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Category: Science

  • MIL-OSI Global: Four myths about ‘low-skilled’ migration busted

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Gabriella Alberti, Professor of International Labour Migration, University of Leeds

    1000 Words/Shutterstock

    The UK government has outlined plans to reduce low-skilled migration to the country. A central aspect is linking skills and training to the immigration system. This, so the thinking goes, will mean that no industry is able to rely on immigration to fill skills gaps.

    Research I carried out with colleagues on employer strategies in the wake of Brexit shows that pitting legal routes for migrant workers against investment in the local workforce is based on flawed assumptions.

    Evidence from sectors historically reliant on migration, such as transport and storage, food manufacturing, hospitality and social care, debunks four myths about migration and the labour market that underpin the government’s immigration plans.

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    Myth 1: migration and training

    Under-investment in skills by both employers and the state is a long-term issue of the UK deregulated economy. But the idea that employers hire migrants instead of training local workers is, to say the least, contested.

    Our research shows that migration can benefit workplace learning and incentivise employers to invest in training. We undertook a survey of employers’ practices after Brexit. Firms investing more in training, or seeking diverse workforces, tended also to be those (usually larger firms) that have financial and HR capacity to deal with migration hurdles. For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) especially, this system remains costly and bureaucratic.

    Previous research showed that employers that hired migrant workers after Brexit were also more likely to invest in the domestic workforce, or in technology. The government should view the recruitment of migrants as “supplementing, not supplanting” the domestic labour force.

    Myth 2: migrants v inactive youth

    The government’s plans, as well as other narratives, tend to play migrants against NEETs (young people who are not in education, employment or training). This suggests that the growing number of these young people is caused by employers using “low-skilled” migration.

    Engaging economically inactive people and complying with a workforce strategy that prioritises training local workers are set out as strict conditions for employers hoping to recruit from abroad. Yet the theory of replacing migrants with economically inactive people is a simplistic equation.

    One main finding of our research is that young people often refuse to work in these sectors because of poor conditions rather than because employers favour migrants. Our survey found that, despite marginal pay increases and other benefits to deal with staff shortages, pay across the four sectors remains benchmarked at the minimum wage.

    This fuels high staff turnover, intensive work and insecure contracts. These factors often make the jobs unattractive. But by introducing fair pay agreements in the care sector and by financially supporting local authorities and care providers, it should be possible to attract young people.

    Improving pay and conditions must be a priority, rather than closing the care worker visa, which could be devastating for the sector.

    Myth 3: temporary migration is a sustainable option

    The government proposes raising the skills threshold and including a “temporary shortage list”. For occupations with a skills requirement below degree level, employers will be able to use the immigration system only temporarily. This is not a substantive change from the occupational temporary schemes and tweaks to the skilled worker visa by the previous government.

    Our research shows that allowing migrants entry only through a limited number of schemes has led to the crowding of visa applications into one route (for example, the care worker visa). This contributed to abuse of the system, the proliferation of bogus employers and exploitative practices.

    Our research with migrant care workers who lost their sponsoring employer highlighted barriers to finding a new sponsor. Only a small number of care providers can guarantee full-time employment.

    Overall, reactive and temporary visa schemes have proven to be negative for both workers and businesses. This is confirmed by research on seasonal migration in other sectors like agriculture.

    Only a migration system that allows workers to stay and thrive in their jobs, bring their dependants and build stable lives can reduce labour turnover. This in turn can improve productivity and lead to a long-term workforce strategy.

    Myth 4: migration damages the economy

    The government’s newly unveiled immigration system risks putting the brakes on its plan for growth. Ministers have based their new plan on the assumption that increased net migration damages the UK, referring to the decrease in GDP per capita during the increase in net migration as a measure.

    But there is plenty of evidence that leaving the European common market and external shocks like the COVID pandemic and war in Ukraine have been the cause of UK economic decline. It recorded one of the largest slowdowns in productivity among the G7 in 2023.

    In contrast, our research shows that migrants are vital not just in sectors like social care, but also in those considered “low-skilled” by the government. Workers in logistics, hospitality and food manufacturing were treated as “essential” during COVID but soon forgotten and then apparently relegated to “low-value”.

    Once upon a time they were heroes.
    Lubo Ivanko/Shutterstock

    Our research calls for a re-evaluation of these foundational sectors, as they represent the backbone of industries considered pivotal by the government’s own industrial growth strategy.

    For a joined-up approach to be truly effective, employers associations, trade unions and migrant advocacy groups, together with national and local governments must contribute to longer-term migration plans. These should consider industry needs, migrant workers’ wellbeing as well as the viability of public services and other critical sectors affected by stricter migration requirements if numbers continue to decline.

    Telling firms they need to invest in the local workforce before they can hire from abroad appears blind to the reality. Training is not a quick fix, it requires time and investment from employers and the state. And ultimately, improved pay and working conditions are likely to make these sectors more attractive to the local population.

    Gabriella Alberti receives funding from the UKRI

    – ref. Four myths about ‘low-skilled’ migration busted – https://theconversation.com/four-myths-about-low-skilled-migration-busted-258046

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How to protect yourself from narcissists’ weapon of choice – passive aggression

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Daniel Waldeck, Assistant Professor in Psychology, Coventry University

    Nicoleta Ionescu/Shutterstock

    Imagine asking a coworker to help you on a project, and although they agree, they
    suddenly “forget” whenever the deadline approaches. Or a friend saying “you look
    beautiful today, I barely recognised you,” after you show them your new haircut.

    Perhaps you know all too well the feeling of a parent or partner ignoring you following some perceived slight.

    On the surface this behaviour may seem relatively minor. But if it happens often, this could indicate a narcissist is using passive-aggressive behaviour to try and hurt you.

    To protect yourself, it helps to know where a narcissist is coming from.

    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.

    The term “narcissist” can refer to people with high levels of narcissism, not necessarily that they have a clinical diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder. There are generally two types: grandiose and vulnerable.

    Grandiose narcissists usually view themselves as special and superior to others and are likely to brag about their achievements. Vulnerable narcissists tend to be self-conscious, sensitive to the slightest criticism and have an insatiable need for external appreciation.

    Both can be self-centred and prone to aggression, though passive-aggressive behaviour may be more often used by vulnerable narcissists.

    One explanation for their behaviour could be their motivation to become dominant and gain status. For example, they may feel like belittling their competition strengthens chances of getting a promotion at work. Another reason is that they can be thin-skinned. Any negative evaluation against them, like being left out of a work social event, may trigger a defensive reaction to attack another person to try and maintain their self-esteem.

    They also have a tendency to feel ostracised even when it’s not true. Research has shown that when narcissists are provoked, they tend to respond with aggression. Subtly undermining someone is more deniable than overt ways of expressing their anger and resentment.

    Here are some examples to help you spot when it’s happening:

    • social exclusion – avoiding eye contact, ignoring messages, excluding
      you from their social media account or withholding affection to punish you

    • hostile undertone – making fun of others through jokes, backhanded
      compliments or sending messages that suggest you are at fault while minimising their role in a conflict

    • indirect criticism – sharing embarrassing stories, or trying to undermine you by gossiping to others

    • sabotage – regularly leaving tasks that are their responsibility to
      complete to the last minute, and making it your problem.

    Narcissists can leave you feeling confused and hurt.
    Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock

    Such behaviour on its own might not be much bother, but being exposed to
    it regularly could cause distress. As an example, repeatedly being socially excluded at work has been linked to emotional exhaustion and reduced wellbeing.

    Research on victims of narcissistic behaviours is limited, perhaps because passive-aggressive behaviour is often hidden. But the research we do have has shown people on the receiving end of narcissistic abuse experience anxiety, depression, low self-worth and a tendency to prioritise others’ needs over their own.

    How you can protect yourself

    Given that narcissists react aggressively to criticism, it’s probably best not to fight fire with fire. The following approaches may help.

    Set clear boundaries. Make it clear you will not tolerate such behaviour. You could say something like: “I noticed you are not responding. I am willing to chat with you when you are ready to talk respectfully.”

    Emotional detachment. Narcissists will probably throw digs or sarcastic comments your way to get a reaction. Once they get a reaction, the cycle escalates. One helpful technique may be “grey rocking”, where you keep your interactions and responses as brief and as uninteresting as possible. When a sarcastic comment is made, you could just say “yep” or “noted”.

    Look after yourself. Prioritise your own needs and your wellbeing. For instance, immerse yourself in hobbies you enjoy or have fun with friends. Try also to make space for reflection so you can avoid internalising their comments. It’s about them, not you.

    Seek support. Reaching out to people you trust or seeking professional support from a counsellor may help to strengthen your resilience. In the context of work, you may reach out to HR if the passive-aggressive behaviour is persistent, but remember to document everything and be factual. This may help minimise a narcissist’s efforts to gaslight you or others.

    Power imbalance

    Not everyone can easily create distance between themselves and that narcissistic person they know. Some people may be living with a narcissist, work with one, or they could be part of their social circle.

    Given that narcissists often crave status, there’s a good chance there may be a power imbalance between you. This can be tricky as you may feel intimidated if they persistently use passive-aggressive behaviour, if they are senior to you at work for instance.

    In this situation, it’s even more important to save important email chains, log conversations and seek support from HR if needed. If there’s a power imbalance with someone outside work, take extra care to set clear boundaries with them.

    Each situation is different, and some things will be beyond your control.

    What you can do though is focus on what’s within your control: your reactions, your wellbeing, and the support systems around you.

    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. How to protect yourself from narcissists’ weapon of choice – passive aggression – https://theconversation.com/how-to-protect-yourself-from-narcissists-weapon-of-choice-passive-aggression-258021

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: The Tories try to blame all their woes on Liz Truss, but Mel Stride’s mea culpa is destined to fall flat

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Tim Bale, Professor of Politics, Queen Mary University of London

    It’s a mistake to think that, when it comes to the UK economy, the Conservatives have always been seen by British voters as a safer pair of hands than Labour. But, notwithstanding the damaging austerity imposed on the country by David Cameron’s chancellor, George Osborne, it was, by and large, the case between 2008 and 2022. This was a period bookended by the global financial crisis that occurred under Gordon Brown’s watch as Labour chancellor and then prime minister, and by Liz Truss’s disastrous 49-day stint in the top job.

    In reality, people were already beginning to lose faith in the Tories’ economic competence when Truss beat Rishi Sunak in the race to succeed Boris Johnson in Number 10. But she right royally trashed whatever reputation the party still had on that score and, as a result, set it on the road that led to its cataclysmic defeat at the polls last July.

    Another leadership race duly followed that election. But instead of using it as an opportunity both to conduct a thorough postmortem and issue a full-throated apology for the mess they’d made of things across a whole range of domestic policy, the candidates stayed largely in the party’s comfort zone.

    The country’s crumbling public services got hardly a mention, any acknowledgement of their dire state drowned out by discussion of immigration and taxation. The eventual winner, Kemi Badenoch, was apparently convinced that the Conservatives had lost because they “talked right but governed left”.

    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.

    Clearly that message doesn’t seem to have persuaded the public. The Tories are now even more unpopular than they were at the general election. They rarely break 20% in the opinion polls and consistently finish behind not just a very poorly-regarded Labour government but a surging Reform UK.

    Cue the decision by Mel Stride, a cabinet minister in Rishi Sunak’s doomed government and now Badenoch’s shadow chancellor, to issue an apology of sorts. This was, however, not an apology for the mess the Conservatives made of the country during 14 (arguably wasted) years in office – but for the month and half in which they were led by Truss.

    Sir Mel (as he is now) was never much of a fan, but he’s now taking public potshots at the former prime minister in a very well trailed speech. Apparently it was only during this short period, when Truss delivered her now legendary “mini-budget” that derailed the economy, that it all went wrong.

    “For a few weeks,” he declared, “we put at risk the very stability which Conservatives had always said must be carefully protected. The credibility of the UK’s economic framework was undermined by spending billions on subsidising energy bills and tax cuts, with no proper plan for how this would be paid for.”

    “Never again,” he continued, “will the Conservative party undermine fiscal credibility by making promises that we cannot afford.” Stride here seemed to be conveniently forgetting that, at least in the judgment of the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies, that was exactly what he and his colleagues did when they presented their manifesto to the country at last year’s general election – long after Truss had departed Downing Street.

    As such, Stride’s speech is unlikely to impress anyone. Rather than a confession of collective guilt and an acknowledgement of a pattern of behaviour stretching over years, it seeks to deflect the blame onto a one-off event and onto one already-derided individual (or maybe two if one includes the man who actually delivered the bungled mini-budget, Kwasi Kwarteng).

    Moreover, such is the presidentialised nature of British politics these days, that, unless a message is delivered by the party leader, it won’t be seen as representing its official position. Nor will it cut through to voters.

    More profoundly, Stride’s “contrition” (the closest he got to actually saying sorry) is meaningless because rather than challenge any of his party’s underlying assumptions, it actually doubles down on them.

    To stand a chance of signalling to a sceptical public that they’ve truly changed, the Tories need to break out of their essentially Thatcherite-cum-culture-warrior comfort zone. But obsessed (and in some ways understandably so) as they are with the potentially existential threat posed to them by Reform UK, that currently seems like a very distant prospect. And therefore, with or without Stride’s mea culpa, so does another Tory government.

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

    – ref. The Tories try to blame all their woes on Liz Truss, but Mel Stride’s mea culpa is destined to fall flat – https://theconversation.com/the-tories-try-to-blame-all-their-woes-on-liz-truss-but-mel-strides-mea-culpa-is-destined-to-fall-flat-258324

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: China’s Vice Premier Calls for Fair, Safe Gaokao

    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

    TAIYUAN, June 5 (Xinhua) — Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang inspected preparations for China’s national college entrance examination, known as the gaokao, and work on advancing energy sector reform in north China’s Shanxi Province from June 3 to 4, stressing the need to maintain fairness and ensure safety in the gaokao.

    Visiting the Shanxi Provincial Entrance Examination Administration Center and a middle school examination center in Taiyuan City, Ding Xuexiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, said that the gaokao is of key significance to the national economy and people’s well-being, directly affecting the interests of millions of families. He called for upholding the vital principle of fairness and justice in the reform of the college entrance examination and admissions system and the organization of the gaokao.

    In addition, the Chinese vice premier stressed the importance of strict security for examination questions, taking measures against cheating, and providing comprehensive support to students.

    Ding Xuexiang also visited the Shanxi Institute of Applied Science and Technology, calling on the school to adapt to the new situation of the country’s industrial modernization, train highly qualified personnel required for socio-economic development, and increase employment support for graduates. –0–

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Do people really resemble their dogs?

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Renata Roma, Postdoctoral Fellow, Center of Behavioural Sciences and Justice Studies/Pawsitive Connections Lab, University of Saskatchewan

    Although people and their dogs sometimes resemble each other, research suggests that compatibility may be a key element to build a positive relationship with dogs. (Shutterstock)

    Many dog owners wonder whether they share similarities with their dogs, including characteristics like a calm temperament, a sociable personality or even a bit of stubbornness. The idea that people and dogs resemble each other is not just a joke. In fact, some researchers have explored this question.

    As a clinician and researcher who has been studying different aspects of the human–animal bond and works clinically with people grieving the loss of a pet, I understand how meaningful these relationships can be. I am particularly interested in how perceived similarities and emotional connections with dogs can shape the quality of the relationship.

    Understanding what is known so far about the similarities between people and dogs is crucial, as this can reveal whether perceptions of similar physical and personality traits play a role in the quality of the relationship people share with their dogs.

    What researchers says about it

    Research on perceived similarities between people and their dogs aims to understand whether such perceptions are accurate and how they affect the relationship between people and their dogs.

    A recent review synthesizes findings from 15 empirical studies that investigated similarities between dog-human pairs, both in appearance and personality. Regarding personality, the findings suggest that dogs and their guardians may have parallel traits, such as levels of extroversion, anxiety and sociability.

    Looking further, some people seem to choose dogs that physically resemble them, particularly when choosing a purebred dog. Interestingly, there seems to be a link between women’s hair length and their preference for dogs with similar ear length, while short-haired women seem to favour short-eared breeds.

    Another study suggests the similarity between guardians and their dogs may be particularly observed in the eye region. Other studies indicate a positive correlation between owners’ body mass index (BMI) and their dogs’ degree of overweight, possibly related to a shared lifestyle.

    Importantly, many of these studies use questionnaires that the guardians themselves answer. That could lead some people to argue the findings only reflect the perceptions of the guardians.

    However, a group of researchers asked participants who had never met the dog-guardian pairs to match photos of dogs and their guardians based on perceived similarities. Interestingly, the participants were able to correctly match most of the dog-guardian pairs. This finding suggests that similarity may not just be a matter of the guardian’s own perception.

    Comparison to our relationships with people

    But why does this happen? One hypothesis has to do with our evolutionary history, since we also tend to seek like-minded people.

    In evolutionary contexts, being in cohesive and predictable groups increased co-operation and survival. These patterns continue to influence our relationships with others, favouring connections with people who appear to align with our values, behaviours or even physical traits. Apparently, similar mechanisms influence how we relate to dogs.

    Similarities in are also observed for those living with purebred dogs. This might happen because people tend to choose breeds associated with certain behaviours and there is more behavioural predictability and stability in purebred dogs due to standardized breed characteristics.

    Other explanations for personality similarities may be linked to emotional exchanges between people and their dogs, mutual regulation, behavioural reinforcement and learning through observation and imitation.

    For example, people may reinforce certain behaviours in their dogs based on their own preferences or routines, and sometimes this may not even be intentional. At the same time, emotional exchanges between humans and dogs can also shape each other’s emotional states over time.

    More than a scientific curiosity, understanding how perceptions of similarity shape people’s relationships with their dog can help foster more fulfilling relationships for humans and dogs. Such perceptions can lead to greater emotional investment in the bond and may even influence how people interpret and manage challenging behaviours in their dogs. For example, they might be more tolerant of certain behaviours when they identify a similar pattern in themselves.

    On the other hand, while perceived similarities can strengthen the relationship, such perceptions may also shape people’s expectations, leading them to project human-like characteristics onto their dogs, rather than seeing them for who they truly are.

    Beyond similarity: What brings us together

    Even when the personalities of people and their dogs are not alike, they can still match perfectly. Imagine a dog who is playful and energetic, living with someone who may be more reserved or introverted.

    The dog’s energy can encourage the person to be more active, which can lead to healthier habits such as walking or spending time outdoors. Sharing moments of joy, frustration or even sadness with a beloved dog can also provide a sense of companionship and emotional support.

    Although people and their dogs sometimes resemble each other, research suggests that compatibility may be another key element to build a positive relationship with dogs. Factors such as attachment style and aspects of the human’s personality may be equally relevant.

    Also, the sense of similarity is not always immediate and may emerge through co-regulation and mutual reinforcement, similarly to what happens in close human relationships. In this context, compatibility can exist even when people and dogs are not alike.

    Just like in relationships between people, resemblance is not necessarily what holds us together. Although resemblance plays a role, sometimes the most meaningful bonds are not between those who are alike. What seems to matter the most is how well we connect, support each other, embrace potential differences and build mutual understanding.

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

    – ref. Do people really resemble their dogs? – https://theconversation.com/do-people-really-resemble-their-dogs-255088

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • Modi government’s 11-year journey marked by bold reforms and technological transformation: Dr. Jitendra Singh

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    As the Modi government marks 11 years in power, Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh hailed the period as one defined by “bold decisions, futuristic reforms, and transformative governance.” Reflecting on more than a decade of leadership under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Dr. Singh stated that this era has redefined India’s developmental narrative while restoring public faith in government systems.

    Speaking in an exclusive interview, Dr. Singh—who oversees portfolios in Science and Technology, Earth Sciences, Atomic Energy, Space, and Public Grievances—emphasized that the government’s major initiatives have consistently prioritized the country’s long-term strategic interests. Citing landmark reforms like the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Digital India, and the opening of critical sectors such as space and atomic energy to private enterprise, he said each step was aligned with the broader vision of a self-reliant and globally competitive India.

    Dr. Singh also highlighted the expanded role of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), noting its achievements in vaccine development, genetic research, and promoting bio-entrepreneurship. These advances, he said, have contributed significantly to India’s emergence as a global technology hub.

    One of the defining characteristics of the Modi era, according to Dr. Singh, has been the integration of traditional governance objectives with cutting-edge technology. “Under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, sectors like space, atomic energy, and biotechnology received unprecedented support. The global recognition India commands in these fields today is a result of visionary and consistent policies,” he said.

    Space technology, once confined to rocket launches, is now part of everyday life, improving services such as telemedicine, agricultural forecasting, and digital classrooms. Dr. Singh praised the JAM trinity (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) and Swachh Bharat Mission for transforming public service delivery and igniting mass social movements that transcend politics.

    Another key initiative, Special Campaign 4.0, was highlighted for its focus on systemic efficiency. Government departments across the country used the campaign to clear backlogs, responsibly dispose of e-waste, and free thousands of square feet of space by removing redundant materials. “What was once waste is now wealth,” Dr. Singh remarked, calling it a model for responsible governance.

    On the administrative front, Dr. Singh underlined the success of reforms like performance-based assessments and lateral entry of professionals, which have begun to change the culture of governance. He described Mission Karmayogi—a flagship bureaucratic training reform—as a cornerstone of this transformation.

    Dr. Singh also elaborated on new pension reforms introduced under the Modi government, particularly those aimed at supporting women. These include continued family pension benefits for childless widows after remarriage and entitlements for divorced daughters whose legal proceedings were initiated while their parents were alive. Additionally, female government employees can now nominate their children for family pensions in cases of marital dispute.

    Commenting on India’s foreign policy, Dr. Singh noted that the country has earned new respect on the global stage. He praised India’s proactive role during global crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, as proof of the nation’s growing reliability and strategic importance.

    Looking ahead, Dr. Singh said the government has laid the foundation for the next 25 years as India moves toward its centenary in 2047. “This is just the beginning. The next phase will be about accelerating the gains of the last decade and ensuring India’s rightful place in the global order,” he concluded.

  • MIL-OSI Global: For both artists and scientists, slow looking allows surprising connections to surface

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Amanda Bongers, Assistant Professor, Chemistry Education Research, Queen’s University, Ontario

    Scientists need skills in visual analysis and critical thinking, but these skills aren’t being taught or practised nearly enough in our university classrooms.

    The fast pace and complex visuals in chemistry lectures can be overwhelming.
    (Lee Nachtigal/Flickr), CC BY

    One reason why science is hard to learn is because it relies on visuals and simulations for things we cannot see with the naked eye. In topics like chemistry, students struggle to translate complicated symbols to the atoms and molecules they are meant to represent.

    Surprisingly, most university chemistry classrooms are not helping students with these tasks. Students spend lectures passively viewing slides packed with images without engaging with them or generating their own. Relying on innate ability, rather than teaching visual thinking and analysis skills, leaves many students feeling lost in the symbols and resorting to arduous and unproductive memorization tactics.

    What can we do to help students analyze and learn from scientific visuals? Fortunately, we can look to the arts for inspiration. There are parallels between the skills learned in art history and those needed in science classrooms.

    Developing a trained eye

    Feeling baffled by a work of art is similar to the experience of many chemistry learners. In both scenarios, viewers might ask themselves: What am I looking at, where should I look and what does it mean?

    And while a portrait or landscape may seem straightforward in its message, these works of art are filled with information and messages hidden to the untrained eye.

    The longer a viewer takes to look at each image, the more information can be uncovered, and the viewer can ask more questions and explore further.

    For example, in the 18th-century painting Still Life with Flowers on a Marble Tabletop by Dutch painter Rachel Ruysch, looking beyond the flowers painted in full bloom reveals a swarm of insects, which art historians regard in a wider context of spiritual meditations upon mortality.

    Did you notice the insects in ‘Still Life with Flowers on a Marble Tabletop?’
    (Rijksmuseum)

    The field of art history is dedicated to exploring works of art, and emphasizes visual analysis and critical thinking skills. When an art historian studies a work of art, they explore what information may be contained within the work, why it was presented in that manner and what this means in a broader context.



    Read more:
    Mike Pence’s fly: From Renaissance portraits to Salvador Dalí, artists used flies to make a point about appearances

    Process of looking, asking questions

    This process of looking and asking questions about what you are looking at is needed at all levels of science, and is a useful general skill.

    The non-profit organization Visual Thinking Strategies has created resources and programs to support educators, from kindergarten to high school, in using art for discussion in their classrooms.

    These discussions about art help young learners develop skills for reasoning, communicating and coping with uncertainty. Another resource, “Thinking Routines” from Harvard’s Project Zero, includes more suggestions for leading engagement with art and objects to help students cultivate observation, interpretation and questioning.

    Critical viewing means slowing down

    Such approaches have also been embraced in medical education, where medical students learn critical viewing through close-looking activities with art, and explore themes of empathy, power and care.

    Viewing art can help teach people critical viewing, a skill essential for interpreting medical imaging.
    (Shutterstock)

    Medical humanities programs also help young professionals to respond to ambiguity. Learning how to analyze art changes how people describe medical images, such as photos of clinical interactions, and has been shown to improve their empathy scores.

    The skills needed for visual analysis of art works require us to slow down and let our eyes wander and brains think. Slow and deep looking involves taking four or five minutes to silently view a work of art, allowing surprising details and connections to surface. Students training in medical imaging in the field of radiology can learn this slow and critical viewing process by interacting with art.

    Students in classrooms

    Now imagine the difference between a leisurely setting like a gallery to a classroom, with the pressure to listen, look, copy and learn from visuals and prepare for exams.

    How long are students spending analyzing these complex chemistry diagrams? Research that colleagues and I conducted suggests very little.

    When we observed chemistry classrooms, we found that students either passively viewed images while the instructor discussed them, or copied visuals as the instructor drew them. In both cases, they are not engaging with the visuals or generating their own.

    When teaching chemistry, Amanda, the lead author of this story, has seen students feel pressure to find a “correct” answer quickly when solving chemistry problems, causing them to overlook important but less obvious information.

    Visual analysis in chemistry education

    Our team of artists, art historians, arts educators, chemistry teachers and students is working to bring arts-inspired visual analysis into university chemistry classrooms.

    Through mock lectures followed by in-depth discussions, our preliminary research has found intersections between the practices and teachings of the visual arts skills and the skills needed for chemistry education, and we’ve designed activities for teaching students these skills.

    A focus group with university science educators helped us refine the activities to work for educators’ classrooms and goals. Through this process, we’ve identified new ways of thinking about and engaging with visuals and as our research evolves, so may these activities.

    Example of a visual analysis activity pairing a work of art with a chemistry visual. Left: ‘Cubist Study of a Head’ by Elemér de Kóródy, 1913 (The Met). Right: Analysis of a cycloaddition reaction (Author provided).

    Many students in university science classrooms will not pursue a traditional career in science, and their programs rarely lead to a specific job, yet visual thinking skills are essential in the wide skill sets needed for their future careers.

    Visual analysis and critical thinking are becoming even more important in daily life now with the rise of AI-generated images and videos.

    Developing skills to slow down and look

    Integrating the arts into other disciplines can support critical thinking and introduce learners to new perspectives. We argue that the arts can help science students develop essential visual analysis skills by teaching them to slow down and simply look.

    “Thinking like a scientist” has come to mean asking questions about what you see, but this could easily be framed as thinking like an art historian:

    1. Look closely for details;

    2. Consider details together and in context (for example, by asking: “Who created this and why?”);

    3. Recognize the need for broad technical and fundamental knowledge to see the less obvious, and;

    4. Accept uncertainty. There may be more than one answer, and we may never know for sure!

    Amanda Bongers receives funding from SSHRC and NSERC.

    Madeleine Dempster receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

    – ref. For both artists and scientists, slow looking allows surprising connections to surface – https://theconversation.com/for-both-artists-and-scientists-slow-looking-allows-surprising-connections-to-surface-252355

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Attorney General Bonta Continues the Fight to Expand Patient Access to Medication Abortion

    Source: US State of California

    OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta today, alongside the attorneys general of Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey, filed a petition with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requesting that FDA eliminate unnecessary restrictions on the abortion medication mifepristone by removing the Mifepristone Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy Program (REMS program) including the Prescriber Certification, Pharmacy Certification, and Patient Agreement form. Barring removal of the REMS program, the attorneys general ask that FDA exercise its discretion to not enforce the requirements of the REMS program within four Petitioner States, leaving regulation of mifepristone to the states – thereby minimizing unnecessary, duplicative, and burdensome requirements and maximizing access to this critical medication.

    Mifepristone is a safe and effective medication prescribed to patients who need critical, time-sensitive reproductive care, including abortions and treatment of miscarriages. Studies show that medication abortion allows people to get reproductive care as early as possible when it is safest, least expensive, and least invasive. It plays an important role in reducing barriers and promoting equitable access to healthcare, particularly for those who live in rural and underserved communities. 

    “For decades, medication abortion has been recognized not only as effective, but so safe that it presents lower risks of serious complications than taking Tylenol or getting a colonoscopy,” said Attorney General Bonta. “The medication is a lifeline for millions of women who need access to time-sensitive, critical healthcare – especially low-income women and those who live in rural and underserved areas. Its 25-year safety record is backed by science and cannot be erased at the whim of the Trump Administration. We’re calling on the FDA to reverse course and maintain broad access to mifepristone. Far from making America healthier, restricting mifepristone’s availability through unnecessary barriers for prescribers, pharmacies, and patients only harms patients and our healthcare system.”

    On May 14, 2025, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that he had ordered FDA administrator Martin Makary to conduct a “complete review” of mifepristone and its labeling requirements, even though mifepristone has proven extraordinarily safe. Since its approval in 2000, approximately 7.5 million Americans have safely used the medication. Mifepristone is even on the World Health Organization’s core list of essential, life-saving medicines.

    Despite its safety record, FDA has subjected mifepristone to a REMS program designed for drugs with known, serious risks. The current REMS program involves three burdensome requirements: (1) Prescriber certification, which deters clinicians from prescribing the medication by requiring their names be added to national and local abortion provider lists, raising serious safety and legal concerns; (2) Patient agreement forms, which all patients must sign – even those being treated for miscarriage – attesting they intend to “end [their] pregnancy”; and (3) Pharmacy certification, which imposes complex tracking, shipping, and reporting burdens that dissuade pharmacies from carrying mifepristone.

    In the petition, the attorneys general emphasize that these restrictions stand in stark contrast to the FDA’s treatment of far riskier medications. Drugs like opioids, blood thinners, and even other formulations of mifepristone used to treat illnesses like Cushing’s syndrome are not subject to such restrictive REMS programs. FDA-approved drugs for cosmetic procedures and erectile dysfunction, despite well-known risks for serious complications, also face fewer barriers than mifepristone.

    Under federal law, REMS requirements must mitigate a specific serious risk and cannot be “unduly burdensome” on patients or health care delivery systems. Attorney General Bonta and the coalition argue that the current mifepristone REMS fails to meet that standard. The Petitioner States already have in place robust state laws that ensure safe prescribing, rigorous informed consent, and professional accountability. The FDA is also specifically directed to account for access in rural areas and to minimize unnecessary burdens on the health care system, criteria that the mifepristone REMS does not meet. 

    In the petition, the attorneys general argue that the current mifepristone REMS:

    • Is medically unjustified: Mifepristone has an extensive safety record established over 25 years, and its safety has remained stable even as restrictions on its use have been lessened over that period. The medication has been safely used by more than 7.5 million women and serious adverse events have been, in the FDA’s own words, “extremely rare,” and no deaths have ever been definitively attributed to the drug. It further interferes with the practice of medicine by imposing unnecessary restrictions on physicians’ ability to provide the best options for patients within the context of their own unique health concerns.
    • Is burdensome on patient access: These REMS requirements significantly impede access to care, especially in rural and underserved communities. The vast administrative burden associated with REMS requirements has kept mifepristone out of most family medicine practices and primary care settings, despite its low risk and ease of use. Many primary care and family medicine physicians report viewing the complex process as “not worth the effort.” As a result, medication abortion is largely limited to specialized settings, with only one percent of such abortions occurring at primary care facilities. Meanwhile, nearly 90 percent of U.S. counties lack a single abortion provider.
    • Places undue strain on the nation’s entire health system: Emergency rooms often cannot prescribe mifepristone due to certification hurdles, despite being critical for patients experiencing miscarriages. Pharmacies also struggle to meet the administrative burdens brought on by certification requirements, and some have even faced coordinated pressure campaigns and threats simply for attempting to stock the medication. For example, when Walgreens announced plans to seek certification, it was met with intimidation and ultimately declined to dispense the drug in 20 states, including several where abortion remains legal.

    Attorney General Bonta and the coalition assert that in light of mifepristone’s strong safety record and essential role in abortion and miscarriage care, the current REMS program is both scientifically and legally indefensible. The attorneys general ask FDA to fully eliminate the mifepristone REMS program, including prescriber, pharmacy, and patient certification requirements.

    Alternatively, the States argue that the FDA should exercise enforcement discretion and cease applying REMS elements in California, Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey — states where abortion is legal and safe, and health care is highly regulated. Trump claimed he would leave abortion to the States — that is precisely what the four states are requesting.

    A copy of the petition is available here. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Predictive AI model could help forecast neurodegenerative diseases

    Source: US Government research organizations

    Neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s are a growing concern in the U.S., with over 7 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s disease today. By 2060, that number is expected to grow, affecting nearly 13 million people. These diseases are not only hard on individuals and families, but are costly, with more than $230 billion spent in the U.S. each year in caregiving alone. As the population ages, the need for new ways to detect and address the silent emergence of these diseases has never been more urgent. 

    New artificial intelligence predictive models used in brain research may provide a way to better predict how a person’s brain ages over time, helping doctors recognize warning signs long before clinical symptoms surface. 

    Supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation, a team of researchers led by Paul Bogdan, an associate professor in the University of Southern California Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has developed a cutting-edge AI system capable of generating a future MRI of a person’s brain from just a single scan. This technology opens the door to identifying subtle changes that may signal the earliest stages of neurodegenerative diseases — potentially years before traditional diagnostic methods could detect them.

    To build the tool, the team combined two advanced AI techniques: a 3D diffusion model and a ControlNet, which allow the system to “control” or guide image generation based on input data. In this case, the input is a baseline brain MRI from a healthy adult. From that single image, the AI model predicts a realistic follow-up MRI, simulating how that specific brain might look years later. 

    Credit: Gengshuo Liu, University of Southern California

    Diagram of the AI model: Part A (U-Net diffusion model) processes 3D medical images, while part B (ControlNet) uses a person’s earlier MRI to guide predictions. Researchers first trained the U-Net model as a baseline model and then trained ControlNet to make predictions based on the baseline images.

    This research was funded by multiple NSF grants — including those focused on medical cyber-physical systems, uncertainty modeling and formal methods that enhance trustworthiness — and brought together multidisciplinary fields such as health care, cyber-physical systems, mathematical modeling and formal methods. Researchers included Gengshuo Liu (electrical and computer engineering doctoral student), Nikhil Chaudhari (biomedical engineering doctoral student), Nikos Kanakaris (engineer), Chenzhong Yin (data science expert) and Andrei Irimia (neuroscientist). 

    The NSF funding was instrumental to laying the groundwork for brain modeling research, developing mathematical frameworks that capture the time-dependent, complex spatiotemporal physiological changes of the brain and ensuring the robustness and reliability of the AI-generated MRIs to generate not just accurate images, but also meaningful insights about how the brain evolves. 

    “NSF support was absolutely essential for thinking outside the box and critical to our successful AI model solving an urgent challenge our society faces — detecting neurological disorders very early on in order to take proactive measures and improve quality of life,” said Bogdan. “Each of these projects gave us critical building blocks — from modeling complex systems, to handling uncertainty, to making machine learning more explainable. Without that foundation, this level of scientific integration and investigation wouldn’t have been possible.”  

    The implications of this work are significant for early detection of Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases, significant reduction of health care costs and improvement to the quality of life of patients and caregivers.

    Credit: Gengshuo Liu, University of Southern California

    The image shows a comparison of real and AI-generated (synthetic) brain scans from a 76-year-old participant. The top two rows show the real and synthetic images, while the bottom rows highlight the differences between them.

    And the applications don’t stop there. The AI framework used in this study could also be adapted to predict changes in other organs or body systems, enabling more personalized and preventive care across many health conditions. Researchers plan to expand the training dataset to include individuals with different follow-up intervals and a wider age range. They are also exploring clinical partnerships with anyone interested in extending these AI models and validating them in real-world health care settings. 

    In the future, a single MRI taken during a routine checkup could give doctors a window into a person’s neurological future and help take proactive measures so that certain neurological disorders are either avoided or their onset significantly delayed. With continued federal investments, tools like this could one day become part of standard preventive medicine and save countless lives. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Attorney General James Calls on FDA to Expand Access to Medication Abortion

    Source: US State of New York

    EW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James and the attorneys general of California, Massachusetts, and New Jersey today filed a petition asking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to eliminate unnecessary and outdated restrictions on the abortion medication mifepristone. Attorney General James and the coalition argue that mifepristone has proven overwhelmingly safe and effective in the 25 years since it was first approved by the FDA, and that the agency’s current Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) program imposes burdensome restrictions on access to medication abortion while not meaningfully improving patient safety. The petition comes as the FDA undertakes a full review of mifepristone labeling requirements at the direction of Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. The U.S. Code of Federal Regulations grants individuals and organizations the ability to petition the FDA to issue, change, or cancel a regulation, or to take other action. Attorney General James and the coalition are urging the FDA to use this full review of mifepristone to lift unjustified restrictions and maximize access to this essential medication.

    “Given mifepristone’s 25-year safety record, there is simply no scientific or medical reason to subject it to such extraordinary restrictions,” said Attorney General James. “New Yorkers, and all Americans, deserve access to this safe, effective, and essential medication without burdensome, unjustified restrictions. The FDA must follow the science and lift these unnecessary barriers that put patients at risk and push providers out of care.”

    Mifepristone, used in combination with misoprostol, is the most common method for ending early pregnancy in the United States and is also the standard of care for managing early miscarriage. Since it was first approved by the FDA in 2000, more than 7.5 million people in the U.S. have used mifepristone. According to leading medical organizations, as well as the FDA itself, serious complications are “extremely rare,” and no deaths have ever been definitively attributed to the drug. Mifepristone is even on the World Health Organization’s core list of essential, life-saving medicines.

    Despite this safety record, mifepristone remains subject to a REMS program designed for drugs with known, serious risks, which involves three burdensome requirements:

    • Prescriber certification, which deters clinicians from prescribing the medication by requiring their names to be added to national and local abortion provider lists, raising serious safety and legal concerns;
    • Patient agreement forms, which all patients must sign – even those being treated for miscarriage – attesting they intend to “end [their] pregnancy”; and
    • Pharmacy certification, which imposes complex tracking, shipping, and reporting burdens that dissuade pharmacies from carrying mifepristone.

    Attorney General James and the coalition argue these REMS requirements are medically unnecessary and significantly impede access to care, especially in rural and underserved communities. The attorneys general assert that the vast administrative burden associated with REMS requirements has kept mifepristone out of most family medicine practices and primary care settings, despite its low risk and ease of use. Many primary care and family medicine physicians report viewing the complex process as not worth the effort. As a result, medication abortion is largely limited to specialized settings, with only one percent of such abortions occurring at primary care facilities. Meanwhile, nearly 90 percent of U.S. counties lack a single abortion provider.

    The attorneys general emphasize that these restrictions stand in stark contrast to the FDA’s treatment of far riskier medications. Drugs like opioids, blood thinners, and even other formulations of mifepristone used to treat illnesses like Cushing’s syndrome are not subject to such restrictive REMS programs. FDA-approved drugs for cosmetic procedures and erectile dysfunction, despite well-known risks for serious complications, also face fewer barriers than mifepristone.

    Attorney General James and the coalition also cite mounting evidence that the REMS program burdens the entire health care system. Emergency rooms often cannot prescribe mifepristone due to certification hurdles, despite it being critical for patients experiencing miscarriages. Pharmacies also struggle to meet the administrative burdens of certification requirements, and some have even faced coordinated pressure campaigns and threats simply for attempting to stock the medication. When Walgreens announced plans to seek certification, it was met with intimidation and threats and ultimately declined to dispense the drug in 20 states, including several where abortion remains legal. Following this announcement, Attorney General James sent a letter to Walgreens and other pharmacies, urging them to confirm mifepristone would remain available in New York.

    In the petition, the attorneys general refute recent attempts to challenge mifepristone’s safety using methodologically flawed scientific research papers, noting that several of these papers have been retracted by medical journals. The FDA itself has acknowledged that mifepristone’s safety has remained stable, even after prior REMS restrictions, such as in-person dispensing requirements, were lifted.                                                            

    Under federal law, REMS requirements must mitigate a specific serious risk and cannot be “unduly burdensome” on patients or health care delivery systems. Attorney General James and the coalition argue that the current mifepristone REMS fails to meet that standard. They point to robust state laws already in place in New York and other states that ensure safe prescribing, rigorous informed consent, and professional accountability. The FDA is also specifically directed to account for access in rural areas and to minimize unnecessary burdens on the health care system, criteria that the mifepristone REMS does not meet.

    Given mifepristone’s strong safety record and essential role in abortion and miscarriage care, Attorney General James and the coalition assert that the current REMS program is both scientifically and legally indefensible. The attorneys general are asking FDA to fully eliminate the mifepristone REMS program, including prescriber, pharmacy, and patient certification requirements; or, at minimum, exercise enforcement discretion and cease applying REMS elements in New York, California, Massachusetts, and New Jersey, states where abortion is legal and safe, and health care is highly regulated.

    Attorney General James has been a leading voice in defending reproductive rights and opposing efforts to restrict abortion care. Last week, Attorney General James led 19 other attorneys general in urging the American Medical Association to take stronger action to protect abortion providers from dangerous certification requirements. Last month, Attorney General James and 20 other attorneys general called on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to immediately reinstate tens of millions of dollars in federal reproductive health funds. In March 2025, Attorney General James won a lawsuit against an anti-abortion group, Red Rose Rescue, for invading reproductive health care clinics and interfering with access to care. Also in March, Attorney General James filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to defend Medicaid recipients’ right to choose their own health care providers, including reproductive health care clinics like Planned Parenthood. In October 2024, Attorney General James filed an amicus brief urging a federal court to maintain access to emergency abortion care. Also in October, Attorney General James and a coalition of attorneys general filed an amicus brief in support of access to mifepristone. In May 2024, Attorney General James sued an anti-abortion group and 11 crisis pregnancy centers for promoting unproven abortion reversal treatment. In April 2024, Attorney General James led a coalition of attorneys general in urging Congress to expand access to reproductive health services and pass the Access to Family Building Act. In January 2024, Attorney General James led a coalition of 24 attorneys general urging the U.S. Supreme Court to protect access to mifepristone. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Cantwell Pushes Back on Admin Efforts to Defund 14 Local Broadcasting Stations in WA

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington Maria Cantwell

    06.05.25

    Cantwell Pushes Back on Admin Efforts to Defund 14 Local Broadcasting Stations in WA

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following statement on the Trump Administration’s rescission package that proposes to claw back $1.1 billion in funding already allocated by Congress for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

    “President Trump’s rescission package is another attempt to defund more than 1,500 local broadcasting stations across the country, including 14 in the State of Washington. As a result, millions of Americans—particularly in rural communities—will be cut off from local newsrooms, lifesaving emergency alerts, and programs they love. By clawing back our federal investment in non-partisan public broadcasting, the Trump Administration and Republicans are not only undermining laws on the books, but also the irreplaceable role public broadcasting plays in our communities.”

    These 14 stations in Washington state would be affected:

    Public Television Stations

    • KCTS-TV (Seattle)
    • KSPS-TV (Spokane)
    • KWSU-TV (Pullman)
    • KBTC-TV (Tacoma)

    Public Radio Stations

    • KUOW-FM (Seattle)
    • KEXP-FM (Seattle)
    • KNKX-FM (Tacoma)
    • KING-FM (Seattle)
    • KWSU-AM (Pullman)
    • KPBX-FM (Spokane)
    • KDNA-FM (Granger)
    • KNHC-FM (Seattle)
    • KBCS-FM (Bellevue)
    • KSVR-FM (Mount Vernon)

    The average cost per American for public broadcasting is just $1.60 a year, and this funding supports 356 public TV stations and 1,190 public radio stations across the nation as of March 2025. CPB support is absolutely crucial for rural communities, and provides vital news and information in all 50 states.  Senator Cantwell and public broadcasting travel host Rick Steves condemned the Trump Administration for its assault on the Corporation for Public Broadcasting last month.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: MHRA launches new digital hub in Leeds to drive innovation and regional growth

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    Press release

    MHRA launches new digital hub in Leeds to drive innovation and regional growth

    The new hub will strengthen the MHRA’s work with regional partners and boost the UK’s digital health and life sciences sector.

    Wes Streeting at today’s launch of the MHRA’s new Leeds hub

    A new digital hub in Leeds is being launched by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), marking a significant step in the agency’s long-term commitment to advancing innovation and strengthening its presence across the UK. 

    Leeds was selected due to its expertise in digital health and strong academic base. The MHRA’s expansion will build on this momentum – driving regional partnerships, attracting skilled talent and local investment. 

    The digital hub forms part of the MHRA’s broader strategy to enhance regulatory agility, strengthen digital capabilities, and deliver better outcomes for patients, the public and industry. It will also enable closer collaboration with digital health networks, NHS organisations, and leading academic institutions nationwide. 

    The move supports the HM Government’s Places for Growth strategy, which aims to expand the regional footprint of public bodies and ensure that opportunities and expertise are more evenly distributed across the UK. 

    Wes Streeting, Health and Social Care Secretary of State, said:   

    “There is a global tech revolution in healthcare unfolding, and Yorkshire will help our country lead it. This isn’t just about creating new jobs across the region – it’s also about bolstering a city that’s already leading the way in digital health.  

    “Driving forward digital transformations like these through our Plan for Chance will mean scientists get data for research quicker, inspectors can develop tech to spot problems quicker, and patients get better results.  

    “As a healthcare innovation powerhouse, Leeds is the perfect place to bring together the MHRA’s regulatory expertise with a thriving tech community, world-class universities, and strong NHS presence.”  

    Lawrence Tallon, Chief Executive of the MHRA, said: 

    “We want regulation of health technologies to move at the pace of innovation. As part of our continued commitment to being a truly national regulator, we are opening a new base amongst one of the UK’s thriving tech hubs in Leeds. 

    “By establishing an MHRA hub in Leeds, we’re strengthening our ability to collaborate with partners across the North of England – bringing regulatory expertise closer to the people, organisations and innovations we serve. 

    “This hub will play a vital role in shaping the future of regulation, including how we harness technology to deliver regulation that meets the needs of patients, supports the health system, and drives life sciences innovation across the UK.” 

    The new hub will be located in Wellington Place in Leeds city centre. The MHRA will initially recruit around 30 permanent, highly-skilled roles, focused on digital delivery, software development and data science, with the ambition for further expansion in future phases. 

    These new roles will sit within the Digital and Technology Group (DTG), focused on delivering an optimised infrastructure and maximising the secure use of data to enable scientists, inspectors, and the rest of the organisation to deliver world class services which can improve outcomes for patients and the public.  

    The Leeds area is home to over 44,000 working-age tech professionals and 11,000 students studying tech-related subjects. It also serves as a base for DHSC and the digital operations of NHS England, with increasing investment from major tech companies. 

    Richard Stubbs, Chief Executive of Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber, said: 

    “The new MHRA digital hub is fantastic news for Leeds and for Yorkshire as a whole. Our region has world class digital and medical technology capabilities, which will be accelerated even further by bringing government infrastructure closer to the innovator community. We’re hugely looking forward to working closely with our MHRA colleagues to drive valuable collaborations and partnerships that will ultimately benefit patient care and deliver local economic growth.” 

    Councillor Fiona Venner, executive member for equality, health and wellbeing at Leeds City Council, said: 

    “We welcome the MHRA’s announcement of the launch of a new digital hub. Leeds is already a centre for digital health and innovation and this rapidly growing market contributes significantly to the economy. The hub will support the creation of jobs and provide career opportunities for local graduates and professionals. 

    “The announcement adds to the momentum we’re already seeing in Leeds with major organisations choosing to locate roles here, reinforcing the city’s growing national importance as a centre for public service and economic opportunity.” 

    The expansion supports the Government’s Plan for Change, which will make sure that Government jobs support economic growth throughout the country and make it much easier for talented people everywhere to help us rebuild Britain. 

    Notes to editors   

    • The MHRA enhances and improves the health of millions of people every day through the effective regulation of medicines and medical devices, underpinned by science and research.  

    • The agency continues to strengthen its regional engagement across all four nations of the UK. In May 2025, the agency held its first ever Board meeting in Scotland, reaffirming its commitment to supporting public health and life sciences innovation across the whole of the UK. 

    • Headquartered at 10 South Colonnade in Canary Wharf, the agency will continue major scientific and regulatory work at its South Mimms Science Campus. The new Leeds hub forms part of a broader strategy for national expansion. 

    • The MHRA’s Digital and Technology Group (DTG) plays a central role in delivering digital services, managing data securely, and improving business processes across core regulatory functions – including clinical trial applications, safety monitoring and inspections. The DTG has been shortlisted for the Health Service Journal (HSJ) Digital Award. 

    • The MHRA is responsible for regulating all medicines and medical devices in the UK by ensuring they work and are acceptably safe. All our work is underpinned by robust and fact-based judgements to ensure that the benefits justify any risks. 

    • The MHRA is an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care.  

    • For media enquiries, please contact the newscentre@mhra.gov.uk, or call on 020 3080 7651.

    Updates to this page

    Published 5 June 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI: Trade 350 App: This Trade 350 App Establishes New Standard for Retail Traders in 2025—Advanced AI Signals Backed by Military-Grade Security

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    New York City, June 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — In an industry crowded with promises and half-measures, Trade 350 App emerges as a true trailblazer. Launched in early 2023 by a team of seasoned quantitative analysts and software engineers, Trade 350 leverages state-of-the-art artificial intelligence and proprietary algorithms to deliver a seamlessly automated trading experience. As of mid-2025, more than 125,000 active users across 28 countries have entrusted their capital to Trade 350, citing rapid withdrawals, crystal-clear fee structures, and consistently reliable AI signals. This press-release–style article delves deeply into the features, security protocols, and glowing user feedback that have positioned Trade 350 App as one of the most highly recommended retail trading platforms on the market.

    Be Part of the AI Revolution—Download Trade 350 and Watch Your Portfolio Soar!”

    Overview: Trade 350 App’s Mission and Vision

    At its core, Trade 350 App was conceived to democratize high-frequency, algorithmic trading strategies—to bring hedge-fund-grade tools into the hands of everyday retail investors. The founding vision, articulated by CEO Samantha Lopez, was simple: “Empower individuals—novices and professionals alike—to trade confidently, safely, and profitably, without having to become quant wizards overnight.” By fusing machine-learning models with robust risk-management controls and a user-first design, Trade 350 did more than merely enter the market: it redefined expectations.

    Key pillars of Trade 350’s mission include:

    • Accessibility: Ensuring that a minimum initial deposit ($250 USD) and transparent fee structure open the door for traders with limited capital.
    • Reliability: Providing consistently accurate trade signals, backed by 24/7 monitoring and continuous AI retraining.
    • Security: Adopting military-grade encryption, multi-factor authentication, and strict data-privacy protocols to safeguard user assets.
    • Education: Offering extensive learning resources—webinars, tutorials, and a dedicated knowledge base—to accelerate every user’s understanding of risk, strategy, and market dynamics.

    Ready to Trade Smarter, Not Harder? Tap into Trade 350’s AI Genius Today

    Founding Team & Timeline of Key Milestones

    Trade 350’s rapid rise stems from a leadership team whose combined experience spans decades at major financial institutions and technology ventures. Below is a brief timeline highlighting the company’s notable milestones:

    Early 2023

    • Conceptualization & Seed Funding
      • Seed round of $2.5 million led by MacroVentures Capital.
      • Core team formed:
        • Samantha Lopez, CEO (MBA, MIT Sloan) – Former Director of Quantitative Research at Vector Capital.
        • Dr. Aaron Ng, CTO (PhD in Computer Science, Stanford) – Ex-Google Research Scientist focused on reinforcement learning.
        • Priya Patel, CMO (BS in Marketing, University of Pennsylvania) – 8 years at Tradex Media in FinTech marketing.
        • David Clarke, Head of Risk (CFA, FRM) – 10 years in derivatives risk management at CapitalOne UK.

    Q2 2023

    • Prototype & Closed Beta Launch
      • Initial AI-signal engine tested on live market data in controlled environments.
      • Closed beta recruited 500 “alpha testers” worldwide; feedback loop refined signal accuracy.

    Q4 2023

    • Public Launch & App Release (v1.0)
      • Web platform and iOS/Android apps released simultaneously.
      • Core markets: Major Forex pairs (EUR/USD, GBP/USD), top cryptos (BTC, ETH).
      • Achieved 10,000 registered users in first two months.

    Early 2024

    • Expanded Asset Coverage & Risk Controls (v2.0)
      • Added indices (S&P 500, NASDAQ 100), commodities (Gold, Crude Oil).
      • Introduced granular risk settings: adjustable trade size (0.1%–5%), daily loss limits.
      • Rolled out first batch of educational webinars on “AI Fundamentals for Retail Traders.”

    Q3 2024

    • Security Audit & Scalability Upgrades
      • Completed third-party security audit by CyberCore Labs.
      • Migrated to fully redundant cloud architecture (multi-region AWS) to ensure 99.9% uptime.
      • User base surpassed 50,000, with $20+ million in aggregate trading volume monthly.

    Late 2024

    • International Language Support & Regulatory Pursuits
      • Added Spanish and Portuguese language packs to mobile apps.
      • Hired compliance specialists to initiate FCA registration in the UK and ASIC licensing in Australia.
      • Launched “Trade 350 University”—an online curriculum covering technical analysis, AI model interpretation, and advanced risk management.

    Q1 2025

    • Trade 350 v3.1: Enhanced AI & Social Sentiment Integration
      • Deployed new LSTM-based neural network modules that incorporate real-time social media sentiment (Twitter, Reddit) for cryptocurrency signals.
      • Launched customer support in Arabic and Mandarin.
      • Achieved 4.8-star average rating across App Store and Google Play.
      • Monthly active traders exceeded 85,000, with total platform equity above $50 million.

    Q2 2025

    • Beta Release of CopyTrading Feature & API Access
      • Introduced “CopyTrade 350,” allowing novice users to mirror top-performing traders’ portfolios (rollout scheduled for full release in Q3 2025).
      • Publicly documented RESTful API endpoints for third-party developers to access signals under a developer license.
      • Consolidated regulatory progress: Applied for full FCA license, with expected approval by Q4 2025.

    Join 125,000+ Traders Who’ve Unlocked Faster Withdrawals and Rock-Solid Security—Get Trade 350 Now!

    How Trade 350’s AI Engine Drives Market-Beating Signals

    At the heart of Trade 350 App lies a proprietary AI engine that continuously learns and evolves. Rather than relying on static, rule-based algorithms, Trade 350’s system employs a combination of supervised learning classifiers, unsupervised anomaly detection, and reinforcement-learning loops. Below is a breakdown of the engine’s core layers:

    1. Data Ingestion & Preprocessing
      • Live Price Feeds: Sub-second tick data on major forex pairs, cryptocurrency exchanges, commodity futures.
      • Economic Calendar: Automated ingestion of macroeconomic event schedules (central bank decisions, employment reports, CPI releases) from leading data providers.
      • Social Sentiment: Custom scraped sentiment scores from Twitter, Reddit, and specialized crypto-community forums; big-data processed via Apache Spark pipelines.
      • Historical Data Archive: 15+ years of minute- and hourly-bar data stored in columnar format; used for backtesting and model calibration.
    2. Feature Engineering & Pattern Recognition
      • Technical Indicators: 50+ pre-engineered indicators (moving averages, Bollinger Bands, RSI, MACD, Fibonacci retracements) automatically calculated per symbol.
      • Volatility Filters: Dynamic measures (e.g., ATR-based volatility) adjust stop-loss and take-profit levels based on current market turbulence.
      • Anomaly Detection: Unsupervised clustering identifies “flash crash” patterns or unnatural price spikes; system can automatically suspend signals ahead of low-liquidity events.
    3. Model Architecture
      • Classifier Ensembles: Random forest and gradient-boosted tree ensembles generate entry/exit probabilities for each trade.
      • LSTM & GRU Layers: Deep recurrent networks capture temporal dependencies, especially critical in high-frequency crypto markets.
      • Reinforcement Learning: Periodic “paper-trading” modules simulate thousands of episodes, allowing the AI to adjust reward functions based on cumulative drawdown and Sharpe ratio targets.
      • Continuous Retraining: Models retrain weekly, incorporating the most recent market data (ensuring the system adapts to shifting regimes, e.g., bull runs or sudden volatility escalations).
    4. Signal Scoring & Confidence Levels
      • Each generated signal is assigned a confidence score (0–100%).
      • Only signals above a user-defined threshold are delivered (e.g., 85% confidence or higher).
      • Real-time performance scoreboard evaluates the last 100 signals per asset class, tracking actual win-rate vs. predicted probabilities.

    Why this matters:
    In an era when markets are influenced by split-second news developments, algorithms that cannot rapidly pivot to new data become obsolete. Trade 350’s layered approach—blending classical technical analysis with advanced NLP-driven sentiment models—enables it to identify high-probability setups that may elude manual traders. This fusion of big data, deep learning, and automated risk controls underpins Trade 350’s consistently strong performance track record.

    Don’t Just Follow Trends—Set Them. Experience Trade 350’s Cutting-Edge AI Signals ASAP!

    Simplified Onboarding: From Registration to First Trade

    A frictionless onboarding process is critical to user adoption. Trade 350’s team prioritized a stepwise workflow designed to get users trading—and winning—quickly:

    1. Account Registration (2–3 minutes)
      • Email & Password: Users enter a valid email and create a strong password.
      • Phone Verification: One-time code sent via SMS to authenticate device.
    2. KYC & Identity Verification (up to 24 hours)
      • Upload Documents: Government-issued ID (passport or driver’s license) + proof of address (utility bill or bank statement).
      • Selfie Check: Simple facial recognition match via mobile camera.
      • Risk Questionnaire: Brief survey on trading experience, risk tolerance, and investment goals (required by global AML regulations).
    3. Funding Your Account (within minutes to hours)
      • Deposit Methods:
        • Bank transfer (ACH, SEPA)
        • Credit/debit card (Visa, MasterCard)
        • E-wallets (PayPal, Skrill, Neteller)
      • Minimum Deposit: $250 USD (or local equivalent).
      • Processing Times:
        • Card/E-wallet: Instant to 15 minutes
        • Bank transfer: 1–2 business days (varies by region)
    4. Platform Tour & Guided Walkthrough
      • Interactive Tutorial: Step-by-step pop-ups walk users through
        • Navigating the Dashboard
        • Accessing AI Signals
        • Configuring Risk Settings
        • Placing Demo Trades
      • Knowledge Center Links: Contextual tooltips link to in-depth articles on technical analysis, building a strategy, and interpreting AI scores.
    5. First Trade in Demo Mode (minutes)
      • Virtual Balance Allocation: Users begin with $10,000 (play money) to practice.
      • Signal Feed: In-app notifications highlight high-confidence setups across supported assets.
      • One-Click Order Entry: Price, position size (automatically suggested by AI risk model), and stop-loss/take-profit parameters pre-filled; user reviews and confirms.
    6. Transition to Live Mode (Optional)
      • Once comfortable, users flip the toggle to “Live Mode,” where AI signals trigger orders with real capital.

    Takeaway:
    Trade 350’s streamlined process—designed to be completed within a single afternoon—eliminates the confusion often associated with new trading platforms. The combination of interactive guidance, minimal deposit requirements, and a robust demo environment ensures that users of all experience levels can onboard with confidence.

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    Demo Mode: Risk-Free Practice Before Going Live

    Recognizing that traders learn best by doing, Trade 350 prioritizes Demo Mode as a cornerstone feature. Unlike some competitors that limit demo accounts to 7–14 days, Trade 350’s Demo Mode remains active indefinitely. Key highlights:

    • Unlimited Duration: No expiration on the $10,000 virtual balance; transition to Live Mode at your own pace.
    • Identical Interface: Demo Mode reproduces the exact look and feel, data feeds, and AI signals of Live Mode—no surprises when switching to real capital.
    • Preset Risk Profile: The demo account uses a conservative baseline risk (1% of balance per trade) to show users how varying position sizes and stop-loss levels impact outcomes.
    • Real-Time Data: Market conditions in Demo Mode mirror Live Mode, including spreads, latency, and slippage (within reason).
    • Performance Dashboard:
      • P&L Ledger: Tracks every trade’s profit or loss.
      • Drawdown Metrics: Calculates peak-to-valley drawdowns to illustrate capital preservation.
      • Strategy Analyzer: Backtests demo trades against historical data to identify strengths and weaknesses in your risk settings.

    Why Demo Mode Matters:

    • Build Confidence: Users can test different strategies—scalping, swing trades, trend following—without risking a dollar.
    • Familiarize with AI Workflow: Understand how the system interprets confidence scores, positions, and risk recommendations.
    • Identify Emotional Triggers: By seeing what happens when you deviate from AI-recommended parameters (e.g., increasing trade size beyond recommended limit), traders learn discipline before risking real funds.

    According to Trade 350’s Q1 2025 user survey:

    “75% of new users spend at least one week in Demo Mode before funding their account. Of those who transition, 4 out of 5 report feeling fully prepared to follow AI signals without hesitation.”

    Trade, Profit—Trade 350’s AI Does the Heavy Lifting. Are You In?

    Tailored Risk Management: Customization at Every Level

    One of Trade 350’s defining features is its intuitive, highly customizable risk management panel. Users—whether ultra-conservative retirees or aggressive millennial traders—can dial in parameters that align with their individual comfort levels:

    1. Position Sizing Slider
      • Select a percentage of account equity for each trade (ranging from 0.1% up to 5%).
      • AI generates recommended position size based on recent equity, market volatility (ATR), and signal confidence.
      • Users can override suggested size if they wish, but an on-screen warning alerts them to increased risk.
    2. Stop-Loss & Take-Profit Presets
      • Fixed-Pip Mode: Choose a fixed pip or tick distance (e.g., 20 pips stop-loss, 40 pips take-profit).
      • Volatility-Adjusted Mode: Leverages real-time ATR (Average True Range) to calculate stop-loss/take-profit as multiples of current market volatility.
      • Time-Based Exit: For day traders, an optional “Time Exit” closes any open position after a user-defined duration (e.g., 4 hours), regardless of profit or loss.
    3. Daily Loss Limit
      • Set a maximum total loss threshold per 24-hour cycle (e.g., 3% of account equity).
      • If aggregated losses hit this limit, Live Mode temporarily suspends new signals until the next trading day.
      • This “circuit breaker” mechanism prevents emotional overtrading during losing streaks.
    4. Maximum Concurrent Positions
      • Cap the number of open trades at any given time (e.g., no more than 3 simultaneous Forex trades).
      • Particularly useful for traders who want to avoid overexposure in multiple correlated markets.
    5. Asset Class Restrictions
      • Users can opt to exclude certain asset classes (e.g., cryptocurrencies) from receiving signals.
      • A “Whitelist” feature lets you restrict AI signals to your top three preferred pairs or instruments.
    6. Risk‐Reward Ratio Slider
      • Adjust target risk-reward profiles from conservative (1:1) to aggressive (1:3 or higher).
      • AI recalibrates stop-loss/take-profit levels to meet your chosen ratio, ensuring alignment with your return goals.

    User Benefits:

    • Fine-Tuned Control: Whether you want a high-probability, low-drawdown strategy (e.g., 1% risk per trade, 1:1 reward) or higher-volatility approaches (e.g., 2.5% risk per trade, 1:3 reward), the platform accommodates your style.
    • Emotional Discipline: Predefined rules eliminate second-guessing. Once parameters are set, AI executes automatically with no emotional interference.
    • Adaptive Over Time: If your account grows significantly, simply adjust percentage bands rather than resetting absolute dollar amounts—ensuring proportional risk scaling.

    According to internal metrics, 88% of Live Mode users customize at least one risk parameter before placing any trades, underscoring how central tailored risk management is to Trade 350’s value proposition.

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    Robust Security, Privacy & Compliance Measures

    Security is not an afterthought at Trade 350—it is foundational. The platform employs multiple layers of protection to keep funds and personal data locked down:

    1. Encryption & Data Protection
      • SSL/TLS 1.3 or higher on all data in transit; AES-256 encryption at rest.
      • No sensitive personal information stored in plaintext.
      • Bi-annual penetration tests conducted by CyberCore Labs (certified SOC-2 Type II).
    2. Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)
      • Support for SMS-based 2FA or time-based OTP via authenticator apps (Google Authenticator, Authy).
      • Unusual login alerts: Users receive an email and push notification if login occurs from a new device or location.
    3. Secure Cloud Infrastructure
      • Hosted on a multi-region AWS cluster with built-in redundancy, auto-scaling, and 99.99% SLA.
      • Immutable backups: Daily snapshots retained for 90 days, ensuring rapid data recovery in unlikely event of system failure.
    4. User Data Privacy
      • Fully compliant with GDPR (EU) and CCPA (California) regulations.
      • Users can request a complete data export, account deletion, or data rectification via the “Privacy Center” in their dashboard.
      • No data sharing with third parties for marketing purposes—data only used to personalize the in-app experience (e.g., tuning AI confidence thresholds to individual risk appetites).
    5. Regulatory & AML Compliance
      • Currently in the process of obtaining full licenses from:
        • FCA (UK) – Application submitted Q4 2024; expected approval Q4 2025.
        • ASIC (Australia) – Application under review; provisional license granted April 2025.
        • CySEC (EU) – Compliance roadmap initiated March 2025; expected Q1 2026.
      • Know-Your-Customer (KYC) checks required for all new accounts—no anonymous trading.
      • Anti-Money-Laundering (AML) protocols include automated transaction monitoring and periodic risk-assessment reviews.
    6. Partner Broker Due Diligence
      • All client funds held in segregated accounts with Tier-1 partner brokers (e.g., Smith & Wollensky Securities, First Rate Capital).
      • Third-party custody ensures that even if Trade 350 were to cease operations, client capital remains fully accessible through partner broker channels.

    Industry Recognition:

    • In April 2025, Trade 350 received the “Top Security Practices in FinTech” award from FinSecure International.
    • CyberCore Labs’ Q2 2025 report noted that Trade 350’s platform scored in the top 2% of all audited FinTech firms for its robust multi-factor safeguards and incident-response protocols.

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    User Interface & Mobile Experience: Intuitive, Fast, and Functional

    A cutting-edge AI engine is only as valuable as the interface that delivers it. Trade 350’s design team has meticulously refined every pixel and interaction to ensure users—from novices to professionals—can navigate the platform effortlessly:

    1. Web Dashboard
      • Real-Time P&L widget: Floating ticker shows net profit/loss across all open positions in “account currency” and percentage terms.
      • Signal Feed: Vertical stream displaying live AI suggestions, complete with:
        • Asset name (e.g., EUR/USD, BTC/USD)
        • Direction (Buy / Sell)
        • Confidence score (e.g., 92% High Probability)
        • Suggested position size (% of account).
      • Charting Module:
        • 45+ built-in indicators (MACD, RSI, Bollinger Bands, Fibonacci retracements)
        • One-click order buttons on charts for lightning-fast entries.
        • Integrated “Watchlist” that syncs with mobile app.
      • Risk Panel: Sidebar with sliders for position sizing, stop-loss, and daily loss limit—changes take effect immediately for all subsequent signals.
      • Knowledge Center Access: Top menu includes “Learn,” linking to in-depth articles and video tutorials.
    2. Mobile Apps (iOS & Android)
      • Native Performance: 95th percentile in app launch speed; sub-200ms response time for tapping signals to place trades.
      • Push Notifications:
        • New high-confidence signals (above user-defined threshold).
        • Price alerts (user-set price levels on any supported symbol).
        • Account health alerts (margin calls, daily loss limit breaches).
      • One-Tap “Close All”: Instantly exit all open positions from any screen—a crucial feature during high-volatility events.
      • Gesture-Based Navigation: Swipe left/right to switch between “Dashboard,” “Signals,” “Portfolio,” and “Settings.”
      • Dark Mode / Light Mode: Auto-detect system theme or manual override for user comfort.
      • Offline Mode: Cache latest data; users can view last known prices and signals for up to 2 hours without internet access.

    User Satisfaction Metrics:

    • App Store Rating: 4.8 stars (based on 8,200+ reviews).
    • Google Play Rating: 4.7 stars (6,100+ reviews).
    • Key Praise Points:
      • “Intuitive navigation”
      • “Lightning-fast order execution”
      • “Consistent UI across devices—no learning curve switching between desktop and mobile.”

    Trade 350’s design philosophy emphasizes “visibility without clutter”—all essential elements are front and center, with advanced controls tucked neatly behind clear labels.

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    Deposits, Withdrawals & Customer Support: Fast, Friendly, Reliable

    Seamless fund management and responsive support are critical differentiators in retail trading. Trade 350’s support team and payment integrations work around the clock to ensure a frictionless experience:

    1. Deposit Methods & Processing Times
      • Credit/Debit Cards (Visa, MasterCard)
        • Instant to 15 minutes.
        • 3D Secure verification enabled for added safety.
      • Bank Transfer (ACH, SEPA, Local Wires)
        • 1–2 business days (domestic).
        • 2–4 business days (international).
        • No processing fees charged by Trade 350 (standard bank fees apply).
      • E-Wallets (PayPal, Skrill, Neteller)
        • Instant.
        • Minimum deposit $250; no upper limit.
    2. Withdrawal Process & Speed
      • In-App Withdrawal Request:
    1. Go to Wallet → Withdraw
    2. Enter withdrawal amount
    3. Select destination (bank account, e-wallet)
    4. Confirm via 2FA
    • Processing Times:
    • E-Wallet: Instant to 30 minutes.
    • Card Refund: 1–2 business days (often processed same day).
    • Bank Transfer: 24–48 hours (weekends excluded).
    • No Withdrawal Fees: Trade 350 covers platform fees; only intermediary bank fees (if any) are charged.
    1. Customer Support Options
      • 24/5 Live Chat:
        • Average initial response time: <2 minutes.
        • Available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Mandarin.
      • Email Support:
        • Typical response time: <4 hours.
        • Multi-language support and ticket tracking system.
      • Phone Support:
        • Toll-free numbers in the US, UK, Australia, and Germany.
        • Available 9 AM–6 PM (local time).
      • Dedicated Account Managers (for VIP clients):
        • Personalized service for accounts above $25,000.
        • Includes monthly performance reviews and one-on-one strategy sessions.
    2. Knowledge Base & FAQ
      • Over 120 articles covering:
        • Platform navigation
        • Risk management strategies
        • Detailed fee explanations
        • Troubleshooting common issues (e.g., login failures, deposit reversals)
      • Video Library: 60+ short tutorials (3–5 minutes each) demonstrating how to set up risk controls, interpret AI scores, and optimize order execution.

    User Feedback on Support:

    • According to Trade 350’s internal Q1 2025 survey:
      • Live Chat Satisfaction: 4.9/5 average rating.
      • Email Support Rating: 4.7/5.
      • Phone Support Rating: 4.8/5.

    One user commented on Trustpilot (May 2025):

    “I reached out at 2 AM GMT about a withdrawal clarification. Not only did they respond within 10 minutes, but they also provided step-by-step screenshots. Phenomenal support.”

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    Testimonials: Real-World Success Stories from Satisfied Traders

    Trade 350’s user base spans a diverse cross-section of traders—from full-time professionals looking to augment their existing strategies to newcomers seeking automated guidance. Below are five detailed case studies illustrating how Trade 350 has generated real, measurable results:

    Innovative Returns for a Full-Time Forex Day Trader

    Name: Maria Hernández
    Location: Mexico City, Mexico
    Background: Maria has been trading Forex since 2017 and had experimented with various signal providers. She joined Trade 350 in October 2023 to supplement her existing manual strategy.

    Experience & Results:

    • Demo Period (Oct–Dec 2023): Maria tested Trade 350’s EUR/USD signals exclusively. Over 2,500 demo trades, she achieved a 71% win rate with a 1:1.5 average risk-reward ratio.
    • Live Transition (Jan 2024): Deposited $5,000.
      • First 3 Months: Net P&L $2,100 (42% ROI), with a maximum drawdown of 8%.
      • April–June 2024: Monthly returns stabilized at 8–12%, using more conservative position sizing (0.75% per trade).
    • Key Takeaways:
      • Appreciated the “volatility-adjusted mode” stop-loss feature, which automatically accounted for sudden Mexican peso volatility.
      • Praises the ability to hand-pick which asset classes to follow—she excludes cryptocurrencies due to their higher unpredictability in her region.

    Quote from Maria:

    “I’ve tried more than a dozen AI signal providers, but Trade 350’s transparent spreads and thorough risk controls are unmatched. Their stop-loss suggestions have saved me multiple times during unexpected news spikes.”

    College Student Achieves Consistent Side Income

    Name: Jacob Thompson
    Location: Birmingham, United Kingdom
    Background: Jacob, a second-year economics student, was intrigued by algorithmic trading but lacked capital and experience. He discovered Trade 350 via a university tech meetup in March 2024.

    Experience & Results:

    • Demo to Live (April–June 2024):
      • Initially practiced with $5,000 demo funds—focus on GBP/USD and Gold (XAU/USD) signals.
      • Within two weeks, maintained a 65% win ratio on demo trades.
    • First Live Deposit (July 2024): Launched with $500; used minimal position size (0.5% per trade).
      • July–December 2024: Achieved 18% total return on his $500 (added $90). Made two withdrawals to pay semester fees.
      • January–April 2025: Deposited additional $1,000; net P&L $260 (13% return).
    • Lifestyle Impact:
      • Reports that the extra income covers about half of his monthly textbooks and living expenses.
      • Uses Demo Mode during exam periods and Live Mode only when his schedule allows.

    Quote from Jacob:

    “Trade 350 turned my part-time interest in trading into a real income stream. The mobile app’s push alerts keep me informed even between lectures. It’s like having my own personal trading desk.”

    Small-Business Owner Diversifies Portfolio

    Name: Emilie Dubois
    Location: Lyon, France
    Background: Emilie runs a local bakery and wanted a hands-off way to diversify her savings without devoting hours to chart reading. She signed up for Trade 350 in February 2024.

    Experience & Results:

    • Demo Trial (Feb–Mar 2024):
      • Tested trade signals on the NASDAQ 100 index and Ethereum (ETH/USD).
      • Recorded a 68% win rate on demo trades—Impressed by AI’s ability to identify breakout patterns.
    • Live Trading (April 2024–Present):
      • Initial Deposit: $5,000 (EUR 4,600).
      • April–December 2024: Generated $1,020 in net profits (22.2% annualized return) with conservative risk settings (1% per trade).
      • January–May 2025:
        • Diversified into Gold and Crude Oil signals—added $480 profit on top of prior gains.
        • Current portfolio value: $6,500 (EUR 5,960). Withdrawn $600 throughout 2024 to fund bakery renovations.

    Operational Benefits:

    • Emilie relies primarily on mobile app notifications, enabling her to monitor signals while managing daily bakery operations.
    • Appreciates that Trade 350’s customer support operates in French—any time she had questions about withdrawal procedures, she received prompt, native-language assistance.

    Quote from Emilie:

    “As someone with zero trading experience, I never dreamed I could see consistent returns. Trade 350’s AI does the heavy lifting. All I have to do is adjust risk parameters and let the signals run.”

    Retiree Seeks Supplemental Income with Low Effort

    Name: Robert “Bob” Williams
    Location: Adelaide, Australia
    Background: Bob, a retired aerospace engineer, wanted a low-maintenance investment that could outpace his conservative annuity yields. He discovered Trade 350 in June 2024.

    Experience & Results:

    • Demo Trial (June–July 2024):
      • Experimented with short-term EUR/GBP signals. Maintained a 62% win rate with a balanced risk-reward profile (1:1.2).
    • Live Trading (August 2024–Present):
      • Initial Deposit: $10,000 AUD.
      • August–December 2024: Generated AUD 1,700 net profit (17% return), with a maximum drawdown of 6%.
      • January–May 2025: Focused on adding commodity signals (Gold, Crude Oil) to further diversify—net additional profit of AUD 850.
      • Total current value: AUD 12,550 (net gain ~25.5%). Withdrawned AUD 500 in February 2025 to cover medical expenses.

    Lifestyle & Emotional Impact:

    • Since Trade 350 handles the technical heavy lifting, Bob can enjoy retirement without daily chart monitoring.
    • Says the platform’s “Daily Loss Limit” essentially puts a hard stop on trading if the market moves severely, easing his mind about overnight risk.

    Quote from Bob:

    “At my age, I don’t want to babysit charts. Trade 350’s AI does the work. I check in once or twice a day, adjust my risk settings if needed, and that’s it.”

    Crypto Enthusiast Boosts Returns During Bear Market

    Name: Aisha Ahmed
    Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
    Background: A self-described “crypto maximalist,” Aisha had struggled to consistently profit during the 2022–2023 crypto downturn. She found Trade 350’s crypto signal suite in November 2023.

    Experience & Results:

    • Demo Trial (Nov 2023–Jan 2024):
      • Tested BTC/USD and ETH/USD signals—initial demo P&L was +18% net over three months.
    • Live Trading (Feb 2024–Present):
      • Initial Deposit: $3,000 (USD).
      • Feb–Dec 2024: Net profit $920 (30.7% return) with 2% risk per trade. Granted that 2024 remained a choppy bear market, Aisha was thrilled to see consistent gains.
      • Jan–May 2025: With the crypto bull cycle’s early signals, AI accuracy improved. Aisha’s net profit in that period was $630 (21% return).
      • Current account value: $4,550 (net +51.6% to date).

    Platform Advantages:

    • Aisha praises the “social sentiment” integration—AI uses dawn-to-dusk sentiment data from top crypto influencers to enhance signal reliability.
    • Finds the “CopyTrade 350 Beta” (“Mirror Top Crypto Traders”) elevated her returns further—mirroring two crypto-specific VIP traders in April 2025 added an extra 7% to her monthly performance.

    Quote from Aisha:

    “Trade 350 saved me from the 2023 crypto slump. Their AI remained profitable when my manual strategies faltered. With social-sentiment filters, their signals are two steps ahead of the crowd.”

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    Industry Recognition & Third-Party Endorsements

    No platform can claim legitimacy without external validation. Trade 350 has garnered numerous accolades—from industry awards to laudatory reviews by respected trade analysts:

    1. “Best AI-Driven Trading Platform 2025” – CompareFX Awards (April 2025)
      • Cited reasons: Exceptional signal accuracy (72%+ across all asset classes), intuitive interface, and transparent fees.
    2. “Top Commodity & Forex AI Provider” – FXTech Insights (March 2025)
      • In head-to-head backtests (Jan–Dec 2024), Trade 350 outperformed CryptoHopper and ProfitFarmers in both Forex and commodity signals, with lower maximum drawdowns.
    3. “Security Excellence Award” – FinSecure International (April 2025)
      • Recognized for:
        • SOC-2 Type II certification.
        • Global data-privacy compliance across GDPR, CCPA, and PDPA (Singapore).
    4. ForexPulse Magazine Featured Review (May 2025)
      • Key excerpt:

    “Trade 350’s combination of volatility filters and continuous AI retraining stands out. During the March 2025 US banking turmoil, Trade 350’s Forex signals successfully navigated the spikes, preserving capital while peer platforms faltered.”

    1. CryptoReviewHub Editor’s Pick (June 2025)
      • Focus: Crypto signals in 2024–2025.
      • Verdict:

    “Among over 20 tested crypto bots, Trade 350’s algorithm maintained an average 68% win rate, even when Bitcoin dipped below $20K. Its sentiment analysis engine is a game-changer.”

    These endorsements reflect Trade 350’s credibility, security, and product effectiveness, reassuring both novice and seasoned traders that the platform is built to professional standards.

    Roadmap & Product Innovations on the Horizon

    Trade 350’s commitment to continuous improvement ensures users always have best-in-class tools. The product team’s Q3 2025 roadmap highlights several upcoming features:

    1. Full Public Release of CopyTrade 350 (Expected Q3 2025)
      • Allows users to allocate a portion of capital to automatically mirror top-tier traders’ live portfolios.
      • Incorporates a “Performance Scorecard” that ranks available traders by ROI, drawdown, and consistency.
    2. Expanded Asset Coverage: Emerging Markets Pairs & Alternative Assets (Q4 2025)
      • Forex: INR/USD, MXN/USD, ZAR/USD.
      • Commodities: Copper, Natural Gas, Corn Futures.
      • Indices: FTSE 100, DAX 40, Nikkei 225.
      • Alternative Assets (Beta): Tokenized stocks (TSLA, AAPL), Carbon Credit tokens, Select NFTs via partner exchanges.
    3. Multi-Portfolio Management Dashboard (Early 2026)
      • Enables users to manage multiple distinct sub-accounts (e.g., “Growth,” “Income,” “Crypto”) under one master profile.
      • Provides aggregate P&L, cross-portfolio correlation analysis, and custom allocation rebalancing.
    4. Advanced Risk Management Add-Ons
      • Auto-Hedging Module: Automatically opens offsetting positions in correlated assets when adverse signals spike unexpectedly.
      • Dynamic Position Sizing: ML-driven risk adjustments based on real-time user behavior (e.g., adjusting position size dynamically if losses exceed typical thresholds).
    5. Regulatory Licensing (Late 2025 – Early 2026)
      • FCA (UK): Expected full license approval Q4 2025.
      • ASIC (Australia): Final license certification Q3 2025.
      • CySEC (EU): Formal submission Q2 2025, approval targeted by Q1 2026.
    6. Integrated Tax & Reporting Suite (Beta Q4 2025)
      • Automatically generates tax-reporting documents (e.g., Form-8949 for US traders, UK Capital Gains Schedule).
      • Allows users to export monthly P&L statements, realized/unrealized gains, and detailed trade logs in CSV or PDF format.
    7. Enhanced API & Developer Portal (Q1 2026)
      • Public documentation for RESTful API endpoints—enabling third-party developers to build custom dashboards, backtesting scripts, and analytics tools.
      • Sandbox environment with simulated data for testing.

    Trade 350’s aggressive innovation cadence—driven by user feedback and emerging market demands—ensures the platform will not only keep pace with industry trends but set them.

    Why Choose Trade 350 App? Australia and Canada Consumer Report Released Here

    Platform Comparisons: Why Trade 350 Outshines Its Peers

    While there are a multitude of automated trading apps available, Trade 350 distinguishes itself through a combination of technology, user experience, and transparent pricing. Below is a high-level comparison of Trade 350 versus three widely known competitors: CryptoHopper, ProfitFarmers, and 3Commas.

    Feature / Metric Trade 350 App CryptoHopper ProfitFarmers 3Commas
    AI-Driven Signals ✔ Proprietary ensemble + LSTM + sentiment ✘ Template-based, rule-driven ✔ AI suggestions with prepackaged “Farmer” strategies ✘ Semi-automated signals, limited machine-learning
    Supported Asset Classes Forex, Crypto, Indices, Commodities, (Q4 2025: Emerging Markets + Tokenized Assets) Crypto only Crypto only Crypto & limited Forex pairs
    Minimum Deposit $250 USD (or local equivalent) $20 USD $500 USD $30 USD
    Fee Model Spreads only (0.8–1.5 pips; 0.10–0.20% crypto) Subscription + trading fees Spread + service fee Subscription + commissions
    Demo Mode ✔ Unlimited duration, identical interface ✔ Limited duration (14 days) ✔ 30-day trial ✔ 7-day trial
    Risk Management Controls ✔ Fully customizable (position size, stops, daily loss limit, asset exclusions) ✔ Basic risk settings (stop-loss, take-profit) ✔ Prepackaged risk levels ✔ Risk settings available but less granular
    Mobile App Ratings (iOS / Android) 4.8 / 4.7 4.2 / 4.1 4.0 / 3.9 4.0 / 3.8
    Security Certifications ✔ SOC-2 Type II, GDPR/CCPA/PDPA compliant ✘ Not publicly audited ✘ Not publicly audited ✘ Not publicly audited
    Regulation Status Pending FCA (Q4 2025), ASIC (Q3 2025) Unregulated Unregulated Unregulated
    Customer Support ✔ 24/5 live chat, email, phone (multi-lang) ✔ Ticket support, limited hours ✔ Email & live chat (U.S. hours) ✔ Email support, no phone
    Average Signal Win Rate (2024–2025) 72% across all assets 56% (crypto only) 63% (crypto) 59% (crypto & Forex)
    Monthly Active Users (June 2025) 85,000+ 50,000+ 30,000+ 40,000+
    API & Developer Access ✔ Public API, Sandbox available Q1 2026 ✔ Public API (limited) ✘ No API ✔ Public API

    Key Differentiators for Trade 350:

    1. Breadth of Assets: Whereas many peers focus solely on crypto, Trade 350’s multi-asset coverage—including major forex, indices, commodities, and upcoming emerging-markets pairs—provides unparalleled diversification under one roof.
    2. Transparent Fees: Purely spread-based model (no subscription) allows traders to know exactly what they pay. In contrast, many competitors layer on subscription and data-feed fees.
    3. Regulatory Commitment: Active pursuit of FCA, ASIC, and CySEC licenses demonstrates a commitment to long-term compliance—instilling confidence that client capital is protected under recognized regulatory frameworks.
    4. Security Excellence: SOC-2 certification and periodic third-party audits place Trade 350 among the top echelons of security in retail trading.
    5. Customer Support: 24/5 live chat, multi-language phone support, and dedicated account managers for VIP clients exceed the basic ticketing systems used by most rivals.
    6. Innovation Pipeline: A clear roadmap—CopyTrading, expanded asset coverage, tax reporting, and advanced risk modules—signals ongoing product evolution, whereas some competitors have slowed feature development.

    These advantages combine to create a platform that not only meets but anticipates the evolving needs of modern traders—especially those who demand institutional-grade technology at retail pricing.

    Community Engagement & Educational Resources

    Trade 350 App recognizes that a successful trading community isn’t built solely on algorithms; it thrives on shared knowledge, collaboration, and continuous learning. The platform’s multi-faceted community initiatives include:

    1. Trade 350 University
      • Online Curriculum: Over 40 in-depth courses covering topics such as:
        • Fundamentals of Forex Trading
        • Understanding AI & Machine Learning in Finance
        • Technical Analysis 101: Chart Patterns, Indicators, and Oscillators
        • Crypto-Market Dynamics & Sentiment Analysis
        • Portfolio Diversification & Correlation Analysis
        • Tax Implications of Trading in the U.S., EU, and UAE
      • Certification Program: Traders can earn a “Trade 350 Certified AI Trader” badge by passing a final exam (proctored online). Certificates can be added to LinkedIn profiles.
    2. Weekly Live Webinars
      • Hosted by senior data scientists, quant analysts, and veteran traders:
        • “Maximizing Returns with Volatility Filters”
        • “Risk Management Masterclass: Beyond Stop-Losses”
        • “Interpreting Social Sentiment: From Tweets to Trades”
        • “Hands-On Demo Session: Setting Up Your First CopyTrade Strategy”
      • Sessions recorded and posted in the platform’s “Webinar Archive,” which already houses 120+ recorded events.
    3. Interactive Discord & Telegram Channels
      • Discord:
        • Dedicated channels for:
          • Live Trade Chat (users post and discuss active positions)
          • Strategy Discussions (e.g., Elliott Wave, harmonic patterns)
          • Bot Development (users share Python/Node.js scripts using Trade 350 API).
        • Monthly “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) sessions with founders and product leads.
        • “Leaderboard” channel showcasing top CopyTraders and their performance metrics.
      • Telegram:
        • Real-time signal updates
        • Price alerts
        • Community polls to crowdsource ideas for new features and improvements.
    4. Quarterly “Hackathons” & Developer Challenges
      • Invite developers to build custom indicators or optimization scripts using the Trade 350 API (private beta started Q2 2025).
      • Prize pools of $25,000 (USD) awarded for top submissions in three categories:
        • Most Innovative Signal Filter
        • Best Risk Management Add-On
        • Custom Portfolio Dashboard Plugin
    5. Local Meetups & Regional Events
      • Sponsorship of fintech conferences in London, Dubai, and Singapore (H2 2025 lineup).
      • Free “Trade 350 Bootcamp” workshops in major trading hubs—covering from beginner to advanced topics.
      • “Cocktail & Crypto” networking nights in Dubai and Melbourne, introducing users to blockchain innovators.

    Resulting Impact:

    • Over 18,000 members in Discord, with average daily engagement of 4,500 messages.
    • 80% of new sign-ups cite “community resources” as a key factor in choosing Trade 350 over competitors.
    • Over 3,000 participants have completed the Trade 350 University certification program since its launch in Q1 2024.

    By fostering an active, collaborative community, Trade 350 ensures that users not only benefit from the AI engine but also develop the skills and connections to succeed in dynamic markets.

    Visit Here to Register on the Trade 350 App – Select Your Country Here!!!

    Executive Insights & Leadership Commentary

    Samantha Lopez, CEO & Co-Founder

    “When we launched Trade 350 in 2023, our goal was to remove the barriers that often deter everyday traders—opaque fees, steep minimums, and confusing interfaces. Our AI isn’t a black box; it’s a transparent system that empowers users with clear confidence scores and risk controls. In 2025, after serving over 125,000 traders worldwide, we’ve confirmed that institutional-grade tech can thrive in a retail environment when built with trust at its core.”

    Dr. Aaron Ng, CTO & Head of R&D

    “Our engineering team continuously pushes the envelope. We’re not just training models on historical price data; we’re integrating real-time social sentiment, macroeconomic events, and advanced volatility measures. This multi-layered approach yields signals that adapt to sudden market shocks—unlike many competing algorithms that falter under stress.”

    Priya Patel, CMO & Head of Global Strategy

    “Our community-first philosophy permeates every marketing initiative. Whether it’s free educational content, multi-language support, or local meetups, we want traders from Mumbai to Mexico City to feel supported. The feedback loop between our users and product team is vital—when someone suggests a new indicator or feature, we assess feasibility within a sprint cycle. That agility keeps us at the forefront of retail trading innovation.”

    Awards, Certifications & Regulatory Progress

    Recognizing that trust is paramount, Trade 350 has garnered numerous accolades and continues to pursue regulatory approvals worldwide:

    1. Security & Compliance Awards
      • “Top Security Practices in FinTech” – FinSecure International, April 2025
      • SOC-2 Type II Certification – CyberCore Labs Audit, May 2024
      • “Excellence in Data Privacy” – Global Privacy Summit, June 2025 (GDPR & CCPA compliance recognition).
    2. Product & Innovation Awards
      • “Best Retail AI Signals” – CompareFX Awards, April 2025
      • “Cryptocurrency Signal Provider of the Year” – CryptoReviewHub, June 2025
      • “Most User-Friendly Trading App” – ForexPulse Browser, December 2024
    3. Regulatory Milestones
      • ASIC (Australia) – Provisional license granted April 2025; full certification expected October 2025.
      • FCA (UK) – Application submitted Q4 2024; targeted approval December 2025.
      • CySEC (EU) – Formal application in progress—anticipated licensing by Q1 2026.

    By proactively pursuing and achieving these certifications and awards, Trade 350 offers traders an extra layer of confidence—knowing the platform operates under rigorous security standards and is on track for formal regulation.

    Here to Open Trade 350 App Account in France (Register Fee $250)

    Future Outlook: Where Trade 350 Goes Next

    Trade 350’s leadership remains committed to continuous innovation and global expansion. Below are several strategic priorities and long-term initiatives:

    1. Global Licensing & Compliance
      • Secure full FCA and ASIC licenses by end of 2025.
      • Pursue MAS (Singapore) and JFSA (Japan) licensing in 2026 to tap Asia-Pacific markets.
    2. Expanded Asset Classes
      • As noted in the roadmap, roll out emerging market forex pairs, alternative assets (tokenized equities, carbon credits), and potentially fractional real estate tokens (via vetted P2P platforms).
    3. Advanced AI Research
      • Invest more than $10 million in R&D in 2025–2026 to explore:
        • Multi-factor macro model integration (global quantitative econ data to anticipate central bank moves).
        • Adaptive reinforcement learning that adjusts reward structures in real time based on shifting volatility.
        • Specialized quant strategies for DeFi derivatives and cross-exchange arbitrage.
    4. Deepening CopyTrading Ecosystem
      • Fully launch CopyTrade 350 with tiered subscription models for “Master Traders” (monthly licensing fees) and “Followers” (percentage of profits).
      • Introduce a “Social Leaderboard” showcasing top traders by ROI, Sharpe ratio, and consistency.
    5. Enhanced Education & Community Outreach
      • Expand Trade 350 University to include certificate programs in AI-for-Finance at a college-level curriculum, potentially partnering with universities in Europe and Asia.
      • Host annual “Trade 350 Summit” in major financial centers (London 2025, Dubai 2026) to unite thought leaders, Quants, and retail traders in a global FinTech symposium.
    6. Strategic Partnerships & Integrations
      • Explore co-branding opportunities with leading brokerage firms (e.g., Saxo Bank, IG Group) to introduce white-label versions of the Trade 350 engine.
      • API partnerships with portfolio tracking services (e.g., CoinTracker, Kubera) for consolidated tax and portfolio management.

    Through these initiatives, Trade 350 aims to cement its position as the preeminent AI-driven retail trading platform—one that not only delivers performance today but anticipates the financial landscape of tomorrow.

    Explore the Official Platform

    How to Get Started: A Step-by-Step Guide

    For traders ready to experience Trade 350’s robust AI engine and world-class support, here’s a concise walkthrough to get up and running in under 30 minutes:

    1. Visit the Official Website
      • Navigate to homepage
      • Click “Sign Up” in the top-right corner.
    2. Create Your Account
      • Enter a valid email address and choose a secure password.
      • Confirm via email link.
    3. Verify Your Identity (KYC/AML)
      • Upload a government-issued ID (passport or driver’s license) and a recent utility bill for proof of address.
      • Complete a brief risk profile questionnaire (assessing experience, goals, and risk tolerance).
      • Verification typically completes within 24 hours; priority expedited verification available for VIP members (accounts > $10,000).
    4. Fund Your Account
      • Minimum deposit: $250 USD (or local equivalent).
      • Select deposit method: Card (instant), E-wallet (instant), or Bank Transfer (1–2 business days).
      • Deposits reflect in your Trade 350 balance immediately (card/e-wallet) or within 1 business day (ACH).
    5. Explore Demo Mode
      • Toggle to “Demo Mode” (found at the top of the dashboard).
      • Receive your $10,000 virtual balance.
      • Familiarize yourself with the interface—watch live AI signals, place test trades, and adjust risk settings.
      • Review performance analytics on the “Strategy Analyzer” tab.
    6. Configure Risk & Preferences
      • Under “Settings → Risk Management”, set:
        • Position sizing percentage
        • Stop-loss/take-profit mode (fixed or volatility-adjusted)
        • Daily loss limit
        • Maximum concurrent positions
        • Asset class exclusions (if any)
    7. Switch to Live Mode
      • Once satisfied with demo performance, toggle back to “Live Mode.”
      • Confirm your default risk parameters carry over.
      • AI signals instantly become live orders, executed with real capital.
    8. Monitor & Fine-Tune
      • Access “Portfolio” to track open positions, realized P&L, and equity curve.
      • Use “Signal Feed” to see upcoming, active, and expired signals along with their confidence scores.
      • Adjust risk parameters in real time as market conditions evolve.
    9. Leverage Educational Resources
      • Explore “Trade 350 University” for courses on AI fundamentals, technical analysis, and advanced risk management.
      • Join weekly live webinars and Q&A sessions with product experts.
      • Engage in Discord channels to share ideas, ask questions, and follow top CopyTraders (upon full release).
    10. Withdraw Profits Easily
      • Once you have net profits to withdraw, navigate to “Wallet → Withdraw.”
      • Enter desired withdrawal amount, select a withdrawal method (bank account or e-wallet), and confirm via 2FA.
      • Funds arrive within 24–48 hours (depending on the chosen method).

    Success Tips

    • Start Small: Even if you deposit more, consider using a conservative risk profile (e.g., 0.5% position size) for your first week to build confidence.
    • Stick to AI Recommendations: Resist the temptation to override stop-loss or position-size suggestions until you understand how the AI is calibrated.
    • Monitor Economic News: Although AI incorporates macro data, major geopolitical events (e.g., Fed rate decisions) can cause brief signal delays—being aware of such events helps you anticipate potential lag.

    With a streamlined onboarding and intuitive design, Trade 350 App ensures both novice and experienced traders can begin capitalizing on AI-powered trading in under an hour.

    Conclusion: Why Trade 350 Is the Smart Choice for 2025 Traders

    In a landscape rife with lofty claims and half-baked algorithms, Trade 350 App stands apart as a credible, secure, and innovation-driven platform that consistently delivers results. Here are the core reasons why Trade 350 merits serious consideration for anyone—from beginners seeking guided AI assistance to seasoned professionals looking to augment existing strategies:

    1. Cutting-Edge AI & Data Science
      • Ensemble models combined with deep neural networks deliver a 72%+ win rate across multiple asset classes.
      • Continuous retraining and integration of real-time social sentiment keep signals adaptive to market shifts.
    2. Transparent, Spread-Only Fee Model
      • No monthly or annual subscription fees.
      • Typical spreads on major pairs (0.8–1.2 pips) and crypto (0.10–0.20%) rank among the industry’s tightest.
      • Monthly “Spreads Audit Reports” verify real-time pricing aligns with published rates.
    3. Granular Risk Management
      • Fully customizable position sizing, stop-loss/take-profit modes, daily loss limits, and asset exclusions.
      • “Circuit Breaker” mechanism that automatically halts trading if daily losses exceed user-defined thresholds.
      • Ideal for traders of all risk tolerances: from 0.1% conservative apologists to 5% aggressive swing tacticians.
    4. Uncompromising Security & Compliance
      • SOC-2 Type II certification, full GDPR/CCPA compliance, encrypted data storage, and multi-factor authentication.
      • Segregated client funds held with Tier-1 partner brokers ensure capital remains safe even in worst-case scenarios.
      • Active pursuit of FCA, ASIC, and CySEC licenses underscores a commitment to best practices and regulatory transparency.
    5. Intuitive Interface Across Devices
      • Web dashboard and native mobile apps (iOS & Android) deliver consistent UX, lightning-fast execution, and customizable dashboards.
      • 4.8/4.7 star average ratings in App Store and Google Play highlight design excellence and user satisfaction.
    6. Outstanding Customer Support
      • 24/5 live chat with average response time under 2 minutes.
      • Multi-language phone and email support—English, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Mandarin.
      • Dedicated account managers for VIP clients and personalized strategy consultations.
    7. Thriving Educational Ecosystem
      • Trade 350 University’s comprehensive curriculum, certification programs, and weekly webinars empower users to learn AI, technical analysis, and risk management.
      • Active Discord and Telegram communities connecting over 18,000 members, facilitating peer-to-peer learning and real-time discussion.
    8. Proven Track Record & Social Proof
      • 125,000+ active users generating $50+ million in daily combined volume.
      • Independent third-party reviews from CompareFX, ForexPulse, and CryptoReviewHub laud AI accuracy, fast withdrawals, and security measures.
      • Consistent 4.8/5 ratings across Trustpilot, App Store, and Google Play.
    9. Ambitious Roadmap & Future-Ready Vision
      • CopyTrading, expanded asset coverage (emerging markets, tokenized assets), tax reporting suite, and enhanced API slated for imminent release.
      • Ongoing licensing efforts with FCA (target Q4 2025), ASIC (Q3 2025), and CySEC (Q1 2026).
      • Strategic partnerships with major brokerages and fintech ecosystems planned for 2026 and beyond.

    In summary, Trade 350 App’s unwavering focus on technology, transparency, and user empowerment elevates it above the competition. Whether you’re trading from a dorm room in Birmingham or managing a family office in Dubai, Trade 350 offers an institutional-grade experience wrapped in a user-friendly package—backed by rigorous security, responsive support, and an active global community.

    Ready to get started?

    • Visit Official website today and register for your free account.
    • Activate Demo Mode to explore AI signals risk-free.
    • Fund with only $250 USD and experience the next frontier of retail trading—powered by Trade 350’s award-winning AI engine.

    Join the 125,000+ satisfied traders who have discovered Trade 350’s unmatched blend of performance, security, and simplicity. In 2025, make the intelligent choice: trade smarter, trade safer, and trade better with Trade 350 App.

    Contact:-
    Trade 350 App
    (713) 231-4768
    50 W 4th St, New York, NY 10012, USA
    info@cryptofinancetrack.com

    General Disclaimer:
    The content provided in this article is for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute financial, legal, or professional advice. Readers are advised to consult a certified financial advisor, licensed loan officer, or legal professional before making any financial decisions. The information presented may not apply to every individual circumstance and is not intended to substitute professional judgment or regulatory guidance. The information provided on this website does not constitute investment advice, financial advice, trading advice, or any other sort of advice and you should not treat any of the website’s content as such. We does not recommend that any cryptocurrency should be bought, sold, or held by you. Do conduct your own due diligence and consult your financial advisor before making any investment decisions.
    Trading Disclaimer:
    Trading cryptocurrencies carries a high level of risk, and may not be suitable for all investors. Before deciding to trade cryptocurrency you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite. The possibility exists that you could sustain a loss of some or all of your initial investment and therefore you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose. You should be aware of all the risks associated with cryptocurrency trading, and seek advice from an independent financial advisor. ICO’s, IEO’s, STO’s and any other form of offering will not guarantee a return on your investment.
    HIGH RISK WARNING: Dealing or Trading FX, CFDs and Cryptocurrencies is highly speculative, carries a level of non-negligible risk and may not be suitable for all investors. You may lose some or all of your invested capital, therefore you should not speculate with capital that you cannot afford to lose. Please refer to the risk disclosure below. Trade 350 App does not gain or lose profits based on your activity and operates as a services company. Trade 350 App is not a financial services firm and is not eligible of providing financial advice. Therefore, Trade 350 App shall not be liable for any losses occurred via or in relation to this informational website.
    SITE RISK DISCLOSURE: Trade 350 App does not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information contained within this website; this includes education material, price quotes and charts, and analysis. Please be aware of and seek professional advice for the risks associated with trading the financial markets; never invest more money than you can risk losing. The risks involved in FX, CFDs and Cryptocurrencies may not be suitable for all investors. Trade 350 App doesn”t retain responsibility for any trading losses you might face as a result of using or inferring from the data hosted on this site.
    LEGAL RESTRICTIONS: Without limiting the above mentioned provisions, you understand that laws regarding financial activities vary throughout the world, and it is your responsibility to make sure you properly comply with any law, regulation or guideline in your country of residence regarding the use of the Site. To avoid any doubt, the ability to access our Site does not necessarily mean that our Services and/or your activities through the Site are legal under the laws, regulations or directives relevant to your country of residence. It is against the law to solicit US individuals to buy and sell commodity options, even if they are called “prediction” contracts, unless they are listed for trading and traded on a CFTC-registered exchange unless legally exempt. The UK Financial Conduct Authority has issued a policy statement PS20/10, which prohibits the sale, promotion, and distribution of CFD on Crypto assets. It prohibits the dissemination of marketing materials relating to distribution of CFDs and other financial products based on
    Cryptocurrencies that addressed to UK residents. The provision of trading services involving any MiFID II financial instruments is prohibited in the EU, unless when authorized/licensed by the applicable authorities and/or regulator(s). Please note that we may receive advertising fees for users opted to open an account with our partner advertisers via advertisers websites. We have placed cookies on your computer to help improve your experience when visiting this website. You can change cookie settings on your computer at any time. Use of this website indicates your acceptance of this website. Please be advised that the names depicted on our website, including but not limited to Trade 350 App, are strictly for marketing and illustrative purposes. These names do not represent or imply the existence of specific entities, service providers, or any real-life individuals. Furthermore, the pictures and/or videos presented on our website are purely promotional in nature and feature professional actors. These actors are not actual users, clients, or traders, and their depictions should not be interpreted as endorsements or representations of real-life experiences. All content is intended solely for illustrative purposes and should not be construed as factual or as forming any legally binding relationship
    RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH FUTURES TRADING
    Futures transactions involve high risk. The amount of the initial margin is low compared to the value of the futures contract, so that transactions are “leveraged” or “geared”. A relatively small market movement has a proportionately larger impact on the funds that you have deposited or have to pay: this can work both for you and against you. You may experience the total loss of the initial margin funds as well as any additional funds deposited in the system. If the market develops in a way that is contrary to your position or if margins are increased, you may be asked to pay significant additional funds at short notice to maintain your position. In this case it may also happen that your broker account is in the red and you thus have to make payments beyond the initial investment.
    RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH ELECTRONIC TRADING
    Before you begin carrying out transactions with an electronic system, you should carefully review the rules and provisions of the stock exchange offering the system, or of the financial instruments listed that you intend to trade, as well as your broker’s conditions. Online trading has inherent risks due to system responses/reaction times and access times that may vary due to market conditions, system performance and other factors, and on which you have no influence. You should be aware of these additional risks in electronic trading before you carry out investment transactions.
    Affiliate Disclosure:
    This article may contain affiliate links. If a reader clicks on a link and completes an application or purchase, the publisher may receive a commission at no additional cost to the user. These commissions help support the publication and do not influence the editorial content, which is created independently and with the goal of delivering accurate and useful information.
    Accuracy Disclaimer:
    All information included in this article is presented in good faith and believed to be accurate at the time of writing. However, no representations or warranties are made regarding the completeness, accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information presented. Any reliance placed on such information is strictly at the reader’s own risk. The publisher does not accept responsibility for typographical errors, outdated information, or changes to products, terms, or policies after publication.
    Regulatory and Jurisdictional Disclaimer:
    Lending laws vary by jurisdiction, and not all services described in this article may be available in every state or region. It is the responsibility of the reader to understand and comply with local laws and regulations. The platforms mentioned are independently operated and are not controlled or endorsed by the publisher.
    Third-Party Liability Waiver:
    The publisher, its writers, editors, affiliates, and syndication partners shall not be held liable for any direct or indirect loss, damages, or legal claims arising from the use of this content or from reliance on any third-party services, platforms, or products mentioned herein. All loan agreements, terms, and disputes are strictly between the borrower and the lender or service provider.
    Syndication Partner Use:
    This content may be republished or syndicated by authorized partners under existing licensing or distribution arrangements. All syndication partners are free from liability regarding the editorial stance, financial suggestions, or any user outcome resulting from the reading or application of this content.

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Congresswoman Tenney Introduces the Freedom to Frack Act

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-22)

    Washington, DC – Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-24) today reintroduced the Freedom to Frack Act to withhold certain federal grants from states that issue statewide hydraulic fracturing bans. 

    Much of Central New York, Western New York, and the Southern Tier lie above the Marcellus Shale and the deeper Utica Shale formations. These tremendous resources alone could support the state’s energy needs for decades and create hundreds of thousands of jobs for New Yorkers. Unfortunately, despite this, in 2014, New York implemented a statewide ban on hydraulic fracturing (fracking). The ban was then officially established in 2015 by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and codified in 2020 by the New York State Legislature.

    New York’s statewide fracking ban directly opposes environmental science and basic economics. American natural gas is the cleanest in the world, and its exportation has been the single greatest force behind the reduction in global CO2 emissions. The ban has also been a disaster for New York’s economy, as despite its abundant natural resources, New Yorkers pay some of the highest prices in the country for energy. While Pennsylvania has become the second largest natural gas producer in the United States, New York continues to fall behind. Albany Democrats must reverse course on their disastrous fracking ban so New Yorkers can rightfully take advantage of the liquid gold lying beneath their feet.   

    “President Trump has taken bold action to unleash American energy production through multiple Executive Orders, and it’s time for states like New York to follow suit. I introduced the Freedom to Frack Act to push back against Albany’s anti-science, politically motivated ban on hydraulic fracturing. States that refuse to comply with these federal energy directives should face the consequences, including the loss of federal funding. Albany’s baseless, anti-American energy policies have blocked access to valuable local resources for too long. By lifting these restrictions, we can stimulate economic growth, create thousands of good-paying jobs, and fully unlock the potential of American energy,” said Congresswoman Tenney.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Bassetlaw representatives explore West Burton’s fusion future

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    News story

    Bassetlaw representatives explore West Burton’s fusion future

    STEP hosted delegates on a visit to UKAEA’s Culham Campus, to learn about the scale of opportunity presented by the UK’s prototype fusion energy plant programme

    Councillors and staff from Bassetlaw District Council – Image credit: UK Industrial Fusion Solutions Ltd.

    A delegation of councillors and staff from Bassetlaw District Council recently visited the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) at Culham Campus, gaining first-hand insight into the cutting-edge fusion energy research that underpins the future of clean energy in the UK.

    The visit included tours of the world-renowned Joint European Torus (JET) and MAST (Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak) Upgrade facilities – two of the UK’s most advanced fusion research programmes. These pioneering projects form the scientific and technological foundation for the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) programme, which is set to be developed at the site of the former West Burton Power Station, between Retford and Gainsborough.

    The STEP programme is the UK’s flagship initiative to design and build the world’s first prototype fusion power plant by the early 2040s. The West Burton site was selected in 2022 as the future home of this ambitious project, positioning the Retford and Gainsborough area at the heart of a global energy revolution. The West Burton development is expected to bring thousands of high-skilled jobs, new infrastructure, and global scientific collaboration to the region. A recent report by Amion, commissioned by Local Councils in the area, suggested that the project could create between 5,500 and 8,500 jobs in and around the site (as well as additionally bringing further new industry, jobs and investment to the wider area), adding an average of over £500m a year to the UK economy over the coming decades.

    Fusion energy, often described as the “holy grail” of clean power, replicates the process that powers the sun – fusing hydrogen atoms to release vast amounts of energy. Fusion could provide a virtually limitless, safe, and carbon-free energy source for generations to come. The STEP programme aims to demonstrate the commercial viability of this technology and to develop a UK fusion industry capable of delivering commercial fusion power plants around the world in the second half of the century. 

    The UKAEA, headquartered at Culham Campus in Oxfordshire, is a world leader in fusion research and development. Its work supports the UK government’s commitment to reducing emissions and securing long-term energy independence. During the visit, Bassetlaw representatives were able to see the scale of investment and innovation already underway at Culham, offering a glimpse into the transformative potential of the STEP programme for the local economy. The intention of STEP is to create a similar science and engineering focused campus on the Nottinghamshire/Lincolnshire border. 

    Bassetlaw District Council’s Deputy Leader, Cllr Jonathan Slater said:

    It was good to see first-hand the scale of investment and innovation underway at the UKAEA headquarters in Culham in Oxfordshire, where it provided a real glimpse into the opportunities and potential of the STEP programme in West Burton.

    As well as creating over 16,000 related employment opportunities it will also improve transport links, help bring major investment to the area and significantly boost our local economy.

    STEP’s Head of Communications and Engagement, Ben Bradley, said:

    The STEP team is working really hard to engage with local communities and stakeholders around West Burton, and we’re hugely grateful for the support that we’ve received for the programme. The ambition is to build on this area’s legacy of power generation and bring huge investment to this part of the world, in a way that is truly transformational for local people. I hope that, by visiting the existing campus in Oxfordshire, Bassetlaw Council colleagues were able to get a sense of the scale of its opportunity, as our investment shifts towards West Burton in the years ahead.

    Notes to Editors

    UK Industrial Fusion Solutions Ltd (UKIFS) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) Group, responsible for the STEP (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production) programme to deliver the UK’s prototype fusion energy plant.  

    Targeting first operations in 2040, UKIFS will lead STEP’s integrated delivery team to design and build the prototype fusion energy plant at West Burton, a former coal-fired power station site in Nottinghamshire.

    To sign-up for updates about STEP, visit: step.ukaea.uk or follow our social channels @STEPtoFusion.

    Updates to this page

    Published 5 June 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI: Homeless Veterans in America Relief Foundation Receives the SBB Research Group Foundation Grant 

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    CHICAGO, June 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Homeless Veterans in America Relief Foundation received a $5,000 grant from the SBB Research Group Foundation, which awards monthly grants to support impactful organizations.

    Chicago-based Homeless Veterans in America Relief Foundation (HVIARF) supports Veterans who are at-risk of, or who are experiencing homelessness by providing them essential products and connecting them with long-term services. From the streets to stability, HVIARF works to restore dignity, hope, and direction to those who have served, ensuring they are not forgotten once their military service ends.

    U.S. Navy Veteran Michael Pedroza founded HVIARF to bring greater awareness to the issue of Veteran homelessness and to advocate for more effective solutions to address and prevent it. His firsthand understanding of the struggles service members face when transitioning back to civilian life drives his mission to ensure no Veteran is left behind.

    “We don’t wait for Veterans to come to us, and we’re not just roaming the streets hoping to stumble upon someone in need,” Pedroza explains. “We depend on everyday people—neighbors, friends, community members—to help us locate homeless Veterans so we can step in and make that critical connection to resources and support.”

    With a Veteran-first mission, HVIARF addresses both urgent survival needs and the deeper challenges tied to homelessness. Volunteers regularly distribute essentials such as food, clean water, and clothing—items crucial for those living exposed to harsh conditions.

    But the organization’s mission goes beyond immediate relief. HVIARF is committed to linking Veterans with resources that can change the trajectory of their lives. Whether it’s securing temporary shelter, accessing housing programs, or connecting Veterans to job training and health services, HVIARF’s goal is to help every Veteran build a path toward stability, independence, and renewed self-worth. HVIARF also plays a role in advocacy and awareness, amplifying the voices of homeless Veterans, raising public consciousness about Veterans facing unique challenges, and transitioning service members as they reenter civilian life.

    By addressing the unique needs of each Veteran and partnering with the community, the Homeless Veterans in America Relief Foundation offers not just support—but a renewed sense of hope and direction for those who have served our nation.

    “Supporting those who have served is a responsibility we share, and we’re proud to help the Homeless Veterans in America Relief Foundation make a lasting impact,” said Matt Aven, co-founder and board member of the SBB Research Group Foundation.

    About the SBB Research Group Foundation

    The SBB Research Group Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that furthers the philanthropic mission of SBB Research Group LLC (SBBRG), a Chicago-based investment management firm led by Sam Barnett, Ph.D., and Matt Aven. The Foundation provides grants to support ambitious organizations solving unmet needs with thoughtful, long-term strategies. In addition, the Foundation sponsors the SBBRG STEM Scholarship, which supports students pursuing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics degrees.

    Contact: Erin Noonan
    Organization: SBB Research Group Foundation
    Email: grants@sbbrg.org
    Address: 450 Skokie Blvd, Building 600, Northbrook, IL 60062, United States
    Phone: 1-847-656-1111
    Website: https://www.sbbrg.org

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How a postwar German literary classic helped eclipse painter Emil Nolde’s relationship to Nazism

    Source: The Conversation – France – By Ombline Damy, Doctorante en Littérature Générale et Comparée, Sciences Po

    Emil Nolde, _Red Clouds_, watercolour on handmade paper, 34.5 x 44.7 cm. Emil Nolde/Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, CC BY-NC-ND

    Paintings by German artist Emil Nolde (1867-1956) were recently on display at the Musée Picasso in Paris as part of an exhibition on what the Nazis classified as “degenerate art”. At first glance, his works fit perfectly, but recent research shows that Nolde’s relationship to Nazism is much more nuanced than the exhibition revealed.

    The German Lesson: a postwar literary classic

    While Nolde was one of the many victims of the Third Reich’s repressive responses to “degenerate art”, he was also one of Nazism’s great admirers. The immense popularity of The German Lesson (1968) by author Siegfried Lenz, however, greatly contributed to creating the legend of Nolde as a martyr of the Nazi regime.


    The cover of the French edition, which was on sale in the Musée Picasso bookstore, subtly echoes one of Nolde’s works, Hülltoft Farm, which hung in the exhibition.

    Set against the backdrop of Nazi policies on “degenerate art”, the novel is about a conflict between a father and son. It addresses in literary form the central postwar issue of Vergangenheitsbewältigung, a term referring to the individual and collective work of German society on coming to terms with its Nazi past.

    The German Lesson was met with huge success upon publication. Since then, it has become a classic of postwar German literature. Over 2 million copies have been sold across the world, and the novel has been translated into more than 20 languages. It is still studied in Germany as part of the national school curriculum. Adding to its popularity, the book was adapted for the screen in 1971 and in 2019. More than 50 years after its publication, The German Lesson continues to shape the way we think about Nazi Germany.

    Max Ludwig Nansen, a fictional painter turned martyr

    Set in Germany in the 1950s, the novel is told through the eyes of Siggi, a young man incarcerated in a prison for delinquent youths. Asked to pen an essay on the “joys of duty”, he dives into his memories of a childhood in Nazi Germany as the son of a police officer.

    He remembers that his father, Jens Ole Jepsen, was given an order to prevent his own childhood friend, Max Ludwig Nansen, from painting. As a sign of protest against the painting ban, Nansen created a secret collection of paintings titled “the invisible pictures”. Because he was young enough to appear innocent, Siggi was used by his father to spy on the painter.

    Siggi found himself torn between the two men, who related to duty in radically opposite ways. While Jepsen thought it his duty to follow the orders given to him, Nansen saw art as his only duty. Throughout the novel, Siggi becomes increasingly close to the painter, whom he sees as a hero, all the while distancing himself from his father, who in turn is perceived as a fanatic.

    The novel’s point of view, that of a child, demands of its reader that they complete Siggi’s omissions or partial understanding of the world around him with their adult knowledge. This deliberately allusive narrative style enables the author to elude the topic of Nazism – or at least to hint at it in a covert way, thus making the novel acceptable to a wide German audience at the time of its publication in 1968.

    Nevertheless, the book leaves little room for doubt on the themes it tackles. While Nazism is never explicitly named, the reader will inevitably recognize the Gestapo (the political police of the regime) when Siggi speaks of the “leather coats” who arrest Nansen. Readers will also identify the ban on painting issued to Nansen as a part of Nazi policies on “degenerate art”. And, what’s more, they will undoubtedly perceive the real person hiding behind the fictional character of Max Ludwig Nansen: Emil Nolde, born Hans Emil Nansen.


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    Emil Nolde, a real painter become legend

    Much like his fictional counterpart Max Ludwig Nansen, the painter Emil Nolde fell victim to Nazi policies aimed at artists identified as “degenerate”. More than 1,000 of his artworks were confiscated, some of which were integrated into the 1937 travelling exhibition on “degenerate art” orchestrated by the regime. Nolde was banned from the German art academy, and he was forbidden to sell and exhibit his work.

    A photograph of Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels’ visit to the exhibition titled Entartete Kunst (Degenerate Art) in Munich, 1937. At left, from top, two paintings by Emil Nolde: Christ and the Sinner (1926) and the Wise and the Foolish Virgins (1910), a painting that has disappeared.
    Wikimedia

    After the collapse of the Nazi regime, the tide turned for this “degenerate” artist. Postwar German society glorified him as a victim and opponent of Nazi politics, an image which Nolde carefully fostered. In his memoirs, he claimed to have been forbidden to paint by the regime, and to have created a series of “unpainted pictures” in a clandestine act of resistance.

    Countless exhibits on Nolde, in Germany and around the world, served to perpetuate the myth of a talented painter, fallen victim to the Nazi regime, who decided to fight back. His works even made it into the hallowed halls of the German chancellery. Helmut Schmidt, chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1974 to 1982, and Germany’s former chancellor Angela Merkel decorated their offices with his paintings.

    The popularity of The German Lesson, inspired by Nolde’s life, further solidified the myth – until the real Nolde and the fictional Nansen became fully inseparable in Germany’s collective imagination.

    Twilight of an idol

    Yet, the historical figure and the fictional character could not be more different. Research conducted for exhibits on Nolde in Frankfurt in 2014 and in Berlin in 2019 revealed the artist’s true relationship to Nazism to the wider public.

    Nolde was indeed forbidden from selling and exhibiting his works by the Nazi regime. But he was not forbidden from painting. The series of “unpainted pictures”, which he claimed to have created in secret, are in fact a collection of works put together after the war.

    What’s more, Nolde joined the Nazi Party as early as 1934. To make matters worse, he also hoped to become an official artist of the regime, and he was profoundly antisemitic. He was convinced that his work was the expression of a “German soul” – with all the racist undertones that such an affirmation suggests. He relentlessly tried to convince Goebbels and Hitler that his paintings, unlike those of “the Jews”, were not “degenerate”.

    Why, one might ask, did more than 70 years go by before the truth about Nolde came out?

    Yes, the myth built by Nolde himself and solidified by The German Lesson served to eclipse historical truth. Yet this seems to be only part of the story. In Nolde’s case, like in many others that involve facing a fraught national past, it looks like fiction was a great deal more attractive than truth.

    In Lenz’s book, the painter Nansen claims that “you will only start to see properly […] when you start creating what you need to see”. By seeing in Nolde the fictional character of Nansen, Germans created a myth they needed to overcome a painful past. A hero, who resisted Nazism. Beyond the myth, reality appears to be more complex.

    Ombline Damy received funding from la Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques (National Foundation of Political Sciences, or FNSP) for her thesis.

    – ref. How a postwar German literary classic helped eclipse painter Emil Nolde’s relationship to Nazism – https://theconversation.com/how-a-postwar-german-literary-classic-helped-eclipse-painter-emil-noldes-relationship-to-nazism-258310

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: A new observatory is assembling the most complete time-lapse record of the night sky ever

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Noelia Noël, Senior Lecturer, School of Mathematics and Physics, University of Surrey

    On 23 June 2025, the world will get a look at the first images from one of the most powerful telescopes ever built: the Vera C. Rubin Observatory.

    Perched high in the Chilean Andes, the observatory will take hundreds of images of the southern hemisphere sky, every night for 10 years. In doing so, it will create the most complete time-lapse record of our Universe ever assembled. This scientific effort is known as the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST).

    Rather than focusing on small patches of sky, the Rubin Observatory will scan the entire visible southern sky every few nights. Scientists will use this rolling deep-sky snapshot to track supernovae (exploding stars), asteroids, black holes, and galaxies as they evolve and change in real time. This is astronomy not as a static snapshot, but as a cosmic story unfolding night by night.

    At the heart of the observatory lies a remarkable piece of engineering: a digital camera the size of a small car and weighing over three tonnes. With a staggering 3,200 megapixels, each image it captures has enough detail to spot a golf ball from 25km away.

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    Each image is so detailed that it would take hundreds of ultra-high-definition TV screens to display it in full. To capture the universe in colour, the camera uses enormous filters — each about the size of a dustbin lid — that allow through different types of light, from ultraviolet to near-infrared.

    The observatory was first proposed in 2001, and construction at the Cerro Pachón ridge site in northern Chile began in April 2015. The first observations with a low-resolution test camera were carried out in October 2024, setting up the first images using the main camera, to be unveiled in June.

    Big questions

    The observatory is designed to tackle some of astronomy’s biggest questions. For instance, by measuring how galaxies cluster and move, the Rubin Observatory will help scientists investigate the nature of dark energy, the mysterious force driving the accelerating expansion of the Universe.

    As a primary goal, it will map the large-scale structure of the Universe and investigate dark matter, the invisible form of matter that makes up 27% of the cosmos. Dark matter acts as the “scaffolding” of the universe, a web-like structure that provides a framework for the formation of galaxies.

    The observatory is named after the US astronomer Dr Vera Rubin, whose groundbreaking work uncovered the first strong evidence for dark matter – the very phenomenon this telescope will explore in unprecedented detail.

    As a woman in a male-dominated field, Rubin overcame numerous obstacles and remained a tireless advocate for equality in science. She died in 2016 at the age of 88, and her name on this observatory is a tribute not only to her science, but to her perseverance and her legacy of inclusion.

    Closer to home, Rubin will help find and track millions of asteroids and other objects that come near Earth – helping warn astronomers of any potential collisions. The observatory will also monitor stars that change in brightness, which can reveal planets orbiting them.

    And it will capture rare and fleeting cosmic events, such as the collision of very dense objects called neutron stars, which release sudden bursts of light and ripples in space known as gravitational waves.

    What makes this observatory particularly exciting is not just what we expect it to find, but what we can’t yet imagine. Many astronomical breakthroughs have come from chance: strange flashes in the night sky and puzzling movements of objects. Rubin’s massive, continuous data stream could reveal entirely new classes of objects or unknown physical processes.

    The observatory is equipped with the world’s largest digital camera.
    RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/DOE/NSF/AURA

    But capturing this “movie of the universe” depends on something we often take for granted: dark skies. One of the growing challenges facing astronomers is light pollution from satellite mega-constellations – a group of many satellites working together.

    These satellites reflect sunlight and can leave bright streaks across telescope images, potentially interfering with the very discoveries Rubin is designed to make. While software can detect and remove some of these trails, doing so adds complexity, cost and can degrade the data.

    Fortunately, solutions are already being explored. Rubin Observatory staff are developing simulation tools to predict and reduce satellite interference. They are also working with satellite operators to dim or reposition spacecraft. These efforts are essential – not just for Rubin, but for the future of space science more broadly.

    Rubin is a collaboration between the US National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy, with global partners contributing to data processing and scientific analysis. Importantly, much of the data will be publicly available, offering researchers, students and citizen scientists around the world the chance to make discoveries of their own.

    The “first-look” event, which will unveil the first images from the observatory, will be livestreamed in English and Spanish, and celebrations are planned at venues around the world.

    For astronomers, this is a once-in-a-generation moment – a project that will transform our view of the universe, spark public imagination and generate scientific insights for decades to come.

    Noelia Noël 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. A new observatory is assembling the most complete time-lapse record of the night sky ever – https://theconversation.com/a-new-observatory-is-assembling-the-most-complete-time-lapse-record-of-the-night-sky-ever-258231

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Rosemary has been linked to better memory, lower anxiety and even protection from Alzheimer’s

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

    Anna Nahabed/Shutterstock

    Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), the aromatic herb native to the Mediterranean, has long been treasured in kitchens around the world. But beyond its culinary charm, rosemary is also gaining recognition for its impressive health benefits, especially when it comes to brain health, inflammation and immune function.

    Research suggests rosemary may even hold promise in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease, the leading cause of dementia worldwide.

    Historically, rosemary has been linked to memory and mental clarity. In ancient Greece and Rome, students and scholars used rosemary in the hope of sharpening concentration and recall.

    Modern science is finding there may have been something in this: in one study, people who inhaled rosemary’s scent performed better on memory tasks compared to those in an unscented environment.

    So how does rosemary work on the brain? There are several mechanisms at play. For starters, rosemary stimulates blood circulation, including to the brain, helping deliver more oxygen and nutrients, which may improve mental clarity. It also has calming properties; some studies suggest its aroma can reduce anxiety and improve sleep. Lower stress can mean better focus and memory retention.

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    Rosemary contains compounds that interact with the brain’s neurotransmitters. One such compound, 1,8-cineole, helps prevent the breakdown of acetylcholine, a brain chemical essential for learning and memory. By preserving acetylcholine, rosemary may help support cognitive performance, especially as we age.

    Another bonus? Rosemary is packed with antioxidants, which help protect brain cells from damage caused by oxidative stress – a major factor in cognitive decline.

    Rosemary is rich in phytochemicals, plant compounds with health-enhancing effects. One of the most powerful is carnosic acid, an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent that helps shield brain cells from harm, particularly from the kinds of damage linked to Alzheimer’s disease.



    Read more:
    Chronic stress contributes to cognitive decline and dementia risk – 2 healthy-aging experts explain what you can do about it

    In 2025, researchers developed a stable version of carnosic acid called diAcCA. In promising pre-clinical studies, this compound improved memory, boosted the number of synapses (the connections between brain cells), and reduced harmful Alzheimer’s related proteins like amyloid-beta and tau.

    What’s especially exciting is that diAcCA only activates in inflamed brain regions, which could minimise side effects. So far, studies in mice show no signs of toxicity and significant cognitive improvements – raising hopes that human trials could be next.

    Researchers also believe diAcCA could help treat other inflammatory conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and Parkinson’s disease.

    Beyond brain health

    Rosemary’s benefits could extend well beyond the brain. It’s been used traditionally to ease digestion, relieve bloating and reduce inflammation.

    Compounds like rosmarinic acid and ursolic acid are known for their anti-inflammatory effects throughout the body. Rosemary may even benefit the skin – a review suggests it can help soothe acne and eczema, while carnosic acid may offer anti-ageing benefits by protecting skin from sun damage.

    Rosemary oil also has antimicrobial properties, showing promise in food preservation and potential pharmaceutical applications by inhibiting the growth of bacteria and fungi.

    For most people, rosemary is safe when used in food, teas or aromatherapy. But concentrated doses or extracts can pose risks. Consuming large amounts may cause vomiting or, in rare cases, seizures – particularly in people with epilepsy.

    There’s also a theoretical risk of rosemary stimulating uterine contractions, so pregnant people should avoid high doses. Because rosemary can interact with some medications – such as blood thinners – it’s best to check with a healthcare provider before taking large amounts in supplement form.

    Rosemary is more than just a kitchen staple. It’s a natural remedy with ancient roots and modern scientific backing. As research continues, particularly into breakthrough compounds like diAcCA, rosemary could play an exciting role in future treatments for Alzheimer’s and other chronic conditions.

    In the meantime, adding a little rosemary to your life – whether in a meal, a cup of tea, or a breath of its fragrant oil – could be a small step with big health benefits.

    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. Rosemary has been linked to better memory, lower anxiety and even protection from Alzheimer’s – https://theconversation.com/rosemary-has-been-linked-to-better-memory-lower-anxiety-and-even-protection-from-alzheimers-256920

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How to design landscapes that enhance natural sounds and minimise noise pollution

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Carlos Abrahams, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Assessment – Director of Ecoacoustics, Nottingham Trent University

    Superblocks in Barcalona, Spain, keep traffic noise to the periphery of residential areas. David Alf/Shutterstock

    Sounds are integral parts of any landscape. Think of the calls of grouse and curlew on the Pennine Moors. Wind sieving through reed beds in the Norfolk Broads. Church bells chiming out over the hustle and bustle of central London. Every locale across the Earth, beneath our oceans, lakes and rivers, and even underground, has its own distinctive “soundscape”.

    Soundscapes are created by a combination of biological sounds – the voices of birds, bats and insects – alongside environmental sounds from rainfall, waves crashing on the shore and low-frequency seismic rumbles. Layered over these natural sound sources are human-made noises from planes, trains, traffic and other elements of 21st-century life.

    This human-made noise can be so loud and so pervasive in some areas that it blocks the natural sounds that would otherwise be audible. This affects the behaviour and life cycles of wildlife, because many species rely on sound for breeding activity, social communication and predator detection. Masking these important signals can reduce breeding success and drive populations away from the disturbed habitats.

    Noise pollution also reduces our own health and wellbeing. Chronic noise exposure is linked to elevated stress levels, impaired cognitive function and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The damaging soundscapes of European urban areas contribute to 12,000 premature deaths and cost €40 billion (£34 billion) every year.

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    As soundscape researchers, we are trying to both understand and learn how to minimise the effects of noise on both wild nature and humans. Part of the solution involves adapting landscape design to build towns and cities that don’t just limit adverse noise pollution, but produce beneficial soundscapes. These can help people and wildlife engage with their surroundings and navigate more easily through them.

    For example, people might be drawn to vibrant chatter from a nearby street or use the sound of a river to place ourselves within the mental map of our neighbourhood. Paying attention to soundscapes within the landscape design process can create a stronger sense of place, linking us more closely to our surroundings.

    Many cities tackle noise at its source through urban design. In Barcelona, 57% of people are regularly exposed to excessive noise levels. The “superblocks” initiative – where motorised traffic is limited to peripheral roads around groups of buildings in the city – has allowed the pedestrianised inner streets to be opened up for people, planting and wildlife. This has created tranquil and rich local soundscapes and improved the population’s health in these areas.

    Landscape interventions, such as tree buffers, earth banks and noise walls, can limit noise propagation through the environment. At Buitenschot Park in the Netherlands, landscape architects have designed ridges or earth banks that absorb and disperse ground-level noise from the nearby Schiphol airport. These sculptural landforms were inspired by local observations that noise reduced with the ploughing of fields near the airport. The similar use of noise reduction surfaces, such as the low-noise asphalt currently being tested in Paris, also help to limit the spread of unwanted sound.

    Changes to the landscape also alter the perception of noise by the listener. Adding favourable sounds, such as flowing water, can draw attention away from traffic noise. Soundscape projects that include green spaces help increase biodiversity and engage citizens at the heart of the city. Some UK initiatives such as Bristol soundwalks and London’s Sounder City strategy involve the mapping of such quiet spaces to explain their purpose and encourage their use.

    Noise beyond cities

    Noise is not just an urban issue. Rural landscapes are adversely affected by agriculture, quarrying and tourism. Historically, rural landscapes have been afforded greater protection from noise than their urban counterparts. The UK national parks were originally designated to allow for the “quiet enjoyment”
    of countryside areas, while the tranquillity maps published two decades ago by the countryside charity Campaign to Protect Rural England sought to protect peaceful areas across the country.

    Today, rewilding and habitat restoration can play an important role in returning more natural soundscapes with a better balance of non-human and human soundmakers. Restoring wetlands, woodlands and grasslands increases vocalising species, like birds. This benefits both wildlife and people, enabling nature connection and improving environmental quality. By considering sound as a key element of sustainability and resilience, spaces can support biodiversity while enhancing the wellbeing and quality of life of the people in these communities.

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

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

    Carlos Abrahams works for the ecological consultancy Baker Consultants Ltd and owns shares in Soil Acoustics Ltd. He has received research funding from Innovate UK in leration to soil ecoacoustics.

    Usue Ruiz-Arana does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. How to design landscapes that enhance natural sounds and minimise noise pollution – https://theconversation.com/how-to-design-landscapes-that-enhance-natural-sounds-and-minimise-noise-pollution-252859

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI: Sionic Energy awarded $200,000 grant to advance high-energy, fast- charging silicon lithium-ion batteries

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    BINGHAMTON, N.Y., June 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sionic Energy, a recognized leader in electrolyte and silicon battery technology, has been awarded a $200,000 SuperBoost grant from the National Science Foundation Energy Storage Engine in Upstate NY. The funding will accelerate the development and commercialization of Sionic’s 100% silicon lithium-ion battery platform, which delivers industry-leading energy density, ultra-fast charging, and seamless compatibility with existing battery manufacturing infrastructure.

    The breakthrough technology is poised to transform key markets, including electric vehicles (EVs), aviation, and consumer electronics.

    As demand for high-performance, sustainable battery solutions continues to grow, Sionic’s technology offers a game-changing advantage — boosting energy density by up to 42% over conventional lithium-ion batteries while cutting charge times to as little as 10 minutes. By leveraging a proprietary silicon anode and advanced electrolyte system, the platform enhances battery efficiency without requiring costly manufacturing overhauls, ensuring a scalable, cost- effective path to commercialization.

    “Next-generation lithium-ion batteries must not only store more energy but also charge faster and integrate easily into existing production lines,” said Ed Williams, CEO of Sionic Energy. “The support from the NSF Energy Storage Engine in Upstate New York allows us to accelerate the commercialization of our silicon battery technology, helping to power the future of sustainable mobility and energy storage solutions.”

    The SuperBoost program, a core initiative of the NSF Energy Storage Engine, is designed to expedite commercialization timelines, reducing development cycles from five or more years to under two years. By providing targeted funding and connecting startups with regional testbeds, manufacturing hubs, and industry partnerships, the program is advancing U.S.-based energy storage innovation while bolstering economic growth in upstate New York.

    The strategic importance of Sionic’s advancements was highlighted by Fernando Gómez- Baquero, director of the Translation Pillar at the NSF Energy Storage Engine: “Sionic’s work in silicon anode battery technology is a game-changer for lithium-ion energy storage. Their ability to deliver higher energy density while ensuring fast-charging capability aligns perfectly with the Engine’s mission to foster breakthrough technologies that can transform the energy storage landscape. Through SuperBoost, we are helping companies like Sionic bridge the gap between innovation and commercialization, strengthening upstate New York’s role as a leader in next-generation mobility solutions.”

    The NSF Energy Storage Engine is at the forefront of creating a national energy storage ecosystem, leveraging its extensive network of testbeds, infrastructure, and research collaborations to help startups accelerate their path to market.

    Meera Sampath, CEO of the NSF Energy Storage Engine, emphasized this impact: “The Engine is designed to provide early-stage energy storage companies with the critical resources they need to scale. Our region offers an unparalleled network of manufacturing capabilities and R&D infrastructure, making it an ideal location for accelerating battery innovations. Supporting Sionic through SuperBoost is another step toward strengthening domestic energy self-reliance, reinforcing national security, and positioning upstate New York as America’s Battery Capital.”

    With this SuperBoost funding, Sionic Energy will validate and prototype its technology for automotive and mobility applications, ensuring compliance with industry standards and accelerating its entry into commercial markets. This investment aligns with national efforts to build a resilient, U.S.-based battery supply chain, advancing clean energy solutions and economic growth.

    About Sionic Energy
    Sionic Energy is a recognized leader in lithium-ion battery innovation, developing high-energy- density, fast-charging silicon anode technology for electric vehicles, mobility, and energy storage applications. The company partners with automotive, mobile device, and battery manufacturers to deliver next-generation solutions under a licensing model. Sionic’s mission is to simplify the transition to silicon anodes, ensuring superior performance, efficiency, and safety in future lithium-ion batteries.

    For more information, visit www.sionicenergy.com.

    Contact:
    Ed Williams
    CEO, Sionic Energy contact@sionicenergy.com

    About the NSF Energy Storage Engine in Upstate New York

    The NSF Energy Storage Engine in Upstate New York, led by Binghamton University, is a National Science Foundation-funded, place-based innovation program. The coalition of 40+ academic, industry, nonprofit, state, and community organizations includes Cornell University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Syracuse University, Launch-NY and NY-BEST as core partners. The Engine advances next-gen battery technology development and manufacturing to drive economic growth and bolster national security. Its vision is to transform upstate New York into America’s Battery Capital.

    For more information on the NSF Energy Storage Engine in Upstate New York, visit https://upstatenyengine.org/.

    Contact:
    Fernando Gómez-Baquero, Ph.D.
    Translation Pillar Director
    NSF Energy Storage Engine in Upstate New York
    fernando@cornell.edu

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: A neuroscientist explains why it’s impossible for AI to ‘understand’ language

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Veena D. Dwivedi, Director – Centre for Neuroscience; Professor – Psychology | Neuroscience, Brock University

    Language that refers to neural networks in AI is misleading. (Shutterstock)

    As meaning-makers, we use spoken or signed language to understand our experiences in the world around us. The emergence of generative artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT (using large language models) call into question the very notion of how to define “meaning.”

    One popular characterization of AI tools is that they “understand” what they are doing. Nobel laureate and AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton said: “What’s really surprised me is how good neural networks are at understanding natural language — that happened much faster than I thought…. And I’m still amazed that they really do understand what they’re saying.”

    Hinton repeated this claim in an interview with Adam Smith, chief scientific officer for Nobel Prize Outreach. In it, Hinton stated that “neural nets are much better at processing language than anything ever produced by the Chomskyan school of linguistics.”

    Chomskyan linguistics refers to American linguist Noam Chomsky’s theories about the nature of human language and its development. Chomsky proposes that there is a universal grammar innate in humans, which allows for the acquisition of any language from birth.

    I’ve been researching how humans understand language since the 1990s, including more than 20 years of studies on the neuroscience of language. This has included measuring brainwave activity as people read or listen to sentences. Given my experience, I have to respectfully disagree with the idea that AI can “understand” — despite the growing popularity of this belief.

    Geoffrey Hinton’s response to receiving the Nobel prize in physics for his work in AI.

    Generating text

    First, it’s unfortunate that most people conflate text on a screen with natural language. Written text is related to — but not the same thing as — language.

    For example, the same language can be represented by vastly different visual symbols. Look at Hindi and Urdu, for instance. At conversational levels, these are mutually intelligible and therefore considered the same language by linguists. However, they use entirely different writing scripts. The same is true for Serbian and Croatian. Written text is not the same thing as “language.”

    Next let’s take a look at the claim that machine learning algorithms “understand” natural language. Linguistic communication mostly happens face-to-face, in a particular environmental context shared between the speaker and listener, alongside cues such as spoken tone and pitch, eye contact and facial and emotional expressions.

    The importance of context

    There is a lot more to understanding what a person is saying than merely being able to comprehend their words. Even babies, who are not experts in language yet, can comprehend context cues.

    Take, for example, the simple sentence: “I’m pregnant,” and its interpretations in different contexts. If uttered by me, at my age, it’s likely my husband would drop dead with disbelief. Compare that level of understanding and response to a teenager telling her boyfriend about an unplanned pregnancy, or a wife telling her husband the news after years of fertility treatments.

    In each case, the message recipient ascribes a different sort of meaning — and understanding — to the very same sentence.

    In my own recent research, I have shown that even an individual’s emotional state can alter brainwave patterns when processing the meaning of a sentence. Our brains (and thus our thoughts and mental processes) are never without emotional context, as other neuroscientists have also pointed out.

    So, while some computer code can respond to human language in the form of text, it does not come close to capturing what humans — and their brains — accomplish in their understanding.

    It’s worth remembering that when workers in AI talk about neural networks, they mean computer algorithms, not the actual, biological brain networks that characterize brain structure and function. Imagine constantly confusing the word “flight” (as in birds migrating) versus “flight” (as in airline routes) — this could lead to some serious misunderstandings!

    Finally, let’s examine the claim about neural networks processing language better than theories produced by Chomskyan linguistics. This field assumes that all human languages can be understood via grammatical systems (in addition to context), and that these systems are related to some universal grammar.

    Chomsky conducted research on syntactic theory as a paper-and-pencil theoretician. He did not conduct experiments on the psychological or neural bases of language comprehension. His ideas in linguistics are absolutely silent on the mechanisms underlying sentence processing and understanding.

    What the Chomskyan school of linguistics does do, however, is ask questions about how human infants and toddlers can learn language with such ease, barring any neurobiological deficits or physical trauma.

    There are at least 7,000 languages on the planet, and no one gets to pick where they are born. That means the human brain must be ready to comprehend and learn the language of their community at birth.

    Regardless of where a child is born, the human brain is capable of acquiring any language.
    (Unsplash/tommao wang), CC BY

    From this fact about language development, Chomsky posited an (abstract) innate module for language learning — not processing. From a neurobiological standpoint, the brain has to be ready to understand language from birth.

    While there are plenty of examples of language specialization in infants, the precise neural mechanisms are still unknown, but not unknowable. But objects of study become unknowable when scientific terms are misused or misapplied. And this is precisely the danger: conflating AI with human understanding can lead to dangerous consequences.

    Veena D. Dwivedi receives funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and Brock University.

    – ref. A neuroscientist explains why it’s impossible for AI to ‘understand’ language – https://theconversation.com/a-neuroscientist-explains-why-its-impossible-for-ai-to-understand-language-246540

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Cuts to school lunch and food bank funding mean less fresh produce for children and families

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Marlene B. Schwartz, Professor of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Connecticut

    For many American children, school lunches are their most nutritious meal of the day. SDI Productions/iStock via Getty Images Plus

    The U.S. government recently cut more than US$1 billion in funding to two long-running programs that helped schools and food banks feed children and families in need. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the reductions are a “return to long-term, fiscally responsible initiatives.” But advocacy groups say the cuts will hurt millions of Americans.

    The reductions came just days before the release of the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again report, an analysis of the factors causing chronic disease in children. One of those factors, the report says, is poor diet.

    Dr. Marlene Schwartz, a professor of human development and family sciences and director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Health at the University of Connecticut, discusses why cutting the Local Food for Schools and the Local Food Purchase Assistance programs means less fresh food will be available to children and families – and could hurt local farmers and ranchers too.

    Dr. Marlene Schwartz discusses why these programs were cut.

    The Conversation has collaborated with SciLine to bring you highlights from the discussion, edited here for brevity and clarity.

    Could you explain the two programs that were cut?

    Marlene Schwartz: Most schools were eligible for Local Food for Schools, a $660 million program, which has now been cut. The funds for Local Food for Schools were on top of the reimbursement that schools get for meals and would have allowed them to buy more local, fresh food.

    The Local Food Purchase Assistance program was designed primarily for food banks. Again, the idea was to provide federal money, about $500 million, so food banks could buy from local farmers and support local agriculture. But that too was cut.

    How will these cuts affect families and schoolchildren?

    Schwartz: Many children eat two of their meals, five days a week, at school. During the 2022-2023 school year, about 28 million kids ate lunch at school. More than 14 million had breakfast there.

    Having fresh, local produce in the school cafeteria provides the opportunity to introduce children to more fruits and vegetables and teach them about the food grown in their own communities. Think about how powerful a lesson about nutrition and local agriculture can be when you not only hear and read about it but can taste it too.

    How will these cuts affect farmers and ranchers?

    Schwartz: When the funding was there, the farmers and ranchers knew they had guaranteed buyers for their products. So the loss of these funds, especially so quickly, will have a very negative effect on them. Suddenly, the buyers they counted on don’t have the money to buy from them.

    Food banks provide fresh foods as well as canned.
    RyanJLane/E+ via Getty Images

    How does nutritious food in schools impact kids?

    Schwartz: Both the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program are required to comply with the dietary guidelines for Americans, so they’ve always had nutrition standards. These guidelines are updated every five years to reflect the most recent science and public health needs.

    The regulations on school meal nutrition were strengthened significantly with the 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. We’ve done a number of studies showing that because of these changes, healthier meals are available at schools, and children eat better. The U.S. Department of Agriculture also did a large national study that reported much the same.

    Another study looked at the nutritional quality of the food at school, from home and at restaurants. It found that school food was the healthiest of all. Many people were surprised by this, but when you think about it, schools are the only setting required to follow federal and state nutrition regulations – restaurants and grocery stores don’t have to do that.

    But getting kids to eat nutritious food can be a challenge.

    Schwartz: We’ve known for decades that American children are not eating enough fruits and vegetables. We know they’re eating too much added sugar, saturated fat and sodium.

    This is due in part to the millions of dollars food companies spend to entice children to eat more sugary cereals, sweetened beverages and fast food.

    I think the best nutrition education happens on your plate. By maximizing the quality of food served in schools, policymakers can influence the diets of millions of children every single day.

    How nutritious are the foods at food banks?

    Schwartz: Food banks often measure their success in terms of the pounds of food they distribute into a community. But families relying on the charitable food system often have a higher risk of diet-related illness – like high blood pressure or Type 2 diabetes – and many want healthier foods.

    In response, food banks, which nationwide serve about 50 million Americans, have made a concerted effort to improve the nutritional quality of their food. There’s now a system to help food banks consistently track the nutritional quality of what they provide.

    Watch the full interview to hear more.

    SciLine is a free service based at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a nonprofit that helps journalists include scientific evidence and experts in their news stories.

    Marlene B. Schwartz receives funding from the USDA, National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Partnership for a Healthier America, and the CT State Department of Education.

    – ref. Cuts to school lunch and food bank funding mean less fresh produce for children and families – https://theconversation.com/cuts-to-school-lunch-and-food-bank-funding-mean-less-fresh-produce-for-children-and-families-256772

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Game theory explains why reasonable parents make vaccine choices that fuel outbreaks

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Y. Tony Yang, Endowed Professor of Health Policy and Associate Dean, George Washington University

    Vaccination is an example of how people make decisions in an interconnected system. MichelleLWilson via iStock/Getty Images Plus

    When outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles occur despite highly effective vaccines being available, it’s easy to conclude that parents who don’t vaccinate their children are misguided, selfish or have fallen prey to misinformation.

    As professors with expertise in vaccine policy and health economics, we argue that the decision not to vaccinate isn’t simply about misinformation or hesitancy. In our view, it involves game theory, a mathematical framework that helps explain how reasonable people can make choices that collectively lead to outcomes that endanger them.

    Game theory reveals that vaccine hesitancy is not a moral failure, but simply the predictable outcome of a system in which individual and collective incentives aren’t properly aligned.

    Game theory meets vaccines

    Game theory examines how people make decisions when their outcomes depend on what others choose. In his research on the topic, Nobel Prize-winning mathematician John Nash, portrayed in the movie “A Beautiful Mind, showed that in many situations, individually rational choices don’t automatically create the best outcome for everyone.

    Vaccination decisions perfectly illustrate this principle. When a parent decides whether to vaccinate their child against measles, for instance, they weigh the small risk of vaccine side effects against the risks posed by the disease. But here’s the crucial insight: The risk of disease depends on what other parents decide. If nearly everyone vaccinates, herd immunity – essentially, vaccinating enough people – will stop the disease’s spread. But once herd immunity is achieved, individual parents may decide that not vaccinating is the less risky option for their kid.

    In other words, because of a fundamental tension between individual choice and collective welfare, relying solely on individual choice may not achieve public health goals.

    A 1963 poster featuring Wellbee, the CDC’s national symbol of public health, encouraged people to get the polio vaccine.
    CDC via Wikimedia Commons

    This makes vaccine decisions fundamentally different from most other health decisions. When you decide whether to take medication for high blood pressure, your outcome depends only on your choice. But with vaccines, everyone is connected.

    This interconnectedness has played out dramatically in Texas, where the largest U.S. measles outbreak in a decade originated. As vaccination rates dropped in certain communities, the disease – once declared eliminated in the U.S. – returned. One county’s vaccination rate fell from 96% to 81% over just five years. Considering that about 95% of people in a community must be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity, the decline created perfect conditions for the current outbreak.

    This isn’t coincidence; it’s game theory playing out in real time. When vaccination rates are high, not vaccinating seems rational for each individual family, but when enough families make this choice, collective protection collapses.

    The free rider problem

    This dynamic creates what economists call a free rider problem. When vaccination rates are high, an individual might benefit from herd immunity without accepting even the minimal vaccine risks. Game theory predicts something surprising: Even with a hypothetically perfect vaccine – faultless efficacy, zero side effects – voluntary vaccination programs will never achieve 100% coverage. Once coverage is high enough, some rational individuals will always choose to be free riders, benefiting from the herd immunity provided by others.

    And when rates drop – as they have, dramatically, over the past five years – disease models predict exactly what we’re seeing: the return of outbreaks.

    Game theory reveals another pattern: For highly contagious diseases, vaccination rates tend to decline rapidly following safety concerns, while recovery occurs much more slowly. This, too, is a mathematical property of the system because decline and recovery have different incentive structures. When safety concerns arise, many parents get worried at the same time and stop vaccinating, causing vaccination rates to drop quickly.

    But recovery is slower because it requires both rebuilding trust and overcoming the free rider problem – each parent waits for others to vaccinate first. Small changes in perception can cause large shifts in behavior. Media coverage, social networks and health messaging all influence these perceptions, potentially moving communities toward or away from these critical thresholds.

    Mathematics also predicts how people’s decisions about vaccination can cluster. As parents observe others’ choices, local norms develop – so the more parents skip the vaccine in a community, the more others are likely to follow suit.

    Game theorists refer to the resulting pockets of low vaccine uptake as susceptibility clusters. These clusters allow diseases to persist even when overall vaccination rates appear adequate. A 95% statewide or national average could mean uniform vaccine coverage, which would prevent outbreaks. Alternatively, it could mean some areas with near-100% coverage and others with dangerously low rates that enable local outbreaks.

    Not a moral failure

    All this means that the dramatic fall in vaccination rates was predicted by game theory – and therefore more a reflection of system vulnerability than of a moral failure of individuals.
    What’s more, blaming parents for making selfish choices can also backfire by making them more defensive and less likely to reconsider their views.

    Much more helpful would be approaches that acknowledge the tensions between individual and collective interests and that work with, rather than against, the mental calculations informing how people make decisions in interconnected systems.

    People make decisions by balancing individual and collective interests – a calculation that’s crucial for how infectious diseases spread.

    Research shows that communities experiencing outbreaks respond differently to messaging that frames vaccination as a community problem versus messaging that implies moral failure. In a 2021 study of a community with falling vaccination rates, approaches that acknowledged parents’ genuine concerns while emphasizing the need for community protection made parents 24% more likely to consider vaccinating, while approaches that emphasized personal responsibility or implied selfishness actually decreased their willingness to consider it.

    This confirms what game theory predicts: When people feel their decision-making is under moral attack, they often become more entrenched in their positions rather than more open to change.

    Better communication strategies

    Understanding how people weigh vaccine risks and benefits points to better approaches to communication. For example, clearly conveying risks can help: The 1-in-500 death rate from measles far outweighs the extraordinarily rare serious vaccine side effects. That may sound obvious, but it’s often missing from public discussion. Also, different communities need different approaches – high-vaccination areas need help staying on track, while low-vaccination areas need trust rebuilt.

    Consistency matters tremendously. Research shows that when health experts give conflicting information or change their message, people become more suspicious and decide to hold off on vaccines. And dramatic scare tactics about disease can backfire by pushing people toward extreme positions.

    Making vaccination decisions visible within communities – through community discussions and school-level reporting, where possible – can help establish positive social norms. When parents understand that vaccination protects vulnerable community members, like infants too young for vaccines or people with medical conditions, it helps bridge the gap between individual and collective interests.

    Health care providers remain the most trusted source of vaccine information. When providers understand game theory dynamics, they can address parents’ concerns more effectively, recognizing that for most people, hesitancy comes from weighing risks rather than opposing vaccines outright.

    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. Game theory explains why reasonable parents make vaccine choices that fuel outbreaks – https://theconversation.com/game-theory-explains-why-reasonable-parents-make-vaccine-choices-that-fuel-outbreaks-256975

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Fourth year together with GUU: the new season of “University Shifts” has started

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    On June 5, Vladimir Stroyev, Rector of the State University of Management, took part in a press conference dedicated to the IV season of the educational and tourist project “University Shifts” to be held from June to September 2025.

    Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Olga Petrova spoke about further plans for the development of the project:

    “Next year, we are planning a closer integration of shifts with national projects and an expansion of participation opportunities for children from Russian territories, because they also want to join universities.”

    The Deputy Minister also stressed the importance of involving university students as camp counselors, as this contributes to a deeper understanding of what has happened and is happening in new territories.

    Rector of the State University of Management Vladimir Stroev noted the changes that have occurred over the years in the mood of the shift participants:

    “We are proud that our university has been participating in the project from the very beginning. Thanks to Olga Petrova, who comes to visit every shift, the “Movement of the First” and the “Knowledge” society, with whom we have been closely cooperating for a long time and implementing joint thematic projects. It all started out difficult. In 2022, the guys came with different moods, we had to work a lot with them psychologically. Last year, the participants already had a different atmosphere, the complexity of interaction of the first years was gone. These are already our citizens who are interested in the history of their country.”

    Vladimir Stroyev also recalled that in 2025, the State University of Management will hold three shifts: cultural and educational, educational, where students will learn about the university’s educational programs, and entrepreneurial.

    The press conference was also attended by Deputy Director of the Department for Integration of the National Education System and International Cooperation of the Ministry of Education of Russia Pavel Belokon, Deputy Chairperson of the Board of the All-Russian Public-State Movement of Children and Youth “Movement of the First” Sonya Pogosyan, Deputy General Director of the Russian Society “Knowledge” Irina Karikh and Vice-Rector for Work with Students of the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia named after Patrice Lumumba Mikhail Katsarsky.

    Let us recall that “University Shifts” is a project that helps schoolchildren and students see the structure of universities from the inside and get acquainted with the educational program and opportunities of higher education institutions. In 2025, about 90 universities from all over the country are waiting for the guys.

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

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Storm damage costs are often a mystery – that’s a problem for understanding extreme weather risk

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By John Nielsen-Gammon, Regents Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M University

    Hail can be destructive, yet the cost of the damage often isn’t publicly tracked. NOAA/NSSL

    On Jan. 5, 2025, at about 2:35 in the afternoon, the first severe hailstorm of the season dropped quarter-size hail in Chatham, Mississippi. According to the federal storm events database, there were no injuries, but it caused $10,000 in property damage.

    How do we know the storm caused $10,000 in damage? We don’t.

    That estimate is probably a best guess from someone whose primary job is weather forecasting. Yet these guesses, and thousands like them, form the foundation for publicly available tallies of the costs of severe weather.

    If the damage estimates from hailstorms are consistently lower in one county than the next, potential property buyers might think it’s because there’s less risk of hailstorms. Instead, it might just be because different people are making the estimates.

    Hail damage in Dallas in June 2012.
    Rondo Estrello/Flickr, CC BY-SA

    We are atmospheric scientists at Texas A&M University who lead the Office of the Texas State Climatologist. Through our involvement in state-level planning for weather-related disasters, we have seen county-scale patterns of storm damage over the past 20 years that just didn’t make sense. So, we decided to dig deeper.

    We looked at storm event reports for a mix of seven urban and rural counties in southeast Texas, with populations ranging from 50,000 to 5 million. We included all reported types of extreme weather. We also talked with people from the two National Weather Service offices that cover the area.

    Storm damage investigations vary widely

    Typically, two specific types of extreme weather receive special attention.

    After a tornado, the National Weather Service conducts an on-site damage survey, examining its track and destruction. That survey forms the basis for the official estimate of a tornado’s strength on the enhanced Fujita scale. Weather Service staff are able to make decent damage cost estimates from knowledge of home values in the area.

    They also investigate flash flood damage in detail, and loss information is available from the National Flood Insurance Program, the main source of flood insurance for U.S. homes.

    Tornadoes in May 2025 destroyed homes in communities in several states, including London, Ky.
    AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley

    Most other losses from extreme weather are privately insured, if they’re insured at all.

    Insured loss information is collected by reinsurance companies – the companies that insure the insurance companies – and gets tabulated for major events. Insurance companies use their own detailed information to try to make better decisions on rates than their competitors do, so event-based loss data by county from insurance companies isn’t readily available.

    Losing billion-dollar disaster data

    There’s one big window into how disaster damage has changed over the years in the U.S.

    The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, compiled information for major disasters, including insured losses by state. Bulk data won’t tell communities or counties about their specific risk, but it enabled NOAA to calculate overall damage estimates, which it released as its billion-dollar disasters list.

    From that program, we know that the number and cost of billion-dollar disasters in the United States has increased dramatically in recent years. News articles and even scientific papers often point to climate change as the primary culprit, but a much larger driver has been the increasing number and value of buildings and other types of infrastructure, particularly along hurricane-prone coasts.

    Critics in the past year called for more transparency and vetting of the procedures used to estimate billion-dollar disasters. But that’s not going to happen, because NOAA in May 2025 stopped making billion-dollar disaster estimates and retired its user interface.

    Previous estimates can still be retrieved from NOAA’s online data archive, but by shutting down that program, the window into current and future disaster losses and insurance claims is now closed.

    Emergency managers at the county level also make local damage estimates, but the resources they have available vary widely. They may estimate damages only when the total might be large enough to trigger a disaster declaration that makes relief funds available from the federal government.

    Patching together very rough estimates

    Without insurance data or county estimates, the local offices of the National Weather Service are on their own to estimate losses.

    There is no standard operating procedure that every office must follow. One office might choose to simply not provide damage estimates for any hailstorms because the staff doesn’t see how it could come up with accurate values. Others may make estimates, but with varying methods.

    The result is a patchwork of damage estimates. Accurate values are more likely for rare events that cause extensive damage. Loss estimates from more frequent events that don’t reach a high damage threshold are generally far less reliable.

    The number of severe hail reports in southeast Texas listed in the National Centers for Environmental Information’s storm events database is strongly correlated with population. The county with the most reports and greatest detail in those reports is home to Houston. Hailstorms in the three easternmost counties are rarely associated with damage estimates.
    John Nielsen-Gammon and B.J. Baule

    Do you want to look at local damage trends? Forget about it. For most extreme weather events, estimation methods vary over time and are not documented.

    Do you want to direct funding to help communities improve resilience to natural disasters where the need is greatest? Forget about it. The places experiencing the largest per capita damages depend not just on actual damages but on the different practices of local National Weather Service offices.

    Are you moving to a location that might be vulnerable to extreme weather? Companies are starting to provide localized risk estimates through real estate websites, but the algorithms tend to be proprietary, and there’s no independent validation.

    4 steps to improve disaster data

    We believe a few fixes could make NOAA’s storm events database and the corresponding values in the larger SHELDUS database, managed by Arizona State University, more reliable. Both databases include county-level disasters and loss estimates for some of those disasters.

    First, the National Weather Service could develop standard procedures for local offices for estimating disaster damages.

    Second, additional state support could encourage local emergency managers to make concrete damage estimates from individual events and share them with the National Weather Service. The local emergency manager generally knows the extent of damage much better than a forecaster sitting in an office a few counties away.

    Third, state or federal governments and insurance companies can agree to make public the aggregate loss information at the county level or other scale that doesn’t jeopardize the privacy of their policyholders. If all companies provide this data, there is no competitive disadvantage for doing so.

    Fourth, NOAA could create a small “tiger team” of damage specialists to make well-informed, consistent damage estimates of larger events and train local offices on how to handle the smaller stuff.

    With these processes in place, the U.S. wouldn’t need a billion-dollar disasters program anymore. We’d have reliable information on all the disasters.

    John Nielsen-Gammon receives funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the State of Texas.

    William Baule receives funding from NOAA, the State of Texas, & the Austin Community Foundation.

    – ref. Storm damage costs are often a mystery – that’s a problem for understanding extreme weather risk – https://theconversation.com/storm-damage-costs-are-often-a-mystery-thats-a-problem-for-understanding-extreme-weather-risk-257105

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Reproducibility may be the key idea students need to balance trust in evidence with healthy skepticism

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Sarah R. Supp, Associate Professor of Data Analytics, Denison University

    Reproducing results can increase trust in scientific studies. Huntstock via Getty Images

    Many people have been there.

    The dinner party is going well until someone decides to introduce a controversial topic. In today’s world, that could be anything from vaccines to government budget cuts to immigration policy. Conversation starts to get heated. Finally, someone announces with great authority that a scientific study supports their position. This causes the discussion to come to an abrupt halt because the dinner guests disagree on their belief in scientific evidence. Some may believe science always speaks the truth, some may think science can never be trusted, and others may disagree on which studies with contradicting claims are “right.”

    How can the dinner party – or society – move beyond this kind of impasse? In today’s world of misinformation and disinformation, healthy skepticism is essential. At the same time, much scientific work is rigorous and trustworthy. How do you reach a healthy balance between trust and skepticism? How can researchers increase the transparency of their work to make it possible to evaluate how much confidence the public should have in any particular study?

    As teachers and scholars, we see these problems in our own classrooms and in our students – and they are mirrored in society.

    The concept of reproducibility may offer important answers to these questions.

    Reproducibility is what it sounds like: reproducing results. In some ways, reproducibility is like a well-written recipe, such as a recipe for an award-winning cake at the county fair. To help others reproduce their cake, the proud prizewinner must clearly document the ingredients used and then describe each step of the process by which the ingredients were transformed into a cake. If others can follow the directions and come up with a cake of the same quality, then the recipe is reproducible.

    Think of the English scholar who claims that Shakespeare did not author a play that has historically been attributed to him. A critical reader will want to know exactly how they arrived at that conclusion. What is the evidence? How was it chosen and interpreted? By parsing the analysis step by step, reproducibility allows a critical reader to gauge the strength of any kind of argument.

    We are a group of researchers and professors from a wide range of disciplines who came together to discuss how we use reproducibility in our teaching and research.

    Based on our expertise and the students we encounter, we collectively see a need for higher-education students to learn about reproducibility in their classes, across all majors. It has the potential to benefit students and, ultimately, to enhance the quality of public discourse.

    The foundation of credibility

    Reproducibility has always been a foundation of good science because it allows researchers to scrutinize each other’s studies for rigor and credibility and expand upon prior work to make new discoveries. Researchers are increasingly paying attention to reproducibility in the natural sciences, such as physics and medicine, and in the social sciences, such as economics and environmental studies. Even researchers in the humanities, such as history and philosophy, are concerned with reproducibility in studies involving analysis of texts and evidence, especially with digital and computational methods. Increased interest in transparency and accessibility has followed the rising importance of computer algorithms and numerical analysis in research. This work should be reproducible, but it often remains opaque.

    Broadly, research is reproducible if it answers the question: “How do you know?” − such that another researcher could theoretically repeat the study and produce consistent results.

    Reproducible research is explicit about the materials and methods that were used in a study to make discoveries and come to conclusions. Materials include everything from scientific instruments such as a tensiometer measuring soil moisture to surveys asking people about their daily diet. They also include digital data such as spreadsheets, digitized historic texts, satellite images and more. Methods include how researchers make observations and analyze data.

    To reproduce a social science study, for example, we would ask: What is the central question or hypothesis? Who was in the study? How many individuals were included? What were they asked? After data was collected, how was it cleaned and prepared for analysis? How exactly was the analysis run?

    Proper documentation of all these steps, plus making available the original data from the study, allows other scientists to redo the research, evaluate the decisions made during the process of gathering and analyzing information, and assess the credibility of the findings.

    This short video, made by the National Academies, explains the key concepts in reproducing scientific findings and notes ways the process can be improved.

    Over the past 20 years, the need for reproducibility has become increasingly important. Scientists have discovered that some published studies are too poorly documented for others to repeat, lack verified data sources, are questionably designed, or even fraudulent.

    Putting reproducibility to work: An example

    A highly contentious, retracted study from 1998 linked the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism. Scientists and journalists used their understanding of reproducibility to discover the flaws in the study.

    The central question of the study was not about vaccines but aimed to explore a possible relationship between colitis − an inflammation of the large intestine − and developmental disorders. The authors explicitly wrote, “We did not prove an association between measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine and the syndrome described.”

    The study observed just 12 patients who were referred to the authors’ gastroenterology clinic and had histories of recent behavioral disorders, including autism. This sample of children is simply too small and selective to be able to make definitive conclusions.

    In this study, the researchers translated children’s medical charts into summary tables for comparison. When a journalist attempted to reproduce the published data tables from the children’s medical histories, they found pervasive inconsistencies.

    Reproducibility allows for corrections in research. The article was published in a respected journal, but it lacked transparency with regard to patient recruitment, data analysis and conflicts of interest. Whereas traditional peer review involves critical evaluation of a manuscript, reproducibility also opens the door to evaluating the underlying data and methods. When independent researchers attempted to reproduce this study, they found deep flaws. The article was retracted by the journal and by most of its authors. Independent research teams conducted more robust studies, finding no relationship between vaccines and autism.

    Each research discipline has its own set of best practices for achieving reproducibility. Disciplines in which researchers use computational or statistical analysis require sharing the data and software code for reproducing studies. In other disciplines, researchers interpret nonnumerical qualities of data sources such as interviews, historical texts, social media content and more. These disciplines are working to develop standards for sharing their data and research designs for reproducibility. Across disciplines, the core principles are the same: transparency of the evidence and arguments by which researchers arrived at their conclusions.

    Reproducibility in the classroom

    Colleges and universities are uniquely situated to promote reproducibility in research and public conversations. Critical thinking, effective communication and intellectual integrity, staples of higher-education mission statements, are all served by reproducibility.

    Teaching faculty at colleges and universities have started taking some important steps toward incorporating reproducibility into a wide range of undergraduate and graduate courses. These include assignments to replicate existing studies, training in reproducible methods to conduct and document original research, preregistration of hypotheses and analysis plans, and tools to facilitate open collaboration among peers. A number of initiatives to develop and disseminate resources for teaching reproducibility have been launched.

    Despite some progress, reproducibility still needs a central place in higher education. It can be integrated into any course in which students weigh evidence, read published literature to make claims, or learn to conduct their own research. This change is urgently needed to train the next generation of researchers, but that is not the only reason.

    Reproducibility is fundamental to constructing and communicating claims based on evidence. Through a reproducibility lens, students evaluate claims in published studies as contingent on the transparency and soundness of the evidence and analysis on which the claims are based. When faculty teach reproducibility as a core expectation from the beginning of a curriculum, they encourage students to internalize its principles in how they conduct their own research and engage with the research published by others.

    Institutions of higher education already prioritize cultivating engaged, literate and critical citizens capable of solving the world’s most challenging contemporary problems. Teaching reproducibility equips students, and members of the public, with the skills they need to critically analyze claims in published research, in the media and even at dinner parties.

    Also contributing to this article are participants in the 2024 Reproducibility and Replicability in the Liberal Arts workshop, funded by the Alliance to Advance Liberal Arts Colleges (AALAC) [in alphabetical order]: Ben Gebre-Medhin (Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Mount Holyoke College), Xavier Haro-Carrión (Department of Geography, Macalester College), Emmanuel Kaparakis (Quantitative Analysis Center, Wesleyan University), Scott LaCombe (Statistical and Data Sciences, Smith College), Matthew Lavin (Data Analytics Program, Denison University), Joseph J. Merry (Sociology Department, Furman University), Laurie Tupper (Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Mount Holyoke College).

    Sarah Supp receives funding from the National Science Foundation, awards #1915913, #2120609, and #2227298.

    Joseph Holler receives funding from the National Science Foundation, award #2049837.

    Peter Kedron receives funding from the National Science Foundation, award #2049837 and from Esri.

    Richard Ball has received funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the United Kingdom Reproducibility Network.

    Anne M. Nurse and Nicholas J. Horton 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. Reproducibility may be the key idea students need to balance trust in evidence with healthy skepticism – https://theconversation.com/reproducibility-may-be-the-key-idea-students-need-to-balance-trust-in-evidence-with-healthy-skepticism-251771

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Join us on 6/26 for a Foreign and Comparative Law Webinar: “Two Sides of the Same Coin: The Evolution of Surrogacy Law in France and Colombia”

    Source: US Global Legal Monitor

    The following is a guest post by Louis Gilbert and Stephania Alvarez, foreign law specialists at the Law Library of Congress. Louis has previously published the following post: “Wait, It Is Not About Wigs?” – The Story of Faso Dan Fani Court Robes in Burkina Faso, and “Join Us on 11/21 for a Foreign and Comparative Law Webinar titled “Review of Law Library of Congress Research Reports Published in 2024.” Stephania has previously published the following blog posts: FALQs: Guyana-Venezuela Territorial Dispute, and Law Library Publishes New Report, “Peru: Civic Space Legal Framework.”

    Please join us on June 26, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. EDT, for another entry into our Foreign and Comparative Law Webinar series with our “Two Sides of the Same Coin: The Evolution of Surrogacy Law in France and Colombia” webinar. Surrogacy and the adoption of children born through this practice have been the focus of significant legislative and jurisprudential developments around the world. The evolution of surrogacy in France and Colombia has different legal implications in each country.

    Register here. 

    In Colombia, surrogacy is neither explicitly regulated nor prohibited. Nevertheless, the Constitutional Court has addressed this topic in various rulings, in which it has established rules and requirements for surrogacy agreements and emphasized the need to protect the child’s fundamental rights.

    On the other hand, surrogacy is forbidden in France, and the recognition of children born abroad is currently at the center of legal discussions. Recent developments in French jurisprudence have enabled numerous French citizens to resort to surrogacy agreements abroad. The questions of filiation and adoption are no longer framed solely around the legality or prohibition of certain practices but are increasingly approached from the perspective of the child’s fundamental rights.

    Although France and Colombia adopt opposing approaches to surrogacy, their legal systems complement each other in safeguarding the best interests of the child. In Colombia, the severance of the legal bond between the surrogate and the baby allows for clear filiation between the intended parents and the child, which France now fully recognizes when it has been validly established abroad. Therefore, the absence of a specific legal framework prohibiting surrogacy in Colombia, in addition to the lower costs and greater accessibility compared to other countries, has made this country an increasingly common destination for surrogacy procedures.

    Stephania Alvarez is a foreign law specialist at the Law Library of Congress. She conducts research and writes reports on a wide range of topics relating primarily to the laws of Central and South American jurisdictions. Stephania has a Bachelor of Laws from Icesi University in Colombia. She completed a dual degree program at Sciences Po in Paris, France, and Georgetown University Law Center, earning a master’s in environmental policy and a Master of Laws in environmental and energy law, respectively.

    Louis Gilbert is a foreign law specialist at the Law Library of Congress. He conducts research and writes reports on topics relating to the laws of French-speaking jurisdictions. He holds a bachelor’s degree in law from the University of Essex, England, a master’s in comparative law from the Université Paris X, France, and a J.D. from American University.

    To learn about other upcoming classes on domestic and foreign law topics, visit the Legal Research Institute. Please request ADA accommodations at least five business days in advance by contacting (202) 707-6362 or [email protected].

    Subscribe to In Custodia Legis – it’s free! – to receive interesting posts drawn from the Law Library of Congress’s vast collections and our staff’s expertise in U.S., foreign, and international law.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: Vietnam Space Committee, OSB Group and Thales Partner to Promote Education and Innovation in Space Technologies

    Source: Thales Group

    Headline: Vietnam Space Committee, OSB Group and Thales Partner to Promote Education and Innovation in Space Technologies

    Vietnam has been building a national framework to advance Space activities over the past decade. Its national strategy for space technology development until 2030 aims to drive the sector forward in socio-economic development, technological innovation and environmental monitoring. Thales and Thales Alenia Space align with these ambitions, with the objective of this partnership to raise awareness and promote education on the immense potential of Space sciences and technologies.

    Through the scope of this MoU, VSC Office, OSB, Thales and Thales Alenia Space will work on jointly developing and deploying training programmes in background and advanced topics in space telecommunications, satellite navigation, and space exploration. From joint research and early outreach in initiatives like STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) to youth and academic institutions, Thales, Thales Alenia Space and their partners are working to build local technology expertise and capabilities in the coming generations.

    Thales Alenia Space will bring its global expertise in space systems and technologies, together with Thales that will draw on its 30-year history in Vietnam for the aerospace, defence and cybersecurity and digital sectors. These capabilities complement those from the VSC Office who is the primary advisor for the Vietnamese government in its national space development strategies and policies, and with OSB, a leading local, high-tech telecom satellite network agency,

    “Many governments are looking to satellites and communications technologies as the cornerstone in bringing connectivity, promoting economic development and safeguarding a country’s national security and sovereignty. Vietnam has keen ambitions for its Space sector, including the future VINASAT 3, which will bring state-of-the-art connectivity to millions. I am very optimistic on this partnership, signed in the framework of the Strategic Comprehensive Agreement between France and Vietnam, which builds on the 30-year legacy we have in Vietnam.” said Nicolas Bouverot, Vice-President for Asia at Thales.

    “Thales Alenia Space is proud to develop this partnership with the Vietnam Space Committee Office and OSB Group. This collaboration will leverage on Thales Alenia Space’s longstanding capabilities in satellites systems while supporting the development of local talent to nurture innovative space technologies.” said Olivier Guilbert, Vice-President Export Sales at Thales Alenia Space.

    About Thales

    Thales (Euronext Paris: HO) is a global leader in advanced technologies for the Defence, Aerospace, and Cyber & Digital sectors. Its portfolio of innovative products and services addresses several major challenges: sovereignty, security, sustainability and inclusion.

    The Group invests more than €4 billion per year in Research & Development in key areas, particularly for critical environments, such as Artificial Intelligence, cybersecurity, quantum and cloud technologies. Thales has more than 83,000 employees in 68 countries. In 2024, the Group generated sales of €20.6 billion.

    Press contact

    Thales, Communications, Asia

    Serene Koh – serene.koh@asia.thalesgroup.com

    PLEASE VISIT Thales Group

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Fighting Poultry Disease with mRNA: UConn Researchers Pioneer Nanoparticle Approach

    Source: US State of Connecticut

    Researchers from UConn’s College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR) and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) have demonstrated that a novel protein-based nanoparticle can make mRNA vaccines more effective to tackle a troublesome pathogen in chickens.

    Mazhar Khan, professor in the Department of Pathobiology and Veterinary Science, Challa V. Kumar, emeritus professor in the Department of Chemistry and graduate students Anka Rao Kalluri and Aseno Sakhrie collaborated over several years and published their findings in Vaccines.

    Infectious Bronchitis Virus (IBV), a rapidly spreading coronavirus, is a major concern for poultry farmers in the U.S. and worldwide. Poultry farmers lose millions each year due to this disease.

    Currently, farmers use live attenuated vaccines or killed vaccines to combat the virus. However, these kinds of vaccine come with a series of challenges. The virus could reactivate, mutate, or recombine to create a vaccine-resistant or more severe strain. These vaccines also have a shorter shelf life and require additional compounds, known as adjuvants, to be effective.

    The researchers have developed an effective mRNA IBV vaccine alternative.

    mRNA vaccines, like the human COVID-19 vaccines, do not contain any live virus. Instead, the mRNA encodes a piece of the virus’ genetic code, specifically the spike protein that is responsible for triggering the immune response and trains the immune system to respond to the protein.

    Yet, mRNA vaccines still have some limitations, namely their lack of stability. mRNA vaccines break down quickly and need to be kept in temperature-controlled settings, something that poses a challenge on poultry farms.

    In a key advancement, Khan and Sakhrie are using a novel nanoparticle that protects the mRNA from breaking down quickly.

    This particle was invented by the Kumar group for applications in biology. It was Kumar who convinced the team to work on mRNA vaccines, long before COVID vaccines arrived. Early hurdles were to efficiently complex the nanoparticles with target mRNA. Kalluri solved this problem by covalently attaching positively charged amine groups to the particle. The positively charged particles capture the negatively charged mRNA and stabilize it. Sakharie and her colleagues carried out detailed cellular and animal studies using these nanoparticle-mRNA complexes.

    “This project highlights how collaborations across campus are making rapid progress in solving complex scientific problems,” says Kumar.

    Amino groups attached to the particle surface not only stabilize the mRNA but also protect it from hydrolysis by nucleases, enzymes that break down the nucleic acids that make up DNA and RNA, in the body.

    “The nanoparticle will keep it more stable, and it will deliver the vaccine to the cells where it will express the desired mRNA,” Sakhrie says.

    The nanoparticles are made by modifying bovine serum albumin, a readily available protein, affordable, and non-toxic protein, a waste product of commercial beef production.

    The team’s studies have shown that chickens vaccinated with the nanoparticle mRNA vaccine showed a 1000-times increase in antibodies against IBV compared to the unvaccinated control group. Their work has also demonstrated that immune cell activity increased in the vaccinated chickens, which indicates the vaccine boosts the entire immune system to fight off infection.

    With these promising results, the researchers are now investigating a more effective vaccination method.

    Traditionally, farmers need to individually inject baby chicks with the vaccine, a time-consuming project for the farmers and a stressful one for the chicks.

    The team is evaluating if, instead, the vaccine can be administered via a spray on the chicks. This would allow farmers to vaccinate large flocks quickly and without stress to the animals.

    While IBV is not currently a concern for human health, using the nanoparticles to enhance the stability of mRNA vaccines has the potential to improve human vaccines. Essentially, researchers could plug the genetic code of an emergent disease into the nanoparticle vaccine platform to quickly develop an effective mRNA vaccine. This platform technology can be tuned to various other disease vectors in the future.

    “We can use the nanoparticle for human vaccines,” Khan says. “The timing for vaccine development is very short, we just need the specific sequence of the gene.”

    UConn Technology Commercialization Services has filed a provisional patent for this nanoparticle technology. Michael A. Invernale , senior licensing manager, has been marketing the technology to industry to further bring this innovation from the lab to applied use.

    Follow UConn CAHNR on social media

    MIL OSI USA News –