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Placenta and hormone levels in the womb may have been key driver in human evolution

Dr Alex Tsompanidis, senior researcher at the Autism Research Centre in the University of Cambridge, and the lead author of this new study, said: “Small variations in the prenatal levels of steroid hormones, like testosterone and oestrogen, can predict the rate of social and cognitive learning in infants and even the likelihood of conditions such as autism. This prompted us to consider their relevance for human evolution.”One explanation for the…

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Washington State Scales Up Paid Family and Medical Leave Law

Quick Hits Washington State’s HB 1213 expands job protection rights under the state’s paid family and medical leave program. The amended leave program reduces the minimum increment of time off from eight consecutive hours to four consecutive hours. HB 1213 also broadens health insurance coverage requirements, along with a variety of other miscellaneous changes. HB 1213 expands the Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave (WPFML) program, which is a state-administered…

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The ‘Big Beautiful BIll’ and Other News

Howie and Harlan discuss health and healthcare issues making headlines, including public attitudes toward the Medicaid cuts in the budget bill making its way through Congress, a one-time gene therapy that could cure high cholesterol, “ambient” AI in the exam room, and the replacement of the the CDC’s entire vaccine advisory board. Links: Remembering Atul Butte “Atul Butte, a biomedical and bioinformatics pioneer, dies at 55” Marina Sirota on LinkedIn…

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Stanford education graduates urged to be flexible in the face of disruption

Stanford GSE students received their diplomas in a joyous ceremony that honored their perseverance and purpose – and urged them to stay flexible in a rapidly evolving learning landscape.“There are many winds of change, and they’re very strong,” said Professor Emeritus Decker Walker, PhD ’71, who delivered the Commencement address. “You need to be adaptable.”Walker, an expert in curriculum and instruction who also started the technology in education program at…

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India’s Foreign Policy Priorities for Viksit Bharat Vision 2047

3.     Securing a Stable and Strategically Aligned Neighbourhood India’s immediate neighbourhood is undergoing a significant shift. The small nations are on their path of gradual democratisation, accompanied by a rise in nationalism.This has heightened their sensitivities around sovereignty, which is often expressed in reaction to the region’s dominant power i.e. India. Further, China’s expanding footprint in the region poses significant strategic challenge. Beijing has become primary arms exporter to Pakistan…

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Minnesota Contractors’ Workforce Compliance Requirements, Part III: Workforce Certificate Audits

Quick Hits The MDHR conducts audits (including on-site visits) of workforce certificate holders’ efforts to comply with the MHRA and contractors’ compliance plans. The MDHR is likely to conduct audits of workforce certificate holders at least once during each four-year certification period. How Does the MDHR Analyze Workforce Certificate Compliance? In determining a contractor’s workforce certificate compliance, the MDHR may analyze: the contractor’s compliance with Minnesota’s anti-discrimination laws, MN Rules…

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The AI Race Through a Geopolitical Lens

However, diffusion capacity is not always as apparent. It’s about the proportion of companies using AI; the flow of talent between universities, R&D labs, start-ups, industry and government; sectoral adoption rates; links between frontier firms and application firms; and the degree of competition.Scale mattersDiffusion is taking place quietly but surely in China, thanks to its integrated digital foundations. Ubiquitous platforms such as WeChat and Alipay provide ready-made rails for AI…

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From Desperation to Determination: Reflecting on 16 Years of Growth

I just got an email from a spammer offering SEO help for my very old website — www.NoWorkplaceBullies.com. I hadn’t thought about that site in ages, so I typed in the link… and there it was. The original website I built the day I started my business — though it wasn’t called Civility Partners yet. Seeing it brought back a flood of memories. I was reminded that this has truly…

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Show me the value: A CIO view on how tech can shape the business

Technology has emerged as a critical priority for businesses, not just for IT. As a result, tech leaders’ responsibilities are expanding into areas outside IT, including customer experience, innovation, operations, procurement, and strategy. But how well CIOs and other tech leaders can forge effective relationships with leaders outside the tech function has become as important as the technology decisions themselves. It’s never just tech. In this interview, Nancy Avila, current…

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India’s future arenas: Engines of growth and dynamism

India is on a strong growth trajectory, with its share of global GDP rising from 1.9 percent in 2008 to 3.4 percent in 2023. The Government of India is now targeting an 8 to 10 percent share of global GDP by 2040. Achieving this level of growth requires a shift from incremental progress to targeted breakthroughs in sectors that hold the potential for significant growth and dynamism—what the McKinsey Global…

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Three success factors in the pursuit of National Renewal

Spending review 2025: our insights The June 2025 Spending Review is the Labour Government’s first in over 15 years and is presented as a significant strategic shift from incremental budgeting to a mission-led, zero-based funding approach. The commitments made through the SR reflect our national priorities (health, house building, national energy security, and digital transformation) whilst also recognising the increasing global threats that we face and how we must be…

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Supreme Court Upholds Tennessee Law Prohibiting Gender-Affirming Care for Children

Quick Hits The Supreme Court held that “Tennessee’s law prohibiting certain medical treatments for transgender minors is not subject to heightened scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and satisfies rational basis review.” The Court reasoned that the state law classifies on the basis of age and medical use—both of which are subject to rational basis review—and not on the basis of transgender status. The Court found…

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Character is key: Leadership excellence in the public sector

Leading a public department or agency is famously difficult, and it’s only getting harder. In a McKinsey survey of over 800 senior public sector leaders worldwide, we identified the trends that are most likely to disrupt delivery of government missions—from tighter budgets to tougher competition for talent to technological change (see sidebar, “About the research”). The good news is that many leaders are rising to these challenges and navigating the…

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Learning to thrive in diverse African habitats allowed early humans to spread across the world

Today, all non-Africans are known to have descended from a small group of people that ventured into Eurasia around 50,000 years ago. However, fossil evidence shows that there were numerous failed dispersals before this time that left no detectable traces in living people.In a new study published today in the journal in Nature, scientists say that from around 70,000 years ago, early humans began to exploit different habitat types in…

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Stanford Law School celebrates the 2025 graduating class

Under sunny skies and with high spirits, Stanford Law School celebrated the Class of 2025 on June 14. The commencement ceremony, held beneath a large, white tent in front of Canfield Courtyard, featured student and faculty speakers who returned often to themes of community and collective effort, emphasizing that success in law school is never a solo journey. The graduates were encouraged to carry forward the same spirit of mutual…

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Local Politics Makes a Big Splash: Amendments to Minneapolis Civil Rights Ordinance Provide Further Protection

Quick Hits Minneapolis employers must not discriminate on the basis of an individual’s height, weight, justice-impacted status, or housing status, unless there is a bona fide occupational qualification or other exception. Minneapolis employers must provide reasonable accommodations to individuals with known pregnancy-related limitations. Minneapolis employers must provide religious accommodations for sincerely held religious beliefs, unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the employer. New Protected Characteristics Under Minneapolis’s…

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A new trade paradigm: How shifts in trade corridors could affect business

At a glance The global trade system is in flux. Since 2017, economies have traded less with geopolitically distant partners. Recent announcements on tariffs, trade, and industrial policy have deepened uncertainty. Trade will grow by $12 trillion by 2035 in a baseline scenario. The trade increase would boost today’s global trade value by about 35 percent, to $45 trillion. In a diversification scenario (in which companies seek new sources of…

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Will Artificial Intelligence Remain Just a Tool in Human Hands?

Despite the fact that one may not fully understand all the processes inside the proverbial "black box", real AI is still under the complete control of human users. Returning to the parallel with electricity, AGI can be compared to a super-complex socket: it has enormous potential, but it only works depending on who plugs into it and why. Of course, there are other views — they emphasise that as the scale…

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Get to know new Stanford GSB Dean Sarah A. Soule

Sarah A. Soule, the Morgridge Professor of Organizational Behavior, became the Philip H. Knight Professor and Dean of Stanford Graduate School of Business on June 16, 2025. She succeeds Jonathan Levin, who assumed the role of president of Stanford University in August 2024, and follows Peter DeMarzo, who served as interim dean during the 2024-2025 academic year.p]:su-m-0 [&>p]:!su-mb-0 [&>p]:su-text-16 md:[&>p]:!su-text-19 last-of-type:[&>p]:!su-mb-0 su-p-20 md:su-p-36">At a glanceEducationPhD in Sociology, Cornell University, 1995MA…

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Cambridge researchers awarded Advanced Grants from the European Research Council

The successful Cambridge grantees’ work covers a range of research areas, including the development of next-generation semiconductors, new methods to identify dyslexia in young children, how diseases spread between humans and animals, and the early changes that happen in cells before breast cancer develops, with the goal of finding ways to stop the disease before it starts.The funding, worth €721 million in total, will go to 281 leading researchers across…

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The CMO’s comeback: Aligning the C-suite to drive customer-centric growth

Imagine the weekly meeting of a company’s executive team. The chief marketing officer (CMO) reports that all marketing metrics are on the rise. Brand awareness and web traffic are strong due to the latest ad campaign, which is loved by consumers and the press alike. Everyone is feeling good—until later in the meeting, when the CFO shares the latest financial results. Sales and market share are declining, and last quarter’s…

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Christine Lagarde: Europe’s “global euro” moment

17 June 2025By Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central BankFor the euro to reach its full potential, Europe must strengthen three foundational pillars: geopolitical credibility, economic resilience and legal and institutional integrity.We are witnessing a profound shift in the global order: Open markets and multilateral rules are fracturing, and even the dominant role of the US dollar, the cornerstone of the system, is no longer certain. Protectionism, zero-sum thinking…

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Evolution made us cheats, now free-riders run the world and we need to change, new book warns

In Invisible Rivals, published by Yale University Press today, Dr Goodman argues that throughout human history we have tried to rid our social groups of free-riders, people who take from others without giving anything back. But instead of eliminating free-riders, human evolution has just made them better at hiding their deception.Goodman explains that humans have evolved to use language to disguise selfish acts and exploit our cooperative systems. He links…

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Operating in a world of growing investment controls

Choosing where to invest and seek funding are among the most fundamental decisions business leaders make. Recent geopolitical shifts are complicating the analysis, however. Across the globe, governments are increasingly regulating investment flows into and out of their territories and industries. While countries have long applied constraints on inbound foreign direct investment (FDI) to advance their economic and national security interests, the use of investment laws has increased significantly and…

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California Supreme Court to Decide Key FAA Preemption Case on Arbitration Fee Compliance

Quick Hits The Supreme Court of California is poised to determine whether the Federal Arbitration Act preempts a state law requiring timely payment of arbitration fees, which could significantly affect employment arbitration practices. The case arises from a dispute where a former employee sought to void arbitration after the employer paid arbitration fees after a thirty-day deadline imposed by a California statute. The outcome will clarify the interplay between federal…

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Will Self-Driving Cars Lower Ride-Hailing Prices?‌‌

In 2018, when Zhen Lian, then a PhD student at Cornell, started working on a research project about self-driving cars, the technology still seemed like “a futuristic topic,” she says. Just five years later, while traveling in Phoenix, she was able to hail a self-driving car—also known as an autonomous vehicle (AV)—to get a ride from her hotel to the airport. .‌ The incorporation of AVs into the ride-hailing industry…

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Accelerating progress: Maximizing the return on talent in A&D

The 2025 edition of the Aerospace Industries Association’s (AIA) annual aerospace and defense (A&D) workforce study was written as part of an ongoing collaboration with McKinsey that included a survey of AIA member companies and their executive leaders. The survey revealed that persistent core talent shortages and high attrition rates threaten to limit future progress of the A&D industry, which continues to grow at a robust 4.8 percent year over year. A&D…

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Limits of Decay

However, since ancient times, the processes have accelerated, and now the question is important for us: at what stage of the process are we? Have we already passed the peak of the “crumbling” of the old world order or not? Has the collection and construction of the new one begun? Unlike in past times, humanity is much more ready for trials. The power of people has increased many times over, new technologies…

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Oxford’s OrganOx is shortlisted for the MacRobert Award 2025

The MacRobert Award is run by the Royal Academy of Engineering and recognises engineering teams that demonstrate outstanding innovation, tangible societal benefit and proven commerciality within the UK engineering sector.The three finalists for the 2025 MacRobert Award include OrganOx (Oxford) for creating a transportable normothermic organ perfusion device, which is a world first originating from research at the University of Oxford. ">Video of World’s first transportable normothermic organ perfusion technology…

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Commencement remarks by President Jonathan Levin

I am delighted to have my first opportunity as president to address a graduating class. Graduation ceremonies have important elements of tradition. Even at Stanford, where we take pride in fresh thinking, we have our academic regalia, the Wacky Walk, and the MBA students making noise disproportionate to their numbers. Many of you who are graduating arrived at Stanford when we were reopening campus after the pandemic. Traditions had been forgotten. So the Class…

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Four Trust Types That Make or Break AI Projects

These employees saw strategic applications beyond the tool's basic functions. One of them noted: "You can observe who you're collaborating with, as well as who you're not collaborating with... you can consider your own conduct and determine what kind of individuals you need to work with."Emotionally, these employees felt positive about AI: "I think it's where the world is going, and for me... if I'm working now and I'm being…

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Exercising provincial interest in education

It goes without saying that Ontario has an “interest in education.” The more important question is to what extent the province can use this broad interest to exert control over local board governance, pursuant to the Education Act and its regulations. One such tool at Ontario’s disposal is O Reg 43/10: Provincial Interest in Education (the “Regulation”), which confers broad powers on Ontario to insert itself into the affairs of…

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Stanford students and alumni awarded Fulbright grants

Fifteen Stanford seniors, graduate students, and recent alumni received grants from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program to study and teach abroad next year. The Stanford-affiliated grantees will travel to 12 countries, including Australia, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Paraguay, South Korea, and Thailand, to pursue individually designed research projects, graduate study programs, or English teaching assistant programs.p]:su-m-0 [&>p]:!su-mb-0 [&>p]:su-text-16 md:[&>p]:!su-text-19 last-of-type:[&>p]:!su-mb-0 su-p-20 md:su-p-36" readability="24.260869565217">Learn more about international scholarshipsThe Fulbright U.S. Student Program,…

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Canada’s New Border Bill to Combat Money Laundering

Legislative developments continue in the federal government’s focus on strengthening Canada’s anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing regime. Bill C-2, An Act respecting certain measures relating to the security of the border between Canada and the United States and respecting other related security measures (the Strong Borders Act) was introduced on June 3, 2025. Among other proposed measures, the Strong Borders Act proposes the following amendments to the Proceeds of Crime…

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Seizing the agentic AI advantage

At a glance Nearly eight in ten companies report using gen AI—yet just as many report no significant bottom-line impact. Think of it as the “gen AI paradox.” At the heart of this paradox is an imbalance between “horizontal” (enterprise-wide) copilots and chatbots—which have scaled quickly but deliver diffuse, hard-to-measure gains—and more transformative “vertical” (function-specific) use cases—about 90 percent of which remain stuck in pilot mode. AI agents offer a…

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Drug and alcohol testing in Canada: SCC denies leave to appeal in Power Workers’ Union v. Canada

On May 29, 2025, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) dismissed an application for leave to appeal from the decision of the Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) upholding drug and alcohol testing requirements of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. The application for leave was filed after the FCA dismissed the appeal of an earlier 2023 Federal Court decision on Nov.6, 2024. The testing requirements are a condition placed on individuals…

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Multinationals at a crossroads: Adapting to a new geopolitical era

Back in 1959, our former colleague Gil Clee cowrote an article in Harvard Business Review that urged CEOs to embrace the challenge of creating “world enterprises.” Given the rapid expansion of international trade taking place at that time, the article advised CEOs “to view [their] responsibility as global in scope … and to organize [their] corporation in such a way that its major decisions are considered and made in the…

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King’s Birthday Honours 2025

Companion of Honour (CH) – limited to 65 membersProfessor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell has been appointed a Companion of Honour (CH) for services to Astronomy and Physics and to Diversity. She is an astrophysicist and a Professor Emeritus of Physics at the Department of Physics, a Professorial Fellow in Physics at Mansfield College and Fellow of the Royal Society.Professor Bell Burnell was responsible for the discovery of pulsars while a…

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New breakthrough enables precise activation of quantum features in diamond

This breakthrough gives us unprecedented control over single tin-vacancy colour centres in diamond, a crucial milestone for scalable quantum devices. What excites me most is that we can watch, in real time, how the quantum defects are formed.Professor Jason Smith, Department of Materials, University of OxfordUsing a new two-step fabrication method, the researchers demonstrated for the first time that it is possible to create and monitor, ‘as they switch on’,…

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Provost presents preliminary 2025-26 budget plan, says cuts are likely

Cuts to university spending are likely to be announced this summer as Stanford confronts federal funding risks and uncertainties, Provost Jenny Martinez told the Faculty Senate on Thursday in her annual budget presentation.Martinez presented a “modified continuing resolution budget” for the 2025-26 year, a provisional spending plan developed this spring that largely mirrors current-year spending with small adjustments. Given the significant revenue risks the university faces, the university’s Budget Group…

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