The approach of a new school year conjures images of teachers preparing their classrooms and principals greeting students as they walk through the doors on the first day of classes.

But federal data shows that the education jobs that will see the most growth over a decade are supporting roles like substitute teachers, therapists and technologists.

The findings are bracketed by changes in student enrollment and the ending of federal school emergency funds, which are reshaping school districts’ staffing outlooks. School districts across the country continue to grapple with millions in budget deficits, leading to hundreds of job cuts in some cases.

Recent reports show that schools are likely to struggle to fill the most in-demand roles.

Highest-Growth Areas

Looking at 10 education roles that will gain the most net jobs by 2034, short-term substitute teachers top the overall rankings with an increase of more than 10,000.

Malia Hite says that Utah is among the states that will see an increase in jobs for teacher assistants and paraeducators, who will specifically support student behavior and early literacy, thanks to an infusion of state and federal funds. Hite serves as the Utah State Board of Education’s executive coordinator of education licensing.

She adds the caveat that it’s tough to attract candidates to those roles, particularly in early childhood education — a problem felt strongly around the country.

“However, I will say that those positions, because those positions are typically an entry-level position with a low wage or part-time, they’re hard positions to fill,” Hite says. “Even in the current job market, [where] it’s hard to find positions, we’re still seeing openings in our paraeducator job market statewide. Some of them are making $9 an hour, so why would I do that when I can go somewhere else and make $15 in an entry-level position?”

Hite is cautious when talking about education growth overall because it’s not equal among sectors. Increased demand is expected for non-teacher and non-administrator staff like speech language pathologists, social workers and occupational therapists, she says.

“This is now our second year that we’ve seen a decrease of student enrollment, and so that means we need fewer teachers, there’s less funding, and so we’re seeing a lot of things like schools close,” she explains. “So in that way, there’s no way that education jobs are going to grow.”

A report from the Consortium for School Networking, a professional organization for K-12 tech leaders, found that schools struggle to retain IT staff across all specialities and levels. Among school leaders that it polled, 16 percent said they were in danger of losing IT staff due to the winding down of federal relief money that was allocated to schools during the pandemic.

Health Workers In Demand

The rest of the list, however, is filled by health therapy roles and technology roles. A recent analysis by staffing company ProTherapy predicts physical therapist assistants, speech-language pathologists and physical therapists will be the most in-demand education jobs of 2026 and continue to see double-digit percentage growth.

Schools employ physical therapists and assistants to ensure that students with disabilities can participate in school activities to the fullest extent, while speech language pathologists help students with communication disorders.

Dakota Long, who headed ProTherapy’s 2026 School Workforce Demand Index, says these jobs are growing in demand because schools are aiming to identify students with disabilities and set up interventions as early as possible, as early as age 3 in some schools.

But another factor in the demand for these specialists – physical therapist assistants, in particular – is the job market they are graduating into.

While teacher graduates are overwhelmingly likely to work in the classroom, newly minted health care workers can be wooed by jobs in hospitals, clinics and home health agencies in addition to schools.

“From my perspective in working with schools, they’re wanting to identify those things early on,” Long says, “that way they can provide the best services for these kiddos before it gets to age 7, 8, and then they realize, ‘Oh gosh, we could have been supplying these services earlier.’ So you have early intervention, more kiddos needing these services, but then employees that could be taking on these roles have a lot of different options, as well.”

Hite says that while non-teacher jobs are expected to increase in Utah, though realistically not by as much as ProTherapy’s projections, some nuance is required when looking at what the growth rates mean.

“If I look at the subsector of audiologist, we had two [full-time employees] six years ago, and now we have 11,” she says, an increase of more than five-fold. “We’re talking about 10 people.”

Fluoroscopy is probably the best-known method of X-ray imaging: an X-ray beam passes through the subject to be imaged, and the transmitted X-rays illuminate a phosphor screen. Dense objects, such as metal or bone, cast a shadow on the screen, which provides a real-time image of the subject’s interior. Already having access to X-ray sources, [MarcellF]’s next step was to investigate common phosphor materials, then synthesize his own.

Most common materials that fluoresce under ultraviolet light showed no activity under X-rays: fluorescein, quinine, UV fluorescent paint, and common fluorescent minerals emitted no noticeable glow under 80 kV X-ray stimulation. However, strontium aluminate phosphors did fluoresce well, with a strong afterglow, as did the phosphors in a fluorescent light bulb, some LEDs, and an electroluminescent panel. The electroluminescent panel, which used a zinc sulfide phosphor, was almost as bright as the gadolinium oxysulfide screen from a CT scanner’s detector and had no noticeable afterglow.

One well-known X-ray phosphor is scheelite (calcium tungstate), which [MarcellF] next synthesized. He had previously tested a sample of natural scheelite without success, probably due to impurities. The first step of the synthesis was to melt together potassium nitrate and sodium carbonate, in which [MarcellF] dissolved broken pieces of a tungsten TIG welding rod. This formed sodium and potassium tungstates, which were dissolved and reacted with a calcium chloride solution. This precipitated calcium tungstate, which [MarcellF] annealed to make fluorescent. This produced a blue glow under X-ray stimulation, and doping with lead atoms made it significantly brighter.

We’ve covered several methods of X-ray detection before; most modern fluoroscopes now use a phosphor screen in conjunction with a camera, or sometimes with a photomultiplier tube.

Two exclusive MacBook Air deals are in effect on M4 13-inch and 15-inch models, dropping prices to as low as $899 while supplies last.

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The exclusive offers are valid now through June 28, but supply is limited to stock on hand and inventory may sell out at any time.

personal tech

MPs told that while concerns over handsets and social media grows, evidence they’re changing children’s brains is limited

MPs looking for proof that smartphones and social media are rotting children’s brains got a less satisfying answer from neuroscientists on Wednesday: nobody can really prove it.

Appearing before the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee this week, three researchers spent much of the session explaining that concern and evidence are not quite the same thing. 

Asked what evidence exists on the impact of digital devices on infants and young children, Professor Denis Mareschal, director of the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development at Birkbeck, replied: “There is very little, if any, causal research in the early years. Almost everything is correlational.”

MPs kept coming back to the question – and the experts kept coming back to the same answer.

When questioned about social media’s impact on adolescents, Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore of the University of Cambridge was equally cautious. “What evidence do we have of the impact of digital devices or social media on the adolescent brain?” she asked. “Almost nothing. There are a few small studies, but they haven’t been replicated, and they’re purely correlational.”

However, that didn’t stop the witnesses from expressing concern. Blakemore noted that adolescence is a period when reward systems in the brain are highly active while regions involved in self-control are still developing. “Even as adults, it’s really hard to put our phones down if we’re seeing constantly interesting things, but as a child or an adolescent whose prefrontal cortex is developing, it’s even harder,” she said.

For Dr Dusana Dorjee, a senior lecturer in psychology in education at the University of York, the bigger concern was displacement. Children learn self-regulation through conversation, play, sport, and social interaction, she said, which can be crowded out by excessive screen use.

“What would children do if they were not on their devices?” she asked. “They would interact with others, they would play, they would have multi-sensory input that digital devices can’t provide.”

The researchers were also reluctant to throw every screen into the same bucket. Mareschal pointed to evidence that video calls can help families stay connected, while Dorjee drew a distinction between educational apps and endlessly scrolling whatever an algorithm decides comes next.

MPs also wanted to know whether neuroscience could settle one of the liveliest arguments in the debate: how old a child should be before they’re allowed onto social media.

“What neuroscience can’t do is pinpoint a precise age,” Blakemore said. “The individual differences in brain development are vast.”

AI companions also got their turn in the hot seat, and the answers were even fuzzier than they were for social media.

“We don’t really have any evidence, and that’s one area where I think we really urgently need new evidence,” Blakemore said. “We need to think about, and this is the research question, how children and young people are interpreting AI chatbots, and whether they’re interpreting them just like they would be interpreting a friend’s behavior and suggestions and mental states.”

If there was a takeaway from the hearing, it was that concern about digital childhood is running well ahead of the evidence needed to settle the argument. ®

Cast iron skillets from the kitchen rarely meet bullets outside fiction. The team at Yee Yee Life set out to change that on their private range in Texas. They lined up fresh pans in a row and fired round after round to find out exactly how many it takes to stop each type of ammunition. Slow motion cameras rolled while safety gear stayed on and results stayed unpredictable.

The tests began with the lightest choice, a Ruger Mark IV sending a.22 long rifle bullets were placed directly into the first skillet. The bullet struck the curved surface, showering a silver mist outwards, leaving just a faint mark. However, none of the pans shattered, and the round was nothing near breaking through. Handgun rounds followed, with a Glock 19 firing a 9mm round into the center of the first pan. Fragments flew out the opposite side and bounced off the second skillet. While the margins of the second pan were severely damaged, the round remained intact; just one pan cracked under pressure.

The 1911, loaded with.45 ACP ammo, came next. This cartridge created a much wider hole in the first skillet, and a piece of the bullet lodged in the second pan without going completely through. To be fair, the damage appeared significant, yet it still required two pans to stop it. Then came magnum strength, which, combined with a.44 Magnum round, sent the first two pans flying cleanly, but only barely cleared the third, leaving a tiny bulge with no crack or exit evident. The round ended with three pans, which was the magic number.

A Desert Eagle chambered in .50 AE replicated the two-pan penetration approach, with the bullet escaping the second skillet and bouncing off the third while spinning rapidly. In tests using stainless steel pans, we saw the same round pass clear through the first three layers, but the cast iron ones proved to be much tougher. The hosts noticed this right away, as these pans were far more durable than their steel counterparts.

Shotgun slugs had a minor impact on the game, as one 12 gauge slug burst through the first three pans, leaving a trail of flames around the entry point and a wider hole on the third pan. Shrapnel flew everywhere, and a handful of pans were damaged because this round had significantly more penetrating power than the.44 Magnum or The.50 AE, but it took four pans to bring it to a stop.

Rifle bullets slipped into the mix, with an AR platform firing 5.56 NATO green tip ammo, striking little holes in the first two pans and ejecting clouds of dust and smoke as it approached the third, leaving a terrible divot and fracture. However, the round came to a sudden end with only two pans removed. It was over after three pans. Next up was an AK-47 chambered in 7.62×39 ammo, which easily cleared three pans before shattering apart on the fourth, sending pan parts and bullets flying everywhere. A gold SCAR in.308 followed the same course, striking three pans before coming to a standstill on the fourth. Then comes a bolt-action rifle.30-06 appeared and opened up, emitting smoke, sparks, and fire as it traveled through three pans before coming to a halt on the fourth tier. All three rounds ended with three pans pierced.

Then, in the big leagues, he used a.50 BMG rifle, his most powerful hitter. Nine brand new cast iron pans were lined up in a row, waiting to see what would happen, and it soared perfectly through, entering the first pan without a hitch and leaving a wonderful large hole in the second. By the third pan, it was turning slightly sideways, and by the fifth, it was still clearly on a roll. The sixth pan eventually halted it dead in its tracks. We must emphasize that no other round in the entire test progressed past the third pan. Five pans fell down, and six pans finally brought everything to a halt.

Last week, President Donald Trump claimed a secret US mission had moved 100 million barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz while it was blockaded. The claim landed in an industry already consumed by the question of how much oil is actually getting out—and nobody, it turns out, can answer that with confidence.

“No one’s experienced this kind of disruption,” said Matt Stanley, head of market engagement at Kpler, the commodity intelligence and ship-tracking firm. The reason the numbers are so hard to pin down is what the industry calls the dark trade—vessels running without their AIS transponders on, moving at night, closer to the Omani border, sometimes with naval escort.

There are ways to detect portions of outgoing oil anyway. Different grades of crude can only originate from specific fields. The UAE’s Murban crude can be exported via Fujairah, outside the strait. Another type of crude, Upper Zakum, cannot. One oil market analyst noted that their team has seen Upper Zakum crude oil appear in other markets. Those sightings are happening, yet the scale remains unknown.

Stanley says it’s possible that 100 million barrels made it through the Strait of Hormuz since the first of May. “When you put into context, pre-conflict, it was about 20 million barrels a day that was going through, so five days worth of oil, in a normal traffic environment, and it’s taken over a month. 100 million barrels, it’s a good number, but it’s a relative drop in the ocean, literally, compared to previous traffic.”

Why Prices Haven’t Exploded Yet

The world’s most important oil chokepoint has been effectively shut for more than 100 days. World Trade Organization data shows a 95 percent reduction in crude oil shipments from Arabian Gulf ports and a 99 percent reduction in liquified natural gas carriers. The International Energy Agency has called it “the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market.” Yet Brent crude sits at $87.55 per barrel—the lowest since before the conflict began.

This is because of buffers. China has approximately 1.3 billion barrels in storage, drawing it down at around a million barrels a day, Stanley says. “We see their demand, about 7 million barrels a day from May, June, and July. They were buying 12.5 million barrels a day in December.” The US, Brazil, and Canada have also stepped in to fill part of the void.

The three analysts interviewed agree that the oil market’s response has been robust. “The oil market responded to this outage significantly well in terms of cutting parts of demand,” says Iman Nasseri, managing director, Middle East of FGE NexantECA, an energy and chemical advisory company. “There is also a significant amount of stock that has come to market, but we doubt that they will continue to do that. We expect that by July [if the strait remains closed], things will change.”

The buffers will run out. One analyst said stocks are approaching what the industry calls operationally critical levels—where oil in storage and additional supply needs to be replenished. They added that the US, currently acting as a swing producer, faces its own deadline as the end of the year approaches, and the US will have to prioritize its own domestic production to accommodate people needing to heat their homes.

“People looking at October, you really think that it would be sorted out by the middle of August,” Stanley says. “That’s what I think the market is hoping for.”

Back Online

Global oil supply fell 10.1 million barrels per day in March, with OPEC+ production dropping by 9.4 million barrels per day month-on-month. The harder question is how much comes back, and when.

Analysis by S&P Global CERA estimates restart timelines of 10 weeks to seven months for fields shut down for two months. IEA executive director Fatih Birol has said more than 80 energy facilities have been damaged, and recovery “could take as long as two years.” The UAE’s national oil company estimates full Hormuz flows won’t resume until 2027.

I’m not surprised to discover that Suunto has given the Spark some protection against sweat and rain. The IP55 rating doesn’t extend to the charging case, which is reasonably compact and slim enough to slip into a pocket or running belt if you need to carry it with you.

Screenshot

Suunto provides two control methods, but neither are the type I like to see on earbuds built for exercise. There are touch panels placed on the outside of both buds, which I usually find to be fiddly to use when running or with sweaty hands. Even Suunto states that single-tap controls can be easily triggered by accident. Fortunately, the controls are well spread across the speaker units, and accidental triggers were rare. These touch controls can be tapped or held to skip back and forward a track. They can also adjust volume or play and pause audio. You can additionally use them to turn on metronome and workout tracking modes. That’s all great, but I would have liked them to also switch between EQ modes.

The head gesture controls aren’t as successful. This uses some pretty standard motion sensors found inside most smartwatches to register head nods or shakes to answer or reject a call or skip a track. I’ve used these on Suunto headphones previously, and my experience hasn’t been great. If you’re walking or sitting on a bike, they’re absolutely fine. When you run, your head naturally moves around a lot, and that does lead to accidentally setting off the controls. It quickly gets annoying.

Stellar Open-Ear Sound

Photograph: Michael Sawh

Bottom line, the Suunto Spark sound great. I’ve tested a lot of open-ear earbuds and headphones, and I’d put the Spark alongside the very best, including Shokz, Anker, and Bose.

Whether it’s the overall depth of the sound or versatility of the fit, I was impressed. They’re even great at not letting the wind cut through and drown out podcasts or calls. A big part of that strong performance lies with the available EQ modes, which (as mentioned) have to be enabled from the Suunto phone app. This is the same app used to set up Suunto’s watches. It’s not the prettiest, but the headphone section is pretty straightforward to get around.

There’s four EQ presets with an additional custom option, giving you greater control over the sound profile compared to other Suunto headphones. The switch to air conduction is what makes this possible. Air conduction works by placing speakers close to your ears and behaves a lot more like traditional earbuds. One of the chief benefits over bone conduction is the ability to offer much greater sound customization.

Update June 15, 00:54 EDT: An Ivanti spokesperson told BleepingComputer that CISA added the flaw to its KEV catalog based on reports of attempted exploitation of honeypots.

“While this CVE carries a CVSS score of 10, the risk posed to customers is decreased significantly based on deployment and configuration,” the spokesperson added.

“Successful exploitation requires access to the management port 8443 and this port should never be exposed to the internet. Honeypots often have misconfigurations to identify and track malicious behavior.”

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) ordered government agencies to patch an actively exploited Ivanti Sentry flaw within three days, as mandated by the newly issued Binding Operational Directive (BOD) 26-04.

Tracked as CVE-2026-10520, this maximum-severity vulnerability was found in Ivanti’s security gateway appliance (formerly known as MobileIron Sentry) and stems from an OS command injection weakness.

On Wednesday, one day after Ivanti released patches for CVE-2026-10520 and said that it had no evidence of in-the-wild exploitation, the Shadowserver Internet security watchdog reported that attackers had already backdoored many of the Sentry gateways exposed online.

While Shadowserver now tracks just over 50 Sentry admin portals exposed online, it says the number of Internet-exposed Ivanti Sentry instances it can detect is likely limited by organizations blocking its security scanner, and warns that systems that weren’t already patched are likely compromised.

“We are observing a large amount of Ivanti Sentry CVE-2026-10520 exploitation attempts based on the public PoC today,” it said.

“While our detection is on the lowish side due to multiple Ivanti Sentry instances not reachable in our scans (blocklisted?), if you have not patched now you are most likely compromised.”

​On Thursday, CISA also confirmed that the CVE-2026-10520 vulnerability is now actively exploited in attacks and added it to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog (KEV), ordering Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) agencies to secure their Ivanti Sentry instances within three days, as required by Binding Operational Directive (BOD) 26-04.

“This type of vulnerability is a frequent attack vector for malicious cyber actors and poses significant risks to the federal enterprise,” the cybersecurity agency warned. “Follow applicable BOD 26-04 guidance for cloud services or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable. Stakeholders are responsible for evaluating each asset’s internet exposure and ensuring adherence to BOD 26-04 patching guidelines.”

BOD 26-04 was issued on Wednesday (superseding and revoking the older BOD 19-02 and BOD 22-01), and it requires U.S. federal agencies to prioritize patching if the asset is publicly exposed online, if the security flaw was added to CISA’s KEV catalog, if exploitation can be automated for large-scale attacks, and if successful exploitation gives attackers partial or total control of a targeted system.

While CVE-2026-10520 is the first vulnerability for which BOD 26-04 applies, in recent weeks CISA has ordered federal agencies to patch other security flaws within three days, including a Check Point VPN zero-day, a high-severity Oracle WebLogic Server vulnerability exploited in the wild, and an actively exploited cPanel plugin flaw.

Over the past several years, CISA has flagged 35 vulnerabilities across a wide range of Ivanti products that have been abused in attacks, with 12 targeted by ransomware gangs.

Security teams log 54% of successful attacks and alert on just 14%. The rest move through your environment unseen.

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