The intelligible world of machines and predictive modelling is an omnipresent and almost inescapable phenomenon. It is an evolution where human intelligence is being supported, supplemented or superseded by artificial intelligence (AI). Decisions once made by humans are now made by machines, learning at a faster and more accurate rate through algorithmic calculations. Jurisprudent academia has undertaken to argue the proposition of AI and its role as a decision-making mechanism in Australian criminal jurisdictions. This paper explores this proposition through predictive modelling of 101 bail decisions made in three criminal courts in the State of New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Indicatively, the models’ statistical performance and accuracy, based on nine predictor variables, proved effective. The more accurate logistic regression model achieved 78% accuracy and a performance value of 0.845 (area under the curve; AUC), while the classifier model achieved 72.5% accuracy and a performance value of 0.702 (AUC). These results provide the groundwork for AI-generated bail decisions being piloted in the NSW jurisdiction and possibly others within Australia.

We introduce a novel scenario that embeds the Downs-Thomson paradox in the context of departure-time choice during the morning commute. Commuters, departing from a common origin and traveling to a common destination, must choose between a congestible mode (car, road) and a non-congestible mode (train, railway). Those choosing the road must also select their departure times independently and anonymously. This decision involves a trade-off between the cost of queuing at the bottleneck and the cost of schedule delay (i.e., deviation from the desired arrival time). We numerically derive a symmetric mixed-strategy equilibrium that characterizes both mode and departure-time choices. We then examine how improvements to either the road or the railway affect mean travel costs. Our laboratory experiment shows that, consistent with the paradox, improving the railway lowers mean travel cost; however, contrary to the paradox, improving the road also reduces mean travel cost. These findings suggest that the Downs-Thomson paradox may fail to emerge fully when commuters must coordinate multiple strategic dimensions under intertemporal congestion externalities.

Can a national approach to crime prevention sustainably reduce homicides? The present study examines the effectiveness of Mexico’s National Crime Prevention Programme (PRONAPRED) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funding in reducing the number of homicides. Analysing state-level data from 1990 to 2020, we find that PRONAPRED spending correlates with a reduction of approximately 12 homicides per state annually, although these effects were unsustainable over time. Our results highlight a significant inverse relationship between labour market participation and homicides, suggesting that policies promoting employment could effectively mitigate violence. Unlike PRONAPRED, USAID programme spending showed no statistically significant impact. We employed fixed-effects regression, a method that accounts for regional variations in homicide rates, to examine the impact of economic factors, including labour market participation. We also addressed methodological challenges, such as autocorrelation and endogeneity, through robust statistical techniques. Our findings contribute to the discourse on the efficacy of large-scale crime prevention programmes, providing insights into their limitations and potential areas for improvement in future policy design.

This Article is based on the author’s farewell speech at the Federal Constitutional Court on May 26, 2023.1

This perspective addresses the arguments and concerns raised following the publication of our article, ‘Postwar Development of Offshore Energy Resources’. It aims to demonstrate how the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024, which was released after the writing of our article, strengthens our legal conclusion that the Palestinians maintain exclusive rights to develop the Gaza Marine gas field. This perspective also clarifies our arguments concerning Palestinian statehood, the law of occupation, and the issue of illegal annexation, which was misinterpreted by some readers. Finally, we provide reflections as to the timing and context under which our article was released, considering the ongoing war in Gaza.

This article examines how Norway, a hydropower-rich oil and gas producer, has sought to diversify its energy production since the late 1990s. It explores how and why leading Norwegian oil companies have attempted to redeploy into offshore wind, and how this redeployment has been shaped by political developments and sectoral interests. Through a four-part historical analysis, the article pays particular attention to the motives and interests of key stakeholders within the so-called oil–industrial complex, which encompasses both industrial and political actors, including employer and labor organizations. By integrating corporate and political perspectives, the article explains Norway’s attempt to transform from an “oil nation” to a “wind power nation” despite growing awareness of poor profitability and challenging conditions for offshore wind.

In the context of dependent type theory, we show that coinductive predicates have an equivalent topological counterpart in terms of coinductively generated positivity relations, introduced by G. Sambin to represent closed subsets in point-free topology. Our work is complementary to a previous one with M. E. Maietti, where we showed that, in dependent type theory, the well-known concept of wellfounded trees has a topological counterpart in terms of proof-relevant inductively generated formal covers used to provide a predicative and constructive representation of complete suplattices. The proofs performed within Martin–Löf’s type theory and the Minimalist Foundation have been checked in the Agda proof assistant.

Myanmar is globally significant for biodiversity conservation but is facing unique challenges as a result of the current political situation, which has led to unsustainable use of natural resources, withdrawal of conservation funds and a governance vacuum that hinders effective conservation. Given these challenges, there is a need to empower local civil society to implement community-led conservation programmes. We report on locally-led surveys of the Critically Endangered white-bellied heron Ardea insignis in northern Myanmar. We recorded the species’ occurrence along rivers and streams across two river catchments in Kachin state during June 2022–December 2023. We sighted white-bellied herons on 25 occasions and we estimate the local population to be 3–5 individuals. Opportunistic hunting using home-made air-pressured guns is a major threat to wildlife in the region and we documented two white-bellied herons shot in the area since 2019. Threats are exacerbated by a lack of wildlife law enforcement as a result of the country’s political unrest. We describe our initial efforts to implement a community-led approach to foster local stewardship in species and habitat management.

This article examines the inscriptional narratives of the chime bells of Lord Qiu of Zeng (c. 650 bce) and Marquis Yu of Zeng (c. 500 bce). These inscriptions were carefully crafted as speeches integral to ritual performances, tailored to address the distinct political and social concerns of their donors. Through an analysis of their composition, textual content, historical context, and materiality, this article explores the messages Qiu and Yu intended to convey and the utility these narratives served via the medium of bronze bells and inscriptions. It argues that while Lord Qiu of Zeng sought to legitimize and celebrate Zeng’s superior position, Marquis Yu of Zeng aimed to affirm loyalty to Chu while simultaneously asserting Zeng’s autonomous position within Chu’s political order.

This article engages with the construction of blackness in the socialist public sphere in state socialist Poland by analyzing two case studies: the visit of Kwame Nkrumah to Poland and the career of the US basketball player Kent Washington. While these two cases are embedded in different historical and political moments, they reveal how blackness was familiarized in a visually concrete yet abstract way. What were the promises that came with how blackness was constructed in the late socialist public sphere? How did they resonate within diasporic communities? Drawing on various types of sources, we argue that blackness in the public sphere was neither a danger nor the antithesis of whiteness but revered for political purposes. This framing of blackness—as postcolonial political empowerment or successful career in sport—also created unrealistically high bars for the visual incorporation of Black people.

Building on my research about racialization and marginalization, this article examines race and the global color line in terms of antiblackness and anti-Romani racism, asking how such inquiries can shed light on the ways that blackness and whiteness are configured across southeast Europe and Europe as a whole. This paper has three primary goals: the first is to probe the complexities of the meanings of blackness. The second aim is to examine antiblackness and anti-Romani racism as parallel processes configured by European whiteness. The third objective is to explore how this type of critical analysis can expand scholarly inquiry beyond the discourses that move past race as individualized and immoral, and towards more comprehensive examinations of regional and global racial logics that structure social relations.

Kenya’s 2010 Constitution represents a landmark shift towards equality, incorporating diverse conceptions through provisions such as Article 27 on non-discrimination, Article 43 on socio-economic rights, and Article 56 on cultural and religious diversity. This progressive framework seeks to address historical inequalities that marginalized groups—such as women, persons with disabilities, and minorities—have faced in accessing resources, services, and political participation. However, implementation remains the critical determinant of whether these constitutional ideals translate into tangible societal change. This Article examines the role of the judiciary as a constitutional guardian in ensuring the realization of equality-related rights in Kenya’s hybrid democracy, characterized by democratic aspirations alongside authoritarian tendencies. It highlights the judiciary’s dual responsibility to balance deference to State organs with holding them accountable to constitutional mandates. By analyzing key cases, it identifies how courts have navigated tensions between promoting substantive equality and respecting the separation of powers, especially in the context of socio-economic rights and governance challenges. The Article advocates for an equality-sensitive approach to judicial review that integrates both strong-form and soft-form oversight, depending on the case’s circumstances. It emphasizes the application of a contextual and multi-dimensional equality framework—addressing redistribution, recognition, participation, and transformation—to ensure that vulnerable groups are protected. In addition, it proposes a mixed standard of review in socio-economic rights cases, balancing reasonableness with prioritization of the needs of vulnerable groups, and the use of structural interdicts to enforce compliance. Finally, this Article emphasizes the judiciary’s pivotal role in fostering constitutionalism and mitigating systemic inequalities. It calls for continued judicial vigilance, collaborative constitutionalism, and active civil society engagement to uphold the transformative promise of the 2010 Constitution, particularly in Kenya’s complex hybrid democracy.

The rapid decline of wild populations has resulted in complete extinction of many species. In some cases, this outcome has been avoided through the establishment of ex situ conservation breeding populations. These have the aim of safeguarding the survival of the species and ultimately their reintroduction to the wild. In the case of Partula tree snails, conservation work spanning 4 decades has included ex situ breeding and reintroduction attempts. Most Partula tree snails of French Polynesia are categorized as Extinct on the IUCN Red List as a result of the introduction of invasive predators. Ten species survive only in ex situ conservation breeding centres and reintroduction attempts have been underway since 2015. In 2024, a wild population of Partula tohiveana was located, formed as a result of reintroductions to Moorea Island over the previous decade. This is the first Extinct in the Wild invertebrate species to have been re-established through coordinated, interdisciplinary ex situ and in situ conservation actions.

Since the early 1950s, national statisticians have regarded unpaid work as non-economic, excluding it from GDP. Feminist scholars argue this exclusion reflects a gender-biased view of progress that renders women’s non-market productivity invisible. As what gets measured drives policy priorities and resource allocation, breastfeeding highlights the need to account for women’s unpaid care work in economic statistics. This paper advances the Beyond GDP agenda by demonstrating how market-derived prices can improve the measurement and recognition of women’s lactation labour. We first trace the historical displacement of breastfeeding by commercial formula and identify key economic drivers. Next, we review critiques of GDP and debates over including non-market household services in the UN’s System of National Accounts. We then present novel estimates of breast milk’s economic value in selected countries. Our analysis shows that existing market prices can robustly proxy for breastfeeding work, correcting GDP’s gender bias and realigning policy priorities. Including human milk production in core economic indicators not only reflects its true contribution but also promotes women’s and children’s rights and supports sustainable development through comprehensive true-cost accounting.

The present study describes a new Ditylenchoides species, isolated from Meknès, Morocco, during nematode surveys conducted to investigate the biodiversity of plant-parasitic nematodes in Mediterranean olive groves and adjacent patches of natural vegetation. Application of integrative taxonomical approaches clearly verified that it is a new species designated herein as Ditylenchoides morocciensis sp. nov., also representing the first report of the genus in Morocco. The new species is parthenogenetic, characterised by a short body 460 (373–528 μm); stylet delicate, relatively short, 8.7 (8.0–9.0) μm long with rounded basal knobs; six lines in the lateral fields; median bulb of pharynx oval, muscular and valvate; secretory-excretory pore located at the level of basal pharyngeal bulb region; vulva located at 79.9 (76.9–81.3) % of body length; relatively long post-vulval uterine sac 29.1 (20.0–39.0) μm; and a subcylindrical tail 24.4 (22.0–28.0) μm long, with a bluntly rounded tip. The results of molecular analysis of D2-D3 28S rRNA, ITS rRNA, partial 18S rRNA, and cytochrome oxidase c subunit 1 (COI) gene sequences support for the new species status and clearly separated D. morocciensis sp. nov. from all other species within Ditylenchoides. Phylogenetic analyses of ribosomal markers (D2-D3 28S rRNA and partial 18S rRNA) of this study confirms that Ditylenchoides is a monophyletic genus, clearly separated from other genera within Anguinoidea.

We developed a compact, ultra-wideband radar demonstrator for measurements of snow thickness. We designed the radar to be capable of reconfigurable operation over Ku- and S/C bands, and with a size, weight, and power compatible with a C-3 class unmanned aircraft system (UAS). We implemented the radar’s radio frequency frontend using low-cost laminate materials and employed 3D printed antennas for an inexpensive implementation. To demonstrate its performance and capabilities, we first conducted a series of laboratory tests, followed by tests of opportunity in Antarctica using a sled-based setup. Next, we integrated the radar demonstrator into an Aurelia X6 Pro system and completed a series of local flight tests over areas including grass-covered land and a wooded section with different seasonal foliage conditions. Lastly, we used our UAS-borne radar test bed to map seasonal snow accumulation to a depth close to ∼30 m in Greenland from 100-m altitude. In this paper, we offer a succinct description of the radar test bed electronics, a discussion of laboratory tests and integration considerations, and present sample results from various field scenarios.