The Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) offers powerful new capabilities for studying the polarised and magnetised Universe at radio wavelengths. In this paper, we introduce the Polarisation Sky Survey of the Universe’s Magnetism (POSSUM), a groundbreaking survey with three primary objectives: (1) to create a comprehensive Faraday rotation measure (RM) grid of up to one million compact extragalactic sources across the southern ∼ 50 per cent of the sky (20,630 deg2); (2) to map the intrinsic polarisation and RM properties of a wide range of discrete extragalactic and Galactic objects over the same area; and (3) to contribute interferometric data with excellent surface brightness sensitivity, which can be combined with single-dish data to study the diffuse Galactic interstellar medium. Observations for the full POSSUM survey commenced in May 2023 and are expected to conclude by mid-2028. POSSUM will achieve an RM grid density of around 30–50 RMs per square degree with a median measurement uncertainty of ∼1 rad m−2. The survey operates primarily over a frequency range of 800–1088 MHz, with an angular resolution of 20″ and a typical RMS sensitivity in Stokes Q or U of 18 μJy beam−1. Additionally, the survey will be supplemented by similar observations covering 1296–1440 MHz over 38 per cent of the sky. POSSUM will enable the discovery and detailed investigation of magnetized phenomena in a wide range of cosmic environments, including the intergalactic medium and cosmic web, galaxy clusters and groups, active galactic nuclei and radio galaxies, the Magellanic System and other nearby galaxies, galaxy halos and the circumgalactic medium, and the magnetic structure of the Milky Way across a very wide range of scales, as well as the interplay between these components. This paper reviews the current science case developed by the POSSUM Collaboration and provides an overview of POSSUM’s observations, data processing, outputs, and its complementarity with other radio and multi-wavelength surveys, including future work with the SKA.

Herbicide drift to sensitive crops can result in significant injury, yield loss, and even crop destruction. When pesticide drift is reported to the Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA), tissue samples are collected and analyzed for residues. Seven field studies were conducted in 2020 and 2021 in cooperation with the GDA to evaluate the effect of (1) time interval between simulated drift event and sampling, (2) low-dose herbicide rates, and (3) the sample collection methods on detecting herbicide residues in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) foliage. Simulated drift rates of 2,4-D, dicamba, and imazapyr were applied to non-tolerant cotton in the 8- to 9-leaf stage with plant samples collected at 7 or 21 d after treatment (DAT). During collection, plant sampling consisted of removing entire plants or removing new growth occurring after the 7-leaf stage. Visual cotton injury from 2,4-D reached 43% to 75% at 0.001 and 0.004 kg ae ha−1, respectively; for dicamba, it was 9% to 41% at 0.003 or 0.014 kg ae ha−1, respectively; and for imazapyr, it was 1% to 74% with 0.004 and 0.03 kg ae ha−1 rates, respectively. Yield loss was observed with both rates of 2,4-D (11% to 51%) and with the high rate of imazapyr (52%); dicamba did not influence yield. Herbicide residues were detected in 88%, 88%, and 69% of samples collected from plants treated with 2,4-D, dicamba, and imazapyr, respectively, at 7 DAT compared with 25%, 16%, and 22% when samples were collected at 21 DAT, highlighting the importance of sampling quickly after a drift event. Although the interval between drift event and sampling, drift rate, and sampling method can all influence residue detection for 2,4-D, dicamba, and imazapyr, the factor with the greatest influence is the amount of time between drift and sample collection.

Although food insecurity affects a significant proportion of young children in New Zealand (NZ)(1), evidence of its association with dietary intake and sociodemographic characteristics in this population is lacking. This study aims to assess the household food security status of young NZ children and its association with energy and nutrient intake and sociodemographic factors. This study included 289 caregiver and child (1-3 years old) dyads from the same household in either Auckland, Wellington, or Dunedin, NZ. Household food security status was determined using a validated and NZ-specific eight-item questionnaire(2). Usual dietary intake was determined from two 24-hour food recalls, using the multiple source method(3). The prevalence of inadequate nutrient intake was assessed using the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) cut-point method and full probability approach. Sociodemographic factors (i.e., socioeconomic status, ethnicity, caregiver education, employment status, household size and structure) were collected from questionnaires. Linear regression models were used to estimate associations with statistical significance set at p <0.05. Over 30% of participants had experienced food insecurity in the past 12 months. Of all eight indicator statements, “the variety of foods we are able to eat is limited by a lack of money,” had the highest proportion of participants responding “often” or “sometimes” (35.8%). Moderately food insecure children exhibited higher fat and saturated fat intakes, consuming 3.0 (0.2, 5.8) g/day more fat, and 2.0 (0.6, 3.5) g/day more saturated fat compared to food secure children (p<0.05). Severely food insecure children had lower g/kg/day protein intake compared to food secure children (p<0.05). In comparison to food secure children, moderately and severely food insecure children had lower fibre intake, consuming 1.6 (2.8, 0.3) g/day and 2.6 (4.0, 1.2) g/day less fibre, respectively. Severely food insecure children had the highest prevalence of inadequate calcium (7.0%) and vitamin C (9.3%) intakes, compared with food secure children [prevalence of inadequate intakes: calcium (2.3%) and vitamin C (2.8%)]. Household food insecurity was more common in those of Māori or Pacific ethnicity; living in areas of high deprivation; having a caregiver who was younger, not in paid employment, or had low educational attainment; living with ≥2 other children in the household; and living in a sole-parent household. Food insecure young NZ children consume a diet that exhibits lower nutritional quality in certain measures compared to their food-secure counterparts. Food insecurity was associated with various sociodemographic factors that are closely linked with poverty or low income. As such, there is an urgent need for poverty mitigation initiatives to safeguard vulnerable young children from the adverse consequences of food insecurity.

We demonstrate the importance of radio selection in probing heavily obscured galaxy populations. We combine Evolutionary Map of the Universe (EMU) Early Science data in the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) G23 field with the GAMA data, providing optical photometry and spectral line measurements, together with Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) infrared (IR) photometry, providing IR luminosities and colours. We investigate the degree of obscuration in star-forming galaxies, based on the Balmer decrement (BD), and explore how this trend varies, over a redshift range of $0<z<0.345$. We demonstrate that the radio-detected population has on average higher levels of obscuration than the parent optical sample, arising through missing the lowest BD and lowest mass galaxies, which are also the lower star formation rate (SFR) and metallicity systems. We discuss possible explanations for this result, including speculation around whether it might arise from steeper stellar initial mass functions in low mass, low SFR galaxies.

We assessed patterns of enteric infections caused by 14 pathogens, in a longitudinal cohort study of sequelae in British Columbia (BC) Canada, 2005–2014. Our population cohort of 5.8 million individuals was followed for an average of 7.5 years/person; during this time, 40 523 individuals experienced 42 308 incident laboratory-confirmed, provincially reported enteric infections (96.4 incident infections per 100 000 person-years). Most individuals (38 882/40 523; 96%) had only one, but 4% had multiple concurrent infections or more than one infection across the study. Among individuals with more than one infection, the pathogens and combinations occurring most frequently per individual matched the pathogens occurring most frequently in the BC population. An additional 298 557 new fee-for-service physician visits and hospitalisations for enteric infections, that did not coincide with a reported enteric infection, also occurred, and some may be potentially unreported enteric infections. Our findings demonstrate that sequelae risk analyses should explore the possible impacts of multiple infections, and that estimating risk for individuals who may have had a potentially unreported enteric infection is warranted.

Sabellidites cambriensis is a tubular non-mineralized metazoan that appears as compressed ribbon-shaped imprints with transverse wrinkling, thick walls and an even tube diameter of up to 3 mm. The distribution of Sabellidites is investigated in three Ediacaran–Cambrian sections on the Digermulen Peninsula in Arctic Norway, spanning the Manndrapselva Member of the Stáhpogieddi Formation and the lower member of the Breidvika Formation. Here, the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary is located in the lower part of the upper parasequence (third cycle) of the Manndrapselva Member. Specimens of Sabellidites are rare but consistently present close to the lowest level of Treptichnus pedum and upsection, whereas the taxon is common and abundant in the lower part of the lower member of the Breidvika Formation, with an upper record at c. 55 m above the base. The range is comparable with that of the GSSP section in Newfoundland, Canada, establishing Sabellidites as an index fossil for the lowermost Cambrian. In the Manndrapselva Member, Sabellidites co-occurs with the acritarch Granomarginata, indicative of the lowermost Cambrian Granomarginata Zone, whereas in the Breidvika Formation it co-occurs with Asteridium. Sabellidites is widely distributed in Baltica, through the Rovnian and Lontovan regional stages but confined to the Fortunian global stage. In its lower range, Sabellidites is associated with a Treptichnus pedum trace fossil association and a depauperate leiosphaerid acritarch assemblage, followed by a Granomarginata assemblage. In its upper range, Sabellidites co-occurs with acritarchs of the Asteridium–Comasphaeridium Zone and the tubular foraminiferan Platysolenites. In Baltica, Sabellidites is a useful index fossil.

We present an overview of the Middle Ages Galaxy Properties with Integral Field Spectroscopy (MAGPI) survey, a Large Program on the European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope. MAGPI is designed to study the physical drivers of galaxy transformation at a lookback time of 3–4 Gyr, during which the dynamical, morphological, and chemical properties of galaxies are predicted to evolve significantly. The survey uses new medium-deep adaptive optics aided Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) observations of fields selected from the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey, providing a wealth of publicly available ancillary multi-wavelength data. With these data, MAGPI will map the kinematic and chemical properties of stars and ionised gas for a sample of 60 massive ( ${>}7 \times 10^{10} {\mathrm{M}}_\odot$ ) central galaxies at $0.25 < z <0.35$ in a representative range of environments (isolated, groups and clusters). The spatial resolution delivered by MUSE with Ground Layer Adaptive Optics ( $0.6-0.8$ arcsec FWHM) will facilitate a direct comparison with Integral Field Spectroscopy surveys of the nearby Universe, such as SAMI and MaNGA, and at higher redshifts using adaptive optics, for example, SINS. In addition to the primary (central) galaxy sample, MAGPI will deliver resolved and unresolved spectra for as many as 150 satellite galaxies at $0.25 < z <0.35$ , as well as hundreds of emission-line sources at $z < 6$ . This paper outlines the science goals, survey design, and observing strategy of MAGPI. We also present a first look at the MAGPI data, and the theoretical framework to which MAGPI data will be compared using the current generation of cosmological hydrodynamical simulations including EAGLE, Magneticum, HORIZON-AGN, and Illustris-TNG. Our results show that cosmological hydrodynamical simulations make discrepant predictions in the spatially resolved properties of galaxies at $z\approx 0.3$ . MAGPI observations will place new constraints and allow for tangible improvements in galaxy formation theory.

The first demonstration of laser action in ruby was made in 1960 by T. H. Maiman of Hughes Research Laboratories, USA. Many laboratories worldwide began the search for lasers using different materials, operating at different wavelengths. In the UK, academia, industry and the central laboratories took up the challenge from the earliest days to develop these systems for a broad range of applications. This historical review looks at the contribution the UK has made to the advancement of the technology, the development of systems and components and their exploitation over the last 60 years.