Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Director, Health Program, Grattan Institute

In the past, when you needed chemotherapy or intravenous (in-the-vein) treatments such as antibiotics or hydration, you needed to be admitted to hospital.

These days, it’s possible to have such treatments in the comfort of your home, with nursing or other clinical supports.

Public hospital-in-the-home and other hospital-substitute programs are burgeoning in the public sector, including in Victoria, Western Australia and New South Wales. These programs now provide the equivalent of hundreds of hospital beds.

Read more: From triage to discharge: a user’s guide to navigating hospitals

Having treatment at home is more convenient for patients, reduces the demand on hospitals, and cuts costs for the health system.

But if you have private health insurance and want to access these services via a private hospital, it’s often not possible. This needs to change.

What’s the problem?

Private health insurers are tightly regulated. If you have a top “gold” package, for example, the insurer must pay for all hospital services that attract a government Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) payment, other than cosmetic surgery.

But insurers are currently not allowed to cover care provided outside of hospitals, except in very limited circumstances.

Insurers are allowed to cover eligible home-based programs developed by private hospitals. But they get to decide on a case-by-case basis whether to cover these programs. And each insurer makes a separate decision for each program.

This means private hospitals must negotiate with each private health insurer for each separate program, for each contract period. This makes it almost impossible for private hospitals to develop sustainable business cases for their programs.

The upshot is patients often miss out on the convenience of having hospital-type services in their home, and instead may face prolonged hospital stays.

The red tape needs to be untangled to make it easier for private hospitals and doctors to run these programs and for insurers to pay for them.

What kind of care can you get at home?

Few hospital-type services are delivered at home under the current system for privately insured patients: they account for about 4% of hospital treatments paid in 2018-19.

Common hospital-type treatments in the home include IV therapy and wound care.

A number of insurers are conducting pilot programs for out-of-hospital rehabilitation after strokes, joint replacements or an accident; chemotherapy; kidney dialysis; and palliative care, so people can die more comfortably in their own homes.

Untangling red tape would also allow private hospitals to offer more “prehabilitation” programs to prepare people for elective surgery, and to offer rehabilitation programs in people’s homes after surgery.

Theoretically, hospital-substitute programs at home could expand to other treatment areas such as obstetrics to have your baby at home. Or for mental health treatment, which may be more efficiently provided outside hospital.

But legislative restrictions (designed to stop insurers covering general practice) have limited the expansion of these programs.

Read more: Waiting for better care: why Australia’s hospitals and health care are failing

How should the system work?

Regulation should support people’s access to the most efficient form of care. And private hospitals should have more certainty about how they’ll be reimbursed when they invest in alternatives to hospital inpatient care.

Rather than each insurer deciding whether they should fund good programs, the independent body which assesses and approves the public-sector equivalent of home-based care – the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority – should do the same for the private sector.

If a program has been approved by the authority, then private health insurers should be required to pay for it.

Specialist doctors, such as oncologists, should also be able to establish hospital substitute programs and have them approved for funding by private health insurers.

All of this is about improving quality and access to care, while at the same time reducing costs. It should be easier for private health insurers to pay for better alternatives to hospital care, where they can deliver the same treatment with the same or better outcomes, but at a lower cost.

It is also about providing good alternatives to private hospital care, increasing competition in the health system, and reducing the number of unnecessary hospital admissions.

There are big opportunities for system-wide efficiencies in the private sector by shifting care from inpatient to outpatient settings – particularly for rehabilitation, psychiatric care, eye injections for retinal conditions, and outpatient vein surgery.

The public sector has already expanded its alternatives to hospital inpatient care. It’s time for the private system to do the same.

Read more: Do you really need private health insurance? Here’s what you need to know before deciding

– ref. Private health insurers should start paying for hospital-type care at home – http://theconversation.com/private-health-insurers-should-start-paying-for-hospital-type-care-at-home-126345

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Merkel, Lecturer in Software Engineering, Monash University

A directive ordering Queensland Health staff to avoid upgrades to the state’s hospital electronic medical record system during parliamentary sitting weeks was recently reversed. After the email containing the directive was leaked, the state’s health minister Steven Miles revoked the directive. He said the timing of upgrades should be based on “what’s best for clinical care”.

Queensland’s integrated electronic medical record system (ieMR) is designed to provide information about patients in the state’s health system. The ieMR was built by Cerner, a global provider of electronic medical record software. Like any IT project of this scale, it’s extensively customised for Queensland Health and individual hospitals.

The directive to refrain from ieMR upgrades during sitting weeks seems to be connected to 38 system outages earlier this year. Most of these happened following upgrades performed by Cerner. On at least one occasion, upgrades didn’t go smoothly, and led to system outages that required clinicians to revert to paper-based methods.

The rollout of the ieMR system to new hospitals, which began back in 2011, was put on hold earlier this year.

Monolithic systems may not be the future

A major difficulty with “monolithic” (that is, all-in-one systems developed by a single company) e-health systems is that a single design team is attempting to solve an incredibly broad set of complex problems.

Health systems involve interactions between dozens of different types of highly trained professionals. Building software to effectively support just one speciality to do its job efficiently is enormously challenging. Developers of unified electronic medical record systems must build systems that support dozens of them. As a result, it’s unlikely that such systems provide the best possible solutions for any particular speciality.

Read more: Everything you need to know about Australia’s e-health records

Because of this, research and development in e-health systems is moving away from monolithic, one-size-fits-all systems. Companies are instead working on allowing smaller, more specialised health IT systems to work together using parallel systems designed to work in concert.

In theory, this means clinicians and departments will be able to use the best software for their particular requirements, while each system can communicate with the others in a common language.

Of course, it won’t be quite that simple in practice. But Queensland Health’s current adoption of massive centralised systems imposed from the top down is extremely hard to get right.

A history of e-health system problems

The ieMR project isn’t the first time Queensland Health has had difficulties with a health-related IT system. An attempt to replace the payroll system, prompted in the late 2000s, was disastrous.

The Commission of Inquiry report into the payroll system is such a compelling description of an IT project failure that I use it to show my undergraduate students an example of what not to do.

The report describes a litany of problems including conflicted advisers, unrealistic timetables, woefully insufficient attention to software requirements, inadequate testing and, to top it all off, a lack of any contingency plan in case the system wasn’t ready in time. This led to the deployment of a system with known critical flaws.

The results were predictably catastrophic, costing the state hundreds of millions of dollars.

It’s important to point out, however, that the ieMR is a completely separate system. Nonetheless, a consultant’s report in 2014 reportedly said “no lessons have been learned” from the earlier payroll system disaster.

Read more: App technology can fix the e-health system if done right

While later efforts attempted to fix issues identified at that time, decisions made previously – especially major architectural decisions such as the choice of a particular off-the-shelf software system – cannot easily be undone.

The problems are varied

Difficulty managing service upgrades is one of many challenges the ieMR project has faced. Other issues identified include:

• extensive delays in the rollout across hospitals
• cost increases and an inability to accurately predict deployment costs
• concerns that software settings may have compromised the flow of information between clinicians treating a pregnant woman with serious health problems.
• other patient safety concerns, including corrupted medication records. While no specific health events were reported as a result of this, incorrect medication poses an obvious safety concern.

Other states have struggled, too

While the concept of electronic medical records is attractive to clinicians and administrators alike, Queensland Health is not the only health operator to have struck trouble with electronic medical records projects.

Emergency departments in New South Wales hospitals implemented a new electronic medical records system (also supplied by Cerner) in 2009 as part of a planned statewide rollout. The system was unpopular with clinicians, and one peer-reviewed academic study indicated it was associated with longer emergency department wait times.

Since the commencement of the ieMR project in 2011, hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested. Sunk costs of this kind, and institutions that tend to follow the status quo, often discourage critical analysis and the exploration of alternative paths.

As the decision has been made to pause the rollout, now seems like an opportune time to properly consider whether current e-health system architecture is the best option for the future.

Read more: Electronic health records review set to ignore consumer interests

– ref. Queensland Health’s history of software mishaps is proof of how hard e-health can be – http://theconversation.com/queensland-healths-history-of-software-mishaps-is-proof-of-how-hard-e-health-can-be-126272

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lin Crase, Professor of Economics and Head of School, University of South Australia

There are two basic components to the Morrison government’s latest A$1 billion package response to the drought affecting large parts eastern Australia. One part involves extra subsidies to farmers and farm-related business. The other involves measures to create or upgrade infrastructure in rural areas.

Unfortunately, most funds will be misdirected and the response is unlikely to secure the long-term prosperity of regional and rural communities. This is a quick fix to a political problem, appealing to an important constituency. But it misses the point, again, about the emerging economics of drought.

Hitting the political target

The bulk of the A$1 billion package is allocated to a loan fund. The terms of the ten-year loans are more generous than what has been offered in the past. They are now interest-free for two years, with no requirement to start paying back the principal till the sixth year.

Farmers will be able to borrow up to A$2 million. In addition, loans of up to A$500,000 will also be available to small businesses in drought-affected towns.

Read more: Government sets up concessional loan scheme for drought-hit small businesses

Because recipients are not having to pay the full cost, these loans are in practice a form of subsidy.

Subsidies are used by government to make more people undertake an activity than would otherwise be the case. In this case the government is offering a subsidy to keep farmers and small businesses owners doing what they’ve been doing, even though from an economic point of view this might not be very wise at all.

The question that should be asked is: “do we want more or fewer people to be involved in a farming activity that is vulnerable to drought?”

Most farming in Australia is completely reliant on rainfed crops and pastures. Rainfall is already highly variable. All the indicators from climate science is that rain will be even more unreliable in the future.

Read more: The science of drought is complex but the message on climate change is clear

In addition, the agricultural industries currently drought affected are not just at the whims of rainfall. These industries are constantly changing and being affected by new technologies and market forces.

For most agricultural produce the key market force is price. Sure, some farms and farmers can carve out niche markets, but most farm businesses depend on producing at lowest cost. Increasingly, the farms that survive in a highly competitive global environment do this by exploiting economies of scale. Big farms are thus more profitable than small ones in the good times (such as when it rains); and during the tough times (such as during drought) they have more resources and deeper reserves to ride it out.

Ultimately, this means successful farms are continually getting bigger and small farmers are getting squeezed out.

Read more: Just because both sides support drought relief, doesn’t mean it’s right

The data also support the view that the farmers who survive and are simultaneously exposed to drought ultimately become even more profitable, because of what they learnt about managing in a difficult environment.

This is not to argue drought is a good thing for any farm, but it does raise a serious question about any government policy that effectively encourages more people to keep doing something when global and technological forces would point to it being unsustainable.

So what’s the point?

The second component of the Morrison government’s relief response involves directing about A$500 million from existing regional infrastructure funds into building roads and other things into affected communities.

While many will welcome this on top of the the extension of loans to small business in country towns, the policy detracts from the serious questions that confront rural and regional communities.

The economics of agriculture has flow-on effects to towns, but it would be wrong to think all are impacted in the same way.

Read more: Helping farmers in distress doesn’t help them be the best: the drought relief dilemma

As a general rule, when farmers sell up, they tend to leave from the small communities first. The upshot is that small communities get smaller, older and poorer as those least mobile are left behind. These people also generally require more, not less, public support. Mid-size communities tend to level out, while continuing to age. Large regional centres tend to grow and prosper.

The point is that each community requires different things from government. Genuine public goods like roads, health services and education are desperately needed and undersupplied in many cases. Providing cash to a few select businesses and grading a gravel road in this situation belies the complexity of the long-term challenges and fails to address serious issues.

An elderly retiree in a rural town might well ask why their local road or bridge is only upgraded during a drought. Surely, government should focus on providing legitimate public goods for the long term, regardless of the weather.

– ref. Australia’s drought relief package hits the political spot but misses the bigger point – http://theconversation.com/australias-drought-relief-package-hits-the-political-spot-but-misses-the-bigger-point-126583

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bonny Cassidy, Lecturer in Creative Writing, RMIT University

Why do we tell stories, and how are they crafted? In this series, we unpick the work of the writer on both page and screen.

From Patrick White’s Voss to Tim Winton’s Breath, white, male Australian novelists have reproduced the hero character through sexualised conquests of other bodies and spaces.

To limited levels of success, debut novelist Shaun Prescott explores alternatives to this tradition in The Town.

Women and nature to conquer

Voss, an anti-hero, virtually penetrates his immaculate lover, Laura, through telepathy; just as his journey into the “dead heart” of the country is both invasive and seemingly invisible.

Winton’s Pike looks back on a life defined by his own climactic physical drives towards the ocean and women. Despite rarely making sexual references, even Gerald Murnane’s narratives often employ traditional fantasies of women who, similar to his grassy horizons, are distant and mirage-like.

Though not without self-awareness, these stories repeat gendered male quests in which women and nature are analogous. They also reflect colonial visions of unpeopled landscapes for the taking.

Inspiring a new response

Written in the era of the Stella Count – a survey of newspapers, journals and magazines to gauge gender bias in Australian book reviews – Prescott’s The Town joins recent debuts by his peers, Jack Cox’s Dodge Rose (2016) and Tom Lee’s Coach Fitz (2018), in attempting to respond to a moment of intensified feminist and anti-colonial activism.

These novels follow the great renaissance of First Nations fiction led by Alexis Wright, Kim Scott and Melissa Lucashenko. They appear alongside culturally and sexually diverse settler stories by male authors like Omar Musa and Peter Polites. As a corollary to social change, the future of the white, heterosexual male character in Australian writing will undergo revision.

Murnane’s influence on The Town manifests in Prescott’s minute attention to Australian regionalism. It’s also there in Prescott’s reduction of that locality to abstractions, his narrator speculating:

If there’s a town in the countryside where I belong, it might already be hidden by some impenetrable shimmer.

Parochial dystopia

It’s David Ireland, though, who emerges as the most productive influence on Prescott. The latter may be continuing Ireland’s quite radical subversion of Australian gender images.

Ireland’s novels, including A Woman of the Future (1979) and City of Women (1981), probe the edges of realism and project into dystopian or surreal futures, just as Prescott does in The Town. Like Ireland, Prescott creates a magical realist world of parochial plausibility.

Prescott’s unnamed narrator is attempting to write a book on disappearing Australian towns, when the one he has chosen to research begins to dissolve into blank gaps and holes. This happens both metaphorically, as plazas and supermarkets take over town precincts, and literally as a source of mild terror. It’s all relayed with a bemused, laconic tone of narration:

The shops in the main streets were all closing. Dust set in thickly, brochures and mail littered stoops, and signs lost their colour beneath the gloom of rusted awnings. These losses did not register with the townspeople: they wandered the air-conditioned plazas, entering and exiting via escalators from dark undercover car parks.

Not driven by desire

Prescott ups the ante when it comes to plot. His narrator is searching for purpose. He has no outwardly directed sexual drive and where attraction looks like it could become a motivation, it proves a red herring.

The narrator strikes up a rapport with his housemate’s girlfriend, Ciara, who becomes an ally. While she leaves her boyfriend and joins him on the road, the journey is neither romantic nor sexually tense. They are useful to one another. Her help makes the narrator feel “unqualified to speak”.

By reconstructing character conventions, Prescott flouts a heterosexual questing plot. Instead of sex, his narrator seeks food and drink, an austerely documented yet solo pastime.

Touching on the right to speak at the heart of anti-patriarchal and anti-colonial representations, the narrator’s cultural voice – his manuscript – peters out. A remnant sense of conservative responsibility compels him salvage what he can of the town’s disappearing culture. Ultimately, he comes to reject the goal as foolish and vain.

Alone in a crowd

The narrator ends up in Sydney, living in a car. Anonymity, incoherence and lost community define his experience of the city. Alone in the crowd, he observes an Anzac parade, a fleeting celebration of “unanimous sadness”. He concludes that collective cultural identity is a temporary truth. The man in the landscape, once silently independent, is now confused, homeless and deferential.

This is where the frame of the novel buckles. Prescott’s narrator must speak – a lot, and to us – so he remains our interpreter of the world. While he relinquishes anthropological detachment, he also encourages himself to let go of the town as a subject to be recorded.

The novel’s protagonist exceeds its fictive device. This leaves Prescott in a tricky spot; The Town is, after all, the promised manuscript about disappearing towns. Prescott doesn’t scramble his protagonist’s world or morality as Ireland does, but ends the narration of his own cultural theory.

Structurally, The Town outstays its plot, becoming circular and monotonous. The narrative veil over Prescott’s own voice can feel like an unnecessary smokescreen when his ideas might, after all, have reached greater depths in the form of an essay.

To speak or not to speak; Prescott seems undecided. We watch as a white Australian male writes himself a marginal relationship to the continent.

– ref. Woke to the past, Shaun Prescott’s The Town moves beyond colonialism and then its protagonist – http://theconversation.com/woke-to-the-past-shaun-prescotts-the-town-moves-beyond-colonialism-and-then-its-protagonist-112867

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

The long-awaited ALP campaign review says Labor lost “because of a weak strategy that could not adapt to the change in Liberal leadership, a cluttered policy agenda that looked risky and an unpopular leader”.

“No one of these shortcomings was decisive but in combination they explain the result,” says the report from former South Australian premier Jay Weatherill and former federal minister Craig Emerson.

