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Category: Academic Analysis

  • MIL-OSI Global: How fast is your gut? The answer to this question is important to your health

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Nick Ilott, Senior Researcher and Lead Bioinformatician, The Oxford Centre for Microbiome Studies, University of Oxford

    The sweetcorn test can help you figure out how fast your gut is. Africa Studio/ Shutterstock

    Many of us pay attention to the foods we’re putting in our bodies – asking ourselves whether they’re nutritious and healthy for us. But have you ever stopped to ask yourself how fast this food is moving through your gut? The answer to this question is actually really important, as the speed that food moves through your digestive tract affects your health and wellbeing in many ways.

    Once you’ve chewed up and swallowed your meal, this food begins its journey along the gastrointestinal tract – a long and winding pathway that begins at the mouth and ends at the anus. Along the way, it reaches specialist organs that churn and digest (stomach), absorb nutrients (small intestine) and absorb water and salts (large intestine).

    The movement of food through the digestive tract is known as gut motility. This process is partly controlled by the trillions of bacteria present in our gut. The gut microbiome is extremely important as these bacteria help develop our immune system and break down food.

    So, when we eat, we’re not just feeding ourselves – we’re feeding the micro-helpers present in the intestine. To thank us, the bacteria produce small molecules called metabolites that boost our immune system and keep our gut moving by stimulating the intestinal nerves so they contract and move the food onwards.

    Without these bacteria and their metabolites, our guts would be less able to move food through the gastrointestinal tract. This could cause a build up of ingested material, leading to constipation and discomfort.

    Gut transit time

    The time it takes for food to pass from one end of the gastrointestinal tract to the other is called gut transit time.

    Gut transit time varies from one person to the next. Recent estimates suggest it can take somewhere between 12 and 73 hours for food to pass through the body – with the average being around 23-24 hours. This variation in gut transit explains some of the gut microbiome differences seen between people – and consequently their gut health.

    Many factors can also affect our natural gut transit time – including genetics, diet, and our gut microbiome.

    If gut transit time is long (meaning you have slow gut motility), bacteria in the large intestine produce different metabolites. This is because, just like us, the bacteria in our guts need to be fed. These bacteria enjoy fibre. But, if gut transit time is long and fibre is taking too long to reach the large intestine, these microbial inhabitants have to switch to an alternative food source. So, they turn to protein.

    The switch to protein can result in the production of toxic gases leading to health problems such as bloating and inflammation.

    Slow gut transit can also cause partially digested food to get stuck in the small intestine. This has additional health consequences – such as an overgrowth of small intestinal bacteria, which can lead to symptoms such as abdominal pain, nausea and bloating.

    A slow moving gut may leave you feeling bloated.
    staras/ Shutterstock

    Fast gut transit can negatively impact health, too.

    There are many reasons that someone may experience fast transit time. For example, anxiety, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) can all cause decreased transit time and even diarrhoea.

    In cases of fast transit, the resulting stool is loose with high water content. This indicates that the faecal matter has not spent enough time in the intestine, preventing sufficient absorption of water and nutrients. In cases of IBD for example, this can lead to dehydration.

    Testing your gut speed

    Fortunately, there’s a very simple at-home test you can do to check your gut motility. It’s called “the sweetcorn test”. And yes, it is what you’re thinking.

    Don’t eat any sweetcorn for 7-10 days (the “wash-out” phase). Then you are ready to begin the test. Note down the date and time, and eat some sweetcorn – a corn on the cob or a handful of corn is sufficient. Because the outer shell of the corn is indigestible, it will pass through your gastrointestinal tract with the rest of the food you’ve eaten and will eventually be visible in your stool.

    What you’ll do is keep an eye on the next few stools you pass and note down the date and time that you observe the golden treasure. It should be noted that this at-home test is not definitive – but it does represent a measure of transit time that, on average, gives similar results to more sophisticated measures.

    If you pass the corn in 12 hours or less, your gut is fast. If you don’t pass it for around 48 hours of more, then your gut is slow. If you find your gut motility is on either end of the spectrum, there are fortunately things you can do to improve it.

    If it’s consistently fast, it’s best to visit your doctor to see if there is an underlying cause. If it’s a little slow – but you don’t seem to be having any additional gastrointestinal symptoms such as bloating, abdominal pain, lack of appetite or nausea – eat more fruit and veg to increase the fibre you’re feeding those friendly gut bacteria, drink more water and exercise.

    Following a balanced diet will help to keep your bowels moving and healthy.

    Nick Ilott receives funding from the Kennedy Trust for Rheumatology Research (KTRR), GutsUK, PSC Support and supervises a PhD project jointly funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Roche.

    – ref. How fast is your gut? The answer to this question is important to your health – https://theconversation.com/how-fast-is-your-gut-the-answer-to-this-question-is-important-to-your-health-248701

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Britain has a new snake species – should climate change mean it is allowed to stay?

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Tom Major, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Herpetology, Bournemouth University

    Meet north Wales’s newest resident: the Aesculapian snake (_Zamenis longissimus_). Nathan Rusli

    All animals live in or seek a set of climate conditions they find tolerable. This “climate envelope” partially determines where animals are found, but the continued existence of many species now rests on the outcome of human-driven climate change.

    Rising temperatures are moving the available climate niches of many species into areas which were previously too cool. While their ranges shift poleward or to higher elevations, their habitat downslope or closer to the equator shrinks, as it becomes too hot to live in.

    Flying and marine animals are relatively free to follow these shifting niches. Birds and butterflies are two examples. New species arrive regularly in the UK with the warming climate and are generally met with excitement by enthusiasts and scientists alike, given that they are a natural effort by a species to make the best of a difficult situation.

    However, many grounded species, including reptiles and mammals, cannot disperse through habitats split apart by roads and other human-made obstacles, or cross natural barriers like the Channel. This limits their ability to find suitable conditions and makes them vulnerable to extinction.

    Nowhere to go?

    Here is the dilemma for conservationists like us.

    We normally focus on preserving species within their modern ranges, and have traditionally viewed species that end up outside theirs as a problem. But retaining the status quo is increasingly untenable in the face of unchecked climate change.

    Should we consider conserving species that have moved, or been moved, outside of the native ranges that existed before industrial society and its greenhouse effect? Should we even consider deliberately moving species to conserve them? Introduced species that have established just outside of their native ranges, in slightly cooler climates, offer a glimpse of the likely consequences.

    Our new study in north Wales focused on one such migrant. Aesculapian snakes (Zamenis longissimus) are nonvenomous reptiles that mostly eat rodents and are native to central and southern Europe, reaching almost to the Channel coast in northern France.

    Two accidental introductions, one in Colwyn Bay, north Wales, and another along the Regent’s Canal in London, have allowed this species to thrive in Britain. It is not actually novel to our shores, but it disappeared during a previous ice age and has probably been absent for about 300,000 years.

    While the introduced UK populations appear to be thriving, recent surveys of this snake in the southern parts of its range have discovered a rapid decline, potentially due in part to climate change.

    A good neighbour

    Given their status as a non-native species, we were keen to find out how Aesculapian snakes are surviving in chilly north Wales, further north than anywhere they currently occur naturally. To do this, we implanted 21 snakes with radio transmitters and spent two summers tracking them around the countryside.

    Aesculapian snakes are elusive and wary of humans.
    Tom Major

    Our results surprised us. The snakes had a trump card which seemed to help them weather the cool climate. They were frequently entering buildings – relatively warm refuges – while they were digesting food or preparing to shed their skin. They also used garden compost bins for shelter and to incubate their eggs.

    Even more surprisingly, most residents did not mind the snakes. In fact, many had no idea they had snakes as neighbours because they kept such a low profile, typically hiding in attic corners. The snakes appear to coexist with normal suburban wildlife, and there are no indications that their presence is affecting native species.

    Should successfully established, innocuous immigrants be proscribed and potentially eradicated, as is currently the case? Or should they be valued and conserved in the face of current and impending climate change?

    Protecting and conserving the maximum possible diversity of species and ecosystems is the heart of the conservation agenda. However, the rapid pace of change forced upon our planet requires us to rethink what is practical and desirable to achieve.

    Conservation within the silos of national boundaries is an increasingly outdated way of trying to maintain the diversity underlying global ecosystems. Instead, conservationists may need to accept that the rapidly changing environment necessitate shifts in the ranges of species. And perhaps, even assist those species incapable of moving on their own.

    Introductions have allowed this snake to flourish on an island it would never naturally reach.
    Antonio Gandini

    Unlicensed “guerrilla” releases are obviously unacceptable due to biosecurity risks (for example, the potential to introduce devastating diseases such as the amphibian-killing Bsal fungus) and other unforeseen consequences. Even legitimate reintroductions often fail, due to there being too few individual specimens, pollution or predation from invasive species.

    Aesculapian snakes will be considered by the government for addition to the list of alien species of special concern, which would be grounds for eradication. It would be tragic if species such as this became extinct in parts of their natural range, while thriving introduced populations just to the north of their pre-industrial distribution are treated as undesirable aliens that must be removed.

    Instead, we argue that this innocuous species should be the figurehead for new thinking in conservation biology, that incorporates the reality of impending further climate change and dispenses with the narrow constraints of national boundaries and adherence to pre-industrial distributions.

    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.

    Wolfgang Wüster receives funding from the Leverhulme Trust.

    Tom Major 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. Britain has a new snake species – should climate change mean it is allowed to stay? – https://theconversation.com/britain-has-a-new-snake-species-should-climate-change-mean-it-is-allowed-to-stay-249043

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: The illusion of equal opportunity for minority NFL coaches

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Joseph N. Cooper, Endowed Chair of Sport Leadership and Administration, UMass Boston

    On the day after the New England Patriots ended their NFL season with a miserable 4-13 record, team owner Robert Kraft fired Jerod Mayo, the team’s first Black head coach. In a press conference following his decision, Kraft explained that he put Mayo in “an untenable situation” by hiring him to lead an underperforming team.

    Kraft’s assessment reflects an all-too-familiar reality for Black coaches in the NFL. Though Black players account for 53% of all NFL players, only 19% of head coaches are Black men.

    At the beginning of the 2024 season, the NFL set its own league record with nine of its 32 head coaching jobs held by minorities. In addition to Mayo, Las Vegas’ Antonio Pierce, Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin, Tampa Bay’s Todd Bowles, Atlanta’s Raheem Morris and Houston’s DeMeco Ryans are Black. They were joined by Carolina’s Dave Canales, who is Mexican American, Miami’s biracial Mike McDaniel and the New York Jets’ Robert Saleh, who is of Lebanese descent.

    By season’s end, three of those coaches were gone, including the Raiders’ Pierce. Pierce, like Mayo, was given one season to turn around a team with a losing record. Saleh was fired during the season.

    In my view as a scholar of race and professional sports, the firings revealed the NFL’s double standard for Black head coaches and suggest that Black men are still valued more for their athletic prowess than their leadership skills.

    During a Fox NFL Sunday show shortly after Mayo’s firing, former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski called Mayo’s firing shocking, disappointing and “unfair.”

    ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith was quick to blame the race of Mayo as a factor. “They call it Black Monday for a reason,” Smith said. “Jerod Mayo was clearly not given a lengthy enough opportunity.”

    A checkered history

    In 1921, a year after the NFL’s inaugural season, Fritz Pollard became the first Black head coach when he was hired to lead the Akron Pros. It would take nearly 70 years before the NFL had its second Black head coach – Art Shell of the Oakland Raiders in 1989.

    Since then, Black coaches have had few chances in the NFL. Even fewer have succeeded. Only two Black head coaches have won Super Bowl titles: Tony Dungy of the Indianapolis Colts in 2007 and Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2008.

    To address the lack of Black head coaches, the NFL enacted in 2003 what is known as the Rooney Rule, a hiring practice named after Dan Rooney, the former owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers who sat on the NFL’s diversity committee. The rule requires teams to include two minority candidate during the interview process for head coaching jobs and was later applied to general managers, senior executives and assistant coaches.

    But even with the rule, the percentage of Black coaches has consistently been lower than the percentage of Black players. Research has shown that Black coaches are both less likely to be promoted to head coaching jobs than their white counterparts and less likely to receive a second chance after a losing season.

    In fact, since the Rooney Rule was instituted in 2003, nonwhite coaches have been more than three times as likely to be fired after one season than white coaches, according to data collected by the USA Today NFL Coaches Project.

    Their data did not include the scores of Black assistant coaches who are routinely overlooked for their first head coaching jobs.

    Eric Bieniemy takes the field as a UCLA assistant coach during the 2024 season.
    Jevone Moore/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

    Eric Bieniemy, for example, shared two Super Bowl championships as offensive coordinator with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2019 and 2022. Given his experience, he was widely expected by NFL analysts to earn a head coaching job.

    In order to pursue that goal, Bieniemy left the Chiefs in 2023 to join the Washington Commanders and was a favorite to become the team’s next head coach. But the Commanders were sold at the end of the 2023 season, and the new owners promptly fired him.

    Bieniemy is back in the NFL after being hired in February 2025 by the Chicago Bears as their running backs coach, a lower rank than his prior position as offensive coordinator.

    The benefit of the doubt

    In 2020, the NFL expressed its support for the Black Lives Matter movement by promoting social justice messages on end zones and players’ helmets. The NFL also hired Roc Nation, Hip-Hop mogul Jay-Z’s company, to manage its music and entertainment.

    A year later, the NFL formally ended their decades-long practice of race norming in which the league routinely gave Black players lower baseline cognitive ratings than white players in legal actions related to concussions and subsequent dementia.

    But those measures, much like the Rooney Rule, have not closed the racial disparities among NFL head coaches and have not stopped white coaches from appearing to be more likely to receive the benefit of the doubt.

    The NFL used goal post pads in 2022 to proclaim the league’s efforts to end racism.
    Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

    Still unresolved is a 2022 lawsuit filed by Black head coach Brian Flores. Despite posting two winning seasons during his three-year tenure, he was fired by the Miami Dolphins. Flores filed a suit against the NFL, the Miami Dolphins and two other NFL teams alleging widespread racial discrimination and hiring practices.

    During an interview with reporters before the 2025 Super Bowl, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell defended the league’s diversity initiatives, saying, “We’ve proven to ourselves that it does make the NFL better.”

    Goodell was quick to point out that the NFL’s diversity efforts do not mean a “quota system” in which a certain number of candidates of each race are hired.

    “There’s no requirement to hire a particular individual on the basis of race or gender,” Goodell said. “This is about opening that funnel and bringing the best talent into the NFL.”

    Joseph N. Cooper 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 illusion of equal opportunity for minority NFL coaches – https://theconversation.com/the-illusion-of-equal-opportunity-for-minority-nfl-coaches-247057

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: California wildfires force students to think about the connections between STEM and society

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Erika Dyson, Professor of Religous Studies, Harvey Mudd College

    Satellite imagery shows the front line of the Palisades fire in Los Angeles on Jan. 11, 2025. Maxar Technologies/Contributor

    Uncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.

    Title of course:

    “STEM & Social Impact: Climate Change”

    What prompted the idea for the course?

    Harvey Mudd College’s mission is to educate STEM students – short for science, technology, engineering and math – so they have a “clear understanding of the impact of their work on society.” But the “impact” part of our mission has been the most challenging to realize.

    When our college revised its “Core Curriculum” in 2020, our faculty decided we should create a new required impact course for all students.

    What does the course explore?

    The course is taught by a team of eight instructors who share their own disciplinary perspectives and help students critically analyze proposed interventions for increasing wildfire risks.

    Our instructors teach biology, chemistry, computer science and mathematics.

    The class also includes scholars focused on media studies, political science religious studies and science, technology and society.

    The course focuses on California wildfires so students can think critically about the ways STEM and social values shape each other.

    For example, in 1911, U.S. Forest Service deputy F. E. Olmsted applied the Social Darwinist idea of “survival of the fittest” to forest management. Reflecting the prevailing views of his era, he believed that competition was the driving force behind biology, economics and human progress – where the strong thrive and the weak fail.

    Olmsted said it was good forestry and good economics to let the forests grow unchecked. This policy would yield straight and tall “merchantable timber” suitable for sale and the needs of industry.

    He also rejected “light burning,” which Native Americans had used for centuries to manage forest ecosystems and reduce the flammable undergrowth.

    We live with the consequences of such reasoning 100 years later. Fires speed through overgrown land at alarming rates and release enormous amounts of carbon and other particulate matter into the atmosphere.

    Why is this course relevant now?

    Climate change is arguably the most pressing concern of our time. And wildfires are particularly relevant to those of us in fire-prone areas like Southern California.

    Public distrust of science is increasing. Consequently, society needs skilled STEM practitioners who can understand and communicate how scientific interventions will have different consequences and appeal to different stakeholders.

    For example, Los Angeles first responders have been using drones for search and rescue and to gather real-time information about fire lines since at least 2015.

    But the public is not always comfortable with drones flying over populated areas.

    The Los Angeles Fire Department has fielded enough citizen concerns about “snooping drones” and government concerns about data collection that it developed strict drone policies in consultation with regulators and the American Civil Liberties Union.

    The course’s focus on writing, critical thinking and climate change science prepares students to participate in public discussions about such interventions.

    By making students consider the impact of their future work, we also hope they will be proactive about the careers they want to pursue, whether it involves climate change or not.

    What’s a critical lesson from the course?

    Not everyone benefits in the same way from a single innovation.

    For example, low-income and rural Americans are less likely to benefit from the lower operating costs and lower pollution of electric vehicles. That’s because inadequate investment in public charging infrastructure makes owning them less practical.

    The course’s interdisciplinary approach helps to expose these kinds of structural inequities. We want students to get in the habit of asking questions about any technological solution.

    They include questions like: Who is likely to benefit, and how? Who has historically wielded power in this situation? Whose voices are being included? What assumptions have been made? Which values are being prioritized?

    What materials does the course feature?

    We combine popular and scholarly sources.

    Students watch two documentaries about the 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise, California, which killed 85 people.

    The 2018 Camp Fire caused an estimated $US12.5 billion in damages.
    AP Photo/Noah Berger

    They analyze wildfire data using the Pandas library, an open-source data manipulation library for the Python computer programming language.

    They also read a Union of Concerned Scientists report examining fossil fuel companies’ culpability for increased risk of wildfires. And they analyze the environmental historian William Cronon’s classic indictment of the environmentalist movement for romanticizing an idea of a pristine “wilderness” while absolving themselves of the responsibility to protect the rest of nature – humans, cities, farms, industries.

    We also examine poetry by Ada Limón, indigenous ecology and Engaged Buddhism.

    What will the course prepare students to do?

    The final assignment for the course asks students to critically analyze a proposed intervention dealing with growing California wildfire risk using the disciplinary tools they have learned.

    For example, they could choose the increased deployment of “beneficial fires” to reduce flammable biomass in forests.

    For this intervention, we expect that students would address topics like the historical erasure of Indigenous knowledge of prescribed burning, financial liabilities associated with controlled burning, and scientific research on the efficacy of beneficial fires.

    Darryl Yong is a professor at Harvey Mudd College and co-directs Math for America Los Angeles. His work has been funded by the National Science Foundation.

    Erika Dyson 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. California wildfires force students to think about the connections between STEM and society – https://theconversation.com/california-wildfires-force-students-to-think-about-the-connections-between-stem-and-society-248286

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How AI can help in the creative design process

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Tilanka Chandrasekera, Professor of Interior Design, Oklahoma State University

    A student works on a design in a fashion merchandising lab. Fashion Merchandising Labs at Oklahoma State University, CC BY-ND

    Generative artificial intelligence tools can help design students by making hard tasks easier, cutting down on stress, and allowing the students more time to explore innovative ideas, according to new research I published with my colleagues in the International Journal of Architectural Computing.

    I study how people think about design and use technology, and my research focuses on how tools such as AI can help make the design process more efficient and creative.

    Why it matters

    Our study found that AI design tools didn’t just make the designs better – they also made the process easier and less stressful for students.

    Imagine trying to come up with a cool idea in response to a design assignment, but it’s hard to picture it in your head. These tools step in and quickly show what your idea could look like, so you can focus on being creative instead of worrying about little details. This made it easier for students to brainstorm and come up with new ideas. The AI tools also made more design variations by introducing new and unexpected details, such as natural shapes and textures.

    A design fueled by artificial intelligence: The left image is the result of the text-to-image technology, and the image on the right is the design completed by the student.
    Oklahoma State University, CC BY-ND
    A design by a student without using artificial intelligence.
    Oklahoma State University, CC BY-ND

    How we did our work

    My colleagues and I worked with 40 design students and split them into two groups.

    One group used AI to help design urban furniture, such as benches and seating for public spaces, while the other group didn’t use AI. The AI tool created pictures of the first group’s design ideas from simple text descriptions. Both groups refined their ideas by either sketching them by hand or with design software.

    Next, the two groups were given a second design task. This time, neither group was allowed to use AI. We wanted to see whether the first task helped them learn how to develop a design concept.

    My colleagues and I evaluated the students’ creativity on three criteria: the novelty of their ideas, the effectiveness of their designs in solving the problem, and the level of detail and completeness in their work. We also wanted to see how hard the tasks felt for them, so we measured something called cognitive load using a well-known tool called the NASA task load index. This tool checks how much mental effort and frustration the students experienced.

    The group of students who used AI in the first task had an easier time in the second task, feeling less overwhelmed compared with those who didn’t use AI.

    The final designs of the AI group also showed a more creative design process in the second task, likely because they learned from using AI in the first task, which helped them think and develop better ideas.

    What’s next

    Future research will look at how AI tools can be used in more parts of design education and how they might affect the way professionals work.

    One challenge is making sure students don’t rely too much on AI, which could hurt their ability to think critically and solve problems on their own.

    Another goal is to make sure as many design students as possible have access to these tools.

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

    Tilanka Chandrasekera receives funding from external funding agencies such as the National Science Foundation (NSF)

    – ref. How AI can help in the creative design process – https://theconversation.com/how-ai-can-help-in-the-creative-design-process-244718

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: We Do Not Part by Han Kang: a haunting story which forces the reader to remember a horrific incident in Korea’s past that it tried to erase

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Hyunseon Lee, Professorial Research Associate at Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, and Centre for Creative Industries, Media and Screen Studies, SOAS, University of London

    Jeju inhabitants awaiting execution in late 1948 wikimedia, CC BY

    We Do Not Part is the latest book by Korean writer Han Kang, who won the Nobel prize in literature in 2024. The book begins in fragments that ebb between dark dream, waking nightmare and memories of how the book’s protagonist Kyungha got to this terrible way of living.

    Even for those who do not know much about Korean history, it is fairly clear that something awful has changed Kyungha. When she closes her eyes images of women clutching children, black tree trunks jutting like limbs from the earth and so much snow flood into her mind.

    This experience has sapped all life from Kyungha and she is, when we meet her, simply waiting for death. That is, until her friend Inseon injures herself and asks Kyungha to travel to her home on the island of Jeju, south of mainland Korea, to look after her beloved pet bird, Ama.

    When she gets there, a violent snowstorm leaves her trapped in Inseon’s compound. Here, she stumbles upon the investigation into her friend’s family and its connection to the Jeju 4.3 massacre in the 1940s.

    In the early morning of April 3 1948, 359 members of the South Korean Workers’ Party and partisans carried out attacks on 12 police facilities and the homes of conservative leaders. They killed 12 people, including family members, before fleeing to the Halla Mountains. The term “Jeju 4.3” came from the date the incident is considered by many to have begun, even though it officially lasted from March 1 1947 to September 21 1954.

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    What followed was a massive counterinsurgency operation by the South Korean government (with US backing) to exterminate communists and their sympathisers on the island. While officially numbers are still not known, it is believed that more than 30,000 Jeju people (10% of Jeju’s population at the time), including women and children, were killed.

    In We Do Not Part, we find out that Inseon’s mother, who died several years earlier, was a survivor of Jeju 4.3. Han Kang’s impressive approach to presenting the memories of Jeju 4.3 is multi-layered, subtle, fragmentary and contains a high degree of sensitivity as she recounts the massacre from the perspective of Inseon and her mother.

    Inseon is part of a what the Holocaust and cultural memory scholar Marianne Hirsch termed the “postmemory generation”. She is the child of a survivor who has inherited a “catastrophic [history] not through direct recollection but through haunting postmemories”.

    Inseon has absorbed the stories of her mother as her own. For instance, in one of the first extracts of Inseon’s memories she speaks of her mother and her sister finding their family dead in the snow.

    I remember her. The girl roaming the schoolyard, searching well into the evening. A child of 13 clinging to her 17-year-old sister as if her sister wasn’t a child herself, hanging on by a sleeve, too scared to see but unable to look away.

    However, Inseon doesn’t remember. She wasn’t there. But, as Hirsch writes of the postmemory generation, such distinct “memories” are mediated by “imaginative investments, projections and creations”.

    Han Kang’s skilful use of Inseon’s postmemory carefully gives voice to the feelings of Inseon’s mother. Han Kang does this through presenting these in fragments that recount first Inseon’s investigative work, and then Inseon’s mother’s research into the family’s losses. These are inserted in passages of recounted conversations, writing and descriptions of photographs and films.

    These pieces are scattered amid Kyungha’s time in the dreamlike and snow buried compound. The intermingling of past and present, dream and reality, art and life creates an almost hallucinatory quality where the edges blur as Kyungha inherits Inseon’s memories – which she inherited from her mother. In each transference, these stories become new.

    This retelling and remembering is important. The 1947 to 1949 uprising is considered by some historians, particularly the American historian Bruce Cummings, as the precursor to the Korean civil war, which left the country divided into North and South. However, for almost 50 years, the very existence of the massacre was officially censored and repressed.

    It was only in 2000s that the incident was recognised and the National Committee for Investigation of the Truth about the Jeju 4.3 Incident was established. In 2003, then-president Roh Moo-hyun apologised for the deaths of the innocents and the state repression against the survivors, who had been severely stigmatised as enemies of the state and branded “red insurgents” (pokto).

    Hang Kang’s novel makes it clear that Jeju 4.3 is not simply an issue of the past, but one of the present that persists and lives on in the lives of all who it has touched. Inseon was born the only daughter of a mother who witnessed the massacre and a father who survived, not only on Jeju, but also afterwards on the Korean mainland. This parentage means she cannot forget nor repress it, it constantly intrudes into her life.

    Han Kang urges the public to bear witness, the reader does so through Kyungha. As she delves into the history through memory and official documents, we too do the same. In this act of reading we remember and name the tragedy.

    Ultimately, this becomes an act of commemoration of the victims whose spirits still seem unable to leave this life as they remain on the island in the form of wind, birds, trees, snow and sea. We see, as Kyungha sees, Jeju 4.3 has left too much pain and too many scars on the souls for them to forget and leave.

    We Do Not Part is captivating, moving and from sentence to sentence Han Kang’s sensitive approach to Jeju 4.3 makes us reflect on why we still need to remember and commemorate this tragedy and the many others that still go ignored.

    Hyunseon Lee 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. We Do Not Part by Han Kang: a haunting story which forces the reader to remember a horrific incident in Korea’s past that it tried to erase – https://theconversation.com/we-do-not-part-by-han-kang-a-haunting-story-which-forces-the-reader-to-remember-a-horrific-incident-in-koreas-past-that-it-tried-to-erase-249200

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: DRC conflict: talks have failed to bring peace. Is it time to try sanctions?

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Patrick Hajayandi, Research Affiliate, University of Pretoria

    The crisis in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) escalated at the end of January 2025 when Goma, the capital of the province of North Kivu, fell to Rwanda-backed M23 rebels.

    The civilian population is paying a heavy price as a result of ongoing violence, despite a series of initiatives aimed at creating conditions for peace. Since the re-emergence of the M23 in November 2021, violent clashes with the Congolese army have led to thousands of deaths and displaced more than one million people in North Kivu province alone.

    Patrick Hajayandi, whose research focuses on peacebuilding and regional reconciliation, examines previous attempts at finding peace in eastern DRC – and what needs to happen next.

    What efforts have been made by the DRC and Rwanda to ease tensions?

    The eastern DRC has become the site of renewed tensions between Kigali and Kinshasa. Rwanda lies to the east of the DRC. The two nations share a border of about 217 kilometres.

    Kigali accuses the DRC of hosting the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, the largest illegal armed group operating in the conflict area. Better known by its French acronym, FDLR, the group has stated its intention to overthrow the Rwandan government.

    On the other hand, Kinshasa accuses Rwanda of supporting and arming the M23, which seeks to control the two Kivu provinces, North and South. The involvement of the Rwandan Defence Forces in direct combat alongside the M23, corroborated by UN experts, has escalated the spread of violence.

    Despite current tensions between Kinshasa and Kigali, a few years ago the two governments engaged in collaborative efforts to solve the problem posed by the numerous armed groups operating in eastern DRC.

    Such efforts included two joint operations with Congolese and Rwandan forces aimed at neutralising the FDLR. These joint operations in 2008 and 2009 were known as Operation Kimia and Umoja Wetu. In 2019 and 2020, soon after he took power, President Felix Tshisekedi allowed the Rwandan army to conduct operations against the FDLR in Congolese territory.

    However, in recent years, relations have soured badly between Kinshasa and Kigali. This has led to regional efforts to broker peace.

    Why has it been so difficult for regional actors to broker peace in the DRC?

    The first complicating factor relates to the different roles that regional actors play in the DRC.

    The involvement of a multitude of countries points to the complexity underlying the conflict and the diverse geopolitical interests. The DRC shares a border with nine countries: Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

    In 2022, the African Union asked Angolan president João Lourenço to mediate between the DRC and Rwanda. The process he oversees is known as the Luanda Process and seeks to defuse the escalation of violence across the region. In particular, it has sought to reduce tensions between Kigali and Kinshasa.

    The East African Community is directly involved in peace initiatives to restore peace in DRC. It has appointed former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta to lead what is called the Nairobi Process.



    Read more:
    DRC-Rwanda crisis: what’s needed to prevent a regional war

    The DRC has rebuffed the East African Community’s reconciliation efforts. And Rwanda recently criticised both processes, suggesting the country had lost confidence in the ability of Lourenço and Kenyatta to find a solution.

    In May 2023, the Southern African Development Community, of which the DRC is a member state, deployed a peace mission. This followed the exit of troops from the East African Community.

    Other countries play different roles directly or indirectly in various missions in the DRC. Burundi is supporting military operations there under the framework of bilateral agreements in the defence sector. Uganda also deployed troops, ostensibly in pursuit of jihadist-backed armed rebels three years ago. However, this deployment has been a destabilising factor, with Kampala facing accusations of supporting the M23.

    What have been the main hurdles in the way of these initiatives?

    The East African Community Regional Force was deployed to pursue peace in eastern DRC as part of the Nairobi Process. However, this mission was cut short due to four main challenges:

    • differences over mission objectives: the DRC government believed that the East African Community Regional Force would militarily confront M23 rebels. But the force had different objectives. As indicated by its commander, the deployment was to focus on overseeing the implementation of a political agreement, not run a military confrontation.

    • contrasting views among the leaders of the East African Community member states on how to address the DRC’s crisis: the DRC and Rwanda are both members of the community. Rwanda is vocal about stopping the persecution of Congolese Tutsi in the DRC. However, there is a growing perception that Rwanda is supporting the M23 as a proxy force to allow it to control mineral resources. This has stalled reconciliation efforts.

    • a lack of financial support for the talks: the African Union and regional bodies don’t have enough funding to support the interventions required to make meaningful progress.

    The Luanda Process has not been able to bring tangible results either. The reasons for this failure include bad faith from the parties involved. This was reflected in the continued capture of territories by Rwanda-backed M23 rebels, despite a July 2024 ceasefire.

    After the January 2025 seizure of Goma and wave of deaths and displacement that followed, the M23 declared another ceasefire. Whether it will hold remains to be seen.

    Rwanda’s behaviour in the ongoing conflict is complicating peace efforts. Kigali continues to deny supporting the M23 armed group. But it is participating in negotiations that involve the M23 and the DRC government. These contradictions make it difficult to know exactly who must be held responsible when, for example, a ceasefire is violated.

    What’s required to give peace in the DRC a chance?

    The current peace initiatives have been ineffective; they are routinely violated. What is needed is real pressure on the actors involved in spreading violence, forcing them to halt their destructive activities.

    Congolese Nobel Prize winner Denis Mukwege, for example, has called for diplomatic and economic measures to end the aggression in the DRC. This would mean implementing sanctions and aid conditionalities in both Kigali and Kinshasa against the military and political leaders orchestrating violence against civilian populations.

    Interventions should also include addressing structural causes of the conflict in the DRC, including resource exploitation.

    There is also a need to address impunity as an essential step towards lasting peace. Rwanda must not continue to support an armed group that is attacking a neighbour. Kigali needs to be held accountable. International pressure is essential in halting attacks. The DRC government must also play its role as a guarantor of security for all its citizens.

    Patrick Hajayandi 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. DRC conflict: talks have failed to bring peace. Is it time to try sanctions? – https://theconversation.com/drc-conflict-talks-have-failed-to-bring-peace-is-it-time-to-try-sanctions-248792

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Misleading and false election ads are legal in Australia. We need national truth in political advertising laws

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yee-Fui Ng, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Monash University

    An ad falsely depicting independent candidate Alex Dyson as a Greens member. ABC News/Supplied

    The highly pertinent case of a little-known independent candidate in the Victorian seat of Wannon has exposed a gaping hole in Australia’s electoral laws, which allow for misleading political advertisements in the lead-up to an election campaign. It’s all entirely legal and is already being exploited to try to shape the outcome of the coming federal election.

    Conservative activist group Advance Australia has widely distributed digitally altered flyers attacking independent Alex Dyson, who is challenging senior frontbencher Dan Tehan.

    It’s part of a campaign to damage Dyson’s electoral prospects after he helped slash the Liberal Party’s margin in the seat at the last election to less than 4%.

    The material depicts Dyson ripping open his shirt in a “Superman” pose, to reveal a t-shirt bearing the official Greens party logo.

    Dyson is not a Greens candidate. So why are the ads permissible? And what does it tell us about the urgent need for truth in political advertising laws to prohibit material that lies to voters?

    Why are misleading ads allowed?

    Section 329 of the Electoral Act prohibits the publication of material likely to mislead or deceive an elector in casting their vote.

    But in a narrow interpretation by the Electoral Commission, the ban only applies after an election has been called by the prime minister.

    That means the Wannon ad, and maybe countless others like them from across the political spectrum, could be distributed for months without repercussion.

    Advance Australia has form when it comes to misleading material.

    At the 2022 election, it displayed placards that falsely depicted independents David Pocock and Zali Steggall as Greens candidates.

    In that case, the Electoral Commission ruled that because the corflutes were deployed during the campaign proper, they breached the electoral laws.

    It is absurd and dangerous to democracy to have a law that only bans ads that mislead voters in casting their vote during the official election period, and allows them to proliferate unchecked at other times.

    It should not be permissible to lie to voters just because of a technicality. In an era of permanent campaigning, voters can be influenced by political messages received well before a campaign officially starts.

    Furthermore, there is little justification for allowing political parties to mislead while banning corporations from engaging in misleading and deceptive conduct. If consumers and shareholders are protected from fraudulent and dishonest claims, why not electors, who have the solemn task of deciding who runs the country?

    How can the electoral laws be fixed?

    There are available remedies to the problem, starting with reforming the Electoral Act. It should be clearly specified that the provision on misleading electors applies to any material calculated to affect the result of an election, regardless of when it is distributed.

    Broader truth in political advertising provisions should also be introduced. This would cover a wider range of factually misleading ads beyond the existing narrow ambit of misleading a voter in the casting of their vote.

    If the Electoral Commission determines the material is false or misleading to a material extent, it would order a withdrawal and a retraction.

    Importantly, the laws would be confined to false or misleading statements of fact. Parties and other political players would still be free to express their opinions. Freedom of speech would not be impeded.

    Parliamentary stalemate

    The Albanese government has taken tentative steps to fix the problem. Truth in advertising laws introduced to parliament last year would have forced Advance Australia to retract and correct its dishonest flyers in Wannon.

    However, the bill was pulled due to a lack of support.

    Any doubters on the opposition benches should look to the experience in South Australia and the ACT, which have both enacted truth in advertising laws.

    My research has shown these laws operate effectively in both jurisdictions.

    What’s at stake

    Spreading political lies has the potential to cause harm on multiple fronts.

    The first is the damage to the candidate or political party in terms of their reputation and electoral prospects.

    The second danger is to the integrity of the electoral process if lies cause people to switch their votes to such an extent that it changes election outcomes.

    The spread of disinformation has become prevalent in an era of “fake news” and “alternative facts”, exacerbated by the rise of social media.

    In 2024, the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report ranked misinformation and disinformation as the most severe risk facing the world over the next two years.

    False information can alter elections, affect voting participation, silence minorities, and polarise the electorate. It is time to reform our electoral laws to mitigate the significant dangers to our democratic system.

    Yee-Fui Ng received funding from the Susan McKinnon Foundation on a project regarding the operation and effectiveness of truth in political advertising laws.

    – ref. Misleading and false election ads are legal in Australia. We need national truth in political advertising laws – https://theconversation.com/misleading-and-false-election-ads-are-legal-in-australia-we-need-national-truth-in-political-advertising-laws-249279

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Rebels are continuing their march in eastern Congo – what is their long-term goal?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amani Kasherwa, School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, The University of Queensland

    In late January, a rebel group that has long caused mayhem in the sprawling African nation of Democratic Republic of Congo took control of Goma, a major city of about 2 million people on the border with Rwanda in the country’s east.

    Nearly 3,000 people were killed in one of the deadliest weeks in the history of this mineral-rich country. The dead include 100 female prisoners who were reportedly raped by male inmates at a prison and then burned alive.

    As someone born and raised in the region, I’ve witnessed first-hand the devastating impact of this protracted war on communities. I’ve been in contact with residents in Goma, who have described unprecedented chaos – looting, criminality and a breakdown of essential services. One resident said:

    I’m feeling unsafe in my own house. Last night live bullets penetrated my kitchen, and thank God none of us were there at the time.

    More violence may lay ahead. The M23 rebel group, backed by neighbouring Rwanda, is marching south towards Bukavu, another major city, the provincial capital of South Kivu.

    Though unlikely, it has vowed to topple the government of President Felix Tshisekedi in the capital, Kinshasa, some 2,600 kilometres away.

    Tshisekedi has ruled out entering into dialogue with the rebel group, saying his government would not be “humiliated or crushed”.

    What is M23?

    Founded in 2012, M23 claims to protect the Tutsi ethnic minority group in Congo from discrimination, but it has recently begun pursuing broader political and economic ambitions. It is believed to have about 6,500 fighters, supported by another 4,000 troops from Rwanda.

    Last year, the group was restructured to include other Rwanda-backed militias and politicians in the region. Together, they formed the River Congo Alliance, led by Corneille Nangaa, the former head of Congo’s electoral body. It now appears the group has “longer-term objectives in holding and potentially expanding their territorial control”, one analyst says.

    A military court has issued an arrest warrant for Nangaa this week, alleging he is behind massacres in eastern Congo.

    Congo has one of the richest reserves of critical minerals in the world, including cobalt, copper, coltan, uranium and gold. M23’s advances have given it control over many lucrative mines and supply lines to Rwanda.

    In May 2024, M23 seized the mine in Rubaya, one of the world’s largest coltan reserves, which generates more than US$800,000 (A$1.2 million) in revenue a month.

    As of this week, M23 has also gained control over mining sites in North and South Kivu regions, where children and young people are forced to work in life-threatening conditions. Others have been recruited as child soldiers.

    Potential for a regional conflict

    The current situation echoes the tumult caused in 2012 when M23 briefly seized Goma. Back then, the international community reacted more diligently, suspending around US$200 million (A$318 million) in aid to Rwanda. US President Barack Obama personally called Rwandan President Paul Kagame, urging him to stop supporting the rebel group.

    In contrast, the current offensive has been met with a less coordinated international response.

    The resurgence of M23 has been largely attributed to the failure of regional peace talks, notably the Luanda and Nairobi peace processes.

    Rwanda has leveraged the legacy of the 1994 genocide to secure a continuous flow of Western aid, enabling its involvement in proxy wars in the Congo with little to no repercussions.

    Its involvement in supporting M23 is well documented, with evidence from reports by UN expert groups showing the group is receiving weapons, troops and logistical aid from the country.

    Uganda is also believed to be supporting the rebels, while Burundi is backing the Congolese government.

    This has many worried the current fighting could spiral into a regional conflict.

    What the world can do

    The ongoing crisis in Congo has been catastrophic for the local population, with more than 6.9 million people internally displaced and 1.1 million people fleeing to neighbouring countries.

    The crisis has disproportionately affected women and children. It has caused shortages of water, electricity and food supplies and the collapse of medical care, particularly for newborns and critically ill patients. There are also concerns about a new Ebola outbreak in the region.

    Rebel bombings, some launched from Rwanda, have targeted refugee camps, schools and hospitals. According to the UN and human rights groups, M23 is responsible for a massacre in the village of Kishishe, resulting in scores of killings and mass rapes.

    The international community has long ignored this region, providing only a bare minimum of aid to help the millions in need.

    An immediate ceasefire and massive influx of humanitarian aid are urgently needed. But a lasting peace will remain elusive if the main actors don’t address the root causes of the conflict and work towards sustainable, structural solutions that go beyond military interventions.

    In the past, Amani Kasherwa received funding from the Open Society Foundation for his academic research on the role of youth organisations in the peacebuilding process in the African Great Lakes Region (including DR Congo and Burundi).

    – ref. Rebels are continuing their march in eastern Congo – what is their long-term goal? – https://theconversation.com/rebels-are-continuing-their-march-in-eastern-congo-what-is-their-long-term-goal-248672

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Are eggs good or bad for our health?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lauren Ball, Professor of Community Health and Wellbeing, The University of Queensland

    Nik/Unsplash

    You might have heard that eating too many eggs will cause high cholesterol levels, leading to poor health.

    Researchers have examined the science behind this myth again, and again, and again – largely debunking the claim.

    A new study suggests that, among older adults, eating eggs supports heart health and even reduces the risk of premature death.

    Let’s unpack the details.

    What was the study?

    Researchers examined data from a large, ongoing study that is following older adults and tracking their health (the ASPREE study).

    In their analysis of more than 8,000 people, they examined the foods people usually eat and then looked at how many participants died over a six-year period and from what causes, using medical records and official reports.

    Researchers collected information on their diet through a food questionnaire, which included a question about how frequently participants ate eggs in the past year:

    • never/infrequently (rarely or never, 1–2 times per month)
    • weekly (1–6 times per week)
    • daily (daily or several times per day).

    Overall, people who consumed eggs 1–6 times per week had the lowest risk of death during the study period (29% lower for heart disease deaths and 17% lower for overall deaths) compared to those who rarely or never ate eggs.

    Eating eggs daily did not increase the risk of death either.

    How reputable is the study?

    The research was published in a peer-reviewed journal, meaning this work has been examined by other researchers and is considered reputable and defensible.

    Study participants reported their egg intake on an questionnaire.
    Sincerely Media/unsplash

    In the analysis, factors such as socioeconomic, demographic, health-related and clinical factors, and overall dietary quality were “adjusted” for, as these factors can play a role in disease and the risk of early death.

    Researchers received funding from a variety of national funding grants in the United States and Australia, with no links to commercial sources.

    What are the limitations of this study?

    Due to the type of study, it only explored egg consumption patterns, which participants self-reported. The researchers didn’t collect data about the type of egg (for example, chicken or quail), how it was prepared, or how many eggs are consumed when eaten.

    This analysis specifically looked for an association or link between egg consumption and death. Additional analyses are needed to understand how egg consumption may affect other aspects of health and wellbeing.

    Lastly, the population sample of older adults were relatively healthy, limiting how much findings can be applied to older adults with special needs or medical conditions.

    The study didn’t look at the type of eggs or serving sizes.
    Jakub Kapusnak/Unsplash

    What is ASPREE?

    ASPREE (ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly) is an ongoing, large, randomised, placebo-controlled clinical trial involving more 19,000 participants in Australia and the US. This means some people in the trial were given an intervention and others weren’t but neither the participants nor the researchers knew who received the “placebo”, or dummy treatment.

    ASPREE started in 2010 to investigate whether low-dose aspirin (100 micrograms daily) could help prolong older adults’ health and lifespan, specifically by preventing heart disease and stroke. The first findings were published in 2018.

    One of the fundamental conclusions of the ASPREE trial was there was no benefit from taking aspirin to prevent cardiovascular disease (heart disease or stroke).

    ASPREE is still ongoing as a longitudinal study, which means it provides information on other aspects of healthy living and long-term outcomes in older adults – in this case, the link between egg intake and the chance of death.

    Why the focus on eggs?

    Eggs are a good source of protein, and contain B vitamins, folate, unsaturated fatty acids, fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K), choline, and minerals.

    The fuss over eggs comes down to their cholesterol content and how it relates to heart disease risk. A large egg yolk contains approximately 275 mg of cholesterol — near the recommended daily limit of cholesterol intake.

    In the past, medical professionals warned that eating cholesterol-rich foods such as eggs could raise blood cholesterol and increase heart disease risk.

    But newer research shows the body doesn’t absorb dietary cholesterol well, so dietary cholesterol doesn’t have a major effect on blood cholesterol levels.

    Rather, foods such as saturated and trans fats play a major role in cholesterol levels.

    The body doesn’t absorb the cholesterol from eggs very well.
    Nichiiro/Unsplash

    Given these changing recommendations over time, and the nuances of nutrition science, it’s understandable that research on eggs continues.

    What does this mean for me?

    Whether you prefer boiled, scrambled, poached, baked or fried, eggs provide a satisfying source of protein and other key nutrients.

    While the science is still out, there’s no reason to limit egg intake unless specifically advised by a recognised health professional such as an accredited practising dietitian. As always, moderation is key.

    Lauren Ball receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council, Queensland Health and Mater Misericordia. She is a Director of Dietitians Australia, a Director of Food Standards Australia and New Zealand, a Director of the Darling Downs and West Moreton Primary Health Network and an Associate Member of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences.

    Karly Bartim is a member of Dietitians Australia and the Australian Association of Gerontology and is an Accredited Practising Dietitian.

    – ref. Are eggs good or bad for our health? – https://theconversation.com/are-eggs-good-or-bad-for-our-health-249168

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Belle Gibson built a ‘wellness’ empire on a lie about cancer. Apple Cider Vinegar expertly unravels her con

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Edith Jennifer Hill, Associate Lecturer, Learning & Teaching Innovation, Flinders University

    Netflix

    Netflix’s new limited series, Apple Cider Vinegar, tells the story of the elaborate cancer con orchestrated by Australian blogger Annabelle (Belle) Gibson.

    The first episode opens with Gibson’s character (played by Kaitlyn Dever) breaking the wall between the performance and the audience, saying:

    This is a true story based on a lie. Some names have been changed to protect the innocent. Belle Gibson has not been paid for the recreation of her story.

    And from these first few seconds, we know, Gibson herself is not innocent.

    A familiar story

    For anyone who followed Gibson during her rise to fame in the 2010s – or her spectacular fall – the show feels eerily familiar.

    From the clothing, to the makeup, to the food, Apple Cider Vinegar excels in set design and staging. Every effort has been made to ensure this true story, based on a lie, looks like it did when it was unfolding on our phone screens in 2010s.

    As someone who followed Gibson closely and spent months hunting down the recalled cookbook to see if the health claims were as outlandish as I’d heard (they were), this show was a treat to watch.

    The scenes are cut with recreations of Belle’s stylised Instagram pictures of green juices, beaches and food with “no nasties”. Belle’s account was removed from Instagram after the massive public ousting of her hoax.

    Apple Cider Vinegar has done an incredible job recreating this account and breathing life back into the deleted content.

    Even after being caught out, the real Gibson claimed ‘unscrupulous natural therapists duped her into believing she was dying’, according to 60 Minutes.
    Netflix

    The cancer con

    While the core story of Apple Cider Vinegar is unpacking Gibson’s lies and path to destruction, it also shows us a very real and heartbreaking side to cancer.

    Other prominent characters include fellow influencer, Milla Blake (played by Alycia Debnam-Carey) and follower Lucy (played by Tilda Cobham-Harvey). Both of these women are battling cancer. We learn about their relationships with Gibson and how her lies so easily bled into their lives.

    We witness how alluring Gibson’s lies were for people who were desperately looking to feel “well”. We understand her magnetism, and just as easily to feel the rage of the families who watched as their loved ones deteriorated. In the words of Lucy’s partner:

    I’m not letting some influencer with a nose ring undercut years of medical research.

    Apple Cider Vinegar demonstrates how one can be taken down a path of cancer treatment quackery. The allure of alternative medicine is presented compellingly when contrasted with the painful realities of traditional cancer treatment.

    Milla, suffering from an aggressive form of cancer, seeks out alternative options after doctors recommend an amputation. She says:

    I didn’t know the words to describe the rage I felt when the doctors looked at my body and only saw disease.

    While holistic approaches to many diseases can be helpful when combined with traditional treatment, Apple Cider Vinegar illustrates how toxic it can be to “moralise” health.

    When people assign moral properties to neutral health conditions such as cancer, AIDS or COVID, this can lead to stigmatisation and feelings of being “bad”. Some characters in the show talk about how their behaviours led them to sickness and how “healthy” actions would save them (rather than medical treatment).

    The show also regularly uses language that is prominent in online health communities, such as referring to certain foods as “good” or “toxic”. In one scene, we see a character fall into a panic and call a holistic health professional after her parent takes a pain killer.

    The real story

    Apple Cider Vinegar is based on the book The Woman Who Fooled the World by Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano, two journalists who were instrumental in uncovering Gibson’s lies.

    Creator Samantha Strauss crafts this story expertly. We see Gibson’s story from all sides. We feel sympathy for her – for her childhood and loneliness – before being put in the shoes of someone whose partner is dying because they followed Gibson’s advice.

    Some characters and scenes have clearly been fabricated, such as when Gibson claims to see a doctor named “Dr Phil”. But these fabrications seem acceptable, because we are told from the beginning that’s what this show would do: create and fictionalise some characters.

    Other scenes feel very real. The character Milla Blake, a fellow influencer, is heavily inspired by the real woman who died in 2015 from epithelioid sarcoma.

    She made a platform online by sharing how she rejected traditional cancer treatment in favour of alternative treatments (Gerson therapy). Like Belle, she was a part of the inspirational speaking and author circuit at the time.

    Alycia Debnam-Carey (left) plays Milla Blake, a character based on a real woman who died from epithelioid sarcoma in 2015.
    Netflix

    In their book The Woman Who Fooled the World, Donelly and Toscano speculate about how Belle got close to this influencer (to follow her pattern of success online) and to other cancer patients, including a young boy and his family (to mimic symptoms and appear more authentic).

    Apple Cider Vinegar shows us hints of this behaviour. We see Belle begin to mimic the language of other people sharing their experiences with cancer and act in similar ways.

    Whether or not you are already familiar Gibson’s story, Apple Cider Vinegar is a compelling watch. You’ll especially love it if you enjoy non-fiction productions that play with ideas of truth such as iTonya, the Tinder Swindler and Inventing Anna.

    Apple Cider Vinegar is streaming now on Netflix.

    Edith Jennifer Hill 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. Belle Gibson built a ‘wellness’ empire on a lie about cancer. Apple Cider Vinegar expertly unravels her con – https://theconversation.com/belle-gibson-built-a-wellness-empire-on-a-lie-about-cancer-apple-cider-vinegar-expertly-unravels-her-con-248999

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Taking the ‘forever’ out of ‘forever chemicals’: we worked out how to destroy the PFAS in batteries

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jens Blotevogel, Principal Research Scientist and Team Leader for Remediation Technologies, CSIRO

    Mino Surkala, Shutterstock

    Lithium-ion batteries are part of everyday life. They power small rechargeable devices such as mobile phones and laptops. They enable electric vehicles. And larger versions store excess renewable energy for later use, supporting the clean energy transition.

    Australia produces more than 3,000 tonnes of lithium-ion battery waste a year. Managing this waste is a technical, economic and social challenge. Opportunities exist for recycling and creating a circular economy for batteries. But they come with risk.

    That’s because lithium-ion batteries contain manufactured chemicals such as PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. The chemicals carry the lithium – along with electricity – through the battery. If released into the environment, they can linger for decades and likely longer. This is why they’ve been dubbed “forever chemicals”.

    Recently, scientists identified a new type of PFAS known as bis-FASIs (short for bis-perfluoroalkyl sulfonimides) in lithium-ion batteries and in the environment. Bis-FASIs have since been detected in soils and waters worldwide. They are toxic – just one drop in an Olympic-size swimming pool can harm the nervous system of animals. Scientists don’t know much about possible effects on humans yet.

    Bis-FASIs in lithium-ion batteries present a major obstacle to recycling or disposing of batteries safely. Fortunately, we may have come up with a way to fix this.

    There’s value in our battery wastes

    Currently, Australia only recycles about 10% of its battery waste. The rest is sent to landfill.

    But landfill sites could leak eventually. That means disposal of battery waste in landfill may lead to soil and groundwater contamination.

    We can’t throw away lithium-ion batteries in household rubbish because they can catch fire.

    So once batteries reach the end of useful life, we must handle them in a way that protects the environment and human health.

    What’s more, there’s real value in battery waste. Lithium-ion batteries contain lots of valuable metals that are worth recycling. Lithium, cobalt, copper and nickel are critical and finite metal resources that are in high demand. The recoverable metal value from one tonne of lithium-ion battery waste is between A$3,000 and $14,000.

    As more lithium-ion batteries explode in flames, waste chiefs say change is necessary (7.30)

    What does this mean for recycling of batteries?

    Battery recycling in Australia begins with collection, sorting, discharging and dismantling, before the metal is recovered.

    Metal recovery can be done via mechanical, high-temperature, chemical or biological methods. But this may inadvertently release bis-FASI, threatening recycling workers and the environment.

    Pyrometallurgy is the most common technique for recycling lithium-ion batteries. This involves incinerating the batteries to recover the metals. Bis-FASIs are incinerated at the same time.

    Yet PFAS chemicals are stable and can withstand high temperatures. The exact temperature needed to destroy PFAS is the biggest unknown in lithium-ion battery recycling.

    Determining this temperature was the focus of our research.

    The solution is hot – very hot!

    We teamed up with chemistry professor Anthony Rappé at Colorado State University in the United States. We wanted to work out the temperature at which bis-FASIs can be effectively incinerated.

    But figuring this out is tricky, not only because of the danger of working with high temperatures.

    The inside of incinerators is a hot mess. Molecules get torn apart. Some recombine to form larger molecules, and others interact with ashes produced during the burning process. This could produce toxic new substances, which then exit through a smokestack into the air outside.

    We don’t want PFAS going out through the smokestack.
    HJBC, Shutterstock

    To make matters worse, it’s not possible to measure all the substances that bis-FASIs break down into, because many of them are unknown.

    To help, we applied the science of quantum mechanics and solved the problem on a computer without ever going into the lab. The computer can accurately simulate the behaviour of any molecules, including bis-FASIs.

    We found that at 600°C, bis-FASI molecules start to separate into smaller fragments. But these fragments are still PFAS chemicals and could be more harmful than their parent chemicals.

    As a consequence, the absence of bis-FASIs in stack exhaust is not enough to deem the process safe. Much higher temperatures of 1,000°C and above are needed to break down bis-FASIs completely into harmless products. This is likely to be much higher than temperatures currently used, although that varies between facilities.

    Based on these findings, we built an innovative model that guides recyclers on how to destroy bis-FASIs during metal recovery by using sufficiently high temperatures.

    How do we avoid future risks?

    We are now collaborating with operators of high-temperature metal recovery and incineration plants to use our model to destroy PFAS in batteries.

    Recycling plants will have to use much higher temperatures to avoid problematic fumes and this will require more energy and financial investment.

    After our new guidance is implemented, we will test the recovered metals, solid residues, and exhausts to ensure they are free from PFAS.

    While we can tackle the PFAS problem now, it remains an expensive undertaking. Metal recovery processes must be upgraded to safely destroy bis-FASIs. Ultimately, consumers are likely to foot the bill.

    However, sending lithium-ion battery waste to landfill will damage the environment and be more expensive in the long run. Landfilling of bis-FASI-containing waste should therefore be avoided.

    Clearly, the battery recycling rate must improve. This is where everyday people can help. In the future, manufacturers should avoid using forever chemicals in batteries altogether. Development of safer alternatives is a key focus of ongoing research into sustainable battery design.

    Jens Blotevogel receives funding from the United States Department of Defense’s Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program.

    Naomi Boxall receives funding from the Australian Government under the National Environmental Science Program.

    – ref. Taking the ‘forever’ out of ‘forever chemicals’: we worked out how to destroy the PFAS in batteries – https://theconversation.com/taking-the-forever-out-of-forever-chemicals-we-worked-out-how-to-destroy-the-pfas-in-batteries-242769

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: What is botulism? How this ‘nerve-paralysing illness’ can be linked to dodgy botox

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thomas Jeffries, Senior Lecturer in Microbiology, Western Sydney University

    Tijana Simic/Shutterstock

    The news last week that three people in Sydney were hospitalised with botulism after receiving botox injections has raised questions about the regulation of the cosmetic injectables industry.

    The three women allegedly received injections of unregulated anti-wrinkle products from the same provider at a Western Sydney home in January.

    The provider, who is not a registered health practitioner, is allegedly also linked to a case of botulism that occurred following a botox injection in Victoria in 2024.

    The provider has been banned from performing cosmetic procedures in New South Wales and Victoria while the incidents are investigated. Meanwhile, health authorities in both states have issued warnings about the practitioner.

    So, what exactly is botulism? And how can it be linked to botox?

    Botox and botulism

    Botox, or botulinum toxin, is a drug made from a toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum.

    The botox toxin is a neurotoxin, which means it prevents the functioning of cells in the central nervous system. Specifically, it blocks the messages your nerves send to your muscles telling them to contract. In this way it can temporarily reduce wrinkles.

    While botox is best known for its cosmetic applications, it can also be used in the treatment of certain medical conditions, such as chronic migraines and muscle spasms.

    The toxin is used in a highly diluted form in botox injections. Notwithstanding the possibility of side effects (such as temporary pain and swelling at the injection site), botox is generally considered safe when conducted by licensed health practitioners.

    Botulism is likewise caused by a toxin produced by the bacteria C. botulinum.

    Instances of botulism linked to botox injections in the past have been attributed to counterfeit or mishandled product. Mishandling might include contamination from the toxin source in the diluted product, leading to a higher dose of the toxin, or improper refrigeration. Poor injection technique can also be a factor.

    When the botulinum toxin is not handled properly, the toxin can enter the bloodstream. This is how botulism occurs.

    Botulism can also be a food-borne illness

    C. botulinum can form spores and survive in tough conditions, meaning it can withstand many food preparation techniques.

    People who consume homemade preserved foods such as vegetables, particularly those that are not cooked during preparation, can be at a higher risk of food-borne botulism. Lower levels of salt and acid, as is the case with mild fermentation, can also increase the risk of the toxin being present.

    Botulism can be picked up from food.
    Dale Jackson/Pexels

    C. botulinum can also survive in soil and water. In this way, botulism can also be caused by bacteria from the environment. This can present as wound infections, or intestinal infection with C. botulinum in infants specifically.

    Intravenous drug users are at a higher risk of wound-borne botulism, while infants tend to suffer from gastrointestinal botulism because their gut microbiomes are still developing.

    It’s extremely rare

    Botulism is very unusual, with generally only about one case reported annually in Australia.

    However it’s very serious. It’s commonly referred to as a nerve-paralysing illness.

    Symptoms can develop within a few hours to several days after exposure to the toxin, and include drooping eyelids, difficulty breathing, facial weakness, blurred vision, difficulty swallowing and slurred speech. In infants it can cause floppy limbs and a weak cry.

    It’s treated by supporting breathing if necessary, and urgently administering a botox antitoxin, which binds to the toxin, preventing it from attaching to nerve cells in the body.

    Usually patients recover, although in some cases they may need to be in hospital for months, and sometimes symptoms such as fatigue and trouble breathing can last years.

    Botulism is fatal in 5–10% of cases.

    Botulism is a serious illness.
    Jason Grant/Shutterstock

    Is there anything people can do to stay safe?

    The cosmetic injectables industry is estimated to be worth A$4.1 billion in Australia and forecast to grow by almost 20% annually until 2030. These recent incidents in NSW and Victoria highlight the need for stronger regulation in this booming industry.

    If you’re considering a cosmetic botox injection, make sure it’s administered by a trusted professional, ideally someone registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.

    Asking your practitioner about the injectable they’re using, and ensuring the specific product is registered with the Therapeutic Goods Administration, can further limit any risk associated with botox procedures.

    If you make your own preserved foods, careful food production techniques and hygiene, as well as the addition of fermentation, acid, salt or heat treatment can limit the risk of food-borne botulism.

    Thomas Jeffries 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 is botulism? How this ‘nerve-paralysing illness’ can be linked to dodgy botox – https://theconversation.com/what-is-botulism-how-this-nerve-paralysing-illness-can-be-linked-to-dodgy-botox-248765

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: WA Labor has thumping Newspoll lead a month before election; federal Labor improves

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne

    The Western Australian state election will be held on March 8. A Newspoll, conducted January 29 to February 4 from a sample of 1,039, gave Labor a 56–44 lead, from primary votes of 42% Labor, 32% Liberals, 3% Nationals, 12% Greens, 4% One Nation and 7% for all Others.

    At the March 2021 WA election, Labor won 53 of the 59 lower house seats on a two-party vote of 69.7–30.3, a record high for either major party at any state or federal election. Labor won 59.9% of the primary vote.

    A 56–44 result in Labor’s favour would still be a thumping victory, but it would represent a 14% swing to the Liberals from 2021. Labor will lose many seats, but they are very likely to easily retain a lower house majority.

    Labor Premier Roger Cook had a net approval of +18, with 55% satisfied and 37% dissatisfied. Liberal leader Libby Mettam had a net approval of -2, with 41% dissatisfied and 39% satisfied. Cook led Mettam as better premier by 54–34.

    While this Newspoll is very good for state Labor, only 35% of WA voters said the Anthony Albanese federal Labor government deserved to be re-elected, while 50% said it was “time to give someone else a go”.

    Federal Essential poll: Coalition remains ahead on respondent preferences

    A national Essential poll, conducted January 29 to February 2 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 49–47 lead by respondent preferences including undecided (48–47 in mid-January). The Coalition has led by one or two points in the past four Essential polls.

    Primary votes were 36% Coalition (down one), 30% Labor (steady), 12% Greens (steady), 8% One Nation (up one), 1% UAP (down one), 9% for all Others (up two) and 4% undecided (down one). These primary votes imply a Labor lead by about 50.5–49.5 by 2022 election preference flows.

    The poll graph below includes the latest polls from Essential and Morgan, but not the DemosAU poll. In the last two weeks, the Morgan poll has trended to Labor, with Labor’s two-party share using 2022 flows increasing from 48% to 50.5%.

    On action to combat antisemitism, 9% thought the government was doing too much, 30% said it was doing enough and 43% believed it was not doing enough. On the importance of antisemitism, 40% said it was a major issue, 48% a minor issue and 12% not an issue. Issue salience will be greatly overstated by questions that ask about one issue; it’s best to ask about various issues.

    By 37–31, respondents supported tax discounts of $20,000 for small businesses to pay for meals and entertainment for staff and clients. The question did not mention that this idea was proposed by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.

    By 77–16, voters thought there should be laws requiring equal salaries for men and women in the same position, but by 49–45 they said gender equality has come far enough already. On social and economic inequality, 57% (down two since May 2024) thought it is increasing, 29% (up three) staying about the same and 10% (up one) decreasing.

    Core inflation dropped in December quarter

    The Australian Bureau of Statistics released inflation data for the December quarter on January 29. Headline inflation was up 0.2% in December, unchanged from the September quarter, with annual inflation down from 2.8% to 2.4%. The peak annual inflation was 7.8% in December 2022.

    Core (trimmed mean) inflation increased 0.5% in December, down from 0.8% in September, for an annual rate of 3.2%, down from 3.6% in September. Annual core inflation peaked at 6.8% in December 2022.

    The ABC’s report said financial markets thought there was now a 90% chance of an interest rate cut when the Reserve Bank board meets on February 17–18. A rate cut would be good news for the government.

    Morgan and DemosAU polls are tied

    A national Morgan poll, conducted January 27 to February 2 from a sample of 1,694, had a 50–50 tie by headline respondent preferences, a two-point gain for Labor since the previous poll. This is the first time the Coalition has not led in a Morgan poll since late November.

    Primary votes were 38.5% Coalition (down two), 30% Labor (up 0.5), 11.5% Greens (steady), 5.5% One Nation (down 0.5), 10.5% independents (up 1.5) and 4% others (up 0.5). By 2022 election flows, Labor led by 50.5–49.5, a 1.5-point gain for Labor.

    The previous Morgan poll, conducted January 20–26 from a sample of 1,567, gave the Coalition a 52–48 lead by respondent preferences, unchanged from the January 13–19 poll.

    Primary votes were 40.5% Coalition (down 1.5), 29.5% Labor (up one), 11.5% Greens (down 1.5), 6% One Nation (up two), 9% independents (up 0.5) and 3.5% others (down 0.5). By 2022 election flows, the Coalition led by 51–49, a one-point gain for Labor.

    A DemosAU national poll, conducted January 28 to February 1 from a sample of 1,238, had a 50–50 tie, unchanged since November. Primary votes were 38% Coalition (steady), 33% Labor (up one), 12% Greens (steady), 7% One Nation (steady) and 10% for all Others (down one).

    DemosAU is using 2022 election flows for its polls. The primary votes would be expected to give Labor a 51–49 lead, so rounding probably contributed to the tie.

    Freshwater breakdowns of young men and young women

    The Financial Review had breakdowns of voting intentions and other questions from the last three national Freshwater polls on January 28. These polls were conducted from November to January from an overall sample of 3,160. This analysis focused on differences between men and women aged 18–34.

    Among young women, Labor and the Greens each had 32% of the primary vote, while the Coalition was at just 25%. Among young men, Labor had 36%, the Coalition 32% and the Greens 20%. I estimate young women would vote Labor by about 65–35 and young men by 59–41 after preferences.

    While there is a difference between young men and women, Labor would easily win the overall youth vote in this poll. Labor’s problems in the overall polls are due to older voters skewing to the Coalition.

    Young women preferred Albanese as PM to Dutton by 58–27, while young men preferred Albanese by 55–37. With young women, Albanese was at net -11 approval and Dutton at net -22. With young men, Albanese was at net +6 approval and Dutton at net -6. Young men were much more positive than young women about the direction of the country and the economy.

    Adrian Beaumont 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. WA Labor has thumping Newspoll lead a month before election; federal Labor improves – https://theconversation.com/wa-labor-has-thumping-newspoll-lead-a-month-before-election-federal-labor-improves-248437

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: An ‘earthquake swarm’ is shaking Santorini. It could persist for months

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dee Ninis, Earthquake Scientist, Monash University

    Greece’s government has just declared a state of emergency on the island of Santorini, as earthquakes shake the island multiple times a day and sometimes only minutes apart.

    The “earthquake swarm” is also affecting other nearby islands in the Aegean Sea. It began gradually with numerous very minor (less than magnitude 3) and mostly imperceptible earthquakes in late January. However, at the start of February, the seismic activity intensified as the quakes became larger and more frequent.

    So far, several thousand quakes have been recorded in the last two weeks. As many as 30 a day have been above magnitude 4.0 – most of them at less than 10km depth, which is large and shallow enough to be felt by people living on local islands.

    These larger earthquakes have resulted in rock falls along the islands’ coastal cliffs, as well as minor damage to vulnerable buildings. The largest earthquake so far was magnitude 5.1 on February 6, which was also felt in the capital city, Athens, as well as in Crete and in parts of Turkey more than 240km away.

    Usually a popular tourist destination, Santorini is now virtually empty. Over the past week, some 11,000 holidaymakers and locals have left the island, with many fearing the seismic activity may presage a volcanic eruption.

    So how exactly does an “earthquake swarm” happen? And what might happen in the coming days and weeks?

    No stranger to earthquakes

    This area of the world is no stranger to earthquakes. Greece is one of the most seismically active regions in Europe.

    The current seismic activity is located near Anydros, an uninhabited islet about 30km northeast of Santorini. This region lies within the volcanic arc of the “Hellenic subduction zone”, where the African tectonic plate is slowly sliding beneath the Eurasian plate (and specifically the Aegean microplate). The region hosts volcanoes as well as numerous weak zones in the crust – what earth scientists often call “faults”.

    Santorini itself is a mostly submerged caldera – a crater formed as a result of volcanic activity over the past 180,000 years, with its last eruption in the 1950s. Earthquakes can be connected to volcanic activity – specifically, the movement of magma beneath the surface.

    However, this earthquake sequence is not located beneath Santorini. And local scientists monitoring Santorini have reported no change to indicate the current seismic activity is a forerunner of another Santorini eruption. Instead, the earthquakes appear to align with faults lying between Santorini and the neighbouring island Amorgos.

    Nearby faults are known to have produced earthquakes before. For example, in 1956, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake here also produced a damaging tsunami and was soon followed by a magnitude 7.2 aftershock. More than 53 people died as a result of this earthquake and the aftershock and tsunami. Many more were injured.

    Earthquakes, shown as coloured circles, of the January-February 2025 Anydros swarm, near Santorini, Greece (Source: seismo.auth.gr) and known active faults, depicted as black lines (Source: https://zenodo.org/records/13168947).
    Dee Ninis & Konstantinos Michailos

    No single stand-out event

    Tectonic earthquakes occur when accumulating stress in Earth’s crust is suddenly released, causing a rupture along a fault and releasing energy in the form of seismic waves.

    Typically, moderate to major earthquakes (known as mainshocks) are followed by smaller quakes (known as aftershocks) that gradually diminish in magnitude and frequency over time. This is what seismologists call the mainshock–aftershock sequence.

    Some sequences behave differently and do not exhibit a single stand-out event. Instead, they involve multiple earthquakes of a similar size that take place over days, weeks, or even months. These types of sequences are what seismologists call “earthquake swarms”.

    The 1956 earthquake was a mainshock–aftershock sequence, with aftershocks lasting at least eight months after the mainshock. However, the current ongoing seismic activity near Santorini, at least as of February 7, features thousands of earthquakes, many with magnitudes ranging between 4.0 and 5.0.

    This suggests it is most likely an earthquake swarm.

    Earthquake swarms are often associated with fluid movement in the earth’s crust and the resulting seismic activity is usually less dramatic than the sudden movement of a strong mainshock.

    Seismologists are interested in distinguishing between mainshock–aftershock sequences and earthquake swarms as it can help them better understand the processes that drive these phenomena.

    A larger quake is still possible

    We cannot predict exactly what will come from the earthquake activity near Santorini. Global observations of earthquakes tell us that only a small fraction (about 5%) of earthquakes are foreshocks to larger earthquakes.

    That said, there could still be a possibility that a larger and potentially damaging earthquake could occur there soon.

    Although swarms typically involve earthquakes of lower magnitudes, they can last for days to weeks, or persist for months. They can even slow down, and then intensify again, unsettling locals with intermittent ground shaking.

    Dee Ninis works at the Seismology Research Centre, is Vice President of the Australian Earthquake Engineering Society, and a Committee Member for the Geological Society of Australia – Victoria Division.

    Konstantinos Michailos 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. An ‘earthquake swarm’ is shaking Santorini. It could persist for months – https://theconversation.com/an-earthquake-swarm-is-shaking-santorini-it-could-persist-for-months-249278

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Global: An ‘earthquake swarm’ is shaking Santorini. It could persist for months

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Dee Ninis, Earthquake Scientist, Monash University

    Greece’s government has just declared a state of emergency on the island of Santorini, as earthquakes shake the island multiple times a day and sometimes only minutes apart.

    The “earthquake swarm” is also affecting other nearby islands in the Aegean Sea. It began gradually with numerous very minor (less than magnitude 3) and mostly imperceptible earthquakes in late January. However, at the start of February, the seismic activity intensified as the quakes became larger and more frequent.

    So far, several thousand quakes have been recorded in the last two weeks. As many as 30 a day have been above magnitude 4.0 – most of them at less than 10km depth, which is large and shallow enough to be felt by people living on local islands.

    These larger earthquakes have resulted in rock falls along the islands’ coastal cliffs, as well as minor damage to vulnerable buildings. The largest earthquake so far was magnitude 5.1 on February 6, which was also felt in the capital city, Athens, as well as in Crete and in parts of Turkey more than 240km away.

    Usually a popular tourist destination, Santorini is now virtually empty. Over the past week, some 11,000 holidaymakers and locals have left the island, with many fearing the seismic activity may presage a volcanic eruption.

    So how exactly does an “earthquake swarm” happen? And what might happen in the coming days and weeks?

    No stranger to earthquakes

    This area of the world is no stranger to earthquakes. Greece is one of the most seismically active regions in Europe.

    The current seismic activity is located near Anydros, an uninhabited islet about 30km northeast of Santorini. This region lies within the volcanic arc of the “Hellenic subduction zone”, where the African tectonic plate is slowly sliding beneath the Eurasian plate (and specifically the Aegean microplate). The region hosts volcanoes as well as numerous weak zones in the crust – what earth scientists often call “faults”.

    Santorini itself is a mostly submerged caldera – a crater formed as a result of volcanic activity over the past 180,000 years, with its last eruption in the 1950s. Earthquakes can be connected to volcanic activity – specifically, the movement of magma beneath the surface.

    However, this earthquake sequence is not located beneath Santorini. And local scientists monitoring Santorini have reported no change to indicate the current seismic activity is a forerunner of another Santorini eruption. Instead, the earthquakes appear to align with faults lying between Santorini and the neighbouring island Amorgos.

    Nearby faults are known to have produced earthquakes before. For example, in 1956, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake here also produced a damaging tsunami and was soon followed by a magnitude 7.2 aftershock. More than 53 people died as a result of this earthquake and the aftershock and tsunami. Many more were injured.

    Earthquakes, shown as coloured circles, of the January-February 2025 Anydros swarm, near Santorini, Greece (Source: seismo.auth.gr) and known active faults, depicted as black lines (Source: https://zenodo.org/records/13168947).
    Dee Ninis & Konstantinos Michailos

    No single stand-out event

    Tectonic earthquakes occur when accumulating stress in Earth’s crust is suddenly released, causing a rupture along a fault and releasing energy in the form of seismic waves.

    Typically, moderate to major earthquakes (known as mainshocks) are followed by smaller quakes (known as aftershocks) that gradually diminish in magnitude and frequency over time. This is what seismologists call the mainshock–aftershock sequence.

    Some sequences behave differently and do not exhibit a single stand-out event. Instead, they involve multiple earthquakes of a similar size that take place over days, weeks, or even months. These types of sequences are what seismologists call “earthquake swarms”.

    The 1956 earthquake was a mainshock–aftershock sequence, with aftershocks lasting at least eight months after the mainshock. However, the current ongoing seismic activity near Santorini, at least as of February 7, features thousands of earthquakes, many with magnitudes ranging between 4.0 and 5.0.

    This suggests it is most likely an earthquake swarm.

    Earthquake swarms are often associated with fluid movement in the earth’s crust and the resulting seismic activity is usually less dramatic than the sudden movement of a strong mainshock.

    Seismologists are interested in distinguishing between mainshock–aftershock sequences and earthquake swarms as it can help them better understand the processes that drive these phenomena.

    A larger quake is still possible

    We cannot predict exactly what will come from the earthquake activity near Santorini. Global observations of earthquakes tell us that only a small fraction (about 5%) of earthquakes are foreshocks to larger earthquakes.

    That said, there could still be a possibility that a larger and potentially damaging earthquake could occur there soon.

    Although swarms typically involve earthquakes of lower magnitudes, they can last for days to weeks, or persist for months. They can even slow down, and then intensify again, unsettling locals with intermittent ground shaking.

    Dee Ninis works at the Seismology Research Centre, is Vice President of the Australian Earthquake Engineering Society, and a Committee Member for the Geological Society of Australia – Victoria Division.

    Konstantinos Michailos 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. An ‘earthquake swarm’ is shaking Santorini. It could persist for months – https://theconversation.com/an-earthquake-swarm-is-shaking-santorini-it-could-persist-for-months-249278

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Is DOGE a cybersecurity threat? A security expert explains the dangers of violating protocols and regulations that protect government computer systems

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Richard Forno, Teaching Professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, and Assistant Director, UMBC Cybersecurity Institute, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

    People protest DOGE’s access to sensitive personal data. AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

    The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), President Donald Trump’s special commission tasked with slashing federal spending, continues to disrupt Washington and the federal bureaucracy. According to published reports, its teams are dropping into federal agencies with a practically unlimited mandate to reform the federal government in accordance with recent executive orders.

    As a 30-year cybersecurity veteran, I find the activities of DOGE thus far concerning. Its broad mandate across government, seemingly nonexistent oversight, and the apparent lack of operational competence of its employees have demonstrated that DOGE could create conditions that are ideal for cybersecurity or data privacy incidents that affect the entire nation.

    Traditionally, the purpose of cybersecurity is to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of information and information systems while helping keep those systems available to those who need them. But in DOGE’s first few weeks of existence, reports indicate that its staff appears to be ignoring those principles and potentially making the federal government more vulnerable to cyber incidents.

    Technical competence

    Cybersecurity and information technology, like any other business function, depend on employees trained specifically for their jobs. Just as you wouldn’t let someone only qualified in first aid to perform open heart surgery, technology professionals require a baseline set of credentialed education, training and experience to ensure that the most qualified people are on the job.

    Currently, the general public, federal agencies and Congress have little idea who is tinkering with the government’s critical systems. DOGE’s hiring process, including how it screens applicants for technical, operational or cybersecurity competency, as well as experience in government, is opaque. And journalists investigating the backgrounds of DOGE employees have been intimidated by the acting U.S. attorney in Washington.

    DOGE has hired young people fresh out of – or still in – college or with little or no experience in government, but who reportedly have strong technical prowess. But some have questionable backgrounds for such sensitive work. And one leading DOGE staffer working at the Treasury Department has since resigned over a series of racist social media posts.

    Wired’s Katie Drummond explains what the magazine’s reporters have uncovered about DOGE staffers and their activities.

    According to reports, these DOGE staffers have been granted administrator-level technical access to a variety of federal systems. These include systems that process all federal payments, including Social Security, Medicare and the congressionally appropriated funds that run the government and its contracting operations.

    DOGE operatives are quickly developing and deploying major software changes to very complex old systems and databases, according to reports. But given the speed of change, it’s likely that there is little formal planning or quality control involved to ensure such changes don’t break the system. Such actions run contrary to cybersecurity principles and best practices for technology management.

    As a result, there’s probably no way of knowing if these changes make it easier for malware to be introduced into government systems, if sensitive data can be accessed without authorization, or if DOGE’s work is making government systems otherwise more unstable and more vulnerable.

    If you don’t know what you’re doing in IT, really bad things can happen. A notable example is the failed launch of the healthcare.gov website in 2013. In the case of the Treasury Department’s systems, that’s fairly important to remember as the nation careens toward another debt-ceiling crisis and citizens look for their Social Security payments.

    On Feb. 6, 2025, a federal judge ordered that DOGE staff be restricted to read-only access to the Treasury Department’s payment systems, but the legal proceedings challenging the legality of their access to government IT systems are ongoing.

    DOGE email servers

    DOGE’s apparent lack of cybersecurity competence is reflected in some of its first actions. DOGE installed its own email servers across the federal government to facilitate direct communication with rank-and-file employees outside official channels, disregarding time-tested best practices for cybersecurity and IT administration. A lawsuit by federal employees alleges that these systems did not undergo a security review as required by current federal cybersecurity standards.

    There is an established process in the federal government to configure and deploy new systems to ensure they are stable, secure and unlikely to create cybersecurity problems. But DOGE ignored those practices, with predictable results.

    For example, a journalist was able to send invitations to his newsletter to over 13,000 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration employees through one of these servers. In another case, the way in which employee responses to DOGE’s Fork in the Road buyout offer to federal employees are collected could easily be manipulated by someone with malicious intent – a simple social engineering attack could wrongly end a worker’s employment. And DOGE staff members reportedly are connecting their own untrusted devices to government networks, which potentially introduces new ways for cyberattackers to penetrate sensitive systems.

    However, DOGE appears to be embracing creative cybersecurity practices in shielding itself. It’s reorganizing its internal communications in order to dodge Freedom of Information Act requests into its work, and it’s using cybersecurity techniques for tracking insider threats to prevent and investigate leaks of its activities.

    Lacking management controls

    But it’s not just technical security that DOGE is ignoring. On Feb. 2, two security officials for the U.S. Agency for International Development resisted granting a DOGE team access to sensitive financial and personnel systems until their identities and clearances were verified, in accordance with federal requirements. Instead, the officials were threatened with arrest and placed on administrative leave, and DOGE’s team gained access.

    The Trump administration also has reclassified federal chief information officers, normally senior career employees with years of specialized knowledge, to be general employees subject to dismissal for political reasons. So there may well be a brain drain of IT talent in the federal government, or a constant turnover of both senior IT leadership and other technical experts. This change will almost certainly have ramifications for cybersecurity.

    DOGE operatives now have direct access to the Office of Personnel Management’s database of millions of federal employees, including those with security clearances holding sensitive positions. Without oversight, this access opens up the possibilities of privacy violations, tampering with employment records, intimidation or political retribution.

    Support from all levels of management is crucial to provide accountability for cybersecurity and technology management. This is especially important in the public sector, where oversight and accountability is a critical function of good democratic governance and national security. After all, if people don’t know what you’re doing, they don’t know what you’re doing wrong.

    At the moment, DOGE appears to be operating with very little oversight by anyone in position willing or able to hold it responsible for its actions.

    Mitigating the damage

    Career federal employees trying to follow legal or cybersecurity practices for federal systems and data are now placed in a difficult position. They either capitulate to DOGE staffers’ instructions, thereby abandoning best practices and ignoring federal standards, or resist them and run the risk of being fired or disciplined.

    The federal government’s vast collections of data touch every citizen and company. While government systems may not be as trustworthy as they once were, people can still take steps to protect themselves from adverse consequences of DOGE’s activities. Two good starting points are to lock your credit bureau records in case your government data is disclosed and using different logins and passwords on federal websites to conduct business.

    It’s crucial for the administration, Congress and the public to recognize the cybersecurity dangers that DOGE’s activities pose and take meaningful steps to bring the organization under reasonable control and oversight.

    Richard Forno has received research funding related to cybersecurity from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Defense (DOD), and the US Army during his academic career since 2010.

    – ref. Is DOGE a cybersecurity threat? A security expert explains the dangers of violating protocols and regulations that protect government computer systems – https://theconversation.com/is-doge-a-cybersecurity-threat-a-security-expert-explains-the-dangers-of-violating-protocols-and-regulations-that-protect-government-computer-systems-249111

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-Evening Report: ‘A relentlessly dull world’ – the case for adding more colour to NZ’s grey prisons

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christine McCarthy, Senior Lecturer in Interior Architecture, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington

    Interior of Auckland South Men’s Prison. Getty Images

    Prisons are not colourful places. Typically, they are grey or some variation of a monochrome colour scheme. But increasingly, such a limited palette is being questioned for its impact on health and rehabilitation.

    As the US journalist and broadcaster Michael Montgomery once wrote of the supermax unit of Pelican Bay prison in California:

    I saw a relentlessly dull world; just concrete and steel […] The monochrome landscape seemed to permeate even the faces of the inmates here; men […] had a pasty, ghostly pallor. It was difficult to imagine any kind of sustained life here.

    Prison greyness is partly due to the predominance of steel and concrete, especially in high- and maximum-security units. But the furniture and fixtures – tables, seats and toilets – are also often stainless-steel grey. In New Zealand, even sentenced prisoners’ clothing is grey.

    One reason for this is the Department of Corrections’ concern about gang colours. New Zealand prisoners cannot keep any item of property with gang-related colours. These prohibitions can be zealously but inconsistently enforced.

    As a prisoner once explained to me (when I was president of the Wellington Howard League), a calculator he used for correspondence classes was allowed in one unit but banned in another, simply because it had a blue strip on it.

    Something similar was reported by the Prison Inspectorate in a 2019 report. In that case, staff withheld “black underwear containing small amounts of blue stitching. Staff confirmed this was their approach.”

    Worlds without colour

    Does colour matter in human environments? The answer appears to be yes. Examples include red increasing heart rates, blue and green creating calm, and yellow evoking hope. According to Australian researcher Thomas Edwards:

    yellow may be appropriate in contexts where high motivation and a future-focus are required. By contrast, green and blue may be relevant to settings where low motivation, a present focus, and prosocial behaviours are favoured.

    Colour can also help with legibility and way-finding, and differentiate surfaces to prevent trip hazards – an increasingly important factor as the prison population ages.

    Other over-represented groups in prison can also benefit. For example, Israeli research published in 2022 concluded that soft natural colours and low contrast can improve environments for people with autism spectrum disorder.

    Ultimately, a colourless world is not a good one. Grey and neutral colours reduce visual stimulation, demotivate, increase boredom and can lead to depression. Colour takes on particular importance for people who spend most or all of the day indoors, such as the prisoners in high- and maximum-security units.

    Murals are on the wall and patterned tables in a Californian prison unit.
    Getty Images

    The need for variety

    Colour has a graduated spectrum – there isn’t only one blue, for example. Tints, tones and shades add another level of complexity. Coloured surfaces are affected by their material and degree of sheen. Different combinations of colours and different light sources also affect how a colour looks and its likely impact on people.

    This means there are many possible variants to consider. But most research is highly specific and the findings are rarely universally applicable. The impact of context, cultural differences, our personal preferences and colour associations can also be difficult to measure.

    But this theoretical complexity shouldn’t prevent the use of more colour in prison architecture. Variety in colour, rather than the use of specific colours, is the fundamental change that is needed. Likewise, concerns about gang colours can be mitigated if pattern and colour combinations are astutely used.

    In 2019, Edinburgh College of Art researchers led a project involving dementia patients, adding colour to corridors at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital. Multicoloured strips of block colours were painted on the white corridor walls to relieve the monotony of these spaces.

    Fewer aggressive incidents between patients or with staff were reported after the project. The specific reason is unclear, but it appears better demarcation of spaces led to fewer patients congregating and causing conflict in circulation areas.

    Another example at a semi-open prison in Bosnia saw prisoners painting diagonal lines on walls, creating triangles painted in different colours. Researchers concluded that “bright colours are recommended in the prison, with green and blue […] being the best rated because people perceive them as soothing, stimulating, pleasant and safe”.

    Brighter futures

    There are many other instances in healthcare settings throughout New Zealand where decals of photographic or other images have transformed walls, lifting the atmosphere of a space.

    Increasing the amount of colour on a wall is an inexpensive way to improve prison environments for both staff and prisoners. It can easily create variety and relieve the tedium of otherwise indistinguishable spaces.

    Housing prisoners in a dreary architecture of grey walls, grey furniture and people in grey jumpsuits must make it difficult for them to imagine and prepare for a positive future in the community.

    This can be inferred from studies of prisoners in solitary confinement which have established that living in extremely monotonous environments can cause depression, paranoia, anxiety, aggression and self-harm.

    The new expansion to Waikeria Prison, and its 100-bed mental health unit Hikitia, is an opportunity to significantly shift this attitude to prison interior architecture – but it shouldn’t stop there.

    All prisons would benefit from replacing the typically monochromatic palette of prison architecture with something more colourful.

    Christine McCarthy is a past President of the Wellington Howard League for Penal Reform (2018–20).

    – ref. ‘A relentlessly dull world’ – the case for adding more colour to NZ’s grey prisons – https://theconversation.com/a-relentlessly-dull-world-the-case-for-adding-more-colour-to-nzs-grey-prisons-248665

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Kendrick Lamar’s big Super Bowl moment

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Christina L. Myers, Assistant Professor of Journalism, Michigan State University

    Lamar’s Super Bowl appearance marks a political reckoning for the NFL. Astrida Valigorsky/Getty Images

    In the September 2024 NFL ad announcing Kendrick Lamar as the halftime performer at Super Bowl 59, the 37-year-old rapper stands before a colossal American flag, feeding footballs into a machine that launches the balls to wide receivers.

    “Will you be pulling up? I hope so,” he says, plugging his forthcoming appearance on one of the world’s biggest stages, where the cultural stakes can be as high as the athletic ones. “Wear your best dress too, even if you’re watching from home.”

    The casual yet evocative scene was classic Kendrick.

    As a world-renowned Grammy- and Pulitzer Prize-winning artist, Lamar stands in a league of his own. His unflinching critiques of racial injustice, systemic inequality and the exploitation of Black culture have made him a boundary-pushing artist and cultural visionary.

    My work examines how race and racism are constructed, represented and challenged in mass media, particularly in news, music and sports. I think the NFL’s complicated history with social justice makes his participation even more significant.

    With a discography expansive enough to eclipse the time constraints of Sunday’s game, I’m eager to see whether Lamar will weave his lyrical masterpieces into a performance that entertains, educates and challenges viewers.

    Sports, politics and backlash

    Sports have always been political, despite persistent calls to keep politics out of sports.

    The tradition of playing the national anthem before sporting events is but one example: The song is rooted in wartime sorrow and serves as a call to patriotism.

    Then there are unsanctioned acts of protests by players and fans. Whenever professional athletes go on strike, it’s political. When fans unfurl banners in support of Palestinians, it’s political.

    From Tommie Smith and John Carlos’ fist-raising at the 1968 Olympics in solidarity with Black communities during the Civil Rights Movement, to Muhammad Ali’s refusal to fight in the Vietnam War, to Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling to protest police brutality, athletes have long used their platforms to confront injustice and challenge norms.

    Yet, acts of protest often incite backlash, and the NFL has haphazardly tried to police political speech.

    Kaepernick’s protests sparked a national debate about ideas of patriotism and the appropriateness of protest on the playing field. At the same time, NFL owners appeared to effectively blacklist him from the league.

    Nick Bosa, a defensive end with the 49ers, was fined for violating a rule forbidding players from wearing clothes conveying “personal messages” when he wore a MAGA hat during a postgame interview in 2024. Meanwhile, NFL owners have donated millions to presidential campaigns, with most of those contributions given to Republican candidates.

    Kansas City Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt has donated to Republican politicians and causes, even as the league tries to muzzle players’ political speech.
    Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

    An artist and activist

    The Super Bowl halftime show has long been more than just a musical interlude. It’s a stage where cultural and political currents converge.

    During Beyoncé’s 2016 appearance alongside headliner Bruno Mars, she paid homage to the Black Panthers, Malcolm X and the Black Lives Matter movement. U2’s act during the 2002 Super Bowl provided a moment of collective mourning and hope for a country still reeling from the 9/11 terrorist attacks. More recently, Dr. Dre’s 2022 performance celebrated hip-hop’s rise from a marginalized genre to a dominant cultural force. Eminem, who also participated in that performance, took a knee on stage to critique the NFL’s treatment of Black athletes and activists.

    Rapper Eminem takes a knee as he performs during the halftime show of Super Bowl 56 on Feb. 13, 2022.
    Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images

    To me, Lamar’s Super Bowl appearance symbolizes a broader reckoning with how the NFL handles the tension between politics and corporate entertainment.

    That’s because Kendrick Lamar’s artistry is more than just music. It’s activism.

    From his Grammy award-winning album “To Pimp a Butterfly” to the raw, introspective, Pulitzer Prize-winning album “DAMN.,” Lamar has consistently confronted themes of systemic oppression, racial injustice and Black life in America.

    Tracks like “DNA.” are unapologetic celebrations of Blackness and generational resilience: 

     I got loyalty, got royalty inside my DNA
 Quarter piece, got war and peace inside my DNA
 I got power, poison, pain and joy inside my DNA
 I got hustle, though, ambition flow inside my DNA

    “The Blacker the Berry” delves into the complexities of Black identity and confronting systemic racism:

      I said they treat me like a slave, cah me Black
  Woi, we feel whole heap of pain cah we Black
  And man a say they put me inna chains cah we Black

    And “XXX.” confronts the greed, violence and hypocrisy at the core of American life.

      Hail Mary, Jesus and Joseph
  The great American flag
  Is wrapped and dragged with explosives
  Compulsive disorder, sons and daughters
  Barricaded blocks and borders, look what you taught us
  It's murder on my street
  Your street, back streets, Wall Street

    Unlike many mainstream artists, Lamar seems to have mastered the delicate balance between commercial success and politically charged content. His genius lies in his ability to write songs that transcend race, gender and class.

    At a time when the nation grapples with efforts to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion practices, and as corporate power continues to go unchecked, conversations about race and inequality remain at the fore.

    Lamar has never hesitated to confront uncomfortable truths through his music. He has a unique opportunity to merge art, activism and a critique of the nation. I expect this moment will be no exception.

    Will you be pulling up? I will.

    Christina L. Myers is affiliated with the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ).

    – ref. Kendrick Lamar’s big Super Bowl moment – https://theconversation.com/kendrick-lamars-big-super-bowl-moment-247976

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Trump’s push to shut down USAID shows how international development is also about strategic interests

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Nelson Duenas, Assistant Professor of Accounting, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa

    The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is on the verge of being shut down by United States President Donald Trump’s administration.

    On Feb. 4, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the agency would be taken over by the State Department. He stated that “all USAID direct hire personnel will be placed on administrative leave globally.”

    This move comes after Trump and his officials have heavily criticized the role and ineffectiveness of the agency. Trump said USAID had “been run by a bunch of radical lunatics, and we’re getting them out,” while Tesla CEO and special government employee Elon Musk said it was “time for it to die.”

    The closure of USAID will have significant consequences for many countries in the Global South. USAID is one of the largest development agencies in the world and funds programs that benefit millions of people, from supporting peace agreements in Colombia to fighting the spread of HIV in Uganda.

    Around US$40 billion is allocated annually from the U.S. federal budget for humanitarian and development aid. If USAID is dismantled, it raises questions about how these funds will be redirected and the long-term impacts it will have on global development efforts.

    A geopolitical fallout?

    The potential dismantling of USAID has raised concerns among international development experts about a potential geopolitical fallout that could create unintended consequences for the U.S. itself.

    Global issues, such as human security and climate change, are expected to be heavily affected. The U.S. also risks losing influence in the fight for soft power since dismantling USAID could leave behind a power vacuum. Other countries like Russia or China may occupy the space left by what was the largest international aid program in the world.



    Read more:
    USAid shutdown isn’t just a humanitarian issue – it’s a threat to American interests

    This shift could result in the U.S. losing its influence in regions like Africa, South America and Asia, where the country distributed aid to a number of non-governmental organizations, aid agencies and non-profits.

    While the future of U.S. foreign assistance remains uncertain, other world powers have a role to play. European donors, despite some limitations in resources, remain committed to the 2030 Sustainable Development agenda.

    Beyond humanitarianism

    If the agency is shut down, it may be widely condemned on moral and humanitarian grounds. However, its closure would respond to a logic of strategic and ideological interests that has long shaped the international development system. This a key finding from my longstanding field research with organizations that receive funding, not only from USAID, but also from Canadian and European donors.

    International development largely unfolded in the aftermath of the Second World War when global powers competed to establish a new world order. This led to the creation of international agreements and multilateral institutions, with major industrialized nations emerging as the primary donors of foreign aid.

    While many international initiatives, like the Millennium Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, have guided development as we know it, the governments of main donor countries have their own interests in mind when providing aid.

    In my research, I have interviewed many people involved in the foreign aid chain, including directors and offices of international non-governmental organizations and governmental co-operation agencies. Many said development relationships are shaped by both the interests of donors and those of recipient populations and organizations.

    While these relationships may be based on humanitarian objectives, such as disaster relief or human rights advocacy, they can also be influenced by ideological, geopolitical, economic and social agendas.

    In this context, the American move to eliminate USAID could be seen as one that prioritizes national security and economic goals over traditional global humanitarian concerns. Governments steer the wheel of international development according to their political ideologies and interests, regardless of the shock this may generate among citizens.

    Canada’s role in all this

    The U.S. is not the only country re-evaluating its international development policy. Sweden, another major country in the foreign aid sphere, is also changing its co-operation strategy following changes in its government and criticism of the NGOs that deploy their development assistance.

    Canada’s role in this unfolding situation remains uncertain. With the resignation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as head of the Liberal Party and the upcoming federal election, it’s unclear what will happen to Canada’s international development strategy going forward.

    Under Stephen Harper, the country’s international development strategy was closely tied to expanding trade with developing countries based on maximizing the value of extractive economies and a strong defence policy. This approach aimed to bring value not only to the recipient country of aid, but to Canada as well.

    When Trudeau took office, Canada’s development strategy turned to a more progressive agenda centred on peace keeping, feminist approaches and humanitarian programs.

    Will Canada continue to champion human rights, human security and progressive agendas? Or will Canada reduce funds for foreign assistance, which seems to be the wish of many of its citizens?

    The answer to these questions will depend on the direction that our political leaders decide to take, and the sentiments of citizens. Still, Canada’s approach to development aid will probably remain in a trade-off between moral imperatives of humanitarianism and strategic national interests.

    Nelson Duenas receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)
    Nelson Duenas is a researcher associated to l’Observatoire canadien sur les crises et l’action humanitaires

    – ref. Trump’s push to shut down USAID shows how international development is also about strategic interests – https://theconversation.com/trumps-push-to-shut-down-usaid-shows-how-international-development-is-also-about-strategic-interests-249118

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Gaza: we analysed a year of satellite images to map the scale of agricultural destruction

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lina Eklund, Associate Senior Lecturer, Lund University

    Part of North Gaza in November 2023, and again in July 2024.

    SkySat imagery © 2025/Planet Labs PBC

    The ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hamas makes provisions for the passage of food and humanitarian aid into Gaza. This support is much needed given that Gaza’s agricultural system has been severely damaged over the course of the war.

    Over the past 17 months we have analysed satellite images across the Gaza Strip to quantify the scale of agricultural destruction across the region. Our newly published research reveals not only the widespread extent of this destruction but also the potentially unprecedented pace at which it occurred. Our work covers the period until September 2024 but further data through to January 2025 is also available.

    Before the war, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and strawberries were grown in open fields and greenhouses, and olive and citrus trees lined rows across the Gazan landscape. The trees in particular are an important cultural heritage in the region, and agriculture was a vital part of Gaza’s economy. About half of the food eaten there was produced in the territory itself, and food made up a similar portion of its exports.

    By December 2023, only two months into the war, there were official warnings that the entire population of Gaza, more than 2 million people, was facing high levels of acute food insecurity. While that assessment was based on interviews and survey data, the level of agricultural damage across the whole landscape remained out of view.

    Most olive and citrus trees are gone

    To address this problem, we mapped the damage to tree crops – mostly olive and citrus trees – in Gaza each month over the course of the war up until September 2024. Together with our colleagues Dimah Habash and Mazin Qumsiyeh, we did this using very high-resolution satellite imagery, detailed enough to focus on individual trees.

    We first visually identified tree crops with and without damage to “train” our computer program, or model, so it knew what to look for. We then ran the model on all the satellite data. We also looked over a sample of results ourselves to confirm it was accurate.

    Our results showed that between 64% and 70% of all tree crop fields in Gaza had been damaged. That can either mean a few trees being destroyed, the whole field of trees completely removed, or anything in between. Most damage took place during the first few months of the war in autumn 2023. Exactly who destroyed these trees and why is beyond the scope of our research or expertise.

    In some areas, every greenhouse is gone

    As greenhouses look very different in satellite images, we used a separate method to map damage to them. We found over 4,000 had been damaged by September 2024, which is more than half of the total we had identified before the start of the war.

    Greenhouses and the date of initial damage between October 2023 and September 2024.
    Yin et al (2025)

    In the south of the territory, where most greenhouses were found, the destruction was fairly steady from December 2023 onwards.

    But in north Gaza and Gaza City, the two most northerly of the territory’s five governorates, most of the damage had already taken place by November and December 2023. By the end of our study period, all 578 greenhouses there had been destroyed.

    North Gaza and Gaza City have also seen the most damage to tree crop fields. By September 2024, over 90% of all tree crops in Gaza City had been destroyed, and 73% had been lost in north Gaza. In the three southern governorates, Khan Younis, Deir al-Balah and Rafah, around 50% of all tree crops had been destroyed.

    Agricultural damage is common in armed conflict, and has been documented with satellite analysis in Ukraine since the 2022 Russian invasion, in Syria and Iraq during the ISIS occupation in 2015, and in the Caucasus during the Chechen wars in the 1990s and 2000s.

    The exact impact can differ from conflict to conflict. War may directly damage lands, as we have seen in Gaza, or it may lead to more fallow areas as infrastructure is damaged and farmers are forced to flee. A conflict also increases the need for local agricultural production, especially when food imports are restricted.

    Our assessment shows a very high rate of direct and extensive damage to Gaza’s agricultural system, both compared to previous conflict escalations there in 2014 and 2021, and in other conflict settings. For example, during the July-August war in 2014, around 1,200 greenhouses were damaged in Gaza. This time round at least three times as many have been damaged.

    Agricultural attacks are unlawful

    Attacks on agricultural lands are prohibited under international law. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court from 1998 defines the intentional use of starvation of civilians through “depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival” as a war crime. The Geneva conventions further define such indispensable objects as “foodstuffs, agricultural areas for the production offoodstuffs, crops, livestock, drinking water installations and supplies and irrigation works”.

    Our study provides transparent statistics on the extent and timing of damage to Gaza’s agricultural system. As well as documenting the impacts of the war, we hope it can help the massive rebuilding efforts that will be required.

    Restoring Gaza’s agricultural system goes beyond clearing debris and rubble, and rebuilding greenhouses. The soils need to be cleaned from possible contamination. Sewage and irrigation infrastructure need to be rebuilt.

    Such efforts may take a generation or more to complete. After all, olive and citrus trees can take five or more years to become productive, and 15 years to reach full maturity. After previous attacks on Gaza the trees were mostly replanted, and perhaps the same will happen again this time. But it’s for good reason they say that only people with hope for the future plant trees.

    Lina Eklund receives funding from the Swedish National Space Agency and the Strategic Research Area: The Middle East in the Contemporary World (MECW) at the Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies, Lund University, Sweden.

    He Yin receives funding from NASA.

    Jamon Van Den Hoek receives funding from NASA.

    – ref. Gaza: we analysed a year of satellite images to map the scale of agricultural destruction – https://theconversation.com/gaza-we-analysed-a-year-of-satellite-images-to-map-the-scale-of-agricultural-destruction-248796

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Current cultural citizens: the importance of creating spaces in art galleries for young people

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Naomi Zouwer, Visual Artist and Lecturer in Teacher Education, University of Canberra

    Galleries and art museums can be intimidating and alienating even for adults. Imagine it from a child’s point of view. Stern security guards in uniforms stationed the doors, bags checked, snacks banned and people hushed. It’s no wonder that kids groan when an excursion to the gallery comes up.

    An increasing number of galleries are rethinking their approach, asking what it takes to be welcoming and engaging for the younger generation. Children should be welcomed and visible in gallery spaces. Their experiences now shape the citizens they will become in the future. Viewing art helps develop their identity and creativity, and a more nuanced understanding of the world.

    The first step in making change is to recognise that children are current and active cultural citizens who can offer valuable perspectives, ideas and youthful energy. Through thoughtful design and programming, the younger generation is told their presence in the gallery is valued.

    Here are some ways galleries are rising to the challenge and making children more welcome – and more valued – in our cultural spaces.

    Setting the tone

    The entrance to a gallery sets the tone for a young visitor. Are they greeted warmly and made to feel welcome, or does their arrival feel like an intrusion?

    Some simple adjustments such as less intimidating bag checks, clear signage, and designated stroller parking create a more welcoming environment. Replacing uniformed security guards with friendly guides and training reception staff to acknowledge and engage with young visitors make a huge difference.

    Visitors in Obliteration Room 2002, the Kids for Kusama exhibition at NGV International, Melbourne until 21 April 2025. © YAYOI KUSAMA.
    Photo: Eugene Hyland

    Inciting curiosity and interaction at the front door is another way to invite children into the space. Displaying eye-catching and intriguing sculptural works at the entry or in the foyer builds a sense of anticipation and interest.

    The iconic water wall at the National Gallery of Victoria signals to children that there are wonders to touch and explore inside.

    Children don’t come alone

    Children come to galleries with parents, siblings, schools or community groups. Galleries that consider how these varied age groups move through the space can greatly enhance the overall experience.

    Programming designed with the whole family in mind means parents and kids can share cultural experiences. Well designed workshops, interactive exhibits and events appeal to mixed aged groups.

    Lucky Lartey and friends perform as part of the Hive Festival 2024 at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
    Photo © Art Gallery of New South Wales, Christopher Snee

    The Art Gallery of New South Wales regularly stages all-ages concerts with popular DJs and live music, building positive associations with the gallery for the whole family.

    Incorporating a variety of spaces and experiences extend the duration and frequency of family visits. Some children need low sensory sessions with reduced stimuli to enjoy their visit. Others can use adjacent outdoor spaces and robust sculpture gardens to burn off excess energy, share lunch or even splash in some pink water.

    Is there a place for me?

    Does your local gallery have a dedicated children’s gallery?

    These spaces are designed with kids in mind, engaging the senses and creating participatory ways of experiencing art. The way children encounter the work helps young children learn about the diverse and creative approaches and perspectives of artists in an engaging context.

    The interactive experiences and programming mean children can explore their imagination and creativity and form a personal connections with the arts.

    What about the older kids? Can they see themselves in the gallery? Teens need to connect, collaborate and to be included in cultural narratives in ways that are relevant to them.

    Programs tailored for teens, such as workshops or art-making sessions, move beyond passive observation and encourage self expression and participation.

    Installation view of Top Arts 2024 on display at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia from 14 March to 14 July.
    Photo: Kate Shanasy

    Ambitious teen programs, like the out-of-hours teen parties in the National Gallery of Victoria or the youth council at the National Gallery of Australia, empower young people to interact with art and the institution in ways that are meaningful for them.

    Exhibiting the best artwork from the year 12 graduating students is another effective way to demonstrate to teens their perspectives and presence matters. Seeing creative work by their age group displayed in a gallery builds confidence and demonstrates to older adults how much the younger generation have to contribute.

    Growing lifelong learners

    Galleries are unique learning environments, able to engage with and activate the school curriculum and develop essential skills like social and emotional capabilities and creative and critical thinking skills.

    New institutions can consider how to meaningfully engage with children in the design phase, but even existing galleries can reconfigure and retrofit their spaces and exhibitions to enable kids to learn.

    Neo at the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide.
    Photo: Sam Roberts

    Specifically designed studios, creative technology, classrooms and presentation areas open the doors to cultural exploration. Positive exposure fosters a sense of stewardship ensuring that future generations value and support the arts.

    Galleries are doing a great job welcoming kids but even more can be done. By embracing children as current cultural citizens, galleries can create a more inclusive, creative, and culturally aware society.

    Intentionally designed spaces and programming ensure that children are not only welcomed but inspired to return – again and again – throughout their lives.

    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. Current cultural citizens: the importance of creating spaces in art galleries for young people – https://theconversation.com/current-cultural-citizens-the-importance-of-creating-spaces-in-art-galleries-for-young-people-235599

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Do investment tax breaks work? A new study finds the evidence is ‘mixed at best’

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kerrie Sadiq, Professor of Taxation, QUT Business School, and ARC Future Fellow, Queensland University of Technology

    The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released a discussion paper this week on investment tax breaks. The study looks at whether tax incentives, such as instant asset write-offs for utes, boost business investment.

    Business investment is an important contributor to overall economic growth, and has been sluggish in recent years.

    The authors conclude the evidence for these tax breaks is “mixed at best”. They say that income tax breaks used during the global financial crisis increased investment significantly, however:

    [there is] no substantial evidence that other policies, including those implemented during the pandemic, increased investment.

    In an election year, further promises of tax breaks for businesses are likely. The Coalition has already announced a tax break for meals and entertainment. But are they a good idea, and at what cost do these promises come?

    Small business in Australia

    Small businesses with fewer than 20 employees make up 97% of all Australian businesses. More than 92% of Australian businesses have an annual turnover of less than A$2 million. It is these businesses that are doing it tough.

    These businesses are offered tax breaks for spending on capital assets such as equipment or vehicles. For the 2023-24 tax year, they can immediately write off the cost of eligible assets up to $20,000. In the May 2024 Budget, the government announced that the tax break would be extended to the 2024-25 tax year.

    When a small business is operated as a company, the base tax rate is 25%. This effectively means that the business still contributes 75% of the cost of the asset. This requires businesses to have the cash flow to invest. Even if there is cash flow, businesses may not want to spend on large purchases.

    It’s a question of trade-offs

    Investment tax breaks are also costly in terms of government tax revenue. Each year, the Treasury estimates the cost of tax breaks. These tax breaks are known as tax expenditures.

    For the 2023-34 tax year, the instant write-off tax break for small businesses is estimated to cost more than $4 billion by reducing taxes collected.

    Tax expenditures are normally designed to offer incentives to one group of taxpayers. However, they come at the expense of broader groups of taxpayers and at a cost of lost revenue to the government. This is money that could be spent through direct spending programs.

    Tax expenditures can be thought of as government spending programs hidden in plain sight.

    The true cost of tax breaks

    Tax expenditures play a central role in Australia’s collection of taxes and redistribution. During the pandemic, the instant asset write-off was increased to $150,000.

    The current government introduced the latest instant asset write-off to improve cash flow and reduce compliance costs for small business. As the RBA discussion paper notes, these types of incentives are also designed to encourage additional business investment.

    However, that study indicates this is not being achieved. They suggest the reasons may be the tax policies themselves or differences in the economic environment. Put simply, businesses may not want to invest.

    If the stated benefits are not realised, the result is less tax collected. Take the $4 billion cost above. Without the incentive, the government would have an additional $4 billion to spend. The $4 billion in 2023-24 could have been directed to funding small businesses through a direct spending program.

    Targeted programs

    The RBA discussion paper highlights the need to determine whether investment tax breaks achieve their intended benefits. Many factors must be considered, and assessing the influence on the economy is vital.

    However, evaluating these measures within the tax system means that important questions are not asked. This includes whether the benefits are distributed fairly, whether the program targets the right group of taxpayers, and whether there are unintended distorting effects.

    The latest Treasury Tax Expenditures and Insights Statement provides data on 307 separate measures. This number continues to grow.

    The government’s “Future Made in Australia” contains two examples. Its economic plan to support Australia’s transition to a net zero economy contains two tax incentives, one for hydrogen production and another for critical minerals.

    The proposed hydrogen production tax incentive is estimated at a cost to the budget of $6.7 billion over ten years. The measure will provide a $2 incentive per kilogram of renewable hydrogen produced for up to ten years. Eligible companies will get a credit against their income tax liability.

    The proposed critical minerals production tax incentive is estimated to cost the budget $7 billion over ten years. Eligible companies will get a refundable tax offset of 10% of certain expenses relating to processing and refining 31 critical minerals listed in Australia.

    Support for tax breaks

    Tax breaks for businesses, such as the immediate write-off, disproportionately benefit those that spend. Often, this is by design. If this is a government objective, supported by the general population, then it is viewed as a good use of public money.

    The same principle applies to tax breaks in the Government’s Future Made in Australia plan. A government objective is to transition to a net zero economy. A stated priority is to attract “investment to make Australia a leader in renewable energy, adding value to our natural resources and strengthening economic activity”.

    The question remains as to whether tax breaks are the best way to achieve this. The answer often changes when viewed as a direct spending program.

    Kerrie Sadiq currently receives funding from the Australian Research Council. She has previously received research grants from CPA and CAANZ.

    Ashesha Weerasinghe 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. Do investment tax breaks work? A new study finds the evidence is ‘mixed at best’ – https://theconversation.com/do-investment-tax-breaks-work-a-new-study-finds-the-evidence-is-mixed-at-best-249148

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: A new school year can see friendships change – this is tough on kids, but parents can help

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karyn Healy, Honorary Principal Research Fellow in Psychology, The University of Queensland

    Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock

    The start of the school year means new classes, routines, after-school activities and sometimes even a new school.

    This can be a really exciting time for kids, but these changes can also disrupt existing friendships. Students might feel stressed about not having certain friends with them in class or confused about why old friends are behaving differently.

    How can you coach your child through changing friendship dynamics?

    How parents help

    Research shows supportive friendships play an important role in maintaining students’ wellbeing. Having good friends is linked to better mental health as well as better school attendance and academic achievement.

    Research also shows us parenting plays an important role in helping children make and keep friends.

    Our research has found parents can improve how well a child is accepted by peers by doing three things:

    • listening and asking questions to help their child think through a situation

    • helping their child plan how to address the issue

    • supporting their child to have contact with peers.

    Parents can play an important role in their child’s friendships.
    Alena Ozerova/ Shutterstock

    Listening to your child

    It’s helpful to check in with your child regularly so you can provide support if they need it.

    When children tell you about a conflict or problem, simply start by listening actively. This means reflecting back in your own words what your child said, including feelings. For example,

    So it sounds like you are feeling upset Shelley wants to hang out with kids in her new class?

    It’s also helpful to empathise with your child about how they feel:

    I think I would feel sad too if that happened to me.

    This helps your child feel like someone else understands them – and they are not dealing with this on their own.

    For older children and teenagers, you may want to check if the child wants your help to work out how to solve the problem. Sometimes listening is all that is needed.

    Working out what to do next

    If needed, parents can then coach children how to manage any concerns. They can start by helping a child understand why another child may have acted as they did.

    For example, if the parent says “Why do you think Shelley said this?”, perhaps the child might respond that “Shelley doesn’t like me anymore”. The parent could offer an alternative explanation – perhaps Shelley is worried about making friends in her new class.

    The parent could ask the child what they want – in the above example, the child may want to still be friends with Shelley. The parent can then prompt the child to think of a range of ways to improve the situation, weigh up what might work best and encourage the child to give this a go. Often children can think of solutions themselves, if asked

    What could you do to improve things? What else could you do?.

    In our example, this might include organising a play with Shelley on the weekend. Alternatively, the child might plan to check in again with Shelley after a few days.

    This type of coaching is helpful as it supports the child thinking through the problem and coming up with their own solution, which they are more likely to put in place than if simply told what to do.

    Parents can also support their child to strengthen friendships by helping them connect with friends outside school through activities, play dates and online contact.

    Play dates can help if friends are not seeing each other at school.
    Patrick Foto/ Shutterstock

    Friendships may change over time

    We hear a lot about “BFFs”. However, it is not unusual for friendship groups to change over time, as children mature and develop particular interests.

    When children are placed in a new class or school with no close friends, children often cope through what researchers call “transitional friendships”.

    For example, it’s common for children to start high school with no firm friends, but still know some peers from primary school. These acquaintances can provide companionship until children form closer friendships.

    Parents can help their child in making close friends at high school by supporting them to catch up and connect with new friends out of school.

    Similarly, if a child is missing their old friends, a parent can coach their child in finding ways to stay in touch – like texting, a weekend sleepover or joining an out-of-school activity together.

    If you still have concerns

    If friendship concerns or worries are having an ongoing, negative impact on your child’s mental health, parents should seek further support from a health professional.

    You can start with your GP, who may suggest a referral to a psychologist. You may also like to talk to your child’s teacher – they may be able to help your child get to know potential friends through class activities.

    If this article has raised issues for you or someone you know, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800. There is also free access to Australian evidence-based parenting programs such as Triple P.

    Karyn Healy has received funding from QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, the Australian Research Council and Australian government Emerging Priorities Program. Karyn is a co-author of the Resilience Triple P parenting program. Resilience Triple P and all Triple P programs are owned by the University of Queensland. The university has licensed Triple P International Pty Ltd to publish and disseminate Triple P programs worldwide. Royalties stemming from published Triple P resources are distributed to the Parenting and Family Support Centre, School of Psychology, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences and contributory authors. No author has any share or ownership in Triple P International Pty Ltd.

    – ref. A new school year can see friendships change – this is tough on kids, but parents can help – https://theconversation.com/a-new-school-year-can-see-friendships-change-this-is-tough-on-kids-but-parents-can-help-248751

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Habitat restoration is a long-haul job. Here are 3 groups that have endured

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nigel Tucker, Research Associate in Environment and Sustainability, James Cook University

    TREAT volunteers planting trees TREAT

    Like ferns and the tides, community conservation groups come and go. Many achieve their goal. Volunteers restore a local wetland or protect a patch of urban bush and then hang up the gardening gloves with a warm inner glow. Some groups peter out while others endure, tackling the ecological problems facing today’s Australia.

    One of those problems is fragmentation. Let’s say you have a national park in one spot and another large tract of habitat ten kilometres away. It’s too hard for many wildlife species to make it across open ground to get there. Over time, this means wild areas can effectively become islands.

    This is where habitat corridors come in. Potentially, if you restore habitat between two isolated areas, wildlife can begin to safely move between the two. Over time, these corridors allow seeds, pollen, native birds and animals to disperse across today’s landscapes.

    In my work as a restoration ecologist, I’ve come across many of Australia’s community groups devoted to the job. Three of these are LUCI – Lockyer Upland Catchments Inc, which began in 2015, the Big Scrub Rainforest Conservancy, founded in 1993 and TREAT – Trees for the Evelyn and Atherton Tablelands Inc, which began in 1982. Each of these has gone the distance. Here are some reasons why.

    Native fruit from the trees in the remnant Big Scrub.
    Big Scrub Rainforest Conservancy

    Where are wildlife corridors most needed?

    Australia’s Wet Tropics are especially threatened by fragmentation. This region is World Heritage listed due to its remarkable biodiversity. Tropical forests have grown here for at least 130 million years. Fragmentation directly threatens this.

    In the tropical uplands of the Atherton Tablelands, there are three popular national parks – the Crater Lakes of Eacham and Barrine and the Curtain Fig Tree. But while visitors might see them as pristine, each is an island surrounded by pasture and settlement. Over time, this will take its toll on the species within.

    Fragmented landscapes are common on the Atherton Tablelands.
    FiledIMAGE/Shutterstock

    Staying the course

    For a volunteer group to reverse the effects of fragmentation, and embark on a long term project such as this, it needs three things.

    First the group has leaders committed to a long term cause, usually scientists or naturalists as well as locals with knowledge and drive. Leaders have to be able to work with governments and group members of all persuasions.

    Second, the group has to be guided by science. You need current information on local plants, animals and habitats to make sure on-ground work has direct conservation benefits.

    And third, networking skills. Harnessing the technical expertise of other groups, government and experts in project planning, execution and monitoring is vital.

    Each of these three groups has these traits, even though they take different approaches to the challenge.

    LUCI is an alliance of private landholders in Queensland’s Lockyer Valley, west of Brisbane, who work to protect remnant vegetation and expand habitat. Their work on threatened species monitoring, protection of remnant vegetation on private land and community engagement reflects their emphasis on education.

    Before European settlement, lowland subtropical rainforest covered 75,000 hectares of land in what is now Byron Bay’s hinterland. But 99% was cut down. In response, Big Scrub members have replanted around 600 hectares – doubling the size of what was left – and established an innovative genetics program to assist in maintaining and enhancing the gene pool of trees planted.

    Only a tiny fraction of the Big Scrub is still intact, at reserves such as the Andrew Johnston Big Scrub reserve. Farmland and acreage surrounds it.
    Peter Woodard/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY

    TREAT is based on the Atherton Tablelands in far north Queensland. This region has long been prized for agriculture, which comes at a cost to habitat. In response, TREAT has worked to reconnect isolated tracts of rainforest. The group collaborates with Queensland Parks and Wildlife to grow many thousands of native rainforest tree seedlings for planting each year.

    TREAT grows tens of thousands of seedlings annually, alongside Queensland Parks and Wildlife. Pictured: Hicksbeachia seedlings.
    TREAT

    All three groups recognise the importance of countering habitat fragmentation. This slicing and dicing forests into smaller and isolated patches severely threatens Australia’s biodiversity.

    Wildlife corridors are deceptively simple in theory. But as I know from long experience restoring habitat, it’s harder than it seems.

    Does it work?

    Planting corridors sounds like a sure thing. But success is not guaranteed. For one thing, it takes work and time. You need baseline surveys, expert analysis of data and monitoring, ideally over decades. Given these challenges, it’s unsurprising that wildlife corridor restoration is little-studied.

    In the 1990s, TREAT volunteers planted 17,000 trees to reconnect a 498 hectare fragment around Lake Barrine to the 80,000ha Wooroonooran National Park 1.2 kilometres away. This corridor is now more than 20 years old. It’s known as the Donaghy’s Corridor Nature Refuge, after the Donaghy family who donated the land for corridor restoration.

    My research has found this corridor is proving successful, using good data collected before, during and after establishment. Ground mammals are moving along the corridor, and breeding has taken place. We could see this in the exchange of genes between two previously separated populations of the native bush rat (Rattus fuscipes).

    More recent studies have shown the corridor has been colonised by many species, ranging from threatened and endemic plants to birds, ground mammals, reptiles, amphibians and microbats. While promising, this is just one corridor. Much more data would be needed to prove this approach is broadly effective.

    As habitat fragmentation continues and the effects of climate change ramp up, more and more species will need to move. The work of volunteer groups such as LUCI, Big Scrub and TREAT in reconnecting scattered pieces of habitat is only going to get more important.

    Nigel Tucker has received funding from the Queensland government’s Nature Refuge Landholder Grants program. He is a Life Member of TREAT.

    – ref. Habitat restoration is a long-haul job. Here are 3 groups that have endured – https://theconversation.com/habitat-restoration-is-a-long-haul-job-here-are-3-groups-that-have-endured-248133

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Choking during sex: many young people mistakenly believe it can be done safely, our study shows

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Heather Douglas, Professor of Law and Deputy Director of the Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (CEVAW), The University of Melbourne

    Lysenko Andrii/Shutterstock

    Around 50% of Australian young people have engaged in choking, or strangulation, during sex. This practice involves one person putting pressure on the neck of another, restricting breathing or blood flow (or both).

    Strangulation during sex carries a variety of risks. These range from effects such as bruising and vomiting to brain injury and death.

    Although rare, strangulation is the leading cause of death in consensual BDSM play.

    There’s no evidence there is any safe way to undertake strangulation. Notably, strangulation can cause injury without leaving any marks and sometimes negative consequences don’t develop until well after the choking episode.

    In a new study, we’ve found part of the reason why strangulation during sex is so common may be because many people mistakenly believe that, while risky, it can be made safe through moderating pressure and appropriate communication.

    But stopping blood flow to the brain can take less pressure than opening a can of soft drink. And research shows strangulation can result in serious harms even when it’s consensual.

    Surveying young Australians

    In 2023, we surveyed a representative sample of 4,702 Australians aged between 18 and 35 about their experiences and opinions of strangulation during sex.

    In 2024, we published a study about the prevalence of sexual strangulation based on the results of this survey. We found 57% of participants reported they had been strangled during sex, and 51% had strangled a partner.

    At the end of the survey, we asked respondents:

    What are your thoughts or insights regarding choking during sex?

    For this new study, we wanted to understand perceptions around sexual strangulation. More than 1,500 participants commented on issues related to safety in their responses, and we analysed these.

    We surveyed young people in Australia about sexual strangulation.
    ImYanis/Shutterstock

    Many mistakenly believed choking could be safe

    It was concerning to us that many of the respondents seemed to believe sexual strangulation can be done safely. Most commonly, participants perceived it to be safe when done with a low level of pressure applied to the sides of the neck.

    One participant, a 31-year-old straight man, said:

    My partner likes a firm hand on the throat but more so not choking off the windpipe, but lightly restricting the blood flow when she can feel an orgasm building up.

    A 24-year-old straight woman commented:

    I think there should be a conversation before hand about how hard and how much pressure.

    Some respondents suggested it was safe to hinder blood flow, rather than oxygen flow. However, restricting blood flow to the brain can also have serious health implications.

    While not all pressure on the neck will be fatal, research shows even relatively low pressure can cause death by strangulation.

    Also, if the person using strangulation or being strangled has used alcohol and other drugs, differences in pressure may be more difficult to discern, increasing the risks for the person being strangled.



    Read more:
    More than half of Australian young people are using strangulation during sex: new research

    Communication and consent

    Participants also linked safety – whether emotional or physical – to consenting to sexual strangulation. As a 32-year-old straight woman wrote:

    If between two consensual adults who have discussed it prior with a safety plan in place then I do not see any harm in the act however I have been subjected to non consensual choking in a previous sexual encounter which left me angry and scared.

    A 23-year-old bisexual woman said:

    As long as both parties agree to it and the amount of pressure, it can be an enjoyable experience. Consent must be given.

    In general, consent was seen as an ongoing process, where it could be withdrawn at any point. A 32-year-old straight man said:

    Should be strictly base on consensus, be aware of your partner body language and breathing and ask them whether they want to continue the activity or not if they say no respect it and back off.

    However, research has found a person being strangled may not be able to withdraw their consent using gestures or words, despite wanting to.

    Several participants did comment on the limitations of consent as a harm-reduction mechanism, acknowledging that even where it was consensual, strangulation during sex could cause damage.

    Many participants discussed consent in relation to sexual strangulation.
    LightField Studios/Shutterstock

    Worryingly, several respondents expressed concern that consent was often overlooked, intentionally or accidentally. A 35-year-old straight woman said:

    The amount of men who just initiate it without asking the woman is scary and they feel entitled to do so.

    Some respondents – usually women, but not always – identified pressure to engage in strangulation (both to be strangled and to strangle their partner). A 24-year-old straight man said:

    I get scared to do it but my partner kinda makes me feel like i have to sometimes.

    A need for better education

    Studies from other countries such as the United States have also shown a misunderstanding of the potential dangers of sexual strangulation, and a false perception that it can be safe if undertaken with the “proper precautions”.

    Previous research has shown young people commonly learn about sexual strangulation through online pornography, social media and each other. Information from these sources is often misleading.

    While consent is a crucial part of any sexual activity, it doesn’t make strangulation safe. Neither does relying on regulating the pressure applied.

    It was positive to see many respondents in our survey identified a desire for more information about sexual strangulation. Accurate information about the risks associated with sexual strangulation should be easily available both online and through public health campaigns.

    Heather Douglas receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

    Leah Sharman receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

    – ref. Choking during sex: many young people mistakenly believe it can be done safely, our study shows – https://theconversation.com/choking-during-sex-many-young-people-mistakenly-believe-it-can-be-done-safely-our-study-shows-248867

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: The transformation of Jordan Mailata: from rugby league in Sydney to a second NFL Super Bowl

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justin Keogh, Associate Dean of Research, Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University

    Jordan Mailata is an Australian-born NFL star who plays for the Philadelphia Eagles as an offensive left tackle. This position favours very tall, heavy and strong athletes who also possess good footwork, agility and tactical awareness.

    His main job is to protect his quarterback and provide gaps for his running backs to run through.

    Mailata is one of four Australians to play in a Super Bowl, with the others being punters (kickers) Ben Graham, Arryn Siposs and Mitch Wishnowsky.

    Unfortunately, no Australian has won the game that matters most every year but Mailata has a chance in his second Super Bowl, against the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday morning.

    So, how did Mailata reach the pinnacle of his “new” sport?



    Read more:
    It’s the most American of sports, so why is the NFL looking to Melbourne for international games?

    A rugby league giant

    Mailata’s initial sporting success came in rugby league.

    He played in the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs under-18 team and was offered a contract by the South Sydney Rabbitohs under-20 team. Both of these clubs are part of the elite National Rugby League (NRL) competition.

    Mailata, who still hadn’t reached his 21st birthday when offered the Rabbitohs contract, stood out as a giant even in professional rugby league circles at 203cm and 147 kilograms.

    But after fainting during a rugby league training session, he was diagnosed with a heart condition that required surgery. He then became even bigger, reportedly tipping the scales at close to 170kg.

    Ultimately, this resulted in some of the South Sydney staff and sport agents suggesting American football might be a better option for someone of his stature and physical capacities.

    Tranasferring his talent

    This brings us to what is known as “talent transfer”.

    In high-performance sport, talent transfer refers to a high-level athlete from one sport transferring to another based on their existing skills and physical capacities.

    This can be done for a number of reasons, like injury, burnout, loss of interest, or, in the case of Mailata, finding another sport that would suit their physicality better.

    Examples of talent transfer include sprinting to bobsleigh (Jana Pittman), rowing to cycling (Bridie O’Donnell and Rebecca Romero) or Sonny Bill Williams, who was highly successful at rugby league, rugby union and heavyweight boxing.

    For talent transfer to be successful, there needs to be a lot of similarities between the two sports in areas such as skill requirements (kicking, passing, tackling), physical traits (height, mass) and physiological demands (aerobic vs anaerobic).

    These similarities can allow athletes to capitalise on their previous training to succeed in their new sport faster and to a higher level than their competitors.

    The similarities between American football and rugby (league and union) – such as catching and kicking an oval-shaped ball, evading or running through defenders and full-body tackling – would have benefited a mature athlete like Mailata to transfer from one code to another.

    A whole new ball game

    His transition from a monster-sized rugby league player in Australia to a more regular-sized offensive tackle in the NFL was initially facilitated through the NFL International Player Pathway (IPP) program.

    The IPP was established in 2017 to provide high performance adult athletes from all over the world (like Mailata) the opportunity to learn the complexities of American football and increase the number of international players in the NFL.

    The program has been highly successful, with 37 international players signing with NFL teams, of which 18 are currently on NFL rosters.

    When Mailata was drafted to the NFL in 2018, he had to work on many aspects of his body to meet the physical challenges of playing in the NFL against other exceptionally massive and strong athletes.

    He also had to learn a range of sport-specific technical and tactical skills.

    As a part of the IPP, he started working with coaches including Jeff Stoutland, the Philadelphia Eagles offensive line coach.

    Stoutland took Mailata into the classroom, teaching him the intricacies of offensive line play including protection and run schemes. These lessons extended into what footwork patterns he would need to master, where and how to position his body when initiating contact and how to use his hands to control the defensive line.

    Such skills are the bread and butter of the offensive line – these athletes provide the quarterback time to make key passing decisions and increase the chance of their running backs making big yards on their carries.

    Mailata has also mentioned how Strickland taught him the importance of critically watching NFL games, initially to learn the technicalities of the sport and now to further refine his performance against the best defensive lines.

    The next wave

    In addition to the IPP that looks at talent transfer from adult athletes, the NFL has developed the NFL Academy for school-aged children.

    The first academy was based at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom and the second was developed at A.B. Patterson College on the Gold Coast.

    These academies combine full-time education with intensive American football training in the hope of promoting pathway opportunities at US colleges.

    Hopefully, these academies will see more young Australians transferring their skills and following Mailata into the NFL.

    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. The transformation of Jordan Mailata: from rugby league in Sydney to a second NFL Super Bowl – https://theconversation.com/the-transformation-of-jordan-mailata-from-rugby-league-in-sydney-to-a-second-nfl-super-bowl-248658

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Whalesong patterns follow a universal law of human language, new research finds

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jenny Allen, Postdoctoral research associate, Griffith University

    A humpback whale mother and calf on the New Caledonian breeding grounds.

    Mark Quintin

    All known human languages display a surprising pattern: the most frequent word in a language is twice as frequent as the second most frequent, three times as frequent as the third, and so on. This is known as Zipf’s law.

    Researchers have hunted for evidence of this pattern in communication among other species, but until now no other examples have been found.

    In new research published today in Science, our team of experts in whale song, linguistics and developmental psychology analysed eight years’ of song recordings from humpback whales in New Caledonia. Led by Inbal Arnon from the Hebrew University, Ellen Garland from the University of St Andrews, and Simon Kirby from the University of Edinburgh, We used techniques inspired by the way human infants learn language to analyse humpback whale song.

    We discovered that the same Zipfian pattern universally found across human languages also occurs in whale song. This complex signalling system, like human language, is culturally learned by each individual from others.

    Learning like an infant

    When infant humans are learning, they have to somehow discover where words start and end. Speech is continuous and does not come with gaps between words that they can use. So how do they break into language?

    Thirty years of research has revealed that they do this by listening for sounds that are surprising in context: sounds within words are relatively predictable, but between words are relatively unpredictable. We analysed the whale song data using the same procedure.

    A breaching humpback whale in New Caledonia.
    Operation Cetaces

    Unexpectedly, using this technique revealed in whale song the same statistical properties that are found in all languages. It turns out both human language and whale song have statistically coherent parts.

    In other words, they both contain recurring parts where the transitions between elements are more predictable within the part. Moreover, these recurring sub-sequences we detected follow the Zipfian frequency distribution found across all human languages, and not found before in other species.

    Whale song recording (2017)
    Operation Cetaces916 KB (download)
    Close analysis of whale song revealed statistical structures similar to those found in human language.
    Operation Cetaces

    How do the same statistical properties arise in two evolutionarily distant species that differ from one another in so many ways? We suggest we found these similarities because humans and whales share a learning mechanism: culture.

    A cultural origin

    Our findings raise an exciting question: why would such different systems in such incredibly distant species have common structures? We suggest the reason behind this is that both are culturally learned.

    Cultural evolution inevitably leads to the emergence of properties that make learning easier. If a system is hard to learn, it will not survive to the next generation of learners.

    There is growing evidence from experiments with humans that having statistically coherent parts, and having them follow a Zipfian distribution, makes learning easier. This suggests that learning and transmission play an important role in how these properties emerged in both human language and whale song.

    So can we talk to whales now?

    Finding parallel structures between whale song and human language may also lead to another question: can we talk to whales now? The short answer is no, not at all.

    Our study does not examine the meaning behind whale song sequences. We have no idea what these segments might mean to the whales, if they mean anything at all.

    A competitive pod of humpback whales on the New Caledonian breeding grounds.
    Operation Cetaces

    It might help to think about it like instrumental music, as music also contains similar structures. A melody can be learned, repeated, and spread – but that doesn’t give meaning to the musical notes in the same way that individual words have meaning.

    Next up: birdsong

    Our work also makes a bold prediction: we should find this Zipfian distribution wherever complex communication is transmitted culturally. Humans and whales are not the only species that do this.

    We find what is known as “vocal production learning” in an unusual range of species across the animal kingdom. Song birds in particular may provide the best place to look as many bird species culturally learn their songs, and unlike in whales, we know a lot about precisely how birds learn song.

    Equally, we expect not to find these statistical properties in the communication of species that don’t transmit complex communication by learning. This will help to reveal whether cultural evolution is the common driver of these properties between humans and whales.

    Ellen Garland received funding from the following grants for this work:
    Royal Society University Research Fellowship (UF160081 and
    URFR221020), Royal Society Research Fellows Enhancement
    Award (RGFEA180213), Royal Society Research Grants for
    Research Fellows 2018 (RGFR1181014), National Geographic
    Grant (NGS-50654R-18), Carnegie Trust Research Incentive Grant
    (RIG007772), British Ecological Society Small Research Grant
    (SR18/1288), and School of Biology Research Committee funding.

    Inbal Arnon, Jenny Allen, and Simon Kirby 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. Whalesong patterns follow a universal law of human language, new research finds – https://theconversation.com/whalesong-patterns-follow-a-universal-law-of-human-language-new-research-finds-249271

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Trump’s push to shut down USAID shows how international development is all about strategic interests

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Nelson Duenas, Assistant Professor of Accounting, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa

    The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is on the verge of being shut down by United States President Donald Trump’s administration.

    On Feb. 4, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the agency would be taken over by the State Department. He stated that “all USAID direct hire personnel will be placed on administrative leave globally.”

    This move comes after Trump and his officials have heavily criticized the role and ineffectiveness of the agency. Trump said USAID had “been run by a bunch of radical lunatics, and we’re getting them out,” while Tesla CEO and special government employee Elon Musk said it was “time for it to die.”

    The closure of USAID will have significant consequences for many countries in the Global South. USAID is one of the largest development agencies in the world and funds programs that benefit millions of people, from supporting peace agreements in Colombia to fighting the spread of HIV in Uganda.

    Around US$40 billion is allocated annually from the U.S. federal budget for humanitarian and development aid. If USAID is dismantled, it raises questions about how these funds will be redirected and the long-term impacts it will have on global development efforts.

    A geopolitical fallout?

    The potential dismantling of USAID has raised concerns among international development experts about a potential geopolitical fallout that could create unintended consequences for the U.S. itself.

    Global issues, such as human security and climate change, are expected to be heavily affected. The U.S. also risks losing influence in the fight for soft power since dismantling USAID could leave behind a power vacuum. Other countries like Russia or China may occupy the space left by what was the largest international aid program in the world.



    Read more:
    USAid shutdown isn’t just a humanitarian issue – it’s a threat to American interests

    This shift could result in the U.S. losing its influence in regions like Africa, South America and Asia, where the country distributed aid to a number of non-governmental organizations, aid agencies and non-profits.

    While the future of U.S. foreign assistance remains uncertain, other world powers have a role to play. European donors, despite some limitations in resources, remain committed to the 2030 Sustainable Development agenda.

    Beyond humanitarianism

    If the agency is shut down, it may be widely condemned on moral and humanitarian grounds. However, its closure would respond to a logic of strategic and ideological interests that has long shaped the international development system. This a key finding from my longstanding field research with organizations that receive funding, not only from USAID, but also from Canadian and European donors.

    International development largely unfolded in the aftermath of the Second World War when global powers competed to establish a new world order. This led to the creation of international agreements and multilateral institutions, with major industrialized nations emerging as the primary donors of foreign aid.

    While many international initiatives, like the Millennium Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, have guided development as we know it, the governments of main donor countries have their own interests in mind when providing aid.

    In my research, I have interviewed many people involved in the foreign aid chain, including directors and offices of international non-governmental organizations and governmental co-operation agencies. Many said development relationships are shaped by both the interests of donors and those of recipient populations and organizations.

    While these relationships may be based on humanitarian objectives, such as disaster relief or human rights advocacy, they can also be influenced by ideological, geopolitical, economic and social agendas.

    In this context, the American move to eliminate USAID could be seen as one that prioritizes national security and economic goals over traditional global humanitarian concerns. Governments steer the wheel of international development according to their political ideologies and interests, regardless of the shock this may generate among citizens.

    Canada’s role in all this

    The U.S. is not the only country re-evaluating its international development policy. Sweden, another major country in the foreign aid sphere, is also changing its co-operation strategy following changes in its government and criticism of the NGOs that deploy their development assistance.

    Canada’s role in this unfolding situation remains uncertain. With the resignation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as head of the Liberal Party and the upcoming federal election, it’s unclear what will happen to Canada’s international development strategy going forward.

    Under Stephen Harper, the country’s international development strategy was closely tied to expanding trade with developing countries based on maximizing the value of extractive economies and a strong defence policy. This approach aimed to bring value not only to the recipient country of aid, but to Canada as well.

    When Trudeau took office, Canada’s development strategy turned to a more progressive agenda centred on peace keeping, feminist approaches and humanitarian programs.

    Will Canada continue to champion human rights, human security and progressive agendas? Or will Canada reduce funds for foreign assistance, which seems to be the wish of many of its citizens?

    The answer to these questions will depend on the direction that our political leaders decide to take, and the sentiments of citizens. Still, Canada’s approach to development aid will probably remain in a trade-off between moral imperatives of humanitarianism and strategic national interests.

    Nelson Duenas receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)
    Nelson Duenas is a researcher associated to l’Observatoire canadien sur les crises et l’action humanitaires

    – ref. Trump’s push to shut down USAID shows how international development is all about strategic interests – https://theconversation.com/trumps-push-to-shut-down-usaid-shows-how-international-development-is-all-about-strategic-interests-249118

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Gaza: we analysed a year of satellite images to map the scale of agricultural destruction

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Lina Eklund, Associate Senior Lecturer, Lund University

    Part of North Gaza in November 2023, and again in July 2024.

    SkySat imagery © 2025/Planet Labs PBC

    The ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hamas makes provisions for the passage of food and humanitarian aid into Gaza. This support is much needed given that Gaza’s agricultural system has been severely damaged over the course of the war.

    Over the past 17 months we have analysed satellite images across the Gaza Strip to quantify the scale of agricultural destruction across the region. Our newly published research reveals not only the widespread extent of this destruction but also the potentially unprecedented pace at which it occurred. Our work covers the period until September 2024 but further data through to January 2025 is also available.

    Before the war, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and strawberries were grown in open fields and greenhouses, and olive and citrus trees lined rows across the Gazan landscape. The trees in particular are an important cultural heritage in the region, and agriculture was a vital part of Gaza’s economy. About half of the food eaten there was produced in the territory itself, and food made up a similar portion of its exports.

    By December 2023, only two months into the war, there were official warnings that the entire population of Gaza, more than 2 million people, was facing high levels of acute food insecurity. While that assessment was based on interviews and survey data, the level of agricultural damage across the whole landscape remained out of view.

    Most olive and citrus trees are gone

    To address this problem, we mapped the damage to tree crops – mostly olive and citrus trees – in Gaza each month over the course of the war up until September 2024. Together with our colleagues Dimah Habash and Mazin Qumsiyeh, we did this using very high-resolution satellite imagery, detailed enough to focus on individual trees.

    We first visually identified tree crops with and without damage to “train” our computer program, or model, so it knew what to look for. We then ran the model on all the satellite data. We also looked over a sample of results ourselves to confirm it was accurate.

    Our results showed that between 64% and 70% of all tree crop fields in Gaza had been damaged. That can either mean a few trees being destroyed, the whole field of trees completely removed, or anything in between. Most damage took place during the first few months of the war in autumn 2023. Exactly who destroyed these trees and why is beyond the scope of our research or expertise.

    In some areas, every greenhouse is gone

    As greenhouses look very different in satellite images, we used a separate method to map damage to them. We found over 4,000 had been damaged by September 2024, which is more than half of the total we had identified before the start of the war.

    Greenhouses and the date of initial damage between October 2023 and September 2024.
    Yin et al (2025)

    In the south of the territory, where most greenhouses were found, the destruction was fairly steady from December 2023 onwards.

    But in north Gaza and Gaza City, the two most northerly of the territory’s five governorates, most of the damage had already taken place by November and December 2023. By the end of our study period, all 578 greenhouses there had been destroyed.

    North Gaza and Gaza City have also seen the most damage to tree crop fields. By September 2024, over 90% of all tree crops in Gaza City had been destroyed, and 73% had been lost in north Gaza. In the three southern governorates, Khan Younis, Deir al-Balah and Rafah, around 50% of all tree crops had been destroyed.

    Agricultural damage is common in armed conflict, and has been documented with satellite analysis in Ukraine since the 2022 Russian invasion, in Syria and Iraq during the ISIS occupation in 2015, and in the Caucasus during the Chechen wars in the 1990s and 2000s.

    The exact impact can differ from conflict to conflict. War may directly damage lands, as we have seen in Gaza, or it may lead to more fallow areas as infrastructure is damaged and farmers are forced to flee. A conflict also increases the need for local agricultural production, especially when food imports are restricted.

    Our assessment shows a very high rate of direct and extensive damage to Gaza’s agricultural system, both compared to previous conflict escalations there in 2014 and 2021, and in other conflict settings. For example, during the July-August war in 2014, around 1,200 greenhouses were damaged in Gaza. This time round at least three times as many have been damaged.

    Agricultural attacks are unlawful

    Attacks on agricultural lands are prohibited under international law. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court from 1998 defines the intentional use of starvation of civilians through “depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival” as a war crime. The Geneva conventions further define such indispensable objects as “foodstuffs, agricultural areas for the production offoodstuffs, crops, livestock, drinking water installations and supplies and irrigation works”.

    Our study provides transparent statistics on the extent and timing of damage to Gaza’s agricultural system. As well as documenting the impacts of the war, we hope it can help the massive rebuilding efforts that will be required.

    Restoring Gaza’s agricultural system goes beyond clearing debris and rubble, and rebuilding greenhouses. The soils need to be cleaned from possible contamination. Sewage and irrigation infrastructure need to be rebuilt.

    Such efforts may take a generation or more to complete. After all, olive and citrus trees can take five or more years to become productive, and 15 years to reach full maturity. After previous attacks on Gaza the trees were mostly replanted, and perhaps the same will happen again this time. But it’s for good reason they say that only people with hope for the future plant trees.

    Lina Eklund receives funding from the Swedish National Space Agency and the Strategic Research Area: The Middle East in the Contemporary World (MECW) at the Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies, Lund University, Sweden.

    He Yin receives funding from NASA.

    Jamon Van Den Hoek receives funding from NASA.

    – ref. Gaza: we analysed a year of satellite images to map the scale of agricultural destruction – https://theconversation.com/gaza-we-analysed-a-year-of-satellite-images-to-map-the-scale-of-agricultural-destruction-248796

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –