Category: English

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Gabriela Radulescu, Guggenheim Postdoctoral Fellow, Smithsonian Institution

As humans began to explore outer space in the latter half of the 20th century, radio waves proved a powerful tool. Scientists could send out radio waves to communicate with satellites, rockets and other spacecraft, and use radio telescopes to take in radio waves emitted by objects throughout the universe.

However, sometimes radio telescopes would pick up the artificial radio signals from telecommunications. This interference threatened sensitive astronomy observations, causing inaccurate data and even damaging equipment. While this interference frustrated scientists, it also sparked an idea.

During the Cold War, a new field emerged at the intersection of radio astronomy and radio communications. It put forward the idea that astronomers could search for radio communications from possibly existing extraterrestrial civilizations. Astronomy usually dealt with observing the universe’s natural phenomena. But this new field made the detection of technologically, or artificially produced radio waves, the object of a natural science.

This field has continued today and is now called the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, or SETI. SETI encompasses all that scientists do to search for intelligent life beyond Earth. It includes one of the original uses of radio telescopes: to study signals from across the galaxy in hopes of detecting intelligent messages.

When the idea behind SETI was first proposed and pursued in the 1960s, only two countries, the U.S. and the USSR, had the technical capability for it. As the only space powers at the time, they were the key actors affected by radio frequency interference.

As a historian of science, I’ve worked to make sense of what happened throughout the history of Soviet SETI during the space race by analyzing a range of primary sources. SETI captured the scientific imagination of many prominent Soviet astronomers in the 1960s and early 1970s.

Astronomers have not yet confirmed any detection of radio signals – or any other kinds of signs – from extraterrestrial civilizations. But many scientists are still searching, even as their bold ideas run into obstacles. Some evidence suggests humans might be the only intelligent life in the universe.

Soviet SETI: The golden age of radio astronomy

SETI is intertwined with the profound changes brought by radio astronomy. Up until the second part of the 20th century, scientists could see astronomical objects and phenomena only in optical or visible light. Optical light is the same kind of light that the human eye is sensitive to.

After World War II, scientists figured out that they could peacefully use radar antennas, developed for use in that war, to detect radio signals coming from objects out in the universe. Deciphering these signals allowed researchers to study astronomical objects in the universe. They learned, for example, about the most abundant element: hydrogen.

In the former Soviet Union, the prominent radio astronomy pioneer Iosif Samuilovich Shklovsky played a key role in detecting radio signals from hydrogen.

Scientists knew that every chemical element would absorb certain wavelengths of light and reflect others, and the light signals that an object absorbed or reflected could tell astronomers what element it was. Most hydrogen could not be observed directly in optical light, so astronomers didn’t spot it out in space until they started looking beyond the visible light spectrum.

Shklovsky figured out how to detect hydrogen with radio waves, which helped astronomers map the distribution and motion of hydrogen gas in and between galaxies.

Historians generally consider the year 1960 the start of the golden age of radio astronomy. After the detection of hydrogen, astronomers discovered previously unknown types of stars, such as pulsars and quasars. These phenomena offered scientists new insights into the nature of astrophysical phenomena and fundamental physics.

Shklovsky later grew fascinated with the possibility of using radio waves to contact other intelligent beings in the universe. In 1960, he published an article on this topic in one of the country’s most prestigious scientific journals.

Shklovsky’s article soon expanded into a widely popular book called “Universe, Life, Intelligence,” published in 1962. That same year, the USSR’s Academy of Sciences sent its first radio message in the direction of Venus from a radar in Crimea.

The experiment involved bouncing radio signals off the surface of Venus to transmit the following words using Morse code: Lenin, USSR and mir, which in Russian means both world and peace. Even though statistically increasing radio interference risk, this message was mainly symbolic. The Soviet Union wanted to depict its technological might and wasn’t expecting to communicate with extraterrestrials. Soviet SETI was thus not yet a real pursuit.

Starting an organized search

Shklovsky and the majority of other radio astronomers pursuing the search for extraterrestrial intelligence were all located in central Russia at the time. The USSR Academy of Sciences was also located there. But this group needed more formal measures to move their search from a few initiatives into a coordinated effort.

Due to concerns over unwanted public attention, the scientists organized a conference far from Moscow, at the Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory in the Soviet Republic of Armenia, in 1964. At this conference, researchers formed a group specifically dedicated to studying artificial radio signals from space. With this group, SETI became a top-down, state-led activity.

With this validation, scientists could now theoretically look for artificial signals, potentially from an alien origin. However, any discussions about artificial radio signals were subject to strict government surveillance, given the fact that military satellites depended on them, too.

Soviet scientists faced several obstacles. For example, their own government’s secrecy made coordination difficult. The Cold War also set limits on developing SETI internationally. However, they had a green light to search and study peculiar signals they suspected had artificial origin.

International collaboration

Efforts to collaborate internationally on artificial signals culminated in 1971 with a symposium, again at Byurakan. There, about 50 scientists – the majority from the U.S. and the USSR, but also some from Czechoslovakia, Hungary, the U.K. and Canada – agreed to disagree on how to best conduct SETI.

Some in attendance compared this gathering to Noah’s Ark, because an almost equal number of prominent scientists from East and West of the Iron Curtain managed to meet that year. And the gathering took place in Armenia at the foot of Mount Ararat, located in neighboring Turkey. This mountain is where archaeologists believe Noah’s Ark may have beached.

After almost a week of discussion at Byurakan, the two geopolitical blocks designated an official SETI group. That group still exists today, and it still connects researchers all around the world who conduct SETI research. Given the secrecy around radio signals in space, this international SETI group marked a momentous diplomatic achievement at the height of the Cold War.

SETI started in the Soviet Union with a few strong Moscow-based initiatives. It continued through group events in Armenia – from the first state-level Soviet conference to the international one.

SETI is the first and only domain of astronomy to study artificial radio signals themselves. It indirectly addressed radio frequency interference during a time when these frequencies were highly unregulated.

Stakeholder countries eventually addressed their radio frequency interference issues with international agreements on radio frequency usage and allocation. An international committee approved a feasible and comprehensive radio frequency allocation plan for the first time in the 1970s. This plan has been revised and renewed ever since. Today, space scientists and astronomers use an internationally agreed upon plan to minimize this interference.

Remarkably, SETI began even before this allocation plan. SETI continues its rich legacy today by continuing to search for signals – and along the way discovering new astrophysical objects and phenomena.

Gabriela Radulescu has received funding from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum as a Guggenheim Postdoctoral Fellow (2024-2025), from the American Institute of Physics for a Grant-in-Aid, as well as from the Elsa-Neumann Scholarship and the Technical University of Berlin Coordinating Office for Women’s Advancement and Gender Equality for her doctoral research.

– ref. SETI’s ‘Noah’s Ark’ – a space historian explores how the advent of radio astronomy led to the USSR’s search for extraterrestrial life – https://theconversation.com/setis-noahs-ark-a-space-historian-explores-how-the-advent-of-radio-astronomy-led-to-the-ussrs-search-for-extraterrestrial-life-262402

Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Huma Tariq Malik, Ph.D. Student in Soil and Crop Sciences, Colorado State University

As the world’s climate warms and droughts and water shortages are becoming more common, farmers are struggling to produce enough food. Farmers continue to adapt, but there are ways for you to help, too.

For decades, farmers have sought to conserve water in agriculture, with a focus on improving irrigation efficiency. That has included decreasing the practice of flood irrigation, in which water flows through trenches between rows of plants. Instead, many farmers are adopting more precise methods of delivering water to plants’ roots, such as sprinklers and drip systems.

In recent years, policymakers, researchers and consumers have come to look more closely at opportunities to conserve water throughout the entire process of growing, shipping, selling and eating food. Working with colleagues, we have identified several key ways to reduce water used in agriculture – some of which directly involve farmers, but two of which everyone can follow, to help reduce how much water is used to grow the food they eat.

Some work for farmers

Farmers can match crops to local land, water and climate conditions to reduce stress on scarce resources and make food production more sustainable in the long run. That could include reducing the amount of alfalfa and other hay crops used to feed livestock, or swapping out wheat and sorghum and instead planting corn and potatoes.

The condition of the soil also matters. Many farmers have focused on short-term productivity, relying on fertilizers or frequent tillage to boost yields from one season to the next. But over time, those practices wear down the soil, making it less fertile and less able to hold water.

Soil is not just a surface to grow things on. It is a living system that can be built and fed or depleted. Practices such as planting cover crops in the off-season to protect the soil, reducing tillage, applying compost and rotating different types of crops can all help soil hold more water and support crops even during droughts.

A choice for consumers

Adapting on-farm practices addresses only part of the water conservation effort. While crops are grown in fields, they move through a vast network of processors, distributors, supermarkets and households before being eaten, wasted or lost. At each link in this chain, consumers’ choices determine how much agricultural water is ultimately saved.

People’s dietary preferences, in particular, play a major role in agricultural water use. Producing meat requires significantly more water than growing plant-based foods.

Per capita, Americans consume nearly three times the global average amount of meat each year.

While eliminating meat altogether is not everyone’s goal, even modest shifts in diet, whether reducing overall meat consumption or selecting proteins that use less water to produce, can ease the strain. Producing a pound of beef requires an estimated 1,800 gallons of water, compared with about 500 gallons for a pound of chicken.

Replacing all meat with the equivalent quantities of plant-based foods with comparable nutrition profiles could cut the average American’s food-related water use by nearly 30%. Even replacing a small amount of meat with plant-based foods or meats that require less water can make a difference.

While a single meal may seem inconsequential, if multiplied across millions of households these choices translate into meaningful water savings.

A second savings opportunity

Perhaps the simplest and most powerful step people can take to save water used in agriculture is to cut back on food waste.

In the United States, 22% of total water use is tied to producing food that ultimately goes uneaten.

In developing countries, losses often result from limited storage and transportation, but in high-income nations like the United States, most waste happens at the retail and household level. In the U.S., households alone account for nearly 50% of all food discarded nationwide.

This creates a major opportunity for everyone to contribute to water conservation. Understanding the water embedded in different foods can make people more mindful about what ends up in the trash.

And on top of feeling good about helping the environment, there’s a financial reward: Wasting less food also means saving the money spent on food that would have gone to waste.

Huma Tariq Malik receives funding from USDA.

Thomas Borch receives funding from NSF, USDA, and NOAA.

– ref. 2 ways you can conserve the water used to make your food – https://theconversation.com/2-ways-you-can-conserve-the-water-used-to-make-your-food-267501

Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Emery Petchauer, Visiting Professor, Teachers College, Columbia University

Oklahoma has become a testing ground for reshaping public school curriculum to reflect conservative viewpoints, Make America Great Again priorities and a push for Christian nationalism in the classroom.

Oklahoma’s former state education Superintendent Ryan Walters oversaw several controversial education policies in recent years, including mandating in 2024 that all Oklahoma public teachers incorporate the Bible into their lesson plans.

Walters resigned from his position in September 2025 to lead Teacher Freedom Alliance, a conservative advocacy group that opposes teachers unions.

One unprecedented move Walters made was adopting a teacher assessment called The America-First Assessment, designed by PragerU, a conservative nonprofit media company. Walters said the purpose of this exam, which went live in August 2025, was to screen out “woke indoctrination.”

By authorizing this assessment, Walters signed off on a conservative and far-right political organization having a say in which prospective teachers from out of state receive their Oklahoma teaching licenses.

The exam was short-lived. Walters’ replacement, Lindel Fields, announced at the end of October 2025 that Oklahoma would no longer use this assessment. Fields also rescinded the Bible mandate for Oklahoma schools.

But other states could still adopt the exam, free of charge. The exam and its controversy offers a window into the current politicization of state education systems, this time with respect to the licensing of teachers.

As an education researcher, I have written about other teacher assessments and some of the issues surrounding them, such as screening out Black teachers.

Walter’s “anti-woke” teacher exam is a unique kind of experiment. The test was not made by a professional assessment company and does not legitimately assess professional knowledge related to the subjects teachers teach.

A politicized test for teachers

The America-First exam consists of 34 multiple-choice questions that ask about the U.S. Constitution, government, religious liberty, history and Supreme Court cases. One question asks, “What are the first three words of the Constitution?” Another question asks, “What does the Second Amendment protect?” Other questions inquire about gender and sex, with questions like, “What is the fundamental biological distinction between males and females?” and “Which chromosome pair determines biological sex in humans?”

Walters made the political purpose of the exam clear.

“We have to make sure that the teachers in our classrooms, as we’re recruiting these individuals, aren’t a bunch of woke, Marxist activists,” Walters said in August 2025.

Walters has also said the exam was designed to specifically root out liberal teacher applicants who might fill teacher vacancies in Oklahoma and bring progressive training on race and gender with them, or what Walters called “blue state indoctrination.”

When the test went live in August, it expanded to all teachers from other states trying to get a license to teach in Oklahoma.

An exam you cannot fail

The America-First Assessment is not like the typical licensure exams made by professional assessment companies. These other exams cover the specific subject matter teachers should know to do their job: math for math teachers, science for science teachers, and so on.

Instead of a subject-specific focus, the America-First Assessment is mostly aligned with President Donald Trump’s “America first” talking points, particularly through its focus on gender and sex.

The most striking aspect of the exam, however, is that it is impossible to fail. If you don’t know the first three words of the U.S. Constitution, you can guess answers until you get it right. In fact, the test will advance to the next question only after you register a correct answer. Everyone who finishes the test will get 100% correct.

As a result, as some observers have pointed out, the exam resembles a political ideology test and not a legitimate assessment of professional knowledge.

Unlike the SAT, which considers its content proprietary, legally protected information, many of the America-First Assessment questions are publicly available.

Further, unlike established exams such as the SAT and GRE, the America-First exam has no technical information about how it was designed or what the questions are supposed to measure. As a result, the exam resembles a “MAGA loyalty test,” according to American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten.

A conservative media company expands into teacher assessment

The America-First Assessment’s unique format and political content reflect the priorities of PragerU, the conservative media company that created it.

Conservative radio host Dennis Prager founded PragerU in 2009. The company produces educational and entertainment videos rooted in conservative ideology.

PragerU’s more than 5,000 online videos include short segments such as “Make Men Masculine Again,” “How Many Radical Islam Sleepers are in the United States?” and “America Was Founded on Freedom Not Slavery.” Prominent far-right influencers including Ben Shapiro, Candace Owens and Charlie Kirk have appeared in videos.

PragerU’s primary YouTube page has more than 3.4 million subscribers.

Scholarly analysis of PragerU videos have found the content minimizes the impact of slavery and promotes misinformation on topics including climate change.

In its children’s video “Frederick Douglass: The Outspoken Abolitionist,” the fictionalized cartoon of Douglass warns children to “stay away from radicals” who want to change the American system rather than work within it. “Our system is wonderful, and our Constitution is a glorious liberty document. We just need to convince enough Americans to be true to it,” he concludes.

In 2021, the company launched PragerU Kids, an offshoot targeting school-age children and educators with lesson plans, worksheets and other learning materials tied to its videos. Some other states, including Florida, New Hampshire and Montana, have approved PragerU’s videos as curriculum for their public schools to consider using since 2023.

The company’s move into teacher assessments in 2025 expands its influence beyond curriculum into who can earn a teaching license.

A possible strategy for other states

Both Walters and PragerU CEO Marissa Streit pitched the exam as an option for all “pro-America” states at its launch in August 2025. Some conservative policy analysts have also praised this strategy’s goals of ridding public schools of all “woke” teachers.

As a result, it is unlikely this is the last people will hear of PragerU or other private media companies trying to screen teachers.

Emery Petchauer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Oklahoma tried out a test to ‘woke-proof’ the classroom. It was short-lived, but could still leave a mark – https://theconversation.com/oklahoma-tried-out-a-test-to-woke-proof-the-classroom-it-was-short-lived-but-could-still-leave-a-mark-266546

Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Peter McGraw, Professor of Marketing and Psychology, University of Colorado Boulder

On Nov. 11 each year, a curious holiday takes over China. What began among Nanjing University students in the 1990s as a tongue-in-cheek counter to Valentine’s Day has exploded into the world’s largest shopping event: Singles’ Day.

The date, 11/11, was chosen because the four ones resemble “bare sticks,” Chinese slang for singles. Today, the holiday generates more than US$150 billion in annual sales, exceeding those on Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day combined.

As a bachelor, behavioral economist and business school professor, I study how single living is transforming consumer behavior and market dynamics. My work has convinced me that Singles’ Day, or something like it, could resonate far beyond Asia. Here’s why.

A profitable solo boom, starting in Asia

The unmarried will soon make up the majority in many countries, and this shift is already reshaping culture and commerce across Asia.

It’s not a coincidence that Singles’ Day emerged in China. The country’s one-child policy, in effect from 1980 to 2015, led many families to prefer sons – creating a gender imbalance that left millions of men without potential female partners. At the same time, rising education and career opportunities have given many women the independence to forgo traditional marriage altogether.

You can see a similar pattern across East Asia. In Japan, single-person households now outnumber those of married couples with children. In South Korea, one-person households reached nearly 36% in 2023, the highest share on record. Together, these shifts are fueling what Japanese call “ohitorisama,” or the “party of one,” and what Koreans describe as “honjok,” or “alone tribe,” cultures: movements that celebrate independence and self-reliance.

Businesses across Asia have seized the opportunity, catering to independent lifestyles with offerings such as single-seat karaoke booths and movie theaters designed for solo patrons. Singles’ Day is a prime example of companies capitalizing on this shift.

Each year, retailers across Asia embrace the occasion with themed promotions, presales and limited-edition product launches. Companies such as Xiaomi release exclusive smartphones, while Nike introduces new sneakers every Singles’ Day. Even airlines have joined in: Singapore’s Jetstar Asia once offered 111,111 discounted seats, positioning solo travel as an empowering experience.

Singles’ Day channels massive spending power – reframing singlehood as something to celebrate rather than lament – and shows how a retail event can feed a cultural shift. In the U.S. and across much of the rest of the world, meanwhile, businesses remain wed to an outdated assumption: that marriage is everyone’s destiny. It’s not.

Single in America

Right now, half of American adults are unmarried, and half of those singles aren’t seeking a relationship.

In 1960, only 10% of American adults would remain single for life. Today, some forecasts show that 25% of millennials, who are now between 29 and 44, and 33% of Gen Z who are 13 to 28, will never marry. While the average age of first marriage was just 21 in 1960, today it has risen to 29.

Through my Solo project – which includes a book, podcast and TED talk – I explore how widely single people’s goals vary, both in relationships and beyond.

By understanding singles’ diverse goals and lifestyles, American businesses can gain a competitive edge with targeted communication, innovative products and tailored services. Singles aren’t a monolith. My research identifies four main types:

• “Somedays” aspire to find “the one” and settle down. They are the group businesses usually market to.

• “Just Mays” share that goal but aren’t waiting around for it – they’re investing in homes, traveling solo and pursuing independent ambitions in the meantime.

• “New Ways” reject the idea that traditional marriage is the default, experimenting with models such as “living apart together,” polyamory or platonic partnerships.

• “No Ways” are opting out of the dating market entirely. Most do so not out of bitterness but because they have more important goals – or because they simply enjoy single life.

This diversity matters. “Somedays” may respond to dating apps and matchmaking services. “Just Mays” and “New Ways” gravitate toward experiences, hobbies and personal growth. “No Ways” are alienated by romance-centric messaging and instead embrace autonomy and community.

To explore how Singles’ Day might be received in North America, I surveyed nearly 400 U.S. singles ages 24 to 59. The most common ways they said they’d celebrate were by finding a date, treating themselves to a gift or practicing self-care.

American companies and the solo economy

In many industries, a 2% demographic shift ought to trigger an all-hands marketing meeting. So how can the decades-long rise of single living still go largely overlooked by most companies in the U.S.?

To be fair, there have been glimmers of recognition in recent years. For example, in 2021, Visible Wireless repositioned its “family plans” to “friends and family plans without the family drama.” In 2024, Norwegian Cruise Line introduced studio cabins for solo travelers, tackling the long-standing and dreaded “single supplement.” Similarly, IKEA, after offering a Valentine’s dinner only for couples in 2024, pivoted this year to an inclusive promotion: “Bring a loved one, a good friend, or the whole family.”

But those are the exceptions rather than the rule. What should U.S. brands do to appeal to this growing market? Here’s my advice:

• Rethink assumptions about dating and belonging. Not all singles seek romance. Create meaningful nonromantic experiences that reflect solo lifestyles – singles-themed events, community nights or “bring-a-friend (or don’t)” offers.

• Segment by goals, not just age. A 25-year-old solo traveler and a 60-year-old empty-nester may both respond to a message about independence.

• Tailor offerings for people who live – and do things – alone. The “rightsizing” trend is already underway: smaller grocery packs, single-serve meal kits, compact appliances and studio-friendly furniture. Travel and entertainment can follow suit with solo pricing, seating and perks that don’t penalize independence.

I teach my business students to ask, “Is there a market?” and “Can we serve it profitably?” The answers here are obvious. Singles are everywhere. They’re dining alone, traveling solo, buying homes and spending billions. And yet they remain largely overlooked in a world built for two.

The rise of Singles’ Day in Asia shows what happens when businesses take singles seriously: consumer innovation, cultural relevance and record-breaking profits. I expect the U.S. will follow – whether reluctantly or enthusiastically. The only question in my mind is: When?

I have a book (“Solo: Building a Remarkable Life of Your Own”) and a podcast (“Solo – The Single Person’s Guide to a Remarkable Life”) that are relevant to this article.

– ref. Singles’ Day is a $150B holiday in China. Here’s why I think ‘11/11’ will catch on in the US – https://theconversation.com/singles-day-is-a-150b-holiday-in-china-heres-why-i-think-11-11-will-catch-on-in-the-us-266566