Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amali Cooray, PhD Candidate in Genetic Engineering and Cancer, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research)

Catherine, Princess of Wales, has announced she has now completed a course of preventive chemotherapy.

The news comes nine months after the princess first revealed she was being treated for an unspecified form of cancer.

In the new video message released by Kensington Palace, Princess Catherine says she’s focused on doing what she can to stay “cancer-free”. She acknowledges her cancer journey is not over and the “path to recovery and healing is long”.

While we don’t know the details of the princess’s cancer or treatment, it raises some questions about how we declare someone fully clear of the disease. So what does being – and staying – “cancer-free” mean?

What’s the difference between being cancer-free and in remission?

Medically, “cancer-free” means two things. First, it means no cancer cells are able to be detected in a patient’s body using the available testing methods. Second, there is no cancer left in the patient.

These might sound basically the same. But this second aspect of “cancer-free” can be complicated, as it’s essentially impossible to be sure no cancer cells have survived a treatment.

It only takes a few surviving cells for the cancer to grow back. But these cells may not be detectable via testing, and can lie dormant for some time. The possibility of some cells still surviving means it is more accurate to say a patient is “in remission”, rather than “cancer-free”.

Remission means there is no detectable cancer left. Once a patient has been in remission for a certain period of time, they are often considered to be fully “cancer-free”.

Princess Catherine was not necessarily speaking in the strict medical sense. Nonetheless, she is clearly signalling a promising step in her recovery.

What happens during remission?

During remission, patients will usually undergo surveillance testing to make sure their cancer hasn’t returned. Detection tests can vary greatly depending on both the patient and their cancer type.

Many tests involve simply looking at different organs to see if there are cancer cells present, but at varying levels of complexity.

Some cancers can be detected with the naked eye, such as skin cancers. In other cases, technology is needed: colonoscopies for colorectal cancers, X-ray mammograms for breast cancers, or CT scans for lung cancers. There are also molecular tests, which test for the presence of cancer cells using protein or DNA from blood or tissue samples.

For most patients, testing will continue for years at regular intervals. Surveillance testing ensures any returning cancer is caught early, giving patients the best chance of successful treatment.

Remaining in remission for five years can be a huge milestone in a patient’s cancer journey. For most types of cancer, the chances of cancer returning drop significantly after five years of remission. After this point, surveillance testing may be performed less frequently, as the patients might be deemed to be at a lower risk of their cancer returning.

Measuring survival rates

Because it is very difficult to tell when a cancer is “cured”, clinicians may instead refer to a “five-year survival rate”. This measures how likely a cancer patient is to be alive five years after their diagnosis.

For example, data shows the five-year survival rate for bowel cancer among Australian women (of all ages) is around 70%. That means if you had 100 patients with bowel cancer, after five years you would expect 70 to still be alive and 30 to have succumbed to the disease.

These statistics can’t tell us much about individual cases. But comparing five-year survival rates between large groups of patients after different cancer treatments can help clinicians make the often complex decisions about how best to treat their patients.

The likelihood of cancer coming back, or recurring, is influenced by many factors which can vary over time. For instance, approximately 30% of people with lung cancer develop a recurrent disease, even after treatment. On the other hand, breast cancer recurrence within two years of the initial diagnosis is approximately 15%. Within five years it drops to 10%. After ten, it falls below 2%.

These are generalisations though – recurrence rates can vary greatly depending on things such as what kind of cancer the patient has, how advanced it is, and whether it has spread.

Staying cancer-free

Princess Catherine says her focus now is to “stay cancer-free”. What might this involve?

How a cancer develops and whether it recurs can be influenced by things we can’t control, such as age, ethnicity, gender, genetics and hormones.

However, there are sometimes environmental factors we can control. That includes things like exposure to UV radiation from the sun, or inhaling carcinogens like tobacco.

Lifestyle factors also play a role. Poor diet and nutrition, a lack of exercise and excessive alcohol consumption can all contribute to cancer development.

Research estimates more than half of all cancers could potentially be prevented through regular screening and maintaining a healthy lifestyle (not to mention preventing other chronic conditions such as heart disease and diabetes).

Recommendations to reduce cancer risk are the same for everyone, not just those who’ve had treatment like Princess Catherine. They include not smoking, eating a nutritious and balanced diet, exercising regularly, cutting down on alcohol and staying sun smart.

Amali Cooray is also affiliated with the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute.

John (Eddie) La Marca is also affiliated with the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute. He has previously received funding from the CASS Foundation.

Sarah Diepstraten receives funding from the Victorian Cancer Agency.

– ref. The Princess of Wales wants to stay cancer-free. What does this mean? – https://theconversation.com/the-princess-of-wales-wants-to-stay-cancer-free-what-does-this-mean-238681

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Scott Hamilton, Adjunct associate professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Monash University

It’s no secret Australia has abundant and cheap renewable energy, especially wind and solar power. But yes, there are times when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow. We need energy storage to get us through those still nights and dreary days.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) reports investment in storage capacity continues to increase, filling gaps left by retiring coal-fired power stations. But it warns sufficient storage is needed to ensure electricity supply is reliable throughout the transition.

Energy storage is the special sauce that makes renewables work anytime, anywhere and everywhere. Being able to send this stored renewable energy back to the grid on demand makes the most of the existing electricity network, including transmission lines.

We need both short- and long-duration storage to maintain energy security. This will enable renewable energy to be collected, stored and dispatched when needed. AEMO forecasts reliability levels can be maintained over most of the next ten years if programs and initiatives already established are delivered on time and in full. But we can’t afford any delays.

Storage on the grid

Old-fashioned power stations burning coal tend to run continuously, which helps make the electricity grid stable and reliable. In contrast, renewables need to be backed with storage such as batteries to provide a continuous supply of electricity.

The modern electricity network is being designed to handle the power produced when the sun is shining brightly and the wind is blowing hard, at the same time. But this only happens about 25% of the time.

Similarly, transmission lines are being built to a maximum capacity. But we could get by with fewer transmission lines if we store more solar and wind power for later. That’s why many renewable generation projects include storage on site or nearby, and why it also makes sense to have batteries in our homes or communities.

Australia has some of the world’s biggest batteries

The 300 megawatt Victorian Big Battery, near Geelong, is the biggest in Australia and one of the biggest in the world. It can store enough energy to power more than a million homes for 30 minutes.

The federal government is also funding six large-scale batteries through the Capacity Investment Scheme. This includes a 350MW energy storage system on the site of the Jeeralang Power Station, near Morwell in the LaTrobe Valley. But the title of the nation’s biggest battery will soon be handed to the 850MW Waratah Super Battery in New South Wales.

What’s next?

Other emerging battery systems could power the future. For example, new lithium-sulphur batteries deliver more energy per gram and last longer than existing lithium-ion batteries. This has been achieved simply by adding sugar.

Australia has all the critical minerals needed to make batteries (lithium, nickel, copper, cobalt). But about 90% of the batteries we currently use come from China.

The 2024 National Battery Strategy vision is for Australia is a globally competitive producer of batteries and battery materials by 2035.

Battery booster scheme needed

Australia has the policy settings and incentives about right for building grid-scale storage systems. But almost half the effort in getting to 82% renewables by 2030 will come from consumers – mainly rooftop solar systems, backed by home and business battery storage.

We have just passed the point at which the payback period for small-scale batteries falls within the product’s lifetime, making the upfront cost worthwhile.

But government incentives are still needed to make it more affordable to install small-scale solar batteries. This would help families and businesses reduce their power bills, gain better control of when and how they produce energy, and build a more resilient energy system.

More than 300,000 solar power systems are installed on Australian homes and businesses each year. The total reached more than 3.7 million systems at the start of this year. With the right ambition and policy settings, we could have similar rates of uptake in home batteries – going from about 250,000 at the moment to more than one million by 2030.

What’s more, electric vehicles are essentially large “batteries on wheels”. They can be plugged in at home to provide backup power in blackouts, or at times of peak demand.

Government incentives are also needed here to drive the further uptake of electric vehicles in the domestic, commercial and industry sector. The upfront price of an EV is too high for many Australians. Perverse incentives such as the diesel rebate are also slowing the switch in some sectors such as mining.

Australia is already a world leader in rooftop solar. With the right policy levers, we can also lead the world in home energy storage.

The energy storage toolkit

Batteries alone aren’t enough. As the penetration of renewables increases, the importance of long duration energy storage technologies will increase. In general, these technologies provide more than eight hours of energy storage using various electrochemical, mechanical, thermal and mechanical means.

Beyond batteries, other energy storage solutions include pumped hydro such as Snowy 2.0, “green gravity” using mine shafts, green hydrogen and concentrated solar thermal power plants.

Get smart about storage

Many energy storage options are readily available now and could be manufactured in Australia. We have the technology to empower communities, create thousands of new jobs and help save the planet.

If we’re smart about it, we can even get by with fewer transmission lines and less bulky electricity infrastructure.

Scott Hamilton is an adjunct associate professor with the Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering at Monash University. He is a senior advisor to the not-for-profit organisation Smart Energy Council, he is a non-executive Director for the not-for-profit organisation Hi Neighbour Ltd, and is an ALP member.

– ref. With a million home batteries, we could build far fewer power lines. We just need the right incentives – https://theconversation.com/with-a-million-home-batteries-we-could-build-far-fewer-power-lines-we-just-need-the-right-incentives-237851

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Judith Ireland, Education Editor, The Conversation, Australia

The Albanese government has announced it will introduce a social media ban for children.

The government has not yet nominated a minimum age but is trialling age-assurance mechanisms for those aged 13–16. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the legislation will be introduced this year.

This follows criticism from a range of experts, who argue it will be difficult to enforce and does not take into account the positive impacts of social media for young people.

Announcing the ban on Tuesday, Albanese highlighted parental concerns about their kids being on social media.

Parents are worried sick about this. We know they’re working without a map – no generation has faced this challenge before.

Which is why my message to Australian parents is we’ve got your back. We’re listening and determined to act to get this right.

So, should parents be worried about social media? We asked five experts.

Three out of five said no.

Here are their detailed responses.

Disclosure statements

Catherine Page Jeffery has received funding from the federal government through the Online Safety Grants Program, as well as from the Australian Research Council. She is a board member of Children and Media Australia.

Daniel Angus receives funding from the Australian Research Council. He is an Associate Investigator with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision Making & Society.

Jo Robinson sits on an advisory board for Meta. Orygen has received funding from Meta for the translation of #chatsafe guidelines and resources, which aim to help young people communicate safely online about suicide and self-harm. She has received funding from the Commonwealth Department of Health, the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Australian Research Council. She sits on the board of the International Association for Suicide Prevention.

Nandi Vijayakumar receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Australian Research Council.

Stephanie Wescott receives funding from Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS).

– ref. Should parents be worried about social media? We asked 5 experts – https://theconversation.com/should-parents-be-worried-about-social-media-we-asked-5-experts-238772

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ella Plumanns Pouton, Researcher in Ecology, The University of Melbourne

Fire is a natural part of Australian ecosystems. Many plants have developed ways to adapt and even thrive after fire. They may store their seeds in the soil, ready to sprout after fire. Or they may flower after fire, which helps them to produce the next generation of seeds.

Most of what scientists know about plants and fire comes from studying what happens above ground. In my new research, my colleagues and I examined what happens below ground.

I studied plants in the eucalypt woodlands of Gariwerd, including the species-rich Grampians National Park of Victoria. I wanted to find out which seeds were waiting in the soil, and whether their presence or absence had anything to do with past fires. But first I had to grow them.

Through a series of glasshouse experiments, I discovered the seedbank in each soil sample reflected its past experience of fire. More frequent fire depleted stores of annual plants, such as purple-leaved groundsel (Senecio picridioides) and pimpernel sundew (Drosera glanduligera). But perennial plants that live for many years were more resilient.

It was also clear that landscapes benefit from a patchwork or a “mosaic” pattern of fire, where some areas have burnt more recently than others. Managing landscapes to create a mosaic pattern of fire history will ensure that landscapes can support the requirements of a diverse range of species.

Studying soil transplants

I sampled soil from 57 sites in Gariwerd/Grampians that had experienced different patterns of fire over the past 80 years. Some had burned just once, and others up to nine times.

I then exposed the soil samples to various heat and smoke treatments, to mimic the variety of environmental cues different seeds need to germinate and grow into plants. For example, smooth parrot pea, a yellow-flowered shrub from the study area, is known to prefer hot heat to germinate. This species has a hard seed coat which cracks open under high heat, allowing them to grow. In contrast, some herbs and grasses prefer no heat at all.

Once treated, I took each soil sample to a greenhouse where I watered them and waited for the seeds to grow into plants.

Over 15 months, I watched an incredible 39,701 plants grow from 245 different plant species. Some of the amazing species that came up included twisted beard heath, which has pretty tufted white flowers and twisted leaves, and the endangered Grampians trigger plant, found only in Gariwerd, which uses a trigger system to spurt pollen at insects when they visit its flower.

What I found by looking underground

The species growing in the greenhouses told a story of the fires that occurred where they were collected.

The frequency of fire was important. But how fire frequency influenced species presence in the soil depended on whether a species lived for one year (annuals) or many years (perennials). Or how long a species was able to store seeds.

Frequent fire (at least once every 15 years) reduced the occurrence of seeds of annual species which can store their seeds in the soil for many years. This is probably because every fire stimulated the sprouting of seeds, depleting the seed store.

Yet the seeds of other species, including perennials who store their seed in the soil for a short time only, appeared to be able to withstand the frequency of fires experienced to date. This is probably because these kinds of species rely less on storing their seeds in the soil to persist after fire than other measures, such as the resprouting of mature individuals from their trunk or base.

Interestingly, more than half (53%) of the species found in the soil seedbank were not growing as plants above ground. And for species with both seeds in the soil and plants above the ground, their response to fire above and below ground was not always the same. This highlights that the complex relationship between fire and plant life cycles is more than that meets the eye (above ground)!

Our findings point to the importance of researching plants at all stages of their life cycles, including their largely invisible time as seeds below ground.

Healthy mosaic patchwork of fire

When it comes to fire in the landscape, my research suggests Victorian eucalypt woodlands benefit from variety. This means ensuring some areas remain unburnt for many years, while others are burnt more recently. Such a mosaic of fire patterns would enable a diverse range of plants to survive and thrive.

