Category: Science

MIL-OSI Global: Migrants in South Africa’s economic powerhouse often go hungry: the drivers and what can be done about it
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Adrino Mazenda, Senior Researcher, Associate Professor Economic Management Sciences, University of Pretoria

About 281 million people globally have migrated from their country of origin to another country. This movement can be temporary or permanent and can occur for various reasons, including economic opportunities, family reunification and education. Then there are also millions who are escaping conflict and seeking refuge in another country.

Countries at different stages of development also experience large volumes of internal migration. Migration within a country can be temporary or permanent too, and reflect economic reasons or insecurity.

Both types of migrants sometimes experience food insecurity: the physical and financial inability to access nutritious, safe and sufficient food to fulfil a person’s dietary requirements.

There are an estimated 2.89 million documented foreign migrants in South Africa, accounting for about 5% of the country’s population. Most immigrants in South Africa come from the Southern African Development Community countries. South Africa also experiences a high annual internal migration rate. About 850,0000 people temporarily and permanently relocate from rural to urban areas.

Gauteng, the province which contributes more than a third of South Africa’s economic output, attracts a disproportionate share of internal and international migration.

As social scientists who have been studying migration and food security, we conducted research to explore the food security status of migrant households (international and internal) and native Gauteng households, and to understand their differences, if any.

The study used data from the 2020/21 Quality of Life survey. This is one of the largest social surveys in South Africa, and respondents include both internal and international migrants. It is conducted every two years by the Gauteng City Region Observatory. Quantitative research methods and statistical analysis were then applied to identify patterns and relationships between food insecurity and migration variables.

Food insecurity remains a pressing concern in South Africa’s major cities, particularly among migrant populations. Not all migrants experience food insecurity the same way, however. Internal and international migrants differ not only from native Gauteng residents but also from one another. There are different factors influencing their vulnerability.

The differences

One differentiating factor between the internal and foreign migrants is government social support services. They seem to play a key role in determining the well-being of internal migrants. International migrants don’t qualify for such services. But they sometimes fared better than internal migrants or natives, likely due to age, education, or resourcefulness (social support networks).

Internal migrants experienced their own set of challenges. For example, poor health service provision and lack of medical aid were strong predictors of food insecurity. This suggests that addressing food access requires improvements in health services, insurance, and broader social infrastructure.

Improved access to healthcare reduces the financial burden on households dealing with medical expenses, so they can spend more on food. Access to maternal and child health services enhances nutritional knowledge and practices. That in turn improves the way households use food. Health insurance and unemployment insurance protect households from income shocks that could otherwise lead to food insecurity.

A stronger social infrastructure improves food access by enhancing education, healthcare, and social protection systems. Education boosts income and nutritional knowledge. Preventive healthcare reduces illness and medical expenses, freeing up resources for food. Social protection measures help households withstand financial shocks, ensuring consistent access to food.

Of course all this support has a cost that needs to be funded from the public purse, but its benefits may well outweigh the cost.

Gender disparities

Immigrants contribute significantly to South Africa’s economy. Migration enhances labour market flexibility, promotes economic dynamism, and supports livelihoods in both urban and rural areas, making it essential for inclusive economic growth.
Internal migrants provide labour in sectors such as mining, construction and services, while also supporting rural households through remittances. They help stimulate urban informal economies.

International migrants bring valuable skills and resilience to various sectors, including agriculture, healthcare, manufacturing and construction. They contribute local income taxes. Some operate small and large formal businesses, which adds to job creation.

However, employment data reveals a pronounced gender disparity among international migrants and internal migrants.

In all population groups (native residents, internal migrants and international migrants), men are more likely to be employed than women. Among international migrants, over 1 million men were employed compared to 400,000 women. More women (281,553) than men (88,598) were classified as economically inactive – not available for work.

The primary reason for internal migration among both men and women was the search for paid employment. For men, the second most common reason was job transfers or accepting new employment.

In contrast, female migrants cited moving to live with or be closer to a spouse, family, or friends, often due to marriage, as their main motivation.

Way forward

Our study highlights the determinants of food insecurity among migrant populations. It also challenges harmful stereotypes and invites more inclusive thinking about social support and job creation.

The study’s findings can help inform the public about who needs more support and why. It shows that food aid and government support systems aren’t working as intended.

The main conclusions we reached from the study were that:
- Rural health infrastructure is in dire need of public support.
- Increased inequities in healthcare access are unjustified.
- The medical and health bills of foreign citizens can be shared between home and host countries to reduce the strain on the host’s infrastructure through a combination of policy reforms, bilateral agreements and global cooperation mechanisms. Key to this is an inter-government billing system where host countries track migrants’ healthcare use and send bills to their home country governments or insurers.
- It is desirable for migrants to hold valid health insurance as a condition of entry or residency.
- Policies to promote agriculture and rural areas, particularly developing new rural housing schemes, appear to be a promising way to abate food insecurity.
- Revitalising special economic zones, the designated areas offering incentives to attract investment, boost trade and create jobs, can help limit the concentration of migrants in Gauteng.
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. Migrants in South Africa’s economic powerhouse often go hungry: the drivers and what can be done about it – https://theconversation.com/migrants-in-south-africas-economic-powerhouse-often-go-hungry-the-drivers-and-what-can-be-done-about-it-256907
MIL OSI – Global Reports –
June 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Africa: Migrants in South Africa’s economic powerhouse often go hungry: the drivers and what can be done about it
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Adrino Mazenda, Senior Researcher, Associate Professor Economic Management Sciences, University of Pretoria

About 281 million people globally have migrated from their country of origin to another country. This movement can be temporary or permanent and can occur for various reasons, including economic opportunities, family reunification and education. Then there are also millions who are escaping conflict and seeking refuge in another country.

Countries at different stages of development also experience large volumes of internal migration. Migration within a country can be temporary or permanent too, and reflect economic reasons or insecurity.

Both types of migrants sometimes experience food insecurity: the physical and financial inability to access nutritious, safe and sufficient food to fulfil a person’s dietary requirements.

There are an estimated 2.89 million documented foreign migrants in South Africa, accounting for about 5% of the country’s population. Most immigrants in South Africa come from the Southern African Development Community countries. South Africa also experiences a high annual internal migration rate. About 850,0000 people temporarily and permanently relocate from rural to urban areas.

Gauteng, the province which contributes more than a third of South Africa’s economic output, attracts a disproportionate share of internal and international migration.

As social scientists who have been studying migration and food security, we conducted research to explore the food security status of migrant households (international and internal) and native Gauteng households, and to understand their differences, if any.

The study used data from the 2020/21 Quality of Life survey. This is one of the largest social surveys in South Africa, and respondents include both internal and international migrants. It is conducted every two years by the Gauteng City Region Observatory. Quantitative research methods and statistical analysis were then applied to identify patterns and relationships between food insecurity and migration variables.

Food insecurity remains a pressing concern in South Africa’s major cities, particularly among migrant populations. Not all migrants experience food insecurity the same way, however. Internal and international migrants differ not only from native Gauteng residents but also from one another. There are different factors influencing their vulnerability.

The differences

One differentiating factor between the internal and foreign migrants is government social support services. They seem to play a key role in determining the well-being of internal migrants. International migrants don’t qualify for such services. But they sometimes fared better than internal migrants or natives, likely due to age, education, or resourcefulness (social support networks).

Internal migrants experienced their own set of challenges. For example, poor health service provision and lack of medical aid were strong predictors of food insecurity. This suggests that addressing food access requires improvements in health services, insurance, and broader social infrastructure.

Improved access to healthcare reduces the financial burden on households dealing with medical expenses, so they can spend more on food. Access to maternal and child health services enhances nutritional knowledge and practices. That in turn improves the way households use food. Health insurance and unemployment insurance protect households from income shocks that could otherwise lead to food insecurity.

A stronger social infrastructure improves food access by enhancing education, healthcare, and social protection systems. Education boosts income and nutritional knowledge. Preventive healthcare reduces illness and medical expenses, freeing up resources for food. Social protection measures help households withstand financial shocks, ensuring consistent access to food.

Of course all this support has a cost that needs to be funded from the public purse, but its benefits may well outweigh the cost.

Gender disparities

Immigrants contribute significantly to South Africa’s economy. Migration enhances labour market flexibility, promotes economic dynamism, and supports livelihoods in both urban and rural areas, making it essential for inclusive economic growth. Internal migrants provide labour in sectors such as mining, construction and services, while also supporting rural households through remittances. They help stimulate urban informal economies.

International migrants bring valuable skills and resilience to various sectors, including agriculture, healthcare, manufacturing and construction. They contribute local income taxes. Some operate small and large formal businesses, which adds to job creation.

However, employment data reveals a pronounced gender disparity among international migrants and internal migrants.

In all population groups (native residents, internal migrants and international migrants), men are more likely to be employed than women. Among international migrants, over 1 million men were employed compared to 400,000 women. More women (281,553) than men (88,598) were classified as economically inactive – not available for work.

The primary reason for internal migration among both men and women was the search for paid employment. For men, the second most common reason was job transfers or accepting new employment.

In contrast, female migrants cited moving to live with or be closer to a spouse, family, or friends, often due to marriage, as their main motivation.

Way forward

Our study highlights the determinants of food insecurity among migrant populations. It also challenges harmful stereotypes and invites more inclusive thinking about social support and job creation.

The study’s findings can help inform the public about who needs more support and why. It shows that food aid and government support systems aren’t working as intended.

The main conclusions we reached from the study were that:
- Rural health infrastructure is in dire need of public support.
- Increased inequities in healthcare access are unjustified.
- The medical and health bills of foreign citizens can be shared between home and host countries to reduce the strain on the host’s infrastructure through a combination of policy reforms, bilateral agreements and global cooperation mechanisms. Key to this is an inter-government billing system where host countries track migrants’ healthcare use and send bills to their home country governments or insurers.
- It is desirable for migrants to hold valid health insurance as a condition of entry or residency.
- Policies to promote agriculture and rural areas, particularly developing new rural housing schemes, appear to be a promising way to abate food insecurity.
- Revitalising special economic zones, the designated areas offering incentives to attract investment, boost trade and create jobs, can help limit the concentration of migrants in Gauteng.
– Migrants in South Africa’s economic powerhouse often go hungry: the drivers and what can be done about it
– https://theconversation.com/migrants-in-south-africas-economic-powerhouse-often-go-hungry-the-drivers-and-what-can-be-done-about-it-256907

MIL OSI Africa –
June 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Checking in on New England fisheries 25 Years after ‘The Perfect Storm’ hit movie theaters

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Stephanie Otts, Director of National Sea Grant Law Center, University of Mississippi

Filming ‘The Perfect Storm’ in Gloucester Harbor, Mass.
The Salem News Historic Photograph Collection, Salem State University Archives and Special Collections, CC BY

Twenty-five years ago, “The Perfect Storm” roared into movie theaters. The disaster flick, starring George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg, was a riveting, fictionalized account of commercial swordfishing in New England and a crew who went down in a violent storm.

The anniversary of the film’s release, on June 30, 2000, provides an opportunity to reflect on the real-life changes to New England’s commercial fishing industry.

Fishing was once more open to all

In the true story behind the movie, six men lost their lives in late October 1991 when the commercial swordfishing vessel Andrea Gail disappeared in a fierce storm in the North Atlantic as it was headed home to Gloucester, Massachusetts.

At the time, and until very recently, almost all commercial fisheries were open access, meaning there were no restrictions on who could fish.

There were permit requirements and regulations about where, when and how you could fish, but anyone with the means to purchase a boat and associated permits, gear, bait and fuel could enter the fishery. Eight regional councils established under a 1976 federal law to manage fisheries around the U.S. determined how many fish could be harvested prior to the start of each fishing season.

Fishing has been an integral part of coastal New England culture since its towns were established. In this 1899 photo, a New England community weighs and packs mackerel.
Charles Stevenson/Freshwater and Marine Image Bank

Fishing started when the season opened and continued until the catch limit was reached. In some fisheries, this resulted in a “race to the fish” or a “derby,” where vessels competed aggressively to harvest the available catch in short amounts of time. The limit could be reached in a single day, as happened in the Pacific halibut fishery in the late 1980s.

By the 1990s, however, open access systems were coming under increased criticism from economists as concerns about overfishing rose.

The fish catch peaked in New England in 1987 and would remain far above what the fish population could sustain for two more decades. Years of overfishing led to the collapse of fish stocks, including North Atlantic cod in 1992 and Pacific sardine in 2015.

As populations declined, managers responded by cutting catch limits to allow more fish to survive and reproduce. Fishing seasons were shortened, as it took less time for the fleets to harvest the allowed catch. It became increasingly hard for fishermen to catch enough fish to earn a living.

Saving fisheries changed the industry

In the early 2000s, as these economic and environmental challenges grew, fisheries managers started limiting access. Instead of allowing anyone to fish, only vessels or individuals meeting certain eligibility requirements would have the right to fish.

The most common method of limiting access in the U.S. is through limited entry permits, initially awarded to individuals or vessels based on previous participation or success in the fishery. Another approach is to assign individual harvest quotas or “catch shares” to permit holders, limiting how much each boat can bring in.

In 2007, Congress amended the 1976 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to promote the use of limited access programs in U.S. fisheries.

Ships in the fleet out of New Bedford, Mass.
Henry Zbyszynski/Flickr, CC BY

Today, limited access is common, and there are positive signs that the management change is helping achieve the law’s environmental goal of preventing overfishing. Since 2000, the populations of 50 major fishing stocks have been rebuilt, meaning they have recovered to a level that can once again support fishing.

I’ve been following the changes as a lawyer focused on ocean and coastal issues, and I see much work still to be done.

Forty fish stocks are currently being managed under rebuilding plans that limit catch to allow the stock to grow, including Atlantic cod, which has struggled to recover due to a complex combination of factors, including climatic changes.

The lingering effect on communities today

While many fish stocks have recovered, the effort came at an economic cost to many individual fishermen. The limited-access Northeast groundfish fishery, which includes Atlantic cod, haddock and flounder, shed nearly 800 crew positions between 2007 and 2015.

The loss of jobs and revenue from fishing impacts individual family income and relationships, strains other businesses in fishing communities, and affects those communities’ overall identity and resilience, as illustrated by a recent economic snapshot of the Alaska seafood industry.

When original limited-access permit holders leave the business – for economic, personal or other reasons – their permits are either terminated or sold to other eligible permit holders, leading to fewer active vessels in the fleet. As a result, the number of vessels fishing for groundfish has declined from 719 in 2007 to 194 in 2023, meaning fewer jobs.

A fisherman unloads a portion of his catch for the day of 300 pounds of groundfish, including flounder, in January 2006 in Gloucester, Mass.
AP Photo/Lisa Poole

Because of their scarcity, limited-access permits can cost upward of US$500,000, which is often beyond the financial means of a small businesses or a young person seeking to enter the industry. The high prices may also lead retiring fishermen to sell their permits, as opposed to passing them along with the vessels to the next generation.

These economic forces have significantly altered the fishing industry, leading to more corporate and investor ownership, rather than the family-owned operations that were more common in the Andrea Gail’s time.

Similar to the experience of small family farms, fishing captains and crews are being pushed into corporate arrangements that reduce their autonomy and revenues.

Consolidation can threaten the future of entire fleets, as New Bedford, Massachusetts, saw when Blue Harvest Fisheries, backed by a private equity firm, bought up vessels and other assets and then declared bankruptcy a few years later, leaving a smaller fleet and some local business and fishermen unpaid for their work. A company with local connections bought eight vessels from Blue Harvest along with 48 state and federal permits the company held.

New challenges and unchanging risks

While there are signs of recovery for New England’s fisheries, challenges continue.

Warming water temperatures have shifted the distribution of some species, affecting where and when fish are harvested. For example, lobsters have moved north toward Canada. When vessels need to travel farther to find fish, that increases fuel and supply costs and time away from home.

Fisheries managers will need to continue to adapt to keep New England’s fisheries healthy and productive.

One thing that, unfortunately, hasn’t changed is the dangerous nature of the occupation. Between 2000 and 2019, 414 fishermen died in 245 disasters.

Stephanie Otts receives funding from the NOAA National Sea Grant College Program through the U.S. Department of Commerce. Previous support for fisheries management legal research provided by The Nature Conservancy.

– ref. Checking in on New England fisheries 25 Years after ‘The Perfect Storm’ hit movie theaters – https://theconversation.com/checking-in-on-new-england-fisheries-25-years-after-the-perfect-storm-hit-movie-theaters-255076

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Philly psychology students map out local landmarks and hidden destinations where they feel happiest

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Eric Zillmer, Professor of Neuropsychology, Drexel University

Rittenhouse Square Park in Center City made it onto the Philly Happiness Map. Matthew Lovette/Jumping Rocks/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

What makes you happy? Perhaps a good night’s sleep, or a wonderful meal with friends?

I am the director of the Happiness Lab at Drexel University, where I also teach a course on happiness. The Happiness Lab is a think tank that investigates the ingredients that contribute to people’s happiness.

Often, my students ask me something along the lines of, “Dr. Z, tell us one thing that will make us happier.”

As a first step, I advise them to spend more time outside.

Achieving lasting and sustainable happiness is more complicated. Research on the happiest countries in the world and the places where people live the longest, known as Blue Zones, shows a common thread: Residents feel they are part of something larger than themselves, such as a community or a city.

So if you’re living in a metropolis like Philadelphia, where, incidentally, the iconic pursuit of happiness charge was ratified in the Declaration of Independence, I believe urban citizenship – that is, forming an identity with your urban surroundings – should also be on your list.

The Greek island of Ikaria in the Aegean Sea is a Blue Zone famous for its residents’ longevity.
Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Safety, social connection, beauty

Carl Jung, the renowned Swiss psychoanalyst, wrote extensively about the relationship between our internal world and our external environment.

He believed that this relationship was crucial to our psychological well-being.

More recent research in neuroscience and functional imaging has revealed a vast, intricate and complex neurological architecture underlying our psychological perception of a place. Numerous neurological pathways and functional loops transform a complex neuropsychological process into a simple realization: I am happy here!

For example, a happy place should feel safe.

The country of Croatia, a tourist haven for its beauty and culinary delights, is also one of the top 20 safest countries globally, according to the 2025 Global Peace Index.

The U.S. ranks 128th.

The availability of good food and drink can also be a significant factor in creating a happy place.

However, according to American psychologist Abraham Maslow, a pioneer in the field of positive psychology, the opportunity for social connectivity, experiencing something meaningful and having a sense of belonging is more crucial.

Furthermore, research on happy places suggests that they are beautiful. It should not come as a surprise that the happiest places in the world are also drop-dead gorgeous, such as the Indian Ocean archipelago of Mauritius, which is the happiest country in Africa, according to the 2025 World Happiness Report from the University of Oxford and others.

Happy places often provide access to nature and promote active lifestyles, which can help relieve stress. The residents of the island of Ikaria in Greece, for example, one of the original Blue Zones, demonstrate high levels of physical activity and social interaction.

A map of 28 happy places in Philadelphia, based on 243 survey responses from Drexel students.
The Happiness Lab at Drexel University

Philly Happiness Map

I asked my undergraduate psychology students at Drexel, many of whom come from other cities, states and countries, to pick one place in Philadelphia where they feel happy.

From the 243 student responses, the Happiness Lab curated 28 Philly happy places, based on how frequently the places were endorsed and their accessibility.

Philadelphia’s founder, William Penn, would likely approve that Rittenhouse Square Park and three other public squares – Logan, Franklin and Washington – were included. These squares were vital to Penn’s vision of landscaped public parks to promote the health of the mind and body by providing “salubrious spaces similar to the private garden.” They are beautiful and approachable, serving as “places to rest, take a pause, work, or read a book,” one student told us.

Places such as the Philadelphia Zoo, Penn’s Landing and the Philadelphia Museum of Art are “joyful spots that are fun to explore, and one can also take your parents along if need be,” as another student described.

The Athenaeum of Philadelphia, a historic library with eclectic programming, feels to one student like “coming home, a perfect third place.”

Some students mentioned happy places that are less known. These include tucked-away gardens such as the John F. Collings Park at 1707 Chestnut St., the rooftop Cira Green at 129 S. 30th St. and the James G. Kaskey Memorial Park and BioPond at 433 S. University Ave.

The James G. Kaskey Memorial Park and BioPond in West Philadelphia is an urban oasis.
M. Fischetti for Visit Philadelphia

My students said these are small, unexpected spots that provide an excellent opportunity for a quiet, peaceful break, to be present, whether enjoyed alone or with a friend. I checked them out and I agree.

The students also mentioned places I had never heard of even though I’ve lived in the city for over 30 years.

The “cat park” at 526 N. Natrona St. in Mantua is a quiet little park with an eclectic personality and lots of friendly cats.

Mango Mango Dessert at 1013 Cherry St. in Chinatown, which is a frequently endorsed happiness spot among the students because of its “bustling streets, lively atmosphere and delicious food,” is a perfect pit stop for mango lovers. And Maison Sweet, at 2930 Chestnut St. in University City, is a casual bakery and cafe “where you may end up staying longer than planned,” one student shared.

I find that Philly’s happy places, as seen through the eyes of college students, tend to offer a space for residents to take time out from their day to pause, reset, relax and feel more connected and in touch with the city.

Happiness principals are universal, yet our own journeys are very personal. Philadelphians across the city may have their own list of happy places. There are really no right or wrong answers. If you don’t have a personal happy space, just start exploring and you may be surprised what you will find, including a new sense of happiness.

See the full Philly Happiness Map list here, and visit the exhibit at the W.W. Hagerty Library at Drexel University to learn more.

Read more of our stories about Philadelphia.

Eric Zillmer 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. Philly psychology students map out local landmarks and hidden destinations where they feel happiest – https://theconversation.com/philly-psychology-students-map-out-local-landmarks-and-hidden-destinations-where-they-feel-happiest-258790

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Grover Norquist’s lasting influence on the GOP and US economic policy

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Gibbs Knotts, Professor of Political Science, Coastal Carolina University

Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, speaks on Capitol Hill on Nov. 7, 2017. Alex Wong/Getty Images

In the “one, big, beautiful bill,” President Donald Trump has called for substantial decreases in federal domestic spending. However, a schism emerged between Republican lawmakers during the budget debates in Congress.

Some Republicans in blue states called for a tax increase for the wealthiest Americans, prompting longtime anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist to call the increase an “incredibly destructive idea economically, and very foolish politically.”

As he has done since the 1980s, Norquist demonstrated his influence over the GOP. Since Trump’s second inauguration, he has appeared in several high-profile news stories about the budget, including a Washington Post article where he said, “Tax cuts are income to Americans and a loss to the bureaucracy.”

Ultimately, the tax increase was defeated, and the Trump budget proposal passed the House on May 22, 2025.

Norquist praised the leadership from Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, saying taxpayers owe them “bigly for managing a narrow Republican House Majority that was united and committed to reducing taxes on the American people.”

As scholars of U.S. politics, we examined Norquist’s emergence, traced debates about the scope and size of the American government and assessed Norquist’s relevance in the Donald Trump era, where he continues to wield considerable sway in the Republican Party.

The conscience of a conservative

In 1960, a slim, 123-page book changed the trajectory of American conservative thought.

“The Conscience of a Conservative,” written by Barry Goldwater, laid out the premise that an expansive federal bureaucracy was the root evil of government.

Four years later, Ronald Reagan launched his political career with a speech supporting Goldwater. His words echoed Goldwater: “No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size … a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth.”

Reagan ended the speech by noting, “You and I have a rendezvous with destiny.” Goldwater wouldn’t manifest that destiny, but Reagan, 16 years later, took this vision of fiscal conservatism to the White House.

By the 1980s, Goldwater’s limited government creed had become part of Republican dogma. Government wasn’t just bloated, according to Reagan. It was, as he noted, the problem. The Reagan presidency ushered in the doctrine of supply-side economics, which rests on the premise that tax cuts are key to stimulating economic growth.

Norquist’s emergence

Into this landscape stepped a young Norquist.

He had cut his teeth at the National Taxpayer’s Union, a fiscally conservative taxpayer advocacy group. Then, in 1981, he became the executive director of the College Republican National Committee.

In the first issue of CR Report, a college Republican newsletter, Norquist’s position as executive director was announced, and he provided a list of suggested readings. Among the titles he recommended were Goldwater’s “Conscience,” Milton Friedman’s “Capitalism and Freedom” and Friedrich Hayek’s “The Road to Serfdom.”

In 1985, Norquist founded Americans for Tax Reform to support his tax reduction efforts. As Norquist noted, “The tax issue is one thing everyone agrees on.”

He and his organization effectively institutionalized a permanent tax revolt in Congress supported by his “Taxpayer Protection Pledge,” a promise made starting in 1986 to oppose all efforts to increase marginal tax rates or reduce deductions or credits.

The pledge became a litmus test for fiscally conservative GOP candidates and cemented the party’s anti-tax stance.

Feeling this pressure, GOP nominee George H.W. Bush delivered his famous line, “read my lips, no new taxes,” at the 1988 Republican National Convention. Those six words were repeatedly used by primary challenger Pat Buchanan and Bush’s opponent in the general election, Bill Clinton, to raise questions about Bush’s honesty – since he made a pledge that he was unable to keep.

Newt Gingrich, speaker of the House of Representatives, holds up a copy of the ‘Contract With America’ during a speech on the steps of the U.S. Capitol in April 1995.
Richard Ellis/AFP via Getty Images

With Clinton in the White House in 1994, Norquist helped House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich write the “Contract with America” to legislate fiscal conservatism. Weaponizing government shutdowns and setting a more confrontational tone, congressional Republicans successfully rolled back welfare programs, reduced the size of government and cut taxes.

In 1995, they came two votes shy in the Senate of approving an amendment to the Constitution that would have required the federal budget to be balanced – with no borrowing – every year.

Anti-tax conservatism in the 21st century

In 2001, Norquist told a reporter at The Nation: “My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub.”

This objective would have to wait during the George W. Bush presidency. Resulting in part from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Bush administration saw dramatic expansions of federal power and spending in homeland security, defense and Medicare, as well as a large increase in the budget deficit.

The tea party movement, a fiscally conservative political group, was formed in response to these Bush-era increases and two signature programs of the Barack Obama administration: the massive stimulus package, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and his signature health care reform, the Affordable Care Act.

Norquist reveled in renewed attention to tax policies and the size of government, urging readers of The Guardian to “join the Tea Party movement.”

Norquist’s continuing legacy

For more than four decades, Norquist has been a relentless advocate for fiscal conservatism. He is the living embodiment of an ideological thread that stretches from Goldwater to Reagan to Gingrich to current GOP leadership.

Grover Norquist waits for the arrival of President Donald Trump in the East Room of the White House on March 21, 2019.
AP Photo/Evan Vucci

The ongoing debates about the Trump budget are just the latest example of Norquist’s influence. He continues to play an active role in debates about the federal budget and still has considerable sway with Republicans.

However, Norquist’s uncompromising stance on taxes has coincided with increases in federal spending, surging budget deficits and increased national debt.

That additional debt is accumulating because many Republicans have adopted his anti-tax position while simultaneously increasing defense budgets, maintaining or expanding entitlement spending and lowering taxes on the wealthiest Americans.

Nevertheless, Norquist continues to be the fiscal conscience of the Republican Party. Politicians come and go. Powerful ideas, and those who champion them, endure.

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. Grover Norquist’s lasting influence on the GOP and US economic policy – https://theconversation.com/grover-norquists-lasting-influence-on-the-gop-and-us-economic-policy-256978

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: What happens next in US-Iran relations will be informed by the two countries’ shared history

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Gregory F. Treverton, Professor of Practice in International Relations, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Iranians protest the U.S. attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities in Tehran on June 22, 2025. Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The Trump administration’s decision to bomb Iran dramatically marks the now nearly half-century of hostility between the United States and Iran, which began in 1979 with Iran’s takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and the taking of 52 diplomatic hostages.

It remains uncertain whether the Iran-Israel ceasefire will hold, given President Donald Trump’s seemingly impulsive policy decisions and an Israeli leader who critics say pursues war to stay in power.

Additional unpredictability can be seen in a weakened Iran government that is unpopular with its own people but must also bet that standing up to the U.S. and Israel will induce its people to rally around the flag, even if they don’t like who holds that flag.

As a U.S. international relations scholar, I think whatever comes next will be well informed by what has already happened in U.S.-Iran history. That includes an offer from Trump – who considers himself the consummate negotiator – to Iran to return to the negotiating table.

The shah’s last visit to Washington

The opening bracket in modern U.S.-Iran relations was the 1979 Islamic Revolution that overthrew Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi,“ whom a CIA covert action had restored to leadership a quarter-century earlier.

As a young National Security Council staffer, I stood on the South Lawn of the White House as the shah’s helicopter landed in 1977 for a state visit to his close ally, the United States.

The episode was perhaps a metaphor for the two countries’ relationship. I stood next to a colleague who had written for President Jimmy Carter remarks that included fulsome praise of the shah, but his crack to me was: “You’ll recognize the shah. He’s the one with blood under his fingernails.” Beneath a formal alliance, there was a good deal of cynicism on the U.S. part about the shah’s repressive regime and use of secret police to suppress opposition.

Pro- and anti-shah protesters were demonstrating at the bottom of the Ellipse, the park south of the White House grounds. The U.S. Park Police, understandably but unwisely, sought to separate them with tear gas, which then wafted over the proceedings on the South Lawn.

The Shah of Iran wipes tear gas from his eyes as President Jimmy Carter speaks on the South Lawn of the White House on Nov. 15, 1977.
AP Photo

The impact of the hostage crisis

It’s impossible to overstate the effect of the 1979 hostage crisis, when Iranian students seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, holding 62 American hostages for 444 days.

The Carter administration negotiated the Algiers Accords, which led to the release of the hostages in January 1981. There have been persistent accounts, none ever fully validated, that the incoming Reagan administration dealt with Iran to delay the release until after the new president’s inauguration.

The crisis not only cost Carter his job, but it also cast an enduring shadow over the U.S.-Iran relationship, compounding Americans’ difficulty in understanding a regime that was not only theocratic but Muslim.

The 1980s witnessed a whipsaw of relations.

From 1980 to 1988, as Iran and Iraq fought a bloody war to a stalemate, the U.S. saw the power of both countries contained, but it did provide intelligence and logistical support to Iraq.

Then came the Iran-Contra Affair of 1985 to 1987. It was the Reagan administration’s most serious scandal, in which White House officials illegally sold sanctioned arms to Iran and secretly diverted the proceeds to the Nicaraguan Contras. In a moment straight out of comic opera, National Security Council aides brought a goodwill chocolate cake to Tehran during a secret diplomatic mission in May 1986.

Unidentified U.S. hostages arrive on Jan. 21, 1981, at Rhein-Main U.S. Air Force base in Frankfurt, West Germany, one day after their release from Iran.
AP Photo

In 1988, a U.S. ship struck an Iranian mine in the Persian Gulf. The U.S. retaliated by destroying oil platforms and damaging Iranian ships in “Operation Praying Mantis,” and tragically – and mistakenly – shot down Iran Air Flight 655, killing 290 civilians.

The 1990s and 2000s again displayed the limits of the relationship.

In 1995, President Bill Clinton imposed an oil and trade embargo against Iran, and Congress passed the Iran–Libya Sanctions Act in 1996, which imposed economic sanctions on companies doing business with Iran and Libya.

In 1998, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami called for a “dialogue of civilizations,” prompting cautious U.S. signals of engagement.

Then, in 2002, President George W. Bush labeled Iran part of the “axis of evil,” a sharp rhetorical escalation. For its part, Iran alleged U.S. drone incursions and covert operations. Limited diplomatic back channels emerged, but to no outcome.

In 2009, President Barack Obama reached out to Tehran amid post-election unrest in Iran, but two years later Iran threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial route for oil shipments to the West.

In 2015, the two countries were party to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, with Iran agreeing to limit its nuclear program under international oversight.

Two years later, though, President Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal and reimposed sweeping sanctions in a “maximum pressure” campaign.

In 2019 and 2020, a series of tit-for-tat escalations culminated in the Jan. 3, 2020, U.S. drone strike that assassinated senior Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. Iran retaliated with missile strikes on U.S. bases in the region.

U.S. sanctions continued in the Biden administration as Iran pursued deeper ties with Russia, China and nonstate proxies, especially Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.

What lessons?

What can be learned from this tangled history?

First, that negotiations are possible between the two countries, but they are neither easy nor likely to produce more than limited outcomes. Indeed, high-level indirect talks mediated by Oman began in April 2025, though they were in suspension when the U.S. bombers struck.

Second, despite the Iran regime’s unpopularity, regime change in Iran is unlikely. Assassinating Ayatollah Ali Khameini would likely abet the “rally ‘round the flag” effect, as did the assassination of Soleimani.

Third, Iran has been careful in its responses even to Israeli aggression but especially in engaging the U.S. in military conflict, a caution the American B-2 bombings on June 21 can only underscore.

Iran had to retaliate, so the attack on the U.S. base in Qatar came as no surprise. But Iran was careful in retaliating, even notifying the U.S. in advance.

The dropping of U.S. bombs, followed by Iran’s careful retaliation, was the opportunity for Trump to make an offer Iran couldn’t refuse.

Gregory F. Treverton 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 happens next in US-Iran relations will be informed by the two countries’ shared history – https://theconversation.com/what-happens-next-in-us-iran-relations-will-be-informed-by-the-two-countries-shared-history-259607

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Mitochondria can sense bacteria and trigger your immune system to trap them – revealing new ways to treat infections and autoimmunity

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Andrew Monteith, Assistant Professor of Microbiology, University of Tennessee

Neutrophils (yellow) eject a NET (green) to ensnare bacteria (purple). Other cells, such as red blood cells (orange), may also get trapped. CHDENK/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

Mitochondria have primarily been known as the energy-producing components of cells. But scientists are increasingly discovering that these small organelles do much more than just power cells. They are also involved in immune functions such as controlling inflammation, regulating cell death and responding to infections.

Research from my colleagues and I revealed that mitochondria play another key role in your immune response: sensing bacterial activity and helping neutrophils, a type of white blood cell, trap and kill them.

For the past 16 years, my research has focused on understanding the decisions immune cells make during infection and how the breakdown of these decision-making processes cause disease. My lab’s recent findings shed light on why people with autoimmune diseases such as lupus may struggle to fight infections, revealing a potential link between dysfunctional mitochondria and weakened immune defenses.

Mitochondria do so much more than just produce energy.
OpenStax, CC BY-SA

The immune system’s secret weapons

Neutrophils are the most abundant type of immune cell and serve as the immune system’s first responders. One of their key defense mechanisms is releasing neutrophil extracellular traps, or NETs – weblike structures composed of DNA and antimicrobial proteins. These sticky NETs trap and neutralize invading microbes, preventing their spread in the body.

Until recently, scientists believed that NET formation was primarily triggered by cellular stress and damage. However, our study found that mitochondria can detect a specific bacterial byproduct – lactate – and use that signal to initiate NET formation.

Lactate is commonly associated with muscle fatigue in people. But in the context of bacterial infections, it plays a different role. Many bacteria release lactate as part of their own energy production. My team found that once bacteria are engulfed by a compartment of the cell called the phagosome, neutrophils can sense the presence of this lactate.

Inside the phagosome, this lactate communicates to the neutrophil that bacteria are present and that the antibacterial processes are not sufficient to kill these pathogens. When the mitochondria in neutrophil cells detect this lactate, they start signaling for the cell to get rid of the NETs that have entrapped bacteria. Once the bacteria are released outside the cell, other immune cells can kill them.

Here, a neutrophil engulfs MRSA bacteria (green).

When we blocked the mitochondria’s ability to sense lactate, neutrophils failed to produce NETs effectively. This meant bacteria were more likely to escape capture and proliferate, showing how crucial this mechanism is to immune defense. This process highlights an intricate dialogue between the bacteria’s metabolism and the host cell’s energy machinery.

What makes this finding surprising is that the mitochondria within cells are able to detect bacteria trapped in phagosomes, even though the microbes are enclosed in a separate space. Somehow, mitochondrial sensors can pick up cues from within these compartments – an impressive feat of cellular coordination.

Targeting mitochondria to fight infections

Our study is part of a growing field called immunometabolism, which explores how metabolism and immune function are deeply intertwined. Rather than viewing cellular metabolism as strictly a means to generate energy, researchers are now recognizing it as a central driver of immune decisions.

Mitochondria sit at the heart of this interaction. Their ability to sense, respond to and even shape the metabolic environment of a cell gives them a critical role in determining how and when immune responses are deployed.

For example, our findings provide a key reason why patients with a chronic autoimmune disease called systemic lupus erythematosus often suffer from recurrent infections. Mitochondria in the neutrophils of lupus patients fail to sense bacterial lactate properly. As a result, NET production was significantly reduced. This mitochondrial dysfunction could explain why lupus patients are more vulnerable to bacterial infections – even though their immune systems are constantly activated due to the disease.

This observation points to mitochondria’s central role in balancing immune responses. It connects two seemingly unrelated issues: immune overactivity, as seen in lupus, and immune weakness like increased susceptibility to infection. When mitochondria work correctly, they help neutrophils mount an effective, targeted attack on bacteria. But when mitochondria are impaired, this system breaks down.

Neutrophils unable to effectively produce NETs may contribute to the development of lupus.
Luz Blanco/National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases via Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA

Our discovery that mitochondria can sense bacterial lactate to trigger NET formation opens up new possibilities for treating infections. For instance, drugs that enhance mitochondrial sensing could boost NET production in people with weakened immune systems. On the flip side, for conditions where NETs contribute to tissue damage – such as in severe COVID-19 or autoimmune diseases – it might be beneficial to limit this response.

Additionally, our study raises the question of whether other immune cells use similar mechanisms to sense microbial metabolites, and whether other bacterial byproducts might serve as immune signals. Understanding these pathways in more detail could lead to new treatments that modulate immune responses more precisely, reducing collateral damage while preserving antimicrobial defenses.

Mitochondria are not just the powerhouses of the cell – they are the immune system’s watchtowers, alert to even the faintest metabolic signals of bacterial invaders. As researchers’ understanding of their roles expands, so too does our appreciation for the complexity – and adaptability – of our cellular defenses.

Andrew Monteith receives funding from the National Institute of Health.

– ref. Mitochondria can sense bacteria and trigger your immune system to trap them – revealing new ways to treat infections and autoimmunity – https://theconversation.com/mitochondria-can-sense-bacteria-and-trigger-your-immune-system-to-trap-them-revealing-new-ways-to-treat-infections-and-autoimmunity-255939

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: How do scientists calculate the probability that an asteroid could hit Earth?

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Toshi Hirabayashi, Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

NASA’s Webb telescope captured a photo of the asteroid 2024 YR4 from afar. European Space Agency via AP

I was preparing for my early morning class back in January 2025 when I received a notice regarding an asteroid called 2024 YR4. It said the probability it could hit Earth was unusually high.

As defending Earth from unexpected intruders such as asteroids is part of my expertise, I immediately started receiving questions from my students and colleagues about what was happening.

When scientists spot an asteroid whose trajectory might take it close to Earth, they monitor it frequently and calculate the probability that it might collide with our planet. As they receive more observational data, they get a better picture of what could happen.

Just having more data points early doesn’t make scientists’ predictions better. They need to keep following the asteroid as it moves through space to better understand its trajectory.

Reflecting on the incident a few months later, I wondered whether there might have been a better way for scientists to communicate about the risk with the public. We got accurate information, but as the questions I heard indicated, it wasn’t always enough to understand what it actually means.

Numbers change every day

The 2024 YR24 asteroid has a diameter of about 196 feet (60 meters) – equivalent to approximately a 15-story building in length.

At the time of the announcement in January, the asteroid’s impact probability was reported to exceed 1%. The impact probability describes how likely a hazardous asteroid is to hit Earth. For example, if the impact probability is 1%, it means that in 1 of 100 cases, it hits Earth. One in 100 is kind of rare, but still too close for comfort if you’re talking about the odds of a collision that could devastate Earth.

Over time, though, further observations and analyses revealed an almost-zero chance of this asteroid colliding with Earth.

After the initial notice in January, the impact probability continuously increased up to 3.1% on Feb. 18, but dropped to 1.5% on Feb. 19. Then, the impact probability continuously went down, until it hit 0.004% on Feb. 24. As of June 15, it now has an impact probability of less than 0.0000081%.

The orbit of 2024 YR4 will take it close to Earth, but scientists have found the chance of a collision to be exceedingly low.
NASA/JPL

But while the probability of hitting Earth went down, the probability of the asteroid hitting the Moon started increasing. It went up to 1.7% on Feb. 24. As of April 2, it is 3.8%.

If it hits the Moon, some ejected materials from this collision could reach the Earth. However, these materials would burn away when they enter the Earth’s thick atmosphere.

Impact probability

To see whether an approaching object could hit Earth, researchers find out what an asteroid’s orbit looks like using a technique called astrometry. This technique can accurately determine an object’s orbit, down to only a few kilometers of uncertainty. But astrometry needs accurate observational data taken for a long time.

If an asteroid might get close to Earth, astronomers take observational data to better track the object’s path and eliminate uncertainty.

Any uncertainty in the calculation of the object’s orbit causes variations in the predicted solution. Instead of one precise orbit, the calculation usually gives scientists a cloud of its possible orbits. The ellipse enclosing these locations is called an error ellipse.

The impact probability describes how many orbital predictions in this ellipse hit the Earth.

Without enough observational data, the orbital uncertainty is high, so the ellipse tends to be large. In a large ellipse, there’s a higher chance that the ellipse “accidentally” includes Earth – even if the center is off the planet. So, even if an asteroid ultimately won’t hit Earth, its error ellipse might still include the planet before scientists collect enough data to narrow down the uncertainty.

As the level of uncertainty goes down, the ellipse shrinks. So, when Earth is inside a small error ellipse, the impact probability may become higher than when it’s inside a large error ellipse. Once the error ellipse shrinks enough that it no longer includes Earth, the impact probability goes down significantly. That’s what happened to 2024 YR4.

As the error ellipse shrinks, the chance of the asteroid hitting Earth either goes down or goes way up, if it ends up overlapping with the Earth.
Toshi Hirabayashi

The impact probability is a single, practical value offering meaningful insight into an impact threat. However, just using the impact probability without any context may not provide meaningful guidelines to the public, as we saw with 2024 YR4.

Holding on and waiting for more data to refine a collision prediction, or introducing new metrics for assessing impacts on Earth, are alternative courses of action to provide people with better guidelines for future threats before adding confusion and fear.

I have been studying planetary defense, particularly being part of past, ongoing, and future small body missions. I was part of the NASA/DART mission. I am currently part of the NASA/Lucy mission and the ESA/Hera mission. I am also on the Hayabusa2# team, led by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), as part of an international collaboration. I have no affiliation with JAXA.

– ref. How do scientists calculate the probability that an asteroid could hit Earth? – https://theconversation.com/how-do-scientists-calculate-the-probability-that-an-asteroid-could-hit-earth-249834

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 26, 2025
MIL-OSI: Ignis Energy Announces Final Close of $13.6M Series A Round To Advance Global Geothermal Exploration Portfolio
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

HOUSTON, June 25, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Ignis H2 Energy Inc. (“Ignis Energy”), a geothermal exploration and development company, today announced the final close of its Series A funding round, securing $13.6 million from a global consortium of investors. This milestone builds on the initial close announced in February, which was led by sustainable energy investor alfa8 and included drilling contractor Nabors Industries, climate technology investor The Twynam Group, GEOLOG, and several private investors and family offices.

Ignis Energy is building a globally diversified, risk-balanced geothermal portfolio focused on near-term viability and long-term growth. The company specializes in locating, de-risking, and delivering commercially viable geothermal power. The capital secured in this round enables key projects to reach technical maturity and prepare for capital-intensive development phases.

“In a market chasing breakthrough headlines, Ignis Energy brings the spotlight back to the geology,” said Richard Calleri, CEO, Ignis Energy. “Without proven heat in the ground, there’s nothing to scale. Ignis finds it, proves it, and produces it.”

“Ignis has demonstrated strong execution on its strategy and is already moving rapidly onto the next milestones,” said Guillermo Sierra, VP, Strategic Initiatives, Nabors Industries. “Their commercial focus and speed stand out, and we look forward to continued collaboration on near-term projects and beyond.”

Building a Global, Fit-for-Resource Geothermal Platform

Leveraging decades of oil and gas expertise, Ignis applies proven technologies and exploration workflows to de-risk geothermal projects across high-enthalpy regions. Rather than betting on a single breakthrough, Ignis uses a ‘fit-for-resource’ strategy—tailoring each project to the best commercial technology for its reservoir and market. This includes conventional hydrothermal systems as well as emerging approaches like Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) and Advanced Geothermal Systems (AGS), where appropriate.

Platform Momentum & Outlook

Ignis is rapidly advancing high-priority assets in Türkiye and the U.S.:
- Türkiye: In Eastern Anatolia, Ignis drilled its first temperature gradient well in Q4 2024, confirming reservoir temperatures and artesian flow. Two deep wells will follow this summer to fully de-risk the Kaynarpınar field and position it as Ignis’ first commercial project—and a model for underexplored geothermal basins.
- Western U.S.: Ignis is advancing surface exploration across five Nevada and one Utah lease, supported by its proprietary AI targeting engine. Drilling in Nevada is expected in 2026, with development of a data center-aligned power plant targeted for 2027.
- Alaska: The Alaska Railbelt grid—supplying two-thirds of the state’s population—faces urgent pressure to replace aging gas-fired capacity and reduce high electricity prices. GeoAlaska, Ignis’ regional partner, plans to drill its first well by mid-2026, backed by three Letters of Intent from major offtakers in the utility, mining, and data center sectors.
“Our vision is pragmatic and region-first,” said Marcus Oesterberg, COO, Ignis Energy. “We don’t chase speculative breakthroughs—we match the right technology to the right resource and build local momentum. Ignis is a geothermal opportunity engine, unlocking real heat under real projects.”

AI-Driven Exploration for a Cleaner Future

Ignis applies AI not as a gimmick, but as a precision tool. Its hybrid system—combining machine learning and computer vision—has already improved lease targeting and accelerated early-stage decision-making. This allows Ignis to move confidently and cost-effectively into underexplored geothermal basins.

About Ignis Energy

Ignis Energy develops commercially viable geothermal projects in the U.S., Türkiye, Indonesia, and Italy. Its region-first, technology-flexible model enables early de-risking and smarter development. The company is targeting 1 GW of producible geothermal reserves by 2030. https://ignisenergy.com/

About alfa8
alfa8 is an entrepreneurial family office that backs builders and technologies driving the energy transition, with a passion for geothermal energy. https://alfa8.co/

About Nabors Industries
Nabors Industries is a global drilling and energy technology leader advancing low-carbon solutions, including geothermal. https://www.nabors.com/

About Twynam
Twynam is a climate-focused investment firm supporting bold, scalable technologies for deep decarbonization. https://www.twynam.com/

About GEOLOG
GEOLOG delivers advanced formation evaluation and real-time geoscience services for energy operators worldwide.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/358150ec-2d98-480e-a9d8-c3360087b896

The MIL Network –
June 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: How high-latitude peat and forest fires could shape the future of Earth’s climate

Source: The Conversation – France – By Apostolos Voulgarakis, AXA Chair in Wildfires and Climate Director, Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment & Climate Change, Technical University of Crete

Understanding how wildfires influence our planet’s climate is a daunting challenge. Although fire occurs nearly everywhere on Earth and has always been present, it is still one of the least understood components of the Earth system. Recently, unprecedented fire activity has been observed in boreal (northern) and Arctic regions, which has drawn the scientific community’s attention to areas whose role in the future of our planet remains a mystery. Climate change likely has a major role in this alarming trend. However, high-latitude wildfires are not just a symptom of climate change; they are an accelerating force that could shape the future of our climate in ways that we are currently incapable of predicting.

