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Category: Science

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Trump’s budget cuts could shut down local news outlets and reduce reporting on emergencies

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Colleen Murrell, Chair of the Editorial Board, and Full Professor in Journalism, Dublin City University

    Donald Trump’s campaign against the “fake news” media continues largely unchecked, with a decision that is expected to reduce reporting and close down some local news stations around the US.

    This follows a House of Representatives decision on July 18 to agree with the Senate and slash US$1.1 billion (£813 million) funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which manages the money for National Public Radio (NPR), the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and their member stations. These cuts will affect the next two years of their operations.

    There are fears that some local and rural stations will be forced to lay off staff and may even have to close, if they haven’t amassed significant cash reserves or receive other funding. Don Dunlap, the president of KEDT-TV/FM in Texas, said in an interview: “There are ten public TV stations in Texas, and we’re thinking probably six of them will close down within a year.”

    Experts are warning that in national emergencies such as wild fires and floods, local news media are “absolutely essential services” – and that they may not be able to help keep citizens well informed in future. “Nearly three-in-four Americans say they rely on their public radio stations for alerts and news for their public safety,” NPR’s CEO Katherine Maher said .

    Trump has had these media outlets in his sights for a while, claiming they are a waste of taxpayers’ money and are ideologically biased against Republicans – a claim denied by NPR and PBS.



    Read more:
    PBS and NPR are generally unbiased, independent of government propaganda and provide key benefits to US democracy

    Public broadcasting regularly sends out alerts related to extreme weather and emergency news. This appears particularly pertinent after the recent Texas floods which killed 135 people. Kate Riley, CEO of America’s Public Television Stations, said local news outlets provide “essential lifesaving public safety services, proven educational services and community connections to their communities every day for free”.

    Republican senator from Alaska Lisa Murkowski said she recently received a tsunami warning from her local radio station after an earthquake. Murkowski has tried to introduce an amendment to reduce the cuts to local stations.

    The more-than-1,000 NPR stations around the US are vulnerable precisely because significant funding comes from federal sources. According to figures from news organisation Politico: “Approximately 19% of NPR member stations count on CPB funding for at least 30% of their revenue.”

    Ed Ulman, president and CEO of Alaska Public Media, told Politico that over a third of public media stations in his state will shut down “within three-to-six months”. He has begun a renewed public funding campaign on social media.

    Small rural US radio stations are facing tough budget cuts.

    Even at well-funded TV stations such as Arizona PBS, owned by Arizona State University and run by its Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications, some curtailing of plans is afoot. The station provides daily programming to the region, and has trained generations of journalism students to enter careers in TV and radio. Following the announcement of these federal cuts, I spoke to Scott Woelfel, the station’s general manager, who said:

    Arizona PBS will lose about US$2.3 million per year over the next two years. That represents around 13% of our total budget. While that is a significant percentage, its loss will not prevent us from operating. In fact, we prepared a reduced budget in the likely event that the rescission would occur, and have been operating under it since July 1 … It contains cuts across the board in an equal amount to the lost revenue.

    Following these federal cuts, 60% of the station’s funding will derive from charitable giving, 16% from corporate support and a further 24% from state grants for education services. Woelfel doesn’t plan on making any staff cuts, but said some unstaffed positions will remain open indefinitely – and that the station will be “delaying major new initiatives until new funding is found”.

    What happens next?

    Overall, these cuts are likely to create additional “news deserts” – regions of the US which don’t have access to important local news and information.

    After President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 into law to give funds to public broadcasting, he said: “While we work every day to produce new goods and to create new wealth, we want most of all to enrich man’s spirit. That is the purpose of this act.” But such touching sentiments now seem old-school in this era of Trump’s loud media wars.

    In the past week, the US president has also announced he would sue “the ass off” Rupert Murdoch, founder of News Corp, and the Wall Street Journal, which News Corp owns. This follows the WSJ’s publication of a story concerning a 2003 birthday letter framed around the outline of a naked woman that Trump allegedly sent to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Trump said the letter was fake. His US$10 billion lawsuit also takes in the WSJ’s owner, Dow Jones, and two of its reporters.

    As Trump pushes forward with significant changes to the media landscape, he is no doubt hoping that friendly television stations such as Fox News – also a part of Murdoch’s empire – as well as his influencer following will stay loyal to his brand.

    His Maga followers will undoubtedly be supportive of budget cuts and his anti-PBS and NPR statements. But when it comes to reporting from a flood or fire, influencers tend not to be on the ground supplying local residents with up-to-date information. Voters may find those important, and sometimes life-saving, services hard to replace.

    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.

    Colleen Murrell received funding from Irish regulator Coimisiún na Meán (2021-4) for research for the annual Reuters Digital News Report Ireland.

    – ref. Trump’s budget cuts could shut down local news outlets and reduce reporting on emergencies – https://theconversation.com/trumps-budget-cuts-could-shut-down-local-news-outlets-and-reduce-reporting-on-emergencies-261493

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  • MIL-OSI Submissions: How the UK’s immigration system splits families apart – by design

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Nando Sigona, Professor of International Migration and Forced Displacement and Director of the Institute for Research into International Migration and Superdiversity, University of Birmingham

    arda savasciogullari/Shutterstock

    The letter that arrived for eleven-year-old Guilherme in June 2025 was addressed personally to him. The UK Home Office was informing him that he and his eight-year-old brother Luca must return to Brazil. Their parents, an academic and a senior NHS nurse, both long-term UK residents with valid visas were not included in the order.

    “Whilst this may involve a degree of disruption in family life,” the letter stated, “this is considered to be proportionate to the legitimate aim of maintaining effective immigration control.”

    The family’s difficulties with the Home Office began after the parents divorced a few years after arriving in the UK. Mother and children arrived in the UK as dependants on the father’s visa. After the divorce, the mother secured her own skilled worker visa, while the father was granted indefinite leave to remain in 2024.

    Under current rules, skilled workers must wait five years before applying for settlement. For the children to qualify for settlement, both parents must be settled or one must have sole responsibility – neither condition applies here. Only after media attention did the Home Office reconsider the decision.

    This case is just the latest example of how barriers to migrants’ family life are embedded in the UK’s immigration system – something I have been studying for years. The Labour government’s recently announced immigration plans extend and bolster these barriers.

    Current rules require migrants to earn at least £29,000 to sponsor a spouse or child – a figure set to rise to £38,700 in early 2026 after changes introduced by the last government. The newest immigration plans propose doubling the path to settlement from five to ten years. And they restrict the rights to family reunion to only “nuclear” families: divorced parents, adult children and extended kin are left out.

    These changes are aimed at reducing migration and restoring “public trust”. But in practice, they make family unity a luxury — harder to achieve for low-paid migrant workers and even for working-class British citizens with foreign partners.



    Read more:
    ‘Just the rich can do it’: our research shows how immigration income requirements devastate families

    The price of family life

    Recent research my colleagues and I conducted — based on over 50 interviews with migrant domestic and food delivery workers and other experts — shows how the immigration system fractures families and puts children at risk.

    Faith, a Zimbabwean domestic worker, explained how she was unable to bring her eldest daughter to the UK due to age restrictions on dependant visas. Her daughter was later trafficked into the UK and, though she eventually rejoined her mother, hasn’t recovered from the trauma of separation: “She’s struggling to sleep, can’t eat … always emotional, saying she feels dizzy, scared to be around people.”

    Faith had been trapped in an abusive relationship for a long time because her visa was tied to her partner. When she eventually left her partner, her visa was withdrawn – leaving her in breach of immigration rules. Her younger child was placed in care while Faith was detained for breaching the terms of her visa.

    Jamal, a food delivery rider from Eritrea, had a similar experience of legal dependency. He came to the UK on a dependant visa linked to his British wife. After their relationship deteriorated, his ability to remain in the country was threatened: “If we have problems, she can cancel my visa. This was her weapon.”

    Susan, a Zimbabwean woman working in the care and cleaning sector, moved to the UK to look after her adult daughter who had cancer. When her six month visitor visa expired, she applied for asylum, but her application was refused and eventually she was detained for almost a month.

    She faced deportation but was released after a legal aid lawyer helped her submit strong evidence of her daughter’s condition. Reflecting on her experience, she explained: “When it benefits them, they say I’ve had no contact [with my family in the UK]. When they want to deport me, they say I have family to return to [in Zimbabwe].”

    Immigration status doesn’t just define one’s own legal position, it can determine who gets the right to have a family in the UK and who does not. While some of our interviewees secured status through a partner’s EU citizenship and reunited with family members already in the UK, others who rely on temporary visas are excluded.

    Changes to the immigration in recent years have placed a higher value on how migrants can contribute or provide “value” – seeing them as workers (or students) first, not members of families. Many are allowed in the UK for a limited time and without the right to bring with them even the closest family members. The effect is particularly harsh on women in domestic work, whose visas are short-term and not renewable.

    Many interviewees reported that immigration barriers delayed or obstructed their children’s education or healthcare. Samantha’s daughter waited over two months for a school placement because their legal status was still pending. Adriana was charged £8,000 for NHS maternity services because of her undocumented status, which restricts access to free healthcare to GP and emergency care.

    Even in less extreme cases, legal insecurity takes a toll. Children grow up hearing their parents talk about “papers”, “Home Office letters” or the risk of being “sent back”.

    That the Home Office sent a removal letter to an eleven-year-old is not a clerical error. It is the system working as designed. And even when public outrage forces a reversal — as in Guilherme’s case — the wider machinery of enforcement continues.

    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.

    Nando Sigona is Scientific Coordinator of “Improving the Living and Working Conditions of Irregularised Migrant Households in Europe” (www.i-claim.eu), a three-year six-country research project, funded by the European Commission’s Horizon Europe and UKRI.

    – ref. How the UK’s immigration system splits families apart – by design – https://theconversation.com/how-the-uks-immigration-system-splits-families-apart-by-design-261134

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  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Trump takes lead role in Cold War Steve’s reimagining of Hogarth’s 18th-century satire, The Rake’s Progess

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Rebecca Anne Barr, Associate Professor in English Literature, University of Cambridge

    A reimagining of the sixth cartoon in William Hogarth’s A Rake’s Progress depicting Trump pleading for divine assistance at a gambling den. Cold War Steve

    British satirist Cold War Steve has published a series of images based on the British painter William Hogarth’s The Rake’s Progress (1733-35). Hogarth’s 18th-century original charts the catastrophic decline of an affluent young man, Tom Rakewell. Cold War Steve’s 2025 reimagining substitutes the foolish rake with the US president, Donald Trump.

    Hogarth’s eight densely packed images are a forerunner of the modern comic script, a kind of condensed graphic novel. The works swarm with life and hidden meanings for viewers to decode.

    Tom starts out in high life, flashing his cash and enjoying himself. But he is rapidly drawn into a vortex of late-night drinking, gambling and prostitution. Desperate to save himself from extreme poverty, he sells himself in marriage to an older woman (no cougar, alas, but a rather decrepit heiress).

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    But he still cannot control his behaviour. Tom is eventually imprisoned for debt, loses his mind – either to syphilis or sorrow – and dies in Bedlam, the notorious 18th-century madhouse.

    Hugely popular and culturally influential, A Rake’s Progress is a modern morality tale. It’s a warning against the perils of self-indulgence, and a devastating critique of those too wealthy and foolish to care about the damage they do.

    The Gaming House, the sixth engraving in The Rake’s Progress, depicts the protagonist back to his profligate ways after marrying an older wealthy woman.
    Wikimedia

    Political satire as tragicomedy

    Keeping close to the original narrative, Cold War Steve uses the 18th-century paintings as backdrops, while altering the object of the satire by making Trump the main target. Renamed Trump’s Progress, this is a pointed political satire, directed at those in power.

    Steve’s is a 21st-century reimagining, not a pious homage. Instead, Trump’s Progress has an irreverent punk aesthetic: a horde of Trump-supporting celebrities (such as Don King, Hulk Hogan and Liberace) are photoshopped into his digital canvases, cavorting crazily alongside Trump as he moves from his immense wealth to political pre-eminence.

    Cold War Steve’s reimagining of A Rake’s Progress with Trump as its protagonist.
    Cold War Steve

    Both funny and dark, this is political satire as tragicomedy. The contemporary satirist takes Hogarth as precedent, suggesting a bad end lies in store for the president.

    Just as the 18th-century rake ends up in the madhouse, Cold War Steve ends his sequence with an aged Trump lying in a prison cell. Trump is tended to by Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his daughter Ivanka, while his other erstwhile friends look less than pleased to be incarcerated along with him.

    Hogarth was a key figure in 18th-century culture. His images of late-night drunkenness , sleazy politicians, and the cheek-by-jowl of luxury living and extreme poverty encapsulated the irrepressible messiness of modern life.

    Hogarth reflected Britain’s aspirations to liberty and progress, but also its ongoing struggles with consumerism, luxury, corruption, and greed. These are issues that dominate our present day too, and give Hogarth’s satires an urgent and unsettling relevance.

    This is not the first time Cold War Steve has used historical images from the 18th century to indict the present. In a recent article, I explored how Hogarth became a powerful visual source for the satirist during the COVID-19 crisis.

    Hogarth’s Beer Street and Gin Lane.
    Wikimedia

    In May 2020, Steve published an update of Hogarth’s famous print, Gin Lane. The original shows London as a drunken dystopia, as the poor turned to cheap imported gin to ease their daily grind.

    But Cold War Steve’s version dramatically altered the image’s moral message. By populating the city street with members of the Tory party and Britain’s business elite, he accused the government of gross moral negligence in treating the pandemic as an opportunity to make money.

    The choice of Hogarth is not accidental. Not merely familiar to students of art history, Hogarth has a cultural legibility that makes his work an influential satirical template for artists who want to comment on the social malaise of their times.

    Being in conversation with Hogarth gives contemporary works added gravitas. The veteran cartoonist Steve Bell created numerous parodies of Hogarth throughout his time at the Guardian and other publications.

    The penultimate scene in A Rake’s Progress, The Prison Scene, shows the vices of the protagonist having caught up with him.
    Wikimedia

    In 2016, English artist Thomas Moore created a version in which the 18th-century gin craze has been replaced by the obesity epidemic. Hogarth’s impoverished city street is now full of fast food shops, pubs and pawnbrokers. The manic energy and cultural anxiety of Hogarth’s satires resonates with our own accelerated culture and widespread sense of moral and social decline.

    In his study of the cultural afterlives of the 18th century, scholar James Ward has shown that postmodern popular culture often invokes Hogarth to question the assumption that our distance from the past is the same as progress.

    By splicing together images of the past with the present, Cold War Steve’s visual satires make the serious political point that society has failed to progress since the enlightenment. In his eyes, the vices that Hogarth showed ravaging his society are still part of a culture of political shamelessness, personified by Trump.

    Steve’s energetically subversive reworking of 18th-century material shows how Hogarth’s satires continue to be understood and appreciated by diverse audiences.

    Former prime minister Boris Johnson portrayed Hogarth as a patriotic British product. But by successfully translating Hogarth’s satires for a transatlantic audience, Cold War Steve shows that his appeal transcends both national and political divides. Current politics might be almost beyond parody on both sides of the pond, but Steve’s bleak humour shows us that satire is thriving.

    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.

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

    – ref. Trump takes lead role in Cold War Steve’s reimagining of Hogarth’s 18th-century satire, The Rake’s Progess – https://theconversation.com/trump-takes-lead-role-in-cold-war-steves-reimagining-of-hogarths-18th-century-satire-the-rakes-progess-261701

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  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Mysterious fossil may rewrite story of skin and feather evolution in reptiles

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Valentina Rossi, Postdoctoral researcher, Palaeontology, University College Cork

    A delicate, innocuous little fossil reptile known as Mirasaura grauvogeli – “Grauvogel’s wonder reptile” – is forcing a rethink about the evolution of skin and its appendages such as feathers and hair.

    These newly discovered fossils, from the Middle Triassic (247 million years old)
    Grès à Voltzia site in northeast France, preserve evidence of some of the most astonishing soft-tissue features described to date in ancient reptiles. We are two of the authors of a new paper on these finds, published in Nature.

    These fossils show that the tree dwelling Mirasaura had a large and startling crest along its back. The crest is formed by elongated appendages that are neither scales, feathers nor hair.

    Until now, complex skin outgrowths such as feathers were thought to have evolved only much later – in birds, dinosaurs and pterosaurs. This probably occurred through a single origin in the common ancestor of these animals. In all other types of reptile, the only skin outgrowths present are scales.

    Mirasaura has overthrown this paradigm in sensational fashion. Compared with the size of its body, the long blades of its tall dorsal crest are enormous. Closer inspection reveals this crest comprised individual, overlapping appendages, each with a narrow central ridge and a lobed outline, similar to the shaft and form of feathers.

    However, the fossil structures seem to lack the fine branching architecture that characterises most feathers in modern birds. What’s more, Mirasaura is not related to birds, dinosaurs or pterosaurs, but instead belongs to a very ancient group of reptiles, the drepanosauromorphs, that are known only from the Triassic.

    The holotype of Mirasaura (State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart, Germany) showing its bird-like skull and crest along its back.
    Copyright: Stephan Spiekman, CC BY-NC-ND

    The soft tissues of Mirasaura are preserved as a thin brown film, rich in fossil melanosomes – cell structures that contain the pigment melanin during life. Research by our team at University College Cork and others has revealed widespread preservation of fossilised melanosomes in ancient vertebrates. These pigment granules can actually be used to reconstruct melanin-based colour patterns in extinct animals.

    Our team’s research has shown that fossil melanosomes can also help reconstruct the soft tissue anatomy of fossil animals, because melanosomes from different body tissues have different shapes and sizes. Our comprehensive examination of the fossilised soft tissues in Mirasaura, coupled with rigorous statistical analysis of the preserved melanosomes, reveals that their geometry is consistent with melanosomes in feathers, but not with melanosomes found in hair and in reptilian skin. This strongly suggests the Mirasaura skin appendages share common developmental features with feathers.

    Were the Mirasaura structures feathers, then? The solid, continuous blade of soft tissues either side of the central shaft shows no evidence for branching, which is a defining characteristic of most feathers in birds, dinosaurs and pterosaurs. The water is muddied, however, by the simple unbranched structure of some peculiar feathers in birds – such as the bristles of the turkey’s “beard”. Similar unbranched filaments are known in many dinosaurs and pterosaurs, and are widely considered to represent simple feathers.

    Certain dinosaur fossils even have flattened, strip-like feathers that lack branching but possess a central shaft, considered by some experts to be an unusual – extinct – feather type. Whether the resemblance between these fossil structures and the Mirasaura skin outgrowths is superficial or belies closer evolutionary ties remains to be seen.

    Fossil specimen of a large crest of Mirasaura, hosted by the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart.
    Copyright: Stephan Spiekman, CC BY-NC-ND

    Intriguingly, research on the developing chick embryo shows that feathers can lose their branched structure when certain genes are manipulated. We are currently examining in greater detail the morphology and composition of the Mirasaura structures to help us interpret their anatomy more definitively.

    Irrespective of what type of skin outgrowth they represent, our analyses of the anatomy of Mirasaura consistently position it, as well as other drepanosauromorph reptiles, at the base of the reptile tree. This supports data from developmental biology indicating that the genetic basis for the growth of complex skin appendages probably originated in the Carboniferous period, over 300 million years ago.

    Mirasaura therefore provides the first direct evidence that complex skin appendages did appear early during reptile evolution, and are not unique to pterosaurs, birds and other dinosaurs.

    We owe these new insights to painstaking conservation efforts, which serve as a reminder of the critical importance of natural history collections in conserving our natural heritage.

    The earliest discoveries of Mirasaura remains were unearthed in the 1930s by fossil collector Louis Grauvogel. After decades in the Grauvogel family, these specimens were donated to the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart in 2019, where careful preparation revealed their true significance.

    Now, the Mirasaura specimens force us to accept that even before the age of dinosaurs, reptiles were evolving striking anatomical traits normally associated with much younger fossils. This adds an intriguing dimension to future research into the origins of feathers, prompting palaeontologists to consider fossils from more diverse reptile groups – and from time periods before the appearance of dinosaurs and their direct ancestors.

    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.

    Valentina Rossi research is funded by the European Research Council. She is affiliated with University College Cork (UCC)

    Maria McNamara receives funding from the European Research Council and Research Ireland.

    – ref. Mysterious fossil may rewrite story of skin and feather evolution in reptiles – https://theconversation.com/mysterious-fossil-may-rewrite-story-of-skin-and-feather-evolution-in-reptiles-261695

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  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Orlando Bloom tried to ‘clean’ his blood to get rid of microplastics – here’s what the science says

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Rosa Busquets, Associate Professor, School of Life Sciences, Pharmacy and Chemistry, Kingston University

    Tinseltown/Shutterstock

    When actor Orlando Bloom revealed recently that he’d undergone a procedure to have his blood “cleaned”, many people raised eyebrows. The Pirates of the Caribbean star had turned to a treatment known as apheresis – a medical process in which blood is removed from the body, centrifuged or filtered to extract certain components, then returned in an attempt to flush out microplastics and other toxins.

    Apheresis is typically used to treat conditions such as autoimmune diseases or abnormally high levels of blood cells or proteins. Its use as a detox for microplastics, however, is scientifically unproven.

    Still, Bloom said he suspected his body had absorbed plastic through daily exposure, and wanted it out of his system.

    He’s probably right about the exposure. Scientists have found microplastics – tiny plastic fragments less than 5mm in size – in our air, water, soil, food and even inside human tissue. But when it comes to removing them from the bloodstream, that’s where the science gets murky.

    As researchers studying microplastic contamination, we’ve examined this issue in the context of dialysis – a life-saving treatment for patients with kidney failure. Dialysis filters waste products like urea and creatinine from the blood, regulates electrolytes, removes excess fluid and helps maintain blood pressure.

    But our study found that while dialysis is a medical marvel, it can also have an ironic downside: it could be introducing microplastics into the bloodstream. In some cases, we found that patients undergoing dialysis were being exposed to microplastics during treatment due to the breakdown of plastic components in the equipment – a troubling contradiction for a procedure designed to cleanse the blood.

    Apheresis is closely related to dialysis: both involve drawing blood from the body, circulating it through plastic tubing and filters, then returning it – so both procedures carry a similar risk of introducing microplastics from the equipment into the bloodstream.

    What are microplastics?

    Microplastics are plastic particles that range in size from about 5mm (roughly the length of a grain of rice) down to 0.1 microns – smaller than a red blood cell.

    Some microplastics are manufactured deliberately, like the plastic microbeads once common in facial scrubs. Others form when larger plastic objects degrade over time due to sunlight, friction, or physical stress.

    They’re everywhere: in the food we eat, air we breathe and water we drink. Plastic packaging, synthetic clothing such as polyester, and even artificial lawns contribute to the spread. Car tyres shed plastic particles as they wear down, and food heated or stored in plastic containers may leach microplastics.

    One estimate suggests the average adult may ingest around 883 microplastic particles – over half a microgramme – per day.

    So far, large-scale epidemiological studies have not established an association between microplastic exposure and specific diseases. Such studies are needed, but yet to be completed.

    However, early research suggests that microplastics may be associated with inflammation, cardiovascular conditions, and DNA damage – a potential pathway to cancer.

    What remains unclear is how microplastics behave inside the body: whether they accumulate, how they interact with tissues, and how (or if) the body clears them.

    The irony of filtration

    It’s tempting to believe, as Bloom seems to, that we can simply “clean” the blood, like draining pasta or purifying drinking water. Just as a sieve filters water from pasta, dialysis machines do filter blood – but using far more complex and delicate systems.

    These machines rely on plastic components, including tubes, membranes and filters, which are exposed to sustained pressure and repeated use. Unlike stainless steel, these materials can degrade over time, potentially shedding microplastics directly into the bloodstream.

    Currently, there is no published scientific evidence that microplastics can be effectively filtered from human blood. So, claims that dialysis or other treatments can remove them should be viewed with scepticism, especially when the filtration systems themselves are made of plastic.

    While it’s tempting to chase quick fixes or celebrity-endorsed cleanses, we are still in the early stages of understanding what microplastics are doing to our bodies – and how to get rid of them. Rather than focusing solely on ways to flush plastics from the bloodstream, the more effective long-term strategy may be reducing our exposure in the first place.

    Bloom’s story taps into a growing public unease: we all know we’re carrying the burden of plastic. But addressing it requires more than wellness trends: it calls for rigorous science, tougher regulation, and a shift away from our reliance on plastic in daily life.

    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.

    Rosa Busquets receives funding from UKRI, in a UKRI/ Horizons Staff exchanges Clean Water project (101131182). She is honorary Associate Professor at UCL and Honorary Professor at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. She is panel member of the UNEP EEAP, where is work group lead in a field that includes microplastics. She is also funded by DASA.

    Luiza C Campos is a Professor of Environmental Engineering at University College London.

    – ref. Orlando Bloom tried to ‘clean’ his blood to get rid of microplastics – here’s what the science says – https://theconversation.com/orlando-bloom-tried-to-clean-his-blood-to-get-rid-of-microplastics-heres-what-the-science-says-261203

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  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Canadian wetlands are treasures that deserve protection

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Maria Strack, Professor, Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo

    The Grande Plée Bleue bog, near Québec City in June 2023. This peatland with pools is one of the largest wetlands in eastern Québec. (Maria Strack)

    Though Canada is often known as a land of lakes, it is also a country of wetlands. Stretching like a necklace of emeralds, sapphires and rubies across the Canadian landscape, wetlands cover 14 per cent of the Canadian land mass, accounting for almost twice as much area as lakes.

    Canada is home to a quarter of the world’s remaining wetlands, yet they remain like hidden treasures that most Canadians rarely pay a second thought.

    The importance of wetlands to a sustainable future has been recognized internationally. Signed in 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar, the Convention on Wetlands — often called the Ramsar Convention — supports international collaboration and national action for the conservation of wetlands.

    This week, delegations from contracting parties to the convention, including Canada, have come together in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, for the 15th Conference of the Parties.

    Despite decades of efforts, wetlands continue to be under threat around the world. Delegates will work this week to chart a path forward that further elevates wetlands in the global consciousness, highlighting the need to protect these ecosystems and meet international goals to safeguard biodiversity and slow climate warming.

    Canada currently has 37 Wetlands of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention, covering more than 13 million hectares. Yet many of Canada’s wetlands remain unprotected.

    Canada’s wetlands

    The term “wetland” usually conjures an image of a shallow pond bordered by cattails. In fact, Canadian wetlands come in a range of shapes and sizes, all of which provide valuable services. Those reedy marshes provide critically important habitat and water storage, particularly in the Prairies, southern Ontario and Québec.

    The vast majority of Canada’s wetlands are made up of swamps, fens and bogs, most of which also hold deep deposits of organic soils called peat. Bogs and fens can resemble vast mossy carpets. But they can also look a lot like forests, hiding their soggy soils beneath a canopy of trees.

    This wetland diversity contributes to their value. At the interface of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, wetlands are often biodiversity hotspots.

    They are home to weird and wonderful species, including carnivorous plants like sundews, pitcher plants and bladderworts. And if you’re hungry, peatlands are a great place for berry picking.

    Interwoven in our boreal landscape, wetlands also support iconic Canadian species like beavers, moose and woodland caribou and are key habitats for waterfowl and other migratory birds.

    Preserving wetlands is also a key flood mitigation strategy. Storm water can fill up pore spaces in mossy peat soils, or spread out across the flat expanse of swamps and marshes, reducing peak flows and helping to protect downstream infrastructure. As the water slows, water quality can also be improved. Sediments have time to settle, while plants and microbes can remove excess nutrients.

    Carbon storage

    In recent decades, wetlands have gained international attention for their role in carbon storage. Waterlogged sediment and soil lead to slow rates of decomposition. When plant litter falls in a wetland, it builds up over time, creating a bank of carbon that can be stored for millennia.

    Peatlands are particularly good at accumulating carbon, as they are home to plants that inherently decompose slowly. Because of this, peatlands store twice the carbon of the world’s forests. Keeping this carbon stored in wetland soils, and out of the atmosphere, is important to climate change mitigation.

    Yet, the buildup of carbon in wetlands is slow. Many of these ecosystems have been adding to this carbon bank since the last ice age; digging through metres of peat is like travelling back through time, with the deposits at the bottom often thousands of years old.

    This means that the carbon stored in wetlands is irrecoverable within human lifetimes. Once lost, it will be many generations before the full value of this treasure can be returned.

    The economic value of the water-filtering and carbon storage that Canadian wetlands provide has been estimated at $225 billion per year. It’s clear: healthy wetlands contribute to our society’s well-being.

    But just as important, they are an integral component of the Canadian landscape. Wetlands are interwoven with our forests, fields, lakes and now even our cities. They link us to the land and water. They are places of wonder and spiritual connection.

    Impact of climate change

    Despite their value, wetlands in Canada face many threats. In southern regions of Canada, most wetlands have already been lost to drainage for agriculture and urban development. Further north, up to 98 per cent of Canadian peatlands remain intact.

    However, climate change and resource development are already exacerbating wetland disturbance and loss. Warming temperatures have contributed to larger and more severe wildfire that also impact peatlands and lead to large carbon emissions.

    Thawing permafrost is further changing wetland landscapes and how they function. Warming also allows for northward expansion of agriculture with the potential for loss of even more wetland area to drainage.

    Natural resource extraction further contributes to wetland disturbance, often with unexpected consequences. Geologic exploration used to map oil and gas reserves has left a network of over one million kilometres of linear forest clearing across the boreal forest, much of which crosses peatlands.



    Read more:
    How climate change is impacting the Hudson Bay Lowlands — Canada’s largest wetland

    This has contributed to declines in woodland caribou populations and led to increases in methane emissions from these ecosystems.

    Mining often involves regional drainage or excavation of peatlands, resulting in the loss of their services. The recent push to fast-track production of critical minerals in Canada is putting vast areas of our wetlands at risk.

    Wetland restoration research is ongoing, with some promising results. However, given the long time-scale of wetland development, avoiding disturbances in the first place is the best way to safeguard wetlands.

    As stewards of a quarter of world’s wetland treasures, policymakers and everyday Canadians need to ensure wetlands are safeguarded and preserved for a prosperous future.

    Maria Strack receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, the Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss Association, Ducks Unlimited Canada, Imperial Oil Ltd., Alberta Pacific Forest Industries Inc., Cenovus Energy, Canadian Natural Resources Limited, ConocoPhillips Canada, Natural Resources Canada, and the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute.

    – ref. Canadian wetlands are treasures that deserve protection – https://theconversation.com/canadian-wetlands-are-treasures-that-deserve-protection-261433

    MIL OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Merck Foundation Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Meets Mauritius Minister of Gender Equality & Family Welfare to Launch “Educating Linda” Program, Supporting Education of 20 Deserving yet Underprivileged Mauritian Schoolgirls Girls Until Graduation

    Source: APO

    • During the visit to the country, Merck Foundation CEO also met the Mauritius President to share the impact of their 100 Scholarships for Mauritian Doctors in partnership with Ministry of Health.
    • Dr. Rasha Kelej during her meeting with the Mauritius President, strengthened partnership to improve access to innovative and equitable healthcare and Empower Women in STEM.
    • Senator Dr. Rasha Kelej also met the Mauritius Minister of Gender Equality & Family Welfare to share the impact of their programs to address critical social issues like supporting girl education and Ending Gender Based Violence in the country.

    Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation (www.Merck-Foundation.com), the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany met Hon’ble Ms. Marie Arianne Navarre-Marie, Minister of Gender Equality and Family Welfare during a high-level meeting, to share the impact of their programs and underscore their long-term commitment to address critical social issues in Mauritius.

    During her visit, she also met H.E. MR. DHARAMBEER GOKHOOL, The President of Republic of Mauritius, to share the impact of their 100 Scholarships for Mauritian Doctors in partnership with Ministry of Health and underscore their long-term commitment to transform public healthcare in Mauritius.

    Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and President of “More Than a Mother” Campaign emphasized, “It was a great honor to meet Hon’ble Ms. Marie Arianne Navarre-Marie, Minister of Gender Equality and Family Welfare and share with her the impact of our partnership and programs since 2017 that aim to transform patient care, build healthcare and media capacity, to empower women in STEM, support girl education and raise awareness about social and health issues in Mauritius and the rest of Africa.

    I am very happy to share that together with the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Welfare, we are launching our Educating Linda Program in the country, as a part of which we will be supporting the education of 20 high performing yet underprivileged Mauritian schoolgirls, till they graduate. Through this, we will be empowering them to complete their studies and reach their full potential.”

    Merck Foundation has provided 100 scholarships for Mauritian doctors in 44 critical and under-served specialties.

    “During my meeting with H.E. MR. DHARAMBEER GOKHOOL, The President of Republic of Mauritius, we also discussed the possibility of providing specialized training for Mauritian doctors in innovative and emerging fields such as Stem Cell Therapy in pathology, CAR T-cell treatment, AI in Radiology, Radiotherapy and Medical Oncology, Robotic Surgical Oncology, Neurology, Nephrology, Urology, and Neurosurgery. We are strongly committed to work closely with Ministry of Health to improve access to innovative and equitable healthcare solutions”, added Dr. Kelej. 

    The 100 scholarships for local Mauritian Doctors have been provided for One-Year PG Diploma and Two-year Master Degrees in many critical specialties including Fertility, Embryology, Sexual & Reproductive Care, Oncology, Preventative Cardiovascular, Diabetes, Endocrinology, Acute Medicine, Respiratory, Gastroenterology, Dermatology, Neuroimaging for Research, Sexual & Reproductive Care, Clinical Microbiology and infectious diseases, Internal Medicine, Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Ophthalmology, Laparoscopic Surgical Skills, Critical Care, Neonatal Medicine, Psychiatry, Family Medicine, Advanced Cytopathology and many more.

    Merck Foundation has so far provided more than 2280 scholarships for young doctors from 52 countries in 44 critical and underserved specialties, with many of them becoming the first specialists in their countries.

    During her visit, Merck Foundation CEO also met the Senior Officials from the Office of Hon’ble Minister of Health, Mauritius.

    Merck Foundation also conducted the 4th Edition of their Health Media Training for the Mauritian Media Representatives in partnership with Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Welfare, Mauritius. The training session was conducted to emphasize on the important role that media plays to influence society to create a cultural shift with the aim to address wide range of social and health issues such as: Breaking Infertility Stigma, Supporting Girl Education, Women Empowerment, Ending Child Marriage, Ending FGM, Stopping GBV, Diabetes and Hypertension awareness. It was co-chaired by Merck Foundation CEO and Minister of Gender Equality and Family Welfare, Mauritius.

    During the training session, the Call for Application for 8 important Merck Foundation Awards were announced for Media, Musicians, Fashion Designers, Filmmakers, students, and new potential talents in these fields.

    The award announced are:

    1. Merck Foundation Africa Media Recognition Awards “More Than a Mother” 2025, in partnership with Media Trust Board, Mauritius: Media representatives and media students are invited to showcase their work to raise awareness about one or more of the following social issues such as: Breaking Infertility Stigma, Supporting Girl Education, Women Empowerment, Ending Child Marriage, Ending FGM, and/ or Stopping GBV at all levels.

    Submission deadline: 30th September 2025.

    1.  Merck Foundation Fashion Awards “More Than a Mother” 2025, in partnership with Academy of Design and Innovation, Mauritius: All African Fashion Students and Designers are invited to create and share designs to deliver strong and influential messages to raise awareness about one or more of the following social issues such as: Breaking Infertility Stigma, Supporting Girl Education, Women Empowerment, Ending Child Marriage, Ending FGM, and/ or Stopping GBV at all levels.

    Submission deadline: 30th September 2025.

    1. Merck Foundation Film Awards “More Than a Mother” 2025: All African Filmmakers, Students of Film Making Training Institutions, or Young Talents of Africa are invited to create and share a long or short FILMS, either drama, documentary, or docudrama to deliver strong and influential messages to address one or more of the following social issues such as: Breaking Infertility Stigma, Supporting Girl Education, Women Empowerment, Ending Child Marriage, Ending FGM, and/ or Stopping GBV at all levels.

    Submission deadline: 30th September 2025.

    1. Merck Foundation Song Awards “More Than a Mother” 2025: All African Singers and Musical Artists are invited to create and share a SONG with the aim to address one or more of the following social issues such as: Breaking Infertility Stigma, Supporting Girl Education, Women Empowerment, Ending Child Marriage, Ending FGM, and/ or Stopping GBV at all levels.

    Submission deadline: 30th September 2025.

    1. Merck Foundation Media Recognition Awards 2025 “Diabetes & Hypertension”, in partnership with Media Trust Board, Mauritius: Media representatives are invited to showcase their work through strong and influential messages to promote a healthy lifestyle and raise awareness about the prevention and early detection of Diabetes and Hypertension.

    Submission deadline: 30th October 2025.

    1. Merck Foundation Fashion Awards 2025 “Diabetes & Hypertension”, in partnership with Academy of Design and Innovation, Mauritius: All African Fashion Students and Designers are invited to create and share designs to deliver strong and influential messages to promote a healthy lifestyle and raise awareness about the prevention and early detection of Diabetes and Hypertension.

    Submission deadline: 30th October 2025.

    1. Merck Foundation Film Awards 2025 “Diabetes & Hypertension: All African Filmmakers, Students of Film Making Training Institutions, or Young Talents of Africa are invited to create and share a long or short FILMS, either drama, documentary, or docudrama to deliver strong and influential messages to promote a healthy lifestyle raise awareness about prevention and early detection of Diabetes and Hypertension.

    Submission deadline: 30th October 2025.

    1. Merck Foundation Song Awards 2025 “Diabetes & Hypertension”: All African Singers and Musical Artists are invited to create and share a SONG with the aim to promote a healthy lifestyle and raise awareness about the prevention and early detection of Diabetes and Hypertension.

    Submission deadline: 30th October 2025.

    Entries for the above awards can be submitted to us at:

    submit@merck-foundation.com

    For information on the above awards, please visit our website:

    www.Merck-Foundation.com

    Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Merck Foundation.

    Contact:
    Mehak Handa
    Community Awareness Program Manager 
    Phone: +91 9310087613/ +91 9319606669
    Email: mehak.handa@external.merckgroup.com

    Join the conversation on our social media platforms below and let your voice be heard!
    Facebook: https://apo-opa.co/3GZAB8c
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    Website: www.Merck-Foundation.com
    Download Merck Foundation App: https://apo-opa.co/4nYOCDX

    About Merck Foundation:
    The Merck Foundation, established in 2017, is the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany, aims to improve the health and wellbeing of people and advance their lives through science and technology. Our efforts are primarily focused on improving access to quality & equitable healthcare solutions in underserved communities, building healthcare & scientific research capacity, empowering girls in education and empowering people in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) with a special focus on women and youth. All Merck Foundation press releases are distributed by e-mail at the same time they become available on the Merck Foundation Website.  Please visit www.Merck-Foundation.com to read more. Follow the social media of Merck Foundation: Facebook (https://apo-opa.co/3GZAB8c), X (https://apo-opa.co/46Yc51M), Instagram (https://apo-opa.co/41aw4Xg), YouTube (https://apo-opa.co/450kdfL), Threads (https://apo-opa.co/4m1Sj9O) and Flickr (https://apo-opa.co/4o4qNdO).

    The Merck Foundation is dedicated to improving social and health outcomes for communities in need. While it collaborates with various partners, including governments to achieve its humanitarian goals, the foundation remains strictly neutral in political matters. It does not engage in or support any political activities, elections, or regimes, focusing solely on its mission to elevate humanity and enhance well-being while maintaining a strict non-political stance in all of its endeavors.

    Media files

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    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Brown goshawk released from illegal captivity

    Source: Tasmania Police

    Issued: 23 Jul 2025

    Open larger image

    The brown goshawk was released into bushland after being rescued from the enclosure.

    Photo credit: © Shari Griinke

    Open larger image

    The person received two fines for illegally capturing the brown goshawk.

    Photo credit: © Shari Griinke

    A brown goshawk has been released from a private property on Brisbane’s south side after it was unlawfully captured and placed into an enclosure without approval.

    In June, the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation received information from a member of the public about a wild bird that had been illegally captured at Marsden.

    Wildlife Rangers from the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service attended the address and found a brown goshawk that been illegally held in the enclosure for up to three days.

    Senior Wildlife Ranger Shari Griinke said rangers seized the bird and released it within 2.5km of the address.

    “The person who lives at the address admitted to capturing raptors at least three times because he believed they had been harassing his homing pigeons and chickens,” Ms Griinke said.

    “The person was planning on taking the captured goshawk to bushland west of Brisbane where it would be released it into the wild.

    “It is illegal to take or keep native animals from the wild without an appropriate permit, and people needing protection for their poultry or other pets should contact a licenced bird catcher.”

    Under the Nature Conservation Act 1992 it is an offence to take and or keep native animals in Queensland without the appropriate permits.

    The person has been issued with two Penalty Infringement Notices to the value of $1,612 for illegally taking the bird from the wild and for keeping it in an enclosure.

    View information about permits required to keep native animals and removal of native animals.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: From Epping to Powrunna – fourth translocation successful

    Source: Tasmania Police

    Issued: 23 Jul 2025

    Open larger image

    Eleven wombats were taken from Epping Forest National Park (Scientific) to Powrunna State Forest.

    An additional 11 northern hairy-nosed wombats have been transported from Epping Forest National Park (Scientific) in Queensland’s central west to Powrunna State Forest in the state’s southwest.

    This translocation project is an integral component of the Queensland Government’s northern hairy-nosed wombat recovery program which aims to establish a third population of the endangered marsupial.

    The project began in May 2024 after extensive preparation of the site at Powrunna and 37 wombats have already successfully been translocated.

    In June 2025, rangers from across Queensland gathered at Epping Forest National Park (Scientific) to carefully trap six females and five males for relocation to their new home.

    Principal Conservation Officer Samantha Ryan said there were now 21 females and 16 males at Powrunna, which had been specifically chosen for the third population of wombats.

    “Monitoring by the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation shows the wombats have embraced their new home with plenty of new burrows,” Ms Ryan said.

    “We have already seen some young-at-foot on trail cameras, and our ultimate goal is to create another self-sustaining population of northern hairy-nosed wombats.

    “Transportation takes around ten hours during the day when the wombats are usually sleeping, and they’re released early in the evening into artificial burrows.

    “Our goal is to translocate up to sixty wombats to Powrunna by 2026, and there is much hope that the population there will grow as it has at Epping.”

    Senior Program Officer David Field had never seen a northern hairy-nosed wombat prior to the translocation, and said it was wonderful to be involved.

    “It was great to be involved in the planning, trapping, relocation and release of this endangered species and it’s an experience I’ll never forget,” Mr Field said.

    “I’ve learnt so much by working alongside experts, and the wombats were in excellent condition and were bigger and softer than you’d expect.”

    Rangers from the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service have used radio trackers and remote cameras to monitor wombats at Powrunna, and site inspections show they have moved on from starter burrows and have dug multiple burrows of their own.

    Northern hairy-nosed wombats previously ranged from New South Wales and into Queensland. In the eighties, the population of wombats at Epping Forest National Park was estimated to be around 35 and is now estimated to be at least 400.

    Richard Underwood Nature Refuge near Wycombe is managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy and is home to a small population of northern hairy-nosed wombats.

    The Gunggari Native Title Aboriginal Corporation (GNTAC) and Gunggari Native Title Holders, Glencore, The Wombat Foundation and Australian Wildlife Conservancy have provided ongoing support for this project.

    In Queensland, some national parks are designated as “scientific” and are either fully or partially closed to the public to protect their natural values.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Secretary-General’s Message for the 30th Anniversary of the International Seabed Authority

    Source: United Nations

    I am pleased to join you in celebrating the 30th anniversary of the International Seabed Authority – a cornerstone in the governance of our ocean commons.

    The international seabed area is not the domain of any nation. It is the common heritage of humankind – a principle enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which must continue to guide us.

    We must bring together our global efforts in climate action, biodiversity preservation, and marine protection. 

    The deep ocean remains one of our last frontiers.  It holds great promise but also requires great caution.

    For thirty years, the Authority has helped protect this shared realm through peaceful, sustainable and inclusive governance.

    Today, it is navigating complex challenges with care and clarity, and I commend its commitment to finding balanced and effective solutions.

    As we mark this milestone, let us advance cooperation grounded in science, and keep working together to safeguard the ocean for the benefit of all people, everywhere.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Dingell, Huizenga, Walberg Bill to Modernize Fishery Management Passes House

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (12th District of Michigan)

    The House of Representatives today passed the Great Lakes Mass Marking Act, led by Representatives Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Bill Huizenga (MI-04), co-chairs of the Great Lakes Task Force, and Tim Walberg (MI-05), member of the Great Lakes Task Force.

    This legislation would mass mark all hatchery-produced fish. Currently, the United States tags only 9 to 11 million of the 21 million fish stocked each year. By marking all hatchery fish, mass marking will improve data collection, enabling better analysis of the health of wild fish stocks. This would provide valuable insights to help develop a science-based, collaborative fishery management program. With the Great Lakes fishing economy valued at around $7 billion, this data-driven approach could significantly enhance the sustainability and effectiveness of hatchery operations and fisheries management. 

    View Rep. Dingell’s remarks on the bill on the House floor here.

    “Mass marking is the practice of tagging large numbers of hatchery-raised fish so we can easily distinguish them from the wild fish population. Currently, we only mark 41 percent of hatchery fish. The implementation of mass marking will help us better understand the fish populations of our Great Lakes and the cultural, economic, recreational, and food benefits they provide,” said Rep. Dingell. “This bill provides the tools needed to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to implement a mass marking program for every hatchery fish in the Great Lakes region, which will allow fishery managers to collect valuable, timely information, ultimately improving the effectiveness and efficiency of hatchery operations and fishery management. I’m proud it passed the House, and will continue to work across the aisle with my colleagues to get it signed into law.” 

    “Recreational fishing generates significant revenue for small businesses across Michigan while also allowing anglers and families to make memories that last a lifetime,” said Rep. Huizenga. “Establishing a Great Lakes Mass Marking Program will improve the effectiveness of our fisheries while enhancing the environmental, scientific, and recreational benefits that healthy fish populations provide. This bipartisan initiative is a win for both the economy and the ecology of the Great Lakes.”

    “From Lake Michigan to Lake Erie, our fisheries are a cornerstone of our way of life,” said Rep. Walberg. “As an avid fisherman myself, I understand how robust and healthy fisheries are a lifeline for Michiganders, fueling local economies, offering world-class opportunities for outdoor enthusiasts, and upholding traditions for many families. I am pleased to see the House pass this vital legislation to ensure we have the tools and data necessary to preserve the fisheries of the Great Lakes for generations to come.” 

    The Great Lakes Mass Marking Act would establish a program within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) for the mass marking of hatchery-produced fish in the Great Lakes basin. The FWS initiated the program in 2010 on a limited scale. Under the existing program, the FWS tags hatchery-produced fish stocked in the Great Lakes, and produces data used by state and tribal fish management agencies to make management decisions regarding Great Lakes fisheries.

    This bill would authorize $5,000,000 annually from FY26 to FY30 for FWS to carry out tagging and tag recovery operations on a greater scale and hire additional personnel.

    The FWS must make the data collected under the program available to applicable federal, state, and tribal fish management agencies to:

    • increase the understanding of the outcomes of management action;
    • assist in meeting the restoration objectives of the Great Lakes;
    • assist in balancing predators and prey;
    • support and improve the economic status of tribal, recreational, and commercial fisheries; and
    • assist in evaluating the effectiveness of habitat restoration efforts in the Great Lakes.

    View the bill text here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Statement from NSF Chief of Staff Brian Stone, performing the duties of the NSF Director, on the White House AI Action Plan

    Source: US Government research organizations

    The White House’s AI Action Plan sends a clear message: the United States is all-in on winning the future of artificial intelligence. This road map removes barriers to American innovation and reaffirms our commitment to seizing the opportunities of AI to advance economic competitiveness and national security. At the U.S. National Science Foundation, we’re proud to have a critical role in realizing this future.

    Over the coming weeks, NSF will unveil a series of major initiatives that align with this momentum, including:

    • New NSF AI Research Institutes to accelerate breakthroughs in foundational AI and the application of AI to health, education, chemistry and materials science.
    • A partnership to create a large language model infrastructure to develop cutting-edge capabilities to drive AI for science.
    • AI Testbeds to evaluate real-world AI systems with transparency and rigor.
    • The next phase of the National AI Research Resource to supercharge AI innovation through access to critical computational resources, data, software and training resources.

    These investments will help secure U.S. leadership in AI while ensuring the benefits of this powerful technology reach across America and create more jobs. NSF stands ready to work alongside our partners in government, private industry and philanthropy to keep American innovation on the frontier where it belongs.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: WHITE HOUSE UNVEILS AMERICA’S AI ACTION PLAN

    US Senate News:

    Source: US Whitehouse
    WASHINGTON, DC – The White House today released “Winning the AI Race: America’s AI Action Plan”, in accordance with President Trump’s January executive order on Removing Barriers to American Leadership in AI. Winning the AI race will usher in a new golden age of human flourishing, economic competitiveness, and national security for the American people.
    The Plan identifies over 90 Federal policy actions across three pillars – Accelerating Innovation, Building American AI Infrastructure, and Leading in International Diplomacy and Security – that the Trump Administration will take in the coming weeks and months.
    Key policies in the AI Action Plan include:
    Exporting American AI: The Commerce and State Departments will partner with industry to deliver secure, full-stack AI export packages – including hardware, models, software, applications, and standards – to America’s friends and allies around the world.
    Promoting Rapid Buildout of Data Centers: Expediting and modernizing permits for data centers and semiconductor fabs, as well as creating new national initiatives to increase high-demand occupations like electricians and HVAC technicians.
    Enabling Innovation and Adoption: Removing onerous Federal regulations that hinder AI development and deployment, and seek private sector input on rules to remove.
    Upholding Free Speech in Frontier Models: Updating Federal procurement guidelines to ensure that the government only contracts with frontier large language model developers who ensure that their systems are objective and free from top-down ideological bias.
    “America’s AI Action Plan charts a decisive course to cement U.S. dominance in artificial intelligence. President Trump has prioritized AI as a cornerstone of American innovation, powering a new age of American leadership in science, technology, and global influence. This plan galvanizes Federal efforts to turbocharge our innovation capacity, build cutting-edge infrastructure, and lead globally, ensuring that American workers and families thrive in the AI era. We are moving with urgency to make this vision a reality,” said White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios.
    “Artificial intelligence is a revolutionary technology with the potential to transform the global economy and alter the balance of power in the world. To remain the leading economic and military power, the United States must win the AI race. Recognizing this, President Trump directed us to produce this Action Plan. To win the AI race, the U.S. must lead in innovation, infrastructure, and global partnerships. At the same time, we must center American workers and avoid Orwellian uses of AI. This Action Plan provides a roadmap for doing that,” said AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks.
    “Winning the AI Race is non-negotiable. America must continue to be the dominant force in artificial intelligence to promote prosperity and protect our economic and national security. President Trump recognized this at the beginning of his administration and took decisive action by commissioning this AI Action Plan. These clear-cut policy goals set expectations for the Federal Government to ensure America sets the technological gold standard worldwide, and that the world continues to run on American technology,” said Secretary of State and Acting National Security Advisor Marco Rubio.
    Learn more at ai.gov. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Togo’s ‘Nana-Benz’: how cheap Chinese imports of African fabrics has hurt the famous women traders

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Fidele B. Ebia, Postdoctoral fellow, Duke Africa Initiative, Duke University

    The manufacturing of African print textiles has shifted to China in the 21st century. While they are widely consumed in African countries – and symbolic of the continent – the rise of “made in China” has undermined the African women traders who have long shaped the retail and distribution of this cloth.

    For many decades Vlisco, the Dutch textile group which traces its origins to 1846 and whose products had been supplied to west Africa by European trading houses since the late 19th century, dominated manufacture of the cloth. But in the last 25 years dozens of factories in China have begun to supply African print textiles to west African markets. Qingdao Phoenix Hitarget Ltd, Sanhe Linqing Textile Group and Waxhaux Ltd are among the best known.

    We conducted research to establish how the rise of Chinese-made cloth has affected the African print textiles trade. We focused on Togo. Though it’s a tiny country with a population of only 9.7 million, the capital city, Lomé, is the trading hub in west Africa for the textiles.

    We conducted over 100 interviews with traders, street sellers, port agents or brokers, government officials and representatives of manufacturing companies to learn about how their activities have changed.

    “Made in China” African print textiles are substantially cheaper and more accessible to a wider population than Vlisco fabric. Our market observations in Lomé’s famous Assigamé market found that Chinese African print textiles cost about 9,000 CFA (US$16) for six yards – one complete outfit. Wax Hollandais (50,000 CFA or US$87) cost over five times more.

    Data is hard to come by, but our estimates suggest that 90% of imports of these textiles to Lomé port in 2019 came from China.

    One Togolese trader summed up the attraction:

    Who could resist a cloth that looked similar, but that cost much less than real Vlisco?

    Our research shows how the rise of China manufactured cloth has undermined Vlisco’s once dominant market share as well as the monopoly on the trade of Dutch African print textiles that Togolese traders once enjoyed.

    The traders, known as Nana-Benz because of the expensive cars they drove, once enjoyed an economic and political significance disproportionate to their small numbers. Their political influence was such that they were key backers of Togo’s first president, Sylvanus Olympio – himself a former director of the United Africa Company, which distributed Dutch cloth.

    In turn, Olympio and long-term leader General Gnassingbé Eyadéma provided policy favours – such as low taxes – to support trading activity. In the 1970s, African print textile trade was considered as significant as the phosphate industry – the country’s primary export.

    Nana-Benz have since been displaced – their numbers falling from 50 to about 20. Newer Togolese traders – known as Nanettes or “little Nanas” – have taken their place. While they have carved out a niche in mediating the textiles trade with China, they have lower economic and political stature. In turn, they too are increasingly threatened by Chinese competition, more recently within trading and distribution as well.

    China displaces the Dutch

    Dating back to the colonial period, African women traders have played essential roles in the wholesale and distribution of Dutch cloth in west African markets. As many countries in the region attained independence from the 1950s onwards, Grand Marché – or Assigamé – in Lomé became the hub for African print textile trade.

    While neighbouring countries such as Ghana limited imports as part of efforts to promote domestic industrialisation, Togolese traders secured favourable conditions. These included low taxes and use of the port.

    Togolese women traders knew the taste of predominantly female, west African customers better than their mostly male, Dutch designers. The Nana-Benz were brought into the African print textile production and design process, selecting patterns and giving names to designs they knew would sell.

    They acquired such wealth from this trade that they earned the Nana-Benz nickname from the cars they purchased and which they used to collect and move merchandise.

    Nana-Benz exclusivity of trading and retailing of African print textiles cloth in west African markets has been disrupted. As Vlisco has responded to falling revenues – over 30% in the first five years of the 21st century – due to its Chinese competition, Togolese traders’ role in the supply chain of Dutch cloth has been downgraded.

    In response to the flood of Chinese imports, the Dutch manufacturer re-positioned itself as a luxury fashion brand and placed greater focus on the marketing and distribution of the textiles.

    Vlisco has opened several boutique stores in west and central Africa, starting with Cotonou (2008), Lomé (2008) and Abidjan (2009). The surviving Nana-Benz – an estimated 20 of the original 50 – operate under contract as retailers rather than traders and must follow strict rules of sale and pricing.

    While newer Togolese traders known as Nanettes are involved in the sourcing of textiles from China, they have lower economic and political stature. Up to 60 are involved in the trade.

    Former street sellers of textiles and other petty commodities, Nanettes began travelling to China in the early to mid-2000s to source African print textiles. They are involved in commissioning and advising on the manufacturing of African print textiles in China and the distribution in Africa.

    While many Nanettes order the common Chinese brands, some own and market their own. These include what are now well-known designs in Lomé and west Africa such as “Femme de Caractère”, “Binta”, “Prestige”, “Rebecca Wax”, “GMG” and “Homeland”.

    Compared to their Nana-Benz predecessors, the Nanettes carve out their business from the smaller pie available from the sale of cheaper Chinese cloth. Though the volumes traded are large, the margins are smaller due to the much lower final retail price compared to Dutch cloth.

    After procuring African print textiles from China, Nanettes sell wholesale to independent local traders or “sellers” as well as traders from neighbouring countries. These sellers in turn break down the bulk they have purchased and sell it in smaller quantities to independent street vendors.

    All African print textiles from China arrive in west Africa as an incomplete product – as six-yard or 12-yard segments of cloth, not as finished garments. Local tailors and seamstresses then make clothes according to consumer taste. Some fashion designers have also opened shops where they sell prêt-à-porter (ready-to-wear) garments made from bolts of African print and tailored to local taste. Thus, even though the monopoly of the Nana-Benz has been eroded, value is still added and captured locally.

    Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese actors have become more involved in trading activity – and not just manufacturing. The further evolution of Chinese presence risks an even greater marginalisation of locals, already excluded from manufacturing, from the trading and distribution end of the value chain. Maintaining their role – tailoring products to local culture and trends and linking the formal and informal economy – is vital not just for Togolese traders, but also the wider economy.

    – Togo’s ‘Nana-Benz’: how cheap Chinese imports of African fabrics has hurt the famous women traders
    – https://theconversation.com/togos-nana-benz-how-cheap-chinese-imports-of-african-fabrics-has-hurt-the-famous-women-traders-260924

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: AI chatbots can boost public health in Africa – why language inclusion matters

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Songbo Hu, PhD Candidate, University of Cambridge

    Language technologies like generative artificial intelligence (AI) hold significant potential for public health. From outbreak detection systems that scan global news in real time, to chatbots providing mental health support and conversational diagnostic tools improving access to primary care, these innovations are helping address health challenges.

    At the heart of these developments is natural language processing, an interdisciplinary field within AI research. It enables computers to interpret, understand and generate human language, bridging the gap between humans and machines. Natural language processing can process and analyse enormous volumes of health data, far more than humans could ever handle manually. This is especially valuable in regions with a stretched healthcare workforce or limited public health surveillance infrastructure, because it enables faster, data-driven responses to public health needs.

    Recently, our interdisciplinary team, combining expertise from computer science, human geography and health sciences, conducted a review of studies on how language AI is being used for public health in African countries. Almost a decade’s worth of academic research was analysed, to understand how this powerful technology is being applied to pressing human needs.

    Out of 54 research publications, we found that evidence of real-world effects of the technology was still rare. Only 4% of these studies (two out of 54) showed measurable improvements in public health, such as boosting people’s mood or increasing vaccine intentions.

    Most projects stop at technology development and publication. Very few advance to real-world use or impact. Opportunities to improve health and well-being across the continent could be missed as a result.

    Current limitations

    In recent years, AI language technologies for public health have increased rapidly. This wave of technology development really took off as the COVID-19 pandemic renewed attention to public health. Health chatbots and sentiment analysis tools were developed in Africa and beyond.

    Research on language AI for public health in Africa. Supplied

    Health chatbots “talk” to people and provide reliable health information in a friendly, conversational way. Sentiment analysis tools scan social media posts to understand what people are feeling and talking about. Together they can identify misinformation or changes in public opinion and then provide accurate information.

    Of course, new technologies come with imperfections. We found that most technologies for public health in Africa exist in just a few languages whose dominance can be traced to colonial times, namely English and French.

    The consequences are clear: key health messages fail to reach many communities, leaving millions unable to access or act on essential information.

    We also found that few projects have gone beyond the laboratory development stage. Our study found only one system in operation that had a measurable public health effect.

    A successful model

    This standout example comes from a team at the Center for Global Development and the University of Chicago, in partnership with the Busara Center for Behavioral Economics. Their chatbot, deployed on Facebook Messenger, was designed for people in Kenya and Nigeria who were hesitant about COVID-19 vaccines. It was only available in English.

    More than 22,000 social media users used this app, sharing vaccine-related questions and concerns. The chatbot provided tailored, evidence-based responses to topics ranging from vaccine effectiveness and safety to misinformation. Its effect was notable. The intervention boosted users’ intention and willingness to get vaccinated by 4%-5%. The strongest effects were seen among those most hesitant to begin with.

    Behind this success was the researchers’ commitment to understanding the local context. Before launching the chatbot, in-depth discussions were held with focus groups and social media users in Kenya and Nigeria. The aim was to learn about the specific worries and cultural factors shaping attitudes toward vaccination.

    The chatbot was designed to address these concerns. This user-centred, locally adapted approach enabled the chatbot’s messages to address real barriers. As this example demonstrates, language technologies for public health are most effective when responding to the concerns and needs of the intended users.

    From lab to life

    These technologies take time and money to be put into practice. The COVID-19 pandemic jump-started development but public health language AI technologies are very new. It could be that a future survey would find a very different situation.

    At the same time, advances in large language models such as GPT-4 are rapidly lowering the technical barriers to developing language technologies. These models can often be adapted to new applications with far less data and effort than previous methods. Recent advances could enable small teams of researchers or even individual developers to build tools tailored to the specific needs of their own communities. The path from lab to real-world effects may become much shorter and easier.

    Investors, accelerators and state support could help make this transition from lab to life happen.

    Technology developers can also contribute by rooting their work in community-driven, multi-disciplinary and cross-sector collaboration. Social science and public health research knowledge and skills can inform the design and development of new technologies.

    To maximise the potential of language technologies for public health, the following needs to happen:

    • involving communities and health workers in natural language processing design

    • expanding provision in indigenous African languages

    • integrating language technologies into existing health systems.

    Future research and development must move beyond technical prototypes and laboratory tests to rigorous real-world evaluations that measure health outcomes.

    The other co-authors behind this research are: Abigail Oppong, Ebele Mogo, Charlotte Collins, and Giulia Occhini.

    – AI chatbots can boost public health in Africa – why language inclusion matters
    – https://theconversation.com/ai-chatbots-can-boost-public-health-in-africa-why-language-inclusion-matters-260861

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: AI chatbots can boost public health in Africa – why language inclusion matters

    Source: The Conversation – Africa (2) – By Songbo Hu, PhD Candidate, University of Cambridge

    Language technologies like generative artificial intelligence (AI) hold significant potential for public health. From outbreak detection systems that scan global news in real time, to chatbots providing mental health support and conversational diagnostic tools improving access to primary care, these innovations are helping address health challenges.

    At the heart of these developments is natural language processing, an interdisciplinary field within AI research. It enables computers to interpret, understand and generate human language, bridging the gap between humans and machines. Natural language processing can process and analyse enormous volumes of health data, far more than humans could ever handle manually. This is especially valuable in regions with a stretched healthcare workforce or limited public health surveillance infrastructure, because it enables faster, data-driven responses to public health needs.

    Recently, our interdisciplinary team, combining expertise from computer science, human geography and health sciences, conducted a review of studies on how language AI is being used for public health in African countries. Almost a decade’s worth of academic research was analysed, to understand how this powerful technology is being applied to pressing human needs.

    Out of 54 research publications, we found that evidence of real-world effects of the technology was still rare. Only 4% of these studies (two out of 54) showed measurable improvements in public health, such as boosting people’s mood or increasing vaccine intentions.

    Most projects stop at technology development and publication. Very few advance to real-world use or impact. Opportunities to improve health and well-being across the continent could be missed as a result.

    Current limitations

    In recent years, AI language technologies for public health have increased rapidly. This wave of technology development really took off as the COVID-19 pandemic renewed attention to public health. Health chatbots and sentiment analysis tools were developed in Africa and beyond.

    Health chatbots “talk” to people and provide reliable health information in a friendly, conversational way. Sentiment analysis tools scan social media posts to understand what people are feeling and talking about. Together they can identify misinformation or changes in public opinion and then provide accurate information.

    Of course, new technologies come with imperfections. We found that most technologies for public health in Africa exist in just a few languages whose dominance can be traced to colonial times, namely English and French.

    The consequences are clear: key health messages fail to reach many communities, leaving millions unable to access or act on essential information.

    We also found that few projects have gone beyond the laboratory development stage. Our study found only one system in operation that had a measurable public health effect.

    A successful model

    This standout example comes from a team at the Center for Global Development and the University of Chicago, in partnership with the Busara Center for Behavioral Economics. Their chatbot, deployed on Facebook Messenger, was designed for people in Kenya and Nigeria who were hesitant about COVID-19 vaccines. It was only available in English.

    More than 22,000 social media users used this app, sharing vaccine-related questions and concerns. The chatbot provided tailored, evidence-based responses to topics ranging from vaccine effectiveness and safety to misinformation. Its effect was notable. The intervention boosted users’ intention and willingness to get vaccinated by 4%-5%. The strongest effects were seen among those most hesitant to begin with.

    Behind this success was the researchers’ commitment to understanding the local context. Before launching the chatbot, in-depth discussions were held with focus groups and social media users in Kenya and Nigeria. The aim was to learn about the specific worries and cultural factors shaping attitudes toward vaccination.

    The chatbot was designed to address these concerns. This user-centred, locally adapted approach enabled the chatbot’s messages to address real barriers. As this example demonstrates, language technologies for public health are most effective when responding to the concerns and needs of the intended users.

    From lab to life

    These technologies take time and money to be put into practice. The COVID-19 pandemic jump-started development but public health language AI technologies are very new. It could be that a future survey would find a very different situation.

    At the same time, advances in large language models such as GPT-4 are rapidly lowering the technical barriers to developing language technologies. These models can often be adapted to new applications with far less data and effort than previous methods. Recent advances could enable small teams of researchers or even individual developers to build tools tailored to the specific needs of their own communities. The path from lab to real-world effects may become much shorter and easier.

    Investors, accelerators and state support could help make this transition from lab to life happen.

    Technology developers can also contribute by rooting their work in community-driven, multi-disciplinary and cross-sector collaboration. Social science and public health research knowledge and skills can inform the design and development of new technologies.

    To maximise the potential of language technologies for public health, the following needs to happen:

    • involving communities and health workers in natural language processing design

    • expanding provision in indigenous African languages

    • integrating language technologies into existing health systems.

    Future research and development must move beyond technical prototypes and laboratory tests to rigorous real-world evaluations that measure health outcomes.

    The other co-authors behind this research are: Abigail Oppong, Ebele Mogo, Charlotte Collins, and Giulia Occhini.

    Songbo Hu currently receives funding from the Cambridge Trust.

    Anna Barford currently receives funding from UKRI and the Mastercard Foundation. She has previously received funding from the the British Aacdemy, ESRC, Leverhulme Trust, CPEST, the University of Cambridge, Unilever (via a philanthropic donation to the University) and the Asian Development Bank. Anna is the Co-Director of the Business Fights Poverty Institute and a consultant to the International Labour Organization.

    Anna Korhonen receives funding from UKRI, and has previously received funding from MRC, EPSRC, NERC, Royal Society, ERC, and philantrophic donations to the University of Cambridge.

    – ref. AI chatbots can boost public health in Africa – why language inclusion matters – https://theconversation.com/ai-chatbots-can-boost-public-health-in-africa-why-language-inclusion-matters-260861

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Togo’s ‘Nana-Benz’: how cheap Chinese imports of African fabrics has hurt the famous women traders

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Fidele B. Ebia, Postdoctoral fellow, Duke Africa Initiative, Duke University

    The manufacturing of African print textiles has shifted to China in the 21st century. While they are widely consumed in African countries – and symbolic of the continent – the rise of “made in China” has undermined the African women traders who have long shaped the retail and distribution of this cloth.

    For many decades Vlisco, the Dutch textile group which traces its origins to 1846 and whose products had been supplied to west Africa by European trading houses since the late 19th century, dominated manufacture of the cloth. But in the last 25 years dozens of factories in China have begun to supply African print textiles to west African markets. Qingdao Phoenix Hitarget Ltd, Sanhe Linqing Textile Group and Waxhaux Ltd are among the best known.

    We conducted research to establish how the rise of Chinese-made cloth has affected the African print textiles trade. We focused on Togo. Though it’s a tiny country with a population of only 9.7 million, the capital city, Lomé, is the trading hub in west Africa for the textiles.

    We conducted over 100 interviews with traders, street sellers, port agents or brokers, government officials and representatives of manufacturing companies to learn about how their activities have changed.

    “Made in China” African print textiles are substantially cheaper and more accessible to a wider population than Vlisco fabric. Our market observations in Lomé’s famous Assigamé market found that Chinese African print textiles cost about 9,000 CFA (US$16) for six yards – one complete outfit. Wax Hollandais (50,000 CFA or US$87) cost over five times more.

    Data is hard to come by, but our estimates suggest that 90% of imports of these textiles to Lomé port in 2019 came from China.

    One Togolese trader summed up the attraction:

    Who could resist a cloth that looked similar, but that cost much less than real Vlisco?

    Our research shows how the rise of China manufactured cloth has undermined Vlisco’s once dominant market share as well as the monopoly on the trade of Dutch African print textiles that Togolese traders once enjoyed.

    The traders, known as Nana-Benz because of the expensive cars they drove, once enjoyed an economic and political significance disproportionate to their small numbers. Their political influence was such that they were key backers of Togo’s first president, Sylvanus Olympio – himself a former director of the United Africa Company, which distributed Dutch cloth.

    In turn, Olympio and long-term leader General Gnassingbé Eyadéma provided policy favours – such as low taxes – to support trading activity. In the 1970s, African print textile trade was considered as significant as the phosphate industry – the country’s primary export.

    Nana-Benz have since been displaced – their numbers falling from 50 to about 20. Newer Togolese traders – known as Nanettes or “little Nanas” – have taken their place. While they have carved out a niche in mediating the textiles trade with China, they have lower economic and political stature. In turn, they too are increasingly threatened by Chinese competition, more recently within trading and distribution as well.

    China displaces the Dutch

    Dating back to the colonial period, African women traders have played essential roles in the wholesale and distribution of Dutch cloth in west African markets. As many countries in the region attained independence from the 1950s onwards, Grand Marché – or Assigamé – in Lomé became the hub for African print textile trade.

    While neighbouring countries such as Ghana limited imports as part of efforts to promote domestic industrialisation, Togolese traders secured favourable conditions. These included low taxes and use of the port.

    Togolese women traders knew the taste of predominantly female, west African customers better than their mostly male, Dutch designers. The Nana-Benz were brought into the African print textile production and design process, selecting patterns and giving names to designs they knew would sell.

    They acquired such wealth from this trade that they earned the Nana-Benz nickname from the cars they purchased and which they used to collect and move merchandise.

    Nana-Benz exclusivity of trading and retailing of African print textiles cloth in west African markets has been disrupted. As Vlisco has responded to falling revenues – over 30% in the first five years of the 21st century – due to its Chinese competition, Togolese traders’ role in the supply chain of Dutch cloth has been downgraded.

    In response to the flood of Chinese imports, the Dutch manufacturer re-positioned itself as a luxury fashion brand and placed greater focus on the marketing and distribution of the textiles.

    Vlisco has opened several boutique stores in west and central Africa, starting with Cotonou (2008), Lomé (2008) and Abidjan (2009). The surviving Nana-Benz – an estimated 20 of the original 50 – operate under contract as retailers rather than traders and must follow strict rules of sale and pricing.

    While newer Togolese traders known as Nanettes are involved in the sourcing of textiles from China, they have lower economic and political stature. Up to 60 are involved in the trade.

    Former street sellers of textiles and other petty commodities, Nanettes began travelling to China in the early to mid-2000s to source African print textiles. They are involved in commissioning and advising on the manufacturing of African print textiles in China and the distribution in Africa.

    While many Nanettes order the common Chinese brands, some own and market their own. These include what are now well-known designs in Lomé and west Africa such as “Femme de Caractère”, “Binta”, “Prestige”, “Rebecca Wax”, “GMG” and “Homeland”.

    Compared to their Nana-Benz predecessors, the Nanettes carve out their business from the smaller pie available from the sale of cheaper Chinese cloth. Though the volumes traded are large, the margins are smaller due to the much lower final retail price compared to Dutch cloth.

    After procuring African print textiles from China, Nanettes sell wholesale to independent local traders or “sellers” as well as traders from neighbouring countries. These sellers in turn break down the bulk they have purchased and sell it in smaller quantities to independent street vendors.

    All African print textiles from China arrive in west Africa as an incomplete product – as six-yard or 12-yard segments of cloth, not as finished garments. Local tailors and seamstresses then make clothes according to consumer taste. Some fashion designers have also opened shops where they sell prêt-à-porter (ready-to-wear) garments made from bolts of African print and tailored to local taste. Thus, even though the monopoly of the Nana-Benz has been eroded, value is still added and captured locally.

    Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese actors have become more involved in trading activity – and not just manufacturing. The further evolution of Chinese presence risks an even greater marginalisation of locals, already excluded from manufacturing, from the trading and distribution end of the value chain. Maintaining their role – tailoring products to local culture and trends and linking the formal and informal economy – is vital not just for Togolese traders, but also the wider economy.

    Rory Horner receives funding from the British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship. He is also a Research Associate at the Department of Geography, Environmental Management and Energy Studies at the University of Johannesburg.

    Fidele B. Ebia 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. Togo’s ‘Nana-Benz’: how cheap Chinese imports of African fabrics has hurt the famous women traders – https://theconversation.com/togos-nana-benz-how-cheap-chinese-imports-of-african-fabrics-has-hurt-the-famous-women-traders-260924

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: More than half a century in energy. Polytechnic says goodbye to Valery Lebedev

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    On July 23, Deputy Director of the Institute of Nuclear Energy (branch) of SPbPU in Sosnovy Bor, former director of the Leningrad NPP Valery Ivanovich Lebedev passed away. He devoted more than 54 years to the cause of his life, nuclear energy.

    Valery Ivanovich was born on November 3, 1947 in the city of Teikovo, Ivanovo Region. In 1971, he graduated from the Ivanovo Power Engineering Institute, specializing in “Automation of Thermal Power Processes” and was assigned to the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant in Sosnovy Bor. At first, he worked as an engineer of control and measuring instruments and automation, then became a senior engineer of the Skala information system, a senior repairman of the Skala IVS, head of the thermal automation and measurements shop, and chief engineer of the station. And in 1996, he headed the Leningrad NPP.

    Under the leadership of Valery Lebedev, the enterprise underwent large-scale modernization, many safety systems were improved and created, and for the first time in the industry, the service life of RBMK power units No. 1 and 2 was successfully extended. Valery Ivanovich actively supported cooperation with the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO), the IAEA and other international organizations on issues of reconstruction and improving the safety level of the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant.

    In 1998, V. I. Lebedev received the academic degree of candidate of technical sciences, and in 1999 – doctor. Since 2000, he worked as a professor of the department of “Nuclear and thermal power plants” of the power engineering faculty of the St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University, passing on his professional experience and knowledge to new generations of power engineers.

    After 14 years of managing the Leningrad NPP, Valery Lebedev moved to work at the Institute of Nuclear Energy (branch) of SPbPU in Sosnovy Bor, where he was its director until 2018, then deputy.

    V. I. Lebedev is the author of three scientific discoveries, 80 inventions, five monographs and over 150 scientific articles. He was a full member of the International Academy of Sciences of Ecology, Human and Nature Safety (MANEB), a full member of the Academy of Inventions and Discoveries, a full member of the International Academy of Informatization, vice-president of the Baltic Academy of Informatization, a member of the dissertation doctoral council of the All-Russian Research and Design Institute of Power Technologies (VNIPIET).

    Valery Ivanovich is a laureate of the Russian Government Prize, and for his work and scientific achievements he was awarded the Order of Glory to Russia, the 1st degree honorary badge of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, the Peter I, P. L. Kapitsa, N. K. Roerich medals of the Manastino Institute of Nuclear Biology and Ethnography “For Contribution to Ecology”, and the departmental badge “Veteran of Nuclear Power and Industry”.

    The passing of Valery Ivanovich Lebedev was a great loss for the scientific school of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, for Russian energy, and a huge loss for his family and friends. The Polytechnic University expresses its sincere condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Valery Ivanovich.

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Economic and Social Council Concludes High-level Political Forum

    Source: United Nations 4

    2025 Session,

    36th & 13th Mtgs (AM & PM)

    ECOSOC/7216

    The Economic and Social Council concludes its High-level Political Forum under the theme “Advancing sustainable, inclusive, science- and evidence-based solutions for the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs for leaving no one behind”.

    The Forum, which began 21 July is part of the Council’s high-level segment, which will run through 24 July.

    Member States will make statements this morning under the theme “UN@80:  Catalyzing Change for Sustainable Development” and in the afternoon conclude the Forum with the adoption of a ministerial declaration. 

    Also today, the Council will continue its voluntary national reviews, on Bhutan, Ghana, Iraq, Qatar, Nigeria, Bulgaria, Ethiopia, India and Lesotho. 

    Council President Bob Rae and Vice President Lok Bahadur Thapa will chair the reviews. 

    For information media. Not an official record.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Drumgeith Community Campus Delivering Community Benefits 

    Source: Scotland – City of Dundee

    The new £100 million Drumgeith Community Campus is delivering significant community benefits by providing jobs, training and projects to improve the lives of local people. 

    Community benefits are additional requirements added to major contracts designed to help to boost local employment and skills development, support community initiatives and deliver economic benefits to support local business and supply chains. 

    Dundee City Council and Robertson Construction are working in partnership to deliver these benefits. To date, over £57 million has been retained within the local economy through using local subcontractors and suppliers, representing 76% of the total subcontract project spend. The project has created 40 employment opportunities, 11 new apprenticeship opportunities, and supported 38 existing apprenticeships through this building programme. 

    In addition, 40 work experience opportunities have been created, including 13 for school based young people and a further 27 placements through employability programmes run by Dundee and Angus College and other employability providers. 

    Over 70% of the work force on this site has come from the local area, defined as being within a 40-mile radius of the site. 

    Set to open in August 2025, the campus will serve as a modern and vibrant central hub for the north and east of the city for both pupils and the community to use. It will provide specialist pupil support provision, citywide music and performing arts, as well as community, library, leisure, and sports facilities for use by the wider community. 

    Fair work, Economic Growth and Infrastructure Convener Steven Rome said: “The economic and social benefits of our flagship £100 million community campus are being felt across the city. 

    “Over £57 million has been invested directly into the local economy. This investment has generated 40 employment opportunities, including 23 new start-up opportunities for previously unemployed or redundant individuals. 

    “We have partnered with Roberston Construction Tayside to deliver a comprehensive Community Benefits programme which has had wide ranging benefits. These include initiatives to inspire girls to consider a career in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) as well as providing training opportunities for women attending Tayside Council on Alcohol (TCA) to help them build their confidence and resilience. 

    “I would like to express my gratitude to council officers and Roberston for their efforts in maximising these community benefits.” 

    Robertson Group Chief Executive, Elliot Robertson commented: “We have been working closely with Dundee City Council for a number of years and continue to be a trusted delivery partner of choice. However, our working relationship goes beyond just delivering high-quality projects, it’s also about the lasting legacy that we leave in the local community. 

    “Drumgeith Community Campus is an outstanding facility which is set to benefit the wider community when it opens later this year, but the benefits of the project are already being felt. From creating jobs and apprenticeships to supporting young people into training and working with local suppliers, community wealth building is an intrinsic part of what we do, and we are committed to supporting the people and places where we operate.” 

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI: EnerPure Appoints Advisory Board Members to Support Strategic Growth and Commercialization Efforts

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Winnipeg, MB, July 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — EnerPure Inc. (“EnerPure” or the “Company”), a waste to energy company, is pleased to announce the appointment of Gary Farrar, Susan Rohac, and Mogens L. Mathiesen as Advisory Board Members. Each of these newly appointed Advisors brings significant industry experience and expertise in their respective areas and their thought leadership, strategic acumen, and experience will be invaluable to management as EnerPure moves through the commercialization and growth phase.

    “Gary, Susan, and Mogens as true experts in their respective fields provide tremendous depth and width to the knowledge base of our team, we are honoured to have them on the team” said Rick Koshman, President and CEO of EnerPure. “Each of them brings a unique and highly complementary skill set that aligns perfectly with our goal to deploy 21 recycling plants in 6 years. Gary with over 46 years experience in UMO recycling, Susan as one of Canada’s most prolific Cleantech investors, and Mogens with his shipping decarbonization focus provide us with priceless industry insights and know-how as we look to navigate the next few years.”

    About Gary Farrar
    Gary is a seasoned executive with over 45 years of leadership in the used motor oil (UMO) recycling and environmental services industry across North America. His expertise spans operations, business development, logistics, refinery supply, and sales. He has held senior roles including U.S. Vice President of Supply and Product Sales at Safety-Kleen, where he led the growth of recycled oil streams and oversaw the world’s largest UMO re-refinery. As General Manager of Safety-Kleen Canada, he managed nationwide operations and multiple business lines. At Heritage-Crystal Clean, he helped launch and scale a 75-million-gallon refinery in Indianapolis. Gary is known for building high-performing teams and driving operational and commercial success in complex industrial environments.

    About Susan Rohac – LinkedIn
    Susan recently retired from BDC (Business Development Bank of Canada) after 34 years of service. As Managing Partner of the Climate Tech venture capital fund, she led a pan-Canadian team of investment professionals and managed a portfolio of over $1 billion in assets including a $500 million fund that was launched in 2022 focusing on investing in Canada’s most promising cleantech companies. She has invested in a wide range of climate technologies such as CCUS, CDR, hydrogen, critical minerals, energy storage/battery, mobility, proptech, and advanced materials. Susan was recognized as a Climate Leader in 2024 by the Clean50 and was recipient of the Clean16 award. Susan holds honour degrees in both science and finance and has her executive MBA and ICD governance designation.

    About Mogens L. Mathiesen – LinkedIn
    Mogens has over 25 years of expertise in maritime technology and sustainability. Specializing in maritime decarbonisation, he has pioneered data-driven solutions to reduce shipping emissions. As Chief Industry and Strategy Officer at HUB Ocean, Mogens led initiatives to enable green shipping routes and foster industry collaboration. He co-founded Arundo Analytics, driving the development of analytics platforms for maritime applications, and volunteers in the Ocean Rescue Service in Norway. With an M.Sc. in Ocean Engineering and Marine Cybernetics from the NTNU and UC Berkeley, Mogens is committed to advancing sustainable practices through innovation and strategic leadership.

    About EnerPure – https://enerpure.tech
    “We recycle Used Motor Oil (UMO) to reduce GHG emissions while producing a lower carbon-intensive marine fuel.”

    Each year ~17 billion litres of UMO* are improperly burned or dumped, causing widespread environmental harm. EnerPure sees a tremendous opportunity to solve this problem through the deployment of its modular micro-scale recycling plants using its patented technology to convert UMO into high-quality marine fuel.

    EnerPure is entering its next phase of growth, with our first commercial plant planned for Alberta. Our recycling plants require ~5% of the capex of traditional solutions, enabling localized recycling (while reducing the cost of collection) and providing strong economic returns. 

    Our technology has been proven via our pilot plant (operating at 43% of scale) with 1.6 million litres processed and validated through the sale of over 1.2 million litres. Our drop-in ISO 8217-compliant marine fuel is in high demand in a growing market with its 14.6% lower carbon intensity.  Annually each recycling plant can reduce greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions and criteria air contaminants by 36,315 and 437 tonnes, respectively.

    EnerPure, while delivering strong economic returns, offers a proven, scalable platform where environmental need meets commercial opportunity, powering the energy transition through smart regional recycling.

    *UMO is defined as any petroleum-based or synthetic lubricating oil that cannot be used for its original purpose due to contamination.

    Disclosure and Caution
    This press release may contain certain disclosures that may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. In making the forward-looking statements, the Company has applied certain factors and assumptions that the Company believes are reasonable. However, the forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and other factors, including but not limited to economic, capital expenditures, and engineering projections, that may cause future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

    The securities referred to in this news release have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States unless pursuant to an exemption therefrom. This press release is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities of the Company in any jurisdiction.

     

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Gene editing technology could be used to save species on the brink of extinction

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Cock Van Oosterhout, Professor of Evolutionary Genetics, University of East Anglia

    Earth’s biodiversity is in crisis. An imminent “sixth mass extinction” threatens beloved and important wildlife. It also threatens to reduce the amount of genetic diversity – or variation – within species.

    This variation in genes within a species is crucial for their ability to adapt to changes in the environment or resist diseases. Genetic variation is therefore crucial for species’ long term survival.

    Traditional conservation efforts – such as protected areas, measures to prevent poaching, and captive breeding – remain essential to prevent extinction. But even when these measures succeed in boosting population numbers, they cannot recover genetic diversity that has already been lost. The loss of a unique gene variant can take thousands of years of evolution before it is recovered by a lucky mutation.

    In a new paper in Nature Reviews Biodiversity, an international team of geneticists and wildlife biologists argues that the survival of some species will depend on gene editing, along with more traditional conservation actions. Using these advanced genetic tools, like those already revolutionising agriculture and medicine, can give endangered species a boost by adding genetic diversity that isn’t there.

    Genetic engineering is not new. Plant breeders have used it for decades to develop crops with traits to boost disease resistance and drought tolerance. Around 13.5% of the world’s arable land grows genetically modified crops. Gene-editing tools such as Crispr are also being used in “de-extinction” projects that aim to recreate extinct animals.

    The Dallas-based company Colossal Laboratory & Biosciences has attracted headlines for its efforts to bring back the woolly mammoth, dodo and dire wolf. In de-extinction, the DNA of a living relative species is edited (changed) to approximate the extinct species’ most charismatic traits.

    For example, to “resurrect” a woolly mammoth, Colossal’s researchers plan to splice mammoth genes (recovered from ancient remains) into the genome of the Asian elephant to produce a cold-hardy, hairy elephant-mammoth hybrid. Colossal recently engineered grey wolf pups with 20 gene edits from the extinct dire wolf’s DNA.

    Colossal edited grey wolves to have traits from extinct dire wolves.
    Colossal

    The “Jurassic Park”-style revival of long-gone creatures has attracted considerable attention and funding, which has accelerated the development of genome engineering techniques. These same genome editing tools can be used for conservation of existing and endangered species. If we can edit a mouse to have mammoth hair, or edit a wolf to resemble a dire wolf, why not edit an endangered bird’s genome to make it more resilient to disease and climate change?

    Museum specimens

    Using DNA from historical specimens, scientists can identify important genetic variants that a species has lost. Many museums hold century-old skins, bones, or seeds – a genomic time capsule of past diversity. With genome editing, it is possible to reintroduce these lost variants into the wild gene pool.

    By restoring genetic variation, species can be fortified against emerging diseases and environmental change. A sharp decline in population numbers is called a “bottleneck”. During a bottleneck, inbreeding and genetic drift lead to the random loss of genetic diversity. Harmful mutations can also increase in frequency. Such “genomic erosion” compromises the health of individuals and can make populations more prone to extinction.

    If we can pinpoint a particularly damaging mutation that has become widespread in the population or a variant that has been lost, we could replace it in a few individuals using gene editing. Aided by natural selection, the healthy variant would gradually spread in the population.

    If a threatened species lacks genes that it desperately needs to survive new conditions, why not borrow them from a close relative that already has those traits? Known as facilitated adaptation, this could help wildlife cope with threats such as climate change.

    In agriculture, such cross-species gene transfers are routine. Tomatoes have been engineered with a mustard plant gene to tolerate cold, and chestnut trees got a wheat gene for disease resistance. There is no reason why such techniques cannot be expanded to animals.

    These genetic interventions can complement, but never replace traditional conservation measures. Habitat protection, control of invasive predators, captive breeding programmes, and other on-the-ground action remain absolutely necessary. Importantly, gene editing only makes sense if the target population has recovered in numbers enough (often through conservation), to allow natural selection to do its job.

    Measuring the risk of extinction

    Gene-edited animals or plants wouldn’t have a chance if released into a barren habitat or a poaching hotspot. Genomic tools can give an extra edge to species that are already being saved from immediate threats, equipping them for adaptive evolution in the future.

    Climate zones are shifting, new diseases are spreading, and once-isolated populations are cut off in small fragments of habitat. Without intervention, even intensive habitat management might not prevent a wave of extinctions.

    However, a strategy of gene editing also comes with significant risks and unknowns. One technical concern is off-target effects – Crispr and other gene-editing techniques might make unintended DNA changes in addition to the intended edit. In other words, you attempt to insert a disease-resistance gene, but accidentally disrupt another gene in the process. Similarly, a gene may have more than one function, which is known as pleiotropy.

    Especially in less-well studied species, we may not be aware of all those functions or pleiotropic effects. Regulatory inertia and public scepticism may also present big obstacles – these issues have historically limited the rollout of genetically modified (GM) organisms, particularly in agriculture.

    There are also evolutionary and ecological uncertainties. A deliberate gene edit might have knock-on effects on how the species evolves over time. For instance, if one individual is given a highly beneficial gene that spreads rapidly, it could replace all the other gene variants at that location in the genome (the full complement of DNA in the organism’s cell). This is known as a “selective sweep”, and it inadvertently reduces the genetic diversity in that region of the genome.

    Some critics argue that the narrative of a genetic quick fix could distract from the root causes of biodiversity loss. If people believe we can simply “edit” a species to save it, will that undermine the urgency to protect habitats or cut carbon emissions? Portraying extinction as reversible might seed false hope and reduce the motivation for tough environmental action.

    Conservation efforts, strong environmental policies and legal protections remain indispensable. So do habitat restoration, climate action and reducing the impact made on the environment by humans.

    Nevertheless, genome engineering is a new tool in the conservation toolbox. It’s one that –given the right assistance and environmental encouragement – can help save species from extinction.

    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.

    Cock Van Oosterhout receives funding from the Royal Society for conservation genomics work on threatened bird species in Mauritius, and a donation by the Colossal Foundation for conservation genomic research on the pink pigeon. He is member of the Conservation Genetics Specialist Group of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature).

    – ref. Gene editing technology could be used to save species on the brink of extinction – https://theconversation.com/gene-editing-technology-could-be-used-to-save-species-on-the-brink-of-extinction-261419

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Physically restricting mental health patients can often harm them – my new study suggests compassion could change that

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Daniel Lawrence, Senior Lecturer in Forensic Psychology, Cardiff Metropolitan University

    Restrictive practices in mental health settings – such as physical restraint and seclusion – are meant to be a last resort, used only when patients pose a risk to themselves or others.

    In 2021 and 2022 alone, NHS England reported that 6,600 mental health patients were subjected to physical restraint, and 4,500 to seclusion. Figures such as these have led numerous experts and policymakers to conclude that restrictive practices are overused in mental health inpatient settings.

    The consequences can be devastating. Restrictive practices are associated with trauma, worsening mental health, and even death. For decades, clinicians, researchers and policymakers have called for their reduction. Progress, however, remains painfully slow.

    For the past five years, I have been researching the use of restrictive practices in mental health services and exploring how to reduce them. My new research demonstrates the importance of using compassion to support staff to promote the dignity and wellbeing of patients as a priority.

    Restrictive practices have a long history that predates the development of asylums and psychiatry as a medical discipline. The use of legislation to detain people on the basis of their mental health in England, for example, dates back to at least the 14th century. Early examples of restrictive practices included patients being bound and beaten with rods in order to “restore sanity”.

    During the first three decades of the 19th century, mechanical restraints such as straitjackets, chains and restraint chairs and confining patients in locked rooms were widely accepted methods of controlling violent people in British asylums. But in the 1830s, some clinicians recognised the moral and ethical problems with using such practices, and a campaign began to abolish them.

    The UN has long recognised restrictive practices in mental healthcare as a human rights issue. In 2008, the UN’s special rapporteur on torture stated that methods such as solitary confinement violate articles 14 and 15 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which protect against arbitrary detention and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

    This stance was reaffirmed in 2021 when the UN declared that restrictive practices breach the fundamental rights of patients. This underscores the urgent need for reform in mental healthcare systems worldwide.

    Harmful effect

    Research shows that restrictive practices may not only harm patients but contradict the goals of mental healthcare. Many mental health problems stem from traumatic experiences that leave people feeling powerless, unsafe and distressed. Using methods that reinforce these feelings can worsen the very issues services aim to address.

    In extreme incidents, people have died as a result of restrictive practices use.

    In my research, I have developed a theoretical model identifying core factors that perpetuate the use of restrictive practices in mental health services. These include the emotional challenges faced by staff working in high-stress environments, and how these challenges influence their decision-making.

    Mental health wards can be highly stressful environments, with frequent incidents of aggression. In such settings, staff can often feel anxious and hyper-vigilant, which can make it harder for them to respond to patients with compassion.

    Research shows that threat-based emotions like fear and anger are linked to a greater likelihood of using restrictive measures. So, this cycle perpetuates the use of these harmful practices.

    Compassion may hold the key

    Using restrictive practices to control or remove people who are perceived as a threat can provide staff with a sense of immediate safety, which may inadvertently reinforce their use. To address this, I wanted to explore whether supporting staff to manage their emotions more effectively could reduce their reliance on restrictive practices, and foster a more compassionate approach to care.

    As part of my research, I introduced compassion-focused support groups for staff in several forensic mental health wards, advocating for a more empathetic and patient-centred approach. These groups tried to equip participants with skills to better manage challenging emotional experiences while fostering greater compassion for both themselves and the people in their care.

    The aim was to help staff cultivate an inner sense of safety, reducing their reliance on restrictive practices as a means of managing their own feelings of threat. This intervention was encouraging, leading to reductions in the use of restrictive practices in some conditions – demonstrating the potential of using compassionate care for these purposes.

    My study was the first of its kind – bur these initial results highlight the need for further research into how the emotional management of staff influences care decisions. The journey toward change is slow, but it is possible. Compassion may hold the key to addressing a deeply entrenched issue that has shaped the treatment of mental health patients for centuries.

    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.

    Daniel Lawrence is affiliated with the Labour Party.

    – ref. Physically restricting mental health patients can often harm them – my new study suggests compassion could change that – https://theconversation.com/physically-restricting-mental-health-patients-can-often-harm-them-my-new-study-suggests-compassion-could-change-that-244782

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Grandparent care: women from poorer backgrounds help out most with childcare

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Giorgio Di Gessa, Lecturer in Data Science, UCL

    szefei/Shutterstock

    Grandparents play a pivotal role in family life. They are often a vital part of the childcare puzzle, stepping in to look after their grandchildren while parents are at work or busy. And there’s a lot of grandparent care taking place.

