James' World 2

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The Bible maps a world of ancient places that have transformed dramatically over thousands of years. Time has reshaped these lands as empires rose and fell, languages evolved, and borders shifted. Names changed, yet the geography remains. This guide connects the dots between biblical sites and their modern counterparts, offering a bridge between sacred texts and today’s maps.

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Everyone dies, but what actually transpires during that process is a deep mystery that scientists are only beginning to seriously investigate. Increasingly, near-death experiences, or NDEs, are part of that growing field.

An incredible 5 to 10 percent of the general population reports memories of an NDE. Oftentimes, people’s recollections are similar: perceiving separation from the body and viewing it from above, passing through a tunnel and seeing a light, encountering deceased loved ones or compassionate entities, and being overcome by ineffable wisdom and a feeling of profound peacefulness. Many people describe these memories in crisp detail and say that they felt “more real than real.”

How a person’s faltering consciousness produces such fantastical experiences is unknown. But scientists have been piecing together hypotheses, constructed from interviews with survivors, studies in animals, and experiments in which people were given certain psychedelic drugs. Now one of the preeminent research groups investigating NDEs has published what it describes as the first comprehensive neuroscientific model for the phenomena.

“We found a very robust explanation for the generation of such a rich experience while a person is really in crisis,” says Charlotte Martial, a neuroscientist at the University of Liège in Belgium and co-lead author of the findings, published this week in Nature Reviews Neurology.

Martial and her colleagues’ model lays out a step-by-step hypothesis for the conditions that give rise to NDEs. They also propose an evolutionary theory for why these experiences occur.

To create the model, the authors undertook an exhaustive review of all the studies they could find on NDEs, which ranged from neuroscientific investigations to spiritual perspectives. They also included research on ecstatic seizures, psychedelics and the dying brain. Additional clues came from studies that showed that individuals who have certain predispositions are more likely to experience NDEs. This includes prolific daydreamers, as well as those with a propensity for rapid eye movement (REM) sleep intrusion, which occurs when REM sleep bleeds into wakefulness or non-REM sleep.

NDEs themselves are triggered by a precipitating event, such as a cardiac arrest, that causes a cascade of physiological stress. The authors propose that certain networks of neurons go into overdrive to produce high levels of specific neurotransmitters in the drastically altered brain environment. The researchers investigated several of those systems and hypothesized ways that they may contribute to distinct mental experiences as the person approaches death.

The fact that people can clearly remember NDEs, the authors write, is likely because of the activity of three main neurotransmitters: acetylcholine, which is involved in memory, learning and attention; noradrenaline, which plays a key role in the fight-or-flight response, as well as attention, focus and memory; and glutamate, another learning and memory aid that is also responsible for orchestrating overall brain function by instructing neurons to communicate with one another.

Beyond the triad of chemical culprits, the researchers linked the calm, peaceful feeling that characterizes many NDEs with activation of 5-HT1A receptors by serotonin, as well as with transient rises in endorphins—the body’s natural pain relievers and mood enhancers—and GABA, a neurotransmitter that reduces neurons’ activity. For the vivid hallucinations that oftentimes accompany NDEs, the team pointed to serotonin’s hyperactivation of 5-HT2A receptors. Dopamine likewise contributes to the altered visual experience and lends a sense of realism.

The new model calls into question a prior hypothesis that a yet-undiscovered, naturally occurring chemical in the brain plays a role in inducing NDEs by blocking the same receptors that the synthetic drug ketamine binds to. Those receptors, however, are essential for memory formation, so if they were blocked, people should not be able to recall NDEs with such clarity, says Nicolas Lejeune, senior author of the new study and a neurorehabilitation clinician and researcher at the University Hospital of Liège. “Instead of assuming the existence of an unknown neurochemical, we propose that NDEs arise from disruptions that naturally occur in response to life-threatening events,” he says.

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You’re doing fine at work. You’re working remotely, hitting your targets, and keeping things moving—but fine doesn’t really feel fulfilling.

Poor performance management, lack of visibility, repetitive routines, and restricted growth opportunities can result in feelings of frustration, stagnation, and boredom. Maybe you have a boss who doesn’t see your potential. Maybe there’s lots to do, but none of it excites you.

In an uncertain economy where layoffs loom and job opportunities feel scarce, the idea of making a career move might not feel realistic or like something you even want to pursue. And when you work remotely, there might be fewer opportunities for spontaneous career-focused conversations or organic networking opportunities where you can chat, observe, and learn. If it doesn’t feel like there’s a promotion on your horizon or immediate opportunities for growth, how do you stay motivated? What should you do if it feels like there’s nothing to look forward to?

The good news is you have more control over your career than you might think. Here are five options to reignite your motivation at work—no matter how remote you are.

Create your own mini performance review.

If you’ve been at your company for a while and have been through at least one performance review cycle, now’s a good time to go back and revisit it. In my work as a career coach, I’ve observed that most people file away their reviews and only revisit them when the next one is due. However, past conversations could hold clues about what you could be doing right now to invest in your growth.

What themes came up in your last performance review? What are your core strengths? What goals did you share in that conversation but haven’t acted on? What constructive feedback did you receive?

Goals or suggestions from your last review can serve as a springboard for thinking about specific, actionable goals to pursue in the next few months. You can also reflect on any changes in your role, team, or the company since that last performance conversation. In addition, if your company has shifted priorities since your last review, consider what you could explore to match those new needs.

Sometimes your previous performance review feedback may not give you the clarity or direction you need. I’ve coached professionals who found themselves out of sync with their supervisor’s assessment, received vague feedback, or had their review led by someone who’s no longer on the team. In these cases, it can be valuable to build relationships with senior leaders and trusted peers who can offer constructive insights on areas for growth and opportunity.

Completing your own mini performance review using past reviews and feedback from trusted peers doesn’t just mean looking back; it provides the opportunity to examine the present. Consider the next three to six months and ask yourself: What would you love to accomplish?

Seek a stretch assignment.

When you proactively seek out a stretch assignment, chances are your manager or teammates will see it as a win-win opportunity. Taking on a project that interests you and challenges you in new ways will expand your skills and has the potential to reignite your engagement. In addition, it can position you as a forward-thinking collaborator.

Think about what’s important to your leadership right now. What initiatives or priorities have they shared during all-staffs or town hall meetings? Does your company utilize cross-functional teams for internal initiatives or community programs that you could contribute to? Even in a remote environment, there may be more opportunities to collaborate across teams than you might realize.

What are your team’s or department’s objectives for this fiscal year? Where are there opportunities for you to support or add value? After surveying the landscape for opportunities, suggest ways you can contribute. Or, if you’re not sure where you could add the most value, ask your manager if there’s something they need help with. Expressing interest may open a door you didn’t know existed.

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As measles outbreaks have continued to spread in 19 U.S. states, leaders at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have buried a new assessment by their own experts that found there is a high risk of catching measles in areas where vaccination rates are low, according to an article published by ProPublica on March 28. The assessment had also called for a messaging strategy to encourage vaccination against the potentially deadly disease. But that plan was aborted, signaling a shift in how the agency may be responding to pressure from vaccine critic Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who is now secretary of health and human services.

Why It Matters

Measles, caused by a highly contagious and dangerous virus, is very effectively prevented by the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. But rates of vaccination in the U.S. have been declining in recent years. Historically, the CDC’s messaging strategy for encouraging vaccination emphasized the importance of protecting both oneself and the community at large, especially vulnerable people who cannot yet get vaccinated such as young babies. What’s alarming about the CDC’s recent inaction is not just its decision to bury the news, health experts say, but also the agency’s justification for doing so: in a statement to ProPublica, a CDC spokesperson wrote, “The decision to vaccinate is a personal one,” a message that does not reflect long-standing scientific consensus but rather echoes the sentiment of vaccine critics such as Kennedy.

Why Vaccine Skepticism Remains a Big Problem

Vaccines, especially the MMR vaccine, have been a target of rampant misinformation in recent years. A single fraudulent study had claimed a connection between the MMR vaccine and autism, but that link was debunked years ago. Many other studies have searched for a connection and failed to find one. But lack of trust in vaccine safety remains a big public health issue: A recent survey conducted by the University of Pennsylvania found that the percentage of people who believed that already-approved vaccines were unsafe jumped from 9 percent all the way up to 16 percent between 2021 and 2023. Measles was declared eliminated from the U.S. in 2000, which means it does not circulate on its own. But outbreaks are becoming more common. The total number of people who have tested positive for measles so far this year is already higher than any full year since 2019.

What This means for the CDC and Public Health Messaging

Public health officials learned a lot from the COVID pandemic. Chief among those lessons was that frequent and transparent communication is key to establishing and maintaining trust with the public, say public health educators. Withholding essential updates and best practices undermines those goals. It can also prevent data and guidance from reaching local public health services in a timely manner.

What You Can Do to Protect Yourself

If you’re an adult who was vaccinated against MMR as a child, you can check to see if you’re still protected with a simple blood test. If you were born between 1957 and 1975, you likely only got one dose of the vaccine instead of the standard two doses that are given today. The second dose boosts the efficacy of the vaccine’s protection against measles from 93 percent to 97 percent. If you had only received one dose and live in an area where an outbreak is occurring or work in certain environments such as health care facilities, you might want to talk to your health care provider about your risk and consider an additional dose.

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The end of a career — especially when we’re not the ones choosing it — can bring about feelings of anger, as well as grief related to the loss of professional identity, purpose, community, and routine.

Many federal employees are now dealing with these heavy emotions and are overwhelmed from now needing to think about a retirement they once assumed to be five or 10 years away.

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Lawyer and retirement expert Elizabeth Zelinka Parsons said that while retirement can be stressful, it can help to think of it as a graduation. Ché Wilson

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Quantum computing has so far nearly always involved calculating with qubits—quantum objects that can take the value ‘0’ or ‘1,’ like ordinary computer bits, but that can also be in a range of combinations of 0 and 1. Now researchers are producing the first applications of ‘qudits:’ units of information that offer combinations of three or more simultaneous states.

In a paper published on 25 March in Nature Physics, physicists describe how they used ‘qutrits’ and ‘ququints’—qudits with three and five states respectively—to simulate how high-energy quantum particles interact through an electromagnetic field. The work follows a result published in Physical Review Letters (PRL) in September that reproduced the behaviour of another quantum field, that of the strong nuclear force, using qutrits.

Such simulations of quantum fields are seen as one of the most promising applications of quantum computers, because these machines could predict phenomena in particle colliders or chemical reactions that are beyond the abilities of ordinary computers to calculate. Qudits are naturally suited to this task, says theoretical physicist Christine Muschik, a co-author of the Nature Physics paper who also pioneered such simulations with qubits in 2016 together with colleagues at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. “If I could go back in time to my old self, I would tell her: why waste time with qubits?” says Muschik, who is now at the University of Waterloo, Canada.

“This qudit approach is not a solution to everything, but it helps you when it is suitable to the problem,” says Martin Ringbauer, an experimental physicist at the University of Innsbruck and the lead author of the paper.

More generally, qudits can help to make calculations on a quantum computer more efficient and less error-prone, at least on paper. With qudits, each computational unit that previously encoded a qubit—such as a trapped ion or a photon—can suddenly pack in more information, helping the machines to scale up faster. But the tactic is less mature than approaches based on qubits, and the devil could be in the detail. “Qudits are also more complicated to work with,” says Benjamin Brock, an experimental physicist at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.

System tweaks

In most types of quantum computer, the qubits that researchers use are two possible states of a system that would naturally have many more states. Such a system could therefore host qudits as well. “Existing qubit processors such as those of IBM and Google can already be operated as qutrits, and would require minor tweaks to operate as high-dimensional qudits,” says Machiel Blok, a physicist at the University of Rochester, New York. (Blok and his team have done experiments in their laboratory in which superconductors encoded qudits of up to 12 levels.)

For their quantum-field simulations, the authors of the PRL paper encoded qutrits on a superconducting quantum chip that IBM makes available to researchers, and that is normally used as a qubit machine. Ringbauer, Muschik and their colleagues used excited states of calcium ions to represent their five-level ququints. A ququint is a natural way to represent a field that can be in a lowest-energy state (with value 0) or have positive or negative values from −2 to +2 at any point in space, Muschik says.

In the future, such simulations could help to explain how quarks stick together to form protons, or how neutrinos collide with one another in the intense environment of a supernova explosion, physicists say. “There’s great hope that there’s going to be new effects that we can identify even with modest-size quantum computers,” says Martin Savage, a physicist at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Error correction

In principle, any calculation that can be done with qubits can also be done with qudits of any dimension, and vice versa: any qudit can be encoded in a set of qubits. But sharing information among multiple qubits is notoriously tricky and can introduce computational errors. Executing a quantum algorithm on qudits could require fewer steps, and therefore have a lower chance of introducing errors, says Muschik.

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A senior executive I worked with—let’s call her Marisol—had spent years building trust, driving impact, and delivering results, only to find her role suddenly eliminated during a company restructuring. There was no discussion, no transition plan. Just a few polite reassurances, a severance package, and a carefully worded email later, and that was it.

But instead of being paralyzed by uncertainty, Marisol took control. She reached out to trusted mentors, tapped into her network, and worked with an executive coach while giving herself space to breathe for the first time in years. Then, with a clearer sense of what she wanted next, she rebranded her expertise and pivoted into a broader HR role that recognized the full range of skills she had spent years honing.

Her story is not unique. Layoffs, stagnant wages, AI-driven automation, shifting labor laws, and evolving workplace expectations have made job security a moving target these days. Even the most dedicated professionals aren’t immune to job instability, and salaried workers feel it, too.

The real challenge today isn’t just holding onto a job or making it through another quarter—it’s building a career that won’t crumble in the face of disruption. That takes career resilience: the ability to adapt, take initiative, and stay grounded, even when the ground is shifting beneath you, much like Marisol did.

Four Ways to Build Career Resilience

Career resilience isn’t about clinging to a job out of fear; it’s about learning to adapt as circumstances shift.

Growing up in the Dominican Republic with grandparents who survived a brutal dictatorship, I was raised to be ready. My family keeps our pantry and emergency kit stocked, not out of paranoia but from a deep understanding that nothing is promised.

In work, too, uncertainty demands self-awareness and readiness. This means developing a growth mindset, even when your options feel limited, so you are always ready to pick up and go. The following four strategies can help:

1. Identify your non-negotiables.

Career longevity isn’t just about holding onto a job; it’s about knowing what matters most to you as you navigate the many roles you’ll likely take on. Having clarity on your must-haves, values, and risk tolerance can help you make tough decisions as circumstances quickly change.

Ask yourself:

Do I handle uncertainty well, or does it rattle me? If stability matters most to you, focus on building skills that keep you adaptable and in demand, regardless of industry shifts.

Would I take a pay cut for work that feels more meaningful? If purpose drives you, consider roles that align with your values, interests, or the kind of impact you want to make, even if it means a temporary financial trade-off.

Would I go back to five days in the office? If flexibility is a priority, start cultivating skills and networks that open doors to remote or hybrid opportunities.

Would I accept work that conflicts with my values? If ethical alignment is central to your career choices, seek out roles and organizations whose missions and practices you can stand behind.

Would I agree to lay off my team, knowing those remaining will be overloaded? If leading with fairness and dignity is what you value most, consider where you draw the line. Would you push for a phased approach? Fight for additional support? Or would this be the moment you step away?

Your responses aren’t just theoretical. They help you set career guardrails. Understanding your non-negotiables now enables you to navigate tough choices later before urgency forces your hand.

2. Build adaptability and agility.

Career resilience is like a muscle; you build it by strengthening your emotional intelligence, expanding your skill set, and staying ready to pivot when needed. To strengthen adaptability and agility in your current role:

Understand your role in the bigger picture. Pay attention to how your work connects to broader business functions and goals. Proactively collaborate across teams, solve recurring pain points, and take on projects that stretch your expertise and help you build new skills. Opportunities often come from stepping beyond your immediate role.

Stay steady under pressure. Clear thinking and self-regulation are essential in high-stakes, uncertain environments. Recognize your stress triggers and manage your energy before they take over. Build routines to help you reset, such as mindfulness, breathwork, reflection, or check-ins with mentors or colleagues.

Bet on your high-value skills. AI isn’t replacing leadership, creativity, or emotional intelligence—yet. Take on challenging projects, step into management opportunities, and sharpen your ability to problem-solve, read the room, and adapt in real-time. Identify your high-value skills by noticing what people consistently turn to you for, what problems you solve easily, and where your unique insight makes the biggest impact. The stronger these skills, the more career options you create.

Make learning part of the job—not a backup plan. Deloitte’s Workplace Skills 2024 survey found that 87% of professionals say adaptability and leadership are key to career growth, reinforcing that continuous learning, whether AI, industry trends, or new workplace technologies, is essential for long-term success. Treat every setback as a learning opportunity: what worked, what didn’t, and how to improve. Build learning into your workflow by setting aside time for skill-building, seeking feedback regularly, and staying curious about new tools and industry shifts. Small, consistent efforts add up over time.

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Ads attacking transgender people may have driven votes in the 2024 election, but bans on health care for trans teens are increasingly falling short, both in the courts and in medical reviews. Voices of reason can fight back, it turns out, against a manufactured moral panic.

Around 1.3 percent of middle school students in the U.S., children on the cusp of adolescence, identify as transgender. Acceptance and awareness of transgender individuals has grown, akin to a “Gender Revolution” as National Geographic called it in 2017. The acceptance, in part, triggered politicized attacks, some frankly weird, centered on banning trans people from sports and ending gender-affirming care for them.

Those attacks on trans kids might be effective politics, but they are lousy medicine. Courts and medical reviews are increasingly coming down on the side of gender-affirming care.

Put simply, gender-affirming care supports people’s own views of themselves. If they want changes in pronouns, names, hairstyles, or clothing, puberty blocking treatment as adolescents, or hormone replacement therapy—that’s okay. What matters is they receive comprehensive medical and psychological care along the way, whatever they and their parents decide. In the U.S., this approach is endorsed by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health and the Endocrine Society as well as a host of other medical organizations. “Critics of our gender-affirming care policy mischaracterize it as pushing medical or surgical treatments on youth; in fact, the policy calls for the opposite,” wrote the then-president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Moira Szilagyi, in 2022.

Nevertheless, since 2021, 27 states have erected laws or policies limiting minors’ access to this care. These bans are “exacerbating the already high rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide attempts among this vulnerable population,” according to the American Psychological Association. Tennessee’s ban is now under review by the U.S. Supreme Court in U.S. v. Skrmetti, with nationwide implications.

In the meantime, an Ohio appeals court in March blocked that state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors, saying it violated the state’s constitution. That court also weighed in on medical standards in its decision: “The medical evidence and clinical experience presented in this case demonstrate that, when provided in appropriate circumstances, gender-affirming care can meaningfully improve the health and well-being of transgender adolescents,” found the judges, noting lower rates of depression and other mental health issues. State medical experts testifying in favor of the ban had cited the usual criticisms of “sufficiency and quality of the research” and European restrictions (but not bans) of gender-affirming care for minors. But the judges didn’t buy that, finding “the state did not present, and the trial court did not find, any contrary evidence-based standards [emphasis theirs] accepted by any nationally or internationally recognized professional medical groups,” in the decision.

Fans of trans-care bans regularly employ arguments about insufficient evidence and European restrictions, spreading disinformation. In 2023, for example, Arkansas attorney general Tim Griffin responded to a federal judge blocking his state’s ban, saying, “There is no scientific evidence that any child will benefit from these procedures,” on X. This echoed his state’s ban, which decried “the lack of any long-term longitudinal studies” on puberty-blocking drugs. In other words, we should wait a few decades, while kids suffer, to see if lifesaving care sufficiently satisfies lawmakers like the ones who believe trans kids are “demons” and “mutants.” This moving-the-goalposts demand for extra evidence for gender-affirming care—embedded in Arkansas’ original 2021 ban—has subsequently been copy-pasted into other state laws pushed by partisan religious activists. “These bans were produced as part of an intentional strategy by social and religious conservatives to demonize and scapegoat transgender people,” said Indiana University constitutional law expert Steve Sanders, speaking last year at a Federalist Society event reported by USA Today.

Of course in reality, plenty of evidence demonstrates gender-affirming care’s benefits, as an Association of the Scientific Medical Societies in Germany review concluded in March. The German review also found “no proven effect treatment alternative,” according to news reports. That joins a French medical review released in December, which also backed gender-affirming care. So much for European resistance.

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Something about your 30s and 40s feels like standing at a professional crossroads. You’ve gained experience, maybe moved up a level or two, and the pressure to “figure it out” once and for all is real. But behind the LinkedIn milestones and polished bios, many professionals in this phase quietly navigate career pivots, burnout, and a desire for meaning, not just momentum.

For many, this stage brings an uncomfortable realization: the ladder you’ve been climbing might be leaning against the wrong wall. What once motivated you—titles, promotions, packed calendars—might no longer feel satisfying. You start questioning what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. And while the outside world may see a seasoned professional, inside, you might be reevaluating everything from your definition of success to your sense of purpose.

Here are 10 career truths no one tells you early on but that every high-achiever eventually learns—sometimes the hard way:

Lesson One

Titles are rented, not owned. Your job title can open doors, but it doesn’t define you. Roles change, companies restructure, and industries shift. Build an identity that isn’t dependent on your business card.

Lesson Two

Working harder doesn’t guarantee you’ll be noticed. Effort matters, but visibility matters more. Too often, we assume that good work speaks for itself. But in most organizations, people are too busy to notice what they’re not explicitly shown. That’s why strategic self-advocacy is critical. This doesn’t mean turning every update into a highlight reel; it means communicating your impact in ways that connect to broader goals.

Lesson Three

Loyalty has an expiration date. Loyalty to a company is admirable until it costs you your growth. If your organization isn’t investing in you, it’s okay to outgrow them. Staying too long for comfort can quietly stall your career. Recognizing when it’s time to move on is professional self-respect.

Lesson Four

Soft skills become your power tools. Technical skills get you in the door in your 20s. By your 30s and 40s, emotional intelligence, communication, adaptability, and self-awareness keep you in the room and move you into better ones.

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Meaningful success comes from knowing yourself first, then designing a career that matches   getty

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Being struck by lightning is something humans generally try to avoid. But for at least one tropical tree species, this doesn’t hurt—and might even be a good thing.

Scientists have long believed that being hit by lightning could have only negative effects on trees. “Your best-case scenario is that you’re kind of okay, and your worst-case scenario is: you explode in a million bits,” says Evan Gora, a forest ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in New York State. But after spending many years studying the effects of lightning on rainforests, Gora began wondering whether trees could not only survive this usually deadly event but also actually get some kind of advantage from it.

To find out, he and his colleagues spent several years following the fate of 93 trees from various species in the rainforest of central Panama when they were directly struck by lightning. Nine were from a species known as the almendro (Dipteryx oleifera), a forest giant native to Central and South America that can grow up to 165 feet tall. After the trees were struck, the researchers continued to monitor the ones that survived the shock, checking their overall condition and noting whether the lightning killed neighboring trees and any parasitic vines growing on them.

The results showed that the almendro trees were very resistant to lightning and minimally damaged compared with almost all the other tree species, which were severely damaged—64 percent of the latter trees died within two years of being struck. A few other large species also survived the strikes and might have benefitted as well, but lightning had not struck enough of these species for the researchers to be certain.

Many of the trees that had surrounded the almendros—competing with the species for water and nutrients—were killed by lightning that spread through their branches after it hit the D. oleifera trees. This left more resources and space for the latter. Lightning strikes on the almendros also reduced the average number of parasitic vines on a tree by 78 percent, by killing them. These vines climb on top of the trees to “steal” light.

Equipped with data on lightning strike frequency and the trees’ survival rates after reaching a certain size, the team used computers models to estimate that a typical almendro is likely struck by lightning about five times during its 300-year lifespan. Then, by running simulations using data on details such as how the trees grow and reproduce, the researchers showed that lightning strikes seem to be almost a necessity for the trees. Without the benefits the strikes bring, “they would not live as long,” Gora says.

The researchers also speculate that the almendro might have evolved to attract lightning—or at least not to avoid it, as most other trees have. D. oleifera’s wide crown and tall height, which enhance its chance of being hit, make it a living lightning rod. And it might resist damage by being more electrically conductive than other tree species around it. Gora thinks similar abilities to benefit from lightning might be widespread across other species and types of forests.

Allan Carroll, a disturbance ecologist at the University of British Columbia, who wasn’t involved in the research, says, “The findings of the study are quite novel and make a significant contribution to our knowledge of plant evolution.”

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