While it says Labor’s big tax policies didn’t cause the defeat, the size and complexity of its spending plans “drove its tax policies” exposing it “to a Coalition attack that fuelled anxieties among insecure, low-income couples in outer-urban and regional Australia that Labor would crash the economy and risk their jobs”.

Labor failed to “craft a simple narrative” bringing together its policies, the reviews says.

Its analysis is damning while seeking to be positive for the future, at a time when the ALP remains in shock at its unexpected loss and divided and uncertain about the way forward.

Looking ahead, the report says “policies can be bold but should form part of a coherent Labor story, be limited in number and be easily explainable, making them less capable of misrepresentation”.

“Labor should position itself as a party of economic growth and job creation. Labor should adopt the language of inclusion, recognising the contribution of small and large businesses to economic prosperity, and abandon derogatory references to ‘the big end of town’.”

The report’s emphasis on the importance of Labor tapping into economic growth and being attuned to business reflects the direction in which Anthony Albanese has been seeking to take the party since becoming leader.

The criticism of the “top end of town” language is a direct slap at the rhetoric of Bill Shorten.

Just ahead of the report’s release, Shorten said in a Thursday statement that “were the universe to grant reruns” he would have fewer campaign messages, put more emphasis on the opportunities provided by renewable energies, and take a different position on franking credits.

He also said he should have promised bigger immediate tax cuts for working people.

Shorten reiterated his intention to remain in politics for the next 20 years.

The report warns that “care needs to be taken to avoid Labor becoming a grievance-based organisation,” saying it “has been increasingly mobilised to address the political grievances of a vast and disparate constituency”.

“Working people experiencing economic dislocation caused by technological change will lose faith in Labor if they do not believe the party is responding to their needs, instead being preoccupied with issues not concerning them or that are actively against their interests.

“A grievance-based approach can create a culture of moving from one issue to the next, formulating myriad policies in response to a broad range of concerns.”

Addressing the swing against the ALP by low-income workers, the report says the party’s “ambiguous language on Adani, combined with some anti-coal rhetoric, devastated its support in the coal mining communities of regional Queensland and the Hunter Valley.”

In contrast, higher-income urban voters worried about climate change moved to Labor, despite the potential impact on them of the opposition’s tax policies.

Labor lost some Christian voters, “particularly devout, first-generation migrant Christians”, but the review does not find that people of faith in general deserted Labor.

The review does not believe Labor’s values – “improving the job opportunities, security and conditions of working Australians, fairness, non-discrimination on the basis of race, religion and gender, and care for the environment – were the problem at the election, and says Labor should retain its commitment to these values.

“Labor’s policy formulation should be guided by the national interest, avoiding any perception of capture by special interest groups.”

As a debate has raged within the ALP on how Labor should reshape its climate change policy, and notably its targets, the report says: “A modern Labor Party cannot neglect human-induced climate change. To do so would be environmentally irresponsible and a clear electoral liability.

“Labor needs to increase public awareness of the costs of inaction on climate change, respect the role of workers in fossil fuel industries and support job opportunities in emissions-reducing industries while taking the pressure off electricity prices.”

The report says that high expectations of victory caused Labor incorrectly to assume it had a stronger campaign machine and better digital capacity than the Coalition. It also led to “little consideration being given to querying Labor’s strategy and policy agenda”.

Following Clive Palmer’s huge advertising blitz, the review urges caps on spending by high wealth individuals. Also, influenced by the scare campaign that wrongly asserted Labor had in mind a death tax, said the issue of truth in advertising should be looked at.

– ref. Labor’s election post-mortem warns against ‘becoming a grievance-based organisation’ – http://theconversation.com/labors-election-post-mortem-warns-against-becoming-a-grievance-based-organisation-126592

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Aurora Elmes, PhD Candidate, Swinburne University of Technology

Margaret was depressed, jobless, broke and behind on her rent when the single mother of two heard about Vanguard Laundry Services, in Toowoomba, Queensland.

“I was desperate for work, any work,” she recalls. She started working at the laundry the day before she was due to be evicted.

Given her situation, Margaret was lucky to hear about Vanguard. The laundry is a social enterprise established specifically to provide jobs to people with mental illness. The factors Margaret felt had been barriers to jobs at other businesses – such as her age, gender and health – were no impediment to her employment.

Employers generally tend to be far less accepting and understanding. According to Australian Bureau of Statistics data, 34% of unemployed women and 26% of unemployed men are dealing with mental illness. It makes it harder for them get and hold down a job. Being unemployed also tends to harm mental health, so it’s a Catch-22.

Read more: People with a mental illness discriminated against when looking for work and when employed

The Productivity Commission’s draft report into mental health – which puts the economic cost of mental illness at A$180 billion a year – notes “particularly strong links between employment and mental health” and the importance of increasing job opportunities.

My research with Vanguard Laundry Services and the people who work there shows just how transformative a job opportunity can be.

Since it launched in December 2016, the business has provided jobs to about 78 people with histories of mental illness and long-term unemployment. My research has followed 48 of them. Most report significantly improved mental and physical health since starting work there. There have been concrete social benefits in terms of reduced reliance on public welfare and health services.

Flaws in the system

Under the existing federal Disability Employment Services (DES) system, which pays job service providers to assist people with disabilities, less than a third of those with mental-health-related disability actually obtain a job.

According to a Senate Committee inquiry, the employment service system creates “perverse financial incentives to churn unemployed workers into easier and more reliable income-producing outcomes, such as employability training, Work for the Dole, and job search programs”.

Financial incentives for employers are hardly better. The government will pay a wage subsidy up to $6,500 over six months for hiring someone registered with a job service provider for more than 12 months. These subsidies are open to any employer – including social enterprises like Vanguard Laundry – but this system can also be abused by profit-driven employers to offer only short-term jobs.

The Productivity Commission’s draft report makes several recommendations to improve employment outcomes. One is to put more resources into Individual Placement and Support (IPS) services, which include job coaching, assistance dealing with government services, education and on-the-job support.

There is evidence IPS is more successful than other employment interventions but, like other intermediary employment service approaches, there’s still the challenge of finding employers who are both willing to give someone a go and have a supportive work culture.

Many participants in my research spoke about past employment experiences that included unrealistically high workloads, verbally abusive supervisors and discrimination. Though employment is generally beneficial for mental health, a job with bad working conditions can be worse than unemployment.

Creating inclusive employment

This is where social enterprises like Vanguard Laundry Services have a role to play.

A social enterprise is a business whose core aim is to create public or community benefit. Like many of the 20,000 social enterprises in Australia, Vanguard’s core social purpose is to create meaningful employment opportunities for people experiencing disadvantage.

When creating employment is the reason an enterprise exists, working conditions can be more focused on the needs of workers. My research found staff appreciated having flexibility over their hours and tasks, having understanding and supportive supervisors, and being able be open about their mental health issues yet still be accepted.

From its launch to the end of June 2018, Vanguard’s social impacts have included:

• saving A$153,451 in welfare payments by raising the median income of target staff by $152 a week and reducing average Centrelink payments by A$102.25 a week
• saving A$231,767 in health costs, through employees spending a total of 138 fewer days in hospital.

These results highlight the potential benefits for society that the right mix of government policies can offer through supporting social enterprises.

Read more: How social enterprises are building a more inclusive Australian economy

By responding to some of the challenges within the existing employment system, social enterprises like Vanguard Laundry have the potential to both increase access to work for people with mental illness, and ensure the workplaces people move into are conducive to good mental health.

As Margaret’s story illustrates, access to decent work can make a drastic difference to a person experiencing mental illness and struggling to get by. “It’s just totally changed my life,” she says. “To be quite honest, it saved my life.”

Margaret’s name and some details have been changed to protect her privacy.

– ref. This laundry is changing the vicious cycle of unemployment and mental illness – http://theconversation.com/this-laundry-is-changing-the-vicious-cycle-of-unemployment-and-mental-illness-117965

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Coghlan, Research fellow, School of Computing and Information Systems, University of Melbourne

Set in a dystopian 2019, the sci-fi classic Blade Runner explores how artificial humans could impact our humanity. Harrison Ford’s character experiences powerful emotional and moral effects as he goes about hunting “replicants”.

Now, in the real 2019, the influence of robots on human behaviour is increasingly relevant. Killer military robots and sex robots, for example, might alter attitudes to killing and to women, respectively.

In our research, we explored the potential link between social robots and human character.

Could treating social robots kindly make us kinder people? And could cruelty towards them make us more callous?

Read more: Will talking to AI voice assistants re-engineer our human conversations?

Types of social robots

Social robots are designed for companionship, customer service, health care and education. Many are animal-like. Paro, the furry baby seal who has even starred in The Simpsons, is used in aged care facilities. Paro can learn new names, respond to greetings, and “enjoys” being praised and petted.

AIBO is a robot dog that plays, expresses likes and dislikes, and develops a personality. Future robot companions might even be human-animal hybrids or realisations of mythical creatures such as centaurs or dragons.

Some social robots are humanoid, which means they resemble humans. Sophia, modelled on Audrey Hepburn, can recognise faces and hold simple conversations.

Human behaviour towards robots

It’s hard to predict whether and how robots might change us. Early research in human-computer interaction observed people being polite to computers. More recent research suggests humans may respect a robot’s personal space and trust their judgement.

And there are many examples where robots have pulled at our heartstrings. When Steve, a robot security guard, “drowned” in a Washington fountain, locals created a memorial for it.

Similarly, upset Japanese robot owners held Buddhist funerals for their AIBO dogs when Sony withdrew technical support for AIBO.

Watching people “abuse” robots can also elicit uneasiness.

Some years ago, a military experiment that crippled a six-legged robot was halted for being inhumane. On another occasion, when instructed by researchers to “torture” Pleo the dinosaur robot, participants frequently refused.

Yet the desire to harm robots is also real. One study found some children would, in the absence of their parents, verbally abuse, kick, and punch a service robot in a shopping mall.

Establishing a robot cruelty-kindness link

But don’t we mistakenly attribute feelings to robots?

This is possible, but uncertain. After all, we may pity or despise a character in a book, movie, or video game without believing they actually experience anything.

That said, a link between our treatment of robots and our character need not depend on us truly believing robots have feelings.

Read more: We need robots that can improvise, but it’s not easy to teach them right from wrong

In a scene from the comedy series The Good Place, Janet the robot begs human characters not to terminate her. When the humans instinctively withdraw in sympathy, Janet comically reminds them that, as an artificial thing, she cannot feel or die. Thus, Janet implies, their reluctance to terminate her is, despite her own pleas for mercy, irrational.

But is it?

Imagine a non-talking robot which, when threatened or assaulted, struggles, staggers, tries to flee, and petitions other people for assistance. Such a robot might prompt our pity – or our cruelty – in a way that goes beyond responses to fictional characters.

In this way, it perhaps makes sense that cruelty or kindness towards social robots could encourage cruelty or kindness towards sentient beings, even when we know robots feel nothing.

Sentient animals, which have minimal legal protections, may be especially vulnerable to this effect. But humans may also be at risk.

If social robots could shape our characters in significant ways, it may be young children who are most affected, as childrens’ characters are especially impressionable.

Two sides of the argument

Some experts believe robots could indeed make us crueller. Consider this argument.

Humans tend to subconsciously attribute sentience (feelings) to robots. Our treatment of these robots can then influence our treatment of other living creatures.

This argument resembles philosopher Immanuel Kant’s claim of a link between animal and human cruelty. Kant said:

If a man is not to stifle his own feelings, he must practice kindness towards animals, for he who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men.

Just as we have animal anti-cruelty laws, some say we’ll soon need robot anti-cruelty laws.

Others are more sceptical. After all, there is no conclusive evidence that enjoying violent movies and video games breeds violence towards others.

Read more: The drive towards ethical AI and responsible robots has begun

Moreover, robots are not sentient and lack feelings. But, while some may argue it’s therefore impossible to be “cruel” or “kind” to them, this isn’t entirely obvious in instances where they can struggle, flee, protect themselves, and ask for assistance.

We should hope social robots encourage kinder actions in humans in general, rather than crueller ones.

Perhaps robot anti-cruelty laws are excessive in a liberal society.

But as robots increasingly become a part of our lives, often making decisions without human control, we have good reason to monitor the influence they have on us.

– ref. Abusing a robot won’t hurt it, but it could make you a crueller person – http://theconversation.com/abusing-a-robot-wont-hurt-it-but-it-could-make-you-a-crueller-person-126187

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matt Fitzpatrick, Associate Professor in International History, Flinders University

Thirty years after protesters pulled down the Berlin Wall, the city has knitted itself back together. It has emerged not only as the new capital of reunified Germany (during the split, West Germany’s capital was Bonn), but also as the political and cultural centre of Europe.

Old eastern suburbs like Prenzlauer Berg have become some of the hottest addresses in Germany. Icecream-eating crowds flock to the stirring monument to the Soviet war dead in Treptower Park, while tourists patiently wait in line to pose for photos with giant statues of Marx and Engels in the shadow of the old East German TV tower.

Read more: World politics explainer: The fall of the Berlin Wall

Even the east’s iconic hat-wearing Ampelmännchen (traffic light figure) has managed to colonise the west. Thirty years after mass protests led to the capitulation of East German officialdom and the opening of the Berlin Wall, parts of the old east have not only persisted, they have thrived.

Nevertheless, the old east hasn’t had everything its own way. Symbolically, the East German parliament building, the “People’s Palace” (which also housed theatres, restaurants and a disco, all for public use), was dramatically torn down between 2006 and 2008. This was heartbreaking for many who had fond memories of times spent there.

Somewhat strangely, it has been replaced with a replica of the palace of the German kaisers that once stood there. This colossal monument to Germany’s pre-Communist and pre-Nazi royal past will host a museum filled with colonial-era artefacts (many of a dubious provenance).

Understandably, some East Germans feel that important parts of their past have disappeared down a memory hole. Familiar landscapes and fond reminiscences have been airbrushed out by others eager to view the “two dictatorships” – the genocidal Nazi empire and the Communist East German state – as equal halves of a history of 20th-century German totalitarianism.

More broadly, the effects of change (that is, westernisation) on the old East Germany have been unevenly felt. Material standards of living have clearly risen. Parts of the east have done very well out of the billions of euros that flowed eastward as part of the reunification “solidarity tax”. But structural redevelopment has been a rocky road.

The way in which economic gurus from the west either sold off or shut down East Germany’s heavy industries left many in the “new German states” protesting against what they saw as a form of western colonisation that conspired to keep Germany’s industrial muscle concentrated in the west at the expense of eastern jobs.

The sentiment is understandable, given unemployment has remained stubbornly high in the east ever since reunification. As a result, outside of hipster hubs like Berlin and Leipzig, many young people continue to head west in search of better career and life prospects.

Politically, there are some noticeable differences between east and west. Unarguably, the less multicultural east has played host to an unnerving rise in increasingly brazen far-right extremist activity.

For example, Chemnitz (the old “Karl Marx City”) was the scene of far-right rallies (but also anti-racist counter-rallies) in 2018. Dresden recently declared a “Nazi emergency” as it tries to combat anti-democratic racists who have gravitated to the city. And in recent local elections in Thuringia in the old east, the far-right Alternative for Germany Party (AfD) came in second to the Left Party.

The Left Party, seen as unelectable in the west due to perceived links to the old East German Communist Party, has been a popular government in this eastern state for several years. The old centrist parties of the west, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD), whose governing grand coalition creaks along at the federal level, floundered into third and fourth places respectively at the last election. Elsewhere, in this year’s elections in Saxony the AfD surged to take almost a third of the seats in the state parliament.

This rise of the AfD in the east is noteworthy, but it is not contained to the east. In some ways, looking to the legacy of communism to explain it doesn’t really make too much sense either, given that similar far-right, anti-immigration parties have risen in Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Hungary and Poland.

Notably, the AfD’s most incendiary leader, Björn Höcke, is from the industrial heartland of the west, the Ruhr region.

In terms of recent neo-Nazi violence, although the murderous October attack on a synagogue occurred in the old East German city of Halle, its inspiration seems to have been other racist mass murders such as the Christchurch attack. A believer in the international far-right white genocide delusion allegedly carried out the Halle attack.

Read more: As she prepares to leave politics, Germany’s Angela Merkel has left her mark at home and abroad

Another shocking political murder this year, of pro-immigration CDU politician Walter Lübcke, was carried out in the western city of Kassel, allegedly by a long-time member of the West German neo-Nazi scene.

With infrastructure renewed and the standard of living approaching that of the west, the AfD and its extremist fellow travellers represent a real threat to the political life and social cohesion of the old East German states, indeed to all Germans. Pretending that its rise somehow stems from a deep East German nostalgia for authoritarian rule won’t help, particularly given the enormous number of AfD voters who hadn’t been born when the wall came down.

The assumption that the AfD is a legacy of East Germany’s communist past is an example of the patronising attitude of “west knows best” that has irked Germans in the east ever since reunification.

– ref. Thirty years after the Berlin Wall came down, Germany is still working to meet east with west – http://theconversation.com/thirty-years-after-the-berlin-wall-came-down-germany-is-still-working-to-meet-east-with-west-126185

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Flood, Associate Professor, Queensland University of Technology

Men who adhere to rigid, sexist stereotypes of how to be a man are more likely to use and tolerate violence against women.

On the other hand, men with more flexible, gender-equitable ideas about manhood are more likely to treat women with respect. And promoting healthy, more flexible models of masculinity is an important way to end domestic and sexual violence.

While they may be familiar, these ideas have been backed up by a new report from domestic violence not-for-profit Our Watch, which reviewed Australian and international research on masculinity, citing 374 sources.

Most men don’t ever use violence against a woman. But some men are far more likely to use violence than others. Consider this hypothetical scenario.

You’re a young heterosexual woman and you want a boyfriend. By happy coincidence, there are 100 men in the building next door, all single and heterosexual.

Read more: Risky business: how our ‘macho’ construction culture is killing tradies

Which of those guys are most likely to treat you with respect and care and gender equity? And which, on the other hand, are more likely to abuse, control, and assault you?

Among those 100 men, a minority have used violence. Depending on the study, anywhere from 15 to 20 to 25 of those 100 men have raped or pressured a woman into sex.

What it means to be a man

Many factors can reliably predict the risk of perpetrating violence. One key set of factors is to do with masculinity, that is, the attitudes and behaviours stereotypically associated with being a man.

Longstanding ideals about manhood include ideas that men should be strong, forceful, and dominant in relationships and households. Men should be tough and in control, while women are lesser, or even malicious and dishonest.

Men who conform to these ideals are more likely to hit, abuse, coerce, and sexually harass women than men who see women as their equals.

And men who believe in sexual entitlement to women’s bodies or in rape myths are more likely than other men to rape women.

Read more: When mothers are killed by their partners, children often become ‘forgotten’ victims. It’s time they were given a voice

What’s more, men whose male peers tolerate or use violence are themselves more likely to do so.

A risk at the community level

But sexist models of manhood are also a risk at the community and societal levels. Societies characterised by male dominance and systemic gender inequality have higher levels of violence against women.

Domestic and sexual violence reflect surrounding social systems and structures, including gender inequalities at the levels of neighbourhoods and entire countries. For example, studies find gender-inequitable norms in communities in Tanzania and India go along with higher rates of partner violence against women.

And sexist masculinity not only causes the direct perpetration of violence against women, but also its perpetuation.

Read more: How challenging masculine stereotypes is good for men

Most of those 100 men in the building next door have not used violence. But traditional ideals of masculinity make it more likely that some will blame a woman who has been raped, refrain from intervening in violence-supportive behaviours, turn a blind eye to other men’s sexual coercion, or laugh along with jokes which sustain social tolerance for rape.

Among those 100 men, many other factors, alongside gender, shape their likelihood of perpetrating violence. This includes their social circumstances, childhood experiences of violence, mental health, and so on.

Violence prevention advocates increasingly adopt an “intersectional” approach, recognising gender intersects with other forms of social disadvantage and privilege to shape involvements in violence perpetration and victimisation.

Masculinity is fundamentally social

There is widespread recognition that to prevent and reduce violence against women, we must engage men and boys in this work. We must redefine masculinity, promoting healthier, positive social expectations among men and boys. And men and boys themselves will benefit from such change.

Masculinity, the attitudes and behaviours associated with being male, is fundamentally social, that is, produced in society. The meanings attached to manhood and the social shape of men’s lives vary radically across history and cultures.

This means masculinity’s role in violence against women is social too, and it can be changed through prevention efforts addressing the sexist norms, practices, and structures of masculinity.

Read more: How can we make families safer? Get men to change their violent behaviour

The good news from a rapidly increasing body of research is that well-designed interventions can make positive change.

Face-to-face education programs can improve men’s and boys’ attitudes and behaviours. Community campaigns can shift social norms. And policy and law reform on discrimination, work, and parenting can contribute to societal-level change in gender roles.

Prevention work must be gender-transformative, actively challenging sexist and unhealthy aspects of masculinity and gender roles. It must be done in partnership with women’s rights efforts. And it must reach far beyond work with a few “bad” men, to making change in masculine social norms, systemic gender inequalities, and other social injustices.

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

– ref. Forceful and dominant: men with sexist ideas of masculinity are more likely to abuse women – http://theconversation.com/forceful-and-dominant-men-with-sexist-ideas-of-masculinity-are-more-likely-to-abuse-women-125873

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brad Ridout, Research Fellow; Registered Psychologist; Deputy Chair, Cyberpsychology Research Group, University of Sydney

In the past decade, smartphones have gone from being a status item to an indispensable part of our everyday lives. And we spend a lot of time on them, around four hours a day on average.

There’s an increasing body of research that shows smartphones can interfere with our sleep, productivity, mental health and impulse control. Even having a smartphone within reach can reduce available cognitive capacity.

But it’s recently been suggested we should be more concerned with the potential for smartphones to shorten our lives by chronically raising our levels of cortisol, one of the body’s main stress hormones.

Read more: Three reasons to get your stress levels in check this year

The stress hormone

Cortisol is often mislabelled as the primary fight-or-flight hormone that springs us into action when we are facing a threat (it is actually adrenaline that does this). Cortisol is produced when we are under stress, but its role is to keep the body on high alert, by increasing blood sugar levels and suppressing the immune system.

This serves us well when dealing with an immediate physical threat that resolves quickly. But when we’re faced with ongoing emotional stressors (like 24/7 work emails) chronically elevated cortisol levels can lead to all sorts of health problems including diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and depression. The long term risks for disease, heart attack, stroke and dementia are also increased, all of which can lead to premature death.

While many people say they feel more stressed now than before they had a smartphone, research has yet to determine the role our smartphones play in actually elevating our levels of cortisol throughout the day.

A recent study found greater smartphone use was associated with a greater rise in the cortisol awakening response – the natural spike in cortisol that occurs around 30 minutes after waking to prepare us for the demands of the day.

Awakening responses that are too high or too low are associated with poor physical and mental health. But smartphone use did not affect participants’ natural pattern of cortisol rises and falls throughout the rest of the day. And no other studies have pointed to a link between smartphone use and chronically elevated cortisol levels.

However people still do report feelings of digital stress and information and communication overload.

Checking work emails in the evening or first thing upon waking can lead to the kind of stress that could potentially interfere with natural cortisol rhythms (not to mention sleep). Social media can also be stressful, making us feel tethered to our social networks, exposing us to conflict and cyberbullying, and fostering social comparison and FoMO (fear of missing out).

Read more: New year’s resolutions: how to get your stress levels in check

Despite being aware of these stressors, the dopamine hit we get thanks to social media’s addictive design means there is still a compulsion to check our feeds and notifications whenever we find ourselves with idle time. More than half of under 35s regularly check their smartphone when on the toilet.

Some tips

Dealing with smartphone-induced stress is not as simple as having periods of going cold turkey. The withdrawals associated with the unofficial condition known as nomophobia (an abbreviation of “no-mobile-phone phobia”) have also been shown to increase cortisol levels.

Rather than going on a digital detox, which has been likened to the fad of the juice cleanse diet, we should be aiming for digital nutrition. That is, maintaining a healthier relationship with our smartphones where we are more mindful and intentional about what we consume digitally, so we can maximise the benefits and minimise the stress they bring to our lives.

Here are some tips for healthier smartphone use:

1. Use Apple’s “Screen Time”, Android’s ActionDash or the Moment app to take an audit of how often you use your phone and which apps take up most of your time

2. Turn off all but the most important app notifications (such as private messages) so you can take back control of when you look at your phone. You can also allocate certain times of the day to be notification free

3. Turn off the “push” or “fetch new data” option on your smartphone’s email. This way emails will only appear when you open the mail app and refresh it. As an added bonus this will help extend your phone’s battery life

4. Take some time to complete a digital declutter, which includes unfollowing people/pages (there’s an app for that!) and unsubscribing from email lists (that too!) that cause you stress or don’t benefit you. Remember you can unfollow friends on Facebook without defriending them

5. Create tech-free zones in your house, such as the kitchen table or bedrooms. An “out of sight out of mind” approach will help keep smartphone-delivered stress from creeping into your downtime

6. Set a digital curfew to support better restorative sleep and don’t keep your phone next to your bed. Instead of reaching for your phone first thing in the morning, start your day with a brief meditation, some exercise, or a slow breakfast

7. Be mindful and curious about how often you pick up your phone during the day simply out of boredom. Instead of bombarding your mind with information, use these opportunities to clear your mind with a short breathing exercise. There’s even a mindfulness exercise that challenges you to hold your phone while you meditate on your relationship with it, so you can reclaim your phone as a cue to check-in with yourself, rather than your emails or social media feed.

– ref. How to deal with smartphone stress – http://theconversation.com/how-to-deal-with-smartphone-stress-116426

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Fiona Hibbert, Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Australian National University

Sea levels rose 10 metres above present levels during Earth’s last warm period 125,000 years ago, according to new research that offers a glimpse of what may happen under our current climate change trajectory.

Our paper, published today in Nature Communications, shows that melting ice from Antarctica was the main driver of sea level rise in the last interglacial period, which lasted about 10,000 years.

Rising sea levels are one of the biggest challenges to humanity posed by climate change, and sound predictions are crucial if we are to adapt.

This research shows that Antarctica, long thought to be the “sleeping giant” of sea level rise, is actually a key player. Its ice sheets can change quickly, and in ways that could have huge implications for coastal communities and infrastructure in future.

A warning from the past

Earth’s cycles consist of both cold glacial periods – or ice ages – when large parts of the world are covered in large ice sheets, and warmer interglacial periods when the ice thaws and sea levels rise.

The Earth is presently in an interglacial period which began about 10,000 years ago. But greenhouse gas emissions over the past 200 years have caused climate changes that are faster and more extreme than experienced during the last interglacial. This means past rates of sea level rise provide only low-end predictions of what might happen in future.

We examined data from the last interglacial, which occurred 125,000 to 118,000 years ago. Temperatures were up to 1℃ higher than today – similar to those projected for the near future.

Read more: 11,000 scientists warn: climate change isn’t just about temperature

Our research reveals that ice melt in the last interglacial period caused global seas to rise about 10 metres above the present level. The ice melted first in Antarctica, then a few thousand years later in Greenland.

Sea levels rose at up to 3 metres per century, far exceeding the roughly 0.3-metre rise observed over the past 150 years.

The early ice loss in Antarctica occurred when the Southern Ocean warmed at the start of the interglacial. This meltwater changed the way Earth’s oceans circulated, which caused warming in the northern polar region and triggered ice melt in Greenland.

Understanding the data

Global average sea level is currently estimated to be rising at more than 3 millimetres a year. This rate is projected to increase and total sea-level rise by 2100 (relative to 2000) is projected to reach 70-100 centimetres, depending on which greenhouse gas emissions pathway we follow.

Such projections usually rely on records gathered this century from tide gauges, and since the 1990s from satellite data.

Most of these projections do not account for a key natural process – ice-cliff instability – which is not observed in the short instrumental record. This is why geological observations are vital.

Read more: Our shameful legacy: just 15 years’ worth of emissions will raise sea level in 2300

When ice reaches the ocean, it becomes a floating ice-shelf which ends in an ice-cliff. When these cliffs get very large, they become unstable and can rapidly collapse.

This collapse increases the discharge of land ice into the ocean. The end result is global sea-level rise. A few models have attempted to include ice-cliff instability, but the results are contentious. Outputs from these models do, however, predict rates of sea-level rise that are intriguingly similar to our newly observed last interglacial data.

Our work examines records of total sea-level change, which by definition includes all relevant natural processes.

We examined chemical changes in fossil plankton shells in marine sediments from the Red Sea, which reliably relate to changes in sea level. Together with evidence of meltwater input around Antarctica and Greenland, this record reveals how rapidly sea level rose, and distinguishes between different ice sheet contributions.

Looking to the future

What is striking about the last interglacial record is how high and quickly sea level rose above present levels. Temperatures during the last interglacial were similar to those projected for the near future, which means melting polar ice sheets will likely affect future sea levels far more dramatically than anticipated to date.

Read more: Australia’s only active volcanoes and a very expensive fish: the secrets of the Kerguelen Plateau

The last interglacial is not a perfect scenario for the future. Incoming solar radiation was higher than today because of differences in Earth’s position relative to the Sun. Carbon dioxide levels were only 280 parts per million, compared with more than 410 parts per million today.

Crucially, warming between the two poles in the last interglacial did not happen simultaneously. But under today’s greenhouse-gas-driven climate change, warming and ice loss are happening in both regions at the same time. This means that if climate change continues unabated, Earth’s past dramatic sea level rise could be a small taste of what’s to come.

– ref. Scientists looked at sea levels 125,000 years in the past. The results are terrifying – http://theconversation.com/scientists-looked-at-sea-levels-125-000-years-in-the-past-the-results-are-terrifying-126017

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Norton, Honorary fellow, University of Melbourne

Sydney’s Macquarie University announced budget cuts in recent days, due to “zero growth” in enrolments next year.

Vice-Chancellor Bruce Dowton reportedly wrote a letter to staff announcing the cuts, which included a hiring freeze. The letter said:

Enrolment growth domestically and internationally has slowed significantly at a time when our base operating costs continue to rise […] Current projections are that there will be zero growth in load [full-time student numbers] in 2020.

This comes a few months after a report from the Centre for Independent Studies warned Australia’s universities were in for a “catastrophic” financial hit due to their over-reliance on international students from China.

Macquarie has been hit harder than most other universities, but many universities are finding it more difficult to recruit students than they did a few years ago. New domestic enrolments are in a mild recession. And although international student numbers are still growing, demand from Chinese international students has stabilised.

No increase in school leavers wanting university

In 2018, the number of students starting a bachelor degree fell for the first time since 2003. Of Australia’s 37 public universities, 23 took fewer new bachelor-degree students in 2018 than 2017.

Enrolments are expected to be down again in 2019, following a drop in applications. Commencing domestic postgraduate student numbers peaked several years ago.

In a sector used to growth a downturn causes problems.

Since a Commonwealth funding freeze announced in late 2017, universities have not had strong financial incentives to enrol additional students. But this is not the main reason for falling enrolments. The issue is weak demand more than reluctant supply.

Read more: Demand-driven funding for universities is frozen. What does this mean and should the policy be restored?

Demand for higher education is influenced by the population of potential applicants. Recent school leavers are the biggest bachelor-degree market. The number of year 12 school students fell slightly in 2018, mostly due to a downward trend in babies born 17 years previously.

Birth and forecast population trends suggest year 12 student numbers will increase by only 1-2% in the next couple of years. So domestic demand for higher education from school leavers should stay close to current levels.

Mature-age students also affect enrolments

To date, mature-age students are the principal cause of falling commencing bachelor-degree enrolments. But the number of non-year 12 applicants new to higher education is not trending down. For the last few years their applications have fluctuated in a narrow range.

The drop in demand is driven by people who have been to university before. Possibly, more student places under demand-driven funding triggered a boom in course switching and former students returning, which has now subsided.

Former students are also affecting the domestic postgraduate market. The number of people who already have a degree, which makes them eligible for postgraduate study, is at record levels. But domestic postgraduate coursework commencements peaked in 2014 and have declined since.

This is not an isolated trend. All types of structured education for people already in the workforce are in decline. It’s likely online self-education is taking market share.

Read more: The three things universities must do to survive disruption

What about international enrolments?

The story is very different in the international-student postgraduate market, which is growing rapidly. In 2018, for the first time ever, more international students started a postgraduate than an undergraduate course in Australia.

Despite some soft international markets, the overall trend is up. The most recent data, which take us to August 2019 and cover all levels of higher education, show commencing enrolments are 7% higher than at the same time in the previous year.

Student visa applications, which go up to September this year, suggest overall demand continues to increase modestly. But we should wait until later in the year before drawing firm conclusions.

A key cause of enrolment increases is India’s rapid rise. Commencing Indian student enrolments have more than doubled since 2016. Although China remains the largest source of international students, new Chinese enrolments have stabilised this year.

International student issues could cause numbers to fall

Given enrolment and visa trends, total international student enrolments will increase in the short term. But there are many concerns about this industry, including English language standards, cheating, soft marking, Chinese political interference, university financial over-reliance on international students, labour market exploitation of students, and poor graduate outcomes.

Read more: Are international students passing university courses at the same rate as domestic students?

There are also broader issues of international students driving up migration numbers, as well as questions of whether we want a large proportion of the population living with limited political and welfare rights.

Population issues contributed to a rule change to attract international students away from congested big cities to regional and minor city locations. I expect further regulatory changes and market reactions to international education issues to eventually cause a decline in numbers.

University luck might be about to run out

For universities addicted to international student dollars any enrolment decline is bad news. But universities have a history of luck. As international student numbers dropped a decade ago, domestic enrolments boomed. And as domestic numbers flattened in recent years, the international market took off.

As the domestic demography chart above suggests, there is potential for big increases in Australian undergraduates in the mid-2020s, as the mid-2000s baby boom children reach university age.

Read more: Australian universities can’t rely on India if funds from Chinese students start to fall

There is, however, a major obstacle to that scenario: with the end of demand-driven funding, there will be no money to pay for those extra students. Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan has acknowledged the problem but so far has no solution.

Without one, the future contains major risks. Universities could have falling enrolments for both domestic and international students. This will mean staff cuts and less money for research.

And the people born in the mid-2000s could be part of an unlucky generation in which population growth collides with budget constraint. Their chances of finding a university place will be lower than for people born in earlier decades.

– ref. Enrolments flatlining: Australian unis’ financial strife in three charts – http://theconversation.com/enrolments-flatlining-australian-unis-financial-strife-in-three-charts-126342

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Juanita Breen (previously Westbury), Senior Lecturer in Dementia Care, University of Tasmania

The Royal Commission into Aged Care and Safety wasn’t supposed to make any recommendations in its interim report. Yet it identified three key areas where immediate action should be taken.

Responding to the over-reliance on chemical restraint was one. The second and third focused on providing more home care and reducing the number of younger people in aged care homes.

Read more: The aged care royal commission’s 3 areas of immediate action are worthy, but won’t fix a broken system

As one way to address chemical restraint, health minister Greg Hunt this week announced doctors will soon have to justify why a patient needs to have the drug risperidone for more than 12 weeks.

But this move is yet another quick fix that won’t solve this complex problem.

What is chemical restraint?

New legislation states chemical restraint:

involves the use of medication to influence a person’s behaviour, other than medication prescribed for a diagnosed mental disorder or a physical condition.

With 86% of aged care residents currently diagnosed with a mental health or behavioural condition, it’s difficult to determine whether a medication is used to treat a person’s symptoms or to control their behaviour. It may well be both and is open to individual interpretation.

Psychotropic medications affect the mind, emotions and behaviours.

The agents most commonly used to provide chemical restraint in aged care are antipsychotics (risperidone, quetiapine and olanzapine) and benzodiazepines (oxazepam and temazepam). Other psychotropics, such as sedating antidepressants (such as mirtazapine) and anti-epileptics, are also used to restrain residents.

It is important to acknowledge that some residents with behavioural symptoms of dementia may require a low dose of antipsychotic if they are severely distressed or at risk of harming themselves or others. About 20% of people with dementia displaying aggressive behaviour will improve when prescribed these.

But behavioural symptoms change over time. So the use of antipsychotic medications should be reviewed every 12 weeks, with a view to stopping.

Read more: Needless treatments: antipsychotic drugs are rarely effective in ‘calming’ dementia patients

Risperidone is the only antipsychotic licensed in Australia to treat behavioural symptoms of dementia. It’s authorised and subsidised for use in Alzheimer’s disease, when non-drug treatments have failed – and only then for 12 weeks.

However, the drug is used for far longer periods, with one study reporting the average duration exceeds two years.

In my national study looking at psychotropic use, 22% of residents were taking antipsychotics – of these, more than half were taking risperidone. Judging from these high rates of use, it’s likely risperidone is prescribed for people with other types of dementia and as a first-line treatment.

There’s no simple fix

Risperidone is currently authorised and subsidised for only 12 weeks. It’s available under a “streamlined authority” system, meaning clinicians can easily prescribe it just by using a numerical code.

Use is not audited so prescribers have unrestricted access.

The health minister now wants to make it tougher for prescribers. After 12 weeks of use, they will have to phone Services Australia (formerly known as the Department of Human Services) and explain why they need to use it for longer.

But this response won’t solve the problem because it doesn’t address the root cause.

It also fails to curb the high use of other antipsychotics and other psychotropics.

Read more: Chemical restraint has no place in aged care, but poorly designed reforms can easily go wrong

In the short term, restricting access may reduce the use of risperidone. But it’s very likely other sedatives will be prescribed instead. This is what happened when a warning about using risperidone was released in 2015.

The use of other agents, especially oxazepam and quetiapine, rose as a result. And by 2019, overall risperidone use has returned to original levels.

Targeting prescribing also implies doctors are to blame. It’s not that simple. Other influences also drive prescribing of these drugs.

In a 2017 survey of 177 GPs, for instance, 91% said they had been pressured to prescribe psychotropics by staff. They said they often prescribed these drugs due to of a lack of staff and training on other ways to deal with these types of symptoms.

So what needs to be done?

After many years of research into this area, here’s what needs to be done to reduce chemical restraint in aged care homes.

First, we need to increase training and support for staff and health professionals on how best to manage behavioural and mental health symptoms, before reaching for the script pad.

It’s vital to first assess for causes (such as pain, infection, other medication) and to provide activities matched to the resident, communicate effectively and enrich their environment.

Second, audits, feedback of use and reviews are needed for staff, management and prescribers to monitor their psychotropic use. These audits need to be publicly available to hold homes to account.

Third, nurses at aged care homes need to be part of the medication review process, along with the GP and pharmacist. At present they are excluded. This doesn’t make sense, as they assess behaviour, request, monitor and administer psychotropic medication.

From 2014 to 2016, I led a national intervention called RedUSe, which promoted all three strategies in 150 aged care homes around the country.

Nearly 40% of residents taking antipsychotics and benzodiazepines reduced their use, with most stopping them outright. This provides strong evidence this combination of strategies can reduce the use of chemical restraints.

Read more: Antipsychotic drugs harm older people, let’s reduce their use

There is little evidence, however, that restricting prescribing of a single psychotropic, as Minister Hunt suggests, will have any impact at all.

– ref. Tweaking prescribing rules won’t fix chemical restraint in aged care – http://theconversation.com/tweaking-prescribing-rules-wont-fix-chemical-restraint-in-aged-care-126347

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Legg, Associate Professor, Conservatorium of Music, University of Tasmania

Kanye West’s Jesus is King will probably not rate among many traditional gospel followers. Kanye is one of the world’s biggest rap artists. Gospel music has its roots in the Spiritual and the blues – African Americans singing their theology, their world view.

But, Kanye and gospel? A tantalising, provocative and interesting combination. So, what is it like?

As a musician who has been privileged to play with many contemporary gospel artists, I get it. Jesus is King is gospel. Maybe Kanye’s gospel, but gospel all the same.

Maybe not as we knew it (I’m thinking here of the late, legendary singers Clara Ward, James Cleveland and Aretha Franklin) but still true to its community. Emotional, honest, raw, laid bare and real – honouring God as the great forgiver and transformer of lives.

Kanye’s song writing, sound crafting, production values and sheer force of expression commands respect. And yes, for me, that’s gospel.

Read more: Aretha Franklin and her community opened their doors and their hearts to me

Referencing and testifying

Jesus is King has polarised discussion. Alicia Crosby, a minister speaking to Time, said the album was, “weak theology, it’s not substantive, it’s not glorifying.” However, Sam Hailes, the editor of Premier Christianity said, “this Christ-focused album is packed full of eternal truth.”

I think Kanye has produced something remarkable. Genuinely contemporary, Jesus Is King will inevitably challenge the traditional concept of African American gospel while influencing it shape for years to come. It is rough and ready in places, but honest.

Gospel music has always been challenged. Thomas Dorsey changed (read; established) gospel by incorporating blues; James Cleveland brought pop songs back into a church context; Edwin Hawkins and Richard Smallwood used contemporary, black, popular music grooves and sounds.

Kanye is simply treading in their footsteps, bringing in elements of rap, pop, RnB and hip-hop.

Jesus is King begins in church, with a piano, an organ, and a gospel choral arrangement. Kanye obliquely references Kirk Franklin’s Brighter Day; Frank Hammond’s Let The Praise Begin and Myron Butler’s Set Me Free.

Referencing is inherent in gospel music. Referencing ties you to the past: its sounds and values. It testifies. It binds you to your sustaining community.

Sampling from gospel – and from the Bible

Kanye’s modern take arrests you immediately.

The power of gospel is its conviction in delivery and intent. Kanye’s rap is like preaching, punctuated by instrumental riffs and percussive punches.

Traditional lyrics are placed in a new, exciting setting. In Every Hour he references the traditional gospel song Sing Till the Power of the Lord Comes Down. This song, in turn, draws from Psalm 59:16.

The song Selah illustrates Kanye’s more usual rap background, tracing his very personal journey of spiritual conversion. He references Franklin’s The Verdict and cites John 8:33 and 8:36, but also his own previous music, such as Ultralight Beam from his 2016 album The Life of Pablo.

Kanye references the past in his present, while looking to the future. A key aspect of contemporary gospel is lyrics that see life not as linear (always getting better!), but as circular.

Read more: Friday essay: the sounds of Kanye West

Kanye makes no secret of it – this is where he is now. Re-aligned with the church that saved and sustained his people and culture, moving away from the excesses of his high profile life, he comes home to be nurtured, and reconnect.

Vocal arrangements performed by Kanye’s Sunday Service Choir , who sing at his Sunday service events, are standouts.

Hands On, with legendary gospel singer Hammond, is a tour de force for Hammond’s truly amazing voice. Some musical references are less solid, like the Kenny G sample in Use This Gospel.

The song Follow God samples Can You Lose By Following God by Whole Truth, and we get to the heart of Kanye’s struggles:

I was looking at the ‘Gram and I don’t even like likes
I was screamin’ at my dad, he told me, ‘It ain’t Christ-like’
I was screamin’ at the referee just like Mike
Lookin’ for a bright light, Sigel, what your life like

There is a hurt and angry young man here whose frustration shows throughout, especially towards the album’s end.

Challenging gospel

For all its innovation and contemporary style, the groundwork for this album was set over 20 years ago. Kirk Franklin’s 1997 album Stomp set a new bar for hip-hop and RnB coming into gospel, and with the highest production values. This too though, was based on the preceding sounds of late ‘70s gospel bands like Commissioned, the Wynans and Richard Smallwood.

Innovation in gospel hasn’t always been readily embraced. Kirk Franklin and the Family were picketed outside concert and church venues for their use of contemporary grooves and sounds in gospel. Such was the challenge that the new brought to the old.

Sometimes the old has a point. Contemporary gospel artists, including me, regularly miss the original meanings and contexts of the old school music that we play, which underpins our new expressions and versions of it.

But artists like Kirk Franklin – and now Kanye – remind us gospel is the music and story of a whole community.

– ref. I teach and play gospel music and I think Kanye’s Jesus is King is a remarkable gospel album – http://theconversation.com/i-teach-and-play-gospel-music-and-i-think-kanyes-jesus-is-king-is-a-remarkable-gospel-album-126191

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Blakers, Professor of Engineering, Australian National University

How do solar panels work? – Nathan, age 5, Melbourne, Australia.

The Sun produces a lot of energy called solar energy. Australia gets 20,000 times more energy from the Sun each day than we do from oil, gas and coal. This solar energy will continue for as long as the Sun lives, which is another 5 billion years.

Solar panels are made of solar cells, which is the part that turns the solar energy in sunlight into electricity.

Solar cells make electricity directly from sunlight. It is the most trusted energy technology ever made, which is why it is used on satellites in space and in remote places on Earth where it is hard to fix problems.

Read more: Curious Kids: how does electricity work?

How do solar cells work?

Solar cells are made using silicon atoms. An atom is basically a building block – just like a Lego brick but so tiny you’d need a special machine to see them.

Because the silicon atoms are so small you need trillions and trillions of them for a solar cell.

To make the solar cell you need a wafer layer of silicon, about the same size as a dinner plate but much much thinner – only about three times the thickness of a strand of your hair.

This silicon layer is changed in a special way using hot temperatures of up to 1,000℃. Then, a sheet of metal is put onto the back of the layer and a metal mesh with holes in it, like a net, is put on the front. It is this mesh side of the layer that will face the Sun.

When 60 solar cells are made they are fixed together behind a layer of glass to make a solar panel.

If your house has a solar power system, it will probably have 10 to 50 solar panels attached to your roof. Millions of solar panels are used to make a large solar farm out in the countryside.

Each silicon atom contains extremely tiny and lightweight things called electrons. These electrons each carry a small electric charge.

When sunlight falls on a solar panel it can hit one of the electrons in a silicon atom and knock it free.

These electrons can move around but because of the special way the cell is made they can only go one way, up towards the side that faces the Sun. They can’t go the other way.

So whenever the Sun is shining on the solar cell it causes many electrons to flow upwards but not downwards, and this creates the electric current needed to power things in our homes such as lights, the television and other electrical items.

If the sunlight is bright, then lots of electrons get hit and so lots of electric current can flow. If it is cloudy, then fewer electrons get hit and the current will be cut by three quarters or more.

At night, the solar panel produces no electric power and we need to rely on batteries or other sources of electricity to keep the lights on.

How are solar cells being used?

Solar cells are the cheapest way to make electricity – cheaper than new coal or nuclear power stations. This is why solar cells are being installed around the world about five times faster than coal power stations and 20 times faster than nuclear power stations.

In Australia, nearly all new power stations are either solar power stations or wind farms. Solar and wind electricity can be used to run electric cars in place of polluting petrol cars. Solar and wind electricity can also heat and cool your house and can be used in industry in place of coal and natural gas.

Solar and wind are helping lessen the amount of greenhouse gases which damage our Earth. They are cheap, and they continue to get even cheaper and the more we use it the quicker we can stop using energy that can hurt the Earth (like coal, oil and gas).

What’s more, silicon is the second most common atom in the world (after oxygen). In fact, sand and rocks are made of mostly silicon and oxygen. So, we could never run out of silicon to make more solar cells.

Read more: Curious Kids: why do we not use the magnetic energy the Earth provides to create electricity?

Hello, curious kids! Have you got a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au

– ref. Curious Kids: how do solar panels work? – http://theconversation.com/curious-kids-how-do-solar-panels-work-123515

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ross Garnaut, Professorial Research Fellow in Economics, University of Melbourne

Four years ago in December 2015, every member of the United Nations met in Paris and agreed to hold global temperature increases to 2°C, and as close as possible to 1.5°C.

The bad news is that four years on the best that we can hope for is holding global increases to around 1.75°C. We can only do that if the world moves decisively towards zero net emissions by the middle of the century.

A failure to act here, accompanied by similar paralysis in other countries, would see our grandchildren living with temperature increases of around 4°C this century, and more beyond.

I have spent my life on the positive end of discussion of Australian domestic and international policy questions. But if effective global action on climate change fails, I fear the challenge would be beyond contemporary Australia. I fear that things would fall apart.

There is reason to hope

It’s not all bad news.

What we know today about the effect of increased concentrations of greenhouse gases broadly confirms the conclusions I drew from available research in previous climate change reviews in 2008 and 2011. I conducted these for, respectively, state and Commonwealth governments, and a federal cross-parliamentary committee.

But these reviews greatly overestimated the cost of meeting ambitious reduction targets.

There has been an extraordinary fall in the cost of equipment for solar and wind energy, and of technologies to store renewable energy to even out supply. Per person, Australia has natural resources for renewable energy superior to any other developed country and far superior to our customers in northeast Asia.

Read more: Australia’s hidden opportunity to cut carbon emissions, and make money in the process

Australia is by far the world’s largest exporter of iron ore and aluminium ores. In the main they are processed overseas, but in the post-carbon world we will be best positioned to turn them into zero-emission iron and aluminium.

In such a world, there will be no economic sense in any aluminium or iron smelting in Japan or Korea, not much in Indonesia, and enough to cover only a modest part of domestic demand in China and India. The European commitment to early achievement of net-zero emissions opens a large opportunity there as well.

Converting one quarter of Australian iron oxide and half of aluminium oxide exports to metal would add more value and jobs than current coal and gas combined.

A natural supplier to the world’s industry

With abundant low-cost electricity, Australia could grow into a major global producer of minerals needed in the post-carbon world such as lithium, titanium, vanadium, nickel, cobalt and copper. It could also become the natural supplier of pure silicon, produced from sand or quartz, for which there is fast-increasing global demand.

Other new zero-emissions industrial products will require little more than globally competitive electricity to create. These include ammonia, exportable hydrogen and electricity transmitted by high-voltage cables to and through Indonesia and Singapore to the Asian mainland.

Australia’s exceptional endowment of forests and woodlands gives it an advantage in biological raw materials for industrial processes. And there’s an immense opportunity for capturing and sequestering, at relatively low cost, atmospheric carbon in soils, pastures, woodlands, forests and plantations.

Modelling conducted for my first report suggested that Australia would import emissions reduction credits, however today I expect Australia to cut domestic emissions to the point that it sells excess credits to other nations.

The transition is an economic winner

Technologies to produce and store zero-emissions energy and sequester carbon in the landscape are highly capital-intensive. They have therefore benefited exceptionally from the historic fall in global interest rates over the past decade. This has reduced the cost of transition to zero emissions, accentuating Australia’s advantage.

In 2008 the comprehensive modelling undertaken for the Garnaut Review suggested the transition would entail a noticeable (but manageable) sacrifice of Australian income in the first half of this century, followed by gains that would grow late into the second half of this century and beyond.

Today, calculations using similar techniques would give different results. Australia playing its full part in effective global efforts to hold warming to 2°C or lower would show economic gains instead of losses in early decades, followed by much bigger gains later on.

Read more: The science of drought is complex but the message on climate change is clear

If Australia is to realise its immense opportunity in a zero-carbon world, it will need a different policy framework. But we can make a strong start even with the incomplete and weak policies and commitments we have. Policies to help complete the transition can be built in a political environment that has been changed by early success.

Three crucial steps

Three early policy developments are needed. None contradicts established federal government policy.

First, the regulatory system has to focus strongly on the security and reliability of electricity supplies, as it comes to be drawn almost exclusively from intermittent renewable sources.

Second, the government must support transformation of the power transmission system to allow a huge expansion of supply from regions with high-quality renewable energy resources not near existing transmission cables. This is likely to require new mechanisms to support private initiatives.

Third, the Commonwealth could secure a globally competitive cost of capital by underwriting new investment in reliable (or “firmed”) renewable electricity. This was a recommendation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s retail electricity price inquiry, and has been adopted by the Morrison government.

We must get with the Paris program

For other countries to import large volumes of low-emission products from us, we will have to accept and be seen as delivering on emissions reduction targets consistent with the Paris objectives.

Paris requires net-zero emissions by mid-century. Developed countries have to reach zero emissions before then, so their interim targets have to represent credible steps towards that conclusion.

Japan, Korea, the European Union and the United Kingdom are the natural early markets for zero-emissions steel, aluminum and other products. China will be critically important. Indonesia and India and their neighbours in southeast and south Asia will sustain Australian exports of low-emissions products deep into the future.

For the European Union, reliance on Australian exports of zero-emissions products would only follow assessments that we were making acceptable contributions to the global mitigation effort.

We will not get to that place in one step, or soon. But likely European restrictions on imports of high-carbon products, which will exempt those made with low emissions, will allow us a good shot.

Read more: Labor’s reset on climate and jobs is a political mirage

Movement will come gradually, initially with public support for innovation; then suddenly, as business and government leaders realise the magnitude of the Australian opportunity, and as humanity enters the last rush to avoid being overwhelmed by the rising costs of climate change.

The pace will be governed by progress in decarbonisation globally. That will suit us, as our new strengths in the zero-carbon world grow with the retreat of the old. We have an unparalleled opportunity. We are more than capable of grabbing it.

Ross Garnaut conducted the 2008 and 2011 climate reviews for the Rudd and Gillard governments. His book Superpower – Australia’s Low-Carbon Opportunity, is published today by BlackInc with La Trobe University Press.

– ref. Australia could fall apart under climate change. But there’s a way to avoid it – http://theconversation.com/australia-could-fall-apart-under-climate-change-but-theres-a-way-to-avoid-it-126341

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thomas Newsome, Lecturer, University of Sydney

Exactly 40 years ago, a small group of scientists met at the world’s first climate conference in Geneva. They raised the alarm about unnerving climate trends.

Today, more than 11,000 scientists have co-signed a letter in the journal BioScience, calling for urgently necessary action on climate.

This is the largest number of scientists to explicitly support a publication calling for climate action. They come from many different fields, reflecting the harm our changing climate is doing to every part of the natural world.

Read more: 40 years ago, scientists predicted climate change. And hey, they were right

Why no change?

If you’re thinking not much has changed in the past 40 years, you might be right. Globally, greenhouse gas emissions are still rising, with increasingly damaging effects.

Much of the focus to date has been on tracking global surface temperatures. This makes sense, as goals like “prevent 2℃ of warming” create a relatively simple and easy-to-communicate message.

However, there’s more to climate change than global temperature.

In our paper, we track a broader set of indicators to convey the effects of human activities on greenhouse gas emissions, and the consequent impacts on climate, our environment, and society.

The indicators include human population growth, tree cover loss, fertility rates, fossil fuel subsidies, glacier thickness, and frequency of extreme weather events. All are linked to climate change.

Troubling signs over the past 40 years

Profoundly troubling signs linked to human activities include sustained increases in human and ruminant populations, global tree cover loss, fossil fuel consumption, number of plane passengers, and carbon dioxide emissions.

The concurrent trends on the actual impacts of climate change are equally troubling. Sea ice is rapidly disappearing, and ocean heat, ocean acidity, sea level, and extreme weather events are all trending upwards.

These trends need to be closely monitored to assess how we are responding to the climate emergency. Any one of them could hit a point of no return, creating a catastrophic feedback loop that could make more regions of Earth uninhabitable.

Read more: What climate tipping points should we be looking out for?

The need for better reporting

We urge national governments to report on how their own results are trending. Our indicators will allow policymakers and the public to better understand the magnitude of this crisis, track progress, and realign priorities to alleviate climate change.

Some of the indicators could even be presented monthly to the public during news broadcasts, as they are arguably more important than the trends in the stock exchange.

It’s not too late to act

In our paper we suggest six critical and interrelated steps that governments, and the rest of humanity, can take to lessen the worst effects of climate change:

1. prioritise energy efficiency, and replace fossil fuels with low-carbon renewable energy sources,

2. reduce emissions of short-lived pollutants like methane and soot,

3. protect and restore the Earth’s ecosystems by curbing land clearing,

4. reduce our meat consumption,

5. move away from unsustainable ideas of ever-increasing economic and resource consumption, and

6. stabilise and ideally, gradually reduce human populations while improving human well-being.

We recognise that many of these recommendations are not new. But mitigating and adapting to climate change will entail major transformations across all six areas.

How can you help?

Individuals can make a difference by reducing meat consumption, voting for political parties and members of government bodies who have clear climate change policies, rejecting fossil fuels where possible, using renewable and clean sources of energy, reducing car and air travel, and joining citizen movements.

Lots of small changes will help inspire larger scale shifts in policy and economic frameworks.

We are encouraged by a recent global surge of concern. Some governments are declaring climate emergencies. Grassroots citizen movements are demanding change.

Read more: Why attending a climate strike can change minds (most importantly your own)

As scientists, we urge widespread use of our indicators to track how changes across the six areas above will start to change our ecosystem trajectories.

– ref. 11,000 scientists warn: climate change isn’t just about temperature – http://theconversation.com/11-000-scientists-warn-climate-change-isnt-just-about-temperature-126261

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paulo de Souza, Professor, Griffith University

Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.

If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nz

If tiny concentrations of carbon dioxide can hold enough heat to create a global warming impact on Earth, why is Mars cold? Its atmosphere is 95% carbon dioxide.

The recipe for the temperature of a planet’s surface has four major ingredients: atmospheric composition, atmospheric density, water content (from oceans, rivers and air humidity) and distance from the Sun. There are other ingredients, including seasonal effects or the presence of a magnetosphere, but these work more like adding flavour to a cake.

When we look at Earth, the balance of these ingredients makes our planet habitable. Changes in this balance can result in effects that can be felt on a planetary scale. This is exactly what is happening with the increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere of our planet.

Increased concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, sulphur hexafluoride and other gases in the atmosphere have been raising the temperature of our planet’s surface gradually and will continue to do so for many years to come.

Read more: Climate explained: why carbon dioxide has such outsized influence on Earth’s climate

As a consequence, places covered in ice start melting and extreme weather events become more frequent. This poses a growing challenge for us to adapt to this new reality.

Small concentration, big effect

It is surprising to realise how little the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and other greenhouse gases has to change to cause such a shift in our climate. Since the 1950s, we have raised CO₂ levels in the atmosphere by a fraction of a percent, but this is already causing several changes in our climate.

This is because CO₂ represents a tiny part of Earth’s atmosphere. It is measured in parts per million (ppm) which means that for every carbon dioxide molecule there are a million others. Its concentration is just 0.041%, but even a small percentage change represents a big change in concentration.

We can tell what Earth’s atmosphere and climate were like in the distant past by analysing bubbles of ancient air trapped in ice. During Earth’s ice ages, the concentration of carbon dioxide was around 200ppm. During the warmer interglacial periods, it hovered around 280ppm, but since the 1950s, it has continued to rise relentlessly. By 2013, CO₂ levels surpassed 400ppm for the first time in recorded history.

This rise represents almost a doubling in concentration, and it clear that, in the recipe for Earth’s surface temperature, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are to be used in moderation.

The role of water

Like flour for a cake, water is an important ingredient of the Earth’s surface. Water makes temperature move slowly. That’s why the temperatures in tropical rainforests does not change much, but the Sahara desert is cold at night. Earth is rich in water.

Let’s have a look at our solid planets. Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, but it has a very thin atmosphere and is not the warmest planet. Venus is very, very hot. Its atmosphere is rich in carbon dioxide (over 96%) and it is very dense.

The atmosphere of Mars is also rich in carbon dioxide (above 96%), but it is extremely thin (1% of Earth’s atmosphere), very dry and located further away from the Sun. This combination makes the planet an incredibly cold place.

The absence of water makes the temperature on Mars change a lot. The Mars exploration rovers (Spirit at Gusev Crater and Opportunity at Meridiani Planun) experienced temperatures ranging from a few degrees Celsius above zero to minus 80℃ at night: every single Martian day, known as sol.

Read more: Curious Kids: What are some of the challenges to Mars travel?

Terraforming or terra fixing

One of the interesting challenges we face while building space payloads, like we do at Griffith University, is to build instruments that can withstand such a wide temperature range.

I love conversations about terraforming. This is the idea that we could fly to a planet with an unbreathable atmosphere and fix it by using some sort of machine to filter nasty gases and release good ones we need to survive, at the correct amount. That is a recurrent theme in many science fiction films, including Aliens, Total Recall and Red Planet.

I hope we can fix our own atmosphere on Earth and reduce our planet’s fever.

– ref. Climate explained: why Mars is cold despite an atmosphere of mostly carbon dioxide – http://theconversation.com/climate-explained-why-mars-is-cold-despite-an-atmosphere-of-mostly-carbon-dioxide-126337

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wendy Steele, Associate Professor, Centre for Urban Research and Urban Futures Enabling Capability Platform, RMIT University

This article is part of a series on rebalancing the human–nature interactions that are central to the study and practice of ecological economics, which is the focus of the 2019 ANZSEE Conference in Melbourne later this month.

Work has resumed on widening the Western Highway near Ararat, Victoria, which will destroy thousands of trees. This includes around 250 sacred trees, some up to 800 years old. These trees are a living heritage of deep cultural significance and practice for the Djab Wurrung traditional owners.

In Australia, corporations such as Coles and Westpac and even some churches operate as legal entities entitled to most of the rights and responsibilities that individuals possess. Why don’t the Djab Wurrung sacred trees have legal standing?

Read more: What kind of state values a freeway’s heritage above the heritage of our oldest living culture?

In New Zealand, the Whanganui River now has it. Even in Victoria legislation to protect the Yarra River recognises the connection of the traditional owners to the river and surrounding land, Birrarung Country.

It’s not just people who have legal standing

Australian law has long accorded legal standing to other entities such as businesses. Under the Corporations Act 2001, a corporation is a legal entity that can enter contracts, lend and borrow money, sue and be sued, hire employees, own assets, and pay taxes. Over the past few decades corporate rights have expanded, and the process of incorporation has been simplified.

Corporations exist now as private enterprises for churches, not-for-profits and lobby groups. A corporation is separate and distinct from its owners, which minimises the risk for stakeholders and investors. It operates as a living person who can assert their rights in relation to economic (self)-interest.

The logic of Homo economicus and the utilitarian maximisation of profit is central to settler societies such as Australia’s. The settler colonial approach to nature decouples people from country. There is a hierarchy of rights that favours and reinforces settler property rights in the quest for new towns, farms, fences, and transportation lines.

If trees had rights this would be very costly for development. Trees are seen as resources, classified according to their utilitarian value.

Who speaks for the trees?

In Australia, the law protects trees if they are considered threatened, endangered or vulnerable. Indigenous plant species, for example, may be protected under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

Vegetation may be protected more broadly as part of the public estate (such as in national parks, for instance). Native vegetation on private land may also be protected to conserve biodiversity and preserve habitat for endangered species.

Federal and state government laws may protect “significant” trees through heritage and/or Aboriginal heritage legislation. Or they may not.

The Djab Wurrung have challenged both state and federal government decisions against heritage protection for the sacred trees and their surrounds. Activists have set up camp to protest the destruction of the trees – grandmother birthing trees, their companion grandfather trees, and directions trees.

They reject the rationale that supports the widening of a freeway over the preservation of significant living cultural heritage and ask for its protection:

We ask that this impending destruction as part of VicRoads works be halted immediately, more appropriate respect for the concerns of the Djab Wuurung community be taken into consideration, and that the trees and the site are protected.

Should trees have legal standing?

In New Zealand, the Whanganui River, which flows 145 kilometres to the sea in the central North Island, now has legal standing. The law recognises the Maori Iwi people’s sacred relationship with land and water.

Through this legislation the Whanganui River is recognised as a person when it comes to the law. The river has “its own legal identity with all the corresponding rights, duties and liabilities of a legal person”, the minister for Treaty of Waitangi negotiations said:

This legislation recognises the deep spiritual connection between the Whanganui Iwi and its ancestral river and creates a strong platform for the future of Whanganui River.

Similar “rights of nature” laws, which change the legal status of nature, exist in Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, India, and Uganda, to name a few.

Read more: Three rivers are now legally people – but that’s just the start of looking after them

Djab Wurrung Dreaming is entitled to protection

Why isn’t Australia embracing “rights of nature” legislation? Djab Wurrung trees, and the ancient dreaming cultural landscape of which they are part, need protection.

Communities are starting to advocate for the rights of nature to exist, thrive and evolve. Under the Yarra River (Wilip-gin Birrarung murron) Act, while the river’s legal status hasn’t changed, there is progressive recognition of the connection between the traditional owners and the river. As the preamble to the act states:

This Act recognises the intrinsic connection of the traditional owners to the Yarra River and its Country and further recognises them as the custodians of the land and waterway which they call Birrarung.

Read more: New law finally gives voice to the Yarra River’s traditional owners

Such Indigenous perspectives, developed on Country in holistic ways incorporating lore/law, have a particularly valuable contribution to make to ecological economies.

We need far better legal recognition of the role of traditional owners, which includes cultural and environmental heritage protection. In the current political environment, deeply locked into a culture and mindset of economic growth and property ownership, “you’d have to be dreaming”.

– ref. Churches have legal rights in Australia. Why not sacred trees? – http://theconversation.com/churches-have-legal-rights-in-australia-why-not-sacred-trees-123919

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Donna West Brett, Lecturer in Art History, University of Sydney

When the Berlin Wall divided Germany from 1961 to 1989, East Germany’s Ministry for State Security – commonly known as the Stasi – undertook mass surveillance of German Democratic Republic citizens.

Operatives were trained at the Stasi Observational school in photography, trailing suspects, and dressing in disguise.

Surveillance occurred through the collection of documents, audio, video, human odours – and around two million photographs now held in the Stasi archive.

In order to take covert photographs, cameras were designed specifically to be hidden in flowerpots, pens, jackets, and bags. Cameras were even invented so small they could be sewn with the lens behind a buttonhole, the shutter release kept in a pocket.

Thirty years after the fall of the wall, images from this time of mass state surveillance give us an unparalleled look into the people who tried to escape from the east to the west – and the activities of the Stasi.

Photographs taken by buttonhole cameras offer a strange dark shadow around the edge of the image that look like the ghostly photographic effects of a groovy low-fi plastic camera. These photographs are often out of focus, the observer hurried by their determination to catch the suspects in action.

One series taken in 1975 observes a couple handing over a bag in the street.

The Stasi operative followed the couple, taking photographs that record them walking to a car. The photographs cast a suspicious pall over these quite innocent actions. But there is no further information in the Stasi archive about this couple or this event. This is likely because many records were later damaged or destroyed by the regime to hide their illegal mass surveillance.

Escape routes

The Berlin Wall was erected primarily to stem the flow of over four million citizens who had left East Germany for the more prosperous and democratic West. More than 5,000 people escaped from East Germany between 1961 and 1989. Methods included jumping out of windows situated on the border; hot air balloons; tunnels; in car boots; and even one report of an attempted escape inside the hollow belly of a model cow.**

Read more: World politics explainer: The fall of the Berlin Wall

One famous escape took place on July 29 1965, when Heinz Holzapfel travelled with his wife and son from Leipzig to East Berlin. The family hid out in a ministry building close to the wall before heading to the roof and signalling with a torch to helpers in West Berlin, who threw them a nylon rope tied to a hammer.

The night was cold and windy and the flight across the wall, in a pulley made from a bicycle wheel and a sling, was highly dangerous.

A news photograph shows Heinz and his son safely in West Berlin, demonstrating the sling. They are pictured happy and smiling having survived their escape ordeal, which took over a year of planning.

Surveilling the wall

Suspected defectors were followed by Stasi officers, with the aim of preventing an escape and arresting the suspects. Between July and August 1962, Stasi officers set up observation of an abandoned restaurant in Kreuzberg, Berlin. Informers had reported the digging of a tunnel from inside the restaurant and under the wall.

The officers created detailed reports of each person entering and exiting the building: hair colour, gender, height, clothing, what time they arrived and left, and if they came by car or on foot.

In addition to the copious notes are photographs. Some look like movie stills. Others are poorly shot as if the photographer was in a hurry to capture the moment.

One day in August, Stasi agents took photographs in a flurry of activity, suspecting the escape attempt was imminent. A number of characters – deemed suspicious by their location near a checkpoint – were meeting friends in a car (many attempts of escape were made by cars ramming or driving under checkpoint barriers) while others observed from a nearby roof.

This action may have been a diversion. The tunnel and the attempted escape was abandoned for unknown reasons, and the Stasi were unable to make any arrests.

Painful memories locked in historical records

In late 1989, citizens stormed the offices of the East German Ministry for State Security following a series of revolutions that shook Eastern Europe. The fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9 would mark the end of the post-war era and the division of Germany.

Individuals subject to surveillance and imprisonment can now access their Stasi file. These files may hold photographs and evidence of informers who were family members, wives, husbands, or lovers.

Vera Iburg, who works with the archives, told Der Spiegel: “It’s terrible, it makes you despair at the malicious lies people would tell, and at the weakness of human nature.”

We look on these photographs now as aesthetic objects and as archival evidence of a mass surveillance regime, yet they still hold a painful resonance for the victims.

It might serve us well to reflect on the lessons learned from the Stasi and the everyday lives constantly monitored.

– ref. Policing the Berlin Wall: the ghostly photos taken by the Stasi’s hidden cameras – http://theconversation.com/policing-the-berlin-wall-the-ghostly-photos-taken-by-the-stasis-hidden-cameras-126264

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee McGowan, Senior Lecturer, Queensland University of Technology

Women’s football has never looked better.

1.85 million Australians play football, including over 400,000 women and girls. Over 1 billion people watched the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France. Club level matches in England, Spain and Italy draw crowds of over 30,000 people. This coming weekend, England will play to a sold-out Wembly stadium: that’s 90,000 seats.

At home, the Matildas played in front of 17,000 at Penrith in 2017; and W-League matches draw between 4000 and 8000 fans.

This week, the Matildas secured equal pay with the men’s side. This substantial pay rise is a huge win for the women’s team: speaking to feasible career pathways, the strength of the team, and the strength of the game.

Australia is currently bidding to host the 2023 Women’s World Cup. The campaign, #GetOnside, builds on and supercharges the optimism of our expanding local football community. This latest pay announcement speaks highly to the support Australians have thrown behind the team.

This is Australia’s fourth bid for the cup. In all its energy and enthusiasm, the bid feels brand new. Can our fourth bid to host the tournament put down under on top of the world?

A tale of three bids

In 1995, the Australian Soccer Federation submitted a bid to host the 1999 tournament. Enthusiasm around the impending formation of a national competition – the Women’s National Soccer League – was the likely driver. But the prospect of competing with an American bid boasting a US$30 million bankroll saw the EOI withdrawn in the same year.

Australia tried again in 1999 for the 2003 tournament. This more polished bid included a full colour eight-page brochure with a gush from Prime Minister John Howard about Australia’s natural wonders, clean air and healthy food.

During the 1999 Women’s World Cup in Los Angeles, Australian delegates were pre-emptively congratulated on their bid’s success. It wasn’t to be: FIFA awarded the tournament to China. In 2003, an outbreak of SARS caused a last minute change of venue, and the game returned to the 1999 hosts. China hosted in 2007.

Australia had another crack in 2007, for 2011 – only for Football Federation Australia to withdraw and support Germany, in exchange for Germany supporting Australia’s bid to host the 2022 Men’s Cup – which would become one of Australian football’s most infamous stories.

Read more: Scandals are forever for FIFA as World Cup hosting saga drags on

Finance behind women’s bids has never been as fraught. The A$5 million the government has committed to support the 2023 bid is by far its most generous. Even then, to secure a tournament that might generate A$500 million, departing FFA CEO David Gallup has suggested it will require a great deal more investment.

A record number of EOIs have been submitted. The towels of Belgium and Bolivia already lie on the changing room floor. Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Japan, South Africa, New Zealand and South Korea remain. The Koreas, and Australia and New Zealand, are both exploring joint-hosting.

Formal bids are due in December. The host will be announced in May.

A fierce competitor

Australian fans have never been so connected to the game or in a position to give such a bid their backing. This pay rise is the latest demonstration of their power.

Digital platforms have been critical in growing audiences for women’s sport. Sports journalist and campaign coordinator for Australia’s World Cup bid, Ann Odong, says “the ability for independent media to shine a light on the game has been key to its visibility.”

With live streaming, independent fan groups, and dynamic advocates, online spaces are generating huge following and interest – in Australia, and around the world.

In the US, the Portland Thorns average 20,000 a game as a result of their community. At home, the newly established Brisbane Roar fan group @TheRoarCorps aim to follow their lead.

On November 9 and 12, the Matilda’s will play two friendly games against Chile in Sydney and Adelaide. Match attendances will play a huge part in showing how important the game is here – and demonstrating Australia’s support for the 2023 cup.

Football is about community

The Matildas are our nation’s most loved team. They vibrantly represent the rich diversity and inclusivity the game wholeheartedly offers.

The Women’s World Cup is the world’s largest female sporting event. Tickets sales, sponsorship and media presence would bring lucrative economic benefits.

But there are benefits, too, in the way the women’s game challenges the way we collectively think about sport, such as the fight for gender equity and in building community. The 2019 cup in France was “a turning point”: amplifying the profile of elite women’s sport on a global scale.

Australia’s 2023 bid is centred on the value of community engagement and legacy-building. It offers a vibrant, joyful charm and ensures unused stadiums won’t haunt our cities.

More importantly, it demonstrates what FIFA most want to see: women’s football is taken seriously in Australia – and it pulls a serious crowd.

– ref. Australia wants to host the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Equal pay for the Matildas will help our chances – http://theconversation.com/australia-wants-to-host-the-2023-fifa-womens-world-cup-equal-pay-for-the-matildas-will-help-our-chances-125564

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Page, Senior Lecturer with the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, UNSW

The cracks found in three Qantas-owned Boeing 737s last week led to calls that it should ground its 33 aircraft with a similar service record.

Although the three planes have been grounded and will require complex repairs, the cracks – in a component called the pickle fork, which helps strengthen the join between the aircraft’s body and wing – do not threaten the plane’s airworthiness.

This makes it more of a threat to consumers’ confidence in Boeing and the airlines that fly its planes, rather than a direct risk to passenger safety, especially after the tragedies over a poorly thought out automatic control system installed on the Boeing 737 MAX 8.

Read more: Flights suspended and vital questions remain after second Boeing 737 MAX 8 crash within five months

More broadly, however, the pickle fork defects highlight a problem that aviation engineers have been contending with for decades: component fatigue.

The world’s first commercial jet airliner, the de Havilland Comet, launched in 1952 but suffered two near-identical crashes in 1953 in which the planes broke up shortly after takeoff, killing all on board. A third fatal breakup in 1954 triggered an investigation and threatened to end the era of mass air travel almost as soon as it had begun.

The crashes were all ultimately blamed on “fatigue failure”, caused by a concentration of stress in one of the passenger windows which resulted in a rapidly growing crack.

Almost any metal structure can potentially suffer fatigue failure, but the problem is that it is very hard to predict before it happens.

It begins at an “initiation area”, often at a random point in the component, from which a crack gradually grows each time the part is loaded. In the case of aircraft, the initiation area may be random, but from there the crack generally grows at a predictable rate each flight cycle.

One solution instituted after the Comet investigation was to subject all aircraft to regular inspections that can detect cracks early, and monitor their growth. When the damage becomes critical – that is, if a component shows an increased risk of failure before the next inspection – that part is repaired or replaced.

The current damage to the Qantas aircraft is a long way short of critical, as highlighted by the fact that Qantas has pointed out the next routine inspection was not due for at least seven months – or about 1,000 flights. This is normal practice under the official airworthiness directives for Boeing 737s.

Obviously, given the public relations considerations also involved, Qantas has nevertheless taken the three planes out of service immediately.

Why aren’t the pickle forks a threat?

It might sound strange to say the cracks in the pickle forks aren’t a threat to the aircraft’s safety. Does that mean aircraft can just fly around with cracks in them?

Well, yes. Virtually all aircraft have cracks, and a monitored crack is much safer than a part that fails without warning. Bear in mind that all aircraft safety is reinforced by multiple layers of protection, and in the case of the pickle fork there are at least two such layers.

First, the pickle fork is secured with multiple bolts, so if one bolt should fail as a result of cracking, depending on the location there will be another five or six bolts still holding it in place.

Second, should the unthinkable occur and a pickle fork totally fail, there is still another “structural load path” that would maintain the strength of connection between the wing and body, so this would not affect the operation of the aircraft.

On this basis, it seems strange that the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association has called for the entire fleet to be grounded, especially given that this union has no official role in the grounding of aircraft. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority is the only agency in Australia with a legal obligation to make such a ruling, and has assured passengers it is unnecessary.

Aircraft maintenance procedures are drawn up by the manufacturer’s design engineering team. Before the aircraft obtains a permit to fly, the designer has to demonstrate to a regulator – in Boeing’s case, the US Federal Aviation Administration – that is has fully accounted for all airworthiness issues. This has to be proved by both engineering calculations and physical models. The result is an extensive maintenance manual for each aircraft model.

Read more: All Boeing 737 MAX flights grounded – and travellers could feel it in the hip pocket

Before each flight the aircraft must be demonstrated to conform to the maintenance manual, which is the role of the maintenance engineers who work directly for airlines. While the maintenance engineers’ union is right to bring any safety concerns or maintenance issues to the attention of the airline and possibly the regulator, only the regulator is in a position to rule on whether a fleet, or part of it, should be grounded.

Boeing and Qantas, and the many other airlines that fly 737s, are right to be concerned by this latest development because of the potential for it to harm them commercially. But while the cracked pickle forks will be giving executives headaches, passengers should rest easy in their seats.

– ref. Should you worry about Boeing 737s? Only if you run an airline – http://theconversation.com/should-you-worry-about-boeing-737s-only-if-you-run-an-airline-126268

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pat Ranald, Research fellow, University of Sydney

Australian prime minister Scott Morrison and other leaders involved in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) announced late yesterday that 15 of the 16 countries have finalised the text, and are prepared to sign the trade deal in early 2020.

India is the only one not to join, a joint leaders’ statement saying the country had “significant outstanding issues”. Negotiations will continue in the hope it may join later.

The RCEP now involves Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, South Korea and the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, covering 2.5 billion people.

Read more: Arrogance destroyed the World Trade Organisation. What replaces it will be even worse

A lost Indian market, for now, and concerns about corporate power

India’s absence severely diminishes the market access Australia hoped to gain. Australia already has a free trade agreement with ASEAN, and has bilateral free trade agreements with all of the other countries.

India would have been the main area of additional market access for Australian agricultural and other exports.

RCEP negotiations have dragged on since 2012. Much attention has focused on India’s resistance to lower tariffs and emphasised the importance of concluding a major trade deal in the face of US president Donald Trump’s America-first protectionism.

But there is a hidden contentious agenda of non-tariff issues that has influenced India’s decision and could restrict future government regulation by giving more rights to global corporations.

These deserve more public discussion in Australia, and reflect the widely divergent levels of economic development of RECP countries.

A secret deal

As usual, the wording of the RECP deal is secret. The final text will not be revealed until after it is signed.

It’s a process widely criticised by both civil society groups and the Productivity Commission.

This secrecy favours corporate players, which have the most resources to lobby governments.

Leaked documents reveal the industrialised countries, including Japan, South Korea and Australia, have been pushing non-tariff rules that suit their major corporations, similar to those in the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

These have been resisted by developing countries, which have more vulnerable populations, and wish to preserve regulatory space to develop local industries.

Concern over foreign investor rights

The contested proposals include foreign investor rights to bypass national courts and sue governments for millions of dollars in international tribunals if they can argue a change in law or policy will harm their investment. This is known as Investor-State Dispute Settlement or ISDS.

Read more: Suddenly, the world’s biggest trade agreement won’t allow corporations to sue governments

Tobacco company Philip Morris used ISDS to sue our government for compensation over our plain packaging law, a public health measure designed to discourage young smokers. Australia won in the end, but at a cost to taxpayers of $12 million.

Most of the 983 known ISDS cases have been taken against developing countries, with increasing numbers against health, environment, indigenous land rights, labour laws and other public interest regulation in both developing and industrialised countries.

RCEP members India and Indonesia have policies to exclude or severely restrict investor rights in new agreements.

ISDS has been reportedly excluded from the RCEP text. India was one of the main opponents of ISDS. We won’t know for sure whether ISDS is still excluded until the text is released after signing.

Other concerns over patents and e-commerce

Even more contentious are proposals that pharmaceutical companies should be given longer patent monopolies on medicines than the current 20 years. This would delay the availability of cheaper medicines, at greatest cost to developing countries.

There are also proposals to extend to developing countries’ rules on patenting of seeds and plants that apply to industrialised countries. This would make it more difficult for millions of small-scale farmers in developing countries to save and exchange seeds with each other as they have done for centuries. They lack the capacity to use the legal system to obtain patent rights and lack the funds to buy patented seeds.

The RCEP also includes an e-commerce chapter that mandates free cross-border data flows for global corporations such as Google and Facebook. This makes it more difficult for governments to regulate them.

For example, if trade rules forbid requirements to store data locally, then national privacy laws and other consumer protections cannot be applied to data stored in other countries.

The recent Digital Platforms report of the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission recommended more, not less regulation of these corporations. That was in the face of scandals about violations of consumer privacy, misuse of data in elections and tax evasion.

Developing countries are also concerned rules favouring the global tech companies will lock in their market dominance at the expense of local IT industry development.

These conflicts between governments have been deepened by national pressures from civil society groups in RCEP countries including Australia. When RECP negotiations were held in Australia in July this year, 52 community organisations, including public health, union, church, environment and aid groups endorsed a letter to the trade minister Simon Birmingham. They asked him to oppose ISDS and longer medicine monopolies in the RCEP, and to release the text for independent evaluation before it is signed.

Show us the deal

Even without India in the deal, the Australian government says it will boost local jobs and exports.

Read more: Myth busted: China’s status as a developing country gives it few benefits in the World Trade Organisation

But without India, claimed market access gains are marginal for Australia and must be evaluated against the costs of expanded corporate rights and restraints on future government regulation.

That’s why the text of the RCEP deal should be released before it is signed and there should be independent evaluation of its costs and benefits for both Australia and its trading partners.

– ref. India’s not joining the latest free-trade deal which limits Australia’s market access – http://theconversation.com/indias-not-joining-the-latest-free-trade-deal-which-limits-australias-market-access-126343

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lauren Powell, PhD candidate, University of Sydney

Feeling lonely? A dog may help. Our research out today confirms what many dog owners already know: dogs are great companions that can help you to feel less lonely.

Cuddles and slobbery kisses, meeting other dog owners in the park and a general lift in mood all likely help.

But our study, published today in BMC Public Health, found dogs didn’t affect psychological distress, the type seen in depression and anxiety.

Read more: 1 in 3 young adults is lonely – and it affects their mental health

Why are we studying this?

Almost two in five Australian households own a dog. And although most dog owners will assure you, in no uncertain terms, their dog is a source of sheer happiness, scientific evidence is lacking.

Most previous studies have compared the mental well-being of dog owners to non-owners at a single point in time. The problem with these studies is they cannot tell if dogs actually make us happier, less lonely or less stressed. They also cannot tell us if dog owners are simply in a more positive state of mind in the first place.

So, in this study, we measured mental well-being at three points in time: before owning a dog, three months after owning a dog and eight months after owning a dog.

Read more: Man’s stressed friend: how your mental health can affect your dog

What did we do?

Our study, known as the PAWS trial, involved 71 Sydney adults who were separated into three groups:

• people who bought a dog within one month of starting the study
• people who were interested in getting a dog in the near future but agreed not to get one during the study, and
• people who had no interest in getting a dog.

People filled out surveys to measure their mood, loneliness and symptoms of psychological distress at the three different time-points. We then compared the mental well-being of the groups at the beginning of the study, to the mid-point and to the end-point.

Read more: Curious Kids: is it true dogs don’t like to travel?

Here’s what we found

New dog owners felt less lonely after they got a dog compared to the other two groups. The effect happened quite quickly, within three months of acquiring a dog. There was no further decrease in loneliness between three months and eight months.

We also found some evidence that dog owners had fewer negative emotions, such as nervousness or distress, within three months of getting a new dog but this finding was not as clear cut.

We found that symptoms of depression and anxiety were unchanged after acquiring a dog. Maybe the dog owners in our study already had low levels of psychological distress before they got a dog, so dog ownership didn’t lower these levels any further.

What does it all mean?

There are lots of possible reasons dogs can help to lessen feelings of loneliness. We know having a quick cuddle with a dog boosts people’s mood in the short-term. Maybe daily dog cuddles can also boost owners’ mood in the long-term which could help to lower feelings of loneliness.

Dog owners may also meet new people through their dog as people are more likely to talk strangers if they are accompanied by a dog. In our study, dog owners also said they had met new people in their neighbourhood because of their dog.

Read more: Is your dog happy? Ten common misconceptions about dog behaviour

So far, there have only been two similar studies to look at mental well-being in new dog owners, one of which was conducted almost 30 years ago.

Of these studies, one found dog owners had fewer symptoms of psychiatric disorders after they acquired a dog. The other study found no difference in loneliness after people brought a new dog home.

Dogs may also improve our physical health, by reducing blood pressure, improving cardiovascular health and increasing the amount of physical activity their owners perform. But, as is the case with mental well-being, the scientific evidence is still limited.

So, what happens next?

One of the things our study cannot determine is how dogs affect men’s mental well-being. By chance, all the new dog owners in our study were women. So, we don’t know whether dogs affect men’s mental well-being in a different way to women’s.

Read more: Whose best friend? How gender and stereotypes can shape our relationship with dogs

Our next step is to look at mental well-being in a much bigger group of new dog owners to confirm these findings. A bigger study could also provide more insight into the relationship between dog ownership and mental illness, such as depression and anxiety.

If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

– ref. Dogs really can chase away loneliness – http://theconversation.com/dogs-really-can-chase-away-loneliness-125495

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bill Hare, Director, Climate Analytics, Adjunct Professor, Murdoch University (Perth), Visiting scientist, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

Greenhouse gas emissions released over the first 15 years of the Paris Agreement would alone lock in 20cm of sea-level rise in centuries to come, according to new research published today.

The paper shows that what the world pumps into the atmosphere today has grave long-term consequences. It underscores the need for governments to dramatically scale up their emission reduction ambition – including Australia, where climate action efforts have been paltry.

The report is the first to quantify the sea-level rise contribution of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions that countries would release if they met their current Paris pledges.

The 20cm sea-level rise is equal to that observed over the entire 20th century. It would comprise one-fifth of the 1m sea level rise projected for 2300.

The picture is bleak

The study was led by researchers at Climate Analytics and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, and was published today by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It estimated the sea level rise to be locked in by 2300 due to greenhouse gas emissions between 2016 and 2030 – the first pledge period on the Paris treaty.

During those 15 years, emissions would cause sea levels to rise by 20cm by 2300. Even if the world cut all emissions to zero in 2030, sea levels would still rise in 2300. These estimates do not take into account the irreversible melting of parts of the Antarctic ice sheet.

Read more: The good, the bad and the ugly: the nations leading and failing on climate action

The researchers found that just over half of the sea level rise can be attributed to the top five polluters: China, the US, the European Union, India and Russia.

The emissions of these jurisdictions under will cause seas to rise by 12cm by 2300, the study shows.

The important takeaway message is that what the world does now will take years to play out – it is a stark warning of the long-term consequences of our actions.

It’s worse than we thought

Last week a separate paper in Nature Communications showed sea-level rise could affect many more people than previously thought. The authors produced a new digital elevation model that showed many of the world’s coastlines are far lower than estimated with standard methods.

In low-lying parts of coastal Australia, for example, the previous data has overestimated elevation by an average of 2.5m.

Their projections for the millions of people to be affected by sea-level rise are frightening. Within three decades, rising sea levels could push chronic floods higher than land currently home to 300 million people. By 2100, areas home to 200 million people could be permanently below the high tide line.

But what of Australia, girt by sea?

Australia is a coastal nation: the vast majority of our population lives within 50km of the sea, and will be heavily impacted by sea-level rise. Already, we’re seeing severe coastal erosion and inundation during king tides – and that’s without factoring in the impact of storm surges.

Clearly the world needs strong climate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as fast as possible. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said emissions must be lowered to 45% below 2010 levels by 2030 and to zero by mid-century.

We also know that unless the world achieves this, we will not just lose parts of our coasts but also iconic ecosystems such as the Great Barrier Reef.

Australia’s emissions comprise a relatively small proportion of the global total – 1.4% or around 5% if we count coal and liquified natural gas exports. However, we have a much bigger diplomatic and political influence on the international stage.

Read more: Australia’s hidden opportunity to cut carbon emissions, and make money in the process

Australia should use its position to push for urgent action internationally. But the federal government’s appalling record on emissions reduction – despite its efforts to claim otherwise – puts us in a very weak position on the global stage. We cannot point fingers at other nations while our emissions rise and we sell as much coal as possible to the rest of the world, while also burning as much as we can.

All the while, Australia is becoming the poster child for extreme sea-level events, more frequent and severe bushfires and other devastating climate impacts.

Governments, including Australia’s, must put forward much stronger 2030 emission reduction pledges by 2020. There should seek to decarbonise at a pace in line with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C temperature goal.

Otherwise, our emissions today will cause seas to rise far into the future. This process cannot be reversed – it will be our legacy to future generations.

Climate Analytics researcher Alexander Nauels was lead author of the study.

– ref. Our shameful legacy: just 15 years’ worth of emissions will raise sea level in 2300 – http://theconversation.com/our-shameful-legacy-just-15-years-worth-of-emissions-will-raise-sea-level-in-2300-126429

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Željko Pedišić, Associate Professor, Victoria University

It’s free, requires no equipment and the scenery can be stunning – it’s no wonder running is among the world’s most popular sports.

The number of recreational runners in Australia has doubled from 2006 to 2014. Now more than 1.35 million Australians (7.4%) run for fun and exercise.

Our study, published today in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, suggests running can significantly improve your health and reduce the risk of death at a given point in time.

And you don’t have to run fast or far to reap the benefits.

Read more: Health Check: do we lose gains from exercise as our bodies get used to it?

Our study

Past research has found running reduces the risk of obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, disability, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

It also improves aerobic endurance, heart function, balance and metabolism.

These are important components of your overall health status. So, it would be reasonable to assume participation in running increases longevity. But the previous scientific evidence on this has been inconsistent.

Our review summarised the results of 14 individual studies on the association between running or jogging and the risk of death from all causes, heart disease and cancer.

Our pooled sample included more than 230,000 participants, 10% of whom were runners. The studies tracked participants’ health for between 5.5 and 35 years. During this time, 25,951 of the participants died.

Read more: Which sports are best for health and long life?

When we pooled the data from the studies, we found runners had a 27% lower risk of dying during the study period from any cause compared with non-runners.

Specifically, running was associated with a 30% lower risk of death from heart disease and a 23% lower risk of death from cancer.

More isn’t necessarily better

We found running just once a week, or for 50 minutes a week, reduces the risk of death at a given point in time. The benefits don’t seem to increase or decrease with higher amounts of running.

This is good news for those who don’t have much time on their hands for exercise. But it shouldn’t discourage those who enjoy running longer and more often. We found even “hardcore” running (for example, every day or four hours a week) is beneficial for health.

Nor do the benefits necessarily increase by running at high speeds. We found similar benefits for running at any speed between 8 and 13 km/h. It might be that running at your own “most comfortable pace” is the best for your health.

But keep in mind there are risks as well

Running may lead to overuse injuries. These occur as a consequence of repeated mechanical stress on the tissue without sufficient time for recovery.

A history of injury and a longer duration of activity increase the risk of overuse injuries.

You can minimise the risk by avoiding uneven or hard surfaces, wearing appropriate footwear, and trying not to suddenly increase the pace or duration of running.

There is always the risk of sudden death during exercise, but this occurs very rarely.

Importantly, we found the overall benefit of running far outweighs the associated risks. Shorter duration and lower pace of running will further reduce the risks.

Tips for beginners

Start slow and gradually increase the pace, duration and weekly frequency. Set your aim at 50 minutes a week or more, and run at a comfortable speed. Be persistent, but don’t let yourself run out of steam.

Read more: Health Check: how to start exercising if you’re out of shape

The benefits will be similar, regardless of whether you do it in one go or in multiple sessions spread across the week.

If you don’t like running alone, consider joining a running group or an organised event such as parkrun. Running in a group can increase your motivation and provide a fun social experience.

It can be hard to start running, but it shouldn’t be too hard. If you don’t like running, don’t force it; there are more than 800 other interesting sports to choose from. The benefits of many other sports (such as swimming, tennis, cycling and aerobics) are comparable to the ones we found for running.

– ref. Running may help you live longer but more isn’t necessarily better – http://theconversation.com/running-may-help-you-live-longer-but-more-isnt-necessarily-better-120578

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dan Jerker B. Svantesson, Professor, Bond University

In recent weeks, India’s High Court of Delhi put another nail in the coffin of the internet as we currently know it. The court granted an order requiring Facebook, Twitter and Google to remove certain content globally, based on that content being defamatory under local law in India.

This decision underlines a worrying trend of a “race to the bottom” for internet freedom, where the scope of jurisdiction claimed by the courts is global.

If widely adopted, this may result in a situation where the only content that remains online is that which complies with all the laws of every country in the world.

Another brick in the wall

In reaching its decision, the Indian court relied on a string of recent decisions from around the world. For example, it drew from the Canadian approach in Equustek, where the Supreme Court of Canada ordered Google to remove content globally.

It also referred to a 2017 Australian case in which the Supreme Court of New South Wales ruled Twitter must globally block any future posting by a specific user.

Read more: Facebook goes full circle on censorship, like it or not

The most recent decision referred to was a ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in which the CJEU concluded the EU’s e-commerce directive doesn’t prevent courts in EU countries from ordering social media sites to block or remove information worldwide.

Following the CJEU’s decision, several leading commentators argued that, while much has been made of the CJEU’s apparent green light to global takedown orders, in reality this was just a decision about the dividing line between EU law and national law.

Even if this is true, headlines around the world didn’t communicate such a nuanced outcome. And with the current decision from India, we can see with complete clarity how that case is now being used by foreign courts. This shows how careful courts must be as to the messaging of their judgements.

It’s of course possible to suggest this type of application of an EU law case is a mistake by the Indian court, rather than the CJEU – and there is certainly merit in such an argument. However, the CJEU’s decision was a missed opportunity to clearly communicate a general stance against global orders as being standard.

A missed opportunity to explain geo-location technologies

Geo-location technology may be used to block online content within a specified geographical area. This practice caters to a global internet while still respecting differences in laws, and in India’s case could provide an alternative to a global blocking order.

Read more: Governments are making fake news a crime – but it could stifle free speech

However, more than once, courts have failed to understand how this technology operates. And at least on this occasion, errors could have been avoided since the court “had specifically directed the defendants to throw some light on how geo-blocking is done and to keep a technical person present in court to seek clarification on geo-blocking”.

The court said none of the internet platforms had given a detailed explanation as to how geo-blocking is done.

As a result, the court clearly misunderstood the impact of geo-blocking:

If geo-blocking alone is permitted in respect of the entire content, […] the offending information would still […] be accessible from India, […] by accessing the international websites of these platforms.

Where geo-blocking is done by reference to domain names, internet users can indeed use another country’s version of the site in question and access the content. This seems to be the situation the court had in mind.

In contrast, with blocking by geo-location technology, the content is tailored to the user’s location, regardless of which country’s version of the site is accessed. It’s highly unfortunate the court wasn’t made to understand this important distinction.

Silver linings, and the way onward

Although the above probably makes clear that I see the Indian court’s decision as a setback, there are also some positive aspects that ought to be highlighted.

In its decision, the court clearly acknowledged the importance of the scope of jurisdiction issue and the implications of global orders.

The court also devoted considerable effort to discussing case law from around the world. This is an important step if we are to see a global harmonisation in approach. That said, I’d like to add that currently harmonisation seems to be taking us in an undesirable direction, with global blocking/removal orders as standard.

Given the court had taken account of the international environment, it’s disappointing, not to say odd, that it didn’t properly engage with the international law issues raised by the defendants. For instance, defendants mentioned the doctrine of comity, which demands courts take the international impact of their decisions into consideration.

Read more: Caution over the EU’s call for global forgetfulness from Google

While the Indian court decision is currently under appeal, there’s no point denying the future of the internet looks bleak when it comes to scope of jurisdiction.

The case discussed here sets an important precedent, not just for India but also the rest of the world. And much is at stake.

– ref. India’s social media content removal order is a nail in the coffin of the internet as we know it – http://theconversation.com/indias-social-media-content-removal-order-is-a-nail-in-the-coffin-of-the-internet-as-we-know-it-126273

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Graeme Orr, Professor of Law, The University of Queensland

On Friday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison vowed to craft new laws targeting social and political protest. Speaking to the Queensland Resources Council, he labelled some activist groups as environmental “anarchists”, and lamented how businesses like banks might be sensitive to consumer or protest group pressure to limit dealings with the mining industry.

These laws could ban activists from advocating for certain boycotts against companies. Morrison lambasted progressives, saying they:

want to tell you where to live, what job you can have, what you can say and what you can think – and tax you more for the privilege of all of those instructions.

Boycott laws already exist

The first thing to note is there is no proposal on the table. Morrison merely warned his government was:

working to identify mechanisms that can successfully outlaw these indulgent and selfish practices.

The existing law on boycotts has been driven by conservative governments. In the 1970s, the Fraser government sought to crack down on “secondary boycotts”, with stiff provisions in trade practices or competition law. Morrison also specifically invoked “secondary boycotts” in his speech.

A secondary boycott is simply pressure you put on someone you’re dealing with to have them “boycott”, or not deal with, another person or business. It’s considered secondary action because you have no particular beef with the person you are directly pressuring. The real target of your pressure is the “secondary” person or business down the chain.

It’s easy to imagine secondary boycotts most people would sympathise with. Going on strike to stop your employer dealing with overseas sweatshops, for instance.

The chief concern of secondary boycott law has been with union power. The fear was that a strong union, in a key sector like the wharfies unloading ships, could wield disproportionate social power through secondary boycotts.

As a result, unionised workers are now confined to industrial action, such as going on strike, to improve conditions in an enterprise bargain at their workplace.

Morrison wants to stop consumer pressure on banks

The focus of laws against secondary boycotts has never been against consumer groups or movements involving non-employees. There’s an obvious and good reason for this.

Encouraging or organising consumers to put pressure on one company to limit its dealings with a secondary “target” company is a form of political communication and association. These are freedoms the High Court has read into our constitution.

It might seem unfair to banks for consumers to organise boycotts against them to encourage a change in their business practices. The banks may see themselves as the meat in the sandwich, caught between activists and the mining industry.

Read more: Cattle prods and welfare cuts: mounting threats to Extinction Rebellion show demands are being heard, but ignored

The Morrison government will not only try to sell this idea as a “get protesters” or “protect coal” initiative. He’ll also argue markets should be as free as possible and boycotts either distort competition or are an abuse of power. There are two problems with this.

Companies don’t need more protection

First, it’s a hard sell to pretend banks are the playthings of activist groups. Financial institutions look at mining investments across a range of risks, including their social brand and reputation.

Second, modern corporations, especially retail ones dealing with citizens every day, have long been aware of the social environment around business. They don’t trade in an economic bubble because economics has never been divorced from society.

Social media reinforces this reality by galvanising and magnifying consumer and activist sentiment.

Things would be different if activists could strong-arm one business to renege on an actual contract with another. It has long been against tort law (laws against “civil wrongs” like intimidation or tresspass) to leverage someone into breaking an agreement, without some justification.

But if a bank reneges on an existing funding deal with a mining company, say because protesters were blockading the bank’s offices, the miners would hardly have to go after the protesters.

The bank would be liable for damages to the mining company director. And the bank would only buckle under such pressure after a thorough cost-benefit analysis to itself.

Morrison also appealed to “quiet shareholders” in his remarks. He implied they were the real meat in the sandwich when businesses did not pursue a singular vision of putting today’s profits above long-term social reputation.

Read more: Is the Morrison government ‘authoritarian populist’ with a punitive bent?

The irony here is that even company law is not solely about economics, shorn from social reality. Shareholders are entitled to be corporate activists, too.

Previous attempts at boycott legislation

In any case, you can expect the government to sell any proposal to expand secondary boycott law as one to protect smaller businesses, not the banks or big miners.

Last year, it heralded a proposal to criminalise the incitement of protesters trespassing to protect family farms. The law that was passed this year extends to all manner of primary production, including large-scale abattoirs.

We have seen similar kites aloft before. In 2007, Treasurer Peter Costello vowed to crack down on those who organised boycotts. He singled out animal welfare activist group PETA for encouraging a boycott of Australian wool in protest against the de-skinning of sheep.

In the end, Costello’s bill did not expand secondary boycott law. It just allowed the competition watchdog to take representative action on behalf of businesses affected by secondary boycotts. Labor waived it through.

This time, the stakes may be higher.

– ref. Scott Morrison wants to outlaw boycott campaigns. But the mining industry doesn’t need protection – http://theconversation.com/scott-morrison-wants-to-outlaw-boycott-campaigns-but-the-mining-industry-doesnt-need-protection-126326

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chloe Taylor, Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Science, Western Sydney University

The International Olympic Committee last week decided to shift next year’s Olympic marathon from Tokyo to Sapporo to protect athletes from the heat.

Tokyo’s average temperatures during the month of August exceed 30℃, with some days reaching 35℃. Sapporo, about 800 kilometres to the north of Tokyo, is expected to be 5-6℃ cooler than Tokyo at this time.

Some of Tokyo’s officials have argued for a night-time race in Japan’s capital instead, but without success.

While the move has stirred debate, shifting the events to a cooler climate will reduce the athletes’ risk of health complications that can result from endurance exercise in extreme heat.

Read more: Health Check: how to exercise safely in the heat

Endurance and extreme heat

In September, several athletes collapsed while competing in the marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar.

Despite running the marathon at midnight, the extreme temperatures – about 32℃ – meant 28 out of 68 women did not complete the race. Similar effects were seen in the men’s event.

Sustained exertion in extreme heat can lead to heat exhaustion and heat stroke. When our body is under heat stress, it moves blood to the skin to cool us down.

With prolonged exposure, this can mean a lack of blood reaching the exercising muscles, brain and other organs.

Body temperature and time of day

The body clock is responsible for regulating the cycle of our body temperature throughout the day. Of course, our body temperature is influenced by the conditions we’re in – but our body clock sets somewhat of a “baseline”. This “baseline” is generally highest in the afternoon.

An increase in body temperature speeds up metabolism and makes our muscles contract more effectively. So in general, athletes perform better in the afternoon. When body temperature is at its highest they experience peaks in speed, strength, power and flexibility. This is likely why more athletic world records are broken in the afternoon than other times of day.

Read more: The ancient clock that rules our lives – and determines our health

However, endurance events in the heat present a unique challenge: extremely high body temperatures can jeopardise the athletes’ health and performance.

The 2020 Olympic marathon events were scheduled for 6am starts to avoid Tokyo’s highest temperatures. There were also plans to provide shade and coat the roads with heat-shielding material to reduce road surface temperatures.

In response to the decision to switch to Sapporo, Tokyo officials proposed changing the start time to 5am, or even 3am.

Are ‘midnight marathons’ the answer?

At night the body is in “heat loss mode”. Thanks to our body clocks, body temperature starts to drop in the late evening. It typically reaches its lowest point around 5am.

Starting a long-distance race with a lower body temperature has advantages. Competitors typically reduce their body temperature by immersing themselves in cold water or wearing cooling garments, but these methods only delay rises in body temperature. So combining these strategies with a naturally lower baseline body temperature may help athletes stay cooler for longer.

Despite this, night marathons still present challenges for athletes. As the body clock starts to reduce body temperature in the late evening to prepare for sleep, this slows down our metabolism and leads to lower energy levels. Many of us know the difficulty of getting up in the middle of the night to watch a sporting event – imagine having to compete at 3am.

And even though ambient temperatures are lower at night than during the day, overnight temperature lows in Tokyo can still be close to 30℃ in August.

Another major factor, relevant in day time as well as night time conditions, is humidity. The process of sweat evaporating from the skin is what cools the body down. In humid environments, we can’t sweat as effectively because there’s so much water in the air – so the body can’t regulate its temperature as well.

In Tokyo, summer humidity can be well over 70%. These levels, similar to those seen during the recent marathons in Doha, mean athletes shed heat less effectively. So the combination of high humidity and high temperatures can be particularly dangerous.

Athletes have to rely on other forms of heat loss, such as radiation (via infrared rays) and what’s called convection (movement of air across the skin). But even these can be less effective as air temperature approaches skin temperature.

Alongside these physiological challenges, running in darkness is associated with greater perceived effort and over-estimation of distance travelled.

Read more: Extreme heat in sport: why using a fixed temperature cut-off isn’t as simple as it seems

Ready, set, Sapporo

The race in Sapporo has been scheduled during daylight hours, which aligns better with the body clock.

Similar levels of humidity in Sapporo may still pose challenges, but avoiding extreme heat will reduce the danger of athletes overheating and suffering health complications.

The downside is the timing of this decision: with the Olympics less than nine months away, athletes and coaches have already been preparing for Tokyo and its conditions.

Read more: How do Olympic athletes learn to handle the heat?

– ref. Why is Japan’s Olympic marathon shifting cities to avoid the heat? A sports physiologist explains – http://theconversation.com/why-is-japans-olympic-marathon-shifting-cities-to-avoid-the-heat-a-sports-physiologist-explains-126189

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachael Wakefield-Rann, Research Consultant, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney

Last week Woolworths announced a new food delivery system, in collaboration with US company TerraCycle, that delivers grocery essentials in reusable packaging.

The system, called Loop, lets shoppers buy products from common supermarket brands in reusable packaging.

As Australia works out how to meet the national packaging target for 100% of Australian packaging to be recyclable, compostable or reusable by 2025, programs like this offer an opportunity to overhaul how plastic packaging is produced, used and recycled.

Read more: Here’s what happens to our plastic recycling when it goes offshore

Recycling alone is not the silver bullet

Plastic packaging, most of which is for food and beverages, is the fastest growing category of plastic use.

In Australia less than 10% of this plastic packaging is recycled, compared with 70% for paper and cardboard packaging.

Of the seven categories of plastic, recycling of water bottles (PET) and milk bottles (HDPA) is most effective, yet recycling rates remain relatively low, around 30%.

Other hard plastics (PVC, PS) and soft or flexible plastics, such as clingfilm and plastic bags, present significant challenges for recyclers. In the case of soft plastics, although recycling options are available, the use of additives known as plasticisers – used to make the hard plastic soft and malleable – often make products recycled out of soft plastics weak, non-durable, and unable to be recycled further.

Some researchers argue recycling actually represents a downgrading process, as plastic packaging is not always recycled into new packaging, owing to contamination or diminished quality.

Read more: We can’t recycle our way to ‘zero waste’

Even where single-use plastic packaging can be effectively recycled, it often isn’t. The more single-use plastics that are produced, the higher the chance they will enter the ocean and other environments where their plasticiser chemicals leach out, harming wildlife populations and the humans who depend on them.

Zero Waste Europe recently updated its Waste Hierarchy to emphasise avoiding packaging in the first instance, and to encourage reuse over recycling.

Getting reuse right

For a reusable product to be more environmentally sustainable than a single-use product, it must promote the use of less energy and resources in our daily routines.

Although the uptake of products such as reusable cups and shopping bags have increased, these types of reusable items have attracted criticism. If used correctly, these products represent a positive change. However, some research suggests these products can be less sustainable than the single-use items they are replacing if people treat them like disposable items and do not reuse them enough.

For example, if you regularly buy new reusable bags at the supermarket, that potentially has a greater environmental impact than using “single-use” plastic bags.

To really reduce plastic packaging, we need to find ways to alter the routines that involve plastic packaging, rather than directly substituting individual products (such as reusable bags for single-use ones).

Developing new reusable packaging systems

Redesigning ubiquitous plastic packaging means understanding why it is so useful. For food packaging, its functions might include:

1. allowing food to travel from producer to consumer while maintaining its freshness and form

2. enabling the food to be kept on a shelf for an extended period of time without becoming inedible

3. allowing the brand to display various nutritional information, branding and other product claims.

So how might these functions be met without disposable plastic packaging?

TerraCycle Loop, the business model that Woolworths has announced it will partner with, is currently also trialling services in the United States and France. They have partnered with postal services and large food and personal care brands including Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Clorox, Nestlé, Mars, Coca-Cola, and PepsiCo.

Customers order products online, from ice-cream to juice and shampoo, with a small container deposit. These items are delivered to their house, and collected again with the next delivery. The containers are washed and taken back to the manufacturers for refill. The major participating brands have all redesigned their packaging to participate in the program.

This model works because it is not replacing products one-for-one, but creating a new product system to allow people to easily integrate reuse into their daily routines.

We can examine the function of single use plastic packaging in takeaway food in a similar way. The purpose of takeaway food packaging is to let us enjoy a meal at home or on the move without having to cook it ourselves or sit in a restaurant. So how might these functions be achieved without disposable packaging?

Australian company RETURNR has addressed this with a system in which cafes partner with food delivery services. Customers buy food in a RETURNR container, pay a deposit with the cost of their meal, and then return the container to any cafe in the network.

The Kickstarter campaign Zero Co, is offering a similar model for a resuse service that covers kitchen, laundry and bathroom products.

Making reuse easy and convenient is crucial to the success of these systems.

Read more: China’s recycling ‘ban’ throws Australia into a very messy waste crisis

If Australia is to meet our national packaging targets, we need to prioritise the elimination of unnecessary packaging. Although recycling is likely to remain crucial to keeping plastic waste out of landfill in the near future, it should only be pursued when options higher up the waste hierarchy – such as reuse – have been ruled out.

– ref. Recycling plastic bottles is good, but reusing them is better – http://theconversation.com/recycling-plastic-bottles-is-good-but-reusing-them-is-better-126339

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paula Mildenhall, Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning), Edith Cowan University

In a May 2019 speech, Australia’s Chief Scientist, Alan Finkel, noted participation in science and maths was slipping in Australian schools. Specifically speaking about STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), he said:

STEM education addresses real world problems and is useful to us and the wider community in many, many ways.

Finkel’s predecessor made similar assertions, arguing many countries are taking substantial action to address the decline in STEM engagement.

STEM education can vary from anything connected to one of the STEM subjects to interdisciplinary integration of the four areas. Students are often discouraged from engaging in STEM, and many have had negative experiences with the subjects.

In 2016, the Western Australian Education Department commissioned the development of a set of modules that promote schools teaching STEM in a way that integrates several subjects. This resulted in the STEM Learning Project (SLP), which we spent the last three years evaluating.

More than 1,000 teachers and school leaders from WA metro and regional areas attended professional development workshops on how to guide students – from kindergarten to year 12 – to find solutions to open-ended, real-world problems.

The teachers applied this knowledge in their classrooms. They helped children research a problem and work together to design solutions.

The projects were varied and included: creating a bridge so animals could cross the road safely, designing a shoe for a refugee child, and finding solutions to the excessive heat experienced in Australia.

Designing a shoe

One project involved eight- and nine-year-old students designing a pair of shoes, using recyclable materials, for a child in a South Sudanese refugee camp.

They researched the conditions in the camp to identify what features the shoes should have. They then used scientific skills to test the suitability of different materials.

The students came up with a variety of designs. Each group used different materials, cutting and sticking them together, while referring to their designs.

A year 3 class created the shoe pictured above. It was made of clear plastic material as the class identified the importance of the shoe being waterproof.

The teacher who facilitated this activity said:

Both boys and girls enjoyed the work and they were highly engaged in every part, even the mathematics, and I have children that are not engaged in maths [who] really struggle.

One of the students said:

I enjoyed when we were designing our shoes ’cos we could work as a group.

Another student said they would want to do this every term because it made them creative and they could use their imagination.

Read more: Don’t just solve for x: letting kids explore real-world scenarios will keep them in maths class

Designing a birdhouse

In an education support centre, a class of 14 students in years 4 to 6 worked on designing a home for a crow named Russell, who visited the school grounds and had a damaged wing.

Students created designs of the birdhouse and then produced 3D versions of them.

At this stage, members of the local Men’s Shed visited the school to view the designs. The men combined the best elements to produce a wooden version for Russell.

The birdhouse pictured below was a 3D cardboard box version of the students’ design. The groups were asked to consider aesthetics and functionality and this birdhouse managed to address both.

One of the teachers said the project was wonderful and all the children could contribute their specific abilities. She said:

Boys and girls both loved it […] they added their own touch with decorating their models and birdhouses.

The teacher also noted the benefits of involving the community, saying this made the students feel their work was of value.

Schools should do this more

Our evaluation found that, due to the hands-on nature and authenticity of the tasks, nearly all students were enthusiastic and engaged.

A teacher whose year 4 students worked to address the decline of bees, said:

The kids loved it. Whenever they see STEM on the board in the morning they go “yes”. […] I think because there is that element of creativity it does cater to everybody’s abilities […] everyone had a feeling of success.

Another teacher, who worked with kindergarten students to design a bridge for animals, explained this approach catered

[…] for a wider selection of learning styles. More children were engaged.

Schools need to put more emphasis on this type of interdisciplinary STEM learning. Our evaluation shows it helps children remain engaged in STEM subjects while developing important skills for their future.

Read more: More teens are dropping maths. Here are three reasons to stick with it

The Stem Learning Project is a joint undertaking of a consortium in STEM education comprised of the Educational Computing Association of WA (ECAWA), the Mathematical Association of WA (MAWA), the Science Teachers Association of WA (STAWA) and Scitech.

– ref. ‘Let’s design a waterproof shoe for a refugee child’: how to teach science and maths so students actually care – http://theconversation.com/lets-design-a-waterproof-shoe-for-a-refugee-child-how-to-teach-science-and-maths-so-students-actually-care-125234

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mike Berry, Emeritus Professor, RMIT University

This article is part of a series on rebalancing the human–nature interactions that are central to the study and practice of ecological economics, which is the focus of the 2019 ANZSEE Conference in Melbourne later this month.

Australia was already one of the most urbanised nations by the end of the 19th century. Unlike European and North American countries, Australia’s pattern of settlement did not have a neat urban hierarchy. The gap between the large and small towns was huge.

These patterns have intensified in the decades since federation, especially after the second world war. International and internal migration trends have driven rapid growth in the big cities, especially Melbourne and Sydney. This has created major problems with providing adequate housing, infrastructure and services.

The fundamental issue is the reluctance of urban communities and their leaders to discuss what might be sustainable populations.

Read more: If we want liveable cities in 2060 we’ll have to work together to transform urban systems

The folly of unlimited growth

No Australian city has a long-term vision showing how a future stabilised population might be supported with the essential resources of food, water and energy. No Australian city has faced up to the inevitable social tensions of increasing inequality between a well-served inner-urban elite and an increasingly under-resourced urban fringe.

Leaders in cities that have not grown as rapidly, such as Adelaide, lament their failure to grow like Sydney and Melbourne, despite all the associated problems. All implicitly believe unlimited growth is possible.

In reality, the expanding ecological footprints of the large cities have created unsustainable demands on land to support urban dwellers. And the wastes the cities produce are straining the capacity of the environment to handle these.

Read more: What is ‘ecological economics’ and why do we need to talk about it?

Given the many unpriced flow-on effects from dense urban growth and market-led development, governments are struggling to deal with the undesirable consequences. Congestion and pollution threaten to overwhelm the many social and economic benefits of urban life.

The growth and concentration of populations are also driving chronic excess demand for appropriate housing. The result is serious affordability problems, which are adding to inequality across society and generations.

Read more: 50 years after The Lucky Country, Australia’s sustainability challenge remains

In 1970, urban historian Hugh Stretton pointed to the role of Australia’s widespread owner occupation in offsetting the inequalities generated in labour markets and by inherited wealth. This is no longer the case.

The dominant neoliberal economic ideology has resulted in a retreat from providing public housing. Abandoning would-be home-owners to the market has produced a situation in which urban land and house ownership is reinforcing class-based inequalities. Home ownership is increasingly the preserve of the affluent and their children.

Housing-related inequality is also seen in the geography of our cities. Poorer households are priced out of locations with better access to good jobs, schools, transport, health care and other services.

Read more: Our big cities are engines of inequality, so how do we fix that?

Failures of governance

Governments in Australia’s federation are poorly placed to respond adequately. Responsibilities and fiscal resources are divided, creating obstacles to effective planning and infrastructure provision.

The main factor driving urban population growth is an unprecedented rate of inward migration. The national government sets large migration targets as an easy way of creating economic growth. This leaves state governments with the impossible task of meeting the resulting demand for infrastructure.

Jane O’Sullivan has shown each extra urban citizen requires about A$250,000 of investment. The total sum is well beyond the capacity of state and local governments.

Arguments between federal and state governments are heavily politicised, especially when it comes to major transport investments. Even within single jurisdictions, complex demands and unexpected consequences prevent effective action. The waste recycling crisis is a prime example.

State governments must also deal with difficult trade-offs between, for example, allowing further development on the edges of cities or encouraging higher density in built-up areas. This often involves conflicts with local governments and communities, concerned to protect their ways of life.

Australian planners and governments have long tinkered with policies to encourage decentralisation to smaller cities. Despite these attempts, the dominant pattern of urbanisation with its seemingly intractable problems has hardened, a triumph of reality over rhetoric.

Read more: Our cities fall short on sustainability, but planning innovations offer local solutions

What needs to change?

To get beyond the rhetoric and make our cities more sustainably liveable requires a much more deliberate and interventionist role for government. It also requires residents of our cities and suburbs to be willing to allow their governments to interrupt business as usual.

This, we know from experience, is a big ask. It will step on the toes of the property lobby and ordinary home owners. In some cases, for example, the short-term financial interests of property owners are leading local authorities to ignore scientific warnings about the impacts of climate change on coastal development.

Read more: Water may soon lap at the door, but still some homeowners don’t want to rock the boat

Major changes are also needed in how urban land is taxed and the proceeds invested. “Simple” reforms like replacing stamp duty on land transfer with a universal land tax, as the Henry Tax Review recommended, will take political courage that has been absent to date.

More complex policies like finding ways of diverting population growth to non-metropolitan regions will take careful thought and experimentation. This might include relocating government agencies to provincial cities. This has been tried sporadically in the past at the federal level and in states such as Victoria and New South Wales. However, such cases tend to be one-offs and do not reflect an overall strategic plan.

Future generations will inevitably be critical of the complete failure of current leaders to plan for sustainable development.

– ref. No Australian city has a long-term vision for living sustainably. We can’t go on like this – http://theconversation.com/no-australian-city-has-a-long-term-vision-for-living-sustainably-we-cant-go-on-like-this-123916