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Category: Report

  • MIL-OSI Global: Supreme Court upholds childproofing porn sites

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Meg Leta Jones, Associate Professor of Technology Law & Policy, Georgetown University

    The Supreme Court greenlights states’ efforts to block kids from online porn by requiring age verification. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

    The U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision on June 27, 2025, that will reshape how states protect children online. In a case assessing a Texas law requiring age verification to access porn sites, the court created a new legal path that makes it easier for states to craft laws regulating what kids see and do on the internet.

    In a 6-3 decision, the court ruled in Free Speech Coalition Inc. v. Paxton that Texas’ law obligating porn sites to block access to underage users is constitutional. The law requires pornographic websites to verify users’ ages – for example by making users scan and upload their driver’s license – before granting access to content that is deemed obscene for minors but not adults.

    The majority on the court rejected both the porn industry’s argument for strict scrutiny – the toughest legal test that requires the government to prove a law is absolutely necessary – and Texas’ argument for mere rational basis review, which requires only a rational connection between the law’s legitimate aims and its actions. Instead, Justice Clarence Thomas’ opinion established intermediate scrutiny, a middle ground that requires laws to serve important government interests without being overly burdensome, as the appropriate standard.

    The court’s reasoning hinged on characterizing the law as only “incidentally” burdening adults’ First Amendment rights. Since minors have no constitutional right to access pornography, the state can require age verification to prevent that unprotected activity. Any burden on adults is, according to the ruling, merely a side effect of this legitimate regulation.

    The court also pointed to dramatic technological changes since earlier similar laws were struck down in the 1990s and early 2000s. Back then, only 2 in 5 households had internet access, mostly through slow dial-up connections on desktop computers. Today, 95% of teens carry smartphones with constant internet access to massive libraries of content. Porn site Pornhub alone published over 150 years of new material in 2019. The court argued that earlier decisions “could not have conceived of these developments,” making age verification more necessary than judges could have imagined decades ago.

    More importantly for future legislation, the court embraced an “ordinary and appropriate means” doctrine: When states have authority to govern an area, they may use traditional methods to exercise that power. Since age verification is common for alcohol and tobacco, tattoos and piercings, firearms, driver’s licenses and voting, the court held that it’s similarly appropriate for regulating minors’ access to sexual content.

    The key takeaway: When states are trying to keep kids away from certain types of content that kids have no legal right to see anyway, requiring age verification is an ordinary and appropriate way to enforce that boundary.

    Implications for other laws

    This decision could resolve a fundamental enforcement problem in child privacy laws. Current laws like the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act protect children only when companies have actual knowledge a user is under 13. But platforms routinely avoid this requirement by not asking users’ ages or letting them enter whatever age they want. Without age verification, there’s no actual knowledge and thus no privacy protections.

    The Supreme Court’s reasoning changes this dynamic. Since the court emphasized that children lack the same constitutional rights as adults regarding certain protections, states may now be able to require age verification before data collection. California’s Age-Appropriate Design Code and similar state privacy laws would gain substantially more regulatory power under this framework.

    Meanwhile, social media platforms could face more restrictions. Several states have tried to limit how social media platforms interact with minors. Florida recently banned kids under 14 from having social media accounts entirely, while other states have targeted specific features such as endless scrolling or push notifications designed to keep kids hooked.

    The Supreme Court’s reasoning could protect laws that require age verification before kids can use certain platform features, such as direct messaging with strangers or livestreaming. However, laws that try to block kids from seeing general social media content would still face tough legal challenges, since that content is typically protected speech for everyone.

    The decision also supports state laws regulating how minors interact with app stores and gaming platforms. Minors generally can’t enter binding contracts without parental consent in the physical world, so states could require the same online. Proposed legislation such as the App Store Accountability Act would require parental approval before kids can download apps or agree to terms of service. States have also considered restrictions on “loot boxes” – digital gambling-like features – and surprise in-app purchases that can result in massive charges to parents.

    Since states already require an ID to buy lottery tickets or enter casinos, requiring age verification before kids can spend money on digital gambling mechanics follows the court’s logic.

    What comes next?

    But this decision doesn’t give states free rein to regulate the internet. The court’s reasoning applies to content that children have no legal right to access in the first place, specifically sexually explicit material. For most online content such as news, educational materials, general entertainment and political discussions, both adults and kids have constitutional rights to access.

    Laws trying to age-gate this protected content would still likely face the strict scrutiny’s standard and be struck down, but what online content and experiences underage users are constitutionally entitled to is not settled. Many advocates worry that while the “obscene for minors” standard in this case appears legally narrow, states will try to expand it or use similar reasoning to classify LGBTQ+-related educational content, health resources or community support materials as inherently sexual and inappropriate for minors.

    The court also emphasized that even under this more permissive standard, laws still have to be reasonable. Age verification requirements that are overly burdensome, sweep too broadly or create serious privacy problems could still be ruled unconstitutional. The court’s decision in this case gives state lawmakers much more room to effectively regulate how online platforms interact with children, but I believe successful laws will need to be carefully written.

    For parents worried about their kids’ online safety, this could mean more tools and protections. For tech companies, it likely means more compliance requirements and age verification systems. And for the broader internet, it represents a significant shift toward treating online spaces more like physical ones, where people have long accepted that some doors require showing ID to enter.

    Meg Leta Jones does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Supreme Court upholds childproofing porn sites – https://theconversation.com/supreme-court-upholds-childproofing-porn-sites-260052

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: What the Supreme Court ruling against ‘universal injunctions’ means for court challenges to presidential actions

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Cassandra Burke Robertson, Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Professional Ethics, Case Western Reserve University

    A journalist runs out of the U.S. Supreme Court building carrying a ruling on the last day of the court’s term on June 27, 2025, in Washington, D.C. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

    When presidents have tried to make big changes through executive orders, they have often hit a roadblock: A single federal judge, whether located in Seattle or Miami or anywhere in between, could stop these policies across the entire country.

    But on June 27, 2025, the Supreme Court significantly limited this judicial power. In Trump v. CASA Inc., a 6-3 majority ruled that federal courts likely lack the authority to issue “universal injunctions” that block government policies nationwide. The ruling means that going forward federal judges can generally only block policies from being enforced against the specific plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit, not against everyone in the country.

    The ruling emerged from a case challenging President Trump’s executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship. While three federal courts had blocked the policy nationwide, the Supreme Court allowed it to proceed against anyone who isn’t a named plaintiff in the lawsuits. This creates a legal environment where the same government policy can be simultaneously blocked for some people but enforced against others.

    Crucially, the court based its decision on interpreting the Judiciary Act of 1789 – not the Constitution – meaning Congress could restore this judicial power simply by passing new legislation.

    But what exactly are these injunctions, and why do they matter to everyday Americans?

    Immediate, irreparable harm

    When the government creates a policy that might violate the Constitution or federal law, affected people can sue in federal court to stop it. While these lawsuits work their way through the courts – a process that often takes years – judges can issue what are called “preliminary injunctions” to temporarily pause the policy if they determine it might cause immediate, irreparable harm.

    A “nationwide” injunction – sometimes called a “universal” injunction – goes further by stopping the policy for everyone across the country, not just for the people who filed the lawsuit.

    Importantly, these injunctions are designed to be temporary. They merely preserve the status quo until courts can fully examine the case’s merits. But in practice, litigation proceeds so slowly that executive actions blocked by the courts often expire when successor administrations abandon the policies.

    Legislation introduced by GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley would ban judges from issuing most nationwide injunctions.
    Sen. Chuck Grassley office

    More executive orders, more injunctions

    Nationwide injunctions aren’t new, but several things have made them more contentious recently.

    First, since a closely divided and polarized Congress rarely passes major legislation anymore, presidents rely more on executive orders to get substantive things done. This creates more opportunities to challenge presidential actions in court.

    Second, lawyers who want to challenge these orders got better at “judge shopping” – filing cases in districts where they’re likely to get judges who agree with their client’s views.

    Third, with growing political division, both parties used these injunctions more aggressively whenever the other party controls the White House.

    Affecting real people

    These legal fights have tangible consequences for millions of Americans.

    Take DACA, the common name for the program formally called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which protects about 500,000 young immigrants from deportation. For more than 10 years, these young immigrants, known as “Dreamers,” have faced constant uncertainty.

    That’s because, when President Barack Obama created DACA in 2012 and sought to expand it via executive order in 2015, a Texas judge blocked the expansion with a nationwide injunction. When Trump tried to end DACA, judges in California, New York and Washington, D.C. blocked that move. The program, and the legal challenges to it, continued under President Joe Biden. Now, the second Trump administration faces continued legal challenges over the constitutionality of the DACA program.

    More recently, judges have used nationwide injunctions to block several Trump policies. Three courts stopped the president’s attempt to deny citizenship to babies born to mothers who lack legal permanent residency in the United States – the cases that led the Supreme Court to limit the reach of injunctions. Judges have also temporarily blocked Trump’s efforts to ban transgender people from serving in the military and to freeze some federal funding for a variety of programs.

    Nationwide injunctions have also blocked congressional legislation.

    The Corporate Transparency Act, passed in 2021 and originally scheduled to go into effect in 2024, combats financial crimes by requiring businesses to disclose their true owners to the government. A Texas judge blocked this law in 2024 after gun stores challenged it.

    In early 2025, the Supreme Court allowed the law to take effect, but the Trump administration announced it simply wouldn’t enforce it – showing how these legal battles can become political power struggles.

    A polarized Congress rarely passes major legislation anymore, so presidents – including Donald Trump – have relied on executive orders to get things done.
    Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

    A ruling that Congress could change

    The Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. CASA was notably narrow in its legal reasoning. The court explicitly stated that its ruling “rests solely on the statutory authority that federal courts possess under the Judiciary Act of 1789” and that it expressed “no view on the Government’s argument that Article III forecloses universal relief.”

    This distinction matters enormously. Because the court based its decision on interpreting a congressional statute rather than the Constitution itself, Congress has the power to overturn the ruling simply by passing new legislation that authorizes federal judges to issue nationwide injunctions.

    The Supreme Court’s majority opinion, written by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, emphasized that universal injunctions “likely exceed the equitable authority that Congress has granted to federal courts” under the Judiciary Act of 1789. The court found these injunctions lack sufficient historical precedent in traditional equity practice.

    However, the three dissenting justices strongly disagreed. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, focused on the importance of birthright citizenship, explaining that “every court to evaluate the Order has deemed it patently unconstitutional.”

    As a result, the dissent argues, “the Government instead tries its hand at a different game. It asks this Court to hold that, no matter how illegal a law or policy, courts can never simply tell the Executive to stop enforcing it against anyone.”

    Legislative solutions on the table

    Congress was already considering legislation to limit judges’ ability to grant nationwide injunctions.

    Another way to address the concerns about a single judge blocking government action would be to require a three-judge panel to hear cases involving nationwide injunctions, requiring at least two of them to agree. This is similar to how courts handled major civil rights cases in the 1950s and 1960s.

    My research on this topic suggests that three judges working together would be less likely to make partisan decisions, while still being able to protect constitutional rights when necessary. Today’s technology also makes it easier for judges in different locations to work together than it was decades ago.

    What comes next

    With the Supreme Court limiting judges’ ability to issue nationwide injunctions based on an old statute, the ball is now in Congress’ court. Lawmakers could choose to restore this judicial power with new legislation, further restrict it, or leave the current limitations in place.

    Until Congress acts, the legal landscape has fundamentally shifted.

    Future challenges to presidential actions may require either cumbersome class action lawsuits or a patchwork of individual cases – potentially leaving many Americans without immediate protection from policies that courts determine violate the Constitution. But unlike a constitutional ruling, this outcome isn’t permanent: Congress holds the key to change it.

    This is an updated and expanded version of a story originally published on April 3, 2025.

    Cassandra Burke Robertson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. What the Supreme Court ruling against ‘universal injunctions’ means for court challenges to presidential actions – https://theconversation.com/what-the-supreme-court-ruling-against-universal-injunctions-means-for-court-challenges-to-presidential-actions-260040

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: What Danish climate migration drama, Families Like Ours, gets wrong about rising sea levels

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Florian Steig, DPhil Student, Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford

    In the Danish TV drama Families Like Ours, one melancholic line from high-school student Laura captures the emotional toll of climate displacement: “Soon we will vanish like bubbles in a creek.” This seven-part series imagines a near future in which Denmark is being evacuated due to rising sea levels – a government-mandated relocation of an entire population.

    The series challenges the fantasy that wealthy western countries are immune to the far-reaching effects of climate change. Rather than focusing on catastrophic storylines, Families Like Ours portrays the mundane, bureaucratic and affective aspects of relocating a population in anticipation of a creeping crisis: the scramble for visas, the fractures that appear between families, and the inequalities in social and economic capital that shape people’s chances for a new life.

    Yet, the idea that Denmark could soon get submerged is not grounded in science. More worryingly, the narrative of the unavoidable uninhabitability of entire nations and millions of international migrants flooding Europe is misleading, dangerous, and sidelines deeply political questions about adaptation to sea level rise that should be dealt with now.

    The trailer for Families Like Ours.

    Sea levels are rising by a few millimetres a year. That pace is accelerating. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that, by 2100, sea levels could rise by up to one metre on average. Beyond 2100, sea levels could rise by several metres, although these long-term scenarios are highly uncertain.

    Even in extreme scenarios, these developments would unfold over several decades and centuries. It’s unlikely that permanent submergence of large areas of land will make Denmark uninhabitable.

    Still, sea level rise poses a serious risk to the livelihoods of millions of people living in coastal zones. In the UK, many homes in Norfolk and Fairbourne, Wales, are already at risk from coastal erosion, for instance.

    These changes are subtle. They do not warrant the evacuation of an entire nation, but degrade coastal livelihoods over time. Houses in high-risk areas like these may become uninsurable, devalued or too risky to live in. This will force people to move.

    In addition, sea level rise makes coastal flooding more likely. In European high-income countries, including Denmark, rising waters already threaten coastal communities. Without adaptation, hundreds of thousands of homes in cities such as Copenhagen could be at risk.

    The danger of mass migration narratives

    However, depicting climate change as a driver of uncontrolled mass migration is misleading. Sea level rise will contribute to coastal migration, and state-led relocation is already a reality especially in Africa and Asia. But climate migration predominantly occurs within countries or regions. International migration from climate change impacts is the exception, not the norm.

    To capture these complexities, some researchers prefer the term “climate mobility”. Mobility can be forced or voluntary, permanent or temporary, even seasonal. Some communities and people resist relocation plans and stay put.

    Families Like Ours reinforces longstanding narratives that frame certain parts of the world as destined to become uninhabitable. Even UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned of a “mass exodus of entire populations on a biblical scale” due to sea level rise.

    As a researcher working on climate adaptation, I notice that sea level rise and climate migration are increasingly discussed at the global level. Discussions focus, for example, on the protection of affected populations and continued statehood of nations after their potential submergence. A new global alliance of cities and regions tackling sea level rise called the Ocean Rise & Coastal Resilience Coalition considers a “managed retreat” not only as inevitable but as a rational and desirable adaptation pathway for many cities and regions.

    Scientists have warned that creative storylines highlighting the “uninhabitability” of low-lying countries and regions, such as the Pacific, are not helpful. The mass migration narrative can be used by governments to justify extreme protectionist action and sideline urgent adaptation debates.

    States are not helpless in the face of sea level rise and submergence is not inevitable. As geographer Carol Farbotko and colleagues suggest, “habitability is mediated by human actions and is not a direct consequence of environmental change”. People often develop their own ways of living with rising waters, resisting narratives of submergence. State-led adaptation is possible, but depends on finance, which is unequally distributed.

    People’s migration decisions can seldomly be attributed to just climate impact. A community’s capacity to respond hinges on social, political, economic and demographic factors. Adaptation measures are costly. This raises deeply political questions over who gets to be protected, who is left behind, and how managed retreat can benefit the most affected people and places in a fair way. We need to overcome mass migration myths and start a serious and justice-focused debate about the future of our shorelines.

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

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

    Florian Steig receives funding from the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes).

    – ref. What Danish climate migration drama, Families Like Ours, gets wrong about rising sea levels – https://theconversation.com/what-danish-climate-migration-drama-families-like-ours-gets-wrong-about-rising-sea-levels-259234

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Back to the Future at 40: the trilogy has never been remade – let’s hope that doesn’t change

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Daniel O’Brien, Lecturer, Department of Literature Film and Theatre Studies, University of Essex

    It has now been four decades since Marty McFly first hit 88 miles per hour in a time-travelling DeLorean. Robert Zemeckis’s sci-fi adventure blockbuster didn’t just navigate the space-time continuum onscreen (thanks to the flux capacitor). It also found a lasting place in the hearts of its audience.

    Personally, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone speak badly about the Back to the Future trilogy (aside from certain cast members, which I’ll touch on later). It has thankfully avoided the common traps of remakes and the sprawling expanded universe trend, which has diluted so many other beloved franchises (yes, Star Wars, Indiana Jones and The Lord of the Rings, I’m talking to you).

    Naturally, the success of Back to the Future has inspired a range of adaptations, including a computer game, an immersive Secret Cinema event, as well as a more recent West End stage musical. But each version stays true to the spirit of the original, reinforcing what feels like an unspoken rule in Hollywood: Back to the Future is off-limits to a cinematic or televised remake.

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    Zemeckis and Bob Gale, who co-wrote the screenplay for all three films, have repeatedly shut down the idea of a fourth instalment, declaring that the trilogy is complete. In fact, aside from a few delightful Back to the Future references in other shows made by the original stars themselves, the only remake you’re likely to come across is BBTF Project 85. It’s a multi-fan-made, shot-for-shot collaboration and true labour of love, created not for profit but out of pure admiration for the original.

    The success of the Back to the Future trilogy can be attributed to several factors, not least the undeniable charisma and chemistry between Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd. The wholesome, inter-generational friendship of their characters is never explicitly explained, but also doesn’t need to be. It simply works. The dynamic between Doc and Marty captures a timeless, heartfelt bond between two generations who respect and learn from each other, much like the relationship between Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid (another trilogy that has since found itself in the rebooted camp).

    The original trailer for Back to the Future.

    Michael J. Fox was the original choice for Marty McFly but due to scheduling conflicts with his role on sitcom Family Ties, production began with Eric Stoltz in the role. Over half the film was shot before Zemeckis made the difficult decision to recast.

    As Stoltz later said in an interview, the change came because he “wasn’t giving the performance [Zemeckis] wanted for his film”. Stoltz, a talented performer, brought a darker, moodier and more intense interpretation to Marty, a version that was replaced by Fox’s lighter, more comedic approach, channelled through his effortless charm.

    Stoltz wasn’t the only cast member to leave Back to the Future with a sense of disappointment. Crispin Glover, who played George McFly, also famously fell out with Zemeckis and Gale over creative differences. One of which was Glover’s objection to the film’s ending that presented Marty’s family being financially wealthier in comparison to the start. Glover felt this idea sent a negative message of money equating to happiness. This artistic clash (and ironically, dispute over salary) ultimately led to him being recast in Back to the Future Parts II and III, with actor Jeffrey Weissman stepping in.

    In the sequels, Weissman wears a facial prosthetic designed from Glover’s likeness from the first film (where George is made to look older). This enraged Glover further, who responded by filing a lawsuit, arguing that the use of his image without consent was illegal.

    He has since been openly critical of Weissman’s “bad performance” and has expressed ongoing frustration that many viewers still mistakenly assume the “bad acting” to be his own. As he notes, this explicitly contrasts with the more obvious recasting of Jennifer Parker (Marty’s girlfriend) performed by Claudia Wells in the first film and later replaced by Elisabeth Shue in the sequels.

    The recasting reflects the first film’s unexpected success. Back to the Future was never intended to have a sequel, but the overwhelming popularity of the original prompted the rapid development of two back-to-back follow-ups released in 1989 and 1990.

    Once again, the film’s success can be credited to the electric chemistry between its leads and the unforgettable music, from Huey Lewis’s Power of Love to Chuck Berry’s “new sound” in Johnny B. Goode, and Alan Silvestri’s hauntingly triumphant score. Silvestri’s music seems to capture the spirit of wide-eyed adventure, nostalgia and wisdom all at once, like a journey through time, composed entirely for the ears, affording the trilogy a sense of timelessness.

    Back to printed media

    Another charm of the Back to the Future trilogy (which stood out to me in a more recent viewing) lies in its use of printed media, which inspired me to create my video essay, Back to Printed Media.

    Back to Printed Media.

    As indicated in the video, Back to the Future begins with the sound and image of clocks before panning to a framed newspaper article, a fitting introduction to how all three instalments use print to convey plot, emotion and shifts across timelines.

    Beyond newspapers, the trilogy gives prominence to photographs, handwritten letters, phone books, a sports almanac, transparent receipts of the future, and even printed faxes (in the future of 2015). This tactile world of ink and paper evokes a deep nostalgia, underscoring the emotional weight of physical communication, something that has steadily faded with the rise of digital screens and indeed the loss of physical touch.

    Doc even comments in the third instalment (when reading a letter from his future self) that he never knew he could write anything so touching.

    In an era where glowing rectangles dominate both our lives and our storytelling, Back to the Future offers a refreshing contrast. It reminds us of the human connection and the need to be with others, packaged in a blockbuster narrative about one of the most universal cinematic themes: finding your way back home.

    As a trilogy, Back to the Future has stood the test of time for four decades, and I’m confident it will continue to resonate with both new and nostalgic audiences well into the future.

    Daniel O’Brien 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. Back to the Future at 40: the trilogy has never been remade – let’s hope that doesn’t change – https://theconversation.com/back-to-the-future-at-40-the-trilogy-has-never-been-remade-lets-hope-that-doesnt-change-259725

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: A strange bright burst in space baffled astronomers for more than a year. Now, they’ve solved the mystery

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Clancy William James, Senior Lecturer (astronomy and astroparticle physics), Curtin University

    CSIRO’s ASKAP radio telescope on Wajarri Country. © Alex Cherney/CSIRO

    Around midday on June 13 last year, my colleagues and I were scanning the skies when we thought we had discovered a strange and exciting new object in space. Using a huge radio telescope, we spotted a blindingly fast flash of radio waves that appeared to be coming from somewhere inside our galaxy.

    After a year of research and analysis, we have finally pinned down the source of the signal – and it was even closer to home than we had ever expected.

    A surprise in the desert

    Our instrument was located at Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara – also known as the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory – in remote Western Australia, where the sky above the red desert plains is vast and sublime.

    We were using a new detector at the radio telescope known as the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder – or ASKAP – to search for rare flickering signals from distant galaxies called fast radio bursts.

    We detected a burst. Surprisingly, it showed no evidence of a time delay between high and low frequencies – a phenomenon known as “dispersion”.

    This meant it must have originated within a few hundred light years of Earth. In other words, it must have come from inside our galaxy – unlike other fast radio bursts which have come from billions of light years away.

    A problem emerges

    Fast radio bursts are the brightest radio flashes in the Universe, emitting 30 years’ worth of the Sun’s energy in less than a millisecond – and we only have hints of how they are produced.

    Some theories suggest they are produced by “magnetars” – the highly magnetised cores of massive, dead stars – or arise from cosmic collisions between these dead stellar remnants. Regardless of how they occur, fast radio bursts are also a precise instrument for mapping out the so-called “missing matter” in our Universe.

    When we went back over our recordings to take a closer a look at the radio burst, we had a surprise: the signal seemed to have disappeared. Two months of trial and error went by, until the problem was found.

    ASKAP is composed of 36 antennas, which can be combined to act like one gigantic zoom lens six kilometres across. Just like a zoom lens on a camera, if you try to take a picture of something too close, it comes out blurry. Only by removing some of the antennas from the analysis – artificially reducing the size of our “lens” – did we finally make an image of the burst.

    We weren’t excited by this – in fact, we were disappointed. No astronomical signal could be close enough to cause this blurring.

    This meant it was probably just radio-frequency “interference” – an astronomer’s term for human-made signals that corrupt our data.

    It’s the kind of junk data we’d normally throw away.

    Yet the burst had us intrigued. For one thing, this burst was fast. The fastest known fast radio burst lasted about 10 millionths of a second. This burst consisted of an extremely bright pulse lasting a few billionths of a second, and two dimmer after-pulses, for a total duration of 30 nanoseconds.

    So where did this amazingly short, bright burst come from?

    The radio burst we detected, lasting merely 30 nanoseconds.
    Clancy W. James

    A zombie in space?

    We already knew the direction it came from, and we were able to use the blurriness in the image to estimate a distance of 4,500 km. And there was only one thing in that direction, at that distance, at that time – a derelict 60-year-old satellite called Relay 2.

    Relay 2 was one of the first ever telecommunications satellites. Launched by the United States in 1964, it was operated until 1965, and its onboard systems had failed by 1967.

    But how could Relay 2 have produced this burst?

    Some satellites, presumed dead, have been observed to reawaken. They are known as “zombie satellites”.

    But this was no zombie. No system on board Relay 2 had ever been able to produce a nanosecond burst of radio waves, even when it was alive.

    We think the most likely cause was an “electrostatic discharge”. As satellites are exposed to electrically charged gases in space known as plasmas, they can become charged – just like when your feet rub on carpet. And that accumulated charge can suddenly discharge, with the resulting spark causing a flash of radio waves.

    Electrostatic discharges are common, and are known to cause damage to spacecraft. Yet all known electrostatic discharges last thousands of times longer than our signal, and occur most commonly when the Earth’s magnetosphere is highly active. And our magnetosphere was unusually quiet at the time of the signal.

    Another possibility is a strike by a micrometeoroid – a tiny piece of space debris – similar to that experienced by the James Webb Space Telescope in June 2022.

    According to our calculations, a 22 micro-gram micrometeoroid travelling at 20km per second or more and hitting Relay 2 would have been able to produce such a strong flash of radio waves. But we estimate the chance the nanosecond burst we detected was caused by such an event to be about 1%.

    Plenty more sparks in the sky

    Ultimately, we can’t be certain why we saw this signal from Relay 2. What we do know, however, is how to see more of them. When looking at 13.8 millisecond timescales – the equivalent of keeping the camera shutter open for longer – this signal was washed out, and barely detectable even to a powerful radio telescope such as ASKAP.

    But if we had searched at 13.8 nanoseconds, any old radio antenna would have easily seen it. It shows us that monitoring satellites for electrostatic discharges with ground-based radio antennas is possible. And with the number of satellites in orbit growing rapidly, finding new ways to monitor them is more important than ever.

    But did our team eventually find new astronomical signals? You bet we did. And there are no doubt plenty more to be found.

    Clancy William James receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

    – ref. A strange bright burst in space baffled astronomers for more than a year. Now, they’ve solved the mystery – https://theconversation.com/a-strange-bright-burst-in-space-baffled-astronomers-for-more-than-a-year-now-theyve-solved-the-mystery-259893

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: There’s gold trapped in your iPhone – and chemists have found a safe new way to extract it

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Justin M. Chalker, Professor of Chemistry, Flinders University

    A sample of refined gold recovered from mining and e-waste recycling trials. Justin Chalker

    In 2022, humans produced an estimated 62 million tonnes of electronic waste – enough to fill more than 1.5 million garbage trucks. This was up 82% from 2010 and is expected to rise to 82 million tonnes in 2030.

    This e-waste includes old laptops and phones, which contain precious materials such as gold. Less than one quarter of it is properly collected and recycled. But a new technique colleagues and I have developed to safely and sustainably extract gold from e-waste could help change that.

    Our new gold-extraction technique, which we describe in a new paper published today in Nature Sustainability, could also make small-scale gold mining less poisonous for people – and the planet.

    Soaring global demand

    Gold has long played a crucial role in human life. It has been a form of currency and a medium for art and fashion for centuries. Gold is also essential in modern industries including the electronics, chemical manufacture and aerospace sectors.

    But while global demand for this precious metal is soaring, mining it is harmful to the environment.

    Deforestation and use of toxic chemicals are two such problems. In formal, large-scale mining, highly toxic cyanide is widely used to extract gold from ore. While cyanide can be degraded, its use can cause harm to wildlife, and tailings dams which store the toxic byproducts of mining operations pose a risk to the wider environment.

    In small-scale and artisanal mining, mercury is used extensively to extract gold. In this practice, the gold reacts with mercury to form a dense amalgam that can be easily isolated. The gold is then recovered by heating the amalgam to vaporise the mercury.

    Small-scale and artisanal mining is the largest source of mercury pollution on Earth, and the mercury emissions are dangerous to the miners and pollute the environment. New methods are required to reduce the impacts of gold mining.

    In 2022, humans produced an estimated 62 million tonnes of electronic waste.
    DAMRONG RATTANAPONG/Shutterstock

    A safer alternative

    Our interdisciplinary team of scientists and engineers has developed a new technique to extract gold from ore and e-waste. The aim was to provide a safer alternative to mercury and cyanide and reduce the health and environmental impacts of gold mining.

    Many techniques have previously been reported for extracting gold from ore or e-waste, including mercury- and cyanide-free methods. However, many of these methods are limited in rate, yield, scale and cost. Often these methods also consider only one step in the entire gold recovery process, and recycling and waste management is often neglected.

    In contrast, our approach considered sustainability throughout the whole process of gold extraction, recovery and refining. Our new leaching technology uses a chemical commonly used in water sanitation and pool chlorination: trichloroisocyanuric acid.

    When this widely available and low-cost chemical is activated with salt water, it can react with gold and convert it into a water-soluble form.

    To recover the gold from the solution, we invented a sulphur-rich polymer sorbent. Polymer sorbents isolate a certain substance from a liquid or gas, and ours is made by joining a key building block (a monomer) together through a chain reaction.

    Our polymer sorbent is interesting because it is derived from elemental sulphur: a low-cost and highly abundant feedstock. The petroleum sector generates more sulphur than it can use or sell, so our polymer synthesis is a new use for this underused resource.

    Our polymer could selectively bind and remove gold from the solution, even when many other types of metals were present in the mixture.

    The simple leaching and recovery methods were demonstrated on ore, circuit boards from obsolete computers and scientific waste. Importantly, we also developed methods to regenerate and recycle both the leaching chemical and the polymer sorbent. We also established methods to purify and recycle the water used in the process.

    In developing the recyclable polymer sorbent, we invented some exciting new chemistry to make the polymer using light, and then “un-make” the sorbent after it bound gold. This recycling method converted the polymer back to its original monomer building block and separated it from the gold.

    The recovered monomer could then be re-made into the gold-binding polymer: an important demonstration of how the process is aligned with a circular economy.

    A long and complex road ahead

    In future work, we plan to collaborate with industry, government and not-for-profit groups to test our method in small-scale mining operations. Our long-term aim is to provide a robust and safe method for extracting gold, eliminating the need for highly toxic chemicals such as cyanide and mercury.

    There will be many challenges to overcome including scaling up the production of the polymer sorbent and the chemical recycling processes. For uptake, we also need to ensure that the rate, yield and cost are competitive with more traditional methods of gold mining. Our preliminary results are encouraging. But there is still a long and complex road ahead before our new techniques replace cyanide and mercury.

    Our broader motivation is to support the livelihood of the millions of artisanal and small-scale miners that rely on mercury to recover gold.

    They typically operate in remote and rural regions with few other economic opportunities. Our goal is to support these miners economically while offering safer alternatives to mercury. Likewise, the rise of “urban mining” and e-waste recycling would benefit from safer and operationally simple methods for precious metal recovery.

    Success in recovering gold from e-waste will also reduce the need for primary mining and therefore lessen its environmental impact.

    Justin M. Chalker is an inventor on patents associated with the gold leaching and recovery technology. Both patents are wholly owned by Flinders University. This research was supported financially by the Australian Research Council and Flinders University. He has an ongoing collaboration with Mercury Free Mining and Adelaide Control Engineering: organisations that supported the developments and trials reported in this study.

    – ref. There’s gold trapped in your iPhone – and chemists have found a safe new way to extract it – https://theconversation.com/theres-gold-trapped-in-your-iphone-and-chemists-have-found-a-safe-new-way-to-extract-it-259817

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: ‘Do not eat’: what’s in those little desiccant sachets and how do they work?

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Kamil Zuber, Senior Industry Research Fellow, Future Industries Institute, University of South Australia

    towfiqu ahamed/Getty Images

    When you buy a new electronic appliance, shoes, medicines or even some food items, you often find a small paper sachet with the warning: “silica gel, do not eat”.

    What exactly is it, is it toxic, and can you use it for anything?

    The importance of desiccants

    That little sachet is a desiccant – a type of material that removes excess moisture from the air.

    It’s important during the transport and storage of a wide range of products because we can’t always control the environment. Humid conditions can cause damage through corrosion, decay, the growth of mould and microorganisms.

    This is why manufacturers include sachets with desiccants to make sure you receive the goods in pristine condition.

    The most common desiccant is silica gel. The small, hard and translucent beads are made of silicon dioxide (like most sands or quartz) – a hydrophilic or water-loving material. Importantly, the beads are porous on the nano-scale, with pore sizes only 15 times larger than the radius of their atoms.

    Silica gel looks somewhat like a sponge when viewed with scanning electron microscopy.
    Trabelsi et al. (2009), CC BY-NC-ND

    These pores have a capillary effect, meaning they condense and draw moisture into the bead similar to how trees transport water through the channelled structures in wood.

    In addition, sponge-like porosity makes their surface area very large. A single gram of silica gel can have an area of up to 700 square metres – almost four tennis courts – making them exceptionally efficient at capturing and storing water.

    Is silica gel toxic?

    The “do not eat” warning is easily the most prominent text on silica gel sachets.

    According to health professionals, most silica beads found in these sachets are non-toxic and don’t present the same risk as silica dust, for example. They mainly pose a choking hazard, which is good enough reason to keep them away from children and pets.

    However, if silica gel is accidentally ingested, it’s still recommended to contact health professionals to determine the best course of action.

    Some variants of silica gel contain a moisture-sensitive dye. One particular variant, based on cobalt chloride, is blue when the desiccant is dry and turns pink when saturated with moisture. While the dye is toxic, in desiccant pellets it is present only in a small amount – approximately 1% of the total weight.

    Indicating silica gel with cobalt chloride – ‘fresh’ on the left, ‘used’ on the right.
    Reza Rio/Shutterstock

    Desiccants come in other forms, too

    Apart from silica gel, a number of other materials are used as moisture absorbers and desiccants. These are zeolites, activated alumina and activated carbon – materials engineered to be highly porous.

    Another desiccant type you’ll often see in moisture absorbers for larger areas like pantries or wardrobes is calcium chloride. It typically comes in a box filled with powder or crystals found in most hardware stores, and is a type of salt.

    Kitchen salt – sodium chloride – attracts water and easily becomes lumpy. Calcium chloride works in the same way, but has an even stronger hygroscopic effect and “traps” the water through a hydration reaction. Once the salt is saturated, you’ll see liquid separating in the container.

    Closet and pantry dehumidifiers like this one typically contain calcium chloride which binds water.
    Healthy Happy/Shutterstock

    I found something that doesn’t seem to be silica gel – what is it?

    Some food items such as tortilla wraps, noodles, beef jerky, and some medicines and vitamins contain slightly different sachets, labelled “oxygen absorbers”.

    These small packets don’t contain desiccants. Instead, they have chemical compounds that “scavenge” or bond oxygen.

    Their purpose is similar to desiccants – they extend the shelf life of food products and sensitive chemicals such as medicines. But they do so by directly preventing oxidation. When some foods are exposed to oxygen, their chemical composition changes and can lead to decay (apples turning brown when cut is an example of oxidation).

    There is a whole range of compounds used as oxygen absorbers. These chemicals have a stronger affinity to oxygen than the protected substance. They range from simple compounds such as iron which “rusts” by using up oxygen, to more complex such as plastic films that work when exposed to light.

    Some of the sachets in your products are oxygen absorbers, not desiccants – but they may look similar.
    Sergio Yoneda/Shutterstock

    Can I reuse a desiccant?

    Although desiccants and dehumidifiers are considered disposable, you can relatively easily reuse them.

    To “recharge” or dehydrate silica gel, you can place it in an oven at approximately 115–125°C for 2–3 hours, although you shouldn’t do this if it’s in a plastic sachet that could melt in the heat.

    Interestingly, due to how they bind water, some desiccants require temperatures well above the boiling point of water to dehydrate (for example, calcium chloride hydrates completely dehydrate at 200°C).

    After dehydration, silica gel sachets may be useful for drying small electronic items (like your phone after you accidentally dropped it into water), keeping your camera dry, or preventing your family photos and old films from sticking to each other.

    This is a good alternative to the questionable method of using uncooked rice, as silica gel doesn’t decompose and won’t leave starch residues on your things.

    Kamil Zuber 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. ‘Do not eat’: what’s in those little desiccant sachets and how do they work? – https://theconversation.com/do-not-eat-whats-in-those-little-desiccant-sachets-and-how-do-they-work-258398

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Streaming giants have helped bring Korean dramas to the world – but much is lost in translation

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Sung-Ae Lee, Lecturer, Macquarie University

    In less than a decade, Korean TV dramas (K-dramas) have transmuted from a regional industry to a global phenomenon – partly a consequence of the rise of streaming giants.

    But foreign audiences may not realise the K-dramas they’ve seen on Netflix don’t accurately represent the broader Korean TV landscape, which is much wider and richer than these select offerings.

    At the same time, there are many challenges in bringing this wide array of content to the rest of the world.

    The rise of hallyu

    Korean media was transformed during the 1990s. The end of military dictatorship led to the gradual relaxation of censorship.

    Satellite media also allowed the export of K-dramas and films to the rest of East Asia, and parts of Southeast Asia. Some of the first K-dramas to become popular overseas included What Is Love (1991–92) and Star in My Heart (1997). They initiated what would later become known as the Korean wave, or hallyu.

    The hallyu expansion continued with Winter Sonata (2003), which attracted viewers in Japan, Malaysia and Indonesia. Dae Jang Geum/Jewel in the Palace (2005) resonated strongly in Chinese-speaking regions, and was ultimately exported to more than 80 countries.

    A breakthrough occurred in 2016. Netflix entered South Korea and began investing in Korean productions, beginning with Kingdom (2019–21) and Love Alarm (2019–21).

    In 2021, the global hit Squid Game was released simultaneously in 190 countries.

    But Netflix only scratches the surface

    Last year, only 20% of new K-drama releases were available on Western streaming platforms. This means global discussions about K-dramas are based on a limited subgroup of content promoted to viewers outside South Korea.

    Moreover, foreign viewers will generally evaluate this content based on Western conceptions of culture and narrative. They may, for instance, have Western preferences for genre and themes, or may disregard locally-specific contexts.

    This is partly why Korean and foreign audiences can end up with very different ideas of what “Korean” television is.

    Genres

    When a K-drama is classified as a sageuk (historical drama) but also incorporates elements of fantasy, mythology, romance, melodrama, crime fiction and/or comedy, foreign audiences may dismiss it as “genre-confused”. Or, they may praise it for its “genre-blending”.

    But the drama may not have been created with much attention to genre at all. The highly inventive world-building of pre-Netflix dramas such as Arang and the Magistrate (2012) and Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (2016) prominently feature all the aforementioned genres.

    While foreign viewers may think visual media begins with readily identifiable genres, many K-dramas aren’t produced on this premise.

    Themes

    Western viewers (and other viewers watching through a Western lens) might assume “liberal” themes such as systemic injustice, women’s rights and collusion in politics entered K-dramas as a result of Western influence. But this is a misconception.

    The emergence of such themes can be attributed to various changes in Korean society, including the easing of censorship, rapid modernisation, and the imposition of neoliberal economics by the International Monetary Fund in 1997.

    Although gender disparities still exist in South Korea, economic uncertainty and modernisation have prompted a deconstruction of patriarchal value systems. Female-centred K-dramas have been around since at least the mid-2000s, with women’s independence as a recurring theme in more recent dramas.

    Local contexts

    A major barrier to exporting K-dramas is the cultural specificity of certain elements, such as Confucian values, hierarchical family dynamics, gender codes, and Korean speech codes.

    The global success of a K-drama comes down to how well its culturally-specific elements can be adapted for different contexts and audiences.

    In some cases, these elements may be minimised, or entirely missed, by foreign viewers.

    For example, in Squid Game, the words spoken by the killer doll in the first game are subtitled as “green light, red light”. What the doll actually says is “mugunghwa-kkochi pieot-seumnida”, which is also what the game is called in Korean.

    This translates to “the mugunghwa (Rose of Saron) has bloomed”, with mugunghwa being South Korea’s national flower.

    These words, in this context, are meant to ironically redefine South Korea as a site of hopelessness and death. But the subtitles erase this double meaning.

    It’s also difficult for subtitles to reflect nuanced Korean honorific systems of address. As such, foreign viewers remain largely oblivious to the subtle power dynamics at play between characters.

    All of this leads to a kind of cultural “flattening”, shifting foreign viewers’ focus to so-called universal themes.

    A case study for global success

    Nevertheless, foreign viewers can still engage with many culturally-specific elements in K-dramas, which can also serve as cultural literacy.

    The hugely successful series Extraordinary Attorney Woo (2022) explores the personal and professional challenges faced by an autistic lawyer.

    Director Yoo In-sik described the series as distinctly Korean in both its humour and the legal system it portrays, and said he didn’t anticipate its widespread popularity.

    Following success in South Korea, the series was acquired by Netflix and quickly entered the top 10 most popular non-English language shows.

    The global appeal can be attributed to its sensitive portrayal of the protagonist, the problem-solving theme across episodes, and what Yoo describes as a kind and considerate tone. Viewers who resonate with these qualities may not even need to engage with the Korean elements.

    Many K-dramas that achieve global success also feature elements typically considered “Western”, such as zombies.

    While the overall number of zombie-themed productions is low, series and films such as Kingdom (2019–21), All of Us Are Dead (2022), Alive (2020) and Train to Busan (2016) have helped put Korean content on the map.

    One potential effect of the zombie popularity may be the displacement of Korean mythological characters, such as fox spirits, or gumiho, which have traditionally held significant narrative space.

    Shin Min-ah and Lee Seung-gi star in the acclaimed romantic comedy series My Girlfriend is a Gumiho (2010).
    IMDB

    Local production under threat

    The influence of streaming giants such as Netflix is impacting South Korea’s local production systems.

    One consequence has been a substantial increase in production costs, which local companies can’t compete with.

    The early vision of low-cost, high-return projects such as Squid Game is rapidly diminishing.

    Meanwhile, Netflix is exploring other locations, such as Japan, where dramas can be produced for about half the price of those in Korea. If this continues, the rise of Korean content may slow down.

    Sung-Ae Lee 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. Streaming giants have helped bring Korean dramas to the world – but much is lost in translation – https://theconversation.com/streaming-giants-have-helped-bring-korean-dramas-to-the-world-but-much-is-lost-in-translation-257547

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Do all Iranians hate the regime? Hate America? Life inside the country is much more complex and nuanced

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Simon Theobald, Postdoctoral researcher, Institute for Ethics and Society, University of Notre Dame Australia

    From 2015 to 2018, I spent 15 months doing research work in Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city. As an anthropologist, I was interested in everyday life in Iran outside the capital Tehran. I was also interested in understanding whether the ambitions of the 1979 Revolution lived on among “ordinary” Iranians, not just political elites.

    I first lived on a university campus, where I learned Persian, and later with Iranian families. I conducted hundreds of interviews with people who had a broad spectrum of political, social and religious views. They included opponents of the Islamic Republic, supporters, and many who were in between.

    What these interviews revealed to me was both the diversity of opinion and experience in Iran, and the difficulty of making uniform statements about what Iranians believe.

    Measuring the depth of antipathy for the regime

    When Israel’s strikes on Iran began on June 13, killing many top military commanders, many news outlets – both international and those run by the Iranian diaspora – featured images of Iranians cheering the deaths of these hated regime figures.

    Friends from my fieldwork also pointed to these celebrations, while not always agreeing with them. Many feared the impact of a larger conflict between Iran and Israel.

    Trying to put these sentiments in context, many analysts have pointed to a 2019 survey by the GAMAAN Institute, an independent organisation based in the Netherlands that tracks Iranian public opinion. This survey showed 79% of Iranians living in the country would vote against the Islamic Republic if a free referendum were held on its rule.

    Viewing these examples as an indicator of the lack of support for the Islamic Republic is not wrong. But when used as factoids in news reports, they become detached from the complexities of life in Iran. This can discourage us from asking deeper questions about the relationships between ideology and pragmatism, support and opposition to the regime, and state and society.

    A more nuanced view

    The news reporting on Iran has encouraged a tendency to see the Iranian state as homogeneous, highly ideological and radically separate from the population.

    But where do we draw the line between the state and the people? There is no easy answer to this.

    When I lived in Iran, many of the people who took part in my research were state employees – teachers at state institutions, university lecturers, administrative workers. Many of them had strong and diverse views about the legacy of the revolution and the future of the country.

    They sometimes pointed to state discourse they agreed with, for example Iran’s right to national self-determination, free from foreign influence. They also disagreed with much, such as the slogans of “death to America”.

    This ambivalence was evident in one of my Persian teachers. An employee of the state, she refused to attend the annual parades celebrating the anniversary of the revolution. “We have warm feelings towards America,” she said. On the other hand, she happily attended protests, also organised by the government, in favour of Palestinian liberation.

    Or take the young government worker I met in Mashhad: “We want to be independent of other countries, but not like this.”

    In a narrower sense, discussions about the “state” may refer more to organisations like the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Basij, the paramilitary force within the IRGC that has cracked down harshly on dissent in recent decades. Both are often understood as being deeply ideologically committed.

    Said Golkar, a US-based Iranian academic and author, for instance, calls Iran a “captive society”. Rather than having a civil society, he believes Iranians are trapped by the feared Basij, who maintain control through their presence in many institutions like universities and schools.

    Again, this view is not wrong. But even among the Basij and Revolutionary Guard, it can be difficult to gauge just how ideological and homogeneous these organisations truly are.

    For a start, the IRGC relies on both ideologically selected supporters, as well as conscripts, to fill its ranks. They are also not always ideologically uniform, as the US-based anthropologist Narges Bajoghli, who worked with pro-state filmmakers in Tehran, has noted.

    As part of my research, I also interviewed members of the Basij, which, unlike the IRGC proper, is a wholly volunteer organisation.

    Even though ideological commitment was certainly an important factor for some of the Basij members I met, there were also pragmatic reasons to join. These included access to better jobs, scholarships and social mobility. Sometimes, factors overlapped. But participation did not always equate to a singular or sustained commitment to revolutionary values.

    For example, Sāsān, a friend I made attending discussion groups in Mashhad, was quick to note that time spent in the Basij “reduced your [compulsory] military service”.

    This isn’t to suggest there are not ideologically committed people in Iran. They clearly exist, and many are ready to use violence. Some of those who join these institutions for pragmatic reasons use violence, too.

    Looking in between

    In addition, Iran is an ethnically diverse country. It has a population of 92 million people, a bare majority of whom are Persians. Other minorities include Azeris, Kurds, Arabs, Baloch, Turkmen and others.

    It is also religiously diverse. While there is a sizeable, nominally Shi’a majority, there are also large Sunni communities (about 10-15% of the population) and smaller communities of Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, Baha’is and other religions.

    Often overlooked, there are also important differences in class and social strata in Iran, too.

    One of the things I noticed about state propaganda was that it flattened this diversity. James Barry, an Australian scholar of Iran, noticed a similar phenomenon.

    State propaganda made it seem like there was one voice in the country. Protests could be dismissed out of hand because they did not represent the “authentic” view of Iranians. Foreign agitators supported protests. Iranians supported the Islamic Republic.

    Since leaving Iran, I have followed many voices of Iranians in the diaspora. Opposition groups are loud on social media, especially the monarchists who support Reza Pahlavi, the son of the deposed Shah.

    In following these groups, I have noticed a similar tendency to speak as though they represent the voice of all Iranians. Iranians support the shah. Or Iranians support Maryam Rajavi, leader of a Paris-based opposition group.

    Both within Iran, and in the diaspora, the regime, too, is sometimes held to be the imposition of a foreign conspiracy. This allows the Islamic Republic and the complex relations it has created to be dismissed out of hand. Once again, such a view flattens diversity.

    Over the past few years, political identities and societal divisions seem to have become harder and clearer. This means there is an increasing perception among many Iranians of a gulf between the state and Iranian society. This is the case both inside Iran, and especially in the Iranian diaspora.

    Decades of intermittent protests and civil disobedience across the country also show that for many, the current system no longer represents the hopes and aspirations of many people. This is especially the case for the youth, who make up a large percentage of the population.

    I am not an Iranian, and I strongly believe it is up to Iranians to determine their own futures. I also do not aim to excuse the Islamic Republic – it is brutal and tyrannical. But its brutality should not let us shy away from asking complex questions.

    If the regime did fall tomorrow, Iran’s diversity means there is little unanimity of opinion as to what should come next. And if a more pluralist form of politics is to emerge, it must encompass the whole of Iran’s diversity, without assuming a uniform position.

    It, too, will have to wrestle with the difficult questions and sometimes ambivalent relations the Islamic Republic has created.

    Simon Theobald received funding from the Australian National University during his research.

    – ref. Do all Iranians hate the regime? Hate America? Life inside the country is much more complex and nuanced – https://theconversation.com/do-all-iranians-hate-the-regime-hate-america-life-inside-the-country-is-much-more-complex-and-nuanced-259554

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: What do the Bible, the Quran and the Torah say about the justification for war?

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Associate Professor, New Testament, & Director of The Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy, University of Divinity

    Wars are often waged in the name of religion. So what do key texts from Christianity, Islam and Judaism say about the justification for war?

    We asked three experts for their views.

    The Bible

    Robyn J. Whitaker, University of Divinity

    The Bible presents war as an inevitable reality of human life. This is captured in the cry of the Teacher in Ecclesiastes:

    for everything there is a season […] a time for war and a time for peace.

    In this sense, the Bible reflects the experiences of the authors and communities who shaped the texts over more than a thousand years as they experienced both victory and defeat as a small nation among the large empires of the ancient near east.

    When it comes to God’s role in war, we cannot shirk from the problematic violence associated with the divine. At times, God orders the Hebrew people to go to war and enact horrendous violence. Deuteronomy 20 is a good example of this: God’s people are sent to war with the blessing of the priest but told to first offer terms of peace. If peace terms are accepted, the town is enslaved. Certain enemies, however, are decreed worthy of total annihilation, and the Hebrew army is commanded to destroy anyone and anything that doesn’t produce food.

    On other occasions, war is interpreted as a tool, a punishment where God uses foreign nations against the Hebrew people because they have gone astray (Judges 2:14). You can also find an underlying ethic to treat the captives of war justly. Moses commands that women captured in war are to be treated as wives, not slaves (Deuteronomy 21), and in 2 Chronicles, captives are allowed to return home.

    In contrast to war as divinely authorised, many of the Hebrew prophets express hope in a time where God will bring peace and people will “neither learn war any more” (Micah 3:4) but rather turn their weapons into tools for agriculture (Isaiah 2:4).

    War is viewed as a result of human sinfulness, something that God will ultimately transform into peace. And that peace (Hebrew: shalom) is more than an absence of war. It is about human flourishing and unity between peoples and God.

    Most of the New Testament was written during the first century CE, when Jews and emerging Christians were a minority within the Roman Empire. The military power of Rome is harshly critiqued as evil in resistance texts such as the Book of Revelation. Many early Christians refused to fight in the Roman army.

    In this context, Jesus says nothing specific about war but generally rejects violence. When Jesus’s disciple Peter seeks to defend him with a sword, Jesus tells him to put away his sword because a sword only leads to more violence (Matthew 26:52). This is consistent with Jesus’s other teachings such as “blessed are the peacemakers” or his commands to “turn the other cheek” when struck or to “love your enemies”.

    The reality is that we find various war ideologies in the Bible’s pages. If you want to find a justification for war in the Bible, you can. If you want to find a justification for peace or pacifism, that is there too. Later Christians would develop ideas of “just war” and pacifism based on biblical ideas, but these are developments rather than explicit within the Bible.

    For Christians, Jesus’s teaching provides an ethical framework for interpreting earlier war texts through the lens of love for enemies. This counterpoint to divine violence and war points readers back to the prophets, whose hopeful visions imagine a world where violence and suffering are no more and peace is possible.

    The Quran

    Mehmet Ozalp, Charles Sturt University

    Islam and Muslims emerged onto the world stage in the hostile environment of the seventh century. In response to major challenges, including warfare, Islam introduced pioneering legal and ethical reforms. The Quran and the Prophet Muhammad’s example laid out clear legal and ethical guidelines for the conduct of war, well before similar frameworks appeared in other societies.

    Islam did this by defining a new term, “jihad” rather than the usual Arabic word for war, “harb”. While harb refers broadly to warfare, jihad was defined within Islamic teachings as a legal, morally justified struggle, which includes but is not limited to armed conflict. In the context of warfare, jihad refers specifically to fighting in a just cause under clear legal and ethical guidelines, rather than belligerent or aggressive warfare.

    Between 610-622, Prophet Muhammad practised active non-violence in the face of the constant suffering, persecution and economic embargo he and his followers endured in Mecca, despite insistent approaches by his followers to take up arms. This showed that armed struggle cannot be taken up within the members of the same society, as this would lead to anarchy.

    After leaving his home town to escape persecution, he established a pluralistic and multi-faith society in Medina. He took active steps to sign treaties with neighbouring tribes. Despite following a deliberate strategy of peace and diplomacy, the hostile Meccans and allied tribes attacked the Muslims in Medina. Engaging these attackers in an armed struggle was unavoidable.

    The permission to fight was given to Muslims by the Quran verses 22:39-40:

    The believers against whom war is waged are given permission to fight in response, for they have been wronged. Surely, God has full power to help them to victory. Those who have been driven from their homeland against all right, for no other reason than that they say, “Our Lord is God” […]

    This passage not only permits armed struggle but also offers a moral justification for just war. It means war is clearly just when defensive — while aggression is unjust and condemned. Elsewhere, the Quran emphasises this point:

    If they withdraw from you and do not fight against you, and offer you peace, then God allows you no way (to war) against them.

    Verse 22:39 outlines two ethical justifications for warfare. The first is when people are driven from their homes (and land) – in other words, through occupation by a foreign power. The second is when people are attacked because of their beliefs to the point of violent persecution and attack.

    Importantly, verse 22:40 includes churches, monasteries and synagogues. If believers in God do not defend themselves, all places of worship would be destroyed, so this is to be prevented by force if necessary.

    The Quran does not allow for aggression, since “God loves not the aggressors” (2:190). It also provides detailed regulations on who is to fight and who is exempted (9:91); when hostilities must cease (2:193); and prisoners should be treated humanely and with fairness (47:4).

    Verses such as 2:294 emphasise that warfare and any response to violence and aggression must be proportional and within limits:

    Whoever attacks you, attack them in like manner as they attacked you. Nevertheless, fear God and remain within the bounds.

    In the event of unavoidable war, every opportunity to end it must be pursued:

    But if the enemy inclines towards peace, then you must also incline towards peace and trust in God.

    The aim of military action is to end hostilities and remove the reason for warfare, not to humiliate or annihilate the enemy.

    Military jihad cannot be pursued for personal ambition or to further nationalistic or ethnic disputes. Muslims cannot wage war on nations that have no hostility towards them (60:8). But if there is open hostility and attack, Muslims have a right to defend themselves.

    The Prophet and the early caliphs specifically warned military leaders and all combatants that they must not act treacherously or engage in indiscriminate killing and pillage. He said:

    Do not kill women, children, the elderly, or the sick. Do not destroy palm trees or burn houses.

    Because of these teachings, Muslims have had legal and ethical guidelines throughout much of history to help limit human suffering caused by war.

    The Torah

    Suzanne D. Rutland, University of Sydney

    Judaism is not a pacifist religion, but in its traditions it values peace above all else, and prayers for peace are central to Jewish liturgy. At the same time, there is a recognition of the need to fight defensive wars, but only within certain boundaries.

    In the Torah, the Five Books of Moses, the recognition of the need for war is clear. Throughout their journeying in the desert, the Israelites (Children of Israel) fight various battles. At the same time, in Deuteronomy, the Israelites are instructed (chapter 12, verse 10):

    When you go forth against your enemies and are in camp, then you should keep yourself from every evil thing.

    The story of Amalek is the symbol of ultimate evil in Jewish tradition. Scholars argue this is because his army attacked the Israelites from the rear – killing defenceless women and children.

    The Torah also stresses that army service is compulsory. Yet, Deuteronomy elaborates four categories of people who are exempt:

    • someone who has built a home but has not yet dedicated it
    • someone who has planted a vineyard but has not yet eaten of its fruit
    • someone who is engaged or in his first year of marriage
    • someone who is afraid, in case he influences other soldiers with his fear.
    Judaism is not a pacifist religion, but in its traditions it values peace above all else.
    Shutterstock

    It is important to point out that the disdain of war is so strong that King David was not permitted to build the temple in Jerusalem because of his military career. His son, Solomon, was allocated this task, but no iron was to be used in the building because this represented war and violence, while the temple was to represent peace, the ideal virtue.

    The vision of peace for all humanity is further developed in the prophetic writings and the concept of the Messiah. This is seen particularly in the writings of the prophet Isiah, who envisaged an age when, as he describes in his idyllic vision:

    they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

    The Mishnah, the first part of the Talmud, raises the concept of an “obligatory war” (milhemet mizvah). This encompasses the biblical wars against the seven nations said to inhabit the Promised Land, the war against Amalek, and the Jewish nation’s defensive wars. It is, accordingly, a clearly defined and recognisable class.

    Not so the second category, “permitted war” (milhemet reshut), which is more open-ended and, as scholar Avi Ravitsky writes, “could relate to a preemptive war”.

    After the Talmudic period, which ended in the 7th century, this debate became theoretical, since Jews living in Palestine and the diaspora no longer had an army. This was largely the case from the time of the defeat of the Bar Kokhba Rebellion against the Romans (132–135 CE), apart from a few small Jewish kingdoms in Arabia.

    However, with the return of the early Zionist pioneers to the Land of Israel in the late 19th and 20th century, the rabbinic debates of what constitutes an obligatory, defensive war and what is a permitted war, as well as the characteristics of a forbidden war has reignited. This is a subject of deep concern and controversy for both academics and rabbis today.

    Robyn J. Whitaker is affiliated with The Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy.

    Mehmet Ozalp is affiliated with Islamic Sciences and Research Academy

    Suzanne Rutland has received an Australian Research Council grant for her research on the Australian Jewry and funding from the Pratt Foundation, as well as an Australian Prime Ministers Centre (APMC) fellowship for her research on Soviet Jewry and Australia. She is also involved with numerous NGOs, including the Australian Jewish Historical Society (patron), the Australian Association for Jewish Studies (past president and committee member), and the Australian government’s expert delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. In addition, she is a board member of the Freilich Project for the Study of Bigotry at ANU; she is on an academic advisory committee at the Sydney Jewish Museum; she is the director of the Australian Academic Alliance Against Antisemitism; and she is an Australian board member for Boys Town Jerusalem and a board member of Better Balance Futures for faith communities These roles are all undertaken in an honorary capacity. She is also writing the history of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry in an honorary capacity.

    – ref. What do the Bible, the Quran and the Torah say about the justification for war? – https://theconversation.com/what-do-the-bible-the-quran-and-the-torah-say-about-the-justification-for-war-259679

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Supreme Court rules that states may deny people covered by Medicaid the freedom to choose Planned Parenthood as their health care provider

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Naomi Cahn, Professor of Law, University of Virginia

    Abortion-rights demonstrators holds a sign in front of the Supreme Court building in Washington as the Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic case is heard on April 2, 2025. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images

    Having the freedom to choose your own health care provider is something many Americans take for granted. But the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority ruled on June 25, 2025, in a 6-3 decision that people who rely on Medicaid for their health insurance don’t have that right.

    The case, Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, is focused on a technical legal issue: whether people covered by Medicaid have the right to sue state officials for preventing them from choosing their health care provider. In his majority opinion, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote that they don’t because the Medicaid statute did not “clearly and unambiguously” give individuals that right.

    As law professors who teach courses about health and poverty law as well as reproductive justice, we think this ruling could restrict access to health care for the more than 78 million Americans who get their health insurance coverage through the Medicaid program.

    Excluding Planned Parenthood

    The case started with a predicament for South Carolina resident Julie Edwards, who is enrolled in Medicaid. After Edwards struggled to get contraceptive services, she was able to receive care from a Planned Parenthood South Atlantic clinic in Columbia, South Carolina.

    Planned Parenthood, an array of nonprofits with roots that date back more than a century, is among the nation’s top providers of reproductive services. It operates two clinics in South Carolina, where patients can get physical exams, cancer screenings, contraception and other services. It also provides same-day appointments and keeps long hours.

    In July 2018, however, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster issued an executive order that barred Medicaid reimbursement for health care providers in the state that offer abortion care.

    That meant Planned Parenthood, a longtime target of conservatives’ ire, would no longer be reimbursed for any type of care for Medicaid patients, preventing Edwards from transferring all her gynecological care to that office as she had hoped to do.

    Planned Parenthood and Edwards sued South Carolina. They argued that the state was violating the federal Medicare and Medicaid Act, which Congress passed in 1965, by not letting Edwards obtain care from the provider of her choice.

    A ‘free-choice-of-provider’ requirement

    Medicaid, which mainly covers low-income people, their children and people with disabilities, operates as a partnership between the federal government and the states. Congress passed the law that led to its creation based on its power under the Constitution’s spending clause, which allows Congress to subject federal funds to certain requirements.

    Two years later, due to concerns that states were restricting which providers Medicaid recipients could choose, Congress added a “free-choice-of-provider” requirement to the program. It states that people enrolled in Medicaid “may obtain such assistance from any institution, agency, community pharmacy, or person, qualified to perform the service or services required.”

    While the Medicaid statute does not, by itself, allow people enrolled in that program to enforce this free-choice clause, the question at the core of this case was whether another federal statute, known as Section 1983, did give them a right to sue.

    The Supreme Court has long recognized that Section 1983 protects an individual’s ability to sue when their rights under a federal statute have been violated. In fact, in 2023, it found such a right under the Medicaid Nursing Home Reform Act. The court held that Section 1983 confers the right to sue when a statute’s provisions “unambiguously confer individual federal rights.”

    In Medina, however, the court found that there was no right to sue. Instead, the court emphasized that “the typical remedy” is for the federal government to cut off Medicaid funds to a state if a state is not complying with the Medicaid statute.

    The ruling overturned lower-court decisions in favor of Edwards. It also expressly rejected the Supreme Court’s earlier rulings, which the majority criticized as taking a more “expansive view of its power to imply private causes of action to enforce federal laws.”

    Planned Parenthood clinics, like this one in Los Angeles, are located across the United States.
    Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

    Restricting Medicaid funds

    This dispute is just one chapter in the long fight over access to abortion in the U.S. In addition to the question of whether it should be legal, proponents and opponents of abortion rights have battled over whether the government should pay for it – even if that funding happens indirectly.

    Through a federal law known as the Hyde Amendment, Medicaid cannot reimburse health care providers for the cost of abortions, with a few exceptions: when a patient’s life is at risk, or her pregnancy is due to rape or incest. Some states do cover abortion when their laws allow it, without using any federal funds.

    As a result, Planned Parenthood rarely gets any federal Medicaid funds for abortions.

    McMaster explained that he removed “abortion clinics,” including Planned Parenthood, from the South Carolina Medicaid program because he didn’t want state funds to indirectly subsidize abortions.

    After the Supreme Court ruled on this case, McMaster said he had taken “a stand to protect the sanctity of life and defend South Carolina’s authority and values – and today, we are finally victorious.”

    But only about 4% of Planned Parenthood’s services nationwide were related to abortion, as of 2022. Its most common service is testing for sexually transmitted diseases. Across the nation, Planned Parenthood provides health care to more than 2 million patients per year, most of whom have low incomes.

    South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster stands outside the Supreme Court building in Washington in April 2025 and speaks about this case.
    Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

    Consequences beyond South Carolina

    This ruling’s consequences are not limited to Medicaid access in South Carolina.

    It may make it harder for individuals to use Section 1983 to bring claims under any federal statute. As Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, wrote in her dissent, the court “continues the project of stymying one of the country’s great civil rights laws.”

    Enacted in 1871, the civil rights law has been invoked to challenge violations of rights by state officials against individuals. Jackson wrote that the court now limits the ability to use Section 1983 to vindicate personal rights only if the statutes use the correct “magic words.”

    The dissent also criticized the majority decision as likely “to result in tangible harm to real people.” Not only will it potentially deprive “Medicaid recipients in South Carolina of their only meaningful way of enforcing a right that Congress has expressly granted to them,” Jackson wrote, but it could also “strip those South Carolinians – and countless other Medicaid recipients around the country – of a deeply personal freedom: the ‘ability to decide who treats us at our most vulnerable.’”

    The decision could also have far-reaching consequences. Arkansas, Missouri and Texas have already barred Planned Parenthood from getting reimbursed by Medicaid for any kind of health care. More states could follow suit.

    In addition, given Planned Parenthood’s role in providing contraceptive care, disqualifying it from Medicaid could restrict access to health care and increase the already-high unintended pregnancy rate in America.

    States could also try to exclude providers based on other characteristics, such as whether their employees belong to unions or if they provide their patients with gender-affirming care, further restricting patients’ choices.

    With this ruling, the court is allowing a patchwork of state exclusions of Planned Parenthood and other medical providers from the Medicaid program that could soon resemble the patchwork already seen with abortion access.

    Portions of this article first appeared in another article published on April 2, 2025.

    The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Supreme Court rules that states may deny people covered by Medicaid the freedom to choose Planned Parenthood as their health care provider – https://theconversation.com/supreme-court-rules-that-states-may-deny-people-covered-by-medicaid-the-freedom-to-choose-planned-parenthood-as-their-health-care-provider-259953

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Natural hazards don’t disappear when the storm ends or the earthquake stops – they evolve

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Brian J. Yanites, Associate Professor of Earth and Atmospheric Science. Professor of Surficial and Sedimentary Geology, Indiana University

    The Carter Lodge hangs precariously over the flood-scoured bank of the Broad River in Chimney Rock Village, N.C., on May 13, 2025, eight months after Hurricane Helene. AP Photo/Allen G. Breed

    Hurricane Helene lasted only a few days in September 2024, but it altered the landscape of the Southeastern U.S. in profound ways that will affect the hazards local residents face far into the future.

    Mudslides buried roads and reshaped river channels. Uprooted trees left soil on hillslopes exposed to the elements. Sediment that washed into rivers changed how water flows through the landscape, leaving some areas more prone to flooding and erosion.

    Helene was a powerful reminder that natural hazards don’t disappear when the skies clear – they evolve.

    These transformations are part of what scientists call cascading hazards. They occur when one natural event alters the landscape in ways that lead to future hazards. A landslide triggered by a storm might clog a river, leading to downstream flooding months or years later. A wildfire can alter the soil and vegetation, setting the stage for debris flows with the next rainstorm.

    Satellite images before (top) and after Hurricane Helene (bottom) show how the storm altered landscape near Pensacola, N.C., in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
    Google Earth, CC BY

    I study these disasters as a geomorphologist. In a new paper in the journal Science, I and a team of scientists from 18 universities and the U.S. Geological Survey explain why hazard models – used to help communities prepare for disasters – can’t just rely on the past. Instead, they need to be nimble enough to forecast how hazards evolve in real time.

    The science behind cascading hazards

    Cascading hazards aren’t random. They emerge from physical processes that operate continuously across the landscape – sediment movement, weathering, erosion. Together, the atmosphere, biosphere and the earth are constantly reshaping the conditions that cause natural disasters.

    For instance, earthquakes fracture rock and shake loose soil. Even if landslides don’t occur during the quake itself, the ground may be weakened, leaving it primed for failure during later rainstorms.

    That’s exactly what happened after the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan Province, China, which led to a surge in debris flows long after the initial seismic event.

    A strong aftershock after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Sichuan province, China, in May 2008 triggered more landslides in central China.
    AP Photo/Andy Wong

    Earth’s surface retains a “memory” of these events. Sediment disturbed in an earthquake, wildfire or severe storm will move downslope over years or even decades, reshaping the landscape as it goes.

    The 1950 Assam earthquake in India is a striking example: It triggered thousands of landslides. The sediment from these landslides gradually moved through the river system, eventually causing flooding and changing river channels in Bangladesh some 20 years later.

    An intensifying threat in a changing world

    These risks present challenges for everything from emergency planning to home insurance. After repeated wildfire-mudslide combinations in California, some insurers pulled out of the state entirely, citing mounting risks and rising costs among the reasons.

    Cascading hazards are not new, but their impact is intensifying.

    Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of wildfires, storms and extreme rainfall. At the same time, urban development continues to expand into steep, hazard-prone terrain, exposing more people and infrastructure to evolving risks.

    The rising risk of interconnected climate disasters like these is overwhelming systems built for isolated events.

    Yet climate change is only part of the equation. Earth processes – such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions – also trigger cascading hazards, often with long-lasting effects.

    Mount St. Helens is a powerful example: More than four decades after its eruption in 1980, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continues to manage ash and sediment from the eruption to keep it from filling river channels in ways that could increase the flood risk in downstream communities.

    Rethinking risk and building resilience

    Traditionally, insurance companies and disaster managers have estimated hazard risk by looking at past events.

    But when the landscape has changed, the past may no longer be a reliable guide to the future. To address this, computer models based on the physics of how these events work are needed to help forecast hazard evolution in real time, much like weather models update with new atmospheric data.

    A March 2024 landslide in the Oregon Coast Range wiped out trees in its path.
    Brian Yanites, June 2025
    A drone image of the same March 2024 landslide in the Oregon Coast Range shows where it temporarily dammed the river below.
    Brian Yanites, June 2025

    Thanks to advances in Earth observation technology, such as satellite imagery, drone and lidar, which is similar to radar but uses light, scientists can now track how hillslopes, rivers and vegetation change after disasters. These observations can feed into geomorphic models that simulate how loosened sediment moves and where hazards are likely to emerge next.

    Researchers are already coupling weather forecasts with post-wildfire debris flow models. Other models simulate how sediment pulses travel through river networks.

    Cascading hazards reveal that Earth’s surface is not a passive backdrop, but an active, evolving system. Each event reshapes the stage for the next.

    Understanding these connections is critical for building resilience so communities can withstand future storms, earthquakes and the problems created by debris flows. Better forecasts can inform building codes, guide infrastructure design and improve how risk is priced and managed. They can help communities anticipate long-term threats and adapt before the next disaster strikes.

    Most importantly, they challenge everyone to think beyond the immediate aftermath of a disaster – and to recognize the slow, quiet transformations that build toward the next.

    Brian J. Yanites receives funding from the National Science Foundation.

    – ref. Natural hazards don’t disappear when the storm ends or the earthquake stops – they evolve – https://theconversation.com/natural-hazards-dont-disappear-when-the-storm-ends-or-the-earthquake-stops-they-evolve-259502

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Five ways you can use mantra meditation every day to boost your wellbeing

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jennifer Donnelly, Doctoral Researcher, Meditation-based Interventions in Clinical Settings, Centre of Positive Health Sciences, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences

    Andrii Iemelianenko/Shutterstock

    Meditation has become a popular subject on self-improvement podcasts, corporate strategy days and health campaigns. But beyond the buzz, there’s a growing scientific and clinical interest in meditation as a tool to regulate attention and promote relaxation. These are increasingly recognised as central to wellbeing in a world of constant notifications, high demands and information overload.

    Mantra meditation has roots in ancient contemplative traditions across many cultures. At its simplest, a mantra is a word, phrase, or sound repeated silently or aloud to focus the mind, steady attention and support relaxation. Depending on the tradition, mantras may carry deep spiritual, linguistic or energetic significance. But in a more personal or secular practice, you might choose or create a mantra that’s meaningful only to you.

    It’s important to note that mantra meditation is distinct from focusing on breathing. While both help develop concentration and awareness, the mantra, not the breath, is the primary anchor of attention in mantra meditation. You may notice the breathing naturally while meditating, but the repetition of the mantra is what gently draws your mind back when it wanders.

    Emerging research suggests that mantra meditation may have promising benefits, from reducing stress and burnout to improving mood, focus and sleep. Focusing on a mantra to disengage from an overactive mind can be a valuable tool in today’s fast-paced world.

    Mantra meditations moments

    A simple starting point is to choose a phrase that resonates with you, something easy to remember and calming. For example: “I am … here now.” Or a word like “ease” or “peace”. Some people visualise a calming image, like a steady tree or a gentle wave, repeating it silently in their mind. The key is to return to your chosen anchor, your mantra, each time your mind drifts.

    You don’t need a special cushion, app or ritual. Below are five everyday moments when you can try this light mantra-practice:

    • On public transport: Use a few minutes of your commute to mentally repeat your mantra. The surrounding noise and movement can actually enhance the practice. When your mind wanders, which it will, gently return to your anchor.

    • While brushing your teeth: This brief, repetitive activity is already part of your day. Use the rhythm of brushing as a cue to repeat your mantra internally.

    • During your first sips of tea or coffee: Let this be a pause point. Breathe naturally. Repeat your chosen phrase. Even a few seconds of presence can shift the tone of your morning.

    Your first morning coffee could become a moment of deep calm in an otherwise hectic day.
    NDAB Creativity/Shutterstock

    • Instead of scrolling: Replace one moment of habitual phone use with one minute of mantra repetition. Notice the impulse to scroll, and meet it with your mantra instead. You can scroll later if you want; the point is to notice the choice.

    • Before stepping out of the car: Pause for 30-60 seconds before entering a new environment, whether that’s work, home or a social setting. This brief ritual can be a surprisingly powerful reset when transitioning to a new destination or activity.

    Longer sessions may deepen the effects, but short, consistent moments of practice are what build tolerance and insight. Meditation doesn’t always begin with peace. More often, it starts with the uncomfortable awareness of how distracted our thoughts can become. That moment of noticing is not a failure, it’s the practice.

    For parents, especially those with young children, meditation might feel unrealistic. But mantra practice can be adapted. Children often respond well to repetitive, rhythmic exercises. Try counting fingers together, repeating a calming phrase, or simply taking three breaths. It might not look like traditional meditation, but it can still create a shared moment of calm.

    Even counting fingers with children could be a way to experience a moment of togetherness and calm.
    YAKOBCHUK VIACHESLAV/Shutterstock

    For those living with chronic pain, health challenges or intense life transitions, meditation can sometimes make discomfort feel more present. In such cases, stillness might initially increase distress.

    Some research confirms that meditation can have uncomfortable or adverse effects, and distraction may be necessary at times. Even so, carefully introduced mantra meditation techniques or similar practices may support people living with chronic conditions by helping shift how discomfort is experienced, if approached with care, and suitable supports are offered.

    Mantra meditation isn’t about perfect focus, or fixing all our problems. Its strength lies in offering you a portable, repeatable practice to build awareness, one moment at a time.

    So before you move on after reading, try this: take 30 seconds, close your eyes, and return to your mantra. Just for now.

    Jennifer Donnelly 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. Five ways you can use mantra meditation every day to boost your wellbeing – https://theconversation.com/five-ways-you-can-use-mantra-meditation-every-day-to-boost-your-wellbeing-259313

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Five ways you can use mantra meditation every day to boost your wellbeing

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jennifer Donnelly, Doctoral Researcher, Meditation-based Interventions in Clinical Settings, Centre of Positive Health Sciences, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences

    Andrii Iemelianenko/Shutterstock

    Meditation has become a popular subject on self-improvement podcasts, corporate strategy days and health campaigns. But beyond the buzz, there’s a growing scientific and clinical interest in meditation as a tool to regulate attention and promote relaxation. These are increasingly recognised as central to wellbeing in a world of constant notifications, high demands and information overload.

    Mantra meditation has roots in ancient contemplative traditions across many cultures. At its simplest, a mantra is a word, phrase, or sound repeated silently or aloud to focus the mind, steady attention and support relaxation. Depending on the tradition, mantras may carry deep spiritual, linguistic or energetic significance. But in a more personal or secular practice, you might choose or create a mantra that’s meaningful only to you.

    It’s important to note that mantra meditation is distinct from focusing on breathing. While both help develop concentration and awareness, the mantra, not the breath, is the primary anchor of attention in mantra meditation. You may notice the breathing naturally while meditating, but the repetition of the mantra is what gently draws your mind back when it wanders.

    Emerging research suggests that mantra meditation may have promising benefits, from reducing stress and burnout to improving mood, focus and sleep. Focusing on a mantra to disengage from an overactive mind can be a valuable tool in today’s fast-paced world.

    Mantra meditations moments

    A simple starting point is to choose a phrase that resonates with you, something easy to remember and calming. For example: “I am … here now.” Or a word like “ease” or “peace”. Some people visualise a calming image, like a steady tree or a gentle wave, repeating it silently in their mind. The key is to return to your chosen anchor, your mantra, each time your mind drifts.

    You don’t need a special cushion, app or ritual. Below are five everyday moments when you can try this light mantra-practice:

    • On public transport: Use a few minutes of your commute to mentally repeat your mantra. The surrounding noise and movement can actually enhance the practice. When your mind wanders, which it will, gently return to your anchor.

    • While brushing your teeth: This brief, repetitive activity is already part of your day. Use the rhythm of brushing as a cue to repeat your mantra internally.

    • During your first sips of tea or coffee: Let this be a pause point. Breathe naturally. Repeat your chosen phrase. Even a few seconds of presence can shift the tone of your morning.

    Your first morning coffee could become a moment of deep calm in an otherwise hectic day.
    NDAB Creativity/Shutterstock

    • Instead of scrolling: Replace one moment of habitual phone use with one minute of mantra repetition. Notice the impulse to scroll, and meet it with your mantra instead. You can scroll later if you want; the point is to notice the choice.

    • Before stepping out of the car: Pause for 30-60 seconds before entering a new environment, whether that’s work, home or a social setting. This brief ritual can be a surprisingly powerful reset when transitioning to a new destination or activity.

    Longer sessions may deepen the effects, but short, consistent moments of practice are what build tolerance and insight. Meditation doesn’t always begin with peace. More often, it starts with the uncomfortable awareness of how distracted our thoughts can become. That moment of noticing is not a failure, it’s the practice.

    For parents, especially those with young children, meditation might feel unrealistic. But mantra practice can be adapted. Children often respond well to repetitive, rhythmic exercises. Try counting fingers together, repeating a calming phrase, or simply taking three breaths. It might not look like traditional meditation, but it can still create a shared moment of calm.

    Even counting fingers with children could be a way to experience a moment of togetherness and calm.
    YAKOBCHUK VIACHESLAV/Shutterstock

    For those living with chronic pain, health challenges or intense life transitions, meditation can sometimes make discomfort feel more present. In such cases, stillness might initially increase distress.

    Some research confirms that meditation can have uncomfortable or adverse effects, and distraction may be necessary at times. Even so, carefully introduced mantra meditation techniques or similar practices may support people living with chronic conditions by helping shift how discomfort is experienced, if approached with care, and suitable supports are offered.

    Mantra meditation isn’t about perfect focus, or fixing all our problems. Its strength lies in offering you a portable, repeatable practice to build awareness, one moment at a time.

    So before you move on after reading, try this: take 30 seconds, close your eyes, and return to your mantra. Just for now.

    Jennifer Donnelly 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. Five ways you can use mantra meditation every day to boost your wellbeing – https://theconversation.com/five-ways-you-can-use-mantra-meditation-every-day-to-boost-your-wellbeing-259313

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How huge migrating animal puppets captivate in ways that climate news can’t

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Matt Smith, Reader in Applied Theatre and Puppetry, University of Portsmouth

    A herd of puppet animals is migrating north from Africa. This 12,000 mile journey represents wildlife’s response to the climate crisis as species are forced to move north due to rising temperatures. As The Herds travels through the UK en route to the Arctic, the organisers hope this artistic project will help spectators along the route understand what is happening to the environment.

    Events like this are “louder than traffic”, according to US-based puppeteer Peter Schumann. The giant puppets are a visual tool to capture the public’s imagination.

    Over the past 30 years working as a theatre scholar, I have observed that puppetry has become an important artform for telling stories that explore the way we respond to and interact with nature.

    Like traditional street theatre such as Punch and Judy, puppets grab the audience’s attention against the backdrop of everyday life. Now with the rise of social media, modern culture is now even more visually oriented. Puppetry is a big hit in these new digital spaces, according to some researchers.

    The Herds project was created by a theatre company called Little Walk after the success of Little Amal, a Syrian refugee puppet project about human migration and climate relocation. One of the Little Amal puppeteers told me that, ironically, it was easier for the puppets to cross borders but the human artists and puppeteers had to take major detours to carry out the Little Amal project in 17 countries.

    The Herds aims to inspire people to think about the direct consequences of the climate crisis as the animal puppets travel from Africa to the Arctic. Puppeteers animate the life-size puppets in full view of the audience. As each puppeteer focuses on moving the puppet, they transfer their energy and emotion into the puppets body.

    The Herds takes puppets on a 12,000-mile-long migration from Africa to the Arctic.

    I was trained in these techniques during the 1990s. I know that when a performer intensely focuses on a performing object, the result is mesmerising. It can enable the audience to feel empathy for another non-human being. The aim is to cut through discourses and affect people directly with images performed beyond language and local agendas.

    Puppetry is both an interdisciplinary and interactive artform that is as old as human culture. Animated figures have been employed in both the popular spaces of folk theatres and the avant garde spaces of high art. Puppet characters can tell very simple stories in slapstick shows or speak to complex issues in projects like The Herds.

    Even having researched puppetry in communities for more than three decades, the many varied uses for puppetry continue to surprise me. Beyond theatres, puppets can affect people in everyday spaces, just as The Herds does. My book, published in 2024, explores how the popular global practice of puppetry by communities and groups brings pleasure through both making and performing with puppets.

    Communicating complexity

    In 2023, I collaborated with scientists at the Centre for Enzyme Innovation at University of Portsmouth who are developing enzymes that can break down plastic waste. We found that puppets could help to communicate complex science about innovative recycling to audiences through workshops and a showcase event. The puppets as entertaining figures symbolising ideas could animate the science and engage audiences in a playful and non-elitist fashion.

    Puppetry is a powerful and engaging art form that can capture the imagination of audiences globally. Even during our advanced technological times puppetry is still employed both by technologies – for example our own XR lab used puppets recently exploring their use with avatars.

    With successful West End productions in London such as Lion King and War Horse (a show which changed the fortunes of the National Theatre, puppetry has become mainstream in the UK. Now with The Herds, animal puppets are having a global reach.

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

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

    Matt Smith receives funding from Royal Academy of Engineering for the enzyme puppet project.

    – ref. How huge migrating animal puppets captivate in ways that climate news can’t – https://theconversation.com/how-huge-migrating-animal-puppets-captivate-in-ways-that-climate-news-cant-259592

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How huge migrating animal puppets captivate in ways that climate news can’t

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Matt Smith, Reader in Applied Theatre and Puppetry, University of Portsmouth

    A herd of puppet animals is migrating north from Africa. This 12,000 mile journey represents wildlife’s response to the climate crisis as species are forced to move north due to rising temperatures. As The Herds travels through the UK en route to the Arctic, the organisers hope this artistic project will help spectators along the route understand what is happening to the environment.

    Events like this are “louder than traffic”, according to US-based puppeteer Peter Schumann. The giant puppets are a visual tool to capture the public’s imagination.

    Over the past 30 years working as a theatre scholar, I have observed that puppetry has become an important artform for telling stories that explore the way we respond to and interact with nature.

    Like traditional street theatre such as Punch and Judy, puppets grab the audience’s attention against the backdrop of everyday life. Now with the rise of social media, modern culture is now even more visually oriented. Puppetry is a big hit in these new digital spaces, according to some researchers.

    The Herds project was created by a theatre company called Little Walk after the success of Little Amal, a Syrian refugee puppet project about human migration and climate relocation. One of the Little Amal puppeteers told me that, ironically, it was easier for the puppets to cross borders but the human artists and puppeteers had to take major detours to carry out the Little Amal project in 17 countries.

    The Herds aims to inspire people to think about the direct consequences of the climate crisis as the animal puppets travel from Africa to the Arctic. Puppeteers animate the life-size puppets in full view of the audience. As each puppeteer focuses on moving the puppet, they transfer their energy and emotion into the puppets body.

    The Herds takes puppets on a 12,000-mile-long migration from Africa to the Arctic.

    I was trained in these techniques during the 1990s. I know that when a performer intensely focuses on a performing object, the result is mesmerising. It can enable the audience to feel empathy for another non-human being. The aim is to cut through discourses and affect people directly with images performed beyond language and local agendas.

    Puppetry is both an interdisciplinary and interactive artform that is as old as human culture. Animated figures have been employed in both the popular spaces of folk theatres and the avant garde spaces of high art. Puppet characters can tell very simple stories in slapstick shows or speak to complex issues in projects like The Herds.

    Even having researched puppetry in communities for more than three decades, the many varied uses for puppetry continue to surprise me. Beyond theatres, puppets can affect people in everyday spaces, just as The Herds does. My book, published in 2024, explores how the popular global practice of puppetry by communities and groups brings pleasure through both making and performing with puppets.

    Communicating complexity

    In 2023, I collaborated with scientists at the Centre for Enzyme Innovation at University of Portsmouth who are developing enzymes that can break down plastic waste. We found that puppets could help to communicate complex science about innovative recycling to audiences through workshops and a showcase event. The puppets as entertaining figures symbolising ideas could animate the science and engage audiences in a playful and non-elitist fashion.

    Puppetry is a powerful and engaging art form that can capture the imagination of audiences globally. Even during our advanced technological times puppetry is still employed both by technologies – for example our own XR lab used puppets recently exploring their use with avatars.

    With successful West End productions in London such as Lion King and War Horse (a show which changed the fortunes of the National Theatre, puppetry has become mainstream in the UK. Now with The Herds, animal puppets are having a global reach.

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

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

    Matt Smith receives funding from Royal Academy of Engineering for the enzyme puppet project.

    – ref. How huge migrating animal puppets captivate in ways that climate news can’t – https://theconversation.com/how-huge-migrating-animal-puppets-captivate-in-ways-that-climate-news-cant-259592

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Grilling with lump charcoal: Is US-grown hardwood really in that bag?

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Adriana Costa, Assistant Professor of Sustainable Bioproducts, Mississippi State University

    When you’re getting ready to cook, do you know what’s burning underneath? Alexandr Baranov/iStock/Getty Images Plus

    People dedicated to the art of grilling often choose lump charcoal – actual pieces of wood that have been turned into charcoal – over briquettes, which are compressed charcoal dust with other ingredients to keep the dust together and help it burn better.

    The kinds of wood used to make lump charcoal affect how it burns and how the food tastes when grilled. Dedicated grillers are often willing to pay a premium for higher heat, no additives, particular flavors and the cleaner burn they get from particular wood species in lump charcoal.

    Buyers probably expect the label to accurately report how much charcoal they are getting, what kind of wood it is, and where the wood was grown.

    A spot-check I helped conduct on lump charcoal for sale in the U.S. has revealed that the information on the label does not always match what is inside the bag. Customers might not know what they are actually buying, potentially affecting their purchasing choices and even their grilling experience.

    Origin matters

    Charcoal is made from wood heated in a low-oxygen environment to remove water and volatile compounds. This process leaves behind a carbon-rich material that burns hotter and more cleanly than raw wood, making it ideal for grilling.

    The origin of the trees used affects charcoal’s ecological sustainability. Some charcoal produced in Mexico, Paraguay and Brazil has been linked to deforestation and unsustainable logging practices. Charcoal from hardwood trees harvested in the U.S. is generally considered to be more sustainable.

    We decided to investigate more deeply what consumers are actually getting when they buy a bag of lump charcoal.

    We looked at a range of products, some of which were labeled as from the U.S., some from other countries and others that did not specify a country of origin.

    We purchased one bag each of 15 major U.S. lump charcoal brands online. We did not identify the specific producers. Instead, we wanted to give an overall sense of the products available on the market and evaluate how closely product claims on the packaging matched what was actually in the bags.

    Kinds of charcoal we found

    We determined the type of wood the charcoal was made from by examining each lump under a microscope or handheld magnifying lens and matching the patterns in the wood structure with the ones in our collection.

    Identifying the species allowed us to broadly infer the origin of the charcoal based on where those kinds of trees typically grow.

    Nearly half of all the lump charcoal we examined was oak or mesquite, which are both hardwoods that grow in North America, including in the U.S. and Mexico.

    In two out of five bags claiming their charcoal had come from the U.S., 15% or more of the material was actually tropical woods, such as ipe, which are not native to the U.S. These woods may have been harvested unsustainably. Other species we found included pine and sweet gum, which perform poorly as grilling woods.

    Much of the tropical wood was in small fragments, which made us think it might have been intentionally used as cheap filler.

    We found one bag that was labeled “One ingredient: Oak hardwood” that contained no oak at all. Instead, it was a mix of at least six tropical woods.

    At left, a cross section of a piece of red oak lump charcoal under magnification, beside a cross section of a piece of raw red oak wood.
    Wiedenhoeft and Costa

    What else was in the bag?

    We also discovered concerns related to product weight and the quantity of extraneous material in the bags. The Fair Packaging and Labeling Act is a U.S. law that requires product containers to carry labels that accurately describe the contents. The National Institute of Standards and Technology has specific methods for measuring and characterizing contents of packaged goods.

    These requirements do allow some variations in weight, but nearly half the bags we examined were underfilled, and one-third were far enough underweight that their label claims fell outside what is legally acceptable.

    Also, in every bag we found bark and tiny charcoal fragments, which burn quickly and unevenly. Six bags had rocks in them. Without those extra materials, all 15 bags were underweight, and none gave buyers as much effective grilling fuel as they promised.

    So when consumers pay more for what they think is a premium charcoal product, they may, in fact, be getting nothing of the sort.

    Adriana Costa has received funding from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, McIntire Stennis, USDA Agricultural Research Service, and the USDA Forest Products Laboratory. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.

    – ref. Grilling with lump charcoal: Is US-grown hardwood really in that bag? – https://theconversation.com/grilling-with-lump-charcoal-is-us-grown-hardwood-really-in-that-bag-258157

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: ‘I’m dreading birthing in such a system’: what Indigenous women globally think of birth care and what they’d like to see instead

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Nina Sivertsen, Associate Professor, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University

    Pregnancy and having a baby can be a special time. And families want to feel safe and trust their maternity care.

    But when we reviewed the evidence, we found many Indigenous families globally face unfair treatment during pregnancy and birth. This can include racism, neglecting cultural aspects of their care, or using health care poorly designed to accommodate their needs.

    We found similar themes in research involving more than 1,400 Indigenous women, Elders, fathers, family members and health workers from locations including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, Greenland and Sápmi (parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia).

    Many Indigenous families felt disrespected. They said hospital staff often didn’t understand their cultures or give them basic rights during their maternity care, such as being listened to, included in decision-making, or giving informed consent.

    As a result, some families felt hesitant to seek care in mainstream hospitals. As one Indigenous woman told us during recent Australian research submitted for publication:

    I’m dreading birthing in such a system.

    But there are alternatives.

    What can hospitals do?

    There is a clear need to improve birthing services and cultural safety in mainstream hospitals with a focus on respecting the beliefs, practices and traditions of all families, including Indigenous ones.

    For example, many Indigenous families view childbirth as a communal event with extended family support. But hospital policies that limit the number of support people often disregard these important cultural practices.

    Indigenous families also need to get the type of health care they trust and feel comfortable with. Ideally this might involve staff with sound cultural knowledge and who can support families clinically in a culturally safe way.

    Aboriginal patient liaison officers are sometimes available in hospitals or health services. But there are not often enough, they have to service entire facilities, and they provide cultural support not clinical patient care.

    Indigenous families may also want to access a specific type of care. One example is “continuity of care”, where the same midwife or a small team of midwives, supports the family through the whole pregnancy. Ideally, these midwives should be Indigenous or, if not, be trained in supporting Indigenous families with respect and understanding.

    What is ‘birthing on Country’?

    For Indigenous women living in rural and remote areas, being sent away from home to give birth in a city hospital can be really hard.

    Sometimes women and families are evacuated from their home communities and have to stay for weeks or months in temporary accommodation in the city, both before and after birth, or if their baby is born pre-term and needs extra care. This temporary accommodation can be far from the hospital.

    All this takes place in unknown cities and towns, without family support, and sometimes away from their other children cared for by the community back home.

    This makes it harder for mums who need extra support, and can get in the way of starting breastfeeding and bonding with their baby.

    Again, there is an alternative. For many Indigenous families, giving birth is not just about having a baby. It’s also a spiritual and cultural event that strengthens their identity and connection to Country. A “birthing on Country” model of care, which respects Indigenous traditions and knowledge, reinforces that.

    This is midwife-led care designed for and with Indigenous communities. It doesn’t mean you have to birth in rural and remote spaces, but it is a model of care that focuses on culture, and can also be implemented in the city.

    Ideally, families would see the same midwife or team of midwives and use the “birthing on Country” model.

    What else can we do?

    Maternity services can be led by Indigenous people, which many women prefer. But Indigenous staff make up about 3.1% of the Australian health workforce.

    So it is crucial to engage non-Indigenous staff in building relationships and to support Indigenous families in their right to receive culturally safe care.

    This can start with better training for staff, not only to understand and respond to an Indigenous person’s individual needs, but to know when and how to speak up, call out or report racist or disrespectful behaviour.

    This is everyone’s problem

    A health system you can trust should be safe for everyone. If some people feel unsafe or face discrimination when getting care, this not only affects them, it affects everyone.

    For instance, when Indigenous women avoid or delay going to the hospital because of past bad experiences or discrimination, it can lead to health problems that could have been prevented.

    This not only harms the women, it puts more pressure on the public health system, which affects us all.

    By talking about these issues, we hope all Australians begin to care about the safety of all women during pregnancy and birth.

    The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. ‘I’m dreading birthing in such a system’: what Indigenous women globally think of birth care and what they’d like to see instead – https://theconversation.com/im-dreading-birthing-in-such-a-system-what-indigenous-women-globally-think-of-birth-care-and-what-theyd-like-to-see-instead-256877

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: ‘I’m dreading birthing in such a system’: what Indigenous women globally think of birth care and what they’d like to see instead

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Nina Sivertsen, Associate Professor, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University

    Pregnancy and having a baby can be a special time. And families want to feel safe and trust their maternity care.

    But when we reviewed the evidence, we found many Indigenous families globally face unfair treatment during pregnancy and birth. This can include racism, neglecting cultural aspects of their care, or using health care poorly designed to accommodate their needs.

    We found similar themes in research involving more than 1,400 Indigenous women, Elders, fathers, family members and health workers from locations including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, Greenland and Sápmi (parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia).

    Many Indigenous families felt disrespected. They said hospital staff often didn’t understand their cultures or give them basic rights during their maternity care, such as being listened to, included in decision-making, or giving informed consent.

    As a result, some families felt hesitant to seek care in mainstream hospitals. As one Indigenous woman told us during recent Australian research submitted for publication:

    I’m dreading birthing in such a system.

    But there are alternatives.

    What can hospitals do?

    There is a clear need to improve birthing services and cultural safety in mainstream hospitals with a focus on respecting the beliefs, practices and traditions of all families, including Indigenous ones.

    For example, many Indigenous families view childbirth as a communal event with extended family support. But hospital policies that limit the number of support people often disregard these important cultural practices.

    Indigenous families also need to get the type of health care they trust and feel comfortable with. Ideally this might involve staff with sound cultural knowledge and who can support families clinically in a culturally safe way.

    Aboriginal patient liaison officers are sometimes available in hospitals or health services. But there are not often enough, they have to service entire facilities, and they provide cultural support not clinical patient care.

    Indigenous families may also want to access a specific type of care. One example is “continuity of care”, where the same midwife or a small team of midwives, supports the family through the whole pregnancy. Ideally, these midwives should be Indigenous or, if not, be trained in supporting Indigenous families with respect and understanding.

    What is ‘birthing on Country’?

    For Indigenous women living in rural and remote areas, being sent away from home to give birth in a city hospital can be really hard.

    Sometimes women and families are evacuated from their home communities and have to stay for weeks or months in temporary accommodation in the city, both before and after birth, or if their baby is born pre-term and needs extra care. This temporary accommodation can be far from the hospital.

    All this takes place in unknown cities and towns, without family support, and sometimes away from their other children cared for by the community back home.

    This makes it harder for mums who need extra support, and can get in the way of starting breastfeeding and bonding with their baby.

    Again, there is an alternative. For many Indigenous families, giving birth is not just about having a baby. It’s also a spiritual and cultural event that strengthens their identity and connection to Country. A “birthing on Country” model of care, which respects Indigenous traditions and knowledge, reinforces that.

    This is midwife-led care designed for and with Indigenous communities. It doesn’t mean you have to birth in rural and remote spaces, but it is a model of care that focuses on culture, and can also be implemented in the city.

    Ideally, families would see the same midwife or team of midwives and use the “birthing on Country” model.

    What else can we do?

    Maternity services can be led by Indigenous people, which many women prefer. But Indigenous staff make up about 3.1% of the Australian health workforce.

    So it is crucial to engage non-Indigenous staff in building relationships and to support Indigenous families in their right to receive culturally safe care.

    This can start with better training for staff, not only to understand and respond to an Indigenous person’s individual needs, but to know when and how to speak up, call out or report racist or disrespectful behaviour.

    This is everyone’s problem

    A health system you can trust should be safe for everyone. If some people feel unsafe or face discrimination when getting care, this not only affects them, it affects everyone.

    For instance, when Indigenous women avoid or delay going to the hospital because of past bad experiences or discrimination, it can lead to health problems that could have been prevented.

    This not only harms the women, it puts more pressure on the public health system, which affects us all.

    By talking about these issues, we hope all Australians begin to care about the safety of all women during pregnancy and birth.

    The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. ‘I’m dreading birthing in such a system’: what Indigenous women globally think of birth care and what they’d like to see instead – https://theconversation.com/im-dreading-birthing-in-such-a-system-what-indigenous-women-globally-think-of-birth-care-and-what-theyd-like-to-see-instead-256877

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How Israel’s domestic crises and Netanyahu’s aim to project power are reshaping the Middle East

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Spyros A. Sofos, Assistant Professor in Global Humanities, Simon Fraser University

    Israel’s recent strikes on Iranian territory have been widely framed as an act of deterrence or yet another episode in a protracted regional rivalry.

    Such interpretations overlook the deeper motivations behind Israel’s actions.

    As a global humanities scholar who specializes in Middle Eastern politics, I believe the world is watching the convergence of a domestic political crisis and a profound strategic shift as Israel evolves into a more aggressive entity in a fragmented international order.

    Political survival

    At the centre of Israel’s current strategic turn lies Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — a beleaguered leader fighting for political survival, but also considered a calculating, opportunistic operator with a particular vision of the Middle East.

    At home, Netanyahu, confronting an unprecedented convergence of challenges — multiple corruption indictments, mass protests against what many consider a self-serving judicial overhaul and a fragile governing coalition — has leaned into military escalation as both a defensive reflex and a political instrument. He’s seemingly deploying it to both mute dissent at home and assert control abroad.

    Israelis opposed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul plan set up bonfires and block a highway during a protest in March 2023.
    (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

    But Netanyahu’s ambitions appear to extend beyond his immediate political survival. He seems to be striving for a legacy-defining “1967 moment” — a transformative reordering of the regional landscape in the Middle East that sidelines the Palestinian issue and entrenches Israeli supremacy.

    This dual imperative — domestic survival and amassing power in the region — likely shapes Netanyahu’s recent actions, including the strike on Iran, the expanded occupation of Syrian territory, the October 2024 attack on Lebanon and the ongoing assaults on Gaza and the West Bank.

    By describing each military campaign as a reluctant necessity — forced upon him by Iran, Hamas or even his coalition hardliners — Netanyahu maintains public support as he consolidates power. His government has used war-time conditions to suppress public protest, push forward its radical constitutional agenda and advance his geopolitical vision.

    The result is a volatile but calculated strategy that is likely to mark Netanyahu’s tenure, though with significant repercussions for regional stability.

    Israel’s grand strategy

    While Netanyahu’s actions could serve his immediate political ends, they also reflect a longer-term shift in Israeli grand strategy. Following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks, Israel intensified a long-standing pattern of pre-emptive strikes and campaigns to neutralize its adversaries. This strategy has been pursued at an unprecedented scale in Gaza, but often without a clearly articulated political endgame.

    This pattern echoes a regional policy doctrine Netanyahu laid out in his 1993 book A Place Among the Nations when he asserted “the only peace that will endure in the region is the peace of deterrence.”

    This policy advocates the projection of overwhelming Israeli power, the emasculation of regional challengers and efforts to radically reorder the Middle East.

    Netanyahu’s doctrine, a more aggressive revision of Israel’s earlier pre-emptive security traditions, stands in sharp contrast to the approach pursued by the Oslo Accords-era leadership of the 1990s and 2000s — figures such as Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, and later Ehud Barak.

    They emphasized diplomacy over coercive leverage and perpetual confrontation. They sought genuine political settlements and a negotiated co-existence with Palestinians and neighbouring Arab states. This strategy — rooted in compromise and limited reconciliation — has now been decisively eclipsed by Netanyahu’s highly militarized approach and his vision for achieving strategic power in the Middle East.

    This approach underpins all of Israel’s modern-day actions — from its reoccupation of parts of Lebanon to its growing military footprint in Syrian territory, the obliteration of Gaza, its aggression against Iran and the increasing calls for Iranian regime change from the current Israeli cabinet.

    From buffer to power projection

    Nowhere is this clearer than in Israel’s expanding operations across its northern front. In Syria, Israel seized upon the post-Bashar al-Assad vacuum to entrench military control over at least 12 square kilometres of new terrain, constructing infrastructure and outposts far beyond prior ceasefire lines.

    This had less to do with protecting minority populations or deterring Iranian proxies — as officials claimed — and more with establishing long-term buffer zones and projecting dominance into a fragile post-war Syria.

    A similar pattern is evident in Lebanon. Following months of border escalation, Israel has sought not only to undermine Hezbollah’s capacity but to create no-go zones controlled by the Israeli military along the frontier. These operations reflect older strategic instincts but are now integrated in the ongoing process of Israel’s northern border redesign.

    Finally, Israel’s bombing campaign against Iran reflects a doctrine to move beyond containment toward strategic dismantlement of the Iranian regime’s regional power and to erode its ability to control its own territory.

    The escalation is the outcome of Israel’s pursuit of a favourable regional moment — the weakening of the so-called “Axis of Resistance” following the Abraham Accords of 2020 aimed at establishing diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab nations — and months of war in Lebanon and Syria.

    From ‘western ally’ to regional challenger

    A constellation of domestic and international changes has enabled Israel’s transformation.

    These include a shift in Israeli political culture encouraged by Netanyahu’s rejection of efforts to pursue some sort of regional co-existence and co-operation; the far right’s growing influence in government; and the ongoing disruption of the international order amid Donald Trump’s second presidency in the United States that gave Israel more room to manoeuvre.

    This constellation has eroded the few constraints the liberal international order had in the past imposed on Israel’s pursuit of its regional policies amid an era of expansionism, permanent conflict and the aggressive management — not resolution — of the Palestinian issue.

    Israel is now heading down the same path as Russia and Turkey, capitalizing on vast disparities in military and intelligence capabilities among regional powers to its advantage, disregarding international norms, undermining diplomacy and preferring transactional alliances instead of long-term peace processes.

    The U.S. has facilitated this transformation. Former president Joe Biden and now Trump have made very little effort to constrain Netanyahu.

    Trump’s “Gaza Riviera” plan, along with his isolationist rhetoric, have effectively left regional decision-making to Israel while he continues to underwrite Israeli military dominance and its use of overwhelming force to reshape its regional environment.



    Read more:
    Why Israel and the U.S. are sure to encounter the limits of air power in Iran

    Netanyahu’s reluctance to accept the current ceasefire as a definitive end to hostilities with Iran reveals his and his cabinet’s regional revisionist reflexes.

    Broader regional destabilization lies ahead as Israel seeks to destroy threats with immense military power without any strategic foresight.

    Spyros A. Sofos 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 Israel’s domestic crises and Netanyahu’s aim to project power are reshaping the Middle East – https://theconversation.com/how-israels-domestic-crises-and-netanyahus-aim-to-project-power-are-reshaping-the-middle-east-259359

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: What is reconciliation − the legislative shortcut Republicans are using to push through their ‘Big Beautiful Bill’?

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Linda J. Bilmes, Daniel Patrick Moynihan Senior Lecturer in Public Policy and Public Finance, Harvard Kennedy School

    Senate Majority Leader John Thune speaks with reporters about the reconciliation process to advance President Donald Trump’s spending and tax bill on June 3, 2025. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

    The word “reconciliation” sounds benign, even harmonious.

    But in Washington, D.C., reconciliation refers to a potent legislative shortcut that allows the party in power to avoid opposition and enact sweeping changes to taxes and spending with a simple majority vote. Democrats used the process to pass the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022. Reconciliation helped Republicans pass large tax cuts in 2017.

    Reconciliation is also at the heart of the current budget debate, as Senate Republicans rush to advance their version of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” also known by its acronym OBBBA, which passed the House in May 2025.

    I served as assistant secretary of Commerce for management and budget during the Clinton administration, when my colleagues and I helped forge bipartisan legislation that balanced the federal budget and produced surpluses over four years, from 1998 to 2001. We were even able to pay off some debt.

    But since 2001, the country’s fiscal situation has deteriorated significantly. And the reconciliation process has strayed from its original purpose as a mechanism to promote sound fiscal policy. Instead, it is now used to pass partisan legislation, often without regard to its economic impact on future generations of Americans.

    Reconciliation 101

    The reconciliation process was created by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, which was overwhelmingly supported by both parties. It was designed to align policy goals with budget targets to help rein in deficits.

    The rules specify that a bill using the reconciliation process must pertain directly to budgetary or fiscal matters, cannot change Social Security, Medicare or the budget process itself, or deliberately extend deficits beyond a 10-year window. As part of the process, the parliamentarian goes through each element of the bill and determines whether it meets the requirements, removing any that don’t.

    In the Senate, reconciliation has special procedural advantages. Debate is limited to 20 hours. Conveniently for the party in power, the final bill can pass with a simple majority of 51 votes. This avoids the usual 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a filibuster.

    Over its 50-year history, 23 reconciliation bills have become law.

    Reconciliation on rise as budget process breaks down

    Over time, reconciliation has become the dominant method for enacting major tax and spending legislation, as the regular congressional budget process has broken down.

    Since 1974, there have been multiple government shutdowns, near-shutdowns and short-term, stopgap “continual resolutions” instead of annual budgets, accompanied by rising deficits and national debt.

    With few other tools at its disposal, Congress has used reconciliation to push through many pieces of major economic legislation, including the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts under President George W. Bush, the 2017 tax cuts during President Donald Trump’s first term, and the American Rescue Plan in 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022 during the Biden administration.

    However, reconciliation has significant flaws. Because debate is limited, senators often vote on bills over 1,000 pages long with little time to review the details. And once tax cuts are enacted under reconciliation, it is devilishly hard to get rid of them.

    Given the compressed timelines and lack of transparency inherent in such huge, messy spending bills, it is fairly easy for lawmakers to slip in earmarks, tax loopholes and other extraneous items that that don’t get removed by the parliamentarian.

    House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries argues Republicans’ spending and tax bill will ‘explode the deficit.’
    AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

    What’s in the bill?

    At the heart of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passed by the House, is an extension of President Trump’s tax cuts from his first term, which would otherwise expire at the end of 2025, according to the procedural rules for reconciliation.

    But it also includes multiple new tax cuts – such as an end to taxes on overtime and tips and lower estate taxes – introduces new Medicaid work requirements and repeals various energy credits. In line with the Trump administration’s policies, the bill slashes federal funding for education, Medicaid, public housing, environmental programs, scientific research and some national park and public land protection programs. It also boosts defense spending.

    The bill would sharply worsen the nation’s fiscal outlook, according to analyses by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and other organizations.

    Currently, the national debt exceeds US$36 trillion, according to the U.S. Treasury, and net interest payments account for some 16% of federal revenue, based on the Congressional Budget Office’s projections for 2025.

    In its analysis, the Congressional Budget Office – which was also created by the 1974 act – said the House-passed version would increase deficits by more than $3.1 trillion over the next decade. The overwhelming share of this cost comes from the permanent extension of individual tax cuts initially enacted in 2017.

    According to the Congressional Budget Office’s analysis, by 2035 households earning at least $1 million would receive an average annual tax cut of about $45,000. Most middle- and lower-income households would receive a cut of less than $500 per year, if anything.

    The costs of reconciliation

    A number of Senate Republicans have questioned some aspects of the reconciliation package. Since they hold only a 53-47 majority, and with all Democrats expected to vote “no,” they need to use reconciliation to pass their version.

    Although it differs from the House version in many ways, the Senate version still favors tax cuts for high-income households and large corporations.

    Senate Republicans also employ a flawed accounting gimmick to minimize its apparent cost. It assumes the 2017 Trump tax cuts, which are set to expire, have already been extended and embeds that assumption into the budget baseline.

    This makes extending the tax cuts appear costless, even though it would grow the debt substantially. The move violates normal scorekeeping conventions and misleads the public. Honest accounting would show that the Senate plan would add to the debt about $500 billion more than the House version.

    Abusing the process

    Lots of wrangling and changes are expected before the Senate is able to pass its version. After that, the House and Senate will need to resolve their differences in a conference committee of Republicans from each house of Congress.

    Once they agree on a final version, each house votes again – and the Senate version will still need to meet the terms of reconciliation in order to pass with a majority vote. President Trump is pressuring Congress to deliver the bill to his desk before he goes on July Fourth vacation.

    In my view, while reconciliation remains a powerful budgetary tool, its current use represents a fundamental inversion of its original purpose. Americans deserve an honest debate about trade-offs, rather than more debt in disguise. Some estimates of the fiscal impact of the Senate’s version of the bill are as high as $3.8 trillion over a decade. Simply waving a magic accounting wand won’t make them go away.

    Linda J. Bilmes served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the US Department of Commerce from 1997-1998 and as CFO and Assistant Secretary for Management, Budget and Administration from 1999-2001.

    – ref. What is reconciliation − the legislative shortcut Republicans are using to push through their ‘Big Beautiful Bill’? – https://theconversation.com/what-is-reconciliation-the-legislative-shortcut-republicans-are-using-to-push-through-their-big-beautiful-bill-255487

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Summer break brings uncertainty for children, and kindness at home matters

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Amina Yousaf, Associate Head, Early Childhood Studies, University of Guelph-Humber

    Transitions, even positive ones, can be tough on children. (kahar erbol/Unsplash)

    As the school year wraps up, many children are keen for summer break. Summer means sunshine, and hopefully popsicles and lots of playtime. But for many families, summer also brings a combination of excitement and uncertainty.

    In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, this transition may feel particularly challenging. In recent years, children across age groups have faced significant disruptions to their social and emotional development. Both parents and education experts say lockdowns and ongoing pandemic disruptions left lingering impacts, with some children still struggling with anxiety, emotional regulation, social skills and difficulties focusing in school.

    As summer kicks off, an effective tool for parents and caregivers is kindness. In early childhood development, kindness serves as a foundation for empathy and strong relationships, both of which are essential for social-emotional learning (SEL).



    Read more:
    Kindness: What I’ve learned from 3,000 children and adolescents

    Foundation for strong relationships

    Kindness is more than just being polite. It’s an essential element of emotional well-being and a core part of building resilience in children.

    Experiences between children and parents or their caregivers matter to how children navigate life. Learning at school also matters: Recent research shows that children aged nine to 12 who received structured SEL instruction showed notable improvements in emotional well-being, peer relationships and overall happiness.

    These benefits were especially pronounced during transitional periods, like starting a new school year, which parallels the shift into summer. The study highlighted that reinforcing SEL at home through kindness and emotional support helps children feel more grounded, confident and connected.

    Experiences between children and parents or their caregivers matter to how children navigate life.
    (Shutterstock)

    Lingering pandemic effects

    This is particularly important now. A Canadian study that followed nearly 1,400 children between the ages of nine and 14 found that their mental health didn’t bounce back after COVID. After an initial period of adjustment, symptoms like anxiety, depression, trouble focusing and restlessness got worse again once life returned to “normal.”

    By 2023, more children were struggling with their mental health than at any point during the pandemic.

    Challenges also extend to younger learners. For example, a 2023 Toronto District School Board report found many kindergarten-aged children entered school with delays, including in emotional regulation, communication and social interaction.



    Read more:
    Pandemic effects linger, and art invites us to pause and behold distance, time and trauma

    While much public discourse has centred on academic recovery, these findings suggest that emotional recovery must be just as urgent a priority.

    Kindness, offered consistently and sincerely, can help lay the groundwork for this healing process.

    Grounding force during period of change

    Transitions, even positive ones, can be tough on children.

    This is where kindness becomes a practical strategy. A soft voice, a patient ear and an empathetic response can be grounding forces during periods of change.

    When your child expresses nervousness about summer activities or feels lost without school structure, simple but supportive responses like “It’s OK to feel unsure, is there something you’re curious or excited about?” can go a long way in helping them feel safe and understood.

    Kindness isn’t about coddling or sheltering children. It’s about creating the emotional security they need to develop strong coping skills.

    Emotionally supportive environments empower children to regulate their emotions and form meaningful relationships.

    Kindness is about creating the emotional security children need to develop strong coping skills.
    (Shutterstock)

    5 ways to support children

    Here are five evidence-informed ways you can combine kindness with everyday parenting to support your children during summer transitions:

    • Maintain predictable routines: Even in a relaxed summer setting, consistencies like regular mealtimes, rest and play help children feel secure. Research shows routines buffer children from behavioural challenges during periods of change.

    • Name and validate emotions: Help children identify what they’re feeling. For example: “You seem frustrated,” or “You seem sad,” and prompting “Would you like to talk?” supports brain development and emotional regulation.

    • Offer age-appropriate choices: Providing children with simple choices fosters autonomy and reduces power struggles. A 2020 child development study linked this practice to improved emotional outcomes.

    • Practice co-regulation: When you stay calm and use tools like deep breathing, soft tones and physical presence, children learn by example how to manage big feelings.

    • Prioritize play and connection: Pediatric specialists emphasize that unstructured play promotes creativity, resilience and emotional healing, especially important after prolonged stress.

    Small, kind gestures, like offering a hug when your child is upset or sitting quietly with them, signal emotional availability and build trust. These simple acts help children feel safe, valued and ready to face the changes that summer may bring.

    A collective recovery, one act at a time

    Of course, kindness alone cannot solve all the challenges children face, but it offers a vital anchor during uncertain times.

    Parents and caregivers don’t need to craft perfect summer plans. What children truly need is to feel emotionally safe. As summer brings change, acts of kindness can guide children and families toward healing and growth, fostering emotional resilience.

    Amina Yousaf 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. Summer break brings uncertainty for children, and kindness at home matters – https://theconversation.com/summer-break-brings-uncertainty-for-children-and-kindness-at-home-matters-258332

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Autonomous AI systems can help tackle global food insecurity

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Woo Soo Kim, Professor, Mechatronic Systems Engineering & Founding Director, Global Institute for Agritech, Simon Fraser University

    There is a growing and urgent need to address global food insecurity. This urgency is underscored by reports from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, which states that nearly 828 million people suffer from hunger worldwide.

    Climate change is further escalating these issues, disrupting traditional farming systems and emphasizing the need for smarter, resource-efficient solutions.

    But imagine a future where indoor farming systems can operate entirely on their own, managing water, nutrients and environmental conditions without human oversight. Such autonomous systems, driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and powered by robotics, could revolutionize how we produce food, especially in regions with limited arable land.

    Tackling food and water insecurity requires innovative solutions like precision agriculture, using AI and robotics to foster sustainable development.

    My research team at Simon Fraser University’s (SFU) School of Mechatronics Systems Engineering has developed a prototype of an AI-powered sensing robot capable of autonomously monitoring the water needs of tomato plants.

    Simon Fraser University researchers and students at the Arusha Climate and Environmental Research Centre, Aga Kahn University, a 3700-acre ecological reserve, tested drone technology to improve farming operations in Tanzania.
    (Woo Soo Kim)

    AI-powered farming

    In conventional greenhouses, several water management techniques are used to enhance efficiency and minimize waste. These include drip irrigation and using soil moisture sensors and automated irrigation systems.

    Despite their effectiveness, these methods have limitations in responsiveness and accuracy, and can lead to over- or under-watering, wasting resources and impacting crop health.

    Agriculture takes up the vast majority of the water humanity uses. As water scarcity affects over two billion people worldwide, it is critical to find innovative ways to more efficiently use water.

    At SFU, we’ve built an innovative robot that uses electrical signals from plants, also known as plant electrophysiology responses, as real-time indicators of plant health and hydration needs. The system integrates advanced AI algorithms to interpret these signals and determine when water should be supplied.

    This technology eliminates the traditional guesswork and manual labour involved in irrigation, promoting efficient water use and reducing waste while optimizing plant health.

    Recent research highlights the potential of integrating AI innovations into agriculture. AI-powered systems can significantly improve water efficiency, reduce chemical runoff and optimize crop yields.

    Advances in robotics are also facilitating non-invasive and continuous monitoring of plant health, enabling interventions that are both precise and timely.

    Recent advances in plant physiological signal monitoring have shown that sensors capable of capturing electrical signals reflecting plant stress, hydration and overall health can provide highly specific, real-time data.

    A research team at SFU has developed an AI-powered sensing robot capable of autonomously monitoring water needs of tomato plants using the plant’s own electrical signals.
    (Woo Soo Kim)

    Our non-invasive sensing robot improves this process by enabling continuous and efficient monitoring of plant health, making automation more responsive and effective.

    When combined with AI, these signals enable precision watering that is dynamically adapted to the plant’s actual needs, representing a significant leap in intelligent plant care.

    Furthermore, recent innovations using multi-spectral imaging and machine learning have vastly improved our ability to detect disease and when plants are stressed. This can be integrated with electrical sensing robots like ours to develop comprehensive systems to monitor plant health.

    With these improvements fully autonomous agriculture is becoming feasible. This technology goes beyond irrigation, using robotic sensing to interpret plant signals and enable autonomous nutrient management and environmental monitoring.

    These multifunctional robots aim to optimize resource use, reduce waste, and increase crop yields, supporting global food security through holistic plant health management.

    From greenhouses to fields

    Our prototype shows promise in greenhouses. However, the real potential of AI water management lies in scalable, adaptable solutions. Addressing global food and water security requires international collaboration to share knowledge, technology and develop region-specific strategies for areas impacted by scarcity and climate change.

    In recent years, our team has engaged deeply with agricultural communities in Tanzania and Asia-Pacific nations such as Singapore, Philippines, Japan and South Korea, understanding their unique challenges.

    These regions face acute water shortages, limited access to sophisticated technology and the adverse impacts of climate change. To be effective, solutions developed in controlled environments must be adapted and made accessible to farmers.

    This means developing sensor tools that are affordable and simple to use, and scalable AI and robotic systems that can operate effectively under variable environmental and infrastructural conditions.

    The real potential of AI water management lies in developing scalable, adaptable solutions.
    (Alana McPherson)

    International collaboration plays a vital role here. Sharing knowledge through cross-border research partnerships, capacity-building programs and technology transfer initiatives can accelerate the deployment of smart agriculture solutions worldwide.

    The Food and Agriculture Organization, the Association of Pacific Rim Universities and the World Bank are actively fostering such collaborations, emphasizing that sustainable agriculture progress depends on integrating cutting-edge technology with local knowledge.

    Our goal is to develop affordable, easy-to-deploy AI sensing robots for smallholder farms that can provide real-time plant monitoring to reduce waste and improve yields.

    These systems can foster resilient farming ecosystems, and contribute toward meeting the UN’s sustainable development goal of ending hunger and malnutrition.

    Ultimately, scaling prototypes like ours from greenhouses to global agriculture requires strong international collaboration. Supportive policies and knowledge sharing will accelerate the deployment of intelligent water management systems. This will empower farmers globally to achieve more sustainable and resilient food production.

    Woo Soo Kim receives funding from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Mitacs.

    – ref. Autonomous AI systems can help tackle global food insecurity – https://theconversation.com/autonomous-ai-systems-can-help-tackle-global-food-insecurity-258788

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Will Trump’s high-risk Iran strategy pay dividends at home if the peace deal holds?

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Natasha Lindstaedt, Professor in the Department of Government, University of Essex

    During Donald Trump’s first term, he made clear that he wanted his foreign policy to be as unpredictable as possible, stating: “I don’t want them to know what I’m thinking.”

    With the US’s recent attack on Iran, Trump certainly kept everyone in suspense. While US enemies may not have known what Trump was thinking, the problem was neither did US allies nor US legislators. Trump apparently did not bother to inform his own vice-president, J.D. Vance, when he had made the decision.

    Trump has portrayed this as a strength, that he is the only one capable of getting certain things done in foreign policy because his unpredictability and risk-taking behaviour gives him more leverage.

    But thus far he has had fewer successes than wins with this approach. His dalliance with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Trump’s first term only resulted in the acceleration of North Korea’s nuclear programme.

    His great relationship with Vladimir Putin has so far led to no concessions from Moscow regarding the war in Ukraine, even causing Trump to effectively give up trying to resolve that crisis, at least for now.

    Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

    In Trump’s second term his Maga base has been a bit more divided than in his first. On the issue of tariffs, key Republican senators begged him to backpedal with concerns that the new tariffs would be catastrophic for the US economy – one of the issues that propelled him to victory. Yet he went ahead with the tariffs anyway, as some members of his base were in support.

    With the Middle East crisis, Trump supporters appeared to be mostly against the US getting involved in a foreign conflict, with “no more wars” being a common slogan on the campaign trail.

    In the lead up to the US strikes, key leaders in the Maga movement criticised the idea of the US getting involved in the conflict. Right-wing podcaster Tucker Carlson told hawkish Senator Ted Cruz that he should know far more about the regime that the senator wanted to topple. Former Trump strategist Steve Bannon and Representative Marjorie Taylor Green were also calling for the US to stay out of the conflict.

    Before the attacks, a YouGov poll showed that 60% of Americans did not want the US to get involved in the conflict, which has since increased to 80%. However when asked more specifically about support for US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, as many as 94% of Maga Republicans gave their approval.

    Trump announces that the US has carried out air strikes on Iran.

    Is there voter backing?

    Trump also believes he can sell the strikes on Iranian nuclear sites as a huge win, making good on his promise to eradicate Iran’s nuclear programme. The US intelligence community is saying otherwise, but Trump has rejected this.

    Trump took an early victory lap, claiming that Iran’s nuclear programme had been “completely destroyed”. It was arguably comparable to George W. Bush’s “mission accomplished” announcement in May 2003, after Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq was ousted by US-led forces. Bush’s approval ratings were as high as 70% in the immediate aftermath, but had plunged by 40 points by 2008 after five years of fighting the Iraqi insurgency that emerged in Hussein’s absence.

    Trump seems to be revelling in taking more risks and being more unpredictable. As he has become increasingly bold in his second term, he has been more willing to test the loyalty of his base when they don’t agree with his instincts. Though the isolationist wing of Maga has been critical, Trump assumes that his base will unite and rally around him.

    Trump was more careful to not betray his base in his first term. Trump had ordered strikes on Iran in 2019, but backed down at the last minute. But now he has gone so far as to suggest the door may be open to regime change in Tehran.

    With the ceasefire now in place (at least in theory), Trump is heralding his action as a huge win. Iran has backed down after a limited attack on its nuclear facilities.

    Just weeks ago, the US seemed less relevant in the Middle East, and more likely to follow Israel’s instructions than the other way around. With Trump’s confidence growing, it is now Trump that is telling Israel that he is not happy.

    For Trump the risks involved were huge. There may appear to be the potential for some short-term domestic political gains if the ceasefire holds. But Trump may not have thought through the long-term implications of his decision on stability in the Middle East more generally, or what voters will think about his foreign policy gambles when the next election rolls around.

    Natasha Lindstaedt 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. Will Trump’s high-risk Iran strategy pay dividends at home if the peace deal holds? – https://theconversation.com/will-trumps-high-risk-iran-strategy-pay-dividends-at-home-if-the-peace-deal-holds-259736

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Will Trump’s high-risk Iran strategy pay dividends at home if the peace deal holds?

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Natasha Lindstaedt, Professor in the Department of Government, University of Essex

    During Donald Trump’s first term, he made clear that he wanted his foreign policy to be as unpredictable as possible, stating: “I don’t want them to know what I’m thinking.”

    With the US’s recent attack on Iran, Trump certainly kept everyone in suspense. While US enemies may not have known what Trump was thinking, the problem was neither did US allies nor US legislators. Trump apparently did not bother to inform his own vice-president, J.D. Vance, when he had made the decision.

    Trump has portrayed this as a strength, that he is the only one capable of getting certain things done in foreign policy because his unpredictability and risk-taking behaviour gives him more leverage.

    But thus far he has had fewer successes than wins with this approach. His dalliance with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Trump’s first term only resulted in the acceleration of North Korea’s nuclear programme.

    His great relationship with Vladimir Putin has so far led to no concessions from Moscow regarding the war in Ukraine, even causing Trump to effectively give up trying to resolve that crisis, at least for now.

    Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

    In Trump’s second term his Maga base has been a bit more divided than in his first. On the issue of tariffs, key Republican senators begged him to backpedal with concerns that the new tariffs would be catastrophic for the US economy – one of the issues that propelled him to victory. Yet he went ahead with the tariffs anyway, as some members of his base were in support.

    With the Middle East crisis, Trump supporters appeared to be mostly against the US getting involved in a foreign conflict, with “no more wars” being a common slogan on the campaign trail.

    In the lead up to the US strikes, key leaders in the Maga movement criticised the idea of the US getting involved in the conflict. Right-wing podcaster Tucker Carlson told hawkish Senator Ted Cruz that he should know far more about the regime that the senator wanted to topple. Former Trump strategist Steve Bannon and Representative Marjorie Taylor Green were also calling for the US to stay out of the conflict.

    Before the attacks, a YouGov poll showed that 60% of Americans did not want the US to get involved in the conflict, which has since increased to 80%. However when asked more specifically about support for US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, as many as 94% of Maga Republicans gave their approval.

    Trump announces that the US has carried out air strikes on Iran.

    Is there voter backing?

    Trump also believes he can sell the strikes on Iranian nuclear sites as a huge win, making good on his promise to eradicate Iran’s nuclear programme. The US intelligence community is saying otherwise, but Trump has rejected this.

    Trump took an early victory lap, claiming that Iran’s nuclear programme had been “completely destroyed”. It was arguably comparable to George W. Bush’s “mission accomplished” announcement in May 2003, after Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq was ousted by US-led forces. Bush’s approval ratings were as high as 70% in the immediate aftermath, but had plunged by 40 points by 2008 after five years of fighting the Iraqi insurgency that emerged in Hussein’s absence.

    Trump seems to be revelling in taking more risks and being more unpredictable. As he has become increasingly bold in his second term, he has been more willing to test the loyalty of his base when they don’t agree with his instincts. Though the isolationist wing of Maga has been critical, Trump assumes that his base will unite and rally around him.

    Trump was more careful to not betray his base in his first term. Trump had ordered strikes on Iran in 2019, but backed down at the last minute. But now he has gone so far as to suggest the door may be open to regime change in Tehran.

    With the ceasefire now in place (at least in theory), Trump is heralding his action as a huge win. Iran has backed down after a limited attack on its nuclear facilities.

    Just weeks ago, the US seemed less relevant in the Middle East, and more likely to follow Israel’s instructions than the other way around. With Trump’s confidence growing, it is now Trump that is telling Israel that he is not happy.

    For Trump the risks involved were huge. There may appear to be the potential for some short-term domestic political gains if the ceasefire holds. But Trump may not have thought through the long-term implications of his decision on stability in the Middle East more generally, or what voters will think about his foreign policy gambles when the next election rolls around.

    Natasha Lindstaedt 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. Will Trump’s high-risk Iran strategy pay dividends at home if the peace deal holds? – https://theconversation.com/will-trumps-high-risk-iran-strategy-pay-dividends-at-home-if-the-peace-deal-holds-259736

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: ‘Upcycled’ food is on the rise – here’s what you need to know

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Simona Grasso, Assistant Professor & Ad Astra Fellow in Food Science and Nutrition, University College Dublin

    Wonky veg are ‘upcycled’ from the dustbin. Civil/Shutterstock

    Whether customers are pleased to hear it or not, firms are selling “upcycled” food to tackle food waste internationally.

    Food with ingredients that were saved from the waste heap via verifiable supply chains is said to be “upcycled”. The term originated in the US, though it’s also been adopted on this side of the Atlantic.

    This rather broad definition includes byproducts from the food industry, such as spent grains left over from beer manufacturing, or apple pulp that doesn’t make it into juice.

    If you’re not familiar with the idea, perhaps you have already bought upcycled produce in the form of wonky carrots and potatoes. This is food that does not meet the visual standards of most supermarkets but is nevertheless still tasty to eat. Elsewhere, food manufacturers are making products that include upcycled ingredients.

    Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

    Why upcycle food in the first place? The US Environmental Protection Agency rates it as just as effective as donating or redistributing food to restaurants and shelters for reducing the environmental impact of the food system. Wasted food, after all, can generate potent greenhouse gases such as methane if left to rot in landfills.

    So it’s good for the planet if ingredients that would not have gone to human consumption are transformed into new food-grade products. But just how good exactly?

    How much of a product contains upcycled ingredients will influence its sustainability credentials. If they are listed at the beginning of the ingredients on the packaging then that indicates a large percentage of inclusion. Far down at the bottom suggests a smaller percentage.

    How much of a food has to be upcycled to count?
    Dean Drobot/Shutterstock

    Of course, there is only so much of an upcycled ingredient that can be added to food before it affects the colour, taste or flavour of the final product. It is important to keep a balance.

    According to the US upcycled food certification standard, a product only needs to contain a minimum of 10% upcycled inputs by weight in order to be certified as upcycled. This may only make a slight difference to a single product’s overall sustainability.

    Compare it with organic food. Both in the US and in the EU, a product must contain a minimum of 95% of certified organic ingredients to be labelled organic. The EU loosely defines “organic” as food that “respects the environment and animal welfare”.

    This is very far from the 10% required by the certified standard for upcycling used in the US. Of course, it would be quite hard to make an upcycled product with at least 95% upcycled ingredients. Think about a biscuit. Most of the major ingredients – flour, butter, sugar – would need to be upcycled. On the other hand, would 10% be enough to encourage you to buy food certified as upcycled?

    Before you spend on spent grain …

    While I believe that attempts to include upcycled ingredients in food formulations should be encouraged, however big or small, it is important to have rules in place.

    In the EU, upcycled foods are not regulated and there are no certification standards, though some product packaging may claim it contains upcycled ingredients. Consumers might buy a product with a sprinkling of upcycled ingredients thinking that it is a more sustainable choice.

    For example, a loaf of bread recently sold in Tesco was reported to contain 2.5% spent grain by weight. In other cases, the level of inclusion appears to be quite substantial. Granola sold in Ireland claims 30% spent grain from brewers, but it is not clearly stated in the ingredient list.

    Put to good use: spent grains from beermaking.
    BearFotos/Shutterstock

    Often, consumers are asked to pay more for upcycled food, even though it contains ingredients that would have otherwise gone to waste. This is because the producers are often small start-ups with high production costs that they must recoup with high prices.

    If sustainability claims are at stake, and if consumers are asked to pay more for upcycled foods, it is important to prevent deceptive marketing that could present products as more sustainable than they actually are. One way to do so is by carrying out a life-cycle assessment, a measurement of a product’s environmental impact from its production to its disposal. The manufacturer could do this as a way of reassuring the consumer and backing up any claims with evidence.

    If we want upcycled foods to become more common, and so reduce waste, we have to make sure consumers aren’t being misled. If consumers trust, value and understand these products, they are more likely to succeed in the market.

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

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

    Simona Grasso 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. ‘Upcycled’ food is on the rise – here’s what you need to know – https://theconversation.com/upcycled-food-is-on-the-rise-heres-what-you-need-to-know-253306

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: ‘Upcycled’ food is on the rise – here’s what you need to know

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Simona Grasso, Assistant Professor & Ad Astra Fellow in Food Science and Nutrition, University College Dublin

    Wonky veg are ‘upcycled’ from the dustbin. Civil/Shutterstock

    Whether customers are pleased to hear it or not, firms are selling “upcycled” food to tackle food waste internationally.

    Food with ingredients that were saved from the waste heap via verifiable supply chains is said to be “upcycled”. The term originated in the US, though it’s also been adopted on this side of the Atlantic.

    This rather broad definition includes byproducts from the food industry, such as spent grains left over from beer manufacturing, or apple pulp that doesn’t make it into juice.

    If you’re not familiar with the idea, perhaps you have already bought upcycled produce in the form of wonky carrots and potatoes. This is food that does not meet the visual standards of most supermarkets but is nevertheless still tasty to eat. Elsewhere, food manufacturers are making products that include upcycled ingredients.

    Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

    Why upcycle food in the first place? The US Environmental Protection Agency rates it as just as effective as donating or redistributing food to restaurants and shelters for reducing the environmental impact of the food system. Wasted food, after all, can generate potent greenhouse gases such as methane if left to rot in landfills.

    So it’s good for the planet if ingredients that would not have gone to human consumption are transformed into new food-grade products. But just how good exactly?

    How much of a product contains upcycled ingredients will influence its sustainability credentials. If they are listed at the beginning of the ingredients on the packaging then that indicates a large percentage of inclusion. Far down at the bottom suggests a smaller percentage.

    How much of a food has to be upcycled to count?
    Dean Drobot/Shutterstock

    Of course, there is only so much of an upcycled ingredient that can be added to food before it affects the colour, taste or flavour of the final product. It is important to keep a balance.

    According to the US upcycled food certification standard, a product only needs to contain a minimum of 10% upcycled inputs by weight in order to be certified as upcycled. This may only make a slight difference to a single product’s overall sustainability.

    Compare it with organic food. Both in the US and in the EU, a product must contain a minimum of 95% of certified organic ingredients to be labelled organic. The EU loosely defines “organic” as food that “respects the environment and animal welfare”.

    This is very far from the 10% required by the certified standard for upcycling used in the US. Of course, it would be quite hard to make an upcycled product with at least 95% upcycled ingredients. Think about a biscuit. Most of the major ingredients – flour, butter, sugar – would need to be upcycled. On the other hand, would 10% be enough to encourage you to buy food certified as upcycled?

    Before you spend on spent grain …

    While I believe that attempts to include upcycled ingredients in food formulations should be encouraged, however big or small, it is important to have rules in place.

    In the EU, upcycled foods are not regulated and there are no certification standards, though some product packaging may claim it contains upcycled ingredients. Consumers might buy a product with a sprinkling of upcycled ingredients thinking that it is a more sustainable choice.

    For example, a loaf of bread recently sold in Tesco was reported to contain 2.5% spent grain by weight. In other cases, the level of inclusion appears to be quite substantial. Granola sold in Ireland claims 30% spent grain from brewers, but it is not clearly stated in the ingredient list.

    Put to good use: spent grains from beermaking.
    BearFotos/Shutterstock

    Often, consumers are asked to pay more for upcycled food, even though it contains ingredients that would have otherwise gone to waste. This is because the producers are often small start-ups with high production costs that they must recoup with high prices.

    If sustainability claims are at stake, and if consumers are asked to pay more for upcycled foods, it is important to prevent deceptive marketing that could present products as more sustainable than they actually are. One way to do so is by carrying out a life-cycle assessment, a measurement of a product’s environmental impact from its production to its disposal. The manufacturer could do this as a way of reassuring the consumer and backing up any claims with evidence.

    If we want upcycled foods to become more common, and so reduce waste, we have to make sure consumers aren’t being misled. If consumers trust, value and understand these products, they are more likely to succeed in the market.

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

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

    Simona Grasso 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. ‘Upcycled’ food is on the rise – here’s what you need to know – https://theconversation.com/upcycled-food-is-on-the-rise-heres-what-you-need-to-know-253306

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Bombing Iran: has the UN charter failed?

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Caleb H. Wheeler, Senior Lecturer in Law, Cardiff University

    The recent US attack on Iran’s nuclear sites has prompted renewed questions about whether the UN charter’s prohibition on the use of force is meaningful.

    Considered one of the keystones of international law, article 2(4) of the charter specifically forbids member states from using force – or threatening to do so – against the territorial integrity or political independence of another state, or “in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations”.

    A significant amount of commentary exists about what the prohibition entails. This tries to clarify ambiguities around the terms “force”, “threats of force”, “territorial integrity” and “political independence”. Although no absolute consensus has been reached, it is commonly thought that member states are prohibited from launching armed attacks against other states, or threatening to do so, unless acting in self-defence or with the authorisation of the UN security council.

    Other exceptions have been suggested. These include use of force as part of a larger humanitarian intervention operation. There’s also a question of whether it’s permissible when a state is rescuing its nationals abroad. But the legality of either of these situations is contentious and remains unsettled.

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    Early in its existence, the UN made concerted efforts to protect and respect article 2(4) and to comply with its provisions. In 1950, the security council authorised UN member states to provide South Korea with the assistance necessary to repel the armed attack launched by North Korea, triggering the increased internationalisation of the Korean war.

    While article 2(4) was not explicitly mentioned in resolution 83, it was alluded to through repeated references to North Korea’s “armed attack” against South Korea. As such, it can be interpreted as an effort by the security council to use its authority to address a violation of article 2(4), even if it did not clearly frame it in those terms.

    The security council also authorised member states in 2011 to take all necessary measures to protect civilians in Libya. Unfortunately, it quickly became apparent that the member states may have exceeded their authority in Libya and carried out acts that could themselves be construed as violations of the UN charter.

    Rather than just protecting civilians, as the security council resolution instructed, legal experts were concerned they had effectively intervened in a civil war. Any possible violations went unpunished by the security council.

    Security council actions taken with regard to Korea were, in many ways, the high watermark for the prohibition of the use of force, given the scale of the conflict. There are two reasons for that. First, a significant proportion of the wars taking place after 1945 have been domestic and not subject to the provisions of article 2(4). The prohibition specifically applies to a member state’s international relations so is not inapplicable when a member state attacks a group within its own borders.

    Second, the UN has failed to address many of the acts occurring after 1945 that might fall under the provisions of article 2(4). The reason for this inaction lies primarily in the flawed structure on which the UN is built.

    Chapter VII of the charter makes the security council responsible for addressing acts of aggression that would constitute uses of force under article 2(4). But it has repeatedly failed to fill that role, allowing states to commit these acts without meaningful response.

    The UN veto problem

    UN security council decisions can only be enacted when at least nine members vote in favour. This must also include the affirmative vote or abstention of all five of the permanent members: the US, Russia, China, the UK and France. This essentially gives each of the permanent members the right to veto security council resolutions.

    Permanent members have commonly used the threat of their veto in their own political interests. This can be seen in a variety of instances, most notably the 2003 US invasion of Iraq and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Both situations clearly involved uses of force prohibited by article 2(4), and in both situations the security council was prevented from acting by some of its permanent members.

    This inaction is consistent with the UN’s failure to address many other acts that might fall under the provisions of article 2(4), including US involvement in south-east Asia in the 1960s and the Russian invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s.

    The security council’s failure to adequately perform its role has caused some to try and find a workaround. The Council of Europe, disappointed at the lack of accountability for Russia’s acts of aggression against Ukraine, has entered into an agreement with Ukraine to establish a special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.

    In the special tribunal’s draft statute, an act of aggression is defined to almost exactly mirror the type of conduct that would constitute a use of force under the UN charter.

    Bombing Iran

    Which brings us to the current situation in Iran. There is little question that the US violated article 2(4) when it bombed Iranian nuclear sites in Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan on the evening of Saturday June 21. This is a clear use of force against the territory of another state.

    But even if the attacks themselves were not enough to establish a violation, they were also accompanied by US president Donald Trump’s suggestion that a regime change in Iran might be appropriate. These comments, coming immediately after the initial attack, could be construed as a threat of further force against Iran’s political independence should such a change not occur.

    Under the UN charter, such threats and uses of force should elicit a response from the security council. But just as with Iraq in 2003 and Ukraine in 2022, none will probably be forthcoming as the US will block any efforts to hold it to account.

    But equally chilling is the lack of condemnation of the US actions by its allies. German chancellor Friedrich Merz saw “no reason to criticise” the bombings, and Nato secretary general Mark Rutte insisted that the bombings did not violate international law.

    As the respected Dutch scholar of international law André Nollkaemper suggests, this refusal to condemn a clear violation of the prohibition of the use of force creates a real danger that the bar for when a state can legally use force will be lowered.

    Should that be allowed to happen it could further hollow out the prohibition, effectively making it less likely that states will be held to account for violating international law. Further, it could also lead to the return of a world where “might makes right”. This would undo more than a century of legal evolution.

    Caleb H. Wheeler 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. Bombing Iran: has the UN charter failed? – https://theconversation.com/bombing-iran-has-the-un-charter-failed-259751

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  • MIL-OSI Global: People with severe diabetes cured in small stem cell trial

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Craig Beall, Senior Lecturer in Experimental Diabetes, University of Exeter

    A man having his continuous glucose monitor checked by his doctor. Halfpoint/Shutterstock

    The cure for diabetes is a life free from daily insulin injections. Based on that criterion, ten out of 12 people (83%) in a new clinical trial were cured of their diabetes one year after receiving an advanced stem cell therapy.

    This study used laboratory-grown pancreatic islet cells. They were infused into the liver, where they took up residence. Within a year, most participants no longer required insulin injections.

    One of the most striking benefits was the rapid prevention of dangerously low blood sugar levels, called hypoglycaemia. Before transplantation, all participants had at least two episodes of severe hypoglycaemia within the previous year.

    After transplantation, these episodes disappeared for all participants.

    These are impressive results, but what are stem cell therapies? How does the treatment work? How do they compare to other treatments? And what are the possible side-effects?

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    What are stem cell therapies?

    Stem cells are cells that can be turned into almost any other cell type. The major benefit is that scientists in the lab can create the correct cells, the ones needed to treat a disease, and in the desired amount.

    In the case of type 1 diabetes, the required cells are pancreatic islets. Most of the cells in these islets make insulin.

    How does the treatment work?

    The laboratory-grown cells are infused into the body. A common place is in a liver vein, where the cells attach. The advantage here is that insulin delivered towards the liver works much better than, say, just under the skin.

    This is because switching off excessive liver glucose production is the primary action of insulin to correct blood sugar levels.

    In the current study, the function of the transplanted cells, a treatment called XV-880, improved within the first three months. Blood glucose levels were better controlled. No severe hypoglycaemia was found and a marker of insulin production improved.

    Throughout the first year, participants were able to reduce the amount of insulin they took, until most were free from insulin injections.

    What are the side-effects?

    The biggest downside of this new treatment is that all participants will need to take immunosuppressant drugs for the rest of their lives. This will reduce the immune system’s ability to recognise the transplanted cells and remove them.

    This increases the risk of infections and certain types of cancer. That’s because the immune system plays an important role in removing potentially cancerous cells.

    In this new study, two participants died. On closer inspection, these were unrelated to the treatment itself. Most participants had upset tummies, with diarrhoea as the most common side-effect, in 11 of 14 people. More than half also had headaches and nausea.

    Is it better than other treatments?

    For many years, people struggling with severe hypoglycaemia have been able to receive new pancreatic islets from deceased donors. For a minority, this also leads to freedom from insulin injections over the longer term.

    Typically, two or three donor pancreases need to be pooled together to give to one recipient. People may also need a second infusion within a relatively short time frame. Islet transplants are typically limited by the amount of donor cells available, which is not enough.

    This new approach gives a standardised dose of cells, of known quality. The timing of the procedure is also not tied to the deaths of donors.

    This new study is also not the first. In 2024, a 25-year-old woman with type 1 diabetes received a stem cell-derived islet transplant, which also led to freedom from insulin injections.

    A 59-year-old man with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes was also cured with another type of stem cell transplant.

    Both of these treatments will require lifelong immunosuppression. This is undesirable for many people and may limit uptake.

    This is driving efforts to create treatment versions that do not require immunosuppression. There are efforts to enclose the transplanted cells inside devices that let insulin out but prevent the immune cells from getting in. There are also genetic editing techniques being used to cloak cells from the immune system.

    However, these approaches are further behind in clinical development.

    When might this be more widely available?

    This is difficult to estimate. Larger trials with XV-880 are planned. The same company planned to test an immunosuppression-free version of their cell therapy, called XV-264. However, this failed to work well enough in a small pilot study and will no longer progress through trials.

    There is also the issue of cost. It is not yet clear how much a treatment like this will cost. This will affect who can access advanced cell therapies. We also don’t yet know if and when the transplanted cells may start to fail.

    In this trial, the company is monitoring recipients for ten years in total. An initial five-year follow-up then a five-year extension study.

    This gives an idea of how long we might need to wait. Despite this, the recent developments give reason for cautious optimism. It may be possible in the not-so-distant future to have a life without daily insulin injections.

    Craig Beall currently receives funding from Diabetes UK, Breakthrough T1D, Steve Morgan Foundation Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge, Medical Research Council, NC3Rs, Society for Endocrinology and British Society for Neuroendocrinology.

    – ref. People with severe diabetes cured in small stem cell trial – https://theconversation.com/people-with-severe-diabetes-cured-in-small-stem-cell-trial-259569

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Alasdair Gray: unseen artworks offer insight into a profoundly creative and original artist

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Blane Savage, Lecturer in MA Creative Media Practice and BA(Hons) Graphic Art & Moving Image, University of the West of Scotland

    Artist, writer, playwright, illustrator – and the man who made the Oscar-winning film Poor Things possible – Alasdair Gray was one of Scotland’s great creative polymaths and eccentrics, now celebrated every year on “Gray Day” (February 25). A new exhibition at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery in Glasgow has opened to reveal a selection of nine previously unseen artworks from The Morag McAlpine Bequest.

    This is the first time works have been on display from the bequest gifted by him to Glasgow Life Museums following the death of his wife in 2014, which comprises artworks he created for her on anniversaries, birthdays and Christmas.

    A small show like this cannot fully do justice to the vibrancy and volume of Gray’s output, but these nine pieces give a broad flavour of the artist’s working style and idiosyncratic idea development.

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    Gray was a graduate of Glasgow School of Art where he specialised in murals and stained glass. In addition to being a talented artist and writer, he was also a professor of creative writing at Glasgow University.

    His landmark novel Lanark: A Life in Four Books (1981), a story within a story of adolescence, with the mythical Unthank standing in for Glasgow, has been praised as a modern classic.

    His influence on the Scottish art and literary scene was a powerful one. Regarded as the father figure of the Scottish Renaissance in art and literature, Gray’s postmodern work was a merging of realism, fantasy and science fiction, interwoven with his socialist political views. This was supported by his own book illustrations and typography. He inspired many young Scottish writers, including Irvine Welsh and Iain Banks.

    Gray was also a strong Scottish nationalist. Inspired by a poem by Dennis Lee, Gray’s epigram, “Work as if you live in the early days of a better nation” was inscribed on the wall of the new Scottish Parliament building when it opened in 2004.

    His creative works are deeply embedded in the psyche of the west end of Glasgow. Several of his murals are on display there, such as the one at the top of the escalators in Hillhead subway station, the surreal collages in The Ubiquitous Chip restaurant and the extraordinary night-sky ceiling fresco in Òran Mór, a church-turned-bar. These murals are a hybrid of styles, often black and white linear illustrations filled with colour, traditional painting and printmaking techniques.

    These “new” artworks on display show different aspects, stages and details of Gray’s creative practice when designing artwork for print, such as the Tippex-infused works that allowed him to merge disparate elements of his cut-out collages.

    The highlights of the show include the original artwork for his novel Poor Things, a subversive post-modern rewrite of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, set in and around Glasgow, and adapted by filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos in 2023.



    Read more:
    Poor Things: meet the radical Scottish visionary behind the new hit film

    The illustration features the anti-hero Godwin Baxter hugging two smaller figures – the reanimated Bella Baxter and Archibald McCandless MD, the primary narrator of the novel. They are surrounded by anatomical illustrations of body parts and in the centre a woman’s head has been cut open revealing her brain. Gray’s illustrative style utilises bold ink outlines, watercolour washes and solid blocks of colour.

    The front cover illustration of Agnes Owen’s A Working Mother (1994) with black line work and solid acrylic colour washes, reflects Gray’s interest in everyday life and how alcohol smooths over the cracks. Hung beside it are two versions of working class figurative character sketches for People Like That (1996), in a similar style.

    A black and white illustrated jacket design for Old Negatives (1989), Gray’s four-verse sequence describing aspects of love in its “absences and reverses”, has been designed using solid blocks of black with repeating motifs engraved within them.

    Also included is a self-portrait of Gray as playwright, together with a series of 12 small black-and-white portraits of the performers of his play in Working Legs: A Play for Those Without Them (1997) performed by the Bird of Paradise Theatre Company. Set in a world of wheelchair users, those who can walk are monitored by the welfare state.

    Gray was known for illustrating friends and family as revealed in his artwork Simon Berry and Bill MacLellan, Glasgow Publishers, Jim Taylor, Australian Writer and Printer, Shelley Killen, USA artist, where are all the figures of the title are roughly drawn with pencil and ink. The solid blue background is painted in acrylic, overlaid with Gray’s inked observations of each.

    On the ground floor is what Gray called “my best big oil painting”, of a Cowcaddens streetscape in the 1950s which is by far the strongest piece on display here. Gray takes a wide-angled, almost fish-eye lens perspective to capture a famous Glasgow neighbourhood that was partially demolished and modernised in postwar development.

    St Aloysius Church in Garnethill and Speir’s Wharf at Port Dundas can still be clearly seen, connecting us to the Glasgow of the present day. Gray’s narrative-driven imagery of daily life plays out, with local characters, playing children and besuited pals going out for the evening, all framed by street lamps and tenements immersed in a dark foreboding industrialised landscape.

    Gray’s illustrations and artworks resonate not only with a celebration of Glasgow’s places, characters and life, they also give us insights into the intensely personal psyche of a creative genius. It’s a shame that more of this particular bequest could not have been displayed, but an opportunity to see these previously unseen works is most welcome.

    Alasdair Gray: Works from the Morag McAlpine Bequest will be on show at the Fragile Gallery, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow until June 2026

    This article features references to books that have been included for editorial reasons, and may contain links to bookshop.org. If you click on one of the links and go on to buy something, The Conversation UK may earn a commission.

    Blane Savage 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. Alasdair Gray: unseen artworks offer insight into a profoundly creative and original artist – https://theconversation.com/alasdair-gray-unseen-artworks-offer-insight-into-a-profoundly-creative-and-original-artist-259470

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –