NewzIntel.com

Category: Analysis Assessment

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: There are many things Americans voters agree on, from fears about technology to threats to democracy

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Emma Connolly, Research Fellow, Digital Speech Lab, UCL

    During his recent public spat with Donald Trump, Elon Musk tweeted a poll asking if a new political party would better represent the 80% of voters in the middle. Hundreds of thousands of people responded and more than 80% answered “yes”.

    The middle is still overlooked in US politics. This is because there is a perception that Republicans and Democrats have nothing in common, and therefore no issue will win support from both centrist Republicans and Democrats.

    Polarisation is problematic as it is linked to “democratic backsliding” – the use of underhand tactics in political processes. Worst of all, it poses a threat to democracy.

    Many think that polarisation is fuelled by echo chambers created on social media platforms. These only expose people to beliefs similar to their own.

    However, I study how narratives emerge on social media, and ways to investigate them. My work has two aims: first, to identify political issues that are likely to cross party lines, and a wider goal of exploring the role of social media in mitigating, rather than exacerbating, levels of polarisation.

    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.

    Earlier this year, for example, I sorted through 12,000 posts from Republican and Democrat voters on subreddits (online forums discussing specific topics). Using a technique I developed in my PhD research, I analysed attitudes to contested political issues around the time of Trump’s inauguration. Like other researchers, I am finding that there are things both sides often agree on, and that not every issue splits neatly across party lines.

    Pew Research shows what Democrats and Republicans agree on.

    Although it’s a complex topic, people from both parties are worried about levels of free speech on social media. According to my work and other sources, some Democrats accuse TikTok of censoring hashtags such as #FreeLuigi (a reference to Luigi Mangione, accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson).

    Meanwhile, some Republicans are saying they are flooded with what they see as left-wing content pushed by the algorithms. Despite their differences, Republicans and Democrats agree that social media platforms need to be more transparent about the way they work.

    Both sides worry about the rise of authoritarianism and the growing negative influence of artificial intelligence in shaping the US’s future. There is a sense among some members of the two parties that the real enemies aren’t each other, but powerful corporations who hold too much power.

    People on both sides of the political divide can be distrustful of tech companies and big businesses, where billionaires have power regardless of who’s in charge. Divisions of “up v down” could be alternatives to seeing divisions as “left v right”.

    Some people are worried about the creation of a massive database of citizens’ details, and how their details could be used, or abused. Recently Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene said she would have opposed Trump’s “big, beautiful, bill”, had she read the AI clause thoroughly. The clause stops states from passing laws to regulate AI systems for the next ten years.

    What do people agree on?

    On the topic of protecting democracy, there are some suggestions that many Republicans and Democrats agree this is important, and under threat. In my study, some Republican and Democrat voters object to the possibility of Trump having a third term, aligning with the findings of several recent polls on the subject, and even among Trump’s most loyal support groups.

    Both Republicans and Democrats want “the best” leaders who could get things done fast and efficiently. But it would appear that people on both sides are concerned about the “slash-and-burn” way that Doge (the Department for Government Efficiency, the new agency tasked with cutting federal spending) is working.

    Also, deciding who is the best leader isn’t always about agreeing with specific policies. Instead, it’s about delivering decisive, efficient action. Even Republicans who don’t back everything Trump is doing say that at least he is doing something, especially in relation to immigration.

    Many Republicans criticise the left, and former Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in particular, but for unclear messaging, as much as any one policy. They (and others) put her loss down to a lack of direction and clarity on key issues (among other things). This probably resulted in failing to win votes from independents and moderate Republicans and many Democrats are frustrated that the party still hasn’t addressed this.

    Research suggests that Democrat and Republican voters often agree that polarisation causes gridlock and prevents progress, but believe voices from the middle are not being heard. Some Republicans and Democrats also share a concern that both parties are more focused on fighting each other than on solving problems, with 86% of Americans believing this.

    Some Republican voters in the posts I am analysing suggest that working together to get things done would be positive, supporting findings from the US and abroad. Other important factors rather than political party, such as religion or family or everyday life experiences can bring people from both sides together.

    So, Americans might not be as divided as one might think. Levels of polarisation feel high but this could be skewed by the extreme views of a minority on both sides. And it isn’t helped by some sensationalist media reporting.

    Lots of people get their news from social media platforms which reward and monetise engagement. Posts that fuel division are often the most visible, but they rarely tell the whole story. Divisive views are also often shared by those who are themselves the most polarised.

    Like Musk’s online poll, research is starting to suggest that there is still a sizeable moderate middle in the US today who are open to compromise through clear messaging. These voters can make all the difference, especially if parties can frame issues in ways that appeal across the divide. With the 2026 midterm elections on the horizon, both sides might want to listen to them more.

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

    – ref. There are many things Americans voters agree on, from fears about technology to threats to democracy – https://theconversation.com/there-are-many-things-americans-voters-agree-on-from-fears-about-technology-to-threats-to-democracy-258440

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: The online world comes with risks – but also friendships and independence for young people with disabilities

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Andy Phippen, Professor of IT Ethics and Digital Rights, Bournemouth University

    Kleber Cordeiro/Shutterstock

    “In the real world, I’m a coward. When I’m online, I’m a hero.”

    These words, paraphrased from a conversation with a young man with autism, have stayed with us throughout the years of research that underpin our recently published book exploring the relationship between children with special educational needs and disabilities and digital technology.

    We’re constantly bombarded with warnings about the potential dangers of digital technology, especially for children. But this quote captures something we might miss. The digital world can be a vital space of empowerment and connection.

    In our work, we’ve found that digital technology offers more than just access to learning for young people with special educational needs and disabilities. It opens doors to social lives, creative outlets and even employment opportunities that might be closed to them in the offline world. And yet, this potential is too often overshadowed by fears about the risks and harms they might encounter online.

    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.

    Adolescence, the Netflix drama that delves into the hidden dangers of growing up in a digital world, has taken up a lot of the national conversation around social media, cyberbullying and online exploitation. But there is another show on Netflix that has received far less attention.

    The Remarkable Life of Ibelin is a powerful documentary that tells the story of Mats Steen, a young Norwegian man with a severe disability who found freedom, friendship and purpose in the online world of gaming. Though physically limited by Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Mats, known as “Ibelin” in World of Warcraft, built a rich life online.

    After his passing at 25, his gaming friends revealed just how much he had meant to them. Some travelled to his funeral. The film challenges stereotypes about online gaming. It shows it as a source of connection, compassion, and real human bonds.

    We’ve spoken to many young people with special educational needs and disabilities who echo the same themes. Online spaces offer a sense of identity and capability they don’t always feel offline.

    We found that the benefits of digital engagement for children with special educational needs and disabilities are extensive. It enhances communication: tools such as voice interfaces and text-to-speech software help those with speech or language difficulties express themselves confidently. Online platforms create spaces for friendships, especially for those who find face-to-face interaction challenging.

    Young people can build meaningful relationships online.
    Frame Stock Footage/Shutterstock

    Digital tools can also foster independence. Calendar apps can be useful for those with ADHD, or assistive technology for learners with dyslexia. And for education, tailored online content can bridge the gap between mainstream and specialist learning environments.

    But the digital world isn’t an equal playing field. Children with special educational needs and disabilities face disproportionate levels of online harm, including grooming, cyberbullying and exposure to inappropriate content. Crucially, they often lack the tools or support to report harm or seek help.

    This, of course, raises concerns for the parents, carers and teachers of young people with special educational needs and disabilities. We’ve found that parents, carers and teachers we’ve spoken to often reach for a “prohibition first” approach – feeling young people will be safer if they do not have the access to the internet and social media that a young person without their needs might enjoy.

    Safeguarding and empowerment

    We’ve been asked questions such as “What apps should I ban?” or “How do I stop my child going on the dark web?” These questions reflect a risk-averse mindset that fails to appreciate the value of digital engagement. Risk cannot be eliminated, but it can be managed. And, more importantly, opportunity must be protected.

    Too often, safeguarding strategies are done to children, not with them. It’s a good idea for parents and teachers of all children to talk to them about their digital life: what brings them joy, what worries them, where they feel confident or confused. Children are more likely to talk about fears or bad experiences if they feel believed, respected and understood. Make yourself a safe adult to talk to: one who listens without panic.

    While banning apps or limiting access might be useful in some cases, it should not be the starting point for safeguarding. It’s worth considering whether there are skills that a child could learn that would allow them to use technology safely.

    What’s more, online safety lessons are best when adapted to the communication style, cognitive ability and emotional maturity of an individual child. Visual aids, social stories, or interactive games may work better than text-heavy advice.

    Fear can limit what technology can offer the children who may need it most. For young people with special educational needs and disabilities, digital spaces are not simply entertainment, they are platforms for agency, creativity, relationships and voice.

    The role of adults here is to ensure these spaces are not only safe, but welcoming and empowering. That means moving past automatic restrictions and toward thoughtful, inclusive strategies that support children who might gain the most from using these technologies. We don’t need more bans. We need more belief.

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

    – ref. The online world comes with risks – but also friendships and independence for young people with disabilities – https://theconversation.com/the-online-world-comes-with-risks-but-also-friendships-and-independence-for-young-people-with-disabilities-260443

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Interest rates are on hold at 3.85%, as the Reserve Bank opts for caution over mortgage relief

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stella Huangfu, Associate Professor, School of Economics, University of Sydney

    Thurtell/Getty Images

    The Reserve Bank of Australia has kept the cash rate at 3.85%, after cutting it in February and May.

    Those earlier moves were aimed at supporting the economy as growth slowed and inflation eased. This time, however, the bank chose to pause, signalling a more cautious stance.

    The decision will be hard for the millions of mortgage holders and aspiring home owners who were hoping for a cut.

    But as the bank’s monetary policy board explained:

    the board judged that it could wait for a little more information to confirm that inflation remains on track to reach 2.5% on a sustainable basis.

    The decision surprised many. Financial markets had priced in a 90% chance of a rate cut and the big four banks – ANZ, Westpac, Commonwealth and NAB – had forecast an easing in July.

    On Tuesday afternoon Treasurer Jim Chalmers, would not be drawn on whether the bank had made the right decision but did say:

    it was not the result millions of Australians were hoping for or what the market was expecting.

    By holding steady, the bank is signalling it is not yet fully convinced inflation is returning to target and is prepared to wait for further evidence before cutting again.

    The bank also cautioned that uncertainty in the world economy remains elevated, with the final scope of trade tariffs yet to play out.

    What’s behind this surprise decision?

    The economy grew just 0.2% in the March quarter, with annual growth slowing to 1.3%. This was well below trend and even weaker than the 0.6% pace recorded in the December quarter. The data points to a clear loss of momentum.

    Consumer spending has also remained soft. Retail sales rose only 0.2% in May, following flat or falling results in the two previous months.

    Food spending declined, and sales of household goods were unchanged. Many households are still feeling the squeeze from high interest rates, rising living costs, and low confidence in the economy.

    Inflation has continued to ease. May’s inflation figures showed headline inflation falling to 2.1%, while the Reserve Bank’s preferred trimmed mean – dropped to 2.4% – the lowest since late 2021.

    The trimmed mean is a measure of underlying inflation that excludes the most extreme price changes (both increases and decreases) in the consumer price index basket to give a clearer picture of inflation trends.

    Price pressures have eased across both goods and services, with no signs of wage-driven or second-round inflation taking hold.

    Despite this, the bank decided to pause. While inflation is generally in line with its forecasts, the bank noted:

    the June quarter CPI [consumer price index] figures were slightly stronger than expected at the margin.

    With rates already cut twice this year and broader economic conditions evolving as expected, the Reserve Bank judged it could wait for more data before making its next move.

    What happens next?

    Markets still expect two more cuts this year – in August and November – which would bring the cash rate down to 3.35% by the end of 2025. But this depends on how inflation, wages and the job market evolve.

    Wage growth is slowing. Private sector wages rose 3.3% over the year to March, the slowest pace since mid-2022.

    The unemployment rate stayed at 4.1% in May, with little change in how many people are working or looking for jobs. The job market is still solid, but signs of slowing are emerging.

    The Reserve Bank is likely to move carefully. While inflation pressures have eased, the board wants to be sure prices stay within its 2 to 3% target band. It’s also keeping an eye on the housing market. Home prices rose 0.4% in June and are now up 4.6% over the year.

    That renewed strength, helped by earlier rate cuts and limited supply, could make future decisions more complicated.

    Global conditions still matter

    As the monetary policy board noted, “uncertainty in the world economy remains elevated”. Slowing global growth and fragile trade conditions are adding to the complexity of the bank’s task.

    In Europe, economic growth is expected to reach just 0.9% this year, well below historical norms.

    China’s recovery also remains uneven, despite authorities targeting 5% growth. Weak private investment and ongoing challenges in the property sector continue to weigh on momentum.

    Meanwhile, global trade has stalled. The World Trade Organization expects trade volumes to fall 0.2% this year as tensions and tariffs continue to disrupt supply chains. Ongoing trade threats between the United States and China are also hurting investment and weighing on key Australian exports like resources and education.

    Tuesday’s decision to hold the cash rate steady highlights the Reserve Bank’s cautious approach in a shifting economic environment.

    Growth is soft, inflation has eased back within the target band, and household spending remains under pressure. But with inflation data slightly stronger than expected, the bank is choosing to wait for more confirmation before cutting again.

    This isn’t a change in direction – it’s a pause for more information. The message remains clear: the Reserve Bank is prepared to act, but only when the data warrant it.

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

    – ref. Interest rates are on hold at 3.85%, as the Reserve Bank opts for caution over mortgage relief – https://theconversation.com/interest-rates-are-on-hold-at-3-85-as-the-reserve-bank-opts-for-caution-over-mortgage-relief-260310

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: The US has high hopes for a new Gaza ceasefire, but Israel’s long-term aims seem far less peaceful

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ali Mamouri, Research Fellow, Middle East Studies, Deakin University

    US President Donald Trump has hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for dinner at the White House, where he has declared talks to end the war in Gaza are “going along very well”.

    In turn, Netanyahu revealed he has nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, saying:

    he is forging peace as we speak, in one country, in one region, after the other.

    Despite all the talk of peace, negotiations in Qatar between Israeli and Palestinian delegations have broken up without a breakthrough. The talks are expected to resume later this week.

    If an agreement is reached, it will likely be hailed as a crucial opportunity to end nearly two years of humanitarian crisis in Gaza, following the October 7 attacks in which 1,200 Israelis were killed by Hamas-led militants.

    However, there is growing scepticism about the durability of any truce. A previous ceasefire agreement reached in January led to the release of dozens of Israeli hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

    But it collapsed by March, when Israel resumed military operations in Gaza.

    This breakdown in trust on both sides, combined with ongoing Israeli military operations and political instability, suggests the new deal may prove to be another temporary pause rather than a lasting resolution.

    Details of the deal

    The proposed agreement outlines a 60-day ceasefire aimed at de-escalating hostilities in Gaza and creating space for negotiations toward a more lasting resolution.

    Hamas would release ten surviving Israeli hostages and return the remains of 18 others. In exchange, Israel is expected to withdraw its military forces to a designated buffer zone along Gaza’s borders with both Israel and Egypt.

    The agreement being thrashed out in Doha includes the release of Israeli hostages, held in Gaza for the past 22 months.
    Anas-Mohammed/Shutterstock

    While the specific terms of a prisoner exchange remain under negotiation, the release of Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons is a central component of the proposal.

    Humanitarian aid is also a key focus of the agreement. Relief would be delivered through international organisations, primarily UN agencies and the Palestinian Red Crescent.

    However, the agreement does not specify the future role of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Fund, which has been distributing food aid since May.

    The urgency of humanitarian access is underscored by the scale of destruction in Gaza. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians. The offensive has triggered a hunger crisis, displaced much of the population internally, and left vast areas of the territory in ruins.

    Crucially, the agreement does not represent an end to the war, one of Hamas’s core demands. Instead, it commits both sides to continue negotiations throughout the 60-day period, with the hope of reaching a more durable and comprehensive ceasefire.

    Obstacles to a lasting peace

    Despite the apparent opportunity to reach a final ceasefire, especially after Israel has inflicted severe damage on Hamas, Netanyahu’s government appears reluctant to fully end the military campaign.

    There is scepticism a temporary ceasefire would lead to permanent peace.
    Anas-Mohammed/Shutterstock

    A central reason is political: Netanyahu’s ruling coalition heavily relies on far-right parties that insist on continuing the war. Any serious attempt at a ceasefire could lead to the collapse of his government.

    Militarily, Israel has achieved several of its tactical objectives.

    It has significantly weakened Hamas and other Palestinian factions and caused widespread devastation across Gaza. This is alongside the mass arrests, home demolitions, and killing of hundreds of Palestinians in the West Bank.

    And it has forced Hezbollah in Lebanon to scale back its operations after sustaining major losses.

    Perhaps most notably, Israel struck deep into Iran’s military infrastructure, killing dozens of high-ranking commanders and damaging its missile and nuclear capabilities.

    Reshaping the map

    Yet Netanyahu’s ambitions may go beyond tactical victories. There are signs he is aiming for two broader strategic outcomes.

    First, by making Gaza increasingly uninhabitable, his government could push Palestinians to flee. This would effectively pave the way for Israel to annex the territory in the long term – a scenario advocated by many of his far-right allies.

    Speaking at the White House, Netanyahu says he is working with the US on finding countries that will take Palestinians from Gaza:

    if people want to stay, they can stay, but if they want to leave, they should be able to leave.

    Second, prolonging the war allows Netanyahu to delay his ongoing corruption trial and extend his political survival.

    True intentions

    At the heart of the impasse is the far-right’s vision for total Palestinian defeat, with no concession and no recognition of a future Palestinian state. This ideology has consistently blocked peace efforts for three decades.

    Israeli leaders have repeatedly described any potential Palestinian entity as “less than a state” or a “state-minus”, a formulation that falls short of Palestinian aspirations and international legal standards.

    Today, even that limited vision appears to be off the table, as Israeli policy moves towards complete rejection of Palestinian statehood.

    With Palestinian resistance movements significantly weakened and no immediate threat facing Israel, this moment presents a crucial test of Israel’s intentions.

    Is Israel genuinely pursuing peace, or seeking to cement its dominance in the region while permanently denying Palestinians their right to statehood?

    Following its military successes and the normalisation of relations with several Arab states under the Abraham Accords, Israeli political discourse has grown increasingly bold.

    Some voices in the Israeli establishment are openly advocating for the permanent displacement of Palestinians to neighbouring Arab countries such as Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. This would effectively erase the prospect of a future Palestinian state.

    This suggests that for certain factions within Israel, the end goal is not a negotiated settlement, but a one-sided resolution that reshapes the map and the people of the region on Israel’s terms.

    The coming weeks will reveal whether Israel chooses the path of compromise and coexistence, or continues down a road that forecloses the possibility of lasting peace.

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

    – ref. The US has high hopes for a new Gaza ceasefire, but Israel’s long-term aims seem far less peaceful – https://theconversation.com/the-us-has-high-hopes-for-a-new-gaza-ceasefire-but-israels-long-term-aims-seem-far-less-peaceful-260286

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Saying goodbye is never easy: why we mourn the end of our favourite TV series

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Gerace, Senior Lecturer and Head of Course – Positive Psychology, CQUniversity Australia

    Netflix

    Has the ending of Squid Game left you feeling downhearted? The South Korean megahit struck a nerve with audiences worldwide, with millions logging in to Netflix to follow protagonist Seong Gi-hun and fellow players in their fight for survival over three deadly seasons.

    But even if you haven’t seen Squid Game, you’ve probably experienced the sense of loss that comes with the ending of much-loved series. These feelings are very normal, as finales can be deeply meaningful to viewers.

    One of the most famous was the 1983 finale of M*A*S*H*, in which the Korean War ended. The flow rate in two water tunnels in New York leapt by millions of gallons right after the episode ended. Apparently about a million New Yorkers were waiting until the end to use the bathroom.

    A good finale can be a sweet sendoff for viewers after years of investment. A bad one, however, can leave a bitter taste.

    Why finales matter to us

    We watch series for a range of reasons, including excitement, vicarious experience, emotional release and self-reflection. One of the main ways we engage with the stories is through the characters. We may admire them, empathise with them, or even see them as a part of our lives.

    These parasocial relationships are similar to our real-life relationships (except they are one-sided). A show’s ending is ultimately an end to those relationships: a chance to say goodbye to our parasocial friends.

    If a finale strikes a fake chord, or seems to betray the world we’ve come to love, it can make the grieving process harder. An unsatisfying finale might even sour our view of the entire series.

    The need for closure

    Generally, a satisfying finale will be one that offers us closure. One of the earliest examples of this came in 1967 with The Fugitive (1963–67), when 78 million American viewers watched doctor Richard Kimble finally catch his wife’s assailant.

    More recent examples include The Nanny (1993–99) – where the romantic tension between Fran and Mr Sheffield is finally resolved – and Six Feet Under (2001–05), where we found out what happened to all the main characters.

    Closure can also come through the death of important characters, such as in Breaking Bad (2008–13) and Game of Thrones (2011–19).

    The need for narrative closure is a somewhat curious phenomenon. While we often won’t get closure in real life, such as with our own love affairs, or big life events, we still expect this to happen for our favourite characters.

    For me, Mad Men (2007–15) provided the right mix. While we learn the ultimate fates of some characters, we also get the feeling others such as Peggy Olson and Pete Campbell will get up the next day and go to work. We just won’t see them do it.

    Turning it on its head

    Finales also offer a chance to shake things up. In Sex and the City (1998–2004), relationships hang in the balance until the very end.

    Some finales may signal new beginnings, particularly through a big wedding. For exanmple, Dorothy gets married and moves away in The Golden Girls (1985–92).

    In Schitt’s Creek (2015–20), some characters stay in the town, while others move away following the wedding of David and Patrick, presided over by Moira, the grande dame of the Rose family.



    Read more:
    The power of nostalgia: why it’s healthy for you to keep returning to your favourite TV series

    Then there are surprising finales. Whether they aim to provide a final shock, or reflect the quagmire of ending a long-running show, these are usually the most controversial.

    Newhart (1982–90) ended by using a spin on the “it was all a dream” trope, with the final scene linking the show to star Bob Newhart’s earlier sitcom.

    The Sopranos (1999–2007), meanwhile, gave us one of the most talked about and divisive endings in recent memory. It is left to the viewer’s imagination to decide what happened to Tony Soprano. Some saw this as brilliant, others a cop-out.

    Other finales involved big, but for some viewers, disappointing, reveals. These include the identity of the mother in How I Met Your Mother (2005–14), and the resolution of Lost (2004–10), which some fans felt was too ambiguous and complex for a final episode.

    Viewers hoping for a positive or fairy-tale ending may react negatively if it doesn’t come.

    Or, they might feel shortchanged if their reason for investing time in a series – such as to get to the bottom of a mystery – isn’t delivered upon by the end.

    Saying goodbye, together

    Grieving the end of a series is normal. We should honour what these fictional worlds provide us: joy, escapism and personal growth through self-reflection.

    Connecting with our favourite characters matters for another reason, too, because these fictional bonds also help us connect with others in real life. We might grieve with other fans over the sad ending of a show, or vent with them if they also found the finale underwhelming.

    Even when a series is over, relationships between fans can continue through online groups, repeat streaming and fan conventions.

    With time, feelings of loss over a series’ end may make way for other feelings, such as gratitude for having experienced it at all.

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

    – ref. Saying goodbye is never easy: why we mourn the end of our favourite TV series – https://theconversation.com/saying-goodbye-is-never-easy-why-we-mourn-the-end-of-our-favourite-tv-series-260409

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: What makes a good AI prompt? Here are 4 expert tips

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sandra Peter, Director of Sydney Executive Plus, Business School, University of Sydney

    FOTOSPLASH/Shutterstock

    “And do you work well with AI?”

    As tools such as ChatGPT, Copilot and other generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems become part of everyday workflows, more companies are looking for employees who can answer “yes” to this question. In other words, people who can prompt effectively, think with AI, and use it to boost productivity.

    In fact, in a growing number of roles, being “AI fluent” is quickly becoming as important as being proficient in office software once was.

    But we’ve all had that moment when we’ve asked an AI chatbot a question and received what feels like the most generic, surface level answer. The problem isn’t the AI – you just haven’t given it enough to work with.

    Think of it this way. During training, the AI will have “read” virtually everything on the internet. But because it makes predictions, it will give you the most probable, most common response. Without specific guidance, it’s like walking into a restaurant and asking for something good. You’ll likely get the chicken.

    Your solution lies in understanding that AI systems excel at adapting to context, but you have to provide it. So how exactly do you do that?

    Crafting better prompts

    You may have heard the term “prompt engineering”. It might sound like you need to design some kind of technical script to get results.

    But today’s chatbots are great at human conversation. The format of your prompt is not that important. The content is.

    To get the most out of your AI conversations, it’s important that you convey a few basics about what you want, and how you want it. Our approach follows the acronym CATS – context, angle, task and style.

    Context means providing the setting and background information the AI needs. Instead of asking “How do I write a proposal?” try “I’m a nonprofit director writing a grant proposal to a foundation that funds environmental education programs for urban schools”. Upload relevant documents, explain your constraints, and describe your specific situation.

    Angle (or attitude) leverages AI’s strength in role-playing and perspective-taking. Rather than getting a neutral response, specify the attitude you want. For example, “Act as a critical peer reviewer and identify weaknesses in my argument” or “Take the perspective of a supportive mentor helping me improve this draft”.

    Task is specifically about what you actually want the AI to do. “Help me with my presentation” is vague. But “Give me three ways to make my opening slide more engaging for an audience of small business owners” is actionable.

    Style harnesses AI’s ability to adapt to different formats and audiences. Specify whether you want a formal report, a casual email, bullet points for executives, or an explanation suitable for teenagers. Tell the AI what voice you want to use – for example, a formal academic style, technical, engaging or conversational.

    In a growing number of roles, being able to use AI is quickly becoming as important as being proficient in office software once was.
    Shutterstock

    Context is everything

    Besides crafting a clear, effective prompt, you can also focus on managing the surrounding information – that is to say on “context engineering”. Context engineering refers to everything that surrounds the prompt.

    That means thinking about the environment and information the AI has access to: its memory function, instructions leading up to the task, prior conversation history, documents you upload, or examples of what good output looks like.

    You should think about prompting as a conversation. If you’re not happy with the first response, push for more, ask for changes, or provide more clarifying information.

    Don’t expect the AI to give a ready-made response. Instead, use it to trigger your own thinking. If you feel the AI has produced a lot of good material but you get stuck, copy the best parts into a fresh session and ask it to summarise and continue from there.

    Keeping your wits

    A word of caution though. Don’t get seduced by the human-like conversation abilities of these chatbots.

    Always retain your professional distance and remind yourself that you are the only thinking part in this relationship. And always make sure to check the accuracy of anything an AI produces – errors are increasingly common.

    AI systems are remarkably capable, but they need you – and human intelligence – to bridge the gap between their vast generic knowledge and your particular situation. Give them enough context to work with, and they might surprise you with how helpful they can be.

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

    – ref. What makes a good AI prompt? Here are 4 expert tips – https://theconversation.com/what-makes-a-good-ai-prompt-here-are-4-expert-tips-260502

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Are chemicals to blame for cancer in young people? Here’s what the evidence says

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Diepstraten, Senior Research Officer, Blood Cells and Blood Cancer Division, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research)

    Cancer is traditionally known as a disease affecting mostly older people.

    But some worrying trends show cancer rates in younger people aged under 50 are on the rise.

    This week’s ABC 4 Corners suggest chemicals, including plastics, may play a role in rising rates of these early-onset cancers.

    So what does the evidence say is causing this increase? And what can we do about it?

    Why does cancer mostly affect older people?

    Each cell in your body contains a copy of your DNA – the instructions needed to keep that cell functioning properly.

    However, DNA can be damaged or “mutated” in such a way that a cell will no longer do the job it’s supposed to.

    Some mutations will allow a cell to make too many copies of itself and grow out of control. Others can protect it from dying. And others still allow it to move around and travel to other organs where it doesn’t belong.

    Accumulating too many of these DNA mutations can lead to cancer.

    Every time a new cell is made in our body, a copy of our DNA is made too. Sometimes, due to random chance, mistakes occur which introduce genetic mutations.

    Think of it like making a photocopy of a photocopy, and so on. Each copy will be slightly different than the original.

    Most DNA mutations are harmless.

    But your cells are making billions of new copies of themselves each day. So the older you get, the more DNA copies you will have made during your lifetime, and the more likely you are to have dangerous mistakes in those copies.

    As we get older, our bodies aren’t as good at recognising and removing cells with dangerous mutations. That’s why cancer is much more common in older people.

    What’s causing cancer in younger people?

    One of the reasons increased cancer rates in younger people is so worrying is it means there are likely environmental factors involved we don’t yet know about.

    Environmental factors are anything outside of our bodies: things such as chemicals, viruses and bacteria, the amount we exercise, and the foods we eat.

    Many of these environmental factors can increase the likelihood of DNA copying mistakes, or even directly damage our DNA, increasing our risk of cancer.

    One well-known example is ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun, which can lead to skin cancer. Another is smoking, which can lead to lung cancer.

    Fortunately, public awareness campaigns about the dangers of sun exposure, and reduced rates of people smoking cigarettes, have led to falling numbers of skin and lung cancer cases in Australians under 50 over the past 30 years.

    But other types of cancer – including cancers of the liver, pancreas, prostate, breast and kidney – are increasing in young people in Australia. The trend is global, particularly among richer, western countries.

    What role do chemicals play?

    Researchers are working to understand the causes of these increases. Currently, chemicals are in the spotlight as an environmental factor of particular interest.

    We’re exposed to more chemicals in the modern day than many of our ancestors were – things such as air pollution, food additives, plastics and many more.

    Alcohol and cigarette smoke aside, most chemicals that are definitively linked to cancer are not ones most people would regularly encounter, as they’re restricted to spaces such as industry.

    One of the main chemicals of concern are plastics, which are ubiquitous: almost everyone encounters them, every day.

    Experts agree plastics represent an overall massive general risk to human health and the environment.

    But there are so many thousands and thousands of plastics, it’s hard to point fingers at specific ones causing specific problems, including cancers.

    Studies using animals can give strong evidence one way or another. But in humans who are exposed to thousands of different environmental factors every day, it’s difficult to definitively state “risk factor X contributes to cancer Y”.

    So, it’s not possible to point to a single “smoking gun” in the case of the increasing early-onset cancer rates.

    Let’s use colorectal cancer (also called bowel cancer) as an example to illustrate the issue.

    Why are young people getting bowel cancer?

    In older people, bowel cancer rates are actually falling. This is thought to be in part due to improved testing and screening helping to catch and destroy dangerous cells before they actually become cancer.

    But early-onset bowel cancer rates are rising.

    Some people speculate this may be due to increased exposure to plastics, as the digestive system is exposed to these through the food we eat. This includes things such as nano- or micro-plastics, or chemicals leaching out of the plastics into foods, such as PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances).

    But there are other potential culprits, such as diet and lifestyle, with obesity and alcohol intake correlating with increased cancer rates.

    Bacteria may also play a role: the types of bacteria found in your microbiome are thought to contribute to bowel cancer risk. Even exposure to certain bacterial toxins has been linked to bowel cancer risk.

    How can you reduce your risk of cancer?

    While there is no definitive evidence linking chemicals to increased cancer risk in young people, this is an area of intense ongoing research. Reducing your use of and exposure to plastics and chemicals where possible is still probably a healthy thing to do.

    On top of that, you can reduce your overall cancer risk through regular exercise and maintaining a healthy, balanced diet.

    If you have any concerns, and particularly if you have a family history of cancer, consult your doctor.

    Sarah Diepstraten receives funding from Cure Cancer Australia and My Room Children’s Cancer Charity.

    John (Eddie) La Marca receives funding from Cancer Council Victoria. He is affiliated with the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research.

    – ref. Are chemicals to blame for cancer in young people? Here’s what the evidence says – https://theconversation.com/are-chemicals-to-blame-for-cancer-in-young-people-heres-what-the-evidence-says-260585

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Are chemicals to blame for cancer in young people? Here’s what the evidence says

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Diepstraten, Senior Research Officer, Blood Cells and Blood Cancer Division, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research)

    Cancer is traditionally known as a disease affecting mostly older people.

    But some worrying trends show cancer rates in younger people aged under 50 are on the rise.

    This week’s ABC 4 Corners suggest chemicals, including plastics, may play a role in rising rates of these early-onset cancers.

    So what does the evidence say is causing this increase? And what can we do about it?

    Why does cancer mostly affect older people?

    Each cell in your body contains a copy of your DNA – the instructions needed to keep that cell functioning properly.

    However, DNA can be damaged or “mutated” in such a way that a cell will no longer do the job it’s supposed to.

    Some mutations will allow a cell to make too many copies of itself and grow out of control. Others can protect it from dying. And others still allow it to move around and travel to other organs where it doesn’t belong.

    Accumulating too many of these DNA mutations can lead to cancer.

    Every time a new cell is made in our body, a copy of our DNA is made too. Sometimes, due to random chance, mistakes occur which introduce genetic mutations.

    Think of it like making a photocopy of a photocopy, and so on. Each copy will be slightly different than the original.

    Most DNA mutations are harmless.

    But your cells are making billions of new copies of themselves each day. So the older you get, the more DNA copies you will have made during your lifetime, and the more likely you are to have dangerous mistakes in those copies.

    As we get older, our bodies aren’t as good at recognising and removing cells with dangerous mutations. That’s why cancer is much more common in older people.

    What’s causing cancer in younger people?

    One of the reasons increased cancer rates in younger people is so worrying is it means there are likely environmental factors involved we don’t yet know about.

    Environmental factors are anything outside of our bodies: things such as chemicals, viruses and bacteria, the amount we exercise, and the foods we eat.

    Many of these environmental factors can increase the likelihood of DNA copying mistakes, or even directly damage our DNA, increasing our risk of cancer.

    One well-known example is ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun, which can lead to skin cancer. Another is smoking, which can lead to lung cancer.

    Fortunately, public awareness campaigns about the dangers of sun exposure, and reduced rates of people smoking cigarettes, have led to falling numbers of skin and lung cancer cases in Australians under 50 over the past 30 years.

    But other types of cancer – including cancers of the liver, pancreas, prostate, breast and kidney – are increasing in young people in Australia. The trend is global, particularly among richer, western countries.

    What role do chemicals play?

    Researchers are working to understand the causes of these increases. Currently, chemicals are in the spotlight as an environmental factor of particular interest.

    We’re exposed to more chemicals in the modern day than many of our ancestors were – things such as air pollution, food additives, plastics and many more.

    Alcohol and cigarette smoke aside, most chemicals that are definitively linked to cancer are not ones most people would regularly encounter, as they’re restricted to spaces such as industry.

    One of the main chemicals of concern are plastics, which are ubiquitous: almost everyone encounters them, every day.

    Experts agree plastics represent an overall massive general risk to human health and the environment.

    But there are so many thousands and thousands of plastics, it’s hard to point fingers at specific ones causing specific problems, including cancers.

    Studies using animals can give strong evidence one way or another. But in humans who are exposed to thousands of different environmental factors every day, it’s difficult to definitively state “risk factor X contributes to cancer Y”.

    So, it’s not possible to point to a single “smoking gun” in the case of the increasing early-onset cancer rates.

    Let’s use colorectal cancer (also called bowel cancer) as an example to illustrate the issue.

    Why are young people getting bowel cancer?

    In older people, bowel cancer rates are actually falling. This is thought to be in part due to improved testing and screening helping to catch and destroy dangerous cells before they actually become cancer.

    But early-onset bowel cancer rates are rising.

    Some people speculate this may be due to increased exposure to plastics, as the digestive system is exposed to these through the food we eat. This includes things such as nano- or micro-plastics, or chemicals leaching out of the plastics into foods, such as PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances).

    But there are other potential culprits, such as diet and lifestyle, with obesity and alcohol intake correlating with increased cancer rates.

    Bacteria may also play a role: the types of bacteria found in your microbiome are thought to contribute to bowel cancer risk. Even exposure to certain bacterial toxins has been linked to bowel cancer risk.

    How can you reduce your risk of cancer?

    While there is no definitive evidence linking chemicals to increased cancer risk in young people, this is an area of intense ongoing research. Reducing your use of and exposure to plastics and chemicals where possible is still probably a healthy thing to do.

    On top of that, you can reduce your overall cancer risk through regular exercise and maintaining a healthy, balanced diet.

    If you have any concerns, and particularly if you have a family history of cancer, consult your doctor.

    Sarah Diepstraten receives funding from Cure Cancer Australia and My Room Children’s Cancer Charity.

    John (Eddie) La Marca receives funding from Cancer Council Victoria. He is affiliated with the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research.

    – ref. Are chemicals to blame for cancer in young people? Here’s what the evidence says – https://theconversation.com/are-chemicals-to-blame-for-cancer-in-young-people-heres-what-the-evidence-says-260585

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for July 8, 2025

    ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on July 8, 2025.

    Being kind to people – the new challenge for the public service
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer Smith-Merry, Director, Centre for Disability Research and Policy, University of Sydney When Labor was re-elected in May, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used his acceptance speech to describe the type of country he wanted to lead. He spoke of how the Australian people had voted for fairness,

    It’s harder than you think to become a top sports official in football, soccer and the rugby codes
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kath O’Brien, Senior Lecturer – Faculty of Health (School Exercise & Nutrition Sciences), Queensland University of Technology Brendon Thorne/Getty Images Sport officials, regardless of which code they supervise, are appointed to be impartial figures. They have to quickly interpret infractions, adjudicate rules and communicate commands, all while

    First it was ‘protein goals’, now TikTok is on about ‘fibre goals’. How can you meet yours?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Saman Khalesi, Senior Lecturer and Head of Course Nutrition, HealthWise Research Group Lead, Appleton Institute,, CQUniversity Australia Westend61/Getty Images “Protein goals” have long been a thing on TikTok and Instagram. But now social media users are also talking about “fibre goals”. This reflects a positive broader shift

    Bougainville election process begins as writs issued for September poll
    RNZ Pacific The Bougainville election process begins today with the issuance of the writs yesterday. Nominations open Tuesday, July 8, and close on Thursday, July 10. Voting is scheduled for one week starting on September 2, allowing seven weeks of campaigning. Candidates will be vying for a total of 46 seats, with the autonomous Parliament

    Australia is set to get more AI data centres. Local communities need to be more involved
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bronwyn Cumbo, Transdisciplinary social researcher and lecturer, University of Technology Sydney A Google data centre in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. Richard Newstead/Getty Data centres are the engines of the internet. These large, high-security facilities host racks of servers that store and process our digital data, 24 hours a

    How can you keep kids off screens during the winter holidays?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Victoria Minson, Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Education, Australian Catholic University Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Children’s Games, 1560. ©KHM-Museumsverband, CC BY-NC The winter school holidays can be a tricky time for families. Parents are often juggling work and chilly conditions make it easy for kids to end

    Quitting the quit-aid: people trying to stop vaping nicotine need more support – here are some strategies to help
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joya Kemper, Associate Professor in Marketing, University of Canterbury Getty Images New Zealand is among a number of countries that encourage vaping (the use of e-cigarettes) as a tool to help people stop smoking tobacco. But what happens when people want to quit vaping? Nicotine vapes can

    If you have a pet as a kid, does this lower your risk of asthma and eczema?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samantha Chan, Immunology and Allergy Lead, Snow Centre for Immune Health, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research) Catherine Delahaye/Getty Images As the number of people with allergies grows worldwide, scientists are trying to work out precisely how and why these conditions – such as

    A top court has urged nations to clamp down on fossil fuel production. When will Australia finally start listening?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wesley Morgan, Research Associate, Institute for Climate Risk and Response, UNSW Sydney GREG WOOD/AFP via Getty Images As Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen tours the Pacific this week to spruik his government’s commitment to climate action, fossil fuel exporters such as Australia are under unprecedented

    Kumanjayi Walker inquest: racism and violence, but findings too little and too late
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thalia Anthony, Professor of Law, University of Technology Sydney First Nations people please be advised this article speaks of racially discriminating moments in history, including the distress and death of First Nations people. The inquest findings into the death of 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker are among the most

    Cape Town’s sewage treatment isn’t coping: scientists are worried about what the city is telling the public
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lesley Green, Professor of Earth Politics and Director: Environmental Humanities South, University of Cape Town Urban water bodies – rivers, lakes and oceans – are in trouble globally. Large sewage volumes damage the open environment, and new chemicals and pharmaceutical compounds don’t break down on their own.

    View from The Hill: Albanese’s Curtin speech becomes latest political football in debate over US relationship
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Anthony Albanese seems to find himself on eggshells whenever the Australian-American relationship comes up. After the G7 debacle, he’s persistently pursued – to his obvious irritation – by journalists asking when he’ll have his first face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump.

    A Shakespearean, small-town murder: why Australia became so obsessed with the Erin Patterson mushroom case
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Xanthe Mallett, Criminologist, CQUniversity Australia The “mushroom murder trial”, as it has popularly become known, has gripped Australia over the past 11 weeks. More than that, it’s prompted worldwide headlines, multiple daily podcasts, and even YouTube videos of self-proclaimed “body language experts” assessing defendant Erin Patterson’s every

    Peter Russell-Clarke’s greatest gift was how he made you feel like one of the family
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wendy Hunt, Senior Lecturer, Academic Chair, Food Science and Nutrition, Murdoch University Impressions/Getty Images Throughout my teenage years, our lounge room sang “Come and get it, come and get it” and all in earshot would carol back, “with Peter. Russell. Clarke!” The chef, restaurateur, cookbook author and

    Sleep divorce: could sleeping separately from your partner lead to a better night’s rest?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alix Mellor, Research Fellow, Psychology, Monash University Cemile Bingol/Getty Images Hundreds of years ago, it was common for married couples among the European upper classes to have separate bedrooms. Sleeping separately was a symbol of luxury and status historically reserved for royalty and the very wealthy. Nowadays,

    A test of political courage: Yoorrook’s final reports demand action, not amnesia
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jeremie M Bracka, Law Lecturer and Transitional Justice Academic, RMIT University Australia’s colonial era may be formally over but its legacies of inequality, land dispossession and systemic racism continue to shape daily life for First Peoples. Last week, the Victorian Yoorrook Justice Commission delivered its two final

    Erin Patterson has been found guilty in the mushroom murder trial. Legal experts explain why
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rick Sarre, Emeritus Professor in Law and Criminal Justice, University of South Australia After seven weeks of evidence, six days of summing up, and six and a half days of jury deliberation in the Victorian Supreme Court sitting in Morwell, Victoria, the verdict is finally in. Erin

    In Texas, parents search flood debris for missing kids. Are Australians ready for our own sudden floods?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Erica Kuligowski, Vice-Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellow, School of Engineering, RMIT University Harrowing stories are emerging in the wake of catastrophic and sudden flooding over the fourth of July weekend in Texas – where many people were camping, and children were at riverside summer camp. More than 80

    What is rejection sensitive dysphoria in ADHD? And how can you manage it?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Victoria Barclay-Timmis, Adjunct Lecturer in Psychology, University of Southern Queensland Vitalii Khodzinskyi/Unsplash Imagine your friend hasn’t replied to a message in a few hours. Most people might think, “they are probably just busy”. But someone with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) might spiral into a flood of thoughts

    NZDF not considering recruiting personnel from Pacific nations
    By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) is not considering recruiting personnel from across the Pacific as talk continues of Australia doing so for its Defence Force (ADF). In response to a question from The Australian at the National Press Club in Canberra about Australia’s plans to potentially recruit from

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for July 8, 2025

    ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on July 8, 2025.

    Being kind to people – the new challenge for the public service
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer Smith-Merry, Director, Centre for Disability Research and Policy, University of Sydney When Labor was re-elected in May, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used his acceptance speech to describe the type of country he wanted to lead. He spoke of how the Australian people had voted for fairness,

    It’s harder than you think to become a top sports official in football, soccer and the rugby codes
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kath O’Brien, Senior Lecturer – Faculty of Health (School Exercise & Nutrition Sciences), Queensland University of Technology Brendon Thorne/Getty Images Sport officials, regardless of which code they supervise, are appointed to be impartial figures. They have to quickly interpret infractions, adjudicate rules and communicate commands, all while

    First it was ‘protein goals’, now TikTok is on about ‘fibre goals’. How can you meet yours?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Saman Khalesi, Senior Lecturer and Head of Course Nutrition, HealthWise Research Group Lead, Appleton Institute,, CQUniversity Australia Westend61/Getty Images “Protein goals” have long been a thing on TikTok and Instagram. But now social media users are also talking about “fibre goals”. This reflects a positive broader shift

    Bougainville election process begins as writs issued for September poll
    RNZ Pacific The Bougainville election process begins today with the issuance of the writs yesterday. Nominations open Tuesday, July 8, and close on Thursday, July 10. Voting is scheduled for one week starting on September 2, allowing seven weeks of campaigning. Candidates will be vying for a total of 46 seats, with the autonomous Parliament

    Australia is set to get more AI data centres. Local communities need to be more involved
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bronwyn Cumbo, Transdisciplinary social researcher and lecturer, University of Technology Sydney A Google data centre in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. Richard Newstead/Getty Data centres are the engines of the internet. These large, high-security facilities host racks of servers that store and process our digital data, 24 hours a

    How can you keep kids off screens during the winter holidays?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Victoria Minson, Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Education, Australian Catholic University Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Children’s Games, 1560. ©KHM-Museumsverband, CC BY-NC The winter school holidays can be a tricky time for families. Parents are often juggling work and chilly conditions make it easy for kids to end

    Quitting the quit-aid: people trying to stop vaping nicotine need more support – here are some strategies to help
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joya Kemper, Associate Professor in Marketing, University of Canterbury Getty Images New Zealand is among a number of countries that encourage vaping (the use of e-cigarettes) as a tool to help people stop smoking tobacco. But what happens when people want to quit vaping? Nicotine vapes can

    If you have a pet as a kid, does this lower your risk of asthma and eczema?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samantha Chan, Immunology and Allergy Lead, Snow Centre for Immune Health, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research) Catherine Delahaye/Getty Images As the number of people with allergies grows worldwide, scientists are trying to work out precisely how and why these conditions – such as

    A top court has urged nations to clamp down on fossil fuel production. When will Australia finally start listening?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wesley Morgan, Research Associate, Institute for Climate Risk and Response, UNSW Sydney GREG WOOD/AFP via Getty Images As Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen tours the Pacific this week to spruik his government’s commitment to climate action, fossil fuel exporters such as Australia are under unprecedented

    Kumanjayi Walker inquest: racism and violence, but findings too little and too late
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thalia Anthony, Professor of Law, University of Technology Sydney First Nations people please be advised this article speaks of racially discriminating moments in history, including the distress and death of First Nations people. The inquest findings into the death of 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker are among the most

    Cape Town’s sewage treatment isn’t coping: scientists are worried about what the city is telling the public
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lesley Green, Professor of Earth Politics and Director: Environmental Humanities South, University of Cape Town Urban water bodies – rivers, lakes and oceans – are in trouble globally. Large sewage volumes damage the open environment, and new chemicals and pharmaceutical compounds don’t break down on their own.

    View from The Hill: Albanese’s Curtin speech becomes latest political football in debate over US relationship
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Anthony Albanese seems to find himself on eggshells whenever the Australian-American relationship comes up. After the G7 debacle, he’s persistently pursued – to his obvious irritation – by journalists asking when he’ll have his first face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump.

    A Shakespearean, small-town murder: why Australia became so obsessed with the Erin Patterson mushroom case
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Xanthe Mallett, Criminologist, CQUniversity Australia The “mushroom murder trial”, as it has popularly become known, has gripped Australia over the past 11 weeks. More than that, it’s prompted worldwide headlines, multiple daily podcasts, and even YouTube videos of self-proclaimed “body language experts” assessing defendant Erin Patterson’s every

    Peter Russell-Clarke’s greatest gift was how he made you feel like one of the family
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wendy Hunt, Senior Lecturer, Academic Chair, Food Science and Nutrition, Murdoch University Impressions/Getty Images Throughout my teenage years, our lounge room sang “Come and get it, come and get it” and all in earshot would carol back, “with Peter. Russell. Clarke!” The chef, restaurateur, cookbook author and

    Sleep divorce: could sleeping separately from your partner lead to a better night’s rest?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alix Mellor, Research Fellow, Psychology, Monash University Cemile Bingol/Getty Images Hundreds of years ago, it was common for married couples among the European upper classes to have separate bedrooms. Sleeping separately was a symbol of luxury and status historically reserved for royalty and the very wealthy. Nowadays,

    A test of political courage: Yoorrook’s final reports demand action, not amnesia
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jeremie M Bracka, Law Lecturer and Transitional Justice Academic, RMIT University Australia’s colonial era may be formally over but its legacies of inequality, land dispossession and systemic racism continue to shape daily life for First Peoples. Last week, the Victorian Yoorrook Justice Commission delivered its two final

    Erin Patterson has been found guilty in the mushroom murder trial. Legal experts explain why
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rick Sarre, Emeritus Professor in Law and Criminal Justice, University of South Australia After seven weeks of evidence, six days of summing up, and six and a half days of jury deliberation in the Victorian Supreme Court sitting in Morwell, Victoria, the verdict is finally in. Erin

    In Texas, parents search flood debris for missing kids. Are Australians ready for our own sudden floods?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Erica Kuligowski, Vice-Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellow, School of Engineering, RMIT University Harrowing stories are emerging in the wake of catastrophic and sudden flooding over the fourth of July weekend in Texas – where many people were camping, and children were at riverside summer camp. More than 80

    What is rejection sensitive dysphoria in ADHD? And how can you manage it?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Victoria Barclay-Timmis, Adjunct Lecturer in Psychology, University of Southern Queensland Vitalii Khodzinskyi/Unsplash Imagine your friend hasn’t replied to a message in a few hours. Most people might think, “they are probably just busy”. But someone with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) might spiral into a flood of thoughts

    NZDF not considering recruiting personnel from Pacific nations
    By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) is not considering recruiting personnel from across the Pacific as talk continues of Australia doing so for its Defence Force (ADF). In response to a question from The Australian at the National Press Club in Canberra about Australia’s plans to potentially recruit from

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: It’s harder than you think to become a top sports official in football, soccer and the rugby codes

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kath O’Brien, Senior Lecturer – Faculty of Health (School Exercise & Nutrition Sciences), Queensland University of Technology

    Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

    Sport officials, regardless of which code they supervise, are appointed to be impartial figures.

    They have to quickly interpret infractions, adjudicate rules and communicate commands, all while maintaining the highest levels of objectivity and sense – not to mention the fitness required.

    So, what does it take to become a sport official at the elite level, such as NRL referees or AFL umpires?

    And why do so many sports fans think these officials are at fault when their team keeps getting penalised?



    Read more:
    1 in 5 community footy umpires have been assaulted, while others cop death threats: new research

    It’s harder than you think

    Recently, there were calls for Ashley Klein to be stripped of officiating duties for the third and final rugby league State of Origin clash after NRL commentators queried a one-sided penalty count in the Maroons’ favour during game two in Perth.

    Likewise, the AFL recently faced criticism when video evidence revealed Collingwood’s Lachie Schultz had suffered a concussion, but the umpires in charge failed to stop play immediately, as they should have.

    Every week, fans also voice their displeasure at perceived injustices, whether that be at the ground, watching on TV or venting on social media.

    However, very few people fully understand the complexity or intricacies of what it takes to perform a sport official’s role, particularly at the elite level.

    Elite officials must have detailed rule knowledge, incredible physical and mental fitness and be composed regardless of crowd pressure. They must be able to instantly move on from any mistakes made.

    They also need situational awareness and a level of calmness to effectively supervise two groups of competitors fiercely battling against each other in these highly charged environments.

    Figuratively speaking, this can be like emergency department (ED) doctors or air traffic controllers, who are required to manage multiple events and competing task demands in a calm and consistent manner.

    Even though elite officials don’t work continuously for long hours like ED doctors or pilots – the total playing time of most of our winter sporting codes is generally between 90-120 minutes – the level of concentration, composure and mental toughness required is immense.

    Making good decisions when both players and the ball are constantly shifting position also requires exceptional game understanding and an ability to convey decisions that are appropriate to the game context.

    In other words, elite referees operate in situations in which time pressure, stress and high risk decision-making are always present.

    So who would want to perform a role where coaches, fans and some sections of the media continually question your knowledge, integrity and skills?

    Professional or part-time?

    Currently, of Australia’s major winter codes, only the NRL has a full quota of referees who are full time, paid professionals.

    Soccer’s A-League has a small group of full-time officials and an impressive number of top officials are part of FIFA’s panel of international referees. Yet, most A-League referees are part-time operators.

    Similarly, Rugby Australia has a small team of full-time professional referees who are appointed to Super League games and international matches not involving Australia, but most are part-timers.

    In the AFL, most umpires work part-time, with pressure mounting on the league to transition its umpires into full-time positions as ongoing criticisms over controversial decisions continue to grow.

    What elite officials get paid can be shrouded in secrecy but AFL field umpires reportedly earn A$120–130,000 each year while the best NRL referees earn more than $300,000 each season.

    Current pathways into the top level for most sporting codes require extensive apprenticeships in lower grades.

    To reach those top pay levels, extensive on-field experience in lower grades is required. Those who stand out are selected in high-performance squads where specialist coaching is provided.

    An often thankless task

    So, do you think you have what it takes to be an elite sports official?

    Could you maintain an optimal level of physical and cognitive performance while running at high speeds when you know every decision you make can be reviewed by video technology and re-watched in slow motion at one 25th of a second?

    It might be good to remember most decisions in sport are not black and white.

    Referees are human. They make mistakes. Sometimes they have to follow a policy or refereeing method they might not agree with.

    However, what we need to remember before we shout at them during a game is elite officials are trying to make games as fair, open, free flowing and entertaining as possible as they strive to impartially apply the rules of the game.

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

    – ref. It’s harder than you think to become a top sports official in football, soccer and the rugby codes – https://theconversation.com/its-harder-than-you-think-to-become-a-top-sports-official-in-football-soccer-and-the-rugby-codes-259036

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Being kind to people – the new challenge for the public service

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer Smith-Merry, Director, Centre for Disability Research and Policy, University of Sydney

    When Labor was re-elected in May, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used his acceptance speech to describe the type of country he wanted to lead.

    He spoke of how the Australian people had voted for fairness, aspiration and opportunity for all:

    For the strength to show courage in adversity and kindness to those in need. And Australians have voted for a future that holds true to these values.

    Prime Minister Anthony Albanese election victory speech declaring the Australian people had voted for Australian values.

    Noble sentiments from the prime minister.

    But can this translate into real change in government organisations? How much work do they have to do to live up to Albanese’s mantra of fairness and kindness towards those in need?

    Bureaucracy can be kind

    It is important our public institutions, such as the Australian Public Service, are kind, even when they are deciding who can access limited public resources.

    We conducted a review of academic research on organisational kindness to understand how organisations can be more generous to those they interact with.

    We discovered public service processes often lack kindness, which causes distress and sometimes significant harm. Many people would be familiar with unkind interactions with public services that should be there to serve us, but sometimes make us feel like an enemy.

    Kindness has positive benefits not just for the people being served, but for organisations themselves. Our research has found kindness contributes to profit, productivity, performance and favourable community perceptions.

    A kinder organisation is also a more trusted one, which is essential for any public service – funded by the public – to retain legitimacy.

    Lack of trust

    The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is a case in point.

    Other research we have conducted shows individuals find it hard to apply for the NDIS.

    In part this stemmed from previous traumatic experiences with accessing government agencies, which resulted in a lack of trust in other public services.

    A study of NDIS participant experiences has also found complexity, poor communication, and confusing or inconsistent rules causes distress.

    Recent media coverage has focused on National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) decision-making processes that participants and families believe to be unkind. This includes surprise plan reviews where people feel unprepared and unsupported.

    Another example is the combative approach by the NDIA to people’s complaints, which makes complaining distressing and adversarial.

    Complaints are a legal, necessary aspect of a any organisation that services the public. But making it tortuous to complain is a lose-lose situation. It is not just unkind to the individual but problematic in effective running of public services.

    What makes public services unkind?

    Organisations may not set out to be unkind, but may become that way because of the way they work and think. They may see themselves in service of the public purse, rather than in service to the public.

    Particularly in times of budget constraint – such as the 8% growth cap to the NDIS – helping people access services may be seen as undermining cost savings goals. This can lead to practices that degrade or even demonise people who deserve help.

    Streamlining ways of working, cutting costs or even making decisions “fairer” by applying the same rules to everyone can be dehumanising.

    Individuals often face a “machinery of government” approach based on automated decision-making that lacks warmth and understanding, even where the decisions can be life-changing.

    This was most clear in the Morrison government’s Robodebt scheme. Assumptions were made about people based upon incomplete information gathered from administrative systems that did not fully reflect the lives of individuals. This had devastating consequences for many people, as outlined in the Royal Commission findings.

    Institutions may also be influenced by political narratives about deserving versus undeserving welfare recipients which prejudice how they are viewed. The “lazy dole bludger” is a classic trope.

    These narratives can result in unkind treatment when people need to access unemployment or disability benefits through Centrelink.

    How can public institutions be kinder?

    Being kind does not mean giving everyone everything they want, or even need.

    While hard decisions are sometimes necessary, they can be made in ways considerate of the people receiving the decision.

    We identified key barriers and enablers to organisational kindness.

    The main hurdles related to organisational culture and entrenched practices which make kindness difficult.

    Enablers for building a more generous approach include entrenching kindness as a core value within how organisational policies, processes and practices are structured.

    Kindness must be built into the organisational fabric not just enabled at the point of contact with individuals accessing the service.

    A kinder community

    The values of public services should reflect community values. However, sometimes communities lack kindness as an implicit value or, as noted in the earlier example about welfare recipients, may lack kindness towards particular groups.

    Broader kindness movements operating internationally include Kindness Singapore and Kindness UK. These movements aim to make kindness a core social value.

    Australian public institutions have received a strong cue from the prime minister that kindness should also be a core business value when serving clients, especially those in need.

    Jennifer Smith-Merry receives funding from the Australian Research Council through an Industry Laureate Fellowship. The National Disability Insurance Agency is a partner on that grant but had no involvement in this article. She is a member of the Grattan Institute Disability Program Reference Group.

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

    – ref. Being kind to people – the new challenge for the public service – https://theconversation.com/being-kind-to-people-the-new-challenge-for-the-public-service-260068

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Bougainville election process begins as writs issued for September poll

    RNZ Pacific

    The Bougainville election process begins today with the issuance of the writs yesterday.

    Nominations open Tuesday, July 8, and close on Thursday, July 10.

    Voting is scheduled for one week starting on September 2, allowing seven weeks of campaigning.

    Candidates will be vying for a total of 46 seats, with the autonomous Parliament agreeing earlier this year to add five additional seats.

    The seats were created with the establishment of five new constituencies: two in South and Central, and one in North Bougainville.

    “This is one of the most important democratic tasks of any nation — to conduct elections where the people exercise the ultimate power to re-elect or de-elect the representatives who have served them in the last House,” Bougainville Parliament Speaker Simon Pentanu said.

    “The elections in Bougainville have always been fair, honest, transparent, and equitable. This is a history we should all be proud of and a record we must continue to uphold,” he said.

    The region’s Electoral Commissioner Desmond Tsianai said the issuing of writs was a significant event in the electoral calendar.

    “We have delivered credible elections in the past and I assure you all that we are prepared, and we will have this election delivered at international standards of free, fair and inclusive — and most importantly, according to the law.”

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Bougainville election process begins as writs issued for September poll

    RNZ Pacific

    The Bougainville election process begins today with the issuance of the writs yesterday.

    Nominations open Tuesday, July 8, and close on Thursday, July 10.

    Voting is scheduled for one week starting on September 2, allowing seven weeks of campaigning.

    Candidates will be vying for a total of 46 seats, with the autonomous Parliament agreeing earlier this year to add five additional seats.

    The seats were created with the establishment of five new constituencies: two in South and Central, and one in North Bougainville.

    “This is one of the most important democratic tasks of any nation — to conduct elections where the people exercise the ultimate power to re-elect or de-elect the representatives who have served them in the last House,” Bougainville Parliament Speaker Simon Pentanu said.

    “The elections in Bougainville have always been fair, honest, transparent, and equitable. This is a history we should all be proud of and a record we must continue to uphold,” he said.

    The region’s Electoral Commissioner Desmond Tsianai said the issuing of writs was a significant event in the electoral calendar.

    “We have delivered credible elections in the past and I assure you all that we are prepared, and we will have this election delivered at international standards of free, fair and inclusive — and most importantly, according to the law.”

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: First it was ‘protein goals’, now TikTok is on about ‘fibre goals’. How can you meet yours?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Saman Khalesi, Senior Lecturer and Head of Course Nutrition, HealthWise Research Group Lead, Appleton Institute,, CQUniversity Australia

    Westend61/Getty Images

    “Protein goals” have long been a thing on TikTok and Instagram. But now social media users are also talking about “fibre goals”. This reflects a positive broader shift toward overall health and wellbeing rather than a narrow focus on weight loss or muscle gain.

    Foods high in fibre are among the healthiest we can eat. Not getting enough can lead to constipation, haemorrhoids and boost the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and bowel cancer.

    So what’s the expert evidence say about “fibre goals” and how to hit them?

    Different types of fibre

    Dietary fibres are indigestible parts of plant foods. Unlike other carbohydrates that break down into sugar, these complex carbs pass through our digestive tract mostly unchanged.

    There are two main types of dietary fibre:

    Soluble fibres dissolve in water to form gel-like substances. You can find these in fruits such as apples and berries, vegetables such as sweet potatoes and carrots, as well a legumes and oats.

    Soluble fibres can slow down digestion and help us feel fuller for longer. They support heart health, lower blood cholesterol and help regulate blood sugar levels.

    Insoluble fibres don’t dissolve in water, but add bulk to food. You can get this type of fibre from wheat bran, fruits and vegetable skins, nuts and seeds, beans and whole grain foods.

    Insoluble fibres add bulk to the stool and help regulate bowel movements and reduce constipation.

    Resistant starch is also a type of complex carb that isn’t technically a fibre, but behaves like one; it resists digestion and feeds gut bacteria. These are found in legumes, cooked potato, and undercooked pasta.

    Unlike many fibre supplements (which often only offer one type of fibre) most sources of fibre we eat contain both soluble and insoluble forms. For example, oats, apples and avocado have both.

    Both soluble and insoluble fibre benefit our gut and overall health.

    Both can be fermented by good gut bacteria, although soluble dietary fibres (and resistant starches) tend to ferment more readily.

    Our gut bacteria rely on fermenting these fibres as a fuel to help digest foods, fight against pathogenic microbes such as germs and viruses, and improve physical and mental health.

    Avocados are high in fibre.
    Rouzes/Getty Images

    What should my fibre goal should be?

    Sadly, there’s no quick lab test to measure it.

    A simple indicator is how well your digestion works. If you’re rarely constipated, you’re likely getting enough fibre.

    The National Health and Medical Research Council recommends daily fibre intakes vary by age and gender.

    But in general, adult men should have about 30 grams of fibre per day. Women should have about 25 grams.

    There are many apps and websites to help you calculate your current fibre intake.

    It’s hard to have too much dietary fibre; even eating 50g per day is not considered harmful.

    How do I meet that goal without overthinking it?

    Foods rich in fibre include:

    • fruits
    • vegetables
    • nuts
    • seeds
    • legumes
    • beans
    • wholegrain or wholemeal breads and cereals.

    Aim for variety in your diet, so you don’t get bored of the same foods.

    The federal government’s Australian Dietary Guidelines suggest a daily intake of:

    • two serves of medium-sized fruits
    • five serves of vegetables (one serve is half a cup of cooked veggies or one cup of salad greens)
    • two to three serves of nuts and seeds (where one serve is about 30g or a handful) or two to three serves of legumes/beans (where one serve is a cup of cooked beans, lentils, chickpeas, split peas).

    What not to do

    Here are some important things to remember:

    1. avoid drastic changes such as cutting out entire food groups or nutrients (such as carbohydrates) unless advised by your health practitioner. Even low-fibre food groups (such as dairy or lean meats) provide important nutrients. Avoiding them can potentially cause other health problems

    2. avoid focusing on just one type of fibre (soluble or insoluble). Each has different benefits, so incorporating both is best

    3. avoid a sudden increase in fibre. It can cause abdominal pain and increased flatulence. Start by adding just one or two high-fibre foods each day and slowly increase this over a few weeks

    4. fibre needs water to work effectively, so drink plenty of fluids. Aim for at least eight to ten glasses of water per day.

    How do I hit my goal without being a weirdo about it?

    Eating well doesn’t need to be a competition.

    It’s great people are sharing ideas on social media about increasing fibre intake and setting fibre goals, but we can do it without constantly obsessing over food.

    Focus on gradual changes and incorporating fibre-rich foods naturally into your diet. Start by eating more fresh fruit and vegetables, and adding legumes and pulses (such as kidney beans and chickpeas) to meals.

    Simple switches can go a long way. For example, swap refined grain products (such as white rice or white bread) for wholemeal or wholegrain varieties. If you like breakfast cereals, choose one with at least 5g of fibre per serve (read the nutrition panel on the packet).

    Finally, listen to your body. If you experience any digestive discomfort or have certain conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome that requires managing your fibre intake, consult with a health-care professional.

    Saman Khalesi is a committee member for Nutrition Society Australia Queensland Group and Queensland Cardiovascular Research Network.

    Chris Irwin is a committee member for Nutrition Society Australia Queensland Regional Group.

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

    – ref. First it was ‘protein goals’, now TikTok is on about ‘fibre goals’. How can you meet yours? – https://theconversation.com/first-it-was-protein-goals-now-tiktok-is-on-about-fibre-goals-how-can-you-meet-yours-258694

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Could new pipelines shield Canada from U.S. tariffs? The answer is complicated

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Torsten Jaccard, Assistant Professor of Economics, University of British Columbia

    It should come as no surprise that United States President Donald Trump’s tariff threats have renewed interest in building pipelines that don’t rely on access to the American market. Almost four million barrels of crude oil cross the Canada-U.S. border each day, generating revenue of more than $100 billion per year — a quarter of Alberta’s GDP.

    A February survey by the Angus Reid Institute found that half of Canadians believe the federal government isn’t doing enough to expand pipeline capacity. Meanwhile, two-thirds said they would back reviving the Energy East project — a cancelled pipeline that would have transported oil from western Canada to New Brunswick and Québec.

    But would new pipelines truly insulate Canada from the threat of U.S. tariffs? And how much new pipeline capacity is necessary? Despite the apparent urgency of approving new infrastructure projects, these questions remain surprisingly unexplored.

    In a recent paper I co-authored with researcher Jotham Peters, which is currently under revision, we applied formal economic modelling techniques to parse through the costs and benefits of new pipelines, and in particular to understand the role of American tariffs in shaping these costs and benefits.

    How tariffs could hit Canadian oil producers

    In a worst-case scenario where the U.S. follows through on its threat of a 10 per cent tariff on Canadian oil exports, Canadian producers could lose as much as $14 billion in annual revenue — roughly a 10 per cent decrease.

    Simply put, Canada’s existing pipeline network severely limits access to markets other than the U.S., and as a consequence oil producers bear the full brunt of American tariffs.

    But what if Northern Gateway and Energy East — two previously cancelled pipelines that would have brought Canadian oil to tidewater — had been built?

    If Northern Gateway and Energy East were operational in 2025, Canada would be more resilient, but not completely immune, to U.S. tariffs. Instead of a $14 billion loss, tariffs would reduce annual revenue by $9 billion.

    Ultimately, the combined capacity of Northern Gateway and Energy East, which would be 1.625 million barrels per day, pales in comparison to the four million barrels per day of existing pipeline capacity connecting Canadian producers with American refineries.

    Closing this gap would require an expansion of east-west pipeline capacity far beyond the cancelled pipelines of the last decade.

    The economic case for pipelines

    So have the recent shifts in U.S. trade policy fundamentally altered the economic case in favour of new east-west pipelines? As with most economic analyses, the answer is complicated.

    On the one hand, any progress that mitigates the significant cost of U.S. tariffs are likely dollars well spent. Building new pipelines strengthens the bargaining power of Canadian producers, which carries an additional benefit of potentially increasing the return on each barrel sold to our southern neighbour.

    There’s also a long-term capacity issue. Existing pipelines may reach their limit by 2035. In the absence of new pipelines, any new production after 2035 would either need to be transported by rail at a higher cost, or left in the ground.

    On the other hand, if the U.S. never follows through on tariffs on energy exports — or if future administrations do not share Trump’s affinity for chaotic trade policy — Canada could end up right back where it started when these projects were cancelled.

    All pipelines carry some economic benefit, but such benefits were not enough in 2016 and 2017 to warrant the construction of the Northern Gateway and Energy East pipelines.

    Inflated construction costs threaten benefits

    The elephant in the room is whether a significant expansion in pipeline capacity could realistically be achieved at reasonable cost. Recent evidence suggests it could be a challenge.

    The Trans Mountain expansion project, for instance, was initially estimated to cost $5.4 billion in 2013. By the time it was completed in 2024, the final price tag had ballooned to $34 billion — a cost overrun of 380 per cent when accounting for inflation.

    The Coastal GasLink pipeline, which transports natural gas, faced similar issues. It was initially projected to cost $4 billion in 2012 and was completed in 2023 at a final cost of $14.5 billion, with an inflation-adjusted overrun of 180 per cent.

    While some of these costs were circumstantial — a major flood affected Trans Mountain, for example — increased efficiency in pipeline construction is necessary for the economic benefits of new pipelines to be realized, regardless of U.S. trade policy.

    Beyond economics costs

    While our research explores the economic impact of new pipelines in the face of U.S. tariffs, we acknowledge there are other issues that need to be considered.

    Chief among them is ensuring Canada meets its constitutional obligation to consult First Nations on decisions, like natural resources projects, that affect their communities and territories. Although this lies beyond our area of expertise, it will inevitably be an important element of consideration for any new pipeline developments.



    Read more:
    The complicated history of building pipelines in Canada

    The environmental impacts of new pipelines are another key concern. These impacts range from local exposure to oil spills to upstream greenhouse gas emissions associated with oil production. While these varying and complex impacts are also beyond the scope of our current work, future research should focus on quantifying the potential environmental impacts of new pipelines.

    Our research cannot say whether any new pipeline project is good, bad or in Canada’s national interest. But we can help Canadians reach an informed decision about how changes in U.S. trade policy may or may not alter the economic case for new pipelines in this country.

    While Canada would undoubtedly be in a stronger position to respond to U.S. tariffs were Northern Gateway and Energy East operational in 2025, it would still find itself significantly exposed to Trump’s tariff threats.

    Fully removing this exposure would require not one but seven pipelines equivalent to Northern Gateway. Whether that’s a goal worth pursuing is a broader question — one we hope our research can help Canadians and policymakers reach on their own.

    Torsten Jaccard receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

    – ref. Could new pipelines shield Canada from U.S. tariffs? The answer is complicated – https://theconversation.com/could-new-pipelines-shield-canada-from-u-s-tariffs-the-answer-is-complicated-259660

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-Evening Report: How can you keep kids off screens during the winter holidays?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Victoria Minson, Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Education, Australian Catholic University

    Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Children’s Games, 1560. ©KHM-Museumsverband, CC BY-NC

    The winter school holidays can be a tricky time for families. Parents are often juggling work and chilly conditions make it easy for kids to end up on the couch with multiple devices.

    What other activities can you try? And how can you encourage the kids to move without it seeming like a massive chore or a punishment for everyone?

    Here are some ideas for younger and older primary school children.

    We know kids aren’t active enough

    Many children aren’t as active as they need to be. Australian kids scored a D- on a 2022 report card on physical activity. Less than a quarter of children and young people met the guidelines of 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day.

    Meanwhile, we know excessive screen use is one of the top health concerns Australian parents have about their children.

    What can you do for 5 to 8-year-olds?

    In his 1560 painting Children’s Games, Pieter Bruegel depicts more than 80 of childhood games and play outside. This includes playing with balls, swinging, climbing a tree and imaginary games.

    Many of these ideas still work today. So just like the children in Bruegel’s picture, embrace the outdoors. Remember it’s OK to get a bit wet or a bit muddy (even though, yes, this does mean more washing).

    Think about going on an adventure to the city, cafe, library, or museum or simply finding local puddles to splash in. A change of scenery can do wonders for cabin fever.

    Trips to the park or other nearby nature spots are also important. Research shows playing in green spaces improves children’s mental and emotional wellbeing.

    Need more toys?

    If you feel your toy cupboard is looking overly familiar, try a local Toy Library to borrow puzzles, board games and activities. Alternatively, arrange a toy swap with a trusted neighbour or friend.

    Don’t underestimate the joy and novelty in doing the basic or everyday tasks but with more time, over the holidays. Cooking, baking, sending cards, writing letters and reading a book together are all excellent ways to connect and build memories.

    You could also ask the kids to go and make an art exhibition or practise for a home dance or music concert while you make a cup or tea.

    What about older primary kids?

    Older children love to create, work together and connect with their peers.

    So you could encourage your child or children to channel popular YouTubers and gamers by creating physical challenges at home, for example: a home holiday Olympics, safe Ninja-style circuit or obstacle course.

    Or you could turn everyday chores into “missions” that earn rewards like having their favourite meal or a shopping trip.

    Keep moving

    You could break up sitting time by making TikTok style dances or doing physically challenges (how many star jumps can you do in a minute?) as often as possible.

    If you have wearable tech, such as smart watches, you can track time spent being active. Set up a friendly competition for steps while playing with pets, cleaning up or dancing around the house.

    A 2022 Australian study suggests the “break up your sitting” approach may result in children being more active than a simple “move more” message.

    Also think about screen time that gets kids moving – such as sports-based games. Research shows the energy expended during active gaming is equivalent to a brisk walk. Not all screen time has to be sedentary.

    Try a whole day ‘unplugged’

    You could try a whole day without devices – this shows children it is possible!

    Consider giving the kids more decision-making powers on these days: they could pick (and hopefully) make their meals, have a friend over, decide what games to play or what art and craft to make.

    The winter holidays are a good time to set new active habits that won’t only help now, but will set the tone for the spring and longer summer breaks ahead.

    Victoria Minson is the Course Coordinator for the Bachelor of Early Childhood Education (Birth to Five Years) (Accelerated) at Australian Catholic University. The Victorian offering of the course has received funding from the Victorian government and Victorian Department of Education. Victoria also receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

    Amanda Telford has previously received funding from the ARC and NHMRC.

    – ref. How can you keep kids off screens during the winter holidays? – https://theconversation.com/how-can-you-keep-kids-off-screens-during-the-winter-holidays-260577

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Australia is set to get more AI data centres. Local communities need to be more involved

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bronwyn Cumbo, Transdisciplinary social researcher and lecturer, University of Technology Sydney

    A Google data centre in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. Richard Newstead/Getty

    Data centres are the engines of the internet. These large, high-security facilities host racks of servers that store and process our digital data, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

    There are already more than 250 data centres across Australia. But there are set to be more, as the federal government’s plans for digital infrastructure expansion gains traction. We recently saw tech giant Amazon’s recent pledge to invest an additional A$20 billion in new data centres across Sydney and Melbourne, alongside the development of three solar farms in Victoria and Queensland to help power them.

    The New South Wales government also recently launched a new authority to fast-track approvals for major infrastructure projects.

    These developments will help cater to the surging demand for generative artificial intelligence (AI). They will also boost the national economy and increase Australia’s digital sovereignty – a global shift toward storing and managing data domestically under national laws.

    But the everyday realities of communities living near these data centres aren’t as optimistic. And one key step toward mitigating these impacts is ensuring genuine community participation in shaping how Australia’s data-centre future is developed.

    The sensory experience of data centres

    Data centres are large, warehouse-like facilities. Their footprint typically ranges from 10,000 to 100,000 square metres. They are set on sites with backup generators and thousands of litres of stored diesel and enclosed by high-security fencing. Fluorescent lighting illuminates them every hour of the day.

    A data centre can emanate temperatures of 35°C to 45°C. To prevent the servers from overheating, air conditioners are continuously humming. In water-cooled facilities, water pipes transport gigalitres of cool water through the data centre each day to absorb the heat produced.

    Data centres can place substantial strain on the local energy grid and water supply.

    In some places where many data centres have been built, such as Northern Virginia in the United States and Dublin in Ireland, communities have reported rising energy and water prices. They have also reported water shortages and the degradation of valued natural and historical sites.

    They have also experienced economic impacts. While data centre construction generates high levels of employment, these facilities tend to employ a relatively small number of staff when they are operating.

    These impacts have prompted some communities to push back against new data centre developments. Some communities have even filed lawsuits to halt proposed projects due to concerns about water security, environmental harm and heavy reliance on fossil fuels.

    A unique opportunity

    To date, communities in Australia have been buffered from the impacts of data centres. This is largely because Australia has outsourced most of its digital storage and processing needs (and associated impacts) to data centres overseas.

    But this is now changing. As Australia rapidly expands its digital infrastructure, the question of who gets to shape its future becomes increasingly important.

    To avoid amplifying the social inequities and environmental challenges of data centres, the tech industry and governments across Australia need to include the communities who will live alongside these crucial pieces of digital infrastructure.

    This presents Australia with a unique opportunity to set the standard for creating a sustainable and inclusive digital future.

    A path to authentic community participation

    Current planning protocols for data centres limit community input. But there are three key steps data centre developers and governments can take to ensure individual developments – and the broader data centre industry – reflect the values, priorities and aspirations of local communities.

    1. Developing critical awareness about data centres

    People want a greater understanding of what data centres are, and how they will affect their everyday lives.

    For example, what will data centres look, sound and feel like to live alongside? How will they affect access to drinking water during the next drought? Or water and energy prices during the peak of summer or winter?

    Genuinely engaging with these questions is a crucial step toward empowering communities to take part in informed conversations about data centre developments in their neighbourhoods.

    2. Involving communities early in the planning process

    Data centres are often designed using generic templates, with minimal adaptation to local conditions or concerns. Yet each development site has a unique social and ecological context.

    By involving communities early in the planning process, developers can access invaluable local knowledge about culturally significant sites, biodiversity corridors, water-sensitive areas and existing sustainability strategies that may be overlooked in state-level planning frameworks.

    This kind of local insight can help tailor developments to reduce harm, enhance benefits, and ensure local priorities are not just heard, but built into the infrastructure itself.

    3. Creating more inclusive visions of Australia’s data centre industry

    Communities understand the importance of digital infrastructure and are generally supportive of equitable digital access. But they want to see the data centre industry grow in ways that acknowledges their everyday lives, values and priorities.

    To create a more inclusive future, governments and industry can work with communities to broaden their “clean” visions of digital innovation and economic prosperity to include the “messy” realities, uncertainties and everyday aspirations of those living alongside data centre developments.

    This approach will foster greater community trust and is essential for building more complex, human-centred visions of the tech industry’s future.

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

    – ref. Australia is set to get more AI data centres. Local communities need to be more involved – https://theconversation.com/australia-is-set-to-get-more-ai-data-centres-local-communities-need-to-be-more-involved-259799

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: A top court has urged nations to clamp down on fossil fuel production. When will Australia finally start listening?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wesley Morgan, Research Associate, Institute for Climate Risk and Response, UNSW Sydney

    GREG WOOD/AFP via Getty Images

    As Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen tours the Pacific this week to spruik his government’s commitment to climate action, fossil fuel exporters such as Australia are under unprecedented scrutiny.

    In a landmark ruling on Friday, Latin America’s highest human rights court found countries in that region are legally obliged to protect people from climate harms. The obligation includes tougher government regulations for fossil fuel extraction.

    The finding applies to nations in the Organization of American States. But it adds to a growing number of international rulings clarifying nations’ legal obligations to tackle the climate crisis – especially if they export fossil fuels.

    And it echoes long-held concerns from Australia’s Pacific neighbours: that climate change is an existential threat, and coal and gas exporters have a responsibility to act.

    A legal tide is building

    Australia is a major fossil-fuel exporter. When coal and gas mined in Australia is burned overseas, emissions are three times those of our entire domestic economy.

    Since 2000, Australia has approved more than 700 oil, gas and coal projects. This includes federal approval in May for Woodside’s North West Shelf project – a huge expansion of gas production off Western Australia.

    Emissions from these projects damage Earth’s climate, increasing the risk of harm to people around the world.

    As climate change worsens, the United Nations and others are calling on countries to phase out fossil fuel production. A string of litigation involving human rights and the environment is adding to the pressure.

    In a ruling handed down late last week, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights said people have the right to a stable climate and that states should regulate fossil fuel extraction and exploration.

    The ruling was delivered in Spanish. According to an English translation, it said nation-states should require fossil-fuel companies to:

    take effective measures to combat climate change and related human rights impacts, to conduct appropriate due diligence, to adopt transition plans, and to provide accurate information regarding the impacts of their operations on climate change and human rights.

    The ruling was an “advisory opinion”, and not legally binding. But it establishes the law on human rights obligations for the nations involved, and interpretations of international law for other nations.

    Pictured: judges from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
    JOHAN ORDONEZ/AFP via Getty Images

    It comes as the International Court of Justice weighs up a request from the United Nations General Assembly, to clarify countries’ obligations under international law to protect Earth’s climate and environment from greenhouse gas emissions.

    The campaign for the case was launched in 2019 by a group of law students at the University of the South Pacific.

    This ruling will apply directly to Australia. Judges in the case are likely to take into account the findings of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights – and Australian policymakers will be watching closely.

    International law is catching up with the science

    Key instruments of international law, such as the UN Human Rights Conventions, were developed in the decades before a scientific consensus on global warming.

    But the science has moved on. And it’s now clear that nations have legal obligations to prevent human rights harms arising from climate change.

    In 2022, the UN Human Rights Committee found Australia was failing to meet its obligations to protect Indigenous Torres Strait Islanders from the adverse impacts of climate change.

    In May this year, UN Special Rapporteur on Climate Change and Human Rights, Elisa Morgera, called on nations to end new fossil fuel projects and begin phasing out of fossil fuel production this decade, to protect human rights.

    Australia has argued only the Paris Agreement – which requires countries to set targets to cut domestic emissions – should apply when it comes to mitigating climate change. It has also argued protecting human rights does not extend to obligations to tackle climate change by cutting emissions.

    Such arguments have now been rejected by international courts and tribunals. Continuing to approve new fossil fuel projects, with no plan to phase out fossil fuel production, puts Australia in violation of international legal obligations.

    Australia’s obligations are also being considered in domestic cases. For instance, the Federal Court is next week due to hand down a decision on the government’s obligations to cut emissions to protect Torres Strait Islanders from climate impacts. If successful, the case may force the federal government to rapidly reduce emissions.

    The law is not on Australia’s side

    On his trip to the Pacific this week, Chris Bowen will emphasise Australia’s commitment to tackling climate change, and progress discussions on the joint Australia–Pacific bid to host the global COP31 climate talks next year. He told the media:

    Australia and the Pacific’s joint bid for COP31 is about ensuring that the region’s voice shapes global climate action for the benefit of the Australian and Pacific people.

    I look forward to deepening our cooperation with Pacific neighbours; not only to build a fairer, cleaner energy future, but to bring COP31 home for our region in 2026.

    People in the Pacific now know international law is on their side. Ultimately, a managed shift away from fossil fuels is inevitable – and the time for Australian policymakers to ignore the industry’s climate harms is ending.

    Wesley Morgan is a fellow with the Climate Council of Australia.

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

    – ref. A top court has urged nations to clamp down on fossil fuel production. When will Australia finally start listening? – https://theconversation.com/a-top-court-has-urged-nations-to-clamp-down-on-fossil-fuel-production-when-will-australia-finally-start-listening-259996

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: If you have a pet as a kid, does this lower your risk of asthma and eczema?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samantha Chan, Immunology and Allergy Lead, Snow Centre for Immune Health, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research)

    Catherine Delahaye/Getty Images

    As the number of people with allergies grows worldwide, scientists are trying to work out precisely how and why these conditions – such as asthma and eczema – develop.

    One long-standing idea is the “hygiene hypothesis”. This suggests our modern indoor lifestyles are to blame, as they limit our early exposure to germs and allergens which help train the immune system.

    But growing evidence suggests having a pet may counter this effect. As any pet owner knows, our furry friends bring a lot of mess, germs and fur into our homes – along with the cuddles.

    So, does spending time with animals lower children’s risk of allergies? Here’s what we know.

    How allergies develop

    During early childhood, our immune systems learn what to attack and what to ignore to stop us getting sick.

    Evidence suggests early exposure – to family members, food, germs, dust, dirt, pollen and pet dander (skin flakes) – shapes this immune response.

    Allergic conditions develop when the immune system overreacts to harmless substances, such as dust, pollen or certain foods. These reactions can affect the skin, airways and gut.

    Dogs bring both love and mess – which might be just what a developing immune system needs.
    Samantha Chan/Author provided, CC BY-NC-ND

    However, we still don’t fully understand why some people develop allergies while others don’t.

    Scientists have identified genes linked to allergic conditions. But most have subtle effects on the immune system and act as “risk factors” – they increase the chance of disease but don’t cause it outright.

    Recent research suggests exposure to bacteria in our environment could be another major factor.

    From birth, our bodies are colonised by bacteria, especially in the gut. This community of microorganisms is known as the microbiome.

    Ongoing “crosstalk” between the microbiome and immune system is crucial for healthy immune function. When this balance is disturbed, it can contribute to inflammation and disease.

    The effect of our early environment

    In the last few decades, studies of children raised on farms gave us some of the first clues that early environments can affect allergy risk.

    Compared to children raised in cities, children on farms are less likely to have allergic conditions such as eczema and asthma. This is especially true of those in close contact with animals.

    Notably, farm-raised children tend to develop a more diverse microbiome than children raised in urban environments. This may help make their immune system more tolerant to foreign substances (such as bacteria and dirt) and less likely to develop allergies.

    However, across the world children are increasingly living in urban areas.

    This means a pet may be the closest contact they have with animals. So, does this still lower their risk of developing allergies?

    Children raised on farms, especially those in close contact with animals, seem to have a lower risk of allergic diseases.
    Peter van Haastrecht / 500px/Getty Images

    What the studies show in eczema

    Some studies indicate children with pets may be less likely to have allergies.

    However this evidence hasn’t always been easy to interpret.

    It can be difficult to tell whether lower allergy rates are due to the pets themselves or other factors, such as location, lifestyle or a family history of allergies.

    A review of results from 23 studies found children exposed to dogs early in life were significantly less likely to develop eczema.

    Another 2025 study analysed genetic data from more than 270,000 people. It found a gene linked to eczema only increased risk of eczema in children who hadn’t been exposed to dogs.

    This suggests early dog exposure may help protect children who are genetically more likely to develop eczema.

    What about asthma?

    When it comes to asthma, the story gets trickier.

    One 2001 study followed more than 1,000 children in the United States from birth to age 13. It found those living with dogs indoors were less likely to develop frequent wheezing – a common asthma symptom – but only if they didn’t have a family history of asthma.

    A Korean study from 2021 found those who had dogs during childhood were less likely to develop allergies. But they had a slightly higher risk of non-allergic wheeze — a type of breathing difficulty usually caused by airway irritation or infections (not allergens).

    This suggests while growing up with a dog may protect against allergic conditions, such as asthma, it may increase the chance of certain non-allergic respiratory symptoms.

    What about cats?

    It’s challenging to tease apart the specific effects of cats versus dogs, since many early studies grouped all furry pets together.

    But in studies that have looked at them separately, living with cats didn’t seem to reduce allergy risk.

    One potential reason is cats and dogs carry very different microbes, which may influence how they shape the household environment.

    Cats and dogs carry very different microbes, which may influence how they shape the household environment.
    Photo by Mochamad Reza Aditya on Unsplash

    So, should you get a pet?

    If you’re already thinking about getting a dog, there’s decent evidence early exposure could reduce your child’s risk of eczema, and possibly other allergic conditions too.

    It’s not a guarantee, but a potential bonus – alongside companionship, joy and never having to worry about what to do with leftovers.

    And if a dog’s not on the cards, don’t worry. Spending time outdoors, encouraging messy play, and avoiding overuse of disinfectants can all help build a more resilient immune response.

    Samantha Chan has served on advisory boards for CSL Behring. She is in receipt of funding from the Allergy and Immunology Foundation Australia and Walter & Eliza Hall Institute. She is affiliated with the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology and European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. She is a physician for the Snow Centre for Immune Health, funded by the Snow Medical Research Foundation.

    In the past five years, Jo Douglass has served on advisory boards, provided advice or undertaken presentations on behalf of Astra-Zeneca P/L, GSK, CSL, Stallergenes, Immunosis P/L , Novartis and Sanofi. She is in receipt of funding from the Medical Research Future Fund for studies in allergic asthma. She is a clinical co-director of the Snow Centre for Immune Health, funded by the Snow Medical Research Foundation.

    – ref. If you have a pet as a kid, does this lower your risk of asthma and eczema? – https://theconversation.com/if-you-have-a-pet-as-a-kid-does-this-lower-your-risk-of-asthma-and-eczema-258581

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Quitting the quit-aid: people trying to stop vaping nicotine need more support – here are some strategies to help

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joya Kemper, Associate Professor in Marketing, University of Canterbury

    Getty Images

    New Zealand is among a number of countries that encourage vaping (the use of e-cigarettes) as a tool to help people stop smoking tobacco. But what happens when people want to quit vaping?

    Nicotine vapes can be addictive. While they have helped many New Zealanders quit smoking cigarettes, others – including people who never smoked – now find themselves wanting to quit vaping.

    To better understand how and why people try to quit, we surveyed more than 1,000 people in Aotearoa New Zealand who have used nicotine vapes.

    The findings from our study point to a need for support that treats vaping cessation like quitting smoking because for many, the challenges are similar.

    We focused on New Zealanders aged 16 and over who had vaped nicotine. Of the 1,119 respondents, 401 currently vaped and 718 had quit vaping. Around one in eight had never smoked tobacco at all.

    We found using vapes for more than two years and with nicotine concentrations above 3% was linked to higher dependence on vaping. Most current or past vapers wanted to stop, and more than three-quarters of participants had made up to three serious attempts to quit vaping.

    How people try to stop vaping

    Some people wanted to quit vaping because what began as a tool to support quitting smoking has become a new source of frustration or worry.

    The most common reasons to stop vaping were concerns about current or future health, disliking the feeling of being dependent, and the cost of vaping products. These motivations echo the reasons many people cite for quitting smoking, suggesting that people who vape (like most people who smoke) do not want to remain hooked on nicotine, even if it helped them quit cigarettes.

    Participants used a variety of strategies to quit, including abrupt cessation (“cold turkey”), switching to other forms of reduced-harm nicotine (such as nicotine patches, gums, lozenges, mouth sprays), and tapering down nicotine levels. Many also relied on support from whānau (family) and friends.

    These strategies mirror those used in smoking cessation.

    Our participants reiterate the importance of personal strategies, building on previous work on interventions that target vaping cessation.

    Some people did quit vaping and had no problem quitting. However, others struggled. Triggers that cause a relapse to vaping are similar to those many people who smoke experience, including stress and symptoms of nicotine withdrawal.

    Being around others who vape is also a trigger for relapse. These factors highlight the social and psychological effects of vaping, just as they have long been recognised in tobacco addiction research.

    Importantly, these triggers appeared consistent across different groups regardless of age, gender, cultural background or smoking history. Whether someone vaped to stop smoking or whether vaping was the first nicotine product they tried, quitting came with similar challenges.

    Better support for vaping cessation

    Our study suggests many New Zealanders are now trying to quit nicotine vapes, and some face real barriers to doing so.

    We think existing smoking-cessation support and medications could play a useful role. These tools include behavioural support, such as building self-belief in the ability to quit, identifying key triggers (and strategies to avoid them), stress management strategies, and access to tapering schedules (cutting down the frequency of vaping over time or gradually reducing nicotine concentration).

    As previous work shows, the type of support needed may differ between older tobacco smokers and the growing population of teens taking up vaping.

    Vaping as an exit from tobacco smoking should still be offered to people who smoke. Once vaping is taken up, it should be promoted as a medium-term, step-down tactic (3–12 months), while ensuring that relapse to smoking is avoided. Such a strategy aligns with vaping-cessation guidance provided in the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand.

    But it’s clear the landscape has shifted. Vaping is no longer just used to quit smoking; vapes are used by people who have never smoked.

    For some, vaping becomes a habit they want to quit in its own right, but it may not always be easy given the addictive nature of nicotine. We need dedicated support for vaping cessation to address this growing concern.

    Findings from our survey have been key to the development of a New Zealand vaping-cessation clinical trial currently underway. People who are interested in quitting vaping can find out more and register their interest.

    This study was supported by a grant from the University of Auckland, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences Research and Development Fund.

    Amanda Palmer has received funding from the US National Institutes of Health and Hollings Cancer Center at the Medical University of South Carolina.

    Bodo Lang has received funding from the Health Research Council of NZ.

    Chris Bullen receives funding from the Health Research Council of NZ, Ministry of Health and US NIH for research projects on smoking and vaping and personal funding from Kenvue Asia for cochairing ASEAN smoking-cessation leadership meetings. He co-chairs the smokefree expert advisory group for Health Coalition Aotearoa.

    George Laking has received funding from the Health Research Council of NZ.

    Jamie Brown has received (most recently in 2018) unrestricted funding to study smoking cessation from Pfizer and J&J, which manufacture medically licensed smoking cessation medications.

    Lion Shahab received personal fees from a grant funded by the US National Cancer Institute as part of his role as a member of an external scientific advisory committee outside of the submitted work. He also acted as a paid reviewer for grant awarding bodies and as a paid consultant for health-care companies and, in the past, has received honoraria for talks, an unrestricted research grant, and travel expenses to attend meetings and workshops by producers of smoking cessation medication (Pfizer/Johnson&Johnson).

    Natalie Walker has received personal fees from a grant funded by the US National Cancer Institute as part of her role as a member of the external scientific advisory committee. She is involved in a grant (in-kind) supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. She also received grants from the Health Research Council of NZ and funds from the US National Institute for Health and the Food and Drug Administration tobacco regulatory science grant. She has acted as a paid reviewer for grant awarding bodies. She has no financial links with tobacco companies, e-cigarette manufacturers, or their representatives.

    Vili Nosa has received funding from the Health Research Council of NZ.

    – ref. Quitting the quit-aid: people trying to stop vaping nicotine need more support – here are some strategies to help – https://theconversation.com/quitting-the-quit-aid-people-trying-to-stop-vaping-nicotine-need-more-support-here-are-some-strategies-to-help-259899

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Overuse of riprap to prevent riverbank erosion is harming B.C. rivers

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Charlotte Milne, PhD Candidate, Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia

    Every spring, melting snow and heavy rainfall brings a higher risk of flooding and riverbank erosion to parts of Canada. Bank erosion is responsible for a significant portion of annual flood damage in Canada, with estimates suggesting the costs could grow as high as $13.6 billion anually by the end of the century.

    In British Columbia, erosion is primarily managed by “hardening” riverbanks with large rocks called riprap. These rocks are so prevalent along B.C. rivers that you might think they are part of the natural environment, but they are not.

    Hardened riverbanks offer temporary protection from river movement, but riprap can lead to degraded rivers. Erosion is a natural process that helps maintain healthy and diverse river habitat. However, as societies expand, there is more demand to control river movement and prevent erosion.

    Through my work as a river scientist and flood risk researcher in New Zealand and Canada, I have witnessed the sometimes devastating impacts of river erosion and have also seen just how lifeless rivers can become when overly restricted.

    Of course we need to protect people, property and infrastructure from riverbank erosion. But current erosion management is hurting B.C. rivers.

    The problem with riprap

    Riprap is essential for stabilizing riverbanks when infrastructure and property are at immediate risk. The rocks are often laid down as “temporary” erosion prevention before or during floods.

    The problem is, if you harden one area with riprap, that bank transfers the erosion-hungry current elsewhere, driving the need for further riprap to be installed.

    The exact impact that riprap is having on B.C. waterways requires more research, but professionals working in the province’s rivers are already seeing the damage.

    During a workshop I led with colleagues from Resilient Waters and Watershed Watch, we found that in a group of 83 river and flood management professionals, 53 had witnessed adverse impacts from riprap use in the province’s Lower Mainland region.

    It is now estimated that more than half of the gravel sections of the Fraser River have been hardened through riprap. To date, there has been limited consideration of the environmental consequences of such widespread bank hardening.

    Riprap can bury the shallow spawning habitats preferred by many fish. It can prevent the “undercutting” of banks, a process that creates important spaces that salmon species prefer for shelter.

    In addition, riprap causes water temperatures to rise as rocks trap heat from sunlight that would normally be shaded by riparian vegetation. That lack of vegetation also means less wood and debris in the rivers, which would normally add essential habitat complexity that is preferred by many fish species.

    Riprap also acts as a potential migration barrier for salmon and other species trying to navigate the riverbanks. Finally, as riprap lessens available habitat for indigenous species, it can offer preferential habitat for invasive ones instead.

    Given the potential for environmental harm, there have been calls to limit riprap use in British Columbia. Experts have suggested it should only be used in essential cases, ideally in river systems that are already heavily impacted by humans.

    Bioengineering, revegetation alternatives

    The good news is that there are bank-stabilizing alternatives to riprap.

    Bioengineering involves using vegetation to create or support engineered structures. For example, live tree cuttings can be woven together to create wattles or brush mattresses. This process creates living tree walls and coverings that grow and strengthen over time.

    Revegetation is another approach, using riparian planting to strengthen riverbanks with root systems. In some cases, this can be as simple as laying down seeds at the right time of year, often with other erosion control options like mulch terraces.

    The key to the success of bioengineering and revegetation efforts is that they need to be done proactively. Unlike riprap, which can be installed as an emergency response measure, vegetation needs time to grow.

    Next steps for B.C.

    Riprap along part of Vancouver’s False Creek in July 2020. Given the potential for environmental harm, there have been calls to limit riprap use in British Columbia.
    (Shutterstock)

    Is it possible to move on from our over-reliance on riprap in B.C.?

    During our workshop, experts discussed what needs to happen to support environmentally friendly bank stabilization options.

    First off, we need to be talking about the overuse of riprap more. Currently, decision-makers and property-owners are often unaware of the potential harm that riprap can have on our rivers, or that alternatives exist. While many alternatives won’t be appropriate in extreme erosion cases, for the province’s smaller and healthier rivers, they would be ideal.

    For this to happen, the bank-stabilization regulation process in B.C. needs to change. Currently it is hard to receive consent or funding to undertake bank strengthening activities outside of emergency riprap installation.

    The B.C. government needs to adapt local guidelines and regulations to allow wider use of alternative methods, prioritizing proactive bank strengthening. They can draw on findings from elsewhere in Canada where alternative bank-stabilization options are already being tested.

    Shifting away from a dependence on riprap won’t be easy, but in a province that relies on healthy rivers and fish, it should be a priority.

    As one workshop attendee put it: “We don’t want to see sterile kilometres of riprap.”

    Charlotte Milne receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Public Scholars Initiative at UBC. The research mentioned in this article received funding from UBC’s Sustainability Scholars Program and support from Resilient Waters and the Watershed Watch Salmon Society.

    – ref. Overuse of riprap to prevent riverbank erosion is harming B.C. rivers – https://theconversation.com/overuse-of-riprap-to-prevent-riverbank-erosion-is-harming-b-c-rivers-255283

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Undersea cables are vulnerable to sabotage – but this takes skill and specialist equipment

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By John Aitken, Associate, RAND Europe, RAND Europe

    Countries have come to rely on a network of cables and pipes under the sea for their energy and communications. So it has been worrying to read headlines about communications cables being cut and, in one case, an undersea gas pipeline being blown up..

    Critical undersea infrastructure (CUI) as these connections are known, supports about US$9 trillion (£6.6 trillion) worth of trade per day. A coordinated attack on this network could undoubtedly have devastating consequences.

    But, as a former submarine commander who researches maritime security, I believe that attacking and disrupting the network is not as easy as some reports might make it appear. Deliberately snagging a pipeline with a dragging anchor in relatively shallow waters can cause a lot of damage, but it is fairly indiscriminate trick with a shelf life, since the damage can be repaired, and deniability becomes increasingly difficult.

    Targeting the cable networks in deeper waters require more sophisticated methods, which are much more challenging to carry out.

    A hostile state wishing to attack this network first needs to locate the cables they wish to target. The majority of the newer commercial cables are very clearly charted, but their positions are not exact.

    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.

    Cables and pipelines, even the heaviest ones, will drift somewhat as they are laid, and the deeper the water they sit in, the greater the distance they may drift.

    Those newer cables are often buried in a shallow trench to protect them, which
    makes locating and accessing them more challenging. Older cables were laid in slightly less exact navigational times, some before the GPS network was
    available for civilian use. They are not in pristine or predictable patterns.

    The positions of cables used by the military are generally not advertised at all, for reasons of security. Locating the target cable requires a detailed
    understanding of the topography and features of the seabed. That sort of picture can only be built up by survey and reconnaissance.

    Accurately surveying the seabed takes time and significant effort. And to get certainty of the picture, the survey or reconnaissance operation needs to be conducted in overlapping rows. This is painstaking work which is conditional upon the state of the sea.

    Specialist equipment

    Identifying a cable against the seabed or in the trench in which it lies requires a sonar resolution of something in the order of one or two metres, requiring specialist equipment.

    In 2024, several submarine telecommunications cables were disrupted in the Baltic Sea. Although there had been suspicions about ships dragging their anchors to damage the cables, authorities were not able to confirm this. The damage has not been conclusively attributed to a third party.

    There have been fears about “hybrid warfare”: deniable actions taken another nation that are enough to cause disruption, but are not enough to be an attributable act of war.

    In 2017, the UK chief of the defence staff said that Russia posed a threat to undersea cables. Russia has spent considerable money, time and effort in developing the
    platforms and capabilities that could target undersea infrastructure, if the country so wished.

    An organisation called the Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research (GUGI) operates deep-diving nuclear submarines, as well as a survey ship that is equipped with a deep diving submersible capable of operating at 6,000 metres.

    Russian navy

    The Russian navy also operates survey vessels such as the Akademik Vladimirsky. The precise sensors that the ship is equipped with are unknown – but in a 2012 research expedition to the South Pole it deployed a proton magnetometer, which can be used to discover metallic objects on the seabed such as pipelines.

    However, there is no suggestion that these survey vessels have been involved in disrupting undersea infrastructure. Nevertheless, operations by such vessels do not go unobserved by the west. Indicators and warnings of their deployments can be gained from imagery, and western submarines are capable of tracking and observing their patrols.

    The threat posed to Europe’s critical undersea infrastructure is real, and the consequences of a successful attack could be catastrophic. But this is a difficult business in a very challenging environment.

    The most acute threat is in the littoral (shore zone), where cables make landfall and in the shallows around those landing places. Protecting these chokepoints should be a top priority.

    That, in turn, requires adequate numbers of attack submarines capable of
    monitoring and, if necessary, deterring or disrupting hostile activity. Vigilance,
    investment, and realism – not alarmism – will be the foundation of a credible undersea defence.

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

    – ref. Undersea cables are vulnerable to sabotage – but this takes skill and specialist equipment – https://theconversation.com/undersea-cables-are-vulnerable-to-sabotage-but-this-takes-skill-and-specialist-equipment-259417

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: How often should you really be washing your bedding? A microbiologist explains

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Primrose Freestone, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Microbiology, University of Leicester

    Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock

    Most of us spend around a third of our lives in bed. Sleep isn’t just downtime; it’s essential for normal brain function and overall health. And while we often focus on how many hours we’re getting, the quality of our sleep environment matters too. A clean, welcoming bed with crisp sheets, soft pillowcases and fresh blankets not only feels good, it also supports better rest.

    But how often should we really be washing our bed linens?

    According to a 2022 YouGov poll, just 28% of Brits wash their sheets once a week. A surprising number admitted to leaving it much longer, with some stretching to eight weeks or more between washes. So what’s the science-backed guidance?

    Let’s break down what’s actually happening in your bed every night – and why regular washing is more than just a question of cleanliness.

    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.

    Each night, as we sleep, we shed hundreds of thousands of skin cells, excrete oils from our sebaceous glands, and sweat up to half a pint of fluid – even if we’ve showered just before bed. Our skin hosts millions of bacteria and fungi, many of which are transferred onto sheets, pillows and duvets as we move during the night.

    That fresh sweat may be odourless, but bacteria on our skin, particularly staphylococci, break it down into smelly byproducts. This is often why you wake up with body odour, even if you went to bed clean.

    But it’s not just about microbes. During the day, our hair and bodies collect pollutants, dust, pollen and allergens, which can also transfer to our bedding. These can trigger allergies, affect breathing, and contribute to poor air quality in the bedroom.

    Dust mites, fungi and other unseen bedfellows

    The flakes of skin we shed every night become food for dust mites – microscopic creatures that thrive in warm, damp bedding and mattresses. The mites themselves aren’t dangerous, but their faecal droppings are potent allergens that can aggravate eczema, asthma and allergic rhinitis.

    Fungi also find your bed appealing. Some species, like aspergillus fumigatus, have been detected in used bed pillows and can cause serious lung infections, particularly in people with weakened immune systems.

    If you sleep with pets, the microbial party gets even livelier. Animals introduce extra hair, dander, dirt and sometimes faecal traces into your sheets and blankets, increasing the frequency at which you should be washing them.



    Read more:
    There are benefits to sharing a bed with your pet — as long as you’re scrupulously clean

    So, how often should you wash your bedding?

    Sheets and pillowcases

    • When: Weekly, or every three to four days if you’ve been ill, sweat heavily, or share your bed with pets.

    • Why: To remove sweat, oils, microbes, allergens and dead skin cells.

    • How: Wash at 60°C or higher with detergent to kill bacteria and dust mites. For deeper sanitisation, tumble dry or iron. To target dust mites inside pillows, freeze for at least 8 hours.

    Mattresses

    • When: Vacuum at least weekly and air the mattress every few days.

    • Why: Sweat increases moisture levels, creating a breeding ground for mites.

    • Tips: Use a plastic or allergen-proof mattress protector and replace the mattress every seven years to maintain hygiene and support.

    Pillow interiors

    Blankets and duvet covers

    • When: Every two weeks, or more often if pets sleep on them.

    • Why: They trap skin cells, sweat and allergens.

    • How: Wash at 60°C or as high as the care label allows. Some guidance recommends treating these like towels: regular and hot washes keep them hygienic.

    Duvets

    • When: Every three to four months, depending on usage and whether pets or children share your bed.

    • Why: Even with a cover, body oils and mites eventually seep into the filling.

    • How: Check the label: many duvets are machine-washable, others may require professional cleaning.

    Your bed may look clean – but it’s teeming with microbes, allergens, mites and irritants that build up fast. Washing your bedding isn’t just about keeping things fresh; it’s a matter of health.

    Regular laundering removes the biological soup of sweat, skin, dust and microbes, which helps to reduce allergic reactions, prevent infections and keep odours at bay. And as research continues to show the profound effect of sleep on everything from heart health to mental clarity, a hygienic sleep environment is a small but powerful investment in your wellbeing.

    So go ahead – strip the bed. Wash those sheets. Freeze your pillows. Your microbes (and your sinuses) will thank you.

    Sweet dreams – and happy laundering.

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

    – ref. How often should you really be washing your bedding? A microbiologist explains – https://theconversation.com/how-often-should-you-really-be-washing-your-bedding-a-microbiologist-explains-256516

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Parting by Sebastian Haffner: the forgotten German novel of the early 1930s that’s become a bestseller

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Andrea Hammel, Professor of German, Aberystwyth University

    Sebastian Haffner and his novel, Abschied (Parting). Wiki Commons/Canva, CC BY

    Abschied (Parting) by Sebastian Haffner (1907-1999) is dominating the bestseller charts in Germany. It has been published posthumously, over 25 years after his death, after the manuscript was found in a drawer.

    The novel is a love story between Raimund, a young non-Jewish German student of law from Berlin, and Teddy, a young Jewish woman from Vienna. Raimund and Teddy meet on August 31 1930 in Berlin and the novel covers the time they spend in Berlin and Paris together.

    Abschied was written between October 18 and November 23 1932, just before the Nazi takeover. It reads in the breathless, immediate manner in which it was clearly conceived. It also gives a personal insight into the zeitgeist of the final months of the Weimar Republic.

    Haffner was born Raimund Pretzel in Berlin, where he trained as a lawyer. He disagreed with the Nazi regime and emigrated to London in 1938. There, in order to protect his family in Germany from potential Nazi retribution he changed his name.

    Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here.

    It is estimated that around 80,000 German-speaking refugees from Nazism lived in the UK by September 1939. Most of these refugees were Jewish, but there was also a sizeable number who, like Haffner, had fled for political reasons. Many politically committed exiles arrived soon after 1933 but this was not the case for Haffner. In the 1930s he was busy being a young man in Berlin, training as a lawyer and enjoying himself.

    Haffner’s father was an educationalist who had a library with 10,000 volumes. As a young man Haffner liked reading, and toyed with the idea of becoming a writer and journalist, but his father advised him to study law and aim for a career in the civil service. Political developments in Germany made this option increasingly unpalatable. Initially Haffner found it difficult to see a way out. As he wrote in Defying Hitler: “Daily life […] made it difficult to see the situation clearly.”

    In the book he also describes how he and other Germans acquiesced to the new regime. Haffner was disgusted with his own reaction to the SA (the Nazi party’s private army) entering the library of the court building where he was a pupil, asking those present whether they were Aryan and throwing out Jewish members of the court.

    When questioned by an SA man, Haffner replied that he was indeed Aryan and felt immediately ashamed: “A moment too late I felt the shame, the defeat. I had said, ‘Yes’. […] What a humiliation to have answered the unjustified question whether I was Aryan so easily, even if the fact was of no importance to me.” Haffner never really took up his career as a lawyer, because it would have meant upholding Nazi laws and Nazi justice. Instead he started working as a journalist and writer, first in Germany and after his escape in 1938 in the UK.

    Life in the UK

    Soon after his arrival in the UK, Haffner finished a book titled Defying Hitler (1939). The memoir was both autobiographical and a political history of the period – but after the outbreak of the second world war it was considered not polemical enough, and was dismissed as an unsuitable explanation for the rise of Nazism at the time. But the intermingling of private and public history is of great interest to readers in the 21st century. Defying Hitler was published posthumously in German (2000) and in English (2003) and became a bestseller in both languages.

    After Defying Hitler, Haffner turned to writing another book, Germany: Jekyll and Hyde (1940). It was more clearly anti-Nazi and focused on his journalism – during the war, he worked for the Foreign Office on anti-Nazi propaganda and he was later employed by The Observer as a political journalist. The book was a success, and Winston Churchill is said to have told his cabinet to read it.

    The handwritten manuscript for Abschied, which was never published in Haffner’s lifetime, was found in a drawer by his son Oliver Pretzel, some time after his father’s death.

    The German critic Volker Weidemann who wrote the epilogue to Parting toys with the idea that it was never published because its focus on the love story was considered a bit too trivial for such a great writer. Thanks to his work for The Observer after 1941, Haffner was a well-regarded political journalist and historical biographer. He became the paper’s German correspondent in 1954, and was well known for his column in West Germany’s Stern magazine and for his biographies, including one on Churchill (1967).

    The perspective of a young non-Jewish German living a relatively ordinary life in the early 1930s makes Abschied a fascinating read. Academics have been exploring everyday life under Nazi rule for nearly half a century now, but it seems that modern readers are still keen to learn about it today.

    Perhaps the novel resonates with so many German readers because we live in a time where many struggle with the inevitable continuation of everyday life while politics is becoming ever more extraordinary.

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

    – ref. Parting by Sebastian Haffner: the forgotten German novel of the early 1930s that’s become a bestseller – https://theconversation.com/parting-by-sebastian-haffner-the-forgotten-german-novel-of-the-early-1930s-thats-become-a-bestseller-260154

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Why snappy dogs, scratchy cats, and hungry worms were part of a medieval woman’s vision of the afterlife

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Diane Watt, Professor of English, University of Surrey

    Detail from The Mouth of Hell in The Hours of Catherine of Cleves (1440). The Morgan Library & Museum

    The afterlife is not typically associated with aggressive pets and insatiable worms. But these are exactly the creatures that appeared to an unnamed woman recluse living in Winchester, England, over the course of three nights in the summer of 1422. The woman was an anchoress. That means she had chosen – and subsequently vowed – to live in solitary confinement within a small cell attached to a church for the rest of her life.

    The recluse wrote a vivid account of her vision and sent it to her confessor and a circle of influential churchmen. Her letter, known today as A Revelation of Purgatory, makes her one of the earliest known women writers in the English language.

    Despite deserving this accolade, the Winchester recluse did not appear alongside her more famous contemporaries or near contemporaries, Julian of Norwich (1342 – after 1416) and Margery Kempe (circa  1373 – after 1438), in the British Library’s hugely successful recent exhibition, Medieval Women: In Their Own Words. One likely reason for this is that the manuscript copy of the full account of the vision was not available for display at the time. That situation has now changed.

    Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here.

    The British Library has just announced the purchase of five medieval manuscripts from Longleat House in Wiltshire. One of these manuscripts contains the complete surviving version of the recluse’s letter, which, although referred to in an incomplete version elsewhere as “a revelation recently shown to a holy woman”, is untitled in this particular manuscript. This may be another reason for this woman’s writing having been overlooked until very recently. This exciting purchase will hopefully now give the Winchester recluse and her writing the attention they deserve.

    Angels feeding souls through a purgatorial furnace in the 15th century manuscript Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry.
    Wikimedia Commons

    In her vivid, technicolor visions, the recluse watched a dead friend, a nun named Margaret, ushered to the forefront of purgatory by a cat and dog that she had adored and pampered when she was alive.

    Transformed into vicious satanic minions, Margaret’s former pets joined the many devils responsible for doling out her punishments. They tore endlessly at her flesh and bit and scratched her relentlessly. They did so to remind her that, as a nun, she had broken her vows by keeping them as her companions in her nunnery and by devoting too much love and attention to them.

    In Margaret’s heart, too, a voracious little worm had taken up residence – a so-called “worm of conscience” – that was intent on consuming her from the inside out as part of her torment.



    Read more:
    Cats in the middle ages: what medieval manuscripts teach us about our ancestors’ pets

    So deeply troubling was this vision of her friend’s suffering that the Winchester recluse immediately summoned her young maid, and the two women started to pray for the nun’s soul. On the very next day the recluse decided there was nothing for it but to document her visions of Margaret’s fate. She not only detailed all she had seen, but also stipulated which prayers, and how many, should be said on behalf of poor Margaret to deliver her from her suffering and help her reach the gates of heaven.

    The recluse’s letter is very specific about the date of these visions: they took place on St Lawrence’s day, August 10 1322, which fell on a Sunday that year. There was – and still is – a small church dedicated to this saint very close to the cathedral in Winchester (the so-called Mother Church of Winchester).

    As an anchoress, the author would almost certainly have occupied a cell attached to a church somewhere in Winchester. This would also have allowed her the time and the space for contemplation, study and writing.



    Read more:
    Dogs in the middle ages: what medieval writing tells us about our ancestors’ pets

    As has been argued in a recent blog and podcast for the University of Surrey’s Mapping Medieval Women Writers project, it is quite possible that the Church of St Lawrence was the location of her cell, where she experienced her visions, and where she wrote down her account of them.

    This manuscript now permanently joins an unparalleled collection of medieval women’s writing in England held in the British Library. It includes not only The Book of Margery Kempe, manuscripts of both the short and long texts of Julian of Norwich’s Revelations, but also the Lais and Fables of Marie de France, the Boke of Saints Albans attributed to Juliana Berners, and the letters of the 15th-century Norfolk gentlewoman Margaret Paston and other female family members.

    As such, the work of this unnamed Winchester anchoress now takes up its rightful place alongside the writing of her hitherto better-known literary sisters.

    Diane Watt has received funding from the AHRC, British Academy and Leverhulme Trust.

    Liz Herbert McAvoy received funding for an associated project from the Leverhulme Trust.

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

    – ref. Why snappy dogs, scratchy cats, and hungry worms were part of a medieval woman’s vision of the afterlife – https://theconversation.com/why-snappy-dogs-scratchy-cats-and-hungry-worms-were-part-of-a-medieval-womans-vision-of-the-afterlife-259409

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: ‘Pylon wars’ show why big energy plans need locals on board

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Simone Abram, Professor in the Department of Anthropology, Director of Durham Energy Institute, Durham University

    David Iliff / shutterstock

    Thousands of new electricity pylons are to be built across parts of England under the government’s plans to decarbonise the electricity. And some people aren’t happy.

    A glance at recent Daily Telegraph articles seem to suggest most of the genteel English countryside is about to be taken over by evil metal monsters. Headlines talk of “noisy” pylons set to “scythe through” “unspoiled countryside”, leading to a “pylon penalty” for house prices and even “mass social unrest”.

    While some of the stories are rather over the top, they reflect a genuine unease, and there have been significant campaigns against pylons. In Suffolk, for instance, resistance is building against plans for a 114-mile-long transmission line connecting new offshore wind farms to Norwich and beyond.

    So why do these towering steel structures evoke such powerful feelings?

    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.

    Pylons have had a particular fascination since they were first introduced in the 1920s. Even then, the biggest challenge was to get “wayleaves” (permission) to cross farmland. To calm rural protest groups, the government’s electricity board commissioned an architect, Reginald Blomfield, to design transmission towers with an eye to “visual amenity”.

    Pylon cleaning, 1946.
    Smith Archive / Alamy

    In the most protected areas, expensive underground cabling was used to hide the transmission lines altogether. The board used its copious marketing materials to emphasise that this option was around six times more expensive, and therefore only for exceptional use. By the 1940s pylons were much cheaper than underground cables, providing a techno-economic rationale that remains politically persuasive today.

    Why we love the countryside

    One reason pylons are so controversial is related to a particularly English fascination with landscape. The geographer David Matless wrote some years ago of the “powerful historical connection” between Englishness and a vision of its countryside. People feel a degree of ownership over a varied landscape, encompassing lowland and upland, north and south, picturesque and bleak, and often have strong opinions about what “fits”, what constitutes “heritage” and what is “out of place”.

    Even if most of England is privately owned and commercially farmed, many people still imagine the land as a public good tied to national sentiments and see pylons as intruders in the landscape.

    Intruders? Pylons in England’s Peak District.
    Martin Charles Hatch / shutterstock

    This could also explain why proposals to build infrastructure across the English countryside often provoke significant objections. My research on planning in the Home Counties (the areas surrounding London) back in the 1990s revealed a very determined population of well-educated and well-resourced people willing to spend significant amounts of time and money ensuring that the landscape met their expectations.

    Concerted efforts had seen off a proposal from the then Conservative government to build a motorway through the Chiltern Hills to the west of London, for example.

    There were, and still are, innumerable village groups willing to turn up to public enquiries and to pay lawyers to launch appeals and legal challenges. They may have been sceptical of the more grungy road protesters (historically embodied by the indomitable Swampy), but there was certainly common purpose.

    My conclusion at the time was never to underestimate the effectiveness of local action where people’s vision of the English countryside was challenged. More recently, plans to run the HS2 rail line through those same hills ran into fierce local opposition, which prompted significant redesigns.

    That’s all well and good, but today we face catastrophic climate change and biodiversity loss. Wind turbines are one of the most effective ways to decarbonise electricity supplies, but they are in different places from the old coal and gas power stations. Ironically, the same love of landscape that pushed wind farms out to sea now fuels opposition to the cables that bring the power back to land.

    Democratic decisions?

    One of the challenges here is that decisions over things like high-voltage transmission lines are based on models that seek to “optimise” the design of equipment, on the basis of cost or effectiveness, or both. These models have no way to account for landscape and heritage value or aesthetics and should never be the sole basis for decisions about infrastructure.

    Running pylons across Suffolk might be the cheapest route with least electrical loss, but is it the best option? What would the alternatives be? Starting the discussion from the basis of techno-economic modelling often preempts a properly balanced debate.

    This isn’t an argument for or against big pylons. It’s a call for more democratic planning and not less.

    Studies consistently show that people resent being excluded from decisions that reshape their landscape and environment. Planning is a political process, and in any such process, humiliating your opponent rarely leads to long-term harmony.

    Top down decisions about “national infrastructure” may save time on paper but are not a good way to make progress. It appears autocratic and shifts objectors onto the streets or into the courts.

    Real consultation takes time and effort. But it builds trust and leads to better outcomes.

    Maybe pylons are the least-worst option. Maybe not. But we won’t know unless we ask – and listen.

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

    Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead. Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. Join the 45,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.

    Simone Abram receives funding from EPSRC for research on integrated energy systems and equality, diversity and inclusion in energy research. She received funding from the Norwegian Research Council for research on socially-inclusive energy transitions. Her Chair is co-funded by Ørsted UK but she does not represent the company in any way and any views expressed here remain independent.

    – ref. ‘Pylon wars’ show why big energy plans need locals on board – https://theconversation.com/pylon-wars-show-why-big-energy-plans-need-locals-on-board-258877

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: What research on sexting reveals about how men and women think about consent

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Rikke Amundsen, Lecturer in Digital Media and Culture , King’s College London

    Nicoleta Ionescu/Shutterstock

    Sexting – the creating and exchanging of sexual texts, photos and videos – has become part of many people’s sexual and romantic lives. In an age where interpersonal relations often take place through digital technology, particularly since the pandemic, understanding sexting can help us better understand intimacy.

    Discussions around this topic inevitably involve concerns about sexual consent, and violation of it. One frequent concern is the risk of intimate image abuse, where private sexual images are shared without the consent of the person depicted. Another is the risk of receiving unsolicited or non-consensual “dick pics”.

    These violations can and do affect people of any gender identity. But research suggests that both types of violation particularly affect girls and women, who are more likely to be victims of the non-consensual further sharing of intimate images and to receive unsolicited dick pics. Girls are also more likely than boys to report feeling pressured into sending nudes or other sexual content.

    In my research, I have explored how men and women experience and navigate consent when sexting in heterosexual relationships.

    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.

    I have found that consent is central to the sexting practices of both women and men, but that they approach it differently. Overall, the women I spoke to were most concerned about the risk of having their consent violated. The men, on the other hand, were more worried about the risk of accidentally violating the consent of the person they were sexting with.

    Women’s experiences

    Between June 2016 and February 2017, I interviewed 44 women about their use of digital media and technology in their romantic and sexual relations. A core part of this involved discussion about their experiences of sexting. Our conversations focused especially on their experiences of sexting with men, and on their notions of intimacy, risk and trust.

    My participants primarily saw mitigating the risk of intimate image abuse as an individual responsibility. In other words, these women saw themselves as responsible for ensuring that their consent was not violated by a sexting partner.

    They reflected on the importance of women taking charge to protect themselves. For example, by not placing their trust in the “wrong” kind of person when sexting. Many employed tactics to reduce risk, from not showing their face in an image, to establishing close connections with the friends and family of their sexting partner.

    As one participant in her mid-20s explained: “I do try to meet their family and friends beforehand, just so, if anything does happen, I can kind of go and tell his mum.”

    Just as the women focused on their individual responsibility for reducing risk, they also understood men as individually responsible for the sexism of sending unsolicited dick pics. Overall, they saw it as an issue of some men behaving badly, rather than part of a broader, systemic issue. This view differs from that of scholars in this area, who have linked non-consensual dick pics to wider misogyny and social issues like rape culture.

    Men’s experiences

    The 15 interviews I conducted with men took place between May 2022 and May 2023, five years after the interviews with women. During these intervening years, the #MeToo movement gained global reach. This movement raised awareness about the widespread, social and structural issues that lead to sexual consent violations and abuse of power in sexual relations.

    This research, the findings of which will be published in a forthcoming book chapter, coincided with what many have recognised as a backlash to #MeToo. This backlash (in politics, entertainment and wider society) has manifested in, for example, the advance of the manosphere and crackdowns on sexual and reproductive rights.

    Only one participant mentioned #MeToo specifically, noting its role in putting sexual consent on the agenda. However, it was clear that the rapidly changing and tumultuous social and political landscape regarding sexual consent informed the mens’ experiences.

    One participant in his late thirties stressed how an interest in consent was what made him want to participate in an interview. He said: “I’ve grown up through a period where … understanding about consent has changed a lot. Men of my age … I just think we’re very ill prepared for the expectations of modern society.”

    My women participants had been most concerned to protect themselves from having their consent violated. But the men appeared to be most worried about the possibility that they might violate a woman’s consent by not having ensured sexual consent when sexting.

    Some participants struggled with managing what they understood as conflicting messages regarding women’s expectations of men when sexting. For some, it meant avoiding sexting they saw as “risky”. For others, it meant continuously establishing consent by checking in with a partner.

    Moving forward

    Overall, my interviews revealed that both men and women take consent seriously, and are eager to prevent its violation.

    This is something I explored further in workshops with other researchers, relevant charities and stakeholders. Our discussions, summarised in the Consent in Digital Sexual Cultures report, stress the importance of creating room (for young men especially) to explore ideas around consent without worrying about social repercussions.

    Charities like Beyond Equality and Fumble are already creating spaces for such discussions in their meetings with young people at school, in the university and online. We also need to see more of these discussions taking place in the home, at government level and through collaboration with tech companies.

    Navigating consent in sexual relationships has long been a fraught task for many. Digital technology has created new opportunities for sexual interaction, but also for the violation of consent. We need spaces for dialogue, to help us figure out – together – what good sexual consent practice is and should look like, for everyone involved.

    Rikke Amundsen has received a British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grant with reference number
    SRG2223230389. This grant covered the costs of the research outlined in the Consent in Digital Sexual Cultures Report.

    – ref. What research on sexting reveals about how men and women think about consent – https://theconversation.com/what-research-on-sexting-reveals-about-how-men-and-women-think-about-consent-254760

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Wimbledon and British Open competitors aren’t the only ones at risk of these common elbow injuries

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Dan Baumgardt, Senior Lecturer, School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, University of Bristol

    Even those who don’t play sports are at risk of tennis elbow. didesign021/ Shutterstock

    Professional athletes from around the world spend years training to compete in some of the UK’s biggest summer sporting tournaments: Wimbledon and the British Open. But not all tournament hopefuls will make it to the finals — and some may even be forced to drop out due to a variety of sporting injuries, from torn anterior cruciates to strained shoulders.

    Their elbows are at risk too. In fact, two of the most common reasons for elbow pain relate to sporting injuries — the aptly named (and dreaded) tennis and golfer’s elbow.

    But it isn’t just professional athletes who are at risk of developing these common elbow injuries. Even those of us sitting on the sidelines or watching from our couches can find ourselves struck down by them – even if we don’t participate in either of these sports.

    In general practice, we see patients with elbow conditions fairly frequently. Elbows can become swollen as a result of repetitive strain, gout and can be fractured by a fall.

    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.

    Tennis and golfer’s elbow are also common reasons people visit their GP. Both share root causes, arising from inflammation and degeneration of the forearm tendons, which attach either side of the elbow. These typically cause pain on the sides of the joint, which can radiate down the affected side toward the wrist. Establishing which side is injured is crucial to diagnosis.

    The reason these conditions are associated with sports is because of the actions that are typical when playing them – the same actions which can result in injury.

    Take tennis and one of its killer moves: a lethal backhand stroke, which was part of the tournament-winning arsenal of champions such as Roger Federer, Justine Henin and Stan Wawrinka. Tennis elbow seems to be more strongly associated with the one-handed backhand, affecting the outer side of the elbow.

    The cause of tennis elbow can be pinpointed to a poor technique in the backhand stroke or grip. Problems with equipment, such as an incorrectly strung or a too-heavy racquet, might also exacerbate the problem.

    Notably, this problem is actually observed less frequently in professional players compared to recreational players. This is probably because of their expertise, form and access to the best equipment and physiotherapy.

    Golfer’s elbow refers to pain on the inner side, closest to the body. One action that can cause it is the golfer’s swing, where the player contracts their arm muscles to control the trajectory of the club. Doing so with poor technique or incorrect grip can irritate and damage the tendons. The golfer’s swing uses different muscles to a backhand stroke, so the injury occurs on the opposite side of the elbow.

    Both conditions have some overlapping symptoms despite affecting different tendons. For instance, some patients may note pain when using their wrist – such as turning a doorknob or shaking someone’s hand. It can be also be present at rest too – affecting other simple functions, such as using a keyboard.

    Tennis elbow is around five to ten times more common than golfer’s elbow, since these tendons are used more frequently in sport and daily life.

    Confusingly, the conditions are actually not exclusive to these sports. Some golfers can develop tennis elbow, while some tennis players can develop golfer’s elbow. This is because both games feature a combination of techniques that can affect the tendons on either side.

    Other sports that might also lead to a similar type of elbow injury include throwing sports (such as javelin), and batting or other racket sports – including baseball, cricket or squash. Weightlifting moves such as deadlifts, rows and overhead presses can also put considerable strain on the elbows too.

    Construction workers may be at particular risk of developing tennis or golfer’s elbow.
    PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/ Shutterstock

    You can even develop golfer’s or tennis elbow without taking part in either of these sports. Certain hobbies and occupations which strain or damage the tendons come into play here. Workers who are heavy lifters or use vibrating machinery, such as carpenters, sheet metal workers or pneumatic drill operators, are prime candidates.

    Treating a sore elbow

    If you develop golfer’s or tennis elbow, standard protocol is to “rice” – rest, ice, compress and elevate. Painkillers such as paracetamol and ibuprofen can also help. In many cases, symptoms resolve themselves within a few weeks.

    Depending on the severity of the injury, you may also be sent to physiotherapy or given an elbow support or splint. For really severe cases that aren’t getting better with the usual remedies, more invasive treatment is needed.

    Steroid injections into the affected area can act to reduce inflammation – but have variable effects, working better for some patients than for others.

    Autologous blood injection is a therapy where blood is taken from the patient and then re-injected into the space around the elbow. The thought behind this rather odd-sounding treatment is that the blood induces healing within the damaged tendon. The method is now undergoing a renaissance – and a variation of it, which uses platelet-rich plasma derived from the blood sample.

    Surgery is possible, too – but is generally reserved for severe, non-responsive cases or those where a clear anatomical problem (such as damaged tendons or tissue) are causing the symptoms.

    Whether or not you’re a tennis or golf pro, persistent elbow pain isn’t normal. It’s best to speak to your doctor to figure out the cause so you can get back to the court or putting green.

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

    – ref. Wimbledon and British Open competitors aren’t the only ones at risk of these common elbow injuries – https://theconversation.com/wimbledon-and-british-open-competitors-arent-the-only-ones-at-risk-of-these-common-elbow-injuries-260337

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Do women have to pee more often? The answer is surprisingly complex

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Michelle Spear, Professor of Anatomy, University of Bristol

    MyImages – Micha/Shutterstock.com

    “Are we stopping again already?” It’s a familiar complaint on family road trips and one that’s often aimed at women. From sitcoms to stand-up routines, the idea that women have smaller bladders has become a cultural punchline. But is it anatomically accurate?

    The short answer? Not really. The full picture reveals a more complex – and far more interesting – interplay between anatomy, physiology and social conditioning. Women might feel like they need to go more often, but their actual bladder size isn’t significantly different.

    The bladder is a muscular balloon engineered for flexibility. Two key features make this possible: the detrusor muscle and transitional epithelium.

    The detrusor is a layer of smooth muscle that forms the bladder wall. Its unusual elasticity – a quality known as compliance – allows it to stretch without triggering constant “full” signals. When nature calls, it contracts forcefully to empty the bladder.

    An inner lining, the transitional epithelium, behaves like biological origami, it stretches and flattens to accommodate expanding volume, all while shielding underlying tissues from the toxic contents of stored urine.

    Thanks to this clever design, your bladder can expand and contract throughout a lifetime without tearing, losing tone, or sounding false alarms – most of the time.

    So where does sex come into it?

    In structural terms, male and female bladders are more alike than different. Both comfortably hold around 400–600 millilitres of urine. What surrounds the bladder can influence sensation and urgency, and this is where the differences begin.

    In men, the bladder nestles above the prostate and in front of the rectum. In women, it sits in a more crowded pelvic compartment, sharing space with the uterus and vagina. During pregnancy, the growing uterus can compress the bladder – hence the dash to the loo every 20 minutes in the third trimester.

    Even outside pregnancy, spatial constraints may mean the bladder triggers a sense of urgency earlier. Some studies suggest women are more likely to feel bladder fullness at lower volumes – possibly due to hormonal influences, increased sensory input or the dynamic relationship between pelvic floor support and bladder stretch.

    The pelvic floor – a sling of muscles supporting the bladder, uterus and bowel – is crucial. In women, it can be weakened by childbirth, hormonal shifts or simply time, altering the coordination between holding on and letting go.



    Read more:
    Pelvic floor dysfunction: what every woman should know

    Much of that control hinges on the external urethral sphincter – a ring of voluntary muscle that acts as the bladder’s gatekeeper, helping you wait for a socially convenient time to void.

    A part of the pelvic floor complex, and like any muscle, it can lose tone or be retrained. Meanwhile, urinary tract infections (more common in women due to a shorter urethra) can leave the bladder hypersensitive, upping the frequency of urination even after the infection has passed.

    The pelvic floor can be weakened by childbirth.
    PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock.com

    Anatomy is only half the story

    Toileting habits can vary across cultures. But from a young age, many girls are often taught to “go, just in case” or avoid public toilets. These habits can train the bladder to empty prematurely, reducing its capacity to stretch.

    Meanwhile, boys are often given more leeway – or encouraged to wait. Anyone who has ever “hovered” over a toilet seat will also recognise that hygiene concerns will influence behaviour. Over time, the bladder learns. You can’t change its size, but you can train its tolerance.

    Bladder training, a technique championed by the NHS and the British Association of Urological Surgeons, involves gradually increasing the time between toilet trips. This helps reset the feedback loop between bladder and brain, restoring capacity and reducing the sensation of urgency.

    Often combined with pelvic floor exercises, it’s an effective, non-invasive way to take back control – especially for those with overactive bladder syndrome or stress incontinence.

    So women may not have smaller bladders, but they may have less room to manoeuvre, both anatomically and socially. The next time someone rolls their eyes at a toilet stop, remind them: it’s not about weak willpower or tiny tanks. It’s about anatomy, habit and hormones.

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

    – ref. Do women have to pee more often? The answer is surprisingly complex – https://theconversation.com/do-women-have-to-pee-more-often-the-answer-is-surprisingly-complex-258374

    MIL OSI Analysis –