Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura McKemmish, Lecturer, UNSW

The discovery that the atmosphere of Venus absorbs a precise frequency of microwave radiation has just turned planetary science on its head. An international team of scientists used radio telescopes in Hawaii and Chile to find signs that the clouds on Earth’s neighbouring planet contain tiny quantities of a molecule called phosphine.

Phosphine is a compound made from phosphorus and hydrogen, and on Earth its only natural source is tiny microbes that live in oxygen-free environments. It’s too early to say whether phosphine is also a sign of life on Venus – but no other explanation so far proposed seems to fit.

What makes an atmosphere?

The molecular makeup of a planet’s atmosphere normally depends on what its parent star is made of, the planet’s position in its star’s system, and the chemical and geological processes that take place given these conditions.

There is phosphine in the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn, for example, but there it’s not a sign of life. Scientists think it is formed in the deep atmosphere at high pressures and temperatures, then dredged into the upper atmosphere by a strong convection current.

Although phosphine quickly breaks down into phosphorus and hydrogen in the top clouds of these planets, enough lingers – 4.8 parts per million – to be observable. The phosphorus may be what gives clouds on Jupiter a reddish tinge.

Things are different on a rocky planet like Venus. The new research has found fainter traces of phosphine in the atmosphere, at 20 parts per billion.

Lightning, clouds, volcanoes and meteorite impacts might all produce some phosphine, but not enough to counter the rapid destruction of the compound in Venus’s highly oxidising atmosphere. The researchers considered all the chemical processes they could think of on Venus, but none could explain the concentration of phosphine. What’s left?

On Earth, phosphine is only produced by microbial life (and by various industrial processes) – and the concentration in our atmosphere is in the parts per trillion range. The much higher concentration on Venus cannot be ignored.

Read more: We asked astronomers: are we alone in the Universe? The answer was surprisingly consistent

Signs of life?

To determine whether the phosphine on Venus is really produced by life, chemists and geologists will be trying to identify other reactions and processes that could be alternative explanations.

Meanwhile, biologists will be trying to better understand the microbes that live in Venus-like conditions on Earth – high temperatures, high acidity, and high levels of carbon dioxide – and also ones that produce phosphine.

When Earth microbes produce phosphine, they do it via an “anaerobic” process, which means it happens where no oxygen is present. It has been observed in places such as activated sludge and sewage treatment plants, but the exact collection of microbes and processes is not well understood.

Biologists will also be trying to work out whether the microbes on Earth that produce phosphine could conceivably do it under the harsh Venusian conditions. If there is some biological process producing phosphine on Venus, it may be a form of “life” very different from what we know on Earth.

Searches for life beyond Earth have often skipped over Venus, because its surface temperature is around 500℃ and the atmospheric pressure is almost 100 times greater than on Earth. Conditions are more hospitable for life as we know it about 50 kilometres off the ground, although there are still vast clouds of sulfuric acid to deal with.

Read more: Why the idea of alien life now seems inevitable and possibly imminent

Molecular barcodes

The researchers found the phosphine using spectroscopy, which is the study of how light interacts with molecules. When sunlight passes through Venus’s atmosphere, each molecule absorbs very specific colours of this light.

Using telescopes on Earth, we can take this light and split it into a massive rainbow. Each type of molecule present in Venus’ atmosphere produces a distinctive pattern of dark absorption lines in this rainbow, like an identifying barcode.

This barcode is not always strongest in visible light. Sometimes it can only be detected in the parts of the electromagnetic spectrum that are invisible to the human eye, such as UV rays, microwave, radio waves and infrared.

The barcode of carbon dioxide, for example, is most evident in the infrared region of the spectrum.

While phosphine on Jupiter was first detected in infrared, for Venus observations astronomers used radio telescopes: the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT), which can detect the barcode of phosphine in millimetre wavelengths.

New barcodes, new discoveries

The discovery of phosphine on Venus relied not only on new observations, but also a more detailed knowledge of the compound’s barcode. Accurately predicting the barcode of phosphine across all relevant frequencies took the whole PhD of astrochemist Clara Sousa-Silva in the ExoMol group at University College London in 2015.

She used computational quantum chemistry – basically putting her molecule into a computer and solving the equations that describe its behaviour – to predict the strength of the barcode at different colours. She then tuned her model using available experimental data before making the 16.8 billion lines of phosphine’s barcode available to astronomers.

Sousa-Silva originally thought her data would be used to study Jupiter and Saturn, as well as weird stars and distant “hot Jupiter” exoplanets.

More recently, she led the detailed consideration of phosphine as a biosignature – a molecule whose presence implies life. This analysis demonstrated that, on small rocky exoplanets, phosphine should not be present in observable concentrations unless there was life there as well.

But she no doubt wouldn’t have dreamed of a phone call from an astronomer who has discovered phosphine on our nearest planetary neighbour. With phosphine on Venus, we won’t be limited to speculating and looking for molecular barcodes. We will be able to send probes there and hunt for the microbes directly.

– ref. Life on Venus? Traces of phosphine may be a sign of biological activity – https://theconversation.com/life-on-venus-traces-of-phosphine-may-be-a-sign-of-biological-activity-146093

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danielle Stanisic, Associate Research Leader, Institute for Glycomics, Griffith University

More than 28 million people around the world have now contracted COVID-19, and more than 900,000 people have died.

Research groups across the globe are rightly racing to find a vaccine to protect against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

While it’s not surprising all eyes are on this vaccine race, COVID-19 isn’t the only disease for which scientists are currently trying to find a vaccine.

Let’s look at three others.

The big three

We regard malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS as the “big three” infectious diseases. Together they’re responsible for about 2.7 million deaths a year around the world. They disproportionately affect low- and middle-income countries.

Deaths from these three diseases could almost double over the next year as a result of disruptions to health care in the face of COVID-19.

This is a clear example of the indirect effects of an uncontrollable infectious disease. It also reminds us of the importance of vaccine research for the many other infectious parasites, viruses and bacteria that can cause disease and death.

Read more: Creating a COVID-19 vaccine is only the first step. It’ll take years to manufacture and distribute

Malaria: the parasite

Malaria is a parasitic disease transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito. Common symptoms are flu-like: fever, headache, muscle aches and fatigue. If not treated promptly, malaria can lead to severe disease and death.

In 2018, nearly half of the world’s population was at risk from malaria. There were roughly 228 million cases and 405,000 deaths from the disease, mainly in children under five in sub-Saharan Africa.

Anti-malarial drugs are routinely used to treat and prevent malaria infection. But Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest of the malaria parasites that can infect humans, has developed resistance against all drugs currently used to treat and prevent malaria. So we urgently need an effective vaccine.

Development of a malaria vaccine is complicated by the diverse forms, or life-cycle stages, of the parasite in the human host. The immune responses required to kill the parasite differ between these different stages. So malaria vaccine candidates typically target just one parasite stage.

British multinational pharmaceutical company GSK has licensed the world’s first malaria vaccine, Mosquirix. It targets the stage the parasite is at when the mosquito injects it.

Although it’s the only malaria vaccine candidate to successfully complete phase 3 trials, Mosquirix has only moderate effectiveness (less than 40%) which drops off rapidly after the final dose. So we need a more effective vaccine capable of inducing long-lasting immunity.

There are 20 other malaria vaccine candidates in advanced pre-clinical or clinical evaluation.

At the forefront of these is Sanaria’s whole sporozoite vaccine (PfSPZ), which also targets the parasite stage injected by the mosquito. It’s currently being evaluated for effectiveness in Africa.

Read more: From STIs to malaria, here are six disease trends we should heed during the pandemic

Tuberculosis: the bacterium

Globally, tuberculosis is the leading cause of death by a single infectious agent. It’s caused by a bacterium that spreads from person to person through the air and mainly affects the lungs.

Tuberculosis was responsible for 1.5 million deaths in 2018. About one-quarter of the world’s population has latent tuberculosis, which has no symptoms and is not infectious. But 5-15% of these people will go onto develop active, infectious disease.

Generally, tuberculosis can be effectively treated with antimicrobial drugs. But the emergence of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis is a major cause of death and a serious public health concern.

We do have one licensed vaccine for tuberculosis. The BCG vaccine was first used in 1921 and is usually administered to infants in countries with high tuberculosis prevalence. But the degree and duration of protection this vaccine offers is not enough to control the disease.

Scientists are working to develop prophylactic vaccines (to prevent infection from the outset) and post-exposure vaccines (to prevent disease progression in people with latent tuberculosis).

At least 14 tuberculosis vaccine candidates are in clinical trials, with promising results giving hope we might be able to get the disease under better control in years to come.

HIV/AIDS: the virus

Since the discovery of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the 1980s, the disease has caused 33 million deaths — roughly 770,000 in 2019. Some 38 million people have HIV/AIDS worldwide.

There’s currently no cure or protective vaccine. While antiviral therapeutics can effectively control HIV, around 20% (7.6 million) of HIV-infected patients don’t have access to them.

Researchers are aiming to develop a protective vaccine against HIV. A major focus is developing broadly neutralising antibodies (antibodies that can attack different HIV strains) in HIV-infected patients.

Notably, researchers identifying and developing COVID-19 therapeutics have used significant expertise from HIV vaccine development.

For example, defining the structural details of SAR-CoV-2’s spike protein as a target for a COVID-19 vaccine, and identifying broadly neutralising antibodies from convalescent plasma as a potential treatment, are similar to strategies scientists working on HIV have used.

Read more: Could BCG, a 100-year-old vaccine for tuberculosis, protect against coronavirus?

Time and commitment

Beyond COVID-19 and the big three, there are many more conditions for which scientists are working to develop vaccines.

The current pandemic highlights the need for governments, NGOs and philanthropists to support this work — and scientific research more broadly.

Research on one type of disease can often accelerate the development of treatments for others. We’re seeing this in the quest for a COVID-19 vaccine.

Ultimately, COVID-19 has raised public awareness of the type of scientific challenges researchers encounter every day. There’s neither a silver bullet nor a shortcut in the development of a safe and effective vaccine.

– ref. COVID-19 isn’t the only infectious disease scientists are trying to find a vaccine for. Here are 3 others – https://theconversation.com/covid-19-isnt-the-only-infectious-disease-scientists-are-trying-to-find-a-vaccine-for-here-are-3-others-145271

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tom Bridge, Senior Curator – Corals, James Cook University

Look at this photo of two coral skeletons below. You’d be forgiven for thinking they’re the same species, or at least closely related, but looks can be deceiving. These two species diverged tens of millions of years ago, probably earlier than our human lineage split from baboons and macaques.

Scientists have traditionally used morphology (size, shape and colour) to identify species and infer their evolutionary history. But most species were first described in the 19th century, and based solely on features of the coral skeleton visible under a microscope.

Morphology remains important for species recognition. The problem is we don’t know whether a particular morphological feature reflects species ancestry, or evolved independently.

Our new study examined the traditional ideas of coral species and their evolutionary relationships using “phylogenomics” – comparing thousands of DNA sequences across coral species.

Our results revealed the diversity and distributions of corals are vastly different to what we previously thought. It shows we still don’t know many fundamental aspects about the corals on Great Barrier Reef.

Read more: We just spent two weeks surveying the Great Barrier Reef. What we saw was an utter tragedy

And after three mass bleaching events in five years, not having a handle on the basics could mean our attempts to intervene and help coral survive climate change may have unexpected consequences.

How do we know which species is which?

Despite being one of the best-studied marine ecosystems on Earth, there are fundamental knowledge gaps around the Great Barrier Reef, including:

1. how many coral species live there?
2. how do we identify them?
3. where are they found across the vast Great Barrier Reef ecosystem?

Finding the answers to these questions starts with accurate “taxonomy” – the science of naming and classifying living things.

Identifying species based on how similar they look may seem straightforward. As Darwin famously said, closely related species often share morphological features because they inherited them from a common ancestor.

Read more: ‘This situation brings me to despair’: two reef scientists share their climate grief

However, this can be misleading if two unrelated species independently acquire similar features. This process, called convergent evolution, often occurs when different species are faced with similar ecological challenges.

A classic example of convergent evolution is dolphins and the prehistoric ichthyosaurs. These animals are unrelated, but share many similarities since they both occupy a similar ecological niche.

At the other end of the spectrum, morphology can vary considerably within a single species. An alien taxonomist visiting Earth could be forgiven for describing the Chihuahua and the Irish Wolfhound as two distinct species.

Bringing coral taxonomy into the 21st century

We used molecular phylogenetics, a field of research that uses variations in DNA sequences to reconstruct genealogies. From corals to humans, molecular phylogenetics has revolutionised our understanding of the origins and evolution of life on Earth.

Molecular approaches have revolutionised our understanding of the diversity and evolution of corals, shedding light on deeper branches in the coral “tree of life”. But within hyper-diverse, ecologically-important coral groups, such as the staghorn corals from the genus Acropora, we are still in the dark.

Read more: If we can put a man on the Moon, we can save the Great Barrier Reef

Our new technique addresses this by comparing thousands of key regions across coral genomes (the entire genetic code of an organism) to help identify species in this ecologically important group for the first time. This method will also allow us to identify morphological features that do reflect shared ancestry and help us recognise species when diving in the reef.

About a quarter of all coral species on the Great Barrier Reef are staghorn corals, and they provide much of the three-dimensional structure fishes and many other coral reef animals rely on, just like trees in a forest.

Unfortunately, staghorn corals are also highly susceptible to threats such as thermal bleaching and crown-of-thorns seastar predation. The future of reefs will be heavily influenced by the fate of staghorn corals.

The risk of ‘silent extinctions’

While we don’t yet know how many coral species occur on the Great Barrier Reef or how widespread they are, many species appear to have far smaller ranges than we previously thought.

For example, we now know some of the corals on Lord Howe Island are endemic to only a few reefs in subtropical eastern Australia and occur nowhere else, not even on the Great Barrier Reef. They evolved in isolation and bleach at much lower temperatures than corals on tropical reefs.

This means Lord Howe Island’s corals are of far greater conservation concern than currently recognised, because one severe bleaching event could cause the extinction of these species.

Read more: Bleaching has struck the southernmost coral reef in the world

The risk of “silent extinctions”, where species go extinct without even being noticed, is one of the reasons behind the Australian Academy of Science’s Decadal Plan for Taxonomy, which has led to the ambitious goal to document all Australian species in the next 25 years.

Intervening now may have unexpected consequences

In April, the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program concept feasibility study found 160 possible interventions to help save the Great Barrier Reef. Proposed interventions include moving corals from warm to cooler waters, introducing genetically-engineered heat-tolerant corals into wild populations, and the harvest and release of coral larvae.

What could go wrong? Well-intentioned interventions may inadvertently threaten coral communities, and could result in the introduction or movement of diseases within the Great Barrier Reef. Cane toads are a famous example, introduced in the 1930s to control an insect pest, but now wreaking havoc on Australian ecosystems.

Any intervention affecting the ecology of a system as complex as the Great Barrier Reef requires a precautionary approach to minimise the chance of unintended and potentially negative consequences.

What we need, at this time, is far greater investment in fundamental biodiversity research. Without this information, we are not in a position to judge whether particular actions will threaten the resilience of the reef, rather than enhance it.

– ref. The first step to conserving the Great Barrier Reef is understanding what lives there – https://theconversation.com/the-first-step-to-conserving-the-great-barrier-reef-is-understanding-what-lives-there-146097

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mehran Nejati, Senior Lecturer in Management, Edith Cowan University

We spend, on average, about 90,000 hours at work.

Given this, most of us want work that’s more than just a source of income. We want work that’s satisfying, significant, valuable. Work, in other words, that is meaningful.

What makes any particular job meaningful is, of course, subjective. In the mid-1970s, though, economist Greg Oldham and psychologist J. Richard Hackman identified five common factors: more skill variety, task identity (doing a job from beginning to end with a visible outcome), task significance, autonomy and feedback all help make a job more meaningful.

But there are also organisational characteristics that “lift all boats”, contributing to everyone’s sense of meaningful work. In our research, we have investigated the role of three key factors – environmental consciousness, social responsibility and inclusive leadership.

We found employees who rated their employer as environmentally conscious were 25% more likely to consider their work meaningful than those who didn’t.

Those who believed their organisation was committed to corporate social responsibility were 59% more likely to think their work was meaningful.

And those who considered their supervisors to be inclusive leaders were 70% more likely to find their work meaningful.

Why meaningful work matters

Meaningful work outranks compensation, perks and other factors in career importance across all age groups, according to a 2019 survey of more than 3,500 workers in the United States, Canada, Ireland and Britain.

That survey, commissioned by software company Workhuman, found meaningful work becomes more important to us as we age. Those with sense of meaning and purpose were about four times more likely to love their jobs.

Our research involved surveying 506 Australians working full-time across a broad range of occupations and position levels in service and manufacturing organisations.

About 70% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed their work was meaningful to them. About 20% were neutral. Slightly more than 10% disagreed.

To assess the contribution of organisational-level commitments to meaningful work, we asked our respondents to rate their workplaces’ level of environmental consciousness, social responsibility and inclusive leadership. We then examined how each employee rated the meaningfulness of their own job.

Environmental consciousness

Respondents rated their organisations based on criteria we gave them. To assess environmental consciousness, for example, we asked employees to consider three elements of “green human resource management” as evidence of that environmental commitment:

• providing training and information that enabled employees to understand the environmental impact of their activities and decisions. This would include educating employees on how to reduce waste, water use and carbon emissions

• including environmental impact of actions and decisions in employees’ performance assessment, with real opportunities for staff to contribute

• recognising and rewarding employees for their contribution to environmental goals. This might be done, for example, through awards.

Among those who rated their organisations highly on environmental consciousness, 79% said they found their work meaningful. This compared with 63% of those who considered their workplace to have low environmental consciousness.

Corporate social responsibility

We defined authentic corporate social responsibility for our respondents as not just policies but actions demonstrating a genuine interest in the welfare of all stakeholders affected by the organisation’s practices.

In contrast, symbolic corporate social responsibility would be done mainly as a marketing exercise.

Read more: Australian corporate social responsibility reports are little better than window dressing

Among those who rated their organisations’s commitment to corporate social responsibility highly, 79.7% said they found their work meaningful. This compared with just 50% of respondents who thought of their employer as not having genuine interest in social responsibility.

Those who felt their organisations were authentic about corporate social responsibility were 67% more likely to say they loved their job and more than twice (or 230%) as likely to say they felt proud to work for their employer.

Inclusive leadership

We defined inclusive leadership for respondents as a management style showing openness, accessibility and availability to others. Inclusive leaders value employees for their unique contributions and make them feel a sense of belonging to the organisation and team.

We asked employees to rate their direct supervisors or leaders using several criteria as evidence of an inclusive style, including:

• did they listen to employees’ requests?
• were they available for consultation on problems?
• were they open to hearing new ideas?
• were they open to discuss the desired goals and new ways to achieve them?
• did they encourage employees to access them on emerging issues?

Among those who rated their leaders as being inclusive, 76.6% found their job to be meaningful. For those with non-inclusive leaders, just 45.2% found their work meaningful.

Inclusive leadership was also associated with more innovative behaviour. Those working for inclusive bosses were 5.4 times more likely to say they generated original solutions to problems than those with non-inclusive bosses.

Read more: Three ways to build innovation into your organisation

Work can be exciting and meaningful, and not experienced as mere work. By showing authentic commitment to social and environmental responsibilities and having inclusive leaders, organisations can create a more meaningful work for employees, enabling them to thrive.

– ref. 3 keys to meaningful work: an employer who cares about the environment, society and you – https://theconversation.com/3-keys-to-meaningful-work-an-employer-who-cares-about-the-environment-society-and-you-132761

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bronwyn Eager, Lecturer Entrepreneurship, University of Tasmania

The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley, now streaming in Australia on Binge, depicts Theranos founder and former CEO Elizabeth Holmes as a bewitching sociopath.

Holmes wanted to revolutionise health care by providing a simple and cheap way to perform blood tests using only a finger prick. In 2003, she founded Theranos, with a vision of the company’s machines in every home in America.

But, as the Wall Street Journal’s John Carreyrou revealed in 2015, Holmes created an intricate web of deception. Even as machines found their way into chemists and were being used by medical insurance companies, they never actually worked.

Holmes put patients’ lives at risk and cost investors millions of dollars.

The documentary is compelling viewing, but as it enters a very slim field of movies about female entrepreneurs it is worth questioning the impact of the stories we choose to tell.

Fall from grace

The journey Holmes took from young idol to spectacular failure is a story about systemic issues and the sometimes toxic culture of the world of start-ups.

Prior to the scandal breaking, Holmes was celebrated in the media. She was portrayed as a Stanford University dropout with a vision for changing the world. She raised hundreds of millions of dollars from powerful men in a start-up landscape known for its discriminating funding practices.

She made the cover of Forbes magazine in 2014 as the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire. Holmes represented a heady mix of tech, science and business. She was the golden girl of the start-up world.

This made her fall from grace even more spectacular.

But compare Holmes’ portrayal with another well known example of a deceitful male entrepreneur: Jordan Belfort, the “wolf of Wall Street”.

Belfort ran an elaborate crime scheme linked to manipulating the stock market and was jailed for 22 months for securities fraud. Nonetheless, his autobiography and Martin Scorsese’s 2013 film adaptation depict Belfort’s story as celebration of wealth and power, rather than a critical review of his fraudulent behaviour.

Where are all the good stories?

Feature films about female entrepreneurs are few and far between.

Research from one of the authors examined English-language films from 1986 to 2016 with female entrepreneurs as the central character. Over the 30-year period, only 11 films about women entrepreneurs were identified – fewer than the number of films about Apple co-founder Steve Jobs alone.

From Baby Boom (1987), where Diane Keaton’s character starts a baby food business, to Melissa McCarthy’s brownie empire in The Boss (2016), these films overwhelmingly depicted female entrepreneurs as running small-scale kitchen table businesses in female-dominated industries.

These movies told stories of cleaning, as in Joy (2015) and Sunshine Cleaning (2008); fashion, as in The Intern (2015); and not-for-profit work, as in the First Wives Club (1996).

Read more: Spoiler alert: old-man-power trumps a successful young woman in The Intern

Businesses depicted typically had low numbers of paid employees. The entrepreneurs were resource-poor, and most often it was a supporting male character who helped the female entrepreneur succeed.

Additionally, the study found a woman starting her own business is seemingly not enough to hold audience attention: all films included a parallel romantic storyline.

The female entrepreneur as role model

Celebrating successful female role models encourages women to dream big and succeed in male dominated arenas.

Role models provide a source of inspiration and contribute to self-belief. As the quantity of entrepreneurship related media increases, so does the amount of entrepreneurial activity.

However, negative portrayals of careers may prevent people from considering a profession.

The case of Holmes and Theranos is damaging for the betrayed customers and investors, but also for the field of entrepreneurship, which only in recent decades has seen its reputation overhauled.

Read more: Elizabeth Holmes: Theranos scandal has more to it than just toxic Silicon Valley culture

Entrepreneurship was once the domain of racketeers. Over time, it has evolved to be the domain of tech celebrities, socially conscious founders and a vehicle for upward social mobility – but still, too often, a domain of men.

One study investigated how female entrepreneurs are featured on the cover of Entrepreneur magazine. Women were vastly outnumbered by men on the cover, and were often portrayed in a stereotypical female fashion.

Words surrounding images of women tended to be about nurturing, health, beauty and fashion. Wording accompanying images of male entrepreneurs talked of power, innovation and risk taking.

Women were “glamified” in full make-up and focus given to their face, while men were more likely to be standing and set against a corporate colour palette.

Read more: COVID-19 may turn back the clock on women’s entrepreneurship

How we tell stories of female entrepreneurs matters.

In order to achieve equity in entrepreneurship, we need to acknowledge the role of the media in filling the entrepreneurship pipeline.

Positive depictions of innovative women act as a mirror, showing girls and women what they can achieve. We need more, and better, stories about female entrepreneurs so stories about female innovation aren’t limited to failure and fraud.

– ref. The Inventor tells a story of a fraudulent female billionaire. Where are the films starring successful women entrepreneurs? – https://theconversation.com/the-inventor-tells-a-story-of-a-fraudulent-female-billionaire-where-are-the-films-starring-successful-women-entrepreneurs-145922

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

The Morrison government has threatened to use Snowy Hydro to build a gas generator in the Hunter Valley if the electricity sector fails to fill the gap left by the scheduled closure of the Liddell power plant in 2023.

The threat comes as the government separately released its plan to place gas at the centre of Australia’s economic recovery, with a package of measures to “reset” the east coast market and “unlock” supply.

Scott Morrison and Energy Minister Angus Taylor said the electricity sector had to deliver 1,000 megawatts of new dispatchable energy to replace the Liddell power station before it closed.

“The Government will step up and back a new gas power plant in the Hunter Valley if the sector doesn’t replace Liddell’s capacity,” they said in an ultimatum to the sector.

“Snowy Hydro Limited is developing options to build a gas generator in the Hunter Valley at Kurri Kurri should the market not deliver what consumers need.”

The government had a long running battle with AGL over its determination to close Liddell, trying unsuccessfully to force it to abandon the decision.

Morrison and Taylor said the government’s Liddell taskforce had found closing the plant without adequate dispatchable replacement capacity could mean a 30% price rise over two years, or $20 per megawatt hour to $80 in 2024 and up to $105 per MWH by 2030.

Morrison said such rises were unacceptable – they would be a huge hit to families, businesses and job creating industries in NSW if the energy generated by Liddell wasn’t replaced.

“We won’t risk the affordability and reliability of the NSW energy system and will step in unless the industry steps up.

“To ensure we do not have a scenario without replacement, the government is giving the private sector until the end of April 2021 to reach final investment decisions on 1000 MW of dispatchable capacity, with a commitment for generation in time for summer 2023-24.”

In its announcement of its gas plan, the government says its proposed multiple initiatives will deliver affordable and reliable energy for households, business and industry, and shore up the energy grid’s reliability as renewables form an increasingly larger part of the energy market.

One part of the plan is the creation of an Australian Gas Hub at Wallumbilla in Queensland to bring users and suppliers closer together, delivering a transparent liquid gas trading system.

This is modelled on the Henry Hub located in Louisiana which is a distribution point on a natural gas pipeline system. It serves as the official delivery location for futures contracts.

The concept of a gas-led recovery is highly controversial. It has been strongly pushed by the chair of the government’s national COVID-19 commission Nev Power, and the government argues that gas is much lower in emissions than coal fired power.

But the promotion of gas is resisted by environmentalists, given it is a fossil fuel, and questioned by some in the investment community who doubt it will be possible to achieve gas prices low enough to make a major economic difference.

Announcing the “gas-fired recovery” plan Morrison, Taylor and Resources Minister Keith Pitt said: “The government wants the private sector to step-up and make timely investments in the gas market.”

But “if the private sector fails to act, the government will step in – as it has done for electricity transmission – to back these nation building projects. This may include through streamlining approvals, underwriting projects or the establishment of a special purpose vehicle with a capped government contribution”.

The government says the east coast market needs change because it is not delivering internationally competitive prices for Australian businesses and households.

International prices have fallen but this has not been reflected in lower long term contract offers for Australian customers. There are also fears of a supply shortfall in the medium term.

Under the measures, new gas supply targets will be set with states and territories and a potential “use it or lose it” requirement will be enforced on gas licences.

The government aims to unlock five new gas basins beginning with the Beetaloo Basin in the Northern Territory and the North Bowen and Galilee Basis in Queensland. This will cost $28.3 million for the plans.

To avoid supply shortfalls, there will be new agreements with the three east coast LNG exporters with strengthened commitments on price.

The government will also “explore options” for a prospective gas reservation scheme “to ensure Australian gas users get the energy they need at a reasonable price”.

To improve the gas transport network the government will identify priority pipelines and critical infrastructure for a National Gas Infrastructure Plan (NGIP) worth $10.9 million . This will also highlight where the government will step in if private investors do not.

The regulations on pipeline infrastructure will be reformed to increase competition and transparency; competition will be further promoted by kick starting work on a secondary pipeline capacity market.

The government will work with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to review the calculation of the LNG netback price which provides a guide on the export parity prices.

It will also use the NGIP to develop customer hubs to boost competition and transparency for customers.

HERE ARE THE GOVERNMENT’S DETAILED MEASURES.

It will get more gas into the market by:

• Setting new gas supply targets with states and territories and enforce potential “use-it or lose-it” requirements on gas licenses

• Unlocking five key gas basins starting with the Beetaloo Basin in the NT and the North Bowen and Galilee Basin in Queensland, at a cost of $28.3 million for the plans

• Avoiding any supply shortfall in the gas market with new agreements with the three east coast LNG exporters that will also strengthen price commitments

• Supporting CSIRO’s Gas Industry Social and Environmental Research Alliance with $13.7 million

• Exploring options for a prospective gas reservation scheme to ensure Australian gas users get the energy they need at a reasonable price.

It will boost the gas transport network by:

• Identifying priority pipelines and critical infrastructure as part of an inaugural National Gas Infrastructure Plan (NGIP) worth $10.9 million that will also highlight where the government will step in if the private sector doesn’t invest

• Reforming the regulations on pipeline infrastructure to promote competition and transparency

• Improving pipeline access and competition by kick-starting work on a dynamic secondary pipeline capacity market.

To better empower gas consumers, it will:

• Establish an Australian Gas Hub at our most strategically located and connected gas trading hub at Wallumbilla in Queensland to deliver an open, transparent and liquid gas trading system

• Level the negotiating playing field for gas producers and consumers through a voluntary industry-led code of conduct, to be delivered by February 2021

• Ensure Australians are paying the right price for their gas by working with the ACCC to review the calculation of the LNG netback price which provides a guide on the export parity prices

• Use the NGIP to develop customer hubs or a book-build program that will give gas customers a more transparent and competitive process for meeting their needs.

– ref. Morrison government threatens to use Snowy Hydro to build gas generator, as it outlines ‘gas-fired recovery’ plan – https://theconversation.com/morrison-government-threatens-to-use-snowy-hydro-to-build-gas-generator-as-it-outlines-gas-fired-recovery-plan-146154

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bruce Baer Arnold, Assistant Professor, School of Law, University of Canberra

National security is like sausage-making. We might enjoy the tasty product, but want to look away from the manufacturing.

Recent news that Chinese company Zhenhua Data is profiling more than 35,000 Australians isn’t a surprise to people with an interest in privacy, security and social networks. We need to think critically about this, knowing we can do something to prevent it from happening again.

Reports indicate Zhenhua provides services to the Chinese government. It may also provide services to businesses in China and overseas.

The company operates under Chinese law and doesn’t appear to have a presence in Australia. That means we can’t shut it down or penalise it for a breach of our law. Also, Beijing is unlikely to respond to expressions of outrage from Australia or condemnation by our government – especially amid recent sabre-rattling.

Read more: Journalists have become diplomatic pawns in China’s relations with the West, setting a worrying precedent

Zhenhua is reported to have data on more than 35,000 Australians – a list saturated by political leaders and prominent figures. Names, birthdays, addresses, marital status, photographs, political associations, relatives and social media account details are among the information extracted.

It seems Zhenhua has data on a wide range of Australians, including public figures such as Victorian supreme court judge Anthony Cavanough, Australia’s former ambassador to China Geoff Raby, former NSW premier and federal foreign affairs minister Bob Carr, tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes and singer Natalie Imbruglia.

It’s not clear how individuals are being targeted. The profiling might be systematic. It might instead be conducted on the basis of a specific industry, academic discipline, public prominence or perceived political influence.

It’s unlikely Zhenhua profiles random members of the public. That means there’s no reason for average citizens without a China connection to be worried.

Still, details around the intelligence gathering elude us, so best practise for the public is to maintain as much online privacy as possible, whenever possible.

Overall, we don’t know much about Zhenhua’s goals. And what we do know came from a leak to a US academic who sensibly fled China in 2018, fearing for his safety.

Pervasive surveillance is the norm

Pervasive surveillance is now a standard feature of all major governments, which often rely on surveillance-for-profit companies. Governments in the West buy services from big data analytic companies such as Palantir.

Australia’s government gathers information outside our borders, too. Take the bugging of the Timor-Leste government, a supposed friend rather than enemy.

How sophisticated is the plot?

Revelations about Zhenhua have referred to the use of artificial intelligence and the “mosaic” method of intelligence gathering. But this is probably less exciting than it sounds.

Reports indicate much of the data was extracted from online open sources. Access to much of this would have simply involved using algorithms to aggregate targets’ names, dates, qualifications and work history data found on publicly available sites.

The algorithms then help put the individual pieces of the “mosaic” together and fill in the holes on the basis of each individual’s relationship with others, such as their as peers, colleagues or partners.

Some of the data for the mosaic may come from hacking or be gathered directly by the profiler. According to the ABC, some data that landed in Zhenhua’s lap was taken from the dark web.

One seller might have spent years copying data from university networks. For example, last year the Australian National University acknowledged major personal data breaches had taken place, potentially extending back 19 years.

This year there was also the unauthorised (and avoidable) access by cybercriminals to NSW government data on 200,000 people.

While it may be confronting to know a foreign state is compiling information on Australian citizens, it should be comforting to learn sharing this information can be avoided – if you’re careful.

What’s going on in the black box?

One big question is what Zhenhua’s customers in China’s political and business spheres might do with the data they’ve compiled on Australian citizens. Frankly, we don’t know. National security is often a black box and we are unlikely ever to get verifiable details.

Apart from distaste at being profiled, we might say being watched is no big deal, especially given many of those on the list are already public figures. Simply having an AI-assisted “Who’s Who” of prominent Australians isn’t necessarily frightening.

However, it is of concern if the information collected is being used for disinformation, such as through any means intended to erode trust in political processes, or subvert elections.

For instance, a report published in June by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute detailed how Chinese-speaking people in Australia were being targeted by a “persistent, large-scale influence campaign linked to Chinese state actors”.

Deep fake videos are another form of subversion of increasing concern to governments and academics, particularly in the US.

Read more: Deepfake videos could destroy trust in society – here’s how to restore it

Can we fix this?

We can’t make Zhenhua and its competitors disappear. Governments think they are too useful.

Making everything visible to state surveillance is now the ambition of many law enforcement bodies and all intelligence agencies. It’s akin to Google and its competitors wanting to know (and sell) everything about us, without regard for privacy as a human right.

We can, however, build resilience.

One way is to require government agencies and businesses to safeguard their databases. That hasn’t been the case with the NSW government, Commonwealth governments, Facebook, dating services and major hospitals.

In Australia, we need to adopt recommendations by law reform inquiries and establish a national right to privacy. The associated privacy tort would incentivise data custodians and also encourage the public to avoid oversharing online.

In doing so, we might be better placed to condemn both China and other nations participating in unethical intelligence gathering, while properly acknowledging our own wrongdoings in Timor-Leste.

– ref. Keep calm, but don’t just carry on: how to deal with China’s mass surveillance of thousands of Australians – https://theconversation.com/keep-calm-but-dont-just-carry-on-how-to-deal-with-chinas-mass-surveillance-of-thousands-of-australians-146103

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Carbone, Honorary, School for Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne

Despite the incremental easing of Victoria’s restrictions, it’s clear the journey towards COVID-normal is far slower than many people had hoped.

Australians – particularly Victorians – have shown remarkable resilience, but many are suffering emotionally.

The mental health impacts of COVID-19

During the early days of the pandemic, surveys showed a sharp increase in symptoms of anxiety and depression across Australia. These difficulties continued into mid-August. More than 40% of Australians aged 18 years and older feel high levels of anxiety, and around one in six report depressive symptoms.

To target this, federal and state governments have increased telephone, online and face-to-face mental health supports. While this is vital, more needs to be done to prevent people suffering severe mental health problems in the first place.

Prevention is better than cure

There’s good evidence we can prevent many cases of depression, anxiety and substance abuse. But Australia doesn’t have a mental health prevention plan or policy, and government funding for prevention is just 1% of the total mental health budget.

Read more: Women are drinking more during the pandemic, and it’s probably got a lot to do with their mental health

The Fifth National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan, the government’s key mental health blueprint, focuses on improving mental health-care services and suicide prevention, but not on preventing the mental health conditions that are a major risk factor for suicide.

What about illness prevention?

Last month the federal government released a consultation paper on its proposed National Preventive Health Strategy, setting out what the strategy will aim to achieve and how it might be done.

Read more: The government will spend $48 million to safeguard mental health. Extending JobKeeper would safeguard it even more

The document’s exciting because it focuses on health promotion and illness prevention, acknowledging we can’t improve the health of the Australian community through health-care measures alone.

But unfortunately, the proposed strategy’s fundamentally focused on physical health issues. In its 20 pages, the consultation paper only mentions mental health three times.

The same principles outlined in the strategy to prevent conditions such as diabetes also apply to preventing mental health conditions such as depression. To prevent either, we need to minimise risk factors and increase protective factors linked to the condition, before it occurs. But some adaptation would be needed for the plan to address both physical and mental health.

Read more: If Australia really wants to tackle mental health after coronavirus, we must take action on homelessness

What prevention measures should be added?

A focus on physical activity, healthy eating, and non-smoking will help to promote good mental health as well as physical health.

To prevent mental health issues we should focus on building people’s health literacy and self-care skills through public information campaigns and online learning programs. Supportive social environments can be encouraged by parenting programs, and school and workplace mental health promotion initiatives.

Local communities could also be mobilised to take positive action on local issues that contribute to poor health and mental health through place-based strategies. Place-based strategies aim to tackle issues existing at a neighbourhood level, such as social isolation and poor housing.

Read more: Melbourne’s second lockdown will take a toll on mental health. We need to look out for the vulnerable

Services could be reoriented towards prevention. Primary care professionals might provide advice on self-care and use social prescribing to address stress and enhance social supports. Social prescribing involves medical professionals linking patients to non-medical supports. For example, they may provide an “exercise prescription” or “art prescription”.

Finally, appropriate public policy solutions, such as JobSeeker and JobKeeper, that tackle the social and economic determinants of ill-health are needed.

Social factors matter too

Research also points to a strong link between mental health conditions and experience of childhood adversity, family violence, loneliness, racism, homophobia and transphobia. Workplace stressors, financial stress, unemployment and homelessness are also risk factors.

Many of these issues are on the increase because of COVID-19, so to safeguard mental health we need to tackle them and their impact. This will require the use of evidence-based preventive programs outlined above – many of which already exist but are not being implemented well or to sufficient scale. It will also require public policies to soften the economic blow and ease financial stress.

Targeting these issues will not only help to prevent mental health conditions, but physical health conditions as well.

Read more: Feeling hopeless? There are things you can do to create and maintain hope in a post-coronavirus world

While better access to mental health-care services is important, it can’t solve all the mental health challenges posed by COVID-19. We also need to strengthen the factors that buffer people against stress, and tackle the underlying factors that contribute to poor mental health.

Whether we create a National Preventive Mental Health Plan, or embed mental health in the current National Preventive Health Strategy, one thing’s for sure: continuing to ignore the prevention of mental health conditions is not an option in a COVID-19 world.

– ref. We can’t ignore mental illness prevention in a COVID-19 world – https://theconversation.com/we-cant-ignore-mental-illness-prevention-in-a-covid-19-world-145686

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Phillip Baker, Research Fellow, Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Deakin University, Deakin University

Humans (and our ancestors) have been processing food for at least 1.8 million years. Roasting, drying, grinding and other techniques made food more nutritious, durable and tasty. This helped our ancestors to colonise diverse habitats, and then develop settlements and civilisations.

Many traditional foods used in cooking today are processed in some way, such as grains, cheeses, dried fish and fermented vegetables. Processing itself is not the problem.

Only much more recently has a different type of food processing emerged: one that is more extensive, and uses new chemical and physical techniques. This is called ultra-processing, and the resulting products ultra-processed foods.

To make these foods, cheap ingredients such as starches, vegetable oils and sugars, are combined with cosmetic additives like colours, flavours and emulsifiers. Think sugary drinks, confectionery, mass-produced breads, snack foods, sweetened dairy products and frozen desserts.

Unfortunately, these foods are terrible for our health. And we’re eating more of them than ever before, partially because of aggressive marketing and lobbying by “Big Food”.

Ultra-processed foods are harming our health

So concludes our recent literature review. We found that more ultra-processed foods in the diet associates with higher risks of obesity, heart disease and stroke, type-2 diabetes, cancer, frailty, depression and death.

These harms can be caused by the foods’ poor nutritional profile, as many are high in added sugars, salt and trans-fats. Also, if you tend to eat more ultra-processed foods, it means you probably eat fewer fresh and less-processed foods.

Industrial processing itself can also be harmful. For example, certain food additives can disrupt our gut bacteria and trigger inflammation, while plasticisers in packaging can interfere with our hormonal system.

Certain features of ultra-processed foods also promote over-consumption. Product flavours, aromas and mouthfeel are designed to make these foods ultra-tasty, and perhaps even addictive.

Ultra-processed foods also harm the environment. For example, food packaging generates much of the plastic waste that enters marine ecosystems.

And yet, we’re eating more and more of them

In our latest study, published in August, we found ultra-processed food sales are booming nearly everywhere in the world.

Sales are highest in rich countries like Australia, the United States and Canada. They are rising rapidly in middle-income countries like China, South Africa and Brazil, which are highly populated. The scale of dietary change and harms to health are therefore likely immense.

‘Big Food’ is driving consumption

We also asked: what explains the global rise in ultra-processed food sales? Growing incomes, more people living in cities, and working families seeking convenience are a few factors that contribute.

However, it’s also clear “Big Food” corporations are driving ultra-processed food consumption globally — think Coca-Cola, Nestlé and McDonald’s. Sales growth is lower in countries where such corporations have a limited presence.

Globalisation has allowed these corporations to make huge investments in their overseas operations. The Coca-Cola System, for example, now includes 900 bottling plants worldwide, distributing 2 billion servings every day.

As Big Food globalises, their advertising and promotion becomes widespread. New digital technologies, such as gaming, are used to target children. By collecting large amounts of personal data online, companies can even target their advertising at us as individuals.

Supermarkets are now spreading throughout the developing world, provisioning ultra-processed foods at scale, and at low prices. Where supermarkets don’t exist, other distribution strategies are used. For example, Nestlé uses its “door-to-door” salesforce to reach thousands of poor households in Brazil’s urban slums.

Rising consumption also reflects Big Food’s political power to undermine public health policies. This includes lobbying policymakers, making political donations, funding favourable research, and partnerships with community organisations.

Read more: Sweet power: the politics of sugar, sugary drinks and poor nutrition in Australia

Here’s how things can change

The evidence that ultra-processed foods are harming our health and the planet is clear. We must now consider using a variety of strategies to decrease consumption. This includes adopting new laws and regulations, for example by using taxation, marketing restrictions and removing these products from schools.

We cannot rely on industry-preferred responses such as product reformulation alone. After all, reformulated ultra-processed foods are usually still ultra-processed.

Further, simply telling individuals to “be more responsible” is unlikely to work, when Big Food spends billions every year marketing unhealthy products to undermine that responsibility.

Should dietary guidelines now strongly advise people to avoid ultra-processed foods? Brazil and other Latin American countries are already doing this.

And for us as individuals the advice is simple — avoid ultra-processed foods altogether.

– ref. The rise of ultra-processed foods and why they’re really bad for our health – https://theconversation.com/the-rise-of-ultra-processed-foods-and-why-theyre-really-bad-for-our-health-140537

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul McInerney, Research scientist, CSIRO

As the world watched the Black Summer bushfires in horror, we warned that when it did finally rain, our aquatic ecosystems would be devastated.

Following bushfires, rainfall can wash huge volumes of ash and debris from burnt vegetation and exposed soil into rivers. Fires can also lead to soil “hydrophobia”, where soil refuses to absorb water, which can generate more runoff at higher intensity. Ash and contaminants from the fire, including toxic metals, carbon and fire retardants, can also threaten biodiversity in streams.

Read more: The sweet relief of rain after bushfires threatens disaster for our rivers

As expected, when heavy rains eventually extinguished many fires, it turned high quality water in our rivers to sludge with the consistency of cake mix.

In the weeks following the first rains, we sampled from these rivers. This is what we saw.

Sampling the upper Murray River

Of particular concern was the upper Murray River on the border between Victoria and NSW, which is critical for water supply. There, the bushfires were particularly intense.

When long-awaited rain eventually came to the upper Murray River catchment, it was in the form of large localised storms. Tonnes of ash, sediment and debris were washed into creeks and the Murray River. Steep terrain within burnt regions of the upper Murray catchment generated a large volume of fast flowing runoff that carried with it sediment and pollutants.

We collected water samples in the upper Murray River in January and February 2020 to assess impacts to riverine plants and animals.

Our water samples were up to 30 times more turbid (cloudy) than normal, with total suspended solids as high as 765 milligrams per litre. Heavy metals such as zinc, arsenic, chromium, nickel, copper and lead were recorded in concentrations well above guideline values for healthy waterways.

We took the water collected from the Murray River to the laboratory, where we conducted a number of toxicological experiments on duckweed (a floating water plant), water fleas (small aquatic invertebrates) and juvenile freshwater snails.

What we found

During a seven-day exposure to the bushfire affected river water, the growth rate of duckweed was reduced by 30-60%.

The water fleas ingested large amounts of suspended sediments when they were exposed to the affected water for 48 hours. Following the exposure, water flea reproduction was significantly impaired.

And freshwater snail egg sacs were smothered. The ash resulted in complete deaths of snail larvae after 14 days.

Read more: Before and after: see how bushfire and rain turned the Macquarie perch’s home to sludge

These sad impacts to growth, reproduction and death rates were primarily a result of the combined effects of the ash and contaminants, according to our preliminary investigations.

But they can have longer-term knock-on effects to larger animals like birds and fish that rely on biota like snail eggs, water fleas and duckweed for food.

What happened to the fish?

Immediately following the first pulse of sediment, dead fish (mostly introduced European carp and native Murray Cod) were observed on the bank of River Murray at Burrowye Reserve, Victoria. But what, exactly, was their cause of death?

Our first assumption was that they died from a lack of oxygen in the water. This is because ash and nutrients combined with high summer water temperatures can trigger increased activity of microbes, such as bacteria.

This, in turn can deplete the dissolved oxygen concentration in the water (also known as hypoxia) as the microbes consume oxygen. And wide-spread hypoxia can lead to large scale fish kills.

Read more: Click through the tragic stories of 119 species still struggling after Black Summer in this interactive (and how to help)

But to our surprise, although dissolved oxygen in the Murray River was lower than usual, we did not record it at levels low enough for hypoxia. Instead, we saw the dead fish had large quantities of sediment trapped in their gills. The fish deaths were also quite localised.

In this case, we think fish death was simply caused by the extremely high sediment and ash load in the river that physically clogged their gills, not a lack of dissolved oxygen in the water.

These findings are not unusual, and following the 2003 bushfires in Victoria fish kills were attributed to a combination of low dissolved oxygen and high turbidity.

So how can we prepare for future bushfires?

Preventing sediment being washed into rivers following fires is difficult. Installing sediment barriers and other erosion control measures can protect specific areas. However, at the catchment scale, a more holistic approach is required.

Read more: The NSW bushfire inquiry found property loss is ‘inevitable’. We must stop building homes in such fire-prone areas

One way is to increase efforts to re-vegetate stream banks (called riparian zones) to help buffer the runoff. A step further is to consider re-vegetating these zones with native plants that don’t burn easily, such as Blackwood (Acacia melanoxylin).

Streams known to host rare or endangered aquatic species should form the focus of any fire preparation activities. Some species exist only in highly localised areas, such as the endangered native barred galaxias (Galaxias fuscus) in central Victoria. This means an extreme fire event there can lead to the extinction of the whole species.

That’s why reintroducing endangered species to their former ranges in multiple catchments to broaden their distribution is important.

Increasing the connectivity within our streams would also allow animals like fish to evade poor water quality — dams and weirs can prevent this. The removal of such barriers, or installing “fish-ways” may be important to protecting fish populations from bushfire impacts.

However, dams can also be used to benefit animal and plant life (biota). When sediment is washed into large rivers, as we saw in the Murray River after the Black Summer fires, the release of good quality water from dams can be used to dilute poor quality water washed in from fire affected tributaries.

Read more: California is on fire. From across the Pacific, Australians watch on and buckle up

Citizen scientists can help, too. It can be difficult for researchers to monitor aquatic ecosystems during and immediately following bushfires and unmanned monitoring stations are often damaged or destroyed.

CSIRO is working closely with state authorities and the public to improve citizen science apps such as EyeOnWater to collect water quality data. With more eyes in more areas, these data can improve our understanding of aquatic ecosystem responses to fire and to inform strategic planning for future fires.

These are some simple first steps that can be taken now.

Recent investment in bushfire research has largely centred on how the previous fires have influenced species’ distribution and health. But if we want to avoid wildlife catastrophes, we must also look forward to the mitigation of future bushfire impacts.

– ref. How bushfires and rain turned our waterways into ‘cake mix’, and what we can do about it – https://theconversation.com/how-bushfires-and-rain-turned-our-waterways-into-cake-mix-and-what-we-can-do-about-it-144504

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Maxwell, Senior Lecturer, University of Southern Queensland

To enlarge a phone, or not to enlarge a phone? That is the question. In the world of flagship smartphones, there seems to be one clear trend: bigger is better.

Manufacturers are trying to strip away anything that might stand in the way of the largest possible slab of screen. There is also growing demand for thinner phones with diminishing bezels (the area surrounding a screen).

This trend has now culminated in the latest innovation in smartphone design, the foldable screen phone. These devices sport thin OLED self illuminating screens that can be folded in half.

The newest release is the Samsung Galaxy Z fold 2 – a device that is almost three-quarters screen and has extravagant overtones rivalled only by a hefty A$2,999 price tag.

But to prevent the phones themselves from growing to unwieldy size, manufacturers are having to find ways to balance size with usability and durability. This presents some interesting engineering challenges, as well as some innovative solutions.

Internal design complexities of folding phones

Modern phones still typically use a thin LCD or plastic OLED display covered by an outer glass panel.

Folding displays are a new category that exploit the flexibility of OLED display panels. Instead of simply fixing these panels to a rigid glass panel, they carefully engineer the panel so that it bends – but never quite tightly enough to snap or crack.

Internal structural support is needed to make sure the panel doesn’t crease, or isn’t stressed to the point of creating damage, discolouration or visible surface ripples.

Since this is a mechanical, moving system, reliability issues need to be considered. For instance, how long will the hinge last? How many times can it be folded and unfolded before it malfunctions? Will dirt or dust make its way into the assembly during daily use and affect the screen?

Such devices need an added layer of reliability over traditional slab-like phones, which have no moving parts.

Read more: The new iPhone SE is the cheapest yet: smart move, or a premium tech brand losing its way?

Large screen, thin phone: a recipe for disaster?

Each generation of smartphones becomes thinner and with smaller bezels, which improves the viewing experience but can make the phone harder to handle.

In such designs, the area of the device you can grip without touching the display screen is small. This leads to a higher chance of dropping the device – a blunder even the best of us have made.

There’s an ongoing tussle between consumers and manufacturers. Consumers want a large, viewable surface as well as an easily portable and rugged device. But from an engineering point of view, these are usually competing requirements.

You’ll often see people in smartphone ads holding the device with two hands. In real life, however, most people use their phone with one hand.

Thus, the shift towards larger, thinner phones has also given rise to a boom in demand for assistive tools attached to the back, such as pop-out grips and phone rings.

In trying to maximise screen size, smartphone developers also have to account for interruptions in the display, such as the placement of cameras, laser scanners (for face or object identification), proximity sensors and speakers. All are placed to minimise visual intrusion.

Now you see it, now you don’t

In the engineering world, to measure the physical world you need either cameras or sensors, such as in a fingerprint scanner.

With the race to increase the real estate space on screens, typically these cameras and scanners are placed somewhere around the screen. But they take up valuable space.

This is why we’ve recently seen tricks to carve out more space for them, such as pop up cameras and punch-hole cameras, in which the camera sits in a cutout hole allowing the display to extend to the corners.

But another fantastic place for sensors is right in front of us: the screen. Or more specifically, under the screen.

Samsung is one company that has suggested placing selfie-cameras and fingerprint readers behind the screen. But how do you capture a photo or a face image through a layer of screen?

Up until recently, this has been put in the “too hard basket”. But that is changing: Xiaomi, Huawei and Samsung all have patents for under-display cameras.

There are a range of ways to do this, from allowing a camera to see through the screen, to using microlenses and camera pixels distributed throughout the display itself – similar to an insect’s compound eye.

In either case, the general engineering challenge is to implement the feature in a way that doesn’t impact screen image quality, nor majorly affect camera resolution or colour accuracy.

Laptops in our pockets

With up to 3.8 billion smartphone users expected by 2021, mobile computing is a primary consumer technology area seeing significant growth and investment.

One driver for this is the professional market, where larger mobile devices allow more efficient on-the-go business transactions. The second market is individuals who who only have a mobile device and no laptop or desktop computer.

It’s all about choice, but also functionality. Whatever you choose has to get the job done, support a positive user experience, but also survive the rigours of the real world.

Read more: Apple’s iPhone 11 Pro wants to take your laptop’s job (and price tag)

– ref. Behind the new Samsung Fold: how the quest to maximise screen size is driving major innovation – https://theconversation.com/behind-the-new-samsung-fold-how-the-quest-to-maximise-screen-size-is-driving-major-innovation-145700

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Duffy, Lecturer, School of Business, Western Sydney University

As Australia and New Zealand face the realities of slow growth, or even a decline in population, it’s time to ask if their governments are doing enough. Especially if they want to encourage people to have more babies.

New Zealand’s fertility rate has hit an all-time low of 1.71 children per woman. The opposition National Party wants to entice parents with a NZ$3,000 “baby bonus” to be spent on family services.

Australia’s population growth rate is forecast to be 0.6% in 2021, its lowest since 1916.

Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenburg urged Australians to have more children, reminding many of then treasurer Peter Costello’s encouragement to those who can to have “one for mum, one for dad and one for the country”.

But if governments want people to procreate for their nation, they must be prepared to help them, and that includes increases in paid parental leave.

The current system

New Zealand introduced paid parental leave in 1999, first as a tax credit then as a cash payment. Over time, the length was increased from 12 to 26 weeks, currently paid to a maximum of NZ$606.46 a week.

There is no paid parental leave offered to dads or partners (although they are legally entitled to two weeks’ unpaid leave). But mums may transfer a portion of the 26 weeks to the dad or partner.

Read more: Reforming ‘dad leave’ is a baby step towards greater gender equality

Ten years ago, Australia was one of the last countries in the developed world to adopt government-funded maternity leave.

It offers the primary carer (99.5% of the time, the mum) 18 weeks of paid leave at the minimum wage (currently A$753.80). Only two weeks at the minimum wage is provided for the secondary carer.

When you compare the payment rates of parental leave to average salaries in each country (table below), Australia’s 18 weeks drops to an equivalent of 7.9 weeks annual average salary and New Zealand from 26 weeks to 15.5 weeks.

These low leave payments appear even less generous when compared to the OECD average of 54.1 weeks of paid parental leave for mums and eight weeks for dads or partners.

While employers often top up state-paid parental leave entitlements, this is not always the case. For example, Australia’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency found more than 70% of financial services companies offered paid parental leave, but more than 80% of retail businesses did not.

Earning or caring

Given that dads or partners on both sides of the ditch face either no income for two weeks or less then half of the average income, it’s no wonder they choose to keep working to support their families financially.

We know from an Australian Human Rights Commission study in 2014 that 85% of dads and partners surveyed took up to four weeks’ leave, and more than half said they would have liked to take more to spend time with mum and newborn. There are substantial benefits including an increase in the mental health and well‐being of fathers and their children as well as greater harmony for the couple.

Motherhood penalises women, contributing to significantly lower lifetime earnings. Not to mention the “second shift” of domestic duties they do if they are balancing work and family.

If dads and partners spend more time with their families earlier on in their children’s lives, this increases the likelihood that household chores and caring responsibilities will be more evenly distributed.

Womens’ employment has also been hit harder by the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes receiving less government assistance.

The move to roll back free child care in Australia was called a “betrayal of Australian families” and “an anti-women move” by Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi.

In addition to the “second shift”, women bear the brunt of a “third shift” – known as the mental load. The business of running the family is characteristically undervalued and unpaid emotional labour, which is mostly taken care of by women.

For many dual-income families, lockdown has changed the allocation of household chores and caring responsibilities. Research shows the gap between men and women has narrowed.

More women in the workplace

In the upcoming New Zealand election, it will be interesting to see how the different parties deal with supporting families, the gender pay gap and female workforce participation.

If ever an example was needed to show how satisfying a non-traditional care arrangement can be for both parents, consider stay-at-home dad Clarke Gayford, who supports Jacinda Ardern to be New Zealand’s prime minister.

Our previous research found government policy alone does not increase the uptake of dads or partners taking parental leave. Changing workplace norms to support them is a key factor in creating flexible work arrangements and increasing parental leave uptake.

Read more: Father’s days: increasing the ‘daddy quota’ in parental leave makes everyone happier

Working from home has made fatherhood more visible and increased the time some Australian dads spend caring for their children.

In a post-pandemic world, care responsibilities can no longer be labelled a private matter. New Zealand and Australia both have parental leave policies that fail to offer families real choices about care arrangements.

Dads and partners need their own leave entitlements and greater acceptance of their caring responsibilities in the workplace. These changes will challenge caring as women’s work, ease the burden on women and may even boost the fertility rate.

– ref. Paid parental leave needs an overhaul if governments want us to have ‘one for the country’ – https://theconversation.com/paid-parental-leave-needs-an-overhaul-if-governments-want-us-to-have-one-for-the-country-145627

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Rowe, Emeritus Professor of Cultural Research, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University

On Tuesday, it will be 20 years since the Olympic opening ceremony in Sydney, kicking off the “best games ever”.

Our newspapers and TV screens are now awash with nostalgia about great sporting moments and the spectacle and ceremony of the Olympics.

Read more: Freeman review: documentary relives the time Cathy Freeman flew, carrying the weight of the nation

It was certainly a very big party. But with the hindsight of 20 years, other than creating a lot of classic sporting memories, did the Olympics change us?

An ambivalent legacy

There is considerable ambivalence regarding Sydney 2000.

The economics of mega sports events are notoriously slippery and difficult to work out.

In 1993, KPMG estimated there would a more than $7 billion benefit to the national economy. But subsequent analyses produced other figures. A 1998 estimate by University of Tasmania and NSW Treasury economists suggested there would be only a 0.11% effect on GDP over the 12-year Olympic phase.

On other measures, the impact is also difficult to see.

The Olympics did not generate a sustained increase in sport participation in Australia. And its legacy as a “Green Games” is debatable.

The main Olympic site did create usable space and parklands on what was a huge, derelict industrial site in Sydney’s west. The athlete’s village also became a solar-powered suburb. But two decades on, Sydney Olympic Park is still searching for a soul during the working week.

A global Australia

So, where did Sydney 2000 leave its biggest mark on 21st century Australia?

Australia had held the Olympics before Sydney, but Melbourne in 1956 was a very different affair. There were fewer than 100,000 television sets in the country and no live international satellite transmission.

Sydney 2000 provided a striking opportunity for Australia to project a global image as a sophisticated, multicultural nation.

Although Olympic tourism promotion relied heavily on Australia’s natural environment, its strategy made room for showing Australia as a highly urbanised, culturally diverse society.

Most importantly, Australia avoided the huge reputational hit of getting the games “wrong”. Only four years earlier, the 1996 Atlanta Olympics were widely criticised for being poorly organised and over-commercialised. It also had to contend with a domestic terrorist bombing.

The Sydney games, supported by an army of volunteers, generally went off without a hitch and received plenty of plaudits. It generated goodwill on which the city and country could trade, literally, in ensuing decades.

Indigenous Australia

In the lead up to the games, I was interviewed by a number of foreign journalists doing background stories. One topic dominated all others – the state of Indigenous relations in Australia.

Journalists were all too aware Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders had mooted a boycott of the games, perhaps supported by some African nations, due to Australia’s maltreatment of its Indigenous peoples.

A considerable effort was made by the Sydney Olympic organising committee to involve First Australians. As a result, one of the most powerful and enduring themes of the games was Indigenous Australia.

It ran through the Cultural Olympiad’s Festival of the Dreaming, the Olympic Park’s Aboriginal cultural pavilion and the arrival of the Olympic torch at Uluru.

The opening ceremony featured multiple Indigenous-themed segments, while the closing ceremony showcased Christine Anu’s performance of “My Island Home”. In their performances, Midnight Oil and Savage Garden also wore “Sorry” and Indigenous flag clothing.

And most memorably, Cathy Freeman lit the Olympic cauldron and won the women’s 400 metres, bearing the sky high expectations of the nation as she ran.

In the era of Black Lives Matter, nobody could claim that Sydney 2000 had a transformative impact on Indigenous peoples’ futures.

Read more: Why the Black Lives Matter protests must continue: an urgent appeal by Marcia Langton

But its legacy – that any representation of Australia must always have a deep, serious Indigenous presence – should not be underestimated.

Sporting Australia

As the largest sporting event ever held in Australia, the Sydney games had a ripple effect across the entire sport landscape in the country.

Its success signalled that Australia was capable of hosting mega sport events with efficiency and flair.

Sydney 2000 set the standard for several Australia-hosted major sport events to follow — the 2003 Rugby World Cup, 2006 and 2018 Commonwealth Games, 2015 AFC Cup, 2015 Cricket World Cup and 2020 Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup.

It also gave confidence for the (albeit unsuccessful) bid for the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup and the successful bid for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The Olympics paved the way for successive Australian sports diplomacy strategies. These include promoting Australia’s expertise in helping other countries host major events, not least their opening and closing ceremonies.

Importantly, Sydney also provided a very substantial boost to the Paralympic Games, a legacy of which the nation can be justly proud.

Read more: A brief history of the Paralympic Games: from post-WWII rehabilitation to mega sport event

Australia was already a renowned sporting nation before Sydney 2000. Afterwards, it could claim to be an influential player in global sport.

The lucky games

The Sydney games were fortunate the 9/11 bombers did not make their move in New York precisely one year earlier, which would have meant disruption and possible cancellation.

Unlike the postponed Tokyo 2020 (and possibly cancelled) Tokyo 2021 Games, Sydney was also lucky not to coincide with a global pandemic.

Sydney 2000 shows that legacy is, finally, dependent as much on luck as good planning. But those 17 days in September linger as a significant moment in Australia’s sporting and social history, when the country was at the heart of the global village.

– ref. The Sydney Olympics: How did the ‘best games ever’ change Australia? – https://theconversation.com/the-sydney-olympics-how-did-the-best-games-ever-change-australia-145926

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Martin Betts, Emeritus Professor, Griffith University

The new learning economy is creating opportunities for universities to move on from the current focus on cutting costs, downsizing and job losses. Many universities appear stuck in a downward spiral, but now may be the time to offset this with new initiatives. Growth in the need for ongoing learning creates these opportunities.

Current education providers, as well as new entrants, have the chance to replicate the business models and innovative practices of Spotify, YouTube, Uber, Airbnb and other disruptors of other sectors. For example, we can envisage a platform provider brokering crowd-sourced production of education content. The resourcing of expertise from the higher education sector would provide access to new, scaleable and more widely available forms of academic content.

Significant disruption is imminent. We believe those with ambition will thrive in the emerging new learning economy. They will not only disrupt, but also generate new forms of demand and supply for education.

Read more: Massive online open courses see exponential growth during COVID-19 pandemic

Old assumptions overturned

The education market has been stable for generations. This stability has relied on three assumptions.

First, knowledge gained through upfront education equips people to master the immediate and ongoing needs of work. As a basis of lifelong competence, the knowledge gained by novice professionals is expected to be sufficient for career entry and beyond.

Second, as we gain experience in our career, we only occasionally require new learning. Experience builds incrementally and continuously on upfront knowledge over time, leading to ever-increasing competence.

Third, there is no need for learning consciousness. In other words, the individual does not need to know how much they know, what else to learn, or how to unlearn.

These assumptions have driven government policy, student demand, employer practices and university business models. With changes to the future of work and digital disruption, these assumptions can now be seen as creating three systemic learning disorders:

1. the rate of innovation and knowledge development has accelerated, so our knowledge is out of date sooner

2. experience gained through repetitive work and professional practice is of less value in a world of changing practices and new requirements

3. our competence is something about which we have less consciousness or literacy – we increasingly don’t know what we don’t know, and not knowing how to learn and unlearn matters even more.

The 3 learning disorders explained

We illustrate these disorders in the three charts below. These plot the way knowledge, experience and competence develop over lifetimes, and the impacts of the emerging learning disorders.

The first chart uses a simplistic model of learning development consistent with the seminal work on self-efficacy in education of Caprara et al. The underlying idea is that competence is a combination of knowledge gained from learning and experience gained from working.

However, competence is not sufficient. Similar to our understanding of physical well-being (for example, is my blood pressure OK?) or financial well-being (will I have enough super?), we need consciousness about our competence. We suggest this is the basis of educational well-being. The pursuit of this goal gives rise to the new learning economy.

The first disorder, the knowledge disorder, shown in the chart below, captures the fact that the knowledge gained from formalised learning now decays more quickly. This happens due to faster rates of innovation and knowledge development within the periods that learning had been designed to serve.

The rate at which knowledge grows and develops has overtaken our intention to create novice professionals with knowledge lasting a lifetime. One-off degrees that testify to a certain qualification at a certain point in time are no longer sufficient. The world requires educational well-being as much as it requires a healthy and prosperous population.

The third chart shows how the value of experiences we gain in the workplace has changed. No longer does cumulative experience lead to increasing competence. Experiences of old ways of doing things are becoming hindrances to ongoing competence in disrupted environments.

As a result, experience might matter less. Even worse, it could become counter-productive when unlearning established practices becomes increasingly difficult. In some situations, current knowledge has become more important than past knowledge with added experience.

We can see the impacts of this experience disorder in recent years. Large organisations have let “experienced” staff go, then hired new graduates with contemporary knowledge. NAB was criticised for doing this.

How should education respond to these changes?

We predict we will see on-demand, tailored and customised learning on new platforms. These may be ubiquitous and scaleable programs of what are being called micro-credentials. Google’s “career certificates” are one recent example.

We foresee a need to support continuously improving workplace experience through partnerships between educational well-being providers, maybe universities, and providers and receivers of workplace experiences, employers and employees. We see opportunities for new, platform-based, lifelong experience-management services.

Read more: Coronavirus: universities are shifting classes online – but it’s not as easy as it sounds

The consciousness disorder arises from us being unaware of how change undermines competence. As US secretary of state, Donald Rumsfeld famously coined the term “unknown unknowns” in highlighting the danger in dealing with complex, fast-changing situations. In such a world, competence becomes more fragile, but we are not aware of it, which makes us vulnerable to disruption.

We can foresee new services to help identify unconscious incompetence. Maybe automated online “health checks” of educational well-being will be made available to alumni. This service could be aligned with personalised access to new knowledge to address gaps.

We believe that responding to these three disorders, in these sorts of ways, provides a blueprint for a new learning economy. This learning economy is global and will scale up to satisfy the demands of citizens who are no longer served by our current model of education.

This evolution of education will not only present new directions for established education providers, but also attract new competitors. They might range from ed-tech start-ups with niche services, to others that see the global learning economy as a high-growth opportunity. Google is unlikely to be the last new challenger to the traditional university model.

– ref. New learning economy challenges unis to be part of reshaping lifelong education – https://theconversation.com/new-learning-economy-challenges-unis-to-be-part-of-reshaping-lifelong-education-144800

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Victoria Kolankiewicz, Research Assistant, Australian Centre for Architectural History, Urban and Cultural Heritage, University of Melbourne

Digital communications have spread conspiracy theories more widely than ever before, particularly in this uncertain and tumultuous year. QAnon, for example, is a movement that seeks to identify a “deep state” or “global elite” complicit in human trafficking, “Pizzagate” and the orchestration of a global pandemic. One conspiracy theory “going viral” is that extensive operations are taking place to rescue children held in secret underground locales beneath densely populated cities.

Read more: How conspiracy theories spread online – it’s not just down to algorithms

Tunnel networks beneath major Australian cities such as Melbourne and Sydney have received similar treatment. Misconceptions of their form and purpose are communicated via social media. The stuff of urban legends, once circulated among acquaintances, is now online.

The misunderstandings of these spaces reveal a more glaring oversight: of wartime histories, transportation follies, essential services and the unique geologies and climates that require drainage infrastructure. These tunnels are hidden by necessity. But they are close enough to the surface to be easily accessible, preventing their use for any large-scale conspiracy.

Why the fixation with tunnels?

Abandoned or atypical urban spaces have long piqued the public imagination. Sites of abandonment are also associated with notions of freedom and excitement. Urban exploration has increased significantly within the past decade, amplified by social media sharing of imagery and aesthetics.

Rumours abound of complex tunnel networks in major Australian cities, created in the wake of the second world war. Larger air raid shelters were often located close to urban settlement, but escaped use. They remained in public memory as mythology: bunkers can be located across Australia, from Dover Heights in Sydney, to Prospect and Glenelg in Adelaide. Over 20 air raid shelters exist in Brisbane alone.

The fabled “Northcote Tunnel” in Melbourne was the subject of decades of rumour. It was eventually found to be the result of a search for an underground stream, not the large-scale 1940s American construction it was said to be.

Tunnels beneath Sydney served similar purposes, either by design or as the result of a failed transport infrastructure project. The St James tunnels are a prime example. This “hidden” space is about to be converted to a tourism precinct.

Beneath the streets of Melbourne, Sydney and beyond, mail and precious cargo were often transported about the city in underground tunnels from nearby railway stations or ports to parliament or the General Post Office.

So what are these spaces used for today?

Today, urban tunnels carry telecommunications, gas, electricity, water and sewerage infrastructure.

Exact locations remain secret for security and operational reasons. Access is allowed in rare cases. In the case of the Royal Melbourne Hospital steam tunnels, members of the public can book a place on once-yearly tours.

Stormwater drains are most abundant in urban areas; perhaps this is why they feature so heavily in conspiracies. Where depressions, undulations or linear tracts of open space exist in the landscape, a stormwater drain is likely lurking beneath the surface. These drains are needed to divert rainwater from areas where hard surfaces would otherwise lead to flooding.

In Melbourne, the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works started building these drains in the early 20th century. I have explored many of these complex networks, over 1,400 kilometres of drains that span almost all of metropolitan Melbourne and its fringes. These drains are literally beneath the feet of city dwellers: many would be surprised to find that a drain runs beneath the major thoroughfare of Elizabeth Street, historically Williams Creek.

The Metropolitan Water Sewerage and Drainage Board built similar infrastructure in Sydney. Open and closed conduits were built in concrete and brick — as well as bluestone in Melbourne, and limestone in Sydney — throughout the past century. Sydney’s stormwater network totals 454 kilometres of drains and spans 73 water catchments. These drains ultimately carry 500 billion litres into Sydney Harbour or Botany Bay.

Read more: Our legacy of liveable cities won’t last without a visionary response to growth

Dangerous, yes, but for more mundane reasons

These hidden spaces can be controversial or dangerous, but not for the reasons put forth by QAnon and its ilk.

Read more: The Church of QAnon: Will conspiracy theories form the basis of a new religious movement?

Social groups have emerged around drain exploration, with the Melbourne-based Cave Clan the best-known example. They have clear rules to ensure the safety of their members. “No drains when it rains” is one such rule: sudden rain can catch out explorers as water levels rise quickly inside drains.

Drownings have been reported in both Sydney and Melbourne. The unpredictability of sudden torrential flows means these spaces are fundamentally unsuited to the purposes suggested in conspiracy theories.

Frequent visits by urban explorers would also quickly identify any secretive mis-uses of drainage infrastructure. This would equally apply to other underground spaces such as steam and service tunnels – maintenance staff would soon spot anything amiss.

More crucial, however, is that the design of these drains means they could not play any part in supposed trafficking networks. Some of these drains are large enough for adults to explore. The vast majority, though, are too small to be accessed, with diameters as narrow as 300mm.

Even the most cavernous drains would not be suitable for storage. Larger drains are designed to hold larger flows, often at a confluence of catchment areas. While they these drains could host human beings, they would be at risk of drowning whenever it rained. Tidal flows or litter traps can also prevent access.

Read more: If the tide is high, our sewerage systems won’t hold on

Child trafficking is a very relevant issue, but it is certainly not taking place under cities across the nation. Rather than abandoning subterranean spaces to conspiratorial narratives or urban mythology, these spaces are important for other reasons. These point to the need to build a common understanding not only of their form and function, but also of the ethos underlying their existence, a concern for the common good.

That something as impressive and as everyday as our civic infrastructure inspires such fascination and fear is indeed curious. Ultimately, these spaces are too utilitarian to serve the purpose claimed by viral social media posts.

– ref. What lies beneath: tunnels for trafficking, or just a subterranean service? Time to rescue these spaces from the conspiracists – https://theconversation.com/what-lies-beneath-tunnels-for-trafficking-or-just-a-subterranean-service-time-to-rescue-these-spaces-from-the-conspiracists-144276

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dirk Baur, Professor of Finance, University of Western Australia

“Gold” said famed investor Warren Buffett in 1998, “gets dug out of the ground in Africa or someplace, then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility. Anyone watching from Mars would be scratching their head.”

Yet for all that, we remain in love with gold – especially in times of uncertainty. With the COVID-19 crisis, interest in gold has soared, driving its price to historic highs (eclipsing its past record set back in August 2011).

Even Buffett seems to have softened his longstanding antipathy, with his company Berkshire Hathaway acquiring a US$565 million stake in the world’s second-largest gold miner, Canada’s Barrick Gold Corporation.

Owning shares in a gold-mining company, though, is not the same thing as owning actual gold. Since gold shares are linked both to gold prices and to the broader share market, they tend to move with the market when it falls sharply. That deprives gold shares of a key feature of gold bullion – its safe haven property.

What is a safe haven?

A safe haven is an asset that holds its value in extreme, unexpected events.

It is different from a “safe asset” that provides a guaranteed return, such as government bonds. In buying such a bond you effectively lend money to the government in return for a promise it will repay that money (with interest) in the future.

Safe assets, in other words, are “fixed income” assets, and their prices are relatively stable.

The price of a safe haven asset, on the other hand, will fluctuate, rising in periods of heightened uncertainty, when other investments suffer extreme losses, but may also fall when the uncertainty reverts to more normal levels.

We can see this in the price of gold over the past two decades, both in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis beginning in 2008 and now with the COVID-19 crisis.

The only deviation from gold’s traditional role as a safe haven asset was a price fall over March, as global stock markets crashed. This deviation underlines the uncertainty that gripped investors that month, with some gold owners presumably selling bullion to cover losses or to increase cash holdings.

Read more: The S&P 500 nears its all-time high. Here’s why stock markets are defying economic reality

Why is gold a safe haven?

The simple answer is that it has worked in the past. Based on past experience in a crisis, people believe in the safe haven feature of gold and it works because they believe in it.

Gold has been used since ancient times as a store of value. Helping it achieve this status is its aesthetic appeal, malleability (with a relatively low melting point making it easy to produce coins or jewellery), virtual indestructibility (almost all the gold that has ever been found or mined is still around) and, most importantly, rarity. Though hundreds of thousands have dug and panned for it over history, the amount of gold mined has never been enough to devalue it.

Read more: From medicine to nanotechnology: how gold quietly shapes our world

Because of these features, gold became the basis for money and played a formal monetary role during the gold standard, which required nations to hold gold reserves as a backing of their currency.

Central banks still hold huge gold reserves. Of 197,576 tonnes of gold mined throughout history, the World Gold Council says 17.2% is held (as bullion or coins) by governments and central banks, 21.6% by private investors, about 47% as jewellery, and 14.2% has gone to other uses (such as in electronics).

So while gold, silver, palladium and platinum are all “precious metals” the latter three are not commonly accepted safe havens because they played a different monetary and investment role in the past.

‘Nobody understands gold prices’

Gold may also be a safe haven because it is simple and well-known, the first thing that comes to mind when investors are faced with extreme uncertainty.

This apparent simplicity, paradoxically, does not mean easy-to-understand gold prices.

Some factors influencing its price are tangible, such as physical supply and demand.

Read more: How the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the global mining industry

But many factors influencing gold’s price are less tangible, such as changing perceptions, preferences and market sentiment.

As then US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said in 2013: “”Nobody understands gold prices, and I do not pretend to understand it either.”

– ref. In gold we trust: why bullion is still a safe haven in times of crisis – https://theconversation.com/in-gold-we-trust-why-bullion-is-still-a-safe-haven-in-times-of-crisis-144567

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Duane W. Hamacher, Associate Professor, University of Melbourne

Two new coins have been released by the Royal Australian Mint to celebrate the astronomical knowledge and traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. They feature artworks from Wiradjuri (NSW) and Yamaji (WA) artists that represent two of the most famous features in Aboriginal astronomy: the great Emu in the Sky and the Seven Sisters.

Both celestial features are found in the astronomical traditions of many Aboriginal cultures across Australia. They are seen in similar ways and have similar meanings between cultures on opposite sides of the continent and are observed to note the changing seasons and the behaviours of plants and animals and inform Law.

The project has been three years in the making, with the third and final coin in the series to be released in mid-2021.

Read more: Kindred skies: ancient Greeks and Aboriginal Australians saw constellations in common

Gugurmin – The Emu in the Sky

The Wiradjuri of central New South Wales are the largest Aboriginal language group in the state and one of the largest in the country. Wiradjuri astronomical knowledge is rich and complex, linking the land and people to the cosmos (Wantanggangura). Traditional star knowledge features bright constellations of stars, as well as constellations comprising the spaces between the stars.

One of the many “dark constellations” is that of the celestial emu, called Gugurmin. The emu is a silhouette of the dark spaces stretching from the Southern Cross to Sagittarius in the backdrop of the Milky Way. The galaxy itself is a river called Gular (or Gilaa), which is also the Wiradjuri name of the Lachlan River.

Read more: Stories from the sky: astronomy in Indigenous knowledge

Wiradjuri watch when Gugurmin rises in the sky after sunset as a signal marking the emu’s behaviour patterns and changing seasons. When it rises at dusk in April and May, it signals the start of the emu breeding season, when the birds begin mating and nesting. By June and July, the male emus are sitting in the nest, incubating the eggs. In August and September, the chicks begin hatching.

The Emu in the Sky coin features the work of Wiradjuri artist Scott “Sauce” Towney from Peak Hill, NSW. Sauce specialises in drawing and pyrography (wood burning) and was a finalist in the NSW Premier’s Indigenous Art Awards. The edge of the coin shows a male emu sitting on the eggs during the months of June and July when his celestial counterpart is stretched across the sky. It also shows men dancing in a ceremony, which takes place in August and September.

Gugurmin was one of the artworks Sauce created for a project entitled Wiradjuri Murriyang (“Wiradjuri Sky World”). This featured 13 traditional constellations for use in local school education programs, as well as public outreach. His art was incorporated into the Stellarium planetarium software, enabling users around the world to see the movements of the stars from a Wiradjuri perspective.

Sauce’s work was incorporated into the Australian National Curriculum for the Year 7/8 module on digital technology and managing Indigenous astronomical knowledge.

Read more: The stories behind Aboriginal star names now recognised by the world’s astronomical body

Nyarluwarri – The Seven Sisters

The artwork featured on the Seven Sisters coin is from Wajarri-Noongar artist Christine “Jugarnu” Collard of Yamaji Art. Christine was born and raised in Mullewa, Western Australia and paints under the name Jugarnu meaning “old woman” in the Wajarri language. The name was given to Christine by her now deceased Grandfather.

The Yamaji people of the Murchison region in Western Australia refer to the Pleiades star cluster as Nyarluwarri in the Wajarri language, representing seven sisters. When Nyarluwarri sits low on the horizon at sunset in April, the people know that emu eggs are ready for harvesting.

The story of the Seven Sisters tells of them fleeing to the sky to escape the advances of a man who wants to take one of the sisters as his wife. The man chases the sisters as they move from east to west each night, which appear to the northeast at dusk in November and set by April.

At the same time Nyarluwarri sets after the Sun in the west, the celestial emu (which is also featured in Yamaji traditions) rises in the southeast. Both serve as important seasonal markers.

The Seven Sisters and the Emu in the Sky were major themes in the Ilgarijiri – Things Belonging to the Sky art exhibition. This project saw radio astronomers and Yamaji artists come together to share knowledge under the stars at the site of the new Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope.

Read more: Indigenous culture and astrophysics: a path to reconciliation

– ref. New coins celebrate Indigenous astronomy, the stars, and the dark spaces between them – https://theconversation.com/new-coins-celebrate-indigenous-astronomy-the-stars-and-the-dark-spaces-between-them-145923

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

The Morrison government is acting to protect Australia’s fuel security as the international outlook becomes more uncertain and prices will be under increasing pressure.

Under the plan, operating through market and regulatory measures, the government will invest $211 million in new domestic diesel storage facilities, changes to create a minimum onshore stockholding, and support for local refineries.

Announcing the program with Energy Minister Angus Taylor, Scott Morrison said the changes “will ensure Australian families and businesses can access the fuel they need, when they need it, for the lowest possible price”.

Australia’s fuel supplies are always potentially vulnerable to international instability, something that the pandemic – with its disruption to supply chains – has just reinforced. Local refineries are also under economic pressures, with potential consequences for prices.

The measures are:

• a $200 million investment in a competitive grants program to build an extra 780 megalitres of onshore diesel storage with industry

• creation of a minimum stockholding obligation for key transport fuels, and

• working with refiners on a market design process for a refining production payment.

The government is seeking to have the $200 million grants for new storage matched by state governments or industry. Its focus will be on projects in strategic regional locations, connected to refineries and with connections to existing fuel infrastructure.

Morrison said fuel security was essential for Australia’s national security and the country was fortunate there hadn’t been a significant supply shock in more than 40 years. Fuel security underpinned the entire economy, and the industry itself supported thousands of workers, he said. “This plan is also about helping keep them in work.”

Taylor acknowledged the pressure refineries are under.

The government says modelling indicates a domestic refining capability is worth some $4.9 billion over a decade to Australian consumers is terms of price suppression.

The construction of diesel storage will support up to 950 jobs, with 75 new ongoing jobs, many in the regions, the government says.

“A minimum stockholding obligation will act as a safety net for petrol and jet fuel stocks and increased diesel stockholdings by 40%,” Morrison and Taylor said in their statement.

They stressed the government’s commitment to onshore refining capacity. The industry’s viability is under threat.

The planned production payment scheme is to protect from an estimated 1 cent per litre rise that, according to modelling, would hit fuel if all refineries onshore were to close. Refineries receiving the support will have to commit to stay operating locally.

Under the minimum stockholding requirements, petrol and jet fuel stocks would be kept no lower than current commercial levels, which are about 24 consumption days.

Diesel stocks would increase by 40%, to be at 28 consumption cover days. This would add about 10 days to Australia’s International Energy Agency compliance total.

In July Australia had 84 IEA days including stocks on water. Implementing a minimum stock holding obligation would bring Australia into line with most IEA members which regulate their fuel industries to meet their security needs. Under the IEA treaty member countries are required to have 90 days of stocks.

(IEA days and consumption cover days are different.)

Refineries will be exempt from the obligations to hold additional stocks.

The production payments will ensure a minimum value of 1.15 cents per litre to refineries. A competitive process will determine the location of new storage facilities.

The government says it recognises “the future refining sector in Australia will not look like the past. However, this framework will ensure the market is viable for both our future needs and can support Australia during a severe fuel disruption.”

– ref. Morrison government to invest $211 million in fuel security to protect against risk and price pressures – https://theconversation.com/morrison-government-to-invest-211-million-in-fuel-security-to-protect-against-risk-and-price-pressures-146084

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

Several premiers presently find themselves at war with the federal government. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, by contrast, suddenly found herself locked in battle with her deputy premier, John Barilaro, and his bolshie band of Nationals.

The junior partner in the NSW coalition chose this week to pull on a stoush over a new regime the state government launched months ago to protect koalas, which have been devastated and displaced by fires and drought.

That a row over koalas could shake the Berejiklian government to its core during a pandemic is startling, at the least. The Nationals justify this by saying they’d long been told their concerns would be considered, and they hadn’t been.

They insist they’re not anti-koala — they’d like to see the population doubled, they say — but claim the new regime is too burdensome, including by extending the definition of core koala habitat and increasing the number of koala tree species.

Read more: The NSW koala wars showed one thing: the Nationals appear ill-equipped to help rural Australia

The Nationals are under pressure from farmers and, at a political level, from the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party, which is always nipping at their heels.

Within the Nationals, pressure built with first one, then two, and several more MPs in revolt — and quickly the whole party. Efforts to get a special meeting to deal with the koala issue were unsuccessful – the premier had other things on her plate.

By Thursday, the Nationals had resolved that until the koala row was addressed they’d no longer attend joint party room or parliamentary leadership meetings and would abstain from voting on government bills. (They reserved the right to support bills and motions important to regional areas.)

“This effectively puts the entire party on the crossbench,” the party said in a statement.

Barilaro insisted the Nationals could take this stand while their ministers remained in cabinet.

This would have made them sort of “virtual” crossbenchers – a very strange notion indeed under the Westminster system.

A frustrated Berejiklian issued an ultimatum. “It is not possible to be the deputy premier or a minister of the Crown and sit on the crossbench,” she said in a statement.

She said she’d told Barilaro that he and his Nationals cabinet colleagues had until 9am Friday “to indicate to me whether they wish to remain in my Cabinet or else sit on the crossbench”.

By Friday morning, Barilaro had stepped his party back from the brink. After a meeting with Berejiklian, the two leaders said in the briefest of statements the coalition remained “in place”, as did “cabinet conventions and processes”.

Read more: Nationals have long valued stable leadership and being strong Coalition partners – this shouldn’t change now

Meanwhile, koalas were to be dealt with at a coming cabinet meeting. The extraordinary upheaval may be over for now, but it leaves scars, questions, uncertainty and tension.

Most obviously, the substantive issue is still unresolved. If the Nationals don’t get their way on changes to the koala regime, there could easily be another explosion. If they do, many Liberals will be angry.

The Nationals’ constituency will be behind the party’s stand. But for numerous Liberal supporters, compromise on as emotive an issue as koalas will be an electoral no-no.

This week’s events have again brought into question Barilaro’s judgement.

He was caught between the strong feelings within his party and the need to maintain the coalition. He laid himself open to criticism of firstly overreaching and then failing to carry through his threat.

This is against the background of his behaviour before the Eden-Monaro byelection, when he as good as said he would run for the seat and then said he wouldn’t.

Read more: Eden-Monaro opens wounds in Nationals, with Barilaro attack on McCormack

Even some Nationals shake their heads, while the Liberals resent what Berejiklian has to put up with.

At one stage on Thursday, Barilaro asked his parliamentary party if they thought someone else would be better to lead them. The idea was dismissed. Nevertheless, the past few days have fanned doubts about his style of leadership.

Most serious in the immediate term, the trust between Berejiklian and Barilaro has been further eroded, after taking a knock from his conduct over Eden-Monaro. The NSW coalition remains intact, but no one can miss the crack that has been repaired by superglue. It is not as robust as it once was.

And Berejiklian has less patience with her volatile partner than she used to have.

– ref. View from The Hill: Barilaro keeps Nationals in the tent; koalas stay in limbo – https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-barilaro-keeps-nationals-in-the-tent-koalas-stay-in-limbo-146036

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kayleen Manwaring, Senior Lecturer, School of Taxation ＆ Business Law, UNSW

From internet-connected televisions, toys, fridges, ovens, security cameras, door locks, fitness trackers and lights, the so-called “Internet of Things” (IoT) promises to revolutionise our homes.

But it also threatens to increase our vulnerability to malicious acts. Security flaws in IoT devices are common. Hackers can exploit those vulnerabilities to take control of devices, steal or change data, and spy on us.

In recognition of these risks, the Australian government has introduced a new code of practice to encourage manufacturers to make IoT devices more secure. The code provides guidance on secure passwords, the need for security patches, the protection and deletion of consumers’ personal data and the reporting of vulnerabilities, among other things.

The problem is the code is voluntary. Experiences elsewhere, such as the United Kingdom, suggest a voluntary code will be insufficient to deliver the protections consumers need.

Indeed it might even increase risks, by lulling consumers into a false sense of security about the safety of the devices they buy.

Read more: Explainer: the Internet of Things

Many IoT devices are insecure

IoT devices designed for consumers are generally less secure than conventional computers.

In 2017 the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network commissioned researchers from the University of New South Wales to test the security of 20 household appliances capable of being connected and controlled via wi-fi.

These included a smart TV, portable speaker, voice assistant, printer, sleep monitor, digital photo frame, bathroom scales, light bulb, power switch, smoke alarm and Hello Barbie talking doll.

While some devices (including the Barbie) were found to be relatively secure in terms of confidentiality, all had some form of security flaw. Many “allowed potentially serious safety and security breaches”.

What this could potentially mean is that someone could, for example, hack into a household’s wi-fi network and collect data from IoT devices. It might be as simple as knowing when lights are switched on to determine when a home can be burgled. Someone with more malicious intent could turn on your oven while shutting down smoke alarms and other sensors.

Risks to consumers, and society

Factors leading to poor security in IoT devices include manufacturers’ desires to minimise componentry and keep costs down. Many makers of consumer goods also have little experience with cyber-security issues.

Allied with the fact many consumers aren’t technologically savvy enough to appreciate the risks and protect themselves, this creates the prospect of IoT devices being exploited.

Read more: The privacy paradox: we claim we care about our data, so why don’t our actions match?

On a personal level, you could be spied on and harassed. Personal pictures or information could be exposed to the world, or used to extort you.

On a societal level, IoT devices can be hijacked and used collectively to shut down services and networks. Even compromising one device may enable connected infrastructure to be hacked. This is a rising concern as more people connect to workplace networks from home.

Voluntary codes of practice

In recognition of these threats, IoT security “good practice” guidelines have been proposed by standards bodies such as the US National Institute of Standards and Technology, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute and the Internet Engineering Task Force. But these guidelines are based on voluntary action by manufacturers.

The UK government has already concluded the voluntary code of conduct it established in 2018 isn’t working.

Britain’s Minister for Digital Infrastructure, Matt Warman, said in July:

Despite widespread adoption of the guidelines in the Code of Practice for Consumer Internet of Things Security, both in the UK and overseas, change has not been swift enough, with poor security still commonplace.

The UK is now moving to impose a mandatory code, with laws requiring manufacturers to deliver reasonable security features in any device that can connect to the internet.

A case for co-regulation

There is little reason to believe Australia’s voluntary code of practice will prove any more effective than in the UK.

A better option would have been a “co-regulatory” approach. Co-regulation mixes aspects of industry self-regulation with both government regulation and strong community input. It includes laws that create incentives for compliance (and disincentives against non-compliance) and regulatory oversight by an independent (and well-resourced) watchdog.

The Australia government has, at least, described its new code of practice as “a first step” to improving the security of IoT devices.

Let’s hope so. If the UK experience is anything to go by, its next steps will include dumping a voluntary code for something with a greater chance of delivering the safety and security consumers – and society – need.

– ref. Are your devices spying on you? Australia’s very small step to make the Internet of Things safer – https://theconversation.com/are-your-devices-spying-on-you-australias-very-small-step-to-make-the-internet-of-things-safer-145554

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Linden, Sessional Lecturer, PhD (Management) Candidate, School of Management, RMIT University

In the coming days thousands of (digital) column inches are going to be devoted to the idea that institutional shareholders acted decisively to force the resignation of Rio Tinto chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques and two others responsible for the destruction of the Juukan Gorge caves.

However the resignations mask a deeper failure of institutional investors to take action over governance problems. Rio Tinto (and its predecessor companies CRA and Comalco) has a chequered history in indigenous relations, labour relations, foreign bribery and interference in politics. It was even blacklisted by Norway’s sovereign wealth fund for a decade over its environmental record.

Despite these problems, and a long record of aggressive political lobbying, Australian institutional shareholders have loved Rio for its high and consistent dividends. Rio Tinto shares are held by many pension funds and in many cases even make the grade for their ethical investment options.

Read more: Corporate dysfunction on Indigenous affairs: Why heads rolled at Rio Tinto

Period of active engagement with traditional owners under former chief Leon Davis have also obscured a legal regime that suits Rio’s aggressive pursuit of its interests.

Australian National University emeritus professor Jon Altman, who has researched land rights and native title for more than 40 years, told the Senate inquiry into the blast that all governments in Australia were to some extent captured by the mining industry, whose shareholders were largely foreign:

in making these observations, I am not suggesting that multinational corporations like Rio Tinto and BHP and others have operated outside the letter of the law. What I am saying is that they have been far too influential in shaping the law to suit their instrumental extractive profit-seeking interests.

That influence extended to the West Australian legislation Rio used to get approval to dynamite the caves. The law was so one sided that that the indigenous land-owners didn’t know the approval to destroy the caves was being activated by Rio until the eleventh hour.

Rio’s first reaction to complaints was to brief its lawyers.

Shareholders vent, but rarely divest

Shareholders might have vented, but they didn’t divest. Even as news emerges of other significant sites are under threat it is unlikely that the big funds with shares in Rio will sell them, or sell shares in other listed mining companies.

Research shows investors don’t consistently use their voices to lobby firms to tackle social issues, even though there’s always talk about how they are going to.

Read more: Vital Signs: No, we won’t change the corporate world with divestment and boycotts

What institutional investors are more interested in, as AMP’s second-biggest shareholder Allan Gray Funds Management recently conceded, is “protecting their existing investment”.

They are “conflicted” between on the one hand wanting their company to operate better, and on the other, not wanting to reduce returns.

Social licence is a Trojan horse

Rio and the mining industry must be hoping the resignations are a circuit breaker that derails any momentum to change the laws that give them cover.

They are probably hoping the community latches on to the concept of a social licence to operate – the idea that so long as they behave well, they get the right to keep laws that don’t require them to.

Read more: Social licence: the idea AMP should embrace now David Murray has left the building

That would be ironic, given that the mining industry invented and promoted the concept of a social licence in the early 2000s in order to convince the community they could regulate themselves.

For all the sound and fury, the three executives will be paid handsomely to walk the plank.

Buried at the bottom of Rio’s announcement to the ASX is the news Rio Tinto chief executive and JS Jacques and the two other executives get to keep their financial packages.

– ref. The sackings at Rio look like a victory for shareholders, but… – https://theconversation.com/the-sackings-at-rio-look-like-a-victory-for-shareholders-but-146004

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

University of Canberra Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan and University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Paddy Nixon discuss the week in politics.

This week Michelle and Paddy discuss Australia’s worsening diplomatic relationship with China, the border feud between Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Queensland Premier Annastacia Palazczuk, a hitch in the development of the Oxford vaccine, and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews’ roadmap out of stage four lockdown.

– ref. VIDEO: Michelle Grattan on Chinese relations, Melbourne’s roadmap, and Queensland’s border – https://theconversation.com/video-michelle-grattan-on-chinese-relations-melbournes-roadmap-and-queenslands-border-146018

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emily Berger, Lecturer, Monash University

Mental health issues among children are on the rise due to the impacts of the COVID pandemic, including lockdowns.

Recent reports show there has been a 28% spike in calls to the phone counselling service Kids Helpline between March and July 2020 compared with the same period last year in Victoria, which is under stage 3 and 4 restrictions.

This prompted the state government to fast-track its plan to provide every state secondary school with funding to recruit its own mental-health support practitioner by the end of next year. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced in August more than 1,500 school staff would have additional mental-health training in partnership with Headspace to help identify at-risk students as remote learning continues.

Such moves are important. But in this world of uncertainty, as well as the way the pandemic may be increasing instances of family violence and other types of abuse, all school staff would benefit from having an adequate understanding of the impact of trauma and adversity on children.

Teachers and school leaders would also benefit from knowledge about trauma and adversity when responding to children’s challenging behaviours. In education, such understanding and techniques are known as “trauma-informed pedagogy”.

What is childhood trauma?

Trauma is the response to exposure to a stressful or traumatic event, or a series of such events or experiences.

Most children have nurturing home environments, but a concerning number experience trauma through abuse or neglect in Australia. It’s estimated around 8.9% of children experience physical abuse, 8.6% sexual abuse, 8.7% emotional abuse and 2.4% neglect. The rates could be higher as such experiences are difficult to measure.

Read more: What governments can do about the increase in family violence due to coronavirus

Children may also experience trauma or adversity by observing family violence, parent separation, having a parent incarcerated or with a mental illness, or due to grief from the loss of a loved one. Trauma can occur because of conflict or war, or due to a natural disaster, such as the recent bushfires.

COVID-19 has led to higher amounts of traumatic experiences and adversity in households. Around one-third of Australian families are going through increased financial hardship and, for many women, the pandemic has coincided with the beginning of family violence, or an increase in it.

Trauma often has negative effects on children’s development and behaviour. It can increase the risk of depression and suicide attempts, psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia, and alcohol and drug use.

It’s important to note, not all children are negatively impacted by trauma — some even experience posttraumatic growth in which they learn more about themselves and their strengths.

A strong body of evidence shows trauma can affect brains structures linked to learning, and control of emotions and behaviour. These effects can make it difficult for children to learn, make friends and develop positive relationships with teachers.

Read more: How childhood trauma changes our hormones, and thus our mental health, into adulthood

Trauma and adversity can also disrupt children’s impulse control in the classroom and on the playground.

What trauma-informed practice looks like

The Royal Commission into child sexual abuse recommended schools be “trauma-informed”. Being trauma-informed does not mean teachers and schools must be trained to treat trauma. Rather they must understand the impact it can have on children’s lives.

An Australian Institute of Family Studies discussion paper on trauma-informed practice notes:

To provide trauma-informed services, all staff of an organisation, from the receptionist to the direct care worker and the board of directors, must understand how violence impacts on the lives of the people being served so that every interaction is consistent with the recovery process and reduces the possibility of re-traumatisation.

So, for schools to be trauma-informed, school staff need to know about the prevalence and consequences of childhood trauma. Increasing the confidence of school staff about how to work with children impacted by trauma and adversity is also important.

Examples of trauma-informed practice include:

• providing teachers with information about how best to teach and support children to regulate their emotions and build positive relationships. This includes getting children to identify their emotions and check in on themselves and others around them to get acquainted with how they and their peers react to situations

• assessing and revising school policies and practices that may re-traumatise or trigger anxiety or aggression in students (such as student isolation practices)

• providing staff with self-care strategies, such as meditation, to help them respond to their experiences working with children impacted by adversity or trauma

• encouraging staff to recognise students’ strengths and help students develop their own learning goals.

Trauma-informed practice can help teachers too

Teachers and school leaders already have high demands on their time, and adding another burden to their work is untenable. But trauma-informed practice is not necessarily an add-on. Rather, it is a different way of working and communicating to improve students’ relationships with school staff, and their school engagement and learning.

Our research with Victorian teachers found they want more support and training to be able to understand and support children with trauma.

Some US research suggests trauma-informed training and processes in schools can improve staff knowledge and confidence in responding to children impacted by trauma and adversity.

Read more: Trauma-informed classrooms can better support kids in care

Evaluations of trauma-informed practice in schools show these programs are having a positive impact. But rigorous research is lacking and more is required. We do know though, teachers responding sensitively to the impact of trauma helps children better engage in school and gives them a sense of belonging. It can also reduce disruptive behaviours and school suspensions.

By developing knowledge about the impact of trauma on children, teachers are likely to develop stronger relationships, and a greater sense of confidence, with these children, and lower classroom disruption. This could lead to increased job satisfaction and reduced risk of burnout.

– ref. Why every teacher needs to know about childhood trauma – https://theconversation.com/why-every-teacher-needs-to-know-about-childhood-trauma-132965

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kelsie Nabben, Researcher / PhD Candidate, RMIT Blockchain Innovation Hub / Digital Ethnography Research Centre, RMIT University

Taiwan’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been among the world’s best. With a population almost the size of Australia’s, the island nation has reported only 496 confirmed cases of the disease and no locally acquired infections for months.

The unlikely heroes of Taiwan’s success are “civic tech hacktivists”: coders and activists who the country’s celebrity digital minister Audrey Tang describes as the “nobodies” who “hack democracy”.

What began with the hackers of the “open source, open government” movement g0v and student protesters has grown into an experiment in radical democracy that is yielding astonishing results.

Read more: Another day, another hotel quarantine fail. So what can Australia learn from other countries?

‘Fast, fair and fun’

While the notion of “digital democracy” is as old as the internet, few countries have really tried to find out how to practice democracy in digital spheres. In Taiwan, however, there is a strong collective narrative of digital democracy, and government and civil society work together in online spaces to build public trust.

The growth of civic hacking in Taiwan has its roots in the so-called Sunflower Movement, a stream of protests in 2014 against a trade agreement with China.

The pillars of Taiwan’s approach to digital democracy are “fast, fair and fun”.

Taiwan was among the first countries in the world to detect and respond to the virus, thanks to crowd-sourced, collective intelligence through online bulletin boards. Warnings of the virus were first noted in December 31 2019, when a senior health official spotted a heavily “up-voted” on post on the PTT bulletin board.

Before long, civic tech hackers were working on open data projects for citizens to interact with live maps, distributed ledger technology and chat bots to find the nearest pharmacy to claim free masks, with stock levels updated in real time to stop panic buying. Audrey Tang dubbed this rapid, iterative, bottom-up process – as opposed to a top-down government-led distribution system – “reverse procurement”.

A “humour over rumour” strategy has also been very successful to combat misinformation, fake news and disinformation. Taiwan is engineering memes to spread public awareness of positive behaviours through the virality of social media algorithms.

Government departments are responsible for addressing disinformation by providing a “memetic” response according to the “2-2-2”: a response in 20 minutes, in 200 words or less, with 2 images.

Alongside dog memes and pink face masks, one of the most successful is a rapid response to halt runs on toilet paper. This featured a cartoon video of Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang shaking his backside with a caption saying “We only have one pair of buttocks”.

How hacktivists reached the halls of power

How has the mindset and culture of hacktivism been cultivated to motivate civic hackers to participate in Taiwan’s digital democracy?

First, a figurehead and a manifesto. Audrey Tang is the figurehead, and her manifesto On Utopia for Public Action espouses post-party politics, free speech and deliberation, all enabled through thoughtful and experimental application of digital infrastructure.

Second, a suite of smart digital tools enable discussion, survey and online “telepresence”. These include the vTaiwan and the Join platforms for public policy participation.

Read more: Digital democracy lets you write your own laws

Third, inviting participation, listening to community voices, and taking action as a result. Taiwan’s culture of civic participation follows the model of open source software communities. This means working from the bottom up, sharing information, improving on the work of others, mutual benefit and participatory collective action.

Underlying these initiatives and digital infrastructures, is two-way trust. In the words of Yun Chen, a member of the “decentralized civic tech community” g0v:

The first key is trust … it was the trust that made government officers take open data as performance instead of troubles, which led government to initiate open data and be willing to accept tech assistance from civic tech communities.

Despite low overall trust in government and leadership in Taiwan, recent polling suggests 91% of citizens are satisfied with the Central Epidemic Command Centre. Tang has said “the government needs to fully trust the citizens”, and that this trust is reciprocated.

A small experiment

With all of this enthusiasm, I wanted to try participating in digital democracy myself. I had heard Tang quote some statistics on increased public trust in several interviews, but I couldn’t find the source. At the suggestion of my Taiwanese compatriot Chih Cheng Liang, I simply asked Tang for the source on Twitter.

Tang’s response was extremely impressive: in less than 5 minutes, she replied with a link to the relevant Taiwanese poll.

A radical experiment

In many countries, policy makers don’t fully understand the technical and governance dynamics of the digital realm. In Taiwan, we are seeing what can happen when they do: bringing “hacker” tools and methods into the institutions of government to increase public participation in democracy.

It’s a vast change. Digital infrastructures are inherently political, or spheres for political engagement. They emerge out of the interaction between technology and society, and are influenced and constrained by human agents.

Radical democracy is essentially radical. Tang also sits on the board of of American economist Glen Weyl’s Radical Xchange initiative, which aims at “uprooting capitalism and democracy for a just society”.

There is now talk of trying out the collective decision making system known as “quadratic voting”, and other experimental crowd-sourcing mechanisms that have surfaced from the Ethereum blockchain community.

Other countries are free to pick up both lessons and digital innovations from Taiwan’s innovations. Many tools and models have been made available on an open-source basis at Taiwancanhelp.us.

Read more: What coronavirus success of Taiwan and Iceland has in common

– ref. Hacking the pandemic: how Taiwan’s digital democracy holds COVID-19 at bay – https://theconversation.com/hacking-the-pandemic-how-taiwans-digital-democracy-holds-covid-19-at-bay-145023

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Saul, Professor of International Law, Sydney Centre for International Law, University of Sydney

An Afghan soldier convicted of murdering three Australian soldiers is among six high-value prisoners who have been flown to Qatar ahead of peace talks between the Taliban and Afghan government this weekend.

Hekmatullah has spent seven years in jail after killing the three soldiers he worked with in 2012 — Lance Corporal Stjepan Milosevic, Sapper James Martin and Private Robert Poate. He is one of the last remaining Taliban prisoners.

Both the Taliban and the United States have pressured the Afghan government to release all 5,000 Taliban prisoners it holds as part of their peace deal. In return, the Taliban pledged to release 1,000 members of the Afghan security forces.

The Afghan government was excluded from the original peace deal struck between the US and Taliban in February where the prisoner release was negotiated, but has since agreed to release the prisoners.

For a long time, the Afghan government vowed not to free 600 prisoners it considered too dangerous, including murderers and foreign fighters. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani called them a “danger” to the world.

But last month, an assembly of Afghan elders, community leaders and politicians called a “loya jirga” approved the release of the last 400 Taliban captives and hundreds have been set free.

Foreign governments’ objections to prisoner release

The release of prisoners who killed Westerners has been among the most contentious parts of the deal.

The Australian government, and the families of the three murdered Australian soldiers, have strenuously objected to the release of Hekmatullah.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has raised the issue with US President Donald Trump in recent weeks, and Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds reiterated this position in a statement today:

The Australian government’s long-standing position is that Hekmatullah should serve a full custodial sentence for the crimes for which he was convicted by an Afghan court, and that he should not be released as part of a prisoner amnesty.

France has similarly objected to the release of those prisoners who murdered its aid workers and soldiers.

The US has not publicly objected to the release of three prisoners who murdered Americans in so-called insider attacks, although it is reportedly exploring the possibility of release under house arrest.

The importance of the rules of war

So far, the issue of freeing prisoners in Afghanistan has been largely treated as a political and security issue. There has been less attention given to the equally important question of law, justice and human rights.

It follows a regrettably common view that peace is necessary at any price, even if it means letting suspected or convicted war criminals go free, denying justice to their victims and violating international law by enabling killing with impunity.

It is no surprise that such a deal has been spruiked by Trump, who has pardoned US soldiers accused or convicted of war crimes, despite protests by US military commanders. Trump also this week imposed sanctions on senior officials of the International Criminal Court for investigating alleged US war crimes in Afghanistan.

Read more: Afghanistan’s future: the core issues at stake as Taliban sits down to negotiate ending 19-year war

The rules of war, or international humanitarian law (as it is otherwise known), take a much more balanced and reasonable approach. These rules are also binding on Afghanistan, the US and Taliban alike.

Hekmatullah’s killing of three Australian soldiers was not a fair fight in the heat of combat between opposing forces under the law of war. It was treacherous and illegal because Hekmatullah was wearing an Afghan army uniform when he killed the Australian soldiers while they were resting at a patrol base in August 2012.

Hekmatullah says he was inspired to kill the soldiers after watching a Taliban video purporting to show US soldiers burning a Quran. He was later aided by the Taliban in his escape.

Through these actions, Hekmatullah violated the basic rules set forth by the Statute of the International Criminal Court, specifically

making improper use … of the military insignia and uniform of the enemy … resulting in death or serious personal injury

The law of war also acknowledges the granting of amnesty to ordinary fighters is an appropriate means to promote peace and reconciliation to end a civil war. But it does not permit amnesty for those who violate its basic rules, including those suspected or convicted of war crimes.

All countries have a legal duty to “respect and ensure respect” for international humanitarian law. Releasing prisoners, thus, is not purely a political question for the Afghan government to decide. It is also bound by international law and must respect it.

Australia has a right to “ensure respect” for the law by both Afghanistan and the US. Releasing Hekmatullah would arguably be a violation of international law by Afghanistan, aided by the US.

Read more: Afghanistan’s peace process is stalled. Can the Taliban be trusted to hold up their end of the deal?

Peace without justice can cause long-term problems

The US, Taliban and Afghan government all know this, but are choosing to sacrifice justice for the dream of peace. All sides are exhausted by the two-decade military stalemate and are understandably desperate for a way out.

But numerous conflicts in recent decades — from Latin American to Africa to the Balkans — show that peace without justice is almost always a delusion.

Any immediate gains are usually undermined by the mid- to long-term insecurity that results from giving impunity to killers. It contaminates the integrity and stability of political systems. It undermines the legal system and subordinates the rule of law and human rights to raw politics.

Read more: Afghanistan: stuttering peace process leaves out millions displaced by 40 years of war

It also allows victims’ grievances to fester, which is especially dangerous in places like Afghanistan where “blood feuds” stoke the desire for vengeance.

In the case of Afghanistan, most seasoned observers also know that peace with the Taliban may well be a naïve fantasy. Violence has increased, not decreased, since the peace deal.

While it has made some tactical concessions for peace, the Taliban’s ideological commitment to extreme religious rule, and its disdain for democracy and human rights, is unswerving.

The Taliban has played the Americans brilliantly, knowing the US no longer has the appetite for war. Releasing murderers could be all for nothing.

– ref. Exchanging killers for peace in Afghanistan is wrong — and could have lasting consequences – https://theconversation.com/exchanging-killers-for-peace-in-afghanistan-is-wrong-and-could-have-lasting-consequences-145927

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tanya M Howard, Senior Research Fellow, University of New England

This morning, NSW Nationals leader John Barilaro capitulated on a threat to tear apart the state government over new koala protections. For now, the government remains intact. However the Nats’ campaign to loosen environmental protections that affect farmers will continue to destabilise the Coalition in the longer term.

The dramatic events of the past 24 hours have cast doubt on whether such a blustering, short-sighted political party has what it takes to lead rural Australia. The NSW Nationals have been entrusted with seven ministerial portfolios – from agriculture to trade and early childhood. But they were willing to throw it away over the fine print of a single planning policy.

There’s no doubt many people in the bush, including farmers, are doing it tough. And many farmers feel environmental protections are hurting their livelihood.

But it’s in everyone’s interests – including farmers’ – to ensure our environment stays healthy. And the extreme summer bushfires shone new light on how close we are to losing vulnerable species such as koalas. It’s hard to understand what the National Party thought it had to gain from this damaging display of brinkmanship.

A long history of tension

Nationals MPs had been demanding the government change a state environmental planning policy that aims to make it easier to identify and protect koala habitat. The policy changed the way koala habitat is identified by increasing the number of protected tree species from ten to 65.

Barilaro branded the change a “land lockup policy”. He described the number of protected tree species as “excessive” and said farmers would be forced to conduct time-consuming and expensive surveys before any new development or farming on their land.

Read more: Farmers, murder and the media: getting to the bottom of the city-country divide

NSW Liberal Planning Minister Rob Stokes rejected Barilaro’s claims that farmers can’t build a feed shed or a driveway without a koala study, and that noxious weeds are listed as core koala habitat.

Development pressures on the NSW north coast have likely fuelled this latest stoush. There, a move to different, more lucrative crops such as blueberries and the demand by “sea-changers” for residential real estate, is prompting agricultural land to be sub-divided and sold. The new koala rules might slow this down.

Land clearing policy has always been a flashpoint for conflict in regional and rural NSW. Tensions tragically came to a head in 2014 when environment compliance officer Glen Turner was murdered by a disgruntled landholder found guilty of breaking native vegetation laws. In the days afterwards, rural politicians said Turner’s death was “brought about by bad legislation” on land clearing.

Since then the NSW government has relaxed native vegetation laws. As a result, land clearing in the state has risen almost 60%, according to government data.

And in August last year the government announced it would no longer investigate or prosecute those who cleared land illegally under the old laws.

Divisions between the city and the bush

The issue of environmental protection plays into a historical city-country divide that has long been an easy wedge for rural politicians.

This tension came to the fore over the koalas issue. Clarence MP Chris Gulaptis said this week:

I was elected to Parliament to represent my community and I get really annoyed when city-centric people preach to us, especially when people in Sydney have done nothing for their koalas.

But it’s worth remembering northwest NSW has some of the highest land clearing rates in the world. It has been identified as a deforestation hotspot, on par with Brazil and the palm oil plantations of Indonesia.

And environmental degradation is not just a concern for city people. Biodiversity underpins our agricultural systems; insects, birds and soil microbes all contribute to food security and regional prosperity.

Separately and just as importantly, in all this talk of what regional communities want, the National Party is virtually silent on the views of Indigenous Australians.

Farmers have bigger problems than koalas

Barilaro and his MPs suggested the amendment was the final “nail in the coffin” of rural and regional Australia. But the fact is, the rapidly dwindling NSW koala population already has one foot in the grave.

A recent NSW inquiry predicted the extinction of the species by 2050 unless protections and rehabilitation efforts were radically ramped up. And a World Wildlife Fund report this week found a 71% decline in koala numbers across bushfire-affected areas of northern NSW.

Koala protections are far from being the biggest threats to rural prosperity. Escalating tensions with China have led to recent bans on barley and beef. The rural community has been hit hard by the extreme drought, and there is growing discontent with the mismanagement of water in the Murray Darling Basin.

Read more: Australia’s farmers want more climate action – and they’re starting in their own (huge) backyards

What’s more, recent expansion of gas exploration and development in the state’s northwest has left locals worried about water contamination and over-extraction.

There is no doubt life in regional and rural Australia is different to the life lived in the city. In some areas there are poor internet connections, worse roads and great distances to travel for basic health services.

But these problems, like land clearing, are complex. And it seems the NSW Nationals are ill-equipped to deal with these challenges. This week’s display suggests the party only deals in wedge politics and blunt solutions – and with that approach, we all stand to lose.

– ref. The NSW koala wars showed one thing: the Nationals appear ill-equipped to help rural Australia – https://theconversation.com/the-nsw-koala-wars-showed-one-thing-the-nationals-appear-ill-equipped-to-help-rural-australia-146000

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

It all started in the late 1980s. Wally Conron, a breeding manager for Guide Dogs Victoria, noticed that some people needing a guide dog appeared to be allergic to the shedding hairs of Labrador Retrievers.

Aware of the perception that Poodles shed little hair and so shouldn’t create such a reaction, Wally crossed a Labrador Retriever with a Standard Poodle. The result proved to be successful, and breeding “Labradoodles” took off around the world, with Wally left standing on the sidelines.

In a new study, an international research team has documented the molecular basis of the Australian Labradoodle. Their main conclusion is that animals in the Australian Labradoodle breed registry are mostly poodle, and not a 50-50 split as might have been expected. It’s also important to mention the Australian Labradoodle is a budding breed, not yet an official one.

These results aren’t surprising to animal geneticists. They provide scientific evidence for the common understanding of how breeders choose dogs to mate for their desirable traits, such as a poodle-like coat. And over generations, this preference leads to a strong genetic predominance in the new breed.

What the research found

The researchers from USA, Pakistan and South Korea analysed genetic data from individual Australian Labradoodle dogs and a variety of other breeds, including Labrador Retrievers and Poodles of different varieties. They included dogs from the two distinct types of Labradoodles:

1. Labradoodles: the offspring of a Labrador and a Poodle

2. Australian Labradoodles: dogs resulting from generations of breeding and selection among the descendants of early crosses between Labrador Retrievers and Standard Poodles and (as it turns out) the occasional other breed.

So, what did the researchers discover?

Not surprisingly, the actual offspring of a cross between a Labrador and a Poodle have an equal share of genetic material from each breed. We expect this because each pup will have one Labrador chromosome and one Poodle chromosome for each chromosome pair.

Also not surprisingly, individual dogs of the Australian Labradoodle breed have a range of proportions of Labrador and Poodle ancestry, strongly tending towards the Poodle.

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When first generation Labradoodles are bred together, their resulting descendants have a range of genetic contributions from the Labrador or Poodle grandparents.

Any pup can have 100% Labrador DNA, 50% Poodle DNA or 100% Poodle DNA at any particular gene. If a pup accidentally inherits no poodle DNA at the relevant coat genes, then it will have a Labrador coat.

Given the main initial aim of creating Labradoodles was to make use of the perceived low-allergenic properties of Poodles, the higher proportion of Poodle ancestry in Australian Labradoodles is expected after generations of selection for a Poodle-like coat. This is the main conclusion of the paper just published.

Interestingly, the researchers make the important point that even though a Poodle-like coat is widely regarded as being lowly allergenic, there seems to have been no research study that has investigated this. This is an important knowledge-gap that needs to be filled.

The study also found other breeds have made small contributions to Australian Labradoodles, including Poodles of different size varieties. There’s even a touch of Spaniel.

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This is a common occurrence. As soon as breeders decide to mix two breeds in the hope of combining some desirable traits, it makes sense to introduce other breeds if it’s thought they could make a useful contribution. For example, a Cockerpoo (Cocker Spaniel crossed with a Poodle) might have been mixed in to make the breed smaller.

What does this tell us about the concept of dog breeds?

This study reinforces the common understanding that, from a biological point of view, a breed is an amalgam of genetic variation derived from various sources. It shows Australian Labradoodles have considerable genetic diversity, most of it derived from Poodles.

As a breed becomes more recognised and more formalised, the only animals that can be registered as members of that breed are the offspring of other registered members. At present, Australian Labradoodles are commonly regarded as a breed but are not, so far as we can determine, officially recognised as such by relevant national authorities.

Importantly, there are no scientific criteria for when a breed should become closed and when it should be formally recognised: these are decisions that are made solely by interested breeders and the registering authorities.

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What this means for breeders

The Australian Labradoodle Association lists 32 accredited breeders which suggests the breed is a moderately-sized population in Australia. It likely produces 150 to 300 pups per year. This is a population size comparable with many other registered dog breeds in Australia.

As in any population of most animal species, problems can arise in any breed from the mating of close relatives. The more closely related the parents, the greater is the chance valuable genetic variation will be lost from a breed, and the greater the chance of offspring having inherited diseases.

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Two examples of problems like this are progressive retinal atrophy (a disorder that causes blindness) and degenerative myelopathy (a disorder that causes paralysis in aged dogs).

Fortunately, pedigree tools are available to enable breeders to consider a wide range of possible matings. DNA tests, which are becoming increasingly available for inherited diseases, can also be very helpful.

The International Partnership for Dogs provides information on resources available for breeders to improve dog genetic health.

In any case, the new research results have provided an important, solid scientific underpinning of the common understanding of how breeds are formed. By combining the desirable aspects of both Labradors and Poodles in one breed, the Australian Labradoodle is a welcome addition to the dog-breed pantheon.

It is to be hoped breeders of Australian Labradoodles, indeed breeders of all breeds, use the available powerful scientific tools to maintain genetic variation within their breed and reduce substantially the chance of inherited diseases.

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– ref. New research finds Australian Labradoodles are more ‘Poodle’ than ‘Lab’. Here’s what that tells us about breeds – https://theconversation.com/new-research-finds-australian-labradoodles-are-more-poodle-than-lab-heres-what-that-tells-us-about-breeds-145757