This new knowledge helps us act to protect plants, both locally and globally.

At the local scale, I was pleased to donate several thousand germinating plants to the Nature Glenelg Trust. They used them to help restore a native wetland, bringing the seeds back to Gariwerd.

On a national and global scale, this research can help us make sense of changing fire patterns to help protect biodiversity. This year, California experienced the fourth largest fire in the state’s history, burning an area bigger than Los Angeles in under a week. And during the 2019-20 Australian Black Summer bushfires, more than 100 plant species had their entire above ground populations burnt.

Studies of seeds in the soil can help us find out how plant populations can recover after fire. Finding out which plants are affected by fire, in what ways, and why, will help us protect them into the future.

I would like to acknowledge my colleagues listed as coauthors on the research paper that formed the basis of this article: forest ecologist Sabine Kasel, fire scientist Trent Penman, fire ecologist Matthew Swan, and Luke Kelly, researcher in biodiversity dynamics.

Ella Plumanns Pouton receives funding from the Australian Research Training Program, the Victorian Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, and Natural Hazards Research Australia.

– ref. Buried treasures: how seeds help us learn about fire in the Australian landscape – https://theconversation.com/buried-treasures-how-seeds-help-us-learn-about-fire-in-the-australian-landscape-235788

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Evangeline Mantzioris, Program Director of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Accredited Practising Dietitian, University of South Australia

Even the most casual sports fan would have seen athletes gulping down sports drinks after a contest or even snacking on something like a protein ball or energy gel during a break.

There is a reason why they do this.

Athletes have special nutritional requirements to maximise their performance.

They need carbohydrates, protein, fluids and other nutrients such as electrolytes in the right amounts and at the right time to achieve their training, performance and recovery goals.

Sports dietitians promote a food-first approach, which focuses on using everyday foods to meet athletes’ energy and nutrient needs before considering sports foods.

However, sports foods are convenient alternatives to everyday foods to fuel performance. There are, however, some potential downsides to consuming them.

What are sports foods?

Sports foods are specially manufactured for athletes to provide the nutrients they may need during training or performance.

They include products like sports drinks, protein supplements, energy gels and protein bars. They are intended for sport-specific use – not to replace an everyday diet.

Why do athletes consume them?

Sports foods can be more convenient for athletes compared to everyday foods – they are easier to carry or take less time to prepare.

They can also provide safe alternatives where there are food intolerances or allergies.

Sports foods can be safe and hygienic alternatives where there’s limited availability or few storage options for food.

Pros and cons

There is strong scientific evidence that sports foods can improve performance by providing a readily available source of energy and nutrients. There is no evidence of a detrimental impact on performance.

However, there may be a detrimental impact on health due to the nature of their production and formulation. Sports foods are considered as ultra-processed foods (UPF) according to the NOVA system.

The NOVA system classifies foods into four groups based on the extent of their processing: unprocessed or minimally processed foods; processed culinary ingredients; processed foods or ultra-processed foods.

What are ultra-processed foods?

Ultra-processed foods are foods that cannot be made in a typical home kitchen because of the ingredients needed and processing techniques used. They include foods like mass-produced bread, ice-cream, lollies and ham.

They are often packaged attractively and marketed as convenient replacements for less processed foods. Many people consume ultra-processed foods in Western countries, comprising up to 60% of energy intake.

Emerging evidence has associated ultra-processed food intake with poor mental and physical health and higher rates of death.

Ultra-processed foods also have a greater impact on the environment than everyday foods, particularly through processing and packaging.

Given this, we studied how athletes felt about these products despite the recent evidence on their potential impact on health and the environment.

Our research with Australian athletes

We asked adult Australian athletes how often they trained and how often they consumed ultra-processed sports foods during the past year through an anonymous online survey.

We also asked the athletes why they chose to use sports foods (or not), what alternatives they consumed and whether they were concerned about ultra-processed foods.

One hundred and forty Australian adult athletes participating in recreational (55 athletes), local/regional (52 athletes), state (11 athletes), national (14 athletes) or international (nine athletes) sports completed the survey.

The majority identified as females (64%), who were training for individual events (64%) and trained between five and nine hours per week (49%).

What did we find?

Most of the athletes (95%) had consumed sports foods within the past year. Sports drinks were the most popular (73%), while protein supplements were used most frequently, with 40% of athletes consuming them at least once per week.

Athletes in individual sports who trained for longer periods were more likely to use sports foods.

Athletes told us everyday foods were more affordable, tasted better and there was less risk of them containing banned substances but many found them less convenient to prepare and carry while training, and with greater risk of spoilage than sports foods.

We then asked the athletes what everyday foods they use instead of ultra-processed foods. More than half of the options they listed (54%) as everyday foods were still classified as ultra-processed foods, such as lollies and muesli bars.

Half (51%) of the athletes told us they were worried about the health effects of ultra-processed foods. The half who were unconcerned said it was because they either only occasionally used sports foods, only ate them in small amounts, or used them only for training and competition.

Do we know if this impacts health or performance?

Unfortunately, there are few published studies in this space.

One small study showed high intake of ultra-processed foods compared to low intakes in athletes led to no difference in performance. However a high intake of ultra-processed foods affected their microbiome negatively.

Apart from this study, there have been no others that specifically looked at ultra-processed foods in athletes.

But what if I’m otherwise ‘healthy’?

Unfortunately, there are still possible downsides.

An umbrella review of all studies looking at eating ultra-processed foods has shown increased risk of death, heart disease, diabetes and poorer mental health with greater intakes of these foods.

And some studies have shown there are health risks from eating ultra-processed foods regardless of whether a person has an otherwise healthy diet. That means that eating ultra-processed foods may be risky even if you also eat lots of whole, fresh foods.

Although we are uncertain if all processed foods should be considered as ultra-processed, or if all of them are linked to poorer health, the consensus is generally, we should be eating less of them as part of an overall healthy dietary pattern.

Also, scientists believe the health risks of eating ultra-processed foods seem to remain regardless of how much exercise someone does. However, no one has specifically researched the role of exercise in lessening the impact of ultra-processed foods on health.

Some tips for athletes

1. Do your own meal preparation – start looking at recipes that are easy to make ahead of time, store well and can be taken with you as you train. Energy balls, muesli bars or sandwiches with jam or peanut butter are good options. The Sports Dietitians Australia website has some great suggestions.

2. Check in with your training buddies. Ask them what they eat for training and competition, and look to see what is available in your local food stores.

3. You can also let your local food outlets know you are interested in purchasing minimally processed alternatives.

4. If you need to have them for training, limit the amount of ultra-processed foods you eat for the rest of your day. Every little bit may make a difference.

5. Adhering to the recommendations of the Australian Dietary Guidelines is still important. These have been designed to reduce the risk of chronic diseases for healthy Australians, including athletes. This means eating a variety of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, lean meat and alternatives, and milk products and alternatives each day.

A visit with an accredited sports dietitian can help you develop a individualised food plan that includes minimally processed options to meet your personal needs and performance goals.

Evangeline Mantzioris is affiliated with Alliance for Research in Nutrition, Exercise and Activity (ARENA) at the University of South Australia. Evangeline Mantzioris has received funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council, and has been appointed to the National Health and Medical Research Council Dietary Guideline Expert Committee.

Adrienne Forsyth receives funding from Research Australia, CSIRO, Rugby Australia, and Inspiro Community Health. She is a member of Dietitians Australia, Sports Dietitians Australia, and Exercise and Sport Science Australia.

– ref. Athletes’ bodies are supposedly temples. So why do so many consume ultra-processed foods? – https://theconversation.com/athletes-bodies-are-supposedly-temples-so-why-do-so-many-consume-ultra-processed-foods-234916

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Teresa Ubide, ARC Future Fellow and Associate Professor in Igneous Petrology/Volcanology, The University of Queensland

Imagine you had a crystal ball that revealed when a volcano would next erupt. For the hundreds of millions of people around the world who live near active volcanoes, it would be an extremely useful device.

As it turns out, certain crystals really can help us forecast volcanic eruptions. These crystals are produced in molten rock as it travels from deep inside Earth to the surface.

With increasingly sophisticated scientific methods, we can extract a secret history of volcanoes from these crystals – the why, where and when of past eruptions.

These historical records can help us interpret if signs of volcano unrest, such as earthquakes tracking the movement of magma towards the surface, may lead to an eruption. So, as I explain in a new column in Nature Geoscience, we are getting closer to having crystal balls (for volcanoes, at least).

Volcano crystal balls

Magma, the super-hot molten rock which feeds volcanic eruptions, is generated many tens of kilometres below the surface in Earth’s mantle.

On its journey up to the surface, magma may get stalled in different reservoirs along the way, and travel to its eventual eruption along a complex pathway. As the magma rises it also cools down, producing tiny crystals that can be brought to the surface during eruptions.

When the magma reaches the surface, it can flow – generating lavas – or explode, generating fragmented particles called pyroclasts. Once the lavas and pyroclasts cool down, they form volcanic rocks containing the crystals from great depths.

Our precious crystal balls have survived the hot and complex journey to the surface and the eruption, holding a memory of everything they “saw” inside the volcano.

The crystals look different depending on the mineral that makes them. For example, green olivine is very common in Hawaiian lavas, and white plagioclase can be as large as a square of chocolate in the lavas of Tweed volcano at the border between Queensland and New South Wales.

A very important mineral for understanding volcanoes is called clinopyroxene, which makes shiny black crystals holding particularly precious information.

What do clinopyroxene records look like?

Clinopyroxene crystals are often tiny, the size of a sand grain. But under the microscope, they can show spectacular growth features that record what happens inside the volcano before eruptions.

The crystals grow incrementally in concentric zones, much like tree rings. And just as tree rings contain a record of climate change, the chemistry of clinopyroxene zones changes if the magma environment inside the volcano changes.

The final growth zone at the rim of the crystal is particularly important, as it tells us if the eruption was triggered by new magma rising from the depths. We can even estimate the typical amount of time it takes the magma to reach the surface, for example by measuring the blurring of chemical changes in the crystals while they are inside the volcano.

This information is important for future volcano monitoring, because we can often tell when new magma is rising deep beneath a volcano from earthquakes or changes in the chemistry of the gases the volcano gives off. If we know new magma precedes an eruption, we would have an early warning.

Clinopyroxene crystals can also grow with different compositions in different directions, which gives us even more clues. This is called sector zoning and looks like an hourglass inside the crystal.

It is useful because it tells us the crystal grew relatively quickly, which suggests the magma underwent complex events such as mixing with other magma, convection, rising, or releasing gases before the eruption. When monitoring active volcanoes, we can then look for indirect signs of these processes from the surface to see if an eruption may occur.

It is also important to locate where eruption triggers take place inside the volcano. This can tell us if the depths of earthquakes or deformation are particularly indicative of an upcoming eruption.

How can we measure crystal chemistry to read volcano histories?

The chemistry of clinopyroxene helps with this as well, because it tells us about the pressure conditions at the time of crystallisation, which can be translated into the depth of magma storage below the surface.

Measuring chemical variations in these tiny crystals takes some fancy lab work. We use tools such as hair-thin lasers fired at the volcanic crystals, or synchrotron light from enormous particle accelerators like the one in Melbourne, which can be focused into a beam as small as a bacteria.

This micro-scale analysis helps us extract the magma secrets from the volcanic crystals, to reconstruct the inner anatomy of a volcano as if we were opening a doll’s house.

So next time you hike a volcano, whether in Hawai’i or Iceland, or the Glass House Mountains or Mount Gambier in Australia, look for coloured specks in the rocks. You may be looking at the crystal balls containing the volcano’s history – and clues about its future.

Teresa Ubide works for The University of Queensland. She receives funding from the Australian Research Council and infrastructure funding from AuScope NCRIS.

– ref. Crystals hold a secret history of volcanoes – and clues about future eruptions – https://theconversation.com/crystals-hold-a-secret-history-of-volcanoes-and-clues-about-future-eruptions-234808

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Tregear, Principal Fellow and Professor of Music, The University of Melbourne

The current Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Nicholas Reece, has said that if re-elected he would sell the City of Melbourne’s majority stake in the Regent Theatre and redirect the funds to support, among other things, a new arts festival.

The future of this venue matters. More than just an impressive piece of Melbourne’s heritage architecture – it also supports aspects of the city’s intangible cultural heritage.

A theatre for Melbourne

The Regent was built in the late 1920s as an opulent movie cinema. But as movie going habits changed, along with the rise of television and the dawning of the era of the multiplex, it could not compete.

In 1969, its owners Hoyts Cinemas sold the theatre to the City of Melbourne who closed it the following year.

Plans the council then had to demolish and redevelop the prime inner-city site would have likely succeeded had it not been for the intervention of the infamous Builders Laborers Federation. The union was “convinced that the theatre should be saved and restored”, and banned any demolition work from taking place.

Community sentiment was on their side. Eventually, the State Government and Melbourne City Council came to an agreement with theatre company The Marriner Group whereby it was fully refurbished as a venue for live performance.

The Regent reopened to great success in 1996.

But the fact it was so long under threat of becoming yet another example of Melbourne’s lost heritage demonstrates just how fragile the line can be between a great building’s survival and destruction.

Preserving ‘intangible cultural heritage’

These fights are not just about preserving nice bricks and mortar. They are also about preserving a building’s broader cultural and social function – something explicitly recognised in the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

This 2003 convention acknowledges cultural heritage also encompasses impalpable things like oral traditions, the performing arts, social practices, shared knowledge and traditional craftsmanship.

Australia has not adopted the convention. One of the on-going impacts of that decision is the concept of intangible cultural heritage does not have the kind of prominence or rhetorical force here it arguably should.

In the case of the Regent, it is easy to see how its built form also supports or enhances the kinds of intangible cultural heritage – such as a community’s performing arts traditions – UNESCO found to be worthy of protection.

While the theatre is a commercial operation, under the current ownership structure its principal role as a performing arts venue is not under threat. Would that continue to be the case were it to be entirely in private hands?

A risk to our churches, too

A similar issue of use arises around the fate of our disused churches.

The combined impact of declining church attendance, broader demographic changes, the creation of the Uniting Church in 1977, rising maintenance costs, and the need to fund compensation schemes has resulted in many historic church properties being sold into private hands

The former Methodist Church in Queenscliff is now a single four-bedroom house.

The spectacular 4,800 square metre site of the North Melbourne Uniting Church (including a magnificent pipe organ), was sold last year to an overseas investor, and quickly sold again, also to be turned into a private residence. The nearby Wesleyan Sunday School in Brunswick, is currently being turned into serviced offices.

There is a concurrent loss to the wider community, however, when these transformations away from public access and use occur.

Church buildings have traditionally provided us with a space that can serve as an oasis of calm, peace, and aesthetic beauty in our built environment – whether we are religiously minded or not. They are also often available outside service times for use as a meeting place, a rehearsal or performance venue, a lecture space, or a social event space.

All such uses benefit our broader community and wellbeing, and can also form part of our intangible cultural heritage.

Beyond that, the very existence of a church building is also usually the result of many generations of community investment. Some formal recognition of this investment should be in play when these buildings are sold into private hands.

A much better outcome for a disused church is that which befell St Peters Anglican Church, in the central Victorian town of Carapooee.

When it was put up for sale in 2021, the local community rallied around and raised the funds to buy the property, ensuring the building would still be available for community use.

Preserving both physical and intangible heritage

The fate of the Regent Theatre after it was closed in 1970 is another good example of how imaginative thinking and cooperation between various community stakeholders can help to preserve both a building’s physical fabric, and underlying social function.

Reece told The Sunday Age he was “confident” the space would remain a theatre after sale, but, as the paper also reports, there is no guarantee.

Once buildings fall out of public ownership, they frequently fall out of public use – and risk being lost to the community forever.

This is not just a risk for our theatres and churches. We could add to this list other community-servicing public infrastructure such as schools, town halls and post offices. None should be sold to the highest bidder without a full consideration of the accompanying loss to the community-at-large or their role in supporting our intangiable cultural heritage.

We can then better account for the real cost of sale to the communities these spaces once served.

In the absence of other formal protections, it is perhaps time for governments at all levels to consider introducing formal covenants or other protective measures over community-facing properties like the Regent Theatre. We can thereby help ensure that, alongside their physical form, something of their social function can also be preserved.

Peter Tregear was a founding member of the Friends of the Former Wesleyan Church in Brunswick, now discontinued.

– ref. The future of the Regent Theatre: why we must preserve not only architecture, but also public use of our community spaces – https://theconversation.com/the-future-of-the-regent-theatre-why-we-must-preserve-not-only-architecture-but-also-public-use-of-our-community-spaces-238548

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hazel Easthope, Professor, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW Sydney

Ten of Australia’s leading consumer groups have now written to the federal treasurer calling for an urgent inquiry into Australia’s strata management industry.

The open letter from Choice, the Owners Corporation Network, the Australian Consumers Insurance Lobby and seven other groups follows this week’s ABC Four Corners investigation, showing many apartment owners were being ripped off by their strata management firms.

When the ABC asked property owners about suspicious activities in the industry earlier this year, they were flooded with more than 1,000 separate reports in a fortnight.

The allegations include hidden kickbacks from builders and insurance companies, their hidden ownership of companies with which they deal, and indifference to the needs of the property owners who employ them.

Even for us, some of the allegations were shocking. But many were not – because we had just concluded our own separate investigation into strata management. We found an extraordinary array of ethical tensions in the industry.

So what did we find? And what does our research show us needs to happen next?

How many people are potentially affected?

An estimated 16% of Australians – four million people – live in strata and community title properties. They own their own residences but share common ownership of shared spaces, including the buildings and grounds.

All strata owners automatically become members of an owners’ corporation, which is responsible for maintaining and managing the common spaces and usually contracts a strata manager to help with the work.

In practice, individual strata managers are often asked to provide guidance and advice, and can influence how a property is managed.

The developer often chooses a strata manager to work for the owners corporation, so that when individual units are sold or transferred to buyers there is a manager in place.

Although employed as an agent of the owners’ corporation, the strata manager has an opportunity to benefit by securing kickbacks for referrals to service providers and charging brokerage fees for insurance and other contracts.

We found conflicts of interest abound

We’ve spent the past three years investigating how we can rebuild trust in residential building construction in Australia.

Funded by the Australian Research Council, Australia’s professional standards councils, legal firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth, and the Queensland and West Australian governments, our Constructing Building Integrity report, was published just last month.

Our research found uneven – and in places nonexistent – regulation of the strata management industry. This leaves some people living in apartments or other strata title properties ripe for exploitation by unscrupulous operators.

To be clear, not all strata managers are unscrupulous. Many do a good job in difficult circumstances. And some states require strata managers to be licensed or registered and have minimum qualifications – but others do not.

The industry’s national peak body has a code of conduct and complaints process. However, the most serious penalty is a loss of membership and referral to a licensing authority (if one exists).

Strata managers have many bosses

As well as the conflicts raised by their own self-interest, individual strata managers have many “bosses”, including the owners corporation, the strata committee and its individual office holders, the developer who might have hired them in the first place, and regulators.

Each of these “bosses”, who expect the strata manager to respond to its concerns, can exert pressure. But responding to one boss can mean frustrating another. It might even result in avoiding crucial ethical obligations.

An example is the tension between obligations to the owners’ corporation and the interests of the developer who hired the strata manager.

The strata manager might avoid recommending the owners’ corporation take action against the developer over defects as a way of protecting its ability to get future contracts from that developer.

A different tension arises when the strata committee or an individual office bearer instructs the strata manager to do something that is not in the best interests of the owners’ corporation (all unit owners).

The strata manager can have little incentive to resist and defend the owners’ collective interests.

A further tension arises when the owners’ corporation is legally obliged to maintain the property, but is unwilling to do so because of the costs involved.

The strata manager has to balance obligations to the public (and to potential future owners) against its client’s immediate wishes.

Strata managers appointed by an outside tribunal to get a dysfunctional scheme in order experience this tension acutely.

Aggressive competition between strata management firms and work overload further increases the pressure and ethical tensions strata managers face in their day-to-day jobs, as they try to respond to the demands of multiple bosses.

What can be done?

Even before this latest scandal, there were signs the strata management industry was ready for reform.

The New South Wales chapter of the peak industry body, Strata Community Association, adopted a Professional Standards Scheme in 2021.

In response to concerns about what the ABC described as a “decade-long history of self-dealing and conflicts of interest” at the strata management firm Netstrata, in April Strata Community Association Australasia announced a six-point plan to ensure confidence in the industry.

Among the points were mandatory disclosure of contracts with insurers, brokers and software providers, and an independent chair for the association’s complaints and conduct panel.

An independent review of the claims against Netstrata is being undertaken at the request of the NSW Commissioner for Fair Trading.

In June, NSW Fair Trading banned a strata manager for 10 years, in a sign that breaches of obligations are being taken seriously.

More action is needed

While these measures are welcome, they are unlikely to be enough to restore confidence in the industry, especially while professional associations lack the tools needed to obtain evidence and ban people from the industry.

The best approach will probably be co-regulation, with government regulators and professional associations acting as partners, each playing to its strengths.

But increased regulation by itself will not be enough in the context of aggressive competition between firms and the massive amounts of work expected of individual managers.

Giving them legal and contractual frameworks that allow them to push back, along with professional support, will also go a long way.

There’s never been a better time to start fixing things than now.

The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution of former West Australian building commissioner Peter Gow, who chaired the steering group for this research project.

Hazel Easthope receives research funding from the Australian Research Council and the Strata Community Association.

Prof Charles Sampford receives funding from Griffith University (funding of his Research Chair in Ethics), from the Australian Research Council (including leading a linkage grant that includes the other authors), from the Professional Standards Authority, from the Blue Economy CRC, and from the Victorian Parliament (as Parliamentary Integrity Adviser).

Hugh Breakey receives funding from the Australian Research Council for the Linkage Project ‘Constructing Building Integrity: Raising standards through professionalism’ (LP190101218).

– ref. Many strata managers who handle apartments are conflicted: here’s how – https://theconversation.com/many-strata-managers-who-handle-apartments-are-conflicted-heres-how-238683

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Melissa Conley Tyler, Honorary Fellow, Asia Institute, The University of Melbourne

World Bank president Ajay Banga is in Canberra this week. It’s the first time a World Bank president has visited Australia in seven years.

Why is he here? It goes to the heart of the World Bank’s purpose.

Set up after second world war to fund reconstruction, the World Bank’s modern mission is to create a world free of poverty on a liveable planet. It has 189 member countries .

What does the World Bank do?

The bank funds projects in developing countries through a mix of grants and concessional loans that countries pay back. Last year it provided A$136 billion to 75 nations in grants and loans.

One of its funds, the International Development Agency, supports projects in 76 of the world’s least developed countries.

Through this work 36 countries have graduated from least developed to middle income status, and many, like South Korea, have now become donors themselves.

That means a big part of the World Bank president’s job is securing funding. The International Development Agency fund is currently in a three-yearly “replenishment” round where it seeks contributions from donor countries.

The World Bank has set an ambitious goal of raising about A$44.2 billion from donors who will announce their pledges at the bank’s December meeting.

If it can convince donors to reach this figure, it can leverage this into a A$149.9 billion fund by using its AAA credit rating to borrow further in international capital markets.

Why Australia’s role is important

From the bank’s perspective, Australia plays a significant role. It is a particularly important donor in the Pacific, for example, donating money for a fund which has contributed to a 50% increase in the World Bank’s Pacific-based staff and a seven-fold increase in its projects in the region.

This supports more than 95 projects on agriculture, digital development, education, fisheries, health, renewable energy, transport and employment.

Compared to other countries, Australia gives a relatively low proportion of its development funding through multilateral bodies like the World Bank – directing more of its funding through bilateral channels.

The World Bank needs a coalition of countries including Australia to make big pledges to fund the bank’s work.

Who is Ajay Banga?

Banga is not your typical appointment, having being born and grown up in a developing country and taking on the presidency which is traditionally held by an American. He is an American citizen.

He comes from business, having previously been president and CEO of Mastercard, as well as roles with PepsiCo, Citigroup and Nestlé in India. He was chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce.

He is known for his work at Mastercard launching the Centre for Inclusive Growth, which advances equitable and sustainable economic growth and financial inclusion around the world.

He also stands out compared to his predecessor on climate change. He added the words “on a livable planet” to the World Bank’s mission.

As well as visiting Australia on this trip, he has been to Fiji and Tuvalu where he saw the devastation caused by climate change first-hand.

With this background – and access to all the World Bank’s facts and figures – he has a sense of the lived reality of people’s lives and the gravest dangers to this planet.

Banga’s top priorities

This week the president said “jobs” was his top priority.

In little more than a decade, 1.2 billion young people worldwide will be of job-seeking age, according to figures he presented to think tank, the Lowy Institute. With current forecasts of 400-500 million jobs likely to be created, there’s a huge gap.

That means there’s an urgent need to create jobs so these young people don’t become a migration, drugs or conflict problem.

Banga said we need “governments, philanthropies and multilateral development banks working together” to produce more jobs.

It’s a reminder why it is so important for a developed country like Australia to invest in development aid to create a stable, prosperous region and wider world.

Dealing with global poverty is preventive. It’s cheaper and easier to invest in electricity, health care and education now than with the costs of instability or chaos later.

The good news is the world’s investments in development have led to a sharp reduction in global poverty since 1981. Banga’s message to Australia is

Ultimately the World Bank is an instrument that reflects the ambition of those on whose generosity it relies, and the progress we aspire to achieve demands more.

Melissa Conley Tyler is Executive Director at the Asia-Pacific Development, Diplomacy & Defence Dialogue (AP4D), an initiative funded by the foreign affairs and defence portfolios and hosted by the Australian Council for International Development. She met with Ajay Banda as part of his visit.

– ref. 1.2 billion young people will need a job in the next 10 years. The World Bank is trying to help them find one – https://theconversation.com/1-2-billion-young-people-will-need-a-job-in-the-next-10-years-the-world-bank-is-trying-to-help-them-find-one-238587

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pep Canadell, Chief Research Scientist, CSIRO Environment; Executive Director, Global Carbon Project, CSIRO

The goal of the 2021 Global Methane Pledge is bold: cut methane emissions by 30% by the end of the decade. This is to buy us vital time to work on cutting carbon dioxide emissions. Over 150 nations have now signed up to the pledge – representing more than half of the world’s emissions of an extremely potent but short-lived greenhouse gas.

To put the pledge into action, many leaders announced policies to cut methane. However, the latest research shows global methane emissions are still rising rapidly. Atmospheric concentrations are now growing faster than at any other time since global record-keeping began about 40 years ago.

These findings are published today in our fourth global methane budget, in a paper and pre-print research undertaken through the Global Carbon Project, with contributions from 66 research institutions around the world.

Natural sources of methane include decaying organic matter in wetlands. But humans have supercharged methane emissions. We tracked changes in all major sources and sinks of this potent greenhouse gas and found humans are now responsible for two-thirds or more of all global emissions.

This is a problem, but we can improve upon it. Cutting methane emissions is one of the best and only short-term levers we can pull to slow the rate of climate change.

Why is methane so important?

After carbon dioxide, methane is the second most important greenhouse gas contributing to human-driven global warming.

Although human activities emit much less methane than carbon dioxide in real terms, methane has a hidden punch – it’s 80 times as effective as CO₂ in trapping heat in the first two decades after it reaches the atmosphere.

Since the pre-industrial era, the world has heated up by 1.2°C (taken as an average of the past 10 years). Methane is responsible for about 0.5°C of warming, according to the latest reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

In the atmosphere, methane rapidly mixes with oxygen and converts into carbon dioxide and water. By contrast, carbon dioxide is a much more stable molecule and will stay in the atmosphere, trapping heat, for thousands of years until absorbed by ocean and plants.

The combination of short lifespan and extreme potency make methane an excellent candidate for efforts to rapidly tackle climate change.

Methane is not slowing

In the early-to-mid-2000s, methane emissions growth rates actually fell. Analyses suggest it was driven by a combination of reduced fossil fuels emissions and chemical changes in the atmosphere’s capacity to destroy methane.

Since then, however, methane has surged. Methane emissions from human activities increased by 50-60 million tonnes per year over the two decades to 2018-2020 – a 15-20% increase.

This doesn’t mean atmospheric methane goes up by the same amount, as methane is constantly being broken down.

During the 2000s, an extra 6.1 million tonnes of methane entered the atmosphere each year. By the 2010s, the rate of growth was 20.9 million tonnes. In 2020, growth hit 42 million tonnes. Since then, methane has been added even more rapidly. Growth rates are now higher than any previously observed year.

Where does the methane come from?

Human activities such as farming livestock, coal mining, extracting and handling natural gas, growing rice in paddies, and putting organic waste in landfills contribute about 65% of all methane emissions. Of this, agriculture (livestock and rice paddies) contributes 40%, fossil fuels 36%, and landfills and wastewater 17%.

Methane emissions from fossil fuels are now comparable to livestock emissions. The fastest growing contributors are from landfill and fossil fuels (think natural gas escaping during extraction and processing).

Our impact is even higher when we account for indirect emissions such as the leaching of organic matter into waterways and wetlands, the construction of reservoirs, and the impacts of human-driven climate change on wetlands.

In 2020, human activities led to emissions of between 370 and 384 million tonnes of methane.

The remaining emissions come from natural sources, primarily the decomposition of plant matter in wetlands, rivers, lakes, and water-saturated soils. Tropical wetlands are particularly large emitters. The world’s large areas of permafrost (permanently frozen ground) also produce methane, but at relatively low rates. As permafrost melts due to higher temperatures, this is changing.

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Who emits most? By volume, the top five nations in 2020 were China (16%), India (9%), the United States (7%), Brazil (6%) and Russia (5%). The fastest-growing areas are China, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.

European nations have begun to lower their emissions over the last two decades, due to efforts to cut emissions from landfill and waste, followed by smaller cuts in fossil fuels and farming. Australia may also be lowering emissions mainly from farming and waste.

What does this mean for net zero?

Unchecked methane emissions are bad news. Recent observed atmospheric concentrations of methane are consistent with climate scenarios with up to 3°C of warming by 2100.

To keep global temperatures well-below 2°C – the goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement – means cutting methane emissions as rapidly as possible. Methane has to be cut almost in half (45%) by 2050 to achieve that goal.

It’s not an impossible problem. We now have have methods of rapidly cutting methane for every sector.

The oil and gas sector could cut their emissions 40% at no net cost, according to the International Energy Agency.

In agriculture, we can achieve rapid reductions by feed additives to reduce methane belched from cows, sheep, goats and buffalo, and by mid-season drainage in rice paddies.

Capturing landfill methane and using it for energy production or heat is now well established.

Three years ago, the world committed to slash methane emissions. Our findings show that we need to rapidly accelerate solutions across the globe to address and reduce methane emissions.

Pep Canadell receives funding from the National Environmental Science Program-Climate Systems Hub.

Marielle Saunois receives funding from the French agency for research (ANR, Agence National de Recherche.

Rob Jackson receives funding from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the United Nations Environment Programme, and Stanford University.

– ref. Methane emissions are at new highs. It could put us on a dangerous climate path – https://theconversation.com/methane-emissions-are-at-new-highs-it-could-put-us-on-a-dangerous-climate-path-237809

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sebastian Chekunov, PhD Candidate, School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide

Trade in “exotic” pets from foreign countries is a global multibillion-dollar industry. Australian species are highly sought after.

Australia banned the commercial export of all live native animals in 1982. But once wildlife is taken out of the country, these laws no longer apply. Many species can be legally traded without restrictions once they are beyond our borders.

In our new research, we found 163 Australian reptile species and seven frogs traded as pets overseas. That’s more than one in six (16%) of all Australian reptile species – and around 3% of Australian frogs.

While many species may be bred in captivity to supply the pet trade, seizure records show some are still illegally taken from the wild. We need to deploy more sophisticated methods to monitor the booming online trade. Australia must also enlist the support of other countries to monitor the wildlife trade and identify those species most at risk for greater protection.

What we did and what we found

We scoured the web for evidence of online trade in Australian reptiles and amphibians worldwide. This included monitoring online stores and forums, including classified advertisements. We probed both the surface web – the pages readily available to the general public such as pet stores, public forums and public social media – and the deep web, which can’t be searched by standard search engines. It includes private forums and password-protected or special-access social media sites.

Web scrapers automated our data collection and machine learning helped sift through the data for relevant information.

We also extracted data from published papers, trade databases and seizure records.

We found Australian species being sold on 152 websites and 27 social media pages, particularly in the United States and Europe.

The most commonly traded species were bearded dragons, goannas such as the ridgetail monitor, and a range of geckos including barking and knob-tail geckos.

Wildlife smugglers

As species become rarer, their value to smugglers goes up. A species with only a few hundred individuals left in the wild can command very high prices. Unscrupulous traders often attempt to get around the law and smuggle rare and unique reptiles out of Australia.

A police bust in New South Wales this year found more than 250 lizards destined for illegal export, worth up to A$1.2 million.

But this is not the first time, and it won’t be the last. Years of seizure records show ongoing smuggling of Australian wildlife. Some species, such as the shingleback skink, are routinely targeted by poachers and smugglers, while others may be victims of opportunity.

Our research found smugglers have tried to take 58 reptile and three frog species out of Australia since the export ban was introduced. It’s likely many more have never been caught.

Regulating global trade

The main international approach to regulating trade in wildlife is the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, known as CITES.

This is an agreement between 184 governments to ensure international trade in wild animals and plants does not threaten species’ survival.

For a species to be covered under this agreement, it has to be added to one of three lists (known as Appendix I, II, and III), according to the degree of protection needed. Appendix I species have the highest level of protection.

In 2022, Australia added 127 lizard species to Appendix III.

It was the first big listing of Australian reptiles in the convention’s history. But at the time of the listing, there had been no comprehensive study of Australian reptiles and frogs in global trade. It is unclear how those species were selected.

Appendix III is used for monitoring trade rather than restricting it. Australian authorities can watch to see if trade is threatening any of these species and upgrade the listing if so.

Just over half of the Australian species we identified in our study are now covered by the convention. Most (64%) of these were added in 2022.

That means a large portion of Australian reptiles (and all Australian frogs) remain unregulated and unmonitored in the international market. We recommend the Australian government consider listing these remaining species in Appendix III. We specifically recommend listing gecko species in the Diplodactylidae family, which make up the largest group of species in trade. We also recommend listing any species classified as threatened or endangered.

Improving surveillance

Our study also showcases emerging online trade surveillance methods through the use of web scrapers.

As the online pet trade grows, these methods will improve and become more effective for capturing trade, including trade that has circumvented the convention and other regulations. We found almost 90% of traded Australian reptiles and frogs have been advertised online at some point.

Protect Australian reptiles and frogs

Australia banned native wildlife from commercial export to protect species from exploitation. Yet seizure records show some are still being illegally harvested from the wild.

Given the covert nature of this illegal trade, there is no way of determining exactly how many animals are poached or which species are targeted. But by monitoring trade beyond Australian borders, we can uncover patterns and determine if trade poses a threat to any native Australian species.

Our study provides the first comprehensive overview of trade in Australian reptiles and frogs worldwide. Ongoing monitoring is needed to ensure this trade poses no threat to survival of these species.

We encourage the Australian government to list more species under the convention and deploy more sophisticated online surveillance methods. Now we know which species are traded overseas, we need to ensure the trade is sustainable.

Phill Cassey receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions.

Sebastian Chekunov 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. We found one in six Australian reptile species traded as pets overseas, despite the export ban – https://theconversation.com/we-found-one-in-six-australian-reptile-species-traded-as-pets-overseas-despite-the-export-ban-229723

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

The federal opposition has torpedoed Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ attempt to get a bipartisan deal to install a specialist monetary policy board in the Reserve Bank, claiming the reform would enable the treasurer to “stack” the new board.

Chalmers said shadow treasurer Angus Taylor had been “rolled again” by his colleagues.

Negotiations for an agreement have been underway for months. Chalmers recently said agreement was close and he hoped to have the new structure operation at the start of next year.

He will now explore a deal with the Greens, who will hold out for their own concessions.

The change, recommended by the independent review of the bank, said there should be two boards instead of the present one. The second would oversee the bank’s general administration.

The opposition has used last week’s controversy over Chalmers’ comment that interest rate rises were “smashing” the economy to justify withdrawing from negotiating a bipartisan agreement.

Taylor said “we don’t want a sack and stack strategy”.

Chalmers released a detailed timeline of the extensive talks he had had with Taylor. During the negotiations Chalmers gave considerable ground to the opposition.

Chalmers said Taylor had raised six issues and he had accommodated all of them.

“He wanted the chair of the governance board to be the governor, and I facilitated that.

“He wanted flexibility in term limits, and I’ve facilitated that as well.

“He wanted senior RBA executives to have oversight of the operation. I made sure that the deputy governor was a member of the governance board.

“He wanted to ensure that the dual mandate should exclude references to equal weight, and so I made sure that the legislation and the Statement on Conduct don’t mention equal weight for the dual mandate.

“He asked that Section 11 [that allows the treasurer to override the board] be retained. I’m proposing that we retain section 11 and focus it more appropriately.

“He asked that all current members of the RBA board should move to the monetary policy board, and I proposed an amendment so that all current board members move to the monetary policy board unless they don’t want to.”

Chalmers said he had even started to consult Taylor on possible appointments to the board. “So he knows I have absolutely no intention of making political appointments to these boards.”

Chalmers said Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock supported the reform.

“This shows the Coalition were never serious on Reserve Bank reform.”

On another front, the Coalition is continuing to string out negotiations on the government’s aged care proposals, seeking further points and clarifications. The government had hoped that the plan would go to the Coalition party room on Tuesday but it did not.

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. Coalition torpedoes bipartisan deal on Reserve Bank monetary policy board – https://theconversation.com/coalition-torpedoes-bipartisan-deal-on-reserve-bank-monetary-policy-board-238685

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Faith Gordon, Associate Professor in Law, Australian National University

The vast expanse of internet connectivity, online media, social media platforms, gaming platforms, and new forms and uses of artificial intelligence (AI) have opened enormous opportunities for commerce and communication.

The sheer convenience and ubiquity of online connectivity have made the internet a new way of life for nearly everyone in the 21st century. This is especially the case for children, whose social lives have almost entirely migrated online.

As my research on digital childhoods demonstrates, this realm of online communication has also created disturbing opportunities for harms to children.

These harms have concerned politicians, with the government announcing a plan to impose a minimum age for children accessing social media and gaming platforms.

As digital natives, children are part of the solution. In a discussion dominated by adults, my research looks at what kids think about the harms they experience and how to prevent them.

New forms of harm

The explosive emergence and multiplication of online harms poses serious threats to the safety and wellbeing of children. Harms facilitated by generative AI are just one example.

In a study I conducted involving participants in Australia and in the United Kingdom and in-depth interviews on the experiences of 42 children in the UK, children reported they were experiencing:

• cyberbullying

• unwanted contact

• unwanted content

• grooming

• exploitation.

Some young people say the harm caused by deepfakes, eating disorder videos, sextortion, child sexual exploitation material, misogynistic content, scams and other forms of online harm are having long-lasting effects on their mental health.

We need to keep holding AI and tech developers, companies and social media owners to account. These are commercial services and companies – ultimately, people are making a profit while children are experiencing harm.

For instance, Harvard Medical School’s study estimates social media companies are making billions of dollars from US children’s use of online platforms.

A recent global report from Human Rights Watch exposed serious violations of the privacy of children. Australian children’s images, names, locations and ages were being harvested and used without permission to train artificial intelligence (AI) models.

The report’s author urged the federal government to “urgently adopt laws to protect children’s data from AI-fuelled misuse”.

Regulatory catchup

In June 2024, Australia’s attorney-general introduced a bill in parliament to create new criminal offences to ban the sharing of non-consensual deepfake sexually explicit material. In relation to children, this would continue to be treated as child abuse material under the criminal code.

A Senate committee released its report on the bill last month. It recommended the bill pass, subject to recommendations. One recommendation was “that the Education Ministers Meeting continues to progress their work to strengthen respectful relationships in schools”.

The federal government’s approach has been critiqued by Human Rights Watch. It argues it “misses the deeper problem that children’s personal data remains unprotected from misuse, including the non-consensual manipulation of real children’s likenesses into any kind of deepfake”.

We are still awaiting reforms to the Privacy Act and the development of the first Children’s Online Privacy Code.

What can we do to help?

While these wheels of reform turn slowly, we need to urgently continue to work together to come up with solutions. Evidenced-based media reporting, campaigns and educational programs play key roles.

Children and young people say they want to be part of developing the solution to tackling online harms. They already do important work supporting and educating their peers. I refer to this as “digital siblingship”.

My research calls for greater recognition of young people for the role they play in protecting, promoting, and encouraging other children to know their rights online.

Children want the adults, governments and tech companies to swiftly act to prevent and address harms online.

However, a lot of parents, guardians, carers and grandparents report feeling a step behind on technology. This means they can feel at a loss to know what to do to protect, but also empower, the children in their lives.

Adults should talk with children about online safety often, not just when something’s gone wrong. These discussions should not lay blame, but open communication and create safe boundaries together.

Children feel better education and training for their peer group and for the adults in their lives is essential.

In the classroom, children suggest peer-led training on online safety would be more effective. They want other young people to educate, train and support them in learning about and navigating online platforms.

But education should not just be happening in schools. It needs to extend well beyond the classroom.

Policymakers, educators, regulators and the mainstream media need to commit to equipping all Australians with the most up to date information, knowledge and education on these issues. The companies need to comply with the law, regulations, standards and commit to being more transparent.

In an era where digital landscapes shape childhood experiences, safeguarding children from online harms requires a collective commitment to strategies which promote vigilance, education, and proactive regulation. We must ensure children are empowered to thrive in a secure and supportive online environment.

Faith Gordon currently receives funding from The Australian Research Council. Faith Gordon has also received funding from the Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration, The Social Switch Project in the UK and was an academic consultant for one project with Encorys in the UK.

– ref. Kids are digital natives. They have ideas to help protect children from being harmed online – https://theconversation.com/kids-are-digital-natives-they-have-ideas-to-help-protect-children-from-being-harmed-online-237869

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Crozier-De Rosa, Professor in History, University of Wollongong

At 16, Kathryn Joy applied for a passport. To do this, they had to obtain their mother’s death certificate. After growing up in a house in which their father had killed their mother – an act he refused to talk about – Kathryn learned exactly how their mother had died: “gunshot wound to the head”.

The bare brutality of this information shocked them into looking anew at their father, escaping from small town to big city, spiralling into trauma-induced mental anguish, and embarking on a journey of self-discovery through tracing their family’s violent history.

Eight years of this journey are documented in the new Australian documentary Killjoy.

At home alone with a woman-killer

On January 31 1985, Allan James Stuckey fatally shot his wife, Carolyn Joy Stuckey, in their home in Lismore, New South Wales. Carolyn was 32. She had been having an affair with a fellow member of her local theatre club. Stuckey phoned the police to inform them he had killed his wife.

Carolyn’s and Allan’s three young children were in the house at the time of the shooting. They were entrusted to the sole care of their father in the long period between him being charged and being tried. He was found guilty of manslaughter.

After serving 22 months in prison, they were returned to his care.

For some years, Kathryn – by all accounts a physical likeness of their mother – lived alone with a woman-killer.

Finding a woman’s life in the historical archives

Carolyn’s brief story has all the ingredients of a tragic melodrama, but while the spectre of her death is ever-present (at one point eerily portrayed via film footage of her performing as the dead wife making ghostly visitations to her husband in Noël Coward’s play, Blythe Spirit) this is not Killjoy’s focus.

Rather, the narrative is held together by two investigative processes: finding out about how Carolyn had lived, as well as died; and understanding how to travel through, and with, pain and vulnerability to a place of fullness and purpose.

As all historians who try to trace the lives of women are aware, women still tend to be identified more with the private, domestic sphere. Because of this, it is more difficult to find their voices in public records.

Even when they are part of public conversation, their experiences are often mediated through a male lens. Controversies in recent years about how the media reports women’s deaths at the hands of their intimate partners have exposed this issue and have led to more sensitive reporting, including a decrease in “victim-blaming” and “perpetrator excusing” portrayals.

As Kathryn was to discover, through past newspapers and interviews with Carolyn’s former friends, this was not the case in the 1980s. Carolyn was the “scarlet woman” and Allan the “poor chap”. Their mother’s killer successfully pleaded “provocation” as a partial defence, hence the offensively brief prison sentence.

The film takes us with Kathryn as they trace their own history, irrevocably intertwined with that of their mother, through a patchwork of school photographs, theatre scrapbooks, prison letters, scrolls of microfiche, personal interviews, video diaries, text messages, extracts of letters (both loving and threatening), court transcripts, expert testimonies, new friendships, memorial stones and grief rituals.

The result is a unique journey into the inner turmoil, development, hopes and passions of a beautiful sensitive mind struggling to understand themselves against an ongoing backdrop of gender violence and political activism.

Control and killjoys

Ultimately, Killjoy is a story about control.

Provocation still exists as a partial defence in New South Wales, Queensland, the ACT and the Northern Territory. But even in the states where it has been abolished, men still cite a loss of control when trying to excuse themselves of woman-killing.

Women do not control their fates when an unconscionable number of them continue to die at the hands of their intimate partners – there have been 47 violent deaths in Australia by September 6 this year.

The Australian government has committed itself to a National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children by 2032. Of specific relevance to Kathryn’s story as a child who experienced domestic homicide, it has pledged A$80 million to “trauma-informed support for children and young people to promote recovery and intervene early to prevent inter-generational violence”.

Hope is warranted – although this does not ameliorate the critical need for continued activism.

The film closes with Kathryn’s claim that, while not “cured”, had they the chance, they would tell their mum that their life is “so full” now. A gender violence researcher and activist, they have reached the stage where they embrace the label “feminist killjoy”, a reference to theorist Sara Ahmed’s concept of the justice warrior who gladly disrupts people’s blissful and/or wilful ignorance by calling out sexism, racism and more.

While the “killjoy” element of the film is a little undercooked, appearing as it does in the title and only again in brief commentary at the end, Killjoy is a raw, emotional production that allows viewers a privileged insight into how the personal is political, and into the personal made public.

Killjoy is now streaming on Stan.

The National Sexual Assault, Family and Domestic Violence Counselling Line – 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for any Australian who has experienced, or is at risk of, family and domestic violence and/or sexual assault.

Sharon Crozier-De Rosa receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

– ref. The documentary Killjoy captures the personal and the political of family violence and gender activism – https://theconversation.com/the-documentary-killjoy-captures-the-personal-and-the-political-of-family-violence-and-gender-activism-238546

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dan Golding, Associate Professor, Swinburne University of Technology

It is difficult to imagine a world of pop culture villains without Darth Vader.

The masked and cloaked figure now casts perhaps the longest shadow of any film character on popular culture. When Vader first appeared on screen in 1977, audiences recognised something elemental, and reportedly did something that hadn’t been done since the days of Vaudeville and silent cinema: instinctively, they hissed.

One look at Vader and you recognise a cinematic villain. Beyond the visual, every element of Vader builds the perfect bad guy. There’s that voice, provided by James Earl Jones, who died today at age 93. There are the lines – “I am your father”. Then there’s that theme tune by John Williams, a piece of music so well loved that it’s often forgotten that it wasn’t written until the second Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back in 1980.

George Lucas created Darth Vader in the earliest drafts of the original Star Wars script, after completing American Graffiti in the early 1970s, describing him as a “a tall, grim-looking general”. Lucas was inspired by comic books and the serial shorts of the 1940s like Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers.

When it came time to film Star Wars, Lucas hired an English bodybuilder and strongman, David Prowse, to fill out the suit. Yet Prowse spoke with a strong Devonshire accent, earning him the nickname “Darth Farmer” on set.

Lucas searched for a replacement voice to be dubbed over Prowse, and, after asking Orson Welles finally settled on the profoundly sonorous James Earl Jones.

Prowse, who had hoped to voice the lines himself like Anthony Daniels had for C-3PO, had a strained relationship with Lucas from that moment on, and when Vader was unmasked at the end of Return of the Jedi in 1983, it was English stage actor Sebastian Shaw who appeared to deliver the character’s final lines.

Vader’s mythos

Vader has always been a composite character. Despite being one of the most famous parents in the galaxy, he has many different creators.

Lucas, Prowse and Jones are joined by Williams, but also Ralph McQuarrie, the concept artist whose dramatic images defined the character, and Ben Burtt, the sound designer whose breathing through a scuba mask you hear whenever Vader is on screen.

Vader’s mythos has also been built over the years through actor Hayden Christensen’s appearances in the prequel films and recent Disney+ series.

In popular culture, Vader has become a useful shorthand to describe everything from being a bad dad to a political villain. When Ronald Reagan proposed his Strategic Defense Initiative, nicknamed “Star Wars” by the press, newspapers ran cartoons of him as Vader.

Dick Cheney called himself the “Darth Vader of the Bush administration,” defiantly wearing the villainous mantle. Here in Australia, then-Federal Minister Christopher Pyne went up against Vader as the Empire’s chief fixer.

The voice lives on

That James Earl Jones was the only black actor in the original Star Wars film was not lost on viewers at the time.

Astronomer Carl Sagan criticised Star Wars on the Johnny Carson show in 1978:

they’re all white […] not even all the colours represented on the Earth are present, much less greens and blues and purples and oranges.

More recently, Melissa Harris Perry observed that Vader is voiced by a black man while villainous, but portrayed by a white man when redeemed.

Jones’ passing marks the end of an era for Vader as a character. Yet death has always been as central to the Star Wars franchise as its impermanence. After all, Ben Kenobi’s death in the very first Star Wars film has not stopped the character from appearing in almost every subsequent film and gaining his own spin-off TV series.

“If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine,” he says to Vader.

Then there’s Han Solo, whose character was killed off in The Force Awakens in 2015 before getting a dedicated film, Solo, just two years later.

So it may be with James Earl Jones and Vader. In 2022, fans were surprised to hear the ageing Jones appear as the voice of Vader in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series.

It was later revealed Jones had signed over the rights to his archival voice work to Lucasfilm, and his performance had been created from that work using AI startup Respeecher, opening the possibility of infinite future appearances.

Voiced by Jones or not, it is clear Vader has become one of popular culture’s most enduring villains. We will certainly hear more from him in the future – even if he is more machine now than man.

Dan Golding 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. James Earl Jones has died – but as the voice of Darth Vader, he will live forever – https://theconversation.com/james-earl-jones-has-died-but-as-the-voice-of-darth-vader-he-will-live-forever-238678

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mary Bushell, Clinical Associate Professor in Pharmacy, University of Canberra

Have you ever been instructed to take your medicine with food and wondered why? Perhaps you’ve wondered if you really need to?

There are varied reasons, and sometimes complex science and chemistry, behind why you may be advised to take a medicine with food.

To complicate matters, some similar medicines need to be taken differently. The antibiotic amoxicillin with clavulanic acid (sold as Amoxil Duo Forte), for example, is recommended to be taken with food, while amoxicillin alone (sold as Amoxil), can be taken with or without food.

Different brands of the same medicine may also have different recommendations when it comes to taking it with food.

Food impacts drug absorption

Food can affect how fast and how much a drug is absorbed into the body in up to 40% of medicines taken orally.

When you have food in your stomach, the makeup of the digestive juices change. This includes things like the fluid volume, thickness, pH (which becomes less acidic with food), surface tension, movement and how much salt is in your bile. These changes can impair or enhance drug absorption.

Eating a meal also delays how fast the contents of the stomach move into the small intestine – this is known as gastric emptying. The small intestine has a large surface area and rich blood supply – and this is the primary site of drug absorption.

Eating a larger meal, or one with lots of fibre, delays gastric emptying more than a smaller meal. Sometimes, health professionals will advise you to take a medicine with food, to help your body absorb the drug more slowly.

But if a drug can be taken with or without food – such as paracetamol – and you want it to work faster, take it on an empty stomach.

Food can make medicines more tolerable

Have you ever taken a medicine on an empty stomach and felt nauseated soon after? Some medicines can cause stomach upsets.

Metformin, for example, is a drug that reduces blood glucose and treats type 2 diabetes and polycystic ovary syndrome. It commonly causes gastrointestinal symptoms, with one in four users affected. To combat these side effects, it is generally recommended to be taken with food.

The same advice is given for corticosteroids (such as prednisolone/prednisone) and certain antibiotics (such as doxycycline).

Taking some medicines with food makes them more tolerable and improves the chance you’ll take it for the duration it’s prescribed.

Can food make medicines safer?

Ibuprofen is one of the most widely used over-the-counter medicines, with around one in five Australians reporting use within a two-week period.

While effective for pain and inflammation, ibuprofen can impact the stomach by inhibiting protective prostaglandins, increasing the risk of bleeding, ulceration and perforation with long-term use.

But there isn’t enough research to show taking ibuprofen with food reduces this risk.

Prolonged use may also affect kidney function, particularly in those with pre-existing conditions or dehydration.

The Australian Medicines Handbook, which guides prescribers about medicine usage and dosage, advises taking ibuprofen (sold as Nurofen and Advil) with a glass of water – or with a meal if it upsets your stomach.

A systematic review published in 2015 found food delays the transit of ibuprofen to the small intestine and absorption, which delays therapeutic effect and the time before pain relief. It also found taking short courses of ibuprofen without food reduced the need for additional doses.

To reduce the risk of ibuprofen causing damage to your stomach or kidneys, use the lowest effective dose for the shortest duration, stay hydrated and avoid taking other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicines at the same time.

For people who use ibuprofen for prolonged periods and are at higher risk of gastrointestinal side effects (such as people with a history of ulcers or older adults), your prescriber may start you on a proton pump inhibitor, a medicine that reduces stomach acid and protects the stomach lining.

How much food do you need?

When you need to take a medicine with food, how much is enough?

Sometimes a full glass of milk or a couple of crackers may be enough, for medicines such as prednisone/prednisolone.

However, most head-to-head studies that compare the effects of a medicine “with food” and without, usually use a heavy meal to define “with food”. So, a cracker may not be enough, particularly for those with a sensitive stomach. A more substantial meal that includes a mix of fat, protein and carbohydrates is generally advised.

Your health professional can advise you on which of your medicines need to be taken with food and how they interact with your digestive system.

Mary Bushell 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 need to take some medicines with food? – https://theconversation.com/why-do-i-need-to-take-some-medicines-with-food-235782

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Crawley, Teaching Fellow, School of History, Philosophy, Political Science and International Relations, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington

Many more New Zealanders now choose to get around by bike than a few years ago. A Ministry of Transport survey reports 36% of people say they have cycled in the past 12 months, and Christchurch City Council tracking shows bike journeys are up nearly 40% over the past few years.

Councils across the country have responded to this change by building more bike lanes, as anyone who lives in a larger city will have noticed.

But the increase in cycleways is not without its detractors. All three parties in the governing coalition were critical of spending on cycleways before the 2023 election, arguing money should instead be spent on improving roads. NZ First’s manifesto went the furthest, promising “not one more cent on […] new cycle lanes”.

The recently released National Land Transport Programme gave effect to those promises. Funding for existing cycleways was cut in half and no money was made available for new cycleway projects.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown justified these changes, in part, by claiming “New Zealanders are sick and tired of the amount of money going into cycleways”. But the picture of public support for cycleways is much more complex than the minister suggests.

Even split on cycleways

The most recent New Zealand Election Study, conducted after the 2023 election, included a question asking participants how much they agreed or disagreed with the statement “There should be more bicycle lanes on roads”.

The study is a representative sample of nearly 2,000 eligible voters, and provides a reliable picture of New Zealanders’ political views.

As the graph below shows, New Zealanders are evenly split on their support for cycleways: 39% would like more bike lanes, while 39% do not want them. Among those opposed to more bike lanes, however, most are strongly (rather than somewhat) opposed.

For or against cycleway investment

Compared to support for spending on roads and public transport (also shown in the graph, although the question was worded differently), New Zealanders are fairly evenly divided on the value of bike lanes.

The attitude divide becomes more apparent when looking at support for cycleways by party vote (see graph below). A majority of Te Pāti Māori and Green voters are in favour of more cycleways, as are 47% of Labour voters.

In contrast, 60% of Act voters and 52% of National voters are against having more cycle lanes on roads. Despite NZ First taking the strongest anti-cycleway stance of the government parties, its supporters are evenly split.

These figures don’t support a blanket statement that New Zealanders in general are in favour of funding cuts to cycleways. As the election survey data show, the issue is divisive, but many New Zealanders do want more bike lanes.

In fact, a significant minority (27%) of National supporters – the transport minister’s own party – would like more cycleways.

Cycleway support by party vote

Cycles and culture wars

There are many arguments made for and against cycleways. Supporters argue they reduce cyclist injuries, that active commuting has physical and health benefits, decreases emissions, and can reduce congestion. Opponents argue they create traffic hazards for motor vehicles and hurt businesses and local residents by reducing space for car parking.

Politicians therefore face a difficult task of navigating the arguments, evaluating the evidence, and making decisions in a way that helps bridge divisions rather than widening them.

The sharply partisan differences over cycleways, and the antipathy the current government has shown towards funding them, shows how they have become a highly politicised issue, not unlike the culture wars seen in other issues such as abortion, Māori co-governance and climate change.

People’s strongly polarised opinions on culture war issues are usually driven by distinctly different worldviews, and the debate is often divided by party affiliation, generation and education level. It’s why the debates can become so heated.

Once an issue becomes part of a culture war, policy decisions are in danger of being driven more by politics than evidence and research. Politicians, media commentators and influencers can stoke the fires, or they can choose to forge a middle ground that could work for a majority.

The transport minister’s minimisation of public support for cycleways suggests – at least on this issue – the current government prefers to lean into the culture war.

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

– ref. Are New Zealanders ‘sick and tired’ of spending on cycleways? Not according to this survey – https://theconversation.com/are-new-zealanders-sick-and-tired-of-spending-on-cycleways-not-according-to-this-survey-238322

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nathan Kilah, Senior Lecturer in Chemistry, University of Tasmania

It’s dinner time. You’ve worked hard to prepare a nutritious and tasty meal. But after taking your first bite you feel something is missing. Perhaps you should have added more salt? Pepper? Or maybe even something more exotic like monosodium glutamate, better known as MSG?

There are many food additives used in both home cooking and commercial products. These ingredients improve the flavour, smell, texture, appearance and longevity of foods.

Salt and MSG are two well-known food additives. Both contain sodium, but there are plenty of differences which you can use to your benefit.

What is a salt?

Salts are made of positively and negatively charged components called ions. Salts generally dissolve in water, and are brittle. The names of salts often feature a metal (positively charged) followed by a non-metal (negatively charged).

The common kitchen ingredient we call “salt” is just one type of salt. To distinguish it from all other salts, we should more specifically refer to it as “table salt”. Chemically, it’s sodium chloride.

Sodium chloride

After the quick chemistry lesson above, we can see that table salt, sodium chloride, contains a positively charged sodium and a negatively charged chlorine.

These charged components are arranged in crystals of salt in a regular repeating pattern. Each sodium ion is surrounded by six chloride ions and each chloride ion is surrounded by six sodium ions. This arrangement gives the crystal a “cubic” form. If you look closely at salt, you may see cube-shaped crystals.

Sodium chloride is very abundant. It is found dissolved in Earth’s oceans. Mineral deposits of salt, known as halite or rock salt, formed from the evaporation and crystallisation of ancient seas.

Depending on the source, the salt may contain many other trace minerals that can even add colour to it, such as the pink-coloured Himalayan salt from Pakistan. Salt can also be fortified with sodium iodide as a public health measure.

Describing the taste of salt is quite difficult without using the word “salty”. It’s a very common food additive, as it is so abundant and versatile. It is an essential ingredient for many traditional food preservation techniques for meats (pork and fish), vegetables (kimchi, sauerkraut and pickles), and dairy (cheese and butter).

Salt is considered a universal flavouring agent. It can mask bitter flavours and bring out sweet, sour and umami (savoury) ones.

Despite popular depictions of taste maps, there is no one place on the tongue where we taste salt. Other sodium salts can also give a “salty” taste, but the effect declines (and can even turn to bitter) with negatively charged components other than chloride.

MSG or monosodium glutamate

Monosodium glutamate is also a salt. The glutamate is the negatively charged form of glutamic acid, an amino acid that is found in nature as a building block of proteins.

MSG, and more generally glutamates, are found in a wide range of foods including tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, soy sauce, dried seaweeds, Worcestershire sauce and protein-rich foods. All of these foods impart umami flavours, which are described as savoury or meaty.

Commercial MSG is not extracted from the environment but produced by bacterial fermentation. Glucose is converted to glutamic acid, which is further processed by adding sodium hydroxide to form MSG (and water).

MSG is sold as crystals, but they have a long, prismatic shape rather than the cubic form of sodium chloride. It’s worth tasting a few crystals of MSG directly to experience the native taste of umami.

Despite decades of bad press and concern, MSG is considered safe to consume in the concentrations typically found in or added to foods.

Table salt and MSG both contain sodium, but at different percentages of the total weight: table salt has around 40% sodium, versus just 14% in MSG. You are also more likely to be routinely adding table salt to your food rather than MSG.

Eating too much sodium is well known to be unhealthy. Potassium-enriched substitutes have been suggested for a range of health benefits.

A flavour enhancer

The flavour of MSG can be elevated further by combining it with other food additives, known as sodium ribonucleotides.

Japanese and Korean cooks figured this secret out long before chemists, as boiling dried fish and seaweed produces foundation stocks (dashi) containing a mix of naturally sourced glutamates and ribonucleotides.

Ribonucleotides are classified as “generally considered as safe” by food standards authorities. Humans consume many grams of the natural equivalent in their diets.

What can be more problematic are the carbohydrates- and fat-rich foods that have their flavours enhanced, which can potentially lead us to eat excessive calories.

The combination of MSG and ribonucleotides produces a more-ish sensation. Next time you see a bag of potato chips or instant noodles, have a quick look to see if it contains both MSG (E621) and a ribonucleotide source (E627–E635).

I personally keep a jar of MSG in my kitchen. A little goes a long way to elevate a soup, stew or sauce that isn’t quite tasting the way you want it to, but without adding too much extra sodium.

Nathan Kilah 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 the difference between MSG and table salt? A chemist explains – https://theconversation.com/whats-the-difference-between-msg-and-table-salt-a-chemist-explains-237668

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matt Lennon, Conjoint Lecturer, UNSW Sydney

CTE: Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.

It is the now popularised term that makes athletes, parents, sports administrators and insurers’ knuckles white with anxiety as sports codes struggle to come to grips with the risks and impacts of concussion.

In 2005, Bennet Omalu, a United States-based neuropathologist, published a case of an NFL player who had suffered from CTE.

Over the following years, public anxiety about head injuries grew, with the 2015 movie Concussion bringing it to the forefront of public attention.

Omalu, famously played by Will Smith in that movie, wrote at the time that “high-impact contact sports […] place athletes at risk of permanent brain damage” and argued kids should not be allowed to participate in contact sports.

Since then, sports codes from across the world have tried to reduce the risks of concussion, and athletes and parents have pondered whether contact sports are worth the risk of brain injury.

The risks and benefits of sport

Over the past few decades, rates of physical activity and sporting participation in Australian children have declined.

In Australia, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ 2022 data, only one in 20 (5.6%) young people (5–17 years) met the physical activity guidelines.

According to a report by the Australian Sport Commission, around 40% of young people do not participate in any organised sport.

There are many reasons why childhood physical activity may be declining, including more online entertainment options, reduced time allocation of physical education in schools and higher rates of obesity.

But having had many conversations with worried mothers and fathers, the fear that their child will have permanent brain damage, a stunted lifespan or a more rapid onset of dementia is real and a likely driver to avoid contact sport.

But what evidence is there that this is the case?

The honest answer is very little – which is why the 2022 International Consensus Statement of Concussion in Sport identified that studies looking at long-term outcomes of sports-related concussions was the highest priority area for future study.

The most studied area within the field is the long-term outcomes of active and retired professional American football players.

Clearly, the genuine and well-founded health concerns about 160kg NFL players clashing heads day in, day out cannot be generalised to your average school boy or girl playing rugby, Aussie rules or basketball.

This grey area prompted a team of researchers, including myself, from the UK, Australia and the US to take on the largest study to date examining the long-term cognitive outcomes of sports-related concussions.

The findings, just published, turn the field on its head.

What we found

In a longitudinal study of 15,000 UK-based adults between the ages of 50 and 90, we found those who had experienced a sports-related concussion at some point in their lives had better working memory and verbal reasoning than those who had never experienced one.

In a further analysis, we found those who had experienced two or three (or more) sports-related concussions did not perform better than those without a concussion history, but equally they did not perform any worse on any measure.

By contrast, those who had experienced three or more other types of concussions (such as from falling, motor vehicle accidents or assaults) had significantly worse processing speed and attention.

Importantly, the study examined “everyday” adults and the results are not applicable to professional athletes whose head injuries tend to be more frequent, debilitating and severe.

Getting the balance right

While at first glance you may feel puzzled by these results, a brief consideration of some modern realities makes them seem sensible.

Rates of obesity in Australia have been steadily climbing over the past few decades and as of 2022, 31.1% of Australians are obese and 33.7% are overweight.

Similarly, rates of diabetes and high blood pressure are at historic highs.

Many Australians are physically inactive, with teenagers and young adults clocking up an average of 6.6–7.5 hours of screen-based activity a day and reporting concerningly high levels of isolation and loneliness.

While many sports come with risks of head injuries, the beneficial effects on physical activity, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and social connectedness likely more than mitigate the damaging cognitive effects of a head injury.

The obvious reply to this is we should encourage “safer” physical activity options and do everything we can to protect those in contact sports from injuries.

This is a sensible point of view but requires a few qualifications.

The first is, sports that are more physically demanding (and therefore possibly deliver greater benefits from physical activity) often have greater contact and risk of concussion (for example, golf has fewer concussions than Australian football).

Secondly, even “lower-risk” sports such as cycling or soccer carry a risk of head injury – I have personally been concussed while cycling, although I don’t remember it all that well.

It goes without saying that sporting bodies should continue to minimise the risk of head injuries because the individual effects of concussion can be devastating.

But what our study suggests is perhaps the greater risk is to attempt to take no risks at all – and that the benefits from playing sport may outweigh the effects of concussions.

Matt Lennon 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. New research suggests concussion risks can be outweighed by the benefits of playing sport – https://theconversation.com/new-research-suggests-concussion-risks-can-be-outweighed-by-the-benefits-of-playing-sport-238418

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caitlyn Forster, Associate Lecturer, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney

If you’ve spent much time outdoors along the east coast of Australia in the past week, particularly near waterways, you’ve probably seen something quite interesting emerging: dragonflies, whether in ones and twos or what feel like clouds and swarms.

Where did they come from? What are they up to? And why are there so many dragonflies all of a sudden?

Why are there so many dragonflies around?

The short answer is the weather. A warm start to spring has meant a lot of dragonfly nymphs have decided it’s a good time to take the leap into adulthood. Adult dragonflies are the highly visible winged predators we see buzzing around everywhere at the moment.

In cities, where bodies of water may be relatively small – think ponds and creeks rather than lakes and rivers – water temperatures rise more quickly as winter ends. When the weather is warmer, dragonflies may emerge earlier in the year.

But where did they come from?

These dragonflies have been hiding in local waterways, in nymph form. Dragonflies begin their lives as eggs then hatch into an aquatic nymph stage, and finally an adult flying form.

The wingless, water-dwelling nymphs don’t look much like the familiar adults. However, dragonflies are nymphs for most of their lives.

Some species live as nymphs for up to two years, though this may be less depending on weather and light conditions.

Dragonfly nymphs are fantastic predators. They have a kind of hinged jaw that can be extended like an arm to grab food – sometimes including small fish – at high speeds.

The nymphs are also fantastic swimmers, using an unusual technique first described in 1975:

Jet-propulsion in dragonfly larvae is achieved by the rapid ejection of water from a specialised rectal chamber via the anus.

With this method, nymphs can swim at speeds up to ten centimetres per second.

Why are dragonflies such fierce predators?

When days get longer, the nymphs begin to emerge as adults.

When a nymph is ready to emerge she will crawl out of the water and hang around on the surface, waiting to moult. Once the adult has moulted, it will wait for its wings to inflate, before taking off on a single, short flight.

Once the young adult has grown used to its wings, it will continue being a menace to surrounding wildlife – only now in the air.

Adult dragonflies have a knack for high-speed aerobatics, and they feed on even the fastest of flying insects.

Dragonflies can reach speeds of up to 55 kilometres per hour. Relative to the dragonfly’s size, that’s like a human moving at close to 900km an hour.

They can also fly backwards and even do flips in the sky. Some species also have impressive long-distance flight capabilities, with the common green darner undertaking a cycle of multigenerational migration in which individuals travel almost 700km.

Dragonflies’ aerial acrobatics, combined with amazing vision, make them powerful predators.

One study found dragonflies can catch prey from about half a metre away in half a second. They are also clever enough to attack prey from behind, so even fast-reacting flies don’t stand a chance. Some species also use what is called “motion camouflage”, approaching a target along a path that disguises the fact they are getting closer and closer.

What does climate change mean for dragonflies?

Much of the dragonfly’s life cycle is linked to changes in weather, so there’s little doubt climate change will affect them. One UK study looking at when dragonflies emerged from 1960 to 2004 found this event was becoming earlier in the year, likely due to warming temperatures.

Changes in length and timing of life cycles isn’t the only effect climate change has had on dragonflies. Another recent study found they are also changing colour as temperatures rise.

It’s not yet clear what the knock-on effects of this earlier emergence will be. However, dragonflies are not alone among insects in this new behaviour – so the premature predators will at least have something to eat.

Should we get rid of dragonflies?

Sometimes people complain about dragonflies in their yards, and even take steps to get rid of them. That’s a big mistake.

Not only are these beautiful creatures harmless to humans, their aerobatics are also very fun to watch.

And if you want a more direct reason not drive dragonflies away, their diet is a good one. The average dragonfly nymph eats around 40 mosquito larvae a day, and adult dragonflies also love to chow down on adult mosquitoes.

So keeping dragonflies around – and even encouraging them – can have plenty of benefits.

Caitlyn Forster received funding from The Australian Research Council.

– ref. Where did all these dragonflies come from? – https://theconversation.com/where-did-all-these-dragonflies-come-from-238087

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Damian Lettoof, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Wildlife Ecotoxicology, CSIRO

For people in southeast Australia, springtime means soaking up the sun and getting our vitamin D levels back to baseline. But we’re not the only ones likely to be basking. Snakes are getting out and about, too.

A flurry of snake sightings in southern states during spring is nothing new. Snakes emerge from their winter hiding holes when the weather warms.

But we are often asked: will climate change lead to more encounters with our scaly neighbours? It’s a fair question.

Evidence suggests climate change could make snakes come out of hiding earlier. But it’s also likely to cause population declines or shifts in the long run, as snakes adjust to the new conditions.

So what conditions do snakes like?

Snakes are “ectotherms”. This means their internal body temperature depends on the surrounding environment and varies throughout the day and the season. People, on the other hand, are endotherms. We maintain a constant body temperature around 37°C.

Many snakes prefer a lower body temperature of 28–32°C. Cooler-climate species like to keep their bodies cooler still. But even then, they aren’t really “cold-blooded” if they can help it.

Unless it’s really hot, snakes need to chase the heat as soon as they wake up. This enables them to rapidly raise their body temperature to the optimal level so they can go about their daily or nightly routine. They can’t cool themselves by panting or sweating, so they need to shelter from the heat if it’s too hot.

In Australia, snake activity follows distinct patterns in the tropical north and more temperate south.

In the north, where temperatures are consistently warm, snakes avoid the harsh heat and are most active during early mornings, night time, and following the wet season (April to June).

In the south, snakes go into hiding during the cooler months. They slow their metabolism to almost zero and essentially sleep (or “brumate”) through the winter.

These southern snakes get ready to hunker down in autumn as the days begin to shorten. Sensing shorter days in winter keeps them asleep, preventing them from using fat stores or eating food they will not be warm enough to digest. That’s why even a warm sunny day in the middle of winter may not wake them up.

A combination of daily temperatures and daylight hours in spring then triggers southern snakes to wake up and begin the breeding season.

How will climate change modify snake activity?

Australia is likely to warm up to 5°C by the end of this century under a high-emissions scenario. What would that mean for snake activity?

When wild tiger snake body temperatures and activity were measured in Perth’s spring, the snakes only emerged from shelter once their bodies reached 16°C – provided it wasn’t raining. An increase in daily temperatures would mean these tiger snakes start (and end) their days earlier. They may also, at least initially, emerge earlier in the season.

Studies around the world have found snakes becoming active for more days of the year, and feeding more as daily average temperatures increase.

Does this mean we should be concerned about increasing snake populations?

No. The increase in temperatures means most snakes should be avoiding the peak summer heat and we may see less of them. We may also find more snakes become nocturnal.

Even if we do see more snakes, this may not mean the snake population has increased – perhaps the opposite. As snakes generally don’t want to be seen, increased visibility could indicate snakes are stressed. This may be an early warning sign of population decline.

Does climate change threaten Australian snakes?

Ten years ago, one study assessed the potential impact of climate change on Australian elapids (front-fanged venomous snakes) — the most common family of snakes in Australia. The range of most (65%) species was expected to shrink. A smaller proportion (13%) of species was predicted to expand their range, these being the semi-arid and arid-zone species.

Among commonly encountered species, red-bellied black snakes and tiger snakes were expected to suffer range contractions under four different models and scenarios. But the eastern brown snake could go either way.

Climate change is also increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme wildfires across the globe. While many Australian animal species are adapted to fire, some already on the brink might be pushed over the edge by climate change-driven shifts in fire regimes. For example, the Black Summer fires razed more than 70% of the endangered broad-headed snake’s habitat. These fires caused population crashes of 26–34% in this imperilled snake species.

Ultimately, snakes may become active earlier but may suffer declines in the long run as they adjust to the new climate.

What does this mean for snake bite risk in Australia?

If changes in climate do increase encounters between humans and snakes – and the jury is still out at this stage – there is always the possibility this could lead to more snake bites.

But we can influence the outcome by choosing how to behave around snakes. If we’re vigilant — alert but not alarmed — when we’re in snake habitat, the chances of a bite are low (just make sure you know first aid).

A snake seen and left alone poses little threat to humans. If we wish to avoid bites, we must also supervise children and pets (and keep dogs on leads, and cats indoors). Raise children to become snake smart as early as possible. Remember to look where you are stepping, listen, and leave snakes alone.

Damian Lettoof receives funding from The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

Chris J Jolly is supported by a Macquarie University Research Fellowship, and receives funding from Australian Research Council, Minderoo Foundation, and Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (Government of Western Australia).

Timothy N. W. Jackson receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council.

– ref. Warm winters are waking snakes early. Here’s what that means for them and us – https://theconversation.com/warm-winters-are-waking-snakes-early-heres-what-that-means-for-them-and-us-237556

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kristy Hess, Professor (Communication), Deakin University

This is the second piece in a series on the Future of Australian media. You can read the first piece in the series here.

Australians who are unaware of stories about social disorder and crime gripping Alice Springs must surely have been hiding under a rock as big as Uluru.

The town has been the focus of national media attention and (at times toxic) social media commentary, prompting many in Alice Springs to crave the return of an “old-fashioned” communications asset to help quell negativity – a local newspaper.

In 2023, the Mparntwe Alice Springs Community Foundation was established with a key mission of bringing back a local masthead after News Corp closed its long-running newspaper, the Centralian Advocate, in 2020. To the foundation, a newspaper was a way of helping to re-establishing a sense of community connection and have constructive conversations on issues that matter to people in town.

The new Centralian Today celebrated its one-year anniversary this week in Alice Springs. Our research into this venture – to be launched this month – suggests that despite issues with recruitment and resourcing, the venture has been met with optimism from advertisers and audiences. It also provides a novel way of thinking about the future of news sustainability.

The Alice Springs example emphasises what academic literature has reinforced for decades – local news matters to audiences. When done well, local news providers play a role in keeping people safe and upholding social order (think natural disasters), hold power to account and foster public conversation. They also contribute to wellbeing, social connection and sense of “community”. Local newspapers in Australia are also expected to be non-partisan, but advocate and champion the shared interests of the geographic communities they serve.

Local papers in crisis

Yet, across the board, Australia’s local news sector is in crisis, as the traditional business model sustaining journalism – advertising – continues to shift towards digital platforms. Dozens of local news outlets (newspapers particularly) closed up shop across Australia during the lockdowns of COVID-19, in part due to a sudden loss of advertising.

This created what has been termed news “deserts” – geographic areas that have no local news provisions. This week Australian Community Media (ACM) – which publishes almost 70 daily and non-daily mastheads across metropolitan and rural Australia, continued its wave of cuts and newspaper sell-offs by announcing it will shed 35 editorial jobs and close a suite of country newspaper titles from the Tenterfield Star to the Dungog Leader. The Public Interest Journalism Initiative notes there are 31 local government areas in Australia without a local publisher, from Broken Hill in New South Wales to Upper Gasgoyne in Western Australia.

There have been attempts to support local news with federal government subsidies and initiatives totalling more than $70 million since 2018. While helpful, these have been short-term, and have not provided the solutions needed to address systemic challenges. The future of the mandatory bargaining code, which has forced Google and Facebook to pay publishers for news content that appeared on their platforms, is on a precipice. Meta, owner of Facebook, has announced it will not renew its news deal when it expires this year.

Targeted interventions and support for local news has been challenging because it is difficult to accurately gauge how much of Australia is in a news black hole. News coverage can be highly uneven, with some areas relatively well served when it comes to news access, especially in Victoria.

We have witnessed the rise of zombie newspapers, which carry mostly syndicated content and “pink slime” publications. These are fake, partisan publications masquerading as local news outlets that push a particular party line, misinformation or conspiracy theories.

In a sign of hope, new start-ups have emerged to fill voids, but they have qualified for only minimal government support. In addition, major media companies claim to serve particular local areas as part of their licence areas or circulation reach. But in reality they may only offer only tokenistic coverage to meet content quotas, attract subsidies or demonstrate “reach” to major advertisers.

Local media need targeted support

This makes it vital that support for the sector is directly targeted at areas that need it most, and are more than short term. Solutions that offer promise include:

• tax cuts or support for journalistic salaries, especially recruitment of experienced journalists to the regions

• a tech levy to distribute funds towards supporting local and community journalism

• support for printed newspapers especially in areas with poor broadband coverage

• engaging philanthropic support to specifically support journalism practice

• responsible advertising spend – from government, not-for-profit and big business – to support local news outlets that invest in public interest journalism.

A new Australian Research Council Linkage project, for example, led by Deakin University in partnership with Griffith University and the ABC, is examining how local news producers can work together with the ABC to support vulnerable areas of the news ecology. This would form Australia’s version of the BBC’s successful Local Democracy Reporting Service.

News companies themselves must also carry some of the responsibility. For the current crisis, ACM’s announcement that the Tenterfield Star would close and reporters would now do their best to “cover the regions from a distance” should be scrutinised. It is important to note that the Tenterfield Star’s existing editorial office is 200km away from the town in Armidale. A newspaper that once lobbied for Federation in its heyday has minimal journalistic presence on the ground in Tenterfield (according to our research), with a photographer to capture events and happenings. The death knell had arguably been sounding for The Star long before ACM’s announcement this week.

In the debate about how to save local news, we have previously suggested that too much emphasis has been placed on generating social media metrics and reach, and predicting the impending doom of radio and print, at the expense of investing in and supporting relevant and reliable local content.

Most importantly, we suggest Facebook is no friend of public interest journalism in Australia. News outlets’ continued dependency on these platforms to build community and conversation is at their own peril.

Kristy Hess currently receives funding from the Australian Research Council, Natural Hazards Research Australia and the Mparntwe Alice Springs Community Foundation.

– ref. Local papers are central to our democracy. We must do more to bring them out of crisis – https://theconversation.com/local-papers-are-central-to-our-democracy-we-must-do-more-to-bring-them-out-of-crisis-237987

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Griffin, Professor, Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, The University of Queensland

COVID vaccines have unquestionably made a huge difference during this pandemic. For example, it’s estimated COVID shots have saved more than 1.4 million lives in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) European region alone since their introduction in December 2020.

Unfortunately, SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID) has continued to change quite quickly, and this affects how well immunity generated from both vaccination and past infection protects us. This issue is often referred to as “immune evasion”.

One strategy to address this has been to update our vaccines, and we’ve done this four times already in Australia. Now, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) is considering what would be the fifth iteration of a COVID vaccine – a shot targeting the JN.1 omicron subvariant.

Here’s what you need to know about these updated boosters.

Keeping up with the COVID variants

Our initial vaccines targeted the original strain of SARS-CoV-2. The first update still included the original strain but added an early omicron subvariant BA.1. We then changed BA.1 to BA.4/5 with the original strain.

The most recent update occurred in late 2023 when we reverted to having just one component in the vaccine, in this case the omicron subvariant XBB.1.5.

The virus has continued to change. Another subvariant of omicron, JN.1, was first detected in August 2023 and went on to drive a significant wave of infections in Australia over summer.

JN.1 subsequently gave away to other subvariants you may know as the “FLiRT” and “FLuQE” variants which have seen a relatively large increase in COVID activity over recent months. FLuQE, or KP.3, is currently dominant.

Although JN.1 is no longer driving many cases, given FLiRT and FLuQE are descended from JN.1, vaccines targeting JN.1 should do a good job at protecting against these newer subvariants.

What’s the process?

As far back as April, the WHO recommended the use of vaccines targeting the JN.1 lineage based on the expectation the virus would continue to evolve from JN.1. The European Medicines Agency made the same recommendation.

Potentially from when it became clear that JN.1 was going to become dominant, but certainly from this point, pharmaceutical companies would have started working on tweaking their vaccines accordingly.

When these vaccines are ready and have been tested, they apply to the relevant regulatory bodies for approval.

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently approved an emergency use authorisation for a Novavax vaccine targeting JN.1.

Meanwhile, the regulator in the United Kingdom has approved the JN.1-specific Spikevax from Moderna and Comirnaty from Pfizer.

In Australia, our process differs slightly and tends to take a little longer. The TGA’s website indicates applications for two JN.1 vaccines are currently under evaluation (Spikevax and Comirnaty). We won’t know when they’re going to be approved until the decision has been made, but hopefully this is not too far away.

The US has also approved KP.2 vaccines

In June, the FDA advised vaccine manufacturers to update their COVID vaccines to target JN.1. But subsequently it recommended it would be preferable for vaccines to target the KP.2 strain instead (FLiRT).

Moderna and Pfizer said they would be able to develop vaccines targeted to KP.2 and the FDA has since granted emergency use authorisation for these two companies’ KP.2 vaccines.

It seems likely the difference between a JN.1 booster and KP.2 booster will be minimal. Both should provide significantly updated protection against currently circulating subvariants compared with the XBB vaccines. So we shouldn’t feel as though we’re missing out by not having plans for KP.2 boosters in Australia at the moment.

Are the new vaccines safe and effective?

Before approving updated boosters, regulators carefully review data looking at immune responses generated by the new vaccines against the newer variants, compared to previous vaccines.

Based on data mostly generated by the vaccine manufacturers, the updated JN.1 vaccines appear to lead to substantially improved immune responses against multiple related sublineages including KP.2 and KP.3, compared to the XBB vaccines.

These recent updates are not expected to change the well-established safety profile of the COVID vaccines. But as always, the vaccines’ safety (as well as efficacy) will continue to be monitored even after they’re approved and rolled out.

What about Novavax?

The COVID vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna are mRNA vaccines. These work by giving our body instructions to make SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins (proteins on the surface of the virus which it uses to attach to our cells). Then when we encounter SARS-CoV-2, our immune system is ready to respond.

The Novavax shot is an adjuvanted protein-based vaccine, which means the proteins are manufactured in a lab and a component called an adjuvant is added to improve the body’s immune response. Vaccines using this type of technology have been around for some time so it’s considered a more traditional way of making a vaccine.

While our mRNA options work well, there are some people who can’t have or don’t want an mRNA vaccine, so Novavax provides an important alternative option.

However, the updated Novavax booster does not yet seem to have an application before the TGA, so is likely to be some time away for us in Australia.

Some challenges remain

While it’s great we have been able to update our vaccines successfully, it would be ideal if we could develop vaccines that don’t need to be updated as often.

But perhaps the biggest determinant of how well a vaccine works is its uptake, and at the moment the uptake of COVID boosters is well below where it needs to be.

For example, as of August, only 31.8% of people aged 75 and older had received a COVID vaccine in the previous six months (it’s recommended every six months in this age group).

We also need to look at ways to approve updated COVID vaccines more quickly and efficiently in this country, including non-mRNA options.

Paul Griffin is a director and scientific advisory board member of the immunisation coalition. He has served on Medical Advisory Boards including for AstraZeneca, GSK, MSD, Moderna, Biocelect/Novavax, Seqirus and Pfizer and has received speaker honoraria including from Seqirus, Novartis, Gilead, Sanofi, MSD and Janssen.

– ref. New COVID vaccines may be coming to Australia. Here’s what to know about the JN.1 shots – https://theconversation.com/new-covid-vaccines-may-be-coming-to-australia-heres-what-to-know-about-the-jn-1-shots-237652

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Treena Clark, Chancellor’s Indigenous Research Fellow, Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building, University of Technology Sydney

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and/or images of deceased people.

In August, I attended the Darwin Aboriginal Arts Fair to witness First Nations designers and artists showcase their fashions and win awards for their talents. From textile makers to artists and designers, their range of fashion designs highlighted the powerful talent and stories of First Nations communities around the country.

But while today’s brilliant designers are acknowledged for their hard work and dedication, there are some First Nations designers who remain relatively unheard of. This is often the case when a designer has passed and is not memorialised through numerous stories.

Several months ago, I learned about one such fashion and costume designer named Stephen FitzGerald (Yuin) through Euahleyai/Gamillaroi Distinguished Professor Larissa Behrendt. He came to my attention while speaking to Larissa, who shared stories about him and her experiences modelling his clothes.

I later found Stephen’s sister, Lee Spirit-Jones, and gained a detailed account of his life and work. Through the oral accounts from Larissa and Lee, this is what I learned about his momentous but short-lived career.

Fashion and couture

Stephen grew up in the Sydney suburb of La Perouse, with family hailing from the north and south coasts of New South Wales. He started his business in high school by designing and making clothes for family and friends.

Lee recalls that her brother “went to work at Christopher Essex before opening his own studio in Crown Street” in 1984. Following this opening, Stephen’s designs were often shown on charity runways with the likes of Adam Bennett, Harry Who, George Gross, Liz Davenport and Trent Nathan.

Behrendt modelled Stephen’s clothes at some of these extravagant charity events, including one 1986 fundraiser that raised $13,680 for the Autistic Association.

Larissa told me Stephen was the first person she’d met who was Aboriginal and also a high-end fashion designer:

I did a couple of his shows for him, and I actually had a dress he designed. It was a beautiful black cocktail dress with earth-toned sequins on the front. I’d never had anything so beautiful.

Film and costume

In 1992, Stephen designed the costumes for the feature film Jindalee Lady directed by Bryan Syron, with music composed by Bart Willoughby and featuring the Bangarra Dance Theatre (with Raymond Blanco and Sylvia Blanco as lead dancers). It is the first feature film directed by an Aboriginal person.

Jindalee Lady tells the story of a First Nations fashion designer who is emerging in her career and is married to a non-Indigenous man. She later falls in love with an Aboriginal cinematographer, and a love triangle ensues.

Stephen was recommended as the costume designer by the renowned First Nations artist Bronwyn Bancroft (Bundjalung). He became the first First Nations fashion and costume designer to work on a feature film.

In the book Media Ethics, an Aboriginal Film and the Australian Film Commission, the director of Jindalee Lady, Brian Syron, was described as being “honoured to work with him, especially on the designs for the ‘fashion parade’”.

The fashion parade scene featured magnificent costumes depicting Australian birds. Both Larissa and Lee featured as models in the film. Larissa’s dress was inspired by the black cockatoo, and Lee’s by the rainbow lorikeet.

Celebrities and performers

Stephen was often reported on in the media as a celebrity designer. In the world of television, Stephen provided garments for several productions including Star Search, and dressed studio personalities such as Kerri-Anne Kennerley.

He created a costume for drag performer Dorreen Manganini, aka Darren Budda-Dean (Kamilaroi and Gomeroi). This costume was worn and performed to the song Xanadu, by Olivia Newton-John and Electric Light Orchestra, at the Xchange Hotel in Melbourne/Narrm.

Stephen also created the costumes for the popular cabaret show Les Girls and the male dance revue Man Power. As Lee told me:

I remember that we were contacted by Man Power […] as they were aware that we did the costumes for Les Girls […] Man Power wanted to have quality costumes that would work.

History is made by those who speak

Stephen FitzGerald was a fashion and costume design pioneer and should be recognised for his contributions. Unfortunately, he passed away at 32 and we lost the opportunity to experience more of his work.

In Larissa’s words:

He was such a talent. You know, then he passed away […] and no one ever talks about him anymore; it’s a real shame

As history is made and shared by those who speak, these wonderful and fond stories of Stephen provide rich insight into his life and work. Stephen lives on in the hearts and minds of those who loved him and the lucky few who still own some of his creations.

Treena Clark has received funding through the University of Technology Sydney Chancellor’s Indigenous Research Fellowship scheme.

– ref. From runways to film: the untold story of trailblazing First Nations fashion designer Stephen FitzGerald – https://theconversation.com/from-runways-to-film-the-untold-story-of-trailblazing-first-nations-fashion-designer-stephen-fitzgerald-236880

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mauricio Carvallo Aceves, PhD Candidate, Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia

Urban flooding is increasingly concerning in Canada, where water drainage systems are at risk of being overwhelmed. Natural watersheds have been greatly altered by construction disturbing the natural ways that water flows from rainfall, across the land and into water bodies. The result is that drainage infrastructure must cope with increased water volumes at both higher speeds and flow rates, as well as deteriorated water quality due to pollutants such as oil and organic waste.

Additionally, stormwater mixes with wastewater in the drainage network in the combined sewer systems that were widely developed in the past. Sudden and heavy rainfall can lead to the network overflowing beyond its capacity, discharging untreated sewage into neighbouring water bodies. This has severe consequences, such as toxic algae blooms that deplete the oxygen found in the water, potentially killing aquatic plants and animals.

In the coming decades, storm intensities are expected to increase, potentially exceeding the design capacity of older networks. Reducing runoff flowrates and volumes through blue-green infrastructure could provide some much-needed relief to drainage systems that may be overwhelmed as stronger rain events become more frequent.

The good news is that there are actions to restore the natural hydrological cycle, which would make Canada’s cities more flood-proof.

Blue-green infrastructure

Engineering practices incorporating artificial and natural elements attempt to re-establish the natural water cycle that existed before urbanization. These can include slowing down stormwater runoff flows, retaining them for a given period of time, and infiltrating water into the ground where possible.

Multiple terms are used to refer to these practices, such as nature-based solutions, blue-green infrastructure, best management practices or low-impact development.

There are many existing examples in Canadian cities, such as: green roofs that soak up rain, rain gardens that can filter out pollutants, and ditches covered in plants that can reduce the speed of water flow.

Some of these blend seamlessly into the surrounding urban environment, and may be unnoticed by people passing by who may be unaware of the key role that these spaces play in managing stormwater.

Reducing volumes

New urban developments are already integrating these forms of blue-green infrastructure in their planning.

For older, already existing drainage systems, retrofitting existing underground drainage networks with blue-green infrastructure will be crucial to deal with combined sewer overflows (CSOs). The most effective way to reduce CSOs is to reduce the stormwater flow that is directed towards the drainage network. Ideally, stormwater would never mix with wastewater, but achieving that would require redoing the entire drainage system in some areas, which is unfeasible.

This is where adding blue-green infrastructure can prove useful to reduce runoff flows and volumes at multiple points across existing networks, decreasing the possibility of overwhelming them.

Urbanists and planners have taken advantage of such opportunities to fully revitalize the built environment, incorporating more green spaces into streets and improving the design of elements such as sidewalks, cycling lanes and public spaces.

Recent examples include the installation of tree trenches along Richards Street in downtown Vancouver in 2020, or Montréal’s new “sponge parks” that absorb water from surrounding streets during heavy rains.

Even in areas where CSOs are not an issue or where dedicated stormwater networks exist, retrofitting existing drainage networks with blue-green infrastructure will be an asset to mitigate the impact of climate change.

Challenges of retrofitting

Retrofitting existing drainage networks with blue-green infrastructure is not straightforward. Cities face the logistical headache of planning and executing roadwork, and there are also multiple constraints on a technical level. Each form of blue-green infrastructure has specific requirements for elements like terrain slope, maximum area drained and soil types, among others, restricting where they might be implemented.

Available space is an issue itself for practices like rain gardens or retention ponds, especially in dense urban areas where different land uses compete for the scarce land available. The depth and layout of existing utilities may also render connections between blue-green infrastructure and the drainage network impossible unless significant stretches of pipes are replaced.

In some cases, the limitations may even be external to the municipal drainage network itself. Some older buildings have a single connection out from the building towards the municipal network. As such, all of the wastewater and any stormwater collected in the building’s internal piping get mixed before it even leaves the lot.

Storm-proofing cities

Urban planners and municipal governments around the world started to slowly address these issues more directly decades ago, but centuries of harmful urbanization practices cannot be undone overnight. Most communities in Canada moved away from building combined sewage networks in the 1950s and started implementing separated wastewater and stormwater networks.

There are now thresholds that new developments must meet in terms of flow rates directed to the municipal drainage systems, as well as the maximum admissible concentration of certain pollutants present in stormwater. Provincial guidelines in Ontario, Metro Vancouver and Québec address these.

The City of Vancouver implemented a target to intercept and clean 90 per cent of the annual rainfall volume.

There is still much work to be done. However, the opportunity to transform our cities’ landscape, our relationship with stormwater and our impact on the receiving water bodies is here. Given the limitations discussed above, some of these improvements will be slow. Ultimately, that is precisely how incremental shifts add up: small trickles come together to form rivers of change.

Mauricio Carvallo Aceves receives funding from the University of British Columbia, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the National Research Council, Mitacs and the City of Surrey.

– ref. New stormwater infrastructure is needed for Canadian cities to handle increased urban flooding – https://theconversation.com/new-stormwater-infrastructure-is-needed-for-canadian-cities-to-handle-increased-urban-flooding-233046

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amy Errmann, Senior Lecturer, Marketing & International Business, Auckland University of Technology

With overtourism in the spotlight as the travel industry continues to rebound after the pandemic, popular destinations around the world are feeling the strain.

Bali is overwhelmed by waste and traffic, Australia’s sacred sites have suffered environmental damage, New York is facing rising rents due to short-term rentals, and Singapore’s scenic spots are becoming clogged with crowds.

Frustrated locals are pushing back – from spraying water at tourists in Barcelona to organising protests in Venice. As the northern hemisphere high season ends, Aotearoa New Zealand is preparing for an influx of visitors ahead of its summer tourism season.

And much like those other tourist hotspots, the government is looking at how to manage the negative effects of tourism on local communities and the environment. This includes tripling the international tourist tax from NZ$35 to $100.

The aim of the increase is to attract tourists who are more mindful of their impact and willing to contribute to its mitigation, while also reducing visitor numbers to protect the country’s unique landscapes and cultures.

But are there other ways the tourism industry can evolve to ensure benefits for both travellers and the communities they are visiting? So called “slow travel” could be the answer.

Hunting the perfect photo

Overtourism isn’t just about too many people in one place. It’s also about how people travel.

Instagram-famous landmarks draw massive crowds, disrupting local life and sometimes even leading to closures.

Travellers often pack their itineraries with as many sights as possible, racing from one place to another in a frenzy to capture the perfect photo. This hurried approach not only creates congestion but also limits meaningful engagement with the destination.

And it’s not just a numbers game. The way tourists behave also plays a critical role.

A 2019 report from the United Nations raised concerns about trash from tourists in developing small island states, including the Pacific Islands. According to the report, a tourist visiting these communities produced about 7kg of waste a day, compared to about 2.5kg produced by a local.

The issue is not necessarily about travelling less, but about travelling more responsibly. The tourism industry needs to be encouraging travel habits that allow both visitors and locals to enjoy tourism without compromising the integrity of the destination.

The rise of slow travel

Mindfulness – being fully present in the moment – has gained popularity since the 1970s. The concept has influenced a number of sectors, including slow food, slow fashion, and now slow travel.

It’s about experiencing destinations at a relaxed pace, focusing on deeper connections with local cultures and sustainability. This often means staying longer in fewer places and choosing eco-friendly transport.

Understanding slow travel and mindfulness is important because they create richer, more memorable experiences. Fast, hectic travel often leaves little positive impact. Slow immersive travel, on the other hand, fosters lasting memories and reduces overtourism, pollution and cultural damage.

Research shows when we consciously immerse ourselves in our surroundings we can have more meaningful experiences. Surprisingly, even luxury travel – often dismissed as wasteful – can encourage respect and mindfulness for those who invest financially and mentally in their journey, unlike cheaper, mainstream tourism.

Activities such as “forest bathing”, hiking or engaging with local cultures boost wellbeing and meaning, going beyond just “taking a photo for likes”.

This mindful approach can change our behaviour on a personal level. By focusing attention on fewer experiences, travellers can heighten their sense of awe and appreciation, making the travel more memorable.

This idea is evident in “peak experiences”. Disney, for example, creates emotionally-charged moments that stick in visitors’ minds. Other experiences, such as “digital detoxes” or pilgrimages can leave a contemplative impression.

By concentrating on a single aspect of a visit, it becomes special and memorable. Even in busy places like Disneyland, focusing on one unique element can make the experience feel slower and more meaningful.

The sustainability of tourism

In the Faroe Islands, slow travel helps protect local traditions and landscapes by encouraging thoughtful visitor behaviour, such as using local guides to minimise environmental impact.

New Zealand can leverage its natural beauty to offer similar immersive experiences. Tramping (hiking), for example, can promote a mindful connection with the environment.

But even here, there needs to be a focus on balancing tourism with preservation. Popular spots, such as the Department of Conservation huts and the Te Araroa Trail, are already becoming crowded. It is essential to educate visitors on responsible practices – such as cleaning equipment – to ensure they understand their role in protecting nature.

Travel that fosters a deeper appreciation for local cultures and environments benefits both visitors and the destinations they explore. The challenge is finding the right balance – encouraging meaningful travel experiences while still ensuring accessibility for all.

Amy Errmann 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. Crowds, water guns and protests: could ‘slow tourism’ be the answer to an overtourism backlash? – https://theconversation.com/crowds-water-guns-and-protests-could-slow-tourism-be-the-answer-to-an-overtourism-backlash-238316