Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Mathieu Duval, Adjunct Senior Researcher at Griffith University and La Trobe University, and Ramón y Cajal (Senior) Research Fellow, Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH)
Fossils are invaluable archives of the past. They preserve details about living things from a few thousand to hundreds of millions of years ago.
Studying fossils can help us understand the evolution of species over time, and glimpse snapshots of past environments and climates. Fossils can also reveal the diets or migration patterns of long-gone species – including our own ancestors.
But when living things turn to rock, discerning those details is no easy feat. One common technique for studying fossils is micro-computerised tomography or micro-CT. It’s been used to find the earliest evidence of bone cancer in humans, to study brain imprints and inner ears in early hominins, and to study the teeth of the oldest human modern remains outside Africa, among many other examples.
However, our new study, published today in Radiocarbon, shows that despite being widely regarded as non-destructive, micro-CT may actually affect fossil preservation and erase some crucial information held inside.
Preserving precious specimens
Fossils are rare and fragile by nature. Scientists are constantly evaluating how to balance their impact on fossils with the need to study them.
When palaeontologists and palaeoanthropologists (who work on human fossils) analyse fossils, they want to minimise any potential damage. We want to preserve fossils for future generations as much as possible – and technology can be a huge help here.
Micro-CT works like the medical CT scans doctors use to peek inside the human body. However, it does so at a much smaller scale and at a greater resolution.
This is perfect for studying small objects such as fossils. With micro-CT, scientists can take high-resolution 3D images and access the inner structure of fossils without the need to cut them open.
These scans also allow for virtual copies of the fossils, which other scientists can then access from anywhere in the world. This significantly reduces the risk of damage, since the scanned fossils can safely remain in a museum collection, for example.
Micro-CT is popular and routinely used. The scientific community widely regards it as “non-destructive” because it doesn’t cause any visual damage – but it could still affect the fossil.
Jaw bone of the human fossil species Homo antecessor from Spain. Left: micro-CT scan with a cutting plane to visualise the inner structures, bone and teeth; right: 3D reconstruction based on the high-resolution micro-CT images. Laura Martín-Francés
How does micro-CT imaging work?
Micro-CT scanning uses X-rays and computer software to produce high-resolution images and reconstruct the fossil specimens in detail. Typically, palaeontologists use commercial scanners for this, but more advanced investigations may use powerful X-ray beams generated at a synchrotron.
The X-rays go through the specimen and are captured by a detector on the other end. This allows for a very fine-grained understanding of the matter they’ve passed through – especially density, which then provides clues about the shape of the internal structures, the composition of the tissues, or any contamination.
The scan produces a succession of 2D images from all angles. Computer software is then used to “clean up” these high-resolution images and assemble them into a 3D shape – a virtual copy of the fossil and its inner structures.
Example of micro-CT results on a hominin fossil known as Little Foot, from southern Africa.
But X-rays are not harmless
X-rays are a type of ionising radiation. This means they have a high level of energy and can break electrons away from atoms (this is called ionisation).
However, despite what we know about the impact of X-rays on living cells, the potential impact of X-rays on fossils through micro-CT imaging has never been deeply investigated.
What did our study find?
Using standard settings on a typical micro-CT scanner, we scanned several modern and fossil bones and teeth from animals. We also measured their collagen content before and after scanning.
Collagen is useful for many analytical purposes, such as finding out the age of the fossils using radiocarbon dating, or for stable isotope analysis – a method used to infer the diet of the extinct species, for example. The collagen content in fossils is usually much lower than in modern specimens because it slowly breaks down over time.
After comparing our measurements with unscanned samples taken from the same specimens, we found two things.
First, the radiocarbon age remained unchanged. In other words, micro-CT scanning doesn’t affect radiocarbon dating. That’s the good news.
The bad news is that we did observe a significant decrease in the amount of collagen present. In other words, the micro-CT scanned samples had about 35% less collagen than the samples before scanning.
This shows micro-CT imaging has a non-negligible impact on fossils that contain collagen traces. While this was to be expected, the impact hasn’t been experimentally confirmed before.
It’s possible some fossil samples won’t have enough collagen left after micro-CT scanning. This would make them unsuitable for a range of analytical techniques, including radiocarbon dating.
What now?
In a previous study, we showed micro-CT can artificially “age” fossils later dated with a method called electron spin resonance. It’s commonly used to date fossils older than 50,000 years – beyond what the radiocarbon method can discern.
This previous study and our new work show that micro-CT scanning may significantly and irreversibly change the fossil and the information it holds.
Despite causing no visible damage to the fossil, we argue that in this context the technique should no longer be regarded as non-destructive.
Micro-CT imaging is highly valuable in palaeontology and palaeoanthropology, no doubt about that. But our results suggest it should be used sparingly to minimise how much fossils are exposed to X-rays. There are guidelines scientists can use to minimise damage. Freely sharing data to avoid repeated scans of the same specimen will be helpful, too.
Mathieu Duval receives funding from the Spanish State Research Agency (Agencia Estatal de Investigación). He is currently the recipient of a Ramón y Cajal fellowship (RYC2018-025221-I) funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ‘‘ESF Investing in your future”. This work is also part of Spanish Grant PID2021-123092NB-C22 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/FEDER, UE, and by ‘‘ERDF A way of making Europe”.
Laura Martín-Francés receives funding from Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions of the EU Ninth programme (2021-2027) under the HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01-Project: 101060482.
The kettle is a household staple practically everywhere – how else would we make our hot drinks?
But is it okay to re-boil water that’s already in the kettle from last time? While bringing water to a boil disinfects it, you may have heard that boiling water more than once will somehow make the water harmful and therefore you should empty the kettle each time.
Such claims are often accompanied by the argument that re-boiled water leads to the accumulation of allegedly hazardous substances including metals such as arsenic, or salts such as nitrates and fluoride.
This isn’t true. To understand why, let’s look at what is in our tap water and what really happens when we boil it.
What’s in our tap water?
Let’s take the example of tap water supplied by Sydney Water, Australia’s largest water utility which supplies water to Sydney, the Blue Mountains and the Illawarra region.
From the publicly available data for the January to March 2025 quarter for the Illawarra region, these were the average water quality results:
pH was slightly alkaline
total dissolved solids were low enough to avoid causing scaling in pipes or appliances
fluoride content was appropriate to improve dental health, and
it was “soft” water with a total hardness value below 40mg of calcium carbonate per litre.
The water contained trace amounts of metals such as iron and lead, low enough magnesium levels that it can’t be tasted, and sodium levels substantially lower than those in popular soft drinks.
These and all other monitored quality parameters were well within the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines during that period. If you were to make tea with this water, re-boiling would not cause a health problem. Here’s why.
It’s difficult to concentrate such low levels of chemicals
To concentrate substances in the water, you’d need to evaporate some of the liquid while the chemicals stay behind. Water evaporates at any temperature, but the vast majority of evaporation happens at the boiling point – when water turns into steam.
During boiling, some volatile organic compounds might escape into the air, but the amount of the inorganic compounds (such as metals and salts) remains unchanged.
While the concentration of inorganic compounds might increase as drinking water evaporates when boiled, evidence shows it doesn’t happen to such an extent that it would be hazardous.
Let’s say you boil one litre of tap water in a kettle in the morning, and your tap water has a fluoride content of 1mg per litre, which is within the limits of Australian guidelines.
You make a cup of tea taking 200ml of the boiled water. You then make another cup of tea in the afternoon by re-boiling the remaining water.
On both occasions, if heating was stopped soon after boiling started, the loss of water by evaporation would be small, and the fluoride content in each cup of tea would be similar.
But let’s assume that when making the second cup, you let the water keep boiling until 100ml of what’s in the kettle evaporates. Even then, the amount of fluoride you would consume with the second cup (0.23mg) would not be significantly higher than the fluoride you consumed with the first cup of tea (0.20mg).
