Category: The Conversation

Source: ForeignAffairs4

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Alice Martin, Head of Research, Work Foundation, Lancaster University

Plans to cut health-related benefits in the UK continue to give the government political grief – as well as being a huge worry for claimants. Underpinning the controversy are government plans to move more people into work with a long-term ambition of 80% employment.

But cutting welfare costs is a blunt and unhelpful way to face the challenge of increasing employment among people with long-term health conditions.

For people with fluctuating and often invisible conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS), welfare and work are not opposed. They are usually part of the same life journey – one that is rarely linear and requires systems and supports that are flexible, not punitive.

This was the focus of a recent study led by my research colleague Aman Navani and the MS Society. It is a major UK survey of people with MS with more than 1,100 respondents, and highlights systemic failures in workplace support and welfare systems.

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Because of its fluctuating nature, MS can act as an important case study to understand how work should accommodate people’s evolving health needs. It also offers lessons that are relevant to a wide array of other conditions.

Cases of MS are rising globally. Around 150,000 people in the UK live with the condition, which affects the central nervous system and causes pain, mobility problems, cognitive issues and fatigue.

Women are more likely to have MS, which is usually diagnosed in people in their 30s or 40s. These, of course, are peak working years.

The vast majority of people with MS (96%) who participated in our study reported that their condition has affected their ability to work. This is because MS can make commuting and navigating workplace environments challenging, and physical and mental health impacts often overlap.

Managing symptoms such as cognitive changes, pain and restricted mobility can contribute to anxiety and depression. All of these things put additional strain on the working lives of those affected.

For a quarter of respondents (24%), MS had such a severe effect that they felt unable to work at all. Worryingly, one in two people said they have compromised their health by staying in a job.

For many, leaving work is the only solution they can see. More than one-quarter (26%) cited unmanageable workloads, 19% could not afford to stay in work due to low pay, 20% lacked flexible hours, and for 22% the flexibility they were offered did not meet their needs.

Just 8% said their employer helped them adapt their job to suit their health, and only 2% had progression opportunities tailored to their condition. But nearly half (45%) of those who left work said they could have stayed if their employer had understood their condition better.

Almost half (46%) of respondents who were in work had used the personal independence payment (Pip) as a lifeline. This is an allowance that helps people with the extra living costs associated with having a disability. Under the government’s plans, conditions will be tightened for new claimants.

Designing better jobs

Living with a fluctuating condition requires constant adaptation, from coping with exhaustion to managing the extra time and cost of daily activities. As such, the way jobs are designed matters.

A government report has said that one-quarter of those who are out of work and claiming health and disability benefits might be able to work if they could do so from home.

The rise of remote and hybrid work has indeed been a lifeline for some disabled workers. A recent major study of people who are classified as disabled highlights just how vital this change has been for them: 85% said remote or hybrid work was essential or very important when job hunting, and 79% wouldn’t apply for roles without it.

Among those working fully remotely, 64% said their physical health improved. Homeworking was valued by those with fluctuating conditions such as MS, and for disabled women and carers in particular, full-time homeworking was their preference.

But these gains are precarious. Growth in hybrid roles has stalled and some employers are grabbing headlines with “return-to-office” mandates even at the risk of losing key members of their workforce.

Nearly one in four working-age people in the UK are disabled. Work and welfare must be designed from the perspective of this growing and diverse cohort – ensuring financial security for people with health conditions, both in work and out of work.

Expanding and protecting access to secure and flexible jobs is key, including remote and hybrid roles, baking these models into more sectors of the economy. The government could lead by example with public sector workers, and protect jobs from knee-jerk employer mandates.

In January this year, only 3.8% of vacancies on the Department for Work and Pensions jobs portal included an option for hybrid or remote work.

Finally, it’s vital to improve job design and in-work support, with effective occupational health systems, consultation with workforces, normalising shorter working weeks and time off.

This would enable people with fluctuating conditions to attend appointments, recuperate and even take career breaks without harming their careers. For this, the UK needs a benefits system that supports movement in and out of work, avoiding financial cliff edges.

Too many people with MS and similar conditions who can and want to work are forced to leave jobs early due to inadequate support. They face a trade-off between progressing their working life and managing their health. The challenge for government and employers now is to remove this tension.

Alice Martin works for the Work Foundation think tank at Lancaster University, which received funding from MS Society to conduct the research.

– ref. People with MS and other fluctuating health conditions are often forced to quit their jobs when they want to work – https://theconversation.com/people-with-ms-and-other-fluctuating-health-conditions-are-often-forced-to-quit-their-jobs-when-they-want-to-work-259083

Source: ForeignAffairs4

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Daniel Allen, Animal Geographer, Keele University

Dog theft can be a devastating crime. During the COVID pandemic, newspapers suggested there was an epidemic of “dognapping” in the UK. If you have a dog, the reports may have alarmed you at a time when there were already many reasons to feel afraid.

There are mixed views on whether or not lockdown triggered an increase in dog ownership. Animal welfare charity Battersea attributed a 53% increase in dog adoption to lockdown, and online pet adoption service Pets4Homes said in their 2022 report that demand for puppies rose 104% at the peak of lockdown in May 2020.

But animal charity PDSA said its survey data pointed to a gradual increase in dog ownership since 2011 rather than a dramatic surge during lockdown. However, we do know lockdown saw inflated prices for dogs, with some fashionable breeds going for £9,000.

In terms of criminal activity, social distancing restrictions seemed to lead to a decline in some forms of crime, including shoplifting and burglary. But many media outlets reported the number of dog thefts had increased up to 250% during the pandemic.

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We wanted to explore if the data supported claims of a dognapping epidemic and whether patterns in dog theft could suggest ways to help reduce it. Our recent study found new insights into dog theft patterns and showed the situation was more complicated than it seemed at first glance.

Under the Theft Act 1968, dog theft is not a specific offence. It comes under other theft offences, such as burglary or theft from a person.

This means police records on dog theft were not included in crime statistics. The only way to access such information is through Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to individual police forces. There are 45 territorial and three special police forces in the UK, and each has its own reporting and recording practices.

Although police FOI data for dog theft must be approached with caution, it is useful. Previous studies exploring police FOI data found an upward trend in recorded dog thefts in England and Wales: rising nearly 20% from 2015 (1,545) to 2018 (1,849) for 41 police forces combined; and up 3.5% year on year from 2019 (1,452) to 2020 (1,504) for 33 police forces.

DogLost, a UK online community for reuniting lost and stolen dogs with their owners, reported a 170% increase in stolen dogs (with Crime Reference Numbers) registered on their website in 2020 (465), compared to 2019 (172). This figure was widely quoted as a national increase “since lockdown started” by the media.

The 250% increase figure first quoted in December 2020 was actually a comparison of two seven-month periods (January-July 2019 and 2020) for only one police force.

Patterns and trends

Our study found the data for the period covering the COVID pandemic is also incomplete. Data was provided by 32 forces (71%) for 2020, by 27 forces (60%) for 2021, and 23 forces (51%) for 2022.

Patterns and trends do, however, emerge. Between 2020 and 2022, the available data shows a 3.7% rise in dog thefts in the UK, from 1,573 to 1,631. When making adjustments for the number of police forces providing data (which decreased over the period), the estimated national figures suggest there may have been more significant rise of up to 44.2%.

While we cannot assume that the forces who supplied data are representative of all 45 regional forces, if this were the case, it would equate to 2,212 recorded dog thefts in 2020, 2,645 in 2021, and 3,191 in 2022.

There was a lot of variation between different areas. For example, Cambridgeshire, Gwent and Northumbria police forces experienced increases of 36%, 49% and 80% respectively in the number of recorded dog thefts between 2020 and 2021.

Monthly analysis of data from regional police forces and DogLost, show that the number of reports of stolen dogs started to go up when the UK entered its first national lockdown and again during part of the third lockdown. But the average number of police-recorded dog thefts was actually slightly higher outside of lockdown periods than during them between 2020 and 2022.

However, in contrast with police trends, DogLost data shows a 65.2% drop in dogs reported stolen on DogLost’s website in 2022 compared to 2020. Lower DogLost numbers may reflect limited visibility or presence of their networks, the use of alternative lost and stolen dog services, or reluctance to share personal details online due to scams targeting dog theft victims.

Our study found that, overall, there probably was an increase in dog theft from
2020 to 2022, following already identified increases in the preceding years. This rise was probably driven by a combination of opportunity (more dogs, higher value) and situational factors (accessibility, dogs unattended in gardens while owners were inside).

Our evidence does not support the notion of a widespread epidemic as portrayed by the media. However, increased media interest probably amplified awareness of the issue, and influenced the creation of the Pet Theft Taskforce, a UK government initiative set up in May 2021 to investigate and tackle dog thefts.

New research appears to confirm the idea that dog abduction has significant welfare effects on both dogs and their owners. We also know that few dog thefts are successfully resolved, with under a quarter of stolen dogs likely to be returned and around 1%-5% of reported dog thefts result in someone being charged.

However, there is potential good news. Our ongoing research suggests the number of police-recorded dog thefts decreased slightly in 2023, and again in 2024. This is supported by research from pet insurer Direct Line, which has estimated a 21% decrease in the number of stolen dogs from 2,290 in 2023 to 1,808 in 2024 in the UK.

Daniel Allen is founder of Pet Theft Reform and patron of the Stolen and Missing Pets Alliance (Sampa).

Melanie Flynn is a member of the Research Advisory Committee of the Vegan Society (UK).

John Walliss 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. Dog thefts: what really happened during the COVID pandemic – https://theconversation.com/dog-thefts-what-really-happened-during-the-covid-pandemic-252061

Source: ForeignAffairs4

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jonathan Glazzard, Rosalind Hollis Professor of Education for Social Justice, University of Hull

For children in England with special educational needs and disabilities, an education and health care plan (EHCP) is a central pillar of support. The government is due to set out its educational strategy for children with special educational needs and disabilities in the autumn, though, and has not ruled out scrapping ECHPs. Their removal would signal radical change in how the system works in England.

ECHPs are individualised plans that set out the needs of a particular child and the support they should receive – from education, health services and social care – in order have the best opportunity to thrive. But demand for ECHPs is soaring and providing support is proving financially catastrophic for local authorities.

One of the criticisms of EHCPs is that they prioritise providing children with individual models of support, rather than developing inclusive cultures within schools and within the broader education system. Education secretary Bridget Phillipson has outlined a vision of building a system where more children with special educational needs and disabilities can attend mainstream schools.

But removing ECHPs leads to the possibility of children who need more specialist support missing out.

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To secure an ECHP, local authorities carry out a statutory assessment to determine whether a child’s needs warrant additional support. An assessment does not always lead to an EHCP, but if one is issued, it must outline how the child’s needs will be met and the additional resources needed to do so.

These resources might include funding to provide a child with a teaching assistant, funding for equipment and transport to school, or funding to go to a specialist school. This system of support helps school leaders ensure that children and young people have the right support, at the right time.

According to a report published earlier this year, the demand for EHCPs has risen by 140% since 2015. Recent data shows that there are 482,640 children and young people in England with an EHCP.

Many more children have special educational needs, but do not have an ECHP. These pupils are classed as receiving special educational needs support. The percentage of pupils with an EHCP has increased to 5.3%, from 4.8% in 2024. The percentage of pupils with special educational needs support has increased to 14.2%, from 13.6% in 2024.

Despite government investment of £10.7 billion to local authorities in 2024-25, a House of Commons committee report outlines that long waiting times for assessments, as well as to access support such as speech and language therapy, has led to parents losing confidence in the system.

Funding is allocated to each local authority from central government to fund provision in their areas. It is for local authorities, in consultation with their schools, to determine the individual allocation to schools. However, local authorities are struggling to meet the increased demand for EHCPs. Even when funding is allocated through EHCPs, it is not always sufficient to address the needs of those with complex needs.

And funding is not sufficient to meet demand. Local authorities have accumulated huge deficits due to spending exceeding funding, placing some at risk of going bankrupt.

Future plans

Bridget Phillipson has refused to be drawn on whether EHCPs will be axed. “What I can say very clearly,” she has said, “is that we will strengthen and put in place better support for children.”

Building more inclusive schools is obviously one way of achieving this vision. If scrapping EHCPs means less funding for children for special educational needs and disabilities, though, this cannot be the answer. Children need more support, not less, to enable them to thrive.

The solution is for the government to work out what models of inclusion work well in mainstream schools and to decide how these can be resourced and evaluated. Clarity is also needed on inclusion in mainstream schools can be measured in order to assess whether it is working.

Making more support in mainstream schools work also requires an adequate supply of knowledgeable, well-trained teachers. The government is prioritising this through revision to initial teacher education courses, with an emphasis on all teachers being teachers of special educational needs.

If the government doesn’t get this right, the result may be poorer educational and long-term outcomes for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. It may also lead to issues with teacher recruitment and retention in mainstream schools, particularly if teachers feel that they do not have the level of support in place that they need to meet the needs of their pupils.

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

– ref. What are education and health care plans and why are parents worried about them being scrapped? – https://theconversation.com/what-are-education-and-health-care-plans-and-why-are-parents-worried-about-them-being-scrapped-260622

Source: ForeignAffairs4

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

The late, great comedian Barry Humphries (of Dame Edna fame) once spoke whimsically about the health benefits of kale. Just one fistful, he joked, contained enough essential vitamins, minerals and trace elements to keep you in a sedentary position in the bathroom for two whole days. Apparently, it wasn’t tasty enough to justify a second helping.

In a world where “superfoods” are relentlessly marketed for their supposed ability to deliver all the nutrients we need, it’s worth asking: which vitamins really are essential? And aside from kale (which I actually rather like), what foods help us meet our daily needs?

Vitamin A

Let’s start at the top. Vitamin A – also known as retinol – is found in foods like eggs, oily fish and dairy products. It plays a crucial role in keeping your skin and immune system healthy.

But it’s probably most famous for supporting vision. Vitamin A binds with light-sensitive pigments in the rod and cone cells of your retina, helping you to see, particularly in low light.

A deficiency in vitamin A, though uncommon in wealthy countries, can lead to serious vision problems and even blindness. Another source of vitamin A is beta-carotene, found in colourful fruits and vegetables like carrots, peppers, spinach and pumpkin. Your body converts beta-carotene into vitamin A, which is why we associate carrots with seeing in the dark.

Vitamin B

The B vitamins are a family of eight different nutrients, each with its own number and role.

B1 (thiamin) helps the nervous system and aids digestion. People with chronic alcoholism are especially at risk of deficiency, which can lead to Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, a serious neurological disorder that affects memory and movement.

B2 (riboflavin) and B3 (niacin) support similar functions, while B9 (folate) and B12 (cobalamin) are essential for red blood cell production. A lack of either can lead to anaemia.

Folate is especially important in early pregnancy, helping to prevent neural tube defects like spina bifida. That’s why it’s recommended for people who are pregnant or trying to conceive.

You’ll find B vitamins in everything from beans and legumes to meat, fish and dairy; a wide-ranging family of nutrients in a wide-ranging variety of foods.

Vitamin C

The go-to vitamin when we’re under the weather, whether from a virus or a hangover, vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is known as the “healing” vitamin for good reason. It promotes wound healing, supports tissue repair and helps maintain blood vessels and bones.

A deficiency in vitamin C causes scurvy – a condition once common among sailors – with symptoms like fatigue, bruising, depression and gum disease.

Fortunately, vitamin C is found in many different fruits and vegetables, especially citrus fruits. That’s why 19th-century British sailors were given limes to prevent scurvy, earning them the nickname “limeys”.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is essential for bones, teeth and muscles. It can be absorbed through diet, especially from oily fish, eggs and meat, but your body also makes it in the skin, thanks to sunlight.

In the summer, most people get enough vitamin D from being outside. But in the winter months, diet and, if needed, supplementation become more important.

Deficiency is more common, especially in areas with limited sun exposure. It can lead to soft, weakened bones and symptoms like bone pain, fractures and deformities – including the classic bow-legged appearance. In children, this condition is known as rickets; in adults, it’s called osteomalacia.

Vitamin E

Often overlooked, vitamin E helps protect cells, supports vision and bolsters the immune system. You’ll find it in nuts, seeds and plant oils and it’s usually easy to get enough through a varied diet.

Vitamin F (Sort of)

Not actually a vitamin, “vitamin F” is just a nickname for two omega fatty acids: alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and linoleic acid (LA). These essential fats support brain function, reduce inflammation, and help maintain healthy skin and cell membranes. Since they’re technically not vitamins, we’ll let them quietly bow out.

Vitamin K

No, you didn’t miss vitamins G through J: they were renamed over the years. But vitamin K is real, and crucial for blood clotting.

Deficiencies are more common in children, and can lead to bruising and bleeding that’s hard to stop. Supplements are effective and given after birth.

Most adults get enough through foods like leafy greens and grains.

And the winner is…

All these vitamins are important – and all are found in a wide range of everyday foods. But which single food provides the widest variety?

Kale, oily fish and eggs come in strong at second, third and fourth. But number one is: liver.

Yes, liver. The stuff of childhood dread and overcooked school dinners. But it’s also rich in vitamins A, B, D and K. So rich in Vitamin A, in fact, that it’s advised to eat it only once a week to avoid vitamin A toxicity, and not at all if you’re pregnant. Sometimes, you just can’t win.

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

– ref. The A to K of vitamins: what you need and where to get it – https://theconversation.com/the-a-to-k-of-vitamins-what-you-need-and-where-to-get-it-261209

Source: ForeignAffairs4

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Elisha Wise, English, University of Sheffield

In chapter seven of Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar (1963), protagonist Esther Greenwood imagines her life branching out before her like a green fig-tree. Each individual fig on the branches represents a different “wonderful future” – a family, a successful career, romance, travel, fame, etc.

High-achieving Esther has innumerable figs she can choose from, yet she envisages herself “starving to death” in the crook of the tree because she can’t make up her mind on which of the figs she should choose.

Her indecision stems from the knowledge that choosing one wonderful future means losing out on the other, equally appealing opportunities. She wants to experience all of them, but knows she cannot, and, in the end, spends so long deciding that every single fig rots and falls to the ground, dead.

By wanting to do everything, Esther misses her chance to do anything at all. This is a metaphor about wasted potential, fears of choosing the wrong pathway, and feeling rushed into making decisions before you truly know what you want. There is little wonder that it appeals to teenagers.

The “fig tree analogy”, as it is known online, is beloved by gen Z and has become a TikTok staple over the last three years. It was first discussed on the platform as part of the 2023 “Roman Empire” meme, with female users citing it as an example of something they constantly think about.

It then reached a new peak in early 2024 thanks to the “my fig tree” trend, in which users (again, predominantly young women) wrote future hopes and dreams onto a stock image of a fig branch in videos featuring accompanying audio of the passage being read aloud.

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This trend was, in essence, a way for people to share their dream jobs – with career pathways as varied as “surgeon” and “influencer” sometimes appearing on a single branch. But it also allowed young users to express their anxieties about planning for the future.

In one video, “I can’t help but wonder if I’m going to be truly happy in [my chosen career] forever” is written beside a beautifully illustrated fig tree. I remember feeling this way myself when I read The Bell Jar for the first time in the middle of university applications and big life choices.

When you are young, it can feel like you have only one choice and can never remake it, which is why Plath’s words spoke to me then and seem to be speaking to hundreds now.

But why exactly is this metaphor resonating so strongly with gen Z?

The girls who are participating in the “my fig tree” trend are not subject to the same binary choice of marriage or career that Esther faced. It is now possible to have loads of lovers and then a husband and family, and neither disqualifies you from also being a “brilliant professor” or “amazing editor” or anything else you wish to be.

In The Bell Jar, Plath treats these things as distinct because they would truly have felt that way in Esther’s time of enforced purity and nuclear families. She was, after all, writing pre-second-wave feminism.

So why, in our fourth-wave feminist world, do women still feel their options are so narrow? It could be because women workers are disproportionately at risk of being displaced by AI, or because other TikTok sensations like the “trad wife” are promoting to young women the very purity culture that Plath rallied against.

Perhaps, for this generation, it really seems urgent to grasp hold of one fig before all are lost.

However, as the “fig tree analogy” goes more and more viral, it is at risk of being removed from its original context. The signs of this are already visible on TikTok, as the passage has in the last month been used to soundtrack #romanticisinglife content and promote fig-themed homeware at a garden centre.

It was also referenced in a recent episode of reality dating show Love Island, where it was incorrectly named the “fig theory” and not attributed to Plath.

All of this suggests that the passage has now reached an audience of people who have not read The Bell Jar and see the analogy more as some generic life wisdom than a literary device. Indeed, TikTok videos by self-styled philosophers encouraging watchers to pick any or every fig off the tree instead of being paralysed by indecision like Esther are gaining traction.

While these may prove helpful to Zoomers unsure about their future pathway, I feel that the conversation around this metaphor is increasingly overlooking the fact that Esther is unable to choose a fig because she is depressed.

The real meaning of the fig tree analogy

The Bell Jar may be a novel about coming of age as a woman, but it’s also, at its core, the story of a woman having a breakdown. In the pages preceding the “fig tree analogy”, Esther calls herself “dreadfully inadequate” and claims that “I was only purely happy until I was nine years old”.

So, in the context of the novel, the metaphor can be read as a product of depressive thinking. It is not meant to be a universal truth.

Instead, it represents the subjective thoughts of a narrator who feels herself a failure, despite her plentiful opportunities, because she is mentally ill. Turning Plath’s prose into a theory or philosophy or meme minimises its darker aspects, particularly as the popular TikTok audio that accompanies “fig tree analogy” videos often cuts off before the figs fall, due to the app’s preference for short content.

Some users may well have participated in the “my fig tree” trend without even realising that the quotation ends with Esther losing everything.

Perhaps it should be concerning so many young people relate to a narrator who becomes so overwhelmed by her conflicting ambitions that she attempts to kill herself. I certainly wonder how Plath would feel about her words now being treated as emblematic of a collective female experience. If nothing else, I am sure she would be disappointed at how little has changed in 60 years.

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This article features references to books that have been included for editorial reasons, and may contain links to bookshop.org. If you click on one of the links and go on to buy something from bookshop.org The Conversation UK may earn a commission.

Elisha Wise will receive funding from the White Rose College of Arts and Humanities (ARCH) from October 2025.

– ref. Sylvia Plath’s ‘fig tree analogy’ from The Bell Jar is being misappropriated – https://theconversation.com/sylvia-plaths-fig-tree-analogy-from-the-bell-jar-is-being-misappropriated-261597

Source: ForeignAffairs4

Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Andrew Dodd, Professor of Journalism, Director of the Centre for Advancing Journalism, The University of Melbourne

If Rupert Murdoch becomes a white knight standing up to a rampantly bullying US president, the world has moved into the upside-down.

This is, after all, the media mogul whose US television network, Fox News, actively supported Donald Trump’s Big Lie about the 2020 presidential election result and paid out a US$787 million (about A$1.2 billion) lawsuit for doing so.

It is also the network that supplied several members of Trump’s inner circle, including former Fox host, now controversial Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth.

But that is where we are after Trump filed a writ on July 18 after Murdoch’s financial newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, published an article about a hand-drawn card Trump is alleged to have sent to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2003. The newspaper reported:

A pair of small arcs denotes the woman’s breasts, and the future president’s signature is a squiggly “Donald” below her waist, mimicking pubic hair.

The Journal said it has seen the letter but did not republish it. The letter allegedly concluded:

Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret.

The card was apparently Trump’s contribution to a birthday album compiled for Epstein by the latter’s partner Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence after being found guilty of sex trafficking in 2021.

Trump was furious. He told his Truth Social audience he had warned Murdoch the letter was fake. He wrote, “Mr Murdoch stated that he would take care of it but obviously did not have the power to do so,” referring to Murdoch handing leadership of News Corporation to his eldest son Lachlan in 2023.

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Read more:
How Rupert Murdoch helped create a monster – the era of Trumpism – and then lost control of it

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Trump is being pincered. On one side, The Wall Street Journal is a respected newspaper that speaks to literate, wealthy Americans who remain deeply sceptical about Trump’s radical initiative on tariffs, which it described in an editorial as “the dumbest trade war in history”.

On the other side is the conspiracy theory-thirsty MAGA base who have been told for years that there was a massive conspiracy around Epstein’s apparent suicide in 2019 that included the so-called deep state, Democrat elites and, no doubt, the Clintons.

Trump, who loves pro wrestling as well as adopting its garish theatrics, might characterise his lawsuit against Murdoch as a smackdown to rival Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant in the 1980s.

To adopt wrestling argot, though, it is a rare battle between two heels.

A friendship of powerful convenience

Murdoch and Trump’s relationship is longstanding but convoluted. The key to understanding it is that both men are ruthlessly transactional.

Exposure in Murdoch’s New York Post in the 1980s and ‘90s was crucial to building Trump’s reputation.

Not that Murdoch particularly likes Trump. Yes, Murdoch attended his second inauguration, albeit in a back row behind the newly favoured big tech media moguls. He was also seen sitting in the Oval Office a few days later looking quite at home.

But this was pure power-display politics, not the behaviour of a friend.

Remember Murdoch’s derision on hearing Trump was considering standing for office before the 2016 election, and his promotion of Ron De Santis in the primaries before Trump’s second term. Murdoch’s political hero has always been Ronald Reagan. Trump has laid waste to the Republican Party of Reagan.

Murdoch knows what the rest of sane America knows: Trump is downright weird, if not dangerous. This, of course, only makes Murdoch’s complicity in Trump’s rise to power, and Fox News’ continued boosterism of Trump, all the more appalling.

But, in keeping with Murdoch’s relationship to power throughout his career, what he helps make, he also helps destroy. Perhaps now it’s Trump’s turn to be unmade. As a former Murdoch lieutenant told The Financial Times over the weekend:

he’s testing out: Is Trump losing his base? And where do I need to be to stay in the heart of the base?

And here is Murdoch’s great advantage, and his looming threat.

A double-edged sword

The advantage comes with the scope of Murdoch’s media empire, which operates like a federation of different mastheads, each with their own market and aspirations. While Fox News panders to the MAGA base, and The New York Post juices its New York audience, The Wall Street Journal speaks, and listens, to business. Each audience has different needs, meaning they’re often presented with the same news in very different ways, or sometimes different news entirely.

Like a federation, though, News Corp uses its various operations to drive the type of change that affects all its markets.

It might work like this. The Wall Street Journal breaks a story that’s so shocking it begins to chip away at MAGA’s unquestioning loyalty of Trump. This process is, of course, willingly aided by the rest of the media. The resulting groundswell eventually allows Fox News and the Post to tentatively follow their audiences into questioning, and then perhaps criticising, Trump.

The threat is that before that groundswell builds, Murdoch is seriously vulnerable to criticism from a still dominant Trump, who can turn conspiracy-prone audiences away from Fox News with just a social media post. Trump has already been busy doing just that, saying he is looking forward to getting Murdoch onto the witness stand for his lawsuit.

If the Fox audience decides it’s the proprietor who’s behind this denigration of Trump, they may decide to boycott their own favoured media channel, even though Fox’s programming hasn’t yet started questioning Trump.

The Murdochs’ fear of audience backlash was a major factor in Fox’s promulgation of the Big Lie after Trump’s defeat in 2020. The fear their audience might defect to Newsmax or some other right-wing media outfit is just as real today.

History littered with fakery

We also need to consider that Trump might be right. What if the letter is a fake?

Murdoch has form when it comes to high-profile exposés that turn out to be fiction. Who can forget the Hitler Diaries in 1983, which we now know Murdoch knew were fake before he published.

Think also of the Pauline Hanson photos, allegedly of her posing in lingerie, all of which were quickly proved to be fake after they were published by Murdoch’s Australian tabloids in 2009.

There was also The Sun’s despicable and wilfully wrong campaign against Elton John in 1987 and the same paper’s continued denigration of the people of Liverpool following the Hillsborough stadium disaster in 1989.

But while Murdoch’s News Corp has a history of confection and fakery, the Wall Street Journal has a reputation for straight reportage, albeit through a conservative lens. Since Murdoch bought it in 2007, it has been engaged in its own internal battle for editorial standards.

Media rolling over

What Trump won’t get from Murdoch is the same acquiescence he’s enjoyed from America’s ABC and CBS networks, which have both handed over tens of millions of dollars in defamation settlements following dubious claims by Trump about the nature of their coverage.

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Read more:
ABC’s and CBS’s settlements with Trump are a dangerous step toward the commander in chief becoming the editor-in-chief

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In December 2024, ABC’s owner Disney settled and agreed to pay US$15 million (A$23 million) to Trump’s presidential library. The president sued after a presenter said Trump was found guilty of raping E. Jean Carroll.

Trump had actually been found guilty by a jury in a civil trial of sexually abusing and defaming Carroll and was ordered to pay her US$5 million (A$7.6 million).

CBS’ parent company, Paramount, did similarly after being sued by the president, agreeing in early July to settle and pay US$16 million (A$24.5 million) to Trump’s library. This was despite earlier saying the case was “completely without merit”.

Beware the legal microscope

From Trump’s viewpoint, two prominent media companies have been cowed. But his campaign against critical media doesn’t stop there.

Last week, congress passed a bill cancelling federal funding for the country’s two public-service media outlets, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR).

Also last week, CBS announced the cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s stridently critical comedy show, although CBS claims this is just a cost-cutting exercise and not about appeasing a bully in the White House.

Presuming the reported birthday letter is real, Murdoch will not bend so easily. And that’s when it will be important to pay attention, because at some point Trump’s lawyers will advise him about the dangers of depositions and discovery: the legal processes that force parties to a dispute to reveal what they have and what they know.

If the Epstein files do implicate Trump, the legal fight won’t last long and the media campaign against him will only intensify.

Right now we have the spectre of Murdoch joining that other disaffected mogul, Elon Musk, in a moral crusade against Trump, the man they both helped make. The implications are head-spinning.

As global bullies, the three of them probably deserve each other. But we, the public, surely deserve better than any of them.

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. Could Rupert Murdoch bring down Donald Trump? A court case threatens more than just their relationship – https://theconversation.com/could-rupert-murdoch-bring-down-donald-trump-a-court-case-threatens-more-than-just-their-relationship-261532

Source: ForeignAffairs4

Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Roy Ebel, PhD Candidate in Evolutionary Biology, Museums Victoria Research Institute

Monitor lizards, also known in Australia as goannas, are some of the most iconic reptiles on the continent. Their lineage not only survived the mass extinction that ended the reign of non-avian dinosaurs, but also gave rise to the largest living lizards on Earth.

Today, these formidable creatures pace through forests and scrublands, flicking their tongues as they go.

A new study published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society looks beneath their skin. For the first time, it reveals hidden bone structures that may hold the key to the evolutionary success of goannas in Australia.

An essential organ

The skin is an organ essential for survival. In some animals, it includes a layer of bone plates embedded among the skin tissue. Think of the armour-like plates in crocodiles or armadillos: these are osteoderms.

Their size ranges from microscopic to massive, with the back plates of the stegosaurus as the most impressive example.

We have only just started to understand these enigmatic structures. Osteoderms can be found in animal lineages that diverged up to 380 million years ago. This means these bone plates would have evolved independently, just like active flight did in birds, pterosaurs and bats.

But what is their purpose? While the advantage of flight is undisputed, the case is not as clear for osteoderms.

The most obvious potential would be for defence – protecting the animal from injuries. However, osteoderms may serve a far broader purpose.

In crocodiles, for example, they help with heat regulation, play a part in movement, and even supply calcium during egg-laying. It is the interplay of these poorly understood functions that has long made it difficult to pinpoint how and why osteoderms evolved.

A cutting-edge technique

To help resolve this enigma, we had to go back to the beginning.

Surprisingly, to date science has not even agreed on which species have osteoderms. Therefore, we assembled an international team of specialists to carry out the first large-scale study of osteoderms in lizards and snakes.

We studied specimens from scientific collections at institutions such as the Florida Museum of Natural History, the Natural History Museum in Berlin, and Museums Victoria.

However, we soon learnt that this came with challenges. Firstly, the presence of osteoderms can vary dramatically between individuals of the same species. Secondly, there is no guarantee that osteoderms are sufficiently preserved in all specimens.

Most importantly, they are buried deep within skin tissue and invisible to the naked eye. Traditionally, finding them meant destroying the specimen.

Instead, we turned to micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), an imaging technique similar to a medical CT scan, but with much higher resolution. This allowed us to study even the tiniest anatomical structures while keeping our specimens intact.

Using computer-generated 3D models, we then digitally explored the bodies of lizards and snakes from all parts of the world. Incorporating data from prior literature, we processed almost 2,000 such samples in our search for osteoderms.

To illustrate our results, we devised a technique called radiodensity heatmapping, which visually highlights the locations of bone structures in the body.

For the first time, we now have a comprehensive catalogue showing where to find osteoderms in a large and diverse group; this will inform future studies.

Not just anatomical curiosity

What we found was unexpected. It was thought only a small number of lizard families had osteoderms. However, we encountered them nearly twice as often as anticipated.

In fact, our results show nearly half of all lizards have osteoderms in one form or another.

Our most astonishing finding concerned goannas. Scientists have been studying monitor lizards for more than 200 years. They were long thought to lack osteoderms, except in rare cases such as the Komodo dragon.

So we were all the more surprised when we discovered previously undocumented osteoderms in 29 Australo-Papuan species, increasing their overall known prevalence five times.

This isn’t just an anatomical curiosity. Now that we know Australian goannas have osteoderms, it opens up an exciting new avenue for further studies. This is because goannas have an interesting biogeographic history: when they first arrived in Australia about 20 million years ago, they had to adapt to a new, harsh environment.

If osteoderms in goannas showed up around this time – possibly owing to new challenges from their environment – we’d gain crucial insights into the function and evolution of these enigmatic bone structures.

Not only may we just have found the key to an untold chapter in the goanna story, our findings may also improve our understanding of the forces of evolution that shaped Australia’s unique reptiles as we know them today.

Roy Ebel receives funding from the Australian Government’s Research Training Program.

– ref. New study peers beneath the skin of iconic lizards to find ‘chainmail’ bone plates – and lots of them – https://theconversation.com/new-study-peers-beneath-the-skin-of-iconic-lizards-to-find-chainmail-bone-plates-and-lots-of-them-260700

Source: ForeignAffairs4

Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Amra Lee, PhD candidate in Protection of Civilians, Australian National University

Australia has joined 28 international partners in calling for an immediate end to the war in Gaza and a lifting of all restrictions on food and medical supplies.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong, along with counterparts from countries including the United Kingdom, France and Canada, has signed a joint statement demanding Israel complies with its obligations under international humanitarian law.

The statement condemns Israel for what it calls “the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians” seeking “their most basic need” of water and food, saying:

The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths. The Israeli government’s aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity […] It is horrifying that over 800 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid.

Weapon of war

Gazans, including malnourished mothers denied baby formula, face impossible choices as Israel intensifies its use of starvation as a weapon of war.

In Gaza, survival requires negotiating what the United Nations calls aid “death traps”.

According to the UN, 875 Gazans have been killed – many of them shot – while seeking food since the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began operating in late May. Another 4,000 have been injured.

More than 170 humanitarian groups have called for the food hubs to be shut down.

Gaza has been described as the “hungriest place on Earth”, with aid trucks being held at the border and the United States destroying around 500 tonnes of emergency food because it was just out of date.

More than two million people are at critical risk of famine. The World Food Programme estimates 90,000 women and children require urgent treatment for malnutrition.

Nineteen Palestinians have starved to death in recent days, according to local health authorities.

We can’t say we didn’t know

After the breakdown of the January ceasefire, Israel implemented a humanitarian blockade on the Gaza Strip. Following mounting international pressure, limited aid was permitted and the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began operations.

As anticipated, only a fraction of the aid has been distributed.

About 1,600 trucks entered Gaza between May 19 and July 14, well below the 630 trucks needed every day to feed the population.

Israeli ministers have publicly called for food and fuel reserves to be bombed to starve the Palestinian people – a clear war crime – to pressure Hamas to release Israeli hostages.

Famine expert Alex De Waal says Israel’s starvation strategy constitutes a dangerous weakening of international law. It also disrupts norms aimed at preventing hunger being used as a weapon of war:

operations like the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation are a big crack in these principles [that is] not going to save Gaza from mass starvation.

Palestinian organisations were the first to raise the alarm over Israel’s plans to impose controls over aid distribution.

UN Relief Chief Tom Fletcher briefed the UN Security Council in May, warning of the world’s collective failure to call out the scale of violations of international law as they were being committed:

Israel is deliberately and unashamedly imposing inhumane conditions on civilians in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Since then, clear and unequivocal warnings of the compounding risks of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing have intensified from the UN, member states and international law experts.

Weaponising aid

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation claims it has handed out millions of meals since it began operating in the strip in May. But the UN has called the distribution model “inherently unsafe”.

Near-daily shootings have occurred since the militarised aid hubs began operating. Malnourished Palestinians risking death to feed their families are trekking long distances to reach the small number of distribution sites.

While the foundation denies people are being shot, the UN has called the aid delivery mechanism a “deliberate attempt to weaponise aid” that fails to comply with humanitarian principles and risks further war crimes.

Jewish Physicians for Human Rights has rejected the aid’s “humanitarian” characterisation, stating it “is what systematic harm to human beings looks like”.

Human rights and legal organisations are calling for all involved to be held accountable for complicity in war crimes that “exposes all those who enable or profit from it to real risk of prosecution”.

Mounting world action

Today’s joint statement follows growing anger and frustration in Western countries over the lack of political pressure on Israel to end the suffering in Gaza.

Polling in May showed more than 80% of Australians opposed Israel’s denial of aid as unjustifiable and wanted to see Australia doing more to support civilians in Gaza.

Last week’s meeting of the Hague Group of nations shows more collective concrete action is being taken to exert pressure and uphold international law.

Th 12 member states agreed to a range of diplomatic, legal and economic measures, including a ban on ships transporting arms to Israel.

The time for humanity is now

States will continue to face increased international and domestic pressure to take stronger action to influence Israel’s conduct as more Gazans are killed, injured and stripped of their dignity in an engineered famine.

This moment in Gaza is unprecedented in terms of our knowledge of the scale and gravity of violations being perpetrated and what failing to act means for Palestinians and our shared humanity.

Now is the time to exert diplomatic, legal and economic pressure on Israel to change course.

History tells us we need to act now – international law and our collective moral conscience requires it.

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

– ref. Suffering in Gaza reaches ‘new depths’ – Australia condemns ‘inhumane killing’ of Palestinians – https://theconversation.com/suffering-in-gaza-reaches-new-depths-australia-condemns-inhumane-killing-of-palestinians-261547

Source: ForeignAffairs4

Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Timothy Piatkowski, Lecturer in Psychology, Griffith University

Eighteen-year-old Mark scrolls Instagram late at night, watching videos of fitness influencers showing off muscle gains and lifting the equivalent of a baby elephant off the gym floor.

Spurred on by hashtags and usernames indicating these feats involve steroids, soon Mark is online, ordering his first “steroid cycle”. No script, no warnings, just vials in the mail and the promise of “gains”.

A few weeks later, he’s posting progress shots and getting tagged as #MegaMark. He’s pleased. But what if I told you Mark was unknowingly injecting toxic chemicals?

In our new research we tested products sold in Australia’s underground steroid market and found many were mislabelled or missing the expected steroid entirely.

Even more concerning, several contained heavy metals such as lead, arsenic and cadmium. These substances are known to cause cancer, heart disease and organ failure.

What are anabolic steroids, and who is using them?

Anabolic steroids are synthetic drugs designed to mimic the effects of testosterone. Medical professionals sometimes prescribe them for specific health conditions (for example, hypogonadism, where the body isn’t making enough sex hormones). But they are more commonly taken by people looking to increase muscle size, improve athletic performance, or elevate feelings of wellbeing.

In Australia, it’s illegal to possess steroids without a prescription. This offence can attract large fines and prison terms (up to 25 years in Queensland).

Despite this, they’re widely available online and from your local “gym bro”. So it’s not surprising we’re seeing escalating use, particularly among young men and women.

People usually take steroids as pills and capsules or injectable oil- or water-based products. But while many people assume these products are safe if used correctly, they’re made outside regulated settings, with no official quality checks.

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Read more:
Get big or die trying: social media is driving men’s use of steroids. Here’s how to mitigate the risks

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Our research

For this new study, we analysed 28 steroid products acquired from people all over Australia which they’d purchased either online or from peers in the gym. These included 16 injectable oils, ten varieties of oral tablets, and two “raw” powders.

An independent forensic lab tested the samples for active ingredients, contaminants and heavy metals. We then compared the results against what people thought they were taking.

More than half of the samples were mislabelled or contained the wrong drug. For example, one product labelled as testosterone enanthate (200mg/mL) contained 159mg/mL of trenbolone (a potent type of steroid) and no detectable testosterone. Oxandrolone (also known as “Anavar”, another type of steroid) tablets were sold claiming a strength of 10mg but actually contained 6.8mg, showing a disparity in purity.

Just four products matched their expected compound and purity within a 5% margin.

But the biggest concern was that all steroids we analysed were contaminated with some level of heavy metals, including lead, arsenic and cadmium.

While all of the concentrations we detected were within daily exposure limits regarded as safe by health authorities, more frequent and heavier use of these drugs would quickly see people who use steroids exceed safe thresholds. And we know this happens.

If consumed above safe limits, research suggests lead can damage the brain and heart. Arsenic is a proven carcinogen, having been linked to the development of skin, liver and lung cancers.

People who use steroids often dose for weeks or months, and sometimes stack multiple drugs, so these metals would build up. This means long‑term steroid use could be quietly fuelling cognitive decline, organ failure, and even cancer.

What needs to happen next?

Heavy metals such as lead, arsenic and cadmium often contaminate anabolic steroid products because raw powders sourced from some manufacturers, particularly those in China, may be produced with poor quality control and impure starting materials. These metals can enter the supply chain during synthesis, handling, or from contaminated equipment and solvents, leading to their presence in the final products.

Steroid use isn’t going away, so we need to address the potential health harms from these contaminants.

While pill testing is now common at festivals for drugs such as ecstasy, testing anabolic steroids requires more complex chemical analysis that cannot be conducted on-site. Current steroid testing relies on advanced laboratory techniques, which limits availability mostly to specialised research programs such as those in Australia and Switzerland.

We need to invest properly in a national steroid surveillance and testing network, which will give us data‑driven insights to inform targeted interventions.

This should involve nationwide steroid testing programs integrated with needle‑and‑syringe programs and community health services which steroid-using communities are aware of and engage with.

We also need to see peer‑led support through trusted programs to educate people who use steroids around the risks. The programs should be based in real evidence, and developed by people with lived experience of steroid use, in partnership with researchers and clinicians.

Timothy Piatkowski receives funding from Queensland Mental Health Commission. He is affiliated with Queensland Injectors Voice for Advocacy and Action as the Vice President. He is affiliated with The Loop Australia as the research lead (Queensland).

– ref. Pumped up with poison: new research shows many anabolic steroids contain toxic metals – https://theconversation.com/pumped-up-with-poison-new-research-shows-many-anabolic-steroids-contain-toxic-metals-261470

Source: ForeignAffairs4

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Havovi Chichger, Professor, Biomedical Science, Anglia Ruskin University

Found in everything from protein bars to energy drinks, erythritol has long been considered a safe alternative to sugar. But new research suggests this widely used sweetener may be quietly undermining one of the body’s most crucial protective barriers – with potentially serious consequences for heart health and stroke risk.

A recent study from the University of Colorado suggests erythritol may damage cells in the blood-brain barrier, the brain’s security system that keeps out harmful substances while letting in nutrients. The findings add troubling new detail to previous observational studies that have linked erythritol consumption to increased rates of heart attack and stroke.

In the new study, researchers exposed blood-brain barrier cells to levels of erythritol typically found after drinking a soft drink sweetened with the compound. They saw a chain reaction of cell damage that could make the brain more vulnerable to blood clots – a leading cause of stroke.

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Erythritol triggered what scientists call oxidative stress, flooding cells with harmful, highly reactive molecules known as free radicals, while simultaneously reducing the body’s natural antioxidant defences. This double assault damaged the cells’ ability to function properly, and in some cases killed them outright.

But perhaps more concerning was erythritol’s effect on the blood vessels’ ability to regulate blood flow. Healthy blood vessels act like traffic controllers, widening when organs need more blood – during exercise, for instance – and tightening when less is required. They achieve this delicate balance through two key molecules: nitric oxide, which relaxes blood vessels, and endothelin-1, which constricts them.

The study found that erythritol disrupted this critical system, reducing nitric oxide production while ramping up endothelin-1. The result would be blood vessels that remain dangerously constricted, potentially starving the brain of oxygen and nutrients. This imbalance is a known warning sign of ischaemic stroke – the type caused by blood clots blocking vessels in the brain.

Even more alarming, erythritol appeared to sabotage the body’s natural defence against blood clots. Normally, when clots form in blood vessels, cells release a “clot buster” called tissue plasminogen activator that dissolves the blockage before it can cause a stroke. But the sweetener blocked this protective mechanism, potentially leaving clots free to wreak havoc.

The laboratory findings align with troubling evidence from human studies. Several large-scale observational studies have found that people who regularly consume erythritol face significantly higher risks of cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks and strokes. One major study tracking thousands of participants found that those with the highest blood levels of erythritol were roughly twice as likely to experience a major cardiac event.

However, the research does have limitations. The experiments were conducted on isolated cells in laboratory dishes rather than complete blood vessels, which means the cells may not behave exactly as they would in the human body. Scientists acknowledge that more sophisticated testing – using advanced “blood vessel on a chip” systems that better mimic real physiology – will be needed to confirm these effects.

The findings are particularly significant because erythritol occupies a unique position in the sweetener landscape. Unlike artificial sweeteners such as aspartame or sucralose, erythritol is technically a sugar alcohol – a naturally occurring compound that the body produces in small amounts. This classification helped it avoid inclusion in recent World Health Organization guidelines that discouraged the use of artificial sweeteners for weight control.

Erythritol has also gained popularity among food manufacturers because it behaves more like sugar than other alternatives. While sucralose is 320 times sweeter than sugar, erythritol provides only about 80% of sugar’s sweetness, making it easier to use in recipes without creating an overpowering taste. It’s now found in thousands of products, especially in many “sugar-free” and “keto-friendly” foods.

Trade-off

Regulatory agencies, including the European Food Standards Agency and the US Food and Drug Administration, have approved erythritol as safe for consumption. But the new research adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that even “natural” sugar alternatives may carry unexpected health risks.

For consumers, the findings raise difficult questions about the trade-offs involved in sugar substitution. Sweeteners like erythritol can be valuable tools for weight management and diabetes prevention, helping people reduce calories and control blood sugar spikes. But if regular consumption potentially weakens the brain’s protective barriers and increases cardiovascular risk, the benefits may come at a significant cost.

The research underscores a broader challenge in nutritional science: understanding the long-term effects of relatively new food additives that have become ubiquitous in the modern diet. While erythritol may help people avoid the immediate harms of excess sugar consumption, its effect on the blood-brain barrier suggests that frequent use could be quietly compromising brain protection over time.

As scientists continue to investigate these concerning links, consumers may want to reconsider their relationship with this seemingly innocent sweetener – and perhaps question whether any sugar substitute additive is truly without risk.

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

– ref. A popular sweetener could be damaging your brain’s defences, says recent study – https://theconversation.com/a-popular-sweetener-could-be-damaging-your-brains-defences-says-recent-study-261500