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Announcing Kate Middleton’s cancer diagnosis should have been simple. But the palace let it get out of hand

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/victoria-fielding-236389">Victoria Fielding</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-adelaide-1119">University of Adelaide</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/saira-ali-1522239">Saira Ali</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-adelaide-1119">University of Adelaide</a></em></p> <p>The British royal family is famous for its carefully curated media image. That’s why it was a surprise to see them lose control of the narrative in the wake of what we now know is a serious health crisis befalling Catherine, Princess of Wales (or Kate Middleton as she’s popularly known).</p> <p>It is clear the nearly 1,000-year-old institution of the monarchy and its tradition of “<a href="https://news.northeastern.edu/2024/03/14/kate-middleton-photo-pr-crisis/">never complain, never explain</a>” is being tested by social media and its power to spread rumours and misinformation. The palace’s public relations team has underestimated how difficult it is to manage relationships with social media audiences. Their reactive attempts to rein in speculation has turned Catherine’s health challenge into a PR disaster.</p> <p>Social media, with its lax regulations and freer environment, offers a more open forum for users to say whatever they like about the royals. It’s served as a hotbed for Catherine conspiracies, particularly on TikTok. These theories are as wild as they are ridiculous, from Catherine being a prisoner in the palace to her hiding in <a href="https://www.prdaily.com/kate-middleton-stanley-alabama-retail/">Taylor Swift’s London home</a>.</p> <p>What should have been a simple announcement to a sympathetic public about a popular royal having cancer turned into a spider’s web of competing conspiracy theories across social media. How did it all go so terribly wrong?</p> <h2>I’ve lost track, what happened?</h2> <p>All was well with the Prince and Princess of Wales when they were filmed attending church on Christmas Day. As usual when royals are out in public, the scene was picture perfect with everyone dutifully smiling for the cameras in “<a href="https://www.harpersbazaar.com/celebrity/latest/a46227698/kate-middleton-royal-blue-christmas-day-church-service-prince-william-kids/">co-ordinated</a>” outfits.</p> <p>Two weeks later, Kensington Palace announced Catherine had undergone planned abdominal surgery, with <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/princess-kate-hospitalized-after-planned-abdominal-surgery-palace/story?id=106441561">palace sources</a> telling media the surgery had been “successful” and she would need two weeks to recover.</p> <p>On January 29, the palace announced Catherine had returned home to recuperate. <a href="https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a46569739/king-charles-discharged-from-hospital/">Unlike King Charles</a> when he released news of his cancer diagnosis on February 5, Catherine was not photographed leaving hospital. This was the first PR misstep. She had appeared outside hospital soon after giving birth to her three children, but this time she remained uncharacteristically out of the public eye.</p> <p>Almost a month later, when Prince William <a href="https://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/prince-william-pulls-memorial-godfather-211406977.html?amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAG6tOzuXsqZXP6G2nLLd-lnWzZhYKHVJ5TJ-w5XCCfgMjerRrR8v1R8unjtcoQTbvPDsVt3mtTcZ_g0os6zwOuEFfMKCh0kfEExvz-dB2FG0uqcy6-GoryjvG99TEhMli66hNZLjLENmMhq1mwoV7GmM0AYezMDsZtZVtONH9C1b&guccounter=2">unexpectedly withdrew</a> from his godfather’s memorial citing “personal reasons”, social media users started asking “Where is Princess Kate?”.</p> <p>Used to a steady stream of content about the royal family, the public were unsurprisingly questioning if there was more to Catherine’s abdominal surgery than they were being told.</p> <p>In a rare reactive move, the palace tried to quell questions about Catherine’s whereabouts by releasing a <a href="https://people.com/palace-responds-kate-middleton-conspiracy-theories-online-surgery-recovery-rare-statement-8602191">statement</a> reiterating that she would not be returning to public duties until Easter.</p> <p>On March 4, US outlet <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2024/03/04/kate-middleton-seen-spotted-public-first-time-mystery-hospitalization/">TMZ published</a> a paparazzi photo of Catherine driving with her mother. Social media audiences asked if it really was Catherine.</p> <p>Over the next week, conspiracy theories about Catherine’s absence reached frenzied levels. To show everything was fine, Kensington Palace released a <a href="https://twitter.com/KensingtonRoyal/status/1766750995445387393?s=20">Mother’s Day photo</a> of Catherine and her children on their social media accounts. Social media users spotted apparently edited flaws and global news agencies announced “<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kate-princess-photo-surgery-ca91acf667c87c6c70a7838347d6d4fb">kill orders</a>”, saying the image had been manipulated. The next day, Catherine <a href="https://twitter.com/KensingtonRoyal/status/1767135566645092616">apologised</a> on social media for editing the photo.</p> <p>Although royals have been <a href="https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a60191061/royal-photoshop-history/">editing their pictures</a> for centuries, it seems particularly digitally naive of the palace’s PR team to release such an obviously edited image into an already cynical social media environment, creating fodder for more conspiracy theories.</p> <p>Mainstream news outlets then joined social media users in asking questions about Catherine’s absence. Although this media attention did not legitimise wild conspiracies, in some ways it fuelled them.</p> <p>Days later, TMZ <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erWJNmbrECs">published footage</a> of Catherine and William shopping. At this point in the media chaos, many social media users claimed it was fake.</p> <p>This intense public speculation finally ended on March 23, when Catherine <a href="https://twitter.com/KensingtonRoyal/status/1771235267837321694?s=20">released a video</a> explaining her extended absence after abdominal surgery was caused by the surgeons discovering cancer.</p> <p>During a crisis, the public crave transparency, authenticity, honesty and reassurance. These elements were missing in the royal PR team’s carefully worded statements made directly to mainstream media along with reactive, overly curated social media posts.</p> <p>By providing scant details, the palace seemed to believe they could control public perception. But public image is increasingly difficult to control.</p> <h2>The double-edged sword of social media</h2> <p>After Princess Diana’s death in a paparazzi-chase car accident, privacy laws and <a href="https://time.com/4914324/princess-diana-anniversary-paparazzi-tabloid-media/">media regulations</a> forbade the most invasive breaches of the royal family’s privacy, particularly for her children, princes William and Harry. However, tabloid appetite for uncontrolled access soon returned once the princes became adults.</p> <p>Recently, Harry and his wife Meghan have been involved in <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/prince-harry-his-many-lawsuits-against-press-2023-12-15/">several lawsuits</a> against media companies over breaches of privacy, including phone hacking.</p> <p>The rise of social media has typically been viewed as a tool that gives royals more control over their image through the curation of their own personal content. Previously, the fact Catherine was the one <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kate-middleton-cutest-family-photos-2018-5">taking photos</a> of her children was seen as a sign of authenticity and being down to earth (as much as a princess could be).</p> <p>Yet, social media is both a blessing and a curse for the management of public reputations.</p> <p>The perpetuation of contested facts and theories on social media in the wake of Princess Catherine’s unexplained absence shows how difficult it is to curate a controlled image using social media. Lack of verified information in mainstream media helps fuel speculative flames.</p> <p>While <a href="https://www.thedrum.com/news/2024/03/22/where-the-palace-lost-the-plot-and-what-we-can-learn-about-pr-and-empathy-kategate">PR experts</a> believe it is understandable and appropriate for Catherine and her family to have privacy during this time, more timely, direct and honest communication would have gone a long way to prevent relentless gossip.</p> <p>Once rumours and conspiracies gained momentum, the palace perhaps thought the less information provided, the better. However, silence during a crisis just fuels more speculation because the lack of information makes it look like there is something to hide.</p> <p>Catherine’s personal video announcing her cancer diagnosis helped end the social media frenzy. This shows a simple, clear statement posted by Kensington Palace to social media weeks ago would likely have avoided the PR disaster and provided Catherine the privacy she so clearly needs.</p> <p>The palace is now <a href="https://www.sheknows.com/entertainment/articles/2986509/kate-middleton-cancer-pr-disaster/">being criticised</a> for complicating a situation that was relatively simple in retrospect. Many social media users are also upset Catherine took public blame for the photoshopping incident.</p> <p>Any organisation that deals with the media to maintain positive reputations, including the British monarchy, has no choice but to adapt to all kinds of media, including social media. The long-time practice of keeping calm and carrying on amid controversy and the 24-hour gossip cycle doesn’t work in the era of TikTok, X and YouTube.</p> <p>In the absence of trusted information, social media will do what it does best: take mostly innocuous online chatter and amplify it until it goes viral.<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/226490/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/victoria-fielding-236389">Victoria Fielding</a>, Lecturer, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-adelaide-1119">University of Adelaide</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/saira-ali-1522239">Saira Ali</a>, Senior Lecturer in Media, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-adelaide-1119">University of Adelaide</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images </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/announcing-kate-middletons-cancer-diagnosis-should-have-been-simple-but-the-palace-let-it-get-out-of-hand-226490">original article</a>.</em></p>

Caring

Funding for refugees has long been politicized − punitive action against UNRWA and Palestinians fits that pattern