The same applies to any other minerals or organics the supplied water may have contained. Let’s take lead: the water supplied in the Illawarra region as mentioned above, had a lead concentration of less than 0.0001mg per litre. To reach an unsafe lead concentration (0.01mg per litre, according to Australian guidelines) in a cup of water, you’d need to boil down roughly 20 litres of tap water to just that cup of 200ml.
Practically that is unlikely to happen – most electric kettles are designed to boil briefly before automatically shutting off. As long as the water you’re using is within the guidelines for drinking water, you can’t really concentrate it to harmful levels within your kettle.
But what about taste?
Whether re-boiled water actually affects the taste of your drinks will depend entirely on the specifics of your local water supply and your personal preferences.
The slight change in mineral concentration, or the loss of dissolved oxygen from water during boiling may affect the taste for some people – although there are a lot of other factors that contribute to the taste of your tap water.
The bottom line is that as long as the water in your kettle was originally compliant with guidelines for safe drinking water, it will remain safe and potable even after repeated boiling.
Faisal Hai 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.
In the thrilling finale of the TV series The Americans, set during the Reagan administration, deep-cover KGB operatives Philip and Elizabeth Jennings are faced with a difficult decision. Posing as an ordinary American married couple, for decades they have raised children, filed tax returns and slipped effortlessly into the rhythms and routines of everyday suburban existence in Washington, D.C.
All the while, they’ve been spying – gathering intelligence and surreptitiously feeding it to their communist masters in Soviet Moscow. Now, with the FBI closing in and their cover on the brink of collapse, they must decide whether to stay and face arrest or flee the country they’ve come to call home. There’s also their teenage children to consider.
The story seemed too incredible to be true – but in fact it was based in part on Donald Heathfield and Ann Foley, subsequently outed as Andrei Bezrukov and Elena Vavilova, a Russian couple who had spent more than 20 years masquerading as Canadians. At the time of their unmasking, they were living quietly in the United States with Tim and Alex, their two sons.
Review: The Illegals: Russia’s Most Audacious Spies and the Plot to Infiltrate the West – Shaun Walker (Profile)
A new book, The Illegals, tells of a network of Russian agents operating across the US, during the late 20th and early 21st centuries – including Bezrukov and Vavilova. It opens with their dramatic 2010 arrest, part of ten Russian spies (mostly illegals like them) detained by the FBI.
Author Shaun Walker, the Guardian’s central and eastern Europe correspondent, draws on declassified archival material and first-hand interviews. The result is an engrossing, eye-opening account of the secret world of the Soviet “illegals programme”: embedded spies who lived surreptitiously in the West without the safety blanket of diplomatic protection.
As Walker explains, “legals” were Russian operatives working under official cover – as diplomats or embassy staff, privy to diplomatic immunity. By contrast, “illegals” operated off the grid. They crept silently into Western countries under false identities, often stolen from the dead. This made them harder to detect, but left them far more vulnerable if exposed.
One of the most high-profile figures in the 2010 spy bust was Anna Chapman. Unlike many other illegals, Chapman didn’t even bother to disguise her Russian identity. Instead, as Walker recounts, she entered America using a British passport – acquired through a brief marriage to a UK citizen – and worked as a New York real estate broker.
Her photogenic looks and media-friendly persona made her the public face of the scandal. After being deported, Chapman reinvented herself as a television host, runway model and pro-Kremlin influencer.
The real Americans
Walker outlines how Bezrukov and Vavilova first met in the early 1980s, as history students in Siberia. There, KGB “spotters” identified them for potential recruitment. Later, he adds,
they progressed to an arduous training programme lasting several years, moulding their language, mannerisms and identities into those of an ordinary couple. They left the Soviet Union separately in 1987, staged a meeting in Canada, and began a relationship as if they had just met.
Having married under their assumed names, Andrei and Elena adopted the habits and customs of an ordinary middle-class life. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the couple were cut off from Moscow, but by the end of the decade they were reactivated by the SVR, Russia’s new foreign intelligence agency. Around this time, Andrei won a place at Harvard’s Kennedy School, allowing the family to move to Massachusetts and integrate further into American society.
As Andrei networked in academic and policy circles, Elena maintained the illusion of domestic normality, fashioning herself as a doting “soccer mom”, raising the kids and keeping house. Meanwhile, she was secretly decoding encrypted radio messages in the back room.
This went on for years. Then, one day, an unexpected knock on the door as they celebrated their son Tim’s 20th birthday brought the charade crashing down. FBI agents burst in, handcuffed the couple in front of their sons and marched them out into the street.
Soon after their arrest, Andrei and Elena were deported to Russia in a high-profile spy swap. They were awarded state honours by Vladimir Putin and briefly became minor celebrities in Moscow. Their sons, both born in Canada, were left reeling.
In 2016, Walker tracked the sons down for a piece he was writing for The Guardian: they were in the process of suing the Canadian government to have their citizenship reinstated, having been stripped of it when everything kicked off. In 2019, a court ruled Tim and Alex (who was 16 when the FBI arrested his parents) could keep their citizenship. Both insisted they had known nothing about their parents’ espionage work.
Alex Valivov, son of Russian ‘illegal’ spies disguised as Americans, talked to the media after he won a court bid to keep his Canadian citizenship.
Putin ‘beside himself’
As Walker recounts, the raid had been coordinated by then-FBI director Robert Mueller. It had been timed to avoid derailing a carefully planned diplomatic summit.
In 2009, Barack Obama launched a high-profile “reset” of relations with Russia. Obama wanted to woo Dmitry Medvedev – a moderate political figurehead standing in for Putin, who remained the real power behind the scenes in Russia.
A planned summit in Washington intended to cement the spirit of renewed cooperation. But as the scale of Russia’s covert operation became apparent, the White House was faced with a dilemma: how to respond without jeopardising the reset.
According to Walker, Obama was irked by the whole situation. He quipped that it felt like something out of a John Le Carré novel. Eventually, a compromise was reached: the arrests would happen, but only after Medvedev’s visit, so as not to cause undue embarrassment.
Colonel Aleksandr Poteyev, deputy head of Directorate “S” of the SVR, was the man overseeing the illegals scheme. After the arrests were made, he quietly walked out of the agency headquarters in Yasenevo for the last time. He was the mole who had tipped off the Americans. From there, he made his way to Ukraine, where the CIA could safely extricate him to the US. On hearing the news, Putin was reportedly beside himself with rage, Walker writes.
Intrigued by this “twisted family story”, Walker started to look into the illegals venture in greater depth. He quickly realised “there was nothing quite like it in the history of espionage”. At times, various intelligence agencies had deployed operatives as foreign nationals, “but never with the scope or scale of the KGB programme”.
A century of dramatic, bloody history
The illegals were, in Walker’s reckoning, something uniquely Russian, rooted in the country’s complex historical experience. The more he read, the more he came to view the programme as a lens through which he could “tell a much bigger story, of the whole Soviet experiment and its ultimate failure, a century of dramatic and bloody history”.
To understand how the illegals project came about, Walker winds the clock all the way back to 1917, when the Bolsheviks seized power – and espionage became a cornerstone of the nascent Soviet state. He reminds us while Lenin and his comrades had won formal control of the nation, “they still faced the colossal task of implementing and retaining it across the vast Russian landmass”.
Lenin was sure that state institutions would eventually wither away, the evolving worker’s paradise rendering them meaningless. However, to achieve this happy end point, he believed an interim period of ruthless state violence was required.
The Cheka: precursor to the KGB
This helps to explain why he established the Cheka, a secret police force tasked with crushing counterrevolutionary activity and enforcing Bolshevik rule. At its head was Feliks Dzerzhinsky, a fanatical Polish ideologue who had spent years in Siberian exile. Far from a temporary measure, the Cheka “quickly grew to a huge fighting force that could be unleashed on political and class enemies”, Walker writes.
Feliks Dzierzynski was the head of the Cheka, the Russian secret police force that preceded the KGB. Wikimedia Commons
The Cheka was an important player in the Russian Civil War, which pitted Lenin’s Reds against the Whites – a loose alliance of pro-tsarist regiments and foreign mercenaries, often united by little more than their implacable hatred of Bolshevism. The situation on the ground was chaotic and unpredictable; both sides engaged in ruthless violence.
Here, in this blood-drenched crucible, the Bolsheviks honed their clandestine methods – konspiratsiya (subterfuge) – perfecting the use of disguises, false identities and underground communication. In areas where the Whites gained a territorial foothold, agents were ordered to stay behind and coordinate resistance, laying the groundwork for what would become the illegals programme.
When the Bolsheviks emerged victorious in 1921, the Cheka was not disbanded – but repurposed. The practice of planting operatives deep inside enemy lines survived the war and expanded in scope. Lenin’s idea of combining legal diplomatic work with illegal undercover infiltration became a defining feature of how the Soviet Union would run its intelligence services for the next 70 years.
Stalin’s secret police
Under Lenin’s successor, Joseph Stalin, the secret police was transformed into an all-encompassing instrument of surveillance, repression and domination.
Purges consumed the party. Ideological fervour curdled into show trials and murderous terror. And paranoia became an organising principle of Soviet political life. The demand for vigilance intensified – not just at home, where informants and denunciations became routine, but also abroad. Real and purported enemies were seen lurking in the democratic institutions of the West.
Ironies abound here. The very methods that helped to sustain the early Soviet state – secrecy, trickery, duplicity – soon became grounds for suspicion on Stalin’s watch. The generation of illegals trained and embedded during the 1920s and early 1930s were among those earmarked for liquidation, Walker writes. Stalin, ever wary of plots against him, came to view his own spies as potential traitors.
He ignored – or wilfully dismissed – much of the intelligence they had risked their lives to gather, often with disastrous consequences. When advance warnings of Operation Barbarossa, Hitler’s secret plan to betray Stalin and launch a massive invasion of the Soviet Union, landed on his desk in 1941, for instance, they were waved away as provocation or outright fabrication. In some cases, he had his spies tortured or shot. Loyalty was no protector against paranoia.
Dmitry Bystrolyotov was a legend in Soviet intelligence circles. Alchetron
Among the casualties was Dmitry Bystrolyotov, who Walker describes as “perhaps the most talented illegal in the history of the programme”. A truly chameleonic figure, Bystrolyotov was a dashing and multilingual agent whose exploits in Western Europe made him a legend in Soviet intelligence circles. “His speciality was the recruitment of agents who had access to diplomatic codes and ciphers,” the Russian scholar Emil Draitser attests, “and his modus operandi involved women”.
Through a series of painstakingly crafted affairs, Bystrolyotov gained access to confidential dispatches, internal memos and state secrets. His work offered Stalin a rare glimpse into the inner workings of Europe’s ruling elite. But when The Great Terror rolled around in 1937, none of it mattered. He was arrested, sentenced and dispatched to the Gulag, callously tossed aside by the system he had served with such distinction.
Walker emphasises:
the history of the illegals offers a neat reflection of the story of Russia itself. The early programme, with its soaring ambition, its obsession with subterfuge, and its disregard for the well-being of individuals, holds up a mirror to the fiery utopianism of the early Soviet Union.
Did the Cold War really end?
These were people expected to vanish into enemy territory, sacrifice their identifies and live double lives, all in service of a revolutionary vision. But by the time the Soviet Union spluttered to an ignominious halt in 1991, that dream had long since died.
As Walker shows, most of the operatives who followed in the footsteps of Bystrolyotov were not darkly romantic infiltrators scaling embassy walls or charming secrets out of countesses. They were “sleepers” – often efficient, occasionally incompetent – blending quietly into Western cities and suburbs, awaiting a call to action that, in many cases, never came. The glitz had given way to the grind.
The Americans ends with Phillip and Elizabeth, the couple based on Bezrukov and Vavilova, gazing out across the Moscow skyline. Two weary spies coming in from the cold, they have returned to a rapidly unravelling motherland that may not understand – let alone appreciate – the sacrifices they have made in the service of its ideology.
As Walker discovered, Berzukov, when he isn’t being paid handsomely by an oil company, now lectures in international relations at one of Russia’s most prestigious universities. Vavilova, fittingly enough, now writes spy fiction.
Yet in real life, the story doesn’t end quite there. Under Putin, a former KGB officer who cut his teeth in the culture of espionage, Russia’s intelligence services have returned to the illegals programme with a renewed sense of purpose (though stripped of the ideological zeal that once propelled it).
Walker is careful not to indulge in idle speculation, but he points to compelling evidence suggesting the illegals programme has evolved rather than vanished. High-profile attacks on UK soil – including the poisoning of form spy Sergei Skripal – suggest Russian intelligence agencies remain willing to operate far beyond their national borders.
In the same breath, Walker describes what might be termed the digital turn of the illegals programme. In the place of suburban sleepers decoding radio signals, Russia has backed teams of online operatives – “troll illegals” – tasked with wrecking havoc across Western social media platforms.
These paid agents don’t gather intelligence so much as sow discord. They stoke culture wars, amplify political divisions and undermine trust in democratic institutions. Walker offers Russia’s meddling in the rancorous 2016 American election as an illustrative case in point.
In Putin’s merciless autocracy, secrecy has once again became a virtue – and the spy, far from being a dusty relic of the 20th century, is once again a symbol of national strength.
In that sense, The Illegals is not just a history of espionage. It is a timely reminder that, at least for some, the Cold War never really ended. It just burrowed deeper underground.
Alexander Howard 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.
Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Rachel Fitzgerald, Associate Professor and Deputy Associate Dean (Academic), Faculty of Business, Economics and Law, The University of Queensland
Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming an everyday part of lives. Many of us use it without even realising, whether it be writing emails, finding a new TV show or managing smart devices in our homes.
But apart from a handful of computing-focused and other STEM programs, most Australian university students do not receive formal tuition in how to use AI critically, ethically or responsibly.
Here’s why this is a problem and what we can do instead.
But this does not teach students how these tools work or what responsible use involves.
Using AI is not as simple as typing questions into a chat function. There are widely recognised ethical issues around its use including bias and misinformation. Understanding these is essential for students to use AI responsibly in their working lives.
So all students should graduate with a basic understanding of AI, its limitations, the role of human judgement and what responsible use looks like in their particular field.
We need students to be aware of bias in AI systems. This includes how their own biases could shape how they use the AI (the questions they ask and how they interpret its output), alongside an understanding of the broader ethical implications of AI use.
For example, does the data and the AI tool protect people’s privacy? Has the AI made a mistake? And if so, whose responsibility is that?
What about AI ethics?
The technical side of AI is covered in many STEM degrees. These degrees, along with philosophy and psychology disciplines, may also examine ethical questions around AI. But these issues are not a part of mainstream university education.
This is a concern. When future lawyers use predictive AI to draft contracts, or business graduates use AI for hiring or marketing, they will need skills in ethical reasoning.
Ethical issues in these scenarios could include unfair bias, like AI recommending candidates based on gender or race. It could include issues relating to a lack of transparency, such as not knowing how an AI system made a legal decision. Students need to be able to spot and question these risks before they cause harm.
In healthcare, AI tools are already supporting diagnosis, patient triage and treatment decisions.
For example, if a teacher relies on AI carelessly to draft a lesson plan, students might learn a version of history that is biased or just plain wrong. A lawyer who over-relies on AI could submit a flawed court document, putting their client’s case at risk.
How can we do this?
There are international examples we can follow. The University of Texas at Austin and University of Edinburgh both offer programs in ethics and AI. However, both of these are currently targeted at graduate students. The University of Texas program is focused on teaching STEM students about AI ethics, whereas the University of Edinburgh’s program has a broader, interdiscplinary focus.
Implementing AI ethics in Australian universities will require thoughtful curriculum reform. That means building interdisciplinary teaching teams that combine expertise from technology, law, ethics and the social sciences. It also means thinking seriously about how we engage students with this content through core modules, graduate capabilities or even mandatory training.
It will also require investment in academic staff development and new teaching resources that make these concepts accessible and relevant to different disciplines.
Government support is essential. Targeted grants, clear national policy direction, and nationally shared teaching resources could accelerate the shift. Policymakers could consider positioning universities as “ethical AI hubs”. This aligns with the government-commissioned 2024 Australian University Accord report, which called for building capacity to meet the demands of the digital era.
Today’s students are tomorrow’s decision-makers. If they don’t understand the risks of AI and its potential for error, bias or threats to privacy, we will all bear the consequences. Universities have a public responsibility to ensure graduates know how to use AI responsibly and understand why their choices matter.
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.
The U.S. Senate narrowly approved on July 16, 2025, a bill that would claw back federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which distributes money to NPR, PBS and their affiliate stations. The US$9 billion rescission package will withdraw $1.1 billion Congress had previously approved for the CPB to receive in the 2026 and 2027 fiscal years. In addition, it makes deep foreign aid cuts. All Democrats present voted against the measure, joined by two Republicans: Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. As long as the House, which approved a previous version, votes in favor of the Senate’s version of the bill by midnight July 18, Trump will be able to meet a budgetary deadline by signing the measure into law in time for it to take effect.
What will happen to NPR, PBS and local stations?
NPR and PBS provide programming to local public television and radio stations across the country. The impact on them will be direct and indirect.
Both NPR and PBS receive money from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, an independent nonprofit corporation Congress created in 1967 to receive and distribute federal money to public broadcasters. More than 70% of the money it distributes flows directly to local stations. Some stations get up to half of their budgets from the CPB.
But NPR and PBS get much of their funding from foundation grants, viewers’ and listeners’ donations, and corporate underwriting. And local public radio and TV stations also get support from an array of sources besides CPB.
“There’s nothing more American than PBS,” said the network’s CEO, Paula Kerger, at a congressional hearing on March 26, 2025.
The nearly 1,500 public media stations in the U.S. rely on a mix of NPR, PBS and third-party producer programming, such as American Public Media and PRX, for the programs they offer. Local stations also produce and air regional news and provide emergency broadcasts for the government.
In rural areas with few broadcast stations and spotty cellphone coverage, public broadcast stations are vital sources of information about important community news and updates during emergencies. Federal support is essential for the programming and day-to-day operations of many local stations and allows for the maintenance of equipment and personnel to operate these vital community resources.
We believe that stations in communities that most need them, especially in rural locations, would be hit especially hard because they rely heavily on CPB funding.
Why is public media necessary when there’s news on the internet?
As journalism revenue has plummeted, public broadcasting has remained a vital source for news in communities across the nation. This is especially true in rural communities, where economic and political pressures have threatened the survival of local journalism.
In addition, with much online news coverage placed behind paywalls, public radio and television plays an important role in making quality journalism available to the American public.
Want crucial information about water systems in your drought-prone community? Public radio station KVMR in Nevada City, Calif., has a program for you. KVMR screenshot
Why did Congress approve these funds 2 years ahead?
Dozens of Native American stations are at risk of closing once the CPB is defunded. Native Public Media, a network of 57 radio stations and four TV stations, is a key source of news and information for tribal communities across the nation and relies on CPB support.
U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds, a South Dakota Republican, publicly stated that he secured an agreement with the White House to move $9.4 million in Interior Department funding to two dozen Native American stations. But there is no provision related to this promise within the legislation.
Allison Perlman is the co-chair of the Scholars Advisory Committee of the American Archive of Public Broadcasting.
Josh Shepperd and Allison Perlman are under contract to co-author an update of the history of public broadcasting for Current, public media’s trade journal, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Josh and Allison are not paid employees or vendors of either institution.
Source: The Conversation – in French – By Martine Lagacé, Professeur titulaire, communication et psychologie sociale, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
En 2024, une étude empirique a permis de dresser un portrait nuancé de la réalité des femmes de 45 ans et plus.(Unsplash)
Elles sont qualifiées, engagées, et pourtant souvent invisibles. Les femmes de 45 ans et plus représentent une force croissante sur le marché du travail québécois. Mais leur expérience suffit-elle à les protéger des préjugés liés à l’âge et au genre ?
Au Québec, on observe une augmentation continue du nombre de personnes âgées de 55 à 69 ans qui demeurent sur le marché du travail, particulièrement chez les femmes. Chez ces dernières, le taux d’activité est, en effet, en croissance constante, particulièrement dans la tranche d’âge de 55 à 59 ans (+ 30 points selon l’Institut de la statistique du Québec).
Malgré tout, ce renfort démographique n’est sans doute pas suffisant pour faire oublier les préjugés liés à l’âge et au genre.
Mieux comprendre l’expérience des travailleuses d’expérience
En 2024, une étude empirique, pilotée par notre équipe de chercheurs et mandatée par le Comité consultatif pour les travailleuses et travailleurs de 45 ans et plus, a permis de dresser un portrait nuancé de leur réalité. L’objectif : cerner leur expérience subjective du marché du travail. Comment perçoivent-elles leur emploi ? Qu’est-ce qui les motive à continuer ? Quels obstacles rencontrent-elles, et comment envisagent-elles la retraite ?
Pour répondre à ces questions, 455 femmes âgées de 45 ans et plus travaillant sur le territoire québécois ont répondu à un questionnaire auto-rapporté. Pourquoi ce seuil d’âge ? Car une littérature abondante suggère que dès l’âge de 45 ans, les travailleurs risquent d’être la cible de comportements et de manifestations d’attitudes âgistes.
Dès l’âge de 45 ans, les travailleurs risquent d’être la cible de comportements et de manifestations d’attitudes âgistes. (Unsplash), CC BY
Des 455 participantes, la majorité (55 %) était âgée de 45 à 54 ans, et plus d’un tiers détenaient une formation universitaire. En outre, 88 % de ces femmes se disaient en « bonne » ou « très bonne » santé, physique et mentale. Les quatre secteurs de travail les plus représentés dans l’échantillon étaient l’éducation (28,3 %), la santé (19,4 %), les ventes et services (19,2 %) ainsi que l’administration (80 %). Enfin, la majorité des participantes (58 %) travaillaient dans le secteur public.
Travail valorisant et motivation intrinsèque : un duo gagnant
La majorité des répondantes (84 %) se disent satisfaites ou très satisfaites de leur emploi, surtout lorsqu’elles sont motivées par des raisons personnelles ou sociales : sentiment d’accomplissement, contribution à une mission, défis stimulants.
À l’inverse, celles qui mentionnent la rémunération comme motivation principale se déclarent généralement moins satisfaites. Une tendance qui s’aligne avec la théorie de l’auto-détermination : les motivations extrinsèques, comme l’argent, ne suffisent pas à combler les besoins fondamentaux d’autonomie, de compétence et de lien social.
L’âgisme et le sexisme
Bien que la majorité des participantes soient globalement satisfaites de leur emploi, 27 % d’entre elles qualifient le marché du travail d’âgiste et/ou sexiste envers les travailleuses plus âgées, et près de 20 % évoquent des obstacles concrets. Voici quelques-uns de leurs commentaires :
Dans mon milieu, il y a définitivement un changement face aux femmes de 50 ans et plus. J’ai vu une attitude âgiste chez les hommes qui sont en position d’autorité.
La stigmatisation liée au fait d’être une femme affecte la façon dont mes collègues la perçoivent dans une certaine mesure.
Dur, car l’âge ne joue pas en notre faveur. Le choix est restreint, malgré l’expérience et la maturité, c’est encore un monde où des hommes de 45 ans ont plus de chance d’obtenir des postes de cadre.
Cette perception de discrimination, fondée sur l’âge et/ou le genre, s’exprime aussi sous la forme d’une fracture générationnelle : les travailleuses plus âgées se sentent désavantagées et expriment leur frustration en comparant leur situation à celle des plus jeunes, que ce soit pour les façons de faire au travail ou encore pour les conditions de recherche d’emploi.
Les travailleuses plus âgées se sentent désavantagées et expriment leur frustration en comparant leur situation à celle des plus jeunes. (Vitaly Gariev sur Unsplash), CC BY
Voici certains témoignages de participantes :
Nous sommes en constante compétition. Les employeurs ne veulent pas prendre de risque d’engager une femme de plus de 45 ans. Et la nouvelle génération est très différente.
Très honnêtement, je pense qu’il est difficile pour une femme de cet âge de réintégrer le marché du travail après une perte d’emploi.
Les retombées de la discrimination fondée sur l’âge
Les résultats de l’étude montrent aussi que les participantes qui se sentent victimes de l’âgisme éprouvent une moins grande satisfaction au travail. Elles sont aussi plus nombreuses à envisager un départ à la retraite à court terme, c’est-à-dire au cours de la prochaine année, par comparaison avec celles qui n’éprouvent pas ce sentiment (soit 12,7 % pour les premières et 6,1 % pour les secondes).
Plus encore, les résultats montrent un lien significatif entre le ressenti d’âgisme et la perception de relations plus difficiles, plus tendues avec les gestionnaires, particulièrement avec les plus jeunes. « Il y a beaucoup de micro-gestion, des enjeux de communication, peu d’écoute et de reconnaissance de notre expérience », nous a dit l’une des participantes.
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Enfin, lorsqu’elles sont questionnées sur l’importance de la transmission de leurs connaissances aux plus jeunes travailleurs, la majorité répond par l’affirmative (72 %). Toutefois, celles qui se perçoivent victimes de l’âgisme témoignent du même coup d’un certain manque de réceptivité des plus jeunes travailleurs à l’égard de ces connaissances ainsi que d’une dévalorisation de leur expérience par l’employeur.
Repenser la culture du travail
Dans l’ensemble, ces résultats, même à partir d’un échantillon restreint, corroborent de nombreuses études montrant la persistance de l’âgisme au travail, doublée, pour les femmes, des stéréotypes de genre, en dépit de leur expérience. Cette réalité dépeinte par ces femmes, on peut le présumer, pèse sur leurs décisions d’interrompre malgré elles leur carrière.
La persistance de l’âgisme au travail, doublée, pour les femmes, des stéréotypes de genre, en dépit de leur expérience, teintent la carrière des femmes. (Unsplash), CC BY
L’âgisme ciblant les travailleuses d’expérience demeure un phénomène sous-estimé. Ses conséquences sur le bien-être de ces travailleuses, comme pour la santé des organisations n’en sont pas moins négatives. Or si l’on veut réellement reconnaître la contribution de ces femmes, il est urgent de repenser la culture de nos environnements de travail dans un esprit d’inclusion et d’équité.
Le point de départ pour ce faire n’est autre qu’une prise de conscience, de la part des employeurs comme des travailleurs, de la prévalence des préjugés âgistes et sexistes, et des pratiques discriminatoires qui peuvent en découler.
Martine Lagacé a reçu un financement du Comité consultatif pour les travailleuses et travailleurs de 45 ans et plus pour effectuer cette étude.
Source: The Conversation – in French – By Martine Lagacé, Professeur titulaire, communication et psychologie sociale, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
En 2024, une étude empirique a permis de dresser un portrait nuancé de la réalité des femmes de 45 ans et plus.(Unsplash)
Elles sont qualifiées, engagées, et pourtant souvent invisibles. Les femmes de 45 ans et plus représentent une force croissante sur le marché du travail québécois. Mais leur expérience suffit-elle à les protéger des préjugés liés à l’âge et au genre ?
Au Québec, on observe une augmentation continue du nombre de personnes âgées de 55 à 69 ans qui demeurent sur le marché du travail, particulièrement chez les femmes. Chez ces dernières, le taux d’activité est, en effet, en croissance constante, particulièrement dans la tranche d’âge de 55 à 59 ans (+ 30 points selon l’Institut de la statistique du Québec).
Malgré tout, ce renfort démographique n’est sans doute pas suffisant pour faire oublier les préjugés liés à l’âge et au genre.
Mieux comprendre l’expérience des travailleuses d’expérience
En 2024, une étude empirique, pilotée par notre équipe de chercheurs et mandatée par le Comité consultatif pour les travailleuses et travailleurs de 45 ans et plus, a permis de dresser un portrait nuancé de leur réalité. L’objectif : cerner leur expérience subjective du marché du travail. Comment perçoivent-elles leur emploi ? Qu’est-ce qui les motive à continuer ? Quels obstacles rencontrent-elles, et comment envisagent-elles la retraite ?
Pour répondre à ces questions, 455 femmes âgées de 45 ans et plus travaillant sur le territoire québécois ont répondu à un questionnaire auto-rapporté. Pourquoi ce seuil d’âge ? Car une littérature abondante suggère que dès l’âge de 45 ans, les travailleurs risquent d’être la cible de comportements et de manifestations d’attitudes âgistes.
Dès l’âge de 45 ans, les travailleurs risquent d’être la cible de comportements et de manifestations d’attitudes âgistes. (Unsplash), CC BY
Des 455 participantes, la majorité (55 %) était âgée de 45 à 54 ans, et plus d’un tiers détenaient une formation universitaire. En outre, 88 % de ces femmes se disaient en « bonne » ou « très bonne » santé, physique et mentale. Les quatre secteurs de travail les plus représentés dans l’échantillon étaient l’éducation (28,3 %), la santé (19,4 %), les ventes et services (19,2 %) ainsi que l’administration (80 %). Enfin, la majorité des participantes (58 %) travaillaient dans le secteur public.
Travail valorisant et motivation intrinsèque : un duo gagnant
La majorité des répondantes (84 %) se disent satisfaites ou très satisfaites de leur emploi, surtout lorsqu’elles sont motivées par des raisons personnelles ou sociales : sentiment d’accomplissement, contribution à une mission, défis stimulants.
À l’inverse, celles qui mentionnent la rémunération comme motivation principale se déclarent généralement moins satisfaites. Une tendance qui s’aligne avec la théorie de l’auto-détermination : les motivations extrinsèques, comme l’argent, ne suffisent pas à combler les besoins fondamentaux d’autonomie, de compétence et de lien social.
L’âgisme et le sexisme
Bien que la majorité des participantes soient globalement satisfaites de leur emploi, 27 % d’entre elles qualifient le marché du travail d’âgiste et/ou sexiste envers les travailleuses plus âgées, et près de 20 % évoquent des obstacles concrets. Voici quelques-uns de leurs commentaires :
Dans mon milieu, il y a définitivement un changement face aux femmes de 50 ans et plus. J’ai vu une attitude âgiste chez les hommes qui sont en position d’autorité.
La stigmatisation liée au fait d’être une femme affecte la façon dont mes collègues la perçoivent dans une certaine mesure.
Dur, car l’âge ne joue pas en notre faveur. Le choix est restreint, malgré l’expérience et la maturité, c’est encore un monde où des hommes de 45 ans ont plus de chance d’obtenir des postes de cadre.
Cette perception de discrimination, fondée sur l’âge et/ou le genre, s’exprime aussi sous la forme d’une fracture générationnelle : les travailleuses plus âgées se sentent désavantagées et expriment leur frustration en comparant leur situation à celle des plus jeunes, que ce soit pour les façons de faire au travail ou encore pour les conditions de recherche d’emploi.
Les travailleuses plus âgées se sentent désavantagées et expriment leur frustration en comparant leur situation à celle des plus jeunes. (Vitaly Gariev sur Unsplash), CC BY
Voici certains témoignages de participantes :
Nous sommes en constante compétition. Les employeurs ne veulent pas prendre de risque d’engager une femme de plus de 45 ans. Et la nouvelle génération est très différente.
Très honnêtement, je pense qu’il est difficile pour une femme de cet âge de réintégrer le marché du travail après une perte d’emploi.
Les retombées de la discrimination fondée sur l’âge
Les résultats de l’étude montrent aussi que les participantes qui se sentent victimes de l’âgisme éprouvent une moins grande satisfaction au travail. Elles sont aussi plus nombreuses à envisager un départ à la retraite à court terme, c’est-à-dire au cours de la prochaine année, par comparaison avec celles qui n’éprouvent pas ce sentiment (soit 12,7 % pour les premières et 6,1 % pour les secondes).
Plus encore, les résultats montrent un lien significatif entre le ressenti d’âgisme et la perception de relations plus difficiles, plus tendues avec les gestionnaires, particulièrement avec les plus jeunes. « Il y a beaucoup de micro-gestion, des enjeux de communication, peu d’écoute et de reconnaissance de notre expérience », nous a dit l’une des participantes.
Déjà des milliers d’abonnés à l’infolettre de La Conversation. Et vous ? Abonnez-vous gratuitement à notre infolettre pour mieux comprendre les grands enjeux contemporains.
Enfin, lorsqu’elles sont questionnées sur l’importance de la transmission de leurs connaissances aux plus jeunes travailleurs, la majorité répond par l’affirmative (72 %). Toutefois, celles qui se perçoivent victimes de l’âgisme témoignent du même coup d’un certain manque de réceptivité des plus jeunes travailleurs à l’égard de ces connaissances ainsi que d’une dévalorisation de leur expérience par l’employeur.
Repenser la culture du travail
Dans l’ensemble, ces résultats, même à partir d’un échantillon restreint, corroborent de nombreuses études montrant la persistance de l’âgisme au travail, doublée, pour les femmes, des stéréotypes de genre, en dépit de leur expérience. Cette réalité dépeinte par ces femmes, on peut le présumer, pèse sur leurs décisions d’interrompre malgré elles leur carrière.
La persistance de l’âgisme au travail, doublée, pour les femmes, des stéréotypes de genre, en dépit de leur expérience, teintent la carrière des femmes. (Unsplash), CC BY
L’âgisme ciblant les travailleuses d’expérience demeure un phénomène sous-estimé. Ses conséquences sur le bien-être de ces travailleuses, comme pour la santé des organisations n’en sont pas moins négatives. Or si l’on veut réellement reconnaître la contribution de ces femmes, il est urgent de repenser la culture de nos environnements de travail dans un esprit d’inclusion et d’équité.
Le point de départ pour ce faire n’est autre qu’une prise de conscience, de la part des employeurs comme des travailleurs, de la prévalence des préjugés âgistes et sexistes, et des pratiques discriminatoires qui peuvent en découler.
Martine Lagacé a reçu un financement du Comité consultatif pour les travailleuses et travailleurs de 45 ans et plus pour effectuer cette étude.
Los 70 alumnos y alumnas que han participado en la cuarta edición del Curso de verano de The Conversation ‘La aventura de divulga ciencia en español con éxito’ en el Palacio de la Magdalena (UIMP) con autoridades, ponentes y Jorge Drexler como invitado de honor. UIMP, CC BY
“Clavo mi remo en el agua, llevo tu remo en el mío / Creo que he visto una luz, al otro lado del río.”
Jorge Drexler, “Al otro lado del río”
Con esos versos –entonados a capela por Jorge Drexler ante un aula entregada– se produjo uno de los momentos más conmovedores del curso La aventura de divulgar ciencia en español con éxito, celebrado del 9 al 11 de julio en el Palacio de la Magdalena de Santander. La sede veraniega de la Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo (UIMP) se convirtió durante tres días en un laboratorio de ideas, gracias a una iniciativa impulsada por The Conversation España, con el respaldo de la Fundación Lilly y la Fundación Ramón Areces.
Lo que allí se vivió fue mucho más que una serie de conferencias y talleres: fue un contagio de conocimiento y entusiasmo por la vida y la ciencia.
La inauguración corrió a cargo del vicerrector del Campus de Las Llamas de la UIMP Francisco Matorras; Rafael Sarralde, el director general de The Conversation; Manuel Guzmán, Gerente en Fundación Lilly; Carolina Pola, colaboradora del comité científico de la Fundación Ramón Areces, y las codirectoras del curso Elena Sanz y Lorena Sánchez. UIMP, CC BY
Lenguaje, cerebro y música: la mente en escena
Uno de los momentos más inspiradores fue el encuentro entre el neurofisiólogo y popular divulgador Xurxo Mariño y el músico y médico de formación Jorge Drexler. A medio camino entre el concierto y la charla científica, ambos desplegaron una conversación fascinante sobre cómo emerge la mente humana.
“El oficio del artista consiste en implantar una parte de su mente en otras personas”, explicó Mariño. “No se puede gozar de Beethoven sin ser un poco Beethoven”, respondía Drexler.
“La creatividad ocurre cuando disminuye la actividad de la corteza prefrontal: se apaga el director de orquesta del cerebro y se abren otras conexiones”, decía Xurxo Mariño. Y puso como ejemplo un momento muy concreto: el instante nada más despertar. Drexler, entonces, cantó con ayuda del público la canción que le valió un Óscar en el año 2005, nacida en un estado de duermevela. “Escribí Al otro lado del río a la luz de la mesita de noche”, confesaba.
Genes, mutaciones y el futuro humano
La genetista y catedrática de la Universidad de Barcelona, Gemma Marfany, arrancó la charla inaugural del curso con una afirmación contundente: “El genoma es una máquina perfecta, pero tiene errores”.
La genetista Gemma Marfany durante una apasionada conversación en Caballerizas, lugar de encuentro de los ponentes en el Palacio de la Magdalena. The Conversation, CC BY
Gemma Marfany habló de mutaciones, de edición genética con CRISPR –“el bisturí con GPS”– y de los dilemas éticos de la selección genética, que permitirá resolver múltiples enfermedades, pero también rediseñar nuestra especie.
“No queremos ser inmortales, queremos ser eternamente jóvenes”, sentenció, en referencia al sueño (o pesadilla) de modificar el ADN humano para mejorar el cuerpo, la mente y, quizá, el destino.
Con ejemplos como la película Gattaca o la historia de Carlos II el Hechizado, un rey que sufrió la maldición de la endogamia de la Casa de Habsburgo, Marfany dejó claro que la genética explica el pasado y condiciona el porvenir: “si modificas tu ADN, estás cambiando el ADN del futuro”.
Océanos, cosmos y física cuántica: lo que aún no sabemos
En una jornada dedicada a los grandes enigmas de la ciencia, la oceanógrafa Núria Casacuberta Arola habló del mar como “el corazón del clima”, advirtiendo que en lo profundo del océano hay más incógnitas que certezas. “Ha habido más personas en la Luna que en la fosa de las Marianas”, recordó Casacuberta Arola, subrayando el desconocimiento sobre el agua que regula la vida en la Tierra.
Nuria Casacuberta Arola ha sido galardonada con la Beca de Retorno de la Fundación Ramón Areces, gracias a la cual trasladará sus actividades científicas al Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) en Barcelona. La oceanógrafa propuso en el curso un viaje espacial al fondo de los océanos. The Conversation, CC BY
Pablo Martínez Ruiz del Árbol, investigador del Instituto de Física de Cantabria. The Conversation, CC BY
Pablo Martínez comparó la física cuántica con el sushi: “para mi padre, que es de un pueblo de La Rioja, la cuántica es como el sushi, algo que te saca de tu zona de confort”. Y el astrofísico David Galadí, con humor y rigor, confesó que quizás en el futuro nos vean como “gente muy lista que llegó a conclusiones equivocadas”.
La ciencia, coincidieron ambos, solo puede actuar con humildad ante lo infinito por descubrir. Porque por cada conocimiento acumulado, “ampliamos lo que sabemos que no sabemos”, matizaba Martínez.
El astrofísico David Galadí describió la incertidumbre en astrofísica para explicar el universo. The Conversation, CC BY
Corazón, medicina y mentoria: lecciones de una vida
El cardiólogo Valentín Fuster, una de las voces más esperadas, impartió una lección de sabiduría y humanidad en su conversación con la periodista experta en salud Cristina Sáez.
“Con franqueza, soy cardiólogo, pero no entiendo el corazón, un órgano que se mueve cada segundo y no se estropea hasta el final de una vida. He contribuido a entenderlo, pero aún no sabemos realmente cómo funciona: el corazón es un milagro”, confesó.
Valentín Fuster llegó desde Nueva York a Santander. ‘Si hago este viaje es porque considero esencial la divulgación de la ciencia’. UIMP, CC BY
Valentín Fuster narró su trayectoria desde sus inicios, cuando su camino era el de un tenista profesional. “Un año suspendí una asignatura y mi padre puso fin al tenis. Siempre confié en mi padre. Y siempre he hecho lo que me han dicho las personas en las que he confiado”.
Así comenzó la carrera del hombre que introdujo en el mundo la medicina preventiva, que supo encontrar en el colesterol la razón de los infartos de miocardio, y que peleó contra gigantes hasta conseguir la polipíldora para tratar problemas de corazón. El estudio SECURE, publicado en The New England Journal of Medicine, mostró una disminución del 33 % en la mortalidad cardiovascular en comparación con el tratamiento habitual.
La periodista Cristina Sáez, coautora con Valentín Fuster de su libro de memorias, condujo la conversación. UIMP, CC BY
Valentín Fuster habló de la importancia de tener un mentor, de la necesidad de cuidar al paciente como un todo –físico y emocional– y de los peligros de una sociedad que promueve el consumo hasta enfermarnos.
Para él, la clave para una vida íntegra está en lo que llama las “cuatro T”: tiempo para reflexionar, talento cultivado con humildad, transmitir positividad y ser un tutor para los demás.
Cristina Saéz mencionó el altruismo de Valentín Fuster en el trato a pacientes de toda condición social: “Para mí no existen nombres, existen personas, porque si miras por dentro, todos somos iguales”, dijo Fuster.
Pero el corazón no es solo un órgano que late: es un icono universal del amor. Y de amor habló el psicólogo y divulgador Luis Muiño, uno de los conductores de Entiende tu mente, el pódcast en español sobre psicología más escuchado del mundo. Muiño narró, por ejemplo, la historia del matrimonio mudo chino. Mudo, porque durante 60 años no se dirigieron la palabra. Entonces alguien les preguntó por qué seguían juntos. Él respondió: “porque la amo”. Y ella: “porque sé lo que piensa”. Luis Muiño abrió un intenso y apasionado debate con el alumnado planteando preguntas como: ¿por qué nos atrae lo prohibido? ¿Qué podemos hacer los ciudadanos del siglo XXI con las hormonas del Paleolítico? ¿Por qué vemos lo que queremos ver cuando amamos?
Luis Muiño desgranando la ciencia del amor. The Conversation, CC BY
Ciencia con alma
El curso se nutrió de expertos, pero también de historias humanas. Como la de una alumna que recordó a su madre con alzhéimer, que solo conecta con el presente cuando canta canciones del pasado, “y entonces se emociona”. O la de otra alumna que trabaja como intérprete en contextos extremos, por ejemplo, cuando a alguien le detienen en un país en conflicto y no habla el idioma. Ella trataba de buscar una metáfora para definir su papel, algo que le pedía Emilio José García, responsable de la unidad de cultura científica del Instituto Astrofísico de Andalucía (IAA) al frente del taller Cómo hacer una charla de divulgación que no se olvide. La alumna buscaba una metáfora para definirse y alguien del publico propuso: “sois ángeles”.
Emilio José García (IAA) ofreciendo las claves para una charla de divulgación que no se olvide. The Conversation, CC BY
También pidió metáforas Estrella Montolío, catedrática de la Universitat de Barcelona, para su taller sobre la ciencia del lenguaje aplicada a la divulgación. Entre las que escribieron los alumnos está: “Los alimentos transgénicos son como Severus Snape, señalados como perversos y malvados, pero en realidad ambos están protegiendo a las personas”.
Estrella Montolío, catedrática de Lengua Española de la Universidad de Barcelona, recogió metáforas científicas en su taller sobre la ciencia del lenguaje aplicada a la divulgación. The Conversation, CC BY
Herramientas para divulgar
En el curso se entregó al alumnado el libro Comunicando ciencia con ciencia. Promovido por la Fundación Lilly, ha sido elaborado por 36 coautores expertos en comunicación científica.
Marcos Pérez, director de los Museos Científicos de A Coruña y presidente de la Asociación Española de Comunicación Científica (AEC2), Cristina Rico, coordinadora Senior de Programas y Actividades en Fundación Lilly, y Elena Sanz, directora de The Conversation, presentaron el libro Comunicando ciencia con ciencia. The Conversation, CC BY
Las caras de asombro con mayúscula, y exclamaciones consecutivas, se produjeron durante el taller de uso de inteligencia artificial para divulgar ciencia que impartió Carmen Torrijos, lingüista computacional de Progidioso Volcán. En apenas dos horas, como prometió, hicimos un artículo, gráficos, un pódcast y una presentación en PowerPoint sobre la situación de Isla Calima, un archipiélago inexistente, que Carmen Torrijos presentaba amenazado por el cambio climático, y que sirvió como ejemplo para experimentar lo que las inteligencias artificiales generativas son capaces de hacer.
Carmen Torrijos mostró herramientas de inteligencia artificial aplicables a la divulgación de ciencia. The Conversation, CC BY
Durante tres días, el curso fue una constelación de voces, ciencia y emociones. Una muestra de que la divulgación científica en español puede ser, además de rigurosa, profundamente humana.
Las codirectoras del curso Elena Sanz y Lorena Sánchez, con Xurxo Mariño y Jorge Drexler en el punto y final de La aventura de divulgar ciencia. The Conversation, CC BY
The UK government has announced that the voting age will be lowered to 16 at the next election as part of a wider effort to restore trust in and “future-proof” democracy.
Votes at 16 has grown from a niche concern to become a salient – if contentious – issue supported by most UK political parties and electoral reform groups. The Conservative party remains a holdout – but has never acknowledged the contradiction of its continued opposition to the universal lowering of the voting age while empowering the Scottish and Welsh parliaments to enact the measure during its time in government.
This is a policy response to concerns about declining youth democratic engagement since the late 1990s. Since 1997, the UK general election turnout rate for those aged 65 years and over has consistently been at least 20 percentage points higher than for those aged 18-24.
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Some opponents argue that the Labour government is lowering the voting age to 16 for its own electoral interest, but we should remember this was a clearly stated election manifesto commitment. Votes at 16 was part of the package that delivered Labour to government in 2024 on a huge majority.
That said, public opinion remains steadfastly opposed. The government will need to handle this tension carefully, ensuring that 16- and 17-years-olds are not treated as second-class members of the electorate as this debate pushes forward.
For and against
As when the voting age was universally lowered to 18 in 1969, the case for change has pivoted on perceptions of maturity and markers of adulthood. There was considerable political and public consensus in the 1960s that 18 was the appropriate age of majority and enfranchisement. This link has endured, and many people continue to think under 18s are too socially and politically immature to vote responsibly or regularly.
Supporters of reform emphasise the need to align enfranchisement with other rights realised before or at age 16 – such as paying tax, medical consent, working, autonomy to make decisions about future education and work lives, and undertaking military (if not frontline) service.
Opponents respond by noting the age of majority remains 18, and that the minimum age for many protective and social rights, such as marriage and leaving full-time education, has been pushed upwards to 18 in the past decade or so.
But while 18 remains the legal marker of adulthood, transitions from youthhood to adulthood have become extended and complex. There is no single age point at which young people realise all the social and economic rights and responsibilities associated with adulthood.
Biological maturation extends from late-stage childhood until early adulthood (mid-20s). Traditional markers of adulthood such as financial independence, owning a property, or getting married and having children are occurring later in life than in previous generations.
It is more than 50 years since parliament last reflected and reviewed how society understands, and frames, issues of adulthood and citizenship linked to the ages of majority and enfranchisement. Lowering the voting age to 16 offers a timely opportunity to do so again.
Extensive parliamentary debate lies ahead as this bill makes its way through to becoming law. MPs should take that time to discuss and build consensus around what British democracy should offer young people, and how enfranchisement should be conceptualised for future generations.
Lowering the age is just the start
Now that 16- and 17-year-olds are part of the electorate, we can hope that political parties will improve their responsiveness to the interests of young people.
Unfortunately, where the voting age has already been lowered, we’ve not yet seen parties address their skewed decision-making, representation or electoral behaviour, which continues to favour older voters. The average age of elected representatives has remained around 50 years of age in all UK national and devolved parliaments, and higher in local government. Few young people join political parties or are active in their campaigning.
There is also significant evidence that, regardless of whether the voting age has been lowered or not, young people are not appropriately supported to be politically and media literate to understand how and when to vote, and to make informed and independent voter choices.
So, lowering the voting age should only be the first step in a more concerted effort to improve political literacy and democratic engagement as young people grow up. This should begin in primary, not secondary, school and continue through further and higher education.
Elected representatives should hold regular school surgeries where they meet children and young people, and listen and respond to their issues and concerns. Young people need to learn to discuss political issues in school settings, and political parties should host election hustings in schools and colleges. Young people should also be involved in decision-making in their schools and communities.
Lowering the voting age offers an opportunity to reinvigorate how we host elections to ensure young people enjoy voting for the first time – and encourage their future participation.
Making electoral registration automatic, as the government has promised, will help. But joining the electoral roll is a significant civic moment in young people’s lives. Schools should host electoral registration ceremonies where pupils are welcomed into the electorate by local elected representatives, and automatically given a voter authority certificate so they have an appropriate piece of voter ID.
Political parties need to embrace this once-in-a-generation opportunity that voting age reform presents to secure the future health of British democracy.
Andrew Mycock 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.
Earth’s continents may look fixed on a globe, but they’ve been drifting, splitting and reforming over billions of years – and they still are. Our new study reveals fresh evidence of rhythmic pulses of molten rock rising beneath east Africa, reshaping our understanding of how continents break apart.
Our findings could help scientists understand more about volcanic activity and earthquakes.
There are around 1,300 active volcanoes on the Earth’s surface. Active volcanoes are those thought to have had an eruption over the last 12,000 years or so. Of these volcanoes, over 90 lie on the East African Rift Valley – the seam along which Africa is splitting apart. This weak seam of crust may even allow a new ocean to form over the next few million years.
Although ocean formation is happening around the world, and has been for several billion years, there are few places on Earth where you can study different stages of continental breakup at the same time. This is because they normally become submerged under water as the Earth’s crust thins, and seawater eventually inundates the rift valley.
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The Rift Valley is different. There is, at its northern end (in Ethiopia) a place called Afar, which sits at the meeting point of three rifts. These are called the Red Sea Rift, the Gulf of Aden Rift, and the Main Ethiopian Rift (see the map below).
The Red Sea Rift has been spreading for the last 23 million years, and the Main Ethiopian Rift for the last 11 million years. There are active volcanoes across all three of these rifts. In Afar, all three rifts are at least partly exposed, with the Red Sea Rift and Main Ethiopian Rift having the most exposure.
Volcanic rocks that erupt when Earth’s tectonic plates spread apart provide a window into the inner Earth that wouldn’t otherwise be accessible. Each lava flow and volcano has its own story that is recorded in the rock and we can learn about that through geochemistry – the concentrations of the elements that make up the rock – and mineralogy – the minerals within the rock.
Analysing these things can tell us about the depth at which the melting rock formed and roughly where in the Earth’s mantle it formed. In our new study, we analysed over 130 new lava samples, obtained from the Afar rock repository at the University of Pisa and our own fieldwork.
We used these samples to investigate the characteristics of the mantle beneath this rifting, when tectonic plates are moving apart from each other. These samples are from Holocene eruptions (rocks younger than 11.7 thousand years old) from across Afar and the East African Rift.
Geodynamic model, showing what happens in the mantle (brown) as the plates (green) rift apart. At approximately five seconds (equivalent to 35 million years) into the video the seafloor ridge has formed.
Since the 1970s, scientists have believed that there is a mantle plume beneath the Afar region. Mantle plumes are a portion of abnormally hot mantle (around 1,450°C) or unusual composition of the mantle (or both) below the Earth’s surface. Scientists think it pushed some of the mantle to the Earth’s surface. Our study not only confirms the presence of a mantle plume in this region, but also gives scientists details about its characteristics.
We discovered that the mantle plume beneath the region rises beneath the tectonic plates in pulses, and the pulses have slightly different chemical compositions.
There are mantle plumes around the world. They can be identified in the geological record as far back as several billion years. Each of the plumes has different characteristics – with their own unique chemical composition and shape.
One mantle plume still active today is the one lying below the Hawaiian islands. These islands are part of the Hawaiian Emperor chain, formed over the last 80 million years or so, and are still forming today. The islands originate from the Pacific tectonic plate slowly moving across the top of a mantle plume, making lava bubble up, erupt and eventually solidify as rock.
This plume melts the Earth’s mantle and forms magma, which over long periods results in the formation of an island chain or breaks up continents. It can also form volcanoes along a rift in the Earth’s crust, as we see in east Africa. The Hawaiian plume signature comes from two chemical compositions rising up through the mantle together like two vertical strands.
In our study, we created several scenarios of what the plume looks like and then used mathematical modelling to see which plume scenario best fit the sample data. Using this data-driven approach, we show that the most likely scenario is a singular plume that pulses with different chemical compositions.
The three rifts in Afar are spreading at different rates. The Red Sea Rift and Gulf of Aden Rift are moving faster at about 15mm per year (that’s half the rate your fingernails grow at) compared to the Main Ethiopian Rift moving at about 5mm per year. We deduced that the pulses are flowing at different speeds along the stretched and thinner undersides of the tectonic plates.
All this shows us that the motion of tectonic plates can help focus volcanic activity to where the plate is thinner.
This finding has important implications for how we interpret volcanic and earthquake activity. It may indicate that volcanism could be more likely to occur in the faster spreading and thinner portions of the rift, as the flow beneath replenishes the magma more frequently.
However, the eruptions here may be less explosive than the slower spreading rifts. This fits observations that explosive eruptions occur more frequently in the Main Ethiopian Rift (which sits on a thicker part of the plate and where the volcanoes are more mature), compared to the Red Sea Rift.
Our understanding of the link between continental rifting and mantle plumes is still in its infancy but research is already providing insights into how tectonic plates affect mantle plumes and how this might be recorded in the future seafloors of Earth.
Emma Watts works for Swansea University. She receives funding from Natural Environment Research Council and the UK Research Council.
Derek Keir works for the University of Southampton. He receives funding from the Natural Environment Research Council.
Thomas Gernon works for the University of Southampton. He receives funding from the WoodNext Foundation, a donor-advised fund program, and from the Natural Environment Research Council.
