A solar panel recycling scheme would help reduce waste, but please repair and reuse first (2026-06-16T12:44:00+05:30)

Deepika Mathur, Charles Darwin University and Robin Gregory, Charles Darwin University Australia’s rooftop solar industry has renewed calls for a mandatory recycling scheme to deal with the growing problem of solar panel waste. Only about 10% of panels are currently recycled. The rest are stockpiled, sent overseas or dumped in landfill. One in three Australian homes now have rooftop solar panels, and new systems are being installed at the rate of 300,000 a year. Meanwhile, older systems are being scrapped – often well before the end of their useful life. This has made solar panels Australia’s fastest-growing electronic waste stream. Yet federal government plans for a national scheme to manage this waste appear to have stalled. Clearly, solar panel waste is a major problem for Australia. Recycling is one part of the solution. But Australia also needs new rules so solar panels can be repaired and reused. Millions of solar panels dumped as upgrades surge (ABC News, June 12, 2025) What are product stewardship schemes? The Smart Energy Council, which represents the solar industry, is calling for a national product stewardship scheme. Product stewardship schemes share responsibility for reducing waste at the end of a product’s useful life. They can involve people all along the supply chain, from manufacturers to importers to retailers. Such schemes may be voluntary, and industry-led, or mandatory and legislated. Alternatively, they can be shared – approved by government but run by an organisation on behalf of industry. Existing schemes manage waste such as oil, tyres, paper and packaging, mobile phones, televisions and computers. Depending on the product, a levy is paid by the manufacturer, product importer, network service provider (in case of mobile muster), retailer or consumer – or a combination of these. The money raised is then invested in recycling, research or raising awareness and administering the scheme. Establishing a solar panel product stewardship scheme Solar panel systems were added to a national priority list for a product stewardship scheme in 2017. In December 2020, the federal government called for partners to help develop the scheme, but later stated that no partnership would be struck. The government released a discussion paper for comment in 2023. The scheme has not yet been established. This is particularly problematic given Australia’s commitment to renewable energy, which will entail a rapid expansion of solar technology. Recycling should be the last resort Product stewardship schemes assume recycling is the main solution to the waste problem. Australia’s National Waste Policy also focuses on on recycling, rather than reuse or repair. This is despite recycling being the last resort on the “waste hierarchy”, just slightly above disposal. Solar photovoltaic panels are built to last 30 years or more, and are “not made to be unmade”. They are not easy to dismantle for recycling because they are built to withstand harsh conditions. It’s difficult for Australia to influence the design of solar panels, given 99% are imported. Just one manufacturer, Tindo Solar in Adelaide, assembles solar panels on Australian soil, using imported silicon cells. Many solar panels are being removed well before their end of life, generating waste ahead of time. This is rarely because they have stopped producing power. In our previous research, we found many reasons why people chose to take solar panels down. Consumers are often advised to replace the whole system when just a few panels are faulty. Or they may simply be upgrading to a larger, more efficient system. Sometimes it’s because they want to access a new renewable energy subsidy. Renewable subsidies and other solar panel policies should be redesigned to keep panels on roofs for longer. Functioning solar panels removed before the end of their life should be reused. This would require new regulations including quality-control measures certifying second-hand solar panels, and second-hand markets. This is a much neglected field of research and development. What else should such a scheme include? Others have discussed what a solar panel product stewardship scheme could include and the possible regulatory environment. We think the scheme should also involve collecting and transporting panels around Australia, including remote areas. Unfortunately, existing product stewardship schemes do not differentiate between urban, regional and remote areas. The same is likely to be the case for a solar panel collection and recycling scheme. This leaves regional and remote areas with fewer recycling facilities and collection points. With a growing number of large solar projects in Northern Australia, reducing waste is imperative. Remote island communities in the Northern Territory bundle up their recyclables and ship it to Darwin. Removed solar panels are then transported to urban Victoria, New South Wales or South Australia for processing. Who should bear the cost of transporting this waste? Consumers, remote regional councils with small ratepayer bases, or manufacturers and retailers? A well-designed scheme would help recover valuable resources across Australia for reuse in new products. However, large volumes of solar panels would be required for recycling schemes to become commercially viable. That’s why the solar recycling industry is concerned about exporters and scrap dealers collecting panels rather then certified solar panel recyclers. Even if the technology for recycling solar panels is nascent in Australia, it’s worth stockpiling panels in Australia for later. Considering these issues in the design of a product stewardship scheme would help ensure we can maximise the benefits of renewable energy, while minimising waste. Deepika Mathur, Senior Research Fellow, Northern Institute, Charles Darwin University and Robin Gregory, Adjunct Research Fellow, Northern Institute, Charles Darwin University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

NTT preparing $500m fund to boost IOWN AI initiative (2026-06-11T11:37:00+05:30)