A weekly e-mail in English featuring expertise from scholars and researchers. It provides an introduction to the diversity of research coming out of the continent and considers some of the key issues facing European countries. Get the newsletter!

The rising threat of northern fires

As global temperatures rise, wildfires are advancing further north and reaching into the Arctic. Canada, Alaska, Siberia, Scandinavia and even Greenland, all in northern high-latitude regions, have recently experienced some of the most intense and prolonged wildfire seasons on record. With climate change occurring more rapidly in these areas, the future of northern fires appears even grimmer.

Apart from typical forest fires that consume surface vegetation, many high-latitude fires burn through peat, the dense, carbon-rich layers of partially decayed organic material. Despite covering only 3% of the terrestrial surface, peatlands are one of the world’s most important carbon storage environments, containing around 25% of the carbon existing in the Earth’s soils.

Climate warming, which is even faster at high northern latitudes due to polar amplification – the phenomenon of greater climate change near the poles compared to the rest of the hemisphere or globe – is increasing the vulnerability of these ecosystems to fire, with potentially severe implications for the global climate. When peatlands ignite, they release massive amounts of “fossil carbon” that have been locked away for centuries or even millennia. The largest and most persistent fires on Earth, peat fires can smoulder for extended periods, are difficult to extinguish and can continue burning underground throughout the winter, only to reignite on the surface in spring. They have recently been described as “zombie” fires.

Warmer and drier conditions driven by climate change, apart from making boreal forests more flammable, are expected to intensify and increase the frequency of peat fires, potentially transforming peatlands from carbon sinks into net sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Such a shift could trigger a feedback loop, meaning that a warming climate will cause more carbon emissions, which in turn will accelerate climate change.

Air pollution and weather patterns

Wildfires release large quantities of smoke particles (aerosols) into the atmosphere, contributing significantly to both local and widespread air quality degradation. These particles are harmful to human health and can cause serious respiratory and cardiovascular problems, while prolonged exposure may lead to smoke-induced stress, hospitalizations and increased mortality. Wildfires can also cause mental health strains associated with evacuations, loss of homes, livelihoods and lives.

À lire aussi :
Wildfire smoke can harm your brain, not just your lungs

Beyond their long-term effects on climate, wildfire emissions can also influence weather patterns in more short-term ways via their impacts on atmospheric pollution levels. Smoke particles interact with sunlight and cloud formation processes, subsequently affecting temperatures, wind patterns and rainfall.

For example, our recent study on the large-scale atmospheric impacts of the 2023 Canadian wildfires, which we presented at the European Geosciences Union general assembly this spring, demonstrated that wildfire aerosols led to a surface air temperature decrease that expanded to the entire northern hemisphere. The cooling was particularly pronounced over Canada (up to -5.5°C in August), where the emissions were located, but was also significant over remote areas such as Eastern Europe and even Siberia (up to around -2.5°C in July). The average hemispheric temperature anomaly we calculated (close to -1°C) highlights the potential for large regional emissions from wildfires to perturb weather conditions for weeks across a whole hemisphere, with profound implications for forecasting. Unreliable weather forecasts can disrupt daily activities and pose risks to public safety, especially during extreme events such as heatwaves or storms. They also have serious consequences for industries such as farming, fishing and transport, where planning depends heavily on accurate, timely predictions.

Peat fires and the climate puzzle

While incorporating peatland fire feedbacks into Earth System Models (ESMs) is essential for accurate climate projections, most existing models lack a representation of peat fires. Understanding the smouldering behaviour of organic soils when they burn, their ignition probability, and how these processes can be represented at a global scale is of utmost importance. Recent research efforts are focusing on bridging this knowledge gap. For example, at the Technical University of Crete, we are collaborating with the Hazelab research group at Imperial College London and the Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment and Society to perform field research and cutting-edge experiments) on peat smouldering, with the aim of shedding light on the complex mechanisms of peat fires.

Integrating these lab results into ESMs will enable game-changing fire emission modelling, which holds potential for groundbreaking outcomes when it comes to our skill level for predicting the future of the Earth’s climate. By quantifying how the present-day atmosphere is influenced by fire emissions from boreal forests and peatlands, we can enhance the quality of projections of global temperature rise. This integration will also sharpen forecasts of regional climate impacts driven by fire-related aerosols, such as changes in rainfall patterns or accelerated Arctic ice melt.

Tackling the challenge of northern fires

Undoubtedly, we have entered an era of more frequent megafires – wildfires of extreme size, intensity, duration or impacts – with catastrophic consequences. Recent megafire events at boreal and Arctic regions unveil the dramatic change in wildfire patterns in northern high latitudes, which is a matter that demands urgent attention and action.

As the planet continues to warm, high-latitude fires are expected to help shape the future of our planet. Massive wildfire events, such as those in Canada in 2023, not only burned millions of hectares but also forced hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate their homes. Unprecedented amounts of smoke blanketed parts of North America in hazardous air, prompting school closures and health warnings, and obliging citizens to remain indoors for days. Events like this reflect a growing trend. They underscore why advancing research to better understand and predict the dynamics of northern peat and forest fires, and to mitigate their climate impacts, is not only a scientific imperative but also a moral responsibility.

Created in 2007 to help accelerate and share scientific knowledge on key societal issues, the Axa Research Fund has supported nearly 700 projects around the world conducted by researchers in 38 countries. To learn more, visit the website of the Axa Research Fund or follow @AXAResearchFund on X.

Dimitra Tarasi has received funding from the AXA Chair in Wildfires and Climate, the Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment and Society and the A.G. Leventis Foundation Educational Grants.

Apostolos Voulgarakis ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d’une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n’a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.

– ref. How high-latitude peat and forest fires could shape the future of Earth’s climate – https://theconversation.com/how-high-latitude-peat-and-forest-fires-could-shape-the-future-of-earths-climate-258721

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: How high-latitude peat and forest fires could shape the future of Earth’s climate

Source: The Conversation – France – By Apostolos Voulgarakis, AXA Chair in Wildfires and Climate Director, Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment & Climate Change, Technical University of Crete

Understanding how wildfires influence our planet’s climate is a daunting challenge. Although fire occurs nearly everywhere on Earth and has always been present, it is still one of the least understood components of the Earth system. Recently, unprecedented fire activity has been observed in boreal (northern) and Arctic regions, which has drawn the scientific community’s attention to areas whose role in the future of our planet remains a mystery. Climate change likely has a major role in this alarming trend. However, high-latitude wildfires are not just a symptom of climate change; they are an accelerating force that could shape the future of our climate in ways that we are currently incapable of predicting.

A weekly e-mail in English featuring expertise from scholars and researchers. It provides an introduction to the diversity of research coming out of the continent and considers some of the key issues facing European countries. Get the newsletter!

The rising threat of northern fires

As global temperatures rise, wildfires are advancing further north and reaching into the Arctic. Canada, Alaska, Siberia, Scandinavia and even Greenland, all in northern high-latitude regions, have recently experienced some of the most intense and prolonged wildfire seasons on record. With climate change occurring more rapidly in these areas, the future of northern fires appears even grimmer.

Apart from typical forest fires that consume surface vegetation, many high-latitude fires burn through peat, the dense, carbon-rich layers of partially decayed organic material. Despite covering only 3% of the terrestrial surface, peatlands are one of the world’s most important carbon storage environments, containing around 25% of the carbon existing in the Earth’s soils.

Climate warming, which is even faster at high northern latitudes due to polar amplification – the phenomenon of greater climate change near the poles compared to the rest of the hemisphere or globe – is increasing the vulnerability of these ecosystems to fire, with potentially severe implications for the global climate. When peatlands ignite, they release massive amounts of “fossil carbon” that have been locked away for centuries or even millennia. The largest and most persistent fires on Earth, peat fires can smoulder for extended periods, are difficult to extinguish and can continue burning underground throughout the winter, only to reignite on the surface in spring. They have recently been described as “zombie” fires.

Warmer and drier conditions driven by climate change, apart from making boreal forests more flammable, are expected to intensify and increase the frequency of peat fires, potentially transforming peatlands from carbon sinks into net sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Such a shift could trigger a feedback loop, meaning that a warming climate will cause more carbon emissions, which in turn will accelerate climate change.

Air pollution and weather patterns

Wildfires release large quantities of smoke particles (aerosols) into the atmosphere, contributing significantly to both local and widespread air quality degradation. These particles are harmful to human health and can cause serious respiratory and cardiovascular problems, while prolonged exposure may lead to smoke-induced stress, hospitalizations and increased mortality. Wildfires can also cause mental health strains associated with evacuations, loss of homes, livelihoods and lives.

À lire aussi :
Wildfire smoke can harm your brain, not just your lungs

Beyond their long-term effects on climate, wildfire emissions can also influence weather patterns in more short-term ways via their impacts on atmospheric pollution levels. Smoke particles interact with sunlight and cloud formation processes, subsequently affecting temperatures, wind patterns and rainfall.

For example, our recent study on the large-scale atmospheric impacts of the 2023 Canadian wildfires, which we presented at the European Geosciences Union general assembly this spring, demonstrated that wildfire aerosols led to a surface air temperature decrease that expanded to the entire northern hemisphere. The cooling was particularly pronounced over Canada (up to -5.5°C in August), where the emissions were located, but was also significant over remote areas such as Eastern Europe and even Siberia (up to around -2.5°C in July). The average hemispheric temperature anomaly we calculated (close to -1°C) highlights the potential for large regional emissions from wildfires to perturb weather conditions for weeks across a whole hemisphere, with profound implications for forecasting. Unreliable weather forecasts can disrupt daily activities and pose risks to public safety, especially during extreme events such as heatwaves or storms. They also have serious consequences for industries such as farming, fishing and transport, where planning depends heavily on accurate, timely predictions.

Peat fires and the climate puzzle

While incorporating peatland fire feedbacks into Earth System Models (ESMs) is essential for accurate climate projections, most existing models lack a representation of peat fires. Understanding the smouldering behaviour of organic soils when they burn, their ignition probability, and how these processes can be represented at a global scale is of utmost importance. Recent research efforts are focusing on bridging this knowledge gap. For example, at the Technical University of Crete, we are collaborating with the Hazelab research group at Imperial College London and the Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment and Society to perform field research and cutting-edge experiments) on peat smouldering, with the aim of shedding light on the complex mechanisms of peat fires.

Integrating these lab results into ESMs will enable game-changing fire emission modelling, which holds potential for groundbreaking outcomes when it comes to our skill level for predicting the future of the Earth’s climate. By quantifying how the present-day atmosphere is influenced by fire emissions from boreal forests and peatlands, we can enhance the quality of projections of global temperature rise. This integration will also sharpen forecasts of regional climate impacts driven by fire-related aerosols, such as changes in rainfall patterns or accelerated Arctic ice melt.

Tackling the challenge of northern fires

Undoubtedly, we have entered an era of more frequent megafires – wildfires of extreme size, intensity, duration or impacts – with catastrophic consequences. Recent megafire events at boreal and Arctic regions unveil the dramatic change in wildfire patterns in northern high latitudes, which is a matter that demands urgent attention and action.

As the planet continues to warm, high-latitude fires are expected to help shape the future of our planet. Massive wildfire events, such as those in Canada in 2023, not only burned millions of hectares but also forced hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate their homes. Unprecedented amounts of smoke blanketed parts of North America in hazardous air, prompting school closures and health warnings, and obliging citizens to remain indoors for days. Events like this reflect a growing trend. They underscore why advancing research to better understand and predict the dynamics of northern peat and forest fires, and to mitigate their climate impacts, is not only a scientific imperative but also a moral responsibility.

Created in 2007 to help accelerate and share scientific knowledge on key societal issues, the Axa Research Fund has supported nearly 700 projects around the world conducted by researchers in 38 countries. To learn more, visit the website of the Axa Research Fund or follow @AXAResearchFund on X.

Dimitra Tarasi has received funding from the AXA Chair in Wildfires and Climate, the Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment and Society and the A.G. Leventis Foundation Educational Grants.

Apostolos Voulgarakis ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d’une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n’a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.

– ref. How high-latitude peat and forest fires could shape the future of Earth’s climate – https://theconversation.com/how-high-latitude-peat-and-forest-fires-could-shape-the-future-of-earths-climate-258721

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: The first students of the Kazakhstan branch of the North-West Polytechnic University have completed their master’s degree

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

BEIJING, June 25 (Xinhua) — The first students of the Kazakhstan branch of Northwestern Polytechnical University (NWPU) have successfully completed their master’s degree program, according to a statement on the official website of the university.

The graduation ceremony took place recently at SZPU. The event was conducted by the head of the Kazakh department of the university, Kun Jie.

Vice-Rector of SZPU Yue Xiaokui warmly congratulated the eight Kazakhstanis on the successful completion of their studies and called on them to show courage in overcoming various difficulties in a promising scientific career.

The Kazakh branch of SZPU plans to intensify cooperation in order to set an example of cooperation between the two countries in the field of higher education, he said.

In October 2023, eight Kazakhstani students received admission letters and became the first master’s students of the Kazakhstan branch of SZPU. Eight months later, they moved from Almaty to Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, northwest China, and continued their studies at the Institutes of Electronic Information, Computer Science, and Materials Science of SZPU.

With the help of their academic supervisors, at the end of June last year they successfully substantiated their choice of the topic for their diploma thesis and in June of this year they defended their final theses and received their academic degrees.

Let us recall that in May 2023, within the framework of the China-Central Asia summit, an agreement was signed between SZPU and the Kazakh National University named after Al-Farabi /KazNU/ to open a Kazakhstan branch of SZUIU. Already in October of the same year, the branch accepted the first batch of students.

Earlier this year, an agreement was signed between SZIU and KazNU to establish the China-Kazakhstan Elite Engineering Institute in Almaty. -0-

MIL OSI Russia News –

June 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: School Waltz: Polytechnic Graduates from Lyceum

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –

The White Hall hosted a ceremonial presentation of certificates of secondary general education to graduates of the SPbPU Natural Science Lyceum. The Polytechnic University is honoring its youngest graduates in the year of the Lyceum’s 30th anniversary.

The main heroes of the celebration were, of course, the smart, lively children, whom their parents and teachers looked at with emotion and tenderness. The younger brothers and sisters of the graduates, perhaps future lyceum and polytechnic students, were present in the hall.

The first to congratulate the heroes of the occasion was the Vice-Rector for Additional and Pre-University Education Dmitry Tikhonov: Having entered the Natural Sciences Lyceum two years ago, you declared that you were students, and all this time you lived according to the rules of adult life – with sessions, exams, classes – so you are ready to continue your education at the university. Polytechnic is proud of you. It’s great that you studied at our school, do not forget about us, about your teachers, and come back with ideas and projects.

The teachers also said that they would like to see their beloved students at the Polytechnic again, this time as students.

“Today I thought about how different you are, my dear students, how different from each other,” physics teacher Fyodor Nikitin addressed the children. “In what different ways and means you achieved your goals. Some of you worked hard, while others caught everything on the fly. Some had and still have golden hands, while others relied more on their heads. Some were and still are geniuses of communication. And this difference ultimately makes you competitive. Therefore, I want to wish you to find a path on which all your strengths would manifest themselves, and all your shortcomings, on the contrary, would be smoothed out.”

What did your lyceum years give you? You had some, you know, a small spark, some energy that allowed you to overcome difficulties. And this spark flared up. I wish that it, this power, would help you in the future, – added chemistry teacher Igor Menshikov.

Physics teacher Tatyana Vorobyova said that she was proud of how the children coped with the Unified State Exam task in her subject.