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nicholas-r-micinski-207353">Nicholas R. Micinski</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-maine-2120">University of Maine</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kelsey-norman-862895">Kelsey Norman</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rice-university-931">Rice University</a></em></p> <p>At least a dozen countries, including the U.S., have <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/01/1145987">suspended funding to the UNRWA</a>, the United Nations agency responsible for delivering aid to Palestinian refugees.</p> <p>This follows allegations made by Israel that <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/at-least-12-u-n-agency-employees-involved-in-oct-7-attacks-intelligence-reports-say-a7de8f36">12 UNRWA employees participated</a> in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. The UNRWA responded by <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/un-palestinian-refugee-agency-investigates-staff-suspected-role-israel-attacks-2024-01-26/">dismissing all accused employees</a> and opening an investigation.</p> <p>While the seriousness of the accusations is clear to all, and the U.S. has been keen to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/30/us/politics/aid-gaza-israel.html">downplay the significance</a> of its pause in funding, the action is not in keeping with precedent.</p> <p>Western donors did not, for example, defund other U.N. agencies or peacekeeping operations amid accusations of <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/01/11/un-peacekeeping-has-sexual-abuse-problem">sexual assault</a>, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/former-un-general-assembly-president-and-five-others-charged-13-million-bribery-scheme">corruption</a> or <a href="https://www.hrw.org/legacy/summaries/s.bosnia9510.html">complicity in war crimes</a>.</p> <p>In real terms, the funding cuts to the UNRWA will affect <a href="https://www.unrwa.org/where-we-work/gaza-strip">1.7 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza</a> along with an additional 400,000 Palestinians without refugee status, many of whom benefit from the UNRWA’s infrastructure. Some critics have gone further and said depriving the agency of funds <a href="https://jacobin.com/2024/01/unrwa-defunding-gaza-israel">amounts to collective punishment</a> against Palestinians.</p> <p>Refugee aid, and humanitarian aid more generally, is theoretically meant to be neutral and impartial. But as experts in <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/reluctant-reception/558E2A93FF99B8F295347A8FA2053698">migration</a> <a href="https://www.routledge.com/UN-Global-Compacts-Governing-Migrants-and-Refugees/Micinski/p/book/9780367218836">and</a> <a href="https://press.umich.edu/Books/D/Delegating-Responsibility">international relations</a>, we know funding is often used as a foreign policy tool, whereby allies are rewarded and enemies punished. In this context, we believe the cuts in funding for the UNRWA fit a wider pattern of the politicization of aid to refugees, particularly Palestinian refugees.</p> <h2>What is the UNRWA?</h2> <p>The UNRWA, short for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, was established two years after about <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-nakba-at-75-palestinians-struggle-to-get-recognition-for-their-catastrophe-204782">750,000 Palestinians were expelled or fled from their homes</a> during the months leading up to the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 and the subsequent Arab-Israeli war.</p> <p>Prior to the UNRWA’s creation, international and local organizations, many of them religious, provided services to displaced Palestinians. But after <a href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/refuge-and-resistance/9780231202855">surveying the extreme poverty</a> and dire situation pervasive across refugee camps, the U.N. General Assembly, including all Arab states and Israel, voted to create the UNRWA in 1949.</p> <p>Since that time, <a href="https://www.unrwa.org/what-we-do">the UNRWA has been the primary aid organization</a> providing food, medical care, schooling and, in some cases, housing for the 6 million Palestinians living across its five fields: Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, as well as the areas that make up the occupied Palestinian territories: the West Bank and Gaza Strip.</p> <p>The mass displacement of Palestinians – known as the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-nakba-at-75-palestinians-struggle-to-get-recognition-for-their-catastrophe-204782">Nakba, or “catastrophe</a>” – occurred prior to the <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/about-unhcr/who-we-are/1951-refugee-convention">1951 Refugee Convention</a>, which defined refugees as anyone with a well-founded fear of persecution owing to “events occurring in Europe before 1 January 1951.” Despite a <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/legacy-pdf/4ec262df9.pdf">1967 protocol extending the definition</a> worldwide, Palestinians are still excluded from the primary international system protecting refugees.</p> <p>While the UNRWA is responsible for providing services to Palestinian refugees, the United Nations also created the U.N. Conciliation Commission for Palestine in 1948 to seek a <a href="https://www.refworld.org/docid/4fe2e5672.html">long-term political solution</a> and “to facilitate the repatriation, resettlement and economic and social rehabilitation of the refugees and the payment of compensation.”</p> <p>As a result, the UNRWA does not have a mandate to push for the traditional durable solutions available in other refugee situations. As it happened, the conciliation commission was active only for a few years and has since been sidelined in favor of the U.S.-brokered peace processes.</p> <h2>Is the UNRWA political?</h2> <p>The UNRWA has been <a href="https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/palestinian-refugees-dispossession">subject</a> to political headwinds since its inception and especially during periods of heightened tension between Palestinians and Israelis.</p> <p>While it is a U.N. organization and thus ostensibly apolitical, it has <a href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/refuge-and-resistance/9780231202855">frequently been criticized</a> by Palestinians, Israelis as well as donor countries, including the United States, for acting politically.</p> <p>The UNRWA performs statelike functions across its five fields – including education, health and infrastructure – but it is restricted in its mandate from performing political or security activities.</p> <p>Initial Palestinian objections to the UNRWA stemmed from the organization’s early focus on economic integration of refugees into host states.</p> <p>Although the UNRWA officially adhered to the U.N. General Assembly’s <a href="https://www.unrwa.org/content/resolution-194">Resolution 194</a> that called for the return of Palestine refugees to their homes, U.N., U.K. and U.S. <a href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/refuge-and-resistance/9780231202855">officials searched</a> for means by which to resettle and integrate Palestinians into host states, viewing this as the favorable political solution to the Palestinian refugee situation and the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In this sense, Palestinians perceived the UNRWA to be both highly political and actively working against their interests.</p> <p>In later decades, the UNRWA <a href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/refuge-and-resistance/9780231202855">switched its primary focus</a> from jobs to education at the urging of Palestinian refugees. But the UNRWA’s education materials were <a href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/refuge-and-resistance/9780231202855">viewed</a> by Israel as further feeding Palestinian militancy, and the Israeli government insisted on checking and approving all materials in Gaza and the West Bank, which it has occupied since 1967.</p> <p>While Israel has <a href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/refuge-and-resistance/9780231202855">long been suspicious</a> of the UNRWA’s role in refugee camps and in providing education, the organization’s operation, which is internationally funded, <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/east-mediterranean-mena/israelpalestine/242-unrwas-reckoning-preserving-un-agency-serving-palestinian-refugees">also saves</a> Israel millions of dollars each year in services it would be obliged to deliver as the occupying power.</p> <p>Since the 1960s, the U.S. – UNRWA’s primary donor – and other Western countries have <a href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/refuge-and-resistance/9780231202855">repeatedly expressed their desire</a> to use aid to prevent radicalization among refugees.</p> <p>In response to the increased presence of armed opposition groups, the <a href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/refuge-and-resistance/9780231202855">U.S. attached a provision</a> to its UNRWA aid in 1970, requiring that the “UNRWA take all possible measures to assure that no part of the United States contribution shall be used to furnish assistance to any refugee who is receiving military training as a member of the so-called Palestine Liberation Army (PLA) or any other guerrilla-type organization.”</p> <p>The UNRWA adheres to this requirement, even publishing an annual list of its employees so that host governments can vet them, but it also <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/east-mediterranean-mena/israelpalestine/242-unrwas-reckoning-preserving-un-agency-serving-palestinian-refugees">employs 30,000 individuals</a>, the vast majority of whom are Palestinian.</p> <p>Questions over the links of the UNRWA to any militancy has led to the rise of Israeli and international <a href="https://cufi.org/issue/unrwa-teachers-continue-to-support-antisemitism-terrorism-on-social-media-un-watch/">watch groups</a> that document the social media activity of the organization’s large Palestinian staff.</p> <h2>Repeated cuts in funding</h2> <p>The United States has used its money and power within the U.N. to block criticism of Israel, vetoing at least <a href="https://www.un.org/depts/dhl/resguide/scact_veto_table_en.htm">45 U.N. resolutions</a> critical of Israel.</p> <p>And the latest freeze is not the first time the U.S. has cut funding to the UNRWA or other U.N. agencies in response to issues pertaining to the status of Palestinians.</p> <p>In 2011, the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE79U5ED/#:%7E:text=WASHINGTON%20(Reuters)%20%2D%20The%20United,grant%20the%20Palestinians%20full%20membership.">U.S. cut all funding to UNESCO</a>, the U.N. agency that provides educational and cultural programs around the world, after the agency voted to admit the state of Palestine as a full member.</p> <p>The Obama administration defended the move, claiming it was required by a 1990s law to defund any U.N. body that admitted Palestine as a full member.</p> <p>But the impact of the action was nonetheless severe. Within just four years, UNESCO was <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1758-5899.12459">forced to cut its staff in half</a> and roll back its operations. President Donald Trump later <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/u-s-and-israel-officially-withdraw-from-unesco">withdrew the U.S. completely from UNESCO</a>.</p> <p>In 2018, the Trump administration paused its <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/31/us/politics/trump-unrwa-palestinians.html">US$60 million contribution to the UNRWA</a>. Trump claimed the pause would create political pressure for Palestinians to negotiate. President Joe Biden restarted U.S. contributions to the UNRWA in 2021.</p> <h2>Politicization of refugee aid</h2> <p>Palestinian are not the only group to suffer from the politicization of refugee funding.</p> <p>After World War II, states established different international organizations to help refugees but strategically excluded some groups from the refugee definition. For example, the U.S. funded the <a href="https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/last-million-eastern-european-displaced-persons-postwar-germany">U.N. Relief and Rehabilitation Administration to help resettle displaced persons after World War II</a> but resisted Soviet pressure to forcibly repatriate Soviet citizens.</p> <p>The U.S. also created a separate organization, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ijrl/article-abstract/1/4/501/1598187">the precursor to the International Organization for Migration</a>, to circumvent Soviet influence. In many ways, the UNRWA’s existence and the exclusion of Palestinian refugees from the wider refugee regime parallels this dynamic.</p> <p>Funding for refugees has also been politicized through the earmarking of voluntary contributions to U.N. agencies. Some agencies receive funding from U.N. dues; but the UNRWA, alongside the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration, receive the majority of their funding from voluntary contributions from member states.</p> <p>These contributions can be earmarked for specific activities or locations, leading to donors such as the <a href="https://www.peio.me/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/PEIO12_paper_107.pdf">U.S. or European Union dictating which refugees get aid and which do not</a>. Earmarked contributions amounted to nearly <a href="https://unsceb.org/fs-revenue-agency">96% of the UNHCR’s budget, 96% of the IOM’s budget and 74% of UNRWA funding in 2022</a>.</p> <p>As a result, any cuts to UNRWA funding will affect its ability to service Palestinian refugees in Gaza – especially at a time when so many are <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/30/middleeast/famine-looms-in-gaza-israel-war-intl/index.html">facing hunger, disease and displacement</a> as a result of war.<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/222263/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nicholas-r-micinski-207353"><em>Nicholas R. Micinski</em></a><em>, Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-maine-2120">University of Maine</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kelsey-norman-862895">Kelsey Norman</a>, Fellow for the Middle East, Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rice-university-931">Rice University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images </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/funding-for-refugees-has-long-been-politicized-punitive-action-against-unrwa-and-palestinians-fits-that-pattern-222263">original article</a>.</em></p>

Money & Banking

The royals have historically been tight-lipped about their health – but that never stopped the gossip

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lisa-j-hackett-458612">Lisa J. Hackett</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-new-england-919">University of New England</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/huw-nolan-1309470">Huw Nolan</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-new-england-919">University of New England</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jo-coghlan-1585">Jo Coghlan</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-new-england-919">University of New England</a></em></p> <p>King Charles III has been diagnosed with cancer. This is an unexpected announcement: it is unusual for the royal family to release details of medical conditions to the public.</p> <p>“<a href="https://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/view/2986">Don’t let the daylight in</a>” was how British essayist Walter Bagehot advised the British monarchy to deal with the public in 1867. “[A]bove all things our royalty is to be reverenced […] its mystery is its life,” he wrote.</p> <p>For Queen Elizabeth II this attitude framed her response to public information about the royals, quipping “<a href="https://www.news24.com/you/royals/news/royal-author-explains-queens-never-complain-never-explain-mantra-20220620">never complain, never explain</a>”. Maybe this explains why Princess Kate’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/feb/05/king-charles-diagnosed-with-cancer-buckingham-palace-announces">recent abdominal surgery</a> has not been disclosed to the public, with media reports saying she is “determined to keep her medical details private”.</p> <p>In revealing the fragility of the royal body much of the mystique about them as anointed by God fades away. But the royals’ health has, occasionally, been the subject of official news, and, more commonly, the subject of gossip.</p> <h2>Henry VIII’s ‘soore legge’</h2> <p>Henry VIII’s (1491–1547) health was well-documented and discussed in state-papers and diplomatic dispatches of the day.</p> <p>In his early years, he was known for his robust health. In his later years, he would be described as “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2789029/">cursed</a>” by his deteriorating health.</p> <p>As Henry aged, his access to fine food led to an increase of weight. Doctors today might diagnose him with obesity, and it has been <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2789029/">speculated by contemporary medical historians</a> he suffered from hypertension and Type II diabetes.</p> <p>This disease, which can lead to diabetic neuropathy and <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/library/features/healthy-feet.html">serious foot complications</a>, could account for the persistent and odorous ulcers on his “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2789029/#:%7E:text=In%20the%20same%20year%20Henry,annual%20salary%20of%2020%20shillings.">sorre legge</a>”, as described by his contemporaries.</p> <p>Knowledge about Henry’s health was not widespread. The king had sequestered himself in his private apartments. Even his attending <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2388216/pdf/annrcse00840-0011.pdf">physicians did not keep notes</a>, perhaps concerned about being accused of treason in the volatile politics of the time. Most of our knowledge today is gleaned from diplomatic reports sent by diplomats to their own leaders.</p> <h2>Queen Anne’s lupus</h2> <p>Queen Anne (1665-1714) had 17 pregnancies, 11 of which resulted in miscarriages or stillbirths, with the remainder all dying in childhood. Despite the regularity of her failed pregnancies, her physician, John Radcliffe, repeatedly declared she was in good health and her miscarriages were due to “<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1540-6563.1986.tb00702.x">the vapours</a>”, a vague diagnosis often attributed to aristocratic women.</p> <p>It is <a href="https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA12456274&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=17592151&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7Ee39109f7&aty=open-web-entry">now believed Anne</a> may have been afflicted with the autoimmune condition lupus.</p> <p>For Anne’s contemporaries, the name of the illness perhaps mattered less than the real political issue it presented: who would become monarch after her? With no heirs, there was real political fear her Catholic half-brother <a href="https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/manuscriptsandspecialcollections/learning/biographies/jamesfrancisedwardstuart(1688-1766).aspx">James Francis Edward Stuart</a> (“The Old Pretender”) would claim the throne.</p> <p>But the law <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/parliamentaryauthority/revolution/collections1/parliamentary-collections/act-of-settlement/">excluded Catholics</a> from the taking the crown, and ensured Anne would be succeed by her second cousin, George I of Hanover and Britain.</p> <h2>George III and mental illness</h2> <p>George III (1738–1820) famously suffered from bouts of mental illness, more recently been speculated to be caused by <a href="https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/porphyria">Porphyria</a>, a hereditary blood disorder.</p> <p>Throughout his illness <a href="https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/speccoll/2023/11/01/bulletin-on-the-state-of-king-george-iiis-health-october-2011-2/">bulletins were issued</a> by his doctors informing the public of his condition.</p> <p>These were kept <a href="https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/speccoll/2023/11/01/bulletin-on-the-state-of-king-george-iiis-health-october-2011-2/">deliberately vague</a>, with the aim to reassure the public rather than divulge details. His repeated bouts of illness mean his health was <a href="https://oro.open.ac.uk/92656/3/92656.pdf">a constant in the media of the time</a>, with frequent, at times twice-daily, updates during episodes.</p> <p>His illness called into <a href="https://oro.open.ac.uk/92656/3/92656.pdf">question his ability to be monarch</a>, a situation eventually resolved by the installing of his son, later George IV, as Prince Regent.</p> <h2>A family of haemophilia</h2> <p>Queen Victoria has been called the “<a href="https://hekint.org/2020/02/10/royal-blood-queen-victoria-and-the-legacy-of-hemophilia-in-european-royalty/?highlight=%E2%A3%82%E2%A3%9A%20Buy%20Viagra%20from%20%240.31%20per%20pill%20%3A%20%F0%9F%8F%A5%20www.LloydsPharmacy.xyz%20%F0%9F%8F%A5%20-%20Pharma%20without%20prescription%20%E2%A3%9A%E2%A3%82Viagra%20Cialis%20Levitra%20Staxyn%20Online%20Viagra%20Online%20Information">Grandmother of Europe</a>” due to her many descendants. This also came with a deadly legacy, haemophilia, given the moniker “the royal disease”.</p> <p><a href="https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/hemophilia/facts.html">Haemophilia</a> is an inherited disorder which mostly affects males, where the blood does not clot properly. This can lead to severe or spontaneous bleeding which can be dangerous if not treated properly. While the illness can be managed well today, in Victoria’s time little was known about it.</p> <p>It is believed Victoria passed on the trait to <a href="https://www.hemophilia.org/bleeding-disorders-a-z/overview/history">three of her nine children</a>, at a time when life expectancy for those who had the disease was just 13 years old. Two of her daughters were asymptomatic carriers, however her fourth son Prince Leopold (1853-1884) was afflicted with the disease.</p> <p>While the royal family were careful to <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21764831/">manage what information was publicly released</a> about his illness, his status meant it garnered public attention. It was covered in medical journals of the time, and later in newspapers.</p> <p>As knowledge of the illness grew, both the public and members of the royal family were able to use it to guide decisions on marriages to limit its spread.</p> <h2>A new approach</h2> <p>In the days leading up to Elizabeth’s death on 2022, the media reported her as resting “<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2022/09/08/queen-under-medical-supervision-as-doctors-are-concerned-for-her-health/?sh=42c483e9140e">comfortably</a>” and provided no information on the nature of her illness. Even her <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/News/queen-elizabeth-iis-death-revealed-death-certificate/story?id=90696648">death certificate</a> failed to reveal her cause of death, other than as old age.</p> <p>Charles has signalled he wants to do monarchy differently than his mother. After his recent prostate surgery, his office stated he wanted to inspire men to look after their prostates. Anecdotal evidence suggests more men have sought medical tests in response which is being called the “<a href="https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/king-charles-effect-spurs-aussie-men-to-consult-their-gp-for-prostate-symptoms/">King Charles effect</a>”.</p> <p>Now, the announcement of Charles’s cancer diagnosis signals a new approach by the royals. <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/222873/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lisa-j-hackett-458612"><em>Lisa J. Hackett</em></a><em>, Lecturer, Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-new-england-919">University of New England</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/huw-nolan-1309470">Huw Nolan</a>, Animal Welfare scientist and pop culture researcher, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-new-england-919">University of New England</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jo-coghlan-1585">Jo Coghlan</a>, Associate Professor Humanities Arts and Social Sciences, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-new-england-919">University of New England</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images </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/the-royals-have-historically-been-tight-lipped-about-their-health-but-that-never-stopped-the-gossip-222873">original article</a>.</em></p>

Caring

I’ve just been diagnosed with cancer, now what?

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/marilynne-n-kirshbaum-1462224">Marilynne N Kirshbaum</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/charles-darwin-university-1066">Charles Darwin University</a></em></p> <p>In one pivotal instant your life has changed and there will be no turning back. How will you accept, adjust and adapt to being “someone who has cancer”?</p> <p>Well, first, you are still the same person. But now you have a definitive diagnosis calling for your immediate attention.</p> <p>There are hundreds of kinds of cancer, <a href="https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/diagnosis-staging/staging">distinguished</a> and identified according to site, type of cell involved, aggressiveness and evidence of spread. These are the <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports-data/health-conditions-disability-deaths/cancer/overview">critical details</a> you need to know as you begin to understand what is going on in your body.</p> <p>There will be much to learn and understand about the disease and prognosis; social, emotional, sexual and spiritual effects; treatments, therapies and their side-effects; work implications and how all these opportunities and challenges will be intertwined.</p> <p>But you don’t need to do everything at once. In time, and with support, you’ll be able to move forward with poise, strength, calm and intelligence.</p> <h2>Emotions will vary – from you and others</h2> <p>Whatever your usual demeanour and emotional state, be ready for some surprises. This will be a period of uncertainty. Expect to find yourself experiencing the full gamut of reactions such as shock, anger, grief and guilt, along with warm and deep feelings of love, compassion and gratitude for the people and environment that surround you.</p> <p>In the first few days, you might want to limit who you tell about your diagnosis or keep your news private to give yourself a chance to adjust without interference. Because, although well meaning, some people will react in unexpected ways and might cause you distress rather than be truly supportive or helpful.</p> <p>Some people will be inclined to ask lots of questions, but you may not have all the answers. They might want to tell you other people’s stories, which you might not want or be ready to hear yet.</p> <p>You have the option to completely accept the guidance of health-care professionals, who will give you the information they think you need at the time and direct you to further diagnostic tests and appointments.</p> <p>However, you may want to know more about the type of cancer you have, the treatments being recommended, all possible side effects and seek out other sources. This will place the information you have received into perspective and will inform further questions. It is important to find <a href="https://www.cancer.org.au/cancer-information">resources</a> that are <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports-data/health-conditions-disability-deaths/cancer/overview">credible</a>.</p> <h2>Continuing work might be beneficial</h2> <p>For working people, the decision about returning to work will depend on how you feel and the flexibility of your workplace.</p> <p>Assuming your body is up to it and it’s not a period where you will be immunosuppressed and susceptible to harmful effects of infections, work done at a steady pace is usually not only a boost to finances, but will have <a href="https://www.cancer.net/navigating-cancer-care/young-adults-and-teenagers/school-and-work-during-cancer/going-work-during-and-after-cancer#:%7E:text=You%20might%20work%20as%20much,support%2C%20including%20health%20insurance%20benefits">cognitive, social and emotional benefits</a>.</p> <p>The strategy here is to do a risk assessment of your job. Specify the challenges and discuss how they could be reduced with your manager. If you are your own boss, be flexible and kind.</p> <h2>Responding to cancer-related fatigue</h2> <p>The most common side effect of living with cancer (before, during and after all types of treatment) is a specific kind of extreme tiredness and lethargy called cancer-related fatigue.</p> <p>Sometimes it appears alongside <a href="https://www.canceraustralia.gov.au/clinical-best-practice/psychosocial-care">non-clinical depression and hopelessness</a>. Some people can feel so awful they decline medical treatment, but for the majority, this type of fatigue gets in the way of enjoying life.</p> <p>Research on the most effective interventions to reduce cancer-related fatigue has <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20870636/">evaluated</a> a range of approaches, including medications and complementary therapies. Assuming the cause is not anaemia, which can be treated by a transfusion, the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK74155/">strongest evidence recommends</a> physical, moderately aerobic exercise, often defined as “enough to break a sweat”.</p> <p>However, for those who are not able to exercise at a moderate level – for example, if the cancer has metastasised to bones or if lung capacity is compromised – less physically demanding approaches <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-76932-1_4">can be valuable</a>.</p> <h2>Prioritising things that bring you joy</h2> <p>A “<a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-76932-1">joyful freedom</a>” approach to cancer-related fatigue aims to bring back vitality through subtle, lifestyle adjustments. It’s a framework researchers developed based on a series of studies.</p> <p>The first task is to list activities that bring joy. Then categorise each joy according to five attributes of energy-restoring activities:</p> <ul> <li>purposeful</li> <li>expansive</li> <li>connecting</li> <li>awe-inspiring</li> <li>nourishing.</li> </ul> <p>This will raise awareness of how to best spend limited amounts of physical, emotional and cognitive energy.</p> <p>Consider adding more of what brings joy into your life and remove some of the energy-depleting activities you do not enjoy. Making small changes can have a profound effect on your energy levels and give you the boost you need to live well with cancer.</p> <p>In an ideal, well resourced national health service, GPs and specialist nurses would be available to provide holistic health promotion support for people with cancer. Realistically, this is rarely offered through mainstream public services. These services are more widely available in the private sector, or you may be able to find what you need through your <a href="https://www.cancer.org.au/">local Cancer Council</a>. <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/211522/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/marilynne-n-kirshbaum-1462224">Marilynne N Kirshbaum</a>, Professor and Chair of the Human Research Ethics Committee, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/charles-darwin-university-1066">Charles Darwin University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images </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/ive-just-been-diagnosed-with-cancer-now-what-211522">original article</a>.</em></p>

Caring

"You've been bumped": Vietnam vet slams Qantas for booting him from business class

<p dir="ltr">Qantas has come under fire for booting a Vietnam war veteran from his paid seat in business class so that a young Qantas "tech" – later revealed to be a pilot – could travel in the luxury seat in his place.</p> <p dir="ltr">Stephen Jones, 78, and his wife were travelling home to Adelaide after a holiday in Christchurch. Their flight was passing through Melbourne on its way to their home in Adelaide, and the pair were enjoying coffee in the Melbourne airport lounge – just 30 minutes before they were set to continue their journey – when they were given the bad news by Qantas staff.</p> <p dir="ltr">"I went up to the desk and the Qantas employee there said, 'I've got some bad news for you, you've been bumped'," Mr Jones told Melbourne’s <em><a href="https://www.3aw.com.au/vietnam-war-veteran-booted-from-business-class-for-younger-qantas-employee/">3AW</a></em> radio program with Ross & Russ. </p> <p dir="ltr">"It didn't register at first," continued Mr Jones. "I wasn't quite sure what 'bumped' meant... I said, 'What?', and she said, 'Yes, I'll have to re-issue your ticket for economy class. We have a tech who's flying to Adelaide and his contract states that he must fly Business Class."</p> <p dir="ltr">Mr Jones then explained that while he retreated to his economy seat, the Qantas employee was seated next to his wife up in business class, and that "he wouldn't even look at her".</p> <p dir="ltr">Mr Jones went on to explain that, after filing a letter of complaint, he was offered 5000 Frequent Flyer points in return for the downgrade and an apology.</p> <p dir="ltr">Mr Jones, who served in Vietnam in a combat unit in the 1960s, claimed he turned down the offer of 5000 points, saying, “I don’t think anything is going to change until there’s ramifications for Qantas, or costs for Qantas when they upset their customers.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Justin Lawrence, Partner at Henderson Ball Lawyers, later told the 3AW radio show hosts that there’s little customers can do about such a move by the airline and said it was “standard operating procedure”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Unfortunately, their terms of carriage allow them to do this sort of thing – this happens so often they’ve actually got a term for it, buckle up, they call this 'involuntary downgrading,'” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“They’ll overprescribe business class or first class, they will need to bump someone out, and they’ll do it almost immediately prior to the flight – not just Qantas, they all do it."</p> <p dir="ltr">“Any time you go to a travel agent or online to Qantas to buy a seat, and we think we’re buying a seat in a particular class, there are no guarantees that when that plane takes off, you’ll be sitting in that class.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Mr Jones said he understood that Qantas pilots were entitled to rest comfortably on their way to another flight, but the ordeal was “unsettling and made me a little irritable”.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Travel Trouble

