MIL-OSI Publisher – Page 841 – MIL Submissions Engine

July 21, 2025

Dating app categories could be shaping you more than you know

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Kevin Guyan, Chancellor’s Fellow & Director of the Gender + Sexuality Data Lab, University of Edinburgh

Any account of love and dating in the 2020s is incomplete without addressing an uncomfortable topic: are our encounters with technology shaping who we are and how we desire?

Dating apps such as Tinder, Bumble and Feeld allow users to choose from dozens of genders, sexualities, desires and relationship types. Commonplace descriptors such as “straight”, “gay” and “bisexual” are now joined by labels including “polysexual” (an attraction to multiple, but not all, genders), “skoliosexual” (an attraction predominantly to people who don’t conform to traditional gender norms) and “heteroflexible” (an attraction that is mostly heterosexual with some exceptions).

But do these categories provide a more accurate representation of the world beyond the app? Or do they partly construct the world they claim to describe?

As a regular user of gay dating apps throughout the late 2000s and early 2010s, I discovered a menu of categories to describe myself. There was everything from “twinks” (slim build, youthful appearance and little or no body hair) and “otters” (the same but with a bit more body hair and a more masculine appearance) to “bears” (large build and lots of body hair) and “muscle daddies” (older with a muscular physique).

I quickly understood how to maximise my success on the app by hacking the algorithm: the curated buzzwords in my bio, profile pics that struck the right balance between “sexy” and “intelligent”, how often to use the app and when. If the app gave prominence to a certain “category” of gay man in its listings, I was more than willing to present myself as that category.

But, in the process, the line between the category and the thing being categorised (me and my desires) became increasingly impossible to untangle.

This experience inspired research in my new book Rainbow Trap, which investigates the technical aspects of app design and how the provision of more “inclusive categories” for LGBTQ+ communities often does nothing to reconfigure the narrow accounts of desire encoded in the tech.

Dating today can feel like a mix of endless swipes, red flags and shifting expectations. From decoding mixed signals to balancing independence with intimacy, relationships in your 20s and 30s come with unique challenges. Love IRL is the latest series from Quarter Life that explores it all.

These research-backed articles break down the complexities of modern love to help you build meaningful connections, no matter your relationship status.

Writing in the early 2000s, science and technology scholars Geoffrey C. Bowker and Susan Leigh Star coined the term “convergence” to describe what happens when “people get put into categories and learn from those categories how to behave”. Philosopher of science Ian Hacking similarly used the term looping effect“ to describe the multi-directional relationship between a category and the “thing” being categorised.

These encounters, however, highlight a fundamental tension between queer communities and classifications: the classifications used to describe us also come to define us. This can determine what doors are opened and closed and who we are allowed to be.

Thinking back to my early forays into dating apps, I would often assign myself to the category of “twink”. Although used by app designers to assist with the algorithmic sorting of users, the identity felt contoured to my life.

The connections suggested by the app, based on my self-categorisation as a “twink”, felt as if they reflected who I was and what I had always wanted. And, for a period, I believed it.

However, in hindsight, I don’t know if I was ever really attracted to men with 26-inch waists and hair frazzled by too much bleach. I had limited myself to what the app told me I should like. But desire isn’t so easily put into a box.

Getting critical about categories

Underpinning the mechanics of all dating apps are categories, and we can learn a lot about love and dating by thinking critically about the categories used.

Between 2021 and 2023, Tinder reported a 30% increase in the use of gender identities other than “male” or “female” on the app, creating more than 145 million new matches. Identification with the label “non-binary” also more than doubled in just one year.

In 2023, the dating app Feeld (which describes itself as designed “for the curious”) reported that more than half its users who identified as “heterosexual” connected with someone on the app who did not identify as “heterosexual”. Feeld also has claimed that over 180,000 people “changed their sexuality” during their first year of using the app and that “the longer Feeld members are on the app, the less heterosexual they get”.

I am not suggesting that our navigation of love and dating through the prism of technology (and its growing menu of categories) is making us more queer – as these technologies could just as equally be making us more straight. But whatever is happening, it is clear that assigning yourself to a particular category opens and closes opportunities for love and desire.

It is app designers who then hold the power to decide what connections are made – for example, whether “twinks” connect with “bears”, whether your category features first or last on the home page. Because the classifications used to describe us are also now defining us, app designers partly shape how you think about yourself and your desires. This power does not stop when you turn off the app, it extends into offline worlds too.

So, for app users, be open to how your encounters with categories shape who and how you desire. Who will the app include and exclude based on your self-categorisation? And is that the experience you necessarily what?

Kevin Guyan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Dating app categories could be shaping you more than you know – https://theconversation.com/dating-app-categories-could-be-shaping-you-more-than-you-know-256368

July 21, 2025

Is a ‘nanny state’ a price worth paying to keep the NHS free? The evidence shows it could work

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Renaud Foucart, Senior Lecturer in Economics, Lancaster University Management School, Lancaster University

The UK government’s new ten-year-plan to transform the NHS includes a focus on preventing ill health rather than treating illness. But to what extent should people depend on the state to help them make healthy decisions?

Some think any kind of nudge in that direction is symptomatic of a “nanny state” overstepping its boundaries. Others might argue that nanny knows best, or that governments should do whatever works best both economically and to keep people healthy.

Either way, if a country like the UK wants to keep providing free (or at least tax-payer funded) and universal healthcare, rather than charging every patient for their specific needs, its choices are limited.

Take obesity for example, which is estimated to cost the NHS around £12.6 billion a year – more than 5% of its total budget.

In 2022, 28.7% of adults in the UK had obesity, compared to 10.9% in France, 14.3% in Denmark and 22% in Belgium. (In the US, it was 42.8%.)

Government analysis claims that if everyone who is overweight reduced their calorie intake by just 216 calories a day – roughly equivalent to a single 500ml bottle of fizzy drink – obesity would be halved, and so would the associated costs. It also estimates that cutting the calorie count of a daily diet by just 50 calories would lift 340,000 children and 2 million adults out of obesity.

But how should it persuade people to cut those calories? Happy to ignore accusations of being a nanny state, the UK government is now working with food retailers and manufacturers to encourage people to make healthier choices.

Under the plan, products will be made with less sugar and fat. And the data that supermarkets own about your shopping habits (through online shopping and loyalty cards) will be used to nudge you towards more fruits and vegetables and fewer bags of crisps. Businesses that fail to induce changes in customer consumption will face financial penalties.

And perhaps this is more effective than personal responsibility. Recent alternative policies which relied on individual action like following diets using the NHS weight loss app have not worked.

The UK has also invested hundred of millions of pounds trying to encourage people to burn calories by walking and cycling more. But the country remains reluctant to reduce its car-dependence, with its cities poorly served by public transport. Walking and cycling are just not that popular.

So perhaps state intervention is the only policy British people are willing to accept. Understandably, they want the freedom to make their own choices when it comes to exercise, eating and drinking, but they also want to keep the NHS free. Only 7% would support charging people for their use of healthcare.

Fat tax

Another option is to tax the consumption of fat and sugar to pay for the cost it imposes on others. In 2016, the UK was among the first countries to introduce a tax on sugary drinks. Since then, the total amount of sugar in British soft drinks has decreased by 46%, because changing the recipes means the producers pay less tax.

Research shows that the tax also deters younger people from buying too much sugar. However, it does little to reduce consumption among those who have the most sugar-intensive diets, just like alcohol taxes do nothing to convince the most addicted alcoholics to drink less.

There is also a valid argument that taxing sugar and fat is unfair. Unhealthy food is a much larger proportion of the budget of poorer households than it is for wealthier one, making it a regressive tax.

Placard on street expressing love for the NHS. — Love for the NHS.
John Gomez/Shutterstock

Yet policies nudging people towards healthy choices often have a good track record. A study of food labelling policies which placed warning labels on high sugar and high calorie foods in Chile showed that people bought less of them.

To stay below the threshold, firms then changed their recipes, just like with the tax. In that case, the warnings led to people consuming 11.5% less sugar and 2.8% less fat.

While paternalistic interventions can be annoying or upsetting, pretending obesity is purely an individual choice is misleading. Obesity starts in childhood, and can destroy future choices. Children with obesity are more likely to be bullied, and don’t do as well at school.

The state regularly bans harmful products without controversy. Even if you wanted to, you could not insulate your house with asbestos, and the UK is currently busy banning the sale of tobacco to anyone born after 2009.

With NHS waiting lists remaining at record highs, and a struggling economy, risk of the country becoming a nanny state by trying to encourage healthier food might actually be a pretty minor one.

Renaud Foucart does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Is a ‘nanny state’ a price worth paying to keep the NHS free? The evidence shows it could work – https://theconversation.com/is-a-nanny-state-a-price-worth-paying-to-keep-the-nhs-free-the-evidence-shows-it-could-work-260539

July 21, 2025

Three reasons buffets can be a recipe for a health disaster – and how to keep diners safe

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Kimon-Andreas Karatzas, Associate Professor of Food Microbiology, Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University of Reading

You pile your plate high at the buffet, savouring the freedom to try a little bit of everything. But while your tastebuds might be celebrating, your gut could be at risk.

From shared serving spoons to lukewarm lasagne, buffets can be a breeding ground for bacteria – and a hotbed for food poisoning. In the UK alone, millions of cases go unreported each year. So what makes buffets so risky, and what can be done to stay safe?

Food poisoning is a serious issue in the UK and around the world. While most cases are mild and don’t require treatment, some can lead to hospitalisation or even death. Official figures suggest approximately 2.4 million people in the UK fall ill each year due to food-borne illness – mostly caused by viruses, bacteria or toxins in contaminated food. But because many people recover at home without reporting their symptoms, the real figure is likely much higher.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) estimates that there are closer to 18 million cases of food poisoning in the UK each year. That’s almost one in four people. And buffets – particularly all-you-can-eat venues – are a common setting for outbreaks.

So, what is it about buffets that makes them such a hotspot for illness? Here are the key reasons these self-serve spreads carry higher risks:

1. Cross-Contamination

One of the biggest concerns at buffets is cross-contamination, when harmful bacteria, viruses or allergens are transferred from one food to another. This can happen in any kitchen, but buffets are particularly vulnerable.

Why? Because dozens of dishes are often displayed close together, customers serve themselves (sometimes without washing their hands), utensils are shared between people and dishes and food are exposed to the air for extended periods.

If just one dish becomes contaminated – say, with under-cooked meat juices or bacteria from unwashed hands – they can spread to other foods, affecting many people. Sneezes over platters and untrained customers handling food directly all increase the risk.

Even something as simple as using the same spoon for multiple dishes can be enough to transfer bacteria. With many hands touching the same utensils and food being moved or mixed between containers, even a well-run buffet can become a hazard zone as it is difficult to monitor and control that all customers abide to food safety rules.

2. Allergens

For people with food allergies, buffets can be particularly dangerous. Cross-contamination means that allergen-free foods can become unsafe through even minimal contact with allergenic ingredients.

For example, a spoon used in a nut-containing salad and then placed into a nut-free one can be enough to trigger a reaction. To reduce this risk, check that buffet venues clearly label all dishes with allergen information, use separate serving utensils for different foods, keep allergen-free dishes physically separate from others and train staff on allergen safety and cross-contamination risks.

Despite best intentions, busy buffet settings don’t always allow for these precautions to be enforced perfectly, putting allergic diners at greater risk.

3. Temperature trouble

One of the main food safety challenges at buffets is temperature control. Harmful bacteria multiply rapidly in what experts call the “danger zone”: the temperature range between 8°C and 63°C. If food sits within this range for too long, it becomes an ideal breeding ground for microbes.

Several types of bacteria are commonly responsible for food-borne illness in buffet settings.

Salmonella is often found in under-cooked poultry, eggs, and dairy products. It can cause diarrhoea, fever, and abdominal cramps, and it spreads easily if hot food is not kept at a safe temperature.

E. coli, typically linked to under-cooked beef and raw vegetables, can cause severe gastrointestinal illness and, in some cases, lead to kidney failure.

Listeria monocytogenes can grow in chilled foods like soft cheeses, pâté, and pre-packed sandwiches. It poses serious risks to pregnant women, older adults, and those with weakened immune systems.

Clostridium perfringens thrives in food that has been left warm for too long – especially items like stews, casseroles and roasts. It can cause sudden stomach cramps and diarrhoea.

Norovirus, also called the winter vomiting bug, is a stomach bug that causes vomiting and diarrhoea. Infected customers can pass this virus on the food with direct contact and cause disease to others that will consume it.

Staphylococcus aureus is a bacterium commonly found on the skin of humans and when it grows on food produces toxins that can cause nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps and diarrhoea. This bacterium can easily end up on the food through contact with utensils or customers and grow if the temperature of food is not within the correct range.

Maintaining safe food temperatures is essential to prevent these pathogens from multiplying. According to food safety guidelines, hot food should be kept above 63°C, and cold food below 8°C. However, in many buffet settings, food is left sitting out for extended periods – sometimes in ambient room temperatures, and sometimes without adequate heating or refrigeration equipment. This allows bacteria to flourish.

To minimise risk, hot food should not be left out for more than two hours, and cold food should be consumed within four. After these limits, leftover items should be discarded and not mixed with fresh batches. Reusing food that’s been sitting out not only compromises freshness but also risks spreading bacteria from old to new dishes.

Unfortunately, in busy all-you-can-eat environments, it’s common for staff to top up half-empty trays instead of replacing them. While this may reduce food waste, it increases the likelihood of contamination, especially during high-traffic service times. Without strict hygiene protocols in place, even small lapses in temperature control can lead to widespread illness.

Staying safe

Buffets don’t have to be a recipe for disaster – but safety depends on both the venue’s hygiene practices and diners’ own behaviour. Here’s what to look for:

dishes should be steaming hot or chilled, not lukewarm
clean utensils should be available for each item
clear allergen labels should be visible
staff should be monitoring and maintaining food stations
diners should wash their hands before serving themselves.

If in doubt, it’s safer to skip questionable dishes, especially those that look like they’ve been sitting out too long, are unlabelled, or have been clearly mixed with other items.

Buffets can be a delicious way to explore new flavours and enjoy variety. But without proper precautions, they can also pose serious food safety risks. Whether you’re tucking into a carvery, grazing a hotel breakfast, or piling your plate at an all-you-can-eat spread, it’s worth keeping an eye on hygiene – and knowing when to walk away from the buffet table.

Kimon-Andreas Karatzas receives funding from the EU, BBSRC, EPSRC and private companies (Future Biogas, Natureseal and AB Mauri)

– ref. Three reasons buffets can be a recipe for a health disaster – and how to keep diners safe – https://theconversation.com/three-reasons-buffets-can-be-a-recipe-for-a-health-disaster-and-how-to-keep-diners-safe-260754

July 21, 2025

AI in universities: How large language models are transforming research

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Ali Shiri, Professor of Information Science & Vice Dean, Faculty of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies, University of Alberta

Generative AI, especially large language models (LLMs), present exciting and unprecedented opportunities and complex challenges for academic research and scholarship.

As the different versions of LLMs (such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity.ai and Grok) continue to proliferate, academic research is beginning to undergo a significant transformation.

Students, researchers and instructors in higher education need AI literacy knowledge, competencies and skills to address these challenges and risks.

In a time of rapid change, students and academics are advised to look to their institutions, programs and units for discipline-specific policy or guidelines regulating the use of AI.

Researcher use of AI

A recent study led by a data science researcher found that at least 13.5 per cent of biomedical abstracts last year showed signs of AI-generated text.

Large language models can now support nearly every stage of the research process, although caution and human oversight are always needed to judge when use is appropriate, ethical or warranted — and to account for questions of quality control and accuracy. LLMs can:

Help brainstorm, generate and refine research ideas and formulate hypotheses;
Design experiments and conduct and synthesize literature reviews;
Write and debug code;
Analyze and visualize both qualitative and quantitative data;
Develop interdisciplinary theoretical and methodological frameworks;
Suggest relevant sources and citations, summarize complex texts and draft abstracts;
Support the dissemination and presentation of research findings, in popular formats.

However, there are significant concerns and challenges surrounding the appropriate, ethical, responsible and effective use of generative AI tools in the conduct of research, writing and research dissemination. These include:

Misrepresentation of data and authorship;
Difficulty in replication of research results;
Data and algorithmic biases and inaccuracies;
User and data privacy and confidentiality;
Quality of outputs, data and citation fabrication;
And copyright and intellectual property infringement.

AI research assistants, ‘deep research’ AI agents

There are two categories of emerging LLM-enhanced tools that support academic research:

1. AI research assistants: The number of AI research assistants that support different aspects and steps of the research process is growing at an exponential rate. These technologies have the potential to enhance and extend traditional research methods in academic work. Examples include AI assistants that support:

Concept mapping (Kumu, GitMind, MindMeister);
Literature and systematic reviews (Elicit, Undermind, NotebookLM, SciSpace);
Literature search (Consensus, ResearchRabbit, Connected Papers, Scite);
Literature analysis and summarization (Scholarcy, Paper Digest, Keenious);
And research topic and trend detection and analysis (Scinapse, tlooto, Dimension AI).

2. ‘Deep research’ AI agents: The field of artificial intelligence is advancing quickly with the rise of “deep research” AI agents. These next-generation agents combine LLMs, retrieval-augmented generation and sophisticated reasoning frameworks to conduct in-depth, multi-step analyses.

Research is currently being conducted to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of deep research tools. New evaluation criteria are being developed to assess their performance and quality.

Criteria include elements such as cost, speed, editing ease and overall user experience — as well as citation and writing quality, and how these deep research tools adhere to prompts.

The purpose of deep research tools is to meticulously extract, analyze and synthesize scholarly information, empirical data and diverse perspectives from a wide array of online and social media sources. The output is a detailed report, complete with citations, offering in-depth insights into complex topics.

In just a short span of four months (December 2024 to February 2025), several companies (like Google Gemini, Perplexity.ai and ChatGPT) introduced their “deep research” platforms.

The Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, a non-profit AI research institute based in Seattle, is experimenting with a new open access research tool called Ai2 ScholarQA that helps researchers conduct literature reviews more efficiently by providing more in-depth answers.

Emerging guidelines

Several guidelines have been developed to encourage the responsible and ethical use of generative AI in research and writing. Examples include:

The Government of Canada Guide on the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence. This counsels federal institutions and academics to explore potential uses of generative AI tools, and follow a recommended framework for decision-making about them, including responsible communication and transparency.
Guidance from publicly funded federal agencies — collectively known as the Tri-Council Agency — offering research grants and programs covering different research disciplines.
The Observatory in AI Policies in Canadian Post-Secondary Education, run by the firm Higher Education Strategy Associates, lists AI policies and guidelines developed by more than 30 Canadian higher education institutions.

LLMs support interdisciplinary research

LLMs are also powerful tools to support interdisciplinary research. Recent emerging research (yet to be peer reviewed) on the effectiveness of LLMs for research suggests they have great potential in areas such as biological sciences, chemical sciences, engineering, environmental as well as social sciences. It also suggests LLMs can help eliminate disciplinary silos by bringing together data and methods from different fields and automating data collection and generation to create interdisciplinary datasets.

Helping to analyze and summarize large volumes of research across various disciplines can aid interdisciplinary collaboration. “Expert finder” AI-powered platforms can analyze researcher profiles and publication networks to map expertise, identify potential collaborators across fields and reveal unexpected interdisciplinary connections.

This emerging knowledge suggests these models will be able to help researchers drive breakthroughs by combining insights from diverse fields — like epidemiology and physics, climate science and economics or social science and climate data — to address complex problems.

Research-focused AI literacy

Canadian universities and research partnerships are providing AI literacy education to people in universities and beyond.

The Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute offers K-12 AI literacy programming and other resources. The institute is a not-for profit organization and part of Canada’s Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy.

Many universities are offering AI literacy educational opportunities that focus specifically on the use of generative AI tools in assisting research activities.

Collaborative university work is also happening. For example, as vice dean of the Faculty of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies at the University of Alberta (and an information science professor), I have worked with deans from the University of Manitoba, the University of Winnipeg and Vancouver Island University to develop guidelines and recommendations around generative AI and graduate and postdoctoral research and supervision.

Considering the growing power and capabilities of large language models, there is an urgent need to develop AI literacy training tailored for academic researchers.

This training should focus on both the potential and the limitations of these tools in the different stages of the research process and writing.

Ali Shiri does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. AI in universities: How large language models are transforming research – https://theconversation.com/ai-in-universities-how-large-language-models-are-transforming-research-260547

July 21, 2025

Ghana has a rare treasure, a crater made when a meteor hit Earth: why it needs to be protected

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Marian Selorm Sapah, Senior lecturer, University of Ghana

Impact craters are formed when an object from space such as a meteoroid, asteroid or comet strikes the Earth at a very high velocity. This leaves an excavated circular hole on the Earth’s surface.

It is a basic geological process that has shaped the planets from their formation to today. It creates landscapes and surface materials across our solar system. The moon is covered with them, as are planets like Mercury, Mars and Venus. On Earth, impacts have influenced the evolution of life and even provided valuable mineral and energy resources. However, very few of the impact craters on Earth are visible because of various processes that obscure or erase them.

Most of the recognised impact craters on Earth are buried under sediments or have been deeply eroded. That means they no longer preserve their initial forms.

The Bosumtwi impact crater in Ghana is different, however. It is well preserved (not deeply eroded or buried under sediments). Its well-defined, near-circular basin, filled by a lake, is surrounded by a prominent crater rim that rises above the surface of the lake and an outer circular plateau. This makes it a target for several research questions.

As an Earth scientist, I joined a research team from 2019 to better understand the morphology of the crater. We carried out a morphological analysis of the crater (a study of its form, structure and geological features).

This study concluded that the activities of illegal miners are a threat to the sustainability of the crater. We also discovered that the features of the Bosumtwi impact crater can be considered as a terrestrial representation for a special type of impact crater known as rampart craters. These are common on the planets Mars and Venus and are found on icy bodies of the outer solar system (like Ganymede, Europa, Dione, Tethys and Charon).

For future studies, the Bosumtwi impact crater can be used to help understand how rampart craters form on Mars and Venus. So the Bosumtwi impact crater should be protected and preserved.

The crater

The Bosumtwi impact crater is in Ghana’s mineral-rich Ashanti gold belt. It is the location of the only natural inland lake in Ghana. As one of the world’s best-preserved young meteorite impact craters it is designated as an International Union of Geological Sciences geoheritage site.

It is one of only 190 confirmed impact crater sites worldwide, one of only 20 on the African continent. Its lake is one of six meteoritic lakes in the world, recognised for their outstanding scientific value.

At almost 1.07 million years old, the crater offers unparalleled opportunities for studying impact processes, climate history and planetary evolution. It’s an irreplaceable natural laboratory for researchers and educators.

Beyond its scientific importance, the crater holds cultural significance for the Ashanti people of Ghana. The lake at its centre serves as a sacred site and spiritual landmark. The crater’s breathtaking landscape also supports eco-tourism and local livelihoods, contributing to Ghana’s economic development while maintaining exceptional aesthetic value.

The research

As part of further research work on the 2019 study, in 2025 we have discovered through field work and satellite data analysis that illegal artisanal mining is prevalent in the area and threatening the crater. This refers to informal, labour-intensive extraction of minerals, primarily gold. It is conducted by individuals or small groups using basic tools and rudimentary machinery. The use of toxic chemicals such as mercury and cyanide, and practices such as river dredging, cause severe environmental harm.

Illegal miners are encroaching on and around the crater rim, posing severe threats to its environment and sustainability. Their activities have become more prevalent over the course of less than 10 years, indicating a growing problem. If unchecked, it could lead to irreversible damage to the crater.

These mining operations risk contaminating the lake with toxic heavy metals. The consequences of these are grave. They include destroying critical geological evidence, accelerating deforestation, and degrading the land. All this damages the crater’s scientific, cultural and economic value.

The International Union of Geological Sciences geoheritage designation of the crater underscores the urgent need for protection measures. The loss of this rare geological wonder would represent not just a national tragedy for Ghana, but a blow to global scientific heritage.

Immediate action is required. This includes enhanced satellite monitoring (tracking illegal mining, deforestation and environmental changes) using optical imagery (such as Sentinel-2, Landsat, PlanetScope). These tools can detect forest loss, identify mining pits and sediment runoff, and analyse changes over time.

Stricter enforcement of mining bans, and community engagement programmes, will help preserve the Bosumtwi impact crater’s unique attributes for future generations of scientists, students, tourists and local communities who depend on its resources.

Marian Selorm Sapah does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Ghana has a rare treasure, a crater made when a meteor hit Earth: why it needs to be protected – https://theconversation.com/ghana-has-a-rare-treasure-a-crater-made-when-a-meteor-hit-earth-why-it-needs-to-be-protected-260600

July 21, 2025

Africa’s minerals are being bartered for security: why it’s a bad idea

Source: The Conversation – Africa (2) – By Hanri Mostert, SARChI Chair for Mineral Law in Africa, University of Cape Town

A US-brokered peace deal between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda binds the two African nations to a worrying arrangement: one where a country signs away its mineral resources to a superpower in return for opaque assurances of security.

The peace deal, signed in June 2025, aims to end three decades of conflict between the DRC and Rwanda.

A key part of the agreement binds both nations to developing a regional economic integration framework. This arrangement would expand cooperation between the two states, the US government and American investors on “transparent, formalized end-to-end mineral chains”.

Despite its immense mineral wealth, the DRC is among the five poorest countries in the world. It has been seeking US investment in its mineral sector.

The US has in turn touted a potential multi-billion-dollar investment programme to anchor its mineral supply chains in the traumatised and poor territory.

The peace that the June 2025 deal promises, therefore, hinges on chaining mineral supply to the US in exchange for Washington’s powerful – but vaguely formulated – military oversight.

The peace agreement further establishes a joint oversight committee – with representatives from the African Union, Qatar and the US – to receive complaints and resolve disputes between the DRC and Rwanda.

But beyond the joint oversight committee, the peace deal creates no specific security obligations for the US.

The relationship between the DRC and Rwanda has been marred by war and tension since the bloody First (1996-1997) and Second (1998-2003) Congo wars. At the heart of much of this conflict is the DRC’s mineral wealth. It has fuelled competition, exploitation and armed violence.

This latest peace deal introduces a resources-for-security arrangement. Such deals aren’t new in Africa. They first emerged in the early 2000s as resources-for-infrastructure transactions. Here, a foreign state would agree to build economic and social infrastructure (roads, ports, airports, hospitals) in an African state. In exchange, it would get a major stake in a government-owned mining company. Or gain preferential access to the host country’s minerals.

We have studied mineral law and governance in Africa for more than 20 years. The question that emerges now is whether a US-brokered resources-for-security agreement will help the DRC benefit from its resources.

Based on our research on mining, development and sustainability, we believe this is unlikely.

This is because resources-for-security is the latest version of a resource-bartering approach that China and Russia pioneered in countries such as Angola, the Central African Republic and the DRC.

Resource bartering in Africa has eroded the sovereignty and bargaining power of mineral-rich nations such as the DRC and Angola.

Further, resources-for-security deals are less transparent and more complicated than prior resource bartering agreements.

DRC’s security gaps

The DRC is endowed with major deposits of critical minerals like cobalt, copper, lithium, manganese and tantalum. These are the building blocks for 21st century technologies: artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, wind energy and military security hardware. Rwanda has less mineral wealth than its neighbour, but is the world’s third-largest producer of tantalum, used in electronics, aerospace and medical devices.

For almost 30 years, minerals have fuelled conflict and severe violence, especially in eastern DRC. Tungsten, tantalum and gold (referred to as 3TG) finance and drive conflict as government forces and an estimated 130 armed groups vie for control over lucrative mining sites. Several reports and studies have implicated the DRC’s neighbours – Rwanda and Uganda – in supporting the illegal extraction of 3TG in this region.

The DRC government has failed to extend security over its vast (2.3 million square kilometres) and diverse territory (109 million people, representing 250 ethnic groups). Limited resources, logistical challenges and corruption have weakened its armed forces.

This context makes the United States’ military backing enormously attractive. But our research shows there are traps.

What states risk losing

Resources-for-infrastructure and resources-for-security deals generally offer African nations short-term stability, financing or global goodwill. However, the costs are often long-term because of an erosion of sovereign control.

Here’s how this happens:

certain clauses in such contracts can freeze future regulatory reforms, limiting legislative autonomy
other clauses may lock in low prices for years, leaving resource-selling states unable to benefit when commodity prices surge
arbitration clauses often shift disputes to international forums, bypassing local courts
infrastructure loans are often secured via resource revenues used as loan security. This effectively ringfences exports and undermines sovereign fiscal control.

Examples of loss or near-loss of sovereignty from these sorts of deals abound in Africa.

For instance, Angola’s US$2 billion oil-backed loan from China Eximbank in 2004. This was repayable in monthly deliveries of oil, with revenues directed to Chinese-controlled accounts. The loan’s design deprived Angolan authorities of decision-making power over that income stream even before the oil was extracted.

These deals also fragment accountability. They often span multiple ministries (such as defence, mining and trade), avoiding robust oversight or accountability. Fragmentation makes resource sectors vulnerable to elite capture. Powerful insiders can manipulate agreements for private gain.

In the DRC, this has created a violent kleptocracy, where resource wealth is systematically diverted away from popular benefit.

Finally, there is the risk of re-entrenching extractive trauma. Communities displaced for mining and environmental degradation in many countries across Africa illustrate the long-standing harm to livelihoods, health and social cohesion.

These are not new problems. But where extraction is tied to security or infrastructure, such damage risks becoming permanent features, not temporary costs.

What needs to change

Critical minerals are “critical” because they’re hard to mine or substitute. Additionally, their supply chains are strategically vulnerable and politically exposed. Whoever controls these minerals controls the future. Africa must make sure it doesn’t trade that future away.

In a world being reshaped by global interests in critical minerals, African states must not underestimate the strategic value of their mineral resources. They hold considerable leverage.

But leverage only works if it is wielded strategically. This means:

investing in institutional strength and legal capacity to negotiate better deals
demanding local value creation and addition
requiring transparency and parliamentary oversight for minerals-related agreements
refusing deals that bypass human rights, environmental or sovereignty standards.

Africa has the resources. It must hold on to the power they wield.

Hanri Mostert receives funding from the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa. She is a member of the Expropriation Expert Group and a steering committee member of the International Bar Association’s (IBA) Academic Advisory Group (AAG) in the Sector for Energy, Environmental, Resources and Infrastructure Law (SEERIL).

Tracy-Lynn Field receives funding from the Claude Leon Foundation. She is a non-executive director of the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa.

– ref. Africa’s minerals are being bartered for security: why it’s a bad idea – https://theconversation.com/africas-minerals-are-being-bartered-for-security-why-its-a-bad-idea-260594

July 21, 2025

La salud mental de los adolescentes: un síntoma de una sociedad vulnerable

Source: The Conversation – (in Spanish) – By Marino Pérez Álvarez, Psicólogo, académico y ensayista, Universidad de Oviedo

La crisis de salud mental es ya una característica del siglo XXI, identificado también como “el siglo de la soledad”. En un principio, las personas mayores eran quienes más sufrían las crisis de salud mental y soledad por razones que parecían obvias. También resultaba esperable en otras franjas de la vida adulta (los 30, 40 y 50 años); a cada década, su crisis: trabajos precarios, hipotecas, primeros divorcios, chequeos médicos, etcétera.

Sin embargo, hoy en día la crisis de salud mental por antonomasia se asocia principalmente con los niños, los adolescentes y jóvenes, edades cada vez más fluidas entre sí y las que peor están ahora (no en vano son conocidas como la “generación ansiosa”).

Los estudios muestran que del 35 % al 50 % de los escolares y estudiantes universitarios presentan síntomas de ansiedad y depresión. Otros problemas –como las adicciones, anorexia, bulimia, conductas autolesivas, ideas suicidas y suicidios o TDAH– van igualmente en aumento. La hospitalización de adolescentes por salud mental crece y empieza en edades más tempranas.

La crisis de salud mental que afecta a la infancia, la adolescencia y la juventud es doblemente paradójica. Por un lado, ocurre en la sociedad del bienestar y, por otro, aflige a las mejores edades de la vida, que reciben cuidados de bienestar emocional como nunca.

Una explicación común enfatiza el estrés al que, se supone, están sometidas las nuevas generaciones. Se suele invocar la presión escolar (tareas, exámenes, evaluaciones), el cambio climático (ecoansiedad) y las redes sociales.

Es difícil ver la presión escolar como explicación, ya que los contextos educativos cuidan de que nada perturbe el bienestar de los escolares, evitando correcciones y suspensos y, en su lugar, prodigando beneplácitos.

Las propias universidades se han convertido en “espacios seguros” para que nada contravenga las opiniones de los estudiantes, cuando debieran ser precisamente lugares “inseguros” para las opiniones previas en aras de nuevos conocimientos, incluidos aquellos que desafían lo dado por sabido.

La ecoansiedad –en realidad ansiedad ante las noticias, sin duda preocupantes, sobre el cambio climático– es también difícil de ver como explicación de la crisis de salud mental, pese a que la refieren el 84 % de los jóvenes de 16 a 25 años. La ecoansiedad es más una posición ética y política que propiamente un padecimiento psicológico.

Las redes sociales sí, efectivamente, están exacerbando el malestar psicológico de los niños, adolescentes y jóvenes notablemente desde 2012, cuando se generaliza su uso. Sin embargo, las redes sociales no explican la crisis, que ya venía de antes. La recrudecen, pero no la crean.

Estrés y vulnerabilidad

El estrés siempre es relativo a la vulnerabilidad, de modo que una misma situación puede ser estresante para unos e irrelevante, o incluso un reto, para otros. La vulnerabilidad se suele entender en términos de predisposición genética y del neurodesarrollo, lo que da lugar a la explicación vulnerabilidad-estrés.

La vulnerabilidad en esta explicación se deduce a partir de los malestares dados. Tienes depresión porque eres vulnerable y eres vulnerable porque tienes depresión. Una explicación tautológica.

Sin embargo, las nuevas generaciones parecen ser ciertamente más vulnerables que las anteriores. Más allá de la genética, del neurodesarrollo y de cualquier supuesta avería mental, la vulnerabilidad se ha de buscar en otro sitio: en la sociedad. Vivimos en una sociedad que nos hace vulnerables.

La sociedad puede estar haciendo vulnerables a las nuevas generaciones sin querer, incluso queriendo lo contrario: que no sean vulnerables, sino que tengan autoestima y sean felices. Los problemas no se deben a averías de la mente o el cerebro infantil. Los mal llamados “trastornos mentales” no están dentro de los niños, adolescentes y jóvenes, sino dentro de la sociedad en la que se crían y desarrollan: una sociedad vulnerable. La propia crisis de salud mental sería un síntoma de la sociedad.

La sociedad vulnerable se define por dos características que se retroalimentan entre sí: por un lado, la sobreprotección (cómo se cría y educa a los niños) y, por otro, la cultura del diagnóstico (conforme a la cual, cualquier malestar entra fácilmente en el radar clínico).

La sobreprotección a base de consentimiento, el allanamiento del camino para que el niño no tenga tropiezos, la insuflación de autoestima mediante la adulación (“eres especial”, etcétera) suele justificarse en la idea (cierta) de que los niños son vulnerables.

Sin embargo, si tratas a alguien como vulnerable, acaba siéndolo. Como dice Goethe:

“Trata a un ser humano tal como es, y seguirá siendo lo que es; trátalo como puede y debe ser, y se convertirá en lo que puede y debe ser”.

Sin ninguna base científica, y contra el sentido común, nuevas generaciones de padres han asumido que todo lo que no sea satisfacer los deseos de los niños podría causarles algún trauma. Partiendo de la idea de que los niños saben lo que quieren, educar se ha convertido en acompañar.

Se prepara el camino para el niño, pero no al niño para el camino de la vida que siempre tendrá piedras, charcos, subidas, bajadas, encrucijadas, etcétera. Se tienen, por así decirlo, niños inflados de autoestima, sobreprotegidos, sin apenas haberse expuesto a las dificultades que siempre depara la vida. Vulnerables a los inconvenientes de turno.

De forma creciente –desde la década de 1990– se ha ido estableciendo toda una cultura del diagnóstico (también conocida como cultura de la terapia), que facilita la entrada de malestares propios de la vida en el radar clínico. Hitos de esta cultura se encuentran en la serie Los Soprano (1999-2007) y en la película Una terapia peligrosa (1999), donde los hombres más duros de la mafia van a psicoterapia, así como en el célebre show televisivo estadounidense de Oprah Winfrey (1986-2011) con un formato tipo “sesión de psicoterapia”. Más que un hito, The Oprah Winfrey Show crea toda una “cultura de confesión” de problemas psicológicos que parecía tener un efecto terapéutico en sí misma.

Desde entonces, tener problemas psicológicos e ir a psicoterapia dejó de ser un estigma para ser una moda en nuestros días. Está por ver el impacto de la miniserie Adolescencia; si, por ejemplo, su enfoque centrado en el entramado social –en vez de en la víctima– supondrá una mirada social más que únicamente psicológica individual.

Lo cierto es que hoy por hoy el idioma clínico se ha apoderado del sufrimiento en detrimento de otros idiomas posibles como el social, el político, el moral y el existencial, que podrían abordar los problemas en otra dimensión menos centrada en el individuo como “enfermo mental”.

Permítase responder a esta pregunta retórica. Los diagnósticos tranquilizan a los padres porque suponen que sus hijos tienen algo –ansiedad, depresión, trastorno de déficit de atención e hiperactividad– que explicaría su malestar (inexplicable de otro modo, pues no les falta de nada). En los centros escolares cobra nuevo protagonismo el bienestar emocional.

Los profesionales de la salud están desbordados. Los niños, adolescentes y jóvenes están encantados con los diagnósticos, ya que los hacen visibles. “Antes diagnosticado que invisible”, pareciera ser el lema. Para los políticos, nada como tener ciudadanos diagnosticados de algo, de modo que ya tienen bastante con lo suyo. Y para la sociedad es perfecto, puesto que así se privatizan problemas que ella misma genera como algo que tienen los individuos. ¿Dónde está el problema?

¿Qué hacer?

Por lo pronto, pensar más allá de la crisis misma como si fuera algo que nos ha caído no se sabe de dónde y ni por qué. De acuerdo con lo expuesto, la crisis se explicaría por la sociedad vulnerable que hemos creado. Mientras que, por un lado, se sobreprotege a los niños haciéndolos más vulnerables –en vez de menos, como se supone–, por otro el idioma clínico se ha apoderado de malestares que nunca faltan. Por si fuera poco, el diagnóstico pasó de estigma a moda, siendo ahora poco menos que un privilegio.

Como quiera que el malestar es real –otra cosa es cómo se ha hecho real–, las ayudas psicológicas son necesarias. Hay dos frentes: el inmediato del caso y el preventivo. El caso dado debe ser atendido y valorado. La mejor ayuda sería una que trate de normalizar el malestar, situándolo en el contexto de las circunstancias y cambiar estas en lo posible, en vez de centrarse en explorar sentimientos y supuestos traumas, lo que no dejaría de ser una forma más de “mirarse el ombligo”.

Con miras a la prevención –pensando ya en las generaciones futuras–, sería hora de revisar la educación sobreprotectora y la cultura clínica que tiende a patologizar problemas inherentes a la vida sin tratar de cambiar la sociedad.

Una cosa es segura: la solución no pasa por más psicólogos y psiquiatras, que siempre serán pocos.

Este artículo se publicó originalmente en la Revista Telos de la Fundación Telefónica, y forma parte de un número monográfico dedicado a la Generación Alfabeta.

Marino Pérez Álvarez colabora con Telos, la revista que edita Fundación Telefónica.

– ref. La salud mental de los adolescentes: un síntoma de una sociedad vulnerable – https://theconversation.com/la-salud-mental-de-los-adolescentes-un-sintoma-de-una-sociedad-vulnerable-261228

July 21, 2025

Pourquoi tant d’efforts pour faire renaître le mammouth laineux ?

Source: The Conversation – in French – By Rebecca Woods, Associate Professor, Institute for the History & Philosophy of Science & Technology, University of Toronto

Photographie d’un mammouth des steppes exposée à l’Australian Museum de Sydney.
(Unsplash/April Pethybridge), CC BY

Ces derniers mois, le concept de « désextinction », qui consiste à ramener des espèces disparues en leur redonnant vie ou en créant des organismes qui leur sont apparentés, est passé de science-fiction à réalité scientifique.

Colossal Biosciences, une jeune entreprise américaine à but lucratif spécialisée dans la désextinction et dirigée par les généticiens George Church et Beth Shapiro, a annoncé coup sur coup deux grandes réalisations.

Pour la première, des chercheurs ont introduit une partie du génome du mammouth laineux dans des souris pour donner lieu à des « souris laineuses », des rongeurs très mignons qui ressemblent à des pompons et chez qui on a fait des modifications permettant d’exprimer des gènes de mammouths laineux.

Reportage de Reuters sur les souris laineuses développées par Colossal Biosciences.

Quelques semaines plus tard, l’entreprise a annoncé une réalisation encore plus importante : elle aurait ressuscité le loup sinistre, un contemporain du mammouth laineux qui, comme ses compagnons proboscidiens de la période glaciaire, a disparu il y a environ 10 000 ans.

La popularité du mammouth

Les efforts controversés de désextinction sont particulièrement axés sur le mammouth laineux. Bien que de nombreuses espèces récemment disparues, telles que le dodo, le moa, la tourte voyageuse, le bouquetin des Pyrénées, le couagga, le tigre de Tasmanie, l’aurochs et bien d’autres, pourraient intéresser les chercheurs dans le cadre de ces essais, les mammouths laineux occupent l’avant-scène dans les récits de désextinction, qu’ils soient scientifiques ou populaires.

Les mammouths laineux ont une place de choix dans l’imagerie de Revive & Restore, un conglomérat de scientifiques et de futurologues spécialisé dans le « sauvetage génétique » et dirigé par le gourou de la technologie Steward Brand. En 2021, Colossal s’est approprié le projet de résurrection de ces animaux préhistoriques. Le logo de l’entreprise représente le CRISPR, la technologie d’édition du génome qui permet de ramener des espèces éteintes à la vie, ainsi que les défenses en spirale caractéristiques du mammouth laineux.

Le mammouth est une source de fascination depuis plusieurs siècles dans la culture populaire. À la fin du XVII^e siècle, Thomas Jefferson espérait qu’on trouve des mammouths vivants au-delà des frontières coloniales américaines. Les premières fouilles menant à la découverte de mastodontes aux États-Unis ont été des événements majeurs au début du XIX^e siècle. Le peintre américain Charles Willson Peale a immortalisé la première fouille dans un tableau, puis a utilisé le squelette du mastodonte pour attirer les visiteurs dans son musée de Philadelphie.

Plus récemment, le mammouth Manny est apparu dans la série de films d’animation L’Ère de glace, lancée en 2002.

Un animal emblématique

Le mammouth laineux est également devenu un emblème de la crise climatique actuelle. Dans le cadre de la récente série d’actes de vandalisme visant des œuvres d’art célèbres pour attirer l’attention de la population sur la crise climatique, des militants écologistes ont peint en rose vif les défenses (heureusement artificielles) du modèle de mammouth laineux du musée royal de la Colombie-Britannique.

Déjà des milliers d’abonnés à l’infolettre de La Conversation. Et vous ? Abonnez-vous gratuitement à notre infolettre pour mieux comprendre les grands enjeux contemporains.

En 2023, l’entreprise australienne Vow, spécialisée dans la viande cultivée, a réalisé un coup publicitaire en créant une boulette de viande de mammouth à partir du génome de cet animal et de cellules de mouton. La boulette n’était pas destinée à la vente et a été dévoilée devant le public du musée des sciences néerlandais Nemo.

Ce coup d’éclat visait à attirer l’attention sur l’urgence climatique, l’insoutenabilité des systèmes alimentaires industrialisés et le potentiel de la viande cultivée en laboratoire pour tenter de résoudre ce problème.

Des licornes ou des rongeurs ?

Pour une créature qu’aucun être humain n’a jamais vue vivante, le mammouth laineux reçoit beaucoup d’attention médiatique. Comment cette espèce éteinte depuis longtemps est-elle devenue le symbole de l’extinction et de la désextinction ?

Depuis des centaines d’années, les humains sont en contact avec des restes de mammouths laineux. Il suffit de creuser un trou assez profond n’importe où dans l’hémisphère Nord pour tomber sur des os, voire des défenses de mammouths ou de mastodontes disparus.

Au début de l’Europe moderne, on croyait que les os fossilisés de mammouths provenaient de licornes ou de géants. Vers 1700, on a compris qu’ils avaient appartenu à des créatures semblables à des éléphants. Et ce n’est que vers 1800 que le mammouth a été identifié comme une espèce distincte et éteinte de proboscidiens.

Dans les régions arctiques, notamment en Sibérie, les peuples autochtones étaient familiers des restes de mammouths préservés par le pergélisol. Lors du dégel annuel des rivières et de leurs affluents, des carcasses entières de cet animal (et du rhinocéros laineux) pouvaient apparaître.

Les populations locales, qui ont découvert ces restes d’animaux paraissant être morts récemment tout en appartenant à des créatures qu’elles n’avaient jamais vues vivantes à la surface de la Terre, ont supposé qu’il s’agissait de grands animaux fouisseurs ressemblant à des rongeurs, qui creusaient des tunnels dans le sol et mouraient s’ils entraient en contact avec l’atmosphère.

Près de l’Arctique, notamment en Alaska, le pergélisol a empêché la fossilisation des défenses et des carcasses de mammouths. Cet ivoire de glace demeure un élément important des économies de la région. Il est taillé localement, puis a été échangé, auparavant sur des marchés régionaux, et aujourd’hui, à l’échelle mondiale.

Toujours d’actualité

Malgré leur association à un passé lointain, les mammouths laineux trouvent depuis longtemps un écho dans les cultures humaines modernes, leurs restes fossilisés ou conservés faisant partie de pratiques économiques et de systèmes de connaissance. Mais lorsqu’on a pris conscience du risque d’extinction d’espèces autrefois nombreuses, telles que la tourte voyageuse, le bison d’Amérique ou l’éléphant d’Afrique, vers la fin du XIX^e siècle, les mammouths laineux ont pris une nouvelle importance en lien avec les extinctions modernes et une compréhension accrue de l’évolution humaine.

Une murale représentant des mammouths laineux — Peinture murale du paléoartiste Charles R. Knight représentant des mammouths laineux exposée au Musée américain d’histoire naturelle.
(United States Geological Survey)

Les avancées dans les domaines de la géologie, de l’archéologie, de la paléontologie et d’autres disciplines connexes ont remis en question les anciennes théories sur l’origine de l’humanité.

Les récits de l’émergence de « l’homme chasseur » ont été relayés par des institutions telles que le Musée américain d’histoire naturelle et le Field Muséum de Chicago. Ces récits des origines ont été reliés à l’extinction des mammouths laineux et de leurs cousins, les mastodontes.

Cela a donné lieu à certaines des représentations visuelles de mammouths les plus impressionnantes, comme les fresques et les tableaux du célèbre paléoartiste Charles R. Knight.

Au début du XX^e siècle, on a découvert les peintures rupestres de France, d’Espagne et d’ailleurs. Ainsi, les fresques de Rouffignac, en France, vieilles de 40 000 ans et illustrant clairement des mammouths laineux ont été interprétées comme une preuve supplémentaire de ce lien historique profond et puissant.

C’est ce lien — l’association entre l’essor de l’humanité moderne et le déclin, puis l’extinction du mammouth laineux — qui fascine aujourd’hui. L’idée que l’être humain ait joué un rôle dans l’histoire des extinctions fait partie de la compréhension scientifique moderne depuis longtemps. Il n’est donc pas surprenant que les mammouths laineux occupent une place centrale dans les projets de désextinction et dans la lutte contre le changement climatique.

Rebecca Woods a reçu un financement du Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines du Canada.

– ref. Pourquoi tant d’efforts pour faire renaître le mammouth laineux ? – https://theconversation.com/pourquoi-tant-defforts-pour-faire-renaitre-le-mammouth-laineux-261236

July 21, 2025

African media are threatened by governments and big tech – book tracks the latest trends

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Hayes Mabweazara, Senior Lecturer in Sociological & Cultural Studies (Media, Culture & Society), University of Glasgow

Media capture happens when media outlets lose their independence and fall under the influence of political or financial interests. This often leads to news content that favours power instead of public accountability.

Media Capture in Africa and Latin America: Power and Resistance is a new book edited by news media scholars Hayes Mawindi Mabweazara and Bethia Pearson. It explores how this dynamic plays out in the global south and how journalists and citizens are resisting it. We asked them four questions.

What is media capture and how has it reshaped itself in recent times?

Media capture describes how media outlets are influenced, manipulated or controlled by powerful actors – often governments or large corporations – to serve their interests. It’s an idea that helps us understand how powerful groups in society can have a negative influence on news media. While this idea isn’t new, what has changed is how subtly and pervasively it now operates.

These groups include big technology organisations that own digital media platforms – such as X, owned by xAI (Elon Musk), and Instagram and Facebook, owned by Meta. But it’s also important to consider Google as a large search engine that shapes the news content and audience of many other platforms.

This matters because the media are important for the functioning of democratic societies. Ideally, they provide information, represent different groups and issues in society, and hold powerful actors to account.

For example, one of the key roles of the media is to provide accurate information for citizens to be able to decide how to vote in elections. Or to decide what they think about important issues. One big concern, then, is the effect of inaccurate or biased information on democracy.

Or it might be that accurate information is harder to access because algorithms and platforms make it easier to access inaccurate or biased information. These can be intended and unintended consequences of the technology itself, but algorithms can amplify misinformation and fake news – especially if this content has the potential to go viral.

So, what’s particular about media capture in the global south?

This is a really interesting question that is still being investigated, but we have some ideas.

First of all, it’s useful to know that media capture scholarship from the global north emerged around the time of the 2008 financial crisis. The influence of financial institutions on business journalists was one of the first areas of study. Since then, research in the US has focused on the capture of government-funded media organisations like Voice of America. And on how digital platforms like Google and Facebook can lead to capture.

In the global south, scholars have drawn attention to the importance of large media corporations in understanding media capture. For example, in Latin America, there’s a high level of what’s called “media concentration”. This is when many media outlets are owned by a few companies. These companies often own companies in other sectors, which means that critical reporting on business interests presents a conflict of interest.

But to focus on Africa, scholars have drawn attention to governments as a source of pressure on journalists and editors. This can be through direct pressure or what we might call “covert” pressure. Withholding advertising that helps to fund media outlets is an example, or offering financial incentives to stop investigating certain topics.

Researchers are also concerned about the influence of big tech in Africa. Digital platforms like Google and Facebook can shape the news and information that citizens have access to.

Can you share some of the studies from the book?

Our book includes many interesting studies – from Colombia, Brazil and Mexico in Latin America to Ethiopia and Morocco in Africa. We’ll share a few African cases here to give an overview of the issues.

The book’s contribution on Ghana warns us that although more overt “old” types of media capture may have subsided, transitional democracies can feature messier, more nuanced forms of media control. This can be evident in government pressures and through capture of regulators.

In the Morocco chapter, we see the threat to media freedom presented by digital platforms owned by global tech giants. This is known as “infrastructural capture”. It means news organisations become dependent on tech giants to set the rules of the game for democratic communication.

Another compelling case is Nigeria, where researchers explore ties between media ownership and political patronage. The authors argue that the Nigerian press is failing in its democratic duty because of its reliance on advertising and sponsorship income from the state. Added to this are ineffective regulatory mechanisms and close relationships with some big businesses that own newspapers and printing presses.

How can media capture be resisted in the global south?

The studies in the book show some ways forward and we do think it’s important to be optimistic! Resistance takes many forms. Sometimes it comes through legal and policy reform aimed at increasing transparency and media diversity. In other cases, it’s driven by social movements, investigative journalists and independent media who continue to operate under pressure.

The chapter on Uganda shows that journalist groups working with media advocacy organisations can strategically act to resist government media capture and harmful regulations. For example, to push back against one legislative change, several groups formed a temporary network called Article 29 (named after the article in the Ugandan constitution protecting free speech) and the African Centre for Media Excellence produced a report criticising the proposed changes.

One of the chapters on Ghana also shows how networks such as journalists, media associations, human rights groups and legal organisations can mobilise to push back against government influence. Organisations including the Ghana Journalists Association and Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association have played key roles in, for example, taking the media regulator to court to overturn laws that would have led to censorship. These findings are echoed in Latin America, where research on Mexico and Colombia also found professional journalism to be a strong source of resistance.

The conversation must also include rethinking how we define capture itself. If we frame it only as total control, we risk missing the everyday ways influence operates – and the spaces where it can be resisted. We would also say it’s really important that citizens are aware and alert to the issues when they think about how they access news media and what platforms they use. This is sometimes called “media literacy” and is about people being more knowledgeable about where trustworthy news comes from.

You can listen to a podcast about the book over here.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. African media are threatened by governments and big tech – book tracks the latest trends – https://theconversation.com/african-media-are-threatened-by-governments-and-big-tech-book-tracks-the-latest-trends-258017

July 21, 2025

Johannesburg’s creative hubs are booming: how artists are rejuvenating a failing inner city

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Mariapaola McGurk, Lecturer in Innovation & Entrepreneurship, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

Johannesburg is weathering a storm of crises. Nowhere is its complex tangle of challenges more visible than in the inner city, where crime, overcrowding, and infrastructure collapse – such as roads literally exploding – paint a grim picture. Cultural institutions haven’t been spared either, with long-standing landmarks like the Johannesburg Art Gallery caught in cycles of neglect and crisis.

Yet, while many avoid the inner city or speak only of its decline, the creative and cultural practitioners of Johannesburg never left. In fact, artists, architects, fashion designers, animators, musicians and the like have been hard at work. They’re building, dreaming and shaping a new urban reality that could become the beacon of hope this city needs.

As a researcher and visual artist, I recently completed a PhD study that focused on Johannesburg’s cultural and creative industries. My research revealed that a clear understanding of the existing structures and dynamics within this industry is essential for developing effective strategies to strengthen its role in local economic development.

Here I explore one such opportunity: creative hubs. I argue that they represent a low-hanging fruit for the inner city’s growth and revitalisation.

Urban renewal

Numerous articles have explored strategies for the city’s economic development and urban renewal. One group of scholars recently outlined four critical focus areas: coordinated efforts across government levels; an active civil society; a shift in political culture; and restored leadership in a revitalised administration.

These are vital interventions, but they still beg a deeper question. What is the new “gold” of the “City of Gold”, the mining town founded in 1886 and on track to become a megacity by 2030?

What is it that truly sets Johannesburg apart, nationally and globally? What strengths already exist that, if nurtured, could help address the city’s challenges? The answer may not lie in building something entirely new, but in recognising and investing in what already thrives. The city’s people, its culture, and its extraordinary creativity.

In 2004, Unesco launched the Creative Cities Network. Today it comprises 246 cities in 80 member states. South Africa has three cities in the network: Cape Town (design), Durban (literature) and Overstrand (gastronomy). Johannesburg has never applied to belong.

Cities are acknowledging the economic and social value of the cultural and creative industries, particularly in addressing challenges such as youth unemployment, micro-enterprise growth, equity and community development.

Yet cities globally are grappling with how to retain creative professionals. This is the case in cities like Toronto, Sydney, Los Angeles, Cologne or Barcelona. Rising property prices, the redevelopment of industrial areas into commercial or luxury spaces, and short-term rental agreements are displacing these professionals from the urban cores they help energise. Cities are coming up with incentives and programmes to correct this.

A recent World Cities Cultural Forum report offers a solution in the form of Creative Land Trusts. These permanently hold land and assets at affordable rates for creatives. They take property out of speculative real estate markets. They’re designed to support not galleries or theatres, but the studios and workspaces where creative production actually happens.

Similar initiatives are happening in London, Helsinki and San Francisco.

Mapping Johannesburg’s creative hubs

Unlike cities that are trying to reverse the exodus of creatives, Johannesburg’s inner city has seen a recent surge in creative hub development.

A creative hub is a physical or digital space (in this case physical) designed to bring together cultural and creative professionals for studio space, collaboration, networking and the exchange of ideas.

Over the last year, 21 creative hubs have been mapped in the city, the majority newly established. Notable examples include Transwerke Studios, Asisebenze Art Atelier, Victoria Yards and Oovookoo. Remarkably, 19 of the 21 hubs identified in my open-source mapping process are in the inner city. Only two are government run – Transwerke and Downtown Music Hub.

Across Johannesburg, creative hubs buzz with independent activity, yet share a common commitment to cultivating talent, business support and community impact. They are evidence of innovative partnerships between creatives and property developers.

Inside these spaces, artists and creatives get opportunities through gallerist and investor visits (access to markets). They build practical and entrepreneurial skills through tailored workshops. And they collaborate on projects that place social upliftment at their heart.

Some hubs focus on offering studio spaces, while others extend their reach beyond their walls, blending artistic expression with community development and public engagement.

By actively building community and opportunity, creative hubs are becoming

lighthouses for the new urban economy.

They are small business incubators, urban beautification engines and potential cultural tourism hotspots. An event like Contra Fair opens the doors of art studio hubs once a year. Entrepreneur and social activist Tebogo Moalusi has now taken the lead in the establishment of Creative20. This will become a platform for revitalising Johannesburg’s creative cities campaign.

Neglected by the city

And yet the cultural and creative industries remain almost entirely absent from the city’s strategic planning. The Johannesburg 2040: Growth and Development Strategy fails even to mention the sector.

This is despite Gauteng, the province that houses Johannesburg, being the epicentre of South Africa’s creative economy. It contributes 46.3% of the industry’s gross domestic product and generates the highest employment impact. Johannesburg hosts the majority of creative businesses in the province.

The Gauteng 2030 Strategy highlights three high-growth sectors: agro-processing, cultural and creative industries, and high-tech/knowledge sectors, including digital and gaming. Two of these directly involve the creative economy. Yet there’s been little effort to integrate them into Johannesburg’s urban development agenda.

If Johannesburg is serious about inclusive economic development and sustainable urban growth, it must recognise and invest in the cultural and creative industries which are already thriving within its borders.

Mariapaola McGurk consults to Creative20 Organisation

– ref. Johannesburg’s creative hubs are booming: how artists are rejuvenating a failing inner city – https://theconversation.com/johannesburgs-creative-hubs-are-booming-how-artists-are-rejuvenating-a-failing-inner-city-260224