Author Archives: beatriceco

Former marine science & technology museum head demoted for workplace bullying

Taipei, Dec. 3 (CNA) Chen Su-fen (陳素芬), the former director-general of the National Museum of Marine Science and Technology in Keelung, has been demoted in the civil service after an investigation confirmed her involvement in workplace bullying, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said Tuesday.Chen’s “authoritarian and belittling management style” and poor emotional control subjected museum employees to a “high level of emotional stress and low morale,” and created a hostile and unfriendly working environment, thus meeting the definition of workplace bullying, Deputy Education Minister Lin Teng-chiao (林騰蛟) said at a press conference.Lin said the investigation into Chen’s behavior was conducted by an independent committee that included legal experts and social psychologists.The committee was convened by the MOE after allegations against Chen — including her habit of loudly berating subordinates — were reported by the media in late October. She was removed from her post on Nov. 27, as the investigation proceeded.Following the confirmation of the allegations, Chen had her rank in the civil service dropped from Grade 13 to a non-managerial role at Grade 12, Lin said.She was also given a demerit on her civil service record, which will affect her year-end performance appraisal and her chance at future promotions, Lin said.According to Lin, investigators also found that Chen had violated conflict of interest laws for civil servants by hiring a second-degree relative.The hiree — a relative of Chen’s by marriage surnamed Liao (廖) — had her employment contract terminated on Monday, while evidence of the violation was sent to the Control Yuan, Lin said.Meanwhile, a separate claim alleging conflicts of interest by Chen in awarding a government contract was found to have not violated any laws, Lin said.Prior to her dismissal, Chen had led the museum since 2019.Taiwan has recently seen a wave of workplace bullying claims and investigations, which began last month after a Labor Ministry staffer killed himself following alleged bullying by a supervisor.To date, 13 workplace bullying allegations have been received by the MOE or agencies under its jurisdiction, of which nine are still being investigated, the ministry said.
(By Chen Chih-chung and Matthew Mazzetta)
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Cosmic science, dystopian fiction, and other new books

By Cameron Woodhead and Fiona Capp December 4, 2024 — 12.00amNormal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text sizeFICTION PICK OF THE WEEKA Song to Drown RiversAnn LiangMacmillan, $34.99During the fractious Spring and Autumn period of ancient Chinese history, Xishi was born possessed of a beauty so extraordinary that “even lotus flowers … quivered and turned their heads away” in her presence. In A Song to Drown Rivers, Ann Liang retells the legend from the legend’s point of view. Xishi’s life is changed forever when, as she washes silk in the river near her small town, Fanli arrives. Famed military adviser to the Kingdom of Yue, he offers to lift her family from poverty if Xishi agrees to weaponise her beauty and become a spy, infiltrating the court of the hostile Kingdom of Wu. There, she is to win the King’s heart and weaken the enemy from within before the Yue army attacks. Liang beguiles the reader with swift and immersive storytelling. No one will mind that initial romance is hastily sketched: it’s a beautifully written book, well-paced, full of political intrigue, and narrated by a fascinating character fully aware of the ambivalences of wielding feminine power in a world dominated by men.The ThinningInga SimpsonHachette, $32.99In The Thinning, Inga Simpson delivers dystopian fiction featuring a teen protagonist, Fin Kelvin, who grew up in an observatory. She knows mass extinctions and environmental catastrophe wrought by humans have even extended into space – legions of satellites causes intense light pollution; a space mining accident has thrown the moon’s cycle out of whack. Socially, it’s just as grim – authoritarianism and surveillance culture spread like viruses, declining human fertility leads to coerced reproduction, a new kind of evolved human is widely feared. Living off-grid on Gamilaraay country in rural NSW, Fin and her astrophotographer mother, Dianella, have escaped the worst. When her mum sends Fin on a mission – alongside another teen, Terry – to reach a distant radio tower in time for the solar eclipse, time is running short, even as other perceptions of time, cosmic and natural and mythic, complicate the urgent suspense. It’s strong, resonant fiction vividly set in a dying world, a literary dystopia written on a utopian palimpsest.Leave the Girls BehindJacqueline BublitzAllen & Unwin, $34.99When Ruth is triggered by the disappearance of a young girl, she begins to investigate obsessively. Her own best friend, Beth, was murdered too, and she becomes convinced of a connection, even though the perpetrator was caught and died in prison. Ruth is haunted by other victims and through a true-crime podcast, tracks down three women who knew Beth’s killer and might have been groomed into complicity. Leave the Girls Behind weaves an implausible web that’s presumably intended to illuminate the effects of trauma and generate psychological suspense. How much does Beth’s perspective owe to her subjective experience? Is she paranoid about the wrong thing, as a defence against the unpredictability of male violence and the social reality that it is widespread? If Bublitz had explored those questions with more nuance (rather than wasting time on building a flimsy plot from overdetermined genre conventions, then pushing it over), this thriller might have held more interest and had greater feminist heft.AdvertisementStories from the Otto Bin EmpireJudy Nunn Penguin, $34.99I still remember Judy Nunn as Ailsa from Home and Away. Married to Ray Meagher’s Alf, her character was killed off in 2000. The former soap actor is also a prolific and bestselling author. Stories from the Otto Bin Empire is a collection of short fiction introducing six characters from a loose community of rough sleepers. The lonely Polish immigrant, Oskar, whose moment to shine comes playing chess in the park. Teen runaway Adam, who arrives in the Otto Bin Empire too up against it to understand the joke. Benny, The Big Issue vendor with a heart of gold. The raffish Johnny, generous to a fault, who wants to turn around a life of habitual crime. A poet inspired by them all … and Madge the matriarch of the homeless clan, whose own story is a closely guarded secret. Nunn writes with an unaffected, clear-eyed warmth that focuses on the dignity of these homeless characters and tries to see them through their own eyes. The stories avoid slipping into cynicism or sentimentality, portraying poverty and vulnerability but also the companionship of surviving them together.NON-FICTION PICK OF THE WEEKThe Best Australian Science Writing 2024Editors Jackson Ryan & Carl SmithNewSouth, $32.99“Have you ever wanted to skin/ a cell just to watch the turning /wheel of the universe within?” asks Shey Marque in her Poetic Constellations as she gazes into outer space. It’s a question that distils the pure curiosity of science at its most lofty. At the same time, the universe within a single cell is also where science at its most earthy and practical begins. This is marvellously captured in Age reporter Liam Mannix’s story about slime moulds – alien-like single-cellular creatures that can solve mazes and achieve other surprising feats of computation. From the topical and quotidian to the existential and cosmic, this year’s anthology of science writing has achieved a satisfying balance of short breezy pieces – the chemistry of chip flavours and the science of a good coffee – and more in-depth features on the race to protect the world’s oldest cave art and how scientists are intervening to save the endangered pygmy possum from the cascading effects of climate change.The Assault on the StateStephen E. Hanson & Jeffrey S. KopsteinPolity, $41.95The “deep state”, “woke elites”, “the blob”. These are just a few of the alarmist put-downs that are invoked by those who are opposed to governmental agencies and the public service. While there has been increasing debate about the decline of democracy and the rise of autocracy, the authors of this work argue that equally concerning is the undermining of the administrative state: the often invisible safeguards that ensure our air and water are clean, our food and medication safe to consume, our laws upheld. Vladimir Putin, they argue, has laid the ground and provided the model for self-aggrandising strongmen like Donald Trump, Viktor Orban and Benjamin Netanyahu, who “treat the state like a family business”. In the wake of the election of Trump to a second presidency, reading this cri de coeur for the“marvellous human invention of the modern state” is like peering into a disturbingly dark crystal ball.Slivers, Shards and SkerricksShaun MicallefAffirm Press, $34.99A “miscellany” is a fitting word for this absurdist assemblage of writings, parodies and self-deprecating pontifications, all with an unashamedly old-school literary and philosophical bent. There are spoofs of well-known stories (Dickens’ A Christmas Carol ), genre styles (gumshoe detective fiction) and restaurant reviews (a guide to American eateries), along with extracts from Micallef’s political diary. Among the highlights are Marie-Antoinette’s complaints about her “let them eat cake” remarks being taken out of context, and a particularly haunting limerick: “There was a POTUS called Don/ Who found it hard to move on/ He’d lost an election/ Led an insurrection/ But fortunately now he is gone”. More than a touch of Swiftian satire is at work in these dissections of human folly. In a gentler mode, On the Origin of the Self is Micallef at his ruefully ruminating best.Out of the BoxMadonna King & Rebecca SparrowUQP, $34.99When a teacher thanks a neurodivergent (ND) student for “everything she taught him”, it’s a sign that society is changing for the better. This is a handbook for those diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism and other forms of ND brain development, their parents, their teachers, their peers and anyone else who wants to be more attuned to neurodiversity. There’s advice for when and how to seek an assessment or diagnosis, counsel for ND children on navigating friendships and the schoolyard, tips for parents on finding the right school, guidance for teachers on how best to help students learn and how to deal with behavioural issues, plus strategies for job-seeking and dating. Myths are busted, damaging assumptions are exposed and emphasis is placed on the trend towards focusing on the potential of every child regardless of medical and social labels.The Booklist is a weekly newsletter for book lovers from Jason Steger. Get it delivered every Friday.Most Viewed in Culture

30 Under 30 2025 Science: Pushing The Limits Of Chemistry, Math And More

These researchers, engineers and entrepreneurs are making discoveries and inventing new solutions in every arena, from the subatomic to the stars.

By Alex Knapp, Katie Jennings, Kate Gammon and Ragnhildur Þrastardóttir
Daniel Marin dreams of an internet where a user’s identity can be verified without risking giving up any of their own information. His company, Nexus, uses a combination of cryptography, mathematics and engineering to prove you are you instead of a password or the name of your first grade teacher. It relies on a multitude of computers connected to the Nexus network, which does the heavy computation behind the scenes. “We’re building a marketplace for compute,” he says.

So far, 15 companies and over 120,000 people are using Nexus’ software, and the company has raised $27 million at a recent $150 million valuation to keep building out its products. Its product is currently free but the company aims to develop ways to monetize as it matures its technology.

Marin, 24, is just one of the innovators on this year’s 30 Under 30 Science list. For more than a decade, Forbes has highlighted young scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs with the help of nominations from the public. To be considered for this year’s list, all candidates had to be under the age of 30 as of December 31, 2024, and never before named to a 30 Under 30 North America, Europe or Asia list.

The candidates were evaluated by a panel of judges featuring Sara Seager, professor of physics at MIT; Luna Yu, cofounder and CEO of Genecis; Christina Smolke, cofounder and CEO of Antheia; and Randy Glein, cofounder and partner of DFJ Growth.

Marin isn’t the only listmaker pushing computer science to its limits. There’s also Paul Liang, 29, who has laid down some of the theoretical foundations that enables AI models to understand and retrieve multimedia contact. Liz Izhikevich, 28, is using her research to change how industry identifies software performance faults and security threats. And Fiona Kolbinger, 29, is using AI to help surgeons plan their procedures and support decisions while surgery is happening.
Another area of research for these listmakers is in the development of new hardware and materials. For example, there’s Kent Zheng, 29, who is working on lithium-free batteries made from zinc and aluminum that are less toxic and more affordable. Meanwhile, Rachel Baker, 29, is developing processes using biomass from trees and plants to make sustainable industrial chemicals. Then there’s Shucong Li, 29, who has developed a platform of responsive materials used to make soft robots for a variety of applications.
Some of the listmakers this year have their eyes on the stars. For example, NASA Einstein Fellow Sylvia Biscoveanu, 29, studies gravitational waves to learn more about how our universe came to be. Savannah Eisner, 29, is developing electronics that can survive in space and other harsh environments, like the surface of Venus. Meanwhile, Wyver, cofounded by Callie Lissinna, 27, has satellites in orbit looking down on Earth, providing insight to the chemistry happening on the surface for agriculture, mining and other applications.
These are only a few of the incredible scientists and entrepreneurs on this years Forbes 30 Under 30 Science list. Be sure to read up on all of them, plus all of the other 30 Under 30 2025 categories.
This year’s list was edited by Alex Knapp, Katie Jennings, Katharine Gammon and Ragnhildur Þrastardóttir. For a link to our complete Under 30 Science list, click here, and for full 30 Under 30 coverage, click here.

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