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Category: Universities

  • MIL-Evening Report: Babe at 30: why this much-loved film is one of the best cinematic translations of a children’s book

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kiera Vaclavik, Professor of Children’s Literature & Childhood Culture, Queen Mary University of London

    This spring, Babe is returning to cinemas to mark the 30th anniversary of its release in 1995. The much-loved family film tells the deceptively simple but emotionally powerful story of a piglet who saves his bacon through intelligence, kindness and hard work.

    Babe becomes the trusted ally of both farmer and farmyard animals and, like so many Hollywood heroes before and since, he refuses to stay in his lane.

    It’s a film which, on paper, really shouldn’t work and which sounds alarm bells to any self-respecting children’s literature scholar like me. It takes an expertly crafted English children’s book with tasteful black-and-white illustrations – Dick King-Smith’s The Sheep Pig (1983) – and turns it into an all-singing, all-dancing technicolour extravaganza.

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    The film inserts new episodes and characters – an evil cat, a plucky duck and (most alarmingly) a brace of brattish kids. And it replaces a perfectly good, does-what-it-says-on-the-tin book title with the cutesy moniker of the piglet star.

    It shouldn’t work … but it really, really does. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that it’s one of the most successful film adaptations of a children’s book of all time.

    It met with both commercial and critical success, making over US$254 million at the box office and being nominated for no less than seven Academy Awards, one of which it secured for visual effects.

    So, what exactly is so special about Babe? It was one of the first films which, thanks to the then-cutting edge combination of animatronics and visual effects, delivered convincing talking animals who, endowed with the gift of speech, could themselves “look like movie stars”. But with all the jaw-dropping technological advances of the last 30 years, how has this film managed to stand the test of time so well?

    The answer in part is that its source material is exceptionally strong. The Sheep Pig is written with restraint and economy, but also great warmth and relish. King-Smith has immense fun, wallowing in words like the proverbial pig in muck, and putting it all to the service of a story whose core values are easy to get behind. The Sheep Pig is a soft-power parable which advocates for brains over brawn, for respectful communication and common decency.

    But the excellence of a film’s bookish bedrock is no guarantee of success. Indeed, the brilliance of a book can often be something of a liability. Think of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, or any of the film and TV adaptations of Noel Streatfeild’s superb Ballet Shoes. With Babe, though, the book is catalyst rather than straitjacket, an enabling prompt which initiates a new work of equal strength and quality.

    The pacing is well judged, the look of the film lush, and there are several actual laugh-out-loud moments – including the duck’s panicked realisation that “Christmas means carnage!” Above all, it’s a film with immense emotional intelligence and power.

    Recognised for its visual effects, it also succeeds in large part because of the strength of its soundscape and score. There’s one scene in particular which really soars, and which takes on the elephant in the room: the human habit of eating pigs.

    Babe is so shocked and upset on learning this fact from the evil cat (who else?) that he loses the will not just to win in the sheepdog trial, but to live at all. The supremely taciturn Father Hoggett must act to make amends and save his pig protégé.

    In an astonishingly moving act of love, this man of few words takes the sickly and sick-at-heart pig onto his lap and sings to him. At first a gentle crooning, the farmer’s expression of care and affection soon swells to an out-and-out bellow, accompanied by a wild, caution-to-the-wind dance.

    It’s difficult to imagine a more lyrically apt song than the 1977 reggae-inflected hit based on the powerful tune of Camille Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3 in C Minor: “If I had words”, it begins. It’s a moment of huge emotional force and intensity, in which the gaping abyss of age and species difference are bridged through music and dance.

    James Cromwell as Farmer Hoggett, here and throughout the film, is tremendous, his reserved performance a key factor in its success. The role – which he almost didn’t take because of the paucity of lines – was career-defining, and prompted personal epiphanies which flow naturally from this scene.

    First, Cromwell never ate meat again. Second, he has spoken (with visible emotion) of the delivery of the film’s final pithy-but-powerful line of approbation – “That’ll do pig, that’ll do” – as a moment of communion with his father on catching sight of his own artificially aged reflection in the camera lens. “My life changed, and I owe it to a pig,” the actor concludes.

    Babe is a film and an adaptation with many qualities. It’s wholesome without ever being sickly. But above all, it has an emotional force which worked on actors and audiences alike and which, 30 years later, remains undiminished.

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

    – ref. Babe at 30: why this much-loved film is one of the best cinematic translations of a children’s book – https://theconversation.com/babe-at-30-why-this-much-loved-film-is-one-of-the-best-cinematic-translations-of-a-childrens-book-253290

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: What these new landing barges can tell us about China’s plans to invade Taiwan

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Heaslip, Senior Lecturer in Naval History, University of Portsmouth

    How the Shuqiao barges may be used to ferry troops ashore. X (formerly Twitter)

    China’s intentions when it comes to Taiwan have been at the centre of intense discussion for years. Both mainland China and Taiwan claim to represent the “real” China after the Kuomintang nationalist party under Chiang Kai Shek retreated across the Taiwan Strait and established the Republic of China there in 1949. Ever since then, mainland China – the People’s Republic – has maintained a claim over Taiwan.

    But in recent years, Chinese leaders – including the current president, Xi Jinping – have talked of plans for “reunification” which would bring Taiwan and its population of 23 million under the control of Beijing. By force if necessary.

    Now, the recent appearance of a handful of odd-looking barges at a beach in Guangdong province in the People’s Republic may be a significant movement towards that unwelcome potential outcome.

    The Shuiqiao barges filmed in March 2025 working together to form a relocatable bridge – the name means “water bridge” – enable the transfer of vehicles, supplies and people between ship and shore, over shallow beaches and potential obstacles on to firm ground. Analysts have already pointed out that there is no obvious commercial role for such large vessels, so the most likely purpose is for landing armed forces during amphibious operations.

    All major navies maintain some form of amphibious capability. The UK’s Royal Fleet Auxiliary, for example, operates the UK’s three bay class landing ships, which are due to be replaced by six modern multi-role strike ships. What is particularly significant, however, is that the Shuiqiao offers capabilities along similar lines to the Mulberry harbours built for the D-Day Normandy landings.

    The specialised nature of these landing barges, with only one real purpose – to help land large numbers of military forces, stands in contrast with mainstream amphibious vessels. Bay class ships, for example, continue to be used for civilian evacuations, humanitarian aid, disaster relief and a wide range of military roles.

    That is a crucial distinction as amphibious operations present huge logistical challenges. D-Day required 850,000 troops, 485,000 tons of supplies and 153,000 vehicles to be landed safely over the first three weeks. Ports tend to be difficult to seize intact, as was demonstrated to great cost during the 1942 raid on Dieppe, so it is generally necessary to land armies over the invasion beaches.

    The ability to install temporary harbours, which is what the Shuiqiao bridges appear to provide, offers a means of quickly landing large forces from bigger ships to shore. That also reduces the number of specialised landing ships required, by enabling the use of commercial vessels for ferrying troops to those makeshift ports.

    Is an invasion of Taiwan imminent?

    What is of concern is that such specialised landing barges are not normally constructed until shortly before they are intended to be used. The Mulberry harbours went into production only a year before the Normandy landings. This is both to ensure they are in good working order when required, but also as they tend to offer little additional value and yet come at a significant price. In this present case, the nearest comparable civilian and military vessels cost hundreds of millions of dollars each.

    This does not mean that their appearance guarantees that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan is imminent. At present there are reported to be three completed prototype landing barges ready for deployment and three under construction. This would offer one or two beach bridges, each an estimated 820 metres long.

    That would be of minimal value in a major invasion. The single US Navy Jlots modular floating pier in Gaza, for example, was only able to land 8,800 tonnes of aid in 20 days. While the Gaza effort was affected by bad weather, any Shuiqiao landing bridges would face much more dangerous wartime conditions. Three to six barges could also still plausibly be intended for disaster relief, even if does not seem a particularly cost-effective means of delivering aid.

    How the US Jlot floating pier works.

    But if the number of these barges continues to increase then the assumption must be that a major amphibious expedition is likely within the next decade. Historically, neither the UK, US or any other major power has maintained more than a handful of such highly specialised landing vessels, except for when they intended to use them. In the case of these barges the target may not necessarily be Taiwan – although it would be the most obvious target.

    Assuming that an invasion does not trigger a world war, it might still be unsuccessful. Despite years of preparation and near complete control of the sea and skies, the Normandy landings were incredibly perilous and at times looked at risk of defeat. Success came at great cost in lives, through great skill, and at times a little luck. More than 4,400 allied soldiers are believed to have died within the first 24 hours alone, with many more wounded.

    Furthermore, getting forces ashore is only part of the challenge. Taiwan’s geography is not suited to rapid movement inland and in similar historic cases that has led to significant additional casualties and delays.

    The battle of Anzio during the 1944 invasion of Italy, for example, registered tens of thousands of casualties as the allies struggled to break out of the beachhead. Likewise, at Gallipoli in 1915, repeated failures to move inland saw allied forces suffer hundreds of thousands of casualties only to eventually withdraw.

    As a historian who is fond of China, I can only hope that these prototypes will remain just that and this will join the list of other forgotten moments in world history. If not, then the conflicts we have seen since the cold war and even those of the past few years may look minor in comparison to what could be unleashed as a result of an invasion of Taiwan.

    Matthew Heaslip is a Visiting Fellow at the Royal Navy’s Strategic Studies Centre.

    – ref. What these new landing barges can tell us about China’s plans to invade Taiwan – https://theconversation.com/what-these-new-landing-barges-can-tell-us-about-chinas-plans-to-invade-taiwan-253044

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Durbin Questions Witnesses During Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing On Nationwide Injunctions

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin
    April 02, 2025
    Durbin questioned witnesses about the legal ramifications of President Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship, his attacks on law firms
    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today questioned witnesses during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing entitled “Rule by District Judges II: Exploring Legislative Solutions to the Bipartisan Problem of Universal Injunctions.” Durbin first questioned Samuel Bray, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame Law School, about birthright citizenship. President Trump’s executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship was blocked earlier this year. 
    “One judge, a Ronald Reagan appointee, said that efforts by the Administration are blatantly unconstitutional. If you accept the normal process which you described to us, how should that case (birthright citizenship) be handled if we’ve done away with the universal application of decisions?” Durbin asked.
    Professor Bray responded that the judge blocking President Trump’s executive order is exactly how the “courts are supposed to work. The courts are going to decide the cases. In every single one, the courts will say there’s birthright citizenship under the Constitution [and] that [there] will not actually be a disagreement between the circuit courts and there won’t even need to be a decision from the Supreme Court.”
    Durbin responded, “But assume the alternative—that there is a federal judge in some state who says, ‘I think the President is right. I believe birthright citizenship is unconstitutional.’ So you have a case in controversary, and it affects only the cases filed in that [circuit]?”
    Professor Bray responded that if that scenario happens and the circuit courts are split, the case will go up to the Supreme Court. He continued, saying that “just because one branch goes beyond its constitutional bounds, doesn’t mean the judiciary should go beyond its [constitutional bounds].”
    “In light of individuals personally affected by this [birthright citizenship executive order]—pregnant women, as an example—we just have to let the process play out, is that what you suggest?” Durbin asked to both Professor Bray and Professor Stephen Vladeck, a law professor at Georgetown University Law Center.
    Professor Vladeck responded, “I think it’s worth underscoring the human consequences… because if it takes three years for that circuit split to get to the Supreme Court, you’re going to have three years where, in large parts of the country, children born to undocumented parents will not be citizens. Some of those children could be subjected to removal by the United States on the ground that they are not citizens.”
    Video of Durbin’s first round of questions in Committee is available here.
    Audio of Durbin’s first round of questions in Committee is available here.
    Footage of Durbin’s first round of questions in Committee is available here for TV Stations.
    Durbin then asked Jesse Panuccio, a partner at Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, about President Trump’s attacks on law firms. Over the past month, President Trump has issued executive orders attacking a number of law firms because they dared to employ attorneys who were involved in litigation or represented clients that President Trump didn’t like.
    “What is the impact of those executive orders on the targeted firms?” Durbin asked.
    Mr. Panuccio responded that Durbin would “have to ask those law firms what the impact has been,” despite working at a law firm himself.
    “What message do you think these executive orders send to the legal community more broadly?” Durbin asked.
    Despite working within the legal community, Mr. Panuccio again responded, “I think you’d have to ask the legal community more broadly.”
    “I’m asking you—you’re with a law firm and it’s not unreasonable to ask you—has it come up in conversation the last two weeks among your colleagues?” Durbin asked.
    Mr. Panuccio responded that he wasn’t invited before the Committee to testify on this topic.
    Durbin posed the same question to Professor Vladeck.
    Professor Vladeck responded that when the executive branch is openly threatening law firms that criticize the Administration, it threatens the separation of powers.
    Video of Durbin’s second round of questions in Committee is available here.
    Audio of Durbin’s second round of questions in Committee is available here.
    Footage of Durbin’s second round of questions in Committee is available here for TV Stations.
    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Kugler, Inflation Expectations and Monetary Policymaking

    Source: US State of New York Federal Reserve

    Thank you, Alan, and thank you to the Griswold and Julis-Rabinowitz Centers for the opportunity to speak to you today.1 As someone who has worked in both the public sector and academia, I applaud the common purpose of both centers in connecting researchers, policymakers, and the private sector to pursue policy ideas that serve the public good.

    To that end, I can think of few individuals who have done more—as a teacher, researcher, government official, and public figure—than Alan Blinder. That includes educating the public about economic policymaking. In the spring of 2022, as many wondered whether Russia’s war on Ukraine would add to the factors then driving up inflation, Professor Blinder wrote in the Wall Street Journal that a more important factor would probably be the public’s expectations of future inflation.2
    As I will relate in these remarks, he was, of course, absolutely correct. As in the past, inflation expectations have played a crucial role in the course of inflation since the spring of 2022, and I expect they will be important in the Federal Reserve’s ongoing effort to achieve sustained inflation of 2 percent. For that reason, I would like to focus on inflation expectations today, before discussing my outlook for the U.S. economy and the implications for appropriate monetary policy. First, I will describe inflation expectations within the conceptual framework that many economists use to connect inflation to broader economic activity, known as the Phillips curve. Second, I will discuss the central importance of the stability of these expectations, which we have come to call the “anchoring” of inflation expectations. Third, I will explain how firms and households form their inflation expectations and how these expectations affect their economic decisionmaking. Throughout, I will make some references to historical experiences with inflation but focus on the period since the pandemic.
    Economists have long recognized the connection between inflation and overall macroeconomic conditions, but it was in trying to explain this empirical relationship and measure it with some precision that the importance of inflation expectations was revealed.
    The foundation of this work was laid by New Zealand economist A.W. Phillips, a fascinating figure who was, among other things, a mechanical genius who built an early economic model operated by hydraulics rather than electronics. In contemplating the mechanics of the economy, in 1958 Phillips set about to explain why nominal wage growth was slower when unemployment was high and faster when unemployment was low. His and other subsequent research showed that a crucial factor was the utilization of resources, such as labor and capital.3 Generally, when firms use labor and capital very intensively, production costs tend to rise, and firms have more scope to pass those cost increases along in the form of higher prices for their products and services, which, in turn, may push up inflation across the economy. In contrast, when that level of utilization is low, costs tend to rise more slowly (or even fall), and firms have less scope for raising prices, thus pushing down inflation. This tradeoff has been called the Phillips curve.
    In this simple form, this tradeoff implies that governments can achieve and maintain very low unemployment only if they allow inflation to rise to a certain level. In the latter 1960s, Milton Friedman and Edmund Phelps asserted that this orderly tradeoff was only temporary and would ultimately break down because of the role of expectations and, in particular, inflation expectations.4 To use an example, while current production costs are important to a factory owner setting prices, that owner will also consider future production costs, future levels of demand, and expectations for inflation throughout the economy. Likewise, workers will factor expectations of future economic conditions into their pay demands, and banks will consider future inflation in deciding loan rates. Consumers, whose purchases constitute some two-thirds of economic activity, make decisions about whether to purchase something today with an idea of what it will cost in the future. All these decisions are influenced by expectations, and this is the way in which expectations may shape inflation now. In turn, when we think about the Phillips curve and its tradeoff nowadays, we account for the important role of expectations of different individuals throughout the economy.
    There are different measures of inflation expectations, some from surveys polling business owners, others asking consumers, and yet others estimating expectations among bond investors based on the differences in yields between nominal and inflation-indexed securities. While most of my points apply broadly to all measures of expectations, my examples come mostly from surveys of consumers and businesses. While there are questions, which I will address, about how well these surveys measure inflation expectations, I closely monitor them because they complement market-based indicators of future inflation that are affected by dynamics intrinsic to financial markets, such as changes in risk premiums.
    Let me note that, in addition to the way expectations of future inflation influence prices in the near term, there are economic mechanisms that link current inflation with past inflation, such as those that set wages and the terms of rental contracts. In these cases, adjustments in these terms are often benchmarked on past inflation, as, for instance, when workers and landlords aim to recoup losses from increases in general prices. To cite one example, as the economy reopened after the pandemic, workers sought higher wages to compensate for the early wave of inflation in food and core goods, thus further pushing up inflation, especially in the services sector, where labor accounts for the largest share of this sector’s costs.5 And, because rental agreements typically last for 12 months or more, landlords faced a lag in adjusting rents to reflect the escalation of inflation after the pandemic and sought to recoup those losses when renewing leases.
    By looking at price changes this way, in a rearview mirror, some decisionmakers in the economy end up making inflation more persistent. That is important to me as an economic policymaker who must pay attention to both expectations of future inflation and the persistence of current inflation.
    When we speak of expectations of future inflation, it is crucial to define the time horizon, and different surveys conducted by the Federal Reserve and others ask about inflation from 1 year to as many as 10 years in the future. Surveys with a shorter horizon, such as the University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers’ question on inflation 1 year ahead, shown in figure 1, are heavily influenced by current inflation. Near-term inflation expectations tend to be more volatile, moving up when, for example, energy prices increase, or down when energy or some other volatile set of prices decreases. These expectations are important because many economic decisions, such as major consumer purchases and hiring and investment for firms, focus on horizons of only a few years ahead.
    By contrast, inflation expectations over longer horizons, such as the Michigan survey’s question on inflation during the next 5 to 10 years (the red line in figure 1), say less about current conditions than about the trend for inflation for some time in the future. You can think about these longer-term expectations as much less affected by the forces that push inflation up or down in the short term, what economists call “shocks.” Longer-term inflation expectations tend to be less volatile, affected less, for example, by what oil or food prices have done lately than by the stability of inflation over years or decades.
    I mention these different time horizons because they matter in my job as a central banker. Expectations a year from now reflect short-term shocks to the economy, as well as ongoing efforts from monetary policymakers to bring the economy back to its longer-run state. Thus, while short-term expectations may indicate whether inflation is expected to move toward its target, they are not the best gauge of monetary policy credibility. Longer-term inflation expectations, however, should be much less influenced by short-term shocks to the economy, and a change in those expectations has implications for the Federal Reserve’s prospects for meeting its price-stability goal.
    When these longer-term expectations are reasonably low and unresponsive to shorter-term developments, we say they are “anchored.” It is not clear who first defined the term, but Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke in 2007 gave a speech on inflation expectations in which he described “anchored” expectations as “relatively insensitive to incoming data.”6
    So how should we think about the process of anchoring and de-anchoring of inflation expectations? The dynamics of short- and long-term inflation expectations shed light on this issue. If the public experiences a spell of inflation higher than their shorter-run expectations, they will revise up these shorter-term expectations to ensure that their near-term plans account for the change in the economic environment. That’s what happened after the pandemic, when inflation based on personal consumption expenditures (PCE) rose to a peak of 7.2 percent and one-year expectations rose to more than 5 percent. But longer-term inflation expectations remained anchored, with values within the range seen since 1995. I would contrast this experience with the United States’ previous bout of high inflation from the 1970s to the early 1980s. Among other issues, such as high energy prices and accommodative monetary policy, rising inflation and inflation expectations fed a cycle of escalating inflationary pressures.7 Inflation was high and very volatile over this period, and that is reflected in shorter and longer-term inflation expectations that were high and volatile, too.
    Another important difference between these two episodes has to do with the performance of the Federal Reserve. As opposed to the late 1960s and most of the 1970s, most recently the Fed acted aggressively to tighten monetary policy, raising the federal funds rate more rapidly than in previous tightenings and lowering inflation more quickly than ever before. This came after 30 years of success in keeping inflation in check, and the credibility earned by the Fed’s inflation discipline surely helped keep longer-term expectations stable. This shows that an important role of the central bank is to convince the public, through actions and communications, about its intention to shape economic conditions and to use its policy tools to bring inflation to its target.8 By committing to keep inflation low in the future, central banks seek to influence expectations of future inflation, which, in turn, influence conditions now and over time. The Fed’s credibility in keeping inflation low and stable, won over decades, kept longer-term inflation expectations stable, and that contributed significantly to the Fed’s success in reducing inflation while keeping the labor market strong.
    Those are some of the basics about inflation expectations and how they influence the economy and the conduct of monetary policy. Next, I want to note some of the patterns we see in survey measures of inflation expectations, what influences expectations, and how inflation expectations are used by the public in their decisionmaking. Fortunately, there is a rich body of economic research that has shed light on these questions, and I will focus on the evidence for households and firms.9 We can then take some lessons from these empirical patterns for monetary policymaking.
    One important observation is that both short- and long-term inflation expectations are often notably higher than actual inflation, even after a period of very low inflation. There is evidence that survey respondents often believe the inflation they have experienced is higher than it is. Another pattern is that there is a wide dispersion of views about both shorter and longer-term inflation expectations, reflecting, at least in part, the dispersion of inflation in the consumer baskets of goods and services purchased by different people. Research also finds that some groups, such as women and lower-income households, tend to have systematically higher inflation expectations. In addition to this variation in expectations, there is high uncertainty in forecasts of future inflation. When people are asked to assign probabilities to different forecasts for inflation, surveys report wide distributions in the likelihood of one outcome or another. Finally, short-term inflation expectations tend to be correlated with both recently realized inflation and perceptions about recent inflation.10
    These patterns tell policymakers that inflation expectations of households and firms are diffuse and likely harder to influence through monetary policy relative to financial market participants and professional forecasters who follow the news more closely. Still, expectations from business owners and workers ultimately inform firms’ pricing decisions and costs and, thus, may even be more relevant for inflation outcomes; therefore, it is important for policymakers to communicate clearly with the public our intentions to bring inflation back to our target.11
    So, because inflation expectations are diffuse and heavily influenced by recent experience, let’s consider the reasons for the dispersion in these expectations. Unsurprisingly, it starts with the considerable variation in the sources that the public uses to collect information about inflation. Households report that their main source of information is their own shopping experiences, making regular purchases such as groceries and gasoline, and the price changes in those goods and services are what affect inflation expectations the most.12 Also, it seems that inflation expectations of homeowners tend to respond to changes in mortgage rates because homeowners have more of an incentive to track changes in rates that might affect, for example, their prospects for loan refinancing.13 Another important source of information is energy bills, with evidence also pointing to households’ inflation expectations being more sensitive to energy prices when inflation is higher.14 More generally, consumers and firms seem to pay more attention to news related to inflation when inflation is high, and this has been found for many countries.15
    While the unique experiences of survey respondents matter, this evidence points to inflation expectations being dependent on the state of the economy. Thus, we policymakers should account for different economic conditions when assessing the risks of a de-anchoring of inflation expectations. For instance, with fresh memories of the post-pandemic inflation and with recent surges in prices of some food items regularly purchased, inflation expectations of workers and firms may now be more sensitive to anticipated future price increases relative to the pre-pandemic period.
    Let me now turn to how households and businesses employ their inflation expectations in their economic decisionmaking, with much of the evidence consistent with what one would expect based on long-standing economic theory. Starting with households, in addition to any influence on wages from past inflation, expectations of future inflation help shape demands for pay raises. Workers care about their inflation-adjusted wages, rather than nominal wages, and (as shown in figure 2) we see a positive correlation between inflation expectations from consumers and wage growth, with a close co-movement during the recent inflationary bout. A complementary decision for the worker is to look for a new job that pays more, especially if the person envisions a low probability of getting a raise in the current job or if the raise will likely not fully cover losses in real incomes from inflation. Indeed, measures of general wage growth are more sluggish relative to those of job switchers. Moreover, researchers also find evidence of higher job-to-job transitions for workers who have higher inflation expectations.16 So inflation expectations of workers are an important influence on nominal wage growth and an important indicator of inflationary pressures for us policymakers.
    Now let’s consider how these expectations influence firms’ decisions. As I discussed in the context of the Phillips curve, firms with higher inflation expectations would be expected to increase prices more, and, indeed, researchers find causal evidence for this.17 During the recent period of high inflation, the fact that business owners’ short-term expectations about costs or input prices rose only modestly and soon returned to levels close to 2 percent just suggests that firms’ inflation expectations were not a strong source of inflationary pressures (as seen in figure 3). Still, researchers at the Richmond Fed also found that during this period, business leaders incorporated more information about aggregate inflation measures in their own pricing decisions compared with times before the pandemic inflation surge.18 While researchers also find that business leaders paid less attention to inflation as it came down, this evidence points to the inflation expectations of businesses being sensitive to underlying inflationary dynamics, and monetary policymakers should remain attentive to this.
    Now let me turn to the recent developments in inflation expectations, the current U.S. economic outlook, and the implications for monetary policy.
    In recent months, we have seen several measures of inflation expectations increase, with both consumers and businesses reporting new and proposed tariffs as an important reason. Among surveys looking one year ahead, there have been notable increases for surveys by the University of Michigan, the Conference Board survey of consumers, the Atlanta Fed’s survey of businesses, the Philadelphia Fed’s Survey of Professional Forecasters, and the New York Fed’s consumer survey. For instance, last Friday’s release of longer-term inflation expectations from the Michigan survey was the highest since February 1993. Additionally, the recent spike in short-term inflation expectations appears to be mostly “anticipatory,” as one can infer from the divergence between falling inflation perceptions—what consumers think price increases have been in the past year—and climbing short-run inflation expectations, both data from the Michigan survey. This anticipatory nature of the recent increase in short-run expectations may allow for price pressures through a second channel: Businesses may feel a greater ability to pass along higher costs to consumers when they come from external factors out of the control of these businesses. Indeed, firms are already reporting not only higher costs, but also expectations of higher costs, according to some surveys, such as the one conducted by the Atlanta Fed, along with other manufacturing surveys. For now, I take some comfort from the much smaller increases in longer-term expectations as measured by the Philadelphia Fed’s Survey of Professional Forecasters, as well as the stability of longer-term measures of what we call inflation compensation, which is based on yields from nominal and inflation-indexed Treasury securities.
    As in past episodes when inflation expectations increased, uncertainty about future inflation seems to have also gone up, as measured by the disagreement between the 75th and 25th percentiles of the distribution of individual respondents to the Michigan survey. Simultaneously, in recent months, we have also seen measures of economic policy uncertainty increase (seen in figure 4), and there is evidence that policy uncertainty and inflation uncertainty correlate over time.19 One possibility is that policy uncertainty may be contributing to a rise in inflation expectations as well as to uncertainty about future inflation. Still, it is hard to say at this point, and I will keep monitoring these developments.
    Let me turn from developments on expected inflation to realized inflation. After the substantial decline in inflation from its peak in 2022, recent disinflation has been slower, and the latest data indicate that progress toward the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) 2 percent goal may have stalled. Core PCE inflation was 2.8 percent in the 12 months ended in February, which puts us back at the same level seen in the last quarter of 2024. The best news for February comes from housing services inflation, which has come down steadily for at least a year to a 12‑month rate of 4.3 percent, even if it is still above the pre-pandemic level of 2.5 percent. For the rest of the inflation categories, the news was less positive. Core goods inflation, which had been negative for a large share of 2024, increased to 0.4 percent relative to a year before. February likely also marked an upward shift in market-based services inflation. While I do not discount price pressures in nonmarket services, which remain elevated, the acceleration in market-based services in February from an estimated 3.1 percent to 3.5 percent is also not welcome, given that this category often provides a better signal of inflationary pressures across all services.
    On the other side of the FOMC’s dual mandate, employment continues to grow at a moderate pace, and the overall labor market has remained resilient through February. The net 151,000 jobs added last month was not too far from the 177,000 average of the previous six months. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.1 percent, and labor force participation moved down to 62.4 percent. Other labor market indicators suggest continued moderation in the labor market but not significant weakening.
    Given the recent lack of progress on inflation, recent increases in inflation expectations, and upside risks associated with announced and prospective policy changes, I strongly supported the FOMC’s decision at our March meeting to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 4-1/4 to 4-1/2 percent. I will support maintaining the current policy rate for as long as these upside risks to inflation continue, while economic activity and employment remain stable. Going forward, I will carefully assess incoming data, the evolving outlook, and changes in the balance of risks.
    Thank you.

    1. The views expressed here are my own and are not necessarily those of my colleagues on the Federal Reserve Board or the Federal Open Market Committee. Return to text
    2. See Alan S. Blinder (2022), “Wish the Fed Luck as It Seeks a Soft Landing on Inflation,” Wall Street Journal, April 6. Return to text
    3. For a literature review on the relationship between inflation and resource utilization, also called the slope of the Phillips curve, see Francesco Furlanetto and Antoine Lepetit (2024), “The Slope of the Phillips Curve (PDF),” Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2024-043 (Washington: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, May). Return to text
    4. See Milton Friedman (1968), “The Role of Monetary Policy,” American Economic Review, vol. 58 (March), pp. 1–17; and Edmund S. Phelps (1967), “Phillips Curves, Expectations of Inflation and Optimal Unemployment over Time,” Economica, vol. 34 (135), pp. 254–81. Return to text
    5. For a discussion about the timing of the inflation waves of different categories, see Adriana D. Kugler (2025), “Navigating Inflation Waves: A Phillips Curve Perspective,” speech delivered at the Whittington Lecture, McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University, Washington, February 20. Return to text
    6. See Ben S. Bernanke (2007), “Inflation Expectations and Inflation Forecasting,” speech delivered at the Monetary Economics Workshop of the National Bureau of Economic Research Summer Institute, Cambridge, Mass., July 10, quoted text in paragraph 7. Return to text
    7. For evidence on how longer-run inflation expectations may be driven by short-run inflation surprises, see Carlos Carvalho, Stefano Eusepi, Emanuel Moench, and Bruce Preston (2023), “Anchored Inflation Expectations,” American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, vol. 15 (January), pp. 1–47. Return to text
    8. For a survey on how central banks communicate with the general public and the effectiveness of such communications, see Alan S. Blinder, Michael Ehrmann, Jakob de Haan, and David-Jan Jansen (2024), “Central Bank Communication with the General Public: Promise or False Hope?” Journal of Economic Literature, vol. 62 (June), pp. 425–57. Return to text
    9. For a literature review on this topic, see Michael Weber, Francesco D’Acunto, Yuriy Gorodnichenko, and Olivier Coibion (2022), “The Subjective Inflation Expectations of Households and Firms: Measurement, Determinants, and Implications,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 36 (Summer), pp. 157–84. Return to text
    10. See David Lebow and Ekaterina Peneva (2024), “Inflation Perceptions during the Covid Pandemic and Recovery,” FEDS Notes (Washington: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, January 19). Return to text
    11. See Ricardo Reis (2023), “Four Mistakes in the Use of Measures of Expected Inflation,” AEA Papers and Proceedings, vol. 113 (May), pp. 47–51. Return to text
    12. See Francesco D’Acunto, Ulrike Malmendier, Juan Ospina, and Michael Weber (2021), “Exposure to Grocery Prices and Inflation Expectations,” Journal of Political Economy, vol. 129 (May), pp. 1615–39. Return to text
    13. See Hie Joo Ahn, Shihan Xie, and Choongryul Yang (2024). “Effects of Monetary Policy on Household Expectations: The Role of Homeownership,” Journal of Monetary Economics, vol. 147 (October), 103599. Return to text
    14. See Francesco D’Acunto and Michael Weber (2024), “Why Survey-Based Subjective Expectations Are Meaningful and Important,” Annual Review of Economics, vol. 16 (August), pp. 329–57. For evidence on the higher sensitivity of inflation expectations when inflation is higher, see Paula Patzelt and Ricardo Reis (2024), “Estimating the Rise in Expected Inflation from Higher Energy Prices,” CEPR Discussion Paper 18907 (Paris: Centre for Economic Policy Research, March). Return to text
    15. See, for instance, Anat Bracha and Jenny Tang (2024), “Inflation Levels and (In)Attention,” Review of Economic Studies; and Michael Weber, Bernardo Candia, Hassan Afrouzi, Tiziano Ropele, Rodrigo Lluberas, Serafin Frache, Brent Meyer, Saten Kumar, Yuriy Gorodnichenko, Dimitris Georgarakos, Olivier Coibion, Geoff Kenny, and Jorge Ponce (2025), “Tell Me Something I Don’t Already Know: Learning in Low‐ and High‐Inflation Settings,” Econometrica, vol. 93 (January), pp. 229–64. Return to text
    16. See Ina Hajdini, Edward S. Knotek II, John Leer, Mathieu Pedemonte, Robert W. Rich, and Raphael S. Schoenle (2022), “Low Passthrough from Inflation Expectations to Income Growth Expectations: Why People Dislike Inflation,” Working Paper Series 22-21 (Cleveland: Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, June); and Laura Pilossoph and Jane M. Ryngaert (2024), “Job Search, Wages, and Inflation,” NBER Working Paper Series 33042 (Cambridge, Mass.: National Bureau of Economic Research, October). Return to text
    17. For the relationship between inflation expectations and pricing decisions, see Olivier Coibion, Yuriy Gorodnichenko, and Tiziano Ropele (2020), “Inflation Expectations and Firm Decisions: New Causal Evidence,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 135 (February), pp. 165–219. Return to text
    18. For evidence on the recent inflationary episode, see Felipe F. Schwartzman and Sonya Ravindranath Waddell (2024), “Inflation Expectations and Price Setting among Fifth District Firms,” Economic Brief 24‑03 (Richmond: Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, January). Return to text
    19. For evidence on how policy uncertainty and inflation uncertainty correlate over time, see Carola C. Binder (2017), “Measuring Uncertainty Based on Rounding: New Method and Application to Inflation Expectations,” Journal of Monetary Economics, vol. 90 (October), pp. 1–12. The measure of economic policy uncertainty is from Scott R. Baker, Nicholas Bloom, and Steven J. Davis (2016), “Measuring Economic Policy Uncertainty,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 131 (November), pp. 1593–1636. The measure of trade policy uncertainty is from Dario Caldara, Matteo Iacoviello, Patrick Molligo, Andrea Prestipino, and Andrea Raffo (2020), “The Economic Effects of Trade Policy Uncertainty,” Journal of Monetary Economics, vol. 109 (January), pp. 38–59. Return to text

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: H&R Block Announces Richard A. Johnson as Board Chairman

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    KANSAS CITY, Mo., April 02, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — H&R Block (NYSE: HRB) today announced that the company’s Board of Directors has unanimously elected Richard A. Johnson as the new Chairman of the Board, effective April 1, 2025. Johnson joined the H&R Block Board of Directors in 2015 and is a member of the Audit and Compensation Committees. He succeeds Robert A. Gerard, who has served as Chairman since 2011.

    In announcing the change, Gerard said, “Consistent with our commitment to Board refreshment and succession planning, the time has come for Dick to take over Board leadership as we transition to our next 5-year strategy for growth and transformation. Dick has been a great partner for the last 10 years and I’m delighted that he will continue to serve all of us at H&R Block as Chairman of the Board.”

    “I’m honored to be H&R Block’s Chairman and to succeed Bob, who has led the Board and company to much success,” Johnson said. “It is a privilege to serve the company that defines a category and helps millions of people each year. I look forward to continued success as we begin the next phase of H&R Block’s transformation.”

    Johnson spent much of his business career at Foot Locker, completing his service as President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of the Board. Johnson also serves on the Board of Directors of Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. and Graebel Companies, Inc., and on the Chancellor’s National Leadership Council at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire.

    “We are well-positioned for the future and the next chapter of our growth strategy as we look to fiscal year 2026 and beyond. I am thrilled to have Dick step into the Chairman role to help guide us through this next phase of transformation,” said Jeff Jones, President and CEO of H&R Block. “On behalf of the company, I want to thank Bob for his contributions as Chairman, and welcome Dick to this leadership position.”

    About H&R Block

    H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB) provides help and inspires confidence in its clients and communities everywhere through global tax preparation services, financial products, and small- business solutions. The company blends digital innovation with human expertise and care as it helps people get the best outcome at tax time and be better with money using its mobile banking app, Spruce. Through Block Advisors and Wave, the company helps small-business owners thrive with year-round bookkeeping, payroll, advisory, and payment processing solutions. For more information, visit H&R Block News.

    For inquiries, please contact:
       
    Media Relations:  Teri Daley, (816) 854-3787, teri.daley@hrblock.com
      Media Desk: Mediadesk@hrblock.com
       
    Investor Relations: Jordyn Eskijian, (816) 854-5674, jordyn.eskijian@hrblock.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Chinese barges and Taiwan Strait drills are about global power projection − not just a potential invasion

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Colin Flint, Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Utah State University

    A Mulberry Harbour for the 21st century. Image from video posted on Weibo via Chinese state media.

    Is China intent on a D-Day style invasion of Taiwan?

    Certainly that has been the tone of some of the reporting following the emergence of photos and videos depicting massive new Chinese barges designed for land-to-sea military operations. The fact that China launched a two-day military drill in the Taiwan Strait on April 1, 2025, has only intensified such fears.

    To me, the curious thing regarding these musings about a potential war involving China, which has one of the world’s most advanced militaries, is that it is supported by reference to technology first used some 80 years ago – specifically, the Mulberry Harbours, floating piers that allowed Allies to deploy land vehicles onto the beaches at Normandy on June 6, 1944.

    As an expert on the history and geopolitics of the Mulberry Harbours, I believe using the World War II example obscures far more than it clarifies with regard to the geopolitical situation today. Indeed, while the new Chinese ships may be operationally similar to their historical forebears, the strategic situation in China and Taiwan is far different.

    Disquiet on the Pacific front?

    The possibility of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, an island the Chinese Communist Party sees as part of its territory, is perhaps the most pressing security issue for countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

    Beijing has increasingly ratcheted up the aggressive rhetoric toward the government in Taipei during the premiership of President Xi Jinping. While one reading of Xi is that his rhetoric is in part a strategic move to burnish Chinese power globally, labeling Taiwan as a renegade or breakaway province is, for many, a clear indication of an intention to invade and bring the island within the geography of Chinese sovereignty.

    From the U.S. perspective, the Trump administration gave early signals that it saw China as the main threat to its national security, though Washington’s commitments to the defense of Taiwan remain uncertain, much like the president’s ultimate policy views toward Beijing.

    Aside from the geopolitics, any China decision to invade Taiwan would mean attempting an extremely challenging military operation that is, historically speaking, a risky proposition. Seaborne invasions have often led to high casualties or even outright failure.

    The Gallipoli landings on the coast of Turkey during World War I, for example, led to the withdrawal of mainly Australian and New Zealand forces after high casualties and barely any territorial gains. In World War II, island-hopping by U.S. forces to push back Japan’s advance achieved strategic goals – but at a high human cost.

    The difficulty posed by sea-to-land invasion is not just the battles on Day 1, it is the logistical challenge of continuing to funnel troops and materiel to sustain a push out from the beachhead. That’s where the barges come into play.

    About those WWII barges …

    British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was skeptical of opening a front against Nazi Germany by a landing on the French coast – a position that frustrated the United States. The main concern of Churchill and his generals was the logistical puzzle. They reasoned that Germany would either retain control of French ports or sabotage them, and that tanks, guns, food, soldiers and other necessities were not going to be brought up from reserve via ports.

    The Mulberry Harbours fixed that problem by creating a set of floating piers that would rise up and down with the tide by being fixed to sophisticated anchors. Ships could moor to these piers and unload needed material. The piers were protected by an inner ring of concrete caissons, dragged across the channel and sunk into position, and an outer breakwater of scuttled ships. The Mulberry Harbours were a combination of cutting-edge pier technology and improvisation.

    Construction of a Mulberry Harbour, and the unloading of supplies for the Allies at Colleville, France, in 1944.
    Three Lions/Getty Images

    The images of Chinese invasion barges today show that the technology has advanced, but the principle of an operational need for logistical support of a beachhead breakout is the same.

    Yet the geography of any invasion is very different. In World War II, the Mulberry Harbours were part of an invasion from an island to conquer a continent. But a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be the inverse – from a continent to an island.

    Great power politics, Chinese characteristics

    The use of Mulberry Harbours, as innovative as it was, was only a moment in a longer geopolitical process.

    The D-Day invasion was the culmination of the transfer of U.S. military might across the Atlantic through Operation Bolero. Simply, the United Kingdom became a giant warehouse – mainly for U.S. soldiers and equipment.

    The Mulberry Harbours made the crossing of the English Channel possible for these men and weapons. It was the last step in the projection of U.S. power across the Atlantic Ocean and on to the European continent. I describe this as a process of a seapower moving from its near or coastal waters to far waters in another part of the globe.

    The calculation for China is very different. Certainly, barges would help an invasion across the Taiwan Strait. But China sees Taiwan as part of its near waters, and it wants to secure those waters from global competition.

    Beijing views the U.S. as having established a military presence just off its coastline from World War II to the present day, making the western Pacific another set of U.S. far waters across the globe accompanying its European presence. From its perspective, China is surrounded by a U.S. military based in Okinawa, Guam and the Philippines. This chain of bases could restrict China’s ambition through blockade, and controlling Taiwan would help China create a gap in this chain.

    Of course, China does not just have an eye on its near waters. It has also created a far water presence of its own in its building of an ocean-going military navy, established a military base in Djibouti, and through its Belt and Road Initiative become an economic and political presence across the Indian, Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic oceans.

    Chinese invasion barges could be deployed quite early in China’s process of moving from near to far waters. The Mulberry Harbours, conversely, were deployed once the U.S. had already secured its Caribbean, Atlantic and Pacific near waters.

    Part of a process

    Technical matters and historical comparisons with the Mulberry Harbours are an interesting way to look at the new Chinese invasion barges and consider the operational scale of geopolitics. But as with the World War II case, China-Taiwan tensions are simply a modern example of a local theater – this time, the Taiwanese Strait – being part of a greater global process of power projection. The comparisons to Mulberry Harbours, therefore, are not with the technology itself but its role in a mechanism of historical geopolitical change.

    The reemergence of the technology of invasion barges may be a sign that a new conflict is on the horizon. If that were the case, the irony is that China would be using Mulberry Harbour-type technology to secure its position in the western Pacific at the same time the Trump administration is questioning the strategic value of the U.S. presence in Europe – a presence established through World War II and, at least in part, the use of the Mulberry Harbours.

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

    – ref. Chinese barges and Taiwan Strait drills are about global power projection − not just a potential invasion – https://theconversation.com/chinese-barges-and-taiwan-strait-drills-are-about-global-power-projection-not-just-a-potential-invasion-253408

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Headless fish and babies take centre stage during election season – but don’t let the theatre of politics distract you

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daniel Johnston, Director of Learning and Teaching at Excelsia University College and Research Affiliate, University of Sydney

    As Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young waved a decapitated salmon dripping with blood in parliament last week, you could feel the election coming.

    Hanson-Young was protesting the watering down of Australia’s environmental laws aimed at preserving salmon farming in Tasmania.

    Using props and orchestrated performances to provoke a response has been common throughout the history Australian politics. In 2017, then treasurer Scott Morrison held out a lump of coal to ridicule the opposition’s renewable energy policies. He mockingly declared:

    This is coal. Don’t be afraid, don’t be scared.

    Later that same year, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson wore a burqa into the Senate to argue for a ban on full-face coverings – dramatically embodying her anti-Islam rhetoric.

    More recently, independent members of parliament Andrew Wilkie and Bob Katter donned inflatable pig costumes to criticise the major supermarkets as pigs with their snouts in the trough, given their excessive profit margins.

    It’s clear Australian politicians are drawn to drama. With the election campaign in full swing, it’s worth being wary of such beguiling performances.

    Visceral is memorable

    The history of theatre is peppered with shocking moments, often enhanced by props. Props help to provoke a visceral emotional response from the audience, while blurring the boundary between reality and fiction.

    In Sophocles’ ancient Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex, Oedipus exits the stage with sharp gold brooches to gorge out his eyes after discovering of his wife Jocasta’s suicide. Upon his return, his bleeding eye sockets also allude to his metaphorical blindness, having killed his own father and married his mother.

    Similarly, at the end of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the tyrant king’s severed head is brought onstage – fulfilling a deceptive prophecy foretold by the fiendish witches at the beginning of the play.

    In a more contemporary example, Australian playwright Patrick White’s surrealist play Ham Funeral features a ham representing gluttony, death, lust and decay, served at the wake of Mrs Lusty’s husband. We’re also shocked by a fetus from a back-alley trash can.

    These are all attention-grabbing examples of how props can be much more than just the thing they represent.

    In politics, as on stage, theatrical objects are an easy way to heighten emotions, and convey meaning and context. They can make abstract concepts feel more concrete. And even when they’re highly theatrical, they can communicate authenticity and passion – ready to go viral online.

    Flags, high-vis vests, pints of beer and babies are all common props on the election campaign trail. Over time, they can lead voters to associate certain politicians with certain values and worldviews.

    All the world’s a stage

    As politician and activist Harvey Milk (played by James Franco) declares in the 2008 biopic Milk:

    Politics is theatre. It doesn’t matter if you win. You make a statement. You say, “I’m here, pay attention to me”.

    Evidence suggests political personas can be successfully constructed through careful attention to meaning-making processes, such as facial expressions, hand gestures and emotional rhetoric.

    Take Adolf Hitler. In 1932, Hitler carefully crafted his speeches and vocal delivery with Paul Devrient, an operatic tenor and director. He also worked with Heinrich Hoffmann, his official photographer, in theatre-like rehearsals to strike dramatic poses and fine-tune his body language and persuasive gestures.

    His performances culminated in the Nuremberg rallies. These events, choreographed like a Wagnerian opera, featured monumental architecture and lighting, banners, torches and music that positioned the Führer as a mythical hero.

    Bertolt Brecht famously satirised the fabricated display in his play The Resistable Rise of Artuo Ui, in which a washed-up Shakespearean actor teaches a Chicago gangster how to present himself as a legitimate, commanding leader.

    Peek behind the curtain

    Performance takes place along a continuum, from mundane everyday life, to highly-staged aesthetic enactments. We’re all taking part in performances all the time, whether it’s ordering a morning coffee, or delivering Hamlet’s soliloquy at the Opera House, holding Yorick’s skull aloft.

    In politics, compelling representatives hope to craft an authentic image for themselves through emotional performance – sometimes using props as framing devices to signal certain moments as marked or special.

    When Julia Gillard delivered her unexpectedly viral, off-the-cuff misogyny speech, or when John Howard declared, “We will decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come”, they shifted our attention from the ordinary to the performative. They incited us to feel outrage and fear, to drive a political narrative.

    The warning of theatre is that we should look through appearances, to discern the substance of what’s going on.

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

    – ref. Headless fish and babies take centre stage during election season – but don’t let the theatre of politics distract you – https://theconversation.com/headless-fish-and-babies-take-centre-stage-during-election-season-but-dont-let-the-theatre-of-politics-distract-you-253230

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: ‘How was school today?’ How to help kids open up and say more than ‘fine’

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Madeleine Fraser, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology, Australian Catholic University

    One of the first things parents want to ask their children after school is “how was your day?” We simply want to know how they are going and what happened at school.

    But these conversations can feel like pulling teeth. Often you may only get a “good” or “fine” (if you’re lucky).

    Why are children reluctant to divulge information about their day and how can you encourage more details?

    Why don’t kids like to talk?

    School can be overwhelming – with diverse social, academic and physical demands.

    It may seem simple, but a genuine answer to the “how was school today” question requires considerable effort and decision making to synthesise information from a busy day. A child may also be hesitant to answer if they think a parent’s response might be anger, worry or confusion.

    Children are also likely to be hungry and tired straight after school. They are probably thinking about a snack before a chat. If you think of psychologist Abraham Maslow’s famous theory about a “hierarchy of needs”, survival needs like hunger are ideally met before communication and connection.

    Children have also not yet fully developed a theory of mind (an ability to image what’s going on in another person’s mind). So they might not understand why their parent is asking about school or what it is they want to know.

    How can you prepare for a chat?

    There are several things you can do to encourage a more informative conversation with your child.

    1. Consider the purpose: ask yourself whether you want to gather information or simply connect with your child. To have a moment of connection you could simply say, “I’m so happy to see you” at the school gate. To seek information, ask a very specific question (that requires little mental effort on your child’s part). For example, “did you have your spelling test today”, rather than “what did you learn?”

    3. Check your timing: instead of asking your child right after school, consider waiting. Better conversations may instead happen after the child decompresses with a favourite game and a snack, over dinner or even on way to school the next morning.

    Try creating a routine to help your child prepare their answer, like the “rose dinner”. At the dinner table, everyone shares their daily “thorn” (something difficult or upsetting) and “petal” (something pleasant).

    3. Consider the space: face-to-face conversations can create pressure and feel like an interrogation. This is why it’s common for psychologists to place therapy chairs on a slight angle to promote a calm, relaxed atmosphere where it is easier to disclose difficult things.

    So try and do activities where you are side-by-side with your child. For example, walking or driving, doing craft, playing Lego, sport or cooking. Your child may spontaneously raise a topic – or you can model the conversation by talking about your day first.

    It might be easier to talk during a walk or play outside.
    Stock Rocket/Shutterstock

    Time to chat

    To create a comfortable, safe environment for your child during the chat, here are four more things to consider.

    1. Really listen: if your child initiates a conversation, bring your full attention and enthusiasm to it (which means putting your phone away). If you are busy thinking about what you’re going to say next while your child is speaking, this is not high-quality listening.

    Show you are listening by paraphrasing what they are saying or identifying their feelings. This helps them to feel like they are being listened to and understood.

    If your child opens up about something important and they sense you are not supporting them or concentrating, you’re discouraging them from opening up in the future.

    2. Be compassionate and curious: the urge to protect our kids is strong, but instead of trying to “solve” or “teach” them when they are talking, don’t be afraid of silence and curious questions. Curiosity helps us show we care, and allows the child to own their own experiences and reactions, rather than parents telling them how to feel.

    For example, “Nick said I couldn’t play with him” could be responded to with “what was that like for you?” rather than outrage (“that’s horrible of Nick!”).

    3. Celebrate strengths: when your child is talking, listen out for implicit strengths and values in what your child has shared. Having a parent highlight an area of strength or skill for a child helps build their sense of self. For example, “it sounds like that upset you because you value fairness”.

    4. Follow up: if your child speaks about upcoming events, check back in. For example, “last week you mentioned you were nervous about basketball trials, how are you feeling now?” This also shows you have listened.

    There is no magic formula: each conversation is as different as the individuals who are part of it. So experiment with these ideas and take notice of what works for you and your child.

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

    – ref. ‘How was school today?’ How to help kids open up and say more than ‘fine’ – https://theconversation.com/how-was-school-today-how-to-help-kids-open-up-and-say-more-than-fine-252289

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Invisible losses: thousands of plant species are missing from places they could thrive – and humans are the reason

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cornelia Sattler, Research Fellow in Ecology, Macquarie University

    Samantha Terrell/Shutterstock

    If you go walking in the wild, you might expect that what you’re seeing is natural. All around you are trees, shrubs and grasses growing in their natural habitat.

    But there’s something here that doesn’t add up. Across the world, there are large areas of habitat which would suit native plant species just fine. But very often, they’re simply absent.

    Our new research gauges the scale of this problem, known as “dark diversity”. Our international team of 200 scientists examined plant species in thousands of sites worldwide.

    What we found was startling. In regions heavily affected by our activities, only about 20% of native plant species able to live there were actually present. But even in areas with very little human interference, ecosystems only contained about 33% of viable plant species.

    Why so few species in wilder areas? Our impact. Pollution can spread far from the original source, while conversion of habitat to farms, logging and human-caused fires have ripple effects too.

    Conspicuous by their absence

    Our activities have become a planet-shaping force, from changing the climate through our emissions to farming 44% of all habitable land. As our footprint has expanded, other species have been pushed to extinction. The rates of species loss are unprecedented in recorded history.

    When we think about biodiversity loss, we might think of a once-common animal species losing numbers and range as farms, cities and feral predators expand. But we are also losing species from within protected areas and national parks.

    To date, the accelerating loss of species has been largely observed at large scale, such as states or even whole countries. Almost 600 plant species have gone extinct since 1750 – and this is likely a major underestimate. Extinction hotspots include Hawaii (79 species) and South Africa’s unique fynbos scrublands (37 species).

    But tracking the fate of our species has been difficult to do at a local scale, such as within a national park or nature reserve.

    Similarly, when scientists do traditional biodiversity surveys, we count the species previously recorded in an area and look for changes. But we haven’t tended to consider the species that could grow there – but don’t.

    Many plants have been declining so rapidly they are now threatened with extinction.

    What did we do?

    To get a better gauge of biodiversity losses at smaller scale, we worked alongside scientists from the international research network DarkDivNet to examine almost 5,500 sites across 119 regions worldwide. This huge body of fieldwork took years and required navigating global challenges such as COVID-19 and political and economic instability.

    At each 100 square metre site, our team sampled all plant species present against the species found in the surrounding region. We defined regions as areas of approximately 300 square kilometres with similar environmental conditions.

    Just because a species can grow somewhere doesn’t mean it would. To make sure we were recording which species were genuinely missing, we looked at how often each absent species was found growing alongside the species growing at our chosen sites at other sampled sites in the region. This helped us detect species well-suited to a habitat but missing from it.

    We then cross-matched data on these missing species against how big the local human impact was by using the Human Footprint Index, which measures population density, land use and infrastructure.

    Of the eight components of this index, six had a clear influence on how many plant species were missing: human population density, electric infrastructure, railways, roads, built environments and croplands. Another component, navigable waterways, did not have a clear influence.

    Interestingly, the final component – pastures kept by graziers – was not linked to fewer plant species. This could be because semi-natural grasslands are used as pasture in areas such as Central Asia, Africa’s Sahel region and Argentina. Here, long-term moderate human influence can actually maintain highly diverse and well-functioning ecosystems through practices such as grazing livestock, cultural burning and hay making.

    Semi-natural pastures preserve many different plant species. Pictured: the Hulunbuir grasslands in Inner Mongolia, China.
    Dashu Xinganling/Shutterstock

    Overall, though, the link between greater human presence and fewer plant species was very clear. Seemingly pristine ecosystems hundreds of kilometres from direct disturbance had been affected.

    These effects can come from many causes. For instance, poaching and logging often take place far from human settlements. Poaching an animal species might mean a plant species loses a key pollinator or way to disperse its seeds in the animal’s dung. Over time, disruptions to the web of relationships in the natural world can erode ecosystems and result in fewer plant species. Poachers and illegal loggers also cut “ghost roads” into pristine areas.

    Other causes include fires started by humans, which can threaten national parks and other safe havens. Pollution can travel and settle hundreds of kilometres from its source, affecting ecosystems.

    Our far-reaching influence can also hinder the return of plant species, even in protected areas. As humans expand their activities, they often carve up natural areas into fragments cut off from each other. This can isolate plant populations. Similarly, the loss of seed-spreading animals can stop plants from recolonising former habitat.

    What does this mean?

    Biodiversity loss is not just about species going extinct. It’s about ecosystems quietly losing their richness, resilience and functions.

    Protecting land is not enough. The damage we can do can reach deep into conservation areas.

    Was there good news? Yes. In regions where at least a third of the landscape had minimal human disturbance, there was less of this hidden biodiversity loss.

    As we work to conserve nature, our work points to a need not just to preserve what’s left but to bring back what’s missing. Now we know what species are missing in an area but still present regionally, we can begin that work.

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

    – ref. Invisible losses: thousands of plant species are missing from places they could thrive – and humans are the reason – https://theconversation.com/invisible-losses-thousands-of-plant-species-are-missing-from-places-they-could-thrive-and-humans-are-the-reason-252378

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: People are getting costly stem cell injections for knee osteoarthritis. But we don’t know if they work

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samuel Whittle, ANZMUSC Practitioner Fellow, Monash University

    Marinesea/Shutterstock

    More than 500 million people around the world live with osteoarthritis. The knee is affected more often than any other joint, with symptoms (such as pain, stiffness and reduced movement) affecting work, sleep, sport and daily activities.

    Knee osteoarthritis is often thought of as thinning of the protective layer of cartilage within the joint. But we now understand it affects all the structures of the joint, including the bones, muscles and nerve endings.

    While there are things that can be done to manage the symptoms of knee osteoarthritis, there is no cure, and many people experience persistent pain. As a result, an opportunity exists for as yet unproven treatments to enter the market, often before regulatory safeguards can be put in place.

    Stem cell injections are one such treatment. A new review my colleagues and I published this week finds that evidence of their benefits and harms remains elusive.

    Stem cell treatments

    Stem cells are already established as treatments for some diseases – mostly disorders of the blood, bone marrow or immune system – which has led to suggestions they could be used for a much wider array of conditions.

    Stem cells have been touted as promising treatments for osteoarthritis because they have special properties which allow them to replicate and develop into the mature healthy cells that make up our body’s organs and other tissues, including cartilage.

    Stem cell treatments for osteoarthritis generally involve taking a sample of tissue from a site that is rich in stem cells (such as bone marrow or fat), treating it to increase the number of stem cells, then injecting it into the joint.

    The hope is that if the right type of stem cells can be introduced into an osteoarthritic joint in the right way and at the right time, they may help to repair damaged structures in the joint, or have other effects such as reducing inflammation.

    But no matter how convincing the theory, we need good evidence for effectiveness and safety before a new therapy is adopted into practice.

    Stem cells have been touted as promising treatments for osteoarthritis. But what does the evidence say?
    crystal light/Shutterstock

    Stem cell injections have not been approved by Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration for the treatment of osteoarthritis. Nonetheless, some clinics in Australia and around the world still offer them.

    Because of the regulatory restrictions, we don’t have reliable numbers on how many procedures are being done.

    They’re not covered by Medicare, so the procedure can cost the consumer thousands of dollars.

    And, as with any invasive procedure, both the harvest of stem cells and the joint injection procedure may carry the potential for harm, such as infection.

    What we found

    Our new review, published by the independent, international group the Cochrane Collaboration, looks at all 25 randomised trials of stem cell injections for knee osteoarthritis that have been conducted worldwide to date. Collectively, these studies involved 1,341 participants.

    We found stem cell injections may slightly improve pain and function compared with a placebo injection, but the size of the improvement may be too small for the patient to notice.

    The evidence isn’t strong enough to determine whether there is any improvement in quality of life following a stem cell injection, whether cartilage regrows, or to estimate the risk of harm.

    This means we can’t confidently say yet whether any improvement that might follow a stem cell injection is worth the risk (or the cost).

    Osteoarthritis of the knee is the most common type of osteoarthritis.
    michaelheim/Shutterstock

    Hope or hype?

    It’s not surprising we invest hope in finding a transformative treatment for such a common and disabling condition. Belief in the benefits of stem cells is widespread – more than three-quarters of Americans believe stem cells can relieve arthritis pain and more than half believe this treatment to be curative.

    But what happens if a new treatment is introduced to practice before it has been clearly proven to be safe and effective?

    The use of an unproven, invasive therapy is not just associated with the risks of the intervention itself. Even if the treatment were harmless, there is the risk of unnecessary cost, inconvenience, and a missed opportunity for the patient to use existing therapies that are known to be effective.

    What’s more, if we need to play catch-up to try to establish an evidence base for a treatment that’s already in practice, we risk diverting scarce research resources towards a therapy that may not prove to be effective, simply because the genie is out of the bottle.

    There are some ways to manage the symptoms of knee osteoarthritis.
    PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock

    Working towards a clearer answer

    Several more large clinical trials are currently underway, and should increase our understanding of whether stem cell injections are safe and effective for knee osteoarthritis.

    Our review incorporates “living evidence”. This means we will continue to add the results of new trials as soon as they’re published, so the review is always up to date, and offers a comprehensive and trustworthy summary to help people with osteoarthritis and their health-care providers to make informed decisions.

    In the meantime, there are a number of evidence-based treatment options. Non-drug treatments such as physiotherapy, regular exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, and cognitive behavioural therapy can be more effective than you think. Anti-inflammatory and pain medications can also play a supporting role.

    Importantly, it’s not inevitable that osteoarthritic joints get worse with time. So, even though joint replacement surgery is often highly effective, it’s the last resort and fortunately, many people never need to take this step.

    Samuel Whittle is supported by an Australia and New Zealand Musculoskeletal (ANZMUSC) Clinical Trial Network Practitioner Fellowship and by a grant from The Hospital Research Foundation Group. Dr Whittle currently serves as President of the Australian Rheumatology Association.

    – ref. People are getting costly stem cell injections for knee osteoarthritis. But we don’t know if they work – https://theconversation.com/people-are-getting-costly-stem-cell-injections-for-knee-osteoarthritis-but-we-dont-know-if-they-work-253404

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: State of the states: six politics experts explain the key seats across the country

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Clune, Honorary Associate, Government and International Relations, University of Sydney

    The five-week election campaign is now in full swing throughout the nation.

    Amid the flurry of photo opportunities and press conferences, candidates campaign in specific areas for a reason: to shore up or win back key seats.

    But which seats are key? Here, six experts explain the seats to watch in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia.

    New South Wales

    David Clune, honorary associate, government and international relations, University of Sydney

    How the 2025 federal election will play out in NSW is difficult to predict for two reasons.

    The first is the recent redistribution which, as ABC analyst Antony Green’s pendulum shows, has redefined many electoral boundaries.

    The second is the number of crossbench MPs. There are three Teals in formerly safe Liberal seats: Mackellar (Sophie Scamps), Warringah (Zali Steggall) and Wentworth (Allegra Spender). Teal Kylie Tink’s seat of North Sydney has been abolished.

    All were lifted into parliament by the rising tide of resentment against former Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Now that tide has gone out, the survival of these MPs depends on how they have performed as local members. The overall impression is that they have done well in connecting with their constituents and will be hard to shift.

    There is a chance the formerly safe upper north shore seat of Bradfield could augment their numbers. Teal Nicolette Boele gave Liberal Paul Fletcher a very uncomfortable election night in 2022 when she slashed his majority. After the redistribution, the Liberals hold the seat by a narrow 2.5%. Fletcher is not recontesting. Boele is running a well-financed campaign with a lot of grass roots support.

    The redistribution has pushed many former North Sydney voters into Bradfield. Whether they remain Teal or revert to being true-blue Liberals remains to be seen.

    Much of the rest of the former North Sydney has gone into the very marginal Labor seat of Bennelong, which is now notionally marginal Liberal.

    The Nationals have a problem in Calare, where former Nationals MP, now independent, Andrew Gee, is recontesting. The Nationals are also facing challenges from the left on the upper north coast due to demographic change. They hold Cowper by 2.4%.

    Liberal-aligned independent, Dai Le, narrowly won Fowler in Sydney’s western suburbs in 2023. Labor has endorsed Tu Le, also of Vietnamese descent, in what promises to be a tough fight. Parramatta is another marginal seat in the western suburbs, held by Labor’s Andrew Charlton with a two-party preferred margin of 3.7%.

    The government is concerned about seats on the central coast and in the Hunter and Illawarra regions, where concerns about wind farms and job losses due to renewable energy are a major issue. Most of the government’s vulnerable seats are in these areas: Gilmore, Robertson, Paterson and Hunter would all be lost with a two-party-preferred swing of 5%.

    Queensland

    Paul Williams, associate professor in politics and journalism, Griffith University

    For decades we said Queensland was a key “battleground” in federal elections where seats north of the Tweed so often held the keys to The Lodge.

    The 1975 election saw the Coalition leave Labor with a single seat, and the 1996 poll bequeath Labor just two. Conversely, Labor’s Kevin Rudd rode to victory on his nine-seat haul in in 2007, with Rudd losing seven of those in 2010.

    But, for the past 15 years, federal elections have seen little movement in Queensland except, of course, for 2022 when the Greens won three seats. In short, Queensland is no longer the “make-or-break” state. Even the retirements of Keith Pitt (Hinkler), Karen Andrews (McPherson), Warren Entsch (Leichhardt) and Graham Perrett (Moreton) will hardly affect the mood.

    The electoral pendulum confirms this. Labor holds just five of Queensland’s 30 seats, with Blair – a mix of outer-suburban and regional proclivities – Labor’s most marginal, but still held by a healthy 5.2% buffer. Given the two-party-preferred (2PP) swing to the Liberal-National Party (LNP) in Queensland will likely be under five percentage points – far lower than the 7.0% two-party-preferred swing the LNP attained at last October’s state election – the Coalition is unlikely to seize any more Labor property.

    Conversely, despite the LNP holding seven Queensland seats on margins under 5%, the electoral tide is well and truly out for a Labor Party, whose Queensland brand is damaged at all levels. Inflation and housing shortages have hit Queensland hard, and especially so in the regions. Peter Dutton’s seat of Dickson – the LNP’s most marginal on just 1.7% – is therefore safe.

    Climate action and other “community” candidates (some reject the “Teal” moniker) are standing on the Gold Coast (McPherson and Moncrieff), on the Sunshine Coast (Fisher and Fairfax), and in Groom and Dickson. None will win, but some will carve out a respectable primary vote.

    All eyes will instead be on the cashed-up inner-urban seats of Ryan (potentially returning to the LNP), Griffith (a possible Labor win) and Brisbane (a genuine three-way race) – all three useful, but not essential, to Labor’s pathway to minority government.

    In the Northern Territory, Labor’s Marion Scrymgour holds Lingiari by 1.7%, making that seat one to watch.

    South Australia

    Rob Manwaring, associate professor of politics and public policy, Flinders University

    South Australia is rarely a key battleground in federal elections, and only comprises ten electoral seats.

    There are, however, three key seats worth watching as they will tell us a lot about how the election campaign is playing out: Sturt, Boothby and Mayo.

    In Sturt, the Liberals hold this key seat in Adelaide’s eastern suburbs with a margin of 0.5%. A fresh challenge for the incumbent James Stevens is that he faces a threat from SA’s first real Teal candidate, Verity Cooper. This potentially pulls this seat into a three-way fight.

    Boothby, in Adelaide’s southern suburbs, will be a good litmus test of how well Labor’s campaign is performing. Labor won the seat for the first time ever in 2022, and Louise Miller-Frost has a 3.3% margin. Liberal candidate Nicolle Flint is resurrecting her political ambitions and would be a useful ally for Peter Dutton, if she were to win.

    Finally – a question – does Rebekah Sharkie like pizza? Infamously, when state Labor Premier Jay Weatherill needed a critical independent vote to secure office in 2014, he drove to Port Pirie and brokered a deal over pizza with Geoff Brock. Sharkie holds the seat of Mayo in the Adelaide Hills as a member of the Centre Alliance party with a safe 12.3% margin. Sharkie aligns herself with the Teals, and if a Dutton-led victory looks likely, then she may well be ordering her favourite slice to thrash out the terms of any support.

    Tasmania

    Robert Hortle, deputy director of the Tasmanian Policy Exchange, University of Tasmania

    There are two main seats to watch in Tasmania.

    The large, rural seat of Lyons is one of the most marginal in the country. Labor’s Brian Mitchell won with a 0.9% margin in 2022, but he’s made way for Rebecca White. Despite an underwhelming record as Tasmanian Labor Leader – three state election defeats – White is very popular in Lyons. However, Liberal candidate Susie Bower was somewhat unlucky to lose in 2022 after winning 37.2% of the primary vote, and has been in campaign mode for the past three years.

    On the surface, Franklin – Australia’s only non-contiguous electorate – looks like a safe Labor seat. Julie Collins, the MP since 2007 and a cabinet minister, has a 13.7% margin. But her primary vote fell in 2022, and community backlash against salmon farming in Franklin’s waterways – which Labor and the Coalition both support – could make her vulnerable.

    If independent Peter George (former journalist and anti-salmon campaigner) can get ahead of the low-profile Liberal candidate at some point in the count, Liberal preferences may get him across the line.

    Two other Tasmanian seats are unlikely to change hands, but feature some interesting dynamics.

    Liberal MP Bridget Archer’s 1.4% margin in the northern seat of Bass might look vulnerable. However, she managed a strong primary vote in 2022 despite a big swing against the Liberal Party. She’s very popular in the community for her willingness to stick to her values – even if it means voting against her party 28 times – and should hold her seat despite rumours of internal moves against her.

    In Braddon, long-serving Labor Senator Anne Urquhart has quit the upper house to run. Incumbent Liberal MP Gavin Pearce is retiring, and his replacement candidate, Mal Hingston, is a bit of an unknown. It’s unlikely Urquhart will be able to overturn the 8% two-party preferred margin, but prominence in the community might give her a glimmer of hope.

    Another point of interest is who will pick up the votes won by the Jaquie Lambie Network (JLN) in 2022. The JLN is not running candidates following a spectacular implosion at state level – and where those voters find a home could be crucial, particularly in Lyons.

    Victoria

    Zareh Ghazarian, senior lecturer in politics, school of social sciences, Monash University

    Victoria is shaping up to be a crucial state for the major parties. Several seats are held by the Labor and coalition parties with a margin of less than 5%.

    According to Antony Green, Chisholm is the most marginal seat Labor currently holds. The eastern Melbourne seat has been held by both major parties over the past 30 years.

    Next up is Aston, further east of Chisholm, which Labor won at arguably the Liberal Party’s lowest ebb in this electoral cycle at a byelection in 2023.

    McEwen, on the other hand, is a provincial electorate to the north of Melbourne. Holding onto these three seats will be a significant feat for Anthony Albanese and may set up Labor to hold a majority government.

    For the Coalition, the most marginal seat is Deakin, which is a neighbouring electorate to Aston and Chisholm. The seat is held by a margin of just 0.02%, making it the most marginal in the country.

    Monash is also a very interesting seat as it was won by Russell Broadbent, who lost Liberal Party preselection and has decided to run as an independent. His local profile may provide a boost to his primary vote, but may not necessarily be enough to win the seat, which will likely be held by the Liberals.

    The Coalition will be in trouble if it fails to retain any of its seats in Victoria. It would need to reclaim Chisholm and Aston if it has any chance of forming majority government.

    Other seats to watch include Kooyong, held by Monique Ryan with a margin of 2.2% who defeated Josh Frydenberg in 2022, and Goldstein, held by Zoe Daniel with a margin of 3.3% after defeating Liberal Tim Wilson. These will be a test of whether the Liberal Party is able to reconnect with voters who had traditionally supported them in the past.

    Western Australia

    Narelle Miragliotta, associate professor in politics, Murdoch University

    The five WA seats to watch are Curtin, Bullwinkel, Forrest, Pearce and Tangney.

    The affluent inner metropolitan seat of Curtin is held by Teal Kate Chaney on a 1.3% margin. The Liberal’s 2022 defeat was existential and the party are investing heavily in reclaiming it, although Chaney is not likely to be outspent entirely, or outmanoeuvred.

    Bullwinkel is a new seat on the eastern fringes of Perth. The majority of its voters are in the metropolitan area, but the seat also takes in regional parts of the state. The seat’s geography and lack of incumbent led to the Nationals fielding Mia Davies, who was leader of the Nationals in the state parliament between 2017 and 2023.

    As a result, this notional Labor seat is the site of a fierce three-way contest. YouGov projects a “Coalition” gain, although the outcome will be influenced by whether the Liberals and Nationals can contain simmering hostilities.

    Forrest, in the state’s southwest, is held by the Liberals on a 4.2% margin. The retirement of the incumbent and the presence of a Climate 200-backed candidate, adds an interesting dimension to the contest.

    Pearce, in the state’s far north, is held by Labor on a comfortable 8.8% margin. However, it’s one of the most indebted electorates in the nation, and the state Labor government experienced large swings against it in outer suburban and regional state electorates earlier this year.

    Tangney, in the state’s southern suburbs, was a major win for Labor in 2022. A blue-ribbon inner-city seat held uninterrupted by the Liberals since the early 1980s, Tangney is Labor’s most marginal WA seat (2.6% margin). To Labor’s advantage is the fact that several of the once-safe Liberal inner metro electorates within Tangney’s boundaries have recently voted with Labor at a state level. However, it will be a tight contest.

    Paul Williams is a research associate with the T.J. Ryan Foundation.

    Rob Manwaring receives funding from the Australian Research Council for a Discovery project on political parties and associated entities.

    David Clune, Narelle Miragliotta, Robert Hortle, and Zareh Ghazarian do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. State of the states: six politics experts explain the key seats across the country – https://theconversation.com/state-of-the-states-six-politics-experts-explain-the-key-seats-across-the-country-253123

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Astronomers listened to the ‘music’ of flickering stars – and discovered an unexpected feature

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Claudia Reyes, Postdoctoral Fellow, Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Australian National University

    Pavel Gabzdyl / Shutterstock

    The “music” of starquakes – enormous vibrations caused by bursting bubbles of gas that ripple throughout the bodies of many stars – can reveal far more information about the stars’ histories and inner workings than scientists thought.

    In new research published in Nature, we analysed the frequency signatures of starquakes across a broad range of giant stars in the M67 star cluster, almost 3,000 light years from Earth.

    Using observations from the Kepler space telescope’s K2 mission, we had a rare opportunity to track the evolution of stars during most of their journey through the giant phase of the stellar life cycle.

    In doing so, we discovered that these stars get stuck “playing the same part of their tune” once their turbulent outer layer reaches a sensitive region deep inside.

    This discovery reveals a new way to understand the history of stars – and of the entire galaxy.

    The sound of starquakes

    Starquakes happen in most stars (like our Sun) that have a bubbling outer layer, like a pot of boiling water. Bubbles of hot gas rise and burst at the surface, sending ripples through the entire star that cause it to vibrate in particular ways.

    We can detect these vibrations, which occur at specific “resonant frequencies”, by looking for subtle variations in the brightness of the star. By studying the frequencies of each star in a group called a cluster, we can tune into the cluster’s unique “song”.

    Our study challenges previous assumptions about resonant frequencies in giant stars, revealing they offer deeper insights into stellar interiors than previously thought. Moreover, our study has opened new ways to decipher the history of our Galaxy.

    The melody of a stellar cluster

    Astronomers have long sought to understand how stars like our Sun evolve over time.

    One of the best ways to do this is by studying clusters – groups of stars that formed together and share the same age and composition. A cluster called M67 has attracted a lot of attention because it contains many stars with a similar chemical makeup to the Sun.

    Just as earthquakes help us study Earth’s interior, starquakes reveal what lies beneath a star’s surface. Each star “sings” a melody, with frequencies determined by its internal structure and physical properties.

    Larger stars produce deeper, slower vibrations, while smaller stars vibrate at higher pitches. And no star plays just one note – each one resonates with a full spectrum of sound from its interior.

    A surprising signature

    Among the key frequency signatures is the so-called small spacing – a group of resonant frequencies quite close together. In younger stars, such as the Sun, this signature can provide clues about how much hydrogen the star still has left to burn in its core.

    In red giants the situation is different. These older stars have used up all the hydrogen in their cores, which are now inert.

    However, hydrogen fusion continues in a shell surrounding the core. It was long assumed that the small spacings in such stars offered little new information.

    A stalled note

    When we measured the small spacings of stars in M67, we were surprised to see they revealed changes in the star’s internal fusion regions.

    As the hydrogen-burning shell thickened, the spacings increased. When the shell moved inward, they shrank.

    Then we found something else unexpected: at a certain stage, the small spacings stalled. It was like a record skipping on a note.

    We discovered that this stalling appears during a specific stage in the life of a giant star — when its outer envelope, the “boiling” layer that transports heat, grows so deep that it makes up about 80% of the star’s mass. At this point the inner boundary of the envelope reaches into a highly sensitive region of the star.

    This boundary is extremely turbulent, and the speed of sound shifts steeply across it — and that steep change affects how sound waves travel through the star. We also found that the stalling frequency is distinctively determined by the star’s mass and chemical composition.

    This gives us a new way to identify stars in this phase and estimate their ages with improved precision.

    The history of the galaxy

    Stars are like fossil records. They carry the imprint of the environments in which they formed, and studying them lets us piece together the story of our galaxy.

    The Milky Way has grown by merging with smaller galaxies, forming stars at different times in different regions. Better age estimates across the galaxy help us reconstruct this history in greater detail.

    Clusters like M67 also provide a glimpse into the future of our own Sun, offering insight into the changes it will experience over billions of years.

    This discovery gives us a new tool – and a new reason to revisit data we already have. With years of seismic observations from across the Milky Way, we can now return to those stars and “listen” again, this time knowing what to listen for.

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

    – ref. Astronomers listened to the ‘music’ of flickering stars – and discovered an unexpected feature – https://theconversation.com/astronomers-listened-to-the-music-of-flickering-stars-and-discovered-an-unexpected-feature-253546

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: University of the Philippines Resilience Institute

    Source: UNISDR Disaster Risk Reduction

    Mission

    As a University arm in providing service to the nation, the University of the Philippines Resilience Institute envisions people, institutions and communities that are resilient to disaster and climate change risks. This shall be done by empowering them with open, accessible, accurate, understandable, and timely risk-based information and by developing a culture of safety and preparedness. It adopts the whole of government, nation and society approach and the trans-disciplinary science, arts, and humanities.

    DRR activities

    UP NOAH Website and Mobile Application

    The UP NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards) website and mobile application is an initiative by the University of the Philippines (UP) that provides real-time weather, flood, landslide, and other disaster-related data for the Philippines. It aims to enhance disaster risk reduction and management by offering scientific tools and hazard maps to local governments, emergency responders, and the general public.

    Basics of Resilience Massive Open Online Courses

    The Basics of Resilience is a free, self-paced MOOC collaboratively offered by the UPRI and the UP Open University (UPOU). This foundational course aims to equip learners with essential knowledge and skills to understand and implement DRRM, as well as CCAM strategies.

    Scientific and Policy Research

    UPRI is dedicated to advancing scientific and policy research aimed at enhancing disaster resilience and climate adaptation in the Philippines. UPRI undertakes a variety of research initiatives, including policy research, action research, and interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary studies, all aimed at producing and applying new knowledge in DRRM. 

    Probabilistic Risk Assessment

    UPRI advocates for the implementation of Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) to enhance disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in the Philippines. PRA is a systematic approach that evaluates the likelihood and potential impacts of various hazard scenarios, including those beyond historical records, by incorporating uncertainty and randomness into risk analysis. This method contrasts with deterministic assessments, which typically consider only single, often historical, scenarios.​ UPRI emphasizes the necessity of PRA in national development planning to anticipate and prepare for future hazards that may surpass those previously experienced. 

    Capacity Building of Higher Education Institutions

    UPRI actively enhances disaster resilience and climate adaptation capacities across the University of the Philippines System and other state universities and colleges (SUCs) through various strategic initiatives. UPRI actively collaborates with various SUCs to co-create local knowledge and build capacity in disaster resilience. These partnerships are crucial for formulating effective DRRM strategies tailored to local contexts. 

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: NASA Webb Explores Effect of Strong Magnetic Fields on Star Formation

    Source: NASA

    Follow-up research on a 2023 image of the Sagittarius C stellar nursery in the heart of our Milky Way galaxy, captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, has revealed ejections from still-forming protostars and insights into the impact of strong magnetic fields on interstellar gas and the life cycle of stars.  
    “A big question in the Central Molecular Zone of our galaxy has been, if there is so much dense gas and cosmic dust here, and we know that stars form in such clouds, why are so few stars born here?” said astrophysicist John Bally of the University of Colorado Boulder, one of the principal investigators. “Now, for the first time, we are seeing directly that strong magnetic fields may play an important role in suppressing star formation, even at small scales.”
    Detailed study of stars in this crowded, dusty region has been limited, but Webb’s advanced near-infrared instruments have allowed astronomers to see through the clouds to study young stars like never before.
    “The extreme environment of the galactic center is a fascinating place to put star formation theories to the test, and the infrared capabilities of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope provide the opportunity to build on past important observations from ground-based telescopes like ALMA and MeerKAT,” said Samuel Crowe, another principal investigator on the research, a senior undergraduate at the University of Virginia and a 2025 Rhodes Scholar.
    Bally and Crowe each led a paper published in The Astrophysical Journal.

    In Sagittarius C’s brightest cluster, the researchers confirmed the tentative finding from the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) that two massive stars are forming there. Along with infrared data from NASA’s retired Spitzer Space Telescope and SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) mission, as well as the Herschel Space Observatory, they used Webb to determine that each of the massive protostars is already more than 20 times the mass of the Sun. Webb also revealed the bright outflows powered by each protostar.
    Even more challenging is finding low-mass protostars, still shrouded in cocoons of cosmic dust. Researchers compared Webb’s data with ALMA’s past observations to identify five likely low-mass protostar candidates.
    The team also identified 88 features that appear to be shocked hydrogen gas, where material being blasted out in jets from young stars impacts the surrounding gas cloud. Analysis of these features led to the discovery of a new star-forming cloud, distinct from the main Sagittarius C cloud, hosting at least two protostars powering their own jets.
    “Outflows from forming stars in Sagittarius C have been hinted at in past observations, but this is the first time we’ve been able to confirm them in infrared light. It’s very exciting to see, because there is still a lot we don’t know about star formation, especially in the Central Molecular Zone, and it’s so important to how the universe works,” said Crowe.

    Webb’s 2023 image of Sagittarius C showed dozens of distinctive filaments in a region of hot hydrogen plasma surrounding the main star-forming cloud. New analysis by Bally and his team has led them to hypothesize that the filaments are shaped by magnetic fields, which have also been observed in the past by the ground-based observatories ALMA and MeerKAT (formerly the Karoo Array Telescope).
    “The motion of gas swirling in the extreme tidal forces of the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*, can stretch and amplify the surrounding magnetic fields. Those fields, in turn, are shaping the plasma in Sagittarius C,” said Bally.
    The researchers think that the magnetic forces in the galactic center may be strong enough to keep the plasma from spreading, instead confining it into the concentrated filaments seen in the Webb image. These strong magnetic fields may also resist the gravity that would typically cause dense clouds of gas and dust to collapse and forge stars, explaining Sagittarius C’s lower-than-expected star formation rate. 
    “This is an exciting area for future research, as the influence of strong magnetic fields, in the center of our galaxy or other galaxies, on stellar ecology has not been fully considered,” said Crowe.  
    The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
    Downloads
    Click any image to open a larger version.
    View/Download all image products at all resolutions for this article from the Space Telescope Science Institute.
    View/Download the science paper led by Bally from the The Astrophysical Journal.
    View/Download the science paper led by Crowe from the The Astrophysical Journal.

    Laura Betz – laura.e.betz@nasa.govNASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
    Leah Ramsay – lramsay@stsci.eduSpace Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
    Christine Pulliam – cpulliam@stsci.eduSpace Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.

    Read more: press releases about the center of the Milky Way
    NASA’s Universe of Learning: ViewSpace Interactive image tour of the center of the Milky Way
    Learn more about the Milky Way and Sagittarius Constellation
    More Webb News
    More Webb Images
    Webb Science Themes
    Webb Mission Page

    What Is a Nebula?
    What Is a Galaxy?
    What is the Webb Telescope?
    SpacePlace for Kids
    En Español
    ¿Qué es una nebulosa?
    ¿Qué es una galaxia?
    Ciencia de la NASA
    NASA en español 
    Space Place para niños

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Bilal A. Essayli Sworn in as United States Attorney, Becoming Chief Federal Prosecutor in Nation’s Most-Populous Federal Trial District

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    LOS ANGELES – Bilal A. “Bill” Essayli was sworn in today as the United States Attorney for the Central District of California following his appointment Tuesday by Attorney General Pamela Bondi.

    The appointment of Mr. Essayli, 39, was made pursuant to Title 28 United States Code Section 546, which provides that “the Attorney General may appoint a United States Attorney for the district in which the office of United States Attorney is vacant.”

    Mr. Essayli, who was sworn in this morning in a private ceremony by Chief United States District Judge Dolly M. Gee, now oversees the largest United States Attorney’s Office outside of Washington, D.C. The office, which currently employs more than 250 lawyers, serves approximately 20 million residents in the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo.

    “It is the honor of a lifetime to lead the United States Attorney’s Office and serve the people of the district that I have called home for so many years,” said United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “As our district’s chief federal prosecutor, I will work diligently and tirelessly with our federal and local law enforcement partners to implement the priorities of the President and the Attorney General and to protect our communities from criminals. Our citizens deserve no less.”

    Mr. Essayli returns to the office after serving as a twice-elected member of the California State Assembly, representing California’s 63rd State Assembly District from December 2022 until Tuesday. The 63rd District is comprised of communities including parts of Riverside and Corona, and the cities of Menifee and Norco.

    In October 2019, he founded and was a partner at the Newport Beach-based law firm Essayli & Brown LLP.

    From October 2014 to February 2018, Mr. Essayli served as an assistant United States attorney in our district, serving in the Los Angeles and Riverside offices. As a federal prosecutor, Mr. Essayli brought justice to victims of violent and organized crime, identity theft, bank fraud, securities fraud and other white-collar crimes.

    Notably, Mr. Essayli was part of the team of federal prosecutors that responded to the terrorist attack at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino in December 2015. He also obtained a conviction in August 2015 at the conclusion of a three-week criminal trial of a Santa Barbara doctor charged with unlawfully prescribing opiates, which resulted in the deaths of more than a dozen patients.

    For two years prior to first joining the office, Mr. Essayli served as a deputy district attorney in the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.

    Before becoming a prosecutor, Mr. Essayli was an associate attorney at the law firm of Paul Hastings LLP, focusing on employment law.

    Mr. Essayli is the son of Lebanese immigrants and a graduate of Centennial High School in Corona. He was the first in his family to graduate college, receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree from the Kellogg Honors College of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He received his juris doctorate from Chapman University School of Law. 

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Parliament Question: INNOVATION IN SCIENCE PURSUIT FOR INSPIRED RESEARCH SCHEME

    Source: Government of India

    Posted On: 02 APR 2025 5:40PM by PIB Delhi

    The Department of Science and Technology (DST) is implementing Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) scheme to attract, nurture and retain meritorious youth to study natural sciences areas at the college and university level and to pursue research careers in both basic and applied science areas including engineering, medicine, agriculture and veterinary sciences. The ultimate objective is to expand the R&D base of the country. It is implemented on pan India scale through four components. INSPIRE scheme’s component-wise salient features are given below:

    INSPIRE Internship component of INSPIRE aims at providing exposure to the top 1% students at Class X Board level by organizing Science Camps either during summer or winter and provide opportunity to them to interact with science icons from India and abroad, including Nobel Laureates, to experience the joys of scientific pursuit. These science camps nourish the curiosity of students in science, help them to think out-of-the box and attract students at an early age of 16-17 years to choose science subjects for further studies.

    Scholarship for Higher Education (SHE)component of INSPIREaims to enhance the rate of attachment of talented youth to undertake higher education in science intensive programs by providing scholarships and mentorship support. The scheme offers 12,000 scholarships of 5-year duration @ Rs 0.80 lakh per year to undertake Bachelor and master’s level education in basic and natural Sciences area for the top 1% talented youth as per central and state education board data in the age group 17-22 years.

    INSPIRE Fellowshipcomponent of INSPIREaims to provide fellowship to M.Sc. 1st Rank holders in Basic & Applied Sciences including engineering, medicine, agriculture, veterinary at the University/academic institute of national importance i.e. IITs, NITs, IISERs level examination as well as Inspire Scholars having secure 70% marks in aggregate at the MSc level who are eligible for admission to the Ph.D. program in any recognized university/ academic institutions in the country every year. The Fellowships are tenable for maximum 5 years (2 years as JRF @ Rs.37000/pm + HRA + Contingency grant of Rs.20000/annum and 3 years as SRF @ Rs.42000/pm + HRA + Contingency grant of Rs.20000/annum) or completion of PhD, whichever is earlier to pursue full-time Ph.D. program. Maximum 1000 INSPIRE Fellowships per year are tenable.

    INSPIRE Faculty Fellowship component of INSPIRE aims to provide opportunities to post- doctoral researchers in the age group of 27-32 year (the upper age limit for SC/ST/Women candidates and persons with benchmark disabilities is 37 and 42 years respectively) for 5 years in both basic and applied sciences area including engineering, agriculture, veterinary and medicine every year. Aspirants having Ph.D. degree with strong academic and research track record are considered on competitive basis. It grants an attractive fellowship for a duration of 5 years with a consolidated emolument of Rs. 1,25,000/- p.m. with annual increment of Rs.200 per annum and a research grant of Rs.7 lakh per annum. This scheme has motivated young researchers to pursue high-quality post-Ph.D. research within the country. Maximum 150 INSPIRE Faculty Fellowships per year are tenable.

    The details of the number of students selected from the States/Union Territories during 2024-2025 till 27.03.2025 under the said scheme are given below:

    S. No.

    State/UT

    INSPIRE-Internship

    INSPIRE-SHE

    INSPIRE-Fellowship

    INSPIRE-Faculty Fellowship

     

     

     

     

    1

    Andhra Pradesh

    530

    5

    11

    0

     

     

    2

    Arunachal Pradesh

    0

    0

    2

    0

     

     

    3

    Assam

    0

    84

    24

    4

     

     

    4

    Bihar

    0

    172

    6

    1

     

     

    5

    Chandigarh

    0

    3

    10

    0

     

     

    6

    Chhattisgarh

    150

    421

    13

    0

     

     

    7

    Delhi

    200

    61

    53

    8

     

     

    8

    Goa

    0

    6

    10

    0

     

     

    9

    Gujarat

    350

    93

    21

    0

     

     

    10

    Haryana

    0

    66

    7

    1

     

     

    11

    Himachal Pradesh

    450

    138

    7

    1

     

     

    12

    Jammu and Kashmir

    150

    2

    21

    3

     

     

    13

    Jharkhand

    0

    23

    5

    3

     

     

    14

    Karnataka

    150

    60

    46

    16

     

     

    15

    Kerala

    150

    376

    31

    3

     

     

    16

    Madhya Pradesh

    0

    573

    28

    2

     

     

    17

    Maharashtra

    200

    198

    34

    8

     

     

    18

    Manipur

    0

    138

    2

    1

     

     

    19

    Meghalaya

    0

    49

    1

    0

     

     

    20

    Mizoram

    0

    13

    4

    0

     

     

    21

    Nagaland

    0

    9

    1

    0

     

     

    22

    Odisha

    0

    108

    23

    2

     

     

    23

    Puducherry

    0

    2

    3

    0

     

     

    24

    Punjab

    550

    61

    30

    2

     

     

    25

    Rajasthan

    0

    2879

    9

    0

     

     

    26

    Sikkim

    0

    0

    2

    0

     

     

    27

    Tamil Nadu

    975

    44

    59

    6

     

     

    28

    Telangana

    450

    31

    36

    4

     

     

    29

    Tripura

    0

    3

    1

    0

     

     

    30

    Uttar Pradesh

    1200

    5374

    40

    4

     

     

    31

    Uttarakhand

    400

    387

    22

    0

     

     

    32

    West Bengal

    350

    362

    52

    9

     

     

     

    This information was given by Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

    ***

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    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Parliament Question: WESTERN GHATS PROJECT

    Source: Government of India

    Posted On: 02 APR 2025 5:38PM by PIB Delhi

    A call for proposals (CFP) on “Geospatial Technology and Solutions” was issued on 13th June 2024 through the Electronic Project Management System Portal (e-PMS portal), in which Proposals were invited only in consortium mode, comprising academia, startups/MSMEs/industry, and user-agencies/practitioners.

    A total of 280 proposals were received under this CFP. The proposal titled “Spring Shed Management and linking of Ecohydrological processes to Human well-being in water-scarce regions of the Western Ghats using Geospatial Technology” was also received online under the above said CFP.  The proposal aimed to develop a Geographical Information System (GIS)-based Spring Information System for selected districts of Western Ghats for assessing climate and land use impacts on watershed hydrology.

    A Project Screening Committee was constituted under the Chairmanship of an eminent professor and other Expert members representing, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Survey of India (SoI), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Central Universities, Other IITs, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), as well as from private sector etc. The total 280 proposals received online through e-PMS portal, were presented before the Project Screening Committee during its meeting held on 26th–27th September 2024 at IIT Delhi. The said proposal was not recommended by the Project Screening Committee for the next level as the committee opined that “The proposal seems to be more research focused lacking scalability and commercialization potential; the consortium partner appears to lack experience and/or expertise”. Out of the 280 proposals, committee finally recommended 11proposals for financial support.

    This information was given by Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

    ***

    NKR/PSM

    (Release ID: 2117878) Visitor Counter : 76

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: NATIONAL MISSION ON INTERDISCIPLINARY-CYBER PHYSICAL SYSTEMS

    Source: Government of India

    Ministry of Science & Technology

    NATIONAL MISSION ON INTERDISCIPLINARY-CYBER PHYSICAL SYSTEMS

    Posted On: 02 APR 2025 5:37PM by PIB Delhi

    The details of the total number of research projects piloted under National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber Physical Systems (NM-ICPS), along with the funds allocated and disbursed, year-wise and location-wise are as under:

    S. No.

    TIH Name & Location

    No. of Research Projects

    Funds Allocated

    (In Lakhs)

    Funds Disbursed (in Lakhs)

    (Financial year-wise)

    2020-21

    2021-22

    2022-23

    2023-24

    2024-25

    1

    TIH Foundation For IOT And IOE, IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, Maharashtra – 400076

    88

    3715.37

    –

    –

    317.25

    639.42

    490.82

    2

    IIIT-H Data I-Hub Foundation, IIIT Hyderabad, Gachibowli, Hyderabad, Telangana – 500032

    68

    1272.9

    13.14

    189.41

    82.67

    508.09

    132.09

    3

    I-HUB for Robotics and Autonomous Systems Innovation Foundation, IISc Bengaluru, CV Raman Rd, Bengaluru, Karnataka – 560012

    5

    7667.53

    165.32

    537.08

    1430.74

    2340.64

    3193.75

    4

    IHUB NTIHAC Foundation, IIT Kanpur, Kalyanpur, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh – 208016

    50

    1300.13

    –

    139.65

    211.62

    346.39

    301.92

    5

    IHUB Drishti Foundation, IIT Jodhpur, NH 62, Karwar, Jodhpur, Rajasthan – 342030

    50

    2369.63

    174

    441.87

    935.29

    818.47

    –

    6

    Divyasampark IHUB Roorkee for Devices Materials and Technology Foundation, IIT Roorkee, Roorkee, Uttarakhand – 247667

    88

    2968.99

    285.20

    468.20

    444.40

    1442.79

    264.40

    7

    IIT Patna Vishlesan I-hub Foundation, IIT Patna, Bihta, Patna, Bihar – 801106

    7

    199.95

    –

    –

    34.33

    18.33

    13.08

    8

    IIT Madras Pravartak Technologies Foundation, IIT Madras, Sardar Patel Rd, Chennai, Tamil Nadu – 600036

    31

    2508.48

    –

    1326.73

    160.44

    930.20

    91.11

    9

    NMICPS Technology Innovation Hub on Autonomous Navigation Foundation (TiHAN), IIT Hyderabad, Kandi, Sangareddy, Telangana – 502284

    153

    3158.65

    –

    1008.43

    1242.39

    395.02

    186.58

    10

    I-DAPT-HUB Foundation, IIT (BHU) Varanasi, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh – 221005

    25

    488.91

    –

    44.55

    189.59

    168.40

    62.53

    11

    IIT Guwahati Technology Innovation and Development Foundation, IIT Guwahati, Amingaon, Guwahati, Assam – 781039

    151

    4727.57

    –

    315

    533.87

    3641.20

    237.50

    12

    IIT MandiIHub and HCI Foundation, IIT Mandi, Kamand, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh – 175075

    24

    1746.34

    –

    –

    328.03

    354

    588.48

    13

    I-Hub Foundation for Cobotics (IHFC), IIT Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi – 110016

    49

    4339

    32.35

    1007.30

    586.47

    397.96

    176.42

    14

    IIT Palakkad Technology Ihub Foundation, IIT Palakkad, Pudussery, Palakkad, Kerala – 678623

    63

    2498.58

    –

    281.25

    530.52

    326.35

    574.96

    15

    IIT Ropar Technology and Innovation Foundation, IIT Ropar, Rupnagar, Punjab – 140001

    87

    4831.13

    4

    545.14

    703.20

    861.91

    676.02

    16

    Technology Innovation in Exploration & Mining Foundation, IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, Sardar Patel Nagar, Dhanbad, Jharkhand – 826004

    62

    1933

    –

    94.66

    79.84

    705.55

    476.51

    17

    IIITB Comet Foundation, IIIT Bangalore, Electronic City, Bangalore, Karnataka – 560100

    17

    10872.51

    –

    –

    1156.70

    2370.19

    2386.34

    18

    BITS BioCYTiH Foundation, BITS Pilani, VidyaVihar, Pilani, Rajasthan – 333031

    43

    1942.07

    –

    20.71

    160.77

    488.22

    429.82

    19

    IDEAS – Institute of Data Engineering, Analytics and Science Foundation, ISI Kolkata, 203, Barrackpore Trunk Road, Kolkata, West Bengal – 700108

    20

    912

    –

    0

    222

    266.80

    48.50

    20

    IITI Drishti CPS Foundation, IIT Indore, Khandwa Road, Simrol, Indore, Madhya Pradesh – 453552

    82

    696.40

    –

    7.68

    173.06

    229.86

    88.33

    21

    AI4ICPS I-Hub Foundation, IIT Kharagpur, Kharagpur, West Bengal – 721302

    63

    1474.45

    –

    –

    –

    1474.45

    –

    22

    IHUB Anubhuti-IIITD Foundation, IIIT Delhi, Okhla Industrial Estate, New Delhi – 110020

    35

    1482.26

    –

    54.72

    228.91

    241.87

    258.54

    23

    I-Hub Quantum Technology Foundation, IISER Pune, Dr.HomiBhabha Road, Pashan, Pune, Maharashtra – 411008

    27

    8619.37

    –

    –

    949.72

    1388.11

    86.51

    24

    IIT TirupatiNavavishkar I-Hub Foundation, IIT Tirupati, Yerpedu, Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh – 517619

    27

    1290.93

    –

    –

    –

    401.18

    714.81

    25

    IIT Bhilai Innovation and Technology Foundation, IIT Bhilai, Kutelabhata, Bhilai, Chhattisgarh – 490020

    96

    5238.62

    –

    38.58

    153.72

    2242.92

    –

    Subtotal

    1411

    78254.77

    674.01

    6520.96

    10855.53

    22998.32

    11479.02

    Total

    52527.84

    The number of technology products developed and jobs created by supported projects under NM-ICPS, location-wise are as under:

    S. No.

    TIH Name & Location

    No. of Technology Products Developed

    No. of Jobs created

    1

    TIH Foundation For IOT And IOE, IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, Maharashtra – 400076

    17

    89

    2

    IIIT-H Data I-Hub Foundation, IIIT Hyderabad, Gachibowli, Hyderabad, Telangana – 500032

    38

    152

    3

    I-HUB for Robotics and Autonomous Systems Innovation Foundation, IISc Bengaluru, CV Raman Rd, Bengaluru, Karnataka – 560012

    54

    –

    4

    IHUB NTIHAC Foundation, IIT Kanpur, Kalyanpur, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh – 208016

    62

    126

    5

    IHUB Drishti Foundation, IIT Jodhpur, NH 62, Karwar, Jodhpur, Rajasthan – 342030

    –

    1238

    6

    Divyasampark IHUB Roorkee for Devices Materials and Technology Foundation, IIT Roorkee, Roorkee, Uttarakhand – 247667

    3

    16

    7

    IIT Patna Vishlesan I-hub Foundation, IIT Patna, Bihta, Patna, Bihar – 801106

    –

    –

    8

    IIT Madras Pravartak Technologies Foundation, IIT Madras, Sardar Patel Rd, Chennai, Tamil Nadu – 600036

    31

    68

    9

    NMICPS Technology Innovation Hub on Autonomous Navigation Foundation (TiHAN), IIT Hyderabad, Kandi, Sangareddy, Telangana – 502284

    198

    781

    10

    I-DAPT-HUB Foundation, IIT (BHU) Varanasi, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh – 221005

    31

    61

    11

    IIT Guwahati Technology Innovation and Development Foundation, IIT Guwahati, Amingaon, Guwahati, Assam – 781039

    78

    138

    12

    IIT MandiIHub and HCI Foundation, IIT Mandi, Kamand, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh – 175075

    7

    22

    13

    I-Hub Foundation for Cobotics (IHFC), IIT Delhi, HauzKhas, New Delhi – 110016

    40

    85

    14

    IIT Palakkad Technology Ihub Foundation, IIT Palakkad, Pudussery, Palakkad, Kerala – 678623

    11

    51

    15

    IIT Ropar Technology and Innovation Foundation, IIT Ropar, Rupnagar, Punjab – 140001

    72

    167

    16

    Technology Innovation in Exploration & Mining Foundation, IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, Sardar Patel Nagar, Dhanbad, Jharkhand – 826004

    34

    818

    17

    IIITB Comet Foundation, IIIT Bangalore, Electronic City, Bangalore, Karnataka – 560100

    15

    338

    18

    BITS BioCYTiH Foundation, BITS Pilani, VidyaVihar, Pilani, Rajasthan – 333031

    5

    6

    19

    IDEAS – Institute of Data Engineering, Analytics and Science Foundation, ISI Kolkata, 203, Barrackpore Trunk Road, Kolkata, West Bengal – 700108

    28

    54

    20

    IITI Drishti CPS Foundation, IIT Indore, Khandwa Road, Simrol, Indore, Madhya Pradesh – 453552

    83

    170

    21

    IHUB Anubhuti-IIITD Foundation, IIIT Delhi, Okhla Industrial Estate, New Delhi – 110020

    66

    107

    22

    AI4ICPS I-Hub Foundation, IIT Kharagpur, Kharagpur, West Bengal – 721302

    17

    146

    23

    I-Hub Quantum Technology Foundation, IISER Pune, Dr.HomiBhabha Road, Pashan, Pune, Maharashtra – 411008

    12

    29

    24

    IIT TirupatiNavavishkar I-Hub Foundation, IIT Tirupati, Yerpedu, Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh – 517619

    –

    –

    25

    IIT Bhilai Innovation and Technology Foundation, IIT Bhilai, Kutelabhata, Bhilai, Chhattisgarh – 490020

    71

    295

    Total

    973

    4957

     

    A list of TIHs approved and established under NM-ICPS (State-wise) along with the total funds allocated and disbursed (year-wise) till date is as under:

    TIH Name & Host Institution

    State/UT

    Sanctioned Year

    Funds Allocated (₹ Cr)

    Funds Disbursed (₹ Cr)

    TIH Foundation For IOT And IOE, IIT Bombay

    Maharashtra

    2020

    170.00

    97.41

    Project ‘BharatGen’ on LLM

    2024

    235.18

    89.66

    IIIT-H Data I-Hub Foundation, IIIT Hyderabad

    Hyderabad

    2020

    110.00

    58.77

    I-HUB for Robotics and Autonomous Systems Innovation Foundation, IISc Bangalore

    Karnataka

    2020

    170.00

    113.25

    IHUB NTIHAC Foundation, IIT Kanpur

    Uttar Pradesh

    2020

    170.00

    143.19

    IHUB Drishti Foundation, IIT Jodhpur

    Rajasthan

    2020

    115.00

    54.95

    Divyasampark IHUB Roorkee for Devices Materials and Technology Foundation, IIT Roorkee

    Uttarakhand

    2020

    135.00

    111.70

    IIT Patna Vishlesan I-hub Foundation, IIT Patna

    Bihar

    2020

    110.00

    22.25

    IIT Madras Pravartak Technologies Foundation, IIT Madras

    Tamil Nadu

    2020

    170.00

    156.18

    NMICPS Technology Innovation Hub on Autonomous Navigation Foundation (TiHAN), IIT Hyderabad

    Hyderabad

    2020

    135.00

    127.43

    I-DAPT-HUB Foundation, IIT (BHU) Varanasi

    Uttar Pradesh

    2020

    110.00

    23.37

    IIT Guwahati Technology Innovation and Development Foundation, IIT Guwahati

    Assam

    2020

    135.00

    92.76

    IIT MandiIHub and HCI Foundation, IIT Mandi

    Himachal Pradesh

    2020

    110.00

    58.25

    I-Hub Foundation for Cobotics (IHFC), IIT Delhi

    Delhi

    2020

    170.00

    85.92

    IIT Palakkad Technology Ihub Foundation, IIT Palakkad

    Kerala

    2020

    100.00

    47.08

    IIT Ropar Technology and Innovation Foundation, IIT Ropar

    Punjab

    2020

    110.00

    79.12

    Technology Innovation in Exploration & Mining Foundation, IIT Dhanbad

    Jharkhand

    2020

    110.00

    63.20

    IIITB Comet Foundation, IIIT Bangalore

    Karnataka

    2020

    150.00

    69.59

    BITS BioCYTiH Foundation, BITS Pilani

    Rajasthan

    2020

    125.00

    59.25

    IDEAS – Institute of Data Engineering, Analytics and Science Foundation, ISI Kolkata

    Kolkata

    2020

    100.00

    12.19

    AI4ICPS I-Hub Foundation, IIT Kharagpur

    Kolkata

    2020

    170.00

    24.45

    IITI Drishti CPS Foundation, IIT Indore

    Madhya Pradesh

    2020

    100.00

    47.19

    IHUB Anubhuti-IIITD Foundation, IIIT Delhi

    Delhi

    2020

    100.00

    36.59

    I-Hub Quantum Technology Foundation, IISER Pune

    Maharashtra

    2020

    170.00

    88.13

    IIT TirupatiNavavishkar I-Hub Foundation, IIT Tirupati

    Andhra Pradesh

    2020

    100.00

    39.75

    IIT Bhilai Innovation and Technology Foundation, IIT Bhilai

    Chhattisgarh

    2020

    55.00

    50.80

    Total

    3435.18

    1852.43

    The details of the number of Centre of Excellence (CoEs) established under NM-ICPS, year-wise and State-wise is as under:

    S. No.

    Name of State/UT

    No. of CoEs Established (year-wise)

    1

    Uttar Pradesh

    2 (2022, 2025)

    2

    Goa

    3 (2023, 2025)

    3

    Tamil Nadu

    2 (2024, 2025)

    4

    Himachal Pradesh

    2 (2024)

    5

    Haryana

    1 (2022)

    6

    Delhi

    3 (2023)

    7

    Jharkhand

    10 (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)

    8

    Karnataka

    4 (2023, 2024, 2025)

    9

    Nagaland

    1 (2025)

    10

    Manipur

    1 (2025)

    11

    Mizoram

    1 (2025)

    12

    Maharashtra

    1 (2025)

    13

    West Bengal

    1 (2025)

    14

    Madhya Pradesh

    1 (2023)

    15

    Rajasthan

    2 (2024, 2025)

    16

    Andhra Pradesh

    5 (2025)

    17

    Telangana

    2 (2025)

    18

    Kerala

    2 (2023, 2025)

    19

    Punjab

    12 (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)

    20

    Uttarakhand

    1 (2024)

    21

    Ladakh

    1 (2024)

    22

    Sikkim

    1 (2024)

    23

    Assam

    5 (2022, 2023, 2024)

    Total

    64

     

    The total number of Government and Industry Research and Development (R&D) labs participating under NM-ICPS, year-wise and State-wise are as under:

    S. No.

    TIH Name

    State

    Total number of Government and Industry Research and Development (R&D) labs (year-wise)

    1

    IIIT-H Data I-Hub Foundation

    Telangana

    44 (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)

    2

    NMICPS Technology Innovation Hub on Autonomous Navigation Foundation (TiHAN)

    3

    I-HUB for Robotics and Autonomous Systems Innovation Foundation

    Karnataka

    5 (2021, 2023, 2024, 2025)

    4

    I-DAPT-HUB Foundation

    Uttar Pradesh

    5 (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023)

    5

    IHUB Drishti Foundation

    Rajasthan

    6 (2024, 2025)

    6

    BITS BioCYTiH Foundation

    7

    IIT Madras Pravartak Technologies Foundation

    Tamil Nadu

    5 (2021, 2022)

    8

    IIT Guwahati Technology Innovation and Development Foundation

    Assam

    11 (2023, 2024)

    9

    IIT MandiIHub and HCI Foundation

    Himachal Pradesh

    5 (2022, 2023)

    10

    I-Hub Foundation for Cobotics (IHFC)

    Delhi

    55 (2020, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)

    11

    IHUB Anubhuti-IIITD Foundation

    12

    IIT Palakkad Technology Ihub Foundation

    Kerala

    4 (2023, 2024, 2025)

    13

    IIT Ropar Technology and Innovation Foundation

    Punjab

    6 (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)

    14

    Technology Innovation in Exploration & Mining Foundation

    Jharkhand

    4 (2022, 2023, 2024)

    15

    IIT Kharagpur AI4ICPS I-Hub Foundation

    West Bengal

    6 (2023, 2024, 2025)

    16

    IITI Drishti CPS Foundation

    Madhya Pradesh

    6 (2021, 2022, 2024)

    17

    IIT TirupatiNavavishkar I-Hub Foundation

    Andhra Pradesh

    4 (2023, 2024)

    18

    IIT Bhilai Innovation and Technology Foundation

    Chhattisgarh

    2 (2022, 2024)

    Total

    168

     

    This information was given by Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

    ***

    NKR/PSM

    (Release ID: 2117875)

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Government of India Spurs Chip Manufacturing with Fiscal Support, Global MoUs and Talent Development Initiatives

    Source: Government of India

    Posted On: 02 APR 2025 6:08PM by PIB Delhi

    Government has approved Semicon India programme with a total outlay of Rs 76,000 crore for the development of semiconductor and display manufacturing ecosystem in India. which provides:

    1. Fiscal support of 50% of the project cost on pari-passu basis for setting up of Silicon Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) based Semiconductor Fabs in India.
    2. Fiscal support of 50% of Project Cost on pari-passu basis for setting up of Display Fabs in India.
    3. Fiscal support of 50% of the Capital Expenditure on pari-passu basis for setting up of Compound Semiconductors / Silicon Photonics (SiPh) / Sensors (including Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) Fab/ Discrete Semiconductor Fab and Semiconductor Assembly, Testing, Marking and Packaging (ATMP) / Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) facilities in India.
    4. Product Design Linked Incentive of up to 50% of the eligible expenditure subject to a ceiling of ₹15 Crore per application and also “Deployment Linked Incentive” of 6% to 4% of net sales turnover over 5 years subject to a ceiling of ₹30 Crore per application for incentivising chip design.

    Government has also approved modernisation of Semi-Conductor Laboratory, Mohali to enhance efficiency and cycle time.

    Government has approved five semiconductor manufacturing projects that includes One Semiconductor Fabrication facility and four Semiconductor ATMP/OSAT facilities under Semicon India Program with cumulative investment of around Rs. 1,52,000 crore.  The approved projects are under various phases of implementation and are expected to be completed in 4–6-year timeframe.

    Further, to strengthen semiconductor manufacturing and creating a semiconductor ecosystem in the country, Government has entered in Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with USA, European Union, Japan and Singapore.

    Semiconductor manufacturing is very complex and Technology intensive sector which requires specialized skilled manpower. To address this, the following measures have been taken by the Government:

    1. All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has launched the new curriculum for B. Tech in Electronics Engineering (Very Large-Scale Integration (VLSI) Design and Technology), Diploma in Integrated Circuit (IC) manufacturing and Minor Degree in Electronics Engineering (VLSI Design and Technology), as a step towards creation of Talent pool in Semiconductor domain.
    2. Government has launched the Chips to Startup (‘C2S’) programme which plans to train 85,000 industry ready workforce at about 113 participating institutions in VLSI and Embedded System Design. More than 43,000 engineering students have been onboarded for training at 113 organizations under C2S Programme till date.
    3. A Skilled Manpower Advanced Research and Training (SMART) Lab has been setup in NIELIT Calicut in 2022 with an aim to train one lakh engineers nation-wide within 5 years in VLSI and Embedded System design. More than 42,000 engineers have been trained nationwide using the SMART Lab.
    4. Further, the following collaborations/ partnerships have been entered into by India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) to encourage skill development:

     

    1. MoU between ISM with IISc and Lam Research: To train about 60,000 Indian engineers in the upcoming 10 years through Lam Research’s Semiverse platform.
    2. MoU between ISM and IBM:  To facilitate Indian students/professionals to build a broad skill base by gaining access to laboratories and research focal centers and establishing internship and fellowship programs.
    3. MoU between ISM with Purdue University: To promote the cutting-edge research and development and commercialization thereof, curating skilled talent pool and investment opportunities in India enabling the Indian professionals to explore their potential in the semiconductor and display space.

    Government is focused on its objective of building the overall semiconductor design and manufacturing ecosystem with an emphasis on fostering R&D in semiconductor area in the country. MeitY supports R&D projects in the area of semiconductors at academic institutions, research organizations, and startup companies through a dedicated R&D Scheme. Some of them includes but not limited to the following- nanotechnology, semiconductor materials, semiconductor processes, chip design, semiconductor IP Cores etc

    This information was given by the Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology Shri Jitin Prasada in Lok Sabha today.

    *******

     

    Dharmendra TewariNavin Sreejith

    (Release ID: 2117925) Visitor Counter : 70

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI: NANO Nuclear and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Sign Landmark Agreement to Build the First KRONOS MMR™ Research Reactor

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Site Selected and Preparatory Work to Begin for Construction Permit Application as NANO Nuclear Accelerates Toward Microreactor Deployment

    NEW YORK, NY, April 02, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — NANO Nuclear Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: NNE) (“NANO Nuclear” or “the Company”), a leading advanced nuclear energy and technology company focused on developing clean energy solutions, is pleased to announce the signing of a strategic collaboration with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U. of I.) to construct the first research KRONOS micro modular reactor (MMR) on the university’s campus.

    The agreement formally establishes U. of I. as a partner in the licensing, siting, public engagement, and research operation of the KRONOS MMR, while also identifying the university campus as the permanent site for the reactor as a research and demonstration installation. This milestone marks the beginning of site-specific development for NANO Nuclear’s advanced KRONOS MMR technology and represents a defining moment in NANO Nuclear’s path to commercialization of the KRONOS MMR Energy System.

    “This is the milestone we’ve been working so diligently towards, transforming design into reality,” said Jay Yu, Founder and Chairman of NANO Nuclear Energy. “With a site now selected and a world-class university as our partner, we are positioned to be among the first companies to deliver advanced reactor systems within the United States. This isn’t just a research reactor, it’s a proving ground for the future of safe, portable, and resilient nuclear energy. Moreover, this agreement will serve as a foundation for our long-term reactor strategy. Every milestone from this point forward brings us closer to delivering the next generation of nuclear energy to communities, campuses, and industries across the world.”

    Figure 1 – NANO Nuclear Energy Inc. Signs Strategic Collaboration with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for the KRONOS MMR

    Following initial arrangements, NANO Nuclear will begin the process of geological characterization, including subsurface investigations, to support preparation of a Construction Permit Application (CPA) for submission to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). This preparatory work is essential to understanding the environmental parameters of the site, including critical inputs to safety analysis, to ensure the utmost reliability and safety of the facility, and support NANO Nuclear’s Preliminary Safety Analysis Report (PSAR) and Environmental Report (ER).

    “The start of geotechnical investigations represents our first physical action toward constructing the KRONOS MMR,” said James Walker, Chief Executive Officer of NANO Nuclear. “This is a powerful signal to the industry, to investors, and to regulators: NANO Nuclear is building. We are not theorizing. We are much beyond conceptualizing. We are moving toward construction, and this is only the first step.”

    Figure 2 – Rendering of NANO Nuclear’s KRONOS MMR™ Energy System at the University of Illinois.

    Through this strategic collaboration, U. of I. and NANO Nuclear will work together throughout the regulatory licensing process, plant design implementation, public and stakeholder engagement, and workforce development. The collaboration builds on the university’s prior experience and engagement with nuclear regulators, while introducing an advanced and simplified reactor system to lead the next generation of clean energy deployment.

    “The KRONOS MMR project can not only be a national first, it can be a first for academia, enabling students, researchers, regulators, and the public to learn directly from a real-world microreactor development effort,” said Illinois Grainger Engineering Professor Caleb Brooks, Principal Investigator for the University of Illinois. “This system can be the most advanced nuclear research platform on any U.S. campus, with the potential to enable a new paradigm of nuclear power through education, research, and at scale demonstration.”

    As part of the agreement, U. of I. will lead the regulatory engagement with the NRC as well as public engagement, support licensing activities including the PSAR and Environmental Report, and play a key role in site layout, constructability assessment, and future operator training programs. NANO Nuclear will oversee plant design, construction, system integration, and commercial pathway development.

    “This agreement brings NANO Nuclear to the forefront of advanced reactors deployment in the United States,” said Dr. Florent Heidet, Chief Technology Officer and Head of Reactor Development of NANO Nuclear. “This construction project is where KRONOS’ engineering meets execution and demand. It will set a precedent for all future university-led nuclear technology reactor projects.”

    The KRONOS MMR Energy System, NANO Nuclear’s flagship micro modular reactor, is designed to redefine what’s possible in nuclear energy and features:

    • Truly modular, containerized construction.
    • Highest in class safety margins, creating an inherently safe reactor.
    • Rapid & flexible deployment capabilities for remote and secure applications.
    • Seamless integration with local grids, renewable grids and process heat systems.

    The KRONOS MMR Energy System leverages proven, state-of-the-art technology solutions, and combines them into a product that is not reliant on new breakthroughs or lengthy and costly research programs.

    This announcement reflects NANO Nuclear’s transition from design to deployment, initiating the first physical project work in the Company’s history. As preparations begin for regulatory licensing and construction activities, NANO Nuclear remains focused on delivering clean, safe, scalable energy through its advanced nuclear technologies.
    About The Grainger College of Engineering

    The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is one of the world’s top-ranked engineering institutions, and a globally recognized leader in engineering education, research and public engagement. With a diverse, tight-knit community of faculty, students and alumni, Grainger Engineering sets the standard for excellence in engineering, driving innovation in the economy and bringing revolutionary ideas to the world. Through robust research and discovery, our faculty, staff, students and alumni are changing our world and making advances once only dreamed about, including the MRI, LED, ILIAC, Mosaic, YouTube, flexible electronics, electric machinery, miniature batteries, imaging the black hole and flight on Mars. The world’s brightest minds from The Grainger College of Engineering tackle today’s toughest challenges. And they are building a better, cooler, safer tomorrow.
    Visit https://grainger.illinois.edu for more information.

    About NANO Nuclear Energy, Inc.

    NANO Nuclear Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: NNE) is an advanced technology-driven nuclear energy company seeking to become a commercially focused, diversified, and vertically integrated company across five business lines: (i) cutting edge portable and other microreactor technologies, (ii) nuclear fuel fabrication, (iii) nuclear fuel transportation, (iv) nuclear applications for space and (v) nuclear industry consulting services. NANO Nuclear believes it is the first portable nuclear microreactor company to be listed publicly in the U.S.

    Led by a world-class nuclear engineering team, NANO Nuclear’s reactor products in development include patented KRONOS MMR™ Energy System, a stationary high-temperature gas-cooled reactor that is in construction permit pre-application engagement U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in collaboration with University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U. of I.), “ZEUS”, a solid core battery reactor, and “ODIN”, a low-pressure coolant reactor, and the space focused, portable LOKI MMR™, each representing advanced developments in clean energy solutions that are portable, on-demand capable, advanced nuclear microreactors.

    Advanced Fuel Transportation Inc. (AFT), a NANO Nuclear subsidiary, is led by former executives from the largest transportation company in the world aiming to build a North American transportation company that will provide commercial quantities of HALEU fuel to small modular reactors, microreactor companies, national laboratories, military, and DOE programs. Through NANO Nuclear, AFT is the exclusive licensee of a patented high-capacity HALEU fuel transportation basket developed by three major U.S. national nuclear laboratories and funded by the Department of Energy. Assuming development and commercialization, AFT is expected to form part of the only vertically integrated nuclear fuel business of its kind in North America.

    HALEU Energy Fuel Inc. (HEF), a NANO Nuclear subsidiary, is focusing on the future development of a domestic source for a High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) fuel fabrication pipeline for NANO Nuclear’s own microreactors as well as the broader advanced nuclear reactor industry.

    NANO Nuclear Space Inc. (NNS), a NANO Nuclear subsidiary, is exploring the potential commercial applications of NANO Nuclear’s developing micronuclear reactor technology in space. NNS is focusing on applications such as the LOKI MMR™ system and other power systems for extraterrestrial projects and human sustaining environments, and potentially propulsion technology for long haul space missions. NNS’ initial focus will be on cis-lunar applications, referring to uses in the space region extending from Earth to the area surrounding the Moon’s surface.

    For more corporate information please visit: https://NanoNuclearEnergy.com/

    For further NANO Nuclear information, please contact:

    Email: IR@NANONuclearEnergy.com
    Business Tel: (212) 634-9206

    PLEASE FOLLOW OUR SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES HERE:

    NANO Nuclear Energy LINKEDIN

    NANO Nuclear Energy YOUTUBE

    NANO Nuclear Energy X PLATFORM

    Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

    This news release and statements of NANO Nuclear’s management in connection with this news release contain or may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In this context, forward-looking statements mean statements related to future events, which may impact our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as “expects”, “anticipates”, “intends”, “plans”, “believes”, “potential”, “will”, “should”, “could”, “would” or “may” and other words of similar meaning. In this press release, forward-looking statements include, among others, statements regarding the anticipated benefits to NANO Nuclear of its agreement with U. of I., as well as NANO Nuclear’s development plans, each as described herein. These forward-looking statements are based on information available to us as of the date of this news release and represent management’s current views and assumptions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, events or results and involve significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may be beyond our control. For NANO Nuclear, particular risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in our forward-looking statements include but are not limited to the following: (i) risks related to our U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) or related state nuclear fuel licensing submissions, (ii) risks related the development of new or advanced technology and the acquisition of complimentary technology or businesses, including difficulties with design and testing, cost overruns, regulatory delays, integration issues and the development of competitive technology, (iii) our ability to obtain contracts and funding to be able to continue operations, (iv) risks related to uncertainty regarding our ability to technologically develop and commercially deploy a competitive advanced nuclear reactor or other technology in the timelines we anticipate, if ever, (v) risks related to the impact of government regulation and policies including by the DOE and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, including those associated with the recently enacted ADVANCE Act, and (vi) similar risks and uncertainties associated with the operating an early stage business a highly regulated and rapidly evolving industry. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this news release. These factors may not constitute all factors that could cause actual results to differ from those discussed in any forward-looking statement, and NANO Nuclear therefore encourages investors to review other factors that may affect future results in its filings with the SEC, which are available for review at www.sec.gov and at https://ir.nanonuclearenergy.com/financial-information/sec-filings. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as a predictor of actual results. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this news release, except as required by law.

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Grassley Statement in Support of Iowan Matt Whitaker

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Iowa Chuck Grassley
    Statement for the Congressional Record by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
    “Nomination of Matt Whitaker to be U.S. Permanent Representative on the Council of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization”
    Wednesday, April 2, 2025
    The Senate [voted yesterday] to confirm my good friend and fellow Iowan, Matt Whitaker, to be the U.S. Ambassador to NATO.
    I want to take a few minutes to express my support for his nomination…
    Matt is someone who’s well known back home in Iowa, and he’s earned the respect of many here in Washington, too. 
    He has a long record of service to our country, from his time as Acting Attorney General in the first Trump administration to his work as Chief of Staff at the Department of Justice. 
    He’s traveled around the world meeting with leaders on important issues, including dealing with the fentanyl crisis and talking with Chinese officials.
    During the George W. Bush administration, Matt served our home state as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District from 2004 to 2009, where he worked hard to keep our communities safe. 
    In Iowa, he’s known not just for his work, but for his deep pride in his home state. 
    He never lets you forget that he’s a proud graduate of the University of Iowa, where he earned his undergraduate degree, MBA and law degree. 
    In fact, he even played football for the Hawkeyes, which speaks to his work ethic and commitment to teamwork.
    Matt carries that same commitment and drive in every role he takes on. 
    Whether it’s on the football field, as a U.S. Attorney, or in his leadership in national law enforcement. 
    This dedication is exactly what he’ll bring to his work with NATO. 
    I’m proud to support a true friend and fellow Iowan who has always shown the highest standards of service to our country.
    I ask my colleagues to support Matt Whitaker’s confirmation. 
    He’ll serve with the same passion and energy that he brings to his love of Iowa football, and I have no doubt that he will represent the United States on the world stage with the same level of commitment.
    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Answer to a written question – Negotiations on the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement – P-002536/2024(ASW)

    Source: European Parliament

    Sustainability impact assessments (SIAs) are independent assessments produced by external consultants on behalf of the Commission.

    These usually analyse the impact of trade agreements on the EU as a whole. Similarly, the Commission is currently analysing the economic impact of the negotiated outcome which is expected to be concluded before the proposal for signature and conclusion is sent by the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament.

    Member States are free to carry out their own SIAs based on their perceived exposure to the agreement. For instance, the Irish government requested an independent economic and sustainability impact assessment for Ireland of the EU-Mercosur Agreement[1].

    The Belgian government commissioned an independent economic impact assessment for Belgium of the EU-Mercosur Agreement on the impact for Belgian economic sectors[2].

    Another study was carried out by Wageningen Economic & Research[3] assessing the impact of the EU-Mercosur Agreement on the Netherlands.

    Now that a final political agreement has been reached between the EU and Mercosur, and after completion of the legal verification and translation into all official languages, the Commission will transmit a proposal to the Council and the European Parliament for signature and conclusion of the agreement.

    In that context, the Commission will present its proposal for the legal basis and architecture of the deal after an assessment of the outcome of the negotiations.

    • [1] https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/1c8a6-economic-and-sustainability-impact-assessment-for-ireland-of-the-eu-mercosur-trade-agreement/
    • [2] https://economie.fgov.be/fr/publications/accord-de-libre-echange-entre
    • [3] Wageningen University & Research — Report 2020-065: Effecten van het EU-Mercosur akkoord op de Nederlandse economie: https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/effecten-van-het-eu-mercosur-akkoord-op-de-nederlandse-economie
    Last updated: 2 April 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Highlights – European Universities Alliances – Committee on Culture and Education

    Source: European Parliament

    The European Universities Initiative © Image used under the license of Adobe Stock

    Ms. Laurence Farreng, will present her draft report on a new vision for the European Universities alliances during the CULT Committee meeting on 8 May. There are currently 65 alliances with the participation of over 570 universities. The report advocates for a long-term, transformative approach to enhance academic excellence and Europe’s strategic position.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: expert reaction to observational study about screentime, sleep and depression in adolescents

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    An observational study published in PLOS Global Mental Health looks at screentime, sleep and depression in adolescents. 

    Prof Ben Carter, Professor of Medical Statistics, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London, said:

    “The authors have used a pre-registered and hypothesis testing approach taking data from a previous randomised control trial which included 4810 Swedish adolescents from 55 schools aged 12 to 16. In this well set up secondary analysis where the authors apply causal inference to an observational cohort study, they found that in girls screentime displaced sleep and was associated with increased symptoms of depression over a nine-month period.

    “Sleep in the development of adolescents is essential. This study offers biologically plausible data that demonstrates the evidence for widely held views of the impact of displacement of screens and the impact on sleep and symptoms of depression. The authors show that typical screentime in this cohort was in excess of Sweden’s recommended maximum of two to three hours per day. This work supports the introduction of public health leadership and introduction of national recommendations on smartphone use during school evenings for children and adolescents. This would likely lead to collective action to empower parents and help adolescents improve their sleep and prevent daytime sleepiness.

    “Weaknesses include that screentime was defined as leisure time on the internet and they were not able to differentiate between the type of screen used and self-reported. The strengths of this work include that the participants were a sample of typical 12- to 16-year-olds from Europe, they applied causal inference with a directed acyclic graph to explain the causal pathways with a pre-registered a priori hypothesis.”

     

    Prof Chris Ferguson, Professor of Psychology, Stetson University, said:

    “Overall, I don’t find this article to be an impressive addition to our understanding of screen time.  The measures of screen time appear to be self-report, a method known for its unreliability.  The questions are crude and not validated, and likely to prompt hypothesis guessing among participants that could result in false positive results.  There appear to be no proper statistical controls for theoretically relevant variables such as family environment, which might have explained any correlation.  Nonetheless, the results from this study are remarkably weak.  There is no correlation between screen time and depression which would seem to be important as findings go, given how much angst there is about that topic.  Though billed as “longitudinal” the lag between the first and second time frames is probably too short to be meaningful.  Associations between screen time and sleep were weak, overall.  In conclusion, the data are correlational, not causal, of weak or (in the case of depression) null effects.  Unfortunately, the authors also use causal language, which is inappropriate for any correlation design, including longitudinal, particularly given the lack of appropriate statistical controls.  Ultimately, this study tells us very little about adolescent screen time, sleep, depression or anything else. With these limitations, I’d worry about making any firm conclusions which could concern parents or carers about screen use in adolescents without the evidence to back it up.”

    ‘Adolescents’ screen time displaces multiple sleep pathways and elevates depressive symptoms over twelve months’ by Sebastian Hökby et al. was published in PLOS Global Mental Health at 19:00 UK time April 2nd April. 

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0004262

    Declared interests

    Prof Ben Carter: No declarations.

    Prof Chris Ferguson: No declarations

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Danielle Smith’s subservient Florida trip flouts the Team Canada approach to fighting Trump

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Junaid B. Jahangir, Associate Professor, Economics, MacEwan University

    Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and media personality Ben Shapiro at a PragerU event in Florida on March 27, 2025. (@DanielleSmith, X)

    Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is facing fierce criticism for using taxpayer money to meet American far-right pundit Ben Shapiro in Florida as part of a recent fundraiser for conservative think tank PragerU.

    At the event, Smith and Shapiro reportedly joked about U.S. President Donald Trump annexing Canada.

    Smith also praised the United States for turning away from 2050 climate targets, spoke of a “net zero ideology” and promoted the importance of Albertan oil and gas to Americans.

    Smith was initially opposed to retaliatory tariffs against the U.S., but eventually acquiesced. Nonetheless, she recently scoffed at a poll that showed a majority of Canadians (68.1 per cent), even in the Prairies (58.8 per cent), support retaliatory tariffs on oil and gas.

    Those defending her Florida appearance argue that Smith intended to reach out to a conservative American audience to present Alberta’s case in the face of Trump’s tariffs.

    She appeared to attempt a balancing act as she stressed the harms of tariffs without strongly pushing back against Trump’s annexation rhetoric.

    The problem with subservience

    I’ve argued that a better response to Trump’s tariffs would be countervailing power, not abject subservience. Additionally, Smith’s approach to Trump’s anti-Canada actions doesn’t reflect the will of Canadians who are pushing back democratically through consumer boycotts of American goods.



    Read more:
    Boycotting U.S. products allows Canadians to take a rare political stand in their daily lives

    Smith’s critics also argue that she cannot achieve more than social pleasantries in her forays to the U.S. to hobnob with right-wing personalities. Generally, the approach of talking to the far right is contingent on various factors, including subject matter and timing, to be successful.

    The benefits of Smith exchanging social pleasantries and pleading her case with the far right in the U.S. comes at the cost of breaking rank from the united stand Canadians need given the perceived existential threat to their country.

    Additionally, Smith shared a platform with those who hold hardcore beliefs about women’s autonomy, LGBTQ rights and who peddle pseudo-academia in the “intellectual dark web,” sending a troubling message to many Canadians.

    The economics of Smith’s approach

    Understanding Smith’s response on retaliatory tariffs requires understanding the economics behind it.

    Smith has an undergraduate degree in economics. But textbook neoclassical economics itself is problematic. I’ve already addressed the shortcomings of mainstream neoclassical economics on climate change in both mainstream and academic work.

    In his book Economism, American law professor James Kwak highlights the problems with Economics 101 as it’s taught at universities around the world. He argues it leaves students with simplistic soundbites long after they’ve graduated that informs their political thinking in later life.

    This could explain Smith’s approach that rests on free market fundamentalism (based on unfettered trade with smaller government and more private entrepreneurship).

    Her economic approach complements her libertarian approach that apparently involves courting right-wing groups that are often small government proponents.



    Read more:
    What Danielle Smith’s remarkable comeback means for Canada

    Neoclassical economics on tariffs

    When it comes to tariffs, textbook economics extols the benefits of free trade without addressing serious issues of environmental degradation and working conditions. Those studying this mainstream economic school of thought may have been left with the overwhelming impression that when the U.S. imposes tariffs, it only hurts itself.

    Harvard economist Gregory Mankiw’s bestselling principles textbook shoots down arguments about how tariffs save jobs, protect infant industries, strengthen national security and prevent unfair competition.

    Several Canadian economists don’t see economic merit in retaliatory tariffs and relegate the issue to politics. Trained within the mainstream neoclassical model, they also view tariffs as categorically harmful.

    Doing nothing in response to tariffs then becomes the default response, based on the argument that governments would make things worse by intervening in the market.

    Australian economist Steve Keen has pointed out that mainstream economics did not have much to say about the global financial crisis in 2008. This is partly because of the belief in what’s known as the “efficient market hypothesis” that contends stocks always trade at fair value.

    In terms of this “do nothing” approach in neoclassical economics, Smith’s response on retaliatory tariffs is therefore not surprising.

    Steve Keen in an interview on the problems with neoclassical economics.

    Alternative economics approaches

    My approach to teaching economics is aimed at prioritizing worker rights, equality, environmental standards and local resilience, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic when supply chains were disrupted. I also believe unanimity is required for retaliatory economic sanctions and boycotts to work.

    That’s because retaliatory tariffs and separate radical responses work when co-ordination difficulties and the “free rider” problem — meaning an individual benefits from collective effort without contributing — are minimized. A united front is required, which Smith is violating when she goes rogue in courting the American far right.

    Alternative economic approaches critical of mainstream perspectives are already promoted in Canada by academics like Rod Hill and Tony Myatt.

    These perspectives don’t categorically reject tariffs. Instead, they highlight the role of targeted tariffs and focus on local resilience and workers’ rights, offering an alternative to the status quo.

    Overall, these new models are a better alternative to Smith’s style of subservience, or do-nothing approaches based on inertia that has seeped into mainstream economics. Both of these outdated responses to American tariffs seem particularly dangerous during this tumultuous period in Canada-U.S. history.

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

    – ref. Danielle Smith’s subservient Florida trip flouts the Team Canada approach to fighting Trump – https://theconversation.com/danielle-smiths-subservient-florida-trip-flouts-the-team-canada-approach-to-fighting-trump-252371

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Misokinesia: when repetitive movements are infuriating to some people

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Rebecca Ellis, Assistant Researcher in Public Health, Swansea University

    Camila R P/Shutterstock

    For some people, the mere sight of someone tapping their foot, twirling their hair or clicking a pen can trigger an intense sense of discomfort, or even rage. This reaction is known as “misokinesia”, a sensitivity to repetitive movements that can make everyday interactions challenging.

    It is only a recently explored phenomenon in research. But studies suggest that up to one-third of the population experiences some level of discomfort when confronted with the repetitive movements of other people. These triggers can include things such as another person bounding their leg repeatedly, or biting their nails, fidgeting – even yawning. Misokinesia may affect a person’s job and their personal lives.

    Misokinesia produces what has been likened by some as a “fight or flight” response in people living with the condition, with reactions including an increase in blood pressure, adrenaline and heart palpitations. Other physical reactions such as nausea are possible too.

    There can also be cognitive reactions, such as a lack of focus or patience, negative or violent thoughts, and feelings of anger and disgust.

    It can be person-specific. This means that people who experience misokenisia find some people’s repetitive actions are more triggering than others. This can make it difficult to spend time with particular people comfortably due to their opposing needs. For example, it may be difficult for a person with misokinesia to be around someone who is stimming (employing self-stimulating behaviour such as leg bouncing) for emotional regulation.

    Misophonia

    Misokinesia is similar to misophonia, which is a strong dislike or hatred of certain sounds, often made by people, such as yawning, breathing or chewing. It can also be person-specific and can affect a person’s day-to-day life, including their ability to regulate their emotions.

    Misophonia often co-occurs with anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

    Misokinesia, however, is entirely visual. While the two conditions can co-occur, they are distinct experiences.

    Given that some people with misophonia report experiencing misokinesia too, it suggests a possible shared neurological basis. But research into both conditions remains in its early stages.

    The exact causes of misokinesia remain unclear, but it may be due to a combination of neurological, psychological and genetic factors. There is evidence that neurodivergent people, including autistic people and those with ADHD, may be more likely to experience both misokinesia and misophonia.



    Read more:
    Misophonia – when certain sounds drive you crazy

    People with both of these conditions may experience stigma, with other people believing they are overreacting. This can affect whether a person who experiences misokinesia will share their experiences with others. It can also reduce the likelihood that they will seek support.

    There is no official diagnosis for misokinesia, nor for misophonia. Discussions are ongoing about whether they should be recognised as clinical conditions, however.

    Can misokinesia be managed?

    Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) may be one way to reduce the effects of both misokinesia and misophonia on a person’s life. CBT can help a person identify their triggers, acknowledge their reactions and learn relaxation techniques to practice in real-life scenarios. Practicing relaxation techniques, can help to manage both the physiological and mental responses to a trigger.

    Practical strategies, such as subtly blocking one’s view of the movement, shifting focus to another part of the environment, or explaining triggers to those around them may also help reduce distress.

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

    – ref. Misokinesia: when repetitive movements are infuriating to some people – https://theconversation.com/misokinesia-when-repetitive-movements-are-infuriating-to-some-people-252056

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Babe at 30: why this much-loved film is one of the best cinematic translations of a children’s book

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Kiera Vaclavik, Professor of Children’s Literature & Childhood Culture, Queen Mary University of London

    This spring, Babe is returning to cinemas to mark the 30th anniversary of its release in 1995. The much-loved family film tells the deceptively simple but emotionally powerful story of a piglet who saves his bacon through intelligence, kindness and hard work.

    Babe becomes the trusted ally of both farmer and farmyard animals and, like so many Hollywood heroes before and since, he refuses to stay in his lane.

    It’s a film which, on paper, really shouldn’t work and which sounds alarm bells to any self-respecting children’s literature scholar like me. It takes an expertly crafted English children’s book with tasteful black-and-white illustrations – Dick King-Smith’s The Sheep Pig (1983) – and turns it into an all-singing, all-dancing technicolour extravaganza.

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    The film inserts new episodes and characters – an evil cat, a plucky duck and (most alarmingly) a brace of brattish kids. And it replaces a perfectly good, does-what-it-says-on-the-tin book title with the cutesy moniker of the piglet star.

    It shouldn’t work … but it really, really does. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that it’s one of the most successful film adaptations of a children’s book of all time.

    It met with both commercial and critical success, making over US$254 million at the box office and being nominated for no less than seven Academy Awards, one of which it secured for visual effects.

    So, what exactly is so special about Babe? It was one of the first films which, thanks to the then-cutting edge combination of animatronics and visual effects, delivered convincing talking animals who, endowed with the gift of speech, could themselves “look like movie stars”. But with all the jaw-dropping technological advances of the last 30 years, how has this film managed to stand the test of time so well?

    The answer in part is that its source material is exceptionally strong. The Sheep Pig is written with restraint and economy, but also great warmth and relish. King-Smith has immense fun, wallowing in words like the proverbial pig in muck, and putting it all to the service of a story whose core values are easy to get behind. The Sheep Pig is a soft-power parable which advocates for brains over brawn, for respectful communication and common decency.

    But the excellence of a film’s bookish bedrock is no guarantee of success. Indeed, the brilliance of a book can often be something of a liability. Think of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, or any of the film and TV adaptations of Noel Streatfeild’s superb Ballet Shoes. With Babe, though, the book is catalyst rather than straitjacket, an enabling prompt which initiates a new work of equal strength and quality.

    The pacing is well judged, the look of the film lush, and there are several actual laugh-out-loud moments – including the duck’s panicked realisation that “Christmas means carnage!” Above all, it’s a film with immense emotional intelligence and power.

    Recognised for its visual effects, it also succeeds in large part because of the strength of its soundscape and score. There’s one scene in particular which really soars, and which takes on the elephant in the room: the human habit of eating pigs.

    Babe is so shocked and upset on learning this fact from the evil cat (who else?) that he loses the will not just to win in the sheepdog trial, but to live at all. The supremely taciturn Father Hoggett must act to make amends and save his pig protégé.

    In an astonishingly moving act of love, this man of few words takes the sickly and sick-at-heart pig onto his lap and sings to him. At first a gentle crooning, the farmer’s expression of care and affection soon swells to an out-and-out bellow, accompanied by a wild, caution-to-the-wind dance.

    It’s difficult to imagine a more lyrically apt song than the 1977 reggae-inflected hit based on the powerful tune of Camille Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3 in C Minor: “If I had words”, it begins. It’s a moment of huge emotional force and intensity, in which the gaping abyss of age and species difference are bridged through music and dance.

    James Cromwell as Farmer Hoggett, here and throughout the film, is tremendous, his reserved performance a key factor in its success. The role – which he almost didn’t take because of the paucity of lines – was career-defining, and prompted personal epiphanies which flow naturally from this scene.

    First, Cromwell never ate meat again. Second, he has spoken (with visible emotion) of the delivery of the film’s final pithy-but-powerful line of approbation – “That’ll do pig, that’ll do” – as a moment of communion with his father on catching sight of his own artificially aged reflection in the camera lens. “My life changed, and I owe it to a pig,” the actor concludes.

    Babe is a film and an adaptation with many qualities. It’s wholesome without ever being sickly. But above all, it has an emotional force which worked on actors and audiences alike and which, 30 years later, remains undiminished.

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

    – ref. Babe at 30: why this much-loved film is one of the best cinematic translations of a children’s book – https://theconversation.com/babe-at-30-why-this-much-loved-film-is-one-of-the-best-cinematic-translations-of-a-childrens-book-253290

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How Islamic State used video to legitimise its caliphate

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Moign Khawaja, Lecturer, School of Law and Government, Dublin City University (DCU), Dublin City University

    The rise of the self-styled Islamic State (IS) has been described as an “accident of history” which took place as a result of the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003.

    The extremist organisation had existed as a mere “paper state” since its founding as the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) in October 2006. But the video release of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declaring himself the caliph on July 4 2014 marked a turning point in contemporary history.

    IS subsequently published hundreds of videos, some of which shocked the world with their graphic violence. Ideological enemies of the caliphate were executed by beheading or being burned alive.

    But while the violence mobilised global opposition to what the then-US president, Barack Obama, called IS’s “bankrupt” ideology, the group used video as its go-to medium for IS propaganda and recruitment.

    The group’s official videos, generally described as “slick” and “Hollywood-esque”, heavily emphasised two vital aspects of its identity: Islamic and state. The Islamic aspect of IS has been debated at length by scholars – especially the question of how much they had to do with Islam, if at all. But little research has been done to investigate the statehood claim made by IS.

    The fact IS termed itself as Islamic State, or ad-Dawlah al-Islāmiyah
    (الدولة الإسلامية) in Arabic, demonstrated its claim to be a state in the truest sense of the word – not just to citizens living in the territory it controlled, but to its supporters and enemies worldwide.

    IS also presented evidence of state-building activities in the form of official propaganda releases. These aimed not only to back up its statehood claims but to seek recognition from its subjects and supporters for the caliphate project.

    For our book, Islamic State, Media and Propaganda: Performances of the ‘Visual Caliphate’, we conducted an in-depth visual analysis of 374 official IS videos. These were published between the caliphate’s establishment in July 2014 and its dismantlement in July 2017, and collected from various online IS channels before their takedown in mid-2015, when Twitter started suspending thousands of pro-IS accounts en-masse.

    We looked at the videos IS produced through four different analyses.

    1. Population

    The population analysis reveals IS’s portrayal of itself as a vibrant Islamic society. IS depicted its people as a cohesive community living under shariah law, emphasising gendered roles and the Bay’ah citizenship agreement, which privileged Sunni Muslims while marginalising minorities.

    This analysis highlights the disproportionate portrayal of men as fighters and breadwinners. Women, meanwhile, were largely invisible on screen, confined to domestic roles as wives and mothers. Young boys were groomed as future fighters while girls were portrayed as “pearls of chastity” and trained to raise the next generation of the caliphate.

    Surprisingly, women did make a one-off appearance when they were shown fighting alongside men on the battlefield as the caliphate was on its last legs.

    2. Territory

    This analysis unravels three stages of IS’s expansionist territorial strategy. First, identify enemy targets and territory. Second, attack and defeat the enemy. Finally, project the victory to followers and opponents alike.

    The videos also show IS exercising sovereignty over its territory – aiming to legitimise its rule in the eyes of its subjects, and encourage global supporters to emigrate, join and defend IS.

    The group projected itself as a de facto sovereign state capable of capturing, controlling and defending its territory with the help of modern technology such as drones, maps and weaponry. It depicted any severe military setbacks it suffered as a divine test – and heavily downplayed their importance.

    3. Governance

    This showcases IS’s efforts to project itself as a modern state by documenting its governance practices, including law enforcement, public services and administration. IS presented itself as a revolutionary state that brought peace and security to a war-torn region.

    The governance mode of analysis highlights IS’s theatrical performances of its ability to run a state. Videos showed civil servants working in offices as well as civilians engaging with the state institutions they ran. They regularly featured state symbols such as the IS flag and its gold dinar currency.

    These displays of performative governance were made at a time when the caliphate was constantly pummelled by military operations conducted by both US- and Russia-led coalitions.

    Despite its strict Salafi identity (an orthodox Islamic movement that advocates a return to the practices and beliefs of the first three generations of Muslims), IS presented itself as a modern state by deploying tools such as its own branding, currency, infrastructure and taxation.

    4. Foreign policy

    IS interactions with other states and non-state actors were presented as foreign policy. It rejected the modern international system, which it deemed un-Islamic, and refused to seek recognition from the international community. Instead, IS engaged in “rebel diplomacy” with other jihadi groups. The aim was to co-opt them into its global network of affiliates.

    Our analysis reveals how IS used civilian casualties caused by coalition airstrikes to justify terror attacks abroad. It also selectively quoted Islamic texts to legitimise its actions, and took matters into its own hands when religious teachings did not fit its narrative.

    An example of this was the horrific burning alive of Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kasasbeh. According to a narrative attributed to the Prophet Muhammad, burning alive as a form of punishment is forbidden in Islam.

    Our research underscores IS’s unique status as a jihadi organisation that came close to establishing a de facto state. This was an unprecedented feat in contemporary history, and shows how IS’s theatrical performances of statehood were carefully scripted and staged. Jihadi-led violence has subsided across the Middle East and North Africa since the territorial collapse of IS in 2017.

    But it has risen in other regions of Asia and Africa, including Central Asia, East Africa and the Sahel region. So our findings can help in the understanding of how the blueprint of the caliphate might inspire and influence existing and future jihadi movements with statebuilding ambitions.

    Moign Khawaja received funding from the Irish Research Council as part of the IRC-Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Research Fellowship.

    – ref. How Islamic State used video to legitimise its caliphate – https://theconversation.com/how-islamic-state-used-video-to-legitimise-its-caliphate-252214

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Five ways to improve net zero action – our new research highlights lessons from the past

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Karen Bickerstaff, Professor in Human Geography, University of Exeter

    Cycling is not only a way to reduce carbon emissions, it also has huge health benefits. LeManna/Shutterstock

    The current UK government and its recent predecessors have shown a reluctance to encourage and enable lifestyle changes that reduce our collective demand for energy.

    Fearing a backlash from voters, many UK politicians neglect key weapons in the fight to mitigate climate change. These include directing investment away from building roads to public transport, establishing reliable infrastructure for the charging and repair of electric vehicles, and making reduction of car travel a key priority for urban planners.

    As researchers focusing on how to accelerate climate action, we argue that shying away from changing the way we live is counterproductive. Conflict and disagreement are part of social change, but there are positive ways forward.

    The problems and, critically, the solutions have overwhelmingly been presented by UK governments as technological. But many of these technologies are still only in development.

    Practical use of nuclear fusion (the energy-generating mechanism that powers the sun), for example, has long been spoken of as “30 years away”. The efficacy of direct air capture (a set of technologies that extract CO₂ directly from the atmosphere) remains a matter of conjecture.

    Meanwhile, demand reduction and lifestyle changes – solutions we know make a difference – are being left in the background.

    In the run-up to the 2024 UK general election, we conducted a survey of almost 3,000 UK citizens – of which just over half (51%) expressed support for a net zero carbon emissions target. Given the apparent indifference or outright opposition of a substantial proportion of voters, it is not surprising that politicians seek to minimise objections to net zero policy by downplaying any suggestion of personal disruption.

    Our survey also asked about people’s willingness to make specific lifestyle changes (to home energy, diet and travel) for climate reasons. On average, 43% were already acting or firmly planning to do so. Another 28% said they might be prepared to make such changes in the future.

    Willingness to make climate-related lifestyle changes:

    This ties in with other research which indicates that people are open to significant changes in their lifestyle to support net zero, if the conditions are right. So, how can this potential for change be realised?

    The answer, we argue, lies in the recent past. Over the last year, as part of a social science taskforce on net zero, we looked back at a diverse range of case studies of societal change to draw lessons for future policy. We now propose that five key steps are needed for effective net zero action.

    1. Galvanise people

    When seeking to build support for contentious change, it is vital to identify issues that can galvanise people. These will often relate to other (non-net zero) benefits. For instance, “school streets” projects have been successful, where other traffic reduction policies have failed, because they emphasise the benefits to the health and wellbeing of children.

    Similarly, the rapid switch from coal heating to gas central heating in the 1960s and ’70s was partly connected to a popular movement for cleaner, “decent” homes.

    Identifying issues that unify people can galvanise support from local communities.
    Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock

    2. Focus on fairness

    In our survey, just 37% of people saw a fairer society as a likely outcome of net zero actions, while 63% identified individual finances as a major challenge to achieving net zero. Regulation needs to establish a close connection between net zero measures and equity, so that no groups are unfairly burdened or advantaged. This requires an honest discussion about downsides and trade-offs.

    Measures that focus on cheaper bills, affordable devices, accessible transport and the alleviation of fuel poverty will build optimism. In the successful Danish transition to district heating from the mid-1970s, ensuring affordable and reliable energy was vital in gaining support, as was giving residents a say in decision-making.

    3. Make the policy process relatable

    We noticed that survey participants expressed a lot of cynicism and uncertainty about government action on net zero. Nearly half (46%) doubted that the net zero target was achievable, while most people (62%) had serious concerns about vested interests, under-resourced local authorities (59%), and a lack of government investment in infrastructure (59%).

    People also feel disconnected from decision-making. Many said they had little or no influence on climate policy (59%), and felt there was a lack of power in communities (51%).

    Local authorities, businesses, community groups and other third-sector organisations can help bridge these gaps between national government and everyday life. They should play a key role delivering net zero policies that fit with local needs and issues.

    When Denmark switched to district heating, the delegation of powers to municipal authorities was crucial in supporting community ownership models and empowering residents and community groups. Properly resourced local climate commissions – town- and city-wide groups that bring together local organisations and businesses – can provide an independent, trusted voice to help drive climate action at a local level.

    4. Listen to other people

    People need the chance to listen to and engage with each other. If they doubt their opinions and concerns are recognised, or if their worries are viewed as nothing more than obstacles, conflict becomes more likely.

    Proper dialogue through collaborations like climate citizens’ assemblies can improve understanding of different positions, aspirations and capabilities. Once legitimate concerns and unintended consequences have been identified, potential solutions can be explored.

    There is certainly support for this more interactive approach: 40% of people in our survey felt that affected communities should have a considerable influence on climate policies, alongside local authorities (40%) and elected MPs (42%).

    Without these ongoing conversations, projects can fail. A Dutch carbon capture and storage project, using a depleted gas field under the town of Barendrecht to store CO₂ from a nearby refinery, was cancelled in 2010 following intense local opposition. The government and industry had failed to get public engagement right from the start.

    5. Accept some opposition

    Change to net zero is going to be difficult, and no step the UK government takes will completely eliminate the possibility of disruption and conflict. In our survey, nearly a quarter of respondents were opposed to the UK net zero target. So, politicians need to be more robust and interventionist in making a positive case for net zero, recognising that not everyone is going to agree.

    However, there are grounds to be optimistic that action itself may help unlock support for net zero. Research that has followed school streets projects, for example, shows that once schemes are in place, support among residents and parents increases when anticipated problems (such as traffic displacement) do not materialise – and when the benefits, in terms of children walking and cycling more, become clear.


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

    Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead. Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. Join the 40,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.

    Karen Bickerstaff receives funding from the Leverhulme Trust and ESRC.

    Alice Moseley receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council

    Patrick Devine-Wright receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

    – ref. Five ways to improve net zero action – our new research highlights lessons from the past – https://theconversation.com/five-ways-to-improve-net-zero-action-our-new-research-highlights-lessons-from-the-past-244195

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: What these new landing barges can tell us about China’s plans to invade Taiwan

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Matthew Heaslip, Senior Lecturer in Naval History, University of Portsmouth

    How the Shuqiao barges may be used to ferry troops ashore. X (formerly Twitter)

    China’s intentions when it comes to Taiwan have been at the centre of intense discussion for years. Both mainland China and Taiwan claim to represent the “real” China after the Kuomintang nationalist party under Chiang Kai Shek retreated across the Taiwan Strait and established the Republic of China there in 1949. Ever since then, mainland China – the People’s Republic – has maintained a claim over Taiwan.

    But in recent years, Chinese leaders – including the current president, Xi Jinping – have talked of plans for “reunification” which would bring Taiwan and its population of 23 million under the control of Beijing. By force if necessary.

    Now, the recent appearance of a handful of odd-looking barges at a beach in Guangdong province in the People’s Republic may be a significant movement towards that unwelcome potential outcome.

    The Shuiqiao barges filmed in March 2025 working together to form a relocatable bridge – the name means “water bridge” – enable the transfer of vehicles, supplies and people between ship and shore, over shallow beaches and potential obstacles on to firm ground. Analysts have already pointed out that there is no obvious commercial role for such large vessels, so the most likely purpose is for landing armed forces during amphibious operations.

    All major navies maintain some form of amphibious capability. The UK’s Royal Fleet Auxiliary, for example, operates the UK’s three bay class landing ships, which are due to be replaced by six modern multi-role strike ships. What is particularly significant, however, is that the Shuiqiao offers capabilities along similar lines to the Mulberry harbours built for the D-Day Normandy landings.

    The specialised nature of these landing barges, with only one real purpose – to help land large numbers of military forces, stands in contrast with mainstream amphibious vessels. Bay class ships, for example, continue to be used for civilian evacuations, humanitarian aid, disaster relief and a wide range of military roles.

    That is a crucial distinction as amphibious operations present huge logistical challenges. D-Day required 850,000 troops, 485,000 tons of supplies and 153,000 vehicles to be landed safely over the first three weeks. Ports tend to be difficult to seize intact, as was demonstrated to great cost during the 1942 raid on Dieppe, so it is generally necessary to land armies over the invasion beaches.

    The ability to install temporary harbours, which is what the Shuiqiao bridges appear to provide, offers a means of quickly landing large forces from bigger ships to shore. That also reduces the number of specialised landing ships required, by enabling the use of commercial vessels for ferrying troops to those makeshift ports.

    Is an invasion of Taiwan imminent?

    What is of concern is that such specialised landing barges are not normally constructed until shortly before they are intended to be used. The Mulberry harbours went into production only a year before the Normandy landings. This is both to ensure they are in good working order when required, but also as they tend to offer little additional value and yet come at a significant price. In this present case, the nearest comparable civilian and military vessels cost hundreds of millions of dollars each.

    This does not mean that their appearance guarantees that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan is imminent. At present there are reported to be three completed prototype landing barges ready for deployment and three under construction. This would offer one or two beach bridges, each an estimated 820 metres long.

    That would be of minimal value in a major invasion. The single US Navy Jlots modular floating pier in Gaza, for example, was only able to land 8,800 tonnes of aid in 20 days. While the Gaza effort was affected by bad weather, any Shuiqiao landing bridges would face much more dangerous wartime conditions. Three to six barges could also still plausibly be intended for disaster relief, even if does not seem a particularly cost-effective means of delivering aid.

    How the US Jlot floating pier works.

    But if the number of these barges continues to increase then the assumption must be that a major amphibious expedition is likely within the next decade. Historically, neither the UK, US or any other major power has maintained more than a handful of such highly specialised landing vessels, except for when they intended to use them. In the case of these barges the target may not necessarily be Taiwan – although it would be the most obvious target.

    Assuming that an invasion does not trigger a world war, it might still be unsuccessful. Despite years of preparation and near complete control of the sea and skies, the Normandy landings were incredibly perilous and at times looked at risk of defeat. Success came at great cost in lives, through great skill, and at times a little luck. More than 4,400 allied soldiers are believed to have died within the first 24 hours alone, with many more wounded.

    Furthermore, getting forces ashore is only part of the challenge. Taiwan’s geography is not suited to rapid movement inland and in similar historic cases that has led to significant additional casualties and delays.

    The battle of Anzio during the 1944 invasion of Italy, for example, registered tens of thousands of casualties as the allies struggled to break out of the beachhead. Likewise, at Gallipoli in 1915, repeated failures to move inland saw allied forces suffer hundreds of thousands of casualties only to eventually withdraw.

    As a historian who is fond of China, I can only hope that these prototypes will remain just that and this will join the list of other forgotten moments in world history. If not, then the conflicts we have seen since the cold war and even those of the past few years may look minor in comparison to what could be unleashed as a result of an invasion of Taiwan.

    Matthew Heaslip is a Visiting Fellow at the Royal Navy’s Strategic Studies Centre.

    – ref. What these new landing barges can tell us about China’s plans to invade Taiwan – https://theconversation.com/what-these-new-landing-barges-can-tell-us-about-chinas-plans-to-invade-taiwan-253044

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –