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  • MIL-OSI Global: Moby-Dick doesn’t deserve the ‘difficult’ label – this sea romance was once loved by office workers, sailors and children

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Edward Sugden, Senior Lecturer in American Studies, King’s College London

    I am currently writing a biography of Herman Melville’s 1851 novel, Moby-Dick. The most important thing I have learnt is that Moby-Dick is not – as is often presumed – a difficult book. I claim this on the basis of those who read it, how they did so and what they took from it in the first decades of its life.

    Moby-Dick has a fearsome reputation: dense, time-consuming, boring and bizarre. This reputation (although not absolutely unfair) was initially fabricated by a subset of “elite” Anglo-American academic readers in the 1920s to separate it from the very people who had previously sustained its existence.

    In 1994, literature professor Paul Lauter wrote an article that showed how nationalist scholars, looking to forge an American tradition, elevated Moby-Dick to the status of a classic to exclude non-specialist readers.

    But earlier readers knew Moby-Dick for what it was: an extreme and ambitious form of popular genre fiction, like science fiction or fantasy, known as the “sea romance”.

    This article is part of Rethinking the Classics. The stories in this series offer insightful new ways to think about and interpret classic books and artworks. This is the canon – with a twist.

    A romance meant something different in 1851 to what it does now. According to Noah Webster’s Dictionary, then the go-to reference, a romance was “a fabulous relation or story” that went “beyond the limits and facts of real life, and often of probability”.

    Melville was at this time a literary celebrity after his loosely non-fictional debut Typee (1846) became a transatlantic bestseller for its exotic descriptions of South Pacific captivity. In a letter to his publisher, he wrote that Moby-Dick was a “romance of adventure, founded upon certain wild legends in the southern sperm whale fisheries”.

    Herman Melville as painted by Joseph Oriel Eaton in 1870.
    Houghton Library/Harvard University

    You could assume that Melville was being cynical – to sell the book, he misrepresented it as having more commercial potential than he thought it did. But I think he was in earnest.

    The novel’s initial public was, broadly, found among the professional middle classes in America, who had a taste for this genre, dreaming of faraway places while chained to their desks. I know this because I have tracked down around 150 first editions of this book and, with the help of genealogical websites, signatures, dates and locations, worked out who some of the owners were and what they did.

    In the 1860s, Moby-Dick almost disappeared from the historical record, a situation not helped by a fire at his publisher’s works. But silence and absence are different things. There were many readers who still enjoyed Moby-Dick, though they only glancingly show up in print.

    Moby-Dick’s early readers

    My research has found that children read and lived with Moby-Dick in the 19th century. It pops up in memoirs, reminiscences, fictions and juvenile literature.

    They played games based on the book; they took it out from libraries and made it dog-eared; they scrawled odd and eerie images on it; they and elder generations read it out loud together; and Moby-Dick (evidently a familiar character) himself featured in a Christmas tale about mermaids called The Merman and the Figure-Head (1871) by Clara Florida Guernsey.

    If we take children as its audience, rather than scholarly readers, a quite different Moby-Dick appears. The novel’s plot becomes straightforward and exciting, its tone blithe and consumable, its function to teach and to entertain.

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    Other non-specialist readers sustained its reputation on similar terms. It seems very likely working-class sailor readers enjoyed it. That’s because its basic plot appears in a number of dime novels (mass-produced thriller fiction) such as Robert Starbuck’s The Mad Skipper (1866) and Captain Barnacle’s Péhe Nu-é (1877), written by and for such readers.

    It also, sporadically, appears on deck, with one sailor, the future sea fiction writer Louis Becke, learning of it in Apia in the Samoan islands via “a small and sweet-natured English lady” who came on board with it and read it aloud with the captain. Becke recounts this episode in an introduction to Moby-Dick in a reissue of 1901.

    The last known image of Melville.
    New York Public Library

    As time went, on these foundational readers found extra fellow enthusiasts among socialists, queer people, outcasts and travellers, even if things continued much as they always had done. Literature professor Hershel Parker’s “historical note” to the Northwestern-Newberry edition tracks some of these readers down.

    In the early decades of the 20th century, Moby-Dick moved up in the world. But, generally, even if it cultivated a bourgeois reading audience, it did so as a perfect example of the historically remote form of the sea romance, rather than as a classic.

    The major event in Moby-Dick’s reputation in the 1920s was a popular silent film adaptation, The Sea Beast (1926). Collectively, readers thought of it less in analytical terms, than as something that offered guidance on how to live. I have found hundreds of off-hand, ordinary (and moving for that fact) references to it in travel narratives, letters, diaries, novels, poems and anecdotes from this era.

    Making visible these early readers who viewed Moby-Dick as mass cultural genre fiction creates a picture of a substantially different novel. It ceases to rise, Everest-like and admonitory, amid the peaks of the canon. Instead, it descends from the heights to subsist, amiably and openly, in the ardours and passions of the everyday.

    Beyond the canon

    As part of the Rethinking the Classics series, we’re asking our experts to recommend a book or artwork that tackles similar themes to the canonical work in question, but isn’t (yet) considered a classic itself. Here is Edward Sugden’s suggestion:

    I often wonder “what is the Moby-Dick of the 20th century?” I would nominate Gene Wolfe’s science fiction masterpiece, The Fifth Head of Cerberus novellas (1972). The novelist Ursula Le Guin once called Wolfe “our Melville”, so I’m in good company.

    The three novellas are set on the fictional planets Sainte Croix and Sainte Anne. They are about the relationship between (possibly) human settlers and a (possibly) shape-shifting indigenous population who may or may not have existed.

    In a dense, cryptic, visionary, philosophical and astonishingly crisp style, these novellas explore cloning, evil, dreamworlds, alien life, identity, fate, ritual, ethnology and much more besides in ways that defy summary and which far exceed any plot synopsis. It feels – in spirit and in terms of its reception – something like Moby-Dick.

    Edward Sugden 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. Moby-Dick doesn’t deserve the ‘difficult’ label – this sea romance was once loved by office workers, sailors and children – https://theconversation.com/moby-dick-doesnt-deserve-the-difficult-label-this-sea-romance-was-once-loved-by-office-workers-sailors-and-children-252764

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Sirens: the dark psychology of how people really get drawn into cults

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Joy Cranham, Lecturer in the Department of Education, University of Bath, University of Bath

    Like other quirky TV shows that explore coercively controlling groups, Sirens leans into the “wackiness” of cult life. Set on a remote island, an affluent community exists under extravagant rule of Michaela Kell aka Kiki (Julianne Moore). Her devoted followers – many of whom are employed by her – are committed to ensuring her every whim is met.

    This carefully curated existence appears bizarre but flawless, until outsider Devon (Meghann Fahy) arrives looking for her sister Simone (Milly Alcock) and begins to illuminate the control and cult-like behaviour being used as tools of oppression.

    It is easy to laugh along with Sirens, to get caught up in the eccentric characters and absurd rituals – from assistants being instructed to sext Kiki’s partner to rituals around perfuming her underwear drawer each morning. We shake our heads at the characters’ choices and reassure ourselves: “I would never fall for that, I would just leave.”

    But the uncomfortable truth is it’s not that simple.

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    What portrayals of cult communities in sitcoms often miss, or gloss over, is the deeply manipulative psychology behind why leaving a cult is incredibly difficult.

    Research into cult experiences has shown, cults do not just trap people physically. They entrap them mentally and emotionally too.

    I have seen this in my own research into how to help children and their families resist exploitative and coercively controlling individuals and groups. We do see such entrapment in Sirens but it is often obscured by the wackiness of Michaela’s cult-ish community.

    Isolation and love-bombing

    In the real world, entrapment starts with isolation. New recruits are gradually cut off from their support networks, separated from their friends and family.

    We see this in Sirens between Simone, who is Kiki’s assistant, and her outsider sister Devon. In one episode, for instance, Simone makes it clear to Devon that their matching sister tattoos were no longer valuable to her.

    What was once a show of love has become viewed as “trashy” by Simone. This is a reflection of how Simone was being manipulated away from her previous values.

    Rejecting the importance of familial relationships is a tool often used by cult leaders, enabling them to construct rifts between the person in the cult and their loved one on the outside.

    In Sirens, we see a sisterly relationship become ruptured at the instruction of the powerful Kiki, who exploits the vulnerability of Simone to her own advantage.

    Then comes the love-bombing – a flood of praise, attention, and affection. It feels amazing, especially to someone who has been overlooked or undervalued.

    When the person expresses surprise, the group responds with lines like, “that’s because we truly see you” or they belittle the person’s previous relationships.

    The message from the group is clear: only we value you. Only we understand the real you.

    Fear and dependence

    But the honeymoon phase does not last. Soon, the fear of being cast out takes hold. The group convinces the person that they can only become their best self within the group, that they are fulfilling a higher destiny by being guided by the leader.

    Leaders in cults use authoritarian tactics, often portraying themselves as messianic figures with mystical powers. They demand unwavering loyalty and devotion. Questioning their authority is not tolerated. Any concern or question is reframed as a personal failing rather than as legitimate concern.

    Punishment for dissent reinforces the leader’s dominance and sends a clear message to the rest of the group: Do not question. The leader and their doctrines are irrefutable.

    This sort of control can lead people to do things they never imagined they would.
    Take the scene where Simone willingly chews gum that has just been in Kiki’s mouth. We might cringe at this, think it’s gross and abnormal, but it’s symbolic of something much bigger: it depicted total control being exerted over another.

    Here we watch as Kiki insults Simone, telling her her breath stinks. Instead of being seen as cruelty it is perceived as care, and Kiki then giving Simone the gum she has just chewed to rectify the problem, is perceived as kindness. Simone is grateful and doesn’t question it at all.

    Simone’s mind has been manipulated. Devon asks her: “Does Michaela have her talons so deep in your brain you cannot tell, you are in trouble?” Through using thought reform techniques, cults hack minds. They override critical thinking and replace it with fear and dependency.

    The constant sense of danger and fear keeps members in a state of acute stress, impairing their capacity to think clearly or make rational decisions. However, this constant fear is happening in a place they are repeatedly told and are convincing themselves is where they have never been happier.

    The cognitive dissonance of this can contribute to the group’s ability to retain members even when exposing them to prolonged psychological and or physical abuse. Even after someone leaves, the effects of this trauma can linger for years – sometimes a lifetime.

    Survivors often exit these groups with very few tangible resources. Education and employability may have been restricted and housing and financial independence are often tightly controlled by the group.

    Many survivors suffer from mental health issues and other stress induced physical ailments. As a result, survivors require various forms of support and different interventions over the cause of their recovery.

    And yet, in pop culture, cults are often played for laughs. The trauma is reduced to punch lines. To be fair, shows like Sirens effectively capture the bizarre nature of cult life and hopefully reading this piece has helped you look beyond the laughs to see the dark nature of how these groups operate. For survivors, cult life is not eccentric or surreal – it is traumatic.

    Joy Cranham volunteers for Faith to Faithless, an organisation that supports apostates who are often former members of high-demand religions or cult-like organisations. Faith to Faithless is connected to Humanist UK

    – ref. Sirens: the dark psychology of how people really get drawn into cults – https://theconversation.com/sirens-the-dark-psychology-of-how-people-really-get-drawn-into-cults-257759

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: What if the Big Bang wasn’t the beginning? Our research suggests it may have taken place inside a black hole

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Enrique Gaztanaga, Professor at Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation (University of Portsmouth), University of Portsmouth

    Vadim Sadovski/Shutterstock

    The Big Bang is often described as the explosive birth of the universe — a singular moment when space, time and matter sprang into existence. But what if this was not the beginning at all? What if our universe emerged from something else — something more familiar and radical at the same time?

    In a new paper, published in Physical Review D, my colleagues and I propose a striking alternative. Our calculations suggest the Big Bang was not the start of everything, but rather the outcome of a gravitational crunch or collapse that formed a very massive black hole — followed by a bounce inside it.

    This idea — which we call the black hole universe — offers a radically different view of cosmic origins, yet it is grounded entirely in known physics and observations.

    Today’s standard cosmological model, based on the Big Bang and cosmic inflation (the idea that the early universe rapidly blew up in size), has been remarkably successful in explaining the structure and evolution of the universe. But it comes at a price: it leaves some of the most fundamental questions unanswered.

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    For one, the Big Bang model begins with a singularity — a point of infinite density where the laws of physics break down. This is not just a technical glitch; it’s a deep theoretical problem that suggests we don’t really understand the beginning at all.

    To explain the universe’s large-scale structure, physicists introduced a brief phase of rapid expansion into the early universe called cosmic inflation, powered by an unknown field with strange properties. Later, to explain the accelerating expansion observed today, they added another “mysterious” component: dark energy.

    In short, the standard model of cosmology works well — but only by introducing new ingredients we have never observed directly. Meanwhile, the most basic questions remain open: where did everything come from? Why did it begin this way? And why is the universe so flat, smooth, and large?

    New model

    Our new model tackles these questions from a different angle — by looking inward instead of outward. Instead of starting with an expanding universe and trying to trace back how it began, we consider what happens when an overly dense collection of matter collapses under gravity.

    This is a familiar process: stars collapse into black holes, which are among the most well-understood objects in physics. But what happens inside a black hole, beyond the event horizon from which nothing can escape, remains a mystery.

    In 1965, the British physicist Roger Penrose proved that under very general conditions, gravitational collapse must lead to a singularity. This result, extended by the late British physicist Stephen Hawking and others, underpins the idea that singularities — like the one at the Big Bang — are unavoidable.

    The idea helped win Penrose a share of the 2020 Nobel prize in physics and inspired Hawking’s global bestseller A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes. But there’s a caveat. These “singularity theorems” rely on “classical physics” which describes ordinary macroscopic objects. If we include the effects of quantum mechanics, which rules the tiny microcosmos of atoms and particles, as we must at extreme densities, the story may change.

    In our new paper, we show that gravitational collapse does not have to end in a singularity. We find an exact analytical solution – a mathematical result with no approximations. Our maths show that as we approach the potential singularity, the size of the universe changes as a (hyperbolic) function of cosmic time.

    This simple mathematical solution describes how a collapsing cloud of matter can reach a high-density state and then bounce, rebounding outward into a new expanding phase.

    But how come Penrose’s theorems forbid out such outcomes? It’s all down to a rule called the quantum exclusion principle, which states that no two identical particles known as fermions can occupy the same quantum state (such as angular momentum, or “spin”).

    And we show that this rule prevents the particles in the collapsing matter from being squeezed indefinitely. As a result, the collapse halts and reverses. The bounce is not only possible — it’s inevitable under the right conditions.

    Crucially, this bounce occurs entirely within the framework of general relativity, which applies on large scales such as stars and galaxies, combined with the basic principles of quantum mechanics — no exotic fields, extra dimensions or speculative physics required.

    What emerges on the other side of the bounce is a universe remarkably like our own. Even more surprisingly, the rebound naturally produces the two separate phases of accelerated expansion — inflation and dark energy — driven not by a hypothetical fields but by the physics of the bounce itself.

    Testable predictions

    One of the strengths of this model is that it makes testable predictions. It predicts a small but non-zero amount of positive spatial curvature — meaning the universe is not exactly flat, but slightly curved, like the surface of the Earth.

    This is simply a relic of the initial small over-density that triggered the collapse. If future observations, such as the ongoing Euclid mission, confirm a small positive curvature, it would be a strong hint that our universe did indeed emerge from such a bounce. It also makes predictions about the current universe’s rate of expansion, something that has already been verified.

    The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying ESA’s Euclid mission on the launch pad in 2023.
    https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Euclid, CC BY-SA

    This model does more than fix technical problems with standard cosmology. It could also shed new light on other deep mysteries in our understanding of the early universe — such as the origin of supermassive black holes, the nature of dark matter, or the hierarchical formation and evolution of galaxies.

    These questions will be explored by future space missions such as Arrakhis, which will study diffuse features such as stellar halos (a spherical structure of stars and globular clusters surrounding galaxies) and satellite galaxies (smaller galaxies that orbit larger ones) that are difficult to detect with traditional telescopes from Earth and will help us understand dark matter and galaxy evolution.

    These phenomena might also be linked to relic compact objects — such as black holes — that formed during the collapsing phase and survived the bounce.

    The black hole universe also offers a new perspective on our place in the cosmos. In this framework, our entire observable universe lies inside the interior of a black hole formed in some larger “parent” universe.

    We are not special, no more than Earth was in the geocentric worldview that led Galileo (the astronomer who suggested the Earth revolves around the Sun in the 16th and 17th centuries) to be placed under house arrest.

    We are not witnessing the birth of everything from nothing, but rather the continuation of a cosmic cycle — one shaped by gravity, quantum mechanics, and the deep interconnections between them.

    Enrique Gaztanaga receives funding from the Spanish Plan Nacional (PGC2018-102021-B-100) and
    Maria de Maeztu (CEX2020-001058-M) grants.

    Enrique Gaztanaga is also a Professor at the Institute of Space Sciences (CSIC/IEEC) in Barcelona and publishes a science blog called Dark Cosmos.

    – ref. What if the Big Bang wasn’t the beginning? Our research suggests it may have taken place inside a black hole – https://theconversation.com/what-if-the-big-bang-wasnt-the-beginning-our-research-suggests-it-may-have-taken-place-inside-a-black-hole-258010

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Exercise proves powerful in preventing colon cancer recurrence – new study

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Justin Stebbing, Professor of Biomedical Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University

    SUPERMAO/Shutterstock.com

    New evidence has linked physical activity with improved colon health, underscoring the vital role of exercise in cancer prevention and care.

    The landmark international trial – the Challenge study – showed that structured exercise programmes can dramatically improve survival rates for colon cancer survivors.

    The study was unveiled at the meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Each June, cancer specialists from around the world convene in Chicago for the conference where new research is announced that pushes the boundaries of cancer treatment and this year’s conference featured a wealth of exciting discoveries.

    Conducted across six countries and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the Challenge study tracked 889 patients for several years following chemotherapy. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups: one received standard post-treatment care, while the other took part in a three-year coaching programme that included personalised exercise plans and regular check-ins with fitness professionals.

    The results were striking. Those in the exercise group experienced 28% fewer cancer recurrences and 37% fewer deaths.

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    In the programme, people slowly built up how much they exercised, with most choosing to go on brisk 45-minute walks four times a week. Ninety per cent of the people who exercised stayed cancer free for five years, compared with just 74% of those who didn’t.

    This study provides the first strong evidence that exercise not only correlates with better outcomes but directly improves survival rates in cancer patients. While earlier observational studies found a link between being active and better cancer outcomes, this first randomised controlled trial helps show causation, meaning that exercise can directly benefit the survival of cancer patients.

    We don’t know yet if the same goes for other cancers like breast, prostate or lung, but it’s a big step forward.

    The programme’s success hinged on consistent support. Participants met with fitness coaches every two weeks at first, then monthly, which helped them stick to their routines even after treatment ended.

    While minor injuries such as muscle strains were slightly more common among those who exercised (19% compared to 12% in the control group), researchers emphasised that these issues were manageable and far outweighed by the significant survival benefits.

    Potential downsides to exercise?

    In contrast to the encouraging findings on structured exercise, a separate study presented in Chicago has raised questions about the potential downsides of extreme endurance training.

    Researchers tracking marathon runners found a higher rate of polyps (small growths in the colon that can sometimes develop into cancer) compared with the general population. This unexpected finding has sparked a fresh debate about the effect of high-intensity exercise on long-term colon health.

    However, context is needed. The study did not find higher cancer rates among runners, and most of the detected polyps were low risk.

    Several possible explanations have been offered: endurance athletes may simply undergo more frequent screenings, leading to increased detection, or intense exercise might temporarily raise inflammation markers. Crucially, the overall risk of cancer remains lower in active people than in those who are more sedentary, reinforcing the well-established protective benefits of regular exercise.

    Endurance athletes were found to have more polyps than the general population.
    MikeCPhoto/Shutterstock.com

    This apparent contradiction highlights the medical community’s evolving understanding of the “dose” of physical activity. While moderate exercise is consistently linked to significant health benefits, emerging data from endurance athletes suggests that extreme, high-intensity training may place different kinds of stress on the body’s systems.

    Researchers also suggest that factors such as dehydration during long-distance runs, changes in gut function, or the use of certain nutritional supplements common among endurance athletes could play a role in polyp development. These findings don’t diminish the well-documented benefits of physical activity, but instead point to the importance of personalised, balanced health strategies.

    For cancer survivors, the structured exercise study provides a message of practical hope. Participants aimed for the equivalent of about three hours of brisk walking per week, gradually increasing their activity levels over time.

    The programme’s social support was key, with fitness coaches helping participants tailor their routines to match their abilities and recovery needs.

    Exercise is believed to affect key biological processes – including insulin sensitivity, inflammation and immune function – that play important roles in cancer development and progression. Ongoing research is analysing participants’ blood samples to better understand these mechanisms and eventually create personalised exercise “prescriptions” based on an individual’s genetic profile.

    While the findings from marathon runners are less conclusive, they still offer practical takeaways. The research suggests that although vigorous exercise is generally beneficial, high-intensity athletes may face a higher risk of developing polyps and should therefore consider regular colonoscopies as a precaution.

    For the general public, these findings reinforce that combining moderate exercise with timely screenings offers the best protection against colon cancer, a disease that remains the fourth most common worldwide and is alarmingly increasing among young people.

    For both patients and athletes, these findings highlight a central truth: movement matters, but the right approach is crucial. Colon cancer survivors now have proven tools to reduce recurrence through structured exercise, while endurance enthusiasts gain motivation to pair their training with preventative care.

    As science continues unravelling the intricate dance between activity and biology, one message remains clear: whether recovering from illness or chasing personal bests, informed exercise combined with medical guidance is the most reliable path to long-term health.

    Justin Stebbing 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. Exercise proves powerful in preventing colon cancer recurrence – new study – https://theconversation.com/exercise-proves-powerful-in-preventing-colon-cancer-recurrence-new-study-257983

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Your WhatsApp messages could get you sacked

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jonathan Lord, Lecturer in Human Resource Management and Employment Law, University of Salford

    Prostock-studio/Shutterstock

    It’s late evening and your phone vibrates with some banter from colleagues. You join the conversation and go to bed feeling part of the work community. You then wake up and have a feeling of apprehension as to how the messages will be perceived.

    WhatsApp might have started as a casual messaging app for friends, but it has now firmly become embedded in workplace communication – and increasingly in workplace conflicts, too.

    WhatsApp chats have also been used to corroborate or refute claims in employment tribunals. An employee might claim they were promised a pay rise or flexible hours via WhatsApp, for example. But on the other hand, employers have also used WhatsApp logs to prove misconduct. This evidence has included sharing confidential information.

    In the workplace, WhatsApp chats have replaced many casual real-life conversations. Colleagues create groups to coordinate work, message each other after hours and vent their frustrations in private messages. Although this feels informal, it can leave employees vulnerable.

    But when disputes escalate to legal action, these messages can help judges understand what really happened. Tribunals treat WhatsApp messages like any other document.

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    We examined more than 2,000 cases brought to UK employment tribunal’s since 2019 that involved WhatsApp. The findings reveal a surprising range of ways in which these casual chats became evidence.

    WhatsApp conversations have increasingly played a crucial role in misconduct and discrimination disputes, being used as evidence of harassment or inappropriate behaviour. The messages are also cited in unfair dismissal and contract claims, especially where informal work communications and digital records were seen as central to the case.

    In 2018, 48 cases brought to employment tribunals involved WhatsApp messages. By 2024, that had climbed to 562. The cases span a wide range of jurisdictions, but unfair dismissal, contract breaches, harassment and discrimination were dominant. From the cases we examined, several themes were clear.

    1. Removal or exclusion from a WhatsApp group

    In the case of Ms B Djagbo v Women’s Health Dulwich Ltd, the claimant successfully brought a claim for unfavourable treatment due to pregnancy and maternity. This followed a series of incidents that took place after she informed her employer of her pregnancy.

    Several actions made her feel as though her employment was being prematurely ended, including being removed from the workplace WhatsApp group chat. The tribunal awarded her almost £20,000.

    2. Discriminatory messages or harassment via WhatsApp

    In the Mr D Robson v NGP Utilities Ltd case, the claimant is a gay man and brought a complaint of harassment. This included a series of inappropriate and offensive incidents at work, notably, a WhatsApp group message from a colleague.

    The message was part of a wider pattern of jokes targeting gay colleagues. The employment tribunal awarded him more than £36,000.

    3. Termination of employment via WhatsApp

    The case of Miss J Hodkinson v B&R Care Ltd highlights a pregnant care worker who was awarded more than £40,000 in compensation after being unfairly dismissed via WhatsApp. The fact the dismissal was carried out informally and insensitively supported the tribunal’s findings of “procedural and substantive unfairness”.

    4. WhatsApp communications submitted as evidence

    The Mr M D Black v Alain Charles Publishing Ltd tribunal noted that the claimant’s evidence was consistent with WhatsApp message screenshots included in the evidence bundle. As a result, compensation of almost £100,000 was awarded.

    Seized WhatsApp messages can provide an insight into workplace culture.
    Kafka Ibram/Shutterstock

    WhatsApp groups can also offer a window into workplace culture. Tribunals have seen examples of co-workers using WhatsApp to share sexist and racist jokes or to gossip about colleagues.

    With remote and flexible working, these chats illustrate a growing tension between constant connectivity and work burnout.

    The tribunal cases show just how deeply WhatsApp has become part of working life, blurring the line between personal and professional. Colleagues chat the way friends do.

    But when working relationships sour or rules are broken, each of these informal chats carries legal weight. What someone thought was a single throwaway remark in a private conversation can later be dissected as part of a wider body of evidence.

    There have been cases where an employer was ordered to hand over work-related WhatsApp exchanges, and others where an employee’s own messages were used against them.

    It’s a clear lesson. Privacy in digital communication is never guaranteed. Even encrypted messages can become public in a courtroom.

    WhatsApp dos and don’ts

    The volume of references to WhatsApp in tribunal cases frames some key lessons for both employees and employers. In a nutshell, if you wouldn’t write it in a company email or say it in a meeting, don’t put it into WhatsApp.

    Jokes can be misinterpreted and offensive remarks don’t just go away. Many have learned this the hard way.

    Using WhatsApp to share instructions and decisions might seem convenient, but it shouldn’t replace formal process.

    And for employers, it’s time to update communication policies, including guidelines on after-hours messaging, the use of group chats and respecting expectations of inclusivity.

    Banning WhatsApp might not be practical, but setting out expectations is important. Even a policy stating that any work-related communication on personal messaging apps should adhere to the company’s expected code of conduct is a start.

    Many people are unaware that a private chat can reappear as evidence. Knowing that a tasteless joke on WhatsApp could support a harassment claim potentially costing an unlimited fine, or that ignoring a late-night work message might be used as evidence of poor performance, will harden most people to conduct more mindful communication.

    Gordon Fletcher receives funding from InnovateUK.

    Jonathan Lord and Saad Baset 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. Your WhatsApp messages could get you sacked – https://theconversation.com/your-whatsapp-messages-could-get-you-sacked-255073

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Lethal humanitarianism: why violence at Gaza aid centres should not come as a surprise

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Irit Katz, Associate Professor of Architecture and Urban Studies, University of Cambridge

    At least 27 Palestinians were reported to have been killed on the morning of June 3 amid chaotic scenes at an aid distribution centre in the southern Gaza Strip. This follows a similar incident on June 1 when around 30 civilians were reportedly killed as people scrambled to get food supplies at an aid centre near Rafah in southern Gaza.

    The Israeli and US governments and Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) – the private contractor backed by Israel and the US to take over aid distribution in Gaza – previously denied reports that Israeli troops had fired on civilians queuing for aid. The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, criticised what he called “reckless and irresponsible reporting by major US news outlets”.

    After the June 3 incident, however, the Israeli military admitted it had fired shots near a food distribution complex after noticing “a number of suspects moving towards them”. A GHF spokesperson said it was believed that the people had been fired upon “after moving beyond the designated safe corridor and into a closed military zone”.

    The violence at these privately run aid distribution points should come as no surprise, given the situation. For weeks since the Israeli government imposed its aid blockade in early March, the humanitarian crisis in the Strip has become more acute. By April the IPC (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification), a collaboration between numerous intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations, was already reporting that Gaza’s whole population was experiencing critical levels of hunger.

    The aid distribution system put in place by GHF, meanwhile has been widely criticised. On May 25, the day before GHF began operations in Gaza its American director, Jake Wood, resigned. He said he believed the organisation would not be able to fulfil the basic humanitarian principles of “humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence”.

    Divide and control

    The GHF’s aid distribution plan is similar in character to a plan published in December 2024 by an organisation of many former high-ranking Israeli military officers, Israel’s Defense and Security Forum (IDSF). The group proposed to take control of aid distribution from the UN agency Unrwa, which was the main organisation overseeing aid distribution until it was banned by Israel earlier this year.

    The IDSF plan proposes that: “Israel will oversee the aid distributed by international organizations, effectively dismantling the distribution networks of UNRWA and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, guided by the principle: ‘The hand that distributes the aid is the hand that controls it’.”

    This would be achieved with the creation of tent cities for internally displaced people (IDP), described as “humanitarian zones”. About 90% of the 2.1 million Palestinians in Gaza are IDPs. The IDSF plan, acknowledging that “extensive built-up areas have been left destroyed, or are no longer inhabitable”, says that “it is currently neither feasible nor recommended that the IDPs return at the conclusion of the war”.

    Under the plan, parts of the Gaza Strip still inhabited by Palestinian civilians, will be divided by a “system of longitudinal and transverse axes”. Each “IDP city” created within these divisions will be managed as a “separate temporary administrative territory” following the principle of “divide and rule”.

    The plan calls for responsibility for humanitarian aid in Gaza to pass “to a Humanitarian Directorate based on IDP cities and biometric certificates”. This is called the “Day After Plan” by the IDSF, designed as a way to control Gaza’s population, while driving a wedge between civilians and Hamas in order to destroy it. This despite the fact that a senior Israeli military commander has said it is impossible to eliminate Hamas.

    The reality on the ground

    The way GHF is currently organising aid distribution fulfils some of the principles of the IDSF plan. It replaces UN aid distribution with a private outfit, backed by both Israel and the US, yet it provides aid through only four sites.

    These are located unevenly in the Gaza Strip, three in a small area southwest of Rafah, and the fourth south of Gaza City, in an area dominated by the Netzarim corridor, which is controlled by the Israeli military.

    People queuing for access to aid reportedly have to walk along a narrow fenced corridor into a larger aid compound. Once inside they are subject to ID checks and eye scans to further control the distribution for aid.

    This has reportedly resulted in long hours of waiting in the heat and led to chaotic scenes were people have broken down fences in a bid to get supplies. Among the people reported to have been killed on June 3 were three children and two women.

    The GHF scheme had already been criticised before the violent incidents by both Palestinians and international aid organisations. The placement of the distribution sites means that people sometimes have to travel considerable distances to receive aid.

    The UN children’s fund spokesperson Jonathan Crick asked: “How is a mother of four children, who has lost her husband, going to carry 20kg back to her makeshift tent, sometimes several kilometres away?”

    As someone who researches urban design, conflict, and displacement, it is clear to me that designing the entire aid distribution system around only four “mega-sites” in limited areas in the Strip leads to the sort of overcrowding and chaos that have made violence all but inevitable.

    In my opinion, in concentrating these sites while extensively demolishing habitable areas in the Strip, Israel is effectively weaponising essential civilian mechanisms against Palestinians. The aid scheme appears to prioritise political and territorial issues over the humanitarian distribution of aid.

    The GHF system enables Israel to further concentrate civilians into makeshift encampments. Here they face inadequate and unhygienic conditions and shelter. These are particularly unsafe for women and children, while also being vulnerable to attacks by the Israeli military.

    Palestinians also fear that the biometric screening will be used by Israel as a weapon of coercive control, rather than as a means to provide humanitarian relief.

    Now people trying to access aid are dying. The international community must urgently put pressure on both sides to agree a ceasefire and on Israel to open Gaza up for a rapid large-scale humanitarian operation. To maintain the current GHF system is to invite further tragedy.

    Irit Katz receives funding from the AHRC.

    – ref. Lethal humanitarianism: why violence at Gaza aid centres should not come as a surprise – https://theconversation.com/lethal-humanitarianism-why-violence-at-gaza-aid-centres-should-not-come-as-a-surprise-257908

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Why the federal government must act cautiously on fast-tracking project approvals

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Mark Winfield, Professor, Environmental and Urban Change, York University, Canada

    The acceleration of federal approvals for “nation-building projects” was the major theme of this week’s first ministers meeting in Saskatoon. A rush to streamline approvals for resource development and infrastructure projects has been central to the Canadian response to United States President Donald Trump’s profound disruptions to longstanding trade and security relationships.

    At the provincial level, Ontario’s Bill 5 and British Columbia’s Bill 15 also propose to move aggressively to fast-track mining and infrastructure projects.

    These fast-tracking efforts are fuelling debate, particularly in terms of the implications for Indigenous rights and the implicit trade-offs pertaining to the environment and climate change.



    Read more:
    Mark Carney wants to make Canada an energy superpower — but what will be sacrificed for that goal?

    Regulations often a minor factor

    Project review and approval processes in Canada have already been aggressively streamlined over the past decade. The 2019 Federal Impact Assessment Act, also known as Bill C-69, was largely modelled on Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s 2012 Bill C-38 rewrite of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.

    It’s important to determine why projects are delayed in the first place. Most move through assessment processes with little delay or controversy. Problems emerge when proposals are poorly designed, face serious technical or economic doubts, raise major environmental, climate or safety concerns, and spark significant social, political or legal conflicts over their costs, benefits and impacts.

    A recent study on mining approvals in B.C., for example, found that far more mines were approved than ever actually developed. The main cause of delays was changing economic conditions. Regulation was found to be only a minor factor.

    While there are always potential ways to improve review processes, the results of previous streamlining efforts suggest the need for caution about the potential for these initiatives to backfire.

    Impact assessment and similar processes emerged as more than a way to accurately assess projects and their risks and benefits. They also provided a framework for managing intense social and political conflicts those projects may generate.

    If these processes are streamlined too much, the conclusions of these assessments may seem illegitimate. There could be a trade-off between clear, certain outcomes and ensuring the approval process is fair and trustworthy.

    Exacerbating conflict

    The Harper government’s Bill C-38 reforms were intended to facilitate the construction of more oil pipelines. In the end, they only escalated the spiralling political and legal conflicts around projects like the Northern Gateway and Energy East pipelines.

    The accompanying Alberta-to-B.C. Trans Mountain Expansion pipeline was only approved after a tortuous process. That culminated in the federal purchase and completion of the pipeline at a cost to taxpayers of $34 billion.



    Read more:
    Why the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion is a bad deal for Canadians — and the world

    A similar process unfolded under Ontario’s 2009 Green Energy Act. The legislation’s aggressive bypassing of local approvals reinforced a backlash against renewable energy projects in rural communities. The end result was a nearly decade-long de facto moratorium on renewable energy development. The situation has only recently eased.

    The political consequences of these efforts at streamlining are noteworthy. The Bill C-38 episode was seen as playing a role in the Harper government’s defeat in 2015. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty’s loss of his majority government in 2011 was also partly attributed to the rural response to the Green Energy Act.

    Checks and balances

    Aside from the political aspects, it’s important to recognize the value of thorough reviews for projects that are likely to be high-risk, high-cost and high-impact.

    When past reviews have been rushed or cut short, they’ve undermine confidence in the decisions made — especially when even faster processes could increase the risks and costs passed on to taxpayers.

    The Muskrat Falls and Site C hydro projects in Labrador and B.C., respectively, stand as testament to those risks. Both projects ran years behind schedule and billions over budget and continue to face major technical, environmental and economic challenges. Review processes can be important checks on poorly conceived, politically motivated projects.

    It’s also important to think carefully about the long-term economic rationales being presented for projects. Canada is a relatively high-cost fossil fuel producer, making it unlikely to be among the last standing in a decarbonizing world.

    That should raise serious questions about major investments in new fossil fuel export infrastructure. The irony of developing such projects as major wildfires, widely attributed to the impacts of climate change, burn in northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba cannot be overlooked.

    Global markets for commodities like critical minerals are also uncertain and in deep flux.

    The high costs of nuclear projects, as demonstrated by recent experiences in the U.S., the United Kingdom and Europe, also make them unlikely candidates to form the foundation for clean energy superpower status.



    Read more:
    ‘Elbows up’ in Canada means sustainable resource development

    ‘Special economic zones’

    Ontario’s Bill 5 represents the most aggressive streamlining proposal seen so far. The legislation would exempt designated “special economic zones” and even trusted proponents — such as mining companies assigned to lead projects — from all applicable provincial and municipal laws and regulations.

    The province’s approach has raised fundamental questions about the rule of law, democratic governance and Indigenous rights, and jurisdictional boundaries.

    Some commentators have pointed out that these zones are common in authoritarian regimes like China’s, or in jurisdictions in deep economic distress.

    Others have accused Ontario of racing to the bottom in terms of health, safety and environmental standards, respect for the rule of law, Indigenous rights and basic democratic values.

    All of this suggests a need for caution in further streamlining review and approval processes for major projects. These are undertakings with risks and costs that could stretch far into the future and must be properly understood before they proceed.

    Mark Winfield receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

    – ref. Why the federal government must act cautiously on fast-tracking project approvals – https://theconversation.com/why-the-federal-government-must-act-cautiously-on-fast-tracking-project-approvals-257095

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How Ukraine’s drone attacks on Russian airfields could derail Russia’s war efforts

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By James Horncastle, Assistant Professor and Edward and Emily McWhinney Professor in International Relations, Simon Fraser University

    The drone attacks by Ukrainian Operation Spider’s Web forces on Russian airfields have called into question Russia’s supposed military strength.

    Russian authorities have acknowledged damage from the June 1 attacks — an unusual admission that suggests the strikes were probably effective, given Russia’s usual pattern of downplaying or denying the success of Ukrainian operations.

    The operation’s most significant target was the Belaya air base, north of Mongolia. Belaya, like the other bases targeted, is a critical component in the Russian Air Force’s strategic strike capabilities because it houses planes capable of long-range nuclear and conventional strikes.

    It’s also in Irkutsk, approximately 4,500 kilometres from the front lines in Ukraine.



    Read more:
    Ukraine drone strikes on Russian airbase reveal any country is vulnerable to the same kind of attack

    Ukraine’s ability to successfully strike Belaya — an attempted strike at the even more distant Ukrainka air base failed — probably won’t have much of a military impact on the war. But along with successful attacks on other Russian airfields and the strike at the Kerch Bridge in Crimea, Operation Spider Web’s successes could play a strategic role in the conflict.

    These attacks could shift what has become increasingly negative media coverage and public perception about Ukraine’s chances in the war over the last year. In a war of attrition, which the conflict in Ukraine has become, establishing a belief in victory is a pre-condition for success.

    Explosions hit the Kerch Bridge in Russia on June 3, 2025. (The Independent)

    Increased pessimism

    Policymakers and pundits, instead of recognizing their expectations of a Ukrainian victory in 2023 were unrealistic, have often declared that the war is unwinnable for Ukraine.

    This perspective was even more prevalent following United States President Donald Trump’s resumption of power in January 2025. In the Oval Office spat Trump had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in late February, he declared Ukraine did not “have the cards” to defeat Russia.

    This turned out to be false. Ukraine’s army may possess significantly less military hardware and fewer soldiers than Russia’s, but war is often a continuation of politics. Politically, Russia faces several issues that could derail its war efforts.

    Russian vulnerabilities

    Russia’s military capabilities are important to Russian nationalists, who make up Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s core constituency. Russian military forces have advanced along nearly all fronts in Ukraine over the last year.

    These advances, however, have largely been insignificant. Furthermore, they have emphasized Russia’s military weakness, which is an ongoing affront to Russian nationalists.

    Not only have Russian military advances over the last year not changed the war in a strictly military sense, but the pace of advance has been incredibly slow. Over the last year, Russian forces have captured 5,107 square kilometres of Ukrainian territory. This territory represents less than one per cent of Ukraine’s pre-war territory.

    In exchange for what amounts to negligible gains, Russian armed forces have suffered significant casualties.

    Both Russia and Ukraine carefully guard the number of casualties their forces have suffered in the war. The British Ministry of Defence, however, estimates that Russia will have suffered more than a million casualties in the war by the end of this month. The Russian casualty rate is also accelerating, with an estimated 160,000 casualties in the first four months of 2025.

    Russia attempts to compensate for this battlefield devastation in two ways.

    First, it’s isolated Ukraine by manipulating Trump’s desire for political wins and business deals. Russia, in appearing to seek an end to the conflict while offering no concessions, has stoked tensions between Zelenskyy and Trump, where there was little love lost between the two to begin with.

