Journals
2026 EN
Caylor K. K. · Abatzoglou J. T. · Dalin C.
+16 more
Abstract We announce updates to the aims and scope of Earth's Future that introduce three Thematic Areas: Climate Impacts, Communities and Resilience, and Sustainable Resource Systems. These additions provide focal points for community building and editorial leadership within the journal's broad, transdisciplinary mission. We describe the motivation for these changes, outline each thematic area, and reaffirm that Earth's Future remains open to submissions across the full scope of Anthropocene science.
Journals
2026 EN
Çınar Hasan · Tunçel Süleyman
The propulsion system of vertical take-off and landing vehicles relies heavily on batteries as the main power source. The batteries’ health and remaining capacity should be carefully monitored for the safe and healthy operation of the eVTOL vehicles. State-of-the-art data-driven machine learning algorithms are increasingly used for battery status estimation. This study proposes a machine learning-based estimation technique to monitor the state of health, remaining useful life and maximum operating temperature of an eVTOL vehicle's battery. In this context, random forest and 2nd-, 3rd- and 4th-degree polynomial regression algorithms are implemented on a mission-based, publicly generated dataset. The limited data availability condition considered for each mission dataset and the hyperparameters of machine learning algorithms are also optimized to enhance the estimation accuracy. The results indicate that the least weighted average error rates in estimating battery state of health, remaining useful life and maximum operating temperature are achieved by algorithms: 2nd-degree polynomial regression, 3rd-order polynomial regression and random forest. Finally, the proposed technique achieves lower error rates in battery state estimation than prior studies, despite the limited data availability during the learning phase of the selected data-driven algorithms.
Journals
2026 EN
Kane Abdoulaye
This paper examines the transnational circuits of travel and pilgrimage created by a Senegalese Sufi religious leader on a mission to preserve the orthodox Muslim and Sufi identity of his co-ethnics in France. Following Cole and Groes’s work on affective circuits and James Clifford’s work on travel, I propose in this paper to widen the ethnographic frame beyond the field tied to specific locations to explore the interstices, the transient and the transit connecting locations. The metaphor of a circuit is used to indicate the continued circularity of travel, reciprocity and exchanges between various nodes in the expanding geography of global Sufi networks such as the one under study here.
Resource
2026 EN
Mawhinney Lynnette · Drame Elizabeth · Kares Faith
+3 more
Diverse-by-design schools—educational institutions that explicitly name diversity as part of their mission statement—comprise an increasing number of state authorized schools in the United States and have consequently shifted school design in the K–12 school sector. Through a qualitative data collection, including a visual culture audit, this paper highlights how one dual language school, despite its diverse-by-design mission, did not recognize Black students until February during U.S. Black History Month. It examines implications of the disjuncture between diverse-by-design rhetoric and actual practices.
Journals
2026 EN
Alhas Hüseyin · Sümbül Yiğit
In contrast to the extensive body of research in European sources on the various political-economic, social-cultural and ethical subtleties of Lord Byron’s involvement in the Greek War of Independence, there has been a dearth of studies exploring the Ottoman perspective on the issue. This has stemmed primarily from the fact that Ottoman archival documents on Byron’s activities in Greece have so far remained untranslated. This article is the first full-fledged and extended attempt to fill this lacuna where those Ottoman archival documents on Byron are transcribed, translated, and critically interpreted. Taking four intelligence reports from the Ottoman archives as its focal point, this article not only examines the Ottoman Empire’s hitherto unsurveyed alertness to Byron’s political, economic, and military support to the Greeks, particularly in Missolonghi, but also elucidates the general Ottoman perception of philhellenism.
Journals
2026 EN
Womack Chase
As commercial space exploration continues to develop, it is important to track the historical context of previously used spaceports. Since no consolidated source for the currently abandoned spaceports exists, this paper will examine the history and legacy of seven abandoned facilities and provide an analysis of the factors that led to their decommissioning. This paper focuses on five pioneering, government-backed spaceports in four countries: Algeria, Australia, Kenya, and Russia. In addition, the paper reviews two privately built launch sites constructed by the German company OTRAG in Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Libya. This paper uses content analysis of archival sources, published accounts, and various repositories through three generations of spaceports from the 1940s to present day. Ultimately, these spaceports became obsolete for factors ranging from technology obsolesce, financial insolvency, and geopolitical and diplomatic pressures. To benefit future research, this paper outlines important lessons from spaceport development, specifically outlining the need for ongoing investment, flexible mission capabilities, extensible infrastructure, and strategic partnerships to ensure operational viability over the long term. With a new era of commercial space expansion, understanding the factors that led to the decline of these early spaceports provides insights for future research.
Journals
2026 EN
Ma Zhongwu · Gunawarda.S.
The arrival of Mahinda Thera in third-century BCE Sri Lanka is a foundational moment in the island’s religious and cultural history and has been traditionally viewed as the formal introduction of Buddhism. Celebrated in classical sources such as the Mahāvaṃsa, Dīpavaṃsa, Samantapāsadikā, Bōdhivamsa , and Nikāya Saṅgrahaya , these narratives blend historical recollection with mythic embellishment and religious idealism. This study critically re-examines the princely monk’s journey through the intersecting frameworks of myth, memory, and mission, drawing from literary chronicles, commentaries, and inscriptions in early Brāhmī script. Particular attention is given to epigraphic evidence that supports the presence and legacy of these mission, as well as foreign perspectives such as Xuanzang’s (Hiuen Tsiang) travel account, which enrich the broader context of religious memory. The role of Emperor Asoka and Sri Lankan King Devanampiyatissa (250-210 BCE), whose patronage institutionalized Buddhism through the construction of key sites such as Thūpārama and Mihintalē, is also analyzed. The study traces the formation of Bhikkhu lineage, focusing on the spiritual and institutional significance of ordination, education, and monastic foundations, especially Mahāvihāra. This assessment reveals how historical memory and mythic tradition were deliberately intertwined to sustain religious authority and cultural identity. The legacy of Mahinda endures as both a hagiographic figure and a historical actor of a transformative mission. By distinguishing between sacred memory and historical evidence, this paper contributes to a more nuanced understanding of early Buddhist transmission and the dynamics of religious-cultural integration in ancient Sri Lanka.
Journals
2026 EN
Mara Setyo Tri Windras · Sarker Ruhul · Elsayed Saber
+1 more
This paper focuses on an integrated routing problem incorporating electric vehicles (EVs), drones, and drone stations. Despite the considerable interest in employing drones in logistics as a tandem, previous studies indicated that adopting EV-drone tandems has a significant barrier due to the upfront investments to procure drones. To tackle this issue, this study explores the prospect of drone-as-a-service, employing drones owned by third-party providers to enhance logistics operations. The proposed system is formulated as a mixed-integer linear program with an objective function that minimises the system's makespan, which represents the completion time of the delivery mission. Considering the size and complexity of the model, we propose an evolutionary algorithm as a solver. The algorithm incorporates a customised solution representation, a specialised initialisation technique, and a local search technique to improve the algorithm's searching capability. Numerical experiments demonstrate the superior performance of our algorithm, showing gaps of 5.35–6.32%; compared to baseline algorithms. The results also indicate that incorporating DaaS providers can shorten the operations' makespan with up to 18.71%; gaps. Finally, the paper provides managerial insights into the proposed logistics system's benefits, challenges, and prospects.
Resource
2026 EN
Urmanbetova Aselia · Vinson Philip · Dill Jessica
+4 more
This article’s authors present a programmatic blueprint of the first-of-its-kind collaborative among student economics clubs across colleges in a large metropolitan area, bringing together a community of student leaders, faculty advisors, administrators, and economics professionals, who brainstorm, build support networks, and expose students to diverse economics careers. The authors first explain the motivation for, mission, and structure of the Southeastern Economics Collaborative. Second, they describe the implementation strategy developed and tested over three years by a group of student leaders, professional mentors, and faculty advisors from three colleges to broaden their events, reaching over 1,170 registered participants, including more than 970 students. Lastly, they share what they learned, including attendance data with participant feedback, and outline their next steps based on the experience.
Journals
2026 EN
Barnes Mark
Mission-guided geographic education presents an opportunity for transformative experiences both within the classroom and beyond, especially at institutions where geography is underrepresented. In this commentary, I share my experience embracing this approach and describe the execution processes of an introductory course reflective of its core values. Additionally, I highlight inspirational sources that informed the design of the course. In closing, I offer words of encouragement to those who may face challenges in demonstrating the vital and relevant role of geography toward mission advancement activities in transformative and disruptive times.