ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on July 12, 2025.
NFIP activists, advocates to open nuclear-free Pacific exhibition Asia Pacific Report Nuclear-free and independent Pacific advocates are treating Aucklanders to a lively week-long exhibition dedicated to the struggle for nuclear justice in the region. It will be opened today by the opposition Labour Party’s spokesperson on disarmament and MP for Te Atatu, Phil Twyford, and will include a range of speakers on Aotearoa
Hendra virus has killed a horse in Queensland. Should we be worried? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vinod Balasubramaniam, Associate Professor (Molecular Virology), Monash University CJKPhoto/Getty The death of an unvaccinated horse from Hendra virus this week in southeast Queensland is the state’s first reported case in three years. Before that, Australia’s last case was in July 2023, when another unvaccinated horse died in
The ACT wants dog owners to spend 3 hours a day with their pet. But quality, not quantity, matters most Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Hazel, Associate Professor, School of Animal and Veterinary Science, University of Adelaide Photo by Anna Tarazevich/Pexels Authorities in the ACT have released draft regulations for the welfare of dogs. One inclusion getting attention is a guideline “requiring all dogs to have a minimum of three hours
What is cannabis use disorder? And how do you know if you have a problem? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danielle Dawson, PhD Candidate, School of Psychology and National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research, The University of Queensland Around 41% of Australians report they’ve used cannabis at some point in their life. Research estimates that 22% of recreational cannabis consumers meet criteria for a cannabis use
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on July 12, 2025.
NFIP activists, advocates to open nuclear-free Pacific exhibition Asia Pacific Report Nuclear-free and independent Pacific advocates are treating Aucklanders to a lively week-long exhibition dedicated to the struggle for nuclear justice in the region. It will be opened today by the opposition Labour Party’s spokesperson on disarmament and MP for Te Atatu, Phil Twyford, and will include a range of speakers on Aotearoa
Hendra virus has killed a horse in Queensland. Should we be worried? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vinod Balasubramaniam, Associate Professor (Molecular Virology), Monash University CJKPhoto/Getty The death of an unvaccinated horse from Hendra virus this week in southeast Queensland is the state’s first reported case in three years. Before that, Australia’s last case was in July 2023, when another unvaccinated horse died in
The ACT wants dog owners to spend 3 hours a day with their pet. But quality, not quantity, matters most Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Hazel, Associate Professor, School of Animal and Veterinary Science, University of Adelaide Photo by Anna Tarazevich/Pexels Authorities in the ACT have released draft regulations for the welfare of dogs. One inclusion getting attention is a guideline “requiring all dogs to have a minimum of three hours
What is cannabis use disorder? And how do you know if you have a problem? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danielle Dawson, PhD Candidate, School of Psychology and National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research, The University of Queensland Around 41% of Australians report they’ve used cannabis at some point in their life. Research estimates that 22% of recreational cannabis consumers meet criteria for a cannabis use
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Julie Novkov, Professor of Political Science and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, University at Albany, State University of New York
Protesters support birthright citizenship on May 15, 2025, outside of the Supreme Court in Washington.AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante, a George W. Bush appointee, asserts that this policy of “highly questionable constitutionality … constitutes irreparable harm.”
In its ruling in late June, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to deny citizenship to infants born to undocumented parents in many parts of the nation where individuals or states had not successfully sued to prevent implementation – including a number of mid-Atlantic, Midwest and Southern states.
Trump’s executive order limits U.S. citizenship by birth to those who have at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident. It denies citizenship to those born to undocumented people within the U.S. and to the children of those on student, work, tourist and certain other types of visas.
The preliminary injunction is on hold for seven days to allow the Trump administration to appeal.
Laplante was able to avoid that limit on issuing a nationwide injunction by certifying the case as a class action lawsuit encompassing all children affected by the birthright order, following a pathway suggested by the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Pathways beyond universal injunctions
In its recent birthright citizenship ruling, Trump v. CASA, the Supreme Court noted that plaintiffs could still seek broad relief by filing such class action lawsuits that would join together large groups of individuals facing the same injury from the law they were challenging.
And that’s what happened.
Litigants filed suit in New Hampshire’s district court the same day that the Supreme Court decided CASA. They asked the court to certify a class consisting of infants born on or after Feb. 20, 2025, who would be covered by the order and their parents or prospective parents. The court allowed the suit to proceed as a class action for these infants.
President Donald Trump takes questions on June 27, 2025, in Washington, D.C., after the Supreme Court ruled on the birthright citizenship case. Joe Raedle/Getty Images
What if this injunction doesn’t stick?
If the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit or the Supreme Court invalidates the New Hampshire court’s newest national injunction and another injunction is not issued in a different venue, the order will then go into effect anywhere it is not currently barred from doing so. Implementation could begin in as many as 28 states where state attorneys general have not challenged the Trump birthright citizenship policy if no other individuals or groups secure relief.
As political sciencescholars who study race and immigration policy, we believe that, if implemented piecemeal, Trump’s birthright citizenship order would create administrative chaos for states determining the citizenship status of infants born in the United States. And it could lead to the first instances since the 1860s of infants being born in the U.S. being denied citizenship categorically.
States’ role in establishing citizenship
Almost all U.S.-born children are issued birth certificates by the state in which they are born.
The federal government’s standardized form, the U.S. standard certificate of live birth, collects data on parents’ birthplaces and their Social Security numbers, if available, and provides the information states need to issue birth certificates.
But it does not ask questions about their citizenship or immigration status. And no national standard exists for the format for state birth certificates, which traditionally have been the simplest way for people born in the U.S. to establish citizenship.
If Trump’s executive order goes into effect, birth certificates issued by local hospitals would be insufficient evidence of eligibility for federal government documents acknowledging citizenship. The order would require new efforts, including identification of parents’ citizenship status, before authorizing the issuance of any federal document acknowledging citizenship.
Since states control the process of issuing birth certificates, they will respond differently to implementation efforts. Several states filed a lawsuit on Jan. 21 to block the birthright citizenship order. And they will likely pursue an arsenal of strategies to resist, delay and complicate implementation.
While the Supreme Court has not yet confirmed that these states have standing to challenge the order, successful litigation could bar implementation in up to 18 states and the District of Columbia if injunctions are narrowly framed, or nationally if lawyers can persuade judges that disentangling the effects on a state-by-state basis will be too difficult.
Other states will likely collaborate with the administration to deny citizenship to some infants. Some, like Texas, had earlier attempted to make it particularly hard for undocumented parents to obtain birth certificates for their children.
If the Supreme Court rejects attempts to block the executive order nationally again, implementation will be complicated.
That’s because it would operate in some places and toward some individuals while being legally blocked in other places and toward others, as Justice Sonia Sotomayor warned in her Trump v. CASA dissent.
Children born to plaintiffs anywhere in the nation who have successfully sued would have access to citizenship, while other children possibly born in the same hospitals – but not among the groups named in the suits – would not.
Babies born in the days before implementation would have substantially different rights than those born the day after. Parents’ ethnicity and countries of origin would likely influence which infants are ultimately granted or denied citizenship.
That’s because some infants and parents would be more likely to generate scrutiny from hospital employees and officials than others, including Hispanics, women giving birth near the border, and women giving birth in states such as Florida where officials are likely to collaborate enthusiastically with enforcement.
The consequences could be profound.
Some infants would become stateless, having no right to citizenship in another nation. Many people born in the U.S. would be denied government benefits, Social Security numbers and the ability to work legally in the U.S.
With the constitutionality of the executive order still unresolved, it’s unclear when, if ever, some infants born in the U.S. will be the first in the modern era to be denied citizenship.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Many years ago, long before the internet or artificial intelligence, an American engineer called Vannevar Bush was trying to solve a problem. He could see how difficult it had become for professionals to research anything, and saw the potential for a better way.
This was in the 1940s, when anyone looking for articles, books or other scientific records had to go to a library and search through an index. This meant drawers upon drawers filled with index cards, typically sorted by author, title or subject.
When you had found what you were looking for, creating copies or excerpts was a tedious, manual task. You would have to be very organised in keeping your own records. And woe betide anyone who was working across more than one discipline. Since every book could physically only be in one place, they all had to be filed solely under a primary subject. So an article on cave art couldn’t be in both art and archaeology, and researchers would often waste extra time trying to find the right location.
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This had always been a challenge, but an explosion in research publications in that era had made it far worse than before. As Bush wrote in an influential essay, As We May Think, in The Atlantic in July 1945:
There is a growing mountain of research. But there is increased evidence that we are being bogged down today as specialisation extends. The investigator is staggered by the findings and conclusions of thousands of other workers – conclusions which he cannot find time to grasp, much less to remember, as they appear.
Bush was dean of the school of engineering at MIT (the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and president of the Carnegie Institute. During the second world war, he had been the director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development, coordinating the activities of some 6,000 scientists working relentlessly to give their country a technological advantage. He could see that science was being drastically slowed down by the research process, and proposed a solution that he called the “memex”.
The memex was to be a personal device built into a desk that required little physical space. It would rely heavily on microfilm for data storage, a new technology at the time. The memex would use this to store large numbers of documents in a greatly compressed format that could be projected onto translucent screens.
Most importantly, Bush’s memex was to include a form of associative indexing for tying two items together. The user would be able to use a keyboard to click on a code number alongside a document to jump to an associated document or view them simultaneously – without needing to sift through an index.
Bush acknowledged in his essay that this kind of keyboard click-through wasn’t yet technologically feasible. Yet he believed it would be soon, pointing to existing systems for handling data such as punched cards as potential forerunners.
Punched cards were an early way of storing digital information. Wikimedia, CC BY-SA
He envisaged that a user would create the connections between items as they developed their personal research library, creating chains of microfilm frames in which the same document or extract could be part of multiple trails at the same time.
New additions could be inserted either by photographing them on to microfilm or by purchasing a microfilm of an existing document. Indeed, a user would be able to augment their memex with vast reference texts. “New forms of encyclopedias will appear,” said Bush, “ready-made with a mesh of associative trails running through them, ready to be dropped into the memex”. Fascinatingly, this isn’t far from today’s Wikipedia.
Where it led
Bush thought the memex would help researchers to think in a more natural, associative way that would be reflected in their records. He is thought to have inspired the American inventors Ted Nelson and Douglas Engelbart, who in the 1960s independently developed hypertext systems, in which documents contained hyperlinks that could directly access other documents. These became the foundation of the world wide web as we know it.
Beyond the practicalities of having easy access to so much information, Bush believed that the added value in the memex lay in making it easier for users to manipulate ideas and spark new ones. His essay drew a distinction between repetitive and creative thought, and foresaw that there would soon be new “powerful mechanical aids” to help with the repetitive variety.
He was perhaps mostly thinking about mathematics, but he left the door open to other thought processes. And 80 years later, with AI in our pockets, we’re automating far more thinking than was ever possible with a calculator.
If this sounds like a happy ending, Bush did not sound overly optimistic when he revisited his own vision in his 1970 book Pieces of the Action. In the intervening 25 years, he had witnessed technological advances in areas like computing that were bringing the memex closer to reality.
Yet Bush felt that the technology had largely missed the philosophical intent of his vision – to enhance human reasoning and creativity:
In 1945, I dreamed of machines that would think with us. Now, I see machines that think for us – or worse, control us.
Bush would die just four years later at the age of 84, but these concerns still feel strikingly relevant today. While it’s great that we do not need to search for a book by flipping through index cards in chests of drawers, we might feel more uneasy about machines doing most of the thinking for us.
Just 80 years after Bush proposed the Memex, AIs on smartphones are an everyday thing. jackpress
Is this technology enhancing and sharpening our skills, or is it making us lazy? No doubt everyone is different, but the danger is that whatever skills we leave to the machines, we eventually lose, and younger generations may not even get the opportunity to learn them in the first place.
The lesson from As We May Think is that a purely technical solution like the memex is not enough. Technology still needs to be human-centred, underpinned by a philosophical vision. As we contemplate a great automation in human thinking in the years ahead, the challenge is to somehow protect our creativity and reasoning at the same time.
Martin Rudorfer 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.
Many years ago, long before the internet or artificial intelligence, an American engineer called Vannevar Bush was trying to solve a problem. He could see how difficult it had become for professionals to research anything, and saw the potential for a better way.
This was in the 1940s, when anyone looking for articles, books or other scientific records had to go to a library and search through an index. This meant drawers upon drawers filled with index cards, typically sorted by author, title or subject.
When you had found what you were looking for, creating copies or excerpts was a tedious, manual task. You would have to be very organised in keeping your own records. And woe betide anyone who was working across more than one discipline. Since every book could physically only be in one place, they all had to be filed solely under a primary subject. So an article on cave art couldn’t be in both art and archaeology, and researchers would often waste extra time trying to find the right location.
Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox.Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.
This had always been a challenge, but an explosion in research publications in that era had made it far worse than before. As Bush wrote in an influential essay, As We May Think, in The Atlantic in July 1945:
There is a growing mountain of research. But there is increased evidence that we are being bogged down today as specialisation extends. The investigator is staggered by the findings and conclusions of thousands of other workers – conclusions which he cannot find time to grasp, much less to remember, as they appear.
Bush was dean of the school of engineering at MIT (the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and president of the Carnegie Institute. During the second world war, he had been the director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development, coordinating the activities of some 6,000 scientists working relentlessly to give their country a technological advantage. He could see that science was being drastically slowed down by the research process, and proposed a solution that he called the “memex”.
The memex was to be a personal device built into a desk that required little physical space. It would rely heavily on microfilm for data storage, a new technology at the time. The memex would use this to store large numbers of documents in a greatly compressed format that could be projected onto translucent screens.
Most importantly, Bush’s memex was to include a form of associative indexing for tying two items together. The user would be able to use a keyboard to click on a code number alongside a document to jump to an associated document or view them simultaneously – without needing to sift through an index.
Bush acknowledged in his essay that this kind of keyboard click-through wasn’t yet technologically feasible. Yet he believed it would be soon, pointing to existing systems for handling data such as punched cards as potential forerunners.
Punched cards were an early way of storing digital information. Wikimedia, CC BY-SA
He envisaged that a user would create the connections between items as they developed their personal research library, creating chains of microfilm frames in which the same document or extract could be part of multiple trails at the same time.
New additions could be inserted either by photographing them on to microfilm or by purchasing a microfilm of an existing document. Indeed, a user would be able to augment their memex with vast reference texts. “New forms of encyclopedias will appear,” said Bush, “ready-made with a mesh of associative trails running through them, ready to be dropped into the memex”. Fascinatingly, this isn’t far from today’s Wikipedia.
Where it led
Bush thought the memex would help researchers to think in a more natural, associative way that would be reflected in their records. He is thought to have inspired the American inventors Ted Nelson and Douglas Engelbart, who in the 1960s independently developed hypertext systems, in which documents contained hyperlinks that could directly access other documents. These became the foundation of the world wide web as we know it.
Beyond the practicalities of having easy access to so much information, Bush believed that the added value in the memex lay in making it easier for users to manipulate ideas and spark new ones. His essay drew a distinction between repetitive and creative thought, and foresaw that there would soon be new “powerful mechanical aids” to help with the repetitive variety.
He was perhaps mostly thinking about mathematics, but he left the door open to other thought processes. And 80 years later, with AI in our pockets, we’re automating far more thinking than was ever possible with a calculator.
If this sounds like a happy ending, Bush did not sound overly optimistic when he revisited his own vision in his 1970 book Pieces of the Action. In the intervening 25 years, he had witnessed technological advances in areas like computing that were bringing the memex closer to reality.
Yet Bush felt that the technology had largely missed the philosophical intent of his vision – to enhance human reasoning and creativity:
In 1945, I dreamed of machines that would think with us. Now, I see machines that think for us – or worse, control us.
Bush would die just four years later at the age of 84, but these concerns still feel strikingly relevant today. While it’s great that we do not need to search for a book by flipping through index cards in chests of drawers, we might feel more uneasy about machines doing most of the thinking for us.
Just 80 years after Bush proposed the Memex, AIs on smartphones are an everyday thing. jackpress
Is this technology enhancing and sharpening our skills, or is it making us lazy? No doubt everyone is different, but the danger is that whatever skills we leave to the machines, we eventually lose, and younger generations may not even get the opportunity to learn them in the first place.
The lesson from As We May Think is that a purely technical solution like the memex is not enough. Technology still needs to be human-centred, underpinned by a philosophical vision. As we contemplate a great automation in human thinking in the years ahead, the challenge is to somehow protect our creativity and reasoning at the same time.
Martin Rudorfer 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.
While there is good awareness of the potential dangers of pets overheating in high temperatures during summer months, recognising that the sunburn itself can be a source of harm is also important.
We might think that our furry friends are protected from the sun’s harmful rays thanks to their typical hairiness, but in reality, we need to protect them too.
This is especially important for pets with light-coloured hair, pale, pink skin or those with fine or thin coats such as the sphynx cat or the xoloitzcuintle dog that lack natural protection.
For pets that live outdoors or spend a lot of time in the sun, this can also be a significant problem.
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Pink skin lacks the pigment, melanin, that provides a natural level of protection from sunlight. As a result, pets with exposed areas of pink skin can become painfully sunburned, even on days that might not appear overly sunny. The tips of cats’ ears are commonly affected, as are horses with pink muzzles and other lightly pigmented areas of their body.
Dogs can also be affected on their noses and bellies – I have even known one unfortunate pooch to suffer sunburn on his scrotum after a period of garden sunbathing. Essentially, just like us, any unprotected area of skin that is exposed to the sun can become painfully burned, with both short and more prolonged effects.
Even minor areas of sunburn are associated with reddening of the skin, irritation and discomfort. More severe cases of sunburn can cause blistering, crusting and scabs to form on affected areas. While these signs typically heal and resolve quickly, they can be painful and distressing for our pets.
The longer-term consequences can include significant damage to the skin and may increase the risk of certain forms of skin cancer developing.
Consequently, protecting our pets from the pain of sunburn is important.
How to protect your pet
An easy way to keep your pet safe both from the damaging UV radiation in sunlight and high temperatures, is to limit their access outdoors during the sunniest and warmest times of the day. This might mean exercising your dog early in the morning and later in the evening, providing shade and shelter for horses and encouraging cats to sunbathe safely indoors.
The use of sunscreen can be a useful protective method to limit harm to exposed areas of skin, but do select a pet-safe sunscreen. Many human sunscreen preparations contain ingredients that can be toxic for our pets, especially if accidentally licked and ingested.
Reapply sunscreen regularly and don’t forget to apply it to the areas most likely to be exposed, such as ears, noses and pink-skinned or lightly coated areas of the body.
For some pets, suitable protective clothing and coverings, including UV eye protection might be appropriate, although do take time to get your pet used to wearing and moving in these before use.
What if your pet has been sunburned?
If your pet gets a mild sunburn but seems comfortable and not in distress, a cold compress can offer some soothing relief. Gently apply it to the affected area to help ease discomfort. Keep a close eye on the healing process, and be sure to protect your pet from further sun exposure.
In more severe cases, contact your vet for advice and additional treatment. Painkillers or antibiotics might be needed and these can only be prescribed for your pet by a veterinary surgeon.
Equally, if you find unusual areas on your pet’s skin such as non-healing or unusually crusty sores and are concerned that it could be a sign of skin cancer, speak to your vet for guidance and support.
Global UV levels are increasing. This means that in the same way that we have increased exposure to potentially harmful levels, our pets do too. By managing how our pets experience sunshine and by using protective options where possible, we can go some way to avoiding the pain and distress of sunburn, as well as the more serious possible long-term consequences such as skin cancer.
In addition to her academic affiliation at Nottingham Trent University (NTU) and support from the Institute for Knowledge Exchange Practice (IKEP) at NTU, Jacqueline Boyd is affiliated with The Kennel Club (UK) through membership, as advisor to the Health Advisory Group and membership of the Activities Committee. Jacqueline is also a full member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT #01583). She also writes, consults and coaches on canine matters on an independent basis.
Heather Browning speaks about animal welfare and ethics as part of the Citizens’ Assembly for Animal Welfare opening event in Birmingham. RSPCA, CC BY-NC-ND
As an animal lover, should you visit zoos? Should you have pets? Should you make your garden friendly for birds, pollinators and other wildlife? Should you try to reduce meat in your diet or avoid consuming all animal products? Should you write to politicians about changing the laws for animals?
As a lecturer in animal ethics and animal welfare science, and someone who’s spent a lot of time working with animals, these are the sorts of questions I think about.
There are lots of ways to be kinder to animals. All have their merits. But the big question is: what sort of future do we want to see for animals in our society?
We live in a time where animals are facing some of their biggest challenges, from the climate crisis to industrial farming. Combined with other social issues such as the cost of living crisis and global conflicts, we as citizens and consumers have many other competing claims on our capacity to care. This can mean less attention for animals and the harms they face.
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This creates a big problem. Alongside the ethical reasons for improving animals’ lives, good animal welfare can benefit everyone – among other things, care for and connections with animals improves our own mental health, fosters compassion in our communities, and can lead to improvements in our natural environment. We don’t want to lose sight of the progress we’ve made in our thinking about and treatment of animals.
It’s undeniable that there have been many welfare gains for animals over the years, but in the face of how far we still have to go, perhaps new approaches are needed. How can we conceive of new, and perhaps more radical, ways to help animals? And importantly, how do we keep animal welfare on the agenda, both socially and politically?
For over two centuries, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) has played a central role in this fight. Alongside their animal rescue work, they have campaigned for changes in over 400 laws, and worked with the public to find ways to improve welfare for pets, farmed animals and wildlife.
This year they are stepping into a new frontier and have commissioned what is possibly the first ever citizens’ assembly focused entirely on animal welfare in the world, delivered with the assistance of experts from the New Citizen Project, a consultancy that specialises in citizen-led engagement. The assembly is part of the RSPCA’s Animal Futures project, which aims to examine what the future may hold for animals by 2050, and most importantly how everyone (citizens, consumers and policymakers) has a role in influencing this.
Citizens’ assemblies are being held to debate animal welfare issues, such as chicken farming for eggs. Dewald Kirsten/Shutterstock
Citizens’ assemblies bring together a randomly selected representative sample of the population, who learn about and debate issues and make recommendations. It’s a form of deliberative democracy, where the people can have their say on important social and political issues.
Assemblies are a means of overcoming some of the current problems with the democratic process, like the exclusion of people who often aren’t heard in politics (such as those with less money or education, or racial and religious minorities) and polarisation between major government parties that can slow down decision-making and action.
Beyond just a focus group asking for existing opinions, citizen’s assemblies provide opportunities for members to learn and shape their thinking, to build expertise on the topics they deliberate.
Assemblies have already been used around the world on issues as diverse as abortion rights, electoral reform and food waste. As they are independently facilitated, they don’t just follow the accepted institutional narratives and can instead encourage organisations and policymakers to envision new directions for thought and action – in line with the realities of what the public believe and value.
There are now several examples of the recommendations coming from such assemblies successfully driving policy change, such as climate change reform in France.
While organisations such as the RSPCA may know a lot about animals, hosting this assembly is an acknowledgement that they don’t have all the answers about what is best for society as a whole, as we consider our interactions with animals. The scope of this problem is far larger than any one organisation can tackle alone, and through initiatives such as the citizens’ assembly, we can gain a greater insight into the possible solutions for the future.
Animal assembly
I recently attended this assembly’s opening session in Birmingham, where members were gathered from all around England and Wales (neatly marked by pins scattered across a map of the country). Looking around the room there was obvious diversity in demographics and backgroun and as I spoke with the members it was also apparent there was a wide range of opinions and beliefs on the topics we discussed.
What everyone shared was a commitment to the process – to learn from the experts who were there to introduce the topics, to deliberate and discuss carefully and thoughtfully – and a desire to contribute and influence the process. Being there felt like being part of an important moment for the future of animal welfare.
In the weeks that followed, the members of the assembly met again several times to absorb and consider huge amounts of information about topics such as farming, responsible pet ownership, wildlife, and nature. Based on this, they will make a series of recommendations that will drive change at the RSPCA.
What they produce will be used to shape its future direction, how it works, and how it lobbies governments. What these assembly members recommend could have a substantial and lasting impact on animal welfare in the UK.
Like many animal welfare experts from academia, industry or charities, I might think I have the answers on what animals need. But successful solutions require public backing to have real impact. Improving the future for animals is something that everyone has a role in and a citizens’ assembly can be a catalyst for positive change.
Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?
Heather Browning 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.
The UK government’s ten-year health plan promises a radical digital transformation of the NHS. A key part of this change is said to come from developing the NHS app, which is being hailed as a “doctor in your pocket”.
The upgraded app will apparently offer features like instant health advice, appointment booking, prescription management and access to personal health records. It is hoped the software will become users’ “front door” to the NHS.
It’s an ambitious vision which aims to empower patients, streamline services and reduce red tape. And for tech-savvy users, these innovations could significantly improve access to care, reduce waiting times and enhance patient autonomy.
But while it may herald a new era of convenience for many, it risks leaving behind anyone who struggles with an increasingly digital world. This could then exacerbate health inequalities which already exist – and increase pressure on some areas of already strained services.
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In particular, a digital-first approach to healthcare risks excluding older adults, who may lack the skills or resources to confidently navigate the necessary software. The media regulator Ofcom estimates that around 6% of UK households still lack internet access at home. Figures from the charity Age UK suggest that 33% of people over 75 in the UK lack basic digital skills.
With regard to health specifically, a 2024 study found that older patients were more likely to misunderstand automated symptom checkers, leading to unnecessary anxiety or delayed care.
For these people, the planned shift to app-based services could create new barriers to accessing care, potentially leading to delayed diagnoses and worsening health outcomes.
The NHS plan does at least acknowledge this divide, and says it will confer with patient groups and work with other establishments (such as libraries) to support digital literacy. But these measures will not be enough without guaranteed funding.
And older people, even those who are comfortable with technology, may face other challenges such as visual impairment or cognitive decline, which can make using apps difficult.
Others who struggle to use the NHS App for routine care may delay seeking help until their conditions worsen, placing avoidable strain on overstretched hospitals.
Digital diversion
This strain might include digital triage inadvertently funnelling non-urgent cases to A&E if users misinterpret symptoms or find the app’s guidance unclear, a risk compounded by the lack of human oversight in automated systems. Or a patient with chronic pain might avoid the app due to digital anxiety or confusion, and end up going to A&E when their condition becomes unbearable and more costly to treat.
To avoid all of this, the NHS needs to maintain traditional communication options. Telephone and in-person services must remain accessible and widely available. The ten-year plan’s focus on “digital by default” should not become “digital only”.
There should also be plenty of investment to help people feel digitally empowered and included. Places like libraries and community centres can certainly help, but targeted outreach will also be necessary, such as partnerships with charities.
This is not to say the NHS should be overly wary of the benefits of increased digital capabilities. The ten-year plan highlights, for example, the app’s potential to alleviate some of the burdens on healthcare staff, with AI able to take care of admin, saving clinicians time which can be used for patient care instead.
Such efficiencies are critical for a system grappling with workforce shortages and rising demand. Yet if digital tools are not universally accessible or usable, not everyone will benefit.
So while the NHS’s digital ambitions are commendable, their success hinges on inclusivity. If it’s not careful, the system risks entrenching a two-tier system where younger, tech-literate patients benefit while older and disadvantaged groups face greater exclusion. As the NHS embraces innovation, it must ensure no one is left behind – especially those who rely on it the most.
Catia Nicodemo 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.
So-called professional enablers of grand corruption are increasing service provision out of jurisdictions where they can act without similar restraints.WaitForLight / Shutterstock
During an interview one of us (Ricardo Soares de Oliveira) carried out in 2017, an African high net-worth individual said he was told by an executive whose business had long served him out of London: “Come meet us in Dubai”. This is part of a large but still misunderstood shift.
In response to the hardening of rules for foreign money of dubious origins in traditional financial centres, sensitive business has been moving toward new, more permissive jurisdictions. This offshoring of services is giving corrupt strategies a new lease of life, while also making the fightback more difficult.
For every corrupt dealing that materialises as legitimate wealth, a trail of service provision is indispensable. Bankers, lawyers, real estate executives, accountants, management consultants and PR agencies have acted as facilitators in western financial centres.
Western governments have long indulged kleptocracy, a system where business success and political power are inextricably entwined. They have done so by condoning lax law enforcement and promoting deregulation, often through risible mechanisms of professional self-regulation.
But in recent years, data leaks and brave championship of reform by politicians, as well as the work of civil society organisations, investigative journalists and academics, have shed light on the role of these so-called professional enablers.
In June 2024, a month before becoming British foreign secretary, David Lammy promised to take aim at professionals who enable corruption through London and the UK’s overseas territories. This, he noted, included the “finest bankers, lawyers, estate agents and accountants that money could buy”.
Lammy’s comments give the impression that the era of risk-free facilitation of corrupt behaviour is at an end. But this optimism is, at least for now, misplaced.
The shift is largely in political discourse and media scrutiny. Enforcement seriously lags everywhere and is now in reverse gear in the US. Professional enablers still face no real sanction for engaging in such practices.
At the same time, many professionals are reacting to a more tightly regulated ecosystem in western jurisdictions by engaging in so-called “jurisdictional arbitrage”. There is evidence that they are increasing service provision out of jurisdictions where they can act without similar restraints.
Jurisdictional arbitrage
Almost all cases of the professional enabling we have studied involve service provision in western hubs and “new” global financial centres.
The professional network around Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of the former president of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, was dubbed “the office” by Swiss prosecutors. Karimova was jailed in 2014 for taking bribes for access to the country’s market.
The criminal investigation into her involved 12 jurisdictions, including the UK, US and Uzbekistan as well as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Hong Kong.
Isabel dos Santos, who is Africa’s richest woman and the daughter of former Angolan president José Eduardo dos Santos, also held a maze of global interests. These interests, as in the case of Karimova, spanned western jurisdictions and Asian financial centres such as Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Alternative jurisdictions all offer very similar conditions. They are already well-connected, world-class financial centres that are attractive to international business executives.
Their governments have created regulatory, fiscal and secrecy conditions, sometimes explicitly undercutting older centres such as Switzerland and London. In the latest edition of the Global Financial Centers index, which ranks the competitiveness of financial centres, Dubai rose four places to go above Dublin, Geneva and Paris.
Crucially, they are also mostly authoritarian states where there is no media or civil society pressure regarding business activities. Even the intermittent sort of scrutiny one sees in western financial centres is absent there.
Much activity in these financial centres is legal and based on their legitimate competitive advantages. Business interests are also attracted by their vast capital pools. But they are proving to be especially appealing for the sort of business that can no longer flock to other jurisdictions.
This is the case with servicing clients from states under sanctions such as Russia or Iran. It also applies to regions like Africa and central Asia with high compliance barriers whose high net-worth individuals and firms can no longer get easy access to OECD jurisdictions.
Researchers at the University of Sussex have shown a major shift in dirty money networks away from the west and towards what they call a “Dubai-Kong axis”.
There is no exact portrait of the magnitude of this jurisdictional arbitrage. But our work tells us it is big. Two examples from Switzerland are commodity trading and wealth management.
These sectors have long been under-scrutinised. But they have seen regulatory tightening and greater media attention in recent years. Both have reacted the same way, by sending important parts of their business away from Switzerland.
The UAE has been dubbed the “new Swiss financial mecca”, with the Financial Times reporting in May 2025 that Swiss family offices are moving there “wholesale”. Far from downplaying the “Swiss brand”, they continue to advertise their multi-generational expertise and “old money” mystique, but from more amenable locations.
What can be done?
The many types of legal business involving professional services in these jurisdictions should not be affected. But national and international law must designate the “kleptocratic enterprise” of elites and professionals as a form of serious organised crime.
This would allow prosecutors to target professionals for working with criminal kleptocrats rather than having to prove that the particular asset handled has criminal origin. This move was made by Swiss prosecutors in the Karimova case.
It captures the reality that ill-gotten gains are layered and integrated into assets held overseas, just as enablers do for criminal gangs. It also means that the moving of the family office to Dubai will not prevent prosecution where an asset is held or registered.
Finally, governments could stimulate the market in asset recovery by making it easier for foreign governments and civil society to bring cases, with expert law firms working on a for-profit basis.
Illicit finance is always transnational, so there is no need to declare defeat just because dodgy business is on the move. However, we are entering a new stage in its global dissemination and complexity.
John Heathershaw receives funding from the Governance Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence Programme funded by UK Aid from the UK Government for the benefits of developing countries. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the UK government’s official policies. He is affiliated with the UK Anti-Corruption Coalition.
Ricardo Soares de Oliveira receives funding from the Governance Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence Programme funded by UK Aid from the UK Government for the benefits of developing countries. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the UK government’s official policies.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Liz Breen, Professor of Health Service Operations, School of Pharmacy & Medical Sciences, University of Bradford
Craigyhill bonfire was declared the world’s tallest at a height of 203 feet (63 metres) in 2022. Thousands of pallets were used to build it.Stephen Barnes/Shutterstock
Pallets don’t usually make headlines. But amid fresh controversy around the traditional July bonfires held in Northern Ireland this year, they’ve suddenly become a talking point. Wooden pallets used in these bonfires are popular due to their stacking ability, and also their colours – which include the red, white and blue of Britain.
Ordinarily, pallets are used to transport products from manufacturers to retailers. But their numbers are shrinking due to theft and loss – and of course, they cost money to buy, store, use and replace. A study by one of us (Liz) in 2006 quoted a logistics firm that estimated 14 million pallets were generally missing throughout Europe, costing £140 million. And it’s an ongoing problem: millions of products such as pallets and packaging containers are still stolen each year across the continent.
Just one bonfire in Larne, County Antrim, in July 2021 reportedly used 17,000 pallets in its construction. This year, police are investigating where the pallets used in the same community’s bonfire originated from. Amid speculation that some may belong to Australia-based supply chain firm Chep, that company has stated its pallets can never legally be bought, sold or destroyed.
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Pallet losses can lead to logistical disruptions, delayed orders and bare shelves in supermarkets. And the impact is felt by pallet owners, manufacturers, customers and end-users alike.
Pallets are big business. In the US, around 513 million – mainly wooden, some plastic – are produced each year. In 2021, 48.6 million wooden pallets were produced in the UK, up 8.3% from 2020.
Rental companies can hold high numbers of pallets, which support the movement of “fast-moving” customer goods – including food, drinks and toiletries. North American firm Peco, for example, manages stock of over 20 million distinctive red wooden pallets across its 90 depots.
Manufacturers rely on pallets being available to fulfil orders and distribute them to customers quickly. Also known as “returnable transit packaging”, they are valuable assets as they can be maintained and reused. They are usually owned by a pallet pooling agent, which must absorb the loss when they are not returned from customers.
Why steal pallets?
Good-condition pallets have a resale value. Both wood and plastic pallets can be deconstructed and sold as components to other industries. Some people even use them to create furniture for homes and gardens.
Customers may feel these are legitimate upcycled products and won’t think to check where the pallets came from. However, some do have distinctive identification stamps that may remain in upcycled pallet products.
The organised theft of these products takes its toll on companies. Cargo crime (which includes consumer goods and transportation pallets and containers) is said to cost the UK economy £700 million each year.
If pallets are not available, production lines may be slowed down or stopped. And it may take longer to produce items, potentially leading to unnecessary transportation as well as greater fuel consumption and emissions.
But it can also be challenging to map pallet movements and know, at any given time, how many are in transit, with retailers, or lost. Digital tracking solutions such as radio frequency identification can be expensive to implement and are not foolproof. This can make it easy for pallets to go “missing in action”.
Pallets are a staple mechanism for stock to be received into retailers’ warehouses and distribution centres. Both the size of the pallets and their ownership can be colour-coded – at least some of the blue pallets making headlines this summer in Larne’s red, white and blue tower are thought to be owned by Chep. Warehouse bays are designed with specific pallets in mind – so changes to the pallets can bring extra costs.
Similarly, replacing lost or stolen pallets comes at a price – which could ultimately be felt by consumers if these costs are passed on by retailers.
Reducing theft and loss
Pallet owners cannot afford to continue losing them to theft. Firms that are found using non-compliant or untracked pallets because they have bought them from unauthorised sources can face shipment fines, while other initiatives, such as deposit or voucher schemes or one-for-one exchange plans, could incentivise the return of pallets.
These practices may influence corporate return behaviour, but the theft of pallets by organised crime gangs is increasing. Changing the materials used to construct pallets could reduce their financial attractiveness and resale value.
At first glance, a used pallet might look no more useful than discarded wood and be considered fair game for reuse or selling on. But businesses or individuals who collect, sell or purchase stolen pallets are putting themselves at legal risk. Firms found stockpiling or selling-on pallets without permission have faced legal action and even jail in Europe.
Aside from the legal implications, there are other operational and environmental costs. Each pallet taken out of circulation must be replaced, increasing demand for virgin timber, straining forest resources, and increasing labour costs.
The humble pallet is the backbone of global trading, and businesses rely on a steady and dependable supply. Pallet services function only if they continue to circulate – but theft and losses undermine this. Without this simple product, everyone from producers to retailers and consumers could end up paying more for the goods they take for granted.
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.
Since figures were first recorded in 2018, more than 170,000 people have crossed the Channel in small boats, hoping to claim asylum in the UK. Over 20,000 have crossed this year alone, and many dozens have died.
Over the years, UK governments have tried a number of tactics – returns agreements, increased law enforcement, deportation schemes, and “smashing” organised smuggling gangs – to try and put an end to this dangerous practice. The latest attempt is the government’s new “one in, one out” pilot migration deal with France, which would see the UK accept some asylum seekers with legitimate claims to life in the UK, while sending an equivalent number back to France.
Campaigners, academics and groups that support asylum seekers have long called for the UK to introduce “safe and legal routes”. They argue that this is the only way to reduce demand for unsafe Channel crossings. The logic is that people seeking protection are turning to smugglers and small boats because, for most, there are no other options to enter the UK and claim asylum.
But what are these routes?
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A safe and legal route is a scheme or journey approved by the UK government that allows people to enter the country without a visa in order to claim asylum. The 1951 refugee convention says that people have the right to claim asylum. But UK law requires someone to be physically present in the country to do so.
A safe and legal route stresses that arriving irregularly – for instance, by crossing the Channel in a small boat – is illegal, even though the UN refugee convention is explicit that refugees should not be penalised for how they arrive to claim refuge.
Most schemes are restricted to certain populations and limited in accessibility. For example, two nationality-specificschemes for Afghans were set up in January 2022, after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban. These have resettled roughly 34,000 Afghans in the UK.
The schemes prioritised those who had worked or assisted UK efforts in Afghanistan, as well as assisting vulnerable people such as women and girls at risk, and minority groups. Both routes are now shut.
The UK also has schemes for Ukrainians and Hong Kongers. The Ukrainian schemes (Homes for Ukrainians and the now-closed Ukrainian Family Scheme), established in March 2022, have resettled 217,000 to the UK. The Hong Kong scheme is only eligible for British National Overseas status holders and their dependants. Most of these are not recognised, and nor do they identify, as refugees. Since opening in January 2021, 179,000 have been granted a visa to live in the UK.
There is also the family reunion pathway for those already granted protection in the UK, who can invite spouses or other dependants to join them. This can be viewed as a safe route, but it is specifically for those already with status (refugee or otherwise) in the country. Importantly, those who gain access this way are not given refugee status in their own right, but granted leave to remain that is connected to their family member’s status.
The UK has also worked closely with UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, since March 2021. The UNHCR identifies vulnerable candidates for resettlement direct from regions of conflict, primarily the Middle East and North Africa. This scheme highlights the value of safe and legal routes and the potential for developing a humane asylum route, but at present it is limited in scope, with only 3,798 people granted safe and dignified resettlement in the UK via this route.
The prime minister, Keir Starmer, has stressed that the new pilot with France will be limited to people “who have not tried to enter the UK illegally” and who have a strong case for asylum in the UK – again highlighting the strict access and eligibility for this “safe and legal” route.
If we look at the map of international conflict today, the majority of people in conflict zones would be ineligible for these schemes. Afghans, Eritreans, Syrians, Iranian and Sudanese are some of the top nationalities arriving via the Channel crossing to the UK, but are provided with no safe or legal routes to sanctuary. Yet, in claiming asylum, 68% of small boat arrivals are ultimately granted status.
Conflicts in Gaza, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan have not led to any bespoke humanitarian refugee protection rights from the UK. In practice, it is legally impossible for most asylum seekers to reach the UK via a safe and legal route as the schemes are so limited in scope.
Smashing the gangs
In January 2025, the Refugee Council, an organisation that supports asylum seekers and refugees in the UK, urged the UK to introduce a safe and legal route – in the form of a limited number of refugee visas – in order to stop deaths in the Channel.
Between 2018 and April 2025, 147 people have died attempting to cross the Channel in small boats, with 2024 being the deadliest year for child migrant deaths.
The UK government’s most recent approach has been to “smash the gangs” to prevent small boat crossings. But evidence shows that a criminal justice approach, while popular, ultimately leads smugglers to change their business practices – often jeopardising people further as they take longer routes or put more people into boats.
More safe and legal routes would, on the other hand, reduce demand for smuggling across the Channel, by giving people another option.
Crucially, even if the UK were to successfully “smash the gangs”, this does not eradicate peoples’ need for protection when fleeing war zones. Safe and legal routes would introduce a compassionate and humane refugee system which adheres with the UK’s obligations under international refugee law.
Gillian McFadyen receives funding from ACE Hub Wales, Public Health Wales for the project ‘A Welsh Pathways to Peace: Digital Storytelling and Forced Migration’ (2025-2026).
Nothing says summer quite like a picnic. Whether you’re lounging on a beach towel, stretched out in a park, or unpacking a hamper in your garden, picnics are a beloved way to enjoy good food in the great outdoors.
But as idyllic as they may seem, picnics come with hidden risks, especially when it comes to food safety. Without access to fridges, ovens or running water, the chances of foodborne illness such as diarrhoea increase. So, how can you keep your spread both delicious and safe?
Warm, sunny weather is perfect for picnics – and unfortunately, also for bacteria. High temperatures can cause harmful microbes to multiply quickly in certain foods – especially meat, eggs, dairy or salads with creamy dressings. Add in a few flies or some dirty hands, and your picnic could become a recipe for illness.
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Food poisoning bacteria can find their way into picnic food from several sources: flies that land on uncovered dishes, unwashed hands, cross-contaminated utensils, or even from leaving perishable food out in the sun too long.
This is not just a theoretical risk. There have been several well-documented outbreaks linked to picnics, including one event in Texas where more than 100 people developed diarrhoea and fever after eating food contaminated with salmonella. In another case at a church picnic in Ohio, clostridium botulinum – a bacterium that can be fatal – contaminated potato salad and led to one death.
However, with a few simple steps, you can protect yourself and others while enjoying that alfresco feast:
1. Keep cold food cold. If you’re bringing dishes that normally need refrigeration (think meats, cheese, egg mayo), don’t pack them until the last minute. Use a cool bag or insulated box with ice packs or frozen water bottles to help keep things chilled. Once you’re out, only take food out of the cooler when it’s time to eat, and always try to keep it in the shade.
2. Watch the clock. On hot days, perishable foods should be eaten within two hours (or four hours if it’s mild). After that, any leftovers should be thrown away. Don’t be tempted to take food home and refrigerate it “just in case” – one family in Belgium did just that with a salad, and ended up with severe food poisoning two days later.
3. Wash those hands. Picnics often mean touching tables, grass, pets or public benches – all potential sources of bacteria. Hand sanitiser is your best friend. Use it before handling or eating any food.
4. Cover up. Insects, especially flies, can carry bacteria and leave them behind when they land. Keep food in sealed containers or cover with foil or clean cloths to protect your spread. This helps keep animals (and rogue seagulls) away too.
5. Prep fresh produce properly. Salads, fruits and veg are picnic staples, but they must be washed thoroughly before being packed. Even pre-washed leaves can benefit from a rinse. Pack them in clean containers and don’t let utensils touch dirty surfaces.
6. Keep your utensils clean. Bring enough serving spoons, tongs and plates – and avoid putting them down on picnic tables or the ground. A spare clean plate is always a good idea when it comes to safe serving.
Enjoy the food, not the fallout
Picnics should leave you with warm memories – not stomach cramps. By following these food safety basics, you can enjoy your outdoor feast without any unwanted after-effects. From chilled pasta salads to hand-cut fruit or that classic homemade quiche, safe food is happy food.
So, pack a blanket, grab your cool bag, and soak up the sunshine – just keep the bacteria at bay.
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has historically been under-studied in women. This means we still have a limited understanding of how the condition may uniquely affect women – and what effect monthly hormonal changes may have on women with ADHD.
But a recent study conducted by me and my colleagues has shown that women with ADHD are at higher risk for mental health struggles associated with the menstrual cycle. We found that having ADHD makes women around three times more likely to experience premenstrual dysphoric disorder.
Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), is a serious condition that affects about 3% of women worldwide. The condition can seriously interfere with a person’s everyday life, causing symptoms such as mood swings, irritability, depressed mood and anxiety.
These symptoms occur in the days before menstruation, and resolve after the period starts. For some, PMDD may lead to severe outcomes, such as being at an increased risk of attempting suicide.
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We conducted an online survey of 715 women aged 18 to 34 in the UK. We asked them whether they experienced different symptoms of ADHD or PMDD, whether they’d received an ADHD diagnosis from a doctor and how symptoms interfered with their lives.
We found that about 31% of women with a clinical ADHD diagnosis also had PMDD, as did around 41% of women who scored high for ADHD symptoms (whether they had been formally diagnosed with ADHD or not). In comparison, only about 9% of women without ADHD met the criteria for PMDD. We also found that women who had ADHD and a clinical diagnosis of depression or anxiety had an even greater risk of PMDD.
The research showed that the most common PMDD symptoms women experienced were irritability, feeling overwhelmed and depression. But women with ADHD may also be more likely to experience insomnia when they have PMDD.
The PMDD and ADHD link
Our study isn’t the first to show a link between the two conditions, but it is the first to identify a similar PMDD risk among women with ADHD symptoms, not just among those who were in treatment. We’re also the first to show that people who have ADHD plus depression or anxiety are at an even greater risk of PMDD.
Other research suggests that women with ADHD may also be at higher risk for mental health problems during other times of hormonal change. For instance, one study found women with ADHD experienced higher rates of depression and anxiety after starting combined oral hormonal contraceptives. Another study found that women with ADHD were more likely to experience depression after giving birth than those without the condition.
More research is now needed to understand why women with ADHD appear to be more vulnerable to PMDD, and whether this affects what treatments work best.
It should be noted that our study assesses “provisional PMDD diagnosis”. An official diagnosis requires two months of symptom tracking across the menstrual cycle. But we asked women to remember how they felt across their menstrual cycle rather than tracking how they feel in real-time.
This means we could be over- or under-estimating PMDD prevalence as we’re relying on participants to recall their symptoms.
Future research should assess PMDD symptoms among women in real-time as they experience their menstrual cycles to more accurately assess symptoms without having to rely on people’s memory. Additionally, it may be difficult to distinguish PMDD from other disorders that may worsen during the premenstrual period, such as depression or anxiety. Tracking symptoms across the menstrual cycle in real-time would help to disentangle this.
PMDD can have profoundly negative effects on women’s lives. Some women even report it can make them feel “physically unable to see the joy in things”. Although symptoms can be managed with prescription treatments, this can only happen if the condition is diagnosed by a doctor.
Our new research shows us that women with ADHD are an at-risk group for PMDD, especially if they also have depression or anxiety. This suggests doctors should consider screening for PMDD among women with ADHD to reduce distress and adverse outcomes associated with the condition.
Jessica Agnew-Blais receives funding from the UK Medical Research Council and GambleAware for her research.
When I first watched Girls, I remember marvelling at Lena Dunham’s four twenty-something New Yorkers. Sex and the City it was not. I realised wistfully just how much I wished the series had been around when I was in my twenties.
Dunham’s character Hannah Horvath was like a beacon, illuminating the possibilities of how you could just be yourself in this world – good and bad – without apologising for it. I loved her boldness. Girls was messy, awkward, embarrassing, relatable and real. It was also very funny.
Now Dunham brings her latest, similarly awkward comedy-drama, Too Much, to Netflix. The series follows the trials and tribulations of Jess (the brilliant Megan Stalter) as she flees New York for London with a broken heart.
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An American with a romanticised movie-informed idea of Britain, Jess sees Blighty as some kind of fantasy creation fashioned by Jane Austen with a little help from Richard Curtis.
She spends her days obsessing over her ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend on Instagram and trying to fit into London life. And then she meets laconic musician Felix (Will Sharpe), who is determined to demolish her romantic notions of a Notting Hill-esque London. Discovering they have an instant connection, Jess is thrust back into dating again, still reeling from the PTSD of her previous relationship.
Too Much charts the tumultuous experience of becoming an adult, as Jess experiences all the thrills and vulnerabilities of meeting someone new. Mirroring her own relocation to London, Dunham mines a rich seam of fish-out-of-water comedy as Megan navigates a new city and different culture.
Reviewer Jane Steventon finds the show is a hopeful paean to womanhood, a declaration that messiness, failure and fear are all part of becoming a woman just as much as joy, love and intimacy.
The idea of intimacy takes on a much darker and more troubling meaning in David Cronenberg’s latest body horror Shrouds in which the protagonist Karsh (Vincent Kassel) finds that technology can help him with the grieving process.
Discovering that a piece of wearable tech within a shroud can allow him to watch his wife’s corpse decompose via a video link, Karsh believes this can help reclaim her from her illness. But as the plot progresses, lines blur between Karsh’s dreams and reality and the film becomes darker and more ominous.
This deeply disturbing premise, says film expert Laura Flanagan, allows Cronenberg to explore issues of technology, control and grief, and is all the more chilling when you learn that he embarked on the film after the death of his own wife.
Musical autobiography
Simone de Beauvoir, the great feminist French philosopher, once opined: “One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.” Meaning, it is down to each woman to articulate and determine her own path and transcend any limits of “femininity” imposed by a patriarchal society.
According to our reviewer Lillian Hingley, the New Zealand singer Lorde unveils that process in her latest album Virgin as she musically explores how her body is changed by what she has been through in her life.
Hingley discovers a multi-layered collection of songs and videos that lead us through a piece of performance art examining identity, sexuality and a female reproductive system that comes fully loaded with both jeopardy and joy.
Last week, the Disney musical Hercules opened in London so we sent along Emma Stafford, professor of Greek culture at the University of Leeds to give us her take.
Despite finding Hercules’ trusty steed Pegasus has been written out of the show and Hades has been somewhat toned down, the innovative role of the five muses has been elevated to a spectacular cross between the chorus of a Greek tragedy and a gospel choir. A terrific cast, impressive visuals, slick stagecraft and magical special effects all mean this high-octane production will delight West End audiences.
The book that won this year’s Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction, The Story of a Heart by Rachel Clarke, has two children at its centre. One is Max Johnson, a healthy nine-year-old whose heart begins to fail, and the other, nine-year-old Keira Ball, a vibrant, pony-mad little girl who is killed in a car accident. Despite their unimaginable grief, Keira’s parents decide to donate her organs. Her precious heart goes to Max, and in that unbearable gift, one child dies, and another child lives.
Leah McLaughlin, a health services researcher who has spent her career working in the emotionally complex and often obscured world of organ donation, found the book a searingly honest account of the hope and despair of this devastating experience.
Nuclear-free and independent Pacific advocates are treating Aucklanders to a lively week-long exhibition dedicated to the struggle for nuclear justice in the region.
It will be opened today by the opposition Labour Party’s spokesperson on disarmament and MP for Te Atatu, Phil Twyford, and will include a range of speakers on Aotearoa New Zealand’s record as a champion of a nuclear-free Pacific and an independent foreign policy.
Speaking at a conference last month, Twyford said the country could act as a force for peace and demilitarisation, working with partners across the Pacific and Asia and basing its defence capabilities on a realistic assessment of threats.
The biggest threat to the security of New Zealanders was not China’s rise as a great power but the possibility of war in Asia, Twyford said.
Although there have been previous displays about the New Zealand nuclear-free narrative, this one has a strong focus on the Pacific.
Veteran nuclear-free Pacific spokespeople who are expected to speak at the conference include Reverend Mua Strickson-Pua; Bharat Jamnadas, an organiser of the original Nuclear-Free and Independent Pacific (NFIP) conference in Suva, Fiji, in 1975; businessman and community advocate Nikhil Naidu, previously an activist for the Fiji Anti-Nuclear Group (FANG) and Dr Heather Devere, peace researcher and chair of the Asia Pacific Media Network (APMN).
A group of Cook Islands young dancers will also take part.
Knowledge to children One of the organisers, Nik Naidu, told Asia Pacific Report, it was vital to restore the enthusiasm and passion around the NFIP movement as in the 1980s.
“It’s so important to pass on our knowledge to our children and future generations,” he said.
“And to tell the stories of our on-going journey and yearning for true independence in a world free of wars and weapons of mass destruction. This is what a Nuclear-Free and Independent Pacific is.”
One of the many nuclear-free posters at the exhibition. Image: APR
The exhibition is is coordinated by the APMN in partnership with the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, with curator Tharron Bloomfield and coordinator Antony Phillips; Ellen Melville Centre; and the Whānau Communty Centre and Hub.
It is also supported by Pax Christi, Quaker Peace and Service Fund, and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF).
It recalls New Zealand’s peace squadrons, a display of activist tee-shirt “flags”, nuclear-free buttons and badges, posters, and other memorabilia.
“It is a sort of back to the future situation where the world is waking up again to a nuclear spectre not really seen since the Cold War years,” he said.
“With the horrendous Israeli genocide on Gaza — it is obscene to call it a war, when it is continuous massacres of civilians; the attacks by two nuclear nations on a nuclear weapons-free country, as is the case with Iran; and threats against another nuclear state, China, are all extremely concerning developments.”
“Heroes” and “Villains” of the Pacific . . . part of the exhibition. Image: APR
Nuclear-free and independent Pacific advocates are treating Aucklanders to a lively week-long exhibition dedicated to the struggle for nuclear justice in the region.
It will be opened today by the opposition Labour Party’s spokesperson on disarmament and MP for Te Atatu, Phil Twyford, and will include a range of speakers on Aotearoa New Zealand’s record as a champion of a nuclear-free Pacific and an independent foreign policy.
Speaking at a conference last month, Twyford said the country could act as a force for peace and demilitarisation, working with partners across the Pacific and Asia and basing its defence capabilities on a realistic assessment of threats.
The biggest threat to the security of New Zealanders was not China’s rise as a great power but the possibility of war in Asia, Twyford said.
Although there have been previous displays about the New Zealand nuclear-free narrative, this one has a strong focus on the Pacific.
Veteran nuclear-free Pacific spokespeople who are expected to speak at the conference include Reverend Mua Strickson-Pua; Bharat Jamnadas, an organiser of the original Nuclear-Free and Independent Pacific (NFIP) conference in Suva, Fiji, in 1975; businessman and community advocate Nikhil Naidu, previously an activist for the Fiji Anti-Nuclear Group (FANG) and Dr Heather Devere, peace researcher and chair of the Asia Pacific Media Network (APMN).
A group of Cook Islands young dancers will also take part.
Knowledge to children One of the organisers, Nik Naidu, told Asia Pacific Report, it was vital to restore the enthusiasm and passion around the NFIP movement as in the 1980s.
“It’s so important to pass on our knowledge to our children and future generations,” he said.
“And to tell the stories of our on-going journey and yearning for true independence in a world free of wars and weapons of mass destruction. This is what a Nuclear-Free and Independent Pacific is.”
One of the many nuclear-free posters at the exhibition. Image: APR
The exhibition is is coordinated by the APMN in partnership with the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, with curator Tharron Bloomfield and coordinator Antony Phillips; Ellen Melville Centre; and the Whānau Communty Centre and Hub.
It is also supported by Pax Christi, Quaker Peace and Service Fund, and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF).
It recalls New Zealand’s peace squadrons, a display of activist tee-shirt “flags”, nuclear-free buttons and badges, posters, and other memorabilia.
“It is a sort of back to the future situation where the world is waking up again to a nuclear spectre not really seen since the Cold War years,” he said.
“With the horrendous Israeli genocide on Gaza — it is obscene to call it a war, when it is continuous massacres of civilians; the attacks by two nuclear nations on a nuclear weapons-free country, as is the case with Iran; and threats against another nuclear state, China, are all extremely concerning developments.”
“Heroes” and “Villains” of the Pacific . . . part of the exhibition. Image: APR
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Keri K. Stephens, Professor & Co-Director, Technology & Information Policy Institute, The University of Texas at Austin
Flash floods like the one that swept down the Guadalupe River in Texas on July 4, 2025, can be highly unpredictable. While there are sophisticated flood prediction models and different types of warning systems in some places, effective flood protection requires extensive preparedness and awareness.
It also requires an understanding of how people receive, interpret and act on risk information and warnings. Technology can be part of the solution, but ultimately people are the critical element in any response.
As researchers who studyemergency communications, we have found that simply providing people with technical information and data is often not enough to effectively communicate the danger and prompt them to act.
The human element
One of us, Keri Stephens, has led teams studying flood risk communication. They found that people who have experienced a flood are more aware of the risks. Conversely, groups that have not lived through floods typically don’t understanding various flood risks such as storm surges and flash floods. And while first responders often engage in table-top exercises and drills – very important for their readiness to respond – there are only a few examples of entire communities actively participating in warning drills.
Messages used to communicate flood risk also matter, but people need to receive them. To that end, Keri’s teams have worked with the Texas Water Development Board to develop resources that help local flood officials sort through and prioritize information about a flood hazard so they can share what is most valuable with their local communities.
The commonly used “Turn Around Don’t Drown” message, while valuable, may not resonate equally with all groups. Newly developed and tested messages such as “Keep Your Car High and Dry” appeal specifically to young adults who typically feel invincible but don’t want their prized vehicles damaged. While more research is needed, this is an example of progress in understanding an important aspect of flood communication: how recipients of the information make decisions.
Interviews conducted by researchers often include responses along these lines: “Another flash flood warning. We get these all the time. It’s never about flooding where I am.” This common refrain reveals a fundamental challenge in flood communication. When people hear “flood warning,” they often think of different things, and interpretations can vary depending on a person’s proximity to the flooding event.
Beyond technologies and digital communication, warnings still come through informal networks in many communities. Emergency managers directly coordinate with and share information with major businesses and organizations, saying, “Hey, John, be sure you have somebody up tonight watching the National Weather Service alerts and rivers.”
This human-centered approach, similar to neighborhood-level systems we have studied in Japan, can provide direct confirmation that warnings have been received. This is something mass media and mobile systems cannot guarantee, especially during infrastructure failures such as power and cell tower outages.
Effective messages
Research shows that effective warning messages need to include five critical components: a clear hazard description, location-specific information, actionable guidance, timing cues and a credible source. The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s integrated public alert and warning system message design dashboard assists authorities in rapidly drafting effective messages.
This warning system, known as IPAWS, provides nationwide infrastructure for wireless emergency alerts and Emergency Alert System messages. While powerful, IPAWS has limitations − not all emergency managers are trained to use it, and messages may extend beyond intended geographic areas. Also, many older mobile devices lack the latest capabilities, so they may not receive the most complete messages when they are sent.
Hyperlocal community opt-in systems can complement IPAWS by allowing residents to register for targeted notifications. These systems, which can be run by communities or local agencies, face their own challenges. People must know they exist, be willing to share phone numbers, and remember to update their information. Social media platforms add another communication channel, with emergency managers increasingly using social media to share updates, though these primarily reach only certain demographics, and not everyone checks social media regularly.
The key is redundancy through multiple communication channels. Research has found that multiple warnings are needed for people to develop a sense of urgency, and the most effective strategy is simple: Tell another person what’s going on. Interpersonal networks help ensure the message is delivered and can prompt actions. As former Natural Hazards Center Director Dennis Mileti observed: The wireless emergency alerts system “is fast. Mama is faster.”
A Colorado news report explains why emergency alerts have to be tailored for local needs and conditions and use multiple communication channels.
Warning fatigue
Professionals from the National Weather Service, FEMA and the Federal Communications Commission, along with researchers, are increasingly concerned about warning fatigue – when people tune out warnings because they receive too many of them.
However, there is limited empirical data about how and when people experience warning fatigue – or about its impact.
This creates a double bind: Officials have an obligation to warn people at risk, yet frequent warnings can desensitize recipients. More research is needed to determine the behavioral implications of and differences between warnings that people perceive as irrelevant to their immediate geographic area versus those that genuinely don’t apply to them. This distinction becomes especially critical when people might drive into flooded areas outside their immediate vicinity.
The key to effective emergency communication is to develop messages that resonate with specific audiences and build community networks that complement technological systems. We are now studying how to do this effectively in the United States and internationally. It’s also important to apply behavioral insights to the design of every level of communication warning systems. And it’s important to remember to test not just the technology but the entire end-to-end system, from threat identification to community response.
Finally, maintaining true redundancy across multiple communication channels is an important strategy when trying to reach as many people as possible. Technology supports human decision-making, but it doesn’t replace it.
Keri K. Stephens’ research reported here has been externally funded by the Texas Water Development Board, Texas General Land Office, and the National Science Foundation. Results published are peer-reviewed, and opinions reflect those of the author, not the funder.
Hamilton Bean has earned research funding from U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Results published are peer-reviewed, and opinions reflect those of the author, not the funder.
Winter in some parts of South Africa is a time of low (or no) rainfall and high fire danger. Sheldon Strydom studies the relationship between weather and fire, in particular how Berg winds, also known as mountain flow events, are linked to periods of enhanced fire danger. Mid-July is typically a high risk period. He shares what he has learnt during his research in the midlands of KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa, close to the country’s largest mountain range, the Drakensberg.
What are Berg winds and how do they form?
It’s long been known that mountain winds (“foëhn winds”, “chinook winds” and the like) increase fire danger. There’s case study evidence from around the globe.
In South Africa, these mountain winds are known as Berg winds. They are generally experienced as warm and dry.
A mountain wind starts when a mass of air is forced to rise along a windward slope (the side of the mountain that wind is blowing towards). As the mass of air rises it cools. When it reaches the peak of the slope or mountain it descends on the leeward (sheltered) side. As it gets lower, the air gets warmer.
Berg winds commonly occur in South African winters when high atmospheric pressure systems are situated over the interior of the country and low pressure systems are situated off the coast. (Atmospheric pressure is the pressure of air over the land, and affects the movement of air.)
Usually, a coastal low pressure system happens a day or two before a cold front. The pressure gradient (difference in pressure that drives wind) between the interior high pressure cell and coastal low pressure cell results in air flowing towards the coast from the interior of the country, down the mountain escarpment. The air reaches coastal areas as a warm, dry wind.
Why study the relationship between Berg winds and fires?
Winds can spread fires in the landscape.
Our study, using data from four sites in the midlands of KwaZulu-Natal, quantified the effect of Berg winds on the microclimate (local weather conditions) and emphasised how these changes influence fire danger.
The sources of fires in South Africa, as elsewhere, vary. For example, wildfires can be started when prescribed burning, or the planned use of fire, becomes uncontrolled due to changes in weather conditions. Accidental fires and arson are the most common causes of wildfires. Research shows that wildfires and fire disasters are common in areas where prescribed burning is used.
Prescribed burning, or the planned use of fire, is an important aspect of agricultural management. It promotes the dispersal and germination of seeds from a number of species and also removes ground litter. Prescribed burning is used to manage grasslands and has been linked to decreasing the number of disease-borne vectors such as ticks.
But if they get out of control, fires pose a threat to farmland and plantations.
It’s therefore vital to have weather forecasts and monitoring systems that warn of conditions conducive to the development and spread of fires.
Internationally, fire danger indices or meters are used to monitor conditions. In South Africa, the South African Weather Service and other interested and affected parties currently use the Lowveld fire danger index. The index is calculated using records of air temperature, relative humidity and wind speed and rainfall. These are measured once a day. Daily forecasts are available from the Weather Service and disseminated to local fire protection associations.
Much research in South Africa has focused on pyrogeography (understanding when and where fires occur) and fire ecology. Little research has been done to quantify the effects of Berg winds on fire danger using available historical hourly meteorological data.
The midlands of KwaZulu-Natal province serve as a perfect environment to study the effects of Berg winds on the microclimate and fire danger. The area is close to the Drakensberg mountains and experiences frequent fires. It’s also a largely agricultural area.
The study developed a fuzzy logic system (a mathematical method for handling uncertainty) to identify periods of Berg wind conditions using historical hourly meteorological data in four sites.
We analysed variables like the air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and fire danger at different times of the day and night, before and during Berg winds.
The analysis revealed the significance of change experienced in the local weather conditions (within 2km) during periods of Berg winds, and how these changes influence fire danger.
It found that:
Berg winds were more common during daytime hours and affected the microclimate most during the day
during daytime Berg wind events, air temperatures rose by an average of 5.5°C; humidity fell by an average of 16%; and wind speed increased by an average of 5.2 metres per second
daytime Berg wind events significantly elevated fire danger
night-time Berg winds, while less common, did still result in significant change in the microclimate
at night, fire danger increases when a combination of variables change significantly.
The fuzzy logic system can be useful in two ways: to quantify the effects of Berg winds on the microclimate and to complement any fire danger monitoring system. It can measure conditions at a higher temporal resolution, such as every 10 minutes, or hour – making it more useful for monitoring near real-time changes in fire danger.
The system could be valuable for operational use by agencies like the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Disaster Management Centre, and could be applied in other regions vulnerable to fire risk.
Sheldon Strydom receives funding from Rhodes University, and the National Research Foundation.
Michael John Savage has received funding from the NRF.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Matilde Rosina, Assistant Professor in Global Challenges, Brunel University of London
After weeks of rising Channel crossing figures, the UK government has agreed on a long-awaited migration deal with France. Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron announced a “one in, one out” pilot – and the UK prime minister said the “groundbreaking” scheme could start returning migrants to France within weeks. The deal was announced alongside a separate agreement to coordinate the use of French and British nuclear weapons.
The migration agreement will allow the UK to return selected numbers of small boat arrivals to France. In exchange, the UK will admit an equal number of asylum seekers with legitimate ties to the UK (such as family), who have not previously attempted to enter the country illegally.
The plan will start as a pilot, with initial reports suggesting the UK could return up to 50 people per week (2,600 per year). That is roughly 6% of small boat arrivals in 2024. The remaining arrivals will continue to be processed under the UK’s existing system.
The “one in, one out” system appears similar to an agreement in 2016 between the EU and Turkey. Under that scheme, for every irregular migrant returned from the Greek islands to Turkey, one Syrian refugee who had stayed in Turkey could be legally resettled in the EU. Under the EU–Turkey deal, only 2,140 migrants were returned to Turkey by 2022, compared with over 32,000 who were resettled in the EU.
The British government’s hope is that this pilot will lay the groundwork for a broader EU-UK return framework that would allow it to return more people. Before Brexit, the UK was part of the EU’s asylum framework, the Dublin regulation. This allowed any EU country, including the UK, to return asylum seekers to the first EU country they entered or passed through.
From 2008 to 2016, the UK was a net sender of asylum seekers: it returned more people to EU states than it accepted, receiving fewer than 500 people annually. The trend reversed after 2016, with the UK accepting more migrants than it returned.
But southern EU countries could complicate any expansion or permanent implementation of the pilot. Italy, Spain, Greece, Malta and Cyprus have opposed a UK–France agreement, fearing it would lead to more people being sent back to them – southern European states are where migrants typically arrive in the EU first.
Challenges ahead
The deal is a significant step for a UK government that has struggled to control the narrative on migration. Losing ground to Reform, the government has recently proposed tightening legal immigration rules, including by making it harder and longer to acquire British citizenship, and by cutting legal migration routes.
It also marks a notable shift in the UK’s post-Brexit migration strategy. But questions remain about the details and implementation.
The French president hailed it as a “major deterrent” to Channel crossing, as migrants would not remain in the UK but be returned to France. Macron said that one-third of arrivals in France are heading towards the UK. So it follows that any deterrent from Channel crossings would also lead to a reduction in people coming to France.
Yet, as I have shown in my research, deterrence is rarely effective. This is because information about deterrence factors does not necessarily reach the asylum seekers or stop smugglers. It also does not address the underlying drivers of migration, such as poverty, conflict and corruption.
Moreover, returns are notoriously difficult to enforce. Many asylum seekers lack documentation, and complex legal processes raise administrative and financial costs.
Scalability also poses a challenge, given EU countries’ divided stances on an EU-wide deal.
It is, however, promising that the UN refugee agency has given the agreement its backing, stating: “If appropriately implemented, it could help achieve a more managed and shared approach, offering alternatives to dangerous journeys while upholding access to asylum.”
The last UK government’s attempts to deter Channel crossings, such as the Rwanda scheme, had led to the agency raising serious concerns.
How many asylum seekers does the UK take?
This deal comes amid an increase in asylum applications in the UK. Annual applications rose from 38,483 in 2018 to over 108,000 in 2024.
In just the first half of 2025, small boat arrivals increased 48% compared with the same period in 2024, exceeding 20,000. By contrast, irregular arrivals to the EU decreased by 20% in the first half of 2025, mainly driven by a drop in arrivals to Greece and to Spain’s Canary Islands.
When accounting for population, the UK receives fewer asylum applications – 16 for every 10,000 people living in the UK – than the EU average (22 per 10,000).
Data shows that between 2018 and 2024, 68% of small boat asylum applications processed in the UK were approved, indicating that most were made by people in genuine need.
UK–France migration cooperation dates back to the 1990s, but since 2019, the focus has been on addressing the rise in Channel crossings.
A significant step was the UK-France joint declaration of March 2023, under which the UK committed €541 million (approximately £476 million) between 2023 and 2026. Funds were allocated for assets including drones, helicopters and aircraft, and for the creation of a migration centre in France. Importantly, the agreement sought to increase surveillance along the French border, rather than return migrants.
This cooperation deepened in February 2025, when both countries agreed to extend their partnership to 2027 and reallocate €8 million for new enforcement measures.
Joint maritime activities have played a role too: since October 2024, UK Border Force vessels have entered French waters on three occasions to assist boats in distress and return people to the French coast.
Overall, this new agreement represents a milestone in UK–France migration cooperation, and the UK’s first significant post-Brexit returns scheme with an EU country. While questions remain over its scalability – given the modest return numbers, legal and logistical hurdles, and European political divides – it is a crucial step in cross-Channel cooperation on migration and asylum, making progress on what has been an intractable problem for UK governments.
Matilde Rosina 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.
The SWIFT constellation, shown not to scale in this illustration, will fly farther than its predecessors to improve space weather warning time. Steve Alvey
The burgeoning space industry and the technologies society increasingly relies on – electric grids, aviation and telecommunications – are all vulnerable to the same threat: space weather.
These ejections are bundles of magnetic fields and particles that originate from the Sun. They can travel at speeds up to 1,242 miles per second (2,000 kilometers per second) and may cause geomagnetic storms.
They create beautiful aurora displays – like the northern lights you can sometimes see in the skies – but can also disrupt satellite operations, shut down the electric grid and expose astronauts aboard future crewed missions to the Moon and Mars to lethal doses of radiation.
An animation shows coronal mass ejection erupting from the Sun.
Space is also a critical domain for military operations. Satellites provide essential capabilities for military communication, surveillance, navigation and intelligence.
As countries such as the U.S. grow to depend on infrastructure in space, extreme space weather events pose a greater threat. Today, space weather threatens up to US$2.7 trillion in assets globally.
In September 1859, the most powerful recorded space weather event, known as the Carrington event, caused fires in North America and Europe by supercharging telegraph lines. In August 1972, another Carrington-like event nearly struck the astronauts orbiting the Moon. The radiation dose could have been fatal. More recently, in February 2022, SpaceX lost 39 of its 49 newly launched Starlink satellites because of a moderate space weather event.
Today’s space weather monitors
Space weather services heavily rely on satellites that monitor the solar wind, which is made up of magnetic field lines and particles coming from the Sun, and communicate their observations back to Earth. Scientists can then compare those observations with historical records to predict space weather and explore how the Earth may respond to the observed changes in the solar wind.
Earth’s magnetic field naturally protects living things and Earth-orbiting satellites from most adverse effects of space weather. However, extreme space weather events may compress – or in some cases, peel back – the Earth’s magnetic shield.
This process allows solar wind particles to make it into our protected environment – the magnetosphere – exposing satellites and astronauts onboard space stations to harsh conditions.
At these distances, the satellites remain within Earth’s protective magnetic shield and can reliably measure the planet’s response to space weather conditions. However, to more directly study incoming solar wind, researchers use additional satellites located farther upstream – hundreds of thousands of miles from Earth.
The U.S., the European Space Agency and India all operate space weather monitoring satellites positioned around the L1 Lagrange point – nearly 900,000 miles (1,450,000 km) from Earth – where the gravitational forces of the Sun and Earth balance. From this vantage point, space weather monitors can provide up to 40 minutes of advance warning for incoming solar events.
The Lagrange points are equilibrium points for smaller objects, like the Earth, that orbit around a larger object, like the Sun. The L1 point is between the Earth and the Sun, where the gravitational pulls of the two objects balance out. Since the Sun’s pull is so much stronger than the Earth’s, the point is much closer to Earth. Xander89/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA
Advance warning for space weather
Increasing the warning time beyond 40 minutes – the current warning time – would help satellite operators, electric grid planners, flight directors, astronauts and Space Force officers better prepare for extreme space weather events.
For instance, during geomagnetic storms, the atmosphere heats up and expands, increasing drag on satellites in low Earth orbit. With enough advance warning, operators can update their drag calculations to prevent satellites from descending and burning up during these events. With the updated drag calculations, satellite operators could use the satellites’ propulsion systems to maneuver them higher up in orbit.
Airlines could change their routes to avoid exposing passengers and staff to high radiation doses during geomagnetic storms. And future astronauts on the way to or working on the Moon or Mars, which lack protection from these particles, could be alerted in advance to take cover.
Aurora lovers would also appreciate having more time to get to their favorite viewing destinations.
The Space Weather Investigation Frontier
My team and I have been developing a new space weather satellite constellation, named the Space Weather Investigation Frontier. SWIFT will, for the first time, place a space weather monitor beyond the L1 point, at 1.3 million miles (2.1 million kilometers) from Earth. This distance would allow scientists to inform decision-makers of any Earth-bound space weather events up to nearly 60 minutes before arrival.
Satellites with traditional chemical and electric propulsion systems cannot maintain an orbit at that location – farther from Earth and closer to the Sun – for long. This is because they would need to continuously burn fuel to counteract the Sun’s gravitational pull.
To address this issue, our team has spent decades designing and developing a new propulsion system. Our solution is designed to affordably reach a distance that is closer to the Sun than the traditional L1 point, and to operate there reliably for more than a decade by harnessing an abundant and reliable resource – sunlight.
SWIFT would use a fuelless propulsion system called a solar sail to reach its orbit. A solar sail is a hair-thin reflective surface – simulating a very thin mirror – that spans about a third of a football field. It balances the force of light particles coming from the Sun, which pushes it away, with the Sun’s gravity, which pulls it inward.
While a sailboat harnesses the lift created by wind flowing over its curved sails to move across water, a solar sail uses the momentum of photons from sunlight, reflected off its large, shiny sail, to propel a spacecraft through space. Both the sailboat and solar sail exploit the transfer of energy from their respective environments to drive motion without relying on traditional propellants.
A solar sail could enable SWIFT to enter an otherwise unstable sub-L1 orbit without the risk of running out of fuel.
NASA successfully launched its first solar sail in 2010. This in-space demonstration, named NanoSail-D2, featured a 107-square-foot (10 m2 ) sail and was placed in low Earth orbit. That same year, the Japanese Space Agency launched a larger solar sail mission, IKAROS, which deployed a 2,110 ft2 (196 m2 ) sail in the solar wind and successfully orbited Venus.
An illustration of the solar sail used on the IKAROS space probe. These sails use light particles as propulsion. Andrzej Mirecki, CC BY-SA
The Planetary Society and NASA followed up by launching two sails in low Earth orbit: LightSail, with an area of 344 ft2 (32 m2 ), and the advanced composite solar sail system, with an area of 860 ft2 (80 m2 ).
The SWIFT team’s solar sail demonstration mission, Solar Cruiser, will be equipped with a much larger sail – it will have area of 17,793 ft2 (1,653 m2 ) and launch as early as 2029. We successfully deployed a quadrant of the sail on Earth early last year.
If successful, the Solar Cruiser mission will pave the way for a small satellite constellation that will monitor the solar wind.
To transport it to space, the team will meticulously fold and tightly pack the sail inside a small canister. The biggest challenge to overcome will be deploying the sail once in space and using it to guide the satellite along its orbital path.
If successful, Solar Cruiser will pave the way for SWIFT’s constellation of four satellites. The constellation would include one satellite equipped with sail propulsion, set to be placed in an orbit beyond L1, and three smaller satellites with chemical propulsion in orbit at the L1 Lagrange point.
The satellites will be indefinitely parked at and beyond L1, collecting data in the solar wind without interruption. Each of the four satellites can observe the solar wind from different locations, helping scientists better predict how it may evolve before reaching Earth.
As modern life depends more on space infrastructure, continuing to invest in space weather prediction can protect both space- and ground-based technologies.
Mojtaba Akhavan-Tafti receives funding from NASA. He is the Principal Investigator of Space Weather Investigation Frontier (SWIFT).
Almost 60 years after former prime minister Harold Holt began to dismantle the White Australia Policy, The Neighbour at the Gate at Sydney’s National Art School Gallery presents a thoughtful examination of the consequences when good neighbours become good friends.
Street posters promoting the exhibition feature an image of a magpie. Advertising always distorts. Pardu (Tirritpa) by James Tylor, who has Kaurna and Mãori heritage, is a series of groupings of exquisite small bird daguerreotypes. Their shadowed silver surface gives the impression of antiquity, which is Tylor’s intention.
In Kaurna, the names of birds come from the songs they sing. This is also how birds are named in many Asian languages. Onomatopoeia makes a bridge between cultures. A QR code on the wall next to each grouped images of birds allows the viewer to hear blends of birdsong with human music.
The visitor enters the exhibition through Imaginary Homelands, Jacky Cheng’s installation in the shape of a traditional Chinese paifang (牌坊).
The 1,110 strips of paper, with fragments of Chinese characters, represent a poem she learnt as child in Kuala Lumpur. But some of the language has been lost by the distortions of time. She now lives on Yawuru country (Broome), an Australian town with close links to many South East Asian cultures.
In remembering her past, she grasps elements of her Malay Chinese heritage.
Dennis Golding’s Bingo is possibly as fragmented a memory as Cheng’s. Golding, a Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay man, has made a tribute to the community space his Nan and Aunty created in an abandoned terrace house in the Block at Redfern, where at night they would play bingo.
Each of the etchings scattered across the wall is the size of brick; each quotes small details of community life in Redfern before it was “discovered” by the gentrifiers. The exquisite etchings appear to be scattered at random, but a careful look will show the word “Bingo” in white in the spaces on the wall.
Elham Eshraghian-Haakansson’s God of War is a beautiful and sensual video on love, rage, reconciliation and the emotional journey of being a refugee.
Eshraghian-Haakansson is a second generation Iranian-Australian whose work is shaped in part by the experience of her mother and grandmother, whose Baha’i faith placed them in peril in 1979 after the Ayatollahs seized power. The different segments of this elegant video are deliberately broken by rough insertions, giving it a sense of a work reclaimed from history.
Along the water
Jenna Mayilema Lee’s complex installation in three parts is both a universal statement on the integration that is the long-term consequence of the meeting of cultures, and a personal statement on her own circumstances.
Each component – the photographic mural, the video and the billabong sculpture – can be seen as an independent work, but when combined they form magic.
Lee is truly a modern Australian, descended from Gulumerridjin (Larrakia), Wardaman, KarraJarri people as well as having Japanese, Filipino, Chinese and Anglo ancestors.
The lotus sculptures in the billabong are constructed from copies of immigration documentation. Her Chinese ancestors were living in Australia well before the White Australia policy of 1901. When they needed to travel, bureaucracy demanded multiple forms.
She has layered the forms with a hand print from one of her Japanese ancestors which, much to her pleasure, she discovered is the same size as her own hand.
The billabongs of northern Australia, especially in Larrakia country, are filled with lotus plants. The ancestors of the lotus plants of northern Australia floated across the narrow seas from Asia many years ago, in much the same way as people.
Water does not always bring life. James Nguyen’s Homeopathies_where new trees grow, is a reminder of another consequence of colonisation.
As with many other Vietnamese Australians, his family lives near the Parramatta and Duck rivers, west of central Sydney. One of the horrors of the Vietnam war was the way Agent Orange, destroyed both the jungle and the lives of people who came into contact with it.
Agent Orange was made by Union Carbide, near the Parramatta River. When the factory closed the contaminated site was not properly sealed and the poison seeped into the river.
Nguyen’s giant floating textile is of made of raw cotton and silk strips, dyed with mud and weeds contaminated by dioxin and Agent Orange. The evil of contamination is countered by clay pinchpot incense holders which line the stairs and entrances to the exhibition.
The cleansing smoke of incense is another link between the cultures of Asia and those of Australia’s First Nations people.
The Neighbour at the Gate is a generous and inclusive exhibition, a reminder of a common humanity. Clothilde Bullen, who heads the curatorium with Micheal Do and Zali Morgan, sees art as a way of countering divisions in society.
She told me:
If we are to work as a society and if we are to work as a community then we have to call people in, and we have to be prepared to embrace that difference. And so that is really what this show is all about.
The Neighbour at the Gate is at the National Art School Galleries, Sydney, until October 18.
Joanna Mendelssohn has in the past received funding from the Australian Research Council
Authorities in the ACT have released draft regulations for the welfare of dogs. One inclusion getting attention is a guideline “requiring all dogs to have a minimum of three hours of human contact daily”.
The purpose of this code is to help dog owners meet their obligations under existing animal welfare laws in the ACT, which see dogs as sentient animals. This recognises that dogs can experience pleasure and pain, and that these feelings matter.
If we accept dogs are sentient then we must think about their welfare and how to provide for them the best life possible. So, will three hours of human contact guarantee a good life?
Three hours across a 24-hour period is probably achievable for many people, once you factor in walks, pats, feeding time and some attention at home.
But just mandating a certain number of hours isn’t the answer, in my view.
What matters most is what you do when you’re with your dog to meet their specific emotional and physical needs – and how long you’re leaving them alone.
Human contact is a good thing for dogs
Countries around the world are taking more notice of the needs of dogs.
In Germany, the law requires owners to walk their dogs twice a day for at least an hour each time.
Swedish rules require that “dogs must have their need for social contact satisfied”.
Dogs are descended from the grey wolf – an animal which would certainly not integrate easily into a human group.
But over thousands of years, humans have selectively bred dogs so they want, and even depend on, human contact.
We’ve genetically selected dogs to want to be with us, and unfortunately this has led to many not coping well when they’re alone.
The ACT’s new draft code recognises this, noting that “dogs are social animals and must not be kept alone for long periods of time”.
It is likely the quality of time spent with our dogs is more important than the quantity.
Some dogs like lying on the sofa bingeing the latest series with you. Others might prefer long walks, or a strenuous game of fetch.
And dogs have different needs. A one-year-old dog might love going for a big walk, but a 12-year-old dog with arthritis may find that painful. Some dogs love chasing balls, and others would rather watch grass grow.
What’s more, the amount of time a dog can handle alone will depend on the animal. For some, only five minutes away from their human would be long enough to send them into total meltdown.
What’s important is what you do with your dog when you’re together, to meet their needs.
Complicating matters further, dog owners vary in how they want to spend time with their pet.
That’s why this guideline may struggle to find community acceptance. Good dog owners realise that what you do with your dog is most important, and needs to be tailored to the dog’s emotional needs, rather than just mandating a certain time goal.
That said, the draft code may prompt all dog owners (including not-so-conscientious ones) to consider whether they spend enough time with their dogs.
And it may prompt people considering buying a dog to think about whether they can commit three hours a day.
The regulation may also encourage people to think more about fun things to do with their dog, such as develop (or continue) a play routine. Creative play can help boost attachment between dog and human.
An easy bonus we can give our dogs is to be present with them.
If you can’t manage three hours, just aim for what you can and try to carve out special time with them (perhaps by reducing your screen time where possible).
The most important part is to see if you can observe what happens when they’re alone (you could set up a camera). Try to make changes and seek professional advice if you can see their welfare is at risk.
It is highly unlikely sufficient resourcing would be available in the ACT to check the time all dog-owners spend with their dogs each day. How this would be calculated and recorded remains unclear.
But even if this three-hours-a-day guideline is dropped in the ACT’s final code, it’s prompted an important discussion and will overall improve the welfare of dogs.
Susan Hazel is affiliated with the RSPCA South Australia and the Dog & Cat Management Board of South Australia.
The death of an unvaccinated horse from Hendra virus this week in southeast Queensland is the state’s first reported case in three years.
Before that, Australia’s last case was in July 2023, when another unvaccinated horse died in New South Wales.
The new incident is a stark reminder that, while rare, this persistent virus poses a deadly threat to both animals and humans.
So, what is Hendra virus? And how is it passed on? Here’s what you need to know.
What is Hendra virus?
Hendra virus is found only in Australia. It is named after the Brisbane suburb Hendra, where it was first identified in 1994 – an outbreak that killed 13 horses and one human.
Hendra is a highly pathogenic virus, meaning it causes severe, often fatal illness.
It is a kind of henipavirus, which belongs to the large family of Paramyxoviridae. Henipaviruses such as Hendra are zoonotic, which means they occur naturally in animals but can also be passed on to humans.
Australia’s native flying foxes or fruit bats (the genus Pteropus) are Hendra’s natural “reservoir host”. They carry the virus without symptoms.
Outbreaks occur when the virus is transmitted to horses and occasionally to humans through infected horses. It is not known to affect other animals.
Can humans get Hendra?
Although alarming, human cases of Hendra virus remain exceedingly rare. Only seven confirmed cases have been reported since 1994, resulting in four deaths.
Each human case occurred after close contact with an infected horse or horses.
Those who contracted Hendra were typically veterinarians or horse trainers exposed to blood, mucus or other bodily fluids while caring for the horse or determining its cause of death.
Direct transmission of Hendra from bats to humans, or between humans, has not been documented.
How does it spread?
Hendra exists year-round in flying fox populations, who shed virus particles in bodily fluids, but don’t get sick themselves.
Horses mainly become infected through grass, feed or drinking water that has been contaminated by flying fox saliva, urine or feces. Although horse-to-horse transmission is possible, it is not common.
An infected horse will show rapid symptoms including:
fever
breathing difficulties
nasal discharge
increased heart rate
neurological signs, such as muscle twitching, loss of coordination, and disorientation.
The infection progresses rapidly. In around 75% of cases, death follows within 48 to 72 hrs of symptoms beginning.
Around 75–80% of infected horses either die naturally or are euthanised due to welfare concerns. This high death rate underscores the need for preventive measures.
Vaccination is the main way to prevent infection in horses. No vaccinated horses have developed the disease since a highly effective vaccine became available in 2012.
Veterinary authorities strongly recommend vaccination for horses, especially in Queensland and northern New South Wales, regions historically affected by the virus.
Other preventive measures include: placing feed and water containers away from areas frequented by flying foxes, regular stable cleaning, and keeping horses in stables overnight during months when bats are most active.
This is typically May to October, sometimes known as “Hendra season”. But there are signs climate change and habitat destruction may be changing when and where flying foxes roost and potentially worsening the risk of outbreak.
Have you ever stopped by the grocery store on your way to a dinner party to grab a bottle of wine? Did you grab the first one you saw, or did you pause to think about the available choices and deliberate over where you wanted your gift to be from?
The people who lived in western Iran around 11,000 years ago had the same idea – but in practice it looked a little different. In our latest research, my colleagues and I studied the remains of ancient feasts at Asiab in the Zagros Mountains where people gathered in communal celebration.
The feasters left behind the skulls of 19 wild boars, which they packed neatly together and sealed inside a pit within a round building. Butchery marks on the boar skulls show the animals were used for feasting, but until now we did not know where the animals came from.
By examining the microscopic growth patterns and chemical signatures inside the tooth enamel of five of these boars, we found at least some of them had been brought to the site from a substantial distance away, transported over difficult mountainous terrain. Bringing these boars to the feast – when other boars were available locally – would have taken an enormous amount of effort.
A big feast from before the dawn of agriculture
Feasting activities are widely documented in the archaeological record, primarily from communities that rely on agriculture to generate a food surplus. In fact, it has been suggested feasting may have been a driving force behind the adoption of agriculture, although this theory has been widely debated.
While evidence from after the adoption of agriculture is plentiful from all reaches of the globe, evidence pre-dating agriculture is more sparse.
What is special about the feast at Asiab is not only its early date and that it brought together people from wider reaches of the region. It is the fact that people who participated in this feast invested substantial amounts of effort, so that their contributions involved an element of geographic symbolism.
Food and culture
Food and long-standing culinary traditions form an integral component of cultures all over the globe. It is for this reason that holidays, festivals, and other socially meaningful events commonly involve food.
We cannot imagine Christmas without the Christmas meal, for example, or Eid without the food gifts, or Passover without matzo ball soup.
What’s more, food makes for gifts that are highly appreciated. The more a food item is reminiscent of a specific country or location, the better. It is for this reason that cheese from France, crocodile jerky from Australia, and black chicken from Korea make for good currency in the world of gift giving.
Just like today, people who lived in the past noticed the importance of reciprocity and place, and formulated customs to celebrate them publicly.
At ancient feasts at Stonehenge, for example, research has shown people ate pigs brought from wide reaches of Britain. Our new findings provide the first glimpse of similar behaviour in a pre-agricultural context.
How to read a tooth
Did you know that teeth grow like trees? Much like trees and their annual growth rings, teeth deposit visible layers of enamel and dentine during growth.
These growth layers track daily patterns of development and changes in the dietary intake of certain chemical elements. In our study, we sliced the teeth of wild boars from Asiab in a way that allowed us to count these daily growth layers under the microscope.
We then used this information to measure the composition of enamel secreted at approximately weekly intervals. The variability in the isotopic ratios we measured suggests at least some of the wild boars used in the feast at Asiab came from considerable distance: possibly from at least 70 km, or two or more days’ travel.
The most likely explanation is that they were hunted in farther reaches of the region and transported to the site as contributions to the feast.
Reciprocity is at the heart of social interactions. Just like a thoughtfully chosen bottle of wine does today, those boars brought from far and wide may have served to commemorate a place, an event and social bonds through gift-giving.
The work was funded by Early Career Research grants from Griffith University and the Society for Archaeological Science.
Have you ever stopped by the grocery store on your way to a dinner party to grab a bottle of wine? Did you grab the first one you saw, or did you pause to think about the available choices and deliberate over where you wanted your gift to be from?
The people who lived in western Iran around 11,000 years ago had the same idea – but in practice it looked a little different. In our latest research, my colleagues and I studied the remains of ancient feasts at Asiab in the Zagros Mountains where people gathered in communal celebration.
The feasters left behind the skulls of 19 wild boars, which they packed neatly together and sealed inside a pit within a round building. Butchery marks on the boar skulls show the animals were used for feasting, but until now we did not know where the animals came from.
By examining the microscopic growth patterns and chemical signatures inside the tooth enamel of five of these boars, we found at least some of them had been brought to the site from a substantial distance away, transported over difficult mountainous terrain. Bringing these boars to the feast – when other boars were available locally – would have taken an enormous amount of effort.
A big feast from before the dawn of agriculture
Feasting activities are widely documented in the archaeological record, primarily from communities that rely on agriculture to generate a food surplus. In fact, it has been suggested feasting may have been a driving force behind the adoption of agriculture, although this theory has been widely debated.
While evidence from after the adoption of agriculture is plentiful from all reaches of the globe, evidence pre-dating agriculture is more sparse.
What is special about the feast at Asiab is not only its early date and that it brought together people from wider reaches of the region. It is the fact that people who participated in this feast invested substantial amounts of effort, so that their contributions involved an element of geographic symbolism.
Food and culture
Food and long-standing culinary traditions form an integral component of cultures all over the globe. It is for this reason that holidays, festivals, and other socially meaningful events commonly involve food.
We cannot imagine Christmas without the Christmas meal, for example, or Eid without the food gifts, or Passover without matzo ball soup.
What’s more, food makes for gifts that are highly appreciated. The more a food item is reminiscent of a specific country or location, the better. It is for this reason that cheese from France, crocodile jerky from Australia, and black chicken from Korea make for good currency in the world of gift giving.
Just like today, people who lived in the past noticed the importance of reciprocity and place, and formulated customs to celebrate them publicly.
At ancient feasts at Stonehenge, for example, research has shown people ate pigs brought from wide reaches of Britain. Our new findings provide the first glimpse of similar behaviour in a pre-agricultural context.
How to read a tooth
Did you know that teeth grow like trees? Much like trees and their annual growth rings, teeth deposit visible layers of enamel and dentine during growth.
These growth layers track daily patterns of development and changes in the dietary intake of certain chemical elements. In our study, we sliced the teeth of wild boars from Asiab in a way that allowed us to count these daily growth layers under the microscope.
We then used this information to measure the composition of enamel secreted at approximately weekly intervals. The variability in the isotopic ratios we measured suggests at least some of the wild boars used in the feast at Asiab came from considerable distance: possibly from at least 70 km, or two or more days’ travel.
The most likely explanation is that they were hunted in farther reaches of the region and transported to the site as contributions to the feast.
Reciprocity is at the heart of social interactions. Just like a thoughtfully chosen bottle of wine does today, those boars brought from far and wide may have served to commemorate a place, an event and social bonds through gift-giving.
The work was funded by Early Career Research grants from Griffith University and the Society for Archaeological Science.
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on July 11, 2025.
‘Storm clouds are gathering’: 40 years on from the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior From the prologue of the 40th anniversary edition of David Robie’s seminal book on the Rainbow Warrior’s last voyage, former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark (1999-2008) writes about what the bombing on 10 July 1985 means today. The bombing of the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland Harbour on 10 July 1985 and the death of
Dawn service held 40 years on from Rainbow Warrior bombing TVNZ 1News The Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior has sailed into Auckland to mark the 40th anniversary of the bombing of the original Rainbow Warrior in 1985. Greenpeace’s vessel, which had been protesting nuclear testing in the Pacific, sank after French government agents planted explosives on its hull, killing Portuguese-Dutch photographer Fernando Pereira. Today, 40 years
What is the Strait of Hormuz and why is it so important for global shipping? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Belinda Clarence, Law Lecturer, RMIT University During the recent conflict between Iran and Israel, Iran threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s major shipping routes. Would that be possible, and what effects would it have? The Strait of Hormuz is a choke point
Rugby headgear can’t prevent concussion – but new materials could soften the blows over a career Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nick Draper, Professor of Sport and Exercise Science, University of Canterbury The widely held view among rugby players, coaches and officials is that headgear can’t prevent concussion. If so, why wear it? It’s hot, it can block vision and hearing, and it can be uncomfortable. Headgear was
Trump has flagged 200% tariffs on Australian pharmaceuticals. What do we produce here, and what’s at risk? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joe Carrello, Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne Tanya Dol/Shutterstock US President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs on Australia’s pharmaceutical exports to the United States has raised alarm among industry and government leaders. There are fears that, if implemented, the tariffs could cost the Australian economy up to
‘Fashion helped the pride come out’: First Nations fashion as resistance, culture and connection Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Treena Clark, Chancellor’s Indigenous Research Fellow, Faculty of Design and Society, University of Technology Sydney Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains images of deceased people. First Nations garments have always held deep meaning. What we wear tells stories about culture, Country and
Does AI actually boost productivity? The evidence is murky Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jon Whittle, Director, Data61, CSIRO Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock There’s been much talk recently – especially among politicians – about productivity. And for good reason: Australia’s labour productivity growth sits at a 60-year low. To address this, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has convened a productivity round table next month.
Albanese’s China mission – managing a complex relationship in a world of shifting alliances Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Laurenceson, Director and Professor, Australia-China Relations Institute (UTS:ACRI), University of Technology Sydney Prime Minister Anthony Albanese leaves for China on Saturday, confident most Australians back the government’s handling of relations with our most important economic partner and the leading strategic power in Asia. Albanese’s domestic critics
NZ’s new AI strategy is long on ‘economic opportunity’ but short on managing ethical and social risk Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Lensen, Senior Lecturer in Artificial Intelligence, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Getty Images The government’s newly unveiled National AI Strategy is all about what its title says: “Investing with Confidence”. It tells businesses that Aotearoa New Zealand is open for AI use, and
Will my private health insurance cover my surgery? What if my claim is rejected? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yuting Zhang, Professor of Health Economics, The University of Melbourne shurkin_son/Shutterstock The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has fined Bupa A$35 million for unlawfully rejecting thousands of health insurance claims over more than five years. Between May 2018 and August 2023 Bupa incorrectly rejected claims from
Grattan on Friday: childcare is a ‘canary in mine’ warning for wider problems in policy delivery Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra It’s such a familiar pattern. When a big scandal breaks publicly, governments jump into action, ministers rush out to say they’ll “do something” instantly. But how come they hadn’t seen problems that had been in plain sight? Who can forget
The special envoy’s antisemitism plan is ambitious, but fails to reckon with the hardest questions Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matteo Vergani, Associate Professor, Deakin University On July 6, an arson attack targeted the East Melbourne Synagogue. It was the latest in a series of antisemitic incidents recorded across Australia since October 7 2023, when Hamas carried out a horrific terrorist attack, killing about 1,200 Israelis. These
Queensland’s horrific lion attack shows wild animals should not be kept for our amusement Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Georgette Leah Burns, Associate Professor, Griffith School of Environment and Science, Griffith University Luciano Gonzalez/Anadolu via Getty Images Last weekend, a woman was mauled by a lioness at Darling Downs Zoo in Queensland, and lost her arm. The zoo, which keeps nine lions, has been operating for
Does Donald Trump deserve the Nobel Peace Prize? We asked 5 experts Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Shortis, Adjunct Senior Fellow, School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has formally nominated United States President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. He says the president is “forging peace as we speak, in one country, in one
Does Australia really take too long to approve medicines, as the US says? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nial Wheate, Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Australia’s drug approval system is under fire, with critics in the United States claiming it is too slow to approve life-saving medicines. Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration balances speed with a rigorous assessment of safety, efficacy and cost-effectiveness. So
Skorts revolutionised how women and girls play sport. But in 2025, are they regressive? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer E. Cheng, Researcher and Lecturer in Sociology, Western Sydney University If you watched any of the 2025 Wimbledon womens’ matches, you’ll have noticed many players donning a skort: a garment in which shorts are concealed under a skirt, or a front panel resembling a skirt. You
First the dire wolf, now NZ’s giant moa: why real ‘de-extinction’ is unlikely to fly Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nic Rawlence, Associate Professor in Ancient DNA, University of Otago Colossal Biosciences, CC BY-SA The announcement that New Zealand’s moa nunui (giant moa) is the next “de-extinction” target for Colossal Biosciences, in partnership with Canterbury Museum, the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre and filmmaker Peter Jackson, caused widespread
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Larissa Waters on why we deserve more than a government that just tinkers Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Greens had a poor election. They lost three of their four lower house seats including that of their leader Adam Bandt. This despite their overall vote remaining mostly steady. But they did retain all their Senate spots – though
Envoy’s plan to fight antisemitism would put universities on notice over funding Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The government’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, Jillian Segal, has recommended universities that fail to properly deal with the issue should have government funding terminated. In her Plan to Combat Antisemitism, launched Thursday, Segal says she will prepare a report
Keith Rankin Analysis – Public Debt, Japan, and Wilful Blindness Analysis by Keith Rankin. I just heard on Radio New Zealand a claim by a British commentator, Hugo Gye (Political Editor of The i Paper), that the United Kingdom (among other countries) has a major public debt crisis, and that if nothing is done about it (such as what Rachel Reeves – Chancellor of the
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danielle Dawson, PhD Candidate, School of Psychology and National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research, The University of Queensland
Around 41% of Australians report they’ve used cannabis at some point in their life.
Research estimates that 22% of recreational cannabis consumers meet criteria for a cannabis use disorder. This condition can make it difficult to control how often or how much cannabis they use.
For medicinal cannabis, our research estimated the percentage of cannabis consumers who meet criteria for a cannabis use disorder was similar, around 25%.
These figures may come as a surprise, as the perceived risks associated with cannabis have been steadily declining in many countries.
So, how can you tell if your cannabis use is a problem?
What does cannabis use disorder look like?
A person might use cannabis to relax after a stressful day at work or to help them sleep. At first, they might do so every now and then. But over time, they might come to rely on using cannabis to stop feeling uncomfortable, stressed and sleepless.
They might begin to use cannabis daily to feel “normal”.
With regular use, the body develops tolerance to the effects of cannabis. So the person needs to use more cannabis to get the same “high”.
People who consume cannabis might use more cannabis than they intended or might have problems performing at work because they’re high at the start of the work day, or they fail to do important things such as paying bills, and buy cannabis instead.
The person might keep using cannabis despite noticing their use is causing clouded thoughts, memory issues and anxiety.
Friends and family might notice problems with their cannabis use and recommend they stop or cut back. This can be difficult for people with cannabis use disorder because they may feel anxious, irritable and have difficulty sleeping if they suddenly stop using cannabis.
These withdrawal symptoms can make it harder to quit or cut back. Withdrawal symptoms are quickly relieved by using cannabis, creating a cycle of relapse.
How is it diagnosed?
Health professionals use specific criteria to diagnose a cannabis use disorder.
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), a person may have a cannabis use disorder if they show at least two symptoms within one year. Symptoms can include:
using larger amounts over longer periods than intended
cravings for cannabis, where the person feels a strong urge or desire to use cannabis
trying and failing to cut back on cannabis use
continuing cannabis use despite worsening physical or psychological problems
failing to fulfil major role obligations at work, school or home
needing to use a greater amount for the same effect, known as tolerance
experiencing withdrawal symptoms such as feeling anxious, irritable or having trouble sleeping.
According to the DSM, two to three symptoms indicate a mild cannabis use disorder and few problems. A moderate disorder involves four to five symptoms, while six-plus symptoms means a severe disorder.
Who is at greatest risk?
In both recreational and medicinal consumers, the risk of cannabis use disorder is higher for people who use cannabis:
So people may increase how often they use cannabis or use more potent cannabis products in an unsuccessful attempt to control their pain.
This can lead to a cannabis use disorder, making it more difficult to manage their pain and impairing their ability to cope with the demands of everyday life.
How to reduce your risk
Legal changes in many countries, including Australia, have allowed greater access to cannabis for medical reasons. People now often use cannabis for both recreational and medical reasons (dual-use).
If you’re concerned about your cannabis use, consult your medical practitioner or contact the National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline on 1800 250 015 for confidential advice.
Wayne Hall has in the past five years been paid to advise the WHO on the adverse health effects of cannabis and to advise the Commonwealth Department of Health on the safety and effectiveness of medical uses of cannabis-based medicines.
Danielle Dawson and Valentina Lorenzetti 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.
From the prologue of the 40th anniversary edition of David Robie’s seminal book on the Rainbow Warrior’s last voyage, former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark (1999-2008) writes about what the bombing on 10 July 1985 means today.
The bombing of the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland Harbour on 10 July 1985 and the death of a voyager on board, Greenpeace photographer Fernando Pereira, was both a tragic and a seminal moment in the long campaign for a nuclear-free Pacific.
It was so startling that many of us still remember where we were when the news came through. I was in Zimbabwe on my way to join the New Zealand delegation to the United Nations World Conference on Women in Nairobi. In Harare I met for the first time New Zealand Anglican priest Father Michael Lapsley who, in that same city in 1990, was severely disabled by a parcel bomb delivered by the intelligence service of the apartheid regime in South Africa. These two bombings, of the Rainbow Warrior and of Michael, have been sad reminders to me of the price so many have paid for their commitment to peace and justice.
It was also very poignant for me to meet Fernando’s daughter, Marelle, in Auckland in 2005. Her family suffered a loss which no family should have to bear. In August 1985, I was at the meeting of the Labour Party caucus when it was made known that the police had identified a woman in their custody as a French intelligence officer. Then in September, French prime minister Laurent Fabius confirmed that French secret agents had indeed sunk the Rainbow Warrior. The following year, a UN-mediated agreement saw the convicted agents leave New Zealand and a formal apology, a small amount of compensation, and undertakings on trade given by France — the latter after New Zealand perishable goods had been damaged in port in France.
Both 1985 and 1986 were momentous years for New Zealand’s assertion of its nuclear-free positioning which was seen as provocative by its nuclear-armed allies. On 4 February 1985, the United States was advised that its naval vessel, the Buchanan, could not enter a New Zealand port because it was nuclear weapons-capable and the US “neither confirm nor deny” policy meant that New Zealand could not establish whether it was nuclear weapons-armed or not.
In Manila in July 1986, a meeting between prime minister David Lange and US Secretary of State George Schultz confirmed that neither New Zealand nor the US were prepared to change their positions and that New Zealand’s engagement in ANZUS was at an end. Secretary Schultz famously said that “We part company as friends, but we part company as far as the alliance is concerned”.
Pour les 40 ans de l’attentat de la France contre le Rainbow Warrior, le journaliste néo-zélandais @DavidRobie publie une nouvelle édition de son livre sur le dernier voyage du navire de Greenpeace. Préfacée par Helen Clark, ex-PM de Nouvelle-Zélandehttps://t.co/n1v8Nduel6
New Zealand passed its Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament and Arms Control Act in 1987. Since that time, until now, the country has on a largely bipartisan basis maintained its nuclear-free policy as a fundamental tenet of its independent foreign policy. But storm clouds are gathering.
Australia’s decision to enter a nuclear submarine purchase programme with the United States is one of those. There has been much speculation about a potential Pillar Two of the AUKUS agreement which would see others in the region become partners in the development of advanced weaponry. This is occurring in the context of rising tensions between the United States and China.
Many of us share the view that New Zealand should be a voice for deescalation, not for enthusiastic expansion of nuclear submarine fleets in the Pacific and the development of more lethal weaponry.
Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage and Legacy of the Rainbow Warrior . . . publication 10 July 2025. Image: David Robie/Little Island Press
Nuclear war is an existential threat to humanity. Far from receding, the threat of use of nuclear weapons is ever present. The Doomsday Clock of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists now sits at 89 seconds to midnight. It references the Ukraine theatre where the use of nuclear weapons has been floated by Russia. The arms control architecture for Europe is unravelling, leaving the continent much less secure. India and Pakistan both have nuclear arsenals. The Middle East is a tinder box with the failure of the Iran nuclear deal and with Israel widely believed to possess nuclear weapons. North Korea continues to develop its nuclear weapons capacity. An outright military conflict between China and the United States would be one between two nuclear powers with serious ramifications for East Asia, South-East Asia, the Pacific, and far beyond.
August 2025 marks the eightieth anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A survivors’ group, Nihon Hidankyo, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year. They bear tragic witness to the horror of the use of nuclear weapons. The world must heed their voice now and at all times.
In the current global turbulence, New Zealand needs to reemphasise the principles and values which drove its nuclear-free legislation and its advocacy for a nuclear-free South Pacific and global nuclear disarmament. New Zealanders were clear — we did not want to be defended by nuclear weapons. We wanted our country to be a force for diplomacy and for dialogue, not for warmongering.
The multilateral system is now in crisis — across all its dimensions. The UN Security Council is paralysed by great power tensions. The United States is unlikely to pay its dues to the UN under the Trump presidency, and others are unlikely to fill the substantial gap which that leaves. Its humanitarian, development, health, human rights, political and peacekeeping, scientific and cultural arms all face fiscal crises.
This is the time for New Zealand to link with the many small and middle powers across regions who have a vision for a world characterised by solidarity and peace and which can rise to the occasion to combat the existential challenges it faces — including of nuclear weapons, climate change, and artificial intelligence. If our independent foreign policy is to mean anything in the mid-2020s, it must be based on concerted diplomacy for peace and sustainable development.
Movement back towards an out-of-date alliance, from which New Zealand disengaged four decades ago, and its current tentacles, offers no safe harbour — on the contrary, these destabilise the region within which we live and the wide trading relationships we have. May this new edition of David Robie’s Eyes of Fire remind us of our nuclear-free journey and its relevance as a lode star in these current challenging times.
The 40th anniversary edition of Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage and Legacy of the Rainbow Warrior by David Robie ($50, Little Island Press) can be purchased from Little Island Press.
From the prologue of the 40th anniversary edition of David Robie’s seminal book on the Rainbow Warrior’s last voyage, former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark (1999-2008) writes about what the bombing on 10 July 1985 means today.
The bombing of the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland Harbour on 10 July 1985 and the death of a voyager on board, Greenpeace photographer Fernando Pereira, was both a tragic and a seminal moment in the long campaign for a nuclear-free Pacific.
It was so startling that many of us still remember where we were when the news came through. I was in Zimbabwe on my way to join the New Zealand delegation to the United Nations World Conference on Women in Nairobi. In Harare I met for the first time New Zealand Anglican priest Father Michael Lapsley who, in that same city in 1990, was severely disabled by a parcel bomb delivered by the intelligence service of the apartheid regime in South Africa. These two bombings, of the Rainbow Warrior and of Michael, have been sad reminders to me of the price so many have paid for their commitment to peace and justice.
It was also very poignant for me to meet Fernando’s daughter, Marelle, in Auckland in 2005. Her family suffered a loss which no family should have to bear. In August 1985, I was at the meeting of the Labour Party caucus when it was made known that the police had identified a woman in their custody as a French intelligence officer. Then in September, French prime minister Laurent Fabius confirmed that French secret agents had indeed sunk the Rainbow Warrior. The following year, a UN-mediated agreement saw the convicted agents leave New Zealand and a formal apology, a small amount of compensation, and undertakings on trade given by France — the latter after New Zealand perishable goods had been damaged in port in France.
Both 1985 and 1986 were momentous years for New Zealand’s assertion of its nuclear-free positioning which was seen as provocative by its nuclear-armed allies. On 4 February 1985, the United States was advised that its naval vessel, the Buchanan, could not enter a New Zealand port because it was nuclear weapons-capable and the US “neither confirm nor deny” policy meant that New Zealand could not establish whether it was nuclear weapons-armed or not.
In Manila in July 1986, a meeting between prime minister David Lange and US Secretary of State George Schultz confirmed that neither New Zealand nor the US were prepared to change their positions and that New Zealand’s engagement in ANZUS was at an end. Secretary Schultz famously said that “We part company as friends, but we part company as far as the alliance is concerned”.
Pour les 40 ans de l’attentat de la France contre le Rainbow Warrior, le journaliste néo-zélandais @DavidRobie publie une nouvelle édition de son livre sur le dernier voyage du navire de Greenpeace. Préfacée par Helen Clark, ex-PM de Nouvelle-Zélandehttps://t.co/n1v8Nduel6
New Zealand passed its Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament and Arms Control Act in 1987. Since that time, until now, the country has on a largely bipartisan basis maintained its nuclear-free policy as a fundamental tenet of its independent foreign policy. But storm clouds are gathering.
Australia’s decision to enter a nuclear submarine purchase programme with the United States is one of those. There has been much speculation about a potential Pillar Two of the AUKUS agreement which would see others in the region become partners in the development of advanced weaponry. This is occurring in the context of rising tensions between the United States and China.
Many of us share the view that New Zealand should be a voice for deescalation, not for enthusiastic expansion of nuclear submarine fleets in the Pacific and the development of more lethal weaponry.
Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage and Legacy of the Rainbow Warrior . . . publication 10 July 2025. Image: David Robie/Little Island Press
Nuclear war is an existential threat to humanity. Far from receding, the threat of use of nuclear weapons is ever present. The Doomsday Clock of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists now sits at 89 seconds to midnight. It references the Ukraine theatre where the use of nuclear weapons has been floated by Russia. The arms control architecture for Europe is unravelling, leaving the continent much less secure. India and Pakistan both have nuclear arsenals. The Middle East is a tinder box with the failure of the Iran nuclear deal and with Israel widely believed to possess nuclear weapons. North Korea continues to develop its nuclear weapons capacity. An outright military conflict between China and the United States would be one between two nuclear powers with serious ramifications for East Asia, South-East Asia, the Pacific, and far beyond.
August 2025 marks the eightieth anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A survivors’ group, Nihon Hidankyo, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year. They bear tragic witness to the horror of the use of nuclear weapons. The world must heed their voice now and at all times.
In the current global turbulence, New Zealand needs to reemphasise the principles and values which drove its nuclear-free legislation and its advocacy for a nuclear-free South Pacific and global nuclear disarmament. New Zealanders were clear — we did not want to be defended by nuclear weapons. We wanted our country to be a force for diplomacy and for dialogue, not for warmongering.
The multilateral system is now in crisis — across all its dimensions. The UN Security Council is paralysed by great power tensions. The United States is unlikely to pay its dues to the UN under the Trump presidency, and others are unlikely to fill the substantial gap which that leaves. Its humanitarian, development, health, human rights, political and peacekeeping, scientific and cultural arms all face fiscal crises.
This is the time for New Zealand to link with the many small and middle powers across regions who have a vision for a world characterised by solidarity and peace and which can rise to the occasion to combat the existential challenges it faces — including of nuclear weapons, climate change, and artificial intelligence. If our independent foreign policy is to mean anything in the mid-2020s, it must be based on concerted diplomacy for peace and sustainable development.
Movement back towards an out-of-date alliance, from which New Zealand disengaged four decades ago, and its current tentacles, offers no safe harbour — on the contrary, these destabilise the region within which we live and the wide trading relationships we have. May this new edition of David Robie’s Eyes of Fire remind us of our nuclear-free journey and its relevance as a lode star in these current challenging times.
The 40th anniversary edition of Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage and Legacy of the Rainbow Warrior by David Robie ($50, Little Island Press) can be purchased from Little Island Press.
Outcrops of shocked rocks from the Miralga impact structure.Aaron Cavosie
Ever been late because you misread a clock? Sometimes, the “clocks” geologists use to date events can also be misread. Unravelling Earth’s 4.5-billion-year history with rocks is tricky business.
Case in point: the discovery of an ancient meteorite impact crater was recently reported in the remote Pilbara region of Western Australia. The original study, by a different group, made headlines with the claim the crater formed 3.5 billion years ago. If true, it would be Earth’s oldest by far.
As it turns out, we’d also been investigating the same site. Our results are published in Science Advances today. While we agree that this is the site of an ancient meteorite impact, we have reached different conclusions about its age, size and significance.
Let’s consider the claims made about this fascinating crater.
One impact crater, two versions of events
Planetary scientists search for ancient impacts to learn about Earth’s early formation. So far, nobody has found an impact crater older than the 2.23-billion-year-old Yarrabubba structure, also in Australia. (Some of the authors from both 2025 Pilbara studies were coauthors on the 2020 Yarrabubba study.)
The new contender is located in an area called North Pole Dome. Despite the name, this isn’t where Santa lives. It’s an arid, hot, ochre-stained landscape.
The sun sets on the arid landscape of North Pole Dome in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Alec Brenner
The first report on the new crater claimed it formed 3.5 billion years ago, and was more than 100 kilometres in diameter. It was proposed that such a large impact might have played a role in forming continental crust in the Pilbara. More speculatively, the researchers also suggested it may have influenced early life.
Our study concludes the impact actually happened much later, sometime after 2.7 billion years ago. This is at least 800 million years younger than the earlier estimate (and we think it’s probably even younger; more on that in a moment).
We also determined the crater was much smaller – about 16km in diameter. In our view, this impact was too young and too small to have influenced continent formation or early life.
So how could two studies arrive at such different findings?
Subtle clues of an impact
The originally circular crater is deeply eroded, leaving only subtle clues on the landscape. However, among the rust-coloured basalts are unique telltale signs of meteorite impact: shatter cones.
Outcrop photo of shatter cones in basalt at the Miralga impact structure. The black pen cap is 5cm long. Alec Brenner
Shatter cones are distinctive fossilised imprints of shock waves that have passed through rocks. Their unique conical shapes form under brief but immense pressure where a meteorite strikes Earth.
Both studies found shatter cones, and agree the site is an ancient impact.
This new crater also needed a name. We consulted the local Aboriginal people, the Nyamal, who shared the traditional name for this place and its people: Miralga. The “Miralga impact structure” name recognises this heritage.
Determining the timing of the impact
The impact age was estimated by field observations, as neither study found material likely to yield an impact age by radiometric dating – a method that uses measurements of radioactive isotopes.
Both studies applied a geological principle called the law of superposition. This states that rock layers get deposited one on top of another over time, so rocks on top are younger than those below.
Example of the law of superposition, known as Hutton’s unconformity, at Siccar Point Scotland. The gently dipping layered rocks at the top left were deposited onto – and are therefore younger than – the nearly vertical layered rocks at the bottom right. Anne Burgess/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA
The first group found shatter cones within and below a sedimentary layer known to have been deposited 3.47 billion years ago, but no shatter cones in younger rocks above this layer. This meant the impact occurred during deposition of the sedimentary layer.
Their observation seemed to be a “smoking gun” for an impact 3.47 billion years ago.
As it turns out, there was more to the story.
Our investigation found shatter cones in the same 3.47 billion-year-old rocks, but also in younger overlying rocks, including lavas known to have erupted 2.77 billion years ago.
Outcrop of shatter cones in 2.77-billion-year-old basalt at the Miralga impact structure. These lavas are the youngest rocks in the area we found to have shatter cones. They have distinctive holes (vesicles) representing trapped gas bubbles. The pen is 15cm long. Aaron Cavosie
The impact had to occur after the formation of the youngest rocks that contained shatter cones, meaning sometime after the 2.77-billion-year-old lavas.
At the moment, we don’t know precisely how young the crater is. We can only constrain the impact to have occurred between 2.7 billion and 400 million years ago. We’re working on dating the impact by isotopic methods, but these results aren’t yet in.
Smaller than originally thought
We made the first map showing where shatter cones are found. There are many hundreds over an area 6km across. From this map and their orientations, we calculate the original crater was about 16km in diameter.
A 16km crater is a far cry from the original estimate of more than 100km. It’s too small to have influenced the formation of continents or life. By the time of the impact, the Pilbara was already quite old.
Artist’s depiction looking northwest across the Pilbara, over the 16km-wide Miralga crater. The crater is shown 3km above the modern land surface to account for the deep erosion that has since erased it. The crater size is based on the distribution of shatter cones (inset). The cones point up and back towards the original ‘ground zero’ of the impact. Maps produced using Google Earth Studio. Alec Brenner
A new connection to Mars
Science is a self-policing sport. Claims of discovery are based on data available at the time, but they often require modification based on new data or observations.
While it’s not the world’s oldest, the Miralga impact is scientifically unique, as craters formed in basalt are rare. Most basalts there formed 3.47 billion years ago, making them the oldest shocked target rocks known.
Prior to impact, these ancient basalts had been chemically altered by seawater. Sedimentary rocks nearby also contain the earliest well-established fossils on Earth. Such rocks likely covered much of early Earth and Mars.
This makes the Miralga impact structure a playground for planetary scientists studying the cratered surface (and maybe early life) of Mars. It’s an easily accessible proving ground for Mars exploration instruments and imagery, right here on Earth.
Aaron J. Cavosie receives or has received funding from the Australian Research Council, the US National Science Foundation, and NASA.
Alec Brenner 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.
