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Technology is alienating people – and it’s not just those who are older

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/carolyn-wilson-nash-1255329">Carolyn Wilson-Nash</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-stirling-1697">University of Stirling</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/julie-tinson-277507">Julie Tinson</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-stirling-1697">University of Stirling</a></em></p> <p>We take it for granted that technology brings people closer together and improves our access to essential products and services. If you can’t imagine life without your smartphone, it’s easy to forget that people who can’t or don’t want to engage with the latest technology are being left behind.</p> <p>For example, there have recently been reports that <a href="https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/cars/1618497/parking-poll-results-cashless-car-parks-card-smartphone-app-only-elderly-drivers-spt">cashless payment systems</a> for car parking in the UK are seeing older drivers unfairly hit with fines. This has led to calls for the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10851103/Esther-Rantzen-tells-ministers-pensioners-not-use-apps-pay-parking.html">government to intervene</a>.</p> <p>Age is one of the biggest predictors of <a href="https://ageing-better.org.uk/sites/default/files/2020-08/landscape-covid-19-digital.pdf">digital exclusion</a>. Only 47% of those aged <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/itandinternetindustry/bulletins/internetusers/2019">75 and over</a> use the internet regularly. And out of the 4 million who have never used the internet in the UK, only 300,000 people are <a href="https://ageing-better.org.uk/sites/default/files/2020-08/landscape-covid-19-digital.pdf">under 55</a>.</p> <p>But older people are not the only ones who feel shut out by new technology. For example, research shows vulnerable people, such as those with disabilities, are also disengaging with e-services and being <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0267257X.2012.691526">“locked out” of society</a>.</p> <h2>The digital transition</h2> <p>From train tickets to vaccine passports, there is a growing expectation that consumers should embrace technology to participate in everyday life. This is a global phenomenon. Out in front, Sweden predicts its economy will be <a href="https://sweden.se/life/society/a-cashless-society">fully cashless</a> by March 2023.</p> <p>Shops increasingly use QR codes, virtual reality window displays and self-service checkouts. Many of these systems require a smart device, and momentum is building for QR codes to be integrated into <a href="https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/technology-and-supply-chain/the-time-has-finally-arrived-for-electronic-shelf-labels-heres-why/661068.article">digital price tags</a> as they can give customers extra information such as nutritional content of food. Changing paper labels is a labour intensive process.</p> <p>Technology pervades all aspects of consumer life. Going on holiday, enjoying the cinema or theatre, and joining sport and social clubs all make people feel part of society. But many popular artists now use online queues to sell tickets to their shows. Social groups use WhatsApp and Facebook to keep their members updated.</p> <p>When it comes to booking a holiday, there is a <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/919811/number-of-travel-agents-united-kingdom-uk/#:%7E:text=Overall%2C%20there%20were%203%2C710%20retail,as%20TUI%20and%20Hays%20Travel.">decreasing number</a> of in-person travel agents. This limits the social support to make the best choice, which is particularly important for those with specific needs such as people with health issues. And once travelling, aircrew expect flight boarding passes and COVID passports to be available on smartphones.</p> <p>Essential services such as healthcare, which can already <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0267257X.2022.2078861">be difficult</a> for older and other people to navigate, are also moving online. Patients are increasingly expected to use the GP website or email to request to see a doctor. Ordering prescriptions online is encouraged.</p> <h2>Not just older people</h2> <p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/digital-lifeline-a-qualitative-evaluation/digital-lifeline-a-qualitative-evaluation">Not everyone can afford</a> an internet connection or smart technology. Some regions, particularly rural ones, struggle for phone signal. The UK phone network’s plans for a <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-61377944">digital switchover</a> by 2025, which would render traditional landlines redundant, could cut off people who rely on their landlines.</p> <p>Concerns about privacy can also stop people using technology. Data collection and security breaches impact people’s confidence in organisations. A 2020 survey into <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/risk-and-resilience/our-insights/the-consumer-data-opportunity-and-the-privacy-imperative">consumers’ trust</a> in businesses showed no industry reached a trust rating of 50% for data protection. The majority of respondents (87%) said they would not do business with a company if they had concerns about its security practices.</p> <p>Some people view “forced” digitisation as a symbol of consumer culture and will limit their technology use. Followers of the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228310981_The_Voluntary_Simplicity_Movement_Reimagining_the_Good_Life_Beyond_Consumer_Culture">simple living movement</a>, which gained momentum in the 1980s, try to minimise their use of technology. Many people take a “less is more” <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JCM-04-2020-3749/full/html">approach to technology</a> simply because they feel it offers a more meaningful existence.</p> <p>One of the most common reasons for digital exclusion, however, <a href="https://www.iriss.org.uk/resources/esss-outlines/digital-inclusion-exclusion-and-participation">is poverty</a>. When the <a href="https://www.local.gov.uk/parliament/briefings-and-responses/tackling-digital-divide-house-commons-4-november-2021">pandemic hit in March 2020</a>, 51% of households earning between £6,000 to £10,000 had home internet access, compared with 99% of households with an income over £40,000.</p> <p>Limited access to tablets, smartphones and laptops can result in feelings of isolation. Many older consumers have developed strategies to manage and overcome the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0267257X.2021.1945662">digital challenges</a> presented by these devices. But those unable to <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-older-people-are-mastering-technology-to-stay-connected-after-lockdown-165562">engage with technology</a> remain excluded if their family and friends don’t live close by.</p> <h2>Smart change</h2> <p>The solution is not simply to give devices to those without smart technology. While there is a need to provide affordable internet access and technology, and offer support in learning new skills, we need to recognise diversity in society.</p> <p>Services should provide non-digital options that embrace equality. For example, cash systems should not be abolished. There might be a demand for services to become digital, but service providers need to be aware of the people who will be isolated by this transition.</p> <p>Retailers, local councils, health providers and businesses in tourism, entertainment and leisure should try to understand more about the diversity of their consumers. They need to develop services that cater for the needs of all people, especially those without access to technology.</p> <p>We live in a diverse world and diverse consumers need choice. After all, access to and inclusion in society is a human right.<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/184095/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/carolyn-wilson-nash-1255329">Carolyn Wilson-Nash</a>, Lecturer, Marketing and Retail, Stirling Management School, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-stirling-1697">University of Stirling</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/julie-tinson-277507">Julie Tinson</a>, Professor of Marketing, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-stirling-1697">University of Stirling</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Shutterstock </em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/technology-is-alienating-people-and-its-not-just-those-who-are-older-184095">original article</a>.</em></p>

Technology

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UFO sightings: 15 most chilling sightings in history

<p><strong>“Unexplained aerial phenomena”</strong></p> <p>When it comes to extra-terrestrial life and making contact with those from outer space, everyone has an opinion. Some think it’s all a hack, some are open to speculate, and others still are entirely taken with the tales and stories as old as time, cameras poised and tinfoil hats at the ready (one of many crazy conspiracy theories). UFOs have fascinated and confused us for years as each new flying saucer or hovercraft sighting makes national news and splits us into two camps.</p> <p>While it’s easy to debunk individual stories, it’s much harder to argue with the US Department of Defense. In videos leaked back in 2007 and 2017, the Pentagon has aimed to “clear up any misconceptions by the public on whether or not the footage that has been circulating was real.” In the video, unidentified objects are seen spinning and hovering in the air and above the water while two navy pilots remark in shock and confusion over the two oblong, disk-shaped “objects.”</p> <p>Whether you’re a believer or a sceptic, UFO sightings bring out a little wonder (and a little fear!) in all of us. Take a look at these sightings and stories and make of it what you will. Most importantly, keep looking to the sky.</p> <p><strong>Betty and Barney Hill</strong></p> <p>It’s only fair that we begin with one of the most famous UFO and alien abduction cases in history: the Betty and Barney Hill case. The two were driving on a road in the US state of New Hampshire at night when a bright light seemed to start following them. When they eventually got home, it was daylight, their clothes were dirty and ripped, their watches had stopped working – and they couldn’t remember a thing.</p> <p>During sessions with a psychiatrist, they later recalled being probed and violated by aliens during an abduction. The case was investigated by Project Blue Book, a now declassified UFO secret.</p> <p><strong>The Melbourne 350</strong></p> <p>More than 300 students and teachers of Westall High School in Melbourne, Australia saw an unbelievable sight on April 6, 1966, shares the New York Post. They were all looking incredulously at five planes that were attempting to corner and capture a UFO.</p> <p>This went on for a while before the UFO zipped away, out of sight. It is reported that the headmaster of the school and even strange men in black suits told the students and teachers never to say anything about it, even though it was witnessed by hundreds of people.</p> <p><strong>Zimbabwe children and the end of the world</strong></p> <p>In September of 1994, several UFOs allegedly hovered near a school in Ruwa, Zimbabwe, reports Vanity Fair. The children who observed these UFOs were terrified when they were asked to explain what had happened. They described beings with big heads, no nose (just two holes), no mouth, and long black hair. The children said they were dressed in dark suits and communicated telepathically.</p> <p>“‘I think it’s about something that’s going to happen,’” said one little girl. ‘What I thought was maybe the world’s going to end. They were telling us the world’s going to end. I don’t even know. It just popped up in my head. He never said anything. He talked just with his eyes.’”</p> <div class="slide-image" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <p style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit;"><strong>The Rendlesham Forest Incident</strong></p> <p style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit;">Known as “Britain’s Roswell,” the Rendlesham Forest Incident is one of the most famous UFO reports. The reason? Because the witnesses involved in the December 1980 event were, in fact, US military personnel and considered highly credible witnesses.</p> <p style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit;">They reported seeing an alien aircraft zoom through the forest. When they went to go check it out, it seemed as though strange hieroglyphics were written all over the craft. It turns out that this was most likely a prank played on the US soldiers by the British military.</p> <p style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit;"><strong>The O’Hare International Airport saucer</strong></p> <p style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit;">On November 7, 2006, US United Flight 446 was about to depart from Chicago’s O’Hare International airport, when a dozen United Airlines employees spotted an odd metallic craft hovering over the gate. The employees reported that it hung in the air for several minutes before finally shooting up at breakneck speed into the clouds.</p> <p style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit;">The strangest part? The UFO did not register on the airport’s radar, despite all the witnesses. The FAA declined to investigate, chalking it up to a “weather phenomenon.”</p> <p style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit;"><strong>The Frederick Valentich Disappearance</strong></p> <p style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit;">Australian pilot Frederick Valentich was flying over the Bass Strait when he encountered something that he couldn’t identify, according to News.com.au.</p> <p style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit;">He got on his radio to notify air control that there was a strange vessel the likes of which he had never seen before, circling him, as if taunting him. “It is hovering and it is not an aircraft,” were the last words Valentich said before he and his plane disappeared forever.</p> <p style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit;"><strong>Robert Matthews and missing time</strong></p> <p style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit;">According to CBS Reality, an Airman named Robert Matthews got off of a bus in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA, to report for his first tour of duty back in 1966. Matthews saw strange lights appearing in the deserted area where the bus driver had told him to call and wait for a truck to pick him up and take him to base. Afraid, he used a payphone to call the base a second time, what he thought was five minutes later.</p> <p style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit;">The person who answered the phone told him that the truck had arrived to pick him up five minutes after he got off the bus, but that the driver couldn’t find Matthews. In actuality, an hour separated those two phone calls. This phenomenon is called “missing time” and is commonly associated with alien abduction cases.</p> <p style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit;"><strong>The Broad Haven Primary School drawings</strong></p> <p style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit;">The BBC reports that in 1977, a group of school children from the Broad Haven Primary School claimed to have seen a UFO near their playground. The teachers of the school refused to believe them, but when the children were separated and asked to draw pictures of the experience, they all came up with the same drawing of a flying saucer.</p> <p><strong>Barbara Lamb and the lizard man</strong></p> <p>A woman named Barbara Lamb, a psychotherapist who observed crop circles, claimed that a reptilian figure appeared in her house one day, reports Vanity Fair. He was tall and had piercing yellow eyes. Normally not fond of snakes and lizards, the reptile appeared friendly and welcoming to Lamb, so she reached out to touch his hand. Then the lizard man vanished as suddenly as he appeared.</p> <p><strong>Fred Crisman and Harold Dahl </strong></p> <p>In 1947, Harold Dahl was out on the Puget Sound in Washington State, USA with his son and his dog. History.com recounts that Dahl saw six strange aircraft overhead, one of which fell an estimated 450 metres out of the sky and into the water below. </p> <p>The metal debris hurt his son and killed his dog. Dahl told his supervisor at work, Fred Crisman, what had happened and Crisman came and verified it for himself. Soon afterward, a man in a black suit supposedly came to Dahl and warned him not to speak of the incident again – it is said that this incident inspired the movie Men in Black.</p> <p><strong>The Washington Merry-go-Round</strong></p> <p>A 1952 incident where seven unidentified objects appeared over secure air space near the US Pentagon was captured on film. The crafts were registered on radar, and jets were immediately sent to investigate these suspicious, strange crafts. However, when the American jets approached that air space, those seven objects disappeared from the radar. </p> <p>When the jets landed, the objects returned to the radar screen once more. President Harry S. Truman was notified and Airforce Intelligence Director General Sanford held a press conference saying that there were reports “made by credible observers of relatively incredible things. It’s this group of observations that we are attempting to resolve.” There was no resolution.</p> <p><strong>Japan Airlines Flight 1628</strong></p> <p>In 2001, former FAA official John Callahan told a conference of high ranking officials that in 1986, Japan Airlines Flight 1628 was on its way from Paris to Tokyo when crew members spotted several UFOs. </p> <p>In a television documentary, the American Heroes Channel reports that the JAL crew called in multiple UFOs surrounding the plane, including one that was four times their own size. They made an emergency landing in Anchorage, Alaska, where the ground crew confirmed the sighting.</p> <p><strong>The Muscarello Exeter incident </strong></p> <p>It was 1965 in Exeter, New Hampshire, USA, when a hitchhiker named Norman Muscarello saw five strange red flashing lights in the woods. As TV station WMUR recounts, the source of the lights suddenly came towards him at a frightening speed. </p> <p>Muscarello dove into a ditch to avoid being hit before flagging down a motorist. The police investigated the area, and they, too, saw the same aircraft with the same bright red lights speed off out of sight. Today, the event is celebrated with a yearly Exeter UFO Festival.</p> <p><strong>A Knock on Rick Sorrells's Door</strong></p> <p>In 2008, an unfathomably large aircraft hovered above Stephenville, Texas, USA. Many people in the community saw it, and according to the Mutual UFO Network, a pilot named Steven Allen reported that the unusual aircraft was flying at an estimated 4,800 kilometres per hour and was being chased by fighter jets. </p> <p>Then, a man named Rick Sorrells said he saw the same thing while hunting. Later, Sorrells says a strange man knocked on his door and said, “‘Son we have the same calibre weapons you have, but we have more of them. You need to shut your mouth about what you saw.”</p> <p><strong>Richard French and the Drowned UFOs</strong></p> <p>In the 1950s, it was Lieutenant Colonel Richard French’s job to explain away UFO phenomena for the government. There was only one problem: Lt. Col. French actually saw alien ships with his own eyes, reports the Daily Mail. </p> <p>At a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure in 2013, the then-83-year-old man told the truth for the first time about what he saw as a young man in the waters of St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada: two UFOs that had crashed and sunk in the water, and aliens trying to fix them. They succeeded and took off. He didn’t mention UFOs in his report at the time. How’s that for a freaky government cover-up?</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.co.nz/culture/15-most-chilling-ufo-sightings-ever-recorded?pages=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader's Digest</a>. </em></p> </div>

International Travel

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Humans are still hunting for aliens. Here’s how astronomers are looking for life beyond Earth

<p>We have long been fascinated with the idea of alien life. The earliest written record presenting the idea of “aliens” is seen in the satiric work of Assyrian writer <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/life-unbounded/the-first-alien/">Lucian of Samosata</a> dated to 200 AD.</p> <p>In one novel, Lucian <a href="https://www.yorku.ca/inpar/lucian_true_tale.pdf">writes of a journey to the Moon</a> and the bizarre life he imagines living there – everything from three-headed vultures to fleas the size of elephants.</p> <p>Now, 2,000 years later, we still write stories of epic adventures beyond Earth to meet otherworldly beings (<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Hitchhikers-Guide-to-the-Galaxy-novel-by-Adams">Hitchhiker’s Guide</a>, anyone?). Stories like these entertain and inspire, and we are forever trying to find out if science fiction will become science fact.</p> <h2>Not all alien life is the same</h2> <p>When looking for life beyond Earth, we are faced with two possibilities. We might find basic microbial life hiding somewhere in our Solar System; or we will identify signals from intelligent life somewhere far away.</p> <div data-id="17"> </div> <p>Unlike in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Star-Wars-film-series">Star Wars</a>, we’re not talking far, far away in another galaxy, but rather around other nearby stars. It is this second possibility which really excites me, and should excite you too. A detection of intelligent life would fundamentally change how we see ourselves in the Universe.</p> <p>In the last 80 years, programs dedicated to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) have worked tirelessly searching for cosmic “hellos” in the form of radio signals.</p> <p>The reason we think any intelligent life would communicate via radio waves is due to the waves’ ability to travel vast distances through space, rarely interacting with the dust and gas in between stars. If anything out there is trying to communicate, it’s a pretty fair bet they would do it through radio waves.</p> <h2>Listening to the stars</h2> <p>One of the most exciting searches to date is <a href="https://breakthroughinitiatives.org/initiative/1">Breakthrough Listen</a>, the largest scientific research program dedicated to looking for evidence of intelligent life beyond Earth.</p> <p>This is one of many projects funded by US-based Israeli entrepreneurs Julia and Yuri Milner, with some serious dollars attached. Over a ten-year period a total amount of <a href="https://breakthroughinitiatives.org/initiative/1">US$100 million</a> will be invested in this effort, and they have a mighty big task at hand.</p> <p>Breakthrough Listen is currently targeting the closest one million stars in the hope of identifying any unnatural, alien-made radio signals. Using telescopes around the globe, from the 64-metre Murriyang Dish (Parkes) here in Australia, to the 64-antenna MeerKAT array in South Africa, the search is one of epic proportions. But it isn’t the only one.</p> <p>Hiding away in the Cascade Mountains north of San Francisco sits the <a href="https://www.seti.org/ata">Allen Telescope Array</a>, the first radio telescope built from the ground up specifically for SETI use.</p> <p>This unique facility is another exciting project, able to search for signals every day of the year. This project is currently upgrading the hardware and software on the original dish, including the ability to target several stars at once. This is a part of the non-profit research organisation, the SETI Institute.</p> <h2>Space lasers!</h2> <p>The SETI Institute is also looking for signals that would be best explained as “space lasers”.</p> <p>Some astronomers hypothesise that intelligent beings might use massive lasers to communicate or even to propel spacecraft. This is because even here on Earth we’re investigating <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/the-future-of-laser-communications/">laser communication</a> and laser-propelled <a href="https://www.insidescience.org/news/new-light-sail-design-would-use-laser-beam-ride-space">light sails</a>.</p> <p>To search for these mysterious flashes in the night sky, we need speciality instruments in locations around the globe, which are currently being developed and deployed. This is a research area I’m excited to watch progress and eagerly await results.</p> <p>As of writing this article, sadly no alien laser signals have been found yet.</p> <h2>Out there, somewhere</h2> <p>It’s always interesting to ponder who or what might be living out in the Universe, but there is one problem we must overcome to meet or communicate with aliens. It’s the speed of light.</p> <p>Everything we rely on to communicate via space requires light, and it can only travel so fast. This is where my optimism for finding intelligent life begins to fade. The Universe is big – really big.</p> <p>To put it in perspective, humans started using radio waves to communicate across large distances in 1901. That <a href="https://ethw.org/Milestones:Reception_of_Transatlantic_Radio_Signals,_1901">first transatlantic signal</a> has only travelled 122 light years, reaching just 0.0000015% of the stars in our Milky Way.</p> <p>Did your optimism just fade too? That is okay, because here is the wonderful thing… we don’t have to find life to know it is out there, somewhere.</p> <p>When we consider the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-many-stars-are-there-in-space-165370">trillions of galaxies</a>, septillion of stars, and likely many more planets just in the observable Universe, it feels near impossible that we are alone.</p> <p>We can’t fully constrain the parameters we need to estimate how many other lifeforms might be out there, as famously proposed by Frank Drake, but using our best estimates and <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-astrobiology/article/numerical-testbed-for-hypotheses-of-extraterrestrial-life-and-intelligence/0C97E7803EEB69323C3728F02BA31AFA">simulations</a> the current best answer to this is tens of thousands of possible civilisations out there.</p> <p>The Universe <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-space-infinite-we-asked-5-experts-165742">might even be infinite</a>, but that is too much for my brain to comprehend on a weekday.</p> <h2>Don’t forget the tiny aliens</h2> <p>So, despite keenly listening for signals, we might not find intelligent life in our lifetimes. But there is hope for aliens yet.</p> <p>The ones hiding in plain sight, on the planetary bodies of our Solar System. In the coming decades we’ll explore the moons of Jupiter and Saturn like never before, with missions hunting to find traces of basic life.</p> <p>Mars will continue to be explored – eventually by humans – which could allow us to uncover and retrieve samples from new and unexplored regions.</p> <p>Even if our future aliens are only tiny microbes, it would still be nice to know we have company in this Universe.</p> <p><em>Images: Getty</em></p> <p><em style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, 'system-ui', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji'; font-size: 16px; background-color: #ffffff;">This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/humans-are-still-hunting-for-aliens-heres-how-astronomers-are-looking-for-life-beyond-earth-197621" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>

Technology

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Cats declared an “invasive alien species” in Poland

<p dir="ltr">A scientific institute in Poland has categorised domestic cats as an “invasive alien species”, joining a menagerie of animals on their invasive species list.</p> <p dir="ltr">The Polish Academy of Sciences has deemed the house cat (Felis catus) as an “alien” species as it was domesticated in the Middle East, and “invasive” due to the “negative influence of domestic cats on native biodiversity”, according to a statement.</p> <p dir="ltr">Cats join a long list of animals and plants deemed an “invasive alien species” by the institute, including Japanese knotweed, racoons, clearwing moths and mandarin ducks.</p> <p dir="ltr">The Academy states that cats pose “an unpredictable risk to local wildlife”, citing <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989418303196?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a study</a> that shows cats kill 41.1 million mammals and 8.9 million birds each year, eating an additional 583.4 million mammals and 135.7 birds.</p> <p dir="ltr">Wojciech Solarz, a biologist at the state-run institute, told <a href="https://apnews.com/article/science-poland-wildlife-cats-birds-b942a55135832d085375de73c9cc2e23?user_email=d892765ed707c6b27af3429c2e8ec0607119ec5a15758542d760a9bac7b882a8&amp;utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=July27_MorningWire&amp;utm_term=Morning%20Wire%20Subscribers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AP</a> that the criteria to be declared an alien invasive species “are 100 percent met by the cat”.</p> <p dir="ltr">However, cat owners and lovers have expressed outrage at the decision, arguing it could incite abuse or mistreatment of cats, with concerned commenters declaring it “simply stupid and harmful” on the Academy’s Facebook page.</p> <p dir="ltr">AP has also reported that some media reports have incorrectly given the impression that the Academy was calling for cats to be euthanized.</p> <p dir="ltr">Solarz told the outlet he hadn’t expected such a response, adding that no other entry on their database of invasive and alien species had resulted in such an emotional response.</p> <p dir="ltr">He suggested that the negative feedback may be due to a misunderstanding that the Academy was implying that people harm their cats.</p> <p dir="ltr">In actuality, the Academy has only recommended that cat owners limit the amount of time their pets spend outdoors during bird breeding season.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-3485969e-7fff-54f6-de1d-11099865d6bb"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Getty Images</em></p>

Family & Pets

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Bill Paxton’s cause of death revealed

<p>The cause of death for popular actor Bill Paxton, who passed away at age of 61 last month, has been revealed in the release of the <em>Aliens</em> star’s death certificate.</p> <p>The certificate, which was obtained by <a href="http://www.tmz.com/2017/03/06/bill-paxton-death-certificate-stroke-valve-replacement-surgery/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>TMZ</strong></em></span></a>, reveals that Paxton had suffered from a stroke just 11 days after surgery to replace a heart valve and repair aorta damage.</p> <p>The information hopefully brings closure to family, friends and fans of the immensely popular actor, saddened by the shocking news that was announced on February 25.  </p> <p>In an emotional statement, Paxton’s family said, “Bill’s passion for the arts was felt by all who knew him, and his warmth and tireless energy were undeniable.”</p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/retirement-life/2017/02/david-cassidy-reveals-he%E2%80%99s-fighting-dementia/"><em>David Cassidy reveals he’s fighting dementia</em></a></strong></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/news/news/2017/02/harrison-ford-involved-in-another-plane-incident/"><em>Harrison Ford involved in another plane incident</em></a></strong></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/news/news/2017/02/hugh-jackman-reveals-shock-skin-cancer-treatment/"><em>Hugh Jackman reveals shock skin cancer treatment</em></a></strong></span></p>

News

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Artist transforms Australia’s Red Centre into surreal alien landscape

<p>Bruce Munro is an internationally acclaimed British artist who’s known around the world for his ambitious, immersive, light-based installations.</p> <p>For his latest project, Mr Munro has taken to Australia’s famous red centre, using fairy lights to turn the desert into a surreal, almost alien landscape.</p> <p><img width="497" height="280" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/18341/uluru-2-_497x280.jpg" alt="Uluru 2 -" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"/></p> <p>50,000 light stems, covering a surface equivalent to four football pitches, were used to create the stunning installation, with Uluru looming on the horizon.</p> <p>To see some of the other work Mr Munro has created, scroll through the gallery above. The images are captivating, but it mustn’t have been a lot of fun to clean up afterwards!</p> <p><em>Image credit: Facebook / brucemunrostudio</em></p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><em><a href="/lifestyle/family-pets/2016/02/vintage-photos-capture-pure-innocence-of-children/">Vintage photos capture the pure innocence of children</a></em></strong></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><em><a href="/lifestyle/family-pets/2016/02/how-to-bring-up-a-happy-child/">22 tips for bringing up a happy child</a></em></strong></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><em><a href="/lifestyle/family-pets/2016/02/heartwarming-photos-that-prove-every-child-needs-a-pet/">15 heartwarming photos that prove every child needs a pet</a></em></strong></span></p>

News

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10 images from Argentina’s UFO festival

<p>Alien sightings might not be the first thing you think of when you think about Argentina. But for one week in February around 30,000 tourists descend on Capilla Del Monte (population 16,000) for a week of alien-adventures and extra-terrestrial activities.</p> <p>Visitors from all around the world are attracted to the small Argentinian town, with some travellers taking 18-hour bus rides to get to the festival.</p> <p>The town’s relationship to aliens dates back 30 years, when a massive burned grass footstep was found on the hill. Residents around the area said they had witnessed a fluorescent-lighted spaceship and their testimonies were documented.</p> <p>"People come here for the energy, for the UFO sightings," said Leonardo Fuentes, a visitor from Chile. "So it's not just tourism but more about all that you can see."</p> <p>"The festival is fun, but it can also generate a lack of seriousness toward the issue," said Luz Mary Lopez, who heads the UFO Investigation Centre in Capilla del Monte.</p> <p>To see the images scroll through the gallery above. Is the truth out there?</p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><a href="/news/news/2016/03/penguin-5000-miles-reunite-71-year-old-man/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>Penguin swims 5,000 miles every year to reunite with 71-year-old man</strong></em></span></a></p> <p><a href="/news/news/2016/01/man-leaves-wife-at-service-station/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>Man accidentally leaves wife at service station, drives 100km before realising</strong></em></span></a></p> <p><a href="/travel/international-travel/2016/03/lesser-known-national-parks/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>8 national parks many people haven’t heard of</strong></em></span></a></p>

International Travel