Posted by Harry Baldock : The vehicle will target startups across North America, Asia, and Europe to accelerate the commercial ecosystem for all-photonics networks Japan’s largest telco, NTT, is preparing to create an investment fund worth roughly $500 million to support the Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN) initiative and related AI development, according to reports from Yomiuri Shimbun. South Korea’s SK Group, Taiwan’s Chunghwa Telecom, and the Development Bank of Japan are reportedly partners in the ‘IOWN AI Fund’. More than 10 additional Japanese corporations – spanning tech giants like Toshiba, Sony, and Fujitsu, alongside major financial institutions including MUFG, SMBC, and Mizuho – have also expressed intent to participate. The ‘IOWN AI Fund’, which will be set up by the end of the month, aims to expand IOWN’s growing ecosystem and the AI infrastructure supporting it. This will be achieved by targeting tech startups across North America, Asia, and Europe, focusing on photoelectric fusion, AI semiconductors, and the development of next-generation, IOWN-native AI models. The concept of IOWN was introduced by NTT in 2019, with the central premise of shifting telco network topology from electronics to photonics (i.e., data transmission via light rather than electricity). Currently, typical backbone networks carry optical signals over fibre but are forced to convert these photonic signals into electrical signals for processing. IOWN envisions an end-to-end optical network that would remove this translational bottleneck, delivering major benefits like lower power consumption, higher speeds, and larger capacity. As generative AI data centres place unprecedented strain on global energy grids, it should be no surprise that the IOWN initiative is gaining momentum. Indeed, IOWN is already beginning to show signs of moving from technical R&D to commercial scaling. In 2024 deployment by NTT and Chunghwa Telecom successfully activated a 3,000km subsea IOWN link between Japan and Taiwan, achieving a one-way latency of just 17 milliseconds.By leveraging a formidable cross-border alliance of East Asian telecom, semiconductor, and financial giants, the IOWN AI fund is betting all-photonic network architecture will be a major alternative to traditional network strategy in the not-so-distant future. NTT preparing $500m fund to boost IOWN AI initiative - Total Telecom

Almost 20% of Australian students don’t finish school – these 3 things can help them stay (2026-06-10T13:10:00+05:30)

Rebecca J. Collie, Monash University and Andrew J. Martin, UNSW Sydney The latest data on Australian schooling shows about 81.5% of Year 10 students go on to Year 12. This is a modest rise of 1.6 percentage points on the previous year, but figures have been largely stable since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. There has been decades of research on how to help students finish school. Each student is of course different and will have different needs. But there are many things schools can do from Year 7 to support students to stay until Year 12. Here are three of the most important ones. Why it’s important to finish school Completing Year 12 is associated with a range of positive longer-term outcomes. These include better employment prospects, higher lifetime earnings, and stronger health and wellbeing. It also keeps the widest range of post-school options open, from vocational training and apprenticeships to further study and direct entry into work. Why do students leave? The reasons students leave before Year 12 are varied and often complex. For example, some students might be managing health challenges, navigating difficult life circumstances, or pursuing opportunities like an apprenticeship that fit their goals well. For others, however, leaving early is shaped by experiences at school itself. Somewhere along the way, they became disengaged, fell behind, or lost their connection to school. These are the experiences schools are best placed to influence. Research shows there are three key areas schools can better develop now to help increase the retention numbers in the years ahead. 1. How teachers teach It may sound obvious but one main way schools can keep students is through teaching approaches that help students learn effectively. This is because students need to feel they can succeed at school — and see themselves making progress — in order to stay engaged and connected to it. When learning is consistently out of reach, students disengage. In contrast, when they can see themselves getting better at things, school feels worth their effort. Our research shows effective teaching in Year 7 is connected all the way through to whether a student completes school six years later. This type of teaching is also linked with students putting in greater effort at school and higher achievement. What kind of teaching practices are we talking about? One well-evidenced approach is explicit instruction where teachers clearly model new concepts and skills, guide students through examples, and gradually shift responsibility to students as they gain mastery. As part of this, two strategies stand out. First, reducing difficulty during initial learning. When a concept is new, break it into manageable steps and match the challenge to what students already know. Second, give students well-organised opportunities to practise, paired with specific guidance on how to improve. 2. How the classroom works Orderly, predictable and positive classrooms free up students to focus on learning rather than navigating disruption. This is why classroom management is important. This is how teachers structure the classroom environment and the interactions within it so learning can happen. In a recent study, we found students whose teachers provided strong classroom management were up to six times more likely to have high motivation, engagement, and resilience at school than students whose teachers did not. Two strategies are particularly effective for classroom management. First, establishing and consistently maintaining clear rules and routines is important, so students know what to expect. Second, recognising and building on what students do well rather than only focusing on what goes wrong. 3. Student-teacher relationships Research also tells us it’s important for teachers to build warm, respectful relationships with students. It is not only important for retention in its own right — it also underpins the other two areas above. Strong teaching and good classroom management both depend on positive teacher-student relationships. When students feel known and supported by their teachers, they are more willing to engage and stay connected to school. Our research shows each relationship a student has with a teacher matters. The more positive relationships students have with their teachers — relative to negative ones — the greater their academic engagement. Academic engagement in turn, is a key driver of school retention. Research tells us every teacher can make a difference, and the relationships teachers build with their students could be what helps that student stay on and complete school. This is because the relationships add up — and for some students, the bond they build with one teacher in particular can be what tips the balance toward staying engaged with school. So it is important to create conditions where every student has the chance to build genuine, positive connections with teachers. This means teachers getting to know students as individuals, showing interest in their lives beyond the classroom, and teaching in ways that feel personal and engaging. Rebecca J. Collie, Professor of Learning Sciences, Monash University and Andrew J. Martin, Scientia Professor and Professor of Educational Psychology, UNSW Sydney This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

An AI solution to an 80‑year‑old problem has shocked mathematicians (2026-06-03T14:01:00+05:30)

A representation of one version of the new best arrangement of points on a plane with pairs separated by a unit distance. Álvaro Lozano-Robledo Melissa Lee, Monash University Last week, OpenAI shocked the mathematical community by revealing that one of its internal artificial intelligence (AI) models had found a counterexample to a famous conjecture made by legendary Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős in 1946. The planar unit distance problem, or Erdős problem 90, has intrigued mathematicians for decades. The new result is no mere curiosity. Canadian mathematician Daniel Litt described it as “the first result produced autonomously by an AI that I find interesting in itself”. The breakthrough, produced with a general-purpose AI model rather than one specialised for mathematics, also highlights how AI is changing mathematical research itself. Days after OpenAI’s paper, US mathematician Will Sawin followed the same line of reasoning to an improved result. Also last week, a team from Google DeepMind used one of their own models to resolve nine lesser open problems left by Erdős. At the same time, results like this show us what kind of mathematics current AI models are good at – and where their capabilities are still uncertain. Dots and lines Paul Erdős was one of the most prolific mathematicians of the twentieth century. He was famous for asking deceptively simple questions whose solutions often resisted decades of effort. At first glance, the underlying problem seems relatively straightforward. Suppose you have some number of points – call the number n – drawn on an infinitely large piece of paper. Given you can arrange the points any way you like, how many pairs of points can be positioned exactly one unit of distance away from each other? If you try this problem yourself (on a presumably finite piece of paper), you may quickly gravitate towards a square grid as a promising candidate for the best arrangement. The spacing of the grid naturally creates many pairs at a regular distance apart. A square grid intuitively looks like a good solution to the planar unit distance problem. OpenAI This intuition influenced much of the early thinking about the problem. As the number of points grows, grid-like arrangements continue to appear to be remarkably effective. For decades it was widely believed these highly regular structures were about as good as it gets. Erdős himself conjectured that no construction could improve substantially on these intuitive arrangements, even for an extremely large number of points. (The new best result, by Sawin, reportedly only starts to yield improvements for around 102000000 points – that’s a one followed by two million zeroes.) Over the past 80 years, mathematicians have tried to prove Erdős either right or wrong. Their efforts have linked the problem to other areas of mathematics called incidence geometry, graph theory and extremal combinatorics. While a full proof remained elusive, there was a general feeling that Erdős’ conjecture was probably true. However, OpenAI’s recent breakthrough proved Erdős’ intuition wrong. The new result uses tools from an area of mathematics called algebraic number theory to show there are patterns of dots that involve many more unit-distance pairs than the square grid, for infinitely many values of n. No hesitation In an article OpenAI published alongside the new paper, several leading mathematicians remarked on the result. Fields Medallist Timothy Gowers wrote that if a human researcher had submitted the paper with this result to the prestigious journal Annals of Mathematics, he would have recommended publication “without any hesitation”. He also added that no previous AI-generated proof had come close to this level of sophistication. This breakthrough also represents the first major mathematical open problem solved with AI with minimal human intervention beyond the initial prompt. The accompanying paper shows the prompt given to the model, as well as a recount of the “chain of thought” conducted by the model. This has renewed broader questions about the capabilities of AI to aid in, and perform, mathematical research. Three keys to mathematical research Research mathematicians have been using computers for a long time, but their work is rarely driven by computation alone. Most major breakthroughs emerge from a delicate combination of three things: expertise developed over years, sustained effort to apply that expertise creatively to explore ideas (many of which turn out to be dead ends), and occasional conceptual leaps that suddenly reorganise how a problem is understood. The first two are domains where AI models excel: as noted by Gowers, large language models such as ChatGPT have an “encyclopaedic knowledge of mathematics”. Moreover, they can follow huge numbers of speculative lines of enquiry, even those unlikely to lead anywhere, without human time constraints. The latter seems to be what provided the key to success here. In hindsight, it seems an expert given a small number of hints would be likely to be able to reach the same proof. As Gowers notes: Many of the ideas needed for the proof were present in the literature already, and for such ideas either no hint is needed, since the expert is aware of that piece of literature, or a highly generic “look it up” hint would be enough. Lightbulb moments The harder question is how much AI can contribute to genuine conceptual leaps. These acute moments of insight, where a lightbulb moment reframes a problem in an entirely new way, are often seen as the most human part of mathematics. These leaps are hard to formalise and even harder to predict. It remains unclear whether AI models can replicate them, even with recent advances. What is clear is that AI models are causing a seismic shift in the way mathematics is discovered. For centuries, progress in mathematics depended almost entirely on human creativity and persistence. Now, for the first time, researchers are working alongside systems capable of autonomously exploring enormous spaces of ideas and contributing to problems once thought accessible only to human insight. Melissa Lee, Senior Lecturer, School of Mathematics, Monash University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Counting on Fingers Really Helps Kids Improve Their Math Skills–By 40% New Study Shows (2026-06-02T15:03:00+05:30)

By Yan Krukau via Public Domain on Pexels 22-08-2025, Some teachers consider finger counting a signal that youngsters are struggling with math, while others associate its use as advanced numerical knowledge. Now, new research is the first to show that children’s performance in arithmetic can show a “huge” improvement through the teaching of a finger-counting method. Swiss and French teams explored whether finger counting can help primary-school-aged children to solve math problems. They said adults rarely use their fingers to calculate a small sum, because such behavior could be attributed to cognitive impairments or “pathological difficulties” in math. But young children under age 8 who use their fingers to solve such problems may be seen as intelligent, probably because they have already reached a level that allows them to understand that a quantity can be represented by different means. The research aimed to determine whether children who don’t count on their fingers can be trained to do so, and whether such training would result in enhanced arithmetic performance. The study, published in the journal Child Development, focused on 328 five- and six-year-old children at kindergarten, mainly living in France, and tested their abilities to solve simple addition problems. The kindergarteners were recruited through their teachers, who voluntarily took part in the experiment, which included a pre-test, training held over two weeks, a post-test closely after the training’s end, and a delayed post-test. The results showed an “important increase” in performance between pre- and post-test for the trained children who did not count on their fingers originally—from 37% to 77% of correct responses—compared to non-finger users in the control group. Whether children who use finger counting are using it as an arithmetic procedure or understand something deeper about numbers will still need to be determined with future research. “Our findings are highly valuable because, for the first time, we provide a concrete answer to the long-standing question of whether teachers should explicitly teach children to use their fingers for solving addition problems,” said study leader Dr. Catherine Thevenot. “Finger calculation training is effective for over 75% of kindergartners,” she added. “The next step is to explore how we can support the remaining 25% of children who didn’t respond as well to the intervention.” Dr. Thevenot, of the Institute of Psychology at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, says the study came about as a result of conversations with primary school teachers. “They often asked me whether they should encourage or discourage children from using their fingers to solve calculations. “Surprisingly, the existing research didn’t offer a clear answer, which left teachers understandably frustrated with my frequent response of ‘I don’t know.’ “This recurring question, coupled with the lack of concrete evidence, inspired me to investigate the issue myself. “When I first saw the results, I was amazed by the huge improvement in performance among children who didn’t initially use their fingers to solve the problems. “Before our intervention, these children were only able to solve about one-third of the addition problems during a pre-test. After training, however, they were solving over three-quarters of them. “This improvement truly exceeded my expectations,” said Dr. Thevenot. “The difference was striking, especially compared to the control groups, where gains were insignificant. “An important question now is to determine whether what we taught to children goes beyond a mere procedure to solve the problems. “In other words, we want to know whether our intervention led to a deeper conceptual understanding of numbers, specifically whether children better grasp how to manipulate the quantities represented by their fingers. “In fact, we have already started addressing this question and the initial results are very promising. However, we still need to carry out additional experiments to confirm that these improvements are indeed a direct result of our training program.” Counting on Fingers Really Helps Kids Improve Their Math Skills–By 40% New Study Shows

It’s tempting to offload your thinking to AI. Cognitive science shows why that’s a bad idea (2026-04-01T11:58:00+05:30)

Milad Fakurian/Unsplash  Misia Temler, University of Sydney: With so many artificial intelligence (AI) products on offer now, it’s increasingly tempting to offload difficult thinking tasks to chatbots, agents and other tools. As we chart this new technological terrain, more and more we’re exposed to vast amounts of information and highly sophisticated software that offers to do the thinking for us. In just a few seconds, tools such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini can draft your emails, generate a caring birthday message for a friend, or even summarise the plot of that novel you haven’t gotten around to reading. Such increased offloading has raised the fear that people will become overly reliant on AI. This could have unintended consequences, such as eroding our critical thinking skills and declining our overall cognitive ability. This fear is not unfounded. Research from our lab suggests the online environment exploits our cognitive tendencies – individual differences in how we think, perceive, pay attention and remember. In turn, some people end up taking more mental shortcuts and only engaging with information superficially. Other studies have linked high AI use to increased laziness, anxiety, lower critical engagement and feelings of dependence. Yet it may be how we use AI that’s the problem, rather than the fact we do it at all. Generally, relying on external sources is fine – we do this constantly. But it’s important to remain in control of what we choose to offload, and why. How do we even know things? We all constantly rely on each other’s knowledge to function as a society. Doctors provide medical information, engineers are in charge of construction, financial advisers give investment tips, and so on. All this spread of expertise provides each of us with more knowledge than we can individually hold. In other words, we constantly balance offloading (letting someone else do the thinking) with scaffolding (relying on external knowledge sources to enrich our own thinking). Scaffolding often happens when we learn. For example, a teacher doesn’t write an essay for their student – instead, they provide feedback so the student can connect, integrate, and grow their knowledge base. Crucially, we also don’t offload all thinking tasks to one specific person. Instead, we carefully consider the person’s trust and expertise before accepting their advice, tools or support. We also check how the new information fits in with what we already know. As our knowledge grows in a certain area, we rely less on outside support, just as a student relies on a teacher until they learn enough to stand on their own. It’s not just our brains doing the work Cognition (our thinking skills) is the central concept in all of this. Our minds engage in three fundamental tasks: encoding information (taking it in so the brain can parse it) storing information, and retrieving information. Cognition relies on how well these three mental tasks work together. When we’re overwhelmed with information, distributing tasks to outside sources lessens that mental effort. Research shows when our attention is strained, our minds focus more on encoding information while sacrificing storage and retrieval, which are more taxing. Intuitively, it’s easy to assume all our cognition just happens in the brain. But our cognitive processes are sometimes extended to things in the environment. These external sources can be people, physical objects and digital tools. A diary is an extension of your mind if you use it to retrieve memories you’ve written down. However, flippantly offloading your knowledge acquisition and storage to external sources – such as asking ChatGPT any question that pops in your mind – can have an impact on your critical thinking skills. This is because acquired knowledge actively interacts with newly encoded information in our minds: we convert information we come across in a way that makes sense to us. And the more knowledge we hold, the greater our capacity to encode and critically interpret new information. For example, knowledge of Hitler and Mussolini in the context of the second world war helps us to better understand the modern dangers of dictatorship. Hard work can be rewarding To restore balance, we need to perform the more difficult cognitive tasks ourselves, not just offload them whenever it’s convenient. The faster and easier option isn’t always the best – just like choosing to walk to your friend’s place provides better exercise for your body and mind than driving there does. Sometimes hard work can be rewarding. When faced with using AI tools, you can either choose to control them, or let them control you. One way to balance your relationship with AI tools is to use reflective practices. Ask yourself: how do you feel after using AI? Do you feel proud and satisfied, or do you feel more anxious and more overwhelmed? Have you replaced or scaffolded your cognition today? What tasks can you do to expand your mental capabilities tomorrow? For a successful relationship with AI, we need to exercise all our mental skills – otherwise we really do risk losing them. This may not always be easy, but it remains in our control. Misia Temler, Research Affiliate, Psychology, University of Sydney This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Shruti Haasan: I am my home (2026-03-20T12:07:00+05:30)

(Photo Credit: Shruti Haasan/Instagram) Chennai, (IANS) Actress, singer and musician Shruti Haasan, who has lived and worked across industries and languages, says that she has come to see the idea of home very differently. For her, home is not a pin on the map. It is a deeply personal space she carries within herself. Reflecting on what belonging means to her, Shruti shares, “Home is not geography at all for me, is what I've realized. When I go back to Chennai I feel an ease and I feel a love that is so infinite. In Mumbai, I feel a different kind of love. In Hyderabad, because I work in these industries, I feel a different kind of love.” Having built a career that spans multiple film industries, she says each city has offered her its own warmth. But over time, she has discovered something more profound. “What I've realized is you could probably throw me in the middle of anywhere and if I have to find my comfort, I will. That's my joy in life, it's getting to know people and a place and its culture and finding the thing that I love about it and making it then mine. Home is really where I am," she says. "It's something that's deeply personal and I could be in what is so-called the most comfortable place, including my physical home, and I could be completely discombobulated because I don't feel at home with myself. So that concept of myself, is superior in my brain of that, I am my home and that has given me a great sense of safety and security in navigating anything in life," she adds. Shruti goes on to point out, "To me, home has never been geography. It's never been a person, maybe apart from my dad, who really feels like the physical embodiment of home to me. Nothing's really been more home than me for myself, that might sound a bit self-centered, but it's worked out really well for me.”In a life that constantly takes her across cities, languages and cultures, Shruti Haasan’s idea of home feels deeply personal and quietly powerful, a reminder that true belonging is not about an address on a map, but about feeling at ease within yourself. Shruti Haasan: I am my home | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com

S. Korea becomes 1st nation to enact comprehensive law on safe AI usage (2026-03-03T12:52:00+05:30)

IANS Photo Seoul, (IANS): South Korea on Thursday formally enacted a comprehensive law governing the safe use of artificial intelligence (AI) models, becoming the first country globally in doing so, establishing a regulatory framework against misinformation and other hazardous effects involving the emerging field. The Basic Act on the Development of Artificial Intelligence and the Establishment of a Foundation for Trustworthiness, or the AI Basic Act, officially took effect Thursday, according to the science ministry, reports Yonhap news agency. It marked the first governmental adoption of comprehensive guidelines on the use of AI globally. The act centres on requiring companies and AI developers to take greater responsibility for addressing deepfake content and misinformation that can be generated by AI models, granting the government the authority to impose fines or launch probes into violations. In detail, the act introduces the concept of "high-risk AI," referring to AI models used to generate content that can significantly affect users' daily lives or their safety, including applications in the employment process, loan reviews and medical advice. Entities harnessing such high-risk AI models are required to inform users that their services are based on AI and are responsible for ensuring safety. Content generated by AI models is required to carry watermarks indicating its AI-generated nature. "Applying watermarks to AI-generated content is the minimum safeguard to prevent side effects from the abuse of AI technology, such as deepfake content," a ministry official said. Global companies offering AI services in South Korea meeting any of the following criteria -- global annual revenue of 1 trillion won ($681 million) or more, domestic sales of 10 billion won or higher, or at least 1 million daily users in the country -- are required to designate a local representative. Currently, OpenAI and Google fall under the criteria. Violations of the act may be subject to fines of up to 30 million won, and the government plans to enforce a one-year grace period in imposing penalties to help the private sector adjust to the new rules.The act also includes measures for the government to promote the AI industry, with the science minister required to present a policy blueprint every three years. S. Korea becomes 1st nation to enact comprehensive law on safe AI usage | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com

Do Inuit languages really have many words for snow? The most interesting finds from our study of 616 languages (2026-02-26T11:37:00+05:30)

Charles Kemp, The University of Melbourne; Ekaterina Vylomova, The University of Melbourne; Temuulen Khishigsuren, The University of Melbourne, and Terry Regier, University of California, Berkeley Languages are windows into the worlds of the people who speak them – reflecting what they value and experience daily. So perhaps it’s no surprise different languages highlight different areas of vocabulary. Scholars have noted that Mongolian has many horse-related words, that Maori has many words for ferns, and Japanese has many words related to taste. Some links are unsurprising, such as German having many words related to beer, or Fijian having many words for fish. The linguist Paul Zinsli wrote an entire book on Swiss-German words related to mountains. In our recently-published study we took a broad approach towards understanding the links between different languages and concepts. Using computational methods, we identified areas of vocabulary that are characteristic of specific languages, to provide insight into linguistic and cultural variation. Our work adds to a growing understanding of language, culture, and the way they both relate. Our method We tested 163 links between languages and concepts, drawn from the literature. We compiled a digital dataset of 1574 bilingual dictionaries that translate between English and 616 different languages. Since many of these dictionaries were still under copyright, we only had access to counts of how often a particular word appeared in each dictionary. One example of a concept we looked at was “horse”, for which the top-scoring languages included French, German, Kazakh and Mongolian. This means dictionaries in these languages had a relatively high number of words for horses. For instance, Mongolian аргамаг means “a good racing or riding horse” words related to horses. For instance, Mongolian чөдөрлөх means “to hobble a horse”. However, it is also possible the counts were influenced by “horse” appearing in example sentences for unrelated terms. Not a hoax after all? Our findings support most links previously highlighted by researchers, including that Hindi has many words related to love and Japanese has many words related to obligation and duty. We were especially interested in testing the idea that Inuit languages have many words for snow. This notorious claim has long been distorted and exaggerated. It has even been dismissed as the “great Eskimo vocabulary hoax”, with some experts saying it simply isn’t true. But our results suggest the Inuit snow vocabulary is indeed exceptional. Out of 616 languages, the language with the top score for “snow” was Eastern Canadian Inuktitut. The other two Inuit languages in our data set (Western Canadian Inuktitut and North Alaskan Inupiatun) also achieved high scores for “snow”. The Eastern Canadian Inuktitut dictionary in our dataset includes terms such as kikalukpok, which means “noisy walking on hard snow”, and apingaut, which means “first snow fall”. The top 20 languages for “snow” included several other languages of Alaska, such as Ahtena, Dena'ina and Central Alaskan Yupik, as well as Japanese and Scots. Scots includes terms such as doon-lay, meaning “a heavy fall of snow”, feughter meaning “a sudden, slight fall of snow”, and fuddum, meaning “snow drifting at intervals”. You can explore our findings using the tool we developed, which allows you to identify the top languages for any given concept, and the top concepts for a particular language. Language and environment Although the languages with top scores for “snow” are all spoken in snowy regions, the top-ranked languages for “rain” were not always from the rainiest parts of the world. For instance, South Africa has a medium level of rainfall, but languages from this region, such as Nyanja, East Taa and Shona, have many rain-related words. This is probably because, unlike snow, rain is important for human survival – which means people still talk about it in its absence. For speakers of East Taa, rain is both relatively rare and desirable. This is reflected in terms such as lábe ||núu-bâ, an “honorific form of address to thunder to bring rain” and |qába, which refers to the “ritual sprinkling of water or urine to bring rain”. Our tool can also be used to explore various concepts related to perception (“smell”), emotion (“love”) and cultural beliefs (“ghost”). The top-scoring languages for “smell” include a cluster of Oceanic languages such as Marshallese, which has terms such as jatbo meaning “smell of damp clothing”, meļļā meaning “smell of blood”, and aelel meaning “smell of fish, lingering on hands, body, or utensils”. Prior to our research, the smell terms of the Pacific Islands had received little attention. Some caveats Although our analysis reveals many interesting links between languages and concepts, the results aren’t always reliable – and should be checked against original dictionaries where possible. For example, the top concepts for Plautdietsch (Mennonite Low German) include von (“of”), den (“the”) and und (“and”) – all of which are unrevealing. We excluded similar words from other languages using Wiktionary, but our method did not filter out these common words for Plautdietsch. Also, the word counts reflect both dictionary definitions and other elements, such as example sentences. While our analysis excluded words that are especially likely to appear in example sentences (such as “woman” and “father”), such words could have still influenced our results to some extent. Most importantly, our results run the risk of perpetuating potentially harmful stereotypes if taken at face value. So we urge caution and respect while using the tool. The concepts it lists for any given language provide, at best, a crude reflection of the cultures associated with that language. Charles Kemp, Professor, School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne; Ekaterina Vylomova, Lecturer, Computing and Information Systems, The University of Melbourne; Temuulen Khishigsuren, PhD Candidate, The University of Melbourne, and Terry Regier, Professor, Language and Cognition Lab, University of California, Berkeley This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Back to school: what are the money lessons to teach your kids at every age? (2026-02-20T12:16:00+05:30)

Angel Zhong, RMIT University As parents prepare for another school year, there’s one subject that often gets overlooked: money. Financial literacy isn’t just about numbers. It’s about building skills that will shape your child’s future decisions, from buying their first car to planning for retirement. The good news? You don’t need to be a finance expert to teach these lessons. Start with age-appropriate concepts and build from there. Here’s what to focus on at each stage. Primary school (ages 6–12): Making money real Young children understand money better when they can see it and touch it. This is the perfect time to introduce pocket money – a regular allowance that teaches them money doesn’t appear magically. And once it’s gone, it’s gone. Start small. Five dollars a week gives a seven-year-old enough to make choices without overwhelming them. Should they buy that chocolate bar now, or save for three weeks to get the Lego set they really want? This waiting game is crucial. It teaches delayed gratification, which research shows is linked to better financial outcomes later in life. When your child saves for weeks to buy something they’ve been eyeing, they’re learning that big goals require patience and planning. Use clear jars or piggy banks so kids can literally watch their money grow. It makes saving visible and satisfying. Some families use a three-jar system: spending, saving, and sharing (for charity or gifts). This introduces the idea that money serves multiple purposes. Let them make small mistakes too. If your eight-year-old blows their entire allowance on stickers and regrets it by Wednesday, that’s a five-dollar lesson that could save them thousands later. Secondary school (ages 12–18): Real-world money management Teenagers are ready for more complex financial concepts. This is when you shift from teaching about money to teaching with money. Open a bank account together. Walk them through how banks work. Tell them that banks are not just storing money, they’re businesses that pay you interest to keep your money there and charge interest when you borrow. Explain that the interest you earn on savings is usually tiny, while the interest you pay on debts is much higher. Introduce the concept of debit cards, but explain how they differ from credit. A debit card only spends money you already have. This is a good time to show them how to check their account balance and track spending through banking apps. Talk about wants versus needs. Your teenager needs school shoes. They want the $200 branded pair. This isn’t about saying no. It’s about showing them trade-offs. “If you want those shoes, you’ll need to contribute $100 from your savings. Are they worth it?” If your teenager gets a part-time job, teach them to check they’re being paid correctly. The Fair Work Ombudsman website has easy tools to calculate award rates, the minimum pay rates set for different industries and age groups. A 16-year-old working in retail should know what they’re entitled to earn. This is also the time to introduce the concept of paying yourself first. When money comes in, savings come out first. Even putting aside 10% teaches the habit of treating savings as non-negotiable – it’s not whatever is left over. School leavers (ages 18+): Building wealth basics Young adults entering work face a new financial landscape. They’re earning more, but expenses grow too, such as transport, social life, and maybe rent. Start with superannuation. This is money an employer must put aside for an employee’s retirement. It may seem irrelevant when your child is 18, but a young person who understands super early has a massive advantage. Here’s why: compound growth. Money invested at 18 has 40+ years to grow. Even small amounts become significant. If you put an extra $20 a week into super from age 18, you could have at least an extra $300,000 by retirement, thanks to compound returns. That’s the snowball effect, when the investment gains on your contributions start earning returns as well. Introduce investing apps, but with caution. Digital investing apps such as CommSec Pocket and Stake make investing accessible with small amounts. They let young people buy into diversified funds, which are collections of many different investments, rather than trying to pick individual shares. Explain the fundamental trade-off: higher potential returns come with higher risk. Shares can grow more than savings accounts, but they can also fall in value quickly. Teach them about the share market without jargon. When you buy shares, you own a tiny piece of a company. If the company does well, your share becomes more valuable. If it doesn’t, your share can lose value. Diversification – spreading money across many companies – reduces the risk of losing everything if one company fails. The lessons that matter most Financial education isn’t really just about money. It’s about decision-making, delayed gratification, and understanding that every choice has trade-offs. It’s a life skill you build over time, one conversation and one decision at a time. The most valuable lesson you can teach at any age? Money is a tool, not a goal. It gives you choices and security. Teaching your children to use that tool wisely is one of the greatest gifts you can give them. Start these conversations early. Make them normal. And remember, you’re teaching as much by how you handle money as by what you say about it. Children notice when you compare prices, when you talk about saving for holidays, when you decide something isn’t worth the price. Angel Zhong, Professor of Finance, RMIT University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

‘The Social Garden’ in Mokokchung promises refined fine dining experience (2026-02-16T13:26:00+05:30)

The Social Garden, a new fine dining restaurant, officially opens its doors at Aongza Ward, Mokokchung on February 11. (Morung Photo) A new fine dining destination, The Social Garden, was officially inaugurated on at Aongza Ward, housed in the Delhivery building adjacent to the Imkongmeren Sports Complex, Mokokchung on February 11. The restaurant was founded by two 27-year-old entrepreneurs, Ongjena and Chiben Jamir, who have been friends since their school days. While Ongjena is an interior designer by profession, Chiben is a civil engineer currently preparing for competitive examinations. The Social Garden serves Asian and continental cuisines and features both indoor and outdoor seating arrangements, accommodating approximately 50–55 guests. It also houses a private lounge for more intimate gatherings. The space, conceptualized and designed by Ongjena herself, reflects a Scandinavian-inspired interior, while the outdoor area has been curated in a garden-style setting. Sharing the concept and vision behind the venture, Ongjena revealed that the initial plan was to open a simple café. However, after conducting thorough research and studying the local market, they identified “an urgent need for a proper fine dining restaurant in Mokokchung.” “So we conducted our research, developed a concept, and worked tirelessly to bring the vision to life. And this project is not just for us, but for the people of Mokokchung, for our community. This is like a way of giving back to the community, by providing refined experience through exceptional food and thoughtful interior design,” she stated. She expressed gratitude to Almighty God for His guidance and thanked their friends and family for their unwavering support and sacrifices throughout the journey. ‘Only creativity can survive’ The ribbon-cutting ceremony was performed by Wapang Kichu, Councillor of Mokokchung Municipal Council (MMC), who congratulated the young entrepreneurs and described the restaurant as “one of a kind in Mokokchung.” He noted that Mokokchung is a small town with a limited population and emphasised that “only with creativity we can survive to run a business.” Drawing from his own experience, he cautioned that business ventures are not always smooth. “In business, it is not always up; it goes down as well. You have to prepare for the worst and also not to take success for granted,” he advised. He further stressed the importance of maintaining quality and consistency, particularly in food service, and commended the founders for establishing “a beautiful restaurant in a great location.” The dedicatory prayer was led by Imnakumzuk Jamir, Associate Pastor (Youth), Kumlong Baptist Church, seeking blessings for the new establishment and its journey ahead.   ‘The Social Garden’ in Mokokchung promises refined fine dining experience | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com