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These 12 things can reduce your dementia risk – but many Australians don’t know them all

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/joyce-siette-1377445">Joyce Siette</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/western-sydney-university-1092">Western Sydney University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/laura-dodds-1378067">Laura Dodds</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/western-sydney-university-1092">Western Sydney University</a></em></p> <p>Dementia is a <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/causes-death/provisional-mortality-statistics/jan-may-2022">leading</a> cause of death in Australia.</p> <p>Although dementia mainly affects older people, it is an avoidable part of ageing. In fact, we all have the power to reduce our risk of developing dementia, no matter your age.</p> <p>Research shows your risk of developing dementia could be <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/article/S0140-6736(20)30367-6/fulltext">reduced by up to 40%</a> (and even higher if you live in a <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(19)30074-9/fulltext">low or middle-income country</a>) by addressing lifestyle factors such as healthy diet, exercise and alcohol consumption.</p> <p>But the first step to reducing population-wide dementia risk is to understand how well people understand the risk factors and the barriers they may face to making lifestyle changes.</p> <p>Our new <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2673-9259/2/4/21/htm">paper</a>, published this week in the <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2673-9259/2/4/21/htm">Journal of Ageing and Longevity</a>, found most older people are aware that dementia is a modifiable condition and that they have the power to change their dementia risk.</p> <p>We also found the key barrier to making brain healthy lifestyle choices was a lack of knowledge, which suggests a public awareness campaign is urgently needed.</p> <h2>What we did</h2> <p>We began by <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2673-9259/2/4/21/htm">reviewing</a> the published research to identify 12 factors shown to reduce dementia risk. We surveyed 834 older Australians about their awareness of the 12 factors, which were:</p> <ol> <li>having a mentally active lifestyle</li> <li>doing physical activity</li> <li>having a healthy diet</li> <li>having strong mental health</li> <li>not smoking</li> <li>not consuming alcohol</li> <li>controlling high blood pressure</li> <li>maintaining a healthy weight</li> <li>managing high cholesterol</li> <li>preventing heart disease</li> <li>not having kidney disease</li> <li>not having diabetes</li> </ol> <p><a href="https://www.thelancet.com/article/S0140-6736(20)30367-6/fulltext">The Lancet</a> subsequently published its own list of factors that help reduce dementia risk, which covered much the same territory (but included a few others, such as reducing air pollution, treating hearing impairment and being socially engaged).</p> <p>Of course, there is no way to cut your dementia risk to zero. Some people do all the “right” things and still get dementia. But there is <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/article/S0140-6736(20)30367-6/fulltext">good evidence</a> managing lifestyle factors help make it <em>less likely</em> you will get dementia over your lifetime.</p> <p>Our study shows many older Australians are quite aware, with over 75% able to correctly identify more than four of the factors in our list of 12.</p> <p>However, few were able to name the less well-known risk factors, such as preventing heart disease and health conditions like kidney disease.</p> <p>The good news is that close to half of the sample correctly identified more than six of the 12 protective factors, with mentally active lifestyle, physical activity and healthy diet in the top three spots.</p> <h2>Two key issues</h2> <p>Two things stood out as strongly linked with the ability to identify factors influencing dementia risk.</p> <p>Education was key. People who received more than 12 years of formal schooling were more likely to agree that dementia was a modifiable condition. We are first exposed to health management in our school years and thus more likely to form healthier habits.</p> <p>Age was the other key factor. Younger respondents (less than 75 years old) were able to accurately identify more protective factors compared to older respondents. This is why health promotion initiatives and public education efforts about dementia are vital (such as Dementia Awareness Month and <a href="https://www.memorywalk.com.au/">Memory, Walk and Jog initiatives</a>).</p> <h2>How can these findings be used in practice?</h2> <p>Our findings suggest we need to target education across the different age groups, from children to older Australians.</p> <p>This could involve a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ajag.13049">whole system approach</a>, from programs targeted at <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5858574/#:%7E:text=Family%20Coaching%20has%20specific%20goals,to%20problem%20solve%20challenging%20situations.">families</a>, to educational sessions for school-aged children, to involving GPs in awareness promotion.</p> <p>We also need to tackle barriers that hinder dementia risk reduction. This means doing activities that motivate you, finding programs that suit your needs and schedule, and are accessible.</p> <h2>What does this mean for you?</h2> <p>Reducing your dementia risk means recognising change starts with you.</p> <p>We are all familiar with the everyday challenges that stop us from starting an exercise program or sticking to a meal plan.</p> <p>There are simple and easy changes we can begin with. Our team has developed a program that can help. We are offering limited <a href="https://www.brainbootcamp.com.au/">free brain health boxes</a>, which include information resources and physical items such as a pedometer. These boxes aim to help rural Australians aged 55 years and over to adopt lifestyle changes that support healthy brain ageing. If you’re interested in signing up, visit our <a href="https://www.brainbootcamp.com.au">website</a>.</p> <p>Now is the time to think about your brain health. Let’s start now.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191504/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/joyce-siette-1377445">Joyce Siette</a>, Research Theme Fellow, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/western-sydney-university-1092">Western Sydney University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/laura-dodds-1378067">Laura Dodds</a>, PhD Candidate, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/western-sydney-university-1092">Western Sydney University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Shutterstock </em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/these-12-things-can-reduce-your-dementia-risk-but-many-australians-dont-know-them-all-191504">original article</a>.</em></p>

Mind

Antarctic heat, wild Australian winter: what’s happening to the weather and what it means for the rest of the year

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/martin-jucker-379172">Martin Jucker</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/unsw-sydney-1414">UNSW Sydney</a></em></p> <p>Australia’s south and east have seen <a href="https://theconversation.com/southern-australia-is-freezing-how-can-it-be-so-cold-in-a-warming-climate-233977">freezing temperatures</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/jul/29/australia-winter-weather-forecast-east-coast-colder-records">wild weather</a> this winter. At the same time, the continent as a whole – and the globe – have <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-03/australia-suffers-cold-winter-weather-despite-mild-forecast/104176284">continued to warm</a>.</p> <p>What’s going on? As ever, it’s hard to pinpoint a single cause for weather events. But a key player is likely an event unfolding high above Antarctica, which itself may have been triggered by a heatwave at surface level on the frozen continent.</p> <p>Here’s what’s happening – and what it might mean for the rest of this year’s weather.</p> <h2>When the stratosphere heats up</h2> <p>Out story begins in the cold air over Antarctica. July temperatures in the stratosphere, the layer of air stretching between altitudes of around 10 and 50 kilometres, are typically around –80°C.</p> <p>The winds are also very strong, averaging about 300 kilometres per hour in winter. These cold, fast winds loop around above the pole in what is called the <a href="https://sites.krieger.jhu.edu/waugh/research/polarvortex">stratospheric polar vortex</a>.</p> <p>Occasionally, persistent high air pressure in the lower atmosphere can influence large-scale waves that extend around the globe and up into the stratosphere. There they cause the strong winds to slow down, and the air high above the pole to become much warmer than normal.</p> <p>In extreme situations the stratospheric winds can completely break down, in what is called a “sudden stratospheric warming” event. These events occur every few years in the northern hemisphere, but only one has ever been observed in the south, in 2002 (though another <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-air-above-antarctica-is-suddenly-getting-warmer-heres-what-it-means-for-australia-123080">almost happened in 2019</a>).</p> <h2>Pushing polar weather our way</h2> <p>Once the polar vortex is disturbed, it can in turn influence the weather at the surface by steering weather systems from the Southern Ocean towards the Equator. However, this is a slow process.</p> <p>The impact at the surface may not be felt until <a href="https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-22-0425.1">a few weeks or even months</a> after the initial weakening of the stratospheric polar vortex. Once it begins, the stratospheric influence can prevail for more weeks or months, and helps meteorologists make <a href="https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2601-2022">long-range weather forecasts</a>.</p> <p>In climate science terms, the weak stratospheric winds put an atmospheric system called the <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/sam/">Southern Annular Mode</a> into a negative phase. The main effect of this on surface weather is to bring westerly winds further north.</p> <p>In winter, this means polar air outbreaks can reach places like Sydney more easily. As a result, we see more <a href="https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI4134.1">rain over much of southern Australia</a>, and snowfall in alpine regions. In spring and summer it means westerly winds blow over the continent before reaching the east coast, bringing warm and dry air to southeastern Australia.</p> <p>The exact impact of a weaker polar vortex depends on how much and for how long the weather systems are being pushed further northward. It will also depend on other weather influencers such as El Niño and the Indian Ocean Dipole.</p> <h1>This winter’s weirdness</h1> <p>Unpicking exactly why any weather event occurs is tricky at the moment, because global weather has been absolutely crazy over the past 12 months or so. Global temperatures are <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-just-blew-past-1-5-degrees-game-over-on-climate-not-yet-213364">much higher than usual</a>, which is making unusual weather very common.</p> <p>But there are indications that the stratosphere is having some influence on our weather this winter.</p> <p>The stratospheric polar vortex started to warm in mid-July, and is about 20°C warmer than the long-term average. At the time of writing, the winds slowed down to about 230 kilometres per hour, 70 kilometres per hour slower than average.</p> <p>These numbers mean that, technically, the event does not qualify as a sudden stratospheric warming. However, further warming may still occur.</p> <p>If we look at how southern hemisphere winds have evolved in the past few weeks, we see a pattern which looks like what we would expect from a sudden stratospheric warming.</p> <p>First, we see warming in the stratosphere which is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL095270">at first accompanied by a poleward shift of weather systems</a>.</p> <p>The stratosphere’s influence then propagates downward and seems to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-22-0425.1">induce many weeks</a> of weather systems shifted towards the equator.</p> <p>This coincides with the period of cold and rainy weather along Australia’s east coast in late July and the beginning of August. Forecasts suggest the Southern Annular Mode will be a long way from normal conditions in the first half of August – four standard deviations below average, which is extremely rare.</p> <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/611211/original/file-20240804-19-sp862a.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/611211/original/file-20240804-19-sp862a.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/611211/original/file-20240804-19-sp862a.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/611211/original/file-20240804-19-sp862a.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/611211/original/file-20240804-19-sp862a.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/611211/original/file-20240804-19-sp862a.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/611211/original/file-20240804-19-sp862a.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/611211/original/file-20240804-19-sp862a.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="Diagram showing atmospheric warming and winds" /></a><figcaption><span class="caption">How initial warming high in the stratosphere ends up changing winds near the surface and pushing polar weather further north.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://stratobserve.com">Z.D. Lawrence / StratObserve / Annotated by Martin Jucker</a></span></figcaption></figure> <h1>A surface disturbance</h1> <p>The main reason for the polar vortex to slow down is disturbances from the surface. Weather over the Amundsen Sea near Antarctica in the South Pacific is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-22-0425.1">an important source</a> of these disturbances.</p> <p>This year, we have seen disturbances of this sort. There have been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/01/antarctic-temperatures-rise-10c-above-average-in-near-record-heatwave">near-record surface temperatures around Antarctica</a>.</p> <p>These disturbances may be due to the globally high ocean temperatures, or even lingering effects of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-23-0437.1">eruption of the Hunga Tonga volcano in 2022</a>. But more research will be required to confirm the causes.</p> <h1>What should we expect for the rest of the year?</h1> <p>There are two pathways until the end of the year. One is that the stratospheric winds and temperatures recover to their usual values and no longer influence surface weather. This is what the forecasts from <a href="https://ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov">Ozone Watch</a> seem to suggest.</p> <p>Another is that the stratosphere keeps warming and the winds keep being slower all the way into summer. In this scenario, we would expect a persistent negative Southern Annular Mode, which would mean a spring and potentially even summer with warmer and drier than usual weather over southeastern Australia, and a small ozone hole.</p> <p>The seasonal forecasting models from the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts <a href="https://x.com/drahbutler/status/1819142206348759170?s=46&t=sayfGwpo3_s310BwYpcdcQ">seem to favour this second scenario</a>.</p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/martin-jucker-379172">Martin Jucker</a>, Senior Lecturer in Atmospheric Science, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/unsw-sydney-1414">UNSW Sydney</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Shutterstock </em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/antarctic-heat-wild-australian-winter-whats-happening-to-the-weather-and-what-it-means-for-the-rest-of-the-year-236067">original article</a>.</em></p> </div>

Travel Trouble

Indigenous artist seeking white Australian to donate their “future deceased body” to an art installation

<p dir="ltr">An Indigenous artist has put a call out for Australians of “British descent” to donate their “future deceased body” to an art installation. </p> <p dir="ltr">Nathan Maynard, a well known Palawa artist and playwright, put an advertisement for the unusual request in the weekend edition of The Age newspaper.</p> <p dir="ltr">Maynard signed the bizarre request as a “palawa” artist: one of the terms First Nations people from Tasmania use when referring to themselves. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Palawa artist wanting to find an Australian of British descent who is willing to donate their future deceased body to an art installation,” the notice read. </p> <p dir="ltr">“The work will speak to sacrifice for past sins perpetrated against the palawa. Potential applicants should see this opportunity as an honour.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“The body and memory of the successful applicant will be treated with the utmost respect at all stages of the project.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The call-out was quick to spark backlash when it was reposted on social media, with one writing, “You can’t just obtain bodies for display in newspapers now. This is very bizarre on multiple levels.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Others questioned the legality of the request, with one person writing, “I dunno that this would be legal, tampering with a corpse is a crime! You can donate your body to medical science, but I don’t think this.” </p> <p dir="ltr">Another wrote, “Borderline psychotic, definitely completely illegal.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Despite the criticism, Mr Maynard told Daily Mail Australia that since the notice went to print, he has received half a dozen applications for their body to be used in the installation in November. </p> <p dir="ltr">The artist said if white Australians are upset by the request, they should ask themselves why they didn't have the same reaction to the mass murder of Aboriginal people. </p> <p dir="ltr">“If you’re not an Aboriginal person and you’re upset by this, I think you should ask yourself why you’re not upset that there is still First Nations remains that have been stolen from their people, stolen from their country in institutions all around the world that are still not repatriated to their own communities,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Nathan said the motivation behind his installation revolves around the fact that thousands of First Nations people were killed by colonists, with their remains being sent overseas to be displayed in institutions and museums without a proper ceremony. </p> <p dir="ltr">“So many Aboriginal people's remains are still overseas. People are trying to bring their ancestors home and they are being denied that right,” Mr Maynard said. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Human bodies are very sacred and they should be treated with respect.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“Whitefellas obviously don't know how to handle remains with respect, so I'm going to show them how,” he said. </p> <p dir="ltr">The artwork has already received support from the state-funded Tasmanian Museum and Gallery and the Hobart City Council, which has donated $15,000 to the unusual installation.</p> <p dir="ltr">The artwork has been commissioned to appear as part of an exhibition for the popular Hobart Current biennial exhibition in November 2023. </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Facebook / The Age</em></p>

Music

Kate Walsh shares how she met the Australian love of her life

<p>Kate Walsh has revealed how she first crossed paths with her Australian fiancé, Andrew Nixon. </p> <p>On an episode of Kelly Clarkson’s talk show, the American actress - best known for her role as Addison Montgomery on <em>Grey’s Anatomy</em> - confirmed the rumour that the two had met on a journey to Antarctica. </p> <p>“We were on a ship to the Antarctic,” she told Kelly when the singer expressed her disbelief, “and that's how I met him.”</p> <p>The trip took place in early 2020, and Kate explained how she had wanted to see Antarctica in the wake of the planet’s climate crisis, having already visited the Arctic. </p> <p>Kate shared some of the highlights from her trip, featuring everything from the animals to the scenery - including, of course, love at first sight. </p> <p>"It was incredible,” she said, “it was an incredible trip and then bonus, you know, found the love of my life. Saw the penguins, check. Ice, check. Whales, check. Man, check.”</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B8eg95UnsAY/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B8eg95UnsAY/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Kate Walsh (@katewalsh)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>The couple got engaged in 2022, with the 54-year-old actress revealing the news during an Instagram Live in October. Andrew Nixon, a Western Australian farmer and Kate’s fiancé, made an appearance in the video. </p> <p>Speaking with Kelly, Kate opened up about living in Australia, and how driving on the left side of the road has proven to be quite the change for the actress, admitting that it’s often as though “some old operating system clicks in”.</p> <p>Kate initially moved to Australia a month after the Antarctica trip. She was visiting friends and exploring the Margaret River when COVID-19 cases broke out across the country, and she made the decision to buy a property when lockdowns were enforced.</p> <p>"I got a little place up here in Perth and that's where I am," Kate told 9Honey Celebrity at the time, "and I have to say, I love it. I really love Perth.”</p> <p>Kate and Andrew now live together in Perth, and made their red carpet debut as a couple in December for season 3 of Kate’s hit Netflix show <em>Emily in Paris</em>. </p> <p>Andrew posted a photo from the event, of the two of them smiling and matching in grey outfits. Fans were delighted to see the pair so happy together, with Kate commenting, “we cute.” </p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CmCDkkdLcp2/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CmCDkkdLcp2/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Andrew Nixon (@andynix1)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Despite Andrew’s post, and the occasional appearance in Kate’s Instagram Lives, the farmer of over 30 years is primarily kept private when it comes to what Kate shares with her audience. </p> <p>Whatever their reasons, the couple appear to be happier than even. No wedding date has been announced, but supporters are eager for news, and thrilled for this exciting new chapter in their lives. </p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images, Instagram</em></p>

Relationships

Locking up kids has serious mental health impacts and contributes to further reoffending

<p><em>This article contains information on violence experienced by First Nations young people in the Australian carceral system. There are mentions of racist terms, and this piece also mentions self harm, trauma and suicide.</em></p> <p>The ABC Four Corners report “<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-14/locking-up-kids:-australias-failure-to-protect/101652954" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Locking up Kids</a>” detailed the horrific conditions for young Aboriginal people in the juvenile justice system in Western Australia.</p> <p>The report was nothing new. In 2016, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-25/australias-shame-promo/7649462" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Four Corners</a> detailed the brutalisation of Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory’s Don Dale Youth Detention Centre, in its episode “Australia’s Shame”. Also in 2016, <a href="https://www.amnesty.org.au/amnesty-international-welcomes-queensland-youth-detention-review/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amnesty International</a> detailed the abuse children were receiving in Queensland’s juvenile detention facilities.</p> <p>Children should be playing, swimming, running and exploring life. They do not belong behind bars. Yet, on any given day in 2020-21, an average of <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/youth-justice/youth-justice-in-australia-2020-21/contents/summary" target="_blank" rel="noopener">4,695</a> young people were incarcerated in Australia. Most of the young people incarcerated are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.</p> <p>Despite Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in WA making up just <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/youth-justice/youth-justice-in-australia-2020-21/contents/state-and-territory-fact-sheets/western-australia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">6.7%</a> of the population, they account for <a href="https://www.oics.wa.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Banksia-Hill-2020-002.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more than 70%</a> of youth locked up in Perth’s Banksia Hill Juvenile Detention Centre.</p> <p><a href="https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/agispt.20211109056541" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The reasons</a> so many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are detained are linked to the impacts of colonisation, such as intergenerational trauma, ongoing racism, discrimination, and unresolved issues related to self-determination.</p> <p>The Four Corners documentary alleged children in detention were exposed to abuse, torture, solitary confinement and other degrading treatment such as “folding”, which involves bending a person’s legs behind them before sitting on them – we saw a grown man sitting on a child’s legs in this way in the documentary.</p> <p>The documentary also found Aboriginal young people were more likely to be held in solitary confinement, leading to the young people feeling helpless. Racism was also used as a form of abuse, with security calling the young detainees apes and monkeys. One of the young men detained at Banksia Hill expressed the treatment he received made him consider taking his own life.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">No action taken against Don Dale guards over 'excessive force' in fresh Four Corners vision <a href="https://t.co/RdJgN8vQhu">https://t.co/RdJgN8vQhu</a></p> <p>— Sarah Collard (@Sarah_Collard_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Sarah_Collard_/status/1592451372808802305?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p><strong>How does incarceration impact young people’s mental health?</strong></p> <p>Many young people enter youth detention with pre-existing neurocognitive impairments (such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-youth-with-foetal-alcohol-spectrum-disorder-need-indigenous-run-alternatives-to-prison-56615" target="_blank" rel="noopener">foetal alcohol spectrum disorder</a>), trauma, and poor mental health. More than <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10398560902948696" target="_blank" rel="noopener">80%</a> of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in a Queensland detention centre reported mental health problems.</p> <p>Data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare revealed that more than <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/youth-justice/young-people-in-child-protection/summary" target="_blank" rel="noopener">30%</a> of young people in detention were survivors of abuse or neglect. Rather than supporting the most vulnerable within our community, the Australian justice system is <a href="https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/agispt.20211109056541" target="_blank" rel="noopener">imprisoning traumatised</a> and often developmentally compromised young people.</p> <p><a href="https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S027273581300010X?token=9CBCD682BF76BBE308B2073C2A3980D63745C157813CAC79F171AA4577C849EC40D0B848B6DB0D009AFACC05B8BC6185&originRegion=us-east-1&originCreation=20221116031322" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Research</a> has shown pre-existing mental health problems are likely exacerbated by experiences during incarceration, such as isolation, boredom and victimisation.</p> <p>This inhumane treatment brings about retraumatisation of the effects of colonisation and racism, with feelings of <a href="https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/committees/SCLSI/Youth_Justice_System/Submissions/Submission_44-Parkville_College.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hopelessness</a>, worthlessness and <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Community_Affairs/completed_inquiries/2004-07/inst_care/report2/c06" target="_blank" rel="noopener">low self-esteem</a>.</p> <p>Youth detention is also associated with an <a href="https://www.ranzcp.org/news-policy/news/detention-of-children-in-adult-prisons-must-stop#:%7E:text='Youth%20detention%20is%20associated%20with,substance%20use%2C%20and%20behavioural%20disorders." target="_blank" rel="noopener">increased risk</a> of suicide, psychiatric disorders, and drug and alcohol abuse.</p> <p>Locking young people up during their <a href="https://www.cypp.unsw.edu.au/sites/ypp.unsw.edu.au/files/Cunneen%20%282017%29%20Arguments%20for%20raising%20the%20minimum%20age%20of%20criminal%20responsibility.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">crucial years</a> of development also has long-term impacts. These include poor emotional development, poor education outcomes, and worse mental health <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5260153/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in adulthood</a>. As adults, post-release Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1467-842X.2004.tb00629.x" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ten times</a> more likely to die than the general population, with suicide the leading cause of death.</p> <p>You don’t have to look far to see the devastating impacts of incarceration on mental health. Just last year, there were <a href="https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/Hansard/hansard.nsf/0/A4A8FAAE33FDD6BE48258844001C7E29/$File/C41%20S1%2020220511%20All.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">320 reports</a> of self-harm at Banksia Hill, WA’s only youth detention centre.</p> <p><strong>Locking up kids increases the likelihood of reoffending</strong></p> <p>Imprisoning young offenders is also associated with future <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027273581300010X?casa_token=TJ6WoQJnWnsAAAAA:NKTzeYv-LJcHuwT7Xs5fxeHUx9lHsKzVlQDpLpWPyG7u4KAXb1866s-sdupwbQmcbPR93qArg99O" target="_blank" rel="noopener">offending behaviours</a> and <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Committees_Exposed/atsia/sentencing/report/chapter2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">continued contact with the justice system</a>.</p> <p>Without proper rehabilitation and support post-release, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young peoples often return to the same conditions that created the patterns of offending in the first place.</p> <p>Earlier this year, the head of Perth Children’s Court, Judge Hylton Quail <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-10/hylton-quail-slams-conditions-banksia-hill-detention-centre/100819262" target="_blank" rel="noopener">condemned</a> the treatment of a young person in detention at Banksia Hill, stating:</p> <blockquote> <p>When you treat a damaged child like an animal, they will behave like an animal […] When you want to make a monster, this is how you do it.</p> </blockquote> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Today marks 5 years since the recommendations of the Royal Commission into the Detention and Protection of Children in the NT, which recommended closing Don Dale.<br />We now have record numbers of Aboriginal children incarcerated due to punitive bail laws introduced last year. <a href="https://t.co/buxMFFucW7">pic.twitter.com/buxMFFucW7</a></p> <p>— NAAJA (@NAAJA_NT) <a href="https://twitter.com/NAAJA_NT/status/1593059263223844864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 17, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p><strong>What needs to be done?</strong></p> <p>There needs to be substantive change in how young people who come in contact with the justice system are treated. We need governments to commit, under <a href="https://www.closingthegap.gov.au/national-agreement" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Closing the Gap</a>, to whole-of-system change through:</p> <ol> <li> <p>recognising children should not be criminalised at ten years old. The <a href="https://raisetheage.org.au/campaign" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Raise the Age</a> campaign is calling for the minimum age of responsibility to be raised to 14. Early prevention and intervention <a href="https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/agispt.20211109056541" target="_blank" rel="noopener">approaches</a> are necessary here. Children who are at risk of offending should be appropriately supported, to reduce pathways to offending.</p> </li> <li> <p>an approach addressing <em>why</em> young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are locked up in such great numbers is required, driven by respective First Nations communities. This means investing in housing, health, education, transport and other essential services and crucial aspects of a person’s life. An example of this is found in a pilot program in New South Wales called <a href="https://www.justreinvest.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/JRNSW-I-Reinvestment-Forum-I-Report.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Redefining Reinvestment</a>, which tackled the social determinants of incarceration using a community approach.</p> </li> <li> <p>future solutions must be trauma-informed and led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.</p> </li> </ol> <p>Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are not born criminals. They are born into systems that fail them, in a country that all too often turns a blind eye before locking them up.</p> <p>The Australian government needs to work with First Nations communities to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including our future generations.</p> <p><em>If this article has caused distress, please contact one of these helplines: <a href="https://www.13yarn.org.au/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAsdKbBhDHARIsANJ6-jfrUNMB9So6Gd1ICVQPd6uvGbfEaceXNR0BNYnEVCoxnMs7eiMmv20aAjDaEALw_wcB">13yarn</a>, <a href="https://www.lifeline.org.au/">Lifeline</a>, <a href="https://headspace.org.au/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAsdKbBhDHARIsANJ6-jdx8qmNF8hzPZNjURGbT9af0wT_xGUjDU26wX5Eftykygb35_OPLccaAp5uEALw_wcB">Headspace</a></em><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194657/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em>Writen by Summer May Finlay, </em><em>Ee Pin Chang, Jemma Collova </em><em>and Pat Dudgeon. Republished with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/locking-up-kids-has-serious-mental-health-impacts-and-contributes-to-further-reoffending-194657" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.</em></p> <p> </p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Mind

“I want to go back”: Novak Djokovic weighs in on Australian visa outcome

<p dir="ltr">Novak Djokovic has said he was “very happy” to find out that he will be allowed to compete at the Australian Open next year, after he was granted a visa that lets him return to the country.</p> <p dir="ltr">The World No.1 was barred from entering Australia until 2025 after being at the centre of a major international drama ahead of this year’s Australian Open, which saw him being held in a detention centre for attempting to enter the country without being vaccinated.</p> <p dir="ltr">But, Djokovic will now be able to go for his record-extending 10th Australian Open title after receiving the visa and has said he couldn’t have received “better news”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It’s a relief, obviously, knowing what I and people closest to me in my life have been through this year with what happened in Australia and post-Australia obviously,” he said after defeating Andrey Rublev at the ATP Finals in Turin.</p> <p dir="ltr">"I could not receive better news for sure — during this tournament as well. [The] Australian Open has been my most successful grand slam. I made some of the best memories there.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Of course, I want to go back there, I want to play tennis, do what I do best, hopefully have a great Australian summer.</p> <p dir="ltr">"I'm always thankful to go through experiences, no matter what the experiences are. I try to be optimistic and positive in life.</p> <p dir="ltr">"I look forward to starting the new year in Australia, and we'll see how the next year goes."</p> <p dir="ltr">Having received the news before the match, where Djokovic beat Rublev 6-4, 6-1 to qualify for the semi-finals, the 35-year-old reckons the good news helped him perform on court.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Did it affect my game today? I would like to believe it did,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Why not? I don't think it did affect me too much because I'm familiar with what I need to do in order to prepare myself for every match.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Of course, knowing that I have clarity now, what I do in the off-season, starting the season in Australia, also of course it did relieve some of the pressure me and my team felt. Just giving that clarity makes it great for us."</p> <p dir="ltr">After missing out on this year’s competition, the Serbian athlete’s future in Australia has looked like a possibility since the government ended rules requiring overseas visitors to declare their Covid vaccination status in July.</p> <p dir="ltr">Earlier this week, Djokovic commented that he had received positive signs about the ban being overturned and his potential return.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-22a4009e-7fff-0279-d152-f1bb40eb3082"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Twitter</em></p>

Travel Trouble

Steve Martin discusses his love for Indigenous Australian art

<p dir="ltr">Comedian and actor Steve Martin has long been an avid art lover and collector. </p> <p dir="ltr">After making onto ARTnews Top 200 Collectors list several times in the 1990s, he has recently turned his attention to Indigenous Australian art and its deep cultural history. </p> <p dir="ltr">With his wife Anne Stringfield, he’s bought works by Indigenous artists such as Bill Whiskey Tjapaltjarri, Timo Hogan, Carlene West, Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri, and Doreen Reid Nakamarra, among many others.</p> <p dir="ltr">His love for these works began almost 10 years ago, as he shared with <a href="https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/actor-steve-martin-on-the-joys-and-the-difficulties-of-collecting-contemporary-indigenous-australian-art-1234644806/">ARTnews</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr">He said, “It all started with one picture by this artist, Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri. I just really liked it, bought it, and hung it in our house for several years. I really didn’t know that there was a whole big funnel going back this way of its history.” </p> <p dir="ltr">“I hadn’t really seen anything like this before. And they were available, which is an aspect of the art world now that is the opposite—most things are unavailable. And I loved them. I thought they were great.”</p> <p dir="ltr">He said his collection, which includes over a hundred works, is “hard to improve” when dealing with art pieces that are increasingly rare. </p> <p dir="ltr">Some of the works he owns have been displayed in non-selling shows at Gagosian locations in New York and Beverly Hills, California, with Steve saying he “loves just getting these pictures seen” by like-minded art fans. </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Art

Australian man among 10 killed in Ireland explosion

<p dir="ltr">An Australian man has been identified as one of ten victims who died following an explosion at a petrol station in Ireland.</p> <p dir="ltr">James O’Flaherty, a 48-year-old who hailed from Sydney, died in the blast which police say occurred shortly after 3pm local time on Friday, October 7 at a petrol station in the village of Creeslough.</p> <p dir="ltr">The blast levelled the service station building, damaged an adjacent apartment building and shattered windows in nearby cottages.</p> <p dir="ltr">An additional eight people were injured in the explosion and hospitalised, with one person flown to Dublin in critical condition.</p> <p dir="ltr">An Garda Síochána, Ireland’s police force, released the names and photos of the ten victims, ranging in age from 5 to 59 years old.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-10645834-7fff-dd8f-bd18-3654d533e181"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">The victims included: James O’Flaherty, 48, Jessica Gallagher, 24, Martin McGill, 49, Catherine O’Donnell, 39, and her son James Monaghan, 13, Hugh Kelly, 59, Martina Martin, 49, Robert Garwe, 50, and his daughter Shauna Flanagan Garwe, five, and Leona Harper, 14.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/10/ireland-victims1.jpg" alt="" /></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>James O’Flaherty, 48, Jessica Gallagher, 24, and Martin McGill, 49, were among the victims who died in the blast. Images: An Garda Síochána (Facebook)</em></p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/10/ireland-victims2.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Catherine O’Donnell, 39, and her son 13-year-old James Monaghan, Hugh Kelly, 59, and Martina Martin, 49, were among the victims who died in the blast. Images: An Garda Síochána (Facebook)</em></p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/10/ireland-victims3.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Robert Garwe, 50, his five-year-old daughter Shauna Flanagan Garwe, and 14-year-old Leona Harper were among the victims who died in the blast. Images: An Garda Síochána (Facebook)</em></p> <p dir="ltr">Mr O’Flaherty, who was living in Rinclevan, Dufanaghy, will be laid to rest on Wednesday.</p> <p dir="ltr">He is survived by his wife Tracey and son Hamish.</p> <p dir="ltr">As police investigate the cause of the blast, superintendent David Kelly said evidence “is pointing toward a tragic accident”.</p> <p dir="ltr">Irish police superintendent Liam Geraghty said the event has left locals traumatised.</p> <p dir="ltr">"It was a very, very traumatic scene that people came across," he said. </p> <p dir="ltr">"It was a very, very confusing, as you can imagine. And there was a lot of debris." </p> <p dir="ltr">Siobhan Carr, an eyewitness, said the area was covered in ash and “a puff of smoke”.</p> <p dir="ltr">"And just within seconds, people from the community had just come running up the roads," she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Cars stopped, people getting out of cars running towards the building to see who could help."</p> <p dir="ltr">Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said the incident has had a national impact and that the country is in mourning.</p> <p dir="ltr">"The entire nation is mourning and really shocked and deeply saddened," he said at the cordon surrounding the blast site.</p> <p dir="ltr">"The young child in the shop loses her life and two teenagers, along with men and women who are going about their lives as well." </p> <p dir="ltr">“It is a very close-knit community and our heart goes out to them.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Talking to those on the front line and everyone involved, they were very moved by the extraordinary support they got from the community here almost immediately.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Many volunteers rushed to the scene to try and do everything they could to help because it was a horrific scene they came upon and we must always remember our emergency services.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-a8e64f6b-7fff-35a3-26d3-b1f2a4a63ae2"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: An Garda Síochána (Facebook)</em></p>

News

Australian women are less likely to receive pre-hospital stroke care than men

<p>Paramedics are failing to recognise strokes in women as much as they do for men, according to a new <a href="https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/health/women-less-likely-receive-pre-hospital-stroke-care-men" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a> of New South Wales stroke patients. Researchers suggest that clinician sex bias might be the cause.</p> <p>In 2018 it was <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/heart-stroke-vascular-diseases/hsvd-facts/contents/heart-stroke-and-vascular-disease-and-subtypes/stroke" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">estimated</a> that 387,000 Australians aged over 15 years had experienced a stroke at some point in their lives. The success of treatment is very time dependent, so it’s critical that patients suffering from stroke are identified as soon as possible, preferably before arriving at hospital.</p> <p>But according to the study by Australian researchers, women (aged under 70) suffering with stroke were less likely than men to receive stroke care management prior to hospital admission – despite being more likely to arrive at hospital by ambulance.</p> <p>This is concerning, as other research shows stroke outcomes are <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31719135/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">generally worse</a> for women than men – with greater stroke-related disability and poorer subsequent quality of life.</p> <p>“Our study suggests that better recognition of stroke symptoms in women by ambulance staff could ensure the right treatment is started as early as possible and give them the best opportunity for recovery,” says lead author Dr Xia Wang, research fellow at The George Institute for Global Health in Sydney.</p> <p>There are two types of stroke: ischaemic stroke occurs when a vessel supplying blood to the brain becomes blocked, and haemorrhagic stroke occurs when one ruptures and begins to bleed. This can cause parts of the brain to die – resulting in impairment that can affect things like speech, movement, and communication – or can often be fatal.</p> <p>Thanks to development in medical research <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stroke/treatment/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">treatment for stroke</a> is changing, but the efficacy of these treatments is highly time-dependent and rapid and accurate pre-hospital assessment is critical for successful outcomes.</p> <p>“When stroke is not recognised early, delays can have serious consequences,” says co-author Dr Cheryl Carcel, senior research fellow and academic lead of the George Institute’s Global Brain Health Initiative.</p> <p>“Procedures for in-ambulance stroke care ensure patients with stroke symptoms are brought to a high-level specialised facility quickly to receive life-saving treatment.”</p> <p>In a population-based cohort study, researchers analysed data from more than 200,0000 patients (51% women) admitted to NSW hospitals between July 2005 and December 2018 and subsequently diagnosed as having a stroke.</p> <p>Just over half of all stroke patients were taken to hospital via ambulance, with women (52.4%) more likely than men (47.9%) to arrive this way.</p> <p>Despite this, women were less likely to receive stroke care management prior to hospital admission.</p> <p>“Among patients under 70 years of age, women were less likely than men to be assessed by paramedics as having a stroke, but there was no significant difference for older patients,” the authors say.</p> <p>Instead, they were more frequently assessed by paramedics as having conditions which mimic stroke – like headache or migraine, anxiety, and unconsciousness – which contributed to a delay in the recognition and treatment of stroke.</p> <p>There was no significant difference for older patients.</p> <p>Health professionals know that on initial presentation, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31114842/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">atypical clinical symptoms of stroke</a> occur more frequently in women. So, these findings could be due to a difference in symptoms, although it’s also possible that implicit sex bias exists amongst healthcare providers.</p> <p>“While there aren’t any studies looking at clinician sex bias in stroke, we have evidence from other countries where it is happening in <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3810172/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">coronary artery disease</a>,” explains Carcel.</p> <p>This has also been <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0002870321001885?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">found</a> to be the case for myocardial infarction (heart attack), with women less likely to be assessed by paramedics as having MI than men.</p> <p>“Greater awareness among all health professionals about differences in symptom presentation between men and women could help address this bias,” concludes Carcel. “In the case of stroke, this is particularly important for ambulance staff, so that women are identified early and treatment is commenced even before they reach the hospital.”</p> <p>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/people/australian-women-stroke-care/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cosmos</a>. </p> <p><em>Image: Getty</em></p>

Caring

New Australian telescope to help find far-flung galaxies

<p dir="ltr">A new multi-lensed telescope will give Australian astronomers a new set of eyes to search for and study ultra-faint galaxies and astronomical objects in the southern hemisphere.</p> <p dir="ltr">Appropriately named the Huntsman Telescope, the instrument is made up of 10 Canon super-telephoto lenses and has begun science operations at the Siding Spring observatory in north-central NSW, near the town of Coonabarabran.</p> <p dir="ltr">Along with spying distant astronomical objects and galaxies, the telescope is expected to be used to view transient astronomical events, such as sudden explosions of stars.</p> <p dir="ltr">Scientists hope to use the Huntsman to further our understanding of how galaxies form and evolve, how they engage with structures around them, and what happens when galaxies collide.</p> <p dir="ltr">According to Dr Lee Spitler, the Principal Investigator of the Huntsman Telescope, the telescope’s work will be crucial for understanding what could happen if our Milky Way Galaxy ever collided with its neighbour, the Andromeda Galaxy, which is theorised to occur in 4.5 billion years.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The Huntsman Telescope is pioneering the way in which we view our Southern skies by capturing images of the faintest galaxy structures that conventional telescopes simply couldn’t,” Dr Spitler said in a <a href="https://spaceaustralia.com/index.php/news/new-huntsman-telescope-turns-its-eyes-sky" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-b2b971d8-7fff-8d04-3a74-6ad790618068"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">“The ability to observe the remnants of galaxies colliding with each other and searching for the faintest and smallest galaxies in the Universe will help us understand the potential fate of the Milky Way in the far distant future.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/08/huntsman-telescope.jpg" alt="" /></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>The Huntsman Telescope looks deep into space at the Siding Spring Observatory. Image: Macquarie University</em></p> <p dir="ltr">Though named after a spider, PhD candidate Sarah Caddy said the Huntsman Telescope’s ten individual “eyes” was inspired by the northern hemisphere’s Dragonfly Array program, but its technology has been pushed even further.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The Huntsman’s new suite of powerful computers enable each lens or ‘eye’ of the Huntsman to operate independently of each other. This will allow the telescope to autonomously detect ultra-fast transient events like stellar flares from distant stars or even more exotic phenomena like aiding the search for origin of fast radio bursts that continue to elude astronomers,” Ms Caddy explained.</p> <p dir="ltr">“After the success of Dragonfly in the northern hemisphere, it certainly makes sense to have a similar facility here in the Southern Hemisphere to access parts of the sky that Dragonfly can’t. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Not only that, but Australia is home to many world-class radio telescope facilities. Combining data from radio surveys of the southern sky with Huntsman optical data will help us piece together a more complete view of how galaxies evolve.” </p> <p dir="ltr">“Even the geographical location of Australia is important for Huntsman’s transient science goals. Huntsman will contribute to the growing number of Australian rapid response facilities aiming to capture events like the optical counterparts to Fast Radio Burst and Gravitational Wave progenitors.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We are so excited to see the project move from the commissioning phase into full-time science mode, and I can’t wait to see how this amazing new facility will help Astronomers explore our Universe in the years to come,” she concluded.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-105d4c57-7fff-bfbf-50d3-215a65a3ee12"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Macquarie University</em></p>

Technology

An Indigenous language could help humans and AI communicate

<p dir="ltr">One of the most challenging problems impeding humans from communicating with Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems could have a unique solution: a language spoken by Indigenous Australians in the NT.</p> <p dir="ltr">Researchers at the University of New South Wales have published a paper explaining how Jingulu - a language spoken by the Jingili people - could be translated directly into commands that both AI and humans can understand.</p> <p dir="ltr">The study, published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fphy.2022.944064" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Frontiers in Physics</a></em>, details how Professor Abbass worked with linguistics expert Associate Professor Eleni Petraki and Dr Robert Hunjet, a member of the Defence Science and Technology Group to create JSwarm, a language inspired by Jingulu.</p> <p dir="ltr">Jingulu uses just three verbs - come, go and do - which also means that the amount of computational power needed to understand the commands is low. </p> <p dir="ltr">“For us, Jingulu is a dream that came true,” Professor Hussein Abbass, the study’s first author, said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“A language that can translate straight into AI commands; a human language that humans can understand; an efficient language in its syntax that reduces computational cost; a language where we can change the context of use without changing its syntax to allow us to transfer the AI between different domains with ease; and a language that is born and used in Australia to support research and innovation that are born and used in Australia.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Professor Abbass works with swarm systems of AI, where groups of robots work together to perform tasks and solve complex problems in a system that draws inspiration from how small numbers of sheepdogs can control large flocks of sheep.</p> <p dir="ltr">“This problem is all about movements in different information and knowledge spaces, including the physical spaces,” Professor Abbass said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“These movements are represented mathematically as elements that get attracted to each other or repulse from each other. For a long time, I have been looking at how we can design the languages used at the interface between the swarm and humans.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Having previously investigated systems that rely on gestures, direct commands, and even music, Professor Abbass said these systems all had their challenges.</p> <p dir="ltr">“They either had a richer language than what we needed or did not map exactly to the mathematics we use for guidance and control,” Dr Abbass said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“This all changed one day when, out of curiosity, I was searching on Google for studies that looked at the syntax of Aboriginal languages.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I encountered a PhD thesis about Jingulu, I started reading it then it did not take much time before it clicked in my head; this language would be perfect for my artificial intelligence-enabled swarm guidance work.”</p> <p dir="ltr">This isn’t the first time Indigenous languages have been applied to interesting problems either, with applications dating back to World War II.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The Aboriginal people have a long history of contributions to the defence of Australia,” Professor Abbass said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“During the Second World War their languages were used for secret communications. Today we are discovering that the wealth and richness of the Aboriginal languages and culture could hold the secret in human-AI interaction.”</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-f939bc00-7fff-1d15-1260-dd99f6eb4720"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Technology

How Heath Ledger inspired Johnny Depp’s donation to Australian hospital

<p dir="ltr">Johnny Depp has made a significant donation to an Australian children’s hospital, as part of a larger $1.17 million gift to charities around the world.</p> <p dir="ltr">The sum comes from the sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) - digital assets that represent real-life products such as art and video games - which Depp raised through his NFT community, Never Fear Truth.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-e5849e45-7fff-f569-d5d9-a9750f426720"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Depp’s donation will be split between the Perth Children’s Hospital, UK-based Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, and Robert Downey Jr’s Footprint Coalition, which fundraises for non-profit organisations that focus on environmental sustainability.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/PCHFWA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PCHFWA</a> Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation (via CAF America)<a href="https://twitter.com/GOSHCharity?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GOSHCharity</a> Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity (via CAF America)<a href="https://twitter.com/fp_coalition?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@fp_coalition</a> The Footprint Coalition<a href="https://twitter.com/ChildrensLA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChildrensLA</a> The Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles (CHLA)</p> <p>— Never Fear Truth (@JohnnyDeppNFT) <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnnyDeppNFT/status/1544413863839514625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 5, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">“Johnny Depp’s Never Fear Truth NFT sale was always intended to benefit charities and we are pleased to be able to confirm that nearly $800,000 ($AUD 1.17 million) in total donations have been contributed,” Never Fear Truth tweeted.</p> <p dir="ltr">The Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation issued a statement thanking the actor for his donation.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Thank you so much for your generosity in helping support PCHFWA and WA sick kids,” the organisation wrote on Twitter. </p> <p dir="ltr">“These funds will make a significant impact in helping keep (Perth Children’s Hospital) world-class for our children and families.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Many fans praised Depp’s acts of kindness, and it turns out that his choice to support the West Australian hospital is particularly special.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-4e18ba45-7fff-2408-772d-b7792f5e3e27"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Part of the money raised through Depp’s NFT community came from the sale of an NFT depicting his painting of late actor Heath Ledger, who grew up in Perth.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/tv/CbkRwlgDle1/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/tv/CbkRwlgDle1/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Never Fear Truth (@johnnydeppnft)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">Carrie Robinson, the CEO of PCHFWA, told <em>The West Australian</em> that Ledger’s family had nominated the hospital as the recipient of the money raised from the painting’s sale.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It’s great to see the legacy of Heath Ledger continuing to make an impact on the WA community,” Robinson said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Other paintings included in the sale include portraits of Depp, his daughter Lily Rose, his friend and late actor River Phoenix, and Hollywood legends such as Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and Elizabeth Taylor.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I’ve always used art to express my feelings and to reflect on those who matter most to me, like my family, friends and people I admire,” Depp said when he offered his paintings publicly for the first time.</p> <p dir="ltr">“My paintings surround my life, but I kept them to myself and limited myself.</p> <p dir="ltr">“No-one should ever limit themselves.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-7a46deee-7fff-39d9-efa7-f32189b75097"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Getty Images / Instagram</em></p>

Caring

This giant kangaroo once roamed New Guinea – descended from an Australian ancestor that migrated millions of years ago

<p>Long ago, almost up until the end of the last ice age, a peculiar giant kangaroo roamed the mountainous rainforests of New Guinea.</p> <p>Now, research to be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03721426.2022.2086518" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published</a> on Thursday by myself and colleagues suggests this kangaroo was not closely related to modern Australian kangaroos. Rather, it represents a previously unknown type of primitive kangaroo unique to New Guinea.</p> <p><strong>The age of megafauna</strong></p> <p>Australia used to be home to all manner of giant animals called megafauna, until most of them went extinct about 40,000 years ago. These megafauna lived alongside animals we now consider characteristic of the Australian bush – kangaroos, koalas, crocodiles and the like – but many were larger species of these.</p> <p>There were giant wombats called <em>Phascolonus</em>, 2.5-metre-tall short-faced kangaroos, and the 3-tonne <em>Diprotodon optatum</em> (the largest marsupial ever). In fact, some Australian megafaunal species, such as the red kangaroo, emu and cassowary, survive through to the modern day.</p> <p>The fossil megafauna of New Guinea are considerably less well-studied than those of Australia. But despite being shrouded in mystery, New Guinea’s fossil record has given us hints of fascinating and unusual animals whose evolutionary stories are entwined with Australia’s.</p> <p>Palaeontologists have done sporadic expeditions and fossil digs in New Guinea, including digs by American and Australian researchers in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s.</p> <p>It was during an archaeological excavation in the early 1970s, led by Mary-Jane Mountain, that two jaws of an extinct giant kangaroo were unearthed. A young researcher (now professor) named Tim Flannery called the species <em>Protemnodon nombe</em>.</p> <p>The fossils Flannery described are about 20,000–50,000 years old. They come from the Nombe Rockshelter, an archaeological and palaeontological site in the mountains of central Papua New Guinea. This site also delivered fossils of another kangaroo and giant four-legged marsupials called diprotodontids.</p> <p><strong>An unexpected discovery</strong></p> <p>Flinders University Professor Gavin Prideaux and I recently re-examined the fossils of <em>Protemnodon nombe</em> and found something unexpected. This strange kangaroo was not a species of the genus <em>Protemnodon</em>, which used to live all over Australia, from the Kimberley to Tasmania. It was something a lot more primitive and unknown.</p> <p>In particular, its unusual molars with curved enamel crests set it apart from all other known kangaroos. We moved the species into a brand new genus unique to New Guinea and (very creatively) renamed it <em>Nombe nombe</em>.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/724328370" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><figcaption><em>A 3D surface scan of a specimen of Nombe nombe, specifically a fossilised lower jaw from central Papua New Guinea. (Courtesy of Papua New Guinea Museum and Art Gallery, Port Moresby).</em></figcaption></figure> <p>Our findings show <em>Nombe</em> may have evolved from an ancient form of kangaroo that migrated into New Guinea from Australia in the late Miocene epoch, some 5–8 million years ago.</p> <p>In those days, the islands of New Guinea and Australia were connected by a land bridge due to lower sea levels – whereas today they’re separated by the Torres Strait.</p> <p>This “bridge” allowed early Australian mammals, including megafauna, to migrate to New Guinea’s rainforests. When the Torres Strait flooded again, these animal populations became disconnected from their Australian relatives and evolved separately to suit their tropical and mountainous New Guinean home.</p> <p>We now consider <em>Nombe</em> to be the descendant of one of these ancient lineages of kangaroos. The squat, muscular animal lived in a diverse mountainous rainforest with thick undergrowth and a closed canopy. It evolved to eat tough leaves from trees and shrubs, which gave it a thick jawbone and strong chewing muscles.</p> <p>The species is currently only known from two fossil lower jaws. And much more remains to be discovered. Did <em>Nombe</em> hop like modern kangaroos? Why did it go extinct?</p> <p>As is typical of palaeontology, one discovery inspires an entire host of new questions.</p> <p><strong>Strange but familiar animals</strong></p> <p>Little of the endemic animal life of New Guinea is known outside of the island, even though it is very strange and very interesting. Very few Australians have much of an idea of what’s there, just over the strait.</p> <p>When I went to the Papua New Guinea Museum in Port Moresby early in my PhD, I was thrilled by the animals I encountered. There are several living species of large, long-nosed, worm-eating echidna – one of which weighs up to 15 kilograms.</p> <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471027/original/file-20220627-22-91nec3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471027/original/file-20220627-22-91nec3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471027/original/file-20220627-22-91nec3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471027/original/file-20220627-22-91nec3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471027/original/file-20220627-22-91nec3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471027/original/file-20220627-22-91nec3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471027/original/file-20220627-22-91nec3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471027/original/file-20220627-22-91nec3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="Author Isaac Kerr poses for a photo, holding an Australian giant kangaroo jaw in his left hand" /></a><figcaption><em><span class="caption">I’m excited to start digging in New Guinea’s rainforests!</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span></em></figcaption></figure> <p>There are also dwarf cassowaries and many different wallaby, tree kangaroo and possum species that don’t exist in Australia – plus many more in the fossil record.</p> <p>We tend to think of these animals as being uniquely Australian, but they have other intriguing forms in New Guinea.</p> <p>As an Australian biologist, it’s both odd and exhilarating to see these “Aussie” animals that have expanded into new and weird forms in another landscape.</p> <p>Excitingly for me and my colleagues, <em>Nombe nombe</em> may breathe some new life into palaeontology in New Guinea. We’re part of a small group of researchers that was recently awarded a grant to undertake three digs at two different sites in eastern and central Papua New Guinea over the next three years.</p> <p>Working with the curators of the Papua New Guinea Museum and other biologists, we hope to inspire young local biology students to study palaeontology and discover new fossil species. If we’re lucky, there may even be a complete skeleton of <em>Nombe nombe</em> waiting for us.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185778/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/isaac-alan-robert-kerr-1356949" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Isaac Alan Robert Kerr</a>, PhD Candidate for Palaeontology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/flinders-university-972" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Flinders University</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/this-giant-kangaroo-once-roamed-new-guinea-descended-from-an-australian-ancestor-that-migrated-millions-of-years-ago-185778" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Supplied</em></p>

Domestic Travel

Shifting seasons: using Indigenous knowledge and western science to help address climate change impacts

<p>Traditional Owners in Australia are the creators of millennia worth of <a href="https://e360.yale.edu/features/native-knowledge-what-ecologists-are-learning-from-indigenous-people" target="_blank" rel="noopener">traditional ecological knowledge</a> – an understanding of how to live amid changing environmental conditions. Seasonal calendars are one of the forms of this knowledge best known by non-Indigenous Australians. But as the climate changes, these calendars are being disrupted.</p> <p>How? Take the example of wattle trees that flower at a specific time of year. That previously indicated the start of the fishing season for particular species. Climate change is causing these plants to flower later. In response, Traditional Owners on <a href="http://www.archerpoint.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yuku Baja Muliku</a> (YBM) Country near Cooktown are having to adapt their calendars and make new links.</p> <p>That’s not all. The seasonal timing of cultural burning practices is changing in some areas. Changes to rainfall and temperature alter when high intensity (hot) burns and low intensity (cool) burns are undertaken.</p> <p>Seasonal connections vital to Traditional Owners’ culture are decoupling.</p> <p>To systematically document changes, co-author Larissa Hale and her community worked with western scientists to pioneer a Traditional Owner-centred approach to climate impacts on cultural values. This process, <a href="https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7kw7z2c9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published last week</a>, could also help Traditional Owners elsewhere to develop adaptive management for their Indigenous heritage.</p> <figure class="align-center zoomable"><em><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467324/original/file-20220606-15930-59oyt9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467324/original/file-20220606-15930-59oyt9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467324/original/file-20220606-15930-59oyt9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467324/original/file-20220606-15930-59oyt9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467324/original/file-20220606-15930-59oyt9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467324/original/file-20220606-15930-59oyt9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467324/original/file-20220606-15930-59oyt9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467324/original/file-20220606-15930-59oyt9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="Wattle flower" /></a></em><figcaption><em><span class="caption">A YBM Traditional Owner showing the wattle flower which used to be an indicator species for good fishing.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span></em></figcaption></figure> <p><strong>Climate change threatens First Nations - their perspectives must be heard</strong></p> <p>Australia’s First Nations people face many threats from climate change, ranging from impacts on food availability to health. For instance, rising seas are already <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/torres-strait-islanders-plead-for-climate-action-as-government-builds-seawall-20220401-p5aa13.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">flooding islands</a> in the Torres Strait with devastating consequences.</p> <p>The most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report on impacts and adaption noted in the <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGII_FinalDraft_Chapter11.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Australasia chapter</a> that climate-related impacts on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, their country and cultures are “pervasive, complex and compounding.”</p> <p>While it is important these impacts are recorded, the dominant source of the data is academic literature based on western science. Impacts and pressures Traditional Owners are seeing and managing on their country must be assessed and managed from their unique perspective.</p> <p>Traditional Owners have survived and adapted to climatic shifts during their 60,000+ years in Australia. This includes sea-level rise that flooded the area that is now the Great Barrier Reef and extreme rainfall variability. As a result, <a href="https://theconversation.com/ancient-knowledge-is-lost-when-a-species-disappears-its-time-to-let-indigenous-people-care-for-their-country-their-way-172760" target="_blank" rel="noopener">they have developed</a> a fine-tuned sense of nature’s variability over time.</p> <figure class="align-center zoomable"><em><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467327/original/file-20220607-20-y7p3ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467327/original/file-20220607-20-y7p3ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467327/original/file-20220607-20-y7p3ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467327/original/file-20220607-20-y7p3ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467327/original/file-20220607-20-y7p3ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467327/original/file-20220607-20-y7p3ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467327/original/file-20220607-20-y7p3ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467327/original/file-20220607-20-y7p3ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="Drone shot of Annan river" /></a></em><figcaption><em><span class="caption">YBM Traditional Owners and scientists surveying freshwater mussel populations on Annan River near Cooktown.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span></em></figcaption></figure> <p><strong>So what did we do?</strong></p> <p>Worried about the changes they were seeing on their Land and Sea Country around Archer Point in North Queensland, the YBM people worked with scientists from James Cook University to create a new way to assess impacts on cultural values.</p> <p>To do this, we drew on the values-based, science-driven, and community-focused approach of the <a href="https://cvi-heritage.org/about" target="_blank" rel="noopener">climate vulnerability index</a>. It was the first time this index had been used to assess values of significance for Indigenous people.</p> <p>YBM people responded to key prompts to assess changes to their values, including:</p> <ul> <li>What did the value look like 100 years ago?</li> <li>What does it look like now?</li> <li>What do you expect it will look like in the climate future around 2050?</li> <li>What management practices relate to that value and will they change?</li> </ul> <p>We then discussed what issues have emerged from these climatic changes.</p> <p>Using this process, we were able to single out issues directly affecting how YBM people live. For instance, traditional food sources can be affected by climate change. In the past, freshwater mussels in the Annan River were easy to access and collect. Extreme temperature events in the last 10 years have contributed to mass die-offs. Now mussels are much smaller in size and tend to be far <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311066114_Freshwater_mussel_surveys_from_the_Annan_River_Yuku_Baja_Muliku_Country_-_project_findings" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fewer in number</a>.</p> <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467325/original/file-20220607-16-b1ny4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467325/original/file-20220607-16-b1ny4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467325/original/file-20220607-16-b1ny4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467325/original/file-20220607-16-b1ny4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467325/original/file-20220607-16-b1ny4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467325/original/file-20220607-16-b1ny4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467325/original/file-20220607-16-b1ny4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467325/original/file-20220607-16-b1ny4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="Freshwater mussels Annan River" /></a><figcaption><em><span class="caption">Freshwater mussels used to be more common.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span></em></figcaption></figure> <p>Through the process we also documented that changes to rainfall and temperature have altered the time when some plant foods appear. This is particularly true for plants that depend upon cultural burns to flower or put up shoots. This in turn has meant that the timing of collecting and harvesting has changed.</p> <figure class="align-right zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467328/original/file-20220607-12-61cmu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467328/original/file-20220607-12-61cmu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467328/original/file-20220607-12-61cmu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467328/original/file-20220607-12-61cmu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467328/original/file-20220607-12-61cmu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467328/original/file-20220607-12-61cmu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467328/original/file-20220607-12-61cmu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467328/original/file-20220607-12-61cmu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="bushfoods found on YBM country" /></a><figcaption><em><span class="caption">The timing of when some bushfoods appear is changing.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span></em></figcaption></figure> <p>These climate-linked changes challenge existing bodies of traditional knowledge, altering connections between different species, ecosystems and weather patterns across Land and Sea Country.</p> <p>A key part of this process was developing a mutually beneficial partnership between traditional ecological knowledge holders and western scientists. It was critical to establish a relationship built on trust and respect.</p> <p>Walking the country first – seeing rivers, mangroves, beaches, headlands, bush, wetlands, and looking out at Sea Country – helped researchers understand the perspectives of Traditional Owners. Honouring experience and knowledge (especially that held by Elders and Indigenous rangers) was important. Indigenous cultural and intellectual property <a href="https://www.artslaw.com.au/information-sheet/indigenous-cultural-intellectual-property-icip-aitb/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">protocols</a> were recognised and respected throughout the assessment.</p> <p><a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/11/UNDRIP_E_web.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Respecting</a> and working collaboratively with Traditional Owners as expert scientists in their own knowledge system was critical for success. Any effort to incorporate traditional ecological knowledge in climate change assessments must protect sensitive traditional knowledge.</p> <p>As climate change will continue and accelerate, we must work together to minimise resulting impacts on the cultural heritage of First Nations peoples.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183229/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/karin-gerhardt-1350288" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Karin Gerhardt</a>, PhD student, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/james-cook-university-1167" target="_blank" rel="noopener">James Cook University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jon-c-day-142416" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jon C. Day</a>, PSM, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/james-cook-university-1167" target="_blank" rel="noopener">James Cook University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/larissa-hale-1346434" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Larissa Hale</a>, Yuku Baja Muliku Traditional Owner, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/indigenous-knowledge-4846" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Indigenous Knowledge</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/scott-f-heron-256521" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Scott F. Heron</a>, Associate Professor in Physics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/james-cook-university-1167" target="_blank" rel="noopener">James Cook University</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/shifting-seasons-using-indigenous-knowledge-and-western-science-to-help-address-climate-change-impacts-183229" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Image: </em><em>Yuku Baja Muliku Land and Sea Rangers (Facebook)</em></p>

Domestic Travel

Sydney icon to be returned to Aboriginal owners

<p dir="ltr">A historic decision has been made to return one of Sydney harbour's iconic landmarks to its Indigenous custodians.</p> <p dir="ltr">The NSW government has begun the official transfer process for Me-Mel Island - also known as Goat Island - which will be accompanied by a nearly $43 million revitalisation of the island.</p> <p dir="ltr">NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet described the achievement as a “personal priority”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Returning Me-Mel to the Aboriginal community is the right thing to do, and it helps deliver on my commitment of improving outcomes and opportunities for Aboriginal people across all parts of Government,” he said.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-884d2a08-7fff-393c-0609-2d285d9a3db1"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">“A big part of my commitment is ensuring the island is remediated before it’s transferred to the Aboriginal community.”</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Me-mel (Eora): Bennelong's island; little green space in the sea. <a href="https://t.co/HZFslBCkyH">pic.twitter.com/HZFslBCkyH</a></p> <p>— Carolyn R Galbraith (@CarolynRGalb) <a href="https://twitter.com/CarolynRGalb/status/1530773156536852481?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 29, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">This remediation, included in the $42.9 million package spread over the next four years, will cover various works such as repairing seawalls and buildings, improving water and sewer services, adn removing contaminants like asbestos, according to <em><a href="https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/43m-move-to-return-memel-island-to-aboriginal-hands/news-story/b28de6cc4bc21003aec0e5a801c362b9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news.com.au</a></em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">Me-Mel Island is the biggest in Sydney Harbour and lies north-west of the CBD.</p> <p dir="ltr">The State Heritage-listed island is known for its rich Aboriginal heritage, as well as being home to more than 30 buildings and structures from the 1830s to 1960s.</p> <p dir="ltr">Once inhabited by Wangal man Bennelong and Cammeraigal woman Barangaroo, Bennelong said he inherited it from his father who was born on Me-Mel according to colonial documents.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-9e769c3e-7fff-5f05-09d0-f67c7b488a4d"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">The transfer was first promised during the 2015 election by the NSW Labor Party - who lost to the Liberal Party that year - before officially commencing under the Liberals seven years later.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">I welcome the announcement today by <a href="https://twitter.com/Dom_Perrottet?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Dom_Perrottet</a> of $43m for restoration work on ME-MEL <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/goatisland?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#goatisland</a> prior to this historic land being returned to the Aboriginal community in 2026 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/alwayswasalwayswillbeaboriginalland?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#alwayswasalwayswillbeaboriginalland</a> <a href="https://t.co/Xe3ySXOINf">pic.twitter.com/Xe3ySXOINf</a></p> <p>— Councillor Yvonne Weldon (@ypweldon) <a href="https://twitter.com/ypweldon/status/1530860098515783682?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 29, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">Though it has been a long time coming, the decision has been welcomed by Yvonne Weldon, the Deputy Chair of the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council, who said the transfer will help heal and progress Indigenous issues.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Me-Mel is a place where we can go to be within our culture, pass culture on to our younger generations and share with other people,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Until the transfer, the island will continue to be managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), which is calling for <a href="https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/parks-reserves-and-protected-areas/park-management/community-engagement/sydney-harbour-national-park/me-mel-goat-island" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expressions of interest</a> for the Me-Mel Transfer Committee.</p> <p dir="ltr">Aboriginal Affairs Minister Ben Franklin said this committee, with advice from legal, heritage, planning and governance experts, will develop a business case and plan for future ownership and management of the island.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The Me-Mel Transfer Committee includes Aboriginal people and NSW government representatives, and importantly, its establishment is supported by the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council,” Mr Franklin said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Nominations for this committee are open until close of business on June 27.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-4bd3246b-7fff-8211-0ee4-0e09959bc419"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Office of Environment and Heritage (Flickr)</em></p>

Real Estate

How “liveable” are Australian cities, really? Not at all, if you want to walk

<p>Australian cities are not designed to make their residents healthy – and nor do they have adequate policies in place to improve the health of their residents.</p> <p>Despite being frequently touted as “liveable”, Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney’s low density and walkability mean they fail to meet health and sustainability thresholds – according to <em>The Lancet Global Health’s </em>new <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/series/urban-design-2022" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Urban Design, Transport and Health Series</a>.</p> <p>This means that residents of these cities often live in areas where it’s difficult to walk or cycle to shops and services, and access healthy food – so the chances of meeting the World Health Organisation’s physical activity guidelines are stacked against them.</p> <p>“It’s easy to say that people should change, but if they can’t walk anywhere, if there’s no public transport, then you can say whatever you like, but it’s very difficult for people to change,” says lead researcher Distinguished Professor Billie Giles-Corti, director of the Healthy Liveable Cities Lab at RMIT University.</p> <p>The series, which is an update to a <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/series/urban-design" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">2016 assessment</a>, examined <a href="https://www.healthysustainablecities.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">25 cities around the world</a> for their public health policies, as well as a number of geographical and built environment indicators. These indicators included things like population density, walkability, percentage of the population with access to frequent public transport and fresh food. Many of the metrics were based on indicators from the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, although often with more detail.</p> <p>“Many cities talk about wanting to be healthy, sustainable and liveable in general terms, but they often don’t have the policies in place to deliver that aspiration,” says Giles-Corti.</p> <p>“Our central argument is that if you want to have healthy cities downstream, you’ve got to think about what’s upstream, and the policies that create the intervention.”</p> <p>A full list of the 25 cities, and their scorecards, can be seen at the <a href="https://www.healthysustainablecities.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Global Observatory of Healthy and Sustainable Cities</a> website.</p> <p>The three Australian cities in the study – Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney – all scored poorly on density, connectivity and walkability.</p> <p>For instance, only 53.7% of Adelaide residents, 49.4% of Melbourne residents, and 57.7% of Sydney residents live within 500 metres of a public transport stop that’s serviced at least every 20 minutes.</p> <p>Cities like Sao Paulo (94%), Hong Kong (83%) and Lisbon (93%) all compare favourably. The 11 European cities in the study, in fact, outperformed the Australian cities on nearly every indicator.</p> <p>The results stand in stark contrast to things like the Economist Intelligence Unit’s <a href="https://www.eiu.com/n/campaigns/global-liveability-index-2021/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">index of liveability</a>, which Australian cities frequently top.</p> <p>“The Economist Intelligence Unit is not telling you anything about the lived experience of the average person in the city,” says Giles-Corti.</p> <p>“What it’s telling you about is what it’s going to be like for an executive who’s going to live in the inner city, where it is probably very walkable.”</p> <p>The much lower density of Australian cities, by contrast, makes them less liveable for most residents.</p> <p>“If you want to have some vibrancy, if you want to have shops and services nearby, if you want to have public transport, there’s a minimum level of density that’s required to be able to deliver that,” says Giles-Corti.</p> <p>“Australian cities have, since the last World War, become very low density. We’ve got this incredible urban sprawl. And that means that shops and services are very spread out.”</p> <p>She says that other surveys she and her colleagues have done in Brisbane and Perth indicate that this isn’t how most Australians want to live – a majority would rather be closer to shops and services.</p> <p>“The reason why it’s very expensive to live in Fitzroy is because lots of people want to live there. So I don’t think we should just assume that, because people live in outer suburban areas, that’s their first choice.”</p> <p>The researchers are hoping that the study will allow people to see which policies are better at improving urban health.</p> <p>“What we need to have is policy and spatial indicators that we can use to benchmark and monitor cities over time,” says Giles-Corti.</p> <p>“That way, we can actually see: do we have the policy and frameworks in place to deliver the cities that we need? And how well are they performing?”</p> <p>This will have environmental, as well as health-based, implications.</p> <p>“Many of the lower-middle income countries are rapidly urbanising,” says Giles-Corti.</p> <p>“If they follow what we’ve done in Australia, the US and New Zealand, and create these very car-dominated cities, that is very bad for the world. That’s a lot more cars on the road, a lot more greenhouse gas emissions, and a lot more congestion that’s going to slow cities down.”</p> <p></p> <p><img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=191121&title=How+%E2%80%9Cliveable%E2%80%9D+are+Australian+cities%2C+really%3F+Not+at+all%2C+if+you+want+to+walk" width="1" height="1" data-spai-target="src" data-spai-orig="" data-spai-exclude="nocdn" /></p> <p></p> <div id="contributors"> <p><em><a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/news/liveability-walkability-australia-cities/">This article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/ellen-phiddian">Ellen Phiddian</a>. Ellen Phiddian is a science journalist at Cosmos. She has a BSc (Honours) in chemistry and science communication, and an MSc in science communication, both from the Australian National University.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p> </div>

Domestic Travel

”Fix the system not me”: A first for Australian Fashion Week

<p dir="ltr">In a first for the yearly week-long display of new Aussie fashion, adaptive clothing has taken the fore through a show solely focused on the underrepresented sphere of fashion.</p> <p dir="ltr">Day four of <a href="https://aafw.com.au/index" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Australian Fashion Week</a> saw a collective of designers take to the runway with fashionable garments that can be worn by both abled and disabled people and were modelled by the very people who inspired them.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-2d88adce-7fff-0d4e-c964-523093a299c6"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">JAM and Christine Stephens, two designers whose designs were featured, share a mutual goal: to act as a voice for the adaptive designers collective and highlight the possibilities for stylish fashion that is inclusive.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CdcVj66rDK8/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CdcVj66rDK8/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Australian Fashion Week (@ausfashionweek)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">“We want to give people living with disabilities a choice. A choice in fashion, a choice to be included and a choice to be heard,” Jessie Sadler and Carol Taylor, two designers for Christine Stephens, said in a press release.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-2b0c32f0-7fff-25fa-e0cb-321770502031"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Taylor, the co-owner and lead designer of the fashion label, said the collection was inspired by a quadriplegic groom-to-be who “would never know what it would be like to unwrap his able-bodied bride”.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/05/fashion-week1.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Models with disabilities took to the runway for the Adaptive Clothing Collective show. Image: Getty Images</em></p> <p dir="ltr">The outfits included multiple adaptive features, such as particularly magnetic button closures and zips to improve access for prosthetic users and even particularly contrasting colour choices.</p> <p dir="ltr">One model’s outfit, a sky-blue two-piece suit with contrasting magenta collars and inner linings, was inspired by their visual impairment that prevents them from distinguishing between darker colours, as reported by <em><a href="https://www.elle.com.au/fashion/adaptive-clothing-collective-australian-fashion-week-2022-27051" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elle Australia</a></em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">The runway featured disabled models throughout the show, including actress Chloé Hayden, who told <em><a href="https://www.refinery29.com/en-au/2022/05/10974587/adaptive-fashion-runway" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Refinery29</a></em> being asked to participate was an “out of this world” experience.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-785756bc-7fff-3cc7-b5d5-9adacdd5b24c"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">“I grew up practising my model walk, doing personal little photo shoots, going to those Dolly model searches … I’m always jaw dropping at Australian Fashion Week,” she told the publication.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CdcszIUBLKa/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CdcszIUBLKa/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Chloé Hayden (@chloeshayden)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">Following her appearance in the show, where she wore olive utility-style boots and a trench coat with the slogan ‘Fix the system, not me’, Hayden took to Instagram to share clips and her excitement.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Australian Fashion Week’s first adaptive runway. Let it not be the last,” she captioned the post. “More posts to come once I stop projectile crying and stimming.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Lisa Cox, an author, consultant and disability influencer who modelled for Christina Stephens, said the opportunity made her feel “seen” by the industry.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I feel more accepted and I feel seen by an industry that I haven’t felt a part of since I became disabled over 16 years ago … I feel both honoured and privileged to be part of such a landmark event in Australian fashion history,” she told <em>Refinery29</em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">Cox added that the absence of inclusivity in fashion has left her feeling unimportant and uncatered for - which she noted was also bad for those in the clothing business.</p> <p dir="ltr">“[It’s] offensive and it really hurts,” she said. </p> <p dir="ltr">“But on the other hand, people with disabilities are consumers too so that attitude is just bad business. My legs don’t work but my credit card does!”</p> <p dir="ltr">Emma Clegg and Molly Rogers, the creators of JAM the label, said the “universal design” of adaptive clothing is more comfortable, convenient and accessible for everyone, and encourage non-disabled people to also give them a try.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Purchasing from and supporting Australian inclusive [and] adaptive fashion brands will prove to the Australian fashion industry that there is the demand out there, and they need to be including people with disability throughout their businesses,” they told <em>Refinery29</em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It shouldn't be newsworthy that there is a designer with disabilities or clothes for people with disabilities at AAFW, but for now it must be celebrated,” Cox said. </p> <p dir="ltr">Whether you approach the issue from a position of fairness or business, with 20 percent of Australians living with a disability, it makes sense to design clothing that can be worn and enjoyed by everyone - and hopefully this show is just the first of many more.</p> <p dir="ltr">Here's a look at the styles appearing at the show.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-216d0ef3-7fff-5cbe-54b7-b8bfd22e2472"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Beauty & Style

Satellites interfere with Indigenous astronomy

<p>Since time immemorial, Indigenous peoples worldwide have observed, tracked and memorised all the visible objects in the night sky.</p> <p>This ancient star knowledge was meticulously ingrained with practical knowledge of the land, sky, waters, community and the Dreaming — and passed down through generations.</p> <p>One of the most well-known and celebrated Aboriginal constellations is the Emu in the Sky, which appears in the southern sky early in the year. It is an example of a dark constellation, which means it’s characterised by particularly dark patches in the sky, rather than stars.</p> <p>Conversely, space technology companies such as Starlink are increasingly competing to dominate the skies, and potentially change them forever.</p> <p>The modern-day space race has led to thousands of satellites being scattered through Earth’s outer orbits. If left unchallenged, these companies risk overpopulating an already crowded space environment – potentially pushing dark skies to extinction.</p> <p><strong>Mega-constellations</strong></p> <p>Mega-constellations are groupings of satellites that communicate and work together as they orbit Earth.</p> <p>Since 2018, the Starlink project, run by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, has launched about 1,700 satellites into low Earth orbit. The company plans to launch another <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/19/spacex-starlink-satellite-internet-new-capabilities-starship-launch.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">30,000 over the next decade</a>.</p> <p>British company OneWeb has launched nearly 150 satellites, with plans <a href="https://www.spaceconnectonline.com.au/launch/5111-oneweb-to-deploy-over-half-its-constellation-satellites-this-month" target="_blank" rel="noopener">for another 6,000</a>. And Amazon intends to launch an additional <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/01/amazons-project-kuiper-launching-first-internet-satellites-in-q4-2022.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">3,000 satellites</a> into multiple orbits.</p> <figure class="align-center "><em><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458059/original/file-20220414-20-rmk6kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458059/original/file-20220414-20-rmk6kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458059/original/file-20220414-20-rmk6kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458059/original/file-20220414-20-rmk6kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458059/original/file-20220414-20-rmk6kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458059/original/file-20220414-20-rmk6kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458059/original/file-20220414-20-rmk6kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="A satellite hovering in orbit above Earth." /></em><figcaption><em><span class="caption">A growing number of Starlink satellites can be found in low orbit around Earth.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/minsk-minskiy-district-belarus-19-january-2110892792" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shutterstock</a></span></em></figcaption></figure> <p>Each of these companies is taking to the skies to increase internet access across the globe. But even if they deliver on this, sky gazers — and especially Indigenous peoples — are left to wonder: at what cost?</p> <p><strong>Streaks in the night</strong></p> <p>People across the globe began noticing streaks across our skies not long after the first Starlink launch in May 2019. They were unlike anything anyone had seen before.</p> <p>Astronomers are very used to viewing the sky and dealing with interference, often originating from aircraft or the occasional satellite. However, the goal of mega-constellations is to engulf the entire planet, <a href="https://spacenews.com/spacex-launches-another-set-of-starlink-satellites-as-it-nears-global-coverage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">leaving no place untouched</a>. Mega-constellations alter our collective view of the stars. And there is currently no known way to remove them.</p> <p>One mega-constellation has been observed to <a href="https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2020/1/7/21003272/space-x-starlink-astronomy-light-pollution" target="_blank" rel="noopener">produce up to 19 parallel streaks</a> across the sky. These streaks disturb astronomical observations, and a significant amount of scientific data can be lost as a result.</p> <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458060/original/file-20220414-17-8ym1fy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458060/original/file-20220414-17-8ym1fy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458060/original/file-20220414-17-8ym1fy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458060/original/file-20220414-17-8ym1fy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458060/original/file-20220414-17-8ym1fy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458060/original/file-20220414-17-8ym1fy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458060/original/file-20220414-17-8ym1fy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="Satellites leaving streaks in the night sky." /><figcaption><em><span class="caption">Satellites can leave streaks in the night sky.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/starlink-satellites-summer-night-sky-1753118759" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shutterstock</a></span></em></figcaption></figure> <p>As they travel across the entire sky, scattering the Sun’s light, dark constellations become even fainter — further desecrating Indigenous knowledge and kinship with the environment.</p> <p><a href="https://academic.oup.com/mnrasl/article/504/1/L40/6188393" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Further research</a> on the impacts of mega-constellations have found that as they orbit Earth, the Sun’s rays are reflected off them and scattered into the atmosphere.</p> <p>The authors of that study conclude we are collectively experiencing a new type of “skyglow” as a result: a phenomenon in which the brightness of the sky increases due to human-made light pollution.</p> <p>Initial calculations indicate this new source of light pollution has increased the brightness of night skies globally by about 10%, compared with the natural skyglow measured in the 1960s.</p> <p>Currently, the upper limit of light pollution tolerable at observatories <a href="https://www-cambridge-org.virtual.anu.edu.au/core/journals/transactions-of-the-international-astronomical-union/article/commission-50-identification-and-protection-of-existing-or-potential-observatory-sites-identification-et-protection-des-sites-dobservatoires-existants-ou-potentiels/5483EC52C57F73B2246AF593513A2D9D" target="_blank" rel="noopener">is 10% above the natural skyglow</a>, which suggests we have already reached the limit.</p> <p>In other words, scientific observations of the sky are already at risk of being rendered redundant. If this excess skyglow increases even more, observatories are at serious risk.</p> <p><strong>Indigenous sky sovereignty</strong></p> <p>Indigenous knowledge systems and oral traditions teach us about the intricate and complex relationships Indigenous peoples have with the environment, including the sky.</p> <p>For example, many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures have no concept of “outer space”. They only have a continuous and connected reality where coexistence with all things is paramount.</p> <p>As captured by the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0962629818304086?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bawaka Country</a> group, based in northeast Arnhem Land:</p> <blockquote> <p>…to hurt Sky Country, to try and possess it, is an ongoing colonisation of the plural lifeworlds of all those who have ongoing connections with and beyond the sky.</p> </blockquote> <p>Desecrating the sky impacts Indigenous sovereignty as it limits access to their knowledge system, in the same ways desecrating the land has removed First Peoples from their countries, cultures and ways of life.</p> <p>For example, the Gamilaraay and Wiradjuri peoples of New South Wales observe the Emu in the Sky to gauge when it is time to hunt for emu eggs — and most importantly, when it is time to stop. How would the Gamilaraay know when to stop collecting eggs, or when to conduct annual ceremonies signalled by the Celestial Emu, if it was no longer visible?</p> <p>Similarly, important parts of the Jukurrpa, or Dreaming of the Martu people of Western Australia is embedded in the Seven Sisters constellation. How would they keep this knowledge safe if they can’t locate any of the Sisters?</p> <p>Indigenous histories teach us about the devastating consequences of colonialism, and how the impacts of the colonial agenda can be mitigated through prioritising the health of country and community.</p> <p>In the words of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-020-01238-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">astronomer Aparna Venkatesan and colleagues</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p>…the manner and pace of ‘occupying’ near-Earth space raise the risk of repeating the mistakes of colonisation on a cosmic scale.</p> </blockquote> <p>Active Indigenous sky sovereignty acknowledges the interconnected nature between land and sky, and that caring for country includes sky country. By doing so, it challenges <a href="https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/amst_etds/81/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the otherwise unimpeded authority</a> of technology corporations.</p> <p><strong>Harming fauna, harming ourselves</strong></p> <p>By understanding that the world (and indeed the Universe) is interconnected, we see that no living creature is immune to the consequences of polluting the skies.</p> <p>Currently, native fauna such as the tammar wallaby, magpie, bogong moth and marine turtles are experiencing a <a href="https://www.awe.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/national-light-pollution-guidelines-wildlife.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reduction in populations and quality of life</a> due to the impacts of light-pollution.</p> <figure class="align-center "><em><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458063/original/file-20220414-30327-7xnlx8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458063/original/file-20220414-30327-7xnlx8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458063/original/file-20220414-30327-7xnlx8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458063/original/file-20220414-30327-7xnlx8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458063/original/file-20220414-30327-7xnlx8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458063/original/file-20220414-30327-7xnlx8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458063/original/file-20220414-30327-7xnlx8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="A tammar wallaby with young in its pouch." /></em><figcaption><em><span class="caption">The tammar wallaby is just one Australian species affected by light pollution.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/wallaby-young-animal-pouch-undergrowth-1840354798" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shutterstock</a></span></em></figcaption></figure> <p>Migratory species are particularly affected by light pollution, which can result in them losing access to their migratory route. This is a crisis Australia’s fauna has faced since before the introduction of mega-constellations.</p> <p>With more skyglow and light pollution, positive outcomes for native fauna and migratory species diminish.</p> <p><strong>Going forward</strong></p> <p>Several companies have made attempts to reduce the impact of mega-constellations on skyglow.</p> <p>For example, OneWeb has opted to rollout fewer satellites than initially proposed, and has designed them to be positioned at a higher altitude. This means <a href="https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/2012/2012.05100.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">they will produce less skyglow</a>, while also covering a larger area.</p> <p>Starlink, on the other hand, has not shown any public interest in operating at higher and less impactful altitudes, for fears it will <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/04/fcc-lets-spacex-cut-satellite-altitude-to-improve-starlink-speed-and-latency/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">impact the Starlink network’s speed and latency.</a></p> <p>That said, they have attempted to reduce their satellites’ luminosity by painting them with a novel anti-reflective coating. Coating techniques have demonstrated a reduction in reflected sunlight by up to 50%. Unfortunately, not all wavelengths of <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2010.04655" target="_blank" rel="noopener">light being scattered are reduced using this method</a>. So multi-wave astronomy, and different species of animals, are still at risk.</p> <p>We’ll need more solutions to navigate our increasingly polluted atmosphere, particularly if communication monopolies continue to rein over near-Earth space.</p> <p>Just as some companies have started considering tactics to avoid increasing skyglow, all space tech companies must be held responsible for adding to an already polluted space.</p> <p>Guidelines such as those set by the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee offer solutions to this problem. They suggest lowering the height of a satellite’s orbit when it’s no longer needed, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-06170-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">allowing it to disintegrate as it falls</a> down to Earth.</p> <p>However, these are international guidelines, so there’s no legal framework to enforce such practices.</p> <p>And given that near-miss collisions have already <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2019/09/03/near-miss-between-science-craft-and-starlink-satellite-shows-need-to-improve-orbital-coordination/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">taken place between some mega-constellations</a>, and an estimated 20,000 pieces of space debris already floating above, reducing orbital pollution must also now be a priority.</p> <p>Reducing air pollutants has also been shown to drastically <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/mnrasl/slab030" target="_blank" rel="noopener">decrease natural sky brightness</a>, offering a potential solution for improving night sky visibility — not to mention cleaner breathing air for all.</p> <p>In valuing Indigenous knowledge systems, that value must be extended to the natural environment in which that knowledge is embedded and founded upon. In Australia, preserving dark skies is not just vital for the continuation of Indigenous knowledge and astronomers — it benefits us all.</p> <p>A major tenet of life for Indigenous peoples is valuing the sustainability of one’s actions. By adopting this at a larger scale, we could create a reality in which we’re not a threat to our own survival.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173840/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/karlie-noon-1310291" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Karlie Noon</a>, Astronomer, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/australian-national-university-877" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Australian National University</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/thousands-of-satellites-are-polluting-australian-skies-and-threatening-ancient-indigenous-astronomy-practices-173840" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Domestic Travel

Lisa Curry opens up on Steve Irwin losing Australian of the Year award

<p dir="ltr">Former Olympian Lisa Curry’s new memoir has revealed how crocodile hunter Steve Irwin lost the title of Australian of the Year over a controversial photo, with the Aussie swimmer expressing her regret over a “shemozzle that should never have happened”.</p> <p dir="ltr">Curry was chair of the National Australia Day council in 2004, when the decision to bestow the title on Irwin was overturned at the last minute and cricket star Steve Waugh received it instead.</p> <p dir="ltr">The switch came amid outcry over a photograph of Irwin holding his then-baby Robert while feeding a crocodile at the family-run Australia Zoo in early 2004.</p> <p dir="ltr">Despite telling Irwin he would be the recipient of the award, the council made the call in the belief that he could nominate again in a few years’ time - with no-one imagining Irwin would be fatally stung just two years later.</p> <p dir="ltr">Speaking to News Corp papers, Curry said she would have made a different decision if faced with it today, and that she would award Irwin the award posthumously if that were possible.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It was such a shemozzle that should never have happened,” she said. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Today, I would have just said, ‘No, we are going ahead with it’.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Sometimes you do things to please people, to please the media or the public, and these days I’d go, ‘No. This is what we are doing. The person deserves it and it’s going to stand’.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The 59-year-old opened up about the controversy - and her life as an Olympian, motherhood and her relationships - in her memoir, <em>Lisa: 60 years of Love, Life & Loss</em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">Amid never-before-told stories from her life and career Curry also wrote about the <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/health/caring/lisa-curry-honours-late-daughter-with-touching-birthday-message" target="_blank" rel="noopener">death of her daughter</a>, Jaimi, and how she struggled with her grief in the years after.</p> <p dir="ltr">As for the Steve Irwin “shemozzle”, Curry wrote that despite him losing out on the award, she wants his family to know he will always be a “worthy recipient”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Steve was aware that he’d won because, in those days, it was my job to ring the recipients and let them know,” she wrote.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It was so hard to make a decision to take away somebody’s award, which they’d won fair and square.</p> <p dir="ltr">“After speaking with Steve, it was agreed he would withdraw his nomination. He could renominate another year. Steve Waugh ended up winning it that year and he was a very good Australian of the Year for 2004. I don’t know whether he knew that Steve Irwin had been the first choice.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I want (Steve’s) family to know that he was, and always will be, a worthy recipient of that award.”</p> <p dir="ltr">To read the full <em>Saturday Telegraph</em> story, click <a href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/crocodile-hunter-steve-irwin-lost-his-australian-of-the-year-over-a-crocfeeding-controversy-lisa-curry-reveals/news-story/eef3272d3b47c6ebdc89ec6c02254ad3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-ff8afc74-7fff-5c37-5746-cdec412c7583"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: @lisacurry (Instagram) / Getty Images</em></p>

Family & Pets

Australian passport plummets to the bottom tier

<p dir="ltr">Australia’s passport has given a remarkably low score, making it one of the least valuable in the world. </p> <p dir="ltr">An analysis by travel website ParkSleepFly looked at the best and worst value for money passports, with the focus placed on the overall cost of the document compared to the freedom of movement it provides.</p> <p dir="ltr">The final result gave Australia's passport a ranking of 43 out of 48 countries - the sixth-worst value for money passport with a passport value score of only 2.56/10.</p> <p dir="ltr">Other countries that unexpectedly ranked higher than Australia included Romania (2.77) and the Caribbean island Barbados (2.66).</p> <p dir="ltr">Australia did however come in the top 10 for the equal best mobility score, in which passport holders are able to travel to 103 countries visa-free and 53 countries where a visa is required on arrival.</p> <p dir="ltr">Other countries that scored worse than Australia are: Lichtenstein (1.06), San Marino (1.92), Mexico (1.92), Canada (2.13) and Chile (2.13).</p> <p dir="ltr">New Zealand’s passport did a lot better than Australia’s after being given a ranking of 29 out of the 48 countries. </p> <p dir="ltr">The world’s top 10 best value passports are:</p> <ol> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">United Arab Emirates</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Sweden</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">South Korea</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Spain</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Luxembourg</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Hungary</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Slovakia</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Austria</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Latvia</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Germany</p> </li> </ol> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Shutterstock</em></p>

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