Foundation models are many things and encompass several modalities; they use text, images, sound, and more recently, action or inference units. But all of these forms share one thing in common: the (massive) scale. The “large” in large language models has been well studied by scholars in critical data, AI and archive studies, with several experts pointing at how these models are environmentally harmful, technically opaque and corporationally monopolistic primarily because of their scale. This piece discusses questions of technical and cultural scale – in the material, archival and procedural senses – within the contemporary technical and discursive landscape. At stake here is the role of critical and design studies within academic, artistic and para-academic worlds. It suggests that instead of corporate chatbots that aspire to pass the Turing test through multipurpose, encyclopedic service, we may be better served by playing with local models and reaching for small-scale AI development. This epistemological shift, in fact, may also provide some creative and critical potential that more effectively gets at the strangeness of machine learning systems while consciously and carefully handling the scalar environmental and social impacts of big AI.

Star clusters are well known for their dynamical interactions, an outcome of their high stellar densities; in this paper, we use multiwavelength observations to search for the unique outcomes of these interactions in three nearby Galactic open clusters (OCs): IC 2602 (30 Myr), NGC 2632 (750 Myr), and M67 (4 Gyr). We compared X-ray observations from all-sky surveys like eROSITA, plus archival observations from Chandra X-ray Observatory, survey radio observations from ASKAP’s Evolutionary Map of the Universe survey plus archival VLA observations, in conjunction with new cluster catalogues with Gaia. From X-ray, we found 77 X-ray sources likely associated with IC 2602, 31 X-ray sources in NGC 2632, and 31 near M67’s central regions. We were further able to classify these X-ray sources based on their optical variability and any radio emission. Three IC 2602 X-ray sources had radio counterparts, which are likely all chromospherically active binary stars. We also identified luminous radio and X-ray variability from a spectroscopic triple system in M67, WOCS 3012/S1077, which is either consistent with a quiescent black hole binary, or due to an active binary stellar system. A recent population study of optical variables by Anderson & Hunt (2025) shows that the population of optical variables in OCs clearly changes over cluster age; this pilot study gives evidence that the X-ray population also changes with time and demonstrates the need for a broader multiwavelength study of Galactic OCs.

The design of filters used in waveguides, which are crucial components of high-frequency communication systems, plays a significant role in improving system performance. In this study, the usage of metamaterials is first proposed, the SLA 3D printing method is used to design and fabricate CSRR meta-resonators-based bandpass waveguide filters (WGFs) with different filter orders for C-band (4-7.5 GHz), and simulated and measured filter performances are compared. Since the proposed novel WG structure is modular, it allows the design of C-band WGFs using different thicknesses of substrate materials. Also, the number of unit elements can be increased and any number of meta-resonators can be inserted to design filters of different orders ranging from 1 to 5. The electrical length of the WGF/WG structure can be changed according to the needs of the applications. The resulting WGFs demonstrated superior RF performance, being 50% lighter than comparable models found in the literature. Over the relevant frequency range, the filter exhibited return losses between 31-43 dB, insertion losses from 0.1 to 0.35 dB, FBW ranging from 12% to 16%, and quality factors between 6.23 and 8.28, depending on the filter order. The obtained experimental results align closely with the simulation predictions, confirming the effectiveness of the design.

Regular inspections of civil structures and infrastructure, performed by professional inspectors, are costly and demanding in terms of time and safety requirements. Additionally, the outcome of inspections can be subjective and inaccurate as they rely on the inspector’s expertise. To address these challenges, autonomous inspection systems offer a promising alternative. However, existing robotic inspection systems often lack adaptive positioning capabilities and integrated crack labelling, limiting detection accuracy and their contribution to long-term dataset improvement. This study introduces a fully autonomous framework that combines real-time crack detection with adaptive pose adjustment, automated recording and labelling of defects, and integration of RGB-D and LiDAR sensing for precise navigation. Damage detection is performed using YOLOv5, a widely used detection model, which analyzes the RGB image stream to detect cracks and generates labels for dataset creation. The robot autonomously adjusts its position based on confidence feedback from the detection algorithm, optimizing its vantage point for improved detection accuracy. Experiment inspections showed an average confidence gain of 18% (exceeding 20% for certain crack types), a reduction in size estimation error from 23.31% to 10.09%, and a decrease in the detection failure rate from 20% to 6.66%. While quantitative validation during field testing proved challenging due to dynamic environmental conditions, qualitative observations aligned with these trends, suggesting its potential to reduce manual intervention in inspections. Moreover, the system enables automated recording and labeling of detected cracks, contributing to the continuous improvement of machine learning models for structural health monitoring.

Medical shelters are frequently utilized after major disasters to care for displaced individuals with severe mobility limitations and chronic medical conditions that may be inadequately addressed in general population sheltering. A retrospective chart review was conducted on 680 patients served in state-operated Medical Needs Shelters (MNS) in Louisiana following three major hurricanes from 2020 to 2021. The authors aimed to produce a descriptive analysis of the degree and variety of medical complexity of patients within the shelters to guide future shelter planning. Data illustrate demographic characteristics, clinical attributes, and outcomes among shelter patients. Patients were found to have numerous medical comorbidities, often with serious concomitant neuropsychiatric, cardiovascular, and pulmonary conditions. The shelter population was highly dependent on nursing staff for medication management and activities of daily living. They also had high utilization of respiratory therapies, hemodialysis, and wound care. Clinically significant events (e.g., falls, mental status changes, vital sign abnormalities), often resulting in transport to local hospitals, occurred in approximately 20% of all patient stays. Limitations of the study include suspected underreporting of disease prevalence and the study’s retrospective approach. Public health planners should consider the clinical needs of this population when designing strategic and tactical approaches to mass care for medically vulnerable individuals. Future research might examine which factors place individuals at higher risk for decompensation within a medical shelter.

We report here the characteristics of a high-power continuous-wave mid-infrared (mid-IR) fiber light source based on nested anti-resonant hollow-core fiber (AR-HCF) filled with HBr gas. A homemade hundred-watt-level 2 μm narrow-linewidth fiber laser is constructed as the pump source. The pump source is forward injected into the AR-HCF through a single-pass configuration. A maximum output power of 10.4 W at 4.16 μm with excellent beam quality (M2) of approximately 1.05 is achieved in a 4.8 m long AR-HCF at gas pressure of 9.9 mbar, with a slope efficiency of 20% relative to the absorbed pump power. The mid-IR light source maintains good stability during long-term operation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest output power for silica-based fiber light sources beyond 4 μm. This work demonstrates the significant capability of power scaling in a gas-filled AR-HCF mid-IR light source.

Legislative oversight is an important element of the relationship between parliament and government. However, little research explores how the characteristics of ministers incentivize MPs to oversee some more thoroughly than others. This article studies whether and why the oversight activities of parliamentarians are shaped by ministers’ gender. We argue that legislators control women ministers more tightly than men due to stereotypical competence ascriptions and perceptions of lower trustworthiness of women. Studying original data for five European democracies since 1990, we show that legislators ask more written and oral questions to women compared to men ministers. Moreover, we underpin the causal mechanisms behind this pattern using semi-structured interviews with thirty-two parliamentarians inquiring about a specific replacement in that country. Revealing gender bias in legislative oversight has broader implications for women in government and parliamentary democracies.

It is estimated that, worldwide, a new case of dementia develops every 3 s. Around 60% of cases occur in low- and middle-income countries such as Egypt, with this number expected to rise to 71% in the next 25 years. Egypt is the most populous Arabic-speaking country, containing one-quarter of the world’s Arab population. However, a majority of tools for assessing cognitive impairment have not been standardised, normed and validated according to International Test Commission guidelines, nor have they been culturally adapted, for the Egyptian population. We gathered insight from doctors and clinicians practising in Egypt to learn how they assess patients suspected of cognitive impairment. The majority reported that they used Western-made screening tools (e.g. the Montreal Cognitive Assessment), but were overwhelmingly of the view that such assessments should be standardised and adapted for Egyptians. This lack of consistent standards can lead to misclassification of cases in this lower middle-income country.

Women are the fastest growing prison population in Canada and the United States. Women who are criminalized and incarcerated are almost always prior victims of physical and/or sexual abuse, often at a young age. Foucault’s concept of the “carceral society” allows us to understand how people are deemed criminal or innocent based on a hegemonic system of “norms” which reinforce institutional violence. This article details how those who transgress the norms of being white, male, cisgender, neurotypical, and heterosexual (among others) are often subject to violence and criminalized by default, both in their homes and communities, as well as in the eyes of the state. This “home to prison pipeline” (HTPP) is especially harmful for Black women and women of colour, who face multiple, intersecting oppressions of state policy and violence. Rooted in domestic violence and carcerality in the home, the HTPP operates as a system of close surveillance, honing on those who do not conform to institutional norms. This paper is based in the testimony of incarcerated women, and draws on Foucault’s conceptions of criminality, surveillance, and the development of the modern prison, as well as that of feminist and criminology scholars.