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Category: Academic Analysis

  • MIL-OSI Global: Learning a new language? Your mindset matters more than ‘having a knack’

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Xijia Zhang, Graduate Student, Department of Psychology, University of Alberta

    Know that every time you manage to learn a new word, or manage to get your message across in the language you are learning and you are improving. (Shutterstock)

    If you stumble when you need to talk to someone in a language that isn’t your native language, do you think: “I just don’t have the knack for languages” or “Maybe I am not cut out to learn another language?”

    Learning and using a language other than your mother tongue can be a daunting challenge. The good news is that everyone is smart enough to learn another language. An important part of that process is developing a mindset that will help you to succeed.

    What is a language mindset?

    We study people’s motivation to learn new languages from the perspective of language mindset theory. Language mindset theory shows that what people believe about aptitude has a role to play in language learning.

    This theory concerns learners’ beliefs about whether they can change their aptitude for learning and using languages, and how different beliefs are associated with different outcomes, including language proficiency.

    If learners think they can improve their ability when learning something hard about a new language, or when they didn’t do well in certain aspects of language learning, they won’t be scared off by thinking that their current level of ability is low.

    Learners may even feel that these difficulties or failures are chances to learn something new and to improve their language ability. They remain hopeful and confident about what they can potentially achieve in language learning. They focus on what they can do to improve their language skills through the learning process, rather than merely surviving the interaction, getting a good grade or doing better than other people.

    A growth or a fixed mindset

    Language mindset theory — pertaining to learners’ beliefs about their aptitude for learning and using languages — can be differentiated into three types of views:

    1. General language intelligence about whether a person believes they can change their ability to use spoken and written language to express themselves and communicate with others;

    2. Beliefs about their aptitude for learning a new language;

    3. Beliefs regarding whether their ability to learn a new language is in any way related to age.

    If a person thinks these three types of language aptitude are something they’re born with and cannot change, they could be classified as a learner with a fixed mindset.

    If they feel they can improve one or more of these aspects of language aptitude, and especially second-language aptitude, they could be characterized as a growth-mindset learner. Ultimately, learners with a growth mindset are likely to become more proficient in the language they are learning than a person with a fixed mindset.

    Our research shows that about 20 per cent of language learners have a growth mindset, another 20 per cent have a fixed mindset and the majority (60 per cent) have a mixed mindset.

    How teachers can help

    Although people are increasingly using digital apps like Duolingo, language courses remain a common way for people to learn languages — and language teachers can help learners develop a growth mindset.

    Teachers have a role promoting having a growth mindset.
    (Shutterstock)

    Teachers can help by reminding learners that they can improve their language intelligence through their efforts. For low-stakes assignments and tests, teachers can encourage learners to take risks and attempt new challenges and use these moments as an opportunity to learn something new.

    Teachers should also provide feedback that focuses on the learning process; for example, what types of learning strategies learners could use, whether they need to work harder and what resources could be helpful for their language learning.

    In this way, teachers convey an important message that it’s OK to make mistakes, and what learners do in the learning process matters more than how proficient they currently are. Even when learners are faced with high-stakes exams, teachers can still help learners connect the content of the exams to using the language in real-life communication.

    If teachers can create a classroom environment that fosters a growth language mindset, learners are more likely to continue learning the language.

    Mindset can shift, aptitude can grow

    If you are a language learner who finds yourself thinking that your language aptitude is fixed, it’s never too late to change your belief.

    Every time you master a new word, or acquire a new aspect of grammar or even just manage to get your message across to another person in the language you are learning, you are improving.

    If you are having a hard time learning a certain aspect of the language, try using a different learning strategy, finding resources that can help you or simply giving yourself more time to practice. Remember, everyone is smart enough to learn a new language.

    Xijia Zhang is affiliated with the University of Alberta.

    Kimberly Noels works for the University of Alberta. She receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

    – ref. Learning a new language? Your mindset matters more than ‘having a knack’ – https://theconversation.com/learning-a-new-language-your-mindset-matters-more-than-having-a-knack-246825

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: NOAA’s vast public weather data powers the local forecasts on your phone and TV – a private company alone couldn’t match it

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Christine Wiedinmyer, Associate Director for Science at CIRES, University of Colorado Boulder

    A forecaster monitors incoming data for Hurricane Irma in 2017 at the National Hurricane Center, part of the NOAA. Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images

    When a hurricane or tornado starts to form, your local weather forecasters can quickly pull up maps tracking its movement and showing where it’s headed. But have you ever wondered where they get all that information?

    The forecasts can seem effortless, but behind the scenes, a vast network of satellites, airplanes, radar, computer models and weather analysts are providing access to the latest data – and warnings when necessary. This data comes from analysts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, known as NOAA, and its National Weather Service.

    Atmospheric scientists Christine Wiedinmyer and Kari Bowen, who is a former National Weather Service forecaster, explained NOAA’s central role in most U.S. weather forecasts.

    When people see a weather report on TV, what went on at NOAA to make that forecast possible?

    A lot of the weather information Americans rely on starts with real-time data collected by NOAA satellites, airplanes, weather balloons, radar and maritime buoys, as well as weather stations around the world.

    All of that information goes into the agency’s computers, which process the data to begin defining what’s going on in different parts of the atmosphere.

    NOAA forecasters use computer models that simulate physics and the behavior of the atmosphere, along with their own experience and local knowledge, to start to paint a picture of the weather – what’s coming in a few minutes or hours or days. They also use that data to project seasonal conditions out over weeks or months.

    NOAA’s data comes from many sources to provide a more complete picture of developing climate and weather conditions. Communities and economies rely on that constantly updated information.
    NOAA

    When severe weather is on the way, the agency issues the official alerts you’ll see in the news and on your phone.

    All of this analysis happens before the information reaches private weather apps and TV stations.

    No matter who you are, you can freely access that data and the analyses. In fact, a large number of private companies use NOAA data to create fancy maps and other weather products that they sell.

    It would be extremely difficult to do all of that without NOAA.

    The agency operates a fleet of 18 satellites that are packed with instruments dedicated to observing weather phenomena essential to predicting the weather, from how hot the land surface is to the water content of the atmosphere. Some are geostationary satellites which sit high above different parts of the U.S. measuring weather conditions 24/7. Others orbit the planet. Many of these are operated as part of partnerships with NASA or the Air Force.

    Some private companies are starting to invest in satellites, but it would take an enormous amount of money to replicate the range of instrumentation and coverage that NOAA has in place. Satellites only last so long and take time to build, so NOAA is continually planning for the future, and using its technical expertise to develop new instruments and computer algorithms to interpret the data.

    NOAA’s low earth orbiting satellites circle the planet from pole to pole and across the equator 14 times a day to provide a full picture of the year twice a day. The agency also has geostationary satellites that provide continuous coverage over the U.S.
    NOAA

    Maritime buoys are another measuring system that would be difficult to replicate. Over 1,300 buoys across oceans around the world measure water temperature, wind and wave height – all of which are essential for coastal warnings, as well as long-term forecasts.

    Weather observation has been around a long time. President Ulysses S. Grant created the first national weather service in the War Department in 1870. It became a civilian service in 1880 under the Department of Agriculture and is now in the Commerce Department. The information its scientists and technologists produce is essential for safety and also benefits people and industries in a lot of ways.

    Could a private company create forecasts on its own without NOAA data?

    It would be difficult for one company to provide comprehensive weather data in a reliable way that is also accessible to the entire public.

    Some companies might be able to launch their own satellite, but one satellite only gives you part of the picture. NOAA’s weather observation network has been around for a long time and collects data from points all over the U.S. and the oceans. Without that robust data, computer models and the broad network of forecasters and developers, forecasting also becomes less reliable.

    Analyzing that data is also complex. You’re not going to be able to take satellite data, run a model on a standard laptop and suddenly have a forecast.

    And there’s a question of whether a private company would want to take on the legal risk of being responsible for the nation’s forecasts and severe weather warnings.

    Neil Jacobs, nominated to oversee NOAA, explains why the agency is essential for accurate national weather forecasting, and why private companies might not want to take on the legal risk on their own.

    NOAA is taxpayer-funded, so it is a public good – its services provide safety and security for everyone, not just those who can pay for it.

    If weather data was only available at a price, one town might be able to afford the weather information necessary to protect its residents, while a smaller town or a rural area across the state might not. If you’re in a tornado-prone area or coastal zone, that information can be the difference between life or death.

    Is climate data and research into the changing climate important for forecasts?

    The Earth’s systems – its land, water and the atmosphere – are changing, and we have to be able to assess how those changes will impact weather tomorrow, in two weeks and far into the future.

    Rising global temperatures affect weather patterns. Dryness can fuel wildfires. Forecasts have to take the changing climate into account to be accurate, no matter who is creating the forecast.

    Drought is an example. The dryness of the Earth controls how much water gets exchanged with the atmosphere to form clouds and rainfall. To have an accurate weather prediction, we need to know how dry things are at the surface and how that has changed over time. That requires long-term climate information.

    NOAA doesn’t do all of this by itself – who else is involved?

    NOAA partners with private sector, academia, nonprofits and many others around the world to ensure that everyone has the best information to produce the most robust weather forecasts. Private weather companies and media also play important roles in getting those forecasts and alerts out more widely to the public.

    A lot of businesses rely on accuracy from NOAA’s weather data and forecasts: aviation, energy companies, insurance, even modern tractors’ precision farming equipment. The agency’s long-range forecasts are essential for managing state reservoirs to ensure enough water is saved and to avoid flooding.

    The government agency can be held accountable in a way private businesses are not because it answers to Congress. So, the data is trustworthy, accessible and developed with the goal to protect public safety and property for everyone. Could the same be said if only for-profit companies were producing that data?

    Christine Wiedinmyer is the CIRES Associate Director for Science. CIRES is a CU Boulder research institute that has a cooperative agreement (grant) with NOAA called the Cooperative Institute for Earth Systems Research and Data Science, CIESRDS. Wiedinmyer’s funding is primarily from NOAA, which supports more than 400 CIRES CU Boulder employees.

    Kari Bowen is the Science and Administration Manager. CIRES is a CU Boulder research institute with a cooperative agreement (grant) with NOAA called the Cooperative Institute for Earth Systems Research and Data Science, CIESRDS. Bowen’s funding is from NOAA, which supports more than 400 CIRES CU Boulder employees.

    – ref. NOAA’s vast public weather data powers the local forecasts on your phone and TV – a private company alone couldn’t match it – https://theconversation.com/noaas-vast-public-weather-data-powers-the-local-forecasts-on-your-phone-and-tv-a-private-company-alone-couldnt-match-it-249451

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: The New Yorker turns 100 − how a poker game pipe dream became a publishing powerhouse

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Christopher B. Daly, Professor Emeritus of Journalism, Boston University

    The New Yorker expanded the scope of journalism far beyond the standard categories of crime, courts, politics and sports. Design Uncensored

    Literate in tone, far-reaching in scope, and witty to its bones, The New Yorker brought a new – and much-needed – sophistication to American journalism when it launched 100 years ago this month.

    As I researched the history of U.S. journalism for my book “Covering America,” I became fascinated by the magazine’s origin story and the story of its founder, Harold Ross.

    In a business full of characters, Ross fit right in. He never graduated from high school. With a gap-toothed smile and bristle-brush hair, he was frequently divorced and plagued by ulcers.

    Ross devoted his adult life to one cause: The New Yorker magazine.

    For the literati, by the literati

    Born in 1892 in Aspen, Colorado, Ross worked out west as a reporter while still a teenager. When the U.S. entered World War I, Ross enlisted. He was sent to southern France, where he quickly deserted from his Army regiment and made his way to Paris, carrying his portable Corona typewriter. He joined up with the brand-new newspaper for soldiers, Stars and Stripes, which was so desperate for anybody with training that Ross was taken on with no questions asked, even though the paper was an official Army operation.

    Harold Ross and Jane Grant in 1926.
    University of Oregon Libraries

    In Paris, Ross met a number of writers, including Jane Grant, who had been the first woman to work as a news reporter at The New York Times. She eventually became the first of Ross’ three wives.

    After the armistice, Ross headed to New York City and never really left. There, he started meeting other writers, and he soon joined a clique of critics, dramatists and wits who gathered at the Round Table in the Algonquin Hotel on West 44th Street in Manhattan.

    Over long and liquid lunches, Ross rubbed shoulders and wisecracked with some of the brightest lights in New York’s literary chandelier. The Round Table also spawned a floating poker game that involved Ross and his eventual financial backer, Raoul Fleischmann, of the famous yeast-making family.

    In the mid-1920s, Ross decided to launch a weekly metropolitan magazine. He could see that the magazine business was booming, but he had no intention of copying anything that already existed. He wanted to publish a magazine that spoke directly to him and his friends – young city dwellers who’d spent time in Europe and were bored by the platitudes and predictable features found in most American periodicals.

    First, though, Ross had to come up with a business plan.

    The kind of smart-set readers Ross wanted were also desirable to Manhattan’s high-end retailers, so they got on board and expressed interest in buying ads. On that basis, Ross’ poker partner Fleischmann was willing to stake him US$25,000 to start – roughly $450,000 in today’s dollars.

    Ross goes all in

    In the fall of 1924, using an office owned by Fleischmann’s family at 25 West 45th St., Ross got to work on the prospectus for his magazine:

    “The New Yorker will be a reflection in word and picture of metropolitan life. It will be human. Its general tenor will be one of gaiety, wit and satire, but it will be more than a jester. It will not be what is commonly called radical or highbrow. It will be what is commonly called sophisticated, in that it will assume a reasonable degree of enlightenment on the part of its readers. It will hate bunk.”

    The magazine, he famously added, “is not edited for the old lady in Dubuque.”

    In other words, The New Yorker was not going to respond to the news cycle, and it was not going to pander to middle America.

    Ross’ only criterion would be whether a story was interesting – with Ross the arbiter of what counted as interesting. He was putting all his chips on the long-shot idea that there were enough people who shared his interests – or could discover that they did – to support a glossy, cheeky, witty weekly.

    Ross almost failed. The cover of the first issue of The New Yorker, dated Feb. 21, 1925, carried no portraits of potentates or tycoons, no headlines, no come-ons.

    Instead, it featured a watercolor by Ross’ artist friend Rea Irvin of a dandified figure staring intently through a monocle at – of all things! – a butterfly. That image, nicknamed Eustace Tilly, became the magazine’s unoffical emblem.

    A magazine finds its footing

    Inside that first edition, a reader would find a buffet of jokes and short poems. There was a profile, reviews of plays and books, lots of gossip, and a few ads.

    It was not terribly impressive, feeling quite patched together, and at first the magazine struggled. When The New Yorker was just a few months old, Ross almost even lost it entirely one night in a drunken poker game at the home of Pulitzer Prize winner and Round Table regular Herbert Bayard Swope. Ross didn’t make it home until noon the next day, and when he woke, his wife found IOUs in his pockets amounting to nearly $30,000.

    Fleischmann, who had been at the card game but left at a decent hour, was furious. Somehow, Ross persuaded Fleischmann to pay off some of his debt and let Ross work off the rest. Just in time, The New Yorker began gaining readers, and more advertisers soon followed. Ross eventually settled up with his financial angel.

    A big part of the magazine’s success was Ross’ genius for spotting talent and encouraging them to develop their own voices. One of the founding editor’s key early finds was Katharine S. Angell, who became the magazine’s first fiction editor and a reliable reservoir of good sense. In 1926, Ross brought James Thurber and E.B. White aboard, and they performed a variety of chores: writing “casuals,” which were short satirical essays, cartooning, creating captions for others’ drawings, reporting Talk of the Town pieces and offering commentary.

    E.B. White in his office at The New Yorker.
    Bettmann/Getty Images

    As The New Yorker found its footing, the writers and editors began perfecting some of its trademark features: the deep profile, ideally written about someone who was not strictly in the news but who deserved to be better known; long, deeply reported, nonfiction narratives; short stories and poetry; and, of course, the single-panel cartoons and the humor sketches.

    Intensely curious and obsessively correct in matters grammatical, Ross would go to any length to ensure accuracy. Writers got their drafts back from Ross covered in penciled queries demanding dates, sources and endless fact-checking. One trademark Ross query was “Who he?”

    During the 1930s, while the country was suffering through a relentless economic depression, The New Yorker was sometimes faulted for blithely ignoring the seriousness of the nation’s problems. In the pages of The New Yorker, life was almost always amusing, attractive and fun.

    The New Yorker really came into its own, both financially and editorially, during World War II. It finally found its voice, one that was curious, international, searching and, ultimately, quite serious.

    Ross also discovered still more writers, such as A.J. Liebling, Mollie Panter-Downes and John Hersey, who was raided from Henry Luce’s Time magazine. Together, they produced some of the best writing of the war, most notably Hersey’s landmark reporting on the use of the first atomic bomb in warfare.

    A crown jewel of journalism

    Over the past century, The New Yorker had a profound impact on American journalism.

    For one thing, Ross created conditions for distinctive voices to be heard. For another, The New Yorker provided encouragement and an outlet for nonacademic authority to flourish; it was a place where all those serious amateurs could write about the Dead Sea Scrolls or geology or medicine or nuclear war with no credentials other than their own ability to observe closely, think clearly and put together a good sentence.

    Finally, Ross must be credited with expanding the scope of journalism far beyond standard categories of crime and courts, politics and sports. In the pages of The New Yorker, readers almost never found the same content that they’d come across in other newspapers and magazines.

    Instead, readers of The New Yorker might find just about anything else.

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

    – ref. The New Yorker turns 100 − how a poker game pipe dream became a publishing powerhouse – https://theconversation.com/the-new-yorker-turns-100-how-a-poker-game-pipe-dream-became-a-publishing-powerhouse-246774

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Whether Christians should prioritize care for migrants as much as for fellow citizens has been debated for centuries

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Laura E. Alexander, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, University of Nebraska Omaha

    Vice President JD Vance has criticized the U.S. Catholic bishops condemning agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement entering churches and schools. Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

    Vice President JD Vance and several bishops of the U.S. Roman Catholic Church are having a war of words over the Trump administration’s flurry of executive orders and highly publicized immigration raids. The bishops argue that these policies tend to empower gangs and traffickers while harming vulnerable families; Vance has criticized the bishops’ stance and argued that crackdowns are a matter of public safety.

    In the wake of President Donald Trump’s executive orders, both Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Bishop Mark Seitz, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Migration, publicly objected to the tone and the humanitarian impacts of the orders.

    Seitz critiqued generalizations that denigrate and describe migrants without legal status as “criminals” or “invaders,” saying this “is an affront to God, who has created each of us in his own image.” Instead, he urged humane policies and bipartisan immigration reform for an “effective, orderly immigration system.”

    Interviewed on “Face the Nation,” Vance argued that the USCCB should “look in the mirror … and recognize that when they receive over US$100 million to help resettle illegal immigrants, are they worried about humanitarian concerns? Or are they actually worried about their bottom line?”

    To be clear, this line of attack appears to be false. USCCB contracts with the U.S. State Department to resettle refugees and has received over $100 million in recent years to do so, but refugee resettlement is a legal immigration program. The Catholic Church, rather than making money on this program, provides funding from its own budget to supplement its humanitarian work with refugees. For example, according to the USCCB’s audited financial statements, in 2023, the most recent year reported, the USCCB spent over $134.2 million on resettlement services. Federal grants provided over $129.6 million for these services, with the USCCB covering the rest.

    As a scholar of religion and migration, I see in this debate long-standing tensions among Catholic – and other Christian – thinkers and practitioners about moral obligations to people with whom we have closer versus more distant relationships.

    This tension is magnified in the case of migrants without legal status, since most of these migrants do have close relationships with U.S. communities and citizens, but they are not legally authorized by the U.S. government.

    2 perspectives on moral responsibility

    In international relations, different stances on how to treat people who are not citizens of one’s own state are described as “cosmopolitan” and “communitarian,” respectively.

    Some Christian thinkers have adopted these terms as a helpful way to understand Christian ethical debates over how to prioritize caring for people who are more closely connected or less connected to us. Those who take a cosmopolitan stance argue that Christians should care equally about all people of the world and should not show preference to family members or those within their near orbit, even if, for practical reasons, they do assist those close to them more often.

    Meanwhile, thinkers who take a communitarian stance argue that Christians certainly should care about the well-being of all but have a moral obligation to prefer helping people they have a closer relationship with, such as family members, those who are close geographically and possibly fellow citizens.

    Christian theologies of neighborly love

    Many Christian thinkers have developed perspectives on how to prioritize care for different neighbors by interpreting the words and actions of Jesus, as well as the teachings and practices of the early Christian church. Over time, Christian thinkers have also considered institutional statements and traditional teachings of different church bodies.

    Early theologians, including Clement of Rome, the first-century bishop of Rome, and John Chrysostom, archbishop of Constantinople in the fourth and fifth centuries, demonstrated cosmopolitan tendencies.

    Biblical passages encourage believers to welcome strangers.
    ‘Sermon on the Mount’ by Henrik Olrik via Wikimedia Commons

    These early church leaders consider biblical passages, including commandments in the Hebrew Bible, to welcome strangers. In the Gospels of the New Testament, Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan upholds a person of different ethnicity and religion from Jesus and his followers as an ideal “neighbor.” It also praises acts of kindness across ethnic and religious boundaries.

    In another passage, Jesus heals the daughter of a woman who was both non-Jewish and of foreign ethnicity, accepting her chastisement for his initial reluctance to assist a non-Jew.

    Later in the New Testament, the apostle Paul used expansive language for the Christian community, particularly in Galatians, the ninth book of the New Testament: “There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”

    The contemporary Roman Catholic Church has often taken a cosmopolitan perspective on social issues. Pope Francis, in his message for the 2024 World Day of Migrants and Refugees, highlights the biblical passage that “our citizenship is in heaven” and states that “the encounter with the migrant … ‘is also an encounter with Christ.’”

    Catholic service organizations draw on this thinking when they help migrants in concrete ways. In addition to refugee resettlement services, many Catholic organizations provide humanitarian assistance such as food and shelter to migrants, no matter where they are from.

    Christian communitarian thought

    From a communitarian perspective, some thinkers argue that Christians’ concrete obligations to members of their communities can differ from their obligations to others, even though they view all people as of equal moral worth.

    New Testament writings describe how members of early Christian groups provided food and care for those in their communities – even as they also gave charity to the poor in the wider society.

    St. Thomas Aquinas, whose writings have also become part of the current debate after Vance referenced them online, argues that Christians should assist people in need, even to the point of depriving themselves of luxuries or social standing. He consistently urges Christians to love all people as commanded by God. Yet he also writes that, all other things being equal, Christians can properly meet the needs of people close to them before they give to those outside their own family or close circles, and that in political matters there can be some justification for preferring fellow citizens.

    Some contemporary Christian thinkers apply similar ideas to relationships between citizens and noncitizens in modern states. Ethicist Mark Amstutz argues that American Christian churches should incorporate a stronger focus on citizens’ needs and solidarity within state communities into their statements on immigration. German Catholic thinker Manfred Spieker has advocated that Christian social teachings permit preferences for people one is close to, as well as requirements of cultural integration by immigrants.

    These proponents of Christian communitarian perspectives continue to stress that all neighbors should be treated well even if some are prioritized over others. In this way, Vance’s remarks are not the best example of Christian communitarian thought, since migrants without legal status still should not be demonized nor falsely accused of criminal behavior, both of which Vance himself has done in the past few months.

    Immigrants in communities and the command to love

    Christian thinkers do agree that Christians are commanded by God to show love for all people – those who are like them, those who are not like them and even enemies.

    But it’s possible that love could take different shapes in different relationships. Immigration poses a unique test case because immigrants are not citizens, but they are “close” neighbors to U.S. citizens.

    Immigrants, including undocumented immigrants, are integral parts of the communities where they live. They work in vital jobs; in 2020-22, 42% of hired farmworkers were migrants without legal status. Immigrants, both with legal status and without, have brought new workers and young families to small towns whose populations have declined in recent decades.

    This further nuances debates about cosmopolitan and communitarian moral perspectives, since immigrants arrive from places outside the U.S. but have close relationships with U.S. citizens, whether as family members or as neighbors with whom they work, shop and worship.

    At the moment, public debate over immigration reflects trends in U.S. politics as much or more than it does Christian ethics. Yet Christian communities do continue to wrestle with cosmopolitan and communitarian ways of thinking, as they try to understand and apply Christian scriptural and moral commands to care for all people.

    Laura E. Alexander receives funding from the Mellon Foundation and has previously received funding from the Public Religion Research Institute. As a private individual, she is a member of the Nebraska Alliance for Thriving Communities, a statewide network of businesses, institutions, and individuals seeking immigration reform solutions.

    – ref. Whether Christians should prioritize care for migrants as much as for fellow citizens has been debated for centuries – https://theconversation.com/whether-christians-should-prioritize-care-for-migrants-as-much-as-for-fellow-citizens-has-been-debated-for-centuries-248640

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Rural Americans don’t live as long as those in cities − new research

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, James Irvine Chair in Urban and Regional Planning and Professor of Public Policy, University of Southern California

    Part of the problem is that people living in rural areas don’t always have easy access to health care. cstar55/iStock via Getty Images

    Rural Americans – particularly men – are expected to live significantly shorter, less healthy lives than their urban counterparts, according to our research, recently published in the Journal of Rural Health.

    We found that a 60-year-old man living in a rural area is expected on average to live two fewer years than an urban man. For women, the rural-urban gap is six months.

    A key reason is worse rates among rural people for smoking, obesity and chronic conditions such as high blood pressure and heart disease. These conditions are condemning millions to disability and shortened lives.

    What’s more, these same people live in areas where medical care is evaporating. Living in rural areas, with their relatively sparse populations, often means a shortage of doctors, longer travel distances for medical care and inadequate investments in public health, driven partly by declines in economic opportunities.

    Our team arrived at these findings by using a simulation called the Future Elderly Model. With that, we were able to simulate the future life course of Americans currently age 60 living in either an urban or rural area.

    The model is based on relationships observed in 20 years of data from the Health and Retirement Study, an ongoing survey that follows people from age 51 through the rest of their lives. Specifically, the model showed how long these Americans might live, the expected quality of their future years, and how certain changes in lifestyle would affect the results.

    We describe the conditions that drive our results as “diseases of despair,” building off the landmark work of pioneering researchers who coined the now widely used term “deaths of despair.” They documented rising mortality among Americans without a college degree and related these deaths to declines in social and economic prospects.

    The main causes of deaths of despair – drug overdoses, liver disease and suicide – have also been called “diseases of despair.” But the conditions we study, such as heart disease, could similarly be influenced by social and economic prospects. And they can profoundly reduce quality of life.

    We also found that if rural education levels were as high as in urban areas, this would eliminate almost half of the rural-urban life-expectancy gap. Our data shows 65% of urban 60-year-olds were educated beyond high school, compared with 53% of rural residents the same age.

    One possible reason for the difference is that getting a bachelor’s degree may make a person more able or willing to follow scientific recommendations – and more likely to work out for 150 minutes a week or eat their veggies as their doctor advises them to.

    Rural communities are increasingly hampered by their lack of access to health care.

    Why it matters

    The gap between urban and rural health outcomes has widened over recent decades. Yet the problem goes beyond disparities between urban and rural health: It also splits down some of the party lines and social divides that separate U.S. citizens, such as education and lifestyle.

    Scholarship on the decline of rural America suggests that people living outside larger cities are resentful of the economic forces that may have eroded their economic power. The interplay between these forces and the health conditions we study are less appreciated.

    Economic circumstances can contribute to health outcomes. For example, increased stress and sedentary lifestyle due to joblessness can contribute to chronic health issues such as cardiovascular disease. Declines in economic prospects due to automation and trade liberalization are linked to increases in mortality.

    But health can also have a strong influence on economic outcomes. Hospitalizations cause high medical costs, loss of work and earnings, and increases in bankruptcy. The onset of chronic disease and disability can lead to long-lasting declines in income. Even health events experienced early in childhood can have economic consequences decades later.

    In tandem, these health and economic trends might reinforce each other and help fuel inequality between rural and urban areas that produces a profoundly different quality of life.

    What still isn’t known

    It should be noted that our results, like many studies, are describing outcomes on average; the rural population is not a monolith. In fact, some of the most physically active and healthy people we know live in rural areas.

    Just how much your location affects your health is an ongoing area of research. But as researchers begin to understand more, we can come up with strategies to promote health among all Americans, regardless of where they live.

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

    Elizabeth Currid-Halkett was the Kluge Chair in Modern Culture at the Library of Congress while conducting some of this research.

    Currid-Halkett is on the Scholars’ Council for the nonprofit Braver Angels.

    Bryan Tysinger receives funding from NIA.

    Jack Chapel 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. Rural Americans don’t live as long as those in cities − new research – https://theconversation.com/rural-americans-dont-live-as-long-as-those-in-cities-new-research-242261

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How opioid deaths tripled in Philly over a decade − and what may be behind a recent downturn

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Ben Cocchiaro, Assistant Clinical Professor of Family Medicine and Community Health, Drexel University

    Fatal overdose deaths in Philadelphia dropped 7% in 2023. The city is expected to release 2024 data in the spring. Spencer Platt via Getty Images

    After nearly a decade of almost year-over-year increases in overdose deaths, the tide may finally be turning in Philadelphia.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced in May 2024 an estimated 3% decrease in overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2023 compared with 2022. Shortly after, data from the Philadelphia Department of Public Health showed a similar trend: Fatal overdoses across the city decreased 7% in 2023, from 1,207 to 1,122. The city is expected to release its 2024 data in the spring of 2025.

    While these declines are notable, the city’s 2023 fatal overdose numbers are three times higher than they were in 2013.

    Still, if 2024 numbers confirm the downward trend, it allows a little hope into an otherwise bleak epidemic that is killing more Philadelphians than homicides, car accidents and diabetes combined.

    Something may finally be working. But what?

    If over a decade spent treating and researching substance use disorders has taught me anything, it’s that the overdose epidemic is what researchers and policymakers refer to as a wicked problem. Wicked problems are constantly changing, complex, interconnected knots of other problems with no clear solution.

    But let’s look at what we do know about how overdose deaths in Philadelphia spiked in the first place – and why they may finally be decreasing.

    Why overdose deaths spiked

    The first wave of the overdose epidemic began in the late 1990s and is attributed to overprescription of opioid pain medicines. But the largest acceleration in deaths didn’t occur until after the government and health insurers implemented prescribing controls in the early 2010s. These controls led many people who were no longer able to get prescribed opioids to turn to illicit heroin.

    In a phenomenon known as the “iron law of prohibition,” stricter drug law enforcement led drug-trafficking organizations to shift from heroin toward more powerful synthetic opioids that are easier to produce, conceal and distribute. Gram for gram, pure fentanyl is over 50 times stronger than pure heroin.

    But street-obtained fentanyl has proven to be anything but pure.

    Local drug-testing efforts found as much as a fiftyfold difference in potency between bags of fentanyl that appear identical.

    This unpredictable potency is considered to be the chief contributor to the deadliness of street fentanyl. It’s like cracking a beer and not knowing whether drinking it will get you mildly buzzed or send you to the graveyard.

    Research suggests drug busts, though touted as improving public safety, can lead to more inconsistency and unpredictability in the potency of illicit opioids. An analysis of 14 studies conducted in the U.S. demonstrated a marked increase in fatal overdoses following the supply disruptions that result from drug seizures.

    There’s also some evidence that the heightened economic insecurity and despair caused by the COVID-19 pandemic may have intensified the fatal overdose epidemic.

    Andres Freire of Prevention Point stands on the ‘bupe bus,’ a mobile service that offers medication treatment such as buprenorphine to people with opioid use disorder in Philadelphia.
    Jeff Fusco for The Conversation U.S., CC BY-NC-ND

    Potential reasons for decline

    Just as economic insecurity was associated with rising deaths, the subsequent economic recovery as the U.S. emerged from the pandemic may have contributed to the 2023 drop in overdose fatalities nationwide.

    However, the unequal distribution of that recovery seems to track with worsening racial disparities in overdose rates in the late 2010s to early 2020s.

    Another possible explanation for the reduction in overdose deaths is the increasing availability of buprenorphine.

    Buprenorphine, an FDA-approved medication for opioid use disorder, reduces withdrawal and cravings for fentanyl. What’s more, it decreases overdose risk by more than 50%.

    However, efforts to increase access to this medication have stagnated. National prescribing rates for buprenorphine were relatively stable from 2019 to 2023, and the CDC estimates that only a quarter of those who need treatment are getting it. Efforts to make buprenorphine available without a prescription have not yet gained traction.

    Access to and education around naloxone, a lifesaving drug used to reverse opioid overdoses, has also increased, and the drug is increasingly being administered by bystanders. Over 1.3 million doses were distributed in Pennsylvania since 2017. National research suggests these distribution efforts, often spearheaded by local harm-reduction organizations, have led to quicker administration of naloxone. This saves lives while also decreasing reliance on emergency medical services.

    Finally, the consequences of a seemingly minor characteristic of fentanyl’s pharmacology might also be reducing the overdose death rate in Philadelphia.

    Fentanyl’s effects last only a third as long as heroin. This shorter duration led drug traffickers to add the animal tranquilizer xylazine – also called “tranq” – and the veterinary anesthetic medetomidine into Philadelphia’s street drug supply. In 2019, two-thirds of heroin or fentanyl sampled in Philadelphia had xylazine in it. By 2021 all of it did.

    These additives lengthen the duration of the effect, mitigate withdrawal symptoms and possibly reduce the amount of fentanyl needed per dose. Some evidence from animal studies shows that xylazine reduces fentanyl intake by suppressing fentanyl withdrawal, thereby lengthening the time before a person uses again.

    What’s more, the skin wounds and sedative effects that are associated with xylazine may be motivating some people to avoid using street fentanyl.

    Over 1.3 million doses of naloxone have been distributed for free in Pennsylvania since 2017.
    Jeff Fusco for The Conversation U.S., CC BY-NC-ND

    What’s next for Philadelphia

    The opioid settlement, a multibillion-dollar payment from the pharmaceutical industry to resolve legal actions against them, has led to increased funding in Philadelphia for naloxone and medications such as buprenorphine to treat opioid use disorder.

    However, in the past year the city eliminated funding for needle exchanges and implemented compulsory treatment strategies, which research suggests often do not reduce drug use or criminal recidividism.

    Meanwhile, at the federal level, Republican members of Congress have proposed cuts to Medicaid, the health insurance program for low-income Americans.

    Whether new data, when it’s released, will show overdose deaths in Philly have continued to decline or are back on the rise is anybody’s guess. But I do know that harm-reduction advocates, medical providers and communities of people who use drugs will continue to fight this epidemic as if their lives depend on it. For many, it does.

    Ben Cocchiaro is affiliated with Prevention Point Philadelphia but his opinions are his own. He served on the Data Analysis and Sharing Subcommittee of the Philadelphia Mayor’s Task Force to Combat the Opiate Epidemic from 2016-2017.

    – ref. How opioid deaths tripled in Philly over a decade − and what may be behind a recent downturn – https://theconversation.com/how-opioid-deaths-tripled-in-philly-over-a-decade-and-what-may-be-behind-a-recent-downturn-247768

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Decluttering can be stressful − a clinical psychologist explains how personal values can make it easier

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Mary E. Dozier, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Mississippi State University

    Asking how discarding an item fits with a person’s goals can help them decide whether to keep it. MoMo Productions via Getty Images

    I recently helped my mom sort through boxes she inherited when my grandparents passed away. One box was labeled – either ironically or genuinely – “toothpick holders and other treasures.” Inside were many keepsakes from moments now lost to history – although we found no toothpick holders.

    My favorite of the items we sorted through was a solitary puzzle piece, an artifact reflecting my late grandmother’s penchant for hiding the final piece to a jigsaw puzzle just to swoop in at the last moment and finish it.

    After several hours of reminiscing, my mom and I threw away 90% of what we had sorted.

    “Why did I keep this?” is a question I hear frequently, both from my family and friends and from patients. I am a licensed clinical psychologist whose research focuses on the characterization, assessment and treatment of hoarding disorder, particularly for adults 60 years of age or older. As such, I spend a great deal of my time thinking about this question.

    What drives the need to keep stuff?

    Hoarding disorder is a psychiatric condition defined by urges to save items and difficulty discarding current possessions. For adults with “clinically severe” hoarding disorder, this leads to a level of household clutter that impairs daily functioning and can even create a fire hazard. In my professional experience, however, many adults struggle with clutter even if they do not meet the clinical criteria for hoarding disorder.

    Holding on to things that have sentimental value or could be useful in the future is a natural part of growing older. For some people, though, this tendency to hold on to objects grows over time, to the point that they eventually do meet criteria for hoarding disorder. Age-related changes in executive function may help explain the increase in prevalence of hoarding disorder as we get older; increasing difficulty with decision-making in general also affects decisions around household clutter.

    The traditional model behind hoarding disorder suggests that difficulty with discarding comes from distress during decision-making. However, my research shows that this may be less true of older adults.

    Time to declutter.
    Kurt Whitman/Education Images via Getty Images

    When I was a graduate student, I conducted a study in which we asked adults with hoarding disorder to spend 15 minutes making decisions about whether to keep or discard various items brought from their home. Participants could sort whatever items they wanted. Most chose to sort paper items such as old mail, cards or notes.

    We found that age was associated with lower levels of distress during the task, such that participants who were older tended to feel less stressed when making the decision about what to keep and what to discard. We also found that many participants, particularly those who were older, actually reported positive emotions while sorting their items.

    In new research publishing soon, my current team replicated this finding using a home-based version of the task. This suggests that fear of making the wrong decision isn’t a universal driver of our urge to save items.

    In fact, a study my team published in August 2024 with adults over 50 with hoarding disorder suggests that altruism, a personality trait of wanting to help others, may explain why some people keep items that others might discard. My colleagues and I compared our participants’ personality profiles with that of adults in the general population of the same gender and age group. Compared with the general population, participants with hoarding disorder scored almost universally high on altruism.

    Altruism also comes up frequently in my clinical work with older adults who struggle with clutter. People in our studies often tell me that they have held onto something out of a sense of responsibility, either for the item itself or to the environment.

    “I need it to go to a good home” and “my grandmother gave this to me” are sentiments we commonly hear. Thus, people may keep things not out of fear of losing them but because saving them is consistent with their values.

    Your values can help guide which possessions should stay in your life and which ones should go.

    Leaning into values

    In a 2024 study, my team demonstrated that taking a values-based approach to decluttering helps older adults to decrease household clutter and increases their positive affect, a state of mind characterized by feelings such as joy and contentment. Clinicians visited the homes of older adults with hoarding disorder for one hour per week for six weeks. At each visit, the clinicians used a technique called motivational interviewing to help participants talk through their decisions while they sorted household clutter.

    We found that having participants start with identifying their values allowed them to maintain focus on their long-term goals. Too often, people focus on the immediate ability of an object to “spark joy” and forget to consider whether an object has greater meaning and purpose. Values are the abstract beliefs that we humans use to create our goals. Values are whatever drives us and can include family, faith or frivolity.

    Because values are subjective, what people identify as important to keep is also subjective. For example, the dress I wore to my sister’s wedding reminded me of a wonderful day. However, when it no longer fit I gave it away because doing so was more consistent with my values of utility and helpfulness: I wanted the dress to go to someone who needed it and would use it. Someone who more strongly valued family and beauty might have prioritized keeping the dress because of the aesthetics and its link to a family event.

    Additionally, we found that instead of challenging the reasons a person might have for keeping an item, it is helpful to instead focus on eliciting their reasons for discarding it and the goals they have for their home and their life.

    Tips for sweeping away the old

    My research on using motivational interviewing for decluttering and my observations from a current clinical trial on the approach point to some practical steps people can take to declutter their home. Although my work has been primarily with older adults, these tips should be helpful for people of all ages.

    Start with writing out your values. Every object in your home should feel value-consistent for you. For example, if tradition and faith are important values for you, you might be more inclined to hold onto a cookbook that was made by the elders at your church and more able to let go of a cookbook you picked up on a whim at a bookstore.

    If, instead, health and creativity are your core values, it might be more important to hold onto a cookbook of novel ways to sneak more vegetables into your diet.

    Defining value-consistent goals for using your space can help to maintain motivation as you declutter. Are you clearing off your desk so you can work more efficiently? Making space on kitchen counters to bake cookies with your grandchildren?

    Remember that sometimes your values will conflict. At those moments, it may help to reflect on whether keeping or discarding an object will bring you closer to your goals for the space.

    Similarly, remember that values are subjective. If you are helping a loved one declutter, maintain a curious, nonjudgmental attitude. Where you might see a box filled with junk, your grandmother might see something filled with “toothpick holders and other treasures.”

    For additional resources and information on hoarding disorder, visit the International OCD Foundation website.

    Mary E. Dozier has received funding from the American Psychological Foundation and the National Institute of Mental Health.

    – ref. Decluttering can be stressful − a clinical psychologist explains how personal values can make it easier – https://theconversation.com/decluttering-can-be-stressful-a-clinical-psychologist-explains-how-personal-values-can-make-it-easier-247171

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Legal fight against AI-generated child pornography is complicated – a legal scholar explains why, and how the law could catch up

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Wayne Unger, Assistant Professor of Law, Quinnipiac University

    Child pornography laws may be clear, but AI makes enforcement more difficult. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

    The city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was shaken by revelations in December 2023 that two local teenage boys shared hundreds of nude images of girls in their community over a private chat on the social chat platform Discord. Witnesses said the photos easily could have been mistaken for real ones, but they were fake. The boys had used an artificial intelligence tool to superimpose real photos of girls’ faces onto sexually explicit images.

    With troves of real photos available on social media platforms, and AI tools becoming more accessible across the web, similar incidents have played out across the country, from California to Texas and Wisconsin. A recent survey by the Center for Democracy and Technology, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit, found that 15% of students and 11% of teachers knew of at least one deepfake that depicted someone associated with their school in a sexually explicit or intimate manner.

    The Supreme Court has implicitly concluded that computer-generated pornographic images that are based on images of real children are illegal. The use of generative AI technologies to make deepfake pornographic images of minors almost certainly falls under the scope of that ruling. As a legal scholar who studies the intersection of constitutional law and emerging technologies, I see an emerging challenge to the status quo: AI-generated images that are fully fake but indistinguishable from real photos.

    Policing child sexual abuse material

    While the internet’s architecture has always made it difficult to control what is shared online, there are a few kinds of content that most regulatory authorities across the globe agree should be censored. Child pornography is at the top of that list.

    For decades, law enforcement agencies have worked with major tech companies to identify and remove this kind of material from the web, and to prosecute those who create or circulate it. But the advent of generative artificial intelligence and easy-to-access tools like the ones used in the Pennsylvania case present a vexing new challenge for such efforts.

    In the legal field, child pornography is generally referred to as child sexual abuse material, or CSAM, because the term better reflects the abuse that is depicted in the images and videos and the resulting trauma to the children involved. In 1982, the Supreme Court ruled that child pornography is not protected under the First Amendment because safeguarding the physical and psychological well-being of a minor is a compelling government interest that justifies laws that prohibit child sexual abuse material.

    That case, New York v. Ferber, effectively allowed the federal government and all 50 states to criminalize traditional child sexual abuse material. But a subsequent case, Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition from 2002, might complicate efforts to criminalize AI-generated child sexual abuse material. In that case, the court struck down a law that prohibited computer-generated child pornography, effectively rendering it legal.

    The government’s interest in protecting the physical and psychological well-being of children, the court found, was not implicated when such obscene material is computer generated. “Virtual child pornography is not ‘intrinsically related’ to the sexual abuse of children,” the court wrote.

    States move to criminalize AI-generated CSAM

    According to the child advocacy organization Enough Abuse, 37 states have criminalized AI-generated or AI-modified CSAM, either by amending existing child sexual abuse material laws or enacting new ones. More than half of those 37 states enacted new laws or amended their existing ones within the past year.

    California, for example, enacted Assembly Bill 1831 on Sept. 29, 2024, which amended its penal code to prohibit the creation, sale, possession and distribution of any “digitally altered or artificial-intelligence-generated matter” that depicts a person under 18 engaging in or simulating sexual conduct.

    Deepfake child pornography is a growing problem.

    While some of these state laws target the use of photos of real people to generate these deep fakes, others go further, defining child sexual abuse material as “any image of a person who appears to be a minor under 18 involved in sexual activity,” according to Enough Abuse. Laws like these that encompass images produced without depictions of real minors might run counter to the Supreme Court’s Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition ruling.

    Real vs. fake, and telling the difference

    Perhaps the most important part of the Ashcroft decision for emerging issues around AI-generated child sexual abuse material was part of the statute that the Supreme Court did not strike down. That provision of the law prohibited “more common and lower tech means of creating virtual (child sexual abuse material), known as computer morphing,” which involves taking pictures of real minors and morphing them into sexually explicit depictions.

    The court’s decision stated that these digitally altered sexually explicit depictions of minors “implicate the interests of real children and are in that sense closer to the images in Ferber.” The decision referenced the 1982 case, New York v. Ferber, in which the Supreme Court upheld a New York criminal statute that prohibited persons from knowingly promoting sexual performances by children under the age of 16.

    The court’s decisions in Ferber and Ashcroft could be used to argue that any AI-generated sexually explicit image of real minors should not be protected as free speech given the psychological harms inflicted on the real minors. But that argument has yet to be made before the court. The court’s ruling in Ashcroft may permit AI-generated sexually explicit images of fake minors.

    But Justice Clarence Thomas, who concurred in Ashcroft, cautioned that “if technological advances thwart prosecution of ‘unlawful speech,’ the Government may well have a compelling interest in barring or otherwise regulating some narrow category of ‘lawful speech’ in order to enforce effectively laws against pornography made through the abuse of real children.”

    With the recent significant advances in AI, it can be difficult if not impossible for law enforcement officials to distinguish between images of real and fake children. It’s possible that we’ve reached the point where computer-generated child sexual abuse material will need to be banned so that federal and state governments can effectively enforce laws aimed at protecting real children – the point that Thomas warned about over 20 years ago.

    If so, easy access to generative AI tools is likely to force the courts to grapple with the issue.

    Wayne Unger 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. Legal fight against AI-generated child pornography is complicated – a legal scholar explains why, and how the law could catch up – https://theconversation.com/legal-fight-against-ai-generated-child-pornography-is-complicated-a-legal-scholar-explains-why-and-how-the-law-could-catch-up-247980

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Mirror life is a scientific fantasy leading to a dangerous reality − a synthetic biologist explains how mirror bacteria could conquer life on Earth

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Kate Adamala, Assistant Professor of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development, University of Minnesota

    Synthetic biology offers many tantalizing possibilities, but scientists consider some projects too risky to pursue. DBenitostock/Moment via Getty Images

    Most major biological molecules, including all proteins, DNA and RNA, point in one direction or another. In other words, they are chiral, or handed. Like how your left glove fits only your left hand and your right glove your right hand, chiral molecules can interact only with other molecules of compatible handedness.

    Two chiralities are possible: left and right, formally called L for the Latin laevus and D for dexter. All life on Earth uses L proteins and D sugars. Even Archaea, a large group of microorganisms with unusual chemical compositions, stick to the program on the handedness of the main molecules they use.

    For a long time, scientists have been speculating about making biopolymers that would mirror compounds in nature but in the opposite orientation – namely, compounds made of D proteins and L sugars. Recent years have seen some promising advancements, including enzymes that can make mirror RNAs and mirror DNAs.

    Chirality refers to something that is not superimposable on its mirror image – like your hands.
    NASA

    When scientists observed that these mirror molecules behave just like their natural equivalents they considered that it would be possible to make a whole living cell from them. Mirror bacteria in particular had the potential to be a useful basic research tool – possibly allowing scientists to study a new tree of life for the first time and solve many problems in bioengineering and biomedicine.

    This so-called mirror life – living cells made from building blocks with an opposite chirality to those that make up natural life – could have very similar properties to natural living cells. They could live in the same environment, compete for resources and behave like you would expect of any living organism. They would be able to evade infection from other predators and immune systems because these opponents wouldn’t be able to recognize them.

    These features are why researchers like me were so attracted to mirror life in the first place. But these qualities are also huge bugs of this technology that make it a problem.

    I am a synthetic biologist who studies using chemistry to create living cells. I am also a bioengineer who develops tools for the bioeconomy. As a chemist by training, engineering mirror life initially seemed like a fascinating way to answer foundational questions about biology and practically apply those findings to industry and medicine. As I learned more about the immunology and ecology of mirror life, however, I became aware of the potential environmental and health consequences of this technology.

    Real concerns about hypothetical mirror life

    It’s important to note that researchers are likely at least 10 to 30 years away from creating mirror bacteria. On the timescale of a fast-moving field like synthetic biology, a decade is a very long time. Creating synthetic cells is difficult on its own. Creating mirrored ones would require several technical breakthroughs.

    However, it would come with a risk. If mirror cells were released into the environment, they would likely be able to quickly proliferate without much restriction. The natural mechanisms that keep ecosystems in balance, including infection and predation, would not work on mirror life.

    Bacteria, like most life forms, are susceptible to viral infections. These bacterial viruses, or bacteriophages, enter bacteria by binding to their surface receptors and then use their cellular machinery to replicate. But just as a left glove doesn’t fit a right hand, natural bacteriophages wouldn’t recognize mirror cell receptors or be able to use its machinery. Mirror life would likely be resistant to viruses.

    Mirror bacteria may be able to evade the bacteriophages that would otherwise help keep them in check. Here, multiple bacteriophages are attached to a bacterial cell wall.
    Professor Graham Beards/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

    Microorganisms foraging in the environment also keep bacterial populations in check. They differentiate food from nonfood by using chemical “taste” receptors. Anything those receptors bind to, such as bacteria and organic debris, are considered edible, while things that cannot bind to those receptors, such as rocks, are classified as inedible. Think about how a dog foraging on the kitchen floor will eat a bread roll but only sniff a spoon and move on. Mirror life would be, to the bacterial predators, more like a spoon than bread – predators would “sniff” it with their receptors and move on because these cells can’t bind.

    Safety from being eaten would be great news for mirror bacteria, because it would allow it to replicate freely. It would be much worse news to the rest of the ecosystem, because mirror bacteria might hog all the nutrients and spread uncontrollably. Even if mirror bacteria don’t actively attack other organisms, they would still consume food sources other organisms need. And since mirror cells would have much lower death rates than regular organisms due to a lack of predation, they would slowly but surely take over the environment.

    Even if mirror cells grow more slowly than normal cells, they would be able to grow without anything stopping them.

    Insufficient immunity

    Another biological control mechanism that wouldn’t be able to “sniff” out mirror cells is the immune system.

    Your immune cells constantly check everything they find in your blood. The decision tree of an immune cell is fairly simple. First, decide whether something is alive or not, then compare it with its database of “self” – your own cells. If it is alive but is not a part of you, then it needs to be killed. Mirror cells likely wouldn’t pass the first step of that screen: it would not induce an immune response because the immune system would not be able to recognize or bind to mirror cell antigens. This means mirror cells could infect an unprecedentedly wide variety of hosts.

    You might think an infection from mirror bacteria could be treated with antibiotics of the same handedness. It would probably work, and may even be easier on your gut than regular antibiotic therapy. Because antibiotics are also handed, mirror versions of these drugs would not affect your gut microbiome, just like how regular antibioics would not affect mirror cells.

    But humans are a relatively small part of the ecosystem. All other animals and plants may also be susceptible to infection from mirror pathogens. While it is possible to imagine developing mirror antibiotics to treat human infections, it is physically impossible to treat the entire plant and animal world. If all organisms are susceptible to even a slow-moving infection by mirror bacteria, there is no good treatment that could be deployed across the entire ecosystem.

    Better safe than sorry

    Mirror life is an exciting research subject and a potential tool with some practical applications in medicine and biotechnology. But for many scientists, including me, none of those benefits outweigh the serious consequences to human health and the environment that mirror life poses.

    I and a group of researchers in immunology, ecology, biosafety and security – including some who used to actively work on mirror life – conducted a thorough analysis of possible concerns regarding the creation of mirror life. No matter how we looked at it, straight up or in the mirror, the conclusions were clear: The potential benefits of engineering mirror life are not worth the risk.

    Mirror life is scientifically tantalizing but ethically unwise.

    There is no way to make anything completely foolproof, and that includes any safeguards built into a mirror cell that could prevent the risk of accidental or deliberate release into the environment. Researchers working in this space, including us, may find this disappointing. But not making mirror cells can ensure the safety and security of the planet. More discussion among the global scientific community about what kinds of research on mirror biomolecules and related technologies are safe – as well as how to regulate this research – can help safeguard against potential harms.

    Keeping mirror cells inside the mirror, rather than making them a physical reality, is the clearest path to staying safe.

    Kate Adamala 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. Mirror life is a scientific fantasy leading to a dangerous reality − a synthetic biologist explains how mirror bacteria could conquer life on Earth – https://theconversation.com/mirror-life-is-a-scientific-fantasy-leading-to-a-dangerous-reality-a-synthetic-biologist-explains-how-mirror-bacteria-could-conquer-life-on-earth-245842

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Art and science illuminate the same subtle proportions in tree branches

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Mitchell Newberry, Research Assistant Professor of Biology, University of Michigan

    Tree branches in art throughout history follow geometric rules related to fractal geometry. ‘Almond blossom’ by Vincent van Gogh. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.

    Do artists and scientists see the same thing in the shape of trees? As a scientist who studies branching patterns in living things, I’m starting to think so.

    Piet Mondrian was an early 20th-century abstract artist and art theorist obsessed with simplicity and essence of form. Even people who have never heard of Mondrian will likely recognize his iconic irregular grids of rectangles.

    When I saw Mondrian’s 1911 “Gray Tree,” I immediately recognized something about trees that I had struggled to describe. By removing all but the most essential elements in an abstract painting, Mondrian demonstrated something I was attempting to explain using physics and fractal geometry.

    My field of research is mathematical biology. My colleagues and I try to explain how treelike structures such as veins and arteries, lungs and leaves fine-tune their physical form to efficiently deliver blood, air, water and nutrients.

    Fundamental research in the biology of branching helps cure cardiovascular diseases and cancer, design materials that can heal themselves and predict how trees will respond to a changing climate. Branching also shows up in ant foraging patterns, slime molds and cities.

    The treeless tree

    From 1890 to 1912, Mondrian painted dozens of trees. He started with full-color, realistic trees in context: trees in a farmyard or a dappled lane. Gradually he removed leaves, depth, color and eventually even branching from his tree paintings. “Gray Tree” uses only curved lines of various thickness superimposed on top of one another at seemingly random angles. Yet the image is unmistakably a tree.

    How did Mondrian convey the sense of a tree with so little? The science of trees may offer some clues.

    The science of branching

    One goal of mathematical biology is to synthesize what scientists know about the vast diversity of living systems – where there seems to be an exception to every rule – into clear, general principles, ideally with few exceptions. One such general principle is that evolution fine-tunes treelike structures in living things to make metabolism and respiration as efficient as possible.

    The body carefully controls the thickness of vessels as they branch, because deviation from the most efficient diameter wastes energy and causes disease, such as atherosclerosis.

    In many cases, such as human blood vessels, the body exerts much tighter control over diameter than length. So while veins and arteries might take circuitous routes to accommodate the vagaries of organs and anatomy, their diameter usually stays within 10% of the optimum. The same principle appears in tree branches as well.

    The precise calibration of branch diameter leads to a hallmark of fractal shapes called scale invariance. A scale invariance is a property that holds true regardless of the size of an object or part of an object you’re looking at. Scale invariance occurs in trees because trunks, limbs and twigs all branch in similar ways and for similar reasons.

    The scale invariance in branch diameter dictates how much smaller a limb should be as it branches and how much investment a tree makes in a few thick branches versus many thin ones. Trees have evolved scale invariance to transport water, reach light and resist gravity and wind load as efficiently as possible given physical limits.

    This science of trees inspired my colleague and me to measure the scaling of tree branch diameter in art.

    The art of trees

    Among my favorite images is a carving of a tree from a late-medieval mosque in India. Its exaltation of trees reminds me of Tolkien’s Tree of Gondor and the human capacity to appreciate the simple beauty of living things.

    But I also find mathematical inspiration in the Islamic Golden Age, a time when art, architecture, math and physics thrived. Medieval Islamic architects even decorated buildings with infinitely nonrepeating tiling patterns that were not understood by Western mathematics until the 20th century.

    The stylized tree carvings of the Sidi Saiyyed mosque also follow the precise system of proportions dictated by the scale invariance of real trees. This level of precision of branch diameter takes an attentive eye and a careful plan – much better than I could freehand.

    Indeed, wherever our team looked at trees in great artwork, such as Klimt’s “Tree of Life” or Matsumura Goshun’s “Cherry Blossoms,” we also found precise scale invariance in the diameter of branches.

    “Grey Tree” also realistically captures the natural variation in branch diameters, even when the painting gives the viewer little else to go on. Without realistic scaling, would this painting even be a tree?

    As if to prove the point, Mondrian made a subsequent painting the following year, also with a gray background, curved lines and the same overall composition and dimensions. Even the position of some of the lines are the same.

    But, in “Blooming Apple Tree” (1912), all the lines are the same thickness. The scaling is gone, and with it, the tree. Before reading the title, most viewers would not guess that this is a painting of a tree. Yet Mondrian’s sketches reveal that “Blooming Apple Tree” and “Gray Tree” are the very same tree.

    The two paintings contain few elements that might signal a tree – a concentration of lines near the center, lines that could be branches or a central trunk and lines that could indicate the ground or a horizon.

    Yet only “Gray Tree” has scale-invariant branch diameters. When Mondrian removes the scale invariance in “Blooming Apple Tree,” viewers just as easily see fish, scales, dancers, water or simply nonrepresentational shapes, whereas the tree in “Gray Tree” is unmistakable.

    Photo synthesis

    Mondrian’s tree paintings and scientific theory highlight the importance of the thickness of tree branches. Consilience is when different lines of evidence and reasoning reach the same conclusions. Art and math both explore abstract descriptions of the world, and so seeing great art and science pick out the same essential features of trees is satisfying beyond what art or science could accomplish alone.

    Just as great literature such as “The Overstory” and “The Botany of Desire” show us how trees influence our lives in ways we often don’t notice, the art and science of trees show how humans are finely attuned to what’s important to trees. I think this resonance is one reason people find fractals and natural landscapes so pleasing and reassuring.

    All these lines of thinking give us new ways to appreciate trees.

    Mitchell Newberry has published research on tree branching supported by University of Michigan and University of New Mexico. He volunteers with Cool It Burque, a tree-planting group in Albuquerque, NM.

    – ref. Art and science illuminate the same subtle proportions in tree branches – https://theconversation.com/art-and-science-illuminate-the-same-subtle-proportions-in-tree-branches-247967

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: A music expert’s tips on making an unforgettable mixtape (or playlist) for your Valentine

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Glenn Fosbraey, Associate Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Winchester

    There’s something about tangible music that the digital world simply can’t touch. Whether that’s putting a new record on the turntable, popping a shiny CD out of its jewel case or clicking a tape into place on a cassette deck.

    I still remember a time when cassette was king – when the ultimate Christmas present was a pack of blank tapes, and recording your favourite songs from the radio without the interference of the DJ’s voice was a skill to be proud of.

    Then, of course, there was the mixtape. Lovingly compiled over weeks, dubbed from CDs, other cassettes, the radio or LPs, the track listings would be written on the back in your neatest handwriting. When the time was right, you passed it on to that special someone.

    The process wasn’t without risk, of course. Critic Christopher Partridge has noted that, for many of us, popular music is central to the construction of our identities and sense of self. That means that creating something so personal often felt like giving up a section of our diaries.

    A practical guide to making a physical mixtape.

    Handing it over to the wrong person and having your taste ridiculed was a surefire way to spend the next few days wallowing in self-pity, eating multipacks of crisps and listening to The Smiths. Handing it over to the right person, though, and seeing them share your love for those most precious of songs was a certain way to take a relationship to the next level.

    Cassette tapes and players are having a second lease on life. They can be bought online for as little as £30, or even cheaper if you get lucky in a charity shop.

    So, this Valentine’s Day, why not do something that really shows how much you care, and go old school instead of just sending over another Spotify link? Here are five top tips from a seasoned mixtape maker.

    Looking for love this Valentine’s Day? Whether you want to improve your relationship with others or with yourself, The Quarter Life Glow-up can help.

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    1. Be honest

    Romantic mixtapes are supposed to be an opportunity for you to share the tracks that you love; a chance to say “this is a piece of me – what do you think?” If you’re choosing tracks simply because you think they’ll make you look current, deep or edgy, therefore, you’re not being true to the process. Pick the songs that mean something to you and don’t overthink how they may look to someone else.

    2. Be considerate

    Writing on your CD or cassette can add an extra personal touch.
    Isabela Donô Peixoto/Dupe

    If you know the recipient of your mixtape quite well, chances are you might also know a little something about their music tastes.

    Tip one still applies in such an instance, but that’s not to say you should force-feed them Metallica, for example, if they’ve previously said they hate heavy metal. Doing so would either show you to be someone who doesn’t listen (bad), or someone who listens, but doesn’t care (worse).

    So, be considerate, but don’t spend the whole time thinking “Oh God: will they hate this?” They might do, of course, but if they haven’t given you a clue either way, it’s a risk you’ll have to take.

    3. Don’t be cringey

    Mixtapes, especially Valentine’s mixtapes, are not about vicariously displaying your feelings for someone through the voice and lyrics of others. Instead, they are about showing that you trust someone enough to share the songs that are important to you.

    If you own vinyl records, try playing them while recording with a blank cassette.
    Cora Pursley/Dupe

    To that end, please, no Let’s Get It On or J’taime… Moi Non Plus. Not least because it may make the object of your affection cringe, which (hopefully) won’t be your desired reaction.

    Also, try to avoid cringey behaviours when presenting the mixtape, whether that’s saying, “oh, you’re going to LOVE this,” followed by winks and elbow nudges, or, on the flipside, being almost apologetic: “You’re probably going to hate it … but here it is anyway.”

    Instead, just go with something like, “I made you this,” hand it over, and let the music do the rest of the talking.

    4. Sequencing

    When it comes to deciding the running order of your mixtape, it can be looked upon like the sequencing of an album.

    Joy Division and New Order’s Peter Hook says that a tracklist should “build up … slow down” and then have a “big finish”. Taylor Swift says she never likes to put two happy songs in a row or two of the same kind of sadness in a row. Adele swears by leaving the biggest and boldest track to the end. And Elbow’s Guy Garvey likes to include a short post-script of song after the record sounds like it’s ended, which feels like extra kisses at the bottom of a letter.

    Unfortunately, our modern attention spans may also need to be taken into consideration. Radio expert Kelli Fannon admits that she can only get through the first three or four songs of an album (or mixtape) before the phone rings, someone asks a question, or she has a meeting to run to. And she’s not alone.

    So, if there are a few songs you really want your lover to hear, ignore the sequencing advice of the stars, and make sure you put those tracks first.

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    5. Variety is the spice of life

    I’ll never forget my wife’s face when she came to the end of Satan Rejected My Soul by Morrissey, which I’d inexplicably and inadvisably put on the mixtape I’d made for her a few weeks after we’d met.

    Sure, I sulked for a bit (how could she not like it?) but we moved past it, and 20 years on I just know not to play Morrissey within her earshot. It’s unlikely the recipient of your tape is going to love every track and, so long as they let you down respectfully, all is well.

    With hindsight, I can’t think of an instance where Satan Rejected My Soul should ever be on a mixtape. So do yourself (and your love interest) a favour and leave that one off.

    Glenn Fosbraey 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. A music expert’s tips on making an unforgettable mixtape (or playlist) for your Valentine – https://theconversation.com/a-music-experts-tips-on-making-an-unforgettable-mixtape-or-playlist-for-your-valentine-249240

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Camp Hill virus explained: what are the risks of a henipavirus outbreak in America?

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Shirin Ashraf, Postdoctoral Researcher, MRC-Centre for Virus Research, University of Glasgow

    A new pathogen, called Camp Hill virus, was recently discovered in Alabama, drawing attention to a group of viruses known as henipaviruses. This is a big deal because other viruses in this group are linked to serious, often fatal, disease, and this is the first time one of them has been found in North America.

    Camp Hill virus was discovered by looking at tissue samples from short-tailed shrews that were collected in 2021. It’s a new species of virus that’s related to other dangerous viruses such as Nipah and Hendra, which have caused serious outbreaks in other parts of the world. It’s also distantly related to the measles virus.

    The first known henipavirus, Hendra virus, was identified in Australia in 1994. There have been just seven cases of humans getting infected – four of them were fatal.

    Nipah virus, discovered in Malaysia in 1998, is much more deadly. It has caused 30 outbreaks in south-east Asia, infecting over 600 people, with death rates as high as 100% in some cases.

    These viruses usually cause fever and other serious symptoms, such as brain swelling and difficulty breathing. They are thought to be carried by bats and can spread to humans through their saliva or urine. Horses are also thought to be carriers.

    Thanks to new technology that allows scientists to study the genetics of viruses, they’ve now found nearly 20 species of henipaviruses around the world. These viruses have been found on every continent except Antarctica, including places like Ghana, China, Australia and Brazil. This shows that henipaviruses are probably common in nature, and new ones could pop up almost anywhere.

    For example, in China, a virus called Mojang virus was linked to the deaths of three workers who were exposed to it in a mine. Another virus, Langya, spread by shrews, caused an outbreak in which 35 people got sick – although they all recovered.

    So far, other henipaviruses haven’t caused human infections, but the potential is there.

    The rapid growth in our understanding of these viruses comes from improvements in technology and global efforts to study diseases. But it also reminds us that viruses can suddenly jump from animals to humans in unpredictable ways.

    Whether a virus can harm humans depends on how well it can infect human cells, and how badly it affects the body. Some viruses cause mild symptoms, while others can lead to life-threatening diseases. Studying these viruses requires scientists to look closely at their genetic code and run laboratory tests to understand how they work.

    Henipaviruses can infect many animals, including bats, horses, monkeys, dogs, cats and even rodents. This means they are more adaptable and have a higher chance of jumping from animals to humans in different ways. In comparison, a virus like measles can only infect humans, which makes it less likely to spread to other species.

    No drugs or vaccines … yet

    There is no cure for henipavirus infections, but researchers are working on a vaccine for Nipah virus. Some new treatments, such as monoclonal antibodies, are also being developed but aren’t ready for use yet. This makes Nipah and Hendra viruses major public health concerns. The World Health Organization has called for more research to help fight them.

    While there’s no evidence that Camp Hill virus has infected any humans yet – and the chances of it doing so are low – its discovery in North America is a reminder that viruses can emerge anywhere. Even though shrews usually live in forests and don’t come into much contact with people, the potential for the virus to spread remains a worry.

    The more we learn about these viruses, the better we’ll be at creating vaccines that can protect us from both known and new threats. Keeping up with research and staying prepared is crucial to protecting global health from future outbreaks.

    Shirin Ashraf 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. Camp Hill virus explained: what are the risks of a henipavirus outbreak in America? – https://theconversation.com/camp-hill-virus-explained-what-are-the-risks-of-a-henipavirus-outbreak-in-america-249183

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Five ways that illustrations can tell climate justice stories

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Andi Misbahul Pratiwi, PhD Candidate, School of Geography, University of Leeds

    Climate change is often communicated through scientific reports, statistics and policy discussions. However, these technical approaches can be inaccessible to the public, failing to capture the experiences of those most affected.

    Climate narratives structured as stories that involve emotional engagement and personal anecdotes are more effective at mobilising communities, influencing policy and promoting pro-environmental actions across diverse audiences. By blending art with storytelling, illustrations can make complex environmental issues, such as climate justice, much more accessible to the general public.

    Illustrations are not just artistic expressions. They can amplify the voices of affected communities and help make the case for climate justice. In an era where climate action is urgent, harnessing the power of illustration can be transformative. It can challenge dominant narratives while creating more inclusive and participatory ways of understanding climate action.

    I have been collaborating with Puspita Bahari, an Indonesian fisherwomen’s movement to develop ways to communicate the effects of tidal floods and the importance of feminist solidarity. For my PhD research, I spent seven months carrying out fieldwork in three coastal villages in Demak, Central Java, Indonesia. This involved interviews, observations and creative workshops with the community.

    By drawing on 38 women’s firsthand experiences, we have published an illustrated book: Tidal Floods: Women, Fisheries, and Climate Crisis in Indonesia (2024). This story about Indonesia’s fisherwomen explores the intersections of gender, environmental change, activism and the future of the country’s coastal regions. Here are five ways that collaborative illustrations can be used to tell female-led climate justice stories:

    1. Intersectional narration

    The effects of tidal flooding on Indonesian women vary depending on location, livelihood, age and disability status. Along the coastline, women in Indonesia are involved in selling fish, processing seafood and fishing at sea, alongside domestic work.

    This book does not depict women as having a single, monolithic identity. Instead, the images portray their varied realities. These shape how they experience climate injustice and how pre-existing inequalities reproduce new climate injustices.

    Intersectional narration is storytelling that captures how different aspects of identity overlap to shape people’s experiences in complex ways. Using this, various issues such as economic hardship, domestic violence, sexual reproductive health, physical and mental health can be better represented.

    The image below illustrates these challenges. A woman with a disability is unable to use her wheelchair because the village is sinking. A pregnant woman struggles to access healthcare facilities. Fisherwomen face declining incomes due to environmental and economic pressures.

    2. Body maps

    To understand the complexity of climate impacts, I worked with women to draw body maps. As they annotated each picture, fisherwomen shared their embodied experiences of living with tidal floods as an everyday disaster.

    Body mapping is an intimate cartographic process that involves tracing the body and visually exploring one’s lived experience. This method goes beyond textual and oral narratives. It helps women recall and record body memories that might otherwise remain unspoken.

    Their body maps are not just research artefacts. They have been translated into powerful visuals so their personal stories can be shared in this book. The picture above illustrates one fisherwoman’s daily struggles, physical and physiological burdens – so the image reveals the complex, gendered, and intersectional effects of tidal floods.

    3. Historical context

    Certain pictures show how the coastal landscapes are rapidly changing and how villages are sinking at an alarming rate. This historical context is not only drawn from women’s oral narratives but also from past photo albums shared by the community.

    The picture below illustrates the landscape change over 20 years, from rice fields to tidal floodwaters.

    4. Movement and agency

    Beyond documenting vulnerabilities and the social, ecological and economic effects of climate change on women, this book shows how these women have agency. This manifests in various ways, from small acts of resilience to broader feminist solidarity.

    When they work together as a community, women can adapt through collective action. This includes planting crops, building cooperatives and holding demonstrations. Stories can play a role in moving beyond positioning women not just as victims but as people with valuable knowledge and the ability to assert their agency and drive sustainable climate action.

    5. Reflection and collective ownership

    In an era defined by uncertainty and rapid change, the ability to pause and reflect on climate justice is more valuable than ever. Certain images actively encourage readers to reflect on more tech-driven and infrastructure-focused responses to the climate crisis.

    The final pages include questions that prompt critical thinking about the links between gender, climate justice and activism. For example, “what do you think will happen if we do not address the climate crisis?”

    Rather than extracting knowledge from women, especially those in Global South countries, this book is co-created. Fisherwomen’s voices and narratives are central to the storytelling process. By reclaiming conversations about climate change that are often dominated by international forums, we can hear and learn from the people who are most affected. And hopefully inspire more climate advocacy and grassroots action.

    Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?

    Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead. Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. Join the 40,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.

    The creation of this book was funded by the GENERATE Project as part of a United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) Future Leaders Fellowship at the University of Leeds: www.generateproject.org.

    – ref. Five ways that illustrations can tell climate justice stories – https://theconversation.com/five-ways-that-illustrations-can-tell-climate-justice-stories-249104

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Podcasts are a great tool for political persuasion – just ask this 18th century thinker

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Katie East, Senior Lecturer in the History of Radical Ideas, Newcastle University

    Podcasts have been around for more than two decades, but the last few years – and particularly their influence in the 2024 US election – have solidified their role in the media landscape.

    Some of the most popular podcasts in the US and UK (such as The Joe Rogan Experience and The Rest is Politics) have a conversational format. They typically include two or more people discussing topics in an unstructured, uncensored way. The hosts and guests are unencumbered by word counts or TV timeslots. Such podcasts are a viable medium for political persuasion.

    There is some debate as to whether podcasts are simply an extension of the echo chambers formed in other media. But as a researcher of intellectual history and political discourse, I believe that conversational podcasts offer a uniquely valuable way to unpick political questions – and change the listener’s point of view.

    To understand the value of conversation as a means of communication, I suggest looking to writing from 18th-century Britain. This period saw a shift away from monarchy towards parliamentary government, along with the explosion of print culture. Popular engagement with political issues grew, and discussion of politics became a notable pastime.

    The rapidly expanding public sphere produced countless works on the art of conversation. Traditionally, they have been interpreted as indicative of the Georgian fascination with civility and politeness, instructing the reader in the proper behaviour for civilised discussion.

    However, the work of the Independent minister Isaac Watts (1674-1748) reveals a different view. Watts achieved prominence as a writer on education and as a philosopher. He engaged with key Enlightenment debates concerning reason, dogmatism and freedom of thought.

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    In 1741, Watts published The Improvement of the Mind, which outlined the most effective ways of acquiring and creating useful knowledge. Among these was conversation.

    Watts viewed conversation as a tool for persuasion. This was not in the sense of compelling someone to your view – he explicitly warned against approaching conversation with a dogmatic mindset – but rather as a collective endeavour to reach the truth of a matter. Ultimately, this is a much more enduring form of persuasion.

    The appeal of conversation

    There is a logic to the appeal of conversational podcasts in a world of increasing isolation and division. Even the supposed great connector – social media – offers only a facade of conversation. While social media connects people more than ever before, the natural flow and deep engagement of a conversation is difficult to replicate online. Exchanges are rarely immediate, numerous voices are vying for position and tone of voice or expression is obscured behind faceless avatars.

    Conversation, Watts argued, offers a greater clarity of understanding of an opposing position than a one-way interaction like reading (or scrolling). A person can explain their meaning in different terms if it is not initially clear. If questions arise, the speakers can unpack the nuances before becoming hostile.

    Moreover, Watts argued, encountering a different perspective can draw the conversation closer to “evidence and truth” in unexpected ways.

    This supports the idea that conversation is the best forum for better understanding a different stance from your own. Such a view paves the way for the kind of “agreeable disagreement” celebrated by The Rest is Politics.

    Even listening to an conversation can help you understand a stance different from your own.
    Yuri A/Shutterstock

    It was not only that the nature of conversation facilitated better mutual understanding, in Watts’ view, but also that it offered unique creative possibilities in the pursuit of truth. The act of conversation demanded more active engagement of the mind and the “secret chambers of the soul,” drawing forth ideas which might otherwise have remained lodged deep in the recesses of the mind. Not only could hidden thoughts be revealed, but entirely new ones could be created through the process of conversing.

    Watts likened two people in conversation to flints being struck together: in motion working together they could produce fire, but stationary and solitary nothing could be created. In solitude “our souls may be serene,” Watts wrote, “but not sparkling”.

    Conversation and disagreement

    Watts recognised that caution was needed to avoid the most likely pitfalls of conversation: the echo chamber and the risk of hostility.

    He was emphatic that conversation with those whose opinions differed from your own was necessary. If knowledge and truth were to be discovered, then new ideas had to be considered. As noted, he also warned against dogma, advising patience regarding a firm and unalterable proposition until you have grounds for it.

    Most interestingly, he warned against bothsidesism, or arguing a question pro and con for the sake of it. This, he argued, would embed confrontation in the conversation and prevent the mind from being in the proper position to uncover the truth.

    Today, the polarisation resulting from avoiding views different from our own, and from deliberately seeking out binary positions for the sake of confrontation is all too apparent.

    Yet the popularity of conversational political podcasts indicates the appetite for a different approach to political discussion. Though they didn’t have podcasts in the 18th century, conversation was a public endeavour, performed at coffee houses and replicated in print so the audience could also learn good practice and understand – so listen on.

    Katie East 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. Podcasts are a great tool for political persuasion – just ask this 18th century thinker – https://theconversation.com/podcasts-are-a-great-tool-for-political-persuasion-just-ask-this-18th-century-thinker-245213

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Struggling with money? Here are 5 tips for growing your income from a financial expert

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Lisa Kramer, Professor of Finance, University of Toronto

    Whether you are just starting or looking to advance your financial skills, there are steps you can take to improve your financial situation. (Shutterstock)

    Personal finance can often feel overwhelming, with many Millennial and Gen Z individuals struggling with student loans, the high cost of living, housing market challenges and a general sense of financial anxiety. But just as any challenge can be overcome through skill development and persistence, so can your finances.

    Whether you are just starting or looking to advance your financial skills, there are steps you can take to improve your financial situation. From basic recommendations to more advanced strategies, here are some ways to get yourself on the path to financial stability.

    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.

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    1. Create a budget

    The first step to mastering your finances is working out where your money is going. You may discover, as my now-husband realized when he was a graduate student, that you’re spending a third of your food expenditures on coffee.

    Once you determine where your money is going, you can reign in some of your expenses and ensure some money is left over each month to devote to debt repayment or savings. Creating a budget is essential for doing this.

    The Government of Canada has an online budget planner tool available, as does the United States Federal Trade Commission and the United Kingdom government’s Money and Pensions Service.

    Once your budget is made, you can focus on reducing discretionary costs and redirect those savings toward your financial goals.

    Create a realistic budget that aligns with your financial goals.
    (Shutterstock)

    2. Boosting your income

    It can be difficult to reduce expenses in an inflationary environment — especially when the cost of basic needs like food and shelter are becoming increasingly expensive in Canada, the United States and elsewhere.

    But you can still find ways to boost your income without necessarily getting a second or third job.



    Read more:
    Maths that will help you as an adult: from baking a cake to asking for a pay rise

    It can be daunting to ask your employer for a raise, but you’re much more likely to get one if you ask. Arm yourself with quantifiable evidence about your productivity and work ethic. Then, rehearse your request with a mentor who is further along on your career path.

    If you don’t succeed on your first try, use the experience to understand how to secure a raise in the future. Another way to get a raise? While still employed — and on your own time, not company time — look for a new job, get an offer and use it as leverage to politely negotiate a raise. If you’re still unsuccessful, it may be time to move on to that new job.

    3. Build your pension

    Older generations are more likely to have worked in jobs that came with defined-benefit pensions, a type of pension plan that provides someone with a stream of income after they retire.

    These days, jobs are less likely to come with such perks. A recent World Bank report found about half of gig workers worldwide have no retirement plan; in some countries, that figure is as high as 75 per cent.

    It’s important to check if your current employer offers a defined contribution pension plan, which involves you and your employer contributing to a saving account that grows over time.

    Even if you don’t have access to such a plan, consider using a robo-advisor to replicate one of its key features by setting up an automatic monthly contribution to an investment account. Then, you can increase the amount you contribute every time you get a raise.

    You should also consider allocating that investment to a well-diversified stock index, or to a blend of stocks and bonds if you are relatively risk averse. An exchange-traded fund, also known as an ETF, is a low-cost way to do this compared to buying mutual funds. While the value of your investment may go up and down over the short term, it is likely to perform well over the long term.

    Talking to a financial advisor is always a good idea if you feel stuck.
    (Shutterstock)

    4. Steady does it

    Once you have set up automatic contributions and established a routine of increasing them over time, you will see your investment account balance start to grow. Even if you can put away only small amounts each month in the beginning, you’ll develop good financial habits.

    Your next task should be avoiding the temptation of timing the ups and downs of financial markets by actively trading. To dodge this common pitfall, avoid examining the balance of your investment account on a month-to-month basis and keep contributing, regardless of whatever may be happening in financial markets.



    Read more:
    If you have money anxiety, knowing your financial attachment style can help

    Ironically, overconfident investors often underperform the market when they try — and fail — to outperform by frequently trading their investment holdings. Successful investors understand the most reliable path to wealth accumulation is paved with a buy-and-hold mentality, meaning you should purchase investments with the intention of keeping them long-term rather than frequently buying and selling.

    5. Imagine the future

    When you’re young, it can be hard to identify with an abstract future version of yourself in retirement. Your golden years may be decades in the future, and it can seem like you have ages to prepare for whatever life will bring you at that stage in life.

    However, research shows that the clearer you can mentally picture your future self, the more motivated you will be to make sensible saving and retirement planning decisions for your future self.

    Try imagining what your life will be like when you’re retired, or what you will look like. Will you have grey hair or wrinkles? How will you spend your time? Picture your future self in retirement and the kind of life you would like to have.

    Meet the challenge head-on

    If you still find yourself overwhelmed by these tips and don’t know where to begin, consider contacting a fee-only financial advisor to analyze your situation and provide you with personalized advice.

    Remember, no matter what financial challenge you may face, it’s simply a new opportunity to overcome. With the right strategies and support, you’ll be able to tackle any financial hurdles and work toward a more secure future for yourself.

    Achieving financial stability is a journey that requires ongoing effort and dedication. Each milestone you reach brings you closer to your ultimate goal.

    Lisa Kramer has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Securities Institute Research Foundation.

    – ref. Struggling with money? Here are 5 tips for growing your income from a financial expert – https://theconversation.com/struggling-with-money-here-are-5-tips-for-growing-your-income-from-a-financial-expert-234623

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Albanese government looking to acquire Rex Airlines if buyer can’t be found

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

    The Albanese government will on Wednesday announce it is willing, as a last resort, to purchase the collapsed Rex Airlines, in its latest bid to prop up aviation services to regional and remote areas.

    As the administrators work on the second attempt to sell Rex, the  government will say that, in the first instance, it will work with shortlisted bidders on potential support to maximise the prospects of a sale. The initial attempt to sell Rex failed last year.

    What support will be offered  will be conditional on bidders committing to provide an “ongoing, reasonable level of service to regional and remote communities”. Assistance must also represent value for taxpayers’ money and there would have to be assurances from the potential buyer of good governance.

    While the government is not a bidder in the sale process now underway and hopes that will be successful, if there is no result, it will go down an alternative route.

    “In the event there is no sale, the Albanese government will undertake necessary work, in consultation with relevant state governments, on contingency options, including preparations necessary for potential Commonwealth acquisition.”

    The government is also providing an extension to the exemption from the “use it or lose it” test for REX regional flight slots at Sydney airport. This will ensure its access to those slots until October 24 next year.

    REX went into voluntary administration last year. An attempt (now abandoned) to compete on capital city routes had proved disastrous for it.

    The Federal government has provided it with extensive support to keep it in the air on regional routes while its future is being determined.

    This has included $80 million in a loan to the administrator to keep regional flights operating until June 30, as well as a buyout of $50 million debt from its biggest creditor, PAGAC Regulus Holdings Limited. The government is now Rex’s largest creditor.

    Prime Minister Albanese said: “We are working collaboratively with the administrators of REX to ensure that regional services continue beyond June 2025, including looking at what support the Commonwealth can provide.

    “Regional Australians can be assured that our government will continue to fight to ensure these regional airfare remain available.”

    Transport minister Catherine King said: “When markets fail or struggle to deliver for regional communities the government has a role to ensure people do not miss out on opportunities, education and critical connections.”

    When speaking about the future of the airline last month, opposition transport spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie declined to say whether the Coalition would support nationalisation of Rex.

    Until the 1990s the federal government owned Qantas and one of the two major domestic airlines.

    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. Albanese government looking to acquire Rex Airlines if buyer can’t be found – https://theconversation.com/albanese-government-looking-to-acquire-rex-airlines-if-buyer-cant-be-found-249594

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How to make a change in your life – and stick to it

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Abigail Parrish, Lecturer in Languages Education, University of Sheffield

    PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock

    Is there a change you’d like to make in your life? Perhaps you’d finally like to write the novel you’ve been thinking about for years. Perhaps you think you should start saving for a holiday or a deposit on a house or flat. Maybe you would like to improve your fitness.

    That’s great. But we all know it can be hard to stick to these kinds of changes. Gym membership figures suggest half of new members quit within six months, and many of us have the evidence of once-loved hobbies scattered around our homes.

    To write that book, for instance, you’re going to have to find time to do it, and stick with it when the going gets tough and initial enthusiasm has worn off.

    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.

    First, you should ask yourself why you’re doing it.

    My research looks at the psychology of making changes through the lens of what is known as self-determination theory, which proposes that there are different forms of motivation. These range from, for instance, being motivated to do something because someone is making you do it, to being motivated because you think it’s fun.

    Looked at like this, big changes, such as training for a new career, and smaller ones, like joining a weekly fitness class, are all the same. What matters is the reason you have for doing it.

    Find the right reason

    You might have more than one reason for making a change. Perhaps you want to start something because it’s a TikTok trend and everyone else seems to be doing it, or maybe the suggestion is coming from someone in your life. These are external reasons to do something, and this type of motivation is less likely to lead to success.

    Focus on the ones that are “internalised” – that come from within yourself. If you can find a reason why the change is important to you and you have your own motivation to make it, you’re much more likely to stick with it. It needs to be something that is aligned with your values – something you believe in.

    So what you’re doing doesn’t even have to be something you enjoy, as long as it’s something you feel is important to you.

    Think of deciding to save money, for example. This isn’t an activity that is inherently fun for most people, but the act of saving might be important because of what it represents or leads to – the holiday at the end of it, or the house you could buy with the money you put away. When you start to waver in your goal, thinking of that personal reason will help you keep going.

    You don’t necessarily have to enjoy something to be motivated to keep doing it.
    New Africa/Shutterstock

    There are two other important concepts from self-determination theory mixed up in the idea of an action being aligned with personal values. When you do something that comes from your values, you should be acting with autonomy – doing something you want to do, not something other people have made you do.

    That’s a key construct in the theory, but it can be hard to align with things like work or study. Perhaps your goal is to apply yourself at work or to get a good grade in your studies. But most people have a boss, or a supervisor, and their role is to instruct you on what to do.

    If you’re a teacher, you have to work to the school’s timetable, whether you like it or not. But in the jobs where you are most motivated, you will be able to make some choices for yourself. Teaching is an interesting example of when this doesn’t work, because in England this very structured job has become even more so in recent years, coinciding with a recruitment and retention problem in the profession.

    Teacher autonomy is widely studied and considered important even outside of self-determination theory, and a perceived lack of autonomy is likely to be one of the reasons people might want to quit their job.

    Eyes on the goal

    The other really important thing is your goal in making the change. The best kind of goal is an autonomous one, relating to something that is intrinsically important to you. This might be competing at a high level in your sport, because it will give you joy and satisfaction to be the best you can be. This means you will put up with hardships and challenges, and you will keep going even after a bad day.

    By contrast, if your goal is an external one, you might find things more difficult. This includes if you’re doing something for a reward, rather than because something is personally important to you. So if you want to write a bestselling novel to become famous or rich, you may find that as the going gets tough, your motivation slips and work grinds to a halt.

    If you are doing something because other people want you to, even other people who care about you, you will struggle. This may mean that some changes are just not meant to be – or it might mean changing your mindset and how you look at the goals you are aiming for.

    Try to get the support of people who care about you and who you care about, whether this be family and friends, or a new community at your sports club, for example. And finally, keep an eye on your goals. Any change which you are engaging in for yourself because you value it and can see the benefits, is likely to be a lasting one.

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

    – ref. How to make a change in your life – and stick to it – https://theconversation.com/how-to-make-a-change-in-your-life-and-stick-to-it-237248

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Social media groups can offer support to new parents. Here’s how to tell if there’s marketing involved

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicole Bridges, Senior Lecturer in Public Relations and Director of Academic Program – Communication, Creative Industries, Screen Media, Western Sydney University

    Stock Rocket/Shutterstock

    For new parents struggling with challenges such as breastfeeding and sleep deprivation, social media can be a great place to turn for advice. Digital platforms such as Facebook and Reddit host a range of groups that offer peer support and information.

    Research shows connecting with other new parents can also foster a sense of community.

    But there is growing concern businesses and influencers may also be using groups to push certain products and services.

    In recent media reports, new parents have described feeling misled, after discovering the parent support group they thought was founded by a local mum was run by a media company owner and monetised through advertising.

    So how can you identify when commercial interests are involved?

    Here’s what to look out for to get the best from online parenting groups.

    How can social media groups help?

    In Australia, closed Facebook groups are a popular choice for parents accessing free peer support and information online. Closed groups are not public – they are run by administrators and moderators who can approve requests from other users for membership.

    These groups are often started by not-for-profit organisations or parents themselves and have a number of benefits. Parents can connect with others, share experiences, seek advice and learn about different parenting approaches.

    This can be particularly useful for people in remote and regional areas who may find it harder to access in-person support, and was essential during COVID lockdowns.

    My research with colleagues has revealed the important role these groups can play.

    In several studies we have looked at how parents use closed Facebook groups facilitated by the Australian Breastfeeding Association.

    Over four weeks, we tracked the frequency and type of posts, the number and nature of the comments, and how parents felt about the support they received in these groups.

    We found they provided information and emotional support group members could trust because they were facilitated by trained peer breastfeeding counsellors and other mothers.

    This is significant because we know lack of breastfeeding support is often cited by mothers as one of the key reasons for premature weaning.

    The group administrators played an important role responding to queries and making sure discussions stuck to the association’s code of ethics.

    This code encourages mutual respect, sharing evidence-based information, and co-operation with health professionals. It also discourages the promotion of products and services.

    Our research has shown the value of accessing trusted information and sharing experiences in a supportive community, where human connection is centred rather than products.

    Online groups can help parents connect to a community.
    AnnaStills/Shutterstock

    What’s the problem with monetising groups?

    When access to parenting support and information is limited or biased, it can have serious consequences for those already facing challenges with parenting.

    Let’s imagine an example. A group member is posting about birth trauma. But in responding, other members aren’t allowed to mention local service providers – for example, counselling – because they are not paid sponsors of the group.

    This means advice is skewed towards organisations that can afford to pay for sponsorship and be mentioned.

    As a result, new parents might not find out about the range of not-for-profit support groups that can help them with important challenges like breastfeeding and postpartum mental health.

    This deceptive practice can erode trust within online communities. Users may perceive the platform as prioritising profit over the wellbeing of its members, which can reduce engagement and the overall quality of the group.

    It may also leave new parents – who are particularly vulnerable to unethical marketing – open to exploitation.

    What can we do?

    Protecting parents from commercialised social media groups requires a multifaceted approach.

    First, regulation is crucial, such as ensuring that social media groups are transparent about any commercial interests, and commercial entities are marketing their products ethically.

    Second, we need public awareness campaigns to educate parents about the potential biases and risks associated with commercialised platforms. This includes fostering media literacy skills to critically evaluate information and identify reliable sources.

    Finally, collaboration between policymakers, researchers, industry representatives, and parent advocacy groups is vital to develop effective solutions that address these challenges.

    Parents may already be dealing with challenges such as sleep deprivation.
    Ground Picture/Shutterstock

    What should I look out for?

    To protect yourself from misinformation in online parenting groups, it’s crucial to be critical of information sources. It’s a good idea to:

    • watch out for warning signs like excessive product promotion, lack of transparency about group affiliations, and a primary focus on selling. For example, when joining a closed Facebook group, read the page’s “about” section. If there is mention of advertising or sponsorship, this is a red flag

    • look at who the “admins” are. If listed admins include business names that can also be a cause for concern

    • check out the list of “members”. If the group accepts “pages” (which are often run by businesses) in addition to individual people, this is also a sign that commercial interests are at play.

    • look for groups focused on sharing experiences, offering support, and building authentic relationships

    • observe how members interact and how heavily the groups are moderated and censored, and seek out groups with diverse perspectives

    • when you join the group, carefully consider the group rules that you are agreeing to and what they say about mentioning support services, and the promotion of commercial products. Will this mean that you may be censored or receive censored information?

    Always cross-reference information with reputable sources like government organisations (such as the Raising Children Network or Australian Breastfeeding Association) and compare information from multiple sources to get a balanced perspective.

    Finally, trust your instincts. If a group feels “off” or overly promotional, don’t hesitate to leave.

    Nicole Bridges is a volunteer breastfeeding counsellor and educator with the Australian Breastfeeding Association.

    – ref. Social media groups can offer support to new parents. Here’s how to tell if there’s marketing involved – https://theconversation.com/social-media-groups-can-offer-support-to-new-parents-heres-how-to-tell-if-theres-marketing-involved-247212

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Australia improves on global corruption rankings, but there is still work to be done

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By A J Brown, Professor of Public Policy & Law, Centre for Governance & Public Policy, Griffith University

    Australia has turned the corner on its decade-long slide on Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), once again ranking in the top ten least corrupt countries in the world. The fresh ranking comes just ahead of a federal election, which will determine the future of many key anti-corruption reforms.

    In the latest 2024 index, Australia rose two points to a score of 77 on the 100-point scale. The index is the world’s most widely cited indicator of how countries are faring in controlling corruption in government.

    The result confirms a positive trend, placing Australia back in the top 10 countries for the first time since 2016. It now sits at equal 10th alongside Iceland and Ireland.

    In 2012, Australia was ranked as the 7th least corrupt country in the world, with a score of 85 out of 100. But by 2021 it had fallen to a score of 73 and 18th place on the index.

    With that fall widely attributed to a decade of complacency and foot-dragging on efforts to bolster integrity in government, the confirmed recovery is a major affirmation of reforms of the past three years. It also highlights some stark choices for policymakers heading into the 2025 federal election.

    The best – and worst – places for corruption

    Globally, Denmark again tops the index with a score of 90, followed by Finland on 88. The most corrupt countries in the world are Venezuela (10), Somalia (9) and South Sudan (8).

    However, the global outlook is highly challenging. Over the past ten years, many more countries have now declined significantly in their anti-corruption scores (47 countries) than have improved on the index (32 countries).

    Australia’s recovery is therefore now bucking a negative trend, including the “integrity complacency” still affecting many other developed countries. The United Kingdom (71/100) and United States (65/100) have now fallen to their own lowest-ever scores on the index.

    The index is compiled from 13 independent surveys of professional and expert perceptions of public sector corruption across the world. Nine sources were used to inform Australia’s result – including include Freedom House, the World Justice Project and the World Bank’s Executive Opinion Survey.

    Two sources had Australia still declining, including the global academic-led Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Project. However, six sources rate Australia as improving, led by the Economist Intelligence Unit’s assessment, conducted most recently in September 2024.

    Australian reforms are making a difference

    There’s now little doubt that the federal integrity reforms of the past three years are a major reason for Australia’s new direction of travel. These include the creation of the National Anti-Corruption Commission in 2022, as well as the long overdue strengthening of Australia’s foreign bribery laws in 2024. A renewed commitment to the global Open Government Partnership, much of the response to Robodebt, and measures to strengthen merit in public appointments, such as replacement of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, have also helped.

    Long overdue anti-money laundering laws were also introduced late in 2024, beyond the time frame for data collection for the latest index. While the impact of these on expert opinion will be known in the future, they highlight that much of the business of Australia’s anti-corruption “catch up” is unfinished and ongoing.

    The result poses a challenge for any policymakers suffering under the illusion that Australia’s integrity systems are somehow “fixed”.

    From an international perspective, Australia is yet to move to control secret and sham company ownerships – the major vehicle used to hide bribes and stolen public money. This is despite championing transparency in the beneficial ownership of companies since hosting the G20 in 2014.

    The need to bring transparency and integrity to federal political donation and funding laws continues to overshadow the last weeks of the 47th parliament. Negotiations between the major parties have failed to inspire confidence among independents, and much of the public.

    Effective control of undue influence in decision-making, pork-barrelling, professional lobbying and “revolving door” jobs for politicians and public servants are ongoing challenges.

    And in a clear signal to both the Labor government and the Coalition, a team of cross-benchers, led by independent Andrew Wilkie, have introduced a bill to establish a Whistleblower Protection Authority. This remains the single biggest gap in Australia’s integrity system and the most major anti-corruption reform still needed.

    Even before Australia hit its 2022 low, some leaders were softening citizens up to accept a reduced position on the index. In 2018, Coalition Attorney-General Christian Porter claimed Australia had remained “consistently in the top 20 countries on Earth for low corruption”. This prompted independent Rebekha Sharkie to point out that Australia had fallen from the top ten: “the trajectory is not good”.

    By contrast, Labor leader Anthony Albanese went into the last election accusing the Morrison government of dragging Australia down on corruption, and promising Labor would do better. He said:

    The health of our democracy, the integrity of our institutions, the transparency and fairness of our laws, the harmony and cohesion of our population. These aren’t just noble ideals. They are a powerful defence against the threat of modern authoritarianism.

    Amid the challenges, there is hope. The federal parliament’s reform record of the past three years is clearly a big step in the right direction.

    However, the climb back to 77 on the Corruption Perceptions Index shows it’s clearly just the first step in securing Australia’s reputation as a democracy that protects itself against undue influence and abuse of power.

    A J Brown AM is Chair of Transparency International Australia. He has received funding from the Australian Research Council and all Australian governments for research on public interest whistleblowing, integrity and anti-corruption reform through partners including Australia’s federal and state Ombudsmen and other regulatory agencies, parliaments, anti-corruption agencies and private sector bodies. He was a member of the Commonwealth Ministerial Expert Panel on Whistleblowing (2017-2019) and is a member of the Queensland Public Sector Governance Council.

    – ref. Australia improves on global corruption rankings, but there is still work to be done – https://theconversation.com/australia-improves-on-global-corruption-rankings-but-there-is-still-work-to-be-done-249458

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Whether we carve out an exemption or not, Trump’s latest tariffs will still hit Australia

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Scott French, Senior Lecturer in Economics, UNSW Sydney

    US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have stated an exemption for Australia from Trump’s executive order placing 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imported into the US is “under consideration”. But prospects remain uncertain.

    Albanese would do well to secure an exemption using similar arguments as then-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull did in 2018.

    If Australia cannot obtain a carve-out from the tariffs, the main group affected will be the Australian producers of steel and aluminium. But the size of the hit they will take is difficult to predict.

    Regardless of whether Australia gets an exemption, the world economy – and Australians – will be affected by Trump’s latest round of tariffs.

    Producers will be hit

    If ultimately imposed by the US, these tariffs will make steel and aluminium produced in Australia more expensive for US manufacturers relative to domestically produced alternatives. This will certainly result in reduced demand for the Australian products.

    However, three factors will help limit the effects:

    1. The price of metals produced in the US will rise

    It will take time to ramp up US production to fill the gap of reduced imports, and the extra production will likely come from less efficient domestic producers. This means that US manufacturers will continue to buy imported metals, despite the higher prices.

    2. The US is not a huge market for Australian steel and aluminium

    Australia produced A$113 billion of primary and fabricated metal in the 2022-23 financial year, according to the ABS.

    By comparison, less than $1 billion of steel and aluminium was exported to the US in 2023, according to data from UN Comtrade, consisting of about $500 million of aluminium and less then $400 million of steel. Exports to the US account for about 10% of Australia’s total exports of these metals.

    3. Major markets

    If major markets such as China and the European Union enact retaliatory tariffs on US metals, this could make Australian metals more competitive in these markets.

    Some stand to benefit

    While workers in Australian steel and aluminium plants will be watching the news with trepidation, some of Australia’s biggest manufacturing companies may be less concerned.

    For example, BlueScope Steel has significant US steel operations, and saw its share price increase on news of the tariffs.

    US-based Alcoa, which owns alumina refineries in Western Australia and an aluminium smelter in Victoria, will also expect to see its US operations benefit.

    And Rio Tinto will be most concerned about its substantial Canadian operations. Its Canadian hub is responsible for close to half of its global aluminium production.

    Demand for iron ore could fall

    The US tariffs will also have wider ranging effects on the Australian economy, regardless of whether Australia’s products are directly targeted.

    While aluminium is Australia’s top manufacturing export, it still makes up only about 1% of total exports, and steel makes up less than half that.

    Iron ore, by contrast, makes up more than 20% of Australia’s exports, with aluminium ores making up an additional 1.5%.

    This means the effect of the tariffs on demand for the raw materials to make steel and aluminium may have the largest detrimental effect on the Australian economy.

    Because the tariffs will make steel and aluminium more expensive to US manufacturers, they will seek to reduce their use of them. This means global demand for the metals, and the ores used to produce them, will decline.

    Investors appear to be betting on this, with shares of Australian miners like Rio Tinto and BHP falling since Trump announced the tariffs.

    Imported goods will become more expensive

    Many of the things Australians buy are likely to get more expensive.

    All US products that use steel and aluminium at any stage of the production process will also become more expensive. Tariffs will raise the cost of steel and aluminium for US manufacturers, both directly and by reducing overall productivity in the US.

    About 11% of Australia’s imports come from the US. And about half of this consists of machinery, vehicles, aircraft, and medical instruments, which typically contain steel and aluminium. Further, these goods are used by manufacturers around the world to produce and transport many of the other things Australians buy.

    Scott French 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. Whether we carve out an exemption or not, Trump’s latest tariffs will still hit Australia – https://theconversation.com/whether-we-carve-out-an-exemption-or-not-trumps-latest-tariffs-will-still-hit-australia-249493

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: American Primeval includes brutal displays of Mormon violence, but the reality was arguably worse

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brenton Griffin, Casual Lecturer and Tutor in History, Indigenous Studies, and Politics, Flinders University

    American Primeval/Netflix

    On January 24, leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, more commonly known as the Mormon Church, penned a statement condemning the Netflix series American Primeval.

    This historical fiction depicts the Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857, as well as broader hostilities between the US government and Mormons at Salt Lake City during the Utah War of 1857–58.

    The church has criticised the series for its portrayal of the Mormon prophet Brigham Young, who it claims is “egregiously mischaracterized as a villainous, violent fanatic”. It also says the series

    inaccurately portrays [the Mountain Meadows Massacre] as reflective of a whole faith group, [when] the Church has long acknowledged and condemned this horrific tragedy.

    The reality of the massacre was arguably even grimmer than what American Primeval shows. Contrary to what is depicted in the series, there were no adult survivors. Official sources state up to 150 people were killed. Only 17 children under the age of six were spared, who were then discreetly adopted into Mormon families.

    A (nuanced) history of violence

    Although onscreen depictions of Mormon violence are common, most of these fail to explain the roots of this violence in both theological belief and history.

    Canonised Mormon scripture, including in the Book of Mormon and The Doctrine and Covenants, and pronouncements from leaders such as Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, argue some violence is appropriate and required as per God’s commandment. Justifications for violence had been used against both outsiders and insiders since the religion was founded in 1830 by Joseph Smith (who himself was assassinated in 1844).

    The other driver is the lived experiences of Mormons. Throughout their history, Mormons had been forcefully removed from wherever they have settled, most prolifically under the Missouri “extermination order” of 1838.

    This resulted in the slaughter, rape and violent relocation of Mormons from Missouri to their temporary home in Illinois, before they further migrated to Zion – a religious community established by Young and his followers in Utah – in 1847.

    The Mormons’ establishment of Salt Lake City and surrounding cities in 1847 was based on the violent dispossession of Indigenous communities. As shown in American Primeval, the Utah War and the period surrounding it was dominated by violence.

    This included violence from Mormons and other settlers against Native Americans whose lands were being dispossessed, from Native Americans defending their lands, and from the US government against Mormons and Native Americans.

    In the Mountain Meadows Massacre, Mormons and Native Americans allied against US emigrants travelling to California.

    A depiction of the 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre.
    Shutterstock

    The two threads of theology and history are integral to understanding the way Mormon violence has been both enacted and represented.

    Portrayals in 19th-century media

    Mormonism first reached Australia’s shores in 1840 and remained a small religious minority in the 19th and 20th centuries. Converts were encouraged to migrate to Utah to help build Zion.

    Australian newspapers reported widely on the Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857. These articles were mostly reprints of the same information. They were largely accurate, but inflated the number of victims.

    The articles explained how the slaughter had originally been assigned solely to Native Americans, but was later discovered to have been orchestrated by the Mormons, with assistance from some Indigenous tribes.

    Interest began to wane in the 1860s, but picked up again in 1877 following the execution of perpetrator John D. Lee. However, in his book and “confession”, Mormonism Unveiled (1877), Lee claimed he had been scapegoated by Young and other leaders.

    Photographs from 1877 show officers, soldiers and spectators at Mountain Meadows, Utah, following the execution of John D. Lee.
    Library Of Congress

    Spotlight on the Danites

    Interest in Mormon violence wasn’t confined to the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Australian newspapers also discussed the Danites, a band of religiously motivated vigilantes involved in Mormon hostilities in Missouri and Illinois in the 1830s.

    These vigilantes were inspired by Smith’s theological claims and a goal to defend Mormons from harm. They participated in both aggressive and defensive violence against their non-Mormon neighbours.

    Historians have debated the extent of the Danites’ existence, with official church statements claiming they ceased to exist in 1838. Yet in 1858, Brigham Young threatened, “if men come here and do not behave themselves, they will […] find the Danites, whom they talk so much about”.

    The group is first mentioned in Australian media by the late 1850s, with descriptions of Danite “atrocities” disseminated widely, though largely uncorroborated.

    By the 1870s and ‘80s, this had progressed to portrayals in popular culture, including in Australian theatres and Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1887 novel Sherlock Holmes: A Study In Scarlet.

    Media representations of Mormon violence continued into the 20th century. The 1917 American film A Mormon Maid focused on theocratic violence and polygamy, which had been allowed in Mormonism until its ban in 1890.

    A 1952 article in Queensland’s The Truth recounting the Mountain Meadow Massacre.
    Trove

    The modern Mormon

    Our collective fascination with Mormonism today is augmented by the religion’s marginal yet undeniable presence, both in Australia and overseas.

    There are about 17 million Mormons worldwide. Of these, an estimated 157,000 are in Australia (about 0.6% of the population) compared with almost seven million in the United States (about 2% of the population).

    Modern portrayals of Mormonism have tended towards the humorous (The Book of Mormon musical), scandalous (The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives), and even sympathetic (Heretic).

    Even recent representations of Mormon violence, such as in Under the Banner of Heaven (2022), have focused on breakaway fundamentalists rather than the mainstream Mormon church.

    Outrage towards Mormons has focused on the religion’s extreme wealth, influence over political issues such as opposition to same-sex marriage, and the rise of Mormon “tradwife” influencers.

    But I argue these are divergences from the more prominent historical trend of painting Mormons as violent zealots (or in some cases as sexually amoral heretics). And despite these, the spectre of Mormon violence remains – reinforced periodically over nearly 200 years of popular culture and media.

    Brenton Griffin was raised as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but is no longer a practising member of the church. His PhD research is focused on the religion’s place in Australian and New Zealand popular culture, politics, and society from the nineteenth century to present.

    – ref. American Primeval includes brutal displays of Mormon violence, but the reality was arguably worse – https://theconversation.com/american-primeval-includes-brutal-displays-of-mormon-violence-but-the-reality-was-arguably-worse-249377

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: What are physician assistants? Can they fix the doctor shortage?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa Nissen, HERA Program Director – Health Workforce Optimisation Centre for the Business & Economics of Health, The University of Queensland

    Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock

    If you’ve tried to get an appointment to see a GP or specialist recently, you will likely have felt the impact of Australia’s doctor shortages.

    To alleviate workforce shortages, the Queensland government is considering introducing health workers called physician assistants more widely to the state’s health system.

    But the medical body representing physicians, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, has warned thorough consultation with medical experts is needed first.

    So what exactly are physician assistants? And are they the solution to our workforce issues we’ve been looking for? Let’s look at what the evidence says – and the lessons from abroad.

    What is a physician assistant?

    Physician assistants, also known as physician associates, are trained health professionals who work under the supervision of a doctor. They undertake a variety of tasks including:

    • examining patients
    • ordering and interpreting blood tests
    • assisting in surgery
    • prescribing medicines.

    In general practice, physician assistants may also provide preventative health care such as giving vaccinations and providing health advice.

    Physician assistants commonly complete postgraduate-level university education and a hands-on training program. They may also need to have completed a health-based undergraduate degree.

    In most countries, physician assistants work under a “delegation” model. This means the treating doctor and physician assistant together determine the tasks the physician assistant can undertake, depending on their competence. As their skills and knowledge increase, the level of supervision changes accordingly.

    When were they first used?

    Similar roles have been used throughout history, including in the military. As early as the 1800s, trained assistants known as feldshers (or feldschers) provided basic medical care during times of war, for example in Russia, Bulgaria and Poland.

    The contemporary physician assistant role evolved in the 1960s in the United States. It was initially designed to use the skills of medically trained military servicemen.

    The first physician assistants were military servicemen.
    Andy Gin/Shutterstock

    Since then, it has become an accepted and well established part of the health care team in the US, where the medical profession supports the physician assistant role and contributes to its regulation.

    There are currently more than 178,000 physician assistants practising in the US, across a wide range of settings. Around one-quarter work in family/general medicine and one-fifth in rural and medically under-served areas.

    Physician assistants can be found in many countries, including Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands.

    Australia previously trialled physician assistant in two states, Queensland and South Australia. Like other countries, the role was found to be effective and acceptable.

    What does the research say about their use?

    Most research about physician assistants originates from the US. Studies spanning several decades show physician assistants provide safe and appropriate care. They can competently undertake consultations, perform complex procedures, provide preventative health care, treat non-complex patients in the emergency department and provide a wide range of services in rural areas.

    Most studies have reported patient satisfaction with the physician assistant role.

    Research has found it’s cost-effective to use physician assistants, including for complex patients.

    Physician assistants can improve the continuity of patient care in hospitals, as they remain with their supervising doctor rather than moving between hospital areas as trainee doctors do. This enables them to maintain consistent contact with patients, their families and other members of the health-care team.

    Using physician assistants in emergency departments enables doctors to review more complex patients.

    In surgery, physician assistants can reduce the workload on resident doctors. They can prepare patients for surgery, review them afterwards and perform some surgical procedures. They can also reduce the time patients stay in hospital.

    Physician assistants can also provide care in rural and remote areas and have worked with Aboriginal health workers in remote areas of Australia.

    What do Australian policymakers need to consider?

    Like many other countries, the Australian health workforce is under pressure. Recent reviews have highlighted the need to examine how the health system and workforce can more effectively meet the needs of the community. This includes making better use of all current health professions by enabling them to perform the tasks they have been trained to do.

    Health professionals must ensure their care keeps patients safe and aligns with public expectations. This relies on appropriate education and training, funding and payment policies, governance and regulation. Effective regulation ensures health professionals are held accountable for their practice, according to defined professional practice expectations.

    Despite physician assistants being trialled in Queensland and SA, the role did not gain the support of the medical profession. As a result, only a small number of physician assistants are currently practising. And Australia no longer provides education programs for physician assistants.

    Several factors affected the acceptance of the physician assistant role.

    Their skills and competence weren’t widely understood or recognised. This meant their scope of practice was poorly defined, which may have been confusing for both patients and health professionals.

    The profession was also unable to access Medicare rebates or Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme subsidies for patient consultations or scripts. This limited their full involvement in some health services such as general practice.

    What could we do better?

    Australia needs to learn from the available evidence when considering a possible role for physician assistants.

    In the US and Canada, for example, a close relationship between the medical and physician assistant professions has provided guidance and support for the role, and ensured physician assistants are accountable for their practice, through the development of “expected standards” of practice.

    As demand for health services increases, it makes sense to explore the addition of physician assistants to Australia’s health-care workforce, if safety and quality can be assured, and health care teams function optimally.

    Lisa Nissen receives funding from the Commonwealth Department and Aging and jurisdictional health departments for research related to Health Workforce Optimization and team based care.

    Lynda Cardiff 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. What are physician assistants? Can they fix the doctor shortage? – https://theconversation.com/what-are-physician-assistants-can-they-fix-the-doctor-shortage-247560

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Byelections show Labor is in trouble in Victoria – but how much will Peter Dutton benefit?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Strangio, Emeritus Professor of Politics, Monash University

    Is history repeating itself in Labor’s fortress state of Victoria?

    At the 1990 federal election, Bob Hawke’s Labor government had a near-death experience when it lost nine seats in Victoria. A furious Hawke laid the blame squarely at the feet of John Cain’s state Labor government, which was listing badly in its third term due especially to a series of financial calamities.

    Less than six months later, a broken Cain, one of Victoria’s great reformist premiers, resigned. His successor was Joan Kirner, the state’s first woman leader. Despite battling gamely, she was unable to avert a landslide Labor defeat in 1992.

    Wind forward to the present and there are some eerily similar dynamics. Anthony Albanese’s government will shortly head to the polls at a time when Jacinta Allan’s ageing Labor administration is in deep political strife in a state groaning under mountainous public debt.

    Labor decline

    Saturday’s twin byelection results highlight state Labor’s parlous position. In the inner urban seat of Prahran, the ALP was so accepting of its lack of competitiveness that it didn’t field a candidate.

    The Liberal Party achieved a modest primary vote swing of 4.8%, which was enough to snatch the decade-long held Greens seat.

    In the outer western suburban seat of Werribee, Labor’s primary vote collapsed by more than 16%. But the Liberal Party only increased its first vote by a relatively paltry 3.7%. To put that in perspective, the Victorian Socialists enjoyed an equivalent lift in support.

    Inevitably, much ink is being spilt trying to divine what these byelection results portend for the Albanese government. In short, whether the unpopularity of the Allan government threatens to unseat federal Labor and open the door to a Peter Dutton prime ministership.

    State stronghold

    Victoria has been a citadel for the ALP, both state and federal, for decades. John Howard’s dubbing of the state as the “Massachusetts of Australia” has become almost cliched so often it is invoked by journalists as a shorthand way of describing Victoria’s predisposition for left-of-centre voting behaviour. It is a label first ascribed to Victoria in the 19th century showing how long it has been known for its progressive political temperament. It is a trait coiled in the state’s political DNA.

    Following the 2022 federal election, the Coalition held only 11 out of 39 seats in Victoria. The Liberals were nearly banished entirely from metropolitan Melbourne, where they now hold just two electorates, Deakin and Menzies (the fringe outer suburban seats of Casey and La Trobe are classified by the AEC as rural and provincial respectively).

    To compound matters, boundary redistributions have since wiped out the Liberals’ margin in Deakin and turned Menzies into a notional Labor seat. All of this means that the federal Coalition must perform substantially better in Victoria, and specifically Melbourne, if its to have a viable path to power.

    State Labor’s political doldrums have offered some hope to Dutton, who is targeting four seats in Victoria, and at a stretch, five: Aston, Chisholm, Goldstein (held by the Teal, Zoe Daniel), McEwen and Dunkley. Notably, only three of those seats – Aston, McEwen and Dunkley – are outer suburban. And the latter is considered the least likely to fall.

    Dutton’s pitch to the suburbs

    Nonetheless, the outer suburbs are a key to Dutton’s election strategy. It’s where he is seeking a major realignment of Australia’s electoral politics by pillaging traditional Labor working class and lower middle class voters.

    This strategy isn’t unprecedented. The so-called “battler” vote was a component, albeit exaggerated, of John Howard’s formula for electoral success as he reoriented the Liberal Party towards conservative populism. Dutton is aggressively doubling down on that pivot.

    The Werribee result, however, can hardly be construed as a harbinger of Liberals storming the ramparts of the outer suburbs. The party’s primary vote in the byelection was only 29%, indicating voters in such areas, which are characterised by breakneck growth and a tsunami of demographic change, are still wary of the local Liberals.

    That scepticism is understandable. For years now, the Victorian Liberal party has been deeply dysfunctional. It has been consumed by ideological and personal feuds, out of sync with the state’s progressive attitudes, low on talent, and seemingly habituated to reposing in opposition rather than presenting as a serious alternative government.

    But, even allowing for such Victorian specific factors (and it is far from the only under-performing Liberal division across the country – think of South Australia and Western Australia), the Werribee result suggests Dutton’s outer suburban focus will not easily yield sizeable dividends, and certainly not in one electoral cycle. It will be a slow burn at best.

    In the meantime, if the Liberals are to win government, they will need to make up ground in inner and middle metropolitan electorates, including Teal-held seats, to which Dutton is far less attuned.

    Major party disenchantment

    What Saturday’s byelections mostly underscored is the dissatisfaction with all of the established parties, including the Greens, whose vote flat-lined in both Prahran and Werribee.

    The disenchantment was expressed in the approximate one third of votes that went to a melange of other parties or independent candidates. This is consistent with the trend that so dramatically materialised at the 2022 federal election when a fractious public voted along increasingly fragmented lines.

    Rather than any party enjoying a grand sweep of the outer suburbs or elsewhere, that is what we can expect at the impending federal election: volatility and unpredictability which is confirmed as the new normal.

    In the past, Paul Strangio received funding from the Australian Research Council.

    – ref. Byelections show Labor is in trouble in Victoria – but how much will Peter Dutton benefit? – https://theconversation.com/byelections-show-labor-is-in-trouble-in-victoria-but-how-much-will-peter-dutton-benefit-249479

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Explainer: what does it actually mean to ‘firm’ renewables?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peta Ashworth, Professor and Director, Curtin Institute for Energy Transition, Curtin University

    Large power grids are among the most complicated machines humans have ever devised. Different generators produce power at various times and at various costs. A generator might fail and another fills the gap. Demand soars in the evenings and on hot days. In Australia, eastern and southern states trade power across borders. Meanwhile, Western Australia has two grids and the Northern Territory has several.

    But these complicated machines are undergoing major change, as we shift from large fossil fuel plants to cleaner forms of power. Wind and sun are now the cheapest way to produce electricity. These renewable sources will soon overtake coal and gas – they’re already averaging 40% of power flowing through the national grid.

    Solar and wind are often called “variable” renewable energy sources. Variable, here, refers to the fact the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow. On sunny, windy days we get lots of cheap power. But on still nights, we might get little.

    This is where “firming” comes in. To firm renewables is to convert this cheap but variable source of power into what we really want: a reliable supply of electricity, there when we need it. Big battery projects are one way to do it. But there are others.

    Solar and wind are often called ‘variable’ renewable energy sources.
    Damitha Jayawardena/Shutterstock

    How does firming work?

    Storage is the best known way to firm renewables. As floods of cheap power come in, you can store it for later use.

    Storage can be performed by grid-scale batteries, where the power is stored directly. But it can also be done by pumped hydro, where water is pumped uphill when power is cheap and plentiful and run back downhill, through turbines, when power is harder to source.

    Firming can also be done by virtual power plants – aggregated fleets of smaller batteries in homes and electric vehicles.

    Gas peaking plants are another way of firming renewables. In the future, gas plants will go from being a mainstay to the equivalent of a backup generator, fired up only when needed.

    Generally, energy storage facilities offer either short- or long-term firming. As more renewable power enters Australia’s grids, we will need both. This is because they offer different levels of storage and response times.

    Short term can be as short as seconds to a few hours. Batteries are a common way to provide short-term firming, because they can ramp up very quickly to tackle sudden fluctuations in supply or demand. These fast-response systems help stabilise the grid by smoothing out spikes caused by changing weather.

    Long-term firming can be for hours, days or even weeks. This includes large-scale battery storage or back-up generators such as gas plants. Long-term options are crucial to maintain power supply during extended periods of low renewable generation, such as still, cold days and nights in winter.

    Firming turns cheap solar and wind into reliable, stable power.
    Taras Vyshnya/Shutterstock

    How are we tracking with firming renewables?

    In recent years, large-scale battery announcements have ramped up. Almost 8 gigawatts of battery capacity is now in progress or anticipated to start construction shortly. But the pipeline of future projects is much larger: 75 gigawatts of firming will be required.

    While renewable power is cheap, to make it useful and reliable in addition to storage, we need transmission lines to connect large renewable zones to cities and towns. All this adds extra costs.

    As the level of renewables in our power grids inches higher, firming costs increase. This is especially true when a grid goes from 95% to 100% renewables, when there’s a sudden jump in cost.

    This is why experts have argued for keeping a few gas peaking plants. While they are not emission-free, they are flexible and can start up much more rapidly than coal. They will likely play a key role in firming the grid during renewable droughts and extreme demand – an estimated 5% of the year. That sounds small, but they will be essential.

    Eventually, gas peaking plants could switch to hydrogen, if the fuel becomes cost effective. This would cut emissions further.

    Firming – at home?

    Homes with batteries can also help firm the network by joining a virtual power plant. These networks of batteries can be digitally coordinated to function as a single power plant, helping stabilise the grid.

    If a home owner signs up to a virtual power plant program, they hand over some control in return for income. Technologies such as this can support grid stability by charging or discharging in response to supply fluctuations.

    These networks are a flexible energy resource. They can inject power to the grid instantly if there’s a sudden drop in solar or wind generation. They can also soak up surplus energy.

    These aren’t hypothetical. Several are running or in development in Australia, such as the AGL virtual power plant in South Australia, SolarHub in New South Wales and the new ARENA-funded Project Jupiter in Western Australia, which will commence soon.

    Is firming helping?

    Firming technologies are already helping in high-renewable grids overseas. Big batteries now allow California’s grid to absorb more renewables, by soaking up daytime solar and releasing it at evening peak.

    Power from renewables such as solar need to be firmed to maximise use in the grid.
    The Desert Photo/Shutterstock

    We’re seeing the benefits of firming locally, too.

    On January 20 this year, a heatwave in Western Australia triggered a new record for peak electricity demand – 4.4 gigawatts – in the state’s main electricity network, the South West Interconnected System.

    In response, recently built battery storage at Kwinana, Collie, and Cunderdin stored excess power and discharged it at peak times.

    The next day, dense clouds swept in, slashing solar output and reducing peak demand. In response, gas generators increased output to firm the grid.

    Firming technologies are already playing a vital role in keeping our electricity supply stable, reliable and resilient – and it’s just the start.

    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. Explainer: what does it actually mean to ‘firm’ renewables? – https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-does-it-actually-mean-to-firm-renewables-248134

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Thousands of Australian pets may soon have ‘useless’ microchips. It’s a symptom of a bigger problem

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bronwyn Orr, Veterinarian, Southern Cross University

    Mitchell Orr/Unsplash

    Late last year, rumours swirled online that HomeSafeID, a private Australian pet microchip registry, had stopped operating.

    On Feburary 5 2025, a notice appeared on the HomeSafeID website, ostensibly from the site’s administrator. It states the website “is likely to go offline” soon due to unpaid bills. This means the database of information stored on HomeSafeID would also go offline.

    There has been no official word from HomeSafeID as to the status of the company. HomeSafeID did not respond when The Conversation reached out for comment.

    According to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), the company is still registered and no insolvency notice has been published. However, it’s possible HomeSafeID has stopped operating or will do so in the near future.

    If this happens, any pet with a HomeSafeID registered microchip would no longer have searchable microchip details. If these pets become lost, vets and shelters will have no way of finding or verifying their owner.

    The situation is a symptom of a bigger problem with pet microchip registries in Australia – a lack of national oversight.

    Why should you microchip your pet?

    If your pet goes missing, their microchip is key to you being reunited. Vets and shelters can scan a stray animal’s microchip, search one of the seven microchip registries in Australia, find the pet owner’s details and contact them. Pet microchips significantly increase the likelihood lost pets will be reclaimed by their owners.

    In fact, microchipping pets is a legal requirement in all states and territories of Australia except the Northern Territory, although it is required in the City of Darwin. In New South Wales, fines for failing to microchip your pet range from A$180 to $880.

    A pet microchip should contain up-to-date details of the pet’s owner so they can be contacted if the animal becomes lost.
    Todorean-Gabriel/Shutterstock

    If HomeSafeID does go offline, many pets will have microchips that don’t connect to a database any more, making them essentially useless.

    It’s difficult to estimate the scale of the problem, but it could affect hundreds of thousands of pets, including ones adopted from RSPCA Queensland.

    According to ASIC, RSPCA Queensland was a part-owner of HomeSafeID until 2020. A spokesperson for the charity told The Conversation it has no current partnership with HomeSafeID, and “don’t know the extent of how many animals are affected”. Yesterday, RSPCA Queensland issued advice for pet owners to check their registration details.

    Where are microchip details stored?

    There are currently seven registries in Australia. Five are privately owned, including HomeSafeID, and two are owned by state governments, in NSW and South Australia. Pets microchipped in those states are meant to be registered with the state registry.

    The five private registries jointly fund a website called Pet Address, which allows you to search the five private databases to find where your pet’s details are stored.

    However, Pet Address doesn’t cover the state registries – these have to be searched separately. Only NSW vets and “authorised identifiers” (such as shelters) can access the pet owner details stored in the NSW registry.

    If a pet is moved to another state but their owner doesn’t update the registry, their microchip won’t be readable in the new location by non-NSW vets and shelters.

    There are currently no rules, regulations or even guidelines around how private pet microchip registries should operate in Australia. If a microchip database were to cease operating, there is no safety net to ensure information is automatically moved to another database.

    A vet can scan your pet’s microchip to retrieve the number and find out the registration details.
    Lucky Business/Shutterstock

    What can I do to make sure my pet’s microchip is up to date?

    Given current uncertainty around the HomeSafeID registry, pet owners across Australia should check their pets’ microchip numbers and find out which database they’re registered in.

    If you don’t already know your pet’s microchip number, vets and shelters can use a microchip scanner to find that number for you. Then, you can run it through Pet Address or the SA and NSW registries where relevant, to find out which database the number is registered on.

    If your pet’s microchip is currently with HomeSafeID, it might be prudent to move your pet’s details to another database. You can do this by contacting one of the other microchip registries and applying to register with their database (this may involve a small fee).

    Australia needs national coordination on pet microchipping

    Given it’s mandatory to microchip dogs and cats, it might seem strange there are no regulations or guidelines around how microchip registries should operate. However, this is a symptom of a much bigger issue.

    There is almost no national leadership or collaboration on companion animal issues in Australia. Pets are firmly the domain of state governments, with the federal government only really involved in the export and import of companion animals.

    There are, however, avenues for national coordination. The renewal of the Australian Animal Welfare Strategy is one, and the national Animal Health Committee is another.

    Regardless of who takes responsibility, it’s clear a round table on pet microchipping is urgently required to prevent hundreds of thousands of pets walking around with microchips that don’t work anymore.

    Otherwise, lost pets may find themselves at shelters and pounds unnecessarily, and animals that might have otherwise been returned home could end up being adopted, or worse, euthanised.

    Bronwyn Orr is a Director of the Walk In Clinic For Animals and Veterinary Support Group.

    – ref. Thousands of Australian pets may soon have ‘useless’ microchips. It’s a symptom of a bigger problem – https://theconversation.com/thousands-of-australian-pets-may-soon-have-useless-microchips-its-a-symptom-of-a-bigger-problem-249492

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Trump agrees to consider Australian exemption from tariffs, describing Albanese as ‘very fine man’

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

    US President Donald Trump has agreed to “consider” exempting Australia from the 25% tariff he has imposed on imports of steel and aluminium to the US.

    Trump gave the undertaking during a wide-ranging 40-minute conversation with Anthony Albanese early Tuesday morning (Australian time). The prime minister, speaking to a news conference soon afterwards, stressed that Trump had agreed on the precise words to be used to describe the outcome.  

    “I presented Australia’s case for an exemption and we agreed on wording to say publicly, which is that the US president agreed that an exemption was under consideration in the interests of both of our countries.”

    Albanese gave no indication of when he expects a decision.

    Meanwhile, Trump has signed the executive orders for the 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium without exemptions.

    The Australian government might be able to take heart from Trump’s later comments on the discussion.

    The president described Albanese as a “very fine man”.

    “We have a surplus with Australia, one of the few, and the reason is they buy a lot of airplanes. They’re rather far away and they need lots of airplanes. We actually have a surplus. It’s one of the only countries which we do. I told him that that’s something that we’ll give great consideration to,” he told the media.

    Pressed on whether he was confident of an exemption, Albanese would not speculate beyond the agreed words. “The words that I’ve used are the words that I’ll stick to,” he said.

    “It’s appropriate when you’re dealing with the president of the United States to not speak on his behalf. And those are the words that were agreed.”

    “We’ll continue to engage diplomatically.” Albanese said, “Australia will always stand up for Australia’s interests […] We’ll continue to put the case.”

    The prime minister described the call as “constructive and warm” and posted on social media that it was a “great conversation”.

    Outlining Australia’s argument for an exemption Albanese said the US had a trade surplus with Australia of about two to one, and steel supplier BlueScope had extensive production in the US.

    “When you look at the imports of these products into the US, it’s about 1% of imports of steel, 2% of aluminium,” he told his news conference.

    “Our steel is an important input to US manufacturing. BlueScope is the US’s fifth largest steelmaker. They’ve invested $5 billion in the US across a range of states. I think there’s more than 30 different investments there.

    “Of course the major export is Colorbond there, for roofs in California on the west coast. And it plays an important role.

    “Aluminium is a critical input for manufacturing in the United States and our steel and aluminium are both key inputs for the US-Australian defence industries. in both of our countries.”

    Albanese said that in the conversation, “We spoke about a range of other things as well, including the fact that Jordan Mailata is a Super Bowl champion and I did point out that he was a South Sydney junior”.

    The call, which was in train before the tariff announcement, also canvassed critical minerals and AUKUS.

    Opposition Leader Peter Dutton again criticised Albanese over his past comments about Trump. But the opposition leader told a news conference: “What’s important now is the Trump administration hears there is a bipartisan position in Australia to stand up for our national interest and that national interest is best served by a removal of the tariff as it applies to Australia.”

    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. Trump agrees to consider Australian exemption from tariffs, describing Albanese as ‘very fine man’ – https://theconversation.com/trump-agrees-to-consider-australian-exemption-from-tariffs-describing-albanese-as-very-fine-man-248886

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Do men and women agree on how easy it is for each other to find a job or a date?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Whyte, Deputy Director – Behavioural Economics, Society and Technology (BEST) Research Group. Chief-Investigator – ARC ITTC Centre for Behavioural Inisghts for Technology Adoption (BITA).), Queensland University of Technology

    The Conversation, DenPhotos/Shutterstock, Mehaniq/Shutterstock

    Typically, you don’t have to write a cover letter before attending a candlelit dinner. But there are some eerie emotional parallels between finding a job and finding a date.

    Both can require you to put yourself “out there” in uncomfortable ways, brace yourself for repeated rejection and grapple with heartache.

    On the flip side, success in either pursuit can significantly boost your confidence and sense of wellbeing – especially if it feels like a good fit.

    This raises the question: do Australians really believe they have equal access to the labour and dating markets?

    Our study, published in the journal Evolutionary Psychology, examined this question in depth, shining a light on how these beliefs are linked, and where they differ.

    Whether Australians’ perceptions of job and dating market access are completely accurate or not, they can certainly have a big impact on the choices we make and the way we behave in both our personal and professional lives.

    Finding a job versus finding a date

    We surveyed more than 1,000 online daters aged between 18 and 81. Our sample only included participants who described their sexual orientation as heterosexual and who identified as either male or female.

    Our study looked at people’s beliefs about how easy it was to find a job or find a date.
    Arthur Bargan/Shutterstock

    It’s important to understand that we were looking specifically at people’s perceptions of their access to these markets.

    That is, we looked at what men and women believed about their own (and the opposite sex’s) ability to find a job or find a date.

    We also examined what both sexes believed about women’s economic dependence on men.

    On average, we found women think it’s easier for men to find a decently paying job. Women also think they’re less economically dependent on male partners than men think women are.

    Both sexes agree it’s easier for women to find a date than men. But men think they have it much worse off on this metric than women think they do.

    Where beliefs diverge

    These perceptions begin to vary significantly with factors such as age, education, number of children and political orientation.

    There are some big differences in how women perceive women’s economic dependence and ease of dating access at different stages of life.

    Middle-aged men and women (aged 35 to 55 years) share similar perspectives on women’s economic dependence. This contrasts with younger and older women, who believe women are significantly less economically dependent on men.

    Women believe they have an easier time finding a date as they age from 18 to 35 years old. This perception then declines sharply from 40 to 75 years or older.

    These patterns align with evolutionary theories, suggesting that access to resources and shifting household dynamics at different life stages influence how men and women view the labour and dating markets.

    Shifting beliefs about access at different age levels may reflect changing household dynamics.
    aijiro/Shutterstock

    Intertwined ‘markets’

    Importantly, we found that perceptions of labour and dating market access are intrinsically linked, and they tend to reflect broader economic conditions.

    For instance, men in high-income areas think they have better job and dating opportunities, while those in areas with greater gender income disparities see women as more economically dependent.

    On the flipside, women in higher-income areas think they are less economically dependent. And those in areas with lower gender gaps in income perceive women’s dating access to be greater.

    This interplay of beliefs is also reflected in participants’ own dating preferences. Women who believe they are more economically dependent on men tend to seek a long-term male partner with greater earning potential than them.

    On the other hand, men who expect to earn more than their ideal partner think it’s easier for men to find a date.

    Beliefs about how easy it is to find a job and find a date are linked.
    Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock

    Why does this all matter?

    Economic growth is the way economists and politicians measure increases in our standard of living. It is primarily driven by consumption.

    That’s everyday Australians buying their morning coffees at work, leg hams at Christmas time or splurging on a new cabana for the beach.

    Historically, more consumers meant more consumption, which meant higher economic growth and an increased standard of living.

    Many governments have recognised and acted on this link, encouraging Australians to have more children. Back in the early 2000s, for instance, the Howard government implemented the so-called “baby bonus”.

    Then-Treasurer Peter Costello famously asked the nation to “Have one for mum, one for dad, and one for the country”.

    It worked, sort of. Australia’s birth rates increased modestly.

    Fast forward to today, and these issues are just as relevant. Dating and job market choices still have a significant impact on Australian society, both economically and socially.

    Khandis R Blake receives funding from the Australian Research Council (DE210100800 and DP220101023).

    Benno Torgler, Ho Fai Chan, Rachel Hall, and Stephen Whyte 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. Do men and women agree on how easy it is for each other to find a job or a date? – https://theconversation.com/do-men-and-women-agree-on-how-easy-it-is-for-each-other-to-find-a-job-or-a-date-247235

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Global: As Trump abandons the old world order, NZ must find its place in a new ‘Pax Autocratica’

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Chris Ogden, Associate Professor in Global Studies, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

    Donald Trump is moving rapidly to change the contours of contemporary international affairs, with the old US-dominated world order breaking down into a multipolar one with many centres of power.

    The shift already includes the US leaving the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Accords, questioning the value of the United Nations, and radical cuts to the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

    Such a new geopolitical age also involves an assertion of raw power, with Trump using the threat of tariffs to assert global authority and negotiating positions.

    While the US is not significantly less powerful, this new era may see it wield that power in more openly self-interested and isolationist ways. As new US Secretary of State Marco Rubio put it in January, “the post-war global order is not just obsolete – it is now a weapon being used against us”.

    With global democracy in retreat, the emerging international order looks to be moving in an authoritarian direction. As it does, the position of New Zealand’s vibrant democracy will come under mounting pressure.

    But world orders have come and gone for millennia, reflecting the ebb and flow of global economic, political and military power. Looking back to previous eras, and how countries and cultures responded to shifting geopolitical realities, can help us understand what is happening more clearly.

    An evolving world order

    Previous orders have often focused on specific centres – or “poles” – of power. These include the Concert of Europe from 1814 to 1914, the bipolar world of the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union, and the unipolar world of American dominance after the end of the Cold War and since the September 11 attacks in 2001.

    Periods of single-power dominance (or hegemony) are referred to as a “pax”, from the Latin for “peace”. We have seen the Pax Romana of the Roman Empire (27 BCE to 180 AD), multiple Pax Sinicas around China (most recently the Qing Dynasty 1644 to 1912), Pax Mongolica (the Mongol Empire from 1271 to 1368) and Pax Britannica (the British Empire from 1815 to 1924).

    It is the Pax Americana of the US, from 1945 to the present, that Trump seems bent on dismantling. We now live in an international order that is visibly in flux. With autocracy on the rise and the US at its vanguard, a “Pax Autocratica” is emerging.

    This is accentuated by the rapid rise of Asia as the main sphere of economic and military growth, particularly China and India. The world’s two most populous countries had the world’s largest and third largest economies respectively in 2023, and the second and fourth highest levels of military spending.

    The simultaneous rise of multiple power centres was already challenging the Pax Americana. Now, a new international order appears to be a certainty, with Trump openly adapting to multipolarity. Several major powers now compete for global influence, rather than any one country dominating.

    China’s preference for a multipolar international order is shared by India and Russia. Without one dominant entity, it will be the political and social basis of this order, as determined by its major actors, that matters most – not who leads it.

    Pax Democratica

    The current (now waning) international order has been underpinned by specific social, political and economic values stemming from the national identity and historical experience of the US.

    According to US political expert G. John Ikenberry, former president Woodrow Wilson’s agenda for peace after the first world war sought to “reflect distinctive American ideas and ideals”.

    Woodrow imagined an order based on collective security and shared sovereignty, liberal principles of democracy and universal human rights, free trade and international law.

    As its dominance and military strength increased in the 20th century, the US also provided security to other countries. Such power enabled Washington to create open global trade markets, as well as build core global institutions like the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization, United Nations and NATO.

    For Ikenberry, this Pax Americana (we might call it a Pax Democratica) rested on consent to the US’s “provision of security, wealth creation, and social advancement”. This was aided by the its more than 800 military bases in over 80 countries.

    The democratic deficit

    Trump undercuts the central tenets of this liberal world order and accelerates a slide towards authoritarianism. Like Russia, India and China, the US is also actively constraining human rights, attacking minorities and weakening its electoral system.

    This democratic retreat leaves a country such as New Zealand in a global minority. If Trump targets the region or country with economic tariffs, that precariousness might increase.

    On the other hand, previous world orders have not been truly hegemonic. Pax Britannica did not encompass the entire world. Nor did Pax Americana, which didn’t include China, India, the former Soviet bloc, much of the Islamic world and many developing countries.

    This suggests pockets of democracy can survive within a Pax Autocratica, especially in a multipolar world which is more tolerant of political independence.

    The Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2023 Democracy Index ranked New Zealand, the Nordic countries, Switzerland, Iceland and Ireland highest because their citizens

    choose their political leaders in free and fair elections, enjoy civil liberties, prefer democracy over other political systems, can and do participate in politics, and have a functioning government that acts on their behalf.

    It is these countries that can be at the vanguard of democratic resilience.

    Chris Ogden is a Senior Research Fellow with The Foreign Policy Centre, London.

    – ref. As Trump abandons the old world order, NZ must find its place in a new ‘Pax Autocratica’ – https://theconversation.com/as-trump-abandons-the-old-world-order-nz-must-find-its-place-in-a-new-pax-autocratica-249358

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Is Steve Smith set to become the best? What data says about Test cricket’s elite 10,000+ run club

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ronnie Das, Associate Professor in Data Analytics, The University of Western Australia

    In the recent Border-Gavaskar series against India, Steve Smith agonisingly missed out reaching 10,000 Test runs in front of his home crowd at the Sydney Cricket Ground, falling short by just one run.

    However he entered the “10K club” in style after hitting his 35th century against Sri Lanka in the series won by Australia, 2-0.

    Smith is now the 15th batsman to join the exclusive club and the fourth Australian to do so, after Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting.

    The illustrious group of players who have reached 10,000 is headed by Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar (15,921 runs) with Ponting (13,378) second and South African Jacques Kallis (13,289) third.

    Among this group, Tendulkar, the West Indies’ Brian Lara and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara were fastest to 10,000 in terms of innings batted (195), just ahead of Ponting (196). Smith was fifth fastest (205 innings).

    But where does Smith sit among this group of truly elite batsmen? How does he compare to his fellow Australians? And can he eventually reach the pinnacle and overtake Tendulkar at the top of the mountain?

    The challenges of modern cricket

    Modern day cricket is physically, emotionally and psychologically demanding.

    The physical demands, coupled with fixture congestion, make it tough on athletes’ bodies. Research also suggests psychological pressures have a heightened impact on players’ thinking, feeling and overall performances.

    The evolution of lucrative Twenty20 games has also meant cricketers often play in these shorter-format leagues instead of resting between Test series.

    Smith is one of many elite cricketers still playing all three formats of the sport.

    While some batsmen continue to score well into their late 30s, more often than not performance declines in these twilight years of a batter’s career.

    Smith turns 36 in June.

    Judging the best

    The 10,000 run club is the hallmark of batting excellence in Test cricket.

    It is regarded as the pinnacle of a batsman’s career achievement.

    Together (at the time of writing) the players in the 10K club have scored 181,947 runs, with 541 centuries and 818 half centuries.

    The highest individual score belongs to Lara, who scored 400 (not out) against England in 2004.

    Lara also maintained a very high strike rate (60.51) throughout his career.

    A strike rate is a batsman’s run scoring efficiency per 100 balls – the higher the strike rate, the faster the batter scores. A higher strike rate puts more pressure on opposition bowlers and when a batter scores quickly, it allows more time for their team’s bowlers to take the 20 wickets required for a Test victory.

    Only Ponting (a strike rate of 58.72 per 100 balls) closely matches Lara’s calibre, but England’s Joe Root (57.47) is enjoying a late-career renaissance and is closing the gap.

    Compare that to the Border and Sunil Gavaskar era (late 1970s–early 1990s) when runs were not as easy to come by – these two ended their career with low (41.09 and 43.35 respectively) strike rates.

    What about Smith?

    In his second match, his strike rate was an exceptionally high 75.75 but, since then it has dipped to 53.58 as Smith has become a more balanced batsman.

    Another way to judge a batter’s impact is their centuries per innings rate.

    Smith has the highest century per innings rate (17.48%) among the 10K club.
    He recently scored his 36th century, matching his modern-day peer, Root. But Root has played 72 additional innings.

    In terms of overall centuries, Tendulkar leads the way having scored a staggering 51 centuries during his Test career (six more than Kallis, in second). However, Tendulkar did it over a mammoth 329 innings – 38 more than anyone else on the list.

    How the Australians compare

    Across generations, the four Australians have shown different styles of play in achieving the landmark.

    Data shows Border was the most consistent player among them, with his average remaining relatively steady through his career, while Waugh improved his performance after a lacklustre start to his career.

    Smith hit his peak at around his 75th match and Ponting around his 115th match, before their run scoring dropped.

    In terms of batting positions, data suggests Smith has scored most of his runs coming in at number four. Border was most dominant coming in at four and five.

    Ponting dominated as a number three batsman, while Waugh was very consistent at number five.

    How far can Smith go?

    Considering Smith’s age (35), current form and the physical demands of modern cricket, our findings suggest it will take him at least another three to four years to surpass Ponting.

    That may be achievable but Smith’s year-long ban after the 2018 “sandpapergate saga” makes reaching Tendulkar’s mark extremely unlikely.

    However, there is a chance Smith ends up with the best average in the club.

    His batting average currently sits at 56.74, with only Sangakkara (57.4) higher.

    Considering his current form, with four centuries in his past five Test matches, there’s every chance this modern-day great retires atop the tree in that metric at least.

    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. Is Steve Smith set to become the best? What data says about Test cricket’s elite 10,000+ run club – https://theconversation.com/is-steve-smith-set-to-become-the-best-what-data-says-about-test-crickets-elite-10-000-run-club-248891

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: As Trump abandons the old world order, NZ must find its place in a new ‘Pax Autocratica’

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Ogden, Associate Professor in Global Studies, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

    Donald Trump is moving rapidly to change the contours of contemporary international affairs, with the old US-dominated world order breaking down into a multipolar one with many centres of power.

    The shift already includes the US leaving the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Accords, questioning the value of the United Nations, and radical cuts to the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

    Such a new geopolitical age also involves an assertion of raw power, with Trump using the threat of tariffs to assert global authority and negotiating positions.

    While the US is not significantly less powerful, this new era may see it wield that power in more openly self-interested and isolationist ways. As new US Secretary of State Marco Rubio put it in January, “the post-war global order is not just obsolete – it is now a weapon being used against us”.

    With global democracy in retreat, the emerging international order looks to be moving in an authoritarian direction. As it does, the position of New Zealand’s vibrant democracy will come under mounting pressure.

    But world orders have come and gone for millennia, reflecting the ebb and flow of global economic, political and military power. Looking back to previous eras, and how countries and cultures responded to shifting geopolitical realities, can help us understand what is happening more clearly.

    An evolving world order

    Previous orders have often focused on specific centres – or “poles” – of power. These include the Concert of Europe from 1814 to 1914, the bipolar world of the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union, and the unipolar world of American dominance after the end of the Cold War and since the September 11 attacks in 2001.

    Periods of single-power dominance (or hegemony) are referred to as a “pax”, from the Latin for “peace”. We have seen the Pax Romana of the Roman Empire (27 BCE to 180 AD), multiple Pax Sinicas around China (most recently the Qing Dynasty 1644 to 1912), Pax Mongolica (the Mongol Empire from 1271 to 1368) and Pax Britannica (the British Empire from 1815 to 1924).

    It is the Pax Americana of the US, from 1945 to the present, that Trump seems bent on dismantling. We now live in an international order that is visibly in flux. With autocracy on the rise and the US at is vanguard, a “Pax Autocratica” is emerging.

    This is accentuated by the rapid rise of Asia as the main sphere of economic and military growth, particularly China and India. The world’s two most populous countries had the world’s largest and third largest economies respectively in 2023, and the second and fourth highest levels of military spending.

    The simultaneous rise of multiple power centres was already challenging the Pax Americana. Now, a new international order appears to be a certainty, with Trump openly adapting to multipolarity. Several major powers now compete for global influence, rather than any one country dominating.

    China’s preference for a multipolar international order is shared by India and Russia. Without one dominant entity, it will be the political and social basis of this order, as determined by its major actors, that matters most – not who leads it.

    Pax Democratica

    The current (now waning) international order has been underpinned by specific social, political and economic values stemming from the national identity and historical experience of the US.

    According to US political expert G. John Ikenberry, former president Woodrow Wilson’s agenda for peace after the first world war sought to “reflect distinctive American ideas and ideals”.

    Woodrow imagined an order based on collective security and shared sovereignty, liberal principles of democracy and universal human rights, free trade and international law.

    As its dominance and military strength increased in the 20th century, the US also provided security to other countries. Such power enabled Washington to create open global trade markets, as well as build core global institutions like the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization, United Nations and NATO.

    For Ikenberry, this Pax Americana (we might call it a Pax Democratica) rested on consent to the US’s “provision of security, wealth creation, and social advancement”. This was aided by the its more than 800 military bases in over 80 countries.

    The democratic deficit

    Trump undercuts the central tenets of this liberal world order and accelerates a slide towards authoritarianism. Like Russia, India and China, the US is also actively constraining human rights, attacking minorities and weakening its electoral system.

    This democratic retreat leaves a country such as New Zealand in a global minority. If Trump targets the region or country with economic tariffs, that precariousness might increase.

    On the other hand, previous world orders have not been truly hegemonic. Pax Britannica did not encompass the entire world. Nor did Pax Americana, which didn’t include China, India, the former Soviet bloc, much of the Islamic world and many developing countries.

    This suggests pockets of democracy can survive within a Pax Autocratica, especially in a multipolar world which is more tolerant of political independence.

    The Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2023 Democracy Index ranked New Zealand, the Nordic countries, Switzerland, Iceland and Ireland highest because their citizens

    choose their political leaders in free and fair elections, enjoy civil liberties, prefer democracy over other political systems, can and do participate in politics, and have a functioning government that acts on their behalf.

    It is these countries that can be at the vanguard of democratic resilience.

    Chris Ogden is a Senior Research Fellow with The Foreign Policy Centre, London.

    – ref. As Trump abandons the old world order, NZ must find its place in a new ‘Pax Autocratica’ – https://theconversation.com/as-trump-abandons-the-old-world-order-nz-must-find-its-place-in-a-new-pax-autocratica-249358

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –