Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Noel Castree, Professor of Society & Environment, University of Technology Sydney

Last week, United Nations General Secretary António Guterres coined an arresting new term. The era of global warming has ended, he declared dramatically, and the era of “global boiling” has arrived.

You can see why he said it. July was the hottest month on record globally. Searing temperatures and intense wildfires have raged across the Northern Hemisphere. Marine heatwaves are devastating the world’s third-largest coral reef, off Florida. And as greenhouse emissions keep rising, it means many even hotter summers await us.

But critics and climate sceptics have heaped scorn on the phrase. Taken literally, they’re correct – nowhere on Earth is near the boiling point of water.

Is Guterres’ phrase hyperbolic or an accurate warning? Do phrases like this actually help drive us towards faster and more effective climate action? Or do they risk making us prone to climate doomism, and risk prompting a backlash?

Rhetoric and reality

Guterres is rhetorically adept. He uses the moral authority of his position to vividly depict the climate crisis. For instance, he told attendees at last year’s COP27 climate summit in Egypt we are on “a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator”. In many ways, it’s one of the only tools he has, given the UN has global influence but limited real power.

“Global boiling” ups the verbal ante. It’s designed to sound the alarm and trigger more radical action to stave off the worst of climate change.

Guterres chooses his words carefully. But does he choose them wisely?

At one level, “global boiling” is clearly an exaggeration, despite the extreme summer heat and fire during the northern summer.

But then again, “global warming” is now far too tame a descriptor. Prominent climate scientists have pushed for the term “global heating” to be used in preference.

Similarly, phrases such as “the climate crisis” haven’t gained traction with either elites or the ordinary public. That’s because many of us still feel we haven’t seen this crisis with our own eyes.

But that is changing. In the past few years, extreme weather and related events have struck many countries – even those who may have thought themselves immune. Australia’s Black Summer brought bushfires that burned an area the size of the United Kingdom. Germany suffered lethal flooding in 2021. The unprecedented 2022 deluge in Pakistan flooded large tracts of the country. China has seen both drought and floods. Savage multi-year droughts have hit the Horn of Africa. India has banned rice exports due to damage from heavy rain.

Once-abstract phrases are now having real-world purchase – in developed and developing nations alike.

Climate scepticism has also dropped away. Fewer doubters are trying to discredit the fundamental science than during the long period of manufactured scepticism in Western nations.

In this context, we can see “global boiling” as an expression of humanitarian concern backed by rigorous science showing the situation continues to worsen.

The hazards of theatrical language

There are risks in warning of catastrophe. People who don’t pay close attention to the news may switch off if the predicted disaster doesn’t eventuate. Or the warnings can add to climate anxiety and make people feel there’s no hope and therefore no point in acting.

There’s another risk, too. Catastrophic language often has moral overtones – and, as we all know, we don’t like being told what to do. When we hear a phrase like “global boiling” in the context of a prominent official exhorting us to do more, faster, it can raise the hackles.

Read more:
‘It can be done. It must be done’: IPCC delivers definitive report on climate change, and where to now

You can see this in the emerging greenlash, whereby populist-right figures scorn solar and wind farms. Even struggling mainstream leaders like UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak can pivot this way, as evidenced by his recent positioning as pro-car and pro-oil extraction.

Opponents of climate action – who tend to be on the right of politics – often complain about what they see as the overuse of “crisis talk”. If everything is a crisis, nothing is a crisis. This view has some merit.

But even critics such as Danish controversialist Bjørn Lomborg, author of False Alarm, may have more in common with Guterres than one might think. In admittedly different ways, they pursue similar ends: a world where people can live free from harm, with dignity, and with reasonable prospects of a fulfilling life pursued sustainably. The question, as always, is how to get there.

Hot language can motivate us, just as quieter, process-heavy, technocratic language can. It can be folded into a discourse of hope and aspiration for the future, rather than of fear and trembling.

Rethinking calamity

Climate writer David Wallace-Wells has written that the future will be “contested and combative, combining suffering and flourishing — though not in equal measure for every group”.

As the critics Frederick Buell and Rob Nixon remind us, a hotter Earth will worsen existing human vulnerabilities as well as creating new ones. The poor and marginalised, both authors observe, are already living through crises, year-in and year-out. They suffer what Nixon dubs “slow violence”, punctuated by dramatic environmental events such as landslides and failed harvests.

Are there better phrases to capture this? Possibly. Take the challenge yourself: can you think up a pithy, accurate phrase to cover intensifying local and regional-scale droughts, fires, typhoons and floods; damage to crops and food insecurity; water shortages; existential threats to coral reefs and low-lying communities? You can see how hard it is.

When Guterres uses highly charged phrases, he’s not inviting to us to imagine a Hollywood-style apocalypse. What he’s hoping is to make people listen – and act – now we can see what climate change looks like.

What happens if we write off his comments as overblown rhetoric? The risk is it becomes another form of denial. Climate change, global warming, global heating, the climate crisis, global boiling – whatever the phrase, it is now undeniable that it’s upon us.

Read more:
The climate crisis is real – but overusing terms like ‘crisis’ and ’emergency’ comes with risk

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

– ref. Do phrases like ‘global boiling’ help or hinder climate action? – https://theconversation.com/do-phrases-like-global-boiling-help-or-hinder-climate-action-210960

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Holly Cullen, Adjunct professor, The University of Western Australia

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s hopes of avoiding extradition to the United States, where he’s charged with espionage and computer misuse offences, have taken a blow.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, asked on Saturday about the Australian government’s request that the US end the prosecution, said Assange had been “charged with very serious criminal conduct […] [which] risked very serious harm to our national security”.

He also asked that Australians see the US perspective on the case.

These statements will disappoint Assange’s supporters. Previously, the US hadn’t responded directly to the Australian government’s statements. The Albanese government has repeatedly said it believes the process for prosecuting Assange has gone on too long and should be brought to a conclusion.

From a diplomatic perspective, moving from silence or ambiguity to clearer opposition to the Australian government’s position suggests the US may have decided to prosecute Assange despite Australia’s objections.

However, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that position hadn’t changed, and that Secretary Blinken had merely said in public what had been said in private. He regards the diplomatic process as ongoing – though none can doubt it’s now more challenging.

How’d we get here?

The UK home secretary ordered Assange’s extradition to the US in 2022. Assange’s legal challenge to that order was rejected and is currently under appeal. In parallel, Assange has challenged the order before the European Court of Human Rights.

However, his best chance for freedom is for the US to withdraw the prosecution, or to pardon him.

Under former president Barack Obama, the US declined to prosecute Assange because his case could open the door to prosecution of journalists for espionage. The Trump administration issued an indictment against Assange in 2019, and the Biden administration has continued the extradition process.

Australians detained in foreign countries can access support at the nearest Australian embassy and have the right to communicate with Australian consular officials. At times Assange has rejected assistance, but he has had visits from Australian officials in the UK – including, unusually, High Commissioner Stephen Smith – this year.

Some situations are politically sensitive. Governments deal with those cases directly, and discussions aren’t made public.

The question is whether the US making its position on Assange public indicates it won’t shift that position, meaning further Australian discussions would be pointless.

Assange has enjoyed growing support from Australian parliamentarians. A group of MPs met with US Ambassador Caroline Kennedy in May this year.

But the uncompromising American position on pursuing prosecution is no surprise. The US has been resolute about prosecuting foreign nationals even when allies have objected.

In 1999, Germany took the US to the International Court of Justice because of its failure to grant German diplomats access to two German nationals accused of capital murder. Although the court found in Germany’s favour, the US still prosecuted and executed the brothers.

What if the government’s efforts fail?

Australia’s diplomatic efforts in other cases have produced successful outcomes. It has been effective recently in stopping the prosecution or extradition of persons under its protection. In 2022, Australian pressure led to the return of Professor Sean Turnell from Myanmar, where he had been charged with national security offences.

In 2019, direct engagement by then Foreign Minister Marise Payne with Thailand prevented the extradition of Hakeem Al-Araibi, a refugee and Australian permanent resident, to Bahrain.

Australia, working with the UK, secured the release of British-Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert from Iran in November 2020. This was a more challenging diplomatic situation because of the less friendly relations between Iran and both the UK and Australia.

The US seems to resist Australian pressure more often than smaller states do. Assange’s supporters hoped a direct request by Australia, a close American ally, would lead to his release.

While the US has resisted Australia’s request, it hasn’t yet formally closed the door. Until Assange is extradited, it’s always possible Australia’s persuasion could yet succeed.

If it fails, Australia would have few options. It could apply symbolic diplomatic measures, such as calling in the American ambassador or bringing the Australian ambassador home from the US for consultations.

These acts would demonstrate concern, but they remain in the sphere of diplomacy.

Indeed protecting Australian nationals in foreign countries is less about the law than successful diplomatic practice.

While Albanese has said Australia will continue to make representations concerning Assange, the diplomatic road has become rockier.

Holly Cullen is a volunteer for the Australian Labor Party.

– ref. A rocky diplomatic road: Julian Assange’s hopes of avoiding extradition take a blow as US pushes back – https://theconversation.com/a-rocky-diplomatic-road-julian-assanges-hopes-of-avoiding-extradition-take-a-blow-as-us-pushes-back-210806

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Austin, Lecturer in Theatre, The University of Melbourne

Bloom, the new Australian musical produced by the Melbourne Theatre Company, is proudly billed by the company as born and bred right here in Melbourne/Naarm.

Written by Tom Gleisner (of The Castle fame) with music by Katie Weston, the show follows the story of Rose (Evelyn Krape), who reluctantly arrives at Pine Grove Aged Care Home after being told she can no longer live alone. Finn (Slone Sudiro), a university student studying music, arrives on the same day as Rose as part of a scheme offering students board in exchange for domestic duties.

As both Rose and Finn settle into their new accommodation, we meet the eclectic residents of the home and two dedicated care staff. Gloria (Christina O’Neill) has “accidentally” worked at Pine Grove for eight years. Ruby (Vidya Makan) gave up her communications degree at uni for a job that allowed her to do something more meaningful.

Fault lines soon appear. The frugal and punitive manager of Pine Grove, Mrs MacIntyre (Anne Edmonds), puts profit before people. She refuses requests for outings, fresh food and psychosocial programs designed to improve the residents’ (or as Rose puts it, inmates) lives so she can meet a tight fiscal bottom line.

Each character wrestles with the poignant and relatable idea that there is a gap between who they were and who they have become.

This gap occurs across the spectrum of ageing. Ruby asks herself in song if “maybe it’s time”, contemplating leaving Pine Grove and commencing a masters degree in aged care. Resident Sal (Eddie Muliaumaseali’i) silently looks through old photos to connect with his past and the remnants of his past self.

Dismissing the rights of older Australians

This question of aged care homes as for-profit entities was brought into sharp focus during the pandemic. The final report of a Royal Commission into Aged Care and Safety exposed the deep chasms in the sector. It tabled 148 recommendations to parliament in 2021 and has led to significant legislative reform.

The idea suggested at the core of Bloom – that student boarders in aged care homes may lead to significant innovation, intergenerational and reciprocal learning and subsequently improve the quality of life for our elders – is treated glibly and without much substance in the formulaic model of musical theatre.

Read more:
4 key takeaways from the aged care royal commission’s final report

The story references ideas of the human rights of our elders to have agency to voice complaints, to be treated with respect, to have liberty of movement and the right to social participation.

Specifically, Rose tries to lead an insurrection of residents during an inspection of the facility and refuses pills that make her feel groggy.

Instead of being heard and respected, she is treated as a problem. The suggestion by Mrs MacIntyre is that she is “having a little turn” during her complaints: a moment of insight into how easily we have dismissed the rights of older Australians to exercise choice and be heard on matters that impact them.

Here, Bloom provides an insight into the cruelty inherent in some aspects of the system, and the difference quality care and a good carer can make to someone’s life.

Stark realities and missed opportunities

Toward the end of the play, there is a scene where we watch Rose take her last few breaths in her small hospital bed, in a stark and all-too-familiar room. She is surrounded by Gloria, Ruby and Finn, who provide comfort in her final hours.

In the scene, Finn reflects that Ruby seems very comfortable with death. She responds that both her grandparents lived at her home and she was present when they died.

Ruby’s experience of multi-generational living arrangements that allow for care at home for the elderly is more common in Australian families that include first- or second-generation migrants.

Finn reveals that when his mother died, he was considered too young to be at the hospital.

This scene at Rose’s bedside is a good representation of the missed opportunity in Bloom to starkly represent the realities of our aged care system and our dominant cultural approach to end-of-life care in this country.

Due to the intense staffing shortfall so sharply reflected in the royal commission, unless family were present, it is very possible Rose would have died alone.

I can’t help but imagine how seeing that uncomfortable reality on stage may have been a transformative theatrical moment, seared into the memories of the audience as they make choices about end-of-life and aged care for themselves and those they love.

Instead of tackling the systemic issues around aged care and end of life, Bloom wraps things neatly up in a bow, ending the musical by suggesting the death of Rose led to change at Pine Grove. An unqualified student will now work as a musical therapist and a nice manager has been found to lead the home into a new era.

There is a great track record of musical theatre successfully tackling overtly political material and revealing the gaps in our social fabric and problematising history and power (think of shows like Hamilton, Urinetown and Bran Nue Dae).

Unfortunately, Bloom seems too afraid of its own subject material to truly tackle these issues and reflect their realities back to us.

Bloom is at the Arts Centre Melbourne Playhouse for the Melbourne Theatre Company until August 26.

Read more:
We all hope for a ‘good death’. But many aged-care residents are denied proper end-of-life care

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

– ref. New Aussie musical Bloom misses an opportunity to interrogate the gaps in aged care – and in our social fabric – https://theconversation.com/new-aussie-musical-bloom-misses-an-opportunity-to-interrogate-the-gaps-in-aged-care-and-in-our-social-fabric-209794

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gary Osmond, Associate Professor of Sport History, The University of Queensland

One year out from the 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic games, Paris has announced it will reopen the River Seine for swimming competition and then allow public swimming, ending a century-long ban. This ban was in place to stop people immersing themselves in river waters polluted by stormwater, sewage and chemicals.

But after many years of stormwater management work, three Olympic and Paralympic events will be held in the Seine in 2024 – the swimming marathon and the swimming legs of the Olympic triathlon and Para-triathlon. The Seine will also feature in the opening ceremony when, instead of the traditional athletes’ parade in a stadium, a parade of boats will carry the teams along the river.

The clean waters of the swimmable Seine are being promoted as a positive legacy of these games. But it’s not the first time Olympic swimming events have been held in the famous river. And with growing commitments to swimmable cities around the world, it is unlikely to be the last.

Read more:
It’s hot, and your local river looks enticing. But is too germy for swimming?

A brief history of river swimming

At the 1900 Paris Olympics, Australia’s Freddie Lane won two swimming events in the Seine. These were the 200 metres freestyle and a 200m obstacle race. This unusual event required the 12 athletes from four countries to climb over a pole, scramble over a row of boats and then swim under another row of boats.

Historians Reet and Max Howell quoted Lane describing his winning strategy: “[Knowing] a bit about boats [I] went over the sterns […] unlike the majority of competitors who fought their way over the sides.”

Following the tradition of linking to classical history that was common in the Games at the time, this event referenced Sequana, the Gallo-Roman goddess of the Seine. She is typically represented standing on a boat: clambering over and swimming under the river’s vessels was clearly for mere mortals.

That was the first and only time the Olympics included an obstacle race. But swimming competitions at the time were often held in rivers, harbours, lakes and other natural water bodies. The swimming races at the first modern Olympics, in Athens in 1896, were held in the Bay of Zea on the Piraeus peninsula. It wasn’t until 1908 in London that swimming moved to landlocked pools.

Swimming in rivers has a very long history related to pleasure and politics. Competitive river swimming remained common in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Freddie Lane won the New South Wales mile championship in the Murrumbidgee River at Wagga Wagga in January 1899.

“Professor of swimming” Fred Cavill helped pioneer swimming lessons for the masses in Sydney – including girls and women. He gave promotional swims in the Murray River on his arrival from the United Kingdom in 1880. Later that year he had to abandon a much-touted river swim from Parramatta to Sydney due to strong tides. One of Cavill’s sons, Arthur “Tums” Cavill, emigrated from Sydney to the United States where he introduced an annual winter swim in the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, in 1909.

And while it wasn’t an Olympic feat, in 1918 Alick Wickham made a world record high dive of 205 feet 9 inches (62.7 metres) into the Yarra River in Melbourne.

Read more:
Watered down: what happened to Australia’s river swimming tradition?

Even Chinese leader Mao Zedong used river swimming to promote his health and political image.

More recently, the swim leg of the triathlon for the 2000 Olympic Games was held in Sydney Harbour, where divers were on shark patrol.

However, like the 1900 obstacle race, organised and informal river swimming in cities became uncommon. In rivers such as the Seine in Paris and parts of the Yarra in Melbourne, it was even illegal.

The rise of built pools contributed to this shift, and for good reason. The novelty and modern design of concrete pools might have been part of the reason people abandoned city rivers and natural waterways. However, these new facilities also offered safety from sharks and stormwater, bacteria, chemicals and pollutants. Admittedly, questions of hygiene have also swirled around pools, especially before chlorine was added.

Ocean baths and pools served a similar purpose. As regulated spaces managed by local governments, pools meant swimmers were safer: lifeguards could watch over them and swimmers had access to more discreet changing facilities.

Read more:
A tale of 2 rivers: is it safer to swim in the Yarra in Victoria, or the Nepean in NSW?

The quest for swimmable cities

Pools have remained popular, but river swimming never disappeared. In recent years, a resurgence in interest has been buoyed by the environmental movement’s efforts to rehabilitate waterways and growing research supporting the health benefits of outdoor swimming.

The Seine will reopen for swimming thanks to a €1.4 billion (A$2.3 billion) regeneration project to “reinvent the Seine”. It began in 2017 and includes floating hotels, walkways and other social spaces as well as swimming and diving areas.

The revival of swimming in the Seine is just one example of how outdoor and “wild” swimming is contributing to better caring for rivers. In England, there’s pressure to improve the water of the River Thames in London as well as broader movements to stop sewage outfalls on rivers. In Denmark, Copenhagen harbour has summer swimming sites. In Beijing there is a somewhat subversive outdoor swimming subculture.

Read more:
UK waters are too polluted to swim in – but European countries offer answers

In Australia, too, a number of new swimming sites have opened. In Sydney, sites along the Parramatta River and in the harbour – one spot at Barangaroo opened this year – complement established river and harbour swimming areas, including the famous Dawn Fraser Baths. In Melbourne, there are calls for a chain of city swimming spots along the Birrarung/Yarra.

The growth in awareness of the important role that blue spaces – oceans, rivers, lakes, canals and other waterways – play in human health and wellbeing comes alongside a revival of the popularity of outdoor swimming and immersion. While we know this is good for people, public interest in clean, swimmable waterways for our own health, wellbeing and pleasure can also have great benefits for these environments.

Rebecca Olive receives funding from The Australian Research Council.

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

– ref. Olympic swimming in the Seine highlights efforts to clean up city rivers worldwide – https://theconversation.com/olympic-swimming-in-the-seine-highlights-efforts-to-clean-up-city-rivers-worldwide-210714

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Graeme Austin, Chair of Private Law, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington

Blockbuster movie brand merchandising is a multi-billion-dollar industry.

That Buzz Lightyear bubble bath, Lightning McQueen bedding or Elemental backpack all contribute to a movie’s overall income stream.

And brand owners are in a constant battle against fake or unlicensed goods. The European Union Intellectual Property Office estimates that counterfeits comprise around 2.5% of all world trade.

But successful brands also inspire well-meaning imitators such as Hobbit-themed pubs, Grinch-themed photoshoots, Harry Potter fan festivals, or, in New Zealand, a cleaning business van painted with “Minion” imagery. Small businesses trying this kind of thing often get “cease and desist” letters from film studios, demanding they stop.

The success of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie seems destined to encourage businesses to use elements of the film’s brand – from the distinctive lettering and colours to the doll’s packaging and image.

But businesses in New Zealand and elsewhere need to consider the risk they face by infringing on Mattel’s intellectual property rights.

The rise of Barbie

Barbie was already a juggernaut brand before the release of the film. In 2002, an appellate judge in the United States said “Mattel created not just a toy but a cultural icon”.

Mattel has been vigilant about controlling the Barbie image. It tried to stop conceptual artist Thomas Forsythe from creating artworks depicting Barbie in perilous positions – such as in cocktail blenders and under an oven grill.

And in the late 1990s, Mattel tried to stop Danish pop group Aqua from singing about Barbie.

Recently, Mattel convinced a court in China to stop a local firm called Barbietang from registering “Barbie tang” as a trade mark for veterinarian services – including artificial insemination.

In 2022, Mattel settled a claim against the use of “Barbie-Que” potato chips, apparently driving the product off the market.

Mattel’s legal strategies haven’t always worked. Forsythe won his case, and Mattel’s suit against MCA Records, Aqua’s North American record label, failed.

In 2006, the Supreme Court of Canada held that the fame of the Barbie trademark was not enough to stop a restaurant from using the word “Barbie” in its own branding.

But for local businesses, these cases won’t offer much comfort. Often, just the threat of legal proceedings will be enough.

Read more:
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Investing in brand protection

Serious concerns lie behind these enforcement efforts. Millions of dollars are spent on creating and sustaining brand images. What if Barbie-themed cruises, brunches, home decorating services and nightclub evenings aren’t any good? Will these poor imitations affect how people feel about the brand?

Mattel’s worldview has matured, as the Gerwig movie shows. It now seems open to some pretty sophisticated social commentary targeting its doll.

Yet it still has a strong interest in the Barbie image – boosted by the success of the film. A lacklustre “Barbie Brunch” could dim the brand’s shine. Brands can die by a thousand cuts.

Read more:
In Greta Gerwig’s Barbie Land, the matriarchy can be just as bad as the patriarchy

There’s another reason: money. As Mattel told the Canadian court, it is in the business of building brand equity – the commercial value that comes from consumer perception of a brand, which supports vast networks of licensing deals. It can be a firm’s most valuable asset.

Warding off unlicensed use of a brand protects new market segments. Sitting back while others enter the market with the same brand risks losing money. It’s not just poor imitations that matter. Any unlicensed use of the brand can take away market share.

What is a brand?

For all its importance, a “brand” is not a distinct legal category. Brand equity is protected by an array of intellectual property (IP) rights. Trademarks, copyrights and business goodwill work together to create and protect the valuable asset known as a “brand”.

The Canadian restaurant wanted only to use the word “Barbie”. The court was not convinced this would cause consumer confusion. This decision might have been different if the restaurant’s goods and services had been more similar to Mattel’s.

Read more:
How I learned to stop worrying and love the doll – a feminist philosopher’s journey back to Barbie

And it would have been a totally different case if the restaurant had also copied Barbie artwork, infringing Mattel’s copyrights.

Importantly, copyright rules protect against copying – brand owners don’t need to show that the copying will damage its reputation or jeopardise its market share.

A global network of IP treaties

Some will bridle at foreign firms using their IP muscle against New Zealand firms.

But international protection of IP has been around since at least the end of the 19th century. Owners of strong trademarks have also had entry into some markets blocked by businesses who used the brand first.

Aotearoa New Zealand is now party to a network of international IP treaties that help prevent this from happening.

These treaties are often linked to trade. Protecting IP is part of the quid pro quo for lowering tariffs for our goods in foreign markets. And it works the other way around: local artists and creative brand developers enjoy reciprocal protections for their IP in foreign markets.

For a small business getting a “cease and desist” letter, this can seem like cold comfort. Repainting a van or rebranding a pub is an irritating expense.

But when the IP system works well, it encourages creativity. To avoid problems, local firms need to come up with their own original brands and imagery. As with any branding strategy, that will require investment and creativity. But these efforts enrich our culture and, it’s hoped, the local businesses that do the hard yards.

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

– ref. Dolls and dollars: why small businesses should be wary of cashing in on Barbiemania with their branding – https://theconversation.com/dolls-and-dollars-why-small-businesses-should-be-wary-of-cashing-in-on-barbiemania-with-their-branding-210875

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Theresa Larkin, Associate professor of Medical Sciences, University of Wollongong

The lymphatic system has long been considered mysterious.

Unlike blood vessels, lymphatic vessels are not very visible to the naked eye, even during surgery. Because of this, the anatomy and functions of the lymphatic system have historically not been well studied. The fluid in the lymphatic system was named “lymph” after the Greek nymph – a mythical creature associated with clear streams – and the Roman Lympha, goddesses of fresh water.

But the lymphatic system – and the lymph nodes within it – plays fascinating and important roles in health and disease, from fighting off infection to maintain the body’s fluid balance.

Read more:
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A major part of our immune system

The lymphatic system protects the body against foreign invaders and enables us to mount an immune response.

Lymphocytes are the cells of the lymphatic system. These are a type of white blood cell and include B cells and T cells. B cells produce antibodies to attack invading pathogens such as bacteria and viruses. T cells destroy the body’s own cells if they become cancerous or infected.

Lymphocytes are mostly contained in about 700 peanut-sized lymph glands in the body. Enlarged lymph nodes, such as after a vaccination or with an infection, are due to lymphocytes mounting a protective immune response. Lymphoma is a cancer that happens when lymphocytes multiply uncontrollably and cause swollen lymph glands throughout the body.

We also have lymphatic tissue in parts our airways and digestive system because these areas are exposed to external bugs via the air we breath or the things we eat and drink. In the digestive system, the lymphatic system also has an essential role in absorbing dietary fat from the intestines.

Some lymphocytes travel around the body conducting pathogen surveillance for invading bugs. They circulate between lymph nodes, lymph and the blood.

A fine balance of fluids

Every day, about 20 litres of fluid is pushed out of capillaries – our smallest blood vessels – into tissues and organs. This is driven by blood pressure and is how tissues get oxygen and energy. About 17 litres of this fluid returns to the veins, alongside carbon dioxide and other waste products.

But what happens to the remaining 3 litres of fluid?

If it stayed in our tissues, it would cause swelling called oedema, sometimes referred to as fluid retention.

Luckily, our lymphatic vessels usually pick up this remaining 3 litres of fluid and return it to the blood circulation.

Starting in the tissues just under the skin and around our organs, the lymphatic system is a one-way circulatory system. Lymphatic vessels carry lymph from the tissues via lymph nodes and then into veins that drain directly into the heart.

A slow flow

Unlike the blood circulation, the lymphatic circulation is not driven by the pumping of the heart. Lymph is moved towards the heart by muscular contractions of the lymphatic vessels and one-way valves.

Movement, exercise and deep breathing all help to move lymph through lymphatic vessels.

It is difficult to move lymph against gravity, and lymph can accumulate and cause swelling or oedema in the legs and feet. Many people have experienced this as swollen feet after standing still for too long or sitting during a long-haul flight.

Too much fluid

Oedema can also occur when too much fluid moves out of the capillaries and overloads the capacity of the lymphatic vessels to reabsorb it.

This can be due to heart failure, chronic venous insufficiency, liver failure or kidney disease. In our research, we found 49% of people with chronic venous insufficiency (or poor blood flow in the veins) had leg oedema.

Lymphoedema is when the oedema is caused by a problem with the lymphatic system. This is commonly due to obstruction of lymph drainage or removal of lymph nodes during cancer treatment.

Treatments can help lymph flow more freely

Lymphoedema treatments include lymphatic massage, compression bandages or stockings, and exercise.

Lymphatic massage requires specialised training and an understanding of the lymphatic vessels. It involves stretching and stroking the skin to move fluid from the swollen region to a location where the lymphatic system is functioning properly.

Lymphatic massage can reduce lymphoedema associated with cancer treatment. An Australian study also reported that lymphatic massage reduced pain, depression and fatigue in cancer patients.

Increasing lymph flow back towards the heart is also essential to prevent complications like cellulitis or skin infection. A proper diagnosis should precede any treatment for lymphoedema.

You might have seen social media posts or services promising to boost lymphatic drainage for relaxation, beauty or health reasons. Lymphatic facial massage and traditional Chinese techniques of gua sha and jade rollers can increase blood flow and lymph flow, but need to be used correctly.

These treatments are best performed by someone who is trained in the anatomy of the lymphatic system and lymph flow. If you do try these yourself, light pressure is needed because the lymphatic vessels are only just under the skin. It is uncommon to have lymphoedema in the face, but increased blood flow to the skin and a nice massage are still beneficial.

To keep your lymphatic system working well, it is important to exercise, maintain a healthy weight and eat a diet that is rich in antioxidants and not high in salt.

Read more:
Why does my back get so sore when I’m sick? The connection between immunity and pain

New promise for patients

New research is examining artificial stimulation of new lymphatic vessel growth.

Better imaging techniques have allowed for clearer visualisation of the lymphatic pathways and increased understanding of the lymphatic system.

The lymphatic system may not be as mysterious as it once was. However, there is still much more to be learnt about the lymphatic system and its roles in health and disease.

Laurencia Villalba is a vascular surgeon in private and public practice.

Alison Tomlin and Theresa Larkin 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. What are lymph nodes? And can a massage really improve lymphatic drainage? – https://theconversation.com/what-are-lymph-nodes-and-can-a-massage-really-improve-lymphatic-drainage-209334

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thea van de Mortel, Professor, Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Griffith University

Picking your nose is linked to an increased risk of COVID, according to a study out today.

The study was conducted in health workers. This raises two main questions.

One, were these health workers washing their hands at work? Two, what does this study mean for the rest of us nose pickers?

Read more:
When you pick your nose, you’re jamming germs and contaminants up there too. 3 scientists on how to deal with your boogers

What did the study find?

Some 219 Dutch health workers were monitored for COVID infection. They had regular antibody testing, which tells us if they had been exposed to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID. They also reported the results of their own COVID tests.

Some 12-18 months later, the health workers were asked about their nose picking habits, and exposure to COVID via symptomatic workmates or from contacts outside work.

Just over 17% of health workers who reported picking their nose caught COVID versus about 6% of those who did not report nose picking.

At first glance, it might appear feasible that people who pick their noses would be at increased risk of contracting COVID.

That’s because COVID infection relies on the SARS-CoV-2 virus coming into contact with mucous membranes that line the respiratory system, including those in the nose.

So if someone touches a contaminated object or hand, then sticks their finger up their nose, this so-called fomite transmission can occur.

But the risk is comparatively low. The United States Centers for Disease Control estimates about one in 10,000 contacts with a contaminated surface results in SARS-CoV-2 transmission.

Read more:
How clean is your hospital room? To reduce the spread of infections, it could probably be cleaner

Hang on a minute

But there are some odd results. For example, people who picked their noses only monthly had a higher chance of infection than daily nose pickers. Logically, you would expect the daily nose pickers to have a higher risk of infection due to more transmission opportunities.

There were also several aspects of how the study was designed that may have influenced the results.

Just over half of the people approached to participate in the study actually did so, which may cause selection bias. This is where people who choose to participate may differ in some key characteristic from those who don’t. These different characteristics can be “confounders” that influence the results.

This was a cohort study, which followed a defined group of people for a set time and asked them questions about their habits and exposure. This study design may also be subject to bias.

That’s because people tend to answer in ways that are socially desirable, even in anonymous surveys. They tend to under-report behaviours seen as socially unacceptable (such as binge drinking); they over-report those that are socially acceptable.

This study did not control for this type of bias. So we cannot say for certain if someone’s report of whether and how often they picked their nose is a true reflection of what actually happened.

People in the study may also have had trouble correctly remembering past behaviour (picking their nose) or exposures (to symptomatic people with COVID). The long time lag between when the infection data was collected and the retrospective survey increases the risk of recall error.

There is also some level of “guestimating” in the study, particularly when it comes to the risk of COVID exposure. Health workers were asked to note their contact with symptomatic people or working with COVID patients. But we can’t say if these were real “exposures”. That’s because people may not have symptoms and still have COVID (this would have under-estimated their exposure risk). Alternatively, COVID patients may not be that infectious if they don’t shed much virus (which may have over-estimated the COVID risk).

Then, it appears the analysis did not control for gender. This is potentially an issue as female health workers tend to be better at following hand hygiene guidelines. The study reported a higher rate of nose picking in males and doctors, and males and doctors are also worse at hand hygiene.

So the nose pickers may also be worse at sanitising their hands. In other words, we don’t know if nose picking is the reason for the reported increased risk of COVID, the lack of hand hygiene, or both.

Another way of saying this is the researchers reported a correlation between nose picking and an increased risk of COVID. We cannot say one causes the other or if additional factors are involved.

Read more:
Does picking your nose really increase your risk of dementia?

So, what now?

Given the above limitations, the study conclusions seem overly confident. Overall, the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission via nose picking is probably comparatively low, particularly for the general public who are not working in high COVID environments.

But you can definitely decrease your risk through good hand hygiene (and using a tissue that you dispose of afterwards).

Better still, avoid inhaling airborne viral particles, which is the most common mode of transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Wear a good fitting mask or respirator in public, particularly in poorly ventilated or crowded inside spaces.

Thea van de Mortel teaches into the Griffith University Master of Infection Prevention and Control program.

– ref. Does picking your nose really increase your risk of COVID? – https://theconversation.com/does-picking-your-nose-really-increase-your-risk-of-covid-210879

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frederic Gachon, Associate Professor, Physiology of Circadian Rhythms, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland

Early hunter-gatherers faced long periods of fasting. Their access to food relied on successful hunting, fishing, and the availability of wild plants.

Over time, the development of modern agriculture and the transition to industrialised societies changed our regular eating patterns, shifting our dinner time to later in the day to accommodate work schedules.

Today, with access to an abundance of food, we rarely experience prolonged periods of fasting, except for weight loss or religious practices. It’s now common to have four or more meals a day, with the most calories consumed later in the day. Frequent snacking is also common, over a window of around 15 hours.

However, research increasingly shows our health is not only affected by what and how much we eat, but also when we eat. So what does this mean for meal scheduling? And can intermittent fasting help?

Our body clock controls more than our sleep

Our internal biological timekeeper, or circadian clock, regulates many aspects of our physiology and behaviour. It tells us to be awake and active during the day, and rest and sleep during the night. It can also tell us the best time to eat.

Our body is biologically prepared to have food during the day. Food digestion, nutrient uptake and energy metabolism is optimised to occur when we’re supposed to be active and eating.

Working against this default stage, by regularly eating when we’re supposed to sleep and fast, can compromise these processes and impact our health. Erratic eating patterns, including late-night meals, have been linked to weight gain and a greater risk of metabolic disease.

Shift-workers, for example, and people who work evening, night or rotating shifts, have a higher risk of obesity, heart disease and diabetes.

But adopting an eating pattern that aligns with our circadian rhythm can reduce these risks.

Read more:
Why does night shift increase the risk of cancer, diabetes and heart disease? Here’s what we know so far

So can intermittent fasting help?

Nutritional interventions are increasingly focused not only on “what” we eat but also “when”. Intermittent fasting is one way to restrict the timing, rather than the content, of what we eat.

There are several types of intermittent fasting, one of which is time-restricted eating. This means eating all our calories in a consistent 8-12 hour, or even shorter, interval each day.

But is it backed by evidence?

Most of what we know today about intermittent fasting and time-restricted eating is from mouse studies, which demonstrate remarkable weight loss and overall health benefits associated with these types of dietary interventions.

However, some aspects of mouse physiology can be different to humans. Mice need to eat more frequently than humans and even a short period of fasting has a more significant physiological impact on mice. One day of fasting in mice leads to a 10% loss of body weight, whereas humans would need to fast for 14 days to achieve similar results. This makes a direct translation from mice to humans more complicated.

While health benefits of intermittent fasting and time-restricted eating have also been observed in humans, the findings in respect of weight loss are less clear. Current data suggest only modest, if any, weight loss in human participants who undergo these diet regimens when compared to calorie-restricted diets.

Drawing definitive conclusions in humans may be more difficult because of the small sample sizes and individual differences in metabolism, variations in study design (such as the use of different protocols with varying times and duration of food restriction), and participants not complying with their instructions.

Health benefits could be due to eating fewer calories

Most studies describing the health benefits of time restricted eating or intermittent fasting also found these diets were accompanied by calorie restriction: reducing the time of food access implicitly leads people to eat less.

Studies that controlled calorie intake did not detect any more benefits of intermittent fasting than calorie restriction alone.

Read more:
Restricting calories leads to weight loss, not necessarily the window of time you eat them in

The weight loss and health benefits observed with intermittent fasting is likely attributed due to the resultant reduction in calorie intake. Similar findings have been reported for time-restricted eating.

Benefit of following our body clock

Nevertheless, time-restricted eating offers additional health benefits in humans, such as improved glucose metabolism and blood pressure, even without differences in calorie intake, in particular when restricted to the earlier part of the day (that is, when having a six-hour eating window with dinner before 3pm).

Restricting food intake to the daytime for shift-workers can alleviate metabolic differences caused by shift-work, whereas this effect is not observed when food intake is restricted to nighttime.

One idea is that consuming food early, in alignment with our circadian rhythm, helps to synchronise our circadian clock. This restores the rhythm of our autonomous nervous system, which regulates essential functions such as breathing and heart rate, to keep our physiology “tuned”, as it was shown in mice.

While there’s much still to learn from research in this field, the evidence suggests that to maintain a healthy weight and overall wellbeing, aim for regular, nutritious meals during the day, while avoiding late-night eating and frequent snacking.

Read more:
Yes, intermittent fasting can boost your health, but how and when to restrict food consumption is crucial

Frederic Gachon is currently receiving funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and has received funding from the French Institute for Medical Research and Health (INSERM: 2006-2008), the Swiss National Science Foundation (2010-2012), the European Research Council (2011- 2015) and the Leenaards Foundation (2012-2014). He also worked for Nestlé (2012-2017) where he received industry funding.

Meltem Weger has received funding from the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (PhD fellowship; 2010-2012) and from the European Commission (Marie Curie Curie Postdoctoral fellowships; 2014-2016, 2017-2019).

– ref. Does it matter what time of day I eat? And can intermittent fasting improve my health? Here’s what the science says – https://theconversation.com/does-it-matter-what-time-of-day-i-eat-and-can-intermittent-fasting-improve-my-health-heres-what-the-science-says-203762

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mary Breheny, Associate Professor of Health Psychology, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington

Sleep may seem straightforward – everyone does it, after all. But as many of us know, getting enough sleep is not necessarily a simple task, despite what you might read in the media.

How to sleep “properly” is a favourite topic of self-help articles, with headlines such as “Expert advice to get a good night’s sleep whatever your age” promising the answer to your nocturnal awakenings.

Older people are commonly the audience of these messages. Our analysis of articles published in the New Zealand media between 2018 and 2021 found sleep is presented as inevitably declining with age.

At the same time, sleep is portrayed as a cure for everything: a good night’s sleep is depicted as a way to maintain productivity, ward off illness and dementia, and ultimately live longer.

But most of these articles are aimed at the individual and what they can do to improve their sleep. Often missing is any reference to the external factors that can contribute to poor sleep.

Personal choice and sleep

A key message in many of the articles we examined is that sleep is a simple matter of making the right choices. So, if you’re not getting enough sleep it’s probably your own fault.

People are lectured about poor “sleep hygiene” – staying up too late looking at their phone, having too many cups of coffee, or not getting enough exercise during the day.

And it’s true, drinking too much caffeine or staring at a screen into the small hours might interfere with sleep. It’s also true that good sleep is important for good health.

But things are a bit more complicated than this. As anyone who has struggled to maintain good sleep knows, simple tips don’t always overcome the complex situations that contribute to these struggles.

Read more:
Sleep deprivation benefited our ancestors, yet harms us now — but staying fit may help us cope

Awake to other factors

Good sleep is not just a matter of “making the right choices”. Internationally, there’s a growing body of research showing sleep is affected by much more than individual behaviour: it’s often shaped by a person’s social and economic circumstances.

New Zealand research is adding to this pool of knowledge. One study, based on survey results from just over 4,000 people, found insufficient sleep was more common among Māori than non-Māori, partly due to higher rates of night work.

International research has also found women are more likely to experience insomnia due to their caregiving roles.

Read more:
How do I stop my mind racing and get some sleep?

One US study found unpaid caregivers for children or parents (or both) reported shorter sleep quantity and poorer sleep quality than paid caregivers or people without such roles. A survey of 526 carers in New Zealand showed two-thirds reported mild or severe sleep disturbance.

We also know lack of sleep is linked to serious disease, including diabetes and heart disease. Sleep duration and quality have been identified as predictors of levels of haemoglobin A1c, an important marker of blood sugar control.

And hypertension, stroke, coronary heart disease and irregular heartbeats have been found to be more common among those with disordered sleep than those without sleep abnormalities.

Failure to acknowledge the social context of poor sleep means sleep messages in the media ignore the fundamental causes in favour of the illusion of a quick fix.

The commodification of sleep

Sleep is also increasingly characterised as a commodity, with a growing market for products – such as sleep trackers – that claim to help improve sleep quality.

Sleep trackers promise to measure and enhance sleep performance. However, their reliability may be limited – one study found the tested tracker did not accurately detect sleep, particularly in older adults who had greater levels of nighttime movement.

Framing public health problems as matters of personal choice is common. Alcohol and fast-food consumption, for example, are regularly presented as matters of individual responsibility and poor personal choices. The role of marketing and access to healthy food gets a lot less attention.

Read more:
Explainer: how much sleep do we need?

Of course, simple tips for getting good sleep may be useful for some people. But ignoring the underlying social and economic factors that shape the possibilities for good sleep will not address the problem.

Health promotion messages that focus on individual behaviour miss the structural barriers to better health, including poverty, low levels of education, high rates of incarceration, substandard or crowded housing and racism.

We need to move beyond messages of individual behaviour change and start talking about inequities that contribute to the problem of who gets a decent night’s sleep and who doesn’t.

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

– ref. Counting the wrong sheep: why trouble sleeping is about more than just individual lifestyles and habits – https://theconversation.com/counting-the-wrong-sheep-why-trouble-sleeping-is-about-more-than-just-individual-lifestyles-and-habits-210695

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Darryl Jones, Deputy Director of Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University

Feeding wild birds in backyards was already known to be extremely popular in many parts of the northern hemisphere and in Australia, despite being strongly discouraged. But the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns led to a dramatic increase in wild bird feeding around the world, our research published today shows. There was a surge in interest beyond traditional bird-feeding countries in North America, Europe and Australia: 115 countries in total, including many where feeding was assumed not to occur.

Those opposed to feeding wild birds cite a plethora of reasons:

• the spread of diseases (well-documented in the US and UK)
• poor nutrition as a result of an unbalanced diet
• advantaging already abundant species
• changing community structure (birds that visit feeders prosper at the cost of those that don’t)
• even altering migration patterns.

These impacts occur everywhere wild birds are fed and are potentially serious.

On the other hand, engaging with wild birds in this way is now recognised as one of the most effective ways people can connect with nature. There is strong evidence that spending time in natural settings is good for people’s wellbeing and mental health. This becomes increasingly important as more and more of the world’s people live in large cities.

These trends mean the simple, common practice of attracting birds to your garden by feeding them is taking on much greater significance for the welfare of both birds and people.

Read more:
Why you may need to encourage social distancing around your bird feeder

What did the study look at?

Previous studies documented a global increase in birdwatching during lockdowns. We wondered whether interest in feeding birds might have increased similarly as well. That usually means buying seed mixes and providing a feeder. To be included in our study, some cost was required; discarded food scraps were not counted as feeding.

It was important to go beyond the countries where we already knew feeding was common. We wanted to compare the interest levels for more than 100 countries during and after lockdowns. We also examined whether the level of interest in bird feeding was related to the diversity of birds in each country, a measure known as “species richness”.

We assessed the weekly frequency of search terms, including “bird feeder”, “bird food” and “bird bath”, using Google Trends for all countries with sufficient search volumes from January 1 2019 to May 31 2020. We wanted to see if these searches increased during each country’s specific lockdown period (generally around February-April 2020). We drew on bird species richness data for each nation from the BirdLife International database.

Comparing the interest volume for 52 weeks leading up to the lockdown with the week immediately before, we found no discernible change. Within only two weeks, however, the frequency of searches showed a surge in bird feeding interest during the general lockdown period across 115 of the countries surveyed. This happened in both the northern and southern hemispheres.

Read more:
Biodiversity and our brains: how ecology and mental health go together in our cities

What explains the change?

There are several possible reasons for this change. People throughout the world were forced to remain close to home. The backyard or nearby park became the focus of attention, perhaps for the first time.

Lockdowns were a time of high anxiety and stress. Aspects of life that seemed to be carrying on regardless, such as birds arriving each day to be fed, may have been a course of comfort and reassurance.

Feeding birds has been found to enhance feelings of personal worth and peace. Presumably, it’s because of the relative intimacy associated with being able to attract wild, unrestrained creatures to visit by simply providing some food.

Bird feeding is also cheap, simple and available to virtually everyone. Birds will visit a feeder in a private garden, a public park or even a balcony on a residential tower.

Read more:
Birdbath, food or water? How to attract your favourite birds to your garden

And what difference does bird diversity make?

We found a clear association between the level of interest in feeding and species diversity. Countries that lacked bird-related search interest had an average of 294 bird species. In contrast, those countries with clear interest had an average of 511 species.

This clear difference suggests that having a greater variety of species prompts more bird feeding. It may also mean places with more species have a larger number of bird types living in their cities (where most feeders live). This remains to be be investigated. We do know that feeding birds leads to more birds overall, but not more species.

Because we used Google searches as the proxy measurement for bird-feeding interest, bird-feeding practices in countries with lower income or less internet access may not have been adequately captured. Nonetheless, our method was able to detect a surge of interest in bird feeding in countries such as Pakistan and Kenya.

The COVID-19 lockdowns seemed to encourage people all over the world to seek connection and interaction with their local birds. We hope future studies can further analyse the global extent of bird feeding and capture more data in previously understudied countries.

Feeding birds is obviously very popular. For people. But it can lead to problems for the birds. To minimise the risks, keep in mind some simple rules:

• keep the feeder extremely clean (disease is always a concern)
• don’t put out too much food (they don’t need it)
• provide food that is appropriate for the species (never human food – buy wild bird food from pet food companies).

Read more:
Yes it’s okay to feed wild birds in your garden, as long as it’s the right food

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

– ref. Wild bird feeding surged worldwide during lockdowns. That’s good for people, but not necessarily for the birds – https://theconversation.com/wild-bird-feeding-surged-worldwide-during-lockdowns-thats-good-for-people-but-not-necessarily-for-the-birds-210628

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anita Moyes, Lecturer, Edith Cowan University

Teachers are not always equipped to deal with the growing health needs of their students, from mental health challenges to complex medical needs.

Federal and state governments are currently looking at “key targets” as part of the next National School Reform Agreement, which starts in 2025.

A consultation paper, which looks at many aspects of teaching and learning, hones in on how to improve student mental health and wellbeing. It specifically asks:

What can be done to establish stronger partnerships between schools, local health networks and primary health networks?

Paying more attention to the role school nurses can play in school communities is a great place to start.

School nurses are real nurses

It’s a common misconception among students and staff that school nurses are not “real nurses”.

I come across this in my work with school nurses – people think nurses are only trained to work in hospitals, even though a large group specialise in working outside them.

School nurses are qualified and registered health professionals. School nursing is also one of the oldest nursing specialities. Australia has had school nurses for more than 100 years.

What do they do?

School nurses are located all over Australia, in urban, regional and remote areas. They can be employed by state or territories’ public health services or employed directly by their schools.

What nurses do varies from school to school. This can be confusing for education staff, parents and even school nurses themselves.

There are no hard-and-fast rules. The hours school nurses work and the work they do (even the job title they have) often depends on their employer.

Some school nurses primarily care for students with acute health issues such as illness or injury. They can also give prescribed medications for seizures, ADHD or diabetes, and help students with chronic or complex health needs such as a tracheostomy or gastrostomy, where students need help with their breathing or nutrition.

Beyond this, nurses can coordinate health care for boarding school students, or attend school camps and sporting events.

Health promotion and screening

Some school nurses focus on health promotion and early interventions.

This can includes screening for speech, vision or hearing problems.

It can also include working with teachers to deliver health education about topics such as vaping and respectful relationships.

Read more:
Vaping and behaviour in schools: what does the research tell us?

Nurses as a bridge between two worlds

School nurses are the bridge between health and education: while well informed about the health system, they also have insight into how complex schools and classrooms can be.

School nurses can help young people be – and stay – at school. They can manage student health directly as well as working with complex student health needs to inform individual education plans and support inclusion.

School nurses can also be advocates for children, and help them beyond the school gates.

They can help young people experiencing family, sexual health, stress, or drug use problems and refer them to other services.

They can engage with and support families, helping them access community resources and navigate the health system.

A 2021 review of Australian and international studies of school nurses found they had significant impact in facilitating access to health care, chronic disease management, coordinating care and reducing absenteeism.

But nurses also facilitated early intervention, access to social care, and reduced emergency department visits and hospitalisations.

We need more information

Despite the many benefits, we don’t know exactly how many school nurses there are, or even how many students they provide care to as this information isn’t publicly available.

Some sources suggest there are approximately 1,500 school nurses in Australia but this is likely to be an underestimate.

The school nurses are also not equitably distributed. Some students have a full-time nurse at their school, some have a part-time nurse while other children don’t have access to a school nurse at all.

A recent workforce survey indicates many nurses working in community settings such as schools are underutilised and not being able to use all their skills on the job.

With the school reform agreement there is a major opportunity to improve health services to students by improving their access to school nurses.

In the meantime, if you’re lucky enough to have a school nurse, take the time to talk with them. You may be surprised what they can do for you. You can usually contact the nurse through the school office.

Read more:
What is the National School Reform Agreement and what does it have to do with school funding?

Anita Moyes is a Research Officer for the WA School Nurses Association.

– ref. Australia has had school nurses for more than 100 years – but we don’t use them enough – https://theconversation.com/australia-has-had-school-nurses-for-more-than-100-years-but-we-dont-use-them-enough-210058

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Geoff Hanmer, Adjunct professor of architecture, University of Adelaide

Earlier this year the Federal Court found ARM Architecture and its then managing director Tony Allen were guilty of attempting to rig bids for a tender relating to a $250 million building project at Charles Darwin University.

The Court ordered ARM Architecture to pay a penalty of $900,000 and Mr Allen to pay $75,000.

In a public statement, Mr Allen said he had made

a very serious mistake by attempting to induce the other firms to engage in bid-rigging, and this has had serious consequences for me. I have lost my position, my reputation, and my involvement in a profession that I love.

Allen had sent an email to at least eight other architecture firms that were members of the Australian Institute of Architects Victorian Branch Large Practice Forum prior to the close of bids:

Our request to you is simple. Please do not submit a tender as we are relying very heavily on continuing with this project to keep our practice alive throughout the remainder of this strange and difficult COVID time.

He had followed it up with this second email:

We have received very positive responses from Architectus and JWA. We would greatly appreciate a short note from you to let us know of your intentions either way.`

The biggest fine for architects so far

Although colluding in bidding for contracts is rife in the construction industry and materials supply industries, this is the biggest fine so far for an individual professional services firm.

In Australia, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission managed to successfully prosecute Cement Australia Pty Ltd in 2017 for anti-competitive practices resulting in a fine of $20.6 million.

And in the United Kingdom, so many construction firms were involved in massive bid-rigging scandals uncovered in 2008 and 2020, that the UK government had to warn its agencies not to blacklist them because it would “limit choice”.

Fees used to be fixed

In the supposedly more genteel design professions, submitting tenders for fees is relatively new. Until about 40 years ago, architects and engineers normally worked on a fixed-fee basis, and often made deals to divide work between them.

The Royal Institute of British Architects, founded in 1834, was set up primarily as a cartel to maintain a schedule of fees and prescribe educational standards for those who wanted to use the term “architect”.

Although fixed fees are likely to upset economists on principle, they have the advantage of not encouraging architects to shortcut their professional responsibilities in order to compete on price.

This might be why the law allows medical professionals, lawyers and pharmacists to set fees for their services. Few people would be tempted to select their surgeon on the basis of price.

Read more:
Why universities may come to regret the costs of City Deals and private sector ‘solutions’

Until about 1980, the Royal Australian Institute of Architects also attempted to fix fees. When the government gently pointed out that this was illegal under trade practices law, the Institute began a long, slow retreat and eventually stopped publishing a recommended fee scale, much to the chagrin of many members.

Competitive tendering is typically seen as the “gold standard” for getting value in construction, but tendering processes have become so onerous and convoluted that the costs of tendering in relation to the potential gains may now be reducing rather than enhancing competition.

This is especially significant for design consultants such as architects and engineers whose profitability is typically well below average for the industry.

Bidding processes convoluted

The Charles Darwin University project is a case in point. ARM was selected to design what was to be an “iconic” building, but documentation of the design was to be the subject of a second tender, which was the subject of ARM’s emails.

This two-stage process, devised by a project management firm, was self-defeating.

Charles Darwin University wanted a highly-awarded architect to deliver an iconic building, but much of the design ARM contributed has been lost.

The images of the new building, produced by another firm, do not resemble the original ARM design and are not the stuff architectural icons are made of.

ARM and Tony Allen have paid a very high price for their folly in asking other firms not to tender, but the project management firm that devised the expensive and ultimately unproductive double tender process has not been subject to any public scrutiny or criticism.

If we are going to have fee tenders, we need a transparent system with enforceable rules sufficient to stop public clients needlessly adding costs by wasteful convolutions, as happened with the Charles Darwin University double tender.

Maybe there’s a better way

Alternatives should to be considered. It ought to be possible for the client to nominate a reasonable fee, and then select consultants who will accept the nominated fee based purely on their merit.

Another possibility is a two-envelope system, where the fee and the quality of submission are assessed separately, with the fee envelope only opened when an evaluation of the quality of submissions has taken place.

Other than that, we could do worse than revert to a fixed percentage fee and reap a huge saving in the effort, time and money put into selection processes. Free-market economists might like to think about how much competitive tenders actually cost.

Geoff Hanmer’s firm ARINA was involved in the second stage of the bidding for the CDU project with Richard Kirk Architect. ARINA had no role in the selection of ARM for the project nor in the subsequent selection process other than as a participant in the second competition with Richard Kirk.

– ref. Bid-rigging is rife in Australian construction, but the process itself is partly to blame – https://theconversation.com/bid-rigging-is-rife-in-australian-construction-but-the-process-itself-is-partly-to-blame-207319

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

A new study has found that a carbon tax, accompanied by “revenue recycling”, can produce both environmental and economic benefits for Australia.

Revenue recycling means money reaped from a carbon tax would be redirected back into the economy. This means the money accumulated from the tax would be redistributed between different stakeholders in the economy without increasing the government’s revenue.

To be more specific, the tax income should be used to support consumption, invest in new research and development projects, and subsidise energy saving and pollution reducing programs. Using this approach makes the tax more politically appealing to companies and other opponents.

Australia’s experience with a carbon tax

Debate about a carbon tax has always been heated in Australia. The Gillard government introduced a carbon pricing scheme in 2012 which involved an initial rate of $23 per tonne on about 500 big carbon emitters, including the electricity industry.

The scheme contained compensation measures including increases in money to government payment recipients and a program to help emissions-intensive, trade-exposed industries reduce carbon emissions, which were themselves a form of recycling.

Despite reducing emissions, the tax only lasted two years before it was terminated by the Abbott government, which argued the tax was costing big companies and causing electricity prices to rise.

I examined how such a scheme could work again, basing the design on the models used in Norway, Ireland and Switzerland. I simulated Australia’s economy from 2020 to 2035 to examine the impact of a carbon tax policy with the associated revenue recycling approach on prices, total emissions and economic growth.

The first step in the design is identifying a tax rate and the reach of the policy. Research shows that a uniform rate covering the whole industry sector generates the greatest environmental benefits.

As well as suggesting a uniform tax rate on all sectors including the electricity sector (which is excluded from the current emissions safeguard mechanism), my study recommends starting the tax rate at $23 (the same rate applied in Gillard’s scheme) in 2023 and increasing it gradually to $70 in 2030.

The rate would stay at this level until 2035.

A carbon tax increases the cost of production and leads to an increase in the inflation rate. The inflation impact of this policy is estimated to be 0.5% in 2023, increasing substantially to 1.52% in 2035.

Rising inflation reduces the spending power of families and reduces consumption and economic growth. Considering consumption has a fundamental role in a growing economy, the accumulated tax revenue would be used to keep consumption unchanged after implementing a carbon tax.

How a new version of the tax would work

My study recommends using the accumulated carbon tax revenue to lower income taxes. This would leave more money for families, thereby reducing the impact of inflation, caused by the tax, on the economy.

As well as strengthening families’ spending power, a share of the tax revenue would be invested in research and development projects. This would create new jobs and provide a baseline for a prosperous economy.

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China is pumping out carbon emissions as if COVID never happened. That’s bad news for the climate crisis

My study recommends that in the first year, all the tax revenue would be used to support consumption. However, the amount of money allotted to investment would rise from the second year as the carbon tax rate increases. It is estimated that about $57 billion would be available for new technologies over 13 years under this carbon tax.

Imposing a carbon tax would also provide a financial incentive for industry to reduce its fossil fuel use. It would motivate the sector to shift to low-carbon technologies as they would bear a smaller tax bill and reap larger profits.

My study concludes Australia could reduce carbon emissions by 35% while GDP would increase by 0.286% by 2035 and new jobs would be created in research and development. Following the recommended carbon tax design, Australia’s transition to a low-carbon economy would be accelerated, which would benefit both the economy and the environment.

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

– ref. A carbon tax can have economic, not just environmental benefits for Australia – https://theconversation.com/a-carbon-tax-can-have-economic-not-just-environmental-benefits-for-australia-210380

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ari Mattes, Lecturer in Communications and Media, University of Notre Dame Australia

In Melodrama Revised, an essay from 1998, film theorist Linda Williams suggests melodrama situates the audience in a direct empathetic relationship with a victim, so we emotionally experience the victim’s subjugation and then triumph with their overcoming. Oscillating between pathos and action, this is the dominant mode of popular American cinema (and culture more broadly).

She’s right – but then there’s melodrama and Melodrama, the kind that makes us think of soap operas and damsels tied to train tracks.

The new Australian seven episode TV series The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart is Melodrama of the Peyton Place variety, though some of the excesses that make something like Peyton Place (or its low rent cousin, Valley of the Dolls) so enjoyable are sorely missing.

We’re left with solid, well shot, naturalistic and thoroughly middlebrow stuff; a show that distracts us in a mildly pleasurable fashion without the fireworks and dynamics we might desire from the campier versions of its ilk. At the same time, it’s not nearly as brilliant as the closest show I can think of for comparison, also based on an Australian novel, Big Little Lies.

All is not as it may seem

Based on the book by Holly Ringland, the narrative follows Alice Hart, a young girl from an abusive household who, orphaned, is forced to live with her grandmother, June (Sigourney Weaver), on Thornfield Farm. June, who has a complex history with abuse herself, has set up the farm – which cultivates flowers – as a refuge for desperate women.

Early on, we get a sense that all is not as it may seem – that Thornfield Farm, as perhaps indicated by its 19th century gothic sounding name, does not exactly function as the blissful redemptive paradise it at times appears.

We also see, early on, that while June appears to be a strong and compassionate woman, she’s also someone who demands things go her way. And, as the series progresses, she is predictably increasingly revealed as a manipulative, unyielding and egotistical matriarch.

For the first three episodes, Alice is a young girl. For the final half, the narrative jumps ahead 14 years. Alice is a young woman.

After discovering some of her grandmother’s depredations, she sets out on her own, away from the flower farm where she came of age. Based on her knowledge of floriculture, she secures a job as a park ranger apparently on the look out for flower poachers (!). She meets a guy, and things seem to be working out well for Alice.

Alas, in TV land patterns conveniently repeat at the right times, and this flower unfolds as we imagine it would in a show about intergenerational patterns of abuse.

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Effectively rendered

All of the elements of Lost Flowers are effectively rendered. The performances, from a mostly inexperienced cast, are excellent.

Alyla Brown as Young Alice manages to combine vulnerability, enthusiasm and naivety in a way that perfectly captures the effects of her circumstances on her development. Alycia Debnam-Carey is similarly effective playing the older Alice and, as usual, is a delight to watch.

Veteran Weaver – who is an executive producer of the show – dominates her scenes as the flower-obsessed matriarch, lending her character an unsettling blend of fastidiousness, voraciousness and desperation. (Really the only performance that seems strained is from Asher Keddie playing Sally Morgan, a meddling and concerned librarian who probably isn’t meant to be as annoying as she comes across.)

The cinematography makes the most of the locations – it has “Australian coastal town” stamped all over it, which can’t hurt the export value of the show for Amazon – with sweeping images of women on farm and beach interspersed with close-ups of uncomfortable looks matching pregnant silences in the dialogue.

The music, by Hania Rani, is technically the weakest link – the score is based around simple piano music that generically fits the bush-Gothic mode (yes, we have seen The Piano), but is overused, accompanying, it seems, virtually every scene.

Pop fiction

Overall, there’s nothing wrong with The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart. It’s beautifully designed and shot in an entirely conventional fashion; the performances are mostly exacting and detailed; the story is effective in situating us in an empathetic relation with its protagonist; and it convincingly reflects some of the psychological complexities around the interplay of affection and abuse.

It’s a sentimental but sufficiently distracting diversion – and isn’t this what TV is all about? – that probably would be better suited to network TV than streaming. I fear that if it can be easily replaced by something else on the list, it will be.

The idea of sitting back and watching one episode of this a week at the same time – maybe sometimes dozing in one’s armchair – is appealing, but there’s nothing compulsive about the show. The hooks aren’t deep enough, the mystery isn’t compelling enough, to prompt the kind of binge watching that seems so necessary for the success of contemporary TV drama.

There’s nothing “deep” about it – like its source novel, it’s pop fiction – but why should there be? It’s TV, which has its own medium specific pleasures.

The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart is on Prime Video from tomorrow.

Read more:
Melodramatic potboilers, worthy classics and DIY escapism: a brief history of the beach read

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

– ref. The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart brings melodrama and Sigourney Weaver as a flower-obsessed matriarch to streaming – https://theconversation.com/the-lost-flowers-of-alice-hart-brings-melodrama-and-sigourney-weaver-as-a-flower-obsessed-matriarch-to-streaming-209980

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

As well as her interviews with politicians and experts, Politics with Michelle Grattan includes “Word from The Hill”, where she discusses the news with members of The Conversation’s politics team.

In this podcast Michelle and politics + society editor Amanda Dunn discuss whether there’s much in the PM’s double dissolution threat, and his defensiveness when pressed on Treaty in an ABC interview.

As well, they canvass the Reserve Bank’s reprieve for mortgage holders, which will be only small comfort to those coming off fixed rates. Meanwhile in parliament, Scott Morrison’s rejection of the Robodebt royal commission’s findings against him just sparked fresh attacks on him from the government.

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

– ref. Word from The Hill: Double dissolution hot air, PM dodging Treaty question, Morrison hit with counter punch after Robodebt speech – https://theconversation.com/word-from-the-hill-double-dissolution-hot-air-pm-dodging-treaty-question-morrison-hit-with-counter-punch-after-robodebt-speech-210906

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

The Garma Festival is being held over the next few days in Arnhem Land. There will be a great deal of talk this year about the Voice. Anthony Albanese will speak on Saturday, but he won’t announce the date for the referendum. Peter Dutton isn’t attending.

Meanwhile in parliament this week the opposition has sought to turn the discussion of the Voice to the issue of treaty, also a feature of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. But the government wants to keep the debate strictly to the Voice, dodging questions about treaty where it can.

In this podcast Thomas Mayo, a signatory of the Uluru Statement and one of the leaders of the yes campaign, and Derryn Hinch, former prominent broadcaster and a former crossbench senator, join us to argue for the yes and no sides respectively.

Mayo has been travelling extensively through central Queensland (viewed as one of the toughest states to garner a yes vote) hosting forums about the referendum.

I went from Maroochydore and Caloundra to a whole lot of towns, including Cherbourg, an Aboriginal community and Eidsvold, up to Mackay. The experience was great, really positive – full crowds at each of the forums, some great questions and signing up a whole lot more volunteers.

There were people that were fully supportive and there was also a lot of people that were unsure. So people that were leaning either yes or no, that came along to learn more. We also had some people that were set in a position of saying no, but that was a great opportunity to have the discussion. They were able to listen to our history behind this and the good sense of it and what the actual proposition is and what will be changed in the Constitution. They were able to raise their concerns and reasons and they were respectfully listened to.

But I think the result was that anybody that wasn’t already set in their ways that weren’t entrenched in a position politically, came up to me later and said, we’ve decided to vote yes now.

Mayo’s history organising union campaigns and some past provocative comments have made him a target for no campaigners. But he looks on his past as only a positive, seeing much in common with both causes:

I think there’s there’s actually a lot in common, in that you are trying to unite people. This referendum is about unity. It’s about uniting on a common cause, which is to heal from our colonial past. It’s to empower people that are suffering and to create fairness.

My union background has helped in my ability to advocate. But mostly I think what motivates me is understanding that this is the right thing to do.

In contrast, Derryn Hinch sees the referendum as dangerous, divisive and unnecessary.

Look, let me say from from the get-go, I wish they could split the referendum into two bits. If they could give genuine, fruitful recognition to Indigenous Australians and our history in the Constitution, I would vote yes for that in two seconds time, and I think most of Australians would as well.

It’s the second half of having the Voice to Parliament. That worries me because they say they need the Voice – they already have 11 members of Parliament of Indigenous extraction! And if in fact they are spending all these umpteen [billions on] Aboriginal welfare and medical and other bodies, if they are spending $30 billion, there should not be one Aboriginal kid with glaucoma or drinking dirty water in the whole country.

Hinch says that even if the Voice were to be legislated instead of enshrined in the Constitution, he would still vote against it.

I just don’t like the way they’re doing it. I know they quote the Waitangi Treaty (which they have across the ditch in New Zealand) but as I understand it, in the late 1800s [it] was designed to stop warfare and British troops would defend New Zealand and defend the Maori, if anybody came from abroad. I was in New Zealand only last year and they are changing a lot of names to Maori names. I mean I supported them changing the name of Mount Egmont in my home town to Taranaki. I supported changing Ayers Rock to Uluru and yet I don’t support people being banned from climbing Uluru.

Hinch won’t be campaigning for a “no” vote, but he is making his views “very well known”. He says he feels “uncomfortable” being on the same side as certain politicians (such as Pauline Hanson), but notes he made his decision a long time ago.

I made those decisions long before I even knew what other people would be in the no camp.

I don’t like misrepresentation by either the no people or the yes people.

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

– ref. Politics with Michelle Grattan: ‘yes’ campaigner Thomas Mayo and ‘no’ advocate Derryn Hinch on the Voice – https://theconversation.com/politics-with-michelle-grattan-yes-campaigner-thomas-mayo-and-no-advocate-derryn-hinch-on-the-voice-210799

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tom van Laer, Associate Professor of Narratology, University of Sydney

Political advertising for the Voice campaign is ramping up, particularly on social media. So, who is the target audience for each campaign’s ad, what are their key messages, and how effective will they be?

We research how people and organisations use stories to affect change through political advertising or entertainment. We looked at the different ads that have been released so far – by two groups campaigning for “no” and two groups campaigning for “yes” – to see how effective their communication strategies have been.

Advance Australia: fear

Some of the ads released by Advance Australia, a conservative political lobbying group, focus attention on prominent “yes” campaigners like Teela Reid and Thomas Mayo:

These ads aim to make us link Mayo, Reid and, by extension, the “yes” campaign itself with a sense of fear. Ominous music and fat-lettered words like “Rulebook,” “Force” and “Powerful” try to elicit fear of what the other camp would do if the Voice came to be.

Research on the use of fear in negative political communication shows it to be effective in influencing people. Fear is an intense, powerful emotion that encourages passivity – we tend to prefer the status quo if we are afraid. Such a response is seldom reasoned, which can make it difficult to counter in advertising.

The ad above seems to be directed at undecided voters in an effort to harden attitudes against the Voice and encourage them to vote “no”.

Read more:
The campaign pamphlets for the Voice don’t offer new perspectives. Do they still serve a purpose?

Blak Sovereign Movement: a different argument

The Blak Sovereign Movement, which advocates for sovereignty for First Nations people, relies on arguments as a means of persuading voters.

The group wants to persuade Australian voters to vote against the Voice, underpinned by three key premises:

• First Nations people have not given free, prior, informed consent to hold a referendum on the Voice

• First Nations people have never surrendered sovereignty

• First Nations people do not want constitutional recognition without a treaty.

The argument follows a “bottom-up” structure. This means it starts with a specific statement idea (to hold a Voice referendum, Australia needs consent from First Nations people), and from this, a more general, logical conclusion is derived (that it is better to have a treaty first).

Arguments are effective when voters are well-informed and highly motivated. Whether or not this argument resonates with voters depends in part on
whether they believe the premise – that a treaty can happen before a Voice.

The Uluru Dialogue: anticipated pride

The Uluru Dialogue is a group of First Nations people from across Australia who have the mandate of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. The key message at the centre of their ads is anticipated pride if the nation votes “yes” on the referendum.

Pride is an emotion regularly exploited in advertising campaigns. Here, it is used to remind voters they can help create a future, more harmonious Australian nation and that will be something of which they can be proud. Voters are essentially being told they can create history.

This emotion has been used effectively in other campaigns to drum up support during wartime. It was also used in advertising during the pandemic to mobilise people to “do their bit” for their country, first through physical distancing and later by getting vaccinated.

Read more:
In a Voice campaign marked by confusing, competing claims, there’s a better way to educate voters

Yes23: fairness

Yes23, a group advocating for Indigenous constitutional recognition, has turned to fairness in its advertising.

Seen as a value Australians hold dear, fairness can play an important role in influencing voters.

Science suggests the key aspect to fairness is integrity. In this ad, Yes23 touches on this sentiment by asking Australians to adhere to certain ethical principles by joining the cause.

Which ads will be most effective?

The fear aroused by Advance Australia will only work provided people perceive Reid and Mayo as a threat, and feel that voting “no” will stop the First Nations movement for political change.

Thinking deeply is necessary for the arguments of the Blak Sovereign Movement to be persuasive. Yet, the Voice is extraordinary enough that some people find it difficult to form an opinion about it that takes full consideration of all the facts.

The Uluru Dialogue uses anticipated pride in order to attract votes. The success of this approach depends mainly on voters’ desire to make a good impression, or be better than others.

Yes23’s appeal to fairness can have a significant impact on the way people vote on the Voice. Feelings of fairness are instinctive and wide-ranging emotions, and ones that are becoming more important in our increasingly complex society.

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. Fear vs pride: how do the Voice to Parliament ads try to influence voters? And is it effective? – https://theconversation.com/fear-vs-pride-how-do-the-voice-to-parliament-ads-try-to-influence-voters-and-is-it-effective-209834

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Glen Nagle, Outreach Manager, Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex, CSIRO

In 1977, five years before ET asked to “phone home”, two robotic spacecraft began their own journey into space.

Almost 46 years later, after exploring the Solar System and beyond, one of those spacecraft – Voyager 2 – has lost contact with Earth.

All communication with Voyager 2 goes through NASA’s Deep Space Station 43, a 70-metre radio dish at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex operated by CSIRO.

Contact was lost more than a week ago. After intense efforts at NASA and here in Canberra, we have detected a faint “heartbeat” signal from the craft – and we’re confident of re-establishing full contact.

Through the Solar System and beyond

NASA’s twin Voyager spacecraft – Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 – were designed to complete a “grand tour” of the Solar System, visiting the giant planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Throughout the billions of kilometres of their journeys, the Voyagers stayed in touch with Earth through the three antennas of the Deep Space Network. One is in Madrid, Spain; a second in Goldstone, California; and the third in Canberra.

Having completed their tasks in 1989, both Voyager 1 and 2 have long since left our Solar System behind. They are now exploring interstellar space – the space between the stars.

Voyager 1 is currently 24 billion kilometres from home, with Voyager 2 not far behind at 20 billion kilometres.

Whispers from space

On July 21, a series of planned commands sent to Voyager 2 inadvertently caused the spacecraft’s antenna to point two degrees away from Earth. As a result, the spacecraft is currently unable to receive commands or transmit any data back to Earth.

Mishaps like this are not uncommon in space exploration. The NASA team is expert at problem solving, and has a good track record of keeping spacecraft flying long after their prime mission has ended.

Read more:
From the edge of the Solar System, Voyager probes are still talking to Australia after 40 years

NASA’s science and engineering teams have dealt with communication drop-outs before, with both Voyagers. Their efforts have already quadrupled the planned 12-year life of the craft, so they don’t think we’ve heard the last from Voyager 2.

It’s an enormous achievement that we still have contact with these spacecraft at all, given their enormous distance from Earth and the relative weakness of the signal received through the big antenna dishes in Canberra. Even when Voyager 2 is pointing at Earth, its signal is already a whisper from space, billions of times weaker than the power generated by a tiny watch battery.

A heartbeat 20 billion kilometres from home

The last time Voyager 2 was out of contact was in March 2020, when the dish at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex was shut down for a scheduled 11-month upgrade project. Ahead of the shutdown, commands were sent to Voyager 2 to program the spacecraft to maintain operations without needing to hear from Earth for an extended period.

Canberra’s Deep Space Station 43 is the only antenna in the world that can communicate directly with both Voyagers. Its sister stations in the northern hemisphere are unable to “see” Voyager 2, because Earth is in the way.

Since Voyager 2’s antenna was tweaked off target, we have been using Deep Space Station 43 to listen intently for any signal. Eventually this effort paid off, with the detection of the craft’s carrier tone – a “heartbeat” indicating Voyager 2 is still transmitting.

Now attempts will be made to relay commands to Voyager 2 and tell it to re-orient its antenna towards Earth.

If those attempts fail, Voyager 2 is already programmed to use the Sun and the bright star Canopus to re-orient itself several times each year. The next scheduled reset will occur on October 15, which should automatically enable communications to resume.

Into interstellar space

The Canberra team feels a very close connection to this distant traveller. We have been with it on every step of its journey so far, and plan to continue to provide mission support for however long the mission lasts.

Voyager 2 was launched on August 20 1977 and reached Jupiter in July 1979, a few months after Voyager 1. It proceeded to Saturn for a flyby of the ringed planet in 1981, and then had encounters with Uranus in 1986 and Neptune in August 1989, ending the so-called “grand tour”.

Read more:
After 45 years, the 5-billion-year legacy of the Voyager 2 interstellar probe is just beginning

As both spacecraft were in good health, they were given an extended mission to reach the edge of our Solar System, where the influence of the Sun’s energy ends. The Voyagers are now in the “clear air” of interstellar space and can, for the first time, make direct measurements of this environment.

The data they have returned are changing our understanding of the Universe. The teams at NASA and here in Canberra are confident there is more science and discoveries to come, when Voyager 2 once again phones home.

Glen Nagle 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. Voyager 2 has lost track of Earth. Only one antenna in the world can help it ‘phone home’ – https://theconversation.com/voyager-2-has-lost-track-of-earth-only-one-antenna-in-the-world-can-help-it-phone-home-210882

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Shortis, Lecturer in Social and Global Studies, RMIT University

How many different ways are there to say “unprecedented”?

Never before has a sitting or former president of the United States been indicted on federal charges. Former and aspiring President Donald J. Trump has now been indicted not once, but three times: once for alleged crimes committed before he assumed office, once for alleged crimes after he left the White House and, as of this morning, once for crimes allegedly committed during his time in office.

The latest charges relate to Trump’s concerted efforts to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election. They arose from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump’s role in the January 6 2021 attack on the US Capitol.

A grand jury found there was enough evidence to bring forward four federal charges, arguing Trump engaged in “three criminal conspiracies” in the pursuit of “unlawful means of discounting legitimate votes and subverting the election results”. The charges include: conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights.

Trump is scheduled to appear before a federal court in Washington, DC, on Thursday afternoon (Friday morning Australian time).

In a statement delivered shortly after the indictment was revealed, Jack Smith said the Department of Justice would seek a “speedy trial” – much as he did last time the former president was indicted.

But even if this case, along with the others, does go to trial with all possible speed, none of this is likely to be resolved before the nomination process is complete, and may well continue into the 2024 election.

Federal charges on the campaign trail

Even in what we might unsatisfactorily call a “normal” US presidential election cycle, nominees and results are notoriously difficult to predict. Candidates rise and fall quickly – presumed heirs to the nomination riding high early in the cycle can fall into irrelevance before the primaries even begin. The unprecedented nature of Trump’s second campaign for the Republican nomination blows all efforts to predict any outcomes out of the water.

Right now, Trump is following his familiar playbook – claiming this is all part of an extended conspiracy to keep him out of office by a “liberal elite”. Leaning into a narrative of victimhood, Trump expertly pushes the buttons of his base, and high-profile members of the Republican Party race to defend him, again.

Read more:
Yes, federal charges against a former president are unprecedented – but so is Trump’s political power

Their narrative is consistent and practised: the “left”, apparently convinced it cannot beat Trump in an election, is seeking to take him out of the running. Trump acolyte Senator J.D. Vance, for example, claimed President Joe Biden would “rather throw Donald Trump in prison than face him at the ballot box”.

Vance, a graduate of Yale Law School, undoubtedly knows none of that is true. He would also likely know that even if Trump were to be thrown behind bars, there are no legal obstacles to him facing Biden in an election, or even serving as president from a prison cell.

Trump and his supporters insist on his innocence. In a statement released after the indictment, his campaign insisted Trump “has always followed the law and the Constitution”. Never mind that the former president has stated, publicly and clearly, that he would happily “terminate” the Constitution to suit his own ends.

Unsurprisingly, Trump supporters are undeterred. Trump remains, by a long way, the front-runner for the Republican nomination.

Stake are high for the entire US

Unlike the first time around, if he makes it into the White House again, Trump will come prepared. His team’s plans to purge the federal bureaucracy, centralise power and further undermine democratic processes – in concert with similar efforts already occurring at the state level across the country – are all aimed at consolidating and entrenching Trump’s power.

The Trump team is openly planning for a second term that would catastrophically undermine the institutions and processes of American democracy. At the most basic level, that is what is at stake for the United States with these charges and in this election cycle.

As this most recent indictment put it, processes like the peaceful transition of power are “foundational to the United States democratic process”. While American democracy has always been shaky and uneven, as the indictment continues, it “had operated in a peaceful but orderly manner for more than 130 years”.

Taken together, all this means the United States – and the world – faces another unprecedented election cycle. In all likelihood, there will be more indictments and multiple trials, even as the compounding effects of global boiling reveal themselves, and maybe even as we discover that we are not, in fact, alone in the universe.

There is no telling, really, how this polycrisis will play out as the United States faces its most important elections in a century.

Unprecedented, indeed.

Read more:
For Joe Biden, the indictment of Donald Trump carries a heavy responsibility – and a risk

Emma Shortis is a member of the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN).

– ref. With yet another indictment, Donald Trump takes us into ‘unprecedented’ territory once again – https://theconversation.com/with-yet-another-indictment-donald-trump-takes-us-into-unprecedented-territory-once-again-210876

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kylie Soanes, Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne

Dodging dog poo along the local path has become something of an Olympic sport of late. I thought I’d count path-side dog poo on my bike ride the other day and gave up after counting 30 piles in the first kilometre. It really does feel a bit out of control at the moment.

We know leaving dog poo lying around is bad for human health. But have you ever wondered what all this mess means for native wildlife?

It turns out pet poo – including both dog and cat poo – can have a number of negative effects on native plants and animals. And some of these might surprise you.

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1. Unwelcome fertiliser

Just like adding manure to the garden, pet poo left on the ground is a fertiliser. But not all plants thrive on excess.

Australian soils are naturally nutrient-poor and native plants and fungi are incredibly well-adapted to these conditions.

Yes, wildlife go to the toilet in nature too. But the difference is they also eat in nature – they’re part of the system.

Our pets, on the other hand, are fed nutrient-rich meals in our backyards and kitchens and then deliver these outside nutrients into the ecosystem. Pet poo can quickly find its way into waterways, which can drive algal blooms.

Researchers in Berlin estimated that if nobody picked up after their dogs, more than 11kg of nitrogen and 4kg of phosphorous per hectare would be added to urban nature reserves each year – levels that would be illegal for most farms.

2. Lurking disease

Pet cats aren’t off the hook. If you have a roaming kitty, they could be spreading toxoplasmosis – a disease that can cause serious illness and even death in native mammals.

Symptoms include blindness and seizures, and have been observed in kangaroos, wallabies, possums, wombats, bandicoots and bilbies. The disease even increases “risky” behaviours, with infected animals more prone to wandering around the open or being unafraid of predators.

It’s morbidly fascinating. The parasite causing the disease, Toxoplasma gondii, has two phases to its lifecycle. In the first phase, it’s happy hanging out inside pretty much any warm-blooded animal. But to complete the second phase, it has to jump to a cat. The easiest way to do this is to make your current host easy prey, hence the symptoms that debilitate native wildlife or make them prone to dangerous decisions.

Infected cats shed the parasite in their poo. So whenever native animals can come into contact with cat poo, they’re at risk. Researchers from the University of British Columbia found “wildlife living near dense urban areas were more likely to be infected”, citing domestic cats as the most likely culprit.

Worse, the parasite can lay dormant in poo for as long as 18 months, waiting for a host to jump into.

3. Eau de predator

Finally, and probably the most obvious: dog poo might signal to wildlife that predators are about and they should stay away.

Even though dogs are a new predator to Australian wildlife, our native species have had enough experience existing alongside dingoes to consider your pooch a threat.

Recent research shows that in 83% of tests, Australian native mammals recognised dogs as a threat – with dog poo being a common trigger.

This means the signs and smells your dog leaves out and about can affect the behaviour of native wildlife.

For example, bandicoots in Sydney were less likely to visit backyards that had a resident dog, even if it was kept inside at night.

‘What wildlife? What nature? We live in the city!’

It might surprise you to know we share our cities and towns with a huge range of native animals – even rare and endangered ones.

And as people have paid more attention to the nature in their local neighbourhood in recent years, we’re becoming more aware of the wildlife living right beneath our noses.

These species often depend on a seemingly rag-tag collection of urban green patches such as nature strips, utility easements, sports ovals and public gardens.

If these are all littered with smelly signs for wildlife to stay away, places safe for wildlife become even rarer in our cities. Reining in the pet poo problem is an easy way to reduce our impact.

The old adage “take only photographs, leave only footprints” is a good rule of thumb. Pick up after your pet and, importantly, take it with you to the nearest bin – don’t leave plastic bags dangling from fences like ornaments on the world’s worst Christmas tree.

Read more:
The 39 endangered species in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and other Australian cities

Kylie Soanes 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. Leaving dog and cat poo lying around isn’t just gross. It’s a problem for native plants and animals, too – https://theconversation.com/leaving-dog-and-cat-poo-lying-around-isnt-just-gross-its-a-problem-for-native-plants-and-animals-too-208288

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thomas Hajdu, Director of The Sia Furler Institute, University of Adelaide

The 19th century concept of authorship revolved around the romantic view of the artist as a lone genius. In this model, every stroke of the brush, every note played and every word written was the product of a singular creative mind, bearing the unique imprint of its creator.

However, the landscape of artistic creation began to shift dramatically with the advent of the 20th century, with artists like Marcel Duchamp, John Cage and William S. Burroughs pioneering new creative approaches such as aleatoricism, the cut-up technique and “randomness” which began recast the role of the author.

Now, AI technology looks likely to cause as much disruption as the previous revolutions combined.

Just as the artists of the last revolution grappled with their age’s social and spiritual upheavals, our artists today must rise to the challenge and engage the shock of the new that now confronts us all. AI will force artists (along with the rest of us) to examine what it means to be a “creator” and, ultimately, perhaps what it means to be human.

Read more:
Computer-written scripts and deepfake actors: what’s at the heart of the Hollywood strikes against generative AI

Disrupting the artistic landscape

Conceptual art pioneer Marcel Duchamp radically altered the artistic landscape with his work, Fountain (1917) – a urinal signed “R. Mutt”.

He argued that art wasn’t confined to traditional craftsmanship but could spring from the act of selection and presentation.

Composer John Cage took this artistic revolution a step further. His composition 4’33 (1952), where the performer remains silent for four minutes and 33 seconds, is a powerful example of a work that questions the definition of music itself. Cage’s piece isn’t just any random stretch of silence – it is art because Cage himself, a human, framed it, turning the act of listening into a creative process.

Following suit, William S. Burroughs disrupted traditional narratives with his cut-up technique, emphasising the non-linear progression of storytelling and demonstrating that authorship could extend to the reassembling of pre-existing material.

David Bowie famously used this technique for writing lyrics in some of his songs, especially in his work from the 1970s. Songs from albums like Diamond Dogs and Young Americans used cutups to create distinctive, unexpected, and often cryptic lyrics. Bowie would cut up his writings or other texts, rearrange them, and use the resulting fragments as the starting point for his songwriting. This allowed him to break free from linear thought and traditional songwriting cliches and to explore more abstract and unpredictable forms of expression.

These early disruptions laid the groundwork for today’s art and machine learning intersection. They questioned the traditional concept of authorship. Now, technology is challenging it again.

Moreover, this time around, even the role of the audience is likely to change.

Modern art

Jason M. Allen, a digital artist from Pueblo West, became one of the first creators to win a prize for AI generated art. His role was to input a text prompt into the AI tool, which then transformed it into a hyper-realistic graphic based on its training from millions of previously processed images.

In this process, Allen’s creativity came into play in formulating the correct prompts to instruct the AI, effectively guiding or curating the AI’s output.

In this case, the artist becomes a sort of co-pilot, steering the AI’s capabilities to produce a desired output. This new process raises questions about authorship and authenticity in art. It underscores how technology redefines the traditional artistic process, with artists becoming more like orchestrators of complex AI systems.

Modern artists like Laurie Anderson have begun to harness machine learning to create novel works. Anderson’s work, Scroll (2021), is a fusion of religious text and her distinctive linguistic style generated through AI.

In both of these examples, the artist functions like a curator. The manual toil of writing, drawing or composing is replaced by an iterative process of discovery, filtering and refinement of instructions to the system.

These artists are pioneering a shift in the artist’s role. Instead of being the sole creators, artists now guide, shape and direct the creative output of machine learning systems. This transition certainly presents challenges, but it also uncovers a world of new artistic competencies and opportunities.

The future

Looking to the future, we can expect the interplay of art and technology to deepen. Artists who embrace this ever-evolving landscape will contribute their unique perspectives to the development of machine learning and shape our collective relationship with it.

This time around, the revolution will also extend to the audience’s role. Passive viewers become participants in the making and remaking of the art. The very same AI systems that empower artists can empower the audience.

Read more:
Synthetic futures: my journey into the emotional, poetic world of AI art making

Audience members can utilise AI tools to generate art, even if they do not have traditional artistic skills. AI democratises the art-making process, making it accessible to anyone with access to the technology.

This could significantly expand the art world, as more people can become creators, contributing their own perspectives and ideas. One example is a project called Tamper (2019), developed by John Underkoffler for the AMPAS, Getty and other museums. This project lets museum visitors build collages out of material taken from a museum’s collection.

We must prepare the coming generations for this rapidly changing creative landscape, fostering their ability to co-pilot with AI systems. As we move further into the age of machine learning, artists must reclaim their position at the forefront of creative thought and innovation.

Thomas Hajdu received funding from CSIRO to examine educational opportunities at the intersection of creativity and AI.
Thomas Hajdu has collaborated with William Burroughs, Laurie Anderson and John Underkophler.

– ref. From Duchamp to AI: the transformation of authorship in art – https://theconversation.com/from-duchamp-to-ai-the-transformation-of-authorship-in-art-210059

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Finn Cameron Gillies Parker, PhD candidate, University of Sydney

Humans have trained domestic animals for thousands of years, to help with farming, transport, or hunting.

But can we train wild animals to help us in conservation work? Wild animals can be taught to recognise dangerous predators, avoid toxic food, and stay away from people.

However, there are few examples of using classical learning techniques to train free-living animals to act in a way that benefits their ecosystem. In our newly published study in Biological Conservation, we trained wild Australian native predatory rats to recognise an unfamiliar species of cockroach prey. It worked – in a simulated cockroach invasion, this training increased predation rates by the rats.

Read more:
Pest plants and animals cost Australia around $25 billion a year – and it will get worse

Growing number of aliens

As humans have engaged in global trade, various species have moved across otherwise impossible-to-cross geographical barriers and into new environments. These species are known as alien species, and their number continues to grow.

Some alien species are relatively harmless in their new environment, and can even positively affect the ecosystem. However, many others have costly and devastating impacts on biodiversity and agriculture.

Not all species that arrive in new environments become established or spread. Even fewer of these species become invasive. Yet we don’t really know why some species are successful and others aren’t, and there are many different theories. One reason some species fail to thrive in new environments is when native species resist, either by eating or simply outcompeting the arrivals.

However, native species can only resist against alien species if they can respond appropriately, which they may not do if they’ve never encountered the invaders before (biologists call this being “naive”).

Naivete can occur when two species with no recent evolutionary or ecological history come into contact with one another. Prey naivete is well documented, and the effect of alien predators on native prey that can’t recognise or escape them is significant.

But the role of native predator naivete in biological invasions is less clear. Native predators may not recognise an alien prey species or lack the ability to hunt them effectively. Sometimes predators may simply prefer to hunt their natural prey. When predators are naive, alien prey can establish and spread unchecked.

Read more:
1.7 million foxes, 300 million native animals killed every year: now we know the damage foxes wreak

Speeding up a natural process

Native predators do eventually learn to hunt alien prey, but this process can take a long time when prey aren’t encountered often.

We wanted to know if we could speed up learning by exposing a free-living native predator to the scent of a novel prey species paired with a reward.

We conducted our study on bushland in the outskirts of Sydney, New South Wales, using native bush rats (Rattus fuscipes) as our model predator. Our chosen alien prey species, speckled cockroaches (Nauphoeta cinerea), don’t live in Sydney and surrounds, so rats have no experience with them.

We housed cockroaches in small boxes for days at a time with absorbent paper on the floor to collect odour. When using them as prey, we froze and tethered the cockroaches to tent pegs, to avoid accidental introduction of cockroaches in the area.

We confirmed the presence of bush rats at 24 locations, and randomly allocated 12 as training sites and 12 as non-training (control) sites. At the training sites, we placed a metal tea strainer with the cockroach smell, and three dead cockroaches as a reward. The tea strainer and cockroaches were tethered to a tent peg in the ground so rats couldn’t carry them away.

We used cameras to observe the rat behaviour, and checked the training stations every one to two days. We also moved the stations so the rats wouldn’t just learn to associate the reward with the location.

Trained for an invasion

Immediately after training, we conducted a simulated invasion at all sites. The invasion involved ten dead and tethered cockroach “invaders”. The number of “surviving” (that is, uneaten) cockroaches was recorded each day for five days.

We compared prey survival rates in sites with trained and untrained rats, and found cockroach prey in training sites were 46% more likely to be eaten than prey in non-training sites.

We also found the number of cockroaches eaten during training was a significant predictor for how many were eaten on the first night of the “invasion”.

We also wanted to ensure we had not just attracted more rats to training sites during the training process. To do this, immediately after the invasion we used cameras to compare rat visits to all sites using a peanut oil attractant. There was no difference between training and non-training sites.

Our study is the first to train free-living predators to hunt species they’ve never seen before. It shows the potential for training our native species to fight biological invasions. More broadly, we think our study adds to the growing evidence that training animals can help to address a variety of problems, such as birds picking up litter and rats sniffing out landmines.

Read more:
Alien invaders: the illegal reptile trade is a serious threat to Australia

Peter Banks receives funding from The Australian Research Council, The Herman Slade Foundation, Birdlife Australia, Northern Beaches Council and Manaaki Whenua.

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

– ref. Unique study shows we can train wild predators to hunt alien species they’ve never seen before – https://theconversation.com/unique-study-shows-we-can-train-wild-predators-to-hunt-alien-species-theyve-never-seen-before-210644

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olli Hellmann, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Waikato

Humans typically reserve their practices of mourning for loved ones. But extending these rituals of grief and loss to non-human animals (and our shared habitats) can also help us appreciate being part of the natural world, not separate from it.

So the recent decision to include extinct species in New Zealand’s Bird of the Year – now Bird of the Century – competition offers an opportunity to grieve in another way. In turn, this may help foster an ethic of care for the environment and greater appreciation of what may yet be saved.

The competition began 18 years ago as a modest campaign by environmental group Forest & Bird to draw attention to native birds, many of which are endangered. It has since grown into a national phenomenon.

Various bird species have their own “campaign managers”, celebrities and politicians publicly endorse their favourite feathered creature, and tens of thousands of votes are cast every year.

The hotly contested election has not been without controversy, either. In 2019, for example, the discovery of hundreds of votes being registered from Russia led to claims of election meddling. In 2021, it made headlines for allowing a native bat to enter – to the dismay of many, the bat won.

Last year, the organisers were even threatened with a lawsuit over their refusal to include the extinct huia – a bird last seen in the wild in 1907. A concerned environmentalist wrote to Forest & Bird to say: “We need to be urgently reminded of what we have already lost, if we are to minimise further loss.”

This year’s competition – which opens for voting on October 30 and also marks Forest & Bird’s centenary – answers that call.

Ecological grief

There are five contenders that have died out: the huia, mātuhituhi (bush wren), tutukiwi (South Island snipe), piopio (turnagras) and whēkau (laughing owl). Explaining their rationale, the competition organisers say:

Eighty-two percent of our living native bird species are threatened or at risk of extinction. We cannot let any more end up with the tragic fate of the laughing owl or the huia.

Those five birds represent only a small proportion of the total birdlife lost since first human settlement in Aotearoa around 750 years ago. Fossil record research has concluded that, of the 174 endemic bird species present then, 72 have become extinct.

Adding extinct birds to the Bird of the Year ballot – even if only five – echoes other, similar efforts around the world by people finding new ways to express grief over the loss of nature.

As the global climate crisis rapidly transforms the environment, there have been commemorative practices and rituals more often associated with human loss: funerals and memorial plaques for extinct animal species and vanished glaciers, and monuments to lost landscapes.

Read more:
Life in maars: why it’s worth protecting a spectacular fossil site NZ almost lost to commercial mining interests

Because ecological grief differs from human-centred grief in important ways, it can have an upside. For one, it not only addresses an absence in the present, but it can also encourage pre-emptive action to stop losses yet to come.

Furthermore, ecological grief is often accompanied by feelings of guilt over the harm humans have done to the environment, which can create a strong sense of responsibility for nature, as survey research has shown.

Entanglement with nature

Beyond helping prevent further loss of birdlife, commemorating extinct species through the Bird of the Year competition encourages an understanding of the connections that bind all lifeforms together.

Of course, such ideas only seem new from a Western perspective. Despite the violent disruptions of colonisation, Māori and other Indigenous peoples around the world have continued to hold worldviews where biological beings are interlinked in a complex web of life.

Read more:
Dead as the moa: oral traditions show that early Māori recognised extinction

Expressions of ecological grieving, such as whakataukī (proverbs) mourning the loss of the moa, play an important role in maintaining these worldviews.

The decision to include extinct species in the Bird of the Year competition will likely cause controversy. But saving the planet means moving away from our usual perspectives and ways of thinking.

Olli Hellmann 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. Call of the huia: how NZ’s bird of the century contest helps us express ‘ecological grief’ – https://theconversation.com/call-of-the-huia-how-nzs-bird-of-the-century-contest-helps-us-express-ecological-grief-210698

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christobel Saunders, James Stewart Chair Of Surgery, The University of Melbourne

Around one in seven Australian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their life, with 20,000 new breast cancers diagnosed each week.

Mammograms are a key detection tool for early-stage breast cancer and involve placing the breast tissue between two plates and then doing an x-ray.

Scans from mammograms are usually analysed by two doctors. But a Swedish study, published today in the Lancet, found using artificial intelligence (AI) to help analyse the scans detected 20% more cancers and reduced the workload by 44%.

However there is a risk it could detect small cancers in women that would never cause harm, resulting in unnecessary treatment.

How are breast cancers currently detected?

Breast screening using mammography was introduced in Australia more than 30 years ago to detect cancers earlier, allowing more effective and often less invasive treatments. Free mammograms are available to women over the age of 40 and are recommended for all women aged 50-74.

Currently, a mammogram is studied (or “read”) by two doctors (called radiologists) who decide whether the mammogram looks normal or not. If any abnormality is seen, the woman is referred for further tests to a BreastScreen assessment clinic. These tests may include more mammograms, ultrasounds, needle biopsies and sometimes surgery.

Most of those referred are cleared of cancer, but around one in ten are eventually diagnosed with a breast cancer.

This reading and assessment requires a lot of expertise and time, and is performed by an ageing and diminishing workforce who are retiring and leaving the profession. Coupled with a growing population eligible for screening, this adds up to a perfect test bed for an AI solution.

Read more:
Biopsies confirm a breast cancer diagnosis after an abnormal mammogram – but structural racism may lead to lengthy delays

What did the researchers test?

The Swedish study followed 80,000 women aged 40–80 attending a screening program in one area of Sweden.

The researchers set out to test whether AI could better direct a radiologist’s attention to a suspicious, but often very subtle, abnormal area on a mammogram, using a commercially available AI-supported mammogram reading system.

They also looked at whether using AI could replace one of the two radiologists who normally read the mammogram. This would make the process more efficient.

The study was randomised so half of the women received normal screening protocols and the other half the AI-assisted protocol.

So what did they find?

The early findings are very encouraging. In those in whom AI was used, if the AI suggested a suspicious area, the mammogram was still read by two radiologists. But if the AI did not see a suspicious area then only one “live” radiologist read the mammogram.

This saved nearly six months of radiologists’ time. There were 36,886 fewer screenings read by radiologists in the AI supported group (46,345 vs 83,231), resulting in a 44% reduction in the radiologists’ screening workload.

Using the AI software to direct the radiologist attention to abnormal areas also seemed to improve the accuracy of their reading. The AI-assisted reading meant slightly more women were referred for further assessment (2.2% versus 2%) and of those assessed from the AI group, more cancers were seen.

In total, 244 women (28%) from the AI-supported group were found to have cancer, compared to 203 women (25%) in the standard double reading without AI.

Overall, the AI program picked up one extra cancer for each 1,000 women screened (six per 1,000 vs five per 1,000).

Read more:
Cervical, breast, heart, bowel: here’s what women should be getting screened regularly

Risk of overdiagnosis

But just detecting more cancers is not necessarily a good thing if the cancers found are tiny, non-aggressive tumours that may never grow to harm the woman.

Of course what we really want to know is can any new test improve survival from cancer – and make the burden of treatment easier.

“Interval cancers” are faster-growing aggressive cancers that turn up between mammograms. Studies often use the detection of interval cancers as a surrogate for improving cancer survival. But it’s unclear if AI can detect more of these interval cancers.

Until we understand more about these extra cancers the AI detects, these remain open questions.

So, despite the positive signals from this study, we are still not ready to use it in our screening programs without more mature data form this and other work, including data that currently is being collected in Australia.

Read more:
29,000 cancers overdiagnosed in Australia in a single year

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

– ref. AI can help detect breast cancer. But we don’t yet know if it can improve survival rates – https://theconversation.com/ai-can-help-detect-breast-cancer-but-we-dont-yet-know-if-it-can-improve-survival-rates-210800

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Beatrice Alba, Lecturer, School of Psychology, Deakin University

Despite progress towards greater gender equality, many people remain stubbornly attached to old-fashioned gender roles in romantic relationships between women and men.

Conventions around heterosexual romance dictate that men should approach women to initiate romantic interactions, ask women out on dates, pay on dates, make marriage proposals, and that women should take their husband’s surname after marriage.

While some might view these conventions as sexist and anachronistic, others find them captivating and romantic.

They reflect differentiated gender roles in which men take the lead and women follow. Feminist critiques of such practices argue that they reinforce male dominance over women in intimate relationships.

So we set out to find out why women might still be attracted to these conventions in the modern world. We surveyed 458 single women in Australia on their preference for these conventions, as well as a range of other attitudes and desires.

The study examined whether these conventions might simply be a benign reflection of women’s personal preferences for partners and relationships. But we also considered the possibility that they might be underpinned by sexist attitudes.

Read more:
No, chivalry is not dead – but it’s about time it was

What do women want from men?

One possible reason women prefer these romance conventions is simply because they are traditional, and people like traditions. However, many of these conventions only really took hold in the 20th century.

Some provide a handy script that we can follow in romantic interactions. They help us to navigate the uncertainty of the situation by removing some of the guess work about who should do what.

Another possibility is that men’s enactment of these romance conventions indicates their likelihood of being a committed and invested partner. It may also signal he has resources available to invest in a relationship (and family), which research shows women find appealing in a partner.

Women like ‘nice’ men

We considered whether women’s endorsement of these romance conventions might be explained by their personal preferences for partners and relationships. Specifically, we predicted that the preference for these conventions would be greater among women with a stronger desire to find a committed and invested partner.

We found women’s desire for an invested partner was indeed correlated with a greater preference for these conventions. This preference was also stronger among those who favoured a long-term committed relationship and disfavoured short-term casual sexual relationships.

We also investigated women’s attraction to dominant men, since these conventions require men to take the lead and play a more active role in romantic encounters. As predicted, women’s attraction to more dominant characteristics in a partner – such as being assertive and powerful – was also correlated with a greater preference for these conventions.

Read more:
Women show sexual preference for tall, dominant men – so is gender inequality inevitable?

But is it sexist?

Previous research has found that sexist attitudes and feminist identity are also relevant.

We found women who preferred these romance conventions were less likely to identify as a feminist. They were also higher on benevolent sexism, which is a chivalrous form of sexism that idealises women, but also views them as less competent and needing men’s protection. We even found that they were higher on hostile sexism, which is a more overt form of sexism towards women.

Importantly, we analysed all these variables together to reveal the strongest predictor of the preference for these romance conventions.

We found women’s desire for an invested partner and a long-term relationship no longer accounted for women’s preference for these conventions. However, women who were less inclined to short-term casual sexual relationships were still more likely to prefer these conventions.

The strongest predictor of the preference for these conventions was benevolent sexism. This is somewhat unsurprising, since these conventions look very much like expressions of benevolent sexism in a romantic context.

Most strikingly, overt or hostile sexism still predicted women’s preference for these conventions.

In short, sexism stood out beyond women’s personal preferences for partners and relationships. This ultimately supports this idea that these conventions may be underpinned by sexist attitudes.

Is romance incompatible with gender equality?

Old-fashioned romance might seem benign and even enchanting. But some might find it problematic if it reinforces inequality between women and men in romantic relationships. We know that even subtle forms of everyday sexism and benevolent sexism are harmful to women’s wellbeing and success.

As society moves towards greater gender equality, we may become increasingly aware of how rigid and restrictive gender roles play out in the context of private relationships.

Some might fear that increasing gender equality means the death of romance. But romance among those with diverse genders and sexualities should reassure us that it doesn’t require a universal and pre-determined script.

Perhaps a more critical understanding of ourselves might help us relinquish our attachment to following a simplistic formula set by others.

Embracing individual differences over inflexible conventions may also allow us the freedom to explore alternatives. We might start to see more egalitarian, or even female-led, romance.

Beatrice Alba 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. Is traditional heterosexual romance sexist? – https://theconversation.com/is-traditional-heterosexual-romance-sexist-210546

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ty Ferguson, Research Associate, University of South Australia

As we revel in much-cherished festive occasions and weekly get-togethers, Australians are unwittingly bearing an increasingly heavy cost – an expanding waistline.

Our new study offers a new perspective on this. We asked 375 adults aged 18 to 65 years to wear a fitness tracker and weigh themselves, preferably daily but at least weekly. The research, published in JAMA Open Network, uncovers the subtle yet significant weight gain patterns of everyday Australians.

When we compare this new research with patterns from the northern hemisphere, it suggests it’s holidays and festive occasions – not just cooler weather – that drives weight gain. Australians show a yo-yo pattern of weight fluctuation that’s associated with poor weight control and poorer health overall.

Read more:
The last 5 kilos really are the hardest to lose. Here’s why, and what you can do about it

A global concern

Obesity is a major health concern worldwide. In Australia, an alarming two-thirds of adults are now overweight or obese. On a global stage, we have some of the highest rates of excess weight and obesity – with OECD data ranking us 8th highest out of the 41 OECD countries based on the most recent data.

People who are overweight or have obesity are at an increased risk of preventable chronic diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers and depression and anxiety.

Recognising and understanding the factors that contribute to weight gain are the crucial first steps towards developing effective interventions. To explore this complex issue, we embarked on an in-depth exploration of how the weight of Australian adults fluctuates over a year. What we found was intriguing when compared to overseas studies.

Happy holidays and weighty weekends

Firstly, we noted a prominent weight gain during festive periods. Easter, a time of chocolate eggs and hot cross buns, saw a an average gain of about 244g (0.29% of average participant body weight). The Australian summer months associated with Christmas and New Year, feasts and festivities, had an even larger average increase of approximately 546g (0.65% of average participant body weight).

We also found a weekly cycle, with weight peaking on the weekend, when many people are likely letting their hair down after a busy work week and may be drinking and eating more.

While our study used total body weight, measured using scales, there are other options for tracking body composition. These include waist circumference, skin fold or bioelectric impedence. But these require differing levels of expertise to use.

Read more:
I’ve indulged over the holidays. If I’m healthy the rest of the time, does it matter?

How our weight pattern yo-yos

Seasonal variations were the most striking.

Unlike our counterparts in Europe and the United States, who typically gain weight in winter and lose it in summer, Australians follow a more complex cycle.

Our study, the first to look at to examine changes in weight across a full calendar year in any southern hemisphere country, found Australians are heaviest in summer and lightest in autumn. Weight progressively increases in winter and early spring, only to dip at the end of spring. This pattern, akin to a yo-yo, diverges from the trends observed in the northern hemisphere, where winter overlaps with the common festive periods.

Frequent and significant weight cycling is problematic. It’s not just about the numbers on the scale; it’s the associated health risks that are concerning. Weight cycling, like “yo-yo dieting”, is linked to poor metabolic health and long-term weight gain.

Small weight increases can add up each year. Those gains increase the risk of preventable chronic illness. In our study, approximately a quarter of participants finished the year 2% or more heavier than when they started – an average increase of 1.7kg.

A fresh opportunity

Mapping these “temporal hot spots” presents a unique opportunity to develop more targeted and effective interventions. The periods of weight gain identified in our study (weekends, festive periods and specific seasons) provide key points on the calendar where we could try to curb unhealthy weight fluctuations.

How do we use this information? A great first step would be to concentrate public health campaigns and personal weight management strategies on specific times of year.

Awareness campaigns before and during Christmas and winter could highlight the risks of obesity and provide tips for maintaining a balanced diet, moderate drinking, and staying active amid the festivities. Encouraging regular physical activity during colder months could also help offset seasonal weight gain.

Ultimately, messaging should focus on encouraging sustainable habits like healthy eating, regular exercise, and holistic wellbeing, rather than suggest drastic, short-term fixes. Our study offers an additional tool for creating weight-gain prevention strategies.

As we learn more about the social, cultural and behavioural influences on weight gain, we can tailor our interventions to be more effective.

It’s clear that our love for celebrations comes at a cost. But, armed with new insight, we can still enjoy these beloved traditions while also keeping our health in check. After all, good health is a gift in itself.

Read more:
Exercise is even more effective than counselling or medication for depression. But how much do you need?

Carol Maher receives funding from the Medical Research Future Fund, the National Health and Medical Research Council, the National Heart Foundation, the SA Department for Education, the SA Department for Innovation and Skills, the SA Office for the Early Years, Healthway, Hunter New England Local Health District, the Central Adelaide Local Health Network, LeapForward and EML.

Ty Ferguson 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. When Christmas comes so do the kilos. New research tracks Australians’ yo-yo weight gain – https://theconversation.com/when-christmas-comes-so-do-the-kilos-new-research-tracks-australians-yo-yo-weight-gain-210709

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rikke Louise Bundgaard-Nielsen, Teaching Associate, The University of Melbourne

Last month, the federal government released the annual Closing the Gap data.

According to the report, 34.3% of Indigenous preschoolers were starting school developmentally on track, compared to almost 55% of non-Indigenous Australian students as of 2021.

About 68% of Indigenous people aged 20–24 years had attained Year 12 or equivalent as of 2021, with a target of 96% by 2031.

Speaking about the Closing the Gap report, Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney noted her disappointment about the results.

The gap is not closing fast enough. I know many people are frustrated by the lack of progress.

But are these reports asking the right questions? Many Indigenous children who do not speak English at home struggle with English at school. This suggests some poor education outcomes may arise from cross-language difficulties.

Our new study investigated children speaking Kriol.

This is the largest Indigenous language after English in Australia. Kriol-speaking children make up the largest group of Indigenous kids with English as a second language.

What is Kriol?

Kriol is the result of contact in the 19th century between speakers of Indigenous languages and English, and many Kriol words come from English.

Kriol has been called “broken English”. But Kriol is neither “broken”, nor English. It is a separate language with its own grammar and vocabulary.

Recognition of the language barrier experienced by Kriol-speaking children has been delayed by two unfortunate assumptions. One is that Kriol is a dialect of Australian English or Aboriginal English, not a separate language.

The other assumption is Kriol is “highly variable” and speakers use many versions of Kriol – including some that are very similar to English. As a consequence, it has been assumed Kriol-speaking children won’t struggle to learn in English when they get to school.

Read more:
Explainer: the largest language spoken exclusively in Australia – Kriol

Our research

Our research investigated children’s use of Kriol for the first time.

We spoke to 13 children between four and seven. The children were all students at Wugularr School (also called Beswick) in the Northern Territory. The community language in Wugularr is Kriol, but a range of traditional languages are also spoken.

Less than 1% of the population in Wugularr only speak English at home. Children first learn English when they start preschool.

Our findings

We used two game-like activities to test children’s knowledge of Kriol words and sounds.

In one activity we showed the children a picture of a familiar object (such as a door or an apple) accompanied by a recording in Kriol asking, “what’s this?”. The kids then spoke the word.

In the other “game”, we played recordings of Kriol words – some produced the right way, and some produced with an error. For example, “diger” for “tiger” and “abble” for “apple”. We then used a recorded Kriol prompt asking if the lady in the recording said the word the right or wrong way. (The students found this really hilarious – an adult making so many mistakes!)

These activities showed students had a good knowledge of the sounds of Kriol and the correct shape of words in Kriol, which are important pre-literacy skills. This showed they are ready to learn to read, just not in English.

This also demonstrated very substantial linguistic differences between English and Kriol. This means Kriol-speaking children are not speakers of English, and that they do not effortlessly “slide” into a version of Kriol that is “close enough” to pass for English as a consequence of formal schooling in English.

The need for bilingual education

Our research shows Kriol-speaking children face similar difficulties when they start school as children from other non-English speaking backgrounds.

In an ideal setting, students would be given a bilingual education. This means Indigenous children would be able to use their First Language knowledge and cultural knowledge as a foundation for learning.

Teaching assistant and linguist Hilda Ngalmi is a Wubuy/Nungubuyu woman from Numbulwar, where Kriol is widely spoken. She collaborated with us on the research. As she explains:

When I teach kids, I have to explain to them in Kriol first. Because that is the language they understand.

The need for bilingual education for children who speak traditional Indigenous languages has been debated for decades in Australia. Support has waxed and waned and today only a small number schools offer a genuine bilingual education.

However, where it does happen, it is having positive results.

For example, Yirrkala School in Northeastern Arnhem Land teaches students “both ways” in local language Yolngu Matha and English. In 2020, eight students became the first in their community to graduate Year 12, with university entry-level scores.

Not making the most of children’s First Language competence creates additional learning barriers for Indigenous children. If we really want to “close the gap”, our education system needs to support students to learn in a bilingual environment.

Read more:
Why more schools need to teach bilingual education to Indigenous children

Rikke Louise Bundgaard-Nielsen receives funding from the Australian Research Council (Discovery Project DP130102624 ‘Learning to talk whitefella way’).

Brett Baker receives funding from the Australian Research Council (Discovery Project DP130102624 ‘Learning to talk whitefella way’).

Hilda Ngalmi receives funding from the Australian Research Council (Discovery Project DP130102624 ‘Learning to talk whitefella way’).

Yizhou Wang 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. ‘That is the language they understand’: why Indigenous students need bilingual teaching at school – https://theconversation.com/that-is-the-language-they-understand-why-indigenous-students-need-bilingual-teaching-at-school-210559

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law. President, Australian Association for Professional & Applied Ethics., Griffith University

You’ve probably heard that Hollywood writers and actors are striking.

One of the main revelations to outside observers is the hard treatment meted out by production companies (in concert with streaming giants) to artists. Even very successful and sometimes famous writers or actors can struggle to make a living wage, with residuals – the money these artists make when their work is re-aired – dropping precipitously in the streaming era.

One of the key reasons the entertainment industry urges us to support copyright and avoid piracy is to support artists. So what happens to our moral calculations when it turns out industries direct so little revenue to creative workers? Should we really feel morally beholden to pay streaming services that exploit artists?

The strike presents a worthwhile moment to think about why we have copyright, and whether it is a law worthy of respect.

Read more:
How Ronald Reagan led the 1960 actors’ strike – and then became an anti-union president

What is piracy?

Piracy refers to the illegal copying, accessing, downloading, streaming or distributing of another’s created work of entertainment, without transforming that work. (For example, fan fiction often violates copyright, but because it transforms the work, it isn’t piracy.)

Content industries tend to stereotype pirates as rapacious, remorseless thieves. But many pirates pay respect to copyright law’s spirit, if not its black-letter obligations.

Consider four different types of pirates:

• takers take whatever they want without compunction
• samplers pirate only to sample works. Once they find something they enjoy, they purchase it
• finders only pirate works that aren’t otherwise available
• non-payers only pirate works they would never otherwise have purchased (for example, because they do not have the money to pay for it).

These four types of pirates raise different moral concerns, and it can be tricky to tease out the ethics of each. Let’s confine our attention here to taking, which is the most concerning type of piracy.

Is piratical taking of copyrighted works ethical?

Is copyright law morally right?

Perhaps the most obvious question to consider will be whether we agree with copyright. Copyright law has two main moral justifications.

First, copyright might be justified on the basis that it provides incentives to artists to develop their work. The production of new art usually requires significant labour. Without some way of supporting artists for what they do, there would be less art and entertainment for us all to enjoy. This “utilitarian” argument justifies copyright because of its good consequences.

Second, we might think artists deserve to be compensated. If through hard work and talent someone creates something that gives enjoyment and fulfilment to millions, then it seems unfair if they don’t get rewarded. This is a rights-based or desert-based moral justification.

When industry bodies appeal to the need for copyright law to protect and support artists, they are tapping into the moral force of these arguments.

Still, both these justifications are controversial. Reasonable and informed people can disagree with them.

Read more:
From convicts to pirates: Australia’s dubious legacy of illegal downloading

Understanding legitimacy

Suppose we disagree with a law. Do we have the right to ignore it? There are two good reasons to think we don’t have that right.

First, if people only respected laws they already agreed with, then law itself would cease to function. The main reason we have the rule of law is to avoid everyone simply doing whatever they want.

As political theorists such as John Locke argued, such situations quickly descend to violence, as everyone enforces their chosen understanding of rights and obligations. Lawless societies are not nice places to live.

Second, democratically made laws have a special claim to legitimacy. As human institutions, democracies are inevitably flawed. Yet they provide an important way that everyone in a community can come together as equals and play a role in deciding the laws that will bind them.

These two arguments show we can disagree with a law, but still think it should be respected.

So, should we turn to piracy?

Where, then, are we left when we find that many entertainment industries exploit artists, and that little of the money from our purchases trickles through to the artists who created it?

For a start, we have reason to think that such industry bodies are not just being exploitative. They are also being hypocritical and manipulative when they appeal to artists to persuade us to support copyright.

If they really were morally committed to supporting artists, their own behaviour would reflect this.

The lack of support to artists may also prompt us to rethink how well copyright law really serves the justifications presented for it.

Can we go a step further, and say that if entertainment industries are such exploitative hypocrites, we’re entitled to stop handing over our hard-earned cash to access their shows?

If the above arguments are on the right track, then the answer is “no”.

For one thing, copyright law is still the democratically created law of the land. We wouldn’t want other people dispensing with laws and entitlements we cherish and rely on. So we have reason not to break laws that are important to other people.

More specifically, many artists at least make some money from the present system. If we are morally outraged at how little our purchases contribute to their wages, it would be a wildly inappropriate response to stop paying altogether (and thereby strip our contribution to artists down to zero!).

While we should resist resorting to piracy, the Hollywood strikes do invite us to think critically about how well our current laws live up to their justifications, and whether there are other ways we can support artists.

Read more:
Computer-written scripts and deepfake actors: what’s at the heart of the Hollywood strikes against generative AI

Hugh Breakey 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. Is it OK to pirate TV shows and movies from streaming services that exploit artists? An ethicist weighs in – https://theconversation.com/is-it-ok-to-pirate-tv-shows-and-movies-from-streaming-services-that-exploit-artists-an-ethicist-weighs-in-210379

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicole Satherley, Honorary Academic in Psychology, University of Auckland

The closer we come to election day on October 14, the more media focus we’ll see on political polls. Poll results are often used to project the makeup of parliament, despite them being snapshots of the polling period rather than reliable predictions.

Indeed, the accuracy of past political polls in New Zealand has been open to question. And the way results are framed can sometimes cause more confusion than provide useful context.

No poll is perfect. But understanding the quality of a poll and the results it produces requires knowing something about how the poll was designed and carried out.

We recently completed a guide to understanding public opinion polling in New Zealand that describes the important features of polls to look out for. These factors determine their quality and should be considered when making conclusions about the results.

Technical details (sample size, margin of error and so on) about a given poll are usually available. So what information is important to consider? Here are ten things to think about when evaluating a political poll.

1. Sample size

Contrary to common misconceptions, good quality results about the New Zealand population can be obtained from polls with as few as 500 to 1,000 participants, if the poll is designed and conducted well.

Bigger samples lead to less random variation in the results – that is, the differences between the results from a sample of the population compared with the whole population. But bigger samples are more expensive to collect, and they don’t make up for poor sampling design or polling process.

Read more:
This election year, NZ voters should beware of reading too much into the political polls

2. Target population

It should be clear which group of people the results are about. Results about sub-groups (for example, women in a certain age group) should be treated more cautiously, as these are associated with smaller samples and therefore greater error.

3. Sampling method

Sampling design is crucial. It determines how well the poll sample matches the target population (such as people intending to vote). Polls should be conducted with an element of choosing people at random (random sampling), as this achieves the best representation of the population.

Polls that allow for self-selection and that do not control who can participate – such as straw polls on media and social media sites – will end up over-representing some groups and under-representing others. This leads to biased, inaccurate results.

Read more:
Election polls are more accurate if they ask participants how others will vote

4. Sample weighting

When characteristics about the population and the sample are known – such as the percentage of women, age or region – “weighting” increases the contribution of responses from groups under-represented in the sample to better match the population of interest.

This is achieved by making responses from under-represented respondents count more towards the results of the total poll.

Weighting cannot be used, however, to correct unknown differences between the poll sample and the total population. The distribution of population characteristics, like gender and age, are known through the census, and can be adjusted in the sample with weighting.

But we don’t have known population characteristics for other things that may affect the results (such as level of interest in politics). Good sampling design, including elements of random sampling, are the best way to ensure these important but unknown characteristics in the poll sample are similar to the whole population.

5. Poll commissioner and agency

Knowing who paid for the poll is useful, as there may be vested interests at play. Results could be released selectively (for example, just those favourable to the commissioning organisation). Or there may be a hidden agenda, such as timing a poll around particular events.

Equally, we can be more confident in poll results when the polling agency has a strong track record of good practice, particularly if they follow national and international codes of best practice.

6. Poll timing

Knowing when the poll was conducted, and what was happening at the time, is important. Poll results describe public opinion at the time the poll was conducted. They aren’t a prediction of the election outcome.

7. Margin of error

Margins of error are a natural consequence of taking a sample. The margin depends on both the size of the poll sample or sub-sample, and the proportion of the sample selecting a given option. The margin of error is largest for a proportion of 50% and smaller at more extreme values – such as 5% and 95%.

This makes knowing the margin of error for smaller results very important. Minor parties, for example, may be close to the 5% threshold for entering parliament. Knowing the margin of error therefore provides a more accurate picture of where they stand relative to this important threshold.

Read more:
What is a margin of error? This statistical tool can help you understand vaccine trials and political polling

Considering the margin of error is also vital for assessing changes in poll results over time, and differences within polls.

But the margin of error does not account for other sources of error in poll results, including those due to poor sampling methods, poorly worded questions or poor survey process.

The total error in a political poll consists of these other sources of error as well as the sampling error measured through the margin of error. Unless a poll is perfectly conducted (which is highly unlikely), the total survey error will always be larger than the margin of error alone would suggest.

8. Precise question wording

Responses to a poll question can vary markedly depending on how it is asked. So, pay attention to what specifically was asked in the poll, and whether question phrasing could influence the results.

9. Percentage of ‘don’t knows’

Large percentages of “don’t know” responses can indicate questions on topics that poll respondents aren’t well informed on, or that are difficult to understand. For example, the percentage of “don’t know” responses to preferred prime minister questions can be as high as 33%.

10. The electoral context

The composition of parliament is determined by both general and Māori electorate results. Pay attention to the Māori electorates, where polls are often harder to conduct.

Māori electorate results are important, as candidates can win the seat and bring other MPs (proportionate to their overall party vote) in on their “coat tails”.

Finally – watch the trends

Making sense of polls can be challenging. Readers are best placed to interpret the results alongside other polls, past and present. Keeping margins of error in mind, this helps determine the overall trend of public opinion.

Nicole Satherley works for iNZight Analytics which designs and undertakes research, but not market or polling research.

Andrew Sporle works for and owns shares in iNZight Analytics and Matau Analytics which design and undertake research, but not market or polling research.

Lara Greaves consults to iNZight Analytics and works for/owns share in Demos and Data which both design and undertake research, but not market or polling research. She is a member of the Independent Electoral Review panel (this article in no way represents the views of the panel).

– ref. How to read the political polls: 10 things you need to know ahead of the NZ election – https://theconversation.com/how-to-read-the-political-polls-10-things-you-need-to-know-ahead-of-the-nz-election-208738

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Professor, The University of Queensland

Today is a good day to be Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek. UNESCO, the United Nations body expected to vote on whether to list the Great Barrier Reef as “in danger”, instead deferred the decision for another year. This, an insider told French newspaper Le Monde, was largely due to the change in approach between the former Coalition government and Labor.

“It’s a bit like night and day,” the insider said – which was promptly included in Plibersek’s media release.

So, it’s a good day for the government. But is it a good day for the reef? No. The longstanding threats to the world’s largest coral ecosystem are still there, from agricultural runoff, to shipping pollution, to fisheries, although we have seen improvement in areas such as water quality.

But any incremental improvement will be for naught if we don’t respond to the big one – climate change – with the necessary urgency. This year has seen record-breaking heat and extreme weather, with intense heating of the oceans during the northern summer. These intense marine heatwaves have devastated efforts to regrow or protect coral in places like Florida. And our own summer is just around the corner.

Read more:
Seriously ugly: here’s how Australia will look if the world heats by 3°C this century

It is not hyperbole to say the next two years are likely to be very bad for the Great Barrier Reef. It’s already enduring a winter marine heatwave. Background warming primes the reef for mass coral bleaching and death. We’ve already experienced this in 2016-17, which brought back-to-back global mass coral bleaching and mortality events including on the Great Barrier Reef. We can expect more as global temperatures continue to soar.

While the government may congratulate itself on not being the previous one, it’s nowhere near enough. We’re facing D-Day for the reef, as for many other ecosystems. Incrementalism and politics as usual are simply not going to be enough.

What has the government done for the reef to date?

To its credit, Labor has made some marginal improvements to the Great Barrier Reef’s prospects. The list includes: legislating net zero greenhouse emissions, with a 43% cut within seven years; improving water quality with revegetation projects and work to reduce soil erosion; and ending gillnet use in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park by 2027.

Read more:
Warm is the new norm for the Great Barrier Reef – and a likely El Niño raises red flags

For at least a century, cattle, sugarcane and other farmers have relied on rivers to take animal waste and fertiliser runoff away from their properties. In much of Queensland, that means the runoff heads for the Great Barrier Reef instead. We did see some improvement under the Coalition government, which put A$443 million into trying to solve the issue. Labor has put in a further $150 million. But the water quality problem is still not solved.

Ending gillnet use in the marine park is also welcome, given these nets can and do catch and kill sharks, dugongs and turtles. But challenging though these issues are, they pale in comparison to climate change.

Tinkering while the reef burns

When coral is exposed to warmer water than it has evolved to tolerate, it turns white (bleaches) – expelling its symbiotic algae. If the water stays too hot for too long, the corals simply die en masse.

You might have seen the positive reports on coral regrowth during the three recent cooler La Niña years and wonder what the issue is. Isn’t the reef resilient?

Yes – to a point. But after that point, the coral communities collapse. The world is having its hottest days on record. Coupled with a likely El Niño, the reef will likely face the hottest waters yet.

That’s because we still haven’t tackled the root cause. Greenhouse gas emissions are still going up. Year on year, we’re trapping more heat, of which 90% goes into the oceans. Antarctic sea ice is not reforming as it should after last summer. Coral restoration efforts in the United States had to literally pull their baby corals out of the sea to try to keep them alive, as the water was too hot to live in.

Read more:
Two trillion tonnes of greenhouse gases, 25 billion nukes of heat: are we pushing Earth out of the Goldilocks zone?

The North Atlantic Ocean is far warmer than it should be, amid a record-breaking northern summer. After the equinox next month, it will be our turn to face the summer sun once more.

Is the Great Barrier Reef in danger? Of course it is. We should not pretend things are normal and can be handled routinely. This year, we’re beginning to see the full force of what the climate crisis will bring. We have clearly underestimated the climate’s sensitivity to rising carbon dioxide levels, and the gloomy predictions I made more than 20 years ago are looking positively optimistic.

And still we fail to face up to the fact that the Great Barrier Reef is dying. We thought we might have had decades but it may be just years. Before 1980, no mass bleaching had ever been recorded. Since then it has only become more common.

Incremental efforts to save the reef, such as looking for heat-tolerant “supercorals”, or replanting baby coral, now look unlikely to work. We don’t have decades or the capacity to find and cultivate resilient corals at scale. And we certainly do not have the massive funding required to replant even a small coral reef.

For people like us who work in the field, it is a devastating time. I now know the feeling of having a broken heart. The pace and intensity of climate change risks rendering all our efforts over the years null and void. It’s almost impossible to look directly at what this will mean for this immense living assemblage, which first began growing more than 600,000 years ago along the Australian east coast.

Giving the government more time to show the reef is improving seems like a fool’s errand. Time is precisely what we don’t have.

Read more:
Corals are starting to bleach as global ocean temperatures hit record highs

Ove Hoegh-Guldberg is affiliated with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation and the ARC Centre for Excellence for Coral Reef Studies.

– ref. Out of danger because the UN said so? Hardly – the Barrier Reef is still in hot water – https://theconversation.com/out-of-danger-because-the-un-said-so-hardly-the-barrier-reef-is-still-in-hot-water-210787