Carib Scope

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  • Romelia’s goal is to cure Alzheimer’s

    Romelia’s goal is to cure Alzheimer’s

    In a sunlit plant tissue culture facility in St. Philip, Barbados, an unexpected all-women support network has ignited a young scientist’s bold mission to advance Alzheimer’s disease treatment. What began as a post-graduation internship for 24-year-old Romelia Dabreo has evolved into a purpose-driven career rooted in mentorship, empowerment, and a growing passion for plant-based scientific research.

    Dabreo, a recent biochemistry and microbiology graduate from the University of the West Indies, did not set out to work in plant science. Like many young students, she initially held aspirations of becoming a veterinarian, and walked into the St. Philip facility in June 2024 with just one goal: gaining practical lab experience after earning her degree. At the time, she had little knowledge of tissue culture techniques and no particular interest in crop research. What she found inside the lab walls, however, changed the trajectory of her career and her life’s ambition.

    Led by facility head Dr. Sophia Marshall, the lab’s tight-knit team of women—including senior laboratory assistants Althea Grace and Deslyn Newton, and laboratory worker Sandra Alleyne-Belgrave—embraced Dabreo, openly sharing their expertise and creating a welcoming environment that let her curiosity bloom. “They make me feel comfortable and at home,” Dabreo said of her colleagues. That supportive culture transformed a temporary internship into a full-time role as senior agricultural assistant just two months after her arrival, a welcome outcome that caught Dabreo by surprise at a time when many young graduates struggle to secure stable employment.

    “It was very exhilarating,” she recalled. “I didn’t really expect to get a position here. I just came into work focused on getting experience to build a science career down the line.”

    As she immersed herself in the work of plant tissue culture, Dabreo’s interest grew far beyond the lab. Back at home, she has joined her naturally curious and creative mother in small-scale agricultural experiments, testing growing methods for staple crops. Her mother has even found success growing sweet potatoes and cassava in grass cuttings instead of traditional soil, a project Dabreo says has deepened her connection to plant science outside of her formal work.

    Today, Dabreo is leveraging the tissue culture and phytochemical extraction skills she has mastered to pursue a groundbreaking goal: developing a potential Alzheimer’s treatment using compounds extracted from local staple crops including sweet potatoes and yams. She hopes her work will one day slow the progression of the neurodegenerative disease or even contribute to a long-sought cure.

    Beyond her own research, Dabreo is working to shift negative perceptions of agriculture among young people. Too often, she says, the younger generation writes off agriculture as nothing more than backbreaking field work under the hot sun, failing to recognize the wide range of innovative career paths the sector offers—from apiculture to high-tech tissue culture, and even opportunities to integrate cutting-edge tools like artificial intelligence.

    For Barbados, Dabreo notes, a career in agriculture also offers young people the chance to contribute to national progress beyond personal gain. “It’s contributing to something much greater than yourself,” she explained. “You’re helping Barbados become more food secure, as well as getting our local innovations out onto the international stage.”

    Her journey stands as a testament to the power of female mentorship in STEM, proving that supportive work environments can turn unexpected opportunities into life-changing scientific ambition.

  • Drive on to put scientific research at heart of national policy

    Drive on to put scientific research at heart of national policy

    On Wednesday, the government of Barbados unveiled a landmark new strategy designed to anchor national and regional scientific research at the heart of public policymaking. The ambitious project seeks to break down long-standing academic silos, bridge gaps between scientific inquiry, public policy design and community-led action, and position evidence-based research as a foundational driver of national development. The initiative was formally launched during the opening ceremony of the second annual Research Frontier Symposium, a two-day convening hosted jointly by the Barbados Fisheries Division and the Coastal Zone Management Unit (CZMU). Held as a centerpiece event for the island’s national Environment Month programming, the symposium functions as a collaborative cross-sector platform to highlight cutting-edge advances in both sustainable blue and green economy development across the Caribbean region.

    The gathering brings together a diverse coalition of stakeholders, including multiple agencies under Barbados’ Ministry of Environment and National Beautification, Green Economy and Resilience — among them the CZMU, the National Conservation Commission, the Marine Spatial Plan unit, and the Barbados Fisheries Division — alongside academic partners from the region and leading international collaborators. Dr. Leo Brewster, director of the CZMU, noted that the high level of participation from both local stakeholders and international virtual attendees signals a clear and growing momentum for expanded scientific investment across Barbados.

    “Based on the response we have seen this year, it is evident that not only is the Ministry of Environment fostering a wave of new activity and innovation, but through our partnerships with external associate entities like the University of the West Indies, research is steadily growing in importance for Barbados’ long-term success,” Dr. Brewster explained. He emphasized that establishing the symposium as a permanent annual fixture will help reshape public perceptions of the work carried out by government agencies, moving beyond the common view that these bodies only focus on policy drafting and inter-agency administration. “This is a trend we need to cement as an annual event,” Dr. Brewster said. “It is critical for us to show that active research is happening right within our own government departments, not just policy preparation and work on internal or cross-ministerial issues.”

    Chief Fisheries Officer Dr. Shelly Cox outlined two additional core goals for the symposium: making scientific career paths more attractive to young Barbadians and dismantling traditional institutional barriers that have historically isolated research from policy action. “Too often, research is seen as something only done by senior, established academics,” Dr. Cox noted. “Over the course of these two days, attendees will get to see outstanding work from talented early-career researchers, which is exactly the kind of visibility we wanted to cultivate to make research feel accessible and appealing to the next generation. We also aim to break down academic silos and translate raw scientific data into actionable national policy.”

    Dr. Cox also highlighted that regional research from Barbados already holds its own in the global scientific community, with Barbadian researchers regularly publishing their work in top-tier international peer-reviewed journals. Discussions and presentations at the symposium are tailored to the unique scale of Barbados’ marine jurisdiction: the island’s exclusive economic zone spans more than 400 times the area of its landmass, making marine research a national priority. Topics on the agenda cover a wide range of environmental and economic priorities, including marine spatial planning, deep-sea floor mapping, pelagic species migration patterns, science-based sustainable catch limits for popular commercial species like dolphin fish, as well as green economy topics such as terrestrial biodiversity conservation at Long Pond, municipal waste characterization, circular economy development strategies, and the application of artificial intelligence to advance environmental research.

    The symposium is scheduled to conclude on World Environment Day, which coincides this year with the International Day for the Fight Against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing. Organizers have structured the closing of the event to raise public awareness of the harms caused by unsustainable fishing practices and build support for coordinated regional action to address the threat. Delegates in attendance include senior representatives from the United Nations Development Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization, private sector leaders, and local fishing industry associations. Moving forward, event organizers hope the cross-sector gathering will strengthen existing collaborative partnerships, unlock new financial and institutional resources, and create a clear pathway to expand and support future scientific research initiatives across Barbados.

  • Data-sharing gaps hinder Caribbean climate science – CIMH

    Data-sharing gaps hinder Caribbean climate science – CIMH

    As climate change intensifies threats to small island nations across the Caribbean, a leading regional scientific leader has sounded an urgent alarm: fragmented data sharing across national and institutional borders is severely limiting climate research, undermining evidence-based policy, and putting the entire region at a critical turning point that could derail climate adaptation efforts. Dr. David Farrell, principal of the Barbados-based Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH), outlined these deep-rooted challenges in an exclusive interview with Barbados TODAY, stressing that immediate government policy intervention is required to unlock trapped critical climate and cross-sectoral datasets.

    Farrell explained that even CIMH, the region’s primary meteorological and hydrological training and research body, faces persistent barriers accessing key data within Barbados itself, a gap that directly restricts the institute’s ability to deliver actionable insights for decision-makers. He framed the current impasse as a defining moment for the region: if data holders continue to refuse collaboration with scientific researchers, Caribbean nations will fall far behind in global efforts to leverage technology for climate resilience.

    “Data sharing is non-negotiable for progress right now – I cannot overstate how central it is to every challenge we face,” Farrell said. He highlighted that interconnected “nexus problems” – overlapping issues that cut across multiple economic and social sectors – are growing increasingly complex, and solving them depends on cross-sector information flow. For example, public health outcomes directly shape agricultural productivity, meaning food system planners require access to public health data to make informed decisions. Similarly, long-term economic planning relies on detailed, up-to-date labor force data that is often locked away in siloed government or private databases.

    Farrell acknowledged concerns about sensitive data, noting that existing frameworks already address these risks: sensitive datasets can be clearly marked, and legally binding access agreements can be put in place to govern use. What serves no purpose, he argued, is hoarding data on private servers where it cannot contribute to better decision-making. “Data that is not shared has zero value,” he emphasized. “It cannot improve livelihoods, attract investment, or solve the problems we are all facing.”

    The push for open data is particularly urgent as the region looks to adopt cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning to address climate and development challenges, Farrell noted. Both AI and machine learning are deeply data-dependent, and claims of investing in these technologies ring hollow without a commitment to open data sharing. “You can’t say you’re building AI systems if you’re not willing to provide the data that powers them,” he said. “Data is the fuel for these tools – without it, they cannot produce the actionable insights we need.”

    Farrell pointed out that data sharing challenges exist at both national and regional levels, but there has been incremental progress. As more regional institutions recognize the scientific and economic value of open data, collaboration has become easier. The biggest gap remains at the interface between national governments and regional bodies, he said, where data holders often hesitate to share information without formal policies in place to protect their interests. Suspicion around the purpose of data requests also slows progress.

    To illustrate the benefits of a robust open data policy, Farrell pointed to the United States, where most government-generated data is freely available to the public. This open data ecosystem is a core reason the U.S. leads in many fields of research and technological innovation, he argued, because it allows researchers to test models, validate concepts, and build new products and services that drive economic growth.

    Against this backdrop, Farrell is calling on Caribbean governments to lead the shift by enacting formal data sharing policies that encourage open access and streamlined cross-border data movement. In today’s fast-paced digital age, delayed data sharing renders information irrelevant by the time it is released, he warned. If the region moves too slowly to open up its datasets, outside entities will fill the gap with alternative data sources, and local stakeholders will lose out on the economic and scientific benefits of controlling their own information.

    “If we want to keep pace with global technological advances and use them to improve climate resilience and quality of life across the Caribbean, we have to revisit our outdated data models and policies,” Farrell insisted. “We are already at a crossroads. The choice to implement thoughtful open data policies will set the region up for progress; failing to act will leave us locked out of the benefits of modern science and technology.”

  • Officials urge all to Prepare for El Niño, Above average temperatures forecast nearly everywhere for June to August

    Officials urge all to Prepare for El Niño, Above average temperatures forecast nearly everywhere for June to August

    The World Meteorological Organization has formally issued an authoritative alert that El Niño conditions are currently developing in the tropical Pacific, driven by record-warm ocean temperatures, and the climate pattern is projected to reshape global temperature and precipitation patterns while raising the risk of catastrophic extreme weather across multiple regions in the coming months.

    In its latest consensus-driven El Niño/La Niña Update, produced in partnership with the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), WMO estimates an 80% probability that a fully developed El Niño event will be in place between June and August 2026, with odds climbing to near or above 90% that the event will persist through at least November of that year. While there remains limited uncertainty around the exact timing and peak intensity of the event, the majority of leading global climate prediction models indicate the El Niño will reach at least moderate strength, with a notable possibility of it strengthening into a powerful event.

    WMO’s regular ENSO updates are widely recognized as the gold standard of climate guidance for national governments, humanitarian response organizations, and climate-sensitive economic sectors including agriculture, public health, energy production, and freshwater management. The assessments draw on a collaborative consensus of output from models run by WMO’s Global Producing Centres, paired with input from expert climate scientists and hydrologists from National Meteorological and Hydrological Services and leading climate research centers across every inhabited continent.

    United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres emphasized the urgency of the alert in a recent video address, noting that the science leaves no room for doubt: El Niño is imminent, with a 90% certainty of development in the coming months, and the world must treat this as the critical climate warning it represents. “El Niño conditions will pour fuel on the fire of a warming world. Impacts will hit even harder, travel even farther, and cross borders with devastating speed,” Guterres said. He called for commensurate climate action to meet the scale of the crisis, including ending global dependence on fossil fuels, speeding the transition to renewable energy sources, prioritizing protection for the world’s most vulnerable communities, and expanding access to early warning systems for all nations.

    On-the-ground observations collected through WMO’s global monitoring network show that between late April and mid-May, sea-surface temperatures in the central-eastern Equatorial Pacific – the core reference region for ENSO monitoring – were already approaching the official threshold for El Niño conditions. These rising surface temperature anomalies are being fueled by unusually warm water below the ocean surface, where temperatures are more than 6°C above the long-term average, creating a large reservoir of excess heat that will continue to drive surface warming in the coming months. Complementing these ocean observations, the Southern Oscillation Index, which tracks the atmospheric component of the ENSO cycle, also aligns with the pattern of developing El Niño conditions.

    WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo stressed that the global community must begin preparations immediately for a potentially strong El Niño event, which will worsen existing risks of both severe drought and extreme heavy rainfall, while also increasing the likelihood of dangerous heatwaves on land and in marine ecosystems. Saulo recalled that the most recent 2023-2024 El Niño event ranked among the five strongest ever recorded, and was a key contributing factor to the record-breaking global temperatures observed in 2024. “The WMO community will be carefully monitoring conditions in the coming months to inform decision-making by governments, humanitarian agencies and climate-sensitive sectors. Advance seasonal forecasts and early warnings are vital to save lives and cushion the impact on our economies and our communities,” Saulo added.

    To support more targeted regional planning, WMO has also released a complementary Global Seasonal Climate Update that incorporates data on other key climate drivers alongside El Niño, enabling more geographically refined seasonal outlooks.

    El Niño and its opposite phase La Niña make up the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), one of the most impactful naturally occurring climate patterns on the planet. El Niño is defined by persistent above-average ocean surface temperatures across the central and eastern Equatorial Pacific, and typically occurs every two to seven years, with individual events lasting roughly nine to 12 months. Most El Niño events begin developing between March and June, reach peak intensity between November and February, and their impact on global average temperatures is usually most pronounced in the second year after onset.

    The impacts of any El Niño event vary based on its strength, duration, time of onset, and how it interacts with other ongoing climate patterns such as the Indian Ocean Dipole. Not all global regions experience ENSO-related impacts, and impacts can even vary within a single affected region. While climate change has not been proven to increase the frequency or intensity of El Niño events itself, it does amplify the severity of El Niño-related impacts: a warmer baseline ocean and atmosphere holds more energy and moisture, creating conditions that worsen extreme weather events including heatwaves and heavy downpours. WMO does not use the non-standardized term “super El Niño” for official operational classifications.

    While every El Niño has unique characteristics, the pattern is typically associated with predictable regional precipitation shifts: increased rainfall across parts of southern South America, the southern United States, portions of the Horn of Africa, and central Asia, and drier-than-average conditions across Central America, northern South America, the Caribbean, Australia, Indonesia, and parts of southern Asia. During the Northern Hemisphere summer, El Niño’s warm ocean waters boost hurricane activity in the central and eastern Pacific while suppressing hurricane formation in the Atlantic Basin, which has led the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to forecast a below-normal Atlantic hurricane season for the year.

    Regional climate outlook forums coordinated by WMO have already released early outlooks for high-risk regions. The Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum projects a high probability of below-average rainfall across most of the northern Greater Horn of Africa during the critical June to September growing season. The South Asian Climate Outlook Forum forecasts below-average monsoon rainfall across South Asia, while the Central America Climate Outlook Forum expects warmer and drier conditions for the Central American region.

    WMO’s complementary Global Seasonal Climate Update accounts for ENSO and other major climate drivers, including the North Atlantic Oscillation, Southern Annular Mode, and the Indian Ocean Dipole, which is closely correlated with Pacific El Niño conditions and is expected to enter a positive phase that will peak at the same time as the intensifying El Niño. For the June to August period, forecasts show above-average temperatures are overwhelmingly likely across nearly every part of the globe, raising risks of dangerous heat stress, compound climate hazards, and accelerated drought development in regions that receive below-average rainfall. Precipitation patterns align with typical El Niño dynamics, increasing the probability of both extreme flooding from excess rainfall and severe drought from prolonged dry conditions across different regions.

  • Nevis Makes History with First Caribbean Space Life Sciences Experiment Launched into Space

    Nevis Makes History with First Caribbean Space Life Sciences Experiment Launched into Space

    On May 31, 2026, a small Caribbean nation made unprecedented global scientific history: the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis successfully launched the first space life sciences experiment ever originating from the Caribbean region, lifting off aboard the SSC SubOrbital Express SIX-5/M17 mission from Sweden’s Esrange Space Center in Kiruna. This landmark achievement, announced officially by the Nevis Island Administration on June 2, 2026, cements Nevis’ place in the growing global community of space research contributors and shatters assumptions about the capacity of small island developing states to lead cutting-edge scientific innovation.

    This groundbreaking project did not emerge overnight. It is the product of years of intentional investment in STEM capacity building and strategic international collaboration, bringing together three partners: Nevis’ Ministry of Education, the University of Zurich, and the Center for Space and Aviation of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. What sets this initiative apart from many other global space projects is its core focus on lifting local expertise: four Nevisian science teachers were selected to work side-by-side with leading international space researchers through every stage of the project, from experimental design to implementation, gaining direct, hands-on experience in advanced space research methodologies that they will bring back to their classrooms and communities.

    The experiment itself carries meaningful scientific weight. Its core goal is to address longstanding gaps in global space biology research by investigating how gravitational fluctuations alter the behavior and function of human immune cells. Researchers will analyze how both microgravity, the near-weightless condition of space flight, and hypergravity, the increased gravitational force experienced during launch and re-entry, impact gene expression and cellular activity. Any insights generated from the project are expected to advance global research into human health risks for astronauts on long-duration deep space missions, an area of growing priority as space agencies around the world plan for crewed missions to the Moon and Mars.

    Beyond its contributions to space science, the project has already delivered transformative, lasting benefits to Nevis’ local education sector. Through the collaboration, thousands of local students and educators have gained unprecedented exposure to real-world, cutting-edge scientific research. New, fully equipped laboratory facilities and expanded research capabilities have also been established across the Federation, strengthening the foundation of STEM education by connecting classroom learning directly to global exploration efforts.

    St. Kitts and Nevis government officials emphasized that the successful launch demonstrates the outsized impact small nations can achieve when they prioritize strategic international collaboration and investment in youth scientific development. The milestone also positions the Federation as an emerging, competitive participant in the fast-growing global space economy, opening new doors for future scientific partnerships, workforce development in advanced technology fields, and innovation-driven economic growth.

    As researchers begin the process of analyzing data collected from the experiment, Nevisian students and educators will have exclusive access to the findings, creating a pipeline of engagement that is already inspiring the next generation of Caribbean scientists, engineers, and innovators. For a region long underrepresented in global space research, this achievement stands as a powerful testament to what can be accomplished through vision, cross-border partnership, and a commitment to expanding opportunities for young people through science and education.

  • NASA ends mission after loss of Mars probe

    NASA ends mission after loss of Mars probe

    After six months of unexplained silence from its pioneering Martian orbiter, NASA announced this Wednesday that it is formally bringing the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission to a close. Over its 11 years of unplanned extended operations, the probe rewrote scientific understanding of the Red Planet, leaving a legacy that will shape planetary research for decades to come.

    Launched with an initial projected lifespan of just one to two years, MAVEN slipped into orbit around Mars in September 2014, tasked with answering a longstanding cosmic question: how and why Mars lost most of its thick early atmosphere, transforming from a warm, wet world capable of hosting liquid water on its surface into the cold, arid desert we see today. It continued to beam back invaluable data and support surface operations far longer than mission planners ever dared to hope, until contact was abruptly lost with the spacecraft in December 2024.

    Though NASA confirms MAVEN is believed to still remain in a stable orbit around Mars, repeated attempts to reestablish contact over the past six months have gone unanswered. The agency has officially acknowledged the loss of the craft, though it will launch a full formal review to pinpoint the root cause of the communications failure, according to statements released Wednesday.

    For scientists who spent years working on the mission, MAVEN’s contributions extend far beyond its original mandate. Shannon Curry, an astrophysics professor and key MAVEN mission researcher, called it “the best Mars mission ever” in comments to reporters Wednesday. The probe’s measurements gave planetary scientists an unprecedented look at atmospheric escape—the process through which gases in a planet’s atmosphere leak out into interplanetary space. Currey noted that “We now have a better understanding of atmospheric escape at Mars than at any other planet, including Earth.” This body of data has turned Mars into an unparalleled natural laboratory for studying atmospheric evolution on rocky planets throughout the solar system and beyond, she added.

    Tiffany Morgan, head of NASA’s exploration programs, echoed that praise, emphasizing that MAVEN “profoundly advanced our understanding of Mars’s atmosphere, climate history, and habitability.” Beyond its core scientific work, MAVEN filled a critical secondary role: it served as a reliable communications relay, relaying data and commands between Earth and NASA’s fleet of rovers and landers operating on the Martian surface. With MAVEN now offline, that responsibility will be transitioned to other operational orbiters currently circling the Red Planet to maintain uninterrupted contact with surface missions.

  • Efforts to protect Giant River Otters in Rupununi areas paying off

    Efforts to protect Giant River Otters in Rupununi areas paying off

    Marking World Otter Day 2026, conservation leaders gathered for a panel discussion hosted jointly by Guyana’s EMC Foundation and the Protected Areas Trust (PAT) on May 29, where they shared promising updates on efforts to protect the endangered giant river otter across the Rupununi region of southern Guyana.

    The EMC Foundation reported that joint monitoring projects carried out in two critical conservation landscapes – the Kanuku Mountains Protected Area and the Karanambu preserve – have already established comprehensive baseline population data for the species. Early observations confirm that stable otter groups now occupy multiple river systems across the study area, a major milestone for long-term recovery efforts. A large part of this progress is credited to the on-the-ground work of trained local community rangers and volunteer citizen scientists, who not only map otter distribution across remote waterways but also identify growing threats to the species’ survival. Chief among these threats are unregulated illegal gold mining operations, which contaminate freshwater habitats with mercury, disrupt aquatic food chains, and destroy critical wetland ecosystems.

    Globally classified as an Endangered species by conservation authorities, the giant river otter holds unique ecological importance across the Amazon and Guiana Shield. As a top predator in river and wetland systems, the species acts as a key indicator of overall freshwater ecosystem health. Guyana’s vast stretches of intact old-growth forest, expansive untouched wetlands, and interconnected undamaged river networks have made the country one of the last remaining strongholds for the vulnerable species.

    During the panel discussion, stakeholders outlined the multifaceted strategy needed to secure the giant river otter’s long-term future in Guyana. Alona Sankar, Commissioner of the Guyana Wildlife Conservation and Management Commission (GWCMC), stressed that policy progress must be paired with stronger enforcement. “What we need to strengthen is our monitoring and enforcement capability to ensure that persons are actually abiding by what the law requires. Now we want to increase our giant otter populations, so if you’re affecting the viability of the species, that is very negative,” Sankar said, calling for bolstered protections, expanded monitoring infrastructure, and consistent regulatory enforcement to safeguard the species and Guyana’s broader wildlife resources.

    Melanie McTurk, Managing Director of Karanambu Lodge, highlighted the persistent gaps in scientific understanding that still hamper conservation work. “Many people don’t realise that giant otters are one of the most understudied species, to the point where we don’t even know if they exist in some areas,” McTurk explained. She noted that this knowledge gap creates a critical opportunity for new research, including genetic studies of fragmented populations, to better understand how human activity impacts distinct otter groups and support more targeted conservation planning.

    Dr. Deirdre Jafferally, a Community-Based Natural Resource Management Specialist, emphasized that lasting conservation depends on centering local leadership and traditional ecological knowledge. She pointed to successful community-led efforts to rescue and care for abandoned or injured giant river otter pups, which have already supported species recovery and helped otters return to regions where they had not been seen for decades. “Citizen science is an important part of that, as well as education and awareness. Educating people is important, getting them involved, not just those who already know and see and want to be involved in established forums,” Dr. Jafferally said.

    Today, giant river otter conservation in Guyana relies on an unprecedented coordinated model that brings together Indigenous and local communities, government regulatory agencies, non-profit conservation organizations, academic researchers, and private sector partners. This cross-sector collaboration has already delivered tangible, on-the-ground results: community-led biodiversity monitoring systems have strengthened local governance of natural resources, and adaptive fishing management plans, designed to account for otter habitat needs, have supported recovery of both fish populations and otter territories.

    Sarah Singh, speaking for the EMC Foundation, outlined the organization’s ongoing outreach work in the Mahaica Watershed through the Giant River Otter Education and Conservation Programme, launched in October 2025. Split into two core components – Research and Monitoring, and Education and Awareness – the initiative partners with local environmental clubs along the Mahaica River and leverages social media to reach broader audiences with science-based conservation messaging.

    Founded by Shyam Nokta, recipient of the 2022 Anthony N Sabga Award for Entrepreneurship, the EMC Foundation works across Guyana to expand environmental education and awareness, build networks of conservation-focused stakeholders, and create opportunities for Guyanese to connect with the country’s extraordinary natural biodiversity. The Protected Areas Trust, the EMC Foundation’s partner for the panel discussion, was established to provide sustained flexible funding for effective management and protection of Guyana’s protected area network, supporting long-term biodiversity conservation, ecosystem stewardship, research and community engagement to safeguard the country’s natural heritage for future generations.

  • Mathematicians say ‘don’t believe hype’ on AI capabilities

    Mathematicians say ‘don’t believe hype’ on AI capabilities

    In a collective rebuke of growing commercial overstatement of artificial intelligence’s capabilities in pure mathematics, more than 150 mathematicians from leading academic institutions across Europe, Japan, the United States and other regions have put their names to a public statement calling on the global mathematics community to push back against the trend of AI developers leveraging the discipline to inflate their products’ reputations.

    The statement, dubbed the Leiden Declaration, arrives amid a wave of aggressive claims from major AI corporations about their systems’ supposed breakthroughs in mathematics — including supposed solutions to long-unresolved open problems in the field and strong performances in high-level competitive mathematics challenges. The signatories specifically urge governments and research funders not to fall for the overblown marketing surrounding AI’s current mathematical competencies.

    Ulrike Tillmann, vice-president of the International Mathematical Union (IMU), offered her public backing for the declaration, noting that while AI has unlocked intriguing new opportunities for mathematical inquiry, the risks and ethical questions it introduces demand rigorous, critical examination. “The future of mathematical research must be guided by human judgment, fair and transparent practices, and the shared values of the global mathematical community, Tillmann emphasized in her endorsement.

    The declaration itself calls out the core conflict of interest driving the current hype: AI developers operate under intense commercial pressure to overstate what their tools can do, as hundreds of billions of dollars in venture capital and public investment hang in the balance. Unlike peer-reviewed mathematical research, which advances at a deliberate, verification-focused pace, AI development and publicity is driven by market timelines. This leads to misleading framing, the declaration argues, where narrow performance on specific mathematical tasks is incorrectly presented as proof of general reasoning ability in commercial AI models.

    Michael Harris, a Columbia University professor and co-author of the declaration, explained the high-stakes dynamic at play to AFP. “There is a competition to the death on the part of the main labs… they are trying, using mathematics… to attract investment so that each of them will be left standing, Harris said. This scramble for funding comes as the AI industry is in a period of major market expansion: in recent weeks, Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which owns AI developer xAI, and AI startup Anthropic have both moved forward with plans for initial public offerings, with industry leader OpenAI widely expected to follow suit shortly.

    The declaration also pushes back against recent high-profile endorsements of AI’s research potential from leading mathematicians. Just one week before the declaration’s release, OpenAI shared a social media video featuring Terence Tao, a UCLA professor and former Fields Medal winner — the highest honor in pure mathematics — praising the company’s AI tools for their ability to support mathematical research. Harris acknowledged Tao’s immense contributions to the global mathematics community but argued that it is unhealthy for the field to consistently hold up a single mathematician as the official voice endorsing commercial AI tools.

    Beyond the problem of co-opting mathematics for commercial marketing, the signatories outline a host of deeper risks to the discipline itself. AI systems can generate logically plausible but fundamentally incorrect mathematical proofs that are extremely difficult for human researchers to verify, they note. The technology also erodes clear attribution for the foundational human research that AI models are built on.

    Longer-term harms to research culture are also a major concern: widespread adoption of AI in mathematics could push more researchers to chase trendy, AI-aligned problems at the expense of exploring less hyped but equally important lines of inquiry. It could also weaken traditional peer review systems and reorient academic research to serve the priorities of commercial AI developers, rather than the open, self-directed inquiry that has long defined university-based mathematics.

    The declaration also highlights broader societal harms tied to unregulated AI development, including risks of weaponization for warfare, expansion of mass surveillance, political interference, and increased environmental damage from energy-intensive AI model training. In closing, the statement urges all practicing mathematicians to carefully assess the ethical implications of any AI-related work they take on, and to step away from projects that cause undue harm.

  • Nevis makes history with first Caribbean space life sciences experiment launch, Gov’t says

    Nevis makes history with first Caribbean space life sciences experiment launch, Gov’t says

    CHARLESTOWN, Nevis — A small Caribbean island nation has entered the global space research landscape with a groundbreaking achievement: the successful deployment of the first space life sciences experiment originating from the entire Caribbean region. This milestone marks a defining moment for science, education, and cross-border innovation in the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis, placing the country alongside a expanding cohort of nations advancing international space exploration.

    The experiment lifted off on May 31, 2026, as part of the SSC SubOrbital Express SIX-5/M17 mission, launching from Esrange Space Center in Kiruna, Sweden. The historic project was brought to fruition through a groundbreaking multilateral collaborative partnership, bringing together Nevis’ Ministry of Education, the University of Zurich (UZH), and the Center for Space and Aviation Switzerland and Liechtenstein (CSA).

    In an official statement following the launch, the government of St Kitts and Nevis emphasized that the mission carries historic significance far beyond Nevis’ borders. For the entire Caribbean, it proves that small island developing states are fully capable of making meaningful contributions to cutting-edge scientific inquiry and global technological progress.

    At its core, the experiment is designed to address a longstanding gap in space biology research: understanding how altered gravitational conditions alter the behavior of human immune cells. Researchers will analyze how both microgravity, the near-weightless environment of space, and hypergravity, an environment with greater gravitational pull than Earth, impact gene expression and core cellular functions. Any insights generated from the mission are expected to directly inform global research into protecting human health during long-duration spaceflight, a critical area of study as nations plan deeper exploration missions beyond low-Earth orbit.

    A core defining feature of the initiative is its focus on building local scientific capacity, rather than relying solely on external researchers. Four experienced science educators from Nevis were selected to participate directly in the project, working side-by-side with leading international space scientists to develop the experiment’s design and support its implementation. This opportunity gave the local educators first-hand, practical experience in space research and advanced scientific research techniques that they can bring back to their classrooms.

    Government officials explained that the collaboration has already delivered lasting benefits to education and research infrastructure across the federation. Local teachers and students have gained unprecedented access to real-world, global scientific research practices, while new purpose-built laboratory facilities and expanded research capabilities have been established locally. The initiative has also transformed STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education across Nevis by creating tangible, direct connections between standard classroom learning and high-profile global scientific exploration.

    This mission, officials noted, showcases the transformative impact of strategic international academic and government partnerships, while highlighting the untapped potential of Nevisian educators and students to contribute to cutting-edge scientific innovation on the global stage.

    As researchers begin the process of collecting and analyzing data from the experiment, educators and students across Nevis will continue to participate in every step of the research process. The findings generated will not only advance global understanding of human biology in altered gravitational environments, but also serve as a powerful inspiration to cultivate the next generation of scientists, engineers, and innovators across the entire Caribbean region.

  • Meteor explodes over US with blast equivalent to 300 tonnes of TNT

    Meteor explodes over US with blast equivalent to 300 tonnes of TNT

    A rogue meteor barreling toward Earth broke apart in the upper atmosphere over the northeastern United States on Saturday, triggering shockwaves loud enough to rattle homes and leave local residents unsettled, NASA has confirmed. The explosive disintegration of the extraterrestrial object occurred at 2:06 p.m. local time, with the fireball fragmenting over a cross-border region spanning northeastern Massachusetts and southeastern New Hampshire, according to agency representative Jennifer Dooren, NASA’s Deputy News Chief, in an official comment to AFP.

    In a key clarification, Dooren emphasized the incoming object was a fully natural cosmic body unrelated to any ongoing annual meteor showers. It was not, she confirmed, leftover debris from an out-of-date satellite or discarded human-made space hardware re-entering Earth’s atmosphere. Scientists calculated the total energy released during the meteor’s breakup to match the detonation of roughly 300 tonnes of TNT — the force behind the deep, resonant booms reported across a wide swath of the region.

    At the moment it shattered, the meteor was moving at a blistering speed of more than 75,000 miles per hour (over 120,000 kilometers per hour), and was cruising at an altitude of approximately 40 miles above Earth’s surface. The unexpected loud blasts triggered widespread alarm among local communities, with hundreds of social media users sharing accounts of the noise strong enough to shake the foundations and windows of residential buildings.

    The Saturday event draws a sharp contrast to one of the most damaging meteor events in recent history. Back in 2013, a far larger house-sized fireball exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, at an altitude of just 14 miles. That blast packed a force equivalent to 440,000 tonnes of TNT, shattered windows across a 200-square-mile area, and left more than 1,600 people injured, most hurt by flying broken glass. Unlike the 2013 incident, the US event caused no reported injuries or structural damage due to its higher altitude and far smaller size.