The US economy added 147,000 jobs in June, a sign of continuing strength in the labor market amid Donald Trump’s trade war.
The number of jobs added surpassed expectations, as economists largely anticipated a drop in openings. Instead, 8,000 more jobs were added in June compared with May, according to new job figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The unemployment rate actually decreased to 4.1%, down from 4.2% in May.
Job gains were seen in state government and healthcare, which saw increases of 47,000 and 39,000 jobs, respectively. Meanwhile, federal government job losses continued, with another 7,000 roles down in May, as the Trump administration continues to cut jobs. The total job loss in the federal government has been 69,000 since January.
Though the president’s tariffs have rocked the US stock market, which has seen a dramatic rebound after dipping down 15% in the spring, economists have been worrying that the labor market has just been slower to show sensitivity to the tariffs.
New data had shown employers showing signs of hesitancy. Payroll firm ADP found that the private sector lost 33,000 jobs in June, far below the 100,000 increase that was expected, and the first decrease since March 2023.
The dip in job openings doesn’t necessarily mean companies are laying off more workers; rather, they are creating fewer new positions.
“Though layoffs continue to be rare, a hesitancy to hire and a reluctance to replace departing workers led to job losses last month,” said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP, in a statement.
Data from BLS that measures job openings and turnovers in the labor market found that while job openings had climbed in May, to its highest level since November, the vast majority of openings were concentrated in the leisure and hospitality industry. Economists with Citigroup said the spike in new jobs could be temporary as companies opened new positions in response to Trump’s crackdown on immigrants, fearing that immigrant employees could lose work permits.
The White House has spent the last few months downplaying the impact tariffs have on the domestic economy, despite anxiety from both consumers and businesses over the impact tariffs have on prices.
The deadline for Trump’s 90-day pause on some of his highest tariffs is scheduled to expire next week, as the White House tries to broker deals with dozens of countries that could face high tariffs.
The White House announced on Tuesday a deal with Vietnam, whose products were scheduled to face a 46% tariff. The country agreed to a 20% tariff rate, with no tariffs placed on US exports. The deal with Vietnam follows deals Trump has made with the UK and China, but there are dozens of other countries whose exports could face high tariffs without a deal.
Amid economic uncertainty, Trump has tried to pass blame onto the Federal Reserve and its chair, Jerome Powell. On Monday, Trump sent an open letter to Powell demanding that the Fed lower interest rates.
“He’s costing us a fortune because he keeps the rate way up,” Trump wrote on social media.
Powell, in turn, has said that the Fed has not lowered interest rates because of economic uncertainty caused by Trump’s tariffs.
“In effect, we went on hold when we saw the size of the tariffs,” Powell said. “Essentially all inflation forecasts for the United States went up materially as a consequence of the tariffs.”
A remarkable documentary is providing insight into the propaganda found within Russian schools. Mr. Nobody Against Putin, directed by David Borenstein, premiered at the 2025 Sundance film festival in January, where it won the world cinema documentary special jury award.
The film was recorded over two years by Pavel “Pasha” Talankin, an events coordinator and videographer at a high school in Karabash, a heavily polluted town in central southern Russia. The documentary records the intensification of Kremlin-directed ultra-nationalist and pro-war propaganda within the Russian schooling system, which has intensified since the escalation of the war against Ukraine in February 2022.
Talankin makes clear his view that this approach to “education” represents a moral wrong, and he is very much on point with the writings of the key ethicists on the subject. American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, for example, wrote that “education is both a tool of propaganda in the hands of dominant groups, and a means of emancipation for subject classes”.
Niebhur was writing about the education system in the US during the 1920s, when there was a widespread understanding that propaganda was used in these two ways. Talankin’s concern is that Russia has moved to a position of imbalance, where the “dominant groups” have too much influence and are using their power to corrupt the minds of children through disingenuous narratives about national servitude, sacrifice and conformity, coupled with the unsubtle threat that those who are not patriots are “parasites”.
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In their highly respected book Propaganda & Persuasion (1986), propaganda experts Garth Jowett and Victoria O’Donnell state that “to analyse propaganda, one needs to be able to identify it”. This is a difficult task because propaganda thrives through symbols, the subliminal and in fictional works precisely because the audience is not conscious of it.
However, the creation of an environment that uses propaganda is also depends on who is given the oxygen of publicity and who is marginalised. These are the conditions under which ideological indoctrination occurs and power is achieved or maintained.
As such, a critical analyst of propaganda must assess the linguistic strategy, the information strategy, the eminence strategy (how to ensure that the target audience are watching, reading or listening to the desired content) and the staging strategy of the communicator. This can be remembered through the helpful L.I.E.S. mnemonic.
The trailer for Mr. Nobody versus Putin.
Talankin’s footage shows how Russian schools now promote distorted versions of European history. The well-trodden narrative that Ukraine has been taken over by neo-Nazis is referred to several times in lessons. Russian flags appear with greater frequency around the school as time goes on, and assembly time becomes an exercise in pledging allegiance to the fatherland.
Teachers are expected to read from scripts prepared for them by the ministry of education. Pupils then respond with choreographed answers – some even glancing down at notes under their desks. The children are told about how dreadful life in France and the UK is because of their reliance on Russian fossil fuels.
Interestingly, the Kremlin has asked that all of this be videoed and uploaded to a central database to ensure compliance with national regulations on what is taught in schools. Indeed, Talankin complains at one point that much of his time is now spent uploading the videos rather than actually teaching the students and helping them to be creative – as his job previously was.
Shared humanity
Talankin takes us on a tour of his city. He shows a pro-war rally that is broadly supported by the townsfolk. Or at least those in opposition dare not say anything or engage in an equivalent demonstration. He takes us to the civic library, theoretically a site of independent learning but which has been hijacked by these propaganda efforts.
Perhaps the most important moments of the documentary though are the snippets of critique and the sense of “knowing” that Talankin is keen to show. The young girl who jokingly tells her teacher to “blink twice if you’re lying”, and to which all her class then laugh. His interactions with other teachers who confide in him that they know that the propaganda is bullshit, but, worried for their status and prosperity, go along with it.
The propaganda is pretty poor though. It is clunky and obvious, and, while it might generate some short-term influence, it smacks of both arrogance and desperation on the part of the Kremlin. Indeed, it shows that there is no desire on the part of central government for Russian people to thrive intellectually.
Pavel Talankin was a school videographer in Russia. Courtesy of Pavel Talankin
This scenario is reminiscent of the end of the Soviet era, when communist propaganda continued to prevail, but few still believed it. Nevertheless, without a clear alternative to follow, or obvious alternative leader to guide them, most people continued to abide.
The most harrowing part of the documentary comes towards the end when Talankin provides an audio recording of the funeral of a local lad who has been killed in Ukraine. He did not dare film the funeral as this is a cultural faux pas, but the screams and wails of the mother as her son is laid to rest are piercing. The scene seems intended to bring our shared humanity to bare.
Talankin is a nice guy with intelligence and ethical fortitude. The kids are funny, charming and talented. The mother is doing what we would all do if we had lost a child to a violent death. As such, Mr. Nobody Against Putin might better be called Mr. Everybody Against Putin, as should be of grave concern to everyone that Russia’s education system is resorting to such techniques.
Scientists at the University of Sydney have discovered a malfunctioning brain protein linked to Parkinson’s – which could lead to new therapies for the debilitating condition in the future.
New research from the University of Sydney has uncovered a key brain protein involved in the development of Parkinson’s disease, and identified a way to modify it, offering hope for future treatments.
Led by Professor Kay Double at the Brain and Mind Centre, the team has spent over a decade investigating the biological mechanisms that drive Parkinson’s. The condition affects more than 10 million people worldwide and is the second most common neurological disorder after dementia.
From discovery to breakthrough
In 2017, Professor Double’s team published a study identifying the abnormal presence of a protein called SOD1 in the brains of people with Parkinson’s. While SOD1 normally serves a protective function in the brain, in Parkinson’s patients it becomes faulty, clumping together and damaging neurons.
Building on this, the latest study, published in Acta Neuropathologica Communications, has shown that targeting this malfunctioning protein can dramatically improve motor function in animal models.
“All the mice we treated saw a dramatic improvement in their motor skills which is a really promising sign it could be effective in treating people who have Parkinson disease too,” said Professor Double. “We hoped that by treating this malfunctioning protein, we might be able to improve the Parkinson-like symptoms in the mice we were treating – but even we were astonished by the success of the intervention.”
Treating the protein with copper
The study involved two groups of mice bred to show Parkinson’s-like symptoms. One group was treated for three months with a special copper supplement, while the other received a placebo.
The results showed that mice in the placebo group continued to experience worsening motor symptoms
The results showed that mice in the placebo group continued to experience worsening motor symptoms. However, the mice treated with the copper supplement were protected from these effects and retained normal movement.
“The results were beyond our expectations and suggest, once further studies are carried out, this treatment approach could slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease in humans,” Professor Double said.
Understanding Parkinson’s disease
Parkinson’s disease occurs when dopamine-producing cells in the brain die off, resulting in tremors, stiffness, slow movements and poor balance. While the exact causes remain unclear, this research strengthens the case that the faulty SOD1 protein is a key player in its progression.
“As our understanding of Parkinson’s disease grows, we are finding that there are many factors contributing to its development and progression in humans – and faulty forms of the SOD1 protein is likely one of them,” said Professor Double.
Toward multi-faceted treatments
The findings also point to the need for combination therapies, echoing lessons from other complex diseases.
“Just as researchers found with HIV, Parkinson’s disease is a complex condition that likely requires multiple interventions. A single treatment may have a small effect when used alone but, when combined with other interventions, contributes to a significant overall improvement in health,” Professor Double added.
What’s next?
The team’s next goal is to determine how best to target the faulty SOD1 protein in human clinical trials. If successful, it could be the beginning of a new class of treatments aimed at slowing – or even halting – the progression of Parkinson’s disease.
Related topics Animal Models, Central Nervous System (CNS), Drug Discovery, Drug Discovery Processes, Neurons, Neuroprotection, Neurosciences, Protein, Targets, Therapeutics, Translational Science
The full Moon rises just after 22:00 BST (21:00 UT) on 10 July.
Being so low against the background stars, it creeps slowly across the sky at a very shallow inclination, appearing just 6° above the southeast horizon at 23:40 BST (22:40 UT).
Even when due south and at its highest position above the horizon at 01:30 BST (00:30 UT) on 11 July, it only attains an altitude of 10° as seen from the middle of the UK, although it will get higher when viewed from more southerly latitudes within the Northern Hemisphere.
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July’s full Moon is a low one. This image of the full Moon was captured by Lee Mansfield, Darwen, Lancashire, UK, 20 July 2024
The decline to moonset is equally as shallow, the Moon setting behind the southwest horizon around 04:50 BST (03:50 UT).
With such a low declination and shallow pass across the southern horizon, this is a great time to experience the Moon illusion, the strange optical effect of the Moon appearing enormous when it’s close to the horizon.
Let’s look at the science behind behind why some full Moons are higher or lower than others.
The low rising Moon appears much larger than its higher-altitude counterpart, thanks to the Moon illusion. Credit: Pete Lawrence
Low and high full Moons explained
A full Moon occurs when the Moon is opposite the Sun in the sky or, in other words, when its ecliptic longitude is 180° from the Sun.
The ecliptic is the great circle representing the projection of Earth’s orbital plane into space and, as a result, marks the apparent path of the Sun against the stars.
Th ecliptic is the apparent path the Sun takes across the sky
The Moon’s orbit is inclined to the ecliptic by around 5°.
Imagine Earth’s orbit as a hoop (the ecliptic). Lay a second hoop on the first hoop and tilt it by 5°.
At certain times, the Moon will be above Earth’s hoop and at other times it will be below it.
The two points where the hoops intersect are known as nodes.
Credit: Pete Lawrence
The node where the Moon’s orbit takes the Moon from south to north is an ascending node, the other being a descending node.
The nodes precess around the ecliptic once in 18.6 years, affecting the Moon’s declination offset from the celestial equator.
The maximum offset is equal to Earth’s axial tilt (23.5°) plus the ecliptic tilt of the Moon’s orbit (5°), resulting in a maximum declination of +28.5° or –28.5°.
This is known as a ‘major lunar standstill’.
A ‘minor lunar standstill’ occurs when the maximum offset is minimised and equals Earth’s axial tilt minus the tilt of the Moon’s orbit: a maximum declination of +18.5° or –18.5°.
Currently, we’re in the wake of a major lunar standstill and this is very evident with the full Moon on the night of 10/11 July.
Credit: Pete Lawrence
Observing the Moon illusion on 10 July
If the conditions are clear, try to catch the Moon just after rising or before setting.
This can be tricky as even a bright full Moon will be affected by low atmospheric haze.
Very close to the horizon, this Moon will look artificially huge. Despite this, hold your little finger up at arm’s length and it’ll easily cover it up!
Find out more about how to debunk this optical trick with our guide on how to photograph the Moon illusion.
If you do observe the 10 July 2025 full Moon, or photograph it, get in touch via contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com
It isn’t a bird, it isn’t a plane and it certainly isn’t Superman – but it does appear to be a visitor from beyond our solar system, according to astronomers who have discovered a new object hurtling through our cosmic neighbourhood.
The object, originally called A11pl3Z and now known as 3I/Atlas, was first reported by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (Atlas) survey telescope in Rio Hurtado, Chile, on Tuesday.
According to Nasa, subsequent analysis of data collected by various telescopes before this date have extended observations back to 14 June; while further observations have also been made. As a result, experts have been plotting the path of the visitor.
Now about 416m miles away from the Sun and travelling from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius, the object is believed to be whizzing through the solar system at about 60km/s relative to the sun on a highly eccentric, hyperbolic orbit – suggesting that, like the cigar-shaped object ’Oumuamua that appeared in 2017 and the comet 2I/Borisov that turned up in 2019, it is a visitor from afar.
Dr Mark Norris, senior lecturer in astronomy at the University of Central Lancashire, said: “If confirmed, it will be the third known interstellar object from outside our solar system that we have discovered, providing more evidence that such interstellar wanderers are relatively common in our galaxy.”
While the nature of the new visitor was not initially apparent, the Minor Planet Center has revealed that tentative signs of cometary activity have been spotted, noting the object has a marginal coma and short tail. As a result the object has been given the additional name of C/2025 N1.
While some experts have suggested the object could be as large as 12 miles (20km) in diameter – bigger than the space rock that wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs – it seems Earth residents don’t need to worry.
Nasa said: “The comet poses no threat to Earth and will remain at a distance of at least 1.6 astronomical units [about 150m miles].” It said the object would reach its closest approach to the sun around 30 October, coming within about 130m miles of the star – or just within the orbit of Mars. The comet is then expected to leave this solar system and head back out into the cosmos.
Norris said: “As it gets closer, it’s expected to brighten, especially if it turns out to be a comet rather than an asteroid. By the time it makes its closest approach, it will be a relatively easy target for amateur astronomers to observe.”
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For those who cannot wait that long, the Virtual Telescope Project, a network of robotic telescopes, is expecting to host a live feed on its YouTube channel from 11pm UK time on Thursday.
In Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, Sam Porter Bridges once again makes the journey across the hauntingly beautiful and dangerous terrain. This time, he’s not doing it solo—or at least, not without some hard-core machinery assistance. Skeletons-exoskeleton suits-are some of the most precious weapons in Sam’s arsenal.
The Battle Skeleton
Your first exoskeleton is the Battle Skeleton, and that’s exactly what you’d expect – a combat-centric slice of kit that transforms Sam into a frontline bruiser. You’ll crack it open in Order 10, when you link the Western Environmental Observatory to the Chiral Network.When activated, this skeleton enhances Sam’s stamina, makes him faster, and most critically, enables you to carry more equipment all while delivering decent damage resistance. In the more combat-heavy sequel, that last bit is a life saver. Upgrades are linked to your relationship with the Observatory, so the better your relationship, the better your skeleton.Tip: Pre-ordering players or deluxe edition buyers will receive exclusive Silver or Gold variants that beautifies and potentially increases durability.
How to Equip a Skeleton in Death Stranding 2 On the Beach
The Boost Skeleton
Trying to outrun BTs, MULEs or just the rain itself? Enter the Boost Skeleton, a battery powered engineered for one thing ,speed and momentum. It opens up on Order 21, when you finish the delivery associated with The Dowser, a prepper unlocked by the main story.This exoskeleton reintroduces the fan-favorite speed-based mechanics from the original game, and it’s particularly helpful whenever Sam has to traverse ground quickly. In combat, linking it with jump strikes transforms Sam into a man-missile.Tip: Boost Skeletons suck battery quickly, combine it with mobile generators or location-based recharge nodes.
The Bokka Skeleton
Don’t let the poetic moniker fool you, the Bokka Skeleton is for gnarly terrain. This skeleton doesn’t come around until much later, Order 30, and is unlocked by bonding with East Fort Knot.Built for elevation and rough trails, this is the frame you’ll count on when the route goes alpine and ruthless. Unlike the rest, it’s not associated with that same prepper Bokka (weird, right?). Instead, it’s a story unlock that indicates you’re entering the most challenging terrains to date.Tip: Without the Bokka Skeleton, you’ll exhaust your stamina quicker, stumble over rocks, and risk hurting your load or worse.
Don’t MISS These INSANE Upgrades & Unlocks In Death Stranding 2! | Death Stranding 2 Tips
Tips and Tricks
Each skeleton in Death Stranding 2 is purpose-designed, and knowing when to swap them out can be the difference between success and failure. Going into battle? Battle On. Need to do a timed delivery across flatlands? Boost is your pal. Confronting snowy summits and jagged ridges? Don’t step out without the Bokka.
As you forge stronger bonds with facilities and preppers, you’ll unlock higher-tier variations of each skeleton. These additions tend to make things more rugged, less power hungry, and enhance fundamental attributes such as speed or load.
Skeletons aren’t just wearable updates, they’re survival tools in a game that keeps pushing how you navigate the world. Each type complements a different playstyle or mission need, and unlocking them at just the right moment makes your path as Sam not just manageable. It is empowering.
Whether you’re striding into battle, running across chiral wastelands, or scaling a snowy cliff, the right skeleton could wonder-carry you home.
Ring’s indoor camera that has a motorized base to give you a 360-degree view is cheaper than ever in a Prime Day deal. The Pan-Tilt Indoor Cam normally goes for $80, but it’s dropped to just $40 for the Amazon savings event. That’s even lower than the previous all-time low price of $50 that we’ve seen during other sales. The Pan-Tilt camera comes in five colors: Black, Blush, Charcoal, Starlight and White.
Ring
The Pan-Tilt camera can spin 360 degrees for a better view, and it’s half off now.
$40 at Amazon
Ring introduced the Pan-Tilt Indoor Cam in 2024. It can spin a full 360 degrees on its base, and tilts up and down with a tilt range of 169 degrees. That makes it especially helpful for keeping tabs on pets and other goings-on in the home. It offers live views in addition to 24/7 recording, and supports two-way talk for when you want to check-in with a family member. The Pan-Tilt Cam also offers HD color video day and night.
The camera has a physical shutter as well, for when you want to be sure it’s not watching. Sliding this will cover the camera, and Ring says it’ll also disable the audio and video feeds. Setup should be easy with the Ring app, but if you aren’t already in the Ring ecosystem, you’ll need a subscription to use this camera. Ring offers three subscription options at $4.99, $9.99 and $19.99 per month.
After decades of debate over how to honour the women who used to work in the city’s shirt factories, Derry has produced a sculpture of three giant spools of thread cast in bronze.
Ranging in height from 2 to 3.5 metres (6.5-11.5ft), the monuments loom over Harbour Square to recall an era when thousands of girls and women worked in dozens of factories that made the Northern Irish city a world leader in shirt production.
However, some former workers are aghast and say the decision to use abstract symbols rather than female figures occludes their role from history. “This gesture fell way short of what we hoped for – we feel airbrushed out of it,” Clare Moore told the BBC this week.
Before the official unveiling last month, several former workers staged a protest and held a banner saying “these factory girls say no”. There had been no proper consultation and the bronze spools did not accurately resemble the ones they used in the factories, they said.
Derry city and Strabane district council had hoped the £187,000 design would draw a line under a troubled 20-year stop-start quest to represent the city’s industrial heritage with public art. The council called the artwork a “fitting tribute” and said it had fully engaged with the former workers.
Quotes from former factory shirt workers resemble a thread from one of the spools. Photograph: Chris Wilson
Chris Wilson, the artist behind the sculpture, said at least two years of consultations included a day-long workshop that showed a model of the artwork to dozens of former workers, who at that meeting raised no objections.
“They all seemed onboard with the idea,” Wilson told the Guardian. “I’ve never worked on a project that had such an extensive and transparent process.”
The sculptures are not figurative but “almost anthropomorphic” in suggesting a group of people, with textures and shadows to evoke memory, he said. “The factories are all gone but what came across to me, in talks with the ladies, was their memories and recollections and friendships.”
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One of the bronze spools emits what appears to be a loose thread around the base but is in fact quotes from some former workers, Wilson said. “I’ve been told that public art is like sport. Everybody has opinion and is entitled to have an opinion.”
Many modern devices – from cellphones and computers to electric vehicles and wind turbines – rely on strong magnets made from a type of minerals called rare earths. As the systems and infrastructure used in daily life have turned digital and the United States has moved toward renewable energy, accessing these minerals has become critical – and the markets for these elements have grown rapidly.
Modern society now uses rare earth magnets in everything from national defense, where magnet-based systems are integral to missile guidance and aircraft, to the clean energy transition, which depends on wind turbines and electric vehicles.
The rapid growth of the rare earth metal trade and its effects on society isn’t the only case study of its kind. Throughout history, materials have quietly shaped the trajectory of human civilization. They form the tools people use, the buildings they inhabit, the devices that mediate their relationships and the systems that structure economies. Newly discovered materials can set off ripple effects that shape industries, shift geopolitical balances and transform people’s daily habits.
Materials science is the study of the atomic structure, properties, processing and performance of materials. In many ways, materials science is a discipline of immense social consequence.
As a materials scientist, I’m interested in what can happen when new materials become available. Glass, steel and rare earth magnets are all examples of how innovation in materials science has driven technological change and, as a result, shaped global economies, politics and the environment.
How innovation shapes society: Pressures from societal and political interests (orange arrows) drive the creation of new materials and the technologies that such materials enable (center). The ripple effects resulting from people using these technologies change the entire fabric of society (blue arrows). Peter Mullner
Glass lenses and the scientific revolution
In the early 13th century, after the sacking of Constantinople, some excellent Byzantine glassmakers left their homes to settle in Venice – at the time a powerful economic and political center. The local nobility welcomed the glassmakers’ beautiful wares. However, to prevent the glass furnaces from causing fires, the nobles exiled the glassmakers – under penalty of death – to the island of Murano.
Murano became a center for glass craftsmanship. In the 15th century, the glassmaker Angelo Barovier experimented with adding the ash from burned plants, which contained a chemical substance called potash, to the glass.
The potash reduced the melting temperature and made liquid glass more fluid. It also eliminated bubbles in the glass and improved optical clarity. This transparent glass was later used in magnifying lenses and spectacles.
Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press, completed in 1455, made reading more accessible to people across Europe. With it came a need for reading glasses, which grew popular among scholars, merchants and clergy – enough that spectacle-making became an established profession.
By the early 17th century, glass lenses evolved into compound optical devices. Galileo Galilei pointed a telescope toward celestial bodies, while Antonie van Leeuwenhoek discovered microbial life with a microscope.
The glass lens of the Vera Rubin Observatory, which surveys the night sky. Large Synoptic Survey Telescope/Vera Rubin Observatory, CC BY
Lens-based instruments have been transformative. Telescopes have redefined long-standing cosmological views. Microscopes have opened entirely new fields in biology and medicine.
These changes marked the dawn of empirical science, where observation and measurement drove the creation of knowledge. Today, the James Webb Space Telescope and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory continue those early telescopes’ legacies of knowledge creation.
Steel and empires
In the late 18th and 19th centuries, the Industrial Revolution created demand for stronger, more reliable materials for machines, railroads, ships and infrastructure. The material that emerged was steel, which is strong, durable and cheap. Steel is a mixture of mostly iron, with small amounts of carbon and other elements added.
Countries with large-scale steel manufacturing once had outsized economic and political power and influence over geopolitical decisions. For example, the British Parliament intended to prevent the colonies from exporting finished steel with the iron act of 1750. They wanted the colonies’ raw iron as supply for their steel industry in England.
Benjamin Huntsman invented a smelting process using 3-foot tall ceramic vessels, called crucibles, in 18th-century Sheffield. Huntsman’s crucible process produced higher-quality steel for tools and weapons.
One hundred years later, Henry Bessemer developed the oxygen-blowing steelmaking process, which drastically increased production speed and lowered costs. In the United States, figures such as Andrew Carnegie created a vast industry based on Bessemer’s process.
The widespread availability of steel transformed how societies built, traveled and defended themselves. Skyscrapers and transit systems made of steel allowed cities to grow, steel-built battleships and tanks empowered militaries, and cars containing steel became staples in consumer life.
White-hot steel pouring out of an electric arc furnace in Brackenridge, Penn. Alfred T. Palmer/U.S. Library of Congress
Control over steel resources and infrastructure made steel a foundation of national power. China’s 21st-century rise to steel dominance is a continuation of this pattern. From 1995 to 2015, China’s contribution to the world steel production increased from about 10% to more than 50%. The White House responded in 2018 with massive tariffs on Chinese steel.
Rare earth metals and global trade
Early in the 21st century, the advance of digital technologies and the transition to an economy based on renewable energies created a demand for rare earth elements.
Offshore turbines use several tons of rare earth magnets to transform wind into electricity. Hans Hillewaert/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA
Rare earth elements are 17 chemically very similar elements, including neodymium, dysprosium, samarium and others. They occur in nature in bundles and are the ingredients that make magnets super strong and useful. They are necessary for highly efficient electric motors, wind turbines and electronic devices.
Because of their chemical similarity, separating and purifying rare earth elements involves complex and expensive processes.
China controls the majority of global rare earth processing capacity. Political tensions between countries, especially around trade tariffs and strategic competition, can risk shortages or disruptions in the supply chain.
The rare earth metals case illustrates how a single category of materials can shape trade policy, industrial planning and even diplomatic alliances.
Mining rare earth elements has allowed for the widespread adoption of many modern technologies. Peggy Greb, USDA
Technological transformation begins with societal pressure. New materials create opportunities for scientific and engineering breakthroughs. Once a material proves useful, it quickly becomes woven into the fabric of daily life and broader systems. With each innovation, the material world subtly reorganizes the social world — redefining what is possible, desirable and normal.
Understanding how societies respond to new innovations in materials science can help today’s engineers and scientists solve crises in sustainability and security. Every technical decision is, in some ways, a cultural one, and every material has a story that extends far beyond its molecular structure.
Parliamentary committee raises alarm over climate risks, ineffective disaster systems
Early warning systems, glacier melt, and urban flooding under scrutiny
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – A meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Climate Change was held today to discuss key issues, including climate change, flood threats, and the melting of glaciers across Pakistan.
The session was attended by committee members and officials from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
Committee member Sahibzada Sibghatullah expressed strong concerns about the effectiveness of the early warning system, saying, “The reality on the ground is that the early warning system that has been developed has proven ineffective.” He added that a bridge in his constituency was washed away during recent floods, yet no concrete steps have been taken to repair it. He stressed that disaster management is not solely a provincial issue and that the NDMA must also fulfill its responsibilities, especially when the situation becomes severe.
Responding to the concerns, the NDMA Chairman explained that while most disaster-related matters fall under provincial jurisdiction, the NDMA steps in when the situation escalates.
He emphasised the need to strengthen District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMAs), as their current capacity is limited.
The NDMA Chairman warned that poor sanitation in urban areas is contributing to urban flooding. He urged provincial governments to prevent human settlements along riverbanks and natural water flow paths.
During a briefing on glacier monitoring, NDMA officials informed the committee that the authority is keeping a close watch through the Global Glacier Monitoring Portal. They noted that the process of glacier melting has been ongoing for several years, which poses increasing risks of water scarcity and flooding in the future.
The NDMA Chairman highlighted that the agency is equipped with a modern control room, drones, and other advanced technologies capable of transporting up to 100 kilograms of supplies. He also noted that NDMA conducts emergency drills in collaboration with other agencies and shares all relevant information with provincial disaster authorities.
He further warned that Pakistan is rapidly losing its forest cover, which exacerbates climate-related threats. While the NDMA issues early warnings up to six months in advance, he stressed that without effective action at the ground level, these warnings cannot lead to meaningful results.
The meeting was also informed that more rainfall is forecasted in late July for Islamabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Upper Punjab, and relevant institutions have been directed to remain on high alert.
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