Category: Science

MIL-OSI: Online IQ Test 2025 | Quick, Real, & Accurate IQ Test Now Offered by QuickIQTest.org
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

New York City, NY, July 16, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — QuickIQTest.org, one of the most widely recognized platforms for cognitive testing, has officially unveiled its new and enhanced IQ testing platform: the Official IQ Test 2025. This certified and reliable IQ test offers a seamless, science-backed online testing experience with instant scoring, accurate insights, and full mobile compatibility.

⇒ Legit, Fast, and Accurate – Try the IQ Test at QuickIQTest.org

As interest in cognitive performance measurement continues to rise globally, the need for a legitimate IQ test that provides actionable feedback has become more critical. QuickIQTest.org now stands at the forefront of this movement, delivering a platform that combines speed, precision, and reliability—all without the need for registration or personal data.

⇒ Test Your IQ with Confidence at QuickIQTest.org

“People want more than just entertainment—they want real insights,” said Sean C. Bailey, spokesperson for Quick IQ Test. “This year’s version delivers just that: a real IQ test online that adapts to your responses, evaluates how you think, and gives you instant results backed by psychometrics.”

⇒ Find Out If You’re a Genius – Take the Test Today

What Is an IQ Test and Why It Matters in 2025

An IQ test—short for Intelligence Quotient test—measures a person’s cognitive abilities compared to the general population. A real IQ test is designed to assess core mental skills such as logical reasoning, memory retention, abstract thinking, and pattern recognition.

In today’s fast-paced digital world, people are increasingly searching for ways to test your IQ or take an IQ test that delivers legitimate results without gimmicks. Whether you’re a student preparing for university, a professional looking to improve performance, or simply curious about your intellectual profile, the ability to test my IQ in a quick, convenient, and credible way is essential.

⇒ Take the Official IQ Test Online Now at QuickIQTest.org

Why the QuickIQTest.org Platform Stands Out

Unlike traditional assessments that require long appointments or confusing paperwork, QuickIQTest.org has created a quick IQ test online designed for all users, regardless of age, background, or tech familiarity.

Key Features of the Official IQ Test 2025:
- Fast Testing Format: A complete short IQ test in under 15 minutes
- Accurate Scoring: Based on validated psychometric research
- Instant Results: Immediate scoring, no need to wait for reports
- Mobile & Desktop Friendly: Built for all modern devices
- No Registration Required: Full privacy protection
This new format allows users to take IQ test sessions quickly, from anywhere, with minimal friction.

⇒ Try the Most Accurate IQ Test Trusted by Thousands

What Makes This the Best IQ Test Online?

The best IQ test online is one that not only gives you fast results but ensures those results are rooted in measurable data. Unlike generic “quiz” sites or novelty tests, the Official IQ Test 2025 includes:
- Questions modeled after standardized IQ formats used by psychologists
- Balanced testing across multiple dimensions of intelligence
- A certified IQ test structure with age-adjusted scoring for fairness
- Instant digital feedback that explains more than just a number
It’s this approach that makes it one of the most accurate IQ test experiences available in 2025.

⇒ Start the Official 2025 IQ Test at QuickIQTest.org

How to Take an IQ Test Online: The Easy Way

Wondering how to take an IQ test that actually reflects your true potential? At QuickIQTest.org, users can simply click “Start Test,” proceed through a series of timed cognitive challenges, and receive their scores instantly.

The process answers key questions like:
- How to test your IQ without wasting time on gimmicks?
- Where to take an IQ test that doesn’t require you to sign up?
- What is an IQ test that can actually be trusted?
It’s more than just testing memory or math—it’s about understanding how you think and reason under pressure.

⇒ Take the Best Online IQ Test with Instant Scoring

Legitimate IQ Test, Legitimate Results

Thousands of users have already identified QuickIQTest.org as the go-to platform for a legit IQ test. In 2025, the platform upgraded its scoring system to offer even more refined breakdowns of key cognitive strengths, including:
- Analytical reasoning
- Visual-spatial processing
- Numerical logic
- Short-term memory
- Pattern recognition speed
Whether you’re looking for a real IQ test online or curious about your IQ test score compared to others, this platform gives you reliable feedback that reflects actual ability.

⇒ Test Your Intelligence Now at QuickIQTest.org

Trusted by Students, Job Seekers, and Self-Development Enthusiasts

QuickIQTest.org is ideal for:
- Students applying to gifted programs or academic institutions
- Professionals exploring career potential or decision-making styles
- Lifelong learners wanting to benchmark cognitive performance
As a reliable IQ test tool with no fluff and no distractions, it’s quickly becoming the industry standard in the online cognitive testing space.

Where Can I Take an IQ Test That’s Legit and Quick?

If you’ve asked:
- “Where can I take an IQ test that doesn’t waste my time?”
- “Where to take a real IQ test without giving out my email?”
- “Is there a legitimate IQ test that works on my phone?”
The answer is QuickIQTest.org. With its quick IQ test, smart analytics, and legitimate structure, this platform solves the gap between novelty tests and overly formal assessments.

⇒ Discover Your IQ with This Certified Online Test

The Rise of Certified and Accurate IQ Testing in 2025

Certified IQ Test with Instant Results: Built for Accuracy

One of the most frequent questions from users today is: “What is the most accurate IQ test I can take online?”

The answer lies in structure and methodology. The Official IQ Test 2025 at QuickIQTest.org was developed using principles of fluid intelligence testing—the gold standard for measuring reasoning ability, adaptability, and problem-solving skills in real time.

Unlike many free, unregulated assessments circulating online, QuickIQTest.org employs:
- Time-calibrated questions to measure real cognitive speed
- Balanced domains, from spatial awareness to logic puzzles
- Statistical modeling to eliminate guess-based anomalies
- Instant delivery of results backed by scientific rigor
It’s not just fast—it’s also trustworthy. That’s what makes it the best online IQ test for those seeking genuine understanding.

⇒ Find Out Your IQ Fast – Trusted Online Platform

From “Test My IQ” Curiosity to Personal Discovery

Whether you’re typing “test my IQ” into a search engine or asking how to find a legit IQ test, your goal is likely clarity. The challenge in 2025 is sorting through the noise.

QuickIQTest.org cuts through the clutter with a simple IQ test format that brings legitimate data directly to the user. You’ll finish the test with:
- A complete IQ test score
- Performance benchmarks across key domains
- Scoring comparisons to age-based norms
- Optional insights into personality traits and learning styles
It’s more than a number. It’s the beginning of self-knowledge.

⇒ Get Your Real IQ Score in Minutes

How to Test Your IQ in a Fast and Secure Way

Thanks to the platform’s latest upgrade, users now enjoy a completely secure IQ test process—no accounts, no marketing traps, no unnecessary permissions.

Here’s how the quick IQ test online experience works:
1. Click “Start Test” from the homepage.
2. Complete 25–30 timed questions covering abstract logic, patterns, math, and reasoning.
3. Submit your answers to receive your official IQ test results instantly.
The simplicity is intentional. It allows for consistency across devices and age groups and ensures a fair, standardized experience for everyone.

If you’re asking how to test my IQ with confidence, QuickIQTest.org offers the most user-friendly and reliable solution available in 2025.

⇒ Start the Real IQ Test at QuickIQTest.org Today

Where to Take an IQ Test That Delivers Real Results

For users searching “where can I take an IQ test” or “where to take IQ test that’s real,” QuickIQTest.org is the answer. It doesn’t simply measure performance—it provides insight.

Many users take the test in preparation for:
- Academic placements
- Career transitions
- Personal benchmarking
- Self-awareness exercises
This flexible use case is why it has become a go-to platform across multiple industries.

⇒ See Where You Rank with This Official IQ Test

A Legitimate IQ Test That Feels Like a Modern App

QuickIQTest.org’s 2025 platform was fully redesigned to offer a modern feel with lightning-fast responsiveness. It works on:
- iPhone and Android smartphones
- Tablets and iPads
- Windows and Mac desktops
The layout minimizes distractions, encourages focus, and optimizes test flow. From simple IQ test to actual IQ test mode, every stage is optimized for smooth interaction.

The platform’s simplicity is part of what sets it apart as a legitimate IQ test online option in a market flooded with outdated, clunky interfaces.

⇒ Take the Quick & Accurate IQ Test at QuickIQTest.org

The Science Behind the Official IQ Test 2025

QuickIQTest.org collaborated with cognitive researchers to build a refined real IQ test online rooted in modern psychological research. The test architecture uses:
- Adaptive question sequencing to adjust difficulty based on performance
- Fluid intelligence principles over crystallized knowledge
- Real-time feedback scoring using standardized population data
This approach ensures that each test taker receives a score that reflects their performance accurately—not based on rote memory or trivia, but actual thinking skill.

⇒ Test Your Brainpower Now – Fast, Real Results

IQ Test Questions You Can Expect

Curious about what kind of IQ test questions appear in the Official IQ Test 2025? Here’s what users face during the test:
- Pattern recognition in visual sequences
- Number series and logic puzzles
- Abstract shape identification
- Symmetry and mirroring challenges
- Deductive reasoning tasks
Each category helps measure different facets of intelligence. It’s a real IQ test, not a quiz, built to gauge brainpower across multiple dimensions.

⇒ Take a Trusted IQ Test at QuickIQTest.org Today

Beyond a Score: Insights That Drive Growth

Every score delivered from QuickIQTest.org includes more than a raw number. The report gives:
- Insights on how your brain processes visual and numerical data
- Speed metrics and time-use efficiency
- Strengths in abstract, spatial, or sequential logic
This feedback isn’t meant to label—it’s meant to guide. Whether you’re seeking personal growth or simply want to test your IQ in a meaningful way, the insights are actionable

⇒ Measure Your IQ with an Official Online Test

The Real-World Applications of Online IQ Testing

In an age of information overload and AI-assisted workflows, understanding human cognition is more important than ever. A real IQ test online gives individuals the chance to identify how they think—not just what they know.

Thousands of users turn to QuickIQTest.org to:
- Measure cognitive strengths before applying for graduate programs
- Test their IQ as part of job readiness assessments
- Validate gifted learning for children and teens
- Track personal growth in mental speed and abstract reasoning
- Compare scores across age groups using scientifically adjusted benchmarks
As a legit IQ test provider, QuickIQTest.org serves both casual users and those with professional or academic goals. This growing trust has made it a preferred destination for anyone asking “where to take a real IQ test that actually works.”

⇒ Take the IQ Test Everyone Is Talking About

Who Is the Quick IQ Test For?

One of the reasons the Quick IQ Test has seen such popularity is its universal design. It’s tailored to all types of users, including:
- Students preparing for academic advancement
- Parents testing cognitive potential in children
- Job seekers validating soft skills and analytical thinking
- Educators evaluating aptitude and supporting learning paths
- Curious minds exploring personal cognitive style
From teenagers preparing for exams to retirees wanting to keep their minds sharp, the Official IQ Test 2025 is inclusive and accessible.

⇒ Fast & Certified IQ Testing – Try It Now

Best Practices: How to Prepare for an Accurate IQ Test Online

Although an IQ test measures innate reasoning rather than acquired knowledge, a little preparation goes a long way. For best results when you take an IQ test online, QuickIQTest.org recommends:
1. Use a quiet, distraction-free environment – mental clarity helps.
2. Eliminate digital interruptions – silence notifications and close other apps.
3. Avoid rushing – while the test is timed, a steady pace yields better accuracy.
4. Familiarize yourself with question types – pattern and shape recognition, logic problems, numerical sequences.
To test your IQ accurately, focus is key. The platform is built to deliver your IQ test score without distractions, so your effort reflects your real potential.

⇒ Check Your Intelligence with QuickIQTest.org

Reliability and Scientific Integrity Set QuickIQTest.org Apart in 2025

In a rapidly expanding field of digital assessments, establishing reliability remains one of the most important benchmarks for any online IQ testing platform.

QuickIQTest.org has distinguished itself in this landscape by implementing a rigorous approach to test development and scoring. The platform’s question set has been curated and validated by specialists in psychometrics and cognitive science, ensuring that each item measures a distinct and relevant aspect of intelligence.

The scoring methodology is grounded in a Gaussian distribution model—commonly used in academic and psychological evaluations—to align test results with standardized population metrics. This statistical foundation allows for meaningful interpretation of scores across a diverse range of users.

⇒ Take a Real IQ Test That Delivers Real Scores

In addition to its scientific underpinnings, QuickIQTest.org has prioritized accessibility and efficiency. The platform features a real-time scoring engine, enabling participants to receive their IQ test results immediately upon completion. Cross-device compatibility ensures seamless functionality on desktop computers, tablets, and mobile devices alike.

Furthermore, the inclusion of age-adjusted scoring algorithms provides users with benchmarks tailored to their demographic, enhancing both fairness and precision in score reporting.

Together, these core features position QuickIQTest.org as a leader in online cognitive assessment. Its commitment to consistency, transparency, and methodological soundness reinforces its standing as one of the most accurate IQ test platforms currently available.

⇒ Test Your Mind with This Legit Online IQ Quiz

Breaking Down the Full User Journey: From Curiosity to Confidence

Step 1: “I want to test my IQ”

Many users arrive at QuickIQTest.org after searching “how to test my IQ” or “how to take an IQ test that’s real.” They’re immediately greeted with a distraction-free interface that begins the process.

Step 2: The Test Experience

During the test, users encounter 25–30 questions that challenge their reasoning, pattern recognition, visual-spatial logic, and abstract thinking. It’s a fast IQ test but not oversimplified. The time limit keeps responses natural and spontaneous.

Step 3: Instant Results and Insights

Once complete, the platform calculates your IQ test score using an adaptive algorithm. You’ll see where you rank and receive a basic interpretation immediately—no email required.

⇒ Take a Certified IQ Quiz in Minutes at QuickIQTest.org

Popular User Searches Answered by QuickIQTest.org

Many arrive at the site after Googling:
- “What is an IQ test that actually gives real scores?”
- “Where can I take an IQ test for adults or kids?”
- “Legit IQ test with instant results?”
- “How to test your IQ online without signing up?”
- “Best IQ test online in 2025?”
QuickIQTest.org answers them all by being the simple IQ test platform with professional-grade intelligence scoring.

⇒ See How You Score with the QuickIQTest.org IQ Quiz

Trusted Globally: Reputation Built on Performance

QuickIQTest.org has now served millions of users worldwide and consistently ranks among the most visited online IQ test platforms.

User feedback has highlighted:
- Speed: Most users complete their test in 10–12 minutes.
- Accuracy: High repeatability of results, even across separate sessions.
- Trust: No account creation or data harvesting.
- Clarity: Results are easy to understand and compare.
This reputation ensures QuickIQTest.org remains the answer to “where can I take a real IQ test online without gimmicks?”

⇒ Fast, Real, and Legit – Start Your IQ Test Now

Final Thoughts

In a world that increasingly values clarity of thought, strategic reasoning, and analytical precision, understanding your mental framework is a powerful step toward personal and professional development.

The Official IQ Test 2025 by QuickIQTest.org is not a gimmick or a game—it’s a streamlined, science-based evaluation tool for curious thinkers, professionals, students, and lifelong learners. It’s a place where you can test your IQ, receive meaningful feedback, and explore how your brain navigates challenges—all from the comfort of your device.

FAQs

1. Is QuickIQTest.org a real IQ test?

Yes. QuickIQTest.org offers a certified and scientifically structured real IQ test online that measures cognitive performance in areas like logic, reasoning, pattern recognition, and memory. It uses validated question types found in formal intelligence assessments.

2. Where can I take an IQ test that gives instant results?

You can take the quick IQ test online directly at QuickIQTest.org. Your score is calculated and presented immediately after completion of the payment process. No waiting, no emails, and no hidden steps.

3. How accurate is the IQ test on QuickIQTest.org?

The test is based on psychometric models used in professional assessments. It includes adaptive difficulty, time benchmarks, and scoring that aligns with standard IQ distributions, making it one of the most accurate IQ test experiences available online.

4. Can I take a short IQ test that’s still legit?

Absolutely. The short IQ test at QuickIQTest.org is designed to give you measurable insights in 10–12 minutes, while maintaining structure and scoring accuracy.

5. Is it safe and private?

Yes. The test is conducted without requiring registration or collecting personal data. No cookies are used for advertising, and results are stored locally.

6. Is this the best IQ test online?

QuickIQTest.org consistently ranks among the top providers due to its simplicity, accuracy, and scientific foundation. It is widely recognized as one of the best online IQ test platforms for real results.

7. What kind of IQ test questions will I get?

Questions include number sequences, shape patterns, visual logic problems, and spatial reasoning tasks, representing a balanced, certified IQ test approach.

8. Is there an age limit?

No. While the test adjusts scores based on age group, it is suitable for adults, teenagers, and children above 10 years old, making it a legitimate IQ test option for nearly all users.

9. What does my IQ test score mean?

A score of 100 is the average for your age group. Above 115 is considered above average, while 130+ is considered gifted. Your results include percentile ranking and performance benchmarks.

10. Where to take IQ test that’s simple, legit, and accurate?

QuickIQTest.org, the platform has become a global leader in real IQ test online solutions, offering a fast and reliable experience with real-time scoring.

