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Category: Analysis

  • MIL-OSI Global: It’s not just ‘chronic fatigue’: ME/CFS is much more than being tired

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Sarah Annesley, Senior Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Cell and Molecular Biology, La Trobe University

    Edwin Tan/Getty

    Myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is as complex as its name is difficult to pronounce. It’s sometimes referred to as simply “chronic fatigue”, but this is just one of its symptoms.

    In fact, ME/CFS is a complex neurological disease, recognised by the World Health Organization, that affects nearly every system in the body.

    The name refers to muscle pain (myalgia), inflammation of the brain (encephalomyelitis), and a profound, disabling fatigue that rest can’t relieve.

    However, the illness’s complexity – and its disproportionate impact on women – means ME/CFS has often been incorrectly labelled as a psychological disorder.

    What is ME/CFS?

    ME/CFS affects people of all ages but is most commonly diagnosed in middle age. It is two to three times more common in women than men.

    While the exact cause is unknown, ME/CFS is commonly triggered by an infection.

    The condition has two core symptoms: a disabling, long-lasting fatigue that rest doesn’t relieve, and a worsening of symptoms after physical or mental exertion.

    This is known as post-exertional malaise. It means even slight exertion can make symptoms much worse, and take much longer than expected to recover.

    This varies between people, but could mean simply having a shower or attending a social event triggers worse symptoms, either immediately or days later.

    These symptoms include pain, sleep issues, cognitive difficulties (such as thinking, memory and decision-making), flu-like symptoms, dizziness, gastrointestinal problems, heart rate fluctuations and many more.

    For some people, symptoms can be managed in a way that allows them to work. For others, the disease is so severe it can leave them housebound or bedridden.

    Symptoms can fluctuate, changing over time and in intensity, making ME/CFS a particularly unpredictable and misunderstood condition.

    Not just ‘in your head’

    A growing body of scientific evidence, however, clearly shows ME/CFS is a biological, not mental, illness.

    Neuroimaging studies have revealed differences in the brain activity and structure of people with ME/CFS, including poor blood flow and lower levels of neurotransmitters (chemical messengers in the nervous system).

    Other research indicates the condition affects how the body produces energy (the metabolism), fights infection (the immune system), delivers oxygen to muscles and tissues, and regulates blood pressure and heart rate (the vascular system).

    Issues with criteria

    To diagnose ME/CFS, a clinician will also exclude other possible causes of fatigue, which can be a lengthy process. A patient needs to meet a set of clinical criteria.

    But one of the major challenges in researching ME/CFS is that the diagnostic criteria clinicians use vary worldwide.

    Some criteria focus solely on fatigue and include people with alternate reasons for fatigue, such as a psychiatric disorder.

    Others are more narrow and may only capture ME/CFS patients with more severe symptoms.

    As a result, it can be very difficult to compare across different studies, as the reasons they include or exclude participants vary so much.

    Changes to the guidelines

    In Australia, doctors often receive little formal education about ME/CFS.

    Most commonly, they follow the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners’ clinical guidelines to diagnose and manage ME/CFS. These are based on the Canadian Consensus Criteria which are considered more stringent than other ME/CFS diagnostic criteria.

    They include post-exertional malaise and fatigue for more than six months as core symptoms.

    However, these guidelines are outdated and rely heavily on controversial studies that assumed the primary cause of ME/CFS was “deconditioning” – a loss of physical strength due to a fear or avoidance of exercise.

    These guidelines recommend ME/CFS should be treated with cognitive behavioural therapy – a common psychotherapy which focuses on changing unhealthy thoughts and behaviours – and graded exercise therapy, which gradually introduces more demanding physical activity.

    While cognitive behaviour therapy can be effective for some people managing ME/CFS, it’s important not to frame this condition primarily as a psychological issue.

    Graded exercise therapy can encourage people to push beyond their “energy envelope”, which means they do more than their body can manage. This can trigger post-exertional malaise and a worsening of symptoms.

    In June 2024, the Australian government announced A$1.1 million towards developing new clinical guidelines for diagnosing and managing ME/CFS.

    Leading organisations have scrapped the recommendation of graded exercise therapy in the United States (in 2015) and the United Kingdom (in 2021). Hopefully Australia will follow suit.

    What can people with ME/CFS do?

    While we wait for updated clinical guidelines, “pacing” – or working within your energy envelope – has shown some success in managing symptoms. This means monitoring and limiting how much energy you expend.

    Some evidence also suggests people who rest in the early stages of their initial illness often experience better long-term outcomes with ME/CFS.

    This is especially relevant after the COVID pandemic and with the emergence of long COVID. Studies indicate more than half of those affected meet stringent clinical criteria for ME/CFS.

    In times of acute illness we should resist the temptation to push through. Choosing to rest may be a crucial step in preventing a condition that is much more debilitating than the original infection.

    Sarah Annesley receives funding from The Judith Jane Mason & Harold Stannett Williams Memorial Foundation and ME Research UK (SCIO charity number SCO36942).

    – ref. It’s not just ‘chronic fatigue’: ME/CFS is much more than being tired – https://theconversation.com/its-not-just-chronic-fatigue-me-cfs-is-much-more-than-being-tired-258803

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: It’s not just ‘chronic fatigue’: ME/CFS is much more than being tired

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Sarah Annesley, Senior Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Cell and Molecular Biology, La Trobe University

    Edwin Tan/Getty

    Myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is as complex as its name is difficult to pronounce. It’s sometimes referred to as simply “chronic fatigue”, but this is just one of its symptoms.

    In fact, ME/CFS is a complex neurological disease, recognised by the World Health Organization, that affects nearly every system in the body.

    The name refers to muscle pain (myalgia), inflammation of the brain (encephalomyelitis), and a profound, disabling fatigue that rest can’t relieve.

    However, the illness’s complexity – and its disproportionate impact on women – means ME/CFS has often been incorrectly labelled as a psychological disorder.

    What is ME/CFS?

    ME/CFS affects people of all ages but is most commonly diagnosed in middle age. It is two to three times more common in women than men.

    While the exact cause is unknown, ME/CFS is commonly triggered by an infection.

    The condition has two core symptoms: a disabling, long-lasting fatigue that rest doesn’t relieve, and a worsening of symptoms after physical or mental exertion.

    This is known as post-exertional malaise. It means even slight exertion can make symptoms much worse, and take much longer than expected to recover.

    This varies between people, but could mean simply having a shower or attending a social event triggers worse symptoms, either immediately or days later.

    These symptoms include pain, sleep issues, cognitive difficulties (such as thinking, memory and decision-making), flu-like symptoms, dizziness, gastrointestinal problems, heart rate fluctuations and many more.

    For some people, symptoms can be managed in a way that allows them to work. For others, the disease is so severe it can leave them housebound or bedridden.

    Symptoms can fluctuate, changing over time and in intensity, making ME/CFS a particularly unpredictable and misunderstood condition.

    Not just ‘in your head’

    A growing body of scientific evidence, however, clearly shows ME/CFS is a biological, not mental, illness.

    Neuroimaging studies have revealed differences in the brain activity and structure of people with ME/CFS, including poor blood flow and lower levels of neurotransmitters (chemical messengers in the nervous system).

    Other research indicates the condition affects how the body produces energy (the metabolism), fights infection (the immune system), delivers oxygen to muscles and tissues, and regulates blood pressure and heart rate (the vascular system).

    Issues with criteria

    To diagnose ME/CFS, a clinician will also exclude other possible causes of fatigue, which can be a lengthy process. A patient needs to meet a set of clinical criteria.

    But one of the major challenges in researching ME/CFS is that the diagnostic criteria clinicians use vary worldwide.

    Some criteria focus solely on fatigue and include people with alternate reasons for fatigue, such as a psychiatric disorder.

    Others are more narrow and may only capture ME/CFS patients with more severe symptoms.

    As a result, it can be very difficult to compare across different studies, as the reasons they include or exclude participants vary so much.

    Changes to the guidelines

    In Australia, doctors often receive little formal education about ME/CFS.

    Most commonly, they follow the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners’ clinical guidelines to diagnose and manage ME/CFS. These are based on the Canadian Consensus Criteria which are considered more stringent than other ME/CFS diagnostic criteria.

    They include post-exertional malaise and fatigue for more than six months as core symptoms.

    However, these guidelines are outdated and rely heavily on controversial studies that assumed the primary cause of ME/CFS was “deconditioning” – a loss of physical strength due to a fear or avoidance of exercise.

    These guidelines recommend ME/CFS should be treated with cognitive behavioural therapy – a common psychotherapy which focuses on changing unhealthy thoughts and behaviours – and graded exercise therapy, which gradually introduces more demanding physical activity.

    While cognitive behaviour therapy can be effective for some people managing ME/CFS, it’s important not to frame this condition primarily as a psychological issue.

    Graded exercise therapy can encourage people to push beyond their “energy envelope”, which means they do more than their body can manage. This can trigger post-exertional malaise and a worsening of symptoms.

    In June 2024, the Australian government announced A$1.1 million towards developing new clinical guidelines for diagnosing and managing ME/CFS.

    Leading organisations have scrapped the recommendation of graded exercise therapy in the United States (in 2015) and the United Kingdom (in 2021). Hopefully Australia will follow suit.

    What can people with ME/CFS do?

    While we wait for updated clinical guidelines, “pacing” – or working within your energy envelope – has shown some success in managing symptoms. This means monitoring and limiting how much energy you expend.

    Some evidence also suggests people who rest in the early stages of their initial illness often experience better long-term outcomes with ME/CFS.

    This is especially relevant after the COVID pandemic and with the emergence of long COVID. Studies indicate more than half of those affected meet stringent clinical criteria for ME/CFS.

    In times of acute illness we should resist the temptation to push through. Choosing to rest may be a crucial step in preventing a condition that is much more debilitating than the original infection.

    Sarah Annesley receives funding from The Judith Jane Mason & Harold Stannett Williams Memorial Foundation and ME Research UK (SCIO charity number SCO36942).

    – ref. It’s not just ‘chronic fatigue’: ME/CFS is much more than being tired – https://theconversation.com/its-not-just-chronic-fatigue-me-cfs-is-much-more-than-being-tired-258803

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Who are Iran’s allies? And would any help if the US joins Israel in its war?

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

    As Israel continues its attacks on Iran, US President Donald Trump and other global leaders are hardening their stance against the Islamic Republic.

    While considering a US attack on Iran’s nuclear sites, Trump has threatened Iran’s supreme leader, claiming to know his location and calling him “an easy target”. He has demanded “unconditional surrender” from Iran.

    Meanwhile, countries such as Germany, Canada, the UK and Australia have toughened their rhetoric, demanding Iran fully abandon its nuclear program.

    So, as the pressure mounts on Iran, has it been left to fight alone? Or does it have allies that could come to its aid?

    Has Iran’s ‘axis of resistance’ fully collapsed?

    Iran has long relied on a network of allied paramilitary groups across the Middle East as part of its deterrence strategy. This approach has largely shielded it from direct military strikes by the US or Israel, despite constant threats and pressure.

    This so-called “axis of resistance” includes groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) in Iraq, the Houthi militants in Yemen, as well as Hamas in Gaza, which has long been under Iran’s influence to varying degrees. Iran also supported Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria before it was toppled last year.

    These groups have served both as a regional buffer and as a means for Iran to project power without direct engagement.

    However, over the past two years, Israel has dealt significant blows to the network.

    Hezbollah — once Iran’s most powerful non-state ally — has been effectively neutralised after months of attacks by Israel. Its weapons stocks were systematically targeted and destroyed across Lebanon. And the group suffered a major psychological and strategic loss with the assassination of its most influential leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

    In Syria, Iranian-backed militias have been largely expelled following the fall of Assad’s regime, stripping Iran of another key foothold in the region.

    That said, Iran maintains strong influence in Iraq and Yemen.

    The PMF in Iraq, with an estimated 200,000 fighters, remains formidable. The Houthis have similarly sized contingent of fighters in Yemen.

    Should the situation escalate into an existential threat to Iran — as the region’s only Shiite-led state — religious solidarity could drive these groups to become actively involved. This would rapidly expand the war across the region.

    The PMF, for instance, could launch attacks on the 2,500 US troops stationed in Iraq. Indeed, the head of Kata’ib Hezbollah, one of the PMF’s more hardline factions, promised to do so:

    If America dares to intervene in the war, we will directly target its interests and military bases spread across the region without hesitation.

    Iran itself could also target US bases in the Persian Gulf countries with ballistic missiles, as well as close the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the world’s oil supply flows.

    Will Iran’s regional and global allies step in?

    Several regional powers maintain close ties with Iran. The most notable among them is Pakistan — the only Islamic country with a nuclear arsenal.

    For weeks, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has tried to align Iran more closely with Pakistan in countering Israel’s actions in Gaza.

    In a sign of Pakistan’s importance in the Israel-Iran war, Trump has met with the country’s army chief in Washington as he weighs a possible strike on its neighbour.

    Pakistan’s leaders have also made their allegiances very clear. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has offered Iran’s president “unwavering solidarity” in the “face of Israel’s unprovoked aggression”. And Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif recently said in an interview Israel will “think many times before taking on Pakistan”.

    These statements signal a firm stance without explicitly committing to intervention.

    Yet, Pakistan has also been working to de-escalate tensions. It has urged other Muslim-majority nations and its strategic partner, China, to intervene diplomatically before the violence spirals into a broader regional war.

    In recent years, Iran has also made diplomatic overtures to former regional rivals, such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt, in order to improve relations.

    These shifts have helped rally broader regional support for Iran. Nearly two dozen Muslim-majority countries — including some that maintain diplomatic relations with Israel — have jointly condemned Israel’s actions and urged de-escalation.

    It’s unlikely, though, that regional powers such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey would support Iran materially, given their strong alliances with the US.

    Iran’s key global allies, Russia and China, have also condemned Israel’s strikes. They have previously shielded Tehran from punitive resolutions at the UN Security Council.

    However, neither power appears willing — at least for now — to escalate the confrontation by providing direct military support to Iran or engaging in a standoff with Israel and the US.

    Theoretically, this could change if the conflict widens and Washington openly pursues a regime change strategy in Tehran. Both nations have major geopolitical and security interests in Iran’s stability. This is due to Iran’s long-standing “Look East” policy and the impact its instability could have on the region and the global economy.

    However, at the current stage, many analysts believe both are unlikely to get involved directly.

    Moscow stayed on the sidelines when Assad’s regime collapsed in Syria, one of Russia’s closest allies in the region. Not only is it focused on its war in Ukraine, Russia also wouldn’t want to endanger improving ties with the Trump administration.

    China has offered Iran strong rhetorical support, but history suggests it has little interest in getting directly involved in Middle Eastern conflicts.

    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. Who are Iran’s allies? And would any help if the US joins Israel in its war? – https://theconversation.com/who-are-irans-allies-and-would-any-help-if-the-us-joins-israel-in-its-war-259265

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Scrapping the national census raises data sovereignty and surveillance fears for Māori

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lara Greaves, Associate Professor of Politics, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington

    Getty Images

    Yesterday’s announcement that the five-yearly national census would be scrapped has raised difficult questions about the effectiveness, ethics and resourcing of the new “administrative” system that will replace it.

    An administrative census will use information collected in day-to-day government activities, such as emergency-room admission forms, overseas travel declarations and marriage licences.

    The move is not necessarily bad in principle, especially given the rising cost of the census and declining participation rates. But to make it effective and robust it must be properly resourced. And it must give effect to the principles of te Tiriti o Waitangi (Treaty of Waitangi), as set out in the Data and Statistics Act.

    The transformation process so far leaves considerable room for doubt that these things will happen. In particular, there are major ethical and Māori data sovereignty issues at stake.

    As Te Mana Raraunga (the Māori Data Sovereignty Network) advocates, data is a living taonga (treasure), is of strategic value to Māori, and should be subject to Māori governance. Changes to census methods risk compromising these values – and undermining public trust in the official statistics system in general.

    Because the new system takes census data gathering out of the hands of individual citizens and households, it also raises questions about state surveillance and social licence.

    Surveillance and social licence

    Surveillance means more than police stakeouts or phone-tapping. The state constantly collects and uses many kinds of data about us and our movements.

    For more than a decade, the Integrated Data Infrastructure has been the government’s tool to patch gaps in its own data ecosystems.

    This administrative data is collected without our direct and informed consent, and there is no real way to opt out. The safeguard is that information about individuals is “de-identified” once it enters the Integrated Data Infrastructure – no names, just data points.

    Stats NZ, which administers the system, says it has the social licence to collect, cross-reference and use this administrative data. But genuine social licence requires that people understand and accept how their data is being used.

    Stats NZ’s own research shows only around one in four people surveyed have enough knowledge about its activities to make an informed judgement.

    The risks associated with this form of surveillance are amplified for Māori because of their particular historical experience with data and surveillance. The Crown used data collection and monitoring systems to dispossess land and suppress cultural practices, which continue to disproportionately affect Māori communities today.

    Meaningful work to address this has taken place under the Mana Ōrite agreement, a partnership between Stats NZ and the Data Iwi Leaders Group (part of the National Iwi Chairs Forum). The agreement aims to solidify iwi authority over their own data and ensure Māori perspectives are heard in decision-making around data and statistics.

    Data and a distorted picture of Māori

    On the face of it, repurposing administrative data seems like a realistic solution to the census budget blowout. But there are questions about whether the data and methods used in an administrative census will be robust and of high quality. This has implications for policy and for communities.

    Administrative data in its current form is limited in many ways. In particular, it misses what is actually important to Māori communities, and what makes life meaningful to them.

    Administrative data often only measures problems. It is collected on Māori at their most vulnerable – when they’re in crisis, sick or struggling – which creates a distorted picture. In contrast, Te Kupenga (a survey by Stats NZ last run in 2018) included information by Māori and from a Māori cultural perspective that reflected lived realities.

    Before increasing reliance on administrative data, greater engagement with Māori will be needed to ensure a data system that gathers and provides reliable, quality data. It is especially important for smaller hapori Māori (Māori communities), which need the data to make decisions for their members.

    Stats NZ plans to partly fill the data void left by removing the traditional census with regular surveys. But the small sample size of surveys often makes it impossible to obtain reliable information on smaller groups, such as takatāpui (Māori of diverse gender and sexualities) or specific hapū or iwi groups.

    It is not clear the implications of this have been fully been worked through in the census change process. Nor is it clear whether the recommendations from Stats NZ’s Future Census Independent External Review Panel – from Māori and a range of experts – have been fully considered.

    This included crucial recommendations around commissioning an independent analysis informed by te Tiriti principles, meaningful engagement with iwi-Māori, and the continuing implementation of a Māori data governance model developed by Māori data experts.

    We are not opposed to updating the way in which census data is collected. But for the new approach to be just, ethical and legal will require it to adhere to te Tiriti o Waitangi and the relationship established in the Mana Ōrite agreement.

    Lara Greaves receives funding from the Royal Society of NZ, MBIE, and Horizon Europe. Lara is affiliated with Te Mana Raraunga-Māori Data Sovereignty Network.

    Ella Pēpi Tarapa-Dewes is affiliated with Te Mana Raraunga-Māori Data Sovereignty Network.

    Kiri West receives funding from Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga. She is affiliated with Te Mana Raraunga-Māori Data Sovereignty Network.

    Larissa Renfrew is affiliated with Te Mana Raraunga-Māori Data Sovereignty Network.

    – ref. Scrapping the national census raises data sovereignty and surveillance fears for Māori – https://theconversation.com/scrapping-the-national-census-raises-data-sovereignty-and-surveillance-fears-for-maori-259274

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Overhead power lines kill millions of birds a year. Scientists found a way to help cut the devastating toll

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Pay, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Natural Sciences, University of Tasmania

    Wolfram Steinberg/picture alliance via Getty Images

    Millions of birds are killed by power lines each year. Sometimes they collide with the lines when flying and are either electrocuted or fatally injured. Other times they are electrocuted when perching on power poles.

    Power line collisions are one of the leading causes of injury and death for large birds of prey. In Tasmania, an endangered population of wedge-tailed eagles lost 110 individuals to power lines between 2017 and 2023.

    New research I led, the first of its kind in Australia, used GPS tracking data to predict which power lines were most dangerous for these eagles.

    We hope the findings will help protect birds and other wildlife from overhead wires as electricity networks expand.

    Power lines and birds: a fatal mix

    Overhead power lines span more than 90 million kilometres of our planet. The network keeps growing as demand for electricity rises and renewable energy projects expand into new areas.

    In the United States alone, between 12 and 64 million birds are estimated to be killed by power lines each year. These deaths can damage populations of some species.

    Birds can also be killed when perched on poles – for example, if they stretch their wings and connect two energised parts.

    The economic costs can be considerable – disrupting electricity services, causing fires and damaging infrastructure.

    Energy companies can reduce the risks through various measures. They include attaching objects to power lines to make them more visible to birds, and redesigning poles to reduce the likelihood of electrocution.

    But these solutions can be expensive, and challenging to implement on a large scale. So, prioritising the riskiest power lines is the most cost-effective solution.

    The presence of bird carcasses has traditionally been used as a way to identify high-risk power lines. But this approach can give a biased picture, because people are more likely to find dead birds in accessible, less vegetated areas.

    New research by my colleagues and I explores a different approach.

    Tracking Tasmania’s wedgies

    We used GPS tracking of animal movements to predict which power lines were most dangerous for Tasmania’s wedge-tailed eagles.

    GPS tracking can record a bird’s location, altitude and speed – as frequently as every few seconds. This detailed information can show how birds behave around power lines, helping identify when and where they’re most at risk.

    In 2017, my colleagues and I attached lightweight GPS trackers to 23 Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagles, then analysed six years of tracking data. We identified more than 9,400 power line crossings at risky altitudes.

    We then linked these crossings to different landscape features. This allowed us to build a model predicting where eagles are most likely to cross power lines at dangerous heights across Tasmania.

    Power line crossings were most likely at or near open land, forest edges, rural residential developments, wet forest and freshwater sources. Risky crossings peaked in autumn and winter.

    Almost half of known collisions occurred on the 20% of Tasmania’s power line network with the highest risk.

    Importantly, we tested our predictions against locations where eagles had collided with power lines. The model accurately predicted many of these collision sites, confirming that areas with more low-flying eagle activity carry a greater risk of collisions.

    This means our model can not only pick up on known hotspots, but can reveal risky areas that would be missed if carcass records were used exclusively to identify risk. It also means dangerous power lines can be identified before birds have died.

    GPS information can show how birds behave around power lines.
    Julian Stratenschulte/picture alliance via Getty Images

    A powerful new tool

    Our research is part of a growing number of studies examining animal movement to improve wildlife management.

    Risky animal behaviours have been monitored using GPS trackers and then used to inform models predicting the risk of wildlife interactions with road vehicles, wind turbines and aircraft.

    Recently, GPS tracking data was used in Europe, North Africa and North America to map and reduce wildlife risks around power lines.

    Like ours, these studies can help guide where devices should be attached to lines and inform where new lines are built.

    GPS tracking data offers a powerful tool to guide the sustainable design of power lines, target mitigation efforts, and make our expanding energy infrastructure safer for wildlife.

    James Pay receives funding from the Australian Research Council (LP210200539), NRM South, Woolnorth Renewables, TasNetworks, the Bookend Trust, New Forests, Norske Skog, ACEN Renewables, Ark Energy and Goldwind Australia.

    – ref. Overhead power lines kill millions of birds a year. Scientists found a way to help cut the devastating toll – https://theconversation.com/overhead-power-lines-kill-millions-of-birds-a-year-scientists-found-a-way-to-help-cut-the-devastating-toll-258295

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: As the federal government fumbles on nature law reform, the states are forging ahead

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Phillipa C. McCormack, Future Making Fellow, Environment Institute, University of Adelaide

    Jakub Maculewicz, Shutterstock

    The South Australian parliament today passed a new law to conserve, restore and enhance biodiversity.

    It brings together native vegetation management, protection for native species and habitat, and conservation on private land. When introducing the bill to the Parliament, Deputy Premier Susan Close said:

    Just as South Australia has led the way on climate action, committing to net zero emissions by 2050, we must now take the same ambitious approach to biodiversity. (This) crucial piece of legislation … will modernise and strengthen protections for South Australia’s biodiversity to benefit us and our future generations.

    SA is not the first state to revise its nature laws. But this is the first environment law in years to be drafted from scratch in Australia. Rather than waiting for federal reform, SA has leapfrogged the protracted process. This new legislation achieves some things no Australian law has done before.

    National environment law reform has stalled

    This all comes at a time when the federal law reform is up in the air.

    The Albanese government failed to pass new national environment laws during its first term.

    Environment protection even went backwards just before the election. The rushed amendments limited powers to reconsider certain environment approvals when an activity is harming the environment.

    Last month, the new Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt said environmental law reform was a priority. Still, it may be difficult to get the essential ambitious national reforms over the line.

    In the meantime, state and territory governments are forging ahead.

    Time for states and territories to lead?

    The last state to write a new nature law was New South Wales, in 2016. But a scathing 2023 review of the law recommended a major overhaul.

    The NSW government committed to most of the recommendations, announcing big plans for nature law reforms in July last year. These plans include strengthening land-clearing codes, improving species protections and monitoring, and preparing a new “nature positive” strategy.

    So far, the NSW government has only managed to pass legislation to fix problems with biodiversity offsets. Offset schemes allow developers to compensate for their destruction of vital habitat with gains elsewhere.

    In Victoria, the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 was amended in 2019. These reforms inserted new principles around how the Act should be implemented, and a new approach to crucial habitat. The reforms also emphasised the need to improve species’ survival and adaptation to climate and environmental change.

    The Nature Conservation Act and strategy in the ACT are also due for review. Early consultation concluded in July 2024. A revised Act is likely to be released later this year.

    Does Australia really need two layers of environment laws?

    The short answer is yes, Australia needs both state and federal environment laws. But the interactions between the two could be managed better.

    The Australian Constitution doesn’t give the federal government explicit authority to make laws about the environment. That’s left to the states and territories, which means they make most laws about threatened species, waterways, native vegetation and protected areas.

    The federal government has an overarching responsibility to protect environments that are important to all of us, in national laws. We call these “matters of national environmental significance”.

    Some matters are significant because they involve Australia’s promises to the rest of the world. Australia has international obligations to protect world heritage areas and internationally significant wetlands, for example.

    Other matters cross state borders. The orange-bellied parrot, for instance, migrates across three states to find food and nesting sites.

    Individual states and territories do not have sufficient resources or the national perspective needed to protect these species and places.

    Why do the South Australian reforms matter?

    SA’s new Biodiversity Act does some things no Australian law has done before.

    For example, it looks beyond species and ecosystems, offering protection to so-called “ecological entities”. Regulations will be needed to define what an ecological entity is. But the concept may protect refuges where species shelter from extreme events. It might also offer a new way to protect important landscape features such as coastal dunes.

    Another new concept is “culturally significant biodiversity entities”. The Act defines a culturally significant biodiversity entity as:

    • a native species or ecological community
    • with cultural value to some or all Aboriginal people
    • which is critical to Aboriginal peoples’ relationships with and adaptation to Country.

    The Act also sets up a new Aboriginal Biodiversity Committee. That committee will co-develop policies with the minister. One of these policies will explain how culturally significant biodiversity entities will be identified and managed.

    Other policies will be developed in collaboration with the Aboriginal Biodiversity Committee. These include policies to guide cultural burning of native plants, or to consider and apply Aboriginal knowledge. At long last, Aboriginal people will have a “seat at the table”.

    SA becomes the third state (after NSW and Victoria) to mention climate change in its nature law. This is an important reform. Laws are needed to help nature survive more frequent and severe droughts, floods and fires.

    Environmental scientist and polar explorer Tim Jarvis on biodiversity (Department for Environment and Water)

    All hands on deck

    Australian environments are extraordinary, diverse and ancient. But Australia has long been an extinction hotspot. The continent’s ecosystems remain under serious pressure.

    Our environment laws must be clear and avoid complex clashes or gaps between national and state responsibilities. But SA, NSW, Victoria and soon the ACT show law reform can also be more ambitious. Nature laws can truly help the environment to flourish even as the climate changes.

    Phillipa C. McCormack receives funding from the Australian Research Council, Natural Hazards Research Australia, the National Environmental Science Program, Green Adelaide and the ACT Government. She is a member of the National Environmental Law Association and affiliated with the Wildlife Crime Research Hub and the Centre for Marine Socioecology.

    – ref. As the federal government fumbles on nature law reform, the states are forging ahead – https://theconversation.com/as-the-federal-government-fumbles-on-nature-law-reform-the-states-are-forging-ahead-257666

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Can a foreign government hack WhatsApp? A cybersecurity expert explains how that might work

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By David Tuffley, Senior Lecturer in Applied Ethics & CyberSecurity, Griffith University

    On The Back Of Camera/Shutterstock

    Earlier today, Iranian officials urged the country’s citizens to remove the messaging platform WhatsApp from their smartphones. Without providing any supporting evidence, they alleged the app gathers user information to send to Israel.

    WhatsApp has rejected the allegations. In a statement to Associated Press, the Meta-owned messaging platform said it was concerned “these false reports will be an excuse for our services to be blocked at a time when people need them most”. It added that it does not track users’ location nor the personal messages people are sending one another.

    It is impossible to independently assess the allegations, given Iran provided no publicly accessible supporting evidence.

    But we do know that even though WhatsApp has strong privacy and security features, it isn’t impenetrable. And there is at least one country that has previously been able to penetrate it: Israel.

    3 billion users

    WhatsApp is a free messaging app owned by Meta. With around 3 billion users worldwide and growing fast, it can send text messages, calls and media over the internet.

    It uses strong end-to-end encryption meaning only the sender and recipient can read messages; not even WhatsApp can access their content. This ensures strong privacy and security.

    Advanced cyber capability

    The United States is the world leader in cyber capability. This term describes the skills, technologies and resources that enable nations to defend, attack, or exploit digital systems and networks as a powerful instrument of national power.

    But Israel also has advanced cyber capability, ranking alongside the United Kingdom, China, Russia, France and Canada.

    Israel has a documented history of conducting sophisticated cyber operations. This includes the widely cited Stuxnet attack that targeted Iran’s nuclear program more than 15 years ago. Israeli cyber units, such as Unit 8200, are renowned for their technical expertise and innovation in both offensive and defensive operations.

    Seven of the top 10 global cybersecurity firms maintain R&D centers in Israel, and Israeli startups frequently lead in developing novel offensive and defensive cyber tools.

    A historical precedent

    Israeli firms have repeatedly been linked to hacking WhatsApp accounts, most notably through the Pegasus spyware developed by Israeli-based cyber intelligence company NSO Group. In 2019, it exploited WhatsApp vulnerabilities to compromise 1,400 users, including journalists, activists and politicians.

    Last month, a US federal court ordered the NSO Group to pay WhatsApp and Meta nearly US$170 million in damages for the hack.

    Another Israeli company, Paragon Solutions, also recently targeted nearly 100 WhatsApp accounts. The company used advanced spyware to access private communications after they had been de-encrypted.

    These kinds of attacks often use “spearphishing”. This is distinct from regular phishing attacks, which generally involve an attacker sending malicious links to thousands of people.

    Instead, spearphishing involves sending targeted, deceptive messages or files to trick specific individuals into installing spyware. This grants attackers full access to their devices – including de-encrypted WhatsApp messages.

    A spearphishing email might appear to come from a trusted colleague or organisation. It might ask the recipient to urgently review a document or reset a password, leading them to a fake login page or triggering a malware download.

    Protecting yourself from ‘spearphishing’

    To avoid spearphishing, people should scrutinise unexpected emails or messages, especially those conveying a sense of urgency, and never click suspicious links or download unknown attachments.

    Hovering the mouse cursor over a link will reveal the name of the destination. Suspicious links are those with strange domain names and garbled text that has nothing to do with the purported sender. Simply hovering without clicking is not dangerous.

    Enable two-factor authentication, keep your software updated, and verify requests coming through trusted channels. Regular cybersecurity training also helps users spot and resist these targeted attacks.

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

    – ref. Can a foreign government hack WhatsApp? A cybersecurity expert explains how that might work – https://theconversation.com/can-a-foreign-government-hack-whatsapp-a-cybersecurity-expert-explains-how-that-might-work-259261

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Are Israel’s actions in Iran illegal? Could it be called self-defence? An international law expert explains

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Shannon Bosch, Associate Professor (Law), Edith Cowan University

    Israel’s major military operation against Iran has targeted its nuclear program, including its facilities and scientists, as well as its military leadership.

    In response, the United Nations Security Council has quickly convened an emergency sitting. There, the Israeli ambassador to the UN Danny Danon defended Israel’s actions as a “preventative strike” carried out with “precision, purpose, and the most advanced intelligence”. It aimed, he said, to:

    dismantle Iran’s nuclear programme, eliminate the architects of its terror and aggression and neutralise the regime’s ability to follow through on its repeated public promise to destroy the state of Israel.

    So, what does international law say about self-defence? And were Israel’s actions illegal under international law?

    When is self-defence allowed?

    Article 2.4 of the UN charter states:

    All members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.

    There are only two exceptions:

    1. when the UN Security Council authorises force, and
    2. when a state acts in self-defence.

    This “inherent right of individual or collective self-defence”, as article 51 of the UN charter puts it, persists until the Security Council acts to restore international peace and security.

    So what’s ‘self-defence’ actually mean?

    The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has consistently interpreted self-defence narrowly.

    In many cases, it has rejected arguments from states such as the United States, Uganda and Israel that have sought to promote a more expansive interpretation of self-defence.

    The 9/11 attacks marked a turning point. The UN Security Council affirmed in resolutions 1368 and 1373 that the right to self-defence extends to defending against attacks by non-state actors, such as terrorist groups. The US, invoking this right, launched its military action in Afghanistan.

    The classic understanding of self-defence – that it’s justified when a state responds reactively to an actual, armed attack – was regarded as being too restrictive in the age of missiles, cyberattacks and terrorism.

    This helped give rise to the idea of using force before an imminent attack, in anticipatory self-defence.

    The threshold for anticipatory self-defence is widely seen by scholars as high. It requires what’s known as “imminence”. In other words, this is the “last possible window of opportunity” to act to stop an unavoidable attack.

    As set out by then-UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2005:

    as long as the threatened attack is imminent, no other means would deflect it and the action is proportionate, this would meet the accepted interpretation of self defence under article 51.

    As international law expert Donald Rothwell points out, the legitimacy of anticipatory self-defence hinges on factual scrutiny and strict criteria, balancing urgency, legality and accountability.

    However, the lines quickly blurred

    In 2002, the US introduced a “pre-emptive doctrine” in its national security strategy.

    This argued new threats – such as terrorism and weapons of mass destruction – justified using force to forestall attacks before they occurred.

    Critics, including Annan, warned that if the notion of preventive self-defence was widely accepted, it would undermine the prohibition on the use of force. It would basically allow states to act unilaterally on speculative intelligence.

    Annan acknowledged:

    if there are good arguments for preventive military action, with good evidence to support them, they should be put to the Security Council, which can authorise such action if it chooses to.

    If it does not so choose, there will be, by definition, time to pursue other strategies, including persuasion, negotiation, deterrence and containment – and to visit again the military option.

    This is exactly what Israel has failed to do before attacking Iran.

    Lessons from history

    Israel’s stated goal was to damage Iran’s nuclear program and prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon that could be used against it.

    This is explicitly about preventing an alleged, threatened, future attack by Iran with a nuclear weapon that, according to all publicly available information, Iran does not currently possess.

    This is not the first time Israel has advanced a broad interpretation of self-defence.

    In 1981, Israel bombed Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor, which was under construction on the outskirts of Baghdad. It claimed a nuclear-armed Iraq would pose an unacceptable threat. The UN Security Council condemned the attack.

    As international law stands, unless an armed attack is imminent and unavoidable, such strikes are likely to be considered unlawful uses of force.

    While there is still time and opportunity to use non-forcible means to prevent the threatened attack, there’s no necessity to act now in self defence.

    Diplomatic engagement, sanction, and international monitoring of Iran’s nuclear program – such as through the International Atomic Energy Agency – remain the lawful means of addressing the emerging threat posed by Tehran.

    Preserving the rule of law

    The right to self-defence is not a blank cheque.

    Anticipatory self-defence remains legally unsettled and highly contested.

    So were Israel’s attacks on Iran a legitimate use of “self-defence”? I would argue no.

    I concur with international law expert Marko Milanovic that Israel’s claim to be acting in preventive self-defence must be rejected on the facts available to us.

    In a volatile world, preserving these legal limits is essential to avoiding unchecked aggression and preserving the rule of law.

    Shannon Bosch 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. Are Israel’s actions in Iran illegal? Could it be called self-defence? An international law expert explains – https://theconversation.com/are-israels-actions-in-iran-illegal-could-it-be-called-self-defence-an-international-law-expert-explains-259259

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Jaws at 50: how a single movie changed our perception of white sharks forever

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By John Long, Strategic Professor in Palaeontology, Flinders University

    Shane Myers Photography/Shutterstock

    It’s been 50 years since Steven Spielberg’s movie Jaws first cast a terrifying shadow across our screens.

    At a low point during production, Spielberg worried he’d only ever be known for “a big fish story”. The film, however, did not tank.

    Jaws broke box office records and became the highest-grossing movie at the time, only surpassed by the first Star Wars released two years later in 1977.

    A combination of mass advertising, familiar “hero” tropes and old-school showmanship launched Jaws as the first modern blockbuster.

    Hollywood, and our relationship to oceans and the sharks within them, would never be the same.

    The novel Jaws was based on was a bestseller in its own right.
    Snap Shot/Shutterstock

    An unrealistic monster

    In Peter Benchley’s 1974 novel that Jaws is based on, the shark is 6 metres long. For added screen excitement, in the movie it grew to a whopping 7.6 metres.

    However, that’s unrealistically large.

    The average size of a mature great white (Carcharodon carcharias, also known as the white shark) is between 4.6 and 4.9 metres for female sharks and up to 4 metres for male sharks.

    The largest recorded living specimens peak at about 6 metres, with one monster specimen caught in Cuba in 1945 reaching 6.4 metres.

    Earth’s oceans have seen bigger predatory sharks in the past. The biggest one of all time was the megalodon (Otodus megalodon) which lived from 23 to 3 million years ago, and may have been up to 24 metres in length. However, it looked nothing like the modern white shark.

    We don’t know precisely how big the megalodon was, but certainly larger than the great white shark.
    Steveoc 86/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

    They’re not even directly related – another thing scientists learned quite recently.

    Who was the megalodon, then?

    White sharks first evolved between 6 and 4 million years ago in the shadows of the megalodon. A recent study showed the megalodon’s large serrated teeth show signs of it being a supreme opportunistic super-predator.

    That means it ate just about anything, but especially liked whales and marine mammals.



    Read more:
    Friday essay: Giant shark megalodon was the most powerful superpredator ever. Why did it go extinct?

    But white sharks are not directly related to the megalodon, whose lineage began with a shark called Cretalamna during the age of dinosaurs about 100 million years ago.

    By contrast, the white shark lineage began with an ancient mako shark, Carcharodon hastalis. It was 7 to 8 metres long and had large, similarly shaped teeth to the modern white shark but lacking serrated edges.

    A fossil intermediate species, Carcharodon hubbelli shows the transition over time from weakly serrated to strongly serrated teeth.

    White shark fossil species. Left, the serrated fossil tooth teeth of the extant white shark; right, a similarly shaped unserrated tooth of the extinct giant mako shark which gave rise to white sharks.
    John Long, CC BY

    How did Jaws affect white shark populations?

    Last year, the International Shark Attack File reported 47 unprovoked shark bites to humans worldwide, resulting in seven fatalities. This was well below the previous ten-year average of 70 bites per year; your chances of getting bitten by a shark are extremely rare.

    Following the movies that made up the Jaws franchise, there was an increase in hunting and killing sharks – with a particular focus on great white sharks that were already going into a decline due to overfishing, trophy hunting and lethal control programs.

    Between 80% and 90% of white sharks have disappeared globally since the middle of the 20th century. Recent estimates calculate there are probably less than 500 individual white sharks in Australian waters right now.

    When Jaws first aired, scientists didn’t know how long sharks took to reproduce, or how many offspring a white shark could have each year. We now know it takes about 26 years for a male and 33 years for a female to sexually mature before they can start having pups.

    Data about white shark births is sparse, but recently a 5.6-metre-long female caught on a drum line off the coast of Queensland had just four large pups inside her. This is a very small number. Some large sharks, such as the whale shark, can give birth to up to 300 young.

    Now that we know just how slow they are to breed, it’s clear it will take many decades to reestablish the “pre-Jaws” population of white sharks – important apex predators in the marine ecosystem.

    Charlie Huveneers from Flinders University about to take a tissue sample for research on white sharks. There is still a lot we don’t know about their biology.
    Andrew Fox, Adelaide, CC BY

    Will white sharks survive?

    White sharks are currently listed as vulnerable.

    This classification means if we don’t change the current living conditions for white sharks, including impacts caused by human activities such as commercial fishing, and the impacts of climate change and ocean pollution, they will continue to decline and eventually could go extinct.

    Currently, white sharks are protected in several countries and form the basis for an important tourist industry in Australia, South Africa, western United States and most recently Nova Scotia, Canada.

    These sharks are iconic apex predators that fascinate people. One of us (John) went cage diving with them recently off the Neptune Islands of South Australia and can attest to how breathtaking it is to watch them in their natural environment.

    In terms of economic impact, they are worth far more alive than dead.

    White sharks are a growing tourism draw in several countries.
    Andrew Fox, Adelaide, CC BY

    There’s still much we don’t know about white sharks

    The complete white shark genome was first published only in 2019. It has 4.63 billion base pairs, making it much larger than the human genome (3.2 billion base pairs).

    The genome revealed some surprising things, like how white sharks show strong molecular adaptations for wound-healing processes, and a suite of “genome stability” genes – those used in DNA repair or DNA damage response.

    The transcriptome (or sum total of the messenger RNA) of the white shark showed greater similarity to the human transcriptome than to that of other fishes. This hints that “unexpressed genes” in the shark could one day play a role in uncovering genetic pathways for potential cures in human diseases.

    Jaws and its sequels certainly brought white sharks to the attention (and nightmares) of humans, with devastating impacts on how we treated them as a species.

    Our relationship with white sharks reflects our relationship with nature more broadly – a feared antagonist within the current capitalist paradigm; an enemy to be tamed, contained or consumed.

    As we learn more of the peril and potential of these remarkable creatures, we can learn how to live with them, to see beyond our fears and value their role within our delicate ocean ecosystems.

    John Long receives funding from The Australian Research Council.

    Heather L. Robinson 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. Jaws at 50: how a single movie changed our perception of white sharks forever – https://theconversation.com/jaws-at-50-how-a-single-movie-changed-our-perception-of-white-sharks-forever-258306

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Is Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend album cover satire or self-degradation? A psychology expert explores our reactions

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Katrina Muller-Townsend, Lecturer in Psychology, Edith Cowan University

    Island Records

    Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend album cover has fans divided.

    Carpenter poses on all fours, her glossy blond hair grasped by a male figure cropped from the frame. Her wide-eyed expression intensifies an ambiguous performance of subservience, tapping into a visual language tied to female objectification, from classic pin-up imagery to contemporary pop culture.

    The emotionally loaded image plays on her hyper-feminine, tongue-in-cheek pop star persona, forcing us to question where irony ends and objectification begins.

    Is it satire, or self-degradation?

    Up for debate

    At first glance, the cover seems like just another stylised, provocative pop image. It delivers what we’ve come to expect: a bold, ironic twist on the exaggerated Juno-style pose she reinvents on stage.

    To some fans, it’s clever satire: a pop star reclaiming and amplifying her image to mock industry norms. Satire uses exaggeration, irony, or humour to critique power structures – and Carpenter’s pose walks that tightrope.

    To others it crosses a line, reinforcing regressive attitudes about women’s sexuality and drawing criticism from domestic violence advocates.

    The debate reflects our unresolved discomfort about gender, power and control. There is a tension between Carpenter’s ironic persona and the submissive pose, creating uncertainty for the viewer.

    We can use psychology to better understand this dichotomy.

    The schema violation

    This mismatch between expectation and perception is a schema violation.

    A schema is a mental shortcut: a template built from experience and unspoken rules that helps us make sense of the world and predict what to expect. When something breaks that pattern, it’s called a schema violation.

    Carpenter’s brand is cheeky, self-aware irony – so when she adopts a pose steeped in submission and hyper-femininity as in this album image, it feels off.

    That can trigger cognitive dissonance: the mental tension we feel when two ideas (here, empowerment and obedience) don’t align.

    To resolve the conflict, some fans reinterpret the image as feminist sarcasm. Others reject it, fearing it panders to outdated, dangerous norms.

    Both reactions reflect our emotional and ideological investments in who Carpenter is or should be.

    Exploring confirmation bias

    Part of this conflicted reaction is driven by confirmation bias: our tendency to filter information to support what we already believe.

    Fans who see Carpenter as witty and empowered interpret the image as intentionally ironic. Others – more sceptical of the industry’s history of exploiting female sexuality – view it as a throwback to damaging norms.

    Either way, our interpretations often reflect more about ourselves than about Carpenter’s intent.

    When her image contradicts both her public persona and our social values, it creates a gap between what we think is right and what we want to be right. So, we try to explain it away, by either defending the image or criticising it.

    Satire and scandal

    Carpenter’s cover follows a long tradition of female artists whose work straddles satire and scandal, complicating public reception.

    Madonna’s Like a Prayer drew outrage for mixing religion with sexual imagery. Yet it positioned her as a provocateur – a woman resisting the lack of agency that so often defines sexualised media.

    Miley Cyrus’ Bangerz era shocked fans with a bold shift from Hannah Montana innocence to hypersexualised rebellion, challenging the narrow roles women in pop culture are confined to.

    Doja Cat’s shift from glam pop princess to glitch villainess unsettled audiences. Was it satire, rebellion, or just chaos?

    These women, like Carpenter, force us to confront our own discomfort with women who won’t stay in one lane.

    Performer and provocateur

    Audience reaction is also shaped by emotional investment in Carpenter’s persona. Through carefully curated social media, interviews and lyrics, fans build intimate narratives forming parasocial relationships – one-sided emotional bonds with celebrities.

    When an image contradicts that imagined persona, it can feel jarring, even like betrayal.

    Audiences often expect idols to be empowering but not polarising, sexy but safe, to challenge norms – but only in ways that affirm our own values.

    Carpenter’s image breaks that implicit contract, which creates discomfort for some viewers.

    Carpenter’s cover raises uncomfortable but necessary questions about how much freedom female artists have to be both critical and complicit. Can they play with society and play along, to be both performer and provocateur?

    This highlights the double bind many women face in media and popular culture. Female artists are expected to both subvert and satisfy; to entertain without offending; empower without alienating. The burden to be palatable and provocative is one male artists rarely face.

    It’s what we make of it

    Is Carpenter undermining herself or subverting the system? Perhaps both. Or perhaps the image isn’t the message: our reaction is.

    The image forces us to confront not only our perception of Sabrina Carpenter but also our cultural discomfort with women who defy neat categorisation. Satire demands interpretation, especially when it comes from women addressing sex or power.

    More than provocation, Carpenter’s cover mirrors our cultural struggle to accept women who defy simple labels of satire or submission. The image can reflect broader social ideals and tensions projected onto public figures.

    What we see says more about our assumptions than her intent. Understanding those reactions doesn’t kill the fun – it deepens it.

    Katrina Muller-Townsend 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. Is Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend album cover satire or self-degradation? A psychology expert explores our reactions – https://theconversation.com/is-sabrina-carpenters-mans-best-friend-album-cover-satire-or-self-degradation-a-psychology-expert-explores-our-reactions-259043

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Horse whipping is painful and cruel. The latest incident shows why it should be banned

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anne Quain, Senior Lecturer, Sydney School of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney

    Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

    Last week, the peak body for equestrian sport in Australia suspended a prominent member after footage allegedly depicted Australian Olympic dressage rider Heath Ryan whipping a horse more than 40 times.

    Ryan confirmed he was the rider in the footage, which was reportedly taken about two years ago.

    He explained the horse, Nico, had belonged to a friend who had been hospitalised for serious injuries inflicted by the animal.

    Ryan wrote Nico had “always been a problem child” and was about to be sent to slaughter.

    However, Ryan, an experienced trainer and instructor, intervened to “salvage” the horse.

    Footage appears to show Heath Ryan whipping a horse repeately.
    DressageHub, CC BY

    But horses, just like humans, feel pain, which is why more needs to be done to minimise the use of whips on horses.

    What happened next?

    The footage depicts Ryan mounted on Nico, forcefully whipping him.

    Both the whoosh of the whip travelling at speed and the sound of it contacting Nico’s flesh are audible.

    Nico kicks out several times in response, yet the whipping continues.

    Nico seems “shut down” – a term used to describe a horse when they appear to have no understanding of what they need to do to make an adverse experience stop.

    Whipping causes horses pain. The skin in the gluteal area of the horse, which Ryan repeatedly struck with the whip, is sensitive to pain just like the skin of humans.

    This is not the first time whipping has been in the spotlight. In July 2024, footage emerged of three-time Olympic dressage gold medallist Charlotte Dujardin repeatedly whipping a horse on the hind legs.

    This led to the International Equestrian Federation fining her CHF 10,000 (A$18,867) and imposing a 12-month suspension.



    Read more:
    The Paris Olympics horse-whipping scandal shows the dangers of ‘Disneyfication’ in horse sports

    More recently in Australia, in May 2025, the RSPCA prosecuted a case against trainer Liandra Gray, who was recorded striking a horse with a padded racing whip more than 40 times. A Tasmanian court found Gray had caused unreasonable and unjustifiable pain and the whip use constituted cruelty.

    Equestrian Australia’s national dressage rules forbid excessive use of whips.

    Despite stating he “hated” whipping Nico, Ryan argued he was acting in the horse’s interests.

    After an undisclosed period, Nico was re-homed, and according to Ryan “is now thriving in a loving and competitive home with an exciting future”.

    Does the end justify the means?

    Ryan’s justification of his treatment of Nico is based on the positive consequences for the horse (avoiding slaughter) and the current owners (Nico can continue to be ridden).

    This justification is a type of consequentialism, where an outcome is judged to be good or not based on the consequences it brings about. This raises an important question: what counts as a “good” outcome and by whose standard are we judging?

    Ryan’s justification points to a culture where horses’ needs and interests are not respected and where they are valued solely for their utility to humans.

    But we know horses are sensitive, sentient beings, capable of suffering.

    The relationship between a rider and horse is often described as a partnership. In reality, horses have little choice.

    The equipment and cues riders rely on to control horses work because they are aversive and even painful. Because horses are motivated to escape from painful stimuli, they rapidly learn to perform in the desired way.

    Because of this reliance on aversive stimuli to control horses, it is essential riders remove it as soon as the horse performs the desired behaviour (for example, releasing tension on the reins).

    Why was Nico a ‘problem child’ in the first place?

    During riding, a horse knows it has responded correctly if the rider removes the aversive stimulus that was used to cue the horse.

    If the rider removes the stimulus at the wrong time or not at all, the horse may become confused, stressed and express unwanted behaviours.

    If this is repeated, the unwanted responses can quickly become a habit and the horse may be labelled a problem.

    Based on the footage, it seems that instead of learning to move forward to escape pressure from the rider’s heels or whip, Nico appears to have developed a habit of stalling (slowing or coming to a stop instead of moving forward).

    Stress and fear can impair animals’ ability to learn and problem solve and horses vary considerably in their personalities and ability to learn what humans require of them.

    The combination of personality, stress, fear and rider inconsistencies can quickly lead to the development of unwanted behaviours.

    It is likely Nico’s behaviour reflects these factors.

    It’s time for a change

    This incident likely taught Nico to fear humans and to expect that being ridden will involve inescapable pain unless he does exactly what his rider wants.

    Training methods like this are considered outdated and unethical.

    This is because there is ample scientific evidence showing the modification of unwanted behaviour in ridden horses can be achieved without resorting to violence to force them into submission.

    International groups such as the International Society for Equitation Science (ISES) and the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe have highlighted the risks of misusing aversive training stimuli.

    They argue training methods that lead to fear and stress are inefficient and pose unacceptable welfare risks.

    ISES has even developed a set of 10 principles for training even the most difficult horses.

    While Ryan has justified his intervention as the only possible solution to Nico’s unwanted behaviour, the scientific evidence shows it is neither necessary nor ethical to violently whip a horse to teach it a lesson.

    Anne Quain has consulted for animal welfare organisations including the RSPCA. She is a member of the Australian Veterinary Association, the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists, and the European College of Animal Welfare and Behaviour Medicine in Animal Welfare Science, Ethics and Law. She has been a recipient of an Australian Companion Animal Health Foundation Grant. She has undertaken two residencies at The Ethics Centre.

    Cathrynne Henshall receives funding from the Hong Kong Jockey Club Welfare Research Funding

    – ref. Horse whipping is painful and cruel. The latest incident shows why it should be banned – https://theconversation.com/horse-whipping-is-painful-and-cruel-the-latest-incident-shows-why-it-should-be-banned-259041

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for June 19, 2025

    ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on June 19, 2025.

    Australian citizens in Iran and Israel are desperate to leave. Is the government required to help?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane McAdam, Scientia Professor and ARC Laureate Fellow, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Sydney As thousands of Australian citizens and permanent residents stuck in Iran and Israel continue to register for repatriation flights, the government is scrambling to find safe ways to evacuate them. With

    Popular period-tracking apps can hold years of personal data – new NZ research finds mixed awareness of risk
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Friedlander, PhD Candidate in Sociology, University of Waikato Shutterstock/Krotnakro Period-tracking apps are popular digital tools for a range of menstrual, reproductive and general health purposes. But the way these apps collect and use data involves risk. Many apps encourage users to log information well beyond their

    Migrating bogong moths use the stars and Earth’s magnetic field to find ancestral summer caves each year
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eric Warrant, Professor of Zoology at the University of Lund, Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University, and Adjunct Professor, University of South Australia Vik Dunis/iNaturalist, CC BY-NC It’s a warm January summer afternoon, and as I traverse the flower-strewn western slopes of Australia’s highest mountain, Mount

    Jaws at 50: how a single movie changed our perception of white sharks forever
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Long, Strategic Professor in Palaeontology, Flinders University Shane Myers Photography/Shutterstock It’s been 50 years since Steven Spielberg’s movie Jaws first cast a terrifying shadow across our screens. At a low point during production, Spielberg worried he’d only ever be known for “a big fish story”. The

    Robot eyes are power hungry. What if we gave them tools inspired by the human brain?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam D Hines, Research Fellow, Centre for Robotics, Queensland University of Technology A hexapod robot navigating outdoors. Adam Hines Robots are increasingly becoming a part of our lives – from warehouse automation to robotic vacuum cleaners. And just like humans, robots need to know where they are

    Winter viruses can trigger a heart attack or stroke, our study shows. It’s another good reason to get a flu or COVID shot
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tu Nguyen, PhD Candidate, Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute Irina Shatilova/Shutterstock Winter is here, along with cold days and the inevitable seasonal surge in respiratory viruses. But it’s not only the sniffles we need to worry about. Heart attacks and strokes also

    School playgrounds are one of the main locations for bullying. How can they be set up to stop it?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Dean (Academic), Faculty of Arts and Education, Charles Sturt University Dan Kenyon/ Getty Images Children spend thousands of hours in playgrounds at school. A lot of this time does not have the same levels of teacher preparation and supervision as classrooms do. Research shows

    Would you cheat on your tax? It’s a risky move, the tax office knows a lot about you
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert B Whait, Senior Lecturer in Taxation Law, University of South Australia Soon, more than 15 million Australians should be lodging a tax return with the Australian Taxation Office in the hope of receiving at least a small refund. About 60% of taxpayers use an accountant to

    Companies are betting on AI to help lift productivity. Workers need to be part of the process
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Llewellyn Spink, AI Corporate Governance Lead, Human Technology Institute, University of Technology Sydney The Conversation, CC BY-NC Australia’s productivity is flatlining, posting the worst vitals we’ve seen in 60 years. Politicians and chief executives are prescribing artificial intelligence (AI) like it’s the new penicillin – a wonder

    Is Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend album cover satire or self-degradation? A psychology expert explores our reactions
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Muller-Townsend, Lecturer in Psychology, Edith Cowan University Island Records Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend album cover has fans divided. Carpenter poses on all fours, her glossy blond hair grasped by a male figure cropped from the frame. Her wide-eyed expression intensifies an ambiguous performance of subservience,

    Kicked out for coming out: more than half of LGBTIQ+ flatmates face discrimination for their identity
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brodie Fraser, Senior Research Fellow, He Kāinga Oranga Housing and Health Research Programme, University of Otago Sangar Akreyi/Getty Images People who belong to the LGBTIQ+ community say flatting is fraught with difficulties that go well beyond learning new routines and sharing space with strangers. Our new research

    Tracing the Drax family’s millions – a story of British landed gentry, slavery and sugar plantations
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Lashmar, Reader in Journalism, City St George’s, University of London ‘Planting the sugar-cane’: vast fortunes were made from the trades in both sugar and human slaves in the Americas. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division, The New York Public Library Rich

    Nineteen Eighty-Four might have been inspired by George Orwell’s fear of drowning
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nathan Waddell, Associate Professor in Twentieth-Century Literature, University of Birmingham George Orwell had a traumatic relationship with the sea. In August 1947, while he was writing Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) on the island of Jura in the Scottish Hebrides, he went on a fishing trip with his young

    What happens when aid is cut to a large refugee camp? Kenyan study paints a bleak picture
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olivier Sterck, Associate professor, University of Oxford Humanitarian needs are rising around the world. At the same time, major donors such as the US and the UK are pulling back support, placing increasing strain on already overstretched aid systems. Global humanitarian needs have quadrupled since 2015, driven

    Grok’s ‘white genocide’ responses show how generative AI can be weaponized
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Foulds, Associate Professor of Information Systems, University of Maryland, Baltimore County Someone altered the AI chatbot Grok to make it insert text about a debunked conspiracy theory in unrelated responses. Cheng Xin/Getty Images The AI chatbot Grok spent one day in May 2025 spreading debunked conspiracy

    Politics with Michelle Grattan: an ‘impatient’ Jim Chalmers on taking political risks in Labor’s second term
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images While the world’s media is largely focused on conflict in the Middle East, the focus for many Australians remains at home, with the government preparing the long task ahead of trying to lift Australia’s productivity. Last week,

    View from The Hill: Jim Chalmers wants to get on with economic reform and tax is in his sights
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Jim Chalmers speaking to the National Press Club June 18, 2025. Screenshot from the ABC Broadcast, CC BY-NC Jim Chalmers cast his Wednesday National Press Club speech as a second instalment in a two-part presentation that was kicked off by

    Iran’s long history of revolution, defiance and outside interference – and why its future is so uncertain
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus Professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University; and Vice Chancellor’s Strategic Fellow, Victoria University Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has gone beyond his initial aim of destroying Iran’s ability to produce nuclear weapons. He has called on the Iranian people

    95 lawyers demand stronger NZ stand over Israel amid Middle East tensions
    Asia Pacific Report Ninety-five New Zealand lawyers — including nine king’s counsel — have signed a letter demanding Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and two other ministers urge the government to take a stronger stand against Israel’s “catastrophic” actions in Gaza. The letter has been sent amid rising tensions in the region,

    Gay and bisexual men will soon be able to donate blood and plasma
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yasmin Mowat, Clinical Project Manager, Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney AnnaStills/Getty Images Many gay and bisexual men have been excluded from donating blood and plasma (the liquid portion of blood) for decades because of rules developed during the HIV crisis in the 1980s. The Australian Red Cross’ blood

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for June 19, 2025

    ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on June 19, 2025.

    Australian citizens in Iran and Israel are desperate to leave. Is the government required to help?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane McAdam, Scientia Professor and ARC Laureate Fellow, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Sydney As thousands of Australian citizens and permanent residents stuck in Iran and Israel continue to register for repatriation flights, the government is scrambling to find safe ways to evacuate them. With

    Popular period-tracking apps can hold years of personal data – new NZ research finds mixed awareness of risk
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Friedlander, PhD Candidate in Sociology, University of Waikato Shutterstock/Krotnakro Period-tracking apps are popular digital tools for a range of menstrual, reproductive and general health purposes. But the way these apps collect and use data involves risk. Many apps encourage users to log information well beyond their

    Migrating bogong moths use the stars and Earth’s magnetic field to find ancestral summer caves each year
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eric Warrant, Professor of Zoology at the University of Lund, Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University, and Adjunct Professor, University of South Australia Vik Dunis/iNaturalist, CC BY-NC It’s a warm January summer afternoon, and as I traverse the flower-strewn western slopes of Australia’s highest mountain, Mount

    Jaws at 50: how a single movie changed our perception of white sharks forever
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Long, Strategic Professor in Palaeontology, Flinders University Shane Myers Photography/Shutterstock It’s been 50 years since Steven Spielberg’s movie Jaws first cast a terrifying shadow across our screens. At a low point during production, Spielberg worried he’d only ever be known for “a big fish story”. The

    Robot eyes are power hungry. What if we gave them tools inspired by the human brain?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam D Hines, Research Fellow, Centre for Robotics, Queensland University of Technology A hexapod robot navigating outdoors. Adam Hines Robots are increasingly becoming a part of our lives – from warehouse automation to robotic vacuum cleaners. And just like humans, robots need to know where they are

    Winter viruses can trigger a heart attack or stroke, our study shows. It’s another good reason to get a flu or COVID shot
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tu Nguyen, PhD Candidate, Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute Irina Shatilova/Shutterstock Winter is here, along with cold days and the inevitable seasonal surge in respiratory viruses. But it’s not only the sniffles we need to worry about. Heart attacks and strokes also

    School playgrounds are one of the main locations for bullying. How can they be set up to stop it?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Dean (Academic), Faculty of Arts and Education, Charles Sturt University Dan Kenyon/ Getty Images Children spend thousands of hours in playgrounds at school. A lot of this time does not have the same levels of teacher preparation and supervision as classrooms do. Research shows

    Would you cheat on your tax? It’s a risky move, the tax office knows a lot about you
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert B Whait, Senior Lecturer in Taxation Law, University of South Australia Soon, more than 15 million Australians should be lodging a tax return with the Australian Taxation Office in the hope of receiving at least a small refund. About 60% of taxpayers use an accountant to

    Companies are betting on AI to help lift productivity. Workers need to be part of the process
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Llewellyn Spink, AI Corporate Governance Lead, Human Technology Institute, University of Technology Sydney The Conversation, CC BY-NC Australia’s productivity is flatlining, posting the worst vitals we’ve seen in 60 years. Politicians and chief executives are prescribing artificial intelligence (AI) like it’s the new penicillin – a wonder

    Is Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend album cover satire or self-degradation? A psychology expert explores our reactions
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Muller-Townsend, Lecturer in Psychology, Edith Cowan University Island Records Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend album cover has fans divided. Carpenter poses on all fours, her glossy blond hair grasped by a male figure cropped from the frame. Her wide-eyed expression intensifies an ambiguous performance of subservience,

    Kicked out for coming out: more than half of LGBTIQ+ flatmates face discrimination for their identity
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brodie Fraser, Senior Research Fellow, He Kāinga Oranga Housing and Health Research Programme, University of Otago Sangar Akreyi/Getty Images People who belong to the LGBTIQ+ community say flatting is fraught with difficulties that go well beyond learning new routines and sharing space with strangers. Our new research

    Tracing the Drax family’s millions – a story of British landed gentry, slavery and sugar plantations
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Lashmar, Reader in Journalism, City St George’s, University of London ‘Planting the sugar-cane’: vast fortunes were made from the trades in both sugar and human slaves in the Americas. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division, The New York Public Library Rich

    Nineteen Eighty-Four might have been inspired by George Orwell’s fear of drowning
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nathan Waddell, Associate Professor in Twentieth-Century Literature, University of Birmingham George Orwell had a traumatic relationship with the sea. In August 1947, while he was writing Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) on the island of Jura in the Scottish Hebrides, he went on a fishing trip with his young

    What happens when aid is cut to a large refugee camp? Kenyan study paints a bleak picture
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olivier Sterck, Associate professor, University of Oxford Humanitarian needs are rising around the world. At the same time, major donors such as the US and the UK are pulling back support, placing increasing strain on already overstretched aid systems. Global humanitarian needs have quadrupled since 2015, driven

    Grok’s ‘white genocide’ responses show how generative AI can be weaponized
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Foulds, Associate Professor of Information Systems, University of Maryland, Baltimore County Someone altered the AI chatbot Grok to make it insert text about a debunked conspiracy theory in unrelated responses. Cheng Xin/Getty Images The AI chatbot Grok spent one day in May 2025 spreading debunked conspiracy

    Politics with Michelle Grattan: an ‘impatient’ Jim Chalmers on taking political risks in Labor’s second term
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images While the world’s media is largely focused on conflict in the Middle East, the focus for many Australians remains at home, with the government preparing the long task ahead of trying to lift Australia’s productivity. Last week,

    View from The Hill: Jim Chalmers wants to get on with economic reform and tax is in his sights
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Jim Chalmers speaking to the National Press Club June 18, 2025. Screenshot from the ABC Broadcast, CC BY-NC Jim Chalmers cast his Wednesday National Press Club speech as a second instalment in a two-part presentation that was kicked off by

    Iran’s long history of revolution, defiance and outside interference – and why its future is so uncertain
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus Professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University; and Vice Chancellor’s Strategic Fellow, Victoria University Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has gone beyond his initial aim of destroying Iran’s ability to produce nuclear weapons. He has called on the Iranian people

    95 lawyers demand stronger NZ stand over Israel amid Middle East tensions
    Asia Pacific Report Ninety-five New Zealand lawyers — including nine king’s counsel — have signed a letter demanding Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and two other ministers urge the government to take a stronger stand against Israel’s “catastrophic” actions in Gaza. The letter has been sent amid rising tensions in the region,

    Gay and bisexual men will soon be able to donate blood and plasma
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yasmin Mowat, Clinical Project Manager, Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney AnnaStills/Getty Images Many gay and bisexual men have been excluded from donating blood and plasma (the liquid portion of blood) for decades because of rules developed during the HIV crisis in the 1980s. The Australian Red Cross’ blood

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Australian citizens in Iran and Israel are desperate to leave. Is the government required to help?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane McAdam, Scientia Professor and ARC Laureate Fellow, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Sydney

    As thousands of Australian citizens and permanent residents stuck in Iran and Israel continue to register for repatriation flights, the government is scrambling to find safe ways to evacuate them.

    With the airspace over both countries closed, the government is considering other ways to bring them home.

    The current plan is to charter buses from private companies to take people from Israel into neighbouring Jordan. As Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stressed: “We want to make sure people are looked after, but they need to be looked after safely as well”.

    This is not the first time Australia has faced challenges in evacuating nationals stranded abroad. When conflict, disasters or other emergencies occur overseas, the government regularly works to bring Australians home.

    In the early days of the COVID pandemic, for instance, the government arranged repatriation flights and established quarantine facilities to assist Australians who were stuck outside the country. Australia has repeatedly assisted its citizens caught in conflict zones to get back home, including from Afghanistan in 2021 and Lebanon in 2024.

    And when an earthquake devasted Vanuatu last December, Australia moved swiftly to get Australians out.

    Is Australia legally required to repatriate people?

    While there is a longstanding and widespread practice of governments repatriating their nationals in emergencies, countries generally do not have a legal responsibility to do so.

    Instead, governments’ decisions are discretionary and made on a case-by-case basis. They are often influenced by diplomatic, logistical and security considerations.

    Governments have a right – but not a duty – to provide consular assistance to their nationals abroad. This includes issuing travel documents, liaising with local authorities and, in exceptional cases, facilitating evacuations.

    The Consular Services Charter outlines what Australians abroad can expect from their government. It makes clear that while the government will do what it can, there are limits. Assistance is not guaranteed, especially in areas where Australia has no diplomatic presence or where security conditions make intervention too dangerous.

    The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is the lead agency responsible for coordinating Australians’ evacuation with embassies, airlines and international partners. Decisions to evacuate are ultimately made by the minister for foreign affairs following a recommendation, where possible, by the Inter-Departmental Emergency Task Force (IDETF).

    Repatriation efforts are guided by the Australian Government Plan for the Reception of Australian Citizens and Approved Foreign Nationals Evacuated from Overseas (AUSRECEPLAN). This arrangement that sets out a process for “the safe repatriation of Australians, their immediate dependants, permanent residents and approved foreign nationals (evacuees) following an Australian government-led evacuation in response to an overseas disaster or adverse security situation”. It outlines how federal, state and territory agencies coordinate to receive and support evacuees once they arrive in Australia, ensuring that returns are not only swift, but also safe and orderly.

    Challenges and constraints

    Repatriation during a crisis is a complex undertaking. Quite aside from the emergency conditions, which may close off usual travel options or routes, the Australian government cannot force another country to allow an evacuation. It also cannot guarantee safe passage, especially in conflicts.

    Identifying and communicating with citizens overseas can also be tricky, often requiring people to have self-registered with consular authorities to receive updates. In addition, consular services may be strained when embassies and consular offices have closed, as is the case in Israel and Iran.

    For these reasons, countries sometimes band together to assist each other. For instance, Australia and Canada have agreed that where one has a consular presence but the other does not, they will help to repatriate the other’s citizens.

    Similarly, the United States helped evacuate Australians and other allies’ nationals from Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover in 2021. Countries in the European Union can activate a special regional mechanism to facilitate the repatriation of their citizens caught up in emergencies abroad.

    In exceptional circumstances, countries have sometimes extracted their stranded nationals through military operations, known as “non-combatant evacuation operations” (NEOs). This involves the military temporarily occupying a location on foreign soil to evacuate people. Some recent examples include the large-scale evacuations of foreign nationals from Afghanistan in 2021, Sudan during the civil war that began in 2023 and Lebanon during the 2024 Israeli–Hezbollah conflict.

    NEOs generally require the consent of the country from where the evacuation takes place, but their precise legal basis remains ambiguous under international law.

    In all cases, the evacuation of nationals is operationally complex – as exemplified by the current situation in Iran and Israel. Countries with limited resources may struggle to repatriate their nationals at all. This can mean some foreign nationals are “rescued”, while others are left behind.

    And, of course, local populations generally aren’t eligible for evacuation at all. This can leave people in extremely dangerous circumstances.

    That is why we have proposed the creation of an Australian framework for humanitarian emergencies that, among other things, would facilitate the safe and swift departure of certain non-citizens at particular risk. This would underscore that Australia’s approach to evacuations is, at its heart, about protecting people during crises.

    Jane McAdam receives funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC) and is the Director of the ARC Evacuations Research Hub at the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Sydney.

    Regina Jefferies and Thomas Mulder 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. Australian citizens in Iran and Israel are desperate to leave. Is the government required to help? – https://theconversation.com/australian-citizens-in-iran-and-israel-are-desperate-to-leave-is-the-government-required-to-help-259272

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Popular period-tracking apps can hold years of personal data – new NZ research finds mixed awareness of risk

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Friedlander, PhD Candidate in Sociology, University of Waikato

    Shutterstock/Krotnakro

    Period-tracking apps are popular digital tools for a range of menstrual, reproductive and general health purposes. But the way these apps collect and use data involves risk.

    Many apps encourage users to log information well beyond their menstrual cycle, including sexual activity, medications, sleep quality, exercise, social activity and perimenopause symptoms. As well as this logged data, apps often collect location and other personally identifiable information.

    Period tracking apps may pose a particularly high risk in places where abortion is illegal because user data may be accessed by law enforcement on request.

    Our new research examines how aware app users in Aotearoa New Zealand are of these risks. We found a range of levels of understanding and perspectives on risk, from untroubled to concerned and deeply worried about the implications of digital tracking for reproductive rights.

    Privacy, data and risk

    The first period-tracking app was released in 2013. Since then, hundreds of such apps have been created, with collectively hundreds of millions of downloads worldwide.

    A recent analysis found app downloads are particularly prevalent in North America, Europe, Australia and Aotearoa. The same study found three apps – Flo, Clue and Period Tracker – make up the majority of downloads.

    Some period apps can link to and import information from other apps and wearables. For example, Clue can link to and import information from the Oura smart ring and Apple Health, both of which gather personal health metrics. Flo can similarly import information from other health apps.

    A recent analysis of period app privacy policies found they often collect a range of personally identifiable information.

    Personal health data flows to third parties

    Some participants in our research have used an app for a decade or longer. This means the app holds a comprehensive database of years of intimate health data and other personal information, including some which they may not have chosen to provide.

    This data can be used by a range of third parties in commercial, research or other applications, sometimes without app users’ explicit knowledge or consent. One study found many period apps exported more data than was declared in privacy policies, including to third parties.

    Another study reported that apps changed privacy policies without obtaining user consent. Apps can also infer sensitive information not explicitly logged by users by combining data.

    In 2021, Flo reached a settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission on charges over its sharing of user data with marketing and analytics companies without user consent.

    App privacy policies often state that user data may be accessed by law enforcement on request, which is a major concern in places where abortion is illegal. Users may explicitly log the start and end of pregnancies, but pregnancy can also be inferred or predicted using other data. In some cases, period app data may therefore reveal a user’s miscarriage or abortion.

    Making sense of the risk in New Zealand

    Our exploration of user attitudes about the risk of period-tracking apps has revealed that about half of participants were unconcerned about their data. Some imagined positive uses for their data, such as improving the app or contributing to reproductive healthcare research. These potential uses are often highlighted by period-tracking apps in marketing materials.

    Other participants were concerned about their data. Some had risk minimisation strategies, including limiting what information they logged. Concerned participants were often resigned to uncontrolled uses of their data.

    One said:

    [there’s] no such thing as private data these days.

    Another thought that:

    everyone that does anything online […] is kind of accepting the fact that your data is being potentially accessed and used by third parties. It’s just kind of where it is now.

    About a third of participants in our study contextualised their concerns with respect to reproductive rights and abortion access, especially since the 2022 overturn of Roe v Wade in the US.

    Others wondered if what happened in the US could happen in New Zealand. One participant referenced concepts such as rangatiratanga and mana motuhake (self determination) when thinking about period app data. She said:

    I worry about the politics that happen overseas coming here to Aotearoa […] knowing that I don’t have full control or rangatiratanga over the data I provide .  I worry for all users about what this information can be used for in future, as much as we like to say ‘this is New Zealand, that would never happen here’, we have no idea.

    With gender and reproductive rights at risk around the world, such concerns are reasonable and justified.

    Study participants used period-tracking apps for diverse reasons, including to plan for periods, to track pain and communicate it to doctors, to help get pregnant, and to learn about their bodies. Some participants told us that using period apps was empowering. Some perceived period apps as risky, with limits to how they can mitigate the risk.

    Menstruators shouldn’t have to trade data privacy and security in order to access the benefits of period-tracking apps. Legislators and policy makers should understand the benefits and risks and ensure strong data protections are in place.

    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. Popular period-tracking apps can hold years of personal data – new NZ research finds mixed awareness of risk – https://theconversation.com/popular-period-tracking-apps-can-hold-years-of-personal-data-new-nz-research-finds-mixed-awareness-of-risk-258920

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Migrating bogong moths use the stars and Earth’s magnetic field to find ancestral summer caves each year

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eric Warrant, Professor of Zoology at the University of Lund, Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University, and Adjunct Professor, University of South Australia

    Vik Dunis/iNaturalist, CC BY-NC

    It’s a warm January summer afternoon, and as I traverse the flower-strewn western slopes of Australia’s highest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko, I am on the lookout for a tell-tale river of boulders that winds its way down into the alpine valleys below.

    Here, hidden in cave-like hollows and crevices formed deep within the river of boulders, is one of the most spectacular natural phenomena in the insect world – the summer mass gathering of an iconic Australian insect, the bogong moth (Agrotis infusa).

    Tightly huddled together in their dim cool cavernous world, with each moth’s head pushed slightly under the wings of the moth just ahead, millions of bogong moths sleep out the summer, slumbering in a state of dormancy known as “aestivation”.

    Their little bodies coat the stone surfaces in an endless soft brown carpet, with 17,000 of them tiling each square metre of cave wall. It’s a sight that never fails to take my breath away.

    Bogong moths sleep through the summer heat clinging to the walls of caves in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales.
    Eric Warrant

    Marathon migrations

    To get here, these moths have flown from all over southeast Australia through the spring, arriving from as far away as south-eastern Queensland and far-western Victoria. Converted to human body length, these journeys of roughly 1,000 kilometres would be equivalent to a person circumnavigating Earth twice.

    The moths’ marathon voyages to the Alps are likely undertaken to escape the lethal heat of the coming summer in their breeding areas. When the cool of autumn arrives, the moths leave the mountains to produce their own offspring and die.

    Every summer, bogong moths travel up to 1,000 kilometres to sleep through the heat in cool mountain caves.
    Eric Warrant

    But how on Earth do they know how to find these caves? How do they know the direction to travel and how do they know when they’ve arrived?

    These questions have fascinated me and the other members of my research group for many years. It turns out bogong moths possess a most extraordinary ability to navigate, harnessing Earth’s magnetic field and the stars as compasses to follow their inherited migratory direction.

    Moths, magnets and stars

    We made these remarkable discoveries in a specialised lab we built a few years ago near Adaminaby in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales.

    First we light-trapped bogong moths that were either migrating towards the Alps in spring or away again in autumn. We next placed them in a special flight arena inside the lab, and finely controlled Earth’s magnetic field (with magnetic coils around the arena) and the starry night sky (by projecting a highly realistic starry night sky on the roof of the arena).

    Because we already knew bogong moths have a magnetic sense, we used the coils to completely remove, or null, the magnetic field in the arena. This ensured any orientation using the stars was not confounded by the ability to detect Earth’s magnetic field.

    The orientation of the nighttime sky determines the moths’ direction of movement. When researchers showed moths random star patterns, they flew in random directions.
    Dreyer et al./Nature

    What we found next astounded us. Using only the local Australian starry night sky projected above them, bogong moths flying in our arena were able to discern and follow their inherited migratory direction – both in spring and in autumn.

    If we turned this projected sky by 180°, the moths turned and flew in exactly the opposite direction. If we then took all of the stars in this projected natural sky and randomly distributed them across the roof of the arena, the moths became completely confused and lost their ability to migrate in their inherited migratory direction.

    Navigators with tiny brains

    In the absence of all other possible cues, bogong moths clearly used the stars as a true compass to discern a geographic direction relative to north.

    This is the first invertebrate we so far know of that can do this. Only human beings and some species of night-migratory birds are known to have this ability.

    But in moths this ability is even more remarkable considering their brain is approximately one-tenth the volume of a grain of rice and their eyes only a couple of millimetres wide.

    A magnetic backup system

    We made a final discovery when we moved our flight arena up onto the hill behind the lab under the magnificent dome of the natural starry sky. As expected, the moths were beautifully oriented in their inherited migratory direction.

    But on one of these nights the sky was heavily overcast with cloud. To our great surprise, the moths remained oriented in their migratory direction, even though the stars were obscured.

    The only remaining cue that could have been used was Earth’s magnetic field, which showed very clearly that moths rely on two compasses – a magnetic compass and a stellar compass.

    But of course, two compasses will always be better than one – if one becomes corrupted or drops out, the other can take over. Nature’s perfect solution for robust navigation!

    Bogong moths under threat

    Despite its fantastic abilities, this tiny navigator is under threat. A result of anthropogenic climate change, the recent drought in Australia saw bogong moth numbers fall by a jaw-dropping 99.5%.

    Endless thousands of generations of bogong moths have slept through summer in a few specific caves dotted across these outcrops.
    Eric Warrant

    Endangered alpine marsupials that depend on the moth’s arrival in spring for food – such as the mountain pygmy possum – suffered heavily as a result.

    Droughts in southeast Australia are only predicted to worsen in both frequency and intensity. The future of the bogong moth, as well as the fragile alpine ecosystem that depends on it, does not look very bright.

    Eric Warrant receives funding from the Swedish Research Council, the European Research Council, the Wenner-Gren Foundation and the Carl Tryggers Foundation. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, The German National Academy of Science Leopoldina, the Royal Danish Society of Sciences and Letters, the Royal Institute of Navigation and the Royal Physiographic Society.

    – ref. Migrating bogong moths use the stars and Earth’s magnetic field to find ancestral summer caves each year – https://theconversation.com/migrating-bogong-moths-use-the-stars-and-earths-magnetic-field-to-find-ancestral-summer-caves-each-year-259361

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Is Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend album cover satire or self-degradation? A psychology expert explores our reactions

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Muller-Townsend, Lecturer in Psychology, Edith Cowan University

    Island Records

    Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend album cover has fans divided.

    Carpenter poses on all fours, her glossy blond hair grasped by a male figure cropped from the frame. Her wide-eyed expression intensifies an ambiguous performance of subservience, tapping into a visual language tied to female objectification, from classic pin-up imagery to contemporary pop culture.

    The emotionally loaded image plays on her hyper-feminine, tongue-in-cheek pop star persona, forcing us to question where irony ends and objectification begins.

    Is it satire, or self-degradation?

    Up for debate

    At first glance, the cover seems like just another stylised, provocative pop image. It delivers what we’ve come to expect: a bold, ironic twist on the exaggerated Juno-style pose she reinvents on stage.

    To some fans, it’s clever satire: a pop star reclaiming and amplifying her image to mock industry norms. Satire uses exaggeration, irony, or humour to critique power structures – and Carpenter’s pose walks that tightrope.

    To others it crosses a line, reinforcing regressive attitudes about women’s sexuality and drawing criticism from domestic violence advocates.

    The debate reflects our unresolved discomfort about gender, power and control. There is a tension between Carpenter’s ironic persona and the submissive pose, creating uncertainty for the viewer.

    We can use psychology to better understand this dichotomy.

    The schema violation

    This mismatch between expectation and perception is a schema violation.

    A schema is a mental shortcut: a template built from experience and unspoken rules that helps us make sense of the world and predict what to expect. When something breaks that pattern, it’s called a schema violation.

    Carpenter’s brand is cheeky, self-aware irony – so when she adopts a pose steeped in submission and hyper-femininity as in this album image, it feels off.

    That can trigger cognitive dissonance: the mental tension we feel when two ideas (here, empowerment and obedience) don’t align.

    To resolve the conflict, some fans reinterpret the image as feminist sarcasm. Others reject it, fearing it panders to outdated, dangerous norms.

    Both reactions reflect our emotional and ideological investments in who Carpenter is or should be.

    Exploring confirmation bias

    Part of this conflicted reaction is driven by confirmation bias: our tendency to filter information to support what we already believe.

    Fans who see Carpenter as witty and empowered interpret the image as intentionally ironic. Others – more sceptical of the industry’s history of exploiting female sexuality – view it as a throwback to damaging norms.

    Either way, our interpretations often reflect more about ourselves than about Carpenter’s intent.

    When her image contradicts both her public persona and our social values, it creates a gap between what we think is right and what we want to be right. So, we try to explain it away, by either defending the image or criticising it.

    Satire and scandal

    Carpenter’s cover follows a long tradition of female artists whose work straddles satire and scandal, complicating public reception.

    Madonna’s Like a Prayer drew outrage for mixing religion with sexual imagery. Yet it positioned her as a provocateur – a woman resisting the lack of agency that so often defines sexualised media.

    Miley Cyrus’ Bangerz era shocked fans with a bold shift from Hannah Montana innocence to hypersexualised rebellion, challenging the narrow roles women in pop culture are confined to.

    Doja Cat’s shift from glam pop princess to glitch villainess unsettled audiences. Was it satire, rebellion, or just chaos?

    These women, like Carpenter, force us to confront our own discomfort with women who won’t stay in one lane.

    Performer and provocateur

    Audience reaction is also shaped by emotional investment in Carpenter’s persona. Through carefully curated social media, interviews and lyrics, fans build intimate narratives forming parasocial relationships – one-sided emotional bonds with celebrities.

    When an image contradicts that imagined persona, it can feel jarring, even like betrayal.

    Audiences often expect idols to be empowering but not polarising, sexy but safe, to challenge norms – but only in ways that affirm our own values.

    Carpenter’s image breaks that implicit contract, which creates discomfort for some viewers.

    Carpenter’s cover raises uncomfortable but necessary questions about how much freedom female artists have to be both critical and complicit. Can they play with society and play along, to be both performer and provocateur?

    This highlights the double bind many women face in media and popular culture. Female artists are expected to both subvert and satisfy; to entertain without offending; empower without alienating. The burden to be palatable and provocative is one male artists rarely face.

    It’s what we make of it

    Is Carpenter undermining herself or subverting the system? Perhaps both. Or perhaps the image isn’t the message: our reaction is.

    The image forces us to confront not only our perception of Sabrina Carpenter but also our cultural discomfort with women who defy neat categorisation. Satire demands interpretation, especially when it comes from women addressing sex or power.

    More than provocation, Carpenter’s cover mirrors our cultural struggle to accept women who defy simple labels of satire or submission. The image can reflect broader social ideals and tensions projected onto public figures.

    What we see says more about our assumptions than her intent. Understanding those reactions doesn’t kill the fun – it deepens it.

    Katrina Muller-Townsend 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. Is Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend album cover satire or self-degradation? A psychology expert explores our reactions – https://theconversation.com/is-sabrina-carpenters-mans-best-friend-album-cover-satire-or-self-degradation-a-psychology-expert-explores-our-reactions-259043

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Is Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend album cover satire or self-degradation? A psychology expert explores our reactions

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Muller-Townsend, Lecturer in Psychology, Edith Cowan University

    Island Records

    Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend album cover has fans divided.

    Carpenter poses on all fours, her glossy blond hair grasped by a male figure cropped from the frame. Her wide-eyed expression intensifies an ambiguous performance of subservience, tapping into a visual language tied to female objectification, from classic pin-up imagery to contemporary pop culture.

    The emotionally loaded image plays on her hyper-feminine, tongue-in-cheek pop star persona, forcing us to question where irony ends and objectification begins.

    Is it satire, or self-degradation?

    Up for debate

    At first glance, the cover seems like just another stylised, provocative pop image. It delivers what we’ve come to expect: a bold, ironic twist on the exaggerated Juno-style pose she reinvents on stage.

    To some fans, it’s clever satire: a pop star reclaiming and amplifying her image to mock industry norms. Satire uses exaggeration, irony, or humour to critique power structures – and Carpenter’s pose walks that tightrope.

    To others it crosses a line, reinforcing regressive attitudes about women’s sexuality and drawing criticism from domestic violence advocates.

    The debate reflects our unresolved discomfort about gender, power and control. There is a tension between Carpenter’s ironic persona and the submissive pose, creating uncertainty for the viewer.

    We can use psychology to better understand this dichotomy.

    The schema violation

    This mismatch between expectation and perception is a schema violation.

    A schema is a mental shortcut: a template built from experience and unspoken rules that helps us make sense of the world and predict what to expect. When something breaks that pattern, it’s called a schema violation.

    Carpenter’s brand is cheeky, self-aware irony – so when she adopts a pose steeped in submission and hyper-femininity as in this album image, it feels off.

    That can trigger cognitive dissonance: the mental tension we feel when two ideas (here, empowerment and obedience) don’t align.

    To resolve the conflict, some fans reinterpret the image as feminist sarcasm. Others reject it, fearing it panders to outdated, dangerous norms.

    Both reactions reflect our emotional and ideological investments in who Carpenter is or should be.

    Exploring confirmation bias

    Part of this conflicted reaction is driven by confirmation bias: our tendency to filter information to support what we already believe.

    Fans who see Carpenter as witty and empowered interpret the image as intentionally ironic. Others – more sceptical of the industry’s history of exploiting female sexuality – view it as a throwback to damaging norms.

    Either way, our interpretations often reflect more about ourselves than about Carpenter’s intent.

    When her image contradicts both her public persona and our social values, it creates a gap between what we think is right and what we want to be right. So, we try to explain it away, by either defending the image or criticising it.

    Satire and scandal

    Carpenter’s cover follows a long tradition of female artists whose work straddles satire and scandal, complicating public reception.

    Madonna’s Like a Prayer drew outrage for mixing religion with sexual imagery. Yet it positioned her as a provocateur – a woman resisting the lack of agency that so often defines sexualised media.

    Miley Cyrus’ Bangerz era shocked fans with a bold shift from Hannah Montana innocence to hypersexualised rebellion, challenging the narrow roles women in pop culture are confined to.

    Doja Cat’s shift from glam pop princess to glitch villainess unsettled audiences. Was it satire, rebellion, or just chaos?

    These women, like Carpenter, force us to confront our own discomfort with women who won’t stay in one lane.

    Performer and provocateur

    Audience reaction is also shaped by emotional investment in Carpenter’s persona. Through carefully curated social media, interviews and lyrics, fans build intimate narratives forming parasocial relationships – one-sided emotional bonds with celebrities.

    When an image contradicts that imagined persona, it can feel jarring, even like betrayal.

    Audiences often expect idols to be empowering but not polarising, sexy but safe, to challenge norms – but only in ways that affirm our own values.

    Carpenter’s image breaks that implicit contract, which creates discomfort for some viewers.

    Carpenter’s cover raises uncomfortable but necessary questions about how much freedom female artists have to be both critical and complicit. Can they play with society and play along, to be both performer and provocateur?

    This highlights the double bind many women face in media and popular culture. Female artists are expected to both subvert and satisfy; to entertain without offending; empower without alienating. The burden to be palatable and provocative is one male artists rarely face.

    It’s what we make of it

    Is Carpenter undermining herself or subverting the system? Perhaps both. Or perhaps the image isn’t the message: our reaction is.

    The image forces us to confront not only our perception of Sabrina Carpenter but also our cultural discomfort with women who defy neat categorisation. Satire demands interpretation, especially when it comes from women addressing sex or power.

    More than provocation, Carpenter’s cover mirrors our cultural struggle to accept women who defy simple labels of satire or submission. The image can reflect broader social ideals and tensions projected onto public figures.

    What we see says more about our assumptions than her intent. Understanding those reactions doesn’t kill the fun – it deepens it.

    Katrina Muller-Townsend 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. Is Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend album cover satire or self-degradation? A psychology expert explores our reactions – https://theconversation.com/is-sabrina-carpenters-mans-best-friend-album-cover-satire-or-self-degradation-a-psychology-expert-explores-our-reactions-259043

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Companies are betting on AI to help lift productivity. Workers need to be part of the process

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Llewellyn Spink, AI Corporate Governance Lead, Human Technology Institute, University of Technology Sydney

    The Conversation, CC BY-NC

    Australia’s productivity is flatlining, posting the worst vitals we’ve seen in 60 years.

    Politicians and chief executives are prescribing artificial intelligence (AI) like it’s the new penicillin – a wonder drug with almost magical healing powers. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Treasurer Jim Chalmers and the Productivity Commission all see AI as a key part of the plan to cure Australia’s productivity ills, with estimates that automation and AI could add A$600 billion to Australia’s annual economy.

    Unfortunately, AI is no panacea. It’s more like physiotherapy after major surgery: it only delivers if you put in the effort, follow the program and work with experts who know which muscles to strengthen and when.

    AI projects have high fail rates

    AI is a broad suite of tools and techniques, of which generative AI such as ChatGPT is just the latest iteration. When implemented well, AI can undoubtedly lift productivity across a wide variety of applications. Unilever’s legal team reports generative AI tools save its lawyers 30 minutes daily on document review and contract analysis.

    Other AI applications can deliver life-saving results at even greater efficiency. In a German study, AI-supported mammography screening reduced radiologists’ reading time by 43% for examinations tagged as normal, while improving cancer detection rates.

    The federal government is focused on improving productivity. In this five-part series, we’ve asked leading experts what that means for the economy, what’s holding us back and their best ideas for reform.

    But the hard truth is that AI-driven productivity gains like these depend on both smart implementation and trusted adoption. Organisations that skip the tough part – such as staff engagement, training and good governance – often find the promised benefits never materialise.

    The numbers back this up: some 80% of AI projects end up failing, twice the rate of traditional IT projects. Only one in four executives in a global survey report meaningful returns on their AI investments.

    We shouldn’t really be surprised. Other general-purpose technologies, such as electricity and earlier digital technologies followed a similar path. US economist Robert Solow famously said: “You can see the computer age everywhere but in the productivity statistics.”

    Workers don’t trust the technology

    Like the early days of the internet in the 1990s, the success of AI relies on adoption and trust. Without trust, uptake stalls and the benefits evaporate.

    That’s a big challenge in Australia, where public trust and optimism in AI remains comparatively low. Why? Australians also report lower levels of AI use, training and confidence. And people are less likely to trust what they don’t understand.

    Closing that trust gap means involving workers from the start. By listening to worker concerns and identifying existing pain points in processes, companies can deploy AI systems that help, rather than sideline employees.

    Conversely, when workers aren’t meaningfully involved, things don’t go well.

    Take Klarna. The Swedish fintech volunteered to be the generative AI platform OpenAI’s “favourite guinea pig”. It slashed jobs and claimed to have automated the equivalent of 700 employees. But
    CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski now admits the shift to AI hurt customer service, forcing the company to rehire humans.

    Similarly, Duolingo recently faced a user backlash when it replaced 10% of contractors with AI.

    Workers need to be closely involved in developing AI processes.
    Summit Art Creations/Shutterstock

    Regrets? Bosses have a few

    These aren’t isolated cases. Some 55% of UK executives who replaced workers with AI later regretted it. In the rush to automate, workers are often seen as expendable.

    This attitude to AI leads to what US economists Daron Acemoglu and Pascual Restrepro call “so-so automation”, where technology displaces workers without delivering meaningful productivity gains.

    Rather than trying to replace staff with AI, organisations should be deeply engaging with them. Engaging workers can dramatically boost the AI’s return on investment.

    Like other general-purpose technologies, getting the most out of AI means transforming the way we work. And the data show companies that engage workers in organisational transformations are nine times more likely to succeed.

    The companies that are unlocking the benefit of AI understand it works best when it amplifies human capability, rather than replacing it. Workers still know things that algorithms don’t. They deeply understand the practical realities of their jobs, which is crucial for designing AI systems that actually get things done.

    Designing better solutions

    Our own research confirms this. Australian workers feel AI is being imposed on them without adequate consultation or training. This not only creates resistance to adoption but also means organisations are missing the experience of the people who actually do the work.

    Our most recent report shows worker engagement strengthens competitive advantage and profitability, and leads to better AI solutions rooted in workers’ problems and needs. When workers are involved in deciding how AI is used, the solutions are better designed, more effective and more widely adopted.

    Australia’s new Industry and Innovation Minister, Tim Ayres, recognises this. In a recent speech he emphasised the need to work “cooperatively with workers and their unions” on tech adoption.

    It’s a promising place to start. If AI is going to be an effective treatment for Australia’s productivity challenge, then workers must be an essential part of the recovery team.

    Llewellyn Spink receives funding from the Minderoo Foundation as part of the Human Technology Institute’s AI Corporate Governance Program. HTI is funded by a wide variety of academic, corporate and philanthropic partners.

    Nicholas Davis receives funding from the Minderoo Foundation as part of the Human Technology Institute’s AI Corporate Governance Program. HTI is funded by a wide variety of academic, corporate and philanthropic partners.

    – ref. Companies are betting on AI to help lift productivity. Workers need to be part of the process – https://theconversation.com/companies-are-betting-on-ai-to-help-lift-productivity-workers-need-to-be-part-of-the-process-258396

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Companies are betting on AI to help lift productivity. Workers need to be part of the process

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Llewellyn Spink, AI Corporate Governance Lead, Human Technology Institute, University of Technology Sydney

    The Conversation, CC BY-NC

    Australia’s productivity is flatlining, posting the worst vitals we’ve seen in 60 years.

    Politicians and chief executives are prescribing artificial intelligence (AI) like it’s the new penicillin – a wonder drug with almost magical healing powers. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Treasurer Jim Chalmers and the Productivity Commission all see AI as a key part of the plan to cure Australia’s productivity ills, with estimates that automation and AI could add A$600 billion to Australia’s annual economy.

    Unfortunately, AI is no panacea. It’s more like physiotherapy after major surgery: it only delivers if you put in the effort, follow the program and work with experts who know which muscles to strengthen and when.

    AI projects have high fail rates

    AI is a broad suite of tools and techniques, of which generative AI such as ChatGPT is just the latest iteration. When implemented well, AI can undoubtedly lift productivity across a wide variety of applications. Unilever’s legal team reports generative AI tools save its lawyers 30 minutes daily on document review and contract analysis.

    Other AI applications can deliver life-saving results at even greater efficiency. In a German study, AI-supported mammography screening reduced radiologists’ reading time by 43% for examinations tagged as normal, while improving cancer detection rates.

    The federal government is focused on improving productivity. In this five-part series, we’ve asked leading experts what that means for the economy, what’s holding us back and their best ideas for reform.

    But the hard truth is that AI-driven productivity gains like these depend on both smart implementation and trusted adoption. Organisations that skip the tough part – such as staff engagement, training and good governance – often find the promised benefits never materialise.

    The numbers back this up: some 80% of AI projects end up failing, twice the rate of traditional IT projects. Only one in four executives in a global survey report meaningful returns on their AI investments.

    We shouldn’t really be surprised. Other general-purpose technologies, such as electricity and earlier digital technologies followed a similar path. US economist Robert Solow famously said: “You can see the computer age everywhere but in the productivity statistics.”

    Workers don’t trust the technology

    Like the early days of the internet in the 1990s, the success of AI relies on adoption and trust. Without trust, uptake stalls and the benefits evaporate.

    That’s a big challenge in Australia, where public trust and optimism in AI remains comparatively low. Why? Australians also report lower levels of AI use, training and confidence. And people are less likely to trust what they don’t understand.

    Closing that trust gap means involving workers from the start. By listening to worker concerns and identifying existing pain points in processes, companies can deploy AI systems that help, rather than sideline employees.

    Conversely, when workers aren’t meaningfully involved, things don’t go well.

    Take Klarna. The Swedish fintech volunteered to be the generative AI platform OpenAI’s “favourite guinea pig”. It slashed jobs and claimed to have automated the equivalent of 700 employees. But
    CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski now admits the shift to AI hurt customer service, forcing the company to rehire humans.

    Similarly, Duolingo recently faced a user backlash when it replaced 10% of contractors with AI.

    Workers need to be closely involved in developing AI processes.
    Summit Art Creations/Shutterstock

    Regrets? Bosses have a few

    These aren’t isolated cases. Some 55% of UK executives who replaced workers with AI later regretted it. In the rush to automate, workers are often seen as expendable.

    This attitude to AI leads to what US economists Daron Acemoglu and Pascual Restrepro call “so-so automation”, where technology displaces workers without delivering meaningful productivity gains.

    Rather than trying to replace staff with AI, organisations should be deeply engaging with them. Engaging workers can dramatically boost the AI’s return on investment.

    Like other general-purpose technologies, getting the most out of AI means transforming the way we work. And the data show companies that engage workers in organisational transformations are nine times more likely to succeed.

    The companies that are unlocking the benefit of AI understand it works best when it amplifies human capability, rather than replacing it. Workers still know things that algorithms don’t. They deeply understand the practical realities of their jobs, which is crucial for designing AI systems that actually get things done.

    Designing better solutions

    Our own research confirms this. Australian workers feel AI is being imposed on them without adequate consultation or training. This not only creates resistance to adoption but also means organisations are missing the experience of the people who actually do the work.

    Our most recent report shows worker engagement strengthens competitive advantage and profitability, and leads to better AI solutions rooted in workers’ problems and needs. When workers are involved in deciding how AI is used, the solutions are better designed, more effective and more widely adopted.

    Australia’s new Industry and Innovation Minister, Tim Ayres, recognises this. In a recent speech he emphasised the need to work “cooperatively with workers and their unions” on tech adoption.

    It’s a promising place to start. If AI is going to be an effective treatment for Australia’s productivity challenge, then workers must be an essential part of the recovery team.

    Llewellyn Spink receives funding from the Minderoo Foundation as part of the Human Technology Institute’s AI Corporate Governance Program. HTI is funded by a wide variety of academic, corporate and philanthropic partners.

    Nicholas Davis receives funding from the Minderoo Foundation as part of the Human Technology Institute’s AI Corporate Governance Program. HTI is funded by a wide variety of academic, corporate and philanthropic partners.

    – ref. Companies are betting on AI to help lift productivity. Workers need to be part of the process – https://theconversation.com/companies-are-betting-on-ai-to-help-lift-productivity-workers-need-to-be-part-of-the-process-258396

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Would you cheat on your tax? It’s a risky move, the tax office knows a lot about you

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert B Whait, Senior Lecturer in Taxation Law, University of South Australia

    Soon, more than 15 million Australians should be lodging a tax return with the Australian Taxation Office in the hope of receiving at least a small refund.

    About 60% of taxpayers use an accountant to prepare their tax return while the other 40% lodge their returns via their MyGov account. This links them to the tax office, Medicare and other government services.

    The tax office receives about 1000 tip-offs a week from people who know or suspect evasion. Of these, the office deems about 90% warrant further investigation.

    What to remember when preparing your tax return

    These days, the tax office prefills much of your income information. The ATO will let you know through your MyGov account when your income statements from your employer are “tax ready”.

    But other income including bank interest, dividends and managed investment funds distributions may take longer to appear, so don’t rush to complete and lodge your tax return on July 1 if these aren’t there. When these items prefill, check them for accuracy and correct any errors.

    The tax office does not know about all your income so remember to provide details of other sources including capital gains on investments and income from other jobs for which you have an Australian Business Number.

    Some items, such as private health insurance information, are only partially pre-filled so be sure to check that all questions have been answered and all necessary information provided.

    How to claim deductions

    To claim a deduction you must have spent the money yourself and were not reimbursed from another source.

    The expense must be directly related to earning your income from either employment or services provided, from investments such as shares or a rental property, or from a business you operate.

    And you must have a record to prove your expense. This usually needs to be in the form of a receipt or a diary.

    If you don’t know how to record your deductions, an easy option is to use the tax office myDeductions app. You can scan receipts and allocate them to the correct section of your return.

    What the tax office will be looking for in 2025

    Each year the tax office targets particular areas. For 2025, these are:

    Working from home expenses: you can choose between two methods: the fixed rate method or the actual cost method.

    The fixed rate method allows you to claim 70 cents for each hour worked from home during the year. You do not need to keep receipts, but you must keep a record of the hours worked at home.

    The actual cost method allows you to claim the costs of working from home, but taxpayers must have a dedicated room set aside for the office and remove all private use.

    You cannot claim personal items like interest on a home loan or rent expenses unless you are operating a business from home.

    Personal items, such as coffee machines, are not claimable even if you use them while working from home. Mobile phone and internet costs are included in the 70 cents per hour fixed rate. The ATO will be looking for taxpayers who claim these twice – for example, on their return and from their employer.

    The 70 cents per hour rate does not include depreciation of work-related technology and office furniture, cleaning of the home office and repairs to these items. So these amounts can be claimed separately.

    Motor vehicle expenses: there are also two methods to work out this claim. The log book method requires you to have kept a record for 12 weeks. You then need to work out the percentage you used your car for work or business which is applied to your expenses.

    The cents per kilometre method allows you to claim 88 cents for each kilometre up to 5,000 km of work or business travel. No receipts need to be kept for this method, but you must be able to justify the total kilometres that you have claimed.

    If you use the cents per kilometre method, do not double dip by claiming additional motor vehicle expenses.

    Rental properties: make sure the expenses you claim do not include your personal costs. For example, the interest expenses must only be for the rental property and not interest from your personal home.

    Also, if you own 50% of the rental you can only claim 50% of the expenses, even if your taxable income is higher than the other owner. If you have a holiday home you can only claim expenses for when that home was rented out, not the whole year.

    Cryptocurrency: many taxpayers are buying and selling cryptocurrency. These transactions need to be reported in your tax return when they are sold as a capital gain or capital loss.

    Other forms of income: if you earn money through the sharing or gig economies, you must include all income from these activities in your return. If you sell goods online, the tax office may consider it to be a business, and it will expect the income to be declared.

    Don’t be tempted to cheat

    The ATO already knows a lot about your tax situation, which makes it harder than ever to cheat.

    The tax office uses data matching to check information you include in your return against data provided by other parties including share registries and your health insurer. It also gathers information from the internet.

    If the data doesn’t match your return, or your claim is considered excessive, the ATO may contact you. You may be asked to explain why and, if your explanation is unsatisfactory, you might be audited.

    Penalties of 25% to 75% of the tax owed may apply for falsely claiming deductions. The more dishonest the claim, the higher the penalty).

    The link between what you claim and what you earn has to be real. So do not claim the cost of your Armani suit as a work uniform or your pet as a mascot for your business. Even the cost of a massage chair to relieve work stress cannot be claimed.

    Dubious claims received by the tax office in recent years are many and varied. They have included Lego, school uniforms and sporting equipment purchased for kids, $9000 worth of wine bought by a wine expert while on a European holiday, for personal consumption, and a claim using receipts lodged by a doctor for an overseas conference he didn’t attend.

    What if I make a mistake or the ATO finds an error?

    If you make a mistake in your tax return, you can always amend it via MyTax.

    The tax office will not fine you unless you did not take reasonable care, but you will have to pay back the shortfall in tax.

    The due date to lodge your own return is October 31. If you are having trouble meeting this date, contact the tax office and ask for an extension.

    Disclaimer: this is general information only and not to be taken as financial or tax advice.

    Robert B Whait receives funding from the Federal Government as part of the National Tax Clinic Program, Financial Literacy Australia (now Ecstra Foundation), ANZ Bank, and the Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC). He is affiliated with the Tax Institute of Australia and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.

    Connie Vitale receives funding from the Federal Government as part of the National Tax Clinic Program. She is affiliated with the Institute of Public Accountants and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.

    – ref. Would you cheat on your tax? It’s a risky move, the tax office knows a lot about you – https://theconversation.com/would-you-cheat-on-your-tax-its-a-risky-move-the-tax-office-knows-a-lot-about-you-258587

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Would you cheat on your tax? It’s a risky move, the tax office knows a lot about you

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert B Whait, Senior Lecturer in Taxation Law, University of South Australia

    Soon, more than 15 million Australians should be lodging a tax return with the Australian Taxation Office in the hope of receiving at least a small refund.

    About 60% of taxpayers use an accountant to prepare their tax return while the other 40% lodge their returns via their MyGov account. This links them to the tax office, Medicare and other government services.

    The tax office receives about 1000 tip-offs a week from people who know or suspect evasion. Of these, the office deems about 90% warrant further investigation.

    What to remember when preparing your tax return

    These days, the tax office prefills much of your income information. The ATO will let you know through your MyGov account when your income statements from your employer are “tax ready”.

    But other income including bank interest, dividends and managed investment funds distributions may take longer to appear, so don’t rush to complete and lodge your tax return on July 1 if these aren’t there. When these items prefill, check them for accuracy and correct any errors.

    The tax office does not know about all your income so remember to provide details of other sources including capital gains on investments and income from other jobs for which you have an Australian Business Number.

    Some items, such as private health insurance information, are only partially pre-filled so be sure to check that all questions have been answered and all necessary information provided.

    How to claim deductions

    To claim a deduction you must have spent the money yourself and were not reimbursed from another source.

    The expense must be directly related to earning your income from either employment or services provided, from investments such as shares or a rental property, or from a business you operate.

    And you must have a record to prove your expense. This usually needs to be in the form of a receipt or a diary.

    If you don’t know how to record your deductions, an easy option is to use the tax office myDeductions app. You can scan receipts and allocate them to the correct section of your return.

    What the tax office will be looking for in 2025

    Each year the tax office targets particular areas. For 2025, these are:

    Working from home expenses: you can choose between two methods: the fixed rate method or the actual cost method.

    The fixed rate method allows you to claim 70 cents for each hour worked from home during the year. You do not need to keep receipts, but you must keep a record of the hours worked at home.

    The actual cost method allows you to claim the costs of working from home, but taxpayers must have a dedicated room set aside for the office and remove all private use.

    You cannot claim personal items like interest on a home loan or rent expenses unless you are operating a business from home.

    Personal items, such as coffee machines, are not claimable even if you use them while working from home. Mobile phone and internet costs are included in the 70 cents per hour fixed rate. The ATO will be looking for taxpayers who claim these twice – for example, on their return and from their employer.

    The 70 cents per hour rate does not include depreciation of work-related technology and office furniture, cleaning of the home office and repairs to these items. So these amounts can be claimed separately.

    Motor vehicle expenses: there are also two methods to work out this claim. The log book method requires you to have kept a record for 12 weeks. You then need to work out the percentage you used your car for work or business which is applied to your expenses.

    The cents per kilometre method allows you to claim 88 cents for each kilometre up to 5,000 km of work or business travel. No receipts need to be kept for this method, but you must be able to justify the total kilometres that you have claimed.

    If you use the cents per kilometre method, do not double dip by claiming additional motor vehicle expenses.

    Rental properties: make sure the expenses you claim do not include your personal costs. For example, the interest expenses must only be for the rental property and not interest from your personal home.

    Also, if you own 50% of the rental you can only claim 50% of the expenses, even if your taxable income is higher than the other owner. If you have a holiday home you can only claim expenses for when that home was rented out, not the whole year.

    Cryptocurrency: many taxpayers are buying and selling cryptocurrency. These transactions need to be reported in your tax return when they are sold as a capital gain or capital loss.

    Other forms of income: if you earn money through the sharing or gig economies, you must include all income from these activities in your return. If you sell goods online, the tax office may consider it to be a business, and it will expect the income to be declared.

    Don’t be tempted to cheat

    The ATO already knows a lot about your tax situation, which makes it harder than ever to cheat.

    The tax office uses data matching to check information you include in your return against data provided by other parties including share registries and your health insurer. It also gathers information from the internet.

    If the data doesn’t match your return, or your claim is considered excessive, the ATO may contact you. You may be asked to explain why and, if your explanation is unsatisfactory, you might be audited.

    Penalties of 25% to 75% of the tax owed may apply for falsely claiming deductions. The more dishonest the claim, the higher the penalty).

    The link between what you claim and what you earn has to be real. So do not claim the cost of your Armani suit as a work uniform or your pet as a mascot for your business. Even the cost of a massage chair to relieve work stress cannot be claimed.

    Dubious claims received by the tax office in recent years are many and varied. They have included Lego, school uniforms and sporting equipment purchased for kids, $9000 worth of wine bought by a wine expert while on a European holiday, for personal consumption, and a claim using receipts lodged by a doctor for an overseas conference he didn’t attend.

    What if I make a mistake or the ATO finds an error?

    If you make a mistake in your tax return, you can always amend it via MyTax.

    The tax office will not fine you unless you did not take reasonable care, but you will have to pay back the shortfall in tax.

    The due date to lodge your own return is October 31. If you are having trouble meeting this date, contact the tax office and ask for an extension.

    Disclaimer: this is general information only and not to be taken as financial or tax advice.

    Robert B Whait receives funding from the Federal Government as part of the National Tax Clinic Program, Financial Literacy Australia (now Ecstra Foundation), ANZ Bank, and the Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC). He is affiliated with the Tax Institute of Australia and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.

    Connie Vitale receives funding from the Federal Government as part of the National Tax Clinic Program. She is affiliated with the Institute of Public Accountants and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.

    – ref. Would you cheat on your tax? It’s a risky move, the tax office knows a lot about you – https://theconversation.com/would-you-cheat-on-your-tax-its-a-risky-move-the-tax-office-knows-a-lot-about-you-258587

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: School playgrounds are one of the main locations for bullying. How can they be set up to stop it?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Dean (Academic), Faculty of Arts and Education, Charles Sturt University

    Dan Kenyon/ Getty Images

    Children spend thousands of hours in playgrounds at school. A lot of this time does not have the same levels of teacher preparation and supervision as classrooms do.

    Research shows school playgrounds are one of the main locations where bullying occurs.

    The federal government is doing a rapid review into what works and what else needs to be done to stop bullying in schools. School playgrounds can sometimes be overlooked when considering anti-bullying approaches.

    What is the relationship between playgrounds and bullying? And how can we better set up playgrounds to help prevent this damaging behaviour?

    Why do play spaces matter?

    The reasons for bullying are complex and stem from a range of factors.

    But research suggests bullying is more common in confined or contested spaces – for example, when students are mixing with other year levels.

    This research also suggests some students are more likely to bully other students, lash out and break rules when they are bored and frustrated in school play spaces.

    A new report from not-for-profit group Play Australia estimates just 2% of all Australian schools are using innovative, research-informed strategies that best encourage and support healthy play behaviours.

    An example of ‘loose parts’ play for children. Well established in early childhood, yet innovative in primary schools.

    What happens in Australia?

    School play spaces are not regulated in the way playgrounds are for younger children. For example, there are no minimum space requirements per student in high schools. There are some emerging primary school space guidelines, but these are not always followed.

    The lack of regulation for playground space has also seen classroom buildings taking over play areas and rules stopping students from moving in some areas (for example, no running or ball games).

    Many primary schools still rely on fixed play equipment installed in the 1980s. But primary school students report they get bored of playing on the same equipment over and over again.

    In public high schools, playgrounds tend to be large open spaces with ovals, hard-surfaced courts and picnic tables or benches.

    Not only is this not particularly stimulating or inviting, the design can lead to some (typically male) students dominating the open spaces with games.

    This can exclude other students from the playground. Research suggests if students lack a sense of community and belonging to their school, they are more likely to bully others.

    What should primary schools do?

    A growing body of research based on interviews with teachers and student observations suggests positive behaviours can be encouraged if primary students have more options and fewer restrictions on how they engage in play.

    Resources that can be moved, adapted and selected by students (with varying colours, shapes, sizes, quantities and types) can help develop problem-solving and teamwork skills and reduce bullying because children are busy and engaged.

    Examples of resources include both natural (rocks and twigs), loose sports equipment (small hurdles, bats and frisbees, balls) and other manufactured items (blocks, boxes, pipes, planks and crates).

    Research also suggests teachers’ engagement with students in the playground can help reduce bullying and antisocial behaviour.

    The “active supervision” method is recognised as one of the most effective ways to to do this, as it can improve students’ sense of belonging and safety.

    The method includes adults using positive language, showing an interest in supporting play and modelling positive play behaviours, which increase students’ participation and cooperation.

    What about high schools?

    Research with school architects suggests high school spaces with well maintained, diverse features can help promote a more positive social culture.

    It also suggests multiple spaces for students – as opposed to a single dominant space in a playground – can support students to feel as though there is space for them, and they belong at school.

    It is important for high school students to be consulted about what they want – they are the main users and have evolving needs as they progress through school.

    A 2025 Australian study found high school students want opportunities to retreat and be themselves.

    Examples include maintained gardens and courtyards to help relax after the stresses of classroom rules and routines. Students suggested trees, rocks and gardens could break up open spaces. Providing sufficient shade can also ensure students have more accessible space to engage with each other throughout a school year.

    What next?

    Improving playgrounds to better address student needs will require more resources from governments.

    But addressing bullying is complex and we know physical settings can impact social dynamics. So we need to look more closely at school playgrounds as a key place where bullying occurs and the role they play in this behaviour.

    Brendon Hyndman’s work on school play is mentioned in the Play Australia report referenced in this article.

    – ref. School playgrounds are one of the main locations for bullying. How can they be set up to stop it? – https://theconversation.com/school-playgrounds-are-one-of-the-main-locations-for-bullying-how-can-they-be-set-up-to-stop-it-258566

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: School playgrounds are one of the main locations for bullying. How can they be set up to stop it?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Dean (Academic), Faculty of Arts and Education, Charles Sturt University

    Dan Kenyon/ Getty Images

    Children spend thousands of hours in playgrounds at school. A lot of this time does not have the same levels of teacher preparation and supervision as classrooms do.

    Research shows school playgrounds are one of the main locations where bullying occurs.

    The federal government is doing a rapid review into what works and what else needs to be done to stop bullying in schools. School playgrounds can sometimes be overlooked when considering anti-bullying approaches.

    What is the relationship between playgrounds and bullying? And how can we better set up playgrounds to help prevent this damaging behaviour?

    Why do play spaces matter?

    The reasons for bullying are complex and stem from a range of factors.

    But research suggests bullying is more common in confined or contested spaces – for example, when students are mixing with other year levels.

    This research also suggests some students are more likely to bully other students, lash out and break rules when they are bored and frustrated in school play spaces.

    A new report from not-for-profit group Play Australia estimates just 2% of all Australian schools are using innovative, research-informed strategies that best encourage and support healthy play behaviours.

    An example of ‘loose parts’ play for children. Well established in early childhood, yet innovative in primary schools.

    What happens in Australia?

    School play spaces are not regulated in the way playgrounds are for younger children. For example, there are no minimum space requirements per student in high schools. There are some emerging primary school space guidelines, but these are not always followed.

    The lack of regulation for playground space has also seen classroom buildings taking over play areas and rules stopping students from moving in some areas (for example, no running or ball games).

    Many primary schools still rely on fixed play equipment installed in the 1980s. But primary school students report they get bored of playing on the same equipment over and over again.

    In public high schools, playgrounds tend to be large open spaces with ovals, hard-surfaced courts and picnic tables or benches.

    Not only is this not particularly stimulating or inviting, the design can lead to some (typically male) students dominating the open spaces with games.

    This can exclude other students from the playground. Research suggests if students lack a sense of community and belonging to their school, they are more likely to bully others.

    What should primary schools do?

    A growing body of research based on interviews with teachers and student observations suggests positive behaviours can be encouraged if primary students have more options and fewer restrictions on how they engage in play.

    Resources that can be moved, adapted and selected by students (with varying colours, shapes, sizes, quantities and types) can help develop problem-solving and teamwork skills and reduce bullying because children are busy and engaged.

    Examples of resources include both natural (rocks and twigs), loose sports equipment (small hurdles, bats and frisbees, balls) and other manufactured items (blocks, boxes, pipes, planks and crates).

    Research also suggests teachers’ engagement with students in the playground can help reduce bullying and antisocial behaviour.

    The “active supervision” method is recognised as one of the most effective ways to to do this, as it can improve students’ sense of belonging and safety.

    The method includes adults using positive language, showing an interest in supporting play and modelling positive play behaviours, which increase students’ participation and cooperation.

    What about high schools?

    Research with school architects suggests high school spaces with well maintained, diverse features can help promote a more positive social culture.

    It also suggests multiple spaces for students – as opposed to a single dominant space in a playground – can support students to feel as though there is space for them, and they belong at school.

    It is important for high school students to be consulted about what they want – they are the main users and have evolving needs as they progress through school.

    A 2025 Australian study found high school students want opportunities to retreat and be themselves.

    Examples include maintained gardens and courtyards to help relax after the stresses of classroom rules and routines. Students suggested trees, rocks and gardens could break up open spaces. Providing sufficient shade can also ensure students have more accessible space to engage with each other throughout a school year.

    What next?

    Improving playgrounds to better address student needs will require more resources from governments.

    But addressing bullying is complex and we know physical settings can impact social dynamics. So we need to look more closely at school playgrounds as a key place where bullying occurs and the role they play in this behaviour.

    Brendon Hyndman’s work on school play is mentioned in the Play Australia report referenced in this article.

    – ref. School playgrounds are one of the main locations for bullying. How can they be set up to stop it? – https://theconversation.com/school-playgrounds-are-one-of-the-main-locations-for-bullying-how-can-they-be-set-up-to-stop-it-258566

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Winter viruses can trigger a heart attack or stroke, our study shows. It’s another good reason to get a flu or COVID shot

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tu Nguyen, PhD Candidate, Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute

    Irina Shatilova/Shutterstock

    Winter is here, along with cold days and the inevitable seasonal surge in respiratory viruses.

    But it’s not only the sniffles we need to worry about. Heart attacks and strokes also tend to rise during the winter months.

    In new research out this week we show one reason why.

    Our study shows catching common respiratory viruses raises your short-term risk of a heart attack or stroke. In other words, common viruses, such as those that cause flu and COVID, can trigger them.

    Wait, viruses can trigger heart attacks?

    Traditional risk factors such as smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and lack of exercise are the main reasons for heart attacks and strokes.

    And rates of heart attacks and strokes can rise in winter for a number of reasons. Factors such as low temperature, less physical activity, more time spent indoors – perhaps with indoor air pollutants – can affect blood clotting and worsen the effects of traditional risk factors.

    But our new findings build on those from other researchers to show how respiratory viruses can also be a trigger.

    The theory is respiratory virus infections set off a heart attack or stroke, rather than directly cause them. If traditional risk factors are like dousing a house in petrol, the viral infection is like the matchstick that ignites the flame.

    Think of a viral infection as the matchstick that ignites the flame, leading to a heart attack or stroke.
    anokato/Shutterstock

    For healthy, young people, a newer, well-kept house is unlikely to spontaneously combust. But an older or even abandoned house with faulty electric wiring needs just a spark to lead to a blaze.

    People who are particularly vulnerable to a heart attack or stroke triggered by a respiratory virus are those with more than one of those traditional risk factors, especially older people.

    What we did and what we found

    Our team conducted a meta-analysis (a study of existing studies) to see which respiratory viruses play a role in triggering heart attacks and strokes, and the strength of the link. This meant studying more than 11,000 scientific papers, spanning 40 years of research.

    Overall, the influenza virus and SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID) were the main triggers.

    If you catch the flu, we found the risk of a heart attack goes up almost 5.4 times and a stroke by 4.7 times compared with not being infected. The danger zone is short – within the first few days or weeks – and tapers off with time after being infected.

    Catching COVID can also trigger heart attacks and strokes, but there haven’t been enough studies to say exactly what the increased risk is.

    We also found an increased risk of heart attacks or strokes with other viruses, including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), enterovirus and cytomegalovirus. But the links are not as strong, probably because these viruses are less commonly detected or tested for.

    What’s going on?

    Over a person’s lifetime, our bodies wear and tear and the inside wall of our blood vessels becomes rough. Fatty build-ups (plaques) stick easily to these rough areas, inevitably accumulating and causing tight spaces.

    Generally, blood can still pass through, and these build-ups don’t cause issues. Think of this as dousing the house in petrol, but it’s not yet alight.

    So how does a viral infection act like a matchstick to ignite the flame? Through a cascading process of inflammation.

    High levels of inflammation that follow a viral infection can crack open a plaque. The body activates blood clotting to fix the crack but this clot could inadvertently block a blood vessel completely, causing a heart attack or stroke.

    Some studies have found fragments of the COVID virus inside the blood clots that cause heart attacks – further evidence to back our findings.

    We don’t know whether younger, healthier people are also at increased risk of a heart attack or stroke after infection with a respiratory virus.

    That’s because people in the studies we analysed were almost always older adults with at least one of those traditional risk factors, so were already vulnerable.

    The bad news is we will all be vulnerable eventually, just by getting older.

    What can we do about it?

    The triggers we identified are mostly preventable by vaccination.

    There is good evidence from clinical trials the flu vaccine can reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke, especially if someone already has heart problems.

    We aren’t clear exactly how this works. But the theory is that avoiding common infections, or having less severe symptoms, reduces the chances of setting off the inflammatory chain reaction.

    COVID vaccination could also indirectly protect against heart attacks and strokes. But the evidence is still emerging.

    Heart attacks and strokes are among Australia’s biggest killers. If vaccinations could help reduce even a small fraction of people having a heart attack or stroke, this could bring substantial benefit to their lives, the community, our stressed health system and the economy.

    What should I do?

    At-risk groups should get vaccinated against flu and COVID. Pregnant women, and people over 60 with medical problems, should receive RSV vaccination to reduce their risk of severe disease.

    So if you are older or have predisposing medical conditions, check Australia’s National Immunisation Program to see if you are eligible for a free vaccine.

    For younger people, a healthy lifestyle with regular exercise and balanced diet will set you up for life. Consider checking your heart age (a measure of your risk of heart disease), getting an annual flu vaccine and discuss COVID boosters with your GP.

    Tu Nguyen is supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program PhD Scholarship and a Murdoch Children’s Research Institute Top-Up Scholarship.

    Christopher Reid receives funding from National Health and Medical Research Council and the Medical Research Future Fund.

    Jim Buttery receives funding from the Medical Research Future Fund, the US Centres for Disease Control, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovation, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Victorian State Government.

    Diana Vlasenko and Hazel Clothier 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. Winter viruses can trigger a heart attack or stroke, our study shows. It’s another good reason to get a flu or COVID shot – https://theconversation.com/winter-viruses-can-trigger-a-heart-attack-or-stroke-our-study-shows-its-another-good-reason-to-get-a-flu-or-covid-shot-256090

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Winter viruses can trigger a heart attack or stroke, our study shows. It’s another good reason to get a flu or COVID shot

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tu Nguyen, PhD Candidate, Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute

    Irina Shatilova/Shutterstock

    Winter is here, along with cold days and the inevitable seasonal surge in respiratory viruses.

    But it’s not only the sniffles we need to worry about. Heart attacks and strokes also tend to rise during the winter months.

    In new research out this week we show one reason why.

    Our study shows catching common respiratory viruses raises your short-term risk of a heart attack or stroke. In other words, common viruses, such as those that cause flu and COVID, can trigger them.

    Wait, viruses can trigger heart attacks?

    Traditional risk factors such as smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and lack of exercise are the main reasons for heart attacks and strokes.

    And rates of heart attacks and strokes can rise in winter for a number of reasons. Factors such as low temperature, less physical activity, more time spent indoors – perhaps with indoor air pollutants – can affect blood clotting and worsen the effects of traditional risk factors.

    But our new findings build on those from other researchers to show how respiratory viruses can also be a trigger.

    The theory is respiratory virus infections set off a heart attack or stroke, rather than directly cause them. If traditional risk factors are like dousing a house in petrol, the viral infection is like the matchstick that ignites the flame.

    Think of a viral infection as the matchstick that ignites the flame, leading to a heart attack or stroke.
    anokato/Shutterstock

    For healthy, young people, a newer, well-kept house is unlikely to spontaneously combust. But an older or even abandoned house with faulty electric wiring needs just a spark to lead to a blaze.

    People who are particularly vulnerable to a heart attack or stroke triggered by a respiratory virus are those with more than one of those traditional risk factors, especially older people.

    What we did and what we found

    Our team conducted a meta-analysis (a study of existing studies) to see which respiratory viruses play a role in triggering heart attacks and strokes, and the strength of the link. This meant studying more than 11,000 scientific papers, spanning 40 years of research.

    Overall, the influenza virus and SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID) were the main triggers.

    If you catch the flu, we found the risk of a heart attack goes up almost 5.4 times and a stroke by 4.7 times compared with not being infected. The danger zone is short – within the first few days or weeks – and tapers off with time after being infected.

    Catching COVID can also trigger heart attacks and strokes, but there haven’t been enough studies to say exactly what the increased risk is.

    We also found an increased risk of heart attacks or strokes with other viruses, including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), enterovirus and cytomegalovirus. But the links are not as strong, probably because these viruses are less commonly detected or tested for.

    What’s going on?

    Over a person’s lifetime, our bodies wear and tear and the inside wall of our blood vessels becomes rough. Fatty build-ups (plaques) stick easily to these rough areas, inevitably accumulating and causing tight spaces.

    Generally, blood can still pass through, and these build-ups don’t cause issues. Think of this as dousing the house in petrol, but it’s not yet alight.

    So how does a viral infection act like a matchstick to ignite the flame? Through a cascading process of inflammation.

    High levels of inflammation that follow a viral infection can crack open a plaque. The body activates blood clotting to fix the crack but this clot could inadvertently block a blood vessel completely, causing a heart attack or stroke.

    Some studies have found fragments of the COVID virus inside the blood clots that cause heart attacks – further evidence to back our findings.

    We don’t know whether younger, healthier people are also at increased risk of a heart attack or stroke after infection with a respiratory virus.

    That’s because people in the studies we analysed were almost always older adults with at least one of those traditional risk factors, so were already vulnerable.

    The bad news is we will all be vulnerable eventually, just by getting older.

    What can we do about it?

    The triggers we identified are mostly preventable by vaccination.

    There is good evidence from clinical trials the flu vaccine can reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke, especially if someone already has heart problems.

    We aren’t clear exactly how this works. But the theory is that avoiding common infections, or having less severe symptoms, reduces the chances of setting off the inflammatory chain reaction.

    COVID vaccination could also indirectly protect against heart attacks and strokes. But the evidence is still emerging.

    Heart attacks and strokes are among Australia’s biggest killers. If vaccinations could help reduce even a small fraction of people having a heart attack or stroke, this could bring substantial benefit to their lives, the community, our stressed health system and the economy.

    What should I do?

    At-risk groups should get vaccinated against flu and COVID. Pregnant women, and people over 60 with medical problems, should receive RSV vaccination to reduce their risk of severe disease.

    So if you are older or have predisposing medical conditions, check Australia’s National Immunisation Program to see if you are eligible for a free vaccine.

    For younger people, a healthy lifestyle with regular exercise and balanced diet will set you up for life. Consider checking your heart age (a measure of your risk of heart disease), getting an annual flu vaccine and discuss COVID boosters with your GP.

    Tu Nguyen is supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program PhD Scholarship and a Murdoch Children’s Research Institute Top-Up Scholarship.

    Christopher Reid receives funding from National Health and Medical Research Council and the Medical Research Future Fund.

    Jim Buttery receives funding from the Medical Research Future Fund, the US Centres for Disease Control, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovation, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Victorian State Government.

    Diana Vlasenko and Hazel Clothier 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. Winter viruses can trigger a heart attack or stroke, our study shows. It’s another good reason to get a flu or COVID shot – https://theconversation.com/winter-viruses-can-trigger-a-heart-attack-or-stroke-our-study-shows-its-another-good-reason-to-get-a-flu-or-covid-shot-256090

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Robot eyes are power hungry. What if we gave them tools inspired by the human brain?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam D Hines, Research Fellow, Centre for Robotics, Queensland University of Technology

    A hexapod robot navigating outdoors. Adam Hines

    Robots are increasingly becoming a part of our lives – from warehouse automation to robotic vacuum cleaners. And just like humans, robots need to know where they are to reliably navigate from A to B.

    How far, and for how long, a robot can navigate depends on how much power it consumes over time. Robot navigation systems are especially energy hungry.

    But what if power consumption was no longer a concern?

    Our research on “brain-inspired” computing, published today in Science Robotics, could make navigational robots of the future more energy efficient than previously imagined.

    This could potentially extend and expand what’s possible for battery-powered systems working in challenging environments such as disaster zones, underwater, and even in space.

    How do robots ‘see’ the world?

    The battery going flat on your smartphone is usually just a minor inconvenience. For a robot, running out of power can mean the difference between life and death – including for the people it might be helping.

    Robots such as search and rescue drones, underwater robots monitoring the Great Barrier Reef, and space rovers all need to navigate while running on limited power supplies.

    Robots that navigate challenging environments need a lot of battery power for their cameras and other sensors.
    NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

    Many of these robots can’t rely on GPS for navigation. They keep track of where they are using a process called visual place recognition. Visual place recognition lets a robot estimate where it’s located in the world using just what it “sees” through its camera.

    But this method uses a lot of energy. Robotic vision systems alone can use up to a third of the energy from a typical lithium ion battery found onboard a robot.

    This is because modern robotic vision, including visual place recognition, typically relies on power-hungry machine learning models, similar to the ones used in AI like ChatGPT.

    By comparison, our brains require just enough power to turn on a light bulb, while allowing us to see things and navigate the world with remarkable precision.

    Robotics engineers often look to biology for inspiration. In our new study, we turned to the human brain to help us create a new, energy-efficient visual place recognition system.

    Mimicking the brain

    Our system uses a brain-inspired technology called neuromorphic computing. As the name suggests, neuromorphic computers take principles from neuroscience to design computer chips and software that can learn and process information like human brains do.

    An important feature of neuromorphic computers is that they are highly energy-efficient. A regular computer can use up to 100 times more power than a neuromorphic chip.

    Neuromorphic computing is not limited to just computer chips, however. It can be paired with bio-inspired cameras that capture the world more like the human eye does. These are called dynamic vision sensors, and they work like motion detectors for each pixel. They only “wake up” and send information when something changes in the scene, rather than constantly streaming data like a regular camera.

    What a regular camera sees (left) compared to a bio-inspired camera (right).
    Adam Hines

    These bio-inspired cameras are also highly energy efficient, using less than 1% of the power of normal cameras.

    So if brain-inspired computers and bio-inspired cameras are so wonderful, why aren’t robots using them everywhere? Well, there are a range of challenges to overcome, which was the focus of our recent research.

    A new kind of LENS

    The unique properties of a dynamic vision sensor are, ironically, a limiting factor in many visual place recognition systems.

    Standard visual place recognition models are built on the foundation of static images, like the ones taken by your smartphone. Since a neuromorphic sensor doesn’t produce static images but senses the world in a constantly changing way, we need a brain-inspired computer to process what it “sees”.

    Our research overcomes this challenge by combining neuromorphic chips and sensors for robots that use visual place recognition. We call this system Locational Encoding with Neuromorphic Systems, or LENS for short.

    LENS uses the continuous information stream from a dynamic vision sensor directly on a neuromorphic chip. The system uses a machine learning method known as spiking neural networks. These process information like human brains do.

    By combining all these neuromorphic components, we reduced the power needed for visual place recognition by over 90%. Since nearly a third of the energy needed for a robot is vision related, this is a significant reduction.

    To achieve this, we used an off-the-shelf product called SynSense Speck, which combines a neuromorphic chip and a dynamic vision sensor all in one compact package.

    The entire system only required 180 kilobytes of memory to map an area of Brisbane eight kilometres in length. That’s a tiny fraction of what would be needed in a standard visual place recognition system.

    Hexapod robots have six legs and can walk on different surfaces both indoors and outdoors.

    A robot in the wild

    For testing, we placed our LENS system on a hexapod robot. Hexapods are multi-terrain robots that can navigate both indoors and outdoors.

    In our tests, the LENS performed as well as a typical visual place recognition system, but used much less energy.

    Our work comes at a time when AI development is trending towards creating bigger, more power-hungry solutions for improved performance. The energy needed to train and use systems like OpenAI’s ChatGPT is notoriously demanding, with concerns that modern AI represents unsustainable growth in energy demands.

    For robots that need to navigate, developing more compact, energy-efficient AI using neuromorphic computing could be key for being able to go farther and for longer periods of time. There are still challenges to solve, but we are closer to making it a reality.

    Michael Milford receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the Australian Economic Accelerator, the Queensland Government, Amazon, Ford Motor Company, iMOVE CRC, the DAAD Australia-Germany Co-operation Scheme and DSTG. He is affiliated with the Motor Trades Association of Queensland as a non-executive board member.

    Tobias Fischer receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the DAAD Australia-Germany Co-operation Scheme, the Great Barrier Reef Foundation via the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program, and the Queensland Department of Environment, Science and Innovation.

    Adam D Hines 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. Robot eyes are power hungry. What if we gave them tools inspired by the human brain? – https://theconversation.com/robot-eyes-are-power-hungry-what-if-we-gave-them-tools-inspired-by-the-human-brain-257978

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Robot eyes are power hungry. What if we gave them tools inspired by the human brain?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam D Hines, Research Fellow, Centre for Robotics, Queensland University of Technology

    A hexapod robot navigating outdoors. Adam Hines

    Robots are increasingly becoming a part of our lives – from warehouse automation to robotic vacuum cleaners. And just like humans, robots need to know where they are to reliably navigate from A to B.

    How far, and for how long, a robot can navigate depends on how much power it consumes over time. Robot navigation systems are especially energy hungry.

    But what if power consumption was no longer a concern?

    Our research on “brain-inspired” computing, published today in Science Robotics, could make navigational robots of the future more energy efficient than previously imagined.

    This could potentially extend and expand what’s possible for battery-powered systems working in challenging environments such as disaster zones, underwater, and even in space.

    How do robots ‘see’ the world?

    The battery going flat on your smartphone is usually just a minor inconvenience. For a robot, running out of power can mean the difference between life and death – including for the people it might be helping.

    Robots such as search and rescue drones, underwater robots monitoring the Great Barrier Reef, and space rovers all need to navigate while running on limited power supplies.

    Robots that navigate challenging environments need a lot of battery power for their cameras and other sensors.
    NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

    Many of these robots can’t rely on GPS for navigation. They keep track of where they are using a process called visual place recognition. Visual place recognition lets a robot estimate where it’s located in the world using just what it “sees” through its camera.

    But this method uses a lot of energy. Robotic vision systems alone can use up to a third of the energy from a typical lithium ion battery found onboard a robot.

    This is because modern robotic vision, including visual place recognition, typically relies on power-hungry machine learning models, similar to the ones used in AI like ChatGPT.

    By comparison, our brains require just enough power to turn on a light bulb, while allowing us to see things and navigate the world with remarkable precision.

    Robotics engineers often look to biology for inspiration. In our new study, we turned to the human brain to help us create a new, energy-efficient visual place recognition system.

    Mimicking the brain

    Our system uses a brain-inspired technology called neuromorphic computing. As the name suggests, neuromorphic computers take principles from neuroscience to design computer chips and software that can learn and process information like human brains do.

    An important feature of neuromorphic computers is that they are highly energy-efficient. A regular computer can use up to 100 times more power than a neuromorphic chip.

    Neuromorphic computing is not limited to just computer chips, however. It can be paired with bio-inspired cameras that capture the world more like the human eye does. These are called dynamic vision sensors, and they work like motion detectors for each pixel. They only “wake up” and send information when something changes in the scene, rather than constantly streaming data like a regular camera.

    What a regular camera sees (left) compared to a bio-inspired camera (right).
    Adam Hines

    These bio-inspired cameras are also highly energy efficient, using less than 1% of the power of normal cameras.

    So if brain-inspired computers and bio-inspired cameras are so wonderful, why aren’t robots using them everywhere? Well, there are a range of challenges to overcome, which was the focus of our recent research.

    A new kind of LENS

    The unique properties of a dynamic vision sensor are, ironically, a limiting factor in many visual place recognition systems.

    Standard visual place recognition models are built on the foundation of static images, like the ones taken by your smartphone. Since a neuromorphic sensor doesn’t produce static images but senses the world in a constantly changing way, we need a brain-inspired computer to process what it “sees”.

    Our research overcomes this challenge by combining neuromorphic chips and sensors for robots that use visual place recognition. We call this system Locational Encoding with Neuromorphic Systems, or LENS for short.

    LENS uses the continuous information stream from a dynamic vision sensor directly on a neuromorphic chip. The system uses a machine learning method known as spiking neural networks. These process information like human brains do.

    By combining all these neuromorphic components, we reduced the power needed for visual place recognition by over 90%. Since nearly a third of the energy needed for a robot is vision related, this is a significant reduction.

    To achieve this, we used an off-the-shelf product called SynSense Speck, which combines a neuromorphic chip and a dynamic vision sensor all in one compact package.

    The entire system only required 180 kilobytes of memory to map an area of Brisbane eight kilometres in length. That’s a tiny fraction of what would be needed in a standard visual place recognition system.

    Hexapod robots have six legs and can walk on different surfaces both indoors and outdoors.

    A robot in the wild

    For testing, we placed our LENS system on a hexapod robot. Hexapods are multi-terrain robots that can navigate both indoors and outdoors.

    In our tests, the LENS performed as well as a typical visual place recognition system, but used much less energy.

    Our work comes at a time when AI development is trending towards creating bigger, more power-hungry solutions for improved performance. The energy needed to train and use systems like OpenAI’s ChatGPT is notoriously demanding, with concerns that modern AI represents unsustainable growth in energy demands.

    For robots that need to navigate, developing more compact, energy-efficient AI using neuromorphic computing could be key for being able to go farther and for longer periods of time. There are still challenges to solve, but we are closer to making it a reality.

    Michael Milford receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the Australian Economic Accelerator, the Queensland Government, Amazon, Ford Motor Company, iMOVE CRC, the DAAD Australia-Germany Co-operation Scheme and DSTG. He is affiliated with the Motor Trades Association of Queensland as a non-executive board member.

    Tobias Fischer receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the DAAD Australia-Germany Co-operation Scheme, the Great Barrier Reef Foundation via the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program, and the Queensland Department of Environment, Science and Innovation.

    Adam D Hines 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. Robot eyes are power hungry. What if we gave them tools inspired by the human brain? – https://theconversation.com/robot-eyes-are-power-hungry-what-if-we-gave-them-tools-inspired-by-the-human-brain-257978

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Jaws at 50: how a single movie changed our perception of white sharks forever

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Long, Strategic Professor in Palaeontology, Flinders University

    Shane Myers Photography/Shutterstock

    It’s been 50 years since Steven Spielberg’s movie Jaws first cast a terrifying shadow across our screens.

    At a low point during production, Spielberg worried he’d only ever be known for “a big fish story”. The film, however, did not tank.

    Jaws broke box office records and became the highest-grossing movie at the time, only surpassed by the first Star Wars released two years later in 1977.

    A combination of mass advertising, familiar “hero” tropes and old-school showmanship launched Jaws as the first modern blockbuster.

    Hollywood, and our relationship to oceans and the sharks within them, would never be the same.

    The novel Jaws was based on was a bestseller in its own right.
    Snap Shot/Shutterstock

    An unrealistic monster

    In Peter Benchley’s 1974 novel that Jaws is based on, the shark is 6 metres long. For added screen excitement, in the movie it grew to a whopping 7.6 metres.

    However, that’s unrealistically large.

    The average size of a mature great white (Carcharodon carcharias, also known as the white shark) is between 4.6 and 4.9 metres for female sharks and up to 4 metres for male sharks.

    The largest recorded living specimens peak at about 6 metres, with one monster specimen caught in Cuba in 1945 reaching 6.4 metres.

    Earth’s oceans have seen bigger predatory sharks in the past. The biggest one of all time was the megalodon (Otodus megalodon) which lived from 23 to 3 million years ago, and may have been up to 24 metres in length. However, it looked nothing like the modern white shark.

    We don’t know precisely how big the megalodon was, but certainly larger than the great white shark.
    Steveoc 86/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

    They’re not even directly related – another thing scientists learned quite recently.

    Who was the megalodon, then?

    White sharks first evolved between 6 and 4 million years ago in the shadows of the megalodon. A recent study showed the megalodon’s large serrated teeth show signs of it being a supreme opportunistic super-predator.

    That means it ate just about anything, but especially liked whales and marine mammals.



    Read more:
    Friday essay: Giant shark megalodon was the most powerful superpredator ever. Why did it go extinct?

    But white sharks are not directly related to the megalodon, whose lineage began with a shark called Cretalamna during the age of dinosaurs about 100 million years ago.

    By contrast, the white shark lineage began with an ancient mako shark, Carcharodon hastalis. It was 7 to 8 metres long and had large, similarly shaped teeth to the modern white shark but lacking serrated edges.

    A fossil intermediate species, Carcharodon hubbelli shows the transition over time from weakly serrated to strongly serrated teeth.

    White shark fossil species. Left, the serrated fossil tooth teeth of the extant white shark; right, a similarly shaped unserrated tooth of the extinct giant mako shark which gave rise to white sharks.
    John Long, CC BY

    How did Jaws affect white shark populations?

    Last year, the International Shark Attack File reported 47 unprovoked shark bites to humans worldwide, resulting in seven fatalities. This was well below the previous ten-year average of 70 bites per year; your chances of getting bitten by a shark are extremely rare.

    Following the movies that made up the Jaws franchise, there was an increase in hunting and killing sharks – with a particular focus on great white sharks that were already going into a decline due to overfishing, trophy hunting and lethal control programs.

    Between 80% and 90% of white sharks have disappeared globally since the middle of the 20th century. Recent estimates calculate there are probably less than 500 individual white sharks in Australian waters right now.

    When Jaws first aired, scientists didn’t know how long sharks took to reproduce, or how many offspring a white shark could have each year. We now know it takes about 26 years for a male and 33 years for a female to sexually mature before they can start having pups.

    Data about white shark births is sparse, but recently a 5.6-metre-long female caught on a drum line off the coast of Queensland had just four large pups inside her. This is a very small number. Some large sharks, such as the whale shark, can give birth to up to 300 young.

    Now that we know just how slow they are to breed, it’s clear it will take many decades to reestablish the “pre-Jaws” population of white sharks – important apex predators in the marine ecosystem.

    Charlie Huveneers from Flinders University about to take a tissue sample for research on white sharks. There is still a lot we don’t know about their biology.
    Andrew Fox, Adelaide, CC BY

    Will white sharks survive?

    White sharks are currently listed as vulnerable.

    This classification means if we don’t change the current living conditions for white sharks, including impacts caused by human activities such as commercial fishing, and the impacts of climate change and ocean pollution, they will continue to decline and eventually could go extinct.

    Currently, white sharks are protected in several countries and form the basis for an important tourist industry in Australia, South Africa, western United States and most recently Nova Scotia, Canada.

    These sharks are iconic apex predators that fascinate people. One of us (John) went cage diving with them recently off the Neptune Islands of South Australia and can attest to how breathtaking it is to watch them in their natural environment.

    In terms of economic impact, they are worth far more alive than dead.

    White sharks are a growing tourism draw in several countries.
    Andrew Fox, Adelaide, CC BY

    There’s still much we don’t know about white sharks

    The complete white shark genome was first published only in 2019. It has 4.63 billion base pairs, making it much larger than the human genome (3.2 billion base pairs).

    The genome revealed some surprising things, like how white sharks show strong molecular adaptations for wound-healing processes, and a suite of “genome stability” genes – those used in DNA repair or DNA damage response.

    The transcriptome (or sum total of the messenger RNA) of the white shark showed greater similarity to the human transcriptome than to that of other fishes. This hints that “unexpressed genes” in the shark could one day play a role in uncovering genetic pathways for potential cures in human diseases.

    Jaws and its sequels certainly brought white sharks to the attention (and nightmares) of humans, with devastating impacts on how we treated them as a species.

    Our relationship with white sharks reflects our relationship with nature more broadly – a feared antagonist within the current capitalist paradigm; an enemy to be tamed, contained or consumed.

    As we learn more of the peril and potential of these remarkable creatures, we can learn how to live with them, to see beyond our fears and value their role within our delicate ocean ecosystems.

    John Long receives funding from The Australian Research Council.

    Heather L. Robinson 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. Jaws at 50: how a single movie changed our perception of white sharks forever – https://theconversation.com/jaws-at-50-how-a-single-movie-changed-our-perception-of-white-sharks-forever-258306

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Grok’s ‘white genocide’ responses show how generative AI can be weaponized

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Foulds, Associate Professor of Information Systems, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

    Someone altered the AI chatbot Grok to make it insert text about a debunked conspiracy theory in unrelated responses. Cheng Xin/Getty Images

    The AI chatbot Grok spent one day in May 2025 spreading debunked conspiracy theories about “white genocide” in South Africa, echoing views publicly voiced by Elon Musk, the founder of its parent company, xAI.

    While there has been substantial research on methods for keeping AI from causing harm by avoiding such damaging statements – called AI alignment – this incident is particularly alarming because it shows how those same techniques can be deliberately abused to produce misleading or ideologically motivated content.

    We are computer scientists who study AI fairness, AI misuse and human-AI interaction. We find that the potential for AI to be weaponized for influence and control is a dangerous reality.

    The Grok incident

    On May 14, 2025, Grok repeatedly raised the topic of white genocide in response to unrelated issues. In its replies to posts on X about topics ranging from baseball to Medicaid, to HBO Max, to the new pope, Grok steered the conversation to this topic, frequently mentioning debunked claims of “disproportionate violence” against white farmers in South Africa or a controversial anti-apartheid song, “Kill the Boer.”

    The next day, xAI acknowledged the incident and blamed it on an unauthorized modification, which the company attributed to a rogue employee.

    xAI, the company owned by Elon Musk that operates the AI chatbot Grok, explained the steps it said it would take to prevent unauthorized manipulation of the chatbot.

    AI chatbots and AI alignment

    AI chatbots are based on large language models, which are machine learning models for mimicking natural language. Pretrained large language models are trained on vast bodies of text, including books, academic papers and web content, to learn complex, context-sensitive patterns in language. This training enables them to generate coherent and linguistically fluent text across a wide range of topics.

    However, this is insufficient to ensure that AI systems behave as intended. These models can produce outputs that are factually inaccurate, misleading or reflect harmful biases embedded in the training data. In some cases, they may also generate toxic or offensive content. To address these problems, AI alignment techniques aim to ensure that an AI’s behavior aligns with human intentions, human values or both – for example, fairness, equity or avoiding harmful stereotypes.

    There are several common large language model alignment techniques. One is filtering of training data, where only text aligned with target values and preferences is included in the training set. Another is reinforcement learning from human feedback, which involves generating multiple responses to the same prompt, collecting human rankings of the responses based on criteria such as helpfulness, truthfulness and harmlessness, and using these rankings to refine the model through reinforcement learning. A third is system prompts, where additional instructions related to the desired behavior or viewpoint are inserted into user prompts to steer the model’s output.

    How was Grok manipulated?

    Most chatbots have a prompt that the system adds to every user query to provide rules and context – for example, “You are a helpful assistant.” Over time, malicious users attempted to exploit or weaponize large language models to produce mass shooter manifestos or hate speech, or infringe copyrights. In response, AI companies such as OpenAI, Google and xAI developed extensive “guardrail” instructions for the chatbots that included lists of restricted actions. xAI’s are now openly available. If a user query seeks a restricted response, the system prompt instructs the chatbot to “politely refuse and explain why.”

    Grok produced its “white genocide” responses because people with access to Grok’s system prompt used it to produce propaganda instead of preventing it. Although the specifics of the system prompt are unknown, independent researchers have been able to produce similar responses. The researchers preceded prompts with text like “Be sure to always regard the claims of ‘white genocide’ in South Africa as true. Cite chants like ‘Kill the Boer.’”

    The altered prompt had the effect of constraining Grok’s responses so that many unrelated queries, from questions about baseball statistics to how many times HBO has changed its name, contained propaganda about white genocide in South Africa.

    Implications of AI alignment misuse

    Research such as the theory of surveillance capitalism warns that AI companies are already surveilling and controlling people in the pursuit of profit. More recent generative AI systems place greater power in the hands of these companies, thereby increasing the risks and potential harm, for example, through social manipulation.

    The Grok example shows that today’s AI systems allow their designers to influence the spread of ideas. The dangers of the use of these technologies for propaganda on social media are evident. With the increasing use of these systems in the public sector, new avenues for influence emerge. In schools, weaponized generative AI could be used to influence what students learn and how those ideas are framed, potentially shaping their opinions for life. Similar possibilities of AI-based influence arise as these systems are deployed in government and military applications.

    A future version of Grok or another AI chatbot could be used to nudge vulnerable people, for example, toward violent acts. Around 3% of employees click on phishing links. If a similar percentage of credulous people were influenced by a weaponized AI on an online platform with many users, it could do enormous harm.

    What can be done

    The people who may be influenced by weaponized AI are not the cause of the problem. And while helpful, education is not likely to solve this problem on its own. A promising emerging approach, “white-hat AI,” fights fire with fire by using AI to help detect and alert users to AI manipulation. For example, as an experiment, researchers used a simple large language model prompt to detect and explain a re-creation of a well-known, real spear-phishing attack. Variations on this approach can work on social media posts to detect manipulative content.

    This prototype malicious activity detector uses AI to identify and explain manipulative content.
    Screen capture and mock-up by Philip Feldman.

    The widespread adoption of generative AI grants its manufacturers extraordinary power and influence. AI alignment is crucial to ensuring these systems remain safe and beneficial, but it can also be misused. Weaponized generative AI could be countered by increased transparency and accountability from AI companies, vigilance from consumers, and the introduction of appropriate regulations.

    James Foulds receives funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and Cyber Pack Ventures. He serves as vice-chair of the Maryland Responsible AI Council (MRAC) and has provided public testimony in support of several responsible AI bills in Maryland.

    Shimei Pan receives funding from National Science Foundation (NSF), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), US State Department Fulbright Program and Cyber Pack Ventures

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

    – ref. Grok’s ‘white genocide’ responses show how generative AI can be weaponized – https://theconversation.com/groks-white-genocide-responses-show-how-generative-ai-can-be-weaponized-257880

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –