NEW YORK, Feb. 19, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Fluent, Inc. (NASDAQ: FLNT), a leading commerce media solutions company, today announced the appointment of Adrian Stack as Chief Product Officer. Stack will lead the Company’s product vision and strategy, advancing Fluent’s AI-powered Commerce Media Solutions to elevate consumer engagement and enhance partner and advertiser success.
With over 15 years of experience in product development leadership, Stack has a proven track record of driving growth through AI-driven technologies. Most recently, he led Data Engineering (Data Science & AI) at Zillow. Previously, as SVP of Product at Rokt, he played a key role in scaling the company’s commerce media business, overseeing data engineering, machine learning, and analytics.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Adrian as we continue to build a world-class product team to strengthen Fluent’s AI-powered marketplace,” said Don Patrick, Chief Executive Officer at Fluent. “Adrian’s leadership will accelerate investment in our data infrastructure and product capabilities, while leveraging Fluent’s unique competitive advantages to deliver more impactful commerce media solutions and results for partners, advertisers, and consumers.”
As commerce media evolves, brands require more intelligent, scalable solutions to reach and convert high-intent consumers. Fluent’s investments in AI, identity resolution, and bidding technology position the Company to enhance ad relevance for consumers and maximize ROI for advertisers.
“I’m excited to help drive the next wave of product innovation at Fluent,” said Stack. “We are building an AI-powered marketplace that seamlessly connects brands with high-value consumers at scale.” By leveraging our proprietary first-party identity graph and advanced machine learning models, we are driving higher ad relevance, increased conversions, and more profitable brand-consumer connections.”
Supported by 14 years of expertise in customer acquisition, Fluent continues to differentiate itself in the commerce media space through its owned and operated marketplaces and robust first-party data assets. Building on this foundation, Stack will play a key role in enhancing data strategies, driving product innovation, and unlocking new opportunities for long-term growth and profitability.
About Fluent, Inc.
Fluent, Inc. (NASDAQ: FLNT) is a commerce media solutions provider connecting top-tier brands with highly engaged consumers. Leveraging exclusive ad inventory, robust first-party data, and proprietary machine learning, Fluent unlocks additional revenue streams for partners and empowers advertisers to acquire their most valuable customers at scale. Founded in 2010, Fluent uses its deep expertise in performance marketing to drive monetization and increase engagement at key touchpoints across the customer journey. For more insights visit https://www.fluentco.com/.
Since its founding in 1991, the University of Potsdam has excelled in research and teaching and is well positioned both on a national and international scale. The university aims to play an active role among Germany’s leading research universities on a sustained basis. The university actively engages in qualified training of urgently needed skilled personnel and ensure a rapid translation of the latest scientific findings into practice. It is of particular concern to us to win strong political, economic, and social partners. Through its reporting, the university aims to inform, arouse interest, and show connecting factors which improve the density and stability of the university’s network for education, science and knowledge transfer – to the benefit of Brandenburg.
Daovy Vongxay, the new Permanent Representative of Lao People’s Democratic Republic to the United Nations Office at Geneva, today presented his credentials to Tatiana Valovaya, the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva.
Prior to his appointment to Geneva, Mr. Vongxay had been serving as Director-General of the Department of International Organizations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lao People’s Democratic Republic since 2021. He also served as Deputy Director-General of the Department from December 2016 to June 2018. He served as Deputy Permanent Representative and Minister Counselor at the Permanent Mission of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic to the United Nations in New York from July 2018 to August 2021. He also served at the Mission as Second and First Secretary from January 2011 to February 2014.
Other posts Mr. Vongxay has held include Director of the United Nations Economic and Social Affairs Division at the Department of International Organizations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from March 2014 to November 2016; and Deputy Director of the Dialogue Partners Relations Division at the Department of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations at the Ministry from 2009 to 2010. He was a desk official in various divisions of the Department starting October 1997.
Mr. Vongxay has a Master of Science in International Cooperation Policy from Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Oita, Japan (2006-2008); a post graduate diploma in translation and interpretation from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia (January-December 1999); and a bachelor of arts from the National University of Laos (1992-1997). He was born on 2 September 1975 in Houaphan Province, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, and is married with a daughter and a son.
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Produced by the United Nations Information Service in Geneva for use of the media; not an official record. English and French versions of our releases are different as they are the product of two separate coverage teams that work independently.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Adam Crawford, Professor of Criminology & Criminal Justice, University of Leeds, and Chair in Policing and Social Justice, University of York
The UK government has doubled the additional funding for neighbourhood policing in England and Wales to £200 million. This is to support its commitment to putting 13,000 new police officers on the streets.
High-profile cases and scandals have eroded trust in police in the UK. According to some metrics, it is at its lowest level in 20 years. But the key to repairing it could be through neighbourhood policing. After all, this is where most people’s interactions with police happen.
The government clearly understands this, hence the extra funding – but how do we make sure that the new recruits are delivering a good policing service?
My colleagues and I within the Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre (University of York and University of Leeds) have recently published research that shows police are failing to meet the public’s minimum standards of service delivery.
With Professor Ben Bradford, we developed a framework for a “minimum policing standard”. This is a list of things that members of the public, when asked, think the police should simply be able to do as a minimum standard under normal circumstances.
We asked focus groups around the country – a total of 93 people – to identify what “good” or “effective” policing meant to them. Members of the public felt very strongly that, at minimum, police should be responsive, fair and respectful, as well as engaged and visibly present.
Interestingly, people were more concerned with how policing is conducted, the quality of the treatment people receive, and the relationship between the police and the communities they serve, than with particular outcomes.
The three areas that our respondents thought were most important to the minimum standard were:
Response: the way police respond to calls for service, follow up and address crime.
Behaviour and treatment: the ways officers and the police as an organisation treat individuals and communities.
Presence and engagement of police in neighbourhoods.
How are the police doing?
We then conducted a nationally representative survey of 1,484 respondents across Britain, and found that they viewed police to be failing across all three areas.
Less than 30% of people were confident that police are open and transparent with the decisions they make, prioritise the crimes most affecting the respondents’ community, and provide adequate follow-up after a crime has been committed.
While a majority of our respondents had confidence that police would treat people with respect, less than half thought that police were good role models, or that they built good relationships with the community or with young people. However, the public still retained significant trust in the idea of “the police” as a whole – which gives me and my colleagues hope that things can improve.
The government’s efforts to reverse declining confidence in police focus on three aspects: internal reform, fighting crime and revitalising neighbourhood policing. Though all of these are important, our research suggests that the last is the most vital.
Trust in police has consequences for crime too. Research shows that people are more likely to report crime and cooperate with investigations when they feel that the police are fair and respectful.
Declining officer numbers and experience
Between 2010 and 2018, police officer numbers declined from 143,734 to 122,405 across England and Wales, an overall loss of over 21,000 officers. Since 2019, this has increased back up to 147,746 by March 2024. But it means that we now have a police workforce that is both younger and less experienced. In March 2024, more than one in three police officers had less than five years’ service.
The Home Office said that the additional £100 million in funding “reflects the scale of the challenges that many forces face” in building out their neighbourhood policing teams. This funding is to help them reach the aim of putting those extra 13,000 officers on the street by 2029.
But these new recruits will again be inexperienced, and may not have developed the appropriate social, interpersonal and problem-solving skills to ensure that standards are met in all instances. This could lead to mistakes that set public confidence and trust in policing back further.
One way to address this would be to limit the range of social problems that police are expected to respond to. Too often, the police are called upon to manage a host of social ills and vulnerable people. They are often filling gaps left by the withdrawal of other public and third sector services, such as mental health services, exacerbated by austerity.
Yet there has been little critical assessment of what problems the state is asking the police to solve, and whether the police are really the best suited to solve them. Greater clarity about the limited role of the police would help avoid raising unrealistic expectations, and focus attention on the minimum standards that people want from local policing.
Our research suggests that if police meet a minimum standard in their neighbourhood interactions with the public (the small things), then the public will be more likely to trust police to be fair and trustworthy when it comes to big and complex things like serious organised crime, counter-terrorism and violent offending.
Adam Crawford receives funding from ESRC, Centre Grant number: ES/W002248/1.
He is a member of the Police Science Council, a publicly appointed committee that is one of the Scientific Advisory Councils of the UK government, which provides independent advice to the National Police Chiefs’ Council in the UK on science, technology, analysis and research matters relevant to policing policy and operations.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jorge Valverde, PhD Fellow, Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT), United Nations University
Nickel laterite in an open pit mine. Nickel is one of the critical minerals
There’s a chance Donald Trump’s second term as US president could have a long-term negative impact on the demand for and supply of what are known as critical minerals. These include copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt and the “rare earth elements”, such as lanthanum and yttrium.
They are vital for the green energy transition, being used in electric car batteries, solar panels and wind turbines. Trump’s decision to pull out of the UN’s Paris agreement to control global warming has led to some pessimistic perspectives on this policy’s impacts.
If Trump’s move towards oil and gas is interpreted by the markets as permanent, the price incentive for new mining projects for critical minerals will fall, along with long-term supply. This could potentially threaten the green energy transition.
However, there are reasons to doubt this pessimistic scenario. Contrary to this, we believe that the new US administration policy is just a temporary shock without a significant change to the world’s energy transition trajectory. Therefore, critical mineral markets will remain buoyant in the medium and long term. This position is based on three main arguments.
1. The US holds a competitive position in critical mineral markets
There’s a generalised perception that the US depends on importing critical minerals from other countries, such as China. This is true for a handful, but, overall, America is one of the most competitive countries in producing the minerals needed for green technology.
Indeed, the US has a revealed comparative advantage in exporting a wide variety of minerals and, among them, the most critical ones.
Supplies of germanium are tightly controlled by China. RHJPhtotos
Therefore, it will be in the US’s interests to keep the lucrative critical mineral markets dynamic. Even if the US reduces its sustainability ambitions, slowing its demand for new clean technologies, it is likely to do it carefully, so as not to harm its own industries.
Indeed, we expect the US to increase its interest in developing processing industries to recover some minerals from electronic waste or intermediate stages in some manufacturing processes. These include germanium and gallium, which are tightly controlled by China (their biggest producer) but which are vital for computer chips and renewable energy technology, as well as night-vision goggles.
2. The US produces and uses only a small share of clean technologies
China and Europe drive these markets. The US does not drive either the demand or the supply for new clean technologies. On the demand side, the US only represents 10% of world electric car sales, while China and Europe account for 66% and 20% of the market respectively.
Similarly, for the world installed solar energy capacity, China represents over 43% of the market, Europe 20%, and the US only 10%. On the supply side, the US produces around 15% of the world’s electric cars, while China represents more than 50% of the market.
So the policies followed by China and Europe are likely to have a much larger impact on the energy transition than the US’s. In the likely event that these countries continue pushing forward the green transition, the cost of slowing its technological catch up for the US will be too high.
Moreover, oil producer countries of the Middle East are heavily betting for new clean technologies, which could offset the lower appetite for green assets from the US. So regardless of what Trump’s administration will decide on this matter, its influence on the market for clean technologies will be limited.
3. New tariffs could further increase some minerals’ criticality
Import tariffs imposed by Trump’s first administration to promote local production damaged US exports of those industries using imported intermediate, or partly finished, goods. In other words, international trade along global value chains has modified the textbook dynamics of protectionism, and exports are hindered – and not fostered – by import protection.
President Trump plans to impose 25% new tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico. This could increase the criticality of some minerals for the US. For example, nickel and aluminium could become even more critical to the US economy because Canada supplies almost 40% of the nickel employed by US industry, and 70% of the aluminium.
As a consequence, new tariffs could indeed increase the criticality of some minerals. Indeed, this was probably in some way behind the decisions to postpone the tariff increases and to only impose them on selected products.
The energy policies of the new American administration will have ripple effects. But these are likely to be temporary and the market in critical minerals is unlikely to be affected long term. The global transition to clean energy seems safe, for now.
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.
It may sound strange but plants can remember stress. Scientists are still learning about how plants do this without a brain. But with climate change threatening crops around the world, understanding plant stress memory could help food crops become more resilient.
Since their colonisation of the land 500 million years ago, plants have evolved ways to defend themselves against pests and disease. One of their most fascinating abilities is to “remember” stressful encounters and use this memory to defend themselves.
This phenomenon, called immune priming, is similar to how vaccines help humans build immunity but is based on different mechanisms.
Many people think of plants as nice-looking greens. Essential for clean air, yes, but simple organisms. A step change in research is shaking up the way scientists think about plants: they are far more complex and more like us than you might imagine. This blossoming field of science is too delightful to do it justice in one or two stories.
Plants are genetically resistant to the vast majority of potentially harmful microbes. However, a small number of microbes have evolved the ability to suppress innate immunity, enabling them to infect organisms and cause disease.
This is why vertebrates, including humans, have evolved a mobile immune system that relies on B and T memory cells. These memory cells are activated by exposure to a disease or vaccinations, which helps us become more resistant to recurrent infections.
Plants don’t have specialised cells to acquire immune memory. Instead, they rely on so-called “epigenetic” changes within their cells to store information about past attacks and prime their innate immune system. Once primed, plants can resist pests and diseases better – even if they were genetically susceptible to begin with.
Research over the past ten to 15 years has shown that repeated and prolonged exposure to pests or diseases can cause long-lasting epigenetic changes to plant DNA without altering the underlying sequence of the DNA. This enables plants to stay in a primed defence state.
Immune priming has been reported in different plants species, ranging from short-lived annuals, such as thale cress Arabidopsis thaliana that lives several weeks, to long-living tree species, such as Norway spruce that can live up to 400 years.
Immune priming comes at a cost for the plant though, such as reduced growth. So the primed memory is reversible and dwindles over longer periods without stress. However, depending on the strength of the stress stimulus, priming can be lifelong and even be transmitted to following generations. The stronger the stress, the longer plants remember.
Plants constantly change the activity of their genes in order to develop and adapt to their environment. Genes can be switched off over prolonged periods of time by epigenetic changes. In plants, these changes most frequently happen at transposons (also known as “jumping genes”) – pieces of DNA that can move within the genome. Transposons are usually inactive because they can cause mutations. But stress changes the epigenetic activity in the plant cell that can partially “wake them up”.
In plants that haven’t yet experienced stress, defence genes are mostly inactive to prevent unnecessary and costly immune activity. Lasting epigenetic changes to transposons after recovery from disease can prime defence genes for a faster and stronger activation upon recurrent stress. Although scientists are still uncovering exactly how this works, it is clear that epigenetic changes at these jumping genes play an essential role in helping plants adapt to threats.
Soil as a memory bank
Plants don’t only rely on internal epigenetic memory to improve their resilience against pests and diseases. They can also use their environment to store stress memory. When under attack, plants release chemicals from their roots, attracting helpful microbes that can suppress diseases. If this soil conditioning is strong enough, it can leave a long-lasting “soil legacy” that can benefit plants of the next generation. Once the soil is conditioned, these helpful microbes stay near plant roots to help the plant fight off diseases.
In some plant species, such as maize, scientists have identified the secondary metabolites driving this external stress memory. These are specialised metabolites that are not essential for the cell’s primary metabolism. They often play a role in defence or other forms of environmental signalling, such as attracting beneficial microbes or insects.
Understanding how plants store and use stress memories could revolutionise crop protection. Harnessing plants’ natural ability to cope with pests and diseases might help us reduce reliance on chemical pesticides and create crops that are better at handling environmental stresses. As we face growing challenges from human-made climate change and rising food demands, this research could offer promising tools to develop more sustainable crop protection schemes.
Jurriaan Ton receives funding from UKRI-BBSRC (BB/W015250/1)
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Following is a question by the Hon Yim Kong and a written reply by the Deputy Financial Secretary, Mr Michael Wong, in the Legislative Council today (February 19):Question: The Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises (OASES) commenced operation in December 2022, which was tasked with attracting industries of strategic importance to Hong Kong (including advanced manufacturing industries) to pursue development in Hong Kong. Some analyses have pointed out that investments in advanced manufacturing industries focus on technology and capital, and the number of jobs created is limited. There are also views that although automation and intelligentisation may reduce the number of jobs in traditional manufacturing industries, they also create jobs in technical maintenance, research and development as well as management. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:(1) how it will assess the effectiveness of OASES’ work carried out in 2023 and last year;(2) whether it has compiled statistics on the investment amount and the numbers of employees hired by the enterprises related to advanced manufacturing industries; how the Government will assess the effectiveness of the policies implemented in 2023 and last year on attracting strategic enterprises in advanced manufacturing industries covering such aspects as taxation, financing and talents, so as to ensure that the objectives of attracting investments and creating employment opportunities can be achieved; and(3) whether it has assessed if the manpower trained by local universities caters for the needs of the future development of advanced manufacturing industries; whether the Government will, in attracting the strategic enterprises concerned, implement plans to support manpower training in the light of the development needs of the enterprises, such as setting up vocational training funds and encouraging enterprises to collaborate with universities and vocational training schools to offer training courses related to advanced manufacturing industries to nurture the required talents for the enterprises?Reply:President, The Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises (OASES) is dedicated to attracting enterprises from industries of strategic importance to Hong Kong. Its work includes identifying target strategic enterprises, understanding their needs and providing customised facilitation support and one-stop services to strategic enterprises that are establishing their presence in Hong Kong. My reply to the questions raised by the Hon Yim Kong is as follows:(1) Since its commencement of operation in December 2022, OASES has reached out proactively to high-potential and representative strategic enterprises from around the globe. Despite the complicated and ever-changing economic environment in recent years, substantive progress has been achieved by OASES over the past two years. So far, 66 strategic enterprises have been brought to Hong Kong, and they are from the four strategic industries, i.e. life and health technology, artificial intelligence and data science, financial technology and advanced manufacturing and new energy technology. Among them, around 80 per cent plan to establish their global or regional headquarters in Hong Kong. It is estimated that in the coming years, they will invest about $42 billion in total and create more than 17 000 jobs. OASES also continues to follow up on the development and needs of strategic enterprises that have established their presence in Hong Kong. By assisting and accelerating the plans of strategic enterprises to use Hong Kong as their base to tap into the Mainland market or expand overseas, it would thereby speed up the diversification and transformation of Hong Kong’s industries. This would also further strengthen Hong Kong’s role as a “super connector” and “super value-adder”, and attract more overseas enterprises to use Hong Kong as a base to tap into the Mainland market, while supporting Mainland enterprises to “go global”.(2) Based on the information from OASES, amongst the 66 strategic enterprises that have established their presence in Hong Kong, 12 belong to the advanced manufacturing and new energy technology industry. They include companies with a market capitalisation/valuation of over $10 billion, and are engaging in cutting-edge technologies. The enterprises have either established or plan to establish research and development (R&D) centres and/or production bases in Hong Kong, while 75 per cent of them plan to establish international or regional headquarters in Hong Kong. OASES has closely followed up on the development and needs of these strategic enterprises, and provided them with customised facilitation support. For example, a series of matching activities with parties such as innovation and technology (I&T) parks, universities and research institutes, chambers of commerce and professional bodies were arranged to speed up their commencement of operation in Hong Kong. It is estimated that in the coming few years, the aforementioned advanced manufacturing enterprises alone will invest around $5.6 billion in Hong Kong and create more than 1 800 jobs. By establishing or expanding their operations in Hong Kong, these strategic enterprises from the advanced manufacturing sector will also attract upstream, midstream and downstream partners from their industry chains to come to Hong Kong. This would accelerate the development of the advanced manufacturing industry, and assist the upgrading and transformation of the traditional manufacturing industry, thereby building a more vibrant ecosystem for the industry and creating more high-quality job opportunities. In fact, with a view to promoting the development of new industrialisation in Hong Kong, the Government has been using various measures to encourage the manufacturing industry (including the advanced manufacturing industry) to upgrade and transform through the use of I&T. The implementation of such measures is progressing as scheduled. On tax measures, the Government offers tax concessions to enterprises engaging in R&D activities in Hong Kong. The qualifying R&D expenditures of such enterprises enjoy an enhanced tax deduction, with the first $2 million of the total expenditure eligible for a 300 per cent tax deduction, and the amount beyond $2 million eligible for a 200 per cent deduction. There is no cap on the amount of enhanced tax deduction, and it applies to all eligible enterprises. The Inland Revenue Department is still processing the tax returns and assessments for the year of assessment 2023/24 and does not further classify the relevant statistics into traditional or advanced manufacturing mode in the assessment of profits tax so is unable to provide the relevant statistics. The Government also provides funding support to further promote new industralisation. For instance, the New Industrialisation Funding Scheme (NIFS), aiming to subsidise manufacturers to set up new smart production lines in Hong Kong, targets to increase the cumulative number of smart production lines funded under the scheme to at least 130 in 2027. As at January 2025, 63 applications have been supported by the NIFS Vetting Committee (Vetting Committee), involving more than 100 production lines in total. The progress is satisfactory. Besides, the $10 billion New Industrialisation Acceleration Scheme (NIAS) was set up by the Government in September 2024 to provide funding support on a matching basis for enterprises in strategic industries including advanced manufacturing and new energy technology. The first project under NIAS was supported by the Vetting Committee in early 2025, with the total project cost estimated at around $600 million and the expected NIAS funding amount at around $200 million. With enterprises actively participating in the two funding schemes, the Government is glad to see that they are making use of I&T to achieve smart production so as to enhance competitiveness. Meanwhile, the Government is increasing investment and guiding more market capital to invest in I&T industries. For instance, it was announced in the 2024 Policy Address to set up a $10 billion I&T Industry-Oriented Fund to create a fund-of-funds and channel more market capital to invest in specified emerging and future industries of strategic importance, including areas such as advanced manufacturing, so as to systematically build an I&T ecosystem. Furthermore, the Policy Address also announced the optimisation of the Innovation and Technology Venture Fund by redeploying at most $1.5 billion to set up funds jointly with the market, on a matching basis, to invest in start-ups of strategic industries including advanced manufacturing and new energy technology, thereby strengthening the Hong Kong I&T ecosystem.(3) Post-secondary institutions in Hong Kong can flexibly offer programmes that meet market needs and to engage with relevant industry stakeholders for timely adjustment of programme content to enhance the learning experience of students. The Education Bureau has also been supporting different policy bureaux/departments in policy areas related to manpower and training needs. In order to nurture local talents, the New Industrialisation and Technology Training Programme was launched in August 2018. It subsidises local enterprises on a 2 (Government): 1 (enterprise) matching basis to train their staff in advanced technologies, especially training related to new industrialisation. OASES has all along been promoting and encouraging strategic enterprises that have established their presence in Hong Kong to consider participating in the talent training programmes launched by the Government to support talent nurturing. Meanwhile, OASES has also been promoting and encouraging these enterprises to engage with universities and research institutes to discuss potential research collaborations and matters related to talent development, so that there would be more avenues to nurture talents to meet the needs of the enterprises.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Speech by FS at Consensus Hong Kong 2025 (English only) Speech by FS at Consensus Hong Kong 2025 (English only) *******************************************************
Following is the speech by the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, at Consensus Hong Kong 2025 today (February 19): Michael (Chairman of Consensus Hong Kong, Mr Michael Lau), Sara (Chief Executive Officer of CoinDesk, Ms Sara Stratoberdha), distinguished guests, industry leaders and innovators, friends from around the world, It is my pleasure to be here at Consensus Hong Kong 2025. Let me begin by expressing my heartfelt gratitude to CoinDesk for choosing Hong Kong as the first Asian city for hosting this iconic conference. Your decision underscores Hong Kong’s growing prominence as a global hub for Web3 and crypto innovation. This event also reflects our commitment to building a thriving digital asset ecosystem. Vast potential of Web3 and AI Consensus 2025 is a congregation of Web3 talent from around the world, and its agenda reflects the most pressing topics and trends in the Web3 space today. From the convergence of AI and blockchain to the tokenisation of real-world assets (RWA), crypto and consumers, and DeFi 2.0 (decentralised finance), the discussions here are set to shape the future landscape of digital finance and the digital economy. One of the most exciting developments is, of course, the intersection of AI and blockchain, where “dencetralised AI” can unlock many new applications and opportunities. For example, AI can assist blockchain platforms in performing more accurate credit assessments, improving smart contract audits, providing tailored investment advice, and more. Globally, the application of Web3 in finance is gaining traction. Blockchain innovations not just reduce transaction costs but also enhance market transparency, and the efficiency and accessibility of financial services. Indeed, we are seeing more institutional adoption where traditional banks, asset managers and brokers increasingly integrate digital assets into their offerings. The benefits are clear. The World Economic Forum, for example, estimates that financial institutions could free up some US$100 billion per year by leveraging distributed ledger technology for collateral management. Hong Kong, with its advanced financial infrastructure and robust regulatory environment, is at the forefront of this transformation. Hong Kong has already made history by issuing the world’s first tokenised government green bonds in 2023, followed by a groundbreaking multi-currency issuance in 2024. Beyond finance, Web3 plus AI innovations are inspiring a host of applications in the real economy. From streamlining supply chain management to enhancing game players’ experience; and from improving healthcare management to making agricultural and industrial production more intelligent, they are empowering and transforming business operations and public services. Rapid tech innovation does not come without challenges. Often, the progress of innovation outpaces regulatory response, creating gaps that can lead to substantial risks. The fallout from several crypto exchanges’ failures in recent years serves as vivid reminders that we must pay attention to market integrity, investor protection, money laundering and cybersecurity risks, as financial products and services continue to innovate and digitalise. On a positive note, the history of financial innovations shows that we learnt and adapted fast, and put in better guardrails and became more resilient. The key to success lies in maintaining an open, fair, balanced and forward-looking regulatory approach that is conducive to the sustainable and responsible development of financial innovation, including Web3. Hong Kong’s unparalleled advantages This is the path taken by Hong Kong. While some major jurisdictions have recently begun to embrace cryptocurrencies, which has undoubtedly fuelled a boom of the crypto market, Hong Kong stands out as a market with consistent, predictable, forward-looking policies, and a balanced regulatory framework. For innovators and companies committed to building the future of Web3, or financial institutions looking to bridge traditional and digital finance, Hong Kong is where you want to be. Our regime is premised on the “same activity, same risk, same regulation” principle, which ensures a level playing field for all market participants. In this regard, Hong Kong has already put in place a licensing regime for digital asset trading platforms. Our Securities and Futures Commission has already issued nine such licences, with more in the pipeline. We are also advancing on the regulation of stable coins, and have introduced the relevant piece of legislation. To facilitate further innovation, regulatory sandboxes have been set up by our regulators to allow innovators to test and refine their ideas, and to get early regulatory feedback. Besides, initiatives like the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s Project Ensemble are accelerating the development of tokenisation ecosystems, covering RWAs like fixed income, investment funds, green finance and trade finance. Indeed, this pro-innovation and collaborative regulatory approach is a unique value proposition of Hong Kong to Web3 innovators and participants. AI is constantly evolving and increasingly applied to finance. Its convergence with blockchain will create more use cases, with both new opportunities to be captured, and challenges to be addressed. Hong Kong has set out a clear policy stance on the use of AI in financial services. The Government and financial regulators are working closely with the industry to monitor technology and market development and establish a transparent supervisory framework. Hong Kong’s commitment to Web3 extends beyond regulation. We are investing heavily in the related infrastructure and talent development. Our Cyberport and Science Park have become vibrant hubs for Web3 innovation and fintech, while our universities and partnerships with the industry are nurturing generations of blockchain experts. Through talent admission schemes, we are also attracting top-notch professionals from around the world, ensuring that Hong Kong remains at the cutting edge of technological advancement. Concluding remarks Ladies and gentlemen, while the tides of change may ebb and flow, the quest for innovation has never stopped. The digital asset market today may somewhat resemble the early days of all great transformative paradigms: as new frontiers emerge, there will always be champions of progress and cautious observers. What remains true is that the market ultimately rewards those who dare to innovate, and adapt and persevere. The tides of change are upon us, and Hong Kong is ready to ride the wave. As the Web3 ecosystem continues to evolve, Hong Kong will remain a stable, open and vibrant market for digital assets. I am confident that global companies and institutions will join force with us to lead its development. Once again, my heartfelt thanks to CoinDesk for hosting this event in Hong Kong. I wish you all a productive and inspiring event over the next two days. And do remember to take some time to enjoy Hong Kong, Asia’s world city. Thank you.
Ends/Wednesday, February 19, 2025Issued at HKT 12:30
In 2023 and 2024, two eclipses crossed the United States, and the NASA Science Activation program’s Eclipse Ambassadors Off the Path project invited undergraduate students and amateur astronomers to join them as “NASA Partner Eclipse Ambassadors”. This opportunity to partner with NASA, provide solar viewing glasses, and share eclipse knowledge with underserved communities off the central paths involved:
Partnering with an undergraduate/amateur astronomer Taking a 3-week cooperative course (~12 hours coursework) Engaging their communities with eclipse resources by reaching 200+ people
These Eclipse Ambassador partnerships allowed participants to grow together as they learned new tools and techniques for explaining eclipses and engaging with the public, and Eclipse Ambassadors are recognized for their commitment to public engagement. In January 2025, the Eclipse Ambassadors Off the Path project held a week-long Heliophysics Winter Field School (WFS), a culminating Heliophysics Big Year experience for nine undergraduate and graduate Eclipse Ambassadors. The WFS exposed participants to career opportunities and field experience in heliophysics, citizen science, and space physics. The program included expert lectures on space physics, aurora, citizen science, and instrumentation, as well as hands-on learning opportunities with Poker Flat Rocket Range, the Museum of the North, aurora chases, and more. Students not only learned about heliophysics, they also actively participated in citizen science data collection using a variety of instruments, as well as the Aurorasaurus citizen science project app. Interactive panels on career paths helped prepare them to pursue relevant careers. One participant, Sophia, said, “This experience has only deepened my passion for heliophysics, science communication, and community engagement.” Another participant, Feras, reflected, “Nine brilliant students from across the country joined a week-long program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ (UAF) Geophysical Institute, where we attended multiple panels on solar and space physics, spoke to Athabaskan elders on their connection to the auroras, and visited the Poker Flat Research Range to observe the stunning northern lights.” This undertaking would not have been possible without the coordination, planning, leadership of many. Principal Investigators included Vivian White (Eclipse Ambassadors, Astronomical Society of the Pacific, ASP) and Dr. Elizabeth McDonald (Aurorasaurus, NASA GSFC). Other partners included Lynda McGilvary (Geophysical Institute at UAF), Jen Arseneau (UAF), Shanil Virani (ASP), Andréa Hughes (NASA), and Lindsay Glesener (University of Minnesota), as well as knowledge holders, students, and scientists. The Eclipse Ambassadors Off the Path project is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number 80NSS22M0007 and is part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio. To learn more, visit: www.eclipseambassadors.org.
UConn’s recent first day of Metanoia discussions were so thought-provoking and popular with participants that the follow-up event will be open to all interested members of the University community, rather than through invitation only.
Professor Irshad Manji, founder and chief executive of the Moral Courage Network, visited UConn Storrs for a series of teaching and training events that began Feb. 5, including a keynote presentation livestreamed for all UConn community members.
The second day of events was postponed on Feb. 6 due to inclement weather, but will now be held Feb. 25 with two sessions of screening the film “Mississippi Turning” and interactive workshops.
Participants are asked to RSVP in advance on or before Friday through a form on the event website, which also includes a link to the recording of the Feb. 5 keynote address and more information on the five skills used in the Moral Courage method of engaging across divides.
UConn invited Manji as part of embracing its tradition of Metanoia, in which members of the University community work together to examine difficult topics in a spirit of candor, respect, and collaboration.
Manji, who is a New York Times best-selling author, works through her organization to unify people with the skills needed to communicate in a polarized world, which is among the areas of focus that prompted the University to launch its current Metanoia process.
She teaches with the Oxford Initiative for Global Ethics and Human Rights and was a prize-winning leadership professor at New York University for many years. Her latest book is “Don’t Label Me: How to Do Diversity Without Inflaming the Culture Wars.”
UConn observed its first Metanoia in 1970 and has convened more than a dozen in the years since then to examine issues of shared importance, often involving political or racial issues that have resulted in divisions on campus and throughout the nation.
This year’s Metanoia, which organizers announced in spring 2024, came out of a need for the UConn community to better foster an environment of equity, inclusion, and understanding when engaging in challenging conversations, organizers said.
Planning is currently underway for additional events and people are invited to suggest an event or program in keeping with the mission of creating pathways to productive and civil discourse.
Like other campuses nationwide, UConn has been home to a wide range of views on hotly disputed topics in recent months and years. Against that backdrop, the University Senate called for the Metanoia in spring 2024 with approval from President Radenka Maric and Provost Anne D’Alleva.
“This will be a time for the University to come together and delve deeply into important topics and concerns. It’s meant to be an intellectual spark for the entire university: for faculty, staff, and students,” Jennifer Lease Butts, one of the organizers, told the Board of Trustees in a presentation about the Metanoia.
Lease Butts, who is also director of the UConn Honors Program and is associate vice provost for enrichment programs, co-chairs the University’s Metanoia Committee with UConn President Emeritus Susan Herbst, who is also a professor of political science.
“The first Metanoia in 1970 was held during a period of great positive change in the United States, but it was also an era marked by violence, incivility, and fear,” Herbst said.
“UConn faculty and staff, who have always been outward-looking and intent on social justice, tackled those issues right here in Storrs, inspiring students – and each other – to discuss difficult issues as one community,” she added. “Let us carry on this tradition in 2025, another extraordinarily challenging year for American democracy and culture.”
The current Metanoia kicked off with a 2024 event, “Pathways to Productive Civil Discourse,” in which participants discussed ways to communicate across differences and listen with empathy, which will be underlying themes of events throughout the coming year.
The event was followed later in the day “UConn Strong: A Dialogue on Mental Health & Resilience,” a Democracy & Dialogues Initiative event hosted by the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute, in which students led a discussion on the escalating importance of mental health on UConn’s campuses.
The previous events epitomized the kind of thoughtful give-and-take that the yearlong Metanoia seeks to foster and set the tone for planning future events to take place, and Metanoia committee members say they look forward to continuing this conversation with the UConn community this semester.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Scientists comment on the expansion of the OpenSAFELY data platform.
Prof Andrew Morris, Director of HDR UK, said:
“OpenSAFELY is an excellent example of what is possible when we get health data right with the confidence of patients, the public and health professionals. Access to comprehensive GP data across all of England is a great step forward for safe and approved research. GP data offers greater breadth and depth than hospital data, providing a detailed picture of people’s health over time. Many common conditions, like arthritis, depression and back pain are mostly managed by GPs, so this data is vital for research that can improve care for millions.
“The OpenSAFELY platform is one that proved its worth during the pandemic, giving us much needed knowledge about COVID-19. It permits researchers to work with the information the data provides – while preventing them from accessing the data itself. Now by moving beyond COVID-19, researchers will be able to uncover groundbreaking insights that can improve the health and well-being of countless individuals. Significant challenges remain – the system is still evolving, with much work still to be done. But as OpenSAFELY and other initiatives show, the UK has both the skills and the will to make it work.
“The UK has long been a global leader in health data research. But to stay ahead, we must make coordinated investments in secure data infrastructure if data driven research is to power improvements in patient care, public health, NHS efficiency, clinical trials and enable medical discovery. This includes secure data sharing with flagship programmes such as Our Future Health, UK Biobank and Genomics England.”
Professor Sir Rory Collins, Principal Investigator and CEO of UK Biobank, said:
“The expansion of OpenSAFELY should be welcomed as it enhances an innovative and useful tool for health researchers working on GP data. However, the most significant leaps in scientific discovery will come from comparing many different types of data simultaneously, and at scale. For example, the 20,000 researchers who use UK Biobank can analyse over 10,000 variables on many of our 500,000 volunteers, with whole genome sequencing being just one of those.
“It is this ability to study the genetic, imaging, lifestyle, secondary and – soon – primary care data in combination that is so vital for research. That’s why we’ve seen over 14,000 peer-reviewed papers published using UK Biobank data, including developments that should lead to better diagnostics and treatments for conditions such as diabetes, dementia and heart disease.
“GP data is a critical national asset, and both researchers and patients will benefit from this expansion. The next step is adding consented GP data to larger datasets, and we at UK Biobank are delighted to be working with NHS England to add the de-identified primary care data of our 500,000 volunteers.”
Prof Sheila Bird, Honorary Professor, University of Edinburgh’s College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine; and Visiting Senior Fellow at the MRC Biostatistics Unit, University of Cambridge, University of Cambridge, said:
“Dr. (now Professor) Ben Goldacre, a physician by profession, was first to receive the Royal Statistical Society’s Award for Statistical Excellence in Journalism for his Bad Science column in the Guardian.
“Professor Goldacre, who authored the Goldacre Review in 2022 [1] is against Bad Science. But he is staunchly for properly-approved record-linkages which respect patient confidentiality: and his team at OpenSafely have worked, during SARS-CoV-2 and since, to deliver just that. The delivery is a work in progress, as the excellent video about OpenSafely makes clear. Hence, my comment is about elements of enhanced delivery.
“First, as the Royal Statistical Society has argued for since swine-flu in 2009/10, the public – and OpenSafely – need legislation to end the late registration of fact-of-death in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Only in Scotland, in our dis-United Kingdom, is fact-of-death registered, by law, within 8 days of death having been ascertained. OpenSafely for E&W urgently needs prompt and proper registration of fact-of-death which – for inquest deaths – is delayed by months or years [2].
“Second, since one of five deaths aged 5-44 years in E&W is not registered for at least 6 months [2], ending the late registration of deaths is essential if we are to learn by OpenSafely’s research how to prevent or reduce premature mortality such as deaths due to suicide or addictions.
“Third, analysts – including biostatisticians such as I – need to know in more detail about the random generators that OpenSafely uses for creating its pseudo-data, on which, as a biostatistician, I would develop and test my analysis routines. In particular, real data are often more complex in structure than statistical approximations to them in terms of their distribution (eg lognormal distribution assumed but the actual ln-data are not normally-distributed) or correlation structure. Analysts typically need to check assumptions on real data but may be writing checking-code based on approximations. For the checking-code to be incisive enough, analysts may need to understand in some detail the “random generation” processes.
“Fourthly, enhancements to OpenSafely may lead to important evolution in how some data are recorded by general practitioners. For example, when Gao et al. used record-linkage within Scotland’s safe-haven to analyse the methadone-specific death-rate and other opioid-related deaths in Scotland’s Methadone Client Cohort (2009-2015)[4], we found that the available data were quantity of methadone prescribed (not daily-dose) and reimbursement date (not prescription end-date) because those quantities were the data needed to audit the reimbursement of pharmacists[5]. By contrast, guidelines on safe prescribing of methadone are written in terms of daily-dose!
“Finally, the precautions built-into OpenSafely may mean that patients who registered objection to the use of their GP-data by care.data or the subsequent attempted grab during SARS-CoV-2 (which also failed) may wish to re-consider their objection. How does one do so?
Bird SM. Editorial: Counting the dead properly and promptly. Journal of the Royal Statistics Society Series A 2013; 176: 815 – 817.
Bird SM. End late registration of fact-of-death in England and Wales. Lancet 2015: 385: 1830 – 1831.
Bird SM. Everyone counts – so count everyone in England and Wales. Lancet 2016: 387: 25 – 26. Gao L, Robertson JR,
Bird SM. Scotland’s 2009-2015 methadone-prescription cohort: quintiles for daily-dose of prescribed methadone and risk of methadone-specific death. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 2020; accepted 12 June 2020; https://doi.org/10.1111/bcp.14432.
This was announced at an SMC Press Briefing, and was accompanied by a funding announcement from Wellcome. The embargo lifted at 11:30am on Wednesday 19th February.
Declared interests:
Prof Andrew Morris “Andrew Morris is Director of Health Data Research UK, the national institute for health data science; is Professor of Medicine and Vice Principal at the University of Edinburgh; is President of the Academy of Medical Sciences, has minority (
Prof Sir Rory Collins “I am CEO and PI of UK Biobank, which is a Charitable Company established as a Joint Venture by the MRC and Wellcome. I have been in that role since September 2005, seconded 60%FTE from the University of Oxford where I am Head of the Nuffield Department of Population Health (which, along with other research organisations globally, benefits from using the UK Biobank – without any preferential access – for health-related research that is in the public interest).”
Prof Sheila Bird “has 30-years of experience of confidential record-linkage; & leads for Royal Statistical Society on need for legislation to end late registration of fact-of-death in E&W and Northern Ireland.”
India and Nepal Deepen Science and Technology Partnership with New Agreement Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) Sign MoU to Strengthen Indo-Nepal Scientific Cooperation
Posted On: 19 FEB 2025 3:03PM by PIB Delhi
Marking a significant milestone in Science and Technology (S&T) cooperation between India and Nepal, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India, and the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) formalized a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 18th February 2025 at CSIR-National Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL), New Delhi.
The agreement, signed and exchanged by Dr. N. Kalaiselvi, Director General, CSIR, and Secretary, DSIR, and Prof. Dr. Dilip Subba, Vice-Chancellor, NAST, establishes a broad framework to promote bilateral scientific and technological collaboration.
MoU for S&T cooperation between CSIR, India and NAST, Nepal being exchanged by Dr. N. Kalaiselvi, DG CSIR and Prof. Dr. Dilip Subba, Vice-Chancellor, NAST
CSIR and NAST share a long history of cooperation, dating back to 1994, when an agreement between CSIR and then-RONAST (now NAST) was signed to promote joint research and technological development in areas of mutual interest. To execute the agreement, two Working Programmes were signed in 1997 and 2002, leading to the organization of several joint workshops and training programs that continued beyond the official period of these agreements.
The newly signed MoU seeks to rejuvenate and expand this collaboration, enhancing scientific engagement between the two institutions.
The renewed partnership under the 2025 MoU will be implemented through various collaborative activities, including the exchange of scientific information, research materials, and scientists, the organization of joint S&T seminars, workshops, and training programs, the execution of joint research projects, access to each other’s major research facilities, technology partnerships, and the twinning of institutions for capacity development. The cooperation will focus on mutually agreed areas, including biological sciences, food science and technology, water and environmental technologies, fuel and mining sciences, metallurgy, material sciences such as glass, ceramics, biomaterials, and nanotechnology, alternative energy, leather and footwear technologies, metrology, polymer sciences, and drug discovery.
The apex-level meeting held during the signing was attended by senior leadership from CSIR, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Government of India, and NAST. Discussions centred on the most effective modes of collaboration and key focus areas for joint research and development efforts. Dr. N. Kalaiselvi, DG, CSIR, emphasized CSIR’s keen interest in strengthening its technology and capacity-building partnerships with Nepal through NAST. She underscored the enormous untapped potential for collaboration in multiple sectors and stressed the importance of swiftly putting the MoU into action with a targeted implementation plan.
Vice-Chancellor of NAST, Prof. Dr. Dilip Subba, reaffirmed NAST’s commitment to this partnership, highlighting the value Nepal places on scientific cooperation with India. He noted that this MoU and the discussions held today would pave the way for a strengthened and enduring S&T relationship between the two nations. He also proposed the formation of subject-specific working groups to facilitate structured collaboration in priority areas.
With the exchange of this MoU, CSIR and NAST have reaffirmed their shared vision of leveraging scientific and technological advancements to drive progress, innovation, and economic growth. The agreement marks a new era in Indo-Nepal scientific collaboration, opening new avenues for joint research and knowledge exchange between the two countries.
India’s Space Sector Soars: From Chandrayaan-3 to Bharatiya Antariksh Station, Nation Emerges as a Global Leader in Space Exploration
India Leads Global Healthcare Innovation with DNA-Based COVID-19 Vaccine and First Herpesvirus Vaccine for Cervical Cancer
India’s Bioeconomy Booms: From $10 Billion to $140 Billion, Poised to Reach $250 Billion with Thriving Biotech Startups
India Pioneers Space Biology: Advancing Research in Space Medicine and Sustainable Life Beyond Earth
India’s Nuclear Energy Vision: 100 GW by 2047 to Drive Sustainability and Global Climate Leadership
India Rises as a Global Research Powerhouse, Poised to Lead the World in Scientific Publications by 2030
India’s Space Economy Poised for 10X Growth, Strengthening Global Leadership in Science and Bio-Manufacturing
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology; Earth Sciences and Minister of State for PMO, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Dr. Jitendra Singh has asserted that India is no longer just a follower but is now setting global benchmarks, offering leadership and pioneering innovations across sectors. He highlighted the remarkable advancements India has made in recent years, in the fields of space, biotechnology, and nuclear energy etc positioning itself as a key player on the world stage.
Dr. Jitendra Singh pointed out that India’s space sector has witnessed an unprecedented transformation, with a surge in ambitious missions and international collaborations. The Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) is a testament to India’s technological progress, paving the way for future space missions, including Gaganyaan, Chandrayaan-4, and the Bharatiya Antariksh Station, India’s upcoming international space station.
India has also emerged as a preferred destination for satellite launches, earning global credibility. The nation has successfully launched 433 foreign satellites, of which 396 were deployed in the last decade alone, generating $157 million and €260 million in revenue from 2014-2023. The historic success of Chandrayaan-3, which made India the first country to land near the Moon’s south pole, has positioned ISRO at the forefront of lunar exploration. The world’s leading space agencies, including NASA, are now awaiting India’s findings from the Moon’s southern pole, a milestone that underscores the nation’s rising dominance in space research.
The Minister also highlighted India’s pioneering role in biotechnology and bioeconomy. India became the first country to develop a DNA-based COVID-19 vaccine, demonstrating its leadership in vaccine research and development. Furthermore, India has introduced the first herpesvirus vaccine for cervical cancer, reinforcing its position as a leader in preventive healthcare.
India’s bioeconomy has surged from $10 billion in 2014 to nearly $140 billion today, with projections to reach $250 billion in the coming years. The number of biotech startups has skyrocketed from just 50 in 2014 to nearly 9,000 today, making India a global hub for biotech innovation. In bio-manufacturing, India now ranks third in the Asia-Pacific region and 12th globally, with its influence expanding rapidly.
India has also taken a bold step into space biology, laying the foundation for human survival beyond Earth. ISRO and the Department of Biotechnology have signed an MoU to advance space biotechnology research, focusing on growing plants in space to sustain long-term space missions. The study of space medicine and human physiology in extraterrestrial environments is becoming a critical area of research, and India is now setting global standards instead of just following them.
India’s nuclear energy program, once met with scepticism, is now recognized for its peaceful and sustainable ambitions. The country has set an ambitious target of 100 gigawatts of nuclear energy by 2047, aiming to reduce carbon emissions by 50%, a commitment that is influencing global climate strategies. The world has now acknowledged India’s nuclear policy, which was envisioned by Homi Bhabha for peaceful purposes, as a model for responsible energy development.
India’s scientific output is gaining global recognition, with the country now ranked fourth worldwide in scientific publications. Projections suggest that by 2030, India could surpass the United States to become the world’s top-ranked country in scientific research.
India’s space economy is set to grow 5 to 10 times in the next decade, further solidifying its leadership. The nation’s rapid economic ascent is evident in its global rankings, including its 12th position in bio-manufacturing and fourth place in scientific research publications.
Dr. Jitendra Singh concluded by emphasizing that India’s rise is no longer just about catching up but about setting the agenda for the world. “The clock has turned 360 degrees. Earlier, we learned from others; now, the world is looking up to us. The traffic is both ways,” he remarked.
India and Nepal Deepen Science and Technology Partnershipwith New Agreement Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) Sign MoU to Strengthen Indo-Nepal Scientific Cooperation
Posted On: 19 FEB 2025 3:03PM by PIB Delhi
Marking a significant milestone in Science and Technology (S&T) cooperation between India and Nepal, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India, and the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) formalized a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 18th February 2025 at CSIR-National Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL), New Delhi.
The agreement, signed and exchanged by Dr. N. Kalaiselvi, Director General, CSIR, and Secretary, DSIR, and Prof. Dr. Dilip Subba, Vice-Chancellor, NAST, establishes a broad framework to promote bilateral scientific and technological collaboration.
MoU for S&T cooperation between CSIR, India and NAST, Nepal being exchanged by Dr. N. Kalaiselvi, DG CSIR and Prof. Dr. Dilip Subba, Vice-Chancellor, NAST
CSIR and NAST share a long history of cooperation, dating back to 1994, when an agreement between CSIR and then-RONAST (now NAST) was signed to promote joint research and technological development in areas of mutual interest. To execute the agreement, two Working Programmes were signed in 1997 and 2002, leading to the organization of several joint workshops and training programs that continued beyond the official period of these agreements.
The newly signed MoU seeks to rejuvenate and expand this collaboration, enhancing scientific engagement between the two institutions.
The renewed partnership under the 2025 MoU will be implemented through various collaborative activities, including the exchange of scientific information, research materials, and scientists, the organization of joint S&T seminars, workshops, and training programs, the execution of joint research projects, access to each other’s major research facilities, technology partnerships, and the twinning of institutions for capacity development. The cooperation will focus on mutually agreed areas, including biological sciences, food science and technology, water and environmental technologies, fuel and mining sciences, metallurgy, material sciences such as glass, ceramics, biomaterials, and nanotechnology, alternative energy, leather and footwear technologies, metrology, polymer sciences, and drug discovery.
The apex-level meeting held during the signing was attended by senior leadership from CSIR, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Government of India, and NAST. Discussions centred on the most effective modes of collaboration and key focus areas for joint research and development efforts. Dr. N. Kalaiselvi, DG, CSIR, emphasized CSIR’s keen interest in strengthening its technology and capacity-building partnerships with Nepal through NAST. She underscored the enormous untapped potential for collaboration in multiple sectors and stressed the importance of swiftly putting the MoU into action with a targeted implementation plan.
Vice-Chancellor of NAST, Prof. Dr. Dilip Subba, reaffirmed NAST’s commitment to this partnership, highlighting the value Nepal places on scientific cooperation with India. He noted that this MoU and the discussions held today would pave the way for a strengthened and enduring S&T relationship between the two nations. He also proposed the formation of subject-specific working groups to facilitate structured collaboration in priority areas.
With the exchange of this MoU, CSIR and NAST have reaffirmed their shared vision of leveraging scientific and technological advancements to drive progress, innovation, and economic growth. The agreement marks a new era in Indo-Nepal scientific collaboration, opening new avenues for joint research and knowledge exchange between the two countries.
EIB Group’s fresh financing in Greece last year amounted to €2.2 billion
Focus last year on energy supply, business growth and disaster management
Latest annual results bring EIB Group support in Greece over past five years to €14.5 billion
The European Investment Bank (EIB) Group’s new financing in Greece amounted to €2.2 billion last year, with major support to bolster energy supplies, strengthen businesses and protect against environmental disasters in the country.
The total for 2024 included €2.03 billion from the EIB and portfolio guarantees of €152 million from the European Investment Fund (EIF), which focuses on innovative and technology-driven small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as Small Mid-Caps in Europe.
Top operations included loans of €390 million to natural-gas supplier DEPA Commercial to build solar parks, €150 million to power provider HEDNO to upgrade the grid, loans and guarantees of €550 million to domestic banks to expand financing for SMEs and Mid-Caps and €220 million to the government to bolster disaster management.
Kostis Hatzidakis,Minister of Finance of the Hellenic Republicnoted: “Greece’s relationship with the European Investment Bank is long-standing and strong. This was reaffirmed in 2024, with new financing reaching €2.2 billion. These funds will be used for investments in renewable energy sources, upgrades to the electricity grid, support for SMEs, and the purchase of firefighting aircraft and rescue equipment. The EIB was a valuable ally when Greece was cut off from the markets. It will remain a partner, but with a new approach. Going forward, priorities will focus on energy interconnections, research and technology, climate adaptation, and defense investments, as outlined in the EIB’s Strategic Roadmap”.
“Our work in Greece is a testament to the transformative power of strategic financing,” said EIB Vice-President Yannis Tsakiris. “In 2024, we reinforced our commitment to the country by supporting clean energy, climate resilience and critical infrastructure while strengthening SMEs, innovation, job creation and social cohesion.”
The latest annual results bring total EIB Group financing in Greece over the past five years to €14.5 billion. The yearly average in the country since 2000 is almost €2.9 billion, which reflects an unusually high sum of almost €5 billion in 2021 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The EIB Group’s support last year was almost 1% of Greece’s gross domestic product (GDP), the third-highest level among European Union countries behind only Croatia and Estonia. That means that EIB Group financing in Greece last year averaged €631 per inhabitant, making the country one of the biggest beneficiaries based on the size of the population and the economy. The funding is projected to catalyse investments in Greece of up to €6.6 billion – about 2.5% of its GDP.
Energy supply
The €390 million EIB loan to DEPA Commercial is for new photovoltaic (PV) parks in the regions of western Macedonia, Thessaly and central Greece. The sites will add approximately 800 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy – enough to power 278,000 households for a year.
Also in the area of clean energy, the EIB last year provided a €195 million loan to supplier PPC Renewables to develop 580 MW of solar plants and 175 MW of battery storage. The moves will boost renewables capacity, grid stability and energy security.
The €150 million EIB credit to HEDNO covers upgrades to Greece’s electricity-distribution network, improving grid reliability and facilitating integration of renewables.
The EIB last year also took part in the creation of an EU “Decarbonisation Fund” for Greece that will channel €1.6 billion in revenue from the European emissions-trading system into sustainable energy and development projects on Greek islands. These include grid interconnections with the mainland and the phase-out of local power plants.
Business boost
The EIB last year allocated a total €702 million to strengthen SMEs and Mid-Caps in Greece. The support – 28% of the total – took the form of intermediated loans and guarantees.
Top operations included €300 million guarantees to Eurobank and National Bank of Greece covering €600 million new loans to Mid-Caps. In addition, the EIB provided a €250 million loan to the National Bank of Greece to bolster green investments by Greek SMEs and Mid-Caps. The credit raised total EIB support for such investments in Greece to €1 billion.
The EIF also showed its agility in supporting vital investments for both debt and equity. It signed €152m with several of Greece’s financial institutions for capped portfolio guarantees. They are expected to mobilise up to €1,8bn in financing for small and medium-sized enterprises, while making the Greek economy greener, and supporting innovation and the country’s digital transition.
The EIF also signed a new €200 million equity mandate to support innovative companies in Life Sciences & Healthcare and Sustainability & Social Impact by improving their access to vital financing. Funded by Cohesion policy and national resources of the Hellenic Republic, the mandate will cover a financing gap in these sectors, supporting investments from pre-seed to growth stages based on market needs.
Disaster protection
The €220 million EIB loan last year to the Greek government is to buy fire trucks, rescue vehicles and aircraft needed to fight to natural disasters such as wildfires and floods, both of which have caused extensive damage in Greece in recent years. The credit also covers upgrades to essential disaster-management services.
The financing forms part of a European climate-adaptation plan by the EIB Group and brings its total support for Greek civil protection and disaster preparedness to €595 million.
EIB Advisory
There were also key technical assistance projects delivered from EIB Advisory, a highlight being an agreement with the Athens Water Supply and Sewerage Company (EYDAP) to back its €2 billion, 10-year investment programme to ensure the Greek capital has a more resilient water supply and supporting investments in lignite-dependent regions such as Western Macedonia and Megalopolis in the Peloponnese, facilitating their transition to a future of clean energy.
In December 2024, the continuation of advisory support by EIB advisors from the PASSA team to the Greek administration was approved. This support aims to ensure the smooth implementation of sustainable development and Just Transition projects financed by the EU.
Background information
EIB
The European Investment Bank (ElB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. Built around eight core priorities, , we finance investments that contribute to EU policy objectives by bolstering climate action and the environment, digitalisation and technological innovation, security and defence, cohesion, agriculture and bioeconomy, social infrastructure, important investments outside the EU, and the Capital Markets Union.
All projects financed by the EIB Group are in line with the Paris Climate Agreement, as pledged in our Climate Bank Roadmap. Almost 60% of the EIB Group’s annual financing supports projects directly contributing to climate change mitigation, adaptation, and a healthier environment.
Fostering market integration and mobilising investment, the Group supported a record of over €100 billion in new investment for Europe’s energy security in 2024 and mobilised €110 billion in growth capital for startups, scale-ups and European pioneers
Approximately half of the EIB’s financing within the European Union is directed towards cohesion regions, where per capita income is lower than the EU average.
The independent committee provides advice to the Department for Transport (DfT) on the transport needs of disabled people – particularly on ministerial policy priorities and areas they think need urgent attention.
Their works helps DfT stand by its ambition to ensure transport is accessible for all, including keeping it at the heart of bus and rail reform, as well as the establishment of the Passenger Standards Authority.
Local Transport Minister, Simon Lightwood, said:
We are clear in our ambition to have an inclusive transport network so disabled people can travel easily confidently and with dignity. DPTAC has a key role in ensuring we develop policy that delivers this.
This unique committee has membership with broad understanding of the barriers faced by disabled people and it ensures those issues are understood right from the start of policy development.
The new members of DPTAC are:
Damian Joseph Bridgeman – prominent leader in public policy, disability advocacy, and corporate governance
Mark Cutter – Chair of Northern’s Accessibility User Group (NAUG) and the Rail Accessibility and Inclusion Forum for the North (RAIFN)
Carly Danesh Jones – autism advocate who has previously held advisory roles with Heathrow Airport and East Midlands Rail
Mary Doyle – coach who advises multinational companies on inclusivity and accessibility policy
Paul Finnegan – Chief Executive of suicide prevention charity Lighthouse
Dr Miro Griffiths – disability scholar at the University of Leeds
Prof Mari Martiskainen – Professor of Energy and Society at Science Policy Research Unit within the University of Sussex
Rachael Mole – consultant and advisor within accessibility and people management
Ruth Murran – english and drama teacher with life-long experience of global travel
Maral Nozratzadeh – postgraduate researcher at the University of Leeds School of Law
David Sindall – previously Head of Disability and Inclusion for the Association of Train Operating Companies for 12 years
Zamila Skingsley– former Cabinet Office Director
Edward Trewhella – Chief Executive at Driving Mobility
DPTAC has helped to inform DfT’s work to improve transport accessibility, including the Access For All programme which has made over 260 train stations accessible, as well as the Aviation Accessibility Task and Finish Group that was launched by DfT in November 2024.
It has also helped inform bus and coach policy, including the Public Service Vehicles (Accessible Information) Regulations 2023 that require operators of local bus and coach services to provide information on the route, direction of travel and each upcoming stop.
DPTAC chair, Matthew Campbell-Hill, said:
I am delighted to welcome our new DPTAC members, who bring a wealth of diverse experiences and expertise.
Their insights will be invaluable as we work together to remove barriers and improve accessibility across our transport network. By harnessing this collective knowledge, we can drive meaningful change and ensure that transport truly works for everyone.
Existing member Sue Sharp, the former Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Society for Blind Children, has also been appointed the group’s Deputy Chair.
Those appointed to DPTAC serve terms of 2 to 3 years.
Under the Transport Act 1985, DPTAC’s membership should have between 10 and 20 members, excluding its chair. These appointments bring DPTACs membership to a total of 17.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
A study published in The Lancet Public Health looks at life expectancy changes across 20 European countries from 1990-2020.
Prof Jennifer Dowd, Professor of Demography and Population Health, University of Oxford, said:
Does the press release accurately reflect the science?
“While accurate overall, the press release at times oversimplifies and overstates the conclusions of the paper, including the press release title: “We are no longer living longer.” The paper looks at mortality trends from 1990-2021 and finds slowing improvements in life expectancy in the decade prior to COVID–but improvements still mean we are living longer. Life expectancy declined due to COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021, but this is likely a temporary shock and doesn’t mean we will die sooner than our parents and grandparents, as implied. The press release also states that food, physical activity, and obesity are largely to blame for these trends, but this overstates what we can confidently say about these causes.”
Is this good quality research? Are the conclusions backed up by solid data?
“This is good quality research, especially in the standard estimation of life expectancy trends and the causes of death contributing to these trends. The part of the analysis that tries to attribute slower mortality improvements to specific risk factors such as cholesterol, hypertension, and “dietary risks” is on shakier ground. The estimates used for this part of the analysis were based on different data and analysis that are not discussed in detail here. The estimation of how risk factors such as diet causally impact mortality is methodologically very challenging, and there is a lot of uncertainty about any single estimate. In addition, the population-representative data on the prevalence and trends of these risk factors across all the countries is not readily available. Putting these two sources of uncertainty together means it is very difficult to attribute country-level life expectancy trends to specific risk factors with high confidence. The “under the hood” part of how these estimates are produced is largely glossed over in the paper, but they are presented as established facts.”
How does this work fit with the existing evidence?
Have the authors accounted for confounders? Are there important limitations to be aware of?
“The portion of the paper attributing life expectancy changes to specific risk factors like diet and physical activity is based on other analyses that are highly vulnerable to bias due to confounding. The conclusions for this portion of the analysis should be tempered.”
What are the implications in the real world? Is there any overspeculation?
“We are seeing slowdowns in life expectancy improvements after decades of often rapid gains. But even slow improvements mean we are living longer on average. Slowing improvements may be a warning sign of things to come, so we need to continue tracking these trends. This paper makes strong statements about the specific risk factors responsible for slowing life expectancy improvements, including obesity, high cholesterol, and “occupational risks.” While these risk factors are no doubt important for health, we can’t say with certainty how each one contributes to these trends.”
How confident can we be as to the causes of the decline in life expectancy in England?
“The reported decline in life expectancy in England was only during COVID. Prior to that there were slower improvements in life expectancy compared to the previous period and compared to other countries. There is not broad agreement on the cause of these slowdowns, as it is difficult to directly test mechanisms such as austerity cuts. We have good evidence that the slower improvements were largely attributable to slowing improvements in cardiovascular disease, as well as some increases in external cause mortality such as drug deaths at younger ages and midlife. For more thorough examinations, please see paper here and here.”
Could these trends be potentially linked to current state of NHS/ waiting lists? Also could the use of weight-loss drugs potentially help reverse this trend if they tackle rising obesity rates?
“Challenges with the NHS are one potential contributor to mortality trends in England, but the size of their contribution is not well established. These trends likely reflect much longer-term trends in risk factors such as obesity that accumulate over time. Since the obesity epidemic is now many decades old, more people are entering midlife and older age having been obese for a long time, which could be contributing to these trends. There is cautious optimism that the new GLP-1 class of diabetes and weight-loss drugs could be a game-changer for treating obesity have some long-term benefits for life expectancy, though more evidence is needed to confirm this.”
Dr Yize Wan, NIHR Clinical Lecturer in Intensive Care Medicine & Anaesthesia, William Harvey Research Institute (WHRI), Queen Mary University London (QMUL), said:
“The reasons for these findings are complex and likely to be a combination of both individual risk factors from health behaviours and the need to improve access and delivery of healthcare systems. This study has highlighted the importance of addressing modifiable risk factors and preventing and not just treating long-term disease. It would be important to see if these trends are seen across the whole population or whether people from more socioeconomically deprived or different ethnic backgrounds are disproportionally affected. Particularly as we know that socioeconomically and ethnically disadvantaged population groups are more likely to be exposed to common risk factors such as poor diet and low physical activity as well as have more limited access to healthcare.”
Prof Tom Sanders, Professor emeritus of Nutrition and Dietetics, King’s College London (KCL), said:
“This is a useful analysis of changes in life expectancy across Europe since 2011 compared with the period 1990-2011. Prior to this life expectancy had increased by about 11 years compared with 1960s for a variety of reasons particularly better control of high blood pressure, blood pressure and immunisation against flu as well as lifestyle changes (smoking cessation and better diet) including increased prosperity. This study shows overall across the 20 countries there was an improvement in life expectancy increased from 1990 up to 2011 by on average 0.23 years but this rate of improvement slowed to 0.15 years between 2011 and 2019. The UK, France and Germany showed bigger declines in life-expectancy compared to the Nordic countries.
“It is important to recognise that the demographics of the European population have changed markedly in some countries such as the UK, France and Germany because of increased migration compared to Nordic countries. In the UK, the population growth had been due to migration often from countries where life expectancy is much lower.
“The authors attribute the small decline in life-expectancy to increasing prevalence of obesity particularly in younger and middle-aged adults. While, obesity is likely to contribute to decreased life expectancy in future generations, the prevalence was not particularly high in the older generation, who accounted for most of the deaths in the period 2011-2019.”
‘Changing life expectancy in European countries 1990–2021: a subanalysis of causes and risk factors from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021’by Nicholas Steel et al. was published in The Lancet Public Health at 23:30 UK time Tuesday 18th February 2025.
DOI: 10.1016/S2468-2667(25)00009-X
Declared interests
Dr Yize Wan: I have no declarations of interest.
Prof Jennifer Dowd: No conflicts.
For all other experts, no reply to our request for DOIs was received.
Source: United States of America – Federal Government Departments (video statements)
Watch live with NASA as Firefly Aerospace prepares to land their Blue Ghost craft on the Moon for the first time.
Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander is slated to touch down near Mare Crisium, on the near side of the Moon, no earlier than 3:45 a.m. EST (0845 UTC) on Sunday, March 2. Live coverage, jointly hosted by NASA and Firefly, begins at 2:30 a.m. EST (0730 UTC).
Blue Ghost Mission 1 is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, which is sending science and technology to the lunar surface in preparation for NASA’s Artemis campaign, which will establish a long-term presence at the Moon. Blue Ghost is sending10 experiments and demonstrations to provide insights into the Moon’s environment and support future astronauts on the Moon and Mars.
More info: https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-sets-coverage-of-fireflys-first-robotic-commercial-moon-landing/
The Board of Directors gives notice of the annual general meeting for NNIT A/S, company registration (CVR) no. 21 09 31 06 (the “Company”), to be held Thursday, March 13, 2025, 2:00 pm (CET) at Novo Holdings A/S, Tuborg Havnevej 19, DK-2900 Hellerup.
The general meeting will for shareholders be webcasted live on the Company’s investor portal. It is not possible to vote or ask questions via webcast.
The notice for the annual general meeting, including Appendix A: Candidates for (re-)election to the Board of Directors, is attached.
Media Relations Sofie Mand Steffens Senior Communications Consultant Tel: +45 3077 8337 smst@nnit.com
ABOUT NNIT
NNIT is a leading provider of IT solutions to life sciences internationally, and to the public and private sectors in Denmark.
We focus on high complexity industries and thrive in environments where regulatory demands and complexity are high.
We advise on and build sustainable digital solutions that work for the patients, citizens, employees, end users or customers.
We strive to build unmatched excellence in the industries we serve, and we use our domain expertise to represent a business first approach – strongly supported by a selection of partner technologies, but always driven by business needs rather than technology.
NNIT consists of group company NNIT A/S, subsidiaries in Region Europe, Asia and US and subsidiary SCALES in Region Denmark. Together, these companies employ more than 1,700 people in Europe, Asia and USA.
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Speech by the Forensic Science Regulator to the delegates at the 2024 Forensic Science Regulator conference.
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Full responses to the 32 questions raised by delegates.
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LONDON, Feb. 19, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — WTW (NASDAQ: WTW), a leading global advisory, broking, and solutions company, announced today a new scientific partnership with Cornell University to quantify the risks of severe and sustained drought worldwide. This collaboration will provide an in-depth view of global exposure to drought risks and the potential effects of water shortages on business operations.
Around two-thirds of the global population live in places that encounter water stress for at least part of the year. When water supplies are further diminished by drought, many communities experience reduced agricultural yield, energy production, and slower economic growth. The adverse effects of drought are more serious in low-income and middle-income countries and are particularly disruptive to agriculture-dominated areas of the developing world.
Climate change has already increased drought risks in many regions, but unfortunately even the latest generation of climate models still underestimate the potential severity, duration, and correlation of future droughts. Under this new initiative, WTW and Cornell University will collaborate to identify geographical ‘hotspots’ for climate-amplified drought, produce more accurate estimates of drought risk, and create new tools and datasets to anticipate single and multi-year drought. At Cornell, the research is supported by the Atkinson Center for Sustainability and led by Prof. Toby Ault, a leading global expert in future drought under climate change.
Scott St. George, Head of Weather & Climate Research for the WTW Research Network, said, “Water is essential to all industries, so no one can afford to have drought take them by surprise. We know climate change has already supercharged droughts in some places — witness the ongoing drought in the American Southwest, now in its third decade. Prof. Ault and his team at Cornell will provide us with a clear view of the real risk of drought and water scarcity. Those insights are absolutely critical for our clients’ operations and planning in water-dependent sectors such as food and beverage, energy producers, and waterborne transport.”
“We’re excited to work with WTW to translate cutting-edge climate science into actionable insights for the insurance industry,” said Prof. Toby Ault, Associate Professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell University. “Our research has shown that traditional climate models often underestimate the risk of severe, prolonged droughts, particularly in regions already facing water stress. By combining our expertise in drought modeling with WTW’s industry knowledge, we can better prepare for the complex drought risks of the future.”
About Cornell University Cornell University is an Ivy League and statutory land-grant research university located in Ithaca, New York. Founded in 1865, Cornell is consistently ranked among the world’s leading academic institutions, with strengths in atmospheric sciences, engineering, and environmental research. The university’s Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences is internationally recognized for its leadership work in climate science, drought research, and applied climatology.
About WTW
At WTW (NASDAQ: WTW), we provide data-driven, insight-led solutions in the areas of people, risk and capital. Leveraging the global view and local expertise of our colleagues serving 140 countries and markets, we help organizations sharpen their strategy, enhance organizational resilience, motivate their workforce and maximize performance.
Working shoulder to shoulder with our clients, we uncover opportunities for sustainable success—and provide perspective that moves you. Learn more at wtwco.com.
Recent breakthroughs in long-acting medicines can revolutionize the HIV response, making possible an end to AIDS-related deaths and to new HIV infections.
As science advances, how can we overcome barriers to access and scale these innovations to ensure a future free from AIDS?
Speakers: Peter Sands, Winnie Byanyima, Helen E. Clark
The 55th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum will provide a crucial space to focus on the fundamental principles driving trust, including transparency, consistency and accountability.
This Annual Meeting will welcome over 100 governments, all major international organizations, 1000 Forum’s Partners, as well as civil society leaders, experts, youth representatives, social entrepreneurs, and news outlets.
The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. We believe that progress happens by bringing together people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to make positive change.
World Economic Forum Website ► http://www.weforum.org/
Facebook ► https://www.facebook.com/worldeconomicforum/
YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/wef
Instagram ► https://www.instagram.com/worldeconomicforum/
X ► https://twitter.com/wef
LinkedIn ► https://www.linkedin.com/company/world-economic-forum
TikTok ► https://www.tiktok.com/@worldeconomicforum
Flipboard ► https://flipboard.com/@WEF
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
A paper published in Nature Medicine looks at the contribution of genetic and lifestyle factors to risk of premature death, ageing, and age-related diseases.
Prof Felicity Gavins, Professor of Pharmacology at Brunel University of London, and Royal Society Wolfson Fellow, said:
“This is an exciting study. The fact that most of the risk factors identified are modifiable highlights an enormous opportunity for prevention. By addressing social inequalities, promoting healthy behaviours and reducing harmful exposures, we can really make a meaningful difference in reducing age-related diseases and premature mortality.
“However, some caution is needed. This is an observational study, so further research is needed to confirm causal relationships, especially before any long-term policy changes are made. Furthermore, targeted interventions will be essential to translating these findings into real-world impact.”
Dr Stephen Burgess, Group Leader at the MRC Biostatistics Unit, University of Cambridge, said:
“This is a large and detailed investigation into the predictors of major causes of mortality in a UK-based population. It provides further demonstration supporting previous research that, in the majority of cases, our genes do not determine our future. There are exceptions, including rare conditions that are caused by a single genetic variation. But for the majority of conditions that Western people die from, disease risk is more strongly attributable to modifiable risk factors and our wider environment, as shaped by our upbringing and choices. Genetics can load the dice, but it is up to us how we play our hand.
“A limitation of the work is that it does not highlight particular risk factors, nor can it make specific causal claims about what would happen if we changed our risk factors and environment.”
Prof Frances Flinter, Emeritus Professor of Clinical Genetics, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust; and Member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, said:
“This is a very impressive, thorough and detailed analysis of a vast amount of genetic and non-genetic data from the UK Biobank. The authors compare the relative contributions to ageing and premature mortality of genetic susceptibility markers (polygenic risk scores) and environmental factors, which they refer to as the ‘exposome’ (including alcohol, diet, smoking, housing, type of heating, weight in childhood etc).
“Overall, polygenic risk scores (PRS) for twenty-two major diseases explained less than 2% of additional variation in mortality, whereas the exposome explained 17%. In particular, the exposome explained a greater proportion of the variation than polygenic risk scores for the incidence of disease of the lung, heart and liver, whereas polygenic risk scores explained a greater proportion of the variation than the exposome for dementia and breast, prostate and colorectal cancers.
“The risk of premature mortality was lower in Black, Asian and ethnicities other than white, even after adjustment for socio-demographic deprivation factors, which is currently unexplained.
“With so much focus on genetic determinism these days, it is good to be reminded of the significance of environmental contributions to health, particularly as the risk factors are known and many can be modified.”
Prof Ilaria Bellantuono, Professor in Musculoskeletal Ageing; and Co-Director of The Healthy Lifespan Institute, University of Sheffield, said:
“This important study comprehensively confirms what smaller studies have suggested: multiple socioeconomic and environmental factors significantly influence the risk of developing age-related diseases. More critically, it highlights that health is shaped by multiple interacting factors. This has important policy implications, meaning that policies targeting only one or two of these factors will have limited impact on extending healthspan. The findings support the need for an integrated, multi-faceted approach to prevention and to identify the most influential domains for intervention (smoking, socioeconomic status and deprivation, physical activity, sleep and mental and physical wellness including tiredness, as well as early life exposures including height and body size at 10 years and maternal smoking around birth).
“The study is rigorously conducted and transparently acknowledges its limitations, which are inevitable in research of this nature.”
Dr Julian Mutz, King’s Prize Research Fellow at the Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, King’s College London, said:
“The study by Argentieri, van Duijn, and colleagues sought to tease apart the relative contributions of environmental exposures (termed the “exposome”) and genetic risk on biological ageing and premature mortality.
“The authors analysed data from the UK Biobank, a unique resource with a wealth of information on sociodemographic characteristics, health records, genetics and biomarker data from half a million UK residents.
“They employed a complex analytical design to identify environmental exposures that were independently associated with biological ageing (defined using a proteomic ageing clock that they developed in a previous high-profile study) and mortality, while minimising the risk of reverse causation, confounding and correlation between exposures. The approach is elegant, though certain assumptions warrant caution. For example, the finding that many exposures independently associated with mortality (e.g., diet or mental health) were not associated with the proteomic ageing clock (or had an association in the opposite direction) does not necessarily mean that these exposures do not impact ageing biology.
“Key findings from the study were that a higher income, Asian or Black ethnic background, higher levels of physical activity and living with a partner were associated with lower mortality risk and a protein-predicted age younger than chronological age. Smoking, living in council housing (reflecting socio-economic status) and the frequency of feeling tired were associated with higher mortality risk and a protein-predicted age older than chronological age.
“Each of the 25 independent exposures that the authors identified was associated with incident diseases and ageing biomarkers.
“To investigate the relative contribution of the environmental exposures compared to genetics, the authors calculated polygenic scores for 22 diseases. Polygenic scores aggregate the small effects of many common genetic variants to estimate an individual’s predisposition to specific traits or diseases. However, there are several caveats to this approach: first, polygenic scores only capture part of the genetic risk; and second, many environmental exposures also have a genetic component. The broad headline of the press release that “environmental factors affect health and ageing more than our genes” should be viewed in light of these limitations.
“One of the most interesting findings from this study is the comparison of the contributions of chronological age and sex (both non-modifiable risk factors), environmental exposures and polygenic scores across several disease endpoints. For example, for certain diseases (e.g., dementia), genetics appears to be more important.
“A key implication of the study is that there is a broad range of modifiable risk factors that could be targeted to reduce the risk of premature mortality and age-related disease. How successful this will be remains to be seen. We already know much about the health-promoting effects of lifestyle interventions, such as physical activity and smoking cessation, but a significant intention–behaviour gap remains.
“The authors have, for the most part, carefully highlighted that the observed associations may not be causal.”
Prof Kevin McConway, Emeritus Professor of Applied Statistics, Open University, said:
“This new study involves a large dataset, using data from almost half a million participants in the UK Biobank, data on 164 different environmental exposures (using ‘exposure’ in the broad epidemiologists’ sense, from smoking and intake of various foods, to how plump they were at age 10, to their ethnicity) and (for some of them) genetic and blood measures too. It’s big data, and the researchers use some big-data methods.
“The aim was to quantify the contributions of environmental exposures and genetics to aging and premature mortality, taking into account many aspects of people’s environment rather than concentrating on a few risk factors determined in advance.
“The results are interesting, and I think they do support the researchers’ view that we can learn more by looking at many environmental exposures together rather than trying to pick them off one (or a few) at a time. However, there are some important limitations (as the researchers make clear).
“It would be easy to dismiss this new research by saying that all they have really found is that, if you want to be healthy in old age, you need to give up smoking, do some exercise and not be poor, and we already knew that. But that’s not (in my view) the important finding at all. The important finding is that you get more by looking at more aspects of the environment, if you have enough good data to do that – but that needs careful statistical analysis, including aspects that this study could not do itself. However I think there are good reasons not to pay too much attention to the exact numerical results in the paper, for reasons I’ll come to.
“This is an observational study – the UK Biobank researchers did not choose how the participants acted, but only observed and recorded what they said and did. Like all observational studies, the findings are about correlations and associations, not about cause and effect. The statistical methods used by the researchers can’t determine whether the associations between exposures and ill health and mortality, that they observed, are there because the exposures cause the ill health and mortality. They might, or they might not.
“The way the researchers filtered out exposures that might have showed up as associated with ill health only because they were correlated with other exposures, or because the exposure was actually caused by ill health (reverse causation, as it’s called), does to some extent make it a bit more likely that the associations they mainly report on are ones of cause and effect – but they certainly can’t confirm that they are cause and effect. The researchers say, in their conclusion, that their results indicate that interventions based on environmental exposures are possibly (my emphasis) the best starting point for improving age-related health, but they add that “future causal modelling [that is, research that specifically looks at cause and effect, which uses different methodology] will be needed to study specific exposures of interest.”
“In view of these issues about cause, it’s unfortunate that the press release uses a lot of language that implies the associations are indeed reflecting cause and effect. They talk about the impact of environmental factors on mortality and aging. If something isn’t causing the ill health, ‘impact’ is the wrong word – if you change a factor that is correlated with ill health but doesn’t cause it, you won’t change the level of ill health.
“And when the release says that environmental factors explained 17% of the variation in risk of death, compared to less than 2% for genetic predisposition, this is presenting a misleading picture of what is reported in the research paper. The paper talks about additional mortality variation (in addition to the variation explained by age and biological sex, which are the most important factors, unsurprisingly, along with smoking). And in this context, statisticians are using ‘variation explained’ to mean something statistically technical that has nothing direct to do with cause and effect, even though it sounds as if it does.
“There are other important limitations. The UK Biobank population isn’t typical of the general UK population. And the exposures were all measured at only one time point, when people first entered the UK Biobank study. Therefore, even though the UK Biobank is a major study that goes on through time, these findings can’t, for instance, look at the impact on ill health if someone gives up smoking, or becomes wealthier, or changes what they eat. The researchers emphasise the importance of studying what leads to ill health across the life course, not just at one or a few time points, but like most studies using UK Biobank data, they could not actually do that in this study, beyond looking at some things that participants said about their childhood when they entered the study.
“There is no implication that the 25 independent environmental factors that were identified in this research are the most important environmental factors, or the only important ones. The filtering process that removed factors that might have been correlated to strongly with other factors, or might have been liable to reverse causation, may have removed some that were in fact important to health. (I’m not saying that they should not have been removed, in the light of the overall aims of this study – just that removing them could have led to something being missed.)
“And obviously the researchers could only take into account environmental exposures that were recorded in the UK Biobank data, and that’s not everything. The early life exposures, mentioned in the press release and the paper as being important, were actually recorded alongside all the others when people entered the study, so based on what they recalled, and not actually followed up over time.
“Ideally in a study like that using a big and complicated data set, researchers would model the data statistically using just part of the data set, and then check with the rest of the data set whether the findings hold and are not just a statistical fluke. These researchers did that, splitting the data on English UK Biobank participants into two and checking the results from one half on the other half, and then checking several aspects of the statistical modelling by validating the results on data from UK Biobank participants in Scotland and Wales. That’s good, but not ideal, because the Scottish and Welsh participants are likely to be too similar to the English participants to give an independent enough validation.
“It’s interesting that the research paper says that they sought to validate the findings using a different study based in Rotterdam, which would have been much better than the Scottish and Welsh UK Biobank data. But they could not do that because the Rotterdam study did not have enough recorded environmental exposures that matched those in the UK Biobank. They point out that this is likely to be a more widespread problem, because there’s no standard way across different studies of this kind to choose which exposures to record, or how to define them.
“I have to say that I personally wouldn’t pay too much attention to any of the exact figures on associations that are given in the paper. That’s partly because of the limitations I’ve mentioned (and the researchers give more limitations in the paper). But it’s mainly because the data set is big and complicated, and the statistical methods used involved many stages and are complicated. The researchers had to make a long series of choices on which data to analyse and how to analyse it. Another team of researchers would not have made the same choices in each case. That doesn’t mean that this team is wrong and another team would be right – just that there often isn’t a clear best choice to be made. And other choices would have led to different findings, in terms of the detailed numbers at least.
“Statisticians sometimes refer to the series of choices of how to analyse a data set, not entirely seriously, as ‘researcher degrees of freedom’. This study has a lot of researcher degrees of freedom. The researchers did check out some of their choices by carrying out sensitivity analyses, but that doesn’t get near to dealing with every choice they had to make. If time and money were no object, it would be very interesting to see what a different research team made of the same data – but in the real world, that’s not going to happen.
“One final point about the press release. It says that 23 of the 25 independent environmental factors, identified in the research as contributing to the association between environmental exposure and ill health, ‘are modifiable’. The research paper says only that they are potentially modifiable. This sounds like a nit-pick, and maybe it is – but look at the factors (in Figure 2d in the paper, which shows the 25 along with age and biological sex). Smoking is modifiable, even if it can be hard for individuals to make that modification. But for some of the others it’s not easy to see what the modification might be. How do you modify things so that you are living with a partner, if you currently aren’t? (Living with a partner is associated with better health.) How do you modify how often you feel fed up, or how often you feel unenthusiastic? These potential modifications could maybe be done, but saying they are ‘modifiable’ is too much of a simplification. And it’s certainly important to understand that modifying some of them would be possible only by changes in society – it’s not just a question of individuals choosing what to do. (It also bears repeating that this study, because of the issues about cause and effect, can’t actually tell us with any certainty whether modifying these facts would actually change health anyway.)”
Dr Divyangana Rakesh, Lecturer and Researcher in the Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, said:
“This study makes clear just how much our environment shapes aging and mortality, and it is not surprising that environmental risk often outweighs genetic risk. The authors used a rigorous approach to show that while genetics play a role in specific diseases, our environment – from socioeconomic status to lifestyle factors – shapes overall health trajectories in powerful ways. We see this in developmental research as well, where environmental factors, including socioeconomic status and deprivation, play a crucial role in shaping children’s outcomes. Findings like these reinforce the urgent need to address environmental determinants of health if we want to support healthy development and aging for everyone.”
Prof Joyce Harper, Head of the Reproductive Science and Society Group, UCL Institute for Women’s Health, UCL, said:
“This extensive study systematically examined environmental factors linked to aging using data from the UK Biobank. The researchers conducted an exposome-wide analysis of all-cause mortality in a cohort of 492,567 individuals and investigated how these exposures influenced a proteomic age clock. Their findings identified 25 independent environmental factors associated with both mortality risk and proteomic aging.
“It is so great to see this brilliant study from Oxford Population Health. In today’s society, so many are trying to get a quick fix to improve health and longevity, but this study and others are showing the importance of our lifestyle and environment on healthy aging. It is the first study to show how the combined effect of individual exposures affects us through the life course. I hope people are listening.”
‘Integrating the environmental and genetic architectures of aging and mortality’ byM. Austin Argentieriet al.was published in Nature Medicine at 10.00am UK time on Wednesday 19 February 2025.
DOI: 10.1038/s41591-024-03483-9
Declared interests
Prof Felicity Gavins: “No conflicts.”
Prof Frances Flinter: “No CoI.”
Prof Ilaria Bellantuono: “I am funded by the Michael J Fox Foundation, Dunhill Medical Trust. I co-lead UkAgeNet (https://ukagenet.co.uk/ ) and I am co-director of the Healthy Lifespan Institute.”
Dr Julian Mutz: “I report no conflicts.”
Prof Kevin McConway: “Previously a Trustee of the SMC and a member of its Advisory Committee.”
Dr Divyangana Rakesh: “I have no conflicts of interest to declare.”
Prof Joyce Harper: “No conflicts. I am writing a book on health and happiness over 50 but I do not think that conflicts.”
For all other experts, no reply to our request for DOIs was received.
New Materials and Methods for Hydrogen Transportation and Storage: Repurposing the Economic Future of the North Sea (MHYSTIC) will see existing energy asset and skills used to develop a suite of innovations that will boost the UK’s hydrogen distribution network.A project that will help establish a sustainable distribution network of hydrogen in Scotland and across the UK has got underway at the University of Aberdeen.
Led by a team of researchers at the University of Aberdeen with expertise in chemical, mechanical and materials engineering along with economic analysis for field applications in geological settings, the MHYSTIC project is one of 10 selected by the UK-HyRES Flexible Fund to advance hydrogen and alternative liquid fuels technologies.
The projects represent a broad spectrum of groundbreaking research, each aligned with the mission to accelerate the UK’s hydrogen transition and drive impactful scientific innovation. Collectively, nearly £3 million in funding has been awarded, enabling pioneering studies across multiple institutions and disciplines.
New Materials and Methods for Hydrogen Transportation and Storage: Repurposing the Economic Future of the North Sea (MHYSTIC) will see existing energy asset and skills used to develop a suite of innovations that will boost the UK’s hydrogen distribution network.
With support from international collaborators at the Lithuanian Energy Institute, industry partners including Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group, ABL Group, the European Marine Energy Centre, the Net Zero Technology Centre, John Lawrie Group, Statera Energy and Dräger Ltd will also play a crucial role in developing and disseminating outputs from the project.
The characterisation methods and models will reveal detailed mechanisms of H2 adsorption and material failure at a granular level, which will result in stepwise advances in knowledge with high academic impact and will help implement hydrogen economies in Scotland and the UK.” Project lead Dr Alfonso Martinez-Felipe
“MHYSTIC is one of the only 10 projects funded in this first round of applications and will have research, commercial and societal impacts by transferring its innovations to productive actors involved in the project,” explained project lead Dr Alfonso Martinez-Felipe from the University’s School of Engineering.
“The characterisation methods and models will reveal detailed mechanisms of H2 adsorption and material failure at a granular level, which will result in stepwise advances in knowledge with high academic impact and will help implement hydrogen economies in Scotland and the UK.”
Dr Martinez-Felipe is joined by colleagues Dr Amin Sharifi, Dr M. Amir Siddiq, Dr Marcin Kapitaniak and Dr Mehmet Kartal, all from the School of Engineering; and Professor John Underhill, Director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Energy Transition at the University of Aberdeen.
“Being the smallest molecule, hydrogen is prone to leakage. It also embrittles steel,” said Professor Underhill. “Consequently, it’s essential to find new materials for hydrogen’s safe and secure storage and transportation if it is to play a role in the energy transition, something this research will address.”
UK-HyRES aims to define and tackle the research challenges blocking the wider use of low carbon fuels in the UK – funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). The project is expected to run for 2.5 years.
Researchers from the Institute of Automation at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have revealed the intrinsic relationship between the topological structure of human brain cortex connections and genetic characteristics, according to a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience. Fan Lingzhong, a researcher at the institute, explained that neural networks operate as human think, learn, or perceive the world, with trillions of connections enabling rapid information transfer. The study addresses a fundamental question: How do these intricate connections form, and why do distinct brain regions exhibit such orderly distribution across the cortex? “The brain begins following a genetic ‘blueprint’ during embryonic development,” Fan noted. Researchers proposed a hypothesis: genetic encoding and cortical connectivity are not directly correlated due to the vast numerical disparity between genes and neural connections. Instead, genes likely guide the spatial organization of white matter fiber tracts through efficient organizational principles, forming specific embedded patterns in the cortex, said Li Deying, the paper’s lead author and a doctoral student at the institute. By analyzing comprehensive datasets, the team identified three dominant topological axes governing brain connectivity: dorsal-ventral, anterior-posterior, and medial-lateral. These axes not only reflect patterns of cortical connections but also closely align with embryonic morphogenetic and genetic gradients during development, Li said. A key finding of the study, Fan emphasized, is the definition of a “global connectivity topology” across the entire brain, which shows significant correspondence with gene expression. This suggests that genes influence complex neural wiring through simplified rules, implying the brain’s organization follows an invisible rule shaped by genetics.
A Long March-2C carrier rocket carrying a new astronomical satellite named Einstein Probe (EP) blasts off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, Jan. 9, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua] China’s Einstein Probe (EP) astronomical satellite has captured an X-ray flash from a rare and elusive binary star system, offering new insights into the interaction and evolution of massive stars. The research, a collaboration between Chinese and international scientists, was published in the latest issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters. The binary system consists of a large, hot star 12 times the mass of the Sun, and a compact white dwarf with a mass similar to that of the Sun but only the size of the Earth. Only a handful of such systems have been identified, and this is the first time scientists have tracked the X-ray light from the pair as it flared up and then faded. On May 27, 2024, the Wide-field X-ray Telescope (WXT) onboard the EP satellite detected X-rays from the Small Magellanic Cloud, a neighboring galaxy. To trace the source, identified as EP J0052, scientists used EP’s Follow-up X-ray Telescope (FXT) and also enlisted NASA’s Swift and NICER X-ray telescopes, as well as the European Space Agency (ESA)’s XMM-Newton telescope. Data analysis revealed the source to be a rare and intriguing celestial pair. “We realized that we were looking at something unusual, that only EP could catch. This is because, among current telescopes monitoring the X-ray sky, WXT is the only one that can see lower energy X-rays with sufficient sensitivity to catch the novel source,” says Alessio Marino, a researcher at the Institute of Space Sciences in Spain, and lead author of the study. “The unusual duo consists of a massive star that we call a ‘Be star,’ weighting 12 times the Sun, and a stellar ‘corpse’ known as a white dwarf, a compact and hyper-dense object, with a mass similar to that of our star,” explains Marino. The two stars orbit closely, with the white dwarf’s strong gravitational field pulling material from its companion. This process eventually leads to a catastrophic nuclear explosion, creating a bright flash across multiple wavelengths, including visible light, UV and X-rays. According to the scientists, the two stars’ interaction began with the larger star exhausting its nuclear fuel, shedding material onto its companion. As the Be star grew to 12 times the mass of the Sun, the remaining core of the other star collapsed into a white dwarf. Now, the white dwarf is pulling material from the Be star’s outer layers. “This study gives us new insights into a rarely observed phase of stellar evolution, which is the result of a complex exchange of material that must have happened among the two stars,” said Ashley Chrimes, an X-ray astronomer at ESA. “It’s fascinating to see how an interacting pair of massive stars can produce such an intriguing outcome.” Erik Kuulkers, ESA project scientist for EP, noted that outbursts from Be-white dwarf systems are extraordinarily difficult to observe. “The advent of EP offers the unique chance to spot these fleeting sources and test our understanding of how massive stars evolve.” The EP mission is one of a series of space science missions led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It is also an international collaboration mission with contributions from the ESA, the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany, and the French space agency CNES. Launched on Jan. 9, 2024, from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province, southwest China, the EP satellite carries two scientific instruments: the WXT, which provides a wide view of the X-ray sky, and the FXT, which allows for detailed observation of transient sources detected by the WXT. EP is an international collaborative mission, and its science team comprises about 300 researchers worldwide. The recent publication of the first paper led by scientists from the ESA member states based on EP data highlights the project’s openness and collaborative spirit in scientific research, said Yuan Weimin, EP’s principal investigator. “We hope that the EP satellite will continue to provide invaluable observational datasets for the worldwide astronomical community, driving advancements in humanity’s understanding of the ever-changing universe,” he added.
A Chinese research team has developed a chemical sand-fixation material suitable for use in cold desert regions, which is expected to serve as a new tool for sand control and desertification prevention in such areas. The application of chemical materials to stabilize shifting sands is one of the primary methods of desertification control. This approach involves the use of adhesive chemical substances to bind loose sand particles together, thereby mitigating encroachment by wind-blown sand. However, conventional chemical sand-fixation materials have been mainly designed for hot and arid regions. In colder, high-altitude or high-latitude desert regions, such as the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau and the Mongolian Plateau, which are located in northwest, southwest and north China, cooler temperatures often render traditional methods of sand control ineffective. Researchers from the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources (NIEER), under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, modified cellulose acetate-based waterborne polyurethane sand-fixing agents by incorporating glycerol triglycidyl ether and glycerin to enhance frost resistance. Notably, cellulose acetate can be produced from the cellulose extracted from crop straw. Experiments have demonstrated that this novel frost-resistant sand-fixation agent exhibits excellent degradability, with the primary volatile substances released during thermal degradation being water vapor, ammonia and carbon dioxide — ensuring no environmental pollution. In addition, under low-temperature conditions of minus 20 degrees Celsius, the consolidation strength of this sand-fixation agent remains stable, a critical feature necessary for high-altitude and high-latitude desert regions. Field applications in Gonghe County, northwest China’s Qinghai Province, have proven that this agent not only effectively stabilizes shifting sands but also promotes plant growth, thus providing robust support for ecological restoration in desert areas. “The environmental conditions in cold desert regions are extremely harsh. Sand-fixation materials must not only possess strong low-temperature resistance but also exhibit excellent oxygen permeability and hydrophilic antifreeze properties — all without hindering the germination of plant seeds,” said Liu Benli, a researcher from the NIEER. Industrialization of this scientific research achievement will also promote the development of the environmentally friendly sand-fixation materials industry, Liu added.
Chinese researchers have developed the world’s first comprehensive database for energy grasses, a step that could support sustainable agriculture and advance renewable energy efforts, China Science and Technology Daily reported Wednesday. Energy grasses are a group of plants known for their rapid growth, high productivity and adaptability. They can be used to produce biomass fuels, pulp, cellulose, and chemicals, and they can also help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve soil quality. Researchers from Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University created the Energy Grass Database, integrating multi-omics datasets from 11 energy grasses. The platform encompasses genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics and phenomics data to support functional genomic research across diverse energy grass species. Lin Zhanxi, a professor at the university, said the database offers a multifunctional platform for both scientific exploration and practical research, helping to foster sustainable agriculture and renewable energy development.
The National Natural Science Foundation of China has accepted a 500-million-yuan (about 69.7 million U.S. dollars) donation to fund basic research led by young PhD researchers. The donation will focus on supporting women grantees as well as those from western regions and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. According to Dou Xiankang, head of the foundation, the voluntary donation was made by Chinese tech giant Tencent, which owns the all-in-one social media app WeChat. The grant responds to the nation’s call for bolstering fundamental research. Dou said the two sides would work together to further strengthen talent cultivation, project funding, and international cooperation, setting an example to attract more high-tech enterprises and social resources to scientific research. The foundation is a major source of China’s scientific research funding, providing competitive grants to scientists committed to basic research. In recent years, it has explored more avenues to ensure the long-term development of scientific funding.