    In England, around half of all grandparents provide care for their grandchildren when the parents are not around. And the percentage of grandparents providing care is even higher when they have grandchildren aged 16 and under, who are more likely to require supervision, care, and support from an adult when the parents are busy at work or unavailable. In this case, 66% of grandparents help out.

    I used data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, to analyse the caring roles of over 5,000 grandparents. I used data collected in 2016-17 to assess how often grandparents looked after their grandchildren, the activities they did with them, and why they helped out. I also discovered that there are clear gender and socioeconomic patterns. Further analysis of data from 2018-19 showed that providing care as a grandparent can affect wellbeing.

    I found that in England, among grandparents who looked after grandchildren, 45% of grandparents spent at least one day a week looking after their young grandchildren. They did so consistently throughout the year, with 8% doing so almost daily. Approximately one in three grandparents provided care to their grandchildren during school holidays.

    Around 25% of grandparents who looked after their grandchildren were still working. Most grandparents reported having overall good physical health.

    And most grandparents who cared for their grandchildren also lived relatively close to them – less than half an hour away from their closest grandchild – and had at least one grandchild aged under six years old.

    Most of the grandparents in the study who cared for grandchildren – 80% – mentioned that they played or took part in leisure activities with their grandchildren. Around half said that they frequently cooked for them and helped with picking them up and dropping them off from schools and nurseries. And although it was less common, grandparents also helped with homework and taking care of their grandchildren when they were not feeling well.

    About three grandparents in four (76%) said that their motivation for helping out was to give their grandchildren’s parents some time out from childcare responsibilities. A similar percentage – 70% – said they wanted to provide some economic support, either by offering financial assistance or by allowing parents to go to work.

    Just over half of grandparents (52%) said that being able to provide emotional support was what drove their motivation to provide grandchild care: they wanted to feel engaged with young people and help their grandchildren develop. But 17% say that they felt obliged to help out, and found it difficult to refuse.

    The grandmother’s role

    But while we tend to talk about “grandparents” as a group, grandmothers and grandfathers often experience and approach caregiving in distinctly different ways.

    In particular, when examining the specific activities undertaken with their grandchildren, there are clear gender distinctions. I found that grandmothers were more likely than grandfathers to engage in hands-on tasks: preparing meals, helping with homework, caring for grandchildren when they are sick, and doing school pick-ups.

    Grandfathers were less likely to do hands-on caring activities, such as school pickups.
    Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock

    Grandfathers, while also involved, tended to participate less in these activities. This is the case even among grandparent couples who lived together and jointly cared for their grandchildren.

    The role of wealth

    The extent and nature of grandparental care is also closely linked to grandparents’ socioeconomic status. For example, grandparents with fewer financial resources tended to offer childcare more regularly than their wealthier counterparts.

    Socioeconomic disparities also shape the nature of caregiving tasks. Less affluent grandparents were more likely to engage in hands-on activities, such as cooking meals and taking their grandchildren to and from school. In contrast, grandparents with more education were more likely than those with less education to help with homework frequently.

    The reasons for providing care also varied according to grandparents’ socioeconomic status. Grandparents with greater financial resources and higher levels of education were more likely to report providing childcare to help parents manage work and other responsibilities, as well as to offer emotional support to their grandchildren. Conversely, those with fewer financial resources were more likely to feel obliged to help or to struggle to refuse caregiving duties.

    Grandparent wellbeing

    What grandparents do with their grandchildren and why they have an active role in caring for them can also affect their wellbeing in complex ways. Grandparents who often took part in fun or enriching activities with their grandchildren, such as leisure activities or helping with homework, tended to report higher wellbeing compared to their peers who did not look after grandchildren.

    However, grandparents who cared for their grandchildren when they were sick or who had them stay overnight without parents tended to report, over time, lower wellbeing.

    Motivations also matter for grandparents’ wellbeing. Grandparents had a higher quality of life if they cared for their grandchildren because they wanted to help them develop as people, or to feel engaged with young people. However, grandparents who felt obliged to help, perhaps due to family pressure or lack of alternatives, experienced lower wellbeing.

    In short, these findings remind us that behind the broad label of “grandparenting” lies a diverse world of individuals whose involvement in caring for grandchildren – how often they care, what they do, and why – is closely linked to and varies with gender norms and socioeconomic status.

    Also, the meaning behind grandparenting and the type of interactions shared with grandchildren seems to matter for grandparents’ wellbeing. Overall, these insights suggest that these caring responsibilities may contribute to the reinforcement or even deepening of existing gender, socioeconomic and health inequalities among older adults.

    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.

    Giorgio Di Gessa 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. Grandparent care: women from poorer backgrounds help out most with childcare – https://theconversation.com/grandparent-care-women-from-poorer-backgrounds-help-out-most-with-childcare-253168

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Congress has a chequered history of overseeing US intelligence and national security

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Luca Trenta, Associate Professor in International Relations, Swansea University

    Tonya Ugoretz, a top FBI intelligence analyst, was placed on administrative leave in June. The FBI has not said why. But the decision came around the time she refused to endorse what was reportedly a thinly sourced report accusing China of interfering in the 2020 US presidential election in favour of Joe Biden.

    At the Bureau, loyalty tests and polygraph checks have also allegedly become routine as part of a crackdown on news leaks. When approached by the New York Times about the matter, the FBI declined to comment and cited “personnel matters and internal deliberations”.

    The situation does not seem to be much different at the CIA. In May, agency director John Ratcliffe ordered a review of the intelligence community’s earlier conclusion that Russia had interfered in the 2016 presidential campaign on behalf of Donald Trump. The conclusion, Ratcliffe contends, was unwarranted and imposed by political pressure – a claim that has been rejected by one of the report’s leading authors.

    The intelligence community has reportedly also been under pressure to substantiate Trump’s claims that the recent military strikes on Iran had obliterated its nuclear sites. This is despite mixed evidence regarding the extent of their success. These examples suggest a growing politicisation of intelligence and national security in the US.

    Researchers and observers have highlighted the detrimental effect of this process. When intelligence is conducted by ideologues that are screened for loyalty, it often becomes more about pleasing the leader than collecting accurate information and preventing failure.

    Less attention has been paid to the permissive attitude of Congress. Many Republicans in Congress have taken an unquestioning attitude toward the claims made by the president and other officials, allowing intelligence agencies to pursue Trump’s agenda unimpeded.

    While Trump and Patel’s focus on personal loyalty when it comes to intelligence is new, partisan influence in congressional oversight is not. In fact, Congress has a long history of supporting the intelligence priorities of the governing administration.

    For much of the cold war, Congress was not involved – and did not want to be involved – in matters of intelligence. This view was expressed by former CIA legal counsel, Walter Pforzheimer, during an interview in 1988. Reflecting on the early days of oversight, he stated: “It wasn’t that we were attempting to hide anything. Our main problem was we couldn’t get them [Congress] to sit still and listen.”

    This quote isn’t entirely true. In research from 2023, I showed that Congress was more involved than was generally believed. The US-backed 1954 coup in Guatemala, which deposed the democratically elected president, Jacobo Árbenz, is a case in point. Leading members of Congress were “in the know” and others pushed Dwight Eisenhower’s administration to be even more aggressive.

    But Congress took on a more active role in intelligence matters in the 1970s. Following a series of public revelations about the CIA’s behaviour, a select committee was established in 1975 and exposed abuses by intelligence agencies including the surveillance of US citizens, experiments with drugs and involvement in assassinations.

    In the wake of this, Congress established intelligence committees with oversight duties. The idea was that the CIA would present a document signed by the president to notify congressional committees of its intentions.

    However, the system ran into trouble in the 1980s, and partisanship and politicisation were part of the story. The Ronald Reagan administration’s support for the “contra” rebels in Nicaragua made intelligence a matter of severe partisan conflict.

    Removing Nicaragua’s government

    When Reagan took office in 1981, one of the primary foreign policy priorities for his administration was removing the Sandinista National Liberation Front from power in Nicaragua. The administration saw the Sandinistas as a threat to the region and – in Reagan’s black-and-white thinking – as puppets of Communist Moscow and Havana.

    The administration sought to convince Congress that its aims were limited. The aim, or so CIA director William Casey told the intelligence committees, was to obstruct the transfer of weapons from Nicaragua to neighbouring El Salvador. Another left-wing guerrilla movement, the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, was threatening the US-supported government there.

    Initially, the policy received bipartisan support in Congress. The linchpin of this policy was the creation of an insurgent group in Nicaragua called the contras (contrarevolucionarios). It was made up of members of the previous regime’s brutal national guard, as well as other groups that had become disgruntled with the Sandinistas.

    Nicaraguan contras, who fought against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua during the 1980s.
    Tiomono / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-NC-SA

    News stories soon made clear that the size of the contra army had radically expanded, from the 500 members discussed by Casey in his initial briefing to thousands. The contras’ stated goal of overthrowing the Sandinistas, which they ultimately failed to do, also contradicted the earlier Reagan administration’s statements to Congress.

    Democrats in Congress pushed the leadership of intelligence committees to curtail the administration’s activities. Edward Boland, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, penned and helped to pass two amendments. The first prohibited any US government support for the purpose of overthrowing the Nicaraguan government.

    When the administration found loopholes to circumvent this, Boland’s second amendment prohibited any US funds from being spent in support of the contras. This amendment is generally understood as a first step towards the so-called Iran-Contra scandal.

    The Reagan administration illegally funded the contras behind Congress’s back by using the proceeds from secret arms sales to Iran – a state the US had been at loggerheads with since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

    The Boland amendments also helped make an intelligence and covert operations issue a matter of public debate and – more importantly – congressional votes. Republicans in Congress abandoned their oversight duties and followed the administration’s guidelines.

    Votes on contra aid became an opportunity for partisan controversy, vitriolic attacks, accusations of betrayal and large-scale influence campaigns. Instead of oversight, a deep partisan divide materialised.

    Counting on Congress? Think again

    The role of Congress is to conduct oversight. It is the role of the governing administration to keep Congress informed of intelligence matters, particularly covert operations. History shows this has often been hard to achieve.

    Congress has been complacent, complicit and often too willing to follow the government’s lead. In some cases, Congress has acted but primarily in the aftermath of major scandals or media revelations. This is called “firefighting” behaviour.

    But “firefighters” seem to now be in short supply. As much as domestic constraints on Trump’s power are decreasing, the same is happening in the context of intelligence and foreign policy.

    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.

    Luca Trenta received funding from British Academy Grant SRG21211237.

    – ref. Congress has a chequered history of overseeing US intelligence and national security – https://theconversation.com/congress-has-a-chequered-history-of-overseeing-us-intelligence-and-national-security-261120

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Five reasons why driverless cars probably won’t take over your street any time soon

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Seyed Toliyat, Lecturer in Business Analytics and Technology, University of Stirling

    Karolis Kavolelis/Shutterstock

    The UK government has launched a consultation on driverless cars, ahead of on-the-road trials of the vehicles next year. It has now been more than a decade since the prospect of driverless cars on public roads emerged, and prototypes and robotaxi fleets such as Waymo and Cruise replaced human drivers with artificial intelligence (AI).

    But ten years on, and with self-driving cars increasingly common in the US and China, significant obstacles still stand in their way in the UK.

    Despite rapid advances in the tech, other aspects of the driverless journey are still to catch up. Here are five key reasons why autonomous cars are unlikely to take over your local roads any time soon.

    1. Uncertainties around safety

    One of the main benefits of rolling out driverless cars is to increase traffic safety by eliminating driver errors. In the US, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported in 2018 that more than 90% of serious crashes were due to human error. But there is not yet converging evidence to support the idea that AI taking over from human drivers can make roads safer.

    On the other hand, there is evidence that adverse weather conditions, road design, traffic control systems and mixed traffic (that is, human-driven and driverless cars) can degrade the performance of those vehicles. Anomalies in driving patterns and frequent rear-end crashes involving self-driving technologies could indicate the AI algorithms are still far from perfect.

    2. Regulations and legislation falling behind

    Substantial investment in research and development of self-driving technologies has led to a fast-growing and innovative industry. On the other hand, legislation and regulation processes often tend to be slower. These involve multiple stages including drafting, consultation, debate, committee reviews, voting and sometimes judicial review.

    The UK’s Automated Vehicles Act provides a framework for the deployment of driverless vehicles. But the legal codes and mechanisms are still evolving. This is also true of data privacy and cybersecurity.

    For now, there is insufficient legislation governing who can own telematics and vehicle data or how they can be used. Such a widening lag has implications for the mass rollout of driverless cars, and has a direct impact on insuring them.

    3. The insurance industry isn’t ready

    Scarce data, combined with ambiguities in legislation and regulations, means insurance companies face a new set of challenges. These include making sense of where liability lies, developing new insurance models and adapting their premiums as the types of claim evolve.

    In some countries, including the UK, the liability for levels four and five of autonomous driving (very highly automated and fully automated) is shifting from human drivers in conventional vehicles to the manufacturer. Although the insurer pays first, they can recover costs from the tech provider later.

    New risk factors such as cybersecurity further complicate the insurance landscape. Driverless cars are designed to communicate with infrastructure and even other vehicles to decide their routes and avoid collisions. This can open the door to unlawful modifications, hacking or privacy breaches.

    4. Ethical dilemmas

    Heavy traffic and the presence of other road users could lead to scenarios where a crash is inevitable. This would require programmers to design crash severity algorithms that include moral decision-making into autonomous systems. In simple terms, programmers are effectively being asked to write codes that assign value to human lives – an ethical minefield that has yet to be resolved in either academia or industry.

    This echoes the “trolley problem” (a thought experiment about killing one person to save others) but with real-world legal and moral significance. It poses further legal and regulatory questions that could further slow the progress of legislation. Complicating things further is the opaque, black-box nature of AI algorithms.

    5. Changing business models

    Technology developers such as Waymo and Zoox offer only driverless rides and don’t sell vehicles. The recent move by Tesla to launch a robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, also indicates a shift from selling cars to “mobility as a service”, even by car manufacturers.

    In some societies like the US, there is resistance among consumers to relinquishing car ownership due to higher car dependency. This mismatch between the business models of the makers of driverless cars and consumer preferences presents another significant barrier to widespread adoption.

    Even if the technical obstacles are removed, these deeply held sentiments about the nature of mobility may prevent consumers abandoning private vehicles.

    Until the technical, legal, ethical and commercial challenges are addressed, the widespread rollout of driverless vehicles will remain more of a long-term vision than an immediate reality.

    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.

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

    – ref. Five reasons why driverless cars probably won’t take over your street any time soon – https://theconversation.com/five-reasons-why-driverless-cars-probably-wont-take-over-your-street-any-time-soon-261040

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: How RUDN University ecologists conducted an expedition to Baskunchak

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Peoples’Friendship University of Russia –

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    The Institute of Ecology has had a student popular science travel club for 5 years, opened by NSO GreenLab. With the support of teachers, students organize independent expeditions – scientific research trips with the implementation of a set scientific task, as well as popular science and educational trips.

    “GreenLab does not go on hikes just like that. Each of our outdoor events has a scientific or educational purpose. We see a request from students to participate in such scientific expeditions. Most are not interested in just walking or driving a route to see something beautiful and take a photo for the sake of it – they need something to take with them, in addition to vivid impressions. New knowledge, skills necessary for a future career, understanding of the structure of various ecosystems and natural processes. We select those who are in solidarity with our values and are ready not only to travel, but also to study. So not only students from other RUDN departments go with us, but also from other universities,” – Daniil Mironov, GreenLab outdoor manager, student of the Institute of Ecology (Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, 1st year).

    During the existence of the NSO, students have been on expeditions not only within Russia, but also abroad. The young researchers have worked in Kamchatka Krai, Murmansk Oblast, the Republic of Dagestan, Kalmykia, Karelia, Primorsky Krai, as well as in the regions of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Italy and the Czech Republic.

