It is often argued that religious experience should enjoy the epistemic presumption of innocence (EPI), analogous to the deliverances of perception, memory and other non-inferential basic beliefs. However, many religious belief systems incompatible with theism (theistic-unfriendly in my terminology) would also count as justified on this presumption. Awareness of the vast number of theistic-unfriendly beliefs that are epistemically on a par with theism can significantly undermine confidence in the latter. To counter this challenge, defenders of theism could resort to two core naturalistic claims: that the physical realm is causally closed, and that mental states supervene on physical states. Given naturalism, supernatural agents, including God, are not able to produce humans’ religious experience and beliefs by direct interventions. However, a theistic God could take an alternative route to provide people elected by Him with true religious beliefs through causal processes prearranged at the moment of creation of the physical world. By contrast, low-ranking spirits and polytheistic deities cannot act in this way, either because they do not participate in the process of creation or, if they do, because they lack full control over the initial conditions of the universe. It follows that theistic-unfriendly beliefs arise by chance rather than through reliable truth-aimed belief-producing processes. Under naturalism, therefore, such beliefs cannot be justified, even if, by unlikely coincidence, they are true. This naturalistic argument for theism serves to boost confidence in theistic belief by narrowing the range of rationally available religious options.

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory is expected to increase interstellar object (ISO) detections from a few over the past decade to potentially one per few months, demanding a systematic classification scheme. We present the Interstellar Object Significance Scale (IOSS), also known in the literature as the Loeb Scale, a 0–10 classification system extending the proven Torino Scale framework, to address ISOs’ unique anomalies, including potential technosignatures. The scale provides quantitative thresholds for natural phenomena (Levels 0–3) and graduated protocols for increasingly anomalous characteristics (Levels 4–7), with Levels 8–10 reserved for confirmed artificial origin. Each level specifies observable criteria and response protocols. We demonstrate the scale’s application using 1I/'Oumuamua (Level 4), 2I/Borisov (Level 0) and 3I/ATLAS (Level 4) as test cases. The IOSS provides the astronomical community with a standardized framework for consistent, evidence-based and dynamic evaluation while maintaining scientific rigor across the full spectrum of possibilities as we enter an era of routine ISO encounters.

Ice cliffs and supraglacial ponds are key drivers of mass loss on debris-covered glaciers. However, the relationship between melt ponds and adjacent ice cliffs has not been fully explored. We investigated the seasonal drainage patterns of a melt pond on the debris-covered Zhuxi Glacier in southeast Tibet and estimated the mass loss of its adjacent ice cliff during 2023–24. Using hourly time-lapse photogrammetry, we built a series of high-resolution point clouds to quantify the evolution of the ice cliff-pond system. Our findings indicate that subaerial melting and undercutting were the primary mechanisms of ice cliff mass loss during summer. In winter when the pond water level dropped, ice cliff calving became the dominant mode of ice loss. As the water level rose in spring, calving and subaerial melting occurred simultaneously and ice loss from calving accounted for approximately 19.5% of total ice loss from February to July 2024. Our results reveal the transitional state of this ice cliff-pond system, exhibiting characteristics of both melt hotspots and lake-terminating calving fronts, and highlight the interplay between seasonal drainage-refill pond and differing modes of ice loss on adjacent ice cliff. Future research should focus on additional high-resolution monitoring of similar systems and incorporation of ice cliff-pond dynamics in glacier-scale numerical models.

There is increasing interest in enhancing weed-suppression potential from cover crop surface residues by delaying termination until at or after cash crop planting, often referred to as “planting green.” The combination of increased cover crop biomass production and application of soil-residual herbicides into living cover crops in planting green systems may significantly affect herbicide deposition to the soil surface and wash-off from residues. We conducted field studies to describe the (1) relative effects of cover crop management tactics on herbicide deposition to the soil surface at the time of application; and (2) the influence of cover crop management tactics on herbicide wash-off potential from living cover crops (0 d after termination [DAT]) and aged early postemergence residues. Pyroxasulfone was used as the test herbicide. Our results indicate that in scenarios with standing cereal rye (Secale cereale L.) below 2 Mg ha−1, herbicide deposition is reduced by approximately 35% relative to bare ground regardless of application timing (0 DAT, early postemergence). At 5 Mg ha−1, herbicide deposition is reduced by 50% regardless of application timing, but due to greater wash-off potential, concentration in soil is greater at an early postemergence application timing (70%) than in a planting green scenario (0 DAT; 55%). When roll-crimping is employed before herbicide application, deposition is reduced by approximately 70% compared with bare ground regardless of application timing. After accounting for wash-off dynamics, total recovery was greater when pyroxasulfone was applied at an early postemergence timing (55%) compared with a planting green scenario (0 DAT; 45%). Inclusion of hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth) in mixture with cereal rye further decreased herbicide deposition (85%) into roll-crimped residues at a 5 Mg ha−1 biomass level, but comparatively greater wash-off of pyroxasulfone resulted in similar soil concentration compared with cereal rye monocultures. Our results quantify the relative effects of cover-cropping tactics on initial concentrations of herbicides in soil.

Noug (Guizotia abyssinica L.) is among the key oilseed crops of Ethiopia and India and is valued for its tolerance to drought, with its very nutrient-dense oil being rich in essential fatty acids, protein and minerals. Despite the economic potential of noug, its production is limited by biological factors such as self-incompatibility, seed shattering, parasitic weeds and disease susceptibility. This review consolidates advances in the past decade, highlighting the transition from conventional breeding to the application of genomic tools. We critically assess how the development of self-compatible lines, transcriptome sequencing and linkage mapping are being used to produce improved germplasm. There is, however, a huge gap between research products and farmer-preferred variety development. This review suggests an integrative approach that brings genomics, phenomics and participatory breeding to realize the faster generation of high-yielding, durable noug cultivars. This is an important strategy to ensure that noug is a sustainable crop that ensures food security and financial empowerment of Ethiopian smallholder farmers.

This article examines the large and modern sugar factories established in Egypt in the 1870s as multi-phased production sites that combined coerced peasant labor with the deployment of state of the art steam technology. These factories possessed the capacity to produce 7.5% of global sugar output from sugarcane at the time. Yet their scale, combined with their reliance on forced labor, have been neglected in Egypt’s labor historiography. The article argues that the forms of resistance enacted by coerced workers on these worksites co-shaped the emergence of peasant wage labor in subsequent decades. Drawing on the analytical perspectives of sugar history and Global Labor History (GLH), it demonstrates how wage labor took shape on industrial worksites in rural regions—challenging earlier labor histories that treat urban wage labor as the starting point of modern Egypt’s labor history. In doing so, it shows that rural labor strikes predated the conventional periodization of labor strikes and working-class formation in Egypt’s cities during the 1880s–90s. Finally, this global microhistory argues that the materiality and temporality of sugar production, when combined with the resources-demanding and labor-intensive technology of the factories, complicate Egypt’s late nineteenth-century position as a commodity frontier for Europe’s industrial capitalism.

Microbially Induced Calcium Carbonate Precipitation (MICP) provides a biologically driven alternative to conventional cementitious processes, requiring fabrication methods responsive to the dynamics of living systems. This study introduces a submerged soft-casting approach, employing fabric mesh moulds to biocement sand aggregates through the biomineralisation activity of Sporosarcina pasteurii. Developed in ‘Water Kiln’ bioreactors, the process replaces high-temperature curing with controlled liquid-phase mineralisation, generating cemented components assembled into the prototype column EmbryOme 1.

Rather than targeting structural material outputs, the research emphasises exploratory, process-oriented ‘formation finding’, where microbial activity, substrates, media and moulds together shape macro form and microstructure. Fabric casts filled with sand and nutrient-rich bacterial suspensions were submerged in cementation solutions to induce calcium carbonate precipitation. Key variables, including mould design, calcium and nutrient concentrations and media replacement frequency, were systematically adjusted to assess their effect on formation quality.

Optimal outcomes occurred at 0.3 M calcium chloride and urea with daily medium replacement, and smaller mesh sizes produced denser, more uniform crusts. Cementation remained primarily superficial, though glazing treatments enhanced surface hardness. These results underscore the role of design in tuning biological–material interactions, framing biofabrication as a process of negotiation with material agency, variability and future architectural potential.

This article addresses questions about the identity of the subject of constitutional law from a historical-sociological perspective. It aims to reconstruct, beneath the surface of constitutional texts, the actual material subjects that commonly give rise to constitutions. To do this, it isolates the constituent conjunctures in which constitutions have typically been written, and it describes the social pressures that obliged members of different societies to articulate their subjectivities in constitutional fashion. It uses this reconstruction to suggest a new framework for approaching questions of constitutional subjectivity and legitimacy, as, contrary to more deliberative methods, it explains how experiences of military violence usually shaped the emergence of constitutional subjects. On this basis, it argues that constitutions typically acquired stable legitimating force, not by enacting the will of identifiable constitutional subjects, but by displacing such subjects into a manageable form, separate from their military emphases. It cautions against idealist theories of constitutional subjectivity, arguing that most constitutions create legitimacy for government specifically as they promote societal integration in procedures that are not defined by the subjects to which they attribute their authorship. It concludes by addressing some current examples of constitutional crisis, considering how these have been shaping by literalist understandings of constitutional subjectivity.

This article examines previously overlooked Italian archival sources concerning the Ottoman-Safavid wars, thereby broadening the study of European knowledge of Safavid Iran beyond the well-known Venetian and Roman context. Focusing on documents preserved in the State Archives of Florence and Mantua, it analyses a Tuscan report on the origin of the 1578-90 conflict and a Mantuan account of the Battle of Sufiyan (1605). These records, compared with modern historiography, reveal the remarkable accuracy and scope of Italian ‘intelligence’ networks. The study highlights the significance of Italian diplomatic, mercantile, and informational infrastructures in shaping early modern Europe’s understanding of Safavid Iran.

With research showing the benefits of feedback, teachers have come under increasing pressure to provide more, including more personalised, and more detailed responses to students. This often places heavy demands on teachers and with ever-larger class sizes and heavier workloads, teacher fatigue and burn-out are common. Automation has the potential to change all this and new digital resources have already proven to be valuable in supporting L2 writing. In this paper I look at the contribution of Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) programmes and Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) to feedback. The ability to provide instant local and global feedback across multiple drafts targeted to student needs and in greater quantities promises to increase learner motivation and autonomy while relieving teachers of hours of marking. But haven’t we heard this all before? Are these empty claims which raise our expectations of removing some of the drudgery of mundane grammar correction? Most importantly, what is the role of teachers in all this, and can AI really improve writers and not just texts?

We introduce a framework to prove integral rigidity results for the Seiberg–Witten invariants of a closed $4$-manifold X containing a nonseparating hypersurface Y satisfying suitable (chain-level) Floer theoretic conditions. As a concrete application, we show that if X has the homology of a four-torus, and it contains a nonseparating three-torus, then the sum of all Seiberg–Witten invariants of X is determined in purely cohomological terms.

Our results can be interpreted as $(3+1)$-dimensional versions of Donaldson’s TQFT approach to the formula of Meng–Taubes, and build upon a subtle interplay between irreducible solutions to the Seiberg–Witten equations on X and reducible ones on Y and its complement. Along the way, we provide a concrete description of the associated graded map (for a suitable filtration) of the map on $\overline {\mathit {HM}}_*$ induced by a negative-definite cobordism between three-manifolds, which might be of independent interest.

This editorial examines the empirical foundations of Chinese management research through an analysis of data sources and research designs in all empirical papers published in Management and Organization Review (MOR) over the past five years. Our review shows that 53.2% of studies rely on archival or secondary data, with 37% of quantitative studies focusing on publicly listed firms. While established datasets provide consistency and comparability, their prevalence may limit opportunities to explore China’s diverse organizational ecosystem. We identify three promising avenues for advancing the field: (1) expanding empirical attention to include a wider variety of organizational forms, (2) leveraging emerging computational methods, digital trace data, and AI-enabled technologies, and (3) recognizing the development of novel datasets as valuable scholarly contributions in their own right. We also examine how recent regulatory developments are creating new considerations for research design while reinforcing the value of collaborative approaches between international and Chinese scholars. We contend that by embracing methodological pluralism and adapting to evolving data landscapes, management scholars can generate additional novel insights that illuminate the complexity and distinctiveness of Chinese organizational life.

This piece examines Gunn’s Superman through a historical perspective, placing it within the context of Superman’s appeal and place in American culture since his first appearance in 1938. I argue that Gunn draws on the work of numerous versions of Superman to craft a cinematic version that hews closely to creator Jerry Siegel’s naive New Deal liberalism while speaking to the need of the moment. In essence, the film’s appeal to “Truth, Justice, and the Human Way” replicates the ideologically slippery “American way” that Superman fought for after Pearl Harbor. Gunn’s spin is that we must invest hope in humanity, and the capacity for empathy and kindness, in the face of soulless amoral power. That such an appeal seems radical says something of the Trumpian moment and the hyper reliance on technology and the devaluing of humanities, which is to say what makes us human.

In his rich discussion of the rule of law in Reciprocal Freedom, Ernest Weinrib observes that the prospectivity central to the rule of law seems incompatible with the apparent retroactivity of adjudication, for “parties to litigation are held to a norm of which they had no specific notice when the impugned conduct occurred.” Weinrib offers a deflationary response. Insofar as the legal materials from which any judicial opinion is crafted exist antecedently, parties are in fact on notice prior to the adjudication of their dispute. All a judicial decision does, on Weinrib’s view, is make “definitive what ought to and could have been done earlier on the basis of the law as it existed earlier.” This, I argue, does not take seriously the choices that judges face in resolving cases, for while they are constrained by existing legal materials, those materials seldom demand only one resolution, and so the problem of retroactivity remains.

The genus Aphelenchoides Fischer, 1894, encompasses nearly 200 species with significant ecological and economic importance, yet its taxonomy remains complex due to morphological similarities among species and limited molecular data. In this study, we describe a new species, Aphelenchoides vinhphucensis sp. n., collected from the rhizosphere of rice (Oryza sativa L.) in Vinh Phuc Province, Vietnam. The new species is distinguished by its morphological characteristics, including a slender stylet (9.6–12.7 μm), distinct lateral fields with four lines, a conical tail with a pointed mucro, and a well-developed post-uterine sac. Males feature three pairs of caudal papillae and arcuate spicules. Scanning electron microscopy provided detailed insights into surface features, complementing light microscopy observations. Molecular analyses of the D2-D3 regions of 28S rRNA and 18S rRNA supported the distinct phylogenetic placement of Aphelenchoides vinhphucensis sp. n., differentiating it from closely related species. Bayesian phylogenetic analysis confirmed its divergence, contributing to our understanding of biodiversity of the genus Aphelenchoides. This integrative approach highlights the importance of combining classical morphological methods with modern molecular tools for accurate species identification. The discovery of Aphelenchoides vinhphucensis sp. n. underscores the nematode diversity in Vietnam, especially those associated with rice cultivation.