"It has been the hardest time": Ronan Keating speaks out after family tragedy

<p>Ronan Keating has broken his silence for the first time since the sudden death of his brother. </p> <p>The Irish musician and former Boyzone member said it has been the "hardest time" dealing with the sudden loss, after his older brother Ciaran was killed in a car crash in his native Ireland in July.</p> <p>On Saturday, Ronan addressed the tragedy for the first time, revealing how he and his family are dealing with their grief. </p> <p>He wrote on Instagram, "Just wanted to say thank you for the love and respect you have shown my family over the last 5 weeks. It has been the hardest time for us all, and everyone is trying to manage a life now without our brother (very hard to even type that 💔)." </p> <p>"Thank you for all your messages of support and also respecting our privacy during this time."</p> <p>Along with the caption, Ronan shared a series of snaps from South Africa, where the family are holidaying to get away from their busy life and take time to reckon with the tragedy. </p> <p>"There is no more fitting a place to heal, than in South Africa surrounded by Mother Nature and great people and our little bundles of joy Cooper and Coco, have kept us going constantly. Thank you god."</p> <p>"Back to work for me in another part of the world I love now… it all seems rather difficult to make sense of but trying my best. "</p> <p>"Take care of each other and from Storm, myself and all my family, thank you."</p> <p>The post was flooded with comments of well wishes and condolences, while fans encouraged Ronan and his family to take as much time out as they needed to heal.</p> <p>Just days after the post, Ronan shared a sweet tribute to his wife Storm, as the couple celebrated their eight year wedding anniversary while on their family getaway. </p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwHDRkGpnbQ/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwHDRkGpnbQ/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Ronan Keating (@rokeating)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Along with a heartwarming video of some of their best moments together, Ronan wrote, "Thank you for the absolute unwavering honesty and love. Without you I would be somewhere very dark. Your love is my compass."</p> <p>"Eight years married but a lifetime together. The memories the laughs the babies the family. It’s you and me love. Happy anniversary."</p> <p>"In this lifetime and everyone one that the universe gives after that I will find you. No two spirits were more connected."</p> <p><em>Image credits: Instagram </em></p>

Family & Pets

Research reveals who’s been hit hardest by global warming in their lifetime - and the answer may surprise you

<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/andrew-king-103126">Andrew King</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ed-hawkins-104793">Ed Hawkins</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-reading-902">University of Reading</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/hunter-douglas-1460792">Hunter Douglas</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/te-herenga-waka-victoria-university-of-wellington-1200">Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/luke-harrington-489028">Luke Harrington</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-waikato-781">University of Waikato</a></p> <p>Earth is warming and the signs of climate change are everywhere. We’ve seen it in the past few weeks as temperatures hit record highs around the world – both in the Northern Hemisphere and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-australia-having-such-a-warm-winter-a-climate-expert-explains-210693">warm Australian winter</a>.</p> <p>Global warming is caused by humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions, which continue at <a href="https://theconversation.com/global-carbon-emissions-at-record-levels-with-no-signs-of-shrinking-new-data-shows-humanity-has-a-monumental-task-ahead-193108">near-record pace</a>. These emissions are predominantly generated by people in the world’s wealthiest regions.</p> <p>Our world-first analysis, <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2752-5295/aceff2">published today</a>, examines the experience of global warming over the lifetimes of people around the world: young and old, rich and poor. We sought to identify who has perceived warmer temperatures most keenly.</p> <p>We found middle-aged people in equatorial regions have lived through the most perceptible warming in their lifetimes. But many young people in lower-income countries could experience unrecognisable changes in their local climate later in life, unless the world rapidly tackles climate change.</p> <h2>Measuring the climate change experience</h2> <p>We examined temperature data and population demographics information from around the world.</p> <p>Key to our analysis was the fact that not all warming is due to human activity. Some of it is caused by natural, year-to-year variations in Earth’s climate.</p> <p>These natural ups and downs are due to a number of factors. They include variations in the energy Earth receives from the sun, the effects of volcanic eruptions, and transfers of heat between the atmosphere and the ocean.</p> <p>This variability is stronger in mid-to-high-latitude parts of the world (those further from the equator) than in low-latitude areas (in equatorial regions). That’s because the weather systems further away from the equator draw in hot or cold air from neighbouring areas, but equatorial areas don’t receive cold air at all.</p> <p>That’s why, for example, the annual average temperature in New York is naturally more variable than in the city of Kinshasa (in the Democratic Republic of Congo).</p> <p>To account for this, we applied what’s known as the “<a href="https://archive.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/tar/wg1/346.htm#:%7E:text=The%20%EF%BF%BDsignal%20to%20noise,to%20this%20natural%20variability%20noise.">signal-to-noise ratio</a>” at each location we studied. That allowed us to separate the strength of the climate change “signal” from the “noise” of natural variability.</p> <p>Making this distinction is important. The less naturally variable the temperature, the clearer the effects of warming. So warming in Kinshasa over the past 50 years has been much more perceptible than in New York.</p> <p>Our study examined two central questions. First, we wanted to know, for every location in the world, how clearly global warming could be perceived, relative to natural temperature variability.</p> <p>Second, we wanted to know where this perceived change was most clear over human lifetimes.</p> <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541474/original/file-20230807-17-ogjdti.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541474/original/file-20230807-17-ogjdti.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541474/original/file-20230807-17-ogjdti.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541474/original/file-20230807-17-ogjdti.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541474/original/file-20230807-17-ogjdti.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541474/original/file-20230807-17-ogjdti.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541474/original/file-20230807-17-ogjdti.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541474/original/file-20230807-17-ogjdti.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="Annual-average temperatures at four major cities with signal-to-noise ratios shown for 20, 50 and 80 years up to 2021." /></a><figcaption><span class="caption">Annual-average temperatures at four major cities with signal-to-noise ratios shown for 20, 50 and 80 years up to 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure> <h2>Our results</h2> <p>So what did we find? As expected, the most perceptible warming is found in tropical regions – those near the equator. This includes developing parts of the world that constitute the Global South – such as Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia.</p> <p>Household incomes in the Global South are typically lower than in industrialised nations (known as the Global North). We might, then, conclude people in the poorest parts of the world have experienced the most perceptible global warming over their lifetimes. But that’s not always the case.</p> <p>Why? Because most parts of the Global South have younger populations than wealthier regions. And some people under the age of 20, including in northern India and parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, haven’t experienced warming over their lifetimes.</p> <p>In these places, the lack of recent warming is likely down to a few factors: natural climate variability, and the local cooling effect of particles released into the atmosphere from <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac3b7a">pollution</a> and changes in land use.</p> <p>There’s another complication. Some populated regions of the world also experienced slight cooling in the mid-20th century, primarily driven by human-caused <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature10946">aerosol emissions</a>.</p> <p>So, many people born earlier than the 1950s have experienced less perceptible warming in their local area than those born in the 1960s and 1970s. This may seem counter-intuitive. But a cooling trend in the first few decades of one’s life means the warming experienced over an entire lifespan (from birth until today) is smaller and less detectable.</p> <p>So what does all this mean? People in equatorial areas born in the 1960s and 1970s – now aged between about 45 and 65 – have experienced more perceptible warming than anyone else on Earth.</p> <h2>Rich countries must act</h2> <p>Our findings are important, for several reasons.</p> <p>Identifying who has experienced significant global warming in their lives may help explain <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nclimate2660">attitudes to tackling climate change</a>.</p> <p>Our findings also raise significant issues of fairness and equity.</p> <p>Humanity will continue to warm the planet until we reach global net-zero emissions. This means many young people in lower-income countries may, later in life, experience a local climate that is unrecognisable to that of their youth.</p> <p>Of course, warming temperatures are not the only way people experience climate change. Others include sea-level rise, more intense drought and rainfall extremes. We know many of these impacts are felt most acutely by <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/5/11/climate-change-is-devastating-the-global-south">the most vulnerable populations</a>.</p> <p>Cumulative greenhouse gas emissions are much higher in the Global North, due to economic development. To address this inequality, rich industrialised nations must take a leading role in reducing emissions to net-zero, and helping vulnerable countries adapt to climate change.<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/211108/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/andrew-king-103126">Andrew King</a>, Senior Lecturer in Climate Science, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ed-hawkins-104793">Ed Hawkins</a>, Professor of Climate Science, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-reading-902">University of Reading</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/hunter-douglas-1460792">Hunter Douglas</a>, PhD Candidate, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/te-herenga-waka-victoria-university-of-wellington-1200">Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/luke-harrington-489028">Luke Harrington</a>, Senior Lecturer in Climate Change, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-waikato-781">University of Waikato</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</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/research-reveals-whos-been-hit-hardest-by-global-warming-in-their-lifetime-and-the-answer-may-surprise-you-211108">original article</a>.</em></p>

Travel Trouble

"It's been really hard": Nicole Kidman's Mother's Day heartbreak

<p>Nicole Kidman has opened up about her heartache on Mother’s Day this year as she continues to remain in lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic.</p> <p>The 52-year-old is currently living with husband Keith Urban and their two daughters, 11-year-old Sunday Rose and nine-year-old Faith Margaret in her Nashville home.</p> <p>And despite spending the special day with her daughters, there was one person noticeably absent from the day.</p> <p>Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald via telephone, Nicole became emotional due to not seeing her mum on Mother’s Day this year.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B9pwH7fpfow/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B9pwH7fpfow/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">Happy Birthday to my darling Mumma. I love you so much. This photo is so US! 😂 ❤️ 🥰</a></p> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/nicolekidman/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank"> Nicole Kidman</a> (@nicolekidman) on Mar 12, 2020 at 4:40pm PDT</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>“We’re in a position where we just have to relinquish control right now and go day by day,” she said.</p> <p>But as much as she tries to remain optimistic, that hasn’t detracted from the hard reality of being away from her extended family.</p> <p>“I have my immediate family here, but I don’t have my extended family, who are so much a part of me. I can’t touch them,” she said.</p> <p>“So many people are in exactly the same position. So many people right now are going, ‘When do I see my family again?’”</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CAA2TmspCxP/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CAA2TmspCxP/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">I know so many of us are not getting the chance to kiss and hug our Mums today, but to all the Mothers of the world - we are always with you and celebrating you 💕 #MothersDay</a></p> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/nicolekidman/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank"> Nicole Kidman</a> (@nicolekidman) on May 10, 2020 at 9:00am PDT</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>The actress described her mum as “my mentor, my guide and my nurturer”, while adding that she was extremely grateful for Keith’s mother Marienne.</p> <p>“She gave me Keith, she gave me the greatest gift,” she said.</p> <p>“And I am down-on-my-knees grateful to her.”</p> <p>For the day itself, Kidman described her ideal celebration with her mum.</p> <p>"I would love to be able to have a cup of tea with mum and sit on the balcony and talk about life and have her tell me what I should be doing," the actress said.</p> <p>She also said that it had been “really hard” as her mother made the difficult decision to move back to Australia so she can spend time with her 80-year-old mum.</p> <p>"Talk about just gut-wrenching. At least there's FaceTime and technology because that's been a saving grace... It's been really hard," she said.</p>

Family & Pets

Have you been using expired beauty products this whole time? Here’s when to toss them

<p><strong>Let go of your loofah every few weeks</strong></p> <p>We all have our beauty besties. Whether it’s a love connection with brushes or a match made in heaven with mascara, saying goodbye is never easy. But it’s important – especially when we’re talking about spoilage, expiration dates, or skin infections. One potential hotbed of bacteria is the loofah you use in the shower, which collects your dead skin cells and literally redeposits them – dirt, grime, and all – right back onto your body the next time you use it. </p> <p>Be prepared to replace that body sponge every few weeks, or sooner if it smells or changes colour. Or skip the loofah entirely and just apply a cleanser with a chemical exfoliant, such as glycolic acid, using your fingers, advises cosmetic dermatologist, Dr Anjali Butani.</p> <p><strong>Mix up your mascara every three months</strong></p> <p>As much as you love your lengthening, feathering, dramatically lash-boosting mascara, you have only one pair of eyes and you can’t afford to lose them. That’s why you’ll need to chuck your mascara every three months, or face risks from contamination with bacteria and cold viruses. </p> <p>“Anything moist that’s touching wet parts of the body – eyes, lips, open skin – lasts a shorter period of time,” explains dermatologist, Dr Joshua Zeichner. A good rule to follow: if the product can’t be sterilised, toss it.</p> <p><strong>Swap your beauty sponge every three to four months</strong></p> <p>“If these disposable sponges are not replaced every few months, or if there are any colour changes, they could be a breeding ground for mould,” Dr Zeichner says. Always wash and thoroughly dry your beauty blender after each use to minimise the bacterial build-up that could cause breakouts. </p> <p>And definitely chuck the sponge sooner than three to four months if it starts to crack or crumble, or if you used it when you had a bad cold or an infection.</p> <p><strong>Re-up your eye cream every three months</strong></p> <p>Once you open a jar of any cosmetic product, the active ingredients are exposed to air and begin to break down. You’re also inviting contamination with every dip of your finger, which is probably not sterile even if you just washed it. </p> <p>Expect to switch out your eye cream every three months – unless it comes in a pump. Dr Zeichner says pumps are a better option because they can last several months to years due to the lower likelihood of contracting bacteria.</p> <p><strong>Turn over your toothbrush every three months</strong></p> <p>To keep up with your dental hygiene, you need your toothbrush to be in good working order. “When bristles are not standing straight anymore, they don’t clean as well, so you should throw it out,” says Dr Zeichner.</p> <p><strong>Kiss lip balm goodbye every six months to a year</strong></p> <p>Licensed aesthetician Jennifer Aimi, cautions lip balm lovers to part with their lip treatments every six months to a year, especially if they come in a pot that you dip your finger in (see eye cream). “Follow the instructions that come with the product,” Aimi urges, “and always resist the urge to share it – especially during cold season.”</p> <p><strong>Zap those zits for six months at a time </strong></p> <p>If your acne cream seems to be losing its pimple-fighting power, it may be a sign to pop it in the wastebasket. Dr Zeichner says that if the product is used past the expiration date, its active ingredients may not work as well.</p> <p><strong>Slather on that sunscreen for two years</strong></p> <p>Sunblock is not something you can take chances on, especially when you’re holidaying at the beach and there’s a real possibility of getting fried. Look to a sunscreen’s expiration date for guidance, or figure you’ll need to toss it two years after opening. </p> <p>But don’t abandon common sense. If a formula looks, smells, or feels different than when it was originally purchased, Dr Zeichner says to dump it.</p> <p><strong>Give your eyelash curler two to three years</strong></p> <p>It’s a good idea to consider replacing an eyelash curler every two to three years, according to Aimi. And if the rubber part starts to crack or look old, replace that part sooner. The good news is that they’re sold separately. Don’t forget to wipe down the curler with rubbing alcohol between uses.</p> <p><strong>Spritz on perfume for two years (or more)</strong></p> <p>The longevity of a perfume will depend on how you care for it over time. “Keep the bottle out of heat, humidity and sunlight,” Aimai says, “and don’t shake it, because that causes a chemical breakdown that can alter the scent quickly.” </p> <p>Expect to enjoy a fragrance for about two to three years, and obviously bin it sooner if the colour changes or if it starts to smell a tad like vinegar (obviously you won’t want to wear that).</p> <p><strong>Clip and snip for under five years</strong></p> <p>Even nail clippers and scissors have a shelf life – and it’s two to four years. Of course, the lifespan of these beauty necessities depends on their quality and how often you use them, according to beauty experts behind the brand Japonesque. Definitely don’t use tweezers, clippers or scissors if they’re nicked, dented, misshapen, misaligned, or rusted.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.co.nz/healthsmart/beauty/have-you-been-using-expired-beauty-products-this-whole-time-heres-when-to-toss-them?pages=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader's Digest</a>. </em></p>

Beauty & Style

“I haven’t been able to move": Home and Away star's debilitating condition

<p dir="ltr">Former <em>Home and Away </em>actress Sophie Dillman has opened up about the debilitating pain she suffers as she battles with endometriosis.</p> <p dir="ltr">The star took to Instagram to share the realities of her condition with two drastically different photos.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Endometriosis can look like this or this depending on the day,” her caption began.</p> <p dir="ltr">In one photo, the actress can be seen smiling and posing for photos at an event. In the second photo, Dillman is pictured lying on the floor with a hot water bottle on her stomach.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I haven’t been able to move from the floor this morning because it’s too painful to even walk around the house,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“But then some days it doesn’t affect me at all. I don’t know when the pain or swelling or nausea will start or end,” she wrote.</p> <p dir="ltr">She then goes on to share that “the unknown is heartbreaking,” and gives a shout out to those who support their loved ones on the days they can’t get up.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We need more research, funding and answers. F***. Endo,” she ended her caption tagging <a href="https://www.endometriosisaustralia.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Endometriosis Australia</a>.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CqP_7wyIqYn/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CqP_7wyIqYn/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Sophie Dillman (@sophiedillman)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">Dillman is one of nine women who suffer from endometriosis, which is when tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the womb, and it’s a chronic disease without a known cure.</p> <p dir="ltr">One option to reduce the pain is a laparoscopy- where a tiny camera is sent into the pelvic region to investigate and “remove any of the tissue that’s causing pain”.</p> <p dir="ltr">Dillman has said that she’s undergone three of these surgeries and said that she has “a lot of tissue that they can’t remove because it’s in the lining of my various organs”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It’s exhausting and painful and ... sometimes awkward and it sucks,” she said, adding that the surgery does not address her situation.</p> <p dir="ltr">“So it seems that it will be something I will have to continuously do throughout my life,” she added.</p> <p dir="ltr">Bindi Irwin is another woman who suffered from endometriosis, and just this month she opened up about <a href="https://www.oversixty.co.nz/health/caring/how-did-you-live-with-this-much-pain-bindi-irwin-hospitalised" target="_blank" rel="noopener">her experience and the surgery</a> she undertook.</p> <p dir="ltr">Dillman hopes to raise awareness around the stigmas surrounding the condition that stops women talking about it or seeking help.</p> <p dir="ltr">The actress hopes that she can use her platform with almost 300,000 followers, and her role as an ambassador for Endometriosis Australia to continue educating others.</p> <p><em>Image: Getty</em></p> <p> </p>

Body

"It's been a tough year": Jimmy Barnes reveals very different Christmas plans

<p>Jimmy Barnes has shared how he and his family will be spending Christmas after a tumultuous year of family losses. </p> <p>Talking to <a href="https://www.nowtolove.com.au/parenting/celebrity-families/jimmy-barnes-grandchildren-75773" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Australian Women's Weekly</a>, the legendary singer shared how this festive season will be a poignant one for the Barnes family. </p> <p>"It's been a tough year," Jimmy said simply.</p> <p>The Barneses have lost many of their closest friends and family over the last few months, including Jimmy's great mates from the music business, Mushroom Records founder Michael Gudinski, Warren Costello (Mushroom executive and true friend with whom Jimmy worked closely, daily for decades) and Pierre Baroni (friend, photographer and creative co-conspirator).</p> <p>Then they lost Jimmy's sister, Linda, and Jane's mother, Kusumphorn Visuthipol.</p> <p>"It all started with Michael," he explains. "When Michael left, it was such a shock. Since then, we've lost about seven people who were really close to us, who we weren't expecting to lose, including Warren, one of the nicest people in the world, and Pierre, who was like part of our family."</p> <p>"We were just so close. Warren and Linda and Jane's mum died within two weeks of each other. It was just horrendous. It sort of took the wind out of my sails." </p> <p>As a result of the devastating losses, Jimmy said their family Christmas will look very different this year. </p> <p>In years prior, the Barnes family would host extravagant celebrations where everyone was welcome, and would party into the night. </p> <p>This year however, they are planning something much more low-key. </p> <p>"Jane and I are going away for Christmas, by ourselves. It's because we lost Jane's mum and I think the idea of her not being here for Christmas is very difficult for us to deal with. So, we're going to Thailand to visit the temple where we left her ashes, but also to get a bit of air. Our kids are big now. They're doing their own Christmases. I just need to sit on the beach and hold my girl."</p> <p>Unfortunately, since Jimmy made the plans for his trip abroad, he was diagnosed with serious back and hip injuries that have forced him to cancel his summer touring schedule and his holiday in Thailand, meaning he will be forced to spend some of his Christmas break in hospital. </p> <p><em>Image credits: Australian Women's Weekly</em></p>

Family & Pets

“She could’ve been protected that day”: Gabby Petito’s family files lawsuit

<p dir="ltr">The family of Gabby Petito, whose boyfriend admitted to killing her last year, have launched a wrongful death suit against Utah’s Moab Police Department, claiming officers’ negligence led to her death.</p> <p dir="ltr">Ms Petito and her boyfriend Brian Laundrie were stopped by officers in Moab last year after a bystander allegedly saw Mr Laundrie hit Ms Petito and reported the incident to police.</p> <p dir="ltr">The couple were ultimately not cited for domestic violence, and Ms Petito’s body was found weeks later after she had been strangled.</p> <p dir="ltr">On Thursday local time, Ms Petito’s parents and other family members announced their intent to sue the department for $US 50 million ($NZ 85 million).</p> <p dir="ltr">The suit claims that police officers failed to effectively intervene in a domestic violence situation between Ms Petito and Mr Laundrie by failing to issue a domestic violence citation, claiming that officers disregarded signs of violence they should have been trained to notice.</p> <p dir="ltr">“She could’ve been protected that day,” Nicole Schmidt, Ms Petito’s mother, said.</p> <p dir="ltr">The suit also claims that police officers “coached Gabby to provide answers that the officers used to justify their decision not to enforce Utah law", with the family claiming that officers “egregiously misinterpreted Gabby’s extreme emotional distress, seeing it as the cause of the domestic violence rather than its result”, per AP.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Despite the witness’s report, the officers treated Brian as if he were the victim of domestic abuse rather than the perpetrator,” the lawsuit reads, per Fox News.</p> <p dir="ltr">“In fact, the officers never directly questioned Brian about whether he hit Gabby or how she ended up with scratches on her face.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The purpose of this lawsuit is to honour Gabby’s legacy by demanding accountability and working for change in the system to protect victims of domestic abuse and violence and to prevent such tragedies in the future.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Moab police officer Eric Pratt is also alleged to have been “fundamentally biased” in his investigation by “choosing to believe Gabby's abuser, ignoring evidence that Gabby was the victim and intentionally looking for loopholes to get around the requirements of Utah law and his duty to protect Gabby", </p> <p dir="ltr">The family’s complaint is based on the claim of an unnamed woman referred to as “Witness 1”, who alleged that Officer Pratt threatened to kill her after their relationship ended while he was the police chief in the rural town of Salina, Utah.</p> <p dir="ltr">In a statement after the lawsuit was filed, the city of Moab said Ms Petito’s death was tragic but not the fault of the police department.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Our officers acted with kindness, respect and empathy toward Ms Petito," city spokesperson Lisa Adams said.</p> <p dir="ltr">"No one could have predicted the tragedy that would occur weeks later and hundreds of miles away, and the City of Moab will ardently defend against this lawsuit."</p> <p dir="ltr">In a statement, the Moab Police Department said the 22-year-old’s death was a “terrible tragedy” that no-one could have predicted.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The death of Gabrielle Petito in Wyoming is a terrible tragedy, and we feel profound sympathy for the Petito and Schmidt families and the painful loss they have endured,” it read.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The death of Gabrielle Petito in Wyoming is a terrible tragedy, and we feel profound sympathy for the Petito and Schmidt families and the painful loss they have endured.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The attorneys for the Petito family seem to suggest that somehow our officers could see into the future based on this single interaction.</p> <p dir="ltr">“In truth, on August 12, no one could have predicted the tragedy that would occur weeks later and hundreds of miles away, and the City of Moab will ardently defend against this lawsuit.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The suit comes after a notice of claim was filed in August, and after an independent investigation found that police made “several unintentional mistakes”, including not issuing a domestic violence citation, in January.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-4e45f712-7fff-846d-6ac5-c39de6e6428f"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Instagram</em></p>

Legal

“You have been warned nicely before”: Neighbours threaten to poison dogs

<p dir="ltr">A Queensland family has been left devastated after a neighbour left an anonymous letter with poisonous treats threatening their dogs if they don’t stop barking. </p> <p dir="ltr">Anthony and Jessica Tuite did not think having pets in their suburban home in Graceville would be an issue until they received a letter. </p> <p dir="ltr">The letter explained to the couple that they have been told “many times” to control their black great dane called Barney and a brown great dane cross ridgeback named Donnie. </p> <p dir="ltr">“If the barking of your dogs does not stop, the chocolate in this envelope will be thrown over your fence in greater amounts ... which will kill them,” it read.</p> <p dir="ltr">“You have been warned nicely many times by people ... but you do nothing.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The letter contained pieces of chocolate which is known to be poisonous and potentially lethal to dogs if consumed. </p> <p dir="ltr">Jessica said she was shocked at the letter and begged that no one hurt her pet dogs. </p> <p dir="ltr">“These dogs are our family .... please, please don’t hurt my dogs,” she told 7News.</p> <p dir="ltr">“They only bark when someone comes into their yard but that’s their job.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Other neighbours rallied with the family saying it is disgusting to leave a threat when they could be working as a community toward a solution. </p> <p dir="ltr">“You just don’t make those threats,” neighbour Phill Keleman said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“You just kind of say ‘Hey listen, how do we work together to make it better?’”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: 7News</em></p>

Family & Pets

“We’ve been expecting you”: Daniel Craig receives royal honour

<p dir="ltr">Daniel Craig has been awarded one of the highest royal honours - the same one held by the character he is most well-known for playing: James Bond.</p> <p dir="ltr">Craig was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) during an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle on Tuesday.</p> <p dir="ltr">In Ian Fleming’s Bond novel, <em>From Russia With Love</em>, a Soviet spy chief notes that 007 received the honour in 1953, and that it’s “an award usually given only on retirement from the Secret Service”.</p> <p dir="ltr">Outside of fiction, spies aren’t the only recipients of the honour, with diplomats and Brits working overseas also receiving it in recognition of their services to the UK “internationally”.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-478ce96c-7fff-9a7f-a77e-852543e43824"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Craig, who holds citizenship in the US and is listed on the Investiture roll as being from New York, received the CMG in recognition of his service to film and theatre in the 2022 New Year Honours.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">We’ve been expecting you…</p> <p>🎖️The Princess Royal presents Daniel Craig with The Order of St Michael and St George - the same honour held by his character James Bond - in recognition of his outstanding contribution to film and theatre. <a href="https://t.co/X20TP6BogL">pic.twitter.com/X20TP6BogL</a></p> <p>— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) <a href="https://twitter.com/RoyalFamily/status/1582319162307018752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 18, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">He was presented with the medal during Tuesday’s ceremony by Princess Anne, with the royal family sharing a photo of the pair on social media with the playful caption, “We’ve been expecting you”.</p> <p dir="ltr">After 15 years, Craig ended his time as the martini-slinging spy in 2021, starring in the film <em>No Time To Die</em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">As for who will take the reins after Craig, Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson told <em><a href="https://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/bond-producers-barbara-broccoli-and-michael-g-wilson-on-the-fate-and-future-of-007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Empire</a></em> that <em>No Time To Die</em> wasn’t the end of the story for 007 - but it could take some time to find the actor’s replacement.</p> <p dir="ltr">"When you change the actor you have to reimagine the direction the film's gonna go in. When you hire an actor, you're hoping you're going to spend a decade at least with them and make four or five or six films with them,” Broccoli said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It's not just flicking through <em>Spotlight</em> and saying, 'Oh, there's a guy who's 6'1"' We're going to take our time. We want to get a sense of where we want to go with the series and we want to do that before we bring anybody else on.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-d8cb95c6-7fff-c6e0-95a1-43d9141b8e48"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: @RoyalFamily (Twitter)</em></p>

Movies

3 major toxins have been found in popular clothing brands – here’s what to know

<p><strong>The rise of fast fashion</strong></p> <p>Fast fashion may cycle through trends at the speed of light – but it certainly has staying power. As PC Magazine reported this past July, the online retailer Shein dethroned Amazon as the most popular shopping app in the world. But the meteoric rise of some comparable fashion brands is troubling some health experts. In 2021, a team of researchers at the University of Toronto ran tests on some popular clothing and accessories brands. For one fast fashion brand in particular, they found that one in every five items contained unsafe levels of lead.</p> <p>And it’s not just fast fashion – or, just lead – that is prompting concern about unsuspected toxins in our everyday products. The University of Toronto report also identified another group of chemicals, called phthalates, that the researchers stated were present in some of the clothing they tested. Plus, earlier this year, Environmental Protection Agency-certified labs detected PFAs (per- and polyfluorinated substances) in activewear from popular consumer brands that also may contain PFAS, according to the non-profit consumer organisation Fashion FWD.</p> <p>From cosmetics and soaps to plastic bottles and even our food, we’re surrounded by chemicals in our daily lives. But just how much should we worry about the chemicals lurking in our clothes?</p> <p><strong>Why are chemicals used in clothes?</strong></p> <p>As Dr Kelly Johnson-Arbor, a medical toxicology physician explains: “Fast fashion clothing is often manufactured in developing countries that may not have stringent standards for keeping harmful chemicals out of clothing.”</p> <p>This means that almost all of the clothing items in our closets and drawers are more or less unregulated, meaning we’re relying on retailers to self-police their factories’ chemical usage. And according to the 2021 Fashion Revolution Transparency Index, only 26% of the world’s major clothing brands use a “Manufacturing Restricted Substances List,” which aims to eliminate hazardous chemicals in their factories.</p> <p>But why are hazardous chemicals used in clothing in the first place? Let’s look at three of the main fashion offenders:</p> <p><strong>Lead</strong> is often used by manufacturers for dyeing fabrics – particularly those that are brightly coloured, says Trevor Cates, ND, a naturopathic physician and author of the September 2022 book, Natural Beauty Reset.</p> <p><strong>PFAS</strong> generally turn up in clothing items as a coating to make products waterproof, stain-resistant and breathable, according to a study by the Colorado Public Interest Research Group.</p> <p><strong>Phthalates</strong> work to soften plastic and make it more durable, and so they’re sometimes spun into fabrics to make them soft and pliable, according to the Office of Science and Society at McGill University. They’re also common in waterproof items like rain jackets, faux leather, screen-printed t-shirts, and see-through accessories, like clear shoes, bags and umbrellas.</p> <p><strong>How do fashion chemicals affect your health?</strong></p> <p>The goal of the 1978 ban on leaded paint was implemented to prevent accidental lead ingestion, such as from kids putting paint chips in their mouths or inhaling lead-containing dust. “Lead is definitely associated with adverse health effects – including developmental delays,” Dr Johnson-Arbor explains.</p> <p>A 2018 study published in Environmental Science and Pollution Research International illustrated what can happen even if lead is not consumed by mouth. The study suggested that chemicals from clothing can transfer to, penetrate and accumulate in our skin. (The study authors noted that more research was needed for a closer analysis of each specific hazardous chemical of concern.) However, a 2019 peer-reviewed study looked specifically at phthalates in infant clothing and found that clothing does play an important role in exposure to textile chemicals.</p> <p><strong>Lead</strong></p> <p>“Lead is a heavy metal,” Dr Cates says. “And what happens with heavy metals is that our body takes them up and stores them in our bones, our blood and our tissues.” So, while exposure to high levels of lead is dangerous (lead poisoning can cause anaemia, weakness, kidney failure, brain damage and death, according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention – prolonged, low-grade exposure can grow problematic.</p> <p>As lead stores up in our bodies, chronic symptoms can start to emerge, Dr Cates explains. These may include abdominal pain, constipation, forgetfulness, nausea, and depression. “Lead in particular has been connected to infertility,” she adds. The CDC says that people with long-term exposure to lead are also at a greater risk for high blood pressure, kidney disease, and heart disease.</p> <p>These symptoms can also worsen with age – especially for women. When oestrogen levels drop after menopause, bones can start to deteriorate, Dr Cates says. “The lead that’s stored in the bones will then start to be released in the bloodstream, it’s like you become toxic all over again.”</p> <p><strong>PFAS</strong></p> <p>“These are known as ‘forever chemicals,’” Dr Cates says. “They persist in the environment, and they also don’t easily get out of the human body.”</p> <p>PFAS are also considered “endocrine-disrupting chemicals” because they can mimic hormones in the body – and they’re extremely common in our lives.</p> <p>Dr Cates says that since the use of PFAS became so widespread, signs of hormonal imbalances are on the rise: greater rates of thyroid disease, breast and prostate cancer, breast development in young boys and the number of women having menstrual problems.</p> <p>The CDC adds that current research suggests high levels of PFAS exposure may also cause high cholesterol, low infant birth weight, changes in liver enzymes, increased risk of pre-eclampsia (high blood pressure) in pregnant women, decreased vaccine response in children and an increased risk of kidney and testicular cancer.</p> <p><strong>Phthalates</strong></p> <p>Phthalates are another group of endocrine-disrupting chemicals. While Dr Johnson-Arbor emphasises there is still plenty to learn about the health effects of phthalates (and PFAS), a 2022 review of research found strong evidence that phthalate exposure is associated with low semen quality, childhood asthma and neurodevelopment problems. The researchers said that there’s also moderate evidence that phthalates can increase the risk of low infant birth weight, endometriosis, low testosterone, ADHD, Type 2 diabetes, and breast or uterine cancer.</p> <p><strong>How to shop safely</strong></p> <p>You can’t sell a $4 t-shirt without cutting some health and safety corners, so Dr Cates’ main recommendation to limit your chemical exposure is to avoid fast fashion retailers altogether. Look for sustainable brands that prioritise natural fabrics and materials, such as cotton, linen, hemp, silk or bamboo. And keep a lookout for chemical keywords such as “stain-resistant,” “waterproof,” and “shrink-proof.”</p> <p>“Since lead is most harmful to young children, people can avoid dressing their infants and children in fast fashion clothing to avoid childhood exposures,” adds Dr Johnson-Arbor. “I am most concerned with children’s potential exposure to these chemicals, specifically lead.”</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.co.nz/healthsmart/3-major-toxins-have-been-found-in-popular-clothing-brands-heres-what-to-know" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader's Digest</a>. </em></p>

Beauty & Style

The part of your teeth you’ve been forgetting to brush

<p>Like so many things in life, brushing your teeth is a matter of quality over quantity. There’s no point in brushing your teeth four times a day if you’re doing it the wrong way.</p> <p>Jessica Hilburg, DDS and associate dean for clinical affairs at the NYC College of Dentistry, was recently asked by the Huffington Post about the most-common errors people make when they give their mouth the old once-over.</p> <p>"Sometimes people forget to brush the insides of their teeth, the surfaces that face the tongue and the palate," Hilburg said. "Sometimes people forget these areas because we don't see them when we look in the mirror. Food and plaque can buildup in these areas so it's just as important to brush there as it is on the front of our teeth where we can easily see."</p> <p>Hilburg added not brushing your teeth long enough or using the wrong amount of pressure while brushing your teeth is equally incorrect and can ultimately be damaging.</p> <p>"Applying too much pressure while brushing could damage gums and be abrasive to the teeth," she said. "Applying too little pressure while brushing just isn't as effective and will not remove the plaque as well as using gentle pressure. (Also) just rubbing the toothbrush back and forth in long strokes will not do as good a job as the short strokes because the short strokes allow you to get in between the teeth much better."</p> <p>She added, "The 'right amount of pressure' is pressure that feels comfortable, does not crush the bristles of the toothbrush (too much pressure) and of course leaves your teeth feeling and looking clean."</p> <p>What are your thoughts?</p> <p><em>Image: Getty</em></p>

Caring

About 200 dead whales have been towed out to sea off Tasmania – and what happens next is a true marvel of nature

<p>Australians watched in horror as 230 pilot whales became stranded at a beach near Macquarie Harbour on Tasmania’s west coast. Some whales were saved, but the vast majority died. This left a big problem: what to do with all the rotting whale carcasses?</p> <p>Authorities decided to tow the dead animals out to sea, hoping they’ll eventually sink to the seafloor.</p> <p>Such mass whale strandings are sad to witness. But in this case, the aftermath presents a fascinating opportunity for scientific discovery.</p> <p>As the dead whales decompose, an astonishing and rare chain of events is likely to flow through the marine ecosystem – ultimately leading to an explosion of activity and new life.</p> <h2>A 600-tonne problem</h2> <p>Mass whale strandings happen fairly regularly – especially in Tasmania – yet no one really knows why.</p> <p>Days before this latest incident, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-20/sperm-whales-stranded-off-king-island-tasmania/101457406" target="_blank" rel="noopener">14 sperm whales</a> became stranded off King Island, northwest of Tasmania.</p> <p>And in 2020, about 470 pilot whales <a href="https://theconversation.com/like-trying-to-find-the-door-in-a-dark-room-while-hearing-your-relatives-scream-for-help-tasmanias-whale-stranding-tragedy-explained-146674" target="_blank" rel="noopener">became stranded</a> at Macquarie Harbour. While many were pulled out to sea, some of those carcasses washed up and were left to rot on the beach – an entirely natural process.</p> <p>However, pilot whales are big animals. Males weigh up to 2,300kg, which means they take a long time to decompose. The smell of two tonnes of rotting whale blubber soon becomes unbearable, so carcasses are frequently buried.</p> <p>This time around, authorities <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-25/whale-carcasses-towed-out-to-sea-after-mass-stranding/101471166" target="_blank" rel="noopener">decided to tow</a> the dead animals out to sea. The ABC reported local salmon farm workers took almost 11 hours to dispose of 204 dead whales with a combined weight of between 500 and 600 tonnes.</p> <p>They were tied to a 400 metre-long rope and towed by boats for 40 kilometres, before being dropped into deep water in the Indian Ocean.</p> <p>Some carcasses may wash back to shore, but most are likely to disperse with the tides and currents.</p> <h2>Shark bait? Probably not</h2> <p>The big question is: what happens to all that whale mass dumped at sea?</p> <p>Initially, a dead whale tends to float to the surface as it begins to decompose and its innards expand with gas. As this happens, ocean scavengers such as sharks and seabirds are likely to feast on the remains.</p> <p>Some people <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-14/do-buried-whale-carcasses-really-attract-sharks/10996512" target="_blank" rel="noopener">can be concerned</a> that whale carcasses attract sharks that might pose a risk to humans.</p> <p>Granted, encounters between sharks and humans, are <a href="https://theconversation.com/fatal-shark-attacks-are-at-a-record-high-deterrent-devices-can-help-but-some-may-be-nothing-but-snake-oil-150845" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on the rise</a> in Australia and elsewhere. But they’re still very rare.</p> <p>A <a href="https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0024/167613/swim-humpback-whales-risks-sharks.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> to the Western Australian government in 2012 found whale carcasses were a risk factors associated with shark attacks, and said caution should be exercised near a dead whale in the water.</p> <p>But the same report noted that of 26 shark attacks investigated, the highest number occurred more than a kilometre offshore. While there is no doubt <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00655" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sharks are attracted to dead whales</a>, the data is <a href="https://hakaimagazine.com/news/beached-whales-are-a-lure-for-hungry-sharks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">not clear</a> on whether a whale carcass leads directly to an increase in shark attacks on people.</p> <p>Research <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989419301854?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has shown</a> the likelihood of whale carcasses washing towards shore, where shark scavenging can be observed, is low. So as long as the carcass is taken far from shore and people keep their distance from it, the threat to humans from shark encounters appears to be exceedingly low.</p> <h2>From death comes new life</h2> <p>Inevitably, the whale carcass will start to sink. Most life in the ocean is found fairly close to the sea surface, so if the water is relatively shallow much of what’s left of the carcass will be quickly eaten by scavengers once it reaches the sea floor.</p> <p>But these carcasses have been disposed of in deep water. The deep ocean can be a barren place, where rich food sources are rare. So the appearance of a single whale carcass can supercharge an entire ecosystem.</p> <p>New life and activity can erupt around the dead animal in very little time. This process is known as “whale fall” and has been studied by scientists, sometimes using remotely operated vehicles. On the seafloor of the North Pacific, whale fall has been found to <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.885572/full" target="_blank" rel="noopener">support the survival</a> of at least 12,490 organisms of 43 species.</p> <p>Deep sea sharks will make the most of the carcass. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZzQhiNQXxU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A host of other animals</a> including hagfish, octopus, crabs, lobsters, worms and sea cucumbers will join in too. All the while bacteria work away quietly in the background.</p> <p><a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/what-happens-when-whales-die.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According to</a> Britain’s Natural History Museum, a single whale can provide animals with food for up to two years during the scavenging stage.</p> <p>Other animals and bacteria survive off the chemicals produced from the rotting carcass.</p> <p>These organisms, known as “chemotrophs” were thought to be unique to underwater volcanic vents, where they use hydrogen sulphide as the principal energy source. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.2337" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Research</a> has shown a similar suite of animals recruit around dead and decaying whales – generating a completely independent ecosystem based on a gas that <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/what-happens-when-whales-die.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">smells like rotten eggs</a>.</p> <p>Only a few organisms can break down the bones that remain, in a process that might take up to ten years.</p> <p>So take a moment to consider the effect of 204 whale falls in a small part of the ocean off Tasmania. Right now, they are probably generating interconnected marine metropolises, the likes of which are rarely seen.</p> <p><strong>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/about-200-dead-whales-have-been-towed-out-to-sea-off-tasmania-and-what-happens-next-is-a-true-marvel-of-nature-191340" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.</strong></p> <p><em>Image: Twitter</em></p>

Travel Trouble

10 European villages you haven’t been to

<p>Of course everyone has heard about London, Paris and Rome, but sometimes it’s the hidden gems that provide the most memorable experiences for travellers.</p> <p><em>Travel + Leisure </em>has put together a 10 of the best secret European villages. They might not be as well known, but they’re just as captivating as a place to visit in their own right.</p> <p>To see the villages, scroll through the gallery below.</p> <ol> <li>Giornico, Switzerland</li> <li>Staufen im Breisgau, Germany</li> <li>Aberdour, Scotland</li> <li>Norcia, Italy</li> <li>Folégandros, Greece</li> <li>Marvão, Portugal</li> <li>Terschelling, The Netherlands</li> <li>Hellnar, Iceland</li> <li>St. Mawes, England</li> <li>Plios, Russia</li> </ol> <p>Have you been to any of these secret villages? Do you have a holiday on the cards, and if so where are you going?</p> <p><em>Images: Getty Images</em></p>

International Travel

Neanderthals died out 40,000 years ago, but there has never been more of their DNA on Earth

<p>Neanderthals have served as a reflection of our own humanity since they were first discovered in <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/who-were-the-neanderthals.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1856</a>. What we think we know about them has been shaped and moulded to fit our cultural trends, social norms and scientific standards. They have changed from diseased specimens to primitive sub-human lumbering cousins to <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/rethinking-neanderthals-83341003/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">advanced humans</a>.</p> <p>We now know Homo neanderthalensis were very similar to ourselves and we even met them and frequently interbred. But why did they go extinct, while we <a href="https://global.oup.com/ukhe/product/the-cradle-of-humanity-9780198704539?cc=gb&lang=en&" target="_blank" rel="noopener">survived, flourished and ended up taking over the planet</a>?</p> <p>Neanderthals evolved over 400,000 years ago, most likely from an earlier ancestor <a href="https://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/homo-heidelbergensis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Homo heidelbergensis</a>. They were extremely successful and spread across an area from the Mediterranean to Siberia. They were highly intelligent, with brains on average <a href="https://www.livescience.com/60481-how-neanderthals-got-such-large-brains.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bigger than Homo sapiens‘s</a>.</p> <p>They hunted for <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-neanderthals-may-have-been-more-sophisticated-hunters-than-we-thought-new-study-98870" target="_blank" rel="noopener">big game</a>, collected plants, fungi, and seafood, controlled fire to cook, <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1907828116" target="_blank" rel="noopener">made composite tools</a>, made <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1112261109" target="_blank" rel="noopener">clothes from animal skins</a>, made beads from shells, and were able to <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.1411529111" target="_blank" rel="noopener">carve symbols on to cave walls</a>. They took care of their young, old and weak, created shelters for protection, lived through harsh winters and warm summers, and they buried their dead.</p> <p>Neanderthals did meet our ancestors on several occasions over the course of tens of thousands of years and the two species shared the European continent for at least 14,000 years. They even <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03335-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mated with each other</a>.</p> <h2>Death of a species</h2> <p>The most significant difference between Neanderthals and ourselves is that they went extinct about 40,000 years ago. The precise cause of their demise still eludes us, but we think it was probably the result of a combination of factors.</p> <p>First the climate of the last ice age was very variable, shifting from <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04600-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cold to warm and back again</a>, which put pressure on animal and plant food sources and meant Neanderthals constantly had to <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jbi.12845" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adapt to environmental change</a>. Second there were never that many Neanderthals, with the overall population never exceeding the tens of thousands.</p> <p>They lived in groups of five to 15 individuals, compared with Homo Sapiens that had groups of up to <a href="https://theconversation.com/our-large-brains-evolved-thanks-to-an-ancient-arms-race-for-resources-and-mates-79183" target="_blank" rel="noopener">150 individuals</a>. These small isolated Neanderthal populations may have been increasingly genetically unsustainable.</p> <p>Third there was competition with other predators, particularly the <a href="https://theconversation.com/war-in-the-time-of-neanderthals-how-our-species-battled-for-supremacy-for-over-100-000-years-148205" target="_blank" rel="noopener">groups of modern humans</a> that emerged from Africa about 60,000 years ago. We speculate that many Neanderthals may have been assimilated into the larger bands of Homo sapiens.</p> <h2>Where’s the evidence?</h2> <p>Neanderthals left numerous traces for us to examine tens of thousands of years later, much of which can be seen at the special exhibition we have helped curate at the <a href="https://snm.ku.dk/english/exhibitions/neanderthal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Natural History Museum of Denmark</a>. Over the past 150 years we have collected fossil bones, stone and wooden tools, found trinkets and jewellery they left behind, uncovered burials, and now mapped their genome from ancient DNA. It seems that <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03335-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">99.7% of Neanderthal</a> and modern human DNA is identical and they are our closest extinct relatives.</p> <p>Perhaps the most surprising fact was evidence of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03335-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interbreeding</a> that has left traces of DNA in living humans today. Many Europeans and Asians have between 1% and 4% Neanderthal DNA while African people south of the Sahara have almost zero. Ironically, with a current world population of about 8 billion people, this means that there has never been more Neanderthal DNA on Earth.</p> <p>The Neanderthal genome also helps us understand more of what they looked like, as there is evidence that some Neanderthals evolved pale skin and red hair long before Homo sapiens. The many genes that are shared between Neanderthals and modern humans are linked to anything from the ability to taste bitter foods to the capacity to speak.</p> <p>We have also increased our knowledge of human health. For instance, some Neanderthal DNA that might have been beneficial to humans tens of thousands of years ago now seems to cause issues when combined with a modern western lifestyle.</p> <p>There are links to alcoholism, obesity, allergies, blood clotting, and <a href="https://institutions.newscientist.com/article/2077269-our-neanderthal-genes-linked-to-risk-of-depression-and-addiction" target="_blank" rel="noopener">depression</a>. Recently, scientists suggested an ancient gene variant from Neanderthals might increase the risk of <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2026309118" target="_blank" rel="noopener">serious complications from contracting COVID-19</a>.</p> <h2>Holding up a mirror</h2> <p>Like the dinosaurs, the Neanderthals didn’t know what was coming. The difference is that the dinosaurs disappeared suddenly following a giant meteorite hit from outer space. To the Neanderthals extinction happened gradually. They eventually lost their world, a comfortable home they had successfully occupied for hundreds of thousands of years that slowly turned against them, until existence itself was unsustainable.</p> <p>In that sense, Neanderthals now serve a different purpose. We see our reflection in them. They didn’t know what was happening to them and they had no choice but to continue down the road that eventually led to extinction. We on the other hand are painfully aware of our situation and the impact we have on this planet.</p> <p>Human activity is <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-how-bad-could-the-future-be-if-we-do-nothing-159665" target="_blank" rel="noopener">changing the climate</a> and is leading straight into a sixth mass extinction. We can reflect on the mess we have landed ourselves in and we can do something about it.</p> <p>If we don’t want to end up like the Neanderthals, we better get our act together and collectively work for a more sustainable future. Neanderthal extinction reminds us that we should never take our existence for granted.</p> <p><strong>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/neanderthals-died-out-40-000-years-ago-but-there-has-never-been-more-of-their-dna-on-earth-189021" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.</strong></p> <p><em>Image: Shutterstock</em></p>

Body

Don’t look a GIF horse in the mouth: Short, shareable animations have been delighting humans for centuries

<p>They are a popular feature of social media and text messaging in 2022, but many people are surprised to discover short sharable animations or videos, like GIFs have been around in digital format for 35 years, but in analogue for nearly two centuries.</p> <p>Today many have become internet memes, added for emphasis, and mostly played on continuous loop.</p> <p><strong>GIFs (short for Graphics Interchange Format)</strong></p> <p>Steve Wilhite, a computer scientist working at CompuServe is <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/brief-history-gif-early-internet-innovation-ubiquitous-relic-180963543/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">acknowledged as the creator</a> of the Graphics Interchange Format, or GIF in 1987.</p> <p>A GIF is a small image file that can support short animations or videos. GIFs work by stringing together several frames or images into a single file, which plays like a short clip.</p> <p>Compressed they are small file sizes; GIFs are easily shared on email and social media. </p> <p>While most can share in the delight of a well-chosen GIF, there is a long-running heated disagreement over how to pronounce the acronym, tracked <a href="https://time.com/5791028/how-to-pronounce-gif/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">by Time</a> (this COSMOS journalist had been pronouncing GIF with a hard ‘g’, while Wilhite apparently preferred the softer version, like ‘JIF’). </p> <p>But long before the GIF there were various forms of short sharable animation made in analogue. Here we flick through a few.</p> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-photo is-provider-giphy wp-block-embed-giphy"> <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> <div class="entry-content-asset"> <div class="embed-wrapper"> <div class="inner"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/08/giphy1.gif" alt="" width="500" height="337" /></div> </div> </div> </div><figcaption>Ghost GIF / Credit: Matthias Brown</figcaption></figure> <p><strong>Thaumatropes (from the Greek for ‘wonder turner’)</strong></p> <p>Dating back as early as 1827, a thaumatrope is a two-sided disc which creates a simple animation when spun.</p> <p>The device is a disc with different but related pictures on each side and strings attached at opposite ends. When those strings are wound up tightly, and then released, the disc spins creating a simple animation. </p> <p>While the idea was described and popularised by John Ayrton Paris, the inventor of this wonder turner is not known. </p> <p><strong>Phenakistoscopes (from the Greek for ‘deceitful viewer’)</strong></p> <div class="newsletter-box"> <div id="wpcf7-f6-p202287-o1" class="wpcf7" dir="ltr" lang="en-US" role="form"> </div> </div> <p>In 1832 an analogue form of the modern GIF was made by spinning a circular card on its centre. </p> <p>In that year, two scientists Joseph Plateau from Belgium and Simon von Stampfer from Austria independently created looping animations called phenakistoscopes.</p> <p>The phenakistoscope creates the illusion of moving images by slicing the circle into segments and placing a sequential image at slightly shifting locations within each slice, using vector graphics. Each slice of the circle acts like a frame in an animation. Between each slice is a black radial slit.</p> <p>When the circle is spun on its centre, and its reflection viewed using a mirror, the effect creates the illusion of smoothly moving images like a short, repeating video. </p> <p><strong>Zoetropes (from the Greek for ‘life turn’)</strong></p> <p>Two years later, mathematician William Horner <a href="https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/articles/2908" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">created the zoetrope</a>, an idea based on the phenakistoscope but able to be viewed by more than one person at a time.</p> <p>A larger cylinder like a drum has slits cut into the sides for viewing. Strips of sequential images spin inside the cylinder so that the viewer sees one after the other.</p> <p>The technology was popularised by American business magnate, game pioneer and publisher, Milton Bradley in 1866 who sold zoetropes as a toy with replaceable picture strips.</p> <p>Several animation studios have built three-dimensional versions of the zoetrope using sequentially posed figurines instead of pictures. Visitors to the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) in Melbourne can experience a <a href="https://www.acmi.net.au/stories-and-ideas/acmis-cuphead-zoetrope-cool/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">3D zoetrope</a> of video game character <em>Cuphead</em>. Meanwhile visitors to the <a href="https://www.ghibli-museum.jp/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ghibli Museum</a> in Tokyo, can see a zoetrope of skipping and running totoros built using figurines from the Studio Ghibli movie <em>My Neighbour Totoro.</em></p> <p><strong>Find out more about phenakistoscopes and GIFs on the 2022 SCINEMA International Science Film Festival</strong></p> <p>For more on the history and science of the phenakistoscope (and instructions on how to make one) watch the 2022 SCINEMA International Science Film festival entry, <em>Animated GIFS: Celebrating Scientific Genius</em>, by <a href="https://scinema.org.au/register" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">registering</a> to view it for free on the SCINEMA website. </p> <p>Follow the prompts on the email you receive and you’ll find <em>Animated GIFS: Celebrating Scientific Genius</em> in the Animation / Experimental playlist. You can watch all the films until August 31 2022 when the festival ends. </p> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-photo is-provider-giphy wp-block-embed-giphy"> <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> <div class="entry-content-asset"> <div class="embed-wrapper"> <div class="inner"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/08/giphy-1.gif" alt="" width="480" height="480" /></div> </div> </div> </div><figcaption>GIF based on a phenakistoscope / Credit: Sanni Lahtinen on GIPHY</figcaption></figure> <p><img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=202287&title=Don%26%238217%3Bt+look+a+GIF+horse+in+the+mouth%3A+short%2C+shareable+animations+have+been+delighting+humans+for+centuries" width="1" height="1" /></p> <div id="contributors"> <p><em><a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/computing/dont-look-a-gif-horse-in-the-mouth/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/petra-stock" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Petra Stock</a>. Petra Stock has a degree in environmental engineering and a Masters in Journalism from University of Melbourne. She has previously worked as a climate and energy analyst.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p> </div>

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Announcing Kate Middleton’s cancer diagnosis should have been simple. But the palace let it get out of hand

Funding for refugees has long been politicized − punitive action against UNRWA and Palestinians fits that pattern

The royals have historically been tight-lipped about their health – but that never stopped the gossip

I’ve just been diagnosed with cancer, now what?

"You've been bumped": Vietnam vet slams Qantas for booting him from business class

"It has been the hardest time": Ronan Keating speaks out after family tragedy

Research reveals who’s been hit hardest by global warming in their lifetime - and the answer may surprise you

"It's been really hard": Nicole Kidman's Mother's Day heartbreak

Have you been using expired beauty products this whole time? Here’s when to toss them

“I haven’t been able to move": Home and Away star's debilitating condition

"It's been a tough year": Jimmy Barnes reveals very different Christmas plans

“She could’ve been protected that day”: Gabby Petito’s family files lawsuit

“You have been warned nicely before”: Neighbours threaten to poison dogs

“We’ve been expecting you”: Daniel Craig receives royal honour

3 major toxins have been found in popular clothing brands – here’s what to know

The part of your teeth you’ve been forgetting to brush

About 200 dead whales have been towed out to sea off Tasmania – and what happens next is a true marvel of nature

10 European villages you haven’t been to

Neanderthals died out 40,000 years ago, but there has never been more of their DNA on Earth

Don’t look a GIF horse in the mouth: Short, shareable animations have been delighting humans for centuries

News

Shop

Catalogues

Travel

Health

Lifestyle

Finance

Entertainment

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Keep up to date

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Announcing Kate Middleton’s cancer diagnosis should have been simple. But the palace let it get out of hand

Funding for refugees has long been politicized − punitive action against UNRWA and Palestinians fits that pattern

The royals have historically been tight-lipped about their health – but that never stopped the gossip

I’ve just been diagnosed with cancer, now what?

"You've been bumped": Vietnam vet slams Qantas for booting him from business class

"It has been the hardest time": Ronan Keating speaks out after family tragedy

Research reveals who’s been hit hardest by global warming in their lifetime - and the answer may surprise you

"It's been really hard": Nicole Kidman's Mother's Day heartbreak

Have you been using expired beauty products this whole time? Here’s when to toss them

“I haven’t been able to move": Home and Away star's debilitating condition

"It's been a tough year": Jimmy Barnes reveals very different Christmas plans

“She could’ve been protected that day”: Gabby Petito’s family files lawsuit

“You have been warned nicely before”: Neighbours threaten to poison dogs

“We’ve been expecting you”: Daniel Craig receives royal honour

3 major toxins have been found in popular clothing brands – here’s what to know

The part of your teeth you’ve been forgetting to brush

About 200 dead whales have been towed out to sea off Tasmania – and what happens next is a true marvel of nature

10 European villages you haven’t been to

Neanderthals died out 40,000 years ago, but there has never been more of their DNA on Earth

Don’t look a GIF horse in the mouth: Short, shareable animations have been delighting humans for centuries

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