Media Contact

Company: Quick IQ Test

Contact Person: Sean C. Bailey

Email: support@quickiqtest.org

Address: 3445 Canterbury Drive, New York, NY 10016, USA

URL: https://quickiqtest.org/

Phone: +1 646-598-0584

Attachment
- Quick IQ Test
The MIL Network –
July 17, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: FDA to Revoke 52 Obsolete Standards of Identity for Food Products

Source: US Department of Health and Human Services – 3

For Immediate Release:
July 16, 2025

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced it is revoking, or proposing to revoke, 52 food standards after concluding they are obsolete and unnecessary. The 52 standards are for canned fruits and vegetables, dairy products, baked goods, macaroni products and other foods.
Today’s actions are the first results from the agency’s ongoing analysis of its portfolio of over 250 food Standards of Identity (SOI) to make sure they are useful, relevant and serve consumers in the best possible way. The removal of these standards is in alignment with broader efforts to ensure that HHS is directing resources to where they’re most needed – delivering better outcomes for the American people.
“I’m eliminating outdated food regulations that no longer serve the interests of American families,” said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “Today marks a crucial step in my drive to cut through bureaucratic red tape, increase transparency and remove regulations that have outlived their purpose.”
The FDA began establishing food standards in 1939 to promote “honesty and fair dealing” and to ensure that the characteristics, ingredients and production processes of specific foods were consistent with what consumers expect. However, advances in food science, agriculture and production practices, and additional consumer protections have made many of these older, rigid “recipe standards” unnecessary.
“The FDA’s Standards of Identity efforts have helped ensure uniformity, boost consumer confidence and prevent food fraud. But many of these standards have outlived their usefulness and may even stifle innovation in making food easier to produce or providing consumers healthier choices,” said FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, M.D., M.P.H. “Antiquated food standards are no longer serving to protect consumers. It is common sense to revoke them and move to a more judicious use of food standards and agency resources.”
Today’s actions include publication of the following:

A direct final rule revoking standards for 11 types of canned fruits and vegetables that are no longer sold in U.S. grocery stores, including seven standards for fruits artificially sweetened with saccharin or sodium saccharin. The agency is issuing a companion proposed rule in the same issue of the Federal Register in case the direct final rule is withdrawn because significant adverse comments are received, and the agency needs to move forward with a proposed rule to put these changes in place.
A proposed rule that would revoke standards for 18 types of dairy products – including certain milk and cream products, cheeses and related cheese products and frozen desserts.
A proposed rule that would revoke standards for 23 types of food products –including bakery products, macaroni and noodle products, canned fruit juices, fish and shellfish, and food dressings and flavorings.

Many of the standards listed in the two proposed rules predate more recent consumer protections such as requirements about ingredient safety, ingredient labeling, food packaging, safe food production and manufacturing practices and nutrition labeling information and claims.
On May 13, HHS and FDA issued a Request for Information to identify and eliminate outdated or unnecessary regulations. This initiative supports a broader federal effort to reduce regulatory burdens and increase transparency, in alignment with President Trump’s Executive Order 14192 “Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation.”
Related Information

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The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products for human use, and medical devices. The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, radiation-emitting electronic products, and for regulating tobacco products.

Content current as of:
07/16/2025

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MIL OSI USA News –

July 17, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Attorney General Bonta Helps Secure Over $200 Million from Gilead Sciences for Paying Illegal Kickbacks

Source: US State of California Department of Justice

California will receive more than $4 million from multistate settlement in principle

OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta today joined a coalition of 48 other attorneys general in securing $202 million from Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Gilead), for running an illegal kickback scheme to promote its HIV medications. Gilead allegedly violated federal law by illegally providing incentives – including awards, meals, and travel expenses – to healthcare providers to prescribe Gilead’s medications, resulting in millions of dollars of false claims submitted to government health care programs, including Medi-Cal. The settlement in principle, reached in coordination with the U.S. Department of Justice and approved by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, provides $49 million for Medicaid programs nationwide, including $4,118,184 for California, with the remainder going to Medicare, Tricare, and the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP).

“The best interests of patients must always come first,” said Attorney General Bonta. “At this time of unprecedented funding cuts to Medicaid, it is particularly important to protect the program from illegal kick-back schemes that harm the program and patients alike. Today’s settlement returns critical funding to our communities and programs like Medicaid that keep them healthy.”

From January 2011 to November 2017, Gilead allegedly violated federal anti-kickback laws by providing gifts to healthcare providers who attended and spoke at promotional speaker programs for Gilead’s HIV drugs: Stribild, Genvoya, Complera, Odefsey, Descovy, and Biktarvy. Gilead paid high-volume prescribers tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars to present as “HIV Speakers.” The company also covered travel expenses for speakers, including those traveling long distances and to attractive destinations, such as Hawaii, Miami, and New Orleans, and hosted dinners at high-end restaurants.

Gilead’s internal compliance mechanisms failed to halt these violations. The company’s internal policies and procedures failed to prevent its sales representatives from improperly offering incentives to induce prescriptions.

Joining Attorney General Bonta in securing settlements with Gilead are the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Division of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $69,244,976 for Federal fiscal year (FY) 2025. The remaining 25 percent is funded by the State of California. FY 2025 is from October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2025.

MIL OSI USA News –

July 17, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: When big sports events expand, like FIFA’s 2026 World Cup matches across North America, their climate footprint expands too
Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Brian P. McCullough, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Michigan

Lionel Messi celebrates with fans after Argentina won the FIFA World Cup championship in 2022 in Qatar. Michael Regan-FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images

When the FIFA World Cup hits North America in June 2026, 48 teams and millions of soccer fans will be traveling to and from venues spread across the United States, Canada and Mexico.

It’s a dramatic expansion – 16 more teams will be playing than in recent years, with a jump from 64 to 104 matches. The tournament is projected to bring in over US$10 billion in revenue. But the expansion will also mean a lot more travel and other activities that contribute to climate change.

The environmental impacts of giant sporting events like the World Cup create a complex paradox for an industry grappling with its future in a warming world.

A sustainability conundrum

Sports are undeniably experiencing the effects of climate change. Rising global temperatures are putting athletes’ health at risk during summer heat waves and shortening winter sports seasons. Many of the 2026 World Cup venues often see heat waves in June and early July, when the tournament is scheduled.

There is a divide over how sports should respond.

Some athletes are speaking out for more sustainable choices and have called on lawmakers to take steps to limit climate-warming emissions. At the same time, the sport industry is growing and facing a constant push to increase revenue. The NCAA is also considering expanding its March Madness basketball tournaments from 68 teams currently to as many as 76.

Park Yong-woo of team Al Ain from Abu Dhabi tries to cool off during a Club World Cup match on June 26, 2025, in Washington, D.C., which was in the midst of a heat wave. Some players have raised concerns about likely high temperatures during the 2026 World Cup, with matches scheduled June 11 to July 19.
AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson

Estimates for the 2026 World Cup show what large tournament expansions can mean for the climate. A report from Scientists for Global Responsibility estimates that the expanded World Cup could generate over 9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, nearly double the average of the past four World Cups.

This massive increase – and the increase that would come if the NCAA basketball tournaments also expand – would primarily be driven by air travel as fans and players fly among event cities that are thousands of miles apart.

A lot of money is at stake, but so is the climate

Sports are big business, and adding more matches to events like the World Cup and NCAA tournaments will likely lead to larger media rights contracts and greater gate receipts from more fans attending the events, boosting revenues. These are powerful financial incentives.

In the NCAA’s case, there is another reason to consider a larger tournament: The House v. NCAA settlement opened the door for college athletic departments to share revenue with athletes, which will significantly increase costs for many college programs. More teams would mean more television revenue and, crucially, more revenue to be distributed to member NCAA institutions and their athletic conferences.

When climate promises become greenwashing

The inherent conflict between maximizing profit through growth and minimizing environmental footprint presents a dilemma for sports.

Several sport organizations have promised to reduce their impact on the climate, including signing up for initiatives like the United Nations Sports for Climate Action Framework.

However, as sports tournaments and exhibition games expand, it can become increasingly hard for sports organizations to meet their climate commitments. In some cases, groups making sustainability commitments have been accused of greenwashing, suggesting the goals are more about public relations than making genuine, measurable changes.

For example, FIFA’s early claims that it would hold a “fully carbon-neutral” World Cup in Qatar in 2022 were challenged by a group of European countries that accused soccer’s world governing body of underestimating emissions. The Swiss Fairness Commission, which monitors fairness in advertising, considered the complaints and determined that FIFA’s claims could not be substantiated.

Alessandro Bastoni, of Inter Milan and Italy’s national team, prepares to board a flight from Milan to Rome with his team.
Mattia Ozbot-Inter/Inter via Getty Images

Aviation is often the biggest driver of emissions. A study that colleagues and I conducted on the NCAA men’s basketball tournament found about 80% of its emissions were connected to travel. And that was after the NCAA began using the pod system, which is designed to keep teams closer to home for the first and second rounds.

Finding practical solutions

Some academics, observing the rising emissions trend, have called for radical solutions like the end of commercialized sports or drastically limiting who can attend sporting events, with a focus on fans from the region.

These solutions are frankly not practical, in my view, nor do they align with other positive developments. The growing popularity of women’s sports shows the challenge in limiting sports events – more games expands participation but adds to the industry’s overall footprint.

Further compounding the challenges of reducing environmental impact is the amount of fan travel, which is outside the direct control of the sports organization or event organizers.

Many fans will follow their teams long distances, especially for mega-events like the World Cup or the NCAA tournament. During the men’s World Cup in Russia in 2018, more than 840,000 fans traveled from other countries. The top countries by number of fans, after Russia, were China, the U.S., Mexico and Argentina.

There is an argument that distributed sporting events like March Madness or the World Cup can be better in some ways for local environments because they don’t overwhelm a single city. However, merely spreading the impact does not necessarily reduce it, particularly when considering the effects on climate change.

How fans can cut their environmental footprint

Sport organizations and event planners can take steps to be more sustainable and also encourage more sustainable choices among fans. Fans can reduce their environmental impact in a variety of ways. For example:
- Avoid taking airplanes for shorter distances, such as between FIFA venues in Philadelphia, New York and Boston, and carpool or take Amtrak instead. Planes can be more efficient for long distances, but air travel is still a major contributing factor to emissions.
- While in a host city, use mass transit or rent electric vehicles or bicycles for local travel.
- Consider sustainable accommodations, such as short-term rentals that might have a smaller environmental footprint than a hotel. Or stay at a certified green hotel that makes an effort to be more efficient in its use of water and energy.
- Engage in sustainable pregame and postgame activities, such as choosing local, sustainable food options, and minimize waste.
- You can also pay to offset carbon emissions for attending different sporting events, much like concertgoers do when they attend musical festivals. While critics question offsets’ true environmental benefit, they do represent people’s growing awareness of their environmental footprint.
Through all these options, it’s clear that sports face a significant challenge in addressing their environmental impacts and encouraging fans to be more sustainable, while simultaneously trying to meet ambitious business and environmental targets.

In my view, a sustainable path forward will require strategic, yet genuine, commitment by the sports industry and its fans, and a willingness to prioritize long-term planetary health alongside economic gains – balancing the sport and sustainability.

Brian P. McCullough 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. When big sports events expand, like FIFA’s 2026 World Cup matches across North America, their climate footprint expands too – https://theconversation.com/when-big-sports-events-expand-like-fifas-2026-world-cup-matches-across-north-america-their-climate-footprint-expands-too-259437
MIL OSI –
July 17, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: The golden oyster mushroom craze unleashed an invasive species – and a worrying new study shows it’s harming native fungi

Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Aishwarya Veerabahu, Ph.D. Candidate in Botany, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Golden oyster mushrooms can be cultivated, but they can also escape into the wild. DDukang/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Golden oyster mushrooms, with their sunny yellow caps and nutty flavor, have become wildly popular for being healthy, delicious and easy to grow at home from mushroom kits.

But this food craze has also unleashed an invasive species into the wild, and new research shows it’s pushing out native fungi.

In a study we believe is the first of its kind, fellow mycologists and I demonstrate that an invasive fungus can cause environmental harm, just as invasive plants and animals can when they take over ecosystems.

A scientist documents golden oyster mushrooms growing wild in a Wisconsin forest, where these invasive fungi don’t belong. DNA tests showed the species had pushed out other native fungi.
Aishwarya Veerabahu

Native mushrooms and other fungi are important for the health of many ecosystems. They break down dead wood and other plant material, helping it decay. They cycle nutrients such as carbon and nitrogen from the dead tissues of plants and animals, turning it into usable forms that enter the soil, atmosphere or their own bodies. Fungi also play a role in managing climate change by sequestering carbon in soil and mediating carbon emissions from soil and wood.

Their symbiotic relationships with other organisms also help other organisms thrive. Mycorrhizal fungi on roots, for example, help plants absorb water and nutrients. And wood decay fungi help create wooded habitats for birds, mammals and plant seedlings.

However, we found that invasive golden oyster mushrooms, a wood decay fungus, can threaten forests’ fungal biodiversity and harm the health of ecosystems that are already vulnerable to climate change and habitat destruction.

The dark side of the mushroom trade

Golden oyster mushrooms, native to Asia, were brought to North America around the early 2000s. They’re part of an international mushroom culinary craze that has been feeding into one of the world’s leading drivers of biodiversity loss: invasive species.

As fungi are moved around the world in global trade, either intentionally as products, such as kits people buy for growing mushrooms at home, or unintentionally as microbial stowaways along with soil, plants, timber and even shipping pallets, they can establish themselves in new environments.

Where golden oyster mushrooms, an invasive species in North America, have been reported in the wild, including in forests, parks and neighborhoods. Red dots indicate new reports each year. States in yellow have had a report at some point. Aishwarya Veerabahu

Many mushroom species have been cultivated in North America for decades without becoming invasive species threats. However, golden oyster mushrooms have been different.

No one knows exactly how golden oyster mushrooms escaped into the wild, whether from a grow kit, a commercial mushroom farm or outdoor logs inoculated with golden oysters – a home-cultivation technique where mushroom mycelium is placed into logs to colonize the wood and produce mushrooms.

As grow kits increased in popularity, many people began buying golden oyster kits and watching them blossom into beautiful yellow mushrooms in their backyards. Their spores or composted kits could have spread into nearby forests.

Evidence from a pioneering study by Andrea Reisdorf (née Bruce) suggests golden oyster mushrooms were introduced into the wild in multiple U.S. states around the early 2010s.

Species the golden oysters pushed out

In our study, designed by Michelle Jusino and Mark Banik, research scientists with the U.S. Forest Service, our team went into forests around Madison, Wisconsin, and drilled into dead trees to collect wood shavings containing the natural fungal community within each tree. Some of the trees had golden oyster mushrooms on them, and some did not.

We then extracted DNA to identify and compare which fungi, and how many fungi, were in trees that had been invaded by golden oyster mushrooms compared with those that had not been.

We were startled to find that trees with golden oyster mushrooms housed only half as many fungal species as trees without golden oyster mushrooms, sometimes even less. We also found that the composition of fungi in trees with golden oyster mushrooms was different from trees without golden oyster mushrooms.

For example, the gentle green “mossy maze polypore” and the “elm oyster” mushroom were pushed out of trees invaded by golden oyster mushrooms.

Mossy maze polypore growing on a stump. This is one of the native species that disappeared from trees when the golden oyster mushroom moved in.
mauriziobiso/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Another ousted fungus, Nemania serpens, is known for producing diverse arrays of chemicals that differ even between individuals of the same species. Fungi are sources of revolutionary medicines, including antibiotics like penicillin, cholesterol medication and organ transplant stabilizers. The value of undiscovered, potentially useful chemicals can be lost when invasive species push others out.

The invasive species problem includes fungi

Given what my colleagues and I discovered, we believe it is time to include invasive fungi in the global conversation about invasive species and examine their role as a cause of biodiversity loss.

That conversation includes the idea of fungal “endemism” – that each place has a native fungal community that can be thrown out of balance. Native fungal communities tend to be diverse, having evolved together over thousands of years to coexist. Our research shows how invasive species can change the makeup of fungal communities by outcompeting native species, thus changing the fungal processes that have shaped native ecosystems.

There are many other invasive fungi. For example, the deadly poisonous “death cap” Amanita phalloides and the “orange ping-pong bat” Favolaschia calocera are invasive in North America. The classic red and white “fly agaric” Amanita muscaria is native to North America but invasive elsewhere.

The orange ping-pong bat mushroom is invasive in North America. These were photographed in New Zealand.
Bernard Spragg. NZ/Flickr Creative Commons

The golden oyster mushrooms’ invasion of North America should serve as a bright yellow warning that nonnative fungi are capable of rapid invasion and should be cultivated with caution, if at all.

Golden oyster mushrooms are now recognized as invasive in Switzerland and can be found in forests in Italy, Hungary, Serbia and Germany. I have been hearing about people attempting to cultivate them around the world, including in Turkey, India, Ecuador, Kenya, Italy and Portugal. It’s possible that golden oyster mushrooms may not be able to establish invasive populations in some regions. Continued research will help us understand the full scope of impacts invasive fungi can have.

What you can do to help

Mushroom growers, businesses and foragers around the world may be asking themselves, “What can we do about it?”

For the time being, I recommend that people consider refraining from using golden oyster mushroom grow kits to prevent any new introductions. For people who make a living selling these mushrooms, consider adding a note that this species is invasive and should be cultivated indoors and not composted.

If you enjoy growing mushrooms at home, try cultivating safe, native species that you have collected in your region.

Most mushrooms you see in the grocery store are grown indoors.

There is no single right answer. In some places, golden oyster mushrooms are being cultivated as a food source for impoverished communities, for income, or to process agricultural waste and produce food at the same time. Positives like these will have to be considered alongside the mushrooms’ negative impacts when developing management plans or legislation.

In the future, some ideas for solutions could involve sporeless strains of golden oysters for home kits that can’t spread, or a targeted mycovirus that could control the population. Increased awareness about responsible cultivation practices is important, because when invasive species move in and disrupt the native biodiversity, we all stand to lose the beautiful, colorful, weird fungi we see on walks in the forest.

Aishwarya Veerabahu receives funding from UW-Madison Dept. of Botany, the UW Arboretum, the Society of Ecological Restoration, and the Garden Club of America. Aishwarya Veerabahu was an employee of the USDA Forest Service.

