Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Geoff Isaac, Research Fellow, Design, Architecture and Building, University of Technology Sydney

What springs to mind when you’re asked to think of plastic chairs? Do you picture the ubiquitous lightweight, stackable polypropylene chair sold cheaply in hardware stores worldwide?

Or perhaps you picture something more glamorous, such as Shiro Kuramata’s Miss Blanche (1988). This limited-edition artwork, featuring imitation roses suspended in acrylic resin, now sells for more than US$500,000 at auction.

I research industrial design, exploring the symbiotic relationship between technology, commercial design and sustainability. The 80-year history of the plastic chair was the focus of my PhD.

This humble, ubiquitous object offers unique insights into society’s shifting attitudes to plastic, and the changes to come.

An 80-year history

The story of the plastic chair began in the United States in the 1930s, when petrochemical manufacturers DuPont and Röhm & Haas started mass-producing acrylic glass.

The material, available in rods and sheets, enabled industrial designers to produce a wide range of consumer products using traditional manufacturing techniques.

Widespread shortages of traditional materials during World War II drove further development of plastics.

After the war, designers and manufacturers quickly embraced plastics. They were seen as the foundation of a new, plentiful future, allowing the masses to access products previously reserved for the elite. Many household items such as televisions, toys and upholstery became cheaper, thanks to plastics.

Fibreglass manufacturing advanced during WWII to support the US Navy. This involves weaving strands of glass into a loose mat, which is then placed into a mould. Polyester resin is poured in to bind the fibres together before it hardens into a solid shape. Fibreglass is strong, lightweight, corrosion-resistant and can be moulded into complex shapes.

The first fibreglass chair designs were Charles and Ray Eames’ Plastic Armchair and Eero Saarinen’s Tulip Chair. Then the Space Age (1957–69) inspired enthusiastic experiments with technicolor-saturated glossy surfaces and futuristic curved shapes, all made possible by fibreglass.

Designers could handcraft prototypes, perfecting comfort and form. Many designs from this era are still in production and often feature in science fiction films.

A shift in public sentiment

Looking back at Earth from space was a turning point for humanity. The famous Earthrise photo captured the precarious nature of our existence and dependence on finite resources, such as fossil fuels. Oil was used to make most plastic at that time.

In the 1970s, the price of oil shot up tenfold when Arab nations banned petroleum exports and cut oil production during the Arab–Iraeli War. The Iraq–Iran war followed. In 1981, oil reached US$31 per barrel. Suddenly, plastics were expensive.

Early plastics also had drawbacks. Colours faded and surfaces scratched, eroding consumer confidence. Disillusioned consumers began to favour traditional materials such as metal and timber. Few noteworthy plastic chair designs appeared during the next two decades.

In response, the plastics industry changed tactics. If consumers favoured wooden furniture, then woodchips and veneer – held together by polymer adhesives and varnished with polyurethane – offered a cost-effective solution. Plastics were simply camouflaged within an ever-increasing range of products.

As the environmental impacts of plastics became evident, the industry recognised it had an image problem and launched a major public relations effort around recycling. It worked. By the end of the century, plastics were fashionable again.

Recycling eases guilt

From the late 1990s, leading designers enthusiastically embraced injection moulding. This was much cheaper and faster than labour-intensive fibreglass.

Philippe Starck’s LaMarie for Kartell launched a new trend for translucent chairs. Karim Rashid launched the affordable Oh Chair and Jasper Morrison introduced air injection moulding to the industry with the Air Chair.

The revival was brief. The limitations of mechanical recycling gradually became more widely understood. Of the 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic produced by 2020, just 9% had been recycled, or more accurately “downcycled” such as by turning PET bottles into polyester for clothing.

Ocean pollution became a focus when it was shown that by 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in our seas. Alarm further intensified over the impact of chemical additives used in plastics and their effects on human health and the ability to reproduce.

In response, designers and manufactures are now exploring plastics made at least partly from recycled plastics or renewable organic resources such as plants, algae or even carbon dioxide (bioplastics).

My study of 60 such chairs identified the Bell Chair as the best of the bunch. Made from just 2.8kg of plastic waste, the design minimises the amount of energy required to make and transport the chair.

These chairs come off the automated production line stacked 12-high for efficient transport. The manufacturer Magis also claims Bell Chairs can be recycled at end-of-life. But the lack of a resin identification code mark, and the inclusion of fibreglass, make it unlikely the product will actually be recycled.

I thought my study would identify chairs made from bioplastics as delivering superior environmental outcomes. However, designers working with these materials were forced to compensate for inferior material strength by bulking up their designs, or mixing bio-based material with traditional plastics.

Bulky designs demand higher energy consumption during manufacture and transport, while hybridised materials are problematic as they cannot be recycled and are not biodegradable.

The chair of the future

Bans on single-use plastics, and measures to reduce plastic packaging and increase recycled content in packaging and products, are beginning to take effect. Manufacturers are also experimenting with renewable plastics in consumer goods.

But to achieve global emissions-reduction targets, the transition from virgin fossil-based plastics to renewable plastics must accelerate. Government intervention will be crucial where voluntary industry agreements are failing, both at home and abroad.

It’s likely the plastic chair of the future will be made entirely from renewable organic resources. Creating a more circular plastics economy is not only possible, it’s imperative.

Read more:
Curious Kids: why can some plastics be recycled but others can’t?

Geoff Isaac does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. From futuristic design icon to environmental villain – the 80-year history of the plastic chair – https://theconversation.com/from-futuristic-design-icon-to-environmental-villain-the-80-year-history-of-the-plastic-chair-257470

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amra Lee, PhD candidate in Protection of Civilians, Australian National University

Israel partially lifted its aid blockade of Gaza this week in response to intensifying international pressure over the man-made famine in the devastated coastal strip.

The United Arab Emirates and Jordan airdropped 25 tonnes of food and humanitarian supplies on Sunday. Israel has further announced daily pauses in its military strikes on Gaza and the opening of humanitarian corridors to facilitate UN aid deliveries.

Israel reports it has permitted 70 trucks per day into the strip since May 19. This is well below the 500–600 trucks required per day, according to the United Nations.

The UN emergency relief chief, Tom Fletcher, has characterised the next few days as “make or break” for humanitarian agencies trying to reach more than two million Gazans facing “famine-like conditions”.

A third of Gazans have gone without food for several days and 90,000 women and children now require urgent care for acute malnutrition. Local health authorities have reported 147 deaths from starvation so far, 80% of whom are children.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed – without any evidence – “there is no starvation in Gaza”. This claim has been rejected by world leaders, including Netanyahu ally US President Donald Trump.

Famine expert Alex de Waal has called the famine in Gaza without precedent:

[…] there’s no case of such minutely engineered, closely monitored, precisely designed mass starvation of a population as is happening in Gaza today.

While the UN has welcomed the partial lifting of the blockade, the current aid being allowed into Gaza will not be enough to avert a wider catastrophe, due to the severity and depth of hunger in Gaza and the health needs of the people.

According to the UN World Food Programme, which has enough food stockpiled to feed all of Gaza for three months, only one thing will work:

An agreed ceasefire is the only way to reach everyone.

Airdrops a ‘distraction and a smokescreen’

Air-dropping food supplies is considered a last resort due to the undignified and unsafe manner in which the aid is delivered.

The UN has already reported civilians being injured when packages have fallen on tents.

The Global Protection Cluster, a network of non-governmental organisations and UN agencies, shared a story from a mother in Al Karama, east of Gaza City, whose home was hit by an airdropped pallet, causing the roof to collapse:

Immediately following the impact, a group of people armed with knives rushed towards the house, while the mother locked herself and her children in the remaining room to protect her family. They did not receive any assistance and are fearful for their safety.

Air-dropped pallets of food are also inefficient compared with what can be delivered by road.

One truck can carry up to 20 tonnes of supplies. Trucks can also reach Gaza quickly if they are allowed to cross at the scale required. Aid agencies have repeatedly said they have the necessary aid and personnel sitting just one hour away at the border.

Given how ineffective the air drops have been – and will continue to be – the head of the UN Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine has called them a “distraction” and a “smokescreen”.

Malnourished women and children need specialised care

De Waal has also made clear how starvation differs from other war crimes – it takes weeks of denying aid for starvation to take hold.

For the 90,000 acutely malnourished women and children who require specialised and supplementary feeding, in addition to medical care, the type of food being air-dropped into Gaza will not help them. Malnourished children require nutritional screening and access to fortified pastes and baby food.

Gaza’s decimated health system is also not able to treat severely malnourished women and children, who are at risk of “refeeding syndrome” when they are provided with nutrients again. This can trigger a fatal metabolic response.

Gaza will take generations to heal from the long-term impacts of mass starvation. Malnourished children suffer lifelong cognitive and physical effects that can then be passed on to future generations.

What needs to happen now

The UN has characterised the limited reopening of aid deliveries to Gaza as a potential “lifeline”, if it’s upheld and expanded.

According to Ciaran Donnelly from the International Rescue Committee, what’s needed is “tragically simple”: Israel must fully open the Gaza borders to allow aid and humanitarian personnel to flood in.

Israel must also guarantee safe conditions for the dignified distribution of aid that reaches everyone, including women, children, the elderly and people with disabilities. The level of hunger and insecurity mean these groups are at high risk of exclusion.

The people of Gaza have the world’s attention – for now. They have endured increasingly dehumanising conditions – including the risk of being shot trying to access aid – under the cover of war for more than 21 months.

Two leading Israeli human rights organisations have just publicly called Israel’s war on Gaza “a genocide”. This builds on mounting evidence compiled by the UN and other experts that supports the same conclusion, triggering the duty under international law for all states to act to prevent genocide.

These obligations require more than words – states must exercise their full diplomatic leverage to pressure Israel to let aid in at the scale required to avert famine. States must also pressure Israel to extend its military pauses into the only durable solution – a permanent ceasefire.

Amra Lee does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Air-dropping food into Gaza is a ‘smokescreen’ – this is what must be done to prevent mass starvation – https://theconversation.com/air-dropping-food-into-gaza-is-a-smokescreen-this-is-what-must-be-done-to-prevent-mass-starvation-262053

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dennis Wesselbaum, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, University of Otago

It is late July, and New Zealand is slowly receiving economic data from the June quarter. Inflation has hit a 12-month high, for example, confirming what many already suspected. But the country is still nearly two months away from getting figures on economic activity – namely, gross domestic product (GDP).

Official statistics such as GDP and inflation have long been delayed, offering a picture of how the economy was, rather than how it is. Stats NZ, for instance, released GDP data for the December 2024 quarter in March 2025 – a lag of around three months. As a result, economic decisions and public debate are often based on out-of-date information.

One example from last year illustrates how such delays can distort policy.

In August 2024, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand cut interest rates a year earlier than markets had expected, despite considering further hikes just months before. With no monthly inflation or GDP data, the Reserve Bank had to rely on private-sector indicators while waiting for official figures, which later confirmed that inflation was indeed easing.