    Second, Russia has increased its attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure. Large-scale bombing does little to help Russia on the battlefield. The attacks, in fact, put its forces at a disadvantage by redirecting munitions from military targets.

    Attacks on civilians

    The attacks on civilian infrastructure, however, are more about instilling fear in the Ukrainian population and demonstrating American impotence to a Russian audience.

    Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian cities also highlight Russia’s trump card: nuclear weapons. Russia, and specifically former Russian president Dimitry Medvedev, has repeatedly threatened nuclear war in an attempt to dissuade Ukraine’s supporters.

    By bombing Ukrainian cities, albeit with conventional munitions, Russia seeks to demonstrate its ability to deploy even more destructive weapons should the situation call for it.

    These Russian military missteps, combined with a Russian economy that is structurally unsound, means that Russia’s war effort is increasingly fragile.

    Weakening Asian alliances

    Ukraine’s attack on Belaya also signals Russian weakness to its nominal allies in Asia.

    Since the start of hostilities, Russia has relied on the tacit consent of China. This support has taken the form of China purchasing Russian crude oil to maintain the Russian economy and Chinese citizens unofficially fighting for Russia.

    Belaya has been a vital element of Russia’s deterrence strategy in Asia, which has come to rely more heavily on the Russian strategic nuclear threat. The inability of Russia to protect one of its key strategic assets from a Ukrainian drone attack, combined with the weakness of Russian conventional forces in Ukraine, erodes its ability to position itself as a key ally to China.

    In fact, some Russian authorities continue to view China as a major threat.

    At the same time, Operation Spider’s Web gives hope to the Ukrainian people. It may also cause Trump — who prefers to back winners — to ponder whether it’s Putin, not Zelenskyy, who lacks the cards to win the war.

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

    – ref. How Ukraine’s drone attacks on Russian airfields could derail Russia’s war efforts – https://theconversation.com/how-ukraines-drone-attacks-on-russian-airfields-could-derail-russias-war-efforts-258049

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Nigerian children don’t imagine women as political leaders: what shapes their view

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Adebusola Okedele, Senior Lecturer, Political Science, Babcock University

    A new ranking by UN Women and the Inter-Parliamentary Union puts Nigeria 179th out of 185 countries for the percentage of women in the national legislature.

    Women currently make up only 3.9% of seats in the House of Representatives. In the Senate, three of the 108 current members are women. In the executive branch, women head eight of 45 (17.8%) of ministries.

    This absence of women in prominent positions in politics subtly reinforces societal biases and moulds public opinion, which subconsciously excludes women from political leadership.

    We are a group of researchers who have expertise in gender and African politics and childhood political socialisation. We have been researching the political socialisation of children in Nigeria for the past three years.

    Our research in Ogun State reveals that children are internalising what they see on the political stage. We asked children aged 5 to 16 at 12 schools in Ogun State to imagine and draw a leader such as a president, governor, or member of a national or state assembly at work. Only 5% of 981 children drew a woman as a political leader.

    Ninety-two percent of girls drew a man, compared to 98% of boys.

    Why do so few children draw women as political leaders? Children absorb the power dynamics and gender roles they observe in political happenings, shaping their understanding of politics.

    In democracies, a lack of women interested in politics, as well as running for and winning political office, matters. If women are absent in decision-making spaces, their concerns might not be considered. While men can represent women’s interests, women committed to change can draw on their experiences and those of women in their networks to bring new ideas to the table.



    Read more:
    Nigeria’s National Assembly: why adding seats for women isn’t enough

    Women in authority in Nigeria

    We conducted our study in the three senatorial districts of Ogun State, one of Nigeria’s 36 states. In Ogun State, the deputy governor, Noimot Salako-Oyedele, is a woman, and her picture is on many classroom walls.

    The late anti-colonial activist and leader Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti was from Ogun State too. The presence of visible women leaders could encourage some children in the state to imagine and depict women as political leaders. Thus, it is possible that our sample of children were more likely to draw a woman than children in other states.

    Six other states have women deputy governors: Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Kaduna, Plateau and Rivers States.

    But women’s representation in state assemblies throughout the country is low. No woman has ever been elected to be a governor in Nigeria.

    In our study, we asked children what jobs they would like to have in the future. In general, boys were more interested in jobs in politics (president, governor, local government chair) than girls were. For the specific job of president or governor, however, girls seemed to be just as interested as boys.

    The children’s response isn’t specific to Nigeria. In a study conducted in 2017 and 2018 in the United States (where 19.3% of members of the House of Representatives at the time were women), only 13% of children drew a woman political leader.



    Read more:
    Nigeria has few women in politics: here’s why, and what to do about it

    Broader forces

    Multiple factors hinder women’s representation in elected offices in Nigeria. These include political party practices that favour the recruitment and selection of men candidates, the high costs of running for office, as outlined in Ayisha Osori’s book Love Does Not Win Elections, and societal biases against women holding positions of political power.

    Deeply entrenched societal biases add to the challenges. Cultural norms assign leadership roles to men and certain religious interpretations restrict women’s public participation.

    The perception that women are more suited for domestic roles, or lack assertiveness, impedes their ability to garner support for political leadership.

    Low numbers of women representatives also suggest there are systemic biases in the democratic electoral process.



    Read more:
    Ghana’s election system keeps women out of parliament. How to change that

    Children pay attention

    Recent research shows that when girls observe women in political power or running for political office, they are more engaged in politics later in life. This suggests that positive exposure to women in politics may have positive effects on girls’ political engagement. Negative exposure could have negative effects.

    Take, for example, the “Natasha-Akpabio case” in Nigeria. Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan alleged that Senate president Godswill Akpabio had sexually harassed her. The Senate president denied the allegation. Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended from her position by the Senate ethics committee for what it described as misconduct and disregard for the Senate standing orders.

    Experiences like those may influence future generations’ understanding of gender equality in leadership. When young Nigerians observe powerful women facing harassment and retaliation for voicing their concerns, it may undermine the notion that women are equally capable of political authority.

    Girls may internalise the idea that politics is a hostile space for women. For boys, seeing women leaders undermined might reinforce a sense of male dominance.



    Read more:
    AU commission has made a good start on gender equality. But a lot remains to be done

    Policy solutions

    Our finding that children largely see politics as a “man’s world” prompts reflection on societal and political biases. To address the under-representation of women in political leadership positions in Nigeria, it is important to invest in civic education programmes. Children should be helped to understand the significance of equitable political participation from an early age.

    Campaigns should use different media platforms to challenge gender stereotypes in leadership.

    Finally, enacting and enforcing legislated gender quotas across all levels of Nigerian government and within political parties is a crucial step to improve the representation of women in leadership positions.

    Alice J. Kang received funding for the study from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Congress Fund and Research Council.

    Jill S. Greenlee receives funding from Department of Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies at Brandeis University and the
    Norman Fund at Brandeis University.

    Adebusola Okedele 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. Nigerian children don’t imagine women as political leaders: what shapes their view – https://theconversation.com/nigerian-children-dont-imagine-women-as-political-leaders-what-shapes-their-view-256638

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: One green sea turtle can contain the equivalent of 10 ping pong balls in plastic

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Xia (Alice) Zhu, Banting Postdoctoral Fellow, Ocean Sciences, Memorial University of Newfoundland

    Sea turtles can ingest dangerous amounts of plastic. (Shutterstock)

    Thousands to millions of tonnes of plastic enter the ocean annually, but where they end up is poorly understood.

    Scientists have been working to assemble the pieces of the puzzle for years, including estimating the size of the reservoir of plastic on the ocean surface, in the water column and in the deep ocean. However, marine animals are often overlooked.

    All animals can be reservoirs of plastic pollution, but to understand just how much ocean plastic pollution is stored in ocean life, we used sea turtles as a case study.

    Sea turtles ingest plastic debris of a variety of shapes and sizes, which can include pre-production pellets, foam, plastic bags, sheets, fishing gear and food wrappers. Their ingestion of plastic can come with a slew of negative impacts, some of which include starvation, emaciation and damage to the gut lining. Sea turtles can also become entangled in plastic nets and rope.

    Scripps News reports on the impacts of plastic pollution on sea turtles.

    Vulnerable species

    We focused on sea turtles because we know they’re impacted by plastics and are vulnerable to a changing ocean. Six out of the seven species of sea turtles are categorized as either vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

    To estimate how much plastic resides within sea turtles, we built a model using data on plastic ingestion in sea turtles and factors we suspected may predict how much plastic a turtle eats. That includes geographical, socio-economic and ecological factors.

    We estimated the size of the global reservoir for female green turtles because we had the most data for that group.

    We estimate that approximately 60 tonnes of plastic debris reside within female green turtles at any given time. This is roughly the equivalent of a garbage truck’s worth of plastic pollution.

    Based on our findings, we also predicted that an individual green turtle can contain up to 26.4 grams of plastic on average, the equivalent mass of 10 ping pong balls.

    Predicting ingestion

    Where a turtle lives matters. We found that sea turtles who forage closer to the equator are more likely to accumulate plastic debris. Furthermore, turtles that forage nearby countries with a lower socio-economic status are likely to eat more plastic, as socio-economic status is related to waste management.

    We also found that species-specific characteristics, including body size and foraging strategy — where and how a turtle identifies and retrieves food — play a role.

    Loggerhead turtles forage in the open ocean for the first seven to 15 years of their lives.
    (Shutterstock)

    For instance, loggerhead turtles are carnivores and forage in the open ocean for the first seven to 15 years of their lives before migrating to nearshore coastal areas.

    In contrast, leatherback turtles spend most of their lives in the open ocean and feed on a diet of soft-bodied prey, including jellyfish and salps. This makes it easy for them to mistake balloons as food.

    Green turtles, on the other hand, primarily feed on algae and sea grasses, spending only three to five years in the open ocean before relocating to shallow coastal areas where they remain for the rest of their lives.

    These different behaviours of sea turtles, along with their body size, influence where and how turtles are exposed to plastic debris and how much plastic can fit inside a turtle’s stomach at any given time.

    Understanding what factors predict plastic ingestion is important for pinpointing which species are most at risk: we found that leatherback turtles have the greatest propensity for ingesting plastic debris.

    Future work

    Sea turtles are impacted by a changing ocean, and our plastic waste is part of that change. The relatively consistent load of plastic in sea turtles raises questions about risk.

    Thousands to millions of tonnes of plastic end up in the ocean annually.
    (Shutterstock)

    Relevant to our study, the next step is to try to understand how the plastic reservoir varies among other species. What is the total amount stored in global marine animals at any one time?

    In addition, could sea turtles and marine animals in general be transporting plastic debris around as they move, essentially acting as conveyor belts of plastic throughout the ocean?

    Call to action

    In order to answer these questions, we need more data for sea turtles and other species. We call for further monitoring of sea turtles to improve future modelling efforts and to inform risk. We also call for further monitoring of other species, and recommend standardized reporting practices and greater data transparency.

    We hope our findings demonstrate the value of monitoring to address knowledge gaps pertaining to the cycling of plastic in the environment. This knowledge, in turn, could help inform a Global Plastics Treaty.

    We also hope our work can inform direct actions to protect sea turtles from the effects of plastics, and reduce the amount of plastic entering the ocean.

    Xia (Alice) Zhu receives funding from the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship.

    Chelsea Rochman receives funding from NSERC, ECCC, DFO.

    Matthew Mazloff receives funding from NASA, NOAA, NSF, UCSD.

    – ref. One green sea turtle can contain the equivalent of 10 ping pong balls in plastic – https://theconversation.com/one-green-sea-turtle-can-contain-the-equivalent-of-10-ping-pong-balls-in-plastic-256630

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Can kelp forests help tackle climate change?

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Jennifer McHenry, Senior Research Fellow, Department of Biology, University of Victoria

    Countries around the world are increasingly turning to nature to help alleviate the impacts of climate change. Forests, grasslands and wetlands are already considered as “natural climate solutions.” Now, some scientists are asking: could kelp forests be part of the solution too?

    As some of the fastest growing species on Earth, kelp form lush underwater forests along temperate coastlines. In addition to supporting marine biodiversity, sustaining fisheries and contributing to local economics and livelihoods, kelp forests also absorb carbon. But their role in climate change mitigation remains uncertain.

    In the first national assessment of Canada’s kelp forests, our research team set out to estimate how much carbon these ecosystems might be capturing and storing in the ocean, and whether that carbon stays out of the atmosphere long enough to be considered a natural climate solution.

    To tackle this question, we assembled a national kelp forest database, including satellite and aerial maps, kelp productivity measurements and ocean current models to estimate how much kelp carbon actually leaves the continental shelf.

    This study is part of a national research effort being led by researchers at the University of Victoria called Blue Carbon Canada, which was funded by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Oceans North and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) to investigate how Canada’s “blue carbon” could fit into its national climate mitigation strategy. Our team included 22 kelp researchers and experts from 14 academic institutions, government agencies and NGOs from Canada, the United States and Australia.



    Read more:
    Why some of British Columbia’s kelp forests are in more danger than others

    Measuring kelp carbon

    The carbon absorbed by trees, peatlands and seagrasses typically gets locked away for decades or longer. However, when kelp dies or breaks apart, instead of storing the carbon in the ground, much of it is released back into the ocean. Depending on the conditions, some of it sinks. Some of it washes back to shore. Some gets eaten and and fuels coastal food webs.

    Only a small fraction settles in coastal seafloor sediments or makes it far enough offshore to reach deep water, where it’s more likely to stay out of the atmosphere over the long term. Another fraction decomposes and becomes tiny dissolved particles that can circulate on ocean currents below the mixed layer depth for decades to centuries.

    So while protecting and managing kelp forests promotes carbon capture, it may not always directly translate into climate change mitigation.

    Our research found that between 40,000 and 400,000 metric tonnes of carbon per year is likely being captured and exported from Canadian kelp forests to the deep ocean. In terms of carbon dioxide removal, this would be at least comparable to more established natural climate solutions carbon ecosystems in Canada, like tidal marshes and seagrasses, suggesting they merit further consideration.

    It’s a promising number. But the potential role of kelp in Canada’s climate action plans is far from settled.

    Can we count on kelp?

    Our findings are relevant as countries increasingly look to count natural sources of carbon removal in their nationally determined contributions under the Paris Climate Accord, with the idea that better ecosystem management, protection and restoration could all enhance natural carbon sinks.

    Kelp forests have not yet been included in national inventories. However, there has been growing interest in whether better kelp forest management and even restoration could qualify.

    Part of the problem is data. Most countries, including Canada, still lack sufficient information on where their kelp forests are, how productive they are, where that carbon is going in the ecosystem and how these dynamics are changing over space and time. As a result, few countries have been able to assess their kelp forests at national scales.

    There are also unanswered questions about how much kelp forest loss can be prevented under climate change and how much ecosystem restoration could be scaled up to meaningfully contribute to climate change mitigation. Restoration methods for kelp forests, such as green gravel, are being actively developed but remain largely untested.

    Our study provides guidance to help countries overcome some of these challenges. We offer a step-by-step blueprint for developing first kelp carbon estimates from limited data, including data needs and sources and tools for data analysis that acknowledge data uncertainties.

    Looking ahead

    Managing and protecting kelp forests is likely to be a low-regret option, meaning that while it might not significantly mitigate climate change, its many other benefits would still outweigh the costs. After all, these ecosystems offer a host of benefits, from supporting fisheries to shoreline protection. Given our findings, they may also have the ability to help tackle climate change.

    But leaning too heavily on kelp before the science is clear could backfire. Overstating its role in climate change mitigation could lead to misplaced confidence and unrealistic expectations. Worse, it could distract from the most important and immediate task: fossil fuel reductions.

    That does not mean kelp’s climate solutions potential should be dismissed. At present, it’s thought that kelp forests and other algae capture and store around 175 million tonnes annually, maybe more given recent research.

    But Canada needs to proceed carefully and invest in closing key knowledge gaps before scaling up plans to include kelp in national carbon accounting. This includes greater public investment in kelp forest mapping, monitoring, high resolution oceanographic modelling and ground-truthing of national estimates.



    Read more:
    Buried kelp: seaweed carried to the deep sea stores more carbon than we thought

    Kelp forests are in trouble

    Overall, a precautionary approach is needed to ensure we don’t miss out on future kelp solutions. That’s because even as interest in kelp grows, these ecosystems are disappearing in many places.

    Kelp restoration methods, like green gravel shown here from the Kelp Rescue Initiative in B.C., are advancing but still in their infancy.
    (Lauren Dykman/University of Victoria)

    In British Columbia, kelp forests have declined in recent decades due to climate change-fuelled marine heatwaves and population booms of sea urchins, which graze on kelp.

    Similar trends have been documented in many parts of the world, from Norway to Tasmania, where lush kelp forests are being replaced by weedy turf algae.

    When kelp forests are lost, the carbon they hold can be released quickly. Export of kelp carbon to the deep ocean and other carbon sinks stops. So instead of helping to slow climate change, their loss could make things much worse.

    Kelp forests will not solve the climate crisis on their own. But our research shows they could be apart of the solution, especially if we act now to fill critical research gaps.

    Today, the most immediate value of kelp forests lies in supporting marine biodiversity, coastal fisheries, and community livelihoods. That alone makes them worth saving.

    Jennifer McHenry receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC), Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO),and Oceans North.

    Julia K. Baum receives funding from NSERC, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and Oceans North. She is also affiliated as a science advisor with the Kelp Rescue Initiative.

    – ref. Can kelp forests help tackle climate change? – https://theconversation.com/can-kelp-forests-help-tackle-climate-change-257215

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: We asked over 8,700 people in 6 countries to think about future generations in decision-making, and this is what we found

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Stylianos Syropoulos, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Arizona State University

    Shifting the public’s perspective toward greater concern for future generations could result in more support for climate change policies, among others. Artur Debat/Moment via Getty Images

    People often prioritize the well-being of family, friends and neighbors, as they feel a closeness emotionally and share the same temporal context. But they overlook how people born decades or centuries from now may suffer as a result of today’s failures to address major global risks such as climate change, future pandemics and unregulated artificial intelligence.

    Our new research, published in the British Journal of Social Psychology, shows that brief, low-cost psychological interventions can help individuals adopt a more expansive moral perspective to include future generations.

    We conducted three online studies with over 8,700 participants to examine whether prompting people to consider the long-term consequences of their actions could shift moral priorities beyond the present.

    In one of two interventions, participants imagined themselves serving on a government committee responsible for protecting future generations. Their task was to ensure that new legislation accounted not only for immediate needs but also for long-term impacts; they were asked to write a speech communicating these goals to the American public. This exercise highlighted institutional responsibility and the role of collective action across time.

    In the second intervention, participants engaged with a more personal thought experiment adapted from philosopher William MacAskill’s book “What We Owe the Future,” which explores our moral responsibility toward humanity’s long-term future.

    The impact of actions over time.

    Here, they read a scenario about a hiker who comes across broken glass on a remote trail – glass that may one day injure an unknown child. Should the hiker clean it up, even though no one is watching and the child may not appear for decades? After reflecting on this story, participants were asked to write about what they themselves could do to help make the future better for others.

    Moral concern for both intervention and control participants was assessed using the Moral Expansiveness Scale. We asked participants to rate how much moral concern they felt for a wide range of issues. These included concern for future generations, alongside family and friends, strangers, marginalized groups such as LGBTQ+ people, animals and the natural environment.

    Why it matters

    Although these exercises differed, one emphasizing collective responsibility and the other individual, both led to the same outcome: Participants randomly assigned to an intervention condition expressed significantly greater moral concern for future generations than those assigned to a control condition who completed neither exercise.

    This effect held across cultural contexts and across six diverse countries – the U.S., Argentina, South Africa, the Philippines, the U.K. and Australia – and persisted even when participants were required to make trade-offs in a zero-sum version of the Moral Expansiveness Scale. In this version of the task, they distributed a fixed number of “moral concern points” across competing groups, compelling them to weigh the moral importance of future generations against that of present-day entities like family members, strangers, nature and others.

    What’s especially intriguing, however, is that the elevated concern for future generations among intervention participants did not come at the expense of concern for other socially distant entities or those viewed as marginalized.

    What changed was how participants prioritized their moral concern: They placed slightly less emphasis on family and friends – groups that people typically prioritize most, even when they may be least in need of moral protection.

    In contrast, concern increased for distant others, both living today and in the future.

    What’s next

    This perspective, encouraged by the interventions, could perhaps help lay the groundwork for more durable public support for addressing long-term challenges.

    In future work, we hope to explore whether these interventions can inspire real-world action. This could include increased support for climate policies, voting for leaders who prioritize long-term investments like sustainable infrastructure and pandemic preparedness, or donating to causes that benefit future generations.

    But how might these interventions be integrated into everyday life? One promising approach is to embed them into settings where such reflections already occur, such as schools, civic education programs or public awareness campaigns.

    To assess their real-world potential, we plan to examine the durability of these effects. We want to see whether deploying them in such contexts can meaningfully inspire long-term shifts in attitudes and – importantly – behavior.

    For example, brief storytelling exercises or classroom role-plays, like imagining oneself as a future-focused policymaker, could be incorporated into high school or college curricula to shape students’ values, goals and even career trajectories. Similarly, community workshops, online media or social campaigns could adapt these scenarios to foster long-term thinking in broader populations.

    When people reflect on how their actions today shape the future, they may be more likely to back solutions to present-day issues like poverty and inequality, knowing these problems can have ripple effects for generations to come. They may also become more motivated to confront emerging risks, such as unregulated artificial intelligence or future pandemics, before those risks escalate.

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

    The research relevant to this article was funded by the John Templeton Foundation and APA Division 48.

    The research relevant to this article was funded by the John Templeton Foundation and APA Division 48.

    – ref. We asked over 8,700 people in 6 countries to think about future generations in decision-making, and this is what we found – https://theconversation.com/we-asked-over-8-700-people-in-6-countries-to-think-about-future-generations-in-decision-making-and-this-is-what-we-found-256767

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Peace has long been elusive in rural Colombia – Black women’s community groups try to bring it closer each day

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Tania Lizarazo, Associate Professor of Latin American Studies and Global Studies, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

    Local activists known as ‘comisionadas’ pose with women from Tanguí, Chocó, Colombia, at the end of a workshop in 2013. Tania Lizarazo

    It’s been almost nine years since Colombia celebrated a landmark peace agreement between one guerrilla group and the government, and three years since President Gustavo Petro vowed “total peace.” But in reality, the country’s decades-long internal conflict continues – making it one of the oldest in the world.

    Violence surged in early 2025, the most intense uptick in years. Fighting between two armed guerrilla groups in the northeastern Catatumbo region killed dozens of people and displaced tens of thousands more. Since the largest armed group – the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC – signed the 2016 peace accord, more than 400 signatories have been killed. Meanwhile, more than 1,200 social leaders and human rights defenders have been assassinated.

    We often define peace as the absence of war. The problem with thinking about peace and war as an all-or-nothing binary, however, is that it obscures the violence that takes place in “peaceful times.” For Colombians, that paradox is nothing new. In many communities most affected by the violence, thinking about a “post-conflict era” feels utopian.

    As a Colombian researcher who has collaborated with Afro-Colombian leaders for over a decade, I have noticed that emphasizing peace talks and accords erases the historical violence that is still present, especially for racial minorities. Colombia has the largest Black population in Spanish-speaking Latin America. In Chocó – a region on the Pacific coast where I conducted my research – Afro-Colombians form a majority.

    Communities there are contending not only with the contemporary conflict, but also ongoing challenges from the legacies of slavery, colonialism and extractive industries. Many residents, particularly women, work together every day to try to bring peace and justice within reach.

    Signs in the office of COCOMACIA, a Black women’s organization, say ‘option for life’ and ‘peace, we all build it.’
    Tania Lizarazo

    Rights vs. reality

    Colombia has been mired in war for over six decades, as legal and illegal armed groups across the political spectrum fight for territories and resources. The conflict is estimated to have killed around 450,000 people and displaced around 7 million.

    Black and Indigenous communities have disproportionately suffered the brunt of the war – especially in rural areas, where their lives and territories have been threatened by armed groups and companies alike. In Chocó Department, the site of my research, the region’s remoteness and biodiversity have attracted illegal groups and practices like drug trafficking, as well as mining and other types of resource extraction that threaten traditional livelihoods. Mercury from industrial mining poses an additional danger to people’s health and the environment.

    Andres Magallan carries an urn with the remains of Ivan Mejia, who was murdered by right-wing paramilitary guerrillas years before, in Santa Maria, Chocó, Colombia, in 2010.
    Raul Arboleda/AFP via Getty Images

    Black rural communities in the Pacific lowlands, where most of Chocó is located, have a legal right to collective ownership of their territories and to be consulted about development plans. In reality, land grabs and targeted killings over illegal crops, mining and other extractive practices have become the norm here, as is true throughout rural Colombia.

    The conflict has intensified racism and gender hierarchies, with Black women, particularly activists, especially vulnerable. Vice President Francia Márquez Mina, for example – who has won awards for her activism against illegal mining – survived an attack near her home in the nearby department of Cauca in 2019. She and her family have received other threats on their lives since then.

    Building solidarity

    Even in “postconflict” times, peace is a challenging task. It requires social change that does not happen overnight. Rather, it is the accumulation of tiny sparks in people’s daily commitments.

    In my book “Postconflict Utopias: Everyday Survival in Chocó, Colombia,” I write about how Black women’s organizations care for their territories and communities. The “comisionadas,” for example, belong to one of the largest such groups in Colombia, called COCOMACIA. These women travel the Atrato River and its tributaries to lead workshops about the organization, as well as territorial rights and women’s rights.

    Comisionadas next to a poster with information about a landmark law against domestic violence, on July 7, 2012. María del Socorro Mosquera Pérez sits on the left.
    Tania Lizarazo

    Everyone in the community is welcome to participate in dialogues about issues such as women’s political participation, land ownership and related legislation. Comisionada María del Socorro Mosquera Pérez, for example, wrote a song to share the importance of Law 1257, a landmark 2008 law against violence and discrimination against women.

    In her story for the research project that I discuss in my book, “Mujeres Pacíficas,” comisionada Rubiela Cuesta Córdoba says it best: “The best legacy that one leaves to family and friends is resistance.”

    One focus of these women’s groups’ work is the Atrato River itself. Since 2016, the same year of the peace accords, Colombian courts have recognized the river as a legal person, with rights to protection, conservation, maintenance and restoration.

    Students paint a mural in Quibdó, Chocó, Colombia, which says ‘Somos Atrato’: We are the Atrato River.
    Jan Sochor/Getty Images

    The river is a source of food and transportation between many basin communities where potable water, electricity and other amenities are scarce. But it is also intertwined with politics and spirituality. Pilgrimages like “Atratiando,” a trip along the river and its tributaries that has taken place multiple times since 1999, highlight that there is no life without the river. Participants travel through areas where paramilitaries and guerrillas are active, showing solidarity with vulnerable communities.

    COCOMACIA’s comisionadas are part of many other organizations – highlighting how survival is not only intertwined with lands and rivers, but other regions and countries. The struggle for women’s rights has led the comisionadas to collaborate with other organizations, creating wider networks of care. These include La Red Departamental de Mujeres Chocoanas, a feminist coalition of women’s organizations in Chocó; La Ruta Pacífica de las Mujeres, a feminist movement of 300 organizations from across Colombia; and Women in Black, an anti-militarism network with members in over 150 countries.

    Their solidarity is a reminder that peace and justice are a collaborative, everyday effort. As Justa Germania Mena Córdoba, leader of the comisionadas at the time, told me in 2012: “One cannot change the world by herself.”

    Tania Lizarazo 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. Peace has long been elusive in rural Colombia – Black women’s community groups try to bring it closer each day – https://theconversation.com/peace-has-long-been-elusive-in-rural-colombia-black-womens-community-groups-try-to-bring-it-closer-each-day-219550

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Is methylene blue really a brain booster? A pharmacologist explains the science

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Lorne J. Hofseth, Professor and Associate Dean for Research, College of Pharmacy, University of South Carolina

    This vibrantly colored chemical was originally created for use as a fabric dye. Kittisak Kaewchalun via iStock/Getty Images Plus

    The internet is abuzz with tributes to a liquid chemical called methylene blue that is being sold as a health supplement.

    Over the past five or 10 years, methylene blue has come to be touted online as a so-called nootropic agent – a substance that enhances cognitive function. Vendors claim that it amps up brain energy, improves memory, boosts focus and dispels brain fog, among other supposed benefits.

    Health influencers, such as podcaster Joe Rogan, have sung its praises. In February 2025, shortly before he was confirmed as health and human services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared in a video squirting a blue liquid widely presumed to be methylene blue into a glass – though he never verbally endorsed the substance.

    As a researcher studying inflammation and cancer, I investigate how dyes affect human health. Claims about methylene blue are alluring, and it’s easy to buy into its promise. But so far, evidence supporting its health benefits is scant, and there are some serious risks to using the substance outside of medical practice.

    What is methylene blue?

    Methylene blue was first synthesized in the 19th century by scientists at the German chemical company BASF.
    Museo di Chimica dell’Università di Genova via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

    Methylene blue is a synthetic dye that exists as a dark green powder and takes on a deep blue color when dissolved in water. My work and that of others suggest that many synthetic dyes widely used in foods and medicines can trigger potentially harmful immune system reactions in the body. But unlike commonly used food dyes – one of which was recently banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration – methylene blue is not derived from petroleum, also known as crude oil. Instead, it comes from a different family of dyes, which isn’t thought to have these health concerns.

    Methylene blue was first synthesized in 1876 as a dye for textiles and was valued for its intense color and ability to bind well to fabrics. Soon after, German physician Paul Ehrlich discovered its ability to stain biological tissues and to kill the parasite that causes malaria — making it one of the first synthetic drugs used in medicine.

    The chemical didn’t gain widespread use as a malaria treatment because it was no more effective than quinine, the standard therapy at the time. But in the 1930s, the dye found a new use in testing the safety of raw or unpasteurized milk. If its blue color faded quickly, the milk was contaminated with bacteria, but if it remained blue, the milk was considered relatively clean.

    This safety test now is largely obsolete. But it works thanks to methylene blue’s chemical superpower, which is that its molecules can swap electrons with other molecules, like a tiny battery charger.

    How do doctors use it today?

    That same chemical superpower enables some of methylene blue’s medical uses. Most significantly, doctors use it to treat a rare blood disorder called methemoglobinemia, in which hemoglobin, an iron-rich protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen, takes on a different form that can’t do the job. Methylene blue restores hemoglobin’s function by transferring an electron.

    Doctors also sometimes use methylene blue to treat the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning, septic shock or toxicities from drugs such as chemotherapy. It is also used as a surgical dye to highlight specific tissues such as lymph nodes, or to identify where tissue is leaky and therefore may be damaged.

    How does methylene blue affect the brain?

    Methylene blue can enter the brain by crossing the protective tissue barrier that surrounds it. Researchers have also found that the chemical can protect and support mitochondria, cell structures that are often described as the powerhouses of the cell. Methylene blue may help mitochondria generate energy for cells to use. For these reasons, researchers are studying methylene blue’s effect on the brain.

    So far, most of what’s known about the substance’s effects on the brain comes from studies in rats and in cells grown in a lab dish – not in people. For example, researchers have found that methylene blue may improve learning, boost memory and protect brain cells in rats with a condition that mimics Alzheimer’s disease.

    Studies in rodents have also found that methylene blue can protect the brain from damage from brain injury. Other studies showed that methylene blue is useful in treating ischemic stroke in rats. However, no research to date has examined whether it protects peoples’ brains from traumatic brain injury or stroke.

    A handful of clinical trials have investigated the effects of methylene blue in treating aspects of Alzheimer’s disease in people, but a 2023 review of these trials notes that their results have been mixed and not conclusive. A small study of 26 people found that a single low dose of the chemical boosted memory by about 7% and increased brain activity during thinking tasks. Another study by the same researchers found that methylene blue changed how different parts of the brain connected, though it didn’t improve thinking skills.

    Although some studies in people have shown hints that methylene blue may be beneficial for some brain-related issues, such as pain management and neuropsychiatric disorders, such studies to date have been small. This suggests that while there may be patient circumstances where methylene blue is beneficial, researchers have not yet pinned down what those are.

    Is methylene blue safe?

    Methylene blue is generally safe when used under medical supervision. However, the chemical has some serious risks.

    For one thing, it can interact with widely used medications. Methylene blue inhibits a molecule called monoamine oxidase, whose job is to break down an important brain chemical, serotonin. Many commonly used medications for treating anxiety and depression target serotonin. Taking the supplement along with these medicines can cause a condition called serotonin syndrome, which can lead to agitation, confusion, high fever, rapid heart rate, muscle stiffness and, in severe cases, seizures or even death.

    In people with a rare genetic deficiency of an enzyme called G6PD, methylene blue can cause a dangerous condition in which red blood cells break down too quickly. At high doses, the chemical can also raise blood pressure or cause heart problems. Also, it’s considered unsafe for pregnant or breastfeeding women because it may harm the fetus or baby.

    Overall, while scientists have found hints of some fascinating properties of methylene blue, much larger, longer trials are needed to know if it truly works, what the right dose is and how safe it is over time.

    Lorne J. Hofseth 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. Is methylene blue really a brain booster? A pharmacologist explains the science – https://theconversation.com/is-methylene-blue-really-a-brain-booster-a-pharmacologist-explains-the-science-257159

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: A bottlenose dolphin? Or Tursiops truncatus? Why biologists give organisms those strange, unpronounceable names

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Nicholas Green, Assistant Professor of Biology, Kennesaw State University

    The system of scientific naming began in the 1700s. Westend61 via Getty Images

    Most people would call it a “field mouse,” but a scientist would ask, “Was it Peromyscus maniculatus? Or Peromyscus leucopus?”

    Scientists use a system of complicated-sounding names to refer to everyday creatures, a practice heavily lampooned in the Warner Bros. cartoons featuring the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote – or, respectively, Accelleratii incredibus and Carnivorous vulgaris.

    As a biologist, I use these seemingly odd names myself and help my students learn them. For most people it’s a huge effort, like learning a second language. That’s because it is.

    A chimpanzee, otherwise known as Pan troglodytes.
    guenter guni/E+ via Getty Images

    Humans, skunks and maple trees

    The science of naming and classifying organisms is called taxonomy. Scientists do this so they can be as precise as possible when discussing living things.

    The first word in an organism’s name is its genus, which is a group of related species, such as Panthera for lions, tigers and leopards.

    The second word is the specific name identifying the species, usually defined as a population that can reproduce only with each other, such as Panthera leo for lion.

    Every two-word combination must be unique. Called binomial nomenclature, this naming system was popularized by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the 1700s. So, humans are Homo sapiens, the red maple Acer rubrum, garlic Allium sativum, and the eastern spotted skunk Spilogale putorius.

    Today, biologists maintain huge databases containing the taxonomic names of plants, animals, fungi and other organisms. For instance, one of these databases – the Open Tree of Life project – includes over 2.3 million species.

    The scientist who discovers a species usually names it by publishing a formal description in a peer-reviewed journal. From there, the name makes its way into the databases. From then on, scientists always use that name for the organism, even if it turns out to be misleading. For example, many fossils were originally given names containing the Greek root “saur,” which means lizard – even though paleontologists later realized dinosaurs were not lizards.

    The archosaur group includes dinosaurs and also today’s birds and crocodiles.
    Orla/iStock via Getty Images Plus

    Snobbery isn’t the issue

    To most people, these names sound inscrutable. Particularly nowadays, as science becomes more open and accessible to everyone, such arcane vocabulary can come across as old-fashioned and elitist.

    Given the current backlash against “elites” and “experts” in every field, that’s a serious charge. But in a roundabout way, this seemingly exclusive practice is really a story of inclusiveness.

    As modern science began taking shape in Europe during the 1600s, scientists had a problem. They wanted to read and be read by others, but language got in the way. French scientists couldn’t read Swedish, Swedes couldn’t read Italian, and Italians couldn’t read German.

    Also, writing about plants and animals posed a particular challenge: Many species had common names that could vary from place to place, and some common names might apply to multiple species. Scientists needed a way to be precise and consistent when referring to species, so that everyone could understand each other.

    To sidestep the language issue, scientists of the era mostly published their work in classical Latin. Back then, everyone learned it – at least every European man wealthy enough to attend school and become a scientist. Others published in classical Greek, also widely taught. By sticking with these more universally known languages, early scientists made sure that science was accessible to as many of their peers as possible.

    By the late 1700s and 1800s, translation services were broadly available, so naturalists such as Georges Cuvier could write in his native French, and Charles Darwin in his native English. Today, English has become the de facto language for science, so most scientists publish in English regardless of their native tongue.

    So why continue to use Latin and Greek names today? Taxonomists do it partly out of tradition, but partly because the terminology is still useful. Even without seeing a photo of the animal, a biologist might work out that Geomys bursarius – “earth-mouse with a pouch” – was a pocket gopher. Or that Reithrodontomys fulvescens – “groove-toothed mouse that is yellow” – is a yellow mouse with grooves on its incisors.

    A two-minute, how-to-do-it lesson.

    What’s in a name?

    Although taxonomists still largely adhere to the naming principles of Linnaeus, new scientific names are more and more frequently derived from non-European languages. For example, a chicken-size dinosaur discovered and named in China is called Yi qi, meaning “strange wing” in Mandarin.

    Some of the more recent names are touched by whimsy, with a few honoring politicians and celebrities. Etheostoma obama is a spangled darter named after the 44th U.S. president; the Swift twisted-claw millipede – Nannaria swiftae – is named after pop star Taylor Swift.

    With so much of Earth’s biodiversity yet to be discovered and named, remember that names are just names. What we call these species often reflects our own values and perspectives.

    In the future, another language – or no language at all – might rise to dominance. Artificial intelligence may act as a universal translator. This possibility would let everyone publish and read science in their own language. Predicting how technology will change our relationship with terminology is challenging, but the need for precise scientific language, including the names of species, will never go away.

    Nicholas Green 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. A bottlenose dolphin? Or Tursiops truncatus? Why biologists give organisms those strange, unpronounceable names – https://theconversation.com/a-bottlenose-dolphin-or-tursiops-truncatus-why-biologists-give-organisms-those-strange-unpronounceable-names-252265

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: It’s miller moth season in Colorado – an entomologist explains why they’re important and where they’re headed

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Ryan St Laurent, Assistant Professor of Biology, University of Colorado Boulder

    It is spring on the Front Range of Colorado, which means before long the region will receive an influx of many, many moths.

    Colorado is home to thousands of species of moths, many of which are hatching out from a winter of hibernation, known as diapause.

    Moths are known to swarm porch, stadium and street lights at night. Each summer, Denver is visited by miller moths as they make their trek to the mountains.
    Fairfax Media/GettyImages

    At night, porch lights, stadium lights and street lamps are regularly visited by moths, a collective term for most of the nocturnal members of the insect order called Lepidoptera. Butterflies are also part of this order, but they are mostly diurnal, or active during the day. Butterflies are actually just a subset of moths, so all butterflies are moths, but not all moths are butterflies.

    The Front Range lies on the path of a springtime migration of a particularly familiar species of moth, usually referred to in this part of the country, including Colorado and neighboring states, as “miller moths.” Miller moth caterpillars are often called the “army cutworm,” a whimsical name referring to the caterpillars’ tendency to reach large numbers that march across fields and roads to find food. Both the moths and their caterpillars are rather drab and brown in color, though the moths are variable in patterning.

    ‘Miller moth’ is the common name for a moth species that migrates from southeastern Colorado to the Front Range to forage for food.
    Chuck Harp, Colorado State University

    Many people find miller moths to be a nuisance, and the caterpillars can be a pest. But miller moths are a native species to Colorado and play important roles across the plains and up into the high country.

    I am an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology as well as the curator of the entomology collection at the University of Colorado’s Natural History Museum in Boulder. I study moths from around the world. I have a particular fascination for the large moth group known as Noctuoidea, the superfamily to which miller moths and their relatives belong.

    As an entomologist, I crisscross the state looking for moths for my ongoing evolutionary, classification and life history studies. During miller moth migrations, they may swarm my moth traps, which are made up of a bright light in front of a white sheet. The crush of miller moths makes finding the less common species that I am looking for all the more challenging in a sea of dusty brown.

    To spot and trap moths, entomologists set up bright lights in front of a white background.
    Ryan St. Laurent

    What makes miller moths so unique?

    In temperate regions like most of North America, most moth species hibernate in the cold winter months. During this time, they are in a dormant pupal stage. Some species spin cocoons. They then hatch into adult moths, mate, lay eggs, and those caterpillars grow during the spring and summer. Come fall, the cycle starts over.

    While miller moths also have a hibernation period, it is not like that of most moths. Miller moths instead spend their winters on the plains of eastern Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Nebraska and nearby states as partially grown caterpillars, rather than a pupa, having gotten a head start on feeding in the late summer. This puts the caterpillars at an advantage. As soon as the weather warms and low-lying crops like wheat and alfalfa produce new, nutrient-rich foliage during the early spring, the caterpillars are right there ready to feast and may cause serious damage to the crops in outbreak years.

    Pupation then occurs later in the spring, and unlike in most Lepidoptera, the adult moths hatch without an extended pupal diapause, and instead begin to migrate west. They travel more than 100 miles (roughly 160 kilometers) toward higher elevations to seek out flowering plants, feeding on nectar and pollinating as they go.

    Miller moths migrate to the Rocky Mountains to forage for food. In this video, courtesy of Ecologist Adrian Carper, thousands of moths flutter around trees in the mountains.

    This migration is where folks on the Front Range become all too familiar with these weary travelers, who seek out narrow spaces to rest, often crawling into gaps in cars and homes. Inside a home, miller moths don’t feed, reproduce or lay eggs. Sudden agitation of the resting moths may cause them to fly about to seek out a new spot to hide – that is, if your house cat doesn’t see them first. If they do make their way inside, they can be easily swept into a cup or jar and let outside.

    People on the Front Range experience a second run-in with these moths after they finish their summer of feeding in the mountains and head back to the plains to lay their eggs in the fields from August to September.

    The call of the night

    The importance of pollinators is familiar to many Coloradans. The state offers many resources and groups to help create spaces to attract butterflies and bees, including an initiative that designated Interstate Highway 76 as the “Colorado Pollinator Highway”.

    But pollination does not stop when the sun goes down. In fact, moths make up the largest percentage of pollinators in terms of number of species globally – more than bees and butterflies combined. But scientists have yet to figure out which plants miller moths pollinate.

    Despite the importance of moths as pollinators to agriculture and ecology, by comparison to bees, for example, we know exceedingly little about nocturnal pollinators. Of the thousands of moth species in Colorado, many hundreds remain unknown to science. One of the reasons scientists study moths is to literally shed a light on these insects in the environment to see what they are doing.

    My work aims to understand what certain moths eat in their caterpillar stage, but other researchers, and my colleague Dr. Julian Resasco, at the University of Colorado Boulder, study what plants the adults are feeding on as they pollinate.

    Colorado moths

    Moths are among the primary airborne insects at night, playing a significant, and perhaps leading, role in insect-feeding bat diets. During their migration to the mountains, there are so many miller moths that they are a substantial protein- and fat-rich meal for animals as large as bears.

    Considering that we still know so little about moths, it’s important to realize that light pollution, habitat loss and agricultural chemicals are all impacting moth numbers, resulting in annual declines in these insects globally.

    So, the next time you see a miller moth in Colorado, or any moth at a light anywhere on Earth, remember that it’s working the night shift. Turn out that light so it can go about its way.

    Ryan St Laurent receives funding from the National Science Foundation (no active grants). Some scientific publications referenced in this article were coauthored by Ryan or by his other collaborators.

    – ref. It’s miller moth season in Colorado – an entomologist explains why they’re important and where they’re headed – https://theconversation.com/its-miller-moth-season-in-colorado-an-entomologist-explains-why-theyre-important-and-where-theyre-headed-256660

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Uncertainty at NASA − Trump withdraws his nominee for administrator while the agency faces a steep proposed budget cut

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Wendy Whitman Cobb, Professor of Strategy and Security Studies, Air University

    The vehicle assembly building at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Fla. AP Photo/Marta Lavandier

    Over the past several days, NASA’s ambitious space exploration plans have experienced major setbacks. First, on May 30, 2025, newly released budget documents revealed the extent of the significant budget and personnel cuts proposed by the Trump administration. Then, just a day later, President Donald Trump withdrew the nomination of Jared Isaacman to be NASA administrator just days before an expected confirmation vote.

    From my perspective as a space policy expert, these events signal problems ahead for a space agency that now faces stiff competition in space exploration from the commercial sector. Without a leader and facing a fight over its budget, NASA faces an uncertain future, both in the months ahead and longer term.

    Budget problems

    When the Trump administration released a preview of its budget proposal in early May, it was clear that NASA was facing significant cuts.

    After receiving US$24.9 billion for 2025, the president’s proposal would allot NASA $18.8 billion in 2026. After accounting for inflation, this amount would represent NASA’s smallest budget since 1961.

    Space science programs are one of the largest targets of the proposed budget cuts, seeing an almost 50% reduction, to just $3.9 billion. Specific programs targeted for elimination include the Mars Sample Return mission, the currently operating Mars Odyssey and MAVEN missions around Mars, and several missions to Venus.

    Several ongoing and proposed astrophysics programs, including the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, would also end if the proposed budget passes.

    NASA’s human spaceflight programs also face potential cuts. The budget proposes canceling the Space Launch System, the Orion crew vehicle and the Lunar Gateway following the Artemis III mission.

    Artemis III, planned for 2027, would be the first crewed flight back to the lunar surface since 1972. The mission would use the Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew vehicle to get there. The proposed Lunar Gateway, a mini-space station in lunar orbit, would be abandoned entirely.

    Instead, the budget proposes to establish a Commercial Moon to Mars program. Under this initiative, NASA would utilize commercial systems such as Blue Origin’s New Glenn and SpaceX’s Starship to put Americans on the Moon and Mars.

    Several Mars missions, including the Mars Sample Return, MAVEN and Mars Odyssey, would be canceled under the proposed budget. It would instead establish a program to work with commercial partners to put humans on the red planet.
    NASA, ESA, Zolt G. Levay (STScI)

    A smaller budget also means a smaller NASA workforce. The budget proposal suggests that the number of NASA employees would be reduced by one-third, from more than 17,000 to 11,853.

    Advocates for space science and exploration have criticized the cuts. The Planetary Society has stated that these cuts to space science represent an “extinction level event” that would all but end NASA’s ability to perform meaningful science.

    Democrats in Congress were also quick to push back on the proposed cuts, arguing that they would hamper the U.S.’s ability to carry out its missions.

    The budget documents released so far are just proposals. Congress must make the final decisions on how much money NASA gets and which programs are funded. While this might be good news for NASA funding, my research has shown that Congress rarely appropriates more money for NASA than the president requests.

    Leadership challenges

    The release of the president’s proposed budget was followed with the news that the president would withdraw his nomination of Jared Isaacman to be NASA’s administrator.

    Jared Isaacman, the former nominee for NASA administrator, is a businessman who has been to space on several commercial flights.
    AP Photo/John Raoux, File

    In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote, “After a thorough review of prior associations, I am hereby withdrawing the nomination of Jared Isaacman to head NASA. I will soon announce a new Nominee who will be Mission aligned, and put America First in Space.”

    Like the budget proposal, news of Isaacman’s withdrawal has also hit the space community hard. Following his nomination, Isaacman won the support of many in the space industry and in government. His confirmation hearing in April was largely uncontentious, with support from both Republicans and Democrats.

    NASA will now need to wait for the president to make a new choice for NASA administrator. That person will then need to go through the same process as Isaacman, with a hearing in the Senate and several votes.

    Given the amount of time it takes for nominations to make their way through the Senate, NASA is likely to face several more months without a confirmed administrator. This absence will come while many of its programs will be fighting for money and their existence.

    The months ahead

    Like many federal agencies right now, NASA faces a tumultuous future. Budgetary and leadership challenges might be the immediate problem, but NASA’s long-term future is potentially rocky as well.

    Since its founding, NASA’s mission has been largely centered on sending humans to space.

    If that role shifts to commercial companies, NASA will need to grapple with what its identity and mission is going forward.

    History provides some insight. One of NASA’s forerunners, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, or NACA, largely focused on advanced research and development of aeronautical technologies. For instance, NACA researched things such as proper engine placement on airliners as well as advances that helped air flow more efficiently over those engines.

    A new NASA that’s more similar to NACA might continue research into nuclear engines or other advanced space technology that may contribute to the work commercial space companies are already doing.

    Choices made by the Trump administration and Congress in the coming months will likely shape what NASA will look like in the years to come. Until then, NASA, like many government organizations, faces a period of uncertainty about its future.

    Wendy N. Whitman Cobb is affiliated with the US School of Advanced Air and Space Studies. Her views are her own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Defense or any of its components.

    – ref. Uncertainty at NASA − Trump withdraws his nominee for administrator while the agency faces a steep proposed budget cut – https://theconversation.com/uncertainty-at-nasa-trump-withdraws-his-nominee-for-administrator-while-the-agency-faces-a-steep-proposed-budget-cut-258032

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: The Michelin Guide is Eurocentric and elitist − yet it will soon be an arbiter of culinary excellence in Philly

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Tulasi Srinivas, Professor of Anthropology, Religion and Transnational Studies, Emerson College

    Could a Philly cheesesteak joint actually get a Michelin star?

    The famed Michelin Red Guide is coming to Philadelphia, and inspectors are already scouting local restaurants to award the famed Michelin star.

    Michelin says the selected restaurants will be announced in a Northeast cities edition celebration later this year. Boston will also be included for the first time.

    As an anthropologist of ethics and religion who has an expertise in food studies, I read the announcement with some curiosity and a lot of questions. I had seen this small red guide revered by chefs and gourmands alike around the globe.

    How did the Michelin guide begin reviewing restaurants? And what makes it an authority on cuisine worldwide?

    The Michelin Guide has retained its iconic red cover for more than a century.
    Matthieu Delaty/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images

    From tires to terrines

    It all began in 1889 in the small town of Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France. Brothers Andre and Edouard Michelin founded their world-famous Michelin tire company, fueled by a grand vision for France’s automobile industry – though there were fewer than 3,000 cars at the time in the whole of France.

    To encourage travel, they distributed a red-bound guide filled with maps and helpful tips on routes and destinations. Initially free to automobile owners, it soon started to sell for seven francs – roughly US$1.50 at the time. The guide later added lists of restaurants and eateries along with other points of travel interest.

    Being French, readers had questions about the quality of the food at these establishments, so the brothers started a rating system of a single star to denote high-quality establishments worthy of their elite customers and their fancy automobiles.

    But that wasn’t enough for discerning diners. So the guide created a discriminating hierarchy of one-, two- and three-star establishments: one star for “high-quality cooking worth a stop,” two stars for “excellent cooking worth a detour,” and three stars for “exceptional cuisine worth a special journey.”

    An army of anonymous inspectors

    How do restaurants get a Michelin star – or three? According to the guide, restaurants have to be consistently extraordinary to garner three stars. To ensure a restaurant’s excellence is consistent, Michelin has to surveil them repeatedly, which it does using a stable of mysterious diners called “inspectors.”

    You might be thinking of Inspector Clouseau, the klutzy, misguided detective from the Pink Panther movies played by the inimitable Peter Sellers.

    Mais non!

    Michelin inspectors are dreaded anonymous restaurant reviewers. They dine at restaurants unannounced and undercover, and inevitably write scathing critiques of everything – ingredients, food, chefs and dishes – in their reports.

    In the 2015 Bradley Cooper movie “Burnt,” the restaurant is obsessed with the mystery Michelin inspectors, who dine incognito. Restaurateur Tony, played by Daniel Bruhl, instructs the dining room staff on how to spot them:

    “No one knows who they are. No one. They come. They eat. They go. But they have habits. One orders the tasting menu, the other orders a la carte. Always. They order a half a bottle of wine. They ask for tap water. They are polite. But attention! They may place a fork on the floor to see if you notice.”

    Japan’s Chizuko Kimura, a Michelin-star chef, at her restaurant Sushi Shunei in Paris.
    Julien De Rosa/AFP via Getty Images

    Holy grail for chefs

    The inherent elitism of the iconic Michelin Guide was central, though left unspoken.

    To counteract the guide’s existential classist bias, Michelin introduced the Bib Gourmand award in 1997 to identify affordable “best value for money restaurants.” Bib Gourmand restaurants are easier on the wallet than Michelin-starred establishments and offer casual dining. The award’s logo is the Bibendum, also known as the inflatable Michelin Man, licking his lips.

    In 2020, the guide introduced yet another award: the green star for eateries with farm-to-table fresh quality.

    Today, the Michelin Guide has become a vaunted yet controversial subjective yardstick by which restaurants are measured.

    Getting a Michelin star has become a holy grail for many chefs, a Nobel prize of cuisine. Chefs speak of earning a star as an honor they have envisaged for a lifetime, and starred chefs often become celebrities in their own right.

    The 2022 dark comedy “The Menu” stars Ralph Fiennes as one such celebrity Michelin chef, whose exclusive island restaurant has a lavish modern menu that culminates in a mystery performance. His greatest fear is losing his Michelin star – a cause for lament, mental health crises and, sometimes, murder.

    Three stars for Eurocentrism

    The Michelin Guide evaluates restaurants on the quality of their ingredients, the mastery of their flavors, the chef’s personality in their cooking, the harmony of flavors, and the consistency of the cuisine over the course of numerous visits.

    Yet somehow, all these factors, seemingly easily translatable across the world’s cuisines, has led to an intensely parochial guide.

    Only in 2007, 118 years after its inception, did the guide recognize Japanese cuisine as worthy of its gaze. Soon after, stars rained down on Tokyo’s many stellar eateries.

    On a contemporary map charting where the Michelin Guide is found, huge swathes of the world are missing. There is no Michelin Guide in India, one of the world’s greatest and oldest cuisines, or in Africa with its multiplicity of cultural flavors.

    Perhaps a side of racism with the boeuf bourguignon?

    Despite a movement to decolonize food by rethinking colonial legacies of power and extractive ways of eating, Michelin has derived its stellar reputation primarily from reviewing metropolitan European cuisine. It has celebrated obscure European gastronomic processes such as “fire cooking” in Stockholm’s famous Ekstedt restaurant, and new chemical processes such as “molecular gastronomy” in Spain’s famed el Bulli eatery.

    One could say Michelin is a somewhat conservative enterprise. Rather than leading the way, it has followed consumers’ expanding palates.

    In 2024, in a rare break with tradition, Michelin awarded one star to a small family-run taqueria, El Califa De León, in Mexico City. The taqueria is known for its signature tacos de gaonera – thinly sliced rib-eye steak cooked in lard on fresh corn masa tortillas with a squeeze of lime.

    Some discerning diners worried that Michelin had gone downhill.

    Quelle horreur!

    The decision to give a star to a Mexican restaurant that is essentially just a steel counter, fridge and griddle was so unlike Michelin that it resorted to describing El Califa tacos as “elemental and pure”; language previously reserved only to describe elite cuisine.

    The Michelin-starred taqueria El Califa de León in Mexico City is known for its tacos de gaonera.
    Apolline Guillerot-Malick/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

    A big bill

    Soon-to-be-reviewed Philadelphia boasts a portfolio of epicurean excellence, with contributions from a global diaspora of culinary creators. Restaurants such as Zahav, Kalaya and Mawn – which serve Israeli, Thai and Cambodian food, respectively – are surely eyeing their prospects for a starry future.

    That Boston and Philadelphia’s tourism boards likely paid for the pleasure of the guide visiting their cities has been a topic of discussion among food cognoscenti. Reportedly, the Atlanta Tourism Board paid nearly $1 million for Michelin to visit their city. Is Michelin merely a well-regarded shakedown? A few stars in exchange for a million dollars?

    After indirectly footing that big bill, what can local diners look forward to in the wake of Michelin awards scattering across the Northeast?

    Since Michelin restaurants are notoriously difficult to get into – the award invariably prompts a surge in customers and reservations – the enhanced reputation of the restaurants might translate to price increases for diners.

    Starred restaurants will also likely feel tremendous pressure to maintain high food quality and service, and this too can add to cost – particularly in an era of tariffs on foreign ingredients and alcohols.

    Diners won’t escape unscathed. Industry officials suggest that Michelin stars add an average of $100 per diner per star. But, on the upside, diners may be able to gawk at local and international celebrities at dinner, since hanging out at Michelin-starred establishments has long been a celebrity preoccupation.

    So if you have a favorite hot restaurant in Philadelphia, better make that reservation immediately, before a Michelin star makes it impossible to get in.

    Read more of our stories about Philadelphia.

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

    – ref. The Michelin Guide is Eurocentric and elitist − yet it will soon be an arbiter of culinary excellence in Philly – https://theconversation.com/the-michelin-guide-is-eurocentric-and-elitist-yet-it-will-soon-be-an-arbiter-of-culinary-excellence-in-philly-256667

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Austen and Turner: A Country House Encounter captures the spirit of two great geniuses, born 250 years ago

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Oksana Hubina, Research Fellow, English literature, University of Leeds

    Self-Portrait by J.M.W Turner (1799) and an engraving of Austen by William Home Lizars (1869). Wiki Commons, CC BY-SA

    Harewood House, with its impressive history and classic English beauty, is a magnificent place to visit in Leeds, west Yorkshire. The house frequently hosts remarkable exhibitions and cultural events devoted to art, poetry and history.

    This time, its doors are open for a new exhibition Austen and Turner: A Country House Encounter, which marks the 250th anniversaries of the landscape painter J.M.W. Turner and the novelist Jane Austen.

    The anniversaries have presented an opportunity for the co-curators of Harewood House Trust and the Centre for Eighteenth Century Studies at the University of York to unite the incredible works of two outstanding personalities of the Regency era.

    Their masterpieces reflect their common engagement with the cultural and societal significance of British country houses and their landscapes. Though the pair seem to have never met, the expressiveness of Turner’s paintings are complemented by the literary richness of Austen’s manuscripts.

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

    The exhibition creatively highlights the common threads within Austen and Turner’s work through shared themes. The first is Austen Meets Turner, which explores how Austen and Turner’s interests and experiences intersected in the country estates that inspired their works.

    I was especially struck by Harewood House from the North East (1797). Turner captured the magnificent building with such softness and light. The painting makes the landscape feel peaceful and alive, showing his ability to transform a real place into something almost dreamlike.

    It highlights the grandeur of the landed aristocracy of the time, symbolising wealth, influence and a strong social hierarchy that was rooted in land ownership. Austen also used houses as symbols of status and wealth in her novels. Pemberley in Pride and Prejudice (1813), for example, reflects the class, riches and style of the love interest, Mr Darcy.

    Another theme that attracted my attention was Encounters with Austen and Turner, located at the heart of the Harewood House library. Here, among the letters is another of his well-known paintings, Harewood Castle from the South East (1798). A visit to the exhibition can be complemented by a short walk to the real castle ruins in the Harewood grounds.

    You just cannot take your eyes off this painting. Turner captures the ruin bathed in soft, natural light, blending the architectural detail of the castle with the surrounding pastoral landscape. His delicate use of colour and atmospheric perspective evokes a sense of romantic nostalgia, highlighting the harmony between human history and nature – a key feature of his style.

    Objects of genius

    The theme Interior Worlds deserves special attention. It is especially engaging because it offers the opportunity to feel the presence of Austen and Turner through the very objects that once made them famous.

    Turner’s travelling watercolour box from 1842, for example, was made by the artist using two cards attached to a linen cloth. It was designed to hold a new kind of watercolour block, variations of which are still manufactured today.

    Another such item is the original handwritten version of Austen’s unfinished novel Sanditon, penned during the last months of her life in 1817.

    A first edition of Sense and Sensibility is also on show, with a fascinating explanation of the history behind its creation. Originally titled Elinor and Marianne and written in 1795, it was intended to be a novel in letters. But Austen later revised the text, and the version as we know it was published anonymously in 1811.

    Finally, a collection of period costumes from Austen adaptations makes this exhibition truly memorable. An impressive collection of costumes from Sense and Sensibility (1995), Pride and Prejudice (1995) and Emma (2020) are on display.

    Each garment reflects the elegance and social nuance of the Regency era, bringing Austen’s characters vividly to life. The craftsmanship and historical detail in the costumes evoke a sense of timeless charm that deepen the viewer’s connection to the novels.

    This incredible exhibition is sure to move everyone who really wishes to engage with the high art and experience the historical spirit of the Regency era.

    Oksana Hubina works at the School of English, University of Leeds. She receives funding from the British Academy in the field of the humanities.

    – ref. Austen and Turner: A Country House Encounter captures the spirit of two great geniuses, born 250 years ago – https://theconversation.com/austen-and-turner-a-country-house-encounter-captures-the-spirit-of-two-great-geniuses-born-250-years-ago-257492

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Why climate professionals are often held to unrealistic standards

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Maddie Sinclair, PhD Candidate, School of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow

    r.classen/Shutterstock

    Climate professionals, people who work in roles which address climate change, are often criticised for what they eat or how they travel. Criticism of lifestyle choices by colleagues, family members or even strangers can be demotivating. Worse, it can hinder efforts towards building a sustainable future.

    As more people start working in sustainability, both in traditional sectors such as climate researchers or public health professionals and within other workspaces where sustainability is embedded into an existing role, this type of criticism is in danger of becoming more familiar.

    Climate change affects everyone, whether we like to admit it or not. It can be overwhelming to know how best to act on all the advice about living more sustainably. In fact, increased knowledge about what is necessary for a sustainable lifestyle can be paralysing, and prevent someone from taking action.

    Of course, many of us do want to live more sustainably. But some people may feel restricted by the efforts and costs of taking these extra steps to change multiple aspects of our busy daily lives.

    Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

    Instead of revamping our own lifestyles, it can be easier to challenge those recommending these changes to our behaviour, to see if they are following their own rules.

    Climate professionals know which choices are best for the environment. But when you see one of them flying to a UN climate summit, drinking from a plastic water bottle or caught red-handed eating a beef burger, how do you feel? Confused? Vindicated? Perhaps, relief? If the very people who are advising us how to live sustainably aren’t practising what they preach, does this absolve us of responsibility to act?

    Whether intentional or not, holding climate professionals to unrealistic standards is a tactic which delays effective climate action. It slows down climate action by redirecting responsibility and foregrounding low-impact solutions.

    Calling out the failure of climate professionals can emphasise the difficulties of sustainable living and reinforce the idea that slowing down climate change is impossible. You may think that these imperfections are a reflection on their hypocrisy and limits the integrity of their work. In reality, it’s an indication that we are all people operating in a broken system, no matter our expertise.

    Criticising climate scientists doesn’t tackle the root of the problem.
    Sklo Studio/Shutterstock

    Recent research from the World Resource Institute think tank into sustainable dietary, energy and transport choices stresses the importance of systemic change.

    The report found that a system in which governments and businesses support and normalise sustainable behaviour would be far more effective than the weight of individuals taking action alone. And so, as a society, we need to value the work of those advocating for systems change, rather than scrutinising their lifestyle choices.

    Ultimately, rich nations, wealthy people and fossil fuel companies are disproportionately to blame for climate change. However, their preferred narrative concerning the importance of individual action, rather than system change, prevails.

    And this is nothing new. BP popularised the concept of a carbon footprint over 20 years ago. This displaced responsibility for environmental impact from large organisations and systems and towards citizens.

    While people tend to view the impact of climate change as relevant to them, they may not be able to envisage a greener future. This is because people tend to focus on immediate effects rather than longer term outcomes. Short-term environmental policies can fuel this short-term thinking, preventing us from conceptualising a future that recovers from climate change.

    Quick climate dictionary: the meaning of a carbon footprint.

    Change from within the system

    It’s easier to blame climate professionals for not sticking to their own advice, than to think about change at a higher level. But climate professionals must be part of the system to change the system, much to their frustration.

    In fact, climate researchers like us actually fly more than researchers in other fields, because structural factors such as limited funding, accessibility of locations and professional pressures matter more than individual attitudes for reducing flights. How can we expect all the necessary voices to be at the table during international climate conferences if flying is the only feasible way for many to attend?

    Some climate professionals do lead very impressive sustainable lifestyles. We should celebrate these efforts. But we need to dispel the expectation that all climate professionals have the resources to act the same within a broken system.



    Read more:
    Quick climate dictionary: what actually is a carbon footprint?

    Remember, climate professionals are working towards a system which empowers all citizens to choose these sustainable lifestyles, including their own. For instance, some researchers are studying the positive climate impact of protected cycle lanes, producing evidence in support of their construction in cities worldwide.

    Imagine if public transport and active travel were the most obvious choice for everyone. If you wanted to drive, then you would have to meticulously plan a route incorporating private transport lanes, or be prepared to adapt if they don’t exist. Which would you choose?

    Climate professionals are experiencing a whole spectrum of emotions related to climate change, including feeling stuck between what they say and what they do. Focusing on their personal behaviour risks discrediting and devaluing important climate-focused work.

    This can detract from valuable conversations about the urgent need for wider systemic change. The next time you speak to a climate professional, try not to catch them out. Instead, ask about their work and its influence on changing the system – we guarantee they will be more receptive.

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

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

    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. Why climate professionals are often held to unrealistic standards – https://theconversation.com/why-climate-professionals-are-often-held-to-unrealistic-standards-253859

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Fewer men are choosing to become vets – ‘male flight’ could be the reason

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Hamish Morrin, Veterinary Lecturer in Clinical Communication Skills, University of Central Lancashire

    ZoranOrcik/Shutterstock

    If you take your dog, cat or fish to see a vet in the UK, the person who treats them is likely to be a woman. According to the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, 61% of current UK vets are female. University admissions are even more skewed. Among vets who had recently qualified, nearly 80% were female.

    This wasn’t always the case. In the 1930s, when James Herriot – author of books including All Creatures Great and Small and for many the iconic British vet – was practising, almost all vets were male.

    The women’s liberation movement of the 60s and 70s saw an influx of female vet students. You might expect a levelling of the playing field to lead to a profession now equally split between genders, but that isn’t so.

    I teach veterinary clinical communication skills to veterinary students. My research relates to developing communication strategies that are effective across a wide range of cultures and social groups. However, vets are not very culturally diverse: as well as the majority being female, nearly all are heterosexual and white.

    This can limit their experience and understanding of different perspectives. As part of a wider piece of research into student experience of communication, I have reviewed the history of veterinary demographics, with some surprising results.

    Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

    Historically, vets worked mainly in farms with large animals, for which clients perceived physical strength to be crucial. Increasing pet ownership means most vets now work with small animals.

    This change in focus has altered society’s perception of veterinary work from “practical” to “caring”, and it has been suggested that this has discouraged boys from considering the profession. Veterinary salaries have also stagnated for some time, which may make the job less attractive to men.

    In the past, much more veterinary work took place with large animals on farms.
    Dusan Petkovic/Shutterstock

    There is very little research to support any of these theories, but the most relevant and largest study available comes from the US in 2010. When applications to vet schools across the country from the 1960s to early 2000s were reviewed, one factor predicted student choice: the more female students there were, the less likely males were to apply.

    This is an understudied sociological phenomenon called “male flight” or “gender flight”. It seems that, in some professions at least, men lose interest once the number of women rises above 60%.

    Another study of UK workplaces found the same thing when modelling various reasons for gender disparities. Men not choosing professions such as pharmacy and accountancy due to increased female presence was the best explanation.

    These findings are concerning when connected with a UK study from 2018 called Drawing the Future. Thirteen thousand UK school children aged between seven and 11 were asked to draw pictures of their dream job. Researchers found that – perhaps unsurprisingly – dream jobs were strongly gendered, and that this happens from a young age.

    “Vet” was third overall, a very popular job choice. But when you split that by gender, it was the second most popular job for girls, but only ninth for boys. This very much matches the gender balance of vet school applicants, so we can hypothesise that attitudes to being a vet are set early in life.

    Need for diversity

    Most diversity initiatives aim to reduce barriers for underrepresented groups. The veterinary profession isn’t nearly as diverse as it could be – only around 4% of vets come from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds, compared to 18% of people in the UK population overall.

    Various reasons for this have been suggested, including lack of representation and financial barriers. But we actually don’t know why this is; applications to veterinary medicine by non-white students are lower than for other degrees.

    But in the case of gender, boys can become vets. They simply don’t want to.

    There’s value of diversity in general within the veterinary profession. Vets don’t just work in clinics with pets: they also play a key public health role preventing disease in animal populations and ensuring the health and welfare of farm animals.

    There are many animal charities that rely on vets to help support the human-animal bond, such as rescuing and rehoming animals, working with pets belonging to homeless people, or caring for the pets of people fleeing domestic violence. This means working with people from all over the UK, from all backgrounds.

    Many studies of stress in the veterinary profession identify difficulties with communication as a key problem. Indeed, communication is highlighted as a key skill for veterinary students by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and many studies of veterinary education. But there lies a challenge common to homogeneous professions. Learning to communicate effectively with others is more difficult when there is less diversity.

    This issue of gender flight has broader social implications. When men leave a profession due to increased numbers of women, wages tend to stagnate, which is a serious issue for students who frequently leave their five-year vet degrees with substantial debt.

    One place to start might be looking at how young children view vets – and what might make it a profession to choose as a result of personal ability and preference, rather than social pressure.

    Hamish Morrin 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. Fewer men are choosing to become vets – ‘male flight’ could be the reason – https://theconversation.com/fewer-men-are-choosing-to-become-vets-male-flight-could-be-the-reason-254827

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Five geoengineering trials the UK is funding to combat global warming

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Robert Chris, Honorary Associate, Geography, The Open University

    graphicwithart / shutterstock

    The UK government recently announced plans to fund five small-scale trials related to geoengineering. It’s the first time a state research funding body has put serious money into what’s known as solar radiation management, or SRM, which seeks to cool the planet by reflecting more of the Sun’s energy back into space.

    It’s easy to see why countries have been so hesitant to proceed with projects of this nature: SRM is highly controversial, even among scientists.

    Deliberately altering the atmosphere, a shared global resource, is fraught with ethical, geopolitical and practical problems. It is and always has been a crazy idea.

    However, many consider the failure to control carbon emissions means not intervening in this way is an even crazier idea. They consider it necessary to avert the collapse of ecosystems and society. Perhaps solar geoengineering is the price we must pay for our wholly inadequate climate change response to date.

    The good news is that SRM may be able to deliver some progress relatively quickly. Earth has become slightly less reflective over the past few decades. That’s mostly thanks to reduced cloud cover (warmer oceans cause clouds above them to evaporate), but also thanks to less snow and ice, and a significant reduction in nasty-but-reflective shipping fuel pollutants.

    By my calculations (based on data from US climate scientist James Hansen), this reduction in the reflectivity of Earth has caused as much warming as the 750 gigatonnes of CO₂ emitted since 2005. And while it will take decades to achieve significant global cooling through decarbonisation, it can be achieved relatively quickly by small increases in reflectivity.

    Of the 21 projects being funded by Aria, the UK government’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency, five are likely to involve small-scale outdoor experiments. They account for about half the £57 million programme.

    Three of the projects concern brightening clouds over the ocean, one explores a method of refreezing the Arctic and the fifth looks at a specific detail of injecting reflective aerosols into the stratosphere.

    The other projects concern how to govern these technologies and model and monitor their effects. They could also yield insights vital for securing the public and governmental support necessary if these technologies are ever to be deployed on a much larger scale.

    Marine cloud brightening

    Marine cloud brightening seeks to make clouds over the ocean more reflective. This is done by turning seawater into an aerosol spray and allowing air currents to loft salt crystals into the clouds, where they enhance the creation of reflective water droplets.

    Clouds above the ocean could become a key battleground in the fight against climate change.
    G_O_S / shutterstock

    The greatest challenge with this method is making enough seawater mist in which the droplets are of a uniform size, about 1 micron in diameter. The Reflect project led by the University of Manchester has received £6.1 million to explore “the technical feasibility and optimal methods” for generating these droplets.

    A team from the University of Reading has developed a process using drones to fire electric charges through fog to alter the size of its water droplets. Their Brightspark project has been awarded £2 million to determine whether this process would be viable and safe if applied to clouds. A second phase involving small-scale testing in the UK is contingent on further approval by Aria.

    Daniel Harrison, an oceanographer at Southern Cross University in Australia, has been researching marine cloud brightening for several years for the limited purpose of protecting the corals of the Great Barrier Reef. Preliminary results are positive.

    His previous work will be extended to assess if, and how, marine cloud brightening could work safely and effectively, but still only as a regional intermittent intervention to protect coral from marine heatwaves.

    This will also be a two-phase project (£1 million and £5 million respectively) in which the research will initially deal with modelling and spray design. Subject to further approvals, it will then test the newfound knowledge over the Great Barrier Reef.



    Read more:
    Could ‘marine cloud brightening’ reduce coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef?

    The remaining two projects are both from teams led by the Centre for Climate Repair at Cambridge University (I’m an associate researcher of the centre but I have no involvement in either of these projects).

    Arctic refreezing

    Engineer Shaun Fitzgerald has been awarded £9.9 million to extend an existing research project to examine the feasibility of thickening Arctic sea ice by pumping seawater from below the ice on to the surface, where it freezes. The idea is to increase the extent and thickness of sea ice in winter so that it endures longer through the summer.

    Thicker, longer-lasting sea ice may help keep global warming in check.
    Mozgova / shutterstock



    Read more:
    Arctic ice is vanishing – our bold experiment is trying to protect it

    The project also includes modelling to assess the impact this would have on a range of climate phenomena. Most significantly, this includes the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, an ocean current that some fear is in imminent danger of weakening sufficiently to bring Siberian winters to north-west Europe.

    Stratospheric aerosol injection

    The final project being funded looks at the injection of aerosols into the stratosphere – higher than clouds – where they would reflect a little of the Sun’s energy back to space.

    Many regard this as the form of geoengineering most likely to happen. It is the most studied, as it replicates the natural cooling effect of certain big volcanic eruptions that put massive amounts of sulphate-based aerosols into the stratosphere. Scaling it to be climatically significant is thought to be relatively straightforward, and would probably be the cheapest cooling option.

    One significant concern is the health and environmental impact of these aerosols as they fall back to the planet’s surface. Hugh Hunt, also an engineering professor at Cambridge, has been awarded £5.5 million to examine a range of alternative aerosol compounds. The plan is to send tiny samples into the stratosphere in specially designed gondolas attached to balloons. The gondolas will later be recovered, so that the effect of the stratosphere on the samples can be examined. Nothing will be released into the atmosphere.

    A small step towards something much bigger

    Aria is treading a fine line with this programme.

    On the one hand, the organisation recognises that further interventions might be needed to mitigate the harm from the continuing failure to phase out fossil fuels. On the other, it recognises how controversial such interventions are. It is clearly anxious not to provoke a public furore that could undermine the research effort.

    In isolation, it is unlikely that this programme will fill any knowledge gaps that might encourage policymakers to push climate intervention up the international agenda. What it could demonstrate, however, is that with appropriate controls in place, it is safe to test these options.

    Perhaps the next funding round will support bigger outdoor experiments. These would help determine which technologies can eventually become the safe and effective climate interventions we desperately need.

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

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

    Robert Chris 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. Five geoengineering trials the UK is funding to combat global warming – https://theconversation.com/five-geoengineering-trials-the-uk-is-funding-to-combat-global-warming-256515

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Social media’s push for the perfect muscular body is fuelling a new form of disordered eating — and young men are most at risk

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Alison Fixsen, Senior Lecturer Psychology, University of Westminster

    Young men are most likely to follow eating habits consistent with Mode. Elkhophoto/ Shutterstock

    From celebrities and influencers to everyday people, social media is full of content that showcases perfectly toned, muscular bodies – and how to achieve them. Having a muscular physique is no longer confined to elite athletes and body builders – it has become a widely popular aspiration.

    But alongside the rising popularity of this kind of content has been an increase in the pressure that both men and women are feeling to achieve a more athletic, muscular physique. This seemingly healthy trend has coincided with the detection of a new form of disordered eating.

    Muscularity oriented disordered eating (Mode) refers to a set of disordered eating habits driven by an excessive focus on lean muscle gain. This includes excessive consumption of protein supplements and drinks, rigid diet patterns, meticulous tracking of macronutrients (protein, carbs and fat in food) and frequent muscle checking.

    Unlike eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia, Mode is specifically related to muscularity and predominantly affects young men. But, as with other forms of disordered eating, Mode can disrupt daily life, harm social relationships and diminish emotional wellbeing.

    Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

    Social media plays a significant and multifaceted role in Mode. While social media can sometimes offer helpful health and fitness information, social media algorithms also amplify content of extreme or visually striking bodies that garner attention.

    Platforms such as Instagram and TikTok are saturated with “fitspiration” content. Posed shots and before and after photos suggest that “fitspiration” content may be about appearance rather than health. These highly curated depictions of idealised, muscular bodies not only reinforce unrealistic body ideals, they can also foster dissatisfaction with body image, increase muscle fixation and lead to disordered forms of eating.



    Read more:
    Body dysmorphic disorder: what to know about this mental health condition

    Many social media influencers also promote unattainable body standards, unsustainable lifestyles and extreme eating habits. These include the daily use of protein supplements, rigorous tracking of macronutrients, extreme workouts and the use of drugs (including anabolic steroids) to enhance performance.

    Some influencers even partner with fitness supplement companies, becoming the image for a specific brand or food product. This can incentivise social media users to purchase those products and follow similar dietary habits without seeking professional advice or examining the risks.

    While not every fitness enthusiast is at risk of developing Mode, this intense preoccupation with muscle growth is growing. According to one 2019 study, 22% of males and 5% of females aged 18–20 reported engaging in behaviour consistent with Mode.

    College students may be particularly at risk of Mode due to their high use of social media and because they’re often in control of their diet for the first time.

    Mode has been closely associated with preoccupation with body image, which is known to be linked with unhealthy, body-changing behaviours.

    Obsessively tracking protein intake, consuming supplements and following a rigid diet are all associated with Mode.
    George Rudy/ Shutterstock

    Several other factors have also been associated with Mode. These include exercising specifically to gain weight, perceiving oneself as underweight, having a lower body mass index (BMI), practising weightlifting and using anabolic steroids. Among males, alcohol consumption is linked to Mode, while depressive symptoms were a notable factor for females.

    Mode has also been reported at comparable rates in many countries around the world – including the United States, Canada and Iran.

    Risk of harm

    There are many physical and mental harms that may be associated with Mode.

    For instance, the condition is associated with a variety of disordered eating patterns. Fixation on muscle development can trigger or exacerbate eating disorders, notably binge eating. Orthorexia nervosa – a pathological and potentially harmful focus on “healthy eating” – is also frequently recorded in fitness communities.

    While women were once the main audience for the health food market, health supplements and protein products are increasingly targeted at men.

    According to a US study, more than 80% of male college students reported using whey protein powders or shakes, and more than 50% used the supplement creatine monohydrate to increase muscle mass and strength. Alarmingly, 82% of anabolic-androgenic steroid users in the study were also from this demographic. Steroid use is associated with serious side effects, including mood swings and sexual dysfunction.

    Over-consumption of protein products can be harmful to health. While it’s true your body needs more protein when you are more active, not all muscle-building products are necessarily healthy. Protein shakes, for example, can be highly processed.

    Some products contain artificial sweeteners and thickeners. They may also contain potentially harmful chemicals such as heavy metals (including lead and aluminium).

    Over-consumption of protein products has also been linked to gut and metabolic disturbances. It’s important that protein shakes and bars aren’t used as replacements for natural protein sources, such as pulses, meat, fish or dairy foods.

    On a social and emotional level, Mode is associated with disruptions to daily life and social isolation, with the person prioritising diet and fitness plans over work, school and relationships. In one study, male bodybuilders who followed an extreme, muscle-focused diet reported they felt guilty and disappointed in themselves if they deviated from their lifestyle – with their dietary needs affecting their work.

    Women with Mode have reported significant levels of depression and anxiety, and were more likely to feel socially isolated.



    Read more:
    Body image issues are rising in men – research suggests techniques to improve it

    Recognising Mode as a legitimate public health concern is essential for cultivating a more inclusive and healthy fitness culture. While continuing to support efforts to exercise more and stay healthy, schools, colleges, gyms and fitness instructors should be mindful of the potential for Mode among people who are excessively focused on their physical appearance or over-frequenting the gym.

    More work needs to be done to identify Mode risk factors and prevent further escalation. The fitness industry should also be held to greater account for the products and lifestyles they promote.

    Alison Fixsen 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. Social media’s push for the perfect muscular body is fuelling a new form of disordered eating — and young men are most at risk – https://theconversation.com/social-medias-push-for-the-perfect-muscular-body-is-fuelling-a-new-form-of-disordered-eating-and-young-men-are-most-at-risk-254157

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Autocrats don’t act like Hitler or Stalin anymore − instead of governing with violence, they use manipulation

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Daniel Treisman, Professor of Political Science, University of California, Los Angeles

    Autocrats today tend to govern by manipulation of the public, among other tactics, rather than solely using violence. Nanzeeba Ibnat/iStock/Getty Images Plus

    President Donald Trump’s critics often accuse him of harboring authoritarian ambitions. Journalists and scholars have drawn parallels between his leadership style and that of strongmen abroad. Some Democrats warn that the U.S. is sliding toward autocracy – a system in which one leader holds unchecked power.

    Others counter that labeling Trump an autocrat is alarmist. After all, he hasn’t suspended the Constitution, forced school children to memorize his sayings or executed his rivals, as dictators such as Augusto Pinochet, Mao Zedong and Saddam Hussein once did.

    But modern autocrats don’t always resemble their 20th-century predecessors.

    Instead, they project a polished image, avoid overt violence and speak the language of democracy. They wear suits, hold elections and talk about the will of the people. Rather than terrorizing citizens, many use media control and messaging to shape public opinion and promote nationalist narratives. Many gain power not through military coups but at the ballot box.

    The softer power of today’s autocrats

    In the early 2000s, political scientist Andreas Schedler coined the term “electoral authoritarianism” to describe regimes that hold elections without real competition. Scholars Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way use another phrase, “competitive authoritarianism,” for systems in which opposition parties exist but leaders undermine them through censorship, electoral fraud or legal manipulation.

    In my own work with economist Sergei Guriev, we explore a broader strategy that modern autocrats use to gain and maintain power. We call this “informational autocracy” or “spin dictatorship.”

    These leaders don’t rely on violent repression. Instead, they craft the illusion that they are competent, democratic defenders of the nation – protecting it from foreign threats or internal enemies who seek to undermine its culture or steal its wealth.

    President Donald Trump appears at an Air Force base in Doha, Qatar, on May 15, 2025.
    Win McNamee/Getty Images

    Hungary’s democratic facade

    Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán exemplifies this approach. He first served from 1998 to 2002, returned to power in 2010 and has since won three more elections – in 2014, 2018 and 2022 – after campaigns that international observers criticized as “intimidating and xenophobic.”

    Orbán has preserved the formal structures of democracy – courts, a parliament and regular elections – but has systematically hollowed them out.

    In his first two years he packed Hungary’s constitutional court, which reviews laws for constitutionality, with loyalists, forced judges off the bench by mandating a lower retirement age and rewrote the constitution to limit judicial review of his actions. He also tightened government control over independent media.

    To boost his image, Orbán funneled state advertising funds to friendly news outlets. In 2016, an ally bought Hungary’s largest opposition newspaper – then shut it down.

    Orbán has also targeted advocacy groups and universities. The Central European University, which was registered in both Budapest and the U.S., was once a symbol of the new democratic Hungary. But a law penalizing foreign-accredited institutions forced it to relocate to Vienna in 2020.

    Yet Orbán has mostly avoided violence. Journalists are harassed rather than jailed or killed. Critics are discredited for their beliefs but not abducted. His appeal rests on a narrative that Hungary is under siege – by immigrants, liberal elites and foreign influences – and that only he can defend its sovereignty and Christian identity. That message resonates with older, rural, conservative voters, even as it alienates younger, urban populations.

    A global shift in autocrats

    In recent decades, variants of spin dictatorship have appeared in Singapore, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ecuador and Venezuela. Leaders such as Hugo Chávez and the early Vladimir Putin consolidated power and marginalized opposition with minimal violence.

    Data confirm this trend. Drawing from human rights reports, historical records and local media, my colleague Sergei Guriev and I found that the global incidence of political killings and imprisonments by autocrats dropped significantly from the 1980s to the 2010s.

    Why? In an interconnected world, overt repression has costs. Attacking journalists and dissidents can prompt foreign governments to impose economic sanctions and discourage international companies from investing. Curbing free expression risks stifling scientific and technological innovation – something even autocrats need in modern, knowledge-based economies.

    Still, when crises erupt, even spin dictators often revert to more traditional tactics. Russia’s Putin has cracked down violently on
    protesters and jailed opposition leaders. Meanwhile, more brutal regimes such as those in North Korea and China continue to rule by spreading fear, combining mass incarceration with advanced surveillance technologies.

    But overall, spin is replacing terror.

    America too?

    Most experts, myself included, agree that the U.S. remains a democracy.

    Yet some of Trump’s tactics resemble those of informational autocrats. He has attacked the press, defied court rulings and pressured universities to curtail academic independence and limit international admissions. His admiration for strongmen such as Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele alarms observers. At the same time, Trump routinely denigrates democratic allies and international institutions such as the United Nations and NATO.

    Some experts say democracy depends on politicians’ self restraint. But a system that survives only if leaders choose to respect its limits is not much of a system at all.
    What matters more is whether the press, judiciary, nonprofit organizations, professional associations, churches, unions, universities and citizens have the power – and the will – to hold leaders accountable.

    Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán delivers a speech at a hotel in Madrid on Feb. 8, 2025.
    Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images

    Preserving democracy in the US

    Wealthy democracies such as the U.S., Canada and many Western European countries benefit from robust institutions such as newspapers, universities, courts and advocacy groups that act as checks on government.

    Such institutions help explain why populists such as Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi or Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, although accused of bending electoral rules and threatening judicial independence, have not dismantled democracy outright in their countries.

    In the U.S., the Constitution provides another layer of protection. Amending it requires a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress and ratification by three-quarters of the states – a far steeper hurdle than in Hungary, where Orbán needed only a two-thirds parliamentary majority to rewrite the constitution.

    Of course, even the U.S. Constitution can be undermined if a president defies the Supreme Court. But doing so risks igniting a constitutional crisis and alienating key supporters.

    That doesn’t mean American democracy is safe from erosion. But its institutional foundations are older, deeper and more decentralized than those of many newer democracies. Its federal structure, with overlapping jurisdictions and multiple veto points, makes it harder for any one leader to dominate.

    Still, the global rise of spin dictatorships should sharpen awareness of what is happening in the U.S. Around the world, autocrats have learned to control their citizens by faking democracy. Understanding their techniques may help Americans to preserve the real thing.

    Daniel Treisman 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. Autocrats don’t act like Hitler or Stalin anymore − instead of governing with violence, they use manipulation – https://theconversation.com/autocrats-dont-act-like-hitler-or-stalin-anymore-instead-of-governing-with-violence-they-use-manipulation-256665

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Preventing the next pandemic: One Health researcher calls for urgent action

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Hung Nguyen-Viet, Program Leader (ai), HEALTH at ILRI / CGIAR, International Livestock Research Institute

    The world is facing daunting health challenges with the rise of zoonotic diseases – infections that are transmissible from animals to humans. These diseases – which include Ebola, avian flu, COVID-19 and HIV – show how the health and wellbeing of humans, animals and ecosystems are closely connected.

    Zoonotic diseases have become more and more common due to factors such as urbanisation, deforestation, climate change and wildlife exploitation. These dangers are not limited by borders: they are global and demand a coordinated response.

    By looking at health holistically, countries can address the full spectrum of disease control – from prevention to detection, preparedness, response and management – and contribute to global health security.

    The World Health Organization has a basis for such an approach: One Health. This recognises the interdependence of the health of people, animals and the environment and integrates these fields, rather than keeping them separate.

    I lead the health programme at the International Livestock Research Institute, where we are looking for ways to effectively manage or eliminate livestock-related diseases, zoonotic infections and foodborne illnesses that disproportionately affect impoverished communities.

    My work focuses on the link between health and agriculture, food safety, and infectious and zoonotic diseases.

    For example in Kenya we are part of an initiative of the One Health Centre in Africa to roll out canine vaccination and have so far vaccinated 146,000 animals in Machakos county.

    In Ethiopia and Vietnam we worked in a programme to improve the hygiene practices of butchers in traditional markets.

    In another project we work in 11 countries to strengthen One Health curricula in universities.

    The lessons from the One Health projects implemented with partners across Asia and Africa are that there’s an urgent need for action on three fronts. These are: stronger cross-sectoral collaboration; greater engagement with policymakers to translate research findings into actionable strategies; and the development of adaptable and context-specific interventions.

    But, having been active in this area for the last decade, I am impatient with the slow pace of investment. We know that prevention is better than cure. The cost of prevention is significantly lower than that of managing pandemics once they occur. Urgent steps, including much higher levels of investment, need to be taken.

    What’s in place

    In 2022 the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Organisation for Animal Health developed a joint One Health plan of action. They identified key areas to respond more efficiently to health threats. These included:

    • Reducing risks from emerging and re-emerging zoonotic epidemics. Actions include, for example, tightening regulations around farming and trade in wildlife and wild animal products.

    • Controlling and eliminating endemic, zoonotic, neglected tropical and vector-borne diseases by understanding the attitudes and knowledge of communities bearing the greatest burdens of these diseases. And boosting their capacity to fight them.

    • Strengthening action against food safety risks by monitoring new and emerging foodborne infections.

    • Curbing the silent pandemic of antimicrobial resistance, one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity.

    Other collaborations include the Prezode (Preventing Zoonotic Disease Emergence) initiative to research all aspects of diseases of animal origin. This was launched in 2021 by French president Emmanuel Macron.

    The Africa One Health University Network operates in ten African countries to address One Health workforce strengthening in Africa.

    One Health has gained traction globally. But there’s still a great deal to be done.

    The cost of inaction

    According to a 2022 World Bank estimate, preventing a pandemic would cost approximately US$11 billion per year, while managing a pandemic can run up to US$31 billion annually. So the investment return of 3:1 is an important reason to call for investment in One Health.

    The Pandemic Fund was launched in November 2022 by leaders of the Group of 20 nations and hosted by the World Bank Group to help low- and middle-income countries prepare better for emerging pandemic threats. US$885 million has been awarded to 47 projects to date through the two rounds in the last three years.

    However, relative to the US$11 billion per year required for prevention, this investment is modest. Urgent investment in One Health needs to be made by countries themselves, in particular low- and middle-income countries.

    The last two World One Health congresses (in Singapore in 2022, and in Cape Town in 2024) called for investment in One Health. There were also calls for investment in One Health at regional level to prevent zoonotic diseases and the next pandemic.

    At the 78th World Health Assembly in Geneva, member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) formally adopted by consensus the world’s first Pandemic Agreement. The landmark decision culminates more than three years of intensive negotiations launched by governments in response to the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    This is major global progress in One Health and disease prevention.

    But the lessons of COVID-19 have shown us that the cost of inaction is incalculable in terms of lives lost, economic turmoil and societal disruption. To date, there have been over 777 million cases of COVID-19, including more than 7 million deaths worldwide.

    According to estimates by the International Monetary Fund, COVID will have caused a cumulative production loss of US$13.8 trillion by 2024.

    The choice is clear: invest today to prevent tomorrow’s pandemics, or pay a heavy price in the future.

    Hung Nguyen-Viet 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. Preventing the next pandemic: One Health researcher calls for urgent action – https://theconversation.com/preventing-the-next-pandemic-one-health-researcher-calls-for-urgent-action-255229

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: What is retinol? And will it make my acne flare? 3 experts unpack this trendy skincare ingredient

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Laurence Orlando, Senior Lecturer, Product Formulation and Development, Analytical Methods, Monash University

    Irina Kvyatkovskaya/Shutterstock

    Retinol skincare products suddenly seem to be everywhere, promising clear, radiant and “youthful” skin.

    But what’s the science behind these claims? And are there any risks?

    You may have also heard retinol can increase your risk of sunburn and even make acne worse.

    For some people, retinol may help reduce the appearance of fine lines. But it won’t be suitable for everyone. Here’s what you need to know.

    What is retinol?

    Retinol is part of a family of chemical compounds called retinoids. These are derived from or related to Vitamin A, a nutrient essential for healthy skin, vision and immune function.

    All retinoids work because enzymes in our skin convert them into their “active” form, retinoic acid.

    You can buy retinol in creams and other topical products over the counter.

    These are often promoted as “anti-ageing” because retinol can help reduce the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and even out skin tone (for example, sun spots or acne scars).

    It also has an exfoliating effect, meaning it can help unclog pores.

    Stronger retinoid treatments that target acne will require a prescription because they contain retinoic acid, which is regulated as a drug in the United States, European Union, United Kingdom and Australia.

    How is retinol used in skincare?

    One of the most common claims about retinol is that it helps to reduce visible signs of ageing.

    How does this work?

    With age, the skin’s barrier becomes weaker, making it more prone to dryness, injury and irritation.

    Retinol can help counteract this natural thinning by stimulating the proliferation of keratinocytes – cells that form the outer skin layer and protect against damage and water loss.

    Retinol also stimulates the production of collagen (a key protein that creates a scaffolding that keeps skin firm and elastic) and fibroblasts (cells that produce collagen and support skin structure).

    It also increases how fast the skin sheds old cells and replaces them with new ones.

    Over time, these processes help reduce fine lines, fade dark spots and even out skin tone. It can also make skin appear clearer.

    While effective, this doesn’t happen overnight.

    You may have also heard about a “retinol purge” – a temporary flare of acne when you first start using topical retinoids.

    Studies have found the skin may become irritated and acne temporarily worsen in some cases. But more research needs to be done to understand this link.

    The idea of a retinol purge is popular on social media.
    TikTok, CC BY-NC-ND

    So, is retinol safe?

    At typical skincare concentrations (0.1–0.3%), side effects tend to be mild.

    Most people who experience irritation (such as redness, dryness, or peeling) when starting retinol are able to build tolerance over time. This process is often called “retinisation”.

    However, retinol increases the skin’s sensitivity to UV radiation (known as photosensitivity). This heightened reactivity can lead to sunburn, irritation and an increased risk of hyperpigmentation (spots or patches of darker colour).

    For this reason, daily use of broad-spectrum sunscreen (SPF30 or higher) is strongly recommended while using retinol products.

    Who should avoid retinol?

    Teenagers and children generally don’t need retinol unless specifically prescribed by a doctor, for example, for acne treatment.

    People with sensitive skin or conditions such as eczema (dry, itchy and inflamed skin) and rosacea (chronic redness and sensitivity) may find retinol too irritating.

    Using retinol products alongside other skincare treatments, such as alpha-hydroxy acids, can over-exfoliate your skin and damage it.

    Importantly, the active form of retinol, retinoic acid, is teratogenic (meaning it can cause birth defects). Over-the-counter retinol products are also not recommended during pregnancy or breastfeeding.

    Choose and store retinol products wisely

    Since retinol is classified as a cosmetic ingredient, companies are not required to disclose its concentration in their products.

    The European Union is expected to introduce new regulations that will cap the concentration of retinol in cosmetic facial products to 0.3%.

    These are precautionary measures aimed to limit exposure for vulnerable groups, such as pregnant women, given the risk of birth defects.

    It’s therefore recommended to use products that clearly state the retinol concentration is between 0.1% and 0.3%.

    Retinol is also a notoriously unstable molecule that degrades with exposure to air, light or heat.

    Choosing a product with airtight, light-protective packaging will help with potential degradation problems that could lead to inactivity or harm.

    What’s the safest way to try retinol?

    The key is to go low and slow: a pea-sized amount of a low-concentration product (0.1%) once or twice a week, preferably at night (to avoid UV exposure), and then the frequency and concentration can be increased (to a maximum of 0.3%) as the skin adjusts.

    Using a moisturiser after retinol helps to reduce dryness and irritation.

    Wearing sunscreen every day is a must when using retinol to avoid the photosensitivity.

    If you experience persistent redness, burning, or peeling, it’s better to stop using the product and consult your doctor or a dermatologist for personalised advice.

    Laurence Orlando is affiliated with the Australian Society of Cosmetic Chemists.

    Professor Ademi currently serves as a member of the Economics Sub Committee of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee within the Department of Health, Australia which assesses clinical and economic evaluations of medicines submitted for listing on the PBS. She leads the global economics initiative for the Lp(a) International Task Force and Member of Professional Advisory Board of Familial Hypercholesterolemia (FH) Australia. Zanfina Ademi receives funding from FH Europe Foundation to understand the population screening for LP(a), globally. Received funding from National Health and Medical Research Council, Medical Research Future Fund not in relation to to this work, but work that relates to health economics of prevention and cost-effectiveness.

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

    – ref. What is retinol? And will it make my acne flare? 3 experts unpack this trendy skincare ingredient – https://theconversation.com/what-is-retinol-and-will-it-make-my-acne-flare-3-experts-unpack-this-trendy-skincare-ingredient-256074

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Astronomers thought the Milky Way was doomed to crash into Andromeda. Now they’re not so sure

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Ruby Wright, Forrest Fellow in Astrophysics, The University of Western Australia

    Luc Viatour / Wikimedia, CC BY-SA

    For years, astronomers have predicted a dramatic fate for our galaxy: a head-on collision with Andromeda, our nearest large galactic neighbour. This merger – expected in about 5 billion years – has become a staple of astronomy documentaries, textbooks and popular science writing.

    But in our new study published in Nature Astronomy, led by Till Sawala from the University of Helsinki, we find the Milky Way’s future might not be as certain previously assumed.

    By carefully accounting for uncertainties in existing measurements, and including the gravitational influence of other nearby galaxies, we found there is only about a 50% chance the Milky Way and Andromeda will merge in the next 10 billion years.

    Why did we think a collision was inevitable?

    The idea that the Milky Way and Andromeda are on a collision course goes back more than a century. Astronomers discovered Andromeda is moving toward us by measuring its radial velocity – its motion along our line of sight – using a slight change in the colour of its light called the Doppler shift.

    But galaxies also drift sideways across the sky, a movement known as proper motion or transverse velocity. This sideways motion is incredibly difficult to detect, especially for galaxies millions of light years away.

    Earlier studies often assumed Andromeda’s transverse motion was small, making a future head-on collision seem almost certain.

    What’s different in this study?

    Our study did not have any new data. Instead, we took a fresh look at existing observations from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Gaia mission.

    Unlike earlier studies, our work incorporates the uncertainty in these measurements, rather than assuming their most likely values.

    We simulated thousands of possible trajectories for the Milky Way and Andromeda trajectories, slightly varying the assumed initial conditions – things such as the speed and position of the two galaxies – each time.

    When we started from the same assumptions the earlier studies made, we recovered the same results. However, we were also able to explore a larger range or possibilities.

    We also included two additional galaxies that influence the future paths of the Milky Way and Andromeda: the Large Magellanic Cloud, a massive satellite galaxy currently falling into the Milky Way, and M33, also known as the Triangulum Galaxy, which orbits Andromeda.

    The new study took into account the gravitational effect of the Triangulum Galaxy, which orbits Andromeda.
    ESO, CC BY

    These companion galaxies exert gravitational tugs that change the motions of their hosts.

    M33 nudges Andromeda slightly toward the Milky Way, increasing the chance of a merger. Meanwhile, the Large Magellanic Cloud shifts the Milky Way’s motion away from Andromeda, reducing the likelihood of a collision.

    Taking all of this into account, we found that in about half of the simulated scenarios, the Milky Way and Andromeda do not merge at all within the next 10 billion years.

    What happens if they do – or don’t – collide?

    Even if a merger does happen, it’s unlikely to be catastrophic for Earth. Stars in galaxies are separated by enormous distances, so direct collisions are rare.

    But over time, the galaxies would coalesce under gravity, forming a single, larger galaxy – probably an elliptical one, rather than the spirals we see today.

    If the galaxies don’t merge, they may settle into a long, slow orbit around each other – close companions that never quite collide. It’s a gentler outcome, but it still reshapes our understanding of the Milky Way’s distant future.

    Other galaxies show examples of three future scenarios for the Milky Way and Andromeda: galaxies passing in the night, a close encounter, a full collision and merger.
    NASA / ESA

    What comes next?

    The biggest remaining uncertainty is the transverse velocity of Andromeda. Even small changes in this sideways motion can make the difference between a merger and a near miss. Future measurements will help refine this value and bring us closer to a clearer answer.

    We don’t yet have a definitive answer about our own galaxy’s future. But exploring these possibilities shows just how much we’re still learning about the universe – even close to home.

    Ruby Wright receives funding from the Forrest Research Foundation.

    Alexander Rawlings receives funding from the University of Helsinki Research Foundation and the European Research Council.

    – ref. Astronomers thought the Milky Way was doomed to crash into Andromeda. Now they’re not so sure – https://theconversation.com/astronomers-thought-the-milky-way-was-doomed-to-crash-into-andromeda-now-theyre-not-so-sure-257825

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Will surging sea levels kill the Great Barrier Reef? Ancient coral fossils may hold the answer

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Jody Webster, Professor of Marine Geoscience, University of Sydney

    marcobriviophoto.com

    In the 20th century, global sea level rose faster than at any other time in the past 3,000 years. It’s expected to rise even further by 2100, as human-induced climate change intensifies. In fact, some studies predict a rise of up to 1.6 metres and possibly more due to the rapid melting of the Antarctic ice sheets.

    These changes will have huge impacts on coastal ecosystems around the world, including coral reefs. To understand these future impacts, it can be useful to understand similar events from history.

    Our new research, published today in Nature Communications, does just that. It reveals how the Great Barrier Reef in northern Australia responded to a dramatic rise in sea level some 13,000 to 10,000 years ago.

    A hotly debated event

    Several “meltwater pulse events” have been documented in the past. These occur when ice sheets disintegrate in a catastrophic fashion, resulting in a rapid surge in global sea levels.

    One of these events, known as “meltwater pulse 1B”, remains hotly debated. It occurred roughly 11,500 years ago.

    Early evidence from reef cores in Barbados suggested a sharp sea-level rise of approximately 14 metres between 11,450 and 11,100 years ago, with rates of roughly 40 millimetres per year.

    Remarkably, this rate is about ten times faster than the current global rise.

    However, this record conflicts with others, including from Tahiti and now from the Great Barrier Reef, which suggests a more gradual rise in sea levels.

    Learning from geological archives

    Somewhat paradoxically shallow-water reef systems can “drown” because corals, and other reef organisms, depend on light for photosynthesis. If the water gets too deep too fast, the reef will no longer keep up with the rise and it will drown.

    But drowning can also occur due to other factors, such as increased temperature, sediment and nutrients, which can also add extra environmental stress to the reef – again making it more difficult to grow vertically and keep up with sea level rise.

    Cores gathered from drowned fossil coral reefs preserved along the continental shelf edge of the Great Barrier Reef contain crucial information about historic corals, coralline algae and microbial reef structures known as microbialites. They offer a unique geologic time machine to better understand how past periods of rapid global sea level rise affected reef growth.

    These geological archives also provide important clues about how ice sheets behaved in response to rapid global warming.

    In 2010, an expedition of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program used a geotechnical drill ship to sample below the seafloor and reconstruct the growth and demise of the Great Barrier Reef over the past roughly 30,000 years. Five distinct stages were identified in response to major global climatic and oceanographic disturbances.

    In this new study, we focused on a key reef stage called Reef 4. It formed between 13,000 and 10,000 years ago, just prior to the start of the modern reef as we know it.

    We refer to this reef as the “proto-Great Barrier Reef”. Once a shallow-water barrier reef system, it now exists in a fossilised form at roughly 50 metres water depth and is now the home to deeper reef communtites in the mesophotic zone 30 to 150 metres below the surface.

    The RV Great Ship Maya was used to recover fossil reef samples from the Great Barrier Reef in 2010.
    G.Tulloch/European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling/Integrated Ocean Drilling Program

    An impressive ability to keep pace

    Our study shows the Great Barrier Reef didn’t drown during meltwater pulse 1B. In fact, it continued to thrive with clear evidence of healthy, shallow-water reef assemblages (living in waters less than ten metres deep) persisting right through the rise in sea levels.

    The reef not only survived but continued to grow upwards at rates between 4–6 millimetres per year. This rate of growth is comparable to modern healthy reef growth rates, demonstrating an impressive ability to keep pace.

    We also calculated that the maximum possible sea-level rise during meltwater pulse 1B was between 7.7 and 10.2 metres over roughly 350 years. This equates to between 23 and 30 millimetres per year, but was likely less.

    This is less than the Barbados estimate, and more consistent with observations from Tahiti where no sharp sea-level jump was found.

    Importantly, this indicates that even the upper sea level rise bounds are within the survival limits of resilient reef systems such as the Great Barrier Reef – especially when environmental stressors, such as ocean warming, ocean acidification and sedimentation are low.

    UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee recently expressed utmost concern about the current state of the Great Barrier Reef.
    Darkydoors/Shutterstock

    Limits to a reef’s resilience

    Although the Great Barrier Reef survived sea level rise roughly 11,000 years ago, the world was very different back then.

    Coral reefs faced less stress from human impacts. And ocean temperatures were rising more slowly.

    But today’s reefs are already struggling, with UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee recently expressing “utmost concern” about the state of the Great Barrier Reef in particular.

    This is due to warming, acidification and pollution. And these additional challenges decrease reefs’ ability to cope with rapid sea-level rise.

    Our findings suggest abrupt sea-level jumps of more than 11 metres are unlikely to occur without major instabilities in ice sheets. The fact that such collapses likely didn’t happen during meltwater pulse 1B offers some reassurance. But we’re in uncharted territory now, particularly with the Antarctic ice sheet displaying early signs of instability.

    Our study also shows the Great Barrier Reef has been remarkably resilient, adapting to changing sea levels and continuing to grow even as the ocean rose rapidly. This resilience, however, had limits. Ultimately, the reef we examined drowned roughly 10,000 years ago, likely due to a combination of environmental stressors, including increased sediment flux. At this time the shallow water reef ecosystem migrated landward to form the modern Great Barrier, leaving behind only deeper, mesophotic reef communities.

    The lessons from the past are clear: reefs can adapt to environmental changes but there are limits.

    Protecting modern reefs will require more than understanding their past. It means reducing emissions and limiting other environmental stresses such as sediment and nutrient runoff where possible.

    Jody Webster receives funding from the Australian Research Council and ANZIC IODP.

    Juan Carlos Braga receives funding from the Australian Research Council and Spanish Government.

    Marc Humblet receives funding from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

    Stewart Fallon receives funding from the Australian Research Council and ANZIC IODP.

    Yusuke Yokoyama receives funding from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and Japan Science and Technology Agency.

    – ref. Will surging sea levels kill the Great Barrier Reef? Ancient coral fossils may hold the answer – https://theconversation.com/will-surging-sea-levels-kill-the-great-barrier-reef-ancient-coral-fossils-may-hold-the-answer-257830

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Girl power and girl bosses might be ‘feminist’ – but we can’t consume our way to equality

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Jessica Ford, Senior Lecturer in Media, University of Adelaide

    In Girl on Girl, journalist Sophie Gilbert crafts a compelling narrative about how movies, TV, celebrities and pop stars construct a culture that encourages women to internalise misogyny – and even rewards them for it. She traces how this manifests over time, from the 1990s to now, through the sexualisation of young girls in teen “sex” comedies, reality TV makeovers, the mainstreaming of pornography and more.

    The book is a useful primer on how largely white, American-centric popular culture makes women’s exploitation commonplace.

    It moves swiftly between examples, which could be confusing for readers unfamiliar with the different worlds inhabited by various figures. They include socialite and early reality star Paris Hilton; musician Amy Winehouse, who made headlines with her addiction challenges; and “riot grrrl” feminist rocker Kathleen Hanna.

    Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves – Sophie Gilbert (John Murray)

    Girl on Girl does not necessarily break new ground. It does, however, bring together disparate strands of our cultural conversation, largely relying on existing research and cultural commentary. Western popular culture, it argues, provides women with a narrow set of ideals.

    Gilbert’s book depicts popular culture as a vehicle for teaching women what kinds of behaviour are acceptable and desirable. These lessons are packaged in alluring parcels, like the Real Housewives, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears and Pamela Anderson. Gilbert cleverly draws a line from Madonna as provocateur to the hatred of women oozing from early 2000s rom-coms, the TikTok Trad Wives and Hillary Rodham Clinton’s failed presidential bids.

    In the book’s early pages, Gilbert shows how Hanna’s punk slogan of “Girl Power” was “appropriated” by the Spice Girls (who she describes as “sexy women who behaved like toddlers at a wedding”) in 1996. In the process, “Girl Power” went from signalling a movement charged by anger at “diminishment and abuse”, to a feminism of individual empowerment that “made you want to immediately go shopping”. It was then “almost instantly appropriated by brands”.

    Packaging empowerment

    Popular culture may seem fluffy and inconsequential, but Gilbert emphatically connects it to the material consequences of misogyny. This includes the rolling back of abortion rights in the United States, the election of alt-right men who openly despise women and the normalisation of gendered harassment, violence and abuse.

    Gilbert persuasively argues “popular culture is a strikingly predictive and transformative force with regard to the status of women and other historically marginalised groups”.

    It’s not just that women are routinely degraded and dehumanised for entertainment. It’s that this cruel spectacle has been normalised over many decades – and has been packaged and sold as empowering and “good for women”.

    Gilbert draws connections between the exploitation behind supermodel Kate Moss’s rise to prominence in the 1990s (she was bullied into posing for topless photographs), the ritualised humiliation of early 2000s reality TV and the 2010 publication of “crotch shots” of an 18-year-old Miley Cyrus. In doing so, she charts the varied ways popular media normalises women’s exploitation.

    Her investigation complicates the seemingly effortless and empowering facade of these models of femininity. For instance, the stylist for Moss’ 1990 topless shoot for The Face magazine cover that launched her to fame remembers it as “fun” and “instinctual”, while decades later, Moss recalls crying when coerced into taking her top off.

    She also remembers feeling “vulnerable and scared” during the 1992 topless Calvin Klein shoot with Mark Wahlberg. “I think they played on my vulnerability,” she said.

    Girl on Girl effectively translates the ideas feminist scholars have been unpicking for decades. Its sustained and thoughtful engagement with these ideas is what distinguishes it from similar books of journalism on the gender politics of popular culture.

    A common limitation of such books is the false assumption that these ideas are new. However, Gilbert weaves together Rosalind Gill’s postfeminism as a sensibility, Brenda Weber’s work on makeover TV and Kate Manne’s theorisation of misogyny with popular media examples.

    In a chapter on the impossible expectations of contemporary femininity, Gilbert applies Gill’s concept of “midriff advertising”, or “low-slung hipster jeans and ten inches of tanned, taut stomach”, to 2000s “it-girl” Nicole Richie. She explains how she was variously shamed for being too fat and then too thin. This led, Gilbert writes:

    to her elevation in status from Paris’s sassy sidekick to size-double-zero aughts fashion emblem, a frail, childlike figure whose accessories were so big they threatened to topple her.

    Feminism: everywhere and nowhere

    Gilbert’s book is not wholly negative. She also charts the rise (and often fall) of those who push back against the status quo.

    In a chapter on “confessional auteurs”, she considers Girls creator Lena Dunham. In another, which considers extreme, violent sex in art, she looks at French filmmaker and novelist Catherine Breillat. In Breillat’s 1999 film, Romance, about a young woman “driven almost to madness” by her boyfriend’s refusal to have sex with her, Gilbert writes:

    Breillat stages what she seems to understand as stereotypical male ideals – a woman desperate for sex, a woman bound and gagged – and renders them in ways that make them both psychologically explosive and wholly unsexy.

    In the final chapter on “rewriting the path towards power”, she explores the impact of recent feminist-leaning TV, such as Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag and Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You.

    Rather than ignoring feminism’s paradoxes and inconsistencies, Gilbert leans into how it is at once everywhere (in advertisements, behind Beyoncé at the VMAs, on t-shirts) and nowhere (rendered toothless, depoliticised, neoliberal).

    Gilbert thoughtfully teases apart the contradictions and schisms in women’s culture (both popular and everyday) to consider the mixed messaging around sexuality, empowerment, femininity and success.

    The challenge of interrogating influential celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift is that they tend to embody extreme versions of idealised femininity. Their bodies are at once an instrument of their work and a canvas, on which much is projected. Culturally, they uphold and promote very narrow ideas of heterosexual desirability, perfection and beauty.

    Gilbert grapples with how the elevation of beauty as a defining feminine virtue results in fat shaming and fashion policing of everyday women. Discussing the Kardashian-Jenners, she writes:

    Their constantly changing faces and bodies present the human form as a perfectible project ready to be molded and painted and tucked in any way that will encourage engagement and sell products.

    It is hard to look at the increase in plastic surgery procedures and the prevalence of weight-loss medication usage and not blame celebrities, reality TV and social media influencers. But these women didn’t create this world, they just figured out how to succeed in it. Should we expect them to dismantle the system that empowers them?

    Gilbert’s book zeroes in on how popular feminist thinking expects women to change, rather than systems. The responsibility for inequitable institutions – like unpaid parental leave, restricted reproductive healthcare and hostile work cultures – is moved onto individual women to solve. They are expected to bear the burden, rather than society being expected to invest in systemic change. For instance: paid parental leave, affordable accessible healthcare and employment quotas.

    The effects are twofold, absolving institutional responsibility and inscribing narcissistic, individualistic ways of thinking.

    Consuming our way to enlightenment

    Girl on Girl circles around, but never directly takes on a crucial question: should we expect popular culture to do the work of feminism? Can we consume our way to equal pay, reproductive rights, freedom from violence and respect in the workplace? We are encouraged – by popular media itself – to think so.


    There are seemingly endless articles that canonise “feminist TV shows and moments” that “every woman needs to watch”. They encourage viewers to think of themselves as “pop culture-loving feminists”.

    This is particularly prominent across online media aimed at women. It views content through the lens of feminism and curates “feminist popular culture” as a recognisable category. This is used to tell us contemporary audiences can – and should – be feminist consumers.

    The idea of consuming our way to enlightenment has been sold to us on multiple fronts. Yet feminism was never mainstream. From its early days to now, it has been a scrappy insurgency.

    The prominence of “girl power” and “girl bosses” may have lulled us into a false sense of security, but conditions for women (globally and locally) still need improving.

    Despite its limitations, we need feminism in media and everyday culture. Kristen Stewart recently reflected, on her directorial debut at Cannes: “having a female body is an overtly political act, if you can get out of bed in the morning and not hate yourself”.

    Jessica Ford 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. Girl power and girl bosses might be ‘feminist’ – but we can’t consume our way to equality – https://theconversation.com/girl-power-and-girl-bosses-might-be-feminist-but-we-cant-consume-our-way-to-equality-255410

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: In her memoir, Jacinda Ardern shows a ‘different kind of power’ is possible – but also has its limits

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Grant Duncan, Teaching Fellow in Politics and International Relations, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

    Getty Images

    Imagine getting a positive pregnancy test and then – just a few days later – learning you’ll be prime minister. In hindsight, being willing and able to deal with the unexpected would become the hallmark of former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s political career.

    She had always stood out as a leader, but her tumultuous political journey followed none of the predictable pathways. Readers of her memoir will relive what this was like, from her feelings about motherhood through to meeting world leaders.

    Review: A Different Kind of Power – Jacinda Ardern (Penguin Random House)

    The title of her book promises more than just that, however. Many people hope for a different kind of leader, but what personal qualities or strengths do such leaders need? More generally, can the personal qualities that contribute to great leadership be learned and applied by others?

    The answer seems to be a qualified yes. Since leaving office, Ardern has become something of a global influencer. But as her career pivots towards celebrity appearances and international agencies, her memoir also serves as a leadership manifesto – especially for women, or aspirants of any gender, who suffer self-doubt.

    The limits of empathy

    In her formative years, working as an assistant to Labour leader Helen Clark, Ardern relates how she let political opponents get under her skin. Was she “too thin-skinned” for politics? She soon learned “you could be sensitive and survive”. Better still, she could use her sensitivity as a strength.

    But “it is different for women in the public eye”, she writes. Derogatory terms were used against her, such as the “show pony” epithet coined by a senior woman journalist. There were questions about whether she had “substance”. These things could undermine people’s belief in her competence – perhaps even her own self-belief.

    What she did about this is instructive. Lashing out at jibes and cartoon images would make her look “humourless and too sensitive”. The “trick” was to respond in a way that would “take the story nowhere”. She became adept at that, deflecting comments aimed at putting her down.

    This also meant being a feminist but not using feminism as her ideological platform. Other than admonishing a TV presenter that it was “unacceptable” for him to ask whether a sitting prime minister could take maternity leave, she generally let others do the outrage and avoided becoming an even bigger target for culture warriors.

    But A Different Kind of Power asks the question: different from what? Ardern’s political career has been a challenge, if not a rebuke, to leaders who indulge in egotistical, competitive, always-be-winning behaviour. Need one even mention Donald Trump?

    Instead, Ardern offers kindness and empathy. The approach showed its true strength in the days following the terrorist atrocity in Christchurch in 2019. At a time when anti-immigrant and Islamophobic sentiments were growing, Ardern embraced the victims. “They are us”, she declared. Emotions that could have generated a cycle of blame were guided by her towards sharing of grief and aroha.

    Like any political virtue, though, empathy has limitations: it touches those whose suffering commands our attention, but it is partial. Effective social policy also requires an impartial administration and redistribution of resources. Leaders must ensure public goods are delivered equitably to those in need, which calls for rational planning.

    And sometimes a national emergency may call for actions that feel unfair or insensitive to some.

    Pandemic politics

    COVID-19 was that emergency. It created deep uncertainty for governments, and there was no “kind” pathway forward. The Ardern government did an exemplary job, saving many lives, and the Labour Party was rewarded at the 2020 election with an unprecedented 50% of the party vote. But Ardern’s retelling of that time is surprisingly brief, especially given her pivotal role.

    She put herself daily at the centre of it all, patiently explaining the public health responses. During this battle with a virus, however, she couldn’t inoculate against the political consequences and shifts in public opinion.

    As the pandemic wore on, many New Zealanders whose businesses had been shut down, who had been isolated in their homes, who had difficulty returning home from abroad or who’d been ostracised for not getting vaccinated, weren’t feeling much empathy or kindness from their government. And they felt they were being silenced. This sentiment grew far beyond the activists who had made themselves heard on parliament grounds in early 2022.

    Ardern refused to meet with those protestors. “How could I send a message that if you disagree with something, you can illegally occupy the grounds of parliament and then have your demands met?”

    But she (or a senior minister) could have heard their demands and explained why they couldn’t be met. Her refusal to listen left the field open to veteran populist Winston Peters, who exploited the opportunity, launching his campaign to return to parliament – in which he now sits and Ardern doesn’t.

    While vaccine mandates were a key concern for protestors, it’s disappointing that, to this day, Ardern blames the dissenters, as if they were “not us” – kicked out of the “team of five million”. She attributes the dissent solely to their “mistrust”. Refusing to listen – not just to protestors, but to deeper shifts in public opinion – would cost Labour dearly.

    Induced by the pandemic fiscal stimulus, inflation peaked at 7.3% in June 2022. By that time, two switches had occurred: the National Party was ahead in polls and a majority were saying the country was heading in the wrong direction. In January 2023, then, Ardern resigned as prime minister. She believed, probably correctly, that it would be “good for my party and perhaps it would be good for the election”.

    Power and parenthood: Jacinda Ardern with her partner Clarke Gayford and their baby daughter, 2018.
    Getty Images

    The toll of leadership

    But she also reveals in her memoir that a cancer scare influenced the decision – a false alarm, but a sign perhaps that the job was taking its toll. Her leaving could “take the heat out of the politics”, she reasoned. And anyway, she was tired, stressed and losing her patience.

    The leadership change to Chris Hipkins – and a devastating cyclone – boosted Labour’s polling for a while. But their 1,443,545 party votes in 2020 fell to 767,540 in the October 2023 election.

    Hundreds of thousands of voters had turned their backs on the Labour Party, and the COVID response wasn’t solely to blame. There were also controversial or failed policies – such as restructuring water services, a proposed unemployment insurance scheme, and Māori co-governance initiatives – that were ruthlessly exploited by the political opposition. These were all initiated under Ardern, although unmentioned in her memoir.

    Her book is more about subjective self-doubt and empathy. She doesn’t critically examine her own policies. Nor does she express empathy for those who felt disadvantaged or excluded by them – granting as always that emergency measures had been necessary. And, as she heads further into an international career, there’s no expression of empathy for those who now need it most, be they children in Gaza or refugees in South Sudan.

    It’s disappointing Ardern doesn’t define key words: empathy, leadership or power, for example. There are different ways to understand them, and definitions carry assumptions. But she’s not addressing academics or political analysts. Her audience is primarily American – a much larger and more lucrative market than her home country. With the Democrats struggling to find direction and leadership after last year’s losses, Ardern – who poses no threat to anyone’s political ambitions there – offers some inspiration.

    Some may fault it for avoiding those harder questions about her time at the top, but Ardern’s memoir interweaves an authentically retold personal story with high political drama. It tells of one woman’s struggle with morning sickness, childbirth, breastfeeding and motherhood, even while taking on extraordinary public responsibilities and media exposure. It’s still amazing how she managed to do all that.

    I was a personal acquaintance of Jacinda, when she was a list MP in Auckland Central.

    – ref. In her memoir, Jacinda Ardern shows a ‘different kind of power’ is possible – but also has its limits – https://theconversation.com/in-her-memoir-jacinda-ardern-shows-a-different-kind-of-power-is-possible-but-also-has-its-limits-257944

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –