It has become a given in Westminster circles that Keir Starmer’s tenure as prime minister could be nearing its end. This is because, fairly or unfairly, the UK public have made up their minds – and they do not like him.
Labour MPs know this all too well, having seen the level of animosity on the doorstep during recent election campaigns in England, Wales and Scotland. They just didn’t immediately know what to do about it. But then Wes Streeting quit as health secretary, criticising Starmer in
It has become a given in Westminster circles that Keir Starmer’s tenure as prime minister could be nearing its end. This is because, fairly or unfairly, the UK public have made up their minds – and they do not like him.
Labour MPs know this all too well, having seen the level of animosity on the doorstep during recent election campaigns in England, Wales and Scotland. They just didn’t immediately know what to do about it. But then Wes Streeting quit as health secretary, criticising Starmer in his resignation letter for what he said was a “vacuum” where political vision was required.
Recent UK history is full of precedents when prime ministers found their position untenable. For the Conservatives, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss were all removed eventually. But such a course of action comes with costs: to party unity, to market sentiment, and in terms of how the voters view political shenanigans.
This is why, until now, the more thoughtful voices in the Labour party either kept their counsel or argued for caution. But a significant number of Labour MPs believe that a change at the top is now inevitable.
Streeting, Rayner or Burnham
From the right of the party, Streeting, the combative former health secretary, is the key figure to challenge Starmer. But he still requires the backing of at least 81 fellow Labour MPs.
A Streeting bid for the leadership would be supported by much of the media, but what many regard as his lukewarm re-tread of old Blairite orthodoxies would limit his appeal with the party membership. And members play a significant role in leadership contests.
By contrast, a likely candidate of the so-called “soft left”, former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, has now cleared up her tax affairs and is more popular with the party rank-and-file. But she would alienate much of the London commentariat.
What neither Streeting nor Rayner possess is genuine cut-through with the wider British public. And this is where the current mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, comes in. Burnham does not have a parliamentary seat and, although he intends to contest the Makerfield constituency made vacant by Josh Simons’ decision to step aside, it is not guaranteed that he will win. Given Labour’s current unpopularity, the party cannot assume it would win a by-election anywhere.
And even if Burnham did scale that hurdle, there is a real danger that his replacement as the Labour candidate for the mayoralty would lose to Reform UK. This would allow party opponents to portray Burnham’s move as an indulgence at the expense of the party.
Nevertheless, if the political stars were to align and Burnham navigates his passage back to Westminster in time for a leadership challenge, he would be a formidable opponent. Burnham not only outpolls his main rivals among Labour members, he also enjoys rare net approval ratings with the public (+6, compared with -12 for Rayner and -20 for Streeting). Labour MPs will be paying particular attention to those numbers.
There is strong reason to believe that Rayner will have a crucial role in how this plays out. This could either be by standing for leader herself or through working with Burnham. Either way, she is in an incredibly influential position.
And what would Labour and the country look like under new leadership? The revolving door at the top partly reflects the extent of the challenges (economic, political, cultural) that the country faces. Voters have not seen rises in their real living standards for two decades, are truly angry and deeply polarised.
The UK is divided on how to go forward, and so is the Labour Party. That is why potential challengers to Starmer really should be careful what they wish for. Much of the political instability of recent years is down to the collective obsession with politics as a short-term and personality-based kind of show business.
But this ignores the more worrying long-term developments in financial markets that indicate that there is no faith in the UK’s ability to tackle its structural problems any time soon. The eventual winner of Labour’s leadership drama may inherit the throne just as money markets’ patience with the UK runs out.
Charles Lees does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Research & Developments is a blog for brief updates that provide context for the flurry of news regarding law and policy changes that impact science and scientists today.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has eliminated its postdoctoral fellowship funding for Earth scientists.
On the NSF website, the opportunity is listed as “archived.” This first came to the attention of Eos this week, although a Redditor had posted about the opportunity being archived as far back as March.
Research & Developments is a blog for brief updates that provide context for the flurry of news regarding law and policy changes that impact science and scientists today.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has eliminated its postdoctoral fellowship funding for Earth scientists.
On the NSF website, the opportunity is listed as “archived.” This first came to the attention of Eos this week, although a Redditor had posted about the opportunity being archived as far back as March.
“What do you do when the most powerful people in the country just decide that your field shouldn’t exist anymore?” asked one Earth scientist on Bluesky.
“So, what are we doing now that we’re just not going to have new grants in GEO?” asked another.
According to the last program solicitation, posted in October 2024, the program generally awarded about $2.78 million each year, funding 8 to 10 postdoctoral fellowships. Proposals could be related to any of the disciplines within the scope of NSF’s Division of Earth Sciences (EAR), part of the NSF Directorate for Geosciences (NSF GEO).
The NSF announced an “organizational realignment” in December 2025. As part of the agencywide reorganization, GEO gained new leadership in February 2026. Joydip Kundu, the new NSF GEO Directorate Head, first joined NSF GEO in July 2025 as the agency’s deputy assistance director, coming from the NSF Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering. He previously worked for the White House Office of Management and Budget (under President Obama) and the University of Maryland. Like Kundu, NSF’s new deputy directorate heads also came from within the agency.
When contacted about the archived opportunity, an NSF spokesperson confirmed to Eos that “The EAR postdoc fellowship solicitation has been archived and will not have a competition this fall. NSF regularly evaluates its portfolio of funding opportunities and will continue to explore funding opportunities for early career geoscientists.”
NSF continues to offer fellowship opportunities to postdoctoral researchers in the fields of engineering, entrepreneurial research, mathematics and physical sciences. Fellowships to postdocs in biology are available only if they involve the use of artificial intelligence.
These updates are made possible through information from the scientific community. Do you have a story about how changes in law or policy are affecting scientists or research? Send us a tip at eos@agu.org.
The retreat of glaciers and ice sheets is expected to have widespread impacts on communities around the world because of its effect on sea levels. Already, the global average sea level is more than 10 centimeters higher than it was just 3 decades ago; and the rate of rise is increasing, contributing to increased storm surges and flooding, lost infrastructure and community lands, and more.
Recent reports on the instability of Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier, for example, have focused attention
The retreat of glaciers and ice sheets is expected to have widespread impacts on communities around the world because of its effect on sea levels. Already, the global average sea level is more than 10 centimeters higher than it was just 3 decades ago; and the rate of rise is increasing, contributing to increased storm surges and flooding, lost infrastructure and community lands, and more.
Recent reports on the instability of Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier, for example, have focused attention on how accelerating ice flow can lead to ice sheet collapse and rising sea levels.
Earth’s ice sheets accumulate ice through snowfall and lose mass through a mix of surface ablation, iceberg calving, and melting at their interface with the ocean. Glacial ice flows under its own weight, and the rate at which it flows to coastal areas is a primary control on ice sheet mass loss.
Flow rates depend on how much resistance an ice sheet encounters at its interface with the ground (e.g., whether it is frozen to its substrate) and on its effective viscosity, a measure of how strongly it resists deformation. The viscosity of ice, in turn, varies based on properties including temperature, crystal size and orientation, and impurity content.
Some properties within and beneath ice sheets that affect how they flow are anisotropic, meaning they vary by direction. For example, roughness in some directions at the ice bed can facilitate ice sliding more effectively than roughness in other directions, similar to the way a properly oriented corrugated metal roof allows snow to slide off. Several forms of anisotropy within ice also affect how ice flows from land to ocean (Figure 1).
Fig. 1. Anisotropy in glaciers and ice sheets has various sources, including from ice fabric and other properties within the ice (englacial) or at the ice-bed interface. Many forms of anisotropy in glacial ice can be measured with radar. Credit: Adapted from Hills et al., 2025, https://doi.org/10.1029/2024RG000842, CC BY 4.0
Measuring anisotropic properties is key to better understanding how quickly changes at the edges of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets will lead to sea level rise. Recent advances in ice-penetrating radar technology and in processing radar data are revolutionizing how we observe directionally varying ice sheet properties, paving the way for projections of mass changes that account for previously neglected processes.
Crystal Fabric: Memory and Modulator of Ice Flow
Fabric, the orientation of crystals composing ice, is the best studied and arguably most important of anisotropic ice sheet properties. As ice deforms, for example, by stretching horizontally as it flows toward the coast, its millimeter-scale crystals are reoriented (Figure 1).
Fabric thus contains a memory of past flow. Simultaneously, fabric influences flow because ice crystals are about 3 orders of magnitude easier to shear in some directions than others—similar to how stacked playing cards slide easily against each other when held along their edges but resist motion when pinched top to bottom.
Over the past 20 years, radar polarimetry has matured into a quicker and easier alternative means for inferring fabric.
The potential importance of fabric on large-scale ice flow has long been recognized, but a shortage of observations has made it difficult to quantify and validate its effect in ice sheet models. Until recently, fabric could be measured only directly in ice cores or inferred through seismic soundings. These methods provide highly detailed information about how fabric develops but are expensive, logistically taxing, and provide information only about sparse point locations.
Over the past 20 years, though, radar polarimetry has matured into a quicker and easier alternative means for inferring fabric, enabling observations at the scale of entire glaciers and providing new constraints on how fabric influences ice sheet flow.
How Radar Reveals Fabric
Ice-penetrating radar instruments emit electromagnetic energy as radio frequency waves. These waves reflect off interfaces within and beneath glacial ice, including transitions in ice chemistry and the contact surface between the ice sheet and the ground or water below. The properties of the reflected waves are then measured when they return to the radar. Just as fabric leads to anisotropic ice deformation, it also introduces directional dependence in the measured electrical properties.
The speed of a radar wave through an ice crystal is approximately 1% faster if the wave is polarized across the crystal’s principal (c) axis rather than aligned with it. Though small, this difference can compound enough that it causes measurable changes in returned radar signals.
In a typical radar survey over anisotropic ice, waves with different polarizations travel at slightly different speeds (Figure 2). The times that return signals arrive back at the receiver thus vary directionally, a difference that can be identified using polarimetric radars that transmit and receive radio waves at multiple orientations.
Fig. 2. Propagation of polarized radio waves through anisotropic ice reveals structural variations with depth because waves aligned across the prevailing ice fabric (represented by the ball, in which darker shading indicates a greater concentration of c axes) travel faster than waves aligned with the fabric. The phase delay increases as the effect of the anisotropy accumulates with depth. Credit: Adapted from Hills et al., 2025, https://doi.org/10.1029/2024RG000842, CC BY 4.0
Fabric’s effect on radar signal travel times accumulates through an ice column, so it is more prominent in thicker ice with stronger horizontal fabric (i.e., the ice crystals are more consistently aligned). In such cases, differences in travel times between polarizations can be measured even by standard radars.
When fabric is weaker or ice is thinner, the offset is smaller and detectable only by systems that can identify the phases of radar returns—that is, the exact positions of the returned waves in their oscillation cycle. Even small wave speed differences from weak fabrics accumulate into measurable phase shifts between polarizations, which can be used to determine the consistency of crystal alignment and the predominant crystal orientation.
Small differences in fabric through an ice column can also change the strength, or amplitude, of returned signals. This amplitude difference offers an independent way to identify fabric orientation and its depth variation.
Polarimetric radar has been widely applied in cryospheric science in recent years largely due to the advent of low-cost systems that can measure signal phases. For example, the popular Autonomous phase-sensitive Radio Echo Sounder (ApRES) is a lightweight, ground-based system that can be used to infer ice fabric at single points down to 2 kilometers deep. In the past decade, polarimetric ApRES systems have revealed ice flow histories, including changes in flow directions, of key glaciers over the past few millennia. These measurements offer windows into how ice sheets responded to previous climate variations.
A mobile, quad-polarimetric radar is dragged by snowmobile over the surface of Müller Ice Cap on Axel Heiberg Island in Nunavut, Canada, in May 2023. Credit: David Lilien
The next generation of polarimetric radars go beyond one-point-at-a-time stationary soundings, offering full polarimetry capabilities on moving platforms. These systems may soon allow scientists to map directional ice properties at the scale of entire ice sheets.
Insights into Fast-Flowing Ice Fabric
The growing number of radar studies conducted near sites where ice cores have been collected, which allow fabric to be investigated up close, has provided validation and bolstered confidence that fabric can be inferred accurately from its effects on radar. Researchers now infer fabric from radar in more dynamic areas, such as Thwaites Glacier, Whillans Ice Stream, and the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream (NEGIS), where ice fabrics change over short spatial scales and where drilling ice cores is logistically difficult. Airborne radar surveys are particularly effective in these settings because they can efficiently map fabric variations across large, fast-moving areas.
Observations of strong fabrics in fast-flowing regions suggest that fabric is an important control on ice viscosity, although its implications for ice flow are just beginning to be explored. For example, at Rutford Ice Stream in Antarctica, ApRES data indicate that fabric causes sharp changes in viscosity in different directions with depth, a complexity not captured by current ice flow models.
A combination of airborne and ground-based radar shows that the fabric of the NEGIS varies substantially across the ice stream, which facilitates horizontal shear that allows faster and more cohesive flow in the middle of the ice stream while simultaneously stiffening this ice against along-flow stretching. These viscosity variations may alter how quickly coastal changes, such as increased melt due to climate warming, influence inland ice flow.
Scientists have studied ice sheet mass balance at glacier-mounted stations along the renowned “K-transect” near Kangerlussuaq in southwestern Greenland since the early 1990s. This image shows a view up the transect in April 2025. Polarimetric radar offers another tool with which to study ice flow here and at other locations on the ice sheets. Credit: Tamara Gerber
The emerging consensus from radar observations and recent progress in fabric modeling is that ice fabric can soften ice stream shear margins by a factor of 10. In other words, the fabric tends to develop in a way that greatly reduces the ice’s effective viscosity at lateral boundaries between fast-flowing and slower-flowing ice, which enables the ice to deform more easily at the margins. The agreement between observations and process-scale modeling highlights fabric as a major, but largely ignored, control on ice flow that may affect estimates of how ice dynamics will contribute to future sea level rise.
Beyond Fabric
Most polarimetric radar studies so far have focused on fabric, but other ice characteristics can cause directional effects too. For instance, bubbles trapped in ice have dramatically different properties than ice itself. Ice deformation can bring bubbles into alignment, such that they affect radar waves differently in different directions.
Likewise, ice at its melting point can contain liquid water along boundaries between crystals, and if those pockets of water are aligned in one direction, they can also affect radar returns. Each of these properties has important influences on ice flow, but their implications are yet to be explored.
Another source of anisotropy is the bottom boundary of the ice sheet. This interface can be rougher in some directions than others, though the roughness is typically aligned with the prevailing ice flow direction or the direction of meltwater trapped within the ice.
Polarimetric radar can measure directionally dependent properties of ice sheet bases at a finer scale than radar profiling can. Such work is leading to new insights into glacier geomorphology, interactions of ice shelf bottoms with the underlying ocean, and how ice slides over substrate surfaces. Rates and extents of sub-ice-shelf melt and basal sliding are widely recognized as key controls on the future of the ice sheets.
Expanding Horizons: Large-Scale and Planetary Applications
Radar polarimetry has already transformed our understanding of ice fabric, revealing much about how crystal alignment modulates the flow of Earth’s ice sheets and filling critical gaps between the handful of direct measurements from ice cores. As polarimetric techniques mature, their applications are expanding.
Researchers are moving from studying isolated profiles of ice fabric to mapping it across whole basins, a key shift for validating bespoke models of fabric and its effects on flow. These models are also rapidly developing to include additional physical processes (e.g., migration recrystallization) and key simplifications (e.g., reducing directionally varying viscosity to a single number) that allow them to interface more easily with—and be incorporated into—large-scale models used for projecting sea level rise.
Techniques pioneered for measuring ice on Earth may also prove useful elsewhere in the solar system.
Techniques pioneered for measuring ice on Earth may also prove useful elsewhere in the solar system. Orbital radar sounders have already probed Mars’s ice masses, and the icy shell of Jupiter’s moon Europa will soon be surveyed by single-polarization radars aboard NASA’s Europa Clipper and the European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE). These radars might be useful for polarimetry at some locations on Europa, which could reveal past and present motion of ice features and answer fundamental questions about the moon. Whether Europa’s shell flows, for example, may be key to whether its subsurface ocean can harbor life.
As polarimetric radar systems become routine tools for glaciologists and as similar instruments begin operating on spacecraft exploring icy worlds, a technique once limited to a few isolated core sites on Earth could be poised to transform our understanding of ice across the solar system.
Author Information
David Lilien (dlilien@iu.edu), Indiana University Bloomington; T. J. Young, University of St Andrews, Fife, Scotland; Benjamin Hills, Colorado School of Mines, Golden; Tamara Gerber, Université de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; and Matthew Siegfried, Colorado School of Mines, Golden
Citation: Lilien, D., T. J. Young, B. Hills, T. Gerber, and M. Siegfried (2026), New directions in mapping ice sheet fabrics and flow, Eos, 107, https://doi.org/10.1029/2026EO260154. Published on 14 May 2026.
When it comes to thriving at high elevation, diminutive plants are always a safe bet. And low-lying vegetation is in fact colonizing higher and higher reaches as the climate changes, new results reveal. Researchers analyzed more than 2 decades’ worth of satellite data and showed that the vegetation line in the Himalayas is moving upward, in some cases by up to several meters per year. These changes have implications for the hydrology of the region and therefore for water resources for the popul
When it comes to thriving at high elevation, diminutive plants are always a safe bet. And low-lying vegetation is in fact colonizing higher and higher reaches as the climate changes, new results reveal. Researchers analyzed more than 2 decades’ worth of satellite data and showed that the vegetation line in the Himalayas is moving upward, in some cases by up to several meters per year. These changes have implications for the hydrology of the region and therefore for water resources for the population centers located downstream, the team reported last month in Ecography.
Mountains and People
“If you’re going to understand climate change across the Himalayas, you can’t just look at one location.”
The Himalayas, with their massive stores of frozen water, are part of a region known as the planet’s “Third Pole.” Nearly a billion people rely on water sourced from this area, but the Himalayas aren’t immune to climate change—shifts in temperature and precipitation patterns are causing glaciers to melt and permafrost to thaw, among other effects. “The Himalayan mountains are experiencing a lot of ecosystem changes,” said Ruolin Leng, an Earth scientist who led this new research while at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom. She currently works at H2Tab, a wellness company.
And while the macroscopic effects of climate change in mountainous regions—the melting of the aforementioned glaciers, for example—have been readily studied, shifts in vegetation are often overlooked, said Leng. That’s a problem because plant cover affects everything from soil moisture levels to water runoff to the albedo of the planet’s surface, all of which have consequences for how water moves through the larger system, she said. “It’s a very important factor in the hydrological system.”
Leng and her colleagues focused on six sites, each roughly 40,000 square kilometers in size, in Bhutan, Nepal, and politically disputed areas farther west. Altogether the locales spanned roughly 15° in longitude (about the width of a U.S. time zone). The choice to analyze several locations along an east-west gradient was deliberate, said Stephan Harrison, a climate scientist also at the University of Exeter and a member of the research team. “The western Himalayas are very different from the eastern Himalayas in terms of climate. If you’re going to understand climate change across the Himalayas, you can’t just look at one location.”
Spotting Vegetation from Space
For each of those sites, the researchers mined satellite observations collected from 1999 to 2022 by the NASA/U.S. Geological Survey Landsat program. The researchers focused on visible and near-infrared observations to calculate a metric known as the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Vegetation tends to reflect relatively little visible light while reflecting much more near-infrared light, and that fact can be exploited to infer the presence of vegetation in remote sensing data, said Karen Anderson, a remote sensing scientist at the Environment and Sustainability Institute at the University of Exeter and a member of the research team.
After masking out pixels too obscured by clouds or snow to correctly analyze, Leng and her colleagues calculated the NDVI for each 30- × 30-meter Landsat pixel within their study regions. The team retained pixels with NDVI levels above a minimum threshold and used those data, combined with topography information, to estimate the maximum elevation that was reliably vegetated each year. All six sites exhibited upward trends in the elevations of their vegetation lines over time, the researchers found. A site in central Nepal straddling the country’s northern border recorded the largest changes: From 1999 to 2022, the elevation of its vegetation line rose from roughly 5,520 meters to 5,670 meters, an increase of just under 7 meters per year on average. The five remaining sites all recorded annual upward shifts ranging from about 1 to 6 meters per year on average.
“Broadly speaking, plants are moving up mountains,” said Anderson. But different regions are responding differently, she added. (And while similar results have been previously noted in the Himalayas, not all plant life everywhere is moving up—recent research has shown that some tree lines are in fact moving downslope.)
A Climatic Culprit?
“People neglect the little plants.”
To investigate the potential drivers behind these changes, the team studied correlations with three climatic parameters: temperature, total precipitation, and snow depth. These data came from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts reanalysis dataset, which has a spatial resolution of roughly 30 kilometers.
Leng and her collaborators found that their site with the fastest-changing vegetation line also recorded the most rapid increase in snow depth over time. These two changes might therefore be linked, but more work is needed, Anderson admitted. “We haven’t addressed the causal link here. We’ve simply looked for patterns.”
There’s also a significant mismatch in the spatial resolution of the team’s meteorological data and their Landsat data, said Trevor Keenan, an ecosystem scientist at the University of California, Berkeley not involved in the research. Such a discrepancy can be particularly problematic in complex landscapes like mountain ranges because the coarse meteorological data might not be capturing the true microclimates that are bound to persist in such places, he said. “With heterogenous terrain and large elevational gradients, you really need that microclimate information.”
Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal, home to Mount Everest, is also host to rhododendron forests like this one. Credit: Peter Prokosch, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Anderson knows the geographical complexity of the Himalayas firsthand—in 2017 and 2022, she and other scientists conducted fieldwork in Nepal that informed this research. Those trips were a special opportunity to see plants like dwarf rhododendron thriving in tough conditions, she said. And it was a good lesson in appreciating some of the most diminutive members of the plant kingdom, Anderson added. “People neglect the little plants.”
Editors’ Vox is a blog from AGU’s Publications Department.
Often times when we think “scientist,” we picture a white lab coat, a pipette. Or, a marine biologist covered in seaweed samples. A geologist with dusty knees and hands full of rock fragments. Endless blue gloves. What we may not always picture is our favorite professors, colleagues, or even students advocating for science to policy makers.
Federal policy decisions have a direct impact on science funding, research priorities, and
Often times when we think “scientist,” we picture a white lab coat, a pipette. Or, a marine biologist covered in seaweed samples. A geologist with dusty knees and hands full of rock fragments. Endless blue gloves. What we may not always picture is our favorite professors, colleagues, or even students advocating for science to policy makers.
Federal policy decisions have a direct impact on science funding, research priorities, and the role of science in society.
Federal policy decisions have a direct impact on science funding, research priorities, and the role of science in society, and the AGU community has a critical role to play in those conversations. Each year, AGU’s Science Policy and Government Relations (SPGR) team organizes and hosts Congressional Visit Days to connect Earth and space scientists to their elected officials. As a member of AGU’s scientific publications team, I joined the April 21-22 Days of Action to learn about the bills currently impacting our workforce and research, how to craft messages that both speak to our personal experiences, and to ask our elected officials to advocate with and for us.
As a D.C. native, I grew up in close proximity to the power of science, the alphabet agencies, NOAA, NASA, NIH, and USDA. Institutions where the best and brightest were given the resources and support to learn, record, and disseminate knowledge on behalf of our country. In my current role with AGU as a non-profit publisher, I took to the Hill to share my experiences on the publishing and academic peer-review landscape. My role allows me to see first-hand how budget cuts and shifting attitudes have impacted critical programs at the agencies named above. This Days of Action event brought together 58 participants with one goal: to share personal stories that related to four bills:
KEEP STEM Talent Act (H.R. 2627, S.1233)- strengthens the U.S. scientific workforce by making it easier for skilled international STEM graduates from U.S. universities to stay in the U.S.
Protect America’s Workforce Act (H.R.2550 passed House, S.2837)- seeks to protect the U.S. federal scientific workforce by restoring collective bargaining (union) rights.
Scientific Integrity Act (H.R.1106)- protects the rights of U.S. federal scientists and researchers by safeguarding scientific integrity in federal research and decision-making.
Two participants spoke on their experiences meeting with elected representatives and uniquely captured just how closely the Earth and spaces sciences touch all of our lives.
Sheila Baber, an early career scientist with The University of Maryland, felt compelled to join due to “the uncertain future for myself, my peers, and the American scientific enterprise.” She noted, “It has been especially difficult to witness the deteriorating relationship between scientists, decision makers, and the public. This past year, with its rapidly changing federal landscape, has been a wakeup call to re-engage and remind the public of how science research gives back to the community.”
Ryan Haupt, long-time AGU member and the Executive Director at National Youth Science Academy, with a 10-year track record of geoscience advocacy, emphasized the importance of building relationships with elected officials. “Regardless of party affiliation, I want those staffers to know that when they meet with me or any other AGU member, they will get honest and informed feedback from folks who are truly passionate about our fields,” Ryan told me. “[Experts who can speak to how current bills] impact issues like improved financial support for graduate students, helping international students stay in the US to join the STEM workforce, and protecting funding for federal science agencies and the folks who work for them.”
As a participant myself, I joined the Maryland group to meet with Senator Chris Van Hollen’s office. Van Hollen and I met briefly at the Stand Up for Science March in 2025. His voting track record indicates a long-standing commitment to the scientific community, and he champions bills that support funding federal agencies like NOAA.
(left to right) The Maryland group, McKay Porter, Andrew Inglis, Nour Rawafi, Stephen Jascourt, and Emille Beller met with Senator Chris Van Hollen’s staffer, Leo Confalone. Credit: Beth Bagley, AGU
Finding and discovering the best and the brightest means funding, protecting, and supporting the best and the brightest.
Working in scientific publishing has allowed me to peer behind lab doors, into research vessels sailing through the Arctic, and into the entire ecosystem that is peer-reviewed research. A system that relies on incoming eager students, federal grant funding, consortium agreements between the biggest institutional libraries and the biggest publishing houses in the country, scientific integrity, and future, stable career opportunities. Finding and discovering the best and the brightest means funding, protecting, and supporting the best and the brightest.
Open, accessible science builds and supports both public trust and future scientific advancements. As the world widens and we are all met with increased access to studies, content, and news, scientific storytelling and literacy have never been more important for ensuring public trust. Transparency from the lab and from the field to published output allows for data to be discussed, fact-checked, and reused to support future scientific discovery. Days of Action demonstrates that we have a unique role to play in supporting the health, safety, and future of our country. If you feel called to get involved, please see resources available from SPGR.
Ryan reminds us, “There are lots of ways to participate in our democracy… find where you can best serve as a leader…don’t try to do it all, but try to do something.”
Citation: Beller, E. (2026), The impact of advocacy: American Geophysical Union’s Days of Action, Eos, 107, https://doi.org/10.1029/2026EO265020. Published on 14 May 2026.
This article does not represent the opinion of AGU, Eos, or any of its affiliates. It is solely the opinion of the author(s).
The aftermath of an attack by Baloch separatists in Quetta, Pakistan, on Feb. 1, 2026. Banaras Khan/AFP via Getty ImagesIn the space of 10 days in late April 2026, insurgents in Pakistan purportedly carried out 27 attacks in the country’s southwest province of Balochistan, killing at least 42 military personal. Then, on May 11, authorities announced that a suicide bombing plot on the capital, Islamabad, had been foiled. Authorities arrested a girl over the incident – a nod to militants’ increasi
In the space of 10 days in late April 2026, insurgents in Pakistan purportedly carried out 27 attacks in the country’s southwest province of Balochistan, killing at least 42 military personal. Then, on May 11, authorities announced that a suicide bombing plot on the capital, Islamabad, had been foiled. Authorities arrested a girl over the incident – a nod to militants’ increasing use of young Baloch women to carry out attacks.
These incidents represent the latest flaring up of a long-running insurgency in Pakistan’s largest province and home to around 15 million people.
For a rundown of what you need to know about the Baloch insurgency and groups involved, The Conversation turned to Amira Jadoon and Saif Tahir, experts on militantand terrorist organizations currently researching such groups’ operational activities and strategic messaging in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
What is the Baloch insurgency about?
Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan has long been the site of resistance and armed movements involving Baloch, an ethnic group of an estimated 8 million to 10 million people that straddles parts of Pakistan and Iran.
Their insurgency is rooted in both contemporary and historical grievances. Its origins trace back to the contested annexation of the princely state of Kalat in 1948, months after the partition of British India into India and Pakistan, and the resulting confrontations between Baloch tribal leaders and the newly formed Pakistani state.
While the insurgency long remained a low-level struggle framed around Baloch marginalization and economic exploitation, it turned violent in the early 2000s with the rise of militant factions, including the Balochistan Liberation Army, or BLA, in 2000 and the Balochistan Liberation Front, or BLF, which was revived in 2004 under current leader Allah Nazar Baloch decades after its 1964 founding. The insurgents’ goals vary, from greater autonomy and control over the province’s natural resources to full independence.
Baloch militants generally cast their emergence as a nationalist rebuttal to the Pakistani government’s long-standing narrative, which states that the unrest is driven by a handful of tribal chiefs resisting development rather than a broad-based movement.
In practice, the contemporary insurgency has expanded well beyond its tribal base, and Baloch militant groups have invested heavily in strategic communications that directly challenge the Pakistani state’s framing.
Today, Baloch militants’ propaganda targets the local educated youth, including women. They play on existing grievances over enforced disappearances, state repression and resource extraction. Balochistan is home to significant deposits of copper, gold, natural gas and coal, including at the Reko Diq mine, one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper and gold reserves. Yet the province remains Pakistan’s poorest.
Baloch militants’ efforts are designed to broaden the insurgency’s appeal, adding an urban, middle-class layer to what was once a primarily tribal revolt that casts itself as a struggle to defend the Baloch “motherland” and achieve national liberation.
The Baloch insurgency has emerged as one of Pakistan’s most consequential internal security challenges. In 2025, the BLA claimed 521 attacks and 1,060 security-force fatalities, though independent monitoring records substantially fewer attacks, at around 254 events, in Balochistan over the same period.
Two Baloch militants’ operations bookend the recent escalation. In March 2025, BLA fighters hijacked the Jaffar Express – a heavily used passenger train connecting Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, to Peshawar in northwestern Pakistan – holding more than 350 passengers in a 30-hour siege. In April 2026, the group announced a new naval wing, the Hammal Maritime Defence Force, following its first maritime attack on a Pakistan coast guard vessel near Jiwani, in Gwadar district.
These tactical innovations have been reinforced by deliberate efforts at broadening the support base for Baloch separatism. The 2018 formation of Baloch Raji Ajohi Sangar, an alliance of Baloch militant groups, and the 2020 entry of the non-Baloch Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army, a Sindhi separatist group based in neighboring Sindh that has extended Baloch militants’ operational reach into Karachi, signal an expanding ethno-regional coalition aimed at broadening the geographic and ideological scope of the insurgency.
Why the uptick in violence now?
Four converging factors explain the recent escalation.
First, the Pakistani state’s crackdown on peaceful political space in recent months has accelerated social discontent. Following the March 2025 Jaffar Express attack, prominent Baloch rights defender Mahrang Baloch was arrested under anti-terrorist laws, while three protesters were shot dead at a peaceful sit-in in Quetta.
As nonviolent avenues close, aggrieved civilians become more receptive to Baloch militants’ recruitment narratives.
Second, Baloch militants have acquired U.S. weapons left behind in Afghanistan during the 2021 withdrawal, including M4 and M16 rifles fitted with thermal optics. Recent reports have linked the arms used in the Jaffar Express attack directly to abandoned U.S. stockpiles in Afghanistan.
Third, militant operational collusion has deepened between the Balochistan Liberation Army and the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, the latter ranked by the Institute for Economics and Peace as the world’s fastest-growing insurgent group in 2024.
Despite the groups’ divergent ideologies, the cooperation appears to have produced clear tactical convergence, including town takeovers, the use of suicide bombings, and sniper and ambush tactics.
Finally, Baloch groups have excelled in the effective use of social media to influence and recruit educated young people, including women.
A policeman stands guard near the blast site in Quetta after an attack by Baloch separatists on Jan. 31, 2026.Adnan Ahmed/AFP via Getty Images
The BLA’s elite Majeed Brigade has formalized a women’s wing, and the use of female suicide bombers has now spread across multiple Baloch factions. At least five known cases have been reported since 2022.
Tehran’s destabilization creates new tactical space for insurgents. Ethnic Baloch communities straddle the Pakistan-Iran border, and the BLA already maintains a presence in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan province.
The “Greater Balochistan” narrative promoted by Baloch nationalists, which envisions the reintegration of Baloch lands across both states, is gaining traction on the Iranian side. Moreover, weaker border enforcement gives militants greater freedom to move, recruit and coordinate.
Cross-border trade flows have dropped sharply since the war in Iran began, but the disruption is more likely to expand than to shrink Balochistan’s illicit economy over time. As state enforcement weakens on both sides of the border, the cross-border fuel and narcotics smuggling networks that Baloch militants tax and target are likely to expand further.
The cross-border problem had already escalated to interstate confrontation. In January 2024, Iran and Pakistan exchanged tit-for-tat strikes on Baloch militant groups operating across their shared border.
With Iran’s stability weakening, these dynamics are likely to deepen, potentially raising tensions between Islamabad and Tehran over separatists in the future.
How are Pakistan-US relations affected?
The Baloch insurgency is now also an increasingly important focus of a warming U.S.-Pakistani relationship.
In August 2025, the U.S. State Department designated the BLA and its Majeed Brigade as foreign terrorist organizations – a move Islamabad had long pressed for.
Months later, the U.S. Export-Import Bank approved US$1.3 billion for the Reko Diq copper-gold project in Balochistan, its single largest critical minerals investment to date.
The current insurgency directly contests Pakistan’s capacity to deliver security in Balochistan. The Reko Diq mine lies in the same district where Zareena Rafiq, a BLF-affiliated female suicide bomber, struck a base of Pakistan’s federal paramilitary force on Nov. 30, 2025.
Further, in April 2026, a BLF commander declared that the group would target all foreign companies operating in Balochistan, regardless of country of origin.
Yet the present alignment between the U.S. and Pakistan is transactional: Its durability depends on Pakistan delivering on counterterrorism, mediation with Iran and mineral access.
Meanwhile, absent a counterinsurgency approach that addresses the underlying political and social drivers of the Baloch insurgency – including state repression, political marginalization and resource grievance – the broader U.S.-Pakistan reset is unlikely to deliver the stability its investments require.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
New evidence from the Natural Hazards Commission – Toka Tū Ake (NHC) shows that landslides are now New Zealand’s most costly natural hazard.
New Zealand is a country that is prone to a range of natural hazards. Located on a series of major fault systems, earthquakes cause high levels of loss. The country is also volcanically active, with occasional tragedies. Heavy rainfall brings floods.
To share the cost of these perils, following the 1942 Wairarapa earthquakes, the New Zealand go
New Zealand is a country that is prone to a range of natural hazards. Located on a series of major fault systems, earthquakes cause high levels of loss. The country is also volcanically active, with occasional tragedies. Heavy rainfall brings floods.
In the subsequent years, the EQC has evolved into the Natural Hazards Commission – Toka Tū Ake (NHC), with a purpose “to reduce the impact of natural hazards on people, property, and the community”. Essentially it operates as a financial pool, with home owners paying a levy on top of their insurance to generate the fund. In the event of a loss, the fund pays for the rebuild costs up to a cap (currently NZ$300,000); the remainder is then covered by the property’s insurance. Claims are funded directly from the pool, with reinsurance cover and ultimately a government guarantee in place to ensure that there are sufficient funds.
In reality, NHC does much more than this, acting to manage and settle claims, and to understand the range of hazards to which New Zealand is prone.
In the last few days, a range of media outlets in New Zealand have been reporting new data from NHC about losses from natural hazards in New Zealand. This is the headline from 1News:
“Landslides are New Zealand’s most expensive natural hazard – and new data reveals a sharp rise in damage claims and growing risks to homes, infrastructure and communities.”
In total, since 2021 NHC has received 13,000 landslide claims and has paid out NZ$322 million (US$191 million). New Zealand is seeing an abrupt increase in landslide losses, driven primarily by increasingly frequent high magnitude rainfall events. NHC is urging property owners to undertake preventative maintenance and to be aware of the limitations of EQC cover.
Here be landslides – typical landslide-prone terrain in New Zealand.
In common with many other places, these landslide hazards represent a major challenge to New Zealand. The landscape has many dormant landslides that are being reactivated by these increased rainfall events, and many new failures are also occurring. But, generating reliable risk maps for landslides remains a major challenge. This needs to be a major research focus in the coming years. It will require better understanding of triggering events (rainfall and earthquakes primarily); of the initiation processes within the slope; of runout / debris mobility; and of vulnerability and consequent losses. It is probably true to say that in all of these areas, landslide research lags behind that of earthquakes and floods, primarily because of a lack of long term investment.
In many countries, landslides are not an insured risk for this reason. On its own, this will be a major challenge that must be addressed. For those countries in which landslides are insured, we need quickly to get up to speed.
Yan Krukau/PexelsMenstruation is once again a hot topic on social media, thanks to a new health trend known as “cycle syncing”.
It involves aligning your diet and exercise habits to each phase of your menstrual cycle. For example, you may only do gentle exercises such as yoga or eat more fermented foods during the first phase of menstruation.
Social media influencers are spruiking cycle syncing as a more natural way for women to manage negative symptoms, such as period pain, and be more in tu
Menstruation is once again a hot topic on social media, thanks to a new health trend known as “cycle syncing”.
It involves aligning your diet and exercise habits to each phase of your menstrual cycle. For example, you may only do gentle exercises such as yoga or eat more fermented foods during the first phase of menstruation.
Social media influencers are spruiking cycle syncing as a more natural way for women to manage negative symptoms, such as period pain, and be more in tune with their bodies.
So how does it work? And is it supported by research?
The menstrual cycle
During menstruation, the body sheds the uterus lining to prepare for pregnancy. This usually happens every 28–35 days. But bleeding is only one part of the menstrual cycle. The menstrual cycle can be divided into three main phases:
follicular phase, where the body releases a hormone called the follicle-stimulating hormone to help follicles grow in the uterus
ovulation, where the ovary releases a mature egg that may or may not be fertilised
luteal phase, where the body releases a hormone known as progesterone that thickens the lining of the uterus, in preparation for pregnancy. But if the egg is not fertilised, the uterus will shed its lining and this cycle repeats.
Throughout the menstrual cycle, fluctuating hormone levels can cause symptoms such as fatigue, cramps, bloating, mood swings and changes in appetite.
Advocates of cycle syncing say it helps women manage period symptoms and meet the the body’s changing energy needs during menstruation.
However, specific claims often conflict with each other. For example, some who promote cycle syncing suggest eating fermented foods and fresh vegetables during the follicular phase, while others recommend eating lean proteins and wholegrains. Certain cycle syncing advocates emphasise doing cardio workouts and other high-intensity exercise in the follicular phase. Meanwhile, others say swimming or cycling are better options to manage period symptoms.
However, there is little evidence to support these claims.
Various systematic reviews – which summarise all the available research on a specific question – have found no evidence that doing exercise during certain phases of the menstrual cycle improves muscle development or performance. This is the case with both resistance training which aims to build strength, and aerobic exercise, which increases your heart rate.
It also does not appear to reduce your risk of muscle injuries. Research shows immune function may fluctuate throughout the menstrual cycle, but one systematic review found this variation is unlikely to impact exercise.
However, research suggests female athletes may feel less motivated or confident playing sport in the late luteal phase. They were also more likely to think they performed worse at the start and end of their period. This may be because symptoms such as cramping, back pain and tiredness make exercise seem much harder during menstruation.
There’s even less evidence examining the link between nutrition and different phases of the menstrual cycle. One 2024 study suggested women may be hungrier or eat more during their luteal phase, compared to the follicular phase. This may be because during the luteal phase, the body consumes more energy to prepare for a potential pregnancy.
However, one systematic review found no conclusive evidence that changing your diet reduces symptoms such as cramps, bloating and fatigue.
What to do instead
Existing studies looking at the relationship between diet, exercise and different menstrual phases have produced extremely varied results. And there are still many gaps in current research, including what the mechanism behind cycle syncing actually is and what its benefits may be.
So for those who want to manage period symptoms, the best approach is to be patient with yourself and listen to bodily cues. For example, if you slept badly because of night-time cramps, you don’t need to do a high-intensity workout the next morning. Consider going for a walk instead. And if you feel extra hungry near the end of your period – in the luteal phase – it’s fine to eat a little more.
The jury’s out as to whether cycle syncing actually works. But making small lifestyle tweaks could help make your time of the month that bit more manageable.
Emmalee Ford is employed by Family Planning Australia, a non-government sexual and reproductive health organisation.
Anthony Camerlo/UnsplashLegendary 18-time major winner Jack Nicklaus once stated golf was “90% mental and 10% physical”.
That’s because unlike most other ball sports, a golfer spends most of the time thinking about their game instead of actually playing it: the contact time a player has with the ball is minuscule compared to the time spent planning the next shot, or frustratedly replaying a previous wonky hit.
This can take a toll on even the best players – who can forget Greg Norman’s 1996
That’s because unlike most other ball sports, a golfer spends most of the time thinking about their game instead of actually playing it: the contact time a player has with the ball is minuscule compared to the time spent planning the next shot, or frustratedly replaying a previous wonky hit.
This can take a toll on even the best players – who can forget Greg Norman’s 1996 US Masters collapse, considered one of the worst chokes in the history of sport?
But there can be times when these wobbles go next level: the yips.
Let’s unpack this rare, fascinating and occasionally devastating disorder, which can affect athletes in sports such as golf, tennis, archery, baseball, softball and darts.
What are the yips?
The yips is a movement disorder that involves involuntary muscle spasms that disrupt the normal execution of mostly small muscle movements, such as finger and hand movements.
It is likely a result of bad injuries, training these small muscle groups too much, and/or worrying excessively about an upcoming performance.
In that respect, it is largely a mental issue, but the causes can be physical, psychological, or both.
Athletes with the yips can struggle to hit a ball with another object (such as in golf or tennis) or accurately throw a ball or object toward a target (such as darts or baseball).
It is unclear how many athletes are affected by the yips, but some studies in golf (the most frequently yips-affected sport) estimate between 17% and even up to 50% of serious golfers have endured this problem.
Although more research is needed, golfers are probably more at risk due to a combination of the small motor movements that occur during a golf swing and the sport’s intense mental pressures.
Much of the golf world was captivated by Ian Baker-Finch’s battle with the yips.
There are different causes
Three causes can trigger the yips: something physical (a past injury), something psychological (anxiety experienced when performing the task), or combined (such as a previous traumatic sporting event like failing under pressure in an important moment).
Yips always involve involuntary muscle spasms: jerking and “freezing” of body parts crucial to perform a skill.
Athletes may experience these physical ailments with or without being nervous.
It’s not just ‘choking’
The yips is a term often used inaccurately by media and fans to explain why athletes miss an AFL set shot or a short putt in golf.
This is incorrect – the term “choking under pressure” should be used instead.
the yips involve involuntary muscle movements; choking does not
the yips may occur over a prolonged period (days, weeks, months); choking only occurs during one event or competition
the yips occur with or without being nervous (they can happen during training or in competition); choking only occurs when an athlete is nervous (for example, during competition).
The yips can be a chronic, more severe form of choking where an increase in anxiety leads to the involuntary muscle movements, but chronic choking does not always lead to the yips.
Can athletes recover from them?
Some athletes can overcome them but others get defeated.
Jon Lester, a former professional baseball player, developed the yips and could not throw accurately to first base – a basic yet vital skill for elite pitchers.
Several throwing coaches suggested he change his technique, with no success. So Lester decided to purposely bounce the ball off the ground when throwing to first base instead of throwing it on the full. This is hardly ideal considering the importance of throwing quickly and accurately to bases.
He said at the time the new technique was an idea to:
[…] eliminate all tension and bounce it over there. I don’t really care what it looks like. I don’t care if it bounces 72 times.
It didn’t work – at the 1997 British Open he played so poorly that he withdrew before the second round and retired with immediate effect.
The title of his biography is To Hell And Back, which delves into his battle with the yips and then finding fulfilment in golf commentary.
How can the yips be overcome?
There isn’t much research that has focused specifically on how to overcome the yips.
Interventions are usually based on the type of yips the athlete is experiencing.
For example, if the issue is more physical, medication is often used to reduce the likelihood of muscle spasms and jerking. Acupuncture can also help.
With psychological yips, pre-performance (or pre-shot) routines and solution-focused guided imagery may help yips-affected athletes (and performance generally).
With golf’s next major, the 2026 PGA Championship, starting on Thursday, the best golfers in the world will descend on Aronimink Golf Club in Philadelphia.
Some will excel under the immense pressure but let’s hope none of them succumb to choking – or even worse, the yips.
Christopher Mesagno does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
For many in the West, China still feels hard to fully understand. Public debate and media coverage too often focus on the “China threat”. Critics highlight the flaws of China’s political system and limits on freedom, yet China has still managed to rise as a major power that can now compete with the United States.
One reason for this gap in understanding is that the media often interprets China through a Western-centric perspective.
US President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinp
For many in the West, China still feels hard to fully understand. Public debate and media coverage too often focus on the “China threat”. Critics highlight the flaws of China’s political system and limits on freedom, yet China has still managed to rise as a major power that can now compete with the United States.
One reason for this gap in understanding is that the media often interprets China through a Western-centric perspective.
US President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week, for instance, will be analysed in the West very differently from the way it will be seen in China. Xi’s language will be parsed and scrutinised for couched messages, veiled threats and hidden meanings.
But analysts may be missing some of the tools China uses to explain and justify its actions.
My co-authored new research offers a new way to look at China’s grand strategy: by analysing the way the government uses storytelling. My research partners and I are part of a growing group of scholars looking at how geopolitics is becoming a contest of narratives – how states tell stories about themselves and each other.
To do this, we studied four major speeches by Xi from 2021–23. We read them as stories and dissected the narratives – as well as the characters and language – to better understand the meaning behind the words.
Why narrative in politics matters
The use of political narratives by leaders is not new.
In ancient Athens and Rome, politicians relied on strong public rhetoric to persuade people. Aristotle described three key elements of persuasion in rhetoric: logic (logos), emotional appeal (pathos), and the speaker’s credibility (ethos).
Modern theorists like Kenneth Burke argue rhetoric creates a sense of shared purpose between leaders and the public, but it can also create division between groups.
And communications scholar Michael Kent identifies 20 master “plots” that have been used by storytellers for thousands of years to craft effective narratives. These include: quest, adventure, pursuit, transformation, revenge, sacrifice, discovery and of course love.
My research partners and I used these plot devices to analyse Xi’s speeches to see how he communicates – and tells stories – about China’s strategies.
The plot devices in Xi’s speeches
We found several master plots that consistently shape China’s official stories:
To save the nation from peril, the Chinese people put up a courageous fight. As noble-minded patriots sought to pull the nation together.
This storyline frames China as a nation on a long journey towards strength and prosperity, marked by setbacks and breakthroughs. This is seen as a type of political adventure. This narrative also appeals to shared memories in China of hardship and endurance.
Xi Jinping’s speech to mark the 100th anniversary of Chinese Communist Party’s founding.
Quest
Xi’s speeches also described a quest – the nation’s striving towards a difficult goal, under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
There has never been an instruction manual or ready-made solution for the Chinese people and the Chinese nation to turn to […] as they moved on toward the bright future of rejuvenation.
The message is intended to inspire unity, patriotism and pride among Chinese listeners.
The Chinese nation has achieved the great transformation from standing up and growing prosperous to becoming strong, and China’s national rejuvenation has become a historical inevitability.
Transformation stories describe not just change, but growth and renewal. This narrative presents China’s rise as a natural evolution built on decades of reform and sacrifice.
Xi Jinping’s speech at the 14th National People’s Congress.
Rivalry
Rivalry stories tend to feature internal and external threats.
In two of the speeches we studied, Xi refers to efforts by foreign powers to “blackmail, contain, blockade, and exert maximum pressure on China,” and recalls a past when foreign bullying caused “great suffering”.
In the CCP’s 100th anniversary speech, Xi also said:
Anyone who would attempt to do so will find themselves on a collision course with a great wall of steel forged by over 1.4 billion Chinese people.
These storylines reinforce the idea that China must remain vigilant and united against outside pressure.
Love
Xi doesn’t refer to a romantic-type of love story in his speeches; rather, he speaks of the dedication and loyalty of the Communist Party’s supporters.
In the 100th anniversary speech, for instance, Xi said:
And I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to people and friends from around the world who have shown friendship to the Chinese people and understanding and support for China’s endeavours in revolution, development and reform.
How audiences see these messages
The impact of this messaging is strong at home. It’s often reinforced through state media, cultural products and patriotic education to reach as wide an audience as possible.
The frequent contrast between past suffering and present strength encourages the public to see China as a peaceful but firm global actor.
For a foreign audience, this storytelling can help other countries interpret China’s actions and anticipate its responses.
For example, China’s narratives about past humiliation and the need to defend its sovereignty help explain its strong stance on Taiwan – and the Communist Party’s legitimacy on this issue in the eyes of the people.
But this does not mean a military conflict is inevitable. Any future military action over Taiwan would depend on a multitude of factors, including careful calculations of risk, China’s economic interdependence with the world, and the potentially catastrophic consequences for the region and its people.
This cannot be easily conveyed in storytelling, which is why we can’t rely on this device alone to explain China’s actions. But it does give us a window into leadership’s thinking – and in a political system like China’s, this is vital.
The author would like to acknowledge her co-researchers on the project: Mitchell Hobbs of the University of Sydney (project lead), and Zhao Alexandre Huang and Lucile Desmoulins of Gustave Eiffel University, France.
This piece is based on the author's contribution to a research project funded by the Australia-France Social Science Collaborative Research Program from the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.
From live speech translation in video calls to auto-dubbing on TikTok, the technology to dissolve language barriers has arrived. Real-time translation powered by artificial intelligence (AI) is now embedded in everyday life.
Tools from OpenAI, Meta, Google and many others now offer near-instant translation across dozens of languages, and they keep improving.
All this raises a vital question. If machines can do this faster and more accurately than humans, is investing years in learning another
From live speech translation in video calls to auto-dubbing on TikTok, the technology to dissolve language barriers has arrived. Real-time translation powered by artificial intelligence (AI) is now embedded in everyday life.
Tools from OpenAI, Meta, Google and many others now offer near-instant translation across dozens of languages, and they keep improving.
All this raises a vital question. If machines can do this faster and more accurately than humans, is investing years in learning another language still worth it?
The logic is appealing. Humans have always offloaded cognitive work onto tools. Writing reduced demands on our memory. Calculators removed the burden of mental arithmetic. AI sits within this long tradition. Used well, it can support learning and expand access in ways that matter enormously.
But there’s a difference between using a tool to extend your capabilities and using it to avoid doing something altogether. That distinction becomes important when you are not just replacing a skill, but a form of cognitive and cultural engagement.
The effort is the point
Effort plays a central role in how we acquire knowledge.
Psychologists use the phrase “desirable difficulties” to describe challenges that may feel inefficient, but produce stronger long-term retention and understanding.
Struggling with grammar, searching for the right word, or constructing meaning across multiple languages engages brain networks that support memory, attention and cognitive flexibility. Over time, they consolidate knowledge far more deeply than passive exposure.
Sustained mental engagement contributes to what researchers call cognitive resilience – the brain’s capacity to maintain function as we age. Managing multiple languages is one form of this engagement. It requires the brain to resolve competition, monitor context and adapt dynamically.
These are not trivial demands. And they’re difficult to achieve if you just use translation tools passively, such as resolving the meaning of a foreign phrase with the click of a button.
What multilingualism research actually shows
The evidence on multilingualism is often presented as a simple “bilingual advantage”, a shorthand that obscures a more complicated picture. Some studies report benefits for attention or working memory, while others find no differences. The truth appears to be more selective.
Our recent study examined cognitive performance in 94 adults aged 18 to 83, using both visuospatial and auditory tasks across working memory, attention and inhibition. Put simply, we looked at how people process and respond to information they see or mentally map out in space (visuospatial) and information they hear (auditory). Examples include remembering sounds, focusing on visual patterns, or ignoring distractions.
Our study measured multilingualism as a spectrum, not a category. This allowed us to capture diverse language backgrounds and experiences. Multilingual participants spoke a range of languages with varying levels of proficiency and daily use, reflecting the linguistic diversity common within multicultural communities.
Across most tasks, multilinguals and monolinguals performed similarly. However, one pattern was striking. Individuals with richer, more diverse multilingual experience showed markedly better performance in visuospatial working memory. These effects were most pronounced in older people.
This suggests that multilingual experience doesn’t broadly enhance cognition, like some headlines claim. Instead, it may help preserve specific functions over time.
Overall, however, it appears that sustained use of multiple languages represents a form of mental activity with effects that accumulate across a lifetime.
What AI translation can’t replicate
AI translation excels at speed and accessibility. For many practical purposes, it works remarkably well. But it operates through pattern recognition, not lived understanding. It can struggle with cultural context, humour, register and emotionally embedded meaning, especially for languages with less representation in training data.
At best, AI captures literal dimensions of language while missing social ones. Consider the scene in the 2003 film Love Actually where Jamie, played by Colin Firth, delivers an awkward but sincere proposal to Aurelia in broken Portuguese.
It is moving because of the effort, vulnerability and intent his imperfect words carry. Resort to real-time translation software and what remains is information, not expression.
This is the deeper distinction: translation is not the same as participation. Learning a language involves understanding how people think, their values, and how meaning is shaped by context and history. This cultural literacy develops through interaction and experience. We can’t fully outsource that to systems that translate on demand.
I definitely think in Telugu, but I remember numbers and count using English.
Afrikaans is the language of my heart and best used to express intense emotion. English is the language of business and used mostly in everyday life.
These are not descriptions of switching between translation modes. They are descriptions of inhabiting different selves.
AI will continue to change how we engage with language learning. It can personalise instruction, minimise barriers and provide feedback at scale. What it can’t do is replace the cognitive and cultural work that comes from learning a language. This work leads to a deeper relationship with how other people see the world, and with how you express yourself. And that difference still matters.
Olivia Maurice completed her PhD at the MARCS Institute, Western Sydney University.
Mark Antoniou receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
Rawpixel.comWhether you call it an Irish goodbye, French leave or filer à l'anglaise (leave in the English style), as the French prefer, the act of quietly slipping out of a party without fanfare is a familiar social impulse. The Brazilians called it sair à francesa (French style) and the Germans a Polnischer Abgang (Polish departure). Whatever name it goes by, the concept is the same: one moment you’re there, the next you’ve vanished into the night without a drawn-out round of explanations, hu
Whether you call it an Irish goodbye, French leave or filer à l'anglaise (leave in the English style), as the French prefer, the act of quietly slipping out of a party without fanfare is a familiar social impulse. The Brazilians called it sair à francesa (French style) and the Germans a Polnischer Abgang (Polish departure). Whatever name it goes by, the concept is the same: one moment you’re there, the next you’ve vanished into the night without a drawn-out round of explanations, hugs and promises to catch up soon.
The pattern is telling: every culture has a term for it, and every culture blames someone else. That collective deflection suggests we already know, on some level, that slipping out unannounced is a social transgression.
But for those of us with anxiety, that silent exit isn’t rudeness. While etiquette traditionalists will probably insist that leaving without saying goodbye is a social no-no, some psychologists argue that it’s a coping strategy. Here’s why sneaking out without saying goodbye might be the healthiest decision you make all evening.
When you break it down – and let’s be honest, those of us who are anxious, introverted, neurodivergent or dealing with chronic illness have all broken this down into agonising detailed steps – saying goodbye is a loaded cultural ritual. It’s a performance that demands a high degree of social skill, accuracy and nuance.
Goodbyes are high-demand situations and, sadly, by the end of a social occasion, many of us are already depleted and don’t have the energy to handle all the steps involved.
When socialising means constantly adapting yourself to other people’s expectations, the healthy choice becomes using your last bit of energy to recharge and take care of yourself. Don’t leave the party completely drained with nothing left to recover with.
Sometimes we want to leave quietly because leaving loudly feels like shouting out: “I matter! Look at me, I’m leaving!” The fact is, many of us sit with the belief that we don’t really matter that much, so we don’t say goodbye because we don’t feel we are worth the performance.
Sometimes a silent exit is about self-respect, minding your energy reserves, even if you really enjoyed the evening. At other times, though, it’s an act of self-erasure. You leave without saying goodbye because you think no one will care, that you don’t matter enough to make a fuss when leaving.
Leaving quietly can become a way to protect yourself from the discomfort of saying goodbye. But the quiet exit cuts both ways. Ask yourself whether leaving without a word made your life bigger – you conserved enough energy to recover and you’re glad to go back next time – or whether it shrank it, adding another reason to avoid socialising altogether.
If you are going to pick apart your goodbye and negatively assess it, the next goodbye will feel even harder. Be careful to reality-test your post-event ruminations. It’s usually not as bad as you think, especially if you are assessing your performance through the distorting lens of anxiety.
There is always a tension between wanting to belong and wanting to be yourself. If saying goodbye starts to feel so pressured and so performed that you lose any sense of being authentic, then the connection is starting to cost more than it’s worth.
If you feel like you need to be a chameleon to survive the complexities of socialising, the healthiest choice is to find a way to be who you really are. Find a way to tell your friends and family that leaving quietly is something you need because of how your nervous system and psychology are made, and not a reflection of the relationship. Research shows that being your truest self and having the best social connections go hand in hand.
And if you are neurodivergent, being open about what you need can feel like a risk, but it can also be a way to find acceptance, support and understanding when you let people know what you need and like.
If you’re anxious, it’s worth letting your host know in advance that you might need to slip away quietly. Otherwise, there’s a risk that people will read it the wrong way, as coldness or indifference, say.
Get ahead of it by letting people know you’ll leave without saying goodbye, and that you’re grateful to have been invited. Anxious people aren’t bad at relationships. Relationships just work better when everyone understands the other person’s needs.
Less is more
There’s a growing idea that being choosy about your social life isn’t antisocial – some psychologists call it “selective sociality”. Picking your moments carefully means you have more to give when it counts. The goal isn’t to retreat, but to invest in deeper relationships and in real presence, rather than the hollow churn of online contact – unless it supports meaningful connection.
In a world where being seen to do the right thing has begun to outweigh doing the right thing, selective sociality offers a way forward. Knowing our limits and being open about them, when possible, doesn’t weaken connection – it helps create relationships that feel real and sustainable.
If sneaking out without a fuss makes it more likely you will go to the next party, then it’s a choice for more social connection and therefore your health.
Correction: Our colleagues in Australia inform us that “ninja bombing” is not a common Australian term for exiting a party without saying goodbye. This line has now been removed from the first paragraph.
Trudy Meehan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
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