Bird flu continues to spread across the United States after jumping from chickens and turkeys to cow milk and humans. The first death was reported this week in Louisiana after a 65-year-old man with underlying medical conditions succumbed to the flu.
CNN reported that a recent study by scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigated the first 46 cases of bird flu in the United States in 2024. Nearly all of those were considered to be mild, with the exception of one person who had been exposed to infected farm animals.
The man in Louisiana was infected with a strain of the flu, known as D1.1, the report said. It's different from the one that is spreading among dairy cows.
"The CDC reported in late December that a genetic analysis of the virus that infected the Louisiana patient found changes expected to enhance its ability to infect the upper airways of humans and help it to spread more easily from person to person," said CNN. "Those same changes were not seen in the birds the person had been exposed to, officials said, indicating that they had developed in the person after they were infected."
There's another case in Canada that left a 13-year-old girl in critical condition in a hospital. She recovered, but disease investigators who track the infections haven't determined how she contracted the virus.
A controversial new study out Monday in a U.S. medical journal could reignite debate over fluoride's safety in water, linking higher exposure levels to lower IQ in children.
Published in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Pediatrics, it has sparked pushback from some scientists who criticize the study's methods, defend the mineral's proven dental benefits, and warn the findings may not directly apply to typical US water fluoridation levels.
Its release comes as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office. His health secretary nominee, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is a vocal critic of fluoridated water, which currently serves over 200 million Americans, or nearly two-thirds of the population.
Researchers from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) reviewed 74 studies on fluoride exposure and children's IQ conducted in 10 countries including Canada, China, and India.
The same scientists helped formulate an official government recommendation in August that there is "moderate confidence" that higher levels of fluoride are linked to lower IQ scores.
Now, the team led by Kyla Taylor told AFP the new analysis found a "statistically significant association" between fluoride exposure and reduced IQ scores.
Specifically, the study estimates that for every 1 milligram per liter increase in urinary fluoride -- a marker of overall exposure -- children's IQ drops by 1.63 points.
- Study limitations-
Fluoride's neurotoxicity at high doses is well known, but the controversy lies in the study's suggestion that exposure below 1.5 milligrams per liter -- currently the World Health Organization's safety limit -- may also affect children's IQ.
Crucially, the paper does not clarify how much lower than 1.5 mg/L could be dangerous, leaving questions about whether the US guideline of 0.7 mg/L needs adjustment.
The authors acknowledged that "there were not enough data to determine if 0.7 mg/L of fluoride exposure in drinking water affected children's IQ."
Steven Levy, a member of the national fluoride committee for the American Dental Association, raised significant concerns about the study's methodology.
He pointed out that 52 of the 74 studies reviewed were rated "low quality" by the authors themselves but were still included in the analysis.
"Almost all of the studies have been done in other settings where there are other contaminants, other things we call confounding factors," he told AFP, citing coal pollution in China as an example.
Levy also questioned the study's use of single-point urine samples instead of 24-hour collections, which provide greater accuracy, as well as the challenges in reliably assessing young children's IQ.
With so many uncertainties, Levy argued in an editorial accompanying the study that current policies "should not be affected by the study findings."
The journal also published an editorial commending the study for its methodological rigor.
- Balancing gains against risks -
On the other side of the debate, the benefits of water fluoridation are well documented.
Introduced in the United States in 1945, it quickly reduced cavities in children and tooth loss in adults, earning recognition from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century.
Fluoride, which also occurs naturally in varying levels, helps restore minerals lost to acid breakdown in teeth, reduces acid production by cavity-causing bacteria, and makes it harder for these bacteria to stick to the teeth.
However, with fluoride toothpastes widely available since the 1960s, some research suggests diminishing returns.
Proponents argue fluoridation reduces socioeconomic disparities in dental care, while critics warn it may pose greater risks of neurological harm to vulnerable communities.
"Evidence on the effects of adjusting levels of fluoride or interrupting community water fluoridation programs is critically needed, especially within the context of the US," Fernando Hugo, Chair of the NYU College of Dentistry, told AFP.
In addition to the annual parade of star pictures or constellations passing above our heads each night, there are always exciting events to look out for in the sky. The year 2025 is no exception and has its fair share of such events.
Though the night sky is more spectacular from a dark country sky, you can see the events outlined here even if, like many others, you live in a light-polluted city. For most events you do not need a telescope or binoculars.
Here are some of the highlights.
March and September: eclipses of the Moon
During the early morning of Monday 8 September, the full Moon will move into the shadow of Earth and be totally eclipsed. The Moon will turn a red or coppery colour, because sunlight is bent or refracted by Earth’s atmosphere onto the Moon. The bent light is red, as we are looking at the reflection of sunrises and sunsets from around the globe.
Total eclipses of the Moon are more common than those of the Sun. They can be seen from all the regions on Earth where it is night.
Unlike eclipses of the Sun, lunar eclipses are safe to watch with the unaided eye. They are also safe to photograph. A tripod will help, as will a camera or phone able to take timed exposures.
The eclipse starts with Earth’s shadow gradually covering the Moon over about an hour. Similarly, after totality the shadow takes about an hour to leave the Moon.
