Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Wroe, Professor, University of New England

Many believe our particularly large brain is what makes us human – but is there more to it? The brain’s shape, as well as the shapes of its component parts (lobes) may also be important.

Results of a study we published today in Nature Ecology & Evolution show that the way the different parts of the human brain evolved separates us from our primate relatives. In a sense, our brains never grow up. We share this “Peter Pan syndrome” with only one other primate – the Neanderthals.

Our findings provide insight into what makes us human, but also further narrow any distinction between ourselves and our extinct, heavy-browed cousins.

Tracking the evolution of the brain

Mammalian brains have four distinct regions or lobes, each with particular functions. The frontal lobe is associated with reasoning and abstract thought, the temporal lobe with preserving memory, the occipital lobe with vision, and the parietal lobe helps to integrate sensory inputs.

We investigated whether the brain’s lobes evolved independently of each other, or whether evolutionary change in any one lobe appears to be necessarily tied to changes in others – that is, evidence the evolution of the lobes is “integrated”.

In particular, we wanted to know how human brains might differ from other primates in this respect.

One way to address this question is to look at how the different lobes have changed over time among different species, measuring how much shape change in each lobe correlates with shape change in others.

Alternatively, we can measure the degree to which the brain’s lobes are integrated with each other as an animal grows through different stages of its life cycle.

Does a shape change in one part of the growing brain correlate with change in other parts? This can be informative because evolutionary steps can often be retraced through an animal’s development. A common example is the brief appearance of gill slits in early human embryos, reflecting the fact we can trace our evolution back to fish.

We used both methods. Our first analysis included 3D brain models of hundreds of living and fossil primates (monkeys and apes, as well as humans and our close fossil relatives). This allowed us to map brain evolution over time.

Our other digital brain data set consisted of living ape species and humans at different growth stages, allowing us to chart integration of the brain’s parts in different species as they mature. Our brain models were based on CT scans of skulls. By digitally filling the brain cavities, you can get a good approximation of the brain’s shape.

A surprising result

The results of our analyses surprised us. Tracking change over deep time across dozens of primate species, we found humans had particularly high levels of brain integration, especially between the parietal and frontal lobes.

But we also found we’re not unique. Integration between these lobes was similarly high in Neanderthals too.

Looking at changes in shape through growth revealed that in apes, such as the chimpanzee, integration between the brain’s lobes is comparable to that of humans until they reach adolescence.

At this point, integration rapidly falls away in the apes, but continues well into adulthood in humans.

Neanderthals were sophisticated people

So what does this all mean? Our result suggest what distinguishes us from other primates is not just that our brains are bigger. The evolution of the different parts of our brain is more deeply integrated, and, unlike any other living primate, we retain this right through into adult life.

A greater capacity for learning is typically associated with juvenile life stages. We suggest this Peter Pan syndrome played a powerful role in the evolution of human intelligence.

Read more:
When did humans first start to speak? How language evolved in Africa

There’s another important implication. It’s increasingly clear that Neanderthals, long characterised as brutish dullards, were adaptable, capable and sophisticated people.

Archaeological findings continue to mount support for their development of sophisticated technologies, from the earliest known evidence of string, to the manufacture of tar. Neanderthal cave art shows they indulged in complex symbolic thought.

Us and them

Our results further blur any dividing line between us and them. This said, many remain convinced some innately superior intellectual quality gave us humans a competitive advantage, allowing us to drive our “inferior” cousins to extinction.

There are many reasons why one group of people may dominate, or even eradicate others. Early Western scientists sought to identify cranial features linked to their own “greater intelligence” to explain world domination by Europeans. Of course, we now know skull shape had nothing to do with it.

We humans may ourselves have come perilously close to extinction 70,000 years ago.

If so, it’s not because we weren’t smart. If we had gone extinct, perhaps the descendants of Neanderthals would today be scratching their heads, trying to figure out just how their “superior” brains gave them the edge.

Read more:
First-ever genetic analysis of a Neanderthal family paints a fascinating picture of a close-knit community

Stephen Wroe receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the University of New England.

Pasquale Raia receives funding from the University of Naples Federico II.

Gabriele Sansalone 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. Human and Neanderthal brains have a surprising ‘youthful’ quality in common, new research finds – https://theconversation.com/human-and-neanderthal-brains-have-a-surprising-youthful-quality-in-common-new-research-finds-191594

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Burridge, Professor of Linguistics, Monash University

Australians sure do like those brekkies, barbies and mozzies.

We’re not talking about “actual” mozzies here. We’re defo (definitely) talking about words — and Aussies can’t seem to get enough of these shortened words.

Some say we’re lazy for clipping them. Others claim it’s just Aussies knocking words down to size — ta, we’ll have a glass of cab sav or savvy b instead of whatever that is in French.

Our most beloved shortenings end in -ie/y and -o. Journos often ask us why Aussies use them, and whether they’ll last. Well, not only are we still using them, seppos (Americans) and pommies (Brits) are joining the action, too.

Here’s an uplifting story for your hollies (holidays) about Australia’s “incredible shrinking words”.

Endings that bond and bind us

These alternative forms of words are often described as “diminutives” (or hypocoristics).

Pet names with such endings can show we have a warm or simply friendly attitude toward something or someone (think of the -s on Cuddles). Certainly, on names, -ie/y and -o are often affectionate (think Susy and Robbo).

But the vast majority of Aussie diminutives are doing something different.

Indeed, saying journo or pollie doesn’t usually indicate we’re thinking of journalists and politicians as small and endearing things. These “diminutives” are also a world away from the birdies and doggies of the nursery. Adult Australians might cheerfully talk about blowies and trackies, but not birdies and doggies — well, unless it’s on the golf course or perhaps in reference to the Western Bulldogs getting a specky (spectacular mark).

For Australian National University linguist Anna Wierzbicka, these expressions are among the most culturally salient features of Australian English — expressions of informality and solidarity that are “uniquely suited to the Anglo-Australian ethos […] and style of interaction”.

Experiments by Australian linguists have empirically confirmed the social effects of these embellished words. Colloquialisms such as barbie and smoko are like accents – part of the glue that sticks Australian English speakers together.

Are -ie/y endings darlings or weaklings?

Diminutives can die out when they take on the burden of new social meanings. One of the oldest endings (found as far back as Anglo-Saxon times) is -ling. We see it still on words like twinkling and darling. However, by modern times it had flipped and become contemptuous, especially when used of humans (think of weakling and underling).

In contrast to -ling, our -ie/-y endings carry important, positive meanings, and there’s no sign yet that we’re giving up on them. Those sunnies, scungies, boardies, cozzies, stubbies and trackies are still the stuff of our sartorial summer fashion.

Slang might come and go, but the process that transforms sunglasses into sunnies and tracksuit pants into trackies continues to thrive.

Read more:
Get yer hand off it, mate, Australian slang is not dying

So thriving in fact are these expressions that some are among Australia’s successful exports. International celebrities include greenie, pollie, surfie, mozzie, budgie (and its offshoot budgie smugglers).

And let’s not forget the linguistic rockstar that is selfie – its meteoric rise to stardom in 2013 saw it crowned Word of the Year by Oxford Dictionaries, and also by the Van Dale dictionary in the Netherlands.

We are, however, constantly refreshing our stock of -ie/y words. Many of the gems in Wendy Allen’s 1980s collection of youth slang in Melbourne (Teenage speech) have bitten the dust (for example, scottie from “he’s got no friends” -> “s’got no friends” -> “s’got + ie”).

But the second edition of the Australian National Dictionary shows us how many -ie/y words have proliferated since the 1980s/1990s (firie, tradie, trackie daks).

Bottle-o, milko and smoko: still alive-o?

That other long-time favourite ending -o occurs all round the English-speaking world. However, as the Oxford English Dictionary describes, its use “is especially associated with Australia”.

The earliest Australian examples (like milko, rabbito, bottle-o) date from the 19th century and are abbreviated nouns referring to a person’s trade (“milkman”, “rabbit-seller” “bottle-collector”). Sometimes they appear with -oh because of their association with street calls, and this use is old – think of those cockles and mussels of 18th century London, all very much “alive, alive-oh”.

Our love of this -o suffix may also owe something to Irish English. However, Australian linguist Jane Simpson points out it has much wider applications in Australia (and New Zealand), as shown by place names such as Rotto (Rottnest Island), Freo (Fremantle), Paddo (Paddington) and common nouns such as compo (compensation), ambo (ambulance driver) and bowlo (bowling club). And we’re exporting these too – demo, preggo and muso have made it into the wider world.

As with -ie/y endings, our -o endings don’t seem to be going anywhere in a hurry. However, their long-term survival seems slightly less assured than -ie/y. We’re still seeing newer coinages (such as housos), but a 2011 study suggests young people might be using this one less than previous generations.

Rellies or rellos, garbies or garbos: is there a pattern?

There are wharfies and truckies but not wharfos and truckos; garbos and musos but not garbies and musies. People who ride motorcycles are generally bikers; those who belong to motorcycle gangs tend to be bikies.

So what’s wrong with bikos? And why are there gaps? Those who build houses are neither buildos nor buildies.

Undoubtedly there are nuanced differences of meaning involved here. Does weirdie describe unconventional people more affectionately than weirdo, or even weird person? Certainly there’s a world of difference between the sicko (psychologically sick person) and the sickie (leave you take when you’re sick – or is that when you’re not sick?).

You tell us: do you prefer a lammo or a lammie for the small chocolate and coconut–covered cake? And are members of your family rellos or rellies? There’s a lot of lexicographers, linguists and other word nerds who haven’t figured this out.

Kate Burridge receives funding from the ARC SR200200350.

Howard Manns receives funding from the ARC SR200200350.

– ref. Brekkies, barbies, mozzies: why do Aussies shorten so many words? – https://theconversation.com/brekkies-barbies-mozzies-why-do-aussies-shorten-so-many-words-192616

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Enzo Palombo, Professor of Microbiology, Swinburne University of Technology

Food safety authorities and regulators around the world recommend you don’t wash raw poultry before cooking.

That’s because washing chicken can splash dangerous bacteria around the kitchen. It’s best just to thoroughly cook the chicken without washing it, so it is safe to eat.

Despite this, chicken-washing remains common. A survey by Australia’s Food Safety Information Council showed almost half of Australian home cooks washed whole chickens before cooking. Dutch research found 25% of consumers washed their chicken often or almost always.

So why do people do it – and what does the research say about the risks of chicken-washing?

Read more:
Yes, you can reheat food more than once. Here’s why

Chicken meat and germs

Incorrect cooking temperatures and cross-contamination between different foods are two of the most important factors linked to foodborne illness.

This is particularly relevant to poultry meat. Two leading causes of foodborne illness are the bacteria Campylobacter and Salmonella, which are commonly found on raw poultry.

In Australia, reported cases of Campylobacter and Salmonella have almost doubled over the last two decades.

Of the estimated 220,000 cases of Campylobacter infection each year, 50,000 can be attributed either directly or indirectly to chicken meat.

Chicken-washing myths, busted

One analysis of consumer responses to an education campaign about the dangers of washing raw poultry shed light on why many people still wash raw chicken before cooking.

Some believe there is a need to wash faeces and other matter off the chicken meat. In fact, modern processing techniques mean chicken carcasses do not need additional cleaning.

Others believe washing with a slightly acidic solution (such as vinegar or lemon juice) will kill bacteria.

On the contrary, research has shown washing raw poultry in lemon juice or vinegar does not remove bacteria and can increase the cross-contamination risk.

Washing chicken splashes bacteria around

One of the more compelling arguments why washing raw poultry under a running tap is a risky activity comes from recent research on water droplets ejected from the surface of washed chicken.

The study clearly showed bacteria can be transferred from the surface of the chicken to surrounding surfaces via water droplets.

Using high-speed imaging, the researchers found a higher tap height can increase splashing.

Chicken meat is often soft and the water flow can create a divot in the surface. This leads to splashing that would not occur on a curved, hard surface.

The researchers placed large agar plates next to the chicken surfaces to capture any water droplets. This allowed them to grow the bacteria that were transferred with the splashed water.

They found the level of bacterial transmission increased with greater tap height and water flow rate.

Aerated water (which is what you get when the tap is running very hard) also increased splashing and bacterial transmission.

What if I still really want to wash my chicken meat?

While washing raw poultry is not recommended, it appears some home cooks are reluctant to let go of this old habit.

If you insist on washing chicken meat, consider doing so in a sink of water rather than under a running tap.

Use a paper towel to mop up any liquids, dispose of the towel and clean up afterwards.

This will help reduce the risk of cross-contamination and keep the kitchen safe. And please wash your hands after handling raw meat!

Read more:
Health Check: when should you throw away leftovers?

Enzo Palombo 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. No, you shouldn’t wash raw chicken before cooking it. So why do people still do it? – https://theconversation.com/no-you-shouldnt-wash-raw-chicken-before-cooking-it-so-why-do-people-still-do-it-192723

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachael Gross, PhD Scholar in Applied Conservation Ecology, Australian National University

African elephant numbers have dropped from about 26 million in the 1800s to 415,000 today. While this is largely due to European colonisation, poaching and habitat loss, these majestic animals now face another grave challenge.

Climate change is causing droughts in much of Africa to become longer and more severe. This damages elephant habitats and denies them the water they need. Due to their unique physiology, African elephants need hundreds of litres of water each day to survive.

The African savanna elephant is listed as endangered. If the situation doesn’t change, Africa – indeed, the world – may lose one of its most iconic animal species.

A tragic plight

Elephants are not just important for their ecological, cultural and economic value. They are also a keystone species – that is, they help hold ecosystems together. This means their decline has far-reaching consequences.

Many African ecosystems pivot around the lives of elephants. Elephant feeding habits, such as pushing over trees and peeling off bark, can turn woody vegetation into grasslands. This makes room for smaller species to move in. Their digging for water in dry riverbeds creates water holes other animals can use. And as they migrate, elephants help spread seeds in their dung.

Under climate change, long, intense droughts across southern and eastern Africa are escalating. Some have lasted more than 20 years.

The conditions have left many elephants desperate for water. Research as far back as 2003 shows elephants in Zimbabwe were dying during drought. And in 2016, when a drying El Nino weather pattern hit southern Africa, there were reports of more elephant deaths, prompting a local conservation group to drill bore holes to provide relief.

Drought can also reduce the availability of food, causing elephants to starve. It can also mean young elephants die or don’t develop properly, because their parched mothers produce less milk.

Read more:
Rumble in the jungle: an ear to the ground can tell us how elephants are faring in the wild

A unique physiology

So, why do elephants struggle in drought and heat?

When elephants experience high internal temperatures, it can disrupt the function of cells, tissues and organs such as the liver and cause them to become sick and die.

Humans and other animals also suffer heat stress. But elephants are particularly vulnerable because they can’t sweat it off.

The graphic below shows how heat accumulates and dissipates in elephants.

Heat accumulates through an elephants’ natural metabolism and physical activity, as well as being absorbed from the environment.

But it does not always effectively dissipate. Elephants’ thick skin slows heat loss – and their lack of sweat glands exacerbates this.

What’s more, elephants are the largest of all land mammals, weighing up to eight tonnes. They also have a large body volume – which generates heat – but a relatively small surface area (their skin) from which to lose this heat.

Water is essential for elephants to cope with heat. They swim and spray their skin with mud and water; the subsequent evaporation mimicks sweating and cools them down.

And elephants cool themselves internally by drinking several hundred litres of water a day.

Let elephants roam free

Creating artificial water sources is a common management intervention when elephants need water. This includes the use of pipes, bores and pumps.

But this measure can be problematic. Sometimes, the water is sourced from supplies needed by local people. And large numbers of elephants congregating around water can permanently damage the local environment and reduce food availability for other animals.

Historically, elephants migrated to water during drought. But the introduction of fenced areas in the landscape has disrupted this movement.

Fences were constructed to mark out colonial land ownership, separate people from large animals and deter poachers.

But as climate change worsens in Africa, elephants and other wildlife must be able to move freely between connected habitats.

Wildlife corridors may provide an answer. These are protected channels of vegetation that enable animals to move between fragmented patches of habitat. Wildlife corridors work well for megafauna in India and the United States and would likely increase mobility for much of Africa’s wildlife.

Introducing more wildlife corridors, especially in southern and eastern Africa, would require removing fences. This change would have repercussions.

Nearby communities – which have not coexisted with elephants since colonisation – would have to adjust to the change. The removal of fences may also lead to an increase in poaching. And letting elephants roam the landscape may make them less accessible to tourists, which could reduce tourism revenue.

But communities have coexisted with elephants in the past. And community-based projects have been shown to reduce conflict between humans and wildlife. In some cases, they’ve also led to lower poaching rates and increased quality of life for communities.

Community management projects, such as in Northern Kgalagadi in Botswana, show how local expertise – drawn from millennia of experience and knowledge – can guide wildlife management. Research has shown successful outcomes – both socially and ecologically – in places where elephants share landscapes with people.

Read more:
Africa’s great migrations are failing but there is a solution – and you can eat it too

Protecting a keystone species

Ensuring African elephants survive drought will increasingly require new conservation strategies, including community-based management. Without this, already dwindling elephant populations will continue to decline.

This would be bad news for the health and stability of natural ecosystems in Africa – and a blow to Africa’s people.

Rachael Gross receives funding from the Australian Government Research Training Program.

Rob Heinsohn 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. Climate change is leaving African elephants desperate for water – https://theconversation.com/climate-change-is-leaving-african-elephants-desperate-for-water-191844

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer Jandt, Senior Lecturer in Ecology, University of Otago

After almost two decades of championing native birds in an annual competition, Aotearoa is going to begin celebrating its spineless creatures this year.

New Zealand is home to more than 20,000 species of insects and spiders, representing well over half of all animal diversity. Many are endemic, which means they have no other home on Earth.

Like Aotearoa’s birds, native invertebrates have evolved largely without mammals and have filled many ecological niches taken up by mammals elsewhere. The Entomological Society of New Zealand has launched a Bug of the Year competition to introduce their wonderful diversity.

The competition also promotes the power of citizen science through iNaturalistNZ to encourage New Zealanders to contribute simply by posting images of the critters they see flying or crawling around in their own backyards or around Aotearoa, whether that’s on the beach, the farm or during an epic tramp up to a mountain peak.

Scientists can use the data from these observations to learn more about the patterns, population sizes and ecology of our unique and sometimes threatened native bugs or new arrivals that might become pests.

Read more:
They might not have a spine, but invertebrates are the backbone of our ecosystems. Let’s help them out

No life on Earth without invertebrates

Invertebrates are central to the functioning of ecosystems. They are pollinators and decomposers, they aerate soils and control pests while also becoming food for other wildlife. But they remain understudied and underappreciated.

The spider in your pantry might give you a fright, but you may not realise that she’s been eating tiny flies and pantry pests. You might have swatted at her or moved her outside where you think she’d be happier. But she was doing just fine in your pantry, and she was doing you a service, too.

New Zealand is home to two species of venomus spiders: the endemic katipō spider (Latrodectus katipo) and the Australian redback spider (Latrodectus hasselti). The odds of finding a venomous spider in a New Zealand home are low, but it’s always good to learn what it is before you swat or relocate.

The invertebrates in the garden – worms, millipedes, spiders – that scuttle towards you when you dig a hole to plant some flowers might be equally scary. But these critters were perfectly happy in that spot before you came along. And they’ll settle in once more after you get your flowers in place.

The worms will dive back into the soil, fertilising and aerating it to give your plant’s roots a good habitat for growth. The spiders and ants are hunting around for the little bugs that want to eat the flowers you just planted.

If you dig in your ground and find creepy crawlies aplenty, congratulations! You have some fertile soil and your plants will appreciate these tenants that help them get established.

Flies and wasps landing on your food or drink are annoying. Always check inside the bottle before sipping, as wasps and some fruit flies are attracted to the scent of fermenting fruit. This is the cue they use to find over-ripened fruits in your garden and they’ll help you clean them up.

Some flies feed on and/or lay their eggs in chicken or cat poo. While that seems gross, those flies and the larvae that hatch from the eggs are going to clean up that mess.

Meanwhile, big wasps are hunting the pest bugs that are chewing on broccoli and cabbage leaves in your garden, while tiny wasps are looking for aphids and other critters to lay their eggs inside. A lot of these tiny wasps (parasitoid wasps) have been introduced to Aotearoa specifically to target some of our agricultural pest species.

Read more:
Scientists need help to save nature. With a smartphone and these 8 tips, we can get our kids on the case

We have come to appreciate bees and butterflies for their pollination efforts. But other insects can pollinate, too. For example, there are 37 endemic species of hoverfly in Aotearoa – and even more that have not been described yet. They are often mistaken for bees as they boast yellow and black stripes and are usually seen on flowers. Beetles, wasps and other flies can also be important pollinators for certain flowers and crops.

Most people recognise the introduced bumble bees and honey bees, but New Zealand’s 28 native species of bee (ngaro huruhuru) are often mistaken for small flies. Ngaro huruhuru are tiny, often black or metallic green and mostly solitary. Some nest in groups where each excavates a hole in a clay bank or undisturbed patch of soil to raise their young.

Social bumble bees and honey bees can outnumber solitary bees significantly. Ngaro huruhuru prefer small, open aster-like flowers, many of which we tend to think of as weeds. Dandelions, daisies and ragwort are the most common flowers to find foraging native bees. Ragwort is also attractive to flies and butterflies.

Butterflies can look like little fluttering rainbows, adding colour and life to the garden. As adults, they can be important pollinators of flowering plants. However, their larvae (caterpillars) need a host plant. For example, the New Zealand red admiral (kahukura) relies on the native stinging tree nettle (ongaonga), but this is often considered a weed and removed from gardens. This limits opportunities for these beautiful butterflies to reproduce, leading to severe population declines in some regions of the country.

The next time you’re in your garden, take a minute to consider the insects and invertebrates occupying the spaces on, under and inside your plants. Post photos on iNaturalistNZ to learn more about them and be sure to check out this year’s 24 nominees for Bug of the Year 2023 competition. Voting closes on February 13.

Jennifer Jandt is affiliated with the Entomological Society of New Zealand, a member of the Bug of the Year Committee, and is Editor-in-Chief of the New Zealand Entomologist.

– ref. Insects and spiders make up more than half NZ’s animal biodiversity – time to celebrate these spineless creatures – https://theconversation.com/insects-and-spiders-make-up-more-than-half-nzs-animal-biodiversity-time-to-celebrate-these-spineless-creatures-195450

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tania Driver, Lecturer in Financial Planning, James Cook University

Many of us have car insurance, home insurance and health insurance. But what about income protection insurance?

Having income protection insurance means that if you get sick or injured and can’t work, you’ll still get paid. The insurance company will cover a portion of your earnings, so you can still pay everyday living expenses and bills.

But how exactly does income protection insurance work, and how’s it different to total and permanent disability insurance (sometimes shortened to TPD)?

Here’s what you need to know.

How does income protection insurance work?

Income protection insurance usually covers only 75% of the first A$20,000 of your gross monthly income, and 50% of gross monthly income that exceeds A$20,000 per month.

This gap is supposed to incentivise you to return to work.

There’s usually a waiting period. In other words, you need to be unable to work for a certain number of days before the benefits start to be paid.

Generally, the longer the waiting period, the lower the premiums (“premium” means what you pay for the insurance). The usual waiting periods are: 14 days, 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, 180 days, one year or two years.

The “benefit period” refers to the period of time you will get paid the benefit. The usual benefit periods are one year, two years, five years, or up until you’re 55, 60, 65 or 70.

How’s that different to permanent disability insurance?

Total and permanent disability insurance gets you a lump sum of money if you’re permanently unable to work in your occupation or in any occupation for which you’re suited by training, education or experience – or if you’ve lost the ability to function cognitively or physically. Or, you can get a payment if you have permanent loss of sight or limbs.

The money can be used for things like modifying the house, medical care or medical procedures.

You can choose a policy that covers you if you’re unable to work in your own occupation, or one that covers you if you’re unable to work in any occupation for which you’re appropriately trained. You can get a standalone policy or one that is built into your life insurance policy.

Under a standalone policy, the amount you get is not restricted to the amount insured under your life insurance policy. (That’s not the case when a total and permanent disability insurance is part of your life insurance policy.)

The main difference between income protection insurance and total and permanent disability insurance is that the former gives you an income stream and the latter provides a lump sum payment.

The other key difference is the amount insured under income protection cover is usually limited to 75% of your income, whereas you could have any amount of insurance coverage under your total and permanent disability policy.

Hang on, isn’t this included in my superannuation?

Many people have their income protection insurance, life insurance or total and permanent disability insurance built into their superannuation. In fact, more than 70% of life insurance policies in Australia are held inside superannuation funds.

The advantages of having personal insurance in your superannuation fund include:

• lower costs due to super funds often having more bargaining power with insurers to get a good price

• it can be more streamlined, because the insurance premium is paid directly from your super account; the balance of your super goes down but you don’t have to take money from your salary to pay for it

• people with pre-existing conditions might find it easier to get certain insurances via their super fund than if they went out on their own

• potential tax benefits (best to discuss these with a financial adviser).

It’s worth noting all benefits within superannuation, including insurance proceeds, are subject to Superannuation Industry Supervision legislation. It’s difficult to satisfy the legislation’s definition of “permanent disability”; it’s often more restrictive than definitions used by insurance companies.

So even if you satisfy the insurer’s definition of “permanent disability” and the money is paid to your superannuation account, you might not satisfy the legislation’s definition. The proceeds can be trapped in the superannuation fund until a condition of release is satisfied.

Why do people get income protection insurance?

For my research, I interviewed financial advisers and consumers about why people get income protection insurance. Motivations included getting married, having children, buying a house, having a brush with tragedy or knowing someone who did.

Financial advisers often told me immigrants from the United Kingdom, the United States, South Africa or New Zealand are more likely to purchase income protection insurance, as were people they saw as “intelligent”, “conservative” or “more responsible”.

They also said consumers are more likely to consider insurances they thought would be most claimable, such as life insurance and income protection insurance.

People often (wrongly) believe income protection insurance would be paid out if the person was unable to work due to losing their job for any reason.

Financial advisers often commented Australians tend to be relaxed and think unfortunate events are unlikely to happen.

If you’re considering purchasing income protection insurance, make sure you understand the risk of buying it within your superannuation policy (possible downsides include a short benefit period and inability to claim a tax deduction on the cost of the insurance).

And seek professional financial advice when deciding on the appropriate policy.

Read more:
Victims of NSW and Queensland floods have lodged 60,000 claims, but too many are underinsured. Here’s a better way

This story is part of a series on financial and economic literacy funded by Ecstra Foundation.

– ref. What is income protection insurance – and how’s it different to total and permanent disability insurance? – https://theconversation.com/what-is-income-protection-insurance-and-hows-it-different-to-total-and-permanent-disability-insurance-193535

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Heilpern, Associate Professor and Chair of Discipline (Law), Southern Cross University

One way to understand how the courts in Australia are ranked is to imagine a pyramid and an umbrella.

Let’s start with the pyramid. Imagine three lines horizontally across the pyramid dividing it into four sections. Each section represents a court of each state or territory.

So what’s on the base of the pyramid, and what are the upper layers?

Read more:
A constitutional Voice to Parliament: ensuring parliament is in charge, not the courts

The Local or Magistrates Courts

The bottom section represents the local or magistrates courts. It is biggest because it deals with the vast majority of court cases in Australia.

There is a single judicial officer presiding, and no jury. The bread and butter of these courts are minor crimes such as traffic offences, lesser assaults, shoplifting and possession of prohibited drugs.

These courts also have other roles including being children’s and coroners’ courts. They also deal with less serious civil disputes, where one person or company is suing another (under certain limits; in New South Wales, for example, that limit is A$100,000).

Local courts also deal with apprehended violence and restraining orders. The maximum sentence that can be handed out by a judge in a local court is generally two years imprisonment.

The other reason the bottom section of the pyramid is biggest is because all criminal matters start in the local court. The more serious ones work their way up to the higher courts for sentence or trial.

The District Court

The next section up the pyramid represents the District Court.

They deal with more serious crime such as sexual assault, major drug supply and high-level violence.

If the person on trial doesn’t plead guilty, there is a jury to determine guilt or innocence.

The district court also deals with serious civil disputes, generally where the amount is up to $750,000.

The Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is the next layer of the pyramid. It deals with the most serious civil and criminal cases, such as murder. They mostly have a jury in criminal cases.

They also deal with some specialty areas such as defamation.

The Courts of Appeal

Finally, there is the Courts of Appeal, which are part of the Supreme Court, but sit above it.

They hear appeals from lower courts, and there are usually three judges sitting on each matter.

The really interesting aspect of the pyramid is that it represents not just more seriousness and less volume as you go up, but also the appeal process.

So, if you want to appeal from the Local Court, then you go the District Court, then from the District to the Supreme Court and so on.

The “doctrine of precedent” means rulings from higher courts are binding on lower ones.

The High Court and the umbrella model

But what if you want to appeal from the Court of Appeal? That’s where the umbrella comes in.

That appeal is to the High Court, which you can imagine as an umbrella that sits over each of the state or territory pyramids.

There is one High Court, based in Canberra, and its decisions are final, and binding throughout all parts of Australia.

Fun fact: up until the 1980s the highest court for Australia was in England! Called the Privy Council, it was possible to appeal from state and federal courts and let English law lords be the final decider. But Australia got rid of that system and now the highest court in the land is the High Court.

Some state-based variations

Is it all that simple? Not really.

First, in Tasmania the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory there is no District Court level at all. These are small states and territories, with not enough people to necessitate this level of the pyramid.

Second, sometimes appeals jump a level. For example, they may go straight from the Local Court to the Supreme Court. And in some states, there are different names for each level. In Victoria the District Court is called the County Court, and in some places like the Northern Territory, magistrates are called judges.

Finally, there are some specialty courts like the NSW Land and Environment Court that sit at Supreme Court level.

Hang on, what about federal courts?

Just when you thought you had your pyramids in a row, along comes another complication: the federal system.

The Constitution divides up powers between the states and the Commonwealth.

The best example is family law, which is allocated to the Commonwealth and so the Federal Court system deals with divorce and related matters.

And so there is another pyramid which works across the whole country only this time it has two levels.

The lowest and biggest level is the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, dealing mostly with family law (but also other federal matters such as immigration and welfare law).

The next level up is the Federal Court, which deals mainly with corporations law, bankruptcy and trade practices as well as hearing appeals from the lower court.

Don’t forget the umbrella, the High Court, which also hears appeals from the Federal Court.

A whole myriad of tribunals

I’m sorry to have to tell you it gets even more complex from there. There are also tribunals.

Sitting beneath the state, territory and federal court systems is a whole myriad of tribunals which deal with non-criminal matters.

New South Wales, for example, has the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT), which deals with tenancy, consumer, guardianship, strata and licensing matters. It even has its own appeal panel as well (and if people still aren’t happy, they can then appeal to the courts).

The members of the tribunal are not judicial officers and are appointed for fixed periods.

Of course, if you were to strike out centuries of history and start afresh, you would likely just have one multilayered pyramid across the country with a single tribunal at the foot, and the High Court at the top.

We can live in hope.

Read more:
Why defamation suits in Australia are so ubiquitous — and difficult to defend for media organisations

David Heilpern 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. High, Supreme, Federal, Family, County – what do all our different courts actually do? – https://theconversation.com/high-supreme-federal-family-county-what-do-all-our-different-courts-actually-do-193228

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Schiemer, Commercial Pilot | Aerospace Medicine Specialist | Clinical Lecturer, University of Adelaide

If crowded airports are a sign, Australians are keen to get back into the skies. And if you’re flying long haul, in a few years you could have an even longer option.

Qantas has announced from late 2025, it will fly passengers on non-stop flights from Australia’s east coast to London that would see you in the air for more than 19 hours in one stretch. That’s compared with current flights that take the best part of 24 hours but are broken up into shorter legs.

So what will happen to your body during one of these longer flights? Is it any different to what happens when you fly long-haul now?

Read more:
In for the long-haul: the challenge to fly non-stop from Australia to anywhere in the world

1. You can become dehydrated

Dehydration is common on long-haul flights. It can explain why your throat, nose and skin can feel dry on an aeroplane. The longer the flight, the greater the risk of dehydration.

That’s because of low levels of humidity in the cabin compared with what you’d expect on the ground. This is mostly because a lot of the air circulating through the cabin is drawn from the outside, and there’s not a lot of moisture in the air at high altitudes.

You also risk dehydration by not drinking enough water, or drinking too much alcohol (alcohol is a diuretic, resulting in an increase in fluid lost).

So drink water before you jump on the plane. During the flight, you’ll also need to drink more water than you usually would.

Read more:
Health Check: how do I tell if I’m dehydrated?

2. The cabin can play havoc with your ears, sinuses, gut and sleep

As the cabin pressure changes, the gas in our bodies reacts accordingly. It expands as the aircraft climbs and pressure decreases, and the opposite occurs as we descend. This can lead to common problems such as:

• earaches – when the air pressure either side of your eardrum is different, placing pressure on the eardrum

• headaches – can be caused by expanding air trapped in your sinuses

• gut problems – just accept that you’re going to fart more.

You can also feel more sleepy than usual. That’s due to the body not being able to absorb as much oxygen from the cabin air at altitude than it would on the ground. Slowing down is the body’s way of protecting itself, and this can make you feel sleepy.

The good news is that most of these problems won’t necessarily be more pronounced on longer flights. They’re mainly an issue as the plane climbs and descends.

Read more:
Health Check: what happens when you hold in a fart?

3. You could develop blood clots

Blood clots, associated with being immobile for long periods, are usually a big concern for passengers. These include clots that form in the leg (deep vein thrombosis or DVT) that can travel to the lung (where it’s known as a pulmonary embolism).

If you don’t move around on the plane, and the more of the following risk factors you have, the greater the chance of blood clots developing:

• older age

• obesity

• previous history or a family history of clots

• certain types of clotting disorders

• cancer

• recent immobilisation or surgery

• pregnancy or recently given birth

• hormone replacement therapy or oral contraceptive pill.

According to a review in 2022, combining data from 18 studies, the longer you travel, the greater the risk of blood clots. The authors calculated there was a 26% higher risk for every two hours of air travel, starting after four hours.

So what about the risk of clots on these longer flights? We won’t know for sure until we start studying passengers on them.

Until that evidence comes in, the current advice still applies. Keep moving, stay hydrated and limit alcohol consumption.

Read more:
Explainer: what is deep vein thrombosis?

There’s also evidence for wearing compression stockings to prevent blood clots. These stockings are said to promote blood flow in the legs and to help blood return to the heart. This would normally happen by muscle contractions from moving or walking.

A 2021 Cochrane review combined the results of nine trials with 2,637 participants who were randomised to wear compression stockings (or not) on flights lasting more than five hours.

No participants developed symptomatic DVTs. But there was evidence people who wore the stockings considerably reduced their chance of developing clots without symptoms, and we know that any clot can potentially grow, move and subsequently, cause symptoms.

So if you are concerned about your risk of developing blood clots, see your GP before you fly.

Usually if you do develop a blood clot, you won’t know about it until after the flight, as the clot takes time to form and travel. So keep an eye out for symptoms after the flight – pain and swelling in a leg (often just the one), chest pain, coughing and shortness of breath. And seek emergency health care if you do.

Read more:
Blood clots: five reasons they may happen

4. Then there’s jet lag, radiation, COVID

Then there’s jet lag, which is a stranger to few of us. This is a disconnect between the time your body thinks it is and the time by the clock, as you cross time zones.

Longer flights mean you are more likely (but not always) to cross more time zones. Jet lag will usually become more problematic when you cross three or more, especially if you’re travelling east.

Read more:
Travelling these holidays? Follow tips the Socceroos use to conquer jet lag

And if you take long-haul flights very often, it’s reasonable to assume that the longer you’re in the air, the greater the exposure to cosmic radiation. As the name suggests, this is radiation that comes from space, which may increase the risk of cancer and reproductive issues. We don’t know what level of exposure is safe.

However, unless you fly frequently it’s unlikely to be a problem. If you’re pregnant or have other concerns, have a chat to your GP before you fly.

And don’t forget COVID. Take the usual precautions – wash your hands regularly, wear a mask and don’t fly if you’re unwell.

Read more:
Want to cut your chance of catching COVID on a plane? Wear a mask and avoid business class

In a nutshell

Research into how the body reacts to these longer, non-stop flights between Australia and Europe is in its early stages. Teams in Australia are looking at this now.

Until then, if you’re taking a regular long-haul flight, the advice is relatively simple.

Follow the advice the airlines give you, and see your GP before you travel if necessary. During flight, make that extra effort to move about the cabin, drink water, wear a mask and practise good hand hygiene.

And see a doctor immediately for any worrying symptoms after your flight, as blood clots can take hours or even days to form, grow and move along your veins.

Read more:
Which medicines don’t go well with flying?

I am a medical doctor specialising in General Practice and Aerospace Medicine, as well as a professional pilot currently working as a flight instructor and charter pilot across regional Australia.

– ref. What happens to your body on a long-haul flight? – https://theconversation.com/what-happens-to-your-body-on-a-long-haul-flight-183034

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Leane, Professor of English and Associate Dean, Research Performance, University of Tasmania

As the summer sun finally arrives for people in the Southern Hemisphere, more than 100,000 tourists will head for the ice. Travelling on one of more than 50 cruise ships, they will brave the two-day trip across the notoriously rough Drake Passage below Patagonia, destined for the polar continent of Antarctica.

During the COVID summer of 2020-21, just 15 tourists on two yachts visited Antarctica. But now, tourism is back – and bigger than ever. This season’s visitor numbers are up more than 40% over the largest pre-pandemic year.

So are all those tourists going to damage what is often considered the last untouched wilderness on the planet? Yes and no. The industry is well run. Tourists often return with a new appreciation for wild places. They spend a surprisingly short amount of time actually on the continent or its islands.

But as tourism grows, so will environmental impacts such as black carbon from cruise ship funnels. Tourists can carry in microbes, seed and other invasive species on their boots and clothes – a problem that will only worsen as ice melt creates new patches of bare earth. And cruise ships are hardly emissions misers.

How did Antarctic tourism go mainstream?

In the 1950s, the first tourists hitched rides on Chilean and Argentinian naval vessels heading south to resupply research bases on the South Shetland Islands. From the late 1960s, dedicated icebreaker expedition ships were venturing even further south. In the early 1990s, as ex-Soviet icebreakers became available, the industry began to expand – about a dozen companies offered trips at that time. By the turn of this century, the ice continent was receiving more than 10,000 annual visitors: Antarctic tourism had gone mainstream.

What does it look like today?

Most Antarctic tourists travel on small “expedition-style” vessels, usually heading for the relatively accessible Antarctic Peninsula. Once there, they can take a zodiac boat ride for a closer look at wildlife and icebergs or shore excursions to visit penguin or seal colonies. Visitors can kayak, paddle-board and take the polar plunge – a necessarily brief dip into subzero waters.

For most tourists, accommodation, food and other services are provided aboard ship. Over a third of all visitors never stand on the continent.

Those who do set foot on Antarctica normally make brief visits, rather than taking overnight stays.

For more intrepid tourists, a few operators offer overland journeys into the continent’s interior, making use of temporary seasonal camp sites. There are no permanent hotels, and Antarctic Treaty nations recently adopted a resolution against permanent tourist facilities.

As tourists come in increasing numbers, some operators have moved to offer ever more adventurous options such as mountaineering, heli-skiing, underwater trips in submersibles and scuba diving.

Is Antarctic tourism sustainable?

As Antarctic tourism booms, some advocacy organisations have warned the impact may be unsustainable. For instance, the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition argues cruise tourism could put increased pressure on an environment already under significant strain from climate change.

In areas visited most by tourists, the snow has a higher concentration of black carbon from ship exhaust, which soaks up more heat and leads to snow melt. Ship traffic also risks carrying hitchhiking invasive species into the Southern Ocean’s vulnerable marine ecosystems.

Read more:
Toughness has limits: over 1,100 species live in Antarctica – but they’re at risk from human activity

That’s to say nothing of greenhouse gas emissions. Because of the continent’s remoteness, tourists visiting Antarctica have a higher per capita carbon footprint than other cruise-ship travellers.

Of course, these impacts aren’t limited to tourism. Scientific expeditions come with similar environmental costs – and while there are far fewer of them, scientists and support personnel spend far more time on the continent.

Antarctic tourism isn’t going away – so we have to plan for the future

Are sustainable cruises an oxymoron? Many believe so.

Through its sheer size, the cruise industry has created mass tourism in new places and overtourism in others, generating unacceptable levels of crowding, disrupting the lives of residents, repurposing local cultures for “exotic” performances, damaging the environment and adding to emissions from fossil fuels.

In Antarctica, crowding, environmental impact and emissions are the most pressing issues. While 100,000 tourists a year is tiny by global tourism standards – Paris had almost 20 million in 2019 – visits are concentrated in highly sensitive ecological areas for only a few months per year. There are no residents to disturb (other than local wildlife), but by the same token, there’s no host community to protest if visitor numbers get too high.

Even so, strong protections are in place. In accordance with the Antarctic Treaty System – the set of international agreements signed by countries with an Antarctic presence or an interest – tourism operators based in those nations have to apply for permits and follow stringent environmental regulations.

To avoid introducing new species, tourists have to follow rules such as disinfecting their boots and vacuuming their pockets before setting foot on the ice, and keeping a set distance from wildlife.

Almost all Antarctic cruise owners belong to the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators, the peak body that manages Antarctic tourism.

For the first time this year, operators have to report their overall fuel consumption as part of IAATO’s efforts to make the industry more climate-friendly. Some operators are now using hybrid vessels that can run partly on electric propulsion for short periods, reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

Returning from the ice: the ambassador effect

Famed travel writer Pico Iyer recently wrote of his experience in the deep south of the world. The visit, he said, “awakens you to the environmental concerns of the world … you go home with important questions for your conscience as well as radiant memories”.

Iyer isn’t alone. This response is widespread, known in the industry as Antarctic ambassadorship. As you’d expect, this is strongly promoted by tourism operators as a positive.

Is it real? That’s contentious. Studies on links between polar travel and pro-environmental behaviour have yielded mixed results. We are working with two operators to examine the Antarctic tourist experience and consider what factors might feed into a long-lasting ambassador effect.

If you’re one of the tourists going to Antarctica this summer, enjoy the experience – but go with care. Be aware that no trip south comes without environmental cost and use this knowledge to make clear-eyed decisions about your activities both in Antarctica and once you’re safely back home.

Read more:
Each Antarctic tourist effectively melts 83 tonnes of snow – new research

Elizabeth Leane receives funding from the Australian Research Council LP190101116, which also includes funding from partner organisation Intrepid Travel, and DP220103005; the Dutch Research Council (NWA.1435.20.001); and the Australian Antarctic Division. Hurtigruten Australia provide in-kind support for fieldwork.

Anne Hardy receives funding from the Australian Research Council (LP190101116) and the Dutch Research Council (NWA.1435.20.001), and Hurtigruten Australia provide in-kind support for fieldwork.

Can Seng Ooi receives funding from the Australian Research Council LP190101116, which also includes funding and in-kind support for fieldwork from partner organisation Intrepid Travel.

Carolyn Philpott receives funding from the Australian Research Council LP190101116, which also includes funding and in-kind support for fieldwork from partner organisation Intrepid Travel, and DP220103005.

Hanne E.F. Nielsen receives funding from the Australian Research Council LP190101116, which also includes funding from partner organisation Intrepid Travel, and DP220103005; the Dutch Research Council (NWA.1435.20.001); and the Australian Antarctic Division. Hurtigruten Australia provide in-kind support for fieldwork.

Katie Marx works on a contract basis as an on-board lecturer and guide for an Antarctic tourism operator. She receives funding from the Australian Research Council LP190101116, which also includes funding and in-kind support for fieldwork from partner organisation Intrepid Travel.

– ref. More than 100,000 tourists will head to Antarctica this summer. Should we worry about damage to the ice and its ecosystems? – https://theconversation.com/more-than-100-000-tourists-will-head-to-antarctica-this-summer-should-we-worry-about-damage-to-the-ice-and-its-ecosystems-192843

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daria Erastova, Doctoral researcher, University of Auckland

As vegetation is removed to make way for urban development, wild species experience a dramatic loss of habitat, making it more difficult for city dwellers to interact with wildlife.

Studies show a lack of connection to nature might lead to anxiety and depression for people in cities. Birds are among the most accessible and aesthetically attractive connection points. Hence, thriving bird communities in cities can have a positive effect on people’s health and wellbeing.

Feeding birds is popular in Aotearoa. About half of New Zealand households feed birds in their gardens, predominately with bread and seed. Unfortunately, this mainly attracts introduced grain-eating species such as house sparrows, starlings, blackbirds and spotted doves. They are likely to compete for space and habitat with native birds, which feed on invertebrates, flower nectar, fruits or leaves.

Attracting nectar-feeding birds

Sugar water serves as an alternative supplementary food for nectar-sipping birds such as tūī, korimako/bellbirds and tauhou/silvereye. It likely benefits native birds over winter when nectar is scarce and it improves their chances of a successful breeding season come spring.

But there are concerns that sugar feeding may lead to an accumulation of pathogens, create health problems and make birds dependent on supplementary feeding. It may also reduce pollination and seed dispersal by reducing bird visits to native plants, and put birds at greater risk of predation.

Our study is the first in New Zealand to determine how sugar water feeding affects backyard bird communities. We explored which birds are visiting and how they interact with each other as well as their overall physical health.

Read more:
It’s OK to feed wild birds – here are some tips for doing it the right way

Using the right feeders

We analysed 990 responses from an online New Zealand-wide survey to explore current sugar-water feeding practices. We found a large variety of feeding approaches, but the crucial aspect that affected which bird species visited backyards was the feeder type.

Feeders specifically designed for nectar-eating species were successful in attracting natives, while non-specific feeders (open dishes or simple containers) also attracted introduced birds.

In feeders designed for nectar feeders, the bird must push aside the guard with its narrow bill and protrude its tongue under the feeder’s cover to drink the sugar water. Introduced birds (not nectar-feeding specialists) do not have the right-shaped tongues and bills or behaviour to do this and are excluded from using these feeders.

Winter frenzy

Next, we explored how seasons affected bird foraging behaviour and aggressiveness. In winter, birds visited feeders more often, spent a longer time foraging and were more aggressive to other birds using the feeder. This suggests winter feeding helps survival when natural foods are scarce.

We also observed Auckland tūī in winter in backyards where we experimentally added feeders with either low (half a cup of sugar per litre of water) or high (one cup/litre) sugar concentrations. Tūī spent longer foraging at low-concentration feeders but were more aggressive at high-concentration ones.

This suggests birds must forage on low-calorie solutions for longer to gain energy, while high-calorie sugar water is a fiercely defended valuable source. However, feeder presence did not change the overall number of backyard birds.

Read more:
Canaries in the coal mine: why birds can tell us so much about the health of Earth

Bird health

Finally, we evaluated how the presence of sugar-water feeders, seasons and climate affected the birds’ body condition and disease prevalence. Similarly to findings from previous overseas studies, individuals had better body conditions in non-feeding gardens than in those that provided a feeder.

But in gardens with feeders, body condition of birds was better in Auckland (milder climate), in summer (warmer temperatures) and at high-sugar concentration feeders (more calories).

Sugar-water feeding was also associated with a higher risk of coccidia infection which can lead to loss of pigmentation, diarrhoea and even kill birds in severe cases. Fortunately, our screening did not detect salmonella in any individuals or feeding stations.

However, in a similar study on backyard feeding in Auckland using bread and seeds, 7% of birds at feeders tested positive for salmonella. This suggests that birds such as house sparrows, which visit feeders with simple designs that can be accessed by most birds, contribute to pathogen transmission risks for nectar-eating birds and, possibly, people.

Recommended bird-feeding guidelines

Based on our study, we make several recommendations:

• do not feed bread and seeds to birds, as this only encourages highly abundant introduced species

• rather than using open dishes, choose commercially available sugar-water feeders designed for native birds (Tui Nectar Feeder™, Topflite Nectar Nutra feeder™, PekaPeka™) to exclude introduced bird species

• provide sugar water only in winter and stop feeding in spring and summer to let birds use natural foods, pollinate plants and minimise the risk of bacterial growth in hot weather

• in winter, use about one cup of sugar per litre of water, as we linked this sugar concentration to better bird body condition than lower-sugar solutions

• clean all structures used in feeding thoroughly at least two times a week by scrubbing with hot water to minimise the risk of bird disease outbreaks

• attach the feeder to a tall post away from trees and fences to minimise chances of predation by cats.

Providing birds with supplementary food is an affordable and appealing way to interact with wildlife. However, it is important to state that supplemental feeding alone is not the solution for urban bird populations.

The long-term answer is to transform our backyards and urban parks into bird-friendly habitats. Nectar-feeding birds need protein from insects found on plants and native vegetation provides essential food, shelter and nesting sites.

Clean water baths can help during prolonged summer droughts. But perhaps most importantly, backyard pest control of rodents, possums and hedgehogs is essential if we want to increase native bird numbers and diversity in a way that will benefit both birds and people.

Daria Erastova received funding from the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand, Ornithological Society of New Zealand, the University of Auckland and Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research. The University of Auckland Animal Ethics Committee approved the research (approval No. 002100).

Margaret Stanley has received previous funding from Auckland Council for bird-feeding research.

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

– ref. How to feed your garden birds if you want to attract and support native species – https://theconversation.com/how-to-feed-your-garden-birds-if-you-want-to-attract-and-support-native-species-195434

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Blunden, Professor and Head of Paediatric Sleep Research, CQUniversity Australia

Summer holidays often mean sunshine, beach trips, mountain hikes, relaxation, catching up with family and friends, and the chance to sleep in.

For many parents, the temptation is to loosen up on the kids’ bedtime routine, let them stay up late, and allow them to catch up on sleep with a lie-in the next morning.

I have spent the past 15 years researching, diagnosing and treating children’s sleep problems and difficulties, and particularly studying how sleep (or lack of it!) can affect health, wellbeing and school performance in young people.

The evidence suggests a few one-off late nights and sleep-ins won’t hurt, but it’s best not to fall completely off the bedtime routine wagon during the holidays. It can be very hard to get back on track once school starts.

If we want to enjoy a relaxing, sleep-fulfilled holiday and a healthy circadian system, the best compromise is to maintain a regular wake time.

It’s fine to be more flexible about bedtime in the holidays than during school time. But parents must factor in the negative effects of allowing circadian rhythms to spiral out of control.

Read more:
Many parents use melatonin gummies to help children sleep. So how do they work and what are the risks?

Why spiralling circadian rhythms is a problem

Even relatively minor differences in wake time can upset your rhythms. For example, research shows problems arising for young people who “catch up” on sleep missed during the week by sleeping in an extra two or more hours on the weekend.

Sleep science research supports the need for bed and wake times to be consistent across the week and weekend.

That’s not just because it ensures young people get enough sleep; even more importantly, it helps because our innate circadian clock needs regularity.

Our circadian clock is what dictates what time we should be awake and when we should be asleep. Sleepiness and circadian rhythms need to be regular so they can work together. When they do, it is best for our quality of sleep but also for our general health.

Irregular rhythms – which happen when bed times and wake times are significantly different between school weeks and weekends – can negatively affect mood, psychological and physical health, social engagement and school performance.

The risk with letting kids go to bed late a few nights in a row is that they’ll sleep progressively later each day. Delaying the wake time again and again has knock-on effects; they won’t feel sleepy until even later again that night. An even later bedtime can lead to an even more delayed wake time the next day. And so it goes on.

As you can see, “catching up” on sleep with a lie-in can end up worsening the pattern.

If this happens over the entire school holidays, not only could the bedtime get later and later but the circadian rhythm will become accustomed to being later and later.

Resetting the body clock

If over the school holidays your child’s circadian rhythm has got later and later, resetting the circadian clock to a school-friendly, manageable time is certainly possible. But it requires some considerable readjustments and sometimes professional help.

If wake times do get out of kilter, try making them progressively earlier and earlier gradually over a few weeks before school starts until the required wake time is achieved. This requires commitment from the entire family, and motivation from the young person themselves.

A better solution might be to make sure circadian rhythms don’t get out of control in the first place.

Sarah Blunden 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. Should I loosen up on the kids’ bedtime these holidays – or stick to the schedule? Tips from a child sleep expert – https://theconversation.com/should-i-loosen-up-on-the-kids-bedtime-these-holidays-or-stick-to-the-schedule-tips-from-a-child-sleep-expert-192727

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Austen Kay, Lecturer, School of Business, The University of Queensland

Stigma is an awful burden for business. But what if – for some companies – stigma is an asset?

That’s what I and an international team of researchers set out to investigate in a new paper published in the Journal of Management Studies.

We examined how consumers around the world responded to firms in stigmatised industries like oil and gas that are found “greenwashing”, meaning they claim to do more for the environment than they really do.

We anticipated that the market would punish greenwashers, but we thought it would treat firms seen to be “dirty” rather differently.

Specifically, we thought the market would either

• punish dirty firms more, as might the judge of a repeat offender in court; or

• punish dirty firms less, as might parents who overlook poor behaviour by their child with outdated excuses like “boys will be boys”.

What we discovered has important implications for greenwashing and important implications more broadly.

What we found

In a study tracking 7,365 companies in 47 countries over 15 years, we found that consumers financially penalised firms for greenwashing – but not if those firms were stigmatised as dirty.

In other words, the market imposed a kind of tax on companies for greenwashing, unless they were already regarded as big polluters.

In order to find out why stigmatised greenwashers were exempt from this market tax, we conducted a follow-up experiment.

Read more:
‘Toxic cover-up’: 6 lessons Australia can draw from the UN’s scathing report on greenwashing

After a pre-study to determine which industries are most regarded as “dirty”, “clean” or “neutral” (the answers were oil and gas, solar and wind power, and stationery and office supplies), we presented 458 consumers with a statement from the corporate citizenship report of a firm in one of these three industries.

In the statement, the firm professed its core values of honesty, integrity, and environmental sustainability. The only difference between the three versions of the statement was the industry the firm was in.

Next, we presented consumers the results of an independent environmental audit that either found the firm to be acting in line with its professed values or not (i.e., greenwashing).

Results showed that greenwashing took much less of a toll on the perceived trustworthiness of the oil and gas company. As a result, consumers said they were significantly more likely to purchase its products and services.

Taken together, these two studies suggest that consumers have a “boys will be boys” attitude to greenwashing by dirty firms. They even expect it.

Why this matters for greenwashing

Our findings have important implications for how to regulate greenwashing.

First, it’s often assumed that consumers punish greenwashers, but data supporting this assumption is hard to come by. We demonstrate empirically that this assumption is true. For many firms, greenwashing results in real financial costs.

Second, we find the market penalty for greenwashing is much weaker for firms that are regarded as dirty. Those who expect the market to punish greenwashing by firms in the oil and gas industry and other heavy polluters should reconsider.

Third, our findings suggest governments and international organisations that have a “zero tolerance” approach to greenwashing should focus their limited resources on dirty industries and let the market take care of the rest.

Why this matters more broadly

The “boys will be boys” attitude that we uncovered in this research is likely to play out in other fields in which people respond to the misdeeds of “bad boys”, including politics.

An example might be former US President Donald Trump. Having survived scandal after scandal, Trump once famously declared that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose votes.

Read more:
Out of bounds: how much does greenwashing cost fossil-fuel sponsors of Australian sport?

The more deplorable the media has made him out to be – the greater the stigma attached to the Trump name – the less his misdeeds seem to have hurt him. Our research offers new clues as to why.

As consumers and voters, we need to recognise that our “boys will be boys” attitude enables bad behaviour. Unless we do, and until we regulate with this psychological bias in mind, we will continue to be part of the problem.

Adam Austen Kay 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. ‘Boys will be boys’: why consumers don’t punish big polluters for greenwashing lies – https://theconversation.com/boys-will-be-boys-why-consumers-dont-punish-big-polluters-for-greenwashing-lies-194902

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sandra Rojas, Speech pathologist, Voice specialist, Researcher, Federation University Australia

The care of your singing voice is crucial to maintain a healthy and long-life voice.

Professional singers often have teams of people keeping their voices healthy, and they have received lots of training in how to take care of their voice.

But everyone who sings – from young students to passionate amateurs – should be taking care of their voice.

If you are a singer, here are five crucial tips to prevent vocal problems.

1. Keep hydrated

Hydration is the most important fact to be considered when singing.

When we are dehydrated, the biomechanical properties of our vocal folds are impacted, decreasing our vocal range and increasing the stress on these folds.

Singers who do not hydrate well are at risk of developing voice disorders such as nodules and polyps.

An easy way to stay hydrated is to keep up your water consumption. Singers can complement this by using nebulisers and humidifiers.

Humidifiers balance out dry air caused by heating or air conditioning.

Nebulisers assist with hydration directly. By breathing in a saline water solution or purified water, we can see an immediate influence on our vocal folds.

You don’t need fancy equipment. You can also breathe in steam from boiled water. Make sure to be careful with the temperature, as steam can burn our airway when it is too hot. Pour boiled water into a bowl, wait 5-7 minutes, place a towel over your head and then breathe in as many times as you like.

2. Warm-up and cool-down your voice

Vocal warm-up and cool-down exercises are crucial: these will have a positive benefit on your voice in the moment and prevent future injuries.

An easy warm-up you can try only requires a straw. With a straw between your lips into the air or a cup of water, make a “u” sound. Working for five minutes, change the pitch and frequency of making this sound. The added resistance of singing through a straw will give your vocal folds a good work out.

You can also add resistance by speaking or singing into a CPR mask.

Other exercises don’t require these materials. You can try lips or tongue trills, humming and blowing raspberries.

While there are many internet tutorials on how to do these exercises, I suggest you practise under professional supervision to avoid damaging your voice by going beyond your vocal limits.

3. Watch your lifestyle factors

Lifestyle is fundamental when taking care of our voices.

In order to avoid injuries or develop any voice disorders, we should monitor external factors such as maintaining a balanced diet, having periods of rest and reducing the consumption of cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, caffeine and soft drinks.

By changing these habits, you can preserve good vocal health and keep your body running properly. You can also guard against developing reflux.

Reflux occurs when acids from your stomach travel back up your throat. Symptoms include a burning sensation in your chest (heartburn), backwash (regurgitation) of food or sour liquid, upper abdominal or chest pain, trouble swallowing (dysphagia) or a sensation of a lump in your throat.

This stomach acid can dry and irritate your vocal folds.

If you do experience any of these symptoms, keep up your water intake, try to avoid lying down for at least two to three hours after a meal and keep your head elevated using an extra pillow or two while you sleep.

If these symptoms persist, visit your doctor for further examination.

Read more:
Explainer: what is gastric reflux?

4. Listen to your body

Sometimes our body sends signals when struggling. We should pay close attention to what our bodies are telling us.

Negative warning signs can include a reduced tonal range, constant throat clearing, vocal fatigue, pain during or after singing or talking, mild or moderate abdominal tension, unstable voice, pitch breaks, difficulty singing or speaking softly.

Speaking or singing should not present with any negative symptoms or conditions.

It’s important to note home remedies like tea with honey, lemon and ginger, and gargles with salty water – or even alcohol – do not fix your voice. These will go directly to the oesophagus and will not have any effect on your vocal folds.

If you are experiencing symptoms like these, pay more attention to things like your warm up, your cool down, periods of rest and your levels of hydration. If they persist, visit a doctor or a speech pathologist.

Read more:
How to actually fix a lost voice, according to science (hint: lemon and honey doesn’t work)

5. See a professional

Don’t try and push through any pain or difficulties you are facing.

When facing any vocal difficulty, you should visit an ear, nose and throat doctor (ENT) or a speech pathologist.

An ENT can check your larynx and other structures to make sure you do not have any organic or functional disorders impacting your voice.

If you would like to practise new techniques – like belting or voice distortions – consult with voice specialists like speech pathologists, vocal coaches or music teachers who are experts on these areas.

Last but not least, check your voice with professionals once a year. This will help with the prevention of future injuries and help you maintain a healthy voice.

Read more:
Keeping injured voices hush-hush: Why professional singers and actors often don’t seek treatment for vocal illness

Sandra Rojas is affiliated with Universidad San Sebastián, Santiago, Chile.

– ref. 5 tips to take the best care of your voice for everyone who sings, from a speech pathologist – https://theconversation.com/5-tips-to-take-the-best-care-of-your-voice-for-everyone-who-sings-from-a-speech-pathologist-193222

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Natalie Collins, Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy, The University of Queensland

You might have noticed a buzz on social media about barefoot running, with many proponents breathlessly describing it as the most natural way to run.

But not everyone is a fan. The claims made about going barefoot can range from, “It’s the best thing I’ve ever done” to “I tried it and now I’m in terrible pain.”

So what does the research say about how to drop your usual runners and take up barefoot running, and why it seems to work for some people and not for others?

Our new paper, published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, tested a new way of switching from traditional shoe to barefoot running, and investigated why some runners may not tolerate barefoot running. We identified two key characteristics of runners who failed to transition to barefoot running.

Read more:
Children should spend more time barefoot to encourage a healthier foot structure

What we did and what we found

We studied 76 runners who transitioned to barefoot running over 20 weeks – using a minimal running shoe as an intermediate phase between traditional shoe and barefoot running.

The runners ran in traditional running shoes for the first four weeks. For the next four weeks, they increased their time in minimal running shoes by no more than 20% of their total running volume each week.

After running full-time in minimal shoes for another four weeks, they then spent the next four weeks gradually increasing their time running barefoot by no more than 20% per week.

Finally, they ran barefoot for a further four weeks.

We also asked the runners to do some calf and foot strengthening and stretching, to assist the muscles in the move from traditional shoe to barefoot running.

Using this strategy, 70% of runners were able to successfully transition to barefoot running over 20 weeks.

Pain in the calf when running in minimal shoes and pain in the foot when running barefoot were the main reasons for not being able to switch to barefoot running.

So why doesn’t barefoot running suit some people?

We identified two features that were present in runners who failed to transition to barefoot running.

Contacting the ground first with the heel while running was one, and the other was very mobile feet (which means the arch is more flexible when the foot is bearing weight).

Why? It’s too early to say for sure, but we do know barefoot running tends to increase stress in the tissues of the foot and calf.

Our findings seem to indicate this tissue stress was not well tolerated in those who habitually contact the ground with their heels and/or have very mobile feet when they run barefoot or in minimal shoes.

This may result in pain and eventually injury. We also know from other studies that running barefoot or in minimal shoes will result in higher rates of foot injury (such as stress fractures of the bones of the foot) and pain in the shin and calf. Traditional shoes usually provide more support and cushioning.

It seems runners who habitually contact the ground with their heel while running find it difficult to switch to contacting the ground with more of their midfoot or forefoot, which is what barefoot running tends to promote.

Those with mobile feet may need their muscles to work harder to stiffen the foot when pushing the foot off the ground while running.

Perhaps a more gradual transition period during which the limit is 10% (not 20%) weekly increase of running in minimal shoes or barefoot spread over a longer period (such as 40 weeks) would enable those wishing to run barefoot to do so without pain or injury.

Top tips for successful barefoot running

If you’re keen to try barefoot running, keep these tips in mind:

• transition gradually over at least 20 weeks. Take longer if needed

• use a minimal shoe as an intermediary, if possible

• limit any increase in running in minimal shoes or barefoot to no more than 20% of total running distance per week

• use pain during and in the 24 hours after running as a guide – especially if you feel the level of severity is unacceptable

• consult a sports and exercise health care professional (such as a physiotherapist or podiatrist) if you experience pain or require assistance in transitioning – especially if you have previous injuries

• consult a qualified run coach to assist with your running program

• when barefoot running, protect your feet by running in well-lit conditions so you can see obstacles, and avoid excessively hot, cold or sharp surfaces

• mix it up – people who run in lots of different types of footwear report fewer injuries than those who only run in one type of shoe.

It may also be that some runners are just not able to switch from their traditional running shoes to barefoot running.

Barefoot running may not be for everyone. It will not make you faster or reduce overall injury rate, and there is no evidence running barefoot burns more calories than running with shoes.

But if you’re thinking of giving barefoot running a go, transitioning gradually – using a minimal running shoe as an interim step – is more likely to result in a successful transition, and keep you running.

Read more:
Eliud Kipchoge broke the men’s marathon record by 30 seconds. How close is the official sub-2 hour barrier now?

Natalie Collins has received funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council, Medical Research Future Fund, and Arthritis Australia. New Balance provided all shoes used in this study, free of charge, through the New Balance Global Scientific Award. New Balance had no input into the design of the study or interpretation of the results.

Bill Vicenzino has received funding from New Balance Global Scientific Award.

Kathryn Mills has received in-kind support from the New Balance Global Scientific Award. She is the current chair of the International Footwear Biomechanics Group, which is a volunteer role.

– ref. Who is and isn’t suited to barefoot running? And if I want to try, how do I start? – https://theconversation.com/who-is-and-isnt-suited-to-barefoot-running-and-if-i-want-to-try-how-do-i-start-194331

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Louise Grimmer, Senior Lecturer in Retail Marketing, University of Tasmania

Many of us are drowning in “stuff”. To find space for all our possessions, we are paying off-site storage companies. Australians spend an average of A$163 per month on self-storage, one recent survey found.

The number one item stored in these facilities is furniture. Other items we cannot fit in our houses include appliances and electronics, hobby items, sports equipment, collectibles, memorabilia, books and photographs, cars and wine.

Around a quarter of customers cannot remember what is actually in their storage unit. Around 13% use them to hide their purchases from others.

The massive growth of the household storage industry is a sign of overconsumption. It’s a problem in many developed economies that’s doing increasing harm to the planet.

Unfortunately, the Earth does not have an off-site storage option. Curbing our desire to consume has to be the solution.

Costs are mounting for us and the planet

Australians owe, on average, about $3,800 in credit card debt and a further $17,700 in personal debt (excluding property debt, which averages $565,880).

This year Australian shoppers were expected to spend $63.9 billion in the six weeks before Christmas, about $2,458 per person.

We waste a lot of what we buy. For example, each year Australia wastes 7.6 million tonnes of food, with consumers accounting for half of this waste. The food we throw out is worth between $2,000 and $2,500 per household – or up to $1,000 per person.

Read more:
Why ‘best before’ food labelling is not best for the planet or your budget

That’s just the start of the wasteful spending – think of all those gym memberships, gift cards, clothes, appliances and furniture we’ve bought but don’t use.

In total, Australian households produce about 12.4 million tonnes of waste each year. That equates to roughly half a tonne per person.

We are not just spending beyond our personal means but also beyond what our planet can sustain.

Eventually, we will run out of places for all this waste to go.

Read more:
Spending too much money? Tempted by sales? These ways to ‘hack’ your psychology can help

I’m not a hoarder, but …

People who own lots of stuff, or who collect things, are not necessarily hoarders, but may struggle to part with personal and household possessions. The reason can in part be explained by Belk’s concept of the extended self. This is when possessions become part of our identity and signal to others who we are and, importantly, who we want to be.

This is certainly the case for those who collect things. Our collections become a part of us and our life story. It can be difficult to disentangle ourselves from these possessions.

Some things we own may have symbolic value because they remind us of special people, places and events, such as gifts from a friend or souvenirs from a holiday. Possessions that still have potential financial or utilitarian value can also be hard to give up.

Read more:
Why and how retailers turn everyday items into ‘must-have’ collectables

Why buy so much in the first place?

Part of the problem is we are exposed to thousands of advertisements every day and a huge array of cheap products. The temptation to keep buying things can be too much for many people.

In their 2005 book Affluenza, Clive Hamilton and Richard Denniss describe the Western world as being in the grip of consumerism. Fast forward to 2022 and it appears we haven’t changed much. Behaving as though we have a chronic lack of stuff, we simply buy too many things we don’t need.

Many Australians live in small houses or apartments that lack space for all their things. Even those in large houses find they are overflowing with possessions but are loath to give up some of them.

The solution is we pay someone else to store our possessions – and we pay a lot. Self-storage in Australasia has grown into a $1.5 billion industry.

There are about 2,000 self-storage facilities across Australia and New Zealand. Some house hundreds of individual storage units.

Depending on the size, location and type of storage unit (for example, climate-controlled for wine collections), the costs can add up to thousands of dollars a year for some people.

Read more:
Why kids should not have lots of toys (and what to do if yours have too many)

What can we do about it?

It is easy to be swept up in the shopping frenzies of Christmas and new year sales. We are “programmed” to spend by marketers and retailers who surround us with temptation in stores and online.

But there are things you can do to help counter the impulse to buy and reduce its impacts.

Make a list and set a budget before you head to the shops, and try to stick to it. Use cash instead of cards when you can. Research shows people feel the cost of paying more when using cash. Don’t shop on an empty stomach or when you are tired.

Where possible, shop locally and buy locally made items. It’s great for your local economy, and the planet benefits from fewer air miles.

Rather than products, consider gifts of experiences, which don’t involve accumulating “stuff”. Options include creative classes, entertainment, sports, or health and beauty services.

Look for products with less packaging or with biodegradable packaging. Buy loose products and choose refillable options where you can.

Ask yourself: do I really need to buy this? If I didn’t have a credit card, could I actually afford it today?

We can all use self-monitoring to improve our spending habits and reduce the environmental costs.

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. Australians pay $163 a month on average to store all the stuff we buy – how can we stop overconsuming? – https://theconversation.com/australians-pay-163-a-month-on-average-to-store-all-the-stuff-we-buy-how-can-we-stop-overconsuming-192503

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Baron, Associate Professor, Philosophy of Science, Australian Catholic University

Black holes form natural time machines that allow travel to both the past and the future. But don’t expect to be heading back to visit the dinosaurs any time soon.

At present, we don’t have spacecraft that could get us anywhere near a black hole. But, even leaving that small detail aside, attempting to travel into the past using a black hole might be the last thing you ever do.

What are black holes?

A black hole is an extremely massive object that is typically formed when a dying star collapses in on itself.

Like planets and stars, black holes have gravitational fields around them. A gravitational field is what keeps us stuck to Earth, and what keeps Earth revolving around the Sun.

As a rule of thumb, the more massive an object is, the stronger its gravitational field.

Earth’s gravitational field makes it extremely difficult to get to space. That’s why we build rockets: we have to travel very fast to break out of Earth’s gravity.

The gravitational field of a black hole is so strong that even light can’t escape it. That’s impressive, since light is the fastest thing known to science!

Incidentally, that’s why black holes are black: we can’t bounce light off a black hole the way we might bounce a torch light off a tree in the dark.

Stretching space

Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity tells us matter and energy have a curious effect on the universe. Matter and energy bend and stretch space. The more massive an object is, the more space is stretched and bent around it.

A massive object creates a kind of valley in space. When objects come near, they fall into the valley.

That’s why, when you get close enough to any massive object, including a black hole, you fall towards it. It’s also why light can’t escape a black hole: the sides of the valley are so steep that light isn’t going fast enough to climb out.

The valley created by a black hole gets steeper and steeper as you approach it from a distance. The point at which it gets so steep that light can’t escape is called the event horizon.

Event horizons aren’t just interesting for would-be time travellers: they’re also interesting for philosophers, because they have implications for how we understand the nature of time.

Stretching time

When space is stretched, so is time. A clock that is near a massive object will tick slower than one that is near a much less massive object.

A clock near a black hole will tick very slowly compared to one on Earth. One year near a black hole could mean 80 years on Earth, as you may have seen illustrated in the movie Interstellar.

Read more:
Interstellar gives a spectacular view of hard science

In this way, black holes can be used to travel to the future. If you want to jump into the future of Earth, simply fly near a black hole and then return to Earth.

If you get close enough to the centre of the black hole, your clock will tick slower, but you should still be able to escape so long as you don’t cross the event horizon.

Loops in time

What about the past? This is where things get truly interesting. A black hole bends time so much that it can wrap back on itself.

Imagine taking a sheet of paper and joining the two ends to form a loop. That’s what a black hole seems to do to time.

This creates a natural time machine. If you could somehow get onto the loop, which physicists call a closed timelike curve, you would find yourself on a trajectory through space that starts in the future and ends in the past.

Inside the loop, you would also find that cause and effect get hard to untangle. Things that are in the past cause things to happen in the future, which in turn cause things to happen in the past!

The catch

So, you’ve found a black hole and you want to use your trusty spaceship to go back and visit the dinosaurs. Good luck.

There are three problems. First, you can only travel into the black hole’s past. That means that if the black hole was created after the dinosaurs died out, then you won’t be able to go back far enough.

Second, you’d probably have to cross the event horizon to get into the loop. This means that to get out of the loop at a particular time in the past, you’d need to exit the event horizon. That means travelling faster than light, which we’re pretty sure is impossible.

Read more:
Could a human enter a black hole to study it?

Third, and probably worst of all, you and your ship would undergo “spaghettification”. Sounds delicious, right?

Sadly, it’s not. As you crossed the event horizon you would be stretched flat, like a noodle. In fact, you’d probably be stretched so thin that you’d just be a string of atoms spiralling into the void.

So, while it’s fun to think about the time-warping properties of black holes, for the foreseeable future that visit to the dinosaurs will have to stay in the realm of fantasy.

Sam Baron receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

– ref. Are black holes time machines? Yes, but there’s a catch – https://theconversation.com/are-black-holes-time-machines-yes-but-theres-a-catch-195418

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, PhD Candidate, School of History, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University

The idea of a “forgotten prime minister” may seem laughable. For Australian historians, it is the governed rather than the governors who need rescuing “from the enormous condescension of posterity” as the English historian E. P. Thompson famously put it.

Our First Nations histories especially were for too long silenced and concealed in what the anthropologist Bill Stanner called a “cult of forgetfulness practised on a national scale”.

Prime ministers, on the other hand, are stitched into the tapestry of national history thanks to extensive newspaper coverage, the dogged pursuits of political biographers, and the quest of archivists and librarians to collect their personal papers. Deceased leaders’ names adorn buildings and streets, federal electorates, and dedicated research centres, and in Harold Holt’s case, a memorial swimming pool.

But some, of course, are better known than others. So which prime ministers, if any, can be considered “forgotten” by contemporary Australia? And what does that act of forgetting reveal about our political culture? Commemorative rituals and opinion surveys suggest that some have very much receded from memory.

Here are a few prime ministers who deserve to be a little better known.

Edmund Barton 1901-03

Barton was a hugely significant figure in his day. A leading advocate of federation, he was summoned by the Governor-General Lord Hopetoun (after a false start) to form the first Commonwealth government.

Between 1901 and 1903, Barton’s government, with the dynamic Alfred Deakin as its attorney-general, established some of the national institutions we now take for granted, such as the public service and the High Court. Barton and Deakin’s deeply racial vision of a White Australia was also enacted in legislation in these years.

Australia’s first prime minister (known to detractors as Tosspot Toby) helped to establish the machinery of federal government out of nothing. But this earned him no special place in Australian collective memory. Resigning in 1903, he spent the remainder of his life as a reticent statesman and High Court judge.

George Reid 1904-05

Reid was a political opponent of Barton’s. The defining issue of the early Commonwealth was tariff policy, and all other matters – industrial development, employment, and individual liberty – were refracted through the “tariff question”. Reid, a former New South Wales premier who had earned the moniker “Yes-No Reid” for his prevarications during the earlier federation debates, was a devout advocate for and leader of the Free Trade movement.

Reid was summoned to form a government in August 1904. Hamstrung by his lack of a parliamentary majority, he remarkably passed the Conciliation and Arbitration Bill. This was core business for the early Commonwealth, and two previous ministries had failed to secure it. But Reid’s attempts to settle the tariff question with Deakin’s Protectionists failed, and his ministry was defeated in parliament in July 1905.

Joseph Cook 1913-14

Out of office, Reid and his Free Trade colleague Joseph Cook played a crucial role in making the two-party system that endures today. Whatever their differences with Deakin and the protectionists, Reid and Cook (himself a former Labor MP in New South Wales) saw the rising Australian Labor Party as the real enemy.

Reid travelled the country establishing anti-socialist leagues and building the groundwork for a united anti-Labor Party. When the tariff schedule was finally settled in 1908, and the mutual animosity between Deakin and Reid seemed the only barrier to a Liberal fusion, the latter sacrificed himself and resigned so that the former could join forces with Cook on his own terms.

In 1913, Cook led the new Commonwealth Liberal Party to a federal election, winning by the narrowest of margins. He oversaw the opening weeks of the Great War the following year, committing 20,000 Australian troops and the Australian Navy to Britain, but soon lost power in Australia’s first double dissolution election.

Stanley Melbourne Bruce 1923-29

After the war, the task of national leadership fell to Stanley Bruce, a young businessman and ex-serviceman from Melbourne. In 1923, as leader of the non-Labor forces (now reconstituted as the Nationalist Party), Bruce formed government with Earle Page’s Country Party (forerunner of today’s rural National Party). In doing so, Frank Bongiorno has recently explained, Bruce and Page ‘inaugurated the Coalition tradition on the conservative side of Australian federal politics’.

Bruce’s government was ambitious for Australia in the “roaring ‘20s”. He envisioned a future underscored by British migrants, British money and imperial markets. In power for six years, he presided over the creation of the Loans Council and the federal parliament’s move from Melbourne to Canberra in 1927.

But like others before him, he came unstuck on the issue of centralised arbitration. His attempt to abolish the federal arbitration court (with a view to restraining wage growth) saw his government defeated and his own seat lost in the 1929 election.

Arthur Fadden 1941

In the early 1930s, conservatives once again reorganised in the form of the United Australia Party, and dominated politics for the ensuing decade. But by 1941, after two years of wartime leadership, the young leader Robert Menzies appeared to falter. His colleagues disliked his brisk manner and the public lacked confidence in his government’s war efforts. A hung parliament after the 1940 election, in which two Independents held the balance, confirmed this. With his position untenable, Menzies resigned in August 1941 and the coalition unanimously chose Fadden, the Country Party leader, to replace him.

“Affable Artie” was a widely respected figure and apparently the only one who could hold together a decade-old government too consumed by infighting to meet the demands of the moment. His premiership lasted just 40 days, at which point the Independents offered John Curtin and Labor their support. The sole Country Party leader to become prime minister on a non-caretaker basis, Fadden was one of a small handful of men to lead the nation in a global war.

Australia and Its Forgettables

Why is it that these five prime ministers are largely absent from national memory? Four factors seem particularly significant.

First, contemporary Australian political discourse offers only a shallow sense of history. Political reporting rarely reaches for historical depth, and when it does, the second world war tends to be the outer limit.

Moreover, when Australians are asked to rank their prime ministers and select a “best PM”, they rarely reach beyond living memory.

The federation generation, overshadowed by the first world war, fare especially poorly. In the 1990s, with the centenary of federation fast approaching, surveys revealed that Australians knew less about its federal founders than they did about America’s ‘founding fathers’. What kind of country, the civics experts implored, could forget the name of its first prime minister? Tosspot Toby was no match for Simpson and his donkey.

Second, Australians prefer to think of their political history in terms of heroes and villains (often embodied by the same individuals). Those binary roles require gregariousness, dynamism, some controversy, and the occasional serving of larrikinism. “Tall poppy syndrome” notwithstanding, partisan heroes like Menzies and Gough Whitlam, or infamous rats such as Billy Hughes, make for easy storytelling.

The forgettables are more often reserved, restrained or even polite characters. The Primitive Methodist Joseph Cook was “[s]olemn and humourless”. The patrician Bruce was judged “too aloof and reserved to be an Australian”. And Frank Forde, in his old age, maintained that all of his colleagues and opponents had been “outstanding” and “capable men” for whom he had only “friendly feeling”. This is not exactly the stuff of masculine political legend.

Alfred Deakin has tended to absorb the historical limelight and cast long shadows over his contemporaries, not least because he furnished historians and biographers with rich personal papers. (Barton scrupulously destroyed most of his). But as Sean Scalmer has argued, we ought not to overlook the influence of Deakin’s contemporaries in the making of Australian politics as we know it.

Third, prime ministers are rendered immemorable if they were judged to be temporary, or presiding over some kind of interregnum. Australians have valorised the longevity and stability of Menzies and Howard, or the sense of epochal change that accompanied Whitlam and Hawke. Men like Reid, Cook and Fadden seem transitory in comparison.

Fourth, public memory has often depended on the sponsorship of major parties and their affiliated scribes and institutes. The corollary is that those who preceded the two-party system are harder to commemorate. Labor has been excellent at proselytising its great leaders and their great reforms, and demonising the rats and renegades. The Liberal Party, on the other hand, has struggled to memorialise its antecedents and influences (Deakin perhaps excepted). Menzies and Howard predominate in the collective Liberal psyche, and Liberal forerunners from Barton to Bruce rarely get a look-in.

Joshua Black is supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship.

– ref. The ‘forgettables’: 5 Australian prime ministers you may not know much about – https://theconversation.com/the-forgettables-5-australian-prime-ministers-you-may-not-know-much-about-196360

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Pickles, Professor of History, University of Canterbury

Hanging out at the beach, body surfing, boogie boarding or just cooling off in frothy waves under a hot sun are all part of a typical Kiwi summer.

But with an extensive coastline, plenty of hazardous surf and a poor water safety record, swimming between red and yellow flags under the watchful gaze of surf lifesavers is a reassuring part of the experience. Over the years, brave and capable lifeguards have saved thousands of lives.

And these days you’re just as likely to be saved by a female guard as a male one. Girls and women now expect to be able to participate and compete in surf lifesaving. But it wasn’t always that way. Until relatively recently, patrolling the beach and waves was pretty much a male domain.

In many ways, the story of how surf lifesaving cast off its Edwardian-age origins of masculine grit and strength mirrors social progress in New Zealand in general. And it involves tenacious and talented women who braved the waters to open the way for others.

Locked out of the changing room

Surf lifesaving landed on New Zealand’s shores in 1910, having crossed the Tasman from Australia where it was already taking hold. The volunteer club movement included both rescue work and sport. It quickly adopted a masculine culture that involved patrols of men drilling, training and competing.

Strength and fitness were considered prerequisites for rescuing bathers in trouble. Swimming out in a belt attached to a rope, throwing out and reeling in ropes, and rowing boats weren’t seen as women’s jobs.

Historians Caroline Daley and Charlotte Macdonald have examined the separation of women and men into different sports, and traced the development of an early lifesaving mythology: tanned muscular men, with women cast in a feminine supporting role, providing afternoon teas at the surf club or sunbathing on the sand. Saving lives was men’s work.

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In reality, women always wanted to be actively involved and were buoyed by growing feminist attitudes and awareness in wider society. By the 1920s, women’s teams were forming at various clubs around the country. There were even some separate women’s clubs.

Researcher Elena Simatos examined the records of the Canterbury Surf Life Saving Association (CSLSA) from 1917-1990 to see if women had been “locked out of the changing room”. Despite the growing involvement of women, it seems there was clearly still prejudice against them.

In 1928, for example, the “Ladies” Sumner team was granted permission to compete for surf medallions and in club lifesaving events. But soon after, the CSLSA discussed the “question of the desirability of lady members entering into surf competitions” and banned women in Canterbury from competing.

Experiences varied according to the beliefs of individual members and the culture of each club. Overall, though, change came slowly through the steady chipping away at a dominant culture steeped in a tradition of exclusively male strength.

Women hit the waves

Emergency regulations during the second world war allowed women to patrol beaches while the men were away fighting. But the change was reluctant and fleeting. There were concerns about the “physical strain” on women in surf races, with limits placed on the most challenging races.

But the post-war years saw some gains. Histories of surf lifesaving by Douglas Booth, Bob Harvey, Tony Murdoch and Christine Thomas have shown how the dominant culture continued to be eroded, with women’s clubs acting as incubators of female participation. Women were allowed to become summer beach patrollers and be paid for their work.

The first of New Zealand’s paid women patrollers was probably Daphne McCurdy (née Dasler), who received NZ$40 a week during the 1969-1970 summer season at Waimairi and North Beach in Christchurch.

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McCurdy came from a family of swimmers, surfers and surf lifesavers and grew up near the North Beach Surf Life Saving Club. By 1969, she told me, she had gained the skills and tenacity for the job:

At the time of my appointment I had been active in surf lifesaving four-man, six-man and surf-race teams for more than a decade, was known for my ability to successfully pull a belt in rough seas, could ride a paddleboard if required and had trained most of my club’s boat crew members who had been recruited from the local football clubs. On the day of my appointment I was second in the surf swim test. I was the only female.

Swimming with the feminist tide in the 1970s, other paid women beach patrollers followed McCurdy. More girls and women entered competitions, and there were some mixed competitive teams around the country. More awards were also given – with titles such as “Lady Surf Life Saver of the Year”.

‘Amazons of the sea’

And yet, while women such as Jan Pinkerton and Christine Thomas gradually assumed leadership roles, surf lifesaving was still far from a gender-equity workplace. As author Sandra Coney noted in her 1985 article Amazons of the Sea for feminist magazine Broadsheet, there were only two women, Kate Sheriff and Muriel Brown, on the honours board of the Auckland Surf Life Saving Association.

Family background and connection, Coney argued, were still important for women like Sue Donaldson of Muriwai. Like Daphne McCurdy, she’d first become a lifeguard at Christchurch’s North Beach. Also like McCurdy, her father, brother and sister were lifeguards.

Nonetheless, women were making inroads, and the cultural reputation of surf lifesaving in New Zealand was always better than Australia’s. Historian Caroline Ford has written of “rampant misogyny” on Sydney beaches, where it took until 1980 for the Australian Surf Life Saving Association to allow women to become active surf lifesavers.

Still, Coney uncovered plenty of evidence of a macho, drink-fuelled local culture, involving “chunder miles where increasingly blotto clubbies stagger from jug to jug before disgorging a full frontal puke”. “Other typical boyish pranks [included] publicly stripping men of their togs and hoisting women’s knickers on the club flagpole.”

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In it together

Did new technology shake up old prejudices and promote equality for all on the waves? On the contrary, Coney reported that “men have colonised the beaches”, keeping women away from new equipment that compensated for sheer physical strength.

In the 1950s and 1960s at Piha beach near Auckland, Coney’s sister Helen Watson couldn’t join the surf lifesaving club or use “all the interesting equipment – the skis, boards and boat”, and was “excluded from taking part in competitions”.

New lifesaving equipment was nabbed by the men. As Bryony Coutanche said of the heavily male-dominated board riding scene: “I was told to ‘get off, this is my wave’. The men are awful and when you’re learning it’s hard.”

By 2017, half of New Zealand’s surf lifeguards were women, but they made up only 28% of rescue boat drivers. A recent survey found girls and women still faced some barriers to participation.

Still, if surf lifesaving has never radically led the way for gender equality, its culture has changed with the times. A Wahine on Water program sets out to redress the remaining gender imbalance, providing mentors and training opportunities. And Surf Life Saving New Zealand has made it a mission to include all peoples and cultures within the organisation.

Lifesaving is heroic work that often shows people at their most humane and caring. So it’s good to see an inclusive culture being built for those welcome guards who watch over us while we relax and enjoy summer at the beach.

This article benefits from research by Elena Simatos in her 2016 University of Canterbury History BA (Hons) research essay, “Locked out of the changing room? A gendered history of surf lifesaving in Canterbury 1917-1990”, which was supervised by the author.

Katie Pickles 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. Wahine of the waves: how women broke down the boys’ club barriers to surf lifesaving in NZ – https://theconversation.com/wahine-of-the-waves-how-women-broke-down-the-boys-club-barriers-to-surf-lifesaving-in-nz-194621

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alina Morawska, Deputy Director (Research), Parenting and Family Support Centre, The University of Queensland

You’re running late for work, your eight-year-old can’t find the homework they were supposed to have put in their school bag last night, your four-year-old objects to the blue t-shirt you’d prepared and wants the other shade of blue, and then you step on a Lego piece that didn’t get packed away when you asked.

Even if you haven’t encountered this exact situation, just thinking about it might raise your hackles. Parenting comes with many emotions. Anger and frustration are not uncommon and may have been exacerbated by the stressors of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s OK for children to see parents experience and manage different emotions. But when getting angry, yelling and shouting are a default response, this can have negative consequences for children (and parents).

Here’s what you can do instead.

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When is anger a problem and what’s at stake?

Anger is a problem when it is too frequent, too intense or when it disrupts your relationships.

Parental hostility has been associated with:

• children’s executive functioning (their ability to think and reason)

• relational aggression (aggression toward others)

• internalising problems; and

• anxiety.

One study found children who received harsh verbal discipline were likely to experience more symptoms of depression and behavioural problems as adolescents.

A parent’s propensity to react emotionally can increase the likelihood parents will react more harshly, punish their child excessively, or smack their child.

Extensive research has shown smacking is harmful for children’s development.

Reducing the risk of conflict

Parenting isn’t easy and doesn’t come with a manual. Many everyday situations can contribute to parents experiencing irritation and anger.

The best way to manage anger is to try to reduce the likelihood these situations will arise.

Parenting programs that focus on positive parenting practices, can improve the lives of children, parents and families, decrease parent anger and reduce the risk of maltreatment. Many evidence-based parenting programs are available.

Important strategies to reduce the likelihood of problems arising in the first place include:

• focusing on the positive

• building strong relationships with children

• communicating effectively

• praising children

• teaching children independence skills

• putting in place effective family routines

• having clear rules and boundaries and backing them up with appropriate consequences.

Looking after yourself

It is much harder to be calm, patient and persistent when parents’ own needs are not met and when parents are stressed or under pressure.

An important aspect of managing emotional reactivity is to look after your own wellbeing.

Take time out for yourself, balance your work and family responsibilities, and talk to your partner or other carers and support people about how you can get some time to yourself.

Strategies based on cognitive behavioural approaches – such as relaxation and breathing exercises – can also be helpful ways to reduce anger.

OK but I still need help managing my anger in the moment. What now?

So you’ve done the parenting program, you’re looking after yourself and still you find yourself struggling to tame your anger. That Lego piece really hurt and how many times do you have to ask for things to be packed up anyway?

Sometimes even the best preparation and prevention strategies may not avoid a particular problem, so having a plan for what you can do in that moment is important.

When fury rages inside you, start by taking a few deep breaths. Focusing on relaxing muscles or counting to ten – anything to slow down your emotional reaction – can be helpful.

Remind yourself your child hasn’t done this on purpose and that while it’s frustrating, you can stay calm.

What we say to ourselves about a situation and why it happened can also increase our feelings of anger.

Research shows the attributions we make – meaning the explanations or reasons we have for situations or for our child’s behaviour – can play an important role in the way we react emotionally.

For example, if you think your child is deliberately trying to make your life miserable with their t-shirt choices, you are more likely to feel angry.

If, on the other hand, you say to yourself, “This is important to them and they’re only four,” you are much more likely to stay calm.

Try to catch the negative thoughts that come into your head in those situations that make you feel angry. Replace them with more helpful ones.

For examples, rather than saying “This is just not fair” you could say “This is upsetting, but I can deal with it.” It might feel awkward at first, but give it a try.

Anger is a human emotion. It can motivate us to persist in the face of difficulties, can be a way of reducing tension and can act as a signal to deal with a stressor we’re facing.

It can also cause harm to ourselves, our children and our relationships if it is not managed well.

Finding effective ways to positively manage those feelings of annoyance and irritation is important to ensuring positive family relationships.

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The Parenting and Family Support Centre is partly funded by royalties stemming from published resources of the Triple P – Positive Parenting Program, which is developed and owned by The University of Queensland (UQ). Royalties are also distributed to the Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences at UQ and contributory authors of published Triple P resources. Triple P International (TPI) Pty Ltd is a private company licensed by Uniquest Pty Ltd on behalf of UQ, to publish and disseminate Triple P worldwide. Dr Morawska has no share or ownership of TPI. Dr Morawska receives royalties from TPI. TPI had no involvement in the writing of this articles. Dr Morawska is an employee at UQ. Dr Morawska is on the Board of Directors of the Parenting and Family Research Alliance.

– ref. Kids driving you crazy? Try these science-backed anger management tips for parents – https://theconversation.com/kids-driving-you-crazy-try-these-science-backed-anger-management-tips-for-parents-194163

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rosalind Dixon, Director, Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law, UNSW Sydney, UNSW Sydney

When I was ten, I was the only female member of an all-boys sports team, and the boys liked to remind me of it, and that it would be better if I just went home.

That was my introduction to sexism. And its logic was clear: you are not welcome, go home.

It is also how many of us used to think about racism and sexism – as involving big, conscious signals of hatred or exclusion.

We now understand discrimination as a more complex phenomenon, involving a mix of big and small, intentional and unthinking, acts. Racism can be a large “not welcome” sign, but it can also be a series of micro-aggressions that leave racial minorities feeling marginalised, stigmatised or emotionally exhausted from repeated attempts to claim their rightful place on the team or at the table.

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Sexism can be telling women and girls to – literally – go home, or it can be merely forgetting to unlock the girls’ locker room or provide protective gear designed for female bodies.

Performed repeatedly, these small acts can have systematic consequences for the choices women make about their lives and their sense of where they belong.

These acts can also have broader ripple effects on those witnessing them or walking alongside those affected. They are one way racism and sexism become systemic – baked into our social and legal structures.

Laws hurt, but they can help

Our laws are another source of systemic bias. Among them are laws that penalise crack cocaine more heavily than its whiter, powdered equivalent.

But laws can also be an important counter to bias. They can give women and marginalised groups the right to enter domains for which they have been excluded and stay there.

They can, for example, require equal funding for male and female sports teams.

And they can even require employers and educational institutions to make accommodations that make staying in institutions and succeeding possible.

Among such laws are laws that require wheelchair access and Braille signage and paid sick and carer’s leave.

These are not cheap for employers and educational institutions, but they can make a big difference to the lives and employment chances of those they help.

Micro-accommodations, to fight micro-aggressions

But laws can’t do everything. That’s why employers, managers and co-workers need to go further and provide small but meaningful accommodations to individual employees to help them thrive, rather than just survive, at work.

We could think of them as micro-accommodations. Like micro-aggressions, micro-accommodations involve acts that seems small to those making them, but if repeated can have much larger positive consequences for those they target.

Micro-accommodations can take the form of small scheduling adjustments. They might involve changing a start or finish time by a few minutes to accommodate school or daycare drop offs and pick ups, or short blocks in meeting calendars for parents to welcome their children home from school, or reordering presentations in meetings to allow people to arrive later or leave earlier.

Or they could involve providing short breaks for people to take prescribed medicines, or to briefly stretch to help manage injuries.

For me, as an 11 year old in an all-boys sports team, micro-accommodations initially took the form of a scheduled break to allow me to access a far-away female bathroom, and later, an agreement among my team that I could have brief but exclusive use of the male locker room.

This made a big difference to my focus and batting average (it was baseball, in the United States) and more significantly to my sense that I had a place in the team.

That message of inclusion may not have erased the messages of past exclusions, but it definitely helped mute them.

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In principle, micro-accommodations could take any form – so long as they go beyond what’s required by law, and impose only modest costs on those providing them.

Think of efforts by employers to provide halal, kosher, vegan or gluten-free menu options, or to provide proportional parking prices for those working part-time.

One of the most famous micro-accommodations in recent memory was documented by former Google and Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg in her best-selling book, Lean In.

Pregnant, late for a meeting, and only able to find a parking spot far from the front door of Google’s headquarters, Sandberg asked Google co-founder Sergey Brin for pregnancy parking closer to the door. He immediately said yes and said he wondered why the idea hadn’t occurred to him previously.

The cost was small: simply a matter of re-arranging parking spots rather than providing more. And the benefit to a pregnant Sandberg was huge. (If you don’t understand why, consider how hard it can be to walk quickly while heavily pregnant!)

Perhaps more important, it was a change that lasted well beyond Sandberg’s own pregnancies, benefited many other women at Google, and never became something they needed to negotiate each time they drove to the office.

Favours are not micro-accomodations

There is certainly value in managers and co-workers responding to requests for accommodations beyond what the law requires.

But asking has costs – it can cause anxiety and stress, it can be exhausting, and it can re-reinforce “not belonging”.

My own experience attests to this. When I started university teaching in Australia with a small baby, I was told that my classes would be at night, but that I could ask a colleague if they would consider swapping with me, as an accommodation.

I was fortunate that a colleague was generous and agreed to swap. It was a sacrifice for him, but not a large one. But the act of asking felt awkward and stressful. I really needed my colleague to say yes, if I was to keep doing the job I loved.

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The question I kept asking myself was why it had become my responsibility to make things work rather than my employer’s.

The good news is that I and others repeatedly made this point, and there is now a far better policy: all staff at my university are invited to complete a form indicating when they can and cannot teach, and any special circumstances. Those who do the timetabling take this into account.

This is the difference between a favour and a micro-accommodation: a favour is inter-personal and ad hoc; a micro-accommodation is formalised so that all employees in the situations can benefit for as long as they are in that situation.

And micro-accommodations are public rather than private – not something workers have to keep quiet or minimize.

Favours are private, micro-accommodations are public

Private favours and quiet forms of “personal workarounds”, which are communicated on a need-to-know basis have downsides.

They are less effective because well-meaning colleagues can misunderstand and undermine them, and they are unlikely to have larger, systemic benefits.

Not advertising a workaround means it is likely to stop at one person.

Here’s an example. One of my co-workers, Marian, trialled a personal workaround involving blocking out a short period in her calendar after her kids came home from school. Because she didn’t advertise it to her team, she kept receiving calls and urgent queries during this time.

We discussed the challenges, and I encouraged her to communicate the workaround to her team.

As soon as she did, the results were different. The blocked-out time was almost never interrupted, and she found it much easier to look forward to her kids arriving home and spending time with them.

How to create micro-accommodations

Micro-accommodations are best when targeted to specific needs, as Marian’s was.

And they work best when they are initiated by managers, rather than employees. This takes an emotional load off workers and sends a powerful signal of inclusion.

Asking employees how best to accommodate their needs is one way to do it, but this still imposes an emotional responsibility on those being asked.

Another better way to do it is to informally audit facilities and schedules to see if they make sense for staff.

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The resulting accommodations might be as simple as shifting important meetings and reporting deadlines away from major religious and school holidays.

Or making sure meetings don’t start at 9pm or finish at 6pm if childcare centres opens at 9am and close at 6pm.

Or making sure politicians don’t schedule big votes at unfriendly times.

I help run a program that helps women (including trans-gender women) prepare to run for electoral office. Modelled on the Kennedy School of Government’s From Harvard Square to the Oval Office program, it trains a diverse mix of Australian women for electoral success.

And it pushes for changes that make it easier for them to stay in office once there.

One – already in place in the Australian Capital Territory – is family-friendly sitting hours, with sittings generally beginning at 10 am and adjourning by 7 pm. Queensland’s parliament and Brisbane City Council have similar arrangements.

Where this can’t happen, parties can agree not to schedule crucial votes at night, or during morning drop-off times.

Diverse leaders have responsibilities

While it shouldn’t only have to fall to female and diverse managers to offer micro-accodations, they are in a good position to do so, even though the extra responsibilty is weighty.

It is no accident that it was Sheryl Sandberg rather than Sergey Brin who pushed for pregnancy parking, or that it was female legislators saw the case for family-friendly sitting times.

Micro-accommodations are far from the most important tool for achieving equality. Large-scale changes to the law can achieve more. And no amount of micro-accommodations can put right a world dominated by micro-aggressions.

But they are an important additional tool, one enlightened managers have the power and authority to use.

Rosalind Dixon receives funding from the ARC for her work on Constitutions and Democratic Resilience. The Pathways to Politics for Women NSW is also supported by the Trawalla Foundation.

– ref. Micro-aggressions are repeated acts that send women backwards. Here’s how micro-accommodations can fight back – https://theconversation.com/micro-aggressions-are-repeated-acts-that-send-women-backwards-heres-how-micro-accommodations-can-fight-back-195570

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laini Burton, Senior Lecturer, Queensland College of Art, Griffith University

Celebrity has always existed in one form or another. Across history, the likeness of kings, queens and nobility, deities, popes, and saints have been the subject of countless works of art.

Painted portraits, carvings in walls, verses in songs and stanzas in poems stand as testament to our enduring fascination with the human face. Some faces, such as that belonging to Helen of Troy, were so famous they are claimed, as English poet and playwright Christopher Marlowe wrote, to have “launched a thousand ships”.

Modern history has delivered new faces, and face fashions, for us to admire or despise. Movie stars, politicians, musicians and athletes, artists and writers all serve as role models upon which we stare and compare.

With our insatiable public appetite for celebrity images, it is little wonder some celebrities welcome the face mask as a way to avoid the public eye.

Social media and the news are awash with celebrity faces and remain a significant source of desire and fandom. The increased accessibility to celebrity images through social media platforms both shape and contribute to current beauty standards.

When we look at celebrity faces via their image, we can linger and study them at our leisure. Everything from their gestures, features, skin, and ageing process for example become the subject of intense scrutiny or media headlines.

Instagram Face – characterised by “ideal” yet generic features created through the use of filters – and the ever-expanding cosmetic surgery and beauty industries, could be seen as results of the feverish consumption of celebrity images.

The face has become a form of currency for celebrities: you only need to consider the likes of the Kardashian-Jenner family to reflect on this ongoing phenomenon. Leveraging their popularity, some of the Kardashian clan have their own beauty product lines, while other family members have carried out multiple product endorsements.

Exploiting celebrity status for material or economic gain is not, however, unique to the Kardashian-Jenners. The relationship between celebrity and product success has been examined, including in the New York Times as a perceived personal exchange through consumption of endorsed products. We feel closer to celebrities while lining their pockets.

For the 21st century celebrity, the face is an index of value.

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High visibility and celebrity

One criterion for celebrityhood, according to Stanford law professor Lawrence M. Friedman, is “high visibility”. Visibility can bring power and privilege, and celebrities understand this equation well.

Consider the example of beleaguered celebrity Kanye (Ye) West, who has worn masks during his performances since 2012. It is, however, his habit of masking in public that is most curious. West has been photographed many times wearing masks in an effort to achieve anonymity. Though, in the case of West, he remains entirely recognisable (notwithstanding the hordes of paparazzi trailing his every move).

When celebrities mask, they perform the spectacle of anonymity, rather than achieving anonymity itself.

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The mask places further distance between us and them – it allows a one way scrutiny and the ability to see but not be seen. Disguising themselves in this way only serves to heighten the aura of celebrity. This has the effect of preserving their relative status as an image, as opposed to a knowable entity.

It is easy to forget, then, that this object of desire (or ridicule) is a person. One might suggest this failed form of disguise is strategic or intentional, driving the frenzied economy of celebrity image production. If celebrities can reclaim access to their image – their moneymaker – it is little wonder they adopt the mask in the public sphere. West’s masked face then becomes unsettling because it appears like a void in which the media’s gaze is deflected, and their fantasies are sunk.

Australian singer Sia is also well known for masking. Her desire to remain unseen has meant that she regularly performs in wigs that obscure her face. Here, the mask becomes a tool through which she can perform or embody an other character.

Icelandic singer-songwriter Björk also wears fantastical masks to perform on stage. She once said of the mask:

It’s a way to hide, and to reveal a different side of yourself […] Wearing a mask, I feel protected, like I can be more myself.

Self-presentation and branding

For the celebrity, the mask has become a way of self-presentation and branding. It offers a safe, psychological space promoting free expression.

Our appetite for, and consumption of, celebrity faces shows no sign of waning, proving as philosopher Thomas Macho has argued, that we live in a “facial society”.

The internet and social media platforms have created a culture of extreme visibility. In a saturated image culture, perhaps masking is the last radical act a celebrity can do to achieve anonymity, or, paradoxically, to stand out from the ever growing crowd of celebrity faces.

Laini Burton 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. The spectacle of anonymity: how the mask became a way for celebrities to control their image – https://theconversation.com/the-spectacle-of-anonymity-how-the-mask-became-a-way-for-celebrities-to-control-their-image-195001

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Shaw, Professor of Politics, Massey University

In a tidy alignment of round numbers, this year’s general election will also mark the 30th anniversary of the binding referendum that ushered in the mixed member proportional (MMP) system of voting. It will also be the tenth election held under the proportional system, truly a generational milestone in New Zealand’s political history.

But the public disquiet that led to the country voting out the old first-past-the-post (FPP) system goes further back, at least as far as the 1978 and 1981 elections. Both saw the centre-left Labour Party lose, despite having won a higher percentage of the vote than the victorious centre-right National Party.

The winner-takes-all nature of FPP also sidelined popular minority parties. In 1981, for example, the Social Credit Party won 20.7% of the vote but only two seats. In fact, most parties’ seats in parliament rarely reflected their share of the vote.

In 1984, Labour commanded 60% of parliament, having won only 43% of the vote. Six years later, National owned 70% of the seats based on 47.8% of the vote. As Lord Hailsham famously put it, Westminster jurisdictions were (and are) effectively “elected dictatorships”.

FPP governments tended to deploy their parliamentary majorities with the kind of arrogance that eventually led to the vote for change. Moreover, FPP parliaments failed to reflect the country’s demographic diversity: 77 of the 99 members of the final FPP parliament were men, there were only eight Māori MPs, a single Pasifika MP, and no one of Asian heritage. Hardly a house of representatives.

Accidental reform

The Royal Commission on the Electoral System (RCES) made an early case for change in 1986, but until the late 1980s electoral reform was a niche issue. It took a televised blunder from Labour prime minister David Lange to ignite the debate.

In the final leaders’ debate before the 1987 election, National’s Jim Bolger criticised Lange for ignoring the RCES recommentations. To his own colleagues’ surprise, Lange then went off-script and gave an undertaking that Labour would stage a referendum if reelected.

Lange reneged on the promise, enabling Bolger to give his own commitment during the 1990 campaign that a National government would hold a single binding referendum on the electoral system.

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In the event, National strung the process out by legislating for two referendums. An indicative ballot in September 1992 was the first time in a Westminster parliamentary democracy that citizens were given the opportunity to change their electoral system – 84.7% of the 55% of eligible voters who turned out opted for change, and 70.5% indicated a preference for MMP.

That result triggered the second and binding referendum, a straight drag race between FPP and MMP, held in conjunction with the 1993 general election. The campaign leading up to the crucial decision was divisive and at times dirty.

On one side stood the pro-MMP Electoral Reform Coalition, supported by the minor political parties, Grey Power, some unions and the Māori Congress. On the other side, the Campaign for Better Government was backed by powerful corporate lobby group the Business Roundtable, the Employers Federation and a number of chambers of commerce.

Neither Labour nor National took an official position, but most MPs supported FPP. Indeed, Labour’s Helen Clark and National’s Simon Upton established the bi-partisan Campaign for First-Past-the-Post.

The second referendum was far closer than the first, with 53.9% ticking the box for MMP. But the result meant that when the country went to the polls in 1996, it was under a new electoral system. Contrary to some predictions, the sky did not fall.

Moderation and compromise

Fast forward three decades and the political landscape has changed considerably. Parliament is larger, with 120 members (occasionally one or two more, depending on the electoral caclulus), and therefore better placed to scrutinise executive activity.

It’s also more diverse than its FPP predecessors: the current House of Representatives contains more or less equal numbers of female and male MPs, 25 Māori MPs (bearing out the hopes of those for whom MMP meant “more Māori parliamentarians”) and 18 members of Chinese, Cook Island Māori, Eritrean, Indian, Iranian, Korean, Maldivian, Mexican, Samoan, Sri Lankan and Tongan descent.

There are also wider lessons to be drawn. The arguments of naysayers notwithstanding, MMP has not led to government instability. We have learned how to form and maintain multi-party and minority governments, none of which has fallen to a confidence motion or failed to pass a budget. And, unlike the original Westminster jurisdiction, New Zealand prime ministers have generally seen out multiple
parliamentary terms.

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MMP also tends towards policy moderation. For some – including the senior public servants who hoped it would lock in the public financial management reforms of the 1980s and 1990s – that’s the point. Others argue it prevents decisive policy action.

Despite heading a single party majority government – the only one under MMP, and the first since 1951 to secure a majority of the vote – Jacinda Ardern has tended not to rule by virtual decree the way some of her FPP predecessors did. She has been cautious (too much so for some), mindful that more normal minority or coalition government will inevitably soon return.

Ardern’s reluctance to throw her parliamentary weight around can be read another way, too. The imperative under MMP to build and maintain executive and legislative alliances also encourages political centrism.

Compromise can be frustrating, but over the long haul it can also help prevent the kind of political division and constitutional chicanery that have plagued nations with FPP electoral systems. Zero-sum games tend to apply in electoral politics: when winners take it all, others lose out.

A work in progress

Not everything has changed under MMP. True, small parties are often central to the formation of governments, either as formal coalition partners or parliamentary support parties, but the two major players continue to dominate.

Their combined vote share has dropped – in the nine elections before 1996, National and Labour captured 82.5% of the vote between them, compared with 72% across all nine MMP elections. But under MMP they have provided all of the prime ministers, the overwhelming share of cabinet ministers, and the vast majority of budget commitments.

Read more:
Lowering New Zealand’s voting age to 16 would be good for young people – and good for democracy

MMP also needs refining as it evolves. The increase in the number of constituency seats relative to list seats is eroding the system’s capacity to deliver true proportionality.

And the thresholds for securing parliamentary seats are under scrutiny as part of the Independent Electoral Review. The 5% party vote threshold is arguably too high, while the ability to “coat tail” several MPs into parliament off a single constituency win unduly advantages small parties. But those are details in which there are few, if any, devils.

Aotearoa New Zealand, as elsewhere, faces challenges to its democracy. But coalition governments and diverse parliaments are not among them. Most people won’t notice when MMP celebrates its tenth election this year – that alone is a sign of just how far we’ve come.

Richard Shaw 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. MMP in New Zealand turns 30 at this year’s election – a work in progress, but still a birthday worth celebrating – https://theconversation.com/mmp-in-new-zealand-turns-30-at-this-years-election-a-work-in-progress-but-still-a-birthday-worth-celebrating-194622

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amanda Stephens, Senior Research Fellow Monash University Accident Research Centre, Monash University

It’s hot, you’ve had a battle to get the kids in the car, and now you’re going to be late for the family lunch.

You turn onto the freeway only to get stuck behind a slow driver in the fast lane. You want them to move over or speed up, so you drive a little closer. Then closer. Then so close it would be difficult to avoid hitting them if they stopped suddenly.

When that doesn’t work you honk the horn. Nothing. Finally, frustrated, you dart into the left lane and speed past them.

Today was one of those days where many small annoyances have led to you being aggressive on the road. This isn’t how you usually drive. So why was today different?

Read more:
Tailgating is stressful and dangerous. Our research examines ways it might be stopped

Aren’t holidays supposed to be relaxing?

Holiday driving may look a lot different to your usual commute. It may involve driving longer distances, or involve more frequent driving with more passengers than usual in the car.

Holiday driving comes with increased risk (road deaths tend to spike during the holidays). That’s why news bulletins often carry the latest “road toll” figures around public holidays.

But whether you drive differently to normal comes down to the value you place on your time, rather than when you drive.

If you are in a rush, your time becomes more precious because you have less of it. If something, or someone, infringes on that time, you may become frustrated and aggressive.

This is basic human psychology. You can get angry when someone gets in the way of what you are trying to achieve. You get angrier when you think they are acting unfairly or inappropriately.

Read more:
Road rage: why normal people become harmful on the roads

Usually before you respond, you evaluate what has happened, asking who is at fault and if they could have done things differently.

But when you are driving, you have less time and resources to make detailed evaluations. Instead, you make quick judgements of the situation and how best to deal with it.

These judgements can be based on how you are feeling at the time. If you are frustrated before getting in the car, you are likely to be easily frustrated while driving, blame other drivers more for your circumstances, and express this through aggressive driving.

Tailgating and speeding are examples of this aggression.

A driver frustrated by the perception that someone is driving too slowly, or in the wrong lane, might speed past the offending driver, and maintain this speed for some time after the event.

Aggressive tailgating may be seen as reprimanding the driver for their perceived slow speeds, or to encourage them to move out of the way.

The problem is, when you are angry, you underestimate the risk of these behaviours, while over-estimating how much control you have of the situation. It’s not worth the risk.

A study of real-world driving shows both tailgating and speeding increase the odds of being in a crash more than if driving while holding or dialling a mobile phone. Drivers who are tailgating or speeding have a 13 to 14-fold increase in odds of being in a crash, compared to when they are driving more safely.

Read more:
Do people drive differently in the rain? Here’s what the research says

Here’s what you can do

One way to stay safe on the roads these holidays is to recognise the situations that may lead to your own dangerous behaviours.

The Monash University Accident Research Centre has developed a program to help drivers reduce their aggressive driving. This helps drivers develop their own strategies to stay calm while driving, recognising that one strategy is unlikely to suit every driver.

Almost 100 self-identified aggressive drivers developed four types of tips to remain calm while driving:

1. before driving: tips include better journey planning, allowing enough time for the trip and recognising how you are feeling before you get in the car

2. while driving: this includes travelling in the left lane to avoid slow drivers in the right lane, or pulling over when feeling angry

3. in your vehicle: such as deep breathing or listening to music

4. ‘rethinking’ the situation: acknowledge that in some situations, the only thing you can change is how you think about it. For example, ask yourself is it worth the risk? Or personalise the other driver. What if that was your loved one in the car in front?

Four months after completing the program, drivers reported less anger and aggression while driving than before the program. The strategies that worked best for these drivers were listening to music, focusing on staying calm and rethinking the problem.

A favourite rethink was a 5x5x5 strategy. This involved asking yourself whether the cause of your anger will matter in five minutes, five hours or five days. If it is unlikely to matter after this time, it is best to let go.

The holidays are meant to be relaxing and joyous. Let’s not jeopardise that through reactions to other drivers.

Amanda Stephens works for Monash University Accident Research Centre.
The program to reduce aggressive driving referred to in this article was made possible with the support of the ACT Road Safety Fund

– ref. Why do people tailgate? A psychologist explains what’s behind this common (and annoying) driving habit – https://theconversation.com/why-do-people-tailgate-a-psychologist-explains-whats-behind-this-common-and-annoying-driving-habit-193462

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Olive, Vice Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellow, RMIT University

Every summer, many Australians head to the ocean to swim, surf, sail, kayak, and walk along the beach.

But humans are not alone when we use the ocean. Fish, seals, dolphins, sharks, jellyfish, turtles, stingrays, cuttlefish, and birds often swim alongside us. When we enter the ocean we become part of an entangled web of animal relationships.

Encountering animals when we swim and surf in the ocean is fun and exciting. But sharing the water with animals also comes with the risk of stings, bites, frights, and injury to us. It can also bring harm to ocean wildlife.

By educating ourselves about marine life, humans can minimise risks to ourselves and the animals who call the ocean home.

We can frighten animals – and they can scare us

Despite how vulnerable we feel when swimming, our presence in the ocean can frighten or harm an animal. Animals may see us as a predator and alter their behaviour accordingly.

Fish, birds and small stingrays might swim off, and turtles might delay rising to the ocean’s surface to breathe.

Not all animals are frightened of humans. It’s a highlight when curious dolphins swim and play around us. But dolphins can attack humans or other animals if they feel threatened – for example when feeding or protecting their young.

Humans can also be scared of animals in the water. This fear drives the use of shark nets off beaches or, less commonly, shark culls.

Shark nets are controversial – not least because they can entangle and kill animals including turtles, non-target sharks, stingrays, and whales.

Even more controversial are shark culls, such as those planned for Western Australia in 2013 after a spate of fatal shark attacks. The plan was later abandoned, after it was criticised as cruel and lacking scientific basis.

Killing or harming ocean animals so humans can have fun in the water raises all sorts of questions and moral dilemmas. So how else might we keep ourselves safe in the ocean?

Read more:
Shark nets are destructive and don’t keep you safe – let’s invest in lifeguards

Learn about ocean animals

Learning about what ocean animals you might encounter – and when – can help keep both people and animals safe.

Some animals are present year-round. But, as whale watchers and fisherman are well aware, many animals are more active in a particular seasons or only appear at certain times of the year.

For example, in cooler months in the waters off northern Australia, manta rays are most active. Leopard sharks, meanwhile, appear during warmer months in southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales.

And from November until May or June, a variety of marine stingers can be found in the coastal waters of Far North Queensland. These include the potentially lethal box jellyfish.

Informing ourselves means we can take measures to keep safe. For example, people swimming in North Queensland in the warmer months are advised to swim at netted beaches, and wear wetsuits or stinger suits. Entering the water slowly also gives some marine stingers time to move away.

Read more:
Want to avoid a bluebottle sting? Here’s how to predict which beach they’ll land on

When it comes to sharks, there are growing calls to adopt non-violent approaches to minimise risks to humans. This could include public education on, for example, links between fish seasons and shark activity.

Educating ourselves about ocean animals also helps us protect them.

Shorebirds, for instance, nest in spring and summer. This is prime beach time for people, too. Shorebird nests are shallow and vulnerable, and birds will often abandon their eggs when humans are around. Dogs and 4WDs pose an even bigger threat.

If we know we’re sharing a beach with nesting shorebirds, we can take steps to ensure their safety, such as keeping our dogs on a leash and avoiding using dunes and other common nesting areas.

The annual migration of whales and their calves up and down our coasts is an exciting time to visit the beach and, if you’re lucky, to view a splashy show of breaching or water slapping.

But if you plan to go sailing or kayaking, be aware of rules around interacting with whales. They law states they can approach us, but we must not get too close to them.

Read more:
This bird’s stamina is remarkable: it flies non-stop for 5 days from Japan to Australia, but now its habitat is under threat

If you’re not an experienced ocean user, or don’t know about the animals living in a particular place, talk to someone who is informed.

If you use beaches patrolled by surf lifesavers they can give you information about animals that might be present that day, such as sharks or jellyfish. They can also tell you about ocean conditions such as rips, currents and water quality.

If you do suffer a painful bluebottle or jellyfish sting, surf lifesavers may also provide basic treatments such as dousing the sting with hot water or vinegar.

If you’re planning to swim or surf at unpatrolled beaches – especially if they’re remote – pack a basic first aid kit including sunscreen, vinegar and instant ice packs.

And remember, enjoying time in the ocean with other poeple is safer than swimming alone.

Ensuring everyone enjoys the encounter

Despite the risks, most human encounters with animals in the ocean are exciting and positive.

Learning about the kinds of animals you might come across, as well as the best ways to interact with them, will help keep you safe – and make sure its a good experience for the animals too.

Rebecca Olive receives funding from The Australian Research Council.

– ref. When we swim in the ocean, we enter another animal’s home. Here’s how to keep us all safe – https://theconversation.com/when-we-swim-in-the-ocean-we-enter-another-animals-home-heres-how-to-keep-us-all-safe-193457

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Elliot Noe, Postdoctoral Fellow, Lincoln University, New Zealand

More than half of the world’s population lives in cities. In Aotearoa New Zealand, the proportion of people who live in towns or cities exceeds 86%. With our lives increasingly lived in urban environments, it’s vital for our personal wellbeing – and the planet’s – that city planners find ways to foster a connection with nature.

The evidence is clear – people need direct, personal experiences with nature to care enough to protect it. As evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould argued,

we cannot win this battle to save species and environments without forging an emotional bond between ourselves and nature as well – for we will not fight to save what we do not love.

In our recently published study, we explored the perceptions and experiences of nature that Hamilton residents had in their city.

Hamilton City Council is responsible for 1,142 hectares of open space, including more than 200 parks and reserves. In 2019, the council outlined its goal to have 80% of households with access to a park or open space within 500 metres of home.

Green spaces are any areas of unsealed urban land with some form of vegetation cover. We focused on three types – private gardens, parks dominated by native vegetation (“bush parks”), and parks dominated by introduced vegetation (“lawn parks”, large expanses of mown lawn scattered with individual trees).

Read more:
Should we protect nature for its own sake? For its economic value? Because it makes us happy? Yes

Residents took us on tours of different green spaces around the city. During these visits, we asked them about the importance of these places, how they engaged with them and about their plant and animal encounters. We interviewed 21 residents – seven restoration volunteers, seven people who frequently visited bush parks, and seven who visited lawn parks.

We were particularly interested in how people perceived urban green spaces and the benefits they got from them. We also looked at the experiences and connection gained from different natural environments.

Ringing with birdsong

Kaelin was one of the Hamilton residents who took us on a tour of her garden and local park, one of Hamilton’s many branching gullies.

The gully was cool and quiet, the only sounds the murmurs of the tiny stream at its centre and the occasional indignant cheeps of our fellow fantail. As bell-like flutes punctuated by rude coughs and gurgles announced the presence of a tui, Kaelin turned to me with a delighted smile and said:

You can be down here in the right time of the year and you think, where am I? It’s not the city, it’s just ringing with birdsong.

Our interviewees described native bush parks as special places that provided a relaxing and restorative escape from city life. These green spaces, dominated by native vegetation, were the ones respondents commonly identified as places to sit peacefully and observe nature.

Lawn parks, on the other hand, acted more as “backdrops” for other activities – picnics, sports or farmers’ markets. Residential gardens, like bush parks, allowed for deeper observation and engagement with nature, but as private spaces, they didn’t provide the social benefits that parks do.

The value of diversity

Lawn parks are the most common type of green space in cities. Yet our study highlights that participants valued a diversity of green spaces that would meet a range of needs – their own, those of their community and those of other creatures such as birds, bats and weta.

Interviewees voiced a desire to have spaces in cities where unique New Zealand plants and animals could thrive. Respondents enjoyed sharing their parks and gardens with birds, bats and insects, recognising these animals contributed to the meaning of the place.

Read more:
Neighbourhood green space is in rapid decline, deepening both the climate and mental health crises

Creating habitat in cities for wildlife, however, was only one of the multiple
purposes of green spaces that respondents believed were important. They wanted to see a variety of parks that meet a range of community needs.

Just as respondents held multiple priorities for their own gardens, not always just as habitats for native flora and fauna, interviewees also wanted urban green spaces to support multiple uses and not serve exclusively as wildlife habitat.

The threat of densification

But the benefits of green spaces are threatened by the loss of parks and gardens to redevelopment and densification.

New Zealand’s ongoing housing crisis has intensified political debates about urban green spaces, and Hamilton is no different.

The council recently completed consultation on significant changes to density rules in Hamilton’s central city and surrounding areas. The plan will allow three homes of up to three storeys to be developed on most properties, though the council says it is committed to maintaining its public green spaces.

As urban populations continue to rise, our research supports a renewed call for the importance of reserving space for parks and nature in cities. Instead of being a dispensable luxury, green space is crucial for the health and wellbeing of both people and native species.

Finding ways to foster personal experiences of green spaces, and the plants, animals, people and stories that provide meaning, is one way to increase city dwellers’ emotional involvement with local nature. Such subjective bonds can spur the motivation required for people’s everyday actions to nurture and protect what they love.

Elizabeth Elliot Noe receives funding from Bioprotection Aotearoa.

Ottilie Stolte 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. Green streets: why protecting urban parks and bush is vital as our cities grow and become denser – https://theconversation.com/green-streets-why-protecting-urban-parks-and-bush-is-vital-as-our-cities-grow-and-become-denser-196024

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cassy Dittman, Lecturer/Head of Course (Undergraduate Psychology), CQUniversity Australia

The new year often means a new season of kids’ sports. Many families may be pondering whether to commit to another season or discovering their child is now saying they’d like to quit their usual sport.

My husband and I faced this dilemma last year when our nine-year-old wanted to quit Nippers (junior surf lifesaving). This followed a season of high emotion, where we faced weekly “drop-off dread”, only to have him happily bounce over to us after training, full of smiles and stories.

Given the vast body of research showing the benefit of organised sport for children (more on that later), it’s not always easy for parents to instantly agree when their child wants to quit.

So what does the research tell us about why kids drop out of sport and how might parents respond?

Read more:
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Why do children drop out from sport?

Participation rates in organised sport tend to peak towards the end of primary school, and there is significant decline in participation across adolescence.

Reasons for dropping out of a sport in adolescence include a focus on one sport over others or prioritising involvement in other activities (such as school work, jobs or socialising).

One of the major factors influencing children’s decision to quit sport is pressure from others (parents, coaches and peers).

Adult expectations, attitudes and behaviours can unintentionally sour children’s experiences of sport. This pressure can come in many forms, including unrealistically high expectations, a focus on winning, heated post-match debriefings, and critical comments.

Perceived pressure from adults relates to some of the main reasons children give for dropping out of sport: not having fun, being bored, or feeling they’re not good enough at it.

What are the benefits of sport for children?

When your child says they want to quit their sport, reflect on what’s at stake, and perhaps even discuss it with them.

As well as promoting health and fitness, organised sport builds developmental skills and competencies in young people.

Many parents see critical life skills – such as teamwork, resilience, dealing with frustration and disappointment, resolving conflicts and goal setting – as a major reason to enrol their children in sport.

Sport can also promote social connectedness for children and their families, contributing to a sense of belonging and social identity.

Our research with parents of Australian junior rugby league players suggests this might be particularly the case for Indigenous parents.

This social connectedness from sport can promote children’s mental health, helping protect against issues like anxiety and depression.

One longitudinal Australian study found children who drop out of sport between eight and ten years are at greater risk for social and emotional problems compared to those who continue in sport.

What can parents do when a child wants to quit?

There are no easy answers and the response will be shaped by factors unique to the child and their situation. But here are some strategies:

1. Talk to your child

Ask them what they don’t like about the sport. Is there anything that would need to change for them to continue? Would switching teams or dropping down a division make a difference?

You could try testing out the sport again, and agree to review things after a month.

Ask what they do like about the sport. This helps shift their thinking to what’s fun about it and what they might miss if they quit.

If your child can’t name anything they like, this might be the red flag you need that this sport isn’t for them.

2. Reflect on your own behaviour.

Think about your own hopes and expectations. Is it possible you’re putting too much pressure on your child?

Let your child know they can be open with you if they feel you’re pressuring them. You might need to work with your partner or other adults in the child’s life to come up with a plan to temper your expectations or behaviour around children’s sport.

3. Consider other options.

Every child is different. Some thrive on competition and performance, others find it anxiety-provoking and distressing. Others don’t much care if they win or lose.

Most children, though, enjoy personal accomplishment and the opportunity sport provides to challenge themselves and improve skills.

So, if the old sport isn’t working out for your child, consider looking for something different. Many activities build fitness and a sense of accomplishment but don’t necessarily involve competition.

For example, our local gymnastic club runs “NinjaZone” classes that challenge children to use their strength and agility to complete obstacle courses. My nine-year-old loves it.

Kicking off a new sports season provides an opportunity to reflect on the past and on how you can help your child have a positive sporting experience.

After all, the long-term goal is for our children to build a lifelong enjoyment of physical activity so they can bring the physical health, mental health and social benefits into adulthood.

Read more:
The kids who’d get the most out of extracurricular activities are missing out – here’s how to improve access

Cassy Dittman holds an Honorary Research Fellowship with the Parenting and Family Support Centre, which is partly funded by royalties stemming from published resources of the Triple P – Positive Parenting Program, which is developed and owned by The University of Queensland (UQ). Royalties are also distributed to the Faculty of Health and Behavioral Sciences at UQ and contributory authors of published Triple P resources. Triple P International (TPI) Pty Ltd is a private company licensed by UniQuest Pty Ltd on behalf of UQ, to publish and disseminate Triple P worldwide. Cassy Dittman has no share or ownership of TPI, however as an author on Triple P Programs, she receives royalties from TPI. Cassy Dittman has received research funding from the National Rugby League.

– ref. What makes kids want to drop out of sport, and how should parents respond? – https://theconversation.com/what-makes-kids-want-to-drop-out-of-sport-and-how-should-parents-respond-195115

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dean Hoi, PhD candidate and tutor in economics, The University of Melbourne

Politicians around the world tout immigration restrictions as a way to fight wage stagnation and boost the job prospects of low-paid or unemployed locals.

The Trump administration pushed the message aggressively, at one stage calling a proposal to halve migration numbers the RAISE Act (standing for Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy), saying it would raise workers’ wages and help struggling families enter the middle class.

Whether or not cutting low-skilled migration would lift working class wages remains a highly contentious question.

Read more:
A myth that won’t die: stopping migration did not kickstart the economy

My research examines the question in a broader way. Its findings – looking back at an extraordinary time of change in US history, from the 1880s on – suggest that while restricting immigration might at first help low-income workers, over time it hurts those local workers. This is due to what I call the “honeypot effect”, in which wage hikes for poor jobs keep people in poor jobs.

The problem is that there are very few real-world immigration restrictions to examine. Immigration to the global West has been rising steadily since the 1960s.

The COVID pandemic essentially eliminated immigration for a short time, but it is as good as impossible to isolate the effects of that from the effects of everything else that was going on at the same time.

America’s first exclusion: the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

Up until 1882, the US had an open-border policy with virtually no restrictions on entry. The Chinese Exclusion Act – introduced that year in response to the widespread belief that low-skilled Chinese immigrants were responsible for depressed wages and unemployment – was a first.

It was also long-lasting. It completely prohibited the immigration of Chinese labourers for more than fifty years.

It represents an ideal so-called “natural experiment”. Because Chinese immigration had been very heavily concentrated in certain locations, its impact was isolated to those locations, allowing what happened where it did restrict immigration to be compared to what happened where it did not.

And I discovered there was data. The US Government fully discloses Census data after 72 years. This allowed me to link individuals across US censuses to track the employment situation of millions of Americans over the entirety of their working lives.

A significant, negative, long-term effect

What I found was surprising. The Chinese Exclusion Act had a significant, negative long-term effect on American workers. My estimate is that workers in locations exposed to the Act earned on average 6-15% less over their working lives than their counterparts in other locations

The negative effects were strongest for low-skilled and unemployed workers.

The exclusion of Chinese immigrants not only failed to improve conditions for working-class Americans, but made them substantially worse off in the long run.

The honeypot and the occupational ladder

Then I set out to examine this seemingly counter-intuitive result: why shortages of low-skilled labour had led to worse long-term outcomes for low-skilled workers.

The answer appears to lie in a “honeypot” effect.

A closer look suggests the Chinese Exclusion Act was initially successful in boosting low-skilled wages and the employment of Americans in low-skilled jobs in the regions it had an effect.

This created a “honeypot” – American workers in those locations increasingly took and remained in low-skilled jobs. They became significantly less likely to become educated, meaning they fell behind their counterparts in other locations on the occupational ladder.

And their initial wage gains were short-lived, with increased arrivals from other countries and other parts of the US eventually filling the labour shortages.

This left the workers who had opted to stay in low-skilled jobs stuck with low pay, depressing their lifetime earnings compared to their counterparts in regions unaffected by the Chinese Exclusion Act.

Underlying the honeypot effect is the reality that most workers progress up an occupation ladder over their working lives, often as a result of education and training.

Read more:
Legal work-related immigration has fallen by a third since 2020, contributing to US labor shortages

But education involves trade-offs. It can require giving up immediate income to earn more down the track.

Immediate income which is higher is harder to give up.

And there might be another mechanism at play. When low-skilled workers are in short supply, there might be fewer high-skilled jobs on offer because high-skilled jobs need low-skilled jobs to complement them.

Implications for today

The economy of 1882 bears little resemblance to today’s economy and we should take care in drawing general conclusions.

However, studies of modern immigration inflows into the United States and Europe also find they boost the education and occupational status of native workers, suggesting the processes underlying the honeypot effect are present in modern economies.

Immigration restrictions are too blunt an instrument and their effects are too complex to be used to boost wages and employment.

Read more:
Nobel economics prize winners showed economists how to turn the real world into their laboratory

My findings suggest that even if restrictions are successful in creating wage gains for some in the short run, they are just as likely to lead to negative outcomes for locals in the long run.

This is not to say that increasing low-skilled wages is a bad thing. But immigration restrictions can only create temporary, unsustainable wage increases.

There are better, more sustainable ways to help low-skilled workers, backed by stronger evidence.

Attempts to help low-skilled workers should promote – or at the very least not discourage – education and occupational upgrading. That way they would help the low-skilled workers and the economy as a whole.

Dean Hoi receives funding from the University of Melbourne.

– ref. Discovering the ‘honeypot’: the surprising way restricting immigration can turn out to hurt the working poor – https://theconversation.com/discovering-the-honeypot-the-surprising-way-restricting-immigration-can-turn-out-to-hurt-the-working-poor-195192

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter McNeil, Distinguished Professor of Design History, UTS, University of Technology Sydney

In today’s world it could be said, to a certain degree, that even a relatively impoverished person engages with luxury, in some way.

If you enjoy regulated heating or cooling at home, regular lighting, chicken meat, or eat chocolates, you are engaging with formats that once indicated luxury.

But what is, and is not, considered to be a luxury, changes with the times.

Decadence and luxury

When we describe a dessert as “decadent” today, we must remember it really means decaying, a concept related to the “Romans of the decadence” whose lavish lifestyles are held up as proof of why the Empire had to fail.

The Romans saw luxury as quintessentially foreign and therefore alien to the true and olden spirit of the Roman polis. This is why luxury was often represented as coming from “the Orient”, the source of rare scents, spices, gems, ivories and enslaved peoples.

As a result, the Romans introduced sumptuary laws, which were prescriptions to manage conspicuous consumption of things like expensive clothing and jewellery worn by social groups, but also the amount spent on banquets and even funerals.

This was necessary, because the ancient Romans enjoyed conspicuous luxury. They liked to eat food whose ingredients resembled another. They enjoyed delicacies such as fattened fowls, peacock, oysters, ham, wild boar and fig-peckers, the latter eaten whole, sometimes all combined together in a crusted paté, even though this was forbidden by the new laws. There were even luxuries in enslaved peoples. The poet Juvenal commented satirically that clearly it was better to have a bevy of pretty pageboys (exoleti) arranged according to their nationality, size and hair colour serving the drinks rather than coarse household help.

There is a long continuity in this type of consumption. In the 19th century, for example, there was a premium on tall footmen matching in size and the Victorians loved elaborate feasts with multiple courses.

Follow the money

By the mid 19th century, wealth from new industries created enormous fortunes at a time when taxation and labour costs were low.

North Americans became the richest people in the world. Clare Booth Luce, formerly married to the chairman of Time- Life, said:

In America money is a thing less valued in the spending than in the earning. It is less a symbol of luxury than of ‘success’, less of corruption than of virtue.

While Americans were good at making money, they seemed to need Europeans to spend it. The raft of rich American women who began to marry into the European aristocracy in the late 19th century were known as the “dollar princesses”, the term coming from a popular song. The British aristocracy were, of course, in turn marrying into this American wealth.

Between 1890 and 1914, half the world’s capital flowed through London. The Dollar Princesses paid for enormous renovations and modernisation of stately homes, were photographed with dozens of trunks as they moved across the Atlantic, and patronised the luxury establishments of jewellers, couturiers, florists and caterers.

The arrival of the wealthy Americans heiresses coincided with a series of challenges to the British aristocracy including the introduction of death duties, the rise in income tax and The Great Unrest of 1912.

Living in style

Between the end of the 19th century and the start of the first world war, luxury was widely reported and commented upon in diaries and memoirs. The house parties about which so much was written were characterised by excessive meals of great refinement, elaborate flowers and large numbers of visible servants.

Much luxury was French. Edward VII was a famed Francophile. The Entente Cordiale of 1904 benefited British French trade and travel.

Louis Vuitton opened in Bond St in 1900. His new flat trunks for cars were stackable, replacing older domed tops designed to repel water.

Cartier opened in London in 1902. Faberge also had a new London store.
The Paris Ritz opened in 1898 and the London Ritz Hotel in 1905, decorated in a newly fashionable white and gilt Louis XVI style.

Service Stripes

This was a period when wealthy women were laden with jewels: Kenneth Clark, the art historian, noted of a New York party in 1930 that the women “even brought pieces of jewellery in their hands and laid them down on the dinner table. This could have happened in the Middle Ages.”

Mrs Greville, one of the wealthiest women in England (daughter of a Scottish brewer), loved her jewels, owning pieces that could be traced back to Marie Antoinette and the Empress Josephine.

The late Queen Mother, a great lover of luxury and thoroughly Edwardian figure, inherited key pieces of jewellery from Mrs Greville in 1942, a friend from the time she was still Duchess of York.

But, as Elizabeth wrote in her diaries, she did not wear the lavish Cartier and Boucheron pieces until 1947, so as to not appear “out of sync” with the austerity movement immediately after the war. Profligate luxury risks looking out of step with public morals.

The Queen Mother wore all Mrs Greville’s jewels at her 80th Birthday party – and the owner of them now is Camilla, the Queen Consort. As Camilla is the grand-daughter of Edward VII’s mistress Mrs Keppel, the story comes full circle.

Mrs Greville left an estate in the 1940s worth approximately £39 million or 67 million AUD.

This is not much money if we compare it to the fortunes held by global billionaires today.

Gina Reinhart has between A$28.8 and A$31.4 billion. She lives discreetly part of the year in Dalkeith Perth in her late father’s home, in Singapore at a gated community, and on an ocean liner.

Luxury today

Today, luxury is seen as the embodiment of growing income inequality within states and communities, and also between different nations in the world. This is not new, although in the past luxury and inequality were seen as part of how a hierarchical society was structured: acknowledged, rather than seen as a problem.

Luxury is not the cause of inequality, though it might be one of its effects. When societies aims towards income and social equality (as some postwar societies did), luxury – or at least the public discussion of luxury – seems to disappear. By contrast, societies like the present, in which 1% of the population owns 49% of the world’s wealth, lead luxury to the fore.

Peter McNeil has received funding from The Leverhulme Trust. The Luxury publication project was co-authored with Professor Giorgo Riello of European University Institute.

– ref. The rich history of our love affair with luxury – https://theconversation.com/the-rich-history-of-our-love-affair-with-luxury-192732