Someone wrote the same way as he studied all this time, but many wrote better! I am very glad that you remembered everything that we taught you and thus showed yourself. I do not want to say goodbye to you under any circumstances. I really hope that we will meet within these walls.

Biology teacher Valentin Nikolsky singled out the students’ parents: Guys, you probably have the best parents. I don’t know them, but I know their embodiment, their children, wonderful and interesting. Thanks to you, I go to work with joy. Today is a little sad, of course, because I have to say goodbye to you, but I think not forever. Don’t forget your native lyceum.

And here is the solemn moment – Vice-Rector Dmitry Tikhonov and Director of the Natural Sciences Lyceum Roman Baibikov presented the graduates with certificates and souvenirs. This year, 75 people graduated from the Lyceum: 61 – from the physics and mathematics department and 14 – from the chemical and biological department. Four graduates received certificates with first-degree honors (gold medal): Elizaveta Shabunina, Grigory Shchegolyaev, Alisa Teplova and Roza Gesina. Another six received certificates with second-degree honors (silver medal). These are Alexandra Prokopenko, Vyacheslav Kovalev, Ekaterina Churkina, Anastasia Kemnits and Maria Solovieva.

All the lyceum graduates successfully passed the Unified State Exam. This year, gold medalist Grigory Shchegolyaev received 100 points in physics. The best result in the Unified State Exam — 275 points — was received by Vyacheslav Kovalev.

Many lyceum students showed good results at city and all-Russian subject Olympiads. And Andrey Kapustyanik became a two-time prize winner of the final stage of the All-Russian School Olympiad (in the 10th and 11th grades) in robotics.

This year, every graduate of the Lyceum automatically receives an additional 10 points when entering the Polytechnic University.

After the ceremony of handing out certificates, Arseniy Kazachenko, whose two sons have already graduated from the Polytechnic Lyceum, spoke on behalf of the parents. He thanked the teachers and the administration and, of course, congratulated the children. The graduates themselves did not remain in debt – they also prepared a speech addressed to the teachers and parents, to everyone who supported them at this stage of their life.

And then the young couples went up on stage and performed the school graduation waltz. This has been happening for many years now and has become a good tradition of the Polytechnic.

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

MIL OSI Russia News –

June 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: The mystery of Mercury’s missing meteorites – and how we may have finally found some

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Ben Rider-Stokes, Post Doctoral Researcher in Achondrite Meteorites, The Open University

Mercury seen by Nasa’s Messenger spacecraft on the left. On the right, there’s an approximation of Mercury’s true colour as might be seen by the human eye. NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

Most meteorites that have reached Earth come from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. But we have 1,000 or so meteorites that come from the Moon and Mars. This is probably a result of asteroids hitting their surfaces and ejecting material towards our planet.

It should also be physically possible for such debris to reach the Earth from Mercury, another nearby rocky body. But so far, none have been confirmed to come from there – presenting a longstanding mystery.

A new study my colleagues and I conducted has discovered two meteorites that could have a Mercurian origin. If confirmed, they would offer a rare window into Mercury’s formation and evolution, potentially reshaping our understanding of the planet nearest the Sun.

Because Mercury is so close to the Sun, any space mission to retrieve a sample from there would be complex and costly. A naturally delivered fragment, therefore, may be the only practical way to study its surface directly – making such a discovery scientifically invaluable.

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.

Observations from Nasa’s Messenger mission have inferred the surface composition of Mercury. This suggests the presence of minerals known as such as sodium-rich plagioclase (such as albite), iron-poor pyroxene (for example enstatite), iron-poor olivine (such as forsterite) and sulfide minerals such as oldhamite.

The meteorite Northwest Africa (NWA) 7325 was initially proposed as a possible fragment of Mercury. However, its mineralogy includes chromium-rich pyroxene containing approximately 1% iron. This poorly matches Mercury’s estimated surface composition. As a result of this, and other factors, this link has been challenged.

Aubrite meteorites have also been proposed as potential Mercurian fragments. Recent modelling of their formation suggests an origin from a large planetary body approximately 5,000km in diameter (similar to Mercury), potentially supporting this hypothesis.

Although aubrites do not exhibit chemical or spectral (the study of how light is broken up by wavelength) similarities with Mercury’s surface, it has been hypothesised that they may derive from the planet’s shallow mantle (the layer beneath the surface). Despite ongoing research, the existence of a definitive meteorite from Mercury remains unproven.

Our latest study investigated the properties of two unusual meteorites, Ksar Ghilane 022 and Northwest Africa 15915. We found that the two samples appear to be related, probably originating from the same parent body. Their mineralogy and surface composition also exhibit intriguing similarities to Mercury’s crust. So this has prompted us to speculate about a possible Mercurian origin.

Both meteorites contain olivine and pyroxene, minor albitic plagioclase and oldhamite. Such features are consistent with predictions for Mercury’s surface composition. Additionally, their oxygen compositions match those of aubrites.
These shared characteristics make the samples compelling candidates for being Mercurian material.

However, notable differences exist. Both meteorites contain only trace amounts of plagioclase, in contrast to Mercury’s surface, which is estimated to contain over 37%. Furthermore, our study suggests that the age of the samples is about 4,528 million years old. This is significantly older than Mercury’s oldest recognised surface units, which are predicted (based on crater counting) to be approximately 4,000 million years.

If these meteorites do originate from Mercury, they may represent early material that is no longer preserved in the planet’s current surface geology.

Will we ever know?

To link any meteorite to a specific asteroid type, moon or planet is extremely challenging. For example, laboratory analysis of Apollo samples allowed meteorites found in desert collection expeditions to be matched with the lunar materials. Martian meteorites have been identified through similarities between the composition of gases trapped in the meteorites with measurements of the martian atmosphere by spacecraft.

Until we visit Mercury and bring back material, it will be extremely difficult to assess a meteorite-planet link.

The BepiColombo space mission, by the European and Japanese space agencies, is now in orbit around Mercury and is about to send back high-resolution data. This may help us determine the ultimate origin body for Ksar Ghilane 022 and Northwest Africa 15915.

If meteorites from Mercury were discovered, they could help resolve a variety of long-standing scientific questions. For example, they could reveal the age and evolution of Mercury’s crust, its mineralogical and geochemical composition and the nature of its gases.

The origin of these samples is likely to remain a subject of continuing debate within the scientific community. Several presentations have already been scheduled for the upcoming Meteoritical Society Meeting 2025 in Australia. We look forward to future discussions that will further explore and refine our understanding of their potential origin.

For now, all we can do is make educated guesses. What do you think?

Ben Rider-Stokes receives funding from the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).

– ref. The mystery of Mercury’s missing meteorites – and how we may have finally found some – https://theconversation.com/the-mystery-of-mercurys-missing-meteorites-and-how-we-may-have-finally-found-some-259596

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: FS continues visit to Tianjin (with photos)

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

â€‹The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, continued his visit to Tianjin today (June 25) to attend the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2025 (also known as the Summer Davos). In the evening, he travelled to Beijing to attend the Host Member Gala Dinner for the 10th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

In the morning, Premier Li Qiang attended the opening ceremony of the Summer Davos and delivered a speech. In addition to attending the opening ceremony, Mr Chan participated in a discussion session in the afternoon titled, “Is the Asian Century at Risk?”. Other regional leaders in attendance included the Prime Minister of Vietnam, Mr Pham Minh Chinh; the Deputy Chairperson of Indonesia’s Gerindra Party, Ms Rahayu Saraswati Djojohadikusumo; and the Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development, Mr Sunil Handunneththi. The discussion focused on how Asia could address local development and external challenges amid the current geopolitical tensions, trade barriers and technological transformation.

During the session, Mr Chan remarked that the Asian region is developing rapidly, with Hong Kong benefitting from its unique position under “one country, two systems”. He highlighted Hong Kong’s dual advantages of priority access to the Mainland’s market and its connectivity to the global economy, serving as a gateway between the Mainland and the world. As an international financial centre, Hong Kong facilitates efficient two-way capital flows and cross-border financial co-operation within Asia and between Asia and other regions. In the current international geopolitical and economic environment, Hong Kong is actively supporting Mainland enterprises in expanding internationally and building global industry chains and supply chains.

In response to questions, Mr Chan emphasised that since the implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Law, Hong Kong has provided a more stable and secure business environment that allows society to focus on economic development. He pointed out that the performance of Hong Kong’s capital markets over the past year, along with surveys conducted by various foreign chambers of commerce, demonstrates that international investors are showing confidence in Hong Kong with their capital and actions. Mr Chan further noted that Hong Kong’s openness, diversity and international outlook under “two systems”, along with its common law system, remain key advantages in attracting international businesses and talent.

Mr Chan also met with the Chairman ad interim of the World Economic Forum, Mr Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, during which he briefed him on Hong Kong’s latest economic developments, including progress in the financial and innovation and technology (I&T) sectors. The two sides also explored opportunities to strengthen co-operation in technological innovation and personnel exchanges. Mr Chan expressed gratitude to the World Economic Forum for offering secondment opportunities to Hong Kong SAR Government personnel, enabling them to gain more international exposure.

During his time in Tianjin, Mr Chan participated in the following activities:

(1) A thematic session titled “Funding China’s Next Tech Breakthrough” hosted by the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, where he shared with representatives from investment banks, funds, asset management firms, I&T companies and think tanks how Hong Kong provides a full range of fundraising options – from start-up investments to stock market listings – to provide financial support to the accelerated development of I&T enterprises;

(2) An exchange session between technology enterprises from Tianjin and Hong Kong organised by Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, where Mr Chan introduced the dual advantages of Hong Kong’s financial and I&T synergy to I&T enterprises from Tianjin and Hong Kong, and accelerating the development of I&T through financial empowerment. Some members of the I&T delegation on the visit also participated in the session, where they explored collaboration opportunities with Tianjin’s I&T companies; and

(3) A gathering hosted by the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce in Tianjin, where Mr Chan shared updates on Hong Kong’s economy, future development directions, and opportunities for further strengthening co-operation between Tianjin and Hong Kong in finance, trade and I&T.

After concluding his visit to Tianjin, Mr Chan proceeded to Beijing to attend the Host Member Gala Dinner for the 10th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the AIIB.

Mr Chan will attend the 10th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the AIIB tomorrow (June 26).

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

June 26, 2025
MIL-OSI: SAIC Awarded $928 Million Prototype Engineering and Mission Integration Contract
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

RESTON, Va., June 25, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — America’s leading mission integrator, Science Applications International Corp. (NASDAQ: SAIC), has been awarded the Hyper-Innovative Operational Prototype Engineering (HOPE) 2.0 contract in support of the U.S. Air Force Tactical Exploitation of National Capabilities (AF TENCAP). This $928 million contract spans a five-year performance period and is set for a July 2025 program start.

A congressionally-mandated rapid-acquisition organization, AF TENCAP exploits existing air, space, cyber, national, and global Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) systems to accelerate delivery of innovative and secure warfighting capabilities across Air Force and Joint military missions for the Department of Defense (DoD).

The HOPE 2.0 contract integrates Intelligence Community capabilities with urgent DoD operational needs. SAIC will provide comprehensive Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) mission engineering services to help AF TENCAP create near program of record ready prototypes that lead to improved warfighting superiority and decision dominance in all domains.

“To deter conflict and win wars in today’s data-centric battlefield, warfighters must have integrated actionable data including the full power of Intelligence Community capabilities,” said Vincent DiFronzo, SAIC Executive Vice President of Air Force and Combatant Commands Business Group. “Using our proven expertise in rapid mission integration, SAIC leverages advanced commercial technologies to keep the DoD on the cutting edge of all-domain warfighting capabilities.”

SAIC’s efforts will include:
- Utilizing sensor and data fusion to maintain decision dominance
- Improving command and control (C2) decisions in complex environments
- Integrating new materials and manufacturing processes
- Fusing data to ensure accurate status of threat and friendly forces
- Supporting unique requirements of Special Operations Forces
- Enhancing battlespace awareness
- Increasing air superiority and interoperability
- Developing innovative cyberspace capabilities
Incorporating warfighter feedback, SAIC will support rapid prototype development and mission integration for AF TENCAP and its 65 agencies and commands across the DoD and Intelligence Community. This includes partnering with more than a dozen traditional and non-traditional defense companies to deliver the nation’s most advanced technology to DoD Combatant Commands.

“SAIC is proud to be a partner of choice to accelerate next-gen warfighting concepts into operational reality,” said DiFronzo. “We’re excited to help Air Force TENCAP achieve evolutionary and revolutionary warfighting improvements in capability, performance, and cost savings. In a larger strategic sense, HOPE 2.0 shows the urgent need of a data-centric mission integration approach for the military, intelligence, and space communities. TENCAP’s rapid development approach is fully aligned with DoD’s Software Acquisition Pathway and will be essential to contribute to national priorities such as deterrence in the Pacific and Golden Dome for America, keeping our military the best in the world.”

About SAIC
SAIC® is a premier Fortune 500 mission integrator focused on advancing the power of technology and innovation to serve and protect our world. Our robust portfolio of offerings across the defense, space, civilian and intelligence markets includes secure high-end solutions in mission IT, enterprise IT, engineering services and professional services. We integrate emerging technology, rapidly and securely, into mission critical operations that modernize and enable critical national imperatives.

We are approximately 24,000 strong; driven by mission, united by purpose, and inspired by opportunities. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, SAIC has annual revenues of approximately $7.5 billion. For more information, visit saic.com. For ongoing news, please visit our newsroom.

Media Contact:
Darryn C. James
Darryn.C.James@saic.com

Forward-Looking Statements
Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this release contain or are based on “forward-looking” information within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by words such as “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “guidance,” and similar words or phrases. Forward-looking statements in this release may include, among others, estimates of future revenues, operating income, earnings, earnings per share, charges, total contract value, backlog, outstanding shares and cash flows, as well as statements about future dividends, share repurchases and other capital deployment plans. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risk, uncertainties and assumptions, and actual results may differ materially from the guidance and other forward-looking statements made in this release as a result of various factors. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause or contribute to these material differences include those discussed in the “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Legal Proceedings” sections of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, as updated in any subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other filings with the SEC, which may be viewed or obtained through the Investor Relations section of our website at saic.com or on the SEC’s website at sec.gov. Due to such risks, uncertainties and assumptions you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. SAIC expressly disclaims any duty to update any forward-looking statement provided in this release to reflect subsequent events, actual results or changes in SAIC’s expectations. SAIC also disclaims any duty to comment upon or correct information that may be contained in reports published by investment analysts or others.

The MIL Network –
June 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Trump’s f-bomb: a psychologist explains why the president makes fast and furious statements

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Geoff Beattie, Professor of Psychology, Edge Hill University

Donald Trump’s latest forthright outburst was made as part of his attempts to create a peace deal with Iran and Israel. “I’m not happy with Israel,” he told reporters on June 24. “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the fuck they’re doing.”

This came a day after Trump had announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. By the next day, the ceasefire had been violated by both Iran and Israel. Trump was clearly furious, and his language showed it.

This was not a verbal slip – there was no immediate correction, no apology, no nonverbal indication of embarrassment. He just stormed off, clearly angry.

This is not the kind of language that is normally associated with a president. Some have been reported to use the f-word before, but usually behind closed doors.

Donald Trump uses the f-word in a press conference.

We expect presidents to be calm, measured, thoughtful, considered. Trump’s comment was none of these things. Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th US president, once recommended a foreign policy strategy that was based on: “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” He was suggesting quiet menace, but Trump showed frustration, barely contained. His furious, aggressive response was like something straight out of an old psychology textbook.

In the 1930s, psychologists developed the frustration-aggression hypothesis to explain how aggressive behaviour can arise. The hypothesis suggested that when a person’s goal is blocked in some way, it leads to frustration, which then results in aggression. Aggression was considered a “natural” way of releasing this unpleasant state of frustration. They were clearly different times.

Over the next few decades, this hypothesis was thought by most psychologists to be a gross oversimplification of complex human behaviour. It assumed a direct causal relationship between frustration and aggression, ignoring all the other situational and cognitive factors that can intervene.

Human beings are more complex than that, psychologists argued — they find other ways of dealing with their frustrations. They use their rational system of thought to find solutions. They don’t have to lash out when they’re frustrated in this seemingly primitive way.

Perhaps, that’s why many people feel shocked when they watch this US president in certain situations. To many of us, it all seems so basic, so unsophisticated, so frightening.

Fast v slow thinking

The Nobel laureate and psychologist Daniel Kahneman, in his book Thinking Fast and Slow (2011), characterised the two systems that underpin everyday decision-making. His work may help with understanding of what’s going on here.

He describes system one as the evolutionary, basic system. It operates unconsciously, automatically and very quickly, handling everyday tasks like reading other people’s emotions, without any effort. It is an intuitive system designed to work in a world full of approach and avoidance, scary animals and friendly animals. It is heavily reliant on affect to guide decision-making.

In contrast, system two is slower, more deliberative. It requires conscious effort and is used for complex thinking, solving difficult problems, or making careful decisions.

The relationship between the two systems is critical, and that may get us thinking about Trump in more detail.

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.

Kahneman says that system one is a bit of a “workaholic”, beavering away all the time, making “suggestions” for system two to endorse. Good decisions – depend upon system two checking the suggestions of system one. But system one often jumps quickly and unconsciously to certain conclusions. System two should check them, but often doesn’t, even when it would be easy.

Here is a well-known example. Answer the following question: “A bat and ball cost one pound ten pence, the bat costs one pound more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?”

One answer looks blatantly obvious – but it isn’t correct. The correct answer (after a bit of thought) is five pence.

About 80% of university students give the very quick and incorrect answer of ten pence because it “looks” right. Their system two never checked.

In many people, it seems system two is not used nearly enough. There are striking individual differences in the way that people rely on emotion and gut instinct versus the rational system in making decisions.

Emotional decisions?

It appears that Trump makes decisions very quickly (classic system one), often without extensive deliberation or consultation with advisers. Both in his presidency and in his business career, he seemed to prioritise immediate action over any sort of prolonged and thoughtful analysis. That’s why he changes his mind so often.

His decisions seem to be driven by strong emotions. His response to events, opponents and issues are often passionate and visceral. This could lead to to decisions being unduly influenced by personal feelings, first impressions based on arbitrary cues, and interpersonal perceptions, rather than anything more substantial.

Trump’s style of decision-making emphasises immediacy and emotional conviction, which can be effective in rallying supporters and creating a sense of decisiveness. However, it also can lead to unpredictable outcomes and, as has been seen again and again, somewhat controversial, impulsive actions.

Many suggest that Trump’s decision-making style reflects his background in the high-pressure and high-stakes world of business, where quick judgements and gut instinct can be advantageous in these sorts of competitive winner-takes-all environments

But the world at war is a more precarious place, where system one needs to be kept more firmly in check. Gut instincts may have a role to play, but that old lazy system two needs to be more vigilant. Especially, it would seem, in Trump’s case.

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 from bookshop.org The Conversation UK may earn a commission.

Geoff Beattie 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. Trump’s f-bomb: a psychologist explains why the president makes fast and furious statements – https://theconversation.com/trumps-f-bomb-a-psychologist-explains-why-the-president-makes-fast-and-furious-statements-259735

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Trump’s f-bomb: a psychologist explains why the president makes fast and furious statements

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Geoff Beattie, Professor of Psychology, Edge Hill University

Donald Trump’s latest forthright outburst was made as part of his attempts to create a peace deal with Iran and Israel. “I’m not happy with Israel,” he told reporters on June 24. “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the fuck they’re doing.”

This came a day after Trump had announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. By the next day, the ceasefire had been violated by both Iran and Israel. Trump was clearly furious, and his language showed it.

This was not a verbal slip – there was no immediate correction, no apology, no nonverbal indication of embarrassment. He just stormed off, clearly angry.

This is not the kind of language that is normally associated with a president. Some have been reported to use the f-word before, but usually behind closed doors.

Donald Trump uses the f-word in a press conference.

We expect presidents to be calm, measured, thoughtful, considered. Trump’s comment was none of these things. Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th US president, once recommended a foreign policy strategy that was based on: “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” He was suggesting quiet menace, but Trump showed frustration, barely contained. His furious, aggressive response was like something straight out of an old psychology textbook.

In the 1930s, psychologists developed the frustration-aggression hypothesis to explain how aggressive behaviour can arise. The hypothesis suggested that when a person’s goal is blocked in some way, it leads to frustration, which then results in aggression. Aggression was considered a “natural” way of releasing this unpleasant state of frustration. They were clearly different times.

Over the next few decades, this hypothesis was thought by most psychologists to be a gross oversimplification of complex human behaviour. It assumed a direct causal relationship between frustration and aggression, ignoring all the other situational and cognitive factors that can intervene.

Human beings are more complex than that, psychologists argued — they find other ways of dealing with their frustrations. They use their rational system of thought to find solutions. They don’t have to lash out when they’re frustrated in this seemingly primitive way.

Perhaps, that’s why many people feel shocked when they watch this US president in certain situations. To many of us, it all seems so basic, so unsophisticated, so frightening.

Fast v slow thinking

The Nobel laureate and psychologist Daniel Kahneman, in his book Thinking Fast and Slow (2011), characterised the two systems that underpin everyday decision-making. His work may help with understanding of what’s going on here.

He describes system one as the evolutionary, basic system. It operates unconsciously, automatically and very quickly, handling everyday tasks like reading other people’s emotions, without any effort. It is an intuitive system designed to work in a world full of approach and avoidance, scary animals and friendly animals. It is heavily reliant on affect to guide decision-making.

In contrast, system two is slower, more deliberative. It requires conscious effort and is used for complex thinking, solving difficult problems, or making careful decisions.

The relationship between the two systems is critical, and that may get us thinking about Trump in more detail.

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Kahneman says that system one is a bit of a “workaholic”, beavering away all the time, making “suggestions” for system two to endorse. Good decisions – depend upon system two checking the suggestions of system one. But system one often jumps quickly and unconsciously to certain conclusions. System two should check them, but often doesn’t, even when it would be easy.

Here is a well-known example. Answer the following question: “A bat and ball cost one pound ten pence, the bat costs one pound more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?”

One answer looks blatantly obvious – but it isn’t correct. The correct answer (after a bit of thought) is five pence.

About 80% of university students give the very quick and incorrect answer of ten pence because it “looks” right. Their system two never checked.

In many people, it seems system two is not used nearly enough. There are striking individual differences in the way that people rely on emotion and gut instinct versus the rational system in making decisions.

Emotional decisions?

It appears that Trump makes decisions very quickly (classic system one), often without extensive deliberation or consultation with advisers. Both in his presidency and in his business career, he seemed to prioritise immediate action over any sort of prolonged and thoughtful analysis. That’s why he changes his mind so often.

His decisions seem to be driven by strong emotions. His response to events, opponents and issues are often passionate and visceral. This could lead to to decisions being unduly influenced by personal feelings, first impressions based on arbitrary cues, and interpersonal perceptions, rather than anything more substantial.

Trump’s style of decision-making emphasises immediacy and emotional conviction, which can be effective in rallying supporters and creating a sense of decisiveness. However, it also can lead to unpredictable outcomes and, as has been seen again and again, somewhat controversial, impulsive actions.

Many suggest that Trump’s decision-making style reflects his background in the high-pressure and high-stakes world of business, where quick judgements and gut instinct can be advantageous in these sorts of competitive winner-takes-all environments

But the world at war is a more precarious place, where system one needs to be kept more firmly in check. Gut instincts may have a role to play, but that old lazy system two needs to be more vigilant. Especially, it would seem, in Trump’s case.

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 from bookshop.org The Conversation UK may earn a commission.

Geoff Beattie 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. Trump’s f-bomb: a psychologist explains why the president makes fast and furious statements – https://theconversation.com/trumps-f-bomb-a-psychologist-explains-why-the-president-makes-fast-and-furious-statements-259735

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: How your gut bacteria could help detect pancreatic cancer early

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Falk Hildebrand, Researcher in Bioinformatician, Quadram Institute

SewCreamStudio/Shutterstock

Whether you had breakfast this morning or not, your pancreas is working quietly behind the scenes. This vital organ produces the enzymes that help digest your food and the hormones that regulate your metabolism. But when something goes wrong with your pancreas, the consequences can be devastating.

Pancreatic cancer has earned the grim nickname “the silent killer” for good reason. By the time most patients experience symptoms, the disease has often progressed to an advanced stage where treatment options become severely limited. In the UK alone, over 10,700 new cases and 9,500 deaths from pancreatic cancer were recorded between 2017 and 2019, with incidence rates continuing to rise.

The most common form, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), develops in the pancreatic duct – a tube connecting the pancreas to the small intestine. When tumours form here, they can block the flow of digestive enzymes, causing energy metabolism problems that leave patients feeling chronically tired and unwell. Yet these symptoms are often so subtle that they’re easily dismissed or attributed to other causes.

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Now researchers are turning to an unexpected source for early PDAC detection: faecal samples. While analysing poo might seem an unlikely approach to cancer diagnosis, scientists are discovering that our waste contains a treasure trove of information about our health.

This is because your gut is home to trillions of bacteria – in fact, bacterial cells in your body outnumber human cells by roughly 40 trillion to 30 trillion. These microscopic residents form complex communities that can reflect the state of your health, including the presence of disease.

Since PDAC typically develops in the part of the pancreas that connects to the gut, and most people have regular bowel movements, stool samples provide a practical, non-invasive window into what is happening inside the body.

Pancreatic cancer explained,

Global evidence builds

This innovative approach has been validated in studies across several countries, including Japan, China and Spain. The latest breakthrough comes from a 2025 international study involving researchers in Finland and Iran, which set out to examine the relationship between gut bacteria and pancreatic cancer onset across different populations.

The researchers collected stool samples and analysed bacterial DNA using a technique called 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Despite the complex name, the principle is straightforward: scientists sequence and compare a genetic region found in every bacterium’s genome, allowing them to both identify and count different bacterial species simultaneously.

The findings from the Finnish-Iranian study were striking. Patients with PDAC exhibited reduced bacterial diversity in their gut, with certain species either enriched or depleted compared with healthy people. More importantly, the team developed an artificial intelligence model that could accurately distinguish between cancer patients and healthy people based solely on their gut bacterial profiles.

The field of microbiome research is evolving rapidly. While this study used amplicon sequencing, newer methods like “shotgun metagenomic sequencing” are providing even more detailed insights. This advanced technique captures the entire bacterial genome content rather than focusing on a single gene, offering an unprecedented resolution that can even detect whether bacteria have recently transferred between individuals.

These technological advances are driving a fundamental shift in how we think about health and disease. We’re moving from a purely human-centred view to understanding ourselves as “human plus microbiome” – complex ecosystems where our bacterial partners play crucial roles in our wellbeing.

Beyond pancreatic cancer

The possibilities go well beyond pancreatic cancer. At Quadram, we’re applying similar methods to study colorectal cancer. We’ve already analysed over a thousand stool samples using advanced computational tools that piece together bacterial genomes and their functions from fragmented DNA. This ongoing work aims to reveal how gut microbes behave in colorectal cancer, much like other scientists have done for PDAC.

The bidirectional interactions between cancer and bacteria are particularly fascinating – not only can certain bacterial profiles indicate disease presence, but the disease itself can alter the gut microbiome, as we previously showed in Parkinson’s disease, creating a complex web of cause and effect that researchers are still unravelling.

Nonetheless, by understanding how our microbial partners respond to and influence disease, we’re gaining insights that could revolutionise both diagnosis and treatment. Our past research has shown this to be incredibly complex and sometimes difficult to understand, but developments in biotechnology and artificial intelligence are increasingly helping us to make sense of this microscopic world.

For cancer patients and their families, this and other advancements in microbiome research offer hope for earlier detection. While we’re still in the early stages of translating these findings into clinical practice, the potential to catch this silent killer before it becomes deadly could transform outcomes for thousands of patients, but will require more careful and fundamental research.

The microbial perspective on health is no longer a distant scientific curiosity – it’s rapidly becoming a practical reality that could save lives. As researchers continue to explore this inner frontier, we’re learning that the answer to some of our most challenging medical questions might be hiding in plain sight – in the waste we flush away each day.

Falk Hildebrand receives funding from the UKRI, BBSRC, NERC and ERC.

Daisuke Suzuki receives funding from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

– ref. How your gut bacteria could help detect pancreatic cancer early – https://theconversation.com/how-your-gut-bacteria-could-help-detect-pancreatic-cancer-early-259220

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Some people are turning to nicotine gum and patches to treat long COVID brain fog

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Dipa Kamdar, Senior Lecturer in Pharmacy Practice, Kingston University

Andrey Popov/Shutterstock.com

Some people with long COVID are turning to an unlikely remedy: nicotine gum and patches. Though typically used to quit smoking, nicotine is now being explored as a possible way to ease symptoms such as brain fog and fatigue.

One such case, detailed in a recent article in Slate, describes a woman who found significant relief from debilitating brain fog after trying low-dose nicotine gum. Her experience, while anecdotal, aligns with findings from a small but interesting study from Germany.

The study involved four participants suffering from symptoms related to long COVID. The researcher administered low-dose nicotine patches once daily and noticed marked improvements in the participants’ symptoms. Tiredness, weakness, shortness of breath and trouble with exercise rapidly improved – by day six at the latest.

For those who had lost their sense of taste or smell, it took longer, but these senses came back fully within 16 days. Although it’s not possible to draw definitive conclusions on cause and effect from such a small study, the results could pave the way for larger studies.

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While some people slowly recover from COVID, others remain unwell for years, especially those who became sick before vaccines were available. Between 3% and 5% of people continue to experience symptoms months, and sometimes even years, after the initial infection. In the UK, long COVID affects around 2.8% of the population.

Brain fog and other neurological symptoms of long COVID are thought to result from a combination of factors – including inflammation, reduced oxygen to the brain, vascular damage and disruption to the blood-brain barrier. Research continues as there is still a lot we don’t know about this condition.

The researcher in the German study thinks that long COVID symptoms, such as fatigue, brain fog and mood changes, might partly be due to problems with a brain chemical called acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter. This chemical is important for many functions in the body, including memory, attention and regulating mood.

Normally, acetylcholine works by attaching to special “docking sites” on cells called nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, which help send signals in the brain and nervous system. But the COVID virus may interfere with these receptors, either by blocking them or disrupting how they work. When this happens, the brain may not be able to send signals properly, which could contribute to the mental and physical symptoms seen in long COVID.

So why would nicotine potentially be useful? Nicotine binds to the same receptors and might help restore normal signalling, but the idea that it displaces the virus directly is still speculative.

Nicotine is available in different forms, such as patches, gum, lozenges and sprays. Using nicotine through the skin, for example, with a patch, keeps the amount in the blood steady without big spikes. Because of this, people in the study didn’t seem to develop a dependence on it.

Chewing nicotine gum or using a lozenge can cause spikes in nicotine levels, since the nicotine is absorbed gradually through the lining of the mouth. But unlike a patch, which delivers a steady dose, the user has more control over how much nicotine they take in when using gum or lozenges.

There are mixed results on the effectiveness of nicotine on cognitive functions such as memory and concentration. But most studies agree that it can enhance attention. Larger studies are needed to gauge the effectiveness of nicotine specifically for long COVID symptoms.

An estimated 2.8% of people in the UK have long COVID.
Chaz Bharj/Shutterstock.com

Not without risks

Despite its benefits, nicotine is not without risks. Even in gum or patch form, it can cause side-effects like nausea, dizziness, increased heart rate and higher blood pressure.

Some of these stimulant effects on heart rate may be useful for people with long COVID symptoms such as exercise intolerance. But this needs to be closely monitored. Long-term use may also affect heart health. For non-smokers, the risk of developing a nicotine dependency is a serious concern.

So are there any options to treat long COVID symptoms?

There are some studies looking at guanfacine in combination with N-acetylcysteine, which have shown improvement in brain fog in small groups of people. There has been at least one clinical trial exploring nicotine for mild cognitive impairment in older adults, though not in the context of long COVID. Given that anecdotal reports and small studies continue to draw attention, it is likely that targeted trials are in development.

The main recommendations by experts are to implement lifestyle measures. Slowly increasing exercise, having a healthy diet, avoiding alcohol, drugs and smoking, sleeping enough, practising mindfulness and doing things that stimulate the brain are all thought to help brain fog.

For those grappling with long COVID or persistent brain fog, the idea of using nicotine patches or gum might be tempting. But experts caution against self-medicating with nicotine. The lack of standardised dosing and the potential for addiction and unknown long-term effects make it a risky experiment.

While nicotine isn’t a cure and may carry real risks, its potential to ease long COVID symptoms warrants careful study. For now, those battling brain fog should approach it with caution – and always under medical supervision. What’s clear, though, is the urgent need for more research into safe, effective treatments for the lingering effects of COVID.

Dipa Kamdar 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. Some people are turning to nicotine gum and patches to treat long COVID brain fog – https://theconversation.com/some-people-are-turning-to-nicotine-gum-and-patches-to-treat-long-covid-brain-fog-259093

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Iran’s history has been blighted by interference from foreign powers

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Simin Fadaee, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, University of Manchester

Iranians commemorate the 1979 revolution in Qom, central Iran. Mostafameraji via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-NC-SA

Israel’s recent surprise attack on Iran was ostensibly aimed at neutralising Iran’s nuclear programme, but it didn’t just damage nuclear installations. It killed scientists, engineers and senior military personnel.

Meanwhile, citizens with no ties to the government or military, became “collateral damage”. For 11 days, Israel’s attacks intensified across Tehran and other major cities.

When the US joined the attack, dropping its bunker-buster bombs on sites in central Iran on June 21, it threatened to push the region closer to large-scale conflict. Israel’s calls for regime change in Iran were joined by the US president, Donald Trump, who took to social media on June 22 with the message: “if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!”

Trump’s remarks are reminders of past US interventions. The threat of regime change by the most powerful state in the world carries particular weight in Iran, where memories of foreign-imposed coups and covert operations remain vivid and painful.

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In the early 1890s, Iran was rocked by a popular uprising after the shah granted a British company exclusive rights to the country’s tobacco industry. The decision was greeted with anger and in 1891 the country’s senior cleric, Grand Ayatollah Mirza Shirazi, issued a fatwa against tobacco use.

A mass boycott ensued – even the shah’s wives reportedly gave up the habit. When it became clear that the boycott was going to hold, the shah cancelled the concession in January 1892. It was a clear demonstration of people power.

This event is thought to have played a significant role in the development of the revolutionary movement that led to the Constitutional Revolution that took place between 1905 and 1911 and the establishment of a constitution and parliament in Iran.

Rise of the Pahlavis

Reza Shah, who founded the Pahlavi dynasty – which would be overthrown in the 1979 revolution and replaced by the Islamic Republic – rose to power following a British-supported coup in 1921.

Autocrat: Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

During the first world war, foreign interference weakened Iran and the ruling Qajar dynasty. In 1921, with British support, army officer Reza Khan and politician Seyyed Ziaeddin Tabatabaee led a coup in Tehran. Claiming to be acting to save the monarchy, they arrested key opponents. By 1923, Reza Khan had become prime minister.

In 1925, Reza Khan unseated the Qajars and founded the Pahlavi dynasty, becoming Reza Shah Pahlavi. This was a turning point in Iran’s history, marking the start of British dominance. The shah’s authoritarian rule focused on centralisation, modernisation and secularisation. It set the stage for the factors that would that eventually lead to the 1979 Revolution.

In 1941, concerned at the close relationship Pahlavi had developed with Nazi Germany, Britain and its allies once again intervened in Iranian politics, forcing Pahlavi to abdicate. He was exiled to South Africa and his 22-year-old son, Mohammad Reza, was named shah in his place.

The 1953 coup

Mohammad Mosaddegh became Iran’s first democratically elected prime minister in 1951. He quickly began to introduce reforms and challenge the authority of the shah. Despite a sustained campaign of destabilisation, Mossadegh retained a high level of popular support, which he used to push through his radical programme. This included the nationalisation of Iran’s oil industry, which was effectively controlled by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company – later British Petroleum (BP).

Mohammad Mosaddegh in court martial by Ebrahim Golestan.
Ebrahim Golestan via Wikimedia Commons

In 1953, he was ousted in a CIA and MI6-backed coup and placed under house arrest. The shah, who had fled to Italy during the unrest, returned to power with western support.

Within a short time, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi established an authoritarian regime that governed through repression and intimidation. He outlawed all opposition parties, and numerous activists involved in the oil nationalisation movement were either imprisoned or forced into exile.

Read more:
Iran’s long history of revolution, defiance and outside interference – and why its future is so uncertain

The 1979 revolution: the oppression continues

The shah’s rule became increasingly authoritarian and was also marked by the lavish lifestyles of the ruling elite and increasing poverty of the mass of the Iranian people. Pahlavi increasingly relied on his secret police, the Bureau for Intelligence and Security of the State.

Meanwhile, a scholar and Islamic cleric named Ruhollah Khomeini, had been rising in prominence especially after 1963, when Pahlavi’s unpopular land reforms mobilised a large section of society against his rule. His growing prominence brought him into confrontation with the government and in 1964 he was sent into exile. He remained abroad, living in Turkey, Iraq and France.

By 1964 cleric Ruhollah Khomeini had become the focus for some anti-government protests in Iran.
emam.com via Wikimedia Commons

By 1978 a diverse alliance primarily made up of urban working and middle-class citizens had paralysed the country. While united in their resistance to the monarchy, participants were driven by a variety of ideological beliefs, including socialism, communism, liberalism, secularism, Islamism and nationalism. The shah fled into exile on January 16 1979 and Khomeini returned to Iran, which in March became an Islamic Republic with Khomeini at its head.

But the US was not finished in its attempts to destabilise Iran. In 1980, Washington backed Saddam Hussein in initiating a brutal eight-year war, which claimed hundreds of thousands of Iranian lives and severely disrupted the country’s efforts at political and economic reconstruction.

Iran and the US have remained bitter foes. Over the years ordinary Iranians have suffered tremendously under rounds of US-imposed sanctions, which have all but destroyed the economy in recent years.

This new wave of foreign aggression has arrived at a time of significant domestic unrest within Iran. Since the Woman, Life, Freedom protests, which began in September 2022 after the death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of the morality police, there has been a general groundswell of demand for social justice and democracy.

But the convergence of external aggression and internal demands has brought national sovereignty and self-determination to the forefront, as it did during previous major struggles. While world powers gamble with Iran’s future, it is the Iranian people through their struggles and unwavering push for justice and democracy who must determine the country’s future.

Simin Fadaee 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. Iran’s history has been blighted by interference from foreign powers – https://theconversation.com/irans-history-has-been-blighted-by-interference-from-foreign-powers-259700

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Why there’s a growing backlash against plant-based diets

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jonathan Beacham, Research Fellow, University of Bristol Business School, University of Bristol

Geinz Angelina/Shutterstock

People in the UK are eating too much meat – especially processed meat – according to a recent report from the Food Foundation, a UK charity.

The report recommends revisiting school food standards, which advises schools to serve meat three times a week. The consequence? Children often eat a higher proportion of processed meat than adults.

The effects of meat-heavy diets are well documented. Some analyses estimate that overconsumption of meat, especially processed red meat, costs the global economy around £219 billion annually, in terms of harms to human health and the environment. At the same time, a growing body of evidence shows that a transition toward more plant-based diets is not just beneficial, but essential.

And yet efforts to reduce meat consumption haven’t always been well received. In Paris, for instance, the mayor’s initiative to remove meat from municipal canteen menus twice a week triggered an angry backlash from unions and workers who called for the return of steak frites.

A few years ago, meat consumption in the UK was falling, and interest in initiatives like Veganuary was surging. Venture capital flooded into plant-based startups, from cricket burgers to hemp milk.

But enthusiasm, and investment, has since declined. Meanwhile, populism and “culture war” narratives have fuelled social media misinformation about food, diet and sustainability, hampering progress. So what has changed? And why is meat once again a flashpoint in the food debate?

Working with the H3 Consortium, which explores pathways to food system transformation in the UK, our research has focused on why the backlash against plant-based diets is growing and what it means for people, animals and the planet.

Part of the answer lies in coordinated messaging campaigns that frame meat and dairy not just as “normal” but as “natural” and essential to a balanced diet. One example is the Let’s Eat Balanced campaign, run by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board since 2021. It promotes meat and dairy as key sources of micronutrients such as Vitamin B12 and implicitly positions plant-based diets as nutritionally inadequate.

But here’s the irony: many intensively farmed animals don’t get B12 from their diet naturally. Their feed is supplemented with vitamins and minerals, just as vegan diets are supplemented. So is meat really a more “natural” source of B12 than a pill?

That raises a broader question: what could a fair and sustainable transition to plant-based protein look like – not just for consumers, but for farmers and rural communities? Some analyses warn that rapid shifts in land use toward arable farming could have serious unintended consequences, such as disrupting rural economies and threatening livelihoods.

There are also legitimate questions about the healthiness of meat and dairy alternatives. Despite the early hype around alternative proteins, many products fall under the category of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) – a red flag for consumers wary of additives and artificial ingredients.

The popularity of books like Chris van Tulleken’s Ultra-Processed People has stoked concerns about emulsifiers, ingredients used to bind veggie burgers or prevent vegan milk from curdling, and some headlines have asked whether they “destroy” our gut health.

Still, it’s a leap to suggest that conventional red meat is the healthier alternative. The health risks of processed meat are well established, especially the carcinogenic effects of nitrites used to keep meat looking fresh in packaging.

Some people suggest eating chicken instead of read meat because it produces less greenhouse gas. But raising chickens also causes problems, like pollution from chicken manure that harms rivers, and it depends a lot on soy feed, which can be affected by political and trade issues.

There’s a strong case for reducing meat consumption, and the scientific evidence to support it is robust. But understanding the backlash against plant-based eating is essential if we want to make meaningful progress. For now, meat is not disappearing from our diets. In fact, the food fight may be just getting started.

Jonathan Beacham receives funding from the UKRI Strategic Priorities Fund (grant ref: BB/V004719/1).

David M. Evans receives funding from the UKRI Strategic Priorities Fund (grant ref: BB/V004719/1). He is affiliated with Defra (the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) as a member of their Social Science Expert Group.

– ref. Why there’s a growing backlash against plant-based diets – https://theconversation.com/why-theres-a-growing-backlash-against-plant-based-diets-259455

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 26, 2025
MIL-OSI China: Shenzhou-20 crew set for second extravehicular activities

Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

The Shenzhou-20 crew members, who are currently on board China’s space station, will conduct a second round of extravehicular activities within the next few days, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced on Wednesday.

Since completing their first spacewalk on May 22, the crew has undertaken a series of tasks, including monitoring the station environment, conducting inspections and maintenance of the space station’s equipment, and managing inventory and transfers.

The CMSA noted that the crew has made steady progress in experiments in fields such as space life sciences and human research, microgravity physics, and new space technology.

It also confirmed that after two months in orbit, the three crew members are in good health and the space station is operating smoothly, fully prepared for the upcoming spacewalk.

MIL OSI China News –

June 26, 2025
MIL-OSI China: SpaceX launches Axiom-4 astronaut mission to Int’l Space Station

Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 2:31 a.m. local time (0631 GMT) Wednesday, beginning Axiom Mission 4, the fourth private astronaut flight to the International Space Station (ISS).

About eight minutes later, the reusable first-stage booster touched down at Landing Zone 1 on Cape Canaveral, completing its descent at 200 meters per second in a pinpoint landing, according to SpaceX.

The Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to dock with the ISS around 7 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT) Thursday after a 30-hour orbital chase. The four-person crew will spend up to 14 days in orbit conducting science, outreach and commercial demonstrations, NASA said.

Former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, who has spent 675 days in space, commands the mission. She is joined by pilot Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), European Space Agency project astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland, and Hungarian to Orbit (HUNOR) astronaut Tibor Kapu of Hungary.

“With a culturally diverse crew, we are not only advancing scientific knowledge but also fostering international collaboration,” Whitson said in a statement released by Houston-based Axiom Space.

The flight marks the first government-backed orbital mission for India, Poland and Hungary in more than four decades. NASA Acting Administrator Janet Petro said the launch underscored the “long history of cooperation” between NASA and Russia’s Roscosmos on the ISS, following recent repairs to the station’s Russian segment, according to a NASA media advisory.

Axiom Space said the astronauts will conduct about 60 experiments representing 31 countries — the most attempted on any Axiom mission. Projects include radiation-tolerant electronics and student-designed physics demonstrations streamed live to classrooms worldwide.

After the mission, the Dragon spacecraft will undock and aim for a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast, returning scientific samples to Earth.

MIL OSI China News –

June 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Europe: AFRICA/ANGOLA – “They are destroying our communities”: Catholic Archbishop in Angola calls for criminalization of diviners

Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI

Wednesday, 25 June 2025

Internet

Saurimo (Agenzia Fides) – “They are destroying communities, dividing families, and hindering development,” said José Manuel Imbamba, Archbishop of Saurimo, speaking to a group of journalists at the end of a pastoral visit to the parishes of Our Lady of Fatima in Muconda and Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus in Dala.He was referring to the strong influence and impact that “diviners, fortune tellers, and clairvoyants” have on the population. The Archbishop has called for the criminalization of diviners in Angola. “We found people whose honor and dignity have been destroyed. I ask the authorities and jurists of this country to urgently criminalize diviners in our land,” he stated.The Archbishop lamented that the diviners “are destroying communities, dividing and impoverishing families, killing development. For me, this must be confronted now. To passively witness this spectacle of theft and lies is to allow society itself to collapse.”The Archbishop, who started his Episcopal Ministry in December 2008 as Bishop of Angola’s Dundo Diocese expressed concern about the prevalence of superstition in Angola. “We must break free from the myths and falsehoods that make us believe death is always caused by someone else. Ours must become a society of knowledge, science, and reason,” the Angolan Catholic Bishop, who serves as the President of the Bishops’ Conference of Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe (CEAST) said.Denouncing the belief in mystical objects and rituals as sources of power, he said, “We can no longer fall into the trap of thinking some doll or object gives us life, wealth, or fame. This outdated mentality must be broken.” Archbishop Imbamba faulted educated individuals, who participate in or tolerate such practices, saying, “Those so-called doctors and graduates who still cling to these superstitions are not yet free from the darkness of ignorance. They remain culturally enslaved.”Last year, one of these individuals was going house to house, demanding payment for entering homes uninvited, claiming to be searching for witchcraft. Often, it’s their accomplices who plant suspicious items in homes to validate their false claims,” he recounted the incident in Angola’s Monoco Province.“It is unacceptable for the authorities to stand by while these people disturb peaceful citizens, entering private property under the guise of fetishism. This must end.”Archbishop Imbamba, who has been at the helm of Saurimo Archdiocese since his installation in July 2011 called for a legal intervention, and added, “This issue is often brushed aside as part of customary law, but we must reform these customs. Culture should liberate, not oppress.”“Authorities must sit down and say: our jurists must criminalize this. Because the violations being committed are unspeakable.” (AP)(Agenzia Fides, 25/6/2025)
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MIL OSI Europe News –

June 26, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Join the Future Combat Air System programme at Dstl
Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

News story

Join the Future Combat Air System programme at Dstl

Play a pivotal role in safeguarding the UK’s future and shape the next generation of combat air technology, by joining the FCAS programme.
The Future Combat Air System (FCAS) encompasses a series of highly integrated and aligned programmes and military capabilities.

This system will have a crewed aircraft at its heart. It will network and collaborate with a range of wider air and broader domain capabilities, including F-35, and use information systems, weapons and uncrewed collaborative combat air platforms to complete the capability.

Be part of a joint international programme

The Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) is a trilateral acquisition programme launched with Japan and Italy to develop the core platform (aircraft) which will be at the heart of the UK’s and our partners’ future Combat Air systems. This joint international programme is a jointly funded and delivered international programme to develop and deliver a new fighter aircraft.

To put this challenge into context, when the current UK constructed fast jet, the Eurofighter (a fourth generation type) was being designed in the 1980s, the European car of the year was the Ford Escort. Our other current fast jet, the US-Built F-35 Lightning II (a fifth generation type) was designed in the 1990s, when the Fordo Mondeo was car of the year. The F-35 though has been described as a ‘Flying Software Testbed’ with significant PE and approximately 8 million lines of code.

What’s at the core of FCAS and GCAP

Programmable Elements (PE), especially software, are at the heart of FCAS and GCAP. The ability to perform frequent, sometimes rapid, software updates is also a critical part of achieving and sustaining operational effectiveness.

What the MOD PE team do

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) PE team has wide ranging responsibility, covering:

artificial intelligence (AI) and data

applications

operating systems

virtualisation

complex electronic hardware

Working with industry and international partner governments, they also strive to create and promote the environment in which quality PE are effectively delivered at pace.

Be part of building the sixth generation fast jet

GCAP will be a sixth generation fast jet, which will build on fifth generation properties, such as, low observability and systems integration, adding autonomy, but the key will be fast adaptability. And the only way to achieve this is through its PE quality to do so.

If you are interested in a challenging opportunity to use your PE skills to benefit one of the MOD’s highest priority acquisition programs and help get the UK’s next manned and unmanned fast jets flying safely and securely, we want to hear from you.

As part of the FCAS team, you’ll contribute to one of the most complex and fast-paced acquisition defence programmes to date. With the groundbreaking GCAP collaboration between the UK, Japan, and Italy, this initiative is set to deliver the state-of-the-art fighter jet, Tempest, by 2035.

This is an unparalleled opportunity to be part of a programme that is revolutionizing the UK’s combat air industry, supporting national security and economic growth. You’ll work at the cutting edge of technology, surrounded by a passionate team committed to excellence.

Apply to work for the (FCAS) programme

We will keep this page updated and add links when roles are available to apply for.

Sensing, Communications and Non-Kinetic Effects

1 x Positioning & Timing Scientists & Engineers, L6

Software

1 x Deputy Chief Technologist, L7

1 x Complex Electronic Hardware Lead, L7

1 x Software Delivery Pipelines Lead, L6

1 x Complex Electronic Hardware (CEH) Specialist L6

2 x Software Engineers, L5

Mission Systems (inc. Cockpit)

1 x Aircrews Systems Engineer, L6

Benefits of working at Dstl

As well as a rewarding career in defence science and technology, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) offers a wide range of benefits and training opportunities in a supportive, encouraging and flexible environment.

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Updates to this page

Published 25 June 2025
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
June 26, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Athletic Trainer Employment in High Schools Associated with Fewer Fatalities and Injuries

Source: US State of Connecticut

One of the scariest moments in sports is when an athlete experiences a health emergency like heat stroke or cardiac arrest on the field.

Athletic trainers are medical professionals specially trained to identify and treat these kinds of emergencies quickly and with lifesaving results.

A growing body of research demonstrates the importance of having athletic trainers employed in high schools, including two new papers by researchers from the Korey Stringer Institute (KSI), housed in the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources.

“Athletic trainers are unique in that they’re trained in recognition, prevention, and response to emergency, potentially catastrophic injuries in sport,” says Rebecca Stearns, associate professor-in-residence of kinesiology and KSI’s chief operating officer.

Aleksis Grace, a PhD candidate at UConn and director of sports safety at KSI, is the lead author on a paper highlighting that among schools that employed athletic trainers, there was more survival in cases where athletes experienced an exertional heat stroke event.

This work will be presented at the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) Conference in Florida in this week.

Grace and the other researchers looked at data from 2015-2021, which included 21 events.

Of the 13 cases in which an athletic trainer was employed, only five cases were fatal. In the six cases where an athletic trainer was not employed at the school, all six were fatal.

In the other two cases, the researchers could not confirm if an athletic trainer was employed at the time of the incident.

The study of exertional heat stroke in student athletes is becoming even more important as climate change is making summers, when football players are in preseason training, hotter. This time and this sport, which requires heavy padding, has the greatest risk for exertional heat stroke.

Despite the known risks and benefits, more than one third of U.S. high schools do not employ athletic trainers.

“Ensuring the athletic trainer is employed and that there is appropriate healthcare when there is the highest risk is a good way for schools to avoid liability and for there to be better outcomes from the prevention aspect, or if the event occurs, [the athlete] is potentially less likely to die,” Grace says.

The researchers also found that more socially disadvantaged schools were less likely to employ an athletic trainer.

The researchers defined socially disadvantaged schools as those that are further from a level 1 trauma center, have a higher proportion of students receiving free or reduced lunch, and a higher social deprivation index score.

“There was a trend where we can say there was more survival in the schools that had athletic trainers,” Grace says. “But when you look at markers of social disadvantage, the lower socioeconomic status schools were the ones less likely to have an athletic trainer.”

Another paper, led by Erin Shore, a PhD candidate at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill who is affiliated with the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research (NCCSIR) program, demonstrates an association between employment of an athletic trainer and lower rates of fatalities or permanent disability following a catastrophic injury. KSI is a member of the NCCSIR network.

This paper was presented at the SAVIR 2025 Annual Conference in New York in April and NATA Conference earlier this week.

The researchers used a national database of catastrophic injuries, which included non-concussion brain injuries, spinal injuries, or cardiac arrest, from 2013 to 2021 and compared that with a database of athletic trainer employment.

In general, among schools that employed an athletic trainer, there were fewer disabling or fatal injuries among athletes who experienced a catastrophic injury.

They found that this trend was true, regardless of race and ethnicity.

“Racially and ethnically minoritized individuals in the U.S. have less access to healthcare and worse health outcomes in general,” Shore says. “So, I was just curious to see if those disparities panned out in the athletic injury world as well.”

Among schools that employed an athletic trainer, 40% of catastrophic incidents led to fatalities or permanent disabilities among white students and 48% among non-white students.

There were much more significant differences in outcomes for both groups when there was no athletic trainer employed.

For non-white students, 67% of these catastrophic injuries were fatal or disabling. This rate was only 54% for white students.

While the researchers cannot say definitively from this study why this association exists, it points toward future avenues for continued research.

“Surveillance, in the realm of study design, can point out things we need to look at further,” Kristen Kucera, UNC professor of exercise and sport science and NCCSIR director, says. “I think this is a good example of how important this information is to be able to investigate these kinds of questions.”

This work relates to CAHNR’s Strategic Vision areas focused on Enhancing Health and Promoting Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice.

Follow UConn CAHNR on social media

MIL OSI USA News –

June 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: “Rector’s Club”: Vladimir Stroyev reminded about the engineering competencies of the State University of Management at the IOT-meeting

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

Rector of the State University of Management Vladimir Stroyev spoke at the Rector’s Club discussion on the topic of “Educational policy in the context of the Priority 2030 program”, which was held as part of the Fourth All-Russian IOT-meeting in the studio of the Russian Society “Knowledge”.

Vladimir Stroyev shared his opinion on regulating the volume of paid admission to study at universities:

“While the mechanism of changes has not been officially announced, it is only known that the reduction will take place on September 1. Now we continue to work as usual, understanding that our situation may be simpler than that of many colleagues, because the State University of Management grew out of the Moscow Engineering and Economics Institute and has strong engineering competencies along with training managers of various profiles – not only civil servants, but also managers of specific industries.

We have a wide range of engineering specialties: electric power engineering, mechanical engineering, transport, construction, chemical industry. The recently published rating of the Ministry of Labor confirmed the demand for our graduates – GUU took 11th place, which is not bad, although we can strive higher. Our system of cooperation with industry partners helps to create competitive developments and form practical competencies of future engineers and managers,” concluded Vladimir Vitalievich.

The rector also emphasized that in addition to its main educational activities, the State University of Management is actively developing the scientific sphere, supporting projects of the Student Design Bureau, which regularly wins competitions and receives state grants.

During the discussion, the President of SFedU Marina Borovskaya, the Director of the Mashuk Knowledge Center, Deputy General Director of the Russian Society “Knowledge” Anton Serikov, the Rector of Tyumen State University Ivan Romanchuk, the Rector of Cherepovets State University Olga Lyaginova, the Director of the Department for Work with Educational Organizations of the Russian Society “Knowledge” Albina Bikbulatova, the Chairman of the Council of the IOT Consortium of Universities, General Director of CUSTIS Vladimir Rakhteenko, the Director of the Odintsovo Branch of MGIMO Elena Kozlovskaya and others shared their vision of various aspects of modern education.

The All-Russian IOT-meeting is one of the key annual events of the Decade of Science and Technology in Russia in the track “Designing the Future”. The IOT-meeting is focused on discussions and exchange of experience of rectors, vice-rectors, heads of PIS and IT teams of universities that are planning and already implementing flexible educational models.

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

MIL OSI Russia News –

June 26, 2025
MIL-OSI: Media Advisory – Energy Sector Gains New Edge in Vegetation and Methane Emissions Monitoring with Maxar and Satelytics Partnership
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

PERRYSBURG, Ohio, June 25, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Maxar and its partner Satelytics are announcing today an expansion of their offerings to the energy industry. In addition to the methane monitoring solution that has been on the market for several years, Satelytics is now introducing a vegetation encroachment solution that leverages Maxar’s very high-resolution satellite imagery.

Monitoring vegetation growth along utility lines and pipelines

Caption: Satelytics’ vegetation monitoring product leverages Maxar’s very high-resolution satellite imagery to identify vegetation, like the coniferous tree in the above screenshot, that could possibly fall on electrical distribution networks. This alert enables a utility company to go into the field and mitigate specific vegetation issues instead of spending time monitoring the whole transmission line from a truck.

Satelytics will generate risk profiles of vegetation in and around customer assets using mono- and stereo-imagery collections from the Maxar constellation, including the recently launched WorldView Legion satellites. This solution will lean on Maxar’s collection capability of 6 million sq km of capacity per day, which significantly outpaces any other commercial provider.

Monitoring vegetation growth along utility lines or pipelines with Maxar’s 30 cm-class resolution satellite imagery and Satelytics’ value-added insights allows an energy company to prioritize sending ground crews to specific locations that are known to need trimming maintenance instead of having ground crews drive the entire lengths of lines, which can be hundreds of miles in distance. This targeted vegetation maintenance allows the energy company to reduce search time and increase efficiency of field crews, proactively identify and address potential threats outside the immediate corridor, verify completed work and optimize contractor management, and improve overall grid reliability by reducing vegetation-related outages.
- “Maxar’s recently expanded capacity with the new WorldView Legion satellites creates new opportunities for us to reliably collect fresh, very high-resolution satellite imagery along our customers’ rights-of-way to analyze for vegetation encroachment. Our customers will benefit from the high-quality of Maxar’s imagery as value-added products like our vegetation risk assessments improve with better input data.”
— Sean Donegan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Satelytics

Producing methane detection alerts

Maxar’s WorldView-3 satellite hosts a shortwave infrared (SWIR) sensor that collects imagery in wavelengths outside what the human eye can see. Satelytics uses this SWIR sensor to create a methane detection and measurement product for energy companies. Duke Energy’s Piedmont Gas division, a local distribution company that operates in the Midwest and Southeast U.S., uses Satelytics’ methane solution to improve operational efficiency, safety and reporting by quickly finding leaks, repairing them and reducing emissions across a five-state service territory. Since the beginning of 2022, Duke Energy has reduced recordable leaks by over 85% using Satelytics’ solution. To learn more about Satelytics’ methane detection and quantification alerts, read their blog post.
- “Satelytics has been innovating with Maxar’s very high-resolution satellite imagery for nearly a decade, and we’re excited to see them expand their offerings to include vegetation management for utilities. The quality, currency and accuracy of our data enables use cases that require precision to make informed decisions and Satelytics is taking it a step further with their energy industry-focused products.”
— Todd Surdey, SVP and GM of Enterprise at Maxar

Geospatial insights for informed monitoring and mitigation
The combined power of Maxar’s high revisit, very high-resolution satellite imagery and Satelytics’ AI-driven algorithms provides energy companies with early detection geospatial insights and alerts that enable informed decision-making and minimize environmental risks.

About Satelytics
Satelytics is a software company producing geospatial analytics for early detection, location and — in many instances — quantification of our customers’ most pressing challenges. The Ohio-based company uses science, software, and technology to deliver valuable services to customers to identify problems before they become disasters – environmentally, financially, or otherwise.

About Maxar Intelligence
Maxar Intelligence is a leading provider of secure, precise geospatial insights. Operating the most advanced commercial Earth observation constellation in orbit, we use the power of very high-resolution satellite imagery and software technology to deliver mission success on Earth and in space. Our secure, AI-powered products and services deliver ground truth in near real-time to keep nations safe, improve navigation, protect our planet, speed up disaster response and more. For more information, visit www.maxar.com.

Media Contact:

Michele Nachum
Firecracker PR
michele@firecrackerpr.com

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/223f51a2-25c9-4d75-b653-4eb05608a42d

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f28ffb1d-70d8-4426-8d43-c3604a6a0eea

The MIL Network –
June 26, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Leader welcomes positive outlook for Edinburgh’s economy

Source: Scotland – City of Edinburgh

Council Leader Jane Meagher writes in the Evening News today to welcome positive news for Edinburgh’s economy.

Edinburgh has long been Scotland’s economic powerhouse and we’re now ahead of London for the first time.

The value of goods and services produced here in Edinburgh per person has now surpassed London’s. That’s according to economic data recently published by the Office for National Statistics.

The figures reveal gross domestic product per head of £69,809 in Edinburgh, compared to £69,077 in London. This steady growth of Edinburgh’s economy to outperform that of London’s is no small feat. Twenty-five years ago, this same data put London 19% ahead of Edinburgh, highlighting just how well we perform as a city.

This is good news for our local businesses, and it shows that Edinburgh is an environment in which small, local enterprises can thrive. It also demonstrates the confidence global investors have in Edinburgh. In the last year alone, we’ve welcomed 27 instances of foreign direct investment, from shops like Søstrene Grene and MINISO to major renewable energy consultants PSC.

This is impressive and is in part thanks to the city’s resilient business community and strong employment opportunities. The economy in the city has been driven forward by a combination of relying on established sectors such as, financial services and our universities, as well as embracing new and emerging opportunities in areas such as life sciences and technology.

Linked to this, we’ve seen the UK Chancellor commit up to £750 million for the city and the region for a next generation ‘Exascale super-computer’ at the University of Edinburgh. This will be a national asset supporting jobs and investment and reaffirms the region’s role as an economic powerhouse. This is in keeping with the eight growth-driving sectors identified in the new Industrial Strategy, placing Edinburgh and the region in a strong position to continue to receive investment and grow the local economy.

On top of this, £410 million will be shared across the devolved nations for a Local Innovation Partnership Fund and it makes great sense for our City Region to lead on this in Scotland. From artificial intelligence to data and robotics, this money could unlock a huge amount of investment, building on the successful projects we’ve already delivered, including the National Robotarium, the Usher Institute and Easter Bush which is now the global location of ‘Agritech’ excellence.

Given Edinburgh’s longstanding innovation capabilities it is fantastic that we will be able to reap the associated economic, social and environmental benefits. That said, our challenge is to manage Edinburgh’s success and growth, and ensure it is fair and sustainable. To keep thriving, we need to manage the pressures placed on our housing, environment and our residents. This is the fastest growing city in Scotland, with the population expected to increase by 60,000 over the next 20 years and over four million visitors every year.

Everyone should be able to benefit from Edinburgh’s continued economic success. We are clearly contributing more than our share to the Scottish and UK economies and both governments should continue to take note.

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

June 26, 2025