This is where “nowcasts” prove useful.

Launched in April, the Reserve Bank’s “nowcasting” tool – Kiwi-GDP – publishes weekly estimates of economic activity. Using advanced statistical models to estimate current GDP growth, it aims to bridge the gap between real-time developments and the lagging arrival of official statistics.

As of mid-July 2025, Kiwi-GDP suggests there may be a decline in economic activity. The model estimated negative GDP growth, with figures from July 18 indicating a decline of 0.29%.

This marks a sharp reversal from earlier estimates of around 0.8%, and even from late June, when the model still pointed to modest positive growth.

The downward revision appears to be driven primarily by weakness in retail and consumption data, as well as survey-based indicators. These early signals suggest that economic momentum may be fading, even before the official GDP data for the June quarter are released.

But while the tool offers insight, it is not without pitfalls. Politicians and economists must be cautious in interpreting its weekly updates.

The promise and perils of ‘nowcasting’

Tools such as Kiwi-GDP allow policymakers and analysts to synthesise multiple data sources and form an informed view of current conditions.

But not all indicators are equal. Some are timely; others are noisy or unreliable. A good “nowcast” weighs data based on its quality and predictive value.

The shift in outlook for the New Zealand economy illustrates both the strength and the limitation of these tools: it reacts quickly to new information, but is also prone to significant revision.

This volatility poses challenges for policymakers. When monetary policy decisions were made in May, the prevailing “nowcast” pointed to 0.5% growth for the June quarter. If that projection influenced decision-making, the resulting policy would be misaligned with economic reality.

Although “nowcasting” improves real-time analysis, its very responsiveness exposes central banks to risk.

Limitations of Kiwi-GDP

There are other New Zealand specific concerns. Kiwi-GDP relies on a single model, which comes with inherent limitations. Even in stable conditions, the actual economic process is likely more complex than any model – however flexible – can capture.

As the economy evolves, the best models shift with it. These shifts are difficult to detect from past performance alone. Relying on one model increases the risk of blind spots and instability.

A better approach would combine forecasts from multiple models. This reduces the impact of individual assumptions and helps smooth out measurement errors.

Another drawback is that Kiwi-GDP produces point estimates – a single number for GDP growth – rather than a range of possible outcomes. This assumes the cost of forecast errors are equally likely to be positive or negative, when in fact they are not.

Overestimating growth could lead to premature rate hikes and an unnecessary slowdown; underestimating it might result in overly loose policy and rising inflation. For policymakers, the consequences of being wrong vary depending on the direction of the error.

To improve decision-making, Kiwi-GDP should make uncertainty more explicit. Presenting a range of outcomes or scenarios would help ensure that risks are properly accounted for. Without such transparency, there is a danger that decisions are made with a false sense of confidence.

Real-time insight

“Nowcasting” helps bridge the gap between decision-making deadlines and the delayed publication of official data. By leveraging real-time indicators, it offers a clearer picture of where the economy stands.

Forecasting the future remains important – but understanding the present is just as crucial. Without an accurate sense of the current state of the economy, informed policymaking becomes much harder.

Dennis Wesselbaum does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. How real-time data can lead to better decisions on everything from NZ’s interest rates to business investment – https://theconversation.com/how-real-time-data-can-lead-to-better-decisions-on-everything-from-nzs-interest-rates-to-business-investment-261378

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris F. Wright, Professor of Work and Labour Market Policy, University of Sydney

The Albanese government is pushing ahead with new legislation to protect penalty rates and overtime for about 2.6 million workers under the award system. Those workers are more likely to be female, younger and work casual or part-time.

Penalty rates are higher rates of pay to compensate for working overtime or at unsociable hours, such as weekends, late nights or public holidays.

Australia is not unique in having penalty rates. Other countries, especially in Europe, have similar arrangements. It’s less common in the United States and the United Kingdom.

But while penalty rates and overtime may be good for workers, they’re bad for business – right?

Surprisingly, it’s not that simple. Past experience in Australia and overseas shows that when workers’ pay or conditions get worse, it can end up creating headaches for business – especially those facing worker shortages.

What the government’s proposing

The Albanese government’s Protecting Penalty and Overtime Rates bill would enshrine a new “high-level principle” into the Fair Work Act.

It’s designed to override cases currently before Australia’s workplace relations regulator, the Fair Work Commission, where industry is pushing for greater flexibility on penalty rates and overtime.

If passed, the bill would stop the Fair Work Commission from allowing penalty or overtime rates to be “rolled up” into a single rate of pay “where it leaves any individual employee worse off”.

The Coalition says more consultation with small business is needed. But there are signs the Greens could support the bill, which would be enough for parliament to pass it.

The industries most affected by Labor’s proposed change include retail, hospitality, care and clerical work, where many workers are “award reliant”, or who often work at irregular or unsociable hours.

The government argues the bill does not prevent awards from being made more flexible for employers – provided workers are not financially disadvantaged.

Unions support Labor’s bill. They say workers on awards are typically in lower-paid roles, where penalty rates form a significant part of their take-home pay.

Why business is concerned

Earlier this year, the Australian Retailers Association and employers including Woolworths, Coles, Bunnings and Kmart proposed letting retail managers opt in for a salary pay rise of up to 35%, while trading off penalty rates, overtime and rest breaks.

While that proposal relates to managerial staff, some are concerned it could set a precedent for those arrangements to be extended to non-managerial workers. (The retailers’ association says “it never sought to remove penalty rates from the award” for those not wanting to opt in.)

This followed employers seeking similar changes to banking and clerical awards, affecting around 2 million workers.

The Australian Industry Group says Labor’s new bill is a “union thought bubble that will kill jobs” and

Labor should trust the independent umpire [the Fair Work Commission […]] to set fair terms for awards, not simply change the rules to ensure unions get their way.

Others warn it denies employees choice about how they’re paid, and will undermine workplace productivity – just when the government is trying to improve it.

Does cutting penalty rates create jobs?

For decades, employer groups have pushed for more flexibility to cut penalty rates, while unions have fought to keep them.

What can we learn from those past clashes?

We don’t have to look back far. In 2017, the Fair Work Commission decided to reduce Sunday and public holiday penalty rates for more than 700,000 workers covered by the retail, hospitality, fast food and pharmacy awards.

In that case, the Fair Work Commission agreed with employer groups that these reductions would create more jobs.

However, that conclusion did not bear fruit.

In 2019, researchers Martin O’Brien and Ray Markey analysed employment data and did a survey (with union funding) of more than 1,800 employees and 200 owner-managers in retail and hospitality. Their analysis found no evidence of jobs being created by the 2017 penalty rates reduction.

A 2017 report from the Australian Institute’s Centre for Future Work estimated the additional income generated by penalty rates adds $14 billion each year to the economy, which boosts aggregate demand. So when penalty rates are cut, there can also be consequences for the wider economy.

And arrangements exchanging penalty rates for higher base salaries have often led employees to be worse off overall – in some cases, substantially so.

When workers do better, business often does too

While workers are most likely to suffer when penalty rates are cut, there may also be negative consequences for employers.

The hospitality and retail industries, where workers are among the most award-reliant, are also the lowest paid. Both industries are characterised by persistently high job vacancies.

My research with Susan Belardi and Angela Knox on the hospitality industry found pay competitiveness is important for attracting and retaining workers – and addressing job vacancies.

Other Australian studies point to uncompetitive pay contributing to worker shortages.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has found collective bargaining – rather than individuals negotiating their own pay – can:

benefit not only workers, but also firms, as lower turnover and longer tenure can reduce hiring and training costs and increase productivity.

Other international research also shows sector-wide agreements with workers can help drive greater business productivity.

The evidence suggests that without penalty rates, not only would workers be disadvantaged, but business problems relating to worker shortages and productivity might end up worse than before.

Chris F. Wright currently receives funding from the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. In the past he has received funding from the Australian Research Council, the UK Economic and Social Research Council, the International Labour Organization, the Australian and NSW governments, and various business and trade union organisations. None of the funding he has received relates to the legislation discussed in this article.

– ref. Employers warn Labor’s push to lock in penalty rates is bad for business – but it’s not that simple – https://theconversation.com/employers-warn-labors-push-to-lock-in-penalty-rates-is-bad-for-business-but-its-not-that-simple-261858

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shahper Richter, Senior Lecturer in Digital Marketing, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

The rise of social media was quickly followed by the advent of the “influencer” – an online content creator who builds credibility within a specific niche, giving them the power to shape opinions and purchasing decisions.

This skill lies at the heart of the influencer-marketing industry, a juggernaut projected to be worth around US$32 billion this year. On Instagram alone, which boasts more than two billion users, an estimated 50 million people identify as “creators”. Brands often send influencers products, hoping a well-placed post or story will connect with consumers on a more personal level.

But the mantle of “influencer” is not reserved for those with millions of followers. Micro-influencers, who typically have between 1,000 and 10,000 followers, rely on authenticity and personal connection rather than celebrity status. Their influence stems not from scale but rather from something far more valuable: trust.

So how do they compel followers not just to watch, but to care, trust and stick around?

Our new research suggests the answer lies in storytelling. We explored how these creators use specific narrative strategies to craft “sticky” content that fosters lasting loyalty.

Creating sticky content

To understand what makes content “sticky”, we studied the world of beauty and skincare micro-influencers on Instagram.

We began with a large-scale content analysis of 50 such creators, examining their captions, images, videos and stories. Audience reception was gauged by analysing comments, likes and shares. This was followed by in-depth interviews with 12 of the influencers.

We then conducted thematic analyses, coding the captions and interview transcripts to identify recurring patterns. Four distinct narrative styles emerged, each revealing a deliberate approach to community building.

The four flavours of sticky storytelling

Our research found that successful micro-influencers position themselves as trusted friends and guides by combining four narrative styles.

1. The educator

The first strategy involves providing genuine value through education. Instead of simply saying “buy this”, these influencers explain “why” – breaking down complex topics into accessible advice. A skincare creator, for instance, might outline the differences between active ingredients and recommend products for various skin types.

This approach builds trust and credibility, positioning the influencer as a knowledgeable ally.

One influencer we interviewed, Darla, explained her focus on

ingredient spotlights which I always find really fascinating […] Like, yes, we use all this stuff, but what do the ingredients actually do?

Elisha described how this role evolved from real-life interactions,

friends that are […], oh how do you do this? Or what is that? […] And so I started, you know, thinking of it as more like an educational thing.

2. The evaluator

The second style is that of the evaluator, where honesty is paramount. By offering balanced, real-world reviews – including the good, the bad and the ugly – these influencers create authenticity that polished campaigns cannot match.

As Betty, another creator, put it,

I think a lot of people love to just see the tea that I do spill because I’m a consumer at the end of the day.

This often involves navigating the tension of receiving free products. Grace said,

And if I’m going to rave about this $90.00 neck serum that I got from PR… you’re gonna trust me. But then you’re going to feel cheated because I got it [free] from PR.

Zara echoed the value of transparency, saying you need to share,

the good and the bad, because you come across as more transparent and honest, which is the kind of main value of my page.

3. The advisor

The third strategy resembles a friend offering helpful tips. Rather than pushing products, these influencers give specific, experience-based recommendations that create a sense of intimacy.

Tory acknowledged this dynamic when she said,

I probably am an influencer because I am influencing people in their decision of buying products or not.

But nuance matters. As Elisha explained

this is just my experience that there are other people who absolutely love this. I always think it’s worth someone trying things out for themselves.

4. The entertainer

Finally, successful influencers also entertain. To offer a moment of fun or escape, they use humour, striking visuals and creative formats that stand out in crowded feeds.

Whether it is a quick, funny “get ready with me” video or a reel set to trending music, this content is designed to stop users from scrolling past.

Rory said,

I’m hoping that I’m entertaining people because people don’t have that much time […] when they see my quick skincare video or a quick makeup transition, it’s just a bit of fun… and that’s snappy.

Creativity takes many forms. Betty described her own approach,

So, what stands out about my feed is that I really like to go outside and take nature photos and it blends my love of […] geography and the environment with skincare.

The importance of storytelling

The lesson for aspiring creators and small-business owners is clear: storytelling is their most powerful asset.

Our research shows that building a “sticky” presence is not about pushing products, but about becoming a multi-dimensional storyteller – someone who can educate with useful insights, evaluate with honesty, advise with care and entertain with flair.

By weaving these styles together, micro-influencers show that they do not need millions of followers to have real impact. They just need a good story to tell.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Telling stories: the 4 ways micro-influencers build and keep their loyal audiences – https://theconversation.com/telling-stories-the-4-ways-micro-influencers-build-and-keep-their-loyal-audiences-260806

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anja Krstic, Assistant Professor of Human Resource Management, York University, Canada

Despite progress toward gender equity, many women continue to take on the majority of unpaid labour within their households, including housework and child care.

On average, women spend twice as much time as men per week on housework (12.6 hours compared to 5.7) and child care (12 hours compared to 6.7).

Unpaid labour also includes cognitive labour — the mental work of anticipating household needs, identifying and weighing options to fulfil them and monitoring whether those needs have been met.

Cognitive labour underpins many physical household and child-care tasks. For example, cooking or shopping for the household requires planning meals around preferences, anticipating various needs, finding alternatives if needed and keeping track of satisfaction with meals and products.

Cognitive labour is often called the “third shift” because it’s largely mental and invisible in nature. This work is often done in the background and is dispersed throughout the day, and women in heterosexual couples tend to shoulder most of it.

As experts in organizational behaviour, we recently conducted a study that found this form of invisible labour also significantly impacts women’s workplace experiences and career outcomes, which ultimately undermines gender equity.

The hidden cost of cognitive labour

For our study, we surveyed 263 employed women and men in heterosexual relationships with employed partners across the United States and Canada. Over seven weeks from April to May 2020, participants reported weekly on the division of cognitive, household, paid and child care labour between them and their partner. They also shared their level of emotional exhaustion, turnover intentions and career resilience.

It’s worth noting that our sample was predominantly white, highly educated and included only those in heterosexual relationships, which may limit how widely these findings apply.

Our results reveal that women take on more cognitive labour than men, even when accounting for the distribution of household and paid labour. This imbalance was linked to greater emotional exhaustion, which, in turn, was associated with a higher likelihood of wanting to leave one’s job and a reduced ability to cope with workplace changes.

In addition, nearly half the participants had at least one child under the age of 18 living with them. This is notable because school and daycare closures during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic significantly increased child care demands, which women took the brunt of.

We found mothers shouldered a disproportionate amount of child care compared to fathers. Child care — not cognitive labour — was the key predictor of emotional exhaustion, which again resulted in a reduced capacity to cope with their work environment.

In other words, women experienced higher amounts of emotional exhaustion and undermined work outcomes, but the driver varied. For women without children, it was an unequal division of cognitive labour. For mothers, it was unequal child-care responsibilities.

Unpaid labour doesn’t just affect mothers

Much of the research and discourse on unpaid labour tends to conflate it with child care. Yet our findings highlight that unpaid labour affects the careers of both women with and without children.

Work-life balance research and policies often focus on mothers, overlooking the fact that women without children also disproportionately experience burdens at home that can impact their careers.

Our work also contributes to a growing body of research on the work experiences of women without children, who are often rendered invisible in literature. Past research has found that mothers are more likely than their child-free peers to be granted access to flexible work arrangements. Such differences were not found for men with and without children.

This lack of focus reinforces traditional gender stereotypes of women that equate womanhood with motherhood. Our work takes initial steps to address this gap by shedding light on the experiences and challenges that women without children face in managing work and home duties.

How organizations can support all women

Our findings show that women are overburdened by their domestic responsibilities, which can harm their career outcomes and undermine gender equity. But this is not just a personal issue, but an organizational one as well. Organizations have an important role to play in supporting and retaining women in the workplace. Here are several ways they can help.

1. Offer flexible work arrangements.

Organizations can promote a more equitable division of labour within households by offering work arrangements like flexible hours and remote work. Research has shown that such arrangements encourage men to increase their participation in housework and child care.

2. Design flexible work arrangements for all employees, not just parents.

Flexible work arrangements should not be designed with only parents in mind. Women without children also benefit from flexible work arrangements, as they can lessen the strain and resulting career outcomes of cognitive labour. Offering these arrangements to men without children may also encourage them to take on a greater proportion of cognitive labour in their household.

3. Recognize that flexible work arrangements may inadvertently and unfairly benefit men.

Given that women in general take on a greater share of unpaid labour than men, they are more likely to use flexible work arrangements. In contrast, men may use the same flexibility to focus on career advancement. Research has shown that men are more likely to to use parental leave to take on more work, develop human capital or build new skills. Organizations should ensure flexible work policies are used as intended and do not inadvertently advantage men.

4. Normalize the use of flexible work arrangements.

It is not enough for organizations to only offer flexible work arrangements; they must also normalize and encourage their use. Women tend to use them more often because some men fear being viewed negatively for using them. Managers should lessen such fears by communicating that these arrangements won’t lead to penalties, and they should act as role models by using such arrangements themselves.

To better support the challenges that women are facing and promote gender equity, structural changes both within the home and at work are necessary, and organizations play an important role in advancing these changes.

Christianne Varty, researcher and business strategist, co-authored this article.

Anja Krstic’s research has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

Ivona Hideg’s research has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

Janice Yue-Yan Lam’s research has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), along with Ontario Graduate Scholarships.

Winny Shen’s research has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

– ref. All women — not just mothers — could benefit from more workplace flexibility – https://theconversation.com/all-women-not-just-mothers-could-benefit-from-more-workplace-flexibility-260889

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olaoluwa Omoniyi Olarewaju, Honorary Research Fellow, University of KwaZulu-Natal

Across most of Africa, rural communities grow their own food, relying on smallholder agriculture. But climate change is threatening this way of life.

Rising temperatures, erratic rainfall and degraded soils are already shrinking harvests. This is pushing millions of smallholder farmers into deeper poverty.

Yet some African farmers are embracing innovative, cost-effective and environmentally friendly sustainable agricultural practices. For example, agroforestry – growing trees alongside crops on the same land – helped boost harvests in Ethiopia by up to 30%. It also reduced soil erosion by keeping the soil covered and rooted. Agroforestry has worked well in Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria too.

In Burkina Faso and Niger, traditional zaï pits and rainwater harvesting are helping farmers to restore land that’s been degraded by soil erosion.

These locally grounded innovations contribute to land restoration, biodiversity conservation and climate mitigation.

These solutions are based on local knowledge, environmentally friendly, and have worked for many farmers. But they’re underfunded, still need money to grow and require more research into how they can be expanded across sub-Saharan Africa. So, even though these solutions would support a just transition towards low-emission, food-secure agri-food systems, they aren’t yet being widely adopted.

Read more:
60% of Africa’s food is based on wheat, rice and maize – the continent’s crop treasure trove is being neglected

We are an interdisciplinary team who work in the fields of climate change, agricultural economics and food systems. We look at how climate change and big commercial food systems affect people’s health and ability to earn a living, and what can be done about it.

We reviewed over 120 studies from Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Malawi, Senegal, South Africa, and other countries that looked at how farmers were adapting their practices to weather climate shocks, like heatwaves, drought and floods. Our review is unique because it brings together research into how crops are grown (the science), with studies on the policies that guide farming, how farmers get money and support, and even how gender affects who gets access to these resources.

Read more:
Africa indigenous fruit trees offer major benefits. But they’re being ignored

Our study found that many climate-resilient farming projects in sub-Saharan Africa are a success. But not all. A lack of funding, insecure land ownership, and a lack of training for and investment in the farms of women and youth are preventing climate-resilient farming from taking off. Government policies that fail to support new ways of farming are also a problem.

To protect rural livelihoods, prevent biodiversity collapse, and avoid deepening poverty across vulnerable farming communities, this must change fast.

What the research shows

We found that conservation agriculture in Malawi and Zambia enhanced soil health and resilience. Conservation agriculture is a simple way of farming that avoids ploughing, keeps soil covered, and rotates crops. These practices improve the land and help farmers grow more food, even when the climate is changing.

We also found that Ethiopia and Uganda promote integrated crop-livestock systems, which combine animals and crops on the same farm. In the northern region of Ethiopia, terracing (building step-like structures on slopes) worked well to reduce rainwater from running off.

Read more:
Green skills to help nature repair itself are scarce: what we’re doing to train more experts in South Africa and Senegal

In Kenya’s semi-arid areas, farming that mimics natural ecosystems has enhanced the soil’s ability to hold more water, helping crops survive prolonged dry spells. These are low-cost, nature-based solutions that build resilience while restoring degraded land.

However, our research showed that in numerous countries, the adoption of these practices is limited.

In both Ghana and Malawi, women cannot access funding as easily as men, so sustainable agricultural initiatives were less successful. Other reasons were gender-based exclusion from support and technical services. This substantially lowers adoption rates of climate-smart practices among women farmers.

Read more:
Ghana: can contract farming help smallholder farmers build resilience to climate change?

Our research also found that scaling up sustainable agricultural practices must be inclusive and just. It cannot be a top-down promotion of new technologies because adapting agriculture to climate change isn’t just about new tools or techniques. It is also about women, youth, and marginalised groups such as people living with disabilities having equal access to resources, training and decision-making. Without this, even the best ideas may fail to take root.

International donors have initiated climate-smart agriculture projects in various sub-Saharan African nations. But most are struggling because they do not fit well with local needs. For instance, projects often overlook indigenous knowledge, ignore local land ownership customs, or introduce technologies that are too expensive or labour-intensive for smallholder farmers.

Why the G20 must act

So what can be done about it? Could the G20, an international forum representing the world’s largest economies, help drive the needed transformation?

