Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
The sports and technical creativity club “Extreme” took part in the final of the Karelia Rally Cup – the legendary race “White Nights”, which took place in the Lakhdenpokhsky district of the Republic of Karelia. In the team standings, the polytechnicians were awarded bronze medals.
The competition was held on roads that had never been used as race tracks before. The new tracks became a real test of strength for the pilots and equipment. The mechanics also had to face various difficulties: on narrow rocky special stages, which were washed away by rain on the second day, not all athletes managed to find a balance between speed and caution.
Three Extreme crews reached the finish line. In the 2000N category, bronze medals were won by Andrey Zhukovsky and Konstantin Mukhamendrikov in a Ford Fiesta, despite the fact that the crew overcame the last special stages with serious problems.
Getting there somehow is better than dropping out of the race, the crew members sum up briefly.
IMMiT 2022 graduate Danil Kolpin and Valery Smirnov earned credit points in the 1600N category on a VAZ-2108. The Polytechnicians assembled the car on the basis of the KSTT from a bare body.
On the first day, the brakes created problems, on the second day, the electrics and gearbox. On such roads, the power steering was sorely lacking. The development vector is clear, we will improve the car and next time we will drive much more effectively, – shared Danil Kolpin.
Pavel Alekseev and IE student Mikhail Krasovitsky were one step away from winning medals in a Renault Logan in the Standard category, which is intended for cars without serious sports modifications.
On the very first special stage, a couple of turns from the finish, we hit the fuel tank and tore off the fuel pump. We got to the service station on a rope and spent the rest of the first day searching for and fixing the problem. We started the second day in eighth place with a big time penalty, we didn’t finish any special stage lower than third place, but, alas, we couldn’t make up the rest of the penalty minutes. In the end, we were fourth. For a fully factory “Logan”, this is an excellent result, but we strive for the best, – said Mikhail Krasovitsky.
It was a tough race for the Polytechnicians. In such conditions, it is important not to give up, to continue the fight to reach the finish. It is impossible to win if you do not reach the end. This is probably our main principle of the team, – commented the team leader, mechanic of the Department of Transport and Mechanization of SPbPU Sergey Korovay.
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
The partnership combines Secarna’s OligoCreator®technologywith Vect-Horus’ VECTrans®platform to enable systemic delivery of oligonucleotide therapies across the blood-brain barrier
This collaboration marks a strategic step for both companies in expanding their presence in targeted delivery and CNS indications, uniting complementary expertise in RNA therapeutics and advanced delivery technologies
This strategic agreement unlocks new potential treatments for neurodegenerative and other CNS disorders and delivering solutions that truly impact patient lives
Martinsried, Germany, and Marseille, France, July 10, 2025 – Secarna Pharmaceuticals GmbH & Co. KG, a company redefining the discovery and development of best-in-class oligonucleotide therapeutics, and Vect-Horus, an expert in the design and development of molecular vectors to facilitate targeted delivery of therapeutic molecules and imaging agents, today announced that the companies have entered into a strategic research collaboration to develop RNA-targeted therapeutics capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to address diseases of the central nervous system (CNS).
The partnership will combine Vect-Horus’ expertise and delivery technology platform, VECTrans®, a versatile delivery system focused on shuttling therapeutic or imaging payloads across biological barriers, with Secarna’s proprietary OligoCreator® oligonucleotide discovery platform. The combination of these two technologies will expand Secarna’s targeted delivery portfolio, offering a novel approach that could potentially transform the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.
“This partnership brings together two complementary platforms to address one of the most challenging aspects of CNS drug development – effective, targeted, and systemic delivery across the blood-brain barrier,” said Konstantin Petropoulos, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Secarna Pharmaceuticals. “Our collaboration with Vect-Horus, whose VECTrans® technology has earned major recognition in the world, marks a significant step in our strategic expansion into targeted delivery in the context of CNS diseases, unlocking new possibilities for treating neurodegenerative and other CNS disorders and delivering solutions that truly impact patient lives.”
“We are pleased to collaborate with Secarna Pharmaceuticals” said Alexandre Tokay, co-founder and CEO of Vect-Horus. “By combining our VECTrans® delivery platform with Secarna’s OligoCreator® technology, we aim to advance RNA-targeted therapies for CNS disorders. This research collaboration represents a unique opportunity to overcome the long-standing delivery challenges through the blood-brain barrier and bring forward innovative treatment options for patients who today have limited and ineffective treatment options”
With over 20 years of expertise Vect-Horus’ VECTrans® platform uses engineered peptide and single-domain, heavy chain-only (VHH) antibody vectors to shuttle therapeutic or imaging payloads—ranging from small molecules and oligonucleotides to proteins—across biological barriers like the blood–brain barrier via receptor-mediated transport. This approach enables efficient targeting of specific cells or tissues (e.g., the CNS or tumors) while enhancing pharmacokinetics and minimizing off-target effects. VECTrans® has been validated in multiple preclinical animal models for a variety of diseases. In addition, the platform has one partnered program in the clinical stage targeting glioblastoma multiforme and pancreatic cancer.
Secarna’s AI-empowered OligoCreator® platform unites multiple delivery solutions with safety and efficacy assessment tools to rapidly discover and refine highly effective and safe oligonucleotide therapies. This powerful integration enhances Secarna’s ability to address diseases once considered untreatable, reinforcing the platform’s critical role in driving the next generation of medical innovation.
About Secarna Pharmaceuticals Secarna Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company redefining the discovery and development of best-in-class oligonucleotide therapeutics, offering hope to patients facing conditions that are beyond the reach of current approaches and modalities. With the Company’s proprietary AI-empowered OligoCreator® platform, which includes multiple delivery technologies, Secarna identifies and characterizes oligonucleotide therapeutics with unparalleled speed and excellent safety and efficacy. By delivering these novel therapeutics to the cells, organs, or tissues where they are needed, targeted oligonucleotide therapies have the potential to revolutionize treatments for a wide range of difficult-to-treat disorders. Secarna’s unique ‘OligoCreator®’ platform is leveraged to transform untreatable conditions into treatable ones, profoundly changing the future of medicine. www.secarna.com
About Vect-Horus Vect-Horus designs and develops vectors that facilitate targeting and delivery of therapeutic or imaging agents to organs, including the brain, and to tumors. Founded in 2005, Vect-Horus is a spin-off of the Institute for Neurophysiopathology (INP, UMR7051, CNRS and Aix Marseille University), formerly headed by Dr Michel Khrestchatisky, co-founder of the company. Vect-Horus has 42 employees (most in R&D). To learn more about Vect-Horus, visit www.vect-horus.com.
Contact Secarna Pharmaceuticals GmbH & Co. KG
Konstantin Petropoulos, PhD, MBA Chief Executive Officer Phone: +49 (0)89 215 46 375 info@secarna.com
Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
The SPbPU Endowment Fund has opened a fundraising campaign to form two new target capitals. The initiative to create them was put forward by the directorates of the Civil Engineering Institute and the Institute of Power Engineering.
The creation of the Electromekh and Energomash and Engineering and Construction capitals will be officially announced after each of them accumulates funds in the amount of more than 3 million rubles, which will be sent to the management companies. Currently, the Polytechnic Endowment has six target capitals, and three more are being formed. The total volume of the fund’s funds by January 2025 exceeded 111 million rubles.
Let us recall that the Endowment Fund is never spent, its funds are invested in liquid financial instruments, and the income from the endowment capital is annually directed to scientific, educational and social projects, including support for students, postgraduates, teachers and their projects, improvement of living conditions in dormitories, financing of internships in Russia and abroad, support for foreign students, as well as development of infrastructure and material and technical base of institutes.
Anyone can support the initiative of the Civil Engineering Institute and the Institute of Power Engineering. To do this, simply follow the link HTTPS: //Donate.SPBSTSTE.RU/ and make a donation by selecting the desired target capital from the drop-down list.
The creation of new endowments is an important step towards the sustainable development of the Polytechnic University and the support of talented students and teachers. Join the development of your institute and support the future of the Polytechnic University!
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Georgette Leah Burns, Associate Professor, Griffith School of Environment and Science, Griffith University
Luciano Gonzalez/Anadolu via Getty Images
Last weekend, a woman was mauled by a lioness at Darling Downs Zoo in Queensland, and lost her arm. The zoo, which keeps nine lions, has been operating for 20 years and had never experienced an incident such as this.
The victim was a relative of the zoo owner, Steve Robinson, who told the media the lions were not aggressive and the lioness was thought to be “just playing”.
Although attacks like this are extremely rare, they are obviously of great concern. The incident should prompt a rethink of our approach to wild animals in captivity, and whether it’s morally acceptable – or safe – to keep them there at all.
Why do zoos exist?
Zoos, aquariums and other settings where wild animals are kept captive exist for two main reasons: human entertainment and profit-making.
Surveys show zoo visitors have a preference for large mammals such as elephants, primates and big cats.
Some animals are more tolerant of captivity conditions and exposure to humans than others. Fish, for example, seem to respond more neutrally to human presence than most other species.
But a recent study found captive animals generally demonstrate abnormal behaviour more often than non-captive ones.
For most wild animals, captivity deprives them of the ability to engage in natural behaviour, which harms their welfare. For example, free-living dolphins and whales have long-range migration patterns which require vast ocean spaces. They are also highly social and display complex communication behaviour.
Captive dolphins were once common in aquariums and marine parks across Australia. But now only one facility, Sea World in Queensland, still breeds dolphins for entertainment.
Another important welfare question is whether the captive animal has “agency” – that is, whether it can make choices as it would in the wild.
Can it choose, for example, which other animals it has relationships with? Or whether it has privacy? Having control over such decisions enhances the quality of life for the captive animal.
It’s important to note that some zoos can deliver positive outcomes for animals. Many play an important conservation role, such as running captive breeding programs for endangered species.
An example is a long-running program across several Australian zoos and other organisations to recover populations of the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater. The program has released more than 400 zoo-bred birds into the wild.
However, such conservation programs do not necessarily need to involve zoos to succeed.
Weighing up the risks
No matter how domesticated they might seem, some wild animals in captivity will always pose a risk to humans. Their behaviour can be unpredictable and, as the recent Queensland example shows, even a “playing” lioness can cause enormous physical harm to people.
Wild animals are called wild for a reason. To be kept in captivity, most animals require training so they can be safely handled. The Darling Downs Zoo incident shows despite this precaution, things can still go wrong.
But humans will, understandably, always be fascinated by other animals, and want to see them up close. So what are the alternatives to zoos?
Open range-zoos, such as the one to which the Perth elephants were moved, can offer a better option for some animals.
Another option is to recreate the zoo experience using technology. Artificial intelligence, virtual reality and augmented reality can be used to create images of animals that look and seem real.
Questions about animals kept in captivity require us to consider how much risk to human safety we accept, and the extent to which we prioritise human amusement over animal welfare. In searching for answers, we can start by asking whether we need zoos at all.
Georgette Leah Burns does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, July 10 (Xinhua) — The opening ceremony of the “Chinese Language Bridge” summer school for students from Kyrgyzstan was held at Xinjiang University in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Thursday, with 14 teachers and students from the Central Asian country embarking on a 10-day immersion in Chinese culture.
As reported on the official website of Xinjiang University, the head of the International Exchange and Cooperation Department of Xinjiang University warmly welcomed the guests and said that the university will always continue to build bridges of cultural exchanges between China and Kyrgyzstan. He expressed hope that the participants of the summer school, through classroom lessons, mastering traditional crafts, getting to know historical monuments and close communication with Chinese youth, will feel the unique charm of Chinese culture, see the achievements of China’s development and become ambassadors of friendship and bridges of interaction between China and Kyrgyzstan.
At the opening ceremony, 14 Kyrgyz citizens, speaking in Chinese, spoke about their motives for learning the language and expressed their determination to improve their language skills, broaden their horizons, and gain a deeper understanding of China’s development and humanitarian wealth.
The school’s program includes classes at Xinjiang University, master classes on Chinese culture, and visits to universities, museums and historical sites in Urumqi and Xi’an (Shaanxi Province, Northwest China). -0-
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Australia’s drug approval system is under fire, with critics in the United States claiming it is too slow to approve life-saving medicines.
Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration balances speed with a rigorous assessment of safety, efficacy and cost-effectiveness.
So does Australia really lag behind the US Food and Drug Administration? And do we need to change how we approve medicines?
The drug development pipeline
Drug development usually begins when something new is discovered about a disease. This usually involves identifying either a change in an important protein or finding a new protein involved in the disease.
When scientists know the shape of the protein, they can design a drug that can block or activate it.
Scientists will then undertake laboratory, petri dish-type, experiments to see if the drug works on the protein in the way they designed. If it passes those tests, they will then move onto animal testing and formulation.
Formulation is the step where scientists decide what form the medicine will take, such as a tablet, injection or patch. There are more than 150 different pharmaceutical dosage forms to choose from.
The final steps are human testing. This requires the completion of three types of clinical trials. Each seeks to answer different specific questions about the drug:
Phase I trials: is the drug safe? What are its side effects?
Phase II trials: does the drug work?
Phase III trials: is the drug better than currently available medicines?
At the end of the trials, a company can apply to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for approval to market and sell the drug.
Getting a drug to market is time-consuming and costly. It takes around 15 years from the initial concept and design to government approval and costs more than A$3.5 billion.
But the failure rate is high: more than 90% of drugs that undergo development never gain government approval.
How are drugs approved in Australia?
The decision to approve new medicines for sale in Australia is made based on safety and efficacy evidence provided by the sponsoring company.
Listing a medicine on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) is a separate process from approval, and is based on financial considerations and a cost-benefit analysis, rather than safety and efficacy.
The TGA typically takes 240 to 260 working days (around a full calendar year) from receiving a new medicine application to an approval decision. This is longer than it takes the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – 180 to 300 days.
Where there is a pressing need, the approval process can be faster. The first COVID treatment was approved in Australia just two weeks after it was submitted for consideration.
Then why do Americans often get medicines first?
There can be several reasons why a drug approval can be delayed in Australia when it has already been approved overseas.
First, with a population of 27 million out of 8 billion world-wide, Australia is a relatively small market. So it is not always a high priority for companies to apply for approval here. Regions with large populations such as China, India and Europe are a bigger focus for companies. This can therefore delay when they submit to Australia.
Other reasons for delays can be that the TGA requires additional safety or efficacy evidence other regions did not request, or because new information about the drug has come to light since the drug was approved overseas.
What about delays getting drugs onto the PBS?
When a drug is listed on the PBS, Australians can access the medicine for $31.60 (or $7.70 concession) instead of the cost of a private prescription which might be hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
The time it takes for medicines to be approved on the PBS has also been a focus of criticism.
The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC), which makes PBS listing recommendations to the Federal Minister of Health, only sits three to six times per year.
US Chamber of Commerce vice president John Murphy claims the PBAC takes, on average, 32 months to make a recommendation about listing a drug after an application has been submitted.
Once a recommendation is made, the minister usually takes a minimum of five months to make a final decision.
To speed up the process, the TGA does allow parallel applications for drug approval and PBS listing.
The time taken to make a PBS listing decision is reasonable, given the scheme’s overall cost. In 2023–24, the total cost of the PBS to the government was $17.7 billion. So a decision to list can’t be made lightly.
So should Australia change how it approves medicines?
Criticising the time it takes to get regulatory approvals appears to be part of a wider plan of attack by the US government. It is putting pressure on Australia to open its market to higher prices for medicines made by US pharmaceutical companies.
Australia has a world-class regulatory agency in the TGA which ensures medicines that are approved are both safe and effective. And the PBS scheme is a key part of our public health care system and the envy of the world.
The Australian government should resist any changes to the regulatory approval processes that come from the US.
Nial Wheate in the past has received funding from the ACT Cancer Council, Tenovus Scotland, Medical Research Scotland, Scottish Crucible, and the Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance. He is a fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute. Nial is the chief scientific officer of Vaihea Skincare LLC, a director of SetDose Pty Ltd (a medical device company) and was previously a Standards Australia panel member for sunscreen agents. He is a member of the Haleon Australia Pty Ltd Pain Advisory Board. Nial regularly consults to industry on issues to do with medicine risk assessments, manufacturing, design and testing.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has formally nominated United States President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. He says the president is “forging peace as we speak, in one country, in one region after the other”.
Trump, who has craved the award for years, sees himself as a global peacemaker in a raft of conflicts from Israel and Iran, to Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
With the conflict in Gaza still raging, we ask five experts – could Trump be rewarded with the world’s most prestigious peace prize?
Emma Shortis
Adjunct Senior Fellow, School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University
Nominating Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize is like entering a hyena in a dog show.
Of course Trump does not deserve it. That we’re being forced to take this question seriously is yet another indication – as if we needed one – of his extraordinary ability to set and reset the terms of our politics.
There is no peace in Gaza. Even if Trump announced another ceasefire tomorrow, it would not last. And it would not build genuine peace and security.
Trump has neither the interest nor the attention span required to build long term peace. His administration is not willing to bear any of the costs or investments that come with genuine, lasting diplomacy. And he is not anti-war.
There is no peace in Iran. Trump’s bombing of Iran simply exacerbates his decision in 2018 to end nuclear negotiations with Tehran. It pushes the world closer to, not further from, nuclear catastrophe.
Under the Trump administration, there will be no peace in the Middle East. Both the US and Israeli governments’ approach to “security” puts the region on a perpetual war footing. This approach assumes it is possible to bomb your way to peace – a “peace” which both Trump and Netanyahu understand as total dominance and violent oppression.
The Trump administration is deliberately undermining the institutions and principles of international and domestic law.
He has deployed the military against American citizens. He is threatening the United States’ traditional allies with trade wars and annexation. His administration’s dismantling of USAID will result, according to one study, in the deaths of 14 million people, including 4.5 million children, by 2030.
Indulging Trump’s embarrassing desire for trophies might appease him for a short time. It would also strip the Nobel Peace Prize of any and all credibility, while endorsing Trump’s trashing of the international rule of law.
What kind of peace is that?
Ali Mamouri
Research Fellow, Middle East Studies, Deakin University
The nomination of Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize by a man who is facing charges of war crimes is an unprecedented and deeply dark irony that cannot be overlooked.
Trump’s role in brokering the Abraham Accords was hailed as a diplomatic breakthrough. It led to the normalisation of relations between Israel and several Arab countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco.
But this achievement came at a significant cost. The accords deliberately sidelined the Palestinian issue, long recognised as the core of regional instability, and disregarded decades of international consensus on a two-state solution.
Israeli soldiers guarding Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. Dom Zaran/Shutterstock
His silence in the face of a growing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza was equally telling. Perhaps most disturbing was the tacit or explicit endorsement of proposals to forcibly relocate Palestinians to neighbouring Arab countries, a position that evokes ethnic cleansing and fundamentally undermines principles of justice, dignity and international law.
In addition, there is Trump’s unconditional support for Israel’s military campaigns across the region, including his authorisation of attacks on Iranian civilian, military and nuclear infrastructure. The strikes lacked any clear legal basis, contributed further to regional instability and, according to Tehran, killed more than a thousand civilians.
His broader disregard for international norms shattered decades of post-second world war diplomatic order and increased the risk of sustained and expanded conflict.
Against this backdrop, any serious consideration of Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize seems fundamentally at odds with its stated mission: to honour efforts that reduce conflict, uphold human rights and promote lasting peace.
Whatever short-term diplomatic gains emerged from Trump’s tenure are eclipsed by the legal, ethical and humanitarian consequences of his actions.
Ian Parmeter
Research Scholar, Middle East Studies, Australian National University
Netanyahu’s nomination of Donald Trump for one of the world’s most coveted awards was clearly aimed at flattering the president.
Trump is clearly angling for the laurel, which his first term predecessor, Barack Obama, won in his first year in office.
Obama was awarded the prize in 2009 for promotion of nuclear non-proliferation and fostering a “new climate” in international relations, particularly in reaching out to the Muslim world.
Given neither of these ambitions have since borne fruit, what claims might Trump reasonably make at this stage of his second term?
Trump has claimed credit for resolving two conflicts this year: the brief India–Pakistan clash that erupted after Pakistani militants killed 25 Indian tourists in Kashmir in May; and the long-running dispute between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi disputes Trump brokered peace. He says the issue was resolved by negotiations between the two countries’ militaries.
With regards to the Rwanda–DRC conflict, the countries signed a peace agreement in the Oval Office in June. But critics argue Qatar played a significant role
which the Trump administration has airbrushed out.
Trump can legitimately argue his pressure on Israel and Iran forced a ceasefire in their 12-day war in June.
But his big test is the Gaza war. For Trump to add this to his Nobel claim, he will need more than a ceasefire.
The Biden administration brokered two ceasefires that enabled the release of significant numbers of hostages, but did not end the conflict.
Trump would have to use his undoubted influence with Netanyahu to achieve more than a temporary pause. He would have to end the war definitively and effect the release of all Israeli hostages.
Beyond that, if Trump could persuade Netanyahu
to take serious steps towards negotiating a two-state solution, that would be a genuine Nobel-worthy achievement.
Trump isn’t there yet.
Jasmine-Kim Westendorf
Associate Professor of Peace and Conflict and Co-Director of the Initiative for Peacebuilding, The University of Melbourne
Although controversial or politicised awards are not new, awardees are generally individuals or groups who’ve made
significant contributions to a range of peace initiatives.
They include reducing armed conflict, enhancing international cooperation, and human rights efforts that contribute to peace.
Inspiring examples include anti-nuclear proliferation organisations and phenomenal women peacemakers. And Nadia Murad and Denis Mukwege, who won in 2011 for their work trying to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.
Trump has declared his “proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier”. But he is neither.
There has been a concerning trend towards using the Nobel Peace Prize to encourage certain political directions, rather than reward achievements.
Barack Obama’s 2008 Prize helped motivate his moves toward diplomacy and cooperation after the presidency of George W. Bush.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s 2018 award was for efforts to resolve the 20-year war with Eritrea. The peace prize encouraged Ahmed to fulfill his promise of democratic elections in 2020. Embarrassingly, within a year Ahmed launched a civil war that killed over 600,000 people and displaced 3 million more.
This week’s nomination follows efforts by global leaders to flatter Trump in order – they hope – to secure his goodwill.
These motivations explain why Netanyahu has put forward Trump’s name to the Nobel Committee. It comes at the very moment securing Trump’s ongoing support during ceasefire negotiations is critical for Netanyahu’s political survival.
They will never give me a Nobel Peace Prize […] It’s too bad. I deserve it, but they will never give it to me.
Prizes to genuine peacemakers amplify their work and impact.
1984 winner Desmond Tutu said: “One day no one was listening. The next, I was an oracle.” A Nobel can be a powerful force for peace.
Trump is no peacemaker, he doesn’t deserve one.
Shahram Akbarzadeh
Director, Middle East Studies Forum (MESF), Deakin University
Benjamin Netanyahu would have us believe Donald Trump is a peacemaker.
Nothing could be further from the truth. His record is stained with blood and misery. The fact Trump believes himself to be worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize only attests to his illusions of grandeur in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
The war in Gaza has gone into its 20th month because Trump did not use the levers at his control to bring the senseless war to a close.
Some estimates put the true Gaza death toll at 100,000 people, and counting. They have been killed by American-made bombs Israel is dropping across the densely populated strip; from starvation because Israel has enforced a blockade of the Gaza Strip and prevented UN food delivery with the blessings of America; and from gunshots at food distribution centres, set up with US private security.
All under Trump’s watch.
Trump could do something about this. Israel is the largest recipient of US aid, most of it military support.
This has multiplied since Israel commenced its attack on Gaza in response to Hamas terrorism on October 7 2023. Trump has approved the transfer of US military hardware to Israel, knowing full well it was being used against a trapped and helpless population.
This is not the act of a peacemaker.
Now the Israeli government is planning to “facilitate” population transfer of Gazans to other countries – a euphemism for ethnic cleansing.
This is the textbook definition of genocide: deliberate and systematic killing or persecution of people. Trump legitimised this travesty of decency and international law by promising a Gaza Riviera.
The outlandish extent of Trump’s ideas would be laughable if their consequences were not so devastating.
When Israel attacked Iran in the middle of nuclear talks, Trump had a momentary pause, before jumping to Netanyahu’s aid and bombing Iran. He then claimed his action paved the way for peace.
Trump’s idea of peace is the peace of the graveyard.
Emma Shortis is Director of International and Security Affairs at The Australia Institute, an independent think tank.
Jasmine-Kim Westendorf has received funding from the Australian Research Council.
Shahram Akbarzadeh receives funding from Australia Research Council.
Ali Mamouri and Ian Parmeter do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
If you watched any of the 2025 Wimbledon womens’ matches, you’ll have noticed many players donning a skort: a garment in which shorts are concealed under a skirt, or a front panel resembling a skirt.
You may even remember skorts from your schooling days, as they’re commonly offered in girls’ uniforms throughout Australia.
The skort (a portmanteau of skirt and shorts) has played a truly unique role in the history of women’s clothing. They were once a progressive item of clothing, as they afforded women the opportunity to partake in activities that would have been difficult in a skirt or dress.
Their role in contemporary society, however, is a bit more complicated.
Rebellious beginnings
The first garments resembling skorts were developed in the 1890s so women could ride bicycles without their skirt getting caught in the chains. While the puffy “bloomers” had already been invented a few decades earlier, women who wore them often faced ridicule.
Skorts were considered revolutionary at a time when men both figuratively and literally wore the pants.
Back then, they were usually a pair of loose pants under a front panel resembling a skirt. The aim was to retain the wearer’s femininity, and not offend those who thought pants were a purely masculine article of clothing.
A drawing from an 1896 patent of a ‘cycling skirt’.
The skort as we know it today, and as is seen across the sporting world, was popularised in the 1960s by American fashion designer Leon Levin.
This skirt was said to offer “the freedom of shorts and soft lines of a skirt”. The underlying message: even as women participate in traditionally “masculine” activities, they should be careful not to look too masculine.
Sport management academic M. Katie Flanagan argues women may be convinced that exercising in a skort achieves an acceptable gender performance. In other words, they are socialised to think they have to “perform” their gender by wearing the “correct” clothing.
Skorts in sport and school
In the sporting world, skorts are deliberately designed to be trendy and attractive, rather than purely functional.
One study on women golfers found they were more satisfied with their uniforms if they were happy with both the comfort and attractiveness, indicating women’s sportswear isn’t just about fit and practicality.
Skorts have historically also had class associations. As recently as ten years ago, sport skorts were an expensive item reserved for those from the middle and upper classes. Women from lower economic classes also tended to not have the time and/or resources to engage in the activities skorts were designed for, namely tennis and golf.
More recently, however, discount stores have made skorts accessible to those on a budget.
School skorts, a topic of my ongoing research, are particularly affordable at discount stores. A generic discount store skort may cost about A$10, compared to A$20–40 for one purchased directly from a school.
Some schools offer skorts to girls as the equivalent of sports shorts or as part of the everyday uniform. Other schools seem to prefer culottes as an alternative to a dress or skirt – shorts that are loose enough to resemble a skirt.
Many schools still don’t offer shorts to girls as part of the everyday uniform. Whether or not girls are allowed to wear the “boys’” shorts comes down to the individual school.
From rebellion to restriction
One 2019 review of school uniform policies in South Australia found 98.6% of public schools included shorts as a uniform option for girls, compared to just 26.4% of private schools.
Researchers Sarah Cohen-Woods and Rachel Laattoe found girls in private schools were often restricted in their choices, having to choose between skorts and culottes as an alternative to a skirt or dress.
Across Australia, all state and territory education policies – most of which came into effect between 2017 and 2019 – mandate public schools must offer girls the option of wearing shorts and pants.
However, the wordings of these policies differ widely. While New South Wales, Victoria and Norther Territory specifically mention shorts and pants must be offered to girls, Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania specify schools must offer unisex or gender neutral items to all students.
South Australia’s and Australian Capital Territory’s policies further state uniform items should be categorised by type of clothing, or in non-gender specific terms.
However, in some states, including New South Wales, schools are free to interpret the policy as they wish, which is why some only offer culottes or skorts to girls. There is generally no oversight or enforcement of policies to force schools to offer actual shorts to girls.
A similar debate is happening in women’s sports. Ireland’s Camogie Association only ended the compulsory skorts policy in May, after years of complaints by players. Dublin captain Aisling Maher said she was “sick of being forced to wear a skort that is uncomfortable and unfit for purpose”.
“In no other facet of my life does someone dictate that I have to wear something resembling a skirt because I am a girl. Why is it happening in my sport?” Maher said.
A camogie team pictured in Waterford, Ireland, 1915. The Irish stick-and-ball team sport is played by women. Wikimedia
A garment for the male gaze
In recent years, many stores have advertised skorts for fashion. Target, for instance, currently sells a tailored skort described as a “must have for any trendsetter looking to stand out in a crowd”.
There are conflicting arguments about whether skorts are progressive or regressive. On one hand, they allow women and girls to move freely during physical activities, without having to worry about their underwear being visible.
On the other, they set a precedent in regards to how women and girls ought to perform their gender, by avoiding looking too “masculine” – which makes them somewhat misogynistic.
The skort is an object of dual meanings: at once a skirt and a pair of shorts – at once progressive and regressive.
Jennifer E. Cheng 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.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology is sponsoring a one-and-a-half-day workshop bringing together international experts from industry, academia, and government organizations to identify key optical metrology needs for extreme pulsed lasers (high peak power Terawatt to Petawatt class or high pulse energies).
Goals:
Develop a list of key optical measurements for these pulsed lasers including achievable measurement uncertainty.
Identify the roadblocks preventing researchers from being able to report trusted error bars for these measurements.
Outline next steps to improving these measurement capabilities.
Generate a publicly available report from the information gathered above.
Format: A series of invited talks on extreme pulsed laser metrology needs along with break-out groups to generate recommendations. All talks are “Invited” with an emphasis on discussion. In this true workshop format the attendees will be as important as the speakers. Attendance is limited to 30-50 participants.
Workshop program committee:
Luis Miaja-Avila (Co-chair, NIST)
Paul Williams (Co-chair, NIST)
David Garand (Sydor Technologies)
Bryan Holtsberry (U.S. Army)
Hiromitsu Kiriyama (QST)
Daniel Kramer (ELI Beamlines)
Mike Litos (University of Colorado)
Marco Lopez (PTB)
Daniel Short (U.S. Army)
Boulder Courtyard by Marriott 4710 Pearl E Cir, Boulder, CO 80301 Room Block for Pulse laser Metrology Workshop
Courtyard Boulder for 173.00 USD per night – Last Day to Book : Wednesday, July 16, 2025
Please use this link to book your room
Link: Book your group rate for NIST Pulsed Lase Metrology Wkshp
Note: for questions regarding your reservation please reach out to Jennifer Ford | jennifer.g.ford [at] marriott.com(jennifer[dot]g[dot]ford[at]marriott[dot]com)
PALO ALTO, Calif., July 10, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — DeepBrain AI, a global leader in generative AI video technology, announced the official release of the Android mobile app for its flagship platform, AI Studios.
AI Studios, initially launched as a web-based service, enables users to generate high-quality AI avatar videos simply by entering text. With over 3 million users worldwide, the platform has rapidly grown and earned strong industry recognition, including a 4.9 rating on Product Hunt and being named one of G2’s Top 50 Software Products of 2025.
The newly released mobile app allows users to create professional-grade videos anytime, anywhere—no production skills or equipment needed. It is designed for a diverse range of creators, educators, marketers, and business professionals who require scalable video content on the go.
Key Features at a Glance
Text-to-Video Creation
Simply input a script, and the app generates a complete video with voice narration and an AI avatar—no editing skills required. It’s ideal for marketing content, tutorials, onboarding videos, and more. The app also supports cinematic-style video generation directly from text prompts, enabling users to produce more polished and visually engaging content with ease.
Over 2,000 Generative AI Avatars
Choose from over 2,000 avatars representing different styles, genders, and professions, or upload a custom avatar to match your brand identity.
Support for 150+ Languages and Voice Tones
AI Studios offers natural-sounding voices with customizable tone, pace, and emotion. With support for over 150 languages and dialects, plus AI dubbing capabilities, it’s perfect for scalable, localized content creation.
7,000+ Professional Templates
Prebuilt templates tailored to business, education, commerce, and more help users create polished, purpose-driven videos in minutes.
Expanding the Global Reach of Generative AI Video
The mobile app was built with a global-first mindset—featuring multilingual support, intuitive UX, and scalable output for diverse industries. According to DeepBrain AI, the release marks a key step in its mission to make AI video creation accessible and practical for everyone.
An iOS version of the app is currently in development and is scheduled for release in the second half of 2025.
DeepBrain AI is a global leader in generative AI, specializing in video creation, speech synthesis, and digital humans. Its platform, AI Studios, lets users create high-quality videos from text without the need for cameras or editing tools.
With a strategic presence in Silicon Valley and clients across North America, Europe, and Asia, the company supports industries such as media, finance, education, and e-commerce. DeepBrain AI helps creators and businesses streamline video production and expand global communication through AI.
Disclaimer: This press release is provided by the DeepBrain AI. The statements, views, and opinions expressed in this content are solely those of the content provider and do not necessarily reflect the views of this media platform or its publisher. This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, or trading advice. Readers are strongly encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. Neither the media platform nor the publisher shall be held responsible for any fraudulent activities, misrepresentations, or financial losses arising from the content of this press release.
The government’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, Jillian Segal, has recommended universities that fail to properly deal with the issue should have government funding terminated.
In her Plan to Combat Antisemitism, launched Thursday, Segal says she will prepare a report card “assessing each university’s implementation of effective practices and standards”.
This would cover complaints systems and whether the campus and online environment “is conducive to Jewish students and staff participating actively and equally in university life”.
“Should significant problems remain at universities by the start of the 2026 academic year, as assessed by the Envoy’s report card, a dedicated judicial inquiry should be undertaken to address systemic issues,” the Envoy’s report says.
That should include “investigation of foreign sources of funding for antisemitic activities and academics at universities”.
“Universities must embrace cultural change to end their tolerance for anti-semitic conduct,” the Segal report says.
It says the envoy will work with government to enable funding “to be withheld, where possible, from universities, programs or individuals within universities that facilitate, enable or fail to act against antisemitism”.
The envoy also wants public grants to university centres, academics or researchers to be subject to termination if the recipient engages in antisemitic or other hateful speech or actions.
In the wake of the October 2023 Hamas attacks on Israelis, and Israel’s military response in Gaza, a number of Australian universities saw big pro-Palestinian protests, including encampments. At some universities Jewish students and staff felt unsafe going to classes or to their offices.
More generally, antisemitism has been rife since the October attacks, with most recently a spate of incidents in Melbourne in the last week. These included setting fire to the door of a synagogue and protesters rampaging through a restaurant that is part of an Israeli chain.
The envoy’s report was launched at a joint press conference attended by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, and Segal.
The ambitious plan is broad, also covering security, law enforcement, and online regulation among other areas.
But it is unclear how much of it the government will take up.
Asked whether the government was committed to the plan “in full”, Albanese was noncommittal.
“We welcome the plan, to be very clear. Some of the plan requires a long-term approach, some of it requires action by state governments, some of it requires action by society.
“What we will do is work constructively with the envoy,” he said.
“This isn’t something that is okay on the 10th of July, done, tick, and we move on. This will be a process.”
The plan includes embedding Holocaust and antisemitism education in school curricula.
Research the envoy commissioned found a substantial difference between the attitudes of Australians under 35 and those older. These reflected differences between the generations in media consumption and perceptions younger people have of the Middle East the the Jewish community.
“There also appears to be generational differences in the understanding of the Holocaust and its impacts on society,” the report says.
The envoy flags her intention, with the support of government, to “review, and where appropriate strengthen federal, state and territory legislation addressing antisemitism and other hateful or intimidatory conduct”.
Among the recommendations is the removal of tax deduction status from any charitable institution which promotes speakers or engages in conduct that promotes antisemitism.
The report says that from October 2023 to September 2024 antisemitic incidents increased by 316%, with more than 2,000 cases reported. These included threats, assaults, vandalism and intimidation.
Michelle Grattan 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.
The Greens had a poor election. They lost three of their four lower house seats including that of their leader Adam Bandt. This despite their overall vote remaining mostly steady. But they did retain all their Senate spots – though later they lost a senator through her defection to Labor – and they now effectively have the sole balance of power in the Senate.
The Greens last term played hard ball on various pieces of legislation like the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF), wanting to gain more concessions from the government. They prioritised issues such as the difficulties facing renters as well as the war in Gaza.
With the government’s big win at the election, how hard will the Greens push on legislation this term, and how will the party fare under new leadership?
To answer these questions and to tell us about her plans, the greens new leader, Larissa Waters, joins the podcast.
On what drives her Waters says,
I’ve certainly spent my working life trying to empower the community, to protect the planet. And I’m a really proud feminist and I’ve been really excited by the work that I’ve been able to do on gender equality and women’s safety for the last 10 years in that portfolio. But I’m a really strong advocate for a fairer society.
On reforms she wants to get done in parliament, Waters says the focus should be on delivery,
I would like for the parliament to not just spend its time as a kind of peacocking about, talking about ourselves, and actually spend its time delivering for people. I think that’s the least people could expect is that the collective focus of the parliament be about how we can help community members and nature.
We remain willing to work on reforms that will help people and will help the planet. And I think there’s a lot of people who are waiting to see how this parliament works and who are really hoping that with such an overwhelming number of seats […] the Labor Party will use their numbers in the parliament to do good things. And I think there’ll be a lot of broken hearts if they don’t find the courage to do what’s needed.
Asked about the recent antisemitic attacks in Melbourne and the broader issue of pro-Palestine protests, Waters explains where she stands.
Well firstly, can I say that the places of worship should always be off-limits for protest activity and I think that’s not a controversial statement. But can I also say that a lot of people feel really strongly about human rights and Gaza and Palestine and the Greens are really proud that we have always stood to end the genocide. And we think that Australia should play a stronger role in terms of sanctioning [Benjamin Netanyahu’s] war cabinet and that regime and for there to be a lasting peace in that region.
On AUKUS and the US alliance more broadly Water’s isn’t shy with her criticism,
We are wasting A$370 billion on nuclear submarines that actually may never even eventuate and that the US is now reconsidering their provision to us anyway. The whole thing is speculative and a massive waste of money, importantly, that makes us less safe. I think hitching our wagon to the increasingly unstable US administration under particularly the current president, is not how we make ourselves safe. And I certainly don’t think we should be taking any lectures from Donald Trump about how much money we should spending on defence.
We remain of the view, as we have been for decades, that Australia deserves an independent foreign policy, one that shamelessly puts our own interests at heart and front and centre, and is not just when the US says jump we say how high, that doesn’t make the world safer.
Michelle Grattan 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.
This follows the US company’s recreation of a “dire wolf”, which was essentially a genetically engineered grey wolf. But that project was probably easy compared to the latest plan to resurrect the moa.
I think it’s a pipe dream and there are several reasons why.
Firstly, birds are harder to “de-extinct” than placental mammals. One would need a surrogate egg to bring chicks to term, and for many moa species there are no eggs from living birds big enough to house a developing chick. In this case, artificial eggs would need to be developed.
Then there is evolutionary history. From my own work and the research of others, we know the moa is most closely related to the tinamou, a small flying bird in South America.
To get to the common ancestor of the moa and tinamou, you’d have to go back some 60 million years of evolution. That’s a lot of time for mutations to evolve in genes controlling how moa look, that would need to be re-engineered to bring back moa traits.
The evolutionary history of the palaeognath group is even deeper. Formerly known as ratites, this group includes the tinamou and lineages of living flightless birds (emu, kiwi, cassowary, rhea, ostrich) and extinct ones (New Zealand’s moa and Madagascar’s elephant birds).
Genetically engineering a tinamou or any other birds in this group to create a moa hybrid would be challenging given this deep evolutionary timescale – certainly much harder than genetically engineering a grey wolf. And in any case, this would not recreate a moa, but merely something that may look like a moa. As one critic put it, it would not have the mauri (life force) of a moa.
There are no living analogues of moa within the palaeongath group. We don’t know whether birds created through de-extinction methods would function like a moa in the ecosystem.
Moa are unique, even among other flightless birds, in that they had no wings – all other flightless birds still have remnant wings. As a start, any genetic engineering would need to target regions of the genome that control the expression of genes for wing formation. This could have unintended consequences.
Working with moa ethically
I’m involved in an ongoing project to sequence high-quality genomes of several species of moa in New Zealand to study their evolutionary history.
In our conversations with tangata whenua around the country, there has been no support for de-extinction. Iwi (tribes) also want moa bone samples and all DNA extracts and sequence data to stay in New Zealand.
A major question is whether Colossal has undertaken wider engagement. Ngāi Tahu is a very large iwi with lots of individual rūnanga (tribal councils) throughout the South Island.
My research team has engaged with individual rūnanga, and we know they are opposed to de-extinction. I would like Colossal, Canterbury Museum and the Ngāi Tahu Research Center to disclose how widely they consulted across Ngāi Tahu.
The numerous iwi at the top of the South Island are also against the de-extinction of the giant moa (or any moa) which also lived in their rohe (region). De-extinction of a giant moa would really need a South Island-wide or even national consensus before going ahead.
Ecological concerns with de-extinction
Māori have expressed longstanding concerns about not being involved in discussions about genetic engineering and the potential of bone samples or genetic material going offshore.
With this announcement, it’s encouraging to see the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre is driving the project and that there are discussions around the need to restore habitat that would be suitable for moa.
This is a challenge in its own right as there is little left. Parts of the eastern South Island were once covered in mosaics of open forest shrubland that were dominated by kowhai and lancewood, which have no analogue today.
Even if we were to bring back an extinct species and kept individuals in a game reserve, we would need to produce enough (at least 500) to avoid inbreeding and genetic drift (random loss or retention of genes in a population).
The birds would require sufficient funding for their ongoing conservation. This raises worries that money could be pulled from efforts to save living endangered species, pushing them closer to extinction.
It’s undeniable the genetic engineering technology Colossal is developing could have real benefits to the conservation of New Zealand’s endangered species. Let’s say we could genetically engineer a kākāpō so it becomes resistant to a disease. That’s perhaps a project worth doing if there was widespread community support.
Investing the money that goes into this project in the conservation of New Zealand’s currently endangered biodiversity would, in my view, be better than bringing back moa as an ecotourism venture.
Nic Rawlence receives funding from Te Apārangi Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Fund.
Director General David Cheng-Wei Wu warmly welcomed the organizers of TW Runners, including President Ming-Jen Chang of the National Chengchi University Alumni Association of Sydney, along with co-organizer Charles Lin, President-Elect of the Distinguished Citizens Society NSW, and team member Frederick Liao. They discussed preparations and showcased exquisite Taiwan-Australia themed gifts prepared for TW Runners participants. TW Runners, officially registered for City2Surf, is included in the “National Day Cup Marathon” as part of the “National Day in Motion” series of three sports events organized by the 114th Double Tenth National Day Celebration Committee in Sydney. Join the World’s largest fun run, combining health and charity—don’t miss out!
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
As is known, SKIF is a mega-science facility that has become the first in Russia and the most powerful source of fourth-generation synchrotron radiation in the world. This complex opens up the broadest possibilities for research in a variety of fields – from materials science to medicine. Due to the high brightness and coherence of the radiation, SKIF allows you to literally “look inside” a substance, obtain ultra-precise data on its structure and behavior. The implementation of such projects significantly strengthens Russia’s position in international scientific cooperation and creates a technological base for breakthrough developments in science-intensive industries.
The program created by Vladislav is a configuration database. It stores information about the accelerator devices and allows it to be automatically transferred to the control systems.
— Essentially, this is a description of a number of parameters of SKIF devices, which is then transferred to the control software. That is, my program provides other programs with up-to-date data for working with the accelerator hardware, — says Vladislav Rodyakin, a bachelor’s degree graduate Physics Department of NSU.
The work on the program became Vladislav’s final qualification work. He did it as part of a team of employees of the Institute of Nuclear Physics SB RAS, which is responsible for the automation of processes in the SKIF project and other Russian accelerators. The software was developed from October to May and took about 20 hours a week for several months. Now Vladislav continues to support and improve his system based on requests received during operation.
— I especially liked that working at INP gave me real independence. I went through the whole cycle — from database design to creating an interface, web application and integration into the management system. This is a unique experience: in the business industry, novice programmers often get routine tasks, but here I worked like a one-man band, — he notes.
Close cooperation between the scientific institutes of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Novosibirsk State University has continued throughout the history of the university. This approach allows students to get involved in real research and engineering projects already at the stage of study. And the project completed by Vladislav is a vivid confirmation of this.
— Our program at the NSU Physics Department specifically prepares students to work with scientific installations and write software for them. In my third year of study, I took a course whose teacher was working on software for SKIF — he invited me to join the team. That’s how I ended up in a large scientific project, — says Vladislav.
Today, Vladislav Rodyakin continues his studies in the Master’s program and works at the Institute of Nuclear Physics. His experience shows that a university can be not only a place of study, but also a launching pad for participation in advanced projects of national and international scale.
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
From July 7 to 21, the summer school “Cryptography and Information Security” is taking place at the Saint Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation. It is a traditional event organized by the Cryptographic Center (Novosibirsk) and the International Mathematical Center in Akademgorodok.
More than 200 teachers and students, postgraduates and schoolchildren from 35 cities of Russia took part in the summer school dedicated to the issues of modern cryptography and information security. Participants will have 15 days of work and interesting communication at the Boiling Point of GUAP: 40 hour-long lectures from leading experts from the scientific field and business, unique offers from the event partners, excursions around St. Petersburg and key enterprises of the city, training and sports games. School schedule — on the website.
The organizers and partners of the summer school are the Cryptographic Center (Novosibirsk), the International Mathematical Center in Akademgorodok, the Saint Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation, the Southern Federal University, Special Technology Center LLC, Practical Security Systems LLC, Infotex JSC, Perspective Monitoring JSC, NeoQUEST and Enseukripto-lab LLC.
The head of the summer school is Natalia Tokareva, director of the Cryptographic Center (Novosibirsk). The co-head of the summer school is GUAP professor Sergey Bezzateev.
At the opening of the summer school, GUAP Rector Yulia Antokhina wished the participants fruitful work, interesting lectures and vivid impressions
“During the two weeks of participation in the summer school, you will learn a lot of new things in the field of your chosen specialty, meet your peers, gain invaluable experience in teamwork on projects and see the sights of our beautiful city,” noted Yulia Anatolyevna.
Participants were welcomed by representatives of the event partners.
— The direction you have chosen for your future professional activity is very much in demand today. And we are interested in your support, in developing your competencies, — noted Svetlana, a representative of the company “Special Technology Center”.
— The summer school can become the beginning of such a long journey for you, immersion in such an interesting science as cryptography, such an important field of activity as information security. New professional personnel in these areas are very important, — said Elena Mareeva, Deputy General Director of the company “Systems of Practical Security”.
— This summer school has attracted a record number of participants. They are all active and interested. Our goal as organizers is to give students from many regions of the country the opportunity to try themselves as researchers and open up prospects for their professional growth. We are doing everything for this, — noted the head of the summer school Natalia Tokareva, head of the cryptography laboratory of the NSU MMC.
The students were presented with research projects that they will work on during the summer school. Participants listen to lectures, go on excursions and participate in sports activities. The topics of the projects touch upon various issues of modern cryptography and information security: algorithms of symmetric and asymmetric cryptography, issues of constructing cryptographic protocols for solving authentication, identification, key transfer, and message exchange problems.
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on July 10, 2025.
How can we stay safe after data breaches? Step 1 is to change the cybersecurity laws Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Andreotta, Lecturer, School of Management and Marketing, Curtin University Moor Studio / Getty Images Last week, Australian airline Qantas announced cyber attackers had accessed personal data about some of its customers. The company later confirmed that 5.7 million customer records were involved. The attackers targeted an
Cyber crime and real-world crime are converging in a dangerous new way – here’s how to stay safe Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jongkil Jay Jeong, Senior Fellow, School of Computing and Information System, The University of Melbourne It starts with a call from someone claiming to be your bank. They know your name. They know your bank. They even know your credit card number. There’s been “unusual activity” on
Labor leads in two Victorian state polls, but Premier Jacinta Allan’s approval tanks Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Labor leads in Victorian state polls by Newspoll and Redbridge, but Premier Jacinta Allan is very unpopular. Two federal polls give Labor big leads and a Tasmanian
Cannabinoid products may reduce total sleep time in adults with insomnia: new study Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Camilla Hoyos, Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Sleep and Chronobiology, Macquarie University Lysenko Andrii/Shutterstock You might have heard cannabis and cannabinoid products can help people sleep. Data shows one of the top reasons people use cannabis is to help them sleep. But there’s a dearth of
Planning a ‘Euro summer’ or cruise? Why another flu shot might save your holiday Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jack Janetzki, Lecturer in Pharmacy and Pharmacology, University of South Australia DavideAngelini/Shutterstock Are you escaping a southern hemisphere winter by heading off for a “Euro summer”? Maybe you’re planning a cruise through the Mediterranean. Or you’re dreaming of a white Christmas overseas later in the year. Maybe
Melting ice will strengthen the monsoon in northern Australia – but cause drier conditions north of the Equator Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Corey J. A. Bradshaw, Matthew Flinders Professor of Global Ecology and Node Leader in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures, Flinders University Sebnem Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images Almost two-thirds of the world’s population is affected by the monsoon – the annual
Earth’s ‘oldest’ impact crater is much younger than previously thought – new study Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Aaron J. Cavosie, Senior Lecturer, School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Curtin University Outcrops of shocked rocks from the Miralga impact structure. Aaron Cavosie Ever been late because you misread a clock? Sometimes, the “clocks” geologists use to date events can also be misread. Unravelling Earth’s 4.5-billion-year
Where do giant volcanic eruptions come from? New study finds missing link to ‘blobs’ deep within Earth Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicolas Flament, Associate Professor and ARC Future Fellow, Environmental Futures, School of Science, University of Wollongong Volcanic eruptions at Earth’s surface have significant consequences. Smaller ones can scare tourists on Mount Etna or disrupt air traffic. Giant, large-scale eruptions can have more serious impacts. One such event
Defence spending is like insurance – how will NZ pay the higher premiums? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Hickson, Lecturer in Economics and Director, Business Taught Masters Programme, University of Canterbury Getty Images Defence spending is like insurance – you have to pay for it but you hope you never have to use it. And the higher the risk you face, the higher your
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives shatters the church’s century-long effort to curate its own image Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brenton Griffin, Casual Lecturer and Tutor in History, Indigenous Studies, and Politics, Flinders University Hulu Reality TV series The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives follows a number of social media influencers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who rose to prominence through social media,
We interviewed 205 Australians convicted of murder and manslaughter. Alcohol’s role was alarming Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Li Eriksson, Senior Lecturer, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Griffith University We’ve long known there’s a link between alcohol and violence, but when it comes to homicide the stories behind the statistics are harder to grasp. Our study sheds rare light on what actually happens when
Thirsty future: Australia’s green hydrogen targets could require vastly more water than the government hopes Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Madoc Sheehan, Adjunct Associate Professor in Chemical Engineering, James Cook University totajla/Shutterstock Green hydrogen is touted by some as the future – a way for Australia to slowly replace its reliance on fossil fuel exports. The energy-dense gas has the potential to reduce emissions in sectors challenging
Israel’s Rafah camp – ‘humanitarian city’ or crime against humanity? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shannon Bosch, Associate Professor (Law), Edith Cowan University Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz has announced a controversial plan to move up to 600,000 Palestinians in Gaza into a designated “humanitarian area” on the ruins of the southern city of Rafah. Access to the camp would be through
Ice baths are booming in popularity – but they come with health risks Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samuel Cornell, PhD Candidate in Public Health & Community Medicine, School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Michele Ursi/Getty Images Walk through any trendy suburb and you might find a new “wellness” studio offering ice baths or “contrast therapy” (a sauna and ice bath combo). Scroll social media,
Can’t fill your ADHD script? Here’s why, and what to do while the shortage persists Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jack Janetzki, Lecturer in Pharmacy and Pharmacology, University of South Australia Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnoses are rising across Australia. But after finally getting a diagnosis, many people are discovering the medicine they’ve been prescribed isn’t available at the pharmacy. Australia faces a nation-wide shortage of methylphenidate
Medicinal cannabis is big business. But the latest clampdown won’t curb unsafe prescribing Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carmen Lim, NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow, National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research, The University of Queensland Nuva Frames/Shutterstock Australia’s key regulator of health professionals has announced it’s clamping down on unsafe prescribing of medicinal cannabis in the wake of surging patient demand. The Australian Health Practitioner
Are ‘ghost stores’ haunting your social media feed? How to spot and avoid them Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gary Mortimer, Professor of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour, Queensland University of Technology CC BY The offer pops up in your social media feed. The website is professional and the imagery illustrates an Australian coastal region, or chic inner-CBD scene. The brand name indicates this exclusive fashion retailer
NZ Post is the latest company to drop its climate targets – another sign business is struggling to decarbonise Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pii-Tuulia Nikula, Associate Professor, School of Business, Eastern Institute of Technology Getty Images NZ Post committed to cutting its emissions by 32% by 2030 (based on 2018 levels), but recently announced it would abandon its climate target. The company was part of the Science Based Target initiative
Last week, Australian airline Qantas announced cyber attackers had accessed personal data about some of its customers. The company later confirmed that 5.7 million customer records were involved.
The attackers targeted an offshore IT call centre, which enabled them to gain access to a third-party system.
The airline contacted affected customers shortly after the announcement, and sent a follow-up email a week later. The email apologised to customers and informed them attackers had accessed information about customers’ names as well as frequent flyer numbers and tier status.
The email may have felt familiar to Australians impacted by the 2022 Optus Breach or the 2024 Medisecure Hack — a routine apology, an assurance that immediate steps have been taken, and a statement that the company takes seriously the trust placed in it to safeguard personal information.
It’s an adequate response. But it ignores something that might genuinely make customer data safer in the future: stronger cybersecurity laws to prevent these kinds of breaches from happening in the first place.
How should we respond to data breaches?
If your data were involved in the Qantas breach, you might be wondering what to do about it.
The first sensible step might be to find out what personal information was compromised. Next, you might research the potential harm that could come from your name, Qantas Frequent Flyer number, and tier status being accessed.
You may learn about the risks of identity theft, account hijacking, and scams.
After that, you might want to figure out what actions you could take to protect yourself – that is, how to best secure your data. Plenty of websites offer advice along these lines.
If you are a Qantas customer, and received the follow-up email, you may have noticed a section titled “What steps can I take to protect myself?”. This part encourages users to stay alert, use two-factor authentication, stay informed about the latest threats, visit IDCARE’s Learning Centre, and never share passwords or sensitive information (stating that Qantas will never ask for them).
While these are helpful suggestions, they place a significant burden on the customer. They also imply that if our data becomes compromised, we may be partially to blame for not doing more to protect ourselves.
Is this fair or useful? Rather than just trying to protect ourselves after data breaches, we might be better off focusing our attention on why breaches occur and the legislators who make the rules for the companies that hold our data.
Does the law have an unhealthy obsession with data breaches?
It may seem that, to improve cybersecurity laws, we need to pay more attention to Qantas-like data breaches and impose bigger fines on companies when they occur. However, this is not necessarily the best solution.
As US privacy scholars Daniel Solove and Woodrow Hartzog point out in their 2022 book Breached!: “Data privacy law has an obsession with data breaches.”
Ironically, the authors claim, “this obsession has […] been the primary reason why the law has failed to stop the deluge of data breaches. The more obsessed with breaches the law has become, the more the law has failed to deal with them.”
Solove and Hartzog argue that focusing solely on the breaches themselves prevents us from concentrating on prevention.
make recommendations to government and industry about actions that could be taken to prevent, detect, respond to or minimise the impact of, cyber security incidents of a similar nature in the future.
These reforms are an important step in addressing prevention, and the Cyber Incident Review Board will undoubtedly draw many lessons from the Qantas case when it performs its post-incident review – such as identifying potential weaknesses at the offshore IT call centre.
However, we shouldn’t have to wait until an incident occurs to start thinking about how to protect against breaches. There are also concerns about whether the recommendations it offers will be put into law.
Ideally, we need legislation that focuses on prevention, not just post-incident responses. If we had laws that required companies to conduct audits, provide legally binding safety checks applicable to all relevant stakeholders, and impose penalties for non-compliance with these standards, it would genuinely improve prevention.
Revising our flight path
Our response to the Qantas breach will no doubt follow a familiar pattern: first, we panic! Then we get angry at the company. Next, we attempt to follow privacy advice – at least for a short while – changing a password or two before becoming complacent and then lowering our privacy vigilance. And then the cycle repeats the next time a breach occurs.
We don’t need to accept this eternal pattern, however. If we focus our attention on lawmakers, rather than these immediate responses we are all too familiar with, prevention becomes a possibility.
Adam Andreotta does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: United States Senator for Rhode Island Jack Reed
WASHINGTON, DC – Researchers have estimated that the bottom of Narragansett Bay is now covered with a layer of tiny plastic particles, commonly referred to as ‘microplastics,’ that is about 2 inches deep.
While microplastics are found everywhere these days, from products on the shelves to streams across the planet, experts are racing to better understand and inform the public about the impacts that these pollutants have on public health, ecosystems, and the environment.
These scientists include URI associate professor of chemical, biomolecular, and materials engineering, Daniel Roxbury, who is leading a URI research team dedicated to informing local communities about the dangers of microplastics and key steps to take in reducing plastics pollution. Roxbury’s research team was just awarded $7 million in federal research funding through the National Science Foundation (NSF) EPSCoR E-RISE Program.
Senator Reed, a longtime proponent of the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) program at NSF, welcomed the funding and thanked URI researchers for helping to increase knowledge about microplastics and better inform local, state, and national mitigation plans for plastics pollution.
“Microplastics are a macro-problem. We need comprehensive, coordinated action to help protect people, communities, and public and environmental health. Researchers at URI have been on the cutting-edge of this kind of discovery,” said Senator Reed, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee who advocates each year for increased NSF research funding and has led efforts to ensure Rhode Island’s eligibility for the EPSCoR program since 2004. “This federal investment in URI’s important research comes at a time when the Trump Administration’s attacks on higher education and federal research funding threatens our understanding of science and the world we live in. But developing a better understanding of microplastics is not a partisan issue – it’s a public health, economic, and environmental imperative. I’m proud of the top-notch work Rhode Island scientists are doing and will continue fighting to support their work with federal research investments.”
EPSCOR is designed to fulfill NSF’s mandate to promote scientific progress nationwide. Through the program, NSF establishes partnerships with government, higher education, and industry that are designed to effect lasting improvements in a state’s or region’s academic research infrastructure, research and development (R&D) capacity, and hence, its national R&D competitiveness.
Researchers and scientists at URI will use the $7 million federal grant to advance a four year project in partnership with local stakeholders and other colleges and universities, such as Brown University, Roger Williams University, and Rhode Island College, to educate Rhode Islanders about microplastics in the coastal ecosystem and develop better tracking, modeling, and research processes that help identify sources of pollution.
The research project also aims to better understand the impact of microplastics on the livelihoods of Rhode Islanders who work on the Bay or in other local coastal waters.
Last August, Senator Reed joined Save the Bay and top researchers from Roger Williams University and URI to discuss the threat of microplastics and outline steps that households, communities, and elected officials can take to better protect people from the threat of microplastic pollution and preserve access to clean, safe water. Reed and the advocates called for stepped-up research, regulation, and coordinated action around plastic pollution.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, July 10 (Xinhua) — A forum on cooperation between universities in Sichuan Province and the Volga Region of Russia was recently held at Sichuan University. Representatives of Chinese and Russian universities held an in-depth exchange of views on academic exchanges, development of specialties and joint educational programs.
Scientific cooperation was the main topic of discussion. Rector of the Kozma Minin Nizhny Novgorod State Pedagogical University /NSPU/ Viktor Sdobnyakov noted China’s impressive achievements in physical chemistry, mechanical engineering, electronics and artificial intelligence, emphasizing the value of the Chinese model of integrating education, science and production. He expressed interest in joint scientific and technical projects with universities and enterprises in Sichuan Province.
Vice-president of Southwest Petroleum University Pei Xiangjun proposed expanding scientific cooperation in the field of carbon neutrality, artificial intelligence and alternative energy through joint research, the establishment of international laboratories and the commercialization of technologies to promote the socio-economic development of the two countries.
There is a positive trend in humanitarian exchanges between universities in Sichuan Province and Russia: 37 Russian students were enrolled in the summer school of the Southwest University of Finance and Economics, over 2,000 Chinese students are studying at Kazan Federal University, and the Mordovian State University named after N.P. Ogarev created the Center for Chinese Language and Culture.
To deepen ties, forum participants proposed creating cultural and educational platforms and building effective mechanisms for cooperation.
Zhang Haidong, deputy secretary of the Sichuan Normal University Party Committee, recommended using “Internet plus education” technologies to exchange educational resources and jointly train specialists. -0-
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jongkil Jay Jeong, Senior Fellow, School of Computing and Information System, The University of Melbourne
It starts with a call from someone claiming to be your bank. They know your name. They know your bank. They even know your credit card number. There’s been “unusual activity” on your account, they say – and they just sent you a one-time passcode to verify your identity so they can assist.
You read out the code and feel reassured. Moments later, your funds are gone and the bank refuses reimbursement, citing a breach of terms because you voluntarily shared your passcode.
This is not a niche or isolated scam. It’s part of a growing pattern we’re seeing across Australia and beyond: cyber criminals are merging digital and real-world tactics in ways that make these frauds more convincing, harder to stop, and far more damaging.
It starts with stolen data
These scams don’t begin with a phishing email or fake app. They begin with data – your data – stolen in one of countless breaches, such as the latest Qantas incident that exposed the details of up to 5.7 million customers.
Sometimes the personal data has been sold through third-party data brokers. Names, phone numbers, emails, even card details are routinely leaked and traded online.
Once they have this information, scammers get to work. The phone call mimics a real interaction with a bank, perhaps with a spoofed caller ID. Victims are pressured in urgent language to “verify” their identity, often by reading out a one-time passcode that, unbeknownst to them, is authorising a transaction using their own card details.
We refer to this as a “convergence scam” – where online data leaks, psychological manipulation and weak enforcement come together. It’s a sophisticated hybrid of digital theft and physical-world exploitation, and it’s on the rise.
Devastating and personal
These scams are deeply personal and can be financially devastating. But what makes them even more alarming is the system-wide failure surrounding them.
For starters, many credit card fraud insurance policies contain clauses that exclude coverage when the customer “voluntarily” provides account credentials – including one-time passcodes – even if they did so under duress or deception.
One victim we spoke to lost nearly A$6,000 after a scammer posing as their bank prompted them to read out a passcode over the phone. The transaction was verified using that code, and the bank later refused to reimburse the loss.
In a formal response, the bank stated that by voluntarily sharing the one-time passcode, the customer had breached the epayments code, even though they were manipulated into doing so. As a result, the customer was held liable and ineligible for a chargeback.
Law enforcement may not help
Even when the criminals leave a physical trail, follow-up is rare. Law enforcement rarely investigates. In the cases we’ve seen, reports are acknowledged but not pursued. Officers don’t explicitly say the case is too small or not worth the effort, but their inaction suggests it, especially given how resource-intensive most cyber-crime investigations tend to be.
In many instances, particularly when the total loss isn’t deemed significant, victims are simply told to follow up with their bank, based on the assumption they’ll be reimbursed.
In one case we reviewed, stolen card details were used in-store at major Australian retailers such as Woolworths and Coles – indicating that a cloned card had been physically used. These purchases could, in theory, be tracked back to in-store CCTV footage. But no investigation was launched.
This reluctance to act, even when the evidence is tangible, sends a dangerous message: that scammers can operate with near-impunity.
Meanwhile, banks and regulators are slow to update verification systems. One-time passcodes are still widely used, even though scammers now exploit them routinely. There’s little recourse for victims, and minimal accountability for data brokers whose records fuel these scams.
What can we do to protect ourselves?
For individuals, the first line of defence is simple but vital:
never share a one-time passcode or security code over the phone, even if the caller seems legitimate
if in doubt, hang up and call the bank directly using the number on your card
be cautious about where and how you share your personal information, especially online through websites or social media. Only disclose what personally identifiable information you have to.
The true answer is systemic change
Banks and other institutions need to put into place stronger identity verification systems that don’t rely solely on SMS codes. We need greater transparency and regulation of data brokers.
Crucially, we also need active enforcement of cyber-enabled fraud, especially when there’s physical evidence, such as in-store purchases and CCTV footage.
Banks should also reassess their policies and procedures on how they communicate with customers. If scam calls closely mimic real ones, it’s time to change the script. More proactive education, clearer warnings, and redesigned verification processes can all help prevent harm.
The real danger of these convergence scams isn’t just financial loss. It’s the erosion of trust: in our banks, in our security systems, and in the institutions meant to protect us.
Once that trust is gone, it’s not easily recovered.
Jongkil Jay Jeong has received prior research funding from the Australian Government’s Department of Industry, Science and Resources (DSRI) and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
Ashish Nanda has received funding from the Australian Government through various research grants, including the Cyber Security CRC and Australia’s Economic Accelerator.
Peter Thomas does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Corey J. A. Bradshaw, Matthew Flinders Professor of Global Ecology and Node Leader in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures, Flinders University
Sebnem Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images
Almost two-thirds of the world’s population is affected by the monsoon – the annual arrival of intense rains in areas north and south of the Equator. These drenching rains tend to arrive during each hemisphere’s summer.
The East Asian monsoon north of the equator is the best known and best studied, because it affects the largest land area and the most people. But the southern Indo-Australian monsoon is vitally important to northern Australia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. To date, it has been studied much less.
To help fill this gap in knowledge, we analysed deep sediment from an unusual lagoon near Darwin in northern Australia. We looked at ancient pollen and chemical isotopes (different versions of the same chemical element) to look about 150,000 years back in time and glimpse changes to the monsoon. When types of pollen change, it tells us the monsoon has changed. Drier conditions favour the emergence of grasslands, while wetter climates favour forests.
Our new research suggests as the world gets hotter, the Indo-Australian monsoon will intensify and northern Australia will get wetter. This finding is consistent with research suggesting the East Asian monsoon could weaken, threatening agriculture and nature in heavily populated countries.
Location of Girraween Lagoon in monsoonal north Australia. Insert shows approximate dominant flows of the East Asian and Indo-Australian summer monsoons. Corey Bradshaw/Flinders University, CC BY-NC
The past held in a single lagoon
To examine how monsoons change over time, researchers drill sediment cores to track changes in pollen and chemical isotopes. For example, changes in hydrogen isotopes indicate changes in the intensity of the monsoon rain.
The problem is, these cores have to come from long-undisturbed lake sediments, because such places provide a continuous record of change.
To reconstruct past changes in monsoon patterns, undisturbed sediments have to be sampled carefully by extracting a thin “core” from the bottom sediments. Once researchers have this precious core, they can examine the changing proportions of pollen, chemical isotopes and other properties. The deeper you drill the core, the farther back in time you can look.
These exacting requirements are one reason the Indo-Australian monsoon is not as well understood as its northern cousin.
Fortunately, we have found one place which has kept a detailed environmental record over a long period: Girraween Lagoon on the outskirts of Darwin in the Northern Territory.
This lagoon was created after a sinkhole formed more than 200,000 years ago. It has contained permanent water ever since, and is slowly filling with sediment and pollen blown in from the surrounding landscape.
The 18-metre core from Girraween’s sediments gave us a 150,000-year record of environmental change in Australia’s northern savannahs.
It took hard work to extract the core from Girraween Lagoon.
Dipping into the past
If you walk around Girraween Lagoon today, you’ll see a tall and dense tree canopy with a thick grass understory in the wet season. But it hasn’t always been that way.
During the last ice age 20,000–30,000 years ago, the sea level was much lower and the polar ice caps much larger. As a result, the lagoon was more than 300 kilometres from the coast. At that time, the lagoon was surrounded by an open, grassy savannah with fewer, shorter trees.
A schematic showing the depth of the Girraween core and the associated time periods. Emma Rehn/Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, CC BY-NC
About 115,000 years ago (and again 90,000 years ago), Australia was dotted with gigantic inland “megalakes”. At those times, the lagoon expanded into a large, shallow lake surrounded by lush monsoon forest, with almost no grass.
At times, tree cover changed radically. In fact, over one 3,000-year period, the percentage of tree pollen soared from 15% to 95%. That suggests a sweeping change from grassland to dense forest – meaning a switch from drier to wetter climate at a rate too fast to be explained by changes in Earth’s orbit.
Some of these changes are linked to the shifting distance between coastline and lagoon as well as predictable variation in how much solar energy reaches Earth.
A connection to the North Atlantic
Huge ice sheets covered large areas of the Northern Hemisphere during previous ice ages.
Remarkably, the evidence of their melting at the end of previous ice age was there in the sediment core from Girraween Lagoon.
When glacial ice melts rapidly, huge volumes of fresh water flood into the North Atlantic. These rapid pulses are known as Heinrich events. These pulses can shut down the warm Gulf Stream current up the east coast of North America. As a result, the Northern Hemisphere cools and the Southern Hemisphere warms.
Over the last 150,000 years, there have been 14 of these events. We could see evidence of them in the sediment cores. Every gush of fresh water in the Atlantic triggered higher rainfall over northern Australia because of the buildup of heat in the Southern Hemisphere as the Gulf Stream slowed.
What does this mean for the monsoon?
All this suggests the Indo-Australian monsoon will get more intense as the world gets hotter and more ice melts.
That would mean a wetter northern Australia. It could also bring more rainfall to other Australian regions, and neighbouring countries. At this stage, it’s too uncertain to predict what an intensifying monsoon would do to the southern parts of Australia.
We might already be seeing this shift. Weather records since the 1960s show northern Australia getting steadily wetter, and less rain in Australia’s southeast and southwest.
Trends in total annual rainfall in Australia from 1960 to 2020. Commonwealth of Australia Bureau of Meteorology, CC BY
What would this mean for people? Australia’s tropical north is not densely populated, which would reduce the human impact of an intensifying monsoon.
But while our research suggests the Indo-Australian monsoon strengthens during Heinrich events, earlier research has shown the East Asian and other Northern Hemisphere monsoons will weaken. Without reliable monsoonal rains, food and water supplies for billions of people could be at risk.
Corey J. A. Bradshaw receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
Cassandra Rowe receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
Michael Bird receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Corey J. A. Bradshaw, Matthew Flinders Professor of Global Ecology and Node Leader in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures, Flinders University
Sebnem Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images
Almost two-thirds of the world’s population is affected by the monsoon – the annual arrival of intense rains in areas north and south of the Equator. These drenching rains tend to arrive during each hemisphere’s summer.
The East Asian monsoon north of the equator is the best known and best studied, because it affects the largest land area and the most people. But the southern Indo-Australian monsoon is vitally important to northern Australia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. To date, it has been studied much less.
To help fill this gap in knowledge, we analysed deep sediment from an unusual lagoon near Darwin in northern Australia. We looked at ancient pollen and chemical isotopes (different versions of the same chemical element) to look about 150,000 years back in time and glimpse changes to the monsoon. When types of pollen change, it tells us the monsoon has changed. Drier conditions favour the emergence of grasslands, while wetter climates favour forests.
Our new research suggests as the world gets hotter, the Indo-Australian monsoon will intensify and northern Australia will get wetter. This finding is consistent with research suggesting the East Asian monsoon could weaken, threatening agriculture and nature in heavily populated countries.
Location of Girraween Lagoon in monsoonal north Australia. Insert shows approximate dominant flows of the East Asian and Indo-Australian summer monsoons. Corey Bradshaw/Flinders University, CC BY-NC
The past held in a single lagoon
To examine how monsoons change over time, researchers drill sediment cores to track changes in pollen and chemical isotopes. For example, changes in hydrogen isotopes indicate changes in the intensity of the monsoon rain.
The problem is, these cores have to come from long-undisturbed lake sediments, because such places provide a continuous record of change.
To reconstruct past changes in monsoon patterns, undisturbed sediments have to be sampled carefully by extracting a thin “core” from the bottom sediments. Once researchers have this precious core, they can examine the changing proportions of pollen, chemical isotopes and other properties. The deeper you drill the core, the farther back in time you can look.
These exacting requirements are one reason the Indo-Australian monsoon is not as well understood as its northern cousin.
Fortunately, we have found one place which has kept a detailed environmental record over a long period: Girraween Lagoon on the outskirts of Darwin in the Northern Territory.
This lagoon was created after a sinkhole formed more than 200,000 years ago. It has contained permanent water ever since, and is slowly filling with sediment and pollen blown in from the surrounding landscape.
The 18-metre core from Girraween’s sediments gave us a 150,000-year record of environmental change in Australia’s northern savannahs.
It took hard work to extract the core from Girraween Lagoon.
Dipping into the past
If you walk around Girraween Lagoon today, you’ll see a tall and dense tree canopy with a thick grass understory in the wet season. But it hasn’t always been that way.
During the last ice age 20,000–30,000 years ago, the sea level was much lower and the polar ice caps much larger. As a result, the lagoon was more than 300 kilometres from the coast. At that time, the lagoon was surrounded by an open, grassy savannah with fewer, shorter trees.
A schematic showing the depth of the Girraween core and the associated time periods. Emma Rehn/Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, CC BY-NC
About 115,000 years ago (and again 90,000 years ago), Australia was dotted with gigantic inland “megalakes”. At those times, the lagoon expanded into a large, shallow lake surrounded by lush monsoon forest, with almost no grass.
At times, tree cover changed radically. In fact, over one 3,000-year period, the percentage of tree pollen soared from 15% to 95%. That suggests a sweeping change from grassland to dense forest – meaning a switch from drier to wetter climate at a rate too fast to be explained by changes in Earth’s orbit.
Some of these changes are linked to the shifting distance between coastline and lagoon as well as predictable variation in how much solar energy reaches Earth.
A connection to the North Atlantic
Huge ice sheets covered large areas of the Northern Hemisphere during previous ice ages.
Remarkably, the evidence of their melting at the end of previous ice age was there in the sediment core from Girraween Lagoon.
When glacial ice melts rapidly, huge volumes of fresh water flood into the North Atlantic. These rapid pulses are known as Heinrich events. These pulses can shut down the warm Gulf Stream current up the east coast of North America. As a result, the Northern Hemisphere cools and the Southern Hemisphere warms.
Over the last 150,000 years, there have been 14 of these events. We could see evidence of them in the sediment cores. Every gush of fresh water in the Atlantic triggered higher rainfall over northern Australia because of the buildup of heat in the Southern Hemisphere as the Gulf Stream slowed.
What does this mean for the monsoon?
All this suggests the Indo-Australian monsoon will get more intense as the world gets hotter and more ice melts.
That would mean a wetter northern Australia. It could also bring more rainfall to other Australian regions, and neighbouring countries. At this stage, it’s too uncertain to predict what an intensifying monsoon would do to the southern parts of Australia.
We might already be seeing this shift. Weather records since the 1960s show northern Australia getting steadily wetter, and less rain in Australia’s southeast and southwest.
Trends in total annual rainfall in Australia from 1960 to 2020. Commonwealth of Australia Bureau of Meteorology, CC BY
What would this mean for people? Australia’s tropical north is not densely populated, which would reduce the human impact of an intensifying monsoon.
But while our research suggests the Indo-Australian monsoon strengthens during Heinrich events, earlier research has shown the East Asian and other Northern Hemisphere monsoons will weaken. Without reliable monsoonal rains, food and water supplies for billions of people could be at risk.
Corey J. A. Bradshaw receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
Cassandra Rowe receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
Michael Bird receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
Are you escaping a southern hemisphere winter by heading off for a “Euro summer”? Maybe you’re planning a cruise through the Mediterranean. Or you’re dreaming of a white Christmas overseas later in the year.
Maybe you’ve already booked your flights and accommodation, locked in your itinerary, and started planning what to pack.
But there may be one more thing to add to your pre-travel checklist – a flu shot.
For some travellers, this may mean a second flu shot this year – one for Australia’s flu season and another to protect them in the northern hemisphere.
Why do I need another flu shot?
Protection from a flu shot doesn’t last all year; it decreases after three to four months.
So if you had your flu shot in April or May, it may no longer offer enough protection by the time you travel in July or later.
Getting a second shot will provide you with optimal protection against the flu while travelling to the northern hemisphere.
That’s why it is now recommended Australians travelling to the northern hemisphere between October and May consider a second flu shot if they’ve already had one earlier this year.
If it’s been three to four months since your first shot, you can consider a second shot.
A second shot should be at least four weeks after the first shot. Ideally, get your second shot at least two weeks before your departure, so your body has time to build up protection.
If you haven’t had a flu shot at all this year, now’s the time. In the year to July 7, there have been more than 167,000 confirmed cases of the flu in Australia.
Who should consider a second flu shot?
Here are some examples where a second flu shot is worth discussing with your doctor or pharmacist.
Cruises are a prime setting for flu outbreaks. There are hundreds or thousands of people sharing confined spaces, such as restaurants and entertainment facilities, for days or weeks at a time. This creates the perfect environment for the flu virus to spread.
Group tours and large events are also high risk. Bus tours, music festivals and cultural events bring together large crowds, often in indoor spaces or via shared transport. This increases your chance of exposure and catching the virus.
Pilgrimages and religious gatherings such as Hajj, Lunar New Year or Ramadan are also high risk, especially for older travellers or those with health conditions. These events can attract millions of international visitors, often in crowded, shared accommodation, where flu and other respiratory viruses can spread rapidly.
People who are over 65 years of age, have medical conditions, such as severe asthma or diabetes, or are on medications that decrease their immune function, are more likely to become severely ill if they catch the flu. So, if you’re travelling during the northern hemisphere’s flu season, a second shot should be strongly considered.
Which flu shot should I get?
Each year, health authorities around the world develop two different flu shots, one for each hemisphere’s flu season. The flu shots can differ, as flu strains change rapidly and different strains may circulate in different regions.
Australians receive the southern hemisphere version around March to May. And
while it’s ideal to have the northern hemisphere flu shot before heading overseas, it’s not available in Australia.
Instead, you can have two shots of the southern hemisphere flu shot – one earlier in the year and a second shot before your trip.
You could wait until you are overseas to get your second shot. But you wouldn’t be protected for two weeks afterwards, and you’d need to navigate an overseas health system while on holiday.
Where can I get a flu shot? How much does it cost?
You can get a flu shot at your local pharmacy, GP clinic, or sometimes via your workplace. Many pharmacies offer walk-in appointments, and the flu shot usually costs around A$25 (including the price of the vaccine and administering it).
If your GP doesn’t bulk bill, you will be charged an out-of-pocket cost for the consultation, and may need to pay the cost of the shot if you don’t qualify for a free one.
The (first) flu shot is free for people who meet certain criteria, such as being 65 and over, pregnant, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and those with certain medical conditions. But you would have to pay for a second shot if you’re travelling.
Specific flu shots are recommended for each person. So speak to your pharmacist or GP to discuss the best option for you.
Your GP or pharmacist will also discuss what to expect after your flu shot. This may include tiredness, fever, muscle aches, and redness or swelling at the injection site. These usually go away within two days. For most people, these symptoms are mild and well-tolerated.
Why bother?
The flu is more than just a sniffle. It can lead to serious illness, cancelled plans and perhaps a hospital stay in a foreign country. Even if you don’t get sick, you could pass the virus to others more vulnerable than yourself.
So before you finish your pre-travel checklist, make sure your flu shots are up to date.
Not getting the shot could be the difference between sipping Aperol spritz on the Amalfi Coast or spending your trip in bed with a fever.
Jack Janetzki works for the University of South Australia, Pharmaceutical Defence Limited and The Barossa Pharmacist in the Mall (Nuriootpa, South Australia). He is a member of Pharmaceutical Defence Limited, the Australasian Pharmaceutical Science Association, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, the South Australian Immunisation Program Advisory Group, the Observational Health Data Science Informatics network and the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) Insight Board for pharmacist-led vaccination services.
Wern Chai is employed as a lecturer at the University of South Australia. He is an SME for the Australian Pharmacy Council, a board examiner for the Pharmacy Board of Australia, the Australasian Pharmaceutical Science Association, Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, the South Australian Immunisation Program Advisory Group and the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) Insight Board for pharmacist-led vaccination services.
You might have heard cannabis and cannabinoid products can help people sleep. Data shows one of the top reasons people use cannabis is to help them sleep.
But there’s a dearth of high-quality research on how medicinal cannabis products actually affect sleep.
To find out more, our research team conducted a small pilot study involving 20 people. We wanted to compare how they slept after using a medicinal cannabis product, compared to a placebo.
We found a single oral dose of a cannabinoid product decreased total sleep time and the time spent in REM sleep (rapid eye movement, which is when we tend to dream). We didn’t observe any change in objective alertness the day after the treatment.
Our study is small and only measured the effect of a single dose, so more research is clearly needed.
But overall, our findings suggest cannabinoids may acutely influence sleep, primarily by suppressing REM sleep, without noticeable next-day impairment.
What we did
All 20 people (16 of whom were female) involved in our study had a clinical diagnosis of insomnia disorder.
This means they reported having challenges falling asleep and/or maintaining sleep and that these disturbances impact day-to-day functioning socially, at work, or in other important areas of life.
The average age of our study participants was about 46 years.
At our lab, the study participants were interviewed by a doctor and had their medical history taken. All participants also underwent an overnight diagnostic sleep study. This was done to confirm their sleeplessness was truly insomnia and not other conditions such as sleep apnoea.
Once the participant was able to start the study, they were asked to sleep for two nights at our lab, with at least one week between those two visits.
On one of their visits, they were given a placebo.
On the other, they were given a single oral dose of a medical-grade cannabis oil containing 10 mg THC (tetrahydrocannabinol, the compound responsible for the psychoactive effects of cannabis) and 200 mg CBD (cannabidiol, which does not produce a “high”).
Using a product with a precise, known dose ensures the results are relevant to what doctors in Australia are already prescribing.
The order in which participants received either the treatment or the placebo was randomised, so they didn’t know which one they were taking.
After taking either the treatment or the placebo, they slept at our lab while wearing a special cap with 256 monitors on it. This high-density electroencephalogram or EEG allowed us to record the electrical activity of the brain while the person slept.
The next morning, after they either woke or were woken, they performed a driving simulation test around the time of their normal morning commute.
They also underwent a test that assessed their ability to stay awake in a quiet, dimly lit environment. To track their alertness throughout the day, they repeated this test four times while wearing the high-density EEG cap. This was so we could test their alertness the day after either the treatment or the placebo.
What we found
Our results were not what we expected.
We found the THC/CBD treatment decreased total sleep time by an average of 24.5 minutes. This was largely driven by a significant impact on REM sleep (the phase associated with dreaming), which not only decreased by an average of 33.9 minutes but also took significantly longer for participants to enter. The treatment also offered no benefit in helping participants stay asleep throughout the night.
Perhaps most intriguingly, this objective worsening of sleep wasn’t reflected in the participants’ own perceptions; they reported no change in their subjective sleep quality. This disconnect continued into the next day.
While participants noted feeling slightly more sleepy after the treatment, their objective alertness – measured by their ability to stay awake in a quiet, dimly lit room – was reassuringly unchanged, as was their cognitive and simulated driving performance.
This leads to a crucial question: if a single dose produces these changes, what are the cumulative effects on a person’s sleep after weeks, months, or years of nightly use?
We simply don’t have the answers yet, especially with a medical-grade cannabis product.
A growing body of research
Our findings underscore a significant gap between the widespread public perception of cannabis for sleep and the complex scientific reality. As highlighted by a review we published in the journal Current Psychiatry Reports, the evidence base remains thin.
We reviewed 21 recent studies (published between 2021 and 2024) of cannabinoids being used for insomnia, subjective sleep impairment, obstructive sleep apnoea, rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder, and restless legs syndrome.
We found that, despite its widespread use, there’s not enough research yet to support the use of medical cannabis to treat sleep disorders.
This is why this kind of research is so vital. It provides the first pieces of a much larger puzzle.
To give doctors and patients the clear guidance they need, there is an urgent need for adequately funded, well-designed clinical trials with larger sample sizes and longer treatment durations to truly understand the long-term impacts of medicinal cannabis on sleep and daytime functioning.
Camilla Hoyos is a Research Leader within the Centre for Sleep and Chronobiology at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research. The Woolcock sleep group received funding from Lambert Initiative of Cannabinoid Therapeutics (a philanthropic centre based at The University of Sydney) for this study and for another unpublished trial in the same space. Woolcock sleep group also received funding to be a site on an industry-sponsored clinical trial on a cannabinoids medicine in insomnia. Camilla Hoyos is also a board member of the Australasian Sleep Association. This study described in this article was a collaboration between the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research and Lambert Initiative of Cannabinoid Research.
Anastasia has previously received funding from the Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics, a philanthropically funded research initiative at the Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney. She has received consulting fees from the Medicinal Cannabis Industry Australia for a commissioned review article and Haleon (a consumer health-care subsidiary of GSK) for non-cannabinoid related work. She is a committee member for the Sleep Health Week Working Party and an expert speaker for the Sleep Health Foundation.
You might have heard cannabis and cannabinoid products can help people sleep. Data shows one of the top reasons people use cannabis is to help them sleep.
But there’s a dearth of high-quality research on how medicinal cannabis products actually affect sleep.
To find out more, our research team conducted a small pilot study involving 20 people. We wanted to compare how they slept after using a medicinal cannabis product, compared to a placebo.
We found a single oral dose of a cannabinoid product decreased total sleep time and the time spent in REM sleep (rapid eye movement, which is when we tend to dream). We didn’t observe any change in objective alertness the day after the treatment.
Our study is small and only measured the effect of a single dose, so more research is clearly needed.
But overall, our findings suggest cannabinoids may acutely influence sleep, primarily by suppressing REM sleep, without noticeable next-day impairment.
What we did
All 20 people (16 of whom were female) involved in our study had a clinical diagnosis of insomnia disorder.
This means they reported having challenges falling asleep and/or maintaining sleep and that these disturbances impact day-to-day functioning socially, at work, or in other important areas of life.
The average age of our study participants was about 46 years.
At our lab, the study participants were interviewed by a doctor and had their medical history taken. All participants also underwent an overnight diagnostic sleep study. This was done to confirm their sleeplessness was truly insomnia and not other conditions such as sleep apnoea.
Once the participant was able to start the study, they were asked to sleep for two nights at our lab, with at least one week between those two visits.
On one of their visits, they were given a placebo.
On the other, they were given a single oral dose of a medical-grade cannabis oil containing 10 mg THC (tetrahydrocannabinol, the compound responsible for the psychoactive effects of cannabis) and 200 mg CBD (cannabidiol, which does not produce a “high”).
Using a product with a precise, known dose ensures the results are relevant to what doctors in Australia are already prescribing.
The order in which participants received either the treatment or the placebo was randomised, so they didn’t know which one they were taking.
After taking either the treatment or the placebo, they slept at our lab while wearing a special cap with 256 monitors on it. This high-density electroencephalogram or EEG allowed us to record the electrical activity of the brain while the person slept.
The next morning, after they either woke or were woken, they performed a driving simulation test around the time of their normal morning commute.
They also underwent a test that assessed their ability to stay awake in a quiet, dimly lit environment. To track their alertness throughout the day, they repeated this test four times while wearing the high-density EEG cap. This was so we could test their alertness the day after either the treatment or the placebo.
What we found
Our results were not what we expected.
We found the THC/CBD treatment decreased total sleep time by an average of 24.5 minutes. This was largely driven by a significant impact on REM sleep (the phase associated with dreaming), which not only decreased by an average of 33.9 minutes but also took significantly longer for participants to enter. The treatment also offered no benefit in helping participants stay asleep throughout the night.
Perhaps most intriguingly, this objective worsening of sleep wasn’t reflected in the participants’ own perceptions; they reported no change in their subjective sleep quality. This disconnect continued into the next day.
While participants noted feeling slightly more sleepy after the treatment, their objective alertness – measured by their ability to stay awake in a quiet, dimly lit room – was reassuringly unchanged, as was their cognitive and simulated driving performance.
This leads to a crucial question: if a single dose produces these changes, what are the cumulative effects on a person’s sleep after weeks, months, or years of nightly use?
We simply don’t have the answers yet, especially with a medical-grade cannabis product.
A growing body of research
Our findings underscore a significant gap between the widespread public perception of cannabis for sleep and the complex scientific reality. As highlighted by a review we published in the journal Current Psychiatry Reports, the evidence base remains thin.
We reviewed 21 recent studies (published between 2021 and 2024) of cannabinoids being used for insomnia, subjective sleep impairment, obstructive sleep apnoea, rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder, and restless legs syndrome.
We found that, despite its widespread use, there’s not enough research yet to support the use of medical cannabis to treat sleep disorders.
This is why this kind of research is so vital. It provides the first pieces of a much larger puzzle.
To give doctors and patients the clear guidance they need, there is an urgent need for adequately funded, well-designed clinical trials with larger sample sizes and longer treatment durations to truly understand the long-term impacts of medicinal cannabis on sleep and daytime functioning.
Camilla Hoyos is a Research Leader within the Centre for Sleep and Chronobiology at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research. The Woolcock sleep group received funding from Lambert Initiative of Cannabinoid Therapeutics (a philanthropic centre based at The University of Sydney) for this study and for another unpublished trial in the same space. Woolcock sleep group also received funding to be a site on an industry-sponsored clinical trial on a cannabinoids medicine in insomnia. Camilla Hoyos is also a board member of the Australasian Sleep Association. This study described in this article was a collaboration between the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research and Lambert Initiative of Cannabinoid Research.
Anastasia has previously received funding from the Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics, a philanthropically funded research initiative at the Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney. She has received consulting fees from the Medicinal Cannabis Industry Australia for a commissioned review article and Haleon (a consumer health-care subsidiary of GSK) for non-cannabinoid related work. She is a committee member for the Sleep Health Week Working Party and an expert speaker for the Sleep Health Foundation.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne
Labor leads in Victorian state polls by Newspoll and Redbridge, but Premier Jacinta Allan is very unpopular. Two federal polls give Labor big leads and a Tasmanian poll suggests Tasmanians would support Labor seeking to form a government with the Greens and independents.
The next Victorian state election will be held in November 2026. The first Newspoll since the 2022 election was conducted June 23–30, but no sample size was given. It gave Labor a 53–47 lead (55.0–45.0 to Labor at the last election). Primary votes were 35% Labor, 35% Coalition, 12% Greens and 18% for all Others.
Despite the clear Labor lead on voting intentions, Labor Premier Jacinta Allan’s net approval was a dismal -31, with 61% dissatisfied and 30% satisfied. Liberal leader Brad Battin led Allan as preferred premier by 41–36. Battin had a net approval of -5.
Just 25% said Labor deserved to be re-elected, while 59% said it was time to give someone else a go. But by 60–40, voters were not confident the Coalition was ready to govern.
The Poll Bludger said that by 59–32, voters supported the Suburban Rail Loop, but they were worried rather than confident by huge margins on four policy areas: state debt (78% worried, 13% confident), law and order (76–20), hospitals (71–25) and housing (78–16).
A Victorian Redbridge poll for The Herald Sun, conducted June 19–30 from a sample of 1,183, gave Labor a 51.5–48.5 lead, a 2.5-point gain for Labor since the last Victorian Redbridge poll in April. Primary votes were 38% Coalition (down three), 33% Labor (up four), 14% Greens (up one) and 15% for all Others (down two).
By 55–27, voters did not think the Allan government had the right focus and priorities. But by 45–26, they did not think Battin and the Coalition had done enough to deserve to win the next election.
Labor has held government in Victoria since they won the 2014 election, and for all but one term (2010–14) since they won the 1999 election. By November 2026, Labor will have governed for the last 12 years and 23 of the last 27 years. It’s reasonable to expect an “it’s time” factor at the next election.
It’s plausible that federal Labor’s surprise landslide at the May 3 election has assisted Labor at other levels of government. Normally a government with a premier at -31 net approval would be way behind on voting intentions.
The Coalition will hope that any boost for state Labor from the federal election will be temporary. There’s still a long time until the next state election, so Labor could fall back as voters focus more on state politics.
Another possible explanation for Labor’s lead despite a very unpopular premier is the infighting within the Liberals over the fallout between John Pesutto and Moira Deeming.
Redbridge and DemosAU federal polls have big Labor leads
A national Redbridge poll, conducted in late June from a sample of 4,036, was reported by The Financial Review. Labor led by 55.5–44.5, almost unchanged from the election result (55.2–44.8 to Labor). Primary votes were 37% Labor, 31% Coalition, 11% Greens and 21% for all Others. One Nation is likely to have made up a high proportion of Others, otherwise Labor’s two-party lead would be higher.
This poll gave Labor a 68–32 lead with those aged 18–34 and a 57–43 lead with those aged 35–49. With those aged 50–64, there was a 50–50 tie, while the Coalition led by 55–45 with those aged 65 and older. The Greens’ primary vote was 24% with the youngest demographic, but just 2% with the oldest.
A national DemosAU poll, conducted July 5–6 from a sample of 1,199, gave Labor a 59–41 lead, from primary votes of 36% Labor, 26% Coalition, 14% Greens, 9% One Nation and 15% for all Others. Education breakdowns had Labor winning by 55–45 with school-educated people, 61–39 with those with a TAFE education and 59–41 with the university educated.
After their landslide re-election, Labor is getting a second honeymoon in the polls. One Nation was overstated at the election, but perhaps their increase from 6.4% then reflects dissatisfaction on the right with Sussan Ley’s leadership of the Liberals.
YouGov Tasmanian poll on hung parliament options
The Tasmanian state election will be held on July 19, only 16 months after the previous election in March 2024. Tasmania uses a proportional system for its lower house elections, and polls suggest another hung parliament is likely. A YouGov poll, conducted June 12–16 from a sample of 842 for The Australia Institute, was reported by The Tasmanian Times on Wednesday.
Voting intentions were not released, but results of questions were released on whether Labor or the Liberals should seek to form a government with the Greens and independents if they were not elected in their own right.
For Labor, by 55–31 voters agreed they should seek to form such a government, including 61–25 agree with Labor voters. For the Liberals, by 48–37 voters agreed they should try to form such a government, but Liberal voters disagreed by 46–45.
Adrian Beaumont does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
A series of research findings by Chinese scientists on the samples collected by the Chang’e-6 mission from the moon’s far side have unveiled the volcanic activity, ancient magnetic field, water content and geochemical characteristics of the moon mantle, shedding the first light on the evolutionary history of its dark side.
Four studies by the research teams from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics (IGG), the National Astronomical Observatories, both under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Nanjing University, and other institutions were published in the latest issue of Nature.
This photo taken on July 9, 2025 shows a press conference held by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)
As the moon’s revolution cycle is the same as its rotation cycle, the same side always faces Earth. The other face, most of which cannot be seen from Earth, is called the far, or dark, side of the moon. This term doesn’t refer to visible darkness, but rather the mystery shrouding the moon’s largely unexplored terrain.
The moon’s near and far sides exhibit significant differences in morphology, composition, crustal thickness and magmatic activities. However, the mechanisms behind these disparities remain unresolved, representing a key issue in lunar science. Previously, scientific understanding of the far side relied primarily on remote sensing studies, scientists say.
In 2024, Chang’e-6 made history by bringing 1,935.3 grams of lunar far-side samples back to Earth. These samples were collected from the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) Basin, the largest, deepest and oldest basin on the moon, which provided a rare opportunity to clarify the compositional differences between the near and far sides and to unravel the long-standing mystery of their asymmetry.
“The SPA Basin is one of the moon’s three major tectonic units, measuring approximately 2,500 kilometers in diameter. The energy from the impact that formed this crater is estimated to be 1 trillion times greater than that of an atomic bomb explosion. Yet, the exact influence of such a massive collision on the moon’s evolution has remained an unsolved mystery,” Wu Fuyuan, an academician of CAS and a leading researcher with the IGG, said at a CAS press conference on Wednesday.
The four papers published in Nature systematically reveal, for the first time, the effects of this colossal impact, which is the core highlight of these findings, said Wu.
Over the past year, Chinese scientists have achieved multiple pioneering breakthroughs through the study of the Chang’e-6 samples.
They found the evidence of volcanic activity on the moon’s far side approximately 4.2 billion and 2.8 billion years ago, indicating such activity had persisted for at least 1.4 billion years.
For the first time, scientists obtained the ancient magnetic field information from the far side of the moon, revealing a possible rebound in the moon’s magnetic field intensity around 2.8 billion years ago. This discovery indicates the presence of fluctuations in the driven power of the lunar dynamo.
Scientists have found that the water content in the lunar far-side mantle is significantly lower than that of the near side, indicating a significant difference in water distribution between the two hemispheres.
“We found that the mantle source of basalt from the SPA basin is extremely depleted in incompatible elements, which are commonly used to reveal the geological processes that rocks have undergone,” said Yang Wei, a researcher with IGG.
This depletion could mean either the original lunar mantle was very low in the incompatible elements, or the massive impact event melted the rocks and carried these elements away. This discovery underscores the profound influence of large impacts on the evolution of the moon’s deep interior, Yang said.
“The new discovery marks humanity’s first direct access to key evidence of the deep interior material properties on the far side of the moon. It provides us with unique information to understand how the moon’s early interior became layered, cooled and evolved, representing a crucial step toward unraveling the mystery behind the dramatic differences between the lunar near and far sides,” said Li Chunlai, a researcher at the National Astronomical Observatories of CAS and deputy chief designer of the Chang’e-6 mission.
Additionally, Chinese scientists have made other discoveries. They unveiled the physical, mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of the Chang’e-6 lunar samples.
Meanwhile, Chinese scientists precisely determined for the first time that the SPA Basin formed 4.25 billion years ago, providing humanity with a more accurate anchor point for studying the history of large-scale impacts in the early solar system.
Mahesh Anand, a professor at the Open University in the UK, said, “We have had samples from the moon for over 50 years, samples collected by the Apollo and Luna missions. And we have many lunar meteorites.”
“But there are lots of new findings that are coming out based on the work that has been done on Chang’e-6 samples that are actually turning many of the well established hypotheses and theories in the field of lunar science upside down, necessitating reexamination of many of those theories,” Anand said.
He Hongping, vice president of CAS, said that upon receiving the Chang’e-6 lunar samples, CAS has placed high priority on related research efforts, and has yielded a series of high-level research achievements.
Guan Feng, director of the Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center of the China National Space Administration, expressed the hope that the comprehensive development of space science, space technology and space applications will be further promoted, urging more scientists to make use of the extraterrestrial samples and scientific data obtained from China’s lunar and deep space exploration missions to achieve more results and make more discoveries.
Previously, Chinese scientists analyzed the samples collected by the Chang’e-5 mission from the moon’s near side, and found evidence of young volcanic activity dating back just 2 billion years, extending the moon’s volcanic timeline by 1 billion years. This discovery was hailed by international peers as changing humanity’s understanding of lunar evolution.
The success of China’s lunar exploration program is a prime example of the deep integration between science and engineering, said Li of the National Astronomical Observatories.
Legislation aimed at improving NZ’s vocational education and training system needs to focus on delivering the right skills needed for business and employment growth, BusinessNZ says.
BusinessNZ says New Zealand’s new vocational education system should not be dominated by polytechnics to the detriment of work-based training and should focus on delivering better-skilled graduates who are more likely to get a job.
BusinessNZ’s submission to the Education & Workforce Select Committee on the Education and Training (Vocational Education and Training System) Amendment Bill says many of the skills that people currently get trained in are not the skills needed by business, and this is holding back graduates from successfully gaining employment – an industry-led, government-enabled vocational system for setting standards is required, to allow for more relevant, up-to-date skills to be taught.
The Bill also allows for a training levy to be imposed on businesses, however BusinessNZ says its members strongly oppose this provision, as they believe the system first requires significant improvement to achieve the business and employment outcomes required from vocational training.
Source: United States Senator for Tennessee Bill Hagerty
WASHINGTON—Today, United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) announced 6 additions to his staff in Tennessee and Washington, D.C. Hagerty’s team continues to be fully operational and serving the great state of Tennessee.
Brian McCormack will soon assume the role of Chief of Staff. McCormack is currently serving as the Chief of Staff for the National Security Council at the White House. Previously, he served at the White House Office of Management and Budget responsible for nearly a dozen agencies and as the Chief of Staff at the Department of Energy. The current Chief of Staff, Adam Telle, was nominated in March by President Trump to serve as the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works where he will oversee the Corps of Engineers.
“I’m glad to have someone of Brian’s caliber and experience to lead this exceptional team. He brings a set of highly-relevant perspectives to the role where the paramount focus is to serve the people of Tennessee and the interests of our nation,” said Senator Bill Hagerty. “Brian’s background and relationships within the Trump Administration will support my objective of making the federal government work for the American people.”
“I’m thankful for the many years of service Adam has put in leading our team from day one in the Senate, which has helped me build a strong foundation for success here in the U.S. Senate going forward,” said Senator Bill Hagerty. “I’m so proud of the opportunity he’s been given to once again serve as an outstanding member of President Trump’s administration, and his management of the Corps of Engineers will bring the responses we’ve seen in my Senate office to bear on an organization central to Tennessee and our nation.”
Robert Donachie is now serving as Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications. Donachie served as Vice President of a Washington, DC-based public relations and literary agency. He spent several years working in the House of Representatives. He also served as the White House correspondent for The Washington Examiner and as a political reporter for The Daily Caller. Donachie has appeared on Fox News Channel, nationally syndicated radio programs, and provided commentary for The New York Times, POLITICO, Newsweek, The Hill, and other outlets.
Tiffany Delgado recently joined as Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, replacing Jim Durrett. Delgado served as Senior Vice President of a Washington, DC-based marketing agency specializing in custom targeted voter contact, fundraising and issue advocacy programs, where she was recognized with the Rising Star Award from Campaigns and Elections. Previously she worked at the National Republican Senatorial Committee as the Director of Direct Response. Tiffany holds a B.A. from the University of Virginia, and is currently pursuing her MBA from Georgetown University.
Michael Sullivan will become Senior Advisor to Senator Hagerty, where he will continue to be involved in state operations while also providing strategic advice on the Senator’s larger operation, leveraging Sullivan’s experience to benefit Hagerty’s broader mandate.
Alec Richardson will become the State Director for Senator Hagerty. Currently, he serves as Senior Advisor to Governor Bill Lee and Director of External Affairs at the State of Tennessee. In this role, Richardson is responsible for overseeing strategic operations, managing federal relations, and advising on key legislative issues. He formerly served as Deputy Chief of Staff and Personal Aide to the Governor. He resides in Nashville with his wife and their one-year-old son.
Kalleigh Ahern is now serving as Press & Digital Assistant in the office of U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty. Prior to joining the Senate, she worked as a Public Relations and Communications Intern at a national PR agency, where she contributed to strategic campaign planning, media monitoring and cross-sector client research. Ahern also gained firsthand experience in federal outreach and constituent services while working in her home congressional district in Tennessee. She graduated summa cum laude from The University of Alabama with a focus in public relations and political science.
Serving in the Trump Administration
Adam Telle has been advanced out of the Armed Services Committee and Environment and Public Works Committee to lead the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works. Telle has served as Hagerty’s Chief of Staff over the last four years and will continue to serve Hagerty while his nomination is pending before the Senate. Telle served during the first Trump Administration as the White House’s Senate lead in its Office of Legislative Affairs. Prior to that role, Telle served as the top staff member on the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Homeland Security and as the top policy advisor to the late Senator Thad Cochran. Telle holds degrees in computer science and journalism from Mississippi State University.
Jim Durrett is now the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Vice President and Deputy Assistant to the President. Previously, he served as Deputy Chief of Operations for Senator Hagerty. Durrett is a native of Clarksville, Tennessee.
Luke Pettit has been advanced out of the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee to be Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Institutions. Pettit has served as Senator Hagerty’s Senior Policy Advisor and will continue to serve Hagerty while his nomination is pending before the Senate. Previously, he worked at the Senate Banking Committee, Bridgewater Associates, and the Federal Reserve. Luke holds a B.A from the University of Pennsylvania, and graduate degrees from the London School of Economics and Johns Hopkins University.
Jonathan Greenstein is nominated to be Deputy Undersecretary of the Treasury for International Finance. Previously, he served as Senator Hagerty’s Senior Policy Advisor. Greenstein is a graduate of Harvard Business School and Yale Law School.
Daniel Zimmerman has been confirmed to be the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. Zimmerman previously served in a Congressional Executive Fellowship in the office of Senator Hagerty. He previously has held many roles in the agency realm, and holds both a bachelor’s degree from Asbury University and a master’s degree from the Patterson School of Diplomacy at the University of Kentucky.
Julia Hahn is serving as the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Department for the Office of Public Affairs. Hahn joins the Department after serving as Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications for Senator Hagerty. Prior to the Senate, Hahn served in the first Trump White House over all four years, most recently as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy White House Communications Director. Before that, she served as Special Assistant to the President and Director of Rapid Response and Surrogate Operations. Hahn has also worked in media as the Executive Producer of The Laura Ingraham Show and a reporter at Breitbart News. She also worked on Capitol Hill as Press Secretary to former Congressman Dave Brat. Hahn graduated from the University of Chicago with a BA in Philosophy.
Clark Milner is serving as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor for Policy, focusing primarily on domestic policy. Milner formerly served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Chief Counsel to Senator Bill Hagerty. Milner previously served as Deputy Counsel to Governor Bill Lee.
Natalie McIntyre currently serves as a Special Assistant to the President for the Office of Legislative Affairs where she handles the Healthcare, Education, Labor, Banking, and Agriculture portfolio. Previously, she was Senator Hagerty’s Legislative Director overseeing the legislative team and managing the Health, Education, Labor, Pension, and Veterans portfolio. Prior to her role in Hagerty’s office, she was part of the legislative office at OMB where she managed the Senate offices. She also served as a Senior Policy Advisor and White House liaison at ONDCP.
Jason Hoffman is currently the Executive Secretary at the White House Office of Management and Budget. Hoffman formerly served as a Policy Advisor for Senator Hagerty, focusing on homeland security and judiciary issues. Previously, he worked at the Office of Management and Budget during President Trump’s first term and as a Legislative Assistant in the U.S. House of Representatives.Nels Nordquist is serving as Deputy Assistant to the President for International Economic Policy and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council. Nordquist was Senior Fellow for Economic Policy in the office of Senator Hagerty. In addition, his prior service includes as Staff Director for the National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee. From 2018-2021, Nordquist worked in the National Security Council and National Economic Council, first as Director for Trade & Investment and later as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for International Economic Policy. Nordquist graduated from Stanford and earned an MBA from the University of Virginia.
Joel Rayburn is the Trump Administration’s nominee to be Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs. He is a historian, former diplomat, and retired military officer who previously served as special advisor for Middle East affairs in the office of Senator Hagerty. Rayburn is currently a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. In the first Trump Administration, he served as a senior director on the National Security Council staff and, from July 2018 to January 2021, as the U.S. special envoy for Syria. Before joining the State Department, Rayburn served 26 years as a US Army officer and co-authored the Army’s official history of the Iraq War. He holds an MA in history from Texas A&M University and an MS in strategic studies from the National War College.
Kevin Kim serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. He previously worked as a National Security Fellow for Senator Hagerty. Kim was also the Senior Advisor to the Special Presidential Envoy for Arms Control Marshall Billingslea as part of the U.S. delegation to the 2020 U.S.-Russia arms control negotiations. From 2018 to 2020, he served as the Chief of Staff to the Special Representative for North Korea and the Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun and worked closely with then-U.S. Ambassador to Japan Hagerty as he participated in various rounds of U.S.-DPRK nuclear negotiations. Kim received a BA from the Johns Hopkins University, MA from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, and is currently pursuing a Doctorate in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.
Daniel Tirosh now serves on the National Security Council. Tirosh previously served as Deputy National Security Advisor and Counsel for Senator Hagerty. He holds a bachelor’s degree from University of California, Santa Cruz, and graduated from Stanford Law School.
Walton Stivender Mears has taken on a new role as scheduler for Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner. Mears joined HUD earlier this year after serving as Director of Scheduling for Senator Hagerty. She previously handled scheduling and assisted the chief of staff for Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) and as a Staff Assistant for Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL). Mears is a graduate of Auburn University.
J. Cal Mitchell is serving as Special Advisor for the Office of Legislative Affairs at the U.S. Department of Treasury. He joins the Treasury Department after serving as Personal Aide to Senator Hagerty. Mitchell is a graduate of Hampden-Sydney College.
Nick Checker, a former national security fellow for Senator Hagerty, currently serves as Deputy Executive Secretary on the National Security Council. In that role, Checker provides senior-level review of NSC products for substance, policy relevance, and appropriateness for the President and senior White House officials. Checker has spent the last decade prior to his service on Senator Hagerty’s staff at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as a military analyst covering conflicts in the greater Middle East. Most recently, Checker worked in CIA’s office of Congressional Affairs, where he supported the confirmation process for Director John Ratcliffe. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history and political science from the University of Wisconsin and a master’s degree in Security Studies from Georgetown University.
Nicholas Elliot is the Confidential Assistant and Policy Advisor to the President’s Council of Advisors on Digital Assets. Previously, Elliot worked on Senator Hagerty’s 2020 campaign team and spent nearly four years working for Senator Hagerty on the Senator’s financial services and banking portfolio, where he advanced the Senator’s work on the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Elliot is a graduate of Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business where he received a BS in Business Administration with a major in Finance and a minor in Mandarin.
Taylor Asher serves as Senior Policy Advisor to Chairman Paul Atkins. From April 2023 to January 2025, Asher served as Policy Advisor and Confidential Assistant to Commissioner Uyeda. Prior to his time at the SEC, Asher was Personal Aide to Senator Hagerty. His tenure in public service began with Congresswoman Julia Letlow’s Office, where he served as Staff Assistant and Intern Manager. Asher is currently pursuing a Master of Economics at George Mason University. He holds a Master of Finance with an Energy Specialization as well as a Bachelor of Science in Management from Tulane University. He is originally from Nashville, Tennessee.
Cole Bornefeld will be serving as Director of Correspondence for the Office of the Vice President. He previously served as a Legislative Aide to Hagerty, assisting in the Judiciary, Homeland Security, Commerce, and Rules portfolio. Bornefeld previously served as a Legislative Correspondent, Staff Assistant, and Intern in Senator Hagerty’s office. He graduated from Western Kentucky University with a bachelor’s degree in political science and public relations.
