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Elections to top science bodies test Croatia’s gender equality in research

Croatia’s track-record on gender equality in science has been both questioned and lauded in recent months, following both bad and good news on the topic. On the one hand, a senior awards committee was announced without a single woman researcher included. On the other, the national science academy welcomed its first cohort of fellows with more women than men.Members of the committee, which gives national awards recognising scientific achievement, are proposed by the ministry of science and endorsed by the parliament. The current line-up does include a woman, but she is culture minister Nina Obuljen Koržinek rather than a researcher. Even then, she didn’t make it into the photograph released to announce the appointments on April 16. “The image speaks a thousand words,” says Tanja Rudež, a science journalist for Jutarnji List newspaper. “I am surprised that none of these men, all well-known scientists, saw a problem with the fact that there was not a single successful female scientist on the committee,” she told Science|Business.Ivan Đikić, a prominent Croatian biochemist based at Goethe University Medical School, commented on LinkedIn that the news illustrated a “sad truth” about the state of science in Croatia.“It [. . .] reveals a system where women, despite contributing a substantial share of high-quality, internationally competitive science, are systematically excluded from the very processes that determine recognition and influence,” he wrote. Some 60% of researchers in Croatia are women, according to the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, and they perform well in international competitions. For example, of the 12 European Research Council (ERC) grants awarded to Croatian researchers, seven went to women.“So how is it possible that decision-making bodies are still dominated by men over 60, while not a single female ERC laureate is involved in the selection process?” asked Đikić. “This is not a marginal oversight; it is a structural failure.” The ministry of science did not reply to a request for comment. The awards committee is not unusual. For example, a scientific advisory body announced by the ministry of demographics in April comprises 35 men and five women. The board of the Croatian Science Foundation, newly appointed by the parliament, is a little better, with five men and two women, but still unequal. “This is especially significant because such bodies do not merely distribute prestige. They shape research priorities, funding allocation and long-term scientific development,” Marija Lugarić, chair of the parliament’s committee on gender equality, told Science|Business. “Representation here matters not only symbolically, but materially.”Referring to the awards committee and the board of the science foundation, Lugarić says that while both bodies were appointed by parliament, neither met the minimum 40% gender balance threshold that Croatian law and EU guidelines expressly recommend for public bodies.Đikić wants to see EU institutions put pressure on the government to ensure basic standards of fairness, transparency and democratic governance in science policy are met. “Meaningful change will not come without pressure,” he wrote. “It must intensify both within Croatia and at the level of European institutions. Anything less undermines the credibility of Europe’s commitment to excellence and inclusion in science.”Rudež also underlined the importance of talking and writing about this topic, “because public opinion in Croatia does influence changes in the status and visibility of women in science.”The European Commission has not yet responded to a request for comment.Good news from the academyA more positive story came from the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts on 21 May, with the announcement of seven new women fellows and five men. This is the first time in the academy’s 165-year history that women have outnumbered men in a new intake.One of the new fellows, two-time ERC grantee Iva Tolić, credits the academy leadership with trying to be more modern and inclusive, representing the whole community better. “The academy is really aware that so far, before this election, there were very few women,” she told Science|Business. “So, they are actively trying to make this more equal.”Related articlesExplained: How the MSCA is close to achieving gender balanceCall for EU to leverage academic freedom in global talent raceRudež is more cautious, noting that despite the academy’s “breakthrough this year [. . .] it is still a predominantly male institution, with only 18% women.”This reflects a wider imbalance in Croatia’s research landscape. “The key levers of power in science are still in the hands of men,” she went on. “For example, all 14 rectors of private and public universities are men.”Similarly, Lugarić says a structural glass ceiling still exists in Croatian science, which is “most visible precisely where power is exercised.”She cites data from the Commission’s She Figures 2024 report, which shows that Croatia ranks second in the EU for gender equality in research and innovation overall, with an equality index of 79.6 out of 100. It is in the top five for women’s career advancement, participation in research; representation across all research sectors and for scientific publications.In stark contrast, it ranks second to last when it comes to women in decision-making positions in science. “This is not a coincidence,” Lugarić says. “It is a structural pattern.”Informal barriersThe persistent under-representation of women in the highest structures of Croatia’s academies, boards, award committees and leadership positions is not down to formal barriers, Lugarić says, but arises from more subtle obstacles such as “informal networks, persistent expectations regarding traditional gender roles and the unequal distribution of care responsibilities.”Tolić would like to see more support for young women in terms of affordable housing and child support, and higher salaries. Currently, she says, salaries in science stay low for the first 10-15 years, while housing and spaces in kindergarten are limited and expensive. “You have to work a lot, you get very little money, so it’s not great to have a family in this situation,” she says.But despite the challenges, Tolić is optimistic, saying that gender equality in research in Croatia is “definitely improving and going in the right direction.” The situation is particularly promising in biology, she adds, where most full professors, heads of department and deans of faculties are women. Lugarić, too, see the glass ceiling “very slowly, cracking,” and cites the academy election as an example that structural change is possible. Yet the situation in the national awards committee is a “stark reminder that without a conscious, systemic commitment to gender balance, progress will remain slow and uneven.”

Jun 3 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencebusiness.net

FIRST ON FOX: Trump admin transforms DC hotspot once rocked by George Floyd protests in symbolic reversal

Trump's Department of the Interior transforms D.C.'s Freedom Plaza with a patriotic installation featuring Caesar Rodney and Revolutionary War soldiers.

Jun 2 • 7:40 AM EDT • Politics • foxnews.com

Polish scientists and students rally in campaign for 3% funding target

Polish scientists and students have been flooding social media with calls on the government to raise research and development spending as part of 3% for Science, 100% for Poland, a campaign born earlier this month out of frustration with chronic underfunding in the academic sector. On May 27, thousands took the slogan on to the streets.The EU has been trying to convince member states to raise their R&D expenditures to 3% of GDP for more than two decades, but the idea has never gained traction in capitals. Finance ministers were too busy plugging budget holes created in the aftermath of the 2008 crisis, then the Covid pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and now the war in Iran.Critics say that countries missed or ignored the target because it is voluntary, but also because research communities have rarely raised their voice to put pressure on national governments. The European Commission hopes to make the target legally binding in the upcoming European Research Area Act, an EU-wide regulation that should be announced by the end of the year. Academia in Poland has been faced with a funding crisis for years, often leaving its members with no other choice but to work abroad in order to access better resources, or leave the sector altogether in the hope of earning a decent living. The risk, in the long-term, is that brain drain stifles local innovation capacity and technological competitiveness.In just a few weeks, the movement rallied nationwide support, including from major academic bodies and trade unions such as the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland and the Presidium of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Its public petition collected more than 23,000 signatures. On May 27, it formed the first large protest for science in Poland, gathering thousands of people in front of the parliament building in Warsaw.Ilona Uryga-Bugajska, representative of the Marie Curie Alumni Association Poland Chapter, was there. “The protest was peaceful, with no incidents reported, and the entire event took place in a respectful and calm atmosphere,” she said. Banners she saw in the crowd carried slogans such as “A little longer and I’ll be teaching in a supermarket,” “National culture, starvation salary,” “Stop the destruction of science,” “Passion will not pay the rent,” “Without action, don’t expect a better future,” and “Pull science out of the hole.” She also observed a strong presence of young researchers, who are on the frontline of Poland’s academic crisis.“Academics are usually people who prefer discussion, analysis, dialogue and compromise. We are not a group that protests easily,” said Katarzyna Marzec, professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the Jagiellonian University Medical College and AGH University of Krakow, who also took part. “But many of us feel that we have been pushed against the wall.”Aleksandra Rutkowska, translational neuroscientist and research group leader at the Medical University of Gdańsk, agreed. “Frustration in the scientific community is very high,” she said. “Science is often used politically as a symbol of innovation and modernity, but the everyday reality inside many institutions is much more difficult. There is a large gap between the public narrative and the actual condition of the sector.”Maria Wiktoria Górna, head of the structural biology group at the University of Warsaw and one of the organisers of the movement, told Science|Business that the campaign would continue without proven results. This might involve another strike in the autumn, she said. “Empty promises are not enough by now.”Campaign demandsAccording to Uryga-Bugajska, the organisers officially presented their demands and concerns to representatives of the government present at the event. These included Marek Gzik, deputy minister of science and higher education, and Karolina Zioło-Pużuk, secretary of state of that same ministry.The headline demand, for the government to increase national spending on R&D to 3% of GDP by 2030, should be within Poland’s economic capacity, Rutkowska said. “The real question is whether there is genuine long-term political commitment to treating science as a strategic priority rather than a slogan.”In 2024, R&D expenditure in Poland stood at 1.41% of GDP, which is slightly above the average for central and eastern Europe, with countries such as Czechia recording 1.82%, Hungary 1.31% and Romania 0.46%. However, it falls noticeably short of the EU average of 2.24%, which just a handful of countries exceed, including Germany, Belgium and Sweden.Campaigners are also asking for fair wages for scientific staff, including PhD stipends and junior academic salaries, which are widely considered uncompetitive. Starting doctoral scholarships amount to some €843 gross per month, when the statutory minimum wage stands at €1,135. By pushing early-career researchers out of Poland, growing precarity has caused a generational gap in the academic workforce, with just 25% of lecturers aged under 40. In this context, the movement fears that scientific careers could soon be accessible to a privileged minority only.Grzegorz Spólnik is a case in point. After 15 years working in mass spectrometry at the Polish Academy of Sciences, he decided to leave partly “to earn enough money to live a normal life,” he said. “At that time, my earnings were similar to those of people working in grocery shops, and the work-life balance is something that does not exist in science, or is very hard to achieve.”Now a senior field service engineer for Polish laboratory equipment supplier Bioanalytic, he would consider going back to research, “but never in the public sector, maybe some start-up or a big private company with ambitious R&D.”The campaigners want to see more support for basic research and have called for €236 million to be added to the budget of the National Science Centre (NCN) in 2027 so that the average grant application success rate does not fall below 25%.“At the protest, there was a banner I particularly liked: ‘NCN is not a lottery.’ Unfortunately, for many researchers, it increasingly feels exactly like one,” Marzec said. “Personally, I am one of the lucky ones. I work at two of the strongest institutions in the country, where the research standards are very high. I know that in many other institutions, the situation is much worse and obtaining funding for research at an early-career stage is becoming nearly impossible.”Rutkowska also considers herself fortunate. After studying abroad and holding a postdoctoral position, she returned to Poland, where her pay was supported through an NCN-funded project linked to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. “This also made me very aware that good research conditions in Poland often depend on external competitive funding rather than on stable support from the system itself,” she said.Long-term strategyBeyond the lack of funds for both salaries and grants, scientists believe that the issue is structural. “The biggest problem at the moment is the complete lack of a clear long-term strategy for the development of science and research from the current government,” Marzec said. “Everything ends with declarations and promises that are never truly followed by concrete actions or structural reforms.”Rutkowska agreed, citing a lack of infrastructure, continuity and long-term institutional support.“Running a research group in Poland often means functioning as an entire institution at once,” she said. “I am a principal investigator, a mentor, a recruiter, a project administrator and, when needed, still someone who returns to the lab bench to help with experiments,” she went on. “This creates a large hidden workload that takes time and energy away from actual science. At times, it feels as though scientists are no longer expecting extra help; we simply hope the system will stop creating additional obstacles that make research unnecessarily difficult.”Related articlesStrategic thinking: Germany funds joint research with Poland and FrancePoland to transfer €30M of regional funds to boost Horizon Europe participationPoland is funding fewer basic research grants as high inflation hitsIn short, “academics are expected to teach, publish papers, apply for grants and conduct high-quality research, while funding and salaries remain very limited,” said Uryga-Bugajska, who returned to her home country after 13 years in the UK.According to Marzec, another issue is the way that research institutions are evaluated. Previously, this took place every four years, with a clear differentiation between stronger and weaker institutions. “The current government, perhaps to avoid political backlash, effectively concluded that everyone is doing well, so in practice no meaningful evaluation took place,” she said.But in her view, “some form of serious assessment is necessary” to ensure the excellence and international competitiveness of Polish institutions, and to determine how to best use public resources and where institutional structures need reform. “Some institutions may need to rethink hiring practices in order to attract ambitious young researchers who are capable of obtaining competitive grants and building internationally visible research groups.” Rutkowska has already had to adapt. “When hiring PhD students, I often have to combine different funding sources creatively to make positions attractive enough for talented people to stay in science,” she said. “Many young researchers do not see a stable future in academia in Poland, and that is deeply worrying.”

May 28 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencebusiness.net

Polish scientists and students rally in campaign for better conditions

Polish scientists and students have been flooding social media with calls on the government to raise research and development spending as part of 3% for Science, 100% for Poland, a campaign born earlier this month out of frustration with chronic underfunding in the academic sector. On May 27, thousands took the slogan on to the streets.The EU has been trying to convince member states to raise their R&D expenditures to 3% of GDP for more than two decades, but the idea has never gained traction in capitals. Finance ministers were too busy plugging budget holes created in the aftermath of the 2008 crisis, then the Covid pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and now the war in Iran.Critics say that countries missed or ignored the target because it is voluntary, but also because research communities have rarely raised their voice to put pressure on national governments. The European Commission hopes to make the target legally binding in the upcoming European Research Area Act, an EU-wide regulation that should be announced by the end of the year. Academia in Poland has been faced with a funding crisis for years, often leaving its members with no other choice but to work abroad in order to access better resources, or leave the sector altogether in the hope of earning a decent living. The risk, in the long-term, is that brain drain stifles local innovation capacity and technological competitiveness.In just a few weeks, the movement rallied nationwide support, including from major academic bodies and trade unions such as the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland and the Presidium of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Its public petition collected more than 23,000 signatures. On May 27, it formed the first large protest for science in Poland, gathering thousands of people in front of the parliament building in Warsaw.Ilona Uryga-Bugajska, representative of the Marie Curie Alumni Association Poland Chapter, was there. “The protest was peaceful, with no incidents reported, and the entire event took place in a respectful and calm atmosphere,” she said. Banners she saw in the crowd carried slogans such as “A little longer and I’ll be teaching in a supermarket,” “National culture, starvation salary,” “Stop the destruction of science,” “Passion will not pay the rent,” “Without action, don’t expect a better future,” and “Pull science out of the hole.” She also observed a strong presence of young researchers, who are on the frontline of Poland’s academic crisis.“Academics are usually people who prefer discussion, analysis, dialogue and compromise. We are not a group that protests easily,” said Katarzyna Marzec, professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the Jagiellonian University Medical College and AGH University of Krakow, who also took part. “But many of us feel that we have been pushed against the wall.”Aleksandra Rutkowska, translational neuroscientist and research group leader at the Medical University of Gdańsk, agreed. “Frustration in the scientific community is very high,” she said. “Science is often used politically as a symbol of innovation and modernity, but the everyday reality inside many institutions is much more difficult. There is a large gap between the public narrative and the actual condition of the sector.”Maria Wiktoria Górna, head of the structural biology group at the University of Warsaw and one of the organisers of the movement, told Science|Business that the campaign would continue without proven results. This might involve another strike in the autumn, she said. “Empty promises are not enough by now.”Campaign demandsAccording to Uryga-Bugajska, the organisers officially presented their demands and concerns to representatives of the government present at the event. These included Marek Gzik, deputy minister of science and higher education, and Karolina Zioło-Pużuk, secretary of state of that same ministry.The headline demand, for the government to increase national spending on R&D to 3% of GDP by 2030, should be within Poland’s economic capacity, Rutkowska said. “The real question is whether there is genuine long-term political commitment to treating science as a strategic priority rather than a slogan.”In 2024, R&D expenditure in Poland stood at 1.41% of GDP, which is slightly above the average for central and eastern Europe, with countries such as Czechia recording 1.82%, Hungary 1.31% and Romania 0.46%. However, it falls noticeably short of the EU average of 2.24%, which just a handful of countries exceed, including Germany, Belgium and Sweden.Campaigners are also asking for fair wages for scientific staff, including PhD stipends and junior academic salaries, which are widely considered uncompetitive. Starting doctoral scholarships amount to some €843 gross per month, when the statutory minimum wage stands at €1,135. By pushing early-career researchers out of Poland, growing precarity has caused a generational gap in the academic workforce, with just 25% of lecturers aged under 40. In this context, the movement fears that scientific careers could soon be accessible to a privileged minority only.Grzegorz Spólnik is a case in point. After 15 years working in mass spectrometry at the Polish Academy of Sciences, he decided to leave partly “to earn enough money to live a normal life,” he said. “At that time, my earnings were similar to those of people working in grocery shops, and the work-life balance is something that does not exist in science, or is very hard to achieve.”Now a senior field service engineer for Polish laboratory equipment supplier Bioanalytic, he would consider going back to research, “but never in the public sector, maybe some start-up or a big private company with ambitious R&D.”The campaigners want to see more support for basic research and have called for €236 million to be added to the budget of the National Science Centre (NCN) in 2027 so that the average grant application success rate does not fall below 25%.“At the protest, there was a banner I particularly liked: ‘NCN is not a lottery.’ Unfortunately, for many researchers, it increasingly feels exactly like one,” Marzec said. “Personally, I am one of the lucky ones. I work at two of the strongest institutions in the country, where the research standards are very high. I know that in many other institutions, the situation is much worse and obtaining funding for research at an early-career stage is becoming nearly impossible.”Rutkowska also considers herself fortunate. After studying abroad and holding a postdoctoral position, she returned to Poland, where her pay was supported through an NCN-funded project linked to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. “This also made me very aware that good research conditions in Poland often depend on external competitive funding rather than on stable support from the system itself,” she said.Long-term strategyBeyond the lack of funds for both salaries and grants, scientists believe that the issue is structural. “The biggest problem at the moment is the complete lack of a clear long-term strategy for the development of science and research from the current government,” Marzec said. “Everything ends with declarations and promises that are never truly followed by concrete actions or structural reforms.”Rutkowska agreed, citing a lack of infrastructure, continuity and long-term institutional support.“Running a research group in Poland often means functioning as an entire institution at once,” she said. “I am a principal investigator, a mentor, a recruiter, a project administrator and, when needed, still someone who returns to the lab bench to help with experiments,” she went on. “This creates a large hidden workload that takes time and energy away from actual science. At times, it feels as though scientists are no longer expecting extra help; we simply hope the system will stop creating additional obstacles that make research unnecessarily difficult.”Related articlesStrategic thinking: Germany funds joint research with Poland and FrancePoland to transfer €30M of regional funds to boost Horizon Europe participationPoland is funding fewer basic research grants as high inflation hitsIn short, “academics are expected to teach, publish papers, apply for grants and conduct high-quality research, while funding and salaries remain very limited,” said Uryga-Bugajska, who returned to her home country after 13 years in the UK.According to Marzec, another issue is the way that research institutions are evaluated. Previously, this took place every four years, with a clear differentiation between stronger and weaker institutions. “The current government, perhaps to avoid political backlash, effectively concluded that everyone is doing well, so in practice no meaningful evaluation took place,” she said.But in her view, “some form of serious assessment is necessary” to ensure the excellence and international competitiveness of Polish institutions, and to determine how to best use public resources and where institutional structures need reform. “Some institutions may need to rethink hiring practices in order to attract ambitious young researchers who are capable of obtaining competitive grants and building internationally visible research groups.” Rutkowska has already had to adapt. “When hiring PhD students, I often have to combine different funding sources creatively to make positions attractive enough for talented people to stay in science,” she said. “Many young researchers do not see a stable future in academia in Poland, and that is deeply worrying.”

May 28 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencebusiness.net

Leo International Precision Health AG builds a Synchronised, End-to-End Precision Healthcare Engine Across the Entire Patient Journey

LIPH AG introduces a synchronised “Precision Health Engine” designed to transform healthcare from reactive treatment into predictive, personalised and continuous care. Planegg / Martinsried, Germany, May 26, 2026 – Leo International Precision Health AG (“LIPH AG” or the “Company”, ticker symbol: LEOW), a holding company building a global AI-driven healthcare ecosystem and listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, continues to expand its precision health platform integrating Healthcare Services, Me

May 26 • 3:00 AM EDT • Health • finance.yahoo.com

Oakland: Health Workers, Activists Protest H.R. 1 Funding Cuts, Call For Billionaire Tax

Around 80 people participated in a symbolic "die-in" in East Oakland on Thursday to protest federal funding cuts to healthcare.

May 21 • 4:00 PM EDT • Health • sfgate.com

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May 21 • 12:21 PM EDT • Sports • cnn.com

Theo Guenais, S.M. ‘20: Building robust AI systems for the future

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May 20 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • seas.harvard.edu

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May 20 • 3:45 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

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May 19 • 8:00 PM EDT • Technology • nature.com

Why Owning a Sports Team Is the Ultimate Status Symbol

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May 19 • 6:00 AM EDT • Sports • vanityfair.com

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May 10 • 9:30 AM EDT • Technology • androidpolice.com

OPEC Plus, in Symbolic Gesture, to Increase Oil Production

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May 3 • 10:45 AM EDT • Business • nytimes.com

I use these Gemini Scheduled actions to automate my week like a pro

Set it and forget it

May 3 • 7:00 AM EDT • Technology • androidpolice.com

Reaching for the stars: enduring symbols of Soviet science

The photographer Eric Lusito takes us on a scientific journey through space and time in a book on Soviet scientific institutes

May 2 • 7:01 PM EDT • Science • theguardian.com

Punk Politics/Camp Costume is a fashion exhibition curated by (some of my) brilliant Parsons students!

I have the most amazing students. I teach Fashion Journalism at Parsons, as part of its MA Fashion Studies degree, though I have students of all different disciplines throughout the New School in my class — from fine-art photographers to investigative journalists to textile designers. And I learn about all sorts of fascinating things from them, like that designers are adding faux sweat stains to their garments now (part of a trend piece about “anatomy core”) and that real “French girl style” is actually about being “cunti cunta” (aka loud, rude, too much, liberated). So when I found out that some of my students were curating a fashion exhibition opening tonight(!!!), I just knew that it would be brilliant too. Wearable Art is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe It’s called Punk Politics/Camp Costuming1, and it’s up through May 10 at La Sudestada, the wonderful gallery and concept store in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. I asked the exhibit’s lead curator, Ella Birney (a talented costume and knitwear designer from Belfast who also happens to be in my class), all about it. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Tell me about the idea of this exhibition and how it came about. Ella Birney: For our Fashion Curation class, we had to pitch [exhibition] proposals to our professor, Jessica [Glasscock], and I really wanted to continue on the themes that I was exploring in my BA when I was studying in London a couple of years ago. My BA was very punk-inspired and very political. Everything I do, as you know from my writing, always has a slight Irish, political twist to it2. So in my BA project, it was looking at knitwear as a conveyor for exploring political identity in somewhere like Ireland, where identity is such a point of contention. And looking at the images that I generated from that project, there was something so camp about the whole thing. Like, it’s so playful and in bad taste to do a political message — like a knitted Union Jack — out of mohair. There’s something very camp about that. So that’s where it kind of became punk politics/camp costuming — looking at how from the 1970s to now there’s been protest through costume and clothing. What was your BA in? It was fashion textiles, knitwear. Very craft heavy, which — craft is never taken seriously either. That’s also a kind of spin [on the punk/camp thing]. The Union Jack knit that you made is included in the show — what is camp about knitting a Union Jack out of mohair? The whole ethos of camp is kind of bad taste, doing things that are tongue in cheek and a bit wink, wink, nudge, nudge. Like, this is a bit silly. Everything I do is like, this is a bit silly. Like, being from the North of Ireland, everything you do is political. So it’s like, everything is going to be looked at in a certain lens anyway, so we may as well lean into it. So the Union Jack was because I come from a mixed marriage — Protestant-Catholic. And in the North of Ireland, that’s still a big deal. And even though I’m a Catholic and brought up in a very like Catholic Nationalist family, there [were] Union Jacks [the symbol of the United Kingdom] on my street. So I was like, then I’m gonna make your Union Jack out of knitwear. And then that kind of all linked back to the punk movement that Vivian Westwood forefronted in the late 70s, [with her stores] Let It Rock and Seditionaries. How did you source your items? Once we decided on this exhibition idea, everyone in the class was put to [think about] what do you think can fit into punk politics/camp costuming and finding designers that fit that brief. Me and my co-curators, Dulcinea Flores and Allison Gramando, made a brief to send out — with a mood board and color stories, stuff like that — and then everyone kind of got to work emailing people. We reached out to other Parsons grads. Even through Instagram stories we’ve been able to reach so many people who were like, Yeah, of course, I’ll write something for this, or Please — let me submit stuff. It actually was quite easy sourcing things. … The Parsons thing gets you quite far. What were some great pieces you got? There’s a Brooklyn-based, nonbinary artist called Buzz Slutsky. I can’t even remember how I found them, but I came across this crazy, shoe thing — they had made all these different shoes out of papier-mâché, and the story behind them is so fantastic, so interesting. They were just so obliging, like, Of course, you can have these for a few weeks. I was really happy about that. And then we have art from a collective here called Art Comes First. And they lent loads of really amazing pieces that just tied everything together. You have your Union Jack knit in the show too. Any other pieces that you made? There’s three of my BA mohair knits. There’s the Union Jack. There’s a mohair with the word “No” — which is based on an old political campaign in Ireland that was “Ulster says no to sodomy.” And then there’s another one that is red, white and blue, like the Union Jack, but has the word “Catholic” on it and lots of holy medals. I’m so happy I got to include those. How many pieces are in the show? Between 49 and 52, something like that. A load of clothing and accessories, shoes. There’s a Brooklyn-based Irish photographer who’s given us photos. There’s also a shopping cart that is an art piece by Art Comes First that has gold knuckle dusters as the handles. There’s also lots of T-shirts, original pins from the 70s and 80s that were from people’s dads. I also brought my record player, and all of [co-curator] Allison’s dad’s original albums so everyone could play records. Oh my gosh! Yeah, it’s cool. Anything else you would like to add? If we get to do an exhibition, why would we not make it political in this day and age? I hope that people come. There’s a lot of history, because it starts back in the 70s. It’s not like chronological or anything, but there are historical objects. I hope people come out of it thinking, out of all the really horrendous decades of the 70s and 80s and 90s, all these amazing subcultures happened. There are horrible political times, but there’s art that comes out of it that lasts. Punk Politics/Camp Costume is on view May 1-10 at La Sudestada, 67 West St. Suite 513, Greenpoint, Brooklyn. RSVP for the opening Friday May 1 6pm-8pm here. There’s also a button-making and patch-making workshop and artist talk May 9. Follow the show’s Instagram page @punkxcamp.parsons. Special shout out to all the students who put on this show: Ella Birney (lead curator), Dulcinea Flores (curator), Allison Gramando (curator), Pierre Sanon (lead exhibition designer), Eliana Daneshvari (exhibition designer), Reilly Lowell (editor), Jess Gayo (researcher/writer), Joyce Gayo (researcher/writer), Maria Magdalena Ugarte Montero (researcher/writer), Cassidy Colarik (exhibition press officer), Shelby Shovein (educator), Sarah Mahnke-Baum (educator), Trinidy Coleman (graphic designer), and Leonie Soravia (project manager). Jessica Glasscock was the faculty advisor. 1 The website is definitely worth checking out. 2 This is true!

May 1 • 3:59 PM EDT • Politics • raquellaneri.substack.com

Afghanistan women: Fifa rule changes allows return to international competition

Afghanistan women will become a "symbol of resilience" after Fifa approved their return to international competition, says former captain Khalida Popal.

Apr 29 • 4:08 AM EDT • Sports • bbc.com

The Key to a Healthy Mind

Personal Perspective: Our symbolic environment is changing faster than our evolutionary mechanisms can adapt.

Apr 26 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • psychologytoday.com

Struggling Kodai Senga seeks better form during Mets-Rockies doubleheader

No player better symbolizes the topsy-turvy nature of the New York Mets than right-hander Kodai Senga.

Apr 25 • 9:52 PM EDT • Sports • cbssports.com

Status symbols men are obsessed with in 2026

Status symbols for men in 2026 are all about looking sharp and evoking quiet luxury. Leather bags and tailored designer suits are just two examples.

Apr 24 • 7:24 AM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com

The Symbolic Politics of Status in the MAGA Movement -

The Symbolic Politics of Status in the MAGA Movement By Biko Koenig, Franklin & Marshall College and Tali Mendelberg, Princeton University Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork among Make America Great Again (MAGA) activists during the 2020 [...]

Apr 22 • 10:00 AM EDT • Politics • politicalsciencenow.com

#EarthDay: Protecting Rhinos With Nuclear Science

Poaching remains one of the greatest threats to rhinos — a powerful symbol of our planet’s biodiversity. In South Africa, scientists are addressing this challenge with an innovative approach: using safe radioactive isotopes as invisible markers in rhino horns, enabling authorities to detect and trace them at borders.

Apr 22 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • iaea.org

New Orleans court clerk Calvin Duncan is symbolically sworn in as GOP races to eliminate office

New Orleans court clerk Calvin Duncan is symbolically sworn in as Republicans race to eliminate office. He is scheduled to take office May 4 but Republicans hope to eliminate his position by then

Apr 21 • 6:56 PM EDT • Politics • nola.com

West Bengal election: Why politicians are campaigning with fish in hand

In West Bengal polls, fish moves from plate to politics, symbolising identity and cultural pride.

Apr 20 • 5:01 PM EDT • Politics • bbc.com

House Votes to Preserve Deportation Protections for Haitians, Rebuking Trump

The action was largely symbolic since the president would be all but certain to veto the bill, but the bipartisan vote reflected resistance within his own ranks on his signature issue.

Apr 16 • 2:54 PM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com

Chargé Arnold Speech - Implementation Plan of Five-Year Health MOU - U.S. Embassy in Madagascar

Chargée d’Affaires Stephanie Arnold's Speech Discussion on the implementation plan for the five-year health Memorandum of Understanding (…) Colleagues, and honored guests, Good morning, and welcome to the United States Embassy. It is a pleasure to host you today for the second day of this important workshop to discuss the implementation of our bilateral health Memorandum of Understanding on U.S. Government health activities in Madagascar, made possible through the Trump Administration’s America First Global Health Strategy. Today’s focus— discussing a shared vision and developing a preliminary draft for the health MOU Implementation Plan and the terms of reference for the two committees that will steer its implementation—is a decisive step in moving from commitments on paper to concrete action over the next five years. On December 22, 2025, the Governments of Madagascar and the United States signed a five-year bilateral health MOU, with a financial intention of approximately 554 billion Ariary from the United States and This jointly decided MOU intends to strengthen Madagascar’s health system, support lifesaving services, and improve disease prevention and response that matter to both our countries’ health security. For the United States, this means detecting and containing infectious disease outbreaks including malaria, polio, and emerging health threats before they can reach American shores through international travel and trade, protecting American families while reducing the need for costly domestic emergency responses Yesterday, technical experts from the Ministry of Public Health and the U.S. Government worked in thematic groups to draft a preliminary Implementation Plan. Today, your task is to review the shared vision and preliminary draft MOU implementation plan, and the proposed terms of reference for the Joint Steering Committee and the Operational Committee that will guide its implementation. These committees are not just administrative structures. They are the mechanisms that will ensure clear roles and responsibilities, regular dialogue between our two governments, consistent monitoring of progress, and real accountability for the results that will directly benefit the lives of Malagasy citizens. They will also track performance against the benchmarks we have jointly established, which will guide the continuation of U.S. support over the five-year period . Continued U.S. support will be contingent on meeting these performance benchmarks. This ensures accountability to both American and Malagasy taxpayers and guarantees that our partnership delivers measurable results. America First Foreign Assistance means that U.S. support must be strategic, results-driven, and accountable to our taxpayers. It also means we aim to support greater self-reliance and reduced long-term dependence on foreign assistance, with systems that are increasingly financed and led by Madagascar itself. This approach benefits both our nations: Madagascar gains sustainable health capacity, while the United States advances our health security interests and creates opportunities for American health innovations and companies to support Madagascar’s development. In that spirit, I want to recognize the presence of the Ministry’s leadership and the technical directors and program heads responsible for surveillance, basic health services, family health, immunization, countering malaria, laboratories, medicines, and health information systems. Your leadership and technical expertise are essential if this bilateral health MOU is to translate into real and lasting improvements for people in need across the country. Let me emphasize how important collaboration is to the United States in this effort. We can bring American resources, technical expertise, and tools. But this bilateral health MOU can only succeed if it reflects Madagascar’s priorities and if Malagasy institutions lead and maintain its implementation. We see this not as a U.S. project, but as a joint framework under Malagasy leadership, with U.S. support. That is why we are genuinely pleased to host this event here at the Embassy. Opening our doors to you today symbolizes our commitment to work side by side and to remain transparent about how we use U.S. resources in support of Madagascar’s health system. In closing, thank you for your time and your partnership. We are very happy to welcome you here and proud to accompany Madagascar in this next step of implementation planning for our bilateral health MOU. I wish you a productive and focused session. The work you do today will shape how our two governments cooperate on health in the years ahead; it will influence the quality and reliability of health services that Malagasy communities receive; and, most importantly, it will help protect both our nations from infectious disease threats while building Madagascar’s capacity for long-term health system sustainability. Thank you.

Apr 16 • 8:34 AM EDT • Health • mg.usembassy.gov

Political activist Abbie Hoffman was found dead in Bucks County on this week in Philly history

The 52-year-old who became a symbol of defiance spent his last few years in Bucks County, where he was found in the converted chicken coop he had been living in on April 12, 1989.

Apr 15 • 6:01 AM EDT • Politics • inquirer.com

How Commissioner Joe Neunder became a symbol of everything voters distrust in SWFL

Sarasota land deal raises ethics questions and fuels voter distrust

Apr 13 • 12:46 PM EDT • Politics • floridapolitics.com

110,000-year-old discovery rewrites human history: Neanderthals and Homo sapiens worked together

The first-ever published research on Tinshemet Cave reveals that Neanderthals and Homo sapiens in the mid-Middle Paleolithic Levant not only coexisted but actively interacted, sharing technology, lifestyles, and burial customs. These interactions fostered cultural exchange, social complexity, and behavioral innovations, such as formal burial practices and the symbolic use of ochre for decoration. The findings suggest that human connections, rather than isolation, were key drivers of technological and cultural advancements, highlighting the Levant as a crucial crossroads in early human history.

Apr 11 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com

AI breakthrough cuts energy use by 100x while boosting accuracy

AI is consuming staggering amounts of energy—already over 10% of U.S. electricity—and the demand is only accelerating. Now, researchers have unveiled a radically more efficient approach that could slash AI energy use by up to 100× while actually improving accuracy. By combining neural networks with human-like symbolic reasoning, their system helps robots think more logically instead of relying on brute-force trial and error.

Apr 5 • 8:54 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com

Woodland Campus Open for Business

Erika Hoffman-Kiess, left, passes off a giant key to Lindsey Trombley, symbolizing a change in leadership as the campus goes from construction zone to child care center. (Herald / Isabel Dreher) Joyful smiles abounded Monday afternoon at the brand new Woodland campus outpost of the Orange County Parent Child Center. The new facility, located on

Apr 2 • 6:00 AM EDT • Business • ourherald.com

The list of people hit by recent Epic layoffs has been turned into a dedicated portal for recruiters

Google sheet turned into dedicated website, while Tim Sweeney steps in following outcry over laid-off worker losing cancer treatment

Mar 30 • 6:06 AM EDT • Technology • gamesindustry.biz

Why Kris Jenner became China's latest meme icon

Chinese users are turning Kris Jenner into a symbol of wealth, using memes to manifest money, jobs, and success.

Mar 30 • 1:10 AM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com

Georgia: Opposition politician Elene Khoshtaria given politically motivated prison sentence for graffiti

In Elene Khoshtaria’s case, the severity of the punishment appears related not to material damage, but to her political opinions and the symbolic damage she has inflicted on the ruling party

Mar 24 • 1:16 PM EDT • Politics • amnesty.org

From radio to newsreels to Netflix, Yankees chart course through entertainment history

For more than a century, the Yankees have been more than a baseball team. The sport’s most storied franchise is a pop culture touchstone, a versatile backdrop that serves as both a symbol of excellence and a punchline across television, movies and more. So as the Yankees prepare to break

Mar 23 • 1:35 PM EDT • Entertainment • mlb.com

Barricade That Kept Out the Far Right in France Is Crumbling

Franck Leclere made his way through the timber-framed houses of Chalons-en-Champagne and joined a crowd of people in symbolic white shirts to demonstrate against the rise of the far right in France.

Mar 22 • 3:15 AM EDT • Politics • bloomberg.com

Venezuela's yanqui-beating baseball triumph evokes politics — and yet something else more vital

COMMENTARY Venezuela's first World Baseball Classic title win, against the U.S. in Miami, inevitably packed political symbolism — but it radiated a more important reminder of the country's character.

Mar 19 • 7:00 AM EDT • Politics • wlrn.org

Opinion | Cubans Want a Deal. Just Not This One.

Trump wants a symbolic win. Islanders want actual democracy.

Mar 18 • 1:00 AM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com

Mastercard to Acquire BVNK to Connect On-Chain Payments and Fiat Rails

Mastercard today announced a definitive agreement to acquire BVNK, a leader in stablecoin infrastructure.

Mar 17 • 8:00 AM EDT • Business • businesswire.com

Merlin and Inflection Point Acquisition Corp. IV Announce Closing of Business Combination

Merlin's Cessna Caravan Merlin's aircraft flying overhead at the company's Quonset, RI hangar Merlin's Quonset, RI Hangar A C-130J flying overhead at Merlin’s Quonset, RI hangar Transaction provides more than $200M in gross proceeds to accelerate commercialization of AI-powered autonomous aviation Merlin to Begin Trading on March 17th on the NASDAQ Under Ticker Symbol “MRLN” BOSTON, March 16, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Merlin, Inc., an aerospace and defense technology company building the operatin

Mar 16 • 4:01 PM EDT • Business • finance.yahoo.com

Maine’s wild blueberries deliver more than tradition. Research proves they support health.

Wild blueberries — the iconic Maine crop dotting hillsides, decorating sweatshirts and adding personality to local menus — is more than a cultural symbol. Over 20 years of preclinical and clinical studies suggest that regularly consuming wild blueberries supports gut and heart health and may reduce risk factors associated with…

Mar 13 • 12:50 PM EDT • Health • umaine.edu

Imagery, Algorithms, and the Ballot: What Takaichi’s Victory Says About Youth Politics in the Digital Age

Sanae Takaichi’s electoral victory in February marks a historic turning point in Japanese politics. As Japan’s first female prime minister and the leader of a commanding parliamentary majority, she represents change in both symbolic and strategic terms. ,

Mar 1 • 7:00 PM EST • Politics • toda.org

Hone Health Launches "Death To Midlife," Challenging the Language of Aging

Following a full-page open letter ad in the February 22, 2026 Sunday edition of The New York Times calling for the symbolic death of the word "midlife," Hone Health, the leader in longevity intelligence and personalized care, unveils a bold national campaign today: "Death To Midlife." Both an immersive pop-up experience and a cultural statement, the campaign includes a national digital "bury a word" activation on Hone's website, celebrity and influencer social activation, and a public installati

Feb 26 • 6:00 AM EST • Health • finance.yahoo.com

Trump's face is now on the Justice Department headquarters

While Trump banners have been hung outside other agencies across Washington, the decision to place one on the storied Justice Department building amounted to a striking symbol of the erosion of the department's tradition of independence from White House control.

Feb 20 • 2:38 PM EST • Politics • pbs.org

Matters of the Heart: Focusing on Women’s Heart Health in February

Hearts are seen all around this time of year, as symbols of love and friendship. February is also American Heart Month, a reminder to consider all matters of the heart, including women’s heart health and heart disease prevention. Heart disease was...

Feb 17 • 7:00 PM EST • Health • hscnews.unm.edu

Rev. Jesse Jackson, a symbol of Black politics and Black America, dies at 84

Jackson may have been the most recognizable civil rights icon the past half century, but his journey always led him right back to the South Side of Chicago.

Feb 17 • 7:14 AM EST • Politics • wbez.org

PlayStation State of Play February 2026 live report - a look ahead at Sony's plans

Live from 10pm UK time.

Feb 12 • 12:56 PM EST • Technology • eurogamer.net

Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show performance redefined what it means to be an American patriot

In just over 13 minutes worth of music, stars and symbolism, Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny rewrote what it means to be American in a time of strife.

Feb 9 • 8:14 AM EST • Entertainment • cnn.com

Neuro-Symbolic AI Steps Up To Produce Robust Mental Health Treatment Plans

AI can be used to produce mental health treatment plans. That's already happening. The next era is using neuro-symbolic AI. I lay out the future. An AI Insider scoop.

Feb 9 • 3:15 AM EST • Health • forbes.com

Disney’s CEO Choice Reflects Entertainment’s Decline

It’s CEO replacement time. Both Walt Disney Co. and PayPal named new chief executives on Tuesday, with each appointment symbolizing major business shifts. Disney named parks chief Josh D’Amaro to succeed longtime CEO Bob Iger, who turns 75 next week (D’Amaro is Iger’s second successor, after the ...

Feb 3 • 8:00 PM EST • Entertainment • theinformation.com

Hate symbols painted in Boca Raton business complex spark PBSO investigation

Palm Beach County deputies are investigating vandalism at a Boca Raton business complex where racist and antisemitic symbols were painted in the parking lot over the weekend.

Jan 14 • 6:06 PM EST • Business • wpbf.com

KUSTOM ENTERTAINMENT, INC. COMPLETES THE DIVESTITURE OF ITS NOBILITY HEALTHCARE SUBSIDIARY; SHARPENS ITS FOCUS ON $100 BILLION LIVE ENTERTAINMENT AND ONLINE TICKETING MARKETS

OVERLAND PARK, KS, Jan. 12, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kustom Entertainment, Inc. (Nasdaq: KUST) (the “Company”), today announced that it has closed the sale of its 51% ownership interest in Nobility Healthcare, LLC, its healthcare billing and revenue cycle management subsidiary. This step is in conjunction with its previously announced major corporate rebranding, by changing its name to Kustom Entertainment, Inc. and its Nasdaq ticker symbol to “KUST”. The divestiture of the Company’s healthcare

Jan 12 • 7:30 AM EST • Entertainment • finance.yahoo.com

BoA Parts Ways With SM Entertainment After 25 Years

Singer BoA is concluding her 25-year journey with her agency SM Entertainment. On January 12, SM Entertainment issued an official statement announcing, “After extensive and in-depth discussions with BoA, we have agreed to conclude our 25-year partnership as of December 31, 2025.” Read the full statement below: Hello, this is SM Entertainment. First, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to Jumping BoA (BoA's official fan club) and everyone who has always loved and supported artist BoA. After extensive and in-depth discussions with BoA, we have agreed to conclude our 25-year journey together as of December 31, 2025. Debuting in 2000 at the age of 13, BoA has, now past the 25th anniversary of her debut, been beloved by global music fans as an “icon of global expansion” who pioneered the Korean Wave across Asia and as the “Star of Asia,” and she has become a role model for countless junior artists driving the K-pop boom. As a trailblazer and pioneer, BoA’s journey has shone thanks to her relentless effort and passion, leaving brilliant achievements and unparalleled records. From her extraordinary debut that wrote a new chapter in Korean popular music history to her present growth as a No.1 artist and producer, we remember every moment, and it has been a true honor for our company to walk alongside her every step of the way. For 25 years, BoA has been, without question, the pride, joy, and symbol of SM. Although our exclusive contract is coming to an end, we will continue to support BoA as she fully demonstrates her capabilities in the new activities and challenges ahead, and we hope she will shine even brighter as the “Star of Asia.” We ask for your continued love and support for BoA as she embarks on this new chapter. We also support the future of Kwon BoA the person, beyond the artist, and sincerely wish her happiness. Thank you. The agency also released a tribute video commemorating BoA's 25-year long journey with SM. Watch the full video below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjLQFtT3dCk Following the announcement, BoA took to her Instagram to share her feelings as below: Having given and received without holding back, I leave without regrets.I’m grateful for the time we shared and will continue to support the ever-shining SM Entertainment. Thank you. https://www.instagram.com/p/DTZxmAeEk6f/?img_index=1 Wishing BoA all the best on her new journey! Source (1)

Jan 12 • 3:13 AM EST • Entertainment • soompi.com

Healing with horses: The science behind feeling safe

The Year of the Fire Horse, according to the lunar calendar, symbolizes courage, motion, and transformation. For me, this is a catalyst for more action. Something has to change — especially when it comes to health. I am tired of not feeling well, of wanting to do ordinary things without exhaustion or pain. I spend…

Jan 10 • 7:00 PM EST • Science • observertoday.com

Can animals read? Not in the human way.

Bonobos, dolphins, and other animals can decode complex symbols.

Jan 5 • 9:01 AM EST • Science • popsci.com

Discovering the laws behind complex networked systems

Nature Computational Science - A recent study shows that neural symbolic regression offers a route to automated discovery of governing equations for network dynamics across high-dimensional complex...

Jan 4 • 7:00 PM EST • Science • nature.com

Zohran Mamdani's first full day as NYC mayor: subway rides, new offices and backlash from Israel

Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s new mayor, begins his term with a symbolic commute

Jan 2 • 6:46 PM EST • Politics • washingtonpost.com

Gen Z is embracing millennial fashion, celebrity skincare, and Apple tech in 2026

According to members of Gen Z, celebrity skincare brands, short Ugg slippers, and Apple iPhones are currently status symbols of their generation.

Jan 1 • 11:03 AM EST • Business • businessinsider.com

Zohran Mamdani sworn in as New York mayor with historic Quran

The incoming mayor will use two family Qurans and a historic edition that symbolises New York City history.

Jan 1 • 12:31 AM EST • Politics • aljazeera.com

Tech Companies Love Using This Tiny Symbol. It’s More Insidious Than You Think.

No, chatbots aren’t magic—but this symbol makes you think they are.

Dec 26, 2025 • 5:40 AM EST • Technology • slate.com

Taiwan’s opposition launches ‘symbolic’ campaign to impeach president

Opposition parties accuse President Lai, Premier Cho of violating Taiwan's constitution in impeachment bid.

Dec 26, 2025 • 4:58 AM EST • Politics • aljazeera.com

The disunity of science is a feature, not a bug

Mathematical models wield miraculous power, but mistaking them for reality has trapped science in a destructive quest for a “Theory of Everything.” Physicist and philosopher Ragner Fjelland argues that this leads to bloated, Frankenstein theories kept alive by clumsy, ad-hoc amendments, which reduce rather than boost science’s power. Fjelland calls for a radical shift in our attitude: we must reorientate towards creating entirely new theories, celebrating rather than lamenting disunity and diversity in science. Science, from the scientific revolution in the seventeenth century to the present day, has more or less developed in a “reductionist” way. The fundamental assumption is that all sciences may be ordered in a hierarchy that can be represented as an upside-down pyramid. At the top we find the human sciences, and at the bottom physics. Strong (or “ontological”) reductionism maintains that all theories at one level can be completely reduced to the lower level, all the way down to theories of atoms and elementary particles, or whatever is “at the bottom.” In the end, all diversity in the world can be unified in one fundamental theory. Hence it is called a final theory, or a Theory of Everything.One of the central figures in developing the idea of a Theory of Everything is the Dutch theoretical physicist Gerard 't Hooft, who received a Nobel Prize in physics in 1999 for his work. He emphasizes the non-empirical status of the theory:There exists no closely resembling alternative theory. This means that any slight change brought about in the rules would make the theory unlikely or inelegant. The theory will be a "package deal": take it, or leave it. This should hold both for the local laws and for the boundary conditions.This endeavor is not new. On the contrary, it goes all the way back to the birth of Western philosophy 2,500 years ago. The Babylonians made regular astronomical observations during a period of 600 years, from 747 BCE until 150 ACE. They developed mathematical techniques to predict astronomical phenomena, but they made no attempts at explaining them. However, the Greeks developed models, both material and theoretical, to explain the observed phenomena.The best example is Plato’s late dialogue Timaeus. Here he introduces a divine craftsman, the Demiurge, who has constructed the universe according to an original plan. Plato seems to have thought that the original plan is what is actually real, while the material world is merely an imperfect realization of it. He therefore does not, in the Timaeus, reconstruct the material universe, but the original plan, which can then be used to explain the material universe.Plato’s aim in producing a theoretical model is to reconstruct the original plan. That is what he carries out in Timaeus—and some modern physicists have embarked on the same project. For example, Einstein’s basic attitude is reflected in the title of Abraham Pais’ biography: “Subtle is the Lord...,” echoing Einstein’s comment, “Subtle is the Lord, but malicious He is not.” In an interview Einstein compared our situation to a child who enters a huge library. The child knows that someone has written the books, but he does not know the languages in which they are written. He suspects that there is a mysterious order, but he does not know what it is.___“We have all been working in what Husserl called the Galilean style; that is, we have all been making abstract mathematical models of the universe to which at least the physicists give a higher degree of reality than they accord the ordinary world of sensation.”Steven Weinberg, Nobel Prize in Physics (1979)___This Platonist view is contrary to a widespread impression of science, symbolized by the picture of the “father” of modern science, Galileo Galilei, with his telescope. According to this impression, Galileo liberated himself from the dominating metaphysics of his day—basically Aristotelian philosophy—and constructed a telescope that he directed towards the sky, showing that Jupiter has four moons. He also performed experiments with bronze balls rolling down inclined planes and found the law of freely falling bodies.However, in other cases Galileo emphasized the unreliability of our senses. It is easy to see why. He defended Copernicus’ heliocentric hypothesis. According to this hypothesis, we are not at rest at the center of the universe, but moving at a tremendous speed through space. Why don’t we observe this motion? Galileo praises Copernicus because “with reason as his guide he resolutely continued to affirm what sensible experience seemed to contradict.” In other places he directly refers to Plato. SUGGESTED VIEWING The quest for a final theory With Michio Kaku Galileo’s Platonism goes back to his early writings. In The Assayer, published as early as 1623, Galileo compared the universe to a grand book that is written in the language of mathematics, and “its characters are triangles, circles, and other geometric figures without which it is humanly impossible to understand a single word of it.” Therefore, things that cannot be described by mathematics—for example, colors, smells and odors—are not real. They are merely subjective.This division into subjective and objective, advocated by Galileo and his younger contemporary René Descartes, is normally associated with a mechanistic world view, which is regarded as the opposite of Platonism. When we reduce something to, for example, molecules and atoms, we move “downwards.” In contrast, the Platonist moves “upwards,” to abstract entities. However, it only shows that when we address fundamental questions, we should be careful in applying everyday spatial metaphors like “up” and “down.”___Nature is complex, and we cannot in general construct mathematical models that adequately describe the world.___The endeavor of finding a Theory of Everything has been heavily criticized. In 2006, the theoretical physicist Lee Smolin published “The Crisis in Fundamental Physics.” He argued that one of the most fundamental principles of science is that we should only regard theories as scientific if we have the possibility to show that they are false by experiments. Although he did not refer to Karl Popper, other critics have referred to Popper and argued that a theory is not scientific if it cannot be falsified (see for example Ellis & Silk 2014).These were not the first physicists to be anti-reductionists. In 1972, the journal Science published an article by the physicist Philip Anderson with the title “More Is Different.” This is the kind of article a scientist would normally write only after he has won a Nobel Prize. However, Anderson won the Nobel Prize for physics five years later, in 1977. The article is amazing, not primarily because it argues in favor of anti-reductionism in general, but because it argues for anti-reductionism within physics itself. Anderson’s conclusion was:At each stage entirely new laws, concepts, and generalizations are necessary, requiring inspiration and creativity to just as great a degree as in the previous one. Psychology is not applied biology, nor is biology applied chemistry.We may say that Plato started the “unity of science movement,” based on Euclidean geometry as the model of all knowledge. A distinguishing mark of geometry is that all possible constructions can be reduced to a few fundamental principles. We have to acknowledge that this approach has limitations. In general, we can easily model technological systems. In addition, we may construct simplified and idealized models that capture important aspects of systems, from various perspectives and for various purposes. But nature is complex, and we cannot in general construct mathematical models that adequately describe the world. In a complex system, each level has its distinct, emergent, properties that are characteristic of this level. Therefore, a complex system should be investigated at different levels and from different perspectives. Instead of exclusively pursuing a scientific ideal based on the unity of science, we should acknowledge the diversity—or even the disunity—of science.

Dec 23, 2025 • 7:00 AM EST • Science • iai.tv

Entertainment vs. reality: How media glamorizes opioids and warps teens' perception

Opioids are often shown in movies, music, and social media as party drugs, symbols of fun, rebellion, or a carefree lifestyle. Instead of highlighting the real dangers of addiction, withdrawal or overdose, entertainment culture turns powerful and deadly substances into aesthetic props. This glamorized image shapes how teens and young adults think about opioids, making […]

Dec 22, 2025 • 10:13 PM EST • Entertainment • pleasantonweekly.com

Medtronic’s diabetes spin-off files for IPO

Make way for MiniMed! Medtronic's diabetes division has filed the necessary paperwork to go public. The company hopes to be traded on Nasdaq under the symbol MMED.

Dec 22, 2025 • 5:32 PM EST • Business • cardiovascularbusiness.com

After Dugan Verdict Comes Politics and Courthouse Uncertainty

Milwaukee judge has become national symbol of clash over ICE arrests.

Dec 21, 2025 • 7:26 AM EST • Politics • urbanmilwaukee.com

Commentary: She went to jail for Trump's Big Lie. He's trying to get her sprung

The president issued a symbolic and meaningless 'pardon' for Tina Peters, who was convicted on seven criminal counts tied to Trump's Big Lie about a stolen 2020 election. She remains unrepentant.

Dec 21, 2025 • 6:00 AM EST • Politics • latimes.com

Why the Oscars are leaving ABC for YouTube — and what it means for Hollywood

Moving the Oscars from ABC to the internet is hugely symbolic. That doesn't mean that a huge audience will follow.

Dec 17, 2025 • 4:13 PM EST • Business • businessinsider.com

“The faces of CERN” at the Globe of Science and Innovation

Originally created for the Cité des métiers, the exhibition “The Faces of CERN: People Advancing Science” will be displayed in CERN's Globe of Science and Innovation from December 17, 2025 to March 1, 2026. From 25 to 30 November, CERN was the guest of honour at the Cité des métiers, held at Geneva’s Palexpo. During the fair more than 112,000 visitors had the opportunity to discover the CERN stand and exhibition, talk to those who advance science on a daily basis and explore the world of CERN through a range of immersive activities. Designed by interior design students from IPAC Design Geneva, the exhibition was inspired by the birth of the World Wide Web at CERN. Woven together from reusable ribbons and modular structures, symbolises a living network where ideas, knowledge, and collaboration come together. Come and immerse yourself in this network, where each thread tells a story of curious collaboration and showcases your talents. Free admission | Tuesday to Sunday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m

Dec 16, 2025 • 3:04 AM EST • Science • home.cern

Conflating politics and fitness is weird: Michelle Tafoya

‘Gutfeld!’ panelists weigh in on a Washington Post piece claiming pull-ups have become a new symbol of American masculinity.

Dec 15, 2025 • 10:51 PM EST • Politics • foxnews.com

Sherrone Moore’s firing and its shocking aftermath raises tough questions about the culture of Michigan’s athletic department

A series of scandals over the last several years begs a simple, yet critical question: Is what happened with Sherrone Moore a serious, but isolated, incident or a symbol of a broader, cultural problem within the walls of Michigan athletics?

Dec 13, 2025 • 5:00 AM EST • Sports • cnn.com

The New WHO Pandemic Treaty and Global Health Governance: Incorporating Common but Differentiated Responsibilities into PABS  - Georgetown Journal of International Affairs

On May 20, 2025, the World Health Assembly unanimously adopted the World Health Organization (WHO) Pandemic Agreement, an international treaty designed to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response. The product of three years of arduous negotiations, the treaty marks a new era of global cooperation in public health. However, core aspects of the agreement remain unresolved—notably the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) System, which is intended to ensure equitable access to pandemic-related materials and benefits. To support the successful implementation of the WHO Pandemic Agreement, the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities” should be formally incorporated into the negotiating agenda of the PABS annex. Introduction For the first time, an international treaty has enshrined the principle of “One Health,” the compelling idea that the health of animals, humans, and the environment all contribute to pandemic risks. SARS (2003), H1N1 (2009–10), Ebola (2014–16), and COVID-19 all emerged through zoonotic spillover from animal hosts—respectively, civets, hogs, and bats. Together, they underscore the need for a coordinated, cross-sectoral approach. The Pandemic Agreement responds to this call, requiring state parties to acknowledge the ecological interplay and commit to a comprehensive “One Health” strategy. Specifically, Article 5 charges governments to address “the drivers of pandemics and the emergence and re-emergence of infectious disease at the human-animal-environment interface,” including wild animal markets, deforestation, and antibiotic overuse. Yet the effectiveness of this “One Health” vision depends equally on the free flow of scientific information and data among countries and institutions. Just as environmental and animal health factors have been neglected in past global frameworks, so too has data sharing been marginalized, despite its centrality to timely detection and response. The Pandemic Agreement takes an important step by requiring governments to enhance data collection and cooperate with the World Health Organization (WHO). However, these provisions will remain aspirational without a robust Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) annex. The PABS system will determine whether countries and researchers can rapidly exchange pathogen samples and genetic data while ensuring equitable access to resulting research and development, including diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines. Without such mechanisms, the treaty’s promise to operationalize “One Health” and strengthen global preparedness will risk becoming largely symbolic, echoing earlier failures to translate shared principles into coordinated action. Equity Concerns When the 2025 Health Assembly adopted the Pandemic Agreement, it left the difficult question of access to pathogens and the sharing of resulting benefits to be addressed in a separate agreement. Negotiations on this separate agreement, PABS, are now underway in Geneva. Yet governments remain divided over fundamental questions of equity between the countries that primarily contribute to the system and those that primarily draw from it—and consequently benefit. For example, wildlife in countries bordering the equator is likely to produce PABS materials, but companies in Europe are likely to use them to develop lucrative products. The most likely contributor countries are likely to be those biodiverse countries around the equator, such as Brazil, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Indonesia, where the number of human-mammalian viral host interactions is large. Conversely, countries most likely to benefit from this material are those with the technology, investors, and infrastructure to capitalize on genomic data, such as the United States, EU member states, and Japan. This imbalance reflects a broader pattern seen in prior international frameworks. Now, as in the past, the wealthiest countries in the world (a useful heuristic is membership of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)) disproportionately benefit from systems in which pathogens and genomic sequencing data are contributed to a common source. Under the International Agreement on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (the “Plant Treaty” or “Seed Treaty”) and the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (PIP) Framework, companies from Europe and North America disproportionately withdraw biological samples and data for development into lucrative medical products. Their governments and companies have both statutory and contractual claims to the products that those companies correspondingly produce. PABS appears poised to follow the same pattern. The text calls for strong language on access to pathogens and associated data, but the corresponding benefits that should flow to poorer countries are couched in equivocal or non-binding language. Common but Differentiated Responsibilities To address these inequities, the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities” should be formally incorporated into the negotiating agenda of the PABS annex. Common but differentiated responsibilities are often a feature of climate change negotiations. The basic principle is that, even though all countries should reduce carbon emissions, governments that became rich and powerful through massive carbon emissions (e.g., France, the United Kingdom, the United States) should have a greater obligation to address the resulting crises. Applied to PABS, it would require that governments hosting and supporting companies developing lucrative products carry greater obligations toward the cost of running the PABS system; share benefits or final medical products; and transfer technology to help countries worldwide develop their own capacities to innovate and manufacture vaccines during an emergency. For example, an annex could mandate that any company based in an OECD country that withdraws PABS material would be obligated to donate the resulting diagnostics, therapeutics, or vaccines to the WHO during a public health emergency or pandemic. Questions remain about how robust those donations would be, but the principle is that they should deliver highly significant lifesaving benefits to be equitably shared. Theoretically, this approach mirrors the PIP Framework, in which companies withdrawing influenza samples are required to pay half of the operating costs. In practice, however, the framework has fallen short. The PIP Framework Secretariat has struggled to secure payments from companies, with companies often disagreeing over how much is owed. Additionally, without another pandemic influenza to test the strength of the agreement during a public health emergency, corporate compliance with sharing mechanisms remains unknown. Even if these limitations did not characterize the PIP Framework, partially paying for operating expenses does not address the inequity in access to genetic data and pathogen samples that left less developed countries last in line for COVID-19 vaccines (and, before them, H1N1). Common but differentiated responsibilities would go further, addressing governments’ legitimate grievances regarding information sharing. It would make withdrawals of PABS material and resulting products more transparent, building trust across the board. Enforcement and Enduring Success A key implication of this approach is that the governing mechanism of the PABS must have real enforcement authority. The WHO Pandemic Agreement delegates its core governance responsibilities to a Conference of the Parties (COP)—a governing body composed of one representative from each participating government, similar to those established under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The proposed WHO Pandemic Agreement COP is charged with oversight functions but ultimately possesses no real authority to compel a government to take any action it does not wish to take. The text does not give the COP the ability to, for example, sanction a party that does not comply with either textual obligations or PABS provisions. In other words, there are no effective mechanisms in place to ensure compliance. Perhaps just as significant, establishing a meaningful enforcement mechanism within the PABS system would strengthen the WHO’s credibility and its ability to ensure compliance across global health governance. By setting a precedent for accountability, such a mechanism could enhance the organization’s authority not only within the Pandemic Agreement but also in enforcing the revised International Health Regulations and other frameworks for public health emergencies. Conclusion The PABS annex can—and should—be different. It should establish clear responsibilities for funding as well as for sharing the diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines that result from contributions to the system. The system, in turn, must include a dedicated body empowered to hold governments and the corporations they sponsor accountable for their responsibilities before, during, and after pandemics. Doing so would restore trust in the broader agreement, which was eroded as commitments were repeatedly diluted while parties scrambled to meet their own self-imposed deadlines during the Pandemic Agreement negotiations. A robust PABS Annex would cement a grand social bargain. Wealthier countries and their corporations would gain unimpeded access to scientific information essential for developing and manufacturing lifesaving medical products. As such, they would stand to gain considerable economic benefit. Yet that privilege must be matched with responsibility. The grand bargain must include not only the right to innovate, but also the duty to ensure that innovation serves all. As medical products are developed and produced through collective contributions, every person must have equal access. All human beings deserve an equitable chance to survive—to save their own life, the lives of their families, and the well-being of their communities. … Sam Halabi, JD, MPhil, is the Bette Jacobs Endowed Professor at Georgetown University’s School of Health and the Director of the Center for Transformational Health Law at Georgetown Law. He serves as the co-lead for the WHO’s Working Group on Regulatory Consideration on AI and Health’s training workstream. He earned his JD from Harvard, his MPhil from Oxford, and undergraduate degrees from Kansas State University. Lawrence Gostin, LLD (Hon.), JD, BA, is University Distinguished Professor and Founding Director and Timothy and Linda O’Neill Professor of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law. He is the author of Global Health Security: A Blueprint for the Future (Harvard University Press, 2021); Global Health Law (Harvard University Press, 2014); Public Health Law: Power, Duty, Restraint (University of California Press, 3rd ed., 2016); Public Health Law and Ethics: A Reader (University of California Press, 3rd ed., 2018); Law and the Health System (Foundation Press, 2014); Principles of Mental Health Law & Practice (Oxford University Press, 2010). He also directs the WHO Collaborating Center at Georgetown University. Image Credit: United States Mission Geneva, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Dec 11, 2025 • 12:00 AM EST • Health • gjia.georgetown.edu

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