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‘It’s the worst feeling’ – young New Zealanders regret their vaping addictions but feel unsupported to quit

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna DeMello, Research Fellow in Public Health, University of Otago

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Vaping rates among young people continue to be a major public health concern, both in Aotearoa New Zealand and elsewhere.

New vape legislation currently before the health select committee proposes a ban on disposable vapes and restrictions on retailers (except specialist vape shops) which would no longer be able to display vaping products.

Currently, vaping products are widely available and aggressive marketing of youth-oriented designs and flavours has encouraged experimentation among young people.

These products contain nicotine and have powerful addictive potential. They also carry other risks, such as increasing young people’s susceptibility to lung inflammation, infection or injury.

The 2023/24 NZ Health Survey found 10.5% of people aged 15 to 17 vaped daily. Among young adults aged 18 to 24, 26.5% were vaping daily.

The latest ASH Year 10 Snapshot Survey, which involves adolescent students aged 14 to 15, reported that vaping has imposed a heavier burden on Māori, with 22% of Māori Year 10 students vaping daily, compared to 10% among all Year 10 students.

But how are young people experiencing vaping, and how does it affect their lives?

To address this question, we undertook in-depth interviews with 20 adolescents (aged 16 to 18) who live in Aotearoa and consider themselves moderately to heavily addicted to vaping.

Our research explains how addiction affected their wellbeing, interpersonal relationships and self-view.

Young people feel repulsed by their vaping addiction

Initially, participants found vaping offered pleasurable new sensations and helped them to fit in with their peers. But their views changed as they recognised they had become addicted.

They began to feel highly resentful of the hold vaping had over them and it became disgusting rather than pleasurable.

It’s not even a fun thing [anymore] […] I got sick of [having this] device in your mouth [to] blow out flavoured smoke. That sounds gross. I really hate it.

Nearly all wanted to quit, but their addiction felt overwhelming and some began feeling fatalistic and doomed to continue vaping.

I’m probably slowly killing [my lungs], killing myself. I’ll worry about it [when it happens].

Many participants felt judged by adults in their lives, particularly family members but also teachers and people they encountered in public spaces. These participants resented comments and criticisms, which often came without offers of support.

It’s the worst feeling. I got into [vaping], I know that’s my fault, but it’s hard to get out.

To avoid judgements that left them feeling worse, some hid their vaping, which increased feelings of isolation. Many worried about how adults viewed them and felt their reputation would be damaged if someone they knew saw them vaping.

A lot of people shun [it]. So, I wouldn’t usually walk down the street with [a vape]. I wait until I’m somewhere more secluded.

Young people blame themselves and feel lost

Perceived judgement from others made the regret, guilt and intense self-blame participants experienced worse because they saw no escape from their addiction.

Few considered how vaping companies had targeted them, or how inadequate government regulation had failed them; many blamed themselves and wished they could turn the clock back.

There [are so many] downsides. If I [could change things], I would 100% [never] touch a vape […] I would pay thousands if I could go back.

[I never thought] this would happen to me. But, at the end of the day it’s nobody else’s fault.

These feelings severely affected several participants’ mental wellbeing and they had withdrawn and felt anxious and depressed.

I personally just don’t even look at myself anymore, because I don’t recognise myself […] it takes a [big toll] on self-image.

Tackling young people’s vaping with robust policies

We found that vaping addiction negatively affected participants’ relationships and how they saw themselves. They felt judged and unsupported in managing their addiction to vaping.

These findings reinforce the need for stronger upstream policies that protect young people from aggressive marketing. Ending the sale of disposable vaping products is an important first step and we are pleased the health select committee has recommended amending the law and to end vape discounting and loyalty programmes.

However, more could and should be done to reduce the availability of vaping products and limit attributes that appeal particularly to young people. This includes:

  • ending vaping product sales in generic retailers such as dairies and service stations, and limiting product sales to age-restricted (R-18) specialist shops

  • capping vape retailer numbers and reducing outlet density, particularly in more deprived areas

  • restricting all (current and future) general and specialist vape retailers from operating within 500 metres of schools and marae

  • monitoring the impact of a ban on disposable vape sales (as the government plans to do) to ensure companies do not undermine the measure.

Targeted cessation programmes could also help young people to quit, but these must take an empathetic approach and respond to their particular needs.

The Conversation

Anna DeMello 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. ‘It’s the worst feeling’ – young New Zealanders regret their vaping addictions but feel unsupported to quit – https://theconversation.com/its-the-worst-feeling-young-new-zealanders-regret-their-vaping-addictions-but-feel-unsupported-to-quit-245018

Spotify Wrapped is about more than what songs you listen to – it’s about what makes you you

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kelvin (Shiu Fung) Wong, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology, Swinburne University of Technology

Chendongshan/Shutterstock

Spotify has just released its 2024 Spotify Wrapped, the music streaming site’s annual presentation of each user’s yearly listening habits. It gives you a fun recap of your most listened to songs, artists and genres from the past year – complete with stats like how many minutes you listened and your top genre “phases” or “moments”.

The tradition has seized the cultural zeitgeist throughout the whole year, with a lot of online discourse surrounding what music will top your listens for the year.

In addition to the exciting way the list is presented (aesthetically pleasing tiles, interactive elements), the answer to its ability to captivate may be found in one simple idea: we inherently like understanding ourselves.

But what does this mean? We can unpack this further in the psychological theories of self-concept, social comparison and social connection.

Self-concept

Self-concept is how we see ourselves. It develops from our experiences and our responses to these experiences.

Music is one of those unique mediums that reflects what we’ve experienced (for example, a break-up) and how we feel (sadness and yearning).

A Black woman with headphones.
Our Spotify Wrapped this year might remind us of the songs we listened to during that break-up.
Yohan Marion/Unsplash

So, when we see a yearly list of our top artists, genres and songs, it’s like looking into a mirror that tells us who we’ve been throughout the year.

This drive towards self-reflection is likely because it fulfils some of our most fundamental human needs. Remember that time when everyone was doing the Myers-Briggs personality test?

In 1943, the American psychologist Abraham Maslow developed his theory of human needs.

Chart of the five categories of needs: physiological, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualisation
Maslow hierarchy of needs.
The Studio/Shutterstock

According to this theory, humans have a need for esteem (gaining respect and recognition within our communities) and self-actualisation (realisation of one’s potential). Neither of these can occur without first an understanding of who we currently are. Sharing a list, then, is a way of saying to others, “this is me!”.

But sharing your Wrapped list serves more functions than simply self-expression. It facilitates social comparison and social connection.

Social comparison

In 1954, American social psychologist Leon Festinger published his social comparison theory.

He believed humans are naturally inclined to compare themselves to others. We constantly evaluate where we stand in relation to those around us.

When you post your Wrapped list, you aren’t just saying, “this is what I listened to” or “this is who I am”. You’re also inviting others to engage in a subtle social dialogue.

Seeing someone else with the same song on their list might spark a sense of connection. Seeing that you’re in the top 1% of Taylor Swift fans might make you feel even a little superior (and others a little envious).

(As a side note, I hope this happens to me again this year.)

Seeing someone else’s Wrapped can also inspire and validate. If a friend’s list includes a mix of genres you’ve never explored, you might feel encouraged to branch out. Or you might see someone else’s list and feel relieved you’re not the only one obsessed with an artist.

Whether conscious or subconscious, these comparisons drive engagement with Spotify.

Social connection

Sharing our Spotify Wrapped satisfies another fundamental human need: belonging.

Humans are inherently social creatures who want to feel loved and accepted. Music is one of the oldest ways we’ve connected with one another.

Two blonde women smile looking at a phone.
Sharing your Wrapped with friends can be a great moment of connection.
Brooke Cagle/Unsplash

Sharing our Wrapped lists isn’t just about showing off who we are, but about finding common ground. It’s about finding your tribe, a group of people we can feel safely connected to.

This is even more important during a period in which people’s opinions are becoming more divided and for a younger generation where loneliness is becoming an increasing problem.

Building on your own wrap

This urge to know about yourself and to share is very human.

This year, however, I challenge you to go beyond just dropping a like on someone’s story.

Sure, the dopamine hit is great and is part of what keeps us coming back to this yearly ritual. But it takes more than that to meet our need for connection.

This year, use Spotify Wrapped to start up a conversation with someone. Maybe about how their experiences and feelings this year led to the songs appearing on their list. You might learn something new about them and create or revitalise a meaningful connection.

And that’s a wrap.

The Conversation

Kelvin (Shiu Fung) Wong 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. Spotify Wrapped is about more than what songs you listen to – it’s about what makes you you – https://theconversation.com/spotify-wrapped-is-about-more-than-what-songs-you-listen-to-its-about-what-makes-you-you-245019

Chatbots won’t help anyone make weapons of mass destruction. But other AI systems just might

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Heslop, Associate Professor of Population Health, UNSW Sydney

Cybermagician / Shutterstock

Over the past two years, we have seen much written about the “promise and peril” of artificial intelligence (AI). Some have suggested AI systems might aid in the construction of chemical or biological weapons.

How realistic are these concerns? As researchers in the field of bioterrorism and health intelligence, we have been trying to separate the genuine risks from the online hype.

The exact implications for “chem bio” weapons are still uncertain. However, it is very clear that regulations are not keeping pace with technological developments.

Assessing the risks

Assessing the risk an AI model presents is not easy. What’s more, there is no consistent and widely followed way to do it.

Take the case of large language models (LLMs). These are the AI engines behind chatbots such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini.

In September, OpenAI released an LLM called o1 (nicknamed “Strawberry”). Upon its release, the developers claimed the new system had a “medium” level risk of helping someone create a biological weapon.

This assessment might sound alarming. However, a closer reading of the o1 system card reveals more trivial security risks.

The model might, for example, help an untrained individual navigate a public database of genetic information about viruses more quickly. Such assistance is unlikely to have much material impact on biosecurity.

Despite this, media quickly reported that the new model “meaningfully contributed” to weaponisation risks.

Beyond chatbots

When the first wave of LLM chatbots launched in late 2022, there were widely reported fears that these systems could help untrained individuals unleash a pandemic.

However, these chatbots are based on already-existing data and are unlikely to come up with anything genuinely new. They might help a bioterrorism enterprise come up with some ideas and establish an initial direction, but that’s about it.

Rather than chatbots, AI systems with applications in the life sciences are of more genuine concern. Many of these, such as the AlphaFold series, will aid researchers fighting diseases and seeking new therapeutic drugs.

Some systems, however, may have the capacity for misuse. Any AI that is really useful for science is likely to be a double-edged sword: a technology that may have great benefit to humanity, while also posing risks.

AI systems like these are prime examples of what is called “dual-use research of concern”.

Prions and pandemics

Dual-use research of concern in itself is nothing new. People working on biosecurity and nuclear non-proliferation have been worrying about it for a long time. Many tools and techniques in chemistry and synthetic biology could be used for malicious ends.

In the field of protein science, for example, there has been concern for more than a decade that new computational platforms might help in the synthesis of the potentially deadly misfolded proteins called prions, or in the construction of novel toxin weapons. New AI tools such as AlphaFold may bring this scenario closer to reality.

However, while prions and toxins may be deadly to relatively small groups people, neither can cause a pandemic that could wreak true havoc. In the study of bioterrorism, our main concern is with agents that have pandemic potential.

Historically, bioterrorism planning has focused on Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes plague, and variola virus, which causes smallpox.

The main question is whether new AI systems make any tangible difference to an untrained individual or group seeking to obtain pathogens such as these, or to create something from scratch.

Right now, we simply do not know.

Rules to assess and regulate AI systems

Nobody yet has a definitive answer to the question of how to assess the new landscape of AI-powered biological weapons risk. The most advanced planning has been produced by the outgoing Biden administration in the United States, via an executive order on AI development issued in October 2023.

A key provision of the executive order tasks several US agencies with establishing standards to assess the impact new AI systems may have on the proliferation of chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapons. Experts often group these together under the heading of “CBRN”, but the new dynamic we call CBRN+AI is still uncertain.

The executive order also established new processes for regulating the hardware and software needed for gene synthesis. This is the machinery for turning the digital ideas produced by an AI system into the physical reality of biological life.

The US Department of Energy is soon due to release guidance on managing biological risks that might be generated by new AI systems. This will provide a pathway for understanding how AI might affect biosecurity in the coming years.

Political pressure

These nascent regulations are already coming under political pressure. The incoming Trump administration in the US has promised to repeal Biden’s executive order on AI, concerned it is based on “radical leftist ideas”. This stance is informed by irrelevant disputes in American identity politics that have no bearing on biosecurity.

While it is imperfect, the executive order is the best blueprint for helping us comprehend how AI will impact proliferation of chemical and biological threats in the coming years. To repeal it would be a great disservice to the US national interest, and global human security at large.

The Conversation

David Heslop has previously received funding from Australian Defence Force Strategic Policy Grants to conduct research in areas related to this article.

Joel Keep 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. Chatbots won’t help anyone make weapons of mass destruction. But other AI systems just might – https://theconversation.com/chatbots-wont-help-anyone-make-weapons-of-mass-destruction-but-other-ai-systems-just-might-244514

Social media platforms are throttling access to news – with far-reaching implications for democracy

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cameron McTernan, Lecturer of Media and Communication, University of South Australia

Evgenii Panov/Shutterstock

Just days out from the United States presidential election last month, X (formerly Twitter) suddenly crippled the ability of many major media and political organisations to reach audiences on the social media platform.

Without warning, the platform, under tech billionaire Elon Musk’s stewardship, announced major changes to the main pathway these organisations use to disseminate content. This pathway is known as the application programming interface, or API. The changes meant users of the free tier API would be limited to 500 posts per month – or roughly 15 per day.

This had a huge impact on news media outlets, including The Conversation – especially with one of the biggest political events in the world just around the corner. It meant software programs designed to quickly and easily share stories wouldn’t work and newsrooms had to scramble to post stories manually.

In turn, it also had a huge impact on the public’s ability to access high quality, independent news at a time when there was a flood of polarising fake news and deepfakes on X and other social media platforms.

But this is just one example of how social media companies are throttling public access to quality news content, which research has shown is a proven antidote to the insidious effect of misinformation and disinformation. If this trend continues, the implications for democracy will be severe.

The backend of online communication

An API acts like a service corridor between websites and other internet services such as apps. Just like your computer has a keyboard and mouse at the front, then a series of sockets at the back, APIs are the backend that different websites and services use to communicate with each other.

An example of an API in action is the weather updates on your phone, where your device interacts with the API of some meteorology service to request temperatures or wind speeds.

Access to social media APIs has also been essential for news companies. They use APIs to publish stories across their various platforms at key intervals during the day.

For instance, The Conversation might publish a story on X, Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky all at the same time through an automated process that uses APIs.

Journalists and researchers can also use APIs to download collections of posts to identify and analyse bot attacks and misinformation, study communities and understand political polarisation.

My own research on political behaviours online is one such example of a study that relied on this data access.

APIpocalypse

API restrictions – such as those suddenly imposed by X before the US presidential election – limit what goes in and what comes out of a platform, including news.

Making matters worse, Meta has removed the News Tab on Facebook, replaced the CrowdTangle analytics tool with another system that is less open to journalists and academics, and appears to have reduced the recommendation of news on the platforms.

X also seems to have reduced the reach of posts including links to news sites, starting in 2023.

After once being open and free, Reddit’s APIs are also essentially inaccessible now without expensive commercial licenses.

The net result is that it is getting harder and harder for the public to access high quality, independent and nonpartisan news on social media. It is also getting harder and harder for journalists and researchers to monitor communities and information on social media platforms.

As others have said, we really are living through an “APIpocalypse”.

The exact effect of this on any of the 74 national elections around the world this year is unclear.

And the harder it is to access APIs, the harder it will be to find out.

A public hunger for quality news

Research suggests there has been renewed diversification in the social media sector. This will likely continue with the recent explosion of X clones such as Bluesky in the aftermath of the US presidential election.

News organisations are capitalising on this by expanding their profile on these emerging social media platforms. In addition, they are also focusing more on email newsletters to reach their audience directly.

There is an enormous public hunger for reliable and trustworthy information. We know that globally people value quality, nonpartisan news. In fact, they want more of it.

This should give news media outlets hope. It should also inspire them to rely less on a few monolithic tech companies that have no incentive to provide the public with trustworthy information, and continue investing in new ways to reach their audiences.

The Conversation

Cameron McTernan receives funding from the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council as part of the Global Media and Internet Concentration Project.

ref. Social media platforms are throttling access to news – with far-reaching implications for democracy – https://theconversation.com/social-media-platforms-are-throttling-access-to-news-with-far-reaching-implications-for-democracy-244644

NZ is consulting the public on regulations for puberty blockers – this should be a medical decision not a political one

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rona Carroll, Senior Lecturer, Department of Primary Health Care and General Practice, University of Otago

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The growing politicisation and rise in misinformation about the use of puberty blockers for gender-affirming healthcare has resulted in bans and restrictions internationally.

New Zealand’s government has tasked the Ministry of Health with consulting the public on whether additional safety measures or regulations should be put in place for puberty blockers.

I argue it is inappropriate to open a public consultation on a healthcare issue when disinformation about transgender people has been well documented, especially as there appear to be no measures to prevent malicious or misleading survey responses.

Medical decisions should be guided by scientific or clinical concerns and remain free from political interference. Banning or restricting access to puberty blockers would go against best-practice recommendations from major medical bodies – including the Endocrine Society, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, the American Psychiatric Association and the American Psychological Association – and likely cause harm to young people.

How puberty blockers work

Puberty blockers are medications which can be used to delay the onset of puberty. In gender-affirming healthcare, they may be prescribed when a young person experiences gender incongruence and accompanying distress with their body. Gender incongruence is when a person’s gender and their assigned sex do not match.

By pausing the physical changes of puberty, a young person with gender incongruence can get on with their adolescence. They can be free from the fear of potentially unwanted irreversible changes occurring to their body.

When they are older, they may decide to stop the puberty blocker and let puberty resume as it would have done. The age range for the start of puberty is wide and people who have used puberty blockers will recommence puberty within this range.

Some may choose to take hormone therapy to develop physical changes which match their experienced gender. This step is a separate decision with different healthcare input and consent.

The same medications are used for other health issues including precocious (early) puberty, menstrual disorders and prostate cancer. This has given health professionals decades of experience in using these medications. There are no concerns around the reversibility or safety of these medications when they are used in these other situations.

A young transgender man holding transgender flag.
Puberty blockers are used to delay the onset of puberty for youth experiencing gender incongruence. Some then choose to take hormone therapy to match their experienced gender.
Getty Images

Ethics of clinical trials

The Ministry of Health published an evidence brief last month which found a low risk of physical harm from using puberty blockers. It also highlighted the limitations in the quality of the evidence of benefits.

The highest quality of evidence is a randomised controlled trial, where one group is given an intervention while the other is not. In these trials neither the researchers nor the participants know who is in which group. But puberty blockers result in obvious differences, meaning this is not a feasible research option.

There are other ethical considerations and methodological limitations with designing randomised trials in this context. There is a need for further research, but restricting access to this care to those enrolled in clinical trials would be coercive and unethical. No other area of paediatric medicine is held to this standard.

However, the evidence brief did not consider the harm of not using puberty blockers, the lack of evidence for any alternative treatments or the lack of harm when using these medications in other medical contexts.

Puberty blockers can prevent future distress

Puberty blockers delay the onset of puberty, but don’t necessarily result in a measurable effect at the time they are taken. The main impact is seen when people are older. The physical effects of a puberty that does not match a person’s gender can have serious negative consequences for transgender adults.

In my role as a GP, I regularly hear from transgender adults (who have not had puberty blockers) struggling with distress related to bodily changes which occurred during puberty.

I have met people who don’t speak because their deep voice causes others to make incorrect assumptions about their gender. Some harm themselves or avoid leaving the house because of the distress caused by their breasts. Others seek costly surgical treatments.

This is when the benefits of maintaining equitable access to puberty blockers for those who need them become obvious. People are seeking hormones, surgery and mental health support for changes which could have been prevented by using puberty blockers when they were younger.

The ministry’s position statement recommends that puberty blockers are prescribed by health professionals who have expertise in this area, with input from interdisciplinary colleagues.

In my experience this describes how puberty blockers are currently being prescribed in New Zealand. Clinicians are already cautious in their prescribing. They work with multidisciplinary input to best support the young person and their family. They recognise the importance of mental health and family support for young people.

However, access to this best-practice care varies throughout the country. This should be properly resourced to ensure access to quality care wherever young people live.

We have seen the distress caused by banning gender affirming care overseas. A recent study estimated that anti-transgender laws in the US were linked to an increase in suicide attempts among transgender young people.

The New Zealand government’s intention to explore regulations of puberty blocker prescriptions has not been seen in any other area of healthcare.

Restrictions leading to inequitable access to this care would go against best-practice recommendations. The people who would suffer are young people and their families.

The Conversation

Rona Carroll is affiliated with the Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa.

ref. NZ is consulting the public on regulations for puberty blockers – this should be a medical decision not a political one – https://theconversation.com/nz-is-consulting-the-public-on-regulations-for-puberty-blockers-this-should-be-a-medical-decision-not-a-political-one-245020

The genetic risk of depression is a stronger predictor of heart problems in women than men: new research

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jiayue-Clara Jiang, Postdoctoral Researcher in Human Genomics, The University of Queensland

Bricolage/Shutterstock

Heart disease is the leading cause of death globally in both men and women.

It accounts for one in three deaths for Australian women, yet women with heart disease remain under-studied, under-diagnosed and under-treated.

Meanwhile, depression affects about twice as many women as men. Our recent study indicates women are in double jeopardy, as those with a higher genetic predisposition to depression were also found to have increased heart disease risk. The same pattern is not observed for men.

Here’s what we’re learning and what we need need to investigate.




Read more:
Women are less likely to receive CPR than men. Training on manikins with breasts could help


The brain-heart link

Previous studies have shown people with depression also have a higher risk of developing heart disease.

The cause of this relationship is complex.

For example, some psychiatric medications are known to have adverse effects that lead to weight gain and higher cholesterol levels.

At the same time, depression can lead to lifestyle behaviours such as smoking, poor diet and reduced exercise which can exacerbate the risk of developing heart disease.

Researchers haven’t looked in detail at the shared biological factors and whether they differ in men and women.

We examined genetic links

Our research, led by the University of Queensland’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience, used genomic and health data from about 345,000 people in the United Kingdom to investigate the brain-heart link in females and males separately.

Human genetic studies have previously identified many parts of our DNA that contribute to different diseases. These allow researchers to determine if a person’s genetic makeup puts them at a higher risk of developing a particular disease.

We used study data to calculate each person’s genetic risk of depression. Then we checked whether this risk was associated with a higher risk of developing heart disease in the future.

Our study found women with a higher genetic risk of depression are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease (specifically, coronary artery disease, atrial fibrillation and heart failure).

This link was observed even among women who had never had a diagnosis of depression or other psychiatric disorders, nor reported use of any psychiatric medication. This indicates the increased heart disease risk in women is not simply a result of behavioural changes or medication use following a depression diagnosis.

Interestingly, the same was not observed in men.

What the results mean

The results suggest the same genetic or biological factors that increase the risk of depression may also play a role in heart disease in women.

The study found this sex difference could not be explained by a difference in well-known heart disease risk factors, such as BMI, high blood pressure or smoking.

The risk of heart disease in women is also known to increase after menopause. However, we found a similar link between the genetic risk of depression and the future incidence of heart disease regardless of whether women had undergone menopause or not.

woman pours two capsules into hand
The changes in heart disease risk were linked to genetic risk, not just depression diagnosis or medication.
Fizkes/Shutterstock

Underestimated heart risks in women

Heart disease risk calculators are used by doctors around the world to identify people at high risk of developing heart disease. In Australia, we use the AusCVDRisk calculator.

These risk calculators bring together information on well-known risk factors, such as blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels. Appropriate interventions (lifestyle changes and/or medication) are recommended in people with high risk to reduce the chances of having a heart attack or a stroke.

But studies have shown relying on these traditional risk factors alone tends to underestimate heart disease risk in women. Improving the risk prediction accuracy in women requires the consideration of female-specific risk factors.

Currently, only QRISK3 (used by doctors in the UK) directly incorporates a diagnosis of depression into its risk calculation. However, this calculator considers the effect of a depression diagnosis on heart disease risk to be similar in men and women. Our new paper suggests women’s genetic risk of depression can put them at greater risk.




Read more:
Why women are still being underdiagnosed with heart disease


Calling for more effective screening in women

Further research is needed to understand whether depression risk can help better predict heart disease risk in women. But this study highlights the importance of frequent heart health checks in women with a family history or diagnosis of depression. This is especially true for younger women, a group with a high depression prevalence but traditionally thought to have low heart disease risk.

When it comes to heart disease, women are not just “smaller men”. As such, research focused on understanding heart disease in women is essential for developing tailored approaches.

At the same time, increased awareness around sex differences in heart disease is crucial to encourage more women to prioritise getting their heart health checked.

The Conversation

JCJ is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) IDEAS grant (2000637).

Sonia Shah receives funding from the National Heart Foundation and the National Health and Medical Research Council.

ref. The genetic risk of depression is a stronger predictor of heart problems in women than men: new research – https://theconversation.com/the-genetic-risk-of-depression-is-a-stronger-predictor-of-heart-problems-in-women-than-men-new-research-244162

Australia boasts some of the world’s most stunning beetles. Look out for these 5 beauties this summer

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tanya Latty, Associate Professor, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney

Rainbow stag beetle (Phalacrognathus muelleri) Shutterstock

Beetles are the most diverse group of animals on Earth, accounting for nearly a quarter of all known animal species. Australia is thought to be home to a whooping 30,000 beetle species, and they are crucial to keeping our ecosystems healthy.

Beetles can be distinguished from other insects by their hard, shell-like wing covers called “elytra”. Unlike other insects, beetles hide their soft, thin wings beneath these protective covers when they are not in use.

Summer is a great time to go beetle-watching in Australia. While beetles can be found all year round, many species are more visible and numerous when the weather heats up.

Beetles come in a brilliant range of colours, patterns and textures – even metallic – which makes them especially fun to spot. Here are five beautiful beetles to look out for this summer.

spotted beetle on red flower
Australian beetles come in a brilliant range of colours, patterns and textures. Pictured: the spotted flower chafer (Neorrhina punctatum).
Shutterstock

1. Flower chafers

Although bees get all the glory, beetles are the unsung pollinators of many native plants.

Flower chafers (from the subfamily Cetoniinae) are named after their habit of visiting flowers to feed on nectar and pollen. This makes them important pollinators.

Flower chafer larvae live in rotting wood or leaf litter. There are 146 species in Australia, found in all states and territories..

One of the most common is the fiddler beetle (Eupoecila australasiae), found along Australia’s east coast. It features striking black, green and occasionally yellow markings in a fiddle-shaped pattern.

Female fiddler beetles lay eggs in soil or rotting logs. The larvae burrow through the soil to feed, emerging as adults in the spring.

The fiddler beetle feeds on native flowers such as Angophora, Melaleuca and Leptospermum (tea trees) and may occasionally eat rotting fruit.

Beetle-pollinated flowers are often white or cream, with nectar placed where beetles can readily reach it. The below video shows a native tree on which multiple species are feeding at once.

2. Stag beetles

The larvae of stag beetles (from the family Lucanidae) feed on decaying wood – breaking down tough, fibrous material and returning essential nutrients to the soil.

Adult stag beetles have been described as “beautiful baubles” for their shimmery exoskeletons in shades of gold, green, purple and blue.

Stag beetles are most abundant in Tasmania, New South Wales and Victoria, but are also found in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia.

3. Christmas beetles

In southern and eastern Australia, the festive season is traditionally marked by the arrival of large numbers of iridescent Christmas beetles (Anoplognathus).

Of the 36 species of Christmas beetle, all but one are found exclusively in Australia, making them a truly iconic part of the country’s natural heritage.

Although Christmas beetles were once reliable heralds of summer, their numbers now appear to be declining. A lack of long-term population monitoring makes it challenging to confirm this trend, however.

shiny brown beetle on white flower
Christmas beetle numbers appear to be declining.
Shutterstock

4. Jewel beetles

Jewel beetles (from the family Buprestidae) feature brilliantly coloured, metallic bodies – features thought to deter predators.

Australia is lucky to have 1,200 species of these beautiful living jewels, found all across the continent.

Adult jewel beetles feed on nectar and pollen, while their larvae usually bore through the wood of trees or the roots of plants.

5. Diamond weevils

The diamond weevil (Chrysolopus spectabilis) is the crown jewel of Australia’s weevil family. It comes in a startling array of colours, from blue to yellow and green.

Diamond weevils are found commonly along the east coast of Australia, eating plant material such as Acacia leaves.

The species is one of Australia’s first insects named by European scientists. It was first collected in 1770 by naturalist Joseph Banks, who landed at Botany Bay with Captain Cook.

here
A diamond weevil taking off to find its next meal.
Shutterstock

Saving our beetles

Despite their ecological importance and phenomenal diversity, beetles are understudied. Scientists are constantly finding new species, such as the adorable fluffy longhorn beetle (Excastra albopilosa) recently discovered in the Gold Coast hinterland.

Unfortunately beetles – like many other insect species – face increasing threats from habitat loss, climate change and the misuse of insecticide.

A few simple actions can help native beetles to thrive.

Planting nectar-rich natives helps provide a reliable food source for flower-feeding beetles. Choose native plants with large, bowl-shaped or flattened flowers which makes the nectar easy for insects to reach. Good examples include the dwarf apple (Angophora hispida), white kunzea (Kunzea ambigua) and rice flower (Ozothamnus diosmifolius).

As a bonus, flowers also attract pest-eating beetles such as ladybirds.

Many beetles rely on decaying leaves and wood for food and shelter. So try to avoid disturbing or removing rotting wood and leaf litter from natural habitats.

Avoid using insecticides in home gardens. Many insecticides commonly used to target pest beetles, such as the invasive Argentinian scarab, indiscriminately kill beneficial ground-dwelling beetle larvae.

And help scientists better understand beetle populations and their conservation needs by uploading beetle sightings to online platforms such as iNaturalist and Canberra Nature Mapr.

Public sightings can have a big impact. Participants in the annual Christmas Beetle Count have rediscovered seven species not seen for decades.

By protecting our valuable – and stunning – Australian beetles, we can ensure they survive for future generations to enjoy.

The Conversation

Tanya Latty receives funding from The Australian Research Council, Saving our Species and AgriFutures Australia. She is affiliated with Invertebrates Australia, The Australian Entomological Society and the Australasian Society for the Study of Animal Behaviour.

James Bickerstaff is affiliated with Invertebrates Australia and The Australian Entomological Society.

ref. Australia boasts some of the world’s most stunning beetles. Look out for these 5 beauties this summer – https://theconversation.com/australia-boasts-some-of-the-worlds-most-stunning-beetles-look-out-for-these-5-beauties-this-summer-244483

Year 4 students just achieved their best ever result in a major maths and science test

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicole Wernert, Senior Research Fellow, Australian Council for Educational Research

DGLImages/Shutterstock

Australian Year 4 students have achieved their best ever result in a major international assessment of maths and science. Year 8 students, who also did the test, held steady.

The results from the 2023 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) were released on Wednesday night.

What is TIMSS?

TIMSS runs every four years and has been going since 1995. In 2023, more than 650,000 students from 64 countries did the test.

It isn’t possible to test every Year 4 or Year 8 student (that would take too long and cost too much) so we take a sample. In Australia, this included 13,912 students from 559 Australian schools.

The test was done completely online. It included traditional test items such as multiple choice and short written responses. There were also interactive items where, for example, students could replicate a science experiment in a series of animated on-screen activities.

Students and schools also did questionnaires to give researchers more information about the context in which they are learning.

TIMSS is one of three international assessments in which Australia participates, along with the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), which looks at Year 4 students’ reading comprehension skills, and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) which looks at 15-year-olds’ skills in maths, science and reading.

This is on top of Australia’s NAPLAN testing of basic literacy and numeracy skills for years 3, 5, 7 and 9.

TIMSS examines biology, chemistry, physics and earth science in the Year 8 science test.
Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock

What has changed?

A lot of the improvement at Year 4 was due to a significant increase in the percentage of very high performing students. These are students who perform at advanced levels for their year level.

In 2023, one in every eight Australian Year 4 students were very high performers in maths and one in every six were very high performers in science.

This contributed to lifting the proportion of students achieving the Australian-set “National Proficient Standard” (where students have to demonstrate more than elementary skills expected at that year level). This has increased by 11 percentage points in Year 4 maths and 12 percentage points in Year 4 science since 1995.

The performance of Year 8 students has not changed significantly since 1995 or since the last test in 2019.

How did we go compared to other countries?

Countries who did the test include the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Finland and Germany but not China or India.

Singapore was the top performing country overall in both subjects and age groups.

Only four countries outperformed Australia in Year 4 science, while seven countries outperformed us in Year 8 science. In maths, eight countries were ahead in Year 8 and 14 in Year 4.

Boys are outperforming girls

At both Year 4 and Year 8, Australian boys had a higher score than Australian girls in both maths and science. The gender gap in Year 4 maths was one of the largest of the participating countries.

Our improvement at Year 4 since 2019 was also stronger for boys than girls. At Year 8, girls’ performance declined in this time.

Across the board, there was a greater proportion of very high performing boys than girls. For example, one in six Year 4 boys were very high performers in maths compared to one in ten girls.

Previous international assessments have shown girls have less confidence than boys in maths. We also know a students’ self-belief is linked to their achievement.

So we’ll be looking at the student questionnaire responses over the coming months to see if there are any gender differences attitudes and beliefs about science and maths.

What does this mean?

It is worth noting COVID lockdowns happened between 2019 and 2023 tests. Despite these challenges, Australian students have managed to either maintain a good result (at Year 8) or improve (at Year 4).

The strength of the improvement at Year 4 in science suggests efforts to promote STEM in early education are beginning to see results.

We might see this flow through to the middle years when TIMSS is next tested in 2027. This is when the Year 4 group from 2023 will be in Year 8.

By 2027, we would also expect to see the effect of the updated Australian Curriculum that began to roll out in 2023. This has a greater focus on mastering key skills in maths. So we would hope to see an improvement in maths achievement at the lower end of the scale, alongside the strong results of our very high performers that we saw in 2023.

Nicole Wernert 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. Year 4 students just achieved their best ever result in a major maths and science test – https://theconversation.com/year-4-students-just-achieved-their-best-ever-result-in-a-major-maths-and-science-test-244400

Donna Nelson’s guilty verdict is not an aberration. Japan has a high criminal conviction rate for a reason

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James C. Fisher, Lecturer, Australian National University

Australian grandmother Donna Nelson was convicted today by a panel of three judges and six jurors of illegally transporting nearly two kilograms of drugs into Japan. She was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment.

As typically occurs when citizens of Western countries face trial in Japan, her case has provoked condemnation of Japan’s so-called “hostage justicesystem – and particularly its 99% conviction rate.

Like all countries, Japan’s criminal justice process has many objectionable features. One is its extremely lengthy pre-trial detention, almost always without bail. Nelson’s ran to nearly two years. This certainly warrants critique, although this period will be discounted from her sentence.

Nelson also alleges poor interpretation during her initial police questioning. It is not clear, however, that even flawless translation would have materially altered how her case was handled.

Her reportedly extensive solitary confinement and restrictions on communication with anyone but her lawyer (for very brief periods, and never during police interrogation) are also problematic features of Japanese criminal investigations. These should be reformed.

However, Australian criticisms around the fairness of Japanese criminal trials – and Nelson’s conviction, in particular – are problematic. They reveal much about the preconceptions of Western audiences.

A high bar for prosecutions

As many experts in Japanese law have previously tried to explain, the high conviction rate in Japan does not necessarily mean trials are unfair.

It’s due to the extreme caution of Japanese prosecutors, who work with very limited resources and face severe professional consequences for “failure” at trial (that is, an acquittal). As a result, prosecutors only send to trial defendants they are certain a court will convict.

If conviction rates are lower in Australia, it is generally because defendants are being indicted on the basis of evidence too weak for Japanese prosecutors to ever dream of sending to court.

There is something to be said for Japan’s approach. Trials are traumatic for defendants, victims and jurors. They are arguably best avoided when justice and rehabilitation can be achieved through less punitive means.

Proving intent

The real question, then, is whether it was wrong to indict Nelson in the first place.

The fact of her drug possession was undisputed. Nelson, however, denied knowingly bringing the drugs into Japan, claiming she was duped as part of a “romance scam”.

The prosecution’s job was to prove Nelson intended to import the drugs. The presence of drugs in someone’s luggage will generally lead a court (in any jurisdiction) to infer such an intention, in effect forcing the defendant to demonstrate things are not how they outwardly appear.

Australian drug law and policy does something similar in treating mere possession of large quantities of drugs as presumptive evidence of an intention to supply to others.

Legal experts acknowledge this inference represents a “compromise” with the presumption of innocence, but one necessary for effective law enforcement. Subjective states of mind are notoriously hard to prove, and circumstantial evidence is often all a court has to go on in such cases.

Nelson’s seemingly impeccable character is not a persuasive argument against drawing this inference. Good people can and do break the law in uncharacteristic and irrational ways. Particularly if – as Nelson asserts — they have been manipulated by a skilled criminal operator.

Nelson’s lawyers complained the authorities seemed more intent on reiterating her guilt than investigating the man she alleges deceived her. But the inevitable priority for law enforcement everywhere is to indict the person caught red-handed with a suitcase full of drugs. They won’t generally expend their limited investigative resources on substantiating the person’s explanation for why things are not as they seem.

Smuggling enterprises survive precisely because their operatives are highly skilled at vanishing without a trace when things go south. This leaves the carrier to take the fall.

A potential diplomatic intervention

The legal difficulties in these kinds of cases explain why intervention generally comes through diplomatic efforts. We have seen this recently in the negotiations over potentially transferring the surviving “Bali Nine” members from Indonesian to Australian detention.

But the Australian authorities are unlikely to compromise vital relations with Japan by implying disrespect for the integrity of its legal process or the country’s right to strictly punish crimes committed on its territory.

So, any intervention would probably only extend to requests that Nelson’s sentence be served partially in Australia on compassionate grounds. And even this is unlikely before a substantial portion of her sentence has elapsed.

The Japanese criminal process is designed to procure a defendant’s compliance and confession. This leaves it chiefly to prosecutors’ discretion to ensure only the strongest cases are tried and in all probability lead to convictions.

This expectation of a confession sounds egregious, but all systems of criminal justice seek somehow to incentivise defendants — inevitably including some wrongly accused — to confess.

Australia does the same thing by generally imposing harsher sentences on defendants who maintained their innocence at trial than those who pleaded guilty and spared the legal system the expense of a full hearing.

It’s understandable Australians might find Nelson’s conviction upsetting. But it is not clear that someone similarly apprehended in Australia would have a different experience or result.

The Conversation

James C. Fisher 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. Donna Nelson’s guilty verdict is not an aberration. Japan has a high criminal conviction rate for a reason – https://theconversation.com/donna-nelsons-guilty-verdict-is-not-an-aberration-japan-has-a-high-criminal-conviction-rate-for-a-reason-245258

This year, Arab-American political power came to the fore over Gaza

ANALYSIS: By Rami G Khouri

One of the major political developments in the United States that has got little attention in the wake of the Democrats’ astounding loss in the November 5 elections is the success of Arab American political organising.

A new generation of political activists has emerged that has earned representation in unprecedented numbers and impact for the 3.5-million-strong Arab-American community in elected and appointed political offices.

It also put Arab Americans on the electoral map for the first time by launching the Uncommitted movement during the Democratic primaries and making a foreign policy issue — Israel’s genocide in Gaza — a national moral issue.

The Democratic Party underestimated the power of this new generation and the intensity of citizen anger, which cost it dearly in the election.

What happened in the Arab American community is a vintage all-American tale. They, like other communities, started their pursuit of political impact as a low-profile immigrant group who became dynamic citizens after political developments threatened their wellbeing and motivated them to take action.

Arab American mobilisation traces its beginnings to small-scale participation in Jesse Jackson’s 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns for the Democratic Party. Jackson was the first serious presidential candidate to include Arab Americans as Democratic Party convention delegates, part of his Rainbow Coalition of:

“the white, the Hispanic, the Black, the Arab, the Jew, the woman, the Native American, the small farmer, the businessperson, the environmentalist, the peace activist, the young, the old, the lesbian, the gay, and the disabled [who] make up the American quilt”.

His campaign gave momentum to voter registration drives within the Arab American community, which continued in the following three decades.

Impact on outcomes
By 2020, nearly 90 percent of Arab Americans were registered to vote. By 2024, the Arab American voter block — in its expansive coalition with other groups — had grown large enough to impact on outcomes in critical swing states, especially Michigan and Pennsylvania.

The attacks of 9/11 and the subsequent backlash motivated Arab Americans even more to engage in meaningful politics. Many members of the community refused to live in fear, trying to avoid the intimidation and smears that had long kept their parents and grandparents subdued and quiescent politically.

As Omar Kurdi, founder of Arab Americans of Cleveland, told me, “We were no longer silent because we saw the dangers to us of being quiet and politically inactive. We refused to live in fear of politics.

“Since then, we have been proud, confident, and active in public. We no longer accept crumbs, but want our share of the pie, and we understand now how we can work for that.”

As a result, over the past two decades, Arab Americans have entered the public sphere and politics at all levels: from local, city, and county positions to state and federal ones.

Elected officials say they succeeded because their constituents knew and trusted them. Candidates who won state and national congressional seats — like Rashida Tlaib in Michigan — inspired hundreds of younger Arab Americans to enter the political fray.

Successful experiences in city politics educated newcomers on how they could impact decision-making, improve their own lives, and serve the entire community. They mastered locally the basics of politics, one Ohio activist told me, “like lobbying, bringing pressure, protesting, educating the public, achieving consensus, and creating coalitions based on shared values, problems, and goals”.

Coalesced into Uncommitted movement
All of this momentum, built up over the years, coalesced into the Uncommitted movement in 2024. As the Biden administration unconditionally supported Israel to carry out genocidal violence in Palestine and Lebanon, Arab-American activists moved to use their newfound leverage as voters in electoral politics.

They joined like-minded social justice activists from other groups that mainstream political parties had long taken for granted — including Muslim Americans, Blacks, Hispanics, youth, progressive Jews, churches, and unions — and sent a strong message during the primaries that they would not support Biden’s re-election bid unless he changed his position on Gaza.

The campaign hoped that tens of thousands of voters in the primaries would send the Democrats a big message by voting “uncommitted”, but in fact, hundreds of thousands of Democrats did so across half a dozen critical states.

These numbers were enough to send 30 Uncommitted delegates to the Democratic National Convention in August, where they could lobby their colleagues to shape the party’s national platform.

One activist involved in the process told me they convinced 320 of the other 5,000 delegates to support their demand for a party commitment to a Gaza ceasefire and arms embargo on Israel — not enough to change the party position, but enough to prove that working from inside the political system over time could move things in a better direction.

Intergenerational support and motivation were big factors in the success of the Uncommitted movement. Arab American Institute Executive Director Maya Berry, who has been involved in such activities for three decades, told me that Arab Americans were always in political positions, but in small numbers, so they had little impact.

However, they learned how the system works and provided valuable insights when the time came this year to act. She mentioned Abbas Alawiyeh as an example, who co-chairs the Uncommitted National Movement and worked as a congressional staffer for many years.

Defeat hotly debated
The Uncommitted movement’s precise contribution to the Democratic Party’s defeat is hotly debated right now. One activist told me the movement “placed Arab Americans at the centre of Democratic Party politics, led the progressives, helped Harris lose in swing states, and nationally brought attention to Gaza, divestment, and moral issues in ways we had never been able to do previously.”

All this occurs in uncharted territory, with no clarity if Arab Americans can influence both the Democratic and Republican parties who might now compete for their vote.

One Arab-American activist in his 30s added, “We are liberated from the Democrats who took us for granted, and we Arab Americans are now a swing vote officially.”

Other activists I spoke to thought the election experience could set the stage for a larger movement to counter the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC, though that would require conquering the next hurdle of establishing Political Action Committees (PACs) and raising substantial funds.

That is a future possibility.

For now, it is important to recognise that a national-level Arab-American political effort has been born from the fires and devastation of the US-Israeli genocide in Palestine and Lebanon. Whether it can improve the wellbeing of Arab Americans and all Americans will be revealed in the years ahead.

Dr Rami G Khouri is a distinguished fellow at the American University of Beirut and a nonresident senior fellow at the Arab Center Washington. He is a journalist and book author with 50 years of experience covering the Middle East. This article was first published by Al Jazeera.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

What should you do if your child’s school has not done well in NAPLAN this year?

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Holloway, Senior Research DECRA Fellow, Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education, Australian Catholic University

Lubo Ivanko/Shutterstock

NAPLAN 2024 results for individual schools were released on Wednesday.

This follows national and individual student results earlier this year.

This is an opportunity for schools to identify areas for growth or improvement. But while these results can provide valuable insights, it’s important to keep them in perspective.

This is especially the case if you have searched the My School website and seen your child’s school has not performed particularly well overall or in comparison to similar schools.

NAPLAN is not everything

NAPLAN tests students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 in literacy and numeracy. While these skills are obviously important, NAPLAN results are just one of many indicators of a school’s performance.

Keep in mind students benefit and grow from many areas of schooling, many of which cannot be captured by a test.

Achievements in non-tested areas such as arts, sports and community engagement all contribute to a well-rounded education.

Two students write on a white board. One is smiling.
Good schools foster a sense of engagement with learning as well as academic achievement.
Monkey Business Images/ Shutterstock

Avoid comparisons

It is natural to want to compare your school’s results with the one down the road or a friend or relative’s school. However, each school faces its own unique challenges and opportunities.

So try to avoid comparisons. Instead, focus on the school’s progress and improvements over time: have they improved their scores from last year? This might indicate they are using effective teaching strategies.

Also ask if what your student receives from their school is meeting their needs – are they happy to go to school? Are they engaged with learning? Are they exposed to a range of different subjects and activities? Do they have a supportive group of friends?

What else is the school doing?

NAPLAN was designed to assess Australian schooling as a whole. But standardised testing that tests all students on the same content, at the same time, only provides a small picture of how a school is performing.

Other factors to consider are:

  • ongoing efforts to improve teaching quality and efforts that support the unique needs of their students

  • whether adequate resources are available for the types of supports and programs important to your student

  • what kinds of support are provided to students so they keep learning and growing at school.

All of these will differ based on the needs and interests of your student. It might be additional tutoring programs or a robust arts program. It might be a school culture that encourages individuality and creativity.

Young people play musical instruments in an orchestra.
A school that has not performed at the top in NAPLAN may have other extracurricular opportunities.
Malikova Nina/ Shutterstock

What does your school say?

Teachers, who work closely with students every day, can provide helpful context and insights about what the results mean for the school’s goals and priorities.

If you are concerned about what the results mean for your child, start by asking their teacher for advice. You can also ask to speak with the principal for additional guidance.

Check in with your child

This is also an important time to ask your child about their experience with NAPLAN and how they feel about their school’s results. Find out if they are aware of the results or if their friends are talking about it.

Understanding whether they feel happy, confident or worried can help you best support them.

This feedback is also useful for understanding if their needs are being met. Schools should be supportive environments that foster resilience and a positive attitude toward learning .

Look at the big picture

These results are a chance for parents to reflect on the broader aspects of their child’s education, including both academic and extracurricular activities.

Rather than comparing test scores with other schools, consider the diverse opportunities the school offers.

Keep in mind one school that performs better on NAPLAN might not have the same opportunities as another school. Or they might not provide the suitable environment to help your student thrive.

Each family must make decisions about what is best for their student. NAPLAN results should only be one factor in that consideration.

The Conversation

Jessica Holloway has received funding from the Australian Research Council.

ref. What should you do if your child’s school has not done well in NAPLAN this year? – https://theconversation.com/what-should-you-do-if-your-childs-school-has-not-done-well-in-naplan-this-year-245272

Australians still feeling pain in the hip-pocket but there are positive signs of growth ahead

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Bartos, Professor of Economics, University of Canberra

Pintira18/Shutterstock

Australia’s economic growth remains in the slow lane, at only 0.3% for the September quarter, keeping Australia close to recession territory.

However, the national accounts data released on Wednesday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) puts growth slightly higher than the snailish 0.2% recorded the previous quarter.

Although growth is painfully slow, this could well be seen by next year as the turning point when the trend started to move into positive territory.



Slowest growth in 4 years

The annual rate of growth, 0.8% since September 2023, is the slowest since 2020.

Most of it was driven by public-sector spending and investment. The main government spending was for energy rebates, plus social benefits including the National Disability Insurance Scheme and aged care. Public investment included roads, hospitals and imports of defence equipment.

Gross domestic product (GDP) per head of population continues to fall, for the seventh consecutive quarter. Were it not for immigration, Australia’s growth would be going backwards – what many commentators call a per capita recession.



Cost of living still hurting

This means that average Australians’ standard of living, as measured by GDP, continues to decline. Not that GDP is the only thing that matters. GDP is limited – it only measures the dollar value of goods and services produced in Australia.

Thirty-six years ago, feminist economist Marilyn Waring wrote If Women Counted, pointing out that GDP did not measure the value of unpaid work (mostly by women) and nature.

That said, most people would prefer economic growth in their pockets, rather than living standards going backwards. It is why cost-of-living pressures – despite inflation falling – continue to bite. The government will be desperately hoping this statistic turns around before the election.

There is some good news for households in the ABS release. Disposable income rose, due to wages growth and income tax cuts. So households were able to save more, with the saving ratio growing from 2.4% to 3.5%. That is, more Australian families can set money aside for the future. It’s not yet at pre-COVID levels but heading in the right direction.

Productivity drops

Australia’s productivity, as measured by GDP per hour worked, declined by 0.8% over the year to September 2024. This is a worry. The most effective way to lift living standards over the longer term is to improve productivity.

Neither government nor academic economists agree on why our productivity has dropped, and solutions remain elusive. Some of them involve increasing investment in skills and training, and more effective use of capital resources.

On that latter element, there may be relief down the track. The good news is that business investment in machinery, equipment and software remained high. In comments released with Wednesday’s figures, the ABS said:

the last time we saw sustained levels of investment this high was during the mining construction boom between 2012 and 2014.

Other things being equal, more business investment in capital should give rise to higher productivity.

Australia’s slow GDP growth largely reflects high interest rates. By keeping interest rates high, the Reserve Bank of Australia makes it more expensive for businesses to borrow money to hire new staff or buy new equipment.

This puts the brakes on business growth, pulls the economy downwards, and helps control inflation. That is what the Reserve Bank is aiming for. Inflation has indeed fallen, to its lowest rate since the March quarter in 2021.



In that sense the low growth number for September may be good news for borrowers. The RBA won’t be as fearful of cutting interest rates and overheating the economy – there is little chance of that.

The Conversation

Stephen Bartos 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. Australians still feeling pain in the hip-pocket but there are positive signs of growth ahead – https://theconversation.com/australians-still-feeling-pain-in-the-hip-pocket-but-there-are-positive-signs-of-growth-ahead-245150

Climate justice: Action groups livid over Australia’s submission at ICJ

ABC Pacific

Australia’s government is being condemned by climate action groups for discouraging the International Court of Justice (ICJ) from ruling in favour of a court action brought by Vanuatu to determine legal consequences for states that fail to meet fossil reduction commitments.

In its submission before the ICJ at The Hague yesterday, Australia argued that climate action obligations under any legal framework should not extend beyond the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement.

It has prompted a backlash, with Greenpeace accusing Australia’s government of undermining the court case.

“I’m very disappointed,” said Vepaiamele Trief, a Ni-Van Save the Children Next Generation Youth Ambassador, who is present at The Hague.

“To go to the ICJ and completely go against what we are striving for, is very sad to see.

“As a close neighbour of the Pacific Islands, Australia has a duty to support us.”

RNZ Pacific reports Vanuatu’s special envoy to climate change says their case to the ICJ is based on the argument that those harming the climate are breaking international law.

Special Envoy Ralph Regenvanu told RNZ Morning Report they are not just talking about countries breaking climate law.

Republished from ABC Pacific Beat with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

What’s fair in the fight to keep bank branches open and access to cash alive?

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee Smales, Associate Professor, Finance, The University of Western Australia

On Tuesday, Commonwealth Bank announced it was planning to move customers using one of its legacy accounts to its newer “Smart Access” account.

The catch? That migrated customers would then be charged a $3 “assisted withdrawal fee” whenever they took money out at a bank branch, post office or over the phone.

The move sparked uproar, with politicians on both sides immediately calling for a rethink of the decision.

On Wednesday, they got one, sort of. Commonwealth Bank announced it would pause the account changes for six months for the “10%” of affected individuals it said would be worse off under the change.

The spat has drawn attention to the fight over what’s fair in the effort to keep cash and bank branches alive for the Australians who still rely on them.

Clearly, letting the banks charge their own extra fees is a political non-starter. But the government has some other ideas, including a cash mandate for essentials and a possible new rural services levy to keep branches open.

Why is it so important to keep bank branches open and cash access alive, particularly in the regions? How might a levy work, and what are the alternatives?




Read more:
Businesses will have to accept cash for essentials under government plan


Losing access hurts the regions

Since 2017, more than 2,000 bank branches have closed across Australia. Many of the losses have been in rural areas.

Demographic changes and population decline in rural areas, a shift to digital banking and a continued fall in cash use all mean there is simply far less foot traffic.

Branches themselves are costly to maintain. In addition to rent, wages and security costs, it is expensive to move cash around the country – often prohibitively so for the more remote reaches of Australia.

Rural bank branch closures can have significant social and economic impacts on rural communities, disadvantaging them in comparison to those in urban areas.

Of particular concern are vulnerable groups who may lack reliable transportation options or adequate internet access.

Losing a local banking presence can also have serious impacts on small businesses. Credit access is constrained if credit assessors based in urban areas fail to understand the needs of rural businesses.

Some businesses are highly dependent on cash and need access to branches to manage their cash “float” (used for providing change and covering minor expenses).

Reliable access to cash is also particularly important for businesses based in remote regions who may have unstable network access (needed to operate EFTPOS machines), or in sectors such as tourism.




Read more:
The government wants to keep cash alive for buying essentials. Here’s why it’s such a challenge for businesses


A rural services levy

Last month, it was revealed that Treasury was considering a new levy on Australia’s banks to help fund regional banking.

Under the proposal, the levy paid by each bank would depend on the number of regional branches and ATMs it maintained, relative to its household deposits.

Preliminary estimates reported in the Australian Financial Review suggest the banks with large regional networks would be the biggest beneficiaries of such a scheme, as you’d expect.

This includes Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, estimated to receive about $200 million a year under the proposal. NAB and Rabobank could also be net beneficiaries due to their large agribusiness presence.

Banks with an online-only presence, such as ING and Macquarie, would predictably be among the biggest losers, a group which also includes Commonwealth and Westpac.

It’s estimated these banks could pay individual levies north of $60 million a year. For Westpac, it could be more than $100 million.

Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank signage in Ararat, Victoria
The government’s proposed levy would reward banks for maintaining a regional presence.
Nils Versemann/Shutterstock

Could there be unintended consequences?

Some have expressed concerns that imposing such a penalty on online-only banks would further stifle competition in what is already a noncompetitive sector.

Between them, Australia’s big four banks currently control more than 75% of the mortgage and deposit market.

There’s also a broader risk that bank levies get passed on to customers in the form of higher mortgage rates or lower interest rates on deposits.

Research examining a levy imposed on German banks in 2011 found that on average, regional banks raised their lending rates by around 0.14% in response. That’s equivalent to more than half of the typical 0.25% move in the RBA cash rate.

Lessons from around the world

Australia isn’t the only country struggling with the challenges of regional banking.

Direct levies are rare. However, a variety of other policies focused on regulatory mandates have aimed to provide and maintain access to banking in regional areas.

India has experimented with mandates to maintain branch networks in smaller towns and rural areas.

In the US, the Community Reinvestment Act requires banks to meet the needs of regional communities, otherwise they face limits on expansion.

In Canada and the UK, banks are required to consult with communities before closing branches and must provide alternatives, such as mobile banking.

In South Africa, there is a combination of mandated services in remote areas and incentives that see banks earning points under a formal economic inclusion and empowerment framework.

Leaning on the post office

Across several countries, the post office has played a crucial role in providing basic banking services, similar to the Bank@Post program run by Australia Post.

Suburban business retail strip with Australia Post signage
Australia Post’s Bank@Post program is already being used to address some of the shortfall in regional access to banking services.
Rusty Todaro/Shutterstock

In consultation with communities, expanding the Bank@Post program could be one of the most viable ways to support regional banking into the future.

Expanding banking services could further offer a “win-win” for Australia Post. Its own branches are also dealing with lower foot-traffic as fewer letters are sent.

The UK’s banking hub system, in which major banks are members of a not-for-profit company and operate through the Post Office, offers one possible framework for such an expansion.

The Conversation

Lee Smales 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. What’s fair in the fight to keep bank branches open and access to cash alive? – https://theconversation.com/whats-fair-in-the-fight-to-keep-bank-branches-open-and-access-to-cash-alive-245161

Why does grass make my skin itch?

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deryn Lee Thompson, Lecturer in Nursing, University of South Australia

Daniyar Aibekov/Shutterstock

So, you’ve enjoyed a picnic in the sunshine. Or you’ve sat on the grass for a twilight concert. But you’ve come away with itchy and scratchy skin.

Could you have an allergy to grass? Or is something else going on?

Grass has tiny hairs

One possible reason we get a rash is the physical structure of grass itself.

Blades of grass are covered in tiny “hairs” (called trichomes), which you can view under a microscope.

These help protect the grass from being eaten by insects or animals, damaged by ultraviolet rays or losing too much water.

Trichomes can also cause tiny scratches to the skin and the skin reacts by becoming red and may feel itchy.

Close up of a green grass blade with drops of dew.
Blades of grass have tiny hairs which may irritate the skin.
Syawal art/Shutterstock

Some species of grass are also firmer or stiffer so may feel more “scratchy” when people sit on them.

Skin is a complex organ and is linked to the immune system. When irritated, the skin and immune system recognise something is happening and release complex chemicals that can cause redness and itching.

People with dry, red, itchy skin conditions often find their skin is extra sensitive to grass and other irritants like fertilisers or sprays. For example, if you have eczema (also called dermatitis) your skin looks and feels dry, as your skin barrier is damaged.

Could it be an allergy?

Grass allergy involves aero-allergens, that is, the grass pollen in the air. Symptoms include runny or a stuffy nose, itchy nose and eyes and even itchy ears.

If you have these symptoms allergy specialists may perform a skin prick test to identify particular aero-allergen triggers.

After the allergist takes your detailed history, drops of various allergens are placed on the forearm, along with a positive and negative control. A sterile lancet pricks the skin through the drop. After 15 minutes the test is read, with positive reactions showing a “wheal and flare” response (a lump like a mosquito bite and redness). The allergist then interprets the findings.

But, in the absence of hay fever-like symptoms, dermatologists may perform allergy patch testing to investigate contact allergies (dermatitis) to specific plants, for example Compositae.

In a patch test the dermatologist places a series of small chambers (or sticky dots) on the back, each one containing a different potential allergen. The test takes several days to produce results. If a reaction develops under a test chamber, the dermatologist may confirm allergic contact dermatitis.

But definitive results are tricky as these two allergy tests can’t tell you if your rash is from physical irritation – such as the tiny scratches – rather than an allergy.

How can I avoid it?

The best way to reduce physical irritation problems with grass it to limit contact. This could involve simple things like wearing long sleeves or pants, or sitting on a rug or towel.

Many Australians do have dry skin, but do not often realise how dry it is. So, applying a basic thick moisturiser to the face and body skin can help place a barrier between the grass and the skin. Sunscreen is also recommended when outdoors.

A man's finger touches moisturiser cream in his palm.
Applying moisturiser can create an effective barrier on the skin.
dekazigzag/Shutterstock

For people who have dry, red or itchy skin conditions or those who experience itchiness when sitting on the grass, taking antihistamines a minimum of 30 minutes before you sit on the grass may help lessen the itchiness.

How can I calm my skin?

If you do develop a an irritant rash, here are a few tips. You could try

  • taking an antihistamine

  • rinsing skin with tepid water

  • washing off the potential irritants with a non-soap-based bland body cleanser can be helpful. Then, re-apply a layer of thick, bland, fragrance-free moisturiser.

If none of these measures help, see a pharmacist for advice on using an appropriate strength cortisone cream which may help reduce the symptoms.

Be aware of more serious signs of an allergic reaction. If in addition to red bumps and itchiness, other symptoms such as shortness of breath, cough, wheeze, chest tightness or facial swellings develop while sitting on the grass, people may need urgent medical care.

The Conversation

Deryn Lee Thompson is affiliated with Eczema Support Australia in a voluntary capacity.
Deryn is affiliated with Loreal, Ego Pharmaceuticals and Quality Use of Medicines Alliance having received honorariums for educational talks or advisory work.

ref. Why does grass make my skin itch? – https://theconversation.com/why-does-grass-make-my-skin-itch-243046

South Korea had martial law for 6 hours. Why did this happen and what can we expect now?

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander M. Hynd, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, UNSW Sydney

On Tuesday night, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol sent shockwaves through the world by declaring martial law in the country.

Yoon’s opponents in the National Assembly immediately sought to mass at the legislature to block the decree. This led to a dramatic confrontation with soldiers over control of the building.

However, in the early hours of Wednesday, sufficient numbers of South Korean legislators gained entry to the chamber. Of the 300 members, 190 made it inside, which is far more than the 150 needed for the vote to take place. They unanimously voted down the president’s order at around 1am.

Meanwhile, around the legislature, Yoon’s opponents continued to gather in a tense standoff with military.

By around 4:30am, armed forces had withdrawn and Yoon had publicly conceded that his attempt had failed. The order would be rescinded. It ended a short-lived but nevertheless major constitutional crisis of authority between the president and the National Assembly.

What is martial law?

Martial law suspends key democratic freedoms, giving the military authority to exercise more powers in times of war or major threats to public safety.

A decree by Yoon’s newly empowered martial law commander, Army Chief of Staff General Park An-su, proclaimed:

[…] all political activities, including those related to the National Assembly, regional assemblies, political parties, the forming of political organisations, rallies and protests are banned.

This martial law decree also declared heavy restrictions on press freedom and an end to an ongoing strike by junior South Korean doctors.

However, little immediate attempt was made to implement the decree. As a result, there was widespread reporting of opposition activities in real time.

Why was martial law declared?

Yoon justified the martial law by accusing his domestic political opponents of “anti-state activities plotting rebellion”.

He claims he was
protecting the constitution from “pro North Korean forces”. This is a rhetorical label frequently applied by some South Korean conservatives to their liberal opponents.

The broader context to this decision is months of domestic political battles between the South Korean leader and the opposition-dominated National Assembly.

Yoon cited his opponents’ repeated recent attempts to seek impeachment of key members of his administration, and their blocking of budget legislation, as further justification for martial law.

Who is South Korea’s president?

Yoon was elected with a very narrow majority in 2022. He’s subsequently seen a range of political corruption scandals, further depleting his support.

Recent polling indicates he only holds around 25% approval from the Korean public.

Tensions were particularly high around Yoon’s wife and South Korea’s first lady, Kim Keon-hee, whose behaviour Yoon publicly apologised for in early November after a series of embarrassing scandals involving alleged corruption.

Legacy of authoritarianism

Impeachment is definitely on the cards, particularly if South Koreans turn out in huge numbers over the coming weekend to demand an end to Yoon’s time in office.

Since transition to democratic rule in 1987, South Korea has made considerable progress in democratic consolidation, with a strong and engaged civil society.

At the same time, there is a long record of scandal, impeachment and even alleged criminality among Korea’s democratically elected presidents.

Most recently in 2017, former President Park Geun-hye’s term in office ended early after public protests and impeachment around an influence-peddling scandal.

Park was sentenced to a lengthy prison term for related crimes in 2018. She was pardoned by her successor in 2021.

On one hand, the successful opposition to Yoon’s martial law decree has demonstrated the democratic resilience of South Korea’s institutions and political culture.

Opponents of martial law included the head of Yoon’s conservative People Power Party, Han Dong-hoon, who denounced the president’s decree as “wrong” and promised he would “stop it with the people”.

But for some of Yoon’s opponents, his power grab was an all too familiar reminder of the country’s mid-20th-century legacy of authoritarian, military-led rule.

Where do things go from here?

This is the first time martial law has been declared in South Korea in its modern democratic era.

Immediate economic damage to the country’s currency and markets may bounce back, but the country’s hard-won international reputation as a stable and mature democracy could take a sustained hit.

While the immediate constitutional crisis has now receded, the political crisis remains. Questions have already turned to Yoon’s future.

The main opposition Democratic Party has vowed to initiate a formal impeachment process against the much-weakened president unless he resigns immediately.

The Conversation

Alexander M. Hynd has recently received funding from the Korea Foundation. He is a non-resident fellow at the University of Vienna’s European Centre for North Korean Studies

ref. South Korea had martial law for 6 hours. Why did this happen and what can we expect now? – https://theconversation.com/south-korea-had-martial-law-for-6-hours-why-did-this-happen-and-what-can-we-expect-now-245260

The dispute causing empty shelves at Woolies is a test case for companies using AI and automation on workers

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tom Barnes, Principal Research Fellow, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University

Behind the empty shelves in Woolworths supermarkets across Victoria and New South Wales is a fraught battle between workers and employers that could affect the future of workplaces everywhere.

The dispute has been triggered by stalled enterprise bargaining negotiations between Woolworths and the United Workers Union.

A major factor involves Woolworths introducing a “coaching and productivity framework” to speed up work at distribution centres. This involves surveillance technology and monitoring to direct each worker’s movement and output.

Under this framework, so-called engineered standards or “pick rates” are designed to speed up work on the warehouse floor. Warehouse workers typically wear headsets through which they are told what items to pick and from where, via AI-generated algorithms.

More than 1,500 workers, who are also seeking a large pay increase over three years, have been blockading distribution centres in the two states for just over a fortnight. This is causing stores to run out of toilet paper, meat, dairy and other staples.

Woolworths filed an urgent application with the Fair Work Commission on Tuesday. It wants the blockades lifted, claiming the interruption has cost the business at least A$50 million so far. Coles and independent grocers have reportedly seen an increase in business.

A test case for the changing workplace

Around the world, warehousing has become a test-case for conflict over the role of technology at work. Researchers are pointing to the dangers of an “Amazonian era”. This refers to the growth of the US-based multinational e-commerce company, which critics say is characterised by low-paying jobs with exhausting workloads and high turnover.

Given the high cost of living and falling real wages in Australia, much is at stake in this dispute locally.

Woolworths’ management say they have made their employees a fair offer on wages and conditions as part of enterprise bargaining negotiations.

But the United Workers’ Union says they have tried to reach agreement with the company for more than seven months.

As well as concerns about the framework, they are asking to be paid $38 an hour and for pay equity across the distribution centres. Currently, workers can be paid different rates for similar work at different sites.

Cracking down on ‘non-productive’ practices

When the framework was first introduced in 2023, some workers were warned to “stop all time wasting and non-productive behaviors”. There were reports work intensification would lead to workplace injuries.

A union submission to the recent Australian Competition and Consumer Commission supermarket inquiry argued the framework did not account for “gap times”, which were beyond workers’ control, such as congested aisles or missing items.

Growth of AI in the workplace

The use of AI and wearable technologies to speed up work and monitor employees is becoming more widespread in international logistics.

For critics, the deployment of such technologies represents a form of “Digital Taylorism” in which every aspect of workers’ movements are recorded and analysed.

If you think this is dystopian, consider the radical transformation of workplaces already underway.

The evolution of automation at Woolworths

I spent five years researching the impacts of the closure of Woolworths’ previous main Melbourne warehouse, the Hume distribution centre in the northern suburbs.

In 2015, the company announced Hume would close and about 700 jobs would be lost. As the centre wound down, Woolies opened its new semi-automated replacement warehouse in Dandenong, in Melbourne’s outer southeast. This is central to the current dispute.

The centre has become a model for closing and relocating to new semi-automated warehouses, including upcoming relocations in Sydney and elsewhere.

It is state-of-the-art in warehouse automation, with more than double the product capacity of the old site and a smaller workforce. It uses robot-based control, known as an automated storage and retrieval system in a warehouse with half the number of workers as the old Hume site.

Wages at the Dandenong site are lower than they were at Hume. When the new site opened in 2018, the basic hourly rate was $28, less than the $32 paid at Hume when it finally closed.

The currently depleted Woolworths shelves and the inconvenience this is causing encapsulates a range of issues about work, technology and living standards that will affect many workers for years to come.

Tom Barnes previously received funding from the United Workers Union to conduct research on warehouse workers in Melbourne and Sydney.

ref. The dispute causing empty shelves at Woolies is a test case for companies using AI and automation on workers – https://theconversation.com/the-dispute-causing-empty-shelves-at-woolies-is-a-test-case-for-companies-using-ai-and-automation-on-workers-245144

Why do I get static shocks from everyday objects? Is it my shoes?

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Niusha Shafiabady, Associate Professor in Computational Intelligence, Australian Catholic University

Yupa Watchanakit/Shutterstock

Door handles, taps, playground slides, furry pets… Getting zapped by static electricity is a common experience. But the physics that causes the spark is surprisingly intricate.

If you’re getting zapped often, understanding the causes of static may help you avoid at least some of the shocks.

What is static electricity?

To understand static electricity, we have to peer inside the building blocks of matter: atoms.

Every atom has a heavy nucleus in the centre and several electrons that orbit this nucleus. The nucleus itself contains subatomic particles called protons and neutrons.

All subatomic particles have intrinsic physical properties, such as mass, spin and charge. Charge is what comes into play when we talk about static shocks. It is either positive or negative. Each electron has a negative charge (-1), while each proton has a positive charge (+1).

Opposite charges attract, while like charges repel each other.
Underducker/Shutterstock

In normal conditions, the number of electrons and protons in an atom is equal. This makes the total electric charge of the atom neutral.

But charged particles exert a force on each other, known as electrostatic force. Opposite charges (positive and negative) attract each other, while charges of the same kind repel each other.

Within an atom, electrostatic force is what keeps electrons orbiting the nucleus. The ones farthest away from the nucleus can sometimes escape, leaving the atom positively charged (more protons than electrons). By contrast, other atoms can attract an electron and become negatively charged (more electrons than protons).

This imbalance is what we know as static electricity.

A child in a stripy shirt having a pink balloon rubbed on their head.
Rubbing your hair with a balloon is a great way to demonstrate static electricity.
Yavdat/Shutterstock

From charge to discharge

Now, let’s take two surfaces with a difference in static charge. Say your hand has built up a negative charge by gathering additional electrons. As you reach for a metal object, the electrons hop across, forming a tiny, short-lived electric current.

That current is what’s known as an electrostatic discharge: electrons from a negatively charged object jump to a positively charged one if they’re close enough. The discharge is what you feel as the zap of a static shock.

So why do electrons build up on certain objects, like our own hands or the fur of a cat?

The answer lies with another physical force: friction.

At a microscopic level, even the smoothest surface isn’t perfectly smooth, but rather rough and irregular. When two surfaces slide across each other, all these irregularities cause friction as they “catch” on each other.

In certain materials (for example, copper), a small amount of energy is what makes those electrons jump ship from their atoms. This energy can be supplied by forces such as friction.

So why did the door handle zap me?

The last concept you need to keep in mind is to do with whether materials are good at letting electricity travel through them (conductors), or are good at blocking it (insulators).

The human body is a great conductor of electricity. All you need is some build-up of electrons on your skin from friction, and the next suitable thing you touch will cause a static discharge.

A typical example is if you wear rubber shoes and walk on carpet. The friction between the two materials will cause some of the electrons on the carpet’s surface to transfer to the rubber. Because rubber is an insulator, the additional static charge will be distributed over your body. The next time you touch another conductor – say, something metal – you get a static shock.

You can experience the same effect when taking off a jumper, or brushing your hair. Some dogs and cats may build up static in their fur, and you and your pet can both get a zap when you reach for a pat.

A cat covered in styrofoam peanuts.
Static electricity also causes static cling – cat fur builds up an electrostatic charge, and light, positively charged objects like foam peanuts can easily stick to it.
Sean McGrath/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY

What can I do to prevent static shocks?

Several factors contribute to the frequency and intensity of static shock, including sensitivity, body size, clothing material, temperature and air humidity.

Some people are more sensitive to static shock than others – they just feel it more. Also, a bigger body requires more charge, so smaller people may get zapped more often depending on their clothes, environment and what they touch or the surfaces they walk on.

Dry, cold air also increases the probability of static shock. This is because dry, cold air is a better conductor compared to humid, warm air.

While static shocks aren’t pleasant, they’re usually not harmful. However, they can create nuisance and even damage sensitive electronic devices. A static electricity spark can also ignite flammable gases, so it’s a risk factor for things such as oil and gas transportation.

People who need to avoid static electricity on the job – in computer repairs, for example – may even wear anti-static wrist or waist straps. This is a strip of conductive material connected to a wire on one end, while the other end of the wire is connected to a table leg or something else that transfers the extra electrons to the ground.

There are a few practical tips if you want to reduce static shocks:

  • use a humidifier to increase air humidity in your home

  • keep your skin moisturised to reduce friction between your body and clothes

  • be mindful of what type of sole your shoes have – these have a significant role in building up a static charge. Soles made out of insulating materials like rubber are worse for this than leather, for example.

You can also carry a small metal object in your pocket, like a coin or a key, and touch it to metal surfaces to discharge the electrons on purpose before the static has a chance to zap you.

The Conversation

Niusha Shafiabady 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. Why do I get static shocks from everyday objects? Is it my shoes? – https://theconversation.com/why-do-i-get-static-shocks-from-everyday-objects-is-it-my-shoes-240554

ADHD medications affect children’s appetites. Here’s how to manage this

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Efron, Associate Professor, Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne

LightField Studios/Shutterstock

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) impacts the ability to maintain attention to tasks. Often, it also involves impulsive behaviour – saying or doing things without stopping to think first – as well as hyperactivity.

ADHD is the most common developmental disorder in childhood, affecting 5–8% of children worldwide.

Not all children and adolescents with ADHD need medication, particularly if they are functioning well at school and at home. Children with ADHD can also be supported with behavioural and educational strategies, as well as by working on the associated problems that commonly occur alongside ADHD, such as learning difficulties, emotional problems like anxiety, social challenges and autism spectrum disorder.

However, around four in five children with ADHD are prescribed medication.

One of the most common concerns parents have about ADHD medication is their child’s appetite and weight. So what can families expect? And how can parents optimise their child’s calories and nutrition?

Medication can reduce symptoms

Decades of research shows stimulant medication is the most effective way to reduce the main symptoms of ADHD. It can improve the ability to sustain attention and complete tasks, and reduce impulsive behaviours.

Two stimulants are approved to treat ADHD: methylphenidate (known by brand names such as Ritalin) and dexamphetamine (known by brand names such as Vyvanse). Both come in short- and long-acting forms.

These medicines work well in about 80% of patients and often improve the child’s school performance, relationships and self-image.

But they don’t suit all children. A minority become irritable, withdrawn or socially blunted. They may start finding it’s hard to have fun, for example.

If parents observe these or other negative effects, they can stop the medication. The child will return to their normal self by the next day, and their clinician and parents can consider alternatives.

The most common side effect of stimulant medication is reduced appetite. This happens in most children who take stimulants, for the hours the medication is active. This often means they are not hungry during the school day and have little or no lunch.

Girl looks uninterested at a plate of food
Reduced appetite is the most common side effect of stimulant medicines.
Russamee/Shutterstock

How can you boost your child’s food and nutrition intake?

When starting on stimulants, some children lose weight.

But they usually regain this over time as they get used to a different pattern of eating that includes a similar amount of daily calories. This might include:

  • eating a hearty breakfast before the medication kicks in. Stimulant medications typically take about 30 to 60 minutes to start working (long-acting medications have a slower onset than short acting)

  • eating enjoyable snacks throughout the day, such as muesli bars or chips

  • having a substantial after-school snack. Some kids have a mini meal when they get home from school, and then another main meal at around 7pm.

Nutrition and energy-dense breakfasts or after school snacks could include a full cream milk smoothie with banana, protein powder and peanut or almond butter.

High-calorie powdered food supplements – which are rich in protein and essential vitamins and minerals – in milk are another option. These are available from the chemist or supermarket.

If the child’s ADHD symptoms are only problematic at school, they will only need to take the medication on school days, and not on weekends or school holidays. They can catch up with eating on non-medication days.

Boy walks across grass
Sometimes children can go medication-free on weekends and holidays.
tikcelo/Shutterstock

It’s also important to use the dose that achieves maximal benefit with tolerable side effects. The aim is often to reduce the child’s symptoms to close the levels of children without ADHD.

Using these strategies, most children can maintain a healthy weight while they take stimulant medication.

What if my child is still losing weight?

Occasionally, weight loss is more problematic, and alternate solutions need to be considered.

These might include:

  • using a short-acting medication (these usually last for 3–4 hours) to just cover the mornings. Or adding an afternoon dose, after the child’s appetite has returned and they have eaten lunch

  • trying one of the non-stimulant ADHD medications, such as atomoxetine (Strattera) or guanfacine (Intuniv). These are not usually as effective as the stimulants, but can be helpful to reduce ADHD symptoms. They have their own side effects, but do not suppress appetite

  • using a lower dose of the stimulant (aiming to provide some benefits with fewer side effects) in combination with a non-stimulant medication.

What about children’s height?

The other potential growth side effect of stimulant medication is on children’s height. There is some evidence that if a child takes stimulant medication consistently for many years, particularly in higher doses, they may lose 1–2 cm off their adult height.

However, it would be unusual for ADHD medication to stunt growth so much that a child has to stop taking it. Optimising nutrition is the best way to prevent this.

Mother measures child's height
Children can lose 1–2 cm off their adult height.
interstid/Shutterstock

What else do doctors and parents look out for?

Children and adolescents with ADHD who are treated with medication need to be monitored regularly. They should have appointments with their prescribing doctor (usually a paediatrician) or GP at least every six months to monitor the treatment’s effectiveness and side effects.

Their medical review is likely to include a discussion of academic, social and emotional functioning – sometimes with the aid of questionnaires completed by teachers and parents – and a physical check-up including measurement of height, weight and blood pressure.

Whether or not a child with ADHD takes medication, it’s important in all cases to pay attention to lifestyle factors that can influence their health, including their sleep, nutrition, exercise and use of electronic devices.

The Conversation

Daryl Efron received funding from The Royal Children’s Hospital Research Foundation in 1995 to conduct a research study comparing two stimulants medications to treat ADHD.
In approximately 2003-5 he was an unpaid consultant to two of the companies that were introducing long-acting stimulant medications to the Australian market.

ref. ADHD medications affect children’s appetites. Here’s how to manage this – https://theconversation.com/adhd-medications-affect-childrens-appetites-heres-how-to-manage-this-240786

Ginger, tortie, calico – the mystery gene responsible for orange colour in cat coats has been found

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frank Nicholas, Emeritus Professor of Animal Genetics, University of Sydney

ChrisChips/Shutterstock

Orange and tortoiseshell house cats (torties) have long been an enigma for hair coloration in mammals: now, the genetic basis of their distinctive coat colour has been unveiled.

Orange is an ancient colour variety. Ginger cats are evident in Egyptian tomb artworks and some mummified cats may have been gingers. From Garfield and Puss in Boots to Hermione Granger’s Crookshanks and Goose the Flerken in the Marvel universe, ginger (or orange) cats are everywhere in popular culture today.

Orange isn’t the most typical coat colour in cats. Most cats are non-orange, usually brown or grey tabbies with some pattern of black stripes, swirls or spots, or black or blue solid-coloured cats.

Tortoiseshell cats have a brindling pattern (mixture) of orange and non-orange hairs throughout the coat, with some areas mostly orange or non-orange. Calico cats have distinct patches of orange and non-orange, in addition to extensive regions of white. Gingers are mostly male, while tortoiseshells are typically female.

Now, after more than 110 years, two new studies finally reveal the gene and the variant for orange coat colour.

A tortie cat with amber eyes reclines on a sofa looking at the camera.
Tortoiseshell cats have a brindling pattern in their coats.
David Boutin/Shutterstock

A visionary theory

In 1912, before the XX/XY sex-determining system was discovered in cats, American geneticist Clarence Cook Little proposed a visionary theory to explain how cats inherit orange and non-orange coat colours.

He built on the idea of a “sex-producing factor”, symbolised as X, that was gaining acceptance at that time (mainly from work on sex-determination in insects). He proposed:

  1. let’s suppose female cats have two copies (XX) of the sex-producing factor X, while male cats have just one copy (X—)

  2. let’s also suppose there is something associated with the sex-producing factor X that affects coat colour and exists in two forms: normal (the non-orange form) and variant (the orange form).

This theory predicts that tortoiseshell cats have one of each form of the X factor, in which case they must be XX, and therefore must be female. Because males have only one X factor, they will be either orange or non-orange, but never tortoiseshell.

Little’s theory also explains the common observation that ginger cats are mostly male. If matings are not arranged on the basis of coat colour, and if we assume, for example, that 20% of male cats are ginger (having just one X factor of the orange form), the proportion of female ginger cats is expected to be much lower, as they need to receive two copies of the orange X factor.

Mathematically this can be calculated as 20% x 20% = 4%, meaning that we would expect only 4% of female cats to be orange.

Eventually, the X factor was revealed as the X chromosome, and the “—” as the Y chromosome.

Tortoiseshell and calico males do sometimes occur, but it’s usually due to an abnormality of the number of sex chromosomes, such as one too many X chromosomes (XXY), which also causes sterility.

A calico cat with a white front lounges on the ground looking at the camera.
Calico cats have white in their coats in addition to patches of orange and non-orange.
Oporty786/Shutterstock

Modern science confirms Little’s visionary theory

Little’s set of assumptions gave rise to predictions that have actually worked in practice for more than 110 years. This is a great example of the power and utility of what might have initially appeared to be an extraordinary theory.

The newly posted, not yet peer-reviewed reports of independent discoveries by a Japanese team and an American team have now found the something that Little proposed to be associated with the sex-producing factor X.

It’s a gene that’s part of the X chromosome. It produces a protein whose name is a bit of a mouthful: RHO GTPase-Activating Protein 36. The official gene symbol ARHGAP36 is not very descriptive, so we will simply call it the Orange gene.

The Orange gene has a known role in hair follicle development, but scientists didn’t previously know it is also involved in pigment production. This means that a new pathway for pigment production has been discovered, opening the way for exciting and important research into a basic biological process.

A wide-eyed ginger tabby looks at the camera.
Ginger cats are mostly male.
Ivan Lopatin/Unsplash

A curious bit of deleted DNA

The other important discovery by these research teams is that the orange form proposed by Little is a large DNA deletion (loss of genetic material) of part of the Orange gene, and the non-orange form is the unchanged or “wild-type” version of that same gene.

While the deletion does not appear to change the protein that is produced by the gene, it does seem to impact when and where the protein is produced. Both discovery teams showed the Orange gene is persistently switched on in orange areas but is mostly switched off in non-orange areas of a cat’s coat.

Even though much remains to be discovered, ginger cats and their owners around the world can rejoice – the genetic basis of their distinctive coat colour has finally been worked out, more than 110 years after it was first proposed.

The Conversation

Frank Nicholas is a joint beneficiary of funding from the Ronald Bruce Anstee bequest to the University of Sydney, for the support of the Anstee Hub for Inherited Disorders in Animals (AHIDA) and for Online Mendelian Inheritance in Animals (OMIA).

Imke Tammen has received funding from various funding bodies for the investigation of inherited diseases in livestock; and is a joint beneficiary of funding from the Ronald Bruce Anstee bequest to the Sydney School of Veterinary Science for the Anstee Hub for Inherited Diseases in Animals (AHIDA) and for Online Mendelian Inheritance in Animals (OMIA).

Leslie A. Lyons has previously received funding from commercial genetic testing laboratories to support other studies not associated with this study.

ref. Ginger, tortie, calico – the mystery gene responsible for orange colour in cat coats has been found – https://theconversation.com/ginger-tortie-calico-the-mystery-gene-responsible-for-orange-colour-in-cat-coats-has-been-found-244934

Vanuatu’s landmark case at ICJ seeks to hold polluting nations responsible for climate change

RNZ Pacific

Vanuatu’s special envoy to climate change says their case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is based on the argument that those harming the climate are breaking international law.

The case seeks an advisory opinion from the court on the legal responsibilities of countries in relation to climate change, and dozens of countries are making oral submissions.

Hearings started in The Hague with Vanuatu — the Pacific island nation that initiated the effort to obtain a legal opinion — yesterday.

Vanuatu’s Special Envoy for Climate Change and Environment  Ralph Regenvanu told RNZ Morning Report they are not just talking about countries breaking climate law.

He outlined their argument as: “This conduct — to do emissions which cause harm to the climate system, which harms other countries — is in fact a breach of international law, is unlawful, and the countries who do that should face legal consequences.”

He said they were wanting a line in the sand, even though any ruling from the court will be non-binding.

“We’re hoping for a new benchmark in international law which basically says if you pollute with cumulative global greenhouse gas emissions, you cause climate change, then you are in breach of international law,” he said.

“I think it will help clarify, for us, the UNFCCC (UN Framework Convention on Climate Change) process negotiations for example.”

Regenvanu said COP29 in Baku was frustrating, with high-emitting states still doing fossil fuel production and the development of new oil and coal fields.

He said a ruling from the ICJ, though non-binding, will clearly say that “international law says you cannot do this”.

“So at least we’ll have something, sort of a line in the sand.”

Oral submissions to the court are expected to take two weeks.

Another Pacific climate change activist says at the moment there are no consequences for countries failing to meet their climate goals.

Pacific Community (SPC) director of climate change Coral Pasisi said a strong legal opinion from the ICJ might be able to hold polluting countries accountable for failing to reach their targets.

The court will decide on two questions:

  • What are the obligations of states under international law to protect the climate and environment from greenhouse gas emissions?
  • What are the legal consequences for states that have caused significant harm to the climate and environment?

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Trademarks that will never be used can be ‘bad faith’ business – a UK case has lessons for NZ and Australia

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Batty, Associate Professor, Business School, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

According to New Zealand’s Trademarks Register, the name Red Bull has been registered for everything from “varnishes” to “sausage machines”. And, of course, energy drinks.

All have been registered by the maker of the eponymous energy drink, but this doesn’t necessarily mean Red Bull will be branching out into new products.

One of the purposes of trademark law is to protect names, words and logos so that when consumers see a product they know where it has come from.

Yet in most trademark registration systems around the world – including in New Zealand and Australia – you can acquire property rights in relation to a trademark simply by filing an application for the nominated goods or services (known as the “specification”).

You don’t have to have actually used the trademark on your product or service to apply – you just have to be the first to register it. As a result, some businesses may register their trademarks for a wide range of products or services to claim broad property rights. This prevents other companies from taking advantage of their brand.

Such “registration-based” systems can be contrasted with “use-based” systems. The prime example of the latter is the United States, where a mark will only be registered once an applicant proves they have used it for the goods or services in the specification.

The main benefit of a “registration-based” system is you are provided with some assurance that your trademark will be protected before you go to the trouble and expense of marketing your product or service.

Once you have marketed it, the hope is consumers will indeed come to recognise your product or service because of its trademark.

The downside of such a system, though, is that brand owners can potentially register trademarks for goods or services they will never use their marks for, and in which they have no real commercial interest.

A recent court ruling in the United Kingdom puts the spotlight on such filing practices in registration-based trademark systems, and how a better understanding of “bad faith” might curb such practices.

Sky Ltd vs SkyKick

A prohibition on filing trademarks in bad faith is one mechanism used to prevent abuse of “registration-based” trademark systems – present both in New Zealand’s and Australia’s trademark legislation.

The UK Supreme Court recently considered how “bad faith” ought to be interpreted. As well as being a “wakeup call” for some UK trademark owners with wide and commercially unrealistic specifications (the description of what a company may trade in), this decision is likely to influence the shape of the law in New Zealand and Australia.

In 2016, UK-based media companies Sky Ltd and Sky International AG (Sky) began trademark infringement proceedings against IT company SkyKick for use of the mark “SkyKick” in relation to the provision of various cloud-based products.

SkyKick responded by claiming Sky had filed its trademarks in bad faith and they should be cancelled. SkyKick’s arguments centred on the breadth of Sky’s specifications, its use of overly broad categories such as “computer software”, and its enforcement strategy.

One of Sky’s marks, for example, had a specification that ran to more than 8,000 words, and covered goods such as “bleaching preparations” and “whips”.

The High Court concluded Sky’s intention was to acquire trademarks as a legal weapon to use against third parties. This meant the trademark applications had been partially filed in bad faith.

The High Court finding was eventually overturned by the UK’s Court of Appeal. But the Supreme Court upheld the High Court decision.

In November, the Supreme Court confirmed it can be an abuse of the trademark system – and therefore bad faith – to file an application to register a trademark for goods or services for a purpose other than that contemplated by trademark law, and where the person had no intention to use the trademark as a badge of origin.

In this case, Sky had obtained registrations for a very wide range of goods and services without providing a plausible commercial rationale, and was prepared to enforce these marks against other traders.

Protecting against bad faith

Admittedly, New Zealand’s Trade Marks Act 2002 has additional mechanisms to prevent abuse of the registration system compared with the law in the UK.

The act allows the intellectual property office to question the justification of a specification, and third parties to challenge whether an applicant has a genuine intention to use a trademark, for example.

That said, the SkyKick judgement has the potential to trigger more scrutiny of trademark filing practices in all registration-based systems. New Zealand courts already seem open to interpreting bad faith in line with the purposes of trademark law.

In a case in the New Zealand High Court, Planet Fitness Ltd v PFIP International, it was alleged a business had filed for the trademark “Planet Fitness” to prevent the expansion of a global gym chain into New Zealand, rather than to use the mark itself.

The High Court found the application was made in bad faith because the applicant was pursuing aims unrelated to protecting a mark intended to be used to communicate origin in the marketplace.

This approach to finding whether a registration was made in bad faith may mean the days of registering trademarks for every good or service under the sun, for purposes unrelated to use in the marketplace, are numbered.

The Conversation

Rob Batty 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. Trademarks that will never be used can be ‘bad faith’ business – a UK case has lessons for NZ and Australia – https://theconversation.com/trademarks-that-will-never-be-used-can-be-bad-faith-business-a-uk-case-has-lessons-for-nz-and-australia-244929

‘Anonymous’ voting software used by some of Australia’s biggest companies is flawed, new investigation reveals

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Priya Dev, Lecturer, Research School of Finance, Actuarial Studies & Statistics, Australian National University

FOTOGRIN/Shutterstock

Secret ballots have long been fundamental to democracy, ensuring the integrity of elections in both government and corporate settings. Traditionally, votes are cast on physical paper, creating a clear separation between the voter’s identity and their choice. This anonymity protects individuals from vote-buying, intimidation or retaliation.

But what happens when the system moves online? Recently the Australian National University opted for an online ballot to decide a contentious vote that could significantly impact staff pay. Staff were assured their vote would be anonymous.

The online voting system used by the university is provided by a company called CorpVote, which says “all votes submitted through our secret ballot process are guaranteed to be anonymous”. The system is also used by some of Australia’s largest organisations, including Woolworths, Coles, Telstra, Westpac, BHP, Bunnings, the Australian Federal Police, the Department of Home Affairs, the Fair Work Commission and the ABC.

We decided to investigate whether the claims about voter anonymity were accurate – and made some troubling discoveries.

A three-step process

The CorpVote website claims:

The only way that a response in any of our ballot or election processes can be identified as coming from you is if you disclose this information yourself.

The CorpVote voting process has three steps.

First, each voter receives a unique “voter access code”, similar to a single-use pass code. The voter enters this code on the CorpVote website, along with their employee number. The code and employee number are sent to a CorpVote server to verify the voter’s identity.

Second, once CorpVote verifies a voter’s identity, an online ballot is displayed on the website.

Third, the voter casts their vote on the online ballot. The vote, along with the voter’s unique code, is then sent to the CorpVote server.

Australian National University sign on a wall in Canberra on a cloudy day.
The Australian National University recently held an online ballot using CorpVote’s e-voting software.
Cromo Digital/Shutterstock

A flawed system

The “voter access code” is the connective link that allows an observer of this voting process to connect each vote to each voter’s employee number. At the university, the unique “voter access codes” were also sent to employee email addresses, automatically linking each “voter access code” to each person.

A well-designed voting system makes it difficult to link votes to voters, even in the face of collusion by multiple parties. Some e-voting systems use sophisticated cryptography such as homomorphic encryption or verifiable mixing to break the link between a person’s identity and their vote. However, there are still compelling reasons why e-voting should not be used in government elections. For example, it carries a risk of electoral fraud or error because it makes it difficult to verify each person’s vote is accurately recorded.

Nevertheless, e-voting has been used in state and territory elections, in addition to corporate elections. E-voting is often adopted by organisations for the convenience of allowing stakeholders to cast their votes remotely.

In the case of CorpVote, we did not have direct access to its systems. Instead, we asked volunteers to examine the network activity – how their vote data travels online – while votes were being cast during the Australian National University’s election.

Using freely available developer tools in their web browsers, volunteers recorded the three-step process we previously described.

Who can observe or access the vote data?

Anyone with administrator access to the CorpVote server can inspect or alter
the voting data. Additionally, third-party internet proxy servers used by CorpVote could also inspect or alter the data as it transits to the server.

The system relies on “transport layer security” encryption – a standard internet security measure designed to protect data as it moves across the web. While this effectively secures the connection between the user and the server, it does not protect the data once it arrives at the server.

An attacker with unauthorised access to any of these systems could exploit this flawed design, enabling data tampering or leaks.

Some systems, such as iVote, used during the New South Wales state election, add an additional layer of encryption that the server cannot remove.

This ensures that when the server decrypts the incoming network traffic, it only reveals an encrypted vote. This is similar to how secure messaging apps such as WhatsApp or Signal protect your messages from being read by their servers.

While encryption does not prevent tampering, it ensures those with server access cannot read the votes.

CorpVote strongly rejected our results, telling The Conversation the investigation was “based on several incorrect assumptions” because we did “not have technical access to [CorpVote’s] systems, policy frameworks, or cybersecurity posture”.

A spokesperson for the Australian National University declined to comment, saying any questions about CorpVote’s systems should be directed to CorpVote.

A significant impact

Corporate elections have a significant impact on economies, industries and millions of lives.

In Australia, for example, one in three workers can vote in elections that shape their employment conditions, such as enterprise agreement ballots. As happened recently at the Australian National University, workers often cast their ballot through the CorpVote system.

Meanwhile, about one in three Australians is an investor in a publicly listed company, giving them a direct vote on decisions that influence corporate futures and the value of their investments. For example, shareholders vote to elect directors to the boards of companies such as Woolworths and Coles.

The outcome of such elections can impact how these companies are governed, ultimately influencing how much we pay for groceries at the counter.

Top of a building featuring the ABC symbol against a blue sky.
CorpVote’s system is also used by some of Australia’s most influential organisations, such as the ABC.
Adam Calaitzis/Shutterstock

Rigorous scrutiny of e-voting systems is needed

Since 2014, employees of the ABC and members of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union have raised privacy concerns about the CorpVote process.

At the core of their unease is the requirement for voters to provide sensitive personal information, such as payroll numbers and birth dates, to verify their identity in the e-voting system.

Our investigation adds to these concerns.

Trust in institutions is already declining in both corporate and government settings. If people think their votes can be traced — such as their boss knowing how they voted — they might not vote at all. Worse, they might not vote honestly. This would lead to unfair outcomes and make others doubt the results.

Organisations and individuals must adopt a “verify, don’t trust” philosophy when voting online, even in corporate settings. This approach demands rigorous scrutiny of e-voting systems, no matter their reputation or assurances.

The Conversation

Vanessa Teague has received consulting money from The Swiss Federal Chancellery and a number of Australian public-sector organisations, for work related to security and privacy, including for e-voting. She is the CEO of Thinking Cybersecurity and chairperson of Democracy Developers, which makes open-source software for supporting democracy and has received grant or consulting money from the State of Colorado, Microsoft, and DARPA via Votingworks.

Priya Dev 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. ‘Anonymous’ voting software used by some of Australia’s biggest companies is flawed, new investigation reveals – https://theconversation.com/anonymous-voting-software-used-by-some-of-australias-biggest-companies-is-flawed-new-investigation-reveals-244181

A decade-long study reveals concerning trend of young women committing online sexual offences

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Larissa Christensen, Senior Lecturer in Criminology & Justice, Co-leader of the Sexual Violence Research and Prevention Unit (SVRPU), University of the Sunshine Coast

Pongchart B/Shutterstock

There are many social issues enabled by social media, including sexting, the creation of and access to child sexual abuse material and cyber bullying.

Concerningly, research has found more than one-third of young Australian women (aged 14–17 years) have sent, or have asked or been asked to show or share nude (or nearly nude) images or videos.

What the public might not realise is that young people who take or share videos or images of themselves are unknowingly possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material.

Analysing a decade of data

In our just-published study, we analysed close to 38,000 sexual offences reported to police in one jurisdiction in Australia (Queensland).

Our large dataset involved all recorded sexual assault and related offences over an almost ten-year period. We wanted to explore the prevalence and type of sexual offence cases, along with the characteristics of the perpetrators, including their age and gender.

Consistent with previous research, we found adult males were responsible for the majority of reported sexual offences in our sample. Women accounted for 12.2% of all reported sexual offences across this period.

What was most unexpected was young women (10–17 years) making up the majority of all women-perpetrated sexual offences (84.1%; 3,874 offences), rather than adult women.

In contrast, young males (10–17 years) made up the minority of all male-perpetrated sexual offences (26.2%; 8,703 offences).

We then grouped the offences into four categories:

  • offline child sexual abuse offences (offences against a child victim)

  • offline sexual assault offences (offences against an adult or unspecified age of victim)

  • online assaultive child sexual abuse material offences (included involving a child in making sexual abuse material)

  • online non-assaultive child sexual abuse material offences (included using the internet to procure a child or expose a child to an indecent act).

Our most alarming finding was the high prevalence of young women involved in assaultive child sexual abuse material offences, which was the primary reason this group came to the attention of police.

In fact, when we looked at the likelihood of perpetrating an assaultive child sexual abuse material offence, young women were 20 times more likely than both adult women and adult males, and nearly eight times more likely than young males.

Our finding appears to have uncovered a large concentration of young women engaging in harmful online sexual behaviours and coming to the attention of the criminal justice system.

What we also discovered

We also explored the relationship between perpetrator age, gender, offence type, and the likelihood of police action.

Offences by young women were less likely to result in arrest or going to court compared with any other group (adult women, young males and adult males). Rather, police diversion (such as the person being dealt with by another agency, a restorative justice referral, or given a caution) was the most common outcome.

While these differences may indicate discrepancies in police action for perpetrator gender and age, they are likely due to the circumstances of the case.

So, it may have been that many of these cases involving young women in our study could have involved self-generated material, with these young women taking, and sending, nude pictures of themselves.

In other instances, they may have been sharing explicit images of their peers.

Exploring these interactions was beyond the scope of our study. Further research is urgently needed to investigate why these young women are involved in such a high concentration of these types of offences.

What might curb this behaviour?

We are still learning about young peoples’ online interactions, including those that might come to the attention of police.

Education in the family home is essential. This involves open and honest discussions about online safety.

Online resources are available to help guide parents and caregivers with (sometimes tricky) conversations with young people about online safety. These include materials prepared by the eSafety Commissioner and the National Office for Child Safety.

We also need to continue to focus our efforts on other early intervention strategies.

All young people need to be exposed to education-based programs that help them understand risks and better navigate their social and sexual interactions.

However, it could be argued that education tailored to different behaviour patterns might be helpful to intervene with young people.

For example, educative programs for young women might predominantly focus on the prevention of online harmful sexual behaviours. Whereas, education programs for young males could perhaps centre on harmful sexual behaviours that occur in-person. (Our study found young males mostly perpetrated offline offences.)

But again, we need to first learn more about these young people.

Police are committed in their efforts to help curb this issue, with the use of educative and prevention approaches in cases involving similar-aged young people. Exploring other ways to support police in responding to this issue, while still promoting accountability, may reduce contact with the criminal justice system.

Before we jump to any major conclusions, it is clear further research is needed to understand how our young people interact online and navigate their digital environments.

We need to listen to this population.

What this means is ensuring young people’s voices, experiences and views are at the front and centre of future research.

Doing so will allow us to co-create solutions, reduce these statistics and improve wellbeing and outcomes of young people in Australia.

The Conversation

Larissa Christensen has previously received funding from Queensland Corrective Services and Queensland Police Service (unrelated to the current topic on females). She is affiliated with the Daniel Morcombe Foundation.

Nadine McKillop has previously received funding from Queensland Corrective Services and Queensland Police Service (unrelated to the current topic on females).

Susan Rayment-McHugh has previously received funding from Queensland Corrective Services and Queensland Police Service (unrelated to the current topic on females). She is affiliated with Laurel Place Inc.

Isabelle Hull 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 decade-long study reveals concerning trend of young women committing online sexual offences – https://theconversation.com/a-decade-long-study-reveals-concerning-trend-of-young-women-committing-online-sexual-offences-244040

A new at-home test will soon be available for chlamydia and gonorrhoea. Here’s what to know

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liz Sturgiss, Associate Professor, School of Primary and Allied Health Care, Monash University

fizkes/Shutterstock

Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has recently approved a self-test kit for chlamydia and gonorrhoea for women and other people with a vagina.

Reports indicate these at-home tests will be available in pharmacies from December 13.

So what do we know about this test?

The basics

The test is developed by a Sydney-based company called Touch Biotechnology.

We don’t yet know how much retailers will charge for it, but people will need to pay for the test out-of-pocket (Medicare only subsidises pathology tests done in a lab).

The test is for two of the most common sexually transmitted infections (STIs), chlamydia and gonorrhoea. Both are bacterial infections.

It’s a vaginal test. While it’s possible to contract chlamydia and gonorrhoea in other parts of the body including the throat and rectum, at present there are no self-test kits available in Australia for other sites (or for men and other people without a vagina).

To collect a sample, you insert a swab into the vagina. The next steps are similar to an at-home COVID test, although the sample needs to be mixed with two different solutions, rather than one.

You next place a few drops of the mixed solution into two separate wells on a cassette (one for chlamydia and one for gonorrhoea). Similar to a COVID test, two lines mean you most likely have an infection, and one line means you probably don’t. You can read the result after about 15 minutes.

Detailed instructions will be included with the test kit.

Who should take this test?

Most people who contract chlamydia won’t have any symptoms. But the infection can sometimes cause burning when you pass urine, vaginal discharge, unusual vaginal bleeding and pelvic pain.

Gonorrhoea usually doesn’t cause any symptoms when it’s in the vagina, but it can similarly cause vaginal discharge, bleeding and pain.

All this means you don’t need to have any symptoms to take a test.

If you don’t have symptoms, it’s important not to test too early after exposure. Chlamydia can take 7–14 days from exposure and gonorrhoea can take about 7 days to show up in a test, including lab-based tests. If you had sex without a condom and are worried, taking a test at about one week would be best (if you do have symptoms it’s reasonable to take one sooner).

Most STIs are easy to treat, but when they’re not diagnosed and treated over a long period, they can cause complications. For example, chlamydia can travel up into the uterus and fallopian tubes and cause problems with fertility.

Of course, detecting and treating STIs is also important to reduce their spread. Chlamydia and gonorrhoea infections have been increasing in Australia over the past couple of years.

How accurate is the test?

The TGA has strict criteria about how accurate at-home STI tests need to be. They must have a sensitivity of at least 95%, meaning they correctly identify at least 95% of positive cases.

Touch Biotechnology states the at-home chlamydia and gonorrhoea test has more than 99% sensitivity. However the research underpinning this figure has not been published in a peer-reviewed journal.

In any case, a positive result still needs to be confirmed with a lab-based test. So if you return a positive test, you need to consult a doctor for further testing and advice on treatment.

A woman shakes hands with a doctor.
If you get a positive result on the home test, you’ll need to see a doctor.
Pressmaster/Shutterstock

At-home STI tests are not entirely new

While this represents an exciting innovation in sexual health, at-home testing for STIs is not a completely new thing in Australia. HIV self-tests have been available for purchase in Australian pharmacies since 2021. These tests involve extracting a small amount of blood from your fingertip.

Looking at how HIV home tests have worked can give us clues as to what we might expect from these newer at-home tests for chlamydia and gonorrhoea.

Although most HIV testing is still done in clinics, the availability of self-tests has been shown to increase how often people test for HIV and encourage people who have never tested before to do so.

At-home HIV testing provides an extra level of anonymity compared to attending a clinic. This may be especially important for some populations including younger people, people from culturally and linguistically diverse or migrant communities, and men who have sex with men who identify as straight.

Research suggests most people who get a positive test result on HIV self-tests successfully become linked to the care and treatment they need.

In Australia, it’s also now possible for women and people with a cervix aged 25 and older to collect their own vaginal swab to screen for HPV, which causes cervical cancer. You can take the swab in a clinic or arrange for at-home testing via telehealth.

Some things to consider

When you see a clinician such as a doctor or nurse for a sexual health check-up, they can discuss a range of issues with you including contraception, STIs, vaccinations and other methods of prevention.

At-home tests should not replace discussing your sexual health and wellbeing with a clinician, such as at a GP clinic, sexual health clinic, youth health clinic or other health service.

And remember the at-home test is limited to chlamydia and gonorrhoea only. If you have symptoms that are worrying you, such as pelvic pain, pain during sex or pain with urination, it’s possible you may have another STI, or a different medical issue.

So, if you have symptoms and your at-home test is negative for chlamydia and gonorrhoea, it would be a good idea to get examined to see what else might be going on.

The Conversation

Liz Sturgiss receives funding from the NHMRC, MRFF, RACGP Foundation, Diabetes Australia and VicHealth that is unrelated to this article. She is affiliated with Australian Journal of Primary Health (CSIRO), Australian Prescriber, RACGP, NAPCRG, Guidelines Development Committee for the review and update of the Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Overweight and Obesity in Adults, Adolescents and Children in Australia.

Benjamin Bavinton receives funding unrelated to this article from the NHMRC, Australian Government, state governments, and Gilead Sciences, and has previously received funding from ViiV Healthcare. He has received honoraria and travel from Gilead Sciences and ViiV Healthcare. He is a member of the Australian PrEP Guidelines Panel convened by ASHM. He is a Board Director of community-based organisation, ACON. He has editorial roles with the Journal of the International AIDS Society, AIDS and Behavior, and Sexual Health.

ref. A new at-home test will soon be available for chlamydia and gonorrhoea. Here’s what to know – https://theconversation.com/a-new-at-home-test-will-soon-be-available-for-chlamydia-and-gonorrhoea-heres-what-to-know-244297

Global markets are likely to withstand a Trump-led US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mona Mashhadi Rajabi, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Technology Sydney

As the climate crisis deepens, the need for global action becomes greater than ever. Central to this effort is the goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050, to meet the Paris Agreement to limit global warming.

So far 145 countries, collectively responsible for 90% of emissions, have committed to net zero targets or are actively considering them. But what if countries withdraw from their commitments, as US President-elect Donald Trump appears intent to do?

Our new research examined how net-zero announcements from the United States, United Kingdom and China affected global financial markets. We studied how traders in global markets reacted to these announcements. We found markets responded positively in each case through both a change in the volume of trade and variations in prices.

Overall, our study showed decisive climate action from the US, UK and China increased global momentum toward net zero – so much so that backsliding by the US will not derail the effort.

A series of net zero commitments

In 2019, the UK became the first country to legislate its net zero target.

China, the world’s largest carbon emitter and second-largest economy, made its net zero commitment to the United Nations in 2021. The policy is not yet enshrined into law, but the announcement showed net zero is a priority for China.

The US – the world’s largest economy and the top per capita emitter – also announced its net zero commitment in 2021.

These announcements were significant because each of these nations play dominant roles in the global economy, total carbon emissions and international climate negotiations.

Market reactions to net zero

Our study focused on what’s known in financial economics as “volatility linkages”. They are a way to measure whether price movements in one market are connected to price movements in other markets.

Just think of how news from one country’s stock market might cause ripple effects, like dropping a pebble into a pond. Those ripples could reach another country’s market, affecting prices there too.

If we see this kind of ripple effect, we know information is flowing between markets. In the context of net zero, this means one country’s announcement about reducing emissions can influence investor decisions in other countries.

We studied ten funds traded on the US stock market over nearly a decade, from January 2014 to February 2023. This included nine funds, each representing a country, and one global fund.

Funds are like baskets of stocks that reflect the performance of their respective economies or regions. By looking at how these funds moved together or separately, we explored whether one country’s net zero commitment influenced trading in other countries.

We then focused on how the net zero announcements made by the UK, US and China affected these linkages.

We found the US announcement in 2021 had a strong, positive effect on market linkages. This suggests investors around the world responded positively to the US commitment, viewing it as a significant and reassuring step toward addressing climate change.

When a major economy such as the US makes a strong climate commitment, it can reassure investors worldwide and strengthen ties between markets.

This highlights the crucial role of large economies in driving not only climate action but also market confidence globally. Conversely, without active participation from these key players, global efforts toward net zero may face significant challenges.

The US: a history of climate policy volatility

The trajectory of climate action in the US has been turbulent.

The US signed the Paris Agreement in 2015 under former president Barack Obama, signalling strong leadership in global climate efforts. This progress was reversed during Trump’s first term (2017–21).

Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement, arguing climate action harmed the US economy. The country officially left the agreement in 2020.

Just months later, in January 2021, President Joe Biden rejoined the Paris Agreement and announced a commitment to net zero by 2050 in April 2021.

Our study found fossil fuel companies in the US initially welcomed the government’s 2021 net zero commitment, not because of the emissions reductions required but because of the certainty such announcements bring.

For businesses, policy clarity enables long-term planning and smoother transitions, which reduces the risks associated with sudden regulatory changes.

Even for industries historically opposed to climate action, there is value in stability. The US net zero commitment brought the stability they required to start their transition to a low-carbon economy.

What a Trump presidency means for net zero

Trump’s return to the presidency means concerns about the future of US climate policy are mounting. His opposition to climate action and support for fossil fuels could slow down the nation’s net-zero transition.

Investment in new renewable energy projects in the US is unlikely to increase under his leadership, potentially opening opportunities for other countries to attract such investments. However, projects already underway are expected to continue, limiting the long-term damage.

The US election result also introduces uncertainty, particularly regarding the future of the Inflation Reduction Act, a cornerstone of US clean energy policy.

The act, signed into law in 2022, is unlikely to be repealed, and another Trump presidency is unlikely to entirely derail the global transition.

As shown in our research, the 2021 US net zero announcement has already cascaded through financial markets, influencing investor decisions. Many countries are now important players in the international path to net zero and that good work is not easily undone.

The world has already experienced Trump’s opposition to climate action. The US withdrawal from Paris took place during our study period and has been examined in a separate piece of research, yet to be published. Preliminary analysis shows his actions did not change the world’s effort to reach net zero then, which suggests they are unlikely to this time, either.

The global path to net zero

Achieving net zero will require sustained, coordinated efforts from all nations.

Already, China is rapidly advancing in renewable energy and the European Union has adopted strong emissions reduction targets. What’s more, the economic viability of renewable energy continues to improve.

If other countries maintain their momentum, the world can ensure the commitment to net zero remains a global priority, even without the US on board.

The Conversation

Mona Mashhadi Rajabi receives funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand (AFAANZ), and Business Research Grant from the University of Technology Sydney.

Martina Linnenluecke receives funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC) and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), as well as through a Strategic Research Accelerator grant from the University of Technology Sydney.

Tom Smith receives funding from the Australian Research Council grant DP200102332

ref. Global markets are likely to withstand a Trump-led US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement – https://theconversation.com/global-markets-are-likely-to-withstand-a-trump-led-us-withdrawal-from-the-paris-agreement-244917

Too many Australian students don’t have the basic technology they need for school – here are 5 ways to fix this

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Azadeh Dastyari, Professor of Human Rights Law, Western Sydney University

POP-THAILAND/ Shutterstock

We often assume Australian students are great with technology and have access to a computer, reliable internet and adequate data.

But this is not necessarily the case, despite the importance of technology to our lives.

In our research released today, we surveyed 445 New South Wales school teachers and staff. They told us significant numbers of students are missing out on the basic technology and skills they need for their education.

What is ‘digital inclusion’

Digital inclusion means everyone can access and can use digital technology fairly and equally.

A growing body of research shows digital inequality can mirror social inequality. Marginalised and under-served communities, such as Indigenous peoples, those from lower socioeconomic and non-English speaking backgrounds, are often also digitally excluded.

Students need to have an appropriate device to work on – such as a laptop or computer, fast internet and adequate data. They also need to have the skills to use this technology and technical support if they need it.

International research shows those who do not have proper access to technology cannot fully participate in their schooling and are at risk of falling behind their peers. So, digital exclusion can have serious consequences for children and young people’s education.




Read more:
‘I felt lost’: immigrant parents want more support to help their children go to uni


Our research

Concerns about some students not having access to technology are not new. But the pandemic and online learning highlighted the issue. Although we are now out of lockdown, lack of access to technology remains a problem for many students.

To better understand the situation, in 2023 we surveyed 445 NSW teachers, principals and support staff to gauge their concerns about digital exclusion before, during and after the pandemic. The responses came from primary and high schools in both public and private sectors.

We were particularly interested in Western Sydney due to concerns raised by local service providers. We also gathered responses from other parts of Sydney and regional NSW.

A young child with cat headphones, works on a sheet of paper while looking at a laptop screen.
Covid meant students learning from home were given extra resources. But this hasn’t lasted.
MarielEvkina/Shutterstock

What we found

We found during school closures, extra resources (such as laptops and dongles) were provided to students who needed them. However, much of this support ended after the lockdowns.

With rising costs of living, school staff told us many students now have less access to the technology they need than before the pandemic. This is despite schools increasingly relying on it for learning.

There was a stark divide between responses from teachers in government schools and private schools.

When asked if they believed technology provided by schools for students to take home was adequate, only 46% of government school teachers said yes, compared to 96% of non-government teachers.

There was a also a geographical difference. Only 25% of teachers in Western Sydney thought school provisions were adequate, compared to 36% in regional NSW and 76% in the rest of Sydney.

Not enough resources at home

Many teachers also identified issues with students access to technology outside of school. Asked if students had adequate access to devices for learning at home, only 32% of teachers from Western Sydney said yes, compared to 39% in regional NSW and 59% in the rest of Sydney.

Many students also relied solely on mobile phones to complete their schoolwork at home, even though these devices are not suitable for most educational tasks. This included 37% of students in Western Sydney, 25% in regional NSW and 17% in other parts of Sydney.

Asked if they thought students had adequate technical support at home: 10% of teachers from Western Sydney said yes, compared to 5% in regional NSW and 24% for the rest of Sydney.

School staff also told us very few students from groups we know to be vulnerable to digital exclusion had the technology they needed. Asked if students had sufficient access, could afford and adequately use the technology they needed for their education, they estimated this was the case for:

  • 19% of asylum seeker and refugee students

  • 28% of students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds

  • 30% of Indigenous students

  • 34% of students from non-English speaking backgrounds and “students with physical disabilities”

  • 36% of “students with special needs”.

A young man works on a computer in a library. There is a row of desktop computers beside him.
Teachers said students lacked access to computers both at school and at home.
MonkeyBusinessImages/ Shutterstock

How can we improve digital access for students?

Our research also outlines five ways we can improve students’ access to the technology they need for their education and life beyond school.

1. Do not assume students are digitally included: schools need to recognise many students may not have devices, internet at home or skills when planning lessons and activities

2. Meet students’ digital needs: schools should review “Bring Your Own Device” policies to ensure they don’t disadvantage students. Governments may need to provide more funding so all students have access to the technology they need

3. Teach digital literacy in schools: develop school-specific resources, including materials in different languages and partner with local organisations to help parents support their children’s learning

4. Invest in community infrastructure: provide areas of high need with free and safe public Wi-Fi and create “device banks” to lend equipment to students in need

5. Schools and researchers need to work together to collect better information: so they can better understand the problem and find solutions.

If we allow this level of digital exclusion to persist, the consequences could be serious for individual students, our economy and society. If we make changes now, we can ensure all students have the tools they need to navigate an increasingly digital world.

The Conversation

This research described in this article was a collaboration between the Whitlam Institute, the Centre for Western Sydney and Wester’ly, a grassroots network of community organisations in Western Sydney focused on addressing digital inclusion.

ref. Too many Australian students don’t have the basic technology they need for school – here are 5 ways to fix this – https://theconversation.com/too-many-australian-students-dont-have-the-basic-technology-they-need-for-school-here-are-5-ways-to-fix-this-245035

Greed, Erich von Stroheim’s intense, monumental silent film, turns 100. Its legacy lives on

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Danks, Associate professor in Cinema and Media Studies, RMIT University

Wikimedia Commons

First released in New York on December 4 1924, Erich von Stroheim’s intense, monumental Greed remains more famous for what didn’t end up on screen than what did.

Based on Frank Norris’ 1899 novel McTeague, Greed is a psychologically intense story of the corrupting influence of capital.

Miner John McTeague (Gibson Gowland) journeys from northwestern California to become an (unregistered) dentist in San Francisco. There he courts and marries a local woman, Trina (ZaSu Pitts).

Drawing on a notorious murder of the 1890s, Greed dramatises his downward spiral, ending in “escape” to the forbidding vastness and isolation of Death Valley.

Greed was a financial failure on its initial release and received a mixed critical reception. But it quickly went on to be regarded as one of the great silent films and a key influence on many subsequent filmmakers and film archivists.

Self-made legend

Stroheim was always a larger-than-life figure who actively embellished his own legend.

Erich von Stroheim photographed around 1920.
Wikimedia Commons

Arriving in the United States in his early 20s as a poor immigrant from a Jewish background, he claimed an aristocratic heritage – hence the “von” – and became a star in Hollywood. During World War I, he played an array of sadistic Prussian officers on screen and was touted as the “Man You Love to Hate”.

After working with director D. W. Griffith on films like The Birth of a Nation (1915), Stroheim began his directorial career in 1918. He quickly became notorious for his attention to detail, budgetary extravagance and fondness for excess and perversity.

Although stories about him insisting that soldiers in his 18th or 19th century set dramas must wear period appropriate underwear are almost definitely apocryphal, they pinpoint the extraordinary combination of the realistic and the baroque that marks his work.

After making a series of increasingly ambitious and often financially successful films in the late 1910s and early 1920s, in which he also often starred, Stroheim was contracted by Goldwyn Pictures to make a series of films.

The first of these was Greed.

A novel cinema

Stroheim was given considerable creative freedom on this project as well as some latitude in terms of its escalating budget.

The film’s often gritty and close to contemporary setting, as well as its American subject matter, were something of a departure for Stroheim. But the director plainly found a theme to match his escalating ambition in Norris’ downbeat novel and set about translating it to the screen on an epic and intimate scale.

Although many accounts suggest Stroheim aimed to adapt every full stop and comma of the novel to the screen, the reality is much more nuanced, with many additions also made to the material.

This mammoth production was shot over 198 days in 1923 with approximately 85 hours of footage captured. This was subsequently whittled down to around nine hours, a version shown to a select audience including other filmmakers and studio executives.

This version’s emphasis on expanding out particular incidents, psychologies and interrelationships was supposedly remarkable – even revolutionary. But this was never a version that was going to be commercially released.

Over the next few months various other cuts of the film were made, initially under Stroheim’s supervision, before a significantly shortened and bowdlerised version at just over two hours was released.

Many of the subplots and various characters were removed, diminishing its scope and downplaying German-American film director and producer Ernst Lubitsch’s claim Stroheim was “the only true novelist in films”.

This may seem like a backhanded compliment, but Lubitsch’s claim highlighted the thick detail and thematic ambition of Stroheim’s cinema as well as its profound connection to the work of realist novelists like Norris and Émile Zola.

Lasting legacy

After 100 years, why is Greed still an important film and influence?

Filmmakers such as Christopher Nolan, Jean Renoir, Josef von Sternberg and Sergei Eisenstein have cited it as inspiration.

It’s hard to imagine it wasn’t an important model for Paul Thomas Anderson’s similarly themed There Will Be Blood (2007) and a playful reference for Christoph Waltz’s dentist-turned-bounty-hunter in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained (2012).

It has also long been a catchword for a certain kind of realism or naturalism in cinema.

Stroheim shot most of the film on location including a hellish two months at the height of summer in Death Valley for the film’s brilliant but brutal final stanza.

Greed spent two months filming in Death Valley at the height of summer.
Wikimedia Commons

Although many of the novel’s San Francisco settings were destroyed in the 1906 earthquake, Stroheim still insisted on locating the places where the novel was set and using many of them.

The film remains remarkable for its sense of detail, its psychological intensity and its placement of its characters within actual environments.

But the true lasting legacy of Greed is more closely related to the extreme models of filmmaking it promoted. The “full” version of the film is one of the great “holy grails” for film archivists, even though the excised footage was allegedly destroyed not long after production. It is one of the films first mentioned whenever a filmmaker’s vision or excesses are brought into question.

It is the chief example, along with Orson Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), of the great lost, once complete film but also of the indignities suffered by uncompromising artists in Hollywood.

Stroheim would go on to make a series of other films in the 1920s, some equally vexed, and then forge a varied career as a striking character actor. As an actor, he is best remembered for his dignified appearance in Renoir’s La grande illusion (1937) and the very close-to-the-bone Max von Mayerling in Sunset Blvd. (1950).

But Greed, and all it represents, remains his greatest legacy.

Adrian Danks 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. Greed, Erich von Stroheim’s intense, monumental silent film, turns 100. Its legacy lives on – https://theconversation.com/greed-erich-von-stroheims-intense-monumental-silent-film-turns-100-its-legacy-lives-on-243458

New modelling shows how Trump’s trade tariffs will hurt – and help – New Zealand

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Niven Winchester, Professor of Economics, Auckland University of Technology

Getty Images

Few can doubt Donald Trump’s trade intentions once he takes office next January. In a recent social media post, the US president-elect promised:

On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States.

In a separate post he announced there would be an additional 10% tariff on imports from China. While New Zealand goods are exempt (at this stage), we can expect indirect impacts from a variety of directions.

Because the tariffs will raise the price in the US of goods from targeted countries, New Zealand producers have an opportunity to increase their share of the US market.

Also, facing reduced US demand for their products, producers in targeted countries will increase their supply to New Zealand (and other countries). Both effects will benefit New Zealand.

However, there are downsides, too. The tariffs will decrease GDP in the targeted countries. In turn, this will reduce the amount of money those countries have to spend on New Zealand goods.

And because many imports from targeted countries are used in US supply chains, the price of US goods (including those shipped to New Zealand) will increase.

Simulating the global economy

To evaluate the impacts of the tariffs, I use a global model of production and trade that captures interactions between sectors and countries, and consumer demand. (The model is similar to that used by the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into improving economic resilience.)

The modelling finds tariffs will have minimal aggregate effects on New Zealand, but will significantly affect bilateral trade for some goods.

It’s estimated the tariffs will decrease national income in Canada and Mexico by 4.7% and 7.1% respectively, and income in China by 0.8%.

The impacts of the tariffs are largest in Canada and Mexico because, relative to China, these nations face higher tariffs, and the US accounts for a larger share (more than 75%) of each country’s exports.

The model projects the tariffs will have little impact on New Zealand’s national income, with gains in some areas offset by losses in others.

Black Friday shoppers in California: Trump’s tariffs will open doors for New Zealand exports.
Getty Images

More exports to the US, less to China

There are, however, substantial changes in bilateral trade flows. New Zealand’s yearly merchandise exports to the US are projected to rise by NZ$1.2 billion, as US consumers replace goods from targeted countries with goods produced elsewhere.

About half of that increase in New Zealand exports to the US are agricultural and food products (mainly meat products). The other half are manufactured goods, such as machinery and equipment.

Reduced incomes in targeted economies will reduce New Zealand exports to these countries by a projected $965 million. Dairy products will bear the brunt of this decline.

Most of the decrease in exports is driven by reduced demand in China. This is because China constitutes approximately 25% of New Zealand’s export market, whereas Canada and Mexico collectively account for less than 2%.

New Zealand exports to other countries decrease by $308 million. As targeted countries redirect exports from the US to other markets, New Zealand’s market share reduces as a consequence.

Overall, driven by decreasing exports to China, the value of New Zealand’s total agricultural and food exports falls by $648 million. Conversely, aggregate manufactured exports increase by $280 million.

Reduced imports from the US, more from elsewhere

There are also significant changes in New Zealand imports. As the tariffs increase the price of US goods, New Zealand imports from the US will decline by $353 million.

In contrast, imports from targeted countries increase by $870 million as producers pivot towards non-US markets.

New Zealand imports from other countries decrease by $777 million as these nations direct more exports to the US. Total New Zealand imports decrease by $259 million.

These trade changes may have substantial effects on individual companies and specific communities. But at the economy-wide level, gains in some areas (increased exports to the US and cheaper imports from targeted counties) are offset by losses elsewhere (decreased exports to China and more expensive US imports).

The net result is that the proposed US tariffs will have little aggregate effect on New Zealand.

Bigger challenges

There are at least two changes to the global trading environment that are of greater concern to New Zealand than the recently announced tariffs.

First, if China imposed retaliatory tariffs, as it did when the previous Trump administration imposed tariffs on Chinese goods, it would shrink global GDP and ultimately dampen demand for New Zealand exports.

Second, in the lead-up to the 2024 US election, Trump proposed tariffs of up to 20% on imports from all countries. My model estimates such tariffs would reduce New Zealand exports to the US by two-thirds, and reduce New Zealand GDP and national income by nearly 1%.

Should that happen, there would be challenging trade winds ahead.

The Conversation

Niven Winchester has previously received funding from the Productivity Commission and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to estimate the impacts of potential trade policies. He is affiliated with Motu Economic & Public Policy Research.

ref. New modelling shows how Trump’s trade tariffs will hurt – and help – New Zealand – https://theconversation.com/new-modelling-shows-how-trumps-trade-tariffs-will-hurt-and-help-new-zealand-245128

NZ’s Foreign Minister Peters embarks on three-day visit to New Caledonia

By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk

New Zealand’s Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was expected to arrive in New Caledonia today for a three-day visit.

His schedule in New Caledonia will include meetings with “a wide range of government, political, business and civil society leaders” from December 3-5, Peters’ office confirmed through a spokesperson.

It includes French High Commissioner Louis Le Franc, who has just lifted the curfew in the French territory from yesterday, French Ambassador for the Pacific Véronique Roger-Lacan, New Caledonia’s President Louis Mapou, New Caledonia’s Congress President Veylma Falaéo — who was in New Zealand last week — as well as prominent political leaders such as Emmanuel Tjibaou, newly elected leader of the major pro-independence Union Calédonienne party, and Sonia Backès, leader of Les Loyalistes [pro-France] party and President of New Caledonia’s Southern Province.

Peters is to be hosted at a special meeting of the Congress.

He will also meet leaders of NZ-supported projects in New Caledonia and attend a ceremony to pay homage to New Zealand soldiers who were laid to rest at the NZ World War military cemetery in Bourail, on the west coast of the main island.

Peters’ visit to New Caledonia was initially scheduled in May 2024, but had to be cancelled due to the riots that broke out.

Late in October, a Pacific Islands Forum leaders delegation, consisting of three serving Prime Ministers (Tonga, Cook Island and Fiji) and a minister of foreign affairs (Solomon Islands) travelled to New Caledonia on a fact-finding mission, five months after the riots that caused 13 deaths, injured hundreds, and left damage estimated at up to €2.2 billion (NZ$3.9 billon), leaving the economy on its knees.

High-level talks in Paris
Peters’ visit comes in the immediate footsteps of high-level talks he held last week in Paris with his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot and other ministers, including Minister for Overseas François-Noël Buffet.

During a speech delivered at the French Institute for International Relations (IFRI) on November 27, Peters stressed the importance of French-New Zealand relations, especially as “close neighbours” and encouraged France and New Caledonia to “walk the less travelled path” for New Caledonia’s political future.

“What happens in New Caledonia matters to New Zealand,” he said.

“New Caledonia is New Zealand’s closest neighbour. What happens there matters to New Zealand. They are part of our Pacific family. So, we have fraternal bonds with New Caledonia. As we do with France.”

On November 22, Peters also appointed New Zealand’s new Consul-General based in Nouméa with a jurisdiction for the whole of the French Pacific (New Caledonia, French Polynesia, and Wallis and Futuna).

Based in Nouméa, she is career diplomat Mary Thurston.

New Caledonia mobility scheme
Last week also, a group of 30 young New Caledonians flew to New Zealand as part of a working holiday regional mobility scheme involving employment in the agricultural sector.

The programme, funded by New Caledonia’s government, is based on the notions of “regional integration” and “Pacific cultural insertion”.

It also aims at fostering increased exchanges between New Caledonia and its regional neighbours.

The group of young professionals is this year once again working in the Otago region at a cherry orchard.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Norway halts seabed mining, putting more pressure on NZ to do same

Asia Pacific Report

Norway is stopping the first licensing round for deep sea mining in Arctic waters — and Greenpeace Aotearoa says this is putting pressure on the Luxon government to follow suit.

“This move by Norway to stop the seabed mining in its tracks is a historic win for ocean protection and for the growing movement opposed to the damaging new extractive industry,” said Greenpeace spokesperson Juan Parada.

“This puts the spotlight firmly on the Luxon government to do the same.”

In January 2024, the Norwegian government opened its Arctic waters to deep sea mining across an area equivalent to the size of Italy, but after resistance grew across civil society and the fishing industry, the government has agreed to stop the first licensing round for at least the whole of 2025.

“This decision by Norway puts even more pressure on the Luxon government not to be the first in the world to allow commercial seabed mining to take place in its waters,” Parada said.

“Millions of people across the world are now calling on governments to resist the dire threat of seabed mining to safeguard oceans worldwide and one by one they are listening.

“The Luxon government needs to read the room, listen to the growing opposition and put an end to the Australian-owned mining company Trans-Tasman Resources’ destructive plans to mine the South Taranaki Bight.” says Parada.

Last week, Greenpeace activists, along with representatives of Taranaki iwi Ngāti Ruanui, disrupted the annual general meeting of Manuka Resources, the owners of TTR.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

View from The Hill: Paul Fletcher’s rant against the teals risks insulting voters the Liberals need to win

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

Liberal frontbencher Paul Fletcher got a big shock last election in his Sydney seat of Bradfield. Teal candidate Nicolette Boele pushed the result to preferences, leaving her within striking distance for next year’s poll. She has been further helped by the redistribution.

Now the usually mild-mannered Fletcher, a moderate within the Liberal party, has apparently decided no-holds-barred attack is the best form of defence as he and other Liberals fight the teal wave again. But he’s at risk of alienating and insulting the voters he needs to get on side.

In an address to the Sydney Institute on Monday, Fletcher prosecuted two points. He claimed the teals “are a giant green left con job”. And he maintained a minority government would be bad for the country.

There are arguments both ways about minority government. The case Fletcher makes about the teals, however, is hyperbolic.

The teals, he argues, “are very much in the tradition of front groups established by left-wing political operatives which are designed to lure votes away from the Liberal Party by tricking voters about their bona fides”.

The “look and feel” of the campaigns run by teal candidates, including slogans, t-shirts, and videography – “was extremely slick” and “highly consistent across multiple electorates”.

So too were their key campaign issues – “climate change, an anti-corruption commission and the treatment of women in politics.

“Of course it is not an accident that these issues were deployed across multiple campaigns. They were chosen through expensive polling work across the country.”

Fletcher cites as compelling evidence of the teals being a “green left con job” the fact these community movements appeared in Liberal seats, with no sign of them in Labor electorates.

And evidence the teal campaign was designed to “dupe” Liberal voters was that a third of the successful new teal MPs  – that is, two of six – “was the daughter or niece of a long time Liberal MP, with the same name”.

“The strategy was clear: to appeal to traditional Liberal voters who would never vote Labor but who were disenfranchised with the Coalition.”

“The intention was to get people to think, ‘That nice teal candidate could almost be a Liberal. I’ll vote for her.’”

This was “trickery, backed by big money,” according to Fletcher.

Yes, the teals had some big (Climate 200) money, very big, in some instances; yes, they shared some common campaign approaches, and ran on similar issues. And yes, they pitched to disillusioned Liberal voters.

But none of that amounts to “trickery”. The community candidates push in Liberal seats was a loose movement, candidates “networked”, gaining strength from sharing experience and resources. That’s different from a plot or some sort of conspiracy.

The specific teal geography and issues were substantially a reaction against the performance of the Liberal Party and Scott Morrison. This manifestation of the community candidate movement  also grew off the back of the successful push by Cathy McGowan, a regional “community candidate” elected on a different platform, who dislodged an unpopular Liberal in 2013 in Indi.

Fletcher’s reference to the two successful relatives of one-time Liberal MPs just draws attention to the fact that in other days, those women (Allegra Spender, Kate Chaney) might well have been attracted to the Liberal Party. Of course some voters thought they “could almost be a Liberal”.

Fletcher also claims the teals “exploited” the preferential voting system. If we had first past the post voting none of the teals would have won, he said. Indeed. But if we had had first past the post voting, many Liberals would have lost in many elections. Does he want to change the voting system?

He complains the teals were helped by Labor and Greens supporters voting “tactically”. “Left wing voters saw a chance to unseat a Liberal incumbent and voted in large numbers to do so.” No doubt. But if the Liberals had been a more acceptable alternative, they would have had a stronger primary vote and not been so susceptible to being undermined in heartland seats.

Among other lines of attack, Fletcher says the teals have voted with the Greens a lot in parliament. They’ve both “made little difference”, because it’s not a hung parliament, and “made it easier for Labor to govern”, because there are few times when Labor’s majority is on a knife-edge in divisions in parliament.

He says the teals reduce scrutiny of the government because they are allocated question time slots that cut the number of opposition questions, and  shadow ministers have less opportunity for a run of questions. From my observation, the teals’ questions are often sharper than most of those from the opposition.

Fletcher is on stronger, though much-contested, ground on the issue of majority versus minority government.

He argues minority government “leads to chaotic processes” and makes it “virtually impossible to achieve  substantive reform”.

“The stability of the two party system is a good thing.  It has delivered many benefits to Australia.  Stable majority government is a foundational requirement for achieving any serious reform and advancing our nation’s prosperity.”

Anthony Albanese  would agree with him. But critics would counter that minority government can lead to compromise and better outcomes.

“Majority government is at real risk in Australia – in large measure due to the cynical green left con job perpetrated by the political operatives behind the teal movement and their big money backers,” Fletcher says.

Majority government is at “real risk” at this election. The reason is not because all those voters are “conned” but because they have become increasingly fed  up with sub-optimal performances from the major parties. 

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. View from The Hill: Paul Fletcher’s rant against the teals risks insulting voters the Liberals need to win – https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-paul-fletchers-rant-against-the-teals-risks-insulting-voters-the-liberals-need-to-win-245160

New course planned to help Pacific media professionals counter disinformation

Pacific Media Watch

An Aotearoa New Zealand-based community education provider is preparing a new course aimed to help media professionals in the Pacific region understand and respond to the complex issue of disinformation.

The eight-week course “A Bit Sus (Pacific)”, developed by the Dark Times Academy, will be offered free to journalists, editors, programme directors and others involved in running media organisations across the Pacific, beginning in February 2025.

“Our course will help participants recognise common tactics used by disinformation agents and support them to deploy proven educational and communications techniques including lateral reading and ‘pre-bunking’,” says Dark Times Academy co-founder Mandy Henk.

DARK TIMES ACADEMY

As well as teaching participants how to recognise and respond to disinformation, the course offers an understanding of how technology, including generative AI, influences the spread of disinformation.

The course is an expanded and regionalised adaption of the “A Bit Sus” education programme which was developed by Henk in her former role as CEO of Tohatoha Aotearoa Commons.

“As the Pacific Islands have experienced accelerated growth in digital connectivity over the past few years — thanks to new submarine cable networks and satellite technology — the region has also seen a surge in harmful rumours and disinformation that is increasingly disrupting the ability to share accurate and truthful information across Pacific communities,” Henk says.

“By taking a skills-based approach to countering disinformation, our programme can help to spread the techniques needed to mitigate the risks posed by digital technologies.”

Evidence-based counter disinformation
Henk says delivering evidence-based counter disinformation education to Pacific Island media professionals requires a depth of expertise in both counter-disinformation programming and the range of Pacific cultures and political contexts.

“We are delighted to have several renowned academics advising the programme, including Asia Pacific Media Network’s Dr David Robie, editor of Asia Pacific Report and founder of the Pacific Media Centre, and Professor Chad Briggs from the Asian Institute of Management.

“Their expertise will help us to deliver a world class programme informed by the best evidence available.”

Dark Times Academy’s Mandy Henk . . . “The region has seen a surge in harmful rumours and disinformation that is increasingly disrupting the ability to share accurate and truthful information across Pacific communities.” Image: Newsroom

The programme will be co-taught by Henk, as well as American journalist and counter disinformation expert Brooke Binkowski, and New Zealand-based extremism expert Byron Clark, who is also a co-founder of the Dark Times Academy.

“Countering disinformation and preventing the harm it causes in the Pacific Islands is crucially important to communities who wish to maintain and strengthen existing democratic institutions and expand their reach,” says Clark.

Binkowski says: “With disinformation narratives on the rise globally, this course is a timely and eye-opening look at its existence, its purveyors and their goals, and how to effectively combat it.

“I look forward to sharing what I have learned in my years in the field during this course.”

The course is being offered by Dark Times Academy using funds awarded in a public competitive grant offered by the US Embassy in New Zealand.

While it is funded by the US, it is a completely independent programme overseen by Dark Times Academy and its academic consultants.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

With the world distracted by conflicts elsewhere, the Syrian civil war flares up again

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mehmet Ozalp, Associate Professor in Islamic Studies, Director of The Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation and Executive Member of Public and Contextual Theology, Charles Sturt University

The forgotten Syrian civil war has again flared up with the spectacular capture of Aleppo by opposition forces. A complex set of circumstances created the right time for rebels to strike, plunging Syria into an uncertain future and catching President Bashar al-Assad by surprise.

The Syrian civil war has been largely forgotten in a new world defined by the COVID pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Gaza conflict. Now it is firmly back in the international spotlight.

Status quo before the attack on Aleppo

Let’s remember what was happening in Syria before the recent insurgency.

Russia and Iran had backed the Assad government, and its forces were in firm control of Syria’s largest cities, Aleppo (the industrial hub and Syria’s second-largest city, with a population of 2 million), Damascus, Homs and Latakia, among others.

After the fall of Islamic State (IS) in 2019, IS remnants and just about all jihadist groups and rebels, together with their families, gathered in the northwestern city of Idlib. This doubled its population to 2.7 million, making it Syria’s largest city.

Significantly, Idlib shares a large border with Turkey. Turkey has had a military presence in northeastern Syria and controlled a large territory during three successive military operations in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Largely rural northeastern Syria, as well as the Kurdish and Arab majorities east of the Euphrates River, are controlled by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), who managed to fend off IS with US support. This region includes much of Syria’s oil and wheat production.

The status quo was cemented by a ceasefire agreement brokered by Russia and Turkey in 2020. Now this has been disrupted with a surprise attack on Aleppo by a coalition of rebels and opposition forces.

Why did the insurgents attack Aleppo?

The forces that participated in the Aleppo offensive are a coalition of various rebels and anti-Assad opposition groups centred in Idlib. The biggest block is Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which splintered from Al-Qaeda in 2016.

A second large group is the Syrian National Army (SNA), a rebel group supported by Turkey. There are a multitude of smaller armed groups within the HTS and SNA coalitions.

Pulling together such diverse groups into a coalition needs an facilitator. It seems Turkey has played this role. Taking advantage of the caretaker status of US politics after the elections, Turkey had the opportunity to give the go-ahead to the Aleppo offensive. Outgoing President Joe Biden is politically weak and hardly in a position to pay attention to Syria. President-elect Donald Trump’s previous Syria policy suggests he would not much care who controls Aleppo.

Russian preoccupation with the costly war in Ukraine is another contributing factor. Russia has been struggling to win the war for almost three years, with increasing casualties and cost. Russia is a major supplier of weapons to the Assad government. But just about all Russian military personnel – and most importantly weapons – were concentrated on the Ukraine front.

Russia’s distraction, and weakening support for the Assad government, partly explains the opportunity seized by the HTS and SNA coalitions.

Iran is another important supporter of the Assad government. It has been under increasing pressure from Israel and the US since October 7 for supporting Hamas and other anti-Israel political elements such as Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israel has accused Iran of providing weapons to Hezbollah.

Added to this, Iran has had a series of political setbacks. In May 2024, Iran lost its President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash. In July 2024, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran. Most recently there have been rumours that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, is seriously ill.

Iran’s focus on these factors may have diverted its attention from Syria, potentially weakening its support for the Assad government.

What seems to be the real driving force behind the Aleppo offensive is Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel on October 7. That attack demonstrated how a well-coordinated and unified surprise operation could yield military results against a significantly stronger force.

It is highly likely that opposition groups in Syria used October 7 as a model and rallied to unite disparate groups under one goal: the capture of Aleppo. They took the opportunity caused by the key players in the Syrian conflict being distracted, striking when it was least expected.

What might happen now?

After their spectacular success in capturing Aleppo, the anti-Assad forces’ morale is high. They will cement their hold in Aleppo. Rebels may even continue their offensive to Hama, the next large city south of Idlib.

Turkey will continue to supply the rebels with political support and supplies. Turkey aims to extend its influence in northern Syria through vassal groups of Sunni Muslims, the dominant orientation of Islam in Turkey. Its main objective is to limit and, if possible, reduce regions controlled by Kurdish YPG. Capturing Aleppo from the Assad government is a key step in this objective.

While Kurds are not happy with Turkey’s growing involvement in the Syrian civil war, they may prefer to deal with HTS than the Assad government. Kurdish militia have already announced they are withdrawing from Aleppo and will not contest rebels in the city.

Assad continues to receive vital, albeit weakened, support from Russia and Iran. Domestically, Assad enjoys backing from key constituencies, including the Shiite-Alawite population and secular-minded Syrians who oppose the establishment of a theocratic state. These groups provide Assad with a critical base of support, which reinforces his regime’s resilience in the face of opposition advances.

Assad is expected to intensify efforts to reclaim Aleppo. Even if he ultimately loses the city, he may use the battle as an opportunity to consolidate his hold over other key regions and fortify his power in the territories still under his control.

The Syrian civil war remains unresolved as the country fractures into three zones: Turkey-backed Sunni forces in the north, US-supported Kurdish forces in the northeast, and the Shiite-backed Assad government controlling the west and south.

Each faction, driven by international and local interests, continues to entrench its hold, deepening the divide and complicating prospects for peace.

Mehmet Ozalp is affiliated with Islamic Sciences and research Academy Limited.

ref. With the world distracted by conflicts elsewhere, the Syrian civil war flares up again – https://theconversation.com/with-the-world-distracted-by-conflicts-elsewhere-the-syrian-civil-war-flares-up-again-245029

Politics with Michelle Grattan: Simon Birmingham on Liberal moderates, regrets, and Donald Trump

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

Opposition Senate leader and former senior minister in the Coalition government Simon Birmingham has announced he will quit parliament at the election. Birmingham, one of the few remaining moderates in the Liberals’ ranks, is shadow foreign minister. Now , aged 50, he’s defecting to a (yet to be announced) commercial job.

He joins the podcast to talk about the highs and lows of his time in politics and the Liberal Party, as well as to share his biggest regret and a couple of anecdotes.

So why is he going?

I don’t think I have the same partisan fight in me that I probably had in the early days of my career, and so I think there is an element of recognising that perhaps politics, as is, requires and demands people to take on the fight in our system. And the team deserves people who will take on that fight. I’ve always put the team first, as much as I possibly can, and that requires compromise at all times – and in the end, after a while, you start to tire of the compromise.

So all of that together with yes, a great and exciting opportunity that sets my career up for hopefully the next ten, 20 or longer years of work life. […] and still enables my family to stay in Adelaide, where their careers and education are flourishing.

Speaking about regrets, Birmingham highlights climate change:

I wish we had better landed policies and direction around how Australia responds to climate change. It’s been the thread right throughout my career – of division and politicking. I think the biggest missed opportunity was probably the National Energy Guarantee, which Malcolm Turnbull and Josh Frydenberg came so very close to landing.

It’s actually a mechanism that could have strongly supported a nuclear energy market, for example, as well, and I wish that we had found the way to see that through because I think our policy landscape would be much better today had that been the case.

As a leading moderate within the Liberal Party, Birmingham reflects on the teal movement and where it leaves the moderates:

I think the last election, in particular, not only sent us a clear message of dissatisfaction from more moderately aligned and teal-leaning seats.

But it simultaneously left the party room less well-equipped to respond to those messages because we lost some people who were really about to come into their prime and their own. People like Trent Zimmerman and Tim Wilson and Katie Allen and Dave Sharma [Sharma has since returned to parliament as a senator], they were becoming much stronger and more authoritative voices in the party room, who I have missed greatly in this term and where I think we would have been better placed having them there.

I just hope that coming into the next election where […] we’ve got some great new candidates in different seats who I think are true custodians of the liberal tradition in the Liberal Party, I hope that we can win those seats back and restore some of that balance in the party room.

With the return of Donald Trump, Birmingham recounts his experiences when he was trade minister during the Trump Mark 1 administration:

I remember at [a] dinner with Donald Trump […] we did get into a debate about the trade balance between our countries, and I ultimately reached into some of the documents I had and handed a graph across the table that showed for how long and how significantly the US has had a trade surplus over Australia.

Whilst I don’t think trade relations should be about the binary of surplus v deficit but, in the end, if that’s what’s going to sway his thinking, we’ve got to pitch it in that regard.

He also recalls:

I was scheduled to go from Ottawa through to Washington, DC on my way back to Australia, and Joe Hockey rang me while I was in Ottawa and said, mate your New Zealand counterpart came here on his way to Ottawa and he asked to get the same exemptions to the steel and aluminium tariffs that Australia has got. And Bob Lighthizer, who was Trump’s equivalent of the trade minister, went nuts at the New Zealanders and marched them out of his office saying, ‘you’re not getting it, and Australia never should have either’. And Joe said to me, mate, I think it might be best if you have a family emergency and head back to Australia.  

Lo and behold, I took Joe’s wise advice and counsel, made my way straight back to Australia, making apologies to those in D.C. I was meant to see.

The Conversation

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. Politics with Michelle Grattan: Simon Birmingham on Liberal moderates, regrets, and Donald Trump – https://theconversation.com/politics-with-michelle-grattan-simon-birmingham-on-liberal-moderates-regrets-and-donald-trump-245147

A Global Joint Statement Condemns Cancellation of International Religious Event in South Korea

Source: Shincheonji New Zealand

Gyeonggi Provincial Government’s Sudden Cancellation Raises Concerns of Bias and Violation of Rights

An administrative decision by a South Korean government agency sparked international controversy, raising concerns about religious freedom.

 

On November 27, religious leaders and opinion leaders delivered a joint protest statement to the Government of the Republic of Korea condemning the cancellation of the venue rental on October 29th as an act of biased religious oppression through public power.

Signed by 402 organizations, 758 religious representatives, and 977 individuals across the globe, totalling 1,735 signatories, the statement emphasized the psychological and financial damage caused to the international participants and highlighted the need for accountability.

On October 30 the “Religious Leaders Forum and Graduation Ceremony,” a joint initiative by two prominent religious organizations, was set to take place in Paju, South Korea. The event was expected to draw over 30,000 participants from 78 countries, including 1,000 religious leaders representing Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism.

However, the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization (GTO), a public entity under Gyeonggi Province, abruptly canceled the venue rental at 11am on the morning of the event, when preparations were already underway.

This decision, made without prior notice, has resulted in significant financial damage to the international event and its organizers. As the first clause of Article 20 of the South Korean Constitution states: “All citizens shall enjoy freedom of religion”, they argue that the cancellation constitutes an unconstitutional act of discrimination against a specific religion, violating religious freedom, human rights, and due process of law and an act that divides the people and divides the country into two.

The Joint Protest Statement demands accountability for this situation and calls for an official apology from the Gyeonggi Provincial Government and the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization to both domestic and international religious organizations and the global community.

It also requires the government to take appropriate disciplinary actions against the officials responsible for handling this matter and to strengthen fair and transparent venue reservation procedures and preliminary consultation systems.

Over 88 global leaders including international law experts, religious leaders, education experts, heads of organizations, journalists from around the world sent official documents and protest letters to the Republic of Korea upon hearing the news of the cancellation of the event, expressing shock and disappointment at this administrative action and demanding prompt and appropriate measures.

In particular, international law experts from around the world, including those with experience as prime ministers, vice ministers of justice, chief justices of the Supreme Court, presidents of the Constitutional Court, lawyers, and professors of international law, pointed out that the cancellation of the event on this day was an act that violated the Constitution, and religious leaders expressed concern that it was a biased decision and an anti-peaceful act that infringed on religious freedom.

Since November 15, religious leaders and members of Shincheonji Church of Jesus have held rallies outside the Gyeonggi Provincial Office and Gyeonggi Tourism Organization, condemning the biased cancellation urging the government to address the issue and take measures to prevent recurrence.

Timeline of Events Leading to the Cancellation
● July 22: Notification of approval for the rental from 29th to 31st October by GTO.
● October 2: Full payment of the rental fee.
● October 16: A working-level meeting held to discuss the event’s size, arrangements,
safety plans, and special effects. The GTO reviewed all details and completed a
safety inspection. While Paju City was designated a danger zone due to potential
North Korean provocations, officials assured organizers that this designation would
not impact the event.
● October 23 & 28: Officials confirmed twice that ‘there are no plans to cancel the
rental’.
● October 28: A rally was hosted by ‘SUGICHONG’, a Christian council of capital area
of Korea urging the cancellation of a venue rental.
● October 29: At 11 o’clock on the day of the rental while the event was being set up,
the Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon unilaterally notified the
cancellation, citing security concerns related to recent North Korean actions and
activities by a North Korean defector group. Organizers allege that pressure from
opposing groups, including vested religious interests, influenced the decision.
● October 19-20November 4: Notably, other events in the same area proceeded
without disruption.

See Also

What is Visanne, the endometriosis drug just added to the PBS?

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nial Wheate, Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Macquarie University

Kaspars Grinvest/Shutterstock

The drug Visanne (also known as dienogest) is the first endometriosis treatment to be added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) in 30 years.

Endometriosis is a chronic and often debilitating condition, where tissue similar to that which normally lines the uterus grows in areas just outside the organ. It affects around one in seven Australian women and there is currently no cure.

Why has the government decided to subsidise Visanne? Here’s how this daily tablet works and who it might help.

What is Visanne and how does it work?

Visanne is a synthetic drug from a family of hormones called progestins. It works by reducing the production of another hormone called estradiol.

Estradiol regulates female reproductive cycles and is the primary female sex hormone. But it also promotes the growth of the endometrium – the tissue that lines the uterus.

Limiting estradiol’s production in the body helps to lessen the crippling effects of the condition by curbing the abnormal growth of this tissue.

In a 2023 study, Visanne was shown to be effective in controlling the symptoms of endometriosis. After a year of treatment with a once daily 2 milligram dose of the drug, women experienced an average reduction of endometrium growth by around 26%. This led to a significant reduction in the condition’s effects, particularly in alleviating period pain.

In another 2022 study (funded by the company behind the drug), researchers examined its use in nearly 900 women across six countries. They found more than 90% of them reported a drop in endometriosis-associated pelvic pain with drug treatment.

Are there side effects?

Like all drugs, Visanne has risks and potential side effects.

The most common effects include headache, breast discomfort, hot flushes, acne, hair loss, abdominal and back pain, weight gain, vaginal bleeding and unusual weakness.

In the 2022 study, two out of five patients reported side effects related to Visanne, including vaginal hemorrhage (10.4%), bleeding between periods (metrorrhagia – 7.3%) and skipped periods (amenorrhea – 6.4%).

The intensity of side effects often lessen over time. But it can mean those who decide to take Visanne may be balancing pain relief with a range of other new symptoms.

While some endometriosis treatments are associated with a loss of bone density and an increased risk of osteoporosis later in life, the manufacturer claims the drug has no, or very little, impact on bone mineral density.

How much will it cost?

Previously, the annual cost of Visanne was A$800 to patients. On the PBS, the price of the daily tablets will reduce to around $380 per year, or around $90 for pension and concession card holders.

But the Australian government will more than make up the extra expense through the benefits of increasing accessibility of the drug.

Why has it been added to the PBS?

The primary consideration for listing a drug on the PBS is its cost-effectiveness. This means the drug must provide a significant health benefit when compared with the cost of existing treatments.

A woman works on her laptop in bed.
Endometriosis forces many women to reduce their working hours – or even quit their jobs.
MashaSay/Shutterstock

Endometriosis has been calculated to cost the Australian economy at least $7.8 billion per year.

Half of women who have endometriosis are reported to have to manage their condition at work, with many having to reduce their working hours. A 2021 study by academics at Western Sydney University found one in six women with endometriosis have lost their jobs due to their endometriosis.

Solutions for helping women to remain and be effective in the workforce are essential to Australia closing the gender pay gap.

However the cost of Visanne remains high for many individuals, who will still be paying close to $400 a year to reduce their pain and maintain a high quality of life. And many women may need to continue to take other drugs (such as paracetamol) alongside Visanne, further adding to the cost.

Is Visanne right for you?

Visanne is just one available treatment for endometriosis.

There are other effective and safe treatments that are already listed on the PBS, such as combination oral contraceptives, gonadotrophin-releasing hormone drugs and long-acting implants that slowly release progestogens.

It is important to note for some women who take the drug, Visanne can stop ovulation and also make it more difficult to become pregnant.

If you suffer from endometriosis, and your current medications are not sufficient in reducing the pain and inflammation, speak to your doctor. They can determine if a change to Visanne is right for you.

The Conversation

Nial Wheate in the past has received funding from the ACT Cancer Council, Tenovus Scotland, Medical Research Scotland, Scottish Crucible, and the Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance. He is a fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, a member of the Australasian Pharmaceutical Science Association and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Nial is the chief scientific officer of Vaihea Skincare LLC, a director of SetDose Pty Ltd (a medical device company) and was previously a Standards Australia panel member for sunscreen agents. Nial regularly consults to industry on issues to do with medicine risk assessments, manufacturing, design, and testing.

ref. What is Visanne, the endometriosis drug just added to the PBS? – https://theconversation.com/what-is-visanne-the-endometriosis-drug-just-added-to-the-pbs-245028

New research shows how long, hard and often you need to stretch to improve your flexibility

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lewis Ingram, Lecturer in Physiotherapy, University of South Australia

Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels

Can you reach down and touch your toes without bending your knees? Can you reach both arms overhead? If these sound like a struggle, you may be lacking flexibility.

Flexibility is the ability to move a joint to through its full range of motion. It helps you perform most sporting activities and may prevent muscle injuries. And because most daily activities require a certain amount of flexibility (like bending down or twisting), it will help you maintain functional independence as you age.

Although there are many types of stretching, static stretching is the most common. It involves positioning a joint to lengthen the muscles and holding still for a set period – usually between 15 and 60 seconds. An example would be to stand in front of a chair, placing one foot on the chair and straightening your knee to stretch your hamstrings.

Static stretching is widely used to improve flexibility. But there are no clear recommendations on the optimal amount required. Our new research examined how long, how hard and how often you need to stretch to improve your flexibility – it’s probably less than you expect.

Women practise a rotation stretch
Static stretching means positioning and lengthening muscles while holding still.
Cliff Booth/Pexels

Assessing the data

Our research team spent the past year gathering data from hundreds of studies on thousands of adults from around the world. We looked at 189 studies of more than 6,500 adults.

The studies compared the effects of a single session or multiple sessions of static stretching on one or more flexibility outcomes, compared to those who didn’t stretch.

How long?

We found holding a stretch for around four minutes (cumulatively) in a single session is optimal for an immediate improvement in flexibility. Any longer and you don’t appear to get any more improvement.

For permanent improvements in flexibility, it looks like you need to stretch a muscle for longer – around ten minutes per week for the biggest improvement. But this doesn’t need to occur all at once.

How hard?

You can think of stretching as being hard, when you stretch into pain, or easy, when the stretch you feel isn’t uncomfortable.

The good news is how hard you stretch doesn’t seem to matter – both hard (stretching to the point of discomfort or pain) and easy stretching (stretching below the point of discomfort) equally improve flexibility.

Mother does a cobra stretch with her child
Stretching doesn’t have to feel uncomfortable.
Valeria Ushakova/Pexels

How often?

If you are looking to improve your flexibility, it doesn’t matter how often you stretch each week. What is important is that you aim for up to ten minutes per week for each muscle that you stretch.

So, for example, you could stretch each muscle for a little more than one minute a day, or five minutes twice a week.

The amount of time you should spend stretching will ultimately depend on how many muscles you need to stretch. If you are less flexible, you will likely need to dedicate more time, given you’ll have more “tight” muscles to stretch compared to someone more flexible.

Can everyone improve their flexibility?

Encouragingly, it doesn’t matter what muscle you stretch, how old you are, your sex, or whether you are a couch potato or an elite athlete – everyone can improve their flexibility.

Static stretching can be done anywhere and at any time. And you don’t need any equipment. You can stretch while watching your favourite TV show, when in the office, or after walking the dog to help you relax. It’s a great way to start and end your day.

Man stretches his quads
You can stretch anywhere, at any time.
Shutterstock

Although the exact stretches needed will depend on which muscles are “tight”, examples of some very common stretches include:

  • placing one foot upon on bench and leaning forward at the waist while keeping your knee straight to stretch your hamstrings
  • bending your knee and holding your ankle against your buttock to stretch your quadriceps muscles
  • reaching one arm while bending your elbow to stretch your triceps muscles.

However, the best advice is to visit a qualified health professional, such as a physiotherapist or exercise physiologist, who can perform an assessment and prescribe you a list of stretches specific to your individual needs.

As you can see, it really isn’t too much of a stretch to become more flexible.

The Conversation

Grant R. Tomkinson has received funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council, National Institutes of Health, and Public Health Agency of Canada.

Hunter Bennett and Lewis Ingram 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. New research shows how long, hard and often you need to stretch to improve your flexibility – https://theconversation.com/new-research-shows-how-long-hard-and-often-you-need-to-stretch-to-improve-your-flexibility-242488

Luxon says Israeli PM would be arrested if he visits New Zealand

Asia Pacific Report

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has told a media conference Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be arrested if he entered New Zealand

“We support the ICC [the International Criminal Court],” Luxon said yesterday.

“We believe in the international rules-based system, we support the ICC, and we would be obligated to do so.”

The NZ prime minister’s comments followed the ICC announcing arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Israel’s former defence minister Yoav Gallant on allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the 13-month war on the besieged Gaza Strip that has killed more than 44,000 people — mostly women and children.

Netanyahu and Gallant are now fugitives from global justice after the ICC issued the arrest warrants against them.

Although Israel — and the US — does not recognise the authority of the ICC, the highest international criminal court, and Netanyahu and Gallant will not turn themselves in, the pair’s world has got a lot smaller.

The Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, includes 124 state parties across six continents.

Legally bound
Under the statute, countries that are part of the ICC are legally bound to enforce its arrest warrants, according to international human rights lawyer Jonathan Kuttab.

“The law operates on the basis of a presumption that people will obey it. That’s how all laws are created,” Kuttab told Al Jazeera.

“You expect everybody to respect the law. Those who don’t respect the law are themselves violating the law.”

He added that there were early signs that countries would not ignore the court’s decision.

Many of Israel’s allies — including several European Union countries — have committed to enforcing the arrest warrants.

The ICC was set up in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression when member states are unwilling or unable to do so themselves. It is based in The Hague in the Netherlands.

The case at the ICC is separate from another legal battle Israel is waging at the top UN court, the International Court of Justice, in which South Africa accuses Israel of genocide, an allegation Israeli leaders deny.

Here is a list of the countries where Netanyahu and Gallant could be detained after the ICC’s decision.

A total of 124 countries are state parties to the Rome Statute, which founded the International Criminal Court. They include 29 nations from the Americas: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Map: CC AJ Lab

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

To map the vibration of the universe, astronomers built a detector the size of the galaxy

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Miles, Postdoctoral Researcher in Astrophysics, Swinburne University of Technology

Carl Knox, OzGrav, Swinburne University of Technology and South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO)

Using the largest gravitational wave detector ever made, we have confirmed earlier reports that the fabric of the universe is constantly vibrating. This background rumble is likely caused by collisions between the enormous black holes that reside in the hearts of galaxies.

The results from our detector – an array of rapidly spinning neutron stars spread across the galaxy – show this “gravitational wave background” may be louder than previously thought. We have also made the most detailed maps yet of gravitational waves across the sky, and found an intriguing “hot spot” of activity in the Southern Hemisphere.

Our research is published today in three papers in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Ripples in space and time

Gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of space and time. They are created when incredibly dense and massive objects orbit or collide with each other.

The densest and most massive objects in the universe are black holes, the remnants of dead stars. One of the only ways to study black holes is by searching for the gravitational waves they emit when they move near each other.

Just like light, gravitational waves are emitted in a spectrum. The most massive black holes emit the slowest and most powerful waves – but to study them, we need a detector the size of our galaxy.

The high-frequency gravitational waves created by collisions between relatively small black holes can be picked up with Earth-based detectors, and they were first observed in 2015. However, evidence for the existence of the slower, more powerful waves wasn’t found until last year.

Several groups of astronomers around the world have assembled galactic-scale gravitational wave detectors by closely observing the behaviour of groups of particular kinds of stars. Our experiment, the MeerKAT Pulsar Timing Array, is the largest of these galactic-scale detectors.

Today we have announced further evidence for low-frequency gravitational waves, but with some intriguing differences from earlier results. In just a third of the time of other experiments, we’ve found a signal that hints at a more active universe than anticipated.

We have also been able to map the cosmic architecture left behind by merging galaxies more accurately than ever before.

Black holes, galaxies and pulsars

At the centre of most galaxies, scientists believe, lives a gargantuan object known as a supermassive black hole. Despite their enormous mass – billions of times the mass of our Sun – these cosmic giants are difficult to study.

Astronomers have known about supermassive black holes for decades, but only directly observed one for the first time in 2019.

When two galaxies merge, the black holes at their centres begin to spiral towards each other. In this process they send out slow, powerful gravitational waves that give us an opportunity to study them.

We do this using another group of exotic cosmic objects: pulsars. These are extremely dense stars made mainly of neutrons, which may be around the size of a city but twice as heavy as the Sun.

Pulsars spin hundreds of times a second. As they rotate, they act like lighthouses, hitting Earth with pulses of radiation from thousands of light years away. For some pulsars, we can predict when that pulse should hit us to within nanoseconds.

Our gravitational wave detectors make use of this fact. If we observe many pulsars over the same period of time, and we’re wrong about when the pulses hit us in a very specific way, we know a gravitational wave is stretching or squeezing the space between the Earth and the pulsars.

However, instead of seeing just one wave, we expect to see a cosmic ocean full of waves criss-crossing in all directions – the echoing ripples of all the galactic mergers in the history of the universe. We call this the gravitational wave background.

A surprisingly loud signal – and an intriguing ‘hot spot’

To detect the gravitational wave background, we used the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa. MeerKAT is one of the most sensitive radio telescopes in the world.

As part of the MeerKAT Pulsar Timing Array, it has been observing a group of 83 pulsars for about five years, precisely measuring when their pulses arrive at Earth. This led us to find a pattern associated with a gravitational wave background, only it’s a bit different from what other experiments have found.

The pattern, which represents how space and time between Earth and the pulsars is changed by gravitational waves passing between them, is more powerful than expected.

This might mean there are more supermassive black holes orbiting each other than we thought. If so, this raises more questions – because our existing theories suggest there should be fewer supermassive black holes than we seem to be seeing.

The size of our detector, and the sensitivity of the MeerKAT telescope, means we can assess the background with extreme precision. This allowed us to create the most detailed maps of the gravitational wave background to date. Mapping the background in this way is essential for understanding the cosmic architecture of our universe.

It may even lead us to the ultimate source of the gravitational wave signals we observe. While we think it’s likely the background emerges from the interactions of these colossal black holes, it could also stem from changes in the early, energetic universe following the Big Bang – or perhaps even more exotic events.

An oval shaped diagram marked with coordinates, showing a purple background with orange and yellow blobs. There is a particularly bright blob at the bottom right.
A map of the gravitational wave background across the sky, including a mysterious ‘hot spot’ in the southern hemisphere.
Grunthal & Nathan et al. / MNRAS

The maps we’ve created show an intriguing “hot spot” of gravitational wave activity in the Southern Hemisphere sky. This kind of irregularity supports the idea of a background created by supermassive black holes rather than other alternatives.

However, creating a galactic-sized detector is incredibly complex, and it’s too early to say if this is genuine or a statistical anomaly.

To confirm our findings, we are working to combine our new data with results from other international collaborations under the banner of the International Pulsar Timing Array.

The Conversation

Matthew Miles is affiliated with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav), the MeerKAT Pulsar Timing Array, the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array and the International Pulsar Timing Array. He receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

Rowina Nathan is affiliated with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav), the MeerKAT Pulsar Timing Array, the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array and the International Pulsar Timing Array. She receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

ref. To map the vibration of the universe, astronomers built a detector the size of the galaxy – https://theconversation.com/to-map-the-vibration-of-the-universe-astronomers-built-a-detector-the-size-of-the-galaxy-244157