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Beyond Barbie and Oppenheimer, how do cinemas make money? And do we pay too much for movie tickets?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/peter-martin-682709">Peter Martin</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/crawford-school-of-public-policy-australian-national-university-3292">Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University</a> I’ve got two questions about blockbuster movies like Barbie and Oppenheimer. <ol> <li> Why aren’t the cinemas charging more for them, given they’re so popular? </li> <li> Why are they the same price, given Oppenheimer is an hour longer? </li> </ol> The opening weekend <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/culture/movies/how-australian-cinemas-and-audiences-handled-the-barbenheimer-juggernaut-20230724-p5dqso.html">for both films</a> saw an avalanche of Australians returning to the cinema. Extra staff had to be put on (although probably not enough) to manage queues, turn away pink-clad fans who couldn’t get in, and clean up mountains of popcorn trampled underfoot. An obvious solution to such a rush of demand is to push up prices. Airlines do it when they are getting low on seats. When more people want to get a ride share, Uber makes them pay with “<a href="https://www.uber.com/au/en/drive/driver-app/how-surge-works/">surge pricing</a>”. Even books are sold at different prices, depending on the demand, their length, their quality and how long they’ve been on the shelves. But not movie tickets, which are nearly always the same price, no matter the movie. Why? And how much has the cost of a trip to the movies risen over the past 20 years? <h2>Why not charge more for blockbusters?</h2> In suburban Melbourne, Hoyts is charging $24.50 for the two-hour Barbie – the same as it is charging for the three-hour Oppenheimer, even though it could fit in far fewer showings of Oppenheimer in a day. It’s also the same price as it is charging for much less popular movies, such as Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. It’s also how things are in the United States, where James Surowiecki, author of <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/175380/the-wisdom-of-crowds-by-james-surowiecki/">The Wisdom of Crowds</a> blames convention and says "it costs you as much to see a total dog that’s limping its way through its last week of release as it does to see a hugely popular film on opening night." Australian economists Nicolas de Roos of The University of Sydney and Jordi McKenzie of Macquarie University quote Surowiecki in their <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167718714000174">2014 study</a> of whether cinema operators could make more by cutting the price of older and less popular films and raising the price of blockbusters. By examining what happened to demand on <a href="https://www.eventcinemas.com.au/Promotions/HalfPriceTuesdays#cinemas=59">cheap Tuesdays</a>, and developing a model taking into account advertising, reviews and the weather, they discovered Australian cinemas could make a lot more by <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167718714000174">varying their prices</a> by the movie shown. We turn out to be highly price sensitive. So why don’t cinemas do that? <h2>‘There’s a queue, it must be good’</h2> It’s the sort of thing that puzzled <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/1992/becker/biographical/">Gary Becker</a>, an economic detective of sorts who won the Nobel Prize for Economics in the early 1990s. A few years earlier, he turned his attention to <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2937660">restaurants</a> and why one particular seafood restaurant in Palo Alto, California, had long queues every night but didn’t raise its prices. Across the road was a restaurant that charged slightly more, sold food that was about as good, and was mostly empty. His conclusion, which he used a lot of maths to illustrate, was there are some goods for which a consumer’s demand depends on the demand of other consumers. Queues for restaurants (or in 2023, long queues and sold out sessions, as crowds were turned away from Barbie) are all signals other consumers want to get in. This would make queues especially valuable to the providers of such goods, even if the queues meant they didn’t get as much as they could from the customers who got in. The “buzz” such queues create produces a supply of future customers persuaded that what was on offer must be worth trying. Importantly, Becker’s maths showed that getting things right was fragile. It was much easier for a restaurant to go from being “in” to “out” than the other way around. Once a queue had created a buzz, it was wise not to mess with it. <h2>Cashing in from the snack bar</h2> There are other reasons for cinemas to charge a standard ticket price, rather than vary it movie by movie. One is that it is hard to tell ahead of time which movies are going to soar and which are going to bomb, even if you spend a fortune on advertising as the <a href="https://variety.com/2023/film/box-office/barbie-marketing-campaign-explained-warner-bros-1235677922/">makers of Barbie did</a>. In the words of an insider, “<a href="https://variety.com/2018/film/opinion/william-goldman-dies-appreciation-1203030781/">nobody knows anything</a>.” Another is the way cinemas make their money. They have to pay the distributor a share of what they get from ticket sales (typically <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167718714000174">35-40%</a>). But they don’t have to pay a share of what they make from high-margin snacks. This means it can make sense for some cinemas to charge less than what the market will bear – because they’ll sell more snacks – even if it means less money for the distributor. <h2>Rising prices, despite some falling costs</h2> But cinemas still charge a lot. From 2002 to 2022, Australian cinemas jacked up their average (not their highest) prices <a href="https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/fact-finders/cinema/industry-trends/box-office/ticket-prices">from $9.13 to $16.26</a> – an increase of 78%. In the same 20 year period, overall prices in Australia, as measured by the <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-in-the-cpi-and-what-does-it-actually-measure-165162">consumer price index</a>, climbed 65% – less than the rise in movie ticket prices. <hr /> <iframe id="E2kxi" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" style="border: none;" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/E2kxi/5/" width="100%" height="400px" frameborder="0"></iframe> <hr /> A 2015 study found Australian cinemas charge more <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/306227560_Counting_the_cost_the_impact_of_cinema_ticket_prices_in_Australia">than cinemas in the US</a>. Yet some of the cinemas’ costs have gone down. They used to have to employ projectionists to lace up and change reels of film. Digital delivery means much less handling. A now-dated <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/about-us/publications/developments-in-the-cinema-distribution-exhibition-industry">1990s report</a> to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found the two majors, Hoyts and Greater Union/Village, charged near identical prices except where they were faced with competition from a nearby independent, in which case they discounted. Whether “<a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/The%20Cinema%20Industry.pdf">by design or circumstance</a>”, the two cinema chains rarely competed with each other, clustering their multiplexes in different geographical locations. <h2>Longer films no longer displace shorter films</h2> I think it might be the multiplex that answers my second question: why cinemas don’t charge more for movies that are longer (and movies are <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/culture/movies/bigger-than-ben-hur-why-movies-are-getting-longer-and-longer-20220322-p5a6ty.html">getting longer</a>). In the days of single screens, a cinema that showed a long movie might only fit in (say) four showings a day instead of six. So it would lose out unless it charged more. But these days, multiplexes show many, many films on many screens, some of them simultaneously, meaning long films needn’t displace short films. Although we have <a href="https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/fact-finders/cinema/industry-trends/screens-and-theatres">fewer cinema seats</a> than we had a decade ago (and at least until the advent of Barbie, we’ve been <a href="https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/fact-finders/cinema/industry-trends/screens-and-theatres">going less often</a>) we now have <a href="https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/fact-finders/cinema/industry-trends/screens-and-theatres">far more screens</a>. Long movies no longer stop the multiplexes from playing standard ones. And because cinemas like to keep things simple, you pay the same price, no matter which movie you chose. <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/211121/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/peter-martin-682709">Peter Martin</a>, Visiting Fellow, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/crawford-school-of-public-policy-australian-national-university-3292">Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/beyond-barbie-and-oppenheimer-how-do-cinemas-make-money-and-do-we-pay-too-much-for-movie-tickets-211121">original article</a>.

Movies

"Beyond the pale": Fury over King Charles' call to allegiance

The public have been invited to swear their allegiance to King Charles and his reign during his coronation, in a move that has been widely criticised. The King's coronation is set to take place this coming weekend, and will include a prompt for everyone in attendance in Westminster Abbey, and those watching at home, to take part in a "homage of the people". This promise will replace the "homage of peers" which has taken place at previous coronations, with the change reflecting a more modern UK and Commonwealth. After the King is crowned during the historic ceremony, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby will invite the congregation, including an expected global audience of millions, to pledge their allegiance with the words, "I swear that I will pay true allegiance to Your Majesty, and to your heirs and successors according to law. So help me God". The former promise of the Homage of Peers often took more than hour, and saw a long line of hereditary peers kneel and make a pledge to the monarch in person. The Archbishop of Canterbury's office Lambeth Palace said plans for the "Homage of the People" section of ceremony on Saturday would be "very much an invitation rather than an expectation". The move has prompted a wave of backlash by some sectors of the community, with Graham Smith, a spokesman for anti-monarchy group Republic, slamming the change. "In a democracy it is the head of state who should be swearing allegiance to the people, not the other way around," he said. "This kind of nonsense should have died with Elizabeth I, not outlived Elizabeth II." "In swearing allegiance to Charles and his 'heirs and successors', people are being asked to swear allegiance to Prince Andrew too. This is clearly beyond the pale." The outrage continued on social media, with some suggesting the allegiance was "royal pantomime at the taxpayers' expense", while others said it "makes no sense at all". Despite the public outcry, Lambeth Palace defended the oath, saying it hoped the change would result in a "great cry around the nation and around the world of support for the King". The statement said: "It's simply an opportunity offered by the Archbishop so that, unlike previous coronations, those who wish to join in with the words being spoken by the Abbey congregation could do so in a very simple way." "For those who do want to take part, some will want to say all the words of the homage; some might just want to say 'God Save The King' at the end; others might just want it to be a moment of private reflection." "We live in a wonderfully diverse society with many different perspectives and beliefs, and it's quite right that people decide for themselves how they relate to this moment." "For those who may wish to join in, we hope it's a moment of joy and celebration – both in the Abbey, and in homes around the country and beyond." Image credits: Getty Images

News

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

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

Technology

AI system sees beyond the frame of famous artworks

A new AI tool can provide a glimpse of what could potentially be going on beyond the frame of famous paintings, giving them a brand new life. OpenAI, a San Francisco-based company, has created a new tool called 'Outpainting' for its text-to-image AI system, DALL-E. Outpainting allows the system to imagine what's outside the frame of famous works such as Girl with The Pearl Earring, Mona Lisa and Dogs Playing Poker. DALL-E relies on artificial neural networks (ANNs), which simulate the way the brain works in order to learn and create an image from text. Now with Outpainting, users must describe the extended visuals in text form for DALL-E to “paint” the newly imagined artwork. Outpainting, which is primarily aimed for professionals who work with images, will let users 'extend their creativity' and 'tell a bigger story', according to OpenAI. US artist August Kamp used Outpainting to reimagine the famous 1665 painting Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer, extending the background in the original style. The results show the iconic subject in a domestic setting, surrounded by crockery, houseplants, fruit, boxes and more. Other Outpainting attempts took a more creative turn, with one showing the Mona Lisa surrounded by a dystopian wasteland, and a version of A Friend In Need showing an additional table of gambling canines. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> “Outpainting: an apocalyptic Mona Lisa” by tonidl1989<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/dalle?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#dalle</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/dalle2?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#dalle2</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/aiart?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#aiart</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/aiartwork?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#aiartwork</a> <a href="https://t.co/puYVxjyFMm">pic.twitter.com/puYVxjyFMm</a> — Best Dalle2 AI Art 🎨 (@Dalle2AI) <a href="https://twitter.com/Dalle2AI/status/1565168579376566278?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 1, 2022</a></blockquote> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Used DALL-E 2’s new “outpainting” feature to expand the world’s greatest work of art… <a href="https://t.co/0HXQzngt9P">pic.twitter.com/0HXQzngt9P</a> — M.G. Siegler (@mgsiegler) <a href="https://twitter.com/mgsiegler/status/1565398150482784256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 1, 2022</a></blockquote> DALL-E is available to more than one million people to create AI-generated images, all with a series of text prompts. DALL-E is just one of many AI systems infiltrating the art world, joining the likes of Midjourney and Imagen redefining how we create and appreciate art. Image credits: DALL-E - August Kamp

Art

Beyond Bali: Indonesia’s other islands

Bali is one of the world's most popular overseas holiday destinations. But did you know that Indonesia has more than 17,500 other islands with just as much to offer? Go off the beaten track and explore some the country’s other gems. Sumba <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/08/sumba-indonesia.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /> Image: Getty Images This rugged island in the east of Indonesia looks very different to the more touristy volcanic islands in the north. During the dry season the island can go up to seven months without a drop of rain, turning the lush jungle landscape into a parched and arid desert that more resembles Africa than southeast Asia. But once the rains come, the land springs back to life, a sparkling palette of vibrant greens, thundering waterfalls and muddy rice paddies ready for the next crop. The ancient breed of Sumba pony is a part of every day life and can be seen all over the island, used to work farms, as transport and in traditional ceremonies. Sumba is famous for its surfing, most notably for a legendary break simply called The Left that’s considered one of the best in the world. There’s only one resort on the island, the ultra luxe Nihiwatu, and guests stay in Swiss Family Robinson-style fantasy villas with private swimming pools, butler service and incredible views. Gili Islands <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/08/gili-islands.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /> Image: Getty Images The Gilis, as they are known, are made up of three small islands sitting just off the coast of Lombok, to the east of Bali. They have long been a backpacker haven, but small-scale development is opening them up to a wider audience. There’s a great mix of buzzing bars, quiet beaches and vibrant local culture. It’s one of the best places in Southeast Asia for diving with around 25 dive sites around the islands. The water is crystal clear and a consistent 28 degrees, and once under the surface you’ll see reef sharks, rays, parrot fish, eels, octopus, the occasional whale shark and plenty of turtles – Gili is known as the turtle capital of the world. Java <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/08/java.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /> Image: Getty Images Java is the geographical and economic centre of Indonesia, and home to the capital Jakarta as well as a number of other major cities. But before you dismiss it as another busy, smoggy Asian capital, there’s much more to Java. A visit to the smaller villages of the island will give you the chance to experience Indonesian life as it is lived every day and, while Java’s not known for its beaches, there are some nice strips of sand that are blissfully crowd-free. The island’s most famous landmark is the vast Borobudur complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site dating from the ninth century that’s easily one of the most stunning temples in Southeast Asia. Active travellers can climb the moon-like peaks of Mount Bromo to see volcanic craters that still bubble with smoke. Flores Komodo <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/08/komodo-flores-island.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /> Image: Getty Images These pristine islands form part of the Nusa Tengarra chain of islands that make up the southern arc of the Indonesian archipelago. The name is a giveaway for the islands’ most famous resident – the Komodo dragon, the world’s largest lizard. Reaching up to three metres in length and an impressive 130 (or so) kilograms, these are pretty fearsome beasts and are known to eat wild pigs, deer and even smaller dragons. They can move at around 20 kilometres an hour, so it’s best to keep your distance. Flores is also home to a row of semi-active volcanoes that make for superb hiking and both islands are ringed with sparkling water and unspoilt beaches.

International Travel

"Beyond ridiculous": Kyrgios slammed for finals fireworks

Nick Kyrgios has come under fire for his behaviour during the nerve wrecking Wimbledon final against Novak Djokovic, which Aussie tennis great Rennae Stubbs described as “embarrassing”. After winning the first set, Kyrgios was on the backfoot during the second and third, with Djokovic winning 4-6 6-3 6-4 7-6 and claiming the title for the seventh time. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> 😘🏆2️⃣1️⃣🙏🏼 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Wimbledon?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Wimbledon</a> <a href="https://t.co/Zo8PAScQzJ">pic.twitter.com/Zo8PAScQzJ</a> — Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) <a href="https://twitter.com/DjokerNole/status/1546210030130692102?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 10, 2022</a></blockquote> As his odds of winning began to decline, Kyrgios directed his frustrations at the player box where his girlfriend, dad, sister and trainers were sitting. When he dropped the serve for the first time during the second set of the fourth game, Kyrgios began questioning why he was having to ask his player box to support him. “Say something,” he yelled in their direction later in the set. “You said nothing that whole point. “Why do you stop? 40-0, 40-15 and you just relax! Why?” His supporters weren’t the only subjects of his furore either, after Kyrgios was slapped with a code violation for complaining to the chair umpire about fans distracting him while on serve, including a drunk audience member he asked the umpire to kick out. “They’re distracting me when I’m serving in a Wimbledon final, she’s drunk out of her mind,” he said while closing out his service game. “Why is she still here? She’s drunk out of her mind in the first row, speaking to me in the middle of a game. What’s acceptable? Nothing is acceptable? So kick her out! “I know exactly which one it is, it’s the one that looks like she’s had 700 drinks bro.” No-one was ejected from the court, but plenty had something to say about Kyrgios’ behaviour, including Stubbs. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Honestly, this behavior of yelling at your box because they aren't doing what u want, is actually beyond ridiculous. THEY CANT READ YOUR MIND! Yes this is his way of dealing with pressure, I get it but this is straight up constant abuse to people that love you, its embarrassing — Rennae Stubbs OLY (@rennaestubbs) <a href="https://twitter.com/rennaestubbs/status/1546150155023486980?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 10, 2022</a></blockquote> “Honestly, this behaviour of yelling at your box because they aren’t doing what u want, is actually beyond ridiculous,” she tweeted. “THEY CAN’T READ YOUR MIND! Yes this is his way of dealing with pressure, I get it but this is straight up constant abuse to people that love you, it’s embarrassing.” Sports journalist Andy Maher wrote: “You’d have to be a sucker for punishment to accept an invitation to sit in Kyrgios’ box.” “If Nick Kyrgios offered you a spot in his player’s box you’d have to say ‘no’. All that stress and abuse; worst seat in the house,” journalist Bruce Guthrie said. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> If Nick Kyrgios offered you a spot in his player’s box you’d have to say ‘no’. All that stress and abuse; worst seat in the house. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WimbledonFinal?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WimbledonFinal</a> — Bruce Guthrie (@brucerguthrie) <a href="https://twitter.com/brucerguthrie/status/1546138584708575233?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 10, 2022</a></blockquote> “Kyrgios’ players box has the toughest job in sports,” American basketball player Nate Wolters added. Kyrgios has acknowledged how supportive his team has been throughout the tournament and that they put up with a lot from him during matches. “I’ve got an incredible support crew,” he said after the fourth round. “My physio is one of my best friends. My best friend is my agent. I’ve got the best girlfriend in the world. I’ve just got so many people around me, they just support me. “I feel like I can reflect on all those dark times when I pushed them all away. Now to sit here, quarterfinals of Wimbledon, feeling good, feeling composed, feeling mature, having that around me, I’m extremely blessed. I feel like I’m just comfortable in my skin.” Following his defeat, he described Djokovic as “a bit of a god”. “I want to congratulate Novak,” Kyrgios said. “To all the ball kids and umpires, I know we have tough relationships, thanks for putting up with it.” Image: Getty Images

News

“Above and beyond”: Mum gives baby unusual name after mid-flight birth

A mother has gone into early labor and delivered her healthy baby on board a flight with the help of an attendant. The passenger was on board a Frontier Airline flight on May 17 from Denver (DEN) to Orlando (MCO) when she went into labor. Flight attendant Diana Giraldo helped the mother to the bathroom where she assisted in delivering the healthy baby. The airline shared the incredible news on Facebook commending Ms Giraldo’s quick thinking during delivery. “Diana again went above and beyond after the completion of the flight to coordinate our return to Orlando,” Captain Chris Nye said. “The whole crew really did a great job. I transferred controls and flying duties to my First Officer as I coordinated the diversion. “Dispatch did a great job as well by suggesting Pensacola Airport and getting a gate and paramedics ready for us. “This was a job well done, and I was happy to see everyone working together to successfully deliver a newborn on an aircraft!” The airline revealed that the mother named the baby’s middle name “Sky” because she was born on the “mother and daughter plane tail, Luna and Lilly the Wolves”. Images: Frontier Airline

International Travel

“Sick beyond belief”: Burger chain slammed for Maddy McCann Mother’s Day ad

The Otley Burger Company in the UK has been met with a furious response after posting an ad to social media that made light of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann ahead of Mother’s Day – although the owner of the company has defended the post, claiming it was “just a meme”. Shared to social media by the Leeds-based chain, the ads depict McCann and her mother, along with a small edited image of a masked man escaping with the child, plus a caption: “With burgers this good, you’ll leave your kids at home. What’s the worst that could happen?”. The ad then concludes with the phrase “Happy Mother’s Day to all the mums out there”. Such was the fury the ads were met with that they were quickly banned by Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority, which deemed the posts likely to cause offence and distress after several complaints were made. The ASA stated that the ads made light of the circumstances surrounding McCann’s disappearance. “Any reference to a missing child was likely to be distressing, and that in the context of an ad promoting a burger company, the distress caused was unjustified,” the statement read. The ASA then asked Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to remove the posts and suspend the account pending investigation. Meta said it had reviewed the Instagram post and removed it for violating policies, while Twitter said the post had also been deleted. The burger company’s takeaway service page was quickly flooded with furious comments over the “disgusting” behaviour. “Sick beyond belief, I hope the company goes broke,” one person wrote. “Hang your heads in shame,” wrote another. Owner Joe Scholey, 29, told Metro UK: “I’m not taking the mick out of a missing toddler. I’m basically putting, ‘Happy Mother’s Day’ to all the mums,” he said. “She [Kate McCann] is a mum. Not the world’s greatest mum and not the world’s worst. She’s a mum, there’s one there.” Image: Otley Burger Company

Legal

Ash Barty drops huge hint on life beyond tennis

Ash Barty insisted that she is not hiding anything from her fans after her shock retirement announcement. The 25-year-old <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/health/caring/tennis-legends-react-to-ash-barty-s-retirement?fbclid=IwAR0yatVVM585Th8Ch0NcLsJd7eCUEaILs0w-Y2K03R3KAbxODsjJAVsknQk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> her retirement from tennis on Wednesday after winning Wimbledon and the Australian Open. Speaking to the media, Barty revealed that she was not lying about her reasons behind retirement and there are no regrets for the decision. “I’ve said exactly what I wanted to say,” she said. “I’m an open book. I’m not hiding anything, I’ve got no secrets. I am just so proud of all of the work that I have done with my team. “We have done this together right from the start, have enjoyed every single minute and we have no regrets. We have achieved so much together and it’s been fun on the way. “I just knew for me the time was right. I’d given absolutely everything that I could to this sport, and I knew that it wouldn’t be fair to my team and the people that have invested so much time and energy into my life to not be 100 per cent committed to them. “It’s been a hell of a journey. I wouldn’t change a thing and I certainly have no regrets.” Questioned about whether her retirement was due to a previous hip injury, Barty refuted the question stating she had taken a break when it didn’t heal the way she expected it to. “No, that was an old injury that we repeatedly over my career had to manage, and that was the truth,” she explained. “After the Australian Open it just didn’t heal quite as well as I would have liked and I didn’t get to get back on court until a few weeks ago. That’s what I mean. We were never hiding anything. “The fact is I have given everything I can to this sport. I’m absolutely spent and had nothing more to give. I’m just really excited now for what comes next and I’m excited for the new challenges.” Barty said retirement had been on her mind for a while and knew that when she achieved what she wanted, such as winning Wimbledon, Australian Open, and becoming the first Australian woman in 44 years to win at Melbourne Park, she knew it was time. “We’ve been in discussions for a while,” she said. “After Wimbledon my perspective changed a lot and there was this beautiful challenge of trying to play the Australian Open and trying to win an Australian Open which was always another goal of mine, and to do that as a team and to do that with the people that meant so much to me was incredible. “There is no perfect way, there is no perfect timing but this was our perfect way, and it was a great finish. “That crowd (for) the final of the Australian Open was like nothing I have ever played in front of before and it was so much fun to enjoy that with them as well as my team. “Yeah, it was a brilliant way to finish. “I have so much love and support, and I’m so lucky to get so much love and support here in Australia, and so many people have made my career so much more fun, and being able to share that with them and experience that with them made it all the better, and I think the Australian public allowed me to be myself. “They allowed me to make mistakes, they allowed me to be imperfect and it just made it so much more fun, and it really did make that Australian Open so much more enjoyable for all of us to be able to go, ‘You know what? This is one last crack. Let’s see what we can do’. “And it was really cool.” Ever the cheeky one, Barty told fans that they’d have to wait and see what she plans to do in the future. “You have to wait and see,” she said. “I’m not giving you everything right now. It’s all right. You can be patient. Patience is a virtue.” Barty joked that she may even switch sports thanks to photoshop images she sees online from fans. "I have seen some brilliant photoshops as a jockey, lawn bowler. Like many sports, I am lured to it,” she said. "I have always been an athlete in the sense of trying different things. We will see how we go." Excited about the next chapter of her life, Barty said she wants to spend time with her family and within the community. "I am excited about my next chapter as Ash Barty the person and not the athlete," she explained. "I hit as recently as 10 days ago. I will forever be connected to tennis, I will never stop loving the sport, I will never stop hitting tennis balls. "I have always been a homebody, and this is where I recharge. "This is where I get my energy from. I'm excited to reacquaint myself with my mum and dad and sisters and nieces and nephews. And spend quality time with them as a person. "Like I said, a new chapter for Garry (her partner) and I, and it is going to be a lot of fun." “I have always wanted to have the time to contribute more in other ways, and I think now I have got that opportunity, and I’ve been fortunate enough to have so many opportunities given to me from tennis, and now I’m ready to really give back in ways that I’m passionate about and visiting Uluru and being up in the community was just incredible,” Barty said. “That’s what lights me up inside. That’s what makes me happy, and we have done a few of those trips now and I can’t wait to do a few more.” Image: Instagram

News

Beyond Cyrano de Bergerac’s nose – the real man behind the swashbuckling hero

There’s something quite striking missing in Peter Dinklage’s performance of Cyrano de Bergerac. In the upcoming musical film, Cyrano is missing his iconic large nose. Cyrano’s nose has been integral to popular images of the character ever since Edmond Rostand’s swashbuckling 1897 verse drama <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1254/1254-h/1254-h.htm">Cyrano de Bergerac</a>. This connection became even more so after Gérard Depardieu’s take on the role in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099334/">1990</a>. In every iteration of Cyrano’s tale till now, his large nose causes him trouble and affects how people perceive him. In the new film, Dinklage’s form of dwarfism, called achondroplasia, as <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-58678918">one critic wrote</a>, “serves the same purpose the character’s oversize schnoz originally did, lending Cyrano an outsider quality that he must overcompensate for in personality”. Cyrano is a witty wordsmith and staggeringly proficient swordsman, able to defeat his opponents with both verbal and physical deftness. For instance, in one scene in the Depardieu film, Cyrano duels and vanquishes a vicomte who insults his nose. He does this while improvising an elaborately complex poem called a ballade. Despite such prowess, his looks limit him. Secretly in love with his dazzling cousin Roxane, Cyrano is held back by shame at his physical appearance. He can only find selfless, vicarious satisfaction by feeding lines of passionate poetry to his rival-cum-alter-ego, the handsome but ineloquent hero Christian, who wins Roxane’s heart. In each new retelling of the story of Cyrano we see the fragile romantic hero tormented by his own perceived lack – it is easy to forget that another Cyrano lurked still further in the background: the real-life playwright, satirist, novelist, and duellist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Savinien-Cyrano-de-Bergerac">Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac</a> (1619-55). Because of his taste for bluster and grandiose self-mythologisation, we know relatively little for certain about the historical Cyrano. <h2>A colourful life</h2> As a young man, the real Cyrano was taught by the idiosyncratic polymath <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/gassendi/">Pierre Gassendi</a> and mixed in free-thinking “libertine” circles. He was known to spend time with writers such as Paul Scarron and Tristan l’Hermite. It’s even believed that perhaps at the fringes of these circles was the great comic playwright Molière. <iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OAXX-tr0gzg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> In his short life, Cyrano proved himself to be a talented and adaptable writer. He never settled down to one genre for long (tragedy, comedy, letters, fiction and more) but maintained a strong intellectually satirical vein throughout. The impressive verbal ingenuity we see in Rostand’s play is also reflected in Cyrano’s various writings, perhaps most cruelly in his witty <a href="https://www2.unil.ch/ncd17/index.php?extractCode=1643">fat-shaming</a> of the actor known as Montfleury. <h2>A would-be astronaut</h2> The real Cyrano was very adept at self-construction and even self-mythologisation. As a young soldier, he fostered rumours that he had routed 100 attackers at once. He claimed some symbolic kinship to classical heroes and warriors by styling himself “Hercule” de Bergerac. Unsurprisingly, both these elements find their way into Rostand’s play. <iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5e8apSFDXsQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> While the persona Cyrano adopts for himself as protagonist and narrator of his philosophical novel <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comical_History_of_the_States_and_Empires_of_the_Moon">L’Autre monde</a> is somewhat more modest and cryptic (the name of its hero “Dyrcona”, a near-anagram for Cyrano). The first-person, pseudo-autobiographical fiction he spins here is even more outlandish. In this tale of adventure and daring, he claims to have travelled through outer space to visit the Moon and the Sun and to have conversed with the curious inhabitants of both. As well as inspiring a scene in Rostand’s play, the novel also anticipates the various philosophical travel narratives of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_Letters">Montesquieu</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/eight-surprising-things-its-time-you-knew-about-gullivers-travels-88061">Jonathan Swift</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/guide-to-the-classics-voltaires-candide-a-darkly-satirical-tale-of-human-folly-in-times-of-crisis-157131">Voltaire</a> in the following century. Indeed, Dyrcona’s discussions with his various otherworldly interlocutors cover a range of theological, scientific, political, philosophical, and “libertine” topics – from theories of atomism to biblical accuracy, from cannibalistic orgies to the existence of God. Knowing that the text was philosophically and theologically contentious, he did not publish the work during his lifetime. It was published in a heavily sanitised version entitled Histoire comique (Comical Story) in 1657. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440450/original/file-20220112-25-70qd7h.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" alt="Illustration of Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac." /> Portrait of playwright Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrano_de_Bergerac#/media/File:Savinien_de_Cyrano_de_Bergerac.JPG" class="source">Wikimedia</a> L’Autre monde remains Cyrano’s most popular work and has various quirks to interest the modern reader. Among other things, the novel anticipates caravans (some moon-dwellers own mobile houses) and audiobooks (small boxes which read chapters out loud). Some of Cyrano’s other fabrications are rather more fantastic: hunting weapons that simultaneously cook the game they shoot, intercontinental flight with the help of bottles of evaporating dew, musical communication, and poetry as a means of currency. One of the most suggestive moments of the novel for many comes when the moon-dwellers explain how a large nose is the marker of someone “spiritual, courtly, affable, noble-minded, [and] liberal”. This leads us back to Cyrano’s actual nose: was it purely Rostand’s invention? Yes and no. Contemporary illustrations of Cyrano show him to be relatively well-endowed nasally but never quite reaching the grotesque extremes we find in Rostand. Even so, in his overall encapsulation of Cyrano’s swagger, ebullience, and creative verve, it is fair to say that Rostand’s depiction was very much on the nose.<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; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174811/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/joseph-harris-1306409">Joseph Harris</a>, Professor of Early Modern French and Comparative Literature, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/royal-holloway-university-of-london-795">Royal Holloway University of London</a> 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/beyond-cyrano-de-bergeracs-nose-the-real-man-behind-the-swashbuckling-hero-174811">original article</a>. Image: Universal Pictures

Movies

Five themed cruisers for 2022 and beyond

<ol> <li>Meow meow | A cruise for cat lovers</li> </ol> Cat-obsessed cruise goers, unfortunately, cannot bring their cats on this cruise. But what they can do is meet like-minded people to chat about and share photos of their favourite furry feline friends. Activities on this cat-themed cruise include trivia, a scavenger hunt and a cocktail party. <ul> <li>Date: 27 October 2022</li> <li>Destination: Mexico</li> <li>Cruise Line: Carnival</li> <li>Ship: Paradise</li> </ul> You can learn more about this <a href="https://meowmeowcruise.com/">cruise here.</a> <ol start="2"> <li>Scrap booking cruise | For those who love to scrapbook </li> </ol> Cruise and Crop is a cruise company offering scrapbooking cruises where guests can enjoy making scrapbooks together. But the fun doesn’t stop there! On certain cruises, you can also try your hand at card making, embroidery, knitting, jewellery making and other crafts. <ul> <li>Date: 17 dates in 2022</li> <li>Destination: Various</li> <li>Cruise Line: Royal Caribbean</li> <li>Ship: Various </li> </ul> Learn more about this <a href="https://www.cruiseandcrop.com/">cruise here.</a> <ol start="3"> <li>Knitting cruise | A cruise for those who love to knit</li> </ol> Craft Cruises offers a range of cruises where craft lovers can get together to improve their knitting skills will classes and workshops. On-board knitting instructors will advise guests about any local yarn stores in the ports of call. As well as knitting, Craft Cruises also offers cruises themed around crocheting, needlepoint, hand spinning and beading. <ul> <li>Date: 9 dates in 2022</li> <li>Destination: Various</li> <li>Cruise Line: Holland America Line</li> <li>Ship: Various</li> </ul> Learn more about this <a href="http://www.craftcruises.com/">cruise here</a>. <ol start="4"> <li>The 80’s cruise | For those who want to relive a slice of the 80s</li> </ol> The 80s Cruise is a non-stop all-inclusive concert with 20 bands including The Human League and Belinda Carlisle. Guests can enjoy parties on the pool deck and themed costume parties such as the ‘Decade of Decadence Prom’ and ‘Pop Icon Night’. <ul> <li>Date: 5 March 2022</li> <li>Destination:Caribbean</li> <li>Cruise Line: Royal Caribbean</li> <li>Ship: Mariner of the Seas</li> </ul> Learn more about this <a href="https://www.the80scruise.com">cruise here.</a> <ol start="5"> <li>The country music cruise | For those who love country music </li> </ol> Get your stetsons ready for The Country Music Cruise – a themed party at sea with nightly country music performances and the chance to meet the stars. Country music fans can enjoy seminars, autograph sessions, line dancing and country karaoke. <ul> <li>Date: 22 January 2023</li> <li>Destination:Caribbean</li> <li>Cruise Line: Holland America Line</li> <li>Ship: Nieuw Amsterdam</li> </ul> Learn more about this <a href="https://countrymusiccruise.com/">cruise here.</a>

Cruising

How COVID-19 changed the way we shop – and what to expect in 2022 and beyond

COVID-19 has dramatically changed how businesses and consumers behave. We’ve seen panic buying, the rise of the “homebody economy” and a strong shift towards contactless shopping. As we emerge from the worst of the pandemic, it seems the right time to reflect on the most important changes in consumer behaviour we’ve seen, and to make some predictions about COVID-19’s lasting and pervasive effects on how we shop. Pandemic purchasing One of the first impacts of COVID-19 was supermarket shelves being repeatedly stripped of <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/a-toilet-paper-run-is-like-a-bank-run-the-economic-fixes-are-about-the-same-133065" target="_blank">toilet paper and other products</a> ahead of lockdowns. One debate this behaviour sparked was about how much it could be considered irrational <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/psychology-can-explain-why-coronavirus-drives-us-to-panic-buy-it-also-provides-tips-on-how-to-stop-134032" target="_blank">panic buying</a> – or if it was rational to <a rel="noopener" href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.05.028" target="_blank">stockpile</a> in response to the irrational behaviour of others. It was a real-life lesson in game theory. Decisions that make perfect sense for individuals can add up to a bad outcome for the community. Spending less, spending more Spending more money at the supermarket was at least possible. Consumption patterns changed significantly due to closed borders, restricted shopping, stay-at-home orders and general uncertainty. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows large drops in spending on transport, accommodation, recreation and entertainment services, and catering. Individual services consumption, 2020 <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437167/original/file-20211213-21-yaa52g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437167/original/file-20211213-21-yaa52g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Individual services consumption by select categories, 2020." /></a> Percentage change in household services consumption by select categories per quarter 2020. <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/insights-household-consumption-december-quarter-2020" target="_blank" class="source">ABS, Insights into household consumption, December quarter 2020</a> Spending on food increased marginally, and on alcohol even more. The main reasons cited for increased drinking, according <a rel="noopener" href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17249189" target="_blank">to one study</a>, were stress (45.7%), increased alcohol availability (34.4%) and boredom (30.1%). Individual goods consumption, 2020 <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437170/original/file-20211213-21-mpsqit.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437170/original/file-20211213-21-mpsqit.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Individual goods consumption, 2020" /></a> Percentage change in household goods consumption by select categories per quarter 2020. <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/insights-household-consumption-december-quarter-2020" target="_blank" class="source">ABS, Insights into household consumption, December quarter 2020</a> Spending also increased on home-related electronics, <a rel="noopener" href="https://app.content.deloitte.com.au/e/er?s=1192815365&lid=14989&elqTrackId=BDCA277B6E6DA734D62B2FA4F09A5680&elq=&elqaid=3147&elqat=2" target="_blank">streaming services</a>, furnishings, hardware and <a rel="noopener" href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11113101" target="_blank">pet-related items</a>. Interest increased in traditional activities such as <a rel="noopener" href="https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-10-2020-0949" target="_blank">cooking</a>, <a rel="noopener" href="http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/8857-australian-magazine-print-readership-and-cross-platform-audiences-september-2021-202111220401" target="_blank">reading</a> and <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-23/pandemic-gardening-in-times-of-crisis-will-it-continue/100462576" target="_blank">gardening</a>. It is too early to tell to what extent these pandemic-driven shifts will translate into permanent behavioural change. However, research <a rel="noopener" href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2021.103953" target="_blank">published last month</a>, based on surveying 7,500 households in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain, supports the likelihood of at least some long-term sectoral shifts in consumer behaviour. Predictions of a shopping splurge As <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/no-more-lockdowns-international-borders-could-open-sooner-perrottet-20211007-p58y7x.html" target="_blank">restrictions relax</a>, some marketing experts are predicting “<a rel="noopener" href="https://www.thedrum.com/news/2021/09/17/australian-consumers-go-revenge-spending-sprees-once-covid-19-restrictions-are" target="_blank">revenge spending</a>” – shopping sprees with abandon. Certainly many higher-income households have the money to splash out on a holiday, or new car, or home renovation, with Australians banking an estimated <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/consumers-sitting-on-140b-post-pandemic-war-chest-20210730-p58eh3" target="_blank">A$140 billion in extra savings</a> during the pandemic. Other research, such as the National Australia Bank’s quarterly <a rel="noopener" href="https://business.nab.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/NAB-Consumer-Sentiment-Survey-Q3-2021.pdf" target="_blank">Consumer Sentiment Survey</a>, suggests the pandemic has engendered greater caution. In its most recent survey, 37% said they were mindful or careful of where they spent their money (42% of women and 33% of men). In terms of purchasing influences, 43% nominated supporting local businesses, compared with 15% environmental issues and 14% social concerns such as labour practices. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437363/original/file-20211213-27-kcqcn8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="In NAB's consumer sentiment survey 43% said their purchases were influenced by the desire to support local business." /> In NAB’s consumer sentiment survey 43% said their purchases were influenced by the desire to support local business. Shutterstock Some <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/will-the-end-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-usher-in-a-second-roaring-20s-159017" target="_blank">have wondered</a> if, in the wake of COVID-19, we are about to experience another “Roaring Twenties” – emulating that period of economic prosperity and cultural dynamism in the 1920s following the deprivations of the first world war and the “Spanish flu” epidemic. The circumstances are not exactly analogous. But new technologies and changes in habits are likely to drive several long-term changes in the way we shop. Going contactless Our desire to reduce physical contact accelerated contactless payment methods. Research (from the Netherlands) suggests this will, for most, <a rel="noopener" href="https://econpapers.repec.org/paper/dnbdnbwpp/701.htm" target="_blank">be a permanent change</a>, accelerating a steady decline in the use of cash for shopping. ATM cash withdrawals using debit cards <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393749/original/file-20210407-13-vei244.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393749/original/file-20210407-13-vei244.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> Monthly, seasonally adjusted. <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.rba.gov.au/statistics/tables/xls/c04hist.xlsx" target="_blank" class="source">Reserve Bank of Australia</a> Technology enabling payments using smartphones, such as supermarkets introducing a way to pay by <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/woolworths-coles-and-big-banks-introduce-new-way-to-pay/news-story/78aa9368f17330cf5d7b0c8299317c94" target="_blank">scanning a QR code</a>, will contribute to this shift. Ways to buy things without ever having to step inside a shop – such as curbside pick-up and home delivery – should also continue. In 2021 we’ve seen a number of startup businesses promising grocery deliveries <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/start-up-services-grocery-delivery-15-minutes-sydney-melbourne/d392902b-1458-4b4f-ad66-7979a58a7475" target="_blank">in 15 minutes</a>. “Omni” experiences Increasingly our buying behaviour will be shaped by what marketing experts call <a rel="noopener" href="https://nielseniq.com/global/en/insights/analysis/2020/its-time-to-think-omnichannel-shopper-not-just-omnichannel/" target="_blank">omnichannel shopping</a> – a fancy word meaning using a variety of experiences to make a purchase. You might, for instance, go into a store to try out headphones, then go online to read third-party reviews and compare prices from different retailers. Technologies such as <a rel="noopener" href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102720" target="_blank">augmented reality</a> will facilitate this trend. For example, IKEA’s <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.ikea.com/au/en/customer-service/mobile-apps/say-hej-to-ikea-place-pub1f8af050" target="_blank">Place</a> app allows you to see how furnishing will into your space. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437212/original/file-20211213-25-1y3ewzx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="IKEA's 'Place' app." /> IKEA’s ‘Place’ app. IKEA More and more what were once physical experiences will have their digital variants, from attending university to having an appointment with a health professional to taking a <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UymdMZwF2kE" target="_blank">tour of the British Museum</a> or <a rel="noopener" href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/407710/The_Grand_Canyon_VR_Experience/" target="_blank">exploring the Grand Canyon</a>. Though these cannot replicate the real experience, they will be an increasingly common way to “try before you buy”. The future of shopping will gradually merge the digital and physical. But whatever changes, some things will remain constant: the human desire to make experiences convenient, fun and meaningful.<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; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172973/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/adrian-r-camilleri-200583" target="_blank">Adrian R. Camilleri</a>, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-technology-sydney-936" target="_blank">University of Technology Sydney</a> This article is republished from <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/how-covid-19-changed-the-way-we-shop-and-what-to-expect-in-2022-and-beyond-172973" target="_blank">original article</a>.

Money & Banking

13 genius ways to use cooking spray that go way beyond the kitchen

Bet you didn’t have a clue cooking spray was so versatile. Grating cheese Put less elbow grease into grating cheese by using a non-stick cooking spray on your cheese grater for smoother grating. The spray also makes for easier and faster clean-up. Prevent tomato sauce stains Sick of those hard-to-clean tomato sauce stains on your plastic containers? To prevent them, apply a light coating of non-stick cooking spray on the inside of the container before you pour in the tomato sauce. Keep car wheels clean You know that fine black stuff that collects on the wheels of your car and is so hard to clean off? That’s brake dust – it’s produced every time you apply your brakes and the pads wear against the brake disks or cylinders. The next time you invest the elbow grease to get your wheels shiny, give them a light coating of cooking spray. The brake dust will wipe right off. Lubricate your bicycle chain Bike chain a bit creaky and you don’t have any lubricating oil handy? Give it a shot of non-stick cooking spray instead. Don’t use too much – the chain shouldn’t look wet. Wipe off the excess with a clean rag. Cure door squeaks Heard that door squeak just one time too many? Hit the hinge with some non-stick cooking spray. Have paper towels handy to wipe up the drips. Remove paint and grease Forget smelly solvents to remove paint and grease from your hands. Instead, use cooking spray to do the job. Work it in well and rinse. Wash again with soap and water. Dry nail polish Need your nail polish to dry in a hurry? Spray it with a coat of cooking spray and let dry. The spray is also a great moisturiser for your hands. Quick casting Pack a can of cooking spray when you go fishing. Spray it on your fishing line and the line will cast easier and further. Prevent grass sticking Mowing the lawn should be easy, but cleaning cut grass from the mower is tedious. Prevent grass from sticking on mower blades and the underside of the housing by spraying them with cooking oil before you begin mowing. Lubricate your locks Tired of jiggling your keys in your locks? If you deal with a tough lock interior or sticky keys, try using a few sprays of cooking oil. The oil will help slide your key in and get you through the door much easier. Say bye to soap scum Spray your shower door with cooking oil and stubborn soap scum will come right off when you wipe it with a towel. Oil breaks down lime deposits so that’s why it removes easily. After a few swipes with a towel, clean the surface to maximise the cleanliness. Coat measuring cups The next time a recipe calls for a sticky ingredient such as honey, coat your measuring cups with oil so your quantity is exact and will slide right out when pouring it into your mixture. Remove gum from your hair Having gum in your hair is a nightmare. Before you start freaking out or think you need scissors to chop it out, try spraying the gum with cooking spray. It should loosen it up enough to the point where it will slide right out. Written by Christina Farah. This article first appeared in <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.readersdigest.co.nz/food-home-garden/diy-tips/13-genius-ways-to-use-cooking-spray-that-go-way-beyond-the-kitchen" target="_blank">Reader’s Digest</a>. For more of what you love from the world’s best-loved magazine, <a rel="noopener" href="http://readersdigest.innovations.co.nz/c/readersdigestemailsubscribe?utm_source=over60&utm_medium=articles&utm_campaign=RDSUB&keycode=WRA87V" target="_blank">here’s our best subscription offer.</a> Image: Getty Images <img style="width: 100px !important; height: 100px !important;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7820640/1.png" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/f30947086c8e47b89cb076eb5bb9b3e2" />

Home Hints & Tips

Beyond Bluey: why adults love re-watching Australian kids’ TV from their childhoods

Due to the COVID-19 extended lockdowns this year, as well as greater accessibility on streaming services, many adults have been returning to their childhoods via nostalgic kids’ TV viewing. As part of our research project, <a href="https://www.actcresearch.com/">Australian Children’s Television Cultures</a>, we surveyed over 600 adults about their viewing habits — and it turns out some viewers never forget the joy of the television shows that they raced home to watch after school. Many survey participants confessed they had simply never stopped watching children’s shows in the first place. Australia’s own <a href="https://actf.com.au/news/view/17433/7-australian-kidsa-tv-shows-that-parents-will-love">Dance Academy (2010-2013)</a> was frequently mentioned in the responses as a show that even adult viewers “can watch… anytime and feel connected with,” as one respondent put it. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427087/original/file-20211018-18-l9c9vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427087/original/file-20211018-18-l9c9vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="The cast of Dance Academy." /></a> Australia’s Dance Academy (2010-2013) is popular with adults today. IMDB <h2>Streaming Nostalgia</h2> For those who didn’t keep their old VHS tapes or DVDs, it has been the advent of streaming services, from YouTube to Netflix, that has enabled viewers to rediscover their cherished kids’ shows of old. Nearly two thirds of adult respondents have revisited Australian children’s shows in recent years, most often via online clips and streaming services. In our survey, <a href="https://theconversation.com/round-the-twists-fans-grew-up-and-their-love-for-the-show-grew-with-them-167695">Round the Twist (1989-2001)</a> emerged as the favourite Australian children’s television show to revisit, with Lift Off! (1992-1995), Lockie Leonard (2007-2010) and <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/culture/tv-and-radio/there-s-a-55-year-old-bear-in-there-happy-birthday-play-school-20210708-p587xr.html">Play School (1966-)</a> also highly placed. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427090/original/file-20211018-38329-zawqys.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427090/original/file-20211018-38329-zawqys.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> Lift Off! (1992-1995) is a popular show for adults to find clips from on YouTube. IMDB <a href="https://actf.com.au/news/view/18318/14-ozkidstv-series-to-stream-on-netflix">Netflix has licensed a swathe of Australian kids shows</a>, among them Round the Twist and Lockie Leonard. Our survey showed that these classic programs not only turn up as recommendations on Netflix kids’ profiles, but in adults’ recommendations as well, whether or not they have children. Indeed, <a href="https://cstonline.net/family-watch-together-tv-netflix-and-the-dark-intergenerational-fantasy-by-djoymi-baker-jessica-balanzategui-and-diana-sandars/">Netflix has been keen to license and commission nostalgic content</a> with intergenerational appeal. While there’s nothing new about adults getting swept up in nostalgia for childhood viewing, the streaming era has made it even easier to pass on these family viewing traditions. <h2>Kids’ shows in lockdown</h2> The heightened nostalgic urge to <a href="https://cstonline.net/reuniting-with-friends-during-a-pandemic-by-simone-knox-and-kai-hanno-schwind/">return to old TV shows</a> has also been linked to the COVID-19 lockdowns many of us have recently been through, or indeed are still experiencing. In our survey, many respondents mentioned the lockdown made them more likely to revisit children’s TV from their youth. As one survey respondent noted, “in these strange and chaotic COVID-19 times, I’ve been really feeding into the nostalgia.” Nostalgia emerged as a term in 1688 to describe a <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/08/when-nostalgia-was-a-disease/278648/">disease</a> primarily associated with soldiers longing to return home, even though upon their return, home was never quite the same. The word itself reflected this bittersweet combination, forged from the Greek nostos (homecoming) and algos (pain). In popular culture, nostalgia is frequently associated with warm and fuzzy feelings, but, as <a href="https://newleftreview.org/issues/ii14/articles/timothy-bewes-an-anatomy-of-nostalgia.pdf">Svetlana Boym influentially suggests</a>, nostalgia is also a type of grieving for a past that has been lost. Returning to kids’ TV is a way of both grieving for and celebrating our own <a href="https://library.oapen.org/viewer/web/viewer.html?file=/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/25965/1004118.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">past childhood</a>, as well as a pre-COVID world we used to enjoy. In other words, nostalgia is not as simple as we might at first assume. <h2>Family viewing</h2> Our survey responses indicate families have been uniting across the divide of lockdown restrictions and closed borders to watch old kids’ TV shows together: “In lockdown, it’s provided a connection point for my family” by rewatching Round the Twist and <a href="https://actf.com.au/education-programs/id/188/">Sky Trackers (1994)</a>, one respondent noted. They explained, “we talk about what we remember, and tell jokes about it consistently through messaging services.” Not only parents but also grandparents and babysitters revealed they enjoy sharing beloved shows from their childhood with the next generation. This strategy <a href="https://cstonline.net/intergenerational-spectatorship-doctor-who-at-the-beach-by-djoymi-baker/">isn’t always successful</a> given tastes and expectations have changed, with today’s kids finding some old shows “bonkers” or describing the special effects as dated. As one parent from the survey notes, “having children now, I want to show them some of the shows I loved (whether they like it or not!)” Many of our survey participants discussed this shared viewing across generations, but also just among other adults. So as it happens, kids’ TV isn’t just for kids. <h2>Unifying a generation</h2> Beyond family members, our participants are finding connections with their own generation on social media through old kids’ shows they still enjoy. Even young adults are already feeling nostalgic. “I have loved <a href="https://punkee.com.au/h20-just-add-water-tiktok/77899">watching on TikTok people recreating some of the iconic scenes</a>” from H2O: Just Add Water (2006-2010) and Blue Water High (2005-2008), one participant told us. They explained, “When scrolling through the comments of these videos there’s often hundreds of other young Australians that relate as they had the same fond memories of these shows which I feel unites us.” <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427091/original/file-20211018-22-105e8dz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427091/original/file-20211018-22-105e8dz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> H2O: Just Add Water (2006-2010 has become a popular worldwide meme on TikTok, and has spurred many people to revisit the series. IMdB With so much content now spread across broadcasting, cable and streaming television services, it’s uncertain whether today’s kids’ TV will offer this same sense of <a href="https://www.flowjournal.org/2020/03/streaming-comes-across-the-sky/">communal nostalgia</a> to future generations — though <a href="https://theconversation.com/an-idealised-australian-ethos-why-bluey-is-an-audience-favourite-even-for-adults-without-kids-168571">Bluey (2018-)</a> is surely a contender. Bluey is already the focus of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/blueyfanmemes/">popular memes</a> and a successful <a href="http://www.blueypod.com/">recap podcast</a>, so perhaps the show is a contemporary vehicle for adult viewers’ nostalgia about growing up in Australia, albeit in a new guise. Ultimately, our research indicates that engaging nostalgically with kids’ TV has been an important means of social connection during the pandemic, both between adults and within and across different generations. Although nostalgia was initially defined as a ‘disease’, today it is combating the division the pandemic has created, with locked down audiences using streaming services to reconnect with their favourite kids’ TV and each other.<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; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169727/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/djoymi-baker-1269345">Djoymi Baker</a>, Lecturer in Cinema Studies, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jessica-balanzategui-814024">Jessica Balanzategui</a>, Senior Lecturer in Cinema and Screen Studies, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/swinburne-university-of-technology-767">Swinburne University of Technology</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/joanna-mcintyre-333903">Joanna McIntyre</a>, Lecturer in Media Studies, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/swinburne-university-of-technology-767">Swinburne University of Technology</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/liam-burke-109751">Liam Burke</a>, Associate Professor and Cinema and Screen Studies Discipline Leader, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/swinburne-university-of-technology-767">Swinburne University of Technology</a> 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/beyond-bluey-why-adults-love-re-watching-australian-kids-tv-from-their-childhoods-169727">original article</a>.

"Moved beyond words": Prince Charles reflects on UK COVID pandemic

<div class="post_body_wrapper"> <div class="post_body"> <div class="body_text redactor-styles redactor-in"> Prince Charles has been "moved beyond words" as he released a video message marking the National Day of Reflection in the UK. The National Day of Reflection marks one year since the first COVID-19 lockdown started in the UK and honours the 126,000 lives lost since the start of the pandemic with a minute silence at midday UK time. The Prince of Wales has battled coronavirus himself in April and paid tribute to the communities across the UK that have banded together and sacrificed for others. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> One year on since the UK went into lockdown, The Prince of Wales, as Patron of <a href="https://twitter.com/mariecurieuk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mariecurieuk</a>, shares a message to mark this <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DayOfReflection?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DayOfReflection</a>. 🌼 <a href="https://t.co/sRY7Ba6Czy">pic.twitter.com/sRY7Ba6Czy</a> — The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (@ClarenceHouse) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClarenceHouse/status/1374283438434443267?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 23, 2021</a></blockquote> "We have all been inspired by the resourcefulness we have witnessed, humbled by the dedication shown by so many, and moved, beyond words, by the sacrifices we have seen," he said in the clip. "Whatever our faith or philosophy may be, let us take a moment together to remember those who have been lost, to give thanks for their lives, and to acknowledge the inexpressible pain of parting. "In their memory, let us resolve to work for a future inspired by our highest values, that have been displayed so clearly by the people of this country through this most challenging of times." The video message was recorded on behalf of the Marie Curie Foundation where Prince Charles is the royal patron. The charity estimates six million people have been bereaved since the beginning of the pandemic. "Many people who are grieving say the support they receive from their friends and family is one of the things that helps them get through," the charity said, adding: "Don't be afraid to reach out." </div> </div> </div>

Caring

From coronavirus tests to open-source insulin and beyond, ‘biohackers’ are showing the power of DIY science

In March, amateur scientists in Sydney announced they had created a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-25/amateur-scientist-making-a-rapid-test-for-coronavirus/12084974">COVID-19 test kit</a> that is simpler, faster, and cheaper than existing tests. While the test has not yet been approved by regulators, if effective it could play a role in scaling up the world’s coronavirus testing capability. The test’s creators, associated with a “community lab for citizen scientists” called <a href="https://foundry.bio/">Biofoundry</a>, are part of a growing international movement of “biohackers” with roots stretching back <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg12516984-100-forum-roses-are-black-violets-are-green-the-emergence-of-amateur-genetic-engineers/">30 years or more</a>. Biohacking, also known as DIY biology, takes cues from computer-hacking culture and uses the tools of biological science and biotechnology to carry out experiments and make tools outside any formal research institution. Who’s afraid of biohacking? But biohacking is under threat as governments, wary of potential risks, pass laws to restrict it. A more balanced approach is needed, for the benefit of science and society. As biohacking has gained increased visibility, it has also attracted increased scrutiny. Media coverage has played up the risks of biohacking, whether <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20130124-biohacking-fear-and-the-fbi">from malice</a> (“bioterror”) or <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-29/autopsy-reveals-biohacker-traywick-died-from-accidental-drowning">by accident</a> (“bioerror”). Local and national governments have also sought to legislate against the practice. In August 2019, politicians in California <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/8/13/20802059/california-crispr-biohacking-illegal-josiah-zayner">introduced a law</a> that forbids the use of CRISPR gene-editing kits outside professional labs. Australia has some of the world’s most stringent regulations, with the <a href="http://www.ogtr.gov.au/internet/ogtr/publishing.nsf/Content/9AA09BB4515EBAA2CA257D6B00155C53/%24File/06%20-%20Biohacking%20and%20community%20science.pdf">Office of the Gene Technology Regulator</a> monitoring the use of genetically modified organisms and risks to public health and safety. Some authorities have gone so far as to arrest biohackers on <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/22/nyregion/22bioart.html">suspicion of bioterrorism</a>. But such anxieties around biohacking are largely unfounded. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWEpeW7Ojzs">Ellen Jorgensen</a>, co-founder of the <a href="https://www.genspace.org/">Genspace</a> community lab in New York, argues that such responses overestimate the abilities biohackers and underestimate their ethical standards. <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/seven-myths-and-realities-about-do-it-yourself-biology-0">Research shows</a> shows the great majority of biohackers (92%) work within community laboratories, many of which operate under the <a href="https://diybio.org/codes/">Ethical Code for Safe Amateur Bioscience</a> drawn up by the community in 2011. Connoisseurs of science One way to think of biohackers is as what the Belgian philosopher Isabelle Stengers calls <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Another_Science_is_Possible.html?id=e1hHDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false">“connoisseurs of science”</a>. Somewhere between an expert and an amateur, a connoisseur is able to relate to scientific knowledge and practice in an informed way, but can also pose new questions that scientists are unable to. Connoisseurs can hold scientists to account and challenge them when they skip over concerns. They highlight how science might be done better. Like other pursuits such as music or sport, science can benefit from a strong and vibrant culture of connoisseurs. Biohackers are an important node in the relationship between science institutions and wider society. Stengers highlights how it is not enough for there to be a relationship between science and society. It is the nature and quality of this relationship that matters. A two-way relationship Traditional models of science communication assume a one-way relationship between science and society at large, with scientists transmitting knowledge to a public who passively receive it. Biohackers instead engage people as active participants in the production and transformation of scientific knowledge. Biohacking labs like BioFoundry and Genspace encourage hands-on engagement with biotechnologies through classes and open workshops, as well as projects on local environmental pollution. Biohackers are also making discoveries that advance our understanding of current scientific problems. From devising coronavirus tests to making science equipment out of <a href="https://hackteria.org/wiki/DIY_microscopy">everyday items</a> and producing <a href="https://openinsulin.org/">open-source insulin</a>, biohackers are reshaping the sense of where scientific innovation happens. From law to ethics While biohacking can produce great benefits, the risks can’t be neglected. The question is how best to address them. While laws and regulations are necessary to prevent malicious or dangerous practice, their overuse can also push biohackers underground to tinker in the shadows. Bringing biohackers into the fold of existing institutions is another approach, although this could threaten the ability of biohackers to pose tough questions. In addition to law, ethical guidelines and codes drawn up by the biohacking community themselves offer a productive way forward. For Stengers, an “ethical” relationship is not based on the domination or capture of one group by another. It instead involves symbiotic modes of engagement in which practices flourish together and transform each other. A balance between law and ethics is necessary. The <a href="https://diybio.org/codes/">2011 code of ethics</a> drawn up by biohackers in North America and Europe is a first step toward what a more open, transparent, and respectful culture of collaboration could look like. In the US we have seen experiments with a more <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5278613/">open and symbiotic relationship</a> between the FBI and the biohacking community in recent years. But this is just the beginning of a conversation that is in danger of stalling. There is much to lose if it does. Written by Andrew Lapworth. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-coronavirus-tests-to-open-source-insulin-and-beyond-biohackers-are-showing-the-power-of-diy-science-138019">The Conversation.</a>

Caring

Federer and Nadal go above and beyond at Aussie Open's Rally for Relief

The tennis world has dug deep to raise a staggering $4.8 million for bushfire victims in a night of thrilling entertainment at the Rally for Relief which took place at Rod Laver Arena. The man behind the groundbreaking initiative was none other than Aussie’s own Nick Kyrgios, who was completely overcome with emotion after the total figure of $4,826,014 was revealed to him on court. The crowd in Melbourne was thrilled as he went head-to-head with Roger Federer in a one-set finale that was the highlight on the night. “I just got goosebumps when you said that number,” said Kyrgios. “It’s been an emotional couple of weeks. I just wanted to send a message, I just had to do it so I wrote the Tweet. “The whole Aussie team got behind it and I woke up the next day and it exploded, it was so emotional. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"> "It's been an emotional couple of weeks," says <a href="https://twitter.com/NickKyrgios?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NickKyrgios</a>.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Rally4Relief?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Rally4Relief</a> To contribute: <a href="https://t.co/a3qgsExZQj">https://t.co/a3qgsExZQj</a> <a href="https://t.co/RKvhFLyscU">pic.twitter.com/RKvhFLyscU</a> — #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) <a href="https://twitter.com/AustralianOpen/status/1217393053138288640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 15, 2020</a></blockquote> “Back home at Canberra I couldn’t even go outside (due to the smoke), it was hard and I’m just so happy that we had Roger, Rafa, Novak – some of the greats – to get behind this.” The one-off special event saw some of the biggest names in tennis taking part, including Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams, who donated their time to encourage support for charities helping deal with the bushfire crisis. The night was enjoyed by many, as the atmosphere was lighthearted with 12 players competing in a series of jovial matches and challenges to help raise money for the natural disaster. Spanish favourite Nadal also made a major announcement, revealing that he and Federer had donated a cumulative $250,000 from their own pockets after chatting earlier in the day. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"> "Talking with Roger, we decided to give $250,000 together." 👏 👏 👏 👏<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Rally4Relief?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Rally4Relief</a> To contribute: <a href="https://t.co/9RPgZ7cBoB">https://t.co/9RPgZ7cBoB</a> <a href="https://t.co/ocdiw8D0if">pic.twitter.com/ocdiw8D0if</a> — #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) <a href="https://twitter.com/AustralianOpen/status/1217378578188447745?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 15, 2020</a></blockquote> “Talking with Roger a couple of hours ago we decided to give $250,000 Australian dollars to the bushfire relief together,” he said. “Hopefully that can keep inspiring people to support this terrible disaster that we were going through and helps to recover all the things that we need (sic).” Later in the night, a Victorian firefighter had her dreams come true after she was given the chance to play with Nadal himself for an epic doubles match. Deb, a member of the Stuart Mill fire brigade, revealed on air that for the last few weeks she has been involved in battling fires in the crisis gripping the country. She admitted that it had been a very difficult time, as she witnessed neighbourhoods and wildlife being destroyed due to the fires. "We're there trying to make all the farmers feel safe while they go about their business."

Money & Banking

You’re not the only one feeling helpless: Eco-anxiety can reach far beyond bushfire communities

You’re scrolling through your phone and transfixed by yet more images of streets reduced to burnt debris, injured wildlife, and maps showing the scale of the fires continuing to burn. On the television in the background, a woman who has lost her home breaks down, while news of another life lost flashes across the screen. You can’t bear to watch anymore, but at the same time, you can’t tear yourself away. Sound familiar? We’ve now been confronted with these tragic images and stories for months. Even if you haven’t been directly affected by the bushfires, it’s completely normal to feel sad, helpless, and even anxious. Beyond despairing about the devastation so many Australians are facing, some of these emotions are likely to be symptoms of “<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/b2e7ee32-ad28-4ec4-89aa-a8b8c98f95a5">eco-anxiety</a>”. If you’re feeling down, you’re not alone Research on <a href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/black-saturday-the-hidden-costs">previous bushfire disasters</a> shows people directly affected are more likely to suffer mental health consequences than those who have not been directly affected. After Black Saturday, about one in five people living in highly affected communities experienced persistent post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression or psychological distress. Recognising this as a critical issue, the Australian government has announced funding to deliver <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/health-topics/emergency-health-management/bushfire-information-and-support/australian-government-mental-health-response-to-bushfire-trauma">mental health support</a> to affected people and communities. Government of Victoria But living in an unaffected area doesn’t mean you’re immune. In addition to contending with rolling images and stories of devastation, we’ve seen flow-on effects of the bushfires reach far beyond affected areas. For example, schools and workplaces have been closed, people have been forced to cancel their summer holidays, and sports matches and community events have been called off. This disruption to normal activities can result in uncertainty and distress, particularly for children and young people. What is eco-anxiety? Distress around the current fires may be compounded by – and intertwined with – a pervasive sense of fear and anxiety in relation to climate change-related events. The American Psychological Association defines <a href="https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2017/03/mental-health-climate.pdf">eco-anxiety</a> as “a chronic fear of environmental doom”. While concern and anxiety around climate change are normal, eco-anxiety describes a state of being overwhelmed by the sheer scale, complexity and seriousness of the problems we’re facing. It can be accompanied by guilt for personal contributions to the problem. The Australian bushfires may have signalled a “tipping point” for many people who held a passive attitude towards climate change, and even many who have held a more active view of climate denialism. In the face of current circumstances, the crisis of climate change now becomes almost impossible to ignore. While eco-anxiety is not a diagnosable mental disorder, it can have significant impacts on a person’s well-being. Whether you think you’re suffering from eco-anxiety or more general stress and depression about the bushfires, here are some things you can do. We’re pretty resilient, but support helps We’re now living with the environmental consequences of a changing climate, and this requires people to adapt. Fortunately, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0004867417714337">most of us are innately resilient</a>and are able to overcome stress and losses and to live with uncertainty. We can enhance this resilience by connecting with friends and family and positively engaging in our communities. Making healthy choices around things like diet, exercise and sleep can also help. Further, supporting those who are vulnerable has benefits for both the person giving and receiving assistance. For example, parents have a critical role in listening to their children’s concerns and providing appropriate guidance. Become part of the solution Seeking to reduce your own carbon footprint can help alleviate feelings of guilt and helplessness – in addition to the positive difference these small actions make to the environment. This might include walking, cycling and taking public transport to get around, and making sustainability a factor in day-to-day decisions like what you buy and what you eat. Joining one of the many groups advocating for the environment also provides a voice for people concerned about the changing climate. Finally, there are many ways you can provide assistance to bushfire relief efforts. The generosity shown by Australians and others internationally has provided a sense of hope at a time when many are facing enormous hardship. Seeking professional help Some people, particularly those living with unrelated psychological distress, will find it harder to adapt to increased stress. Where their emotional resources are already depleted, it becomes more difficult to accommodate change. Although we don’t yet have research on this, it’s likely people with pre-existing mental health problems will be more vulnerable to eco-anxiety. If this is you, it’s worthwhile seeking professional help if you feel your mental health is deteriorating at this time. Whether or not you have a pre-existing mental health disorder, if you’re feeling depressed or anxious to a degree it’s affecting your work, education or social functioning, you should seek advice from a health professional. Evidence-based psychological interventions like cognitive behavioural therapy <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23870719">reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression</a>, improving mental health and well-being. If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14. Written by Fiona Charlson and James Graham Scott. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/youre-not-the-only-one-feeling-helpless-eco-anxiety-can-reach-far-beyond-bushfire-communities-129453">The Conversation.</a>

Caring

Prague and beyond: Travelling overseas

In a darkened cemetery beneath brooding skies, a crow picks at scraps beside a crooked tombstone. From outside, the chapel looks anything but remarkable; sandstone brick, arching stain glass windows, pointed spires stabbing skywards towards encroaching clouds. But once we step inside, it’s a whole other story. Stacks of human skulls and bones have been arranged into neat pyramids in every corner. An ornate chandelier fashioned entirely from human bones dangles from the ceiling like some macabre masterpiece from the chambers of Nosferatu. Evidence of death is all around and yet the scene has been arranged with such poise and delicacy, there’s a chilling beauty about it. My wife and I are at Sedlec Ossuary, a tiny Roman Catholic Chapel located in the picturesque town of Kutna Hora an hour east of Prague. Said to contain the skeletons of between 40,000 to 70,000 people who perished at war or at the hands of the plague, the modern incarnation was arranged by a woodcarver known as Frantisek Rint, in 1870. Surprisingly perhaps, the chapel now attracts some 200,000 visitors a year but it’s just one of many sights easily accessed from the Czech Republic’s celebrated capital, Prague. Heading back there by train, we enjoy exploring less ghoulish sights — Prague’s longstanding reputation as the jewel of Bohemia is not without good reason. Founded in the late 9th Century, the Czech capital is a sprawling city divided into ten districts, but its beautiful Old Town area is relatively compact and easily navigated by foot. It’s not hard to pass a couple of days simply roaming the Old Quarter with no set script, there’s so much to see. All that’s really required are a good pair of walking shoes and a keen eye for beauty. We begin at Old Town Square, a hub of historic churches, palaces and statues blending Gothic, Baroque and Art Nouveau architecture in impossibly beautiful picture-postcard fashion. Serving as Prague’s main market place for over 1000 years, the city’s nucleus is home to most of the major sights including the Gothic Tyn Church dating back to the 14th Century and the famous Astronomical Clock, the world’s oldest of its kind still in operation. Prague is not a city built in an orderly grid formation. In fact, much of its charm lies in the ramshackle nature of its layout. From the Old Town Square, a labyrinth of cobbled streets and side alleys snake off in all directions like tentacles from an octopus. Taking pot luck, we venture down many at random, only to be rewarded each time with a new discovery; a side alley beer hall with long wooden benches and tall glasses of Pilsner, a unique shop selling old photographic prints, even a slick restaurant in the underbelly of a church. It’s like a game of choose your own adventure. We continue exploring over several days, meandering the iconic Charles Bridge with its 30 statues exploring the vast courtyards of Prague Castle, even taking a historic cruise along the Vltava River for another perspective. Soon it’s time to head out of the city once more. Taking a train two and a half hours south, we arrive at the charming town of Cesky Krumlov at dusk. A dense Autumn fog shrouds the cobbled streets beside the rushing Vltava River, candles flicker outside the heavy oak doors of bars and restaurants, and it isn’t hard to imagine arriving here on horseback as a medieval knight. Built alongside the s-shaped contour of the Vltava River in the mid 12th Century, Cesky Krumlov has become one of Europe’s most celebrated small towns and in peak summer, the crowds certainly reflect its fame. Come in late Autumn or winter though and you’ll find the atmosphere infinitely more tranquil. In some ways, it’s as though someone pointed a miniaturising ray gun at Prague and zapped it into the town of Cesky Krumlov. The parallels are many; a perfectly preserved castle, an old town square, baroque and renaissance architecture and the Vltava River. Only here you can walk from one side of town to the other in about twenty minutes. Consequently, many travellers make the mistake of assuming this is a day trip from Prague. It isn’t. Stay at least a couple of nights. In spite of its compact size, there is so much to do here, though none of it requires copious amounts of planning, you can just make it up as you go along. The galleries are plentiful and you’ll want to linger longer in almost all of them. Without glancing at a guidebook, we watch live bears prowl the castle grounds, learn history at boutique museums, take a horseback ride through surrounding woodland, marvel at historic architecture, dine on hearty goulash dishes, and yes, drink more than our fair share of Pilsners. This is the beauty of travelling the Czech Republic – you don’t need an extensive checklist. Just turn up, do as the Czechs do, and the rest takes care of itself. Written by Guy Wilkinson. Republished with permission of <a href="https://www.mydiscoveries.com.au/stories/prague-and-beyond/">MyDiscoveries.</a>

Travel Tips

How to stay fit into your 60s and beyond

Ageing is inevitable and is influenced by many things – but keeping active can <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1365-2">slow ageing and increase life expectancy</a>. Evidence <a href="https://www.ukactive.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Reimagining_Ageing.pdf">shows</a> that ageing alone is not a cause of major problems until you are in your mid-90s. And strength, power and muscle mass <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24030238">can be increased</a>, even at this advanced age. So here are my top exercise tips for people in their 60s and older, at different levels of fitness. <h2>For lifetime fitness fanatics</h2> If you fall into this group, you are in the minority. You are <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ageing/article/43/1/10/24207">robust</a>, likely to be a “super-ager” and you are doing wonderfully. You are certainly <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3299702">optimising your chance of living longer and ageing successfully</a>. Generally, this is when you reap your reward from a lifetime of keeping active. With your <a href="https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/53/14/856">healthier metabolic, skeletal, cardiovascular and immune systems</a> you can <a href="https://www.who.int/ageing/healthy-ageing/en/">probably outperform people decades younger</a>. Keep up the kettlebells, spin classes, rowing, triathlons or manual work such as gardening – whatever you like to do. You can keep challenging yourself physically. Mix your routine up – a combination of aerobic and resistance work as well as an activity to challenge your balance is ideal. Maximise health benefits by swimming outdoors and as part of a community. You might want to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31610442">try sea swimming</a> – although it’s not for everybody. But watch out for chronic overloading, that is, diversify your exercise programme by incorporating cross-training. For example, if you are a runner, incorporate cycling or swimming to avoid overloading any part of your body. Recovery after strenuous exercise is <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01075989">slower as you age</a> and <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00839156">can take up to five days</a>. So exercise smart. <h2>For the averagely fit</h2> You are doing well, so keep going. Long-term consistency is the key for benefits. You don’t necessarily have to join a gym, just keep building meaningful physical activity into your day. For example, walk briskly to the shops to get your groceries, keep up gardening and be active around your house. Even repeating simple stair climbing is a great exercise. If you are suffering from hip or knee pain, walking may be painful, so try cycling or water-based exercise instead. Coupling <a href="https://bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12877-017-0584-3">physical activity with social engagement</a> can optimise its benefits, so try yoga or a dance class. Incorporate some <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ggi.12895">outdoor exercise</a> for an <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21291246">added mental health boost</a>. The main thing is to avoid long periods of sitting. Also, ideally, continue to do the exercise you enjoy. Try to steadily build up your level of aerobic exercise at a level where you <a href="https://health.gov/paguidelines/second-edition/pdf/Physical_Activity_Guidelines_2nd_edition.pdf">build up a sweat and feel slightly out of breath</a>. Often strengthening and flexibility exercises are neglected, so try to include these type of exercises where possible. <h2>For the unfit or unwell</h2> You may be managing complex chronic conditions, which make it more difficult to exercise. Or it may be that exercise is not a habit for you. If you have several chronic conditions, you may need clearance from a doctor to exercise and specialised exercise advice from a physiotherapist or other exercise professional. If you are experiencing three or more of the following: unplanned weight loss, exhaustion, slowness, weakness of grip and physical inactivity you may be considered <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/204046">frail</a>, which will leave you vulnerable to even minor health stresses. But it is never too late to build more physical activity into your daily life. Even reducing time spent sitting and doing a little exercise will have major health benefits, doing any type of activity at all is <a href="https://health.gov/paguidelines/second-edition/pdf/Physical_Activity_Guidelines_2nd_edition.pdf">better than none</a>. Even chair-based exercises or practising sit-to-stand can be a great start. Feeling a bit out of breath with exercise is normal and some initial aches and joint pain are fine. But if you ever feel chest pain or severe discomfort, you need to see a doctor straight away. If you have a set-back such as a chest infection or fall which results in a hospital admission, get up and moving as soon as is safely possible. Even a few days of bed rest can result in <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=19548502">major decreases in strength and fitness</a>. If you have surgery scheduled, being as active as possible before being admitted to hospital and start moving as soon as possible afterwards will help your recovery. It may also <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/anae.14508">prevent complications</a> that could prolong your hospital stay. If you are diagnosed with cancer, keep active, even <a href="https://insights.ovid.com/crossref?an=00005768-201911000-00023">during treatment</a>, such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00520-013-2064-4">during recovery</a>. If you have other common chronic conditions, such as heart or lung disease, <a href="https://health.gov/paguidelines/second-edition/pdf/Physical_Activity_Guidelines_2nd_edition.pdf">keep as active as your condition allows</a>. Just remember, whatever your state of health, it’s never too late to reap the benefits of being more physically active.<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; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110214/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> Written by Julie Broderick, Assistant Professor, Physiotherapy, Trinity College Dublin. Republished with permission of <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-stay-fit-into-your-60s-and-beyond-110214" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.

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