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How dieting, weight suppression and even misuse of drugs like Ozempic can contribute to eating disorders

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/samantha-withnell-1504436">Samantha Withnell</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/western-university-882">Western University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lindsay-bodell-1504260">Lindsay Bodell</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/western-university-882">Western University</a></em></p> <p>Up to 72 per cent of women and 61 per cent of men are dissatisfied with their weight or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2014.04.010">body image</a>, according to a U.S. study. Globally, millions of people <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fobr.12466">attempt to lose weight</a> every year with the hope that weight loss will have positive effects on their body image, health and quality of life.</p> <p>However, these motivated individuals often struggle to maintain new diets or exercise regimens. The rise of medications such as semaglutides, like <a href="https://dhpp.hpfb-dgpsa.ca/dhpp/resource/101298">Ozempic</a> or <a href="https://dhpp.hpfb-dgpsa.ca/dhpp/resource/101765">Wegovy</a>, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/ozempic-weight-loss-1.6772021">might be viewed as an appealing “quick fix”</a> alternative to meet weight loss goals.</p> <p>Research led by our team and others suggests that such attempts to lose weight often do more harm than good, and even increase the risk of <a href="https://osf.io/9stq2">developing an eating disorder</a>.</p> <h2>Weight loss and eating disorders</h2> <p>Eating disorders are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.20589">serious mental health conditions</a> primarily characterized by extreme patterns of under- or over-eating, concerns about one’s shape or body weight or other behaviours intended to influence body shape or weight such as exercising excessively or self-inducing vomiting.</p> <p>Although once thought to only affect young, white adolescent girls, eating disorders do not discriminate; eating disorders can develop in people of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/erv.2553">any age, sex, gender or racial/ethnic background</a>, with an estimated <a href="https://nedic.ca/general-information/">one million Canadians</a> suffering from an eating disorder at any given time. Feb. 1 to 7 is <a href="https://nedic.ca/edaw/">National Eating Disorders Awareness Week</a>.</p> <p>As a clinical psychologist and clinical psychology graduate student, our research has focused on how eating disorders develop and what keeps them going. Pertinent to society’s focus on weight-related goals, our research has examined associations between weight loss and eating disorder symptoms.</p> <h2>Eating disorders and ‘weight suppression’</h2> <p>In eating disorders research, the state of maintaining weight loss is referred to as “weight suppression.” Weight suppression is typically defined as the difference between a person’s current weight and their highest lifetime weight (excluding pregnancy).</p> <p>Despite the belief that weight loss will improve body satisfaction, we found that in a sample of over 600 men and women, weight loss had no impact on women’s negative body image and was associated with increased body dissatisfaction in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2023.01.011">men</a>. Importantly, being more weight suppressed has been associated with the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqaa146">onset of eating disorders</a>, including anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.</p> <p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-018-0955-2">One proposed explanation</a> for the relationship between weight suppression and eating disorders is that maintaining weight loss becomes increasingly difficult as body systems that <a href="https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.110.010025">reduce metabolic rate and energy expenditure, and increase appetite</a>, are activated to promote weight gain.</p> <p>There is growing awareness that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g2646">weight regain is highly likely following conventional diet programs</a>. This might lead people to engage in more and more extreme behaviours to control their weight, or they might shift between extreme restriction of food intake and episodes of overeating or binge eating, the characteristic symptoms of bulimia nervosa.</p> <h2>Ozempic and other semaglutide drugs</h2> <p>Semaglutide drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy are part of a class of drug called <a href="https://pdf.hres.ca/dpd_pm/00067924.PDF">glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists (GLP-1As)</a>. These drugs work by mimicking the hormone GLP-1 to interact with neural pathways that signal satiety (fullness) and slow stomach emptying, leading to reduced food intake.</p> <p>Although GLP-1As are indicated to treat Type 2 diabetes, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/ozempic-off-label-1.6884141">they are increasingly prescribed off-label</a> or being <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/health-67414203">illegally purchased</a> without a prescription because of their observed effectiveness at inducing weight loss. Although medications like Ozempic do often lead to weight loss, the rate of weight loss may <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2021.3224">slow down or stop over time</a>.</p> <p>Research by Lindsay Bodell, one of the authors of this story, and her colleagues on weight suppression may help explain why effects of semaglutides diminish over time, as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2019.112565">weight suppression is associated with reduced GLP-1 response</a>. This means those suppressing their weight could become less responsive to the satiety signals activated by GLP-1As.</p> <p>Additionally, weight loss effects are only seen for as long as the medication is taken, meaning those who take these drugs to achieve some weight loss goal are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/dom.14725">likely to regain most, if not all, weight lost</a> when they stop taking the medication.</p> <h2>Risks of dieting and weight-loss drugs</h2> <p>The growing market for off-label weight loss drugs is concerning, because of the exacerbation of <a href="https://theconversation.com/ozempic-the-miracle-drug-and-the-harmful-idea-of-a-future-without-fat-211661">weight stigma</a> and the serious <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2022.01.004">health risks</a> associated with unsupervised weight loss, including developing eating disorders.</p> <p>Researchers and health professionals are already raising the alarm about the use of GLP-1As in children and adolescents, due to concerns about their possible <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/cts.2023.612">impact on growth and development</a>.</p> <p>Moreover, popular weight-loss methods, whether they involve pills or “crash diets,” often mimic symptoms of eating disorders. For example, intermittent fasting diets that involve long periods of fasting followed by short periods of food consumption may mimic and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2022.101681">increase the risk of developing binge eating problems</a>.</p> <p>The use of diet pills or laxatives to lose weight has been found to increase the risk of <a href="https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2019.305390">being diagnosed with an eating disorder in the next one to three years</a>. Drugs like Ozempic may also be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.24109">misused by individuals already struggling with an eating disorder</a> to suppress their appetite, compensate for binge eating episodes or manage fear of weight gain.</p> <p>Individuals who are already showing signs of an eating disorder, such as limiting their food intake and intense concerns about their weight, may be most at risk of spiralling from a weight loss diet or medication into an eating disorder, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.24116">even if they only lose a moderate amount of weight</a>.</p> <p>People who are dissatisfied with their weight or have made multiple attempts to lose weight often feel pressured to try increasingly drastic methods. However, any diet, exercise program or weight-loss medication promising a quick fix for weight loss should be treated with extreme caution. At best, you may gain the weight back; at worst, you put yourself at risk for much more serious eating disorders and other health problems.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221514/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/samantha-withnell-1504436"><em>Samantha Withnell</em></a><em>, PhD Candidate, Clinical Psychology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/western-university-882">Western University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lindsay-bodell-1504260">Lindsay Bodell</a>, Assistant Professor of Psychology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/western-university-882">Western University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images </em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-dieting-weight-suppression-and-even-misuse-of-drugs-like-ozempic-can-contribute-to-eating-disorders-221514">original article</a>.</em></p>

Body

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Boss slammed for demanding "insane" farewell gift contribution

<p>A boss in London has been slammed after asking his employees to chip in almost $100 each for an expensive farewell gift for a co-worker. </p> <p>In a TikTok, London-resident Ben Askins read out the anonymous submission from one of the employees who was fed up after his manager “forced” everyone in the team to contribute because it was "compulsory". </p> <p>“Hey, noticed you hadn’t paid into the leaving present for Josh yet. Can you send me the £50 (AU$95) today? I want to put the purchase in by the end of the day,” the boss said in the text.</p> <p>Shocked by the "insane" amount of money, the employee replied: “Can I ask why it is so expensive?</p> <p>“Money is a little tight right now and to be asked to put in so much feels like a lot.”</p> <p>However, the manager didn't take his employee's financial situation into consideration, and said: “Josh has led the company for three years now and I think it’s nice gesture to show our appreciation.” </p> <p>The employee hit back: “I appreciate that but he makes so much more money than me and for me to be asked to put in so much feels weird especially as I never really worked with him”.</p> <p>But, the manager insisted that the employee needed to make a contribution. </p> <p>“This is compulsory I am afraid, it is not fair for me to ask some people and not others. Besides it isn’t that much all things considered," he said, and the employee conceded. </p> <p>It is unclear what happened after, but the texts have gone viral with over 2.2 million views thanks to Askins' <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@ben.askins/video/7307322849407028513" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video</a>.</p> <p>Askins, who’s a managing director and co-founder of a digital agency, weighed in on the ordeal. </p> <p>“I don’t like this at all. I don’t mind leaving presents as a concept, right? But companies should pay it,” he said.</p> <p>“Companies should take responsibility, set a budget and they should pay for themselves. If you want to get something small for your best mate at work, that’s totally different, that’s well within your right.</p> <p>“But this sort of compulsory, ‘everyone’s got to chip in’, I absolutely hate," he added. </p> <p>He also said that the manager's actions are "really poor" and asking for that amount "is just ridiculous, it’s an insane amount". </p> <p>“It might not be much money for him but it is clearly a lot for this person so it’s just not fair what he’s doing,” he concluded. </p> <p><em>Images: TikTok</em></p> <p> </p>

Retirement Life

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Locking up kids has serious mental health impacts and contributes to further reoffending

<p><em>This article contains information on violence experienced by First Nations young people in the Australian carceral system. There are mentions of racist terms, and this piece also mentions self harm, trauma and suicide.</em></p> <p>The ABC Four Corners report “<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-14/locking-up-kids:-australias-failure-to-protect/101652954" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Locking up Kids</a>” detailed the horrific conditions for young Aboriginal people in the juvenile justice system in Western Australia.</p> <p>The report was nothing new. In 2016, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-25/australias-shame-promo/7649462" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Four Corners</a> detailed the brutalisation of Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory’s Don Dale Youth Detention Centre, in its episode “Australia’s Shame”. Also in 2016, <a href="https://www.amnesty.org.au/amnesty-international-welcomes-queensland-youth-detention-review/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amnesty International</a> detailed the abuse children were receiving in Queensland’s juvenile detention facilities.</p> <p>Children should be playing, swimming, running and exploring life. They do not belong behind bars. Yet, on any given day in 2020-21, an average of <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/youth-justice/youth-justice-in-australia-2020-21/contents/summary" target="_blank" rel="noopener">4,695</a> young people were incarcerated in Australia. Most of the young people incarcerated are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.</p> <p>Despite Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in WA making up just <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/youth-justice/youth-justice-in-australia-2020-21/contents/state-and-territory-fact-sheets/western-australia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">6.7%</a> of the population, they account for <a href="https://www.oics.wa.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Banksia-Hill-2020-002.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more than 70%</a> of youth locked up in Perth’s Banksia Hill Juvenile Detention Centre.</p> <p><a href="https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/agispt.20211109056541" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The reasons</a> so many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are detained are linked to the impacts of colonisation, such as intergenerational trauma, ongoing racism, discrimination, and unresolved issues related to self-determination.</p> <p>The Four Corners documentary alleged children in detention were exposed to abuse, torture, solitary confinement and other degrading treatment such as “folding”, which involves bending a person’s legs behind them before sitting on them – we saw a grown man sitting on a child’s legs in this way in the documentary.</p> <p>The documentary also found Aboriginal young people were more likely to be held in solitary confinement, leading to the young people feeling helpless. Racism was also used as a form of abuse, with security calling the young detainees apes and monkeys. One of the young men detained at Banksia Hill expressed the treatment he received made him consider taking his own life.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">No action taken against Don Dale guards over 'excessive force' in fresh Four Corners vision <a href="https://t.co/RdJgN8vQhu">https://t.co/RdJgN8vQhu</a></p> <p>— Sarah Collard (@Sarah_Collard_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Sarah_Collard_/status/1592451372808802305?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p><strong>How does incarceration impact young people’s mental health?</strong></p> <p>Many young people enter youth detention with pre-existing neurocognitive impairments (such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-youth-with-foetal-alcohol-spectrum-disorder-need-indigenous-run-alternatives-to-prison-56615" target="_blank" rel="noopener">foetal alcohol spectrum disorder</a>), trauma, and poor mental health. More than <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10398560902948696" target="_blank" rel="noopener">80%</a> of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in a Queensland detention centre reported mental health problems.</p> <p>Data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare revealed that more than <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/youth-justice/young-people-in-child-protection/summary" target="_blank" rel="noopener">30%</a> of young people in detention were survivors of abuse or neglect. Rather than supporting the most vulnerable within our community, the Australian justice system is <a href="https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/agispt.20211109056541" target="_blank" rel="noopener">imprisoning traumatised</a> and often developmentally compromised young people.</p> <p><a href="https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S027273581300010X?token=9CBCD682BF76BBE308B2073C2A3980D63745C157813CAC79F171AA4577C849EC40D0B848B6DB0D009AFACC05B8BC6185&amp;originRegion=us-east-1&amp;originCreation=20221116031322" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Research</a> has shown pre-existing mental health problems are likely exacerbated by experiences during incarceration, such as isolation, boredom and victimisation.</p> <p>This inhumane treatment brings about retraumatisation of the effects of colonisation and racism, with feelings of <a href="https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/committees/SCLSI/Youth_Justice_System/Submissions/Submission_44-Parkville_College.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hopelessness</a>, worthlessness and <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Community_Affairs/completed_inquiries/2004-07/inst_care/report2/c06" target="_blank" rel="noopener">low self-esteem</a>.</p> <p>Youth detention is also associated with an <a href="https://www.ranzcp.org/news-policy/news/detention-of-children-in-adult-prisons-must-stop#:%7E:text='Youth%20detention%20is%20associated%20with,substance%20use%2C%20and%20behavioural%20disorders." target="_blank" rel="noopener">increased risk</a> of suicide, psychiatric disorders, and drug and alcohol abuse.</p> <p>Locking young people up during their <a href="https://www.cypp.unsw.edu.au/sites/ypp.unsw.edu.au/files/Cunneen%20%282017%29%20Arguments%20for%20raising%20the%20minimum%20age%20of%20criminal%20responsibility.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">crucial years</a> of development also has long-term impacts. These include poor emotional development, poor education outcomes, and worse mental health <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5260153/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in adulthood</a>. As adults, post-release Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1467-842X.2004.tb00629.x" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ten times</a> more likely to die than the general population, with suicide the leading cause of death.</p> <p>You don’t have to look far to see the devastating impacts of incarceration on mental health. Just last year, there were <a href="https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/Hansard/hansard.nsf/0/A4A8FAAE33FDD6BE48258844001C7E29/$File/C41%20S1%2020220511%20All.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">320 reports</a> of self-harm at Banksia Hill, WA’s only youth detention centre.</p> <p><strong>Locking up kids increases the likelihood of reoffending</strong></p> <p>Imprisoning young offenders is also associated with future <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027273581300010X?casa_token=TJ6WoQJnWnsAAAAA:NKTzeYv-LJcHuwT7Xs5fxeHUx9lHsKzVlQDpLpWPyG7u4KAXb1866s-sdupwbQmcbPR93qArg99O" target="_blank" rel="noopener">offending behaviours</a> and <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Committees_Exposed/atsia/sentencing/report/chapter2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">continued contact with the justice system</a>.</p> <p>Without proper rehabilitation and support post-release, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young peoples often return to the same conditions that created the patterns of offending in the first place.</p> <p>Earlier this year, the head of Perth Children’s Court, Judge Hylton Quail <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-10/hylton-quail-slams-conditions-banksia-hill-detention-centre/100819262" target="_blank" rel="noopener">condemned</a> the treatment of a young person in detention at Banksia Hill, stating:</p> <blockquote> <p>When you treat a damaged child like an animal, they will behave like an animal […] When you want to make a monster, this is how you do it.</p> </blockquote> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Today marks 5 years since the recommendations of the Royal Commission into the Detention and Protection of Children in the NT, which recommended closing Don Dale.<br />We now have record numbers of Aboriginal children incarcerated due to punitive bail laws introduced last year. <a href="https://t.co/buxMFFucW7">pic.twitter.com/buxMFFucW7</a></p> <p>— NAAJA (@NAAJA_NT) <a href="https://twitter.com/NAAJA_NT/status/1593059263223844864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 17, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p><strong>What needs to be done?</strong></p> <p>There needs to be substantive change in how young people who come in contact with the justice system are treated. We need governments to commit, under <a href="https://www.closingthegap.gov.au/national-agreement" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Closing the Gap</a>, to whole-of-system change through:</p> <ol> <li> <p>recognising children should not be criminalised at ten years old. The <a href="https://raisetheage.org.au/campaign" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Raise the Age</a> campaign is calling for the minimum age of responsibility to be raised to 14. Early prevention and intervention <a href="https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/agispt.20211109056541" target="_blank" rel="noopener">approaches</a> are necessary here. Children who are at risk of offending should be appropriately supported, to reduce pathways to offending.</p> </li> <li> <p>an approach addressing <em>why</em> young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are locked up in such great numbers is required, driven by respective First Nations communities. This means investing in housing, health, education, transport and other essential services and crucial aspects of a person’s life. An example of this is found in a pilot program in New South Wales called <a href="https://www.justreinvest.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/JRNSW-I-Reinvestment-Forum-I-Report.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Redefining Reinvestment</a>, which tackled the social determinants of incarceration using a community approach.</p> </li> <li> <p>future solutions must be trauma-informed and led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.</p> </li> </ol> <p>Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are not born criminals. They are born into systems that fail them, in a country that all too often turns a blind eye before locking them up.</p> <p>The Australian government needs to work with First Nations communities to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including our future generations.</p> <p><em>If this article has caused distress, please contact one of these helplines: <a href="https://www.13yarn.org.au/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAsdKbBhDHARIsANJ6-jfrUNMB9So6Gd1ICVQPd6uvGbfEaceXNR0BNYnEVCoxnMs7eiMmv20aAjDaEALw_wcB">13yarn</a>, <a href="https://www.lifeline.org.au/">Lifeline</a>, <a href="https://headspace.org.au/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAsdKbBhDHARIsANJ6-jdx8qmNF8hzPZNjURGbT9af0wT_xGUjDU26wX5Eftykygb35_OPLccaAp5uEALw_wcB">Headspace</a></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/194657/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em>Writen by Summer May Finlay, </em><em>Ee Pin Chang, Jemma Collova </em><em>and Pat Dudgeon. Republished with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/locking-up-kids-has-serious-mental-health-impacts-and-contributes-to-further-reoffending-194657" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.</em></p> <p> </p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Mind

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Five myths about Shakespeare’s contribution to the English language

<p>Shakespeare’s language is widely considered to represent the pinnacle of English. But that status is underpinned by multiple myths – ideas about language that have departed from reality (or what is even plausible). Those myths send us down rabbit holes and make us lose sight of what is truly impressive about Shakespeare – what he did with his words.</p> <p>The <a href="http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/shakespearelang/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Encyclopedia of Shakespeare’s Language</a> project at Lancaster University, deploying large-scale computer analyses, has been transforming what we know about Shakespeare’s language. Here, incorporating some of its findings, we revisit five things that you probably thought you knew about Shakespeare but are actually untrue.</p> <h2>1. Shakespeare coined a vast number of words</h2> <p>Well, he did, but not as many as people think – even reputable sources assume more than 1,000. The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust puts it at <a href="https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/shakespedia/shakespeares-words/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1,700</a>, but carefully add that this number concerns words whose earliest appearance is in Shakespeare’s works.</p> <p>The word “hobnail” first appears in a text attributed to Shakespeare, but it’s difficult to imagine it arose from a creative poetic act. More likely, it was around in the spoken language of the time and Shakespeare’s use is the earliest recording of it. Estimates of just how many words Shakespeare supposedly coined do not usually distinguish between what was creatively coined by him and what was first recorded in a written document attributed to him.</p> <p>Even if you don’t make that distinction and include all words that appear first in a work attributed to Shakespeare, whether coined or recorded, numbers are grossly inflated. Working with the literature and linguistics academics <a href="https://english.asu.edu/content/jonathan-hope-professor-literature" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jonathan Hope</a> and <a href="https://slt-cdt.sheffield.ac.uk/students" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sam Hollands</a>, we’ve been using computers to search millions of words in texts pre-dating Shakespeare. With this method, we have found that only around 500 words do seem to first appear in Shakespeare.</p> <p>Of course, 500 is still huge and most writers neither coin a new word nor produce a first recording.</p> <h2>2. Shakespeare IS the English language</h2> <p>The myth that Shakespeare coined loads of words has partly fuelled the myth that Shakespeare’s language constitutes one-quarter, a half or even all of the words of today’s English language.</p> <p>The number of different words in Shakespeare’s texts is around 21,000 words. Some of those words are repeated, which is how we get to the total number of around one million words in works attributed to Shakespeare. (To illustrate, the previous sentence contains 26 words in total, but “of”, “words” and “to” are repeated, so the number of different words is 22). The Oxford English Dictionary has around 600,000 different words in it, but many are obscure technical terms. So, let’s round down to 500,000.</p> <p>Even if every word within Shakespeare had been coined by him (which is of course not the case, as noted above), that would still only be 4.2% of today’s English language. So, Shakespeare could only ever have contributed a very small fraction, though quite possibly more than most writers.</p> <h2>3. Shakespeare had a huge vocabulary</h2> <p>Ludicrously, popular claims about Shakespeare’s huge vocabulary seem to be driven by the fact that his writings as a whole contain a large number of different words (as noted above, around 21,000). But the more you write, the more opportunities you have to use more words that are different. This means Shakespeare is likely to come out on top of any speculations about vocabulary size simply because he has an exceptionally large surviving body of work.</p> <p>A few researchers have used other methods to make better guesses (they are always guesses, as you can’t count the words in somebody’s mind). For example, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/sq/article-abstract/62/1/53/5064657?redirectedFrom=fulltext" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hugh Craig</a>, a Shakespearean scholar who has pioneered the use of computers for analysing language in literature, looked at the average number of different words used across samples of writings of the same length. He found that, relative to his contemporaries, the average frequency with which different words appear in Shakespeare’s work is distinctly … average.</p> <h2>4. Shakespeare has universal meaning</h2> <p>Sure, some themes or aspects of the human condition are universal, but let’s not get carried away and say that his language is universal. The mantra of the historical linguist is that all language changes – and Shakespeare isn’t exempt.</p> <p>Changes can be subtle and easily missed. Take the word “time” – surely a universal word denoting a universal concept? Well, no.</p> <p>For each word in Shakespeare, we used computers to identify the other words they associate with, and those associations reveal the meanings of words.</p> <p>“Time”, for instance, often occurs with “day” or “night” (for example, from Hamlet: “What art thou that usurp'st this time of night”). This reflects the understanding of time in the early modern world (roughly, 1450-1750), which was more closely linked to the cycles of the moon and sun, and thus the broader forces of the cosmos.</p> <p>In contrast, today, associated words like “waste”, “consume” and “spend” suggest that time is more frequently thought of as a precious resource under human control.</p> <h2>5. Shakespeare didn’t know much Latin</h2> <p>The myths above are popular myths, spread by academics and non-academics alike (which is why they are easy to find on the internet). Myths can be more restricted.</p> <p>Within some theatrical circles, the idea that Shakespeare didn’t know much Latin emerged. Indeed, the contemporary playwright Ben Jonson famously wrote that Shakespeare had “small Latin, and less Greek”. Shakespeare lacked a university education. University-educated, jealous, snooty playwrights might have been keen to take him down a peg.</p> <p>Working with the Latin scholar <a href="https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/english/staff/caterina-guardamagna/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Caterina Guardamagna</a>, we found that Shakespeare used 245 different Latin words, whereas in a matching set of plays by other playwrights there were just 28 – the opposite of what the myth dictates.</p> <p>That Shakespeare used so much Latin without a university education makes his achievement in using it all the greater.</p> <p><strong>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-myths-about-shakespeares-contribution-to-the-english-language-189402" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </strong></p> <p><em>Image: Shutterstock</em></p>

Books

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Why it’s time to reconsider the ecological contribution of introduced species – even in New Zealand

<p>The loss of biodiversity is one of the most catastrophic developments of our time. The impacts will possibly <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/461472a">outpace those of global warming</a>.</p> <p><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433029/original/file-20211122-15-tb7265.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip" alt="A fantail" /></p> <p><span class="caption">New Zealand’s pīwakawaka: conservation often focuses on saving native species.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Imogen Warren</span></span></p> <p>Growing evidence that humans have triggered a <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/117/24/13596">sixth global mass extinction</a> means the protection of remaining species is a <a href="https://sdgs.un.org/goals">priority beyond dispute</a> to secure ecological services such carbon cycling, clean water and air, and healthy oceans.</p> <p>The key drivers of species loss are climate change, habitat degradation, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature11148?report=reader">pollution</a>, and <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10531-018-1595-x">exotic species that become invasive</a>. This has led conservation ecologists to follow the simple rule of “protect natives, fight exotics”.</p> <p>If we had an unlimited budget, I would hardly challenge this view. But in a world where natural ecosystems face many other global changes apart from species loss, I argue we should reconsider the <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2021.758413/full">ecological role exotic species play</a>.</p> <h2>Ecosystem function over species mix</h2> <p>One could argue ecosystems are inherently so complex that we can never appreciate the exact contribution of an individual species, and therefore native species need to be protected at all cost.</p> <p>But this argument can be turned around. In many cases, exotic species are not detrimental to the resident species communities. It is not until an exotic species becomes invasive that <a href="https://rewilding.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IUCN-GISP.pdf">substantial harm happens</a>.</p> <p>The deliberate spread of species has been an integral part of human evolution for thousands of years. Many economically important plant species are exotics in most places, but they make it possible to feed our growing population.</p> <p><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433030/original/file-20211122-25-khff1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip" alt="New world cacti and succulents in Greece." /></p> <p><span class="caption">New worlld cacti and succulents have become part of the Mediterranean landscape.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Anna Holyph</span></span></p> <p>In a physically highly connected world, unintentional relocation of both terrestrial and marine species has now also become unavoidable.</p> <p>In some cases, introduced species can even complement native ecosystems. New world succulents are now very much part of the Mediterranean landscape, without <a href="https://www.presentica.com/doc/11177197/the-role-of-new-world-biodiversity-in-the-transformation-of-document">harming the local flora</a>.</p> <p>Sometimes, introduced species perform ecological functions similar to those that are (or were) performed by natives. For instance, European gorse stabilises coastal slopes in New Zealand, providing a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19644109">nursery for local plants</a>.</p> <p><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433003/original/file-20211121-27-ccesaa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="Gorse covering a hill in New Zealand." /> <span class="caption">Gorse can act as a nursery plant for New Zealand’s native plant species.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Filip Fuxa</span></span></p> <p>In one particularly spectacular case, extinct tortoises were intentionally replaced with an exotic species through “assisted colonisation”. It seems to have <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23773124/">worked</a>.</p> <p>However, earlier and much less scientifically informed attempts of assisted colonisation, such as the deliberate introduction of cane toads in Australia’s tropical north-east, <a href="https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1469-1795.2009.00319.x">went terribly wrong</a>.</p> <h2>The bias of human perception</h2> <p>There are many ecosystem services humanity depends on: clean water, carbon cycling, removal of pollutants and excessive nutrient loads, mitigation of global warming through land-based and marine carbon sequestration, erosion prevention, just to name a few.</p> <p>The preservation of native species is one way of ensuring those services for future generations. An approach focused on ecological function weighs the cost of protecting natives and combating exotics against the role of new species assemblages shaped by human interference.</p> <p>At approximately equal cost, should the addition of a breeding pair of a rare bird be prioritised over the reforestation of several hectares of land? Such decisions are often difficult and must be based on the available science.</p> <p>Clearly, there may be other reasons — cultural or aesthetic values for example — to protect native species, beyond the provisioning of ecosystem services. But people seem biased by what they are used to.</p> <p>For example, Switzerland provides <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-42731932">generous subsidies</a> to farmers for maintaining picturesque alpine meadows, even though the native vegetation before human intervention was a much less biologically diverse alpine forest.</p> <p>In Central Europe, the recently introduced Tree of Heaven (<em>Ailanthus altissima</em>) triggered substantial efforts to eradicate it, while the European chestnut (<em>Castanea sativa</em>), introduced by the Greeks and Romans some 2000 years ago, is highly valued and enjoys <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00334-004-0038-7">protection and even reforestation programmes</a>.</p> <p>The above examples illustrate why we may need a more sober approach centred on ecological function to effectively protect our remaining natural treasures and the ecosystem services they provide.</p> <p>The <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2021.711556/abstract">milestones in the evolution of life</a> did not depend on individual species or species assemblages, but on the emergence of new functional traits such as photosynthesis, predation or flight. Similarly, humankind ultimately relies on functioning ecosystems, regardless of which species provide them.<!-- 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/171195/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><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/sebastian-leuzinger-797584">Sebastian Leuzinger</a>, Professor, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/auckland-university-of-technology-1137">Auckland University of Technology</a></em></span></p> <p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-its-time-to-reconsider-the-ecological-contribution-of-introduced-species-even-in-new-zealand-171195">original article</a>.</p> <p><em>Image: Shuttershock</em></p>

Domestic Travel

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How much does flying contribute to climate change?

<p><strong>How much does our use of air travel contribute to the problem of climate change? And is it more damaging that it is being created higher in our atmosphere?</strong></p> <p>The <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190909-why-flight-shame-is-making-people-swap-planes-for-trains">flight shaming movement</a> has raised our awareness of air travel’s contribution to climate change. With all the discussion, you might be surprised to learn that air travel globally <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/ipcc_wg3_ar5_chapter8.pdf">only accounts for about 3% of the warming</a> human activities are causing. Why all the fuss?</p> <p>Before I explain, I should come clean. I am writing this on the train from Christchurch to Kaikoura, where I will give a talk about my recent book <a href="https://www.bwb.co.nz/books/hashtag-no-fly">#NoFly: walking the talk on climate change</a>. I have some skin in this game.</p> <h2>Staying grounded</h2> <p>Taking a train around New Zealand is no mean feat. In the North Island, the <a href="https://www.greatjourneysofnz.co.nz/northern-explorer/">train between Auckland and Wellington</a> runs only every second day. If you get off at a stop along the way, you have to wait another two days to continue your journey. You can catch a bus, but you’ll spend that bus journey fantasising about the possibility of an overnight train service.</p> <p>So why do it? A good deal of global carbon emissions come from <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions">industrial processes or electricity generation</a> under the control of governments and corporations, rather than individual citizens. For many of us, a decision not to fly might be the most significant reduction in emissions we can make as individuals.</p> <p>As Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has shown, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49349566">refusing to fly</a> also sends a powerful signal to others, by showing that you are willing to change your own behaviour. Politicians and corporate sales departments will take note if we start acting together.</p> <h2>Impacts of aviation</h2> <p>Aviation affects the climate in a <a href="https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=LIvEZkURpcMC&amp;lpg=PR11&amp;ots=VFhTKL5oG-&amp;dq=aviation%20and%20climate%20change&amp;lr&amp;pg=PR10#v=onepage&amp;q=aviation%20and%20climate%20change&amp;f=false">variety of ways</a>.</p> <p>Because any carbon dioxide you emit stays in the atmosphere for hundreds of years, it doesn’t matter much whether you release it from the exhaust pipe of your car at sea level or from a jet engine several kilometres high. Per passenger, a flight from Auckland to Wellington will put a similar amount of carbon dioxide into the air as driving solo in your car. Catching the train will <a href="https://calculator.toitu.co.nz/?calculator=travel">cut your carbon emissions seven-fold</a>.</p> <p>When aircraft burn jet fuel, however, they also emit short-lived gases like nitrogen oxides, which can react with other gases in the air within a day of being released. When nitrogen oxides are released at altitude they can react with oxygen to put more ozone into the air, but can also remove methane.</p> <p>Ozone and methane are both greenhouse gases, so this chain of chemical reactions can lead to both heating and cooling effects. Unfortunately the net result when these processes are added together is to <a href="https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1810/263217/Dessens_TransPol_2014_accepted.pdf?sequence=1">drive more warming</a>.</p> <p>Depending on the atmospheric conditions, aircraft can also create <a href="https://science-edu.larc.nasa.gov/contrail-edu/science.html">contrails</a>: clouds of tiny ice crystals. The science is not as clear cut on how contrails influence the climate, but <a href="https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/19/8163/2019/">some studies suggest</a> they could have an effect as significant as the carbon dioxide released during a flight.</p> <p>There is also considerable uncertainty as to whether aircraft exhaust might affect cloud formation itself - this could be a further <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2014JD021914">significant contribution to warming</a>.</p> <h2>Growing demand for air travel</h2> <p>Offsetting, by planting trees or restoring natural wildlands, will take carbon dioxide back out of the atmosphere. But we would have to do this on a massive scale to feed our appetite for flight.</p> <p>Emissions from international air travel are not included in the <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement">Paris Agreement</a>, although the United Nations has been working on the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (<a href="https://www.icao.int/environmental-protection/CORSIA/Pages/default.aspx">CORSIA</a>), which may begin to deal with these. Initially, the scheme will be voluntary. Airlines flying routes between countries that join the scheme will have to offset any emissions above 2020 levels from January 2021.</p> <p>Emissions from flying <a href="https://www.icao.int/Meetings/a38/Documents/WP/wp026_en.pdf">stand to triple by 2050</a> if demand for air travel continues to grow. Even if air travel became carbon neutral through the use of biofuels or electric planes, the effects from contrails and interactions with clouds mean that flying may never be climate neutral.</p> <p>With no easy fixes on the horizon, many people are thinking hard about their need to fly. This is why I <a href="https://theconversation.com/costly-signals-needed-to-deliver-inconvenient-truth-82380">took a year off air travel</a> (alongside my colleague Quentin Atkinson) in 2018.</p> <p>I have been back on planes in 2019, but I have learned how to reduce my flying, by combining trips and making better use of video conferencing.</p> <p>Fly if you must, offset if you can, but – if you are concerned about climate change – one of the best things you could choose to do is to fly less.<!-- 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/127707/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: http://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em>Written by <span>Shaun Hendy, Professor of Physics, University of Auckland</span>. Republished with permission of </em><a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/climate-explained-how-much-does-flying-contribute-to-climate-change-127707" target="_blank"><em>The Conversation</em></a><em>. </em></p>

International Travel

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How painting contributes to healthy ageing

<p>A study published in <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890406599000213" target="_blank"><em><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">the Journal of Aging Studies</span></strong></em></a> found that participants aged 60 to 93 identified six key aspects of successful ageing. These aspects were a sense of purpose, interactions with others, personal growth, self-acceptance, autonomy and health. The researchers found that creative activity contributes to successful ageing by fostering a sense of competence, purpose and growth. It also improves problem-solving skills, motivation and perceptions that translate into how individuals manage day-to-day life. Here are some more ways painting<a href="https://shop.oversixty.com.au/collections/painting?utm_source=Over60&amp;utm_medium=in-article-link-painting&amp;utm_campaign=Over60Shop&amp;utm_content=over60-shop" target="_blank"></a> contributes to healthy ageing.</p> <p><strong>1. Strengthens memory</strong></p> <p>A painter is required to sharpen their mind through conceptual visualisation and implementation. This activity boosts memory recollection skills and decreases the chance of developing memory loss illnesses later in life.</p> <p><strong>2. Stress relief</strong></p> <p>Stress is a problem that everyone deals with but frequent and high levels of stress can have a severe impact on your emotional and physical health. Focusing on painting allows a person’s mind to escape the stresses of life and relax. Releasing anxiety in painting helps someone contemplate a stressful situation out of a place of contemplation rather than through emotions. </p> <p><strong>3. Increases optimism</strong></p> <p>Painting<a href="https://shop.oversixty.com.au/collections/painting?utm_source=Over60&amp;utm_medium=in-article-link-painting&amp;utm_campaign=Over60Shop&amp;utm_content=over60-shop" target="_blank"></a> involves having a plan of your work of art and then accomplishing it. This process boosts levels of happiness and optimism once this goal is achieved and you have a beautiful artwork. As you continue to paint, your skills will grow and self-esteem will be boosted as you experiment with your new artistic skills.</p> <p><strong>4.  Nurtures emotional growth</strong></p> <p>Therapists regularly suggest painting as a treatment for patients who have suffered psychologically painful situations. Painting helps express your subconscious thoughts and feelings that you might be brushing over. Painting increases emotional intelligence and as you paint more you will become more reflective on what factors are influencing your varying moods.</p> <p>Do you enjoy painting? Let us know in the comments below.</p>

Art

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The size of your dinner table contributes to how much you eat

<p>Here’s some food for thought. Despite several factors that affect how much people eat, researchers have found a new influence: the size of your table.</p> <p class="content-bodyparagraph"><strong>The process:</strong> <br />During the study, scientists sliced pizzas into different sized slices and distributed them between small and large tables. Students were then invited to eat as much pizza as they wanted.</p> <p class="content-bodyparagraph"><strong>The results:</strong> <br />Researchers found that people who were at the large tables ate less than the people at the small tables.</p> <p class="content-bodyparagraph"><strong>The reason:</strong> <br />They believe that the size of the table altered the way the students saw the pizza.</p> <p class="content-bodyparagraph"><strong>The message:</strong> <br />If you want to eat less food it’s a good idea to serve it in smaller portions on large tables.</p> <p class="content-bodyparagraph"><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><em><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/news/news/2015/12/image-of-couple-proves-love-can-last/">Touching photo of elderly couple is proof that love can last a lifetime</a></em></strong></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><em><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/health/caring/2015/12/mum-continues-to-volunteer-despite-cancer-diagnosis/">Selfless mum continues to volunteer despite terminal cancer diagnosis</a></em></strong></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><em><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/health/caring/2016/01/steps-to-fall-proof-your-home/">5 steps to fall-proof your home</a></em></strong></span></p>

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