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Microsoft admits faulty drivers were killing Windows 11 battery life for years
Microsoft is changing how Windows evaluates third-party drivers as bad ones were silently draining batteries and tanking performance for years.
Wearables increasingly look to AI to predict health problems before they happen
Companies worldwide are studying the potential for technology to predict health events. This would push boundaries of data collection and information sharing.
A Tourist’s Guide to Forza Horizon 6, From A Designer’s Perspective
Take a tour through some of Forza Horizon 6's most iconic locations, and how they were designed, built and adapted for the world of Horizon.
New MatterChat Model Helps AI to ‘See’ the Language of Science
From writing emails to generating computer code, much of the artificial intelligence prevalent in our daily lives has succeeded by mastering one domain: text. However, this leaves a major blind spot in the physical sciences, where models depend on the high-resolution, three-dimensional data of the physical world, like the intricate lattice of atoms in a crystal. Delivering on the promise of using AI for science requires teaching these data-driven text models to seamlessly “talk to” physics-based models. Now, a new AI framework from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), called MatterChat, solves this problem by creating a specialized “bridge.” It connects the conversational power of a Large Language Model (LLM) with a physics-based AI that models “interatomic potentials”: the complex physical forces between atoms. The resulting system already significantly outperforms general-purpose AI tools like GPT-4 at predicting material properties, and the team hopes it can accelerate scientific discovery by serving as a robust research partner that provides grounded insights and generates step-by-step instructions for synthesizing novel materials. A paper describing this work was recently published in Nature Machine Intelligence. “Traditional simulations can provide the physical rigor required for materials science, yet their computational cost remains prohibitive for high-throughput screening. Conversely, while LLMs excel at rapid knowledge synthesis, they inherently lack the ‘structural vision’ to interpret materials directly from their underlying atomic coordinates,” said Yingheng Tang, a postdoctoral researcher in Berkeley Lab’s Applied Math and Computational Research Division (AMCR) and lead author on the paper. “MatterChat was built to solve this dilemma, empowering LLMs with a structural ‘vision’ that allows researchers to leverage their full potential for solving complex, real-world materials challenges.” Empowering language models to solve complex challenges in materials science To build MatterChat, the Berkeley Lab team drew inspiration from technologies like Vision Question Answering (VQA) and Text-to-Image (T2I) generation. In these tasks, AI must translate high-level text concepts into visual images, or vice versa. Doing so requires developers to build tools that “bridge” two fundamentally different forms of data. The researchers adapted this concept to the physical sciences. With MatterChat, they created a “bridge model” that successfully connects an LLM’s general knowledge with the deep understanding of the atomic-scale world encoded in scientific interatomic potentials. Until now, researchers using LLMs to solve materials problems usually had to feed them raw data files as if they were just strings of text. It’s like asking an AI to understand a complex 3D engine based only on a parts list: the LLM can read the names, but it can’t “see” how the atoms fit together in space. MatterChat solves this by training a specialized AI bridge model, pre-trained on millions of crystal structures and an LLM, to align the LLM’s representation of the world with the interatomic potential’s representation of the world. The bridge model can translate physical insights into a format the LLM can actually understand. By giving the LLM these “scientific eyes”— a scientific “inductive bias” in the terminology of AI — the Berkeley Lab team has transformed it into a robust research tool capable of providing grounded scientific insights into complex materials challenges, such as predicting thermal stability or analyzing electronic band gaps. “We think of atoms as living in a physical space, but from a machine learning perspective, they are just vectors living in some very non-trivially structured manifold in a high-dimensional Euclidean space; and, of course, the same is true for the sentences and paragraphs that we use to express our ideas about those atoms,” said co-author Michael Mahoney, Berkeley Lab’s Scientific Data Division (SDD) AI Initiative Research Lead. “The bridge model basically gets those two structures to ‘talk with’ each other.” As a proof-of-concept of this general approach, the team trained their bridge model on a dataset curated by pairing nearly 143,000 stable atomic structures from the Materials Project with their corresponding physical properties. This training data was automatically assembled using the Materials Project’s API and deliberately enriched with properties fundamental to microelectronics design — like formation energy and bandgap — allowing MatterChat to learn the complex patterns connecting a material’s atomic blueprint to its functional performance. To validate their model, the researchers benchmarked MatterChat against a suite of other AI systems, from general-purpose LLMs to other specialized scientific AI methods. The results show that MatterChat consistently outperformed its competitors across a range of tasks. The model was more accurate in classifying material types and demonstrated superior precision in predicting numerical properties. For example, it excelled at predicting a material’s bandgap, a property critical for designing new electronics from high-capacity energy storage to next-generation computer chips. “Our design is significantly more efficient because we don’t have to build a massive AI model from the ground up,” said co-author Zhi (Jackie) Yao, a research scientist in Berkeley Lab’s AMCR. “Instead, we take two powerful, pre-trained models — a structural encoder for materials physics and an open-source LLM — and use them off-the-shelf. The only component we actually train is the lightweight ‘bridge model’ that translates between them. It’s the difference between building an entire car factory and simply designing a smart adapter that connects a world-class engine to a world-class navigation system. This approach is not only computationally efficient, but also makes the system modular, so we can easily upgrade components or adapt the bridge for other scientific domains in the future.” Crucially, this modular design highlights exactly how institutions like Berkeley Lab and the Department of Energy are carving out a highly valuable niche in the booming AI landscape. Rather than competing with Silicon Valley tech giants to build ever-larger language models from scratch, the lab is focusing on the specialized connective tissue that makes commercial AI useful for hardcore science. Because the bridge model approach underlying MatterChat is forward-compatible, it is perfectly positioned to leverage these parallel tracks of innovation. As Mahoney pointed out, “We expect that industry will continue to develop improved LLMs, and we expect domain scientists and facilities will continue to generate new data. An important part of scientific machine learning is not simply to solve problems on today’s data, but instead to develop general methods that will be forward-compatible with orders of magnitude more data, whether from scientific domains or from LLMs.” According to Yao, the MatterChat project, which was initially developed and enhanced with funding from a Berkeley Lab Laboratory Directed Research & Development (LDRD) Program, will now expand its capabilities. In a collaboration with Fermilab, MatterChat is already contributing to a U.S. Department of Energy Genesis Mission project — called Accelerating eXtreme Environment Specs-to-Silicon (AXESS) — that aims to speed up the development of next-generation, high-speed, radiation-hardened detectors for challenging particle physics experiments by using advanced 3D integrated circuits (chiplets) and AI-driven data analysis. In addition to the LDRD support, the team also credits supercomputing resources at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), located at Berkeley Lab, with MatterChat’s success. “We are incredibly grateful to NERSC; this research simply would not have happened without access to the Perlmutter supercomputer through their AI for Science program,” said Tang. Wenbin Xu, a NERSC postdoctoral fellow at the time, was also a major co-author of the work, as was Benjamin Erichson, a research scientist in Berkeley Lab’s SDD, highlighting the benefits of AMCR-SDD collaboration on AI for science. ### Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is committed to groundbreaking research focused on discovery science and solutions for abundant and reliable energy supplies. The lab’s expertise spans materials, chemistry, physics, biology, earth and environmental science, mathematics, and computing. Researchers from around the world rely on the lab’s world-class scientific facilities for their own pioneering research. Founded in 1931 on the belief that the biggest problems are best addressed by teams, Berkeley Lab and its scientists have been recognized with 17 Nobel Prizes. Berkeley Lab is a multiprogram national laboratory managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science. DOE’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science.
WHO declares public health emergency for Ebola
The World Health Organization yesterday declared a public health emergency of international concern due to an Ebola outbreak. The WHO said that as of May 16, there have been eight confirmed cases, 246 suspected cases and 80 suspected deaths from an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Two cases have also been confirmed in Uganda.
The world cannot afford to fail women, children and adolescents
Aid cuts, debt and conflict are pushing maternal and child health to breaking point.
Photos from Congo and Uganda as WHO declare health emergency over Ebola
The World Health Organization declared the Ebola disease outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, after more than 300 suspected cases. This is a photo gallery curated by AP
Bahamian public health leader Dr. Merceline Dahl-Regis receives WHO Global Health Leaders Award at 79th World Health Assembly
Geneva, Switzerland, 18 May 2026 (PAHO) — Dr. Merceline Dahl-Regis of The Bahamas was recognized today with the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General’s Global Health Leaders Award during the High-Level Welcome of the Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly (WHA79), honoring her lifelong contribution to public health in the Americas and globally.
Dominion, NextEra to merge and create world’s largest utility business
Dominion Energy and NextEra Energy, the largest electric power and energy infrastructure company in North America, will merge, creating the world’s largest utility business.
World Health Assembly opens with focus on equity, resilience, and global health cooperation; Region of the Americas plays active role
Geneva, Switzerland, 18 May 2026 (PAHO) — The Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly (WHA79) opened today at the Palais des Nations, bringing together delegations from more than 190 countries to define global health priorities and advance discussions on some of the world’s most pressing health challenges.
Vietnam’s DAO Music Entertainment strikes strategic partnership with The Orchard
Deal gives DAO Music Entertainment access to The Orchard’s global distribution network…
Director-General presents Award for Global Health to four distinguished leaders
At the Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly in Geneva, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has presented four distinguished leaders with the Award for Global Health, recognizing their lifetime achievements and exceptional contributions to improving the health and well-being of communities worldwide.
NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy to Combine, Creating the World’s Largest Regulated Electric Utility Business and North America’s Premier Energy Infrastructure Platform Benefiting Customers
JUNO BEACH, Fla. & RICHMOND, Va., May 18, 2026--NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) and Dominion Energy, Inc. (NYSE: D) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement to combine in an all-stock transaction.
The Subnautica 2 fish self-defence debate rages on, as the game’s non-violent themes clash with player desire to fend off underwater threats
Unknown Worlds has stayed true to its oceanic pacifism themes, while the realities of living with dangerous animals has some players frustrated.
Nintendo denied touchscreen-specific patent as the legal battle against Palworld developer Pocketpair continues
Following months of legal battle over the similarities between Palworld and Pokémon, Nintendo is trying (and failing) to obtain a touchscreen-oriented patent.
Inside Amer Sports: Retail excellence in Shanghai
“Inside Amer Sports” is a new video series offering a behind-the-scenes look at the people, places, and experiences shaping Amer Sports around the world.
‘Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers’: how Alfred Tennyson drew science into his poetry
Robert P Crease reviews The Boundless Deep: Young Tennyson, Science and the Crisis of Belief by Richard Holmes
Inside the U’s baby science research lab, a look at how the world learns
The University of Minnesota Child Brain and Perception Lab explores how infants and toddlers make sense of the people around them. MPR News spent a day recently at the lab watching one of the “pilot babies” discover their world.
Q&A: Georgia sports physician shares soccer safety tips before the World Cup
As World Cup excitement builds, Dr. R. Amadeus Mason shares tips to help recreational soccer players prevent injuries, train safely and stay healthy on the field.
Alex Carera interview: How Tadej Pogacar’s agent has helped transform cycling’s contractual landscape
The Athletic spoke to the sport's super-agent, a man who has brought soccer-style deals to the WorldTour in recent seasons
Carrick backs Shaw for the World Cup
Manchester United boss Michael Carrick thinks Luke Shaw should be in England's World Cup squad when it is announced by Thomas Tuchel on Friday. Shaw was named in Tuchel's expanded 55-man squad when it was submitted to world governing body Fifa earlier this month. The 30-year-old has started every Premier League game for United this season, and he scored his first goal for the club in over three years in the 3-2 victory over Nottingham Forest.
Scientists discovered nature’s own “brakes” deep beneath the Pacific Ocean that may have prevented massive megaquakes
For decades, a strange patch of the Pacific Ocean has quietly puzzled earthquake scientists around the world. Deep beneath the seafloor, near the coast of Ecuador, a massive underwater fault has been producing almost identical earthquakes every five to six years.
Iran war saddles global companies with $25 billion bill
The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has already cost companies around the world at least $25 billion - and the bill is climbing, according to a Reuters analysis.
World Economic Forum: women’s health gets only 20% of R&D funding. We must seize this $1 trillion opportunity
A new radar developed with the Gates Foundation and Wellcome Leap reveals that fewer than 3% of clinical trials are women-specific.
<em>Science </em>magazine investigates FBI’s witch-hunt against Chinese researchers</em>
Science magazine, one of the most prestigious peer-reviewed publications in the world, has published an investigative report titled “Researching While Chinese,” detailing the Department of Justice (DOJ) persecution of Chinese researchers at the University of Michigan and Indiana University.
Global Steel Price Surge: Not India Or China, This Nation Steals The Show
India Steel Production: India remains one of the quickest expanding steel markets in the world within this global uptrend.
Prolight + Sound Guangzhou 2026: the world's largest entertainment and professional AV fair returns on 28 May
/PRNewswire/ -- The 24th edition of Prolight + Sound Guangzhou (PLSG) is set to open on 28 May and will run until 31 May at Areas A and B of the China Import...
Prolight + Sound Guangzhou 2026: the world's largest entertainment and professional AV fair returns on 28 May
/PRNewswire/ -- The 24th edition of Prolight + Sound Guangzhou (PLSG) is set to open on 28 May and will run until 31 May at Areas A and B of the China Import...
What to Know About the Latest Ebola Outbreak
The World Health Organization declared a global health emergency after about 80 people died from the virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Poets&Quants’ World’s Best 40-Under-40 Graduate Business Professors Of 2026
Over the last decade, Poets&Quants' 40-Under-40 list has honored more than 560 up-and-coming business professors from the world.
Poets&Quants’ World’s Best 40-Under-40 Graduate Business Professors Of 2026
As a professional club player in Spain, Raul Villamarin Rodriguez noticed that the biggest mistakes in a basketball game didn’t come from complicated plays or lack of training. The professors selecte...
IRC to World Health Assembly: Close the Global Health Equity Gap — for the World’s Benefit
As the world faces the largest Ebola outbreak in more than a decade in a region with chronic violence and instability, and as infectious diseases such as the hantavirus command global attention, the International Rescue Committee is urging delegates gathering for the 79th World Health Assembly (WHA79) to make sustained investments into fragile and conflict-affected states.
Scientists just unlocked a cheaper way to make clean hydrogen fuel
Researchers have developed a durable new catalyst that produces clean hydrogen without relying on expensive platinum metals. The breakthrough could make renewable hydrogen fuel cheaper, more efficient, and easier to scale for real-world energy use.
The Women’s Health Innovation Radar:
Advancing women’s health requires not only scientific progress, but an innovation ecosystem capable of translating discovery into evidence, technologies and scalable solutions that improve outcomes for women globally. Yet many high-impact conditions continue to receive insufficient targeted innovation. The Women’s Health Innovation Radar maps activity from research funding and scientific publications to clinical trials and product development across 10 high-impact conditions, highlighting where innovation is advancing and where critical gaps persist. It offers a foundation to guide research priorities, inform policy decisions and mobilize investment towards areas of unmet need, helping to ensure that scientific advances translate into meaningful impact for women worldwide.
The Women’s Health Innovation Radar:
Advancing women’s health requires not only scientific progress, but an innovation ecosystem capable of translating discovery into evidence, technologies and scalable solutions that improve outcomes for women globally. Yet many high-impact conditions continue to receive insufficient targeted innovation. The Women’s Health Innovation Radar maps activity from research funding and scientific publications to clinical trials and product development across 10 high-impact conditions, highlighting where innovation is advancing and where critical gaps persist. It offers a foundation to guide research priorities, inform policy decisions and mobilize investment towards areas of unmet need, helping to ensure that scientific advances translate into meaningful impact for women worldwide.
Spaceborne snapshot compressive hyperspectral imaging
Light: Science & Applications - We propose and complete the world’s first computational imaging-enabled compact spaceborne snapshot compressive hyperspectral payload, named...
Shifting Landscape Creates Uncertainty in Entertainment Market
By Andrea Wells The overall landscape of the entertainment world is changing. Increasing cost pressures, labor challenges, the emergence of AI, and the
2026 Best 40-Under-40 Business Professors: Jonathan Weigel, UC Berkeley Haas School of Business
Over the last decade, Poets&Quants has honored more than 540 up-and-coming star MBA and graduate business professors from around the world.
2026 Best 40-Under-40 Business Professors: Diana Jue-Rajasingh, Jones Graduate School of Business, Rice University
Over the last decade, Poets&Quants has honored more than 540 up-and-coming star MBA and graduate business professors from around the world.
2026 Best 40-Under-40 Business Professors: Christoph Herpfer, Darden School of Business, University of Virginia
Over the last decade, Poets&Quants has honored more than 540 up-and-coming star MBA and graduate business professors from around the world.
2026 Best 40-Under-40 Business Professors: Daniel Guetta, Columbia Business School
Over the last decade, Poets&Quants has honored more than 540 up-and-coming star MBA and graduate business professors from around the world.
2026 Best 40-Under-40 Business Professors: Sylvia Grewatsch, Brock University Goodman School of Business
Over the last decade, Poets&Quants has honored more than 540 up-and-coming star MBA and graduate business professors from around the world.
2026 Best 40-Under-40 Business Professors: Ashley Hardin, Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis
Over the last decade, Poets&Quants has honored more than 540 up-and-coming star MBA and graduate business professors from around the world.
2026 Best 40-Under-40 Business Professors: Arpit Gupta, NYU Stern School of Business
Over the last decade, Poets&Quants has honored more than 540 up-and-coming star MBA and graduate business professors from around the world.
2026 Best 40-Under-40 Business Professors: Emma Jingfei Zhang, Goizueta Business School, Emory University
Over the last decade, Poets&Quants has honored more than 540 up-and-coming star MBA and graduate business professors from around the world.
2026 Best 40-Under-40 Business Professors: Kristin Donnelly, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Over the last decade, Poets&Quants has honored more than 540 up-and-coming star MBA and graduate business professors from around the world.
2026 Best 40-Under-40 Business Professors: Julia Binder, IMD Business School
Over the last decade, Poets&Quants has honored more than 540 up-and-coming star MBA and graduate business professors from around the world.
2026 Best 40-Under-40 Business Professors: Julia Fonseca, Gies College of Business, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Over the last decade, Poets&Quants has honored more than 540 up-and-coming star MBA and graduate business professors from around the world.
2026 Best 40-Under-40 Business Professors: Daniel Blaseg, Esade Business School
Over the last decade, Poets&Quants has honored more than 540 up-and-coming star MBA and graduate business professors from around the world.
2026 Best 40-Under-40 Business Professors: Julia Bodner, Copenhagen Business School
Over the last decade, Poets&Quants has honored more than 540 up-and-coming star MBA and graduate business professors from around the world.
2026 Best 40-Under-40 Business Professors: Mochen Yang, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota
Over the last decade, Poets&Quants has honored more than 540 up-and-coming star MBA and graduate business professors from around the world.
2026 Best 40-Under-40 Business Professors: Jirs Meuris, Wisconsin School of Business, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Over the last decade, Poets&Quants has honored more than 540 up-and-coming star MBA and graduate business professors from around the world.
2026 Best 40-Under-40 Business Professors: Elena Prager, Simon Business School, University of Rochester
Over the last decade, Poets&Quants has honored more than 540 up-and-coming star MBA and graduate business professors from around the world.
2026 Best 40-Under-40 Business Professors: Maria Roche, Harvard Business School
Over the last decade, Poets&Quants has honored more than 540 up-and-coming star MBA and graduate business professors from around the world.
2026 Best 40-Under-40 Business Professors: Yoonseock (Yoon) Son, Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame
Over the last decade, Poets&Quants has honored more than 540 up-and-coming star MBA and graduate business professors from around the world.
2026 Best 40-Under-40 Business Professors: Clara Martínez-Toledano, Imperial Business School
Over the last decade, Poets&Quants has honored more than 540 up-and-coming star MBA and graduate business professors from around the world.
2026 Best 40-Under-40 Business Professors: José Parra Moyano, IMD Business School
Over the last decade, Poets&Quants has honored more than 540 up-and-coming star MBA and graduate business professors from around the world.
2026 Best 40-Under-40 Business Professors: Julia Langdon, ESMT Berlin
Over the last decade, Poets&Quants has honored more than 540 up-and-coming star MBA and graduate business professors from around the world.
2026 Best 40-Under-40 Business Professors: Hossein Piri, Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary
Over the last decade, Poets&Quants has honored more than 540 up-and-coming star MBA and graduate business professors from around the world.
2026 Best 40-Under-40 Business Professors: Jetson Leder-Luis, Questrom School of Business, Boston University
Over the last decade, Poets&Quants has honored more than 540 up-and-coming star MBA and graduate business professors from around the world.
2026 Best 40-Under-40 Business Professors: Tammaro Terracciano, IESE Business School
Over the last decade, Poets&Quants has honored more than 540 up-and-coming star MBA and graduate business professors from around the world.
2026 Best 40-Under-40 Business Professors: Shohini Kundu, UCLA Anderson School of Management
Over the last decade, Poets&Quants has honored more than 540 up-and-coming star MBA and graduate business professors from around the world.
2026 Best 40-Under-40 Business Professors: Léonard Boussioux, University of Washington, Foster School of Business
Over the last decade, Poets&Quants has honored more than 540 up-and-coming star MBA and graduate business professors from around the world.
[Report] WHO: Global health gains face threat of reversal
WHO published the World Health Statistics 2026 report showing the world is falling short on health targets, with progress uneven, slowing, and in some areas reversing.
What to know about the Ebola outbreak now declared a global health emergency
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The World Health Organization declared Sunday the Ebola disease outbreak in Congo and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern. Africa’s top public health body first confirmed a new Ebola outbreak in Congo’s Ituri province on Friday. By Saturday, it had reported 336 suspected cases and 88 deaths. All the cases are in Congo, except for two recorded in neighboring Uganda. Health authorities say the current outbreak is caused by
Ebola outbreak in Africa spurs global health emergency declaration
With hundreds of suspected cases and dozens of deaths already reported, the World Health Organization (WHO) is sounding the alarm about an Ebola disease outbreak by declaring a global health emergency.
New Discovery Academy Of Science Charter School Is Coming To Wesley Chapel
A new charter school is coming to Wesley Chapel to provide students with a quality educational opportunity in a world that is increasingly reliant on technology, including AI. Discovery Academy […]
10 million bacteria in a thimble — scientists discover 'miniature worlds' floating in fog
A thimbleful of fog water can contain roughly 10 million bacteria.
People overestimate how confident AI systems are in their responses, experiments reveal
Artificial intelligence (AI) systems, particularly conversational agents such as ChatGPT or Gemini, are now used daily by a growing number of people worldwide. While many users trust the answers of AI ...
TST Best Bets: May 17, 2026
The final spot in the NBA Conference Finals is up for grabs tonight, as the Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers face off in what should be a thrilling Game 7 matchup. It’s been a rollercoaster ride of a season for the Pistons, who shocked the world by winning 60 games in the regular season to take the top seed in the Eastern Conference. Their playoff run first looked to set up for disaster, as they fell down 3-1 to the Orlando Magic before pulling off the unlikely comeback to escape the firs
Ebola outbreak in Central Africa declared a ‘Public Health Emergency of International Concern’
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, citing rising cases, cross-border spread and significant uncertainties about the scale of the epidemic.
Subnautica 2's Early Access roadmap is here
Subnautica 2 developer Unknown Worlds has outlined what to expect in the early to mid-term of its early access release.
How a Seattle sports spectacle helped thaw the Cold War
Seattle's collective memory of the 1990 Goodwill Games has dimmed somewhat. But they're worth a second look as the city prepares to co-host the 2026 World Cup.
What we know about the latest Ebola outbreak after WHO declares global health emergency
The World Health Organization on Sunday declared an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda a “public health emergency of international concern.”
Faith, politics mark Rededicate 250 event in D.C.
WORLD is a news organization producing Biblically sound, daily coverage of global, national, and cultural current events.
The World’s Forests Won’t Be Saved by Science Alone: We Need Better Communication
Research tells us that we need sustainable forest practices. But how does this knowledge lead to action?
How One Founder Is Fixing the Broken World of Live Event Bookings
GigFinesse is a live entertainment platform replacing manual booking workflows with streamlined software for hospitality venues.
What it's like to run family business when dad is billionaire founder
Jennifer Harvey, the CEO of Crown Worldwide, spoke about the rewards and challenges of running the family business founded by her billionaire father.
World Cup’s revisited: Belgium at Mexico 1970
With less than a month to go until the World Cup kicks off in North America, we are revisiting a handful of tournaments featuring both Belgium and the Netherlands. To start, we are returning to 1970, ...
The Iran War Is Crippling One of the World’s Wealthiest Nations
Iranian attacks have paralyzed Qatar’s vital gas exports and are stalling the tourism and business pivots that were intended to anchor its future growth.
World Health Organization declares Ebola outbreak in Congo a global health emergency
Health officials are working to contain a new Ebola outbreak in the DRC of a virus strain with no known vaccine.
WHO declares Ebola outbreak an international public health emergency
The WHO said an Ebola outbreak first seen in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was an international public health emergency, underscoring the world's concerns.
Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim Head K-Movie Entertainment’s Indonesian Action Slate at Cannes Market (Exclusive)
IMDb, the world's most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content.
WHO declares global health emergency over Ebola outbreak in Congo and Uganda
The World Health Organization said the outbreak does not meet the criteria of a pandemic emergency, and advised against the closure of international borders.
WHO declares global health emergency over Ebola outbreak in Congo and Uganda
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has declared the Ebola disease outbreak in Congo and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern after more than 300 suspected cases and 88 deaths. In a post on X on Sunday, the World Health Organization said the outbreak of the diseas...
Congo Ebola outbreak declared a public health emergency of 'international concern'
The World Health Organization said countries sharing borders with Congo are at high risk for further spread.
WHO declares international emergency over Ebola outbreak
The World Health Organization said the Ebola outbreak could be much larger than what is currently being detected and reported. It warned of health risks to other countries.
WHO says Ebola in Congo, Uganda is global public health emergency
The World Health Organization said in a statement that the outbreak, however, does not meet the criteria of a pandemic emergency.
WHO Declares Congo-Uganda Ebola Outbreak Global Health Emergency
The World Health Organization declared an Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern, warning that a rare virus strain with no approved vaccine or treatment may already be spreading more widely than detected.
WHO declares Ebola outbreak in Congo, Uganda a global public health emergency
The World Health Organisation on Sunday declared an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda a "public health emergency of international concern".
Iran's status for World Cup gains some clarity
Iran announced its preliminary World Cup roster on Saturday following meetings with FIFA that appeared to make progress toward the country participating in the tournament.
WHO declares Ebola outbreak in Congo, Uganda a global health emergency
The World Health Organisation on Sunday declared an Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern.
Stunning 150-million-year-old stegosaur skull rewrites dinosaur evolution
A spectacular dinosaur discovery in Spain is giving scientists a rare new look inside the world of stegosaurs. Paleontologists uncovered the best-preserved stegosaur skull ever found in Europe, belonging to the iconic plated dinosaur Dacentrurus armatus, which roamed Earth around 150 million years ago. Because stegosaur skulls are extremely fragile and almost never survive intact, the fossil is helping researchers uncover previously unknown details about how these armored giants evolved.
Letter from the editor: Farewell from the executive science editor
Journalism was probably the last thing on my radar when I walked through the club fair as a first-year. And for most of my time at Tufts, it stayed that way. My best friend Carmen was super involved in that world, but her involvement was the closest I got to that space.
Now What? With Carbon Pricing Eroded and Pipeline Politics Advancing, Here Are the Pathways for Climate Success
At the end of a whirlwind week of news on carbon pricing and electricity strategy, capping a madcap year of pretty much non-stop, dramatic change, the word across much of Canada’s climate and energy transition community is that climate policy in this country has been shredded. Eviscerated. Hit with a sledgehammer by policy rollbacks that have pushed the country’s 2050 net zero target “well out of reach”. That means it’s never been more important to look for the rays of hope and glimmers of possibility. To glimpse the seeds of the next set of strategies to get Canada’s climate pollution under control and the country into the accelerating global dash away from fossil fuels. And then, once we’ve spotted those possibilities, get on with the hard, day-to-day slog of trying to make them a reality. Nothing takes away from the frustration and the deep disappointment so many climate and energy hawks are expressing, the sense of betrayal by the author of Value(s) and the former UN special envoy for climate action and finance. But we knew two things as the week drew to a close. We’re looking at the world as it most definitely is. And we don’t get to give up finding the pathways to confront climate change and deliver faster, deeper carbon cuts that leave no one else behind. So really, the first question we all have to ask ourselves is: What’s next? Subscribe All the Oxygen in the Room The outpouring of anger and grief over the carbon pricing deal between Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has been absolutely understandable. So much of the climate community poured years, more than a decade, into dragging the current federal pricing regime across the finish line, then defending it from a deluge of three-syllable rhymes after the Trudeau government proved utterly incapable of delivering its own message. The policy foisted on us by neo-classical economists took up all the oxygen in the room, burned through years of climate response time that we won’t get back, while cornering climate hawks into the position that the best response to the crisis of our lifetimes is a new tax…in an era of historic anti-tax sentiment. I mean, really—what could possibly have gone wrong? Against that history, let’s appreciate columnist Max Fawcett’s point that even a modest carbon pricing agreement with a government as off-the-wall libertarian/conspiracist as Danielle Smith’s—those adjectives are mine, not Max’s—is a win worth savouring (as long as Smith keeps her promises for a change). But part of living in the world as it is (no, I’m not letting that go) is to be clear-headed about what we can and can’t control. And one thing we get to decide, after seeing this week’s carbon price festivities take up all the oxygen yet again, is whether we want to keep letting that happen. Particularly when success down that road depends on a factor that no one with a climate agenda can control or influence—a provincial carbon pricing mechanism that has been manipulated and eroded beyond its lowest possible denominator. Thankfully, that’s not the way it has to go. Not when we have so many other powerful, practical tools at our disposal, including the ones still available to us through this abominable Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Canada and Alberta. Tools In Our Toolbox When I started roughing out this list, I didn’t expect it to grow to nearly a dozen bullet points. It’s probably still incomplete. Some of the greatest hits in today’s climate solutions toolbox include: • No Carbon Capture, No Pipeline: On Friday, Prime Minister Mark Carney explicitly stated that there’s been no change to the MOU provision that there will be no West Coast pipeline without an industry commitment to build its massive, $16.5-billion carbon capture and storage (CCUS) hub in Northern Alberta, and vice versa. The two megaprojects were joined at the hip when the MOU was signed Nov. 27, and the implementation agreement this week affirmed that they still are. A parade of independent analysts have spent years pointing to the economic and technical flaws in CCUS, while the industry kept postponing its investment decision until it could arm-twist the government for more “clarity” (by which it meant even more lavish taxpayer subsidies) on the project. Now the industry itself is running away from the CCUS hub and insisting the pipeline should proceed without it, but Carney doesn’t seem to be budging from a central tenet of the MOU to which Smith has signed on. • No Subsidies, No Investors: Climate analysts and advocates have quite rightly been hammering away at Carney and his team, insisting that any new capacity the industry wants to build must proceed without new subsidies. The government has responded with a growing collection of funding and financing mechanisms for the very wide menu of industrial development and nation-building projects they say they want to take on, and that menu always includes fossil fuel infrastructure. But it’s hard to see how even the combined fiscal clout of the federal and supportive provincial governments will deliver the financial backing private investors would need when the business case for new fossil fuel development is evaporating before their eyes. Particularly when… • No Market, No Demand, No Investors: As our friend Markham Hislop at Energi Media (our apparently sleepless friend, given the massive volume of great material he’s been churning out) points out this morning, the biggest vulnerability in any pipeline deal is the assumption that Asian buyers will want the oil or liquefied natural ga that our fossil industry is so keen to send them. Hislop writes in part: Ottawa and Alberta are effectively betting that countries like China and India will continue increasing oil imports for decades as their economies grow and energy consumption rises. That assumption underpins the entire economic rationale for expanding oil sands production and building billions of dollars in new export infrastructure. But Asian energy systems are changing rapidly… China, India, South Korea, and other major hydrocarbon importers are now investing hundreds of billions of dollars into electricity systems built around wind, solar, batteries, nuclear, hydro, and expanded transmission infrastructure. Domestic “energy sovereignty” is increasingly replacing the old energy-security model based on stable oil and gas imports. Those investments are expected to sharply slow oil demand growth and eventually reverse it, even as overall energy consumption continues rising. There are also refining constraints. Many Asian refineries and petrochemical complexes are already optimized to process discounted heavy crude from the Middle East and Latin America. That raises serious questions about how much additional Canadian bitumen Asian markets can absorb at profitable prices. Small wonder that there’s still no private sector investor for the project, despite Smith’s government desperately beating the bushes to put together a deal. For now, Alberta is acting as proponent and covering early start-up costs for a pitch to the federal Major Projects Office, which could actually turn into the next tough hurdle for Smith and her pipeline to jump. • Canada Day Looms: How ironic that Canada’s birthday this year could become a major chokepoint for the provincial premier who’s been working so diligently to tear the country apart! The July 1 target date for Alberta’s pipeline proposal is baked into the MOU, was reaffirmed by the implementation plan, but it hadn’t dawned on me that it cuts both ways. As one very smart colleague wrote in an email yesterday, “they’ve thrown the ball into Alberta’s court to get the project proposal on the table really quickly and to have to do a whole pile of work to put together a massive, complicated project that would typically take years to assemble, and they’ve given them weeks to do it.” That makes July 1 a looming deadline that Smith won’t be able to run away from politically, especially with the separatists in her party and her caucus breathing down her neck. (See previous ref to off-the-wall.) But if Alberta comes in with a sloppy, incomplete submission, even after Carney bent over backwards to simplify the application process and the rules that govern it, it may be harder for the province or the industry to blame Ottawa and insist on the faster process they claim their investors are demanding. (Oh, wait—which investors would those be??) • We’ll See You In Court (Then We’ll See You Again): If Carney did cave, that would be just one more reason for Indigenous and other affected communities to take the government and the process to court—Just as Alberta First Nations did, successfully, in response to Smith’s half-baked separation referendum. Veterans of the Harper era have been warning that a shoddy process around fossil fuel infrastructure or other major projects will be a recipe for the very delays that process seeks to avoid. And now more than ever, with renewable energy and energy storage eating fossil fuels’ lunch in import markets around the world, a delayed pipeline or LNG terminal may be as good as a cancelled one. • Charged Up, Ready to Go: With its goal of doubling Canada’s electricity supply to meet a doubling of demand by 2050, the national electricity strategy that Carney unveiled Thursday has a lot to like. With its explicit language about speeding the shift from fuels to more efficient and affordable electricity, global investment and deployment patterns that already favour that shift, an emerging bidirectional power grid, the role of front-line options like rooftop solar and heat pumps, the emergence of electric vehicles as behind-the-meter energy storage, and the domestic jobs and manufacturing to make it all happen, the document doubles down on the essential cornerstone of a faster shift off fossil fuels. The strategy envisions a more prominent role for gas and nuclear power. But some of those provisions were already in the Clean Electricity Regulations that climate hawks are now fighting so hard to defend, inserted as a compromise in a futile attempt to mollify the industry and its political representatives in Alberta and Saskatchewan. But once again, gas will be a tougher sell when it’s more expensive and now so much more unpredictable than the clean alternatives. The new nuclear technologies are still speculative and deeply vulnerable to cost overruns. Increasingly, utilities, developers, and investors know it. Carney declared Thursday that “it doesn’t do us good to be sitting in court all the time with provinces. It doesn’t do us good to be talking past each other. What does do us good is to come together with specific projects.” There are no guarantees, but so much of the language and narrative-building in the electricity strategy suggests the lion’s share of those projects will be renewable. • The Party Has Already Started: The electricity strategy only rarely digs down to specific projects, but provinces representing three-quarters of Canada’s population are already embracing a faster transition. Hydro-Québec is working on a 10-year, $185-billion renewable energy and grid buildout by 2035. Ontario recently brought 10 provinces and territories together in a National Energy Corridor Agreement to boost interprovincial and -territorial transmission infrastructure. And the MOU implementation agreement commits Alberta to facilitate investment in renewable energy projects, a big step back from its continuing, punitive restrictions on renewables development. The electricity strategy envisions much of the financing and infrastructure that will be needed to pull those advances together into an integrated whole. • Delivering on Affordability: The MOU implementation plan has little or nothing to say about affordability (are you surprised?), but the electricity strategy does, with a top-line pledge to reduce home energy costs for seven out of 10 Canadian households by 2050, a total saving of $15 billion across the board. It’s just a start, but it puts affordability on the government’s narrative map. If they’re serious and deliberate about patching together a least-cost energy strategy, it’ll have little if any room for oil, gas, or nuclear—not with powerful evidence, for example, that electricity prices are higher when those prices are set by gas. • Smith Proves that Canada Works: By signing a deal that makes it harder to claim the federal government is blocking a new pipeline, Smith has helped prove Carney’s constant anti-separatist refrain that “Canada works”—incurring the rage, no doubt, of her own political base. Canada also needs to work for anyone who depends on a clean environment, healthy and thriving ecosystems, and safe, stable climate. But with Smith and her separatist constituents setting up as a fifth column for annexation by Donald Trump’s United States, let’s set aside any notion that 51st state status for Canada is a recipe for anything other than climate disaster (and so much else). Resisting and withstanding Trump (just 170 more sleeps until mid-term elections, which is a damn sight better than the 730 we started with) doesn’t mean a free pass for a pipeline, but we can still appreciate it that keeping Canada whole and sovereign is still Carney’s Job One. • The Words Not Spoken: Apart from a commitment to export a million barrels of “low-emission” Alberta bitumen per day (memo to Smith and Carney: You realize that that’s less than the industry is already exporting??), the MOU implementation plan says nothing about the international trade and economic sovereignty deals that Carney has been travelling the world to negotiate. It didn’t have to. Carney doesn’t need permission from Danielle Smith, her American enablers, or her separatist allies to continue building the alliances that will ratchet down our economic dependency on our unstable, unreliable neighbour to the south. But every connection he builds with countries outside North America helps align our economy and our future with a faster shift off fossil fuels. Little if any of this was on our bingo cards a year or two ago. But it’s the pathway that has opened up to us. And if it gives Canada any climate or energy gains at all in an era still dominated by Trump and his increasingly ridiculous tariffs, his loutish trade negotiations and his continuing annexation threats, we have to take the wins. Not least because they’ll be the point of departure for what we can achieve in 2027, 2029, and beyond, as Trump’s grip and this era begin to loosen and then fade. What is Carney Doing? If this line of thought is right—and it’s a possibility, not a prediction—it means that Carney’s actions and decisions are largely about buying time. Time for Trump’s power to wane. Time for Alberta’s separatist/conspiracist virus to spread, mutate, die out, or at least die back, with help from a vaccine of federal steadiness and calm (appropriate enough, for a movement populated largely by vaccine deniers) that no conspiracy theory can dismiss. And time for the government’s trade and investment agenda to deliver results—even knowing that some of those results will bring impacts that front-line communities will not and should not accept. In the immediate moment, none of this changes the way the wider climate community has to respond, from campaigners to investors to front-line practitioners. All of our voices are still essential. But those voices will be stronger and more confident if we have a clearer sense of the brutal game we’ve been pulled into, and a plausible path (or two it three) for playing it to the win we need. This conversation also underscores our biggest task for the remaining years of what was supposed to be the “decisive” decade for climate response: if we can shift the energy narrative in Canada, make it a mainstream view that the country’s preoccupation with oil and gas has us falling farther behind a changing world, we’ll see far better results in the 2030s and beyond. For many veteran climate advocates, taking on that part of the fight will begin with recognizing that most of our friends and family, neighbours and colleagues already understand that climate change is real and right in front of us: they’re looking away and staying silent because they don’t have what climate communicator Katharine Hayhoe calls “efficacy”. As Hayhoe recently pointed out in a feature interview with The Energy Mix, it amounts to science denial to keep hammering away at the dire news about global warming without also helping audiences understand what they can do about it, with multiple studies telling us why that won’t work. Far better to open those conversations with the dominant crises like energy security, food security, emergency preparedness and business continuity, affordability, and financial security that have knocked climate change far lower on the list of public priorities, and will likely keep it there. We Knew This Would Happen Climate hawks have always known this day would come. For decades, we warned that everyone had to pay attention to climate change right now, because it would be much tougher to respond once the crisis itself started affecting our daily lives. We were right, and here we are. But now, thanks to decades of hard work, communities and countries have an alternative to doubling down on fossil fuels. “In 10 years everyone will have ‘always known’ that solar and batteries were going to win,” Morgan Solar Executive Chair Mike Andrade writes on LinkedIn. With the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz roiling energy priorities around the world, Canada and the United States are among the shrinking number of countries that are still very keen on fossil fuel development. Understanding that gap is a first, essential step in spotting the opportunities ahead, and averting the deep economic as well as environmental and social risk we face if we don’t seize them. Thanks for reading The Energy Mix Weekender! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support our work. Subscribe Mitchell Beer traces his background in renewable energy and energy efficiency back to 1977, in climate change to 1997. Now he and the rest of the Energy Mix team scan 1,200 news headlines a week to pull together The Energy Mix and The Energy Mix Weekender. Chart of the Week BYD Eyes 20 Dealership Locations After Canada Greenlights Chinese EV Imports ‘Sledgehammer’ Carbon Price Deal Boosts Emissions by 230Mt, Aims for Fall 2027 Pipeline Approval ‘Worse Than Harper’: Regulatory Rollback Would Stop Canada from Assessing Project Impacts, Critics Warn Electricity Strategy Aims for Doubling by 2050, Allows ‘Flexibility’ for Gas Power Plants Opposition Mounts as O’Leary’s Data Centre Approved in Drought-Stricken Utah Diluted Carbon Price Misses ‘Reality of the World We’re In’, Could Impede Diversified Trade: Climate Institute $200B in Clean Energy Investment Will Need On-Time Delivery, Reliable Policies, Trade Association Says ‘Sovereign Pipeline’: CEO Pitches to Keep Trans Mountain in Government Hands What a Supercharged El Niño Could Mean for Canada Canada’s future is electric, and here’s how a power grid superhighway would get us there (Toronto Star) The Perilous Waters of Hecate Strait (Globe and Mail) Saudi Aramco profits jump despite conflict in Middle East (The Guardian) Farmers confront rising cost of fertilizer and fuel as spring seeding under way (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) Clarkson forecasts 24% decline in offshore oil, gas capital expenditures (Oil & Gas Journal) Pipe Dreams: How Oil and Gas Fail to Deliver Economic Development in Africa (Oil Change International) Developing countries must hold the pen to script the fossil fuel transition (Climate Home News) Iran war threatens the dream of a post-oil economy in the Gulf (Washington Post) U.S. Oil, Gas Work Force Hits Lowest Level Since 2022 (Rigzone) Why Polestar Is Doubling Down on Net Zero as Rivals Pull Back on EVs (Bloomberg) Why this Michigan utility plans to sell its hydro dams for $13 (E&E News/Politico) Levees can no longer save New Orleans (Vox)
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