Get 40% Off These Luxurious Resorts With Black Friday Travel Deals

Travel

Black Friday is almost upon us. The unofficial finale of Thanksgiving, the unofficial kick off for the Christmas shopping season (which now begins before Halloween), the day when retailers supposedly move from “in the red” into “the black,” Black Friday is the busiest shopping day in the United States.

These days most of the action happens online. And that’s where you’ll find these great Black Friday travel sales.

Club Med Black Friday Sale: 50% Off All-Inclusive Stays
Club Med, the pioneer of the all-inclusive concept, is offering what it calls its best discount of the year with its Black Friday sale. The deal offers travelers up to 50% off winter, spring and summer getaways across its all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean, Mexico, and Canada. It also includes up to $500 Instant Savings and free stays for kids under 4.

Additionally, the Black Friday sale extends to international resorts with up to $770 instant savings at Club Med favorites like the Exclusive Collection (5-star) Alpine ski resort Club Med Val d’Isere and the newly-renovated Club Med Gregolimano in Greece. With nearly 70 resorts to choose from, Club Med even created a quiz for guests to find the perfect Sun or Ski resort.

For North American resorts including Punta Cana, Cancun, Ixtapa, etc., the booking window is November 19, 2024 – December 2, 2024. The travel window is December 7, 2024 – June 27, 2025.

For international resorts, the booking window is November 19, 2024 – December 2, 2024, The travel window is November 24, 2024 – May 30, 2025. Blackout dates may apply for all Club Med resorts.
A Gold King room at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, NV, overlooking the city and the mountains.Connie Zhou

Fontainebleau Las Vegas Offers Vegas Luxury at 40% Off
Fontainebleau Las Vegas is spreading the holiday cheer this Black Friday and Travel Tuesday. The luxury resort is offering 40 percent off for all guests and 45 percent off for Fontainebleau Rewards member on this special room rate offer. Guests can sign up for Fontainebleau Rewards by visiting Fontainebleaulasvegas.com/rewards/. The link to the special room rate offer is here.
For Black Friday and Travel Tuesday, guests can book their stay from Nov. 19 through Dec. 3, 2024. The year-long travel window offer provides guests with the opportunity to stay during significant dates over the next year.
Of course, there are some terms and conditions. The offer is available for Bleau & Gold Rooms only. Blackout dates apply. The resort fee is $45 plus tax per night.
The celebration is also for the resort’s first anniversary, which will be celebrated on Dec. 13, 2024. Fontainebleau Las Vegas, which boasts 3,644 luxury rooms and suites, was named one of the 41 Best New Hotels in North America and Europe by Esquire, which also recognized its lobby-level Collins bar as one of the 42 Best Bars in America.
During the holiday season, Fontainebleau Las Vegas will transform into a festive destination with seasonal décor, the Strip’s largest ice rink, pop-up activities, and holiday entertainment. Highlights include the Oasis Ice Rink, the “Feliz Navidad Gaudy Christmas Bar” at Azul, Veuve Clicquot Chalet experiences, holiday movies on the pool deck, even brunches with Santa.
Resorts World Las Vegas: Up to 45% OffDanielle Aveyard attends a party dressed as Elvis during the the opening night of the Resorts World … [+] Las Vegas hotel-casino, Thursday, June 24, 2021, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Resorts World invites you to take advantage of their Black Friday & Cyber Monday sale on rooms and suites. The company invites you to book your next escape during what it calls the biggest promotion of the year at Resorts World Las Vegas. Your escape to “blissful accommodations, designer retail spaces, and world-class nightlife” are all on the table during Black Friday & Cyber Monday.
What’s the deal? Up to 40% off your stay.
Naturally, there are a few caveats. A two nights minimum stay is required. The deal is subject to the Resort Fee, which is currently listed at $45 a day. Blackout dates may apply.
EOS Hospitality Holiday Cyber Sale—Up to 40% Off
The EOS Hospitality portfolio comprises more than 50 hotels and resorts across the U.S. You can take advantage of the EOS Hospitality Holiday Cyber Sale and up to 40% off the best available rate using the code CY24. Here are some featured properties.
Havana Cabana at Key West (Key West, FL) leans into its namesake by blending Cuba’s vibrant art and culture with chic, tropical design elements throughout its 106 guest rooms. The hotel is steeped in charm and character, featuring classic cars out front, mojitos and music poolside, and custom murals throughout – making each stay a welcome escape from reality.The Havana Cabana, an EOS property in Key West, Florida.EOS Properties
The Holiday Cyber Sale is available to book from November 19, 2024, through Wednesday, December 4, 2024, at 11:59pm EST. It is valid for stay dates from November 19, 2024 – December 31, 2025.
Wequassett Resort & Golf Club (Cape Cod, MA), a Forbes Double Five Star resort built in 1925 on Cape Cod’s Pleasant Bay in Harwich, Massachusetts, offers a year-round waterfront escape for couples, groups, and families. With 120 elegant rooms, from waterfront cottages to luxury suites, the 27-acre property features two tennis and pickleball courts, six dining venues, two heated outdoor pools, a water sports center, and exclusive access to Cape Cod National Golf Club.
Isla Bella Beach Resort (Marathon, FL) is a luxurious beachfront hotel and spa based at the threshold of the iconic Seven Mile Bridge in the Florida Keys. The hotel sits on 24 waterfront acres and is surrounded by a canopy of greenery and sweeping views of the Cerulean Sea. In addition to the private, mile-long coastline, the property offers a spa, five oceanfront pools, and four distinct dining spots.
For all the EOS properties, black-out dates, room type restrictions, and minimum length stay requirements will apply. Full deposit is required at time of booking; and reservation is non-refundable and non-modifiable. Rates fluctuate depending on the time of year.

Josh Brolin says he ‘almost got into a fight’ with Denzel Washington on movie set

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreJosh Brolin has revealed he “almost got into a fight” with Denzel Washington on the set of American Gangster.Before Washington starred in Gladiator 2, he appeared in director Ridley Scott’s 2007 crime drama, playing criminal Frank Lucas. His co-star in the film was Brolin who, at the time, was a rising Hollywood star who would go on to play Thanos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).According to the actor, hostilities began when Washington “got wind” of producer Brian Grazer praising his performance alongside Russell Crowe’s – and came to a head when Washington “changed the structure” of their first scene together.Speaking on In Depth with Graham Bensinger, Brolin, who said he “gets along very well” with the Oscar-winning actor now, said: “Denzel was a little late to set and there was a whole thing there. And then he showed me the lines… he didn’t change any of my lines, but he kind of changed the structure of it. He said, ‘I think I’m gonna put this down here and I’m gonna put that up there.’ But he wouldn’t really look at me. Brolin said they immediately rehearsed the scene in its new form, but admitted he was struggling to be “super confident” due to the star power of Washington.“I was trying to remember the structure, and then we rehearsed. It wasn’t that many lines, mostly mine. And I’m supposed to be super confident. It’s Denzel Washington, man. It’s like, not easy – you’re just some actor who they’re trying out, seeing if he’s the real thing or not. And I forgot a line.”It was here where Brolin placed his hand on Washington’s shoulder, and asked him “What’s the line?” Brolin continued: “He hit my hand off and he said, ‘Don’t ever f***ing put your hand on me.’ And I was like, ‘Holy s***, I’m gonna scrap with Denzel Washington. This is crazy.’“We’re not actors anymore – at least in my mind. In his mind, he was just doing his job. He was that guy. He was Frank Lucas, period. But I didn’t know. And then we got through that moment. I said, ‘Are you OK?’ He said, ‘Yeah. You?’ I said, ‘Yeah. Can I get my line?’ He said, ‘Go for it.’ It’s like he’d said what he needed to say.”Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 daysNew subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelledTry for freeWatch Apple TV+ free for 7 daysNew subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelledTry for freeDenzel Washington and Josh Brolin in ‘American Gangster’

Josh Brolin says he ‘almost got into a fight’ with Denzel Washington on movie set

Technology

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreJosh Brolin has revealed he “almost got into a fight” with Denzel Washington on the set of American Gangster.Before Washington starred in Gladiator 2, he appeared in director Ridley Scott’s 2007 crime drama, playing criminal Frank Lucas. His co-star in the film was Brolin who, at the time, was a rising Hollywood star who would go on to play Thanos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).According to the actor, hostilities began when Washington “got wind” of producer Brian Grazer praising his performance alongside Russell Crowe’s – and came to a head when Washington “changed the structure” of their first scene together.Speaking on In Depth with Graham Bensinger, Brolin, who said he “gets along very well” with the Oscar-winning actor now, said: “Denzel was a little late to set and there was a whole thing there. And then he showed me the lines… he didn’t change any of my lines, but he kind of changed the structure of it. He said, ‘I think I’m gonna put this down here and I’m gonna put that up there.’ But he wouldn’t really look at me. Brolin said they immediately rehearsed the scene in its new form, but admitted he was struggling to be “super confident” due to the star power of Washington.“I was trying to remember the structure, and then we rehearsed. It wasn’t that many lines, mostly mine. And I’m supposed to be super confident. It’s Denzel Washington, man. It’s like, not easy – you’re just some actor who they’re trying out, seeing if he’s the real thing or not. And I forgot a line.”It was here where Brolin placed his hand on Washington’s shoulder, and asked him “What’s the line?” Brolin continued: “He hit my hand off and he said, ‘Don’t ever f***ing put your hand on me.’ And I was like, ‘Holy s***, I’m gonna scrap with Denzel Washington. This is crazy.’“We’re not actors anymore – at least in my mind. In his mind, he was just doing his job. He was that guy. He was Frank Lucas, period. But I didn’t know. And then we got through that moment. I said, ‘Are you OK?’ He said, ‘Yeah. You?’ I said, ‘Yeah. Can I get my line?’ He said, ‘Go for it.’ It’s like he’d said what he needed to say.”Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 daysNew subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelledTry for freeWatch Apple TV+ free for 7 daysNew subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelledTry for freeDenzel Washington and Josh Brolin in ‘American Gangster’

Josh Brolin says he ‘almost got into a fight’ with Denzel Washington on movie set

Technology

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.CloseRead moreJosh Brolin has revealed he “almost got into a fight” with Denzel Washington on the set of American Gangster.Before Washington starred in Gladiator 2, he appeared in director Ridley Scott’s 2007 crime drama, playing criminal Frank Lucas. His co-star in the film was Brolin who, at the time, was a rising Hollywood star who would go on to play Thanos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).According to the actor, hostilities began when Washington “got wind” of producer Brian Grazer praising his performance alongside Russell Crowe’s – and came to a head when Washington “changed the structure” of their first scene together.Speaking on In Depth with Graham Bensinger, Brolin, who said he “gets along very well” with the Oscar-winning actor now, said: “Denzel was a little late to set and there was a whole thing there. And then he showed me the lines… he didn’t change any of my lines, but he kind of changed the structure of it. He said, ‘I think I’m gonna put this down here and I’m gonna put that up there.’ But he wouldn’t really look at me. Brolin said they immediately rehearsed the scene in its new form, but admitted he was struggling to be “super confident” due to the star power of Washington.“I was trying to remember the structure, and then we rehearsed. It wasn’t that many lines, mostly mine. And I’m supposed to be super confident. It’s Denzel Washington, man. It’s like, not easy – you’re just some actor who they’re trying out, seeing if he’s the real thing or not. And I forgot a line.”It was here where Brolin placed his hand on Washington’s shoulder, and asked him “What’s the line?” Brolin continued: “He hit my hand off and he said, ‘Don’t ever f***ing put your hand on me.’ And I was like, ‘Holy s***, I’m gonna scrap with Denzel Washington. This is crazy.’“We’re not actors anymore – at least in my mind. In his mind, he was just doing his job. He was that guy. He was Frank Lucas, period. But I didn’t know. And then we got through that moment. I said, ‘Are you OK?’ He said, ‘Yeah. You?’ I said, ‘Yeah. Can I get my line?’ He said, ‘Go for it.’ It’s like he’d said what he needed to say.”Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 daysNew subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelledTry for freeWatch Apple TV+ free for 7 daysNew subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelledTry for freeDenzel Washington and Josh Brolin in ‘American Gangster’

Percival Everett, 2024 National Book Award winner, rereads one book often

Arts & Culture, Books

Percival Everett has won the National Book Award for fiction for his novel “James,” a reimagining of Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” from the point of view of the enslaved character Jim.With Everett, the evening’s winners included Jason De León, who won the nonfiction prize for his book, “Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling” along with Shifa Saltagi Safadi’s “Kareem Between” for Young People’s Literature; Yáng Shuāng-zǐ’s “Taiwan Travelogue” for Translated Literature and Lena Khalaf Tuffaha’s “Something About Living” for Poetry. Novelist Barbara Kingsolver received a Lifetime Achievement Award. Black Classic Press publisher W. Paul Coates received the Literarian Award, a move that had caused controversy leading up to the event.SEE MORE: Map: 70 independent bookstores in Southern CaliforniaEarlier this year, on the eve of the publication of his award-winning novel, Everett sat for a Zoom interview from his South Pasadena home with an array of stringed instruments and music books on the shelves behind him.As the interview wrapped things up, Everett talked a bit more about books he liked, a formative reading experience, and some thoughts on music – he’s a guitarist as well as painter, poet and novelist. The following Q&A, which has been edited for length and clarity, is from that March interview, published here for the first time. Percival Everett, the author of more than 30 books, discusses his latest, “James,” a retelling of Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” (Photo credit Michael Avedon / Courtesy of Doubleday)Q. Is there a book that you often recommend to people?Not one, no. I do love Samuel Butler’s “The Way of All Flesh.” It’s an amazing novel just for the story, but it’s also so funny. And so I read that, it used to be every year, but now it’s every couple of years. I’m just reminded of how quickly someone can really get a story going.Q. Is there a person who made an impact on your reading life? My father did, just because there were no restrictions as far as what I could pull from the library. And there was, and I don’t remember her name, a librarian – this would have been when I was a teenager – at the University of South Carolina McKissick Library. I shouldn’t have been in that library at all, but she would let me go into the stacks and I would just hang out up there for hours looking through books. I’m sure she’s dead now, but I would love to have had an opportunity to thank her. Q. A librarian can make all the difference.And a rulebreaker at that. [laughs]Q. Is there a fact or piece of dialogue from something you’ve read that has stayed with you?I’ve been reading about the lost Black composers of the period at the very end of the 19th century. There is a denial of the history of classical music in the U.S. Even one of my heroes, Leonard Bernstein, said at one point, ‘There is no classical music in the US before 1910; there’s no history of it.’ But there were actually Black composers, and they were encouraged by [Czech composer Antonín] Dvořák. Dvořák was brought to the U.S. to direct the National Conservatory in New York because this woman, [Jeannette] Thurber, and some other people believed that there was no serious music with an American character. They brought him in to direct it and to try to help shape it, and when he arrived, he and some other music people in New York, but especially Dvořák, stated that – and he was known for using the folk music of his world to create his orchestral music – he said that the music of America would come from African American and Native American melodies. And then proceeded to employ them. One of the remarkable things, and this is the thing that I was coming to, is he wrote at that time, The New World Symphony, which is a fantastic work. When we listen to it now, you can’t help but think about Westerns. But it was written in 1893 – there were no Westerns! It’s got motifs of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” and things like that in it; it’s just remarkable.That denial of that influence in American music persists in the resistance of considering Gershwin a classical composer, or Charles Ives. So there’s a lot of a lot of stuff going on there.SEE ALSO: Read about bestsellers, books and authors in the free Book Pages newsletterQ. Speaking of music: Do you still play jazz guitar?Oh, I love guitar. I do play and I play differently now since I chopped off the tip of a finger. So it feels different. MORE: Click here to read the interview with Percival Everett about “James” Originally Published: November 20, 2024 at 11:30 PM PST

MIT Named Best University For Interdisciplinary Science In New Ranking

Science and Health

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been named the top university in the world for interdisciplinary science in a new ranking system released today by Times Higher Education in association with Schmidt Science Fellows.

The 2025 Interdisciplinary Science Rankings (ISR) includes 749 institutions in 92 different countries. The United States was the clear leader, placing seven institutions in the top 10. The U.S had 16 universities in the top 100. India had the most universities ranked overall, with 65.

Here were the top 10 institutions:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Stanford University
National University of Singapore
California Institute of Technology
Duke University
University of Minnesota
Wageningen University & Research (Netherlands)
University of California, Santa Barbara
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

Northestern University (11), the University of Texas at Austin (14), the University of Washington (15), Arizona State University (18) and Purdue University all made the top 20.

Asia had 370 universities that were ranked, accounting for almost half of the total and making it the most represented continent in the ISR (Europe was next with 179, Africa had 78, South America, 60, North America, 57, and Oceania, 5.)
Asia had the most institutions in the top 100, with 47 institutions in 15 countries. It was followed by Europe with 24 universities, North America with 17, Africa with five, Oceania with four and South America with three.

About The Rankings
THE’s new ranking benchmarked universities by measuring their performance in three areas: inputs (funding); process (measures of success, facilities, administrative support and promotion); and outputs (publications, research quality and reputation). Here’s a breakdown of the 11 ranking factors and their weights:
Inputs: 19%

Interdisciplinary science research funding: 8%
Industry funding: 11%

Process: 16%

Measure of success: 4%
Physical facilities: 4%
Administrative support: 4%
Promotion process: 4%

Outputs: 65%

Number of interdisciplinary science research publications: 10%
Proportion of interdisciplinary science research publications: 5%
Utility out of discipline: 5%
Quality of interdisciplinary science research: 20%
Reputation: 25%

The data were collected from various sources, including the institutions themselves and bibliometric data (publications, citations) supplied by Elsevier.
“Universities worldwide are using interdisciplinary science to boost innovation and to make breakthrough discoveries that help to solve the world’s biggest challenges. This ranking stands as a testament to the skills, techniques and dedication from a broad range of scientific disciplines that drives this research forwards,” said Phil Baty, THE’s chief global affairs officer, in a news release.

“THE is delighted to bring this inaugural ranking to life, and hope that the ranking’s impetus for greater collaboration will support many more scientific breakthroughs in institutions across the world,” added Baty.
The rankings are intended to draw attention to the advantages of cross-boundary science by championing it as the best way to address today’s biggest challenges and best opportunities for innovation.

According to the THE news release, the top-ranked institutions “all have a strong focus on engineering and technology. They also have interdisciplinarity woven into their DNA from undergraduate education to postgraduate programmes and research centres. Their interdisciplinary aspirations are well supported in terms of funding and administrative support.”
Wendy Schmidt, co-founder of Schmidt Sciences, said the rankings recognized universities that were “breaking down silos and creating new ways of pursuing knowledge, bringing us closer to transformative discoveries about ourselves and our universe.”
“To answer the world’s toughest questions—whether it’s scaling fusion energy or advancing quantum computing—we need to think differently,” added Eric Schmidt, co-founder of Schmidt Sciences, in a news release. “The Interdisciplinary Science Rankings recognises universities that are advancing the practice of science for the next century and beyond through new institutions, emerging technologies, and effective teaching.”

MIT Named Best University For Interdisciplinary Science In New Ranking

Science and Health

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been named the top university in the world for interdisciplinary science in a new ranking system released today by Times Higher Education in association with Schmidt Science Fellows.

The 2025 Interdisciplinary Science Rankings (ISR) includes 749 institutions in 92 different countries. The United States was the clear leader, placing seven institutions in the top 10. The U.S had 16 universities in the top 100. India had the most universities ranked overall, with 65.

Here were the top 10 institutions:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Stanford University
National University of Singapore
California Institute of Technology
Duke University
University of Minnesota
Wageningen University & Research (Netherlands)
University of California, Santa Barbara
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

Northestern University (11), the University of Texas at Austin (14), the University of Washington (15), Arizona State University (18) and Purdue University all made the top 20.

Asia had 370 universities that were ranked, accounting for almost half of the total and making it the most represented continent in the ISR (Europe was next with 179, Africa had 78, South America, 60, North America, 57, and Oceania, 5.)
Asia had the most institutions in the top 100, with 47 institutions in 15 countries. It was followed by Europe with 24 universities, North America with 17, Africa with five, Oceania with four and South America with three.

About The Rankings
THE’s new ranking benchmarked universities by measuring their performance in three areas: inputs (funding); process (measures of success, facilities, administrative support and promotion); and outputs (publications, research quality and reputation). Here’s a breakdown of the 11 ranking factors and their weights:
Inputs: 19%

Interdisciplinary science research funding: 8%
Industry funding: 11%

Process: 16%

Measure of success: 4%
Physical facilities: 4%
Administrative support: 4%
Promotion process: 4%

Outputs: 65%

Number of interdisciplinary science research publications: 10%
Proportion of interdisciplinary science research publications: 5%
Utility out of discipline: 5%
Quality of interdisciplinary science research: 20%
Reputation: 25%

The data were collected from various sources, including the institutions themselves and bibliometric data (publications, citations) supplied by Elsevier.
“Universities worldwide are using interdisciplinary science to boost innovation and to make breakthrough discoveries that help to solve the world’s biggest challenges. This ranking stands as a testament to the skills, techniques and dedication from a broad range of scientific disciplines that drives this research forwards,” said Phil Baty, THE’s chief global affairs officer, in a news release.

“THE is delighted to bring this inaugural ranking to life, and hope that the ranking’s impetus for greater collaboration will support many more scientific breakthroughs in institutions across the world,” added Baty.
The rankings are intended to draw attention to the advantages of cross-boundary science by championing it as the best way to address today’s biggest challenges and best opportunities for innovation.

According to the THE news release, the top-ranked institutions “all have a strong focus on engineering and technology. They also have interdisciplinarity woven into their DNA from undergraduate education to postgraduate programmes and research centres. Their interdisciplinary aspirations are well supported in terms of funding and administrative support.”
Wendy Schmidt, co-founder of Schmidt Sciences, said the rankings recognized universities that were “breaking down silos and creating new ways of pursuing knowledge, bringing us closer to transformative discoveries about ourselves and our universe.”
“To answer the world’s toughest questions—whether it’s scaling fusion energy or advancing quantum computing—we need to think differently,” added Eric Schmidt, co-founder of Schmidt Sciences, in a news release. “The Interdisciplinary Science Rankings recognises universities that are advancing the practice of science for the next century and beyond through new institutions, emerging technologies, and effective teaching.”

Trump’s science-denying fanatics are bad enough. Yet even our climate ‘solutions’ are now the stuff of total delusion

Science and Health

We now face, on all fronts, a war not just against the living planet and the common good, but against material reality. Power in the United States will soon be shared between people who believe they will ascend to sit at the right hand of God, perhaps after a cleansing apocalypse; and people who believe their consciousness will be uploaded on to machines in a great Singularity.The Christian rapture and the tech rapture are essentially the same belief. Both are examples of “substance dualism”: the idea that the mind or soul can exist in a realm separate from the body. This idea often drives a desire to escape from the grubby immanence of life on Earth. Once the rapture is achieved, there will be no need for a living planet.But while it is easy to point to the counter-qualified, science-denying fanatics Donald Trump is appointing to high office, the war against reality is everywhere. You can see it in the British government’s carbon capture and storage scheme, a new fossil fuel project that will greatly raise emissions but is dressed up as a climate solution. And it informs every aspect of this week’s Cop29 climate talks in Azerbaijan.Here, as everywhere, the living planet is forgotten while capital extends its frontiers. The one thing Cop29 has achieved so far – and it may well be the only thing – is an attempt to rush through new rules for carbon markets, enabling countries and businesses to trade carbon credits – which amount, in effect, to permission to carry on polluting.In theory, you could justify a role for such markets, if they were used only to counteract emissions that are otherwise impossible to reduce (each credit purchased is meant to represent a tonne of carbon dioxide that has been reduced or removed from the atmosphere). But they’re routinely used as a first resort: a substitute for decarbonisation at home. The living world has become a dump for policy failure.Essential as ecological carbon stores are, trading them against fossil fuel emissions, which is how these markets operate, cannot possibly work. The carbon that current ecosystems can absorb in one year is pitched against the burning of fossil carbon accumulated by ancient ecosystems over many years.Nowhere is this magical thinking more apparent than in soil carbon markets, a great new adventure for commodity traders selling both kinds of carbon market products: official “credits” and voluntary carbon offsets. Every form of wishful thinking, over-claiming and outright fraud that has blighted the carbon market so far is magnified when it comes to soil.We should do all we can to protect and restore soil carbon. About 80% of the organic carbon on the land surface of the planet is held in soil. It’s essential for soil health. There should be strong rules and incentives for good soil management. But there is no realistic way in which carbon trading can help. Here are the reasons why.First, tradable increments of soil carbon are impossible to measure. Because soil depths can vary greatly even within one field, there is currently no accurate, affordable means of estimating soil volume. Nor do we have a good-enough test, across a field or a farm, for bulk density – the amount of soil packed into a given volume. So, even if you could produce a reliable measure of carbon per cubic metre of soil, if you don’t know how much soil you have, you can’t calculate the impact of any changes you make.A reliable measure of soil carbon per cubic metre is also elusive, as carbon levels can fluctuate massively from one spot to the next. Repeated measurements from thousands of sites across a farm, necessary to show how carbon levels are changing, would be prohibitively expensive. Nor are simulation models, on which the whole market relies, an effective substitute for measurement. So much for the “verification” supposed to underpin this trade.Second, soil is a complex, biological system that seeks equilibrium. With the exception of peat, it reaches equilibrium at a carbon-to-nitrogen ratio of roughly 12:1. This means that if you want to raise soil carbon, in most cases you will also need to raise soil nitrogen. But whether nitrogen is applied in synthetic fertilisers or in animal manure, it’s a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, which could counteract any gains in soil carbon. It is also one of the most potent causes of water pollution.Third, carbon levels in agricultural soils soon saturate. Some promoters of soil carbon credits create the impression that accumulation can continue indefinitely. It can’t. There’s a limit to how much a given soil can absorb.Fourth, any accumulation is reversible. Soil is a highly dynamic system: you cannot permanently lock carbon into it. Microbes constantly process carbon, sometimes stitching it into the soil, sometimes releasing it: this is an essential property of soil health. With rises in temperature, the carbon sequestration you’ve paid for can simply evaporate: there’s likely to be a massive outgassing of carbon from soils as a direct result of continued heating. Droughts can also hammer soil carbon.Even under current market standards, in which science takes second place to money, you need to show that carbon storage will last for a minimum of 40 years. There is no way of guaranteeing that carbon accumulation in soil will last that long. But as a new paper in Nature argues: “A CO2 storage period of less than 1,000 years is insufficient for neutralising remaining fossil CO2 emissions.”The only form of organic carbon that might last this long – though only under certain conditions – is added biochar (fine-grained charcoal). But biochar is phenomenally expensive: the cheapest source I was able to find costs roughly 26 times as much as agricultural lime, which itself costs too much for many farmers. There’s a limited amount of material that can be turned into biochar. While making it, if you get the burn just slightly wrong, the methane, nitrous oxide and black carbon you produce will cancel any carbon savings.There is a kind of substance dualism at work here, too: a concept of soil and soil carbon entirely detached from their earthly realities. This bubble of delusion will burst. If I were a devious financier, I would short the stocks of companies selling these credits.All such approaches are substitutes for action, whose primary purpose is to enable governments to avoid conflict with powerful interests, especially the fossil fuel industry. At a moment of existential crisis, governments everywhere are retreating into a dreamworld, in which impossible contradictions are reconciled. You can send your legions to war with reality, but eventually we all lose.

George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist