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March 17, 2026

What a gaping hole on a bridge reveals about aging infrastructure in Canada

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Amirreza Torabizadeh, PhD candidate, Civil Engineering, Concordia University

A hole on the Sauvagine Bridge in Chateauguay, Québec, on March 4, 2026. (Eric Allard, Mayor of Chateauguay/Facebook)

When a large hole recently opened up in the deck of a bridge in Châteauguay, Québec, many people were understandably alarmed. Some residents even expressed hesitation about using the bridge after seeing images of exposed reinforcing steel and damaged concrete, and some told local media they were reluctant to cross it.

For drivers who cross the structure every day, the scene raises a question: how can such a dangerous incident suddenly happen on a bridge that is still open to traffic?

In reality, incidents like these rarely occur overnight. What the public sees as a sudden failure is often the visible result of deterioration that has been developing inside the structure for many years.

(CTV News)

Canadian bridges built decades ago

In most cases, what fails in situations like these is not the entire bridge but the deck — the concrete slab that vehicles drive on. While serious, a localized deck failure is different from the collapse of the bridge’s primary load-bearing structure.

Bridges are typically designed with multiple structural components that share loads, and engineers carefully assess these elements before deciding whether traffic can continue safely on part of the structure.

Still, the appearance of such damage highlights a broader challenge facing cities across Canada: aging infrastructure.

Many bridges currently in service were built decades ago, often in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. Over time, Canada’s unforgiving environmental conditions gradually deteriorate reinforced concrete structures.

In Québec, the combination of freeze–thaw cycles, water infiltration and the use of de-icing salts during winter creates particularly harsh conditions for bridge decks. Chlorides from road salts can penetrate the concrete and corrode the steel reinforcement inside. As corrosion progresses, the expanding rust causes cracking and separation within the concrete, sometimes leading to pieces of the deck breaking away.

Because this process develops internally, deterioration may not always be immediately visible from the surface. By the time cracks or holes appear, the damage could have progressed for years.

Identifying problems in advance

For engineers, one of the main challenges is to understand what damage means for the structural performance of the entire bridge. Visual inspections remain an essential tool to detect damage, but they don’t always reveal how deterioration affects the structural behaviour of the structure.

Our research has found that computational modelling may provide important insights about how to interpret the damage. Numerical simulations can mimic mechanisms like cracking, material degradation and changes in the interaction between steel reinforcement and concrete. By incorporating these effects into structural analyses, engineers can better estimate how much capacity an aging structure may still retain and identify potential vulnerabilities before they lead to more serious problems.

In addition to the visual inspections and monitoring data, computational modelling can also offer a cost-effective way to assess aging infrastructure. By using simulations, virtually created scenarios allow engineers to investigate how deterioration mechanisms — such as cracking, corrosion or degradation of the bond between reinforcement and concrete —influence the structural behaviour of a bridge.

These simulations can help evaluate how local damage, like deterioration in a bridge deck, may influence how the structure of the bridge could respond. Because these analyses rely primarily on computational tools rather than large-scale physical interventions, they can provide valuable insights at relatively low cost and help guide more informed decisions on maintenance and retrofitting.

Long-term safety

The incident in Châteauguay is yet another reminder that Canada’s infrastructure is rapidly aging. To ensure public safety, policymakers must be proactive instead of reactive.

To ensure safety, better tools must be developed to understand the hidden processes that gradually weaken structures over time. These tools will result in faster and more informed interventions for modern repair and for retrofitting.

As bridges across the country continue to age, ensuring their long-term safety will require a combination of regular inspection, timely maintenance, advanced engineering analysis and the application of effective strengthening techniques when needed.

Troubles may begin with big holes in bridge decks, but they ultimately point to the need for much larger conversations about how governments maintain and renew the infrastructure that millions of people rely on every day.

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. What a gaping hole on a bridge reveals about aging infrastructure in Canada – https://theconversation.com/what-a-gaping-hole-on-a-bridge-reveals-about-aging-infrastructure-in-canada-278465

March 17, 2026

Pete Hegseth is working hard to make sure the public hears only good news about Iran war

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Kathy Kiely, Professor and Lee Hills Chair of Free Press Studies, University of Missouri-Columbia

The Trump administration doesn’t like the free press’s coverage of the Iran war. MirageC/Getty

Martha Gellhorn stowed away on a hospital ship to become the only woman journalist to land on Normandy Beach on D-Day. She carried stretchers before writing her harrowing account of the invasion.

The New Yorker’s famously epicurean writer A.J. Liebling subsisted on military rations and came under fire during World War II to describe what it was like for the soldiers and sailors at war.

Syndicated columnist Ernie Pyle died, in a helmet and Army fatigues, among some of the troops whose names and hometowns he carefully included in his dispatches. “At this spot, the 77th Infantry lost a buddy,” read the makeshift sign posted at the place where a Japanese machine gun bullet felled him.

Those reporters told stories of war in all its gore and its glory, its exhilaration and its ennui. Others have laid bare the anxiety and doubts.

Veteran Vietnam correspondent Neil Sheehan broke the story of the Pentagon Papers, which showed how government officials deceived the public about the Vietnam war. Sheehan won a Pulitzer Prize for his book, “A Bright Shining Lie,” which chronicled the war’s impact on idealists who once believed in it, through the story of his relationship with an inside source.

Well before bombs started dropping on Iran and President Donald Trump began to tease the notion of a ground invasion, his defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, began putting obstacles in the way of the reporters with the most experience covering the nation’s military. While Hegseth’s moves haven’t stopped the reporters from doing their jobs, it has made it harder for them to keep the public informed.

As someone who worked as a Washington correspondent for decades, I worry that these obstacles could limit the number of reporters who have the experience with – and trust of – key sources to do the kind of in-depth, nuanced journalism that a war, with its price in lives and resources, deserves.

A group of men dressed for cold weather standing on a boat. — A group of press correspondents on board a U.S. landing craft en route to amphibious maneuvers off the coast of England on May 8, 1944, including, with his back to the camera on right, A.J. Liebling of The New Yorker magazine.
AP photo

Corralling the watchdogs

Generally, war correspondents need the cooperation of the military they are covering to get to the front. For the U.S. press, that requires relationships and credibility at the Pentagon.

Early in 2025, Hegseth ordered major news organizations to give up their desks in the Pentagon press room to MAGA favorites. NPR’s desk went to Breitbart News. Roaming the hallways, where reporters sometimes found sources who would deviate from the company line, became verboten.

Eventually, the area in the Pentagon where reporters were allowed was circumscribed to a single corridor outside the press room – even though the public affairs officers who worked most closely with reporters were in an office on the other side of the 6½-million-square-foot building.

Then Hegseth conditioned the issuance of press credentials on reporters, effectively giving military brass the right to censor or sanitize their reports.

As a result, almost the entire Pentagon press corps, which included outlets ranging from The Associated Press to The New York Times to Fox News and USNI News, which covers the Navy, moved out of the building in October 2025. Some have been invited back for the press briefings Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have begun to give on progress of the battle in Iran.

But after the first of these briefings, the Pentagon abruptly banned photographers from attending, reportedly because Hegseth’s staff found some of their images of him to be unflattering.

Secretary on defense

Gone are the off-camera “background” briefings where Department of Defense brass could give trusted reporters greater context and nuance for battlefield decisions. Gone are the impromptu hallway meetings where reporters have, with luck or persistence, picked up information that deviates from an administration’s agreed-upon script.

Also not in evidence, at least not so far: the deployment of the kind of journalistic embed program that the Pentagon used during the Iraq war to give the American people an up-close look at troops in the conflict zone.

How might that affect what you, the public, gets to know? It was a combination of an anonymous tip and insider access that led the legendary investigative reporter Seymour Hersh to break the devastating story of My Lai, the American soldiers’ massacre of civilians during the Vietnam War.

At the made-for-TV briefings he does hold, Hegseth devotes most of the session to questions from outlets such as the Epoch Times, The Daily Caller and LindellTV – owned by Mike Lindell, the head of the well-known pillow company.

At one recent briefing, one of the favored new cadre tossed Hegseth a shameless softball. Referring to American troops in the Middle East, the questioner asked: “What is your prayer for them?”

Yet as hostilities drag on, even some among Hegseth’s chosen press corps have begun to ask irksome questions about the war. The normally Trump-friendly Daily Caller ran a less-than-flattering piece about the president berating a reporter for asking about troop deployments.

On March 4, 2026, Hegseth accused journalists of focusing on war casualties to make “the president look bad.” On March 13, Hegseth castigated as “more fake news” CNN’s report that the Trump administration had underestimated the impact of the war on shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.

“The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better,” Hegseth concluded, adding fuel to the speculation that a Trump supporter who won a bidding war for CNN’s corporate parent is going to turn the network into a more administration-friendly outlet.

Soon after, Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr threatened network broadcast licenses over coverage critical of the administration’s conduct of the war. Echoing Carr’s threats the next day: the president himself.

‘Be a Marine’

The Trump administration is not alone in its disdain for a free press: Israel has long been notorious for restricting press access from areas where it is conducting military operations.

Leaders of the theocratic Iranian regime are even worse; the country is cited by press freedom advocate Reporters Without Borders as “one of the world’s most repressive countries in terms of press freedom.”

But the United States has historically distinguished itself by making freedom its calling card, even – or perhaps especially – in wartime.

“The news may be good, or bad. We shall tell you the truth,” Voice of America, a U.S. government-launched radio network, promised – in German – in its very first broadcast to Nazi Germany in 1942.

Two men, including one in a military uniform, at lecterns, speaking. — Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, left, and Adm. Charles Bradford Cooper II, commander of U.S. Central Command, during a press conference at U.S. Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Fla., on March 5, 2026.
Octavio Jones/AFP via Getty Images

Now, however, the Trump administration, is busy trying to undermine the editorial independence of Voice of America, which broadcasts news to countries that don’t have a free press.

Pentagon reporters are continuing to find ways to get around the propaganda. NPR’s Tom Bowman told me that he takes inspiration from a pep talk he overheard a military source deliver to another reporter crestfallen over the lack of access.

“Quit whining and be a Marine,” the official said. “Go over, under or around the obstacle. Find a way to do it.”

Most reporters and their organizations are doing just that, finding sources outside the administration, like the ones in Congress who told The Hill how much money the war is costing taxpayers per day. And they’re continuing to get information from sources on the inside, like the ones who told The Wall Street Journal that Trump’s military advisers warned him that Iran might block the Gulf of Hormuz, but that he opted for war anyway.

So far, neither Hegseth’s obstacle course nor threats from the White House and the FCC have stopped the press from reporting stories or asking questions that the administration would rather not see or hear.

But restrictions on press freedom have a corrosive effect. We already have seen how Trump, using lawsuits and licensing threats, has used his power to make corporate media owners think twice about pursuing news he doesn’t like.

Seasoned Pentagon reporters will still find ways to get to sources they already have. But Hegseth’s tactic of blocking press access to the military keeps reporters from developing new sources and keeps new reporters from building the relationships they need to become seasoned Pentagon reporters.

Americans have long been able to understand the triumphs and tribulations of American troops at war, and to make intelligent decisions about whether they approve of a war’s cost, because a free press has been able to tell the story – good or bad. That tradition is now at risk.

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

– ref. Pete Hegseth is working hard to make sure the public hears only good news about Iran war – https://theconversation.com/pete-hegseth-is-working-hard-to-make-sure-the-public-hears-only-good-news-about-iran-war-278295

March 17, 2026

Billing students automatically for textbooks? Look elsewhere to solve affordability issues

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Madelaine Vanderwerff, Associate Professor, University Library, Mount Royal University

Some Canadian universities are exploring automatic textbook billing programs — sometimes called academic materials programs or “inclusive access” programs.

These are institutional agreements with vendors to provide digital access to course materials, and automatically charge students for them as part of their fees.

Concerns with rising textbook costs are a reality for many students. These are often described as a pressing challenge in policy discussions.

The Canadian Association of Research Libraries has raised concerns about automatic textbook billing, including potential threats to faculty freedom, student privacy and access to diverse learning materials.

As professional academic librarians and faculty members, we share these concerns and agree with some student groups that argue automatic textbook billing programs are the wrong answer to textbook affordability challenges. Here’s why.

Role of libraries

Along with course instructors, librarians play critical roles in supporting student success by providing equitable access to learning materials.

Libraries are positioned to play a role in bolstering equitable access to learning materials for students and supporting faculty to use library collections as well as openly licensed and low- or no-cost materials for teaching and learning where possible.

Libraries have missions of building and providing access to collections that support teaching and learning, especially at small and mid-sized institutions where collections focus on undergraduate courses. They do this through things like textbook buying programs, eBook licensing and journal subscriptions, as well as working with instructors to make specific resources available.

Studies show that libraries’ lending or licensing of course materials can reduce student costs. It can also improve access and engagement with materials.

Claims, evidence and faculty perspectives

To better understand how Canadian universities are addressing course material affordability, we reviewed publicly available policies, campus initiatives and library programs at 22 mid-sized universities (with 7,000–20,000 full-time students).

We also conducted an online survey in English and French, targeting tenured, tenure-track and sessional faculty members at these universities. We received 322 responses from nine provinces, representing faculty from a range of academic disciplines and various levels of teaching experience.

Participants responded to multiple choice, item-ranking and open-ended questions about selecting course materials for a recently taught course and choosing materials more generally.

Faculty reported a wide range of approaches to course materials. Some faculty are embracing the digital learning tools offered by commercial textbook publishers to engage and motivate students, and value these tools as solutions to the workload challenges of teaching large classes.

But, while some rely on commercial textbooks, many use Open Educational Resources, library-licensed materials or freely available content. About 34 per cent of faculty reported not using a textbook at all, instead curating materials that are relevant to their course outcomes and that reduce or eliminate costs for students.

This range of practices reflects deliberate, faculty-led strategies, also documented elsewhere in other research, to balance affordability, accessibility, quality and relevance — approaches that institution-wide billing programs are not designed to support.

Measuring student success

Proponents of automatic textbook billing programs have highlighted benefits, including increased course completion rates, grades and cost savings.

However, faculty in our survey emphasized broader measures of student success. They cited outcomes that are well-established aims of university study, such as academic research competency, information literacy and critical thinking skills.

They also described their course materials in terms of helping students develop these skills, not just providing access to content.

Faculty noted challenges with digital-only textbooks, including poor readability, limited usability and restricted rental periods. Many highlighted the importance of diverse, relevant content from a range of creators reflecting diverse perspectives. These include print-based and independently published materials unavailable from major vendors.

While a majority of faculty in our study were concerned about cost, quality and relevance are their primary concern, and many are responding in context-sensitive ways to the related challenges of affordability pressures and shifting student learning needs.

Local solutions

In a publishing landscape marked by consolidation, elimination of print and restricted digital lending, automatic textbook billing programs may limit faculty choice, reduce diversity of materials and constrain equitable access.

Decisions about course materials reflect instructors’ professional judgment, subject-matter expertise and knowledge of student needs, and are central to academic freedom in teaching.

Faculty we surveyed were clear that course material selection should remain the purview of academic staff, not administrative or non-academic units. This includes the freedom to choose materials, determine how they are used and accessed and decide whether students must pay for materials to learn in their courses.

The answer to textbook affordability isn’t to hand course material decisions to publishers. It’s in partnerships with libraries and investments in open education programs and services that help faculty make better, more equitable choices.

– ref. Billing students automatically for textbooks? Look elsewhere to solve affordability issues – https://theconversation.com/billing-students-automatically-for-textbooks-look-elsewhere-to-solve-affordability-issues-274076

March 17, 2026

As war raises oil prices, households pay while energy companies profit

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Philippe Le Billon, Professor, Geography Department and School of Public Policy & Global Affairs, University of British Columbia

War is costly. The ongoing American-Israeli war on Iran is already reverberating through the global economy. For most people, including American citizens, it means higher fuel prices and greater economic uncertainty.

But for a narrower group of entities, war can also be extraordinarily profitable. Chief among them are segments of the United States oil and gas industry, which have already profited from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine and the ensuing sanctions on Russian oil and gas exports.

Now, the escalation of hostilities between the U.S., Israel and Iran has once again rattled global energy markets. Fighting and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz — one of the world’s most important oil shipping routes — have triggered what some have described as “the biggest oil disruption in history.”

By early March, oil prices had briefly surged to US$119 per barrel — roughly double their level at the end of 2025. Prices have since settled at near US$100 a barrel, though volatility remains.

The escalation illustrates a familiar pattern in the political economy of fossil fuels: public costs paired with private windfalls.

The shock to global energy markets

Three months ago, few analysts expected 2026 to be a particularly profitable year for fossil fuel producers. Global supply was expanding rapidly and U.S. gas prices were expected to fall below US$3 a gallon.

Production growth in the U.S., Canada, Brazil and Argentina was colliding with weaker demand growth and the ineffectiveness of sanctions on exports from Russia, Iran and Venezuela. Many analysts warned of an emerging glut that could push prices downward. The International Energy Agency, for instance, projected a potential global oil surplus of nearly four million barrels per day in 2026.

That outlook changed abruptly following the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran and the country’s retaliatory attacks on energy infrastructure and tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic chokepoint that normally carries roughly one-fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas.

Even a partial disruption carries immediate consequences.

Though the strait has been a cornerstone of U.S. and world energy security for more than 60 years, the Donald Trump administration apparently underestimated the possibility that the Iranian regime would blockade it and pummel U.S.-allied countries in the region.

For consumers and most businesses, such price spikes function as a tax. Higher energy costs ripple through transport, food production, manufacturing and household budgets. American drivers feel the impact at the pump, while industries dependent on fuel or petrochemicals see their operating costs climb.

The hidden household costs of war

Estimates suggest that for every increase of US$10 per barrel, additional fuel costs amount to roughly US$560 per year per American household, including costs embedded in goods and services.

If prices remain at around US$86 instead of the expected US$51 forecast for 2026, the added burden could reach about US$2,000 per household annually.

These figures do not include the direct military expenditures, which were conservatively estimated at US$11 billion for the first week of strikes against Iran.

Even military spending of US$200 million per day (10 times less than the highest estimates at the current intensity) would amount to an additional cost of US$541 per household annually.

In short, a prolonged war combining high energy prices and sustained military expenditures would likely amount to between three to four per cent of the median U.S. household expenditure — roughly half of what many families spend annually on food or health care.

Lessons from recent wars

Recent history offers revealing precedents.

The costs of the Iraq War (2003 to 2011) for Americans has been estimated at about US$1.2-3 trillion in total long-term costs, equivalent to about US$16,700 to US$41,750 per household in current U.S. dollars. Yet the war did achieve the goal of reopening access to Iraqi oil fields for American oil companies.

More recently, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia cost an estimated one per cent of global GDP in 2022 and added 1.5 per cent to global inflation in 2022-23. Ukraine, of course, paid the largest price for the war, but direct impacts in Europe amounted to about 1 trillion euros.

Much of these costs ultimately translated into profits for oil and gas companies, especially liquefied natural gas (LNG) companies from the U.S. and producers in Australia and the Gulf states.

Profits on a single LNG shipment from the U.S. to Europe increased fivefold from about US$17 million to US$102 million.

A similar dynamic is now unfolding again.

Who really benefits from rising oil prices?

This time, with major Gulf states themselves exposed to the conflict, U.S. and other exporters less directly affected by the war may have even greater room to increase profits. American LNG companies could see windfalls approaching US$20 billion per month.

The main lesson is that petro-states, including Iran, Russia and the U.S., don’t hesitate to go to war partly because they believe oil revenues will bail them out, if not further enrich them.

In fact, in seeking to justify the attack on Iran and the continuation of the conflict, Trump argued that “the United States is the largest oil producer in the world, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money.”

This, of course, depends on who “we” refers to. The populations of most petro-states have paid dearly for the wars involving their countries, whether it’s been Angola, Chad, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, Russia, Syria and now Iran.

The U.S. has fared much better economically, but the gains have been mostly for its companies, not its population. Higher oil and natural gas prices generate enormous revenues for U.S. oil producers and LNG exporters along the Gulf Coast as global gas markets tighten. Investors and shareholders in these sectors stand to gain from rising margins and market valuations.

American households, however, face the opposite effect. Fuel prices rise. Inflationary pressures intensify. Transport and heating costs increase.

The gains accruing to producers are therefore not only partially financed by the most import-dependent countries with the least strategic reserves but also by low-income households who are stuck in a carbon-intensive economy they can least afford to escape.

Philippe Le Billon receives funding from SSHRC.

– ref. As war raises oil prices, households pay while energy companies profit – https://theconversation.com/as-war-raises-oil-prices-households-pay-while-energy-companies-profit-278052

March 17, 2026

Will your electric car burst into flames? A solid-state battery would reduce the risk

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Taiana Lucia Emmanuel Pereira, Postdoc Fellow, Chemistry, McMaster University

Canada recently signed a new trade agreement with China, reducing tariffs on up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) each year. By 2030, half of these imported vehicles are anticipated to be “affordable EVs” costing less than $35,000.

This could make electric cars a more budget-friendly option for Canadians. However, public trust remains fragile, shaped largely by fears of EV battery fires.

In 2024, when a high-speed crash on Toronto’s Lake Shore Boulevard resulted in a Tesla bursting into flames, killing four passengers, the images circulated widely online. Months later, another Tesla caught fire on Highway 403 in Ontario, again shutting down traffic.

Evidence shows that the risks of EVs bursting into flames while you drive are low. However, these events have caused some public anxiety.

Solid-state batteries offer a promising new solution. They replace the flammable liquid in existing EV batteries with a solid electrolyte. This reduces the risks of spontaneous combustion when batteries are damaged or when they overheat.

Mercedes-Benz recently trialled an EQS sedan with a solid-state battery. The car drove 1,205 kilometres from Stuttgart in Germany to Malmö in Sweden without a charging stop.

Chinese automaker Chery says it plans to release its first electric vehicle with a solid-state battery later this year. The company says the design could boost energy density and cold-weather performance, with targeted ranges of up to 1,500 kilometres even in sub-zero temperatures.

Canadian researchers are also playing an important role in advancing solid-state technology. I am part of a research team at McMaster University studying battery chemistry at the atomic level to help turn solid-state batteries into a practical technology.

How do lithium-ion batteries work?

EVs rely on lithium-ion batteries rather than gasoline but the basic idea is similar. They store energy and release it when you need it. These batteries are made up of two electrodes: one positive (cathode) and one negative (anode), separated by an electrolyte that allows lithium ions to move between them.

When the battery powers a device or a vehicle, electrons flow through the external circuit to produce electricity, while lithium ions travel inside the battery from the anode to the cathode. Charging the battery simply reverses this process, pushing the lithium ions back to where they started.

How lithium-ion batteries work. (PhysicsLearning)

How much power a battery can deliver depends largely on how quickly and how many lithium ions can move between the two electrodes.

Today’s batteries rely on liquid electrolytes. This allows lithium ions to move easily and efficiently, giving the car quick acceleration, steady highway performance and consistent response when you press the pedal. How far a car can go on a single charge, however, depends mainly on how much lithium the electrodes can store.

Why do batteries catch fire?

When lithium-ion batteries are damaged or experience internal failures, they can overheat and enter a process known as thermal runaway. This can trigger intense fires that are hard to extinguish and may even reignite hours later.

A major reason is the liquid electrolyte, which is typically made from flammable organic solvents. If the battery overheats, the liquid can act as fuel, worsening the fire. Solid-state battery technology replaces the flammable liquid with a solid electrolyte.

This video shows five cylindrical lithium ion battery cells, forced into thermal runaway in test conditions.

Safer batteries with higher performance?

Solid electrolytes are generally non-volatile and mechanically robust. They reduce the risk of leakage and limit the formation of oxygen-rich volatile decomposition products. They can act as a physical barrier that slows the growth of the lithium filaments that can short-circuit a battery.

Together, these features reduce two major triggers of thermal runaway: internal short circuits and rapid heat-releasing chemical reactions in the electrolyte.

In our research group, we use solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance to understand how lithium ions move inside solid electrolytes. These experiments let us track both the local chemistry and the longer-range ion transport that determine how well a material will work in a battery. By linking these atomic-scale insights to battery performance, we can help design better solid electrolytes for safer electric vehicles.

Beyond safety, solid electrolytes also enable higher-performance batteries. They make it possible to use lithium metal anodes and high-voltage cathodes, which can increase energy density compared to today’s graphite-based batteries.

For EVs, this could mean longer driving range or smaller, lighter battery packs without sacrificing performance.

Why liquid electrolytes still dominate

Despite their safety, liquid electrolytes remain the industry standard.

They provide high ionic conductivity at room temperature, ensuring fast charging, strong acceleration and reliable performance across a wide range of conditions. They also connect well with the electrodes, allowing electricity to flow easily and keeping the battery’s design simpler. Decades of industrial experience have made them relatively inexpensive and easy to manufacture at scale.

In contrast, many solid electrolytes suffer from mechanical brittleness, which means they can crack during battery cycling and lose contact with the electrodes. In addition, solid electrolytes often struggle to make good connections with electrode materials, and chemical reactions at these interfaces can form resistive layers that reduce battery performance.

As a result, while solid-state batteries show great promise, liquid electrolytes have offered the best balance of performance, cost and ease of manufacturing in EVs to date.

Canada’s role in the transition

The recent trade agreement with China could give Canada faster access to the advanced battery technologies already developed at scale in China.

However, many Canadian researchers are already playing an important role in advancing EV battery technology by investigating new electrolyte materials and battery interfaces. Canadian federal programs are supporting battery research, clean-energy initiatives and domestic battery manufacturing, positioning Canada within the global EV transition.

Advances in materials science, interface engineering and battery chemistry are improving the performance and durability of solid electrolytes. What once existed only in laboratories is moving into pilot production and early vehicle testing.

In the long run, solid electrolytes could reduce fire risk while enabling longer ranges and lighter battery packs, helping EVs become safer.

Taiana Lucia Emmanuel Pereira receives funding from NSERC and MITACS.

– ref. Will your electric car burst into flames? A solid-state battery would reduce the risk – https://theconversation.com/will-your-electric-car-burst-into-flames-a-solid-state-battery-would-reduce-the-risk-277042

March 17, 2026

Israeli strikes on Tehran oil depot highlight gaps in international law

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Alexandra R. Harrington, Visiting Scholar, McGill University Faculty of Law, Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism, McGill University

One of the most alarming incidents to occur in the United States-Israel war against Iran was the recent bombing of a fuel depot in Tehran. Harrowing images showed toxic black smoke blanketing the skies above the city. Residents reported difficulty breathing and burning eyes and turned to wearing face masks.

Soot and toxic chemicals released from the bombing then came down on civilian populations as polluted “black rain,” further exacerbating the health and environmental impacts. In response to the attack, Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said: “Israel’s bombings of fuel depots in Tehran violate international law and constitute ecocide.”

The attack on the fuel depot is more than a stark reminder of the costs of war. It also tells the story of a large gap in international legal protections for civilians and the environment from the targeting of facilities containing harmful chemicals that are not classified as chemical weapons.

The impacts of pollution and war are often indiscriminate and lasting. Beyond these images is the legacy of long-term damage to human health and the environment stemming from the targeting of such facilities, such as the refining plants targeted during the first Gulf War.

International law contains provisions against the use of chemical weapons in war. However, there is a gap in protections when dangerous toxins are released due to attacks on sites like fuel depots.

These gaps need to be addressed to protect civilians in war, and to uphold environment and human rights standards during wartime and once a conflict ends.

Gaps in the Geneva Conventions

Dark smoke fills Tehran’s sky after Israeli attacks on oil depots (The Independent).

My areas of research focus on international law, specifically environmental and human rights law and intersections with international organizations.

The Geneva Conventions and their protocols serve as the basis for international humanitarian law — the laws applicable to civilians, armed forces and combatants in times of conflict.

The Geneva Conventions are mostly geared toward human protection during combat, especially for civilians living in combat zones or occupied territories as well as for health-care providers and for injured combatants and prisoners of war. In particular, the Fourth Geneva Convention on Civilians provides basic living, health and access to justice protections for populations during wartime.

However, there is nothing in the conventions specifically about sites known to contain chemicals that would cause health or environmental impacts in the short and long-term.

While the Geneva Conventions forbid attacking hospitals, schools and infrastructure necessary for civilian life, they do not address fuel depots, waste management facilities or other sites where chemicals are routinely stored. And there are no requirements for warring entities to provide assistance to enemy territories damaged by attacks on such sites once hostilities cease.

Gaps in the Chemical Weapons Convention

Since 1997, the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) has governed the destruction and non-proliferation of chemical weapons.

This convention includes prohibitions on developing and manufacturing chemical weapons and outlines acceptable methods of reducing and eliminating chemical weapons stockpiles in signatory countries.

The CWC addresses facilities containing chemical weapons only in the context of safety until the chemicals can be destroyed.

It is an essential tool in protecting humanity from the development, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons. But the convention doesn’t cover all chemicals, nor does it address attacks on facilities containing chemicals that turn them into dangerous weapons against civilian populations.

Other agreements and treaties

There are also several multilateral environmental agreements that address chemicals in some form: the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants and the Minamata Convention on Mercury, as well as the Global Framework on Chemicals, a recently adopted soft law instrument.

These are critical agreements and instruments in many ways, but they focus on the production, use and transportation of chemicals. They do not address intentional acts of destruction during peacetime or conflict.

Additionally, there are many core human rights treaties that provide protections to all, especially women, children, those with disabilities and persons in situations of vulnerability. But these are not fully applicable in times of conflict.

Even at the end of a conflict, there are no provisions in these agreements that would impose liability or otherwise seek to address environmental damage from acts taken in wartime with lasting and generational impacts on the environment and human health.

Moving forward

Conflict is inherently intertwined with environmental damage and human suffering. This is particularly true today, when larger and more destructive weapons can cause lasting and even irreversible damage.

The international community has responded in the past to these harsh realities by enacting prohibitions aimed at protecting people. These provisions must be updated and expanded to ensure they remain applicable to current methods and ideologies used in warfare.

The targeting of the Tehran fuel depot demonstrates the need for changes to the Geneva Conventions at the very least, and also an appraisal of how to connect international environmental law and human rights law with the legacy of environmental damage in wartime.

Adding the crime of ecocide to the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction could help.

But a larger conversation is needed to ensure that targeting facilities containing chemicals is not an accepted practice in future conflicts. The conversation is about the need for warfare to reflect what we have learned about the toxic legacies of indiscriminate use and targeting of chemicals as weapons of war, which scar the environment and humanity for generations.

Alexandra R. Harrington 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. Israeli strikes on Tehran oil depot highlight gaps in international law – https://theconversation.com/israeli-strikes-on-tehran-oil-depot-highlight-gaps-in-international-law-278380

March 17, 2026

What you need to know about Mexico’s drug cartels amid escalating violence

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Raul Zepeda Gil, Research Fellow in the War Studies Department, King’s College London

The recent killing of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, the leader of the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) who was commonly referred to by his alias “El Mencho”, has once again brought global attention to drug-related violence in Mexico. His death at the hands of the Mexican security forces triggered a wave of retaliatory violence that affected several states.

This situation will undoubtedly occur again. Under Donald Trump, the US government has been ramping up pressure on the Mexican authorities to take stronger action against the cartels that traffic drugs across the border. So now is a good moment to reflect on the main cartels operating in Mexico and the underlying factors that sustain their operations.

For decades, Mexico had three major drug trafficking groups: the Milenio cartel, the Sinaloa cartel and the Golfo cartel. These organisations dominated drug trafficking until the 1980s when the Mexican government, under pressure from the US, intensified its operations against them. This pressure followed the 1985 killing of American Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique Camarena by organised crime figures.

But it wasn’t until 2006 that Mexico’s cartel landscape really began to change. That year saw the then-Mexican president, Felipe Calderón, deploy the Mexican army against the cartels in a militarised “war on drugs”. The government’s strategy of targeting senior cartel figures caused these organisations to fragment into smaller groups.

For example, a group of former Mexican special forces commandos who had previously acted as the enforcement arm for the Golfo cartel broke away to form Los Zetas in 2010. Various other factions elsewhere in Mexico also set up their own organisations. These included Beltrán Leyva, La Familia Michoacana, Knights Templar (Caballeros Templarios), CJNG and Guerreros Unidos.

In 2014, following the abduction of 43 student teachers in the Pacific state of Guerrero by Guerreros Unidos, President Enrique Peña Nieto escalated the offensive against Mexico’s cartels. This led to further fragmentation, with some newer organisations such as Santa Rosa de Lima focusing on oil theft. Andrés Manuel López Obrador came to power in 2018 and pressed hard against the Sinaloa cartel.

The detention of senior figures such as Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada caused the Sinaloa cartel to break into two factions: Los Chapitos which is led by El Chapo’s sons and Los Mayos which is headed by El Mayo’s lieutenants. CJNG took advantage of this moment to expand, positioning itself at the centre of Mexican drug trafficking.

The militarised war on drugs has not just caused the number of Mexican drug trafficking organisations to expand, it has also led to a surge in violence. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, violence in Mexico was actually declining. But since 2006, when Calderón first deployed the Mexican army against the cartels, homicides have increased from around 10,000 per year to over 30,000.

The rise in violence is also largely a consequence of the deliberate targeting of cartel leaders. Removing leadership produces a sudden succession struggle in an affected organisation, with violence often subsequently employed to prevent or respond to rivals testing the new leadership.

Mexico’s cartel violence is usually highly concentrated, with northern Mexico and the Pacific states experiencing the highest homicide levels. This pattern reflects trafficking routes. Mexico’s northern states are a key corridor for smuggling drugs into the US, while the Pacific coast serves as a major entry point from Asia for the chemicals used to produce fentanyl.

Sustaining cartel operations

The violence perpetrated by the cartels is enabled largely by weapons that are smuggled into Mexico. According to figures published by the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, more than half of the weapons seized from criminal groups in Mexico come from the US.

Research shows how close the relationship between US firearms and Mexican cartel violence is. One study from 2019 found that any increase in firearm production in the US increases violence in Mexico. And another, published several years earlier, discovered there was a spike in homicides in Mexico’s northern states when the US government lifted restrictions on the sale of certain assault weapons in 2004.

The Mexican government filed a lawsuit in 2021 that sought to hold American gun makers accountable for their contribution to the rising violence in Mexico. While the lawsuit was rejected unanimously by the US supreme court in 2025, the Mexican authorities have continued to press their US counterparts to take firmer action against arms smuggling from north of the border.

Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, made a speech days after El Mencho’s killing in which she asserted that if the US government wants Mexico to prevent drug trafficking, they “have to do their part” and eradicate the flow of weapons.

And, finally, it’s important to recognise that the operations of the Mexican cartels are sustained in large part by drug consumption in the US. Data published by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime suggests that drug seizures, particularly of fentanyl, have increased substantially since 2019.

Until the US takes steps to more effectively reduce demand for drugs among its own citizens, Mexico’s battle against cartel violence will continue.

Raul Zepeda Gil 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. What you need to know about Mexico’s drug cartels amid escalating violence – https://theconversation.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-mexicos-drug-cartels-amid-escalating-violence-276941

March 17, 2026

Moulin Rouge! turns 25: how Baz Luhrmann reinvented the movie musical

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Richard Rushton, Professor in Film Studies, Lancaster University

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Moulin Rouge!, Baz Luhrmann’s reinvention of the movie musical. There is little doubt the movie musical was on the decline in the 1980s and 90s. The only real contender during that period was Disney (who released Beauty and the Beast in 1991 and The Lion King in 1994).

The musical was slowly being replaced by what contemporary critics called the “musically oriented film”, starting with 1977’s Saturday Night Fever, then Fame (1981), Flashdance (1983) and Footloose (1984). This trend extended to films whose soundtracks proved irresistible. Think Top Gun (1983), Quentin Tarantino’s bold soundtracks (Pulp Fiction in 1994 and Jackie Brown in 1997), alongside Nora Ephron’s nostalgic throwbacks in Sleepless in Seattle (1989) and You’ve Got Mail (1998).

These poppy soundtracks – full of songs you know but haven’t heard in a while – provided the perfect platform for Luhrmann to introduce a new kind of jukebox musical.

Not only did Moulin Rouge! pack an extraordinary number of songs into its duration – over 20, when a classic musical such as 1934’s Top Hat might contain as few as five tunes – it did so in a way that no musical had ever done before.

The trailer for Moulin Rouge!

Traditional musicals tended to construct their song and dance sequences via long takes while also maintaining a good distance from performers. This was in order to preserve the integrity of the number. It was thought by who? important to capture a dancer’s full body so as to appreciate the athleticism and wholeness of a performance. This was central for Fred Astaire (say in Swing Time, 1936), Gene Kelly (in Singin’ in the Rain, 1952) and even Marylin Monroe (in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, 1953). The integrity of the performance was everything. Not so for Luhrmann, who introduced cut-up, super-edited song and dance numbers at breakneck speed.

The average shot length in Moulin Rouge! is under two seconds: a very fast pace for the time. While acceptable for an action movie, nothing like this had ever been done in a musical. It is likely that Luhrmann gained inspiration from pop music video culture — the “MTV aesthetic” — that had been de rigueur on TV screens for a good ten to 15 years. He had already borrowed from it in his previous films, Strictly Ballroom (1992) and William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet (1996).

From one world to another

Moulin Rouge! nevertheless borrows one of the main traits of movie musicals. The story of Moulin Rouge! is the story of the attempts of its main characters to go from one world to another.

We find this in many classic musicals. It’s in Dorothy’s dream of leaving Kansas and journeying to Oz, and then in her desire to return home again in The Wizard of Oz (1939). It’s in Maria’s desire to leave the convent in The Sound of Music (1965). Or most emphatically in Tommy’s desire to leave Manhattan and live the rest of his days in a fantasy world in Brigadoon (1954).

In Moulin Rouge!, Christian (Ewan McGregor) wants to leave his current world behind and enter a world in which he is a great writer. Satine (Nicole Kidman), too, desires to leave the world in which she is a dancer at the Moulin Rouge and enter a new world in which she will be a “real” actress on stage in the legitimate theatre.

Your Song from Moulin Rouge!

As happens so often in the musical genre, our characters try to get to a new world by way of song and dance. That is, by putting on a show – what is generally termed a “backstage musical”. When Christian sings Your Song, he is intimating that Satine has opened up a new world for him (“How wonderful life is now you’re in the world”). Satine herself is even more emphatic in singing One Day I’ll Fly Away – and that may be her best way of getting from one world to another.

Do our characters make it to their new worlds? Indeed, Christian does: he becomes a writer and the film we see is his version of the story. But this is not so for Satine – she dies. There certainly are musicals that do not have happy endings, such as West Side Story (1961), Funny Girl (1968) and All that Jazz (1979). But it was was an extraordinarily bold move to chart the demise of the film’s most glamorous performer and biggest star. In this way Luhrmann’s debt may be more akin to opera, such as Puccini’s La Boheme (1869) or Verdi’s La Traviata (1853).

In the end, Moulin Rouge! grounds its stylistic excess in a simple credo: “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.” As Satine does not survive to enter the future she imagines, love crosses a different boundary – death itself. Christian’s private grief becomes public art, and the romance endures as story and song. Love does not avert tragedy, but it grants it form, and in doing so allows it to last.

Richard Rushton 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. Moulin Rouge! turns 25: how Baz Luhrmann reinvented the movie musical – https://theconversation.com/moulin-rouge-turns-25-how-baz-luhrmann-reinvented-the-movie-musical-277575

March 17, 2026

Lupita Nyong’o revealed she has fibroids – here’s what you need to know about them

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Nicola Tempest, Senior Lecturer, Subspecialist in Reproductive Medicine and Consultant Gynaecologist, University of Liverpool

The actress hopes sharing her story will raise awareness of the condition. Denis Makarenko/ Shutterstock

Academy Award-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o recently shared on Instagram that she has fibroids. The actress revealed that she has had 77 uterine fibroids over the course of her lifetime – the largest of which were the size of an orange. The actress took to social media to share her story in a bid to raise awareness for the common condition.

Fibroids are non-cancerous growths that develop in or around the womb (uterus). They’re thought to affect two in every three women – though many women won’t even realise they have them as they won’t have any symptoms.

Fibroids are made up of muscle and fibrous tissue. Their growth is driven by hormones such as oestrogen and progesterone. They can vary massively in size, from pea-sized to the size of a watermelon. Some women will only have one discrete fibroid – while others, like Nyong’o, will develop numerous fibroids. They’re also sometimes known as uterine myomas or leiomyomas.

Age and ethnicity are the strongest risk factors for fibroids. Approximately 70-80% of women develop fibroids by the age of 50. Those of African ancestry have the highest prevalence and earliest onset of fibroids, with 60% of black women affected by age 35. Fibroids also tend to be larger, more numerous and cause worse symptoms in black women.

Symptoms of fibroids can be many and varied. Heavy periods (menorrhagia) are the most common symptom. Prolonged bleeding (for more than seven days) and bleeding between periods can also be common. Heavy bleeding can also lead to anaemia (low iron), which may result in tiredness, shortness of breath and lightheadedness.

Pain can also occur with fibroids. For some, this pain only happens while they’re on the period or during intercourse, while for others the pelvic pain is constant.

This pain is usually related to the degeneration of the fibroids or pressure from the fibroids pressing against the bladder, rectum or ureters (the tubes that transport urine from the kidneys to the bladder). Pressure symptoms typically include feeling like you need to urinate often or being unable to urinate and bowel dysfunction.

Fibroids can also cause problems when trying to get pregnant. Miscarriage may also occur, due to distortion of the uterine cavity (the place where a pregnancy would implant).

A person points to a medical model of a uterus with fibroids. — Fibroids can cause pain for many women.
Maryna_Auramchuk/ Shutterstock

People with fibroids that become pregnant are also at higher risk of giving birth early, requiring a caesarean section to deliver and having a bleed following delivery.

Treating fibroids

Fibroids usually shrink after the menopause, since levels of oestrogen and progesterone decrease. However, they may still continue to grow in women who take hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

Treatment options for fibroids will depend on a variety of factors, including the sufferer’s symptoms, the size and location of the fibroids and their fertility wishes, as some treatment options can affect a woman’s ability to become pregnant in the future.

Pharmaceutical treatment options can help reduce bleeding (such as tranexamic acid and the combined hormonal contraceptive) or reduce the size of the fibroid by decreasing the amount of hormones present (such as GnRH agonists).

Surgical options can include uterine artery embolisation, which blocks the blood supply to the fibroids and effectively decreases bleeding and shrinks the fibroids, ablation (which removes the lining of the womb) and a myomectomy, in which fibroids are surgically removed.

Some women may also opt for a hysterectomy, where the womb is surgically removed. This is usually done in cases where a woman has large fibroids and severe bleeding. Both ablation and hysterectomy will make pregnancy impossible, so it’s important these options are only considered if you do not wish to have children.

All of these treatment options should help to improve symptoms. However, surgery doesn’t always prevent fibroids from growing back. This is something Nyong’o informed her followers of, saying that despite having 25 fibroids surgically removed, more than 50 are still growing inside her today.

It’s very common for fibroids to return following removal, as the underlying causes remain. At five years after removal, there’s an approximately 50-60% chance of fibroids recurring.

Fibroids are very common. While some women will have no symptoms whatsoever, others may find symptoms to be debilitating. Research to uncover better treatment options for those with fibroids is ongoing, especially looking at non-hormonal treatment options and less invasive surgical options.

Nicola Tempest 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. Lupita Nyong’o revealed she has fibroids – here’s what you need to know about them – https://theconversation.com/lupita-nyongo-revealed-she-has-fibroids-heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-them-277419

March 17, 2026

Why some people still believe that aliens shaped ancient civilisations

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Stephan Blum, Research Associate, Institute for Prehistory and Early History and Medieval Archaeology, University of Tübingen

Erich von Däniken proposed that monumental structures such as the pyramids could have been built with help from aliens. Stefan Baumann

Could ancient humans really have built the pyramids without extraterrestrial help? Or do such questions reveal more about modern anxieties than the past itself?

The idea that aliens assisted the builders of ancient monuments was promoted by the Swiss author Erich von Däniken in his bestselling book Chariot of the Gods – published in 1968. Von Däniken died in January 2026, but his vision of ancient astronauts still captivates millions.

The author had pointed to ancient structures such as the pyramids, along with enigmatic ancient artefacts, as supposed evidence that beings from beyond Earth shaped the civilisations of the past.

Though these ideas have been repeatedly debunked, television shows such as the History Channel’s Ancient Aliens continue to air similar narratives.

Erich von Däniken’s theories emerged at a distinct historical moment. They crystallised during the cold war, amid fears of nuclear annihilation, the space race and rapid technological change.

As humans prepared to leave Earth, while simultaneously confronting their own destructive power, the idea of ancient astronauts offered both cosmic reassurance and existential drama. The past became a stage for modern hopes and anxieties.

The reason some people feel able to believe in completely unfounded theories relates to the nature of archaeology itself. The discipline works with fragmentary evidence, layered deposits, and interpretations that rarely yield simple conclusions. Sites such as Giza in Egypt, Göbekli Tepe (a Neolithic settlement in modern Turkey known for its monumental pillars decorated with sculptural reliefs), and Troy – also in Turkey – are not unsolved enigmas but the result of decades of systematic excavation and analysis.

At Giza, archaeologists have uncovered planned worker settlements, bakeries and organised food supply systems, demonstrating how thousands of labourers could construct the pyramids over decades.

Göbekli Tepe shows that its monumental stone pillars were erected by hunter-gatherer communities millennia before the invention of writing – not through alien intervention, but through coordinated labour and ritual innovation. At Troy, successive settlement layers reveal centuries of rebuilding, adaptation and regional exchange rather than a sudden technological anomaly.

Archaeological conclusions are cautious, probabilistic and grounded in material evidence. To outsiders, however, caution can resemble hesitation. Pseudoscience fills that perceived gap with spectacle: aliens built the pyramids; mysterious forces raised Göbekli Tepe; forgotten super-technologies shaped Troy’s walls. Stripped of context, evidence becomes entertainment. Complexity is flattened into insinuation.

A typical “ancient aliens” argument illustrates the pattern: the pyramids are extraordinarily precise. Precision, the claim goes, requires advanced technology; therefore, humans without modern machines could not have built them.

The reasoning sounds logical – but it rests on a false dilemma. What disappears from view is precisely what archaeology studies: logistics, labour
organisation, tool assemblages, accumulated craft knowledge – and small imperfections that reveal human hands at work.

The lure of the extraordinary

Such explanations satisfy a deep psychological impulse. Where once religion explained purpose, science explains process. The “ancient astronauts” hypothesis exploits proportionality bias – the intuition that extraordinary achievements must have extraordinary causes.

Just as medieval legends framed the pyramids as protection against cosmic catastrophe, modern narratives cast humanity as part of a grand design guided by superior beings. Archaeological sites become props in a cosmic drama.

Humans cease to be creators; the past becomes extraordinary because it was “helped”. The appeal is not confined to fringe audiences. Surveys suggest that many people consider extraterrestrial life possible or even likely.

Many scientists agree that, given the vast scale of the universe, such life is statistically plausible. But plausibility is not proof – and it is certainly not evidence for alien intervention in antiquity.

Distrust amplifies the effect. Universities, museums and academic journals are often portrayed as gatekeepers suppressing inconvenient truths. Scientific refutation becomes evidence of conspiracy.

Academic prose – careful, qualified and precise – struggles to compete with dramatic certainty. Questions such as: “How could humans have built this without modern technology?” already contain the insinuation.

Digital media turbocharge the pattern: visually striking claims circulate faster than methodological explanations. Archaeology emphasises gradual change and cumulative knowledge; pseudoscience promises revelation.

Pseudoscientific archaeology is not just a set of beliefs – it is a lucrative industry. Books on ancient astronauts sell millions of copies worldwide. Television franchises generate steady revenue, and leading figures attract audiences in the hundreds of thousands online.

Gobekli Tepe — Göbekli Tepe is the work of coordinated human labour, not of extra-terrestrials.
Matyas Rehak

By contrast, scholarly work circulates in a radically different economy: monographs are printed in small runs and generate little profit. This is not only a battle of ideas but a battle for attention: spectacle is rewarded more visibly than caution.

Von Däniken’s rhetorical genius lay in ambiguity. He rarely made definitive claims, preferring suggestive questions and selective juxtapositions that turned uncertainty into insinuation.

As he once remarked: “Chariots of the Gods was full of speculation – I had 238 question marks. Nobody read the question marks. They said: Mr von Däniken is saying … I did not say – I asked.” The strategy is disarmingly simple: frame speculation as inquiry and criticism as misunderstanding.

Reclaiming the story

The popularity of pseudoscience is not simply ignorance. It reflects the difficulty of interpreting fragmentary evidence, a hunger for meaning, declining institutional trust and the dynamics of digital amplification.

Yet dismissal alone is not enough. Archaeology does more than recover artefacts; it constructs narratives about how humans organised labour, shared beliefs and transformed landscapes. Those narratives are shaped by contemporary questions — and acknowledging this strengthens rather than weakens the discipline.

Debunking alien claims matters. But so does telling richer, more compelling stories about how humans shaped their own past. Archaeology shows that uncertainty is intellectual honesty, that incremental knowledge is cumulative achievement, and that context deepens wonder rather than diminishes it.

Monuments, cities, and human creativity are achievements of our own making, not traces of lost cosmic visitors. Through cooperation, experimentation and resilience, humans created the extraordinary – without any extraterrestrial assistance.

Through rigorous scholarship and compelling storytelling, archaeology shows that the extraordinary was never alien. It was always human.

– ref. Why some people still believe that aliens shaped ancient civilisations – https://theconversation.com/why-some-people-still-believe-that-aliens-shaped-ancient-civilisations-277993