The generation of terahertz (THz) ion acoustic waves (IAWs) via the decay instability of femtosecond laser-driven Langmuir waves in a plasma is investigated theoretically. A high-intensity femtosecond laser pulse incident on a plasma at an oblique angle excites large-amplitude Langmuir waves near the critical layer, which subsequently decay into IAWs and secondary plasma waves. We derive analytical expressions for the laser electric field components, incorporating spatial and temporal Gaussian profiles, and model the energy transfer dynamics between waves and electrons. Landau damping and resonance absorption are identified as critical mechanisms governing the heating of electrons, with the damping rate $\Gamma$ derived in normalised form, revealing an exponential dependence on the normalised wave frequency. The temporal evolution of electron temperature is quantified, showing a direct relationship with the laser field intensity and plasma parameters. Furthermore, the inhomogeneous Airy equation formalism is employed to solve for the electric field structure near resonance layers, highlighting the role of plasma scale length and thermal velocity in wave localisation. Our results demonstrate efficient THz IAW generation under optimised laser and plasma conditions, with the damping rate minimised at specific frequency ratios, enabling sustained wave propagation. This work advances the understanding of laser–plasma interactions for THz wave generation, offering insights for applications in high-frequency radiation sources and plasma diagnostics.

Focusing on the private governance networks of Maurice Frederick Strong and his second wife, Hanne Marstrand, this article traces the origins of corporate environmentalism and flexible interpretations of sustainable development to the 1970s, the foundational years of international environmental governance. Shifting the analytical focus from official meetings to private gatherings in the Strongs’ homes in Geneva, Nairobi, the Canadian Rockies, and Crestone, Colorado, I show that the environmental imaginaries among governance elites around Strong and Marstrand were shaped by the couple’s entanglements with industrial philanthropy, New Age spiritualism, and cybernetics. Drawing on personal archives, correspondence, and publications, I argue that the Strongs’ heterogeneous networks, which bridged counterculture environmentalism, technological optimism, and alternative approaches to international development, ultimately facilitated the growing role of corporations in environmental policymaking during the late 1980s and 1990s. This article, then, contributes to the history of global environmental governance and development by highlighting the lasting impact of private governance networks on the environmental policy landscape, exemplified by early linkages between United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), oil industry actors, and private banking institutions.

Naturally occurring retirement communities (NORCs) are geographic areas that have come to house a high proportion (≥30%) of older residents. Implementing onsite social programming in NORCs, or other places where older adults are clustered, can support aging in place. As such it is important to be able to identify sites that could benefit. We describe a data and equity-driven process used to select NORC and social housing sites for a program aimed at empowering older adults and strengthening aging in place in Toronto, Canada. We (1) created a data-driven shortlist of buildings with population-level data, (2) prioritized equity by targeting buildings with high health needs and neighbourhood-level diversity, and (3) facilitated building and resident engagement to assess interest and suitability. This process offers a novel and replicable approach for selecting sites for enhanced, place-based programming that can inform site selection for other community-based programming for older adults across diverse contexts.

We examine the relationship between partisan social media messages and voters’ support for undemocratic transgressions against the president and Congress. Our survey experiments in Brazil, Chile, and Colombia randomly exposed respondents to partisan messages about contentious and consensus issues such as inflation, abortion, crime, and protests. We then assessed whether these messages increased support for undemocratic transgressions. Our findings reveal distinct inter-party differences: opposition voters were more inclined to support presidential impeachment, while incumbent voters were more predisposed to dissolve Congress. However, contrary to our initial pre-registered hypotheses, exposure to partisan social media messages did not consistently augment these tendencies. This implies that while voters often endorse undemocratic measures in line with their partisan leanings, such preferences are not heightened by exposure to partisan discourse on social media.

The war in Ukraine has increased attention to Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), though most research focuses on tactical use or effects on public opinion. This article asks whether OSINF can be methodically transformed into reliable strategic intelligence under wartime uncertainty. Using Russia’s defence industry as a case study, we compare three production scenarios: official claims, expert estimates, and an Open Source Information–based (OSINF) model derived from shares in battlefield losses. The OSINT scenario shows large discrepancies, suggesting actual output is much lower than reported. We argue that with proper methodological treatment, presented in the paper, OSINF now offers sufficient detail to assess national defence capacity. Our approach demonstrates OSINT’s potential to complement traditional intelligence by introducing a novel methodological framework for cross-validating OSINT-derived data against official claims and expert estimates. The findings engage scholarly debates on the integration of OSINT with conventional frameworks by providing a replicable and transparent model for producing more accurate strategic assessments, even at the strategic level.

Task-based language teaching (TBLT), an instructional approach for promoting real world communicative language use, has gained substantial attention among researchers and educators of additional languages, traditionally referred to as second languages (L2) and foreign languages (FL). Existing research on TBLT and tasks, predominantly conducted with adult learners, has primarily examined how meaning-focused tasks enhance (or do not enhance) learners’ communicative abilities in the target language and how different task implementations yield different outcomes (Ellis, 2017).

We present the discovery of a large-scale, limb-brightened outflow, extending at least 30 kpc above and below the star-forming disk of the edge-on galaxy ESO 130-G012 (D = 16.9 Mpc). Partially obscured by Galactic foreground stars and dust, this optically unremarkable, low-mass galaxy reveals one of the largest known hourglass-shaped outflows from the full extent of its bright stellar disk. The outflow was discovered in 944 MHz radio continuum images from the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder obtained as part of the ‘Evolutionary Map of the Universe’ (EMU) project. Its height is at least 3$\times$ that of the stellar disk diameter ($\sim$10 kpc), while its shape and size most resemble the large biconical, edge-brightened FUV and X-ray outflows in the nearby starburst galaxy NGC 3079. The large-scale, hourglass-shaped outflow of ESO 130-G012 appears to be hollow and originates from the star-forming disk, expanding into the halo with speeds close to the escape velocity before likely returning to the disk. Given ESO 130-G012’s modest star formation rate, the height of the outflow is surprising and unusual, likely made possible by the galaxy’s relatively low gravitational potential. Follow-up observations are expected to detect hot gas inside the bipolar outflow cones and magnetic fields along the X-shaped outflow wings. Neutral gas may also be lifted above the inner disk by the outflow.

Political science concerns topics that can be highly relevant for politicians. Political science research and education offer insights that can help incumbents win elections or govern better. At the same time, the discipline provides knowledge that can be used to challenge politicians in office, for example, on how to organise mass protests or effective opposition parties. Therefore, politicians in power may have mixed feelings about the existence of political science departments. Some will encourage their establishment, while others – perhaps especially autocrats – may try to contain their presence or control their location. We study the existence and placement of political science units at universities across the world and assess the extent to which these features vary with regime type. Using large-N data on university subdivisions, we examine cross-national variation in existence and within-country variation in the location of political science departments. We find surprisingly few substantial differences along the democracy–autocracy continuum: Political science units, on average, are no more frequent in democracies. Across regime types, political science units are about equally likely to be located at public (versus private) institutions, and similarly likely to be placed at universities closer to the capital.

Since the 1960s, increasing numbers of women have won the highest office in the world’s democracies despite clear gender effects in gaining office. But does reelection show the same gendered effects? Recent research suggests that compared to male leaders, women leaders often come to high office in more difficult conditions; enter with lower approval ratings; and experience more rapid decline in ratings over time. We know little, however, about the conditions that affect their odds of reelection. Does the type of office—president or prime minister—matter? Do economic and political conditions during their tenure affect their odds of success? We analyze gender and leader reelection across electoral democracies in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia,1960–2023. We show that among leaders eligible to run, men and women have roughly equal odds of winning. We also find that women run somewhat more often than men.

Various strategies across food systems are needed for a systemic change, with dietary shifts representing a meaningful pathway – particularly in high-income nations. Plant-based analogues (PBA) that mimic animal-based foods represent a promising strategy to facilitate such shifts because they require minimal behaviour adjustments. This review aims to synthesise nutritional, health and environmental evidence on PBA by examining their benefits, challenges and research gaps to inform and support evidence-based policy and practice. PBA generally have lower greenhouse gas emissions, land use and water use than their animal-based counterparts. Nutritionally, PBA are complex, varying across product brands, product types, processing techniques and primary ingredients. The limited health evidence shows that consumption of plant-based meat analogues tends to be associated with positive health outcomes, while consumption of some plant-based drinks can be linked to micronutrient deficiencies. Fortified PBA can contribute to daily recommended intakes and sometimes provide more micronutrients than their animal-based counterparts, while also providing more fibre and less energy and saturated fat. Despite these potential benefits, debates persist around processing classifications and their health implications. Given this complex landscape, assessing what kind of role PBA could play in our food systems will demand product-specific evaluation, targeted dietary recommendations and expanding the range of healthier PBA. To advance the field and accelerate dietary shifts without unintended consequences, critical considerations include strengthening the nutritional evidence base, classifying PBA further for dietary recommendations and informed regulatory approaches, understanding processing effects and use of additives, and standardising environmental outcomes and research beyond single ingredients.

Speculative xenomusicology explores alternative music theories, imagining the physical and cognitive affordances of alien musical life. Exoplanets are actively studied in astronomy, and though there is no direct evidence of xenobiology, particularly of more advanced musical intelligences, potential alien music may still be considered in advance in the same way that exobiologists speculate on the conditions for alien life. In particular, a generative system is presented which creates imagined xenomusic based on altering human memory constraints and links the organisation of the sound to the parallel generation of an alien language. Microtonal pitch, complex rhythm, timbral material and spatialisation within putative alien architectures are all considered. This alien ‘analysis by synthesis’ can provide new musical adventures and new understanding of the possibilities of music theoretical space, regardless of any eventual ontological resolution of xenocultures.