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Category: Education

  • MIL-OSI Global: The UK’s new industrial strategy is welcome, but here’s what is missing

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Phil Tomlinson, Professor of Industrial Strategy, Co-Director Centre for Governance, Regulation and Industrial Strategy (CGR&IS), University of Bath

    Panya7/Shutterstock

    The UK government’s plan to create a new industrial strategy is a welcome attempt to steer Britain’s economy through the challenges of the 21st century. Amid a backdrop of global economic uncertainty, a clear focus on achieving growth is essential.

    The plan is at an early stage. The new green paper marks the beginning of a consultation process designed to shape future government policy.

    But creating an industrial strategy in the first place – to coordinate a wide range of economic policies – is commendable. For too long, the UK has been lagging behind other countries which have embraced greater government intervention in their economies.

    And the idea of having that strategy overseen by an “industrial strategy council”, to offer a degree of independent oversight, is a good one. If set up properly, this council should encapsulate the idea of industrial strategy as a partnership between the state and business – a collaborative effort to discover new opportunities and develop new policies.

    It is also pleasing to see the green paper hasn’t shied away from some of the big issues. There is appropriate emphasis on geography, and creating opportunities in “left behind places”. For too long, economic growth in Britain has been disproportionately concentrated in London and the south-east.

    Empowering local leaders in other regions to shape industrial policies, tailored to their specific needs, is a step in the right direction.

    The emphasis on addressing the UK’s clapped-out infrastructure is also wise. Pledges to invest in broadband, electricity supply, rail and roads should lay the groundwork for a more interconnected economy. There is evidence that improved connectivity could attract new investment and boost regional productivity in areas that have been economically stagnant for decades.

    There are also promises to increase public investment in research and development
    in emerging industries such as AI and clean energy. The vision for a modern, hi-tech economy driven by innovation is much needed in a county which currently ranks 25th in the global robotics league table, the only G7 nation outside the top 20.

    But there are also risks to such a technology-centred approach, which could easily be at odds with the goal of tackling regional inequality. Indeed, given new investment tends to flow to existing hi-tech regions, the divide between successful and left-behind places could widen.

    The plan’s green focus is also timely. By prioritising clean energy and investment in sectors such as electric vehicles, the strategy aligns with goals for achieving net zero emissions by 2050.

    Mission impossible?

    However, other issues also need to be included in the government’s plans. There is no consideration of geopolitics in the green paper. Yet any effective UK industrial strategy has to account for the impact of China and the US, and their ongoing tensions.

    Similarly – and strangely – Brexit is hardly mentioned. Despite post-Brexit disruption to trade with the EU continuing to act as a drag on investment and growth, the green paper merely skirts around the issue. Nor is there anything about how industries deeply reliant on EU supply chains and markets (such as car manufacturing) can thrive outside the European single market.

    Southampton docks.
    Ssisabal/Shutterstock

    Workers in traditional manufacturing, and in sectors such as retail, hospitality and care, will also need to hear more about support and retraining. The government needs to be mindful of not increasing a sense of polarisation between those who benefit from a green hi-tech revolution, and those who don’t.

    And there will need to be much more detail about funding. The Labour government is keen to attract investors – the green paper was published on the same day as a high-profile investment summit in London, which featured impressive international attendees enjoying fine food and high-calibre entertainment.

    But heavy reliance on private sector investment raises questions about accountability. For, while public-private partnerships can be effective, there is always a risk that private sector interests may not align with the needs of everyone else.

    Overall, the green paper is the starting point for a critical national conversation about the UK’s economic future. The road to tangible success will depend on translating ideas into concrete actions, dealing with inevitable trade-offs, and being brave enough to address some deep structural issues. If it does, the green paper could turn into a blueprint for a genuinely resilient and competitive country.

    Phil Tomlinson receives funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for Made Smarter Innovation: Centre for People-Led Digitalisation.

    David Bailey receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council’s UK in a Changing Europe Programme.

    Michael A. Lewis currently receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

    – ref. The UK’s new industrial strategy is welcome, but here’s what is missing – https://theconversation.com/the-uks-new-industrial-strategy-is-welcome-but-heres-what-is-missing-241410

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: SLC pays over £5billion in student finance since the start of the academic year

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    By Jackie Currie, SLC Executive Director, Business Operations

    At the Student Loans Company, we remain at the forefront of supporting the education sector by providing trusted, transparent, and accessible student finance services.  SLC enables more than 1.5 million students each year to invest in their futures by providing financial support to access further and higher education.  And we have marked another significant milestone in the 24/25 delivery of student finance to the education sector, paying more than £2 billion pounds in tuition fees to higher education colleges and universities this week.

    On Wednesday, 16 October, we paid £2.3 billion in tuition fees to education providers on behalf of almost students. This follows the almost £3 billion that was paid in maintenance loans to students since the start of academic term in September.

    In total, SLC has paid over £5 billion* in student finance in the 24/25 year so far.

    Currently, our primary focus is on providing additional financial support to students who applied after the deadlines and have received the minimum level of student finance.  We’re also processing application from students who are still applying and for those on courses starting in January.

    Where a student applied late for funding, we awarded the minimum maintenance loan and their tuition fee loan to ensure they had funding to start their term, their remaining funding is paid to them as a top-up payment once all necessary application details are confirmed.

    For students who are still applying for their finance, or yet to apply such as those starting courses in January there’s a range of advice on applying at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/students-from-england-can-find-answers-to-their-questions–2

    *Please note these are provisional figures. Full year figures are published in our Student Support for Higher Education statistical release which will be published on 28 November 2024.

    Updates to this page

    Published 17 October 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA News: FACT SHEET: President  Biden Announces Over 1 Million Public Service Workers Have Received Student Debt Cancellation Under the Biden-⁠ Harris Administration

    Source: The White House

    Today, President Biden announced an additional $4.5 billion in student debt cancellation for over 60,000 borrowers through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, bringing the number of public service workers who have had their student loans cancelled to over 1 million people during the Biden-Harris Administration. Before President Biden and Vice President Harris took office, only 7,000 borrowers had ever received forgiveness through PSLF. Thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration’s significant improvements to the PSLF program, over 1 million teachers, firefighters, law enforcement officials, nurses, servicemembers, and other public service workers who have dedicated their lives to serving their communities are getting the student debt relief they are entitled to under the law. Last week, President Biden met with a kindergarten teacher who has been paying her loans for 12 years and let her know that she is one of the 1 million people approved for PSLF under his Administration, and over $46,000 of her loans are being cancelled. In total, the Biden-Harris Administration has approved $175 billion in student debt relief for nearly 5 million borrowers through various actions.

    From Day One of their Administration, President Biden and Vice President Harris vowed to fix the student loan system and make sure higher education is a ticket to the middle class – not a barrier to opportunity. Already, the Biden-Harris Administration has delivered life-changing relief to students and families. While Republican elected officials try every which way to block millions of their own constituents from receiving student debt relief – even proposing to get rid of the PSLF program altogether – President Biden and Vice President Harris are fighting to provide borrowers student debt relief and making higher education affordable.

    Delivering Life-Changing Relief to Over 1 Million Public Servants

    In 2007, Congress enacted bipartisan legislation creating PSLF to recognize the critical role public servants play in our communities and support them in their service. Under PSLF, people who dedicate at least 10 years of their careers to giving back to their communities – like teachers, firefighters, law enforcement officials, nurses, and servicemembers – can get relief on their student loans. However, the program was poorly implemented. Many public servants found out that they had spent years in the wrong student loan repayment plan or did not take out the right type of loan and were therefore ineligible for PSLF and denied forgiveness. Before the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, only 7,000 people had ever received forgiveness through PSLF and the rejection rate, in part due to administrative errors and difficult processes, was as high as 98% in some years. Public servants were also being told that, because they didn’t file the right forms years ago, there was nothing for them to do but keep paying their loans longer than the program requires.

    Thanks to President Biden and Vice President Harris’ leadership, the Biden-Harris Administration has significantly improved the PSLF program to help more borrowers than ever before. This includes establishing and implementing new regulations to help borrowers earn more credit toward PSLF, simplifying criteria to help borrowers certify employment, creating fairer eligibility criteria, and providing borrowers the opportunity to apply for reconsideration of previous denials. The Biden-Harris Administration launched the Limited PSLF Waiver, providing public service workers affected by the pandemic with the opportunity to get PSLF credit for prior payments on their federal student loans regardless of repayment plan or loan type. To simplify the application process for borrowers, the Biden-Harris Administration made it so borrowers and employers can complete the entire PSLF application and submit required forms online, made it easier for borrowers to find qualifying employers and get necessary signatures verifying employment, and recently, announced new steps to allow borrowers to manage all aspects of their PSLF journey on StudentAid.gov.

    Thanks to these improvements, as of today, over 1 million public service workers have been approved for debt cancellation through PSLF. The Department of Education today also released new state-by-state data showing how many borrowers have had their loans approved for cancellation under PSLF in each state under the Biden-Harris Administration.

    Economic Benefits of Student Debt Relief for Public Service Workers

    Today, the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) published a new analysis underscoring that the Biden-Harris Administration’s student debt policies not only benefit borrowers, but also the entire economy.

    The CEA highlights that PSLF has the potential to deliver considerable benefits to those who receive it – including the ability to buy a home, start a business, and improve overall financial health. In addition, the CEA analysis shows how the PSLF program strengthens the public sector by making it more feasible for students with postsecondary debt to pursue and remain in public service careers that are essential to our economy and communities.

    Despite these benefits to the U.S. economy and hard-working Americans, Republican elected officials have tried to stop the Biden-Harris Administration every step of the way, and have even attempted to end PSLF altogether, which would block millions of dedicated public servants from receiving the student debt relief they have earned. President Biden and Vice President Harris will not stop fighting for our nation’s dedicated public servants.

    Encouraging Public Servants to Take Advantage of the PSLF Program

    Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is also announcing a series of new steps to encourage public servants across the nation to take advantage of the PSLF program.

    A number of public sector unions, including the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), National Education Association (NEA), and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), are amplifying today’s announcement through member-to-member outreach, social media campaigns, and more, and are encouraging people to sign up for PSLF:

    • AFT will be encouraging its members to sign up for student debt clinics to help members get on track with PSLF, with a goal of reaching another 500 teachers and nurses by the end of the year. This is on top of the 34,000 members AFT has reached since starting their student debt clinic series.
    • NEA will continue to help its members with the NEA Student Debt Navigator, a tool that provides 1-on-1 support for NEA’s members who need additional support with their PSLF application, or any other federal program related to student loans. Since the launch of the Student Debt Navigator, over 48,000 NEA members have signed up to receive support.
    • To celebrate this milestone, AFSCME will launch a new interactive map on its website, detailing PSLF forgiveness across the country based on Department of Education data. Additionally, AFSCME will update its online resources to facilitate applications for PSLF and create a social media toolkit its members can use to promote PSLF and forgiveness on their own social media platforms.
    • To encourage people to take advantage of the PSLF program, the Department of Education will send emails from President Biden to public servants who have received PSLF, encouraging them to share their stories to raise awareness about the benefits of the program. The Biden-Harris Administration will also share information about PSLF with federal employees to encourage more people to enroll in PSLF.
    • The Department of Education is reaching out to governors and mayors across the country to encourage state and local public service workers to take advantage of the PSLF program.

    These new steps are in addition to previous actions by the Administration including working with over 15 major federal agencies to develop PSLF agency action plans. In implementing these plans, federal agencies have encouraged thousands of additional federal employees to take advantage of the PSLF program through extensive social media campaigns, principal-level engagement, engagement with stakeholder groups, press, and mass email communications.

    Building On an Unparalleled Record of Student Debt Relief

    Today’s announcement is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s broader set of actions to reduce the burden of student debt and ensure that student loans are not a barrier to educational and economic opportunity for students and families. President Biden and Vice President Harris secured a $900 increase to the maximum Pell Grant award – the largest increase in more than a decade.  Since taking office, the Biden-Harris Administration has approved through various actions $175 billion in student debt relief for nearly 5 million Americans, each of whom have been approved for an average of roughly $35,000 in student debt cancellation. These actions have benefitted borrowers in every state, territory, and congressional district in the United States.

    This approved relief includes:

    • $74 billion for over 1 million borrowers through the PSLF program.
    • $56.5 billion for more than 1.4 million borrowers through Income-Driven Repayment, including the Saving on a Valuable Education SAVE plan. This includes administrative adjustments to income-driven repayment that brought borrowers closer to forgiveness and addressed longstanding problems due to past inaccuracies and the misuse of forbearance by loan servicers.
    • $28.7 billion for more than 1.6 million borrowers who were cheated by their schools, saw their institutions precipitously close, or are covered by related court settlements.
    • $16.2 billion for nearly 572,000 borrowers with a total and permanent disability.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA News: Statement from President Joe  Biden on Student Debt Cancellation for Over 1 Million Public Service Workers Under the Biden-⁠ Harris Administration

    Source: The White House

    Today, my Administration is approving another $4.7 billion in student debt cancellation for over 60,000 public service workers – bringing the total number of Americans who have had their debt cancelled under Public Service Loan Forgiveness during my Administration to over 1 million people.

    Public service workers – teachers, nurses, firefighters, and more – are the bedrocks of our communities and our country. They dedicate their careers to giving back to others, and were given the promise of student debt forgiveness after 10 years of public service and 10 years of payments under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. But for too long, the government failed to live up to its commitments, and only 7,000 people had ever received forgiveness under Public Service Loan Forgiveness before Vice President Harris and I took office.

    We vowed to fix that, and because of actions from our Administration, now over 1 million public service workers have gotten the relief they are entitled to under the law.

    Today’s announcement comes on top of the significant progress we’ve made for students and borrowers over the past three years. That includes approving debt cancellation for nearly 5 million Americans across all our various debt relief actions; providing the largest increases to the maximum Pell Grant award in over a decade; fixing Income-Driven Repayment so borrowers get the relief they earned; and holding colleges accountable for taking advantage of students and families.

    From day one of my Administration, I promised to fight to ensure higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity. I will never stop working to make higher education affordable – no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to stop us.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Victor Ambros on the team effort behind his Nobel-prize winning discovery of microRNA – podcast

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Gemma Ware, Host, The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The Conversation

    Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun were awarded the 2024 Nobel prize in physiology or medicine for their discovery of microRNA, tiny biological molecules that tell the cells in our body what kind of cell to be by turning on and off certain genes.

    In this episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast, we speak to Ambros about the discovery that led to his Nobel prize and find out what he’s researching now. And we hear about how a deeper understanding of microRNA is opening up new avenues for potential treatment of cancers and other diseases.

    Today, Ambros is a professor of molecular medicine and the Silverman Chair in Natural Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School in the US. But the research that won him a Nobel prize was published more than 30 years ago in 1993, when he had just established his own research lab at Harvard University.

    Ambros was trying to understand the way cells get the right instructions from DNA during their development. To do this, he was studying mutations in an experimental organism: a small worm called C. elegans.

    We were studying some mutations and that affected C. elegans’ development in interesting ways – but we were not looking for the involvement of any sort of unexpected kind of molecular mechanisms.

    Ambros’s wife, Rosalind Lee, and another member of the lab team, Rhonda Feinbaum, had spent a couple of years trying to understand the genetic process behind the mutation in a labour-intensive search. What they eventually discovered was a microRNA, a new dimension to gene regulation – the process through which genes are turned on and off in certain cells. As Ambros put it:

    You can say they’re really the heroes behind this, and our job – mine and Gary’s – is to stand in as representatives of the whole enterprise of science, which is so dependent upon teams, collaborations, brainstorming among multiple people, communications of ideas and crucial data … All this is part of the process that underlies successful science like this.

    MicroRNA’s role in cancer

    Thanks to the discoveries of Ambros and Ruvkun back in the 1990s, medical researchers all over the world are looking at how microRNA affects the development of human diseases. One such researcher is Justin Stebbing, a professor of biomedical sciences at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, UK. He explained:

    MicroRNAs, like many processes, can go wrong and they’ve been implicated in diseases as diverse as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s to cancer and kidney failure.

    Stebbing said that in cancer, microRNA has been found to turn off tumour suppressor genes, effectively allowing cancers to spread. But microRNA can also be useful in understanding cancer, and in potential treatments:

    We can work out the right treatments for people based on what we call a microRNA signature. We can understand prognosis, which means how severe people’s cancers are, but we can also try and harness them for treatments to make people better.

    To find out more about the discovery of microRNA and what research is being done on it today, listen to the full episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast, which includes an introduction from Vivian Lam, associate health and biomedicine editor at The Conversation in the US.

    This episode of The Conversation Weekly was produced by Katie Flood, Gemma Ware and Mend Mariwany. Sound design was by Michelle Macklem, and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl.

    You can find us on Instagram at theconversationdotcom or via email. You can also subscribe to The Conversation’s free daily email here.

    Listen to The Conversation Weekly via any of the apps listed above, download it directly via our RSS feed or find out how else to listen here.

    Victor Ambros’s laboratory’s research has been funded (since 1985) and is currently funded by the US National Institutes of Heath. Justin Stebbing 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. Victor Ambros on the team effort behind his Nobel-prize winning discovery of microRNA – podcast – https://theconversation.com/victor-ambros-on-the-team-effort-behind-his-nobel-prize-winning-discovery-of-microrna-podcast-241407

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Meet the winners of this year’s Three Minute Thesis competition

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Adam Smith, Senior Consultant, Universal Impact

    Tae PY15MU/Shutterstock

    The winners of a competition which challenges academics to explain their research in just three minutes have been announced.

    A total of 850 researchers from across the UK entered the tenth annual Vitae Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition, which was sponsored by The Conversation through its Universal Impact training and mentoring subsidiary.

    These were narrowed down first to 65 competitors and then six finalists, before a judging panel and a public vote determined the winning three.

    The overall judges’ award went to Jo Baker from Newcastle University for her presentation on children’s speech difficulties, which was perfectly illustrated through the use of an original cartoon.

    Speech and language therapist Jo Baker impressed the judges.

    Ulster University’s James McMullan captured the public’s imagination with his presentation on whether eating fish could be the secret to healthy ageing, winning the people’s choice award.

    Universal Impact also had the chance to pick an editor’s champion. We chose Muhammad Muddasar at University of Limerick for his research looking at whether the heat we waste on a daily basis could be transformed into a new energy source.

    The other finalists were Ferdinando Sereno at UCL, Natalie Weir at University of Derby and Charlie Gerlis from the University of the West of England.

    Originally developed by the University of Queensland, the competition challenges doctoral researchers to communicate their research to a non-expert audience – in three minutes or less.

    As a judge, I was blown away by the overall standard of the entries – this really was a masterclass in research communications.

    All of the academics involved spoke passionately about their research, explaining how it could contribute to making the world a better place.

    Each of these researchers deserved their place in the final and it took lengthy discussions before the panel was able to pick a winner.

    This year’s final was broadcast live online with the winners announced on Friday, October 4.

    The presentations were recorded and uploaded online ahead of a public vote.

    ‘It opens minds and opens doors’**

    At Universal Impact, we have been delighted to support this mission by joining the judging panel and mentoring the champions (who also receive a coveted trophy and small grant) to help them build on their success and take their research to an even wider audience.

    Vitae, which organised the competition, is a non-profit organisation that supports the professional development of researchers.

    Rachel Cox, head of membership and engagement at Vitae, said: “The Vitae Three Minute Thesis is a fantastic competition which provides a unique opportunity for doctoral researchers to think differently about how they communicate work that is meaningful to them to a wider audience.

    “It opens minds and opens doors for the individuals involved, as it can be a pathway to a wide variety of future careers, as previous participants have shown.

    “At Vitae, we are proud of the impact this competition has had over the past ten years, and we are excited to see what it can do over the next decade.

    “We are also delighted that Universal Impact and The Conversation are supporting this year’s event.”

    You can find out more about the competition and the work of Vitae here.

    – ref. Meet the winners of this year’s Three Minute Thesis competition – https://theconversation.com/meet-the-winners-of-this-years-three-minute-thesis-competition-240740

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Medical school task group formed

    Source: Hong Kong Information Services

    The Government announced today the establishment of the Task Group on New Medical School, which is responsible for devising the direction and parameters for a new medical school.

    The task group intends to extend invitation of proposals within this year to local universities interested in establishing the new medical school, so as to select a suitable university for setting up the third medical school.

    The Chief Executive stated in the 2024 Policy that the Government supports the establishment of the third medical school by a local university to nurture more talented medical practitioners in support of the local healthcare system with the aim of providing quality service and driving Hong Kong’s development into an international medical training, research and innovation hub.

    The Task Group on New Medical School’s terms of reference include liaising with interested local universities, inviting and assessing proposals from them, handling matters including but not limited to funding arrangements, programme accreditation, teaching hospital and research support, and formulating recommendations on the new medical school and related arrangements for decision by the Chief Executive in Council.

    The task group’s other terms of references call for liaising with the university selected for the establishment of the new medical school on the implementation plan, and providing facilitation on the interim and long-term arrangements for a designated school campus and teaching hospital in consultation with the relevant government bureaus and departments.

    Both the Secretary for Education and Secretary for Health are co-chairmen of the Task Group on New Medical School.

    Secretary for Health Prof Lo Chung-mau said the establishment of the third medical school is an important project in developing medical education in Hong Kong to drive the pursuit of excellence in medical teaching and research in the city.

    “I hope the new medical school could pursue an innovative strategic position complementarity with the two existing ones in areas such as the medical curriculum, sources of students and research projects with a view to promoting diversified development in local medical education and research as well as attracting more local, Mainland and overseas medical talent to take up teaching and research duties.”

    Noting that the Government attaches significant importance to the establishment of the new medical school, Prof Lo stressed that it has in particular invited seasoned local, Mainland and overseas academics for medical teaching and university management, professionals, the President of the Academy of Medicine and Chairman of the Medical Council of Hong Kong, together with heads of relevant bureaus and departments to form the task group.

    The health chief added that the task group will holistically examine various factors when considering proposals submitted by universities, including the strategic position of the medical school, curriculum design, student recruitment arrangement, demand and supply of teaching and training manpower, facilities and financial resources required.

    “I sincerely look forward to working closely with all members of the task group to start a new chapter for medical education in Hong Kong. Our first target is to extend invitation of proposals within this year to local universities interested in setting up the new medical school.”

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: MicroRNA − a new Nobel laureate describes the scientific process of discovering these tiny molecules that turn genes on and off

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Victor Ambros, Professor of Molecular Medicine, UMass Chan Medical School

    A microRNA molecule is a tiny regulator of other genetic material. Artur Plawgo/iStock via Getty Images Plus

    The 2024 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine goes to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their discovery of microRNA, tiny biological molecules that tell the cells in your body what kind of cell to be by turning on and off certain genes.

    The Conversation Weekly podcast caught up with Victor Ambros from his lab at the UMass Chan Medical School to learn more about the Nobel-winning research and what comes next. Below are edited excerpts from the podcast.

    How did you start thinking about this fundamental question at the heart of the discovery of microRNA, about how cells get the instructions to do what they do?

    The paper that described this discovery was published in 1993. In the late 1980s, we were working in the field of developmental biology, studying C. elegans as a model organism for animal development. We were using genetic approaches, where mutations that caused developmental abnormalities were then followed up to try to understand what the gene was that was mutated and what the gene product was.

    It was well understood that proteins could mediate changes in gene expression as cells differentiate, divide.

    We were not looking for the involvement of any sort of unexpected kind of molecular mechanisms. The fact that the microRNA was the product of this gene that was regulating this other gene in this context was a complete surprise.

    There was no reason to postulate that there should be such regulators of gene expression. This is one of those examples where the expectations are that you’re going to find out about more complexity and nuance about mechanisms that we already know about.

    But sometimes surprises emerge, and in fact, surprises emerge perhaps surprisingly often.

    Colorized scanning electron microscope image of a C. elegans nematode worm – one of the most studied animals in biological research.
    Steve Gschmeissner/Science Photo Library via Getty Images

    These C. elegans worms, nematodes, is there something about them that allows you to work with their genetic material more easily? Why are they so key to this type of science?

    C. elegans was developed as an experimental organism that people could use easily to, first, identify mutants and then study the development.

    It only has about a thousand cells, and all those cells can be seen easily through a microscope in the living animal. But still it has all the various parts that are important to all animals: intestine, skin, muscles, a brain, sensory systems and complex behavior. So it’s quite an amazing system to study developmental processes and mechanisms really on the level of individual cells and what those cells do as they divide and differentiate during development.

    Listen to Victor Ambros on The Conversation Weekly podcast.

    You were looking at this lin-4 gene. What was your surprising discovery that led to this Nobel Prize?

    In our lab, Rosalind Lee and Rhonda Feinbaum were working on this project for several years. This is a very labor intensive process, trying to track down a gene.

    And all we had to go by was a mutation to guide us as we gradually homed in on the DNA sequence that contained the gene. The surprises started to emerge when we found that the pieces of DNA that were sufficient to confer the function of this gene and rescue a mutant were really small, only 800 base pairs.

    And so that suggested, well, the gene is small, so the product of this gene is going to be pretty small. And then Rosalind worked to pare down the sequence more and to mutate potential protein coding sequences in that little piece of DNA. By a process of elimination, she finally showed that there was no protein that could be expressed from this gene.

    And at the same time, we identified this very, very small transcript of only 22 nucleotides. So I would say there was probably a period of a week or two there where these realizations came to the fore and we knew we had something new.

    You mentioned Rosalind, she’s your wife.

    Yeah, we’ve been together since 1976. And we started to work together in the mid-’80s. And so we’re still working together today.

    And she was the first author on that paper.

    That’s right. It’s hard to express how wonderful it is to receive such validation of this work that we did together. That is just priceless.

    Victor Ambros and Rosalind Lee toast the Nobel news on the day of the announcement.
    UMass Chan Medical School

    Like it’s a Nobel Prize for her too?

    Yes, every Nobel Prize has this obvious limitation of the number of people that they give it to. But, of course, behind that are the folks who worked in the lab – the teams that are actually behind the discoveries are surprisingly large sometimes. In this case, two people in my lab and several people in Gary Ruvkun’s lab.

    In a way they’re really the heroes behind this. Our job – mine and Gary’s – is to stand in as representatives of this whole enterprise of science, which is so, so dependent upon teams, collaborations, brainstorming amongst multiple people, communications of ideas and crucial data, you know, all this is part of the process that underlies successful science.

    That first week of the discoveries, did you anticipate at that point that this could be such a huge step for our understanding of genes?

    Until other examples are found of something new, it’s very hard to know how peculiar that particular phenomenon might be.

    We’re always mindful that evolution is amazingly innovative. And so it could have been that this particular small RNA base-pairing to this mRNA of lin-14 gene and turning off production of the protein from lin-14 messenger RNA, that could be a peculiar evolutionary innovation.

    The second microRNA was identified in Gary Ruvkun’s lab in 1999, so it was a good six years before the second one was found, also in C. elegans. Really, the watershed discovery was when Ruvkun showed that let-7, the other microRNA, was actually conserved perfectly in sequence amongst all the bilaterian animals. So that meant that let-7 microRNA had been around for, what, 500 million years?

    And so it was immediately obvious to the field that there had to be other microRNAs – this was not just a C. elegans thing. There must be others, and that quickly emerged to be the case.

    Ambros discovered that the lin-4 gene encoded a microRNA that did not code for a protein. Ruvkun cloned the lin-14 gene, and the two scientists realized that the lin-4 microRNA sequence matched a complementary sequence in the lin-14 mRNA.
    © The Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine. Ill. Mattias Karlén

    You and Gary Ruvkun had been postdoctoral fellows at the same time at MIT, but by the time you made your respective discoveries, you’d both set up your own labs. Would you call them rival labs, in the same town?

    No, I would certainly not call it rival labs. We were working together as postdocs basically on this problem of developmental timing in Bob Horvitz’s lab.

    We just basically informally divided up the work. The understanding was, OK, Ambros lab will focus on lin-4 gene, and Ruvkun lab will focus on lin-14, and we anticipated that there would be a point that we would get together and share information about what we’ve learned and see if we could come to a synthesis.

    That was the informal plan. It was not really a collaboration. It was certainly not a rivalry. The expectation was that we would divide up the work and then communicate when the time came. There was an expectation in this community of C. elegans researchers that you should share data freely.

    Your lab still works on microRNA. What are you investigating? What questions do you still have?

    One I find very interesting is a project where we collaborated with a clinician, a geneticist who studies intellectual disability. She had discovered that her patients, children with intellectual disabilities, in certain families carried a mutation that neither of their parents had – a spontaneous mutation – in the protein that is associated with microRNAs in humans called the Argonaute protein.

    Each of our genomes contains four genes for Argonautes that are the partners of microRNAs. In fact, this is the effector protein that is guided by the microRNA to its target messenger RNAs. This Argonaute is what carries out the regulatory processes that happen once it finds its target.

    These so-called Argonaute syndromes were discovered, where there are mutations in Argonautes, point mutations where only one amino acid changes to another amino acid. They have this very profound and extensive effect on the development of the individual.

    And so working with these geneticists, our lab and other labs took those mutations, that were essentially gifted to us by the patient. And then we put those mutations into our system, in our case into C. elegans‘ Argonaute.

    I’m excited by the very organized, active partnership between the Argonaute Alliance of families with Argonaute syndromes and the basic scientists studying Argonaute.

    How does this collaboration potentially help those patients?

    What we’ve learned is that the mutant protein is sort of a rogue Argonaute. It’s basically screwing up the normal process that these four Argonautes usually do in the body. And so this rogue Argonaute, in principle, could be removed from the system by trying to employ some of the technology that folks are developing for gene knockout or RNA interference of genes.

    This is promising, and I’m hopeful that the payoff for the patients will come in the years ahead.

    Victor Ambros receives funding from the U.S. National Institutes of Heath.

    – ref. MicroRNA − a new Nobel laureate describes the scientific process of discovering these tiny molecules that turn genes on and off – https://theconversation.com/microrna-a-new-nobel-laureate-describes-the-scientific-process-of-discovering-these-tiny-molecules-that-turn-genes-on-and-off-241095

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Levelling Up Home Building Fund: Esquire Developments Ltd

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    How Homes England supported an ambitious developer based in Kent.

    Levelling Up Home Building Fund Developer Case Study: Esquire Developments Ltd

    Esquire Developments Ltd, an award-winning SME housebuilder, was established in 2011 and currently delivers approximately 120 homes annually across Kent and the South East.

    Esquire Developments approached Homes England to support their project Millers Field, a 1.21-acre site in Maidstone, Kent and we provided a £2.68 million loan to transform the site into 9 attractive family homes.

    Esquire Developments is known for its dedication to quality and sustainability, achieving up to 50% carbon reduction in their developments compared to current building standards. They also prioritise sourcing materials and supply chains locally, and all the homes in this project were equipped with air source heat pumps and electric vehicle charging stations.

    Following the successful completion of Millers Field, Homes England has supported Esquire Developments with a second scheme, Hill Farm in Sittingbourne, which is made up of 30 homes, 3 key worker homes and an overflow carpark for Demelza Children’s Hospice situated next to the development.

    More information about the Levelling Up Home Building Fund can be found on our Levelling Up Home Building Fund — development finance page, and you can also arrange a call with one of our regional specialists by: 

    Updates to this page

    Published 17 October 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Statement from Vice President Kamala  Harris on One Million Public Service Workers Receiving Student Debt  Cancellation

    US Senate News:

    Source: The White House
    Higher education should be a pathway to economic opportunity – not a lifetime of debt. That is why I have fought to make education more affordable and reduce the burden of student debt throughout my career.
    When President Biden and I took office, only 7,000 people had ever been approved for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Today, I am proud to say that a record one million teachers, nurses, first responders, social workers, and other public service workers have received student debt cancellation. As I travel our nation, I meet many of these public servants who say they now have more money in their pocket to put towards buying a home, renting an apartment, getting a car, starting a family, and saving up for the future.
    Our Administration has forgiven over $170 billion in student debt for nearly five million people throughout the country — more than any Administration in history. And while Republican elected officials do everything in their power to block millions of their own constituents from receiving this much needed economic relief, I will continue our work to lower costs, make higher education more affordable, and relieve the burden of student debt. I am fully committed to doing what is necessary to build an economy that works for every American.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: New animation spotlights young carers as city-wide strategy is launched to advance support

    Source: City of Manchester

    A brand-new animation about the lived experiences of young carers has premiered to a theatre audience as a revamped strategy to ensure they receive more support will be rolled-up out across the city.  

    The short video, created by former Manchester Metropolitan University student Yasmin Lee, was shown to a packed-out audience at HOME theatre which spotlights primary age children who have been identified as young carers through their schools and communities.  

    A young carer is usually someone under the age of 18, who has the responsibility of providing care for a loved-one who has a disability, illness or mental health condition. However, the definition can take various forms depending on the relationship to the carer and specific caring needs. 

    The animation aims to help raise awareness of how schools and organisations that work with children and young people can implement new ways of support, breaking down stigma and celebrating their efforts.  

    The Young Carers Strategy 2024-2028 is a refresh of the previous strategy which outlines an approach that is informed by the voice of Young Carers and is underpinned by a partnership approach. 

    The strategy emphasises the rights of Children and young people to assessment and support and continues to work with all Manchester schools and settings as well as Youth and Play providers to develop their offer of support for Young Carers. 

    The strategy advocates for the introduction of Young Carer Champions, which is a member of staff who can help young carers and inform other staff and pupils about what young caring is to stamp out misconceptions and tailor the right support for each pupil. 

    There are already 187 schools in Manchester that have designated Young Carers Champion. 

    The Young Carers in Schools Awards has also been created in schools to ensure that social workers, early years practitioners and all organisations that work with children and young people have the tools, resources and skills to support children with caring responsibilities, while also celebrating their hard-work and commitment to their loved-ones.  

    More information about young carers is available at Young Carers and the animation about the Young Carers Strategy can be watched online.  

    Councillor Julie Reid, Executive Member for Early Years, Children and Young People, said: “It is important that children and young people who identify as young carers feel supported and celebrated.  

    “The updated Young Carers Strategy for Manchester aims to improve the experience of young carers in our city through collaboration with vital services such as schools and early years practitioners. 

    “It is great to see young carers proudly represented in this new animation which we hope will continue to inspire and educate people about the experience of young carers.” 

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Department for Education establishes Science Advisory Council

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    New team of experts to provide the latest scientific advice across a range of specialisms to support the department’s work.

    A panel of scientific experts is set to provide education policy makers with advice on strategic and emerging issues through a new Science Advisory Council, the Department for Education announced today (Thursday 17 October). 

    Professor Russell Viner, the Department for Education’s Chief Scientific Adviser, has established a team of 12 experts with a range of specialisms to ensure access to the best and latest scientific advice – helping the department’s work to break down the barriers to opportunity by protecting children and ensuring the delivery of higher standards of education, training and care. 

    Led by Professor Dame Athene Donald as chair, the independent panel will provide scientific advice to the Department for Education on matters relevant to its policy and operations. This will include areas such as early identification and support of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), mental health support, online harms prevention, a sustainable and secure school estate and Artificial Intelligence and education technology.  

    The Council will also work with the Chief Scientific Adviser to identify and share emerging scientific trends with officials and facilitate effective links between the department and the wider scientific community. 

    Professor Russell Viner, Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department for Education, said: 

    We are the department for opportunity, working to deliver better life chances for all – and that means being at the forefront of cutting-edge scientific evidence to ensure we are doing everything we can to break the link between background and success. 

    We must keep pace with technological and scientific advancements if we are to deliver the highest standards for the people we serve. Science alone can’t address the challenges the department faces – but it can inform robust, evidence-informed decision making.

    Chair Professor Dame Athene Donald, Professor Emerita of Experimental Physics and former Master of Churchill College, University of Cambridge, will be supported by Deputy Chair, Professor Mark Mon-Williams. Mark is the Chair of Cognitive Psychology at the University of Leeds and the Founder Director of the Centre of Applied Education Research. 

    The other ten members have expertise in fields including economics, social science, statistics, operational research and engineering, physical and life sciences, ethics, and data science. Between them they have worked on studies looking at school health interventions, the impact of AI on learning, how digital technologies affect adolescent mental health, how childhood circumstances influence child development and early interventions. 

    Plenary meetings will be held quarterly and will include attendance by the Chief Scientific Adviser, a non-executive board member and other relevant officials. Smaller, task-relevant meetings and workshops will occur as needed in response to departmental requests and needs.

    The panel members are: 

    • Chair: Professor Dame Athene Donald, DBE, FRS, Professor Emerita of Experimental Physics and former Master of Churchill College, University of Cambridge.  

    • Deputy Chair: Professor Mark Mon-Williams, Chair of Cognitive Psychology, University of Leeds.  

    • Professor Chris Bonell, Professor of Public Health & Sociology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.  

    • Professor William J. Browne, Professor of Statistics & Head of the School of Education, University of Bristol.  

    • Dr Claire Crawford, Associate Professor at the Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, University College London.  

    • Michael Cribb, Chartered Structural Engineer and Associate Director, Arup.  

    • Dr Dougal Hargreaves, Houston Reader in Paediatrics & Population Health, Imperial College London.  

    • Dr Sonya Krutikova, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Manchester, & Deputy Research Director, Institute for Fiscal Studies.  

    • Professor Rose Luckin, Professor Emeritus of Learner Centred Design, University College London.  

    • Dr Amy Orben, Leader of the Digital Mental Health Group at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge.  

    • Professor Paul Ramchandani, LEGO Professor of Play in Education, Learning and Development, University of Cambridge. 

    • Professor Michael J. Reiss, Professor of Science Education at the Institute of Education, University of London & University College London.

    DfE media enquiries

    Central newsdesk – for journalists 020 7783 8300

    Updates to this page

    Published 17 October 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI: Orezone Reports Q3-2024 Gold Production

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Orezone Gold Corporation (TSX: ORE, OTCQX: ORZCF) (the “Company” or “Orezone”) is pleased to announce its third quarter 2024 gold production results from its Bomboré Gold Mine:

    • Gold production of 26,581 ounces, totalling 82,244 ounces year-to-date
    • Gold sales of 27,698 ounces at an average realized price of US$2,473/oz, resulting in sales of US$68.5 million
    • Quarter-end cash balance of US$66.9 million and senior debt of US$68.1 million after a further repayment of US$5.0 million in principal during the quarter

    Patrick Downey, President & CEO stated, “Q3 marked another strong operating period at Bomboré, with a quarterly record of 1.5 million ore tonnes processed. Through the quarter, the Company was successful in accessing, pre-stripping, and commencing production in the higher-grade, free-digging Siga Zone oxides in the south. However, mill feed from this newly accessed, higher-grade zone, was lower than planned during the quarter due to delays from heavy rains and a four-day plant shutdown including a full ball mill reline in late September.

    With the conclusion of the rainy season and completion of all scheduled annual mill maintenance, we fully expect fourth quarter gold production to be the strongest quarter for the year with increased ore contribution from the Siga Zone. The Company is on track to meet the mid-point of its 2024 production guidance of 110,000 to 125,000 ounces, evidenced by the strong gold production of 6,331 ounces through the first 15 days of October, at a head grade of 0.85 g/t gold. With record gold prices and unhedged gold sales, we expect additional cash generation in the last quarter of the year.”

    Bomboré Production Results (100% Basis)

      Unit Q3-2024 Q2-2024 Q1-2024 Nine Months Ended
    September 30, 2024
    Ore processed Tonnes 1,491,740 1,428,396 1,355,619 4,275,755
    Ore grade Au g/t 0.63 0.64 0.78 0.68
    Plant recovery % 87.4 86.8 89.0 87.8
    Gold produced Au oz 26,581 25,524 30,139 82,244
    Gold sold Au oz 27,698 24,937 31,229 83,864


    About Orezone Gold Corporation

    Orezone Gold Corporation (TSX: ORE OTCQX: ORZCF) is a West African gold producer engaged in mining, developing, and exploring its flagship Bomboré Gold Mine in Burkina Faso. The Bomboré mine achieved commercial production on its oxide operations on December 1, 2022, and is now focused on its staged hard rock expansion that is expected to materially increase annual and life-of-mine gold production from the processing of hard rock mineral reserves. Orezone is led by an experienced team focused on social responsibility and sustainability with a proven track record in project construction and operations, financings, capital markets and M&A.

    The technical report entitled Bomboré Phase II Expansion, Definitive Feasibility Study is available on SEDAR+ and the Company’s website.

    Contact Information

    Patrick Downey
    President and Chief Executive Officer

    Vanessa Pickering
    Manager, Investor Relations

    Tel: 1 778 945 8977 / Toll Free: 1 888 673 0663
    info@orezone.com / http://www.orezone.com

    For further information please contact Orezone at +1 (778) 945-8977 or visit the Company’s website at http://www.orezone.com.

    The Toronto Stock Exchange neither approves nor disapproves the information contained in this news release.

    QUALIFIED PERSONS

    Dale Tweed, P. Eng., VP Engineering and Rob Henderson, P. Eng. VP Technical Services of Orezone, are Qualified Persons under NI 43-101 and have reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information contained in this news release.  

    Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

    This press release contains certain information that may constitute “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian Securities laws and “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable U.S. securities laws (together, “forward-looking statements”). Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as “plan”, “expect”, “project”, “intend”, “believe”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “potential”, “possible” and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions “may”, “will”, “could”, or “should” occur. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the Company being on track to meet the mid-point of its 2024 production guidance including the fourth quarter being the strongest quarter of the year, cash generation in the last quarter of the year and the hard rock expansion.  

    All such forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and analyses made by management in light of their experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors management and the qualified persons believe are appropriate in the circumstances.

    All forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements including, but not limited to, delays caused by pandemics, terrorist or other violent attacks (including cyber security attacks), the failure of parties to contracts to honour contractual commitments, unexpected changes in laws, rules or regulations, or their enforcement by applicable authorities; the failure of parties to contracts to perform as agreed; social or labour unrest; changes in commodity prices; unexpected failure or inadequacy of infrastructure, the possibility of unanticipated costs and expenses, accidents and equipment breakdowns, political risk, unanticipated changes in key management personnel and general economic, market or business conditions, the failure of exploration programs, including drilling programs, to deliver anticipated results and the failure of ongoing and uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, and other factors described in the Company’s most recent annual information form and management discussion and analysis filed on SEDAR+. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

    Although the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon what management of the Company believes are reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Subject to applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this press release.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Special Campaign 4.0: Department of School Education & Literacy leads the way in cleanliness and sustainability

    Source: Government of India (2)

    Posted On: 16 OCT 2024 9:30PM by PIB Delhi

    Department of School Education & Literacy (DoSE&L), Ministry of Education along with its Autonomous Bodies (ABs) is actively engaged in the on-going Special Campaign 4.0 started from 2nd October 2024. DOSE&L has issued guidelines to all ABs for effective execution of Special Campaign 4.0. The focus is on cleanliness drives, managing scrap and pending matters, optimizing space and enhancing office aesthetics. These efforts emphasize efficiency, transparency and improved waste management in government functioning.

    At the start of the Special Campaign 4.0 preparatory phase, the Department of School Education & Literacy established specific targets and identified key cleanliness sites nationwide to ensure the effective implementation of the campaign’s goals.

    S.No.

    Category

    Targets

    1

    Number of Files to be Reviewed

    61100

    2

    Number of Files Identified for weeding out

    21410

    3

    Number of e-Files for Review

    1367

    4

    Number of Cleanliness Campaigns to be conducted

    32037

     

    Regular meetings are being conducted to closely monitor the progress towards achieving the Ministry’s set targets, ensuring effective implementation and timely completion of the campaign’s objectives. The targets finalized and action in progress as on 14.10.2024 on various parameters is as below:

    • As of now, 61,382 square feet of space has been reclaimed through the disposal of scrap and redundant materials, generating a revenue of Rs 7,34,941.
    • Out of 61,100 physical files identified for review, 48206 have been examined. So far, 22,135 files have been marked for weeding, with 10,883 already weeded out.
    • 27450 cleanliness campaigns have been conducted across schools and institutions, actively working towards achieving the Ministry’s targets.

    During Special Campaign 4.0, the enthusiastic participation of institutions and schools is setting a powerful example, driving the message of Swachhata forward with inspiration. National Bal Bhawan, through its vibrant exhibits and 3D models at the Swachhta Gallery, is actively engaging children and raising awareness about the importance of sanitation and hygiene, empowering them to take action in keeping their surroundings clean.

    Kendriya Vidyalaya schools across the borders, for example, KVS Kathmandu, KVS Moscow etc. are encouraged to adopt sustainable habits, aligning with the broader goals of Swachh Bharat Mission.”Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam” Campaign is being undertaken with great enthusiasm, with active participation of students, teachers, and community members. So far, under Special Campaign 4.0, a total of 8910 saplings have been planted, symbolizing a collective commitment to both cleanliness and environmental sustainability.

    *****

    MV/AK

    (Release ID: 2065624) Visitor Counter : 39

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Special Campaign 4.0: Department of School Education & Literacy leads the way in cleanliness and sustainability

    Source: Government of India (2)

    Posted On: 16 OCT 2024 9:30PM by PIB Delhi

    Department of School Education & Literacy (DoSE&L), Ministry of Education along with its Autonomous Bodies (ABs) is actively engaged in the on-going Special Campaign 4.0 started from 2nd October 2024. DOSE&L has issued guidelines to all ABs for effective execution of Special Campaign 4.0. The focus is on cleanliness drives, managing scrap and pending matters, optimizing space and enhancing office aesthetics. These efforts emphasize efficiency, transparency and improved waste management in government functioning.

    At the start of the Special Campaign 4.0 preparatory phase, the Department of School Education & Literacy established specific targets and identified key cleanliness sites nationwide to ensure the effective implementation of the campaign’s goals.

    S.No.

    Category

    Targets

    1

    Number of Files to be Reviewed

    61100

    2

    Number of Files Identified for weeding out

    21410

    3

    Number of e-Files for Review

    1367

    4

    Number of Cleanliness Campaigns to be conducted

    32037

     

    Regular meetings are being conducted to closely monitor the progress towards achieving the Ministry’s set targets, ensuring effective implementation and timely completion of the campaign’s objectives. The targets finalized and action in progress as on 14.10.2024 on various parameters is as below:

    • As of now, 61,382 square feet of space has been reclaimed through the disposal of scrap and redundant materials, generating a revenue of Rs 7,34,941.
    • Out of 61,100 physical files identified for review, 48206 have been examined. So far, 22,135 files have been marked for weeding, with 10,883 already weeded out.
    • 27450 cleanliness campaigns have been conducted across schools and institutions, actively working towards achieving the Ministry’s targets.

    During Special Campaign 4.0, the enthusiastic participation of institutions and schools is setting a powerful example, driving the message of Swachhata forward with inspiration. National Bal Bhawan, through its vibrant exhibits and 3D models at the Swachhta Gallery, is actively engaging children and raising awareness about the importance of sanitation and hygiene, empowering them to take action in keeping their surroundings clean.

    Kendriya Vidyalaya schools across the borders, for example, KVS Kathmandu, KVS Moscow etc. are encouraged to adopt sustainable habits, aligning with the broader goals of Swachh Bharat Mission.”Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam” Campaign is being undertaken with great enthusiasm, with active participation of students, teachers, and community members. So far, under Special Campaign 4.0, a total of 8910 saplings have been planted, symbolizing a collective commitment to both cleanliness and environmental sustainability.

    *****

    MV/AK

    (Release ID: 2065624) Visitor Counter : 39

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Statement by the Prime Minister on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

    Source: Government of Canada – Prime Minister

    The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty:

    “Today, on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, we stand united to build a world where poverty is not just reduced, but eradicated. A world where every person has the chance to live in dignity, security, and comfort.

    “Reducing poverty and inequality across the country starts with building more affordable housing. Earlier this year, we launched our ambitious Housing Plan, which is helping build more affordable homes, faster, and addressing chronic homelessness, especially in underserved communities. Since 2019, the Reaching Home program has supported thousands of projects that have helped over 87,600 people across the country find a stable home and over 148,500 others receive homelessness prevention services, such as short-term rental assistance or help settling disputes with landlords.

    “The Canadian Dental Care Plan is helping millions of uninsured Canadians access affordable dental care – and 750,000 people have already received care. Our new National School Food Program will be getting healthy school meals to kids. This Friday, parents across the country will see the monthly Canada Child Benefit payment in their bank accounts. The program – which has lifted hundreds of thousands of kids out of poverty – puts money back in the pockets of Canadians. And with initiatives like $10-a-day child care and the upcoming Canada Disability Benefit, we’re making sure Canadians have the extra savings they need for the things that matter most.

    “Our commitment extends beyond our borders as well. Canada’s leadership includes our Poverty Reduction Strategy and Feminist International Assistance Policy, our commitment to advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and most recently, the adoption of the Pact for the Future last month at the Summit of the Future. Just this year, we contributed nearly $1.3 billion to the International Monetary Fund’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust to lift countries out of poverty and make the world a better place.

    “Canada is steadfast in its commitment to building a future where poverty is eradicated and where every generation is given a fair chance to succeed.”

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: The Federation of Sports Programming of Russia has become a new partner of the State University of Management

    MILES AXLE Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

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

    On October 17, the State University of Management and the Russian Federation of Sports Programming signed a cooperation agreement.

    The document was signed by the Vice-Rector of the State University of Management Vitaly Lapshenkov and the Executive Director of the Federation of Sports Programming of Russia Andrey Arbuzov.

    The meeting took place at the largest industry event in Russian sports – the Russia – Sports Power forum, which serves as a platform for discussing ways to develop the sports industry in the country.

    The forum pays special attention to innovative sports that are becoming increasingly popular. One of them is sports programming, which combines technology, creativity and sports skills.

    The signed agreement opens new horizons for joint work and development of innovative sports at our university.

    Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 10/17/2024

    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.

    Please note; This information is raw content directly from the information source. It is accurate to what the source is stating and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    The Federation of Sports Programming of Russia has become a new partner of the State University of Management

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Powerful new fostering film launched

    Source: City of Portsmouth

    ‘Everything’ launched on 17 October. It is the seventh film produced by a growing partnership of councils and children’s trusts to promote local authority fostering. The ‘Everything’ project is the largest collaboration yet.

    Cllr Suzy Horton, Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Education at Portsmouth City Council, said:

    “The ‘Everything’ project has given Foster Portsmouth an amazing film that shows the long-term impact fostering can have, with relationships between carers and children lasting well into adulthood.”

    “All councils need to recruit more foster carers, and by collaborating to produce this emotionally powerful film, we will show people how rewarding and life-changing fostering is.”

    “The message is the same for all of us; we need more people to step forward and become foster carers. ‘Everything’ will help us to reach more people in our communities and encourage them to find out more about this really rewarding role.”

    “We are committed to giving vulnerable children and young people we care for the best chance to thrive.”

    ‘Everything’ follows foster carer Mike and his family on a journey through time with two of the children they have looked after, who are now adults. Will and Zara take time to reflect on how being fostered made a difference to their lives, and thank Mike for ‘everything’.

    Thanks to footage shot on a genuine old camcorder, we are taken to the 1990s to see how Will settles into the family alongside Mike’s son Chris and the 2010s when a young Zara is being taught to play the guitar by Mike.

    The concluding message of the film is that what you do with your life could forever change someone else’s – encouraging people to foster in order to make that change.

    Project Director, Rachel Brown describes the main message of the film:

    “Many people don’t realise how common it is for relationships made through fostering to last well beyond the ‘official’ caring role. This has a huge impact on the lives of those who have been fostered, giving them stability and security well into adulthood.

    “We also wanted to reflect how the children of foster carers make a difference to children when they come into care, helping them to feel part of the family.”

    “Having over 100 councils taking part in the project, the film will reach a very wide audience, encouraging people to find out more and take the steps towards becoming a foster carer.”

    “Fostering with your local council means you can better support local children and young people who need a safe and nurturing home where they can grow and thrive.”

    Sarah Thomas, chief executive of the Fostering Network says:

    “The Fostering Network has been proud to support the collaborative film projects since ‘Giants’ in 2017. It’s great to see local authority fostering services pooling resources to produce another amazing film. ‘Everything’ will help to amplify their message about the chronic shortage of fostering households, encouraging more people to come forward and foster.”

    “One of the main characters in the film, Chris, shows how important other family members are when it comes to fostering. This is something we champion throughout October, which is Children of Foster Carer’s Month.”

    View the film ‘Everything’ at: http://www.fosterportsmouth.gov.uk/everything.

    For more information on fostering with Foster Portsmouth, fill in our contact form, visit: http://www.foster.portsmouth.gov.uk, call the Fostering SouthEast recruitment team on 0300 131 2797 or email info@lafosteringse.org.uk.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: GUU at the All-Russian Conference on Technological Entrepreneurship

    MILES AXLE Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

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

    The Director of the Business Incubator of the State University of Management took part in the All-Russian Conference “Technological Entrepreneurship, Science and Financial Development of Universities”, which was held from October 14 to 16 at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.

    The conference discussed current issues related to the development of technological entrepreneurship, commercialization of scientific developments and startup projects, financial support for innovative and technological business processes in higher education. The speakers shared best practices and their personal experience with the participants, talked about current support measures and mechanisms for increasing the effectiveness of interaction between science, business and the state in the field of technological entrepreneurship.

    The event was opened by Oleg Churilov, Director of the Department for Development of Technological Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia. He presented the results of the implementation of the federal project “University Technological Entrepreneurship Platform” and emphasized that technological entrepreneurship today is a driver of economic development, because it is thanks to entrepreneurship that technological startups and new jobs are created.

    MIPT Rector Dmitry Livanov told conference participants about the role of universities in technological development and shared his experience in creating innovative products, noting the importance of applied science, which facilitates the implementation of new technologies and solutions.

    The State University of Management was represented at the meeting by the Director of the State University of Management Business Incubator, Dmitry Rogov.

    A separate section of the conference was devoted to the implementation of the Startup as a Diploma program in universities. Olga Serebryannikova, Director of the Project Office for the Development of Youth Entrepreneurship in Higher Education Institutions of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, presented key indicators for the program’s implementation in the 2023/24 academic year to the event participants.

    The speakers also included representatives of the Skolkovo Foundation, Sberbank PJSC, Gazprom Neft PJSC, NTI Platform ANO and other organizations.

    It should be noted that the State University of Management has been successfully integrated into the projects of the Platform of University Technological Entrepreneurship of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia. Our students took part in the All-Russian Forum of Technological Entrepreneurship, thematic day “Science and Universities”, the festival “Technocode” and other events of the Platform.

    In addition, the university is implementing acceleration programs for NTI markets, and this academic year, GUU has become a partner university for entrepreneurial competencies training, which will be held at the First Management University on October 24 and November 28.

    Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 10/17/2024

    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.

    Please note; This information is raw content directly from the information source. It is accurate to what the source is stating and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    GUU at the All-Russian Conference on Technological Entrepreneurship

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: RBI imposes monetary penalty on Jila Sahakari Kendriya Bank Maryadit, Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh

    Source: Reserve Bank of India

    The Reserve Bank of India (RBl) has, by an order dated October 07, 2024, imposed a monetary penalty of ₹2.50 lakh (Rupees Two Lakh Fifty Thousand only) on Jila Sahakari Kendriya Bank Maryadit, Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh (the bank), for contravention of the provisions of section 26A read with section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (BR Act). This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in RBI, conferred under section 47A(1)(c) read with section 46(4)(i) and section 56 of the BR Act.

    The statutory inspection of the bank was conducted by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2023. Based on supervisory findings of non-compliance with statutory provisions and related correspondence in that regard, a notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for its failure to comply with the said provisions.

    After considering the bank’s reply to the notice and oral submissions made during the personal hearing, RBI found, inter alia, that the following charge against the bank was sustained, warranting imposition of monetary penalty.

    The bank had failed to transfer eligible unclaimed deposit amounts to the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund within the prescribed period.

    This action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers. Further, imposition of this monetary penalty is without prejudice to any other action that may be initiated by RBI against the bank.

    (Puneet Pancholy)  
    Chief General Manager

    Press Release: 2024-2025/1327

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Celebrating 40 years of offshore wildlife recording Four decades of a unique partnership to chronicle the birds and other wildlife seen from North Sea oil and gas platforms has been celebrated in a new book.

    Source: University of Aberdeen

    Four decades of a unique partnership to chronicle the birds and other wildlife seen from North Sea oil and gas platforms has been celebrated in a new book.
    From 1979 to 2019 the North Sea Bird Club and the University of Aberdeen worked together to record and identify birds, marine animals, bats and moths and butterflies viewed from more than 250 offshore installations by over 400 observers.
    While it had been known for many years that birds cross the North Sea in very large numbers – especially in spring and autumn – it was quickly noted that those working offshore were in a unique situation to provide details of the species involved and their numbers.
    In November 1984, one offshore worker on the Maureen platform was recorded as saying: “On opening the door from the control room it appeared to be snowing. The sky was full of birds in every direction – Blackbirds, thrushes, Snow Buntings, Lapwings and even some Canada Geese. In addition there were at least 50+ owls. I’d estimate the numbers to be hundreds of thousands around the platform”
    To take advantage of this unique viewpoint, in 1979 the North Sea Bird Club was formed by a group of senior oil industry executives, and a collaboration with the University of Aberdeen began which would see more than 120,000 records sent in over the next four decades.
    The history of the partnership and the fascinating wildlife sightings and identification it led to has been set out in a book by Andrew Thorpe, the club’s former Recorder who was employed on a part-time basis by the University as a Research Assistant between 1999 and 2019.
    The North Sea Bird Club 1979-2019 mixes entertaining anecdotes, interesting facts and hard data to tell the story.
    Andrew said: “Back in 1979, it was thanks to the foresight of Professor George Dunnet, Regius Professor of Natural History at the University and other associates that the Club was created.
    “He continued to act as an adviser to the club and we drew heavily on University expertise. Being located within the Zoology Department, we were able to access other specialists – Dr Mark Young  provided support with identification of butterflies and moths sent from offshore, Professor Paul Racey provided guidance for those who found bats on offshore installations and Mr Kenn Watt was a hoverfly expert in the department who helped with identification.
    “Marine animals offshore were also recorded and the University’s Oceanlab staff were able to assist here.”
    Although the club was wound up with the downturn of the industry in 1999, the records it received, maintained by the University, continue to be used for academic research.
    “A Club Secretary in 1990 wrote ‘The North Sea Bird Club is a unique organisation operating in a unique environment’ and that remained true throughout the 40 years,” Andrew added.
    “Records came from all over the North Sea and allowed us to put together a picture of where birds were moving at peak migration times and this could often be related to similar patterns of arrival onshore.
    “The 120,000 record database the University helped us to create has been used to provide data to many interested parties. For example several different University students requested data on Buzzard feathers, Twite records offshore, Porbeagle shark and bat records.
    “Professor Racey, formerly of the University, informed us that much valuable information about the occurrence of Nathusius’ pipistrelle bat had been obtained from offshore records of that species. Certain corpses of dead birds found offshore were passed to The National Museum Scotland for their collections.
    The North Sea Bird Club 1979-2019 is available at £21.00 (inc p&p) to purchase directly from Andrew Thorpe by emailing Andrew.Thorpe147@btinternet.com.
     
    Interesting Facts from the North Sea Bird Club         
    Many common ‘garden’ birds regularly cross the North Sea;
    Blackbirds, robins, chaffinches, blue tits, crows and owls are all regularly reported from rigs in the North sea;
    Even tiny wrens cross the North Sea.  In 1998, a total of 58 wrens was reported from offshore installations;
    Blackbirds and thrushes can cross the North Sea in large numbers, usually in autumn.  In 1979, over 30,000 blackbirds were reported offshore;
    In November 1984, an exceptional number of birds landed on the Maureen platform during very bad weather – some 200-300,000 were estimated including 40-50 owls;
    Starlings regularly cross the North Sea in spring and autumn in very large numbers.  A flock of an estimated 50,000 was seen to pass by Auk Alpha in 1984!
    Ringed birds are often found dead on rigs;
    A Starling that was ringed in Poland in May 1992 was found on the Hewett platform in December that year.  It had travelled over 1500km;
    A Blue Tit ringed in Norway in July 1988 was found on Beryl B, halfway between Norway and the Shetland Isles;
    The first British record of a Pacific Swift came from Shell BT platform in 1981.  It normally breeds in the Far East and migrates to Australia!
    It’s not only birds that were reported:
    Over 300 killer whales have been seen offshore and reported. 20-30 were around Brae B in April 1988 and one remained there for almost a year (photo);
    Butterflies, moths and dragonflies are regularly reported too;
    A Blue Dasher dragonfly from America which was found on an unmanned rig near Shetland was the first record in Europe!
    Bats are occasionally found and sent in;
    The NSBC has provided much valuable information on the Nathusius’ pipistrelle bat which previously was rarely recorded in the UK.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Disaster Recovery Center Open in Dixie County

    Source: US Federal Emergency Management Agency

    Headline: Disaster Recovery Center Open in Dixie County

    Disaster Recovery Center Open in Dixie County

    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – FEMA has opened a Disaster Recovery Center in Dixie County to provide one-on-one help to Floridians affected by Hurricane Debby and Hurricane Helene. Survivors of any of the storms can visit any center. 

    Survivors do not need to visit a center to apply for assistance. Survivors are encouraged to apply online at DisasterAssistance.gov or by downloading the FEMA App. FEMA does not distribute cash at Disaster Recovery Centers. 

    Center location:

    Dixie County
    Old Town Education Center
    841 SE Hwy 349
    Old Town, FL 32680
    Hours: 9 a.m.–7 p.m. Monday-Sunday

    To find other center locations go to fema.gov/drc or text “DRC” and a Zip Code to 43362. All centers are accessible to people with disabilities or access and functional needs and are equipped with assistive technology. 

    Homeowners and renters are encouraged to apply online at DisasterAssistance.gov or by using the FEMA App. You may also apply by phone at 800-621-3362. If you choose to apply by phone, please understand wait times may be longer because of increased volume for multiple recent disasters. Lines are open every day and help is available in most languages. If you use a relay service, captioned telephone or other service, give FEMA your number for that service. For an accessible video on how to apply for assistance go to FEMA Accessible: Applying for Individual Assistance – YouTube.

    If you applied to FEMA after Hurricane Debby and have additional damage from Hurricane Helene, you will need to apply separately for Helene and provide the dates of your most recent damage.

    For the latest information about Hurricane Helene recovery, visit fema.gov/disaster/4828. For Hurricane Debby recovery information, visit fema.gov/disaster/4806 . Follow FEMA on X at x.com/femaregion4 or on Facebook at facebook.com/fema.

    kirsten.chambers

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How images of knives intended to stop youth knife crime may actually be making things worse

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Charlotte Coleman, Deputy Head of the Sheffield Institute of Social Sciences, Sheffield Hallam University

    Nicole Kwiatkowski/Shutterstock

    You’d be forgiven for thinking that young people are behind most knife crime in the UK. Media coverage often focuses on youth involvement, and the government’s plan to halve knife crime focuses specifically on young people and vulnerable teenagers.

    Evidence shows that most knife-involved crime is committed in the home, between adults, in the form of intimate partner violence. Only around 18% of knife offences are carried out by 10- to 17-year-olds. These usually involve other young people.

    Although young people’s share of knife crime is low, their involvement is a significant concern and has risen starkly in the last decade.

    Choosing to carry a knife out of the home, into the streets, or into school is a rare choice that most children never make. Estimates show that between one and four in 100 young people carry knives.

    For those few who do, it is important to understand the complex factors behind why. This is what we, and many other academics, have been studying in our research.

    Both researchers and young people themselves cite protection as a factor in knife carrying. Many young people are fearful of being victims of knife crime, and knife carrying may offer a sense of security and defence from potential threats.

    This fear is not necessarily correlated to reality. Young people tend to overestimate the prevalence of weapon carrying among their peers. What’s more, those carrying knives for defence often end up having their own knife used against them.

    Seeing images of knives

    One reason that young people may have a fear of knife crime is because of how the threat is presented to them through images.

    Media reports and anti-knife campaign material often features images of shocking weapons, such as zombie knives. Depictions of piles of seized weapons and vicious blades all paint a picture of a risky landscape.

    You probably noticed that the photos illustrating this article do not include a picture of a knife. This is a deliberate choice. Our research has found that such knife imagery can evoke fear or excitement for some young people.

    Their heightened emotional responses suggest that these young people are the most likely to be vulnerable to future knife carrying. Those who feel most unsafe in their communities are the most likely to respond negatively to graphic imagery.

    Interestingly, the young people who participated in our research self-reported knife imagery as having little impact on them. But our study investigated their unconscious emotional response through an implicit association test. This approach is key in a research area vulnerable to self-presentation bias, where young people might attempt to hide their true feelings.

    The test we used assessed response speeds to determine associations between images of knives and words relating to fear and excitement. Overall, response times were faster (showed more association) for fear-related words.

    Other evidence suggests that anti-knife crime imagery and messaging can create exaggerated belief about the prevalence of knife carrying. This may increase, rather than reduce, the fear of victimisation, and further encourage people to carry knives.

    Some young people say they carry knives because they feel a need to protect themselves.
    No Knives, Better Lives, © Open Aye, CC BY-NC

    Floods of knife images in a young person’s social and educational environment may normalise knife carrying. Nearly two-thirds of young people report experiencing secondary traumatic stress when viewing knife crime news on social media.

    When knife imagery is used in intervention materials presented by someone in a position of authority (a teacher or police officer, for example), it can validate the fears even more.

    In other words, the more we talk about knife crime, the scarier it can seem, and the more young people feel the need to protect themselves by carrying a weapon.

    Labour’s plan to cut knife crime – including a ban on zombie knives that has just come into effect – should go a long way to reducing the availability of “status” weapons. It may also mean that images of these knives are less prevalent in the media, which, given our research findings, would likely have a positive effect.

    But, as noted earlier, most young people are not at risk, and have had no exposure to knife crime. Knife carrying is not normal behaviour for most young people. Anti-knife messaging would serve young people better by avoiding the use of knife imagery, and instead focus on discussing how to keep safe by avoiding risky behaviour, and how to get help if a dangerous situation arises.

    Dr Charlotte Coleman receives funding from N8 Policing Research Partnership.
    Dr Charlotte Coleman is a member of the Youth Justice Board Academic Liaison Network
    Dr Charlotte Coleman is an executive member of the Society for Evidence Based Policing.

    Jess Scott-Lewis 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 images of knives intended to stop youth knife crime may actually be making things worse – https://theconversation.com/how-images-of-knives-intended-to-stop-youth-knife-crime-may-actually-be-making-things-worse-239153

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI: Unlimited Hedge Fund Barometer: Emerging Markets Funds Dominated in Q3 as China Stocks Rally

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NEW YORK, Oct. 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Unlimited, an investment firm and ETF sponsor that uses proprietary technology to provide low-cost alternative strategies to a variety of investors, published its Q3 2024 Hedge Fund Barometer today, showing emerging markets hedge funds leading their peers with an average 5% gross return in the quarter. Global macro and managed futures funds saw the weakest performance in the quarter at -1.2%.

    According to Unlimited’s latest Barometer, aggregate hedge fund performance was moderately positive across most strategies in Q3 2024. To read the full report, click here.

    Unlimited’s Barometer uses machine learning and multiple data sources to track performance for the major hedge fund strategies. It also provides a near real-time view into how hedge funds are positioned across major asset classes, industry sectors and geographies.

    Unlike Q2 where equity long/short funds outperformed other hedge fund strategies, emerging markets managers had the strongest performance in Q3 and long/short equity and event driven managers rode through the summer turmoil to deliver positive returns. Hedge funds generally have also reduced their exposure to Japanese equities, which performed strongly in Q1.

    “One of the more acute market moves in the quarter came in onshore and offshore Chinese equities,” said Bob Elliott, CEO and CIO of Unlimited. “While managers appear to have trimmed underweights from earlier in the year, as those stocks sold off, their position remained more neutral despite the recent market action.”

    Unlimited Hedge Fund Barometer Q3 2024 Findings

    Despite a turbulent August, long/short equity managers continue to hold roughly normal levels of overall equity exposure while continuing their rotation toward large cap growth stocks and away from small and mid-caps. Fixed income managers have started to trim their near peak exposure to corporate spreads after their approach of levering up into secularly low spreads backfired in August as spreads rose. Other highlights include:

    • Average gross returns across strategies were just below +3.5%
    • The best performing fund style was Emerging Markets equity at +5%
    • The worst performing fund style was Managed Futures at -1.2%

    As we enter the last quarter of 2024, Unlimited’s Barometer also shows hedge funds:

    • Were modestly overweight equities – specifically growth stocks – following a period of being underweight stocks in ‘22-’23. They also remained underweight small and mid-cap stocks.
    • Were roughly neutral on the U.S. dollar relative to other currencies, as Fed policy has shifted to a more dovish stance over the last several months. On the British pound, short positions were closed in recent months. They were modestly long the yen.
    • Remained relatively neutral bonds, weighing the risks between reacceleration and recession. Earlier in the quarter Fixed Income managers held near historical peak levels while spread levels approached all-time lows, a strategy that backfired in August. Subsequently, managers appear to have reduced risks in credit spreads.
    • Have reduced positions in energy commodities as prices have fallen. Positions in other growth-oriented commodities like metals have remained roughly neutral in recent months.

    Click here to view a video on how Unlimited’s technology works.

    About Unlimited
    Founded in 2022 by Bob Elliott, Bruce McNevin and Matt Salzberg, Unlimited is an investment firm using proprietary technology to create strategies that offer lower-cost access to 2 & 20 style alternative investment strategies, such as hedge funds, to a wide variety of investors. Mr. Elliott has built innovative hedge fund strategies for more than two decades, including at Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund. Mr. McNevin is a Professor of Economics at New York University and has held various data science positions at hedge funds Clinton Group and Midway Group, along with positions at Bank of America and BlackRock. Mr. Salzberg serves as a Managing Partner at Material and Board Director of Unlimited. Learn more at unlimitedfunds.com.

    Media Contacts:

    Sarah Lazarus Zach Kouwe
    Dukas Linden Public Relations Dukas Linden Public Relations
    +1 617-335-7823 +1 551-655-4032
    sarah@dlpr.com zkouwe@dlpr.com
       

    For informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice. The data shown herein represents past performance and should not be construed as providing any assurance or guarantee as to returns that may be realized in the future. No representation is being made that any investment will or is likely to achieve profits or losses similar to those shown herein. No investment strategy or risk management technique can guarantee return or eliminate risk in any market environment.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: WhiteBIT Achieves the Highest Level of PCI DSS Certification for Payment Data Security

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    VILNIUS, Lithuania, Oct. 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — WhiteBIT cryptocurrency exchange has once again confirmed its commitment to top-tier security standards by successfully passing the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) certification. The company achieved the highest Level 1 certification.

    This certification verifies that the WhiteBIT platform adheres to the best practices for storing, processing, and transmitting payment card data, ensuring the privacy and security of its users’ financial information. Payment data on WhiteBIT is securely protected from cyber attacks and online fraud, allowing customers to safely perform bank card transactions (deposit/withdraw funds) using methods like Apple Pay and Google Pay.

    “The security of our customers has always been a top priority at WhiteBIT. We set a high standard for cybersecurity and work tirelessly to safeguard our users’ data against potential threats,” said Volodymyr Nosov. “Today, over 5 million clients trust us, and we continually implement innovative solutions to ensure their safety and the transparency of our processes.”

    Benefits of PCI DSS Certification for WhiteBIT Crypto Exchange:

    1. Enhanced Fraud Protection: The certification ensures that WhiteBIT implements advanced security measures, such as encryption, tokenization, access controls, and monitoring, to protect and process payment card data. This greatly reduces the risk of data breaches and cybercrime.
    2. Data Privacy: WhiteBIT handles card data in line with top industry standards, ensuring clients’ sensitive information remains secure and confidential.
    3. Wider Range of Trusted Payment Options: PCI DSS certification enables the integration of multiple secure payment methods, including bank cards from various payment systems. Additionally, all payment providers partnered with WhiteBIT are also required to comply with PCI DSS standards.
    4. Global Recognition: Certification proves that WhiteBIT adheres to international security practices, which is a key consideration for global partners and investors.

    PCI DSS certification highlights WhiteBIT’s commitment to user safety, allowing customers to confidently use their bank cards on the platform without concerns over data breaches.

    To maintain PCI DSS certification, WhiteBIT undergoes an independent audit annually, assessing its compliance with 12 core security principles. This audit is conducted by an accredited third-party organization.

    In addition, WhiteBIT performs external penetration testing of its platform to identify and address any potential vulnerabilities.

    About PCI DSS

    PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) is a global security standard established by the payment card industry to protect cardholder data. It was developed by five major payment networks: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, and JCB. The standard encompasses over 300 criteria related to various aspects of information security, organized into 12 key principles. There are four levels of certification, determined by the annual volume of transactions processed.

    About WhiteBIT

    WhiteBIT is one of the largest centralized cryptocurrency exchanges in Europe, founded in Ukraine in 2018. The platform offers more than 580 trading pairs, 270+ assets, and supports 10 national currencies. WhiteBIT partners with global payment system Visa, the e-sports platform FACEIT, and the telecom operator lifecell. It also supports FC Barcelona (Spain), Trabzonspor (Turkey), and the Ukrainian national football team. Additionally, WhiteBIT collaborates with the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. The company’s mission is to promote the widespread adoption of blockchain technology in Ukraine and around the world.

    Contact

    WhiteBit
    WhiteBit Team
    pr@whitebit.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: expert reaction to study on forever chemicals in bottled and tap water

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    A study published in ACS E&T Water looks at PFAS in drinking water. 

    Prof Oliver Jones, Professor of Chemistry, RMIT University, said:

    “PFAS are a family of man-made chemicals based on carbon-fluorine bonds.  They are often termed forever chemicals because they are very resistant to degradation. The name is also a little chemistry joke as the F in forever, and C in chemicals can also stand for Fluorine and Carbon, respectively. Unfortunately, the term is misleading as it implies that PFAS never break down and that if they get in your body, they are there forever – neither of which is true.

    “This new research about PFAS in drinking water may initially sound scary and raise some concerns with the public. However, the authors do not claim to have assessed risk, and we should remember that the mere presence of something does not mean it will automatically cause harm. Any discussion about toxicity is meaningless without both dose and context. For example, we know you can get skin cancer from exposure to UV light, but that does not mean you will get cancer as soon as you go outside. Similarly, you will have no problem drinking a glass of water, but if you inhale the same amount into your lungs, you’ll have health risks. 

    “While PFAS have been linked to a range of health effects, the concentrations of PFAS needed to cause such effects are much higher than the levels reported in this study. In some respects, the work is good news: even the highest total PFAS level reported was just 9.2 ng/L. For reference, one nanogram per litre is 1 part per trillion. This is equivalent to 1 second in 31.5 thousand years. So, yes, 9.2 ng/L is an incredibly small amount, and the risk of PFAS exposure at this level is also very small. Since the researchers only measured ten compounds, it is possible that there was more PFAS present than was reported, but the risk is still very low.

     “The other thing to remember is that PFAS are now ubiquitous in the environment, so if you look hard enough at almost any sample, you will find them. Background contamination from clothes and lab equipment is a problem when assessing PFAS at such low levels, but the authors don’t say how they accounted for this in the main part of the paper.

     “We might say, ‘Why not make the risk zero completely’? But this is impossible to achieve. There is risk in everything we do; for example, if I drive to work, there is a risk I might crash, I go for a swim, I might drown. Both are low risks, but not zero. We could never be sure PFAS concentration was zero, just that it was lower than the minimum amount we could measure. Even the recent US limit of 4ng/L for PFOS and PFOA in drinking water is not based on acceptable risk but just one that can be achieved and reliably measured. 

    “So overall, while this paper is interesting it does not mean you need to avoid bottled (or tap) water”.

    Dr Ovokeroye Abafe, Lecturer in Environmental Sciences, Brunel University of London, said:

    “The study’s conclusions show insights into very simple contaminant reduction methods that can easily be adopted by consumers. The result provides further understanding on the distribution of PFAS in drinking water sources and shows that simple AC filtration and boiling can significantly reduce the concentrations of some PFAS in drinking water, thereby minimising exposure arising from this route.  It is interesting to see very simple and easily adaptable home solutions that can significantly minimise the concentrations of PFAS in drinking water, thereby safeguarding public health.  However, the sample size is relatively small, which is a limitation to be aware of.”

    ‘Factors Influencing Concentrations of PFAS in Drinking Water: Implications for Human Exposure’ by Chuanzi Gao et al. was published in ACS E&T Water at 13:00 UK time on Thursday 17th October.

    Declared interests

    Prof Oliver Jones: “I don’t have any conflicts of interest in this case, but I have in the past received funds from the Environment Protection Authority Victoria and various Australian Water utilities for research into environmental pollution, including PFAS.”

    For all other experts, no reply to our request for DOIs was received.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Nobel peace prize was another win for anti-nuclear activists, but much work remains

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Elizabeth Chappell, Researcher Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, The Open University

    The 2024 Nobel peace prize has been awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese grassroots organisation created by survivors of the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Nihon Hidankyo has provided thousands of witness accounts and public appeals by survivors, who are known as hibakusha, and has sent annual delegations to the UN.

    Their work was commended by the Nobel committee, who decided to award the prize to Nihon Hidankyo “for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating that nuclear weapons must never be used again”.

    Nihon Hidankyo’s co-chair, Toshiyuki Mimaki, said: “I never expected we would win the Nobel peace prize. Now we want to go further and appeal to the world to achieve lasting peace. We are old, but we never give up.”

    There are an estimated 106,000 hibakusha still living in Japan, with many more alive around the world. There are also survivors – and their descendants – of the more than 2,000 nuclear tests that have taken place worldwide since 1945. Some of these people use the term hibakusha to describe themselves.

    This was not the first time the prize had been awarded to a nominee for their efforts towards nuclear disarmament. And it probably won’t be the last.

    In 1985, the prize was awarded to an organisation called the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. And then, in 1995, the prize was won by Joseph Rotblat, the only scientist to have left the Manhattan Project – the US government’s research project to produce the first atomic bomb – on moral grounds.

    Barack Obama was next in 2009, for his “vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons”. His administration made efforts to renew the strategic arms reduction treaty with Russia, and Obama became the first US president to visit one of the atomic bombed cities when he made a special trip to Hiroshima in 2016.

    The following year, the prize was won by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) for its “groundbreaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of nuclear weapons”. This was a reference to the UN treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons, which from 2017 has outlawed states from participating in any nuclear weapon activities.

    Nihon Hidankyo may not be a household name, but two of its former co-chairs are quite well known internationally. Hiroshima-born Sunao Tsuboi was photographed in one of the few known images to be taken on the day of the bombing.

    Tsuboi and fellow survivor Shigeaki Mori also spoke with Obama on his visit to the city. It is said that Obama’s visit was, in part, triggered by Mori’s research. He had spent 40 years searching for the identities of 12 US prisoners of war who had been killed in the bombing of Hiroshima.

    Another of Nihon Hidankyo’s former co-chairs, Nagasaki-born Sumiteru Taniguchi, spent three-and-a-half years in hospital after the bombing of his city and never fully recovered from his wounds.

    Taniguchi’s story became famous after the publication of his 1984 memoir, The Postman of Nagasaki. The book’s author, Peter Townsend, was a Royal Air Force pilot in the second world war and is known in the UK for his affair with Princess Margaret, sister of the late Queen. The memoir was made into a film in 2022.

    The logic of nuclear deterrence

    We are currently at a time where the threat of nuclear weapons is growing. This was reflected by the committee who, when awarding Nihon Hidankyo with the prize, noted that the “taboo” against their use was “under pressure”.

    Nuclear deterrence relies on the logic of the threat to inflict “unacceptable damage” on the enemy. But nuclear deterrence is not foolproof. What is unacceptable to one adversary may be acceptable to another, depending on the circumstances.

    It’s worth remembering that the 1945 atomic bombings were not, as is commonly believed, the only reason the Japanese surrendered the following week and brought the war to an end. Various factions in the war council had been attempting to find ways to surrender for over a year, and the bombs offered Japan’s Emperor Hirohito a way to save face.

    As M.G. Sheftall, the author of the 2024 book, Hiroshima: The Last Witnesses, has noted:

    The bombs didn’t force the Japanese to surrender, they gave Hirohito the opportunity to surrender … News of the Nagasaki bomb came as they were having a meeting of the imperial war council about what to do about the Soviets coming into the war. It should be known that there was never any special imperial war council meeting after the Hiroshima bomb. That wasn’t considered weighty enough to make everyone drop what they were doing and head to the Imperial Palace.

    The ruins of Nagasaki, Japan, after the atomic bombing of August 9 1945.
    Everett Collection / Shutterstock

    The effects of radiation on the human body were little known in 1945, due to censorship both by the Japanese military and the US occupation that followed. As I was told in an interview with a hibakusha called Keiko Ogura, who was eight when the first bomb was dropped: “No one understood why people were still dying days, weeks, months and years after the attacks – they thought the atomic bomb was poison gas.”

    We now know much more about the devastating consequences of radiation for humans, animals and the environment across generations. However, research is still not widely publicised, with ICAN taking the lead as an international forum for important new findings to be shared and known.

    Let’s hope this year’s award will help inform the world once and for all of the nature of these weapons. As former US president, John F. Kennedy, said in a speech to the UN in 1961: “A nuclear disaster, spread by wind and water and fear, could well engulf the great and the small, the rich and the poor, the committed and the uncommitted alike.”

    Next year will mark the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings. This prize should help ban what Kennedy described as the “sword of Damocles” that still threatens life on earth.

    Elizabeth Chappell does not work for or receive funding from any external organisation.

    – ref. Nobel peace prize was another win for anti-nuclear activists, but much work remains – https://theconversation.com/nobel-peace-prize-was-another-win-for-anti-nuclear-activists-but-much-work-remains-241160

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Dietary restriction or good genes: new study tries to unpick which has a greater impact on lifespan

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Bradley Elliott, Senior Lecturer in Physiology, University of Westminster

    As people who research ageing like to quip: the best thing you can do to increase how long you live is to pick good parents. After all, it has long been recognised that longer-lived people tend to have longer-lived parents and grandparents, suggesting that genetics influence longevity.

    Complicating the picture, however, is that we know that the sum of your lifestyle, specifically diet and exercise, also significantly influences your health into older age and how long you live. What contribution lifestyle versus genetics makes is an open question that a recent study in Nature has shed new light on.

    Scientists have long known that reducing calorie intake can make animals live longer. In the 1930s, it was noted that rats fed reduced calories lived longer than rats who could eat as much as they wanted. Similarly, people who are more physically active tend to live longer. But specifically linking single genes to longevity was until recently a controversial one.

    While studying the lifespan of the tiny worm C elegans at the University of California, San Francisco, Cynthia Kenyon found that small changes to the gene that controls the way that cells detect and respond to nutrients around them led to the worms doubling their lifespan. This raises new questions: if we know that genetics and lifestyle affect how long you live, which one is more important? And how do they interact?

    To try to tease out the effects of genetics versus lifestyle, the new study in Nature examined different models of caloric restriction in 960 mice. The researchers specifically looked at classical experimental models of caloric restriction (either 20% or 40% fewer calories than control mice), or intermittent fasting of one or two days without food (as intermittent fasting is popular in people looking to see the positive benefits of caloric restriction).

    Because we now know that small genetic variations affect ageing, the researchers specifically used genetically diverse mice. This is important for two reasons. First, as laboratory studies on mice are normally performed on genetically very (very!) similar mice, this allowed the researchers to tease out the effects of both diet and genetic variables would have on longevity.

    Second, humans are highly diverse, meaning that studies on genetically near-identical mice don’t often translate into humanity’s high genetic diversity.

    The headline finding was that genetics appeared to play a larger role in lifespan than any of the dietary restriction interventions. Long-lived types of mice were still longer lived despite dietary changes.

    Diet counts, but genes count more

    And while shorter-lived mice did show improvements as a result of dietary restrictions, they didn’t catch up to their longer-lived peers. This suggests that there’s truth to the “pick good parents” joke.

    Caloric restriction models still increased lifespans across all the types of mice, with the 40% restriction group having improved average and maximum lifespans compared with the 20% group.

    And the 20% group showed improvements in both group average and maximum length of lives compared with the control group. It’s just the effects of genetics were larger than the effect of the dietary interventions.

    While all the caloric restriction models resulted in increased lifespan in the mice on average, in the most extreme caloric restriction model tested (40% less group) changes that could be seen as physical harms were observed. These included reduced immune function and losses in muscle mass, which outside of a predator- and germ-free laboratory environment could affect health and longevity.

    There are some important caveats in studies like this. First, it’s not known if these results apply to humans.

    As with most caloric restriction research in mice, the restricted feeding groups were fed 20% or 40% less than a control group who ate as much as they wanted. In humans, that’d be like assuming people eating every meal every day at a bottomless buffet is “normal”. And people who do not eat from limitless trays of food are “restricted feeding”. That’s not an exact parallel to how humans live and eat.

    Second, although exercise wasn’t controlled in any way in this study, most groups did similar amounts of running in their in-cage running wheels except the 40% caloric restriction group who ran significantly more.

    The researchers suggested that this extra exercise in the 40% group was the mice constantly hunting for more food. But as this group did so much more exercise than the others, it could also mean that positive effects of increased exercise were also seen in this group alongside their caloric restriction.

    So, while we can’t pick our parents or change the genes we inherit from them, it is interesting to know that specific genetic variations play a significant role in the maximum age we can aspire to.

    The genetic cards we’re dealt dictate how long we can expect to live. Just as important in this study, however, lifestyle interventions such as diet and exercise that aim to improve lifespan should be effective regardless of the genes we have.

    Bradley Elliott receives funding from the Physiological Society, the British Society for Research on Ageing, the Altitude Centre, and private philanthropic individuals, and has consulted for industry and government on longevity research. He is on the Board of Trustees of the British Society for Research on Ageing.

    – ref. Dietary restriction or good genes: new study tries to unpick which has a greater impact on lifespan – https://theconversation.com/dietary-restriction-or-good-genes-new-study-tries-to-unpick-which-has-a-greater-impact-on-lifespan-241050

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: A new generation of telescopes will probe the ‘unknown unknowns’ that could transform our knowledge of the universe

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Richard Massey, Professor of extragalactic astrophysics (dark matter and cosmology), Durham University

    Illustration of the Extremely Large Telescope, currently under construction in Chile’s Atacama desert. ESO, CC BY

    In recent decades, we’ve learnt huge amounts about the universe and its history. The rapidly developing technology of telescopes – both on Earth and in space – has been a key part of this process, and those that are due to start operating over the next two decades should push the boundaries of our understanding of cosmology much further.

    All observatories have a list of science objectives before they switch on, but it is their unexpected discoveries that can have the biggest impact. Many surprise advances in cosmology were driven by new technology, and the next telescopes have powerful capabilities.

    Still, there are gaps, such as a lack of upcoming space telescopes for ultraviolet and visible light astronomy. Politics and national interests have slowed scientific progress. Financial belts are tightening at even the most famous observatories.

    This is article is part of our series Cosmology in crisis? which uncovers the greatest problems facing cosmologists today – and discusses the implications of solving them.

    The biggest new telescopes are being built in the mountains of Chile. The Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) will house a mirror the size of four tennis courts, under a huge dome in the Atacama desert.

    Reflecting telescopes like ELT work by using a primary mirror to collect light from the night sky, then reflecting it off other mirrors to a camera. Larger mirrors collect more light and see fainter objects.

    The Extremely Large Telescope under construction atop the Cerro Amazones peak in northern Chile.

    Another ground-based telescope under construction in Chile is the Vera C. Rubin telescope. Rubin’s camera is the largest ever built: the size of a small car and weighing about three tonnes. Its 3,200 megapixels will photograph the whole sky every three days to spot moving objects. Over the course of 10 years, these photographs will be combined to form a massive time-lapse video of the universe.

    Astronomy used to be a physically demanding job, requiring travel to remote telescopes in dark sites –- but many astronomers began working from home long before COVID. In the late 20th century, major ground observatories started to put in place technology to allow astronomers to control telescopes for observations at night, even when they were not there in person. Remote observing is now commonplace, carried out via the internet.

    Expect the unexpected

    The view of any telescope on the ground is limited, though, even if it’s on top of a mountain. Launching telescopes into space can get around these limitations.

    The Hubble Space Telescope’s operational history began when the space shuttle lifted it above the atmosphere on April 25 1990. Hubble got the full 1960s sci-fi treatment: a rocket to launch it, gyroscopes to point it, and electronic cameras instead of photographic film. But one plan fell through: for Hubble to host a commuting astronaut-astronomer, working decidedly away from home.

    Hubble was designed to take a census of the Milky Way and its neighbouring galaxies. Its successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, would study even more distant galaxies.

    Both telescopes have revolutionised our understanding of the universe, but in ways nobody foresaw. Hubble’s original plans mention none of the discoveries now seen as its greatest hits: plumes of water erupting from Jupiter’s moon Europa, the vortex around black holes, invisible dark matter that holds the universe together, and the dark energy that is pulling it apart.

    The Hubble Space Telescope being deployed from the space shuttle in April 1990.
    Nasa/Smithsonian Institution/Lockheed Corporation

    Webb, launched on December 25 2021, now spends a third of its time looking at planets around other stars that weren’t even known about when it was designed.

    The stated goal of an expensive telescope is usually just a sales pitch to space agencies, governments and (shhh…) taxpayers. The Webb telescope should achieve its original science goals, but astronomers have always known that seeing further, finer or in more colours can achieve so much more. The unexpected discoveries by telescopes are often more significant than the science objectives stated at the outset.

    Taking the long view

    For scientists, it’s a relief that telescopes go beyond their brief, because Hubble and Webb both took more than 25 years from napkin to launch. In that time, new scientific questions arise.

    Building a large space telescope typically takes about two decades. The Chandra and XMM-Newton space telescopes took 23 years and 15 years to build, respectively. They were designed to observe X-rays coming from hot gas around black holes and galaxy clusters, and were launched very close together in 1999.

    They were followed by Japan’s Hitomi X-ray satellite, which took 18 years to build, and the German eRosita instrument on Russia’s Spektr-RG space observatory, which took 20 years.

    Similar timescales apply to the European Space Agency’s Hipparcos and Gaia space telescopes, which have mapped all the stars in the Milky Way. The Cobe and Planck missions to study the microwave-light afterglow of the Big Bang also took two decades. Precise dates depend how you count, and a few exceptions have been “faster, better, cheaper”, but national space agencies are generally risk averse and slow when developing these projects.

    Chandra and XMM-Newton were launched to study X-rays from hot gas around black holes.
    ESO, Esa/Hubble, M. Kornmesser, CC BY

    The latest space telescopes are therefore millennials. They were designed at a time when astronomers had measured the universe’s newborn expansion following the Big Bang, and also its old-age, accelerating expansion. Their main goal now is to fill the gap –- because, surprisingly, interpolations from early times to late times don’t meet in the middle.

    The measured rates for the expansion of the universe are inconsistent, as are results for the clumpiness of matter in the cosmos. Both measurements create challenges for our theories of how the universe evolved.

    Observing the middle age of the universe requires telescopes operating at long wavelengths, because light from distant galaxies is stretched by the time it reaches us. So, Webb has infrared zoom cameras, while the European Space Agency’s Euclid space telescope, launched in 2023, and Nasa’s Nancy Grace Roman telescope, which is set to launch in 2026, both have infrared wide-angle views.

    Three buses come along at once

    Most stars shine in ultraviolet and infrared colours that are blocked by the Earth’s atmosphere, as well as the colours our eyes evolved to see.

    Extra colours are useful. For example, we can weigh stars on the other side of our galaxy because massive stars are bright in infrared, while smaller ones are faint – and they stay that way throughout their lifetimes. However, we know where stars are being born because only young stars emit ultraviolet light.

    In addition, independent measurements of the same thing are vital for rigorous science. Infrared telescopes, for example, can work together and have already made surprising discoveries. But it’s not great for diversity that the Webb, Euclid and Roman space telescopes all see infrared colours.

    Hubble’s visible light camera has just been switched off due to budget cuts. Nasa will not swing back to ultraviolet wavelengths until the 2030s, with the Ultraviolet Explorer and Habitable Worlds Observatory.

    Earthly politics gets in the way, too. Data from China’s Hubble-class space telescope, Xuntian, is unlikely to be shared internationally. And in protest at Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in February 2022 Germany switched off its eRosita X-ray instrument that had been operating perfectly, in collaboration with Russia, a million miles from Earth.

    Cheap commercial launches may save the day. Euclid was to have lifted off on a Russian Soyuz rocket from a European Space Agency spaceport in French Guiana. When Russia ended operations there in tit-for-tat reprisals, Euclid’s launch was successfully switched at the last minute to a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

    If large telescopes can also be folded inside shoebox-size “cubesat” satellites, the lower cost would make it viable for them to fail. Tolerating risk creates a virtuous circle that makes missions even cheaper.

    Telescopes are also being tried in innovative locations such as giant helium balloons and aeroplanes. One day, they might also be deployed on the Moon, where the environment is advantageous for certain types of astronomy.

    But perhaps the most unusual telescope technology, which may bring the most unexpected discoveries, is gravitational wave detectors. Gravitational waves are not part of the electromagnetic spectrum, so we can’t see them. They are distortions, or “ripples”, in spacetime caused by some of the most violent and energetic processes in the universe. These might include a collision between two neutron stars (dense objects formed when massive stars run out of fuel), or a neutron star merging with a black hole.

    If telescopes are our eyes, gravitational wave detectors are our ears. But again, current gravitational wave detectors on Earth are mere dry runs for the ones astronomers will ultimately deploy in space.

    Asked what the next generation of observatories will discover, I have no idea. And that’s a good thing. The best science experiments shouldn’t just tell us about the things we expect to find, but also about the unknown unknowns.

    Richard Massey receives funding from the UK Space Agency to support Euclid, and leads UK involvement in the SuperBIT balloon-born telescope.

    – ref. A new generation of telescopes will probe the ‘unknown unknowns’ that could transform our knowledge of the universe – https://theconversation.com/a-new-generation-of-telescopes-will-probe-the-unknown-unknowns-that-could-transform-our-knowledge-of-the-universe-240078

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: The Apprentice: released so close to the polls, this Trump biopic is inevitably political

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Michelle Bentley, Professor of International Relations, Royal Holloway University of London

    The Apprentice – a new film dramatising Donald Trump’s business career during the 1970s and 80s – is the latest in a presidential election full of controversy.

    The movie charts Trump’s (Sebastian Stan) professional rise from an awkward nobody to hotshot real-estate tycoon. Trump’s Pygmalion-like transformation is credited to his friendship with Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong). Cohn was an infamous prosecutor who worked with Senator Joseph McCarthy during the Communist and Lavender (homosexual) scares, and as a political fixer for Richard Nixon.

    The key storyline is that Trump becomes Cohn’s apprentice, learning underhanded ways of business and Machiavellian deal-making. Other figures said to have influenced Trump’s career, such as political adviser Roger Stone, get only cameos at best.

    Trump does not look good. He is portrayed as vain, using amphetamines as diet pills and getting plastic surgery including liposuction and a scalp reduction. Trump rejects his alcoholic brother and later Cohn, who dies from AIDS in social disgrace.

    Trump is also shown to rape his then-wife, Ivana (Maria Bakalova) – a scene which made headlines after the movie’s Cannes Film Festival premiere earlier this year. The rape claim was made during the couple’s divorce proceedings, although Ivana said afterwards that she did not consider the incident “rape” in a criminal sense.

    Director Ali Abbasi says this depiction isn’t a take-down of the former president but a more nuanced exploration of Trump’s character. Indeed, there is sympathy for Trump – for example, by detailing the emotional pressure from his father.

    The film explores how this experience fuelled Trump’s obsession with winning, which is cultivated by Cohn and his three rules of success: “attack, attack, attack”, “deny everything” and “never admit defeat”. The film seeks to get inside Trump’s mindset, not only as a businessperson, but unpicking what drove him in the White House, as well as the election he’s now fighting.

    Some have criticised this approach for being too soft on Trump. A review in The Guardian called the film “obtuse and irrelevant”. A further concern is that presenting Trump as a “winner” could actually be seen to legitimise amoral business practices as successful, especially given that Trump’s later six bankruptcies are not clearly mentioned.

    The Apprentice is also a deeper commentary on America. Another character comments that Cohn’s three rules also describe US foreign policy. The film raises big questions about the US, not least where Cohn repeatedly highlights what he identifies as the country’s virtues, and justifies his (sometimes illegal) actions as upholding these. The audience is left to consider what shapes America and its foreign policy – and what may be toxic about this.

    Will the film influence the upcoming election?

    The Apprentice’s screenwriter, Gabriel Sherman, insists the movie is not designed “to influence people’s minds”. Yet the film’s release so close to the polls means it is inevitably political.

    The Apprentice is unlikely to radically shift the electoral needle. Trump’s negative portrayal may make some voters on the fence question his suitability for high office. But beyond this, the film will reinforce what people already thought.

    Pro-Trumpers won’t like the movie, but this upset will likely just give oxygen to their support. Those against Trump will also be able to feel their opinion has been affirmed, even by those who would have wanted the film to take a harder line. Although it’s perhaps uncertain whether anyone who dislikes Trump will want to spend two hours watching even more of him than they already have in this election.

    While the film likely won’t influence the final outcome, it is still a major marker in this election thanks to the huge controversy around it. Concern over its divisive portrait of Trump meant the movie took five years to reach production. Clint Eastwood turned down the option to direct due to the perceived business risk involved. Distribution also took time to secure – a situation Abbasi describes as a “boycott or censorship”.

    Distribution problems were also exacerbated by legal threats. After Cannes (where the film received an eight-minute ovation), Trump’s legal team issued a cease-and-desist letter. Communications Director for the Trump election campaign, Steven Cheung, said the film was “garbage” and “pure fiction”, constituting election interference.

    Strong resistance also came from billionaire and close Trump associate, Dan Snyder, who was involved in the film’s financing, thinking it would paint a positive picture of the presidential hopeful. Snyder later sought to block the film’s release after seeing a preview.

    Controversy has only raised the movie’s profile. And while people will watch it for very different political reasons, some will buy a ticket purely because this film is now a standout event in one of the most contentious US elections in history.


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    Michelle Bentley 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 Apprentice: released so close to the polls, this Trump biopic is inevitably political – https://theconversation.com/the-apprentice-released-so-close-to-the-polls-this-trump-biopic-is-inevitably-political-241077

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –