| Monday, June 8, 2026 |
| Brookhaven MSU student presents biological research | |
 | Carson Temple, of Brookhaven, recently presented at the Mississippi State University Under-graduate Research Symposium. A biological sciences sophomore, Temple presented "Relation Between Emotional Dysregulation and Negative Urgency: Moderation by Executive Function," in the Social Sciences category. MSU's Undergraduate Research Symposium engages students in showcasing faculty-guided research and creative activity. This biannual event includes students from diverse departments and colleges who participate in poster and oral presentation sessions, sharing their research with the MSU community. More than 300 undergraduate student projects were evaluated by faculty, graduate students and staff at the spring 2026 event. Feedback can be useful in improving current research pro-jects and preparing for future research endeavors. The event is hosted by the Office of Research and Economic Development and the Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College. |
| FFAR releases 2025 impact report | |
 | The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) released its 2025 Impact Report, Investing in Results for U.S. Agriculture, in accordance with the Agricultural Act of 2014 and the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018. The report highlights key accomplishments of FFAR-funded research, financial reports and upcoming opportunities. Since 2014, FFAR has awarded over 450 grants in 47 states, investing over $847 million in agricultural research with more than 550 partners. FFAR continues to garner an average of $1.40 in matching funds from non-federal partners for every federal dollar allocated to research. The report shows how FFAR investments are accelerating rapid-response research, supporting commercialization, preparing the next generation of agricultural scientists and strengthening collaboration across the agricultural research ecosystem. The report also highlights findings from independent program evaluations that are helping FFAR maximize the impact of its investments and strengthen future research initiatives. FFAR was established in the 2014 Farm Bill to increase public agriculture research investments, fill knowledge gaps and complement the U.S. Department of Agriculture's research agenda. |
| From Cow-Milking Robots to Weed-Zapping Lasers, Farmers Are Embracing A.I. | |
 | Of all the industries that seem primed for an A.I. disruption, agriculture may not look like the most obvious. For all its advancements in technology and mechanization over the centuries, farming is fundamentally about growing crops and raising livestock -- and you can't digitize an ear of corn. But right now the industry is in the midst of what some are calling the fourth agricultural revolution, as driverless tractors trundle through fields, drones map moisture levels in soil and cows are outfitted with Fitbit-like devices that track their eating patterns. Yu Jiang, an assistant professor at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell, predicts that within a few years, most large American farms will have incorporated A.I. into their operations. The result, he says, will be a transformational shift not just in how farms are run but "in how we think about farming as a job." For farmers who are already engaging with A.I., that shift is underway -- and it can be complicated. |
| First came Congress. Now a national redistricting battle may turn to statehouses and city councils | |
 | After a blitz of congressional redistricting ahead of the midterm elections, a national battle for partisan control is about to enter a new phase that could affect representation on everything from tax rates to social safety net programs, teacher salaries, housing regulations and local road repairs. Georgia's Republican-led Legislature will convene June 17 for a special session focused on redistricting for the 2028 elections. The agenda includes new voting districts not only for Congress, but also for the state House and Senate -- and potentially even the state's utility regulatory commission. It will mark the first time since a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling weakened minority voting protections that a state legislature will attempt to redraw its own districts. Mississippi Republicans and New York Democrats also could undertake legislative redistricting before their 2027 and 2028 elections, respectively. Ir remains to be seen, though, how many legislatures will follow, and whether the outburst of mid-decade redistricting will extend down to county commissions, city councils and school boards that make myriad decisions affecting people's lives. The impact could be widespread. |
| Auburn University Board of Trustees dissolves faculty governance, approves Presidential Academic Advisory Council | |
| At its June 5 meeting, the Auburn University Board of Trustees (BOT) unanimously voted to dissolve any current university senate, university faculty or faculty governance body, including faculty officers. Its replacement will be the Presidential Academic Advisory Council (PAAC) at Auburn University, which aims to "strengthen Auburn University's model for meaningful academic consultation by creating a direct, structured and professionally responsible channel for faculty perspective to the president, provost and senior academic leadership." The policy, which also applies to the university's regional campus, Auburn University at Montgomery, dismantles any previous faculty governing bodies. This means that any rules, bylaws, constitutions, committee structures or governing documents are rescinded and will be replaced with policies or principles found in the PAAC or any other Board policies. Some faculty members expressed concern with the Board's handling of the policy, saying that faculty were not sufficiently included in the conversation, nor were they aware that the change was happening. |
| Auburn student's death in Japan 'tragedy felt across our entire community' | |
 | Alabama officials and community members are mourning after James "Weston" Higginbotham was found dead in Japan after going missing on a family vacation. Weston's mother, Nancy Higginbotham, announced Saturday that her son was found after he was reported missing in the country May 29. Weston, 20, was an environmental engineering student at Auburn University and an honors graduate from Spain Park High School in Hoover. Alabama senators Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville both posted on X, saying they were saddened to learn Weston's fate and offering condolences to his family. "We are deeply grateful to the countless people across the United States, Japan, and around the world who shared Weston's story, prayed for our family, offered encouragement and helped in the search efforts," Nancy said. "The outpouring of kindness and support has carried us through the darkest days of our lives." |
| Alan Alda's Solution to Eroding Trust in Science: More Improv | |
 | Neuroscientist Annalisa Scimemi is in her element at her laboratory, where she works with mice and sophisticated instruments to better understand brain cells. So she was well outside of her comfort zone on this May afternoon when she had to improvise a pitch for a made-up, nonsensical product called a "hammer humidifier." It was part of an improv exercise aimed at helping scientists amp up their presentations. "It's the top-rated humidifier in Arizona!" Scimemi exclaimed as she leapt forward, earning a big laugh from a classroom full of colleagues. "And it can be used for self-defense!" Trust in science has plummeted. Can improv turn the tide? Scimemi is one of more than 35,000 scientists and researchers who have taken classes led by professional actors to help them earn their audiences' trust and understanding. It's the brainchild of Alan Alda, who helped start what is now called the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Long Island's Stony Brook University more than 15 years ago. After his run playing surgeon Hawkeye Pierce on "M*A*S*H," Alda eventually shifted his focus from acting to science. |
SPORTS
| Greg Sankey pushes back on SEC-Big Ten Super League talk: 'We have not had a conversation' | |
| SEC commissioner Greg Sankey on Friday pushed back against suggestions from Capitol Hill that his league and the Big Ten are threats to join forces and leave the rest of college sports behind while calling out the private equity firms that have been lobbying federal lawmakers. "It's one of those strange twists right off the bat that somehow we're being pointed out as the people pushing super leagues when we've spent years resisting those ideas, but that's the kind of crazy world we live in, right?" Sankey said on the "Paul Finebaum Show." The Senate bill introduced this week by Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas-R) and Maria Cantwell (Wash.-D) specifically targets the Big Ten and SEC, placing limits on the conferences' ability to add members and prohibiting them from merging. The SEC and the Big Ten have withheld support for the Protecting College Sports Act, but have expressed interest in working with lawmakers on revisions. Cruz and Cantwell have said the bill is intended to promote a more level playing field across Division I, thwart future conference realignment and prevent the consolidation of the biggest brands and wealthiest schools at the expense of smaller schools -- a theoretical Super League. Sankey said the SEC and Big Ten have no interest in that concept, and he and Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti conveyed that to Cruz in a meeting earlier this week. |
| Donald Trump, Knicks fan, heads back to New York to root on his team | |
| There was a time when Donald Trump was just another celebrity sitting courtside at New York Knicks games. He was famous, but not yet flanked by Secret Service agents or defined by the politics that have left him deeply unpopular in his hometown. Now, more than a decade after attending his last Knicks game at Madison Square Garden, Trump is making a rare trip back to New York City as president to cheer for them in Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night. Invited by Knicks owner James Dolan, he will be the first sitting president to attend an NBA Finals game. The Knicks are seeking their first championship since 1973, when Trump was 26 and a relative newcomer to the family real estate business that vaulted him to wealth and fame. Two years after that triumph, the team's owners at the time hired him as a consultant as they looked to sell the arena. Trump is an avid sports fan, but the affinity he professes for the Knicks is different. It speaks to the Republican president's identity as a New Yorker and harkens to a bygone era where a front-row seat at a Knicks game was a chance for him and other boldface names to see and be seen. In a city whose wealthy gatekeepers largely turned their noses at Trump's brash personality and playboy image in the 1990s and 2000s, the Garden's Celebrity Row was one club where he felt at home. |
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