Category: Analysis

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jonathan Livingstone-Banks, Lecturer & Senior Researcher in Evidence-Based Healthcare, University of Oxford

In 2021, varenicline, the most effective single drug for quitting smoking, was withdrawn from the market in the UK because impurities were found at greater levels than is considered safe.

Rapidly, varenicline (then sold under its brand names, Champix and Chantix) became unavailable. This was a disaster for public health. Research from University College London estimated that varenicline being unavailable resulted in about 1,890 more avoidable deaths each year because fewer people were successfully quitting smoking.

But there was hope. Cytisine (also known as cytisinicline), a naturally occurring plant-based product that had been used for decades in eastern Europe, and more recently to great effect elsewhere in the world, was licensed in the UK and made available from January 2024.

Even so, there was an extended period when neither were available to people trying to quit smoking in the UK (and in other countries, too). But in the UK at least, things were looking up. Based on a limited but growing body of evidence, cytisine probably works as well as varenicline at helping people quit smoking, and it may be better tolerated with fewer side-effects.

It may also appeal to more smokers who may want to use a natural product rather than a drug designed in a lab. So, with varenicline withdrawn and a similarly effective treatment available, we should have seen lives saved as people who would have taken varenicline were encouraged to try cytisine instead.

Why isn’t anyone prescribing it?

This didn’t happen. Cytisine – despite now being licensed and available in the UK – is still shockingly underused.

Since January 2024, only 0.2% of people trying to quit smoking have used it (the same proportion that used it in 2018, when it wasn’t even officially available in the UK). Official NHS data from people accessing stop-smoking services in England confirm that only 0.7% were prescribed cytisine in 2024.

So why is this? High-profile trials continue to show cytisine’s effectiveness for quitting smoking (and even for quitting vaping).

Maybe cytisine’s relatively complex dosing schedule puts people off. Cytisine starts with six pills a day (one every two hours) and gradually tapers off over a few weeks: more confusing and less convenient than one-a-day varenicline.

Another possibility is that the public’s attention has shifted. With so much focus in recent years on vaping as a smoking cessation aid, prescription drugs for smoking cessation may have fallen off the radar.

It could also be that GPs are reluctant to prescribe cytisine because of its cost and the assumption that local authorities should pay for it, not primary care. While it was once hoped that due to its low-cost availability in eastern Europe, it would become the “aspirin of smoking cessation drugs”, the licensed product in the UK is now as or more expensive than other drugs.

But the simplest explanation is probably the most accurate: not enough people know about cytisine. People who smoke, GPs, pharmacists and even stop-smoking services may not know it’s an option. And if no one is talking about it, no one is prescribing it. And even if they do know about it, there may be a lack of confidence in using or prescribing it because it is a new drug.

That’s a problem. The UK government has made the shift from treating illness to preventing it a central part of its health strategy. Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death in the country and the world. If we’re serious about prevention, then effective smoking cessation support must be top of the agenda.

Now, varenicline is available again (without its brand names and reformulated to remove the impurities). This is welcome news, but only 1.1% of past-year smokers reported using varenicline. That’s only a quarter of the number from before its withdrawal.

This raises an important question: should we return to prescribing varenicline by default, or is it time to consider cytisine as a first-line treatment? Researchers are continuing to learn more about cytisine, but as the evidence in favour of cytisine grows, maybe it needs a PR campaign for both prescribers and people who smoke.

None of this is to say that cytisine is a miracle cure, or that it will work for everyone. But that’s true of every way to help people quit smoking. Quitting smoking is hard, and people trying to quit need more options, not fewer, and those options need to be visible and accessible.

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Jonathan Livingstone-Banks has received funding from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and Cancer Research UK (CRUK).

Dimitra Kale receives salary support from Cancer Research UK.

Lion Shahab is a HEFCE funded member of staff at University College London. In the past, he has received honoraria for talks, an unrestricted research grant and travel expenses to attend meetings and workshops from Pfizer and an honorarium to sit on advisory panel from Johnson&Johnson, both pharmaceutical companies that make smoking cessation products. He has acted as paid reviewer for grant awarding bodies and as a paid consultant for health care companies. Other research has been funded by the Department of Health, UKRI, a community-interested company (National Centre for Smoking Cessation) and charitable sources (Cancer Research UK, Yorkshire Cancer Research). He has never received personal fees or research funding of any kind from alcohol, electronic cigarette or tobacco companies.

– ref. Two of the best stop smoking medications have been available in the UK since 2024 – so why is no one using them? – https://theconversation.com/two-of-the-best-stop-smoking-medications-have-been-available-in-the-uk-since-2024-so-why-is-no-one-using-them-261393

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Nick Dunn, Professor of Urban Design, Lancaster University

For billions of years, life has depended on Earth’s rhythm of day and night. DNA codifies body clocks in all animals and plants, which helps their cells act according to this cycle of light and dark.

Humans have disrupted this cycle, though, by producing artificial light at night. A growing body of scientific evidence shows this can have negative effects on many different forms of life.

Essentially, artificial light at night changes the sensory capacities of living things. It can disturb the magnetic orientation of migratory birds and beguile insects, causing them to become easier prey and exhausting them. The same disruption to body clocks we see in wildlife is also linked to health consequences in people.

Apart from some caves, deserts and deep-sea trenches, most of Earth has been invaded by light pollution to some degree, or is under threat of its encroachment. In 2001, astronomer Pierantonio Cinzano and colleagues created the first global atlas of light pollution. It calculated that two-thirds of the world’s population lived in areas where nights were at least 10% brighter than natural darkness.

The scale of the problem was updated in 2016 when the team renewed their atlas. By that time, 83% of people globally were living under a light-polluted sky – and 99% in the UK, Europe and North America.

The situation is not improving: too much light in the wrong place or at the wrong time causes big problems. But restoring darkness can help mitigate some of these issues – and cities are a good place to start.

Alternative urban illumination

Light is widely associated with safety, security and surveillance, but it does not necessarily deter crime. A 2019 study in Melbourne, Australia, for example, showed that more lighting alone did not create safer urban spaces.

Many people are familiar with the idea of greening cities by planting more street trees. If we were to darken cities, we would benefit biodiversity – and the health and wellbeing of humans and nonhumans too. The responsible use of lighting should be decided by an ethical and aesthetic argument for how we want cities after dark to be.

Read more:
Cities need to embrace the darkness of the night sky – here’s why

In my latest book, Dark Futures, I argue that cities should not necessarily seek to create areas of natural darkness with no artificial light – but rather, try to make urban areas navigable at night without harming wildlife. The question is where and when to have illumination, and how it should be deployed and controlled.

Look to the Bahnstadt district of Heidelberg in Germany for an approach that ensures a dark environment for wildlife. Here, infrared sensors have been fitted along a 3.5km cycle path that keeps lights dimmed when not in use.

Likewise, in Lille’s Parc de la Citadelle, France, a nocturnal corridor has been created to preserve biodiversity after dark. Each lighting unit along the path through the park consists of three LEDs with different settings. The brightest lights are only activated when pedestrians, cyclists and cars are detected by sensors.

The brightness of the lighting also mimics natural light patterns throughout the year. This approach, known as biophilic lighting, aligns artificial lighting with seasonal changes.

There have also been efforts to protect particular species at night. Bat-friendly lighting in the Dutch town of Zuidhoek-Nieuwkoop involves streetlamps emitting a red colour and using a wavelength that doesn’t interfere with a bat’s internal compass. The scheme still provides enough illumination for people.

Other forms of lighting, such as bioluminescence, could alter or even replace streetlamps as we know them. Bioluminescence is the emission of light by a chemical reaction in certain organisms.

To date, this type of illumination has only been applied in small experiments, such as those in the town of Rambouillet, France. Here, light is produced by a marine bacterium inside saltwater-filled tubes: a mix of basic nutrients feeds the bacteria, which glow in response. These “lights” are turned off again by stopping airflow into the tubes, putting the bacteria into a dormant state.

Unlike traditional streetlamps, they do not need to be connected to the electricity grid, and their intensity is never sufficient to disturb wildlife. This could open new avenues for the design of urban illumination – which is important, as we need new options.

Cities at night are ideal laboratories to responsibly explore our relationships with light and dark – for the benefit not only of people, but the countless species we share Earth with.

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Nick Dunn is affiliated with the advocacy group DarkSky UK.

– ref. ‘Darkening’ cities is as important for wildlife as greening them – https://theconversation.com/darkening-cities-is-as-important-for-wildlife-as-greening-them-252259

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Tom Stacey, Senior Lecturer in Operations and Supply Chain Management, Anglia Ruskin University

The UK government is offering a 10% taxpayer-funded discount on new plug-in cars that cost less than £37,000. It’s an attempt to re-energise the currently flatlining market for new electric vehicles (EVs) in the UK – but there are reasons for people’s reluctance that a price cut alone won’t solve.

The £37k price limit excludes all new Tesla, BMW and Mercedes-Benz cars – with Tesla still topping EV sales in the UK despite the recent backlash against its owner, Elon Musk. Many Chinese imports are also excluded as they fail to meet the UK’s sustainability criteria, primarily due to high coal use in the generation of electricity that powers Chinese EV factories – although these models will qualify for a smaller discount.

The UK government has framed its subsidy as an effort to make EVs easier and cheaper to own than petrol cars. This is something the car industry has been lobbying hard for, since it will be barred from offering new petrol and diesel cars for sale in the UK after 2030. Meanwhile, carmakers selling in the UK have to meet compulsory yearly sales targets for EVs.

While the UK is obliged by legislation to accelerate its transition to net zero, as a senior researcher of the switch to electric transport, I believe the new EV subsidy is a reactive measure which neglects more fundamental obstacles to wider EV adoption, such as the UK’s inadequate provision of chargers. It also fails to tackle entrenched misconceptions about these vehicles.

Why price cuts fall short

In a study I conducted with 2,000 car drivers in the UK in 2024, 50% claimed cost was their major impediment to buying an EV, even though EVs sometimes undercut similar petrol cars. The latter are universally increasing in price due to the complexity of designing parts that meet emissions targets.

Perceptions often lag reality, however, and the sense that EVs are always the more expensive option is why I found only 4% of drivers were “very likely” to buy an EV next.

The fleet market (vehicles purchased by companies for lease or business use) is where incentives like the one the UK government is offering have worked well. In research I published with colleagues in 2025, we assessed EV fleet adoption by businesses in the east of England.

We found tax incentives that encourage businesses to add EVs to their fleets – particularly if they offer them to company car drivers – are extremely effective, as they offer a joint benefit for both company and driver.

Businesses concerned with the cost of acquiring and maintaining their fleets appreciate that EVs require less maintenance. Company car drivers also prefer driving EVs once they spend some time with them, research suggests.

In our research, 80% of EV sales to company car fleets were attributed to tangible financial advantages such as these tax incentives. The rest were put down to the greener public image they cultivate for businesses. The popularity of EVs as company cars is apparent in market data: only one in ten new EV sales are to private buyers.

Returning to my study of private drivers, 50% of those who opted against buying an EV cited high upfront costs, while 40% highlighted inadequate charging options. This suggests purchase incentives like the 10% discount will not fully address the reluctance of private buyers.

The UK government has promised to invest £63 million by 2030 in building 25,000-50,000 new chargers (some of which are earmarked for local authority and NHS use). But as an EV driver of over 12 years, I think the UK’s public charging network is a mess.

The promised investment will still see the government fall short of its target of 300,000 chargers by 2030. What’s more, because of the 20% VAT rate on public charging, EV owners can pay up to ten times more for charging on the road than at home. This makes EVs, which the public already see as more expensive, actually more expensive to fuel than a small, economical diesel.

Lessons from abroad

The UK has so far failed to comprehensively deal with poor public perceptions of EVs.

Governments can get this right, though. Look at Norway, where 96% of new car sales are electric. This is thanks to consistent policies since the 1990s aimed at changing perceptions – and not merely the use of blunt instruments such as taxpayer-funded discounts.

A 2022 study of Norwegian EV owners highlighted how economic perks such as exemption from the 25% VAT rate on EV sales initially drove uptake. But sustaining this involved tackling public concerns about the limited range of EVs and the availability of public chargers.

You only need to visit Norway to see how: retail parks now have upwards of 30 EV chargers – and increasingly, no petrol pumps – compared with maybe two-to-four chargers in UK retail parks. This has led to 80% of Norwegian EV owners reporting higher satisfaction compared with owners of combustion-engine vehicles.

My survey results suggest perceptions of cost and practicality will lag reality until policies bridge the gap. This explains the UK’s stubborn 50% cost-barrier fixation, despite competitive pricing and a history of subsidies.

In contrast, Norway has successfully transformed public perceptions of EVs from “expensive novelties” to “smart, cost-effective and practical” by not stopping at price subsidies. By implementing strategic policies such as ensuring charging stations every 50km along major routes and capping charging costs, it avoided the political disagreements that have hindered EV adoption in the UK.

The UK’s efforts, such as discontinuing a purchase grant in 2022 and only partially reinstating it in 2025, have lacked the steady, comprehensive approach that drove Norway’s EV success.

The UK is in a tricky position. Sales mandates and the 2030 petrol and diesel car ban are pushing manufacturers towards selling EVs – but the public is buying only a tiny proportion of the new EVs in showrooms. What’s worse, people are still buying petrol cars in droves: the UK’s best-selling car 4.5 years away from the ban is the Nissan Qashqai – a model not available in electric.

So, while discounts on EVs will help, they will not significantly raise adoption because they treat symptoms, such as perceived upfront costs, rather than causes, such as lack of infrastructure, high charging costs, and a lack of cheaper used EVs that buyers feel they can trust.

To re-energise the EV market, the UK government should also extend the more-generous tax cuts that businesses receive on fleet purchases to private buyers, cap public charging costs to ensure price parity when driving an EV, and also level VAT on charging across the board.

Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?

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Tom Stacey receives funding from ERDF for the Eastern New Energy Project.

– ref. Will UK’s 10% discount get more people buying electric cars? The evidence doesn’t look good – https://theconversation.com/will-uks-10-discount-get-more-people-buying-electric-cars-the-evidence-doesnt-look-good-261426

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Michael Pascal, Lecturer in Psychology , University of Greenwich

Have you ever wondered why people who nearly die often describe speeding toward supernatural light, or seeing their life flash before their eyes? You may have also heard about the powerful psychedelic dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a class A illegal drug in the UK, and how it might generate the so-called near-death experiences. In a recent study I compared both types of experience and found they share fascinating similarities – but also critical differences.

Some studies have suggested there are some basic overlaps between the experiences people have during a near-death experience and taking DMT. But my doctoral research was the first to make an in depth and nuanced qualitative comparison between DMT trips and NDEs. It was also the first field study of its kind, capturing authentic experiences instead of asking participants to take DMT in a laboratory.

Thirty-six participants took vaporised high-dose DMT, typically inhaled from a glass pipe, in familiar settings like their own homes. My colleagues and I used an interviewing technique inspired by micro-phenomenology, a new scientific approach which aims help people discover ordinary but inaccessible dimensions of our lived experience.

This approach helps interviewees recall details of their experience by asking them to articulate it moment by moment in their own words and in chronological order, while expanding out different dimensions such as sensory or emotional experiences.

This allowed us to explore the experiences with greater granularity. For example, in what way the general themes, such as meeting unusual beings or feeling yourself dissolve entirely, specifically expressed itself.

It also allowed us to measure how often each type of these details occurred. We then compared these descriptions to our analysis of another team’s raw data from their 2018 publication studying 34 cardiac arrest-induced NDEs.

My study found both types of experiences also had important differences which researchers have previously overlooked.

People in both groups commonly reported feeling detached from their bodies, encountering beings, travelling through mysterious spaces such as tunnels or voids, and seeing bright lights. These shared experiences hint at similar brain processes at play, like disruptions in the parts of the brain that handle the map of our body, how we simulate other people’s perspectives, sensory perception and spatial processing.

However, DMT trips almost never involved the more classic NDE “life review”, or dramatisations of experiencers’ return to life as in encountering a symbolic threshold of no return. Conversely, NDEs virtually never entailed the visuals of complex geometric patterns iconic to the DMT trip.

The most compelling difference, however, was in the way these features were represented. For example, while people with NDEs frequently reported meeting dead loved ones, DMT users universally described encounters with otherworldly or alien beings.

Suddenly finding yourself transformed into a spirit witnessing your body from above, before being greeted by a guide seemed to be characteristic of NDEs. DMT would simply dissolve people’s bodily awareness, as they rapidly shot into a transcendent world inhabited by mechanical clowns or serpentine scientists.

My colleagues and I suggest that a blend of shared brain biology and personal psychology may explain why these experiences are so similar in their generic elements but differ in their content.

Some especially intriguing phenomena in NDEs, such as the “Peak in Darien” experience where the dying see others they did not know were dead, or correctly perceive things in their surroundings when out of body, are not yet fully explained by neuroscience. B

ut the common features mentioned above probably come directly from how DMT or the near-death state affects our brains. Think of these as universal stage props, set by our brain’s biology. But the stories we attach to these props – seeing your dead aunt or a multi-eyed octopoid alien – are influenced by our personal backgrounds, cultural expectations and memories.

DMT and the brain

Early psychedelic researchers suggested that DMT might flood the brain. during near-death conditions. But life isn’t that simple – and nor is death.

Studies have shown, for example, that rats produce DMT not only via their pineal glands, but in their cortical tissue, including at the point of death. But there isn’t yet evidence that this happens in human brains. Even if humans do produce DMT at psychoactive quantities in the throes of dying, our body’s enzymes could break it down before it reaches or has enough impact on the brain. Additionally, serotonin surges dramatically when you’re under extreme stress, which may itself confer psychedelic effects – and also sticks to the serotonin receptor more happily than DMT, possibly eclipsing any DMT activity.

All this said, some scientists argue the measuring methods used to measure rat brain DMT during cardiac arrest might miss short-lived, higher DMT spikes throughout the brain. And some researchers also think damage to certain neural networks and oxygen deprivation near death might amplify DMT’s psychedelic effects.

Interestingly, our study also discovered a subset of near-death experiences that lacked the imagery of a prototypical NDE, and instead presented abstract, cosmic visions more typical of DMT trips. It’s not easy to say where these atypical NDEs could be coming from. But it could be when someone has less preconceptions of NDEs or greater preconceptions of a psychedelic trip. Perhaps their body was synthesising higher levels or DMT than is usual for an NDE. The next frontier of this research would be to track brain activity when general features crop up. We also need more research to explore potential psychological and cultural reasons why these features are expressed in the way that they are.

Many indigenous people around the globe may feel contemporary science is superfluous. Ayahuasca, a shamanic brew that contains DMT, has been used by tribes all over the Amazon to connect to the spirit world and commune with their ancestors.

People who have an NDE almost always feel their fear of death lift afterwards. Since DMT reproduces many aspects of NDEs, it could become a powerful therapeutic tool (alongside psychological support) particularly for people facing existential anxiety or fear of death, whether they are terminally ill or physically healthy. Scientists are already exploring whether ayahuasca may treat prolonged grief disorder.

We’re just starting to demystify what the implications of DMT – this “mystical” substance – may be.

This article features references to books that have been included for editorial reasons, and may contain links to bookshop.org. If you click on one of the links and go on to buy something from bookshop.org The Conversation UK may earn a commission.

Michael Pascal 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. Psychedelic drug DMT and near death experiences have long been linked – my study is the first to explore the connection in depth – https://theconversation.com/psychedelic-drug-dmt-and-near-death-experiences-have-long-been-linked-my-study-is-the-first-to-explore-the-connection-in-depth-258641

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Dan Baumgardt, Senior Lecturer, School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, University of Bristol

The phrase “summer long balls” might sound like locker-room slang, but it’s increasingly being mentioned on social media and online forums as a seasonal curiosity. In hot weather, men’s scrotums which contain their testicles can appear looser or more pendulous – hence the name.

Male readers may have noticed how the testes sometimes seem to hang lower in the summer, yet retreat upwards with the slightest cooling breeze. (I’ll stick with the term testes for anatomical accuracy, although we all know the slang terms are many and varied.)

While you may think of rising and falling as the domain of soufflés, when it comes to testes, their ability to move up and down is a key part of an elegant, biological temperature-control system.

For some, low-hanging testes are simply a cosmetic issue affecting swimwear choices or confidence, but others can suffer discomfort. Supportive underwear may help, although finding the right fit might require more effort than your average trip to Calvin Klein.

To understand what’s going on in male bodies, we need to go back to the beginning. Both testes and ovaries start life in the abdomen and migrate downward. But whereas the journey for ovaries stops in the pelvis, testes go further, exiting the abdominal cavity entirely to reside in the scrotum – a move that’s crucial for sperm production.

The testes produce and mature sperm cells and generate androgens, such as testosterone, which govern sexual development and behaviour. These processes are temperature-sensitive. Inside the pelvis is too warm for optimal sperm production – hence the descent to the cooler scrotum, usually in teenage years when your “balls drop”.

But to reach the scrotum, testes must pass through layers of the abdominal wall. Sometimes this journey doesn’t go as planned, resulting in an undescended testis, where one (or both) remain stuck in the abdomen or groin. Surgery may be required to correct this.

Even when testes do land in the right place, they don’t stay still. The scrotum and surrounding tissues adjust their position in response to temperature. That’s where the cremasteric muscle comes in. Found within the spermatic cord, it can contract and pull the testes closer to the body when needed – for warmth and perhaps protection.

One strange but testable reflex? Try stroking the inner thigh. If functioning normally, the testis on that side will rise slightly. This reflex can also be affected by neurological disease or testicular torsion, a surgical emergency.

The dartos muscle, located in the scrotal wall, plays a similar role. When temperatures drop it contracts, drawing the testes up for warmth. In heat, it relaxes – lowering the testes and helping them cool off.

Fertility issues

This thermal sensitivity is critical for fertility. Sustained overheating can impair sperm quality, which is why an undescended testis stuck in the abdomen or groin requires an operation.

Similarly, men who are struggling to conceive may be advised to avoid tight underwear or cycling shorts, switch to looser boxers, and reduce time spent cycling because of saddle friction.

The heat, pressure and tight fit of padded cycling shorts have all been suggested as potential risks to sperm health – though the evidence remains inconclusive. It’s not necessarily the padding but rather the compression and sustained heat in the groin area that may affect testicular function.

Temperature regulation doesn’t stop there. The pampiniform plexus, a network of veins around the testicular artery, acts like a radiator. It draws heat from arterial blood to cool it before it reaches the testes, preventing overheating.

Sometimes, these veins swell into a varicocele — a condition often described as feeling like a “bag of worms”. It becomes more noticeable when standing and affects around 15% of men. While often harmless, this can also affect fertility through loss of heat regulation. Some patients may also notice a dull ache in the testes, particularly after exercise or at the end of the day.

So, “summer long balls” are rooted in real physiology. During hot weather, a relaxed dartos muscle and loose scrotal skin allow the testes to hang lower – sometimes enough to notice a visible difference. If that’s true for you, this isn’t a malfunction but your body doing exactly what it’s supposed to. While this condition might sound like something from a comedy sketch, it’s actually a sign your reproductive system is working as nature intended.

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Dan Baumgardt 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. Summer long balls? A health expert explains why hot weather can be tough on testicles – https://theconversation.com/summer-long-balls-a-health-expert-explains-why-hot-weather-can-be-tough-on-testicles-261600

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Irene Zarza-Rubio, PhD Candidate, Film Theory and Media Industries, University of York

After years of multiverse chaos, grim antiheroes and morally ambiguous storylines, superhero films are making a striking return to their emotional and ideological roots. The new iterations of DC’s Superman and Marvel’s The Fantastic Four don’t aim to reinvent the genre – they return to its essence, offering stories grounded in hope, compassion and shared humanity.

Both films are reboots of familiar characters. Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel (2013) was the last major Superman feature, while Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four (2015) attempted – unsuccessfully – to reintroduce Marvel’s “first family”. These 2025 versions step away from the darker superhero tones popularised by Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy to embrace vibrant colours and the idealism that made these heroes beloved in the comic books to begin with.

Whether by coincidence or design, both DC and Marvel are now releasing films that centre on embracing humanity – not in spite of difference, but through it. These stories reassert a message comic books have long championed: that community, support and acceptance are strengths. In doing so, they offer a powerful response to the social and political uncertainty of our time.

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Superheroes have always functioned as modern myths. Superman, first imagined in the 1930s, was created as a champion of the oppressed. The Fantastic Four, debuting in the 1960s, reflected the spirit of scientific discovery and familial unity.

Their return in 2025 is not just nostalgic. It comes at a moment of cultural significance when war, division and climate anxiety have made many of us question the future. These films don’t ignore that uncertainty, but offer a counterweight: stories that encourage belief in shared values and common purpose.

By reintroducing these characters with sincerity and emotional depth, studios are making a clear bet – that audiences are ready for hope again. And that doing the right thing still matters.

James Gunn’s Superman is a story about an alien learning to live among humans – not by distancing himself but by embracing vulnerability. The film puts moral clarity front and centre. Superman is no longer a distant figure. Instead, he is someone who chooses to believe in others. At one point, he says:

I am as human as anyone. I love, I get scared. I wake up every morning and, despite not knowing what to do, I put one foot in front of the other and try to make the best choices I can. I screw up all the time, but that is being human – and that’s my greatest strength.

This isn’t just sentimental. It’s a direct appeal to audiences facing a fractured world – to act with courage even in uncertainty, and to see all human life as worth protecting.

Marvel’s Fantastic Four reboot, First Steps, takes a similar approach. Rather than leaning into internal conflict, it reintroduces the team as a compassionate, collaborative unit. When the group faces a global threat, Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby) reframes the challenge: “We will face this together, we will fight this together, and we will defeat this together – as a family.”

It’s a message not only to her teammates but to the world – framing difference as a strength, and unity as the path forward.

A genre renewed

Talk of superhero fatigue has grown in recent years. Some of that stems not from the heroes themselves, but from content overload and diminishing emotional stakes. When continuity outweighs character, even the most powerful icons can feel hollow.

But the return of Superman, the first superhero, and the Fantastic Four, the first superhero family, suggests the genre still has something meaningful to say – especially when it remembers what made it powerful. These characters remind us that heroism isn’t about perfection but perseverance – and that strength comes from empathy.

Other recent superhero films, such as DC’s The Batman (2022) and Marvel’s Thunderbolts* (2025), show that darker, emotionally complex stories remain powerful. They reflect real anxieties – climate crisis, political instability and distrust in institutions. These films resonate because they hold up a mirror to the world.

But there is also space – and perhaps a growing need – for stories that offer reassurance. Superman and The Fantastic Four present an alternative emotional truth: that even in fear and division, goodness, unity and belief in others remain possible. These films don’t reject complexity, they complement it. Where darker stories help us process uncertainty, these hopeful ones remind us of what we can still strive for.

Rather than being competing directions for the genre, these different approaches enrich it. One shows the world as it is; the other, the world as it could be.

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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. With The Fantastic Four and Superman, superheroes are getting hopeful again – and showing strength through empathy – https://theconversation.com/with-the-fantastic-four-and-superman-superheroes-are-getting-hopeful-again-and-showing-strength-through-empathy-262069

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Rebecca Ellis, Assistant Researcher in Public Health, Swansea University

Modern dating is stressful enough, and that’s even before you throw in premium subscriptions, ghosting and the unwritten rules of flirting. But for autistic people, there are even more variables to consider.

Loud venues, ambiguous body language and the social exhaustion of meeting someone new can turn what’s meant to be a fun experience into an overwhelming ordeal. For many autistic people, dating can be a confusing and exhausting process, shaped by social rules that often feel unclear or exclusionary.

Being autistic affects how people experience the world. This includes how one may communicate, build relationships and interpret social cues. So, it’s perhaps no surprise that dating, with all its unpredictability and implicit expectations, can present a variety of challenges.

One common misconception is that autistic people lack empathy or can’t communicate effectively. But the double empathy problem, a theory proposed by the British sociologist and social psychologist Damian Milton, challenges this view.

Instead of seeing communication difficulties as a “deficit” in autistic people, the theory suggests that misunderstandings arise from a mismatch in perspectives between autistic and non-autistic people. In other words, it goes both ways.

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Studies show that autistic people often communicate well with each other, and often as well as non-autistic people do among themselves. Some autistic people have also described the benefits of having autistic friends because of this ease of communication.

In theory, this could make dating within the neurodivergent community easier. But of course, who we’re attracted to is rarely that simple.

For some autistic people, popular dating environments, such as restaurants and bars, can be overstimulating places. Going on dates can lead to exhaustion from the logistics of organising oneself, breaking routine and navigating interactions with unfamiliar people.

Differing communication styles and ways of being, alongside the stigma towards neurodivergence which some people still hold, can lead to upsetting experiences and even harassment.

Online dating

For some, online dating could offer a helpful alternative. Apps such as Tinder or Bumble allow users to take their time, plan responses and reduce the pressure of immediate social interaction.

One may think this type of less socially demanding environment, as opposed to face-to-face dating, would be beneficial for autistic people. The ability to pre-select preferences and filter matches, for example, can make things easier for those autistic people who value structure and clarity.

But digital dating has its own difficulties. Many dating platforms are designed around neurotypical expectations. This may include how people present themselves, communicate and even what kind of relationships they’re looking for. Some autistic people have reported finding it hard to strike a balance between fitting into those unspoken norms and being authentically themselves.

These challenges can be even more pronounced for autistic people who are also LGBTQ+ or exploring non-traditional relationship structures.

Some platforms cater specifically to autistic and neurodivergent people, for example, Mattr and Hiki. But many such apps operate on premium models, creating potential barriers for users already facing social or financial challenges.

What can help?

Autistic advocates suggest a few practical strategies for navigating dating, online or off.

First, be clear about your communication preferences. Second, look for connections where you feel safe being yourself, without masking. Third, be wary of dating advice that assumes everyone thinks or communicates the same way. And finally, remember that rejection isn’t always personal.

The question of whether to disclose an autism diagnosis is deeply personal. Many fear being misunderstood or judged. But being honest, and using neurodiversity-affirming language may be viewed positively by prospective daters who don’t have stigmatising views of autism.

Studies on autism and dating remain limited. More research is required to understand the unique experiences of neurodivergent daters so that more resources can be created to help them.

Despite this lack of wider understanding, autistic people continue to build meaningful relationships, often by challenging the rules of dating and redefining them on their own terms.

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Rebecca Ellis 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. Why dating can be tough for autistic people – and what may make it easier – https://theconversation.com/why-dating-can-be-tough-for-autistic-people-and-what-may-make-it-easier-257534

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Manal Mohammed, Senior Lecturer, Medical Microbiology, University of Westminster

Summer is a time for sun-drenched fun. From relaxed days outdoors to packed festival fields and meals under open skies. But with the joy of the season comes an overlooked downside: a heightened risk of infection.

Warmer weather, increased social interaction and more frequent contact with unfamiliar environments all make it easier for germs to spread. That’s why handwashing becomes especially important during the summer months. It might not be glamorous, but clean hands are your first line of defence against the microbes that love to crash summer plans.

Microbes thrive in warmth and moisture, and the activities we enjoy in summer often bring us into closer contact with the surfaces, food and water sources that help them spread.

1. Public restrooms and shared toilets

Outdoor festivals, service stations, beaches and campsites all rely on public toilet facilities. These high-traffic areas can become breeding grounds for bacteria like E coli, salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus. Viruses such as norovirus and flu also spread easily via contaminated surfaces. Even coronavirus can persist in poorly ventilated or inadequately cleaned environments.

Washing your hands thoroughly after using public toilets is essential – and hand sanitiser may not be enough if your hands are visibly dirty.

Worryingly, even in places where hygiene is critical, like hospitals, people often skip this basic step. A 2025 study found that nearly half of hospital visitors failed to wash their hands after using the toilet, despite clear reminders. If so many people skip handwashing in hospitals, where the risks are obvious and facilities readily available, how many more are failing to do so at summer events, where soap and water can be scarce?

2. Outdoor eating and food preparation

Barbecues and picnics are summer staples — but they come with a side of risk. Foodborne pathogens like salmonella, E coli, Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus thrive in warm temperatures. Undercooked meat, poor hand hygiene and leaving food out in the sun can easily turn a festive gathering into a bout of food poisoning.

Even fungi such as Aspergillus can grow on food and produce mycotoxins: toxic compounds that can cause nausea, organ damage or even long-term harm when ingested.

Wash hands before and after handling food, especially raw meat and after touching shared surfaces like picnic tables, barbecue tools and cool boxes.

3. Swimming and water play

Lakes, rivers, swimming pools and oceans can all harbour harmful germs. Parasites like cryptosporidium and giardia can cause gastrointestinal illness – and they’re often resistant to chlorine. Beach sand and seawater can also carry faecal bacteria.

Whether you’re swimming, paddling or just building sandcastles, make sure to wash or sanitise your hands before eating or touching your face.

4. Camps, playgrounds and festivals

Children are particularly vulnerable to infection in summer thanks to group settings like summer camps, soft play centres and playgrounds.

A US study reported 229 youth camp–associated outbreaks of gastroenteritis over seven years. Common culprits included norovirus, salmonella and Shiga toxin-producing E coli, a particularly dangerous strain of E coli that can cause severe illness and even kidney failure.

In one incident, 20 campers became ill, and three were hospitalised, after eating undercooked beef cooked over a campfire. Shared toilet facilities, communal food preparation and tight sleeping arrangements all increase the importance of hand hygiene.

But isn’t it good to ‘get a bit dirty’?

Some people believe that letting children get dirty helps build their immune system. While early exposure to natural microbes from soil, animals or the environment can support immune development, this is not the same as skipping handwashing after using the toilet or before meals.

Leaving hands unwashed doesn’t strengthen the immune system – it increases the risk of illness. No credible studies show that poor hygiene is good for you. On the contrary, unwashed hands are a leading cause of preventable infections worldwide. This risk is especially serious for young children, older adults and people with weakened immune systems.

Hand hygiene is simple, cheap and effective – and never more important than in summer. As the hospital toilet study shows, we can’t assume that people are washing their hands properly, even in places designed to protect health. Add in the chaos of a campsite or the distractions of a music festival, and it becomes even easier to forget.

So, whether you’re hiking, camping or dancing in a field, you should wash your hands with soap and clean running water for at least 20 seconds and then dry them properly as damp hands spread germs more easily. Use hand sanitiser (at least 60% alcohol) if soap and water aren’t available and ideally keep some in your bag in case you can’t rely on public facilities.

Manal Mohammed 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. Four summer hotspots for germs – and why not washing your hands won’t strengthen your immune system – https://theconversation.com/four-summer-hotspots-for-germs-and-why-not-washing-your-hands-wont-strengthen-your-immune-system-261635