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Category: Academic Analysis

  • MIL-Evening Report: Europe tops global ranking of dynamic and sustainable cities – here’s why

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pascual Berrone, Head of Strategic Management Department and Chair of Sustainability and Business Strategy, IESE Business School (Universidad de Navarra)

    London, New York and Paris have been named the world’s most dynamic and liveable cities. This is according to a new ranking of global cities that highlights Europe’s ability to balance sustainability and growth in its urban centres.

    The IESE Cities in Motion index looks at 183 cities in 92 countries, and ranks them in nine key areas: human capital, social cohesion, economy, governance, environment, mobility and transportation, urban planning, international profile and technology. It’s different from other indices in that it takes into account so many metrics – more than 100 – on everything from ease of starting a business to number of museums and art galleries, internet speed and commute times.

    The idea is to systematically gauge what makes a city the sort of place where people want to live and work. This is important not just for the quality of life of habitual residents, but also because location is vital for attracting global talent, especially among younger generations.

    What makes the winners?

    The top 10 cities in the 2025 edition were London, New York, Paris, Tokyo, Berlin, Washington DC, Copenhagen, Oslo, Singapore and San Francisco.

    The top three all do particularly well in human capital, which includes features like educational and cultural institutions. They also score highly on international profile, which looks at indicators of global interest, such as the number of airport passengers and hotels.

    Beyond those two areas, London cements its status as a global hub of high-level innovation and development, also standing out for governance and urban planning. The UK capital is somewhat weaker in social cohesion, where it came 20th, though not nearly as bad as second-place New York, which ranked 127th out of 183 cities in this category – among the lowest of developed countries. New York does, however, stand out for its economic performance, and does very well in mobility and transportation.

    Paris, meanwhile, performs well across many metrics, including urban planning as well as international profile and human capital.

    What Europe gets right

    We’ve been calculating the index for a decade now, and European cities consistently perform well. This year, five of the top 10 cities – London, Paris, Berlin, Copenhagen and Oslo – are European.

    We adjust the index on a regular basis in order to make sure that we’re measuring what’s relevant. For example, this year we introduced new metrics on women’s leadership, renewable energy sources and green spaces, as well as on availability of coworking spaces.

    There’s no single reason behind Europe’s success, but there are patterns. Its large global metropolises, such as London and Paris, offer advanced technology, international communities and diversified economies in services, technology and finance. They have generally stable political systems and reasonable urban planning, along with advanced public and private transport options. However, while highly diverse, they also suffer from income inequalities.

    In addition to these mega cities, Europe is home to a large number of sustainable and culturally vibrant cities of many sizes. All the Spanish cities included in the index (10 in total, including Madrid and Barcelona) are part of this cluster.

    These are mature economies that prioritise sustainability over rapid growth, seeking to balance liveability and stability. They also have steady political systems, a commitment to green policies and urban planning strategies that give weight to sustainable infrastructure that enhances liveability.

    They do well in social cohesion, with high levels of integration and relatively low levels of inequality. In terms of technology, they are steady adopters but they are not, for the most part, trailblazing innovators.

    It’s also interesting to note the performance of North American cities, which show that economic might and technological prowess don’t always translate into more liveable metropolises. US cities dominate the economic dimension – eight of the top 10 in economic performance are American – but there’s not a single American city in the top 10 for social cohesion or environment. They do well in our ranking – New York, Washington, San Francisco, Chicago and Boston are all in the top 20 – as would be expected of high-income cities, but their performance in different areas varies widely.

    Meanwhile, developing countries continue to struggle to break into the top ranks. In Latin America, the highest-ranked city is Santiago (89th), followed by Buenos Aires (117th) and Mexico City (118th). In Africa, Cape Town (156th) is the top-ranked city. At the very bottom of the ranking are Lagos, Lahore and Karachi.

    Recommendations for cities

    In this tenth edition, we are starting to see greater homogeneity of cities, suggesting that urban planners are learning how to confront similar social, economic and geopolitical challenges. Here are some of our recommendations for how they can improve further:

    • Adaptive and participatory planning: Cities should adopt an approach to planning that is both inclusive and adaptive. This means actively engaging residents, businesses and organisations in identifying priorities, and establishing mechanisms to respond to unexpected developments.

    • Sustainability as a core principle: A commitment to environmental sustainability and innovation in urban planning is key. Cities should pursue policies that reduce carbon emissions, such as adopting renewable energy. Their strategies must also factor in environmental impact and preparedness for extreme climate events, such as wildfires or floods.

    • Economic and social resilience: To address economic inequalities and a lack of social cohesion, cities should implement policies that foster economic equity, such as incentives for small businesses and job training programs that improve access to employment. They should also develop community support networks that strengthen social ties and promote the integration of vulnerable groups.

    • Inclusive technology: To close the digital divide, cities should develop a robust technological infrastructure that ensures connectivity across all urban areas and provides digital skills training for residents. Open data platforms that enhance transparency and encourage citizen participation can play a key role in this.

    • International cooperation: Cities should actively participate in international networks to foster mutual learning and best practices, and to collaborate on joint projects.

    • Continuous measurement: Metrics are essential, both to track progress and to benchmark against other cities with similar characteristics. While cities should develop their own performance dashboards with relevant indicators, our index can serve as an initial framework for identifying key dimensions and the most important indicators.

    Las personas firmantes no son asalariadas, ni consultoras, ni poseen acciones, ni reciben financiación de ninguna compañía u organización que pueda obtener beneficio de este artículo, y han declarado carecer de vínculos relevantes más allá del cargo académico citado anteriormente.

    – ref. Europe tops global ranking of dynamic and sustainable cities – here’s why – https://theconversation.com/europe-tops-global-ranking-of-dynamic-and-sustainable-cities-heres-why-253887

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Next generation computer chips could process data at the speed of light – new research

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Demosthenes Koutsogeorgis, Associate Professor of Photonic Technologies, School of Science & Technology, Nottingham Trent University

    3dartists / Shutterstock

    Electronic microchips are at the heart of the modern world. They’re found in our laptops, our smartphones, our cars and our household appliances. For years, manufacturers have been making them more powerful and efficient, which increases the performance of our electronic devices.

    But that trend is now faltering because of the increased cost and complexity of manufacturing chips, as well as performance limits set by the laws of physics. This is happening just as there’s a need for increased computing power because of the boom in artificial intelligence (AI).

    An alternative to the electronic microchips we currently use are photonic chips. These use light instead of electricity to achieve higher performance. However, photonic chips have not yet taken off due to a number of hurdles. Now, two papers published in Nature address some of these roadblocks, offering essential stepping stones to achieving the computing power required by complex artificial intelligence systems.

    By using light (photons) instead of electricity (electrons) for the transport and processing of information, photonic computing promises higher speeds and greater bandwidths with greater efficiency. This is because it does not suffer from the loss of electrical current due to a phenomenon known as resistance, as well as unwanted heat loss from electrical components.

    Photonic computing is also particularly suited for performing what are known as matrix multiplications – mathematical operations that are fundamental to AI.

    Those are some of the benefits. The challenges, however, are not trivial. In the past, the performance of photonic chips has generally been studied in isolation. But because of the dominance of electronics in modern technology, photonic hardware will need to be integrated with those electronic systems.

    However, converting photons into electrical signals can slow down processing times since light operates at higher speeds. Photonic computing is also based around analogue operations rather than digital ones. This can reduce precision and limit the type of computing tasks that can be carried out.

    It’s also difficult to scale them up from small prototypes because large-scale photonic circuits cannot currently be fabricated with sufficient accuracy. Photonic computing will require its own software and algorithms, compounding the challenges of integration and compatibility with other technology.

    Photonic chips would need to be integrated with electronic hardware.
    IM Imagery / Shutterstock

    The two new papers in Nature address many of these hurdles. Bo Peng, from Singapore-based company Lightelligence, and colleagues demonstrate a new type of processor for photonic computing called a Photonic Arithmetic Computing Engine (Pace). This processor has a low latency, which means that there is a minimal delay between an input or command and the corresponding response or action by the computer.

    The large-scale Pace processor, which has more than 16,000 photonic components, can solve difficult computing tasks, demonstrating the feasibility of the system for real world applications. The processor shows how integration of photonic and electronic hardware, accuracy, and the need for different software and algorithms can be resolved. It also demonstrates that the technology can be scaled up.

    This marks a significant development, despite some speed limitations of the current hardware.

    In a separate paper, Nicholas Harris, from California-based company Lightmatter, and colleagues describe a photonic processor that was able to run two AI systems with accuracy similar to those of conventional electronic processors. The authors demonstrated the effectiveness of their photonic processor through generating Shakespeare-like text, accurately classifying movie reviews and playing classic Atari computer games such as Pac-Man.

    The platform is also potentially scalable, though in this case limitations of the materials and engineering used curtailed one measure of the processor’s speed and its overall computational capabilities.

    Both teams suggest that their photonic systems can be part of scalable next generation hardware that can support the use of AI. This would finally make photonics viable, though further refinements will be needed. These will involve the use of more effective materials or designs.

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

    – ref. Next generation computer chips could process data at the speed of light – new research – https://theconversation.com/next-generation-computer-chips-could-process-data-at-the-speed-of-light-new-research-254104

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Wild meat is eaten by millions, but puts billions at risk – how to manage the trade

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Delia Grace, Professor Food Safety Systems at the Natural Resources Institute (UK) and contributing scientist ILRI, International Livestock Research Institute

    One of the most pressing issues of our time is the wild meat trade. Why? Because it’s consumed by millions and puts billions at risk from emerging diseases. It provides food and income for some of the poorest and most remote communities in Africa and Asia, yet over-exploitation makes ecosystems unstable and threatens the destruction of endangered species.

    In Africa, wild meat hunting is driven mostly by protein and meat scarcity (“the poor man’s meat”). In some regions, like east and south-east Asia, it can be found in restaurants, offered as high-priced exotic delicacies (“the rich man’s status”).

    But consuming wild meat also poses great dangers and challenges. The global wild meat trade can drive biodiversity loss, fuel illegal markets and spread diseases. The wildlife trade and so-called wet markets, where wild animals and wild meat are often sold, are conducive to the emergence of diseases, such as Ebola and HIV, which can be transmitted from animals to people.

    These issues are the focus of a recently released landmark study. It takes a new approach to analysing wild animal exploitation: it focuses on consumption and consumers rather than wild animals or hunting communities.

    Most previous studies on wild meat have been by people who want to stop it, with a handful on its livelihood and nutrition benefits to poor people. Our study, with its focus on consumption, allows us to balance conservation, community development, animal welfare and plague prevention.

    We are specialists in livestock and sustainable development and authors of the report. We worked for over a year to analyse and synthesise wild meat trade with a focus on hotspots in Africa and Asia.

    We argue that, because the wild meat trade is here for the foreseeable future, policymakers and implementers should be looking at: better management of the global wild meat trade, reducing and managing the farming of wild animals, and providing alternatives to consumption of wild meat by poor people.

    We must find a way to balance the benefits and risks of wild meat consumption in a way that protects human health, wildlife welfare, and our environment.

    Importance of wild meat trade

    Drawing on previous studies and a systematic literature review, our report found that the global trade in wild meat is extensive. Annual revenues range from US$1 billion in Africa to US$8-11 billion from illegal trade in south-east Asia to US$74 billion from wildlife farming in China.

    The volume of wild meat consumed is also significant – and often much higher than that of livestock meat. On average, African foragers consume 38kg of wild meat and farmers 16kg per year. The average annual livestock meat consumption per person in Africa is about 16.7kg.

    We found that in at least 60 countries wildlife and wild-caught fish contribute at least 20% of the animal protein in rural household diets. Where poverty is high, wildlife abundant, and affordable domesticated meat and access to markets scarce, many households turn to hunting wild animals.

    Not being harvested sustainably

    Unlike domesticated meat, which comes from just 20 or so animal species, the wild meat trade involves hundreds of species. In Africa about 500 species are hunted, in south-east Asia about 300.

    Current rates of extraction of wild meat are unsustainable, except for some small and fast-reproducing species such as rodents. Ungulates (hoofed animals) generally tend to be the most frequently hunted, followed by large rodents and primates. Near human settlements, larger bodied animals have over time tended to be hunted out and replaced by smaller species (such as duikers and large rodents), which reproduce at faster rates and thus are more sustainably hunted.

    The illegal trade in wild meat is increasingly moving online, with Asia as both a major supplier and consumer. Smuggling intensifies hunting pressure, as wildlife is harvested not only for local needs but also for global markets. There is some evidence of declining extraction rates due to over-hunting, resulting in “empty forests”. While bans can reduce hunting, they may also drive the trade underground.

    Climate change is already driving an increase wild meat extraction by making it harder to grow plants and farm animals. Studies show that in some critical ecosystems, such as the Serengeti in Tanzania, there are rapid declines in wildlife linked to climate change and land-use change.

    Addressing the wild meat challenge

    Moving away from wild meat practices in poorer countries presents a complex challenge.

    Replacing wild protein sources with commercially raised livestock can be prohibitively expensive for low-income households and governments alike. Moreover, it’s estimated that increased livestock production to replace the loss of wild meat could increase deforestation and require some 124,000km² of additional agricultural land.

    Some solutions do exist – but these depend on the context.

    Where wild animal hunting is prevalent, such as the forest margins in Africa and Asia, alternative protein sources could reduce the demand for wild meat by providing sustainable and culturally accepted protein sources. Examples are cane rats, Nile tilapia and African catfish in west and central Africa, cavies (guinea pigs) in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and bamboo rats in south-east Asia. High-reproducing “mini livestock”, such as rabbits, cane rats, cavies, capybara and giant African snails, can provide household meat in a relatively short period. However, attempts to promote alternative animals have met with little success. We suggest paying people not to hunt or subsidising alternative meat may be more effective and feasible.

    Hundreds of thousands rely on hunting wild animals. Rather than criminalising hunters or trying to turn them into farmers in unsuitable lands, it may make more sense to pay them not to hunt by giving them free or subsidised livestock meat, which they may prefer.

    Promoting disgust triggered by wild meat can be a promising channel, too, for changing consumption behaviours. Societies often, and sometimes quickly, shift from finding “different” meats appealing to finding them appalling. In the UK, for example, offal was eaten by the poor before becoming a fashion-food for the English gentry during the early modern period. Behavioural science can be harnessed to nudge these mind shifts in the right direction.

    This study provides new insights into the wild meat trade. Deeply embedded in human culture, hunting wild animals is unlikely to disappear anytime soon. However, sustainable practices can balance human and ecosystem health and wildlife conservation, ensuring a future where both people and nature thrive.

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

    – ref. Wild meat is eaten by millions, but puts billions at risk – how to manage the trade – https://theconversation.com/wild-meat-is-eaten-by-millions-but-puts-billions-at-risk-how-to-manage-the-trade-252226

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Changing the Eurocentric narrative about the history of science – why multiculturalism matters

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Karen K. Christensen-Dalsgaard, Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, MacEwan University

    An illustration by the medieval Islamic scholar Abu Rayhan al-Biruni depicting the phases of the moon in relation to the Sun. (Wikimedia Commons)
    The medieval Islamic mathematician, astronomer and physicist Ibn al Haytham (965 – c. 1040) lived in Cairo, Egypt, during the Islamic golden Age and is considered the father of optics.
    (Wikimedia Commons), CC BY

    In the 11th century in Cairo, the foundations for modern science were laid through the detention of an innocent man.

    The mathematician Abu Ali al-Hasan Ibn al-Haytham had been tasked with regulating the flow of the Nile, but when he saw the river that had shaped 4,000 years of human civilization, the hubris of the task became all too obvious.

    To avoid the wrath of the Fatimid caliph in Egypt, Ibn al-Haytham supposedly feigned madness and was placed under house arrest, giving him time to focus on optics.

    In doing so, he developed a scientific method based on controlled, reproducible experiments and mathematics. This would not only change humanity’s understanding of optics and how our eyes actually see, but also later lay the foundations for empirical science in Europe.

    When I started teaching the history of biology, the importance of this pivotal period of scientific history was often diminished in western analysis of science history. Studying the contributions of non-western scholars has shown me what history can teach us about the value of multiculturalism.

    A video from The Smithsonian explaining Ibn al-Haytham’s experiments with light.



    Read more:
    Explainer: what Western civilisation owes to Islamic cultures

    A Eurocentric version of history

    The story typically told in the West is that science was invented in ancient Greece and then, following close to a millennium of intellectual darkness, developed in Western Europe over the past 500 years.

    Other cultures might have contributed a clever trick here or there, like inventing paper or creating our modern number system, but science as we know it was developed almost entirely by white men. As such it becomes a story of superiority, one that demands gratitude.

    The scars of this way of thinking are all over our geopolitical landscape. It shapes how many western leaders interact with other cultures, apparently entitling them to share their intellectual authority without needing to listen to others. It is a mindset that belittles other civilizations and led to centuries of colonial violence.

    This Eurocentric version of scientific history omits some of the most important events that shaped modern thinking. Science was not developed so much by individuals but by a highly complex global process that brought together ideas, lived experiences and approaches from all major civilizations.

    The Plimpton 322 clay tablet, with each row of the table relating to a Pythagorean triple, is believed to have been written in Babylonia around 1800 BCE, around 1,000 years before the Greek mathematician Pythagoras was born.
    (Wikimedia Commons)



    Read more:
    What was the first thing scientists discovered? A historian makes the case for Babylonian astronomy

    Ancient Greek scholarship, for instance, was indeed instrumental in developing science, but it was not inherently western. The Greek empire spanned much of the Mediterranean region and the Black Sea. Scholars travelled extensively, and the centres of scholarship drifted over time from Ionia in present-day Turkey, for example, to Athens to Alexandria in Egypt.

    Greek natural philosophy was influenced by the mathematical and astronomical achievements of the Babylonians and the medical traditions of the Egyptians. Later, Alexandrian scholars made great advances in human anatomy when they overcame the Greek aversion to dissections, likely because of Egyptian influences. Natural philosophy was born from the merger of these scholarly traditions.



    Read more:
    Why are algorithms called algorithms? A brief history of the Persian polymath you’ve likely never heard of

    Importance of testing ideas

    Similarly, Ibn al-Haytham was one of thousands of scholars who, during the golden age of Islam, were engaged in the immense task of translating, combining and developing the world’s knowledge into great encyclopedic texts. They admired Indian and Chinese scholarship and technology but revered the ancient Greeks.

    While the Greeks had an impressive greatness of mind, they had largely shunned the idea of experiments and believed that developing instruments was the job of slaves.

    Many Arab scholars, on the other hand, emphasized the importance of experimentally testing ideas and developed scientific and surgical instruments that allowed for significant advances.

    The opening page from Ibn Sina’s Canon of Medicine.
    (Yale University Medical Historical Library)

    Arguably, Arab scholars built the foundations for modern science by developing a method for controlled experimentation and applying it to Greek scholarship combined with knowledge and technologies from all accessible parts of the world.

    Later, Latin translations of the Arabic texts would allow science to grow in the West from the intellectual ashes of medieval Catholicism. Texts like Ibn Sina’s Qānūn fī al-ṭibb (Canon of medicine) would become standard textbooks throughout Europe for hundreds of years.

    Ibn Al-Haytham inspired scholars like Roger Bacon to work toward European implementation of the scientific method. This would ultimately lead to Europe’s scientific revolution.



    Read more:
    Avicenna: the Persian polymath who shaped modern science, medicine and philosophy

    Importance of intercultural exchange

    Great civilizations existed all over the world in the beginning of the 16th century, in Africa, the Middle East, the Americas and East Asia. Most had scholarship that was superior to the West’s in at least some respects. Arguably, the most valuable thing Europeans took from the rest of the world was knowledge.

    The first vaccine, for instance, was based on variolation techniques developed in China, India and the Islamic world. People were inoculated against smallpox by blowing powdered scabs up their noses or rubbing pus into shallow cuts.

    Europeans believed that diseases were caused by bad air (miasma) and so did not initially trust this technique. It only became widespread in Europe and North America after English aristocrat Lady Montagu saw its efficacy firsthand in Constantinople in the early 18th century and advocated that it be tested in England.

    A vaccine developed by English physician Edward Jenner 80 years later was simply the well-known variolation technique made much safer by inoculating with cowpox instead.

    The importance of intercultural exchanges should not be surprising. Scientific data and observations are ideally objective, but the questions we ask and the conclusions we draw will always be subjective, shaped by our prior knowledge, beliefs and past experiences. Different cultures can help each other see beyond their inherent biases and grow beyond the intellectual constraints of individual approaches.

    In her book, Braiding Sweetgrass, Potawatomi botanist and writer Robin Wall Kimmerer gives a beautiful example of this in the context of how Indigenous approaches can inform modern science.

    One of Canada’s greatest gifts is our diversity. Here, cultures from across the world come together, forming a multiplicity of minds that is well positioned to solve the problems of our world. However, this only has value if we can connect and learn from each other. When we advocate for a diversity of ideas in curricula, both nationally and abroad, we are promoting a future built on the knowledge of people and cultures from around the world.

    There is nothing more intimately personal than the thoughts in your head, and yet you did not conceive them. They are a continuation of knowledge and ideas that for thousands of years have travelled the globe, shaped by countless minds from all civilizations. In a time of seemingly growing division, that is a thought that ought to bring us all together.

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

    – ref. Changing the Eurocentric narrative about the history of science – why multiculturalism matters – https://theconversation.com/changing-the-eurocentric-narrative-about-the-history-of-science-why-multiculturalism-matters-252884

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Iran and US to enter high-stakes nuclear negotiations – hampered by a lack of trust

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Ali Bilgic, Professor of International Relations and Middle East Politics, Loughborough University

    The announcement of planned talks between the US and Iran in Oman signifies a crucial development – especially given the history of distrust and animosity that has characterised their interactions.

    There remains a degree of confusion as to whether the negotiations over Iran’s development of a nuclear capacity will be direct or indirect. The US has said that its Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, will meet Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi. Donald Trump has publicly stated that Iran will be in “great danger” if the negotiations fail.

    Iran meanwhile has said that talks will be conducted through an intermediary. Araghchi commented that: “It is as much an opportunity as it is a test. The ball is in America’s court.”

    This seeming clash in messaging before the talks have even begun is not the greatest omen for their success, even with the threat of US or Israeli military action hovering over Iran. Representatives from Iran, China and Russia are reported to have met in Moscow on April 8.

    China’s foreign ministry released a statement reminding the world that it was the US “which unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA [the 2015 nuclear deal or joint comprehensive plan of action] and caused the current situation”. It stressed the need for Washington to “show political sincerity, act in the spirit of mutual respect, engage in dialogue and consultation, and stop the threat of force and maximum pressure”.

    This followed messaging from Washington which very much focused on the possibility of force and maximum pressure. Speaking to the press after meeting the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump struck a very aggressive note, saying: “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and if the talks aren’t successful, I actually think it will be a very bad day for Iran if that’s the case.”

    The US president’s much discussed transactional approach to diplomacy – as represented at the talks by Witkoff, a former real-estate developer – is likely be pivotal to how negotiations proceed. Trump’s geopolitical ambitions in the Middle East focus on expanding the Abraham accords. These agreements focused on normalising relations between Israel and various Arab countries – including UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.

    The signing of the accords in 2020 were seen as a key foreign policy achievement of Trump’s first administration, particularly in terms of America’s desire to counter Iran in the region.

    The US is now actively working to bring Saudi Arabia into the fold. In that respect, recognising that Riyadh’s participation would mark a transformative shift in regional geopolitics. Additionally, Trump aims to leverage trade agreements and major investment initiatives to create economic dependencies that encourage diplomatic normalisation.

    Iran, meanwhile, faces severe economic difficulties. The country’s economy is in a state of crisis, with high inflation, a depreciating currency and widespread poverty. These conditions have been worsened by international sanctions and domestic policy failures. As a result, Iran is in dire need of economic concessions, which could be a significant point of leverage for the US.

    Tehran’s geopolitical clout has weakened considerably over the past 18 months. Military setbacks in 2024 – including the loss of key allies and leaders in groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah – have diminished Iran’s ability to project power in its region.

    This weakened position will affect Iran’s negotiating stance. It could make it more likely that Iran’s negotiators might seek economic relief and diplomatic solutions rather than pursuing aggressive policies. But pressure from hardliners within Iran could push the country towards a more radical approach if concessions are not forthcoming.

    Rocky road ahead

    A major issue affecting the talks is the low level of trust between the two parties. The US’s involvement in the Gaza conflict – including Trump’s controversial proposal to clear Gaza of Palestinians to make way for possible redevelopment – has further strained relations. So has the recent US campaign against the Tehran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

    Further threats of this kind are likely to be seen by Iran as aggressive and coercive – and Trump’s latest rhetoric won’t have helped. This will inevitably undermine the prospects for trust between the parties.

    Iranian parliamentarians on the prospect of nuclear talks with the US.

    Iran’s scepticism is rooted in past experiences where promises of economic relief were not fulfilled. Trump’s withdrawal of the US from the 2015 nuclear deal in 2018 is a case in point. This perceived breach of trust has made Iran cautious about entering into new agreements without concrete assurances.

    The regional context adds another layer of complexity to the talks. American support for Israel’s actions in Gaza is likely to complicate matters. The populations of most Gulf states are fully supportive of Palestinian self-determination and are scandalised at the way the US president has seemingly given the green light to Israel’s breach of the ceasefire and resumption of hostilities.

    Iran’s internal politics are also likely to play an important role in shaping its approach to the negotiations. The country is experiencing significant political polarisation between the “hardliners”, spearheaded by the supreme leader Ali Khamenei, and the “reformists”, who are relatively more conciliatory towards the US and Europe. Following the surprise election of Masoud Pezeshkian, a reformist, last year, hopes that Iran would be open to negotiations with Washington quickly faltered when he realigned his position with Khamenei’s.

    In March 2025, he lost two important reformists in the cabinet, the economy minister, Abdolnaser Hemmati, and vice-president, Mohammad Javad Zarif, forced out by the hardliner-dominated parliament. This factional politicking will complicate Iran’s ability to present a unified front in negotiations — and this could represent significant leverage for the US. But it also strengthens hardliners to make demands that are unacceptable to the US.

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

    – ref. Iran and US to enter high-stakes nuclear negotiations – hampered by a lack of trust – https://theconversation.com/iran-and-us-to-enter-high-stakes-nuclear-negotiations-hampered-by-a-lack-of-trust-254106

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Hungary’s exit from the International Criminal Court is a sign of the times

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Michal Ovadek, Lecturer in European Institutions, Politics and Policy, UCL

    After deciding to flout an international arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu, Hungary has become the first European country to announce plans to leave the International Criminal Court (ICC). This comes after president Viktor Orbán hosted Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, despite the ICC issuing an arrest warrant for him in relation to war crimes in Gaza.

    As a member of the ICC, Hungary is supposed to turn in anyone subject to such a warrant if they enter its territory. Instead, Orbán rolled out the red carpet.

    Following the visit, a senior government official confirmed Hungary’s intention to leave the court. It will be some time before we know if it will see through on the threat because it takes at least a year to leave once a formal written notification has been sent but the signal itself is a landmark moment.

    Hungary’s open repudiation of an important part of international law is further evidence of the tectonic shifts taking place in international relations.

    Throughout most of the 1990s and early 2000s, much of western foreign policy was focused on creating institutional mechanisms aimed at preserving the liberal international consensus that emerged at the end of the cold war. The creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the ICC were two of the most concrete manifestations of this ethos.

    Both represent attempts to bring legal and judicial formality to international politics. Unlike its two ad-hoc antecedents – the international criminal tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda – the ICC is a permanent court of justice. It is tasked with overseeing the criminal trials of people accused of involvement in serious crimes, such as genocide.

    Even at the height of its popularity, the idea that international relations should be subject to more rules and enforcement by courts had its fair share of sceptics and detractors, especially among countries whose interests and power could be most severely curtailed by an effective international justice system.

    The US, Russia and Israel had originally signed but did not ratify the Rome statute underpinning the ICC – and subsequently withdrew their signatures – while China and India never even signed the treaty.

    European countries generally (and EU member states specifically) were always among the most supportive of the ICC. The continent has experience with perhaps the most important experiment in international criminal justice, the Nuremberg trials of Nazi crimes. This legacy has continued to feed European support for holding those responsible for aggression and atrocities to account by means of criminal justice.

    Countries like Hungary, emerging from behind the iron curtain in the 1990s, were no exception. There was no ideological or practical reason to oppose the creation of the ICC.

    If anything, countries hoping to join the EU saw it as beneficial to endorse the court. Other than Belarus and Azerbaijan, every European country has ratified the Rome statute, and none has left – until now.

    The rise of kleptocratic authoritarianism in Hungary means its exit from the ICC should not be particularly surprising. Inside the EU, Hungary has consistently acted as a Trojan horse for the interests of authoritarian governments, most notably Russia, China and Serbia.

    Its break with the values and principles that are supposed to be at the heart of the EU project goes substantially beyond support for international institutions and justice.

    Consensus crumbles

    But the broader international environment has also become less favourable to legalisation and judicialisation. Countries that previously feigned commitment to international law have become outright pariahs. The most obvious example is of course Russia, which is waging a war of aggression against Ukraine – a crime under the Rome statute.

    More importantly, though, the US is increasingly turning its back on international rules. It is dismantling many of the international institutions it worked hard to establish.

    Although Donald Trump might be wreaking the most havoc, the US already effectively pulled the plug on the WTO’s judicial appeals system under Barack Obama. Last year Joe Biden’s administration came close to imposing sanctions on the ICC for issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli officials, including Netanyahu.

    Taken together, these developments leave the EU and a handful of other countries increasingly isolated in backing the ICC and other elements of the so-called “rules-based international order”. And while Hungary’s exit deals yet another blow, it’s not clear how deeply committed other EU member states are either.

    Germany’s chancellor Friedrich Merz promised he would find a way to make it possible for Netanyahu to visit his country despite the outstanding ICC arrest warrant.

    Hungary’s open defiance of its obligation to arrest Netanyahu has placed it in company of countries that wear their noncompliance with international law as a badge of honour. The experience of one of them is particularly educational.

    When Omar Al-Bashir, the then president of Sudan, wanted for crimes against humanity, visited South Africa in June 2015, he was allowed to attend a summit and subsequently leave the country despite court orders to arrest him. Fast forward a decade and South Africa is spearheading the international legal campaign against Israel’s atrocities in Palestine.

    Netanyahu would almost certainly be arrested in South Africa today, as well as in a host of other African and Muslim countries which had vehemently protested the arrest warrant against Al-Bashir in the past. Effective international rules and enforcement require consistent and credible support from a broad coalition of states – the ICC is increasingly short on both.

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

    – ref. Hungary’s exit from the International Criminal Court is a sign of the times – https://theconversation.com/hungarys-exit-from-the-international-criminal-court-is-a-sign-of-the-times-254129

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Canada’s identity is at stake if we don’t equitably fund and support its music now

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Rosheeka Parahoo, PhD Candidate, Musicology, Western University

    Amid a trade war, sovereignty threats and a federal election campaign, Canada is facing renewed calls for national unity.

    The need to define, refine and reassert what it means to be Canadian has never been stronger. To understand Canada, we need to listen.

    Canadian music is how one can hear Canadian identity. Now more than ever, we must ensure equitable funding for this vital part of Canada’s cultural fabric so that Canada’s past, present and future stories are preserved in all their complexity and diversity.

    As a PhD candidate in musicology with a focus on equity, diversity and inclusion in the Canadian music industry, I examine how systemic barriers shape this. I also explore strategies for advancing equity in creating, producing and promoting music in Canada.

    Canadian music industry

    Music has played a critical part in building Canadian identity.

    The recent rise in pro-Canada songs brought on by United States President Donald Trump’s tariffs and threats of annexation demonstrates how powerful a medium music can be in voicing a nation’s frustrations.

    Canada has a unique chance to define its music on its own terms and better reflect the full diversity and complexity of Canadian identity through music. Canadian policymakers can bolster music-making, production and circulation while taking stock of broader discourses of what Canadian music includes, and more importantly, what it leaves out.

    For an industry that has strived to set itself apart from the American music scene, the time is ripe for Canada to increase and ensure equitable funding of the arts and music scenes.



    Read more:
    How Canadian R&B artists like Drake and Justin Bieber complicate ideas of race, music and nationality

    After recognizing American and British artists dominated airways, Canada introduced rules requiring radio stations to play homegrown music.
    (Shutterstock)

    Promise of representing all of Canada?

    In the 1960s and ‘70s, the Canadian government recognized that American and British artists were dominating the country’s airwaves. In response, it established the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and introduced Canadian content rules, requiring radio stations to dedicate airtime to homegrown music.

    The introduction of this policy, perhaps more protectionist than promotional in nature, was a pivotal moment because it meant that Canadian musicians could finally be heard in their own country.

    Many Canadian musicians and artists used this opportunity to speak out against injustice, inequality and erasure. Folk singers, Indigenous performers and artists from marginalized communities turned music into a form of resistance, challenging dominant narratives and redefining what it means to live in Canada.



    Read more:
    Junos 2023 reminds us how Canadian content regulations and funding supports music across the country

    Shrinking arts funding, barriers

    Now, decades later, we find the arts and music that once built Canadian identity isn’t an investment priority.

    This became especially clear during recent debates over the modernization of Canadian content regulations that spotlighted growing concerns from music industry stakeholders, such as artists and musicians’ associations, about shrinking arts funding, particularly for emerging and marginalized artists.

    Funding structures have shifted over the last several years, both in terms of government funding and artists’ revenue streams, leaving many artists, especially those from underrepresented communities, at greater risk. The result has been a music industry increasingly shaped by market forces.



    Read more:
    Artists’ Spotify criticisms point to larger ways musicians lose with streaming — here’s 3 changes to help in Canada

    Research on the Canadian music industry further complicates this. Industry reports from the Toronto Metropolitan University Diversity Institute shows that Black and Indigenous artists, and those from 2SLGBTQ+ communities, still face serious barriers to getting radio play, funding or recognition.

    The Canadian francophone music scene has also faced challenges, including being disproportionally impacted by streaming and a slim market share that puts its survival in peril. When it comes to radio play, funding and recognition, the promise of diverse Canadian music has seldom matched the reality.

    Who gets to define Canadian music?

    The recent renaming of the Minister of Canadian Heritage to the Minister of Canadian Culture and Identity, Parks Canada and Québec Lieutenant could signal a promising shift. This ministry oversees the Canadian Heritage Fund, which distributes much of Canada’s arts funding.

    In response to emailed questions from the media about the rebrand of this ministry, and how it might affect policy, Minister Steven Guilbeault, recently sworn into the new dossier, wrote that his appointment came at a time “when our national unity and shared identity have never been more important.”

    He added: “Our culture and values define who we are as a country. In a period of political uncertainty, I will make strengthening our Canadian identity a priority to safeguard our sovereignty.”

    Strengthening Canadian identity must include sustained investment in Canadian arts and music.

    While recent national frustrations and political sentiment might make it easier to gravitate towards a safer and nostalgic version of Canada’s identity, Canadian music is most powerful when it holds space for both comfort and complexity. Take the recent viral clip of Liberal Leader Mark Carney joking with comedian Mike Myers, quizzing him about his Canadian identity. “Tragically?” Carney asks. “Hip!” Myers replies.

    Liberal federal election ad showing Liberal Leader Mark Carney speaking with comedian Mike Myers. (The Independent)

    It is a charming exchange that evokes a sense of shared pride — rightly so — and familiarity. It is also a gentle reminder of how quickly the boundaries of Canadian identity and music can be reduced to a set of familiar artists.

    The Tragically Hip captured lyrical portraits of small-town life and touched on themes of loss and injustice, as in “Wheat Kings.” In contrast, artists like Tanya Tagaq confront colonial violence using a blend of Inuit throat singing with electronic influences, soundscapes and performance styles that reclaim Indigenous presence.

    Both stories are part of Canada, and have also resonated and found acclaim on global stages. Canadian music finds its power nested between the tension of comfort and critique.

    ‘Let the world know who we are’

    In a recent open letter to the arts community, Michelle Chawla, director and CEO of the Canada Council for the Arts, urged the sector to seize the moment: “We need the arts to let the world know who we are — an open, diverse and globally minded society.”

    She went on to emphasize that, as Canadians look to contribute more directly to the economy, the arts must be part of that vision. She noted decision-makers must understand the arts “have a vital role to play as part of the solution” as Canada navigates uncertain times.

    For policymakers, that means prioritizing funding for the arts and setting clear parameters to ensure this funding is distributed equitably, with meaningful support for emerging and underrepresented artists.

    For everyday Canadians, it means being open to stories that challenge us, and resisting the urge to simplify what Canadian music or identity is supposed to be. It also means supporting local artists and musicians, attending shows and investing in local music scenes.

    Now is the moment to invest in the arts and Canadian music industry, not just to preserve its past, but to ensure we continue telling bold, complex and uniquely Canadian stories. If we allow Canadian identity to become a curated artefact, and Canadian music to be stripped of its tension, complexity and defiance, we lose far more than funding. We lose the stories that make Canada, Canada.

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

    – ref. Canada’s identity is at stake if we don’t equitably fund and support its music now – https://theconversation.com/canadas-identity-is-at-stake-if-we-dont-equitably-fund-and-support-its-music-now-253674

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Why you should think twice before using shorthand like ‘thx’ and ‘k’ in your texts

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By David Fang, PhD Student in Marketing, Stanford University

    When a texter chops words down, recipients sometimes sense a lack of effort. 35mmf2/iStock via Getty Images Plus

    My brother’s text messages can read like fragments of an ancient code: “hru,” “wyd,” “plz” – truncated, cryptic and never quite satisfying to receive. I’ll often find myself second-guessing whether “gr8” means actual excitement or whether it’s a perfunctory nod.

    This oddity has nagged at me for years, so I eventually embarked upon a series of studies with fellow researchers Sam Maglio and Yiran Zhang. I wanted to know whether these clipped missives might undermine genuine dialogue, exploring the unspoken signals behind digital shorthand.

    As we gathered data, surveyed people and set up experiments, it became clear that those tiny shortcuts – sometimes hailed as a hallmark of efficient communication – undermine relationships instead of simplifying them.

    Short words lead to feeling shortchanged

    Most people type “ty” and “brb” – for “thank you” and “be right back” – without batting an eye.

    In a survey we conducted of 150 American texters ages 18 to 65, 90.1% reported regularly using abbreviations in their daily messages, and 84.2% believed these shortcuts had either a positive effect or no meaningful impact on how the messages were perceived by the recipients.

    But our findings suggest that the mere inclusion of abbreviations, although seemingly benign, start feeling like a brush-off. In other words, whenever a texter chops words down to their bare consonants, recipients sense a lack of effort, which causes them to disengage.

    It’s a subtle but pervasive phenomenon that most people don’t intuit.

    We started with controlled lab tests, presenting 1,170 participants ages 15 to 80 with one of two near-identical text exchanges: one set sprinkled with abbreviations, the other fully spelled out. In every single scenario, participants rated the abbreviating sender as less sincere and far less worthy of a reply.

    The deeper we dug, the more consistent the pattern became.

    Whether people were reading messages about weekend plans or major life events, the presence of truncated words and phrases such as “plz,” “sry” or “idk” for “please,” “sorry” or “I don’t know” made the recipients feel shortchanged.

    The phenomenon didn’t stop with strangers. In more experiments, we tested whether closeness changed the dynamic. If you’re texting a dear friend or a romantic partner, can you abbreviate to your heart’s content?

    Evidently not. Even people imagining themselves chatting with a longtime buddy reported feeling a little put off by half-spelled words, and that sense of disappointment chipped away at how authentic the interaction felt.

    From Discord to dating apps

    Still, we had nagging doubts: Might this just be some artificial lab effect?

    We wondered whether real people on real platforms might behave differently. So we took our questions to Discord, a vibrant online social community where people chat about everything from anime to politics. More importantly, Discord is filled with younger people who use abbreviations like it’s second nature.

    We messaged random users asking them to recommend TV shows to watch. One set of messages fully spelled out our inquiry; the other set was filled with abbreviations. True to our lab results, fewer people responded to the abbreviated ask. Even among digital natives – youthful, tech-savvy users who are well versed in the casual parlance of text messaging – a text plastered with shortcuts still felt undercooked.

    If a few missing letters can sour casual chats, what happens when love enters the equation? After all, texting has become a cornerstone of modern romance, from coy flirtations to soul-baring confessions. Could “plz call me” inadvertently jeopardize a budding connection? Or does “u up?” hint at more apathy than affection? These questions guided our next foray, as we set out to discover whether the swift efficiency of abbreviations might actually short-circuit the delicate dance of courtship and intimacy.

    Our leap into the realm of romance culminated on Valentine’s Day with an online speed dating experiment.

    We paired participants for timed “dates” inside a private messaging portal, and offered half of them small incentives to pepper their replies with abbreviations such as “ty” instead of “thank you.”

    When it came time to exchange contact information, the daters receiving abbreviation-heavy notes were notably more reluctant, citing a lack of effort from the other party. Perhaps the most eye-opening evidence came from a separate study running a deep analysis of hundreds of thousands of Tinder conversations. The data showed that messages stuffed with abbreviations such as “u” and “rly” scored fewer overall responses and short-circuited conversations.

    If you can’t take the time to spell it out, is it sincere?
    Roman Didkivskyi/iStock via Getty Images Plus

    It’s the thought that counts

    We want to be clear: We’re not campaigning to ban “lol.” Our research suggests that a few scattered abbreviations don’t necessarily torpedo a friendship. Nor does every one of the many messages sent to many people every day warrant the full spelling-out treatment. Don’t care about coming across as sincere? Don’t need the recipient to respond? Then by all means, abbreviate away.

    Instead, it’s the overall reliance on condensed phrases that consistently lowers our impression of the sender’s sincerity. When we type “plz” a dozen times in a conversation, we risk broadcasting that the other person isn’t worth the extra letters. The effect may be subtle in a single exchange. But over time, it accumulates.

    If your ultimate goal is to nurture a deeper connection – be it with a friend, a sibling or a prospective date – taking an extra second to type “thanks” might be a wise investment.

    Abbreviations began as a clever workaround for clunky flip phones, with its keypad texting – recall tapping “5” three times to type the letter “L” – and strict monthly character limits. Yet here we are, long past those days, still trafficking in “omg” and “brb,” as though necessity never ended.

    After all of those studies, I’ve circled back to my brother’s texts with fresh eyes. I’ve since shared with him our findings about how those tiny shortcuts can come across as half-hearted or indifferent. He still fires off “brb” in half his texts, and I’ll probably never see him type “I’m sorry” in full. But something’s shifting – he typed “thank you” a few times, even threw in a surprisingly heartfelt “hope you’re well” the other day.

    It’s a modest shift, but maybe that’s the point: Sometimes, just a few more letters can let someone know they really matter.

    Sam Maglio, an Associate Professor of Marketing and Psychology at the University of Toronto, contributed to the writing of this article.

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

    – ref. Why you should think twice before using shorthand like ‘thx’ and ‘k’ in your texts – https://theconversation.com/why-you-should-think-twice-before-using-shorthand-like-thx-and-k-in-your-texts-248812

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Shark AI uses fossil shark teeth to get middle school kids interested in paleontology and computer vision

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Christine Wusylko, Postdoctoral Fellow in Educational Technology, University of Florida

    A student creates their model using Google Teachable Machine. Christine Wusylko, CC BY-ND

    Most kids have a natural curiosity about sharks − especially their sharp and abundant teeth. Our team had the idea to use the appeal of this charismatic apex predator to teach how scientists use artificial intelligence.

    We are researchers in AI literacy and STEM education who helped create a series of lessons that use fossil shark teeth to demonstrate the power and pitfalls of AI.

    The curriculum guides middle school students and teachers through building and evaluating computer vision models that can reliably classify fossil shark teeth. Computer vision is a type of artificial intelligence that uses algorithms and a lot of image data to classify and identify objects. It’s the same technology that enables Google Lens to identify plant species in photographs or self-driving cars to recognize people, cars and bicycles.

    Our free Shark AI curriculum has five modules, which are aligned with national and state science education standards. These standards outline the key knowledge and skills students should learn at each grade level. The lessons are designed to cultivate students’ interest in AI, data science, paleontology and the nature of science.

    Students learn about the different types of shark teeth and what they look like.
    Department of Education, University of Florida, CC BY-ND
    Shark AI students analyze various types of shark teeth.
    Bruce MacFadden photo composite, CC BY-ND

    The overall objective of Shark AI is to show that one does not have to be a computer scientist to use, teach or learn AI. We believe all teachers can and should be prepared to teach about AI in order to facilitate the technology’s meaningful integration into K-12 education.

    Teaching science with AI

    AI is already transforming our lives at a dizzying pace.

    To help prepare kids to live and work in an AI world, it is important for them to learn about the technology in school. Most of the resources available to teach AI in K-12 classrooms focus on the technology itself. As a result, these lessons may be offered only in specialty classes such as computer science and engineering, which may not be offered to all students at all schools.

    Systematic integration of AI in education is relatively new, so many teacher preparation programs are just beginning to incorporate it. There’s a need for professional learning opportunities for teachers already working in schools to learn about AI.

    Our research shows science teachers have a variety of preconceptions about AI. Additionally, many teachers are worried about teaching something they have little experience with. Nearly half of educators told EdWeek in a survey that “they’re uncomfortable with AI technology,” suggesting they are unlikely to add AI lessons to their already packed curriculum.

    Sorting sharks’ teeth

    To break down that unfamiliarity, the curriculum starts by introducing the various types of AI, such as natural language processing, automated speech recognition and computer vision. Students then get to work with fossil kits containing 15 real fossil shark teeth and one 3D-printed megalodon tooth. Megalodons were behemoth sharks that roamed the waters starting 20 million years ago and are now extinct. Students sort teeth in any way they want – such as by size, color or shape. Then, they learn how scientists typically classify fossils and practice sorting the teeth by species of shark and by what it eats.

    A student examines the features of a shark tooth fossil.
    Christine Wusylko, CC BY-ND

    After this, students use Google Teachable Machine, a free, online tool that uses the powerful TensorFlow.js machine learning model trained on millions of images. That creates their own computer vision model to classify fossil shark teeth. The data they use can be pictures they take of the real teeth in their kits or pictures they upload from databases such as the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History paleobiology digital collection or iDigBio.

    The models occasionally misclassify teeth, which creates an opportunity for teachers to discuss bias and limitations of computer vision, such as why it is important to train AI on lots of high-quality and diverse images.

    The Shark AI curriculum concludes with students creating, showcasing and discussing their own computer vision models.

    Different ways students classify fossils.
    Christine Wusylko, CC BY-ND

    Through these activities, students learn about AI concepts such as the strengths and weaknesses of AI compared with human intelligence along with paleontology concepts such as the fossil record or the information that can be learned about the history of life on Earth by studying fossils.

    Teachers have the flexibility to modify the activities, sequence and time they want to spend on the curriculum. This allows them to highlight the aspects that make most sense for their instructional needs and goals.

    To prepare teachers to use Shark AI, we host a weeklong professional learning session in which teachers learn how AI is used in science. They also practice doing the activities in the curriculum, and we leave plenty of time for discussion to demystify the technology.

    An important component of the training is to create a community for the teachers. They have opportunities to check in, brainstorm and troubleshoot together throughout the year.

    The Shark AI staff also checks in frequently with teachers individually to provide personalized support, usually troubleshooting questions about Google Teachable Machine. The teachers meet as a group once every few months to build community.

    Instructors work with Shark AI teachers during the weeklong professional learning session.
    Photos courtesy of the UF College of Education., CC BY-ND

    With these supports, we have found that teachers can change their understanding and beliefs about AI, and feel comfortable and prepared to teach science with AI methods.

    Christine Wusylko works for the University of Florida and receives funding from the NSF.

    Pavlo Antonenko works for the University of Florida and receives funding from the NSF.

    – ref. Shark AI uses fossil shark teeth to get middle school kids interested in paleontology and computer vision – https://theconversation.com/shark-ai-uses-fossil-shark-teeth-to-get-middle-school-kids-interested-in-paleontology-and-computer-vision-251125

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Colorado’s early childhood education workers face burnout and health disparities, but a wellness campaign could help

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Jini Puma, Clinical Associate Professor of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

    Early childhood education workers face high stress and burnout. FatCamera/GettyImages

    A lot of research has been done on the outcomes of young children who receive care in early education programs across the country. High-quality early childhood education programs positively shape young children’s development. Far less research has focused on the early childhood workforce that powers these programs.

    We set out to better understand how to support workers who care for our youngest and most vulnerable children.

    Workers who provide care for children under 5, such as teachers, administrative leaders and support staff, play a pivotal role in shaping the next generation. But research suggests they are underpaid, overburdened and have limited resources.

    For example, in Colorado, about 46% of the early education workforce receives public assistance, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits and Medicaid. These workers earn a median hourly pay of $18.50.

    Across the country, between 43% of child care workers receive public assistance.

    Additionally, teaching in early childhood settings takes a toll. According to the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, nearly half of early childhood education teachers report high levels of daily stress during the school year, compared with approximately 25% of U.S. workers.

    Stressed-out teachers impact children, too. Poor well-being in early childhood teachers can reduce child care quality. This may lead to poor social-emotional development and increased behavioral issues in young children.

    Research shows that chronic underfunding of early childhood education programs, coupled with the inherent stressors of the job, leads to burnout and turnover.

    We are clinical associate and research assistant professors of public health at the Colorado School of Public Health. We have researched the early childhood education community in Colorado for more than 15 years. Our team is currently one of six federally funded national research teams investigating the well-being of this workforce and creating strategies to prevent burnout and turnover.

    Mental and physical stress

    There are many causes of health disparities within the early childhood education workforce. The job involves managing children’s challenging behaviors, working 9-12 hours a day, sitting in child-sized furniture, taking few breaks – and having a lack of support from co-workers and supervisors.

    In St. Paul, Minn., organizers at a rally call for more public funding for both child care costs and pay increases for teachers.
    Michael Siluk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

    Researchers have found that early childhood educators in the U.S. experience higher rates of chronic health conditions as compared with national samples of workers with comparable income, education and other characteristics. These conditions include severe headaches, lower back pain, obesity and diabetes, as well as mental health conditions, including depression.

    Past studies, including our own, suggest that poor psychological and physical well-being may be particularly pronounced among early childhood education staff employed in Head Start settings. Head Start is the largest federally funded early childhood education program in the U.S. It often provides care for young children living in poverty.

    Head Start teachers report depression rates ranging between 25% and 32%, compared with the national average of 18% among the U.S. workforce.

    Urban and rural teachers in Colorado

    The well-being of early childhood educators also varies by where they live.

    In our recent work, we explored differences in job-related demands and resources among 332 Head Start staff in rural and urban areas in Colorado.

    A higher percentage of our rural sample in southeast Colorado reported lower family incomes and lower levels of education. This would suggest that early childhood education staff in rural settings may experience higher levels of stress because of increased economic hardships.

    However, on average, our rural sample had a lower level of emotional exhaustion, which is a key indicator of burnout, than our urban sample.

    Rural settings tend to foster close-knit relationships, strong social support networks and a slower-paced work environment than urban settings. These social situations could be why workers in rural areas report lower levels of emotional exhaustion. Alternatively, in urban settings, educators may experience larger class sizes and more stringent licensing and training standards, which could translate to increased stress.

    While workers in urban settings face higher rates of burnout, we also found that they had higher levels of hope, optimism, self-efficacy and resilience than those of rural child care workers. These positive feelings helped to decrease the effects of their high-stress work environments.

    Our findings suggest a need to improve the work environment and provide caregivers with healthy coping strategies – especially urban Head Start staff.

    The WELL program

    To address the workplace needs we identified, we launched the Well-Being of the ECE Workforce in Low-Resourced Locations program, or WELL program. The program looks at workplace policies, culture and safety, plus a person’s health status, home life and community, to create a program that supports an individual’s well-being at work.

    We partnered with five Head Start agencies to test Head Start well-being programs.

    The Head Start staff we worked with across Colorado identified mindfulness, coping strategies and sleep as areas of need. We tailored WELL in response to their requests. WELL provides workplace training and supports related to these topics, texts weekly tips and strategies to promote well-being, and even helps sites design a relaxation lounge as a place for staff to unwind.

    Our preliminary findings suggest that the majority of staff were satisfied with the WELL program, and participants reported increased confidence in practicing behaviors that promote their well-being, like mindfulness.

    “[The WELL program] has helped me within the classroom, too,” said one study participant. “So when you’re like, ‘Oh, my gosh! This child’s driving me crazy. I can’t deal with it!’ it’s like, ‘Just take a step back. It’s OK to take a break and ask somebody for help.’”

    We also found that 77% felt that their early childhood education center supported participation in WELL. These findings, while preliminary, highlight the likelihood of this program to be successfully implemented in other early childhood education centers in Colorado.

    Read more of our stories about Colorado.

    Jini Puma receives funding from the Administration for Children and Families.

    Charlotte Farewell receives funding from the Administration for Children and Families.

    – ref. Colorado’s early childhood education workers face burnout and health disparities, but a wellness campaign could help – https://theconversation.com/colorados-early-childhood-education-workers-face-burnout-and-health-disparities-but-a-wellness-campaign-could-help-250880

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Americans die earlier at all wealth levels, even if wealth buys more years of life in the US than in Europe

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Sara Machado, Research Scientist in Health Economics, Brown University

    Wealth can buy health – but only to a point. marekuliasz/iStock via Getty Images Plus

    Americans at all wealth levels are more likely to die sooner than their European counterparts, with even the richest U.S. citizens living shorter lives than northern and western Europeans. That is the key finding of our new study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

    We also found that while the wealthiest Americans live longer than the poorest, the wealth-mortality gap in the U.S. is far more pronounced than in Europe.

    We are a team of health policy researchers who study health systems and how their performance compares across countries.

    We analyzed survey data from 73,838 adults ages 50 to 85 across the United States and 16 European countries over a 12-year period and compared how long people across the wealth spectrum lived during the course of our study. The 16 European countries are grouped into European regions: northern and western, southern and eastern Europe.

    Our research revealed that people in the wealthiest 25% of the study population across the U.S. and Europe were 40% less likely to die during the study period than the poorest quarter of people. The wealthiest 25% of people in northern and western Europe had mortality rates that were about 35% lower than participants in the wealthiest quartile in the U.S. For those from southern Europe, during the study period this value ranged from 24% to 33%. For those from eastern Europe, the value ranged from 1% to 7%. The poorest individuals in the U.S. appear to have the worst survival, including when compared with the poorest quarter of people in each European region.

    Why it matters

    Wealth inequality has been rising for decades, but more so in the U.S. than in Europe due to a widening gap between the wealth of the richest and the poorest. At the same time, despite spending significantly more on health care than other wealthy nations, overall, the U.S. consistently demonstrates worse health outcomes, such as higher infant mortality rates and avoidable mortality.

    Our study also reveals a wider wealth-mortality gap in the U.S. when compared with Europe. In other words, personal wealth does buy more years of life in the U.S. than in Europe. These findings suggest that personal wealth alone is not enough to compensate for other factors that tend to affect how long people live, such as health behaviors like smoking or heavy drinking, education or social support.

    At its core, our research suggests that health outcomes are shaped by much more than just health care systems. It is likely that economic and social policies − from education and employment to housing and food security − play a crucial role in determining how long people live, including across the wealth distribution.

    European countries have found ways to reduce health disparities without dramatically increasing health spending. By distributing health-promoting resources more equally across wealth groups, these nations may have created environments where longevity is less dependent on individual wealth.

    What still isn’t known

    While our study shows clear longevity differences between Americans and Europeans across wealth levels, more work still needs to be done to determine which specific aspects of European social systems − whether health care delivery, education access, retirement security or tax policies − most effectively protect health regardless of personal wealth.

    Pinpointing exactly how these factors interact with wealth to influence health outcomes would allow researchers to identify which European policies could be most successfully adapted to improve longevity for all Americans.

    What’s next

    Looking ahead, we plan to identify which of those policy levers might be most effective in reducing mortality gaps.

    The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.

    Irene N. Papanicolas receives funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Commonwealth Fund, the Health Foundation, the National Institute for Health Care Management and the World Health Organiation.

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

    – ref. Americans die earlier at all wealth levels, even if wealth buys more years of life in the US than in Europe – https://theconversation.com/americans-die-earlier-at-all-wealth-levels-even-if-wealth-buys-more-years-of-life-in-the-us-than-in-europe-253620

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: What would happen if Section 230 went away? A legal expert explains the consequences of repealing ‘the law that built the internet’

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Daryl Lim, Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Research and Innovation, Penn State

    Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., are vocal critics of Section 230. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

    Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, passed in 1996 as part of the Telecommunications Act, has become a political lightning rod in recent years. The law shields online platforms from liability for user-generated content while allowing moderation in good faith.

    Lawmakers including Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., now seek to sunset Section 230 by 2027 in order to spur a renegotiation of its provisions. The senators are expected to hold a press event before April 11 about a bill to start a timer on reforming or replacing Section 230, according to reports. If no agreement is reached by the deadline Section 230 would cease to be law.

    The debate over the law centers on balancing accountability for harmful content with the risks of censorship and stifled innovation. As a legal scholar, I see dramatic potential effects if Section 230 were to be repealed, with some platforms and websites blocking any potentially controversial content. Imagine Reddit with no critical comments or TikTok stripped of political satire.

    The law that built the internet

    Section 230, often described as “the 26 words that created the internet,” arose in response to a 1995 ruling penalizing platforms for moderating content. The key provision of the law, (c)(1), states that “no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.” This immunizes platforms such as Facebook and Yelp from liability for content posted by users.

    Importantly, Section 230 does not offer blanket immunity. It does not shield platforms from liability related to federal criminal law, intellectual property infringement, sex trafficking or where platforms codevelop unlawful content. At the same time, Section 230 allows platform companies to moderate content as they see fit, letting them block harmful or offensive content that is permitted by the First Amendment.

    Some critics argue that the algorithms social media platforms use to feed content to users are a form of content creation and should be outside the scope of Section 230 immunity. In addition, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has signaled a more aggressive stance toward Big Tech, advocating for a rollback of Section 230’s protections to address what he perceives as biased content moderation and censorship.

    What Section 230 does and how it came about.

    Censorship and the moderation dilemma

    Opponents warn that repealing Section 230 could lead to increased censorship, a flood of litigation and a chilling effect on innovation and free expression.

    Section 230 grants complete immunity to platforms for third-party activities regardless of whether the challenged speech is unlawful, according to a February 2024 report from the Congressional Research Service. In contrast, immunity via the First Amendment requires an inquiry into whether the challenged speech is constitutionally protected.

    Without immunity, platforms could be treated as publishers and held liable for defamatory, harmful or illegal content their users post. Platforms could adopt a more cautious approach, removing legally questionable material to avoid litigation. They could also block potentially controversial content, which could leave less space for voices of marginalized people.

    MIT management professor Sinan Aral warned, “If you repeal Section 230, one of two things will happen. Either platforms will decide they don’t want to moderate anything, or platforms will moderate everything.” The overcautious approach, sometimes called “collateral censorship,” could lead platforms to remove a broader swath of speech, including lawful but controversial content, to protect against potential lawsuits. Yelp’s general counsel noted that without Section 230, platforms may feel forced to remove legitimate negative reviews, depriving users of critical information.

    Corbin Barthold, a lawyer with the nonprofit advocacy organization TechFreedom, warned that some platforms might abandon content moderation to avoid liability for selective enforcement. This would result in more online spaces for misinformation and hate speech, he wrote. However, large platforms would likely not choose this route to avoid backlash from users and advertisers.

    A legal minefield

    Section 230(e) currently preempts most state laws that would hold platforms liable for user content. This preemption maintains a uniform legal standard at the federal level. Without it, the balance of power would shift, allowing states to regulate online platforms more aggressively.

    Some states could pass laws imposing stricter content moderation standards, requiring platforms to remove certain types of content within defined time frames or mandating transparency in content moderation decisions. Conversely, some states may seek to limit moderation efforts to preserve free speech, creating conflicting obligations for platforms that operate nationally. Litigation outcomes could also become inconsistent as courts across different jurisdictions apply varying standards to determine platform liability.

    The lack of uniformity would make it difficult for platforms to establish consistent content moderation practices, further complicating compliance efforts. The chilling effect on expression and innovation would be especially pronounced for new market entrants.

    While major players such as Facebook and YouTube might be able to absorb the legal pressure, smaller competitors could be forced out of the market or rendered ineffective. Small or midsize businesses with a website could be targeted by frivolous lawsuits. The high cost of compliance could deter many from entering the market.

    Reform without ruin

    The nonprofit advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation warned, “The free and open internet as we know it couldn’t exist without Section 230.” The law has been instrumental in fostering the growth of the internet by enabling platforms to operate without the constant threat of lawsuits over user-generated content. Section 230 also lets platforms organize and tailor user-generated content.

    The potential repeal of Section 230 would fundamentally alter this legal landscape, reshaping how platforms operate, increasing their exposure to litigation and redefining the relationship between the government and online intermediaries.

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

    – ref. What would happen if Section 230 went away? A legal expert explains the consequences of repealing ‘the law that built the internet’ – https://theconversation.com/what-would-happen-if-section-230-went-away-a-legal-expert-explains-the-consequences-of-repealing-the-law-that-built-the-internet-253326

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Politics with Michelle Grattan: Hugh White on what the next PM should tell Trump and defending Australia – without the US

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

    The Trump ascendancy has forced international economic issues and the future strategic outlook onto the Australian election agenda, even if they are at the margins.

    This campaign – while dominated by domestic issues, notably the cost of living – is being conducted against the background of an extraordinarily volatile external situation, with major implications for Australia’s future.

    To discuss these issues, we were joined on the podcast by Hugh White, Emeritus Professor of Strategic Studies at the Australian National University. White is one of Australia’s foremost thinkers on defence policy, China and the region. His long career includes serving as an adviser to then federal defence minister Kim Beazley.

    White regards US President Donald Trump as a “revolutionary figure”:

    I think Trump is a genuinely revolutionary character, and not just his impact on American domestic politics and economics, I also think he has a huge impact on global strategic affairs. And the reason for that is that he does have a fundamentally different view of America’s place in the world than that of what we might call a Washington establishment.

    Donald Trump is really a kind of an old-fashioned isolationist. That is, he believes America’s strategic focus should be on the Western Hemisphere […] For example, in Ukraine he’s happy to see Russia assert itself as a great power in Eastern Europe. In Asia, I think, despite his reputation as a China hawk on economic issues, he doesn’t have any problem with China asserting itself as a great power in East Asia. He’s for these other great powers to dominate their backyards, just the way he wants America to dominate its backyard in the Western Hemisphere.

    Yet White doesn’t believe either Labor or the Coalition is taking defence seriously in this election.

    It’s not being treated as a real issue in the campaign, and that’s because both sides have determined that it won’t, and what underpins that is the absolutely rock-solid bipartisanship between the two of them on every significant issue. And I think that’s a very serious problem for Australia because at a time when our strategic circumstances are changing dramatically […] neither side has any inclination to have a serious conversation about what that means, why it’s happening, what we should be doing about it,

    A lot of the blame for that lies with the Labor Party, because it seems to me Labor’s political approach to the whole question of foreign affairs and defence for a very long time now has focused on minimising differences with the Coalition.

    While White agrees Australia needs new submarines, and quickly, he doesn’t think they should be nuclear-powered, as promised under AUKUS. He thinks we should leave AUKUS.

    We should have started building replacements for the [Collins-class submarine] around about 2010 or 2012. So we’re well over a decade late and I do think there’s a real risk that we’re going to lose our submarine capability altogether. But the way to solve that is not to push ahead spending billions and billions of dollars on a project which, even if it works, delivers the submarines we don’t need, and which is very unlikely to deliver any submarines at all.

    We’re past looking for a perfect submarine. We just need to get any submarine at all so we can keep some capability running and then once we have that running, we need to have a really focused programme. We need ministers to really tell Defence what to do, focus programmes to develop a follow on to the Collins-class design, because that’s the design we already know best in the world and to start building a new class of evolved Collins.

    After the May 3 election, when the next prime minister meets the US president to talk trade, defence and more, what should Anthony Albanese or Peter Dutton tell Trump? White says:

    Trump is very hard to handle. I don’t think there’s any magic formula that an Australian prime minister can utter, which makes Trump into either a more acceptable, economic partner for Australia or a more reliable strategic partner for Australia, because the forces that are driving America out of Asia are much bigger than Donald Trump.

    The most important thing an Australian political leader could say to Trump when he first meets him is, look, we understand where you’re coming from. We are happy to take responsibility for our own security. We don’t expect you to stay engaged in Asia to look after us in future. What we want you to do is to help us manage that transition as best we can and we’re prepared to pay for what we get.

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

    – ref. Politics with Michelle Grattan: Hugh White on what the next PM should tell Trump and defending Australia – without the US – https://theconversation.com/politics-with-michelle-grattan-hugh-white-on-what-the-next-pm-should-tell-trump-and-defending-australia-without-the-us-254197

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Election Diary: Chalmers and Taylor quizzed on personal flaws during animated treasurers’ debate

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

    Perhaps the most compelling moment, at least for non-economists, in Wednesday night’s debate between Treasurer Jim Chalmers and his “shadow” Angus Taylor was when each man was forced to respond to what critics see as their personal flaws.

    Moderator Ross Greenwood, Sky’s business editor, put to Chalmers that people say “you’ve got a bit of a glass jaw, that you don’t cop criticism well”.

    “I think over time I’ve learned to understand that you take the good with the bad,” Chalmers responded, looking taken aback. “I think I’ve learnt over time to focus on the objective observers of the job that I’m doing and I think ultimately the Australian people will judge that rather than the kind of partisan commentators from time to time.”

    Taylor was told that “some people suggest that maybe you don’t put the work in”.

    “Well, you know, there’s lots of free advice in this game,” Taylor said. “You get it, Jim gets it, we all get it. But I tell you what, I work every single day for those hardworking Australians who work in Jim’s electorate, in my electorate, right around Australia […] I come from a hardworking family.”

    In the debate – a livelier encounter than Tuesday’s one between the leaders – the weapons of past promises were liberally deployed. Taylor invoked Labor’s unrealised $275 cut in power bills. Chalmers reached back to Tony Abbott’s pledge of no cuts to health and education, alleging a secret plan for cuts to pay for the Coalition’s nuclear scheme.

    The hour was filled with claims, counter claims, disputed figures, and accusations of lies.

    In the judgement of University of Canberra economist John Hawkins, Chalmers performed the better of the two.

    “He stayed on message, arguing the economy was improving, and the budget was in better shape than what he inherited. Given times of global uncertainty, he argued for a steady hand,” Hawkins said.

    “Angus Taylor was critical of economic conditions over the past three years but weak on what needed to be done differently, other than a temporary cut to the fuel tax and lower immigration. He did not effectively rebut Chalmers’ repeated claim that the Coalition stood for higher income tax, lower wages and no ongoing cost of living relief.

    “Taylor repeated [Opposition Leader Peter] Dutton’s unconvincing claim that under the Liberals, Australia would be virtually the only country in the world exempted from the Trump tariffs.

    “Chalmers thought the global tariff war would reduce Australia’s economic growth but not push us into recession. I thought he may have pointed out that in the global financial crisis Australia was one of the few OECD countries to avoid recession – and he was one of [former treasurer] Wayne Swan’s key advisers at the time, giving him some very relevant experience.”

    Business feels neglected

    Business, especially big business, is feeling somewhat neglected in this election. On April 20, business groups are joining to call for a commitment to a pro-business agenda.

    In letters to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Dutton and parliamentarians generally, the groups argue Australia has “one of the least competitive tax systems among comparable nations. We’ve burdened our economic engine room with countless new pieces of regulation and red tape. And the prosperity of all Australians suffers while our productivity lags.”

    Who fired up US senator Mark Warner on Australia’s tariff woes?

    Australia is bracing for a fresh tariff strike from US President Donald Trump, after he declared this week that “we’re going to be announcing a major tariff on pharmaceuticals”.

    Australia exports about $2 billion in pharmaceuticals to the United States, including $1.8 billion of blood products. These exports make up less than 0.3% of our goods exports to the world.

    Pharmaceuticals were set aside in last week’s tariff round for later consideration. In that round, Australia was only subject to the 10% general tariff.

    The US pharmaceutical industry hates the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, under which the government purchases drugs, leading to prices for Australians being cheaper than in the US. Both sides of politics say they wouldn’t compromise the PBS.

    Meanwhile, in Washington, Australia’s cause for an exemption from the 10% tariff has found a friend in Democratic Senator Mark Warner.

    In the Senate finance committee on Tuesday (Washington time) Warner quizzed US trade representative Jamieson Greer on why an ally had been badly treated.

    Why did Australia get “whacked”, Warner wanted to know, given the US has a trade surplus with it, and a free trade agreement. Besides, “they are an incredibly important national security partner”.

    Greer was unmoved. “Despite the agreement, they ban our beef, they ban our pork, they’re getting ready to impose measures on our digital companies.”

    So who is Warner, and why is he standing up for us? Bruce Wolpe, senior fellow at the US Studies Centre at the University of Sydney and author of Trump’s Australia, says Warner, a long-time senator with a background in the tech industry, is a “low-key moderate”. He is a member of the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over trade, and the Select Committee on Intelligence. Warner is a supporter of AUKUS.

    “Someone briefed his staff [on the treatment of Australia] and it paid off,” Wolpe speculates. “Someone saw this was a chance the confront the US trade representative about Australia. They did a great job. It was terrific. It was a direct hit.” No one knows whether the hand of Kevin Rudd might have been involved.

    Industry Minister Ed Husic told the ABC: “I reckon I might see if I can get an honorary Order of Australia for senator Warner. Good on him. I like the cut of his jib. It was very defensive of Australia, but we heard the actual administration’s perspective running up the score against us.”

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

    – ref. Election Diary: Chalmers and Taylor quizzed on personal flaws during animated treasurers’ debate – https://theconversation.com/election-diary-chalmers-and-taylor-quizzed-on-personal-flaws-during-animated-treasurers-debate-253734

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Critically ill patients in African hospitals aren’t getting the care they need: new survey

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Tim Baker, Associate Professor, Karolinska Institutet

    When someone falls critically ill, hospitals are expected to provide life-saving care. But in many African countries, intensive care units are rare. Critically ill patients are treated in general hospital wards, and the provision of essential emergency and critical care is limited.

    Critical illness refers to any life-threatening condition where at least one vital organ – such as the heart, lungs, or brain – is failing. It can arise from any underlying condition including infections, injuries, or non-communicable diseases such as heart attacks and strokes, and can affect anyone of any age.

    In high-resourced settings some critically ill patients are treated in intensive care units. They receive continuous monitoring, oxygen support, medication to stabilise their blood pressure, and other life-saving treatments. Until now, most data on critical illness and critical care in Africa has come from small, single-hospital studies. These studies hinted at a serious problem.

    For example, a study in Uganda found that 11.7% of inpatients were critically ill, with a 22.6% chance of dying within a week. However, there was no large-scale research showing how widespread this was across the continent.

    That is why we, a collaboration of clinical researchers across Africa, conducted the African Critical Illness Outcomes Study, providing the first large-scale look at the state of critical illness care across the continent.

    The study builds on a network of clinicians, researchers and policy makers that has been growing for over a decade now, working out how to identify and treat patients who are critically ill.

    The findings, published in The Lancet, are striking. One in eight hospital inpatients in Africa is critically ill, over two-thirds of the critically ill are in general wards, and one in five dies within a week.

    Most of these patients do not receive the essential emergency and critical care such as oxygen and fluids that could save their lives.

    What we found

    The African Critical Illness Outcomes Study investigated 20,000 patients at one point in time in 180 hospitals in 22 countries across Africa. Countries throughout the continent were included, from Tunisia in the north to South Africa in the south, from Ghana in the west to Tanzania in the east.

    Between September and December 2023, all adult inpatients in each hospital were examined on a single day to collect data about their clinical condition and treatments, and then a week later, their in-hospital outcomes.

    The key findings were:

    • 12.5% of hospital inpatients were critically ill

    • 69% of critically ill patients were treated in general hospital wards, not intensive care units

    • more than half of critically ill patients didn’t receive the treatments they needed

    • critically ill patients were eight times more likely to die in hospital than other patients.

    The study also revealed gaps in the most basic life-saving interventions:

    • only 48% of patients with respiratory failure received oxygen therapy

    • just 54% of patients with circulatory failure (such as shock) received fluids or medications to stabilise blood pressure

    • less than half of patients with a dangerously low level of consciousness received airway protection or were placed in the recovery position.

    These findings highlight a clear and urgent problem: many critically ill patients in Africa are not receiving the essential treatments that could keep them alive.

    What can be done?

    The study suggests that thousands of lives could be saved if hospitals had better access to essential emergency and critical care. This is a set of simple, low-cost interventions that can prevent deaths from critical illness.

    The care interventions include:

    • ensuring oxygen is available for patients struggling to breathe

    • providing fluids or medications to stabilise blood pressure

    • training healthcare workers in basic life-support techniques to manage unconscious patients.

    Unlike high-tech intensive care unit treatments, essential emergency and critical care can be given in general wards with minimal resources.

    Strengthening these systems could dramatically reduce preventable deaths from conditions such as pneumonia, sepsis and trauma.

    Urgent action is needed

    This study sheds light on a healthcare crisis affecting millions of people, yet one that has remained largely overlooked.

    Every critically ill patient, no matter where they are treated, should receive the basic life-saving care they need.

    We call for urgent action.

    • Governments in Africa should make essential emergency and critical care a core part of universal health coverage. It should be integrated into policies and health benefit packages.

    • The World Health Organization should embed essential emergency and critical care measures into its resolutions.

    • African health funders should support studies and implementation of essential emergency and critical care.

    • Professional medical societies and institutions should include this care in clinical guidelines and training. Frontline healthcare workers must have the tools they need to save lives.

    The EECC Network, a global community dedicated to sharing knowledge, research and best practices, has been started to help prevent needless deaths.

    * Nick Leech, who works on the promotion of essential emergency and critical care on behalf of EECC Global, contributed to this article.

    Tim Baker declares technical consultancies with UNICEF, the World Bank, USAID, and PATH, has received research funding from Wellcome Trust and the National Institute for Health and Care Research and is a board member at the non-profit organisation EECC Global.

    Karima Khalid is a board member of EECCGlobal

    – ref. Critically ill patients in African hospitals aren’t getting the care they need: new survey – https://theconversation.com/critically-ill-patients-in-african-hospitals-arent-getting-the-care-they-need-new-survey-253355

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How windfalls from commodity price booms come back to bite exporters

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Lotanna Emediegwu, Senior Lecturer in Economics, Manchester Metropolitan University

    Zhengzaishuru/Shutterstock

    When the wholesale prices of essential goods like food or oil suddenly rise, it can cause deep shifts in the economy that upend trade balances and hike inflation rates. This is known as a commodity price boom.

    The outbreak of war in Ukraine in February 2022 spurred European and US sanctions on Russian oil companies which restricted global oil supply. The ensuing shock hiked energy prices in the international market and meant that the price of Brent crude, a global benchmark for oil prices, reached US$122 (£95) a barrel on March 21 that year, its highest level since 2015.

    Price inflation has forced households in importing nations like the UK to pay a premium to fill up cars. It has also raised food prices, as the cost of shipping food to supermarkets and restaurants has increased, as well as utility bills.

    Meanwhile resource-rich exporter nations can make a killing and choose to use the additional revenue to subsidise energy for consumers, issue rebates, or increase funding for public services. Less evident, but no less significant however, are the environmental consequences of these booms.

    A study I published with colleagues showed that democratic nations in oil-rich regions, such as sub-Saharan Africa, are especially prone to increasing pollution when the oil price suddenly soars. This phenomenon stems from the need to ramp up production quickly, to capitalise on fleeting price hikes, which economies with less democratic oversight are able to bypass.

    These (ostensibly) democratic economies appear most attentive to market signals, and in their unbridled rush for quick economic gain, typically raise pollution as they extract and sell more. This is especially true with oil extraction, which produces pollutants linked to cancer.

    We investigated global commodity price booms using the commodity windfall index. This is a collection of prices that market analysts collate to track changes and detect booms as they develop. We measured the effect of price booms on the environment by analysing how air pollution changed in producer countries when the prices of commodities in the index changed.

    The index covers 40 commodities across energy, metals, food and beverages, and agricultural raw materials such as wheat. One is particularly damaging to the environment: oil production.

    The top five oil producers as of 2023 (the most recent year for which data exists) are developed nations: the US (22%), Saudi Arabia (11%), Russia (11%), Canada (6%), and China (5%). As global exporters, all benefit from windfalls caused by oil price spikes.

    Increasing commodity prices justify more intense exploration for new reserves. In the case of oil exploration, this involves seismic surveys, drilling and the use of heavy machinery which consumes lots of fossil energy and releases greenhouse gases like CO₂.

    Oil price surges could make democracies less green

    Among oil-producing and exporting economies, democratic nations are more likely to experience increased pollution during commodity windfalls, compared with autocratic regimes. We characterised democracies by the presence of competitive political participation and regular free and fair elections, among other qualities.

    This is because democratic nations are particularly prone to ramping up resource extraction during price booms. Political pressures drive this tendency, as governments seek to fund popular initiatives or bolster public services before elections. For example, in the US during the 2008 oil price spike, president George W. Bush advocated for increased domestic oil drilling and natural gas extraction with an aim to reduce energy prices and create jobs.

    Autocratic regimes might appear less urgent to exploit commodity windfalls. There are, after all, fewer electoral or public accountability considerations. However, one-party state China’s position as the world’s largest polluter is primarily due to its manufacturing base, not raw material extraction.

    The environmental consequences of commodity booms are a global issue that requires cooperation to solve.

    Developing regions like sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean will struggle to reduce emissions from extractive activities, as much economic growth here depends on it. The US$300 billion (£235 billion) annual climate funding pledge for developing countries, agreed at the most recent UN climate summit in Azerbaijan, is not enough to finance the creation of new industries.

    Advanced economies, which bear historical responsibility for the majority of global emissions, must take the lead in addressing this imbalance. This involves both reducing their emissions and providing substantial financial and technical support to resource-dependent nations. A failure to do so would perpetuate global inequalities, as developing nations are asked to sacrifice economic growth for environmental goals while industrialised countries continue to expand their economies.

    The challenge, then, is not just in managing the financial rewards of commodity booms, but in ensuring they do not come at an unsustainable environmental cost.

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

    – ref. How windfalls from commodity price booms come back to bite exporters – https://theconversation.com/how-windfalls-from-commodity-price-booms-come-back-to-bite-exporters-244878

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Sounds of the Ukraine war: what these recordings of daily life reveal about the human and environmental costs

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Janine Natalya Clark, Professor of Transitional Justice and International Criminal Law, University of Birmingham

    A Kyiv resident describes it as her favourite morning sound. She is referring to the crisp, clear sound of a trumpet coming from a nearby street. The music is beautiful and soulful, played by a military veteran who sits in the same spot every weekend.

    “I am inspired by this strong person who not only plays but also brings a ray of hope to the whole district with his music,” the interviewee reflects.

    Trumpet.
    Ukrainian interviewee, CC BY2.16 MB (download)

    Existing research on war and sound has mainly focused on what J. Martin Daughtry, associate professor of ethnomusicology and sound studies at New York University, terms “the belliphonic” – meaning the spectrum of sounds produced by armed combat. Gunfire. Shellings. Explosions.

    In reality, what people hear and remember as the sounds of war are often far more diverse. When I asked a group of Ukrainians to make recordings of their local soundscapes, they captured a wide range of different sounds including the belliphonic – in particular, the increasingly “normal” sound of air raid sirens.

    Air raid siren.
    Ukrainian interviewee, CC BY784 KB (download)

    Yet they were also much more varied than I had expected – a school run; a walk in a winter forest; stridulating crickets; silence during curfew (typically from midnight to 5am); generators on the street; an end-of-project celebration; a rollerskating club.

    I also asked participants about their recordings, including how they felt when they listened back to them, as well as more general questions such as how their soundscapes had changed due to the war, and what sounds they missed. These recordings are featured in a recently launched online exhibit.

    As I have learnt from my research over the past seven months, sound can offer different – and distinctive – insights into experiences of war. It can elicit thoughts and information that might not arise from conversations and interviews alone.

    I had a particular reason for asking Ukrainians to make these soundscape recordings (more than 40 in total). Ecologists, bio-acousticians (scientists who study the creation, transmission and reception of sound) and others have used sound to analyse and monitor soil biodiversity, the healthiness of coral reefs and the impact of wildfires on birdsong.

    This fascinating area of research, however, remains neglected in war and armed conflict contexts. In particular, studies examining the environmental impacts of war – including the war in Ukraine – have overlooked the relevance of sound in terms of what it might tell us about the impact of conflict.

    In Ukraine, some of the areas that have suffered the greatest environmental damage are not accessible – or at least, not easily. They are saturated with landmines and other unexploded ordnance, occupied by Russian forces, or close to frontline areas.

    Russian air attacks on Kyiv in April 2025.

    My interviewees were not able to record the sounds of burning forests and steppes (grasslands); or of wild animals in Askania-Nova (Ukraine’s oldest nature reserve) fleeing in fear from low-flying enemy aircraft. All of the interviewees, moreover, were based in cities. Their recordings, however, illustrate some of the ways the war in Ukraine is affecting not just humans but the whole environment.

    In one of the recordings, made at night in the city of Zaporizhzhia in south-east Ukraine, there is the sound of explosions as Ukraine’s air-defence system shoots down Shahed drones. Neighbourhood dogs can be heard barking throughout the entire recording.

    Drone attack.
    Ukrainian interviewee, CC BY1.37 MB (download)

    In another recording, in the city of Dnipro in central Ukraine, dogs bark in response to the wailing sound of an air raid siren – and a large dog close-by lets out two prolonged howls.

    Howling dog.
    Ukrainian interviewee, CC BY1.41 MB (download)

    It is impossible to listen to these recordings without thinking about the animals and what they were experiencing and feeling.

    A zoologist shared with me a recording he made in 2013, a year before the start of the war in eastern Ukraine. The audio captures the chirping of a steppe marmot in Luhansk region. As the area is now under occupation, you might wonder when listening to it how the sounds of this steppe have changed as a consequence of the war.

    Attentiveness to sound has wider implications for justice, and in particular for transitional justice (how societies respond to the legacies of massive and serious human rights violations) – my area of research.

    Ukraine is investigating more than 200 cases of environmental war crimes which are alleged to have taken place during the current conflict. Of these, 14 are additionally being investigated as ecocide – a crime included in article 441 of Ukraine’s criminal code. One case relates to the destruction of the Kakhovka dam, in Kherson region, in June 2023.

    These legal developments can significantly contribute to addressing the neglect of nature and the environment in transitional justice – a field that remains strongly focused on humans.

    Sound is also highly relevant in this regard. As the barking dogs illustrate, it can powerfully capture ways that human and animal experiences of war are deeply entangled.

    Using sound as a way of actively monitoring different ecosystems over a period of time can also provide valuable information about changes occurring within them. This is important for understanding how these ecosystems have been harmed and, additionally, how they might be recovering . Oleksii Marushchak, a researcher at the I.I. Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology in Kyiv, said after listening to the recordings:

    It is important to reiterate that the majority of interviewees at the time of participating in the study were far from the frontline, where the horrors of war are much more intense than anything that you will hear in the soundscape recordings. One can only imagine what it must be like for people and animals living in close proximity to frontline areas.

    Sound is relevant not just to criminal investigations but also the issue of environmental reparations. There now exists a Register of Damage for Ukraine, as the first step in creating an international compensation mechanism to deal with multiple damages – including to the environment – caused during the war. It would be a highly innovative, and welcome, development if this future mechanism were to admit soundscape ecology evidence.

    There is also scope for Ukrainian prosecutors to further expand their pioneering work in investigating environmental war crimes and ecocide (which has wider relevance to the work of the International Criminal Court in The Hague) by listening to such recordings – and to the rich information that animals, forests, rivers and soil can help communicate through sound.

    When the war ends, it will be essential to consider all the evidence of its many effects and consequences, and sound recordings could be very important.

    Janine Natalya Clark receives funding from the Leverhulme Trust.

    – ref. Sounds of the Ukraine war: what these recordings of daily life reveal about the human and environmental costs – https://theconversation.com/sounds-of-the-ukraine-war-what-these-recordings-of-daily-life-reveal-about-the-human-and-environmental-costs-253390

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: After 100 years, The Great Gatsby still reminds us of the ability of literature to transform everyday life

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Alice Kelly, Assistant Professor of Literature and History, University of Warwick

    Canva, CC BY

    Last November, I flew to New York to see a play: Gatz, an eight-hour reading of the entire text of The Great Gatsby by the experimental theatre ensemble the Elevator Repair Service.

    As a Fitzgerald enthusiast, I couldn’t miss it. My journey to the US felt like a gesture of such luxurious excess that it seems to belong in the book itself. But I was surprised to find that the production was only in part about the novel. It was simultaneously a commentary on the ability of literature to take us beyond our everyday lives – and the upcoming centenary of The Great Gatsby will be the same.

    With its fantastical, romantic subject matter, luxurious excess and its beloved language – not to mention the nostalgia many feel from studying it in school – The Great Gatsby reminds us of the ability of literature to transform everyday life.

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    Gatz opens with an office worker discovering his computer doesn’t work and idly beginning to read aloud a copy of the novel on his desk. As his coworkers enter the office, they gradually become the characters of Fitzgerald’s novel. A brawny security guard becomes Tom Buchanan, an androgynous postal worker turns into Jordan Baker. The ageing boss becomes Jay Gatsby himself.

    Gradually the first-person narration of the novel turns our unnamed office worker into the novel’s narrator, Nick Carraway. We remain in the harshly lit, dingy, unwelcoming office, which is transformed through inventive staging. The drunken party at Tom and Myrtle’s apartment is seen through office paper being thrown in the air and Gatsby pulls his shirts out of office filing cabinets.

    Towards the end of the play, Nick starts flipping through the pages of the novel, while still reciting the words – his, and our, immersion in the novel is complete.

    The trailer for Gatz.

    The joy of being read to

    I saw the play on the Friday of election week in the US. In that context, the final entrancing passage of the novel had the effect of a secular incantation in a troubled world.

    Carraway imagines the Dutch sailors (or colonisers) who first set sight on the Americas and how “for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent […] face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder”.

    The play is a reminder of the joy of communal reading, an activity lost in our private silos of individualised content. Can the other characters hear Nick as he reads the novel aloud? It is unclear.

    Adults love being read aloud to as much as children, as the increasing popularity of audiobooks demonstrates.

    Reviewers of the original London production of Gatz in 2012 picked up on this, saying “a usually private activity, reading, has been turned into a collective one and it is intensely, surprisingly moving”.

    Or are we meant to think that as the office worker becomes increasingly immersed in the book, the reality around him gradually disappears – as happens when we become lost in the pages of a book?

    Actor Jeff Goldblum describes his enjoyment of reading The Great Gatsby aloud.

    The clock on stage in the office doesn’t change time throughout the play, suggesting that we are outside of time when we read. Some reviewers argued that the play is about the private experience of reading: “What goes on in your head is, in a way, the real subject of Gatz, which is not, strictly speaking, a staged reading of The Great Gatsby … It’s more a dramatisation of the act of reading itself – of what happens when you immerse yourself in a book.”

    Gatsby is a good choice for a play about the transformative role that reading and literature can play in life. It’s a representative text for what literature can do and achieve.

    Gatsby wasn’t always great

    Largely ignored on first publication, the novel didn’t achieve critical or commercial success until being sent by the Council on Books in Wartime to American soldiers serving overseas during the second world war, after Fitzgerald’s death.

    F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1929.
    Wiki Commons

    Fitzgerald himself was torn between knowing he had written a masterpiece to doubting the success of the book. “Gatsby was far from perfect in many ways but all in all it contains such prose as has never been written in America before,” he wrote in a letter to a friend in May 1925. In autumn that year, he wrote to another friend about the novel’s cold reception: “At first, you know, I thought Gatsby must be a terrible failure.”

    The novel now is arguably over-canonised – frequently set on British and American school syllabus, regularly hailed as the “greatest” American novel, with the idolisation of the text at the expense of Fitzgerald’s other work. Don’t get me wrong: I love the book, but I’m not sure even Fitzgerald himself held it in such high esteem as his dedicated readers do.

    As the novel reaches its centenary this month – preceded by its passing out of copyright and into the public domain – the Gatsby industry has gone into overdrive. The enduring fascination with this story has already been seen in numerous film adaptations (the first, now lost, was released in 1926, a year after the novel was published). These have been complemented by biographies of the novel, graphic adaptations, a thriving tourist industry (The Great Gatsby Boat Tour, anyone?) and two new musicals.

    The endless controversies over the novel continue. Who was the inspiration for Gatsby? Is Gatsby black? Is Gatsby’s love for Daisy romantic or delusional? Was Fitzgerald inspired by Great Neck and the contours of the north shore of Long Island for the geography of the novel? Or, in fact, his earlier home in Connecticut, as a recent documentary claims?

    Gatsby has become more than just a novel, but instead a site for what literature can mean, and its endless capacity for interpretation and reinterpretation.

    At the end of Gatz, there’s no return to the office setting of the play’s opening, no final framing narrative, just the lights going down after those final hypnotic words of the novel. Is this ending pure escapism – knowing the audience will shortly leave the space of the theatre and return to their everyday lives? Or does literature ultimately take us out of our mundane, harshly lit everyday existence, into other realms? If any novel can transport us, it’s The Great Gatsby.

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

    – ref. After 100 years, The Great Gatsby still reminds us of the ability of literature to transform everyday life – https://theconversation.com/after-100-years-the-great-gatsby-still-reminds-us-of-the-ability-of-literature-to-transform-everyday-life-253664

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Menstrual blood is being used to research a range of health conditions — from endometriosis to diabetes and cancer

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By April Rees, Lecturer, Biochemistry & Immunology, Swansea University

    Menstrual blood contains immune cells, stems cells and endometrial cells. ADragan/ Shutterstock

    Menstrual blood has historically been overlooked in research – considered only to be a waste product.

    But menstrual blood actually has a rich cellular and molecular makeup. It contains immune cells, stems cells and endometrial cells – as well as metabolites such as proteins and lipids (fat). This makes menstrual blood a potential goldmine for insights into many different health conditions. It can also be a less invasive way for researchers to access important biological material without the need for surgical biopsies or other invasive techniques.

    Given its important composition, researchers are now using menstrual blood to investigate whether it can be used to uncover the causes of a disease, identify signs of a health condition and develop personalised treatments.

    One area where menstrual blood could be integral is research investigating endometriosis. This condition causes endometrial tissue (which normally lines the uterus) to grow outside of the womb and on other organs, such as the bowel and ovaries.

    Research into endometriosis is severely underfunded, despite it affecting 10% of women. It’s also difficult to understand the mechanisms behind the disease without using invasive procedures. As a result, current treatment options – which include surgical lesion removal, hormonal contraceptives and pain relief – fail to address the root cause or associated complications (such as infertility).

    But some researchers have managed to develop organoids using the endometrial cells from menstrual blood. Organoids are miniature, lab-grown 3D models of organs derived from the stem cells found in the blood. These organoids can mimic what happens in the actual endometrium (the innermost lining of the uterus). This gives researchers a non-invasive way to investigate the health status of the endometrium.

    By developing organoids from the menstrual blood of those suffering with endometriosis, researchers are able to model the disease in the lab. This may one day lead the way to better understanding the underlying mechanisms of the condition.

    Endometriosis is also considered to be an inflammatory condition. This is because there’s an over-activation of the immune system seen in people with endometriosis, which worsens symptoms. As such, an area of high interest for research into endometriosis is the study of the immune system.



    Read more:
    Endometriosis: how the condition may be linked to the immune system

    Menstrual blood contains live immune cells which have come from the reproductive tract. These immune cells offer insight into the inflammation that’s occurring in the womb. This may help researchers better understand and develop treatments for painful sex, a common symptom for people with endometriosis which is linked to inflammation.

    While the presence of endometrial cells makes it an ideal tool for studying endometriosis, menstrual blood is also being used to offer insights into other reproductive diseases. For example, it has unveiled immune differences in patients with recurrent pregnancy loss that was not previously detectable using blood from the vein.

    Stem cell research

    Menstrual blood also contains stem cells, which makes it an important resource for research into a variety of other health conditions – including those involved in critical processes such as cardiovascular function, respiration and nervous system function.

    Menstrual blood is even being used to monitor blood sugar levels.
    Pixel-Shot/ Shutterstock

    Stem cells are defined by their naive status and ability to become a new, specialised type of cell under the right conditions. Adult stem cells are usually taken from umbilical cord blood, amniotic fluid, bone marrow or fat tissue. However, it requires invasive techniques to extract a stem cell sample from these areas – and only small amounts can be acquired.

    But menstrual blood, a fluid which is typically produced monthly, has been found to contain stem cells that are also capable of differentiating into various other cell types. This is particularly exciting as menstrual blood is readily available, naturally regenerates and collecting it does not require any surgical procedures or discomfort. This makes it a convenient and ethical option for stem cell research and potential therapies.

    Aside from using these menstrual blood-derived stem cells to investigate reproductive diseases such as endometriosis, there are also several studies looking at using these cells in other applications. For example, researchers have used them to investigate techniques for promoting wound healing and improving blood sugar levels in diabetes patients.

    On the topic of diabetes, menstrual blood is also being used for a proof-of-concept study to monitor glycaemic control. This offers alternatives to traditional blood tests – such as the Q pad, a pad which contains a removable collection strip for blood testing.

    Other diseases which are showing promising results in being diagnosed through menstrual blood include cervical cancer, chlamydia and diseases associated with lipid levels – such as atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease.

    The new normal?

    Menstrual blood is gaining traction in research due to its novelty and because it’s a less invasive way to collect different cells and molecules for testing. It’s easily accessible as a monthly “waste” product, and allows women to collect samples themselves. This could bypass the need for doctors and nurses and the inconvenience of appointments if it becomes a more reliable diagnostic tool.



    Read more:
    ‘Dirty red’: how periods have been stigmatised through history to the modern day

    But despite its promise, there are practical challenges that researchers face. Discussion around menstrual blood is still sometimes seen as taboo. Some women may not feel comfortable handling their own blood.

    There are also inconsistencies with how menstrual blood is collected between studies. For example, studies which only required a smaller volume of menstrual blood have been able to make use of sanitary pads and tampons to collect samples. However, those which require a larger sample used menstrual cups. The first issue with this is that the products used have different compositions, which can interfere with the reliability of the results. Another issue lies predominantly with menstrual cups and the lack of knowledge surrounding their proper use.

    As such, addressing stigma and promoting awareness around menstrual blood research is vital. While it has historically been overlooked, menstrual blood must now be recognised as a powerful, non-invasive tool in advancing research.

    April Rees receives funding from Royal Society.

    – ref. Menstrual blood is being used to research a range of health conditions — from endometriosis to diabetes and cancer – https://theconversation.com/menstrual-blood-is-being-used-to-research-a-range-of-health-conditions-from-endometriosis-to-diabetes-and-cancer-253384

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Donald Trump’s policies are more than dumb — they’re stupid, according to stupidity researchers

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Jerry Paul Sheppard, Associate Professor of Business Administration, Simon Fraser University

    Before he stepped down as Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau called Donald Trump’s tariff policies “very dumb.” This might be an accurate description of many Trump administration policies — but the more objectively correct word is “stupid.”

    In fact, Québec’s largest newspaper, Le Journal de Montréal, published a front-page photo of Trump in early February with the word “stupid” in 350-point type. Some may call this an opinion, but the science of stupidity tells us that it’s more of a definition.

    Recent research has produced a succinct label for the poorly calculated actions of decision-makers: stupidity.

    This is not simple name-calling, but a phenomenon that comprises loss and features a set of actions that are either outright recognizably dysfunctional, or appear so at odds with any sensible course of action that it seems a hidden agenda could be involved.

    Stupidity that causes everyone to lose

    According to the seminal and transactional view of human stupidity by Carlo Cipolla, the late Italian economic historian, interactions fall into four categories:

    1. Intelligent interactions that are beneficial to all – a positive-sum game like Scottish philosopher Adam Smith’s notion of wealth through specialization and trade;

    2. Helpless interactions that result in a loss in a zero-sum game;

    3. Bandit interactions that result in a gain in zero-sum game;

    4. Stupid interactions that cause all parties to suffer a loss.

    Free trade is based on an intelligent positive-sum interaction. Trump’s transactional zero-sum view is that for every winner there is a loser.

    He apparently doesn’t understand that tariffs are only successful if other countries don’t retaliate. But other countries do retaliate, and as the world is now witnessing, the resulting trade war can decimate the global economy.

    Trump’s protectionist measures aimed at boosting the U.S. economy can therefore be considered “stupid” interactions that deepen and lengthen economic depression.

    Stupidity as recognizable actions

    Modern-day researchers have also identified three recognizable sets of actions embodying stupidity:

    Confident ignorance that involves people taking risks without having the necessary skills to deal with them. It’s not just being ignorant of one’s ignorance — explained by the Dunning-Kruger effect — but being self-assured despite contrary evidence.

    Trump may know what he does not know, so he delegated many tasks to Tesla founder Elon Musk and trade tariff architect Pete Navarro, both of whom seem to possess no such awareness.

    Absent-minded failure means people knew the right thing to do but were not paying sufficient attention to avoid doing something stupid. Organizations create agendas, but if issues don’t reach a point where they seriously impact the organization’s objectives, they are ignored.

    An example is the recent U.S. strikes against Yemeni Houthis. U.S. officials ignored critical security components by sharing information about their plans over unsecure connections and with a member of the media.



    Read more:
    ‘Signalgate’ was damaging to the Trump administration. It could be deadly for Yemeni civilians

    Lack of control means that autocratic decision-makers compromise their organizations by failing to accept objections from those charged with implementing the leader’s preconceived plans.

    Such autocratic decision-makers may select biased information to support their proposals. Those working under these leaders either buy into efforts to selectively use information, limit alternatives and execute these preconceived plans or they leave the organization (either voluntarily or not).

    In the U.S., witness the firing of Justice Department pardon attorney Elizabeth Oyer. She failed to support restoring gun rights to actor Mel Gibson, who had been convicted of domestic violence in 2011. Gibson’s pardon was reportedly based on his personal relationship with the president.

    Types of stupidity

    Organizational researchers have used the term functional stupidity to describe those who refuse to use their intellectual capacities when making decisions and then avoid justification for their actions. This allows group members to quickly execute routine functions without much thought.

    Dysfunctional stupidity is a lack of organizationally supported reflection, reasoning and justification. Organizations fail to use intellectual resources to process knowledge or question norms or claims of knowledge when confronted with new or non-routine decisions. By blocking communications, muffling criticism and squelching doubts, organizations ensure adherence to superiors’ edicts.

    One Trump administration example is the unquestioning permission given to allow the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by Musk, to access to a wide array of government data.

    It can take the combined efforts of organizational officials on multiple levels to maintain stupidity.

    Individually, stupidity is reinforced by ignoring crucial information because of a need for a rapid response.

    Consequently, quick decisions and shortcuts made by individuals result in negative outcomes. An example would be the Trump administration’s apparent need to appear to find cost savings quickly to allow for tax cuts, overriding a more logical approach to find ways to achieve those savings without gutting legally mandated services.

    Organizationally, stupidity is reinforced because organizations limit acceptable alternative behaviours when they cannot process all available information. Data is restricted, controls are tightened and organization officials fall back to using previously well-learned responses in their comfort zones. Inexperienced decision-makers fall back on uninformed assumptions, or no assumptions at all.

    Witness Trump’s “reciprocal” trade tariffs currently decimating financial markets worldwide. No tariffs were calculated using current tariff rates, while others were based on American trade deficits with other countries. Other tariffs seem to be based on no rationale at all.



    Read more:
    No, that’s not what a trade deficit means – and that’s not how you calculate other nations’ tariffs

    Stupidity as a hidden agenda?

    Some actions that appear stupid may simply hide a hidden agenda. When the Trump administration erroneously detains and deports anyone under the Alien Enemies Act, is it an accident or a way to instil fear in everyone that authorities can detain, mistreat and deport them without due process at any point?

    Many of the actions being taken by the Trump administration appear stupid.
    Tariffs, for example, represent a loss — a transactionally negative sum game.

    Trump’s decisions exhibit confident ignorance, absent-minded failure and lack of control. They also show dysfunctional stupidity as Trump officials seemingly refuse to use their full intellectual resources. Stupidity is also being reinforced through unfounded assumptions. Is this all hiding a secret agenda?

    “You can’t fix stupid,” so the saying goes. But having capable administrators in place while other branches of government exercise their constitutionally mandated oversight role might dampen some of the Trump administration’s stupidity.

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

    – ref. Donald Trump’s policies are more than dumb — they’re stupid, according to stupidity researchers – https://theconversation.com/donald-trumps-policies-are-more-than-dumb-theyre-stupid-according-to-stupidity-researchers-253009

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: The ‘morning shed’: a brief history of the sometimes dangerous lengths women have gone to look beautiful

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Louise N Hanson, PhD in Social and Developmental psychology, Durham University

    An advert for the tape worm pills.

    In TikTok’s latest viral beauty trend “the morning shed,” beauty influencers “shed” hair and skin products that have been worn overnight. These include hair styling items, skin masks and creams, and physical products such as chin straps and mouth tape, which are intended to help with breathing through the night and keep away the drooping of the jaw that happens with age.

    While this trend has come under fire for alleged unsustainability and over-consumerism, it is only the latest beauty fad in a long line of time and money consuming “hacks” that women have been undertaking for centuries. From tapeworms to tuberculosis, women have taken part in a laundry list of beauty hacks in order to meet appearance ideals, many of which have been dangerous, painful and even deadly.

    As far back as the ancient Egyptians, women ground up toxic substances to make eyeliner and eye shadow. These were dangerous when inhaled as a powder (such as during the grinding process) and could cause irritation of the skin when applied. And yet somehow, heavy metal poisoning is among the least dangerous of these historic beauty trends.

    Ready to make a change? The Quarter Life Glow-up is a new, six-week newsletter course from The Conversation’s UK and Canada editions. Every week, we’ll bring you research-backed advice and tools to help improve your relationships, your career, your free time and your mental health – no supplements or skincare required. Sign up here to start your glow-up at any time.

    In China, foot binding is an example of a painful and life altering treatment first recorded around the 10th century. The feet were usually bound before the arch of the foot had developed (aged four to nine).

    The process involved forcefully curling the toes towards the sole of the foot until the arch broke then the foot would be tightly bandaged to keep it in this position. Small feel were coveted at the time. Thankfully, this practice was banned in the early 1900s after almost 200 years of opposition from both Chinese and western sources.

    A Chinese woman with bound feet.
    Wikimedia, CC BY-SA

    In Europe, the Renaissance period saw a new wave of beauty hacks, from arsenic baths (which bleach the skin to a near translucent white) to Belladonna drops (literal poison) used on the eyes to induce an aroused or watery-eyed look. Many women who used these tactics ended up poisoned or blind.

    During the reign of Elizabeth I, the “English rose” look was all the rage. Women would blood let for a perfectly pale pallor, or paint their faces with “Venetian ceruse” or “Venetian white” – otherwise known as lead paint. The use of Venetian ceruse is one of the suspected causes of death of Elizabeth I.

    In the Victorian era and early 1900s, women often engaged in dangerous practices to achieve the coveted pale skin, red lip and small waist that was the height of fashion. This aesthetic could be achieved by contracting tuberculosis (a lung infection that was often fatal), taking tapeworm pills, consuming mercury to look forever young, or chewing arsenic wafers to make skin pale.

    My own research has shown that sociocultural pressures to look a certain way are experienced differently across the world. I found that white western women experience some of the highest appearance pressures, followed by east Asian women. Although these decline a little with age for white western women, they persist in Asian women and never reach the lower levels seen elsewhere. I found the lowest levels of sociocultural pressure and the highest levels of body appreciation in Nigeria.

    As the “morning shed” proves, women still go to great lengths to meet culturally shaped standards, particularly under conditions of higher economic inequality – something that is getting worse in many countries. For example, in the United States, cities which have higher economic inequality see higher spend on beauty products and services, such as beauty salons or women’s clothing.

    With the advent of social media, especially short-form content like TikTok, Reels and YouTube Shorts, the speed at which beauty trends rise and fall has been expedited and globalised. These trends range from the painful lip suction women undertook to get big lips like the celebrity Kylie Jenner, to the normalisation of botox and fillers, to laser hair removal of every unwanted follicle.

    The “morning shed” is just the latest evolution in skin care trends, which started as health-focused, with an emphasis on sun protection and moisturisation. It has since morphed into a study in over-consumption and over-commitment of time and money in the pursuit of staying ever youthful.

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

    – ref. The ‘morning shed’: a brief history of the sometimes dangerous lengths women have gone to look beautiful – https://theconversation.com/the-morning-shed-a-brief-history-of-the-sometimes-dangerous-lengths-women-have-gone-to-look-beautiful-253921

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-Evening Report: The Coalition’s domestic gas plan would lower prices – just not very much

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samantha Hepburn, Professor, Deakin Law School, Deakin University

    A LNG carrier departs Gladstone. Ivan Kuzkin/Shutterstock

    It surprised many Australians when the Coalition announced a plan straight from the progressive side of politics: force large gas companies to reserve gas for domestic use – at a lower cost than they could sell it for overseas.

    As a populist move during a cost-of-living election, it’s a good one. Australia’s gas producers sell 70% of gas extracted on the east coast overseas under long-term contracts, even as southeastern states such as Victoria face possible gas shortages. Western Australia has long had an effective policy requiring up to 15% of offshore gas to be reserved for domestic use.

    After a fortnight’s delay, the Coalition has now publicly released the modelling behind its policy. Undertaken by Frontier Economics, the modelling indicates that reserving 50 to 100 petajoules of gas in the first year would cut wholesale prices by 23%. This would mean a 15% drop in prices for large-scale users – but only a 7% fall for household gas bills and a 3% fall in electricity bills.

    This doesn’t sound like much, because it isn’t. Gas prices soared during the Ukraine war and haven’t yet returned to their pre-war levels. Labor has dubbed the plan “gaslighting”, and will rely instead on a gas policy released last year to open up more gasfields and build import terminals. Gas producers don’t like the Coalition’s plan, and neither does billionaire Liberal benefactor Gina Rinehart. Dutton’s plan isn’t crazy – it’s just not likely to make a big difference.

    Most of Queensland’s gas is exported at present.
    Chris Andrews Fern Bay/Shutterstock

    How would this gas reservation policy work?

    The Coalition has proposed what it calls an East Coast Reservation Scheme, with the goal of progressively decoupling Australia’s east coast gas market from the volatile international market.

    It has two parts. First, it would require new exporters, in the first year of operation, to reserve an additional 50–100 petajoules for the domestic market. Second, it would create a gas security charge, to be imposed on gas producers seeking to export “additional” (non-contracted) gas on the international market.

    This would give gas producers an incentive to sell non-contracted gas to the domestic market, because they would get greater profits selling in Australia, even at a lower base price.

    Further, the policy would prevent gas producers from charging domestic buyers international prices, setting a competitive price.

    In effect, the gas security charge is akin to a levy or a reverse tariff. The levy can be avoided if producers supply up to 100 petajoules to domestic markets. That’s about as much gas as New South Wales’ gas pipelines deliver each year – 101 petajoules (PJ) as of 2022–23, or the equivalent of 26 full liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, which hold about 3.8 PJ on average.

    What are the issues with this plan?

    There are legitimate concerns. First, the policy does not directly address domestic gas pricing and won’t help with the cost of living crisis. Over time, it could create a more competitive domestic market, but the fact producers could make marginally more money selling gas on the domestic market doesn’t guarantee change.

    Second, the policy does not directly address the looming gas supply crisis. That’s because existing gas producers would not be legally obliged to commit to more gas domestically – they could still export it. The obligation to commit an additional 50-100 petajoules to the domestic market only applies to gas exporters in their first year of operation.

    If policymakers want to solve the supply crisis, they would be better served by imposing direct export controls in the form of a clear gas reservation mandate. This works, as Western Australia’s long experience shows.

    How did we get here?

    When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, it led to huge spikes in global gas prices and shortages in Europe as the world moved away from Russian gas.

    In the 2010s, Australia had already been ramping up gas production. But in the wake of the Ukraine war, Australia became a major gas exporter. Producers traded as much gas as possible on the international market, selling it for over A$40/GJ. Meanwhile, Australia’s coal production was falling.

    Domestic gas demand shot up, and prices went from $8 to $30 a gigajoule. In response, the Albanese government introduced an emergency price cap for the wholesale gas market, prohibiting producers from entering into supply contracts with domestic purchasers for prices above a cap, currently set at $12/GJ. While the cap did partly insulate domestic consumers, it was always intended as a temporary measure.

    The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission recently predicted a gas supply shortfall of up to 40 petajoules in the southern states as early as September due to declining production in Victoria and South Australia as well as higher demand. Without access to uncontracted Queensland gas, supply will run very low. This is a significant energy security risk, and one the Coalition’s gas policy doesn’t directly address.

    Victorian residents are more reliant on gas than other states – and shortfalls are looming.
    M-Production/Shutterstock

    What’s next?

    Australia is one of the world’s top three LNG exporters. The fact a gas giant could be facing domestic shortages is both unnecessary and embarrassing. Reaching this point represents decades of policy failure.

    Reserving gas for domestic use works for the west coast, and it would work for the east. But the Coalition’s plan is not quite a gas reservation scheme. It doesn’t create a comprehensive reservation mandate and questions remain about its capacity to address domestic pricing and supply.

    At present, it seems like a lot of effort without great benefit. Will households really notice their gas bill is 7% cheaper?

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

    – ref. The Coalition’s domestic gas plan would lower prices – just not very much – https://theconversation.com/the-coalitions-domestic-gas-plan-would-lower-prices-just-not-very-much-254194

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Child sexual exploitation and abuse is a multibillion-dollar industry – new report shows who benefits

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Deborah Fry, Professor of International Child Protection Research and Director of Data at the Childlight Global Child Safety Institute, University of Edinburgh

    271 EAK MOTO/Shutterstock

    The sexual exploitation and abuse of children has become a multibillion-dollar global trade. The chilling reality of this profit-driven, highly lucrative industry is laid bare by new findings from myself and colleagues at the University of Edinburgh’s Childlight Global Child Safety Institute.

    Our new report shows child abuse isn’t just a crime restricted to a hidden corner of the dark web. Based on a review of 20 publications across multiple disciplines (including big data reports, systematic reviews, discussion papers and qualitative studies), the report paints a picture of the financial mechanisms enabling abuse on a global scale.

    Our previous work estimated that 3.5% of children globally had experienced sexual extortion in the last year. This is when children and their families face threats to share sexual content of a child if they do not comply with monetary demands.

    Offenders aren’t the only ones who profit. Financial institutions, tech companies and online payment platforms — sometimes unknowingly, sometimes by omission — facilitate the flow of profits made from the abuse of children. Some of the money moves through legitimate payment systems and advertising revenue streams. Other financial flows are deliberately obscured through cryptocurrencies and the dark web.

    Many organisations do take proactive steps to detect and report this activity. Inhope, a global network of hotlines, works with law enforcement and tech companies to remove child sexual abuse material and disrupt the associated financial streams. And the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US receives and acts on reports from tech companies of child sexual abuse material, alerting companies and authorities to suspicious financial activity.

    But these systems remain inadequately checked or challenged by financial regulators and laws.

    Sexual extortion has also spawned the creation of companies that provide cybersecurity and reputation management services to victims to combat the extorters. Fees are often paid upfront and can amount to thousands of dollars. In effect, this forces victims to pay for a solution to the crime committed against them.

    An estimated 3.5% of children globally had experienced sexual extortion in the last year.
    Andrew Angelov/Shutterstock

    There is also a market for the sale of child sexual abuse material, both recorded and livestreamed, delivering profit for the offender and the systems they use. One video file of on-demand child sexual abuse can cost US$1,200 (£940). With the estimated prevalence of technology-facilitated abuse experienced by 300 million children annually, this is a massive industry.

    The scale of profit is staggering, in contrast with the price some perpetrators pay to sexually abuse children. One particularly haunting finding is abusers paying as little as 27 pence (UK) to offend against children.

    Taken together, the industry is estimated to reach multiple billions of dollars annually.

    While the financial value placed on a child may be measured in pennies, the lifelong cost to that child in trauma, health and opportunity is incalculable. It is a grotesque marketplace where takings are vast and suffering is immeasurable.

    Changing markets

    Our findings also expose how perpetrators themselves are rapidly changing their approach, constantly exploiting gaps in legislation and regulatory frameworks to continue harming children.

    For example, we find in the Philippines, a livestreaming hotspot, that technology is enabling large organised crime syndicates to be replaced by smaller, covert groups. Often operating within families, these perpetrators have profited as crime shifts online, facilitated by cryptocurrency and digital payment systems.

    The proliferation and growing sophistication of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has also opened troubling new frontiers. Child abusers can now produce realistic AI-generated child sexual abuse material, using the photos of real children in order to extort. This can make detection harder and muddy the water in terms of legal accountability. Many jurisdictions are still playing catch-up.



    Read more:
    Our research on dark web forums reveals the growing threat of AI-generated child abuse images

    Stopping the flow of money and abuse

    The world’s financial and tech infrastructure — knowingly or unknowingly — has become complicit in sustaining these crimes. In some cases, advertising revenue generated from abusive content on mainstream platforms flows back into criminal networks with little-to-no intervention. Cryptocurrencies allow for rapid and anonymous transfers of payment between perpetrators and content creators.

    There is no one-size-fits-all approach to preventing child sexual exploitation, and the changing nature of the market and technology makes it even harder.

    One promising measure is the use of blocklists — lists of known child sexual abuse material that, once identified, can be blocked across major internet service providers. These lists compiled and shared by organisations including Internet Watch Foundation are proving invaluable in stopping people from accessing abuse material.

    However, even here, our findings are disturbing. On average, there are five attempts per second globally to access material that has already been placed on these blocklists.

    We need to start addressing child sexual exploitation and abuse as a public health emergency, with a coordinated response to halt its growth. This requires not just reactive law enforcement measures, but proactive prevention strategies that tackle the financial and technological ecosystems that sustain the abuse. For example, imposing regulation and sanctions on financial institutions that do not take appropriate steps to prevent their services being exploited.

    Deborah Fry receives funding from Human Dignity Foundation and UK Research and Innovation.

    – ref. Child sexual exploitation and abuse is a multibillion-dollar industry – new report shows who benefits – https://theconversation.com/child-sexual-exploitation-and-abuse-is-a-multibillion-dollar-industry-new-report-shows-who-benefits-252431

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Can you spot a financial fake? How AI is raising our risks of billing fraud

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Grosse, Director of the Master of Business Analytics, Senior Lecturer, Accounting, University of Technology Sydney

    Along with the many benefits of artificial intelligence – from providing real time navigation to early disease detection – the explosion in its use has increased opportunities for fraud and deception.

    Large and small businesses and even the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) may be hit with fraudulent reimbursement claims, which are almost impossible to distinguish from legitimate receipts and invoices.

    Individuals also need to be wary.

    Look at the photos of the receipts shown below. One documents a genuine transaction. The other was created using ChatGPT. Can you spot the fake?

    Now have a look at this one.

    You possibly couldn’t – and that’s exactly the point. Systems which can reproduce near perfect counterfeits of legitimate financial documents are increasingly prevalent and sophisticated.

    Last week, OpenAI released an improved image generation model which can create images with photorealistic outputs including text.

    Why should we care?

    Fraud involving fake financial documents is a massive global issue. The international Association of Certified Fraud Examiners estimate organisations lose approximately 5% of revenue to fraud each year.

    In its 2024 report, the association documents losses exceeding US$3.1 billion across 1,921 cases. Billing and expense fraud constitute 35% of asset misappropriation cases, with firms reporting median losses of US$150,000 per incident.

    Most concerning, fraudsters primarily conceal these crimes by creating fake documents or altering files, exactly what AI now simplifies.

    Fake documents enable fraud in various ways. An employee might create a fictitious receipt for a business lunch that never happened, or a contractor might fabricate receipts for expenses never incurred. In each case, the fraudster uses counterfeit documentation to extract money they’re not entitled to.

    This problem is likely more widespread than recognised. A 2024 survey revealed 24% of employees admitted to expense fraud, with another 15% considering it.

    Even more concerning, 42% of UK public sector decision makers confessed to submitting fraudulent claims.

    AI removes barriers to deception

    Understanding how AI technology may lead to a surge in potential fraud requires examining the classic “fraud triangle”. This explains that fraud requires three elements: incentives, rationalisation and opportunity.

    Historically, technical barriers limited the ability to create fake documentation even when motivation existed.

    AI eliminates these barriers by making fake documentation easy to create. Research confirms when opportunity expands, fraud increases.

    When fake claims become everyone’s problem

    When fake receipts support tax deductions, we all pay.

    Consider a marketing consultant earning $120,000, who uses an AI image generator to create several convincing receipts for non-existent expenses totalling $4,000. At their marginal tax rate of 30%, this fraud saves them about $1,200 in taxes – if they are not caught.

    The Australian Taxation Office estimates a $2.7 billion annual annual gap from incorrectly over-claimed deductions by small businesses. With digital forgery becoming more accessible, this gap could widen significantly.

    Fake receipts and invoices

    Consumers are also becoming increasingly vulnerable to scammers using AI-generated receipts and invoices.

    Imagine receiving what looks like an official invoice from your energy provider. The only difference? The payment details direct funds to a scammer’s account.

    This is already occurring. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission reported more than $3.1 billion lost to scams in 2023, with payment redirection fraud growing rapidly.

    As AI tools make creating and editing convincing business documentation easier, these scam numbers have the potential to increase.

    The growing threat

    This vulnerability for both businesses and consumers is amplified by our increasing reliance on digital documentation.

    Today, many businesses issue receipts in digital formats. Expense management systems typically require employees to submit photos or scans of receipts. Tax authorities also accept electronically stored documentation.

    With paper receipts becoming increasingly rare and paper’s physical security features gone, digital forgeries become nearly impossible to spot through visual inspection alone.

    Is digital authentication the answer?

    One potential countermeasure is the Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) standard. The C2PA standard embeds AI generated images with verifiable information about file origin.

    However, a major weakness remains, as users can remove metadata by taking a screenshot of an image. For businesses and tax authorities, digital authentication standards are just part of the answer to sophisticated digital forgery. Yet reverting to paper documentation isn’t feasible in our digital era.

    Seeing is no longer believing

    AI’s ability to create realistic fake financial documents fundamentally changes our approach to expense verification and financial security.

    The traditional visual inspection of receipts and invoices is rapidly becoming obsolete.

    Businesses, tax authorities and individuals need to adapt quickly by implementing verification systems that go beyond simply looking at documentation.

    This might include transaction matching with bank records, and automated anomaly detection systems that flag unusual spending patterns. Perhaps the use of blockchain technology will expand to help verify transactions.

    The gap between what AI can create and what our systems can reliably verify continues to widen. So how do we maintain trust in financial transactions in a world where seeing is no longer believing?

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

    – ref. Can you spot a financial fake? How AI is raising our risks of billing fraud – https://theconversation.com/can-you-spot-a-financial-fake-how-ai-is-raising-our-risks-of-billing-fraud-253912

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Running for parliament is still a man’s world, with fewer female candidates – especially in winnable seats

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Stephenson, Deputy Director, Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, Australian National University

    Despite progress towards gender equality in Australian elections, women remain underrepresented among candidates vying for office on May 3. They are also overrepresented in “glass cliff” seats, which are the ones that are difficult to win and precarious to hold.

    The Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at the Australian National University has analysed 591 candidates in the election by gender, political party, and the seats they are contesting.

    Our report published today finds that while the major parties are increasing the number of women they pre-select, they are more likely to be running in harder-to-win seats.

    From the glass ceiling to the glass cliff

    Women are inching towards gender parity and now make up 45% of candidates across all parties and independents.

    Labor has made the strongest gains. More than half (56%) of its candidates are women, a jump of about 10 percentage points on the previous election. By comparison, only 32% of Coalition candidates are female, an increase of just 3% on the 2022 poll.

    Coalition women are not only outnumbered two to one by male candidates – 84% of them are running in risky glass cliff seats.

    Contesting from opposition necessarily means Coalition candidates are coming from a more challenging starting point. Indeed, by comparison, 50% of female Labor candidates are running in safe seats, compared to 57% of their male collegaues.

    Nonetheless, Labor women are also more likely to be running in unsafe seats than Labor men. This persistent glass cliff across both major parties continues to disadvantage women in politics.

    A woman’s place in the current parliament

    Women make up approximately 39% of the current House of Representatives. Labor is closest to parity, with women accounting for 47% of the caucus.

    By comparison, the Coalition continues to languish with four times the number of male MPs: 80% men to 20% women.

    And there are stark differences in gender balance across states and territories, with Queensland and South Australia lagging the furthest behind. Queensland fares the worst, with nearly five times as many men than women representing the state in federal parliament (83% men to 17% women).

    This reflects a strong gender imbalance across both major parties. Our report shows that in Queensland, 80% of Labor and 86% of Coalition MPs are men.

    Western Australia and the Northern Territory are the only two states or territories to have equal or more women MPs elected in the 2022 federal election – at 53% and 50%, respectively.

    Diversity and the 2025 election

    According to our analysis, 21% of the nearly 600 declared candidates self-identified as diverse. This includes:

    • culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) people
    • people from First Nations backgrounds
    • people with disabilities
    • people belonging to the LGBTIQ+ community.
    How well do the candidates in the federal election represent Australia’s diverse community?

    Diversity is fairly evenly spread across the parties, at around 26% of Labor’s candidates, 24% of the Coalition’s and 30% of the Greens’.

    Men are much more likely to self-identify as “diverse” than women at this election. This could reflect the unique barriers faced by minoritised women. For example, women of colour, First Nations women and women with disability can be discouraged or find it harder to seek public office.

    Our findings reflect the added challenges diverse women and non-binary people face, particularly when in the public eye.

    For instance, our research on the 2022 election found that while LGBTIQ+ politicians faced similar rates of online harassment during the campaign, they were more targeted by personal vitriol throughout. They suffered nasty, queer-specific slurs, transphobic messages and ableist language – commentary that had nothing to do with their policies or politics.

    Are we making progress?

    Yes, progress is being made with more women running for election. That is particularly true of the Labor Party and the Greens, where 56% and 50% of candidates are women respectively. Plus some who are beyond the gender binary.

    And the fact that 80% of “teal” candidates are female is a noted characteristic of the community independents movement.

    However, achieving true gender and diversity parity in politics requires more than increasing candidate numbers. It demands a fundamental shift in how, and where, women and diverse candidates are positioned to compete.

    This is a message for political parties to take seriously going into future elections. Are parties always putting the same people up for the same seats?

    Without addressing these systemic barriers, representation in parliament will continue to fall short of reflecting the electorate’s true and growing diversity.

    Elise Stephenson receives funding from the Australian Government and Australian Research Council. She is affiliated with Women in International Security Australia. The Global Institute for Women’s Leadership is a non-partisan research institute at the ANU.

    – ref. Running for parliament is still a man’s world, with fewer female candidates – especially in winnable seats – https://theconversation.com/running-for-parliament-is-still-a-mans-world-with-fewer-female-candidates-especially-in-winnable-seats-254187

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Adam Bandt says the Greens can deliver ‘real change’ – but the party should choose its battles more wisely

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Crowley, Adjunct Associate Professor, Public and Environmental Policy, University of Tasmania

    Federal Greens leader Adam Bandt says the federal election offers “an opportunity for real change”, saying his party would use the balance of power in the next parliament to help deliver serious policy reforms.

    In a speech to the National Press Club on Wednesday, Bandt outlined the party’s election priorities and said the poll represents:

    A once-in-a-generation chance to create a country where everyone has a right to the basics – food, health, and a home. A safe climate and a healthy environment. An economy which puts people before the profits of the obscenely wealthy and the excessively profitable.

    The Greens broke new ground at the last federal election, snatching three new lower house seats and winning the balance of power in the Senate. The gains suggested the Greens were moving beyond their roots as a party of protest, and becoming a true policy force.

    But the Greens broadly failed to make the most of its greater political presence this term. In the next parliament, it should focus on building political capital and picking its battles more wisely.

    Meagre parliamentary success this term

    As a traditional party of protest, the Greens have historically tended to stick firmly to the party’s policy agenda rather than make major concessions to the government of the day.

    However, as the new Labor government focused on delivering its mostly modest reform agenda this term, the Greens party was forced to negotiate on its demands, much as the Teals have done.

    The Greens helped Labor pass its signature climate change policy, the safeguard mechanism, which seeks to limit emissions from Australia’s most polluting companies. In return, Labor agreed to the Greens’ call for a hard cap on emissions under the scheme. But it refused to bow to Greens demands for a ban on new gas and coal projects, and limiting the use of carbon credits.

    The Greens were then tested by Labor’s housing agenda – specifically, two schemes to make buying or renting a home more affordable.

    The Greens’ initially teamed up with the Coalition to block the laws, arguing they would drive up housing prices and give tax breaks to property developers. The party’s opposition was at odds with public opinion, including most Greens voters.

    The party eventually waved the housing bills through in November last year without winning any concessions from Labor, and after burning much political capital.

    The chastened Greens helped pass a flurry of other legislation late in 2024, including Reserve Bank governance reforms and a supermarket code of conduct. In return, Labor offered Greens fairly piecemeal concessions, including more money for social housing electrification and a ban on fossil fuel subsidies under the Future Made in Australia scheme.

    The Greens also offered to help salvage Labor’s troubled proposal to reform Australia’s environmental protection laws. It shelved its calls for a “climate trigger” – which would force regulators to consider the potential climate damage of a proposal before it was approved. Instead, the Greens insisted only on stronger protections for native forests.

    However, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese intervened at the eleventh hour to scuttle the deal.

    All this suggests the Greens party is yet to strike the right balance between pursuing its own policy agenda and supporting Labor to the extent that a healthy working relationship is achieved. So far, it has gained only meagre concessions, and its policy grandstanding has not worked.

    Flare-ups outside parliament

    Scoring political points outside parliament can be easier for the Greens than influencing policy within it.

    Environmental conflict has always fuelled the Greens’ vote, and the party continues to campaign on issues such as protecting Tasmania’s native forests, opposing salmon farming and calling for a ban on new coal and gas projects.

    But outside parliament this term, the Greens have faced controversies that may hurt them at the ballot box.

    Greens senator Lidia Thorpe quit the party over its support for the Voice referendum, and Bandt copped criticism for allegedly failing to confront bullying claims against West Australian Greens senator Dorinda Cox.

    The Gaza conflict triggered significant ruptures between the Greens and the pro-Israel movement. There were also reports that a new Muslim political movement may siphon votes from the Greens and hurt them electorally.

    There is no ready formula, then, for the Greens to shore up – let alone expand – its vote outside parliament.

    What’s next for the Greens?

    The Guardian’s polls tracker suggests the Greens’ primary vote has increased since the 2022 election, from 12.3% to 14%.

    However, the party faces several tough political contests to retain or extend the gains it won in 2022. And its disappointing results at recent elections in Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory suggest the party has its work cut out.

    As ABC election analyst Antony Green has noted, Labor holds three seats with margins below 5% where the Greens have a chance. However, the Greens also hold seats on slim margins that Labor or another candidate could win.

    The Greens’ lower-house gains at the last election came in the inner-Brisbane seats of Ryan, Brisbane and Griffith. The Greens will have to fight hard to retain all three next month.

    The most recent polls suggest Labor will be returned by a narrow margin at the May 3 election – probably helped along by the return of United States’ President Donald Trump.

    On Wednesday Bandt said the Greens “are within reach of winning seats right across the country and, in the minority government, we can make things happen”.

    However, seven new Independents won lower house seats at the last election. Should that trend continue, and if Labor does need to form a minority government, the Greens may find themselves fighting for the balance of power on a crowded crossbench.

    Picking fights or delivering policy?

    If the Greens party wants to be seen as a serious political force, it must decide if its traditional political approach – hard-nosed policy opposition and picking political fights – is still the best strategy.

    Bandt’s mentor, former Greens leader Christine Milne, got results from minority pacts with both sides of politics. She believed the Greens’ role was to build political capital and then, when an opportunity such as minority government arose, to spend that capital on achieving significant policy outcomes.

    On Wednesday, Bandt indicated a willingness to work towards meaningful policy outcomes in the next parliament. He claimed the Greens were willing to compromise in the event of minority government, saying:

    we understand the need to cooperate and to come up with an arrangement that forms stable, effective and progressive government […] We will go into any discussions with goodwill and with [an] open mind.

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

    – ref. Adam Bandt says the Greens can deliver ‘real change’ – but the party should choose its battles more wisely – https://theconversation.com/adam-bandt-says-the-greens-can-deliver-real-change-but-the-party-should-choose-its-battles-more-wisely-253851

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Don’t let embarrassment stop you – talking about these anal cancer symptoms could save your life

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Mahady, Gastroenterologist & Clinical Epidemiologist, Senior Lecturer, Monash University

    sarkao/Shutterstock

    Anal cancer doesn’t get a lot of attention. This may be because it’s relatively rare – anal cancer affects an estimated one to two Australians in every 100,000. As a comparison, melanomas affect around 70 in every 100,000 people.

    But it’s also likely due to embarrassment. Anal cancer is an abnormal growth in the cells lining the anus, the last few centimetres of the bowel. Many people feel awkward talking about this part of their body.

    So, when symptoms appear – such as bleeding or itchiness – they may delay speaking to a doctor. But it’s crucial to know what to look for, because if anal cancer is caught early the chances of treating it are much higher.

    The anus is the last few centimetres of the bowel.
    Designua/Shutterstock

    Do we know what causes it?

    Up to nine in ten anal cancers are caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted infection.

    HPV is common – more than 80% of people who have ever been sexually active will be infected at some point with a strain (there are more than 150).

    Most HPV strains won’t cause any problems. But some, particularly HPV16, are higher risk. Persistent infection can cause changes in the anal lining and this can progress to anal cancer. This can happen even if you don’t have anal sex.

    Vaccination against HPV is a highly effective method to reduce the risk of cancers related to HPV infection such as anal and cervical cancer.

    Since the national HPV vaccination program began in Australia in 2007, there has been a substantial drop in diseases linked to HPV (such as genital warts). While it’s too early to say, it is hoped that over time cancer rates will also fall due to vaccination.

    Other factors that increase your risk for anal cancer include:

    • being older
    • a history of smoking
    • a weakened immune system (for example from medication or HIV)
    • sexual activity (having anal sex or multiple sexual partners)
    • a history of cervical, vulval or vaginal cancer.
    Only some HPV strains are linked to cancer.
    wisely/Shutterstock

    What are the symptoms?

    Sometimes anal cancer doesn’t cause any symptoms. A doctor may instead detect the cancer visually during a colonoscopy or another examination.

    Other times, symptoms may include bleeding from the bottom (you might see blood on the toilet paper), a new anal lump, or feeling non-specific discomfort or itchiness in your anus.

    You may also have an unusual sensation that you can’t pass a stool as “fully” or easily as before.

    If you have any of these symptoms – particularly if they are new or getting worse – it is important to speak with your doctor.

    The symptoms of anal cancer can be very similar to common conditions such as haemorrhoids, so it’s best to get them checked by a doctor to get the diagnosis right.

    It’s understandable you might be embarrassed. But for doctors, this is all part of routine practice.

    Catching it early improves your chances

    Survival rates are much better for anal cancer caught in the early stages.

    Around 90% of people diagnosed with stage one anal cancer will live five years or more. That drops to 60% if the diagnosis is made when the cancer has developed to stage three.

    The test may be as simple as a quick anal examination. Or it may require other investigations such as anoscopy (looking inside the bottom with a slim tube) or specialised ultrasounds or scans.

    Most tests involve only a small amount of discomfort or none at all. They can rule out anything serious, giving you peace of mind.

    If a cancer is detected, treatment usually involves radiotherapy, chemotherapy or surgery, or a combination.

    The bottom line

    If you need another reason to get symptoms checked out, here’s one: they could also indicate bowel cancer.

    Bowel cancer (also known as colon or colorectal cancer) is the fourth most common cancer diagnosed in Australia, and the second most common cause of cancer death, with similar symptoms such as bleeding from the bottom.

    So, it’s crucial to not to let awkwardness get in the way. Speak to your doctor if any symptoms concern you. Starting the conversation early could save your life.

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

    – ref. Don’t let embarrassment stop you – talking about these anal cancer symptoms could save your life – https://theconversation.com/dont-let-embarrassment-stop-you-talking-about-these-anal-cancer-symptoms-could-save-your-life-249570

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Gold rush Melbourne and post-war boom: how Australia overcame housing shortages in the past

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Stevens, Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University

    As part of their federal election campaign, the Coalition announced plans to limit the number of international students able to commence study each year to 240,000, “focused on driving […] housing availability and affordability”.

    This announcement was criticised as a “fact free zone” by the Property Council.

    The Coalition proposal falsely equates high immigration with housing shortages. Studies indicate limiting international students will have minimal impact on housing supply. Most international students stay in student housing or share house accommodation, not suitable or desirable for many Australians to live in.

    History shows us Australia has previously gone through periods of high migration and economic uncertainty. But history also shows us, if we are willing to adapt and innovate, high immigration and housing affordability can co-exist.

    Lessons from Australia’s gold rush

    The discovery of gold in Victoria caused Melbourne’s population to explode.

    In 1851, Melbourne’s population was 77,000. Within a decade, that figure had more than quadrupled to 540,000.

    As a young colony, the Victorian government actively recruited British and Irish migrants, subsidising fully or partially the cost of the sea voyage to Australia.

    It wasn’t all smooth sailing: competition across migrant groups developed, and new Chinese immigrants in particular were singled out. Europeans staged violent anti-Chinese riots, which included the murder of three Chinese migrants.

    To accommodate new migrants, the Victorian colonial government expanded housing supply in two ways.

    ‘Canvas Town’ was built on the banks of the Yarra in South Melbourne, captured in this illustration from the 1850s.
    State Library Victoria

    First, in 1852 Lieutenant-Governor Charles La Trobe permitted the establishment of Canvas Town, essentially a tent city on the southern bank of the Yarra River.

    There were problems in Canvas Town: disease was common, sanitation nonexistent, and crime rife. But Canvas Town provided newcomers protection from the elements. Canvas Town was officially disbanded in 1854, although people continued to live in tents across Melbourne as they awaited the construction of more permanent housing.

    Second, prefabricated iron houses were imported to Melbourne from Britain to overcome supply shortages. These British-built “kit homes” were dismantled, every component labelled and then shipped to Australia for assembly.

    Rapidly-built homes appeared in Port Melbourne, North Melbourne, Fitzroy, Collingwood and Richmond. Three such examples still exist today in South Melbourne.

    A portable town for Australia erected at Hemming’s Patent Portable House Manufactory, Bristol.
    National Library of Australia

    Gold Rush Victoria reminds us of the importance of nimble government intervention in the housing market to offset housing pressures and mitigate anti-foreigner sentiments.

    Responding to migrants after World War II

    One hundred years later, Australia was again facing an immigration and population boom. Australia faced housing shortages in the post-World War II years, as the population grew from 7.6 million to 10.5 million people between 1947 and 1961.

    In the era of post-war shortages and rationing, Australians worried about the impacts of the new arrivals on employment and social issues such as crime.

    The arrival of displaced persons and assisted migrants from Europe strained existing housing stock. Some new and existing Australians resorted to squatting and other forms of temporary housing.

    Commonwealth and state governments took leading roles in housing construction.

    Houses were pre-fabricated in the United Kingdom, like in this photograph from 1947, before being shipped to Australia.
    State Library Victoria

    Between 1947 and 1961, Australia’s housing stock increased by 50% compared with a 41% increase in population. Australian governments directly contributed to 24% of this increase in stock, or 221,700 homes.

    As the minister for immigration, Harold Holt said in 1950, “migrant labour was helping to solve Australia’s housing problems, not aggravating it” by working in essential industries that produce housing materials.

    Once again, prefabricated homes were part of the solution.

    British migrant bricklayers work on building new State Housing Trust houses in Elizabeth, South Australia, in 1958.
    National Archives of Australia

    But on-site construction also had a role to play and could capitalise on the skills of new migrants, particularly in the new migrant town of Elizabeth, South Australia.

    Migrants also pooled their resources and constructed homes for their community.

    In Wexcombe, Western Australia, 12 British families formed a building group. Within three years, they had built new homes for each family.

    Eras of innovation

    In the 1850s and 1950s, increased immigration triggered bigotry and xenophobia. However, governments at this time were focused on nation building.

    Bill Wilson from Belfast making a footpath around his new home in Wexcombe, Western Australia, in 1960.
    National Archives of Australia

    Even if this was largely focused on supporting new white migrants, many politicians resisted the temptation to fan social divisions for political gain.

    Instead, during the Gold Rush and post-World War II eras, Australian governments assisted individuals to adapt and innovate to new circumstances and create novel forms of housing.

    Australian history gives us episodes where we see our society under strain and yet capable of addressing social issues with innovation and adaptability, while welcoming migrants.

    Rachel Stevens works for the Australian Catholic University, which will be impacted by the proposed reforms on international students discussed in this article.

    – ref. Gold rush Melbourne and post-war boom: how Australia overcame housing shortages in the past – https://theconversation.com/gold-rush-melbourne-and-post-war-boom-how-australia-overcame-housing-shortages-in-the-past-253952

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: The ‘monogamy superiority myth’: new research suggests unconventional relationships are just as satisfying

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joel Anderson, Associate Professor in LGBTIQA+ Psychology, La Trobe University

    Pixel-Shot/Shutterstock

    From The Bachelor to Married at First Sight, reality TV sells us the idea that one perfect partner will complete us.

    The formula is familiar: find “the one,” lock it down and live happily ever after.

    But behind the rose ceremonies and fairytale weddings lies a very different reality.



    Read more:
    Is reality TV ‘harmful’? We asked 5 experts – including an ex-reality TV participant

    Monogamy as a gold standard?

    A new meta-analysis challenges the long-held belief that monogamous relationships are more satisfying than non-monogamous ones.

    The study used data from more than 24,000 people from around the world, including Australia. It reported no significant difference in relationship or sexual satisfaction between people in monogamous and consensually non-monogamous relationships.

    This changes the way we can think about relationships.

    For years, people have assumed monogamy (the exclusive romantic and sexual commitment to one person) is the gold standard.

    But it turns out the secret to fulfilling relationships might not be about exclusivity at all. It seems to be more about honesty, communication and mutual agreement – regardless of how many people are involved.

    A long-held assumption

    The belief that monogamy leads to more satisfying relationships feels like common sense for most people.

    It’s consistently reinforced by our experiences of the world, ranging from childhood fairytales to government policies – there’s no “polyamorous” box on your tax return, for example. Most movies end with one couple walking off into the sunset together to live happily ever after.

    Popular culture hasn’t done much to challenge this assumption.

    Non-monogamous relationships are rarely depicted on screen and when they are – like in Wanderlust or You Me & Her – they’re often shown as chaotic, emotionally fraught and destined to collapse.

    These ideas create what we have called the “monogamy-superiority myth”: the assumption monogamous relationships are more satisfying, more loving and more stable than alternative forms of relationships.

    So what is consensual non-monogamy?

    Consensual non-monogamy comes in many forms but the key aspect is everyone involved agrees that having multiple romantic or sexual partners is okay.

    The explicit awareness of all involved means these relationships are grounded in consent, communication and mutual respect.

    They come in many forms, such as:

    • open relationships: where couples may have sex with others but maintain a strong emotional bond to each other
    • polyamory: where people may have multiple romantic or emotional partnerships at the same time
    • monogamish: where mostly monogamous couple allow some degree of sexual activity with others, usually with clear, consensual boundaries (such as when travelling)
    • swinging: where committed couples engage in sexual activities with other people, often in a social or party setting.

    These relationships typically involve detailed conversations about values, needs and boundaries.

    As a result, people in these relationships often report higher levels of trust, communication and intentionality in their relationship.

    New research suggests non-traditional relationships can be just as satisfying as monogamous ones.
    NDAB Creativity/Shutterstock

    What our study found

    Our recent meta-analysis explored how people in monogamous and non-monogamous relationships compare on a range of relationship and sexual satisfaction dimensions. These included intimacy, passion, trust, sexual fulfilment and overall relationship happiness.

    We concluded people in non-monogamous relationships are just as satisfied as those in monogamous ones.

    The study also found this to be true for both heterosexual and LGBTQIA+ participants, challenging another stereotype: that non-monogamy is a “lifestyle choice” for queer people, rather than a legitimate relationship preference.

    So if non-monogamous relationships aren’t less satisfying, why do people think they are?

    Openness and stigmas

    In many monogamous relationships, the most common cause of dissatisfaction or breakup is cheating: when exclusivity is assumed but not upheld, trust can be shattered.

    Consensual non-monogamy relationships, by contrast, build openness into their structure. By agreeing on boundaries from the start, partners may avoid some of the betrayals that hurt monogamous relationships most.

    People in these relationships often face stigma, discrimination and systemic barriers. They may be less likely to disclose their relationship status to doctors, therapists, or employers, fearing judgement or misunderstanding.

    Their relationships are rarely recognised legally and social assumptions often paint them as unstable, overly sexual, or emotionally detached.

    Yet many people in non-monogamous relationships are thriving despite the stigma – most likely because of the trust and communication these relationships require.

    The secret to satisfaction

    These findings are not suggesting everyone should be non-monogamous; monogamy works well for lots of people.

    But this research shows us that relationship satisfaction doesn’t depend on exclusivity – it depends on whether partners feel seen, supported and aligned in their values.

    Health-care providers, educators and policymakers should be aware that not all families or partnerships follow a traditional relationship structure – and that’s OK.

    Recognising consensual non-manogamy relationships can help reduce stigma, improve access to support, and promote wellbeing for people in all types of partnerships.

    Love and relationships simply aren’t a one-size-fits-all situation.

    While reality TV may keep trying to churn out monogamous fairytales, real life is a lot more diverse and, as it turns out, just as fulfilling.

    Joel Anderson receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

    – ref. The ‘monogamy superiority myth’: new research suggests unconventional relationships are just as satisfying – https://theconversation.com/the-monogamy-superiority-myth-new-research-suggests-unconventional-relationships-are-just-as-satisfying-253443

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Chinese-Australian voters were key to Labor’s win in 2022. Are some now swinging back to the Liberals?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wanning Sun, Professor of Media and Cultural Studies, University of Technology Sydney

    Chinese-Australian voters were pivotal to Labor’s win in the 2022 election, with the swing against the Liberals in several key marginal seats almost twice that of other seats.

    Many traditionally pro-business Liberal supporters switched sides in protest against the Coalition’s anti-China rhetoric under then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison. This exacerbated the widespread anti-Chinese racism many people felt in the wake of the COVID pandemic.

    A new survey by Sydney Today, a digital Chinese-language media outlet, suggests Labor will most likely retain the support of many of these Chinese-Australian voters.

    Nearly two-thirds (64%) of the 3,000 respondents in the ongoing survey have said they would vote for Labor in the upcoming federal election, while just 27% were backing the Liberals, 2% the Greens and 5% independents.

    If these results mirror the views of the wider Chinese-Australian community, it bodes well for Labor’s prospects, at least in seats with a high concentration of Chinese-Australian voters.

    However, Labor may not succeed in improving on its performance in the last election. One in five voters said they would vote differently this time compared to 2022, with 55% of this group indicating they would switch from Labor to the Coalition and just 18% going the other way.

    When asked why they were changing their vote, 51% said economic management, while 26% said Australia–China relations.

    Survey respondents were predominantly first-generation migrants from China. Nearly four in five were born outside Australia, but have lived here for more than ten years. Most (73%) were Australian citizens and eligible to vote.

    What issues are most important

    The 2021 census counted approximately 1.39 million Australian residents with Chinese heritage, around 536,000 of whom were born in mainland China. As this group continues to grow rapidly, first-generation Chinese-Australians are becoming a significant political force.

    The survey results reveal a complex and shifting picture of party loyalties and preferences among these voters.

    Participants were asked to identify one issue out of a list of 17 that concerns them most in this election. This list included things such as housing, income, taxes, welfare, health, education, immigration and the environment. The economy ranked first with 14% of respondents, followed closely by Australia–China relations (12%).

    The fact that many Chinese-Australians see the Liberals as better economic managers may account for the shift back to the party among some swing voters.

    Yet, most Chinese-Australians seem to agree Labor has handled Australia–China relations much better than the Liberals. This may be why the majority of respondents overall have preferred to stick with Labor.

    About 70% of respondents said they would consider voting for a party that is friendly to Chinese-Australian communities, while 72% said they would consider voting for a party that adopts a moderate approach to China.

    Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, long a hardline critic of the Chinese Communist Party, has attempted to soften his stance in the lead-up to this election. He said last year, for instance, he was “pro-China” and wanted to see the trade between the two countries double.

    In recent days, however, he has attacked Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for his “weak” response to the presence of a Chinese research vessel off the coast of Australia.

    Some Chinese-Australian voters would prefer Australia to adopt a more independent foreign policy that is less reliant on the US for its national security. Research suggests Chinese-Australians tend to be more critical of the bipartisan AUKUS agreement with the United States and United Kingdom than the general public.

    And I’ve observed anecdotal evidence in conversations with Chinese-Australian voters suggesting some are unhappy with both major parties’ positions on China and the US. This is convincing a small number of rusted-on Labor supporters to consider voting for the Greens, minor parties or independents.

    Support for Chinese candidates not a guarantee

    There is a widespread assumption that ethnic voters tend to vote for a candidate who shares their cultural or ethnic background. This seems to be the thinking behind both major parties’ choice of candidates to run in electorates with high concentrations of Chinese voters.

    The Liberals’ preselection of Grange Chung (Reid), Scott Yung (Bennelong), and Howard Ong (Tangney) are cases in point.

    But the survey indicates this may not be a foolproof strategy. When asked whether they would support a candidate on the basis of their Chinese or Asian appearance, respondents were split down the middle. Only slightly more than half (52%) said they would.

    Much can change between now and election day on May 3. Whether the Liberals can retain the small swing they seem to have gained among Chinese-Australians may depend on Dutton’s stance on China. They will no doubt be watching closely to see what he says.

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

    – ref. Chinese-Australian voters were key to Labor’s win in 2022. Are some now swinging back to the Liberals? – https://theconversation.com/chinese-australian-voters-were-key-to-labors-win-in-2022-are-some-now-swinging-back-to-the-liberals-254052

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –