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MasterChef UK host lashes out at wave of complaints

MasterChef UK host Gregg Wallace has lashed out at “middle-class women of a certain age” for making complaints about him in a bizarre online rant. The TV host has stepped back from the program after an investigation was launched into his alleged misconduct over a number of years. The controversy first came to light following a report by The Sun, which detailed accusations that Wallace, 60, made "inappropriate sexual comments" to a female BBC staffer during his time on Impossible Celebrities. He has also faced claims of being rude and insulting to women on another program in 2023. After denying the allegations, Wallace launched into a heated tirade in an Instagram post, hitting back at the people he believes first complained about his conduct. Wallace said on Instagram, “I have been doing MasterChef for 20 years – amateur, celebrity and professional MasterChef and I think in that time I have worked with over 4,000 contestants of all different ages, all different backgrounds and all walks of life." “And apparently now I am reading in the paper there’s been 13 complaints in that time. “In the newspaper I can see the complaints coming from a handful of middle-class women of a certain age just from Celebrity MasterChef. This isn’t right." “In over 20 years of television, can you imagine how many women, female contestants, on MasterChef have made sexual remarks or sexual innuendo, can you imagine?” “Do you know how many staff, all different sorts of staff, made a complaint about me in that time. Absolutely none. Zero. Seriously.” Wallace's rant comes after Sir Rod Stewart <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/finance/legal/tubby-bald-headed-ill-mannered-bully-rod-stewart-s-extraordinary-spray" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called out</a> the TV host in the wake of the allegations, accusing him of humiliating his wife, Penny Lancaster, during her appearance on Celebrity MasterChef in 2021. Stewart wrote, “Good riddance Wallace... You humiliated my wife when she was on the show, but you had that bit cut out didn’t you? You’re a tubby, bald-headed, ill-mannered bully. Karma got ya.” Wallace has denied the allegations and stated that a previous investigation by the BBC six years ago cleared him of any wrongdoing. He insisted his comments were not sexual in nature, saying, "I don’t want anybody to misunderstand this and make it look like I was flirting with somebody. Nobody accused me of that, and I never have." Banijay UK, the production company behind MasterChef, confirmed the investigation into "historical allegations" and stated they are cooperating fully with the BBC. A BBC spokesperson said the corporation is commited to addressing any behaviour falling below its expected standards: “We take any issues that are raised with us seriously and have robust processes in place to deal with them... We will always support external production companies when addressing complaints or concerns.” Image credits: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock Editorial

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7 things you can do if you think you sweat too much

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/michael-freeman-223922">Michael Freeman</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/bond-university-863">Bond University</a> Sweating is our body’s way of cooling down, a bit like an internal air conditioner. When our core temperature rises (because it’s hot outside, or you’re exercising), sweat glands all over our skin release a watery fluid. As that fluid evaporates, it takes heat with it, keeping us from overheating. But sweating can vary from person to person. Some people might just get a little dewy under the arms, others feel like they could fill a swimming pool (maybe not that dramatic, but you get the idea). So what’s a normal amount of sweat? And what’s too much? <h2>Why do some people sweat more than others?</h2> How much you sweat depends on a number of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/23328940.2019.1632145">factors</a> including: <ul> <li> your age (young kids generally sweat less than adults) </li> <li> your sex (men tend to sweat more than women) </li> <li> how active you are. </li> </ul> The average person sweats at the rate of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/23328940.2019.1632145">300 millilitres per hour</a> (at 30°C and about 40% humidity). But as you can’t go around measuring the volume of your own sweat (or weighing it), doctors use another measure to gauge the impact of sweating. They ask whether sweating interferes with your daily life. Maybe you stop wearing certain clothes because of the sweat stains, or feel embarrassed so don’t go to social events or work. If so, this is a medical condition called <a href="https://www.dermcoll.edu.au/atoz/axillary-hyperhidrosis/">hyperhidrosis</a>, which affects <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1346-8138.16908">millions of people</a> worldwide. People with this condition most commonly report problematic armpit sweating, as you’d expect. But sweaty hands, feet, scalp and groin can also be an issue. Hyperhidrosis can be a symptom of another medical condition, such as an <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fendo.2023.1167890/pdf">overactive thyroid</a>, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/23328940.2019.1632145">fever or menopause</a>. But hyperhidrosis can have no obvious cause, and the reasons behind this so-called primary hyperhidrosis are a bit of a mystery. People have normal numbers of sweat glands but researchers think they simply over-produce sweat after triggers such as stress, heat, exercise, tobacco, alcohol and hot spices. There may also be a genetic link. <h2>OK, I sweat a lot. What can I do?</h2> 1. Antiperspirants Antiperspirants, particularly ones with <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/ics.12852">aluminium</a>, are your first line of defence and are formulated to reduce sweating. Deodorants only stop body odour. <a href="https://www.drugs.com/mtm/aluminum-chloride-hexahydrate-topical.html#:%7E:text=Aluminum%20chloride%20hexahydrate%20is%20an,excessive%20sweating%2C%20also%20called%20hyperhidrosis.">Aluminum chloride hexahydrate</a>, <a href="https://go.drugbank.com/drugs/DB11081">aluminium chloride</a> or the weaker <a href="https://cosmileeurope.eu/inci/detail/807/aluminum-zirconium-tetrachlorohydrex-gly/">aluminum zirconium tetrachlorohydrex glycinate</a> react with proteins in the sweat glands, forming a plug. This plug temporarily blocks the sweat ducts, reducing the amount of sweat reaching the skin’s surface. These products can contain <a href="https://www.termedia.pl/Journal/-7/pdf-46948-10?filename=Hyperhidrosis.pdf">up to 25%</a> aluminium. The higher the percentage the better these products work, but the more they irritate the skin. 2. Beat the heat This might seem obvious, but staying cool can make a big difference. That’s because you have less heat to lose, so the body makes less sweat. Avoid super-hot, long showers (you will have more heat to loose), wear loose-fitting clothes made from breathable fabrics such as cotton (this allows any sweat you do produce to evaporate more readily), and carry a little hand fan to help your sweat evaporate. When exercising try <a href="https://pathprojects.com/blogs/news/how-to-make-an-ice-bandana-for-trail-running-and-hiking?srsltid=AfmBOorsJpNUDs_ZkAkJDFbDFFSeT5TtWsU4aqI4-_hHWbl_wuZLsgHn">ice bandanas</a> (ice wrapped in a scarf or cloth, then applied to the body) or wet towels. You can wear these around the neck, head, or wrists to reduce your body temperature. Try also to modify the time or place you exercise; try to find cool shade or air-conditioned areas when possible. If you have tried these first two steps and your sweating is still affecting your life, talk to your doctor. They can help you figure out the best way to manage it. 3. Medication Some <a href="https://www.termedia.pl/Journal/-7/pdf-46948-10?filename=Hyperhidrosis.pdf">medications</a> can help regulate your sweating. Unfortunately some can also give you side effects such as a dry mouth, blurred vision, stomach pain or constipation. So talk to your doctor about what’s best for you. Your GP may also refer you to a dermatologist – a doctor like myself who specialises in skin conditions – who might recommend different treatments, including some of the following. 4. Botulinum toxin injections Botulinum toxin injections are not just used for cosmetic reasons. They have many applications in medicine, including blocking the nerves that control the sweat glands. They do this for many months. A dermatologist usually gives the injections. But they’re only subsidised by <a href="https://www9.health.gov.au/mbs/fullDisplay.cfm?type=item&q=18362&qt=ItemID">Medicare</a> in Australia for the armpits and if you have primary hyperhidrosis that hasn’t been controlled by the strongest antiperspirants. These injections are given up to three times a year. It is not subsidised for other conditions, such as an overactive thyroid or for other areas such as the face or hands. If you don’t qualify, you can have these injections privately, but it will cost you hundreds of dollars per treatment, which can last up to six months. 5. Iontophoresis This involves using a device that passes a weak electrical current through water to the skin to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/am/pii/S254243272030014X">reducing sweating</a> in the hands, feet or armpits. Scientists aren’t sure exactly how it works. But this is the <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9826940/">only way</a> to control sweating of the hands and feet that does not require drugs, surgery or botulinum toxin injections. This treatment is not subsidised by Medicare and not all dermatologists provide it. However, you can buy and use your own device, which tends to be cheaper than accessing it privately. You can ask your dermatologist if this is the right option for you. 6. Surgery There is a procedure to cut certain nerves to the hands that stop them sweating. This is <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/11/3/786/pdf">highly effective</a> but can cause sweating to occur elsewhere. There are also other surgical options, which you can discuss with your doctor. 7. Microwave therapy This is a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09546634.2022.2089333">newer treatment</a> that zaps your sweat glands to destroy them so they can’t work any more. It’s not super common yet, and it is quite painful. It’s available privately in a few centres.<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/239397/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/michael-freeman-223922">Michael Freeman</a>, Associate Professor of Dermatology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/bond-university-863">Bond University</a> Image credits: Shutterstock 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/7-things-you-can-do-if-you-think-you-sweat-too-much-239397">original article</a>.

Body

‘A woman is not a baby-making machine’: a brief history of South Korea’s 4B movement – and why it’s making waves in America

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ming-gao-1496188">Ming Gao</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/australian-catholic-university-747">Australian Catholic University</a> In South Korea, a growing number of young women are rejecting societal expectations of marriage, motherhood and heterosexual relationships, known as the “4B Movement” or the “4 Nos”. The “B” is a homophone for the Korean word bi (비/非), meaning “no”, representing the movement’s four principles: bihon (no marriage), bichulsan (no childbirth), biyeonae (no dating) and bisekseu (no sex). By refusing to marry, have children, engage in romance, or participate in sexual relationships with men, 4B feminists seek to redefine their lives outside the confines of traditional gender roles. In the wake of the reelection of Donald Trump, there has been <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-10/donald-trump-win-4b-movement-male-supremacists-make-threats/104575732">increased interest</a> in the 4B movement from women in the United States. But what is the 4B Movement, where did it come from, and how is it reshaping the feminist landscape in South Korea and beyond? <h2>Challenges facing young women</h2> The 4B Movement reflects <a href="https://www.khan.co.kr/national/national-general/article/202004140938001">a broader dissatisfaction</a> among young South Korean women who face instability of housing, digital sexual violence, economic disparities and cultural pressures. It emerged in the mid- to late-2010s, following a surge of interest in feminism in South Korea, and spread primarily through women’s online communities. The roots of the 4B Movement lie in South Korea’s rapid economic transformation and the subsequent challenges it posed for younger generations of the 2000s. For young women, economic insecurity is compounded by systemic gender inequality. South Korea <a href="https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/south-korea-s-gender-pay-gap-worst-in-oecd">consistently ranks</a> worst in the OECD for the gender wage gap, and social mobility remains limited. Against this backdrop, traditional life paths – marriage, childbearing and homemaking – have become less appealing. Living an alternative life without men emerged as a radical strategy for young digital feminists to challenge the rigid patriarchy in South Korea. The <a href="https://www.khan.co.kr/national/national-general/article/202405172212001">senseless killing</a> in 2016 of a woman in a train station toilet by a man in Seoul shocked the nation and fuelled the movement. Online platforms became spaces where women could share their frustrations, critique patriarchal norms and organise protests. During this period communities like radical feminist online groups gained traction. Among these was the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/korean/news-44329328">Tal-Corset</a> (escape the corset) movement, which encouraged women to reject societal beauty standards by foregoing makeup, cosmetic surgery and restrictive clothing. The 4B Movement built on this momentum, targeting not only beauty standards but the very institutions that sustain patriarchy. It collectively challenges the notion that women’s value lies in their ability to support men and sustain the family unit. <h2>‘A woman is not a baby-making machine’</h2> The birth rate in South Korea ranks among the <a href="https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/birth-rate-by-country">lowest in the world</a>. The government has long viewed this as a national crisis. Policies such as subsidised housing for newlyweds and tax incentives for families have sought to encourage marriage and childbearing. In 2016, the government launched a national <a href="https://www.womennews.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=248514">pink birth map</a> visualising the number of women of reproductive age in each district. It sparked outrage. Women criticised it as reducing them to reproductive tools, proclaiming, “<a href="https://www.nocutnews.co.kr/news/4713565">my womb is not national property</a>” and “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FsEWD1bi3E">a woman is not a baby-making machine</a>”. For many 4B feminists, these policies represent a stark example of how the state prioritises population growth over women’s autonomy. In response, the movement frames its rejection of marriage and motherhood as an act of political resistance. As one <a href="https://www.womennews.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=111598">protest slogan</a> declared: “End population policies! Stop blaming women”. <h2>Living on their own terms</h2> Despite its growing influence, the 4B Movement faces significant challenges. The radical principles have sparked backlash, with critics labelling participants as selfish or anti-social. Swearing off men as a form of protest against patriarchal structures and traditional marital norms is sometimes (mis)interpreted as implicitly favouring <a href="https://brunch.co.kr/brunchbook/radsview2">lesbianism</a>, given its stance against heterosexual relationships. The movement has also attracted negative political attention. <a href="https://www.khan.co.kr/national/national-general/article/202004140938001">Lee Seung-cheon</a>, a 58-year-old Democratic Party candidate, pledged to introduce “measures to reject the 4B Movement” as part of his policy campaign in 2020. Yet 4B feminists remain steadfast in their vision of a future where women can live on their own terms. Their rejection of traditional life paths is not a retreat into isolation but an attempt to create new ways of being free from patriarchal constraints. As one participant noted, rejecting marriage allows women to envision futures beyond societal deadlines like “<a href="https://brunch.co.kr/@404homealone/34">a woman’s age has an expiration date</a>”. <h2>An international movement</h2> The 4B Movement’s radical critique of patriarchy has resonated internationally. 4B Movement ideas are starting to strike a chord in the US. The movement’s core principles align with broader feminist critiques of patriarchy and capitalism, which have intensified in response to political developments such as Trump’s rhetoric and debates over reproductive rights. In the US, Trump’s presidency (and now his return) has been a flashpoint for feminist activism. Policies restricting access to abortion, coupled with an increase in conservative rhetoric around women’s rights, have galvanised movements that resist patriarchal structures. For American feminists, the 4B Movement offers a framework for resistance that goes beyond economic precarity. It provides a roadmap for rejecting political conflicts, focusing on reclaiming agency by prioritising autonomy over their own bodies and rights. 6B4T is inspired by the 4B Movement and has gained particular attention <a href="https://weibo.com/1263977197/KaFZGjoG4">in China</a>. This version incorporates additional principles, including rejecting consumerism and fostering mutual aid among unmarried women. The spread of 4B ideas across Asia and beyond highlights the universality of feminist struggles. As the movement continues to evolve, its impact extends beyond South Korea, sparking conversations about gender, autonomy and the future of feminism. Whether embraced or contested, the 4B Movement forces society to confront uncomfortable truths about the cost of sustaining patriarchy – and perhaps the possibilities of living without it. <hr /> Correction: 6B4T is inspired by the 4B movement and gained attention in China; it did not originate in China.<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/243355/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ming-gao-1496188">Ming Gao</a>, Research Scholar, Gender and Women's History Research Centre, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/australian-catholic-university-747">Australian Catholic University</a> Image credits: Shutterstock 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/a-woman-is-not-a-baby-making-machine-a-brief-history-of-south-koreas-4b-movement-and-why-its-making-waves-in-america-243355">original article</a>.

Relationships

Who dies in a heat wave? How to help protect the vulnerable in our communities

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/myles-david-sergeant-1542267">Myles David Sergeant</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/mcmaster-university-930">McMaster University</a> Extreme heat is a silent killer. From time to time, we hear about shocking cases of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/24/football-player-heat-deaths-athlete">football players</a> and other athletes who die suddenly while exerting themselves on hot days. Those deaths are certainly tragic, but statistically they are very rare. Most deaths from extreme heat <a href="https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-heat-related-deaths">are in older people</a>, who frequently die alone inside their homes. They often die slowly, as the heat creeps up to and sometimes past body temperature, especially when heat domes park themselves over cities and keep the temperature high all day and all night. When such deaths happen, they rarely make the news. Of all the climate change disasters our world is already experiencing, heat is the top killer, <a href="https://library.wmo.int/viewer/68500/download?file=1335_WMO-Climate-services-Health_en.pdf&type=pdf&navigator=1">as the World Meteorological Organization reported</a>. The planet was more than <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jul/08/temperatures-1-point-5c-above-pre-industrial-era-average-for-12-months-data-shows">1.5 C above the pre-industrial baseline</a> for 12 consecutive months from July 2023 to June 2024. In July this year, we saw the hottest three days ever on record, prompting <a href="https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/press-encounter/2024-07-25/secretary-generals-press-conference-extreme-heat">a special statement from United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres</a>. <h2>Health risks and heat</h2> <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK499843/">Our bodies are made to dump excess heat</a> when we are too warm, but that process goes into reverse when the air is warmer than our core temperature. Our other main defence, sweating, doesn’t help when humidity saturates the air, making it impossible for our own moisture to evaporate. For the frail and elderly, who are more likely to be labouring with heart troubles, COPD or other challenges, simply sitting still in a heat wave requires an effort equivalent to walking on a treadmill. The effort is not great, but it is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cjco.2021.10.002">steady and relentless</a>. It exhausts the body, sometimes to the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(22)00117-6">point of no return</a>. Tracking heat-related deaths is challenging, and it’s changing as authorities become more aware of heat as a contributing or underlying factor to deaths by other causes. <a href="https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2006.100081">A paper published by the American Journal of Public Health</a> points out that the 1995 heat wave in Chicago likely contributed to hundreds more deaths than had first been attributed to heat itself. <h2>Who is at risk?</h2> Many people lack air conditioning or a way to get to a place that has it, such as a library, recreation centre or shopping mall. As a result, too many people in cities are forced to <a href="https://wmo.int/publication-series/2023-state-of-climate-services-health">endure long waves of heat</a> — waves that are occurring more frequently, lasting longer, and reaching higher temperatures — in a trend that appears set to continue getting worse. Air conditioning, <a href="https://www.lpm.org/news/2015-07-24/the-history-of-movie-theaters-and-air-conditioning-that-keeps-film-lovers-cool">once a luxury that drew people to summertime movie theatres on hot nights</a>, has become a necessity. Increasingly, it is also a legal requirement, as cities pass bylaws requiring landlords not to allow the temperature in their tenants’ quarters to rise above a certain level. Toronto has <a href="https://www.toronto.ca/home/311-toronto-at-your-service/find-service-information/article/?kb=kA06g000001xvbiCAA">such a bylaw</a> for rental units that have air conditioning available, capping indoor temps at 26 C between June 2 and Sept. 14. Such laws recognize the vulnerability of tenants who lack control over the temperature in their rental units, making heat death an especially urban tragedy, as confirmed in <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/pub/82-003-x/2024006/article/00001-eng.pdf?st=e6jLNMuq">a recent Statistics Canada study</a> between 2000 and 2020. Deaths from extreme heat were more likely in cities with a higher percentage of renter households. During a single week-long heat wave in June 2021 — the year after the period captured in the Statistics Canada study — <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-heat-dome-sudden-deaths-570-1.6122316">B.C.’s chief coroner found that 570 people died from heat-related causes</a> — 79 per cent of them were seniors. <h2>Taking action at the community level</h2> From this Global North perspective, the community members who are most likely to die from extreme heat included: <ul> <li>Those over 65</li> <li>Those with more than one chronic condition (including hypertension, mental health, diabetes, heart disease, lung disease)</li> <li>Socially disadvantaged populations in our communities</li> <li>Those with mobility issues</li> <li>Those experiencing social isolation (living alone)</li> <li>Tenants with lack of air conditioning</li> <li>Those living in an urban heat island</li> </ul> This problem is not going away. Some of the <a href="https://www.intactcentreclimateadaptation.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/UoW_ICCA_2022_04-Irreversible-Extreme-Heat.pdf">actions we can take</a> to protect our most vulnerable community members include: <ul> <li>Increase awareness that excessive heat is not merely uncomfortable, but dangerous.</li> <li>Make sure people are warned about impending heat waves.</li> <li>Advocate for everyone to have access to air conditioning.</li> <li>Check on and support people who live alone, especially those with no air conditioning.</li> <li>Invite people over if you have air conditioning, or help them get to community cooling stations.</li> <li>Help vulnerable people who do not have air conditioning to improvise, by freezing wet cloths, for example, to take out and hang around their necks. Doing this, especially with a fan blowing, can be surprisingly effective.</li> <li>Learn and share the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/publications/healthy-living/fact-sheet-staying-healthy-heat.html">warning signs of heat-related illness</a>.</li> <li>Make sure they drink plenty of water and other replenishing fluids.</li> </ul> While we must do our best to limit climate change to keep our planet from getting ever hotter, we must also make every effort to protect the vulnerable from the impacts of the heat that is already here.<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/236829/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/myles-david-sergeant-1542267">Myles David Sergeant</a>, Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Family Medicine, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/mcmaster-university-930">McMaster University</a> Image credits: Shutterstock 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/who-dies-in-a-heat-wave-how-to-help-protect-the-vulnerable-in-our-communities-236829">original article</a>.

Caring

How do heat protectants for hair work? A chemistry expert explains

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/daniel-eldridge-1494633">Daniel Eldridge</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/swinburne-university-of-technology-767">Swinburne University of Technology</a> Heat can do amazing things to change your hairstyle. Whether you’re using a curling wand to get ringlets, a flat iron to straighten or a hair dryer to style, it’s primarily the heat from these tools that delivers results. This comes with casualties. While your hair is surprisingly tolerant to heat compared with many other parts of your body, it can still only withstand so much. Heat treatment hair appliances frequently operate at over 150°C, with some reportedly <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/bioengineering-and-biotechnology/articles/10.3389/fbioe.2019.00298/full#B13">reaching</a> <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289291195_Thermal_degradation_of_hair_I_Effect_of_curling_irons">over 200°C</a>. At these temperatures, your hair can end up fried. Many people use heat protectants, often in the form of sprays, to minimise the damage. So how do these protectants work? To answer that, I first have to explain exactly what heat does to your tresses on the molecular level. <h2>What heat does to your hair</h2> A large proportion of your hair is made up of proteins. There are attractive forces between these proteins, known as hydrogen bonds. These bonds play a big role in dictating the shape of your locks. When you heat up your hair, the total attraction of these hydrogen bonds become weaker, allowing you to more easily re-shape your hair. Then, when it cools back down, these attractions between the proteins are re-established, helping your hair hold its new look until the proteins rediscover their normal structure. The cuticle – the outermost protective layer of your hair – contains overlapping layers of cells that lose integrity when they’re heated, damaging this outer protective layer. Inside that outer layer is the cortex, which is rich in a protein called keratin. Many proteins don’t <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21635854/">hold up structurally</a> after intense heating. Think of cooking an egg – the change you see is a result of the heat altering the proteins in that egg, unravelling them into different shapes and sizes. It’s a <a href="https://library.scconline.org/v049n04/33">similar story</a> when it comes to heating your hair. The proteins in your hair are also susceptible to heat damage, reducing the overall strength and integrity of the hair. Heat can also affect substances called melanin and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21443842/">tryptophan</a> in your hair, resulting in a change in pigmentation. Heat-damaged hair is <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21635854/">harder to brush</a>. The damage is even more devastating if you use heat styling tools such as <a href="https://labmuffin.com/why-you-should-never-straighten-or-curl-wet-hair/">curling irons or straighteners</a> to <a href="https://library.scconline.org/v062n01/23">heat wet hair</a>, as at the high treatment temperatures, the water soaked up by the fibres can violently evaporate. The result of this is succinctly described by science educator and cosmetic chemist Michelle Wong, also known as <a href="https://labmuffin.com/how-do-heat-protectant-hair-products-work/">Lab Muffin</a>. She notes if you heat wet hair this way, “steam will blast through your hair’s structure”. This steam bubbling or bursting through the hair can <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21443842/">cause substantial damage</a>. It’s worth noting hair dryers don’t concentrate heat in the same way as styling tools such as flat irons or curling wands, but you still need to move the hair dryer around constantly to avoid heat building up in one spot and causing damage. Once heat damage is done, regardless of whether it is severe or mild, the best remaining options are symptom management or a haircut. For all of these reasons, when you’re planning to heat treat your hair, protection is a good idea. <h2>How hair protectants work</h2> When you spray on a hair protectant, many possible key ingredients can go to work. They can have <a href="https://library.scconline.org/v062n01/15">daunting-looking names</a> like polyvinyl pyrrolidone, methacrylates, polyquaterniums, silicones and more. These materials are chosen because they readily stick onto your hair, creating a coating, a bit like this: <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/615002/original/file-20240822-16-beyt90.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/615002/original/file-20240822-16-beyt90.jpg?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/615002/original/file-20240822-16-beyt90.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=225&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/615002/original/file-20240822-16-beyt90.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=225&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/615002/original/file-20240822-16-beyt90.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=225&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/615002/original/file-20240822-16-beyt90.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/615002/original/file-20240822-16-beyt90.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/615002/original/file-20240822-16-beyt90.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="A cartoon of coating attached to a strand of hair." /></a><figcaption>Hair protectant applies a coating to your hair. Author provided</figcaption></figure> This coating is a protective layer; it’s like putting an oven mitt on your hands before you handle a hot tray from the oven. To demonstrate, I created these by examining hair under a microscope before and after heat protectant was applied: <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/615001/original/file-20240822-16-s2ufqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/615001/original/file-20240822-16-s2ufqy.jpg?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/615001/original/file-20240822-16-s2ufqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/615001/original/file-20240822-16-s2ufqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/615001/original/file-20240822-16-s2ufqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/615001/original/file-20240822-16-s2ufqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/615001/original/file-20240822-16-s2ufqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/615001/original/file-20240822-16-s2ufqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="These high magnification images of untreated hair, and hair sprayed with a heat treatment spray, show what a difference it can make." /></a><figcaption>These high magnification images of untreated hair, and hair sprayed with a heat treatment spray, show how the product coats your hair strands. Author provided</figcaption></figure> Just like an oven mitt, a hair protectant delays the heat penetration, results in less heat getting through, and helps spread out the effect of the heat, a bit like in this image: <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/615003/original/file-20240822-16-tf7xsj.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/615003/original/file-20240822-16-tf7xsj.jpg?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/615003/original/file-20240822-16-tf7xsj.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=233&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/615003/original/file-20240822-16-tf7xsj.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=233&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/615003/original/file-20240822-16-tf7xsj.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=233&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/615003/original/file-20240822-16-tf7xsj.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/615003/original/file-20240822-16-tf7xsj.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/615003/original/file-20240822-16-tf7xsj.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="Cartoon demonstrating the difference between heating unprotected and protected hair" /></a><figcaption>Hair protectant can help spread out the effects of the heat. Author provided</figcaption></figure> <a href="https://library.scconline.org/v049n04/33">This helps</a> prevent moisture loss and damage to both the protective surface cell layer (the cuticle) and the protein structure of the hair cortex. For these barriers to work at their best, these heat-protecting layers need to remain bound to your hair. In other words, they stick on really well. For this reason, continued use can sometimes cause a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12221-010-0507-9">buildup</a> which can change the feel and weight of your hair. This buildup is not permanent and can be removed with washing. One final and important note: just like when you use a mitt for the oven, heat does still get through. The only way to prevent heat damage to your hair altogether is to not use heated styling tools.<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/233206/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/daniel-eldridge-1494633">Daniel Eldridge</a>, Senior Lecturer in Chemistry, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/swinburne-university-of-technology-767">Swinburne University of Technology</a> Image credits: Shutterstock 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/how-do-heat-protectants-for-hair-work-a-chemistry-expert-explains-233206">original article</a>.

Beauty & Style

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"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/martin-jucker-379172">Martin Jucker</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/unsw-sydney-1414">UNSW Sydney</a> 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>. 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. Here’s what’s happening – and what it might mean for the rest of this year’s weather. <h2>When the stratosphere heats up</h2> 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. 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>. 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. 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>). <h2>Pushing polar weather our way</h2> 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. 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>. 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. 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. 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. <h1>This winter’s weirdness</h1> 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. But there are indications that the stratosphere is having some influence on our weather this winter. 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. These numbers mean that, technically, the event does not qualify as a sudden stratospheric warming. However, further warming may still occur. 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. 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>. 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. 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. <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>How initial warming high in the stratosphere ends up changing winds near the surface and pushing polar weather further north. <a class="source" href="https://stratobserve.com">Z.D. Lawrence / StratObserve / Annotated by Martin Jucker</a></figcaption></figure> <h1>A surface disturbance</h1> 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. 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>. 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. <h1>What should we expect for the rest of the year?</h1> 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. 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. 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>. <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> Image credits: Shutterstock 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>. </div>

Travel Trouble

Why doesn’t water help with spicy food? What about milk or beer?

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/daniel-eldridge-1494633">Daniel Eldridge</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/swinburne-university-of-technology-767">Swinburne University of Technology</a> Spicy foods taste spicy because they contain a family of compounds called capsaicinoids. Capsaicin is the major culprit. It’s found in chillies, jalapeños, cayenne pepper, and is even the active ingredient in <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31334983/">pepper spray</a>. Capsaicin doesn’t actually physically heat up your mouth. The burning sensation comes from receptors in the mouth reacting to capsaicin and sending a signal to the brain that something is very hot. That’s why the “hot” chilli sensation feels so real – we even respond by sweating. To alleviate the heat, you need to remove the capsaicin from your mouth. So why doesn’t drinking water help make that spicy feeling go away? And what would work better instead? <h2>Water-loving and water-hating molecules</h2> To help us choose what might wash the capsaicin away most effectively, it’s helpful to know that capsaicin is a hydrophobic molecule. That means it hates being in contact with water and will not easily mix with it. Look what happens when you try to mix hydrophobic sand with water. <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/H8cj9CpHW7w?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> On the other hand, hydrophilic molecules love water and are very happy to mix with it. You’ve likely seen this before. You can easily dissolve hydrophilic sugar in water, but it’s hard to wash away hydrophobic oils from your pan using tap water alone. If you try to wash hydrophobic capsaicin away with water, it won’t be very effective, because hydrophilic and hydrophobic substances don’t mix. Going for iced water will be even less effective, as hydrophobic capsaicin is even less soluble in water at lower temperatures. You may get a temporary sense of relief while the cold liquid is in your mouth, but as soon as you swallow it, you’ll be back where you started. Instead, a good choice would be to consume something that is also hydrophobic. This is because of an old-but-true adage in chemistry that “like dissolves like”. The idea is that generally, hydrophobic substances will not dissolve in something hydrophilic – like water – but will dissolve in something that is also hydrophobic, as this video shows: <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/s5yfs-Pr_y8?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <h2>My mouth is on fire. What should I drink instead of water?</h2> A swig of oil would likely be effective, but is perhaps not so palatable. Milk makes for an ideal choice for two reasons. The first is that milk contains hydrophobic fats, which the capsaicin will more easily dissolve in, allowing it to be washed away. The second is that dairy products contain a protein called casein. Casein is an emulsifier, a substance that helps oils and water mix, as in this video: <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/S4XeQhZRLDE?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> Casein plays a large role in keeping the fat mixed throughout your glass of milk, and it also has a strong affinity for capsaicin. It will readily wrap up and encapsulate capsaicin molecules and assist in carrying them away from the receptor. This relieves the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36510373/">burning sensation</a>. <h2>OK but I hate drinking milk. What else can I try?</h2> What about raita? This dish, commonly served with Indian curries, is made primarily from yoghurt. So aside from being its own culinary experience, raita is rich in fats, and therefore contains plenty of hydrophobic material. It also contains casein, which will again help lock up and remove the capsaicin. Ice cream would also work, as it contains both casein and large amounts of hydrophobic substances. Some studies have also shown that consuming <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9328490/">drinks with large amounts of sugar</a> can relieve spiciness. What about reaching for that ice cold beer? This is commonly suggested as a suitable approach to stop the burning. At first glance, this may seem a good idea because capsaicin is highly soluble in alcohol. However, most beers only contain between 4–6% alcohol. The bulk of the liquid in beer is water, which is hydrophilic and cannot wash away capsaicin. The small amount of alcohol in your beer would make it slightly more effective, but not to any great degree. Your curry and beer may taste great together, but that’s likely the only benefit. In truth, an alcoholic beverage is not going to help much unless you go for something with a much, much higher alcohol content, which comes with its own problems.<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/226624/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/daniel-eldridge-1494633">Daniel Eldridge</a>, Senior Lecturer in Chemistry, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/swinburne-university-of-technology-767">Swinburne University of Technology</a> Image credits: Shutterstock 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/why-doesnt-water-help-with-spicy-food-what-about-milk-or-beer-226624">original article</a>. </div>

Food & Wine

What are the four waves of feminism? And what comes next?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/sharon-crozier-de-rosa-122804">Sharon Crozier-De Rosa</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-wollongong-711">University of Wollongong</a> In Western countries, feminist history is generally packaged as a story of “waves”. The so-called first wave lasted from the mid-19th century to 1920. The second wave spanned the 1960s to the early 1980s. The third wave began in the mid-1990s and lasted until the 2010s. Finally, some say we are experiencing a fourth wave, which began in the mid-2010s and continues now. The first person to use “waves” was journalist Martha Weinman Lear, in her 1968 New York Times article, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1968/03/10/archives/the-second-feminist-wave.html">The Second Feminist Wave</a>, demonstrating that the women’s liberation movement was another <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/3/20/16955588/feminism-waves-explained-first-second-third-fourth">“new chapter</a> in a grand history of women fighting together for their rights”. She was responding to anti-feminists’ framing of the movement as a “<a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/3/20/16955588/feminism-waves-explained-first-second-third-fourth">bizarre historical aberration</a>”. <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/718868">Some feminists</a> criticise the usefulness of the metaphor. Where do feminists who preceded the first wave sit? For instance, Middle Ages feminist writer <a href="https://blogs.loc.gov/bibliomania/2023/08/30/christine-de-pizan/">Christine de Pizan</a>, or philosopher <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wollstonecraft/">Mary Wollstonecraft</a>, author of <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/a-vindication-of-the-rights-of-woman-9780141441252">A Vindication of the Rights of Woman</a> (1792). Does the metaphor of a single wave <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/3/20/16955588/feminism-waves-explained-first-second-third-fourth">overshadow</a> the complex variety of feminist concerns and demands? And does this language exclude the <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/718868">non-West</a>, for whom the “waves” story is meaningless? Despite these concerns, countless feminists <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317322421_Finding_a_Place_in_History_The_Discursive_Legacy_of_the_Wave_Metaphor_and_Contemporary_Feminism">continue to use</a> “waves” to explain their position in relation to previous generations. <h2>The first wave: from 1848</h2> The first wave of feminism refers to the campaign for the vote. It began in the United States in 1848 with the <a href="https://www.loc.gov/exhibitions/women-fight-for-the-vote/about-this-exhibition/seneca-falls-and-building-a-movement-1776-1890/">Seneca Falls Convention</a>, where 300 gathered to debate Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s Declaration of Sentiments, outlining women’s inferior status and demanding suffrage – or, the right to vote. It continued over a decade later, in 1866, in Britain, with the presentation of a <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/electionsvoting/womenvote/parliamentary-collections/1866-suffrage-petition/presenting-the-petition/">suffrage petition</a> to parliament. This wave ended in 1920, when women were granted the right to vote in the US. (Limited women’s suffrage had been introduced in Britain two years earlier, in 1918.) First-wave activists believed once the vote had been won, women could use its power to enact other much-needed reforms, related to property ownership, education, employment and more. White leaders dominated the movement. They included longtime president of the the International Woman Suffrage Alliance <a href="https://cattcenter.iastate.edu/home/about-us/carrie-chapman-catt/">Carrie Chapman Catt</a> in the US, leader of the militant Women’s Social and Political Union <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Emmeline-Pankhurst">Emmeline Pankhurst</a> in the UK, and <a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/spence-catherine-helen-4627">Catherine Helen Spence</a> and <a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/goldstein-vida-jane-6418">Vida Goldstein</a> in Australia. This has tended to obscure the histories of non-white feminists like evangelist and social reformer <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sojourner-Truth">Sojourner Truth</a> and journalist, activist and researcher <a href="https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/ida-b-wells-barnett">Ida B. Wells</a>, who were fighting on multiple fronts – including anti-slavery and anti-lynching – as well as feminism. <h2>The second wave: from 1963</h2> The second wave coincided with the publication of US feminist Betty Friedan’s <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-feminine-mystique-9780141192055">The Feminine Mystique</a> in 1963. Friedan’s “<a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/powerful-complicated-legacy-betty-friedans-feminine-mystique-180976931/">powerful treatise</a>” raised critical interest in issues that came to define the women’s liberation movement until the early 1980s, like workplace equality, birth control and abortion, and women’s education. Women came together in “consciousness-raising” groups to share their individual experiences of oppression. These discussions informed and motivated public agitation for <a href="https://www.berghahnbooks.com/title/HaeberlenPolitics">gender equality and social change</a>. Sexuality and gender-based violence were other prominent second-wave concerns. Australian feminist Germaine Greer wrote <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9780007205011/the-female-eunuch/">The Female Eunuch</a>, published in 1970, which <a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-the-female-eunuch-at-50-germaine-greers-fearless-feminist-masterpiece-147437">urged women to</a> “challenge the ties binding them to gender inequality and domestic servitude” – and to ignore repressive male authority by exploring their sexuality. Successful lobbying saw the establishment of refuges for women and children fleeing domestic violence and rape. In Australia, there were groundbreaking political appointments, including the world’s first Women’s Advisor to a national government (<a href="https://www.nma.gov.au/audio/landmark-women/transcripts/landmark-women-elizabeth-reid-181013.mp3-transcript">Elizabeth Reid</a>). In 1977, a <a href="https://www.whitlam.org/women-and-whitlam">Royal Commission on Human Relationships</a> examined families, gender and sexuality. Amid these developments, in 1975, Anne Summers published <a href="https://theconversation.com/damned-whores-and-gods-police-is-still-relevant-to-australia-40-years-on-mores-the-pity-47753">Damned Whores and God’s Police</a>, a scathing historical critique of women’s treatment in patriarchal Australia. At the same time as they made advances, so-called women’s libbers managed to anger earlier feminists with their distinctive claims to radicalism. Tireless campaigner <a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/rich-ruby-sophia-14202">Ruby Rich</a>, who was president of the Australian Federation of Women Voters from 1945 to 1948, responded by declaring the only difference was her generation had called their movement “<a href="https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-296328435/findingaid">justice for women</a>”, not “liberation”. Like the first wave, mainstream second-wave activism proved largely irrelevant to non-white women, who faced oppression on intersecting gendered and racialised grounds. African American feminists produced their own critical texts, including bell hooks’ <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Aint-I-a-Woman-Black-Women-and-Feminism/hooks/p/book/9781138821514">Ain’t I a Woman? Black Women and Feminism</a> in 1981 and Audre Lorde’s <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/198292/sister-outsider-by-audre-lorde/">Sister Outsider</a> in 1984. <h2>The third wave: from 1992</h2> The third wave was announced in the 1990s. The term is popularly attributed to Rebecca Walker, daughter of African American feminist activist and writer <a href="https://alicewalkersgarden.com/about/">Alice Walker</a> (author of <a href="https://www.hachette.com.au/alice-walker/the-color-purple-now-a-major-motion-picture-from-oprah-winfrey-and-steven-spielberg">The Color Purple</a>). Aged 22, Rebecca proclaimed in a 1992 Ms. magazine <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200404030632/http:/heathengrrl.blogspot.com/2007/02/becoming-third-wave-by-rebecca-walker.html">article</a>: “I am not a post-feminism feminist. I am the Third Wave.” Third wavers didn’t think gender equality had been more or less achieved. But they did share <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1464700119842555">post-feminists</a>’ belief that their foremothers’ concerns and demands were obsolete. They argued women’s experiences were now shaped by <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14680777.2016.1190046">very different</a> political, economic, technological and cultural conditions. The third wave has been described as “an <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/beauty/meet-the-woman-who-coined-the-term-third-wave-feminism-20180302-p4z2mw.html">individualised feminism</a> that can not exist without diversity, sex positivity and intersectionality”. Intersectionality, <a href="https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1052&context=uclf">coined</a> in 1989 by African American legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw, recognises that people can experience intersecting layers of oppression due to race, gender, sexuality, class, ethnicity and more. Crenshaw notes this was a “lived experience” before it was a term. In 2000, Aileen Moreton Robinson’s <a href="https://www.uqp.com.au/books/talkin-up-to-the-white-woman-indigenous-women-and-feminism-20th-anniversary-edition">Talkin’ Up to the White Woman: Indigenous Women and Feminism</a> expressed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women’s frustration that white feminism did not adequately address the legacies of dispossession, violence, racism, and sexism. Certainly, the third wave accommodated <a href="https://paromitapain.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/10.10072F978-3-319-72917-6.pdf#page=112%22">kaleidoscopic views</a>. Some scholars claimed it “grappled with fragmented interests and objectives” – or micropolitics. These included ongoing issues such as sexual harassment in the workplace and a scarcity of women in positions of power. The third wave also gave birth to the <a href="https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/brief-history-riot-grrrl-space-reclaiming-90s-punk-movement-2542166">Riot Grrrl</a> movement and “girl power”. Feminist punk bands like <a href="https://bikinikill.com/about/">Bikini Kill</a> in the US, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/nov/28/pussy-riot-beaten-jailed-exiled-taunting-putin">Pussy Riot</a> in Russia and Australia’s <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/mbknev/little-ugly-girls-tractor-album-single-premiere-2018">Little Ugly Girls</a> sang about issues like homophobia, sexual harassment, misogyny, racism, and female empowerment. Riot Grrrl’s <a href="https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/riotgrrrlmanifesto.html">manifesto</a> states “we are angry at a society that tells us Girl = Dumb, Girl = Bad, Girl = Weak”. “Girl power” was epitomised by Britain’s more sugary, phenomenally popular Spice Girls, who were accused of peddling “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/sep/14/spice-girls-how-girl-power-changed-britain-review-fabulous-and-intimate">‘diluted feminism’ to the masses</a>”. <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tAbhaguKARw?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><figcaption>Riot Grrrrl sang about issues like homophobia, sexual harassment, misogyny and racism.</figcaption></figure> <h2>The fourth wave: 2013 to now</h2> The fourth wave is epitomised by “<a href="https://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol25/iss2/10/">digital or online feminism</a>” which gained currency in about <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/3/20/16955588/feminism-waves-explained-first-second-third-fourth">2013</a>. This era is marked by mass online mobilisation. The fourth wave generation is connected via new communication technologies in ways that were not previously possible. Online mobilisation has led to spectacular street demonstrations, including the #metoo movement. #Metoo was first founded by Black activist <a href="https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/tarana-burke">Tarana Burke</a> in 2006, to support survivors of sexual abuse. The hashtag #metoo then went viral during the 2017 Harvey Weinstein <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/10/28/1131500833/me-too-harvey-weinstein-anniversary">sexual abuse scandal</a>. It was used at least <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0747563221002193">19 million times</a> on Twitter (now X) alone. In January 2017, the <a href="https://www.womensmarch.com/">Women’s March</a> protested the inauguration of the decidedly misogynistic Donald Trump as US president. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Womens-March-2017">Approximately 500,000</a> women marched in Washington DC, with demonstrations held simultaneously in <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Remembering-Womens-Activism/Crozier-De-Rosa-Mackie/p/book/9781138794894">81 nations</a> on all continents of the globe, even Antarctica. In 2021, the <a href="https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/8564388">Women’s March4Justice</a> saw some 110,000 women rallying at more than 200 events across Australian cities and towns, protesting workplace sexual harassment and violence against women, following high-profile cases like that of Brittany Higgins, revealing <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/nov/29/brittany-higgins-bruce-lehrmann-defamation-trial-evidence-stand-rape-allegations-liberal-party-ntwnfb#:%7E:text=Bruce%20Lehrmann%20has%20brought%20a,Wilkinson%20are%20defending%20the%20case.">sexual misconduct</a> in the Australian houses of parliament. Given the prevalence of online connection, it is not surprising fourth wave feminism has reached across geographic regions. The Global Fund for Women <a href="https://www.globalfundforwomen.org/movements/me-too/">reports</a> that #metoo transcends national borders. In China, it is, among other things, #米兔 (translated as “<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/61903744-9540-11e8-b67b-b8205561c3fe">rice bunny</a>”, pronounced as “mi tu”). In Nigeria, it’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we-F0Gi0Lqs">#Sex4Grades</a>. In Turkey, it’s #<a href="https://ahvalnews.com/sexual-harrasment/dozens-turkish-womens-organisations-issue-statement-backing-latest-metoo-movement">UykularınızKaçsın</a> (“may you lose sleep”). In an inversion of the traditional narrative of the Global North leading the Global South in terms of feminist “progress”, Argentina’s “<a href="https://www.auswhn.com.au/blog/colour-green/">Green Wave</a>” has seen it decriminalise abortion, as has Colombia. Meanwhile, in 2022, the US Supreme Court <a href="https://theconversation.com/us-supreme-court-overturns-roe-v-wade-but-for-abortion-opponents-this-is-just-the-beginning-185768">overturned historic abortion legislation</a>. Whatever the nuances, the prevalence of such highly visible gender protests have led some feminists, like <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14680777.2020.1804431">Red Chidgey</a>, lecturer in Gender and Media at King’s College London, to declare that feminism has transformed from “a dirty word and publicly abandoned politics” to an ideology sporting “a new cool status”. <h2>Where to now?</h2> How do we know when to pronounce the next “wave”? (Spoiler alert: I have no answer.) Should we even continue to use the term “waves”? The “wave” framework was first used to demonstrate feminist continuity and solidarity. However, whether interpreted as disconnected chunks of feminist activity or connected periods of feminist activity and inactivity, represented by the crests and troughs of waves, some believe it encourages binary thinking that produces <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14680777.2016.1190046">intergenerational antagonism</a>. Back in 1983, Australian writer and second-wave feminist Dale Spender, who died last year, <a href="https://www.historyworkshop.org.uk/feminism/radical-books-dale-spender-theres-always-been-a-womens-movement-this-century-1983/">confessed her fear</a> that if each generation of women did not know they had robust histories of struggle and achievement behind them, they would labour under the illusion they’d have to develop feminism anew. Surely, this would be an overwhelming prospect. What does this mean for “waves” in 2024 and beyond? To build vigorous varieties of feminism going forward, we might reframe the “waves”. We need to let emerging generations of feminists know they are not living in an isolated moment, with the onerous job of starting afresh. Rather, they have the momentum created by generations upon generations of women to build on.<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/224153/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/sharon-crozier-de-rosa-122804">Sharon Crozier-De Rosa</a>, Professor, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-wollongong-711">University of Wollongong</a> Image credits: Getty Images 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/what-are-the-four-waves-of-feminism-and-what-comes-next-224153">original article</a>.

Caring

It’s extremely hot and I’m feeling weak and dizzy. Could I have heat stroke?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lily-hospers-1060107">Lily Hospers</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/james-smallcombe-1412548">James Smallcombe</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ollie-jay-114164">Ollie Jay</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a> Australia is braced for a hot, dry summer. El Nino is back, and this year it will occur alongside an <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-22/positive-indian-ocean-dipole-to-coincide-with-el-nino/102756378">Indian Ocean dipole</a>, a climate pattern which will further amplify this hot and dry effect. Hot weather can place great stress on our bodies. When the environmental conditions exceed the limit at which we can adequately cope, we can suffer from heat-related illnesses. Heat illnesses can vary, from relatively mild heat exhaustion to the potentially life-threatening condition of heat stroke. <h2>What are the signs and symptoms?</h2> If you’re suffering from heat exhaustion, you may feel weakness, nausea, headaches or dizziness. Mild <a href="https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/environment/beattheheat/Pages/heat-related-illness.aspx">symptoms of heat exhaustion</a> can often be treated at home by reducing your levels of physical activity, finding shade, removing excess clothing, hydrating with water and perhaps even taking a cool shower. If left unchecked, heat exhaustion can progress to the far more serious condition of heat stroke, where your core temperature climbs upwards of 40°C. <a href="https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/environment/beattheheat/Pages/heat-related-illness.aspx">Symptoms</a> can develop rapidly and may include confusion, disorientation, agitation, convulsions, or it could even result in a coma. Heat stroke is a medical emergency and requires urgent treatment. Call an ambulance and start rapid, aggressive cooling by immersing the person in cold water (such as a cold bath). If this isn’t possible, apply ice packs to their neck, armpits and groin and cover the skin with lots of cool water. When it comes to cooling someone with suspected heat stroke, the quicker the better: cool first, transport second. <h2>Why do we overheat?</h2> Environmental conditions play an important role in determining our heat stress risk. If the air temperature, humidity and levels of sun exposure are high, we are much more likely to dangerously overheat. When the body gets hot, the heart pumps more warm blood to our skin to help lose heat. As air temperature rises, this way of shedding heat becomes ineffective. When air temperature is higher than the temperature of the skin (normally around 35°C), we start gaining heat from our surroundings. Sweating is by far our most effective physiological means of keeping cool. However, it is the evaporation of sweat from our skin that provides cooling relief. When the air is humid, it already contains a lot of moisture, and this reduces how efficiently sweat evaporates. Our physical activity levels and clothing also impact heat stress risk. When we move, our bodies generate metabolic heat as a by-product. The more intense physical activity is, the more heat we must lose to avoid dangerous rises in core temperature. Finally, clothing can act as an insulator and barrier for the evaporation of sweat, making it even more difficult for us to keep cool. <h2>Who is most vulnerable in the heat?</h2> Some people <a href="https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/environment/beattheheat/Pages/people-most-at-risk.aspx">are at greater risk</a> of developing heat illness than others. This can result from physiological limitations, such as a decreased capacity to sweat, or a reduced capacity to adapt our behaviour. When these two risk factors coincide, it’s a perfect storm of vulnerability. Take, for example, an elderly outdoor agricultural worker. Being aged over 60, their physiological capacity to sweat is reduced. The worker may also be wearing heavy safety clothing, which may further limit heat loss from the body. If they don’t slow down, seek shelter and adequately hydrate, they become even more vulnerable. When a person dies of heat stroke – which is relatively easy to diagnose – heat will be listed as a cause of death on a death certificate. Between 2001 and 2018 in Australia, 473 heat-related deaths were <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212420921006324">officially reported</a>. However, the true association between heat and death is thought to be far greater, with an <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(20)30100-5/fulltext">estimated 36,000 deaths</a> in Australia between 2006 and 2017. This is because most people who die during extreme heat events do not die from heat stroke. Instead, they they die of <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejm199607113350203">other medical complications</a> such as cardiovascular or renal collapse, as additional strain is placed on essential organs such as the heart and kidneys. People with underlying health conditions are more likely to succumb to heat-associated complications before they develop critical core temperature (over 40°C) and heat stroke. In such cases, while the additional physiological strain imposed by the heat probably “caused” the death, the official “cause of death” is often listed as something else, such as a heart attack. This can make understanding the true health burden of extreme heat more difficult. <h2>How to stay safe in the heat</h2> Thankfully, there are effective, low-cost <a href="https://twitter.com/TheLancet/status/1677702906789740545">ways</a> of staying safe in the heat. These include: <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/215084/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <ul> <li>staying adequately hydrated</li> <li>getting out of the heat to a cooler area indoors or shaded area outdoors</li> <li>loosening or removing clothing</li> <li>cooling down any way you can: <ul> <li>using an electric fan (which can be used at 37°C and below, irrespective of age and humidity)</li> <li>using a cold-water spray</li> <li>applying a cool, damp sponge or cloth</li> <li>wetting clothes and skin</li> <li>having a cool shower or bath</li> <li>applying ice packs or crushed ice in a damp towel on the neck, groin and armpits.</li> </ul> </li> </ul> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lily-hospers-1060107">Lily Hospers</a>, PhD Candidate, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/james-smallcombe-1412548">James Smallcombe</a>, Post-doctoral Research Associate, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ollie-jay-114164">Ollie Jay</a>, Professor of Heat & Health; Director of Heat & Health Research Incubator; Director of Thermal Ergonomics Laboratory, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a> Image credits: Getty Images 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/its-extremely-hot-and-im-feeling-weak-and-dizzy-could-i-have-heat-stroke-215084">original ar</a><a href="https://theconversation.com/its-extremely-hot-and-im-feeling-weak-and-dizzy-could-i-have-heat-stroke-215084">ticle</a>.

Body

Heated argument between economy passengers reignites plane etiquette debate

A 12-second clip of two passengers arguing on a plane has reignited the age-old debate of whether it is acceptable to recline your seat on a plane. The viral video which was originally posted on TikTok and then re-shared on X, has racked up over 8 million views since Thursday. In the video, a frustrated woman was calling out another female passenger for pushing her seat the entire flight, right after they landed. “The whole trip she pushed my seat,” the woman said to a male passenger seated next to the female passenger accused of kicking her seat. “You seen it. You know she did.” “I’m allowed to put my seat back," she yelled repeatedly. Ian Miles Cheong, the user who posted the video on X, defended the woman saying: “She’s allowed to put her seat back. You don’t get to kick it repeatedly just because you want more space.” A few were on the woman's side and praised her for standing up for herself. “You are allowed! Period! You want space in front of you instead of pushing the seat, buy a seat with extra space or get your a** to business class. Reclining was put there for a reason,” one person wrote. “She was patient enough to wait till flight landed," they added. “If the seat is reclinable, recline it,” another commented. "What she’s saying is right. The woman has a right to put her seat back without someone kicking it," a third agreed. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> She’s allowed to put her seat back. You don’t get to kick it repeatedly just because you want more space. <a href="https://t.co/WELD7Qh4Re">pic.twitter.com/WELD7Qh4Re</a> — Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) <a href="https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1719881310351863952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 2, 2023</a></blockquote> However, others claimed that there was an unwritten rule that you shouldn't recline your seat, especially on a short-haul flight, adding that the recline feature should be scrapped from airplanes. “Putting your seat back in coach is an unspoken thing most people don’t do. It’s really the airline’s fault because they’ve made coach so cramped and tight that putting the seat back shouldn’t even be an option,” one commented. “Airline seats simply shouldn’t be able to recline. It intrudes on the already very little space a person has on the plane for the person behind them,” another added. “Really it’s the airline’s fault for cramming so many people in such a small space. They don’t call it cattle class for nothing,” a third wrote. One user understood both sides of the argument, and blamed the airlines for making the seats so cramped. "It can be annoying sometimes to be behind someone with their seat all the way, but if the airlines didn't want to allow that, it wouldn't happen," they wrote. "You don't kick the seat like a baby. Blame the airline, not the person doing what the airline says is fine." Images: Twitter

Travel Trouble

4 ways to support someone with dementia during extreme heat

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nikki-anne-wilson-342631">Nikki-Anne Wilson</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/unsw-sydney-1414">UNSW Sydney</a> Our ability to adapt our behaviour to changes in temperature takes a significant amount of thought and decision making. For example, we need to identify suitable clothing, increase our fluid intake, and understand how to best keep the house cool. A person with dementia may find some or all these things challenging. These and other factors mean, for someone with dementia, extreme heat <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31520832/#:%7E:text=Conclusion%3A%20Heatwaves%20increased%20the%20risk,heat%2Drelated%20Alzheimer's%20disease%20burden.">can be deadly</a>. But as the temperature rises, friends, relatives and carers can help. <h2>El Niño means there are challenges ahead</h2> The recent declaration of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-19/bureau-of-meteorology-el-nino-blog/102875154">another El Niño</a> means we need to think about how we can best support those more vulnerable to be safe during the warmer months. Extreme heat and bushfires bring unique challenges for someone with dementia. Bushfires have a significant impact on older people’s mental health. But they generally <a href="https://www.health.act.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-03/PATH_Impact%20of%202019-20%20Bushfires%20on%20a%20Cohort%20of%20Older%20Adults_REPORT_V3_0.pdf">bounce back</a> quickly. However, for someone with dementia, extreme heat can lead to a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935119305110">significant deterioration</a> in their overall health and they may not recover. Emergency evacuations can also be confusing and distressing for a person with dementia, so it is important to think ahead. <h2>Why are people with dementia more at risk?</h2> Dementia can affect the parts of the brain that help <a href="https://academic.oup.com/brain/article/138/11/3360/332653?login=true">regulate</a> our body temperature. Some <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0243665">medications</a> can also increase someone’s sensitivity to heat. Problems with memory and thinking associated with dementia <a href="https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-support/daily-living/drinking-hydration">means</a> remembering to drink or communicating you are thirsty can be challenging. Heat can affect everyone’s mood. But if someone with dementia becomes dehydrated this can <a href="https://www.alzdiscovery.org/cognitive-vitality/blog/can-dehydration-impair-cognitive-function">increase</a> confusion and agitation, making it harder for them to know how to cool down. A person with dementia can also wander and become lost, which can be dangerous in extreme heat. <h2>4 ways to support someone with dementia</h2> 1. Avoid dehydration and heatstroke Try to avoid dehydration by encouraging someone to drink throughout the day. It’s better to have <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31769256/">small amounts</a> of liquid regularly instead of a large amount all at once. Little and often will help maximise hydration while avoiding sudden trips to <a href="https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/dementia-continence-issues#causes-of-incontinence-in-people-with-dementia">the bathroom</a>. Try to offer different types of drinks, or ice blocks. Placing drinks in sight can help as a reminder to drink. Choose foods with a high liquid content, such as fruit, salads, cool broths and yoghurt. Look out for <a href="https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/hot-weather-safety-older-adults#:%7E:text=Signs%20of%20heat%20stroke%20are,as%20under%20shade%20or%20indoors.">signs of heatstroke</a>, such as increased confusion beyond what the person would usually experience. Heatstroke may be more difficult to spot in someone living with dementia so it is important to check in when possible and to help them cool down if needed. 2. Cool the home Try to modify their home to make it easier to stay cool. Some air-conditioners have complex settings so make sure the temperature is set appropriately and the person with dementia knows how to use the controls. It is important to keep blinds and curtains shut where possible to reduce heat. However, ensure the <a href="https://www.scie.org.uk/dementia/supporting-people-with-dementia/dementia-friendly-environments/lighting.asp">lighting is adequate</a> to avoid falls. Try to support the person to make suitable clothing choices for the season by having cool, lightweight options easily available. 3. Think about communications early If someone with dementia lives alone, consider how you will maintain contact in an emergency. Some people may not realise many landlines don’t work in a power outage, and of course, mobile phones can’t be recharged. Ensure the person with dementia has access to an <a href="https://www.telstra.com.au/support/category/home-phone/uninterruptible-power-supply">uninterruptable power supply</a>. This can help maintain communication for a few hours in a blackout. 4. Have an evacuation plan In case of fire, flash flooding or severe storm, <a href="https://dementiaresearch.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/2447_DCRC_Prep_natural_disaster_EBook_5.pdf">have an evacuation plan</a>. If the person with dementia attends a day or respite centre, know their plan too. The situation can change quickly in an emergency, and this can be particularly overwhelming for people with cognitive issues. Understand that someone with dementia may become distressed when their routine is disrupted. So be prepared with some simple activities or comfort items, current medications, and any specific medical information. Stay up-to-date with <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/">current warnings</a> and act early whenever possible. <h2>We can all help</h2> It’s not just carers of people with dementia who can help. We can all ensure people with dementia stay safe and cool this spring and summer. So remember to check in on your relatives, friends and neighbours or arrange for someone to do so on your behalf.<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/213987/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nikki-anne-wilson-342631">Nikki-Anne Wilson</a>, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/unsw-sydney-1414">UNSW Sydney</a> Image credits: Getty Images 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/4-ways-to-support-someone-with-dementia-during-extreme-heat-213987">original article</a>.

Body

Cooking (and heating) without gas: what are the impacts of shifting to all-electric homes?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/trivess-moore-12580">Trivess Moore</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/alan-pears-52">Alan Pears</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/joe-hurley-157161">Joe Hurley</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a> Gas connections for all new housing and sub-divisions will be <a href="https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/new-victorian-homes-go-all-electric-2024">banned in Victoria</a> from January 1 next year. The long-term result of the state government’s significant change to planning approvals will be all-electric housing. The ACT made <a href="https://www.climatechoices.act.gov.au/policy-programs/preventing-new-gas-network-connections">similar changes</a> early this year, in line with a shift away from gas across <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47559920">Europe</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/19/gas-stove-culture-war-united-states">other locations</a>, although the NSW Premier Chris Minns has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jul/31/nsw-wont-ban-gas-in-new-homes-as-premier-declares-i-dont-need-another-complication">baulked</a> at doing the same. Around <a href="https://www.energy.vic.gov.au/renewable-energy/victorias-gas-substitution-roadmap">80% of homes</a> in Victoria are connected to gas. This high uptake was driven by gas being seen as more affordable and sustainable than electricity over past decades. The situation has <a href="https://www.iea.org/events/net-zero-by-2050-a-roadmap-for-the-global-energy-system">changed dramatically</a> as renewable electricity generation increases and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-27/aemo-wholesale-electricity-prices-fall-impact-power-bills/102654498">costs fall</a>. <a href="https://theconversation.com/all-electric-homes-are-better-for-your-hip-pocket-and-the-planet-heres-how-governments-can-help-us-get-off-gas-207409">Research</a> has suggested for more than a decade that the benefits of all-electric homes <a href="https://bze.org.au/research_release/energy-efficient-buildings-plan/">stack up in many locations</a>. New homes built under mandatory building energy performance standards (increasing from <a href="https://thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/building-construction/victoria-kicks-the-can-down-the-road-again-on-the-national-construction-code/">6 to 7 stars</a> in Victoria in May 2024) need smaller, cheaper heating and cooling systems. Installing reverse-cycle air conditioning for cooling provides a cost-effective heater as a bonus. Savings from not requiring gas pipes, appliances and gas supply infrastructure help to offset the costs of highly efficient electric appliances. Mandating fully electric homes means economies of scale will further reduce costs. <h2>How does this ban help?</h2> To achieve environmentally sustainable development, reforms of planning policy and regulation <a href="https://theconversation.com/sustainable-cities-australias-building-and-planning-rules-stand-in-the-way-of-getting-there-84263">are essential</a> to convert innovation and best practice to mainstream practice. Planning policy is particularly important for apartment buildings and other housing that may be rented or have an owners’ corporation. Retrofits to improve energy efficiency can be difficult in these situations. Banning gas in new and renovated housing will <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/getting-off-gas/">cut greenhouse gas emissions</a>. It’s also <a href="https://theconversation.com/gas-cooking-is-associated-with-worsening-asthma-in-kids-but-proper-ventilation-helps-151591">healthier for households</a> and <a href="https://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/research-data-and-insights/research/research-reports/the-victorian-healthy-homes-program-research-findings">reduces healthcare costs</a> as well as <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/getting-off-gas/">energy bills and infrastructure costs</a>. The Victorian government suggests the change will save all-electric households <a href="https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/new-victorian-homes-go-all-electric-2024">about $1,000 a year</a>. Houses with solar will be even better off. The government appears to be offering wide support to ensure these changes happen, but this will need to be monitored closely. Some households will face extra costs for electric appliances and solar panels. The government’s announcement of <a href="https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/new-victorian-homes-go-all-electric-2024">$10 million</a> for Residential Electrification Grants should help with some of these costs while the industry adjusts. There will be impacts and benefits for the local economy. Some jobs may be lost, particularly in the gas appliance and plumbing industry. The government has announced financial support to retrain people and they will still have essential roles in the existing housing sector. Many gas appliances are imported, including ovens, cooktops and instantaneous gas water heaters. Some components of efficient electric products, such as hot water storage tanks, are made locally. Local activities, including distribution, sales, design, installation and maintenance, comprise much of the overall cost. <h2>Challenges of change must be managed</h2> Sustainability benefits will depend on what <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/getting-off-gas/">happens with the energy network</a>. We need more renewable energy, energy storage and smarter management of electricity demand. The shift to all-electric homes may mean winter peak demand for heating increases. Energy market operators and governments will have to monitor demand changes carefully to avoid the reliability issues we already see in summer. However, improving energy efficiency, energy storage and demand management will help reduce this load (and household costs). While the benefits are clear for new homes, the changes may <a href="https://www.bsl.org.au/research/publications/enabling-electrification/">increase gas costs and energy poverty</a> for residents of existing housing who don’t shift to efficient electric solutions. The government has reconfirmed financial rebates to help households switch from gas. In addition, existing housing may face building quality and performance issues. Some may require electrical wiring upgrades as part of the transition. Social acceptance of some electric appliances may also be an issue. For example, <a href="https://www.rmit.edu.au/about/schools-colleges/property-construction-and-project-management/research/research-centres-and-groups/sustainable-building-innovation-laboratory/projects/heet-housing-energy-efficiency-transitions">our research</a> has found some households dislike the way heating from reverse cycle air conditioners feels. Others do not like cooking on induction cooktops. Consumer education and modifications to appliances and buildings may be needed to increase acceptance and avoid backlash. Some electric appliances are available overseas but not in Australia. Higher demand may increase the range of imports. For example, floor-mounted heat pumps can make heating feel similar to gas heating while still providing effective cooling. We should not assume electric appliances are all equal. To improve consumer protection, action is needed on weak standards and limited and inconsistent public information. For example, information on noise levels and efficiency under a range of weather conditions must be standardised. Moving housing away from gas is an <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-99-2760-9">important step</a> in the transition to a zero-carbon economy and energy system. Careful management is needed to ensure this transition is effective, accepted and fair. Continued planning reforms are also essential to ensure environmentally sustainable development of housing and communities. Other urgent priorities include urban cooling and greening, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/turning-the-housing-crisis-around-how-a-circular-economy-can-give-us-affordable-sustainable-homes-208745">circular economy approaches</a> to reduce the material and waste impacts of housing and thus the carbon that goes into building and running homes.<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/210649/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/trivess-moore-12580">Trivess Moore</a>, Senior Lecturer, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/alan-pears-52">Alan Pears</a>, Senior Industry Fellow, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/joe-hurley-157161">Joe Hurley</a>, Associate Professor, Sustainability and Urban Planning, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a> Image credits: Getty Images 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/cooking-and-heating-without-gas-what-are-the-impacts-of-shifting-to-all-electric-homes-210649">original article</a>.

Home & Garden

Tourists flock to the Mediterranean as if the climate crisis isn’t happening. This year’s heat and fire will force change

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/susanne-becken-90437">Susanne Becken</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/johanna-loehr-1457342">Johanna Loehr</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a> Thousands of people on the beach. Children reportedly falling off evacuation boats. Panic. People fleeing with the clothes on their backs. It felt like “the end of the world”, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/23/british-tourists-tell-of-nightmare-in-rhodes-fires-greece">one tourist</a>. The fires sweeping through the Greek islands of Rhodes and Corfu are showing us favourite holiday destinations are no longer safe as climate change intensifies. For decades, tourists have flocked to the Mediterranean for the northern summer. Australians, Scandinavians, Brits, Russians all arrive seeking warmer weather. After COVID, many of us have been keen to travel once again. But this year, the intense heatwaves have claimed <a href="https://inews.co.uk/news/world/heatwave-pictures-wildfires-worsen-greece-italy-spain-europe-us-2488556">hundreds of lives</a> in Spain alone. Major tourist drawcards such as the Acropolis in Athens have been closed. Climate scientists are “stunned by the ferocity” of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jul/25/northern-hemisphere-heatwaves-europe-greece-italy-wildfires-extreme-weather-climate-experts">heat</a>. This year is likely to force a rethink for tourists and for tourism operators. Expect to see more trips taken during shoulder seasons, avoiding the increasingly intense July to August summer. And expect temperate countries to become more popular tourist destinations. Warm-weather tourist destinations will have to radically change. <h2>What will climate change do to mass tourism?</h2> Weather is a major factor in tourism. In Europe and North America, people tend to go from northern countries to southern regions. Chinese tourists, like Australians, often head to Southeast Asian beaches. In Europe, the north-south flow is almost hardwired. When Australians go overseas, they often choose Mediterranean summers. Over the last decade, hotter summers haven’t been a dealbreaker. But this year is likely to drive change. You can already see that in the growing popularity of shoulder seasons (June or September) in the traditional Northern Hemisphere summer destinations. Many of us are shifting how we think about hot weather holidays from something we seek to something we fear. This comes on top of consumer shifts such as those related to sustainability and <a href="https://theconversation.com/flight-shaming-how-to-spread-the-campaign-that-made-swedes-give-up-flying-for-good-133842">flight shame</a>. What about disaster tourism? While thrillseekers <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/22/death-valley-tourism-extreme-weather-california">may be flocking</a> to Death Valley to experience temperatures over 50℃, it’s hard to imagine this type of tourism going mainstream. What we’re more likely to see is more people seeking “<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09669582.2016.1213849?journalCode=rsus20">last-chance</a>” experiences, with tourists flocking to highly vulnerable sites such as the Great Barrier Reef. Of course, this type of tourism isn’t sustainable long-term. <h2>What does this mean for countries reliant on tourism?</h2> The crisis in Rhodes shows us the perils of the just-in-time model of tourism, where you bring in tourists and everything they need –food, water, wine – as they need it. The system is geared to efficiency. But that means there’s little space for contingencies. Rhodes wasn’t able to easily evacuate 19,000 tourists. This approach will have to change to a just-in-case approach, as in other <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/willyshih/2022/01/30/from-just-in-time-to-just-in-case-is-excess-and-obsolete-next/?sh=195cd054daf7">supply chains</a>. For <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0261517712002063">emergency services</a>, tourists pose a particular challenge. Locals have a better understanding than tourists of risks and escape routes. Plus tourists don’t speak the language. That makes them much harder to help compared to locals. Climate change poses immense challenges in other ways, too. Pacific atoll nations like Kiribati or Tuvalu <a href="https://www.pacificpsdi.org/assets/Uploads/PSDI-TourismSnapshot-TUV3.pdf">would love</a> more tourists to visit. The problem there is water. Sourcing enough water for locals is getting harder. And tourists use a lot of water – drinking it, showering in it, swimming in it. Careful planning will be required to ensure local carrying capacities are not exceeded by tourism. So does this spell the end of mass tourism? Not entirely. But it will certainly accelerate the trend in countries like Spain away from mass tourism, or “overtourism”. In super-popular tourist destinations like Spain’s Balearic Islands, there’s been an increasing pushback from locals against <a href="https://theconversation.com/were-in-the-era-of-overtourism-but-there-is-a-more-sustainable-way-forward-108906">overtourism</a> in favour of specialised tourism with smaller numbers spread out over the year. Is this year a wake-up call? Yes. The intensifying climate crisis means many of us are now more focused on what we can do to stave off the worst of it by, say, avoiding flights. The pressure for change is growing too. Delta Airlines is being sued over its announcement to go carbon neutral by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/30/delta-air-lines-lawsuit-carbon-neutrality-aoe">using offsets</a>, for instance. <h2>Mountains not beaches: future tourism may look a lot different</h2> You can already see efforts to adapt to the changes in many countries. In Italy, for instance, domestic mountain tourism is <a href="https://www.euromontana.org/en/neve-diversa-how-mountain-tourism-can-adapt-to-climate-change/">growing</a>, enticing people from hot and humid Milan and Rome up where the air is cooler – even if the snow is disappearing. China, which doesn’t do things by halves, is investing in mountain resorts. The goal here is to offer cooler alternatives like northern China’s <a href="https://english.news.cn/20230714/9ae6f89a6b7b433ebde3ec689b87f6db/c.html">Jilin province</a> to beach holidays for sweltering residents of megacities such as Beijing and Shanghai. Some mountainous countries are unlikely to seize the opportunity because they don’t want to draw more tourists. Norway is considering a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidnikel/2022/12/03/norway-to-consider-introducing-tourist-tax-from-2024/?sh=710871eb1b27">tourist tax</a>. Forward-thinking countries will be better prepared. But there are limits to preparation and adaptation. Mediterranean summer holidays will be less and less appealing, as the region is a <a href="https://www.unep.org/unepmap/resources/factsheets/climate-change">heating hotspot</a>, warming 20% faster than the world average. Italy and Spain are still <a href="https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/jrc-news-and-updates/severe-drought-western-mediterranean-faces-low-river-flows-and-crop-yields-earlier-ever-2023-06-13_en">in the grip</a> of a record-breaking drought, threatening food and water supplies. The future of tourism is going to be very different. <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/210282/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/susanne-becken-90437">Susanne Becken</a>, Professor of Sustainable Tourism, Griffith Institute for Tourism, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/johanna-loehr-1457342">Johanna Loehr</a>, , <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a> Image credits: Getty Images 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/tourists-flock-to-the-mediterranean-as-if-the-climate-crisis-isnt-happening-this-years-heat-and-fire-will-force-change-210282">original article</a>.

International Travel

How to keep your pets cool in the heat

Now that the weather is warm, extra precautions in the sun are necessary not just for yourself, but for your furry companion. Try these useful tips to help keep Fido and Fluffy safe and cool in the heat all summer long. Give them a trim – If your pet has long hair, consider grooming them seasonally, as shorter hair makes a big difference in their overall temperature. Keep water handy – If you leave the house with your pet, always be sure to have water on you as well as a receptacle from which they can drink to keep your pet cool and hydrated. You can even set up a kiddy pool in your backyard for your dog to play in. Look for shade – If you’re out with your dog midday, try to avoid direct sunlight by locating a shady area for a rest. Follow their lead – If you dog or cat seems most content to stay indoors and enjoy the air conditioning, let them. They can tell if it’s too hot outside for them. Time it right – Avoid going out midday when possible, and take your dog for walks during the mornings and evenings instead. Never leave them in the car – Many animals die every year because irresponsible owners leave them in a car, leading to over-heating. Even if the day seems moderate in temperature, a car can still heat up drastically due to solar heat beaming in through the windows. If you’ll be leaving your car alone, leave your pet at home. Act according to breed – If your pet has a flat-shaped face, such as a pug or Persian cat, they are especially susceptible to the heat as they are unable to cool down through panting as effectively as other breeds can. If in doubt, bring them inside where it is cooler. Image credit: Shutterstock

Family & Pets

Tech millionaire’s “creepy” $100k offer sparks wave of backlash

US tech millionaire and Silicon Valley entrepreneur Steve Kirsch has been slammed for making a “creepy” offer towards a female passenger who was travelling on the same plane. In a tweet, Kirsch claimed that he offered the stranger $US100,000 to remove her face mask for the flight. "I am on board a Delta flight right now. The person sitting next to me in first-class refused $100,000 to remove her mask for the entire flight. No joke," he tweeted. Kirsch, who became infamous for spreading misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines throughout the pandemic, said that he "explained" to his seatmate that masks "don’t work". He also claims that the woman worked for a pharmaceutical company, and he started by offering her $US100 but worked his way up. She rejected his offer, but Kirsch persisted and said that if she removed the mask to eat and drink she "she could be infected with one breath". Many have slammed the entrepreneur for his actions. “Ew. Do you make a habit of offering money to random women to remove coverings from their bodies mid-air?" posted Jess Piper, a former Democrat state representative nominee, in her response to Kirsch's post. “Stop bugging people who are minding their own business with your creepy nonsense,” commented Alastair McAlpine, an infectious disease expert. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> I am on board a Delta flight right now. The person sitting next to me in first class refused $100,000 to remove her mask for the entire flight. No joke. This was after I explained they don’t work. She works for a pharma company. <a href="https://t.co/Q8Hwzhkmxf">pic.twitter.com/Q8Hwzhkmxf</a> — Steve Kirsch (@stkirsch) <a href="https://twitter.com/stkirsch/status/1634189428150390785?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 10, 2023</a></blockquote> "This is wildly creepy, you get that, right? Every part of this. From the request, to the expression, to the fact you decided to tweet this!" commented one user. “All you’re doing here is admitting you patronised and harassed a woman who made a decision she thought was best for her,” wrote another. Last week, Kirsch tried to pull the same stunt on a different flight. He tweeted that he offered his seatmates $US10,000 to remove their masks for the flight, but they also declined his offer. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> I asked the people sitting next to me on the plane if I paid them $10,000 would they remove their mask for the duration of the flight? Both declined the offer. Maybe I should offer $100,000 next time? This can quantify the amount of brainwashing. <a href="https://t.co/VLlymusmcq">pic.twitter.com/VLlymusmcq</a> — Steve Kirsch (@stkirsch) <a href="https://twitter.com/stkirsch/status/1633166204054675456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 7, 2023</a></blockquote> "Maybe I should offer $100,000 next time? This can quantify the amount of brainwashing," he added. Delta airlines have said that masks are optional for both domestic and international travel unless required by “applicable governments”. American federal law no longer requires masks be worn in airports or on planes, but certain cities and states may still make it a requirement at their airports. Image: Twitter

Travel Trouble

Is my medicine making me feel hotter this summer? 5 reasons why

If you’re really feeling the heat this summer, it might be down to more than the temperature outside. Some types of medicines can increase your core body temperature or make you feel hotter than you really are. Some can affect your body’s ability to cool down. Here’s what you need to know about heat intolerance and medicines. <h2>What is heat intolerance?</h2> Some people simply dislike the feeling of feeling hot, while others feel hot at temperatures most people find comfortable. Both are examples of <a href="https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325232#symptoms">heat intolerance</a>. Typical symptoms during warm weather include excessive sweating (or not sweating enough), exhaustion and fatigue, nausea, vomiting or dizziness, and changes in mood. A number of factors can cause heat intolerance. This includes the disorder <a href="https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/6004-dysautonomia">dysautonomia</a>, which affects people’s autonomic nervous system – the part of the body that regulates the automatic functions of the body, including our response to heat. Conditions such as diabetes, alcohol misuse, <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-causes-parkinsons-disease-what-we-know-dont-know-and-suspect-57579">Parkinson’s disease</a>, the autoimmune disease <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-guillain-barre-syndrome-and-is-it-caused-by-the-zika-virus-53884">Guillain-Barré syndrome</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-are-mitochondria-and-how-did-we-come-to-have-them-83106">mitochondrial disease</a> can cause dysautonomia. People in old age, those with some neurological conditions, or people less physically fit may also have it. But importantly, medications can also contribute to heat intolerance. <h2>1. Your body temperature rises</h2> Some medicines directly increase your body temperature, which then increases the risk of heat intolerance. These include <a href="https://bpspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/bph.15465">stimulant medications</a> to treat ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), such as methylphenidate, dexamfetamine and lisdexamfetamine. <a href="https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/antipsychotic-medications">Antipsychotic medications</a> (such as clozapine, olanzapine and quetiapine) used to treat mental health conditions, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, are other examples. These ADHD and antipsychotic medicines raise your temperature by acting on the hypothalamus, the region of the brain essential for cooling. The drug levothyroxine, used to treat an under-active thyroid, also increases your body temperature, this time by <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK500006/">increasing your metabolism</a>. <h2>2. Your blood flow is affected</h2> Other medicines constrict (tighten) blood vessels, decreasing blood flow to the skin, and so prevent heat from escaping this way. This means your body can’t regulate its temperature as well in the heat. Examples include <a href="https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/beta-blockers">beta-blockers</a> (such as metoprolol, atenolol and propranolol). These medications are used to treat conditions such as high blood pressure, angina (a type of chest pain), tachycardia (fast heart rate), heart failure, and to prevent migraines. <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/decongestants/">Decongestants</a> for blocked noses (for example, pseudoephedrine and phenylephrine), triptans for migraines (such as sumatriptan and zolmitriptan) and the ADHD medications mentioned earlier can also act to decrease blood flow to the skin. <h2>3. You can get dehydrated</h2> Other medicines can cause dehydration, which then makes you more susceptible to heat intolerance. The best examples are <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-pressure/in-depth/diuretics/art-20048129">diuretics</a> such as furosemide, hydrochlorothiazide, acetazolamide and aldosterone. These are used to control high blood pressure and heart failure by forcing your kidneys to remove more fluid from your body. Laxatives, such as senna extract and bisacodyl, also remove water from your body and so have a similar effect. <h2>4. You can sweat less</h2> Other medicines have a drying effect. This can be needed for medicines to do their job (for instance, to dry up a runny nose). For others, it is an unwanted side effect. This drying reduces the amount you sweat, making it harder to lose heat and regulate your core temperature. A number of medicines have these effects, including: <ul> <li>some antihistamines (such as promethazine, doxylamine and diphenhydramine)</li> <li>certain antidepressants (such as amitriptyline, clomipramine and dothiepin)</li> <li>medicines used to treat <a href="https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/urinary-incontinence#:%7E:text=Urinary%20incontinence%2C%20or%20poor%20bladder%20control%2C%20is%20very%20common%20in,to%20cure%20or%20improve%20it.">urinary incontinence</a> (for example, oxybutynin and solifenacin) </li> <li>nausea medicine (prochlorperazine)</li> <li>medicines for stomach cramps and spasms (for instance, hyoscine) </li> <li>the antipsychoptics chlorpromazine, olanzapine, quetiapine and clozapine.</li> </ul> <h2>5. You don’t feel thirsty</h2> Finally, some medicines, such as the antipsychotics haloperidol and droperidol, can aggravate heat intolerance by reducing your ability to feel thirsty. If you don’t feel thirsty, you drink less and are therefore at risk of dehydration and feeling hot. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-my-medicine-making-me-feel-hotter-this-summer-5-reasons-why-199085" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Body

"Thermonuclear bad": Millions of deaths expected in China's Covid wave

Experts have warned deaths will be "in the millions" as China faces an unprecedented Covid wave, which is set to become "thermonuclear bad". The most recent wave of the infections began after Chinese President Xi Jinping finally began to relax his "zero-Covid" policy, which has seen the country under heavy lockdowns for months at a time. Within days of the restrictions easing, Covid cases began to explode, with hospitals already “completely overwhelmed” and bodies reportedly piling up at morgues. Public health officials in China have admitted it is possible that 800 million people could be struck down by Covid in the coming months. However, the nation has officially recorded just two deaths since reopening, although there are now widespread reports that the true figure is far higher, with workers at the Beijing Dongjiao Funeral Parlour – the venue tasked with handling Covid deaths – claiming they were overwhelmed with bodies in recent days. The claims have sparked rumours of a government cover up, with international experts sounding the alarm over a tragedy in the making. Harvard-trained US epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding recently shared a video on Twitter purportedly showing rows of seriously ill Covid patients crammed into a clearly stretched hospital, with some seen lying on the floor or slumped in chairs, warning that things were getting “thermonuclear bad”. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> ⚠️THERMONUCLEAR BAD—Hospitals completely overwhelmed in China ever since restrictions dropped. Epidemiologist estimate >60% of 🇨🇳 & 10% of Earth’s population likely infected over next 90 days. Deaths likely in the millions—plural. This is just the start—🧵<a href="https://t.co/VAEvF0ALg9">pic.twitter.com/VAEvF0ALg9</a> — Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) <a href="https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1604748747640119296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 19, 2022</a></blockquote> “Hospitals completely overwhelmed in China ever since restrictions dropped,” he posted, adding that epidemiologists estimate more than 60 per cent of China and 10 per cent of the Earth’s population is likely to be infected with the virus over the next 90 days. “Deaths likely in the millions – plural. This is just the start,” he posted. His claims were backed up by a recent forecast by health data analysts Airfinity, which predicted China faces between 1.3 and 2.1 million deaths between now and the end of March. Fellow epidemiologist Ben Cowling agreed with the terrifying figures, telling <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/12/15/1143002538/china-appears-to-be-facing-what-could-be-the-world-s-largest-coronavirus-outbrea" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NPR</a> the surge is “going to come very fast, unfortunately”, and predicting that “hospitals are going to come under pressure possibly by the end of this month”. Dr Eric Feigl-Ding went on to explain that nobody would be immune to the fallout from China’s latest crisis, predicting that the world would soon be hit by severe shortages of crucial medical supplies including antibiotics and fever medications. “What happens in China doesn’t stay in China — Wuhan was our lesson three years ago. The global fallout of this 2022-2023 wave will not be small,” he warned, adding that he believed the “global economic fallout from China’s new mega tsunami wave will be ugly”. Image credits: Twitter

Caring

Stop your makeup melting in the heat

Party season and soaring temperatures mean one thing – melting makeup! Make sure you don’t end up looking like Alice Cooper this summer with our guide to a face that stays put even when the mercury rises. Blank canvas Exfoliate so that your face is ultra-smooth and products will stay on evenly, rather than migrating to one particularly dry area. After your usual moisturizer, make sure you apply SPF30+ or SPF50+ sunscreen. After all, there’s no point in going to all this trouble if you’re just going to end up looking like a tomato anyway! Then use a primer to take away shine. Another layer might seem counter-productive, but you can imagine what happens to make-up that’s applied to a slippery surface. Dare to bare Too much powder and sweat aren’t a good mix, literally. Powders can clog and looked caked when we start to ‘glow’ on scorching days. Similarly, long-lasting foundations can be too heavy and textured and look too much like make-up. Instead, opt for a light coverage foundation or illuminating tinted moisturiser to keep your look sheer and natural. Cheeks Using a brush, apply a cream blush to the apples of your cheeks. The beauty of a cream blush is that if it starts to budge, you can just blend it back in with your finger. Go easy on the bronzer. Use a shade that’s just one shade darker than your natural skin tone and apply it only where the sun would naturally catch your face. Eye Smokey eyes soon become raccoon eyes in the heat, so keep the natural look going with a creamy, slightly shimmery eye shadow in a coppery shade. Stick-style shadows stay in place very well and are easy to reapply on-the-go. Liquid eyeliner is best avoided in the heat. Use a pencil or at least a waterproof formulation. To avoid your eyebrows melting, go for a light pencil rather than a wax, then finish your eyes with waterproof mascara. Lips Thick gloss can feel a bit gloopy when the temperatures soar, and a heavy lipstick will overwhelm the natural look on your eyes and cheeks. Try a light chubby-stick style lip stain or a tinted lip balm with SPF in it to provide sheer colour and sun protection in one. Staying power It’s really important to ‘set’ your face after you’ve applied it, but it’s a fine line between setting it and adding powder that’s just going to cake. Use a good quality translucent powder just on your T-zone. A little goes a long way so dab it on the back of your hand first, then apply from there. Finally, keep some blotting papers in your handbag. Blotting papers don’t just mattify shine- they actually soak up excess oil and sweat, so they’re perfect for hot days! Image credits: Getty Images

Beauty & Style

Passenger killed after “rogue wave” strikes cruise ship

An elderly woman has died and four others have been injured after a massive wave struck a cruise ship sailing towards southern Argentina at the end of its Antarctic cruise. The Viking Polaris was struck by a wave that broke cabin windows during a storm on its return to the port of Ushuaia last week, according to Argentinian authorities. While the ship suffered minimal damage, the 62-year-old US woman who was hit by broken glass died. “It is with great sadness that we confirm a guest passed away following the incident,” Viking said in a statement. “We have notified the guest’s family and shared our deepest sympathies.” The cruise operator described it as a “rogue wave incident” and confirmed that four other cruise goers suffered non-life threatening injuries and received treatment from the doctor and medical staff on board the ship. With a federal court opening a case into the incident, the cruise ship has been anchored at Ushuaia. Viking has also said it would investigate the incident and “offer our support to the relevant authorities”. “Our focus remains on the safety and wellbeing of our guests and crew, and we are working directly with them to arrange return travel,” the <a href="https://www.vikingcruises.co.uk/expeditions/my-trip/current-sailings/index.html">statement</a> from Thursday, December 1, read. The company has also cancelled its scheduled voyage to Antarctica, which was due to depart from December 5-17. The Polaris, built this year, features luxury facilities and has capacity for 378 passengers and 256 crew members. It is one of two ships Viking has for its cruises, which explore remote regions of the world. Image: Getty Images

Cruising

Europe warming at double the rate of other continents

Europe is the fastest-warming continent in the world, according to a newly released report from the World Meteorological Organization. The State of the Climate in Europe report cites the loss of more than 25 metres of ice loss in alpine glaciers, and 20 metres of loss in Greenland (a Danish territory), as particularly responsible for the rise in ocean levels. Climate change events were also responsible for more than US$50 billion in damages. In its statement releasing the report, the WMO described Europe as the “live picture” of a world burdened by warming climate. Since 1990, Europe’s temperatures have undergone an average rate of temperature increase of 0.5 degrees each decade. That rate is twice as high as the next fastest warming continent. The WMO points to high-impact weather and climate events – nearly 85% of which were floods and storms – as directly affecting around 510,000 people. Extreme heat also took its toll, with provisional record temperatures experienced in southern Italy in August reaching 48.8°C. These temperatures influenced drought and low rainfall across the Mediterranean, leading to deadly wildfires that burned through three times the amount of land area than the region’s 15-year average up to 2020. <h2>But are carbon emissions decreasing in Europe?</h2> Fuel prices and the COVID-19 pandemic were major influences on the continent’s carbon emissions reduction, the WMO found. A 31% decline in carbon emissions between 1990 and 2020 was recorded, although it’s expected to be far less in 2021 due to the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions and altered fuel prices. 2021 also marked the introduction of EU legislation to make net zero by 2050 a legally-binding target for member nations. Although temperature data provided by six datasets showed a decrease in 2021 from the preceding year, it still marked one of the 10 warmest years on record. And observers will keenly await the release of next year’s 2022 appraisal, after record summer droughts and heatwaves heaped pressure on European nations. Even now, regions across the continent are recording their hottest temperatures for November on record. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> (2) More November records in Europe. France had 21 records today (left column), the most important were: Aigues Mortes (POR since 1872), Aix en Provence and Valence (1st class stations). In Austria 4 records beaten the highest was 23.3C at Hohe Wand (right column). tb continued.. <a href="https://t.co/DjmR7oR0oR">pic.twitter.com/DjmR7oR0oR</a> — Extreme Temperatures Around The World (@extremetemps) <a href="https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1587481854680219653?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 1, 2022</a></blockquote> “[Europe] reminds us that even well-prepared societies are not safe from impacts of extreme weather events,” says WMO secretary-general Professor Petteri Taalas. “This year, like 2021, large parts of Europe have been affected by extensive heatwaves and drought, fuelling wildfires. In 2021, exceptional floods caused death and devastation. “On the mitigation side, the good pace in reducing greenhouse gases emissions in the region should continue and ambition should be further increased. Europe can play a key role towards achieving a carbon neutral society by the middle of the century to meet the Paris Agreement.” <h2>Future outlook</h2> The release of the report comes ahead of the global climate change conference to be held in Egypt, where delegations from around the world convene to recalibrate efforts to address climate change. Last year’s COP26 conference in Glasgow was criticised for scrubbing language to phase out coal from the final agreement. In its place came language to ‘phase down’ its use. Coal is the leading source of carbon emissions from energy use. Similarly, several nations failed to renew important targets to reduce carbon emissions by the end of the decade, considered an important tipping point if net zero by 2050 is to be achieved. The WMO echoed the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change forecasts that weather, climate and water disasters will increase in the future, and that Europe will experience temperature rises at rates exceeding global average increases. This article originally appeared on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/europe-warming-at-double-the-rate-of-other-continents/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cosmosmagazine.com</a> and was written by Matthew Agius. Image: Getty

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Is my medicine making me feel hotter this summer? 5 reasons why

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Stop your makeup melting in the heat

Passenger killed after “rogue wave” strikes cruise ship

Europe warming at double the rate of other continents