The innovative team of engineers and scientists from NASA, the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, and more than 40 other partner organizations across the country that created the Parker Solar Probe mission has been awarded the 2024 Robert J. Collier Trophy by the National Aeronautic Association (NAA). This annual award recognizes the most exceptional achievement in aeronautics and astronautics in America with respect to improving the performance, efficiency, and safety of air or space vehicles in the previous year. “Congratulations to the entire Parker Solar Probe team for this well-earned recognition,” said NASA acting Administrator Janet Petro. “This mission’s trailblazing research is rewriting the textbooks on solar science by going to a place no human-made object has ever been and advancing NASA’s efforts to better understand our solar system and the Sun’s influence, with lasting benefits for us all. As the first to touch the Sun and fastest human-made object ever built, Parker Solar Probe is a testament to human ingenuity and discovery.”
On Dec. 24, 2024, Parker Solar Probe made its closest approach to the Sun, passing deep within the Sun’s corona, just 3.8 million miles above the Sun’s surface and at a top speed of close to 430,000 mph, ushering in a new era of scientific discovery and space exploration. “This award is a recognition of the unrelenting dedication and hard work of the Parker Solar Probe team. I am so proud of this team and honored to have been a part of it,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington. “By studying the Sun closer than ever before, we continue to advance our understanding of not only our closest star, but also stars across our universe. Parker Solar Probe’s historic close approaches to the Sun are a testament to the incredible engineering that made this record-breaking journey possible.” Three novel aerospace technology advancements were critical to enabling this record performance: The first is the Thermal Protection System, or heat shield, that protects the spacecraft and is built to withstand brutal temperatures as high as 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. The Thermal Protection System allows Parker’s electronics and instruments to operate close to room temperature. Additional Parker innovations included first-of-their-kind actively cooled solar arrays that protect themselves from overexposure to intense solar energy while powering the spacecraft, and a fully autonomous spacecraft system that can manage its own flight behavior, orientation, and configuration for months at a time. Parker has relied upon all of these vital technologies every day since its launch almost seven years ago, in August 2018. “I am thrilled for the Parker Solar Probe team on receiving this well-deserved award,” said Joe Westlake, director of the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters. “The new information about the Sun made available through this mission will improve our ability to prepare for space weather events across the solar system, as well as better understand the very star that makes life possible for us on Earth.” Parker’s close-up observations of solar events, such as coronal mass ejections and solar particle events, are critical to advancing our understanding of the science of our Sun and the phenomena that drive high-energy space weather events that pose risks to satellites, air travel, astronauts, and even power grids on Earth. Understanding the fundamental physics behind events which drive space weather will enable more reliable predictions and lower astronaut exposure to hazardous radiation during future deep space missions to the Moon and Mars. “This amazing team brought to life an incredibly difficult space science mission that had been studied, and determined to be impossible, for more than 60 years. They did so by solving numerous long-standing technology challenges and dramatically advancing our nation’s spaceflight capabilities,” said APL Director Ralph Semmel. “The Collier Trophy is well-earned recognition for this phenomenal group of innovators from NASA, APL, and our industry and research partners from across the nation.” First awarded in 1911, the Robert J. Collier Trophy winner is selected by a group of aviation leaders chosen by the NAA. The Collier Trophy is housed in the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington. “Traveling three times closer to the Sun and seven times faster than any spacecraft before, Parker’s technology innovations enabled humanity to reach inside the Sun’s atmosphere for the first time,” said Bobby Braun, head of APL’s Space Exploration Sector. “We are all immensely proud that the Parker Solar Probe team will join a long legacy of prestigious aerospace endeavors that redefined technology and changed history.” “The Parker Solar Probe team’s achievement in earning the 2024 Collier is a shining example of determination, genius, and teamwork,” said NAA President and CEO Amy Spowart. “It’s a distinct honor for the NAA to acknowledge and celebrate the remarkable team that turned the impossible into reality.” Parker Solar Probe was developed as part of NASA’s Living With a Star program to explore aspects of the Sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society. The Living With a Star program is managed by the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Applied Physics Laboratory designed, built, and operates the spacecraft and manages the mission for NASA. By Geoff BrownJohns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
NASA’s LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) imaged Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 on the Moon’s surface on March 7, just under 24 hours after the spacecraft landed. Later that day Intuitive Machines called an early end of mission for IM-2, which carried NASA technology demonstrations as part of the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign.
The IM-2 mission lander is located closer to the Moon’s South Pole than any previous lunar lander. LRO is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Launched on June 18, 2009, LRO has collected a treasure trove of data with its seven powerful instruments, making an invaluable contribution to our knowledge about the Moon. NASA is returning to the Moon with commercial and international partners to expand human presence in space and bring back new knowledge and opportunities. More on this story from Arizona State University’s LRO Camera website Media Contact:Nancy N. JonesNASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
NASA’s LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) imaged Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 lunar lander on the Moon’s surface the afternoon of March 2, not quite 10 hours after the spacecraft landed.
The delivery is part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign. This is the first CLPS delivery for Firefly, and their first Moon landing. LRO is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Launched on June 18, 2009, LRO has collected a treasure trove of data with its seven powerful instruments, making an invaluable contribution to our knowledge about the Moon. NASA is returning to the Moon with commercial and international partners to expand human presence in space and bring back new knowledge and opportunities. More on this story from Arizona State University’s LRO Camera website Media Contact:Nancy N. JonesNASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
2025-44 ATTORNEY GENERAL LOPEZ LEADS FIGHT TO STOP PRESIDENT TRUMP FROM SHUTTING DOWN THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Posted on Mar 24, 2025 in Latest Department News, Newsroom
STATE OF HAWAIʻI
KA MOKU ʻĀINA O HAWAIʻI
DEPARTMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
KA ʻOIHANA O KA LOIO KUHINA
JOSH GREEN, M.D. GOVERNOR
KE KIAʻĀINA
ANNE LOPEZ
ATTORNEY GENERAL
LOIO KUHINA
ATTORNEY GENERAL LOPEZ LEADS FIGHT TO STOP PRESIDENT TRUMP FROM SHUTTING DOWN THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
AG Lopez Leads Coalition Seeking Preliminary Injunction to Block Mass Layoffs and the Elimination of Core Services at the Department of Education
News Release 2025-44
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 24, 2025
HONOLULU –Attorney General Lopez today led a coalition of 20 other attorneys general in filing amotion for a preliminary injunctionas part of its lawsuit to stop the dismantling of the Department of Education (ED).
On March 13, Attorney General Lopez and the coalition filed the lawsuit after the Trump administration announced plans to eliminate 50 percent of ED’s workforce. Following a March 20 Executive Order directing the closure of ED and President Trump’s March 21 announcement that, in addition to implementing layoffs, the ED must “immediately” transfer student loan management and special education services outside of ED, Attorney General Lopez and the coalition are seeking a court order to immediately stop the mass layoffs and transfer of services.
“The Department of Education is essential, and it cannot be eliminated or incapacitated by the Trump administration without violating federal law,” said Attorney General Lopez. “The 50% cut to the department’s workforce and transfer of department functions to other agencies causes grave harm to our state and our students. We are asking the court to step in to halt the department’s destruction.”
“Closing the U.S. Department of Education is a potentially catastrophic blow to students, especially those who rely on federal aid and support services to access higher education. At the University of Hawaiʻi, this decision threatens over 100 critical programs and hundreds of jobs across our campuses. We strongly support this legal challenge to defend the future of public education and the communities we serve,” said University of Hawaiʻi President Wendy Hensel.
“The move to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education threatens critical programs that directly support our students, including those with disabilities, English learners, students experiencing unstable housing, and those in our highest-need schools,” said Hawai‘i Department of Education Superintendent Keith T. Hayashi. “In addition to funding, we rely on the department’s guidance to ensure compliance, plan for the school year, and sustain essential services across the state. Even with assurances that core programs will continue, a shift of this magnitude risks serious disruptions. We appreciate Attorney General Lopez’s leadership in standing up for the stability our schools depend on, and we remain committed to working with our partners to protect educational opportunities for all students.”
As Attorney General Lopez and the coalition assert, the Trump administration’s attacks on ED have already had serious consequences for families and students throughout the country. Mass layoffs of ED staff have led to the closure of ED’s Office for Civil Rights locations throughout the country. Critical funding for state school systems has also been delayed. As the attorneys general argue, states rely on billions of dollars every year in funding for elementary and secondary education, services for children with disabilities, vocational education, adult education, and other crucial services. All of these programs will be severely disrupted if the administration’s incapacitation of ED is not stopped.
Attorney General Lopez and the coalition argue in their lawsuit and motion for a preliminary injunction that the Trump administration’s attacks on ED are illegal and unconstitutional. ED is an executive agency authorized by Congress, with numerous laws creating its various programs and funding streams. The coalition’s lawsuit asserts that the executive branch does not have the legal authority to unilaterally dismantle it without an act of Congress. In addition, the attorneys general argue that ED’s mass layoffs violate the Administrative Procedures Act.
The state of Hawaiʻi is represented in this litigation by Solicitor General Kalikoʻonālani Fernandes, Deputy Solicitors General Ewan Rayner and Caitlyn Carpenter, and Special Assistant to the Attorney General Dave Day.
Joining Attorney General Lopez in filing the lawsuit and today’s motion are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.
# # #
Media contacts:
Dave Day
Special Assistant to the Attorney General
Office: 808-586-1284
Email:[email protected]
Web:http://ag.hawaii.gov
Toni Schwartz Public Information Officer Hawai‘i Department of the Attorney General Office: 808-586-1252 Cell: 808-379-9249 Email:[email protected]
Headline: Members look into bolstering support for trade policies, fast-tracking digital trade growth
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) noted that Aid-for-Trade disbursements reached USD 48 billion in 2023, representing a 5 per cent decrease from 2022. While most funds were channelled towards strengthening infrastructure and productive sectors, the OECD noted, only 2 per cent of Aid for Trade was allocated to trade policy and regulations.
Representatives from Australia, Barbados, the Pacific Islands Forum and the United Kingdom shared their insights into ways to increase the participation of developing economies in the multilateral trading system. They highlighted that it is important for economies to develop and implement national strategies and to coordinate effectively with development partners. For example, progress in implementing the Pacific Aid-for-Trade Strategy, covering services, e-commerce, trade facilitation and quality infrastructure, was acknowledged.
The financial support dedicated to the WTO accession of Comoros and Timor-Leste was highlighted. Speakers also acknowledged the support provided under the Advisory Centre on WTO Law, the Enhanced Integrated Framework, the Fish Fund and the Standards and Trade Development Facility.
The role of cooperation among developing economies in strengthening these economies’ trade capacities was also recognized. Speakers welcomed greater collaboration with the private sector on scaling up financial support.
Members also examined the European Union’s 2024 Aid for Trade Progress Report. As one of the top donors of Aid for Trade, the European Union and its member states provided 36 per cent of the total disbursements in 2022, accounting for EUR 22 billion. The report also highlighted the role of Aid for Trade in creating an enabling environment for investments under the EU’s Global Gateway investment strategy.
According to the Digital Trade Integration Database of the European University Institute, the level of integration into digital trade differs widely across economies, with fewer enabling policies observed in lower-income economies. The database contains information on the digital trade policies of 146 economies.
Speakers noted that in Africa, digital trade integration is being held back by regulatory fragmentation, infrastructure gaps and limited access of small businesses to digital markets.
To bolster the continent’s digital trade expansion, speakers underlined the importance of technical assistance and capacity-building activities to harmonize digital trade regulations, investments in broadband and logistics and greater access of small businesses to digital trade finance. For example, speakers stressed the importance of fully implementing the Digital Trade Protocol of the African Continental Free Trade Area. Estimates indicate this could increase intra-regional trade in services by up to 10.3 per cent.
More information on the WTO-led Aid for Trade initiative can be found here.
A total of 79 new high yielding varieties of seven major agricultural crops, 11 of fruits and 31 of vegetables were exhibited during Pusa Krishi Vigyan Mela held during February 22-24, 2025. Besides, technologies for 18 biofertizers and bioformulations, Soil Test Fertilizer Recommendation Meter, Zn-loaded nano clay polymer composite; SpeedySeed Viability KitTM; Polymer composite seed coating for bruchid management; Nanocellulose extracted from pummelo peel and rice husk; Pea pod powder for instant noodles; Overripe banana powder in snack puffs and Muffins functionalized with by-products were also displayed. Eight new agricultural implements were also demonstrated during the event.
The details of main topics covered in the technical sessions and farmer-scientist interactions are as follows session-wise:
Session 1 : Technologies for Climate Resilient Agriculture; Session 2 : Crop Diversification; Session 3 : Digital Agriculture; Session 4 : Agricultural Marketing and Export; Session 5 : FPO-Start up linkage; Session 6 : Entrepreneurship Development of Youth and Women and Session 7 : Innovative Farmers Meet.
The farmers, entrepreneurs, youth and women were sensitized and educated about the new varieties and technologies through guided tours to Live demonstrations of the salient varieties and technologies developed by ICAR-IARI; exhibitions on salient technologies, products and services of ICAR-IARI as well as ICAR Institutes, Agricultural Universities, KVKs, FPOs, entrepreneurs, start-ups, public and private companies; and farmers-scientists’ interactions were held in technical sessions of Unnat Krishi – Viksit Bharat theme.
• 245 stalls of ICAR institutes, agricultural Universities, public and private institutes, farm entrepreneurs were showcased.
• Over 1800 quintals of seeds of various crops like paddy, moong, pigeon-pea, pearl millet, and vegetables were provided to the farmers at a very reasonable rate. On-Spot advisories were provided to the farmers and other stakeholders.
• Extension literatures on technologies were also distributed among all stakeholders
Some of the major announcements during the event include supervision of “Krishi Chaupal – Vigyan se Kisan Tak” and engagement of the IARI awardee/ Innovative farmers etc. in dissemination of technol
This information was given by Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare, Shri Shri Bhagirath Choudhary in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
Podcasting was once the underdog of the media world: a platform where anyone with a microphone and an idea could share their voice.
With low barriers to entry and freedom from institutional gatekeeping, it promised to amplify marginalised voices and allow underrepresented groups to tell their own stories, on their own terms.
Today, however, this promise seems increasingly strained as corporate interests tighten their grip on the industry. As money flows in, the podcasting space is beginning to resemble the rest of the digital media world – driven by advertising revenues and political polarisation.
The promise of podcasting
Six years ago, audio scholars Martin Spinelli and Lance Dann described podcasting as a “revolutionary” medium for its ability to inspire empathy through innovative forms of audio.
Podcasting was heralded as a format that broke through the barriers of traditional media by offering new ways to engage with underrepresented voices and ideas. Media and cultural studies pointed to the direct-to-ear delivery – free from the biases of visual culture – as a uniquely intimate way to consume content.
Globally, the industry boomed as a result of pandemic lockdowns, with the number of podcasts on Spotify skyrocketing from 450,000 in 2019, to 1.5 million in 2020.
Listenership has also surged in Australia. According to a 2024 report by Edison Research, we’ve seen a 20% increase in listenership from 2022 to 2024 – with 48% of the those aged 12 and above having listened to a podcast within the past month.
From open space to rat race
In his 2024 book Podcasting in a Platform Age, podcast researcher John Sullivan warns the podcasting space is being increasingly dominated by a handful of powerful media companies that dictate what and who gets visibility.
Larger podcasts with higher production budgets, celebrity hosts and backing from major networks are attracting larger audiences, with independent creators struggling to get a foot in the door.
At the time of writing, of the top 50 most popular podcasts in Australia, more than half (52%) come from overseas, and primarily the United States.
Of the 24 Australian-made podcasts on the list, 80% are backed by a media organisation, with most (64%) connected to major networks such as LiSTNR, which is owned by Southern Cross Austereo. Only 12% of the Australian podcasts on the list come from truly independent creators without any corporate funding or major production support.
Why does it matter that large-network ownership is on the rise? To understand this, it helps to first understand how ads keep podcast networks in business – and how this can impact content decisions.
Deepening ideological divides
Advertisers follow the crowds. In a podcasting context, this means they’re more likely to funnel their dollars into large networks, further bolstering their resources.
At the same time, networks want to drive as many ears to their ad sponsors as possible. To do this, they focus on producing content they know will get the most engagement.
The result is a vicious cycle in which attention and advertising power feed each other, making it even harder for independent voices to break through. Over time, this feedback loop can lead to less content diversity and more polarisation.
According to Spotify’s 2024 Wrapped, American podcaster Joe Rogan took out the top podcast spot for the fifth year in a row globally. Shutterstock
In the lead-up to the 2024 US election, Kamala Harris appeared on Call Her Daddy (the second most popular Spotify podcast in 2024), while Donald Trump was on The Joe Rogan Experience (the most popular). Both interviews were later fact-checkedand found to contain false or misleading claims.
Trump’s interview in particular was flagged by CNN for having 32 false claims. Nonetheless, analysts and researchers pointed to it as a driver behind his success with young male voters.
Late last year, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton appeared on the podcast Diving Deep With Sam Fricker. This was followed by an appearance on Straight Talk, hosted by businessman Mark Bouris, in January.
According to 2022 Pew Research Centre data, 55% of Americans said their major reason for listening to podcasts was “to learn”, while 29% said they wanted to stay up-to-date with current affairs. But information-hungry listeners may be getting shortchanged, as podcasts are less likely to be fact-checked against the same editorial standards that govern traditional media.
As platform researcher Michael Bossetta notes, although large platforms such as Spotify have the potential to create a more informed world, they
are more likely to push content that keeps users hooked (that is, content they already enjoy and/or agree with).
Recommender algorithms also have a role to play. One 2020 study found that while Spotify’s personalised suggestions increased user engagement by 28.90%, they also reduced the individual-level diversity of podcast streams by 11.51%.
But platforms do have the power to do better. They could, for instance, use their algorithms to prioritise content diversity. This would help ease the “engagement-diversity trade-off”, in which personalisation increases engagement, but limits the diversity of content consumed by an individual.
That said, it’s unlikely platforms will voluntarily change the way they operate. If meaningful reforms are to happen, they will more likely have to come from government regulations or through independent governing bodies.
In the meantime, listeners aren’t powerless. While we can’t stop algorithms from pushing certain content to the top of our feeds, we can disrupt them by actively seeking out independent voices and diverse stories.
Corey Martin 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.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vita Pilkington, Research Fellow, PhD Candidate in men’s experiences of sexual trauma, The University of Melbourne
In Australia, it’s estimated almost one in five boys (18.8%) experience child sexual abuse. And at least one in 16 men (6.1%) experience sexual violence after age 15.
However, many boys and men don’t tell others about these experiences. Studies show men are less likely to disclose sexual abuse and assaults than women.
It also takes boys and men longer to first disclose sexual abuse or assaults. On average, men wait 21 years before telling anyone about being abused.
We wanted to understand what prevents boys and men from telling others about sexual abuse and assaults (or “sexual trauma”). So we conducted a systematic review, where we pooled together evidence from a range of studies on the topic.
We found 69 relevant studies, which included more than 10,500 boys and men who had experienced sexual trauma from around the world. Studies were published in 23 countries across six continents, with most studies from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Two studies were published in Australia.
Our new findings offer clues as to how we can break down the barriers preventing men and boys from discussing sexual trauma.
Many boys and men don’t tell anyone if they’ve been victim to sexual violence. gpointstudio/Shutterstock
Upending masculine identities
We found across countries and cultures, boys’ and men’s sexual trauma affected their masculine identities. This included feeling as though they are not “real men”, or that they’re weak for having been targeted and assaulted.
Sexual abuse to a man is an abuse against his manhood as well.
Almost universally, boys and men suffered intense feelings of shame and guilt about being victimised, and many blamed themselves for years to decades.
Many boys and men said they were worried others would think they were gay if they disclosed being abused or assaulted. This harmful stereotype reflects widespread homophobic attitudes as well as mistaken beliefs about survivors of abuse and assaults.
Sexual abuse against boys and men has been long been overlooked, dismissed and misunderstood. The taboo nature of the issue was felt by participants. As a therapist who supported male survivors of abuse said in one study:
We don’t have a cultural place for men as victims.
LGBTQIA+ men face additional barriers to disclosure. Some experienced distress surrounding concerns abuse or assaults somehow cause, or contribute to, their sexualities. Many also reported receiving unsupportive and homophobic responses when they disclosed abuse and assaults to others. This includes their stories being minimised and dismissed, or suggestions they must have consented given their attraction to other men.
Others were discouraged from speaking out about their experiences again. In some countries, people tell boys and men not to talk about being abused or assaulted because this is seen as bringing shame on themselves and their families.
Boys and men who were assaulted by women were often told their experiences can’t be classified as abuse or assaults, or aren’t bad enough to warrant support.
Understanding why men don’t talk
Many of these barriers to disclosure are linked to harmful myths about sexual abuse and assaults among boys and men. These include mistaken beliefs that men are not abused or assaulted, and that only gay men are abused or assaulted.
What’s more, many people believe experiencing sexual abuse or assaults is at odds with socially-held ideas about how men “should” behave: for example, constantly demonstrating physical strength, dominance, self-reliance and toughness.
Receiving unsupportive and stigmatising responses when they try to seek help only makes these issues worse, and adds to cycles of silence and shame.
We must break down barriers that stop boys and men disclosing these traumatic experiences. Doing so could save lives.
Helping boys and men disclose sexual trauma isn’t just about encouraging them to come forward. We need to make sure other people are prepared to respond safely when they choose to speak up.
There are many ways to raise awareness of the fact sexual abuse and assault happens to boys and men. For example, television shows such as Baby Reindeer helped put this issue at the forefront of conversation. Public health campaigns that explicitly bring boys and men into discussions about sexual trauma can also be helpful.
We also need to do more to make sure boys and men who experience sexual trauma have suitable places to go for support. Australia has some services doing vital work in this space, such as the Survivors & Mates Support Network. However, more funding and support is crucial so men across the country have safe spaces to discuss and recover from their experiences.
The National Sexual Assault, Family and Domestic Violence Counselling Line – 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for any Australian who has experienced, or is at risk of, family and domestic violence and/or sexual assault.
Vita Pilkington led this project and receives funding from the Melbourne Research Scholarship and the Margaret Cohan Research Scholarship, both awarded by the University of Melbourne.
Sarah Bendall has been awarded a NHMRC Investigator Grant to support research surrounding understanding and treating trauma in young people with mental health difficulties. She has previously held a NHMRC Early Career Fellowship and a McCusker Philanthropic Foundation Fellowship. She advises government on trauma and youth mental health policy, including Victoria’s statewide trauma service (Transforming Trauma Victoria).
Zac Seidler receives funding from an NHMRC Investigator Grant. He is also the Global Director of Research with the Movember Institute of Men’s Health.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Ellerton, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy and Education; Curriculum Director, UQ Critical Thinking Project, The University of Queensland
Transgender female runner who beat 14,000 women at London Marathon offers to give medal back
Read about the event elsewhere and it turns out the athlete was also beaten by thousands of people and it was a participation medal. While the Fox News headline is true, it is framed to potentially elicit a negative reaction.
Misinformation is on the rise. We’re told we need to think critically when we read things online, but how can we recognise such situations? And what does it mean to think critically anyway?
What is critical thinking?
Critical thinking is based on the idea that if all ideas are equal, then all ideas are worthless. Without this assumption, there can be nothing to be critical of.
When we think critically, we focus on the quality of our reasoning and the factors that can influence it. In other words, thinking critically primarily means being critical of your own thinking.
Importantly, critical thinking is not strongly correlated with intelligence. While some believe intelligence is basically fixed (though there is debate around this), we can learn to think critically.
Other factors being equal, there’s also no evidence thinking critically is an innate ability. In fact, we have evidence critical thinking can be improved as a skill in itself, and it is transferrable to other contexts.
The tools of argumentation
Many factors can affect the quality of your thinking. They include things like cognitive biases (systemic thinking errors), prior beliefs, prejudices and worldviews, framing effects, and how much you know about the subject.
To understand the quality of our reasoning, we can use the concepts and language of argumentation.
People often think “arguments” are about conflicting views. A better way to understand argumentation is to view it as a way of making our thinking visible and accessible to each other.
Arguments contain premises, those things we think are true about the world, and conclusions, which is where we end up in our thinking. Moving from premises to conclusions is called inferring, and it is the quality of these inferences that is the concern of critical thinking.
For example, if I offer the premises
P1: All Gronks are green
P2: Fred is a Gronk
Then you have already inferred the conclusion
C: Fred is green
You don’t even need to know what a Gronk is to make that inference.
All our rational judgements and decisions are made up of chains of inferences. Constructing, evaluating and identifying types of arguments is the core business of critical thinking.
Argumentation is not about conflicting views – it’s making your thinking accessible. John Diez/Pexels
How can we improve our critical thinking skills?
To help us get better at it, we can understand critical thinking in three main ways.
First, we can see critical thinking as a subject we can learn. In this subject, we study how arguments work and how our reasoning can be influenced or improved. We also learn what makes for good thinking by using ideas like accuracy, clarity, relevance, depth and more. These are what we value in good thinking. By learning this, we start to think about how we think, not just what we think about.
Second, we improve our critical thinking by using what we’ve learned in real situations. This helps us build important thinking skills like analysing, justifying, evaluating and explaining.
Third, we can also think of critical thinking as a habit or attitude – something we choose to practice in our everyday lives. This means being curious, open-minded and willing to question things instead of just accepting them. It also means being aware of our own biases and trying to be fair and honest in how we think.
When we put all three of these together, we become better thinkers – not just in educational contexts, but in life.
Practical steps to improving critical thinking
Since critical thinking centres on the giving and taking of reasons, practising this is a step towards improvement. There are some useful ways to do this.
1. Make reasoning – rather than conclusions – the basis of your discussions with others.
When asking for someone’s opinion, inquire as to why they think that. And offer your thinking to others. Making our thinking visible leads to deep and meaningful conversations in which we can test each other’s thinking and develop the virtues of open-mindedness and curiosity.
2. Always assess the credibility of information based on its source and with a reflection on your own biases.
The processes of our thinking can shape information as we receive it, just as much as the source can in providing it. This develops the virtues of carefulness and humility.
3. Keep the fundamental question of critical inquiry in mind.
The most important question in critical thinking is: “how do we know?”. Continually testing the quality of your inquiry – and therefore thinking – is key. Focusing on this question gives us practice in applying the values of inquiry and develops virtues such as persistence and resilience.
You are not alone!
Reasoning is best understood as a social competence: we reason with and towards each other. Indeed, to be called reasonable is a social compliment.
It’s only when we have to think with others that we really test the quality of our thinking. It’s easy to convince yourself about something, but when you play in the arena of public reasoning, the bar is much higher.
So, be the reasonable person in the room.
That doesn’t mean everyone has to come around to your way of thinking. But it does mean everyone will get closer to the truth because of you.
Use online resources
There are many accessible tools for developing critical thinking. Kialo (Esperanto for “reason”), brings together people from around the world on a user-friendly (and free) platform to help test our reasoning in a well-moderated and respectful environment. It is an excellent place to practice the giving and taking of reasons and to understand alternative positions.
The School of Thought, developed to curate free critical thinking resources, includes many that are often used in educational contexts.
There’s also a plethora of online courses that can guide development in critical thinking, from Australian and international universities.
Peter Ellerton is affiliated with the Rationalist Society of Australia.
Founded in 1670 as a fur-trading enterprise, Hudson’s Bay grew into one of Canada’s most iconic department store chains. But with nearly all locations set to close by June 30 and its loyalty programs suspended, the future of Hudson’s Bay remains uncertain.
The retailer’s financial troubles raise broader questions about the viability of traditional department stores in an increasingly fast-paced, digitally driven retail environment.
In recent years, Hudson’s Bay attempted to modernize by blending its physical retail footprint with a growing digital presence. This included launching a revamped e-commerce platform and creating an online marketplace that allowed third-party sellers to broaden its product assortment.
But despite these efforts, Hudson’s Bay has struggled to differentiate its online platform in an overcrowded and highly competitive digital landscape, all while maintaining its physical presence.
The large investments required in distribution capabilities has made it increasingly difficult for smaller competitors, such as Hudson’s Bay, to match the delivery speeds and product assortments of these retail heavyweights.
Ikea, Wayfair and other direct-to-consumer brands lead the online home goods and furniture market, while Canadian-based Holt Renfrew and France-based LVMH are both leaders in the luxury market.
With almost all of its stores closing and its loyalty programs suspended, the future of Hudson’s Bay is in question. While its brand recognition remains strong, it’s unclear whether it will be able to come back from the brink it’s now on.
For any struggling legacy retailer looking to survive in today’s evolving market, reinvention is essential. Department stores and legacy retailers will need to reinvent themselves across five key dimensions:
1. Reposition the brand: Canadian retailers can redefine their core value propositions, emphasizing what makes them unique. Their uniqueness may lie in their Canadian heritage, for instance. Brands like Roots and Canada Goose have been successful with this strategy.
3. Optimize physical presence: Strategic location decisions are crucial. Physical retailers must right-size their physical footprints — closing underperforming locations while reinvesting in high-traffic, high-return outlets. Future expansion should favour asset-light, data-informed models based on actual consumer demand.
4. Improve in-store experiences: To draw customers back into stores, shopping must become experiential. Immersive displays, personalized service and community-centric events could make a visit to a physical store more memorable and engaging for customers.
5. Integrating physical and digital channels: A cohesive digital and physical strategy is essential. Technologies such as augmented reality fitting rooms, virtual showrooms, click-and-collect options and AI-powered personalization could bridge the gap between online and in-store shopping.
A defining moment for Canadian retailers
Canadian retailing stands at a pivotal crossroads. The collapse of legacy department stores, the dominance of e-commerce giants and the rise of off-price and digital-first competitors all signal a permanent shift in how consumers shop.
A long legacy alone does not secure survival. As seen with the collapses of Sears, Eaton’s and now Hudson’s Bay, failure to adapt can lead to obsolescence. The retail landscape is now defined by agility, innovation and the ability to meet consumers where they are.
For retailers still standing, the lesson is clear: nostalgia is not a business model. Shoppers are now more price-conscious, convenience-driven and digitally engaged than ever before. Companies unwilling or unable to evolve will likely face the same fate as the retail giants that came before them.
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.
The text-to-image model DALL-E uses generative adversarial networks (GANs) to generate images.(Shutterstock)
In the age of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), the phrase “I’ll believe it when I see it” no longer stands. Not only is GenAI able to generate manipulated representations of people, but it can also be used to generate entirely fictitious people and scenarios.
GenAI tools are affordable and accessible to all, and AI-generated images are becoming ubiquitous. If you’ve been doom-scrolling through your news or Instagram feeds, chances are you’ve scrolled past an AI-generated image without even realizing it.
As a computer science researcher and PhD candidate at the University of Waterloo, I’m increasingly concerned by my own inability to discern what’s real from what’s AI-generated.
My research team conducted a survey where nearly 300 participants were asked to classify a set of images as real or fake. The average classification accuracy of participants was 61 per cent in 2022. Participants were more likely to correctly classify real images than fake ones. It’s likely that accuracy is much lower today thanks to the rapidly improving GenAI technology.
We also analyzed their responses using text mining and keyword extraction to learn the common justifications participants provided for their classifications. It was immediately apparent that, in a generated image, a person’s eyes were considered the telltale indicator that the image was probably AI-generated. AI also struggled to produce realistic teeth, ears and hair.
But these tools are constantly improving. The telltale signs we could once use to detect AI-generated images are no longer reliable.
Improving images
Researchers began exploring the use of GANs for image and video synthesis in 2014. The seminal paper “Generative Adversarial Nets” introduced the adversarial process of GANs. Although this paper does not mention deepfakes, it was the springboard for GAN-based deepfakes.
Some early examples of GenAI art which used GANs include the “DeepDream” images created by Google engineer Alexander Mordvintsev in 2015.
But in 2017, the term “deepfake” was officially born after a Reddit user, whose username was “deepfakes,” used GANs to generate synthetic celebrity pornography.
In 2019, software engineer Philip Wang created the “ThisPersonDoesNotExist” website, which used GANs to generate realistic-looking images of people. That same year, the release of the deepfake detection challenge, which sought new and improved deepfake detection models, garnered widespread attention and led to the rise of deepfakes.
About a decade later, one of the authors of the “Generative Adversarial Nets” paper — Canadian computer scientist Yoshua Bengio — began sharing his concerns about the need to regulate AI due to the potential dangers such technology could pose to humanity.
Hao Li, deepfake pioneer and one of the world’s top deepfake artists, conceded in a manner eerily reminiscent of Robert Oppenheimer’s famous “Now I Am Become Death” quote:
“This is developing more rapidly than I thought. Soon, it’s going to get to the point where there is no way that we can actually detect ‘deepfakes’ anymore, so we have to look at other types of solutions.”
The new disinformation
Big tech companies have indeed been encouraging the development of algorithms that can detect deepfakes. These algorithms commonly look for the following signs to determine if content is a deepfake:
Number of words spoken per sentence, or the speech rate (the average human speech rate is 120-150 words per minute),
Facial expressions, based on known co-ordinates of the human eyes, eyebrows, nose, lips, teeth and facial contours,
Reflections in the eyes, which tends to be unconvincing (either missing or oversimplified),
Image saturation, with AI-generated images being less saturated and containing a lower number of underexposed pixels compared to pictures taken by an HDR camera.
But even these traditional deepfake detection algorithms suffer several drawbacks. They are usually trained on high-resolution images, so they may fail at detecting low-resolution surveillance footage or when the subject is poorly illuminated or posing in an unrecognized way.
Disinformation isn’t new, but the modes of propagating it are constantly changing. Deepfakes can be used not only to spread disinformation — that is, to posit that something false is true — but also to create plausible deniability and posit that something true is false.
It’s safe to say that in today’s world, seeing will never be believing again. What might once have been irrefutable evidence could very well be an AI-generated image.
A Sudanese man celebrates as the military enters the central city of Wad Madani, pushing out the Rapid Support Forces in January 2025. AP Photo/Marwan Ali
A series of advances by the Sudanese military has led some observers to posit that the African nation’s yearslong civil war could be at a crucial turning point.
Even if it were to end tomorrow, the bloody conflict would have left the Sudanese people scarred by violence that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions of people. But the recent victories by the military do not spell the end of its adversary, a rebel paramilitary group that still holds large areas in Sudan.
On April 15, 2023, fighting broke out in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF – led by de facto head of state Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan – and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, led by Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known colloquially as “Hemedti.” The RSF emerged out of the feared Janjaweed militia that had terrorized the Darfur region of Sudan.
While the SAF and RSF previously worked together to forcibly remove longtime President Omar al-Bashir from power in 2019, they later split amid a power struggle that turned deadly.
The major point of contention was the disputed timeline for RSF integration into the national military, with the RSF preferring a 10-year process to the SAF’s preferred two-year plan.
By early April 2023, the government deployed SAF troops along the streets of the capital, Khartoum, while RSF forces took up locations throughout the country. Matters came to a head when explosions and gunfire rocked Khartoum on April 15 of that year. The two forces have been in conflict ever since.
To human toll of the civil war has been staggering. As of February 2025, estimates of those killed from the conflict and its related causes, including lack of sufficient medical facilities and hunger, have ranged from 20,000 to 150,000 – a wide gulf that, according to Humanitarian Research Lab executive director Nathaniel Raymond, is partially due to the fact that the dead or displaced are still being counted.
The conflict has displaced more than 14 million people, a number that demographically makes the Sudan situation the world’s worst displacement crisis. Nearly half of Sudan’s population is “acutely food insecure,” according to the U.N.’s World Food Programme. Another 638,000 face “catastrophic levels of hunger” – the world’s highest number.
How have recent developments changed the war?
The SAF has recently scored a slew of victories. At time of writing, the Sudanese military controls much of the country’s southeastern border with Ethiopia, the Red Sea coast – and, with it, Sudan’s strategically important Port Sudan – and parts of the country’s metropolitan center located at the confluence of the Blue and White Nile rivers.
Further, the SAF has reclaimed much of the White Nile and Gezira provinces and broken an RSF siege of North Kordofan’s provincial capital of el-Obeid. In perhaps the most important development, the army in late March recaptured the RSF’s last major stronghold in Khartoum, the Presidential Palace.
A fighter loyal to the Sudanese army patrols a market area in Khartoum on March 24, 2025. AFP via Getty Images
Each of these actions indicates that the SAF is taking an increasingly proactive approach in the war. Such positive momentum could not only serve to reassure the Sudanese populace that the SAF is the country’s strongest force but also signal to foreign powers that it is, and will continue to be, the country’s legitimate authority moving forward.
And yet, there are other indications that the RSF is in no rush to concede defeat. Despite the SAF’s advances, the RSF has strengthened its control over nearly all of Darfur, Sudan’s massive western region that shares a lengthy border with neighboring Chad.
It is here that the RSF has been accused of committing genocide against non-Arab communities, and only the besieged capital of North Darfur, El Fasher, stands in the way of total RSF hegemony in the region. The RSF also controls territory to the south, along Sudan’s borders with the Central African Republic and South Sudan.
The fact that the SAF and RSF are entrenched in their respective regional strongholds casts doubt on the significance of the military’s recent victories.
Could Sudan be heading to partition?
As a historian who spent years writing about South Sudanese separatism, I find it somewhat unfathomable to imagine that Sudan would further splinter into different countries. Given the current state of affairs, however, partition is not outside the realm of possibility. In February, during a summit in Kenya, the RSF and its allies officially commenced plans to create a rival government.
The African Union’s 55 member states are said to be split on the issue of Sudanese partition and the question of whether any entity linked with the RSF should be accepted. In January, during the waning days of U.S. President Joe Biden’s presidency, Washington determined that the RSF and its allies had committed genocide and sanctioned Hemedti, the RSF leader, prohibiting him and his family from traveling to the U.S. and freezing any American assets he may hold.
Any attempt to entertain partition could be read as an acknowledgment of the legitimacy of the RSF and would also create a dangerous precedent for other leaders who have been accused of human rights violations.
In addition to the RSF’s perceived lack of moral legitimacy, there is also the recent precedent of South Sudan’s secession. South Sudan, since seceding from Sudan in 2011, has experienced enormous difficulties. Roughly 2½ years into independence, the nation erupted into a civil war waged largely along ethnic lines. Since the conclusion of that war in 2018, the world’s youngest nation continues to struggle with intergroup violence, food insecurity and sanctions resulting from human rights violations.
Simply put, recent Sudanese history has shown that partition is not a risk-free solution to civil war.
How has shifting geopolitics affected the conflict?
It is important to understand that the conflict’s ripples extend far beyond Sudan’s borders. Similarly, the actions of countries such as the U.S., Russia and China have an impact on the war.
Sudanese people line up to collect a charity ‘iftar’ fast-breaking meal in Omdourman on March 19, 2025. Ebrahim Hamid/AFP via Getty Images
President Donald Trump’s executive order freezing contributions from the U.S. government’s development organization, USAID, has shuttered approximately 80% of the emergency food kitchens established to help those impacted by the conflict. An estimated 2 million people have been affected by this development.
Russian financial and military contributions have been credited with helping the SAF achieve its gains in recent months. Russia has long desired a Red Sea naval base near Port Sudan, and the expulsion of Russia’s fleet from Syria following the fall of President Bashar Assad increased the importance of such a base.
And then there is China. A major importer of Sudanese crude oil, China engaged in conversations to renegotiate oil cooperation agreements with Sudan in October 2024 with the hopes of increasing oil production amid the war. An end to the war – and, with it, protecting the flow of oil through pipelines vulnerable to attack – would benefit both members of this bilateral relationship.
As the war enters its third year, the outlook remains frustratingly difficult to discern.
Christopher Tounsel has previously received funding from the Council of American Overseas Research Centers.
Under this policy, children were compared against the level of achievement expected for their age and time at school. The goal was to improve results across the education system.
The planned introduction of a new standardised assessment tool is concerning for a number of reasons – particularly when it comes to long-term consequences for schools and student learning.
But what has also raised the hackles of many in education is how the tender process for the new tool happened without warning. Here is what parents, schools and the public should know about the background to this debate.
In 2024, Education Minister Erica Stanford announced plans to allow schools to choose between two tools to assess students, but the ministry has now issued a tender for just one. Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images
A narrowing curriculum
There is plenty of research – from New Zealand and overseas – highlighting the negative consequences of standardised testing in education.
Standardised assessment can, for example, lead to schools being ranked against each other according to their achievement data. A low ranking could jeopardise a school’s reputation and therefore the number of enrolments and subsequent funding they receive.
In this high-stakes environment, teachers can be pressured to focus on assessed subjects, often to the detriment of the broader curriculum. While the curriculum in New Zealand has already been considerably narrowed under the government’s “Teaching the Basics Brilliantly” policy, a standardised assessment could further exacerbate this trend.
Teachers may also be inclined to “teach to the test” and employ rote learning strategies, where children are encouraged to memorise the correct answers. While this may result in high test scores, it is questionable whether deeper learning will occur.
Finally, while standardised tests might promise an “easy fix” to improve educational outcomes, they do not address the deeper socioeconomic disparities which continue to significantly affect educational achievement.
It’s not our intention to pit schools against each other. This data is for parents to know how their kids are going, teachers to inform practice, and as a system to know how we’re tracking.
But according to documents released later the same year, the government already had a plan to rely on a single standardised assessment tool that could produce comparable data.
Principals and teachers can also be held accountable for student achievement, while larger contextual factors, such as socioeconomic inequalities, are ignored. This can ultimately lead to educators being blamed if achievement targets are not met.
Regardless of who wins the tender for the new assessment tool, New Zealand’s recent experience with standardised testing didn’t achieve what was promised. Returning to national standards – either in name or just in spirit – should raise alarms for everyone.
Marta Estellés has previously received funding from The Spencer Foundation, New Zealand National Commission of UNESCO, the Division of Education at The University of Waikato and The University of Cantabria.
Jade Wrathall 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.
Spacesuits were an important consideration that Nasa had to factor into its plans to bring the astronauts back home. Wilmore and Williams had travelled to the ISS in Boeing’s experimental Starliner spacecraft, so they arrived wearing Boeing “Blue” spacesuits.
Following helium leaks and thruster (engine) issues with Starliner, Nasa decided it was safer not to send them back to Earth on that vehicle. The astronauts had to wait to return on one of the other spacecraft that ferry crew members to the ISS, the SpaceX Crew Dragon.
This meant they needed a different type of spacesuit, made by SpaceX for use in its vehicle only. Boeing’s suits cannot be used in Crew Dragon in part because the umbilicals (the flexible “pipes” that supply air and cooling to the suit) have connections and standards that don’t work with the ports inside a Crew Dragon.
This highlights a general problem for the growing number of space agencies and companies sending people into orbit, and for planned missions to the Moon and beyond. Ensuring that different spacesuits are compatible, or “interoperable”, with spacecraft they weren’t designed to be used in is vital if we are to protect astronauts’ lives during an emergency in space, especially in joint missions.
The spacesuits worn during a return from space are called “launch, entry and abort” (LEA) suits. These are airtight and provide life support to the astronauts in case there is a decompression, when air is lost from the cabin.
Unfortunately, a decompression has already caused loss of life in space. During the Soyuz 11 mission in 1971, three Soviet cosmonauts visited the world’s first space station, Salyut 1. But during preparations for re-entry, the crew cabin lost its air, killing cosmonauts Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov and Viktor Patsayev, who were not wearing LEA suits. All cosmonauts wore them after this incident.
As well as the connections for life support, the Boeing and SpaceX suits also have restraints and connections for communications that are specific to each vehicle. For their return home from the ISS in a SpaceX capsule, Williams was able into use a spare SpaceX suit that was already aboard the space station and the company sent up an additional suit on a cargo delivery for Wilmore to wear.
Two spacecraft are usually docked at the ISS as “lifeboats” to evacuate the astronauts in the event of an emergency. These are generally a SpaceX Crew Dragon and a Russian Soyuz capsule.
If an emergency evacuation were to occur and there weren’t enough of the right spacesuits available – for either the Crew Dragon or Soyuz – it could endanger astronauts during the fiery re-entry through Earth’s atmosphere. Interoperability between spacesuits has therefore become a matter of survival.
The Outer Space Treaty, which provides the basic framework for international space law, recognises astronauts as “envoys of humankind” and grants them specific legal protections. These were expanded on in subsequent UN treaties – notably the Rescue Agreement, which imposes a range of duties on states to render assistance to each others’ astronauts in cases of emergency, accident or distress.
For the ISS, a collaborative space programme with international flight crews, protocols include terms that set forth how this obligation is to be met. However, these protocols do not contain terms relating to spacesuit interoperability.
Risks to astronauts in space
A major potential cause of an emergency evacuation is space debris. The ISS has regularly had to manoeuvre to avoid collisions with debris – including entire defunct satellites.
In his memoir, Endurance, Nasa astronaut Scott Kelly describes being commanded to enter the Soyuz vehicle with two other crew members and prepare to detach from the ISS because of a close approach by a large defunct satellite. Luckily, the spacecraft passed by harmlessly.
As orbits become increasingly congested, with an exponential increase in the number of space objects being launched, the risk of collisions will also increase.
Ever more companies and governments are entering the human spaceflight arena. The Tiangong space station, China’s orbiting laboratory, has been fully operational since 2022, and there are plans to open it to space tourism, just like the ISS.
India is planning to join the community of nations with the capability to launch humans into space, under a programme called Gaganyaan. And while most space travellers remain government-funded astronauts, the number of private space-farers is increasing.
Billionaire Jared Isaacman (who is President Trump’s nominee to run Nasa) has commanded two private missions into orbit using Crew Dragon. On the second of these, he participated in the first spacewalk by privately funded astronauts. The ISS is set to be retired in 2030 – but one company, Houston-based Axiom Space, is already building a private space station.
Against this complex and part-unregulated backdrop, ensuring the interoperability of different spacecraft systems, including spacesuits, will increase levels of safety in this inherently risky activity.
While the safety and practicality of spacesuits has always been the top priority, compatibility between different suits and vehicles should also be high on the list. This requires space agencies and private spaceflight companies to engage with each other in a process to agree on standard interfaces and connections for life support and communications, across all their suits and space vehicles.
Amid this period of increased commercialisation and competition between the organisations and companies involved in orbital spaceflight, a move toward greater collaboration can only be a good thing.
Berna Akcali Gur 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.
I grew up in a mixed-heritage family. Both of my parents’ childhoods were deeply affected by colonialism in India and they often told me stories about this period in their lives. As a result, I inherited a sense of place and a feeling for a country which was never my home.
It’s a strange feeling, which I still struggle to put into words, though I tried in my memoir, Shalimar: A Story of Place and Migration, which holds at its heart the sensation and imagery of India’s climate and its wildlife. India, for me, will always coexist with English weather and the roses my father tended to in our modest, suburban home in Hayes, west London.
While we now have beautifully written, tender children’s books which address colonial history, from Nazneen Ahmed Pathak’s City of Stolen Magic (2023) to Jasbinder Bilan’s Nush and the Stolen Emerald (2024), The Secret Garden still holds a powerful spell over me. That’s because of its representation of nature and its use of fiction to tell a story about England and India, two countries brought together through the healing space of the garden.
I believe that re-contextualising A Secret Garden as an early work of climate fiction – a type of storytelling that imagines how climate change could shape our world – is an apt way to rethink this classic tale.
This article is part of Rethinking the Classics. The stories in this series offer insightful new ways to think about and interpret classic books and artworks. This is the canon – with a twist.
Published in 1911, The Secret Garden unfolds against the backdrop of the fictional Misselthwaite Manor and its walled garden on the Yorkshire Moors.
While Yorkshire and its thick sheets of rain, enveloped in mist and fog, is portrayed vividly by Hodgeson Burnett, the ghostly heat and skies of India are also woven throughout the book’s micro-climates. Hodgeson Burnett’s attention to nature is masterful and magical:
One knows it sometimes when one gets up at the tender solemn dawn-time and goes out and stands out and throws one’s head far back and looks up and up and watches the pale sky slowly changing and flushing … And one knows it sometimes when one stands by oneself in a wood at sunset and the mysterious deep gold stillness slanting through and under the branches seems to be saying slowly again and again something one cannot quite hear, however much one tries.
The climates of India and Yorkshire blur into a new reality when seen through the eyes of the book’s central protagonist, the recently orphaned Mary Lennox. She is sent to live with her uncle after her parents die of cholera in colonial Calcutta.
Wilful and fiery, Mary’s grief and rootlessness seems to be unending until she follows a twitching robin into a walled garden. There she befriends other children including her cousin Colin, who uses a wheelchair, and the gardener, Weatherstaff.
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The hidden sanctuary and wonder of the garden is intertwined with Mary’s inner world and her search for solace after the loss of her parents. Her resilience thrives and blooms, particularly when she becomes a storyteller and draws the other children into this secret place through her tales of adventure.
Here, the telling of the “story” of the garden is as important as the experience of the garden itself. This is where fiction does its work – we need stories like this to recover a sense of care in times of ecological crisis.
Last year saw the launch of the Climate Fiction Prize, a vital endeavour to specifically support literary fiction as a cultural form which permits writers the freedom to imagine alternative paths for human existence. The Secret Garden is a work of such imagination, of transformation from otherwise impossible states of crisis and inertia.
Beyond the Canon
As part of the Rethinking the Classics series, we’re asking our experts to recommend a book or artwork that tackles similar themes to the canonical work in question, but isn’t (yet) considered a classic itself. Here is Davina Quinlivan’s suggestion:
Shaun Tan’s Tales From the Inner City (2018) is a beautiful and extremely moving collection of illustrated, eco-centric stories exploring the relationship between humans and animals in urban environments.
Tan is well known for his elegiac and often uncanny, playful storytelling and Tales From the Inner City skilfully braids these aesthetic values with a powerful message of hope and compassion for the wild and domestic creatures we share our world with. While there is no explicit reference to the climate crisis, Tan’s exquisite images illustrate stories of kinship between humans and dogs, snails, whales, pigeons, cats and tigers – all bound to each other as intertwined species.
Set within cities, the wild beauty of each animal seems enlarged, as does the poignancy of each story, reminding us of what we have to lose. Some of the creatures literally morph into giant versions of themselves, eerie against Tan’s various backdrops of urban space. In one story, two tiny humans are seen being carried through stormy waters, perched between the ears of an enormous cat. It’s an indelible image of hope and survival in the wake of environmental devastation. Tan’s imaginative power is utterly extraordinary.
Davina Quinlivan is an AHRC-funded StoryArcs Fellow based in the Department of English and Creative Writing at The University of Exeter. She is also an Artistic Lead with Emblaze, an imprint of Paper Nations. Paper Nations is an award-winning creative writing incubator illuminating stories of colour in the South West, funded by Arts Council England and produced by The Story Society, Bath Spa University.
Psychopathy has long been associated with murderers, notorious criminals, and the griping true crime stories that dominate Netflix documentaries. But our recent research is showing they have a complex relationship with pain which may in part be responsible for their lack of empathy.
Psychopathic traits are on a spectrum. We all have levels somewhere on this scale. To be deemed a “psychopath” by some medical professionals, though, you would need to sit on the higher end of the spectrum.
When we conducted our recent research on pain and people with different levels of psychopathy, our results surprised us. Participants with high levels of psychopathy seemed to process pain differently to people low in psychopathy.
We applied pressure pain to our participants using a device that gently pressed a small circular probe onto the participant’s fingernail using compressed air. We measured their reactions from their sweat responses.
This is called skin conductance response (SCR), and is activated in times of “fight or flight”, or even when we need to pay attention. And this normally increases sweat production. That’s what we used to measure participants’ response to pain and empathy in our experiment.
Before our experiment began, we slowly increased the levels of pressure that participants felt until they told us they had reached their pain threshold (the most pain they could bear). The low and high psychopathy groups chose similar levels of pressure for their pain threshold.
Next, we delivered varying levels of pressure (with the highest being each participant’s pain threshold) to ensure participants did not become used to the stimulations. Following each stimulation, participants were asked to rate how much pain they felt using a self-report measure ranging from 0-100.
We found that participants higher in psychopathy reported feeling less pain than participants who were lower in psychopathy. The high psychopathy group even rated their own pain thresholds as less painful than the low psychopathy group (on the 0-100 scale). However, their SCRs were the same as those lower in psychopathy.
So, what does this mean?
It suggests that people higher in psychopathy interpret pain differently. Perhaps this explains why psychopathy relates to greater risk-taking and increased levels of violence or aggression towards others – they do not recognise feelings of pain in the same way as other people.
Usually, psychopathy relates to lower levels of physiological responses in threatening situations because they don’t associate pain with fear or punishment.
The results of our study suggest that the difference in pain perception between high and low psychopathic people may be psychological rather than physiological. This could explain why there were differences in self-reports, but not in sweat responses.
We don’t know whether they are pretending to feel pain or are less connected to their body’s physiology. But a 2019 study on children suggests those high in psychopathic traits may engage in extreme coping when scared. For instance, those children showed blunted emotional responses, disengagement or risky behaviour to cope with the stress.
What about empathy for other people’s pain?
We also tested our participants’ responses to other people’s pain by showing them images, such as a hand trapped in a door or a bare foot stepping on glass. Previous research has shown that people higher in psychopathy show reduced levels of physiological arousal to other people’s distress.
For example, a 2015 study found people higher in psychopathy demonstrated lower levels of brain activity when seeing other people in painful situations. In our study, we found that people higher in psychopathy not only reported feeling less empathy but also showed lower sweat responses when viewing other people’s pain.
Our study shows that a lack of empathy for others may not be a conscious choice. Our recent systematic review, where we looked at eight previous studies on psychopathy and pain perception, also helped to corroborate these findings, showing that psychopathy links to lower levels of brain activity in response to other people’s pain.
Research has shown that lower levels of empathy for other people can be influenced by a higher tolerance for pain. If someone does not understand the feelings of pain the same way as other people, they probably don’t understand the pain that other people may be experiencing.
Also, a 2020 review showed that the brain networks used in processing pain are also used to process empathy. This could mean that if people higher in psychopathy don’t feel as much pain themselves, their perceptions of other people’s pain could also be reduced via this shared network.
Just because you show higher psychopathic traits does not necessarily mean you are going to be the lead character of your own true crime documentary, though. In fact, recent research, including a 2022 study, noted psychopathic traits can be positive and help people regulate their emotions.
Perhaps this is what allows medical professionals high in psychopathic traits to stay calm under pressure, allowing them to make quick, rational decisions without being overwhelmed by stress.
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.
One of the lasting memories from my teenage years is what I now recognise as an obsession with weight control. Thin was in, and magazines promoted a variety of diets, each claiming effectiveness, often accompanied by images of beautiful, slim models. Not much has changed.
Diets, intermittent fasting, weight-loss surgery, and more recently, weight-loss injections continue to be marketed as solutions for shedding pounds. Achieving a healthy weight is widely regarded as essential for overall wellbeing.
Many studies have explored the relationship between weight changes and mortality, as well as mortality in obese people with heart disease. These studies often suggest that excessive weight is unhealthy and that people with obesity and heart disease should lose weight.
However, findings from a recent study, of which I was a co-author, challenge this assumption. Our research indicates that significant weight loss – greater than 10kg – can actually increase the risk of early death in obese people with cardiovascular disease.
This study was based on data from over 8,000 participants in the UK Biobank, a comprehensive resource for medical research that includes genetic data.
While it’s known that rapid weight loss can signal underlying health issues and lead to serious complications, the weight changes in our study were observed over an average of nine years, meaning for some participants, these changes were relatively quick.
This creates a paradox. While both obesity and cardiovascular disease are known to increase the risk of early death, in obese people with cardiovascular disease, weight loss – intended to improve health – can have the opposite effect.
The relationship between body weight and illness is complex. Though obesity contributes to cardiovascular problems, studies have also shown an increased risk of early death in those with chronic heart failure who are lean, and in people with coronary artery disease whose weight fluctuates.
Obesity rates are rising, but simply focusing on weight loss may not be the answer.
Variability in weight loss
For weight loss to be effective, we must consider the diverse factors contributing to weight gain, which vary from person to person. Genetics play a significant role in appetite and metabolism, and they can also influence lifestyle factors like overeating, inadequate exercise and poor dietary choices that lead to obesity.
In our study, my colleagues and I couldn’t account for all the factors behind the participants’ obesity or the methods they used to lose weight. This means we can’t definitively determine which weight-loss strategies – whether in terms of duration, diet or physical activity – pose the greatest risks.
The conventional approach to healthy weight – using body mass index (BMI) – may not apply to everyone. BMI is increasingly recognised as having limitations. Some people may tolerate higher weights without adverse health effects. The real question isn’t how quickly weight should be lost, but how quickly it should be lost for each person.
Given the current evidence, we cannot accurately determine an ideal weight range that’s universally beneficial for health. However, intriguing patterns are emerging from various countries.
For instance, Tonga has a high rate of obesity, yet it experiences significantly lower rates of heart-disease-related deaths than many European countries where obesity is less prevalent. Tonga also reports lower levels of alcohol consumption and suicide than most European nations.
Health encompasses both physical and mental wellbeing. Shifting the focus to holistic wellbeing and happiness may offer more lasting health benefits. Treating obesity requires a comprehensive approach, addressing all underlying factors contributing to the condition.
Barbara Pierscionek 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.
In the US, under president Donald Trump, rapid assaults on civil servants’ rights, including their rights to speak out about wrongdoing, are increasingly part of the administration’s play for power. Shock tactics tend to work when the speed leaves observers too stunned to act.
But countering the paralysis, whistleblower supporters are organising. Civil society groups are collaborating to shore up workers’ rights, challenge threats in the courts, and inform the public why it’s important to protect whistleblowers. Their cool-headed approach shows what it takes to work together to preserve democratic freedoms.
Since January 2025, the Trump administration has assaulted federal workers’ rights including whistleblowing protections. Key personnel are being fired, with thousands of other civil servants under threat of being reclassified as “at-will” workers who can be sacked at any time for any reason.
But the US needs whistleblower rights. In the past ten years alone, US government workers speaking out have protected citizens from a long list of ills. This includes food contamination, health risks, airline dangers and climate censorship. And they have called out managers for fraud and corruption.
Recent UK research demonstrates how listening to whistleblowers in some cases – including the Post Office scandal and the collapse of contractor Carillion – would have saved taxpayers nearly £400 million.
Functioning government bureaucracies, staffed by well-qualified, professional and independent civil servants, curtail attempts by politicians to control the state.
In the US, long-standing structures like the Pendleton Act of 1883 and the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, were put in place to ensure this. These laws insist government workers are hired and fired on the basis of skill and ability, not their political views. New employees take an oath of loyalty to the US constitution, not to the president.
Whistleblower protection is a critical part of ensuring this independence, because it enables civil servants to challenge abuses of power. But whistleblowers can only call out wrongdoing if they are protected from reprisal. Right now, these protections are under threat.
Shock and awe
Critics of the new US administration know all this. But the speed of change seems overwhelming. And the will to resist depletes, as people struggle to make sense of the constant disruption.
What to do with widely reported shows of anti-democratic aggression, like the recent appearance of senior Trump adviser Elon Musk on stage with a red chainsaw, shouting about a “chainsaw for bureaucracy”?
This is exactly the kind of chaotic, performative scene that stokes fascist passions, but leaves critics frozen.
Elon Musk’s chainsaw stunt was made famous by Argentinian president Javier Milei, who was looking on as Musk played to the gallery. Joshua Sukoff/Shutterstock
Connecting such moves with Trump’s aggression against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes and trans citizens, US philosopher Judith Butler has warned that people can be stunned into inaction by increasingly shocking events. They stop seeing how they are connected.
What links these events, fundamentally, is contempt for ordinary US citizens’ rights and for constitutional democracy. As Butler also says, it’s important that citizens are not left immobilised by the outrage.
To counter the chaos, cool heads are needed. Supporters of whistleblower rights are pushing back. With partners, the nonprofit whistleblower organisation Government Accountability Project is suing Trump over the unconstitutional roll-back of federal worker protections. And civil society groups successfully challenged February’s firing of the chief of the federal whistleblowing agency.
This kind of whistleblower activism has happened before in other parts of the world. In Europe, NGOs monitor countries’ adoption of the new EU whistleblower protection law.
Organisations like the Whistleblowing International Network and the UNCAC coalition support civil society groups in countries around the world with new but fragile whistleblower protection systems introduced to support public trust and democratic accountability. These partnerships harness public opinion through the media and lobby for change. They come together in regular online events and forums to sustain momentum.
These coalitions of whistleblower activists have a history of working together, celebrating small wins and publicising each other’s work.
As my recent book details, this collective activism is not easy. These organisations operate on limited funding. And in the face of disinformation on social media, defending truth and facts can be challenging. Yet as I found, strategising and collaborating can help counter aggressive opposition.
Trump is working to remake the federal government in the service of his political agenda. It is a classic move made by “strongman” leaders. They seize control of government bureaucracy in order to reward elite supporters, give favours and jobs to insiders, and weaken oversight on corruption.
Attacking government bureaucracy has been a first step in the power grab by authoritarian leaders worldwide, from Hungary to Benin, Turkey and Venezuela.
Working with his largest election donor Elon Musk, who already owns businesses benefiting from government contracts, Trump’s aggressive overhaul of the federal government radically dilutes the potential for dissenting workers to speak out in protest.
It is tempting to remain paralysed in the face of daily attempts to roll back workers’ rights. But through their dedication, mutual support and celebration of even small wins, international collectives of whistleblower activists remind us that there is a way forward and why it’s vital to keep going.
Kate Kenny has in the past and at different times engaged in research funded by organizations including: the EU Commission, ESRC UK, the British Academy, Harvard University, Science Foundation Ireland and Leverhulme Trust.
Even more noteworthy is TGL’s unique format. Events are played inside SoFi Center, a custom-built venue in Florida with an audience capacity of 1,500.
At one end lies the “ScreenZone,” where a golf simulator is used for longer shots such as drives and iron play. At the other end, players chip and putt along the physical surface of the “GreenZone” to record a final score on each hole.
TGL is the latest commercial venture to shake up the golf world in recent years. The league is no doubt novel in some ways, yet it can also be explained as the convergence of two longstanding trends: the “mediatization” and “indoorization” of sport.
Mediatization is a concept that speaks to relationships of interdependence between media and other institutions, such as sport. More than simply conveying sport content, communication technologies have helped change sport over the years — consider “television timeouts” or the use of instant replay.
In return, sport is a source of live, unpredictable and exciting media content, something that is highly valuable in a competitive attention economy.
First, there is the golf simulator. The ScreenZone is so named because players hit into a massive screen measuring 64 by 53 feet. Tracking technology is used to map and represent the flight of the ball on screen. This allows for a thoroughly datafied sport experience as an array of performance metrics are available to both players and fans.
Also relevant are TGL’s seemingly made-for-TV conventions, some of which might be anathema to golf traditionalists. Among them, a 40-second shot clock keeps a brisk pace of play. Players are also mic’d up, making strategy conversations and reactions accessible to the audience.
In all, TGL is a media spectacle. It is not uncommon for sports leagues to adopt new rules and formats, seemingly in a bid to capture consumer attention. But, through TGL’s video game-like components, media representation — golf on a simulated volcano, among other places — becomes part of the sport competition itself.
Sport moves indoors
TGL is also an indoor spectacle. In this sense, it contributes to the indoorization of outdoor sports.
Outdoor sports from surfing to skiing, rock climbing and many more have moved indoors in recent years (while remaining outdoor sports too). A potential trade-off is that, while outdoor sports often foreground adventure, uncertainty and danger, their indoor analogues often trade this for control, predictability and calculability. The authenticity of indoor sport might therefore be debated, especially in historically counter-cultural sports such as surfing.
Yet indoorization can also lead to expansion. From the late 1800s onwards, artificial ice in North American arenas allowed for reliable skating conditions and helped hockey move to new locations, growing the game as a commercial endeavour and cultural institution.
“Covered rinks allowed patrons to escape winter’s cold temperatures, harsh winds, and blowing snow and eliminated the immediate danger of falling through thin ice on ponds and streams.”
Indoorization is not new, even for golf: golf simulators can be found in converted garages; Topgolf facilities offer high-tech, all-weather golf experiences. But TGL is a high-profile entrant in a history of moving sport indoors.
Indoorization as adaption?
Researchers assessing the prospects for outdoor skating against recent climate projections have concluded the future looks bleak for outdoor rinks, and that indoor arenas and synthetic surfaces will grow more important in the years ahead.
Put another way, indoorization may increasingly be a requirement, and not just a luxury, in the context of a worsening climate crisis.
Likewise, sport mega-events have implemented various climate adaptation measures over time, from snow-making on ski slopes to refrigeration of sliding tracks and far beyond. The future is likely to see host cities become climate unreliable to an even greater extent.
It’s not just winter sports. From air-conditioned stadiums to relocated events in search of cooler conditions to indoor recess for students escaping poor-quality outdoor air, the changing climate is a point of vulnerability year-round — and for sport and physical activity participation at various levels.
Our point here is not that TGL was conceived with the climate crisis in mind. Nor do we expect outdoor golf to disappear. Rather, the climate crisis will demand adaptation in sport in the years ahead.
In a time of technological innovation — augmented reality, artificial intelligence and more — the mediatization of sport will provide new commercial and recreational opportunities that offer escape from, and perhaps distraction from, worsening outdoor conditions.
TGL’s blend of real and artificial elements can be seen as foreshadowing “solutions” to much greater problems that are beginning to seem inevitable.
Brad Millington receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Brian Wilson receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Michael L. Naraine receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and Sport Canada.
Parissa Safai has received funding from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Hannah Budnitz, Research Associate in Urban Mobility, Transport Studies Unit, University of Oxford
Elon Musk’s controversial political views and actions have sparked an exodus from X (formerly Twitter), his social media platform, and mass protests against his car company, Tesla. Dealerships in the US and beyond have experienced peaceful protests and occasional vandalism, while sales are down almost everywhere and the company has lost almost half its value in two months.
Ironically, these political controversies may broaden the mass market appeal of electric vehicles. This is an industry that needs to go beyond the early-adopter tech bros – and now might be the moment.
In 2010, when Tesla became the first American carmaker to go public since Ford in 1956, fully electric cars were still a niche technology. The Nissan Leaf was launched that same year, but it was still limited to shorter trips in cities. Other big carmakers weren’t yet taking electric seriously, and the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) industry was just starting to gear up.
In 2013, when the International Energy Agency (IEA) produced its first Global EV Outlook report, there were less than 60,000 on the road worldwide. A decade later, almost the same number of EVs are sold every day.
Tesla’s competition was initially just little urban runarounds like this 2010 Nissan Leaf. Dong liu / Shutterstock
So, there is plenty of evidence that Tesla had a leading role in making EVs a “winning technology” – something the traditional major carmakers felt compelled to compete with. Governments around the world also got on board.
Not made for the mainstream
In fact, Tesla’s approach to making electric cars mainstream was to not make them for the mainstream. Its marketing strategy was to sell direct to customers who not only bought into the environmental credentials but the hi-tech glamour – and didn’t mind the price tag.
In other words, Tesla targeted “early adopters” which, in the case of electric cars, meant wealthy men. Study after study shows these early adopters in North America and Europe were skewed towards men and those with higher incomes.
Although these studies often measured income and gender separately, research I published with colleagues indicated it was having both characteristics – being both a man and wealthy – that made someone more likely to be an EV owner, or more likely to say their next car would probably be electric.
Out of our representative sample of nearly 2,000 UK drivers, wealthy men were also more likely to agree that their social circle expected them to switch.
We did not find the same results among women, no matter their income level, nor low-income men. This despite the fact that women were significantly more likely to value protecting the environment and to feel an obligation to drive an electric car (if they were first convinced it would reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality).
This points to another key implication of our research. To support mass adoption, drivers need to be confident that EVs can deliver the environmental benefits they promise, as well as being more comfortable and cheaper to run than conventional cars.
To gain this confidence, drivers – no matter who they are – want to hear consistent messaging from a trusted source that highlights the benefits, not just the costs.
However, as we found in our project Inclusive Transition to Electric Mobility, drivers and policymakers alike perceive EVs as unaffordable. Some research participants even mentioned Tesla by name when giving an example of how making the switch is beyond the means of people like them.
Cheaper EVs need new messaging
Although Tesla sells mass-produced models and slashed its prices around the world last year, its cars are still expensive (in the UK, they start at about £40,000). The company’s reputation and brand is linked not only to the tech-bro image of Silicon Valley, but with elitism and inequity.
However, the reputation of EVs in general need not be. Unlike ten years ago, this is a technology with momentum among many manufacturers, and consumers have plenty of new, cheaper models to choose from, as well as a growing second-hand market. The IEA’s latest report suggests EVs are finally becoming a mass-market product.
Tesla is facing stiff competition from cheaper rivals such as Chinese firm BYD. i viewfinder / Shutterstock
As electric cars become more affordable in real terms, the messaging needs to be about environmental benefit rather than futuristic technology. It needs to emphasise long-term affordability of use as well as purchase. EVs need to be seen as practical and safe – and drivers need to hear these messages from trusted sources.
My research highlighted how family, friends, colleagues and neighbours could be this source of trusted information. Early adopters I interviewed described the many personal, social interactions involved in the practicalities of parking and charging their cars – such as coordinating workplace charging so no one is caught short, and sharing tips on the best tariff for home charging. Some have effectively become local ambassadors for EVs.
I’m also investigating how communities coming together around EVs might lead to more car sharing. This could maximise the environmental benefits of the transition, since reducing the number of cars on the road is as important as ensuring cars switch from petrol to electric.
There is little doubt about the damage Musk’s political approach has done to Tesla’s image, although it is not the sole cause of the company’s current troubles.
Meanwhile, the transition to electric personal mobility is well underway around the world. Tesla’s troubles won’t stop this – but they can give the car industry an opportunity to make the messaging around electric vehicles more diverse, equitable and inclusive for the mass market.
Hannah Budnitz 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.
Donald Trump started out with more Americans approving than disapproving of his performance just after inauguration day on January 20 , and this continued into February. By early March, his ratings had turned a little bit negative, but not by much, and it has stayed that way. As of March 20, 48% of Americans approved of his job performance so far, while 49% disapproved.
The daily average of polls measuring approval/disapproval ratings for the job Trump is doing appears in the chart below. They cover the period from February 20 to March 20.
Approval and disapproval ratings for Trump’s performance:
These aggregate ratings are interesting, but they disguise the political divide which is revealed when we drill down into the details. This can be done using an Economist/YouGov poll completed on March 18, for instance.
This reveals how polarised American public opinion has become when it comes to judging the president. Around 6% of respondents who identified themselves as Democrats approved of his performance, while 93% of them disapproved. Those who identified as Republican were almost the exact opposite, with 90% approving and 7% disapproving.
One problem in analysing these statistics is that only 29% of the sample interviewed were Republicans, compared with 34% Democrats. The pollsters do their best to get a representative sample of the US electorate and it’s worth noting that there are currently more registered Democrats in the US than there are Republicans.
Interestingly, the American National Election Study survey conducted just before the presidential election last year showed that only 11.6% of Americans were supporters of the Maga movement. This highly respected study, which has been carried out over the past 75 years as a national resource, would suggest that Maga supporters are noisy, but fewer in number than some people might realise.
What do independents think?
Around 37% of those interviewed for the Economist poll described themselves as independents. In their case 37% of them approved of his performance and 54% disapproved. Trump may have a very strong following among Republicans, but they are less than one-third of the electorate.
A quick calculation looking at support among Democrats, Republicans and independents in proportion to their size in the electorate suggests that 42% of Americans have a favourable view of his performance, while 54% have an unfavourable view.
If we look at the social backgrounds of respondents in the survey there is not much difference between the young and the old, or different income groups in their attitudes to the president’s performance. But there is a large gender gap with 53% of men, but only 39% of women, approving. Similarly, while 53% of whites approved, only 24% of blacks and 31% of Hispanics did so. Finally, 7% of ideological liberals approved of Trump’s job performance, compared with 81% of conservatives and 44% of moderates. Overall, partisanship and ideology completely dominate the picture when it comes to judging Trump’s record.
How important is the economy?
US politics is in turmoil with large federal jobs losses and significant changes, such as tariffs on Canadian goods, being announced by the new administration, so there are a lot of factors at work which can explain attitudes to Trump. In the 2024 presidential election the economy played a key role in explaining how people voted, and it is always an important issue in elections.
Given that, it is interesting to look at one of the key measures of the voter’s attitudes to the economy, namely consumer confidence. This has been measured by researchers at the University of Michigan for many decades using a series of surveys conducted every month.
US consumer sentiment scale March 2024 to March 2025:
The chart shows scores on the Index of Consumer Sentiment from March of last year until March this year. A high score means Americans are confident about the state of their economy and a low score the opposite. Confidence has plunged from a rating of 79.4 a year ago to 57.9 now. It is notable that, as recently as December 2024, it stood at 74.0, but after the inauguration of Trump it started to rapidly decline. Americans are getting increasingly worried about the state of their economy, along with the rest of the world.
The cause is not hard to discern: the imposition of tariffs, a fall in the stock market, the threat of inflation, the administration’s sympathy towards Vladimir Putin and its threats to allies such as Canada and Greenland over their territorial integrity. These issues are all adding up to a self-imposed economic crisis.
But what are the implication of this for presidential approval ratings? The chart below shows the relationship between consumer confidence and presidential approval over a period of nearly 50 years. There is a moderately strong relationship between the two series (correlation = 0.40). When consumers are optimistic, they approve of the president’s performance, and when they are pessimistic, they disapprove.
Presidential approval and consumer confidence 1978-2025:
Overall, the data suggests that Trump should not be confident of his approval ratings across the US, if you look at people across all political affiliations and who vote. Along with a looming economic crisis, this could lead to a rapid loss of support for the president and the Republicans in the near future.
Paul Whiteley 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.
Spurgeon Integrates Artificial Intelligence and Materials Science To Accelerate Discovery and Advance Next-Generation Technologies
Materials science researcher Steven Spurgeon (left) and his lab associates Grace Guinan and Michelle Smeaton work on autonomous electron microscopy at NREL. Photo by Brooke Buchan, NREL
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) materials data scientist Steven R. Spurgeon has been honored with the Microscopy Society of America’s (MSA’s) Burton Medal award. The award, which is given annually to a single physical sciences researcher under the age of 40, is the highest honor the MSA bestows upon early-career scientists in the field of microscopy and microanalysis.
“I’ve been involved with the MSA for 15 years and have been fortunate to work with amazing leaders in the field of microscopy,” Spurgeon said. “To be recognized with this award and join their ranks is a true honor.”
Throughout his career, Spurgeon has pioneered the integration of machine learning (ML) with electron microscopy, using artificial intelligence (AI), to help make sense of the detailed images generated by electron microscopes. This approach not only dramatically enhances the efficiency of microscopy techniques; it also provides new insights into the behavior of functional materials—like silicon microprocessors used in computers and cell phones—at the atomic level. These insights enable researchers to fine-tune material properties and enhance efficiency to drive advancements in energy solutions.
“Dr. Spurgeon’s pioneering work at the intersection of AI and microscopy continues to transform materials science,” said Katherine Jungjohann, who manages NREL’s Analytical Microscopy and Imaging Science group. “His visionary leadership and groundbreaking research make him a truly deserving recipient of the Burton Medal.”
Spurgeon’s journey to the AI/microscopy frontier began with a deep curiosity about the fundamental building blocks of matter. As a graduate student at Drexel University, he studied materials science and engineering, focusing on developing new functional materials. After Spurgeon completed his Ph.D., he joined Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), first as a postdoctoral research associate, and later as a staff scientist in the laboratory’s longstanding thin-film Basic Energy Sciences program. At PNNL, he developed new functional materials that could be used for energy storage and computing, which was recognized by the PNNL Laboratory Director’s Award for Early Career Achievement. He also had a realization that would shape the trajectory of his career.
AI-powered tools like transformers—which is what the “T” in ChatGPT stands for—began to emerge in the scientific community about 10 years ago and were used in areas like processing internet data and building autonomous vehicles. Watching the rise of these ML tools, Spurgeon began to wonder if they could benefit his own field of work.
“I realized we were collecting and analyzing all our data by hand,” Spurgeon recalled. “That made me ask, ‘Can we use AI to accelerate our experiments so that humans don’t have to make every single decision?’ I saw that machine learning could help us analyze larger datasets, uncover patterns that would be difficult to detect manually, and ultimately shorten the time to discovery.”
Inspired by these possibilities, Spurgeon helped launch an AI initiative at PNNL and established a groundbreaking partnership with industry to design a completely new AI-infused microscope. His efforts led to the development of the Autonomous Electron Microscope (AutoEM), a platform that leverages AI to improve the way researchers study and understand functional materials. The platform, which enables researchers to conduct analyses up to 1,000 times faster than traditional methods, earned Spurgeon and his team an R&D 100 Award in 2024.
“During his time at PNNL, Dr. Spurgeon rapidly ascended to international prominence in AI-guided materials science and electron microscopy,” said Sergei Kalinin, chief scientist of Physics-Informed Machine Learning at PNNL. “He established himself as a brilliant researcher, a staunch advocate for our field, and an exceptional mentor, and he continues this reputation today.”
After nearly 10 years at PNNL, Spurgeon joined NREL’s Material Science team in May 2024 with a mission to lead research on autonomous materials science and characterization in the development of new energy technologies.
“I joined NREL to help establish a forward-thinking vision for autonomous science,” Spurgeon said. “NREL’s leadership in emerging energy technologies, coupled with its proactive approach to integrating AI, creates an environment like no other, where researchers can strategically innovate and push the boundaries of energy solutions.”
Since joining NREL, Spurgeon has integrated autonomous capabilities into lab workflows, established new industry partnerships, and created effective teams. In May 2025, he is organizing a workshop to convene leading experts to explore practical, real-world applications of autonomous research.
His work has sped up experiments and led to faster discoveries in energy materials and microelectronics, which translates to tangible benefits for NREL’s partners and the wider community. Moving forward, he is focused on using AI to develop important materials—like advanced semiconductors and catalysts—that could lead to major breakthroughs in technology.
As Spurgeon explained, “AI-driven autonomy in materials science is the key to breaking through current research bottlenecks. It allows us to move beyond incremental improvements and achieve truly transformative discoveries in the energy materials we use every day, saving money and improving resilience.”
Reflecting on his career, Spurgeon identified the thrill of discovery, bolstered by persistence in the face of failure, as a driving factor in all that he has achieved.
“Breakthroughs don’t come easily. They often follow many, many failures,” Spurgeon said. “But every once in a while, you get a new process to work or you uncover a phenomenon no one has seen before. Those moments of seeing something for the first time—something no one else has seen—are what make me come to work every day.”
Beyond the personal satisfaction of pushing the boundaries of knowledge, Spurgeon finds inspiration in the support of the scientific community and in the impact of his work on real-world technologies.
“When you’re all pushing in the same direction, you can help each other, share in the struggles, and celebrate the wins,” Spurgeon said. “It has been especially rewarding to work with so many talented early-career staff and students over the years.”
Spurgeon also recognizes that the focus of his work—AI integration—has been the subject of a fair amount of debate in recent years.
“We’re at the start of a significant transformation in science, but the essence of the scientific process—generating and testing a hypothesis—still belongs to humans,” Spurgeon said. “AI can help us analyze more data and refine our decision-making, but it’s still on us as scientists to take responsibility for our conclusions.”
With this in mind, Spurgeon emphasizes the importance of building practical, trustworthy AI implementations whose conclusions can be clearly explained and that provide real value for users.
Looking ahead, Spurgeon is optimistic: “The future of materials science lies in the collaborative power of AI and human ingenuity. Together, we’ll push the boundaries of innovation and improve the lives of everyone around the world.”
Source: United States Senator for Arkansas – John Boozman
––U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) introduced former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on his nomination to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Israel.
Boozman recalled his long-standing relationship with Huckabee, who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996-2007. The senator expressed his confidence in the Governor’s leadership and ability to strengthen the relationship between the United States and the Jewish State.
Click here to watch Boozman’s remarks.
Below are Boozman’s remarks as delivered:
Thank you, Chairman Risch and Ranking Member Shaheen, and good morning to my distinguished colleagues.
It is an honor to be here today to introduce my friend and fellow Arkansan – Governor Mike Huckabee, President Trump’s nominee for U.S. Ambassador to Israel.
I know Senator Cotton would have liked to be here too. In fact, it was the first call I received very early this morning, reminding me to tell everybody how much he supported this and what a great ambassador he thinks Gov. Huckabee would make.
I would also like to say hi to Gov. Huckabee’s family and friends here in attendance, and how glad we are that they are here supporting him. We all know these are family affairs, whether it’s us or people that serve in other aspects of government.
This is a pivotal moment in history, not just for our country, but for Israel and the special relationship between our nations.
I’ve had the privilege of knowing the Governor for many years, and I can say without hesitation that he is the right person to be our representative to Israel at this critical moment, and I’m thankful to President Trump for selecting such a staunch and passionate advocate for the Jewish State.
Mike was raised in Hope, Arkansas, and went on to graduate from Ouachita Baptist University, where he majored in religion. He then attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, in preparation for a lifetime of ministry that included pastoring Immanuel Baptist Church in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and later at Beech Street Baptist Church in Texarkana, Arkansas.
He went on to serve as president of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, where his leadership and communications skills intersected at the cornerstone of his life – spreading the gospel and shepherding fellow Christians in their faith – and foreshadowed his calling into public service.
Mike served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas for over a decade, with his time as our state’s chief executive marked by his tireless pursuit of pragmatic solutions, a tireless work ethic, and an innate ability to forge relationships across political divides.
He brought transformational change to Arkansas, leaving a legacy of lower taxes, job creation, improvement of state infrastructure, K-12 education reform, and his enactment of a nationally recognized health initiative focused on disease prevention.
Mike is not only qualified to serve as our ambassador to Israel, but he is uniquely suited for this role given the way he has championed Israel throughout his entire life, including as a steadfast supporter of Israel’s right to exist and defend itself.
He has an intimate familiarity with Israel’s people and its leaders, having frequently visited for over fifty years, leading groups to the region since 1981.
He also understands the importance of diplomacy and has a profound respect and appreciation for it. And he has worked persistently throughout his life to advocate for strengthening and furthering the distinctly profound ties between our two countries.
As the United States Ambassador to Israel, he will bring a thoughtful, principled approach to our relationship – as his extensive experience already shows.
He believes, like many of us, that the United States and Israel share a sacred bond that transcends politics – both in terms of shared values and mutual security.
In an increasingly dangerous world, where Israel is under constant attack from Iran and its terrorist proxies, the United States needs a representative in Israel who not only understands the complex Middle East geopolitics, but can navigate them with conviction, strength and tact.
Governor Huckabee’s background, character, and experience all uniquely qualify him to be that figure at this moment and for this purpose.
His deep understanding and love for Israel and its people will undoubtedly make him an exceptional ambassador.
I know that he will represent the United States with honor, integrity, and an ironclad commitment to the enduring partnership between our two nations.
I look forward to seeing all the great things he will do as the United States Ambassador to Israel.
I strongly support his nomination and urge my colleagues to do the same, as does my colleague Sen. Cotton from Arkansas. Thank you very much.
A music therapy expert from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) is to play a key role in a new project to help people with dementia continue to participate in the activities they love, while maintaining their independence.
Funding for the £1.97 million BRIDGES Dementia Network comes from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), with support of the Alzheimer’s Society, and has been announced on the day of the World Dementia Council Summit in London.
Currently, around one million people in the UK have dementia, and this number is expected to increase to 1.4 million by 2040. At the same time, a survey by Alzheimer’s Society found that 85% of people say they would prefer to remain at home if diagnosed with dementia.
The national BRIDGES Dementia Network aims to revolutionise the role of technology in supporting independent living, helping those with dementia as well as their families.
Within the new project, Dr Ming Hung Hsu of Anglia Ruskin University’s Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research will co-lead work focusing on new innovations to allow people with dementia to continue to enjoy creative and recreational activities, in turn helping their mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing.
Dr Hsu will work alongside researchers, care providers, and people with dementia to design new technology that is accessible, scalable, and meets the needs of different communities. Dr Hsu’s involvement in the BRIDGES Dementia Network, which is being hosted by the University of Sheffield, builds on his leadership in other national dementia care initiatives.
These include the NIHR-funded MELODIC project, which focuses on how music therapy can manage distress on NHS dementia wards, and the MediMusic project, funded by Innovate UK, which is investigating how AI-driven music interventions can support culturally diverse communities with dementia.
“The BRIDGES Dementia Network is a significant change in dementia research, moving beyond traditional models of care to develop new, person-centred technological innovations that support independent living. A major focus will be on art, sport, and culture, highlighting the impact of creative activities on people’s quality of life.
“Potential applications could include AI-powered personalised music platforms, interactive storytelling tools, virtual reality experiences, and digital platforms that encourage social engagement and physical activity. Through new technology like this, the aim is to maintain and enhance cognitive function, emotional wellbeing, mobility, and social connectivity for those living with dementia.”
Dr Hsu, Senior Research Fellow at the Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU)
“Dementia is a major challenge in the UK and globally. As people are living longer, the number of people living with dementia is increasing.
“With most people wishing to remain at home, we are investing in research that could lead to new technologies and innovations that will help keep people safe and independent.”
“One in three people born today will develop dementia in their lifetime. Research will beat dementia, and innovative networks like these will play an important part in helping people living with dementia today, and in the future, live independently for longer.
“As well as exploring ways to make daily life easier, and helping people with dementia feel more connected, they have the potential to ease pressure on the NHS. This could improve care for everyone as more people with dementia will be able to remain independent and cared for in the community for longer.
“As technology develops at pace, it’s critical we harness it, using AI, digital health, and community support to create simple, effective solutions. We’re excited to see what the future holds.”
Professor Fiona Carragher, Chief Policy and Research Officer at Alzheimer’s Society
The BRIDGES Dementia Network is led by Dr Jennifer MacRitchie at the University of Sheffield, and also includes academics from Lancaster University, London South Bank University, University College London, University of Cambridge, University of Kent and University of Leicester, as well as ARU. The network also involves a range of non-academic partners, including Innovations in Dementia, robotics company BOW, Lewy Body Society, Dementia UK, Kent County Council, and Sheffield City Council.
overnor Kathy Hochul today announced more than $2.1 million in awards to 43 faith-based and not-for-profit organizations through the New York State Office of Faith and Nonprofit Development Services to improve public access to essential technologies. The funds are available to community organizations that will work directly with New Yorkers to help remove barriers for people who need technology resources, including telehealth appointments, career advancement services, remote educational opportunities, social services applications or other computer access needs.
“Technology is rapidly advancing, and we need to make sure that everyone has a fair chance at taking advantage of its resources,” Governor Hochul said. “From doctors appointments to opportunities in education and professional development, we are making these resources easily accessible for all New Yorkers.”
Secretary of State Walter T. Mosley said, “The Office of Faith and Nonprofit Development is making good on Governor Hochul’s commitment to ensuring community-based organizations have access to critical state resources in order to serve the people of our great state. These grants to organizations across New York will help remove barriers for those in need to use technology resources to get telehealth, education, career advancement and any other support to better their lives.”
Director of the Office of Faith and Nonprofit Development Services Caura Washington said, In 2023, Governor Kathy Hochul reimagined the Office of Faith and Nonprofit Development Services Office commissioning this office to go on a 62-county tour. Our dedication to listen, understand, and respond to the needs often highlighted during that tour, in every region across our state, led to the development of this funding opportunity. Through the New York State request for application process, this opportunity was offered statewide, ensuring that funding was awarded with transparency and equal opportunity so that innovation and impact would take precedence. We are excited to continue to provide support across our state and meet the needs of everyday New Yorkers.”
President of New York State Interfaith Council A.R. Bernard said, “I applaud Governor Hochul for her visionary leadership and commitment to strengthening New York’s communities through the announcement of more than $2.1 million in awards to 43 faith-based and nonprofit organizations. This initiative reflects a deep understanding that communities thrive when faith-based and nonprofit partners are empowered to serve. I stand in full support of this effort and celebrate Governor Hochul’s continued promise to help these organizations fulfill their potential as pillars of hope, access, and opportunity for all.”
The grants of up to $50,000 will allow these organizations to further break down barriers for people in need of technology services by offering:
Technology access for communities across NYS.
Helping bridge gaps in technology for vulnerable populations.
Enhancing public programs with technology infrastructure investments.
Creating opportunities for public access to computers and the internet for education, job advancement, telehealth and more.
The goal of these grants is to work together with faith-based and non-profit organizations to enhance the ability to meet the community’s needs, including serving distinctly different populations and/or geographic locations and technology demands. The regions to receive the grants are:
Capital Region
Capital District Center for Independence (CDCI) $48,893
Higher Horizons Development Corp (HHDC) $49,433
Central New York
Syracuse Northeast Community Center (SNCC) $49,999
Finger Lakes
Episcopal SeniorLife Communities (ESLC) $50,000
Literacy West, NY (LWNY) $49,821
Mid-Hudson
CHOICE of New Rochelle (CHOICE of NY) $50,000
Echoes Africa Initiatives $50,000
NYSARC The ARC Mid-Hudson / Cornell Creative Arts Center $50,000
Parcare Community Health Network $50,000
Rockland Independent Living Center (BRIDGES) $50,000
United Hebrew of New Rochelle $42,431
Upon this Rock Ministries, Inc $50,000
Westchester Jewish Community Services, Inc. (WJCS) $50,000
Mohawk Valley
Muslim Community Association of Mohawk Valley (MCAMV) $50,000
Rescue Mission of Utica (RMU) $49,905
New York City Bronx
Bridge Builders Community Partnership (BBCP) $50,000
Kingsbridge Heights Community Center (KHCC) $50,000
Practice of Peace Foundation, Inc. $50,000
New York City Brooklyn
CAMBA $50,000
Kings Bay Y (KBY) $50,000
Metropolitan New York Coordinating Council on Jewish Poverty (Met Council) $41,253
University Settlement Society of New York (USS) $50,000
New York City New York
Chinatown Manpower Project, Inc. (CMP) $50,000
Girls Write Now (GWN) $50,000
Muslim Community Network (MCN) $50,000
New York City Queens
Center for the Integration & Advancement of New Americans (CIANA) $25,000
Jewish Community Council of the Rockaway Peninsula (JCCRP) $50,000
Korean American Family Services Center (KAFSC) $50,000
Korean Community Services of Metro (KCS) $50,000
Rise Now, Inc $50,000
Rockaway Development & Revitalization Corporation (RDRC) $49,967
Southern Tier
The Economic Opportunity Program, Inc. (EOP) $48,600
AIM Independent Living Center (AIM) $50,000
Western New York
Ardent Solutions, Inc. $50,000
Buffalo Federation of Neighborhood Centers, Inc. (BFNC) $50,000
ChildCare Network of the Niagara Frontier, Inc. (The LINK) $50,000
Computers for Children, Inc. (AKA Mission: Ignite) $50,000
Gerard Place $49,793
Jewish Family Services of Western NY (JFS) $50,000
Literacy West NY, Inc. (LWNY) $49,533
The Chapel $ 36,715
Contracting organizations will start the development of the Community Resource Rooms to be available in the next few months, expanding technology accessibility for New Yorkers.
About the Office of Faith and Nonprofit Development Services
Since its creation in November of 2023, the New York State Office of Faith & Nonprofit Development Services has stood as a beacon of support and resources for faith-based and not-for-profit organizations across the State. At its core, the Office seeks to empower faith-based and not-for-profit organizations by providing essential information, facilitating access to state grants, and enhancing organizational capacities. More information is available on the Office of Faith & Nonprofit Development Services website.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
A study published in Nature looks at a genetically modified pig-to-human liver transplantation.
Rafael Matesanz, Creator and Founder of the National Transplant Organisation (Spain), said:
“A frequent approach in the development of xenotransplants of different organs, before moving on to the clinical phase, is to perform them in patients in brain death but with haemodynamic stability, so that the evolution of the organ and the impact on the deceased person’s organism can be assessed at least in the short term, but with circulation maintained.
“At least three kidney transplants have been performed in the United States since 2021 – one with up to 61 days of follow-up in brain-dead patients – and two heart transplants, which served to accumulate a number of useful lessons. In both modalities, they preceded the first clinical experiences in living people, which so far have resulted in two heart transplants (both deceased) and four kidney transplants, two of which have survived after several months of evolution.
“The team at the Xi’an Military Hospital in China has had extensive experience in experimental transplantation of all types of organs from pigs to monkeys for more than a decade. This is the world’s first case of a transplant of a genetically modified pig liver into a brain-dead human. The ultimate goal of the experiment was not to achieve a standard liver transplant, but to serve as a ‘bridge organ’ in cases of acute liver failure, while awaiting a human organ for a definitive transplant. The experience lasted 10 days and the porcine organ remained in good condition, with acceptable basic metabolic function and no signs of acute rejection, indicating that the procedure was successful for its intended purpose and could be used in vivo in the near future.
“In short, this is an important experiment, which opens up a different path to what has been tried so far in both vital organs (heart) and non-vital organs (kidney), such as the temporary replacement of the diseased liver until a human liver can be obtained for the definitive transplant’.”
Iván Fernández Vega, Professor of Pathological Anatomy at the University of Oviedo (Spain), Scientific Director of the Principality of Asturias Biobank (BioPA) and Coordinator of the Organoid hub of the ISCIII Biomodels and Biobanks Platform, said:
“I found the work very relevant, but we have to be cautious. The study represents a milestone in the history of liver xenotransplantation, describing for the first time a transplantation of a genetically modified porcine liver into a human being (in this case, a brain-dead human).The quality of the work is very high, both in terms of scientific rigour and the exhaustive clinical, immunological, histological and haemodynamic characterisation of the procedure. Sophisticated genetic modifications have been applied to the graft to prevent hyperacute rejection, one of the most critical complications in preclinical models of xenotransplantation.
“The clinical implications are highly relevant, as optimising this approach could expand the pool of available organs and save lives in liver emergencies. This work complements and extends the existing evidence on previous pig-to-human heart and kidney xenotransplantation. It provides several relevant novelties:
It is the first study to demonstrate that a genetically modified porcine liver can survive and exert basic metabolic functions (albumin and bile production) in the human body.
It shows that there was no major coagulation dysfunction, in contrast to what was observed in other models, such as the first human cardiac xenotransplantation, where microthrombi and severe disorders were detected.
He points out the need to assess possible myocardial damage in early postoperative phases, given the early elevation of AST and cardiac enzymes, which can be confused with liver damage.
The use of xenograft as a bridging therapy is proposed, especially in patients with acute liver failure awaiting a human graft, although not as a definitive solution, as bile and albumin production was limited for long-term support.
“However, the study has relevant limitations:
A major limitation of the study is that it is a single case (n=1), which precludes drawing generalisable conclusions or establishing robust patterns of clinical and immunological response. Although this is a pioneering advance, studies with a larger sample and in living recipients will be necessary to confirm the safety, efficacy and reproducibility of the procedure.
Limited duration of follow-up (10 days), by decision of the recipient’s family, which prevents assessment of medium- and long-term viability of the graft. Therefore, it does not add information in relation to acute and chronic rejection of xenotransplantation.
Only basic liver functions (albumin synthesis and bile secretion) were assessed, with no data on other complex liver functions such as drug metabolism, detoxification or immune function.
The heterotopic helper transplantation procedure would not allow resection of the original liver, which invalidates it as a strategy for example in patients with hepatocarcinoma awaiting transplantation.”
‘Gene-modified pig-to-human liver xenotransplantation’by Wang et al. was published in Nature at 16:00 UK time on Wednesday 26th March.
DOI:10.1038/s41586-025-08799-1
Declared interests
Iván Fernández Vega “He declares that he has no conflicts of interest.”
For all other experts, no reply to our request for DOIs was received.
Medicine and dentistry students stood beside their posters, brightly catching the eye of anyone who seemed interested in their work, as faculty and fellow students browsed the buzzing hall.
“Each year, we are thoroughly impressed by the quality and rigor of the scholarly work that is presented by our students and, if you have looked at the program booklet and have read the abstracts, this year’s presentations will be no different,” School of Dental Medicine Dean Steven Lepowsky promised that morning, as he welcomed attendees to the 2025 Medical and Dental Research Day.
The energy was infectious. This is the second year the research day has been back in person, after taking a hiatus during the pandemic, and students, faculty, and staff happily mingled while viewing posters on a wildly diverse range of topics, from sexually transmitted disease treatment to maxillofacial surgery.
“Year after year our students make us so UConn-proud with their novel research investigations and professional presentations about them. They surely are poised to become the next generation of physician-scientists,” said Dr. Bruce T. Liang, dean of UConn School of Medicine.
After the poster sessions, Wenyuan Shi, the chief executive officer of the ADA Forsyth Institute, addressed the students with a keynote on how to combine a satisfying career in the health fields with opportunities for technological innovation and business development.
“Research and innovation have everything to do with being a good doctor,” Shi said.
Wenyuan Shi, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer at the ADA Forsyth Institute, gives a lecture as the keynote speaker at the Medical and Dental Student Research Day at UConn Schools of Medicine and Dental Medicine, on FEbruary 27, 2025. (Tina Encarnacion/UConn Health photo)
The dental and medical students presented 102 projects, enough to fill the hallways and lobby near the rotunda as well as the landing on the way to the library. Every poster contained original research done by second-year students. It was impossible for a single individual to speak with every presenter, but below is a sampling of the work presented by the students.
Root to Crown
Longer roots make for stabler smiles: teeth with longer roots compared to the visible crown of the tooth are more likely to stay put. Especially in orthodontics, the length of the root of the tooth is a good predictor of how successful the treatment will be.
“It’s important to have that good anchor,” dental student Stephanie Salcines said. Salcines’s research looked at whether ethnicity correlated with root length in Asian and Hispanic populations. The answer she found was no, aside from the maxillary lateral incisor—but gender did seem to make a difference, particularly among Hispanics.
Fewer X-rays, Same Imagery
A new 3D x-ray technique that uses just half the radiation can identify problems in the sinuses as well as the standard method, reported Erica Mallon. The second-year dental student showed that cone beam computed tomography scans taken only from behind, rotating around the head from one ear to the other, can allow clear diagnosis of blockages, deformations, and other sinus troubles. The 180-degree behind the head technique fully shows the teeth and the sinuses, while avoiding radiation to the sensitive eyes and thyroid gland, Mallon found. Previous research showed this reduces the total radiation dose by 40% to 60%.
“This is a sweet spot between a reasonably low and balanced radiation exposure and the resolution needed for diagnosis and clinical treatment planning,” said Aditya Tadinada, associate dean for graduate research and one of the principal investigators on the project.
Troughs of Tears
The thin skin under the eye often sags with age, particularly the area around the tear trough. It’s a common location for cosmetic surgeries, but there are nerves, major blood vessels and veins that must be avoided. Second-year dental student John Fregene surveyed outcomes of tear trough cosmetic procedures and found that surgeons who followed specific guidelines caused little swelling, no artery damage, no nerve damage, and improved the appearance of the tear trough area.
“There should be a standard protocol to follow in tear trough augmentation,” Fregene said.
Exon of Action in Hyperparathyroidism
Hyperparathyroidism is a rare condition in which the parathyroid glands become overactive, causing jaw tumors, renal and uterine issues. There’s a specific gene that commonly causes the condition, called CDC73. Second-year dental student Lorens Carrasquillo found most of the mutations associated with hyperparathyroidism affected Exon 1, a specific location in CDC73.
Objectively Painful
Pain is notoriously subjective—but maybe not, according to work done by Victoria Abalyan, a second-year medical student. She used microfilments to apply precise amounts of pressure on a patient’s forearm and asked them to rate their perceived level of pain. There was definitely a correlation between level of pressure and level of reported pain, indicating women were reliably reporting their pain levels. All the patients in the study were women within 48 hours of having given birth.
“We want to take data further out, at six weeks, or 24 weeks. We might be able to screen for women who are at higher risk of pain in the postpartum period,” Abalyan said.
Medical and dental students present their research at the UConn Schools of Medicine and Dental Medicine research day on February 27, 2025. (Tina Encarnacion/UConn Health photo)
Ultrasound in the Emergency Room
Long waits in the emergency room are common and frustrating for patients. Three student researchers looked at whether ultrasounds done right in the emergency room could speed appropriate treatment for patients with three common issues: joint pain, suspected urinary tract infections, and emergency surgery.
Second-year medical student Michael Kosover looked into whether ultrasound could help triage joint pain. And it could—not a single joint pain patient with a normal ultrasound required surgery or admission to the hospital.
“It was 100% sensitivity,” Kosover said. “And the advantage of ultrasound is it’s quicker, no radiation, and portable.”
Delaney Kehoe looked into whether ultrasounds could diagnose urinary tract infections in the emergency room.
“We expected to see if there was a different in the inner wall of the bladder—a thicker layer, because of inflammation, or just different,” Kehoe said. In this case, the answer seemed to be no—but the study didn’t recruit enough patients, so they may continue it to get a larger sample size and clearer results.
Aspiration (inhaling stomach contents) can be a risk during lifesaving intubations in the emergency room. The risk of aspiration is why patients are advised to fast before surgery—but people who need emergency surgery obviously can’t plan ahead. Nicolette Meka evaluated whether ultrasound can reliably determine stomach size, and if so, which angle of the patient’s torso gives the best ultrasound view of their stomach.
“We found coronal—looking at the stomach from the patient’s side—gave 94.6% specificity,” in whether they had significant food in their stomach, Meka said.
Hives on Social Media
Getting hives – those red, itchy raised welts on the skin – happens to a portion of the population all the time, for no apparent reason. Yee Won Kim had them all the time when she was young, and information on how to treat or prevent them was scarce. Now, people are likely to look for advice on social media, the second-year medical student reports in her research.
“Many people are just asking what helped other people—there are a lot of good conversations happening,” Kim says. She collected information on the people and questions surrounding “chronic spontaneous urticaria,” as hives are known, on social media channels including X, Instagram, and Facebook.
Following the poster day, the judging committee, composed of medical and dental faculty, decided on the winners of the competition.
The winners of the 2025 Student Research Day are below.
Medical and dental students present their research at the UConn Schools of Medicine and Dental Medicine research day on February 27, 2025. (Tina Encarnacion/UConn Health photo)
School of Medicine
CONNECTICUT ACADEMY OF FAMILY PRACTICE: One medical student will receive this $200 monetary gift for excellence in Primary Care Research.
Poster 57 | Survey Connecticut Providers on the Process of Making Patient Referrals to Community-Based Organizations
Paul Jude Isaac
CONNECTICUT HOLISTIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION: Awarded by Dr. Michael Basso, this annual award was established to recognize excellence in research in Integrative/ Complementary and Alternative Medicine. A medical student and a dental student will each receive an award of $100. Special thanks go to Dr. Michael Basso of the Connecticut Holistic Health Association.
Poster 51 | Financial Strain as a Contributor to Cognitive Impairment in Late Life Depression
Brian Fox
Madison Witt
DEAN’S AWARD: In recognition of two outstanding medical student researchers and their faculty mentors. Awards of $250 each will be presented to the four awardees. The awards to faculty mentors will be used for travel to a scientific meeting.
Poster 31 | Exploring the Impact of Artificial Intelligence Integration in Pediatric Health Care for Patient Education
Veronica Sofia Arroyo Rodriguez & Dr. Thomas Agresta
Poster 77 | Gastric Distention on Ultrasound: Coronal versus Sagittal Approach
Nicolette Mary Meka & Dr. Meghan Herbst
MR. AND MRS. JEFFREY GROSS AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH ACHIEVEMENT: Dr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Gross established this award. Dr. Jeffrey Gross is Professor Emeritus at UCHC. Awards of $250 each will be given to two medical student researchers who presented excellent studies. One award will go to an oral presentation and one award will go to a poster presentation.
Poster 47 | In vivo modeling of a novel TEK:GAB2 fusion oncogene reveals targetable oncogenic signaling pathways in angiosarcoma
Flora Isabella Dievenich Braes
Poster 52 | Visit characteristics from emergency departments caring for persons living with dementia: a nationally representative sample
James Christopher Galske
JOHN SHANLEY MEMORIAL GLOBAL HEALTH AWARD: The award is to honor the memory of John D. Shanley, MD, MPH, former Chief of Infectious Disease at the University of Connecticut, and Professor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health and Associate Dean of International Health at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University. This award is sponsored by FNE International and will be given in recognition of a project that best exemplifies collaboration towards sustainable services with an international partner. The student will receive a monetary award of $250.
Poster 68 | Assessing Dengue Vaccine Acceptance in Pediatric Caregivers in Kandy, Sri Lanka
Caitlin Alexandra Lawrence
LAWRENCE G. RAISZ AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN MUSCULOSKELETAL RESEARCH:
In honor and memory of Lawrence G. Raisz, M.D., this award of $250 will be given to a medical student researcher who presented outstanding work in the field musculoskeletal research.
Poster 54 | Effect of 4-Aminopyridine and Smoothened Agonist on Osteogenic Differentiation of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells
Christopher Jesse Garcia
PEER RECOGNITION AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH:
This award of $200 will be given to a medical student researcher in recognition of an exemplary poster presentation, as determined by peer review.
Poster 76 | Reassessing Maxillary Sinusitis: Recognizing Odontogenic Origins in the ENT Clinic
Uma Sandeep Mehta
WILLIAM M. WADLEIGH MEMORIAL AWARD FOR CROSS-CULTURAL ANDINTERNATIONAL HEALTH RESEARCH: The award is in honor the memory of William M. Wadleigh, PhD, anthropologist and Associate Director of the Center for International Community Health Studies in the Department of Community Medicine and Health Care. This $250 award is given annually to a medical student whose research exemplifies international and cross-cultural understanding of health issues.
Poster 75 | Assessing the Impact of Pediatric Dengue Hospitalization on Caregiver Stress and Functioning
Meghan Martin
School of Dental Medicine
DEAN’S AWARD: Student: Sadhana Sankar Mentor: Dr. Caroline Dealy Awarded in recognition of an outstanding presentation demonstrating clinical application and technique relating to dentistry. This award consists of an expense-paid trip as the School of Dental Medicine’s representative to the Hinman Student Research Symposium held in Memphis, Tennessee in October 2025.
ASSOCIATE DEAN’S AWARD: Student: Daniel Kotait Mentor: Dr. I-Ping Chen Awarded in recognition of an outstanding presentation in basic, clinical, educational, or behavioral science. The award consists of a complimentary meeting registration and travel assistance to present at the AADOCR General Session & Exhibition in 2026.
DENTSPLY-SIRONA STUDENT CLINICIAN AWARD: Student: Claire Ann Mentor: Dr. Frank Nichols Awarded in recognition of an outstanding presentation. Includes travel assistance to the 2026 AADOCR General Session & Exhibition/Dentsply-Sirona SCADA Program as the School’s representative; allowance for lodging, food and other expenses and a Dentsply-Sirona crystal.
CONNECTICUT HOLISTIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION: Student: Madison Witt Mentor: Dr. Gary Schulman Presented by Dr. Michael Basso, this annual award was established to recognize excellence in research in Integrative/ Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Special thanks to Dr. Michael Basso of the Connecticut Holistic Health Association.
HORACE WELLS AWARD FOR INNOVATION IN DENTISTRY: Student: Erica Mallon Mentors: Dr. Pooja Bysani and Dr. Aditya Tadinada Student: Donny You Mentor: Dr. David Shafer Two awards will be given to dental students in recognition of outstanding research with a focus on innovation in dentistry.This award is supported by the Horace Wells Trust.
JAMES AND ELLA BURR MCMANUS AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN DENTAL RESEARCH: Student: Bradley Rosenberg Mentor: Dr. Alix Deymier Student: Haven Montefalco Mentor: Dr. Frank Nichols Two awards will be given to dental students presenting at the student research day to recognize excellence in research. This award is supported by the James and Ella Burr McManus Trust.
DENTAL STUDENT RESEARCH SOCIETY AWARD: Student: Marcus Costa Mentor: Dr. Flavio Uribe Presented for excellence in a science presentation by dental students at the Student Research Day. Special thanks to Dr. Arthur Hand for supporting this award.
GUSTAVE PERL MEMORIAL AWARD: Student: Henry Shaffer Mentor: Dr. Dong Zhou A scholarship award presented for outstanding original research.
OMICRON KAPPA UPSILON-PHI CHI CHAPTER AWARDS: Two awards given in recognition of outstanding research; the first award is given for basic science research and the second award given for clinical science research.
OKU-Basic Science Research Category Student: Bryson Christian Mentor: Dr. Eliane Dutra
OKU-Clinical Science Research Category Student: Alfredo Rendon Mentor: Dr. Prazwala Chirravur
We would like to acknowledge generous donations from our many sponsors in support and recognition of the hard work of our dental research students. Special thanks to our judges and research committees for their review of the abstracts, posters and judging this event. And lastly, congratulations to all of our dental student researchers and their faculty mentors for making this day possible.
BOSTON, March 25, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sue Wohlford-Bork, Campus Technology Advisor at occupancy analytics software company Lambent, and Arla Jackson, Director of VolCard, Campus Vending, and Records Management at the University of Tennessee, will be featured speakers at NACAS South 2025. This event takes place March 30 – April 2 at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Wohlford-Bork and Jackson will co-present a session titled Data Digest: Cooking Up Dining Innovations, which delves into the value of occupancy data in improving dining operations and experiences.
The NACAS South CX conference provides the premier exchange of campus-centric ideas, solutions, and connections. Designed and delivered by professional peers, the event gives attendees the best opportunity to find solutions to their needs and nurture relationships. Attendees can easily seek out other campus service leaders that have similar interests, requirements, and visions for how to empower campus communities.
Session Details:
Data Digest: Cooking Up Dining Innovations
Date/Time:
Sunday, March 30: 1:20 – 2:10 pm
Speakers:
Sue Wohlford-Bork Campus Technology Advisor, Lambent
Arla Jackson Director of VolCard, Campus Vending & Records Management, The University of Tennessee
The session will explore how leveraging occupancy analytics can transform campus dining operations, boost revenue, and enhance the student experience. The presenters will dive into three groundbreaking case studies that demonstrate the power of data-driven decision-making in auxiliary services:
Strategic Vending Machine Placement: Learn how our campus generated additional revenue by using occupancy data to optimize vending machine locations.
Smart Dining App Integration: Discover how integrating occupancy data with the Vol Dining App helped students avoid long lines and make informed dining choices, seamlessly fitting meals into their busy schedules.
Food Truck Profitability Enhancement: Explore how occupancy analytics improved the profitability and efficiency of campus food trucks, creating a win-win situation for both students and operators.
The presentation will challenge conventional thinking about campus dining operations, introducing innovative ideas that have the potential to become mainstream. By showcasing these cutting-edge applications of occupancy analytics, we aim to inspire attendees to think creatively about leveraging data to enhance their own campus services.
About Lambent Lambent is an occupancy analytics software company helping corporate and higher ed campuses optimize space utilization, facilities operations and real estate investments. Its SaaS platform, Lambent Spaces, leverages existing data sources such as Wi-Fi and sensors to provide anonymous and predictive analytics to inform decisions related to utilization, workplace experiences, planning, scheduling, and maintenance. The software delivers actionable intelligence so facilities professionals and space planners can make better use of the spaces they have. For more information, visit https://lambentspaces.com/.
Thank you for inviting me to speak today. It’s always a pleasure to be back in my home town, and particularly here at Leicester University, not least because I went to school next door.
I am going to speak today about a topical subject – economic growth. The question I set myself is, what does it take to create a sustained increase in the growth rate of the economy in today’s world? I’m going to range quite wide in answering the question, drawing in the current situation here in the UK and the world, and some economic history too.
Economic growth is, quite simply, the rate of expansion of the size of the economy. Let me start by explaining how it matters to the Monetary Policy Committee when we decide on the appropriate level of interest rates to achieve our objective of price stability, the 2% inflation target. There are two parts to why growth matters for monetary policy – the outcome and the inputs. On the first, quite simply, low and stable inflation is the best contribution monetary policy can make to growth in the economy. The same goes for financial stability, our other core responsibility as the central bank, which is also a key condition for growth.
On the inputs side, growth matters because monetary policy decisions require us to assess the inflationary consequences of the pressure on economic resources in this country. That pressure reflects the balance between demand and supply in goods and services and labour markets. To observe that level of pressure, we can’t just look at actual national income or output and employment. If that’s all we did, we would be left saying “so what?” We have to compare the actual position with the productive potential of the economy (the supply capacity of the economy) and in doing so assess resource utilisation and thus the degree of pressure.
Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Jason Wang, Postdoctoral Fellow, Modern Literature and Culture Research Centre, Toronto Metropolitan University
In his second inauguration address, United States President Trump began by declaring “the golden age of America begins right now” and closed with, “and our golden age has just begun.” Between these lines, he vowed to “tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens.”
Tying his trade policies to dubious claims about fentanyl trafficking and illegal immigration, Trump’s approach appears less about economic strategy and more about asserting dominance. Invoking the language of imperial expansion, he even proposed the idea of making Canada the “cherished 51st state.”
Historians like American Richard White quickly drew parallels to the 19th-century Gilded Age when robber barons thrived, leaving social inequality in their wake.
The celebrated Canada-U.S. friendship — further entrenched over the past three decades by the 1989 Canada-U.S.free-trade agreement, cross-border activity and snowbirds wintering in Florida and elsewhere in the U.S. — has long balanced underlying tension stemming from the two nations’ power differences. This alludes to tensions inherent in friendships that have long been explored by philosophers.
A ‘great relationship?’
Trump’s recent sweeping tariffs on Canadian imports are only the latest chapter in a long history of economic clashes.
From the U.S.’s Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which hit Canada hard during the Great Depression, to Richard Nixon’s 10 per cent import surcharge in 1971 and the long fight over softwood lumber that persisted through the early 2000s despite Canada’s favourable World Trade Organization rulings, these conflicts expose the fragility of Canada-U.S. relations. The uneasy reality is that friendship between nations is never as stable as it seems.
The trade war has triggered a wave of cultural and economic nationalism in Canada that has gone beyond the “Buy Canadian” movement. At the National Ballet of Canada’s Swan Lake, recently, a stirring rendition of O Canada brought the audience to its feet.
Chrystia Freeland, now minister of transport and internal trade, voiced the nation’s outrage on CNN: “Canadians are angry,” she said, condemning the tariffs as a betrayal of what she called the “great relationship.”
Friendship ideals and power dynamics
But beneath the outrage lies a harsher truth: Canada’s “friend” status is conditional, tied to America’s shifting priorities. The real question isn’t whether Canada is a trusted ally — it’s whether it was ever more than a subordinate in this “friendship.” At stake is the concept of friendship between nations.
Philosophers exploring the intersection of friendship and politics offer a useful framework for understanding this imbalance.
Written in the post-Cold War era, French Algerian philosopher Jacques Derrida’s The Politics of Friendship, first published in French in 1994, questions the very possibility of pure, stable friendship, arguing that it is never equal or unconditional.
Instead, said Derrida, it is always a negotiation of power. Derrida questions idealized Aristotelian notions of friendship between nations — ideals that still quietly underpin our thinking about friendship, loyalty and betrayal.
Friendship in fiction, Aristotle
In his study of friendship in fiction, literary scholar Allan Hepburn points out that friendships are inherently political, foundational to social relations and embody democratic ideals of equality and fraternity, as Aristotle suggested.
Tyrannical systems, by contrast, lack true friendships, while an ideal democracy extends mutual respect to all citizens. In this way, strangers are recognized as equals and potential friends, regardless of legal obligation, as Derrida emphasized.
In Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, he distinguished transactional and virtuous friendship. The former is built on mutual advantage or shared pleasure, which to Aristotle is the lesser kind of friendship.
In contrast, virtue-based friendship is both the most enduring and the rarest. Aristotle idealizes this latter type of friendship, describing it as “perfect friendship” in which individuals are “alike in virtue,” wishing well to each other as something good in itself, and are themselves morally upright.
This ideal friendship — expected to be stable, enduring and intrinsically valuable — underpins discourses about the bond between nations based on shared values.
Political scientist Evgeny Roshchin argues that friendship, as a historical concept in international relations, helped mediate the shift from hierarchical to equal political relationships, shaping sovereignty and political order.
In contrast, philosopher Simon Keller questions the idea of “friendship between countries,” asserting true friendship is reserved for individuals. He warns that comparing nations to friends may mislead us by shifting focus from genuine human connections to political dynamics.
Yet the Aristotelian model of the friend as “a second self” has significant limitations, often ignoring differences and reinforcing hierarchy. For Derrida, friendship is not a fixed, harmonious ideal but an ongoing, unpredictable negotiation that blurs the boundary between ally and adversary.
He contends: “‘Good friendship’ supposes disproportion. It demands a certain rupture in reciprocity or quality, as well as the interruption of all fusion or confusion between you and me.”
Even at its most personal, friendship is marked by power dynamics — who holds it, who benefits from it and who can be cast aside. Not a cynical rejection of friendship, however, Derrida’s model calls for broadening its moral and political dimensions.
Transactional structure
Derrida’s model applies to the Canada-U.S. relationship, which has long been framed as one of mutual respect, built on democratic values and shared economic interests. But its underlying structure is transactional.
The rhetoric of friendship has always served a function: to justify co-operation when it is useful and to smooth over conflict when it is not. The moment those interests diverge, the limits of the relationship become clear.
Trump’s tariffs have exposed this dynamic in the clearest possible terms. Canada’s position as a friend to the U.S. is fragile and contingent, shaped by the fluctuating interests of the more powerful side.
But the rupture is not new, nor is it a break from the norm. It’s simply a reminder of how the relationship has always worked. The question now is not whether Canada can restore its friendship, but whether it can afford to continue believing in it on the same terms.
Derrida’s model of friendship offers a way forward. His model defies the simplistic binary of friend and foe, loyalty and betrayal, as these terms are ultimately mutually constitutive. Derrida calls for relationships that embrace their inherent fragility.
For Canada, this doesn’t mean abandoning the discourse of friendship with the U.S. entirely, but rather acknowledging the bond’s fragile, conditional nature — always deferred, always on the brink of rupture.
The challenge for Canada is to redefine its position in North America beyond the framework of mutuality and dependence. At the policy level, with Canada-U.S. relations, this means diversifying trade and diplomatic ties, resisting automatic alignment and asserting independent leadership in global affairs.
At home, it means forging a national identity that is self-defined and free from the shadow of comparison.
Jason Wang 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.
