Critics have long accused the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) of being a propaganda arm of US foreign policy. The agency's affiliated outlets, such as Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, and Radio Free Asia, have been criticized for promoting anti-American ideas and agendas. Donald Trump has shut down the USAGM, calling it "radical propaganda" that suppresses stories critical of Iran and sympathetically covers issues like "white privilege". The closure of the USAGM has been met with both praise and criticism from around the world. Russian officials have celebrated the demise of the "purely propagandistic" outlets, while China's Global Times called it a "lie factory". The European Commission has hailed USAGM outlets as a "beacon of truth, democracy, and hope". The USAGM is one of several international public service media outlets based in western democracies. These outlets are similar to national public media, largely funded by taxpayers to uphold democratic ideals of universal access to news and information. They provide news to countries without reliable independent media due to censorship or state-run media monopolies. The USAGM provides news in 63 languages to more than 100 countries. It has been credited with bringing attention to issues such as protests against COVID-19 lockdowns in China and women's struggles for equal rights in Iran. However, the independence of USAGM outlets has been questioned often, particularly as they are required to share government-mandated editorials. Voice of America has been criticized for its focus on perceived ideological adversaries such as Russia and Iran. My research has found that Voice of America perpetuates stereotypes and neglects African nations in its news coverage. These global media outlets wouldn't exist if there weren't benefits for the governments that fund them. Sharing stories and perspectives that support or promote certain values and policies is an effective form of "public diplomacy". The Voice of America's firewall prohibits interference by any US government official in the objective, independent reporting of news. Such protections allow journalists to report on their own governments more objectively. In contrast, outlets like China Media Group, RT from Russia, and PressTV from Iran reach a global audience but through direct government involvement. Other voices get louder as these state-run media outlets increase funding and fill the void left by western democracies. Russia, China, and Iran are increasing funding for their state-run news outlets. China has spent more than $6.6 billion over 13 years on its global media outlets. China Media Group is already one of the largest media conglomerates in the world. It provides news content to more than 130 countries in 44 languages. China has filled media gaps left by western democracies, including after the ABC stopped broadcasting Radio Australia in the Pacific.

Asteroid 2014 TN17 is wider than the Great Pyramid of Giza is tall. On Wednesday (March 26), at around 7:30 a.m. ET, asteroid 2014 TN17 will come within 3.2 million miles (5.1 million kilometers) of Earth — or around 13 times further away than the moon, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Researchers estimate that it is around 540 feet (165 meters) wide. That is slightly wider than the height of Egypt's Great Pyramid of Giza and makes it large enough to wipe out a city if it impacted our planet. NASA classifies 2014 TN17 as "potentially hazardous" because of its size and occasional proximity to Earth. However, that does not mean it is dangerous. During the upcoming flyby, the asteroid will be too far away to be observed with a backyard telescope or stargazing binoculars. It is large enough for researchers to study it and the space rock is currently scheduled to be observed by NASA's Goldstone Solar System Radar (GSSR) system in California. The GSSR telescope has helped reveal the unusual "snowman" shape of one asteroid, detect changes in the orbital trajectories of another and discover a mini-moon orbiting a third. There are currently around 2,500 known potentially hazardous asteroids, according to the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center.

Turkey is in turmoil after Istanbul’s mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, was arrested on March 19 on charges of corruption. More than 1,000 people who protested against the arrest have also been detained as hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in anger at what they say is a major blow against democracy. İmamoğlu, who denies all charges against him, has since been endorsed as the candidate for the 2028 presidential elections for the Republican People’s Party (CHP). Central to the allegations of corruption is what is known in Turkey as “naylon faturacılık”. This literally means “nylon invoicing” and refers to the issuing of fake invoices. It doesn’t refer to simple clerical errors or accounting mishaps, but deliberate attempts to fabricate transactions, inflate expenses, or obscure real beneficiaries. The informal economy in Turkey spans everything from street vending and informal recycling to complex tax evasion schemes involving registered firms. Naylon faturacılık illustrates how corruption doesn’t always sit outside the system, but often thrives from within it. It exposes a blurry boundary between formal and informal economic activity, revealing how some formal businesses manipulate legal frameworks to appear compliant while engaging in illicit practices. In September 2024, Turkey’s Ministry of Finance uncovered 3 billion Turkish Lira (£61 million) worth of fake invoices in an investigation targeting around 4,500 large taxpayers. Opposition leaders, including CHP leader Özgür Özel, argue that İmamoğlu’s arrest is politically motivated – an attempt to discredit their candidate ahead of the presidential election. Özel condemned the operation as a “coup attempt” against Turkey’s democratic future. In a press conference, he revealed that most of the people detained alongside İmamoğlu are linked to companies that won public contracts from the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) under the control of İmamoğlu. Moreover, some of those arrested, he claimed, are students or relatives with no actual involvement in procurement decisions or public bids. A total of 97 complaints were filed over alleged misconduct during Gökçek’s tenure as mayor of Ankara until 2017, but nothing was done. Critics say this reflects politically selective justice. One law for some This isn’t just a story about fake invoices. It is about contexts where rules are unevenly enforced, where legal grey zones are abundant and where informality becomes a flexible instrument of control.

The UK's 2015 Modern Slavery Act is ten years old on March 26. The act was billed as "world-leading" legislation when it was passed, but ten years on, the evidence tells a different story. The number of people identified as potential victims is higher than ever before, yet few have been prosecuted. The Modern Slavery Act consolidated criminal offences like human trafficking and forced labour into one place. It also included a role for the private sector through a "transparency" clause, requiring bigger businesses to report on preventing modern slavery in their supply chains. A legal defence was created for victims who had been forced to commit crimes, and law enforcement gained new powers to confiscate assets from traffickers. The act did little to stop modern slavery happening in the first place, with a prevention strategy mainly consisting of poster campaigns. Some argued that the act dodged big issues around work and immigration by not addressing weaknesses in labour protections. As prime minister, Theresa May touted the UK's "world-leading" efforts on modern slavery at the UN General Assembly. The number of people identified as potential victims has increased significantly, to 19,125 in 2024, nearly six times as many as in 2015. This is partly because the act improved awareness among frontline responders who refer potential victims for support. However, prosecutions are very low, with only 64 adult offenders sentenced between 2017-19 for over 22,756 potential victims of modern slavery identified during that period. Many reasons contribute to this, including victims not coming forward due to fear of detention or deportation. Immigration policies have rolled back protections for modern slavery victims, making the UK non-compliant with international anti-trafficking and human rights laws. The UK's immigration and work visa system has created conditions for exploitation, particularly in sectors like agriculture and social care. Legal migration routes and the sponsorship visa scheme can lead to exploitation. The system of support for recognised victims is creaking under pressure and has backlogs in decision-making. Thousands have declined formal identification and support due to concerns over its appropriateness. Research shows that victims are not necessarily getting the support or legal defence they are entitled to. An unknown number of victims may be in UK prisons, where they could face further exploitation. The Modern Slavery Act's theory was that "getting tough" on criminals and improving support for victims would reduce exploitation. However, this hasn't worked, as modern slavery remains a huge problem in the UK. Changing this means taking prevention seriously and addressing conditions that lead to exploitation. Modern slavery stems from issues like poverty, inequality, discrimination, and gender-based violence.

Missouri School of Mines was founded in 1870, primarily educating mining engineers and surveyors. The campus grew rapidly after World War II, evolving into a world-class technological research university. In 1964, the institution's name was changed to the University of Missouri-Rolla, becoming the technology flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. The name officially became Missouri University of Science and Technology in 2008. Missouri S&T is a member of an elite group of American institutions that distinguish themselves by having a mission-based commitment to improving the world through advanced sciences and technology.

Tomato plants on four continents are currently under attack from the South American tomato pinworm (Tuta absoluta), which destroys billions of dollars of crops each year. The impact can be particularly devastating for small-scale farmers in Africa, where the pest has invaded over the last decade, says chemical ecologist Baldwyn Torto of the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology in Nairobi, Kenya. These pinworms have become resistant to heavily used chemical pesticides, says ICIPE molecular biologist Fathiya Khamis. Researchers knew that adding silicon to soil can fortify some crops against pests. Some plants use the element to physically strengthen their cells; tomatoes use silicon to kick-start a complex array of biochemical and genetic defense systems. Now, Torto, Khamis and their colleagues have uncovered some specifics of how silicon transforms tomatoes into pinworm-killing machines. When the researchers supplemented tomato plants’ soil with silicon-containing nanoparticles and exposed the plants to pinworm moths, the tomato stems produced a mysterious dark goo at the base of hairlike structures called trichomes. This dark substance appeared to lure pinworm mothers into laying eggs more frequently on tomato stems, instead of mostly on leaves. When pinworm caterpillars hatched and ate this “larval toffee,” they often did not survive. The researchers analyzed the gooey substance and found a blend of sugars and wax. This mix was enticingly sweet but contained the wrong blend of nutrients to support caterpillar growth. To make matters worse for the pinworms, this plant potion also altered caterpillar microbiomes. Droppings from pinworms that ate the substance released a blend of gases that attracted two different species of pinworm-killing insects. More information about how and where these tomatoes accumulate silicon is needed to confirm silicon’s role in this response, says plant pathologist Lawrence Datnoff of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. The researchers say that this study is the first step toward testing various silicon formulations for optimal crop yield and pest resistance, which could ultimately apply to other similar insects as well as the tomato pinworm.

Canadians head to the polls on April 28, and both in Canada and around the world, this federal election campaign is sure to be characterized by polarized misinformation. We all have someone in our families or social circles who has political opinions grounded in false or misleading information. Whether the source of that information is Russian bots on social media, high-profile podcasters or Fox News, it's easy to dread election-time conversations as misinformation strains our most important relationships. Most people think that others who believe misinformation will change their minds if provided with the right evidence, but that's simply not true. People have good reasons for not wanting to change their minds, even when confronted with contradictory facts. One of the key personality traits linked to the belief in misinformation turns out to be anxiety. This can manifest in ways that resist correction. The AIMS method is a proven way of pushing back against polarizing misinformation: health misinformation and vaccine misinformation specifically. Motivational interviewing, known as the AIMS method, has been successfully tested in Canada for countering vaccine misinformation. The first step, Announce, is where the topic is approached. In the medical world, this usually occurs when a doctor announces that it's time for a vaccine, but in the world of political misinformation, the announcement doesn't have to come from a professional. Inquire is the step where motivational interviewing really begins to differ from a conventional approach of simply providing evidence to back up a false claim. As you probe more and more deeply, you're trying to understand the anxieties that are driving the misinformation belief. Mirroring means checking in, and repeating what you're hearing so that the person you are talking to recognizes they're being heard. At this stage, you can begin to introduce pieces of evidence that disprove the claims being made, but only after you truly understand the person's concerns and can reflect them back. Finally, when all the concerns have been addressed, you can begin the final step, which is to Secure trust. Here you can follow up on the announcement that sparked the discussion -- the original piece of misinformation -- and see if the person you're talking to now feels differently than they did before. Preserving relationships with friends and loved ones that are often frayed when political misinformation enters the picture is key in combating misinformation.

Haya, director of the Berkeley Carbon Trading Project, notes that "the atmosphere doesn't care where the emissions reductions happen." The voluntary carbon market has seen an increase in demand due to companies trying to offset their emissions. However, critics argue that many credits are not genuine and do not lead to real emissions reductions. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) allows companies to invest in projects like reforestation or renewable energy, which can then be used to offset emissions. But a 2022 study found that wildfires had depleted nearly one-fifth of the buffer pool in less than a decade. Researchers have also pointed out that greenhouses gases can last in the atmosphere for thousands of years, making a century standard not long enough. This has led some experts to argue that regulation is necessary to ensure that carbon credits meet a standard quality. Government regulation could help ensure that carbon credits meet a standard quality and provide transparency in the market. Each certification body has its own registry, but this can make it difficult for buyers to track the history of credits. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission adopted guidelines for the voluntary carbon market in September, which have helped bring fraud charges against some developers. However, it is unclear how much of a role the government will play in more rigorously regulating the market. For forest projects, remote-sensing technologies can improve transparency by quickly imaging forests and determining baselines. Independent companies that rate carbon credits are also springing up to do this kind of work. Some companies have stopped bothering with offsetting and started focusing on reducing the emissions they can control. They don't want to buy low-quality credits or deal with the PR backlash that can come with false claims of neutrality. Blanchard and colleagues argued last year in One Earth that credits based on emissions offsets is not a good system. Participants need to recognize that, in the market's current state, "we're not truly reducing our emissions," Blanchard says. The researchers envision a framework in which offset projects are reframed as climate mitigation projects. Companies or individuals may buy carbon credits or otherwise donate to projects, but instead of claiming that they're offsetting their emissions, they'd be contributing to global climate mitigation. This scheme would eliminate the need for brokers and other middlemen. And it would preserve many of the co-benefits that stem from some of these projects, such as conservation efforts that maintain air quality and biodiversity. Without the market, "there's one fewer way that we have to conserve these forests," Shenkin says. Ultimately, though, the market must shift toward removal-based technologies and encourage investment in new technologies for carbon capture and long-term storage. Axelsson notes that she sometimes clicks "yes" to buying carbon credits through an airline as a signal that people care about climate change — but knows it's not a true offset. Another option is to estimate your emissions and support carbon projects on your own.

