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Petty, punishing walls preventing South Asian integration

South Asia is home to nearly a quarter of the world’s population, yet it is one of the least connected regions in terms of people actually moving across borders. Centuries of shared history, culture and language haven’t translated into easy travel between neighbors. Instead,

Asia

Enter Helios: quantum computer sets high watermark for accuracy

In a laboratory in Broomfield, Colorado, 98 atoms are suspended in mid-air, held in place by electric fields and cooled to temperatures close to absolute zero. Each atom is far smaller than anything the naked eye could ever see, yet each carries information in a form that has

Asia

Rome and Persia history lessons for US-Iran peace deal

“Making peace with Iran may be just as painful as winning the war,” a recent CNN report noted. As negotiations roll on during a shaky ceasefire, what a deal between the US and Iran might look like and whether it holds is anyone’s guess. As a scholar of ancient Persia (which

Asia

Key points from US-Israel-Lebanon agreement

Washington on Friday released text of a trilateral framework between Israel, Lebanon and the United States aimed at ending hostilities that have been a violent second front of the Middle East war. The following are highlights of the 14-point agreement signed in the US capital:

US Navy’s repair gap could hand the Pacific war to China

The US Navy’s greatest vulnerability in a war with China may not be losing ships — but getting them back into the fight. RAND released a recent report warning that the US Navy faces severe risks to its maritime dominance because repairing battle-damaged Arleigh Burke-class

Asia

Mushrooms and Our Search for Meaning

This essay was originally published as the cover story in the Summer 2025 issue of Orion Magazine. “Who are you?” the caterpillar barks at Alice from atop the giant mushroom, and Alice, never quite having considered the question, mutters a child’s version of Emily Dickinson’s

SpaceX will join Nasdaq-100

Adding SpaceX this quickly would make the Elon Musk company one of the first beneficiaries of Nasdaq's recently adopted fast-track inclusion framework.