– ref. The golden oyster mushroom craze unleashed an invasive species – and a worrying new study shows it’s harming native fungi – https://theconversation.com/the-golden-oyster-mushroom-craze-unleashed-an-invasive-species-and-a-worrying-new-study-shows-its-harming-native-fungi-259006

MIL OSI –

July 17, 2025
MIL-OSI Europe: Passing of Jean-Pierre Azéma

Source: Universities – Science Po in English

It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Jean-Pierre Azéma, historian and professor at Sciences Po, who died on Monday, 14 July 2025, in his eighty-seventh year.

Alongside Serge Berstein, Jean-Noël Jeanneney, Pierre Milza, and Michel Winock, Jean-Pierre Azéma was one of the founding members of the group of historians at Sciences Po who, under the benevolent guidance of René Rémond, brought together scholars of contemporary history with a particular focus on modern political developments.

A specialist in the Second World War, the Occupation, the Resistance and the Vichy regime, he established himself from the 1970s onwards as one of France’s foremost experts on the period. He authored numerous landmark publications — including De Munich à la Libération, 1938–1944 (Seuil, 1979) and Jean Moulin: Le politique, le rebelle, le résistant (Perrin, 2003) — and contributed to major collective volumes such as Vichy et les Français (Fayard, 1992).

After teaching in secondary education, notably at the Lycées Lakanal and Henri IV, Jean-Pierre Azéma joined Sciences Po in 1973 as an assistant professor. There, he rejoined Serge Berstein and Pierre Milza, who had arrived a few years earlier, and was later followed by his lifelong friend and former schoolmate Michel Winock. A few years later, he was promoted to full professor – among the very first in the field of history at Sciences Po.

Over the course of thirty-five years, Jean-Pierre Azéma taught with unwavering dedication and intellectual rigour across all levels of instruction at Sciences Po. As lecturer of the first-year general history course, he trained and inspired generations of students in the “année préparatoire” (undergraduate programme), his deep erudition and colourful temperament leaving a lasting impression.

He was also a key figure in Sciences Po’s graduate programme in history, mentoring numerous master’s and doctoral students with both generosity and high standards (among them Alya Aglan, Anne Simonin, Guillaume Piketty, and Florent Brayard).

“In history, you need the real stuff,” (by which he meant sources), he would often remind his students, regardless of their level — as recalled by historian Nicolas Offenstadt, one of his former undergraduate and postgraduate students.

A committed member of the academic community, Jean-Pierre Azéma also served the institution in other capacities. For over a decade, he co-chaired Sciences Po’s Joint Committee, a university body established in the wake of May 1968, bringing together faculty and students in equal numbers — the forerunner of today’s Student Life and Education Committee (CVEF). In this role, he played a vital part in mediating between interests, always with integrity and without demagoguery.

Beyond Sciences Po, his scholarly reputation led to frequent public engagement. He was notably cited by the civil parties during the Maurice Papon trial. He also brought historical insight to wider audiences through his contributions to L’Histoire magazine, his collaboration with Claude Chabrol on the documentary L’œil de Vichy, and his role as historical advisor for the acclaimed television series Un village français.

For years, students, faculty, and staff at Sciences Po encountered the instantly recognisable figure of Jean-Pierre Azéma — often distinguished by his trademark scarf, long a vivid red, which never left his neck. Many will retain the memory of a professor whose mischievous gaze and intellectual passion brought history vividly to life.

Our thoughts are with his family, his loved ones, and all those at Sciences Po who knew, respected, and loved him.

MIL OSI Europe News –

July 17, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: Muhammadu Buhari: Nigeria’s military leader turned democratic president leaves a mixed legacy

Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Kester Onor, Senior Research Fellow, Nigerian Institute of International Affairs

Nigeria’s former president, Muhammadu Buhari, who died in London on 13 July aged 82, was one of two former military heads of state who were later elected as civilian presidents. Buhari was the military head of state of Nigeria from 31 December 1983 to 27 August 1985 and president from 2015 to 2023.

The other Nigerian politician to have been in both roles is former president Olusegun Obasanjo . He was a military ruler between 1976 and 1979 and elected president between 1999 and 2007.

Buhari led Nigeria cumulatively for nearly a decade. His time as military head of state was marked with a war against corruption but he couldn’t do as much during his time as president under democratic rule.

As a political scientist who once served in the Nigerian Army, I believe that former president Buhari’s government’s war on terrorism was largely underwhelming, despite promises and early gains.

In his elected role, Buhari maintained a modest personal lifestyle and upheld electoral transitions. Nevertheless his presidency was marred by economic mismanagement, a failure to implement bold structural reforms, ethnic favouritism, and an unfulfilled promise of change.

He did leave tangible infrastructural footprints, a focus on agriculture, and foundational efforts in transparency and anti-corruption.

So his mark on Nigeria’s development trajectory was mixed.

Early years

Buhari was born on 17 December 1942, to Adamu and Zulaiha Buhari in Daura, Katsina State, north-west Nigeria. He was four years old when his father died. He attended Quranic school in Katsina. He was a Fulani, one of the major ethnic nationalities in Nigeria.

After completing his schooling, Buhari joined the army in 1961. He had military training in the UK, India and the United States as well as Nigeria.

In 1975 he was appointed military governor of North Eastern State (now Borno State), after being involved in ousting Yakubu Gowon in a coup that same year. He served as governor for a year.

Buhari later became federal commissioner for petroleum resources, overseeing Nigeria’s petroleum industry under Obasanjo. Obasanjo had become head of state in 1976 when Gowon’s successor, Murtala Muhammed, was assassinated in a failed coup that year.

In September 1979, he returned to regular army duties and commanded the 3rd Armoured division based in Jos, Plateau State, north central. Nigeria’s Second Republic commenced that year after the election of Shehu Shagari as president.

The coup that truncated the Shagari government on 31 December 1983 saw the emergence of Buhari as Nigeria’s head of state.

Buhari’s junta years

Buhari headed the military government for just under two years. He was ousted in another coup on 27 August 1985.

While at the helm he vowed that the government would not tolerate kick-backs, inflation of contracts and over-invoicing of imports. Nor would it condone forgery, fraud, embezzlement, misuse and abuse of office and illegal dealings in foreign exchange and smuggling.

Eighteen state governors were tried by military tribunals. Some of the accused received lengthy prison sentences, while others were acquitted or had their sentences commuted.

His government also enacted the notorious Decree 4 under which two journalists, Nduka Irabor and Dele Thompson, were jailed. The charges stemmed from three articles published on the reorganisation of Nigeria’s diplomatic service.

Buhari also instituted austerity measures and started a “War Against Indiscipline” which sought to promote positive values in the country. Authoritarian methods were sometimes used in its implementation. Soldiers forced Nigerians to queue, to be punctual and to obey traffic laws.

He also instituted restrictions on press and political freedoms. Labour unions were not spared either. Mass retrenchment of Nigerians in the public service was carried out with impunity.

While citizens initially welcomed some of these measures, growing discontent on the economic front made things tougher for the regime.

Read more:
Why Buhari won even though he had little to show for first term

Buhari, the democrat

Buhari’s dream to lead Nigeria again through the ballot box failed in 2003, 2007 and 2011. To his credit, he didn’t give up. An alliance of opposition parties succeeded in getting him elected in 2015.

The legacy he left is mixed.

Buhari’s government deepened national disunity.

His appointments, often skewed in favour of the northern region and his Fulani kinsmen, fuelled accusations of tribalism and marginalisation. His perceived affinity with Fulani herdsmen, despite widespread violence linked to some of them, further eroded public trust in his leadership.

His anti-corruption mantra largely did not succeed. While some high-profile recoveries were made, critics argue that his anti-corruption war was selective and heavily politicised.

Currently, his Central Bank governor is on trial for corruption charges.

The performance of the economy was also dismal under his tenure. Not all these problems could be laid at his feet. Nevertheless his inability to tackle the country’s underlying problems, such as insecurity, inflation and rising unemployment, all contributed. He presided over two recessions, rising unemployment, inflation, and a weakened naira.

He did, however, succeed on some fronts.

He tried with infrastructure. The Lagos-Ibadan expressway, a major road, was almost completed and he got the railways working again, completing the Abuja-Kaduna and Lagos-Ibadan lines. He also completed the Second Niger Bridge.

There was an airport revitalisation programme which led to improvements in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt airports.

Buhari signed the Petroleum Industry Act after nearly 20 years’ delay. This is now attracting more investments into the oil industry.

He also initiated some social investment schemes like N-Power, N-Teach and a school feeding programme. They provided temporary jobs for some and gave some poor people more money in their pockets. N-Power is a youth empowerment programme designed to combat unemployment, improve social development and provide people with relevant skills.

These programmes later became mired in corruption which only became known after he left office.

There was also an Anchor Borrowers Scheme to make the country more sufficient in rice production. Again, it got enmeshed in corruption and some of its officials are currently standing trial.

In the fight against corruption, the Buhari administration made some progress through the Treasury Single Account, which improved financial transparency in public institutions. The Whistle Blower Policy also led to the recovery of looted funds.

Read more:
Why Buhari’s government is losing the anti-corruption war

Security failures

Buhari oversaw a deterioration of Nigeria’s security landscape. Banditry, farmer-herder clashes, kidnapping and separatist agitations escalated.

In 2015 Buhari campaigned on a promise to defeat Boko Haram and restore territorial integrity in the north-east. Initially, his administration made some progress. Boko Haram was driven out of several local government areas it once controlled, and major military operations such as Operation Lafiya Dole were launched to reclaim territory.

However, these initial successes were not sustained. Boko Haram splintered, giving rise to more brutal factions like the Islamic State West Africa Province. This group continued to launch deadly attacks.

Buhari’s counter-terrorism strategy was often reactive, lacking a clear long-term doctrine. The military was overstretched and under-equipped. Morale issues and allegations of corruption in the defence sector undermined operations.

Intelligence coordination remained poor, while civil-military relations suffered due to frequent human rights abuses by security forces. Community trust in the government’s ability to provide security dwindled.

Buhari’s second coming as Nigeria’s leader carried high expectations, but he under-delivered.

Kester Onor 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. Muhammadu Buhari: Nigeria’s military leader turned democratic president leaves a mixed legacy – https://theconversation.com/muhammadu-buhari-nigerias-military-leader-turned-democratic-president-leaves-a-mixed-legacy-261079

MIL OSI –

July 17, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: What makes ‘great powers’ great? And how will they adapt to a multipolar world?

Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Andrew Latham, Professor of Political Science, Macalester College

When greats clash! In this case, in the 1974 film ‘Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla.’ FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images

Many column inches have been dedicated to dissecting the “great power rivalry” currently playing out between China and the U.S.

But what makes a power “great” in the realm of international relations?

Unlike other states, great powers possess a capacity to shape not only their immediate surroundings but the global order itself – defining the rules, norms and structures that govern international politics. Historically, they have been seen as the architects of world systems, exercising influence far beyond their neighborhoods.

The notion of great powers came about to distinguish between the most and least powerful states. The concept gained currency after the 1648 Peace of Westphalia and the Congress of Vienna in 1815 – events in Europe that helped establish the notion of sovereign states and the international laws governing them.

Whereas the great powers of the previous eras – for example, the Roman Empire – sought to expand their territory at almost every turn and relied on military power to do so, the modern great power utilizes a complex tapestry of diplomatic pressure, economic leverage and the assertions of international law. The order emerging out of Westphalia enshrined the principles of national sovereignty and territorial integrity, which allowed these powers to pursue a balance of power as codified by the Congress of Vienna based on negotiation as opposed to domination.

This transformation represented a momentous development in world politics: At least some portion of the legitimacy of a state’s control was now realized through its relationships and capacity to keep the peace, rather than resting solely on its ability to use force.

From great to ‘super’

Using their material capabilities – economic strength, military might and political influence – great powers have been able to project power across multiple regions and dictate the terms of international order.

In the 19th-century Concert of Europe, the great powers – Britain, France, Austria, Prussia and Russia – collectively managed European politics, balancing power to maintain stability. Their influence extended globally through imperial expansion, trade and the establishment of norms that reflected their priorities.

During the 20th century, the Cold War brought a stark distinction between great powers and other states. The U.S. and the Soviet Union, as the era’s two “superpowers,” dominated the international system, shaping it through a rivalry that encompassed military alliances, ideological competition and economic systems. Great powers in this context were not merely powerful states but the central actors defining the structure of global politics.

Toward a multipolar world

The post-Cold War period briefly ushered in a unipolar moment, with the U.S. as the sole great power capable of shaping the international system on a global scale.

This era was marked by the expansion of liberal internationalism, economic globalization and U.S.-led-and-constructed multilateralism.

However, the emergence of new centers of power, particularly China and to a lesser extent Russia, has brought the unipolar era to a close, ushering in a multipolar world where the distinctive nature of great powers is once again reshaped.

In this system, great powers are states with the material capabilities and strategic ambition to influence the global order as a whole.

And here they differ from regional powers, whose influence is largely confined to specific areas. Nations such as Turkey, India, Australia, Brazil and Japan are influential within their neighborhoods. But they lack the global reach of the U.S. or China to fundamentally alter the international system.

Instead, the roles of these regional powers is often defined by stabilizing their regions, addressing local challenges or acting as intermediaries in great power competition.

Challenging greatness

Yet the multipolar world presents unique challenges for today’s great powers. The diffusion of power means that no single great power can dominate the system as the U.S. did in the post-Cold War unipolar era.

Instead, today’s great powers must navigate complex dynamics, balancing competition with cooperation. For instance, the rivalry between Washington and Beijing is now a defining feature of global politics, spanning trade, technology, military strategy and ideological influence. Meanwhile, Russia’s efforts to maintain its great power status have resulted in more assertive, though regionally focused, actions that nonetheless have global implications.

Great powers must also contend with the constraints of interdependence. The interconnected nature of the global economy, the proliferation of advanced technologies and the rise of transnational challenges such as climate change and pandemics limit the ability of any one great power to unilaterally dictate outcomes. This reality forces great powers to prioritize their core interests while finding ways to manage global issues through cooperation, even amid intense competition.

As the world continues to adjust to multiple centers of power, the defining feature of great powers remains an unmatched capacity to project influence globally and define the parameters of the international order.

Whether through competition, cooperation or conflict, the actions of great powers will, I believe, continue to shape the trajectory of the global system, making their distinctiveness as central players in international relations more relevant than ever.

This article is part of a series explaining foreign policy terms commonly used but rarely explained.

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

– ref. What makes ‘great powers’ great? And how will they adapt to a multipolar world? – https://theconversation.com/what-makes-great-powers-great-and-how-will-they-adapt-to-a-multipolar-world-260969

MIL OSI –

July 17, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Voltage Park joins NSF-led National AI Research Resource pilot to expand access to advanced computing

Source: US Government research organizations

The U.S. National Science Foundation is proud to announce a new partnership with Voltage Park in support of the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) pilot — a transformative public-private initiative designed to drive U.S. AI innovation, discovery and national competitiveness by expanding access to the tools and resources essential for cutting-edge AI resources for researchers and educators across the country.

Voltage Park, a company committed to broadening access to AI infrastructure, will contribute high-performance cloud computing resources and expert support to help researchers nationwide pursue breakthrough innovations in AI. As part of the partnership, Voltage Park will provide one million NVIDIA H100 GPU hours, enabling a diverse range of AI research projects in science, engineering, health, climate, and more.

“Voltage Park’s participation significantly strengthens our ability to deliver on the promise of the NAIRR pilot,” said Brian Stone, performing the duties of the NSF director. “By partnering with visionary private sector organizations like Voltage Park, we are expanding the frontiers of AI research and ensuring that the US continues to lead in AI innovation.”

“Expanding access to advanced computing is not just a technical initiative—it’s a strategic priority,” said Ozan Kaya, Chief Executive Officer of Voltage Park. “By lowering the barriers to high-performance AI infrastructure, we can unlock innovation from a more diverse and representative set of researchers. That inclusivity is what drives truly impactful AI—and strengthens our national edge in the global innovation landscape.”

The NAIRR pilot, launched in 2024 and led by NSF, is a two-year proof-of-concept designed to inform the development of a full-scale national infrastructure. It connects researchers to a distributed ecosystem of computational, data, software, model, training, and user support resources essential for advancing AI research, development, and workforce training.

The pilot brings together 12 federal agencies and now 27 partners from the private sector, nonprofit, and philanthropic communities, reflecting a whole-of-nation approach to building a more inclusive and impactful AI research ecosystem.

Voltage Park’s team will work closely with NAIRR pilot operations staff to match researchers with the most appropriate resources, ensuring they receive expert support and training to maximize their use of the computing time provided.

This collaboration exemplifies NSF’s commitment to forging strategic partnerships that advance U.S. leadership in AI while promoting innovation, economic growth and national competitiveness.

MIL OSI USA News –

July 17, 2025
MIL-OSI Analysis: ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ showcases Donald Trump’s penchant for visual cruelty

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Marycarmen Lara Villanueva, PhD Candidate, Department of Social Justice Education, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto

The United States government recently announced the opening of a massive immigrant detention facility built deep within the Florida Everglades that’s been dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a media briefing that “there is only one road leading in … and the only way out is a one-way flight.”

For some taking in her remarks, the moment felt dystopian. According to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the facility is surrounded by swamps and alligators and is equipped with more than 200 security cameras, 8,500 metres of barbed wire and a security force of 400 personnel.

Accounts from some of the first detainees at the facility have shed light on the inhumane conditions. They’ve described limited access to water and fresh air, saying they received only one meal a day and that the lights are on 24/7.

Apparently designed to be an immigration deterrence and a display of cruelty, Alligator Alcatraz is much more than infrastructure. It is visual policy aimed to stage terror as a message while making Trump’s authoritarian and fascist politics a material reality.

Contributing to this fascist visual apparatus, AI-generated images of alligators wearing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hats have circulated widely on social media. Some have questioned whether these images were satire or state propaganda.

A screenshot of a June 2025 Homeland Security post on X, formerly Twitter.

Surveillance, migration, debilitation

In a moment of growing right-wing rhetoric and support for anti-immigrant violence, understanding how visual regimes operate, and what they attempt to normalize, is important.

Read more:
Nearly 54% of extreme conservatives say the federal government should use violence to stop illegal immigration

Surveillance and deterrence technologies used along the U.S.–Mexico border for decades were intentionally designed to restrict the movement of undocumented migrants. According to Human Rights Watch, this has resulted in more than 10,000 deaths.

Since 1994, U.S. Border Patrol has been accused of directing migrants away from urban crossings along the southern border, intentionally funnelling them into harsh and inhospitable terrain like the Sonora Desert.

The desert serves as a deterrent to prevent immigrants from reaching their destiny. American theorist Jasbir Puar’s concept of debility is useful in making sense of the strategic process whereby the state works not to kill, but to weaken, as a form of slow violence that wears people down over time. The desired outcome is deterrence.

On the southern U.S. border, severe dehydration and kidney failure can be outcomes of this debilitating process, potentially resulting in disability or death.

Infrastructures of violence

Sarah Lopez, a built environment historian and migration scholar in the U.S., describes the architecture of migrant immobilization as existing on a continuum with prison design. She’s highlighted the increasingly punitive conditions of immigration detention facilities, such as small dark cells or the absence of natural light.

French architect and writer Léopold Lambert explains that architecture isn’t just about buildings, but about how space is used to organize and control people. He coined and developed the term weaponized architecture to describe how spaces are designed to serve the political goals of those in power.

Colonialism, capitalism and modernity are closely connected, and architecture has played a key role in making them possible. Alligator Alcatraz sits at the intersection of all three, intentionally created to invoke danger and isolation. In other words, it’s cruel by design.

As Leavitt put it, the facility is “isolated and surrounded by dangerous wildlife and unforgiving terrain.” The Trump administration has essentially transformed land into infrastructure and migrants into disposable threats.

Terrorizing the marginalized

State-sanctioned “unforgiving terrains” are not new, and the use of alligators to terrorize people of colour isn’t new either.

The grotesque history of Black children being used as “alligator bait” in Jim Crow-era imagery is well-documented.

So when Trump publicly fantasized about alligators eating immigrants trying to escape the new detention centre, it came as no surprise to those familiar with the long racist visual history linking alligators to representations of Black people.

This logic is redeployed in the form of a racial terror that is made visible, marketable and even humorous in mainstream political discourse.

Visuality and migration

“Visuality” is a key term in the field of visual and cultural studies, originally coined by Scottish historian Thomas Carlyle and reintroduced in the early 2000s by American cultural theorist Nicholas Mirzoeff. It can be understood as the socially, historically and culturally constructed ways of seeing and understanding the visual world.

Visual systems have historically been used to justify western imperial and colonial rule by controlling how people see and understand the world.

While Alligator Alcatraz is a brand-new detention facility, it draws from a longer visual and spatial history of domination.

The AI-generated images of alligators wearing ICE hats can be seen as part of a broader visual system that makes racialized violence seem normal, justified and even funny. In this absurd transformation, the alligator is reimagined as a legitimate symbol of border enforcement.

Migrant death by water

The spectacle of Alligator Alcatraz, with its swampy inhospitable landscape, cannot be divorced from the long visual history of migrant death by water that’s relied on the circulation of images to provoke outrage — and sometimes state action.

Examples include the iconic image of Aylan Kurdi, the Syrian child whose lifeless body washed ashore in Turkey in 2015, and the devastating photo of Oscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his two-year-old daughter who both drowned crossing the Rio Grande in 2019.

These images sparked global concern, but they also reinforced the idea that migrant lives only matter when they end in death — as if borders only become visible when they cause deaths.

Alligator Alcatraz was built in eight days. The fact that a detention camp — or what some have called a concentration camp — can be assembled almost overnight, while basic human needs like clean drinking water or emergency warning systems go unmet for years, speaks volumes about where political will and government priorities lie.

Marycarmen Lara Villanueva 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. ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ showcases Donald Trump’s penchant for visual cruelty – https://theconversation.com/alligator-alcatraz-showcases-donald-trumps-penchant-for-visual-cruelty-260566

MIL OSI Analysis –

July 17, 2025
MIL-OSI Analysis: Biology is complex and diverse, so scientific research approaches need to be too

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Thomas Merritt, Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Laurentian University

The beautiful, fascinating and often perplexing world around us grows from intricate and convoluted interactions of millions of pieces. As scientists, we work to understand and describe the parts and interactions of these systems.

Scientific understanding is only as good as the questions we ask. Observing the world from a variety of viewpoints and asking questions from a diversity of perspectives helps us recognize and understand biological complexity. Science, and our own experience, tells us that diverse collaborations lead to better questions and more innovative solutions — but diversity in research is under threat.

A major advancement in modern biology, specifically in the world of modern genetics that our research team works in, has been the realization that genes are far more complicated than we thought 20 years ago. When the human genome was first sequenced in 2001, scientists realized that each person’s DNA contained around 20,000 genes. Earlier estimates had been between 80,000 and 100,000.

This drastic downsize may seem like a step back in complexity, but the reduced number means genes must be more complex in order to fulfil multiple roles and functions. There are fewer genes, but each gene has a complicated set of multiple functions modulated through intricate, interconnected and interactive gene-regulation mechanisms.

Model species, surprising discoveries

Our research group studies gene regulation using the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) as a model species — a non-human species studied extensively to reveal more about other organisms. Flies, like humans, have two copies of each chromosome, each copy with a full set of genes. Typically, regulation of each copy has been assumed to be independent.

Flies, like humans, have two copies of each chromosome.
(Mr.checker/Wikimedia)

Unexpectedly, our research has found that in fruit flies, the copies on separate chromosomes physically interact to modulate each other’s regulation. This means that the chromosomes aren’t independent: they co-regulate in a way that depends on genome structure, or what we call chromosome architecture.

This form of inter-chromosomal gene regulation, called transvection, was originally described in the 1950s, but is largely unknown. Its potential role to drive biological complexity is underappreciated because its effects are often (but not always) subtle and generally overshadowed by “typical” mechanisms of gene regulation along a single chromosome, cis-regulation.

Read more:
How to kill fruit flies, according to a scientist

Complex genetic interactions

Our transvection research focuses on subtle differences between individuals and environments. Too often, biology assumes that phenomena are simple, uniform and discreet.

A classic example, taught in high school biology classes, demonstrates this thinking. Austrian biologist Gregor Mendel studied genetics in pea plants to propose dominant and recessive hereditary traits. His data was a little too clean, too good to be true: Mendel’s peas were either wrinkled or round, yellow or green.

Genetics is works in more complex ways: think of eye colour. Our eyes are not a dichotomous brown or blue. Colour varies in a spectrum of shades of blues, greens, grays, hazels and browns.

Similarly, we have shown that transvection, itself an unexpected twist, varies subtly and substantially, in unexpected ways. Recognizing that inter-chomosomal regulation was even possible, let alone could itself be modulated and variable, meant looking at our results from a non-typical view point, a different perspective.

Our research into stress biology has drawn similar conclusions; diverse responses are the norm and appreciating this variability is absolutely fundamental to understanding the system.

Differences between male and female biologies

In our research into metabolism, we have repeatedly found significant and substantial differences between male and females. For example, in recent unpublished data, we find that differences between male and female fruit fly responses to metal toxicity were as large as we would have expected to occur between different species.

Past conventional wisdom in the field assumed that the biology in the two sexes was interchangeable, with females essentially being just hypervariable males, although recent research in our lab and others is broadly pushing back against this misconception.

Read more:
Sex matters: Male bias in the lab is bad science

The male and female responses are similar but distinct, and this is an important point. To understand biology, our research indicates, we need to identify, appreciate and study these subtle differences in order to produce more thorough scientific investigations.

Unexpected complexity

Our research regularly reveals unexpected biological complexity and, not coincidentally, the studies listed above were all collaborations. The technical complexity of research often requires involving experts in multiple disciplines.

A typical project can involve half a dozen or more experiments and methods, ranging from biochemistry to genetics to life history, and techniques from enzyme kinetic assays to mass spectrometry and DNA sequencing.

We are part of a genetics research group at Laurentian University whose diversity has greatly strengthened the quality and originality of contributions we have made to the field. In our experience, diverse collaborations combining different perspectives and viewpoints lead to innovative conclusions.

The literature bears this out: a series of large-scale studies involving millions of researchers and publications repeatedly show that diverse groups of scientists ask more interesting, perceptive and innovative questions and pose more interesting solutions.

Diversity and innovation

But this diversity-innovation connection is under attack in the current social and political climate. This has been most visible under the current political regime in the United States, but is also present here in Canada.

If successful, these attacks will narrow the perspective of scientific research and cripple scientific advances. Current diversity is the result of decades of programs fighting generations of systematic discrimination. Many researchers have been making research a more diverse and inclusive place.

Read more:
Want to reach out to an Indigenous scholar? Awesome! But first, here are 10 things to consider

Sustainability is essential to the long-term health of scientific research. The research, and our own experiences, clearly shows that diverse groups of researchers conduct more creative, innovative and impactful science. Visibility in scientific research is important to ensure its sustainability. More young students will pursue careers in research if they can see themselves in that role.

Our hope is that a broader appreciation of the importance of diversity in research, will lead to greater community and political, support for research programs that recognize the fundamental importance of diversity, equity and inclusion.

The biological world is a beautifully diverse and complex place. To truly understand that world, the research laboratory must to be, too.

Thomas Merritt receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council.

Allie Hutchings 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. Biology is complex and diverse, so scientific research approaches need to be too – https://theconversation.com/biology-is-complex-and-diverse-so-scientific-research-approaches-need-to-be-too-260696

MIL OSI Analysis –

July 17, 2025
MIL-OSI Analysis: What is peer review? The role anonymous experts play in scrutinizing research before it gets published

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Joshua Winowiecki, Assistant Professor of Nursing, Michigan State University

Reviewer 1: “This manuscript is a timely and important contribution to the field, with clear methodology and compelling results. I recommend publication with only minor revisions.”

Reviewer 2: “This manuscript is deeply flawed. The authors’ conclusions are not supported by data, and key literature is ignored. Major revisions are required before it can be considered.”

These lines could be pulled from almost any editorial decision letter in the world of academic publishing, sent from a journal to a researcher. One review praises the work, while another sees nothing but problems. For scholars, this kind of contradiction is common. Reviewer 2, in particular, has become something of a meme: an anonymous figure often blamed for delays, rejections or cryptic critiques that seem to miss the point.

But those disagreements are part of the peer-review process.

A world of memes – like this one shared on Reddit – has sprung up about the ridiculous feedback provided by a mythical Reviewer #2.
Reddit/r/medicalschool

As a clinical nurse specialist, educator and scholar who reviews studies in nursing and health care and teaches others to do so critically as well, I’ve seen how peer review shapes not just what gets published, but what ultimately influences practice.

Peer review is the checkpoint where scientific claims are validated before they are shared with the world. Researchers and scholars submit their findings to academic journals, which invite other scholars with similar expertise – those are the peers – to assess the work. Reviewers look at the way the scholar designed the project, the methods they used and whether their conclusions stand up.

The point of peer review

This process isn’t new. Versions of peer review have been around for centuries. But the modern form – anonymous, structured and managed by journal editors – took hold after World War II. Today, it is central to how scientific publishing works, and nowhere more so than health, nursing and medicine. Research that survives review is more likely to be trusted and acted upon by health care practitioners and their patients.

Millions of research papers move through this process annually, and the number grows every year. The sheer volume means that peer review isn’t just quality control, it’s become a bottleneck, a filter of sorts, and a kind of collective judgment about what counts as credible.

In clinical fields, peer review also has a protective role. Before a study about a new medication, procedure or care model gains traction, it is typically evaluated by others in the field. The point isn’t to punish the authors – it’s to slow things down just enough to critically evaluate the work, catch mistakes, question assumptions and raise red flags. The reviewer’s work doesn’t always get credit, but it often changes what ends up in print.

So, even if you’ve never submitted a paper or read a scientific journal, peer-reviewed science still shows up in your life. It helps shape what treatments are available, what protocols and guidelines your nurse practitioner or physician uses, and what public health advice gets passed along on the news.

This doesn’t mean peer review always works. Plenty of papers get published despite serious limitations. And some of these flawed studies do real harm. But even scholars who complain about the system often still believe in it. In one international survey of medical researchers, a clear majority said they trusted peer-reviewed science, despite frustrations with how slow or inconsistent the process can be.

What actually happens when a paper is reviewed?

Before a manuscript lands in the hands of reviewers, it begins with the researchers themselves. Scientists investigate a question, gather and analyze their data and write up their findings, often with a particular journal in mind that publishes new work in their discipline. Once they submit their paper to the journal, the editorial process begins.

At this point, journal editors send it out to two or three reviewers who have relevant expertise. Reviewers read for clarity, accuracy, originality and usefulness. They offer comments about what’s missing, what needs to be explained more carefully, and whether the findings seem valid. Sometimes the feedback is collegial and helpful. Sometimes it’s not.

Peer reviewers’ comments can help researchers revise and strengthen their work.
AJ_Watt/E+ via Getty Images

Here is where Reviewer 2 enters the lore of academic life. This is the critic who seems especially hard to please, who misreads the argument, or demands rewrites that would reshape the entire project. But even these kinds of reviews serve a purpose. They show how work might be received more broadly. And many times they flag weaknesses the author hadn’t seen.

Review is slow. Most reviewers aren’t paid, with nearly 75% reporting they receive no compensation or formal recognition for their efforts. They do this work on top of their regular clinical, teaching or research responsibilities. And not every editor has the time or capacity to sort through conflicting feedback or to moderate tone. The result is a process that can feel uneven, opaque, and, at times, unfair.

It doesn’t always catch what it is supposed to. Peer review is better at catching sloppy thinking than it is at detecting fraud. If data is fabricated or manipulated, a reviewer may not have the tools, or the time, to figure that out. In recent years, a growing number of published papers have been retracted after concerns about plagiarism or faked results. That trend has shaken confidence in the system and raised questions about what more journals should be doing before publication.

Imperfect but indispensable

Even though the current peer-review system has its shortcomings, most researchers would argue that science is better off than it would be without the level of scrutiny peer review provides. The challenge now is how to make peer review better.

Some journals are experimenting with publishing reviewer comments alongside articles. Other are trying systems where feedback continues after publication. There are also proposals to use artificial intelligence to help flag inconsistencies or potential errors before human reviewers even begin.

These efforts are promising but still in the early stages of development and adoption. For most fields, peer review remains a basic requirement for legitimacy, while some, such as law and high-energy physics, have alternate methods of communicating their findings. Peer review assures a reader that a journal article’s claim has been tested, scrutinized and revised.

Peer review doesn’t guarantee truth. But it does invite challenge, foster transparency, offer reflection and force revision. That’s often where the real work of science begins.

Even if Reviewer 2 still has notes.

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

– ref. What is peer review? The role anonymous experts play in scrutinizing research before it gets published – https://theconversation.com/what-is-peer-review-the-role-anonymous-experts-play-in-scrutinizing-research-before-it-gets-published-258255

MIL OSI Analysis –

July 17, 2025
MIL-OSI Analysis: Examining mushrooms under microscopes can help engineers design stronger materials

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Mohamed Khalil Elhachimi, PhD Student in Mechanical Engineering, Binghamton University, State University of New York

White button mushrooms are one of the types studied to inform stronger materials. DigiPub/Moment via Getty Images

Pick up a button mushroom from the supermarket and it squishes easily between your fingers. Snap a woody bracket mushroom off a tree trunk and you’ll struggle to break it. Both extremes grow from the same microscopic building blocks: hyphae – hair-thin tubes made mostly of the natural polymer chitin, a tough compound also found in crab shells.

As those tubes branch and weave, they form a lightweight but surprisingly strong network called mycelium. Engineers are beginning to investigate this network for use in eco-friendly materials.

Filaments called hyphae are a mushroom’s support structures both above and below ground, and the mycelium network links multiple mushrooms together.
Milkwood.net/Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA

Yet even within a single mushroom family, the strength of a mycelium network can vary widely. Scientists have long suspected that how the hyphae are arranged – not just what they’re made of – holds the key to understanding, and ultimately controlling, their strength. But until recently, measurements that directly link microscopic arrangement to macroscopic strength have been scarce.

I’m a mechanical engineering Ph.D. student at Binghamton University who studies bio-inspired structures. In our latest research, my colleagues and I asked a simple question: Can we tune the strength of a mushroomlike material just by changing the angle of its filaments, without adding any tougher ingredients? The answer, it turns out, is yes.

2 edible species, many tiny tests

In our study, my team compared two familiar fungi. The first was the white button mushroom, whose tissue uses only thin filaments called generative filaments. The second was the maitake, also called hen-of-the-woods, whose tissue mixes in a second, thicker type of hyphae called skeletal filaments. These skeletal filaments are arranged roughly in parallel, like bundles of cables.

The two types of mushrooms used in the study: The white button mushroom is monomitic, shown on the left, meaning it has only one type of hyphae. The maitake is shown on the right, and is dimitic, meaning it has two types of hyphae.
Mohamed Khalil Elhachimi

After gently drying the caps and stems to remove any water, which can soften the material and skew the results, we zoomed in with scanning electron microscopes and tested the samples at two very different scales.

First, we tested macro-scale compression. A motor-driven piston slowly squashed each mushroom while sensors recorded how hard the sample pushed back – the same way you might squeeze a marshmallow, only with laboratory precision.

Then we pressed a diamond tip thinner than a human hair into individual filaments to measure their stiffness.

The white mushroom filaments behaved like rubber bands, averaging about 18 megapascals in stiffness – similar to natural rubber. The thicker skeletal filaments in maitake measured around 560 megapascals, more than 30 times stiffer and approaching the stiffness of high-density polyethylene – the rigid plastic used in cutting boards and some water pipes.

The two mushrooms tested include the maitake, left, and the button mushroom.
Lance Cheung/USDA and edenpictures/Flickr, CC BY

But chemistry is only half the story. When we squeezed entire chunks, the direction we squeezed in mattered even more for the maitake. Pressing in line with its parallel skeletal filaments made the block 30 times stiffer than pressing across the grain. By contrast, the tangled filaments in white mushrooms felt equally soft from every angle.

A digital mushroom and twisting the threads

To separate geometry from chemistry, we converted snapshots from the microscope into a computer model using a 3D Voronoi network – a pattern that mimics the walls between bubbles in a foam. Think of ping-pong balls crammed in a box: Each ball is a cell, and the walls between cells become our simulated filaments.

We assigned those filaments by the stiffness values measured in the lab, then virtually rotated the whole network to angles of 0 degrees, 30 degrees, 60 degrees, 90 degrees and completely random.

Horizontal (0 degrees) filaments flexed like a spring mattress. Vertical (90 degrees) filaments supported weight almost as firmly as dense wood. Simply tilting the network to 60 degrees nearly doubled its stiffness compared with 0 degrees – all without changing a single chemical ingredient.

The researchers modeled structures with different fiber orientations to see which are the strongest: (a) represents a horizontal fiber orientation, (b) a 30-degree fiber orientation, (c) a 60-degree fiber orientation, (d) a vertical fiber orientation, and (e) a random fiber orientation.
Mohamed Khalil Elhachimi

Basically, we found that orientation alone could turn a mushy sponge into something that stands up to serious pressure. That suggests manufacturers could make strong, lightweight, biodegradable parts – such as shoe insoles, protective packaging and even interior panels for cars – simply by guiding how a fungus grows rather than by mixing in harder additives.

Greener materials – and beyond

Startups already grow “leather” made from mycelium – the threadlike fungal network – for handbags, and mycelium foam as a Styrofoam replacement.

Guiding fungi to lay their filaments in strategic directions could push performance much higher, opening doors in sectors where strength-to-weight ratio is king: think sporting goods cores, building-insulation panels or lightweight fillers inside aircraft panels.

The same digital tool kit also works for metal or polymer lattices printed layer by layer. Swap the filament properties in the model, let the algorithm pick the best angles, and then feed that layout into a 3D printer.

One day, engineers might dial up an app that says something like, “I need a panel that’s stiff north-south but flexible east-west,” and the program could spit out a filament map inspired by the humble maitake.

Our next step is to feed thousands of these virtual networks into a machine learning model so it can predict – or even invent – filament layouts that hit a targeted stiffness in any direction.

Meanwhile, biologists are exploring low-energy ways to coax real fungi to grow in neat rows, from steering nutrients toward one side of a petri dish to applying gentle electric fields that encourage filaments to align.

This study taught us that you don’t always need exotic chemistry to make a better material. Sometimes it’s all about how you line up the same old threads – just ask a mushroom.

Mohamed Khalil Elhachimi 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. Examining mushrooms under microscopes can help engineers design stronger materials – https://theconversation.com/examining-mushrooms-under-microscopes-can-help-engineers-design-stronger-materials-260477

MIL OSI Analysis –

July 17, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Grants Awarded to Support Veteran Facilities

Source: US State of New York

overnor Kathy Hochul today announced $1 million in grants to 16 veterans organizations across New York State through the third round of the Veterans’ Nonprofit Capital Program. These grants will support capital improvements to facilities that serve the state’s veterans, service members and their families.

“Our veterans, who have courageously served to protect our country, need and deserve to have access to safe, quality facilities to gather with family and loved ones,” Governor Hochul said. “This investment will not only allow for critical infrastructure upgrades, but it will also allow veterans to come together and bond with their community and families.”

The grants, administered by the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) in partnership with the Department of Veterans’ Services, provide reimbursement for capital improvement projects ranging from $25,000 to $75,000. Veterans organizations will use the funding for critical infrastructure upgrades including new roofs, HVAC systems, electrical improvements, ADA-compliant modifications and renovations to kitchens and common areas.

Recipients are located across six regions: Capital Region (4), Central New York (1), Finger Lakes (4), Long Island (2), Mid-Hudson (1) and Western New York (4). Projects include roof replacements, parking lot reconstruction, generator installations and facility accessibility improvements. A list of awards is located here.

Dormitory Authority of the State of New York President and CEO Robert J. Rodriguez said, “DASNY is proud to administer this program alongside our partners at the Department of Veterans’ Services, delivering on Governor Hochul’s continued commitment to supporting veterans. These capital improvements will help ensure that veterans have access to safe, modern facilities where they can gather, receive services, and maintain the important connections forged through their service to our nation.”

New York State Department of Veterans’ Services General Counsel Jonathan Fishbein said, “Round three of the Veterans’ Nonprofit Capital Program was one of our strongest to date, both in the quality of applications received and in the range of services supported across the state. These grants are making a real difference on the ground. DVS remains deeply committed to ensuring that Veterans, Service Members, and Military Families in every corner of New York have access to strong, stable, and growing networks of support. Governor Hochul continues to deliver much-needed support for all who served.”

The Veterans’ Nonprofit Capital Program provides funding for architecture, design, engineering, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation or expansion of eligible facilities, and purchase of eligible furnishings or equipment. Since its inception, the program has awarded $4.6 million to veterans organizations statewide.

About the NYS Department of Veterans’ Services

The New York State Department of Veterans’ Services proudly serves New York’s Veterans, Service Members and Military Families, connecting them with benefits, services and support. All who served should contact the Department at 888-838-7697 or via its website — veterans.ny.gov — to meet in-person or virtually with an accredited Veterans Benefits Advisor to receive the benefits they have earned. Follow DVS on Facebook, Instagram, X and LinkedIn.

About DASNY

Founded in 1944, DASNY is New York State’s capital project development authority. It finances and constructs sustainable and resilient science, health and education institutions that help New York thrive. It is one of the largest issuers of tax-exempt bonds in the nation with an outstanding bond portfolio of approximately $60.1 billion as of March 31, 2025. DASNY is also a prolific public builder with a construction pipeline of approximately 1,000 projects valued at more than $13 billion as of March 31, 2025. To learn more about DASNY, visit www.dasny.org.

MIL OSI USA News –

July 17, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: expert reaction to government’s Life Sciences Sector Plan

Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

July 16, 2025

Scientists comment on the Government’s Life Sciences Sector Plan.

David Seymour, Director of Data Partnerships, Health Data Research UK, said:

“The ambition in these new government plans is much needed, but it is colliding with a system full of potholes that disrupt, delay and damage vital health data research.

“Our life sciences sector holds the key to faster discovery of treatments, better patient care, prevention of diseases and the essential economic growth required to fund a revitalised NHS. Yet in access to health data, researchers and innovators are gridlocked by legal, governance and contractual complexity, coupled with a lack of people with the capacity and authority to unblock barriers and make decisions. This is the harsh reality that undermines our boldest plans.

“While major investments in the genomics revolution and Health Data Research Service are welcome, there is a real danger of ‘planning blight,’ where the focus on designing the future system stops us from improving the performance of the current system. The most radical thing we can do is get the basics right. This means a relentless focus on maximising the value of our existing world-class data assets – the likes of the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) research service, UK BioBank, Genomics England and Our Future Health – enriched through data linkage and novel data collection.

“Fixing today’s ‘potholes’ isn’t a distraction from the long-term vision – it’s the only way to make it happen. Anything less holds back the UK’s global competitiveness and fails patients and the public.”

Prof Bryan Williams, Chief Scientific and Medical Officer, British Heart Foundation, said:

“A thriving life science sector is key to unlocking the next generation of treatments and cures for some of the UK’s biggest killers, including cardiovascular disease. It’s great to see the Government recognising this in today’s plan, which will help researchers grasp this moment of immense scientific opportunity.

“We welcome the pledge to continue investing in science which drives life-changing discoveries in medicine, whilst ensuring that patients benefit quickly from those discoveries. The commitment to shift health research funding towards making advances in prevention is also very encouraging.

“As key funders of UK research and development, charities like the British Heart Foundation are vital in helping to achieve this plan’s vision. We look forward to working in close partnership with Government and the wider sector to fully deliver the improvements needed.”

Prof Patrick Chinnery, Executive Chair, Medical Research Council, said:

“The new Life Sciences Sector Plan sets out a bold vision to transform how one of the UK’s most dynamic and globally competitive sectors delivers for our economy and for people around the world.

“The Medical Research Council is committed to playing a central role in realising this vision by accelerating the translation of curiosity-driven research into innovations that support disease prevention, earlier diagnosis and better treatments.

“In partnership with researchers, charities and industry, we will help more people live healthier, more productive lives, and attract further investment to strengthen the UK’s life sciences sector.”

Nicola Perrin MBE, Chief Executive, Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC), said:

“We’re pleased to see life sciences recognised as a priority sector for the UK. This is a triple win for the economy, for the NHS and for patients. It will benefit people across the country and unlock new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat disease.

“We welcome the positioning of research at the heart of the Life Sciences Sector Plan, from the earliest stages of discovery science and beyond. We also welcome the focus on ensuring that the NHS embraces new discoveries and innovations – these will only have an impact if they get to patients quickly and effectively.

“It’s reassuring to see a clear focus on implementation and accountability in the plan. This will help to ensure urgent action and real change. Medical research charities must be key delivery partners – they support R&D that focuses on patients, addresses areas of unmet need and accelerates impact.”

Dr Iain Foulkes, Executive Director of Research and Innovation, Cancer Research UK, said:

“The Life Sciences Sector Plan sets out promising ambitions to make the UK a global leader in science, but it doesn’t do enough to tackle the challenges holding back clinical research.

“We need government, industry and charities to work together so that people get faster access to the most promising new cancer treatments.

“The Plan rightly highlights the delays in setting up commercial clinical trials in the UK, but it overlooks the fact that non-commercial trials – often led by charities or the NHS – are facing the same issues. These trials are being held back by slow and complicated processes, excessive red tape, and a lack of capacity across the system.

“Government action is needed to strip away these barriers and build more time for research in NHS staff contracts.”

Prof Andrew Morris CBE FRSE PMedSci, President, Academy of Medical Sciences, said:

“The Government’s Life Sciences Sector Plan delivers a robust framework that industry, academia and the NHS have long needed to help unlock the full potential of one of the UK’s most important sectors.

“As we highlighted in our Future-proofing UK Health Research report, a coordinated and people-centred approach is essential to secure a sustainable future for life sciences research and deliver maximum health benefits for people everywhere. With over £2bn of funding and clear accountability mechanisms, this plan provides actionable commitments that can drive economic growth, improve the UK’s standing on a world stage and transform health equity.

“The six headline actions align closely with priorities the Academy of Medical Sciences has consistently championed, including cutting clinical trials times, strengthening health data infrastructure, and streamlining regulation and procurement. These measures have the potential to transform how we develop and deploy new treatments, placing people at the heart of the UK health research system whilst maximising discovery science and the research potential of the NHS.

“Recognising that the NHS must become a thriving site of research is key to improving health and prosperity in the UK and driving health outcomes globally. The plan’s effectiveness will depend on sustained coordination across all sectors and funders, and engagement with patients and the public, to enable the UK’s life sciences sector to flourish and deliver health benefits for people everywhere.”

Plan: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/687653fb55c4bd0544dcaeb1/Life_Sciences_Sector_Plan.pdf; https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/life-sciences-sector-plan

Press release: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/life-sciences-sector-plan-to-grow-economy-and-transform-nhs

Declared interests

The nature of this story means everyone quoted above could be perceived to have a stake in it. cAs such, our policy is not to ask for interests to be declared – instead, they are implicit in each person’s affiliation.

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

July 17, 2025
MIL-OSI Analysis: Small penises are still the butt of the joke in film and TV

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Neil Cocks, Associate Professor in the Department of English Literature, University of Reading

Gen V (2023-present), the recent iteration of the wildly successful superhero satire The Boys (2019), thrives on scenes of bodily outrage. One such episode concerns a young woman who is able to shrink – an ability triggered by self-induced vomiting.

Her boyfriend persuades her to use her powers during sex and we see her touching his penis, which is now taller than she is. We also understand why the boyfriend is so insistent about her transformation: relatively speaking, he has a small penis.

In Companion (2025), a film about a young man who has an abusive sexual relationship with a self-conscious robot, a small penis is also mocked. When the robot gains autonomy, and has an intelligence boost, she confronts and shames the abusive man, claiming that he is motivated in his violent and controlling behaviour by “a below average-sized penis”.

What interests me about these works, as a researcher of sexuality and film, is that they are otherwise committed to questioning reductive ideas about the body. Yes, in the universe of The Boys there is undoubted glee at all the exploding heads and superpowered, murderous buttocks, but the keynote is pathos.

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The girl who changes her shape through vomiting is arguably representing bulimic experience and there are characters whose superpowers can be understood to negotiate, for example, self-harm and dysmorphia. But when it comes to a man with a small penis, it’s a different story. His body is understood to directly influence both his actions and sense of morality.

Likewise, in Companion, which is in so many senses a meditation on the fraught relationship between mind and body, the small penis of the young man is understood to be the obvious source of his repressive actions.

In both cases, the audience is expected to laugh at the abuser because of his small penis. The small penis is framed as both a signifier and cause of abusiveness.

‘We are still so medieval about penis size’

It could be argued that in Companion and Gen V, the small penis itself is not what is being mocked. The men involved in both are young, white and heterosexual. The idea is, perhaps, that mocking those with small penises is acceptable, because in this the creators are really questioning white, heterosexual and male power structures, and that the inadequacy of that power, its mythic nature, is exposed.

One difficulty in this is that as only power held by men with small penises is mocked, the power of the well endowed, regardless of racial or sexual identity, is naturalised.

Equally, those people of colour or queer people who have small penises might implicitly be included in the mockery, with the implication that they are somehow the beneficiaries of power structures, misuse this power, and have obvious, biologically rooted motivations in so doing.

The trailer for Gen V.

Gen V qualifies the laughter – the girl , talking later to a friend, makes clear that there is nothing wrong in having a small penis, just “don’t be a dick about it”. But the only small-penised character we see is, of course, being “a dick”.

There have been a number of television shows that focus on penis size, but each explores the pathos of having a large penis: Hung (2009), The Hard Times of RJ Berger (2010), Sex Education (2019). Imagine an equivalent concerning a character with a small – or even simply not large – penis.

As journalist Caitlin Moran wrote in a 2023 Guardian article introducing her book, What About Men:

We are still so medieval about penis size that we see male genitalia as being inimical to a man’s soul. Remember when Stormy Daniels told the world that Donald Trump’s penis was ‘smaller than average – a dick like the mushroom character in Mario Kart’. And we were all like: ‘Yes, it makes sense the horrible man has a small, weird mushroom penis.’ The whole world joined in on that one.

Let us instead question the relationship between biology and destiny. And let this action be taken not to frame heterosexual white men as a disadvantaged group, but for the good of us all. Our bodies are ours to negotiate, with ourselves, and with our significant others, as well as those others that find in them indifference, or more troubling affects.

As Gen V and Companion suggest, in recent science fiction stories that otherwise reimagine the body, the small penis can only be imagined as shameful. It is taken to be an obvious motivation for abusive behaviour. Such an understanding helps no one. As the science fiction genre is especially well placed to question common-sense ideas about the human and its form, it would be a good place to begin.

Neil Cocks 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. Small penises are still the butt of the joke in film and TV – https://theconversation.com/small-penises-are-still-the-butt-of-the-joke-in-film-and-tv-256748

MIL OSI Analysis –

July 17, 2025
MIL-OSI Analysis: Alpha males are surprisingly rare among primates – new research

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Louise Gentle, Principal Lecturer in Wildlife Conservation, Nottingham Trent University

Female lemurs are often dominant. Miroslav Halama/Shutterstock

Is it true that male animals are dominant over females? Previous studies have often found male-biased power in primates and other mammals.

A new study, investigating physical encounters between members of the same species in 121 primates (around a quarter of all primate species) found that half of all aggressive contests were between males and females. But males won these contests in only 17% of primate populations, with females dominating in 13% – making it almost as likely for females to dominate males.

The remaining 70% of primate populations showed no clear-cut dominance of one sex over the other. This study may have shown different results to previous research because it assessed individual contests rather than categorising species based on their social structure and physical attributes.

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The new study found male dominance, where males have a greater ability to influence the behaviour of the opposite sex, to be prevalent in primate species where the males are much larger than the females. This enables males to gain dominance through physical force or coercion. It was also widespread in species where males have weapons and mate with lots of females.

This is typical of African and Asian monkeys and the great apes, such as gorillas. Weighing in at around 200kg, a silverback male can be twice the size of the females within his troop. Male gorillas also have large canine teeth that can seriously injure or even kill other gorillas.

Male dominance often twins with weapons throughout the animal kingdom, – horns, antlers, claws or tusks. The largest antlers ever known were those of the now extinct Irish elk, spanning lengths up to 3.5m.

The Irish elk is extinct but once had huge antlers.
Fotokon/Shutterstock

Female dominance

Female power was seen in primate species that had a scarcity of females, one exclusive sexual partner, similar sized males and females but did not have bodily weapons, according to the new study. These are all factors that give females more choice over who to mate with.

Female dominance was also seen in species where fighting with a male was less risky for the dependent offspring of females. For example, some primates “park” their young on their own in nests while foraging, rather than carrying them around. If a mother is holding her baby when she’s attacked, she may submit to protect her young.

Finally, matriarchal societies were common in species that live primarily in trees, which makes it easier to flee an attacker.

Female-dominated species were more likely in lorises, galagos and lemurs. So, contrary to the film Madagascar where King Julien is the king of the lemurs, females are, in fact, in charge. In the ring-tailed lemurs, females control access to food and mates, and maintain the dominance hierarchy where males are often at the bottom.

This is also true of bonobos, the closest relatives of humans. Although male bonobos are larger, females form coalitions to overcome the physical power of the males and force them into submission. This show of solidarity has also been shown in humans.

Think of how the suffragettes campaigned for women’s rights to vote in the UK. Or more recently, how women demanded new safety measures after Sarah Everard was murdered by Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens in 2021.

Galagos, also known as bushbabies, tend to live in female dominant societies.
Jurgens Potgieter/Shutterstock

Although female dominance has been documented less often in the wider animal kingdom, there are some examples that defy expectations. Spotted hyenas have a matriarchal society where females dominate the clans. They even have a pseudo-penis that they erect to indicate submission to more dominant individuals.

Read more:
Sex and power in the animal kingdom: seven animals that will make you reconsider what you think you know

Naked mole rats have a queen that gives birth to all of the young while her offspring find food and defend the nest. The males are subordinate to the queen, but so too are the other females. In fact, the queen bullies the other members of her colony so much that the females are all rendered sterile through stress.

But what about the 70% of primate species that were found to show no dominant sex bias in the new study? These were largely the South American monkeys such as marmosets, tamarins and capuchins, that are generally small, live in trees, are social and omnivorous.

They also tended to have a prehensile tail that helps them grasp things. The ecology of these species fall in the middle of the male and female dominated species, with size difference and weapons being neither extreme nor absent, mating systems being neither polygamous nor monogamous, and the frequency of females being nether abundant nor rare.

The absence of a definitive sex-bias in dominance found in the majority of primate species may be a result of the rarity of contests between males and females, or because males and females were both equally likely to win. Nevertheless, dominance varied within species. For example the percentage of intersexual contests won by female patas monkeys ranged from 0% to 61%, depending on the population studied.

What does this mean for humans?

Human traits are not skewed towards those of male-dominated societies in other primates. We may not live in trees but males do not have natural weapons. Males are not always bigger than females, females do not tend to outnumber males and our sexual habits are varied.

Humans are actually more aligned to the 70% of species that show no clear distinction in sex biases, where species of either sex can become dominant. Let’s see which way evolution takes us.

Louise Gentle works for Nottingham Trent University.

– ref. Alpha males are surprisingly rare among primates – new research – https://theconversation.com/alpha-males-are-surprisingly-rare-among-primates-new-research-260472

MIL OSI Analysis –

July 17, 2025
MIL-OSI Analysis: Measles isn’t just dangerous – it may erase your immune system

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Antony Black, Lecturer, Life Sciences, University of Westminster

INSAGO/Shutterstock

Blindness, pneumonia, severe diarrhoea and even death – measles virus infections, especially in children, can have devastating consequences. Fortunately, we have a safe and effective defence. Measles vaccines are estimated to have averted more than 60 million deaths between 2000 and 2023.

Yet despite this success, measles cases are rising sharply in the UK and around the world. This global surge is the result of several factors, from vaccine hesitancy to missed immunisation campaigns, leaving many children unprotected and vulnerable.

But there’s more at stake than just measles itself. Emerging research suggests that the measles vaccination may offer surprising additional health benefits. Children who receive the vaccine have been shown to have a significantly lower risk of infections from diseases unrelated to measles.

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One explanation for this broader benefit is the idea of “measles amnesia.” This refers to the ability of the measles virus to erase parts of the body’s immune memory.

Our immune system contains various cells that protect us from infections. Some produce antibodies that neutralise viruses, while others detect and destroy infected cells. Immune memory allows the body to “remember” past infections and mount faster responses in the future.

However, measles infection may reduce the number and diversity of these memory cells – leaving children vulnerable to a wide range of diseases they had previously developed immunity to. In other words, the virus doesn’t just make children ill in the short term, it may also undo years of immune protection.

In one study, researchers found that between 11% and 73% of antibodies targeting other diseases were lost after a measles infection in unvaccinated children. This immune depletion was not observed in children who had received the vaccine, suggesting that vaccination protects against this damaging effect.

This broad loss of immune protection may explain why measles outbreaks are often followed by spikes in other infectious diseases. Ongoing studies are exploring the impact of measles amnesia in regions such as West Africa, where measles and other infections remain widespread.

A vaccine that does more?

Another theory for the vaccine’s broader benefit is known as the “non-specific effect”. Unlike measles amnesia, which explains how the virus weakens immunity, the non-specific effect suggests that the measles vaccine actively strengthens the immune system against a wide range of pathogens.

Recent research has shown that measles vaccination may enhance the function of certain immune cells, making them more effective at fighting off other diseases. Some scientists believe this effect, rather than protection against amnesia alone, could be the primary reason why vaccinated children have better overall health outcomes.

The measles vaccine is a live attenuated vaccine, which means it uses a weakened version of the virus to stimulate a strong immune response. Live vaccines, including the BCG vaccine for tuberculosis, are known to provide broad immune training effects, which may explain this non-specific protection.

Forgotten the dangers

In the 1960s, before widespread vaccination, measles caused around 2.6 million deaths per year. It’s hard to imagine today, but that’s partly the problem.

As measles became rare, society began to forget how serious it is. We forgot how contagious it is (one infected person can spread the virus to up to 90% of nearby unvaccinated people) and we forgot how effective vaccination is (two doses provide more than 90% long-term protection).

And in some circles, this fading memory has been replaced by something more dangerous: mistrust. Misinformation, vaccine myths, and anti-vaccine rhetoric are spreading, just like the virus itself.

So, whether the additional protection offered by the vaccine is due to prevention of immune amnesia, a non-specific immune boost, or both, the takeaway is the same: Vaccinate children against measles. Because when we protect them from measles, we may also be protecting them from so much more.

Antony Black 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. Measles isn’t just dangerous – it may erase your immune system – https://theconversation.com/measles-isnt-just-dangerous-it-may-erase-your-immune-system-261136

MIL OSI Analysis –

July 17, 2025
MIL-OSI Analysis: Zonal pricing is dead – here’s how the UK should change its electricity system instead

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Cassandra Etter-Wenzel, DPhil Candidate in Energy Policy, University of Oxford

Marcin Rogozinski/Shutterstock

The UK government has decided against setting different prices for electricity based on the locations of consumers.

Zonal pricing would have categorised Britain into distinct zones, each with wholesale electricity prices that reflect how much power is generated locally, and how much demand there is for it. It would have raised prices in areas with lots of demand but low generation, like London, and lowered them where supply outstrips demand, such as in the turbine-rich Scottish Highlands.

This might have caused an immediate increase in the energy bills of already vulnerable households in some high-demand, low-generation areas, such as Tower Hamlets in London and Blackpool in north-west England.

But the idea was to encourage the construction of renewable energy to meet high demand in higher-priced zones, and prompt big electricity consumers to move to where electricity is cheaper. It was also intended to ease the need for new infrastructure to transmit electricity over long distances, like pylons. Australia, Norway and several EU nations already use this method.

The ultimate goal of zonal pricing was to make the price of electricity more accurately reflect generation and transmission costs. However, one thing has significantly inflated electricity prices in recent years, which this pricing method wouldn’t have addressed on its own: gas.

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Gas is expensive, even more so since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Britain’s electricity system operator brings power plants onto the system to meet demand in order of the lowest to highest marginal costs.

The point at which supply meets demand forms the wholesale price of electricity. Renewable sources, like wind and solar, have zero or very low marginal costs. But most of the time the wholesale price is set by gas plants, because they can readily fill a gap in supply but have high and erratic marginal costs (largely tied to what they pay for fuel).

We need another, cheaper technology to set the wholesale price of electricity. Batteries, which can store electricity over several hours, and options capable of storing energy for longer, such as compressed air and low-carbon hydrogen, could be just the thing.

The idea is simple: batteries can be charged at times when there is a lot of surplus electricity generation (on a bright, windy day, for example) and discharge it at times of peak demand (or when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow). This would entail grid operators (and ultimately, consumers) not having to pay gas plants to fire up when renewable generation cannot meet the shortfall.

Unfortunately, batteries comprised just 6% of Britain’s total electricity capacity in 2024. Investment in energy storage has lagged behind what the government forecasts is necessary to meet its 2030 clean power goals, but it is at least increasing.

Research shows that the more money that is invested in batteries, the more associated costs come down. If used instead of gas to stabilise the grid, energy storage could significantly lower the wholesale cost of the UK’s energy over time, and with the right balance of policies, household bills too. This would require subsidies to cover some of the cost of making and installing batteries, and planning mandates to build new renewables alongside new batteries.

Affordable and fair

The government could also try alternatives to zonal pricing. Wholesale electricity prices could reflect the “strike” price in renewable energy contracts. This is the price at which developers have agreed to build clean electricity generation projects, like wind farms. This would mean that gas no longer sets the wholesale price, but stable, predictable prices agreed years in advance, which would help to regulate the retail costs consumers pay.

Solar arrays installed on farmland in Devon, southern England.
Pjhpix/Shutterstock

These types of reforms can help set efficient energy prices, which the government usually talks about as the price needed to encourage investment in new energy technologies. But just because prices are efficient, it doesn’t mean they’re fair. Some households struggle to afford their energy bills even when markets are working efficiently. So, when prices change to encourage cleaner energy, it can hit them harder.

The government should implement new policies and expand eligibility for existing measures to take the burden off energy-poor households. These include social tariffs, which offer discounted rates to vulnerable consumers, and discounts for blocks of electricity use when renewables are generating a lot of it.

Transition funds could help poorer households meet bills, while schemes to encourage home insulation and other improvements could see more homes with rooftop solar panels and battery storage.

This support, combined with increasing investment in energy storage and renewables, will lower the wholesale price of electricity over time – and make energy more affordable (and fair) for everyone.

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

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

Anupama Sen has previously received funding from the Quadrature Climate Foundation and Children’s Investment Fund Foundation.

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

– ref. Zonal pricing is dead – here’s how the UK should change its electricity system instead – https://theconversation.com/zonal-pricing-is-dead-heres-how-the-uk-should-change-its-electricity-system-instead-260985

MIL OSI Analysis –

July 17, 2025
MIL-OSI Analysis: MethaneSat: The climate spy satellite that went quiet

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Vincent Gauci, Professorial Fellow, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham

Satellites circling the Earth have many different functions, including navigation, communications and Earth observation. About 8%-10% of all active satellites are military or “dual use” serving intelligence or reconnaissance functions as spy satellites.

But it was a climate satellite serving as both spy and “name and shame” police officer in the sky that recently caught the world’s attention when it went quiet.

MethaneSat was developed to spot emission hot spots or plumes of invisible methane pollution from space. Built by the US non-profit, the Environmental Defense Fund with Nasa’s support, it tracked methane leaks from oil and gas sites, farms and landfills across the globe.

These are among the biggest human-caused emission sources. But methane emissions are traditionally hard to spot because they come from so many relatively small point sources or plumes.

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This specialist observation satellite was developed and deployed because methane acts differently to other greenhouse gas emissions. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that, over 20 years, is more than 80 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

Since 1750, additional human-caused methane emissions have contributed directly and indirectly, to around 60% of the global warming of carbon dioxide over that time.

Methane also has a short lifetime. Where carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere for in excess of 100 years, relying on plant uptake for its removal from the atmosphere and conversion into other carbon forms, methane is broken down in the atmosphere by molecules known as hydroxyl radicals. These are nicknamed “the atmosphere’s detergent”, because they effectively remove methane from the atmosphere in less than ten years.

A gas flare at an oil refinery – one of many pinpoint sources of methane emissions.
hkhtt hj/Shutterstock

This combination of short lifetime and high global warming potential (a measure of the climate strength of the gas relative to carbon dioxide) makes methane both a problem and an ideal target for reduction. In fact, growth in atmospheric methane is occurring at such a rate that it is placing us dangerously off track from meeting our Paris agreement obligations to stay within 1.5°C of climate warming by 2050 and 2°C by 2100.

Eyes in the sky

But how can we achieve these reductions and what was the role of MethaneSat in seeking to meet this objective?

There are two ways atmospheric methane concentrations can be reduced. A recent and more challenging proposition is that methane is actively removed from the atmosphere.

This is difficult because it relies on technological advances that are at their earliest stages (although growing more trees can go some way to achieving this). Another more realistic approach is to reduce emissions and then to let atmospheric chemistry do the work of removing excess methane in the atmosphere.

The global methane pledge was announced in 2021 at the UN climate summit, Cop26, in Glasgow. This aimed to reduce human-caused methane emissions by 30% on 2020 levels by 2030. More than 150 countries have now signed up to this pledge. If successful, it could reduce warming by up to 0.2°C by 2050. That’s why MethaneSat was so useful.

MethaneSat is fitted with a hyperspectral sensor – which can record sunlight reflected off Earth in hundreds of narrow colour bands across the spectrum, far beyond what our eyes can see. It’s capable of picking up concentrations of methane in air at minute quantities.

This sensor allowed the satellite to spot individual plumes of methane, so it had a crucial role in identifying those problem areas. Given that these are dispersed but also individual point sources, it was invaluable in intervening in the leaks, permitting identification of those responsible so they could be held to account and so address the problem.

No one instrument can cover what MethaneSat could do with freely available data. It had high precision, high spatial resolution and, critically, global coverage and it was particularly useful at identifying plumes in nations that don’t have the resources for the sort of regional surveys using aircraft mounted systems that can fill the gap in developed regions.

Now that MethaneSat is no longer operational, there are some other tools to identify small anthropogenic emissions sources, but they tend to be regionally focused like the aircraft measurements mentioned.

Other satellites gather similar data but that data sits behind commercial paywalls, whereas MethaneSat data was freely available. Collectively, these drawbacks mean that it’s just going to be that much harder to spot the emissions MethaneSat was so good at tracking.

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

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

Vincent Gauci receives funding from the NERC, Spark Climate Solutions, the JABBS Foundation and has received funding from the Royal Society, Defra and the AXA Research Fund.

– ref. MethaneSat: The climate spy satellite that went quiet – https://theconversation.com/methanesat-the-climate-spy-satellite-that-went-quiet-261022

MIL OSI Analysis –

July 17, 2025
MIL-OSI Analysis: AI can be your wingman when online dating – but should you let it?

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Natasha McKeever, Lecturer in Applied Ethics, University of Leeds

YWdesign/Shutterstock

Many dating app companies are enthusiastic about incorporating generative AI into their products. Whitney Wolfe Herd, founder of dating app Bumble, wants gen-AI to “help create more healthy and equitable relationships”. In her vision of the near future, people will have AI dating concierges who could “date” other people’s dating concierges for them, to find out which pairings were most compatible.

Dating app Grindr is developing an AI wingman, which it hopes to be up and running by 2027. Match Group, owner of popular dating apps including Tinder, Hinge and OK Cupid, have also expressed keen interest in using gen-AI in their products, believing recent advances in AI technology “have the power to be transformational, making it more seamless and engaging for users to participate in dating apps”. One of the ways they think gen-AI can do this is by enhancing “the authenticity of human connections”.

Use of gen-AI in online dating is not just some futuristic possibility, though. It’s already here.

Want to enhance your photos or present yourself in a different style? There are plenty of online tools for that. Similarly, if you want AI to help “craft the perfect, attention-grabbing bio” for you, it can do that. AI can even help you with making conversation, by analysing your chat history and suggesting ways to reply.

Extra help

It isn’t just dating app companies who are enthusiastic about AI use in dating apps either. A recent survey carried out by Cosmopolitan magazine and Bumble of 5,000 gen-Zers and millennials found that 69% of respondents were excited about “the ways AI could make dating easier and more efficient”.

An even higher proportion (86%) “believe it could help solve pervasive dating fatigue”. A surprising 86% of men and 77% of the women surveyed would share their message history with AI to help guide their dating app conversations.

Dating today can feel like a mix of endless swipes, red flags and shifting expectations. From decoding mixed signals to balancing independence with intimacy, relationships in your 20s and 30s come with unique challenges.Love IRL is the latest series from Quarter Life that explores it all.

These research-backed articles break down the complexities of modern love to help you build meaningful connections, no matter your relationship status.

It’s not hard to see why AI is so appealing for dating app users and providers. Dating apps seem to be losing their novelty: many users are reportedly abandoning them due to so-called “dating app fatigue” – feeling bored and burnt out with dating apps.

Apps and users might be hopeful that gen-AI can make dating apps fun again, or if not fun, then at least that it will make them actually lead to dates. Some AI dating companions claim to get you ten times more dates and better dates at that. Given that men tend to get fewer matches on dating apps than women, it’s also not surprising that we’re seeing more enthusiasm from men than women about the possibilities AI could bring.

Talk of gen-AI in connection to online dating gives rise to many ethical concerns. We at the Ethical Dating Online Network, an international network of over 30 multi-disciplinary academics interested in how online dating could be more ethical, think that dating app companies need to convincingly answer these worries before rushing new products to market. Here are a few standout issues.

Pitfalls of AI dating

Technology companies correctly identify some contemporary social issues, such as loneliness, anxiety at social interactions, and concerns about dating culture, as hindering people’s dating lives.

But turning to more technology to solve these issues puts us at risk of losing the skills we need to make close relationships work. The more we can reach for gen-AI to guide our interactions, the less we might be tempted to practise on our own, or to take accountability for what we communicate. After all, an AI “wingman” is of little use when meeting in person.

Also, AI tools risk entrenching much of dating culture that people find stressful. Norms around “banter”, attractiveness or flirting can make the search for intimacy seem like a competitive battleground. The way AI works – learning from existing conversations – means that it will reproduce these less desirable aspects.

Gen-AI may reproduce the negative elements of online dating culture.
fizkes/Shutterstock

Instead of embracing those norms and ideals, and trying to equip everyone with the tools to seemingly meet impossibly high standards, dating app companies could do more to “de-escalate” dating culture: make it calmer, more ordinary and help people be vulnerable. For example, they could rethink how they charge for their products, encourage a culture of honesty, and look at alternatives to the “swiping” interfaces.

The possibility of misrepresentation is another concern. People have always massaged the truth when it comes to dating, and the internet has made this easier. But the more we are encouraged to use AI tools, and as they are embedded in dating apps, bad actors can more simply take advantage of the vulnerable.

An AI-generated photo, or conversation, can lead to exchanges of bank details, grooming and sexual exploitation.

Stopping short of fraud, however, is the looming intimate authenticity crisis. Online dating awash with AI generated material risks becoming a murky experience. A sincere user might struggle to identify like-minded matches on apps where use of AI is common.

This interpretive burden is annoying for anyone, but it will exacerbate the existing frustrations women, more so than men, experience on dating apps as they navigate spaces full of with timewasting, abuse, harassment and unwanted sexualisation.

Indeed, women might worry that AI will turbo-charge the ability of some men to prove a nuisance online. Bots, automation, conversation-generating tools, can help some men to lay claim to the attention of many women simultaneously.

AI tools may seem like harmless fun, or a useful timesaver. Some people may even wholeheartedly accept that AI generated content is not “authentic” and love it anyway.

Without clear guardrails in place, however, and more effort by app companies to provide informed choices based on transparency about how their apps work, any potential benefits of AI will be obscured by the negative impact it has to intimacy online.

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

– ref. AI can be your wingman when online dating – but should you let it? – https://theconversation.com/ai-can-be-your-wingman-when-online-dating-but-should-you-let-it-254666

MIL OSI Analysis –

July 17, 2025
MIL-OSI Analysis: Looking for meaningful romantic relationships? Start by diversifying your friendships and forgetting your wishlist

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Mariko Visserman, Assistant Professor in Psychology, University of Sussex

loreanto/Shutterstock

When you’re looking for a relationship, chances are you’ll start off with a wishlist for your ideal partner. Maybe someone who is attractive or wealthy, someone who likes the same movies and the outdoors. Seems like a solid starting point, right? The problem is that in the real world, these wishlists are rarely helpful. And how realistic is the idea that one person can fulfil all our needs in the first place?

In 2017, researchers conducted a large speed-dating study. They wanted to see how well the preferences people indicated for a potential partner predicted who they wanted to see again after the event.

The researchers were left with nothing: people’s wishlists did not predict who they actually liked. Instead, they suggested that the best predictor of whether you like someone is seeing how they make you feel when you interact with them. Do you feel comfortable in their presence? Do they make you laugh?

The scientific evidence suggests that you have to meet people in the flesh if you want to find your match.

Dating today can feel like a mix of endless swipes, red flags and shifting expectations. From decoding mixed signals to balancing independence with intimacy, relationships in your 20s and 30s come with unique challenges. Love IRL is the latest series from The Conversation’s Quarter Life that explores it all.

These research-backed articles break down the complexities of modern love to help you build meaningful connections, no matter your relationship status.

People used to find their romantic partner by tapping into their social networks – through friends, family, or the people they met in their daily lives. Nowadays, we often look for a romantic partner using online dating platforms, which allow us to access a larger network of potential romantic partners than ever before.

This apparent abundance may encourage a critical comparison with your wishlist and you may spend a lot of time swiping through profiles of potential partners, without initiating meeting them.

Research suggests that doing so can leave you feeling paralysed by an overload of choice and less optimistic about your chances. Research also shows that people tend to have fewer matches as the number of profiles on offer increases.

The researchers of this paradox suggest that you may be wise to put yourself on a dating diet: only looking at a limited number of profiles each day and exploring them with a curious mind. Then, when contact is established and you feel positive about the initial interaction, the real experiment begins.

When you spend a long time interacting online you may construct an idealised version of your potential partner and what you hope they’re like. That leaves you all the more likely to be disappointed when meeting them in person, as it’s easy for them to fall short of your expectations.

When you spend long time interacting online you may construct an idealised version of your potential partner.
dodotone/Shutterstock

A better strategy would be to meet them in the flesh with a curious mind, before becoming overly invested in an online persona that is not a fair representation of what the other person may be like.

Taking it offline

Whether you will go on to have a satisfying relationship in the long run depends more than anything on your relationship expectations and behaviour.

Being kind and attentive to each other’s goals and needs ensures each partner’s happiness and will help weather any challenge, small or large, that couples inevitably face. But here too, technology may disrupt your mindful awareness of others – for example being on your phone in the presence of your partner – posing a risk to enjoying relationships.

Couples today also seem to have historically high expectations for their partner to help them fulfil all their goals and needs. You may want a partner to be a passionate lover, your best friend, your motivational coach and help you achieve personal growth.

In other words, people’s wishlists people carry into relationships too, as we long for a partner to fulfil all our needs.

Diversifying your friendships can put less pressure on your romantic connection.
Dupe/Daniel Bughiu

Demanding all of this from one partner can place too much pressure on the relationships, rather than satisfying your needs. You may be left with a dissatisfying relationship that falls short of your expectations.

In some ways, we may all benefit from adopting lower expectations when looking for a partner and when being with them long term. This may help us appreciate them instead of taking their support and kind acts for granted.

It’s also a good idea to diversify your relationships. Having other important close (and even less close) relationships can help fulfil some needs your partner may not be best suited to meet, such as friends who like the same movies you do or who like to explore the outdoors together.

Research has shown that a greater diversity of relationships benefits happiness, as different relationships can serve different roles in fulfilling your needs, which may take some pressure off “the one” fulfilling all your needs.

Putting some brakes on your expectations for a romantic partner, when looking for a partner and when sharing your life with them, may help you to see more clearly who they are and appreciate what they contribute to your life.

Mariko Visserman 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. Looking for meaningful romantic relationships? Start by diversifying your friendships and forgetting your wishlist – https://theconversation.com/looking-for-meaningful-romantic-relationships-start-by-diversifying-your-friendships-and-forgetting-your-wishlist-254022

MIL OSI Analysis –

July 17, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: Angels, witches, crystals and black cats: How supernatural beliefs vary across different groups in the US

Source: The Conversation – USA (3) – By Christopher P. Scheitle, Associate Professor of Sociology, West Virginia University

Education, income and demographics shape our views of the unseen world, a survey found. karetoria/Collection Moment via Getty Images

Younger Americans are more likely to express belief in witchcraft and luck, as our new research shows.

As sociologists who research the social dynamics of religion in the United States, we conducted a nationally representative survey in 2021. Our survey posed dozens of questions to 2,000 Americans over the age of 18 on a wide range of beliefs in supernatural phenomena – everything from belief in the devil to belief in the magical power of crystals.

Our statistical analyses found that supernatural beliefs in the United States tend to group into four types.

The first represents what many consider “traditional religious beliefs.” These include beliefs in God, the existence of angels and demons, and belief in the soul and its journey beyond this lifetime.

A second represents belief in “spiritual and mental forces,” some of which are associated with either paranormal or new age beliefs. These include communicating with the dead, predicting the future, or believing that one’s soul can travel through space or time.

A third group represents belief in “witches and witchcraft.” This was measured on our survey with questions about the existence of “black magic” and whether it was “possible to cast spells on people.”

The fourth and final group represents beliefs in supernatural forces that shape “luck” – for instance, that “black cats bring bad luck.”

Our analysis finds that higher education and higher income are associated with lower levels of all four types of supernatural belief. Those with a bachelor’s degree or higher, for instance, score below average on all four types of belief, while those with less education score higher than average on all four.

Looking at race and ethnicity, we found that Latino or Hispanic individuals were more likely than white individuals to express belief in the “witches and witchcraft” form of supernatural belief. About 50% of Latino or Hispanic individuals in our survey, for example, strongly agreed that “witches exist.” This compares with about 37% of white individuals.

Comparing gender differences, we find that women are more likely than men to believe in the “spiritual and mental forces” forms of supernatural belief. For instance, about 31% of women in our survey agreed that “it is possible to communicate with the dead” compared with about 22% of men.

Why it matters

Our research addresses two key questions: first, whether people who hold one type of supernatural belief are also more likely to hold other types of supernatural beliefs; and second, how do different types of supernatural belief vary across key demographic groups, such as across educational levels, racial and ethnic groups, and gender?

Answering these questions can be surprisingly difficult. Most scientific surveys of the U.S. public include, at best, only one or two questions about religious beliefs; rarely do they include questions about other types of supernatural beliefs, such as belief in paranormal or superstitious forces. This could lead to an incomplete understanding of how supernatural beliefs and practices are changing in the United States.

An increasing number of Americans are leaving organized religion. However, it is not clear that supernatural beliefs have or will follow the same trajectory – especially beliefs that are not explicitly connected to those religious identities. For example, someone can identify as nonreligious but believe that the crystal they wear will provide them with supernatural benefits.

Moreover, recognizing that supernatural beliefs can include more than traditionally religious supernatural beliefs may be vital for better understanding other social issues. Research has found, for example, that belief in paranormal phenomena is associated with lower trust in science and medicine.

What’s next

Our survey provides some insight into the nature and patterns of supernatural belief in the U.S. at one point in time, but it does not tell us how such beliefs are changing over time.

We would like to see future surveys – both ours or from other social scientists – that ask more diverse questions about belief in supernatural beings and forces that will allow for an assessment of such changes.

The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.

Christopher P. Scheitle receives funding from the National Science Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. The research discussed in this article was supported by a grant from the Science and Religion: Identity and Belief Formation grant initiative spearheaded by the Religion and Public Life Program at Rice University and the University of California-San Diego and provided by the Templeton Religion Trust via The Issachar Fund.

Bernard DiGregorio receives funding from the National Science Foundation. The research discussed in this article was funded by a grant from the Science and Religion: Identity and Belief Formation grant initiative spearheaded by the Religion and Public Life Program at Rice University and the University of California-San Diego and provided by the Templeton Religion Trust via The Issachar Fund.

Katie E. Corcoran receives funding from the National Science Foundation, the John Templeton Foundation, and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. The research discussed in this article was supported by a grant from the Science and Religion: Identity and Belief Formation grant initiative spearheaded by the Religion and Public Life Program at Rice University and the University of California-San Diego and provided by the Templeton Religion Trust via The Issachar Fund.

– ref. Angels, witches, crystals and black cats: How supernatural beliefs vary across different groups in the US – https://theconversation.com/angels-witches-crystals-and-black-cats-how-supernatural-beliefs-vary-across-different-groups-in-the-us-258377

MIL OSI –

July 17, 2025
MIL-OSI Analysis: California farmers identify a hot new cash crop: Solar power
Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Jacob Stid, Ph.D. student in Hydrogeology, Michigan State University

This dairy farm in California’s Central Valley has installed solar panels on a portion of its land. George Rose/Getty Images

Imagine that you own a small, 20-acre farm in California’s Central Valley. You and your family have cultivated this land for decades, but drought, increasing costs and decreasing water availability are making each year more difficult.

Now imagine that a solar-electricity developer approaches you and presents three options:
- You can lease the developer 10 acres of otherwise productive cropland, on which the developer will build an array of solar panels and sell electricity to the local power company.
- You can select 1 or 2 acres of your land on which to build and operate your own solar array, using some electricity for your farm and selling the rest to the utility.
- Or you can keep going as you have been, hoping your farm can somehow survive.
Thousands of farmers across the country, including in the Central Valley, are choosing one of the first two options. A 2022 survey by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that roughly 117,000 U.S. farm operations have some type of solar device. Our own work has identified over 6,500 solar arrays currently located on U.S. farmland.

Our study of nearly 1,000 solar arrays built on 10,000 acres of the Central Valley over the past two decades found that solar power and farming are complementing each other in farmers’ business operations. As a result, farmers are making and saving more money while using less water – helping them keep their land and livelihood.

A hotter, drier and more built-up future

Perhaps nowhere in the U.S. is farmland more valuable or more productive than California’s Central Valley. The region grows a vast array of crops, including nearly all of the nation’s production of almonds, olives and sweet rice. Using less than 1% of all farmland in the country, the Central Valley supplies a quarter of the nation’s food, including 40% of its fruits, nuts and other fresh foods.

The food, fuel and fiber that these farms produce are a bedrock of the nation’s economy, food system and way of life.

But decades of intense cultivation, urban development and climate change are squeezing farmers. Water is limited, and getting more so: A state law passed in 2014 requires farmers to further reduce their water usage by the mid-2040s.

California’s Central Valley is some of the most productive cropland in the country.
Citizen of the Planet/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The trade-offs of installing solar on agricultural land

When the solar arrays we studied were installed, California state solar energy policy and incentives gave farm landowners new ways to diversify their income by either leasing their land for solar arrays or building their own.

There was an obvious trade-off: Turning land used for crops to land used for solar usually means losing agricultural production. We estimated that over the 25-year life of the solar arrays, this land would have produced enough food to feed 86,000 people a year, assuming they eat 2,000 calories a day.

There was an obvious benefit, too, of clean energy: These arrays produced enough renewable electricity to power 470,000 U.S. households every year.

But the result we were hoping to identify and measure was the economic effect of shifting that land from agricultural farming to solar farming. We found that farmers who installed solar were dramatically better off than those who did not.

They were better off in two ways, the first being financially. All the farmers, whether they owned their own arrays or leased their land to others, saved money on seeds, fertilizer and other costs associated with growing and harvesting crops. They also earned money from leasing the land, offsetting farm energy bills, and selling their excess electricity.

Farmers who owned their own arrays had to pay for the panels, equipment and installation, and maintenance. But even after covering those costs, their savings and earnings added up to US$50,000 per acre of profits every year, 25 times the amount they would have earned by planting that acre.

Farmers who leased their land made much less money but still avoided costs for irrigation water and operations on that part of their farm, gaining $1,100 per acre per year – with no up-front costs.

The farmers also conserved water, which in turn supported compliance with the state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act water use reduction requirements. Most of the solar arrays were installed on land that had previously been irrigated. We calculated that turning off irrigation on this land saved enough water every year to supply about 27 million people with drinking water or irrigate 7,500 acres of orchards. Following solar array installation, some farmers also fallowed surrounding land, perhaps enabled by the new stable income stream, which further reduced water use.

Irrigation is key to cropland productivity in California’s Central Valley. Covering some land with solar panels eliminates the need for irrigation of that area, saving water for other uses elsewhere.
Citizen of the Planet/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Changes to food and energy production

Farmers in the Central Valley and elsewhere are now cultivating both food and energy. This shift can offer long-term security for farmland owners, particularly for those who install and run their own arrays.

Recent estimates suggest that converting between 1.1% and 2.4% of the country’s farmland to solar arrays would, along with other clean energy sources, generate enough electricity to eliminate the nation’s need for fossil fuel power plants.

Though many crops are part of a global market that can adjust to changes in supply, losing this farmland could affect the availability of some crops. Fortunately, farmers and landowners are finding new ways to protect farmland and food security while supporting clean energy.

One such approach is agrivoltaics, where farmers install solar designed for grazing livestock or growing crops beneath the panels. Solar can also be sited on less productive farmland or on farmland that is used for biofuels rather than food production.

Even in these areas, arrays can be designed and managed to benefit local agriculture and natural ecosystems. With thoughtful design, siting and management, solar can give back to the land and the ecosystems it touches.

Farms are much more than the land they occupy and the goods they produce. Farms are run by people with families, whose well-being depends on essential and variable resources such as water, fertilizer, fuel, electricity and crop sales. Farmers often borrow money during the planting season in hopes of making enough at harvest time to pay off the debt and keep a little profit.

Installing solar on their land can give farmers a diversified income, help them save water, and reduce the risk of bad years. That can make solar an asset to farming, not a threat to the food supply.

Jacob Stid works for Michigan State University. Funding for this work came from the US Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture program and the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Michigan State University. He also receives funding from the Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research.

Annick Anctil receives funding from NSF and USDA.

Anthony Kendall receives funding from the USDA, NASA, the NSF, and the Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research. He is an Assistant Professor at Michigan State University, and serves on the nonprofit board of the FLOW Water Advocates.

– ref. California farmers identify a hot new cash crop: Solar power – https://theconversation.com/california-farmers-identify-a-hot-new-cash-crop-solar-power-259653
MIL OSI Analysis –
July 17, 2025
MIL-OSI Africa: South Africa and Tunisia strengthen ties in science and innovation

Source: Government of South Africa

In a bid to deepen bilateral cooperation, South Africa and Tunisia have signed a landmark agreement aimed at scaling up collaboration in science, technology, and innovation (STI).

The agreement, signed during the official visit of Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Blade Nzimande, to Tunisia, forms part of the Scaling up Tunisia–South Africa Strategy. It includes a detailed plan of action and the formal minutes of a joint research call meeting.

According to the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI), the strategy outlines several key areas of focus, including exchange programmes, inter-institutional cooperation, joint research initiatives, intellectual property rights, innovation-driven knowledge and skills transfer, participation in international programmes, and governance.

The signing ceremony followed an opening session featuring keynote remarks from Tunisia’s Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Mondher Belaid, and Minister Nzimande.

Nzimande noted that the visit was primarily intended to strengthen STI relations between the two nations, while also reflecting on the historic ties forged during the anti-apartheid struggle.

Emphasising the strategic value of the partnership, Nzimande said: “We hold the view that African countries must intensify sub-regional science, technology and innovation cooperation and through this, mobilise more coherent support for the implementation of the African Union’s Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa or STISA.”

He also thanked the Tunisian Embassy in South Africa for its efforts in fostering bilateral relations, highlighting the recognition of Hasna Tizaoui, the Economic and Cultural Counsellor at the Tunisian Embassy, with a Science Diplomacy award.

“To express our appreciation for this work done by your Embassy in South Africa, through our Science Forum South Africa, we awarded Ms Hasna Tizaoui, Economic and Cultural Counsellor of the Embassy of Tunisia, with the prestigious Science Diplomacy award,” Nzimande said.

Touching on global political shifts, the Minister warned of rising geopolitical pressures and called for stronger African unity in STI efforts.

“We, therefore, hold the view that African countries must intensify sub-regional science, technology and innovation cooperation and through this, mobilise more coherent support for the implementation of the African Union’s Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA).”

The new agreement builds on an already established relationship in STI cooperation between South Africa and Tunisia. It aims to accelerate the development of innovative solutions to address shared challenges such as youth unemployment, skills development, healthcare, food security, energy and water sustainability, climate change, biodiversity loss, and digital transformation.

Nzimande was accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising senior officials from the DSTI and its entities, including the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), the National Research Foundation (NRF), and experts from Mintek (the Council for Mineral Technology). – SAnews.gov.za

MIL OSI Africa –

July 17, 2025
MIL-OSI: Small Business Earnings Climb Ahead of July Fed Meeting, Despite Shaky Sentiment
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

NEW YORK, July 16, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Biz2Credit’s monthly Small Business Earnings Report found that average monthly earnings increased to $62,300 in June 2025, up markedly from May. This continues a positive run for earnings, nearly doubling since the beginning of the year.

Key Findings for June 2025:
- Average Monthly Earnings: $62,300. (May 2025: $49,300 – an increase of $13,000)
- Average Monthly Revenue: $614,200. (May 2025: $547,600 – an increase of $66,600)
- Average Monthly Expenses: $551,900. (May 2025: $498,300 – an increase of $53,600)
Takeaways:

Small businesses have faced immense headwinds in 2025, yet continue to produce growing earnings. In the first half of 2025, small business earnings have risen 75% as inflation remains tempered under 3% this year. Expenses ticked upward as small businesses continue to feel the brunt of tariffs on imports and various input goods, but significant price hikes for consumers haven’t manifested yet.

Small business owners remain cautiously hopeful for the remainder of the year as tax reform is complete. “Taxes have remained a large pain point for small business operators, but now they should expect more stability and predictability after the Big Beautiful Bill was signed into law earlier this month,” said Rohit Arora, CEO and co-founder of Biz2Credit.

Small business owners are also looking forward to potential interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve in the second half of 2025. Recent market data points towards a possible rate cut, the first since 2024, which would potentially drive down the cost of borrowing for business owners.

Summary

The Biz2Credit Small Business Earnings Report summarizes primary data of companies that applied for funding each month. It assesses the financial health of small businesses by analyzing primary data provided directly by small to midsized firms in the U.S. as part of the application process on Biz2Credit’s award-winning digital funding platform. The report provides one of the most up-to-date readings on the financial health of small businesses currently available. Click here to review the Small Business Earnings Report.

Methodology

Biz2Credit examines a number of small business financial metrics in the Small Business Earnings Report, including annual revenue, operating expenses, age of business, credit score, approval rate, and funding rate. Data is drawn from over 100,000 completed financing applications submitted to Biz2Credit’s online small business funding platform between Jan. 2022 and June 2025.

About Biz2Credit

Founded in 2007, Biz2Credit has helped thousands of companies access more than in small business financing. Biz2Credit is headquartered in New York City, employs over 800 people with over half in product, data science, and engineering roles. Using data analytics and predictive modeling, Biz2Credit seeks to enhance the accuracy and transparency of business credit decisions, fueling long-term economic development. Visit www.biz2credit.com, or follow the company on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and X.

Media Contact: Tracy Rubin, (818) 585-4736, tracy@jcmg.com

The MIL Network –
July 16, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Student design bureaus: a breeding ground for engineering personnel

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –

An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

The Polytechnic University held an intensive educational course “Student Design Bureaus as a Tool for Preparing Highly Motivated and Conscious Engineers” for employees of industrial partner companies. Participants discussed how design bureaus help students master real engineering tasks.

The goal of the intensive course is to introduce representatives of enterprises to the capabilities of SKB, demonstrate examples of successful projects and discuss prospects for joint work on developing the country’s engineering potential. Organizers are representatives of SKB “System Engineering”. The project became the winner in April 2025 competition of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation in the direction of “Student Design Leadership”Several design bureaus and engineering teams of the Polytechnic University are participating in its implementation.

“To achieve technological leadership by 2030, we must involve young people in solving real engineering problems today, at the training stage. Student design bureaus allow not only to develop skills, but also to form the right professional motivation and awareness in students,” noted Oleg Rozhdestvensky, head of the SPbPU Office of Technological Leadership, on the basis of which the project is being implemented.

Head of SKB “System Engineering”, Director of the Higher School of Power Engineering Alena Aleshina emphasized that SPbPU SKB is built as a multi-level ecosystem: school KBs – youth KBs – student KBs – employer. This allows us to identify talented children at early stages, support their training and involve them in project activities.

The participants of the intensive course discussed the development trajectories of student design bureaus at universities, their goals and objectives, as well as the role of an industrial partner in this system. Special attention was paid to how to establish cooperation between an enterprise and SKB SPbPU, how student projects help solve specific problems under the guidance of curators representing companies, and ensure an influx of qualified personnel. The experts also shared examples of successfully implemented projects.

The presentation session presented the areas of work of SKB “System Engineering”, starting with school design bureaus and ending with the best practices of interaction between industry and the university.

The project to create a network of school design bureaus is a joint initiative of the Government of St. Petersburg and the Advanced Engineering School “Digital Engineering” of SPbPU (PISH CI). Director of the Center for Continuing Professional Education of PISH CI Sergey Salkutsan said that SHKB is a network of engineering creativity clubs based in schools. Students in grades 8–11, under the guidance of instructors, master engineering skills, work with modern software and solve real problems of industrial companies. The goal is early career guidance for schoolchildren, development of practical competencies and training of future qualified personnel for the industry.

In the X-Lab Engineering Creativity Laboratory, students learn to combine knowledge from different disciplines when solving practical problems. Senior research fellow at PISh CI Mikhail Zhmailo spoke about the project workshop, which is part of the educational program and combines design, engineering, digital manufacturing, project management, and teamwork.

Head of the engineering team Polytech Voltage Machine, engineer of the Higher School of Transport IMMiT SPbPU Vsevolod Gaiduk introduced the intensive participants to the team that develops robotic platforms for high cross-country ability and ground electric transport. Polytechnicians create solutions for people with disabilities and for firefighting.

Arseniy Klyuev, Senior Lecturer at the Higher School of Power Engineering, spoke in more detail about the SKB Power Machines — Polytech. This is a unique educational cluster focused on training personnel for the Power Machines company. The end-to-end training trajectory begins with the school’s engineering classes and continues through youth and student design bureaus, bachelor’s and master’s programs. Senior students are involved in real engineering projects implemented in the interests of the company under the guidance of curators — specialists with experience in implementing R&D from the university and employees of the enterprise. The success of the project is ensured by coordination between the university and the company, effective infrastructure, a motivation system and corporate culture.

Director of the Higher School of High-Voltage Power Engineering Viktor Belko showed the structure of the Electrical Machines department within the SKB Power Machines — Polytech. For example, the Electrical Insulation Laboratory trains personnel in the context of growing demand for domestic technologies. The main goal is to involve students in research activities from their first years to accumulate practical experience in the field of electrical insulation and electrical machines, which cannot be fully ensured within the framework of traditional educational standards. The center, based on successful experience in fulfilling contracts in the field of electrical engineering and an established research base, interacts with industrial partners and forms flexible teams of students under the supervision of specialists from the university and companies.

Of particular interest was the practical case of interaction between the Power Machines company and students, starting from the second year, in terms of participation in the educational program. Leading project manager Alexandra Grigorieva presented the areas of work and the results of interaction with SPbPU within the framework of the Power Machines Trajectory, which formed the basis for the advanced training of junior students for further participation in the Power Machines – Polytech SKB. Students gain the opportunity to receive a scholarship, master a working profession and find employment.

The seminar participants visited the laboratories and workspaces of the SKB “System Engineering” teams and saw the students’ developments. Including a racing car and a solar car of the Polytech North Capital Motorsport engineering racing team, the results of the work of X-Lab and SKB “Unmanned Aviation Systems”, as well as a fire robot of the Polytech Voltage Machine team.

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.

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MIL OSI Russia News –

July 16, 2025
Beacon of inspiration: Union Cabinet hails Shubhanshu Shukla’s return from ISS

Source: Government of India

Source: Government of India (4)

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday passed a resolution celebrating the safe return of Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla from the International Space Station (ISS), calling it “a moment of pride, glory, and joy for the entire nation.”

Shukla, part of the four-member Axiom-4 crew, returned to Earth on Tuesday aboard SpaceX’s Dragon capsule after spending 18 days in orbit. With this mission, Shukla became the first Indian astronaut to visit the ISS and only the second Indian to travel to space, four decades after Rakesh Sharma’s historic 1984 mission.

Hailing the milestone as a “watershed moment” for the country, the Cabinet said the mission heralds a new chapter in India’s space programme and offers a preview of what lies ahead in its human spaceflight ambitions.

“This successful mission significantly elevates India’s global standing in space exploration,” the resolution stated. “It is a vital stepping stone towards India’s own human spaceflight programme, including the Gaganyaan and the Bharatiya Antariksha Station. It reaffirms India’s resolve to be at the forefront of human space exploration.”

The Cabinet underlined India’s growing role in global space cooperation, particularly through the scientific experiments conducted by Shukla aboard the ISS.

He carried out a series of pioneering microgravity studies on muscle regeneration, algal and microbial growth, crop viability, microbial survivability, cognitive performance in space, and the behaviour of cyanobacteria. The resolution noted that these experiments will significantly enhance the global scientific understanding of human spaceflight and microgravity environments, while also contributing valuable insights for India’s future space missions.

The resolution credited Prime Minister Modi’s “visionary and decisive leadership” for enabling India’s recent space achievements and for pushing the country to the frontlines of space exploration. It recalled with pride the successful Chandrayaan-3 mission, which made India the first country to land near the Moon’s South Pole on August 23, 2023, a date now commemorated as National Space Day. It also highlighted the success of the Aditya-L1 solar mission, which has advanced global understanding of solar activity and its effects.

Pointing to the transformation of India’s space economy, the Cabinet noted that structural reforms in the sector have led to the emergence of around 300 space-tech start-ups.

“The emergence of around 300 new start-ups in this sector has not only led to job creation at a large scale, but also nurtured a vibrant ecosystem of innovation, entrepreneurship and technology-driven development,” the resolution said.

More than a personal triumph, the Cabinet described Shukla’s mission as a “beacon of inspiration” for the youth of India. “It will ignite scientific temper, fuel curiosity, and inspire countless young Indians to pursue careers in science and embrace innovation,” the resolution said.

“The Cabinet reaffirms its firm conviction that this mission will energise the national resolve to build Viksit Bharat—a Developed India—by 2047, as envisioned by the Prime Minister,” it added.

July 16, 2025
MIL-OSI Analysis: Patients who feel heard are more likely to stick with medical treatment
Source: The Conversation – France – By Diana Pérez-Arechaederra, Associate Professor of Organizational Psychology, ESCP Business School

In the 2000s, when I worked as a psychologist in long-term elderly care and primary healthcare services, many of the patients I saw were living with chronic or complex conditions. These situations required that patients trust care providers, consistently adhere to treatments and, often, receive care over an extended period of time.

But what stood out to me were the differences in how those protocols were applied. Some practitioners took time to explain something clearly, asked questions that showed genuine care, or invited patients into a conversation about their treatment. I also noticed how differently patients responded when none of that happened.

The quality of communication – the level of respect, attention and clarity – often made the difference between patients’ cooperation and resistance, between their motivation and withdrawal.

These observations led me to systematically investigate the psychological processes involved in how patients perceive fairness in healthcare.

What I found, in collaboration with colleagues, is that this “soft” dimension of care – how people perceive their treatment, how information is shared with them, and how much time and space they are given to take part in the process – has very real effects on behaviour. Patients’ perception of respect – what we call interactional fairness – often hinges on whether they are given the chance to ask questions, make sense of information, weigh different options and even participate in making decisions. For patients to follow a practitioner’s recommendations, they need to feel informed, heard, respected and involved – not just treated.

What fairness looks like in practice

In our study, we examined two forms of what psychologists call organizational justice in healthcare settings:
- Interactional justice – the sense of being treated with dignity, attentiveness and respect
- Informational justice – the perception that shared information is clear, complete, timely and relevant
We surveyed over 850 patients in Spain and the United States who had visited a healthcare provider in the previous six months. We asked them how they experienced their interactions with health professionals, how much they trusted those professionals, how satisfied they were with the service, whether they followed medical advice, and whether they intended to return to the same provider.

What we saw was a clear pattern. Patients who perceived fairness – being treated with respect and given clear and appropriate information – were more likely to trust their healthcare provider. That trust, in turn, shaped whether they felt able to engage with treatment and sustain their relationship with (or, in the language of our study, their “loyalty” to) the healthcare service or physician. What we call informational fairness had a particularly strong direct link to adherence to treatments or clinical advice, showing its importance for understanding patient behaviour.

In healthcare, patients are navigating uncertainty, vulnerability, and long-term relationships with systems and providers. Their ability to understand, participate in and trust that process is integral to care.

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Insights across borders

Despite the structural and institutional differences between Spain, with its predominantly public healthcare system, and the United States, where healthcare is largely organised through the private sector, our goal was to identify common patterns in how patients interpret and engage with services. Specifically, we sought to understand whether similar cognitive and emotional processes create the patient experience, regardless of the broader healthcare system in place.

Using path analysis models, we assessed the relationships between patients’ perceptions of fairness and their resulting levels of trust and satisfaction, and then, the relationship between those perceptions and patients’ adherence and loyalty to the service. While patients in the United States exhibited slightly stronger associations between perceived fairness and both trust and satisfaction, the overall nature of the relationships was highly consistent across both countries.

These findings suggest that despite differences in how care is delivered and financed, patients in both countries respond to their healthcare interactions in fundamentally similar ways. This matters for healthcare providers and policymakers across diverse settings who are aiming to enhance patient-centred care.

Recognizing patients as agents

At the heart of this is an ethical question: Are patients treated as agents in their own care, or simply as objects of intervention?

Medicine is not a closed, flawless system. It is a developing field of research being translated into practice, and its shortcomings are shaped by social and structural biases, and by the fact that patients may not be given all of the options they should receive. In areas such as women’s health, chronic pain, mental health and rare diseases, patients often offer insights that clinical protocols miss. When their lived experience is ignored or dismissed, we lose opportunities for better diagnoses, more responsive and efficient care, and more sustainable treatment plans.

À lire aussi :
Doctors need to talk through treatment options better for black men with prostate cancer

When I was working in elderly care, I remember the testimony of a resident who was very upset because his parenteral treatment (an injection) had been changed to an enteral one (a drink). Nobody informed him about the change. When I asked him why he was so unhappy, he said: “I much preferred the injections because the clinician who came to administer them was very nice to me. We were friends. Now, I’ll never see her again.”

I’m not sure whether continuing with the parenteral administration was even possible, but what was certain is that nobody asked him what he preferred. And that had an impact on him.

Listening to patients is not merely being polite: it is recognizing that they have information that professionals lack. And that the ethical foundation of health care depends not only on what medical professionals do to patients, but on how they work with them.

What can be done

Creating fairer care involves the following concrete practices, which come from our findings:
- Designing information systems that support timely, accessible and patient-centred communication
- Designing procedures and allocating enough time for professionals to conduct themselves in accordance with interactional and informational fairness principles
- Training for professionals in relational and communication skills that foster patients’ perceptions of respect and dignity
- Educating patients about what care can reasonably provide to help set appropriate expectations
- Reframing patient participation so that patients are not just surveyed after the fact, but listened to and given agency throughout the care process
À lire aussi :
Power to the patient: Person-centred care and how you can take your health into your own hands

None of this is separate from clinical quality. On the contrary, it is what allows clinical care to work best and for all. When patients feel that they matter – that they are respected and informed – they are more likely to collaborate, follow through and return for more care if they need it. That would benefit patients, their practitioners, healthcare systems and society.

The scientific article referred to in this piece was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), whose projects, RD24/0005/0018, were co-funded by the European Union and the Facility for Recovery and Resilience (MRR). The Network for Research on Chronicity, Primary Care and Health Promotion (RICAPPS) was involved in the development of RD24/0005/0018. Projects PI22/01677 and PI20/00321 were co-financed by the European Union. The government of Castilla y León also collaborated in the funding of this study through research projects BioSan 2009 and BioSan 2011. These funders played no role in the study design, data analysis, results reporting or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

– ref. Patients who feel heard are more likely to stick with medical treatment – https://theconversation.com/patients-who-feel-heard-are-more-likely-to-stick-with-medical-treatment-260750
MIL OSI Analysis –
July 16, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: MHRA CEO Lawrence Tallon welcomes Life Sciences Sector Plan
Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

News story

MHRA CEO Lawrence Tallon welcomes Life Sciences Sector Plan

The Life Sciences Sector plan was released today (16 July 2025)
“I welcome the publication of the Life Sciences Sector Plan and fully support its ambition to make the UK a global leader in life sciences and a country where innovation delivers for everyone.

“It’s great to see the MHRA is recognised as a pivotal partner in delivering the plan’s vision – by supporting innovation, protecting public health, and making the UK a global destination for innovators to research, develop and launch cutting-edge medical products.

“Working with our partners across the sector, we will continue to enable safe and effective innovation that benefits patients, the public, and the economy.”

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Updates to this page

Published 16 July 2025
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
July 16, 2025