universities

The Trump administration is retreating from a proposed executive order that would have increased White House control over National Institutes of Health grant decisions. Reporting by Semafor says the plan to tighten oversight of NIH funding appears to be dead after significant pushback from scientists, universities and lawmakers, who warned it would politicise medical research funding decisions.

The New York Times reports on questions over whether Anthropic's Claude AI independently produced a genuine scientific finding. A researcher at the University of Copenhagen said his team had been sharing its research with the model, and that the AI's new result matched their own work, raising doubts about claims of an autonomous discovery and fueling debate over how much credit the system deserves.

In March 2025, the University of Oxford announced a partnership with OpenAI to digitize public-domain books from the Bodleian Library. According to the announcement, the digitized works will become searchable and more widely accessible. The collaboration has drawn attention among librarians, researchers and open-access advocates discussing the role of AI companies in digitizing cultural heritage collections.

China has announced a sweeping reform of its higher education system, according to the South China Morning Post. The overhaul is expected to reshape how universities are structured and managed, drawing attention from education watchers and policymakers internationally who are assessing what the changes mean for students, research and China's global academic standing.

Researchers at the University of Arizona report that satellite observations show drylands worldwide are greening, but in an increasingly volatile 'boom-and-bust' pattern: bursts of vegetation growth are followed by sharp crashes. The study suggests that rising atmospheric carbon dioxide is fuelling plant growth in arid regions, yet this greening masks growing instability, with vegetation swings becoming more extreme over time.

Norman Finkelstein, in an interview, takes issue with Harvard's antisemitism inquiry, which stated that Israeli Jewish students "don't feel wanted" on campus and that Harvard must be inclusive to correct for antisemitism. Finkelstein responds that he supports inclusivity but challenges the framing of the inquiry's findings. The remarks touch on the ongoing controversy over antisemitism, campus climate and the treatment of Jewish students at elite US universities.

Discussion over a Medicare for All plan is picking up, with supporters arguing a single-payer system would guarantee universal health coverage and cut administrative costs, while critics warn of higher taxes and disruption to existing insurance. The debate reflects a long-running divide in US politics over how far government should go in reforming healthcare.

The University of Southern California has ended its practice of selling donated cadavers to the US Navy, which reportedly used them for training connected to the Israeli military. The decision follows scrutiny of the arrangement and its ethical implications regarding consent and the use of donated bodies. Critics had called the programme inappropriate, and the university's move is being discussed as part of wider debates over institutional ties to Israel's war effort.

A new report on the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk says his organization, Turning Point USA, insisted he appear outdoors despite security concerns. It also found that Utah Valley University, where he was shot and killed, failed to properly assess threats, including the possibility of a rooftop shooter. The findings raise fresh questions about responsibility and security lapses surrounding his death last year.

Physicists report new evidence that gravity can collapse the dimensions of space, supporting the idea that gravity is holographic — that the universe's three-dimensional structure may be encoded on a lower-dimensional surface. Researchers stress the implications are not yet understood, and what this means for the nature of reality remains an open question driving discussion among cosmologists and science commentators.

The US Senate has taken an initial step toward overhauling the college sports system, according to ABC News. The move signals growing federal interest in reforming how college athletics are governed, a debate that has intensified amid questions over athlete compensation, name-image-likeness rules and the broader structure of collegiate sports. Few details of the legislation were given in the report.

The United Nations has declared September 29 as the International Day for Universal Access to Information. The designation gives global recognition to the right of the public to seek and receive information, including from governments and public bodies. Observers see it as a boost for transparency, press freedom and open-government efforts, and it is expected to be marked annually with events promoting access-to-information laws worldwide.

Officials say ROTC students subdued and killed a gunman at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. The account of students intervening to stop an armed person on campus has drawn widespread attention, with discussion focusing on the unusual role the cadets played and renewed questions about campus safety and how the incident unfolded.

Astronomers have long struggled to explain the unusual chemical composition of an ancient star, with existing models failing to account for its observed elements. A new laboratory experiment has now reproduced the conditions needed to explain the star's chemistry, offering a solution to a longstanding astrophysical mystery and shedding light on the earliest generations of stars in the universe.

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has set out a plan for universal free social care, urging the government to 'rip the plaster off' and confront the issue of how to fund and reform the system. The proposal would remove means-testing and charges for care, positioning Burnham as a voice for bolder reform in the Labour Party ahead of potential leadership discussion.