South Africa currently holds the G20 presidency and will hand this over to the US in 2026. This means there is a rare opportunity for the G20 to place international focus on Africa’s rural priorities for agriculture, environment and climate finance.

Read more:
Food trade regimes harm people and the planet: how the G20 can drive improvements

The G20’s 2025 agenda commits to transforming commercially based food systems, managing land sustainably and promoting climate-smart agriculture. This is encouraging. However, previous commitments from the G20 have often failed to translate into practical support for African farmers. With effective leadership, this year’s G20 can move beyond words.

It should do this by helping African governments access concessional finance from global climate funds. The G20 can also foster partnerships between countries, development banks and philanthropists.

The funds raised should be used to roll out digital extension services, endorse indigenous knowledge, and advocate for inclusive and gender-responsive changes to agriculture.

What needs to happen next?

Based on our study, African leaders and their G20 partners must prioritise the following:

1. Invest in public services that provide farmers with agricultural knowledge, timely climate information, training and technical support and connections to markets to sell produce. Digital technologies can only help when paired with community-based networks and local knowledge.

2. Make sure that all people, including women and young farmers, have enough land, water and credit to farm.

3. Channel climate finance towards strengthening locally proven practices and low-tech solutions that do not cost a lot of money. These include growing indigenous crops that are good for the soil but which have fallen out of use and growing plants with trees (agroforestry).

4. Support regional research partnerships that cater specifically to different agroecological zones. One-size-fits-all solutions rarely work in agriculture.

5. Invest in agricultural innovations that provide positive spinoffs for nature and people. These include growing crops with legumes to enrich soil (intercropping). It also includes growing underutilised resilient crops such as sorghum, millet and bambara groundnut. These are highly nutritious and even grow in droughts.

6. Agriculture is not just a victim of climate change. It is central to the solution. It must receive the same attention in global forums as fossil fuels and energy transitions.

Read more:
Climate change is a challenge for small-scale farmers – how a mix of old and new techniques produced a superior maize harvest in a dry part of South Africa

Our research found that farmers are already adapting to climate change. But the whole system has to transform. This needs political commitment, international funding, and fair institutions.

With adequate support, sustainable agricultural practices could foster climate resilience and catalyse a just transition for African food systems.

Olaniyi Fawole receives funding from the National Research Foundation of South Africa

Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi receives funding from the Wellcome Trust and the Water Research Commission of South Africa.

Lloyd Baiyegunhi and Olaoluwa Omoniyi Olarewaju do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Africa’s smallholder farmers are using bright ideas to adapt to climate change: G20 countries should fund their efforts – https://theconversation.com/africas-smallholder-farmers-are-using-bright-ideas-to-adapt-to-climate-change-g20-countries-should-fund-their-efforts-261404

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gwen Ansell, Associate of the Gordon Institute for Business Science, University of Pretoria

It’s 100 years since the birth of reedman Jeremiah Morolong “Kippie” Moeketsi on 27 July 1925. He was one of the most influential saxophonists shaping South Africa’s modern jazz style.

His death in poverty in 1983, when Black jazz in South Africa remained undervalued outside its community, meant his cultural legacy is only just coming into the light, and there is still no definitive biography. As a researcher and commentator on South African jazz history, I’ve written about the biographical landmarks of his life.

Read more:
South Africa’s hidden jazz history is being restored album by album

A hundred years ago, South Africa was a British-ruled colonial state. Many of the race-based socio-economic inequalities, prejudices against and restrictions on the free movement of people of colour already existed.

It was apartheid, imposed by the Afrikaner-dominated National Party in 1948, just as Moeketsi was beginning his career as a freelance musician, that formalised them into a punitive legal framework.

Many of Moeketsi’s recordings, as was usual for Black jazz at the time, were published only in short-run releases. But thanks to a wave of reissues from independent labels – the most recent, Hard Top from As-Shams this year – it is newly accessible.

The playing will knock your socks off. Reedmen I’ve talked to say they can still hear the clarinet – his first instrument – in his sax sound: fluid, gravity-defying runs, mastery of space and dynamics, and plaintive, soul-stirring sustains; one of the characteristics that gives him a unique voice.

Early years

Although his exact birthplace in Johannesburg isn’t recorded, when he was very young Moeketsi’s family settled in George Goch location, a rundown “African township” in the era before Soweto was established. He was the youngest of a musical family: his father, a municipal clerk, was also a church organist, his mother sang, and all his four older brothers played some instrument.

Unlike his studious brothers, school bored him, and he would regularly truant, caddying for local golfers and getting up to all kinds of minor mischief. His mother, determined to return him to class, hunted among the mine dumps, calling “kippie, kippie, kippie” to locate her wayward chick. The nickname stuck.

Kippie left after junior school and did a variety of casual jobs: cleaner, delivery boy and others. His brother Lapis had gifted him a clarinet; on that he discovered how much music fascinated him. From brothers Jacob – who had played piano for the pioneering Jazz Maniacs – and Andrew (both of whom played both classical music and jazz) he had intermittent tuition.

But there were plenty of music books in the Moeketsi home and it was from those that Kippie mainly taught himself, after finishing his boring day jobs. Sometimes he would practice through the night, provoking angry complaints from neighbours. He learned to read music, and switched from clarinet to saxophone, reflecting:

Once you know a clarinet, the saxophone is a boy.

Recording career

There doesn’t seem to be much of his early clarinet playing currently accessible. There’s the 1958 Clarinet Kwela with the Marabi Kings, which demonstrates his interesting ideas about ornament and timing, even on an opportunistic pop single. And, of course, there’s the heartbreaking Sad Times, Bad Times from the recording of the 1959 all-Black jazz opera King Kong, filled with dark foreboding up to its wailing, beautifully sustained, final note.

Kippie recorded prolifically in that era, with big-name local bands such as the Harlem Swingsters, the Jazz Maniacs and the Jazz Dazzlers, leading various small groups of his own, playing support for the likes of Manhattan Brothers, Dolly Rathebe and Dorothy Masuka and in multiple formations (from trio to septet) bearing the band name Shanty Town. He featured on visiting US pianist John Mehegan’s two Jazz in Africa albums and as part of the legendary Jazz Epistles Verse One.

The London tragedy

King Kong secured a short London run, and for many cast members including Hugh Masekela this provided the opportunity to escape into exile. Moeketsi was also part of the cast, but what happened to him in London is a more tragic story.

He’d been mugged and beaten during a Johannesburg robbery, which delayed his arrival in London, and was still taking medication (probably for concussion) when he arrived. Fellow cast members remember him disagreeing violently with the London producer about changes to the score and arrangements and what he considered exploitative treatment of musicians.

There was heavy drinking behind the scenes and despite his medication, Kippie joined in. Eventually, theatre management had him committed to a psychiatric hospital where he was given electro-convulsive therapy (ECT).

UK doctors believed his obsession with music was unbalancing him. They’d never seen creative Africans trying to survive under apartheid. Every Black musician of that era I’ve interviewed names music-making as the only thing keeping them sane; it was life offstage (plus too often getting paid in alcohol) that was maddening.

The ECT left a lifelong legacy of intermittent depression, crippling brain fog and memory lapses.

Back in South Africa, when many of his peers were settling down and reining in the habits of their shared wild youth, those frustrations drove Kippie to drink harder. He continued to play, but the depression dogged him. Eventually, after customs officers confiscated his sax following a gig in then-Rhodesia, and he couldn’t afford to replace it, he stopped playing altogether for a while.

Artist and rebel

That’s where Kippie’s soubriquet “sad man of jazz” comes from. But, like much written about the jazz life of Black musicians, it embodies a pervasive racist stereotype that both exoticises and diminishes the truth about creative Black musicianship.

Kippie was no unschooled, mad, untameable “natural” genius sprung from squalor. He came from a home filled with music books. He studied and practiced devotedly to master his craft. His irresponsible youth had been no different from many of his peers’. It was having been, in his words, “made stupid” by ECT that fuelled his subsequent despair and alcoholism.

That, plus the chilling frustrations of daring to be an artist and rebel under apartheid.

Fans know the story of Scullery Department, his composition protesting that Black musicians were good enough to entertain white club patrons, but not to eat in the same room. Less well-known is that at the venue provoking that anger, Kippie declared the band would strike unless the manager served them at a club dining table. They were the top jazz outfit of their time, and the manager eventually gave in, apartheid rules or not.

Look at photographs of Kippie on the stand, caught in the intensity of making music: he was by no means always sad.

Beyond the stereotypes

South African musicians I have interviewed all dismissed the caricature of a sad and occasionally mean drunk as irrelevant to the Kippie they’d known. They remembered him as a proud nationalist, a brilliant player, and a stern but empathetic mentor. Recalled bassist Victor Ntoni:

He defied all the rules of apartheid, because he was a son of the soil.

Singer Sophie Mngcina:

Wherever he played, he was a wonder to listen to.

Vocalist Thandi Klaasen:

He was my brother. He taught me … he was really concerned for me to do my best.

And pianist Pat Matshikiza:

He was a perfectionist … you had to learn at a high level working with him.

And from 1971, when he got a new instrument, Kippie played triumphantly and beautifully again for another seven years, as a peer of the country’s other jazz legends, including Dollar Brand (later Abdullah Ibrahim, whom Kippie had mentored), Allen Kwela, Dennis Mpale, Matshikiza, Mike Makhalemele, visiting US star Hal Singer.

Read more:
Celebrating Dolly Rathebe, South Africa’s original black woman superstar

Rest in power and music, Morolong. I hope your prayer for a better world has been answered.

Gwen Ansell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Kippie Moeketsi at 100: the soul-stirring story of a South African jazz legend – https://theconversation.com/kippie-moeketsi-at-100-the-soul-stirring-story-of-a-south-african-jazz-legend-262045

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mathelinda Nabugodi, Lecturer in Comparative Literature, UCL

According to one strand of history, slavery was abolished when Europeans found their conscience. According to another, it was abolished when it stopped being profitable. Both approaches tend to underplay the significance of Black resistance.

In a revolution that upended ideas about white superiority, the enslaved Black people of the French Caribbean colony Saint-Domingue liberated themselves to create Haiti, the first free Black nation in the Americas. The country was established in 1804, after more than a decade of armed struggle. This historic victory is part of a long series of violent rebellions that regularly shook the Caribbean islands and undermined the transatlantic slave economy.

These rebellions helped make the “slavery question” one of the most contested political issues of its time. Philosophers and statesmen balanced the wrongs of enslavement against the huge profits to be made for individual merchants and for nations as a whole. One after the other, European nations abolished first the trade in enslaved people and later slavery itself.

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Yet, even in abolition, European nations kept a close eye on their rivals. Britain’s abolition of the slave trade was followed by the creation of a West Africa Squadron of the Royal Navy. Its task was to interrupt the trade of other nations by capturing their slave ships and “liberating” their African captives.

These “liberated Africans” were given the choice of working for the Royal Navy or contributing to Britain’s colonisation of Sierra Leone. None of them were allowed to return home.

Read more:
Three graphic novels that address the history of slavery – and commemorate resistance

While this was going on, romanticism spread throughout Europe. It was a movement that affected every aspect of culture – art, literature, music, philosophy, science and politics. It centred on the idealisation of human freedom in all its forms. Old monarchies were to be swept away by democratic revolutions, stale aesthetic forms by sublime feeling, constrictive gender norms by free love.

The romantic drive for freedom is generally interpreted in relation to the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution. Both symbolise a shift of power from the old nobility to the new bourgeoisie (or middle classes) and a concurrent shift from agrarian to urban economies. Romantic freedom is rarely read in the context of the slavery question.

My new book, The Trembling Hand, addresses this omission. It explores how enslavement shaped European culture in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. I trace how profits made from slavery supported literary work. I analyse how writers absorbed and refracted ideas about Africans that emerged in the public debate around slavery. Above all, I try to recover the presence of Black people, hovering at the edges of the archive.

How do we teach this history?

The links between ongoing Black insurrection in the Caribbean and the romantic obsession with freedom were felt by writers and artists at the time. But they have been obscured by the ways in which this period has traditionally been taught in schools and universities.

Today, the status quo is beginning to shift. In response to calls to decolonise and diversify the curriculum, a new canon of Black romantic writing is beginning to be taught. It’s centred on a handful of authors, especially Phillis Wheatley and Olaudah Equiano, as well as the unknown author of the novel The Woman of Colour (1808). Their presence in the curriculum is definitely an improvement – yet it also raises some problems.

To study Black writing of the romantic period inevitably means to study the history of slavery. This is because the only Afro-diasporic people who wrote in English in the 18th and 19th centuries had acquired the language in context of the transatlantic slave economy. It is very hard, if not impossible, to find a Black bildungsroman, gothic romance, or epic poem.

This is a historical fact. Yet it also means that only focusing on works published by Black authors risks playing into the notion that Black people’s only contribution to history was as “slaves”. This erases the multifaceted ways in which Afro-diasporic peoples affected the course of European history in the 18th and 19th centuries. Not only as “slaves” but also as cultural agents in their own right.

This points to the problem of the archive: its gaps and silences, but also its violent distortions.

Many of the archives that we have access to were created by enslavers. They had a vested interest in perpetuating the slave system even as it was being challenged by Black rebels and abolitionists. They threw all their rhetorical force at demonising Black people so as to justify enslavement.

Literature, alongside art, philosophy and the social and natural sciences contributed to spreading these ideas. These writings were instrumental in shaping public understanding about race, enslavement and empire.

We need to understand how literary writers contributed to constructing a vision of Britain as an imperial power entitled to subjugate foreign peoples and extract their resources.

How does the brutal violence of colonisation come to seem like a reasonable activity for a civilised nation to engage in? How does the idea that white Europeans have a “natural” right to rule over the whole world become widely accepted? Or the idea that people with a darker skin tone are born to serve? Or the idea that being a European power involves having colonies outside of Europe?

These questions prompt us, as readers interested in decolonising and diversifying the teaching of English literature, to turn our gaze on white authors. Especially those major authors whose work had an “impact” on their society. In addition to studying marginalised voices, we need to interrogate the ideas about race that have been created and propagated through canonical literature.

As these works become part of our national heritage, for example by being selected to be taught in schools, so the racial prejudice they harbour become wired into our own minds. Some of the racist ideas that I find in the historical archive are intimately familiar from my own experience.

That’s why I set out to write a new history of romanticism, one that reckons with the impact of the transatlantic slave economy on British culture – an impact so strong that it still resonates today.

This article features references to books that have been included for editorial reasons, and may contain links to bookshop.org. If you click on one of the links and go on to buy something from bookshop.org The Conversation UK may earn a commission.

Mathelinda Nabugodi has received funding from The Leverhulme Trust, The Deborah Rogers Foundation, and the Whiting Foundation.

– ref. My new history of romanticism shows how enslavement shaped European culture – https://theconversation.com/my-new-history-of-romanticism-shows-how-enslavement-shaped-european-culture-261780

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Smith, Research Scientist in Earth & Environment, Boston University

When summer turns up the heat, cities can start to feel like an oven, as buildings and pavement trap the sun’s warmth and vehicles and air conditioners release more heat into the air.

The temperature in an urban neighborhood with few trees can be more than 10 degrees Fahrenheit (5.5 Celsius) higher than in nearby suburbs. That means air conditioning works harder, straining the electrical grid and leaving communities vulnerable to power outages.

There are some proven steps that cities can take to help cool the air – planting trees that provide shade and moisture, for example, or creating cool roofs that reflect solar energy away from the neighborhood rather than absorbing it.

But do these steps pay off everywhere?

We study heat risk in cities as urban ecologists and have been exploring the impact of tree-planting and reflective roofs in different cities and different neighborhoods across cities. What we’re learning can help cities and homeowners be more targeted in their efforts to beat the heat.

The wonder of trees

Urban trees offer a natural defense against rising temperatures. They cast shade and release water vapor through their leaves, a process akin to human sweating. That cools the surrounding air and reduces afternoon heat.

Adding trees to city streets, parks and residential yards can make a meaningful difference in how hot a neighborhood feels, with blocks that have tree canopies nearly 3 F (1.7 C) cooler than blocks without trees.

But planting trees isn’t always simple.

In hot, dry cities, trees often require irrigation to survive, which can strain already limited water resources. Trees must survive for decades to grow large enough to provide shade and release enough water vapor to reduce air temperatures.

Annual maintenance costs – about US$900 per tree per year in Boston – can surpass the initial planting investment.

Most challenging of all, dense urban neighborhoods where heat is most intense are often too packed with buildings and roads to grow more trees.

How cool roofs can help on hot days

Another option is “cool roofs.” Coating rooftops with reflective paint or using light-colored materials allows buildings to reflect more sunlight back into the atmosphere rather than absorbing it as heat.

These roofs can lower the temperature inside an apartment building without air conditioning by about 2 to 6 F (1 to 3.3 C), and can cut peak cooling demand by as much as 27% in air-conditioned buildings, one study found. They can also provide immediate relief by reducing outdoor temperatures in densely populated areas. The maintenance costs are also lower than expanding urban forests.

However, like trees, cool roofs come with limits. Cool roofs work better on flat roofs than sloped roofs with shingles, as flat roofs are often covered by heat-trapping rubber and are exposed to more direct sunlight over the course of an afternoon.

Cities also have a finite number of rooftops that can be retrofitted. And in cities that already have many light-colored roofs, a few more might help lower cooling costs in those buildings, but they won’t do much more for the neighborhood.

By weighing the trade-offs of both strategies, cities can design location-specific plans to beat the heat.

Choosing the right mix of cooling solutions

Many cities around the world have taken steps to adapt to extreme heat, with tree planting and cool roof programs that implement reflectivity requirements or incentivize cool roof adoption.

In Detroit, nonprofit organizations have planted more than 166,000 trees since 1989. In Los Angeles, building codes now require new residential roofs to meet specific reflectivity standards.

In a recent study, we analyzed Boston’s potential to lower heat in vulnerable neighborhoods across the city. The results demonstrate how a balanced, budget-conscious strategy could deliver significant cooling benefits.

For example, we found that planting trees can cool the air 35% more than installing cool roofs in places where trees can actually be planted.

However, many of the best places for new trees in Boston aren’t in the neighborhoods that need help. In these neighborhoods, we found that reflective roofs were the better choice.

By investing less than 1% of the city’s annual operating budget, about US$34 million, in 2,500 new trees and 3,000 cool roofs targeting the most at-risk areas, we found that Boston could reduce heat exposure for nearly 80,000 residents. The results would reduce summertime afternoon air temperatures by over 1 F (0.6 C) in those neighborhoods.

While that reduction might seem modest, reductions of this magnitude have been found to dramatically reduce heat-related illness and death, increase labor productivity and reduce energy costs associated with building cooling.

Not every city will benefit from the same mix. Boston’s urban landscape includes many flat, black rooftops that reflect only about 12% of sunlight, making cool roofs that reflect over 65% of sunlight an especially effective intervention. Boston also has a relatively moist growing season that supports a thriving urban tree canopy, making both solutions viable.

In places with fewer flat, dark rooftops suitable for cool roof conversion, tree planting may offer more value. Conversely, in cities with little room left for new trees or where extreme heat and drought limit tree survival, cool roofs may be the better bet.

Phoenix, for example, already has many light-colored roofs. Trees might be an option there, but they will require irrigation.

Getting the solutions where people need them

Adding shade along sidewalks can do double-duty by giving pedestrians a place to get out of the sun and cooling buildings. In New York City, for example, street trees account for an estimated 25% of the entire urban forest.

Cool roofs can be more difficult for a government to implement because they require working with building owners. That often means cities need to provide incentives. Louisville, Kentucky, for example, offers rebates of up to $2,000 for homeowners who install reflective roofing materials, and up to $5,000 for commercial businesses with flat roofs that use reflective coatings.

Efforts like these can help spread cool roof benefits across densely populated neighborhoods that need cooling help most.

As climate change drives more frequent and intense urban heat, cities have powerful tools for lowering the temperature. With some attention to what already exists and what’s feasible, they can find the right budget-conscious strategy that will deliver cooling benefits for everyone.

Lucy Hutyra has received funding from the U.S. federal government and foundations including the World Resources Institute and Burroughs Wellcome Fund for her scholarship on urban climate and mitigation strategies. She was a recipient of a 2023 MacArthur Fellowship for her work in this area.

Ian Smith does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Urban trees vs. cool roofs: What’s the best way for cities to beat the heat? – https://theconversation.com/urban-trees-vs-cool-roofs-whats-the-best-way-for-cities-to-beat-the-heat-260188

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Russell Mullett, Traditional Custodian — Kurnai, Indigenous Knowledge

Australia’s First Nations history stretches back many tens of thousands of years, rich in depth and diversity.

Archaeological research has revealed much about this deep past, but it has rarely captured the gestures of the ancestors – their movements, postures and physical motions. Material traces like tools and hearths tend to survive; fleeting movements usually do not.

Newly published research in the journal Australian Archaeology has revealed something different: traces of hand movements preserved in soft rock deep within GunaiKurnai Country.

In a limestone cave in the foothills of the Victorian alps, a team of researchers led by the GunaiKurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation in partnership with Monash University and international archaeologists from Spain, France and New Zealand studied finger impressions dragged into the walls and ceilings. They reveal the hand movements of ancestors from thousands of years ago.

The glittering Waribruk

The cave, referred to by GunaiKurnai Elders as Waribruk, contains a pitch-black chamber beyond the reach of natural light. To enter and mark these walls, the ancestors would have needed artificial light: firesticks or small fires.

The cave’s deeper interior walls became soft over millions of years as underground waters penetrated the limestone, slowly weathering and dissolving the rock into cavernous tunnels.

The remaining wall surfaces and ceilings became spongy and malleable, much like the texture of playdough.

Over time, cave-dwelling bacteria living on the soft, moist rock produced luminescent microcrystals, so that today, the walls and ceiling glitter when exposed to light.

It is on these glittering surfaces that the finger grooves are found.

We don’t know exactly when they were made, but people would have needed artificial light to reach this part of the cave. They would have either carried firesticks or lit fires on the ground.

Archaeological excavations below and near the panels failed to uncover evidence of fires on the ground, but we did find millimetre-long fragments of charcoal and tiny patches of ash, likely dropped embers from firesticks.

These were found buried in the cave floor under and near the decorated walls. They date between 8,400 and 1,800 years ago, about 420 to 90 generations past.

This, then, is the best estimate for how long ago the old ancestors moved through the dark tunnels of the cave, firelight in hand, to create the finger impressions on the walls.

Rare ancestral gestures

What they made when they dragged their fingers along the soft rock surfaces deep in the cave is remarkable, revealing rare evidence of ancestral gestures: fleeting bodily movements captured in soft cave surfaces.

On one panel, 96 sets of grooves were recorded. The first marks run horizontally, made by multiple fingers, sometimes both hands side by side. Later, vertical and diagonal grooves were added, intersecting the earlier ones.

Among them are two parallel sets of narrow impressions, only 3 to 5 millimetres wide for each finger. They are each set a short distance apart, indicating they were made by a small child. However, they’re so high up, the child must have been lifted by an adult.

Deeper in the cave, a low ceiling panel bears 262 grooves above a narrow clay bench sloping steeply toward a creek bed. The grooves indicate people moved along the ledge, crawling, sitting, or balancing to reach the ceiling.

Farther along, 193 grooves trace a path above the creek bed. Fingers were pressed into the soft ceiling, gradually releasing 1.6 metres farther along as the people walked forward.

All impressions point the same way, suggesting arms and hands raised overhead, capturing a deliberate, embodied gesture as the ancestors moved deeper into the cave.

A place only few could enter

Altogether there are 950 sets of finger grooves deep within Waribruk. Their meaning remained unclear for years, but a close analysis of where the marks appear, and where they don’t, offers key insights.

The grooves are always located in areas where calcite microcrystals coat the cave walls or ceiling, sometimes just extending past the glitter’s edges. They never appear in areas of the cave where the soft walls are without glitter.

Crucially, they occur far from any archaeological evidence of domestic life: no hearths, no food remains, no tools.

This absence matters. GunaiKurnai oral traditions hold that such caves weren’t used for ordinary living. They were only frequented by special individuals, mulla-mullung – medicine men and women who wielded powerful knowledge.

Mulla-mullung healed and cursed through ritual, using crystals and powdered minerals as part of their practice.

In the late 1800s, GunaiKurnai knowledge-holders told the pioneer ethnographer Alfred Howitt about the powers of these crystals, and of the caves. The role of mulla-mullung, they explained, was usually passed on from parent to child, and when a mulla-mullung lost their crystals, they lost their powers.

The finger grooves at Waribruk matches these traditions. They are not casual decorations. They are deliberate gestures, linked to crystal-coated surfaces, made in places only a few could enter.

The grooves reflect movement, touch, and sources of power for special individuals in the community: an embodied record of people interacting with the sacred.

What survives is not just ancient “rock art”. These are the gestures of ancestors, mulla-mullung it now seems, who ventured into the deepest darkness of the cave to access the power of the glittering surfaces.

Through these finger trails, we glimpse not only a physical act, but a cultural practice grounded in knowledge, memory and spirituality. A momentary movement, preserved in stone, connecting us to lives lived long ago – and breathing the cave to life through the actions of the ancestors and culture.

Acknowledgements: The authors are just three of the 13 authors of the journal article, including Olivia Rivero Vilá and Diego Garate Maidagan, who undertook the photography to create the digital 3D models of the panels to record and measure the size of the finger grooves.

Russell Mullett receives indirect funding from the Australian Research Council through the partnership agreement with Monash University to undertake research projects. He is affiliated with the GunaiKurnai Land & Waters Aboriginal Corporation – a non-profit organisation. He is also a Board Member of the GunaiKunai Traditional Owner Land Management Board. Funding for the research was provided by Rock Art Australia.

Bruno David receives research funding from the Australian Research Council, GunaiKurnai Traditional Owner Land Management Board, and Rock Art Australia.

Madeleine Kelly does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Precious finger traces from First Nations ancestors revealed in a glittering mountain cave in Australia – https://theconversation.com/precious-finger-traces-from-first-nations-ancestors-revealed-in-a-glittering-mountain-cave-in-australia-260932

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Banks, Professor of Conservation Biology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney

An introduced black rat scratches through leaf litter, looking for food. Nearby, a native water rat watches on, its beady eyes shining. The native rat pounces out from the shadows, sending the invader fleeing.

The encounter in Sydney bushland, captured on video, is the first documented evidence of an aggressive interaction in nature between a native water rat, also known as rakali, and a black rat.

The footage, discussed in our new research, provides proof that rakali (Hydromys chrysogaster) actively hunt introduced black rats (Rattus rattus). This behaviour may offer a promising natural form of pest control.

Rakali are carnivorous rodents, and the largest of Australia’s 60 native rat species. Our findings suggest efforts to conserve the rakali should include Australia’s urban environments, where introduced rats cause a host of problems.

The problem of black rats

Rats have lived with humans for about 4,000 years. In Australia, invasive rats are an ongoing concern.

Anecdotal reports suggest Sydney, for example, has a growing vermin problem. Public concern was fuelled late last year when footage emerged of rats scurrying through a food court at a popular Sydney shopping centre (see video below).

Black rats and brown rats are the two main pest rat species in Australia. Both were introduced by Europeans. They compete aggressively against other species for food and can breed quickly.

Black rats are particularly abundant in urban areas and nearby bushland. They may prefer natural vegetation to urban environments, if there are no competitors around.

Their ecological impact is significant. Black rats prey on bird nests, skinks and invertebrates and also eat seeds.

Black rats also pose serious health risks to humans, pets and wildlife.

They are the primary host of rat lungworm, a parasite on the rise in Australian cities. Rats also spread leptospirosis, a bacterial infection that has killed several dogs in Sydney in recent years, and infected scores of humans.

Managing introduced rats is becoming increasingly difficult. Some rodenticides have become less effective as rats developed genetic resistance. And rat poisons have been known to harm native species.

Clearly, better ways of managing introduced rats are needed. That’s where our new paper comes in.

Enter the rakali

The rakali, or water rat, is found across much of Australia. It is semi-aquatic and usually lives near fresh or brackish (slightly salty) water such as creeks and estuaries. It is often described as Australia’s “otter”.

The rakali weighs up to 1 kilogram – far greater than an adult black rat which typically weighs up to 200 grams.

While surveying rakali around Sydney Harbour in June 2011, we captured footage of one lying in wait before ambushing a black rat.

The observation took place in bushland on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, near Collins Beach at North Head. We had set up a motion-sensing wildlife camera as part of a pilot study to understand relationships between rakali and black rats.

At 10.22pm, the camera recorded a rakali next to a rock and hidden by vegetation. A black rat
approached, and the rakali leapt out and chased it off.

But do rakali kill black rats, or just chase them? Captive rakali have been known to kill and eat other rat species in captivity. And given the larger size and carnivorous diet of the rakali, they may in fact prey on black rats in the wild.

Or rakali may reduce black rat numbers the same way dingoes reduce fox activity – by both preying on some and scaring others away.

Our paper also canvasses growing evidence that native rodents can resist and suppress their invasive counterparts.

For example, native bush rats (Rattus fuscipes) were presumed to be outcompeted by black rats. But an experiment at Jervis Bay in New South Wales removed black rats, allowing bush rats to reclaim their territory. After the experiment ended, black rats did not return.

At North Head on Sydney Harbour, reintroducing bush rats to areas where they once lived led to a dramatic decline in black rat numbers.

Recent research reported on footage captured in a Perth backyard of black rats attacking a native quenda, a small marsupial species found only in southwest Australia. However, the quenda appeared to fend off the attack. This means it’s possible rakali, which are much larger than quenda, would be even more aggressive towards black rats.

Native rats to the rescue?

Evidence is growing that native rodents can help control pest rodents.

This is especially true of rakali, which live in all major Australian cities where black rats are common. More research is needed to better understand the potential of rakali to manage invasive black rat populations.

Troublingly, however, native rats are vulnerable to rodenticides. To support their role in pest management, the use of poisons to control pest rats should be reconsidered.

By allowing native rodents to thrive, we may be able to harness their natural behaviours to control invasive pests safely, sustainably and effectively.

Peter Banks receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the Hermon Slade Foundation and the Grains Research and Development Corporation.

Jenna Bytheway does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Australia’s rat uprising: footage provides first evidence of native rakali attacking introduced black rat – https://theconversation.com/australias-rat-uprising-footage-provides-first-evidence-of-native-rakali-attacking-introduced-black-rat-261559

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Trevor Evans, Associate Professor, History and Archaeology, Macquarie University

If you believe the hype, generative artificial intelligence (AI) is the future. However, new research suggests the technology may also improve our understanding of the past.

A team of computer scientists from Google DeepMind, working with classicists and archaeologists from universities in the United Kingdom and Greece, described a new machine-learning system designed to help experts to understand ancient Latin inscriptions.

Named Aeneas (after the mythical hero of Rome’s foundation epic), the system is a generative neural network designed to provide context for Latin inscriptions written between the 7th century BCE and the 8th century CE.

As the researchers write in Nature, Aeneas retrieves textual and contextual parallels, makes use of visual details, and can generate speculative text to fill gaps in inscriptions.

A useful and accurate tool

All of these are attractive prospects for scholars who work with inscriptions (known as epigraphers). Interpreting and dating fragmentary inscriptions is not easy.

How well does it work? The team behind Aeneas asked 23 people with epigraphic expertise, ranging from masters students to professors, to try the system out.

The participants used outputs from Aeneas as starting points in an experimental simulation of real-world research workflows under a time constraint.

In 90% of cases, the historians found the parallels to a given inscription retrieved by Aeneas were useful starting points for further research. The system also improved their confidence in key tasks by 44%.

When restoring partial inscriptions and determining where they were from, historians working with Aeneas outperformed both humans and artificial intelligence alone. When estimating the age of inscriptions, Aeneas achieved results on average within 13 years of known dates provided by historians.

The system performs better for some regions and periods than others. Unsurprisingly, it performs better on material from around the period for which historians have not only the most evidence but also the most accurately dated inscriptions.

Nevertheless, the participants emphasised Aeneas’ ability to broaden searches by identifying significant but previously unnoticed parallels and overlooked textual features. At the same time, it helped them refine their results to avoid overly narrow or irrelevant findings.

A quicker way to the starting point

So how useful might it really be? Epigraphy is a challenging field with a long and messy history. It takes long years to develop expertise, and scholars tend to specialise in particular regions or time periods.

Aeneas will dramatically speed up the process of preliminary analysis. It will be able to sift through the complex mass of evidence to identify potential parallels or similar texts that a researcher may otherwise miss when dealing with fragmentary material.

Another use for Aeneas may be to locate an inscription geographically, and to estimate when it was produced.

Aeneas can also predict missing parts of a fragmentary text, even where the length of what is lost is unknown.

This last feature may seem the most exciting but probably has the least practical value for research. It is the equivalent of speculative restoration by a human authority and has an equal capacity to lead the unwary to unsafe conclusions.

A useful starting point

On the other hand, we should ask what Aeneas can’t do. The answer is the actual research (like all generative AI products to date, for all the hype).

However, the team behind Aeneas are perfectly frank about this. They are rightly proud of the achievement the system represents, but are careful to measure its capacity to yield “useful research starting points”.

Nor does this tool remove the fundamental necessity of checking the data it extracts against standard references, and where possible images or (ideally) original artefacts.

Researchers with appropriate expertise will still need to do the work of interpreting results. What Aeneas changes is the feasible scope of their work.

It allows a much broader view of parallels (especially through its capacity to harness visual cues) than is typical of previously developed tools. Its capacity for rapid retrieval will bring scholars to their research starting points much faster than before.

And for epigraphers, it may open up much broader horizons, allowing them to escape the restriction of particular geographical regions or time periods.

Trevor Evans does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. AI for the ancient world: how a new machine learning system can help make sense of Latin inscriptions – https://theconversation.com/ai-for-the-ancient-world-how-a-new-machine-learning-system-can-help-make-sense-of-latin-inscriptions-260448

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dan Weijers, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, Co-editor International Journal of Wellbeing, University of Waikato

Happiness has many social benefits. Happy people tend to be healthier and more successful. They are also more helpful and others often view them more positively, making it easier for them to find companions and influence others.

Most research into happiness focuses on the associations between these benefits and feeling happy. But we think many benefits, especially the social ones, are likely to depend primarily on expressing happiness.

In our new research, which reviews studies examining the social functions of the expression of happiness, we caution against pressuring others to display the emotion.

This difference is important because people can express happiness without feeling it, and vice versa. Some people find it more difficult than others to put on a happy face, and will suffer negative effects in cultures that expect or demand people to consistently appear happy.

Social functions of emotional expression

The simplest function of emotional expressions is to communicate to others how we are feeling. Why this is important depends on the context – we might express anger to deter others from coming closer, or express happiness to draw them in.

In our research, we show that expressing happiness, specifically, can also have important social functions.

By expressing happiness in a way that someone notices, such as by smiling at them, we give them a little gift – a social reward that often feels nice to receive. Since people are generally attuned to and often desire social rewards, they are more likely to behave in a way that attracts these displays of happiness.

By smiling at people when they say and do things we like, we encourage them to continue acting in a similar way.

Other people aren’t the only ones who like receiving social rewards – we do, too. Fortunately, emotions are notoriously contagious. We argue that expressing emotions is important for them to spread to others. When we smile at others, we are more likely to get a smile back, triggering social reward in ourselves as well.

Expressing happiness can also make other people think more of us. A range of studies have found the simple act of smiling can improve observer ratings of attractiveness, sincerity and cooperativeness.

This “halo effect” of expressing happiness can be especially useful in the workplace and in job interviews. In work contexts, expressing happiness has been found to make others see you as more competent and a better leader.

Chimpanzees, and many other animals that live in small groups, groom each other to promote social bonding and cohesion. It has been argued that, as humans began living in larger groups, laughter may have replaced picking fleas off each other as a more efficient social-bonding mechanism. Because laughing can be seen and heard, even at a distance, it can promote social reward and increase bonding among several people at once.

In addition to communicating and eliciting social reward in a group, laughing may also help groups bond by demonstrating shared values. If we all laugh at the same jokes, then we probably share some underlying attitudes about the content of those jokes. The social importance of laughing explains why we tend to laugh a lot more at packed live comedy performances than when watching the same show alone.

Expressions of happiness don’t always have positive effects

The effect of expressions of happiness varied between cultures. A cross-cultural study found smiling people were considered more intelligent in the United Kingdom, Germany and China, but less so in Japan, South Korea and Iran. As we argued previously, the Islamic Revolution led some in Iran to believe that good people look serious or sorrowful. People expressing happiness may therefore be seen as bad, callous or ignorant of the world’s woes.

Perhaps because expressions of happiness confer social benefits, they can become an expected norm. We define groups that expect specific emotions as emotional tribes. A pro-happiness emotional tribe might exclude someone who doesn’t regularly express happiness.

In many societies, including many English-speaking nations, pro-happiness tribalism is common. If you feel you should respond “good” to a greeting of “how are you?”, you may be responding to such pro-happiness pressures.

While many pro-happiness emotional tribes might evolve naturally, there is evidence that some organisations and people actively encourage and enforce happiness norms. For example, the Boy Scouts Law mandates cheerfulness to millions of boys in the United States. Apparently, no one wants to go camping with a whiner.

Workplaces can also be pro-happiness emotional tribes and include feedback on mood in performance reviews.

Even though expressions of happiness have many social benefits, we caution against actively creating pro-happiness emotional tribes. Some people, for personal or cultural reasons, find it more difficult to feel and express happiness.

All of us feel that way sometimes. Expectations of happiness pressure people into expressing happiness even when they have good reason to feel unhappy, anxious or angry – or have no strong feelings at all.

In response many people will fake being happy. Inauthentic emotional expressions have been shown to be exhausting and exacerbate negative feelings for some people. As such, a cultural pressure to be happy places an unfair burden on people who may simply not feel authentically happy.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Showing happiness brings social rewards, but the opposite can happen if people feel pressured to appear happy – https://theconversation.com/showing-happiness-brings-social-rewards-but-the-opposite-can-happen-if-people-feel-pressured-to-appear-happy-261752

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Teague, Associate Dean of Engagement, Murdoch University

Recently, two babies died on opposite sides of the country. The first was a seven-month-old boy, found dead after being retrieved from a lake in rural Queensland.

A second baby, a six-month-old girl was found dead in Perth, Western Australia.

Both cases are being reported as family violence incidents. The boy was allegedly killed by “a man known to the child”, and the girl allegedly died at the hands of her mother.

Infanticide, neonaticide and filicide is the killing of one’s child. In Australia, one child per fortnight is killed by a parent, and each case is deeply confronting and tragic.

In the past, reporting on parents who kill their kids has frequently linked these crimes to mental illness. But now, reporting is making a link to family violence instead.

While this prompts very uncomfortable conversations, the shift in language is crucial to improve efforts to understand and curb family violence. By calling violence out for what it is, we can better protect children from harm.

‘Deadly state of mind’

We’ve researched how mental illness has been reported on in Australian media.

In our study of 1,532 mental health-related newspaper articles published between 2000 and 2014, 40% contained stories of violence.

The vast majority of this violence was attributed, at least in part, to mental ill-health.

Using mental illness to explain infanticide has been especially common when the perpetrator was a mother. This reinforces mental illness as an explanation for unimaginable crimes.

For instance, in 2001, Andrea Yates drowned her five children in their bathtub in Texas. The Australian called this “Mama’s deadly state of mind”.

When Christine Gifford took the life of her ten-year-old daughter, this was described by news media as “the worst excess of psychotic disorder”.

The same narrative is not generally employed for fathers, who are more often described as “wilful and deliberate” killers.

This was the case for Greg Anderson, who killed his son Luke Batty at a sports oval following cricket practice. Luke’s mother, Rosie Batty, saw her son’s death as a family violence matter.

Arthur Freeman, who threw his daughter Darcey off Melbourne’s West Gate Bridge in 2009, was depicted in news media as “cold” and “motivated by spousal revenge”.

Differences in how we explain and report on family violence perpetrated by men and women are complex, but both require attention.

Reducing mental health stigma

Reports on the recent deaths of two babies killed within hours of each other have not sought to link these crimes to mental illness. Domestic violence has been cited in both cases, suggesting a shift towards calling violence out for what it is: violence.

These shifts in language and reporting are important in reducing the stigma regularly associated with mental illness. People with mental illness are not inherently violent.

Research shows these crimes occur within contexts of poverty, abusive relationships, family breakdown, and poor family and social supports.

That’s not to say poor mental health doesn’t play a role in individual cases, but it’s far from the only contributor in most crimes.

Factors contributing to mental illness are themselves regularly related to childhood mistreatment, neglect and intimate partner violence.

As a result, changes in the ways family violence is reported connects to a growing body of research about how we understand the drivers of it.

Keeping children safe

Challenging explanations of infanticide as a product of mental illness also help dispel traditional views of women with tendencies for emotional hysteria and irrationality. This perception of women is a deeply rooted gender stereotype that lacks scientific basis and reinforces inequality.

Furthermore, this perception obscures the truth: women play a central and fundamental role in caring for children in the home, in the workplace and throughout our community. This is important to remember at a time when child protection issues are of national concern.

It creates an opportunity to examine the social conditions and societal factors linked to intimate partner violence, child mistreatment and violent crime.

Read more:
Grattan on Friday: childcare is a ‘canary in mine’ warning for wider problems in policy delivery

These conversations are uncomfortable because they require us to accept that babies, toddlers and children might not always be safe with their primary carers, or in early childhood settings.

Past media reporting elevated mental illness as an explanation for violent crime. In doing so, we could avoid conversations about family and domestic violence.

At a time when Australia is asking such important questions about levels of care for our children both inside and outside the home, these shifts in language sit equally alongside research, funding and policy in our collective pursuit of a safer community.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Poor mental health often plays a role in adults killing children. But it is primarily about violence – https://theconversation.com/poor-mental-health-often-plays-a-role-in-adults-killing-children-but-it-is-primarily-about-violence-261381

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra

The United Nations Climate Change Executive Secretary, Simon Stiell, has urged the Australian government to set an ambitious 2035 emissions reduction target, declaring “bog standard is beneath you”.

In a Monday speech, Stiell says, “don’t settle for what’s easy. Go for what’s smart by going big”.

His speech, hosted by the Smart Energy Council, comes ahead of his meeting with the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, in Canberra on Tuesday. Australia must submit its 2035 target under the Paris climate agreement by September. The Climate Change Authority has yet to deliver its advice to Bowen on the target. Previously, it has pointed to a target of between 65% and 75% reduction on 2005 levels.

The authority says on its website:

development of the 2035 targets advice is currently underway. This includes complex whole-of-economy modelling, policy analysis, consultation and consideration of international trends in climate action.

Stiell said Australia had a strong economy and among the world’s highest living standards. “If you want to keep them, doubling down on clean energy is an economic no-brainer.

“So the choice is clear. The question is: how far are you willing to go?

“The answer is due in September – when Australia’s next national climate plan is due. This isn’t just the next policy milestone. It’s a defining moment.”

Stiell said this was the moment for a climate plan that did not just write a vision into policy, “but delivers in spades for your people.

“Go for what will build lasting wealth and national security.”

He said this could be “Australia’s moment”.

“You’ve got world-class resources, a skilled, inventive workforce, and a A$22.7 billion plan – Future Made in Australia – with real ambition behind it.

“You’ve doubled renewable capacity since 2019.

“You’ve enshrined targets in law, and you’ve got strong, long-term policy signals.”

On the other side of the coin, Stiell warned if climate change was unchecked it would cripple Australia’s food production, and the country could face $6.8 trillion GDP loss by 2050.

“Living standards could drop by over $7,000 per person per year. And rising seas, resource pressures, and extreme weather would destabilise Australia’s neighbourhood – from Pacific Island nations to Southeast Asia – threatening your security.”

Bowen will also be hoping for some intelligence from Stiell on whether Australia’s bid to host next year’s COP will succeed.

Meanwhile, the push continues within the Coalition from those who want to dump its commitment to the net zero emissions by 2050 target.

The Western Australian Liberal party state council on the weekend called for the federal opposition to abandon the target. The motion came from the party’s Canning division, which is the seat held by frontbencher Andrew Hastie.

Hastie, speaking after it was carried, said it sent a “clear signal” to Australians that “we stand for something”.

The opposition has a review of its energy policy underway.

In the House of Representatives on Monday, the Nationals Barnaby Joyce introduced his private member’s bill to scrap Australia’s commitment to net zero.

“Net zero is going to have absolutely no effect on the climate whatsoever. The vast majority of the globe in both population and GDP are not participating in it, he told the house.

“So why are we doing this to ourselves?”

It had changed the standard of living for many Australians, he said. “Our GDP per person is going down. People are becoming poorer. If you go into shops they talk about 30 to 40% of their costs being energy”. In a more pronounced way, it was hurting the poorest, who needed the power to keep themselves warm, Joyce said.

Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. UN climate chief tells Australia to ‘go big’ with its 2035 emissions reduction target – https://theconversation.com/un-climate-chief-tells-australia-to-go-big-with-its-2035-emissions-reduction-target-262027

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lynn Nazareth, Research Scientist in Olfactory Biology, CSIRO

When you’re sick you’ll often produce more phlegm, and might notice it’s thicker or a different colour: white, green, yellow or maybe even brown.

What can this phlegm – also called mucus, snot, sputum, catarrh and booger – really tell us about our health?

Here’s what to look for, and when to see a doctor.

What is phlegm?

We all produce mucus, even when healthy. Mucus is a barrier to the outside world that helps protect the organs in our bodies.

It’s produced by special cells within the epithelium. This is a tissue that lines the organs, cavities and surfaces in your body, including your eyes, mouth, digestive system and respiratory system (nasal passages and lungs).

Cells in this epithelial lining constantly secrete mucus. It acts as:

• a lubricant, preventing tissues from drying out

• a physical barrier filtering out and trapping particles such as dust, allergens and bacteria

• an immune barrier which contains various antimicrobial molecules that can kill a wide range of bacteria, fungi and even viruses.

Why do we produce more mucus when we’re sick?

The epithelium is one of the body’s first lines of defence when we have an infection. When these cells detect a pathogen – whether bacteria or a virus – they produce more mucus to strengthen the body’s physical and immune barriers.

Your body’s immune response causes inflammation, and this makes you produce more mucus. This excessive production and build-up is called mucus hypersecretion.

We often feel this is in our nasal passages when we have a cold, and sometimes lungs if we have a chest infection.

Usually, the epithelium’s cilia – long, hair-like cells – propel this mucus away and keep our airway passages clear.

But infections might damage or over-work the cilia, making us need to cough up phlegm or blow our noses to deal with this build-up.

Allergies are similar – your immune system overreacts to harmless substances (such as dust, pollen and certain foods) and produces excessive amounts of mucus.

Hypersecretion also affects people with chronic illness such as asthma, cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Why does mucus get thicker?

Being sick can also affect the consistency of phlegm.

In a healthy person, mucus is around 90–95% water – the rest is made up of proteins called mucins and salts. This is why snot is usually clear and runny.

But when you’re sick, or recovering from an infection, studies suggest you produce more mucin proteins. These make your phlegm thicker.

This can give you a stuffy head, blocked nose or mean mucus accumulates and trickles to the back of your throat. This is known as post-nasal drip – also a common source of cough.

What about colour?

Thick mucus that is white or cloudy is usually an early sign of an infection, such as a cold. It may also indicate inflammation from allergies or chronic conditions such as asthma.

In the later stages of infection, snot is generally green, yellow or even brown. The greenish-yellow tinge comes from an enzyme called myeloperoxidase produced by immune cells that are fighting the infection.

Brownish-red mucus usually means it contains blood. This may happen when your nasal passages are damaged or irritated, often from blowing your nose a lot or because they’re dry.

This usually isn’t a cause for concern when blowing your nose. But if you cough up blood (haemoptysis) it can indicate something more serious, including a serious lung infection or even cancer. You should speak to a medical professional.

Black mucus is rare. It can be the sign of a fungal infection, or exposure to pollutants such as coal, dust or cigarette smoke. You should see a doctor if your mucus is black.

So, do I need antibiotics?

Your doctor may ask about your phlegm to make a diagnosis – its colour, consistency and how much you’re producing.

But studies show patients’ descriptions might not always be consistent or match observations made by a health-care professional.

So, a doctor may use a sputum colour chart to differentiate between viral and bacterial infections and decide whether to prescribe antibiotics.

Some evidence suggests yellowish-green mucus might be caused by a bacterial infection, rather than a virus (which won’t respond to antibiotics).

However, it’s not always the case.

So, the colour of your phlegm is not enough by itself to accurately diagnose an infection and tell if you need antibiotics.

But if you’re producing a lot of mucus and the colour or consistency is different from normal, it could be the sign your body is fighting an infection.

Drinking lots of fluids or use of decongestant sprays may help in the short term.

However, if you have additional symptoms, such as a fever, fatigue or loss of appetite for more than one to two weeks, speak to a health-care professional.

Lynn Nazareth does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Does yellow mucus mean you need antibiotics? What phlegm can – and can’t – say about your health – https://theconversation.com/does-yellow-mucus-mean-you-need-antibiotics-what-phlegm-can-and-cant-say-about-your-health-257317

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Damien O’Meara, Lecturer, School of Media and Communication, RMIT University

When the Seven Network’s Bevan Lee created the story of James Bligh, a gay man living in 1950s Australia, in A Place to Call Home (2013–18), it was the culmination of a lifetime of work in commercial TV.

Lee’s success shows the importance of queer labour in getting queer stories in Australian television.

When I interviewed Lee for my research, his advice to emerging creatives was: “Don’t just, for the sake of being representative, drop one [queer character] into a show”.

“For the first 30 years of my career, and on most of our shows […] I did that, because it was the only way of getting them in,” he said.

I would argue Lee spent his career blazing the trail that makes this advice possible.

He is one of ten lesbian, gay and bisexual television creatives and executives featured in my new study about the motivations, barriers and labour behind the queer stories that appear on Australian screens.

These industry leaders are working in what gender and sexuality studies scholar Margot Canaday describes as the “straight work world”. My research identifies the hurdles this world can present to developing queer stories for mainstream TV, as well as how queer industry leaders manage to jump them.

Read more:
We studied two decades of queer representation on Australian TV, and found some interesting trends

What motivates queer TV professionals?

Australian TV is commercial in nature; even our public service broadcasters need to think about ratings.

The motivations of the lesbian, gay and bisexual TV professionals I interviewed were embedded in this commercial mindset.

They had two, often overlapping, motivations. One was “to tell engaging, dramatically truthful stories” for commercial success. The other was to see themselves and their communities represented onscreen.

According to screenwriter David Hannam, queer perspectives offer “the story, or the version of the story, that you’ve never seen before”. But this story has to be commercial – finding universal appeal in that specific experience.

My interviewees told me they used their own motivation and experiences to achieve commercial outcomes. They might pursue a story they themselves would have liked to see while growing up.

Or, they might take an opportunity to challenge troubling tropes by being in the room and contributing their perspective. One such trope is the troubling practice of unnamed bisexuality. This is where a bisexual character’s sexuality is referred to as “gay” or “straight”, and changes according to their partner’s gender.

Screenwriter and director Julie Kalceff told me her series First Day (2020–22) was inspired by the experience of a trans child, and their parent, who she personally knew – and the knowledge that such a story onscreen could help others like them.

Barriers to queer stories

One major challenge to telling queer stories on Australian TV was (and is) the long-held industry perception that such stories lack broad audience appeal.

Australia has a small television market, which until 2005 was limited to five free-to-air channels and one PayTV provider (Foxtel).

This meant intense competition and less niche programming, including fewer queer stories, compared to other dominant markets such as the United States and United Kingdom.

Even since the introduction of the digital signal and multichannels (secondary channels such as ABC2) from 2005, and streaming from 2015, this limitation has taken time to ease.

The creator of The Newsreader (2021–25), Michael Lucas, said there was a perception within the industry that including queer stories “would cause massive, cataclysmic dips in your ratings”.

My interviews reveal this perception stood as a key barrier to queer TV storytelling for decades. And these barriers can still come up today, at a time when the TV distribution landscape is becoming increasingly fractured due to global streaming.

The labour of seeing ourselves

My study found queer labour has been crucial to the successful development of queer stories for Australian TV.

Outland (2012) creators Adam Richard and John Richards self-funded a short film and sent it around the festival circuit to prove an audience. This was key to getting a production house onboard, securing funding and getting the series commissioned by the ABC.

Similarly, Julie Kalceff produced Starting From … Now (2014–16) as a web series, before making the rare leap to broadcast television.

Out industry leaders have been champions of queer TV projects. Benjamin Law, creator of The Family Law (2016–19), noted how Tony Ayres had “already been doing the work […] broadening out representation and diversity and inclusion”.

He explained how Ayres – a gay, Chinese television industry leader – was able to champion his comedy-drama about an Asian family with a gay child in suburban Queensland.

Queer labour is also shifting, as audiences grow to expect authentic representation onscreen and in writers’ rooms.

While it can be a challenge for queer creatives to get those crucial early onscreen credits, especially with streaming giants affecting local career pathways, established queer creatives and executives are taking on the task of bringing in new and underrepresented voices.

The question now is: what will queer labour look like in the future? Will distinctly Australian queer stories be prioritised in the age of streaming giants? And how might a lack of local content quotas contribute to the future of queer Australian TV stories?

Damien O’Meara does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. A look into the decades of labour that helped bring LGBTQIA+ stories to Australian TV – https://theconversation.com/a-look-into-the-decades-of-labour-that-helped-bring-lgbtqia-stories-to-australian-tv-261670