George Franklin was convicted of murder in 1990 based on his daughter Eileen's testimony. She described seeing her father rape and kill her best friend when she was 8 years old, but had no memory of it for 20 years. The case sparked a debate between memory researchers and clinicians about the existence of repressed memories. Sigmund Freud developed the concept of repression as a defense mechanism to protect people from traumatic experiences. Freud believed that repressed memories could be recovered through therapy and would resurface in mental and physical symptoms. In the 1980s, therapists began using techniques such as hypnosis and suggestive questioning to help clients recover repressed memories of childhood trauma. Many people who underwent this type of therapy reported recovering memories of abuse, but there was no physical evidence or corroboration from others. The scientific community disagrees about the existence of repressed memories, with many researchers arguing that traumatic events are well remembered over long intervals of time. Traumatic experiences can be forgotten due to memory decay, motivated forgetting, biological causes, or interference with the making of a memory in the first place. Memory recovery techniques may create false memories rather than recovering existing ones. Researchers have found that suggestive questioning and other techniques used by recovered-memory therapists can induce richly detailed false memories in almost one-third of participants. False memories can be created intentionally or unintentionally through therapy.

President Donald Trump wants Ukraine to repay the United States for helping to defend the country against Russia’s invasion. Since 2022, Congress has provided about US$174 billion to Ukraine and neighboring countries to assist its war effort. Ukraine is rich in titanium, graphite, manganese and other rare earth metals used to produce electric vehicle batteries and other tech devices. The Marshall Plan used $13.3 billion in U.S. funds – roughly $171 billion in today’s dollars – to rebuild war-torn Western Europe from 1948 to late 1951. After World War II ended in 1945, Western Europe faced a staggering burden of destruction and upheaval. Allied bombardment of major industrial areas and German cities such as Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne had created massive housing shortages. The United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany and other European governments were buried in debt after so many years of war. Unlike Europe, the U.S. emerged from World War II as the wealthiest nation in the world, with its territory intact and unharmed. In March 1947, President Harry Truman announced a new doctrine to contain communist expansion southward across Europe by giving $400 million in military and economic aid to Greece and Turkey. Around the same time, U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall met with Soviet officials to plan Germany’s future. Marshall outlined his plan at a commencement address at Harvard University in June 1947. Our policy is not directed against any country,” Marshall said, “but against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos.” The U.S. would pay for it all. In September 1947, the new Committee for European Economic Co-operation delivered its proposal to Washington. It would take a masterful legislative strategy for the Democratic Truman administration to persuade the Republican-led Congress to pass this $13 billion bill. In April 1948, Truman signed the Economic Cooperation Act. NATO is born Along with economic stability, the Truman administration recognized that Europe needed military security to defend against communist encroachment by the Soviet Union. Since 1947, NATO has steadily expanded eastward to include Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and other former Soviet satellite states directly bordering Russia. Ukraine applied for NATO membership in 2022 after Russia’s invasion.

In the 20th century, when a routine infection was treated with a standard antibiotic, recovery was expected. But over time, the microbes responsible for these infections have evolved to evade the very drugs designed to eliminate them. Each year, there are more than 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections in the United States, leading to over 35,000 deaths and US$4.6 billion in health care costs. As antibiotics become less effective, antimicrobial resistance poses an increasing threat to public health. Antimicrobial resistance began to emerge as a serious threat in the 1940s with the rise of penicillin resistance. By the 1990s, it had escalated into a global concern. Decades later, critical questions still remain: How does antimicrobial resistance emerge, and how can scientists track the hidden changes leading to it? Over the years, my work as a microbiologist and biomedical scientist has focused on investigating the genetics of infectious microbes. My colleagues and I identified a resistance gene previously undetected in the U.S. Antimicrobial resistance is a natural process where microbes constantly evolve as a defense mechanism, acquiring genetic changes that enhance their survival. The overuse and misuse of antibiotics in health care, farming and the environment push bacteria to genetically change in ways that allow them to survive the drugs meant to kill them. Early detection of antimicrobial resistance is crucial for effective treatment. Surveillance typically begins with a laboratory sample obtained from patients with suspected infections, which is then analyzed to identify potential antimicrobial resistance. However, culture-based approaches have some limitations. Resistant infections often go unnoticed until antibiotics fail, making both detection and intervention processes slow. Additionally, new resistance genes may escape detection altogether. To overcome these challenges, researchers have integrated genomic sequencing into antimicrobial resistance surveillance. Through whole-genome sequencing, we can analyze all the DNA in a microbial sample to get a comprehensive view of all the genes present – including those responsible for resistance. Despite its advantages, integrating genomic sequencing into antimicrobial resistance monitoring presents some challenges of its own. High costs, quality assurance and a shortage of trained bioinformaticians make implementation difficult. Establishing international standards could help make whole-genome sequencing and bioinformatics a fully reliable tool for resistance surveillance. The World Health Organization recommends laboratories follow strict quality control measures to ensure accurate and comparable results. Combining whole genome sequencing and bioinformatics, my colleagues and I analyzed Salmonella samples collected from several animal species between 1982 and 1999. We discovered a Salmonella resistance gene called blaSCO-1 that has evaded detection in U.S. livestock for decades. The blaSCO-1 gene confers resistance to microbes against several critical antibiotics, including ampicillin, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid and, to some extent, cephalosporins and carbapenems. These medications are crucial for treating infections in both humans and animals. Gaps in bioinformatics expertise may have hindered the identification of the blaSCO-1 gene. The failure to detect genes like blaSCO-1 raises concern about its potential role in past treatment failures. Between 2015 and 2018, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began implementing whole-genome sequencing for routine surveillance of Salmonella. Studies conducted during this period found that 77% of multistate outbreaks were linked to livestock harboring resistant Salmonella. These missed genes have significant implications for both food safety and public health. Undetected antimicrobial resistance genes can spread through food animals, contaminated food products, processing environments and agricultural runoff, allowing resistant bacteria to persist and reach humans. Identifying new resistance genes not only fills a critical knowledge gap, but it also demonstrates how genomic and computational approaches can help detect hidden resistance mechanisms before they pose widespread threats.

How many types of insects are there in the world? – Sawyer, age 8, Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina All insects belong to a phylum called Arthropoda, which includes animals with hard exoskeletons and jointed feet. Insects have six legs, two antennae, and three body segments: head, abdomen, and the thorax. Most insects also have wings, although some don't, like fleas. All insects have compound eyes, which can detect movement but not always clarity. A species is the most basic unit that biologists use to classify living things. Each species has a unique scientific name so scientists can be sure which one they're talking about. Counting the exact number of insect species is probably impossible due to extinction and evolution. One scientist estimated there are approximately 5.5 million insect species, with numbers ranging from 2.6 to 7.2 million. Beetles account for almost one-third of the total number of species, around 1.5 million. Other estimates include about 22,000 species of ants and 3,500 species of mosquitoes. It's estimated that over 80% of the Earth's insect biodiversity is still unknown because scientists have found only about 1 million species. The total population and biomass of insects are staggering, with 20 quadrillion ants comprising about 20 trillion individuals. All these numbers have huge implications for human society as insects affect us in countless ways, including pollination, industrial products, medicine, disease transmission, and crop damage.

Japanese anime often explores spiritual and philosophical questions by drawing on Japan's religious traditions. Anime draws on Japan's religious traditions to examine themes of fate, self-sacrifice, and the struggle between desire and duty. Hayao Miyazaki's "Princess Mononoke" follows Prince Ashitaka as he journeys to find a cure for his demon curse. His quest leads him into conflict between Irontown and the natural world. The film reflects Shinto principles by portraying nature as sacred and inhabited by "kami," or spiritual beings. Miyazaki's films use nature spirits to critique modernity's detachment from the environment. In "Spirited Away", Chihiro learns to navigate a hidden world of "kami" in a mysterious Japanese bathhouse. A polluted river spirit appears as a filthy creature, embodying the animist belief that natural entities have their own spirit and must be respected. The film reinforces an environmental message: When nature is polluted or mistreated, it loses its vitality, but with care and reverence it can be restored. "Neon Genesis Evangelion" engages with existentialist questions of identity and purpose in a postapocalyptic world. The series follows 14-year-old Shinji Ikari as he pilots a giant biomechanical weapon called an evangelion to defend humanity against Angels. As Shinji and his fellow pilots struggle with their roles, the series explores themes of isolation, self-worth, and forming meaningful relationships. It draws from Buddhist and Gnostic thought, which emphasize inner spiritual knowledge and the belief that clinging too tightly to the material world causes suffering. Rengoku embodies unwavering selflessness and honor in "Mugen Train". His fire-based fighting style is symbolic in Japanese culture, representing both destruction and renewal. Buddhist goma fire ceremonies involve priests burning wooden sticks to symbolize the eradication of ignorance and desire. Bushido, the samurai code of honor, underpins Rengoku's character.

America’s public lands, from its majestic national parks to its vast national forests, are at the heart of the country’s identity. They cover more than a quarter of the nation and large parts of the West. Some are crisscrossed by hiking trails and used by hunters and fishermen. Ranchers graze cattle on others. In many areas, the government earns money through oil, gas, timber and mining leases. These federally managed public lands have long enjoyed broad bipartisan support, as have moves to turn them into protected national parks and monuments. Research consistently shows that a majority of Americans want their congressional representatives to protect public access to these lands for recreation. One avenue for protection is the creation of national monuments. But the status of national monuments can change. Presidents have expanded and contracted national monuments, as the U.S. saw with Bears Ears National Monument in Utah over the course of the past three presidencies. The rules for the use and maintenance of various public lands can also change, and that can affect surrounding communities and their economies. The U.S. is likely to see changes to public lands again under the second Trump administration. One of the new administration’s early orders was for the Department of Interior to review all national monuments for potential oil and gas drilling and mining. At least two national monuments that President Joe Biden created in California are among the new administration’s targets. The avenue for many of these changes is rooted in one century-old law: The power and vagary of the Antiquities Act The Antiquities Act of 1906, signed into law by President Theodore Roosevelt, gave Congress or the president the authority to establish national monuments on federal land as a means of protecting areas for ecological, cultural, historical or scientific purposes. From Theodore Roosevelt on, 18 of the 21 presidents have used the Antiquities Act to create, expand or contract national monuments through a presidential proclamation. By using the Antiquities Act to create, expand or reduce national monuments, presidents can avoid an environmental impact statement, normally required under the National Environmental Policy Act. Critics say bypassing the review means potential impacts of the monument designations can be overlooked. The Antiquities Act also offers no clarity on whether a president can reduce the amount of area protected by prior presidents. This has led to the shifting of national monument boundaries based on the priorities of each administration. An example is Bears Ears, an area of Utah that is considered significant to several tribes but also has uranium, gas and oil resources. In 2016, President Barack Obama designated Bears Ears a national monument. In 2017, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation reducing Bears Ears by 80% of its total designated size. The monument’s size and scope shifted a third time when President Joe Biden reestablished Bears Ears to the boundaries designated by Obama. The uncertainty about the long-term reliability of a designation makes it challenging for federal agencies to manage the land or assure Indigenous communities that the government will protect cultural, historical and ecological heritage. Public lands can be economic engines National parks and monuments can help fuel local economies. A 2017 study by Headwaters Economics found that Western rural counties with more public land have had greater economic growth, including in jobs and personal income. National monuments can also benefit neighboring counties by increasing population, income and employment opportunities. While many counties adjacent to public lands may be dependent on oil and gas drilling, they can also generate revenue from tourism and recreation. Public lands are more than just physical places. They are spaces where our ideals and values around public land unify us as Americans.

Living in a disadvantaged neighborhood contributes to a rare form of heart failure known as peripartum cardiomyopathy, a potentially deadly disease. Peripartum cardiomyopathy can occur in pregnant or postpartum mothers during late pregnancy up to five months after birth and is difficult to identify and often misdiagnosed. Multiple studies estimate that 7% to 20% of U.S. mothers who have it don’t survive. As a nurse scientist with a research focus on maternal health equity, I wanted to learn more about the factors that cause peripartum cardiomyopathy. My team and I examined more than 7.3 million birth records in California between 1997 and 2019 using the neighborhood deprivation index. By linking hospital discharge and vital records information up to 12 months postpartum follow-up on each woman, we developed a more complete picture of why women developed the illness. We found that living in poor neighborhoods with fewer resources was associated with a 20% to 70% increased risk of developing this disease. Those in the most under-resourced neighborhoods had the highest risk, even after accounting for other factors like income, race, high blood pressure and obesity. But living in highly stressed neighborhoods explained only part of the reason for the higher rates of peripartum cardiomyopathy in Black women. We found that even if they lived in better neighborhoods, Black women were still more than three times as likely to develop the condition than others.

The Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny is one of the biggest stars of the music world. He became Spotify’s most-streamed artist for three years in a row, the first and only artist ever to do so. Bad Bunny sold out all 49 dates of his 2024 U.S. tour, netting US$211 million. Earlier this year, Bad Bunny co-hosted “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” and announced a 21-show residency in Puerto Rico. The recently reelected mayor of San Juan, Miguel Romero, quipped that the artist had done a better job of promoting Puerto Rico than the island’s official destination marketing organization. Discover Puerto Rico was founded in 2017 to market the island to both tourists and investors. It was established during the administration of Gov. Ricardo Rosselló as part of a broader effort to professionalize Puerto Rico’s place branding. Historically, place-branding campaigns have been led by governments seeking to attract tourism and investment. One example is the “I Love New York” campaign launched in 1977. The Puerto Rico Tourism Company was created in 1970 to promote the island as a tourist destination. Puerto Rican municipalities began adopting different place branding strategies in the 1990s. During Puerto Rico’s deepening fiscal crisis, branding efforts remained a bipartisan priority. However, each new administration rebranded the island, raising concerns about consistency. The “Isla Estrella” campaign included a sponsorship deal with Spain’s Sevilla FC soccer team before Discover Puerto Rico took control. Discover Puerto Rico has been polarizing, with critics pointing to significant blunders. One early ad in its “Live Boricua” campaign sparked backlash for featuring a family that didn’t look like most Puerto Ricans. The agency has struggled to navigate Puerto Rico’s politically charged place-branding landscape. Mayor Romero made his remark about Bad Bunny just before Discover Puerto Rico’s CEO, Brad Dean, resigned. Bad Bunny’s international attention thanks to popular music has gained unparalleled international attention for the island. Reggaetón originated in Puerto Rico in the 1990s and has amassed a massive global fan base. The video for Daddy Yankee and Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito” turned La Perla into a magnet for tourists. Bad Bunny released his latest album, which charted at No. 1. The success of reggaetón artists raises an important question about the effectiveness of official expert-driven place-marketing agencies. Authenticity is probably the reason why these organic cultural movements have been so effective in promoting Puerto Rico as a brand. Reggaetón’s global appeal stems from its cultural resonance and emotional connection with audiences worldwide.

There may be no kitchen table issue in America more critical than the price of food. So when the price of eggs rose over 40% from 2024 to 2025, it became a headline news story in Colorado and across the nation. Public officials and the media blamed high egg prices on bird flu outbreaks and said containing the outbreak in supply chains would lower prices. In early March 2025, egg prices fell in the U.S., but these trends are likely to reverse due to higher seasonal demand during Easter and Passover. Rising prices and market volatility have led to food costs climbing to 11.4% of American’s disposable income, the largest percentage since 1991. Arresting these rising costs, as I argue in my 2023 book, means reinventing supply chains to address the growing supply, demand and price volatility that has created uncertainty for consumers since the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. I have described global supply chains, and supply chains in the U.S. in particular, as “efficiently broken.” By this I mean that they aspire to offer low prices from economies of scale but lack sufficient resiliency to create stability. Without addressing the systemic weaknesses in supply chains, I believe major health and economic disruptions will continue to happen in Colorado, nationally and around the world. Colorado faces a double whammy where egg prices are concerned. It’s one of nine states with a cage-free egg mandate, which requires all eggs sold in the state to come from cage-free facilities. The regulation has been shown to increase the price of eggs by as much as 50%. Over the past two decades, cage-free egg laws have been passed in states as consumers have grown more concerned with the welfare of farm animals. What that means varies from state to state because the term cage-free isn’t regulated by a federal agency. In Colorado, egg-laying hens must be housed in a cage-free system and must have a minimum of 1 square foot of usable floor space per hen. Colorado is the 28th largest egg producer in the U.S., far behind Midwestern states such as Iowa, Indiana and Ohio, but it has a few large producers such as Morning Fresh Farms, as well as smaller ones such as the Colorado Egg Producers Association, a collection of seven family-owned farms. Colorado’s cage-free egg law went into effect in January 2025 – around the same time that consumers noticed bare egg shelves at their supermarkets. Many consumers and some elected Republicans in Colorado blamed the cage-free law. Nevada is pulling back on its cage-free egg mandate to deal with the challenge of unaffordable egg prices. But cage-free laws are not the main driver of increasing egg prices, as I’ve noted in my research. Like many others, the egg supply chain faces a greater threat from bird flu outbreaks. The solution may increase prices Policymakers want to reduce the spread of disease at American egg factories to mitigate the spread of bird flu. But these measures are expensive. Factory farms increase the potential for viruses to spread rapidly and even mutate. Therefore, bird flu is a more serious precursor of supply chain disruption than a hurricane or product recall because it has the potential to create a public health crisis. One solution to limit the spread of bird flu is to regulate the number of hens allowed in a single facility. This would lead to smaller and more farms across the U.S., but also higher consumer prices. This solution would mirror other countries such as Canada, where the average facility size is much smaller than in the U.S. and eggs and poultry cost significantly more. Following Canada’s lead wouldn’t result in egg prices as low as giant factory farms, but it would protect American consumers from the periodic price shocks caused by disease or localized weather events that disrupt supplies. Despite the threat of a public health crisis, American consumers don’t want to pay more for eggs – and their leaders have promised they won’t have to.

2D bismuth transistors are less brittle and more flexible than transistors made using conventional silicon, the scientists said in the new study. Researchers in China say they have created a new silicon-free transistor that could significantly boost performance while reducing energy consumption. The team says this development represents a new direction for transistor research. The scientists said that the new transistor could be integrated into chips that could one day perform up to 40% faster than the best existing silicon processors made by U.S. companies like Intel. This is according to a report in the South China Morning Post (SCMP). The researchers claim that such chips would also draw 10% less power. The scientists outlined their findings in a new study published Feb. 13 in the journal Nature . Lead author of the study Hailin Peng, professor of chemistry at Peking University (PKU) in China, told SCMP: "If chip innovations based on existing materials are considered a 'short cut', then our development of 2D material-based transistors is akin to 'changing lanes'." A new kind of silicon-free transistor The efficiency and performance gains are possible thanks to the chip's unique architecture, the scientists said in the paper, specifically the new two-dimensional silicon-free transistor they created. This transistor is a gate-all-around field-effect transistor (GAAFET). Unlike previous leading transistor designs like the fin field-effect transistor (FinFET), a GAAFET transistor wraps sources with a gate on all four sides, instead of just three. At its most basic level, a transistor is a semiconductor device found in every computer chip. Each transistor has a source, a gate and a drain, which allow the transistor to function as a switch. The gate is how a transistor controls the flow of current between the source and drain terminals and can act as both a switch and amplifier. Wrapping this gate around all sides of a source (or sources, as some transistors contain multiple) — instead of just three as in conventional transistors — leads to potential improvements in both performance and efficiency.

Several weeks have now passed since the infamously heated argument between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump on February 28 in the Oval Office. Zelensky has now accepted the partial ceasefire demanded by the US, paving the way for negotiations to reach a peace agreement with Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been reluctant to accept the US proposal for a full cessation of hostilities, so far agreeing only to halt attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Putin is likely weighing up the possibility of an eventual collapse of the Ukrainian front and seeking to consolidate his advantage in any future negotiations. As a minimum, these conditions would include keeping occupied Ukrainian territory, keeping Ukraine out of Western institutions like the EU and Nato, and avoiding the deployment of Nato forces. However, even if a negotiation were to give him all this, the underlying geopolitical issue that drove Putin to war would be far from resolved. Controlling Ukraine is a cornerstone of Russia's territorial bulwark, which it considers essential for its security in the west. A peace that does not fully satisfy its security needs will, for Russia, be a bad peace, and will leave questions open. Negotiating without Europe Europe has been left out of negotiating efforts with the exception of brief visits to the White House by several of its leaders. This disregard shows how little the continent matters to its North American partner, and forces European states to face existential questions. In fairness, Russia harbours no imperialist intentions, but it does want to restore the security shield it lost at the end of the Cold War. European strategic autonomy Europe needs sufficient, credible military power (and power projection) if its voice is to be heard in an increasingly harsh international arena. Assuming there is no going back on the project of political integration, Europe must cultivate and strengthen the transatlantic link.

From 2009 to 2019, the average rate of avoidable deaths rose by 33 per 100,000 people across the country. The rise in avoidable deaths in the United States has occurred despite the fact that the country spends more on health care than any other high-income nation, the researchers write. Avoidable mortality is a metric for how well health systems are working. It adds up the annual number of deaths among those under 75 years old that, with timely health care, wouldn’t have happened. The average number of avoidable deaths across all U.S. states in 2019 was roughly 280 per 100,000 people. The umbrella of avoidable mortality includes both preventable and treatable deaths. Preventable deaths — such as those from vaccine-preventable diseases and traffic collisions — are those that may be avoidable through public health prevention measures. Treatable mortality refers to deaths from conditions such as sepsis or appendicitis that may be avoidable with appropriate medical care. Some deaths, including those from heart disease, cervical cancer and tuberculosis, fall into both categories, with a proportion attributed to each. The research team also assessed the average rate of avoidable deaths for individual U.S. states, which spanned from an increase of 5 per 100,000 people in New York to a jump of 100 per 100,000 people in West Virginia. Members of the European Union experienced an average decrease of 24 per 100,000 over the same time period. Countries that are part of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development — which come from North America, South America, Europe and Asia — reported an average decrease of 19 per 100,000.

A partial solar eclipse will be seen from 13 U.S. states on March 29, 2025. Sunrise on Saturday, March 29, will look rather odd from the northeastern coast of North America. With a deep partial solar eclipse already in progress, a crescent sun will appear on the eastern horizon. Thirteen U.S. states will see the March 29 solar eclipse in some form, with a deeper eclipse visible the farther northeast you go. Coastal New England will get the best views. In Maine, up to 86% of the sun will be eclipsed as it rises. New Hampshire and Massachusetts will see up to 57% and 55% coverage, respectively. Boston will see a 43% eclipse. The eclipse will be more modest in other areas of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. New York City will experience 21% obscuration, and the coverage will be less in Philadelphia (11%), Rochester, New York (8%), and Washington, D.C. (1.2%). You'll need clear sight lines to the sunrise, which will take place slightly to the east-northeast. You can use Time and Date's map and The Photographer's Ephemeris to find suitable locations. Atlantic Canada will see a smaller eclipsed sunrise, with the eclipse deepening shortly thereafter. Moncton, New Brunswick, will see 84%, with similar obscuration in Halifax, Nova Scotia (82%), and St. John's, Newfoundland (82%). Quebec City will see a 72% eclipsed sunrise, and Montreal and Ottawa, Ontario, will get 46% and 29%, respectively. No eclipse will be visible in Toronto. The point of maximum eclipse will be close to Akulivik, Nunavik, in northern Quebec, where a 91% eclipsed sunrise will be seen. Beyond North America, it's a midmorning event.

A gold sculpture of a person, known as a Tumaco-Tolita standing figure, has been found near the Colombia-Ecuador border. The statue is approximately 9 inches tall and was made between A.D. 1 to 300 in the Cayapas River delta area. The figure is missing its feet, which were once attached by gold wire, and the accessories it once held are gone. Only a "fancy nose ornament" remains on the figure. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City has the statue, where researchers believe the figurine once donned a headdress on ritual occasions. The Tumaco-Tolita civilization arose in an area full of rivers, swamps, forests, and natural gold and platinum deposits. Between 200 B.C. and A.D. 400, the Tumaco-Tolita produced one of the most refined metalwork traditions in the Americas and traded with other communities in the area. The gold figure may represent a woman, as it was more common to mark female statues with nipples. However, the lack of a skirt on this sculpture makes its gender ambiguous. The flattened head likely reflects the cultural practice of cranial vault modification, which involves binding a baby's head so that the skull grows in a different shape. This may have signaled social rank or importance. Remains of human and animal sculptures in metal and clay have been found throughout Tumaco-Tolita settlements and graves.

about the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988. The Deep End is a production of Science News. It’s based on original reporting by me, Laura Sanders. This episode was produced by Helen Thompson and mixed by Ella Rowen. Our project manager is Ashley Yeager. Nancy Shute is our editor in chief.

The burning of fossil fuels propelled humanity into the industrial revolution, remaking civilization in its wake. Gasoline powers many of the cars we drive; coal and natural gas are central to global energy. To build a modern civilization, aliens would likely need to use a source of energy that's just as abundant as fossil fuels, said Lewis Dartnell , an astrobiologist and author of "The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Our World from Scratch" (Penguin Press, 2014). It would be hard for them to simply bypass the production of fossil fuels, he noted. Prior to the industrial revolution, energy was the fundamental limitation on how much you could do, Dartnell said. In the 18th century, the world entered the industrial revolution by tapping into what appeared to be a limitless source of energy: coal. The question of whether humans could have bypassed fossil fuels to reach alternative energy sources is "somewhat of a chicken-and-egg dilemma," Dartnell told Live Science. Producing solar panels requires silicon, and extracting and refining this element demands a significant amount of energy. Dartnell drew a parallel with aliens: The easiest way for intelligent extraterrestrial life to create fuel would be to start by burning stuff, like humans did, until they can move to other sources of energy. They could perhaps harness the light of a star or of the kinetic energy of the wind. But wind energy on its own would not create the high temperatures needed for the smelting, forging and casting of metals, which would be needed for industrialization, Dartnell said. Scientists still haven't found a planet with abundant oxygen in its atmosphere, though trace amounts have been found on Mars, Venus and Jupiter's moon Europa. Oxygen is the key ingredient in burning fossil fuels because it enables combustion, which is what releases the energy stored in coal, oil and gas. Fossil fuels are created from life — they're the transformed remains of plants and animals that lived hundreds of millions of years ago. Dartnell suggested that plate tectonics are a crucial part of the puzzle of how these life forms came to exist. There's good reason to suspect that in order to have intelligent life on an Earth-like planet, you need to have plate tectonics to regulate the climate for long periods of time, he said. A 2022 study by researchers at the University of Sydney reported how Earth's tectonic plates move carbon between the deep Earth and the surface, forming what they call a "carbon conveyor belt." This process is key to maintaining Earth's "Goldilocks" climate, making the planet habitable, according to the study. What's more, plate tectonics also results in continental drift and the creation of conditions that produce large amounts of coal, a fossil fuel. Scientists have yet to find another planet with active plate tectonics. Nor have they found fossil fuels in space. What they have discovered, however, is evidence of fossil fuels' chemical building blocks: hydrogen and carbon. Approximately 75% of the universe's mass is composed of hydrogen, said Shostak. Additionally, scientists have found a field of liquid hydrocarbons on Saturn's moon Titan. Intelligent aliens could, hypothetically, attempt to burn these elements to produce energy.

This summer, an intense marine heatwave struck off northwestern Australia, driving sea surface temperatures up to 4°C above the summer average. The large mass of warm water has slowly moved south from the Kimberley region and through the Pilbara, leaving a wave of underwater destruction behind. Now Ningaloo Reef is bleaching in earnest. The Great Barrier Reef is bleaching too in the waters from Cape York down to Townsville. This appears to be the first time these two World Heritage-listed reefs have bleached in unison. Bleaching may also hit the World Heritage reef at Shark Bay in Western Australia. How bad is it? I have just returned from Ningaloo Reef, where I saw widespread bleaching and the first signs of coral mortality. Up to 90% of the coral found in shallow areas of the northern lagoon had bleached. Bleaching doesn’t automatically mean death, but it severely weakens the coral and jeopardises survival. At Ningaloo and further south, the heatwave is still unfolding. In coming months, we can expect to see some coral mortality, while other corals will survive the bleaching in poor health only to succumb to disease or other threats such as Drupella (coral-eating snails). Other corals may survive but struggle to reproduce, but some particularly hardy corals with the right combination of genes for surviving this event are expected to live on. Why is this happening? No surprises here: our greenhouse gas emissions trap more heat in the atmosphere. Over 90% of the heat pours into the oceans, pushing surface and deep water temperatures higher for longer periods of time. Coral can tolerate brief periods of higher temperatures. But in response to prolonged heat stress, coral polyps expel their symbiotic zooxanthellae algae. They appear to do this to avoid further tissue damage from toxic reactive oxygen molecules which build up as the coral begins to stress. But these microalgae supply sugary food to the coral polyps in exchange for a home. Without these nutrients, the coral can starve. Heat stress is tracked using a measure called “degree heating weeks” (DHW) – essentially, how much above-average heat has built up in an area over the previous three months. Bleaching can begin at four DWH, while eight DHW can kill some corals. At Ningaloo, the heat has been off the charts – levels of up to 16 DHW have been recorded, the highest on record for this location. On the Great Barrier Reef, bleaching is underway in the northernmost section. This is the sixth bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef this decade. Early data suggests there is severe heat in places, ranging from six to 13 DHW in intensity and alerts remain for more heat and bleaching to come. Bleaching is usually worst for corals growing in shallow water, such as the calm lagoons created by fringing or barrier reefs. Lagoons often have clear waters with high light penetration and limited flushing of water. Ningaloo in hot water Over ten days, we recorded the health and type of every coral we saw at 21 sites along Ningaloo Reef, from Coral Bay to the northern tip of North West Cape and into Exmouth Gulf. The worst affected area that we observed was a 30 km stretch at the northern end of the North West Cape, the peninsula along which Ningaloo Reef runs. Here, we saw mass bleaching – up to 90% of coral had bleached in shallow areas of the northern lagoon. We also observed healthy and reproductive corals along the outer rim of the lagoon at Coral Bay, and locals have recently reported seeing spawning near Coral Bay. This suggests some coral were indeed healthy enough to spawn.

In two months, President Donald Trump has tested the limits of the US Constitution, from overhauling immigration to drastically reducing the federal workforce and dismantling government agencies. With Republicans now in control of both the Senate and House of Representatives, Congress has shown little sign it will stand in Trump's way. The judiciary is another branch of government that can check the power of the president. However, the Trump administration has appeared willing to ignore decisions handed down by judges. Congressional Democrats are demoralised and divided over how to respond to Trump. They face criticism for their lack of strategy. This has led some to ask why the United States lacks a formal political opposition leader. In the American political system, the loser of the presidential election doesn't retain a position as leader of the party in opposition. Instead, they tend to disappear from view. By contrast, in countries with Westminster-style parliamentary systems, such as Australia, the UK, Canada, and India, the main party not in power selects an opposition leader from among their ranks. During Trump's first term, Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi was widely recognised as the de facto Democratic opposition leader. A skilled negotiator, Pelosi united Democrats behind her to lead the opposition to Trump's legislative agenda. As Senate Majority and Minority Leader, Republican Senator Mitch McConnell successfully blocked swathes of legislation during Barack Obama's presidency. In the 1980s, then-Speaker Tip O'Neill led the Democratic opposition to Ronald Reagan's domestic agenda without resorting to obstructionism. However, for an opposition figure to have this level of influence, they usually need decades of experience, political skill, and a party in control of the House or Senate. The Democrats no longer have a majority in either chamber and are no longer led by Pelosi. Hakeem Jeffries has been the House Minority Leader since 2023 but without the Speaker's gavel or control of any committees, he has limited influence. Party discipline is typically far more unwieldy in the United States compared to other countries. In Australia, crossing the floor to vote against your own party is very rare. The Democratic caucus is strained by Joe Biden's withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race and now even more fractured after the resounding defeat in November. The party lost ground with almost every demographic across the country. Polling shows public support for the Democrats has slumped to unprecedented lows, with just over a quarter of voters holding a positive view of the party. Most dramatically, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer defied fellow Democrats by voting in favour of a resolution to avoid a government shutdown. His decision sparked an uproar from his party colleagues. Democrats were in near-lockstep on almost all issues during Trump's first term and Biden's presidency. Now, some are calling on Schumer to step aside as minority leader. In the fractious debates now consuming the party, some see parallels with the emergence of the Tea Party movement within the Republican Party during Barack Obama's first term in office. The current Democratic division could result in the emergence of a stronger dissident faction within the party. This could push a harder line in opposition to Trump, no longer toeing the line from party leadership. Yet, electoral turnarounds can happen quickly in the United States. Few expected a demoralised Democratic party to turn John Kerry's heavy defeat into a generational victory just four years later. Similarly, after Obama decisively won reelection against Mitt Romney, few Republicans could have predicted they'd soon be back in power with Trump. The soul-searching process will be painful for the Democrats. The 2026 midterm elections are likely to be the best opportunity for a new central leader to emerge on the national stage.

Climate change, floods, and river confinement are linked worldwide. Large floods are expected to become more frequent and severe due to climate change. Many of these risks are made worse by past management decisions that have artificially confined rivers within narrow channels. Floodplain river systems have historically been dynamic, shifting across landscapes over time. Extensive stop banks, modification of river channels, and land development have restricted this natural variability. Strangling rivers in this way transfers and heightens flood risks downstream. The idea of allowing rivers to reclaim space on their floodplains is not new. In the Netherlands, the Room for the River programme was a response to flooding in 1995 that led to large-scale evacuations of people and cattle. In England, predictions that economic risks associated with flooding will increase 20-fold within this century ignited the Making Space for Water strategy. However, these initiatives typically remain focused on flood protection, overlooking opportunities to maximise ecological benefits. Our new research shows that well-designed approaches can deliver ecological gains alongside flood protection. This is crucial because floodplain river systems are among the most valuable ecosystems. They provide about a quarter of all land-based ecosystem services such as water retention and pollutant filtration. Floodplain rivers are not static: they change across landscapes and through time, responding to seasonal flows, sediment movement, and ecological processes. A fundamental shift in river management involves acknowledging and accommodating natural variability. Our research synthesises the ecological processes that are enabled when floodplain rivers have room to move. Rivers that are not unnaturally confined are typically more physically complex. For instance, along with the main river channel, they might have smaller side channels or areas where the water pools and slows. A diverse range of habitats supports a rich variety of plant and animal life. Even exposed gravel, made available in rivers that flow freely, provides critical nesting sites for endangered birds. Biodiversity is not one-dimensional. Instead, it exists and operates at multiple scales, from a small floodplain pond to a whole river catchment or wider. In a dynamic, ever-changing riverscape, we might find the genetic composition of a species varying in different parts of the river. The same species of fish may vary in their body size depending on the habitat conditions. At a larger scale, the type and number of species that live in different floodplain river habitats also varies. This diversity of biological communities produces variation in the functions ecosystems perform across the river. These variations mean not all species or groups of species in the river will be vulnerable to the same disturbances at the same time. Plants and animals in rivers have evolved to take advantage of long-term rhythms of floods and droughts in different ways. For instance, the cottonwood poplars of the southwest United States time their seed release with the highly predictable rhythms of snowmelt-driven spring floods in that part of the world. In Aotearoa New Zealand, whitebait fish species typically deposit their eggs during high autumn flows. This is then transported to sea as larvae during high winter flows. Some animals need multiple habitats within the river for different stages of life. Other creatures travel from afar to use river floodplains for only a short time. The banded dotterel (Charadrius bicinctus), endemic to Aotearoa New Zealand, is an example of this. This bird travels as far as 1,700km to nest on braided-river gravels each spring. We call for practitioners to broaden the scope of values included in river management policy and programmes to include ecological variability. Nature-based solutions are approaches that seek to benefit both people and nature. By working with nature rather than against it, we can create landscapes that are more resilient, adaptive, and supportive of both people and biodiversity. It's time to embrace a new paradigm for river management – one that sees rivers not as threats to be controlled, but as lifelines to be protected and restored.

How to Play Click the timer at the top of the game page to pause and see a clue to the science-related word in this puzzle! The objective of the game is to find words that can be made with the given letters such that all the words include the letter in the center. You can enter letters by clicking on them or typing them in. Press Enter to submit a word. Letters can be used multiple times in a single word, and words must contain three letters or more for this size layout. Select the Play Together icon in the navigation bar to invite a friend to work together on this puzzle. Pangrams, words which incorporate all the letters available, appear in bold and receive bonus points. One such word is always drawn from a recent Scientific American article—look out for a popup when you find it! You can view hints for words in the puzzle by hitting the life preserver icon in the game display.

Solve the grid in this easy sudoku puzzle! The Objective of Sudoku is to Fill Each Row, Column and Sub-Grid with Exactly One of Each Number from 1-9. A conflict arises if you repeat any entry in the same row, column or sub-grid. For more, select "how to play" in the game's dropdown menu. Use the "Play Together" Option in the Navigation Bar to Invite A Friend to Play This Puzzle With You and Enter Numbers At the Sam Time. We'd Love to Hear From You! E-mail us at games@sciam.com to share your experience.

Here is the summarized article: The objective of the game is to find words that can be made with the given letters such that all the words include the letter in the center. You can enter letters by clicking on them or typing them in. Press Enter to submit a word. Letters can be used multiple times in a single word, and words must contain three letters or more for this size layout. Select the Play Together icon in the navigation bar to invite a friend to work together on this puzzle. Pangrams, words which incorporate all the letters available, appear in bold and receive bonus points. One such word is always drawn from a recent Scientific American article—look out for a popup when you find it! You can view hints for words in the puzzle by hitting the life preserver icon in the game display.

Solve the grid in this easy sudoku puzzle! The Objective of Sudoku is to Fill Each Row, Column and Sub-Grid with Exactly One of Each Number from 1-9. A conflict arises if you repeat any entry in the same row, column or sub-grid. For more, select "how to play" in the game's dropdown menu. Use the "Play Together" Option in the Navigation Bar to Invite A Friend to Play This Puzzle With You and Enter Numbers At the Sam Time. We'd Love to Hear From You! E-mail us at games@sciam.com to share your experience.

A breakthrough in optimization has been achieved by researchers who have developed a more powerful version of Newton's method. Amir Ali Ahmadi, Abraar Chaudhry, and Yaron Singer have found a way to use arbitrarily many derivatives to efficiently approximate functions with high exponents. Their algorithm works for any number of variables and remains efficient in all cases. The researchers' method involves modifying the Taylor expansion using semidefinite programming to make it both convex and a sum of squares. The new version of Newton's method converges on the true minimum value of a function in fewer iterations than previous techniques. Each iteration is still computationally more expensive than methods such as gradient descent.

On March 5, Do No Harm, an organization that advocates against diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in medicine, among other issues, sued the American Chemical Society for its Scholars Program. The complaint argues the program is illegal because it is not open to White and Asian students. Around two weeks later, Do No Harm also sued the University of Pennsylvania for its partnership with a database called the Black Doctors Directory. The lawsuits join a recent uptick in legal action against universities, departments, and professional societies that host programs intended to increase diversity across academia. In May 2024, White students at the University of Oklahoma sued their school, alleging the university discriminated against them by factoring in race when determining financial aid. The Department of Education was also sued over the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program, which aims to increase diversity in academic programs. Physicians of color are more likely to provide medical service in underserved areas, and research has suggested that racial concordance helps patients get better care. Do No Harm has used litigation as a way to target diversity programs since 2022, including initiatives at Pfizer, the University of Colorado, and the American Association of University Women. They have also sought to influence legislation against pediatric gender-affirming care. The lawsuit against Pfizer seems to have achieved Do No Harm's goal, as the company opened a diversity fellowship to applicants of all races in 2023. The loss of scholarships like the ACS Scholars Program would harm the scientific community and people who historically have lacked access and resources to pursue careers in the sciences. Around 3,500 students have been funded by the Scholars Program to support their studies in scientific fields. The potential loss of these programs could have a detrimental effect on scientific research: If underrepresented scientists no longer have the resources to continue in their careers, the field might lose important role models and new ways of thinking. The American Chemical Society is already changing language related to diversity, editing a headline on its website from "Advancing ACS' Core Value of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Respect" to "Advancing ACS' Core Value of Inclusion and Belonging". The recent round of applications for the Scholars Program just closed on March 1. It remains unclear whether the program will continue.