Source: United States Senator for Louisiana Bill Cassidy
LAFAYETTE – This afternoon, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) met with leaders of the Lafayette Regional Technology Council to discuss their efforts to encourage the growth of high-tech businesses in their community. They also discussed how the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and the Opportunity Machine incubator is supporting their efforts.
“We want the next Amazon, Google, or SpaceX to lay roots in Louisiana,” said Dr. Cassidy. “Tech entrepreneurs and academic leaders are making that possible in Acadiana. And my infrastructure bill helps by extending high-speed broadband, so high-tech businesses can emerge and our young people have the same access to online resources no matter where they live.”
During his time in Congress, Cassidy has worked to provide resources that make it possible for high-tech businesses to grow throughout Louisiana. In 2021, Cassidy secured $65 billion for broadband in his Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which will connect communities throughout America to high-speed Internet. This includes a $1.35 billion investment announced for Louisiana last year to connect 100,000 homes and 35,000 businesses.
Cassidy also secured funds in Fiscal Year 2024 for the University of Louisiana at Lafayette to help attract bio-medical start-up companies to Lafayette. He also visited FlyGuys, Inc. in February of 2022, an example of a Lafayette-based company using modern drone technology to perform aerial data collection for governmental and commercial entities.
Founded in February, the Lafayette Regional Technology Council is working to develop and retain talent in the technology sector, facilitate connections and knowledge sharing across the technology community, promote Lafayette’s technology capabilities outside the region to encourage business growth and advocate for policies that support their efforts. A 15-member Steering Committee is at the heart of the council, uniting leaders from across Lafayette’s technology landscape.
After the meeting, Cassidy took a tour of Opportunity Machine’s incubator and met young entrepreneurs building their businesses. He was welcomed to the meeting by Mr. Ben Johnson, chair of the council.
“We are grateful to Senator Cassidy for taking the time to engage in meaningful dialogue with the Lafayette Regional Technology Council about the critical role technology and innovation play in driving economic growth and ensuring our community, state and nation remain competitive in a rapidly evolving world,” said Mr. Johnson. “His willingness to listen and explore solutions reinforces the importance of investing in innovation to strengthen our future.”
On March 5, several Connecticut educational leadership groups co-hosted the statewide premiere of the documentary film “Counted Out” to support dialogue about Connecticut’s Equity in Mathematics Education joint position statement, which was unanimously endorsed by the Connecticut State Board of Education in 2023.
“This statement asserts that mathematics education must support students’ math identities, ensure we modernize our mathematics programming, and structurally align and advance systems around this common vision,” said UConn alum Jeffrey Corbishley ’07 (ED), ’08 MA, president-elect of the Associated Teachers of Mathematics in Connecticut and emcee of the event.
UConn alum Jeffrey Corbishley ’07 (ED), ’08 MA, is the president-elect of the Associated Teachers of Mathematics in Connecticut and emceed the film screening on March 5. (Shawn Kornegay/Neag School)
Created by filmmaker Vicki Abeles, “Counted Out” focuses on how issues, such as political polarization, racial biases, social injustice, economic inequity, and climate change, can be better understood and addressed with math. In a world increasingly driven by data and numbers, the documentary states that understanding math is a powerful tool that can shape outcomes.
More than 400 educators, community members, and leaders from workforce development and civic groups attended the screening, which was held at Central Connecticut State University’s Alumni Hall. Corbishley said the event was a unique opportunity for organizations to come together and begin conversations “around the need to look at the role of mathematics in the world and our need to make critical changes in mathematics education.”
Besides Central, other co-hosts and sponsors of the event included:
“Our theme in Connecticut this year is a universe of opportunities,” said Connecticut Education Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker, who gave welcome remarks at the event. “This means that, for all our students and school staff, there’s a future that knows no bounds and part of these universal opportunities is our work to support mathematics education.”
“Math is more than numbers,” said Steven Minkler, dean of Central’s School of Engineering, Science, and Technology. “It’s a language that shapes how we understand and engage with the world around us. That’s why it’s our shared responsibility to ensure that every student has the opportunity to develop strong quantitative reasoning skills and the confidence to apply them in school, in their careers, and in their daily lives.”
Jo Boaler, who is an author, co-founder of the math organization youcubed, and the Nomellini and Olivier Professor of Education at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education, is featured in the documentary and attended the Connecticut premiere as keynote speaker, sharing insights, facilitating dialogue, and extending the film’s message.
“Every time we learn, one of three things happens in the brain,” Boaler said. “We’re either forming a new pathway, connecting pathways, or strengthening pathways. There is no limit to what people can learn.”
Through a mosaic of personal stories, expert insights, and real-world examples of math transformation, “Counted Out” reveals the consequences of maintaining the status quo. It raises questions about where math proficiency declines and how individuals can maintain an understanding of the mathematical foundation of society.
Our theme in Connecticut this year is a universe of opportunities. … and part of these universal opportunities is our work to support mathematics education. — Charlene Russell-Tucker, Connecticut Education Commissioner
Megan Staples, associate professor of mathematics education at the UConn Neag School of Education, helped coordinate the event. She emphasizes the importance of mathematics in making sense of critical decision-making in society. This includes the legal system (what’s fair in society), climate change (what’s changing and what steps can be taken), the standard of living (what is affordable housing, how do we provide it), and more.
The documentary follows Glenn Rodriguez and Rebecca Galicia, whose lives were affected by math. Rodriguez was denied parole and applied mathematical research to analyze the algorithm that led to his denial and, ultimately, his release. Galicia was intimidated by the math components of nursing school, but eventually earned her nursing degree, which in turn substantially increased her income.
“Robert Moses, a civil rights activist who the film was dedicated to, was a central figure in the film,” Staples says. “He talks about algebra as the new civil right, and if you don’t have a command of algebra, just based on how the pipeline works, then you can be denied economic opportunity regardless of mathematical knowledge requirements.”
The overall message of the film is that numeric literacy is a critical determinant of social and economic power. It shapes our ability to navigate financial systems, assess risks, make informed decisions, and advocate for ourselves in an increasingly data-driven world.
“It doesn’t matter what profession you go into, we need math-literate people everywhere,” Staples says. “And for those interested in education, consider teaching math, because it is a major way to impact the world.”
To learn more about “Counted Out,” visit countedoutfilm.com or watch the trailer on YouTube.
Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Isaac Garcia-Sitton, Associate Faculty, School of Education and Technology, Royal Roads University
In early 2024, the federal government imposed a two-year cap on new study permits.(Shutterstock)
For decades, international students have contributed to Canada’s research enterprise, workforce development and economic growth.
Now, as Canada navigates strained relations and an escalating trade war with its largest economic partner, it’s important policymakers stop overlooking international education that could be a critical factor in bolstering Canada’s resilience.
Unlike volatile trade agreements and fragile supply chains, international education provides a stable, long-term economic and social advantage.
By 2022, that figure had grown to $37.3 billion. This represented just over 23 per cent of Canada’s total service exports and around five per cent of total merchandise exports. The economic contributions from international education outpaced economic contributions from other industries — such as softwood lumber and auto parts.
International students also serve as vital ambassadors — diversifying trade connections and expanding Canada’s global reach.
Despite their undeniable value, recent policy shifts risk undermining Canada’s position as a top destination for global talent. In early 2024, the federal government imposed a two-year cap on new study permits. The cap would mean approximately 360,000 study permits would be approved in 2024 — a decrease of 35 per cent from the previous years.
However, institutions fell well below the imposed cap. This wasn’t due to a lack of demand but because of the rushed, poorly managed roll-out that amplified disruption beyond expectations. In fall 2024, the number of permits granted was on track to drop by 45 per cent compared to the previous year.
While a cap may have been necessary to moderate the sector’s growth, its rollout created uncertainty for institutions and students. This damaged Canada’s reputation for high-quality education. The impact to our global standing as a top destination for international students will take years to repair.
The government plans cap student visa approvals at 427,000 by 2026. (Shutterstock)
This policy shift is especially concerning given Canada’s ongoing innovation and productivity challenges. A recent report from U15 research institutions shows Canada lags behind its peers in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It’s mainly falling behind in research and development intensity, private sector innovation and technology adoption.
In 2022, Canada’s research and development spending stood at just under two per cent of GDP. This is well below the OECD average of around three per cent.
Many small and medium-sized businesses rely on university partnerships for research and development. Cutting international graduate student numbers disrupts these collaborations — hindering innovation at a time when Canada can least afford it.
With unemployment at around six-and-a-half per cent and youth unemployment at 13.6 per cent, concerns about job competition are valid. Yet newcomers and international students face significant barriers in finding jobs in their fields.
In 2024, the unemployment rate for recent immigrants reached 11 percent. This is nearly double the unemployment rate for Canadian-born workers. Despite holding advanced degrees, two-thirds of foreign-trained professionals remain underemployed. This may be due to employers undervaluing international credentials and prioritizing “Canadian experience.”
This trend extends to international student graduates who remain less likely than their Canadian peers to find jobs that match their level of education. In 2023, just over 36 per cent of international graduates with a bachelor’s degree secured roles requiring a university-level qualification, compared to just under 59 per cent of Canadian graduates. International student graduates also earn significantly lower salaries, despite having similar levels of job satisfaction.
International student graduates face barriers in findings employment. (Shutterstock)
Like many newcomers, I personally faced this Canadian experience barrier when I entered the workforce over 15 years ago as a permanent resident. Despite my education, multilingual abilities and professional skills, I submitted hundreds of applications and secured only a handful of interviews before landing my first opportunity. This frustrating, unnecessary and economically wasteful struggle remains just as prevalent today.
These barriers not only limit individual potential but also weaken Canada’s ability to harness the talent it attracts.
Addressing systemic issues
International students are more than workers — they’re entrepreneurs, innovators and future job creators.
For instance, as of 2022, nearly 180 of the U.S.’s billion-dollar companies were founded by former international students. Each of these companies created an average of 800 jobs and made up nearly a quarter of all dollar companies.
Canada risks losing similarly bright minds to more welcoming countries if clear pathways for them to stay, contribute and build businesses aren’t established. This would cost the country both talent and billions in economic potential.
If Canada is serious about building a stronger, more competitive economy, it must address the systemic issues that stand in the way of international student success.
This includes modernizing credential recognition so employers can fairly assess international experience and qualifications, expanding co-op programs, internships and mentorships so international students can gain relevant Canadian experience before graduation and protect them from misinformation and questionable recruitment practices.
Employers need to be educated about immigration pathways to reduce hiring hesitancy. The government also must create a stable and predictable immigration policy framework to give businesses confidence in hiring international graduates.
As Canada continues to face labour shortages and growing economic and political volatility, international education remains a strategic asset. It fuels research, diversifies trading partners, supports innovation and supplies the workforce Canada needs for long-term prosperity.
The future of Canada’s economy depends on its ability to attract and retain the thinkers, creators, and innovators who will define the next generation of progress. At this critical moment, Canada must decide if it will invest in the talent that fuels innovation, or close the door on opportunity.
Isaac Garcia-Sitton is affiliated with the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE), the Council of Ontario Universities (COU), and the Council of International Schools (CIS)
Emergency alerts may amplify distress in people who already have anxiety.(Shutterstock)
When there’s a disaster, it’s helpful to know what’s going on — and know whether you’re truly at risk. But as essential as emergency alert systems are, they can leave many of us feeling anxious — even when the alert may be a false alarm or test.
This is because emergency alerts, whether real or tests, can activate the same neural circuits involved in real danger. This can trigger stress, confusion and anxiety.
Our nervous systems are constantly processing information from both our bodies and our environment, trying to distinguish between warnings that demand action and those that can be safely ignored.
But over time, the stress associated with being on constant alert can have lasting effects on mental health. Chronic stress can contribute to the risk of developing anxiety disorders and depression, and even physical disorders such as heart disease. This is especially true for people who live in war-torn or natural disaster-prone areas.
In people who already have anxiety, being unable to distinguish between real and perceived threats can be particularly debilitating. This can amplify their distress, making it difficult to navigate a world filled with both real and perceived threats.
Similarly, neurological conditions such as migraines, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease can be exacerbated by chronic stress responses. This can lead to a worsening of symptoms and lower quality of life.
The constant barrage of information we’re exposed to — from daily news alerts to “doomscrolling” on social media — highlights a broader challenge we all face: learning to navigate a world increasingly filled with real and perceived threats that can further exacerbate anxiety.
The body’s interoceptive system — the brain’s ability to sense and interpret internal physiological signals — plays a crucial role in determining which environmental signals warrant our attention.
This systems helps us detect when our heart is racing from actual danger, versus when it’s simply responding to stress or uncertainty. But when interoception is disrupted, as it often is during heightened anxiety states, distinguishing between true and false alarms becomes increasingly difficult.
Nervous system support
Thankfully, there are things we can do to help better support our nervous systems in making these critical distinctions.
It’s helpful to be conscious and deliberate about what we expose ourselves to in our internal and external environment. Creating a daily schedule with set times for exercise, sleep and social connection can be effective. Practising mind-body approaches such as mindfulness, breath work, yoga and tai chi might also help to facilitate an inward focus. Sustaining this inward focus can help reset our interoceptive system.
Spending time with friends and sharing your concerns with them can also be helpful when dealing with perceived threats. This can also enhance social connection, which can buffer stress. It can be very comforting to feel connected to others who are experiencing a similar trauma. Limiting time with people who increase your anxiety is also key.
Stepping away from information streams might also help. Finding ways to temporarily turn off or physically separate from digital devices such as laptops, cellphones and smart-watches for set periods of time can effectively facilitate a break from media. This can allow our minds to settle and reset our attention on priorities that are meaningful to us.
A novel strategy that has recently been studied for reducing anxiety and resetting the interoceptive nervous system is flotation tank immersion, also known as float therapy or flotation-REST. This involves lying in a shallow bath of warm water filled with concentrated levels of Epsom salt. When combined with reduced visual and auditory stimulation, this is thought to enhance the body’s interoceptive signals.
Float therapy may be helpful for mental health. (Shutterstock)
Ultimately, understanding the brain’s role in processing internal and external threats is vital to improving our mental and physical wellbeing.
Using our interoceptive nervous system as a way of developing resilience involves learning to be proactive rather than reactive. Sensing when our body is getting the preliminary cues of anxiety or stress that can mount into full-blown disarray can help. Not reacting to these cues, and consciously and deliberately choosing alternative actions, can help to unwind the anxiety from these cues. This may also potentially even help us avoid an episode of panic.
Being more in tune with our nervous system can help us better equip ourselves to face the challenges ahead — whether they’re true threats or false alarms.
Sahib Khalsa receives funding from the National Institute of Mental Health. He is an associate editor of several journals, Biological Psychology and JMIR Mental Health. He is a board member of several nonprofit organizations, the International Society for Contemplative Research and the Float Research Collective, which are non-compensated positions.
Indu Subramanian 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.
Front Row (l-R): Mark Simpson, Lord Mayor Cllr Sarah Duffy. Roger Wilson OBE (ABC Chief Executive) Back Row (L-R): Deirdre Ward (DfC), Alderman Paul Greenfield (Chair of EDR Committee), Harry Hamilton (Vice Chair of ABC LMP), Graeme Wilkinson (DfE), Tracey Rice (Chair of ABC LMP)
Over 130 local employers attended the ‘Get Future Ready: Employability and Skills’ Conference on Thursday 13 March in The Armagh City Hotel.
The annual conference was organised by the Labour Market Partnership and funded by the Department for Communities. This year the theme was ‘Recruit, Retain and Reskill’ focusing on building a resilient and talented workforce.
Hosted by Mark Simpson, guest speakers including Dr Eoin Magennis from Ulster University; Ann Watt from Pivotal; Kathleen O’Hare from Northern Ireland Skills Council and Elaine Leonard from The Appleby Trust.
Local employers MTM Engineering, Alternative Heat, Irwin M&E and The Deluxe Group participated in a panel discussion touching on their strategies to support employees and boost their productivity.
The event closed with an opportunity to network and speak to various support organisations present.
Source: State University Higher School of Economics – State University Higher School of Economics –
X5 Group and the Higher School of Business of the National Research University Higher School of Economics are relaunching a joint master’s program. The name “Retail Management” was changed to “B2C Business Management: Technologies and Innovations”, completely revising the program’s content. Now students will focus on studying customer experience, new technologies and innovations in management – those competencies that are most in demand in modern business.
B2C Business Management: Technologies and Innovations” will be the first specialized master’s program that trains leaders in retail and e-commerce. The training, taking into account all the latest trends, will be built around three main blocks – customer experience, new technologies, organizational and operational innovations. Among the disciplines offered to students: Data Science, Business Analytics, Digital Platforms, Digital Marketing, Customer Experience Management in an Omnichannel Environment.
The program is built on the “experience first” principle. This approach combines academic depth and practical experience: the courses are taught by teachers from the Higher School of Business of the Higher School of Economics, as well as invited teachers-practitioners who hold senior positions in the retail sector. X5 Group top managers actively participate in the program, conducting special courses, lectures, master classes and organizing practice, which allows you to gain knowledge first-hand.
The Master’s program is focused on solving real cases and business problems – during the training, students will master specific methods of working with the consumer sector, omnichannel business and modern retail, develop strategic thinking and leadership skills. Graduates are in demand in leading companies in the field of retail and e-commerce, in the financial services sector and FMCG companies, occupying leadership positions. The program is also suitable for those who run their own business, or have been working in retail for a long time, but want to master innovative approaches and grow in their career.
“Modern retail is speed, adaptability, technology and innovative solutions. Russia has long been not just following trends here, we set them, creating unique digital services and the best customer experience in the world. Young professionals are increasingly choosing retail – last year, the number of employees aged 18 to 24 at X5 increased by 12% and amounted to more than 43 thousand people. Because here there is an opportunity to grow and develop your skills in many areas – from the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence tools to managing complex operational processes and systems. In a joint program with the HSE, we have combined all our experience, expertise and accumulated knowledge. Thus, students can adopt what the most advanced retailers, including, of course, X5 as a leader in this field, have been developing for years in different areas. And we, in turn, are very interested in young specialists, so we invest in their development from the very beginning,” said Vladimir Salakhutdinov, Chairman of the Academic Council of the program, First Deputy General Director of X5 Group.
Academic Director of the Master’s Program, Associate Professor of Practice at the Higher School of Business, National Research University Higher School of Economics
“We have updated the curriculum structure of the joint Master’s program with X5 Group, placing an emphasis on project-based learning. Consulting projects, group assignments, and internships will help students form an impressive portfolio in two years for successful career development or launching their own project. Modern teaching methods, elective courses, and extracurricular activities will help develop the necessary management competencies and skills. X5 Group’s participation in the program not only guarantees the relevance of the knowledge gained, but also the integration of students into the professional community through guest lectures, excursions, and round tables.”
Reception of documents for applicants to the program in 2025 will be held from June 19 to August 15: this year, 63 places are open for students from Russia and one for students from foreign countries. X5 will provide grants for the best students to study.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
“It’s one thing to say the economy is not doing well and we’ve got a fiscal challenge … but cutting the benefits of the most vulnerable in our society who can’t work, to pay for that, is not going to work. And it’s not a Labour thing to do.”
So says former Labour big beast turned centrist-dad podcaster Ed Balls about the government’s welfare reform proposals. Cue furious nods from all those who were hoping and expecting better – or at least not this – from Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves.
Reactions like these are wholly understandable. After all, the Labour party has long viewed support for the welfare state as both a flag around which the party can rally, and a stick with which to beat the Conservatives.
But while that may have been the case in opposition, in office things have been a little more complicated.
Going all the way back to the MacDonald and Attlee governments, through the Wilson era, and into the Blair and Brown years, Labour governments have often seen fit to talk and act tough to prove to voters, the media and the markets that they have a head as well as a heart. And if that means upsetting some of their MPs, their grassroots members and their core supporters in the electorate, then so be it.
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Welfare encompasses a raft of policies that are as much symbolic as they are substantive. Choosing between them has tangible implications for those directly affected. But those choices also say something – and are intended to say something – about those politicians and parties making that choice.
For Labour governments – and in particular Labour chancellors – cuts in provision, even (indeed perhaps especially) if they involve backtracking on previous commitments, have always been a means of communicating their determination to deal with the world as it supposedly is, not as some of their more radical colleagues would like it to be.
On every occasion, those decisions have provoked outrage: a full-scale split in the 1930s, the resignation of three ministers (including Harold Wilson and leftwing titan Nye Bevan) in the 50s, parliamentary rebellions and membership resignations in the 60s, more generalised despair in Labour and trade union ranks the 70s, and yet another Commons rebellion in the 90s.
But what we need to appreciate is that the fallout is never merely accidental. Rather, it is a vital part of the drama. For the measures to have any chance of convincing sceptical markets and media outlets (as well as, perhaps, ordinary voters) their authors have to be seen to be committing symbolic violence against their party’s own cherished principles.
The proof that sacred cows really are being sacrificed is the anger (ideally impotent anger) of those who cherish them most – Labour’s left wingers. Their reaction is not merely predictable (and expect, by the way, to see Labour’s right wingers employ that term pejoratively in the coming days), it is also functional.
The cruelty is the point
Away from the Labour party itself, both those directly affected by the changes to sickness and disability benefits and those who campaign on their behalf, are – rightly or wrongly – already labelling those changes as cruel. But, likewise (and to put it at its most extreme) the cruelty, to coin a phrase, is the point.
The government will naturally be hoping that, in reality, as few people as possible will be significantly hurt by what it is doing. But the impression that it is prepared to run that risk in pursuit of its wider aim is, in many ways, vital to its success.
As to what that wider aim is? Labour’s essential problem is that, for all its social democratic values, it understandably aspires to become the natural party of government in what is an overwhelmingly liberal capitalist political economy.
It has all too often sought to achieve that, not so much by creating expectations among certain key groups and then rewarding them, as it has by aiming to demonstrate a world-as-it-is governing competence. That, in the view of its leaders (if not necessarily its followers), is the master key to the prolonged success experienced by the Conservative party – a party which has traditionally enjoyed the additional advantage of being culturally attuned to the market and media environment in which governing in the UK has to be done.
So, no, Ed Balls, you’re wrong: for good or ill, this week’s announcement is very much “a Labour thing to do”.
Tim Bale received funding from the ESRC for the PhD upon which the book, “Sacred Cows and Common Sense: The Symbolic Statecraft and Political Culture of the British Labour Party” is based.
Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –
On March 19, 1906, by decree of Emperor Nicholas II, a new class of ships was included in the classification of the navy of the Russian Empire – submarines. Previously, for reasons of secrecy, they were considered to be destroyers. Since then, this day has been considered a professional holiday for submariners in Russia. In honor of this, we have prepared cards with interesting facts about military submarines.
Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 03/19/2025
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
After weeks of speculation, Liz Kendall, work and pensions secretary, has unveiled her plans to reform welfare and cut the country’s ballooning benefits bill. The proposals include:
stricter eligibility requirements for Personal Independence Payments (Pip), the main disability benefit
scrapping the work capability assessment for universal credit
freezing or cutting the incapacity benefit “top-up” to universal credit for new claimants
reducing incapacity benefits for under-22s
increasing the standard rate of universal credit for claimants seeking work
introducing a “right to try”, so that people can try work without automatically losing benefits or being reassessed.
Kendall, along with her fellow Labour ministers, has tried to sell the proposals as a “moral mission”. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has repeatedly framed the cuts as a “moral duty”.
Cabinet office minister Ellie Reeves argues it is the party’s “moral obligation” to prevent “a lost generation” of young people being consigned to long-term worklessness.
I research the impact of how the media and politicians talk about welfare (and people who claim it) on public attitudes and benefit recipients themselves. In recent weeks, I’ve asked myself: what exactly is “moral” about welfare reform? Do ministers see it as morally wrong to leave working-aged people “on the scrap heap”? Or are they more concerned with demonstrating their moral duty to taxpayers – by cutting benefits for people they claim could be working?
The proposals do contain measures that back up ministers’ claims to genuinely want to help people, rather than simply cut costs. The “right to try” guarantee should allow those outside the labour market to give work a go without losing benefits if this doesn’t work out.
But if ministers are being driven by morality, I would argue they have approached the problem the wrong way round. The first priority should be not to cut the benefit bill, but to introduce proper support. This, of course, will likely push costs up in the short term. Savings will follow, but only if help translates into meaningful, dignified work.
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Starmer has pledged to stop a “wasted generation” of school leavers not in education, employment or training (Neets) missing out on the “the dignity of work”.
But by hammering home this message with the uncompromising pro-worker slogan “this is the Labour party”, he aligns himself with a specific moral orthodoxy. This affirms the moral superiority of his government’s defining shibboleth, “working people”, by defending hardworking taxpayers who feel it is “unsustainable, indefensible and unfair” to keep footing a “spiralling bill” for welfare.
The moral crusade to promote the virtues of honest toil is doubtless fuelled by surveys suggesting tough talk on benefits remains popular with socially conservative voters the party fears losing to Reform UK.
However, many polls are nuanced. A new Ipsos survey identifies a “benefits paradox”, wherein 37% of Britons agree that “ensuring everyone who needs health-related benefits” should be “prioritised, even if it means some who could work do not”. The same survey had just 23% favouring tougher eligibility requirements.
Moral mission or moral panic?
As my own research shows, when “welfare reform” agendas are couched in the language of “moral missions”, what is really happening is moral panic. We are witnessing escalating alarm at a perceived threat to the moral order that is disproportionate to the true scale of the problem.
True, the number of people inactive due to sickness or disability is higher than before the pandemic, but suggestions that overall inactivity has reached record levels are wrong. Although a higher percentage of 16- to 64-year-olds was inactive during 2024 than in Germany or Ireland, this was lower than the previous year’s rate (down from 22% to 21.5%), and fell further in early 2025, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Britain’s 2024 inactivity rate was also beneath those of 15 other European countries (including France and Spain), the US and the EU average. The true high point of UK inactivity came in 1983, when more than a quarter of working-aged adults were inactive.
Kendall has distanced herself from the language of “scroungers” I analysed in my book on welfare discourse under the 2010-15 coalition government. But connotations can be just as stigmatising as overt labels.
In endlessly employing the mantra “those who can work should work,” ministers channel timeworn tropes distinguishing between the deserving and undeserving poor.
The new proposals include a ‘right to try’ work without fear of losing benefits. SeventyFour/Shutterstock
There is a moral case for offering tailored, sensitive support to disabled people who want to work but face significant barriers – including inflexible employers and the pressure of caring for others.
But this should not come at the cost of impoverishing people unable to work – as some unlikely critics of the government’s proposals point out.
Tony Blair’s onetime Cabinet Secretary Gus O’Donnell told Radio 4 it would be “immoral” to damage people with severe disabilities “who don’t have any option but to be on benefits”. And Blairite former work and pensions secretary Lord Hutton warned that sweeping benefit cuts would “drive millions and millions of people into penury”.
The government says its reforms are a moral mission, but they are already having immoral effects. Just how moral is it to terrify people already struggling to afford basic essentials with the prospect of being driven into deeper poverty? Or to encourage young people into work that is likely to be low-paid and insecure?
If there’s one message we can take from the unseemly spectacle of leaks and briefings leading to this week’s announcement, it may be this: we’ve been watching a government on the brink of losing its moral compass.
James Morrison receives funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council for a project entitled Voices from the Periphery: (De)Constructing and Contesting Public Narratives about Post-Industrial Marginalisation (VOICES).
When the New Scientist revealed that it had obtained a UK government minister’s ChatGPT prompts through a freedom of information (FOI) request, many in journalism and politics did a double take. Science and technology minister Peter Kyle had apparently asked the AI chatbot to draft a speech, explain complex policy and – more memorably – tell him what podcasts to appear on.
What once seemed like private musings or experimental use of AI is now firmly in the public domain – because it was done on a government device.
It’s a striking example of how FOI laws are being stretched in the age of artificial intelligence. But it also raises a bigger, more uncomfortable question: what else in our digital lives counts as a public record? If AI prompts can be released, should Google searches be next?
Britain’s Freedom of Information Act was passed in 2000 and came into force in 2005. Two distinct uses of FOI have since emerged. The first – and arguably the most successful – is FOI applied to personal records. This has given people the right to access information held about them, from housing files to social welfare records. It’s a quiet success story that has empowered citizens in their dealings with the state.
The second is what journalists use to interrogate the workings of government. Here, the results have been patchy at best. While FOI has produced scoops and scandals, it’s also been undermined by sweeping exemptions, chronic delays and a Whitehall culture that sees transparency as optional rather than essential.
Tony Blair, who introduced the Act as prime minister, famously described it as the biggest mistake of his time in government. He later argued that FOI turned politics into “a conversation conducted with the media”.
Successive governments have chafed against FOI. Few cases illustrate this better than the battle over the black spider memos – letters written by the then Prince (now King) Charles to ministers, lobbying on issues from farming to architecture. The government fought for a decade to keep them secret, citing the prince’s right to confidential advice.
When they were finally released in 2015 after a Supreme Court ruling, the result was mildly embarrassing but politically explosive. It proved that what ministers deem “private” correspondence can, and often should, be subject to public scrutiny.
The ChatGPT case feels like a modern version of that debate. If a politician drafts ideas via AI, is that a private thought or a public record? If those prompts shape policy, surely the public has a right to know.
Are Google searches next?
FOI law is clear on paper: any information held by a public body is subject to release unless exempt. Over the years, courts have ruled that the platform is irrelevant. Email, WhatsApp or handwritten notes – if the content relates to official business and is held by a public body, it’s potentially disclosable.
The precedent was set in Dublin in 2017 when the Irish prime minister’s office released WhatsApp messages to the public service broadcaster RTÉ. The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office has also published detailed guidance confirming that official information held in non-corporate channels such as private email, WhatsApp or Signal is subject to FOI requests if it relates to public authority business.
The ongoing COVID-19 inquiry has shown how WhatsApp groups – once considered informal backchannels – became key decision-making arenas in government, with messages from Boris Johnson, Matt Hancock and senior advisers like Dominic Cummings now disclosed as official records.
In Australia, WhatsApp messages between ministers were scrutinised during the Robodebt scandal, an illegal welfare hunt that ran from 2016-19, while Canada’s inquiry into the “Freedom Convoy” protests in 2022 revealed texts and private chats between senior officials as crucial evidence of how decisions were made.
The principle is simple: if government work is being done, the public has a right to see it.
AI chat logs now fall into this same grey area. If an official or minister uses ChatGPT to explore policy options or draft a speech on a government device, that log may be a record — as Peter Kyle’s prompts proved.
This opens a fascinating (and slightly unnerving) precedent. If AI prompts are FOI-able, what about Google searches? If a civil servant types “How to privatise the NHS” into Chrome on a government laptop, is that a private query or an official record?
The honest answer is: we don’t know (yet). FOI hasn’t fully caught up with the digital age. Google searches are usually ephemeral and not routinely stored. But if searches are logged or screen-captured as part of official work, then they could be requested.
Similarly, what about drafts written in AI writing assistant Grammarly or ideas brainstormed with Siri? If those tools are used on official devices, and the records exist, they could be disclosed.
Of course, there’s nothing to stop this or any future government from changing the law or tightening FOI rules to exclude material like this.
FOI, journalism and democracy
While these kinds of disclosures are fascinating, they risk distracting from a deeper problem: FOI is increasingly politicised. Refusals are now often based on political considerations rather than the letter of the law, with requests routinely delayed or rejected to avoid embarrassment. In many cases, ministers’ use of WhatsApp groups was a deliberate attempt to avoid scrutiny in the first place.
There is a growing culture of transparency avoidance across government and public services – one that extends beyond ministers. Private companies delivering public contracts are often shielded from FOI altogether. Meanwhile, some governments, including Ireland and Australia, have weakened the law itself.
AI tools are no longer experiments, they are becoming part of how policy is developed and decisions are made. Without proper oversight, they risk becoming the next blind spot in democratic accountability.
For journalists, this is a potential game changer. Systems like ChatGPT may soon be embedded in government workflows, drafting speeches, summarising reports and even brainstorming strategy. If decisions are increasingly shaped by algorithmic suggestions, the public deserves to know how and why.
But it also revives an old dilemma. Democracy depends on transparency – yet officials must have space to think, experiment and explore ideas without fear that every AI query or draft ends up on the front page. Not every search or chatbot prompt is a final policy position.
Blair may have called FOI a mistake, but in truth, it forced power to confront the reality of accountability. The real challenge now is updating FOI for the digital age.
Tom Felle 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.
Did you know that in the UK period products are regulated under the same consumer legislation as candles? For 15 million people who menstruate each month, these items are used internally or next to one of the most sensitive parts of the body for extended times.
Consumers should be entitled to know what is in their period products before choosing which ones to buy. Yet, because of the current lack of adequate regulation and transparency, manufacturers are not required to disclose all materials. And only basic information is available on brand websites. Campaigners are now calling for better regulation.
Meanwhile, reusable period products are promoted by aid charities as a way to tackle period poverty and reduce waste. But independent tests by organisations such as Which? have found harmful chemicals inside both single-use and reusable period products.
I work as a women’s health researcher at the University of Bristol’s Digital Footprints Lab alongside a team of data scientists. We harness digital data, such as shopping records, to study public health issues. My research looks at how things like education affect which menstrual products people choose.
In collaboration with the charity Women’s Environmental Network, I am exploring intersections between gender, health, equity and environmental justice – especially among marginalised women and communities. But social stigma prevents open discussions about menstruation and how best to improve period product regulation.
Menstrual stigma influences everything from the information and support people who menstruate receive to the types of products we use and how we dispose of them. In a study of menstrual education experiences in English schools, my colleague and I found evidence of teacher attitudes perpetuating menstrual stigma.
Lessons typically lacked content about the health or environmental consequences of period products. Our study showed that just 2.4% of 18- to 24-year-olds surveyed were taught about sustainable alternatives to single-use tampons and menstrual pads.
An environmenstrual workshop hosted bythe charity, Women’s Environmental Network. Women’s Environmental Network / Sarah Larby, CC BY-NC-ND
For decades, period product adverts portrayed menstrual blood as a blue liquid. The social taboos around periods, largely created and reinforced by period brands over decades of fear-based marketing, has left its mark.
For example, in response to customer’s anxieties about supposed menstrual odour, manufacturers are increasingly using potentially environmentally harmful antimicrobials like silver and anti-odour additives in period products. This is despite there being no evidence that period products such as menstrual pants or pads transmit harmful bacteria that need sanitising. The silver also washes out after a couple of washes.
The role of regulation
In New York state, the Menstrual Products Right To Know Act means that a period product cannot be sold unless the labelling includes a list of materials. In Scotland, a government initiative provides free period products to anyone who needs them.
Catalonia in Spain has introduced a groundbreaking law that ensures access to safe and sustainable period products, while also working to reduce menstrual stigma and taboos through education.
A new European “eco label” is a step forward, but companies don’t have to use it. This voluntary label, which shows a product is good for the environment, doesn’t cover period underwear.
Now, campaigners at the Women’s Environmental Network are calling for the UK government to adopt a Menstrual Health, Dignity and Sustainability Act, backed by many charities, academics and environmentalists. This will enable equal access to sustainable period products, improved menstrual education, independent testing, transparent product labelling and stronger regulations.
The regulation of period products is currently being considered as part of the product regulation and metrology bill and the use of antimicrobials in period products is being included in the consumer products (control of biocides) bill introduced by Baroness Natalie Bennett. By tackling both health implications and environmental harms, period products can be produced in a safer way, for both people and planet.
Poppy Taylor’s PhD is funded by the University of Bristol and the Health Foundation.
Poppy Taylor is a member of the Women’s Environmental Network.
The latest deadline for countries to submit plans for slashing the greenhouse gas emissions fuelling climate change has passed. Only 15 countries met it – less than 8% of the 194 parties currently signed up to the Paris agreement, which obliges countries to submit new proposals for eliminating emissions every five years.
Known as nationally determined contributions, or NDCs, these plans outline how each country intends to help limit average global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, or at most 2°C. This might include cutting emissions by generating more energy from wind and solar, or adapting to a heating world by restoring wetlands as protection against more severe floods and wildfires.
Each new NDC should outline more stringent emissions cuts than the last. It should also show how each country seeks to mitigate climate change over the following ten years. This system is designed to progressively strengthen (or “ratchet up”) global efforts to combat climate change.
The February 2025 deadline for submitting NDCs was set nine months before the next UN climate change conference, Cop30 in Belém, Brazil.
Without a comprehensive set of NDCs for countries to compare themselves against, there will be less pressure on negotiators to raise national ambitions. Assessing how much money certain countries need to decarbonise and adapt to climate change, and how much is available, will also be more difficult.
While countries can (and some will) continue to submit NDCs, the poor compliance rate so far suggests a lack of urgency that bodes ill for avoiding the worst climate outcomes this century.
Who submitted?
The 15 countries that submitted NDCs on time include the United Arab Emirates, the UK, Switzerland, Ecuador and a number of small states, such as Andorra and the Marshall Islands.
Cop30 host Brazil submitted a pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 59-67% by 2035, compared to 2005 levels. This is up from its previous commitment, a 37% reduction by 2025 and 43% by 2030. Unfortunately, Brazil is not on track to meet its 2025 target and has set a more recent emissions baseline that will make any reductions more modest than they’d otherwise be.
Japan aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60% in 2035 and 73% in 2040, compared to 2013 levels. Japan’s previous target was for a 46% reduction by 2030. This demonstrates how the ratchet system is supposed to work.
The UK’s NDC, which pledges to reduce all greenhouse gas emissions by at least 81% by 2035, compared to 1990 levels, was described by independent scientists as “compatible” with limiting global heating to 1.5°C.
The US submitted a plan to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by 61-66% below 2005 levels by 2035. However, this was before Donald Trump pulled the US out of the Paris agreement (for the second time), so the commitment of one of the world’s largest polluters is in doubt.
Who didn’t submit?
Some of the world’s largest emitters failed to submit new NDCs, including China, India and Russia.
India pledged to reduce its emissions by 35% below 2005 levels by 2030 at the signing of the Paris agreement. All of the country’s subsequent NDCs have been rated as “insufficient” by independent scientists. India’s recent national budget announcement offered scant additional funding for climate mitigation and adaptation measures.
China also made big promises in 2015 with its aim to lower its CO₂ emissions by 65% by 2030, from a 2005 baseline. However, China has been responsible for over 90% of global CO₂ emissions growth since the Paris agreement was signed. China and the US also suspended formal discussions on climate change in 2022. Increased economic competition between these two nations has resulted in export control restrictions and tariffs which have made green technologies like electric vehicles more expensive, which is certain to slow down the shift from fossil fuels.
Russia joined the Paris agreement in 2019. Its first NDC was labelled “critically insufficient” by scientists, and its follow-up in 2020 did not include increased targets. Russia is maximising the extraction of resources such as oil, gas and minerals and its 2035 strategy for the Arctic included plans to sink several oil wells on the continental shelf.
The European Union could have positioned itself as a leader of global climate action, in lieu of US involvement. But the EU, which submits NDCs as a bloc alongside individual country submissions, also failed to submit on time.
Global shifts
The failure of most nations to submit new emission plans suggests that the era of cooperation on climate change is over. The largest and most powerful of these nations are growing their military and diplomatic presence around the world, particularly in countries with large reserves of critical minerals for electric vehicles and other technology relevant to decarbonisation. The lack of NDCs from these nations may be less a matter of middling green ambitions, more an attempt to disguise their planned exploitation of other countries’ resources.
If countries keep failing to submit enhanced NDCs, or even withdraw from their commitments entirely, scientists warn that global heating could reach a catastrophic 4.4°C by 2100. This scenario assumes the continued, unabated use of fossil fuels, with little regard for the climate.
In a more optimistic scenario, countries could limit warming to around 1.8°C by 2100. This will require global cooperation and significant investment in green technology, and entail a transition to net zero emissions by mid-century. This is a process that must include everyone. Simply having the most powerful nations decarbonise by exploiting and hoarding resources will imperil this critical target.
The actual outcome will probably fall somewhere between these two scenarios, depending on forthcoming NDCs and how quickly and thoroughly they are implemented. All of the scenarios envisaged by climate scientists will involve warming continuing for decades.
The effects of this warming will vary, however, based on the path we choose today.
Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?
Doug Specht 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.
Fans of the video game franchise Assasin’s Creed have been pining for a game set in feudal Japan for decades. In theory, it looked like a match made in heaven.
The series (which started in 2007 and has sold over 200 million copies) uses historical settings, such as ancient Greece, the Italian Renaissance or the American Revolution, to tell its fictional epic story of a battle between the Order of Assassins and the Knights Templar. What better scenario, then, than the Japanese civil war (1477-1600), where samurai and ninjas (known as shinobi) were fighting each other?
Yet when the premiere trailer for Assassin’s Creed Shadows dropped on May 15 last year, it unleashed a torrent of criticism from fans around the world. By June, a Japanese-language petition had gathered over 100,000 signatures, claiming the game “insults Japanese culture and history” and “could be tied to anti-Asian racism”.
The publisher of the franchise Ubisoft issued a public apology, delaying the game’s release multiple times. With other Ubisoft titles under-performing, Shadows rescheduled release on March 20 has become a high-stakes endeavour.
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So what exactly had fans so enraged? Online, amateur historians highlighted what they saw as copious historical inaccuracies in the promotional material.
However, none was deemed as damaging as the fact that one of the two playable characters in the game was based on the historical figure of Yasuke. Yasuke was a formerly enslaved black man from Mozambique who became a retainer of the Japanese warlord Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582).
While the historical existence of Yasuke stands without question, some gamers took offence at the notion that Yasuke was being portrayed as a “black samurai”. That’s because the historical sources are not clear on whether Yasuke was considered a “samurai” by his contemporaries.
The trailer for Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
Some gamers argue that focusing on Yasuke, rather than a more typical Japanese-born warrior, represents a misguided attempt at diversity, equity and inclusion. Especially since the second playable character is a fictional female ninja named Naoe.
To critics, highlighting these two characters allegedly overwrites the history of male Japanese samurai, injecting a “foreignness” they believe distorts the setting.
White samurai in popular media
Despite the uproar over Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, it’s not the first piece of media to depict a non-Japanese samurai.
In James Clavell’s 1975 novel Shōgun, English navigator John Blackthorne (based on the real-life William Adams) becomes a samurai in the rank of hatamoto of the warlord Toranaga (based on Tokugawa Ieyasu).
Historians also debate whether the real Adams was a true samurai, yet his “white samurai” image endures in adaptations like the 2024 FX series Shōgun, which garnered praise from critics across the ideological spectrum.
Another famous instance is Nathan Algren (played by Tom Cruise) who in the movie The Last Samurai (2003) joins the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877 led by the charismatic Katsumoto (played by Ken Watanabe and based on Saigō Takamori).
Katsumoto represents in the movie the “true” samurai spirit of male honour, duty, loyalty and principles. In the end, he dies in a final showdown against modern weaponry, but Tom Cruise’s character survives and reminds the emperor that Japan needs to honour its past despite the modernisation.
The movie follows the formula of films like Dances with Wolves (1990), and later the first James Cameron Avatar movie (2009), in which a white character joins a minority population to “save” said people from their doom. This is also known as the “white savior complex”.
Accuracy v authenticity
Why, then, is Yasuke’s portrayal as a black samurai so contentious when white foreigners in similar roles have been widely accepted?
Racism is one answer, but audience expectations about historical authenticity also play a key role. It’s critics claim that Shadows teems with historical inaccuracies, yet other celebrated titles, such as Ghost of Tsushima (2020) are just as historically inaccurate.
Ghost of Tsushima is set during the 13th-century Mongol invasion. Yet the game developers decided to base their protagonists on the heavily idealised and romanticised samurai of 1950s Akira Kurosawa movies, which have little in common with their historical 13th-century counterparts.
However, since these samurai conform to audience expectations of Japanese warriors with two swords that follow the largely fictional honour code of bushido, the game feels authentic even though it is historically inaccurate. By contrast, Yasuke’s presence in Shadows challenges a deeply ingrained notion of a xenophobic or sealed-off Japan – an anachronistic concept that overlooks evidence of foreign influence in the 16th century.
While Ubisoft has taken creative liberties and introduced historical inaccuracies, this is consistent with what has been done in other Assassin’s Creed titles and historically inspired games in general. Yet while predominantly white (and even Japanese) cultures seem quick to forgive depictions of white samurai figures, the same leniency does not seem to extend to a black character.
Fynn Holm receives funding from the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft).
Sydney, Nova Scotia, March 19, 2025 — Today, Mike Kelloway, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, and to the Minister of Rural Economic Development and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, and Member of Parliament for Cape Breton–Canso; Jaime Battiste, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs and Minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, and Member of Parliament for Sydney–Victoria; His Worship Cecil Clarke, Mayor of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality; and the Honourable David C. Dingwall, President and Vice-Chancellor of Cape Breton University announced a federal investment of over $17.1 million to improve water infrastructure for two housing developments in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality through the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund (CHIF).
Funding for the project in the Tartan Downs location in Sydney will support the installation of new water main and associated components, new sanitary sewer, and new stormwater piping along with a new stormwater retention pond. Once completed, the project will ensure the area has adequate water, wastewater, solid waste, and stormwater protections in place to support the immediate development of 145 housing units and a full-scale development of 600 new housing units in the next four to five years. Cape Breton University donated 24 acres of land from the Tartan Downs location for the purposes of a development that includes student and senior housing as well as affordable housing in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality.
The second project will support a new, sustainable and dependable drinking water supply for Cape Breton University’s growing campus. The project will also supply drinking water to the neighbouring Tanglewood subdivision development, which will enable residential growth in the area.
These investments, delivered through the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund (CHIF), play a crucial role in strengthening essential infrastructure and getting more homes built faster.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Suzy White, Post-Doctoral Research Assistant, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Reading
Piecing together the story of Europe’s earliest settlers is a challenge, largely
because relevant human fossils are scarce. On March 12, researchers announced the discovery of a new fossil from the excavation site of Sime del Elefante, near Burgos in Spain.
Known as ATE7-1, the new fossil consists of a partial face belonging to an ancient hominin, a biological classification that includes living humans and our closest extinct relatives, such as Neanderthals and Homo erectus. Nicknamed “Rosa” after one of her discoverers, the fossil includes part of the upper jaw, cheek and eye from an adult, and dates to between 1.1 and 1.4 million years ago. As such, she represents the oldest known partial face of a hominin from western Europe.
Rosa is also a crucial piece of the puzzle explaining how and when humans first entered western Europe – and which species of hominin made those pioneering journeys.
Hominins evolved in Africa. The first species to occupy multiple continents was Homo erectus, and the first fossil evidence we have of them beyond Africa comes from Dmanisi in Georgia. These fossils are around 1.8 million years old. However, stone tools from Grăunceanu (Romania) indicate that hominins had expanded further north even earlier than the Dmanisi finds – 1.95 million years ago.
However, fossils from western Europe remain conspicuously absent until 1.4 million
years ago. By contrast, we have more evidence of hominins moving into Asia during
this time. They had reached Indonesia by 1.6 million years and descendants of these populations seem to have survived there until relatively recently. Early fossils from Asia are also more numerous and more complete, while their European counterparts are limited to an isolated tooth, a fragment of jaw and a partial skull cap.
Despite being just a small part of the face, Rosa provides key insights into these
elusive early European populations. The researchers compared Rosa’s facial
features to Homo erectus fossils from Africa, Indonesia and Dmanisi. They also
examined Rosa’s similarities to Homo antecessor, a later European species from Gran
Dolina, a site close to Sima del Elefante.
The evidence of settlement at Gran Dolina has been dated to about 860,000 years ago. While Rosa shares her delicate build with Homo antecessor, overall she has more affinities with the Homo erectus fossils – although not enough to confidently place her within this group.
Rosa may therefore provide support for a hypothesis that the occupation of Europe
by hominins was discontinuous, at least for the first million or so years. This means that hominins settled there, then went locally extinct and were replaced by other groups of hominins later on.
Our closest relatives were not able to survive in Europe over long periods of time until much later. But why might that be? What made Europe harder to successfully inhabit than Asia? To begin to answer such questions, we have to combine the evidence from Rosa with what we already know about early human forays beyond their ancestral home continent of Africa.
Smaller brains, longer legs
The Dmanisi hominins are notable for their relatively small brains and basic tools.
This challenged the idea that advanced tools and large brains were necessary for
expansion beyond Africa. The tools from Grăunceanu are also relatively basic,
despite the temperate and seasonal climate their makers would have experienced.
The Dmanisi hominins also have relatively long legs, which would have allowed them
to move more efficiently over long distances. Perhaps, then, efficient movement,
rather than brain size or technology, was the driving factor allowing the initial
expansion. But did the basic stone technology used by early Europeans prevent their long term occupation of the continent?
It is likely that we will, in time, find even earlier fossils from western Europe. Further fossils from Sima del Elefante could reveal how variable Rosa’s group was, and enable us to either place her within an existing species, or create a new one.
But, given the sparse information we have for now, the differences between Rosa, the Dmanisi hominins, and Homo antecessor fit within a model of short-term expansions into western Europe. These expansions were probably followed by a retreat of hominin populations into so-called refugia (locations where the environment and climate were more stable), as well as extinctions of local populations. This would have been driven by changing climatic conditions. For now, which and how many species ventured west into Europe is still unknown.
Much else also remains unknown. Did early western Europeans survive long enough
to give rise to later species such as Homo antecessor? And how was Homo
antecessor related to later European species? The European fossil record becomes
more continuous from around 600,000 years ago, first with the appearance of
a hominin species called Homo heidelbergensis, and then with the appearance of early Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis). In fact, these two species appear to have coexisted in Europe for some time.
Later Europeans were also able to venture further north, with evidence of footprints of a mystery hominin at Happisburgh in the UK by 900,000 years ago. Nevertheless, as with Rosa’s species and Homo antecessor, the Neanderthals and Homo heidelbergensis eventually went extinct – along with all other species of humans globally, except our own.
The changing climate and northern latitudes of western Europe presented a clear challenge for earlier hominins. As Europe’s climate continues to change, will Homo sapiens be the first hominin capable of long term survival here?
Suzy White receives funding from the Leverhulme Trust, and has previously received funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
And while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sought to blame Hamas for the resumption of fighting that killed more than 400 Palestinians on March 18, 2025 – “only the beginning,” Netanyahu warned – the truth is the seeds of the renewed violence are to be found in Israeli domestic politics.
Ever since the first phase of the ceasefire came into effect in January, Israeli politics experts – myself included – have flagged a likely insurmountable problem. And that is the execution of the plan’s second phase – which, if implemented, would see full withdrawal of Israeli military forces from the Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of the remaining hostages – is a nonstarter for far-right elements in the Israeli ruling coalition that Netanyahu relies on for his political survival.
Since coming to power in January 2023, Netanyahu’s hard-right government has made significant efforts to turn independent institutions such as the attorney general’s office and the police into compliant arms of the government by seeking to place government loyalistsin charge of both.
Many Israeli commentators hoped that the attack would force the government to reconsider its efforts to carry out what some described as a legal coup, in a show of national unity.
Such a view has solid foundations. Having been indicted in November 2019 on breach of trust, fraud and corruption charges, Netanyahu was presented with an opportunity to muddy the logic of the long-running legal proceedings: He could hardy stand trial while defending a nation at war. The prosecution is still ongoing, but the resumption of fighting has, again, meant that Netanyahu has reason to delay his testimony.
Meanwhile, war also provides cover for Netanyahu to neuter some of his fiercest critics. In the months after the Oct. 7 attack, Netanyahu systematically removed from office antagonistic members of the security and political leadership, accusing them of being responsible either for the Hamas attack or for the mismanagement of the conflict.
The apparent breakdown of the ceasefire now also coincides with growing pressure on Netanyahu from the political right in his ruling coalition.
Under Israeli law, the government must approve its annual budget by the end of March or face being dissolved, something that would trigger fresh elections.
But Netanyahu is facing holdouts among ultra-Orthodox parties over the issue of army drafts. Since the start of the war, there has been tremendous pressure from the wider Israeli public to end the draft exemption for ultra-Orthodox men, who unlike other Israelis did not have to serve in the military. Ultra-Orthodox parties, however, are demanding the opposite: to pass legislation that would formally exempt them from military service.
To secure the vote for the annual budget and stave off elections, Netanyahu needs support – and if it isn’t going to come from the ultra-Orthodox parties, then he needs to shore up far-right members of the coalition.
As a result of the resumption of war, Otzma Yehudit – the far-right party that left Netanyahu’s government in January to protest the ceasefire agreement – has returned to the fold. This gives Netanyahu crucial budget votes. But in effect, it signals that the coalition has no intention of implementing the second phase of the ceasefire plan, withdrawing from Gaza. In effect, it has killed the ceasefire.
The domestic politics of Israel alone is not to blame for the resumption of fighting. There is, too, the changing stance of the U.S. administration.
The transition of presidency from Joe Biden to Donald Trump was a decisive reason for the timing of the ceasefire agreement in January 2025.
But it appears that the administration is reluctant to force Netanyahu to continue to the second phase. Recent statements from Trump suggest that he supports putting extra military pressure on Hamas in Gaza. And by blaming Hamas for the resumption of the war, Trump is tacitly endorsing the position of the Israeli government.
Hamas, in fact, has the most interest in implementing the agreement. Doing so would give the Palestinian militant group the best chance it has of remaining in control of Gaza, while also boasting that it had been responsible for the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons.
Thousands gather at Habima Square to protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government on March 18, 2025. Yair Palti/Anadolu via Getty Images
And the anti-government protest movement is gaining steam again as seen in widespread protests in Israeli cities against both the resumption of fighting in Gaza and the attempt to oust security chief Ronen Bar.
Given that the people and the government of Israel appear to be pulling in opposite directions, the resumption of bombing in Gaza can only exacerbate the internal crisis that preceded the war and has ebbed and flowed ever since.
But Netanyahu has seemingly bet that more war is his best chance of remaining in power and completing his plan to transform the country’s political system. Israel is facing an unprecedented situation in which, I would argue, its own prime minister has became the biggest threat to the country’s stability.
Asher Kaufman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
High school sports programs tend to emphasize character development and good sportsmanship. AP Photo/Mel Evans
Not long ago, high school students who wanted to play football, basketball or another sport had few options other than trying out for their school team. And it was to high school gymnasiums and fields that recruiters flocked to find talent for colleges and even the pros.
As a result, parents are increasingly debating something that would have been unthinkable a couple of generations ago: Where should our kids play sports?
As a former K-12 director of athletics – and as a current parent of three youth athletes from elementary to the collegiate level – I know it can be a tough choice. I’ve seen firsthand the pros and cons of playing sports both in high school and clubs.
While clubs may be best for the most talented athletes, I believe schools can’t be beat for the broader focus they can put on character development. Since the vast majority of student-athletes won’t play in organized leagues beyond high school, that’s where I believe the schools’ focus should be.
My own unpublished research shows it’s also a way – along with emphasizing the fun and social aspects of athletics – to get more students who played sports as young kids to continue in high school.
But prior to the 1980s, private clubs weren’t common. Before high school, kids played on teams organized by their schools, local parks and recreation programs or nonprofit organizations such as the YMCA. After that, the only option for most was high school sports.
The first big step toward highly organized, privatized youth sports programs occurred during what has been referred to as “the Reagan revolution,” according to research I did for my dissertation. President Ronald Reagan’s funding cuts across the government pushed more expenses onto states and cities, which limited the ability of local parks and recreation departments to fully staff youth programs. This left many of them with only enough funds to maintain their facilities.
With the reduction of public offerings, the youth sports programming gap was filled by private clubs and leagues, which placed more emphasis on athleticism, competition and sometimes elite-style training. And it’s become big business for the adults who run these programs.
While good numbers on these leagues are hard to come by, multiple data sources show the privatized youth sports market has experienced tremendous growth in recent years. A recent estimate put total spending on youth sports at over US$40 billion as of 2024, compared with the $10 billion estimate of the youth sports economy in 2010.
Knowing that 93% of high school athletes will end their competitive careers at graduation, I believe it’s important that school administrators place a premium on running athletic programs that focus on building skills they’ll need as adults instead of just winning games.
In my previous role as a director of athletics for public schools in Grand Forks, North Dakota, I routinely surveyed our athletes at the end of their seasons about various aspects of their experience on the team. Among those questions, I asked athletes to tell me the three most important reasons they chose to play that sport for that season and whether they were planning to play on the team again next year.
Unsurprisingly to me, the top three reasons were consistently to have fun, spend time with friends and stay physically active, in that order. You’ll notice winning games or for competition were not among them.
On the flip side, when asked why students chose to drop out the following year, the top reason was their relationship with the coach, while a close second was that they were not having fun. To me, this was evidence that what student-athletes most wanted from their high school programs wasn’t so much sport skills development as personal development and growth.
Here are five things school administrators can do to help turn things around and make their sports programs more attractive to students considering clubs, as well as those who are pondering giving up on sports altogether.
Develop an athletic program that teaches character traits and life skills that are usable for 100% of participants, not just the 7% who go on to play in college.
Make sure programs emphasize fun, social growth and physical fitness, rather than just the competition.
Encourage coaches to spend individual time throughout the season with each student-athlete to discuss the athlete’s goals, role and progress.
Survey student-athletes about their experience at the end of each season and tweak the program accordingly.
Include student-athlete assessments about how much they enjoy playing for the coach as a part of the coach’s postseason evaluation.
High school sports may not be for everybody, but I believe many more students would choose to participate if the focus were on building character and having fun with friends, not winning trophies.
Mark Rerick is affiliated with the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.
In the forests of eastern Australia, satin bowerbirds create structures known as “bowers.”
The males gather twigs and place them upright, in two bundles, with a gap in the middle, resulting in what looks like a miniature archway. All around the bower the bird scatters small objects – shells, pieces of plastic, flower petals – which all possess the same property: the color blue.
Studies suggest that the purpose of the bowers is to impress and attract females. But their beauty and intricacy has left some researchers wondering whether they shouldn’t be considered art.
Of course, figuring out whether something is a work of art requires answering some tricky philosophical questions. Are animals even capable of creating art? And how can we tell whether something is a work of art rather than just a coincidentally beautiful object? As a philosopher and artist who’s interested in aesthetics and biology, I recently wrote about the evolution of behaviors in animals that could be seen as art.
A contested concept
First, it’s important to outline various theories of what makes something a work of art.
There’s a general agreement that art must have some sort of producer and some possible or intended audience. In this way, it’s similar to other forms of communication.
But the rest of the picture is unclear, and there’s no universally agreed-upon definition of art. In fact, art has proven so difficult to define that Scottish philosopher W.B. Gallie once suggested it might be an “essentially contested concept” – an idea for which there is no correct definition.
That being said, some popular views have emerged.
Leo Tolstoy famously suggested art is a conduit for emotion, writing in 1897 that “one man consciously, by means of certain external signs, hands on to others feelings he has lived through, and that other people are infected by these feelings and also experience them.”
Platoand Aristotle emphasized the representational role of art: the idea that a work of art must in some way mimic, depict or “stand in” as a sort of sign for something else.
Some philosophers believe that creating art requires intention – for example, a sculptor will mold clay with the intention of having it look like Abraham Lincoln. And nonhuman animals, they’ll argue, simply don’t have the right kind of intentions for art-making.
Art, beauty and sex
And yet, it’s not clear how much intention really does matter for art.
Philosopher Brian Skyrms has pointed out that communication arises even in animals that plausibly do not have sophisticated intentions like our own. For example, fireflies signal to mates with flashes, and this seems to be largely an evolved behavior. Communication can even emerge via simple reinforcement learning, as when a dog learns to associate a certain call with dinner.
These aren’t instances of art. But they reveal how meaningful signs or representations can operate without the need for complex intentions. Given that much art also serves a communicative role, I argue that there’s reason to think that art might be able to come about in less intention-demanding ways too.
Ornithologist Richard Prum also takes a communicative view of art, but one where art is meant to be evaluated for its beauty. The beauty of a work functions as an indicator of the artist’s reproductive fitness, or their having “good genes” – and this can apply to both humans and animals.
Charles Darwin, musing about birds in “The Descent of Man,” also thought at least some animals appreciate beauty:
“When we behold a male bird elaborately displaying his graceful plumes or splendid colours before the female, whilst other birds, not thus decorated, make no such display, it is impossible to doubt that she admires the beauty of her male partner.”
Some might not like an account like Prum’s, since it seems to allow creations like bowers to count as art. And yet, as philosopher Denis Dutton points out in his 2009 book “The Art Instinct,” mate attraction and fitness broadcasting can be the primary motivation behind many human works of art too: just consider the stereotype of the sex-hungry rock musician.
Whale ballads and pig paintings
I think it’s safe to say some animal creations don’t count as art. The webs of most spiders, though intricate and carefully designed, appear to exist for utilitarian purposes and serve no evaluative or communicative function. The same goes for most anthills.
But what about animal songs?
The structures of the songs of humpback whales are complex, featuring parts and repeated patterns that researchers often describe as “themes” and “verses.” The songs are long – sometimes up to 30 minutes. Because males perform these songs primarily during mating season, it’s plausible that female whales assess them for their beauty, which serves as a way to gauge the singer’s genetic fitness. Details of songs even vary from whale population to population, often changing over the course of a mating season.
Then there are animals that have been trained to make art. Pigcasso was a pig in South Africa whose trainer taught her to paint on canvas via reinforcement learning. The trainer would pick out the colors for Pigcasso, and Pigcasso would do the brushing. Was Pigcasso really an artist? Were her paintings works of art?
Pigcasso was plausibly making these paintings for reasons other than her own desire to communicate or make something beautiful; she was motivated, at least in part, by “piggy treats.” The trainer chose the colors. But Pigcasso did, in the end, have some aesthetic freedom: She had control over her brushstrokes.
Off the coasts of Japan, male white-spotted puffer fish create impressive nests to attract females. The male puffer fish uses his mouth to remove rocks from the sand and his body to wiggle out long, strategically placed grooves. The finished product is a multi-ringed sand mandala about 6 feet in diameter.
Like the bowers, the nests of the puffer fish are beautiful and involve mate attraction. Yet some researchers argue that since these sorts of works all look roughly the same – have the same shape, use the same materials and so on – they’re more likely the result of evolved, inflexible dispositions than more creative processes.
Male white-spotted puffer fish create elaborate designs in the sand to attract mates.
But it’s worth noting that many human works of art bear core similarities as well. Many paintings use flat surfaces, oils or acrylics. Many songs follow the same chord patterns. And would we still consider human sculptures art if we discovered much about the motivation to build them could be explained by evolution? I wager we would.
Birds bust a move
Many human cases of art involve more than one person, sometimes even a large group. Think of all the people it takes to make a modern film. Does anything like that happen in animals?
Consider the blue manakin bird of South America. Male blues will form groups, often of three or more, which then practice an elaborate song-and-dance routine to later perform in front of females. The practice is detailed and dutiful. The groups hone their moves. This involves learning and memorization, not just genetics. Flaws in the performance are challenged and corrected. Sometimes during practices, a juvenile male will even fill in as a mock female.
Some blue manakins spend years honing their dance moves.
It’s not The Beatles. But the similarity to music groups seem hard to deny.
At the same time, it’s worth wondering whether, beyond conveying their eagerness to mate, the birds are trying to “say” or “express” anything more with their performance. And do they know it’s beautiful?
All this leaves room for doubt about whether animals really make art.
To me, a key question is whether there’s any animal art that doesn’t have to do with mating, and instead expresses something more complex or sentimental. Without being able to get into the heads of animals, it’s hard to say. But it’s plausible that humans aren’t alone in their artistic pursuits.
Shawn Simpson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Between 1910 and 1970, more than 6 million African Americans left the South for destinations such as Detroit, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. This mass exodus had, and continues to have, enormous political, cultural and social implications for our nation. Migrants were seeking true freedom, including full political and economic citizenship – things they had not been able to achieve in the Jim Crow South.
The experiences and trajectories of these migrant entrepreneurs can tell us much about the possibilities for Black social and economic advancement through business in the United States.
Leaving the South
Pioneering African American historian Carter G. Woodson, father of Black History Month, pointed to the lack of business opportunities in describing the causes of the mass migration that began in the mid-1910s.
Of course, African Americans did establish businesses in the South, sometimes becoming quite wealthy. But there was always the threat of lynchings and other forms of racial violence for those who defied the racial caste system of Jim Crow. The destruction of “Black Wall Street” in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is a well-known story. But there were many other incidents of white supremacist terrorism targeting Black businesses owners.
In fact, many Black entrepreneurs pointed out that the danger of racial violence was a deciding factor in their moving to Detroit. This included people such as Willis Eugene Smith, who established a funeral home, and Berry Gordy Sr., who operated a grocery store and contracting business in the city. In his 1979 memoir, “Movin’ Up: Pop Gordy Tells His Story,” Gordy told how he decided to leave Georgia for Detroit after local whites began pestering him about a large check he received as payment for goods he had sold. Gordy’s sister warned him: “You fool ’round here, they’re liable to beat us out of it, take all our money.”
Many African American entrepreneurs who participated in the Great Migration questioned whether they could experience enduring upward mobility through business if they stayed in the South.
As early as 1917, the director of the Detroit Urban League, Forrester B. Washington, reported “receiving many letters from [southern] Negro business men asking information regarding the real situation here.”
Migrant entrepreneurs’ services essential
Many of those Southern entrepreneurs decided to move north. Detroit’s African American population increased 611% between 1910 and 1920 to 40,838, making it home to one of the largest populations of African Americans in the country.
While Southern migrants saw Detroit as a promised land, segregation in the North was alive and well. There were many negative aspects to racial segregation, but it also created entrepreneurial opportunities, as Black newcomers needed the services of Black-owned businesses such as barbershops and hair salons, hotels and restaurants. These businesses sustained the growing African American community and made it feasible for Southern migrants to settle permanently in the city. By 1926, 85% of Detroit’s Black population were migrants, according to “The Negro in Detroit,” a report produced by the Detroit Bureau of Governmental Research.
Some businesses made their Southern roots explicit in their advertising. A 1933 advertisement for the Creole Hand Laundry, located at 542 Watson St., stated: “From New Orleans, La.”
Migrant entrepreneurs tapped into newly created niche markets, catering to the tastes of Southern transplants. For example, the Home Milling Company was established in Detroit around 1922 and processed hominy grits, cornmeal and whole wheat flour in a plant at Catherine and Russell streets. Home Milling’s managers had plans to expand the business in order to supply Black-owned bakeries in Detroit and satiate the tastes of newcomers.
“There is quite a large demand of the products on the part of Southern residents in the City and the concern is doing a fair volume of business,” stated the 1926 “The Negro in Detroit” report. “Their cornmeal is made from specially selected white corn out of deference to the palate of Southern Negroes who do not relish meal made from yellow corn.”
Supreme Linen and Laundry was another company that provided essential goods and services to Detroit’s growing number of Black-owned restaurants and hotels. Established by native Mississippians Fred and Callie Allen in 1929, the company supplied uniforms, tablecloths and napkins to businesses across the city and housed a commercial laundry.
Fred and Callie Allen, a husband and wife team, built up their laundry business, Supreme Linen and Laundry, to service the Black neighborhoods nearby. The business grew to at least 41 Black employees. The Detroit Tribune, CC BY-ND
A mecca for Black-owned business
By the 1940s, Detroit had earned the reputation of having more Black-owned businesses than any other city in the United States. This thriving business community comprised mainly Southern migrants.
Black business women, particularly those affiliated with the Detroit Housewives’ League, were instrumental in facilitating the growth of the Black-owned business community in the 1930s and 1940s. The league was established with the goal of boosting Black business in the city and grew to have over 10,000 members. The organization promoted Black businesses by hosting annual exhibitions, producing and distributing informational publications, and sponsoring educational programs for entrepreneurs and consumers.
Building a successful Black business community in Detroit in the first half of the 20th century was certainly not without obstacles. These included retail and residential segregation, lending discrimination and violence, among others. Yet, migrant entrepreneurs facilitated the migration to the city and transformed the landscape of Detroit.
In 1925, the city’s Black population was 85,000. That blossomed to 300,000 by 1950.
Detroit’s historic Black business community was concentrated in adjoining neighborhoods called Black Bottom and Paradise Valley.
This destruction was a harsh blow to Southern migrant entrepreneurs who had relocated to Detroit seeking economic independence, upward mobility and other markers of freedom.
Kendra D. Boyd does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Lightning Jay, Assistant Professor of Teaching, Learning and Educational Leadership, Binghamton University, State University of New York
Students ask questions during a social studies class on American politics.AP Photo/John Minchillo
Can you tell fact from fiction online? In a digital world, few questions are more important or more challenging.
For years, some commentators have called for K-12 teachers to take on fake news, media literacy, or online misinformation by doubling downon critical thinking. This push for schools to do a better job preparing young people to differentiate between low- and high-quality information often focuses on social studies classes.
As an education researcher and former high school history teacher, I know that there’s both good and bad news about combating misinformation in the classroom. History class can cultivate critical thinking – but only if teachers and schools understand what critical thinking really means.
Not just a ‘skill’
First, the bad news.
When people demand that schools teach critical thinking, it’s not always clear what they mean. Some might consider critical thinking a trait or capacity that teachers can encourage, like creativity or grit. They could believe that critical thinking is a mindset: a habit of being curious, skeptical and reflective. Or they might be referring to specific skills – for instance, that students should learn a set of steps to take to assess information online.
Unfortunately, cognitive science research has shown that critical thinking is not an abstract quality or practice that can be developed on its own. Cognitive scientists see critical thinking as a specific kind of reasoning that involves problem-solving and making sound judgments. It can be learned, but it relies on specific content knowledge and does not necessarily transfer between fields.
Early studies on chess playersand physicists in the 1970s and ’80s helped show how the kind of flexible and reflective cognition often called critical thinking is really a product of expertise. Chess masters, for instance, do not start out with innate talent. In most cases, they gain expertise by hours of thoughtfully playing the game. This deliberate practice helps them recognize patterns and think in novel ways about chess. Chess masters’ critical thinking is a product of learning, not a precursor.
Nurman Alua of Kazakhstan, left, and Lee Alice of the U.S. during the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary, on Sept. 22, 2024. AP Photo/Denes Erdos
Because critical thinking develops in specific contexts, it does not necessarily transfer to other types of problem-solving. For example, chess advocates might hope the game improves players’ intelligence, and studies do suggest learning chess may help elementary students with the kind of pattern recognition they need for early math lessons. However, research has found that being a great chess player does not make people better at other kinds of complex critical thinking.
Historical thinking
Since context is key to critical thinking, learning to analyze information about current events likely requires knowledge about politics and history, as well as practice at scrutinizing sources. Fortunately, that is what social studies classes are for.
Social studies researchers often describe this kind of critical thinking as “historical thinking”: a way to evaluate evidence about the past and assess its reliability. My own research has shown that high school students can make relatively quick progress on some of the surface features of historical thinking, such as learning to check a text’s date and author. But the deep questioning involved in true historical thinking is much harder to learn.
Social studies classrooms can also build what researchers call “civic online reasoning.” Fact-checking is complex work. It is not enough to tell young people that they should be wary online, or to trust sites that end in “.org” instead of “.com.” Rather than learning general principles about online media, civic online reasoning teaches students specific skills for evaluating information about politics and social issues.
Still, learning to think like a historian does not necessarily prepare someone to be a skeptical news consumer. Indeed, a recent study found that professional historians performed worse than professional fact-checkers at identifying online misinformation. The misinformation tasks the historians struggled with focused on issues such as bullying or the minimum wage – areas where they possessed little expertise.
Powerful knowledge
That’s where background knowledge comes in – and the good news is that social studies can build it. All literacy relies on what readers already know. For people wading through political information and news, knowledge about history and civics is like a key in the ignition for their analytical skills.
Readers without much historical knowledge may miss clues that something isn’t right – signs that they need to scrutinize the source more closely. Political misinformation often weaponizes historical falsehoods, such as the debunked and recalled Christian nationalist book claiming that Thomas Jefferson did not believe in a separation of church and state, or claims that the nadir of African American life came during Reconstruction, not slavery. Those claims are extreme, but politicians and policymakers repeat them.
For someone who knows basic facts about American history, those claims won’t sit right. Background knowledge will trigger their skepticism and kick critical thinking into gear.
A teacher in North Carolina conducts a lesson about the D-Day invasion of Normandy in an Advanced Placement class. AP Photo/Gerry Broome
Past, present, future
For this reason, the best approach to media literacy will come through teaching that fosters concrete skills alongside historical knowledge. In short, the new knowledge crisis points to the importance of the traditional social studies classroom.
But it’s a tenuous moment for history education. The Bush- and Obama-era emphasis on math and English testing resulted in decreased instructional time in history classes, particularly in elementary and middle schools. In one 2005 study, 27% of schools reported reducing social studies time in favor of subjects on state exams.
Attempts to limit students’ knowledge about the past imperil their chances of being able to think critically about new information. These attacks are not just assaults on the history of the country; they are attempts to control its future.
Lightning Jay does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Imja Lake, a glacial lake in the Mount Everest region of Nepal, began as meltwater ponds in 1962 and now contains 90 million cubic meters of water. Its water level was lowered to protect downstream communities.Alton Byers
In mountain ranges around the world, glaciers are melting as global temperatures rise. Europe’s Alps and Pyrenees lost 40% of their glacier volume from 2000 to 2023. These and other icy regions have provided freshwater for people living downstream for centuries – almost 2 billion people rely on glaciers today. But as glaciers melt faster, they also pose potentially lethal risks.
Water from the melting ice often drains into depressions once occupied by the glacier, creating large lakes. Many of these expanding lakes are held in place by precarious ice dams or rock moraines deposited by the glacier over centuries.
Too much water behind these dams or a landslide into the lake can break the dam, sending huge volumes of water and debris sweeping down the mountain valleys, wiping out everything in the way.
Juneau, Alaska, has been hit by several flash floods in recent years from a glacial lake dammed by ice on an arm of Mendenhall Glacier. Those floods, including in 2024, were driven by a melting glacier that slowly filled a basin below it until the basin’s ice dam broke.
Scientists investigate flooding from Mendenhall Glacier’s Suicide Basin.
Avalanches, rockfalls and slope failures can also trigger glacial lake outburst floods. These are growing more common as frozen ground known as permafrost thaws, robbing mountain landscapes of the cryospheric glue that formerly held them together. These slides can create massive waves when they plummet into a lake. The waves can then rupture the ice dam or moraine, unleashing a flood of water, sediment and debris.
That dangerous mix can rush downstream at speeds of 20-60 mph (30-100 kph), destroying homes and anything else in its path.
The casualties of such an event can be staggering. In 1941, a huge wave caused by a snow and ice avalanche that fell into Laguna Palcacocha, a glacial lake in the Peruvian Andes, overtopped the moraine dam that had contained the lake for decades. The resulting flood destroyed one-third of the downstream city of Huaraz and killed between 1,800 and 5,000 people.
Governments have responded to this widespread and growing threat by developing early warning systems and programs to identify potentially dangerous glacial lakes. Some governments have taken steps to lower water levels in the lakes or built flood diversion structures, such as walls of rock-filled wire cages, known as gabions, that divert floodwaters from villages, infrastructure or agricultural fields.
Where the risks can’t be managed, communities have been encouraged to use zoning that prohibits building in flood-prone areas. Public education has helped build awareness of the flood risk, but the disasters continue.
Flooding from inside and thawing permafrost
The dramatic nature of glacial lake outburst floods captures headlines, but those aren’t the only risks. As scientists expand their understanding of how the world’s icy regions interact with global warming, they are identifying a number of other phenomena that can lead to similarly disastrous events.
Englacial conduit floods, for instance, originate inside of glaciers, commonly those on steep slopes. Meltwater can collect inside massive systems of ice caves, or conduits. A sudden surge of water from one cave to another, perhaps triggered by the rapid drainage of a surface pond, can set off a chain reaction that bursts out of the ice as a full-fledged flood.
An englacial conduit flood begins in the Himalayas. Elizabeth Byers.
Thawing mountain permafrost can also trigger floods. This permanently frozen mass of rock, ice and soil has been a fixture at altitudes above 19,685 feet (6,000 meters) for millennia.
Freezing helps keep mountains together. But as permafrost thaws, even solid rock becomes less stable and is more prone to breaking, while ice and debris are more likely to become detached and turn into destructive and dangerous debris flows. Thawing permafrost has been increasingly implicated in glacial lake outburst floods because of these new sources of potential triggers.
In 2017, nearly a third of the solid rock face of Nepal’s 29,935-foot (6,374-meter) Saldim Peak collapsed and fell onto the Langmale glacier below. Heat generated by the friction of rock falling through air melted ice, creating a slurry of rock, debris and sediment that plummeted into Langmale glacial lake below, resulting in a massive flood.
A glacial outburst flood in Barun Valley started when nearly one-third of the face of Saldim Peak in Nepal fell onto Langmale Glacier and slid into a lake. The top image shows the mountain in 2016. The lower shows the same view in 2017. Elizabeth Byers (2016), Alton Byers (2017)
These and other forms of glacier-related floods and hazards are being exacerbated by climate change.
Flows of ice and debris from high altitudes and the sudden appearance of meltwater ponds on a glacier’s surface are two more examples. Earthquakes can also trigger glacial lake outburst floods. Not only have thousands of lives been lost, but billions of dollars in hydropower facilities and other structures have also been destroyed.
Impermanent frost. Nepali Times.
A reminder of what’s at risk
The International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation and World Day for Glaciers are reminders of the risks and also of who is in harm’s way.
The global population depends on the cryosphere – the 10% of the Earth’s land surface that’s covered in ice. But as more glacial lakes form and expand, floods and other risks are rising. A study published in 2024 counted more than 110,000 glacial lakes around the world and determined 10 million people’s lives and homes are at risk from glacial lake outburst floods.
The U.N. is encouraging more research into these regions. It also declared 2025 to 2034 the “decade of action in cryospheric sciences.” Scientists on several continents will be working to understand the risks and find ways to help communities respond to and mitigate the dangers.
Suzanne OConnell receives funding from The National Science Foundation
Alton C. Byers does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Daniel Pastula, Professor of Neurology, Medicine (Infectious Diseases), and Epidemiology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
In a Q&A with The Conversation U.S., Daniel Pastula, a neurologist and medical epidemiologist from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and Colorado School of Public Health, explained how and when you should take action.
Should adults get another shot of the measles vaccine?
The measles vaccine, which first became available in the U.S. in 1963, contains a live but significantly weakened strain of the measles virus. This modified strain is too weak to cause measles, but it is similar enough to the wild type measles virus to train the immune system to recognize it. Most people who have received the live measles vaccine won’t need an additional shot now, but here is what you need to know:
Measles vaccination has worked so well that many people today have never seen a measles case.
Exceptions to these guidelines
There are two special circumstances where the previous recommendations may not hold.
First, if you were vaccinated between 1963 and 1967, one of the measles vaccines available at the time consisted of just proteins from the virus rather than a live, weakened version of it. Researchers soon realized this inactivated, or “killed,” vaccine was less effective and didn’t provide long-term immunity. Unless you know for certain you received the live vaccine, physicians and public health experts recommend that people vaccinated during those years get one dose of the live vaccine at some point.
Second, if you fall into a high-risk group – for example, if you are a health care provider, are traveling internationally or attending college, physicians and public health experts generally recommend getting a second dose if you have only had one.
For most adults without such risk factors, physicians and public health experts do not routinely recommend a second dose if you have previously received one dose of a live measles vaccine. If you have questions or concerns about your situation, make sure to ask your health care provider.
Except in very rare circumstances, there is no recommendation for a third dose of the measles vaccine.
Can you find out whether you’ve been vaccinated?
You might be able to! It’s worth checking. States actually keep vaccine records specifically for this reason, where you can look up your vaccine records or that of your kids. Your high school or college may still have your records, and so might your pediatrician’s office.
Should you get your antibody levels checked?
For most people, probably not.
A titer test checks the level of antibodies in your blood, and some people are asking their doctor to check their titers to determine whether they are still immune to measles. The problem is, the level of antibodies in your blood does not necessarily reflect your level of immunity. That’s because antibodies are just one part of your immune system’s infection-fighting force. Having a low level of antibodies does not necessarily mean your immunity has waned.
Other crucial elements of your immune response include B cells, T cells and other immune cells, but a titer test does not show their capabilities. For example, memory B cells might not currently be making antibodies against the virus but are primed to quickly do so the next time they see it. This is why antibody and titer tests should be used only in specific cases, in consultation with your doctor.
One example of when an antibody test may be warranted is if you are a health care provider born before 1957 and you want to make sure you don’t need another dose of the vaccine. You would use a test to see whether you have measles antibodies. But in this case you would be looking for a yes or no answer; the total amount of antibodies may not be very informative.
Is natural immunity better than vaccine-induced immunity?
Natural immunity – that is, the immunity you get after having measles – is effective. However, the downside is that natural infection with a wild virus is very risky. Before 1963, measles caused close to 50,000 hospitalizations and about 500 deaths each year in the United States, usually in children. It also caused over 1,000 cases of severe brain inflammation every year and carried several other long-term risks, such as permanent hearing loss or the wipe out of immunity to other diseases.
Measles might seem mild in many people who get it, but it poses serious long-term health risks. Bilanol via Getty Images
The point of vaccines is to create immunity without the risks of severe infection. It is basically a dress rehearsal for the real thing. The immunity from a vaccine is effectively the same immunity you get from having measles itself – but vastly safer than encountering the wild virus unprotected. One dose is 93% effective at preventing measles and two doses are 97% effective, and any breakthrough cases are likely to be much milder than a full-blown case of measles.
As part of the outbreak investigation, however, CDC and the Texas Department of State Health Services analyzed the genome of the virus causing the current outbreak and identified it as a wild measles virus. Researchers classify measles virus strains based on their genetic characteristics, or genotypes. They identified the outbreak virus as wild type genotype D8, and not the weakened measles vaccine strain, which is genotype A.
What are the risks of the vaccine?
That is a very reasonable question. Because the measles vaccine is a live, weakened virus strain, it can cause a mild, measles-like syndrome. For example, some people might have a slight fever, a rash, or some slight joint pain. These symptoms generally go away in a day or two, and most people don’t experience them. But the vaccine cannot cause measles itself, as it does not contain the wild measles virus.
Being vaccinated not only protects you and your family, but it also protects vulnerable people in the community, such as infants, cancer patients and pregnant women, who cannot be vaccinated themselves.
Daniel Pastula does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
President Donald Trump calls on reporters during a news conference at the White House on Jan. 30, 2025.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Like many other news organizations, The Associated Press maintains a “live updates” page, which posts the latest from the Trump administration in a ticker tape-like live scroll, with multiple updates per hour, 12 hours a day.
President Donald Trump has kept the ticker busy.
“Trump is moving with light speed and brute force to break the existing order and reshape America at home and abroad,” an Associated Press reporter wrote on Feb. 22, 2025.
Deliberately overwhelming people with a flood of news content is a propaganda strategy used by authoritarians like Russian President Vladimir Putin to distort reality and prevent people from clearly evaluating their government’s actions.
Trump communicates more than ‘The Great Communicator’
When Ronald Reagan’s first term as president began in 1981, several prominent political scientists noted in an analysis that a “week scarcely goes by without at least one major news story devoted to coverage of a radio or TV speech, an address to Congress, a speech to a convention, a press conference, a news release, or some other presidential utterance.”
It’s hard to believe that Reagan’s presidential communication only attracted one major news story per week, especially since he is often called “the Great Communicator.”
The 1980s had a slower, pre-digital news environment than that of the current day, to be sure. But Trump is also simply generating a lot more news content than Reagan did.
Today, Trump’s frequent press conferences, news releases, social media posts and other appearances and offhand remarks generate a constant flow of new stories and social media posts each day. The proliferation of cellphones and social media allows many people to follow the news throughout the day. People, in return, expect the president and other politicians to talk to the public constantly and often berate them when they fail to meet that expectation and go silent.
In fact, Trump is generating a lot more media content in his second term than he did in his first.
Trump’s intensified communication strategy
Reagan averaged about 5.8 news conferences per year. Trump averaged 22 per year in his first term, according to data collected by a nonpartisan group at the University of California Santa Barbara called the American Presidency Project. Former President Joe Biden averaged 9.25 per year.
Trump has already had 18 press gaggles or press conferences since taking office in January 2025.
A news analysis conducted by National Journal White House reporter George Condon showed that Trump has already answered more than 1,000 questions from reporters since he returned to office, which is nearly five times more questions than he answered at this point in his first presidency.
Reagan issued 50 executive orders in his first year in office in 1981. Trump issued 72 executive orders within his first 30 days in 2025. That’s more executive orders than any previous president has issued in their first month over the last 40 years, including himself. He only issued 33 at this point in his first term in 2017.
Trump’s media strategy in his second term appears to intensify the approach he used in his first term. During Trump’s first term, according to The New York Times, “Mr. Trump told top aides to think of each presidential day as an episode in a television show in which he vanquishes rivals.”
As former Trump aide and current host of the show “War Room” Steve Bannon said in 2018, “The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit.”
In 2025, in order to win the day’s news coverage, Trump is flooding the media with an unrelenting tidal wave of news content to dominate and vanquish the zone.
This strategy is evident in the Oval Office executive order signing events. Trump literally makes news by signing a large piece of paper in front of cameras and reporters. These events are carefully staged political theater for media consumption in which Trump casts himself as the nation’s hero protecting it from foreign invasions, diversity programs or paper straws.
Many of Trump’s executive orders are facing legal challenges, and some have been shot down by federal judges. Nonetheless, it is the spectacle of signing the orders that I, as a communications scholar, believe is designed to win the day – they are effective at generating news coverage and making Trump look powerful.
“Trump, as we know from this first month, is the most news-making person to occupy the Oval Office I’ve ever seen,” said New York Times Executive Editor Joe Kahn on Feb. 27.
President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk speak to reporters in front of a red Model S Tesla vehicle outside the White House on March 11, 2025. Pool Image/Associated Press
A strategy of control
Media scholar Marshall McLuhan famously argued in 1964 that “The medium is the message.” Likewise, with Trump, the communication strategy is the message.
Communication is a tool. It can be used to promote democracy or to erode it. Any politician’s communication strategy reveals, at least in part, how they think about governing, power and democracy. Some political leaders communicate in ways that encourage people to ask questions and use their reason and critical thinking skills to evaluate public policies.
Other political leaders use communication in undemocratic ways to manipulate and coerce, preventing citizens from using their reason and critical thinking skills to evaluate policies.
What does Trump’s tidal wave of news content say about how he thinks about governing, power and democracy?
As a media and governing strategy, I think that creating an unrelenting tidal wave of content is designed to enable Trump to attract and keep the nation’s attention on himself and – in the process, drown out other voices.
This method overwhelms the media and exhausts many Americans who cannot easily absorb so much information at once.
And the tidal wave strategy prevents the public from scrutinizing the president’s actions – because no one can push back against a tidal wave.
Jennifer Mercieca does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Elizabeth Call, University Archivist, RIT Libraries and Archives, Rochester Institute of Technology
The 1952 procession to deliver the Declaration of Independence and Constitution from the Library of Congress to the National Archives included military guards and a tank.National Archives
Some of the United States’ most important historical documents, including the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Emancipation Proclamation, are housed in the U.S. National Archives. Beyond these high-profile items, it also preserves lesser-known but no less vital records, such as national park master plans, polar exploration documents and the records of all U.S. veterans. Together, these materials stand as a testament to the country’s commitment to preserving its history.
While these crucial documents in U.S. history now have a home in the National Archives, the road to establishing this institution was paved with catastrophic losses and bureaucratic inertia.
Creating the National Archives required decades of advocacy by historians, politicians and government officials. The National Archives was not simply an administrative convenience – it was a necessity born from repeated disasters that underscored the fragility of government records. And with President Donald Trump’s firing of the head archivist in February 2025, as well as the loss of several high-level archives staff members, the organization faces a new era of uncertainty.
Documentary heritage – the recorded memory of a nation that preserves its cultural, historical and legal legacy – is essential for a country as it safeguards its identity, informs its governance and ensures that future generations can understand and learn from the past.
I am a university archivist with two decades of experience in the library and archives field. I oversee the preservation and accessibility of historical records at Rochester Institute of Technology, advocate for inclusivity, and engage in national conversations on the evolving role of archives in the digital age.
Understanding the precarious nature of historical records, it’s clear to me that maintaining, staffing and funding the National Archives is a necessary safeguard against the destruction of the nation’s documentary heritage.
People line up to view the original Emancipation Proclamation on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Jan. 19, 2004, at the National Archives building in Washington, D.C. Tim Sloan/AFP-Getty Images
Destroyed by fire
The idea of preserving the government’s records dates back to the country’s founding. Charles Thomson, secretary of the Continental Congress during the American Revolution and then secretary of Congress under the Articles of Confederation, recognized the need for proper storage of the Congress’ records.
But the young nation lacked the money and infrastructure to act. Many of the Continental Congress’ records were kept by Thomson himself for years, and while some were later transferred to the Department of State, others were lost.
Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, fires repeatedly ravaged federal records. Fires were very common in the 19th century due to a combination of highly flammable building materials, open frames used for lighting and heating, and the lack of modern fire safety measures such as sprinklers and fire-resistant construction.
In 1800, a blaze destroyed the War Department’s archives, a loss that severely hampered government operations. In 1810, Congress authorized better housing for government records, but the law was never fully executed. Instead, different parts of the government, from the Department of State to the Department of Treasury, continued maintaining their own records.
The Treasury Department suffered fires in 1801 and again in 1833, further erasing crucial financial records. The Patent Office, home to invaluable documentation of American innovation, burned in 1877, having already been damaged by an 1836 fire.
One of the most devastating losses occurred in 1921 when a fire at the Department of Commerce destroyed nearly all records from the 1890 federal census. This loss had far-reaching consequences, particularly for genealogical and demographic research.
Fires weren’t the only threat to the government’s records.
“It is a matter of common report that during the civil war, great quantities of documents stored in the Capitol were thrown away to make quarters for soldiers,” Historian and founding member of the American Historical Association J. Franklin Jameson noted in a 1911 Washington Post article.
“At a later date,” he added, “the archives of the House of Representatives were systematically looted for papers having a market value because of their autographs.”
Jameson spent decades lobbying Congress for a centralized repository. His persistence, coupled with the advocacy of key officials, laid the groundwork for future action.
These repeated disasters illuminated a glaring issue: The federal government lacked a centralized, protected repository to safeguard its records.
Finding a home
Momentum for a dedicated archives building gained traction in the late 19th century. In 1903, a bipartisan bill passed Congress giving the OK to purchase land in Washington, D.C., for a Hall of Records.
But the legislation didn’t lead to any action. Government records remained scattered, vulnerable and neglected. That same year, Congress authorized that any records not needed for daily business be transferred to the Library of Congress.
In 1912, President William H. Taft issued executive order 1499, aptly named Disposal of Useless Papers, requiring agencies to consult the librarian of Congress before disposing of documents.
This established a formal review process for government document disposal, but agencies still discarded records, often haphazardly, until stricter records management laws were enacted.
In 1926, Congress passed the Public Buildings Act, authorizing construction of an archives facility in Washington, D.C. Departing president Herbert Hoover laid the cornerstone of the new building on Feb. 20, 1933. He then deposited facsimiles of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, an American flag and daily newspapers from that day underneath the cornerstone.
Growth and standardization
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who took office two weeks later, was himself a meticulous record-keeper. He understood the importance of historical preservation. Roosevelt kept all of his personal and presidential records and books in a fire-safe space he built on his Hyde Park, New York, property, which he donated to the government after he died. This building and the materials inside became part of the National Archives as the first U.S. presidential library.
The National Archives, an independent agency, was officially established under Roosevelt in the 1934 National Archives Act. The head archivist was to be appointed by the president. The first archivist, Robert D.W. Connor, took office that year with a mandate to organize, preserve and make accessible the nation’s records.
Initially, the National Archives was simply a building – an impressive neoclassical structure in Washington, D.C., that opened in 1935. The very first records deposited there came from three World War I-era regulatory agencies – the U.S. Food Administration, the Sugar Equalization Board and the U.S. Grain Corporation.
Initially, the Archives lacked a formalized records management program. There were no clear guidelines on what to keep and what to discard, so agencies made their own decisions. This led to inconsistent preservation.
The creation of the first federal records administration program in 1941, together with the 1943 Records Disposal Act, codified things. These policies granted the National Archives authority to establish a structured approach to determining which records held historical value and should be preserved, while allowing for the responsible disposal of other documents.
A 1950 law gave the National Archives more power to decide what should be kept and what could be discarded, creating a more organized and accountable system for preserving the nation’s history.
As the volume of records increased and their formats changed, the archives adapted. By 2014, amendments to the Federal Records Act explicitly included electronic records, recognizing the shift toward digital documentation.
Stacks at the National Archives in Washington in 1950, where rare photographs and national records are ordered and stored. Three Lions/Getty Images
Ensuring accountability
Beyond mere storage, the National Archives plays a vital role in upholding democracy.
It ensures transparency by preserving government accountability, preventing manipulation or loss of records that could distort historical truth. The National Archives also provides public access to documents that shape civic awareness and historical knowledge, from the Declaration of Independence to declassified government files.
In an era of digital misinformation and contested narratives, the National Archives stands as a guardian of primary sources. Its existence reminds the nation that history is not a matter of convenience, but a cornerstone of informed governance.
Elizabeth Call is a member of the Society of American Archivists.
Social media is a complex environment that presents both opportunities and threats for adolescents, with self-expression and emotional support on the one hand and body-shaming, cyberbullying and addictive behaviors on the other. This complexity underscores the challenge to regulating teen social media use, but it also points to another avenue for protecting young people online: how social media platforms are designed.
The growing debate around teen social media use has intensified, with recent bipartisan policy efforts in the U.S., such as the Kids Online Safety Act, seeking to protect young people from digital harms. These efforts reflect legitimate concerns. However, broad restrictions on social media could also limit benefits for teens, throwing the baby out with the bath water.
I am a researcher who studies online safety and digital well-being. My recent work with colleagues in computer scientist Pamela Wisniewski’s Socio-Technical Interaction Research Lab underscores a critical point: social media is neither inherently harmful nor entirely beneficial. It is a tool shaped by its design, how teens use it, and the context of their experiences.
In other words, social media’s impact is shaped by its affordances – how platforms are designed and what they enable users to do or constrain them from doing. Some features foster connection while others amplify harms.
As society moves toward practical solutions for online safety, it is important to use evidence-based research on how these features shape teens’ social media experiences and how they could be redesigned to be age appropriate for young people. It’s also important to incorporate teens’ perspectives to pinpoint what policies and design choices should be made to protect young people using social media.
My colleagues and I analyzed over 2,000 posts from teens ages 15-17 on an online peer-support platform. Teens openly discussed their experiences with popular social media platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat and TikTok. Their voices highlight a potential path forward: focusing on safety by design – an approach that improves platform features to amplify benefits and mitigate harms. This approach respects young people’s agency while prioritizing their digital well-being.
What teens say about social media
While social media’s worst outcomes such as cyberbullying or mental health crises are often in the spotlight, our research shows that teens’ experiences are far more nuanced. Instead, platforms enable diverse outcomes depending on their features and design.
Teens commonly described negative experiences involving social drama, cyberbullying and privacy violations. For example, Instagram was a focal point for body-shaming and self-esteem issues, driven by its emphasis on curated visual content. Facebook triggered complaints about privacy violations, such as parents sharing private information without teens’ consent. Snapchat, meanwhile, exposed teens to risky interactions due to its ephemeral messaging, which fosters intimate but potentially unsafe connections.
Research – and teens themselves – indicates that social media has negative and positive effects on young people.
Platforms such as Snapchat and WhatsApp were key spaces for seeking connection, enabling teens to build relationships and find emotional support. Snapchat, in particular, was the go-to platform for fostering close personal connections, while YouTube empowered teens to promote their creativity and identity by sharing videos.
Many praised Instagram and Snapchat for providing inspiration, distraction or emotional relief during stressful times. Teens also used social media to seek information, turning to YouTube and Twitter to learn new things, verify information or troubleshoot technical problems.
These findings underscore a critical insight: Platform design matters. Features such as algorithms, privacy controls and content-sharing mechanisms directly shape how teens experience social media. These findings further question the perception of social media as a purely negative force. Instead, teens’ experiences highlight its dual nature: a space for both risk and opportunity.
Key to safer social media
The concept of affordances – design and features – helps explain why teens’ experiences differ across platforms and provides a path toward safer design. For example, Instagram’s affordances such as image sharing and algorithmic content promotion amplify social comparison, leading to body-shaming and self-esteem issues. Snapchat’s affordances, such as ephemeral messaging and visibility of “best friends,” encourage personal connections but can foster risky interactions. Meanwhile, YouTube’s affordances, such as easy content creation and discovery, promote self-expression but can contribute to time-management struggles due to its endless scroll design.
By understanding these platform-specific designs and features, it is possible to mitigate risks without losing the benefits. For example, Facebook could allow for appropriate levels of parental oversight of teen accounts while preserving privacy. Instagram could reduce algorithmic promotion of harmful content. And Snapchat could improve safety features.
This safety by design approach moves beyond restricting access to focus on improving the platforms themselves. By thoughtfully redesigning social media features, tech companies can empower teens to use these tools safely and meaningfully. Policymakers can focus on holding social media companies responsible for their platforms’ impact, while simultaneously promoting the digital rights of teens to benefit from social media use.
Call for safety by design
It’s important for policymakers to recognize that social media’s risks and rewards coexist. Instead of viewing social media as a monolith, however, policymakers can target the features of social media platforms most likely to cause harm. For example, they could require platform companies to conduct safety audits or disclose algorithmic risks. These steps could encourage safer design without limiting access.
By addressing platform affordances and adopting safety by design, it is possible to create digital spaces that protect teens from harm while preserving the connection, creativity and support that social media enables. The tools to build a future where teens can thrive are already available; they just need to be designed better.
Of the 8.7 million species on Earth, why are human beings the only one that paints self-portraits, walks on the Moon and worships gods?
For decades, many scholars have argued that the difference stems from our ability to learn from each other. Through techniques such as teaching and imitation, we can create and transmit complicated information over many generations.
So if a human finds, for instance, a better but more complex way to make a knife, they can pass along the new instructions. One of those learners might stumble upon their own improvement and pass it along in turn.
If this loop continues, you get a ratchet effect, in which small changes can accumulate over time to produce increasingly intricate behaviors and technologies. This process produces our uniquely complex cultures: Scientists call it cumulative cultural evolution.
But extensive data has emerged suggesting that other animals, including bees, chimpanzees and crows, can also generate cultural complexity through social learning. Consequently, the debate over human uniqueness is shifting in a new direction.
As an anthropologist, I study a different feature of human culture that researchers are beginning to think about: the diversity of our traditions. Whereas animal cultures affect just a few crucial behaviors, such as courtship and feeding, human cultures cover a massive and constantly expanding set of activities, from clothing to table manners to storytelling.
This new view suggests that human culture is not uniquely cumulative. It is uniquely open-ended.
What is cumulative culture?
In the early 2000s, a research team led by psychologist Michael Tomasello tested 105 human children, 106 adult chimpanzees and 32 adult orangutans on a battery of cognitive assessments. Their goal was to see whether humans held any innate cognitive advantage over their primate cousins.
Surprisingly, the human children performed better in only one capacity: social learning. Tomasello thus concluded that humans are not “generally smarter.” Rather, “we have a special kind of smarts.” Our advanced social abilities allow us to transmit information by accurately teaching and learning from each other.
Psychologist Michael Tomasello and his team ran a number of experiments comparing how human children and nonhuman primates performed on cognitive tasks, including tests of social learning. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Humans’ apparent social learning abilities suggested a clear explanation for our unique cultural traits. Knowledgeable humans – say, someone who discovers a better way to make a spear – can successfully transfer that skill to their peers. But an inventive chimp – one who discovers a better way to smash nuts, for example – can’t successfully share their innovation. Nobody listens to Chimp Einstein. So our inventions persist and build upon each other, while theirs vanish into the jungle floor.
Or so the theory went.
Now, though, scientists have hard evidence showing that, just like us, animals can learn from each other and thus maintain their cultures for long periods of time. Groups of swamp sparrows appear to use the same song syllables for centuries. Meerkat troops settle on different wake-up times and maintain them for a decade or more.
Of course, long-term social learning is not the same as cumulative culture. Yet scientists also now know that humpback whale songs can oscillate in complexity over many generations of learners, that homing pigeons create efficient flight paths by learning from each other and making small improvements, and that hooved mammals cumulatively alter their migration routes to exploit plant growth.
Once again, the animals have shot down our claim to uniqueness, as they have innumerable times throughout scientific history. You might wonder, at this point, if we should just settle the uniqueness question by answering: “We’re not.”
If not cumulative culture, what makes us unique?
But it remains the case that humans and their cultures are quite different from animals and their equivalents. Most scholars agree about that, even if they disagree about the reasons why. Since cumulative complexity appears not to be the most important difference, several researchers are sketching out a new perspective: Human culture is uniquely open-ended.
Currently, anthropologists are discussing open-endedness in two related ways. To get a sense of the first, try counting the number of things you’re engaged with, right now, that came to you through culture. For example, I picked my clothes today based on fashion trends I did not develop; I am writing in a language I did not invent; I tied my shoes using a method my father taught me; there are paintings and postcards and photographs on my walls.
Give me 10 minutes, and I could probably add 100 more items to that list. In fact, other than biological acts such as breathing, it is difficult for me to think of any aspect of what I’m doing right now that is not partially or completely cultural. This breadth is incredibly strange. Why should any organism spend time pursuing such a wide range of goals, particularly if most of them have nothing to do with survival?
Other animals are much more judicious. Their cultural variation and complexity pertains almost entirely to matters of subsistence and reproduction, such as acquiring food and mating. Humans, on the other hand, lip-synch, build space stations and, less grandiosely, have been known to do things such as spend six years trying to park in all 211 spots of a grocery store lot. Our cultural diversity is unparalleled.
Open-endedness, as a unique human quality, is not just about variety; it reflects the quantum leaps by which our cultures can evolve. To illustrate this peculiarity, consider a hypothetical example regarding the rocks that chimpanzees use to smash nuts.
Let’s say these chimps would benefit from using rocks that they can swing as hard and accurately as possible, but that they don’t immediately know what kind of rocks those would be. By trying different options and observing each other, they might accumulate knowledge of the best qualities in a nut-smashing rock. Eventually, though, they’d hit a limit in the power and precision available by swinging a rock with your fist.
How could they get past this upper limit? Well, they could tie a stick to their favorite rock; the extra leverage would help them smash the nuts even harder. As far as we know, though, chimpanzees aren’t capable of realizing the benefits of harnessing this additional quality. But we are – people invented hammers.
Crucially, discovering the power of leverage allows for more than just better nut-smashing. It opens up innovations in other domains. If adding handles to wielded objects allows for better nut-smashing, then why not better throwing, or cutting, or painting? The space of cultural possibilities, suddenly, has expanded.
Through open-ended cultural evolution, human beings produce open-endedness in culture. In this respect, our species is unparalleled.
What’s next?
Researchers have not yet answered most of the major questions about open-endedness: how to quantify it, how we create it, whether it has any true limitations.
But this new framework must shift the tides of a related debate: whether there is something obviously different about the way human minds work, other than social learning capacities. After all, every cultural trait emerges through interactions between minds – so how do our minds interact to produce such a degree of cultural breadth?
No one knows yet. Interestingly, this shifting debate over how cognition influences culture coincides with a spate of research bridging psychology and anthropology, which explores why certain behaviors – such as singing lullabies, curative bloodletting and storytelling – recur across human cultures.
Human minds produce unparalleled diversity in their cultures; yet it is also true that those cultures tend to express variations on a strict set of themes, such as music and marriage and religion. Ironically, the source of our open-endedness may illuminate not only what makes us so diverse, but also what makes us so often the same.
Eli Elster does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –
On March 19, 2025, a business meeting between the rector of the State University of Management Vladimir Stroev and the rector of the Tyumen Industrial University Yuri Klochkov took place at the State University of Management.
The meeting was also attended by vice-rectors of the State University of Management Maria Karelina and Dmitry Bryukhanov.
The heads of universities discussed the vectors of cooperation in the field of professional training of personnel in the areas of master’s and bachelor’s degrees with the assignment of two qualifications: engineering and economic or managerial.
The creation of a joint MBA program at the request of representatives of the oil and gas industry was also discussed.
In terms of interaction in the field of science, proposals were made to create a joint dissertation council for two scientific specialties.
Rector of TIU Yuri Klochkov familiarized himself with the scientific research and developments of the State University of Management, which were presented by Dmitry Rybakov, a research fellow at the Engineering Project Management Center, and Vladimir Kutkov, a postgraduate student. They also formulated proposals for the use of UAVs in the interests of oil producing enterprises.
Yuri Klochkov invited his colleagues from the State University of Management to visit the Tyumen Industrial University on a return visit to see the achievements of the university he heads and sign a cooperation agreement.
Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 03/19/2025
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
School of International Cooperation created in the structure Faculty of World Economy and World Politics (FMEiMP) Vyshki. The school launches, promotes and implements programs of additional education and professional retraining, corporate education programs and international intensive trainings for working specialists and managers interacting with foreign government officials and businessmen, as well as foreign entrepreneurs, students and scientists.
Dean of the Faculty of World Economy and International Relations Anastasia Likhacheva, opening the presentation, emphasized that the main task of the school is to implement projects in the interests of the country, to promote Russian interests in the international arena. “There is no single formula for what key opens the hearts of partners. We are glad that our faculty is creating a platform that will unite enthusiasts of international cooperation,” said Anastasia Likhacheva.
Senior Director of the National Research University Higher School of Economics Andrey Lavrov noted that last year, during the elections of the Academic Council, a formula was developed that reflects the essence of the current HSE: a university for the development of all of Russia, open to the world. He called international cooperation a priority for HSE and the Faculty of World Economy and International Relations. Andrey Lavrov is confident that the opening of the School of International Cooperation will help to realize the most ambitious goals of developing additional professional education at the National Research University Higher School of Economics. “The development of adult education is an area where we can achieve great success. I am very glad that you have become pioneers in the new wave of development of additional professional education at HSE, congratulations,” Andrey Lavrov said, addressing the heads of the faculty.
“It’s nice to be pioneers,” Anastasia Likhacheva responded. She recalled that HSE began its turn to the East many years ago (700 students currently study Chinese at HSE) and expressed hope that the school will contribute to the development of Russian-Chinese cooperation.
Minister-Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Russia Zhao Wei read out a greeting from the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of China Zhang Hanhui, in which he congratulated HSE on the opening of the School of International Cooperation. HSE was described as a leader in the field of innovation development and a university that makes an invaluable contribution to the formation of the international agenda. In her congratulatory letter, the Ambassador emphasized the role of the Academic Director of the Faculty of World Economy and International Relations Sergey Karaganov in strengthening HSE ties with leading universities in China and developing bilateral cooperation.
Zhang Hanhui noted in his congratulatory letter: China and Russia have common positions in solving international problems and forming a fair world order. “I am convinced that the school will become the foundation for training new types of specialists with cross-cultural competence and skills in solving international problems. I hope that the establishment of the school will contribute to deepening Chinese-Russian cooperation in personnel training and strengthening cooperation with the countries of the Global South,” he emphasized.
According to FMEiMP research professor Fyodor Lukyanov, the university and faculty do not move at the mercy of the winds, but strive to create and strengthen these winds themselves. Now, he added, the world is in an amazing state, when what was impossible yesterday is obvious today, and tomorrow will be completely different from what we imagine. The professor noted: international cooperation is necessary in any situation in the world, it should be strengthened and supported. Now it is important to create new connections, while maintaining the old ones. “Support for the implementation of international cooperation projects, learning it throughout life – this is what we need to exist in, this is such an environment,” said Fyodor Lukyanov.
Now, he believes, the quality of expertise is extremely important, since no high-level manager operates in a vacuum, but operates in an environment with a large volume of events and trends, where when making decisions, not only knowledge is important, but also intuition, which develops, among other things, thanks to knowledge.
The head of the School of International Cooperation, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of World Economy and International Relations for Continuing Education Yulia Belous noted: the school offers a wide range of continuing education programs, winter and summer schools for different categories of students.
The training programs are divided into four levels. The first one is “Starting a Career — Key to a Career” — for students and young professionals with 1 to 3 years of work experience. Next comes the “New Facets” stage — training in new skills for professionals with 3 to 5 years of experience, then “Time to Act” — for foreign professionals and those who need to enter a foreign market. And finally, the fourth level is strategic sessions for managers with leading experts in international relations, global economics, orientalists and regional experts who create a vision of the principles of work in eastern markets, the foundation for effective operations and competition with existing players. They are aimed at obtaining practice-oriented knowledge for work in different countries and regions.
Head of the professional retraining program of the Faculty of World Economy and International Relations “Eastern Perspective: Strategy and Tactics for Building a Business» Natalia Guseva noted that the program is aimed at developing an effective strategy for working in the East, understanding the specifics of business and entrepreneurship in these countries, as well as the practice of doing business in India, China, Japan and South Korea. This is a three-week program that involves developing one’s own projects.
A 10-day intensive programme has also already been formed. program for foreign entrepreneurs who want to work in Russia. They will learn about the peculiarities of the Russian financial and tax system, the specifics of business cooperation with Russia, and will gain an understanding of the cultural characteristics and values of Russia and its peoples. This is a program in which leading speakers and experts will speak.
Deputy Executive Director – Director of Strategic Partnerships at Innopraktika Anastasia Pavlenko spoke about the program for transferring competencies in the field of digitalization of public administration to African countries – an important international initiative that is being implemented Center for African Studies HSE University with the support of Innopraktika. She emphasized that Russia is currently one of the world leaders in the field of digitalization of the public sector, and the experience of overcoming sanctions pressure and repelling a large number of cyberattacks seems valuable for friendly countries, with which Russia is ready to exchange knowledge in this area.
Also in her speech, Anastasia Pavlenko mentioned the direction of Innopraktika’s activities to support the entry of private high-tech companies – “national champions” – into the foreign market and the promotion of their solutions in friendly countries. In conclusion, she drew attention to the high potential of international cooperation in the development of education, science and culture.
Deputy Director of the HSE Center for African Studies Polina Slyusarchuk added: the center held a series of workshops with experts and scientists from different African countries. One of the programs is dedicated to food security of countries and regions, within its framework, participants are invited not only to study the problem, but also to propose ways to solve it. The center also created a program of additional professional education on running a practical business on the continent.
Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council Ivan Timofeev noted: the concept of international cooperation is very broad and includes economic, scientific, military-technical and cultural interaction, each of which has its own characteristics. It is important to understand how different aspects of interaction, from chess to sensitive technologies, can be used as a country’s soft power, how to integrate their various elements into foreign policy.
“Your project is not an adventure, it is an initiative based on the ecosystem and human capital of HSE. Your programs will be in great demand,” Ivan Timofeev is confident.
Head of the Center for Educational Solutions and Work with Universities of the TMH Corporate University (TMH Group) Alexander Belyashin congratulated the faculty on the opening of the school. He said that in the modern world, educational partnership is an integral part of international cooperation and the opening of such an institute as the HSE School of International Cooperation is an excellent and timely decision. In turn, TMH JSC has been preparing and developing the company’s engineering potential for several years and this year, together with the Tashkent State Transport University, it created a scientific and educational center in Uzbekistan, on the basis of which it is planned to train design engineers and process engineers in joint master’s programs and additional professional education programs. He noted the high potential of the School of International Cooperation, where not only general problems will be studied, but also specific cases of bilateral and multilateral interaction.
Vice President of the Vyzov Foundation Elena Eremenko spoke about the Vyzov Foundation Prize, the international track “SCIENCE. DIALOGUE. TRUST”, within the framework of which an international assembly, seminars and scientific breakfasts on “scientific diplomacy” are held. Elena Eremenko also emphasized the desire to continue intellectual cooperation with the FMEIP on the “scientific diplomacy” track and in the line of interaction with students.
Roscongress Foundation Supervisory Board Member Dimitrios Velanis recalled that even during the most difficult periods of international relations, for example in the early 1980s, during the period of sanctions imposed on the USSR after the introduction of troops into Afghanistan, businesses, including those from Western countries, found opportunities to work in the Soviet Union.
Head of Corporate Programs for Universities at SberUniversity Natalia Konshina spoke about the case of training advanced engineering schools of Russian universities. Together with the head of the School of International Cooperation, they presented possible areas of cooperation on the international track – risks and barriers in international scientific and technical cooperation.
Anna Bessmertnaya, Chairperson of the Commission on Foreign Economic Cooperation with Partners from China of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry, spoke about trends in training personnel for Russian-Chinese cooperation and the “Start Your Business with Moscow” project for young specialists.
The presentation of the School of International Cooperation was also attended by the head of the program “International cooperation in the context of global reassembly» HSE University, Deputy Head of the Department of International Relations of the Faculty of World Economy and World Politics of HSE University Dmitry Novikov. He spoke about the relevance and features of the program, its advantages.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Derby Arena is celebrating its 10th anniversary. The landmark building opened in 2015, with the aim of inspiring the next generation and put sport, health and physical activity at the heart of the city.
Since opening, the Arena has offered citizens the opportunity to be more physically active and improve their health and wellbeing. It’s not just a fitness facility – it’s a national cycling hub, a stage for top performers and a venue for major sporting events, as well as conferences and tradeshows.
In the past decade, Derby Arena has had over a 4 million visits and, in the last five years, has held over 300 events. These have included shows by top comedians Jimmy Carr, Sarah Millican, national hockey and international handball finals, and University of Derby graduations.
It was also an important part of the city’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, becoming a huge vaccination centre which saw more than 100,000 people vaccinated.
The Arena was constructed on behalf of Derby City Council by Bowmer + Kirkland – the same company that completed the new Becketwell Live performance venue.
Councillor Ndukwe Onuoha, Derby City Council Cabinet Member for Streetpride, Public Safety and Leisure said:
For a decade, Derby Arena has thrived, becoming a leading hub for fitness, wellbeing, sport, and entertainment. Looking ahead, this ambitious facility will no doubt continue to enhance Derby’s appeal as a great place to live, work, and visit.
As a centre for fitness and wellbeing, the Arena is continuing to inspire people to change their lives through physical activity.
Fitness member Dave Martin said:
I can now lift, press, push, and pull weights that I couldn’t have imagined handling before. Initially, even lifting the bar was a struggle. All of this progress is thanks to the dedicated personal training team. The PTs both challenge and support you at your desired level. At 56 years old, I’ve learned that with the right team and motivation, anything is possible.
The Arena is one of only five cycling velodromes in the country and boasts four world champions coaches.
Cyclist John Baugh is a regular at the velodome. He said:
Since our first visit to the Arena three years ago, my son and I have shared many happy hours riding the velodrome. This venue is unique, in our experience. Where else could a father and son share an interest and passion for cycling, ride with multiple world champions, under the guidance and supervision of the finest coaches in the UK?
The atmosphere on Track League evenings is superb – there’s a sense of camaraderie that is a joy to be a part of. I can’t thank the team at Derby Arena enough for their kindness and encouragement.
The facility has attracted top-flight cyclists with the Great Britain Cycling Team track squads relocating to Derby Arena in 2022 while their usual home, the National Cycling Centre in Manchester, was renovated. Team GB’s track cyclists won one gold, three silver and four bronze medals at the Paris Olympics
The Arena hosted the British University and College Sport (BUCS) cycling championships for the first time. Joe O’Loughlin, event organiser for the BUCS Track Championships, said:
The first BUCS Track Championships in Derby was a huge success and we received amazing feedback, with members experiences overwhelmingly positive. We look forward to making next year even bigger and better and continuing to provide a platform where student riders can display their immense talent.
The Arena is an important sporting centre for Derbyshire’s young people, as home to Derbyshire Institute of Sport. DIS provides bespoke support services to individual athletes, sports teams and club members to enable them to achieve success.
Managing director Chloe Maudsley said:
We are proud to be hosted at the iconic Derby Arena, where we can deliver exceptional sports science, accessible to all the young athletes of Derbyshire. Together, we are showcasing that Derby can compete with the best in the world.
The cast of Cinderella outside the Arena
Beyond sport, Derby Arena has become a key entertainment venue, and has hosted Derby LIVE and Little Wolf Entertainment’s much-loved pantomimes since it opened. Last year’s Cinderella was Derby’s highest grossing panto ever, enjoyed by almost 40,000 people with sparkling reviews from audiences. The award-winning team will be back this year with Dick Whittington.
Further exciting shows coming up this year include comedy from Jimmy Carr and Al Murray, the mind-blowing family show Jurassic Earth and music from world-renowned acts celebrating the sounds of Taylor Swift, Tina Turner and Elvis, to name a few.
The Arena team will be celebrating the landmark 10th anniversary throughout the year with a host of events and activities, including Les Mills fitness launches, our popular family Fun-Fest, Cycle-Fest and other local, regional and national events.
Look out for the upcoming National Track Series Cycle Championships, the England Boxing National Amateur Championship Finals in April and, in September, the UK’s first full DEKA FIT competition – billed as ‘the ultimate fitness test’.
CHICAGO, March 19, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The SBB Research Group Foundation named Eric Sun, a recipient of its STEM scholarship. The $2,500 award empowers students to create value for society by pursuing higher learning through interdisciplinary combinations of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
Eric Sun, a sophomore, is pursuing a dual BA/MS in Physics and a BSE in Computer Science at the University of Pennsylvania. Eric also conducted significant research at Yale, eventually publishing and presenting his work at MIT. He is the director of a coding nonprofit that serves over 2,000 students in rural areas and partners with organizations to teach skills like machine learning and programming.
“Eric is dedicated not only to his studies but to the academic access of so many others. It’s exciting to support a student who will impact others in this way,” said Matt Aven, co-founder and board member of the SBB Research Group Foundation.
For eligibility criteria and more information on the Foundation’s STEM scholarship, please visit http://www.sbbscholarship.org.
About the SBB Research Group Foundation
The SBB Research Group Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that furthers the philanthropic mission of SBB Research Group LLC (SBBRG), a Chicago-based investment management firm led by Sam Barnett, Ph.D., and Matt Aven. The Foundation sponsors the SBB Research Group Foundation STEM Scholarship, supporting students pursuing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) degrees. In addition to its scholarship program, the Foundation provides grants to support ambitious organizations solving unmet needs with thoughtful, long-term strategies.
Contact: Erin Noonan Organization: SBB Research Group Foundation Email: scholarship@sbbrg.org Address: 450 Skokie Blvd, Building 600, Northbrook, IL 60062 United States Phone: 1-847-656-1111 Website: https://www.sbbscholarship.com/
