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Social scientists have argued that good communication around risks in climate hazards requires information to be presented in a user-relevant way, allowing people to better understand the factors controlling those risks. We present a potentially useful way of doing this by explaining future UK winter precipitation in terms of changes in the frequency, and associated average rainfall, of local pressure patterns that people are familiar with through their use in daily weather forecasts. We apply this approach to a perturbed parameter ensemble (PPE) of coupled HadGEM3-GC3.05 simulations of the RCP8.5 emissions scenario, which formed part of the UK Climate Projections in 2018. The enhanced winter precipitation by 2050–99 is largely due to an increased tendency towards westerly and south-westerly conditions at the expense of northerly/easterly conditions. Daily precipitation is generally more intense, most notably for the south-westerlies. In turn, we show that the changes in the frequency of the pressure patterns are consistent with changes in larger scale drivers of winter circulation and our understanding of how they relate to each other; this should build user confidence in the projections. Across the PPE, these changes in pressure patterns are largely driven by changes in the strength of the stratospheric polar vortex; for most members the vortex strengthens over the twenty-first century, some beyond the CMIP6 range. The PPE only explores a fraction of the CMIP6 range of tropical amplification, another key driver. These two factors explain why the PPE is skewed towards exploring the more westerly side of the CMIP6 range, so that the PPE's description of UK winter precipitation changes does not provide a full picture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is currently a certain pressure from various mnemonic communities, animated by vernacular interests, to canonize new saints within what is regarded as the flawed saints' cultural-political movement. Among these new, uncanonized saints, whose memory is commemorated unofficially in various cultural-political registers, there is also the football star Diego Armando Maradona, called by his millions of fans "the Hand of God" (La Mano de Dios). The commemorative culture that thrived around Maradona's persona—materialized in artefacts, shrines, icon-like paintings, prints, graffiti, stencils, and other memorabilia—do not fit the customary narratives of sainthood, nor to the display and content of the recently inaugurated (2023) memorial to the new martyrs of both the 20th and 21st centuries at Saint Bartholomew Basilica in Rome. The article argues that the commemoration of Maradona by his fans in Italy, Argentina, and worldwide is enacted in pop culture formats aimed at addressing different sets of contemporary mnemonic and spiritual needs. The aim is to offer a fresh conceptual engagement with the contemporary cultural-political phenomenon of "flawed saints" commemoration through the lens of contemporary popular culture, taking the culture of commemoration of Diego Maradona as a case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Broadband is not equally accessible among students despite its increasing importance to education. We investigate the relationship between broadband and housing policy by joining two measures of broadband access with Depression-era redlining maps that classified neighborhoods based in part on racist and classist beliefs. We find that despite internet service provider self-reports of similar technological availability, broadband access generally decreases in tandem with historic neighborhood classification, with further heterogeneity by race/ethnicity and income. Our findings demonstrate how past federally-developed housing policies connect to the digital divide and should be considered in educational policies that require broadband for success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current generation of children must grow up with different competencies to thrive in this highly complex and interconnected world. Amongst others, we need to equip them with twenty-first century skills that include curiosity, self-direction, creativity, innovation, and an inquiring mindset. We are short-changing our children if we teach them the way we were taught. In this era, education must emphasise discovery and facilitate inquiry and problem-solving, and learning should be self-directed and collaborative, as well as meaningful and transferable. From this perspective, teacher education cannot be about teacher training. It must be about developing professional leaders in the field of education. Drawing from Singapore's experience of preparing teachers for the twenty-first century, this paper will touch on the four pillars of teacher education in the recent development of the Nanyang Technological University-National Institute of Education Teaching Scholars Programme, the enhanced Bachelor of Arts/Science (Education), and the 16-month Postgraduate Diploma in Education Programmes. The four pillars are deepening professionalism, strengthening practice, broadening pedagogies, and developing perspectives. In essence, the paper will focus on developing thinking professionals through (1) ownership of learning and inquiry that deepen professionalism; (2) reflective practice and focused conversations that strengthen teaching competencies and crystallise teacher identity; (3) pedagogical innovations and technology-enabled learning that develop facilitators of learning and architects of learning environment; and (4) a three-pronged approach of the 'community as coach', the 'industry as partner', and the 'world as our classroom' that facilitates a worldview and fosters new ways of thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the importance of transformative agricultural research and development systems in addressing climate change and ensuring food security. The authors emphasize the need for game-changing innovations that are climate-resilient, sustainable, and equitable. They argue for a shift in research approaches, with a focus on transdisciplinary partnerships and the co-creation of knowledge. The article also highlights the underrepresentation of social science in climate change research and calls for the inclusion of diverse social science disciplines in agricultural research organizations. It emphasizes the importance of understanding gender and social norms in agricultural development and the need for more generalists who can support integration. The text emphasizes the value of interdisciplinary thinking and the need for transdisciplinary partnerships to address global environmental challenges. It also highlights the importance of building trustful partnerships, addressing power asymmetries, and embracing qualitative and quantitative research approaches. The article suggests that agricultural research organizations should employ more researchers who can combine science and humanism to address urgent concerns like climate change. The document provides a list of references to various articles and publications related to interdisciplinary research, climate change, agriculture, and sustainability, offering a diverse range of perspectives for library patrons conducting research on these topics. [Extracted from the article]

In honor of its 50th anniversary, the World Futures Studies Federation (WFSF) held its XXV World Conference in Paris. The conference provided a venue for reviewing earlier developments and reevaluating prospective directions in the futures field. Scientific-based futures studies has a long history, drawing from a variety of fields including sociology, policy sciences, philosophy of science, economic prognostics, and environmental sustainability. Futures studies became widely acknowledged as an academic discipline in the 1960s when it became evident in the global scientific community. The 1970s saw a focus on global challenges and discussions about preferred futures. The synthesis of futures studies emerged in the 1980s and 1990s, with critical and evolutionary approaches contributing to the advancement of theoretical foundations. The twenty-first century focuses on anticipation and futures literacy, the development of post-normal, metamodern, and integral approaches, and the attainment of foresight in common practice. Future research is expected to focus on various aspects, including artificial general intelligence (AGI), socio-technical transitions, singularity, sustainability, societal collapses, entrepreneurial innovation, energy futures, decolonization, negation and post-prefix notions, systemic foresight, applied foresight, and on-site foresight. Future research activities are expected to also include research objects, policy challenges, and problems that do not yet exist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the concept of mission in higher education and how it has evolved over time. It acknowledges the lack of consensus among stakeholders regarding the purpose of higher education, with students and parents focusing on future job prospects and faculty and administrators emphasizing intellectual growth. The article examines different dimensions of mission, such as audience, content, place, and intended impact, and provides examples of institutions with diverse missions. It emphasizes the importance of defining and articulating a clear mission for higher education institutions, as well as aligning stakeholders to achieve institutional goals. [Extracted from the article]

In this paper we discuss the creation of the Stephen Hawking Archive through processes of collaboration, and human and technological mediation. We focus on the production of documents including scientific and popular writings, correspondence and lectures in different media and forms of communication from handwriting, diagrams and typing to word processing and digital communication. We consider these processes to think about what is important in the Stephen Hawking Archive, including where authorship is located, and what this shows about scientific collaboration and communication in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century. We also briefly consider how archivists have mediated the Archive since it was received by Cambridge University Library (CUL) in 2021 through its arrangement and description, and we look forward to developing the Archive in the future, including the possibility of acquiring further digital files to include in the Archive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the Ukrainian Revolution on Granite from two perspectives—on one hand as a starting point for Ukraine's independence aspirations, and on the other as a prototype for subsequent Ukrainian revolutions. This Revolution constitutes an example of an event whose significance was discovered many years later. Although it was partially successful, and more importantly it should be treated as one of the milestones on the road to Ukraine's independence, until the second decade of the twenty-first century it was assigned marginal significance and almost ignored as a research subject. This article searches for the basic factors of the Revolution's success, based on the methodology provided by civil resistance theory and thus concentrating on its internal factors, especially on its objectives, strategy, and methods of struggle. One of the main purposes is to analyze the sources of experiences from which the leaders of the protests drew. The Revolution on Granite is also presented as the inaugural event of a new chapter in the tradition of protests in Ukraine by introducing new elements. Although later protests, especially the Orange Revolution (2003) and the Euromaidan (2013–2014), received inspiration from many symbols and experiences of other countries, the thread of the Ukrainian tradition became permanent, even though it was subject to changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I analyze the warnings I gave prior to the new millennium concerning the possibility of terrorism visiting American soil. The sources of the problem are discussed in detail. These warnings were not showcased in academic journals gathering dust on some university library shelve. They were given to a variety of governmental agencies as well as discussed in the mainstream media. My sources are revealed for all to see. Unfortunately, my prognostications proved accurate when hijacked planes slammed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do digital technologies of early 21st century capitalism promote or reduce consumer sovereignty? This chapter addresses this question by examining John Kenneth Galbraith's critique of consumer sovereignty during the post-war period of industrial society and looks at the insights he provides to understand the impact of platform capitalism on consumer sovereignty today. This chapter has the following sections: (1) I review the main postulates of Galbraith's theory; (2) I highlight the main differences between traditional advertising and online behavioral advertising; (3) I explain how online behavioral advertisement strengthens Galbraith's dependence effect and revised sequence theories; (4) I then discuss normative challenges raised by digital platform corporations to individual sovereignty; and (5) finally, I argue that platform capitalism is a mature form of Galbraith's "new industrial state." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]