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When a tennis player serves at 200km/h in 30°C heat, their clothing isn’t just fabric. It becomes a key part of their performance.

Modern tennis wear functions as a mini climate-control system that responds to the athlete’s physiological changes in real time.

The 2025 Australian Open has showcased several groundbreaking technologies in action. Here are a few of the best examples.

Thousands of microscopic vents

Developed by sportswear company Asics, the outfit worn by Australia’s Alex de Minaur demonstrates an example of thermal regulation technology.

The science behind this innovation involves thousands of microscopic vents that automatically adjust position based on body heat.

This is aimed at maintaining a consistent skin temperature of between 36°C and 36.8°C.

The technology works through a network of heat-sensitive polymer structures. These structures expand and contract in response to temperature changes.

Real silver

The gear worn by United States player Frances Tiafoe showcases technology developed by sportswear company Lululemon which incorporates actual silver threads to improve body cooling.

The science here is twofold.

Silver’s natural antimicrobial properties fight bacteria, while its high thermal conductivity helps distribute heat away from the body.

Laboratory testing has demonstrated these garments maintain antimicrobial effectiveness through 50 washes while reducing skin temperature by up to 3°C during extended activity.

Frances Tiafoe’s clothing at the 2025 Australian Open incorporates real silver to improve cooling.
Ng Han Guan/AP

Advanced moisture management system

The outfit worn by US player, Coco Gauff, was developed by sportswear company New Balance and employs an advanced moisture-management system.

The science involves engineered fibre and fabric structures with channels that create a slight change in air pressure. This actively pulls moisture away from the skin and distributes it across the fabric’s surface for optimal evaporation.

Research shows that during intense physical activity, individuals wearing cotton garments may experience skin temperature increases of up to 5°C above normal.

On the other hand, the advanced technical fabrics worn by tennis stars like Coco Gauff and Alex de Minaur help maintain more stable skin temperatures, with variations limited to just 1.5°C above or below normal during intense play.

Beyond temperature control, these fabrics also improve drying time by 63% compared to traditional materials.

For the average person, that means it dries quicker. For an elite athlete at the Australian Open, it rapidly dispels sweat in the hot Australian summer. This makes their clothing lighter and more comfortable to play in.

Coco Gauff’s clothing pulls moisture away from her skin and distributes it across the fabric’s surface for optimal evaporation.
Luka Coch/AAP

Compression technology

Some garments worn by players also use compression technology. These are garments designed to apply pressure to specific areas of the body and are used during and/or after exercise.

This technology provides a 15% improvement in the time it takes the body to recover after intense exercise. It also reduces reported muscle soreness by 23%.

The magic lies in the precise fabric blends.

Some outfits use 89% polyester with 11% elastane for maximum stretch. Others combine recycled materials with elastane for movement.

A big difference to the environment

Sportswear manufacturers are increasingly using recycled polyester instead of newly manufactured synthetic materials

This switch makes a big difference to the environment. Recycled polyester manufacturing and production generates 42% less carbon dioxide than making new polyester from scratch.

To put it in perspective, for every kilogram of recycled polyester in these tennis outfits, about 60 plastic bottles are kept out of landfills.

Most tennis stars now wear gear made from recycled polyester instead of newly manufactured synthetic materials, which helps reduce plastic waste.
Somphop Nithi/Shutterstock

The future of sports performance clothing

Tennis wear is set to become even more high tech in the future.

Researchers are currently testing fabrics with embedded biosensors for real-time monitoring of breathing, pulse, blood pressure and other physiological features. They’re also testing materials capable of regulating compression based on muscle fatigue levels, and biodegradable synthetics that take just three years to decompose.

We could also see clothing that activates particular muscles through targeted compression, contains impact-absorbing structures to help prevent injury and anticipates the athlete’s body temperature changes, helping them cool down or keep warm.

Research indicates these emerging technologies could yield a 25% improvement in thermal regulation, a 40% reduction in muscle fatigue, a 50% increase in garment lifespan and a 75% reduction in environmental impact.

Proper care is crucial

For amateur players, this high-performance tennis wear is becoming increasingly accessible, although it is still typically more expensive than traditional alternatives.

For those with performance clothing in their wardrobe, proper care is crucial. Avoid fabric softeners, wash in cool water and only air dry.

With appropriate maintenance, these garments maintain their performance characteristics for up to 200 wash cycles. Läs mer…

Anecdotal reports from some professionals have prompted concerns about young people using prescription benzodiazepines such as Xanax for recreational use.

Border force detections of these drugs have almost doubled in the past five years, further fuelling the worry.

So why do young people use them, and how do the harms differ to those used as prescribed by a doctor?

What are benzodiazepines?

You might know this large group of drugs by their trade names. Valium (diazepam), Xanax (alprazolam), Normison (temazepam) and Rohypnol (flunitrazepam) are just a few examples. Sometimes they’re referred to as minor tranquillisers or, colloquially, as “benzos”.

They increase the neurotransmitter gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA). GABA reduces activity in the brain, producing feelings of relaxation and sedation.

Unwanted side effects include drowsiness, dizziness and problems with coordination.

Benzodiazepines used to be widely prescribed for long-term management of anxiety and insomnia. They are still prescribed for these conditions, but less commonly, and are also sometimes used as part of the treatment for cancer, epilepsy and alcohol withdrawal.

Long-term use can lead to tolerance: when the effect wears off over time. So you need to use more over time to get the same effect. This can lead to dependence: when your body becomes reliant on the drug. There is a very high risk of dependence with these drugs.

When you stop taking benzodiazepines, you may experience withdrawal symptoms. For those who are dependent, the withdrawal can be long and difficult, lasting for several months or more.

So now they are only recommended for a few weeks at most for specific short-term conditions.

How do people get them? And how does it make them feel?

Benzodiazepines for non-medical use are typically either diverted from legitimate prescriptions or purchased from illicit drug markets including online.

Some illegally obtained benzodiazepines look like prescription medicines but are counterfeit pills that may contain fentanyl, nitazenes (both synthetic opioids) or other potent substances which can significantly increase the risk of accidental overdose and death.

When used recreationally, benzodiazepines are usually taken at higher doses than those typically prescribed, so there are even greater risks.

The effect young people are looking for in using these drugs is a feeling of profound relaxation, reduced inhibition, euphoria and a feeling of detachment from one’s surroundings. Others use them to enhance social experiences or manage the “comedown” from stimulant drugs like MDMA.

There are risks associated with using at these levels, including memory loss, impaired judgement, and risky behaviour, like unsafe sex or driving.

Some people report doing things they would not normally do when affected by high doses of benzodiazepines. There are cases of people committing crimes they can’t remember.

When taken at higher doses or combined with other depressant drugs such as alcohol or opioids, they can also cause respiratory depression, which prevents your lungs from getting enough oxygen. In extreme cases, it can lead to unconsciousness and even death.

Using a high dose also increases risk of tolerance and dependence.

Is recreational use growing?

The data we have about non-prescribed benzodiazepine use among young people is patchy and difficult to interpret.

The National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2022–23 estimates around 0.5% of 14 to 17 year olds and and 3% of 18 to 24 year olds have used a benzodiazepine for non medical purposes at least once in the past year.

The Australian Secondary Schools Survey 2022–23 reports that 11% of secondary school students they surveyed had used benzodiazepines in the past year. However they note this figure may include a sizeable proportion of students who have been prescribed benzodiazepines but have inadvertently reported using them recreationally.

In both surveys, use has remained fairly stable for the past two decades. So only a small percentage of young people have used benzodiazepines without a prescription and it doesn’t seem to be increasing significantly.

Reports of more young people using benzodiazepines recreationally might just reflect greater comfort among young people in talking about drugs and drug problems, which is a positive thing.

Prescribing of benzodiazepines to adolescents or young adults has also declined since 2012.

What can you do to reduce the risks?

To reduce the risk of problems, including dependence, benzodiazepines should be used for the shortest duration possible at the lowest effective dose.

Benzodiazepines should not be taken with other medicines without speaking to a doctor or pharmacist.

You should not drink alcohol or take illicit drugs at the same time as using benzodiazepines.

Benzodiazepines shouldn’t be taken with other medicines, without the go-ahead from your doctor or pharmacist.
Cloudy Design/Shutterstock

Counterfeit benzodiazepines are increasingly being detected in the community. They are more dangerous than pharmaceutical benzodiazepines because there is no quality control and they may contain unexpected and dangerous substances.

Drug checking services can help people identify what is in substances they intend to take. It also gives them an opportunity to speak to a health professional before they use. People often discard their drugs after they find out what they contain and speak to someone about drug harms.

If people are using benzodiazepines without a prescription to self manage stress, anxiety or insomnia, this may indicate a more serious underlying condition. Psychological therapies such as cognitive behaviour therapy, including mindfulness-based approaches, are very effective in addressing these symptoms and are more effective long term solutions.

Lifestyle modifications – such as improving exercise, diet and sleep – can also be helpful.

There are also other medications with a much lower risk of dependence that can be used to treat anxiety and insomnia.

Read more:
I think my child has anxiety. What are the treatment options?

If you or someone you know needs help with benzodiazepine use, Reconnexions can help. It’s a counselling and support service for people who use benzodiazepines.

Alternatively, CounsellingOnline is a good place to get information and referral for treatment of benzodiazepine dependence. Or speak to your GP. The Sleep Health Foundation has some great resources if you are having trouble with sleep. Läs mer…

Canada faces a major contradiction in its immigration policies. Thousands of international students, once celebrated as “ideal immigrants,” are now turning to the asylum system. As a migration policy researcher and former international student, I have watched this predicament unfold with growing concern.

Federal immigration data reveal a surge in asylum claims by international students. The claims rose from 1,810 in 2018 to nearly 12,000 in 2023, with another 13,660 filed in the first nine months of 2024.