    One of the latest expeditions took place in the Astrakhan region. A group of students went to the vicinity of Lake Baskunchak. This is not only a famous salt lake, but also karst caves and chalk quarries with various minerals and ancient fossils.

    “The goal of the expedition is to study steppe ecosystems, as well as the geological features of Lake Baskunchak and Mount Bogdo. Bogdo is only 150 meters high, but it is the highest point of the Caspian lowland. Few people know, but this mountain is a real salt dome covered with sedimentary rocks. The salt layers below gradually squeeze it out, causing it to grow by several millimeters per year, promising to erupt in millions of years as real salt lava,” Daniil Mironov, GreenLab outdoor manager, student at the Institute of Ecology (“Applied Mathematics and Computer Science”, 1st year).

    “We got acquainted with the local flora and fauna – we saw menacing solpugs, anxious snakes and numerous dung beetles. We experienced the changeability of the weather in the steppes – we conducted radial walks under the scorching sun, and in the evenings we cooked dinner and listened to lectures in the rain. We managed to walk along the surface of Baskunchak and in its brine (salt solution of lake water), the bottom of which is covered with the mineral halite – the same table salt that we use and which is mined here on an industrial scale,” – Lada Yaseneva, a student of the Institute of Ecology (Ecology and Nature Management, 2nd year).

    Lake Baskunchak itself is fed by 19 springs, of which only 2 are fresh. Underground water passes through layers of salt, becoming saturated and then flowing into Baskunchak itself. The concentration of salt in the lake is about 250 ml/l, which makes it one of the saltiest in Russia and in the world. Salt is not the only mineral that can be found in the vicinity of Baskunchak. There are chalk quarries around – active and exhausted, in which you can find minerals and ancient fossils, such as vertebrae of fish that lived more than 200 million years ago. Participants were able to take away samples of gypsum and feldspars.

    “In a few days, we managed to visit the most interesting places: we climbed Mount Bogdo with its incredible views, visited a gypsum quarry where the land resembled alien landscapes, and, of course, we reached Lake Baskunchak. We had to walk 10 km to the lake, but it was worth it! Walking on salt was painful – my legs cut like broken glass – but the feeling of standing in the middle of an endless white desert was unforgettable. And as souvenirs, we brought home salt crystals and gypsum,” – Daria Dobrova, a student at the Institute of Ecology (“Energy and Resource-Saving Processes in Chemical Engineering, Petrochemistry and Biotechnology”, 1st year).

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI: EXL Recognized as Market Leader by Everest Group in its Group Life Insurance and Benefits Core Technology Products PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2025 – North America

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NEW YORK, July 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — EXL [NASDAQ: EXLS], a global data and AI company, has been recognized by Everest Group as a Leader and Star Performer in the Group Life Insurance and Benefits Core Technology Products PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2025 – North America.

    The Everest Group report evaluated 15 leading providers of life insurance and benefits technology on their delivery of cloud-native infrastructure, advanced analytics, and configurable core systems that address the unique complexities of group life and benefits administration to their respective clients. EXL was recognized as a Leader for its deep domain expertise, growing library of automation and AI tools tailored for group life operations, and its ability to modernize large-scale platforms through analytic-driven insights.

    “EXL brings deep domain expertise and digital capability to the group insurance administration space, underpinned by its integrated technology and operations model on the LifePRO™ platform,” said Vigitesh Tewary, practice director at Everest Group. “Its ability to streamline administration and enhance service levels is further strengthened by proprietary assets such as MedConnection™, which support intelligent workflow processing, case management, and underwriting optimization. With modular capabilities across policy administration, billing, claims, and servicing, EXL aligns well with carriers operating in hybrid or multi-vendor ecosystems. The firm’s expanding suite of automation and AI-driven tools enables dynamic decisioning, real-time validations, and workflow automation tailored specifically for group life operations. These factors have contributed to its recognition as a Leader in Everest Group’s Group Life Insurance and Benefits Core Technology Products PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2025 – North America.”

    “The North American group life insurance industry is experiencing a rapid wave of digital transformation. As a result, clients are on the hunt for tools that will allow them to supercharge their quoting, underwriting, billing, and payout management capabilities,” said Vivek Jetley, president and head of insurance, healthcare, and life sciences, EXL. “We’re proud to receive this prestigious recognition from Everest Group and look forward to continuing to help our clients provide precise, tailored group life services to their clients.”

    To read more about the Everest Group 2025 report, click here for the custom version of the report. For more information about EXL’s insurance solutions, click here.

    About EXL

    EXL (NASDAQ: EXLS) is a global data and AI company that offers services and solutions to reinvent client business models, drive better outcomes and unlock growth with speed. EXL harnesses the power of data, AI, and deep industry knowledge to transform businesses, including the world’s leading corporations in industries including insurance, healthcare, banking and capital markets, retail, communications and media, and energy and infrastructure, among others. EXL was founded in 1999 with the core values of innovation, collaboration, excellence, integrity and respect. We are headquartered in New York and have approximately 60,000 employees spanning six continents. For more information, visit www.exlservice.com.

    Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

    This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You should not place undue reliance on those statements because they are subject to numerous uncertainties and factors relating to EXL’s operations and business environment, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond EXL’s control. Forward-looking statements include information concerning EXL’s possible or assumed future results of operations, including descriptions of its business strategy. These statements may include words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “estimate” or similar expressions. These statements are based on assumptions that we have made in light of management’s experience in the industry as well as its perceptions of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors it believes are appropriate under the circumstances. You should understand that these statements are not guarantees of performance or results. They involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Although EXL believes that these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, you should be aware that many factors could affect EXL’s actual financial results or results of operations and could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These factors, which include our ability to maintain and grow client demand, our ability to hire and retain sufficiently trained employees, and our ability to accurately estimate and/or manage costs, rising interest rates, rising inflation and recessionary economic trends, are discussed in more detail in EXL’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including EXL’s Annual Report on Form 10-K. You should keep in mind that any forward-looking statement made herein, or elsewhere, speaks only as of the date on which it is made. New risks and uncertainties come up from time to time, and it is impossible to predict these events or how they may affect EXL. EXL has no obligation to update any forward-looking statements after the date hereof, except as required by federal securities laws.

    Contacts
    Media
    Keith Little
    media.relations@exlservice.com

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    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-Evening Report: 2 ways cities can beat the heat: Which is best, urban trees or cool roofs?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Smith, Research Scientist in Earth & Environment, Boston University

    Trees like these in Boston can help keep neighborhoods cooler on hot days. Yassine Khalfalli/Unsplash, CC BY

    When summer turns up the heat, cities can start to feel like an oven, as buildings and pavement trap the sun’s warmth and vehicles and air conditioners release more heat into the air.

    The temperature in an urban neighborhood with few trees can be more than 10 degrees Fahrenheit (5.5 Celsius) higher than in nearby suburbs. That means air conditioning works harder, straining the electrical grid and leaving communities vulnerable to power outages.

    There are some proven steps that cities can take to help cool the air – planting trees that provide shade and moisture, for example, or creating cool roofs that reflect solar energy away from the neighborhood rather than absorbing it.

    But do these steps pay off everywhere?

    We study heat risk in cities as urban ecologists and have been exploring the impact of tree-planting and reflective roofs in different cities and different neighborhoods across cities. What we’re learning can help cities and homeowners be more targeted in their efforts to beat the heat.

    The wonder of trees

    Urban trees offer a natural defense against rising temperatures. They cast shade and release water vapor through their leaves, a process akin to human sweating. That cools the surrounding air and reduces afternoon heat.

    Adding trees to city streets, parks and residential yards can make a meaningful difference in how hot a neighborhood feels, with blocks that have tree canopies nearly 3 F (1.7 C) cooler than blocks without trees.

    Comparing maps of New York’s vegetation and temperature shows the cooling effect of parks and neighborhoods with more trees. In the map on the left, lighter colors are areas with fewer trees. Light areas in the map on the right are hotter.
    NASA/USGS Landsat

    But planting trees isn’t always simple.

    In hot, dry cities, trees often require irrigation to survive, which can strain already limited water resources. Trees must survive for decades to grow large enough to provide shade and release enough water vapor to reduce air temperatures.

    Annual maintenance costs – about US$900 per tree per year in Boston – can surpass the initial planting investment.

    Most challenging of all, dense urban neighborhoods where heat is most intense are often too packed with buildings and roads to grow more trees.

    How cool roofs can help on hot days

    Another option is “cool roofs.” Coating rooftops with reflective paint or using light-colored materials allows buildings to reflect more sunlight back into the atmosphere rather than absorbing it as heat.

    These roofs can lower the temperature inside an apartment building without air conditioning by about 2 to 6 F (1 to 3.3 C), and can cut peak cooling demand by as much as 27% in air-conditioned buildings, one study found. They can also provide immediate relief by reducing outdoor temperatures in densely populated areas. The maintenance costs are also lower than expanding urban forests.

    Two workers apply a white coating to the roof of a row home in Philadelphia.
    AP Photo/Matt Rourke

    However, like trees, cool roofs come with limits. Cool roofs work better on flat roofs than sloped roofs with shingles, as flat roofs are often covered by heat-trapping rubber and are exposed to more direct sunlight over the course of an afternoon.

    Cities also have a finite number of rooftops that can be retrofitted. And in cities that already have many light-colored roofs, a few more might help lower cooling costs in those buildings, but they won’t do much more for the neighborhood.

    By weighing the trade-offs of both strategies, cities can design location-specific plans to beat the heat.

    Choosing the right mix of cooling solutions

    Many cities around the world have taken steps to adapt to extreme heat, with tree planting and cool roof programs that implement reflectivity requirements or incentivize cool roof adoption.

    In Detroit, nonprofit organizations have planted more than 166,000 trees since 1989. In Los Angeles, building codes now require new residential roofs to meet specific reflectivity standards.

    In a recent study, we analyzed Boston’s potential to lower heat in vulnerable neighborhoods across the city. The results demonstrate how a balanced, budget-conscious strategy could deliver significant cooling benefits.

    For example, we found that planting trees can cool the air 35% more than installing cool roofs in places where trees can actually be planted.

    However, many of the best places for new trees in Boston aren’t in the neighborhoods that need help. In these neighborhoods, we found that reflective roofs were the better choice.

    By investing less than 1% of the city’s annual operating budget, about US$34 million, in 2,500 new trees and 3,000 cool roofs targeting the most at-risk areas, we found that Boston could reduce heat exposure for nearly 80,000 residents. The results would reduce summertime afternoon air temperatures by over 1 F (0.6 C) in those neighborhoods.

    While that reduction might seem modest, reductions of this magnitude have been found to dramatically reduce heat-related illness and death, increase labor productivity and reduce energy costs associated with building cooling.

    Not every city will benefit from the same mix. Boston’s urban landscape includes many flat, black rooftops that reflect only about 12% of sunlight, making cool roofs that reflect over 65% of sunlight an especially effective intervention. Boston also has a relatively moist growing season that supports a thriving urban tree canopy, making both solutions viable.

    Phoenix, left, already has a lot of light-colored roots, compared with Boston, right, where roofs are mostly dark.
    Imagery © Google 2025.

    In places with fewer flat, dark rooftops suitable for cool roof conversion, tree planting may offer more value. Conversely, in cities with little room left for new trees or where extreme heat and drought limit tree survival, cool roofs may be the better bet.

    Phoenix, for example, already has many light-colored roofs. Trees might be an option there, but they will require irrigation.

    Getting the solutions where people need them

    Adding shade along sidewalks can do double-duty by giving pedestrians a place to get out of the sun and cooling buildings. In New York City, for example, street trees account for an estimated 25% of the entire urban forest.

    Cool roofs can be more difficult for a government to implement because they require working with building owners. That often means cities need to provide incentives. Louisville, Kentucky, for example, offers rebates of up to $2,000 for homeowners who install reflective roofing materials, and up to $5,000 for commercial businesses with flat roofs that use reflective coatings.

    In Boston, planting trees, left, and increasing roof reflectivity, right, were both found to be effective ways to cool urban areas.
    Ian Smith et al. 2025

    Efforts like these can help spread cool roof benefits across densely populated neighborhoods that need cooling help most.

    As climate change drives more frequent and intense urban heat, cities have powerful tools for lowering the temperature. With some attention to what already exists and what’s feasible, they can find the right budget-conscious strategy that will deliver cooling benefits for everyone.

    Lucy Hutyra has received funding from the U.S. federal government and foundations including the World Resources Institute and Burroughs Wellcome Fund for her scholarship on urban climate and mitigation strategies. She was a recipient of a 2023 MacArthur Fellowship for her work in this area.

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

    – ref. 2 ways cities can beat the heat: Which is best, urban trees or cool roofs? – https://theconversation.com/2-ways-cities-can-beat-the-heat-which-is-best-urban-trees-or-cool-roofs-260188

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Rosneft Continues Whale Research

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    World Whale and Dolphin Day is celebrated annually on July 23. The date was established to draw humanity’s attention to the need to preserve and protect cetaceans and other marine mammals.

    Rosneft pays special attention to environmental issues and the preservation of biodiversity. The Company’s activities are based on the principle of preserving a favorable environment and biological diversity in all regions of presence. Studying and protecting the population of whales and dolphins is one of the areas of Rosneft’s environmental program.

    One of the main species that receives close attention is the gray whale of the Okhotsk Sea population. The monitoring program for these whales has been carried out on the north-eastern shelf of Sakhalin Island for almost 30 years. As part of the research, specialists annually conduct a population census, observe the behavior of animals and study their food supply, carry out photo-identification studies, and acoustic monitoring.

    Until the 1990s, the Okhotsk Sea gray whale population was considered to be completely exterminated and was classified as a species on the verge of extinction. In 2018, the western gray whale population was classified as endangered, indicating a slow but steady recovery of the Okhotsk subpopulation of gray whales.

    In 2019, the Okhotsk Sea populations of gray and Greenland whales were included by the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources in the list of rare and endangered species of wildlife requiring priority measures for restoration and reintroduction. In 2020, the Okhotsk Sea population of gray whales was listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation.

    In addition, the Company conducts environmental monitoring of the Okhotsk-Korean population of gray whales on the north-eastern shelf of Sakhalin Island. Specialists annually perform photo identification, population census, and studies of the food supply and behavior of mammals. The main life period of gray whales in the Sea of Okhotsk is fattening and reproduction, so studying the state of their food supply is one of the most important stages of observations.

    As part of the study of the Okhotsk-Korean gray whale population, unique acoustic monitoring is also being conducted, which includes recording and analyzing the level of natural and anthropogenic underwater noise. The research allows us to study the nature of sounds and model their propagation. Acoustic measurements are carried out using autonomous underwater recorders developed specifically for the project.

    Rosneft is an active participant in the Interdepartmental Working Group under the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation to ensure the conservation of the Okhotsk-Korean population of gray whales. The working group develops proposals for the development of legislation for population management, coordinates the interaction of interested federal and regional executive authorities, the business community, scientific and public organizations.

    In 2020, Rosneft, together with the P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, implemented a large-scale project to study and monitor Black Sea dolphins. Based on the results of 3 years of observations, modern up-to-date data were obtained on the number and preferred habitats of these Black Sea cetaceans, and the characteristics of their seasonal distribution. Recommendations for the study and conservation of dolphins were prepared.

    Reference:

    The gray whale is the only whale species that has mastered bottom feeding. Whales usually scoop up benthos from the bottom along with water, silt and pebbles at a depth of 15-60 m and filter the suspension through their baleen. The gray whale’s diet includes up to 70 species of invertebrates, including annelids, bivalves, small crustaceans and young fish.

    Gray whales swim slowly – on average 5-8 km/h, which allows marine parasites to cling to the whale’s skin and establish their colonies. The total weight of these fellow travelers can reach 180 kg per whale.

    Department of Information and AdvertisingPJSC NK RosneftJuly 23, 2025

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –