can make comprehension difficult for someone who isn’t in that discipline,” said Hamer. “So, the point is to be able to articulate and explain your research across sectors.

    Although poster competitions are commonly found in STEM fields, said Hamer, they seem to be translatable across disciplines. “As a law student, I’ve primarily participated in Moot Court, Mock Trial, and Negotiation competitions—all of which are very industry-specific.” Hosting this event as a poster competition offers graduate students of any field the chance to participate in sharing their findings. Additional formats such as pitch competitions and video competitions are in the works for the future iterations of the symposium.

    “It’s been helpful to learn how to communicate my research with different audiences,” said Muireann Nic Corcráin, a Ph.D. candidate in Applied Linguistics and Discourse Studies. “Talking to departments who aren’t in my field and don’t initially understand my work can further show the importance of cultural revival.”

    Keegan Jalbert presents research to a judge at the Graduate Student Research Symposium (Paula Steele / UConn Photo)

    In her research titled, “I Have a Voice: Towards the Development of Synthetic Voices for the Passamaquoddy Language,” Corcráin focused on the language revitalization of the Passamaquoddy language.  

    This Native American language is only spoken by 12% of 3,600 members, according to Corcráin’s research, which motivated her to work towards developing a text-to-speech synthetic voice for the language.  

    Her commitment to language revitalization and developing resources for ancestral languages, like the Passamaquoddy language, led her work to be recognized as the runner-up in the Humanity, Culture, and Arts category of the competition.  

    “It’s nice to be able to research something that has an impact on so many people, and that UConn provides us with these resources to do so,” said Julia Jerolamon, a Ph.D. student in the department of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Her research focuses on deactivating a protein that, when found in high levels, has been shown to reduce survivability rates among patients with cancer.

    Hamer, who worked closely with Leslie Shor, Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of The Graduate School, on organizing the event, said she was thrilled with the successful debut of what she expects to become a regular event for UConn graduate students.

    “This was our very first year, and I am so proud of our team and our engagement with the students. We’re looking forward to hosting this again in the future,” said Hamer.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Neag School Class of 2025 Student Profile: Cece Echevarria

    Source: US State of Connecticut

    Editor’s Note: As Commencement approaches, we are featuring some of our Neag School Class of 2025 graduating students over the coming days.

    Major: BS, American Sign Language Education and ASL Studies and minor in Linguistics
    Hometown: West Hartford, Connecticut

    Q: Why did you choose UConn?

    A: Growing up, I knew I would go to UConn. My dad was, and still is, one of the bus drivers for the UConn men’s hockey team, so my sister and I grew up going to the games at the XL Center. The energy was palpable – it just makes you want more. I grew up knowing I wanted to be a teacher, so I was lucky enough to have a university in my home state that offered an amazing program that would give me everything I needed to be a successful educator in five years. Education has always been, and will always be, a huge part of my values. Having the opportunity to learn about new languages and cultures and how the world works is why I chose UConn; I knew I could get all of this and more.

    Q: What’s your major or field of study, and what drew you to it?

    A: I am completing a dual degree in American Sign Language (ASL) education and ASL Studies (concentration in interpreting English and ASL) along with a minor in linguistics. In the first grade, I knew I wanted to be a teacher. I loved going to school; I felt very welcomed by my teachers and my peers. Taking this love for school with me as I grew up, once I entered high school, I had to begin thinking about what I wanted to teach. I had taken Spanish, French, and ASL by the time I began my junior year. I knew languages were something that I loved to learn – the complexity and culture were something that truly drew me to those classes every day. That’s when I knew I wanted to be an ASL teacher – I really wanted to continue learning and teaching others about a community they might have never interacted with before. ASL has made me a more open-minded person, and I hope to help my future students develop this and more skills as they learn ASL about the Deaf community and culture.

    Q: Did you have a favorite professor or class?

    A: My favorite professor is Dr. Catherine Little. She has truly been someone who I can be myself around and who makes me feel reassured that I am on the right path and doing what I need to do. Being a part of the honors program has been rewarding, as I am learning many new skills and diving deeper into my subject area. At the same time, it is so challenging to manage research, student teaching, and social life. Dr. Little has been a person who can calm me and my peers down and make us feel that we are on the right path and that we’ll be successful. So many thanks to Dr. Little for always being there to answer panicked emails and provide many sweet treats when I just needed a break to breathe. Thank you, Catherine!

    Q: What activities were you involved in as a student?

    A: I worked at the Student Union as an audio/visual production specialist. In that job, I had the opportunity to serve as the engagement and inclusion, as well as maintenance and projects, team lead. Working this job for three years, I started out with very minimal knowledge of audio/visual work, but I loved it because of the people. My boss, Jim Wheeler, was someone who could make me laugh but also really challenged me to learn new things and eventually be a leader on the team. Having someone trust me so much to do the job is why I stayed for so long, and I was sad to go! The best part about this job, other than learning completely new skills, was having time to really have experience managing my academics and a job. Time management is something that can be tricky to figure out when you have so much going on, so this was a great opportunity and job for me during much of my college career.

    Q: What’s one thing that surprised you about UConn?

    A: One thing that surprised me was how many school events there are and how many students attend! The Student Union is the campus hub, and thousands of students go there every day. So many events and meetings happen there. The Duck Hunt is my favorite. Going with a few friends to any event can make for a silly UConn memory that will last a lifetime.

    Q: What are your plans after graduation/receiving your degree?

    A: After receiving my degree, I will be returning to UConn to complete the fifth year of the Integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s (IB/M) program. Being the first and only student studying American Sign Language education has been interesting, as my placements in schools have been surprising and enriching. I am hopeful that I will return to my student teaching placement for my internship and continue making connections with students and staff and working on the curriculum. Additionally, I currently coach track and field at my own high school. I am looking forward to working with those student-athletes for another two seasons. Coaching has been an amazing opportunity to give back to the same program I participated in during high school.

    Q: How has UConn prepared you for the next chapter in life?

    A: UConn, specifically the Neag School of Education, has prepared me by providing me with opportunities to get hands-on experience in my field and get in-depth feedback on it. I have been so lucky to learn from other educators currently in the field and have the sandbox time to figure out what kind of teacher I am. Being accepted into the Neag School has been my goal since applying to UConn, and I wouldn’t change it for the world!

    The Neag School of Education, has prepared me by providing me with opportunities to get hands-on experience in my field and get in-depth feedback on it. &#8212 Cece Echevarria

    Q: Any advice for incoming students?

    A: My advice for incoming students is to not be afraid to advocate for yourself. It is easy to get caught up in all your newfound freedom and hobbies and friends in college, but it is so important to be able to speak up for the things you need. This doesn’t only pertain to getting help if you’re struggling in a class. This is about asking for opportunities to further your skills. Internships and letters of recommendation. Getting the right information about classes you should take and how it can help you reach your goals. Being able to investigate the things that you want to do further is going to take you farther in college than anything else. Don’t be afraid to do it; the people around you will trust you and support you when they hear directly from you about your goals and how you want to achieve them.

    Q: What’s one thing everyone should do during their time at UConn?

    A: The easy answer: a women’s basketball game. A basketball game in general, yes, but the energy at a women’s game is unmatched. Go with a group of friends and have a good time. No matter where you sit, you’re bound to cheer as loud as you can, dance to good music, and hopefully catch a shirt or a pair of socks when they do a toss into the stands. Many people come to UConn for the love of the game, and I believe it is worth experiencing that energy where all UConn students can get together and cheer on our team.

    Q: What will always make you think of UConn?

    A: The Basketball Capital of the World!

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rodney Butler, Ahead of CAHNR Commencement Speech, Reflects on Decades Spent Helping His Tribe

    Source: US State of Connecticut

    Rodney Butler, Chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, never aspired to become a Tribal leader. Yet, he has served on tribal council for over two decades, overseeing tremendous progress for his tribe.

    Butler ‘99 (BUS) will deliver the commencement address for the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR) on May 10, 2025. He will also be awarded an honorary degree “in recognition of extraordinary and lasting distinction.”

    “I can’t think of someone more deserving and better suited to usher our class of 2025 into their next chapter,” says CAHNR Dean Indrajeet Chaubey. “Rodney’s ability to make a difference through innovation, collaboration, and a drive for the common good is remarkable. It’s a model we can all look to and learn from.”

    Butler studied finance at UConn and initially intended to work on Wall Street.

    From left, Chief/Treasurer Marilyn Malerba, former Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, and Rodney Butler in DC. (Contributed photo)

    “I’ve had my own savings account since I was four or five years old, and I’ve always been an avid investor,” Butler says. “The stock market was pretty steady in the 90s and my father set me up with a small investment account and I was dabbling with that and growing that, and I just fell in love with finance and analytics.”

    Butler was also a member of the UConn Football team, playing defensive back during his undergraduate years.

    After graduation, Butler returned to Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation to work as a financial analyst for Foxwoods Resort Casino. He later served as the interim CEO of Foxwoods in 2018.

    “Coming out of college and coming back to work for my tribe, it was just such an incredible honor to be able to do that, to give back to my community and work for my family,” Butler says.

    Butler transitioned to managing the Tribe’s non-gaming assets, like hotels, golf courses, and a pharmaceutical company. Through this work, Butler joined various governmental committees that support the Tribal Council.

    “I enjoyed it, and I was making contributions,” Butler says. “Even then, though, I didn’t think I would get into tribal leadership.”

    When Tribal Council elections rolled around in 2004, a cousin encouraged Butler to run. And he won.

    Two weeks later, Butler’s first child, his son, was born.

    “It gave me a much different perspective,” Butler says. “Yes, I’m doing this for my larger tribal family. But what I’m working for every single day is that baby at home and making sure that I’m doing right by him. It kept me humbled, grounded, and focused on long term success for the Tribe.”

    After seeing the Tribe through the 2008 financial crisis as its treasurer, Butler was elected to his first term as chairman in 2010. He has held the position ever since.

    Butler, center, with the UConn Native American and Indigenous Studies team at the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation powwow. (Contributed photo)

    “Because [my tribe] it’s my family, it’s personal, and every day knowing that I’m working to make a life better for them, and the tens of thousands of people who rely on Pequot, that’s very, very rewarding and keeps you driven,” Butler says.

    Despite his profile as a leader, Butler credits everything he does to community efforts.

    “What I do, especially in this position, is all about teamwork and working together for a collective success,” Butler says.

    The Mashantucket Pequot Nation was federally recognized in 1983. Since then, the tribe has made great strides developing their economy and community infrastructures.

    “What we’ve done in the last 40 years as a Tribal Nation, going from rocky ledge and wooded land, raising pigs and producing maple syrup, to a billion-dollar enterprise with multiple business units and a thriving community…to me that’s the accomplishment,” Butler says. “There’s been so much growth in a very short period of time that you just can’t help but be proud of what this community has accomplished.”

    Since 2017, the Tribe has partnered with UConn Extension to develop their agricultural infrastructure.

    This partnership has been supported by a Federally Recognized Tribes Extension Program grant through the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture program.

    This collaboration stemmed from the initiative of tribal members who wanted to develop agriculture to support the tribe’s food sovereignty, or the ability of a community to feed itself.

    “It initially was just a labor of love by my cousins Jeremy Whipple and Councilor Menihan with a dream to achieve food sovereignty,” Butler says. “Their efforts and the relationship with UConn kept blossoming organically into a thriving agriculture department that has become a core initiative for our community.”

    Meechooôk Farm on the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation is now a vibrant food producer for the tribe. The farm includes produce, cattle, hydroponic tunnels, and a sugar shack.

    In 2021, the Tribe established the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation Department of Agriculture.

    “The passion of everyone at UConn for this and the commitment that UConn has made to the tribe and vice versa – these are lifelong friendships that just continue creating success as we grow our agriculture initiatives here,” Butler says.

    Butler (front left) at Meechooôk Farm on the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation with former General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Janie Simms Hipp, and CAHNR Dean Indrajeet Chaubey (Jason Sheldon/UConn Photo)

    Mashantucket Pequot recently hosted a food sovereignty conference with more than 30 tribes from the Northeast represented, highlighting their relationship with UConn and how it has supported the tribe’s food sovereignty efforts.

    “We as a tribe have the ability to provide for our own in a way that we didn’t prior,” Butler says. “We’re thankful that UConn has been committed to helping us get to this level of self-resilience from a food perspective, and we’re continuing to build on it.”

    This work is one example of many that Butler has seen throughout his life and career that highlights the importance of collaboration.

    Butler encourages this year’s graduating class to remember, as he has, that everything is built through working with others.

    “I live through the notion that people are all so interconnected and you have to realize how much we need each other,” Butler says. “Real success is pulling others in, lifting them up, working together, and having that shared success.”

    Follow UConn CAHNR on social media

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Neag School Class of 2025 Student Profile: Teddi Ferraro

    Source: US State of Connecticut

    Editor’s Note: As Commencement approaches, we are featuring some of our Neag School Class of 2025 graduating students over the coming days.

    Major: BS, Sport Management with minor in Communication
    Hometown: Bethel, Connecticut

    Q: Why did you choose UConn?

    A: Not only was UConn my top choice when looking into continuing my academic career, but it was close enough to my home in Connecticut yet still far enough away, and I heard amazing things about the Sport Management program. Since I graduated high school in 2021, I wasn’t able to get a real tour of the campus due to COVID restrictions, but when I drove through with my family, I knew it was the place for me! I fell in love with the campus very early on and couldn’t see myself going anywhere else. The athletics program here is also outstanding, and I knew that I wanted to be a part of that from early on in my college search. Plus, I have always been a UConn fan!

    Q: What’s your major or field of study, and what drew you to it?

    A: I am a sport management major with a minor in communication. Despite being plus-sized for most of my life, I have always been drawn to sports. My time in high school consisted mostly of working with my town’s youth baseball association and youth football and competitive cheer program. From that point on, I knew I wanted to completely immerse myself in the realm of sport despite not technically fitting the “stereotypical” description of a woman in sport; this, in fact, continues to fuel my ambition. I fell in love with the creative side of it, whether it be photography or marketing, and I knew that this was the path I was meant to follow.

    Q: Did you have a favorite professor or class?

    A: All the professors in the Sport Management program have been absolutely amazing and helpful in so many different ways. If I had to pick just one, though, Dr. Danielle DeRosa  truly has been one of my favorite professors ever. Dr. DeRosa, while not only my professor but also my advisor and I would argue my friend, has pushed me to be the best version of myself, not only academically but professionally and personally. She is the true embodiment of what a professor should be and the kind of person I strive to be in the future.

    Q: What activities were you involved in as a student?

    A: As a student I was the treasurer of the UConn Women in Sport club, a member of Sport Business Association, a UConn Athletics marketing intern, the communication specialist for the Department of Educational Leadership in the Neag School of Education, and a student youth outreach and educational assistant for UConn Husky Nutrition and Sport.

    Q: What’s one thing that surprised you about UConn?

    A: Something that surprised me about UConn was how close everyone was. While UConn is such a big school with so many students, everybody knows somebody who knows somebody else. Coming from a smaller town, I knew I wanted to go to a bigger school, but I was nervous about making friends when I got here. In the end, everyone was in the same boat, and I met so many people who also knew each other. The close-knit community that UConn really has surprised me a lot.

    Q: What are your plans after graduation/receiving your degree?

    A: I think it’s okay to say that I am not completely sure what my plans are after graduating and receiving my degree. My plan for right now is to go home and work my summer job at the YMCA as a head teacher and then look for a job in sports marketing in June or August. I’m keeping an open mind to all possibilities!

    Q: How has UConn prepared you for the next chapter in life?

    A: While not only helping me make some of my best friends, UConn really boosted my confidence in myself. I wouldn’t have been able to get to this point without the people I have met along the way here. I know I am capable of being my own person no matter the path that I follow. If it weren’t for UConn, I don’t know where I would be in life right now.

    While not only helping me make some of my best friends, UConn really boosted my confidence in myself. &#8212 Teddi Ferraro

    Q: Any advice for incoming students?

    A: One of my internship supervisors once gave me some advice, a Carrie Fisher quote: “Stay afraid but do it anyway.” Life gets scary sometimes, and moving to UConn could be one of those things for you. However, living through the discomfort of a new place, while scary, might be so rewarding that you might end up loving it so much! Try new things, meet new people, be afraid, but do it regardless.

    Q: What’s one thing everyone should do during their time at UConn?

    A: In true sport management fashion, everyone should at least try to attend athletic events at UConn during their time here, especially basketball! There is nothing quite like the atmosphere in Gampel Pavilion. Get out there and support the Huskies!

    Q: What will always make you think of UConn?

    A: Not to sound like a broken record, but when I think of UConn, I think of basketball, the opportunities that I have been given, and the things that I have experienced, all because of the sports, programs, and people that I have met along the way. Working games and being in Gampel Pavilion will always have a place in my heart, and I will never be able to think of UConn without it.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Neag School Class of 2025 Student Profile: Rocco DeSantes

    Source: US State of Connecticut

    Editor’s Note: As Commencement approaches, we are featuring some of our Neag School Class of 2025 graduating students over the coming days.


    Major:     BS, Sport Management
    Hometown:     Marshfield, Massachusetts

    Q: Why did you choose UConn?

    A: I chose UConn because the University provided me with the best opportunity to support my academic journey and career aspirations. UConn was highly recommended by some of my older friends who were undergraduate students at the time. They raved about the school’s student-driven culture and the number of opportunities and resources that the campus and different schools offered to its students. I would be lying, too, if the sports culture at the school wasn’t a top priority for me as I was looking to immerse myself in that type of environment. The recommendation, comfort of familiarity, and proximity to home drew me to the University, and upon admission, it was an easy and quick decision for me.

    Q: What’s your major or field of study, and what drew you to it?

    A: I am a sport management major at the Neag School of Education. Like most majors, my interest started at an early age with a passion for sports. When it came to furthering my academic journey and beginning to explore career interests, I was drawn to sport management. I discovered UConn’s Sport Management program and was immediately motivated to pursue this major and career.

    Q: Did you have a favorite professor or class?

    A: My favorite professor while at UConn is Dr. Danielle DeRosa in the Sport Management program. Dr. DeRosa teaches the career development course in the Sport Management program, and she is one of the first people you meet in the program to support you in your undergraduate studies. Dr. DeRosa puts the student first and provides immense support when navigating your academic and career aspirations. She provides students with many resources to be successful and cares about each student and their successes. Dr. DeRosa is an incredible professor at the University of Connecticut, but more importantly, she is an amazing person, and I am grateful to have met her during my undergraduate experience at UConn.

    Q: What activities were you involved in as a student?

    A: As an undergraduate student, I had the opportunity to work for the UConn women’s basketball team as a student manager. This opportunity shaped my entire undergraduate experience. I was able to work for a prestigious program, gain valuable real-world experience, travel to new places all over the world, and further my academic journey and career aspirations while gaining internship credit for school. On top of this experience, I was involved in the UConn Sports Business Association and UConn’s TME Mentor program. These activities shaped my experience as a student at UConn.

    Q: What’s one thing that surprised you about UConn?

    A: One thing that surprised me at UConn was the close-knit community feel that was driven by the student body. With over 20,000 students, I initially thought that the large state school UConn community was larger than one could imagine. Still, the students create a community on campus that feels extremely close, like a family. From the classroom to sporting events, the UConn community makes you feel like you’re a part of one big Husky family.

    Q: What are your plans after graduation/receiving your degree?

    A: Following graduation, I have accepted a position with the UConn women’s basketball team as a graduate assistant. I will be continuing my academic journey, pursuing a master’s degree in Sport Management from the University of Connecticut.

    Q: How has UConn prepared you for the next chapter in life?

    A: UConn has prepared me for the next chapter in life by providing me with an unforgettable undergraduate experience. The resources and opportunities that the University offers its students prepare you for your next chapter in life. I have gained valuable real-world, hands-on experience as well as developed transferable skills needed to be successful in any field. I have networked and built strong relationships with both students and faculty that will last a lifetime.

    UConn has prepared me for the next chapter in life by providing me with an unforgettable undergraduate experience. &#8212 Rocco DeSantes

    Q: Any advice for incoming students?

    A: My biggest piece of advice for incoming students is you will get what you put into your experience at UConn. You can’t wait for opportunities to fall into your lap; you have to go out, look for them, and jump on them. UConn offers students many opportunities, resources, and support to be successful, but it is on the individual student to put the most into their own experience.

    Q: What’s one thing everyone should do during their time at UConn?

    A: One thing everyone should do at UConn is attend a sporting event. UConn sports culture is unmatched. You will always have a place where you feel like you belong when it comes to UConn sports. The school spirit and the passion the students have for the sports team are an experience you cannot miss out on as a Husky.

    Q: What will always make you think of UConn?

    A: One thing that will always make me think of UConn is the Husky logo. This logo represents much more than just the University’s mascot and the school’s logo. The logo represents a community, a family, and a culture that no other university has. Whenever you see someone wearing the Husky logo, you can count on yelling out ‘UConn’ and hearing a Husky’s response. I will always bleed blue, and the Husky logo will remind me of UConn and my unforgettable undergraduate memories and experiences.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: The dangerous business of predicting the death of popes – a history

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Michelle Pfeffer, Research Fellow in Early Modern History, University of Oxford

    Portrait of Michel de Nostredame (Nostradamus), painted by his son César de Nostredame. Wiki Commons

    Michel de Nostredame (1503-66), better known as Nostradamus, is often hailed as one of the most successful prophets of all time. Said to have foreseen major world events from the rise of Hitler to COVID, the 16th-century astrologer was recently credited with predicting Pope Francis’s death – and what would happen next.

    ‘Through the death of a very old Pontiff

    A Roman of good age will be elected.

    Of him it will be said that he weakens his seat

    But long will he sit in biting activity.

    Like all the quatrains in Nostradamus’s collection of prophecies, Les Prophéties (1555-68), this one is as enigmatic as it is flexible. Short, sweet and decontextualised, his prophetic poems feel timeless, and it is deliciously satisfying to recognise a real-world correlation. The problem is that his prophecies are so vague that they can be linked to any number of events – or old Pontiffs.

    Nostradamus’s “dark and cryptic” language was intentional. If he had been more explicit, not only his career, but perhaps even his life, may have been at risk.

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    Many of his prophecies concerned the rise and fall of the great and the good, and political prophecy was a high-risk business. In ancient Rome, astrologers had been expelled from the city for forecasting the death of emperors, and Renaissance leaders were no less paranoid. To avoid “scandalising and upsetting”, Nostradamus chose to veil his true meaning.

    This was not just a matter of self-preservation, but also a way to obscure politically explosive information. Claiming to know when a civic or church leader might die was valuable intelligence. This made astrology a key tool of Renaissance spy-craft, but also a dangerous weapon that needed to be monitored and regulated.

    Astrology, politics and the papal court

    As a system that promised to forecast plagues, natural disasters, war, and even the economy, astrology was a logical interest for Renaissance rulers.

    Universities taught their students how to make these predictions, and for some lucky graduates this led to a job in a royal, princely, or even papal court. Here their horoscopes could inform political decision-making and produce potent astrological propaganda.

    A horoscope for the founding of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican in April 1506, cast by the astrologer Luca Gaurico. Luca Gaurico (1552).
    Tractatus Astrologicus

    Despite the condemnations of theologians, many popes patronised astrologers and sought their guidance.

    Julius II (1443-1513) chose the start date for the construction of Saint Peter’s Basilica based on astrological counsel. Leo X (1475-1521) founded a professorship in astrology at Rome’s first university, La Sapienza. And Paul III (1468-1549), heeding the judgment of the astrologer Luca Gaurico, appointed his grandson a cardinal at just 14.

    In a period in which popes could have a decisive impact on international politics, speculation about the health of the pontiff was rampant. Astrologers capitalised on this.

    When Ludovico Sforza (1452-1508), de facto ruler of Milan, asked his astrologer to predict the death of Innocent VIII, it was nothing unusual. The answer was that the pope would die around August 10 1492, if not sooner. When Innocent died on July 25, Ludovico was no doubt pleased. As the historian Monica Azzolini has shown, he had consulted his astrologer in the hope the next pope would be more supportive of his illegitimate regime.

    Some popes asked astrologers about their own deaths. But they didn’t like it so much when others did so – especially when the forecasts were made public. Even worse, such predictions often fed into Protestant propaganda.

    Popes knew public predictions about their death were politically destabilising, not to mention humiliating. At the end of 1559, the Index of Prohibited Books, a list of books forbidden by the Roman Catholic Church, banned texts containing astrological “divinations” about “future contingent events”.

    Earlier that year, just as Pope Paul IV was trying to conceal a serious illness from the public, the sighting of a comet had led to widespread speculation about his death. As the pope knew all too well, astrology could be a political liability.

    Orazio Morandi and Urban VIII

    Such legislation did not stop astrologers from making political predictions, not least because their clients never stopped asking. But increasingly these astrologers were playing with fire. As the historian Brendan Dooley has shown, Orazio Morandi learned this the hard way in 1630.

    Morandi made predictions about Pope Urban VII.
    Vatican Museums

    Morandi was an abbot at the monastery of Santa Prassede in Rome. He had been practising astrology for years, and he had been careful, framing his political forecasts in allusive language. But soon he went too far.

    In 1629, Morandi wrote an astrological commentary on various past papacies, critiquing their flaws. When he came to the present incumbent, Urban VIII (1568-1644), he not only predicted that his pro-French allies would destroy Italy, but that the pope himself would very soon suffer great violence, then death.

    There are several astrological techniques for predicting someone’s death. As above, astronomical phenomena like comets and eclipses could prompt speculation about an upcoming papal demise. But Morandi used the gold standard – a technique called “prorogation”. This required access to the person’s birth chart, from which astrologers could identify the planets or luminaries that were their “giver of life” and “giver of years”.

    Different planets gave different lifespans. For example, if the sun was your “giver of years”, and it was in a good position on your horoscope, you might expect to live to 120. If the sun was badly placed, your life expectancy might be just 19 years. Other parts of the horoscope could then modify these figures.

    Morandi identified the sun as Urban’s life giver. But the positions of the more nefarious planets on his birth chart meant he was lucky to have lived beyond the age of seven. In June 1630, Morandi concluded, a solar eclipse would seal the pope’s fate.

    Morandi’s prediction spread widely in clandestine circles, and it wasn’t long until his prediction was reported as fact. The pro-Spanish faction in Rome was thrilled. It was even rumoured that Spanish and German cardinals had begun the long journey to Rome for a new conclave.

    The earth surrounded by the planets, luminaries, and zodiac signs (1708).
    Andreas Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica

    Embarrassingly, Urban first learned of the prophecy not through his own informants, but from the powerful French prelate Cardinal Richelieu. Himself an avid believer in astrology, Urban was greatly disturbed. He had Morandi arrested and jailed. During the trial, a young man called Matteo, servant to the current prior of Santa Prassede, was interrogated and tortured. Morandi himself soon died in prison under suspicious circumstances.

    But Urban lived on. The next year, he decreed it punishable by death to predict “the life or death of the sitting Roman Pontiff, including his blood relatives to the third degree inclusive”.

    Making a career in political forecasting was – and is – risky. But astrologers were ambitious and knew their efforts would be well remunerated. Predicting the death of a pope could help you quickly build a public profile, expanding your business. But after 1630, it was a risk many astrologers were no longer willing to take.

    Michelle Pfeffer 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.

    – ref. The dangerous business of predicting the death of popes – a history – https://theconversation.com/the-dangerous-business-of-predicting-the-death-of-popes-a-history-255816

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How Captain Planet cartoons shaped my awareness of the nature crisis

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Muzammal Ahmad Khan, Lecturer in Business and Management, University of the West of Scotland

    Captain Planet is set to return more than three decades since it first broadcast on TV. A new comic book series by Dynamite Entertainment promises to bring the 1990s environmental hero to a new generation.

    For those of us who grew up watching the original show, the message feels just as urgent today as it did then. As a researcher in sustainability and education, I often reflect on how early experiences shape our environmental values. Captain Planet was one of the first moments that made me think about our responsibility to the world around us.

    Writer of the new series David Pepose has said he wants to stay true to the original, while updating the story for today’s world. He stressed: “The reason Captain Planet fights for the environment is because he doesn’t want to see anyone die, and that’s something really powerful and timeless.” The villains, still driven by greed and destruction, seem even more real now than they did in the early 1990s.

    At the time, my family lived in a small village in rural Punjab, Pakistan, a place untouched by city life or the concept of climate change. Life was calm and slow. Each morning started with the call to prayer. Most evenings ended in darkness due to regular power cuts. As children, we had few distractions, playing cricket or hide-and-seek in the street.

    But in one corner of our living room stood something that connected us to a different world – a colour television. It was rare in the village, and it quickly became a shared object of wonder. Children from the neighbourhood would gather in our home during the brief hours when state television allowed Cartoon Network to air, around 3pm to 5pm. Among all the shows, one cartoon series stood out: Captain Planet and the Planeteers.

    The plot was simple but powerful. Captain Planet is a superhero fighting pollution, corporate greed and environmental destruction. He could only be summoned by the Planeteers, a group of five internationally diverse teens with magical rings: Kwame (Africa, Earth), Wheeler (North America, Fire), Linka (Eastern Europe, Wind), Gi (Asia, Water) and finally Ma-Ti (South America, Heart). With all those powers combined, Captain Planet would rise majestically into the air, ready to do battle with pollution-spreading villains.

    The executive producer of the original 1990 series, Barbara Pyle, said the goal was to inspire and teach young people about protecting the environment. Pyle mentioned that the show’s success was not about selling toys, but about including real environmental issues in the storylines. In my view, they achieved their goal.



    Read more:
    Why ocean pollution is a clear danger to human health

    None of us understood English well enough to follow every word, but we understood the energy and emotions. Rage when forests were burned. Sadness when oceans were poisoned. Joy when villains were defeated. Above all, a sense that the natural world mattered.

    I remember the day I was walking with my father past the fields near our village. A newly built factory was releasing black smoke into the sky, and its pipes discharged foul-smelling water into a stream used by some animals. I felt uneasy, even angry. It reminded me of the villains from the show’s characters such as Hoggish Greedly and Dr. Blight who treated the Earth like something disposable. I asked my father why nobody could stop this. He was surprised. I wished I were a Planeteer with a magic ring to call Captain Planet.

    That cartoon did more than entertain. It gave names and faces to ideas we had never heard in school. Our textbooks did not talk about pollution. Nobody taught us the value of trees or clean water. But Captain Planet made those things feel important. It suggested that someone should care. That maybe, that someone could be you.

    The show’s message stayed with me. Today, my research focuses on sustainability and education. I often reflect on how a cartoon played a part in shaping that interest. I did not realise it then, but those glowing rings and the famous line “the power is yours” planted an idea that never left me.



    Read more:
    Five satellite images that show how fast our planet is changing

    Captain Planet’s message still matters

    Children today grow up surrounded by technology. They scroll before they can cycle. The connection to nature that felt instinctive in our childhood is fading. And yet, the message of Captain Planet is still relevant. Perhaps more than ever.

    Children who watched the original series are now adults. We have careers, votes and voices. We understand that the threat is not fictional. The planet is under the same threats – pressure from rising temperatures, deforestation, polluted oceans and the relentless push for profit over preservation – only now the stakes are much higher.

    The message remains the same – small actions matter. Our choices can combine to create something powerful. The power to care, to act and to inspire others never disappeared. It was passed to us.



    Read more:
    Deforestation is causing more storms in west Africa, finds 30-year satellite study

    I often think about the importance of early environmental messages. Captain Planet did that in the 1990s for me. We cannot expect people to care about the future of the planet if they have never been encouraged to think about it. Now, with the return of Captain Planet, there is a chance to inspire a new generation to believe that the power is theirs.

    Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?

    Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead. Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. Join the 45,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.

    Muzammal Ahmad Khan 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.

    – ref. How Captain Planet cartoons shaped my awareness of the nature crisis – https://theconversation.com/how-captain-planet-cartoons-shaped-my-awareness-of-the-nature-crisis-255161

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: By VE Day in 1945, Stalin had got what he wanted in Poland – now Putin may get what he wants in Ukraine

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Wendy Webster, Professor of Modern Cultural History, University of Huddersfield

    Sell out: most Polish people felt they had been abandoned by their allies in the US and Great Britain at the Yalta Conference. US government

    As Britain celebrated Victory in Europe (VE) Day on May 8 1945, the Polish airmen of RAF 305 Bomber Squadron captured a starkly different sentiment in their diary. “‘Victory!’ every Anglo-Saxon says in greeting instead of the traditional ‘Hello!’. The word ‘Victory!’ is devoid of meaning, power and any sense today only for the Poles.”

    Despite their critical contributions to the allied war effort, from the Battle of Britain to Monte Cassino, Polish forces felt isolated and betrayed, their hopes of a free Poland crushed by the Yalta agreement. On that first VE Day, many Poles who fought with the allied forces recorded feeling sad, isolated or bitter.

    Tadeusz Szumowski, who served in the RAF in Britain found it almost impossible to join in the celebrations. He wrote in his diary: “Our war is lost, the war which we fought so hard and so long to win … It is a very long time since I felt so alone.”

    A Polish soldier in Italy wrote: “The war is over – but not for us. The population of the greater part of the world are happy, in consequence; but we are sad. I am afraid that we have lost so many of our best men all for nothing.”

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    What made “victory” devoid of meaning for Poles? In her study of Poland during the second world war, historian Halik Kochanski quotes the famed American journalist Martha Gellhorn, who reported from Italy: “All the Poles talk about Russia all the time. The soldiers gather several times a day around the car which houses the radio and listen to the news.”

    Many of these soldiers came from eastern Poland, which was invaded by the Soviet Union in 1939. Along with their families, they had been deported to Siberia or Kazakhstan and came out only under a so-called “amnesty” after Russia entered the war on the allied side. Gellhorn reported: “They follow the Russian advance across Poland with agonized interest.”

    As I found when researching my book about the diverse nationalities fighting alongside Britain in the second world war, Polish soldiers wrote about Russia all the time as well as talking about it. Their letters were censored and quoted in censorship reports.

    As they watched the Russian advance and heard news of the Yalta agreement which consigned Poland to the Soviet sphere of influence, they express anger, fear, bitterness, desolation, a sense of loss and betrayal, shock, bewilderment.

    The letters are striking for the many words which take on meanings that demonstrate a gulf that opens up, separating Poles from other allied soldiers. Victory belongs to others while Poles have gone down to a catastrophic defeat.

    Russia, widely regarded as a valued ally, is the enemy of Poles. The Polish slogan “For our freedom and yours” is rewritten in one letter: “We are fighting for yours and our freedom, but now I think rather only for yours.” Another letter asks: “What are we fighting for if Poland is to be enslaved?”

    Polish pilots of RAF 303 (Polish) Fighter Squadron during the second world war.
    Imprial War Museum

    Poles find it unbearable to be told that Russia is liberating Poland, using heavy irony. “The ‘liberation’ of Poland by our so-called Allies is causing us great anxiety. Probably my own home will soon be ‘liberated’.”

    Another soldier cautions: “Never, never congratulate our people of Warsaw and Poland being ‘liberated’. This sounds like the most cruel irony and is deeply resented by every Pole. You could speak about a lamb being liberated from a bear by a tiger.”

    The concept of “home” also acquires new meanings that are devoid of any association with pleasure or belonging. As the war ends, allied soldiers’ thoughts are increasingly about the prospect of returning home – but censors reported in 1944: “Thousands of letters written by Polish soldiers in the last days repeat as a cardinal topic that to Poland governed by communists they won’t return.”

    One soldier writes: “It would be better to be killed here on the battlefield than to be alive in the new ‘Red Paradise’ in Poland.” Another writes: “There is no return for us to the Soviet republic of Poland which seems to be the newest invention of our Allies.”

    Echoes of Yalta

    The Yalta agreement of February 1945 between America, Britain and Russia, the “Big Three” powers, confirmed Poles’ worst fears. Censors report that in the soldiers’ letters, it “overshadows all other topics”, and has “evoked a terrible shock amongst the Polish troops … they find that they are lost and betrayed”.

    One soldier writes: “For the last few days I have been in a state of dumb bewilderment. Occasionally I ask myself, ‘Can it be true?’ … I cannot believe that it has really happened.”

    Another soldier writes to his “Britisher friend” about his feelings of betrayal: “When this morning we heard the news about the statements from the Big Three meeting we got deadly silent … We sacrificed most of all countries – more than you even. We trusted you so much, and what have we got. Our biger [sic] friend let us go down.”

    Yalta is in Crimea – part of the territory annexed by Russia before its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has made it clear he will offer no concessions on Ukraine, which he has argued all along he sees as an inalienable part of Russia. This is a stark reminder of Yalta when Josef Stalin made concessions on other matters, but none on Poland.

    Trump’s administration has offered Ukraine no security guarantees. Its framework to end the war will allow Russia to retain the territory it has seized. There are now echoes of what one Polish soldier wrote in 1945 of the Yalta agreement: “This business smells and no high-sounding words can disguise the stench of a bad deed.”

    Wendy Webster receives funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council

    – ref. By VE Day in 1945, Stalin had got what he wanted in Poland – now Putin may get what he wants in Ukraine – https://theconversation.com/by-ve-day-in-1945-stalin-had-got-what-he-wanted-in-poland-now-putin-may-get-what-he-wants-in-ukraine-255982

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Italy’s areas of wartime fascist resistance remain less susceptible to the far right today

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Juan Masullo, Assistant Professor, Institute of Political Science, Leiden University

    Across Europe, far-right parties are making unforeseen breakthroughs – from local councils to national and supranational parliaments. As their presence becomes normalised, these parties promote nationalist rhetoric, challenge democratic institutions, and attempt to reshape a political present rooted in hard-won struggles against authoritarianism.

    Yet, not all communities are equally permeable to these growing forces. Some actively resist, mobilising to block authoritarian ideologies and defend democratic values.

    Our recent research in Italy offers one explanation as to why some communities are less easily enticed into far-right politics than others. Local histories of wartime resistance continue to shape political cultures in ways that, even generations later, inspire people to push back against the resurgence of fascist and neo-fascist ideologies.

    In areas where anti-fascist resistance movements were active during the second world war, civic engagement to defend democratic values is stronger. In these communities, support for far-right parties is weaker.

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    These legacies aren’t accidental. They are cultivated, reinforced, and passed on through intensive and continuous local memory work.

    During Italy’s civil war (1943–1945), students, workers, farmers and clergy mobilised into bands of resistance to fight the Nazi-fascist regime. Their efforts were central to Italy’s liberation and the establishment of its democratic republic. While this story is often told at the national level, our research examines its enduring local consequences.

    Using an original dataset mapping resistance activity across about 8,000 Italian municipalities, we compared places with strong partisan mobilisation to those without. Even today, eight decades later, residents of areas with a resistance past are more likely to support initiatives that counter far-right ideologies.

    This was especially evident in the response to a recent initiative. In 2020 and 2021, a grassroots campaign proposed a law to ban the public glorification of fascism. To bring it for discussion before parliament, the campaign needed 50,000 signatures.

    Despite the pandemic, it collected over 240,000 within a few months. While support was widespread, municipalities with strong resistance histories were significantly more likely to participate. Our estimates show roughly 40% more signatures in these places.

    These patterns suggest that wartime resistance can leave legacies that translate into contemporary political behaviour. But data alone can’t explain how these legacies endure. That’s where our fieldwork comes in.

    We have been closely studying towns with deep resistance roots and strong support for the 2021 initiative to see how they keep these legacies alive and who is involved.

    We have followed (and participated in) memorialisation efforts in the Cuneo region, one of the main centres of wartime resistance, and in areas deeply affected by Nazi violence and known for creating some of the strongest partisan brigades. These include villages around Stazzema in Tuscany and Marzabotto in Emilia.

    The main insight is that remembrance isn’t just ceremonial – it’s part of daily life. Schools, hiking clubs, cultural associations, and city halls all contribute to preserving and activating the memory of resistance.

    One public elementary school in the rural hills around Bologna, for example, created a “memory garden” to honour local residents who died fighting fascism. Through interviews, art and storytelling, students have engaged directly with their community’s past, creating not only a commemorative space but a living bridge between generations.

    The memorial garden planted by students in.
    J Masullo, CC BY-ND

    Similarly, local Alpine clubs in Emilia Romagna and Piedmont restored partisan trails through the mountains, now used for memory treks. These hikes attract people who might not otherwise engage politically but who, by walking the paths of wartime partisans, connect with stories of sacrifice and solidarity. What begins as recreation becomes an encounter with democratic values.

    These deeply localised memory efforts – anchored in the names, stories and spaces of the community – often intensify during democratic threats. The 2021 campaign emerged amid growing support for parties like Lega and Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy).

    Related studies show that when exclusionary welfare policies gain ground, local communities sometime organise in defence of vulnerable groups. In towns with a resistance past, local “memory entrepreneurs” doubled their efforts in response to far-right victories.

    Memory as a political battle

    This is not just an Italian phenomenon. Across Europe, historical memory is a political battleground. In Germany, the Stolpersteine – brass plaques in sidewalks commemorating Nazi victims – serve as grassroots reminders that shape civic attitudes. In Hungary, activists have created “living memorials” to Holocaust victims, directly contesting government efforts to whitewash fascist collaboration.

    These commemorations also have measurable political effects. In Berlin, neighbourhoods where one or more Stolpersteine was placed before an election saw fewer votes for the far-right AfD (a 0.96%-point decrease) compared to those with no Stolpersteine. This happened across federal, state and EU elections between 2013 and 2021.

    A stolperstein in Berlin.
    Wikipedia/Drrcs15, CC BY-SA

    What unites these efforts is a belief that remembering the past matters – not only to honour it, but to shape the future. Local narratives of wartime resistance and victimisation help instil democratic values and inoculate communities against authoritarianism.

    But this doesn’t happen automatically. It requires effort. Teachers, students, parents, associations, and local councils all play a role in keeping memory alive and politically meaningful.

    Recognising this is especially vital today, when the meaning of anti-fascism itself is a polarising subject. Far-right leaders, including those in office, downplay and discredit the resistance’s legacy, replacing it with revisionist myths.

    A local cycling club marks liberation day with a tour of monuments dedicated to partisans.
    J Masullo, CC BY-ND

    When communities take ownership of their histories, they are more likely to uphold democratic principles not only in ceremonies, but at the ballot box and in everyday actions. The past is never just the past. The legacies of wartime resistance continue to shape how people view democracy, justice, and belonging. In times like these, remembering the resistance is more than homage – it is civic defence.

    Juan Masullo has received funding for this research from UNUWIDER and Leiden University.

    He is affiliated with the University of Milan.

    Simone Cremaschi has received funding for this research from UNUWIDER, the European Research Council (grant number 864687), and Leiden University.

    – ref. Italy’s areas of wartime fascist resistance remain less susceptible to the far right today – https://theconversation.com/italys-areas-of-wartime-fascist-resistance-remain-less-susceptible-to-the-far-right-today-255859

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Conclave: the chemistry behind the black and white smoke

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Mark Lorch, Professor of Science Communication and Chemistry, University of Hull

    White smoke from the chimney on top of the Sistine Chapel (Vatican City) indicates that the Pope has been elected. MartiBstock/Shutterstock

    This week, 133 cardinals have gathered in the Vatican to elect a new leader of the Catholic church. During their deliberations, the only indications of their progress are the regular plumes of smoke wafting from a freshly installed chimney perched on the roof of the Sistine Chapel.

    Tradition holds that black smoke indicates the cardinals have not yet agreed on a new leader, while white smoke signals that a new Pope has been elected. But what kind of smoke is it exactly? Let’s take a look at the science.

    The tradition of cardinals burning their ballot papers to maintain secrecy dates back to at least the 15th century. However, it wasn’t until the 18th century — when a chimney was installed in the Sistine Chapel to protect Michelangelo’s frescoes from soot — that the resulting smoke became visible to anyone outside the chapel.

    At the time, the smoke was not intended as a public signal, but once it was visible, onlookers began interpreting it as an indicator of the voting outcome.

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    By the 19th century, it had become customary to use smoke deliberately: if smoke was seen, it meant no Pope had been elected, whereas no smoke indicated a successful election. This of course lacked clarity and often caused confusion.

    The Vatican eventually sought to clarify matters by formalising the practice of fumata nera (black smoke) and fumata bianca (white smoke). Initially, damp straw and tar were added to the burning ballots. As anyone who has tried to light a damp bonfire knows, wet oily fuel can be difficult to ignite, but once it gets going, it produces plenty of dark smoke.

    This is the result of incomplete combustion: the energy from the flames is initially used to evaporate the water, which keeps the fire’s temperature low. As a result, many of the larger molecules in the tar do not fully combust, leading to the production of soot and dark smoke.

    However, once the moisture is driven off, the fire burns more efficiently, producing mainly steam and carbon dioxide. At that stage, the smoke diminishes and becomes much lighter.

    This fluctuating fumata — combined with the subjective interpretation of its colour — caused considerable confusion, particularly during the 1939 and 1958 conclaves. It wasn’t clear whether grey smoke was closer to black or white, for example. By the 1970s, the straw method had been abandoned in favour of more controllable chemical mixtures. This has since evolved into an unambiguous method for generating the required smoke signals.

    Current recipe

    In 2013, the Vatican confirmed that their fumata recipes now consist of a clear black smoke recipe: potassium perchlorate (KClO₄), an “oxidising substance” that provides oxygen to the reaction; anthracene, a hydrocarbon derived from coal tar that serves as a heavy smoke-producing fuel; and sulphur, added to adjust the burn rate and temperature.

    The result is a deliberately inefficient combustion reaction, producing a high volume of unburnt carbon particles. This abundance of carbon (soot) makes the smoke thick and black — akin to the smoke you might see from burning oil or rubber, which is rich in carbon-based particles.

    Black smoke from the Sistine Chapel, indicating that there was not a two-thirds majority in the papal election at the Conclave.
    wikipedia

    Meanwhile, white smoke is produced using a much cleaner fuel mix and a more powerful oxidiser. Potassium chlorate (KClO₃) — even more reactive than perchlorate — ensures a hot, vigorous burn. Lactose acts as the fuel, burning quickly and cleanly into water vapour and carbon dioxide.

    The rapid combustion of sugar yields large amounts of gaseous output (steam and CO₂), generating a voluminous white cloud. The final ingredient, pine rosin, produces thick white smoke when heated – releasing tiny droplets and light-coloured ash that appear whitish. It also contains terpenes that burn to yield a pale, visible smoke.

    When combined, the oxidising power of potassium chlorate allows the lactose and rosin to burn hot and fast, yielding mostly clean combustion products along with a cloud of vapour and resin particles.

    Rather than soot, the smoke contains microscopic droplets and fine solids that are transparent or white. The result is a mixture of steam and white or light gray smoke that contrasts sharply with the dark, carbon-rich black smoke.

    Over the years, the papal conclave smoke signal has evolved from an incidental byproduct of burning ballots into a carefully engineered communication tool.

    Today, thanks to modern chemistry, the smoke is unmistakable — thick black billows for inconclusive votes, or a bright white plume when a new pope is elected.

    Mark Lorch 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.

    – ref. Conclave: the chemistry behind the black and white smoke – https://theconversation.com/conclave-the-chemistry-behind-the-black-and-white-smoke-255980

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –