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Almost half of Moon missions fail. Why is space still so hard?

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/gail-iles-761554">Gail Iles</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a></em></p> <p>In 2019, India attempted to land a spacecraft on the Moon – and ended up painting a kilometres-long streak of debris on its barren surface. Now the Indian Space Research Organisation has returned in triumph, with the Chandrayaan-3 lander <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-counts-down-crucial-moon-landing-2023-08-23/">successfully touching down</a> near the south pole of Earth’s rocky neighbour.</p> <p>India’s success came just days after a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02659-6">spectacular Russian failure</a>, when the Luna 25 mission tried to land nearby and “ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the lunar surface”.</p> <p>These twin missions remind us that, close to 60 years after the first successful “soft landing” on the Moon, spaceflight is still difficult and dangerous. Moon missions in particular are still a coin flip, and we have seen several high-profile failures in recent years.</p> <p>Why were these missions unsuccessful and why did they fail? Is there a secret to the success of countries and agencies who have achieved a space mission triumph?</p> <h2>An exclusive club</h2> <p>The Moon is the only celestial location humans have visited (so far). It makes sense to go there first: it’s the closest planetary body to us, at a distance of around 400,000 kilometres.</p> <p>Yet only four countries have achieved successful “soft landings” – landings which the spacecraft survives – on the lunar surface.</p> <p>The USSR was the first. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_9">Luna 9</a> mission safely touched down on the Moon almost 60 years ago, in February 1966. The United States followed suit a few months later, in June 1966, with the <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/1966-the-real-first-moon-landing-118785850/">Surveyor 1</a> mission.</p> <p>China was the next country to join the club, with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang%27e_3">Chang'e 3</a> mission in 2013. And now India too has arrived, with <a href="https://amp.theguardian.com/science/2023/aug/23/india-chandrayaan-3-moon-landing-mission">Chandrayaan-3</a>.</p> <p>Missions from Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Russia, the European Space Agency, Luxembourg, South Korea and Italy have also had <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_missions_to_the_Moon">some measure of lunar success</a> with fly-bys, orbiters and impacts (whether intentional or not).</p> <h2>Crashes are not uncommon</h2> <p>On August 19 2023, the Russian space agency Roscosmos announced that “communication with the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02659-6">Luna 25 spacecraft</a> was interrupted”, after an impulse command was sent to the spacecraft to lower its orbit around the Moon. Attempts to contact the spacecraft on August 20 were unsuccessful, leading Roscosmos to determine Luna 25 had crashed.</p> <p>Despite more than 60 years of spaceflight experience extending from the USSR to modern Russia, this mission failed. We don’t know exactly what happened – but the current situation in Russia, where resources are stretched thin and tensions are high due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, may well have been a factor.</p> <p>The Luna 25 failure recalled two high-profile lunar crashes in 2019.</p> <p>In April that year, the Israeli <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beresheet">Beresheet lander</a> crash-landed after a gyroscope failed during the braking procedure, and the ground control crew was unable to reset the component due to a loss of communications. It was later reported a capsule containing microscopic creatures called tardigrades, in a dormant “cryptobiotic” state, may have survived the crash.</p> <p>And in September, India sent its own Vikram lander down to the surface of the Moon – but it did not survive the landing. NASA later <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/dec/03/indias-crashed-vikram-moon-lander-spotted-on-lunar-surface">released an image</a> taken by its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter showing the site of the Vikram lander’s impact. Debris was scattered over almost two dozen locations spanning several kilometres.</p> <h2>Space is still risky</h2> <p>Space missions are a risky business. Just over <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/success-rate-of-lunar-missions-is-a-little-over-50-as-per-nasa-database/articleshow/101774227.cms">50% of lunar missions succeed</a>. Even <a href="https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20190002705/downloads/20190002705.pdf">small satellite missions</a> to Earth’s orbit don’t have a perfect track record, with a success rate somewhere between 40% and 70%.</p> <p>We could compare uncrewed with crewed missions: around <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230518-what-are-the-odds-of-a-successful-space-launch">98% of the latter are successful</a>, because people are more invested in people. Ground staff working to support a crewed mission will be more focused, management will invest more resources, and delays will be accepted to prioritise the safety of the crew.</p> <p>We could talk about the details of why so many uncrewed missions fail. We could talk about technological difficulties, lack of experience, and even the political landscapes of individual countries.</p> <p>But perhaps it’s better to step back from the details of individual missions and look at averages, to see the overall picture more clearly.</p> <h2>The big picture</h2> <p>Rocket launches and space launches are not very common in the scheme of things. There are <a href="https://www.pd.com.au/blogs/how-many-cars-in-the-world/">around 1.5 billion cars</a> in the world, and perhaps <a href="https://www.travelweek.ca/news/exactly-many-planes-world-today/">40,000 aeroplanes</a>. By contrast, there have been fewer than <a href="https://planet4589.org/space/gcat/data/derived/launchlog.html">20,000 space launches</a> in all of history.</p> <p>Plenty of things still go wrong with cars, and problems occur even in the better-regulated world of planes, from loose rivets to computers overriding pilot inputs. And we have more than a century of experience with these vehicles, in every country on the planet.</p> <p>So perhaps it’s unrealistic to expect spaceflight – whether it’s the launch stage of rockets, or the even rarer stage of trying to land on an alien world – to have ironed out all its problems.</p> <p>We are still very much in the early, pioneering days of space exploration.</p> <h2>Monumental challenges remain</h2> <p>If humanity is ever to create a fully fledged space-faring civilisation, we must <a href="https://www.wired.com/2016/02/space-is-cold-vast-and-deadly-humans-will-explore-it-anyway/">overcome monumental challenges</a>.</p> <p>To make long-duration, long-distance space travel possible, there are a huge number of problems to be solved. Some of them seem within the realm of the possible, such as better radiation shielding, self-sustaining ecosystems, autonomous robots, extracting air and water from raw resources, and zero-gravity manufacturing. Others are still speculative hopes, such as faster-than-light travel, instantaneous communication, and artificial gravity.</p> <p>Progress will be little by little, small step by slightly larger step. Engineers and space enthusiasts will keep putting their brainpower, time and energy into space missions, and they will gradually become more reliable.</p> <p>And maybe one day we’ll see a time when going for a ride in your spacecraft is as safe as getting in your car.</p> <hr /> <p><em>Correction: a typing error in the original version of this article put the Surveyor 1 mission in 1996, rather than its actual year of 1966.</em><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211914/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/gail-iles-761554">Gail Iles</a>, Senior Lecturer in Physics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Shutterstock</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/almost-half-of-moon-missions-fail-why-is-space-still-so-hard-211914">original article</a>.</em></p>

International Travel

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Real reason boy struggled to breathe for over half his life

<p dir="ltr">A young boy who from the age of two began to struggle with his breathing must now undergo major surgery after being misdiagnosed by doctors.</p> <p dir="ltr">Marley was just two years old and had a lingering cough, which his parents didn’t think much of until a few years later when it got considerably worse.</p> <p dir="ltr">The young boy was eventually diagnosed with asthma, the treatment for which was expected to help him breathe.</p> <p dir="ltr">Unfortunately, Marley’s condition kept getting worse and his father Jay Enjakovic wanted to get to the bottom of it.</p> <p dir="ltr">Mr Enjakovic explained that his son was playing football and basketball and his health “went downhill pretty quick”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“He couldn’t run out his games, coughing a lot more, bringing a lot of food up, bringing water up every time he ate,” the worried father said on <em>The Today Show</em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">Then, together with his wife Skye, the pair were determined to find out what was wrong with their son, who was struggling for more than half his life.</p> <p dir="ltr">The now eight-year-old was in and out of hospitals when his condition turned critical in December 2021.</p> <p dir="ltr">X-rays of Marley’s oesophagus and trachea were done and it was there the family were shocked to be told that their son possibly had tracheoesophageal fistula.</p> <p dir="ltr">Tracheoesophageal fistula is when the oesophagus is connected to the trachea which makes food, drink and saliva enter from the trachea.</p> <p dir="ltr">Doctors were ready to do a surgery on Marley but were unable to due to the inflammation.</p> <p dir="ltr">They then decided to do another X-ray, which is when they were even MORE shocked to see that something was in fact lodged in the young boy’s throat.</p> <p dir="ltr">“A few hours later I received a phone call to meet his surgeon at recovery where they pulled a piece of plastic, an arts and craft plastic flower, from his airway,” Ms Enjakovic said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I honestly couldn’t believe it! This was the whole cause of everything! I was relieved I finally had an answer.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We are unsure how long this price of plastic was lodged in his airway, but my guess is at least five years as that’s when we started noticing small issues, which became worse over time.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The flower has since been removed and Marley is due to undergo further surgery to help repair the airway and oesophagus.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: The Today Show</em></p>

Body

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Mum’s fool-proof hack to dry your clothes in half the time

<p dir="ltr">A clever mum has shared the ultimate laundry tip that will ensure your clothes air-dry in no time. </p> <p dir="ltr">With surging energy bills crippling households, air drying items is a much more efficient way of doing laundry. </p> <p dir="ltr">However, colder winter months can sometimes mean clothes and linen may take days to dry in the fresh air. </p> <p dir="ltr">One mum has found the answer to this problem, sharing her hack on the Facebook page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/mumswhoclean">Mums Who Clean</a>. </p> <p dir="ltr">"I have recently been staying with my elderly parents. While there, I did some washing for them," she says. </p> <p dir="ltr">"Mum said to me, 'Don't forget to do an additional spin cycle after the cycle has finished.'”</p> <p dir="ltr">"Her response was that it wouldn't take as long for the washing to dry on a cold winter's day when there isn't as much sun.”</p> <p dir="ltr">"And guess what, she was right!"</p> <p dir="ltr">The mum tried it for herself when she got home, saying it helped to dry her clothes in half the time.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Since returning home this week to Sydney and the rain, I tried this on a load of towels (bath sheets) before putting them in the dryer," she says.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Normally, the load would take one and a half to two hours to dry, and they took just under 60 minutes."</p> <p dir="ltr">Other group members were impressed with the hack, with many saying they would give it a go. </p> <p dir="ltr">"Oh wow, I'm going to give this a go!" said one person. </p> <p dir="ltr">Others said they’ve been doing this hack “for years”, and were happy others were going to try the handy tip. </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Home & Garden

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Couple book non-stop cruises for two-and-a-half years

<p dir="ltr">A couple who missed out on the joys of cruising during lockdown are now bunkering down and cruising non-stop for two-and-a-half years.</p> <p dir="ltr">Jessica and Marty Ansen left Brisbane on Princess Cruises’ Coral Princess on June 16 for the beginning of their exciting adventure.</p> <p dir="ltr">They have previously sailed on 31 cruises with Princess with a whopping 1,173 days at sea and when the resumption of cruises they were ready to get started again. </p> <p dir="ltr">From now until August 2024, the loved up couple will be holidaying on the high seas and on a staggering 53 different cruise ships! </p> <p dir="ltr">“Cruising offers the ultimate holiday experience. You go onboard, you only unpack once, and you have all this amazing entertainment, exceptional food, great company and you can see the world. And, the crew deliver incredible service - that’s why we cruise,” they said. </p> <p dir="ltr">The Ansens booked their two years of back-to-back cruises (795 sea days) - including two round-the-world cruises in 2023 and 2024 – with Brisbane-based family-owned travel agency Clean Cruising.</p> <p dir="ltr">Martine Hero, the Senior Consultant at Clean Cruising, said the Ansens had always been passionate about cruising and were keen to be back on the water again. </p> <p dir="ltr">“For the last two years Marty frequently mentioned all he and Jessica wanted to do was to go cruising again,” he said. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Since the announcement of the resumption of cruising we have had an influx of interest and bookings, including those of the Ansens. </p> <p dir="ltr">“This extended trip has been in the works for a long time, as have those of many other cruisers. </p> <p dir="ltr">“We want to thank our cruise fans for their patience as we get them back doing what they love most.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: The Today Show</em></p>

Cruising

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90s RnB immortalised in the Super Bowl halftime show

<p dir="ltr">In an epic salute to 90s hip-hop and RnB music, a selection of industry legends took to the stage at the Super Bowl half time show in California on Sunday. </p><p dir="ltr">Leading the charge was LA’s finest Dr Dre, who promised big surprises during the set that he reportedly dropped almost $10 million on. </p><p dir="ltr">The stage was a replica of a Californian neighbourhood, with the performances taking place on the roofs and in different rooms of the enormous set that sat in centre field.</p><p dir="ltr">As the show began, Dr Dre opened with this 1995 smash hit <em>California Love</em>, which earned a roar from the native West Coast crowd. </p><p dir="ltr">Joining Dre on stage was his lifelong protege and collaborator Snoop Dogg, before rapper 50 Cent made a surprise appearance with his 2003 anthem <em>In Da Club</em>. </p><p dir="ltr">The next artist to hit the stage was Mary J. Blige, as she belted out her 2001 hit <em>Family Affair</em>, before launching into her hit track <em>No More Drama</em>.</p><p dir="ltr">Following Mary J. Blige was a newer rapper on the scene Kendrick Lamar, who shot to fame in the early 2010s after being inspired by his idols on the stage.</p><p dir="ltr">Lamar popped out of a cardboard box for his performance while being surrounded by dancers who donned “Dre Day” sashes for their epic choreographed dance routine. </p><p dir="ltr">Last to the stage was rap legend Eminem, who launched into his 2002 epic song <em>Lose Yourself</em>, making the crowd go wild over this motivational anthem.</p><p dir="ltr">As the performers joined together for a final moment on the stage, the 15 minute performance ended with a standing ovation from the 80,000-strong crowd of the SoFi stadium. </p><p dir="ltr">The 2022 show was the first year the epic NFL event has fully embraced a hip-hop act for the half time entertainment. </p><p dir="ltr">"We're gonna open more doors for hip hop artists in the future and making sure that the NFL understands this is what it should have been a long time ago," Dr. Dre said at a press conference before the show.</p><p dir="ltr">"We're gonna show exactly how professional we can be, how dope we can be on stage and how exciting we are going to be to the fans."</p><p dir="ltr">Check out the performance <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdsUKphmB3Y" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. </p><p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Music

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Rich countries donating half their COVID vaccine supply would be a “win-win”

<p>The message emerging from expert dialogue on the trajectory of COVID is increasingly clear: this show won’t be over until the whole world is vaccinated. The appearance of <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/covid/omicron-update-170122/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Omicron</a> on the scene, with <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/son-of-omicron-victoria-detects-a-handful-of-covid-19-sub-variant-cases/095ee479-723b-40a9-a2ca-77e90968d6e7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">son-of-Omicron</a> (the BA.2 sub-variant) hot on its heels, has been a stark reminder that making it through one wave doesn’t mean we’ve weathered the storm – as long as there are under-vaccinated populations, this virus will continue to develop new variants that will sweep across the globe, making vaccine equity crucial to COVID defense.</p><p>Just how much should we prioritise vaccine sharing over increasing immunity within our own borders? A new <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-022-01289-8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">modelling study</a> published in <em>Nature Human Behaviour</em> has put firm figures to this tricky question, finding that if high-income countries were to donate up to 46% of their total vaccine supply to low- and middle-income countries, the benefits could include substantial decreases in global mortality and protection against further pandemic waves.</p><p>Using a mathematical model, the researchers projected the consequences of vaccine inequity over five years, against the backdrop of evolving strains of SARS-CoV-2 and global mobility.</p><p>The results showed that if we want to get on top of COVID, we’re going to have look beyond short-term immunity gains within our own borders and start playing a globally focused long-game.</p><p>The model indicated that increasing national vaccination rates through booster programs, such as the controversial <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/covid/fourth-covid-shot-wont-prevent-omicron-infection/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">four-dose regime</a> being rolled out across Israel, does lead to faster declines in mortality in high-income countries in the first year. But these gains are swallowed up by an increasing vulnerability to infection in subsequent years as the global threat of newly emerging strains grows.</p><p>Conversely, modelling equitable vaccine allocation strategies showed a substantial curbing of the spread of new strains, providing greater benefits to both high-income and low- and middle-income countries.</p><p>Regardless of where individual countries stand on the ethics of tending to your own flock ahead of assisting disadvantaged global populations, this model makes it clear that allocating nearly half of high-income countries’ vaccine supplies is, over the longer-term, in their own interest.</p><p>Addressing vaccine equity is a practical but highly effective variant-suppression measure that could be achieved by immediate and more-generous vaccine donations to low- and middle-income countries, but convincing governments to reframe their national COVID strategies in this global light remains a challenge.</p><p>As of 31 December 2021, more than nine billion COVID-19 vaccination doses had been administered worldwide – but the distribution of these doses remains highly imbalanced. Over 70% of people in high-income countries are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19; in low-income countries, that number is 4%.</p><p>Organisations such as COVAX, which is co-led by <a href="https://www.gavi.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" data-type="URL" data-id="https://www.gavi.org/">Gavi</a>, <a href="https://www.who.int/initiatives/act-accelerator/covax" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" data-type="URL" data-id="https://www.who.int/initiatives/act-accelerator/covax">the WHO</a>, and <a href="https://cepi.net/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" data-type="URL" data-id="https://cepi.net/">CEPI</a>, are attempting to tackle the vaccine inequity problem, and announced in January that they had delivered their <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/covid/billionth-covax-dose/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">billionth vaccine dose</a> – an admirable achievement, but well short of their 2 billion dose goal. The organisation cited hoarding and stockpiling by wealthy countries as a key roadblock to their progress. Many high-income countries have access to enough vaccines to vaccinate their populations several times over, leaving some low- and middle-income countries struggling to obtain sufficient supplies to vaccinate their populations even once.</p><p>But, as the current study makes clear, pandemics pay no heed to borders. Until there is international commitment to global vaccine equity, the waves will continue to crash in.</p><div id="contributors"><p><em><a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/covid/combatting-vaccine-inequity-win-win/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/jamie-priest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jamie Priest</a>. Jamie Priest is a science journalist at Cosmos. She has a Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology from the University of Adelaide.</em></p><p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p></div>

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Gaming or gambling: study shows almost half of loot boxes in video games constitute gambling

<div class="copy"> <p>The Australian Senate has <a href="http://trade-media.com.au/news/read/australian-senate-passes-motion-investigate-loot-boxes/">passed a motion to investigate</a> whether purchasable random rewards in video games (known colloquially as loot boxes) constitute a form of gambling and whether they are appropriate for younger players.  </p> <p>Our recent <a href="https://rdcu.be/ZXTg">paper</a>, which was cited in the senate motion, explores exactly these questions.</p> <p>We found that the loot boxes in almost half (45%) of the 22 games we analysed met the criteria to be considered psychologically similar to gambling, even though they are rated as appropriate for adolescent players under the age of consent for gambling.</p> <h2>What is a loot box?</h2> <p>Loot boxes are digital containers of randomised rewards, and are available in a number of video games.</p> <p>The box may contain rewards ranging from cosmetic items which alter the appearance of in-game characters to functional items that increase the player’s power in some way (for example a gun that fires faster or does more damage).</p> <p>In our research, we sought to answer two questions: are loot boxes like gambling and, if so, what should be done about it?</p> <p>First up, we want to clarify that video games are not evil.</p> <p>Games companies are not evil. Making money from video games is not evil.</p> <p>And playing video games with loot boxes is unlikely to result in young people flocking in great numbers to casinos.</p> <p>However, simultaneously, it may also be true that loot boxes represent a troubling and potentially inappropriate monetisation strategy, with the potential to cause short and long-term harm to some players.</p> <p>Our intent is to educate readers about loot box mechanisms, and promote a reasoned, evidence-based discussion about ethical practice in video games.</p> <p>Loot box rewards may be highly desirable or valuable (for example, a particularly valuable cosmetic item or very powerful weapon), or virtually useless and undesirable (items referred to as “vender trash”).</p> <p>Most importantly, the contents of the box are determined by chance.</p> <p>Some (but not all) loot boxes are purchasable for real money.</p> <p>In some cases, items earned from a loot box can also be “cashed out” for real world money.</p> <h2>The gambling problem</h2> <p>The problem is that spending real money on a chance outcome that results in some people “winning” and others “losing” is fundamental to gambling activities.</p> <p>Thus, we analysed the loot box features in 22 console and PC games released in 2016 and 2017, with a view to understanding how psychologically similar they were to gambling.</p> <p>We used five criteria to distinguish gambling from other risk-taking activities.</p> <p>These have been developed by Nottingham Trent University psychologist <a href="https://www.ntu.ac.uk/staff-profiles/social-sciences/mark-griffiths">Mark Griffiths</a> in his work on behavioural addictions and gambling disorders.</p> <p>To be considered psychologically similar to gambling, loot boxes must involve:</p> <ul> <li>an exchange of money or valuable goods takes place</li> <li>an unknown future event determines the exchange</li> <li>chance at least partly determining the outcome</li> <li>non-participation avoiding incurring losses</li> <li>winners gaining at the sole expense of losers.</li> </ul> <p>We took a reasonably strict interpretation of the final criterion; assuming that people only “won” if they gained some form of in-game competitive advantage (for example more powerful weapons).</p> <p>Arguably, this approach ignores the subjective value that might be created by the scarcity of, or player preference for, certain cosmetic items.</p> <p>However, it appeared to us to most closely resemble Griffiths’ intent.</p> <p>Loot boxes in just under half of the games (45%) met all five of Griffiths’ criteria and, thus, could be considered psychologically akin to gambling.</p> <p>All of the loot boxes operated on a variable ratio reinforcement schedule – a technical term for a reward given to a person on average every so many times they engage in a particular behaviour.</p> <p>This type of reward schedule results in people quickly learning new behaviours (for example buying loot boxes) and repeating them often in the hope of receiving a <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1467-9280.1990.tb00220.x">reward</a>.</p> <p>The strategy is effective because the next time a box is opened it might be the “big win”.  </p> <p>Perhaps most concerning was the fact that at least five of the games had mechanisms available to on-sell virtual items, allowing players to cash out their winnings (though four of these five had terms and conditions explicitly prohibiting this).</p> <p>The ability to cash out winnings is something that many consider a legal requirement for an activity to be considered gambling.</p> <p>Although the legality of loot boxes is a question for individual regulators and governments, exposure to mechanisms which closely mimic gambling in a psychological sense is concerning to us, especially since all of the games we examined were rated as appropriate for those under the age of consent for gambling.</p> <p>The short and long-term consequences of engaging with these mechanisms are unknown.</p> <p>Plausibly, short-term consequences may include overspending on loot boxes.</p> <p>The potential for long-term consequences also concerns us because males (a <a href="http://www.theesa.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/EF2017_Design_FinalDigital.pdf">particularly large group within gamers</a>) exposed to gambling when young are particularly at <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10899-008-9088-6">risk of developing problematic gaming behaviours</a>.</p> <h2>What to do about it</h2> <p>There is cause for hope. Electronic Arts (one of the largest game studios in the world) has recently announced the <a href="https://variety.com/2018/gaming/news/no-loot-boxes-anthem-1202838734/">removal of loot boxes</a> from upcoming titles.</p> <p>This suggests the games industry is taking consumer and expert feedback seriously, and may take steps to self-regulate.</p> <p>In our view, this is the optimal solution, given the diverse policy landscapes across the countries in which video games are sold.</p> <p>Where industry is not willing to self-regulate, and loot boxes are most similar to gambling, regulators may need to consider additional steps, although this should be undertaken selectively.</p> <p>Belgium and the Netherlands have <a href="https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-04-25-now-belgium-declares-loot-boxes-gambling-and-therefore-illegal">declared at least some loot boxes to be illegal</a>, while the US and UK have decided that they are <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-43906306">not a form of gambling</a>.</p> <p>As noted above, the Australian Senate unanimously supported a vote on the 28th of June to refer an inquiry into the legality of loot boxes in video games to the <a href="http://trade-media.com.au/news/read/australian-senate-passes-motion-investigate-loot-boxes/">Environment and Communications References Committee</a>.</p> <p>Most importantly, we recommend that loot box mechanics should be added to content warnings to give users and parents the information they need to properly assess whether particular games are appropriate for themselves or their children.</p> <p>Ensuring that users can make well informed decisions about the appropriateness of content remains one of the strongest consumer defences.</p> <p>We hope that this work will form the basis for a well-reasoned, evidence-based policy discussion about ethical and sustainable practices in video games.</p> <p>Our intent is not to stigmatise games or gamers, but to spark a discussion about what mechanisms are and are not appropriate for particular audiences, games and the industry more broadly.</p> <p><em>Image credit: Shutterstock</em></p> </div> <div id="contributors"> <p><em>This article was originally published by <a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/people/social-sciences/gaming-or-gambling-study-shows-almost-half-of-loot-boxes-in-video-games-constitute-gambling/" target="_blank">cosmosmagazine.com</a> and written by The Conversation.</em></p> </div>

Money & Banking

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Samantha Markle's proof against half-sister Meghan

<p>Meghan Markle revealed what happened between herself and her father in a rare insight during the bombshell Oprah interview.</p> <p>She explained that the UK press became "obsessed" with anything from her world and tracked down her father.</p> <p>“Once they did, I remember being told there was a huge headline like, ‘We found him’ or ‘We’ve got him.’ You’re talking about someone’s father,” Meghan said.</p> <p>“And from that point, the tabloids, they moved into the apartment next door and across from him. Descended on this small town. The whole thing brings us to where we are today.”</p> <p>She explained that the press were offering exorbitant amounts of money to give up her fathers address, but she did what she could to protect him from the frenzy.</p> <p>She also spoke about her relationship with her half-sister Samantha Markle, who has launched multiple attacks against Meghan in the press over the years.</p> <p>Some of the claims include calling Meghan a "wealthy narcissist" and saying that if their father passes, it'll be "on her".</p> <p>Meghan spoke about Samantha's book titled<span> </span><em>The Diary of Princess Pushy's Sister</em>, which Samantha promised to expose "hidden truths" about Meghan.</p> <p>“I think it would be very hard to tell all when you don’t know me. I mean, this is a very different situation than my dad, right? When you talk about betrayal, betrayal comes from someone that you have a relationship with,” Meghan told Oprah.</p> <p>“I don’t feel comfortable talking about people that I really don’t know.”</p> <p>Meghan spoke about the name change that Samantha made in order to draw attention to herself as a Markle sister.</p> <p>“She changed her last name back to Markle in – I think she was in her early fifties at that time – only when I started dating Harry,” Meghan said. “So I think that says enough.”</p> <p>Samantha fought back on<span> </span><em>Fifi, F</em>ev<span> </span><em>&amp; Nick</em><span> </span>this morning, saying that the claims were "rubbish".</p> <p>“She had said she hadn’t seen Samantha for 18 years. Well she was at my graduation from my bachelor degree, there was so many photos in the media that are like salience about that and that was 2008 so don’t know about you but 2008 to now is not 18 years,” she said.</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7840202/haz-megs-arch-2.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/ca13121882a446ba8547dcb7fc99809a" /></p> <p>Samantha claimed that Meghan was a narcissist and "needs to see a counsellor".</p> <p>She also said she feels "sorry for Harry".</p> <p>“I feel sorry for Harry. He fell victim to her negligence and I will say sociopaths. She pulled him away from his family, all of his friends, the life that he knew,” Samantha told the radio show.</p> <p>“He reminds me of one of those kidnap victims who eventually starts to believe that their life was so horrible and they’re in love with their captor!”</p> <p><em>Photo credits: Samantha Markle / Twitter</em></p>

Relationships

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“It doesn’t look half bad”: Fake number plate draws acclaim

<p>An Ohio man’s uniquely creative approach to rustling up a fake licence plate has drawn laughs – and some acclaim – from around the world after he was booked by US police when they spotted something a little off with his number plate.</p> <p>The driver was pulled over in Millersburg, Ohio, on September 2, and at the time a Millersburg highway patrol officer said in a statement on Facebook: “Something just didn’t seem right about this particular licence plate.”</p> <p>It turns out – yep, you guessed it – the driver’s licence plate had been completely drawn on, and quite realistically too.</p> <p>“After further investigation it was determined that the driver of the vehicle had no insurance and was driving on a suspended licence,” police explained further, before adding: “Pro Tip: Don’t forget to draw the registration sticker.”</p> <p>While the ultimate penalty handed down to this particular driver remains unknown, reactions to his creative effort had people on Facebook highly amused.</p> <p>“I ain’t even mad,” commented one woman, “that’s dedication.”</p> <p>Another man added “you can’t knock that effort”.</p> <p>And even more went on to comment that the hand-drawn effort was actually surprisingly well done.</p> <p>“I mean... it doesn’t look half bad, if I’m being real,” wrote one commenter.</p> <p>“From art class to the jail house,” said another.</p> <p>Many others agreed that the police could perhaps have spent their time catching more serious perpetrators.</p> <p><strong>Image:</strong> Facebook / Millersburg Police</p>

Travel Trouble

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5 and a half ways to make movie masterpieces at home

<p>Isolation is a common theme in cinema: stranded on an island (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0162222/">Cast Away</a>), in space (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1454468/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Gravity</a> or <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3659388/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">The Martian</a>), on a boat (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454876/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Life of Pi</a>), stuck in the desert (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1542344/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">127 hours</a>), or simply confined to an apartment (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047396/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">Rear Window</a>). But what about when the filmmakers themselves are stranded?</p> <p>Luckily, most of us are carrying sophisticated cameras in our pockets and have easy access to online film libraries and creative collaborators.</p> <p>As <a href="https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199791286/obo-9780199791286-0052.xml">psychoanalytic approaches to filmmaking</a> reveal, our screens have a unique ability to see beyond reality. Our screens reach into the deepest depths of our desires, fantasies, and emotional landscapes.</p> <p>Here are five approaches to filmmaking that can challenge our perception of the world, from the (dis)comfort of your own home:</p> <p><strong>1. Video diary</strong></p> <p>I’m not referring to the kind of YouTube vlogging that made <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/14/fashion/jenna-marbles.html">Jenna Marbles</a> a millionaire, nor the diary room confessional of Big Brother, but a visual rendition of expressive journal keeping.</p> <p>Avant-garde filmmaker <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/postscript/my-debt-to-jonas-mekas">Jonas Mekas</a> pioneered the film diary in the 1960s by experimenting with the camera’s limits – incorrect exposure, disorderly movement, re-arranging time, and injecting a poetic voice. The challenge here is to portray your inner experience and not let the recording device simply “capture” it.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kzkzQExJ9rc?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span class="caption">Jonas Mekas – Always Beginning | TateShots.</span></p> <p>If diaristic wanderings prove difficult, Gillian Leahy’s <a href="https://vimeo.com/ondemand/mylifewithoutsteve/179709856">My Life Without Steve</a> is a beautiful example of what can be achieved in a single apartment. The reflective narration from protagonist Liz guides us through emotional turmoil, memory, and theories of lost love.</p> <p>Additionally, the meticulous still-life compositions by cinematographer Erika Addis, entirely restricted to the apartment space, offer an intimacy and familiarity beyond words: streetlights dancing on the water, a steaming kettle, floral wallpaper …</p> <p><strong>2. Location home</strong></p> <p>Sometimes the location can be more significant than the person. This is certainly the case in films documenting imprisonment such as Berhouz Boochani’s experience of Manus Island detention centre in <a href="https://vimeo.com/230860000">Chauka, Please Tell Us The Time</a>, or Jafar Panahi’s discrete autobiography <a href="https://youtu.be/ajOgE_BPLVU">This Is Not A Film</a> recorded under house arrest in Iran. In 2015, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2415458/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">The Wolfpack</a> told the unusual tale of seven brothers confined to a New York apartment with Hollywood movies as their window onto the world.</p> <p>Isolation offers an opportunity to interrogate the politics of home. The 1970s feminist movement gave rise to scathing critiques of gender-based domestic roles. Martha Rosler’s video art performance <a href="https://www.moma.org/collection/works/88937">Semiotics of the Kitchen</a> has inspired generations of classroom appropriations. The crude infomercial inspired performance undermine both the authority of the camera and the kitchen as a space of domination.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oDUDzSDA8q0?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span class="caption">Semiotics in the Kitchen (1975)</span></p> <p>Chantal Akerman’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073198/">Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles</a>, also released in 1975, offers a less obvious subversion of domesticity. The protagonist is a single mother undertaking sex work as part of her daily routine to provide for her child. Rather than sensationalising prostitution, the camera respectfully captures the subtle gestures and emotions of the working mother.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ih3nBxjkBH8?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span class="caption">Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles.</span></p> <p><strong>3. Online collaboration</strong></p> <p>Collaborative media comes in many forms: participatory video, citizen media, user-generated and crowd-sourced content.</p> <p>Collaborative approaches to filmmaking were pioneered by visual anthropologists attempting to accurately and ethically record foreign cultures. Handing the camera over was seen as a way to access insider knowledge. YouTube and Instagram could be considered large-scale collaborative media projects. More coherent and meaningful projects focus on a particular theme or creative parameter.</p> <p>User-generated content (UGC) and fan-based creations have since become common to the genre, such as <a href="https://vimeo.com/15416762">The Johnny Cash Project</a>, <a href="https://youtu.be/CB5ib4ouxes">Shrek Retold</a>, and <a href="https://vimeo.com/29174093">Man With A Movie Camera: The Global Remake</a>.</p> <p>Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s <a href="https://hitrecord.org">HitRecord</a> is one of the most innovative UGC platforms with more than 750,000 contributors and the opportunity to get paid if the production makes money. By investing in personal contributions, the audience gains a sense of proprietorship over the project and boost distribution through their social networks.</p> <p>The best examples of collaborative media are highly curated and elaborately produced. The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and Katerina Cizek have produced a series of ambitious multimedia compilations under the <a href="http://highrise.nfb.ca">Highrise projects</a>. Of these projects, <a href="http://outmywindow.nfb.ca/#/outmywindow">Out My Window</a> is perhaps the most relevant to our current experience, featuring 13 participants from around the globe sharing personal stories from their highrise homes.</p> <p>Collaborative media offers a multitude of voices to common themes and experiences. The trick to maintaining cohesion and continuity is to formulate detailed instructions for how to contribute.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/31376449" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span class="caption">Highrise / One Millionth Tower | National Film Board of Canada.</span></p> <p><strong>4. Found footage</strong></p> <p>Found footage documentaries are composed entirely from existing media. The recent surge in this genre such as <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8760684/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">Apollo 11</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5433114/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Maradona</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2870648/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2">Amy</a>, and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7694570/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">The Final Quarter</a> about footballer Adam Goodes, all demonstrate that filmmakers need not touch a camera to produce a cinematic masterpiece.</p> <p>While we may not individually be able to acquire rights to copyrighted material, most of us are unwittingly accumulating extensive media archives of our lives. The popular <a href="https://1se.co/">1 Second Everyday</a> app demonstrates how existing phone footage can be transformed into a revealing and enthralling sequence through rhythm-based montage.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lyx6O_WFJhU?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span class="caption">1 Second Everyday.</span></p> <p><strong>5. Machinima</strong></p> <p><a href="https://voices.uchicago.edu/machinima/sample-page/">Machinima</a> (machine-cinema) is an innovative alternative to animation, in which detailed 3D graphics engines of computer games are used as cinematic stages. Most of the productions in this genre mimic mainstream comedy and action movies but there are a few examples of how the artform can interrogate our relationship to virtual worlds.</p> <p>Nominated for the “Weird” category of the <a href="https://www.webbyawards.com/">Webby Awards</a> for online excellence, the narrator of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1tAmAFSc-YS63RrFMwkG0GuPVN70ku_G">Grand Theft Auto Pacifist</a> navigates the ultra-violent game world, understood as an extension of our lived society, in a hilarious experiment to see if he can exist peacefully.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nDRKbYNjRic?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span class="caption">Grand Theft Auto Pacifist.</span></p> <p>But be warned, the first person I knew to go down the machinima path disappeared without a trace for two months, lost to the <a href="https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-gb/">World of Warcraft</a>.</p> <p><strong>The ½ – since it’s not for everyone</strong></p> <p>Lastly, my half recommendation. While not something I can recommend to students, during this difficult period of social distancing those of us fortunate enough to be isolated with loved ones might use the opportunity to master the elusive art of sexual desire … erotica.</p> <p>Again, the camera need not be enslaved as a witness but can be recruited to explore the psychological and physical playing field of our desires.</p> <p>And not all of your filmmaking need be shared around.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><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/134907/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/aaron-burton-676917">Aaron Burton</a>, Lecturer in Media Arts, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-wollongong-711">University of Wollongong</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/great-time-to-try-5-ways-to-make-movie-masterpieces-at-home-134907">original article</a>.</em></p>

Movies

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The world may lose half its sandy beaches by 2100: It’s not too late to save most of them

<p>For many coastal regions, sea-level rise is a looming crisis threatening our coastal society, livelihoods and coastal ecosystems. <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-0697-0">A new study</a>, published in Nature Climate Change, has reported the world will lose almost half of its valuable sandy beaches by 2100 as the ocean moves landward with rising sea levels.</p> <p>Sandy beaches comprise about a third of the world’s coastline. And Australia, with nearly 12,000 kilometres at risk, could be hit hard.</p> <p>This is the first truly global study to attempt to quantify beach erosion. The results for the highest greenhouse gas emission scenario are alarming, but reducing emissions lead to lower rates of coastal erosion.</p> <p>Our best hope for the future of the world’s coastlines and for Australia’s iconic beaches is to keep global warming as low as possible by urgently reducing greenhouse gas emissions.</p> <p><strong>Losing sand in coastal erosion</strong></p> <p>Two of the largest problems resulting from <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/srocc/">rising sea levels</a> are coastal erosion and an already-observed increase in the frequency of coastal flooding events.</p> <p>Erosion during storms can have dramatic consequences, particularly for coastal infrastructure. We saw this in 2016, when <a href="https://theconversation.com/sydneys-wild-weather-shows-home-owners-are-increasingly-at-risk-60621">wild storms</a> removed sand from beaches and damaged houses in Sydney.</p> <p>After storms like this, beaches often gradually recover, because sand from deeper waters washes back to the shore over months to years and in some cases decades. These dramatic storms and the long-term <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S002532271630010X">sand supply</a> make it difficult to identify any beach movement in the recent past from sea-level rise.</p> <p>What we do know is that the rate of sea-level rise has <a href="https://theconversation.com/contributions-to-sea-level-rise-have-increased-by-half-since-1993-largely-because-of-greenlands-ice-79175">accelerated</a>. It has increased by half since 1993, and is continuing to accelerate from ongoing greenhouse gas emissions.</p> <p>If we continue to emit high levels of greenhouse gases, this acceleration will continue through the 21st century and <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-does-the-science-really-say-about-sea-level-rise-56807">beyond</a>. As a result, the supply of sand may not be able to keep pace with rapidly rising sea levels.</p> <p><strong>Projections for the worst-case scenario</strong></p> <p>In the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/srocc/">report</a>, released last year, the highest greenhouse gas emissions scenario resulted in global warming of more than 4°C (relative to pre-industrial temperatures) and a likely range of sea-level rise between 0.6 and 1.1 metres by 2100.</p> <p>For this scenario, this new study projects a global average landward movement of the coastline in the range of 40 to 250 metres if there were no physical limits to shoreline movement, such as those imposed by sea walls or other coastal infrastructure.</p> <p>Sea-level rise is responsible for the vast majority of this beach loss, with faster loss during the latter decades of the 21st century when the rate of rise is larger. And sea levels will continue to rise for centuries, so beach erosion would continue well after 2100.</p> <p>For southern Australia, the landward movement of the shoreline is projected to be more than 100 metres. This would damage many of Australia’s iconic tourist beaches such as Bondi, Manly and the Gold Coast. The movement in northern Australia is projected to be even larger, but more uncertain because of ongoing historical shoreline trends.</p> <p><strong>What happens if we mitigate our emissions</strong></p> <p>The above results are from a worst-case scenario. If greenhouse gas emissions were reduced such that the 2100 global temperature rose by about 2.5°C, instead of more than 4°C, then we’d reduce beach erosion by about a third of what’s projected in this worst-case scenario.</p> <p>Current global policies would result in about <a href="https://climateactiontracker.org/global/cat-thermometer/">3°C of global warming</a>. That’s between the 4°C and the 2.5°C scenarios considered in this beach erosion study, implying our current policies will lead to significant beach erosion, including in Australia.</p> <p>Mitigating our emissions even further to achieving the Paris goal of keeping temperature rise to well below 2°C would be a major step in reducing beach loss.</p> <p><strong>Why coastal erosion is hard to predict</strong></p> <p>Projecting sea-level rise and resulting beach erosion are particularly difficult as both depend on many factors.</p> <p>For sea level, the major problems are estimating the contribution of melting Antarctic ice flowing into the ocean, how sea level will change on a regional scale, and the amount of global warming.</p> <p>The beach erosion calculated in this new study depends on several new databases. The databases of recent shoreline movement used to project ongoing natural factors might already be influenced by rising sea levels, possibly leading to an overestimate in the final calculations.</p> <p><strong>The implications</strong></p> <p>Regardless of the exact numbers reported in this study, it’s clear we will have to adapt to the beach erosion that we can no longer prevent, if we are to continue enjoying our beaches.</p> <p>This means we need appropriate planning, such as beach nourishment (adding sand to beaches to combat erosion) and other soft and hard engineering solutions. In some cases, we’ll even need to retreat from the coast to allow the beach to migrate landward.</p> <p>And if we are to continue to enjoy our sandy beaches into the future, we cannot allow ongoing and increasing greenhouse gas emissions. The world needs urgent, significant and sustained global mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions.</p> <p><em>Written by John Church. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-world-may-lose-half-its-sandy-beaches-by-2100-its-not-too-late-to-save-most-of-them-132586">The Conversation.</a> </em></p> <p> </p>

Cruising

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Meghan Markle’s homeless brother says she helps charities more than her family

<p>Meghan Markle’s estranged half brother has spoken out about how he has been left homeless and is sick of his sister and Prince Harry not helping out family.</p> <div class="post_body_wrapper"> <div class="post_body"> <div class="body_text "> <p>Thomas Markle Jr, 53, fell on hard times after losing jobs and splitting up with his fiancee. He has since been forced to move in with his elderly mother in New Mexico after his life “fell apart”.</p> <p>Thomas told<span> </span><em><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.the-sun.com/news/408950/meghan-markles-homeless-brother-says-hes-sick-of-her-helping-charities-but-not-her-family/" target="_blank">The Sun</a></em><span> </span>how he lost out on jobs due to having the same last name as the famous royal.</p> <p> “Being associated with Meghan has nearly destroyed me.</p> <p>“I am homeless and could have been under a bridge with a cardboard sign begging for money.</p> <p>“But thankfully my Mom has taken me in.</p> <p>“Mentally, this has been a f***ing nightmare ever since Meghan got together with Harry.”</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B8MjqZQpfba/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B8MjqZQpfba/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (@sussexroyal)</a> on Feb 5, 2020 at 11:02am PST</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>He says that he has thought about changing his name to “escape the curse” and that the Palace or Meghan herself could have helped him out.</p> <p>“For her to sit there on her royal pedestal and watch this happening to her family — she should have done her humanitarian work for us.</p> <p>“I’m sick of hearing about her and Harry helping this charity, that charity — whatever cause is in this week.”</p> <p><em>Photo credits: The Sun</em></p> </div> </div> </div>

International Travel

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Half-naked man shocks plane passengers on 10-hour flight

<p>Sometimes flying isn’t the best experience to be had – it can be long, tiring and cramped, so making arrangements to be comfortable such as a neck pillow, cosy clothes or a device to pass the time are all expected to be seen on a flight.</p> <p>However, one Air France passenger went to new heights when it came to getting comfortable when she posted to Twitter a man sitting across her aisle on 10-and-a-half-hour flight in his boxer shorts.</p> <p>Lizzie Thompson was on the flight from Paris to Los Angeles when she said a fellow passenger sitting across from her came out of the plane bathroom with no pants, shoes or socks on.</p> <p>“The man in the seat across from me has taken HIS PANTS OFF for the flight and is just in his boxers… This is going to be a long flight,” she wrote on Twitter.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"> <p dir="ltr">The man in the seat across from me has taken HIS PANTS OFF for the flight and is just in his boxers. Flight attendants seem unconcerned. This is going to be a long flight <a href="https://twitter.com/AirFranceFR?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AirFranceFR</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CDG?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CDG</a> to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LAX?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LAX</a> <a href="https://t.co/Z0EfktDwpD">pic.twitter.com/Z0EfktDwpD</a></p> — Lizzie Thompson (@Lizzie_Thompson) <a href="https://twitter.com/Lizzie_Thompson/status/1097467416693653507?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2019</a></blockquote> <p>Although she tried to get flight attendants' attention, little was done to appease other passengers, noting they seemed “unconcerned” by the situation. Despite offering to move Ms Thompson, there were no attempts to ask the man to place his pants back on.</p> <p>“He offered to move me (which would mean losing my bulkhead legroom) but just shrugged when I suggested he ask the man to put his pants back on,” she wrote.</p> <p>Adding fire to the already bizarrely lit flames – the half-naked passenger allegedly shouted at a man who boarded with a ukulele to “COME SIT WITH ME AND MAKE SOME MUSIC”.</p> <p>The pant-less stranger also stole “4 mini bottles of wine from the cart,” two hours into the flight and perhaps strangest of all – became so cold he put a thick winter jacket on but left his pants off for the whole flight.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"> <p dir="ltr">Just landed. 2 hours in he stood up and took 4 mini bottles of wine from the cart. Then he fell asleep. Then 6 hours in he got cold so PUT ON HIS PUFFY JACKET <a href="https://t.co/wNFq9L2bkH">pic.twitter.com/wNFq9L2bkH</a></p> — Lizzie Thompson (@Lizzie_Thompson) <a href="https://twitter.com/Lizzie_Thompson/status/1097643842809954306?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2019</a></blockquote> <p>People reading the story on social media were not impressed by the situation.</p> <p dir="ltr">It was considered indecent exposure to breastfeed an infant in public in Idaho until 2018. Hashtag white cis male privilege. I’m so sorry you had to endure this.</p> <p><a class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">— Amber Labelle (@amberllab) </a><a href="https://twitter.com/amberllab/status/1097652023774887936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 19, 2019</a><a class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"></a></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"> <p dir="ltr">I’m sorry you had to endure this. Holy cow. I would have lost it at some point and been the one arrested.</p> — Trudy Bleu (@BleuTrudy) <a href="https://twitter.com/BleuTrudy/status/1097677055934660608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 19, 2019</a></blockquote> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"> <p dir="ltr">What happened to the phrase: no shirt, no shoes, no service…no pants needs to be added. Underwear alone should not be allowed. Those were not shorts, true shirts would be OK.</p> — Donna Owosso (@fly_befree) <a href="https://twitter.com/fly_befree/status/1097785218017030144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 19, 2019</a></blockquote> <p>At least, Ms Thompson affirms, there is nothing quite like a pant-less man to tie a group of onlooking strangers together.</p> <p>“Nothing bonds a group of passengers like a man half naked in your section,” she joked. </p>

Travel Trouble

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"She’s embarrassed": Meghan Markle's half-brother Thomas opens up to Mel Doyle

<p>Meghan Markle’s half brother has shed some light on what her family is really like in an interview with Channel 7’s Sunday Night.</p> <p>Speaking to Melissa Doyle, Thomas Markle Jr said that he would like to one day be an uncle to her children.</p> <p>When asked about getting an invitation to her wedding, he said: “No. I don’t know. When do they go out? Nobody has my address anyway. I’m pretty hard to get hold of.”</p> <p>He said however he would like to see her again and hopes she would like him to get to know her future children.</p> <p>“I think an uncle is a pretty important role,” he said. “I didn’t even know that we had a falling-out, so I would like to see her again, yeah. I want to give her a hug and tell her how proud I am of her, but, you know, I really have to travel a really long way to do that.”</p> <p>When asked if she was “embarrassed” by her family, Markle Jr said it would be a fair conclusion to make.</p> <p>“She’s probably embarrassed at some of the stories and accusations and, you know ...” he said, before Doyle asked him if their family was “fractured”.</p> <p>“I think my family’s always been fractured,” he said.</p> <p>“I think now, more than ever, it should be the time for everybody to put their differences aside and just, you know, be a family. We have a small family. It may be broken up, but it’s still a family.”</p> <p>“She can’t forget about her family, because ... we’re never gonna go away. We’re always gonna be her family,” he said.</p> <p><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2F7sundaynight%2Fvideos%2F2276260469051521%2F&amp;show_text=0&amp;width=560" width="560" height="315" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p> <p>Markle Jr also spoke about the effect the family fighting would be having on Meghan’s father, Thomas Markle.</p> <p>“You know, my dad bent over backwards and really, really just paved the way for her and gave her every single thing she needed to get where she’s at today. It would hurt. It wouldn’t irritate me, but it would just hurt,” he said.</p> <p>When asked by Doyle how their father would be coping with all their dirty laundry being aired publicly, Markle Jr replied: “He’s probably not happy. Well, you see the look on his face in those pictures that they finally got of him. So doesn’t look very happy. And he’s a really private person, so ...”</p> <p>Markle Jr also said he was not sure if her father would walk Meghan down the aisle, but thought he should do it.</p> <p>“My dad just wants to be left alone. He doesn’t like spotlight. He doesn’t like anything ... interviews. You know, and that’s why he moved down there, to just be alone. But he’s gotta come out now, though,” he said.</p> <p>“I mean, he’s gotta step up to the plate... and walk his daughter down that aisle.”</p>

Relationships

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10 ways to cut your shopping spend in half

<p>How many times have you walked into the supermarket with the best saving intentions, only to walk out with a fuller-than-expected trolley and empty pockets?</p> <p>Supermarkets are designed with countless sales tactics to tempt us into parting with our hard-earned dosh. But, provided you have your wits about you, there are ways to do your weekly shop without parting with so much cash.</p> <p>To see 10 ways to cut your weekly shopping spend in half, scroll through the gallery above.</p> <p>Do you think you will try any of these tricks?</p>

Retirement Income

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Meghan Markle rejects her half-siblings: “I don’t know those people”

<p>For the first time since reports arose of her <a href="/news/news/2018/02/samantha-markle-unleashes-on-half-sister-meghan-in-scathing-new-interview/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">fractured relationship</span> with<span style="text-decoration: underline;"> her half-siblings</span></strong></a>, Meghan Markle has finally addressed her troubled estranged family members saying via her attorney, “I don’t know those people," <strong><a href="http://www.intouchweekly.com/posts/meghan-markle-half-brother-tom-markle-153334" target="_blank">InTouch</a></strong><a href="http://www.intouchweekly.com/posts/meghan-markle-half-brother-tom-markle-153334" target="_blank"></a> reports<a href="http://www.intouchweekly.com/posts/meghan-markle-half-brother-tom-markle-153334" target="_blank"></a>.</p> <p>Meghan’s half-brother Thomas Markle Jr, who described it as a “slap in the face”, reached out to the soon-to-be royal through his lawyer for help in dealing with the increased media attention. He also attempted to send a letter congratulating her on her engagement to Prince Harry and apologising if his personal troubles embarrassed her in any way, however he says he was ignored.</p> <p>The only reply he received was from a representative for Prince Harry, who replied, “I am so sorry to hear you have been having a tough time with the media.”</p> <p>In email exchanges between Thomas and his lawyer, who had spoken to Meghan’s attorney, the 36-year-old former <em>Suits </em>actress is quoted as saying, “I don’t know these people… they are distant family members.”</p> <p>Thomas’ lawyer also said the Palace was “clearly staying away from this,” given Thomas’ recent legal troubles. The 51-year-old was thrown in jail on New Year’s Eve after a drunken fight with his fiancée, Darlene Blount, and last year he was also <a href="/entertainment/tv/2017/09/meghan-markle-brother-to-prince-harry-get-on-with-it/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">a</span><span style="text-decoration: underline;">rrested for pointing a gun at Blount</span></strong></a>.</p> <p>Thomas, who says he has lost work and been forced to move three times in the last year due to the press scrutiny, described Meghan’s response to his letter as “harsh” and “below the belt”.</p> <p>He claims that, although they didn’t speak much after Meghan moved to Toronto in 2010 for her role in <em>Suits</em>, they “spent a lot of time together growing up”.</p> <p>“We were as close as we could be, as tight as we could be, that’s what we were.”</p>

News

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Samantha Markle unleashes on half-sister Meghan in scathing new interview

<p>Every family has their fair share of drama, but for the Markles, “drama” doesn’t even begin to describe their complex family dynamics.</p> <p>In a new interview with <em>A Current Affair</em>, Meghan Markle’s <a href="/entertainment/books/2017/09/inside-meghan-markles-sisters-tell-all-book/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>controversially vocal</strong></span></a> half-sister Samantha has once again unleashed on the soon-to-be royal, saying she’s turned her back on her family.</p> <p>Samantha, a struggling writer and filmmaker who suffers from multiple sclerosis, leaving her wheelchair-bound, has criticised Prince Harry’s fiancée for failing to take care of her family – particularly her dad, Thomas, once an Emmy-winning TV lighting director, now bankrupt and living in Mexico.</p> <p>“I think he did help her a lot and he is very creative too and encouraging, so she made the most of her environment. I don't think he feels that she owes him, but that is how I see it,” Samantha said, claiming her dad helped kickstart Meghan’s acting career.</p> <p>“Honestly, what she could spend in a weekend would greatly help dad, so that should be a priority … I think you need to step up to the plate and make sure he is well taken care of.”</p> <p>Samantha also took aim at the expensive gown worn by Meghan in <a href="/entertainment/art/2017/12/prince-harry-and-meghan-markle-engagement-photos/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">her engagement photos</span></strong></a>. “If you can afford $75,000 for a dress, you can afford $75,000 to help your dad. That’s how I feel, that’s who I am.”</p> <p>However, Samantha did admit that her brother, Thomas Jr, who has a long history with alcoholism, may have had something to do with driving Meghan away.</p> <p>Despite all her criticisms, Samantha – who hasn’t spoken to Meghan in three years – claimed she isn’t “bitter”.</p> <p>“I was always very proud of her. I never felt bitter or jealous. I had made similar choices. Because early in my life, that I wanted I took my career to the level in television as well when I made the decision and I quit to get my degrees. to go back to school when I made those choices, so how can I be bitter I had my successes.”</p>

News

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Meghan Markle’s half-sister begs for forgiveness

<p>Meghan Markle’s half-sister has begged the bride-to-be to forgive her for not staying in contact for three years and for the nasty public comments she has made about her famous sibling to the media.</p> <p>Samantha Grant, 53, also hopes that her upcoming book, <em>The Diary of Princess Pushy’s Sister,</em> won’t stop her getting an invite to the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Markle.</p> <p>In an interview with <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/i-last-talked-three-years-11838018">The Mirror</a></strong></span>, Grant said that Markle’s last words to her in 2014 were: “I love you, babe. I’m really glad we had this conversation. Keep in touch.”</p> <p>But she said they fell out of touch because Markle “got busy”, saying: “I tried. But I think she just got really busy.”</p> <p>Grant, a former actress who is now confined to a wheelchair after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, said: “I hope now that she knows I was there. I should’ve really reached out more ... but I’m proud of her.”</p> <p>She also defended her book’s title, saying her book does not seek to criticise Markle but instead pokes fun at “social perceptions and labels”.</p> <p>Grant believes their rift may have been caused when she suggested on the phone that Markle should contribute financially to the family.</p> <p>Grant recently told In Touch, “If you can spend $US75,000 on a dress, you can spend $US75,000 on your dad”, referring to Markle’s dress she wore for her engagement announcement photos with Prince Harry.</p> <p>“It was probably not my place to say but I was just saying, ‘Hey, help Dad with some of that money for school now you’re making a lot of money’. I think at that time she wasn’t that pleased about what I had to say. And she said, ‘There are too many cooks in the kitchen, babe’,” Grant told The Mirror.</p> <p>When asked if she thinks she will get an invitation to the royal wedding, she said: “That’s her day. It’s her special moment. And I would love to be a part of it. But, I think, possibly she might also understand that it’s not easy for all of us to get there. But if we can, we will.”</p> <p>She added: “It would be pleasing for us to be there and be invited. But it’s entirely her decision.</p> <p>“I’d be lying to say that I wouldn’t be hurt if I didn’t get an invite but that’s really up to her.”</p> <p>She ended with a plea to Markle: “I can only say to Meg, ‘Forgive me’.”</p>

Family & Pets

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Why Sydney Harbour Bridge flags were at half-mast yesterday

<p>Yesterday, Australian flags on the Sydney Harbour Bridge were flying at half-mast at the request of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in respect of the passing of the president of Vanuatu.</p> <p>On Sunday, His Excellency Womtelo Reverend Baldwin Lonsdale died at the age of 67 due to a heart attack.</p> <p>Mr Turnbull requested all flags on buildings occupied by Australian Government departments and affiliated agencies be flown at half-mast to pay tribute to the deceased president.</p> <p>President Baldwin Lonsdale was elected in September 2014 and was the first president from the Torba Province.</p> <p>The funeral was held yesterday in Port Vila, Vanuatu.</p> <p>Mr Turnbull has offered his condolences and said that the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, Peter Cosgrove, would represent Australia at the funeral.</p> <p>In accordance with flag protocol, the flags and ensigns at each flag station were flown at half-mast during daylight hours.</p> <p>Recently, flags have been flown at half-mast to commemorate victims of the Martin Place siege, to honour the late Saudi king, for the death of cricketer Phillip Hughes and Remembrance Day. </p> <p><em>Image credit: Daniel Aarons</em></p>

International Travel

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What really happens to your half-used hotel toiletries

<p>Plenty of us are guilty of pilfering complimentary hotel toiletries, or using them a few times and leaving the remains to the housekeeper. But you no longer need to feel guilty about taking them home.</p> <p>Globally, it's estimated that hotels and travellers combined throw out about five million bars of used soap a day, according to charity Soap Aid. And that's not counting all those half-used bottles of shampoo, conditioner, body wash and toothpaste. </p> <p>Soap Aid, which recycles soaps from hotels across New Zealand and Australia, has collected and recycled over 70,000kg of hotel soap since its founding in 2011.</p> <p>"So far this year we have collected over 10,000kg of soap from hotels for recycling, all of which would have ended up in overflowing landfill," Diana Siniakov, a spokesperson for the Melbourne-based charity said. </p> <p>A growing number of hotels globally are stocking eco-friendly toiletries in biodegradable packaging, but far fewer are choosing to recycle or repurpose them.</p> <p>Some, however, have got on board with schemes which recycle used hotel soaps and distribute fresh bars to underprivileged communities, or turn them onto biofuel and industrial cleaners. </p> <p>Lack of soap means illness and death for many around the world. About 2.4 billion people around the world lack access to proper sanitation, leading to the spread of infection and millions of deaths, according to the World Health Organisation.</p> <p>This staggering gap between waste and need weighed heavily on hospitality worker, Australian Michael Matulik. The CEO of a supplier of hotel amenities, Matulick had seen the amount of toiletries wasted first hand. In 2011 he decided to do something about it and Soap Aid was born. </p> <p>The charity collects waste soap from more than 300 hotel groups across Australasia, just 7 per cent of which are based in New Zealand.</p> <p>The organisation works in partnership with Rotary International, which collects used soaps from hotels and takes them to a repurposing facility. There, the soaps are broken down, run through a series of filters to purify them and reshaped into fresh bars.</p> <p>Soap Aid has sent more than 480,000 new bars of soap to communities in countries such as Fiji, Vanuatu, Cambodia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, India, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, South Africa and Uganda.</p> <p>In early 2016, the organisation sent 50,000 soaps to Fiji to support relief efforts after Tropical Cyclone Winston hit the Pacific Island nation.</p> <p>A US-based charity which sends recycled hotel soaps to underprivileged communities also distributes bags of partly used toiletries, such as shampoos and conditioners, to homeless shelters.</p> <p><strong>What can you do?</strong></p> <p>Guests can make a difference themselves by taking leftover toiletries home and using them, gifting them or donating them to homeless shelters. They can also try persuading their favourite hotels to get on board with a recycling scheme or donating to the schemes.</p> <p><em>Written by Lorna Thornber. First appeared on <a href="http://www.Stuff.co.nz" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Stuff.co.nz</strong></span></a>. </em></p> <p><em><strong>Have you arranged your travel insurance yet? Tailor your cover to your needs and save money by not paying for things you don’t need. <a href="http://www.oversixty.com.au/travel/travel-insurance/?utm_source=over60&amp;utm_campaign=travel-insurance&amp;utm_medium=content&amp;utm_content=travel-insurance" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">To arrange a quote, click here.</span></a> For more information about Over60 Travel Insurance, call 1800 622 966.</strong></em></p> <p> </p>

Travel Tips

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