Seen from Australia’s east coast, the total eclipse will last from from 3:30am to 4:53am on September 8. From New Zealand, this will be from 5:30am to moonset; from South Australia or the Northern Territory, 3:00am to 4:23am, and from Western Australia 1:30am to 2:53am.
Earlier in the year, on the evening of Friday March 14, people in Aotearoa New Zealand will be able to see a totally eclipsed Moon as it rises above the horizon just after sunset. Watchers in eastern Australia will also get a brief glimpse of a partially eclipsed Moon after moonrise, for 34 minutes from Sydney, 43 minutes from Brisbane and 16 minutes from Cairns.
March: Saturn’s ‘disappearing’ rings
Gazing at Saturn and its rings through a telescope is always a thrill, whether you are seeing them for the first or the hundredth time. However, in early 2025 the rings will seem to vanish as Earth passes through the plane of the rings.
This phenomenon occurs twice during Saturn’s 29-year path around the Sun, that is, at roughly 15-year intervals. Unfortunately, on March 24, the date when this will occur, the planet will be too close to the Sun in the sky for us to observe.
However, in the evenings until mid-February and in the morning from late March we will be able to see Saturn with quite narrow, tilted rings.
Note that a small telescope is needed to see Saturn with or without its rings. If you don’t have one yourself, you can go on a night tour at a public observatory like Sydney Observatory or an observing session with a local astronomical group, such as those at Melbourne Observatory with the Astronomical Society of Victoria.
The two main meteor showers of the year are the Eta Aquariids and the Geminids.
In 2025, the Eta Aquariids are best seen on the morning of Wednesday May 7, while the Geminids will be most visible on the mornings of Sunday December 14 and Monday December 15.
This year, viewing conditions for both meteor showers are favorable, in the sense that there will be no bright Moon in the sky during those mornings. To see them, look towards the north-east (Eta Aquariids) and north (Geminids) before dawn starts brightening the sky.
The darker the sky you can find, the better. Keep away from street lights or any other light.
January, April and August: planets
The five planets you can see with the naked eye – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn – move across the sky along a line called the ecliptic.
As the planets move, they sometimes appear to pass close to each other and take on interesting patterns. Of course, they only appear close from our point of view. In reality the planets are tens or hundreds of million kilometers apart.
In 2025, these patterns include:
January 18–19: the brightest planet, Venus, is close to the ringed planet Saturn in the evening sky
April 1–15: Mercury, Venus and Saturn form a slowly changing compact group in the eastern sky near sunrise
August 12–13: Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest planets, are only separated by two moon-widths in the morning sky.
June and August: constellations
As the year progresses, different constellations appear in the evening sky. The perpetual chase of Orion and Scorpius (the hunter and the scorpion) across the sky was noted in 2024.
In 2025, keep an eye on the Southern Cross (known as Crux to astronomers) and Sagittarius (the archer).
The Southern Cross is the best-known constellation in the southern sky. It is easy to find, as it is made up of a compact group of bright stars in the shape of a cross.
Two pointer stars from the neighboring constellation of Centaurus, the centaur, also help to show its position. From Sydney and further south, the Southern Cross is always above the horizon. However, in the evenings, it is best viewed around June, when it is high in the southern sky.
The constellation Sagittarius is next to Scorpius. In the evenings, it is best placed for observation in August, as at that time of the year it is directly overhead.
A join-the-dots look at the brightest stars of the constellation gives the impression of a teapot, and it is often referred to by that name. Sagittarius is an important constellation for Australian astronomers, as it contains the centre of the Milky Way galaxy.
The information in this article comes from the 2025 Australasian Sky Guide. The guide has monthly star maps and has much more information to help with viewing and enjoying the night sky from Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.
Artemis II will utilize NASA’s Space Launch System, which is an extremely powerful rocket that will enable human space exploration beyond Earth’s atmosphere. The crew of four will travel in an Orion spacecraft, which the agency launched around the Moon and successfully returned during the Artemis I mission.
But before Artemis II, NASA will send two missions to scout the surface of the lunar south pole for resources that could sustain human space travel and enable new scientific discoveries.
Planetary geologists like me are interested in data from Lunar Trailblazer, one of these two scouting missions. The data from this mission will help us understand how water forms and behaves on rocky planets and moons.
Starting with scientific exploration
PRIME-1, or the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment, will be mounted on a lunar lander. It’s scheduled for launch in January 2025.
Joining the lunar mining experiment is Lunar Trailblazer, a satellite launching on the same Falcon 9 rocket.
Think of this setup as a multimillion-dollar satellite Uber pool, or a rideshare where multiple missions share a rocket and minimize fuel usage while escaping Earth’s gravitational pull.
These missions intend to provide practical operations experience at a lower cost. Each SIMPLEx mission is capped at a budget of US$55 million – Trailblazer is slightly over budget at $80 million. Even over budget, this mission will cost around a quarter of a typical robotic mission from NASA’s Discovery Program. Discovery Program missions typically cost around $300 million, with a maximum budget of $500 million.
Building small but mighty satellites
Decades of research and development into small satellites, or SmallSats, opened the possibility for Trailblazer. SmallSats take highly specific measurements and complement data sourced from other instruments.
Missions like NASA’s TROPICS use a network of small satellites to take more data than one satellite would be able to do alone. NASA Applied Sciences
Multiple SmallSats working together in a constellation can take various measurements simultaneously for a high-resolution view of the Earth’s or Moon’s surface.
SIMPLEx missions can use these SmallSats. Because they’re small and more affordable, they allow researchers to study questions that come with a higher technical risk. Lunar Trailblazer, for example, uses commercial off-the-shelf parts to keep the cost down.
These low-cost, high-risk experimental missions may help geologists further understand the origin of the solar system, as well as what it’s made of and how it has changed over time. Lunar Trailblazer will focus specifically on mapping the Moon.
A brief timeline of water discoveries on the Moon
Scientists have long been fascinated by the surface of our closest celestial neighbor, the Moon. As early as the mid-17th century, astronomers mischaracterized ancient volcanic eruptions as lunar mare, derived from the Latin word for “seas.”
Nearly two centuries later, astronomer William Pickering’s calculations suggested that the Moon had no atmosphere. This led him to conclude the Moon could not have water on its surface, as that water would vaporize.
Scientists’ first water detection prompted further exploration. NASA launched the Lunar Prospector in 1998 and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2009. The India Space Research Organization launched its Chandrayaan-1 mission with the Moon Mineralogy Mapper, M3, instrument in 2008. M3, although not designed to detected liquid water, unexpectedly did find it in sunlit areas on the Moon.
These missions collectively provided maps showing how hydrous minerals – minerals containing water molecules in their chemical makeup – and ice water are distributed on the lunar surface, particularly in the cold, dark, permanently shadowed regions.
Novel mission, novel science
But how does the temperature and physical state of water on the Moon change from variations in sunlight and crater shadows?
The LTM instrument will map surface temperature, while the HVM3 will measure how lunar rocks absorb light. These measurements will allow it to detect and distinguish between water in liquid and ice forms.
In tandem, these instruments will provide thermal and chemical measurements of hydrous lunar rock. They’ll measure water during various times of the lunar day, which is about 29.5 Earth days, to try to show how the chemical composition of water varies depending on the time of day and where it is on the Moon.
These results will tell researchers what phase – solid or liquid – the water is found in.
Scientific significance and what’s next
There are three leading theories for where lunar water came from. It could be water that’s been stored inside the Moon since its formation, in its mantle layer. Some geologic processes may have allowed it to slowly escape to the surface over time.
Lunar Trailblazer may shed light on these theories and help researchers make progress on several other big science questions, including how water behaves on rocky bodies like the Moon and whether future astronauts will be able to use it.
We all know that time seems to pass at different speeds in different situations. For example, time appears to go slowly when we travel to unfamiliar places. A week in a foreign country seems much longer than week at home.
Time also seems to pass slowly when we are bored, or in pain. It seems to speed up when we’re in a state of absorption, such as when we play music or chess, or paint or dance. More generally, most people report time seems to speed up as they get older.
However, these variations in time perception are quite mild. Our experience of time can change in a much more radical way. In my new book, I describe what I call “time expansion experiences” – in which seconds can stretch out into minutes.
The reasons why time can speed up and slow down are a bit of a mystery. Some researchers, including me, think that mild variations in time perception are linked to information processing. As a general rule, the more information – such as perceptions, sensations, thoughts – that our minds process, the slower time seems to pass. Time passes slowly to children because they live in a world of newness.
New environments stretch time because of their unfamiliarity. Absorption contracts time because our attention becomes narrow, and our minds become quiet, with few thoughts passing through. In contrast, boredom stretches time because our unfocused minds fill with a massive amount of thought-chatter.
Time expansion experiences
Time expansion experiences (or Tees) can occur in an accident or emergency situation, such as a car crash, a fall or an attack. In time expansion experiences, time appears to expand by many orders of magnitude. In my research, I have found that around 85% of people have had at least one Tee.
Around a half of Tees occur in accident and emergency situations. In such situations, people are often surprised by the amount of time they have to think and act. In fact, many people are convinced that time expansion saved them from their serious injury, or even saved their lives – because it allowed them to take preventative action that would normally be impossible.
For example, a woman who reported a Tee in which she avoided a metal barrier falling on to her car told me how a “slowing down of the moment” allowed her to “decide how to escape the falling metal on us”.
Tees are also common in sport. For example, a participant described a Tee that occurred while playing ice hockey, when “the play which seemed to last for about ten minutes all occurred in the space of about eight seconds”. Tees also occur in moments of stillness and presence, during meditation or in natural surroundings.
However, some of the most extreme Tees are linked to psychedelic substances, such as LSD or ayahuasca. In my collection of Tees, around 10% are linked to psychedelics. A man told me that, during an LSD experience, he looked at the stopwatch on his phone and “the hundredths of a second were moving as slow as seconds normally move. It was really intense time dilation,” he said.
But why? One theory is that these experiences are linked to a release of noradrenaline (both a hormone and an neurotransmitter) in emergency situations, related to the “fight or flight” mechanism. However, this doesn’t fit with the calm wellbeing people usually report in Tees.
Even though their lives might be in danger, people usually feel strangely calm and relaxed. For example, a woman who had a Tee when she fell off a horse told me: “The whole experience seemed to last for minutes. I was ultra-calm, unconcerned that the horse still hadn’t recovered its balance and quite possibly could fall on top of me.” The noradrenaline theory also doesn’t fit with the fact that many Tees occur in peaceful situations, such as deep meditation or oneness with nature.
Another theory I have considered is that Tees are an evolutionary adaptation. Maybe our ancestors developed the ability to slow down time in emergency situations – such as encounters with deadly wild animals or natural disasters – to improve their chances of survival. However, the above argument applies here too: this doesn’t fit with the non-emergency situations when Tees occur.
A third theory is that Tees aren’t real experiences, but illusions of recollection. In emergency situations, so this theory goes, our awareness becomes acute, so that we take in more perceptions than normal. These perceptions become encoded in our memories, so that when we recall the emergency situation, the extra memories create the impression that time passed slowly.
However, in many Tees, people are certain that they had extra time to think and act. Time expansion allowed complex series of thoughts and actions that would have been impossible if time had been passing at a normal speed. In a recent (not yet published) poll of 280 Tees, I found that less than 3% of the participants believed that the experience was an illusion. Some 87% believed it was a real experience that happened in the present, while 10% were undecided.
Altered states of consciousness
In my view, the key to understanding Tees surrounds altered states of consciousness. The sudden shock of an accident may disrupt our normal psychological processes, causing an abrupt shift in consciousness. In sport, intense altered states occur due to what I call “super-absorption”.
Absorption normally makes time pass faster – as in flow, when we are absorbed in a task. But when absorption becomes especially intense, over a long period of sustained concentration, the opposite occurs, and time slows down radically.
Altered states of consciousness can also affect our sense of identity, and our normal sense of separation between us and the world. As the psychologist Marc Wittmann has pointed out, our sense of time is closely bound up with our sense of self.
We usually have a sense of living inside our mental space, with the world “out there” on the other side. One of the main features of intense altered states is that sense of separation fades. We no longer feel enclosed inside our minds, but feel connected to our surroundings.
This means the boundary between us and the world softens. And in the process, our sense of time expands. We slip outside our normal consciousness, and into a different time-world.
The United States' top government doctor on Friday called for health warnings on alcoholic drinks to highlight that they cause cancer and urged a reassessment of daily consumption limits due to the risks.
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said that the connection between alcohol and cancer has been known since the 1980s, with mounting evidence reinforcing the dangers. Yet, mandatory warning labels fail to address the health threat.
"Alcohol is a well-established, preventable cause of cancer, responsible for about 100,000 cancer cases and 20,000 cancer deaths annually in the United States," Murthy said in a statement, emphasizing that this toll exceeds the approximately 13,500 alcohol-related traffic fatalities each year.
"Yet the majority of Americans are unaware of this risk," he added, underscoring the urgent need for public education.
Introduced in 1988, the existing warning label only states that "women should not drink alcoholic beverages during pregnancy because of the risk of birth defects" and that "consumption of alcoholic beverages impairs your ability to drive a car or operate machinery, and may cause health problems."
Murthy called on Congress to modernize these labels to reflect the now well-established cancer risk, as other countries including South Korea and Ireland have done.
Alcohol consumption raises the risk of at least seven types of cancer, including breast, colorectal, liver, mouth, throat, esophageal, and laryngeal cancers. For breast cancer alone, alcohol accounts for 16.4 percent of all cases.
But public awareness lags far behind. A 2019 survey found that only 45 percent of Americans identified alcohol as a cancer risk factor, compared to 91 percent for radiation exposure, 89 percent for tobacco use, 81 percent for asbestos exposure, and 53 percent for obesity.
The new advisory also questioned the adequacy of US dietary guidelines, which recommend a daily limit of two drinks for men and one for women.
Alarmingly, 17 percent of alcohol-related cancer deaths occur among individuals who stay within these limits, suggesting the need for a reevaluation.
Health care providers also have a critical role to play, the advisory noted, by informing patients about the risks of alcohol, offering interventions and providing referrals for treatment as needed.
Alcohol contributes to cancer through four key mechanisms.
It metabolizes into acetaldehyde, which damages DNA; it induces oxidative stress, harming DNA, proteins, and cells; it disrupts hormone levels, including estrogen, which increases breast cancer risk; and it heightens absorption of carcinogens, including from tobacco.
In the grand scheme of things, 45 years is not a long time. Back in 1980, it would take me three weeks to run a computer program, written in the programming language Cobol, that worked using punched cards. Each card represented one line of code and it required multiple re-punches to correct errors. Eventually, I would have a working program that did something useful.
How times have quickly changed in technology – now, my mobile phone has vast processing capability compared to the machine that processed that Cobol program. With the help of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, that same phone is able to instantly translate between languages on a live call, among many other features.
With eye-catching announcements being made all the time, what can we expect in 2025 from the world of technology? Here are seven developments to look out for.
1. AI agents come into their own
Unsurprisingly, we’re likely to see further important developments in AI. One area that’s likely to take off is the use of AI agents. These are intelligent programs that are given objectives by humans and work out the best ways to achieve those objectives. Agents can write computer code, which could have a big impact on the way that tech companies work and could allow people without advanced coding skills to develop programs, apps or games.
You could also see car plants with no people, running with robots operated by AI agents. In theory, mortgage applications could be assessed and approved by agent technology. Individual apps on a smartphone could be replaced by an agent interface that performs multiple tasks for the user.
A combination of agent technology with robotics could be revolutionary. We are reaching a point where robots don’t just emulate the tasks of humans, but are reasoning and answering to us directly.
One candidate for hosting AI agent technology is Optimus, a humanoid robot built by Tesla. Elon Musk has said that the electric car maker will start using Optimus for tasks within the company from 2025. He added that the automaton could be ready for sale to other businesses by 2026.
Agents are tailor-made for industry tasks such as project management. The consulting firm Gartner suggests that by 2030, some 80% of project management tasks will be run by AI.
2. Customization, with help from AI
In education, the focus has traditionally been on linear programs of study, with pre-determined entry and exit points lasting a number of years. Imagine a course of study that is uniquely tailored to individual students based on their experience, skills and abilities. Bespoke degree programmes centered around the student are already being explored in the US with AI.
These are not just bespoke with regard to the content and curriculum, but also in recognizing the special needs of the student or indeed how the learner may feel at any one time. This can include AI that adjusts the learning activity and study based on how much sleep you had last night, which is linked to smartwatch data.
Education isn’t the only area where AI could help with customization. The management consultancy Accenture suggests that private companies will be able to train their own, custom large language models, the technology behind AI chatbots such as ChatGPT. These could be trained with data specific to particular business areas, making them more effective for those firms. But these companies would have to use billions of pieces of data. We’ll see progress towards this objective in 2025.
Small language models (SLMs) are being developed to perform precise tasks more efficiently. They don’t need to be trained on as much data and require less computing power. This means they can be used more easily on so-called “edge devices” – smartphones, tablets and laptops – without relying on computing resources hosted in the cloud.
3. Towards practical quantum computers
Developments in quantum computing could lead to machines that can solve complex tasks that are beyond the capability of most classical computers. Researchers have moved away from trying to break records for the number of basic processing units, called qubits, and towards correcting the errors that quantum computers are currently prone to. This is a step towards practical quantum computers that have some useful advantage over classical machines.
Small language models allow AI to be more easily used on edge devices like smartphones. Raman Shaunia / Shutterstock
4. Blending physical and virtual worlds
Augmented reality, virtual reality and mixed reality could be used more widely. Virtual reality immerses users in a computer-generated world. Augmented reality superimposes computer-generated elements onto the real world, while the latter remains visible. Mixed reality, refers to a set of immersive technologies including augmented reality, that provide different “blends” of physical and virtual worlds.
Blockchain technology, which allows records to be stored across a network of computers, is set to affect supply chains and different sectors from healthcare to finance. Blockchain increases transparency and traceability, allowing for the tracking of products from origin to consumer, it also offers enhanced security and improved efficiency with automated processes.
Patient data in healthcare could be made more secure with blockchain technology. The exchange of data could become seamless and medical supplies could be tracked. Financial transactions could be made more robust, faster and cheaper and there would be a greater degree of financial inclusion. This would provide access to a wider group who may not have had banking or lending services before.
6. The dawn of 6G communications
We will enjoy faster connectivity, with the introduction of 6G wireless communication networks. The process of standardizing 6G technology will begin in 2025. Clear 6G global standards and compatibility between networks is vital for the technology’s success.
7. More advanced self-driving technology
Self-driving vehicles are also set to see a number of advancements going forward. Self-driving cars are classified into six levels, according to their autonomy – from 0 (fully manual) to 5 (fully autonomous). Current self-driving taxis deployed in US cities such as San Francisco are at level 4 (high driving automation).
They can handle most driving tasks without human input but with some restrictions. In 2025, we’re likely to see progress towards level 5. This is classified as full autonomy, and describes vehicles that operate without any human intervention. Mercedes will increase the speed of its Drive Pilot self-driving system in 2025 and Tesla is developing its own Robotaxi, which should be available “before 2027”, according to Elon Musk.
We can expect technology to be able to achieve tasks that used to be the exclusive domain of humans. It will be able to complete work tasks and report back. This will lead to efficiencies and big changes to work. We’ll also see technology that enhances our leisure time and quality of life.
Lewis Endlar, Programme Director MSc Project Management and Lecturer in Business, Keele Business School, Keele University
In a world where information flows freely, it’s easy to forget that, for centuries, knowledge was much harder to come by. Imagine living in a time when the internet didn’t exist, books were scarce, libraries were few, and most people couldn’t even read.
This was the world of Isidore of Seville, a man dedicated to gathering and sharing knowledge to be passed down for generations.
Importantly, understanding Isidore’s life and work also helps us navigate the murky online world of lies – and find information we can trust.
Just as the internet today connects us to all kinds of information, Isidore’s work aimed to make learning easier for people of his era. Tramp57/Shutterstock
Isidore’s world and the ‘Dark Ages’
Isidore was a bishop and scholar who lived in Seville in what is now Spain during a time we often call the “Dark Ages”, roughly 500–1000 AD. After the fall of the Roman Empire, much of Europe was in chaos – as if the lights had been turned off.
Political instability, war and disease disrupted learning and culture. Many people were illiterate, and many classical works from ancient Greece and Rome risked being lost forever.
In this world of limited access to learning, Isidore stood out. He wanted to make knowledge more accessible, especially to Christians.
He saw preserving and sharing information as essential to keeping civilization alive and thriving. To do this, he wrote his most famous work, Etymologiae, which became a go-to book for centuries.
What was Etymologiae?
Think of Etymologiae as one of the first encyclopedias. An encyclopedia is a book that collects information on many topics, often arranged alphabetically, making it easy to find answers.
Isidore’s work covered everything from language, science and geography to theology, the study of God. His goal was to make ancient knowledge easier to find and understand. He wanted to save the best ideas of the past and bring them into his present time.
In Etymologiae, he drew from well-known classical authors such as Aristotle, Cicero and Pliny, alongside Christian writers such as Augustine and Jerome. This book became essential for medieval students and scholars because it saved so much knowledge from being lost.
Later, Isidore’s work was widely used in schools across Europe and helped many people learn about topics they might otherwise never know about. It laid a foundation for preserving ancient ideas through the Middle Ages and beyond.
A T and O map – also known as Isidoran Map drawn by Isidore of Seville. The map represents world geography, showing Asia occupying the whole top half of the globe. Isidore of Seville
The power of language in Isidore’s work
For Isidore, words were powerful. He argued that understanding the origin, or etymology, of words gave people insight into the true meaning of things. This focus on language is why he called his book Etymologiae. He saw language as a bridge that connected people to knowledge.
But Isidore went beyond just defining words. He also explained concepts from nature, science and history, making sure people had a well-rounded understanding of the world.
In a time when superstitions and beliefs in supernatural forces often influenced people’s view of natural events, Isidore promoted a rational approach. He wanted people to know the facts about their world.
Isidore’s role in education and the church
Isidore wasn’t just a writer.
As a senior leader in the Christian Church, he played an important role in both religion and education. He set up “cathedral schools” for training future priests. These schools would later inspire the first European universities, where students could study a wide range of subjects.
For Isidore education was essential for everyone, not just the church’s leaders.
By promoting the seven “liberal arts” – subjects such as grammar, logic, rhetoric, geometry, arithmetic, astronomy and music – he helped create a model for what would eventually become medieval university education. His ideas about learning spread across Europe, inspiring others to value education as a path to both knowledge and faith.
The patron saint of the internet
So, how did Isidore, who lived 1,400 years ago, become the patron saint of the internet? His Etymologiae was, in many ways, the internet of his time – a collection of facts and explanations from various sources.
Just as the internet today connects us to all kinds of information, Isidore’s work aimed to make learning easier for people of his era.
In naming him the patron saint of the internet, the Catholic Church recognised Isidore’s efforts to collect, organise, and share knowledge. Like the internet, Etymologiae allowed ideas to flow across generations, even when people had limited access to books or formal education.
Isidore’s lasting legacy
Isidore’s influence didn’t end with his life. His ideas spread across Europe, especially during the Carolingian Renaissance of the eighth and ninth centuries – a time when scholars worked to revive learning and culture. Etymologiae became a popular text in monasteries and cathedral schools.
In later centuries, scholars relied on his work to understand classical literature, science and theology.
Today, Isidore’s dedication to knowledge serves as a reminder of the importance of preserving and sharing reliable information.
Just as Isidore saw his work as a way to preserve knowledge, we now live in an age of easy access to information. But not all of it is true.
He believed learning should guide us toward wise choices and serve a greater good.
Last year was China's hottest on record and the past four years were its warmest ever, its weather agency said this week.
China is the leading emitter, in total volume, of the greenhouse gases driving global heating.
It aims to ensure carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions peak by 2030 and be brought to net zero by 2060.
The average national temperature for 2024 was 10.92 degrees Celsius (51.66 Fahrenheit) -- 1.03C. It was "the warmest year since the start of full records in 1961", the China Meteorological Administration said on its news site late on Wednesday.
"The top four warmest years ever were the past four years, with all top 10 warmest years since 1961 occurring in the 21st century," it added.
In 2024, China logged its hottest month in the history of observation in July, as well as the hottest August and the warmest autumn on record.
The United Nations said in a year-end message on Monday that 2024 was set to be the hottest year ever recorded worldwide.
Other countries also recorded temperature records in 2024.
India said on Wednesday 2024 was its hottest year since 1901, while Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said on Thursday that the past year marked its second-warmest year since records began in 1910.
Germany's weather agency said in December that 2024 was the hottest year since records began 143 years ago.
The Czech weather service CHMI said on Thursday that 2024 was "by far the hottest" in Prague since records started in 1775, beating the previous records from 2018 and 2023 by 0.5 degrees.
"It is worth noting that of the 15 warmest years since 1775, 13 were in this century and all 15 after 1990," the CHMI said.
- Extreme weather -
Global warming, driven largely by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas, is not just about rising temperatures but the knock-on effect of all the extra heat in the atmosphere and seas.
Warmer air can hold more water vapor, and warmer oceans mean greater evaporation, resulting in more intense downpours and storms.
Impacts are wide-ranging, deadly and increasingly costly, damaging property and destroying crops.
In central Beijing, finance professional Xu Yici lamented that warmer-than-usual weather had affected the city's traditional winter pastime of ice skating.
"There's no ice in the Summer Palace. I was going to go ice skating at the Summer Palace but I didn't get to do it this year," Xu told AFP.
Dozens of people were killed and thousands evacuated during floods around the country last year.
In May, a highway in southern China collapsed after days of rain, killing 48 people.
Residents of the southern city of Guangzhou experienced a record-breaking long summer, with state media reporting there were 240 days where the average temperature was above 22C (71.6F), breaking the record of 234 days set in 1994.
Sichuan, Chongqing, and the middle reaches of the Yangtze River suffered from heat and drought in early autumn.
But Xue Weiya, an IT worker in Beijing, told AFP he believed "the Chinese government is doing a very good job of protecting the environment, so I don't think the weather... will have a big impact on us".
Globally, 2024 saw deadly flooding in Spain and Kenya, multiple violent storms in the United States and the Philippines, and severe drought and wildfires across South America.
Natural disasters caused $310 billion in economic losses in 2024, Zurich-based insurance giant Swiss Re has said.
Under the 2015 Paris climate accords, world leaders pledged to limit global heating to well below 2.0C above pre-industrial levels -- and to 1.5C if possible.
In November, the World Meteorological Organization said the 2024 January-September mean surface air temperature was 1.54C above the pre-industrial average measured between 1850 and 1900.
Junk food companies are starting to get nervous over how many Americans use GLP-1 medications to lose weight.
Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell walked through shocking details of the economic impact of drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic cited in a new study by Cornell University and Numerator.
"Some junk-food companies and alcohol sellers are freaking out about the prospect of reduced appetites or booze cravings. As they should," Rampell said, citing data showing a substantial reduction in grocery spending, but also a shift in the kind of groceries being purchased.
She calculated a $416 reduction in food and drink purchases per home annually so far. Higher-income households are spending even less. The reduction is largely due to snacks like chips, which have seen an 11% reduction, and baked goods, which have experienced a 9% drop. Meanwhile, there has been a slight increase in purchasing healthier foods like fresh fruits and yogurts.
Meanwhile, the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, which makes Ozempic and Wegovy, made so much money that it impacted the country's economy. While much of Europe continued to struggle in the aftermath of the global pandemic, Denmark's currency "strengthened," the report said.
The Danish central bank then cut interest rates to ensure their currency was steady against the euro.
"Put another way: Overweight Americans unintentionally helped Danes get cheaper mortgages," wrote Rampell.
By the end of this decade, nations and private companies may well be mining the surface of the Moon.
But as space becomes accessible to more nations and corporations, we need to stop and ask ourselves what commercial activities we want to allow, including on the Moon.
Now is the time to create the rules and regulations that will protect humanity’s shared future in space and ensure the Moon remains a symbol and inspiration for generations to come.
1. Why mine the Moon?
NASA’s multibillion dollar Artemis program isn’t just about sending astronauts back to the Moon. It’s about paving the way for mining operations.
All of this has set in motion a new lunar race with private companies competing to figure out how to extract the Moon’s resources, potentially selling it back to governments in a cosmic supply chain.
Currently, all supplies for space exploration are shipped from Earth, making essentials like water and fuel eye-wateringly expensive.
By the time a single litre of water reaches the Moon, its cost beats that of gold.
But by converting water ice on the Moon into hydrogen and oxygen, we can refuel spacecraft on-site. This could make deeper space journeys, especially to Mars, far more feasible.
The Moon’s wealth of rare Earth metals, essential for technologies like smartphones, also means lunar mining could ease the strain on Earth’s dwindling reserves.
2. Could mining change how we see the Moon from Earth?
When material is extracted from the Moon, dust gets kicked up. Without an atmosphere to slow it down, this lunar dust can travel vast distances.
That surface material is “space weathered” and duller than the more reflective material beneath. Disturbing the lunar dust means some patches of the Moon may appear brighter where the dust has been kicked up, while other patches may appear more dull if dust resettles on top.
Even small-scale operations might disturb enough dust to create visible changes over time.
Managing lunar dust will be a crucial factor in ensuring sustainable and minimally disruptive mining practices.
However, it is less clear whether a company extracting resources from the Moon violates this non-appropriation clause.
Two later agreements take up this issue.
The 1979 Moon Treaty claims the Moon and its natural resources as “common heritage of mankind”. This is often interpreted as an explicit ban on commercial lunar mining.
The Outer Space Treaty also notes the exploration of space should benefit everyone on Earth, not just the wealthier nations and corporations able to get there.
When it comes to resource extraction, some argue this means all nations should share in the bounty of any future lunar mining endeavor.
4. What would miners’ lives be like on the Moon?
Imagine you’ve worked 12 hours straight in hot and dirty conditions. You are dehydrated, hungry and overwhelmed. Some of your co-workers have collapsed or been injured due to exhaustion. You all wish you could just get another job with good safety standards, fair pay and reasonable hours. But you can’t. You’re stuck in space.
Exposure to cosmic radiation not only carries an increased risk of various cancers but can also affect fertility.
Lunar miners will also face prolonged isolation and intense psychological stress. We’ll need good laws and guidelines to protect the health and wellbeing of the space workforce.
Regulatory bodies to enforce worker rights and safety standards will be far away on Earth. Miners may be left with little recourse if asked to work unreasonable hours in unsafe conditions.
British astrobiologist Charles S. Cockell claims this makes space “tyranny-prone”. Powerful individuals could, he argues, be able to abuse people who have nowhere else to go.
The Moon holds incredible promise as a stepping stone for human exploration and a potential source of resources to sustain life on Earth and beyond.
But history has shown us the consequences of unchecked exploitation. Before we mine the Moon, we must establish robust regulations that prioritise fairness, safety and human rights.
Beijing insisted on Tuesday that it had shared information on Covid-19 "without holding anything back", after the World Health Organization implored China to offer more data and access to understand the disease's origins.
Covid-19, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2020, went on to kill millions of people, shred economies and overwhelm health systems.
The WHO published a statement on Monday saying it was a "moral and scientific imperative" for China to share more information.
In response, China defended its transparency, saying it had made the "largest contribution to global origin tracing research".
"Five years ago... China immediately shared epidemic information and viral gene sequence with the WHO and the international community," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.
"Without holding anything back, we shared our prevention, control and treatment experience," she told reporters at a regular press briefing.
But over the course of the pandemic, the WHO repeatedly criticized Chinese authorities for their lack of transparency and cooperation.
A team of specialists led by the WHO and accompanied by Chinese colleagues conducted an investigation into the pandemic's origins in early 2021.
In a joint report, they favoured the hypothesis that the virus had been transmitted by an intermediary animal from a bat to a human, possibly at a market.
A team has not been able to return to China since, and WHO officials have repeatedly asked for additional data.
Mao said Tuesday that "more and more clues" pointed "to Covid-19's origins having a global scope".
China was "willing to continue working with various parties to promote global scientific origin tracing, and to make active efforts to prevent potential infectious diseases in the future", she said.
- Pandemic preparedness -
This month, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said "the world would still face some of the same weaknesses and vulnerabilities that gave Covid-19 a foothold five years ago", if a new pandemic emerged today.
"But the world has also learnt many of the painful lessons the pandemic taught us, and has taken significant steps to strengthen its defences against future epidemics and pandemics," he said.
In December 2021, spooked by the devastation caused by Covid, countries decided to start drafting an accord on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
The WHO's 194 member states negotiating the treaty have agreed on most of what it should include, but are stuck on the practicalities.
A key fault line lies between Western nations with major pharmaceutical industry sectors and poorer countries wary of being sidelined when the next pandemic strikes.
While the outstanding issues are few, they include the heart of the agreement: the obligation to quickly share emerging pathogens, and then the pandemic-fighting benefits derived from them such as vaccines.
Taiwan said Tuesday that this year was the hottest since records began 127 years ago, echoing unprecedented temperature highs felt around the world.
Climate change sparked a trail of extreme weather and record heat globally in 2024, fueling natural disasters that caused billions of dollars worth of damage.
As of Sunday, the annual average temperature in Taiwan stood at 24.97 degrees Celsius (76.95 degrees Fahrenheit), exceeding the previous record of 24.91C in 2020 and setting a new high, the Central Weather Administration said.
"The average temperature in Taiwan in 2024 will be the highest recorded since 1897," the state forecaster said in a statement.
But, it warned that the next two months would bring "relatively lower average temperatures, with a chance of extreme cold spells", despite the global warming trend.
Taiwan said Monday it had increased its target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the decade to as high as 30 percent from 2005 levels.
AFP Graphic showing the number of extra days of dangerous heat (likely to increase mortality) compared with a world not warmed by human activity, according to a report by World Weather Attribution
Its previous goal was a reduction of up to 25 percent.
"With the development of offshore wind power and renewable energy in 2025, we are confident we can achieve this goal," Environment Minister Peng Chi-ming told reporters.
The United Nations said Monday that the outgoing year was set to be the warmest ever recorded, capping a decade of unprecedented heat.
Global warming, driven largely by the burning of fossil fuels, is not just about rising temperatures, but the knock-on effect of all the extra heat in the atmosphere and seas.
Warmer air can hold more water vapor, and warmer oceans mean greater evaporation, resulting in more intense downpours and storms.
Impacts are wide-ranging, deadly and increasingly costly, damaging property and destroying crops.
AFP In Taiwan, one of the biggest typhoons to hit the island in decades uprooted trees, and triggered floods and landslides in October
This year saw deadly flooding in Spain and Kenya, multiple violent storms in the United States and the Philippines, and severe drought and wildfires across South America.
In Taiwan, one of the biggest typhoons to hit the island in decades uprooted trees, and triggered floods and landslides in October.
Taiwan is accustomed to frequent tropical storms from July to October, but the island's weather agency said it was unusual for such a powerful typhoon to hit that late in the year.
Natural disasters around the world caused $310 billion in economic losses in 2024, Zurich-based insurance giant Swiss Re has said.