There are multiple reasons why international students in Canada may end up seeking asylum. Some experts suggest heightened costs of living have forced some students to drop out of school, while others point to the influence of immigration consultants or others advising them to apply for asylum.

As Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) acknowledged in a statement in September 2024, some “temporary residents come to Canada as genuine visitors, students or workers, and then make an asylum claim because of developments in their country of origin.”

While the stories behind individual asylum claims remain unclear, research on international student integration demonstrates how sudden policy shifts can force students to seek alternative paths to remain in the host country, even through systems not designed for their circumstances.

Canada’s abruptly shifting policies have exposed a breach of trust at the heart of Canada’s immigration system. The rise in asylum claims reflects Canada’s systemic de-prioritization of support for those it actively encouraged to invest in futures here.

People take part in a rally in May 2021 calling on the federal government to expand the permanent status program to include all refugees, international students, undocumented migrants and temporary foreign workers near Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s constituency office in Montréal.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

Decades-long policy

For decades, Canada has cultivated an environment where transitioning from study permits to permanent residency felt achievable. This was not merely implied, it was actively encouraged. As a result, students have invested savings, uprooted their lives, acquired jobs and built communities in Canada, only to find themselves facing an uncertain future.

This breach of trust highlights what is in effect an unwritten pact with international students. By encouraging them to invest in Canada as a gateway to permanent residency, the country created expectations it is now failing to fulfil.

How Canada built expectations

Canada’s immigration system has long positioned international students as ideal candidates for permanent residency. For decades, policies and public messaging have framed education in Canada as a pathway to a permanent future, encouraging students to see their time here as an investment in long-term settlement. This messaging has been echoed across government initiatives and public statements.

For instance, in 2021, then Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino declared: “Your status may be temporary, but but your contributions are lasting — we want you to stay.”

The comments were made as Canada rolled out a program to grant permanent residence to 90,000 recent international graduates and some temporary foreign workers.

Similarly, official documents like the 2024 IRCC Deputy Minister Transition Binder explicitly frame international students as a vital “pool of talent” for addressing demographic and economic needs.

This sentiment was also central to the International Education Strategy 2019–24, which described international students as “excellent candidates for permanent residency,” citing their Canadian education and work experience as key advantages.

The Peace Tower on Parliament Hill is framed by leaves in Ottawa in August 2024.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Educational institutions reinforced this messaging. Colleges and universities marketed programs as pathways to permanency, persuading students to invest heavily in tuition and their futures in Canada.

Statistics supported this narrative: Global Affairs Canada valued international students’ contributions at $30.9 billion annually, including more than 360,000 jobs. High rates of successful transitions to permanent residency further validated the belief that education in Canada was the first step to building a life here.

The broken pact

In recent years, Canada has systematically dismantled the enabling environment it once cultivated. Tightened Post-Graduation Work Permit eligibility, rising financial requirements and the reduction in the temporary resident population have created significant barriers to permanent residence.

It would appear that the surge in asylum claims reflects the severe disruption faced by international students caused by these policy changes. Their lives have been derailed by a government that encouraged students to invest in Canada, only to shift the rules mid-course.

For many students, returning home is not an option — return is financially and personally untenable. International students invest years and significant resources in Canada. They have established budding careers and key relationships. They’ve built communities in Canada, and made substantial financial investments through international student fees.

A policy and moral failure

This issue is not merely a policy failure — it is a moral one. Canada’s unwritten pact with international students created a bond of trust. Breaking that trust jeopardizes not only the futures of thousands of people but also Canada’s reputation as a fair and welcoming destination.

The stakes are high. Canada faces pressing demographic challenges, including an aging population and labour shortages in key sectors like health care and skilled trades.

International students, already integrated into Canadian society, are essential to solving these problems. Alienating them undermines both economic goals and the moral credibility of Canada’s immigration system.

At a crossroads: From crisis to reform

Canada must decide whether to honour the commitments it made, explicitly and implicitly, to international students or to continue down a path of short-sighted policy shifts. Restoring trust and creating transparent, predictable pathways to permanent residency is essential.

Aligning Post-Graduation Work Permit durations with permanent residency application timelines is a critical first step. Standardizing processing times and tailoring immigration streams to meet labour market needs will provide needed stability. Above all, future reforms must be clear, consistent and aligned with the promises Canada has historically made.

It is time to honour the pact and rebuild the trust that international students placed in this country. The future of Canada’s immigration system depends on it. Läs mer…

As the international community celebrates the fall of another dictatorship following the collapse of Syria’s Assad regime, the future of women’s rights remains precarious.

Global leaders are commending Syria’s liberation and discussing the return of 5.5 million refugees,
but women’s rights advocates are raising urgent concerns.

Power transitions in Iran, Afghanistan and other Muslim-majority nations have often endangered women’s hard-won freedoms. That’s why it’s crucial to prioritize women’s rights in Syria to ensure their voices are not overlooked in the pursuit of stability and justice.

Mistreatment of women

Islamist militant forces led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) overthrew the Assad regime.

While HTS and its leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, claim to be moderate and focused on governance, the group’s treatment of women raises serious concerns about the future of women’s rights in Syria.

Starting in Idlib, but now spreading to other major cities, HTS enforces strict laws based on its interpretation of Islamic law, severely restricting women’s mobility, dress and public participation.

Women must be accompanied by a male guardian to access public areas, and the HTS morality police can fine, shame or detain those who violate the dress code. Women are confined to domestic roles, and those who challenge this are harshly punished, with activists and aid workers facing harassment, arrest and intimidation.

A family on a motorbike on a street in Idlib, Syria, on Jan. 14, 2025.
AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

The situation for Syrian women after 13 years of civil war is deeply troubling, especially when compared to similar regional power transitions.

In Iran, after the 1979 revolution, women lost many rights under Ayatollah Khomeini’s Islamist rule, with compulsory hijab laws and restrictions on economic and political participation.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban’s return to power in 2021 led to bans on women’s education and employment. Similarly, with ISIS’s rise in 2014, Yazidi women were enslaved, and rape became a widespread weapon of war in Iraq and Syria.

‘Revolution of the mind’

Global discussions on Syria’s political transition have paid scant attention to how various interpretations of Islamic ideology might dictate women’s fundamental rights and their role in society.

Without considerable effort by women’s rights advocates, Syrian women will likely meet the same fate as their sisters in Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq, watching as decades of progress are erased in the name of political expediency.

As Egyptian-American commentator Mona Eltahawy reminds us, the battle over women’s bodies can be won only by a revolution of the mind.

Syria’s future must include women’s voices. Syrian women have been pillars of their communities during 13 years of war, yet have been systematically excluded from peace negotiations. As mandated by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, it’s essential for women to meaningfully participate in peace negotiations to shape the country’s future.

Syrian women have been the backbone of their families and communities during the civil war as they served as leaders, humanitarians and visionaries. Despite their resilience and sacrifices, they have yet to be included in helping determine Syria’s future.

Women walk on a street at a local market in Damascus, Syria, on Jan. 9, 2025.
(AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Urgent need to focus on women’s rights

The international community should focus on empowering local civil society and advocating for women’s rights, thereby enhancing Syria’s prospects for building a more inclusive society.

Western governments must urge Damascus’s new rulers to pursue an inclusive political transition, as outlined in the 2015 UN resolution, instead of seeking a workaround to recognize HTS as a legitimate partner despite its terrorist designation.

The resolution mandates forming an inclusive transitional government with full executive powers, drafting a new constitution, holding UN-supervised elections within 18 months and ensuring voting rights for all Syrians, including refugees and Syrians living abroad.

Ahmad al-Sharaa speaks at a Damascus mosque in December 2024.
(AP Photo/Omar Albam)

New-found freedom in Syria comes with unease about life under a government led by Islamic militants, and the possibility of new restrictions. Syrians are closely monitoring developments for clues about how their new rulers are going to govern.

Ahmad al-Sharaa has stated it might take as many as three years to draft a constitution and up to four years to hold elections, raising concerns about trading one authoritarian regime for another.

Cycle of brutality

Over the past few decades, the Middle East has alternated between brutal dictatorships and Islamist, often misogynistic, regimes.

When a dictatorship collapses, an Islamic regime often fills the vacuum, and when they fall, another harsh dictatorship usually follows.

In Iran, the shah’s dictatorship gave way to Khomeini’s theocratic rule. In Egypt, Hosni Mubarak’s fall led to the Muslim Brotherhood’s rise and the imposition of restrictions on women’s rights before it was ousted by yet another brutal regime.

Tunisia experienced a similar shift, with Islamist groups initially taking power after Ben Ali’s dictatorship, only to be replaced by the authoritarian Kais Saied.

Syria seems to be following this cycle, with Assad’s authoritarianism giving rise to Islamist factions. The key question is whether the Syrian people can break this pattern and build a more inclusive government that gives women and minorities equal rights and full citizenship. Läs mer…

The devastating wildfires in Los Angeles have made one threat very clear: Climate change is undermining the insurance systems American homeowners rely on to protect themselves from catastrophes. This breakdown is starting to become painfully clear as families and communities struggle to rebuild.

But another threat remains less recognized: This collapse could pose a threat to the stability of financial markets well beyond the scope of the fires.

It’s been widely accepted for more than a decade that humanity has three choices when it comes to responding to climate risks: adapt, abate or suffer. As an expert in economics and the environment, I know that some degree of suffering is inevitable — after all, humans have already raised the average global temperature by 1.6 degrees Celsius, or 2.9 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s why it’s so important to have functioning insurance markets.

While insurance companies are often cast as villains, when the system works well, insurers play an important role in improving social welfare. When an insurer sets premiums that accurately reflect and communicate risk — what economists call “actuarially fair insurance” — that helps people share risk efficiently, leaving every individual safer and society better off.

But the scale and intensity of the Southern California fires — linked in part to climate change, including record-high global temperatures in 2023 and again in 2024 — has brought a big problem into focus: In a world impacted by increasing climate risk, traditional insurance models no longer apply.

How climate change broke insurance

Historically, the insurance system has worked by relying on experts who study records of past events to estimate how likely it is that a covered event might happen. They then use this information to determine how much to charge a given policyholder. This is called “pricing the risk.”

Many California wildfire survivors face insurance struggles, as this ABC News report shows.

When Americans try to borrow money to buy a home, they expect that mortgage lenders will make them purchase and maintain a certain level of homeowners insurance coverage, even if they chose to self-insure against unlikely additional losses. But thanks to climate change, risks are increasingly difficult to measure, and costs are increasingly catastrophic. It seems clear to me that a new paradigm is needed.

California provided the beginnings of such a paradigm with its Fair Access to Insurance program, known as FAIR. When it was created in 1968, its authors expected that it would provide insurance coverage for the few owners who were unable to get normal policies because they faced special risks from exposure to unusual weather and local climates.

But the program’s coverage is capped at US$500,000 per property – well below the losses that thousands of Los Angeles residents are experiencing right now. Total losses from the wildfires’ first week alone are estimated to exceed $250 billion.

How insurance could break the economy

This state of affairs isn’t just dangerous for homeowners and communities — it could create widespread financial instability. And it’s not just me making this point. For the past several years, central bankers at home and abroad have raised similar concerns. So let’s talk about the risks of large-scale financial contagion.

Anyone who remembers the Great Recession of 2007-2009 knows that seemingly localized problems can snowball.

In that event, the value of opaque bundles of real estate derivatives collapsed from artificial and unsustainable highs, leaving millions of mortgages around the U.S. “underwater.” These properties were no longer valued above owners’ mortgage liabilities, so their best choice was simply to walk away from the obligation to make their monthly payments.

Lenders were forced to foreclose, often at an enormous loss, and the collapse of real estate markets across the U.S. created a global recession that affected financial stability around the world.

Forewarned by that experience, the U.S. Federal Reserve Board wrote in 2020 that “features of climate change can also increase financial system vulnerabilities.” The central bank noted that uncertainty and disagreement about climate risks can lead to sudden declines in asset values, leaving people and businesses vulnerable.

At that time, the Fed had a specific climate-based example of a not-implausible contagion in mind – global risks from sudden large increases in global sea level rise over something like 20 years. A collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could create such an event, and coastlines around the world would not have enough time to adapt.

In a 2020 press conference, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell discusses climate change and financial stability.

The Fed now has another scenario to consider – one that’s not hypothetical.

It recently put U.S. banks through “stress tests” to gauge their vulnerability to climate risks. In these exercises, the Fed asked member banks to respond to hypothetical but not-implausible climate-based contagion scenarios that would threaten the stability of the entire system.

We will now see if the plans borne of those stress tests can work in the face of enormous wildfires burning throughout an urban area that’s also a financial, cultural and entertainment center of the world. Läs mer…

Two years after President Abraham Lincoln created the Department of Agriculture in 1862, he nicknamed it “the people’s department” because half of all Americans lived on farms at that time. Today, fewer than 2% of Americans farm, but the Agriculture Department still touches people’s lives in many ways.

The modern U.S. Department of Agriculture is a sprawling bureaucracy with a US$231 billion annual budget. Although it is headquartered in Washington, D.C., about 90% of its employees work in field offices nationwide. Others serve in nearly 100 embassies around the world as part of the Foreign Agriculture Service, promoting U.S. food and farm products.

The most common misconception about the USDA is that it’s mainly focused on supporting farmers and ranchers and conserving agricultural land. These are critical missions, but as a former deputy secretary of agriculture, I can attest that they represent only a small slice of what the department does.

For example, nutrition assistance programs help tens of millions of people escape food insecurity annually. They consume 70% to 80% of the USDA’s total annual budget, depending on the year, and include school meals, nutritional support for women, infants and children, and food benefits for low-income families. In contrast, only 13% of the agency’s budget goes to farm, conservation and commodity programs.

The USDA’s food and nutrition programs serve 1 in 4 Americans by helping them afford adequate supplies of healthy food.

If confirmed, Brooke Rollins, President Donald Trump’s choice for agriculture secretary, will manage one of the largest federal bureaucracies and work with Congress in the writing of reconciliation and farm bills. In addition, she likely will be drawn into debates about reducing food prices and consumption of processed and sugary foods.

A lifeline for rural America

Throughout the Department of Agriculture’s history, presidents have used it as a tool to address rural America’s needs, extending well beyond farms. This role continues today, even as the U.S. has become a much more urban nation.

Need broadband, water or wastewater systems? Need to build a library, community center or hospital? For small towns, the USDA will help fund all these things, along with the purchase of fire trucks and police cars. If you live in a community with a population under 35,000, the agency may help you buy, build or repair affordable homes.

One of my favorite programs is the Business and Industry Loan Guarantee Program, which helps private businesses refinance debt, purchase land and machinery, and build factories, among other things. It does this by guaranteeing loans to reduce risk for commercial lenders, which helps borrowers get financing at the best rate.

From grading eggs to fighting wildfires

The Department of Agriculture has 17 agencies whose focuses range from food safety to research, nutrition, conservation, rural development and more. I served from 1999 to 2001 as administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service, which oversees food standards that define categories such as Grade A eggs, prime beef and organic products.

The U.S. Forest Service is the largest USDA agency, with 33,000 employees. It manages 106 national forests across 37 states, assists in urban tree management and conducts research on trees, wood products and wildlife. Originally, the agency’s mission centered on producing timber, but now it also manages forests for other benefits, such as wildlife habitat and recreation.

About 10,000 Forest Service employees are firefighters. This once was a seasonal job, but climate change is making it a year-round occupation. Each year the agency battles about 5,000 to 7,000 fires on national forest lands and helps fight fires elsewhere.

Seneca Rocks in West Virginia’s Monongahela National Forest. The Agriculture Department manages national forests for purposes including timber production, recreation, wildlife habitat and drinking water.
Preston Keres, USFS/Flickr

Farm bill in limbo, SNAP in the crosshairs

About every five years, Congress debates a farm bill – a massive piece of legislation that sets directions for about $662 billion in spending over five years and determines about 70% of what the Department of Agriculture does. The last farm bill was enacted in 2018, so a new measure is overdue.

In December 2024, Congress passed the American Relief Act, which included $10 billion in farm market relief, $21 billion in disaster assistance for farmers and a yearlong extension of the current farm bill law. The next big agricultural question that Congress will address is a brewing battle over funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program, or SNAP, which helps about 42 million low-income people supplement their grocery budgets.

SNAP is a likely target in the budget reconciliation process that Congress is expected to consider early in 2025. Republican leaders are aiming to cut SNAP funding to achieve multiyear budget savings that can be repurposed for farm interests.

Because budget reconciliation requires only a majority of votes in the Senate, it is filibuster-proof, unlike a farm bill. This means that cutting SNAP, which typically spurs sharp debate between critics who say the program is too costly and advocates who call it a key part of the social safety net, will be easier to accomplish.

Special financing authority

Another potentially controversial agriculture issue is the agency’s ability to borrow up to $30 billion directly from the U.S. Treasury at any one time, with appropriations from Congress repaying the loan if the agency falls short. This is done through the Commodity Credit Corporation, a government-owned financing authority established by Congress in 1933 to help stabilize farm prices.

I served as vice chair of the corporation, a position that required its own Senate confirmation. Other federal departments envy its power, which traditionally has been used to make payments and loans that help stabilize farm income.

Recently, however, administrations have used it for broader purposes. Those include compensating farmers hurt by tariff wars during the first Trump term and addressing climate change and other priorities during the Biden administration.

Expanded use of the Commodity Credit Corporation has irritated members of Congress, who derisively refer to it as the Department of Agriculture’s slush fund. This little-known and little-understood office could become a central issue in the forthcoming farm bill.

New challenges for the incoming secretary

Project 2025, a transition plan produced by the conservative Heritage Foundation and embraced by many Trump supporters, calls on Congress to reduce the scope of the USDA’s activities and refocus the department’s mission narrowly on food production. This would mean cutting programs in other areas, such as conservation on farmlands, or moving them to other agencies, as the plan recommends for nutrition programs such as SNAP.

But with so many constituents for the USDA’s services, including all those rural towns that receive funding from the department now, I believe it will be difficult for the new secretary to concede to conservative demands for policies that stop at the farm’s edge.

The USDA also faces broader challenges. They include the ongoing outbreak of avian flu, which has forced farmers to destroy millions of chickens and turkeys since early 2022 and now is spreading in dairy cattle, threatening dairy workers and the safety of the national milk supply.

A broader issue is the cost of food, which galvanized voters in the 2024 elections after inflation during the Biden administration led to historic increases in food prices. Trump has acknowledged the importance of this issue, saying, “I won on the border, and I won on groceries.”

President Trump campaigned on reducing consumer food bills, but many economists are skeptical that any administration can significantly affect food prices.

Many experts believe there is little the USDA can do to directly lower food prices. Nevertheless, the next secretary will need to manage public and White House expectations. If Trump’s mass deportation plans affect many farm workers, that could put upward pressure on food prices.

Finally, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, has a lot to say about what the USDA should do. Kennedy has called widely for making America healthy again, an idea that Trump appears to embrace.

Among other things, Kennedy sharply criticizes “Big Food,” referring to large-scale corporate food and agriculture enterprises that produce much of the U.S. food supply. He supports restricting SNAP purchases to healthy foods, eliminating ultra-processed foods and banning toxic pesticides. If Kennedy is confirmed, he may have Trump’s ear on key issues before the USDA.

This story is part of a series of profiles of Cabinet and high-level administration positions. Läs mer…

Roman writers found the relative empowerment of Celtic women in British society remarkable, according to surviving written records. New DNA research from the University of Bournemouth shows one of the ways this empowerment manifested – inheritance through the female line.

The researchers present a genetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which is matrilineally inherited (from the mother), and Y-chromosome DNA, which is patrilineally inherited (from the father). The DNA comes from human remains taken from a late iron age cemetery (circa 100BC – AD100) of the Durtriges tribe in Dorset.

The researchers discovered a continuous line of descent of mtDNA, which contrasted sharply with the varied Y-chromosome markers. That means that the bodies in the graveyard all shared DNA on the women’s side, but not the men’s side.

This led them to the conclusion that the tribe practised matrilocal marriages. That is, the men came to live with the women’s family, who stayed in the same location for generations.

When the authors compared their data to other iron age sites, they found that matrilocal marriages were common among the tribes. While this does not necessarily infer a matriarchal society, in which women were the primary decision-makers, it is a practice that supports the matrilineal inheritance of wealth, land and status.

The power of this analysis is its ability to pull together ancient textual accounts, linguistic studies and archaeological data to create a fuller understanding of our past. But it’s also a reminder that our present is plagued by prejudices and misconceptions about human history.

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News reports about the study have called it “jaw-dropping”. But considering the well-known power and military accomplishments of Celtic queens such as Boudica of the Iceni (circa AD30-AD60) and Cartimandua of the Brigantes, the results should not have been surprising.

If historic accounts were more honest, the find would have been received as a confirmation of the role of women in iron age Britain. Instead, it is being framed as a breakthrough that contradicts the innate assumption of patriarchy in history.

Read more:
Uncovered after 2,000 years: gold torcs fit for an Iron Age queen

What has often been assumed to be an innate natural division in warfare (men fighting, women staying behind) is actually a male-centric perception of history.

I first presented on this topic at Penn State University during the 1996 gender and resistance conference. I quoted the then-speaker of the US House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich.

Giving a lecture on “renewing American civilization” January 7 1995, Gingrich had said: “If combat means living in a ditch, females have biological problems staying in a ditch for 30 days because they get infections. They don’t have upper body strength. I mean, some do, but they’re relatively rare.” He also said that “males are biologically driven to go out and hunt giraffes”.

A Bournemouth University researcher excavating the Late Iron Age Durotriges burial.
Bournemouth University

Despite significant progress on many fronts, this kind of misogyny borne of historic misconceptions is still entrenched in society, right up to the highest levels of government.

Pete Hegseth, the current nominee for the US secretary of defence, wrote in his book The War on Warriors (2024) that: “There are examples in history of women in combat roles. But one is hard pressed to find many outside of religious or mythical settings that have anything close to a positive military outcome.”

He added: “Unlike the mythologies of great Amazonian Warriors in the Greek mythology, most of the world’s accounts of women in war were connected to seductive and sexual power.”

At a certain level, these statements can be interpreted as referencing the sexual dimorphism of our species. That is, the statistical contrast of size and strength in post-pubescent men and women based on genetic differences between males and females.

But if it were merely that a level of physical performance was required for someone to become a warrior, then any candidate who could pass a physical test would be eligible without regard to gender.

Warrior women through history

History is actually rife with examples of woman warriors. Accounts of conquistadors from the 16th century describe the Aztec women, the Native American women of Alabama and the women of the Tupinamba of Brazil as warriors.

The west-African kingdom of Dahomey, meanwhile, was known for its core of 5,000 fierce women warriors whom the British colonialists called Amazons. The true Amazons of Greek myth, who Hesgeth assumed have no basis in reality, can be attributed to the Scythians and Sarmatian female cavalry of the ancient Eurasian Steppe nomads.

A group portrait of the ‘Amazons from Dahomey’ (1891).
National Museum of World Cultures, Paris, CC BY-SA

The list of historic women warriors illustrates how such identities are determined more by cultural circumstances than genetic limitations.

Today the significant contributions of women warriors in Ukraine, Israel and the US military are breaking down preconceived misogynistic notions of power. Data-driven studies like this one show that the status and power of women in ancient Britain differed significantly from the Victorian ideals of femininity that still prevail today.

Studies like this, that illuminate a past where women held equal or elevated status, help normalise equality. Importantly, they undermine those who attempt to call upon history or divine design as a justification for misogynistic policies. Läs mer…

Have you noticed “regenerative” popping up on food labels or in marketing ads? It sounds promising – farming that heals the soil and helps stop climate change. So, what does it actually mean? Will this label make any real difference?

The catch is there’s still no agreed-upon definition for regenerative agriculture. So how can food products branded as regenerative be verified if meanings are disputed?

There’s no way of knowing whether “regeneratively grown” claims are genuine or effective without a monitoring, reporting and verification system. How does regenerative compare to organic? Many farmers and researchers worry the term is ripe for greenwashing in food marketing and product labelling.

The first thing to say is that this term has been around for decades.

Take 21st-century regenerative agriculture champion Gabe Brown. He is a well known North Dakota rancher and author of From Dirt to Soil, the holy grail of regenerative agriculture manuals. Brown documented how he replaced synthetic fertilisers with compost and diverse cover crops. He transformed his parched, trampled and microbe-depleted soil into a nutrient-rich system and boosted crop yields. He has inspired farmers worldwide.

The original definition of regenerative agriculture, coined by Robert Rodale of the Rodale Research Institute in the US over 40 years ago, focused on soil biology as the key to supporting nutrient recycling between plants, animals and the land, leading to healthier crops and improved economic productivity without agricultural chemicals.

Even back in 1943, The Living Soil by British farmer and botanist Eve Balfour critiqued chemical-intensive industrial farming practices. Her book was a seminal text in the organic farming movement and led to her founding the Soil Association charity.

Regenerative and organic methods overlap. Both involve crop rotation (changing the crop type grown in a field to manage pests and minimise disease) and diverse cover cropping (growing beneficial crops to protect the soil all year round alongside production crops to prevent erosion and increase organic matter).

They both require minimum or no ploughing (leaving the soil partially or completely undisturbed to maintain soil structure, hold water and allow soil organisms to thrive), and focus on composting (turning organic matter into nutrient-rich material for soil microbes).

Both types of farming also welcome cows, pigs, sheep and other livestock onto farmland to fertilise the soil by grazing and pooing. And both prioritise soil health and see chemical inputs as harmful to thriving ecosystems.

Jersey cows graze herbal leys on a Norfolk field – integrating livestock into arable farming is a key principle of regenerative agriculture.
Jessica Chapman, CC BY-NC-ND

But regenerative agriculture is not just another way of saying “organic”.

Organic is a much more prescriptive definition. It has strict rules, certification standards and inspections from certifying bodies. Organic excludes the use of synthetic pesticides, fertilisers and genetically modified seeds.

It enables certified organic farmers to enjoy premium prices and offers consumers assurance about what organic does and does not allow. It offers transparency on agrichemicals, though does not offer data and information about biodiversity or greenhouse gas emissions.

Regenerative, in definition and practice, is not so clear – it operates as a broad set of guiding principles that can be adapted to a particular farm circumstance in a flexible way.

This ambiguity is a double-edged sword. It gives farmers the freedom to tailor regenerative principles to their contexts, but it can also leave consumers feeling dazed and confused.

Many UK farmers view this flexibility as necessary, given each farm operates within a different combination of local environmental conditions (like soil type or microclimate) and business goals. A one-size-fits-all definition and approach to regenerative agriculture seems impractical in such diverse settings

This is where it gets messy. An organic carrot might be grown in a monocultured system (associated with reduced biodiversity), while a regeneratively farmed carrot might be grown in a biodiversity-rich cover-cropped system, but with the use of some synthetic chemicals like glyphosate.

Regenerative farming hinges around soil health – microbial diversity and soil abundance is a positive sign.
photoste/Shutterstock

The lack of a standardised definition risks undermining the credibility of regenerative farming. Certification programmes aligned with regenerative principles could help regenerative agriculture gain more accountability while staying true to its core vision. Without monitoring, reporting and verification systems in place, it’s very difficult for farmers to credibly market their crops as “regenerative”.

Shopping for regenerative foods

Regenerative agriculture could drive the expansion of carbon-neutral foods beyond speciality products like chocolate, wine, coffee and tea, to more everyday items in our shopping baskets.

By design, regenerative agriculture lowers greenhouse gas emissions associated with farming — everything from potatoes and wheat to bananas and tomatoes. It reduces the reliance on synthetic fertilisers which are carbon intensive to produce, cuts fuel use and promotes no or minimum tillage and cover cropping that pull carbon from the atmosphere into the soil.

If evidenced through regenerative agriculture standards and certifications, these efforts could create a food system that is not only sustainable, but also carbon neutral. As this movement gathers momentum, it could reshape supply chains and up the ante on corporate sustainability commitments. Supermarkets and businesses might proactively choose to source their food products from regenerative farms to reduce their climate impact.

So, what does all this mean for your weekly shop? While the term regenerative might not yet offer the clarity of organic, your consumer choices matter. When you buy food labelled as regenerative, you’re signalling to the retailer that soil health and sustainability matter to you.

Hold suppliers to account by asking questions. Look for clear information about how products are sourced, the farming practices used and the environmental impact of those practices in labels. Do any certifications or reports verify these practices? Are greenhouse gas emissions reported? Which environmental outcomes have been achieved?

We believe that the revival of regenerative agriculture has potential to help reform and transform our food and farming systems. The future of carbon-neutral food hinges on clear accountability measures and how this regenerative agriculture market evolves.

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