Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Vitomir Kovanovic, Associate Professor and Associate Director of the Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning (C3L), Education Futures, University of South Australia
Since ChatGPT appeared almost three years ago, the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies on learning has been widely debated. Are they handy tools for personalised education, or gateways to academic dishonesty?
Most importantly, there has been concern that using AI will lead to a widespread “dumbing down”, or decline in the ability to think critically. If students use AI tools too early, the argument goes, they may not develop basic skills for critical thinking and problem-solving.
Is that really the case? According to a recent study by scientists from MIT, it appears so. Using ChatGPT to help write essays, the researchers say, can lead to “cognitive debt” and a “likely decrease in learning skills”.
So what did the study find?
The difference between using AI and the brain alone
Over the course of four months, the MIT team asked 54 adults to write a series of three essays using either AI (ChatGPT), a search engine, or their own brains (“brain-only” group). The team measured cognitive engagement by examining electrical activity in the brain and through linguistic analysis of the essays.
The cognitive engagement of those who used AI was significantly lower than the other two groups. This group also had a harder time recalling quotes from their essays and felt a lower sense of ownership over them.
Interestingly, participants switched roles for a final, fourth essay (the brain-only group used AI and vice versa). The AI-to-brain group performed worse and had engagement that was only slightly better than the other group’s during their first session, far below the engagement of the brain-only group in their third session.
The authors claim this demonstrates how prolonged use of AI led to participants accumulating “cognitive debt”. When they finally had the opportunity to use their brains, they were unable to replicate the engagement or perform as well as the other two groups.
Cautiously, the authors note that only 18 participants (six per condition) completed the fourth, final session. Therefore, the findings are preliminary and require further testing.
Does this really show AI makes us stupider?
These results do not necessarily mean that students who used AI accumulated “cognitive debt”. In our view, the findings are due to the particular design of the study.
The change in neural connectivity of the brain-only group over the first three sessions was likely the result of becoming more familiar with the study task, a phenomenon known as the familiarisation effect. As study participants repeat the task, they become more familiar and efficient, and their cognitive strategy adapts accordingly.
When the AI group finally got to “use their brains”, they were only doing the task once. As a result, they were unable to match the other group’s experience. They achieved only slightly better engagement than the brain-only group during the first session.
To fully justify the researchers’ claims, the AI-to-brain participants would also need to complete three writing sessions without AI.
Similarly, the fact the brain-to-AI group used ChatGPT more productively and strategically is likely due to the nature of the fourth writing task, which required writing an essay on one of the previous three topics.
As writing without AI required more substantial engagement, they had a far better recall of what they had written in the past. Hence, they primarily used AI to search for new information and refine what they had previously written.
What are the implications of AI in assessment?
To understand the current situation with AI, we can look back to what happened when calculators first became available.
Back in the 1970s, their impact was regulated by making exams much harder. Instead of doing calculations by hand, students were expected to use calculators and spend their cognitive efforts on more complex tasks.
Effectively, the bar was significantly raised, which made students work equally hard (if not harder) than before calculators were available.
The challenge with AI is that, for the most part, educators have not raised the bar in a way that makes AI a necessary part of the process. Educators still require students to complete the same tasks and expect the same standard of work as they did five years ago.
In such situations, AI can indeed be detrimental. Students can for the most part offload critical engagement with learning to AI, which results in “metacognitive laziness”.
However, just like calculators, AI can and should help us accomplish tasks that were previously impossible – and still require significant engagement. For example, we might ask teaching students to use AI to produce a detailed lesson plan, which will then be evaluated for quality and pedagogical soundness in an oral examination.
In the MIT study, participants who used AI were producing the “same old” essays. They adjusted their engagement to deliver the standard of work expected of them.
The same would happen if students were asked to perform complex calculations with or without a calculator. The group doing calculations by hand would sweat, while those with calculators would barely blink an eye.
Learning how to use AI
Current and future generations need to be able to think critically and creatively and solve problems. However, AI is changing what these things mean.
Producing essays with pen and paper is no longer a demonstration of critical thinking ability, just as doing long division is no longer a demonstration of numeracy.
Knowing when, where and how to use AI is the key to long-term success and skill development. Prioritising which tasks can be offloaded to an AI to reduce cognitive debt is just as important as understanding which tasks require genuine creativity and critical thinking.
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.
But the situation is perhaps not as rosy for the animal itself. Domesticated animals often live longer than their free-living counterparts, but the quality of those lives can be compromised. Pets can be fed processed foods that can lead to obesity. Many are denied a sexual life and experience of parenthood. Exercise can be limited, isolation is common and boredom must be endured.
Is this the best life for the species we feel closest to? This question was raised for me when I heard the story of Valerie, the dachshund recaptured in April this year after almost 18 months living on her own on South Australia’s Karta Pintingga/Kangaroo Island.
Is being a pet the best life for the species we feel closest to? Oleksandr Rupeta/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Valerie: the story that captivated a nation
Valerie, a miniature dachshund, escaped into the bush during a camping trip on Kangaroo Island in November 2023. After several days of searching, her bereft humans returned to their home in New South Wales. They assumed the tiny dog, who had lived her life as a “little princess”, was gone forever.
Fast-forward a year, and sightings were reported on the island of a small dog wearing a pink collar. Word spread and volunteers renewed the search. A wildlife rescue group designed a purpose-built trap, fitting it out with items from Valerie’s former home.
After several weeks, a remotely controlled gate clattered shut behind Valerie and she was caught.
Cue great celebrations. The searchers were triumphant and the family was delighted. Social media lit up. It was a canine reenactment of one of settler Australia’s enduring narratives: the lost child rescued from the hostile bush.
A dog’s-eye view
But imagine if Valerie’s story was told from a more dog-centred perspective. Valerie found herself alone in a strange place and took the opportunity to run away. She embarked on a new life in which she was responsible for herself and could exercise the intelligence inherited from her boar-hunting ancestors.
No longer required to be a good girl, Valerie applied her own judgement – that notorious dachshund “stubbornness” – to evade predators, fill her stomach and pass her days.
Some commentators assumed Valerie must have been fed by anonymous benefactors – reflecting a widely held view that pets have limited abilities.
Veterinary experts, however, said her diet likely consisted of small birds, mammals and reptiles she killed herself – as well as roadkill, other carrion and faeces.
Valerie was clearly good at life on the lam. Unlike the human competitors in the series Alone Australia, she did not waste away when left in an island wilderness. Instead, she gained 1.8 kg of muscle – and was so stocky she no longer fit the old harness her humans brought to collect her. She had literally outgrown her former bonds.
Valerie could have sought shelter with the island’s humans at any time, but chose not to. She had to be actively trapped. Once returned to her humans, she needed time to reacclimatise to life as a pet.
Not all missing pets thrive in the wild. But all this raises the question of whether Valerie’s rescue would be better understood as a forced return from a full life of freedom, to a diminished existence in captivity?
A long history of pets thriving in the wild
Other examples exist which suggest an animal’s best life can take place outside the constraints of being a pet.
Exotic parrots have fled lives in cages to form urban flocks. In the United States, 25 species initially imported as pets have set up self-sustaining, free-living populations across 23 states.
Or take the red-eared slider turtle, which is native to parts of the US and Mexico. It’s illegal to keep the turtles as pets in Australia, but some of those smuggled in have later been released into urban wetlands where they have established large and widespread populations.
Cats are perhaps the most notorious example of escaped pets thriving on their own in Australia. They numbers in the millions, in habitats from cities to the Simpson Desert to the Snowy Mountains, showing how little they need human assistance.
One mark of their success is their prodigious size. At up to 7kg, free-living cats can be more than twice the weight of the average domestic cat.
Of course, I am not advocating that pets be released to the wild, creating new problems. But I do believe current pet-keeping practices are due for reconsideration.
A dramatic solution would be to take the animal out of the pet relationship. Social robots that look like seals and teddy bears are already available to welcome you home, mirror your emotions and offer up cuddles without the cost to other animals.
A less radical option is to rethink the idea of animals as “pets” and instead see them as equals.
Some people already enjoy these unforced bonds. Magpies, for example, are known to have strong allegiances with each other and are sometimes willing to extend those connections to humans in multi-species friendships.
As for Valerie, she did make “her little happy sounds” when reunited with her humans. But she might look back with nostalgia to her 529 days of freedom on Kangaroo Island.
Nancy Cushing receives funding from the State Library of New South Wales as the Coral Thomas Fellow. She is a member of the executive committee of the Australian Historical Association.
Have you had a tonsillectomy (your tonsils taken out), appendectomy (your appendix removed) or lumpectomy (removal of a lump from your breast)? The suffix “ectomy” denotes surgical removal of the named body part, so these terms give us a clear idea of what the procedure entails.
So why is the removal of the uterus called a hysterectomy and not a uterectomy?
The name hysterectomy is rooted in a mental health condition – “hysteria” – that was once believed to affect women. But we now know this condition doesn’t exist.
Continuing to call this significant operation a hysterectomy both perpetuates misogyny and hampers people’s understanding of what it is.
From the defunct condition ‘hysteria’
Hysteria was a psychiatric condition first formally defined in the 5th century BCE. It had many symptoms, including excessive emotion, irritability, anxiety, breathlessness and fainting.
But hysteria was only diagnosed in women. Male physicians at the time claimed these symptoms were caused by a “wandering womb”. They believed the womb (uterus) moved around the body looking for sperm and disrupted other organs.
Because the uterus was blamed for hysteria, the treatment was to remove it. This procedure was called a hysterectomy. Sadly, many women had their healthy uterus unnecessarily removed and most died.
The word “hysteria” did originally came from the ancient Greek word for uterus, “hystera”. But the modern Greek word for uterus is “mitra”, which is where words such as “endometrium” come from.
uterine prolapse (when the uterus protrudes down into the vagina)
adenomyosis (when the inner layer of the uterus grows into the muscle layer)
cancer.
However, in a survey colleagues and I did of almost 500 Australian adults, which is yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, one in five people thought hysterectomy meant removal of the ovaries, not the uterus.
It’s true some hysterectomiesfor cancer do also remove the ovaries. A hysterectomy or partial hysterectomy is the removal of only the uterus, a total hysterectomy removes the uterus and cervix, while a radical hysterectomy usually removes the uterus, cervix, uterine tubes and ovaries.
There are important differences between these hysterectomies, so they should be named to clearly indicate the nature of the surgery.
Research has shown ambiguous terminology such as “hysterectomy” is associated with low patient understanding of the procedure and the female anatomy involved.
Uterectomy should be used for removal of the uterus, in combination with the medical terms for removal of the cervix, uterine tubes and ovaries as needed. For example, a uterectomy plus cervicectomy would refer to the removal of the uterus and the cervix.
This could help patients understand what is (and isn’t) being removed from their bodies and increase clarity for the wider public.
Other female body parts and procedures have male names
There are many eponyms (something named after a person) in anatomy and medicine, such as the Achilles tendon and Parkinson’s disease. They are almost exclusively the names of white men.
Eponyms for female anatomy and procedures include the Fallopian tubes, Pouch of Douglas, and Pap smear.
The anatomical term for Fallopian tubes is uterine tubes. “Uterine” indicates these are attached to the uterus, which reinforces their important role in fertility.
The Pouch of Douglas is the space between the rectum and uterus. Using the anatomical name (rectouterine pouch) is important, because this a common site for endometriosis and can explain any associated bowel symptoms.
Pap smear gives no indication of its location or function. The new cervical screening test is named exactly that, which clarifies it samples cells of the cervix. This helps people understand this tests for risk of cervical cancer.
In line with increasing awareness and discussions around female reproductive health and medical misogyny, now is the time to improve terminology. We must ensure the names of body parts and medical procedures reflect the relevant anatomy.
Theresa Larkin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Many smartwatches, fitness and wellness trackers now offer sleep tracking among their many functions.
Wear your watch or ring to bed, and you’ll wake up to a detailed sleep report telling you not just how long you slept, but when each phase happened and whether you had a good night’s rest overall.
Surfing is done in the ocean, planes fly in the sky, and sleep occurs in the brain. So how can we measure sleep from the wrist or finger?
The gold standard of sleep measurement
If you’ve ever had a sleep study or seen someone with dozens of wires attached to their head, body and face, you’ve encountered polysomnography or PSG.
Eye movements, muscle tone, heart rate and brain activity are measured and assessed by experts to detect which stage of sleep or wakefulness a person is in.
When we sleep, we cycle through different stages, generally classified as light sleep, slow-wave sleep (also known as deep sleep), and rapid eye movement or REM sleep.
Each stage has an effect on brain activity, muscle tone and heart rate – which is why sleep scientists need so many wires.
Accurate? Absolutely. Convenient? Like two left shoes.
This is where the convenience of wearable at-home sleep trackers comes in.
What sensors are in sleep trackers?
Since the 1990s, sleep researchers have been using actigraphy to measure people’s sleep outside the laboratory.
An actigraphy device is similar to a wristwatch and uses accelerometers to measure the person’s movement. Coupled with sleep diaries, actigraphy assumes a person is awake when they’re moving and asleep when still. Simple.
While this is a scientifically accepted method of estimating sleep, it’s prone to mislabelling being awake but at rest (such as when reading a book) as sleep.
There’s one key addition that makes wrist-worn sleep trackers more accurate – PPG or photoplethysmography.
It’s hard to pronounce, but photoplethysmography is a key driver in the explosion of wearable health tracking.
It uses those little green lights on the skin-side of the wearable to track the amount of blood passing through your wrist at any given time. Clip-on pulse oximeters used by doctors are the same type of tech.
The addition of PPG to a wrist tracker allows for the measurement of raw data like heart rate and breathing rate. From this data, the wearable can estimate a number of physiological metrics, including sleep stages.
Since fitness wearables already have accelerometers and PPG to track your physical activity and heart rate, it makes sense to use these sensors to track sleep too. But how accurate are they?
Many fitness trackers leverage the sensors used to measure your fitness activities and heart rate for sleep tracking. The Conversation
How do scientists test sleep trackers?
Two main factors determine the accuracy of sleep trackers. How well does the device detect whether you’re asleep or awake? And how well can it distinguish the sleep stages?
To answer these questions, sleep scientists conduct validation studies. Participants sleep overnight in a laboratory while wearing both a sleep tracker and undergoing PSG.
Then, scientists compare the data from both methods in 30-second blocks called “epochs”. That means for a nine-hour sleep there will be 1,080 epochs to compare.
If both the device and PSG indicate “sleep” for the same epoch, they’re in agreement. If the device indicates “wake” and PSG indicates “sleep” for the same epoch, that’s considered an error. The same is done for sleep stages.
How accurate are sleep trackers?
In a 2022 study of several popular trackers, most correctly identified more than 90% of sleep epochs. But because light sleep and restful wake are so similar, wearables struggle more to estimate wakefulness, correctly identifying between 26% and 73% of wake epochs.
When it comes to sleep stages, wearables are less precise, correctly identifying between 53% and 60% of sleep stage epochs. However, for some devices and some sleep stages the precision can be greater. A recent validation study showed that a latest generation ring-shaped wearable didn’t differ from PSG for estimating light sleep and slow wave sleep.
In short, most modern sleep trackers do a decent job of estimating your total sleep each night. Some are more accurate for sleep staging, but this level of detail isn’t essential for improving the basics of your sleep.
Do I need a sleep tracker?
If you’re struggling with sleep, you should speak to your doctor. A sleep tracker can be a useful tool to help track your sleep goals, but ultimately your behaviour is what will improve sleep.
Keeping regular bedtimes and wake-up times, having a distraction-free sleep space, and keeping home lighting low in the evenings can all help to improve your sleep.
If you love tracking your sleep, make sure your device has been independently validated. While sleep stage data may not be essential, devices that perform well in estimating sleep stage also tend to be more accurate at detecting when you’re asleep or awake. When reviewing your data, look at long term trends in sleep rather than day-to-day variability.
If you don’t love your sleep tracker, you can take it off or ignore it. For some people, access to sleep data can negatively impact sleep by creating stress and anxiety for getting a perfect night’s sleep. Instead, focus on improving your healthy sleep strategies and pay attention to how you feel during the day.
Dr Dean J. Miller is a member of a research group at Central Queensland University that receives support for research (i.e., funding, equipment) from WHOOP Inc, a smart device maker.
Is AI going to take over the world? Have scientists created an artificial lifeform that can think on its own? Is it going to replace all our jobs, even creative ones, like doctors, teachers and care workers? Are we about to enter an age where computers are better than humans at everything?
The answers, as the authors of The AI Con stress, are “no”, “they wish”, “LOL” and “definitely not”.
The AI Con: How To Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want – Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna (Bodley Head)
Artificial intelligence is a marketing term as much as a distinct set of computational architectures and techniques. AI has become a magic word for entrepreneurs to attract startup capital for dubious schemes, an incantation deployed by managers to instantly achieve the status of future-forward leaders.
In a mere two letters, it conjures a vision of automated factories and robotic overlords, a utopia of leisure or a dystopia of servitude, depending on your point of view. It is not just technology, but a powerful vision of how society should function and what our future should look like.
In this sense, AI doesn’t need to work for it to work. The accuracy of a large language model may be doubtful, the productivity of an AI office assistant may be claimed rather than demonstrated, but this bundle of technologies, companies and claims can still alter the terrain of journalism, education, healthcare, service work and our broader sociocultural landscape.
Bender is a linguistics professor at the University of Washington, who has become a prominent technology critic. Hanna is a sociologist and former employee of Google, who is now the director of research at the Distributed AI Research Institute. After teaming up to mock AI boosters in their popular podcast, Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000, they have distilled their insights into a book written for a general audience. They meet the unstoppable force of AI hype with immovable scepticism.
Step one in this program is grasping how AI models work. Bender and Hanna do an excellent job of decoding technical terms and unpacking the “black box” of machine learning for lay people.
Driving this wedge between hype and reality, between assertions and operations, is a recurring theme across the pages of The AI Con, and one that should gradually erode readers’ trust in the tech industry. The book outlines the strategic deceptions employed by powerful corporations to reduce friction and accumulate capital. If the barrage of examples tends to blur together, the sense of technical bullshit lingers.
What is intelligence? A famous and highly cited paper co-written by Bender asserts that large language models are simply “stochastic parrots”, drawing on training data to predict which set of tokens (i.e. words) is most likely to follow the prompt given by a user. Harvesting millions of crawled websites, the model can regurgitate “the moon” after “the cow jumped over”, albeit in much more sophisticated variants.
Rather than actually understanding a concept in all its social, cultural and political contexts, large language models carry out pattern matching: an illusion of thinking.
But I would suggest that, in many domains, a simulation of thinking is sufficient, as it is met halfway by those engaging with it. Users project agency onto models via the well-known Eliza effect, imparting intelligence to the simulation.
Management are pinning their hopes on this simulation. They view automation as a way to streamline their organisations and not be “left behind”. This powerful vision of early adopters vs extinct dinosaurs is one we see repeatedly with the advent of new technologies – and one that benefits the tech industry.
In this sense, poking holes in the “intelligence” of artificial intelligence is a losing move, missing the social and financial investment that wants this technology to work. “Start with AI for every task. No matter how small, try using an AI tool first,” commanded DuoLingo’s chief engineering officer in a recent message to all employees. Duolingo has joined Fiverr, Shopify, IBM and a slew of other companies proclaiming their “AI first” approach.
The AI Con is strongest when it looks beyond or around the technologies to the ecosystem surrounding them, a perspective I have also argued is immensely helpful. By understanding the corporations, actors, business models and stakeholders involved in a model’s production, we can evaluate where it comes from, its purpose, its strengths and weaknesses, and what all this might mean downstream for its possible uses and implications. “Who benefits from this technology, who is harmed, and what recourse do they have?” is a solid starting point, Bender and Hanna suggest.
These basic but important questions extract us from the weeds of technical debate – how does AI function, how accurate or “good” is it really, how can we possibly understand this complexity as non-engineers? – and give us a critical perspective. They place the onus on industry to explain, rather than users to adapt or be rendered superfluous.
We don’t need to be able to explain technical concepts like backpropagation or diffusion to grasp that AI technologies can undermine fair work, perpetuate racial and gender stereotypes, and exacerbate environmental crises. The hype around AI means to distract us from these concrete effects, to trivialise them and thus encourage us to ignore them.
As Bender and Hanna explain, AI boosters and AI doomers are really two sides of the same coin. Conjuring up nightmare scenarios of self-replicating AI terminating humanity or claiming sentient machines will usher us into a posthuman paradise are, in the end, the same thing. They place a religious-like faith in the capabilities of technology, which dominates debate, allowing tech companies to retain control of AI’s future development.
The risk of AI is not potential doom in the future, à la the nuclear threat during the Cold War, but the quieter and more significant harm to real people in the present. The authors explain that AI is more like a panopticon “that allows a single prison warden to keep track of hundreds of prisoners at once”, or the “surveillance dragnets that track marginalised groups in the West”, or a “toxic waste, salting the earth of a Superfund site”, or a “scabbing worker, crossing the picket line at the behest of an employer who wants to signal to the picketers that they are disposable. The totality of systems sold as AI are these things, rolled into one.”
A decade ago, with another “game-changing” technology, author Ian Bogost observed that
rather than utopia or dystopia, we usually end up with something less dramatic yet more disappointing. Robots neither serve human masters nor destroy us in a dramatic genocide, but slowly dismantle our livelihoods while sparing our lives.
The pattern repeats. As AI matures (to some degree) and is adopted by organisations, it moves from innovation to infrastructure, from magic to mechanism. Grand promises never materialise. Instead, society endures a tougher, bleaker future. Workers feel more pressure; surveillance is normalised; truth is muddied with post-truth; the marginal become more vulnerable; the planet gets hotter.
Technology, in this sense, is a shapeshifter: the outward form constantly changes, yet the inner logic remains the same. It exploits labour and nature, extracts value, centralises wealth, and protects the power and status of the already-powerful.
Co-opting critique
In The New Spirit of Capitalism, sociologists Luc Boltanski and Eve Chiapello demonstrate how capitalism has mutated over time, folding critiques back into its DNA.
After enduring a series of blows around alienation and automation in the 1960s, capitalism moved from a hierarchical Fordist mode of production to a more flexible form of self-management over the next two decades. It began to favour “just in time” production, done in smaller teams, that (ostensibly) embraced the creativity and ingenuity of each individual. Neoliberalism offered “freedom”, but at a price. Organisations adapted; concessions were made; critique was defused.
AI continues this form of co-option. Indeed, the current moment can be described as the end of the first wave of critical AI. In the last five years, tech titans have released a series of bigger and “better” models, with both the public and scholars focusing largely on generative and “foundation” models: ChatGPT, StableDiffusion, Midjourney, Gemini, DeepSeek, and so on.
Scholars have heavily criticised aspects of these models – my own work has explored truth claims, generative hate, ethics washing and other issues. Much work focused on bias: the way in which training data reproduces gender stereotypes, racial inequality, religious bigotry, western epistemologies, and so on.
Much of this work is excellent and seems to have filtered into the public consciousness, based on conversations I’ve had at workshops and events. However, its flagging of such issues allows tech companies to practise issue resolving. If the accuracy of a facial-recognition system is lower with Black faces, add more Black faces to the training set. If the model is accused of English dominance, fork out some money to produce data on “low-resource” languages.
Companies like Anthropic now regularly carry out “red teaming” exercises designed to highlight hidden biases in models. Companies then “fix” or mitigate these issues. But due to the massive size of the data sets, these tend to be band-aid solutions, superficial rather than structural tweaks.
For instance, soon after launching, AI image generators were under pressure for not being “diverse” enough. In response, OpenAI invented a technique to “more accurately reflect the diversity of the world’s population”. Researchers discovered this technique was simply tacking on additional hidden prompts (e.g. “Asian”, “Black”) to user prompts. Google’s Gemini model also seems to have adopted this, which resulted in a backlash when images of Vikings or Nazis had South Asian or Native American features.
The point here is not whether AI models are racist or historically inaccurate or “woke”, but that models are political and never disinterested. Harder questions about how culture is made computational, or what kind of truths we want as society, are never broached and therefore never worked through systematically.
Such questions are certainly broader and less “pointy” than bias, but also less amenable to being translated into a problem for a coder to resolve.
What next?
How, then, should those outside the academy respond to AI? The past few years have seen a flurry of workshops, seminars and professional development initiatives. These range from “gee whiz” tours of AI features for the workplace, to sober discussions of risks and ethics, to hastily organised all-hands meetings debating how to respond now, and next month, and the month after that.
Bender and Hanna wrap up their book with their own responses. Many of these, like their questions about how models work and who benefits, are simple but fundamental, offering a strong starting point for organisational engagement.
For the technosceptical duo, refusal is also clearly an option, though individuals will obviously have vastly different degrees of agency when it comes to opting out of models and pushing back on adoption strategies. Refusal of AI, as with many technologies that have come before it, often relies to some extent on privilege. The six-figure consultant or coder will have discretion that the gig worker or service worker cannot exercise without penalties or punishments.
If refusal is fraught at the individual level, it seems more viable and sustainable at a cultural level. Bender and Hanna suggest generative AI be responded to with mockery: companies who employ it should be derided as cheap or tacky.
The cultural backlash against AI is already in full swing. Soundtracks on YouTube are increasingly labelled “No AI”. Artists have launched campaigns and hashtags, stressing their creations are “100% human-made”.
These moves are attempts to establish a cultural consensus that AI-generated material is derivative and exploitative. And yet, if these moves offer some hope, they are swimming against the swift current of enshittification. AI slop means faster and cheaper content creation, and the technical and financial logic of online platforms – virality, engagement, monetisation – will always create a race to the bottom.
The extent to which the vision offered by big tech will be accepted, how far AI technologies will be integrated or mandated, how much individuals and communities will push back against them – these are still open questions. In many ways, Bender and Hanna successfully demonstrate that AI is a con. It fails at productivity and intelligence, while the hype launders a series of transformations that harm workers, exacerbate inequality and damage the environment.
Yet such consequences have accompanied previous technologies – fossil fuels, private cars, factory automation – and hardly dented their uptake and transformation of society. So while praise goes to Bender and Hanna for a book that shows “how to fight big tech’s hype and create the future we want”, the issue of AI resonates, for me, with Karl Marx’s observation that people “make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please”.
Luke Munn 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.
Last week, one of the dark web’s most prominent drug marketplaces – Archetyp – was shut down in an international, multi-agency law enforcement operation following years of investigations. It was touted as a major policing win and was accompanied by a slick cyberpunk-themed video.
But those of us who have studied this space for years weren’t surprised. Archetyp may have been the most secure dark web market. But shutdowns like this have become a recurring feature of the dark web. And they are usually not a significant turning point.
The durability of these markets tells us that if policing responses keep following the same playbook, they will keep getting the same results. And by focusing so heavily on these hidden platforms, authorities are neglecting the growing digital harms in the spaces we all use.
One of the most popular dark web markets
Dark web markets mirror mainstream e-commerce platforms – think Amazon meets cybercrime. These are encrypted marketplaces accessed via the Tor Browser, a privacy-focused browser that hides users’ IP addresses. Buyers use cryptocurrency and escrow systems (third-party payment systems which hold funds until the transaction is complete) to anonymously purchase illicit drugs.
Usually these products are sent to the buyer by post and money transferred to the seller through the escrow system.
Archetyp launched in May 2020 and quickly grew to become one of the most popular dark web markets with an estimated total transaction volume of €250 million (A$446 million). It had more than 600,000 users worldwide and 17,000 listings consisting mainly of illicit drugs including MDMA, cocaine and methamphetamine.
Compared to its predecessors, Archetyp enforced enhanced security expectations from its users. These included an advanced encryption program known as “Pretty Good Privacy” and a cryptocurrency called Monero. Unlike Bitcoin, which records every payment on a public ledger, Monero conceals all transaction details by default which makes them nearly impossible to trace.
Despite the fact Archetyp had clearly raised the bar on security on the dark web, Operation Deep Sentinel – a collaborative effort between law enforcement agencies in six countries supported by Europol and Eurojust – took down the market. The front page has now been replaced by a banner.
While these publicised take-downs feel effective, evidence has shown such interventions only have short-term impacts and the dark web ecosystem will quickly adapt.
A persistent trade
These shutdowns aren’t new. Silk Road, AlphaBay, WallStreet and Monopoly Market are all familiar names in the digital graveyard of the dark web. Before these dark web marketplaces were shutdown, they sold a range of illegal products, from drugs to firearms.
Yet still, the trade persists. New markets emerge and old users return. In some cases, established sellers on closed-down markets are welcomed onto new markets as digital “refugees” and have joining fees waived.
What current policing strategies neglect is that dark web markets are not isolated to the storefronts that are the popular target of crackdowns. These are communities stretched across dark and surface web forums which develop shared tutorials and help one another adapt to any new changes. These closures bind users together and foster a shared resilience and collective experience in navigating these environments.
Law enforcement shutdowns are also only one type of disruption that dark web communities face. Dark web market users routinely face voluntary closures (the gradual retirement of a market), exit scams (sudden closures of markets where any money in escrow is taken), or even scheduled maintenance of these markets.
Ultimately, this disruption to accessibility is not a unique event. In fact, it is routine for individual’s participating in these dark web communities, par for the course of engaging in the markets.
This ability of dark web communities to thrive in disruptions reflects how dark web market users have become experts at adapting to risks, managing disruptions and rebuilding quickly.
The other emerging issue is that current policing efforts treat dark web markets as the core threat, which might miss the wider landscape of digital harms. Illicit drug sales, for example, are promoted on social media, where platform features such as recommendation systems are affording new means of illicit drug supply.
This is all alongside the countless cases of celebrities and social media influencers caught up in crypto pump-and-dump schemes, where hype is used to artificially inflate the price of a token before the creators sell off their holdings and leave investors with worthless tokens.
This shows that while the dark web gets all the attention, it’s far from the internet’s biggest problem.
Archetyp’s takedown might make headlines, but it won’t stop the trade of illicit drugs on the dark web. It should force us to think about where harm is really happening online and whether current strategies are looking in the wrong direction.
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.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Hop aboard, grip the handrail, press the gas, and it’s time for an exhilarating adventure across the vast, rolling sand dunes on a four-wheeled quad bike.
This thrilling experience is just one of many adventures visitors can enjoy at the N39 scenic area in Makit County of Xinjiang’s Kashgar Prefecture. Located on the southwestern edge of the Taklimakan, China’s largest and the world’s second-largest drifting desert — often referred to as the “Sea of Death” — this once-remote and seldom-visited wilderness has become a captivating destination.
“The ride was so much fun and so intense, we enjoyed it a lot,” said Li Wei, who brought her 18-year-old son for a post-graduation trip from Wuhu in east China’s Anhui Province, a city some 4,000 km from Kashgar. “Playing in the desert should be a great way for the kid to relax after the college entrance exam,” she added.
Launched in 2016, the tourist site is attracting a growing number of visitors. The annual tourist visits have reached 500,000, with a consistent year-on-year growth rate of 7 to 15 percent, according to Dong Mingjiang, general manager of the tourism development company of the scenic area.
“Many of our visitors come from afar, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong, and we have also received many foreign visitors from countries such as the United States, Britain, Singapore and Thailand,” he said.
Besides the four-wheelers, the site offers a wide choice of desert-based activities such as off-roaders, sand surfing, camel riding and desert camping.
At the camel trekking area, Chen Wenbai mounted a camel and, under the guidance of staff, set off to explore the rolling sand dunes. The rhythmic chime of camel bells and the ethereal whistling of the camel herders echoed across the wilderness, creating a scene reminiscent of the ancient Silk Road.
“It is my first time to see the big desert, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said Chen, who traveled all the way from Zhuhai in south China’s Guangdong Province to Xinjiang. Accompanying him were a dozen “travel buddies” he met online, who had discovered this scenic spot through Xiaohongshu, the Chinese lifestyle online platform known overseas as “rednote.”
The name of the tourist site N39 means the 39 degrees north latitude, a line popular with adventurers and off-road enthusiasts to cross the Taklimakan Desert. The history of the N39 dates back to 1895 when Swedish explorer Sven Anders Hedin led his team along this line to cross the Taklimakan in vain.
Today, witnessing an evolving landscape, the once-feared “Sea of Death” is transforming into a sea of life and hope.
Over the years, against the background of China’s fight against desertification, people in Xinjiang have been cultivating drought-resistant plants such as populus euphratica, saxaul and red willow at the edge of the Taklimakan to fix the sand and improve the environment. In November 2024, a sand-blocking green belt stretching 3,046 km was completed to encircle the Taklimakan.
In Makit, a total of 78,400 hectares of sand prevention and control projects, including 30,666 hectares of protective forests, have been completed. At the same time, the county has been tapping into the economic potential of the desert. Besides the N39 scenic area, it also established a tourist site featuring the Daolang (swordsman) culture and paintings created by local farmers.
According to Pan Guoping, deputy director of the local culture, broadcasting and tourism bureau, in the first five months of 2025, the county received over 1.78 million tourist visits, a growth of 55.05 percent year-on-year. Tourism revenue during the period reached 732 million yuan (102 million U.S. dollars), up 61.58 percent.
The tourist boom is evident around the Taklimakan.
At the northern edge of the desert, Xayar County, Aksu Prefecture, boasts the world’s largest and best-preserved pristine populus euphratica forest stretching along the Tarim River.
Thanks to the ecological restoration efforts such as ecological water conveyance and replanting, the county has created a wetland scenic area in the desert, integrating populus euphratica forests, lakes, wetlands and waterfowl habitats. In autumn, when the forests turn into a sea of golden yellow, this once-isolated area emerges as a popular destination, drawing visitors and photographers from near and far.
At the southern margin of the desert, Yutian County in Hotan Prefecture has a long history of rose cultivation. As part of the sand control efforts, local communities have successfully cultivated drought-resistant and highly adaptable rose varieties suitable to their local desert conditions.
The region now hosts a rose culture tourism festival annually, featuring an array of activities including song and dance performances, cultural exhibitions, rose-themed experiences, gourmet food tasting, agricultural product fairs, and sports events.
The booming tourism industry is offering immense opportunities for locals.
Four years ago, after graduating from Shanghai Normal University, Aynur Emer returned to her hometown of Makit and became a tour guide at the N39 scenic area. Now, at just 25 years old, she is the scenic spot’s deputy general manager.
Growing up in a farming family, Aynur Emer often found herself reflecting on the desert that dominated her childhood memories — a place of hardship she hoped to leave.
“The back door of our house opened directly onto the desert,” she recalled. “During sandstorms, the roads would disappear entirely. Coming back from the market, I frequently struggled to find my way home.”
As a little girl, she never imagined that the desert could become a tourist destination. Yet today, thanks to environmental improvements and a burgeoning tourism industry, the desert has transformed in her eyes from a source of struggle to one of beauty and prosperity.
“When I was young, I dreamed of traveling to see stunning landscapes far from home,” Aynur Emer said. “But now, the best view is right at my doorstep.” ■
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
In the heartland of China, near a 4,500-year-old farmland, a team of agricultural scientists is modernizing an ancient practice. They are using big data analytics and AI modeling to study and improve the yield of a specific plot of land.
At the experimental field near the Baodun Site, where evidence of ancient rice cultivation was found, researchers from Sichuan Agricultural University are using AI-powered models to simulate the result of different hybrid rice varieties.
The modern research method has greatly saved time, unlike the conventional approach, which would require waiting until the harvesting season of a certain rice hybrid, researchers said.
Chinese archaeologists have unearthed carbonized rice, millet, and foxtail millet at the Baodun site, a walled enclosure dating from 4,500 to 4,200 years back. This late Neolithic culture emerging on the Chengdu Plain in southwestern China, bears witness to the agricultural dawn of ancient Chinese civilization. Today, the site’s agricultural values, and also archaeological and economic values are being explored and expanded through technological means.
In a nearby lab, researchers are constructing a 3D image of the site to study the impact of ancient floods and to understand how the walled structures may have contributed to the prosperity of the plain. Not far from the site, the Tianfu Agricultural Expo Park, sprawling 96 square km, accommodates eco-farming, expo and innovative farming practices.
The park with integrated platforms blending culture, commerce, agriculture, and tourism has transformed muddy fields into vibrant cultural spaces, said Yuan Zhouping, director of agricultural industry department of the Sichuan Tianfu Agricultural Expo Park Investment Co., Ltd.
In addition to rice cultivation, silk-weaving, another ancient invention that originated at the Chengdu Plain, has received a modern technological boost.
At the Jinmen Creative Park showcasing the silk culture, the application of AI in Shu Brocade bridges tradition and innovation. Clients submit AI-generated photos for machines to weave into brocade bases before artisans embroider.
“AI-assisted brocade slashes design time and ensures uniqueness,” said Zhong Ming, director of Sichuan Shujing Cultural Communication Co., Ltd., “It turns consumers into co-creators, revitalizing intangible heritage.”
Juxtaposing the modern brocade is a six-meter-tall Tang Dynasty (618-907) loom, with its warp and weft threads labeled “1” and “0” revealing a binary code. The centuries-old brocade patterns are also being digitized and analyzed to foster innovation, Zhong said.
China has more than 7,000 officially registered museums which attracted 1.49 billion visits last year. Across the country, the increasingly wide use of AI, VR and AR now facilitates the preservation, utilization and exhibition of cultural relics and heritage.
In Chengdu, ancient paper money, or jiaozi from the 10th century, inspires creative works now exhibited at the city’s art museum. Digital docents offer immersive tours and answer questions instantly for interested museum-goers. Kiln museums market tea sets based on golden masks freshly unearthed from the Sanxingdui Site, a rich and mysterious city. These innovative pieces are being sold on livestreaming platforms and have gained popularity among young consumers. ■
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on June 25, 2025.
Bats get fat to survive hard times. But climate change is threatening their survival strategy Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicholas Wu, Lecturer in Wildlife Ecology, Murdoch University Rudmer Zwerver/Shutterstock Bats are often cast as the unseen night-time stewards of nature, flitting through the dark to control pest insects, pollinate plants and disperse seeds. But behind their silent contributions lies a remarkable and underappreciated survival strategy: seasonal
Japanese prime minister’s abrupt no-show at NATO summit reveals a strained alliance with the US Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Craig Mark, Adjunct Lecturer, Faculty of Economics, Hosei University Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has sent a clear signal to the Trump administration: the Japan–US relationship is in a dire state. After saying just days ago he would be attending this week’s NATO summit at The Hague,
Why have athletes stopped ‘taking a knee’? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ciprian N. Radavoi, Associate Professor in Law, University of Southern Queensland Eli Harold, Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid of the San Francisco 49ers kneel ahead of a game in 2016. Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images It’s almost a decade since San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick started
Nearly half of Kiwis oppose automatic citizenship for Cook Islands, says poll By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist A new poll by the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union shows that almost half of respondents oppose the Cook Islands having automatic New Zealand citizenship. Thirty percent of the 1000-person sample supported Cook Islanders retaining citizenship, 46 percent were opposed and 24 percent were unsure. The question asked: The Cook
Melanesian Spearhead Group leaders discuss Middle East conflict before ceasefire RNZ Pacific Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape says the Middle East conflict was one of the discussions of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) in Suva this week — and Pacific leaders “took note of what is happening”. The Post-Courier reports Marape saying the “12 Day War” between Israel and Iran was based on
The ancients also had to deal with a cost-of-living crisis. Here’s how they managed Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, Lecturer in Classics and Ancient History, The University of Western Australia Louis Le Brun, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY Talk to anyone today, and they will probably have something to say about how expensive life has become. While the rate of inflation has
Video games can help trans players feel seen and safe. It all starts with design Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Phoebe Toups Dugas, Associate Professor of Human-Centred Computing, Monash University Shano Liang There is a comfort in finding and being yourself. Video games offer opportunities for this comfort. They allow people to exist in safe spaces, to develop community, and to explore the self – as well
How old are you really? Are the latest ‘biological age’ tests all they’re cracked up to be? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hassan Vally, Associate Professor, Epidemiology, Deakin University We all like to imagine we’re ageing well. Now a simple blood or saliva test promises to tell us by measuring our “biological age”. And then, as many have done, we can share how “young” we really are on social
Global rankings fuel hype, but students have more to consider when choosing a uni Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kylie Message, Professor of Public Humanities and Director of the ANU Humanities Research Centre, Australian National University At this time of year, many year 12 students are seriously turning their minds to the future. Should they go to university next year? If so, which one? June is
Playful or harmful? David Seymour’s posts raise questions about what’s OK to say online Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kevin Veale, Senior Lecturer in Media Studies, part of the Digital Cultures Laboratory in the School of Humanities, Media, and Creative Communication, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images Deputy Prime Minister and ACT Party leader David Seymour says he is being “playful” and
Shadow treasurer Ted O’Brien accepts invitation to government’s economic roundtable Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The federal opposition has accepted an invitation from Treasurer Jim Chalmers for shadow treasurer Ted O’Brien to attend the August economic roundtable. The acceptance contrasts with the position taken by former opposition leader Peter Dutton last term. He refused to
Fiji advocacy group slams Indonesian role in MSG as a ‘disgrace’ Asia Pacific Report A Fiji-based advocacy group has condemned the participation of Indonesia in the Melanesian Spearhead Group which is meeting in Suva this week, saying it is a “profound disgrace” that the Indonesian Embassy continues to “operate freely” within the the MSG Secretariat. “This presence blatantly undermines the core principles of justice and solidarity
Will the fragile ceasefire between Iran and Israel hold? One factor could be crucial to it sticking Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ali Mamouri, Research Fellow, Middle East Studies, Deakin University Amir Levy/Getty Images After 12 days of war, US President Donald Trump has announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran that would bring to an end the most dramatic, direct conflict between the two nations in decades. Israel
Ramzy Baroud: The fallout – winners and losers from the Israeli war on Iran COMMENTARY: By Ramzy Baroud, editor of The Palestinian Chronicle The conflict between Israel and Iran over the past 12 days has redefined the regional chessboard. Here is a look at their key takeaways: Israel:Pulled in the US: Israel successfully drew the United States into a direct military confrontation with Iran, setting a significant precedent for
Iran and Israel agree to a fragile ceasefire. One factor could be crucial to it sticking Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ali Mamouri, Research Fellow, Middle East Studies, Deakin University Amir Levy/Getty Images After 12 days of war, US President Donald Trump has announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran that would bring to an end the most dramatic, direct conflict between the two nations in decades. Israel
eSafety boss wants YouTube included in the social media ban. But AI raises even more concerns for kids Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tama Leaver, Professor of Internet Studies, Curtin University Irina WS/Shutterstock Julie Inman Grant, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, today addressed the National Press Club to outline how her office will be driving the Social Media Minimum Age Bill when it comes into effect in December this year. The bill,
Trouble getting out of bed? Signs the ‘winter blues’ may be something more serious Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kelvin (Shiu Fung) Wong, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology, Swinburne University of Technology Justin Paget/Getty Winter is here. As the days grow shorter and the skies turn darker, you might start to feel a bit “off”. You may notice a dip in your mood or energy levels.
The war won’t end Iran’s nuclear program – it will drive it underground, following North Korea’s model Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anthony Burke, Professor of Environmental Politics & International Relations, UNSW Sydney The United States’ and Israel’s strikes on Iran are concerning, and not just for the questionable legal justifications provided by both governments. Even if their attacks cause severe damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities, this will only
Iran’s internet blackout left people in the dark. How does a country shut down the internet? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mohiuddin Ahmed, Senior Lecturer of Computing and Security, Edith Cowan University Dylan Carr/Unsplash In recent days, Iranians experienced a near-complete internet blackout, with local service providers – including mobile services – repeatedly going offline. Iran’s government has cited cyber security concerns for ordering the shutdown. Shutting off
It’s almost a decade since San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick started a worldwide trend and sparked fierce debate when he knelt during the US national anthem.
In 2016, Kaepernick refused to follow the pre-game protocol related to the national anthem and knelt instead, saying:
I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of colour.
Soon, many athletes and teams began “taking a knee” at sports events to express their solidarity with victims of racial injustice.
Following the intense public debate over the appropriateness of Kaepernick’s act, the ritual quickly spread worldwide, with athletes in major soccer leagues, cricket, rugby, Formula 1, top-tier tennis and the US’s Major League Baseball and National Basketball Association taking a knee.
Athletes didn’t always kneel during national anthems, with the majority kneeling at certain points pre-game.
Despite the occasional “defection” of a small number of players who would stand while their teammates knelt – such as Israel Folau in rugby league, Wilfried Zaha in soccer and Quinton de Kock in cricket – the ritual was widely embraced by teams and athletes and helped raise awareness of the issue.
Even major sports organisations notorious for prohibiting any type of political activism generally accepted the kneeling ritual. For example, soccer’s International Football Federation (FIFA) showcased kneeling as a “stand against discrimination” and as human rights advocacy.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) initially stood firm by its Rule 50, which states “no kind of demonstration or political, religious, or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas”.
But just three weeks before the 2021 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, the IOC relaxed its interpretation, and athletes were permitted to express their views in ways that included taking a knee.
A surprising turn of events
Despite permission and even encouragement from sports governing bodies, our research shows the practice is disappearing from major sports competitions.
Take soccer, for example. At the FIFA World Cup 2022, England and Wales were the only national teams that knelt at their games in Qatar.
At the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 in Australia and New Zealand, no teams or players knelt.
The same happened at the 2024 Olympic soccer tournament in Paris.
That only a handful of teams knelt in Tokyo at the 2021 Olympics, two at the FIFA Mens’ World Cup in Qatar in 2022, none at the FIFA Womens’ World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in 2023, and again none at the Paris 2024 Olympics indicates a growing reluctance throughout the sports world.
This surely cannot mean athletes have become indifferent to racial injustice or other forms of oppression in the interval between the late 2010s and the mid-2020s.
The explanation must be sought elsewhere. A hint was provided when Crystal Palace soccer player Zaha, the first player of colour in the UK who refused to kneel, explained:
I feel like taking the knee is degrading, because growing up my parents just let me know that I should be proud to be Black no matter what and I feel like we should just stand tall.
The explanation may therefore be, at least in part, the players’ uncomfortable feelings related to the kneeling posture.
In sociology, this bothersome state of mind is called “cognitive dissonance”: the mental conflict a person experiences in the presence of contrasting beliefs.
A history of kneeling
The body posture of kneeling is not deemed, in any culture, as expressing solidarity.
Ancient Greek and the Roman societies, on whose values Western civilisation was built, rejected kneeling as improper, even when praying to gods.
When performed outside the church, kneeling meant submission to nobility or royalty.
The significance of kneeling as humility is not limited to the Western world.
In African tribal culture, the young kneel in front of elders, and everyone kneels before the king.
In China in 1949, Chairman Mao famously proclaimed at the first plenary of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference:
From now on our nation […] will no longer be a nation subject to insult and humiliation. We have stood up.
With this in mind, kneeling may be deemed unfit at sporting events, which often feature a powerful cocktail of emotions, values and social expectations.
The inconsistency between the excitement of competition and the expectation to kneel — a gesture associated with submission and humility — likely creates a bothersome state of mind for athletes.
This potentially motivates some players to reject one of the two – in this case, the kneeling – to restore cognitive harmony.
What could replace the kneeling ritual?
After refusing, by unanimous players’ vote, to take a knee before their October 2020 game against the All Blacks, the Australian rugby union team chose instead to wear a First Nations jersey.
The same year, several teams in German soccer’s top league chose to show their support for Black Lives Matter by wearing distinctive armbands.
So it appears wearing a distinctive jersey or at least an armband is more easily accepted by modern-day athletes. This may be challenging given the governing bodies of many sports, such as FIFA, ban athletes from wearing political symbols on their clothing.
Depending on whether sports code accept this type of activism in the future, wearing suportive clothing could replace taking a knee as symbolic communication of solidarity with oppressed minorities.
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.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has sent a clear signal to the Trump administration: the Japan–US relationship is in a dire state.
After saying just days ago he would be attending this week’s NATO summit at The Hague, Ishiba abruptly pulled out at the last minute.
He joins two other leaders from the Indo-Pacific region, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, in skipping the summit.
The Japanese media reported Ishiba cancelled the trip because a bilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump was unlikely, as was a meeting of the Indo-Pacific Four (IP4) NATO partners (Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan).
Japan will still be represented by Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, showing its desire to strengthen its security relationship with NATO.
However, Ishiba’s no-show reveals how Japan views its relationship with the Trump administration, following the severe tariffs Washington imposed on Japan and Trump’s mixed messages on the countries’ decades-long military alliance.
Tariffs and diplomatic disagreements
Trump’s tariff policy is at the core of the divide between the US and Japan.
Ishiba attempted to get relations with the Trump administration off to a good start. He was the second world leader to visit Trump at the White House, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
However, Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs imposed a punitive rate of 25% on Japanese cars and 24% on all other Japanese imports. They are already having an adverse impact on Japan’s economy: exports of automobiles to the US dropped in May by 25% compared to a year ago.
Six rounds of negotiations have made little progress, as Ishiba’s government insists on full tariff exemptions.
Japan has been under pressure from the Trump administration to increase its defence spending, as well. According to the Financial Times, Tokyo cancelled a summit between US and Japanese defence and foreign ministers over the demand. (A Japanese official denied the report.)
Japan also did not offer its full support to the US bombings of Iran’s nuclear facilities earlier this week. The foreign minister instead said Japan “understands” the US’s determination to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Japan has traditionally had fairly good relations with Iran, often acting as an indirect bridge with the West. Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe even made a visit there in 2019.
Japan also remains heavily dependent on oil from the Middle East. It would have been adversely affected if the Strait of Hormuz had been blocked, as Iran was threatening to do.
Unlike the response from the UK and Australia, which both supported the strikes, the Ishiba government prioritised its commitment to upholding international law and the rules-based global order. In doing so, Japan seeks to deny China, Russia and North Korea any leeway to similarly erode global norms on the use of force and territorial aggression.
Strategic dilemma of the Japan–US military alliance
In addition, Japan is facing the same dilemma as other American allies – how to manage relations with the “America first” Trump administration, which has made the US an unreliable ally.
Earlier this year, Trump criticised the decades-old security alliance between the US and Japan, calling it “one-sided”.
“If we’re ever attacked, they don’t have to do a thing to protect us,” he said of Japan.
Lower-level security cooperation is ongoing between the two allies and their regional partners. The US, Japanese and Philippine Coast Guards conducted drills in Japanese waters this week. The US military may also assist with upgrading Japan’s counterstrike missile capabilities.
But Japan is still likely to continue expanding its security ties with partners beyond the US, such as NATO, the European Union, India, the Philippines, Vietnam and other ASEAN members, while maintaining its fragile rapprochement with South Korea.
Australia is now arguably Japan’s most reliable security partner. Canberra is considering buying Japan’s Mogami-class frigates for the Royal Australian Navy. And if the AUKUS agreement with the US and UK collapses, Japanese submarines could be a replacement.
Ishiba under domestic political pressure
There are also intensifying domestic political pressures on Ishiba to hold firm against Trump, who is deeply unpopular among the Japanese public.
After replacing former prime minister Fumio Kishida as leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) last September, the party lost its majority in the lower house of parliament in snap elections. This made it dependent on minor parties for legislative support.
Ishiba’s minority government has struggled ever since with poor opinion polling. There has been widespread discontent with inflation, the high cost of living and stagnant wages, the legacy of LDP political scandals, and ever-worsening geopolitical uncertainty.
On Sunday, the party suffered its worst-ever result in elections for the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, winning its lowest number of seats.
The party could face a similar drubbing in the election for half of the upper house of the Diet (Japan’s parliament) on July 20. Ishiba has pledged to maintain the LDP’s majority in the house with its junior coalition partner Komeito. But if the government falls into minority status in both houses, Ishiba will face heavy pressure to step down.
Craig Mark 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.
Bats are often cast as the unseen night-time stewards of nature, flitting through the dark to control pest insects, pollinate plants and disperse seeds. But behind their silent contributions lies a remarkable and underappreciated survival strategy: seasonal fattening.
Much like bears and squirrels, bats around the world bulk up to get through hard times – even in places where you might not expect it.
In a paper published today in Ecology Letters, we analysed data from bat studies around the world to understand how bats use body fat to survive seasonal challenges, whether it’s a freezing winter or a dry spell.
The surprising conclusion? Seasonal fattening is a global phenomenon in bats, not just limited to those in cold climates.
Even bats in the tropics, where it’s warm all year, store fat in anticipation of dry seasons when food becomes scarce. That’s a survival strategy that’s been largely overlooked. But it may be faltering as the climate changes, putting entire food webs at risk.
Climate shapes fattening strategies
We found bats in colder regions predictably gain more weight before winter.
But in warmer regions with highly seasonal rainfall, such as tropical savannas or monsoonal forests, bats also fatten up. In tropical areas, it’s not cold that’s the enemy, but the dry season, when flowers wither, insects vanish and energy is hard to come by.
The extent of fattening is impressive. Some species increased their body weight by more than 50%, which is a huge burden for flying animals that already use a lot of energy to move around. This highlights the delicate balancing act bats perform between storing energy and staying nimble in the air.
In colder climates, female bats used their fat reserves more sparingly than males – a likely adaptation to ensure they have enough energy left to raise young when spring returns. Since females typically emerge from hibernation to raise their young, conserving fat through winter can directly benefit their reproductive success.
Interestingly, this sex-based difference vanished in warmer climates, where fat use by males and females was more similar, likely because more food is available in warmer climates. It’s another clue that climate patterns intricately shape behaviour and physiology.
Climate change is shifting the rules
Beyond the biology, our study points to a more sobering trend. Bats in warm regions appear to be increasing their fat stores over time. This could be an early warning sign of how climate change is affecting their survival.
Climate change isn’t just about rising temperatures. It’s also making seasons more unpredictable.
Bats may be storing more energy in advance of dry seasons that are becoming longer or harder to predict. That’s risky, because it means more foraging, more exposure to predators and potentially greater mortality.
The implications can ripple outward. Bats help regulate insect populations, fertilise crops and maintain healthy ecosystems. If their survival strategies falter, entire food webs could feel the effects.
Fat bats, fragile futures
Our study changes how we think about bats. They are not just passive victims of environmental change but active strategists, finely tuned to seasonal rhythms. Yet their ability to adapt has limits, and those limits are being tested by a rapidly changing world.
By understanding how bats respond to climate, we gain insights into broader ecosystem resilience. We also gain a deeper appreciation for one of nature’s quiet heroes – fattening up, flying through the night and holding ecosystems together, one wingbeat at a time.
Nicholas Wu was the lead author of a funded Australian Research Council Linkage Grant awarded to Christopher Turbill at Western Sydney University.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
New agreements focusing on innovation were signed Tuesday between Chinese and Greek universities and institutes at a conference held in Athens, aiming to boost scientific and industrial cooperation.
The Greece-Jiangsu Innovation and Industrial Cooperation Conference held at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) brought together more than 160 officials, academics, and industry experts from both countries. The forum focused on advancing joint research and commercialization in high-tech fields.
NTUA Rector Ioannis K. Chatjigeorgiou noted his university’s strong ties with Chinese universities, saying, “We expect meaningful outcomes for science, education, and bilateral relations.”
NTUA signed two partnership agreements: one with the China University of Mining and Technology (CUMT), and another jointly with the Jiangsu Industrial Technology Research Institute (JITRI) and the Shanghai Yangtze Delta Innovation Institute.
The agreement between NTUA and CUMT builds on longstanding collaboration between their electrical engineering departments, said CUMT President Liu Bo.
During the conference, experts from China and Greece exchanged views on cutting-edge topics, including RISC-V processor architecture, sustainable maritime technologies, and energy innovation. Researchers from both countries discussed ongoing projects and held talks to explore future collaboration opportunities during panel discussions and roundtables.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Guests attend the parallel session “Checking In on the Energy Transition” during the 2025 Summer Davos Forum at the National Convention and Exhibition Center (Tianjin) in north China’s Tianjin Municipality, June 24, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]
A premier barometer of global economic trends and industrial transformation, the 2025 Summer Davos Forum has seen record attendance for recent years, with over 1,700 participants traveling from around the world.
Its popularity is testament to both the convening power of the event, which is taking place from Tuesday to Thursday in north China’s Tianjin Municipality, and the unparalleled magnetism of China’s mega-scale market.
Also called the 16th Annual Meeting of New Champions of the World Economic Forum (WEF), this year’s forum is themed “Entrepreneurship for a New Era.”
“The theme, which builds on the DNA of this meeting since its inception, particularly focuses on how innovation, entrepreneurship and technological advancements can unlock growth, competitiveness and productivity,” Mirek Dusek, managing director of the WEF, said on Tuesday at the forum’s opening press conference.
The event spotlights five key areas: deciphering the world economy, outlook on China, industries disrupted, investing in people and the planet, and new energy and materials.
Unlike the annual meeting of the WEF held every January in Switzerland’s Davos, the Summer Davos Forum places greater emphasis on the future of business and technological advancement. This year’s edition not only demonstrates China’s achievements in high-quality economic development and its steadfast commitment to high-standard opening-up to the international community — it is also a platform for China to actively share the opportunities and dividends of its development with the world.
Green transformation
On the rooftop of the National Convention and Exhibition Center (Tianjin), where the 2025 Summer Davos Forum is being held for the first time, solar panels supply continuous clean energy to power the venue during the event.
According to the State Grid Corporation of China, this edition of the forum has achieved a 100 percent green power supply for its venues, utilizing a total of 800,000 kilowatt-hours of renewable electricity — equivalent to saving about 300 tonnes of standard coal combustion and cutting approximately 600 tonnes of carbon emissions.
The venue utilizes photovoltaic power generation and sponge city technologies, replacing conventional energy sources with renewables to reduce infrastructure carbon emissions, while significantly enhancing energy, water and material efficiency.
Sustainability is at the core of WEF events, said Severin Podolak, head of event management and operations for WEF, adding that the sofas and other furniture used in the venues are recycled materials from 2023, and some of the paints used for decoration were derived from renewable resources such as fishing nets.
Additionally, a fleet of hundreds of new energy vehicles (NEVs) from six leading carmakers, including Audi FAW, are facilitating eco-conscious transportation for forum participants, advancing the event’s carbon neutrality goals.
The concept of sustainability has been integrated thoroughly — from venue design to the forum’s agenda, with key topics such as Asia’s carbon markets and the next steps for climate resilience becoming focal points of discussions, addressing sustainable development directly.
Green nitrogen fixation has been named in the WEF’s Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2025, alongside innovations like collaborative sensing and autonomous biochemical sensing, further solidifying sustainability as a global priority.
Today, China stands as the global leader in renewable energy investment. The nation has pioneered transformative technologies in the fields of batteries and electric vehicles, creating millions of high-quality jobs in these future-oriented sectors, according to Gim Huay Neo, managing director of the WEF.
“I think this is an area where there’s a lot of scope for us to learn from China’s experience, where there could actually be constructive partnerships between China and other parts of the world to also support the global energy transition,” Neo said. “The climate emergency and the planetary crisis cannot be resolved if we do not bring everybody along on this journey.”
AI revolution
A futuristic exhibition zone at the venue has become a major attraction, where cutting-edge AI products like humanoid robots, brain-computer interfaces and fully autonomous drone inspection systems are drawing large crowds of attendees. These innovations vividly showcase Chinese enterprises’ technological breakthroughs and pioneering applications of AI.
“China may have found the key to restarting global economic growth — its ‘AI Plus’ strategy,” said Liu Gang, chief economist of the Chinese Institute of New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Strategies.
He explained that integrating artificial intelligence with the real economy yields remarkable economic benefits. For example, research conducted by his team shows that applying AI to the development of new materials can improve efficiency 100-fold to 1,000-fold.
Across various sessions at the 2025 Summer Davos, discussions on AI are unfolding with remarkable intensity, mirroring the fervent debates witnessed at other premier global forums. Notably, a dedicated session titled “Understanding China’s approach to AI” will be convened, underscoring the international community’s growing recognition of China’s pivotal role in the global AI development landscape.
“It will be like the industrial revolution,” former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said when talking about new technologies at the forum. Countries that embrace it go up, and countries that don’t go down, he said.
“I think how you understand, master and harness the technology revolution solution is the single biggest government challenge for the 21st century,” he noted.
Global synergy
According to the WEF, the global growth outlook has reached its lowest point in decades. Reigniting the spirit of cooperation will require greater commitment and creativity than ever before.
Professor Tong Jiadong at Nankai University, who has served as the long-term Chinese agenda research leader for the Tianjin Summer Davos Forum, observed that the event has evolved beyond a premier global thought leadership summit into a dynamic platform facilitating international exchange and cooperation.
Zhao Yan, chairman and general manager of Chinese firm Bloomage Biotech, has been a regular participant at the Summer Davos Forum. Over the years, the company has established a comprehensive global supply chain network across over 70 countries and regions.
“Despite navigating complex uncertainties, the enterprise has never resorted to isolationism, but instead strives to reshape global competition rules through open innovation,” Zhao said.
In the first five months of this year, the total volume of China’s imports and exports of goods grew 2.5 percent year on year, and the consumption enthusiasm of foreign visitors surged significantly.
“We value our cooperation with China very much. We’re seeing more and more interest and participation coming here,” said Borge Brende, president and CEO of the WEF. “I’m relatively optimistic for the Chinese economy, both in medium term and long term.”
An illustration of the bioplastic metafilm developed by UniSA and Zhengzhou University researchers, proposed as a next-generation material for sustainable cooling
An international team of scientists has developed a biodegradable material that could slash global energy consumption without using any electricity, according to a new study published today.
The bioplastic metafilm – that can be applied to buildings, equipment and other surfaces – passively cools temperatures by as much as 9.2°C during peak sunlight and reflects almost 99% of the sun’s rays.
Developed by researchers from Zhengzhou University in China and the University of South Australia (UniSA), the new film is a sustainable and long-lasting material that could reduce building energy consumption by up to 20% a year in some of the world’s hottest cities.
The material is described in the latest issue of Cell Reports Physical Science.
UniSA PhD candidate Yangzhe Hou says the cooling metafilm represents a breakthrough in sustainable materials engineering that could help combat rising global temperatures and hotter cities.
“Our metafilm offers an environmentally friendly alternative to air-conditioning, which contributes significantly to carbon emissions,” says Hou, who is also from Zhengzhou University.
“The material reflects nearly all solar radiation and theoretically allows internal building heat to emit directly into outer space. This enables the building to stay cool, even under direct sunlight.”
Notably, the film continues to perform even after prolonged exposure to acidic conditions and ultraviolet light – two major barriers that have historically hindered similar biodegradable materials.
Constructed from polylactic acid (PLA) – a common plant-derived bioplastic – the metafilm is fabricated using a low-temperature separation technique that reflects 98.7% of sunlight and minimises heat gain.
“Unlike conventional cooling technologies, this metafilm requires no electricity or mechanical systems,” says co-author Dr Xianhu Liu from Zhengzhou University.
“Most existing passive radiative cooling systems rely on petrochemical-based polymers or ceramics that raise environmental concerns. By using biodegradable PLA, we are presenting a green alternative that offers high solar reflectance, strong thermal emission, sustainability, and durability.”
In real-world applications, the metafilm showed an average temperature drop of 4.9°C during the day and 5.1°C at night. Field tests conducted in both China and Australia confirmed its stability and efficiency under harsh environmental conditions. Even after 120 hours in strong acid and the equivalent of eight months’ outdoor UV exposure, the metafilm retained cooling power of up to 6.5°C.
Perhaps most significantly, the simulations revealed that the metafilm could cut annual energy consumption by up to 13.1% in cities such as Sydney by reducing dependence on air conditioning.
“This isn’t just a lab-scale success” says co-author Professor Jun Ma from the University of South Australia.
“Our film is scalable and completely degradable,” he says.
“This research aims to contribute to sustainable development by reducing reliance on fossil fuels and exploring feasible pathways to improve human comfort while minimising environmental impact.”
The discovery addresses a major challenge in the field: how to reconcile high-performance cooling with eco-friendly degradation.
The researchers are now exploring potential applications in buildings, transport, agriculture, electronics, and the biomedical field including cooling wound dressings.
‘A structural bioplastic metafilm for durable passive radiative cooling’ is published in Cell Reports Physical Science and is authored by Yangzhe Hou, Yamin Pan, Xianhu Liu, Jun Ma, Chuntai Liu and Changyu Shen. DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrp.2025.102664
Recognized international leader in risk management, international affairs, and development policy will head EWC’s mission starting in July
HONOLULU (June 24, 2025) — The East-West Center Board of Governors is pleased to announce the selection of Celeste A. Connors as the institution’s next President, effective July 1. A Hawai‘i-raised leader with over 25 years of global experience in risk management, diplomacy, national security, and development policy, Ms. Connors brings a deep understanding of both international affairs and regional priorities to the role.
Her appointment concludes an extensive search to succeed outgoing Interim President James K. Scott, the former EWC Board chair who has been serving in the presidential post temporarily since the beginning of this year. The Board selected Connors following a robust process engaging a broad range of EWC stakeholders.
Experience across sectors
“Ms. Connors was selected from an impressive applicant pool of talented and experienced individuals,” said EWC Board of Governors Chairman John Waihe‘e. “We feel strongly that her breadth of leadership experience across government, civil society, academia, and business sectors is exactly what the Center requires to carry our mission and legacy forward to a bright new future at this pivotal time in our institution’s proud 65-year history.”
“I’m deeply honored and excited to lead the East-West Center team in continuing to advance regional cooperation,” said Connors. “Strategically based in the Pacific Ocean, the EWC plays a critical role in supporting US engagement in the Indo-Pacific region through convening, expert dialogue, educational exchange, and people-to-people connections. In Hawai‘i and beyond, we seek to support security and prosperity by promoting leadership and partnerships around our shared interests and values.”
“I am delighted with the Board’s selection,” said outgoing Interim President Scott, who will be returning to a fundraising position on the EWC Foundation board. “Celeste is already a close partner to the Center, as well as being one of our adjunct experts, and I know she will devote herself to East-West Center’s continued success with the same passion for our mission that inspires our dedicated staff and community. I look forward to working with her on a seamless transition.”
Insight and inspiration
“The role of leading the East-West Center demands a leader with profound insight into the complex interplay of global, regional, and national dynamics—particularly across Asia and the Pacific,” said Adm. Thomas Fargo (Ret.), former commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command and current Chairman of Hawaiian Electric Industries, where Connors is a board member. “Equally important is a deep appreciation for the diverse cultures, values, and relationships that shape this region. Celeste Connors brings to this position not only these essential qualities, but also a breadth of experience and vision that will serve the Center exceptionally well.”
“Celeste has been an energetic, enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and inspirational leader who has put Hawai‘i Green Growth on the local, national, and international map. She is indeed leaving us very large shoes to fill,” added Hawai‘i Green Growth Board Chair Randy Moore, former head of the University of Hawai‘i Board of Regents and a noted educator and business executive. “On the other hand, we cannot think of a better candidate to lead the East-West Center. Celeste has developed strong contacts with leaders of Pacific Island nations, and together with her prior experience in the US Department of State and the White House, she is plugged into a network that will enable the Center to productively serve Hawaiʻi, the nation, and the world. We wish her every success.”
About Celeste Connors
Celeste A. Connors, who was raised in Hawai‘i, is a recognized international leader with more than 25 years of risk management and national security experience. As a former Director on both the National Security Council and the National Economic Council under both Republican and Democratic administrations, she chaired complex interagency processes and advised White House leaders on energy, trade, environment, and technology strategies. She previously gained extensive foreign policy experience while serving as a US diplomat in Saudi Arabia, Greece, Germany, and the US Mission to the United Nations, and as Foreign Policy Adviser to the Mayor of New York City.
In recent years, Connors has led the internationally recognized center of excellence Hawaii Green Growth, where she developed policy and investment solutions to help build resilient communities. She is also co-founder of c.dots development LLC, and the Co-Chair of the Local2030 Islands Network, a group of 45 island economies focused on building a safer, more resilient future.
Ms. Connors has an extensive background in corporate and nonprofit governance, including serving on the boards of Hawaiian Electric Industries, the state’s primary electricity provider, and the Hawai‘i Visitors and Convention Bureau. She also co-chairs the Hawai‘i Sustainability Business Forum, which brings together the CEOs of the state’s top public and private companies.
She has served in academia as well, as a faculty lecturer and practitioner with the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), where she led a practicum program focused on risk management. In addition, she has been an Adjunct Senior Fellow with the East-West Center since 2021, when Hawai‘i Green Growth entered a formal partnership with the Center to collaborate on sustainable development initiatives.
Ms. Connors holds a master’s degree in Development Studies from the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and an undergraduate degree in International Relations from Tufts University. Her husband Paul is a former diplomat and teacher, and they have a son and daughter in their teens.
The East-West Center promotes better relations and understanding among the people and nations of the United States, Asia, and the Pacific through cooperative study, research, and dialogue. Established by the US Congress in 1960, the Center serves as a resource for information and analysis on critical issues of common concern, bringing people together to exchange views, build expertise, and develop policy options.
An artist’s rendition of the newly discovered fish, _Sphyragnathus tyche_.(C. Wilson), CC BY
In 2015, two members of the Blue Beach Fossil Museum in Nova Scotia found a long, curved fossil jaw, bristling with teeth. Sonja Wood, the museum’s owner, and Chris Mansky, the museum’s curator, found the fossil in a creek after Wood had a hunch.
The fossil they found belonged to a fish that had died 350 million years ago, its bony husk spanning nearly a metre on the lake bed. The large fish had lived in waters thick with rival fish, including giants several times its size. It had hooked teeth at the tip of its long jaw that it would use to trap elusive prey and fangs at the back to pierce it and break it down to eat.
Blue Beach Fossil Museum curator Chris Mansky below the fossil cliffs. (C. Wilson), CC BY
Birth of the modern vertebrate world
The modern vertebrate world is defined by the dominance of three groups: the cartilaginous fishes or chondrichthyans (including sharks, rays and chimaeras), the lobe-finned fishes or sarcopterygians (including tetrapods and rare lungfishes and coelacanths), and the ray-finned fishes or actinopterygians (including everything from sturgeon to tuna). Only a few jawless fishes round out the picture.
Armoured jawless fishes had dwindled by the Late Devonian Period (419.2-358.9 MA), but the rest were still diverse. Actinopterygians were still restricted to a few species with similar body shapes.
By the immediately succeeding early Carboniferous times, everything had changed. The placoderms were gone, the number of species of fishy sarcopterygians and acanthodians had cratered, and actinopterygians and chondrichthyans were flourishing in their place.
A shortnose chimaera, belonging to the chondrichthyan group of vertebrates. (Shutterstock)
A sea change
Blue Beach has helped build our understanding of how this happened. Studies describing its tetrapods and actinopterygians have showed the persistence of Devonian-style forms in the Carboniferous Period.
Whereas the abrupt end-Devonian decline of the placoderms, acanthodians and fishy sarcopterygians can be explained by a mass extinction, it now appears that multiple types of actinopterygians and tetrapods survived to be preserved at Blue Beach. This makes a big difference to the overall story: Devonian-style tetrapods and actinopterygians survive and contribute to the evolution of these groups into the Carboniferous Period.
Comparing the jawbones of Sphyragnathus, Austelliscus and Tegeolepis. (C. Wilson), CC BY
The Blue Beach fossil was actinopterygian, and we wondered what it could tell us about this issue. Comparison was difficult. Two actinopterygians with long jaws and large fangs were known from the preceding Devonian Period (Austelliscus ferox and Tegeolepis clarki), but the newly found jaw had more extreme curvature and the arrangement of its teeth. Its largest fangs are at the back of its jaw, but the largest fangs of Austelliscus and Tegeolepis are at the front.
These differences were significant enough that we created a new genus and species: Sphyragnathus tyche. And, in view of the debate on actinopterygian diversification, we made a prediction: that the differences in anatomy between Sphyragnathus and Devonian actinopterygians represented different adaptations for feeding.
Front fangs
To test this prediction, we compared Sphyragnathus, Austelliscus and Tegeolepis to living actinopterygians. In modern actinopterygians, the difference in anatomy reflects a difference in function: front-fangs capture prey with their front teeth and grip it with their back teeth, but back-fangs use their back teeth.
Since we couldn’t observe the fossil fish in action, we analyzed the stress their teeth would experience if we applied force. The back teeth of Sphyragnathus handled force with low stress, making them suited for a role in piercing prey, but the back teeth of Austelliscus and Tegeolepis turned low forces into significantly higher stress, making them best suited for gripping.
Substantial work remains — only the jaw of Sphyragnathus is preserved, so the “locomotion-first” hypothesis was untested. But this represents the challenge and promise of paleontology: get enough tantalizing glimpses into the past and you can begin to unfold a history.
Conrad Daniel Mackenzie Wilson receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Ontario Student Assistance Program, and the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.
After years of decline, the number of Australians getting a crack at university are bouncing back.
When you take out the two COVID years, this year looks set to be the biggest year for Australians commencing an undergraduate or postgraduate university degree on record.
Preliminary data for 2024 shows around 390,000 domestic students began a degree – a 3.7 per cent increase on 2023.
This includes more than 20,000 new starters in nursing degrees (a 3 per cent increase) and more than 25,000 new starters in teaching degrees (a 9 per cent increase).
Early, year to date figures for 2025 suggest that growth is continuing with commencements up another 3 per cent compared to the same time in 2024.
This reverses the trend seen since 2017, excluding the COVID years, where the number of domestic students commencing an undergraduate or postgraduate degree have been steadily falling.
Source: Higher Education Statistics – Student Data
Notes: 2024 data are preliminary. Final, official statistics may vary. 2025 data are a preliminary forecast based on year-to-date (YTD) May 2025 data. Final, full year 2025 data may differ if YTD May growth is not sustained at previous levels throughout the academic year.
In addition, over 14,000 students have taken up Fee-Free Uni Ready courses this year.
Fee-Free Uni Ready courses are short courses that help prepare people for university, acting as a bridge between school or work and higher education.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Education Jason Clare:
‘We need more people with more skills. That means more people finishing schools and more people going to TAFE or uni, or both.
“The Universities Accord sets a target that by 2050, 80 per cent of workers will have a TAFE or university qualification.
“To hit that target, we need to break down that invisible barrier that stops a lot of Australians from disadvantaged backgrounds, from the regions and the outer suburbs from getting a crack at uni and succeeding when they get there.
“That requires reform across the entire education system. That’s what the fully funding of our public schools is about. It’s also what the new funding system for our universities, that will roll out next year, is about.
“That will deliver demand-driven funding for equity students and needs based funding ensuring students get the academic and wrap-around supports they need to succeed at university.”
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
The first published research findings from Our Future Health data looks at whether people living with chronic inflammatory conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis or Crohn’s disease, have a higher risk of mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder.
The research, published in BMJ Mental Health, analysed data from the Our Future Health research programme, which is now the world’s largest dataset for research on depression and anxiety. The findings show significant links.
Published Our Future Health data will give an insight into the prevalence of mental health issues in society. Experts from Our Future Health will provide further details of the data and how this will now be made available to mental health researchers in the UK and around the world.
Speakers included:
Dr Raghib Ali OBE,Chief Executive and Chief Medical Officer of Our Future Health
Professor Daniel Smith,Chair of Psychiatry and Head of Division of Psychiatry, The University of Edinburgh
Dr Arish Mudra Rakshasa-Loots,Research Fellow (Hub for Metabolic Psychiatry), The University of Edinburgh
Dr Rosalind Blackwood,Director of Population Health Insights, Our Future Health
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
A study published in the Lancet looks at global trends in routine childhood vaccination coverage.
Dr Simon Clarke, Associate Professor in Cellular Microbiology, and Head of Division of Biomedical Sciences & Biomedical Engineering, University of Reading, said:
“These figures indicate a worrying level of children in the UK who are completely unvaccinated against childhood diseases. While the comparative data do not show the specific causes of this rising trend over recent decades, the WHO and others are right to highlight it as a worrying trend.
“This is a very large assessment of multiple and large data sources, combined with models which are used to provide consistency between the data and provide forecasts into the future. Such methodology provides both a clear overview of the past trajectories of immunisation rates along with an effective range of possible scenarios for the future, which appears to be robust and based on sound data. The authors are clear about the limitations of their study but these do not detract from the overall message.
“The current move away from funding global health schemes through international aid in order to spend more on defence puts the whole world at greater risk of future epidemics and pandemics. Our security against this in the UK is improved by supporting efforts to not let dangerous diseases take hold in populations elsewhere in the world. Our experience of Covid reminds us that lethal human diseases can be very hard to contain on the other side of international borders.”
Dr David Elliman, Honorary Senior Associate Professor, UCL, said:
“Vaccination is one of the most cost-effective ways that the health service can improve the lives of children around the world. It is a great success story with more vaccines being introduced all the time. Not only does vaccination save lives, but it often saves money. However, in the last ten to twenty years, many countries, worldwide, have seen a reduction in the proportion of children receiving all the available vaccines. This article by a large group of researchers has documented the decline. It may be difficult to measure uptake of vaccination accurately, but the researchers have allowed for this. It is clear that the decline in uptake is happening around the world. This has resulted in outbreaks of disease, for examples measles and whooping cough in USA and Europe (including UK) as well as in resource poor countries. These diseases can and do kill children. While part of the fall in vaccination is related to COVID, the trend was clear before then.
“Declining vaccination rates are often blamed on misinformation, but there are many reasons, of which this is only one. Access to vaccines is often overlooked or underestimated as a factor, even in the UK. Around the world, the increasing number of countries torn apart by civil unrest and wars, combined with the drastic cuts in foreign aid from rich nations, such as USA and UK, makes it difficult to get vaccines to many populations. With the political changes in USA where it appears that policy is being made on the basis of ill-informed opinion, rather than science, we have a perfect storm. The researchers’ recommendations to strengthen primary health-care systems, address vaccine misinformation and hesitancy, and adapt to local contexts can, and should, be applied to all countries, including the UK. In addition we should ensure that vaccines are available to all.
“It is in everyone’s interest that this situation is rectified. Not only is it a moral imperative to improve the health of ALL children, wherever possible, but as was said during the COVID pandemic, no-one is safe, until everyone is safe. While vaccine-preventable infectious diseases, occur anywhere in the world, we are all at risk. Universal vaccination is a perfect example of ‘enlightened self interest’.”
Prof Sir Andrew Pollard FRCPCH FMedSci FRS, Director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, and Ashall Professor of Infection and Immunity, Pandemic Sciences Institute, University of Oxford, said:
“The study uses an established approach to track the global burden of disease and immunisation coverage and the authors have tried hard to get the most accurate data by using multiple sources and account for regional variation and inequalities. These types of study will always be limited by the lack of high quality national data from most countries in the world which means there has to be extrapolation and assumption. Nevertheless these are important data providing a concerning picture of recent declines in vaccine coverage and an increase in the number of zero dose children which risks the future health and lives of millions of children.
“Incredible progress has been made in the past 50 years since the global expanded programme of immunisation was launched 50 years ago and over 150 million lives, mostly children, have been saved by the programme. The story is the same here in the UK with the launch of our own national programme by JCVI 62 years ago: deaths from infectious diseases of childhood have plummeted here too. The rarity of childhood severe disease and death from infection risks that we become complacent. But the danger remains out there: all of the diseases for which vaccines can protect children remain at large, only kept at bay by the shield which is provided by immunuisation. Unvaccinated children are vulnerable to a wide range of awful life-threatening bacteria and viruses, just as was the case for our population in the first half of the 20th century. There is a worrying trend of falling vaccine coverage worldwide which has been manifest in the last year as the outbreaks in Europe and North America of measles and whooping cough, with measles deaths in Texas in 2025. Falling global vaccine coverage, an increase in the numbers of children receiving no vaccines, and delays in vaccination mean that more children will be hospitalised, permanently damaged and die from fully preventable diseases if the trend is not reversed. Alas, the cuts in global health funding mean that this situation is set to deteriorate. This is a big concern for the future of our health and global health security.”
Dr Ed Parker, Assistant Professor and Co-Director of the Vaccine Centre, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), said:
“This is a timely study that attempts to quantify global trends in childhood vaccine coverage since 1980. The findings highlight the remarkable progress that has been made to deliver life-saving vaccines across the globe, while painting a clear picture of the challenges faced following disrupted vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic and the stagnation in vaccination rates that preceded it.
“Underpinning the work is an immense data curation effort, drawing together data from household surveys, national coverage reports, and various other sources from across the globe. The study team estimated coverage trends with careful consideration of the biases, gaps, and inconsistencies that are inherent in these data, providing strong foundations for the study’s conclusions.
“A key uncertainty – acknowledged by the authors – is that it is too early to know what effect proposed funding cuts might have on vaccination programmes globally. The recent resurgence of measles, polio, and diphtheria – all preventable by vaccination – serves as a reminder of what is at stake if high and equitable vaccine coverage is not sustained.”
Prof Helen Bedford, Professor of Children’s Health, UCL, said:
“It is often said that, after clean water, vaccination is the most effective intervention for protecting the health of our children. While it can be challenging in many settings to measure vaccine uptake accurately, the researchers publishing the latest data from the World Health Organization have made allowance for this and it provides powerful evidence. It is estimated that vaccination has prevented an estimated 154 million deaths, mostly in the under-fives, across the globe in the last 50 years. However, we cannot rest on our laurels; this progress is stalling in many countries including the UK. In UK, although vaccination is the norm, with the overwhelming majority of parents vaccinating their babies, infants and children without hesitation, there has been a small but gradual decline in the number of parents doing so each year over the past 12 years with increasing inequity in uptake between social groups. This has resulted in recent outbreaks of disease with the largest number of confirmed cases of measles since the 1990s and the tragic deaths of eleven babies from whooping cough in 2024.
“The reasons for declining vaccine uptake are numerous and complex but require commitment and resource to meet the challenges of increasing social inequity, readily available mis-information about vaccine safety and necessity and improving public confidence in vaccination programmes. Vaccination remains one of our most powerful tools for protecting child health, but its continued success depends on sustained investment, equity, and public trust.”
‘Global, regional, and national trends in routine childhood vaccination coverage from 1980 to 2023 with forecasts to 2030: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023’ by GBD 2023 Vaccine Coverage Collaborators was published in the Lancet at 23:30 UK time on Tuesday 24 June 2025.
DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(25)01037-2
Declared interests
Dr Simon Clarke: “No conflicts of interest.”
Dr David Elliman: “No conflicts of interest.”
Prof Sir Andrew Pollard: “Professor Pollard is chair of JCVI which provides independent scientific advice on vaccines to DHSC. The comment above is given in a personal capacity.”
overnor Kathy Hochul today announced the opening of Wood and Brooks the Lofts in the Town of Tonawanda. The $23 million mixed-use project transformed 98,370 square feet of space inside a former piano key factory into 55 apartments, and a commercial hub anchored by The Plan Room — a first of its kind, coworking space in Western New York that caters to businesses and individuals in the construction industry.
“We are working to address the housing crisis with each project we support, by creating the types of modern and sustainable homes that uplift communities and allow families to grow all over the state, including in Erie County,” Governor Hochul said. “We as a state need to build more housing in order to drive down housing affordability, and revitalizing and rehabilitating long-vacant buildings for housing and workforce development is one way we can get that done. This is another great example of what’s possible when municipalities and the state work in true partnership with nonprofits and private developers.”
This historic renovation project is located within an industrial neighborhood in the Town of Tonawanda bordering the City of Buffalo. The Wood and Brooks piano key factory at 2075 Kenmore Avenue opened in the early 1910s and was renowned for its production of ivory keys. It also played a pivotal role in manufacturing Higgins boat landing crafts during World War II. The location, which is listed in the State and National Registers of Historic Places, has been revitalized by the Wopperer family and their extended relatives, who have held ownership of the property since 1972. The building was once known for a since-removed giant elephant head on the roof, a reference to the ivory used to make the keys.
Wood and Brooks the Lofts offers a range of high-end amenities including a fitness center, on-site café, dog park and wash station, co-working and lounge areas, and 24/7 maintenance services — all designed to enhance the quality of life for residents and commercial tenants. In addition, the project promotes sustainability and preservation through participation in the New York State Brownfield Cleanup Program and utilization of federal and state historic tax credits.
A centerpiece of the development is The Plan Room, a collaborative initiative with the Construction Exchange of Buffalo & WNY. Designed for small contractors ready to move beyond working from home but not yet in need of a full-scale office, The Plan Room provides private offices, shared meeting rooms, high-speed internet, showers, a shared workshop, and large storage lockers. With capacity for over 50 construction-related businesses, it is the first dedicated coworking space of its kind in the region. The Construction Exchange, a not-for-profit organization serving the Western New York construction industry since 1981, continues its mission of supporting business growth through access to information, education, and networking. To learn more about The Plan Room, visit www.wnyplanroom.com.
Wood and Brooks Properties President Michael Wopperer said, “We are incredibly grateful to Empire State Development for their financial investment and belief in this project. The transformation of the historic Wood and Brooks factory into modern apartments and flexible workspace would not have been possible without their investment. This project is not only about restoring a landmark—it’s about creating opportunity, housing, and long-term impact in a neighborhood we’ve been proud to be part of for over 50 years.”
Empire State Development is assisting the Wood and Brooks project with a $1 million Western New York Regional Economic Development Council capital grant towards the commercial portion of the project. The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation has facilitated the use of Federal and State Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits, providing nearly $7.88 million in equity for the project.
Empire State Development President, CEO and CommissionerHope Knight said, “This project will deliver vital housing and catalyze economic growth through a dynamic mix of residential, workforce training and food amenities. The adaptive reuse of this long vacant former factory into high-quality homes is another step forward in the revitalization of Tonawanda. Governor Hochul understands that transforming communities into economic hubs requires housing that is accessible for all New Yorkers and is in proximity to jobs and transportation. The Wood and Brooks project is the latest demonstration of how we renew neighborhoods and increase housing opportunities.”
New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Commissioner Pro Tempore Randy Simon said, “Pairing our historic buildings with state and federal historic rehabilitation tax credit programs can generate exciting new projects along our former industrial corridors. Through partnerships and collective vision, these buildings are reborn into active spaces that look to the future while linking us to a shared past. We are honored to be part of these efforts here in Tonawanda and across the state.”
New York State Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas said, “By turning a former piano key factory into 55 beautiful, quality apartments and a hub for coworking, this project is not only providing the homes that families need, but also cultivating a vibrant community where residents and businesses can flourish. The Wood and Brooks development is another example of Governor Hochul’s commitment to honoring New York’s history and putting existing resources to work to increase housing supply, grow local economies, and create a stronger New York.”
The Wood and Brooks project complements Governor Hochul’s economic development vision by making strategic investments in communities across the State which revitalize the economy and create more opportunities for New Yorkers. The FY26 Budget invests $100 million for the Downtown Revitalization Initiative and $100 million for NY Forward. These programs help municipalities promote quality of life, foster socio-economic development and create walkable, livable and safer neighborhoods in every corner of the state. The Budget also includes funding for the state’s Regional Economic Development Council initiative; new this year, the 10 councils will compete, in part, for $150 million in funding as part of the new ACHIEVE initiative to advance catalytic economic development projects backed by enhanced implementation funding to jump-start regional growth.
WNYREDC Co-Chair and Campus Labs Co-Founder Eric Reich said, “Today’s ribbon cutting marks the transformation of a long-vacant building into a vibrant, mixed-use development designed to support and uplift the Town of Tonawanda. Thanks to Governor Hochul’s vision, this former brownfield site has been reimagined as a beautiful residence that also includes an incubator for construction contractors who will be the driving force behind future building projects in the region.”
WNYREDC Co-Chair and Canisius University President Steve Stoute said, “Through the Regional Economic Development Council initiative, Western New York has worked to regrow its economy by increasing the level of building trades training for skilled jobs in our region. The WNYREDC appreciates added value created by the partnership between the project developer and the Construction Exchange of Buffalo & WNY, to help train future contractors and improve the skills of people already working in the field.”
ECIDA President and CEO John Cappellino said, “On behalf of the ECIDA I congratulate Wood and Brooks Properties on completing this transformational redevelopment of the former Wood and Brooks piano factory. The project was approved for sales tax and Mortgage Recording Tax benefits under ECIDA’s Adaptive Reuse program, which helps developers finance the otherwise cost-prohibitive revitalization of our region’s abandoned historic commercial properties. The project will also create much-needed workforce-affordable housing, including setting aside 10 percent of the housing units for households earning 80 percent or less of the Area Median Income.”
Assemblymember William Conrad said, “Wood and Brooks the Lofts is a truly transformational project, both in terms of the development team’s reimagination of this historic site, and because of its expansive impact on the housing market in the Town and Buffalo, including for working families seeking affordability. I had the pleasure of touring the property last year, and I was so impressed by the attention to detail, innovation, and quality in the apartments, amenities, and workspace. I thank Governor Hochul and Empire State Development for their faith in this effort and for their continued investment in the growth of Western New York.”
Tonawanda Supervisor Joseph Emminger said, “The Wood and Brooks project is one that never would have happened without the vision of Michael Wopperer and his family, and the critical support from Governor Hochul, Empire State Development, and the ECIDA. The Town of Tonawanda is proud to have played a role in making this a reality and we look forward to working with Mr. Wopperer in continuing his vision in enhancing this historic property!”
About Empire State Development
Empire State Development is New York’s chief economic development agency, and promotes business growth, job creation, and greater economic opportunity throughout the state. With offices in each of the state’s 10 regions, ESD oversees the Regional Economic Development Councils, supports broadband equity through the ConnectALL office, and is growing the workforce of tomorrow through the Office of Strategic Workforce Development. The agency engages with emerging and next generation industries like clean energy and semiconductor manufacturing looking to grow in New York State, operates a network of assistance centers to help small businesses grow and succeed, and promotes the state’s world class tourism destinations through I LOVE NY. For more information, please visit esd.ny.gov, and connect with ESD on LinkedIn, Facebook and X.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Donald Heflin, Executive Director of the Edward R. Murrow Center and Senior Fellow of Diplomatic Practice, The Fletcher School, Tufts University
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters outside the White House on June 24, 2025, in Washington, less than 12 hours after announcing a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
“We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f–k they’re doing,” an angry and frustrated Trump told reporters outside the White House on June 24.
Amy Lieberman, a politics and society editor at The Conversation U.S., spoke with former Ambassador Donald Heflin, an American career diplomat who serves as the executive director of the Edward R. Murrow Center at the Fletcher School, Tufts University, to understand how ceasefires typically work – and how the Israel-Iran deal stacks up against other agreements to end wars.
An excavator removes debris from a residential building that was destroyed in Israel’s June 13, 2025, airstrike on Tehran, Iran. Majid Saeedi/Getty Images
How do ceasefire deals typically happen?
There are classes taught on how to negotiate ceasefires, but it is ad hoc with each situation.
For example, in one scenario, one of the warring parties wants a ceasefire and has decided that the conflict isn’t going well. The second party might not want a ceasefire, but could agree that it is getting tired or the risks are too high, and agrees to work something out.
The next scenario, which leads to more success, is when both parties want a ceasefire. They decide that the loss of life and money has gone too far for both sides. One of the parties approaches the other through intermediaries to say it wants a ceasefire, and the other warring party agrees.
In a third situation – which is what we are seeing with the Iran-Israel deal – the outside world imposes a ceasefire. Trump likely told both Israel and Iran: Look, it’s enough. This is too dangerous for the rest of the world. We don’t care what you think. Time for a ceasefire.“
The U.S. has done this in the Middle East before, like after the Yom Kippur War in 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab countries led by Egypt and Syria. Israel was achieving big military victories, but the risk was pretty great for the world. The U.S. came in and said, “That’s enough, stop it now.” And it worked.
Does the US bring the warring parties to a table in this kind of situation, or simply pressure the countries to stop fighting?
It is more of the U.S. saying, “We are done.” When the U.S. does something like this, it is often going to have backup from the European Union and other countries like Qatar, saying, “The Americans are right. It is time for a ceasefire.”
It appears that this Israel-Iran deal does not have specific conditions attached to it. Is that typical of a ceasefire deal?
This deal doesn’t seem to have any specific details attached to it. Ceasefires work better when they have that. Lasting ceasefires need to address the concerns of the warring parties and give each side some of what it wants.
For instance, in the Ukraine and Russia war, we have not seen either one of those countries push for a ceasefire. Part of the problem is Crimea and eastern Ukraine, sections of land in Ukraine that Russia has annexed and claims as its own. Russia would be happy with a deal that puts it in charge of Crimea and Ukraine, but Ukraine won’t agree to that. The question of who controls specific areas of land has to be addressed in this conflict; otherwise, the ceasefire isn’t going to last.
Search and rescue efforts continue in a building in Beersheba, Israel, hit by a ballistic missile fired from Iran shortly before the ceasefire announced by U.S. President Donald Trump came into effect on June 24, 2025. Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Who is responsible for ensuring that both sides uphold a ceasefire?
Security guarantees are an important part of negotiating and maintaining long-term ceasefires. Big countries like the U.S. could say that if a warring party violates a ceasefire agreement, they are going to punish them.
That has created a problem for ceasefires in the future, because the U.S. didn’t deliver on its past security guarantees.
The further away you get from Europe, the less interested the West is in wars. But in those kinds of disputes, United Nations and other international peacekeeping troops can be sent in. Sometimes, that can work brilliantly in one place, like with the example of international peacekeeping troops called the multilateral Observer Mission stationed between Israel and Egypt helping maintain peace between those countries. But you can copy it to another place and it just doesn’t work as well.
How does this ceasefire fit within the history of other ceasefires?
It’s too early to tell. What matters is how the details get fleshed out.
Ideally, you can get representatives of the Israeli and Iranian governments to sit around a conference table to reach a detailed agreement. The Israelis might say, “We have got to have some kind of assurances that Iran is not going to use a nuclear weapon.” And the Iranians could say, “Assassinations of our military generals and scientists has got to stop.” That kind of conversation and agreement is what is missing, thus far, in this process.
Why is it so common for ceasefire deals to fail?
Some ceasefire deals don’t get to the underlying conditions of what really caused the problem and what made people start shooting this time around. If you don’t get to the core issues of a conflict, you are putting a Band-Aid on the situation. Putting a Band-Aid on someone when they are bleeding is a good move, but you ultimately might need more than that to stop the bleeding.
The outside world might be pretty happy with a ceasefire deal that seems to stop the fighting, but if the details are not ironed out, the experts would say, “This isn’t going to last.”
Donald Heflin 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.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Donald Heflin, Executive Director of the Edward R. Murrow Center and Senior Fellow of Diplomatic Practice, The Fletcher School, Tufts University
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters outside the White House on June 24, 2025, in Washington, less than 12 hours after announcing a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
“We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f–k they’re doing,” an angry and frustrated Trump told reporters outside the White House on June 24.
Amy Lieberman, a politics and society editor at The Conversation U.S., spoke with former Ambassador Donald Heflin, an American career diplomat who serves as the executive director of the Edward R. Murrow Center at the Fletcher School, Tufts University, to understand how ceasefires typically work – and how the Israel-Iran deal stacks up against other agreements to end wars.
An excavator removes debris from a residential building that was destroyed in Israel’s June 13, 2025, airstrike on Tehran, Iran. Majid Saeedi/Getty Images
How do ceasefire deals typically happen?
There are classes taught on how to negotiate ceasefires, but it is ad hoc with each situation.
For example, in one scenario, one of the warring parties wants a ceasefire and has decided that the conflict isn’t going well. The second party might not want a ceasefire, but could agree that it is getting tired or the risks are too high, and agrees to work something out.
The next scenario, which leads to more success, is when both parties want a ceasefire. They decide that the loss of life and money has gone too far for both sides. One of the parties approaches the other through intermediaries to say it wants a ceasefire, and the other warring party agrees.
In a third situation – which is what we are seeing with the Iran-Israel deal – the outside world imposes a ceasefire. Trump likely told both Israel and Iran: Look, it’s enough. This is too dangerous for the rest of the world. We don’t care what you think. Time for a ceasefire.“
The U.S. has done this in the Middle East before, like after the Yom Kippur War in 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab countries led by Egypt and Syria. Israel was achieving big military victories, but the risk was pretty great for the world. The U.S. came in and said, “That’s enough, stop it now.” And it worked.
Does the US bring the warring parties to a table in this kind of situation, or simply pressure the countries to stop fighting?
It is more of the U.S. saying, “We are done.” When the U.S. does something like this, it is often going to have backup from the European Union and other countries like Qatar, saying, “The Americans are right. It is time for a ceasefire.”
It appears that this Israel-Iran deal does not have specific conditions attached to it. Is that typical of a ceasefire deal?
This deal doesn’t seem to have any specific details attached to it. Ceasefires work better when they have that. Lasting ceasefires need to address the concerns of the warring parties and give each side some of what it wants.
For instance, in the Ukraine and Russia war, we have not seen either one of those countries push for a ceasefire. Part of the problem is Crimea and eastern Ukraine, sections of land in Ukraine that Russia has annexed and claims as its own. Russia would be happy with a deal that puts it in charge of Crimea and Ukraine, but Ukraine won’t agree to that. The question of who controls specific areas of land has to be addressed in this conflict; otherwise, the ceasefire isn’t going to last.
Search and rescue efforts continue in a building in Beersheba, Israel, hit by a ballistic missile fired from Iran shortly before the ceasefire announced by U.S. President Donald Trump came into effect on June 24, 2025. Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Who is responsible for ensuring that both sides uphold a ceasefire?
Security guarantees are an important part of negotiating and maintaining long-term ceasefires. Big countries like the U.S. could say that if a warring party violates a ceasefire agreement, they are going to punish them.
That has created a problem for ceasefires in the future, because the U.S. didn’t deliver on its past security guarantees.
The further away you get from Europe, the less interested the West is in wars. But in those kinds of disputes, United Nations and other international peacekeeping troops can be sent in. Sometimes, that can work brilliantly in one place, like with the example of international peacekeeping troops called the multilateral Observer Mission stationed between Israel and Egypt helping maintain peace between those countries. But you can copy it to another place and it just doesn’t work as well.
How does this ceasefire fit within the history of other ceasefires?
It’s too early to tell. What matters is how the details get fleshed out.
Ideally, you can get representatives of the Israeli and Iranian governments to sit around a conference table to reach a detailed agreement. The Israelis might say, “We have got to have some kind of assurances that Iran is not going to use a nuclear weapon.” And the Iranians could say, “Assassinations of our military generals and scientists has got to stop.” That kind of conversation and agreement is what is missing, thus far, in this process.
Why is it so common for ceasefire deals to fail?
Some ceasefire deals don’t get to the underlying conditions of what really caused the problem and what made people start shooting this time around. If you don’t get to the core issues of a conflict, you are putting a Band-Aid on the situation. Putting a Band-Aid on someone when they are bleeding is a good move, but you ultimately might need more than that to stop the bleeding.
The outside world might be pretty happy with a ceasefire deal that seems to stop the fighting, but if the details are not ironed out, the experts would say, “This isn’t going to last.”
Donald Heflin 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.
An illustration of the bioplastic metafilm developed by UniSA and Zhengzhou University researchers, proposed as a next-generation material for sustainable cooling
An international team of scientists has developed a biodegradable material that could slash global energy consumption without using any electricity, according to a new study published today.
The bioplastic metafilm – that can be applied to buildings, equipment and other surfaces – passively cools temperatures by as much as 9.2°C during peak sunlight and reflects almost 99% of the sun’s rays.
Developed by researchers from Zhengzhou University in China and the University of South Australia (UniSA), the new film is a sustainable and long-lasting material that could reduce building energy consumption by up to 20% a year in some of the world’s hottest cities.
The material is described in the latest issue of Cell Reports Physical Science.
UniSA PhD candidate Yangzhe Hou says the cooling metafilm represents a breakthrough in sustainable materials engineering that could help combat rising global temperatures and hotter cities.
“Our metafilm offers an environmentally friendly alternative to air-conditioning, which contributes significantly to carbon emissions,” says Hou, who is also from Zhengzhou University.
“The material reflects nearly all solar radiation but also allows internal building heat to escape directly into outer space. This enables the building to stay cooler than the surrounding air, even under direct sunlight.”
Notably, the film continues to perform even after prolonged exposure to acidic conditions and ultraviolet light – two major barriers that have historically hindered similar biodegradable materials.
Constructed from polylactic acid (PLA) – a common plant-derived bioplastic – the metafilm is fabricated using a low-temperature separation technique that reflects 98.7% of sunlight and minimises heat gain.
“Unlike conventional cooling technologies, this metafilm requires no electricity or mechanical systems,” says co-author Dr Xianhu Liu from Zhengzhou University.
“Most existing passive radiative cooling systems rely on petrochemical-based polymers or ceramics that raise environmental concerns. By using biodegradable PLA, we are presenting a green alternative that offers high solar reflectance, strong thermal emission, sustainability, and durability.”
In real-world applications, the metafilm showed an average temperature drop of 4.9°C during the day and 5.1°C at night. Field tests conducted in both China and Australia confirmed its stability and efficiency under harsh environmental conditions. Even after 120 hours in strong acid and the equivalent of eight months’ outdoor UV exposure, the metafilm retained cooling power of up to 6.5°C.
Perhaps most significantly, the simulations revealed that the metafilm could cut annual energy consumption by up to 20.3% in cities such as Lhasa, China, by reducing dependence on air conditioning.
“This isn’t just a lab-scale success” says co-author Professor Jun Ma from the University of South Australia.
“Our film is scalable, durable and completely degradable,” he says.
“This research aims to contribute to sustainable development by reducing reliance on fossil fuels and exploring feasible pathways to improve human comfort while minimising environmental impact.”
The discovery addresses a major challenge in the field: how to reconcile high-performance cooling with eco-friendly degradation.
The researchers are now exploring large-scale manufacturing opportunities and potential applications in buildings, transport, agriculture, electronics, and the biomedical field including cooling wound dressings.
‘A structural bioplastic metafilm for durable passive radiative cooling’ is published in Cell Reports Physical Science and is authored by Yangzhe Hou, Yamin Pan, Xianhu Liu, Jun Ma, Chuntai Liu and Changyu Shen. DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrp.2025.102664
There is a comfort in finding and being yourself. Video games offer opportunities for this comfort. They allow people to exist in safe spaces, to develop community, and to explore the self – as well as the potential self.
Our recently published study explores how video games can elicit feelings of gender euphoria for transgender people. This could be a result of a player developing a connection with a character they feel represented by. Or, they may simply appreciate the experience of a world in which they exist as their actual gender.
Far from just providing an escape, our research shows video games can play a major role in fostering inclusion for trans people, and in promoting the joy of being trans.
Why gender euphoria matters
Much of the discourse around transgender and gender diverse identities is damage-centred. People have come to understand transness through a medicalised lens that emphasises gender dysphoria.
Gender “dysphoria” refers to a person’s feelings of disconnection and dissatisfaction with their experience of gender, whether it’s their body, how others treat them, or how they present themselves to the world. For further reading, we recommend The Gender Dysphoria Bible (an online community resource), or Susan Stryker’s book Transgender History.
Gender “euphoria” refers to feelings of excitement, completeness and affirmation that come when someone truly experiences their gender identity. For cisgender people, gender euphoria is often unremarkable. But for transgender people, discovering this feeling – especially in a hostile world – can be profound and lifesaving.
In Cyberpunk 2077, Claire’s car interior displays the trans pride flag, signalling to the player that her identity is not a secret, nor a source of shame. Michelle Cormier/Monash University, CC BY-SA
While gender “euphoria” is an old term used by the trans community to understand the potential for happiness, researchers have only recently begun studying it.
As a group of longtime gamers and trans people, we knew of many games that offered this experience to us. And as researchers and game designers, we had the tools to tease apart these games to understand what makes them meaningful.
Our study contributes language and a framework for analysing gender euphoria in video games. We hope it will help with developing games that are more inclusive and meaningful for trans players.
A reflexive thematic analysis
We used a qualitative research method called reflexive thematic analysis, which involves drawing from one’s own experiences as a source of data that frames the analysis.
We developed a list of games that were known for trans themes, and/or authored by trans designers, and/or which we had personally found comfort in playing. The list included both indie and mainstream games, such as Cyberpunk 2077, Anna Anthropy’s dys4ia, Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Celeste.
While analysing the games, we looked at the art, narratives, choices offered to players, and how characters were represented.
We also identified various “themes” relating to trans experiences which were common among the games. We organised these themes into the categories of design, dynamics and experiences, building on prior design theory.
A three-pronged framework
Design elements are what the game maker creates, such as the main story, or how you can manipulate a character. Certain games can be designed in a way that normalises transgender people, such as by offering a range of gender expressions for players, or by allowing trans identity disclosure during play.
In the game Celeste, the trans pride flag behind Madeline’s computer, and the pill bottle beside her bed, are intentional design choices that help the player understand Madeline’s identity. Michelle Cormier/Monash University, CC BY-SA
The dynamics of a game refer to how it unfolds as a result of the design and players’ decisions. Dynamics, for instance, might address how players come to discover a trans character, or how they might encounter pain and healing through the story.
And experiences are the emotions players feel as a result of playing, such as the excitement of finishing a level, or sadness over the loss of a beloved character. For trans players, gender euphoric experiences centre on the self and how it relates to the broader world.
Although it has some issues with trans representation, the game Cyberpunk 2077 is a good example for understanding how we sorted our themes into these three categories.
The character Claire Russel is designed as a woman street racer, whose trans identity is not made explicit. The player’s interactions with Claire create certain dynamics, after which her character confides she is transgender. This offers the player the experience of having comfortable interactions with a transgender character, and of understanding how the character relates to the larger game world.
During an emotionally charged scene, Claire speaks candidly to the player about her past. Michelle Cormier/Monash University, CC BY-SA
Unexpectedly, we found expressions of pain (including gender dysphoria) were an important aspect of some of the trans-inclusive games we analysed.
The games created gender euphoric experiences for players by acknowledging the painful parts of the transgender experience, and then providing opportunities to resolve or live through them.
Moving towards trans-inclusivity
Of course, there is more to do. While our reflexive analysis centred trans-femme experiences, there is a range of gender identities out there. More work is needed to see what other designs, dynamics and experiences should be on offer for trans players.
Gender euphoria is a salve to the unnecessary pain the world brings to trans people. It is therefore a worthy design goal – not just in video games, but in all kinds of interactive systems.
If we want trans joy in the world, we will have to design for it.
Phoebe Toups Dugas is affiliated with Monash University and is undertaking volunteer work with Transgender Victoria.
Michelle Cormier is affiliated with Monash University and is managing a community project for Transgender Victoria as a volunteer.
Talk to anyone today, and they will probably have something to say about how expensive life has become. While the rate of inflation has slowed, prices for many goods and services are still much higher than pre-pandemic.
Cost-of-living crises are not new. They have occurred at various times and places throughout the millennia.
If we look at cost-of-living pressures in ancient Greek and Roman times and how people back then dealt with them, we can learn something about how to face our own issues.
‘The price of land has gone up’
The cost of living was a conversation topic in antiquity, especially the price of land and food.
The Roman writer Pliny the Younger (circa 61–113 CE) in one of his letters remarked to his friend about the rising cost of real estate:
Have you heard that the price of land has gone up, particularly in the neighbourhood of Rome? The reason for the sudden increase in price has given rise to a good deal of discussion.
The ancient Greek scholar Athenaeus, who lived in Naukratis, in Egypt, around 200 CE, wrote a long book called The Learned Banqueters, depicting a dinner party.
The characters at this dinner party often complain about the price of food and goods. For example, one character complains about the price of fish:
I don’t think I’ve ever seen fish more expensive. Poseidon, if you got 10% of what’s spent on them every day, you’d be far away the richest god there is!
People often said that fish was exorbitantly expensive and thought fish sellers were trying to rip them off.
In fact, the poet Antiphanes (circa 408–330 BCE) complained “there’s no group more abominable” than fish sellers and money lenders.
How to lower costs?
Ancient people were well aware that a cost-of-living crisis can cause political disturbances.
the causes of hatred and mainsprings of political popularity are determined by the price of food.
So, how did ancient leaders deal with this sort of problem?
One solution was for the ruler to cover the cost of inflation.
For example, the Athenian statesman Demosthenes (384–322 BCE) mentions a problem with the price of grain that was solved by boosting imports:
When grain earlier advanced in price and reached sixteen drachmae per medimnus, we imported more than ten thousand medimni of wheat, and measured it out at the normal price of five drachmae a medimnus.
Another solution was to put extreme regulations on the market.
For example, the Roman emperor Alexander Severus (ruled 222–235 CE) was once faced by a group of angry citizens.
They demanded a reduction in the price of beef and pork, which had become unaffordable.
Alexander Severus “did not proclaim a general reduction in prices”, says the anonymous biographer who recounts this anecdote. Instead, the emperor
ordered that no one should slaughter a sow or a suckling pig, a cow, or a calf. In two years or even in little more than one year, there was such an abundance of pork and beef that while a pound previously cost eight minutili, the price of both these meats was reduced to two and even one per pound.
The city is so expensive
The Greek writer Plutarch of Chaeronea (46–119 CE) records a story about the famous philosopher Socrates (circa 470–399 BCE), who lived in Athens.
One day, according to Plutarch, a friend of Socrates complained to him about “how expensive the city was”:
Chian wine costs a mina, a purple robe three minae, a half-pint of honey five drachmas!
In response, Socrates took his friend by the hand and told him to search for bargains or for cheaper items, saying:
A sleeveless vest for ten drachmas! The city is cheap!
Socrates’ point was that even in expensive times it’s still possible to find bargains to save money. You just have to look harder for them and lower your standard of living. It can be difficult to do that, but it’s necessary.
Socrates also gave out employment advice for people who were struggling.
According to Socrates’ friend, the historian Xenophon of Athens (430–350 BCE), when a poor veteran came to Socrates complaining about lack of money and asking how to cope with expenses, Socrates told him to
take up some kind of work at once that will assure you a living when you get old.
Socrates thought making sure you still have money when you
are old is more important than fully enjoying your current job. You will likely have to put up with things you don’t like to achieve security.
From ancient to modern
Most ancient people would probably have said that during a cost-of-living crisis it’s best to be patient, live simply, and wait for better times to come.
As Pliny the Younger (circa 61–113 CE) once wrote in one of his letters, “my income is small or precarious, but its deficiencies can be made up by simple living”.
If politicians cannot solve the problems, then it is up to us to cope with them as best as we can.
Konstantine Panegyres 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.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kylie Message, Professor of Public Humanities and Director of the ANU Humanities Research Centre, Australian National University
At this time of year, many year 12 students are seriously turning their minds to the future. Should they go to university next year? If so, which one?
June is also the start of the global ranking season. Last week saw the release of the QS Quacquarelli Symonds 2026 world university rankings, amid reports of a “wake-up call” for Australian universities. About 70% of Australian universities fell in the rankings albeit only by small margins.
Should students be worried about this? What should they – and the rest of us – understand about global rankings?
What are rankings?
Global university rankings aim to evaluate all universities in the world through a a single comparative framework.
QS looks at student-to-staff ratios, student employability, the reputation of the university as an employer, sustainability, global engagement and academic citations. It also ranks specific subjects across universities, which can be helpful if you want to know about the quality of teaching in a particular discipline or field.
It is comprehensive. QS included 36 of Australia’s 43 universities in their latest assessment. These universities were also compared to more than 1,400 other institutions across 105 other countries.
One analysis suggests academic rankings are more influential than are research results for attracting philanthropic investment in Australian universities.
We know rankings can influence where international students (and the resources that accompany them) go. Australian universities have long relied on fees from international students to support funding shortfalls.
The rankings also do not reflect how much time and how many resources some universities put into the information that goes back to the ranking process.
In November 2023, an independent expert group, convened by the United Nations issued a statement criticising the rankings system.
It said “the very idea of global university rankings is fundamentally flawed”.
It is simply not possible to produce a fair and credible global league table of universities given their multiple missions and their diverse social, economic and political contexts around the world.
It also noted the rankings advantaged “historically privileged institutions”.
The statement also said there was a bias towards the English language, certain types of research, and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects. “This undermines the importance of teaching and of the humanities and social sciences,” it said.
A bias against regional unis?
The rankings also do not favour regional universities, which is particularly relevant for Australian students.
The QS 2026 survey shows four regional Australian universities slipped in rank and all are positioned outside the global top 400.
This shows how global rankings are a blunt instrument and don’t account for the broader place of universities in regional areas. Here they play a vital role in their communities, driving economic growth and providing essential services.
What should prospective students consider?
Although universities within countries are ranked as better or worse than each other in a global league table, it is important to recognise specific national factors are not considered in the rankings. And individual student experience is rarely taken into account.
Student experience includes the quality of teaching and the types of support individuals have access to, as well as the facilities and the culture on and around campus. We also know student experience continues to be affected by loneliness in the post-Covid era.
So prospective students should be careful when it comes to making a decision about where to go to university. Rankings are a useful tool but so is talking to friends and family and going to open days.
More than anything else, Year 12 students should know this is not the most important decision of their lives. They can take a gap year or change degrees. In fact many students do one or both of these things.
Kylie Message 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.
We all like to imagine we’re ageing well. Now a simple blood or saliva test promises to tell us by measuring our “biological age”. And then, as many have done, we can share how “young” we really are on social media, along with our secrets to success.
While chronological age is how long you have been alive, measures of biological age aim to indicate how old your body actually is, purporting to measure “wear and tear” at a molecular level.
The appeal of these tests is undeniable. Health-conscious consumers may see their results as reinforcing their anti-ageing efforts, or a way to show their journey to better health is paying off.
But how good are these tests? Do they actually offer useful insights? Or are they just clever marketing dressed up to look like science?
How do these tests work?
Over time, the chemical processes that allow our body to function, known as our “metabolic activity”, lead to damage and a decline in the activity of our cells, tissues and organs.
Biological age tests aim to capture some of these changes, offering a snapshot of how well, or how poorly, we are ageing on a cellular level.
Our DNA is also affected by the ageing process. In particular, chemical tags (methyl groups) attach to our DNA and affect gene expression. These changes occur in predictable ways with age and environmental exposures, in a process called methylation.
Research studies have used “epigenetic clocks”, which measure the methylation of our genes, to estimate biological age. By analysing methylation levels at specific sites in the genome from participant samples, researchers apply predictive models to estimate the cumulative wear and tear on the body.
What does the research say about their use?
Although the science is rapidly evolving, the evidence underpinning the use of epigenetic clocks to measure biological ageing in research studies is strong.
Studies have shown epigenetic biological age estimation is a better predictor of the risk of death and ageing-related diseases than chronological age.
Epigenetic clocks also have been found to correlate strongly with lifestyle and environmental exposures, such as smoking status and diet quality.
In addition, they have been found to be able to predict the risk of conditions such as cardiovascular disease, which can lead to heart attacks and strokes.
Taken together, a growing body of research indicates that at a population level, epigenetic clocks are robust measures of biological ageing and are strongly linked to the risk of disease and death
But how good are these tests for individuals?
While these tests are valuable when studying populations in research settings, using epigenetic clocks to measure the biological age of individuals is a different matter and requires scrutiny.
For testing at an individual level, perhaps the most important consideration is the “signal to noise ratio” (or precision) of these tests. This is the question of whether a single sample from an individual may yield widely differing results.
A study from 2022 found samples deviated by up to nine years. So an identical sample from a 40-year-old may indicate a biological age of as low as 35 years (a cause for celebration) or as high as 44 years (a cause of anxiety).
While there have been significant improvements in these tests over the years, there is considerable variability in the precision of these tests between commercial providers. So depending on who you send your sample to, your estimated biological age may vary considerably.
Another limitation is there is currently no standardisation of methods for this testing. Commercial providers perform these tests in different ways and have different algorithms for estimating biological age from the data.
As you would expect for commercial operators, providers don’t disclose their methods. So it’s difficult to compare companies and determine who provides the most accurate results – and what you’re getting for your money.
A third limitation is that while epigenetic clocks correlate well with ageing, they are simply a “proxy” and are not a diagnostic tool.
In other words, they may provide a general indication of ageing at a cellular level. But they don’t offer any specific insights about what the issue may be if someone is found to be “ageing faster” than they would like, or what they’re doing right if they are “ageing well”.
So regardless of the result of your test, all you’re likely to get from the commercial provider of an epigenetic test is generic advice about what the science says is healthy behaviour.
Are they worth it? Or what should I do instead?
While companies offering these tests may have good intentions, remember their ultimate goal is to sell you these tests and make a profit. And at a cost of around A$500, they’re not cheap.
While the idea of using these tests as a personalised health tool has potential, it is clear that we are not there yet.
For this to become a reality, tests will need to become more reproducible, standardised across providers, and validated through long-term studies that link changes in biological age to specific behaviours.
So while one-off tests of biological age make for impressive social media posts, for most people they represent a significant cost and offer limited real value.
The good news is we already know what we need to do to increase our chances of living longer and healthier lives. These include:
We don’t need to know our biological age in order to implement changes in our lives right now to improve our health.
Hassan Vally 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.
Chaired by Premier Danielle Smith, the Alberta Next panel will bring together a broad mix of leaders, experts, and community voices to gather input, discuss solutions, and provide feedback to government on how Alberta can better protect its interests, defend its economy, and assert its place in Confederation.
The panel will consult across the province over the summer and early fall to ensure that those living, working, doing business and raising families are the ones to drive Alberta’s future forward. The work will include identifying solutions advanced by Albertans on how to make Alberta stronger and more sovereign within a united Canada that respects and empowers the province to achieve its full potential. It will also include making recommendations to the government on potential referendum questions for Albertans to vote on in 2026.
It will consider and hear from Albertans on the risks and benefits of ideas like a establishing an Alberta Pension Plan, using an Alberta Provincial Police Service rather than the RCMP for community policing, whether Albertans should consider pursuing constitutional changes, which (if any) changes to federal transfer payments and equalization Albertans should demand of the federal government, potential immigration reform that would give the provincial government more oversight into who comes to the province, and changes to how Alberta collects personal income tax. Albertans will also have the opportunity to put forward their own ideas for discussion.
“This isn’t just about talk. It’s about action. The Alberta Next Panel is giving everyday Albertans a direct say in the direction of our province. It’s time to stand up to Ottawa’s overreach and make sure decisions about Alberta’s future are made here, by the people who live and work here.”
“Right now, there is a need to restore fairness and functionality in the country. Years of problematic policy and decisions from Ottawa have hurt Albertan and Canadian prosperity. I am honoured to be asked by Premier Smith to participate in the Alberta Next Panel. This panel is about listening to Albertans on how we build a stronger Alberta within a united Canada, to which I, and the Business Council of Alberta, are firmly committed.”
Chaired by Premier Danielle Smith, the panel includes 13 additional members, including elected officials, academics, business leaders and community advocates:
Honourable Rebecca Schulz, Minister of Environment and Protected Areas of Alberta
Brandon Lunty, MLA for Leduc-Beaumont
Glenn van Dijken, MLA for Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock
Tara Sawyer, MLA-elect for Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills
Bruce McDonald, former justice, Court of Appeal of Alberta
Trevor Tombe, director of fiscal and economic policy, the University of Calgary School of Public Policy
Adam Legge, president, Business Council of Alberta
Andrew Judson, vice chairman (prairies), Fraser Institute
Sumita Anand, vice president, Above and Beyond Care Services
Melody Garner-Skiba, business and agricultural advocate
Grant Fagerheim, president and CEO, Whitecap Resources Inc.
Dr. Akin Osakuade, physician and section chief, Didsbury Hospital
Dr. Benny Xu, community health expert
Michael Binnion, president, Questerre Energy
Albertans have a choice: let Ottawa continue calling the shots—or come together to chart our own course. What’s next? You decide.
Key facts:
Town hall dates and sites, along with other opportunities to participate in this engagement, are available online at Alberta.ca/Next. Exact locations will be posted in the weeks ahead of the event, and Albertans will be asked to RSVP online.
The panel’s recommendations will be submitted to government by Dec. 31, 2025.
It is anticipated that the panel will add additional members in the coming weeks.
Related information
Alberta.ca/Next
Panel member biographies
Related news
Alberta Next: Albertans to choose path forward (May 5, 2025)
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kevin Veale, Senior Lecturer in Media Studies, part of the Digital Cultures Laboratory in the School of Humanities, Media, and Creative Communication, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University
But the posts – which have singled out academics and MPs who have criticised or made select committee submissions against the bill, accusing them of suffering from “Regulatory Standards Derangement Syndrome” – have now led to at least two official complaints to Cabinet.
Wellington City mayor Tory Whanau has alleged they amounted to “online harassment and intimidation” against academics and were in breach of the Cabinet Manual rules for ministers. According to the manual, ministers should
behave in a way that upholds, and is seen to uphold, the highest ethical and behavioural standards. This includes exercising a professional approach and good judgement in their interactions with the public, staff, and officials, and in all their communications, personal and professional.
This “Victim of the Day” campaign does not match this description. It is unethical, unprofessional and potentially dangerous to those targeted. Debate is fine, online incitements are not.
When is a joke not a joke?
Seymour’s claim he was being “playful” while using his platform to criticise individuals follows a pattern of targeting critics while deflecting criticism of his own behaviour.
For example, in 2022 Seymour demanded an apology from Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi, after Waititi earlier joked about poisoning Seymour with karaka berries. At the time, Seymour said:
I’m genuinely concerned that the next step is that some slightly more radical person doesn’t think it’s a joke.
But the same year, Seymour defended Tauranga by-election candidate Cameron Luxton’s joke that the city’s commission chair Anne Tolley was like Marie Antoinette and should be beheaded.
Calling it a joke does not make it any less white-supremacist. What it does is point to the fact that in David Seymour’s mind, violence against Pacific peoples is so normalised, that he can make a joke out of it […] but he’s not any person is he? He is a politician, a leader of a political party, with a significant platform and the means and opportunities to advance that normalised violence into policy and legislation.
Designed to silence
An analysis of Seymour’s recent social media posts by researcher Sanjana Hattotuwa at the Disinformation Project has argued they have the potential to lead to online harassment, saying they are:
designed to silence opposition to the controversial Regulatory Standards Bill whilst maintaining plausible deniability about the resulting harassment, harms and hate.
The “Victims of the Day” posts about Anne Salmond and former Green leader Metiria Turei were textbook examples of “technology-facilitated gender-based violence and online misogyny”, Hattotuwa argued. And the use of the term “derangement” framed academic criticism as a mental disorder – undermining expertise.
As my own research shows, online harassment and violent rhetoric can raise the chances of real-world violence.
Since the early 2000s, researchers have used the term “stochastic terrorism” to describe a way of indirectly threatening people. Nobody is specifically told “harm these people”, so the person putting them at risk has plausible deniability.
Seymour is already aware of these dynamics, as shown by his demand for an apology from Waititi over the karaka berry poisoning “joke”.
Freedom of expression is one of the most important values our society has. We can only solve our most pressing problems in an open society in which free thought and open enquiry are encouraged.
By going after critics of the Regulatory Standards Bill, Seymour may only be ridiculing speech he does not like. But he has taken things further in the past.
In 2023, he criticised poet Tusiata Avia for her poem “Savage Coloniser Pantoum”, which Seymour said was racist and would incite racially motivated violence. He made demands that the government withdraw NZ$107,280 in taxpayer money from the 2023 Auckland Arts Festival in response.
The more serious purpose of saying something contentious is “just a joke” is to portray those who disagree as humourless and not deserving to be taken seriously.
ACT’s “Victim of the Day” campaign does something similar in attempting to discredit serious critics of the Regulatory Standards Bill by mocking them.
But in the end, we have to be alert to the potential political double standard: harmless jokes for me, but not for you. Dangerous threats from you, but not from me.
Kevin Veale 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.
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