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August 11, 2025

GPT-5: has AI just plateaued?

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Michael Rovatsos, Professor of Artificial Intelligence, University of Edinburgh

OpenAI claims that its new flagship model, GPT-5, marks “a significant step along the path to AGI” – that is, the artificial general intelligence that AI bosses and self-proclaimed experts often claim is around the corner.

According to OpenAI’s own definition, AGI would be “a highly autonomous system that outperforms humans at most economically valuable work”. Setting aside whether this is something humanity should be striving for, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s arguments for GPT-5 being a “significant step” in this direction sound remarkably unspectacular.

He claims GPT-5 is better at writing computer code than its predecessors. It is said to “hallucinate” a bit less, and is a bit better at following instructions – especially when they require following multiple steps and using other software. The model is also apparently safer and less “sycophantic”, because it will not deceive the user or provide potentially harmful information just to please them.

Altman does say that “GPT-5 is the first time that it really feels like talking to an expert in any topic, like a PhD-level expert”. Yet it still doesn’t have a clue about whether anything it says is accurate, as you can see from its attempt below to draw a map of North America.

It also cannot learn from its own experience, or achieve more than 42% accuracy on a challenging benchmark like “Humanity’s Last Exam”, which contains hard questions on all kinds of scientific (and other) subject matter. This is slightly below the 44% that Grok 4, the model recently released by Elon Musk’s xAI, is said to have achieved.

The main technical innovation behind GPT-5 seems to be the introduction of a “router”. This decides which model of GPT to delegate to when asked a question, essentially asking itself how much effort to invest in computing its answers (then improving over time by learning from feedback about its previous choices).

The options for delegation include the previous leading models of GPT and also a new “deeper reasoning” model called GPT-5 Thinking. It’s not clear what this new model actually is. OpenAI isn’t saying it is underpinned by any new algorithms or trained on any new data (since all available data was pretty much being used already).

One might therefore speculate that this model is really just another way of controlling existing models with repeated queries and pushing them to work harder until it produces better results.

What LLMs are

It was back in 2017 when researchers at Google found out that a new type of AI architecture was capable of capturing tremendously complex patterns within long sequences of words that underpin the structure of human language.

By training these so-called large language models (LLMs) on large amounts of text, they could respond to prompts from a user by mapping a sequence of words to its most likely continuation in accordance with the patterns present in the dataset. This approach to mimicking human intelligence became better and better as LLMs were trained on larger and larger amounts of data – leading to systems like ChatGPT.

Ultimately, these models just encode a humongous table of stimuli and responses. A user prompt is the stimulus, and the model might just as well look it up in a table to determine the best response. Considering how simple this idea seems, it’s astounding that LLMs have eclipsed the capabilities of many other AI systems – if not in terms of accuracy and reliability, certainly in terms of flexibility and usability.

The jury may still be out on whether these systems could ever be capable of true reasoning, or understanding the world in ways similar to ours, or keeping track of their experiences to refine their behaviour correctly – all arguably necessary ingredients of AGI.

In the meantime, an industry of AI software companies has sprung up that focuses on “taming” general purpose LLMs to be more reliable and predictable for specific use cases. Having studied how to write the most effective prompts, their software might prompt a model multiple times, or use numerous LLMs, adjusting the instructions until it gets the desired result. In some cases, they might “fine-tune” an LLM with small-scale add-ons to make them more effective.

OpenAI’s new router is in the same vein, except it’s built into GPT-5. If this move succeeds, the engineers of companies further down the AI supply chain will be needed less and less. GPT-5 would also be cheaper to users than its LLM competitors because it would be more useful without these embellishments.

At the same time, this may well be an admission that we have reached a point where LLMs cannot be improved much further to deliver on the promise of AGI. If so, it will vindicate those scientists and industry experts who have been arguing for a while that it won’t be possible to overcome the current limitations in AI without moving beyond LLM architectures.

Old wine into new models?

OpenAI’s new emphasis on routing also harks back to the “meta reasoning” that gained prominence in AI in the 1990s, based on the idea of “reasoning about reasoning”. Imagine, for example, you were trying to calculate an optimal travel route on a complex map. Heading off in the right direction is easy, but every time you consider another 100 alternatives for the remainder of the route, you will likely only get an improvement of 5% on your previous best option. At every point of the journey, the question is how much more thinking it’s worth doing.

This kind of reasoning is important for dealing with complex tasks by breaking them down into smaller problems that can be solved with more specialised components. This was the predominant paradigm in AI until the focus shifted to general-purpose LLMs.

GPT-5 phone in front of a computer screen — No more gold rush?
JarTee

It is possible that the release of GPT-5 marks a shift in the evolution of AI which, even if it is not a return to this approach, might usher in the end of creating ever more complicated models whose thought processes are impossible for anyone to understand.

Whether that could put us on a path toward AGI is hard to say. But it might create an opportunity to move towards creating AIs we can control using rigorous engineering methods. And it might help us remember that the original vision of AI was not only to replicate human intelligence, but also to better understand it.

Michael Rovatsos has received funding from the Cisco University Research Program Fund that supports research involving Large Language Models (LLMs), in-kind contributions in the form of cloud credits from Google to use LLMs they provide, and public funding from UK Research and Innovation and the European Commission. He has also provided consultancy to UK government departments. He is a member of the Scottish Government’s Tech Council and affiliated with the Alan Turing Institute.

– ref. GPT-5: has AI just plateaued? – https://theconversation.com/gpt-5-has-ai-just-plateaued-262963

August 11, 2025

I’m a physicist who studies fossils, and I recently discovered preserved blood vessels in the world’s largest T. rex

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Jerit Leo Mitchell, Physics PhD Candidate, University of Regina

Advanced technologies reveal new information about ancient fossils. (J. Mitchell), CC BY

Despite the fact that much of the current research in paleontology focuses on trying to find traces of organic remains in fossils, dinosaur DNA has unfortunately never been recovered.

A lot of what we know about dinosaurs comes from preserved bones and teeth that are dug out of the ground. These hard tissues alone, however, are limited in the information they provide.

Soft tissues are extremely rare in the fossil record, but can help provide a much more life-like reconstruction of ancient life. This includes things like muscles and ligaments, pigments or even skin (like scales or feathers), which contain detailed information on how dinosaurs lived and what they looked like.

Another interesting soft tissue that can be found in bones are blood vessels. My research team and I discovered blood vessels preserved in a Tyrannosaurus rex fossil, and our findings were recently published in Scientific Reports.

CBC News Saskatchewan reports on an unexpected discovery in a Tyrannosaurus rex fossil.

As an undergraduate physics student at the University of Regina, I joined a research team using particle accelerators to study fossils. There, I first discovered blood vessels in a bone from a T. rex using advanced 3D models. It’s been nearly six years since that moment; I am now working on my PhD where I use my background in physics to advance analysis techniques in fossil research.

An extraordinary specimen

The vessels were found in a remarkable T. rex specimen nicknamed Scotty. Held in the Royal Saskatchewan Museum’s collection in Canada, Scotty is the largest T. rex ever unearthed. The fossil also remains one of the most complete specimens of T. rex.

Scotty appeared to have had a rough life 66 million years ago; many of the recovered bones appeared to have injuries, possibly due to a fight with another dinosaur, or disease. One bone in particular, a section of rib, features a large partially healed fracture.

In general, after bones experience a traumatic event like a fracture, there is a huge increase in the activity of blood vessels in the affected area as part of the healing process. We believe this is what was found in Scotty’s rib: an extensive network of mineralized vessels that we were able to examine using reconstructed 3D models.

a boomerang shaped fossil bone with the fracture labelled — A fossil from Scotty the T. rex, showing a fractured bone.
(J. Mitchell), CC BY

Revolutionizing paleontology research

When analyzing fossil bones, there are two main challenges. The first is how to examine the interior of the bones without damaging the fossil. And second, the bones are very large and can be quite dense due to the fossilization process, where minerals replace and fill in original organic materials.

At first, we thought we could perform an computed topography (CT) scan of the bone, similar to what is used for medical purposes, which allows imaging of bones without damaging them. While this solves the first problem, the second problem means that a conventional medical CT machine is not nearly powerful enough to penetrate the dense bone.

For our examination, we used synchrotron light, special high-intensity x-rays. These are produced at select particle accelerator labs, and allow us to investigate microstructures such as blood vessels in the bone with ease.

Synchrotron x-rays can also be useful for chemical analysis. We found the vessels were preserved as iron-rich mineralized casts, a common form of fossilization, but in two distinct layers. This layering is due to the complicated environmental history that led to the exceptional preservation seen in Scotty’s rib.

3D printed bone fragments — 3D-printed models of the vessel structures found in Scotty’s rib bone.
(J. Mitchell), CC BY

Written in blood vessels

By analyzing blood vessels produced by an incompletely healed fracture, we can hopefully learn how T. rex healed, helping speculation on how Scotty was able to survive after sustaining injuries. This could lead to evolutionary information comparing the vessel structures seen in Scotty to other dinosaur species, as well as modern relatives to dinosaurs like birds.

The results may also help future fossil exploration by guiding scientists to target bones that show signs of injury or disease, potentially increasing the chances of discovering more vessels or other types of preserved soft tissues.

With cross-disciplinary research and novel applications of advanced technologies, there is so much potential to recreate the past lives of dinosaurs like never before.

Jerit Leo Mitchell receives funding from Mitacs Accelerate and the Sylvia Fedoruk Centre for Nuclear Innovation.

– ref. I’m a physicist who studies fossils, and I recently discovered preserved blood vessels in the world’s largest T. rex – https://theconversation.com/im-a-physicist-who-studies-fossils-and-i-recently-discovered-preserved-blood-vessels-in-the-worlds-largest-t-rex-261786

August 11, 2025

The creatine boom: Trends and facts about supplements and use

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Scott Mills, PhD Candidate, Kinesiology and Health Studies, University of Regina

Creatine supplementation is booming among those seeking greater muscle size and performance.

Although creatine is certainly not a new discovery, with research dating back to the 1830s, its popularity and sales have continued to grow, and have expanded beyond bodybuilders and athletes to clinical applications and benefits beyond muscle performance.

Today, creatine stands as one of the most researched supplements, and new findings continue to support its use for consistent and measurable results in bodybuilding, fitness and overall health.

While creatine is naturally found in foods like red meat and seafood, and also produced naturally in the body, supplementation has surged in popularity, especially among young men.

This growth in popularity is largely due to young men’s desire to increase muscle size and muscle strength. Several meta-analyses have looked at the effects of creatine supplementation during resistance training on properties of muscle, and support its use and effectiveness when combined with resistance training.

Simply put, creatine can help maintain energy levels, especially during short-duration, high-intensity exercise like weight training.

Creatine’s role in the body

From a physiological perspective, once in the body, the majority of creatine is stored in the muscle as phosphocreatine (PCr). In this form, it can help maintain energy levels through the maintenance of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is the body’s primary energy currency.

Because creatine supplementation increases intramuscular levels of creatine, it may enable resistance training at a higher intensity and for longer durations, leading to greater gains in the gym.

Although creatine’s impact on muscle performance may be more well known, it does not paint the whole picture. Research is revealing creatine’s positive impact outside the muscular system, showing positive effects on the storage and metabolism of glucose, blood-flow dynamics, anti-inflammatory effects and positive benefits for cognition and brain function, to name a few.

Dosage and safety

From a research perspective, dosage recommendations for men can vary, but typically either five grams of creatine daily, or a customized dosage based on bodyweight of (0.1 grams per kilogram per day) have been shown to be well-tolerated and effective for increasing muscle performance.

From a food intake perspective, to consume about five grams of creatine in the diet, an individual would have to consume about 1.15 kilograms of beef, or about a kilogram of pork, for example. This means even a diet that is high in creatine-containing foods may not be enough to maximize its benefits.

The high calorie content of eating enough of these foods to reach the target creatine intake makes supplementation a practical and appealing option, both for ease of consumption and calorie considerations.

Also, from a cost perspective, at about $0.50 per serving, it’s an easy and cost-effective strategy to reach creatine intake goals. With new forms of creatine seemingly being released all the time (capsules, gummies and flavoured powders), it makes it easy to maintain intake.

Regarding the safety of creatine supplementation, a position stand paper by the International Society of Sports Nutrition concluded that creatine supplementation poses no greater adverse effects in healthy individuals compared to placebo, even with higher dosages.

With that being said, creatine hasn’t been immune to its share of negative claims. Anecdotally, creatine may have some whispers of undesirable side-effects; however, research looking at common myths and misconceptions of creatine (including concerns about water retention, hair loss and dehydration) have largely removed many of the fears.

Resistance training is key

It’s important to note that while creatine consumption on its own may still show some positive effects, it is largely creatine consumption in combination with resistance training that leads to benefits.

Resistance training can increase measures of muscle growth and performance (muscle power, muscle strength and muscle endurance) and it’s the combination of creatine with resistance training that will maximize its effects. So resistance training is a paramount component to the positive effects of creatine.

Of course, creatine is not an essential nutrient. Individuals can see improvements in muscle growth and muscle performance while focusing on the intake of high-quality and nutrient-rich foods, a well-designed individualized resistance training program, combined with adequate high-quality sleep and proper stress management without the need to supplement creatine.

A healthy lifestyle is the foundation of well-being, including the groundwork for effectively building muscle.

Creatine supplementation has made its way into the hands of those seeking the secret to greater muscle size and performance. It is well researched and widely accepted, and it continues to increase in popularity due to the positive effects when paired with a solid resistance training program, its safe risk profile when consumed at evidence-based dosages and its low-cost.

While creatine supplementation is not essential, it may be a practical, affordable and effective choice for those seeking muscle growth benefits and beyond.

Scott Mills 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. The creatine boom: Trends and facts about supplements and use – https://theconversation.com/the-creatine-boom-trends-and-facts-about-supplements-and-use-261817

August 11, 2025

DIY air cleaners are an easy and cost-effective way to help ventilate homes during wildfires

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Anne-Marie Nicol, Associate Professor, Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University

In recent decades, the number and severity of wildfires across Canada has increased due to climate change and a more wildfire-prone landscape.

While wildfires can wreak havoc in their immediate area, wildfire smoke can travel thousands of kilometres, putting millions more people at risk from the adverse impacts.

Research on wildfire smoke and health shows that smoke is more than just an irritant. It is increasingly clear that older adults, pregnant people and young children face higher risks to their health, including premature birth, hospitalization and premature death.

One way to reduce smoke exposure is to stay indoors and create a “clean air shelter” by closing the doors, windows and using an air cleaner to remove smoke and other particles from the air.

However, that is easier said than done for many people. While effective, store-bought air cleaners can be expensive and require pricey replacement filters.

In addition, many homes don’t have air conditioners and easily trap heat. Closing all windows means reducing ventilation, and can make hot summer days even more unpleasant. Another option, popularized during the COVID-19 pandemic, is the idea of building your own air cleaner, using easily sourced parts from local hardware stores.

Do-it-yourself air cleaners

An infographic explaining how a DIY air cleaner works.
(Author provided/The BREATHE Project)

In British Columbia, we started The BREATHE Project to study the impacts of wildfires and distribute information about DIY air cleaners.

A 2023 article by the National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health compiled evidence on the effectiveness of do-it-yourself (DIY) air cleaners as an alternative to store-bought units.

The results showed that DIY air cleaners are not only more affordable and accessible, but are equally as effective, as long as the correct parts are used and the room size is taken into consideration.

This includes the use of a MERV-13 filter, a minimum 75-watt box fan, duct tape and a shroud cover on the front corners of the fan. One unit can clean a small room, and multiple units can be used for larger spaces.

DIY air cleaners also help reduce other air contaminants including allergens, mold spores, emissions from woodstoves, respiratory pathogens, dust, and traffic related air pollutants.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found similar results in their analysis of DIY air cleaners and determined that the units are safe to use as built.

The BREATHE Project

A short clip about the BREATHE Project and the DIY air cleaner worskshops. (The BREATHE Project)

Our team at Simon Fraser University partnered with the BC Lung Foundation to share this knowledge about cleaner indoor air with communities across British Columbia.

In 2023, we launched a pilot project in the Lower Mainland to find out if workshops about making DIY air cleaners could be feasible. These workshops were held in community centers, libraries, seniors’ centers and neighbourhood houses, with the average participant being over 70 years old and with at least one medical condition.

We were surprised to find that our workshops were fully booked within days of advertising, and that news of our project was quickly spreading by word of mouth within communities.

We used participant feedback to fine-tune our materials and created instructional videos, and a train-the-trainer manual to guide other organizations on how to host similar workshops.

In 2024, we took the project into B.C.’s Interior Health Authority region, where fires were more frequent and more severe.

We named our project BREATHE: Building Resilience to Emerging Airborne Threats and Heat Events and have since added additional resources for communities grappling with the co-exposure of wildfire smoke and extreme heat.

fan blades inside a box with holes for air to pass through held together using duct tape. — A DIY air cleaner being assembled at one of the BREATHE Project’s workshops.
(Author provided/The BREATHE Project)

BREATHE has now partnered with all of B.C.’s health authorities. We have hosted over 90 workshops so far this year, many in northern, rural and remote regions. Workshops have been held in the Cowichan Valley, Lower Mainland, Central Okanagan, the Kootenays and the Northern Rockies.

The project has helped build over 2,500 air cleaners and brought important information about community resilience to people directly impacted by these exposures.

BREATHE also serves as a launchpad for research on the impacts of wildfire smoke on at-risk populations across the province.

Everyone can take steps to protect their health when it is smoky outside. Our resources, including our train-the-Trainer guides and step-by-step videos are free and available on our website. If you are interested in hosting your own workshops, or seeking a collaboration, please reach out through our website.

Anne-Marie Nicol is a Knowledge Mobilization Specialist at the BC Centre for Disease Control.

Prem Gundarah 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. DIY air cleaners are an easy and cost-effective way to help ventilate homes during wildfires – https://theconversation.com/diy-air-cleaners-are-an-easy-and-cost-effective-way-to-help-ventilate-homes-during-wildfires-261336

August 11, 2025

Is AI coming for your creative job? Maybe not – with some human intervention

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Afsoon Soudi, Assistant Professor, RTA school of Media, Toronto Metropolitan University

The AI robot, Ai-Da, at a United Nations summit with its paintings, which sold for US$1 million. 2025 © Ai-Da Robot Studios

Many writers, actors and other creatives are currently experiencing a small wave of panic about artificial intelligence (AI) taking over their jobs.

Generative AI (GenAI) is making machine learning and creative work more accessible to everyone. But for industry professionals, the rise of generative AI can signal the destruction of creative jobs.

Yet, according to a recent report by the World Economic Forum, AI will create more jobs in the next five years than it will displace.

We are four scholars in different creative industries hoping to explore educational approaches to AI. We want to help prepare the next generation to innovate within human-AI collaborative frameworks. To do this, we have begun to confer with other creative professionals through an online survey.

What if AI can actually support human creativity and productivity? Can we use these technologies to our advantage? What we can expect for the future?

We believe creative professionals can harness new technologies while still upholding their foundational creative and ethical principles.

How AI is being used in creative sectors

AI is becoming deeply embedded within the operational workflows of creative industries, from a nascent concept to an integrated reality.

Media and creative workers have gone on strike to protest the use of AI, sparking important conversations. For example, Screenwriters in Hollywood and the Writers’ Union of Canada have raised concerns and helped shape new policies around AI and creative work.

Within media production, large language models (LLMs) can facilitate the rapid prototyping of narrative concepts, scripts and audiovisual materials, while automated editing platforms and AI-driven visual effects create massive efficiency gains in post-production. This technological integration allows creators to shift their focus from laborious manual tasks to higher-level creative refinement.

In graphic communication and packaging, AI and machine learning are acknowledged drivers of change. AI can enhance processes from ideation to production logistics like sorting and personalized web-to-print platforms. In the realm of Digital Asset Management, AI is instrumental in improving asset discoverability and utility through automated metadata tagging and sophisticated image recognition.

Journalism is also undergoing a significant transformation. AI has been used for a while now to analyze large datasets for investigative reporting, but LLMs now routinely streamline article summarization. More advanced applications are emerging: AI systems are designed to identify news values and auto-generate articles from live events. Major news organizations like the Financial Times and The New York Times are already deploying AI tools in their newsrooms.

Ethical challenges

The integration of AI is not without considerable challenges.

The generation of fabricated information and non-existent sources are documented failures. These examples highlight critical issues with accuracy and reliability.

Many people have said they do not fully understand the extent to which AI is incorporated into their standard software. This disparity between deployment and user consciousness underscores the subtle yet pervasive nature of AI’s integration. This points to an urgent need for greater transparency and digital literacy.

Bias and intellectual property

Models trained on vast, uncurated internet data often replicate and amplify existing societal biases. For example, studies demonstrate persistent issues such as anti-Muslim bias in LLMs.

At the same time, urgent ethical and legal questions regarding intellectual property have emerged. The training of LLMs on copyrighted content without compensation has created significant friction. For example, the pending New York Times litigation against OpenAI highlights unresolved issues of fair use and remuneration for creative work.

Conversely, GenAI demonstrates considerable potential to democratize creative production. These tools, by lowering technical barriers and automating complex processes, can provide access to individuals and groups historically excluded from creative fields due to resource or educational constraints.

Specific applications are already enhancing media accessibility, such as AI-powered tools that automatically generate alt text for images and subtitles for video content.

Navigating this dual-use landscape necessitates the adoption of robust governance frameworks. Fostering industry-wide equity, diversity and innovation education is essential to mitigate risks while harnessing GenAI’s potential for an inclusive creative ecosystem.

Labour and skill evolution

Technological revolutions have historically catalyzed significant transformations in creative labour markets and GenAI represents the latest disruptive force.

The proliferation of GenAI has once again reshaped the creative industries, demanding new professional competencies.

Human creativity and intervention are indispensable, providing cultural and contextual accuracy. Humans must also review AI-generated content for quality and inclusivity.

In response to this shift, higher education institutions need to recalibrate curricula from tool-specific training towards fostering curiosity, ethical reasoning and AI literacy.

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. Is AI coming for your creative job? Maybe not – with some human intervention – https://theconversation.com/is-ai-coming-for-your-creative-job-maybe-not-with-some-human-intervention-252796

August 11, 2025

Why do we agree to take off our shoes at the airport?

Source: The Conversation – France – By Emmanuel Carré, Professeur, directeur de Excelia Communication School, chercheur associé au laboratoire CIMEOS (U. de Bourgogne) et CERIIM (Excelia), Excelia

It is 7.30am at Terminal 2E at Charles de Gaulle airport near Paris, and in the line leading to the security gates, an executive is removing his belt with a mechanical gesture, a mother is taking baby bottles out of her bag, and a tourist is sighing as he unties his shoes. Everyone is moving forward in beep-punctuated silence, only disturbed by the sound of bins moving along the conveyor belts.

This scene repeats itself relentlessly: according to the International Air Transport Association, 4.89 billion passengers took a flight in 2024, meaning that more than 13 million people a day go through such security checkpoints. (The Trump adminisration recently ended the requirement for people to remove shoes at US airports “during regular security checks”.

At first glance, going through airport security may seem like nothing more than a necessary technical procedure. Viewed from an anthropological perspective, however, this mundane moment reveals a transformation of our identities that is as effective as it is subtle. Something strange happens in these queues: we enter them as citizens, consumers, professionals – and leave them as “passengers in transit”. This metamorphosis, which we take for granted, deserves a closer look.

The dynamics of ritual transformation

What strikes us first in these airport scenes is the gradual, systematic dispossession of personal belongings, clothing, and status symbols deposited into plastic bins before they disappear from view. Then, there is the arbitrary character of the underlying logic: why shoes and not underwear? Why 100 ml and not 110 ml? This apparent lack of coherence actually serves a symbolic purpose: it’s there to create a sense of dispossession that touches on the individual’s social status attributes.

As early as 1909, ethnographer Arnold van Gennep identified separation as the first phase of rites of passage. Individuals must abandon their previous state, shedding what defined them in the secular world. The suited executive becomes an anonymous body, temporarily stripped of his attire, and subjected to the same technological gaze as everyone else. This forced egalitarianism is not a side effect. It is actually central to the process: it prepares for a transformation of identity by neutralizing, albeit temporarily, the usual social hierarchies.

Then comes the screening: scanners, detectors, questions about intentions. “Why are you travelling? Who are you going to see? Did you pack your bags yourself?” Every traveller becomes a temporary suspect who must prove their innocence. This reversal of the burden of proof – of the fundamental principle that one is “innocent until proven guilty” – goes largely unnoticed since it seems entirely “logical” in these circumstances.

This phase corresponds to what Van Gennep called the margin or liminality, a concept later developed by anthropologist Victor Turner: a moment when subjects, deprived of their usual social attributes, find themselves in a state of vulnerability that makes them malleable and ready to be transformed. In this technological in-between, we are no longer fully citizens, nor are we travellers just yet.

Trailer for the film Border Line (2023), by Juan Sebastián Vásquez and Alejandro Rojas, which illustrates the all-security approach to border controls.

Eventually, there is what is called reintegration, to use another term coined by Van Gennep: we are now permitted to enter the area beyond security checks. Officially, we have become “passengers” – a status that requires docility, patience, and the acceptance of various constraints “for the sake of our own safety”. This area, with its duty-free shops and overpriced cafés, highlights this ritual transformation, since we are no longer citizens exercising our right to travel, but global consumers in transit, stripped of our political and territorial roots.

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The paradox of the ‘security theater’

The troubling paradox with security scanners is that although they effectively detect prohibited items (forgotten knives, suspicious liquids) and act as a real deterrent, they fall short when faced with sophisticated threats: in 2015, US test teams succeeded in smuggling fake weapons in 95% of their attempts.

Between 2007 and 2013, the US behaviour detection programme SPOT failed to detect a single terrorist, at a cost of $900 million. It missed the only real terrorists who passed through airports, but there were no hijackings in the United States. The programme therefore appears to be both useless (in the absence of any real threat) and ineffective (in failing to detect real threats).

This lack of operational efficiency is compounded by a major economic imbalance: according to engineer Mark Stewart and political scientist John Mueller, the actual reduction in the risk of terrorism resulting from the tens of millions invested annually by airports is so limited that the costs far outweigh the intended benefits.

Security expert Bruce Schneier refers to this logic as “security theater” – measures primarily designed to reassure the public rather than neutralize the most serious threats. These measures are not dysfunctional, but rather a rational response to social expectations.

After a terrorist attack, the public expects visible measures that, although of questionable effectiveness, will calm collective fears. The “security theater” responds to this demand by producing a sense of protection that helps maintain confidence in the system. Researchers Razaq Raj and Steve Wood of Leeds Beckett University describe how this theater is staged in a way that is reassuring, but sometimes discriminatory, at airports.

This explains why these measures persist and are becoming more common despite their limited results. In addition, they help reinforce a tacit acceptance of authority. This phenomenon relies largely on the status quo bias, which locks us into established systems, and on a societal dynamic of ever-increasing demands for security, with no apparent possibility of turning back.

Learning to be docile

These security checks teach us something more significant than meets the eye. They condition us to accept surveillance as something normal and necessary, benevolent even. This acceptance isn’t limited to airports; it extends to other social contexts. We learn to “show our ID”, to provide justification for our movements, and accept that our bodies be scrutinized “for our own good”.

This system also works by reversing the roles. Resistance becomes suspicious: anyone who questions the procedures, refuses an additional search or gets annoyed by delays is automatically labelled as a “problem”. The binary character of such moral classification – good, docile passengers versus difficult passengers – tends to turn criticism into an indication of potential guilt.

Over time, airport security gestures and their repetition become part of our bodily habits. We anticipate constraints by wearing shoes without laces, carrying prepackaged liquids and making our computers accessible. We develop what philosopher Michel Foucault called “docile bodies”: bodies trained by discipline to internalize constraints and facilitate control.

Beyond airports

The Covid-19 pandemic also introduced similar practices: certificates, passes and behaviours that have become near-rituals. We have become accustomed to “showing ID” for access to public spaces. With each new shock, new collective rules are established, which permanently alter our reference points.

The requirement for passengers to remove their shoes at airports actually dates back to a single failed attempt to carry out a terrorist attack: the December 2001 incident in which a man named Richard Reid concealed explosives in his shoes. One man, one failure… and travellers routinely complying 24 years later where the requirement still exists. This is just one example of an event among others which resonate as “founding myths” used to normalize a number of constraints.

French sociologist Didier Fassin notes the emergence of a “moral government” where obedience becomes a proof of ethics and where questioning control turns into a sign of civic irresponsibility. This evolution is remarkable in that it is largely invisible: we do not see the ritual at work, we just experience “necessary measures”. This normalization probably explains why such transformations encounter little to no resistance.

Anthropology teaches us that the most effective rituals are those that are no longer perceived as such. They become obvious, necessary and indisputable. The system uses what US political scientist Cass Sunstein calls “sludge”. Unlike “nudge”, which subtly encourages good behaviour, sludge operates through friction, making resistance more costly than cooperation. Social psychology research on compliance without pressure suggests that we are more likely to accept constraints when we feel we chose them. By believing that we are making a free choice to board a plane, we freely accept all the constraints that come with it.

Challenging the obvious

The conscious recognition of such mechanisms does not necessarily imply that they should be criticized or opposed. There are legitimate requirements associated with collective security. Being aware of these transformations, however, leads us to question and discuss their rationale, rather than just blindly submitting to them.

Philosopher Hannah Arendt pointed out that understanding power is a step toward regaining one’s capacity for action. Perhaps this is what is at stake here – not rejecting all constraints, but retaining the ability to think them through.

Emmanuel Carré ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d’une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n’a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.

– ref. Why do we agree to take off our shoes at the airport? – https://theconversation.com/why-do-we-agree-to-take-off-our-shoes-at-the-airport-262931

August 11, 2025

Where you think you are in society (not where you actually are) matters for how you think about inequality

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Giacomo Melli, PhD candidate in sociology, University of Oxford

Where do you see yourself on the ladder? Cristina Conti/Shutterstock

Imagine society as a ladder with ten rungs. Where would you place yourself? That answer reflects your subjective social status – where you see yourself in society. Importantly, this is not necessarily reflective of where you actually are. Subjective social status matters as it shapes what you believe, how you behave, and, as my new study shows, how much you care about economic inequality.

These days, economic inequality is hard to ignore. In the UK, the richest 10% of households holds nearly half of all wealth, while millions struggle to make ends meet.

My research asked: why do some people support reducing inequality while others don’t?

Take two middle class professionals with similar jobs and incomes. One supports higher taxes on the wealthy, the other doesn’t. Why the difference? It’s not just their actua class position. What matters is where they feel they stand in society – their subjective social status.

My research analysed survey data on more than 51,000 people from 25 countries where respondents placed themselves on a ten-rung ladder representing society. This simple question – about how people feel they rank socially – turns out to be a powerful predictor of support for redistribution, such as progressive taxation or government efforts to reduce income inequality.

You might assume that views on redistribution boil down to income: those struggling financially want the government to help reduce inequality, while those who are doing well want to keep things as they are. But what really matters is where people feel they stand compared to others, regardless of their actual income or job.

As the sociological theory known as the Thomas theorem puts it: “If people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences.” These consequences can also affect politics – how people perceive their social standing can shape what policies (and parties) they support.

Where do you think you are?

My research found that people who feel at the bottom of the social ladder tend to support income redistribution, regardless of how unequal their country actually is. That might seem obvious.

But what’s striking – and what the research also shows – is how often people’s perceptions don’t match their economic reality. One in five who place themselves in the top third are in fact working class, while one in five people who see themselves in the bottom third of society are actually high income earners in their country. People’s perceptions of where they stand often don’t match reality because they rely on personal background, upbringing and comparisons with peers or social circles.

You might expect those who feel near the top of society to oppose redistribution, especially in countries where inequality is high. Yet the evidence tells a different story. People behave very differently depending on how unequal their society is.

In countries where income inequality is high, those who feel privileged are often more supportive of redistribution. This doesn’t happen in countries where inequality is low. My findings show that, for example, someone who feels near the top in the US (an unequal country) is 31% more likely to support government action to reduce inequality than their counterpart in more equal Denmark.

This suggests that “wealthy” people’s attitudes aren’t just about protecting their own interests. Something else is at play.

Fear and altruism

One possible answer lies in two feelings: fear and altruism. Those who feel socially well off don’t live in a vacuum, they notice when inequality is high around them. Whether out of fear for their own safety, altruism for those struggling or both, these feelings can lead even the privileged to support government efforts to reduce inequality.

Why should those who feel at the top of society in low-inequality countries worry? They think they are doing well, and they can see that society around them is also functioning reasonably well.

People respond not only to their material conditions, but to how they see themselves and the context around them. Even those who feel they’re doing well may support redistribution if they believe growing inequality could threaten the system.

Wooden blocks depicting two people on an uneven seesaw, against a yellow background — Where you think you are in terms of wealth in society doesn’t necessarily reflect where you actually are.
Bored Photography/Shutterstock

This research reveals something crucial about how politics works in democratic societies. Politics is about how people see themselves, not just their income or class. This matters beyond redistribution. It also affects populist attitudes, electoral participation and support for far-right parties.

This insight helps explain why some middle-class voters might back policies that don’t seem to benefit them, and why opinions vary so much between similar countries. As inequality keeps shaping political debates worldwide, understanding these feelings becomes key to making sense of contemporary politics. At the end of the day, it’s perception, not just reality, that drives the politics we see.

Giacomo Melli 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. Where you think you are in society (not where you actually are) matters for how you think about inequality – https://theconversation.com/where-you-think-you-are-in-society-not-where-you-actually-are-matters-for-how-you-think-about-inequality-259715

August 11, 2025

Freakier Friday: nostalgia-soaked sequel explores grief and blended families

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Harriet Fletcher, Lecturer in Media and Communication, Anglia Ruskin University

Twenty-two years after Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis first swapped bodies in the teen classic Freaky Friday, the beloved duo returns. This time there’s twice the chaos in an ambitious four-person body swap comedy dripping in noughties nostalgia. This sequel successfully recaptures the unapologetic girlish silliness that made the first film so beloved.

The timing couldn’t be better. Curtis is fresh from her Oscar win for Everything Everywhere All at Once, while Lohan is in the midst of her romcom renaissance in Netflix movies like Falling For Christmas (2022), Our Little Secret (2024) and Irish Wish (2024).

The film opens with a daydreaming Anna (Lohan), now in her late thirties, tearing it up on the electric guitar. It immediately recalls 2003 when Lohan first played the rebellious teen and aspiring rock star. Then reality hits.

This time, rebel Anna hasn’t swapped bodies with her mother – she’s become her mother. She’s a single mum working a busy job as a music producer, having shelved her rock-star dreams to raise her teenage daughter Harper (Julia Butters). Picking up where the last film left off, Anna’s mum Tess (Curtis) is still a successful therapist and author – though her latest foray into podcasting isn’t exactly going as planned.

The plot quickly sets up Anna’s new romance with fellow single-parent Eric (Manny Jacinto). He’s a charming British restaurateur who – much to Harper’s dismay – happens to be the father of her high-school nemesis Lily (Sophia Hammons). Ironically, the couple’s meet-cute in the principal’s office is incited by the girls’ feuding antics, including a science experiment that goes horribly wrong and an all-out food fight in the school yard.

The trailer for Freakier Friday.

At Anna’s bachelorette party, her and Tess are dragged into a palm reading by “Madame Jen” – a pushy but incompetent psychic and all-round grifter, comically played by SNL’s Vanessa Bayer. Harper and Lily are drawn into a separate reading and given a mysterious prophecy.

All four experience what feels like an earthquake, leading them to wake up with a rather unwelcome surprise: Anna and Harper have swapped bodies, as have Tess and Lily. Over the course of the film, Anna and Tess try to track down the elusive Madame Jen to undo the spell, while Harper and Lily use their new identities to sabotage their parents’ wedding.

While this ambitious four-person body swap is a little confusing at first (I often had to remind myself who was playing who), it hits its stride when the pairs go off on their respective capers. The concept is at its best when Harper and Lily (in Anna and Tess’s bodies) make a disastrous attempt to seduce Anna’s high school boyfriend (Chad Michael Murray), and when Anna and Tess in the teens’ much younger bodies bond over their newfound love of e-scooters.

As well as being “freakier” than its 2003 predecessor, this sequel packs a bigger emotional punch by revisiting themes of grief and blended families. Newcomer Lily is the surprising emotional core of the film – a young girl grieving the loss of her mum, homesick for her life in London, and struggling to find her place in a new family. The most poignant moments come through her unlikely bond with Tess.

That said, it’s a curious omission that Anna (Lohan) – who also lost a parent when she was younger – doesn’t share any meaningful moments with Lily. Curtis (as both Tess and Lily) does a lot of heavy lifting on this front.

Pure nostalgia

It could be argued that Freakier Friday didn’t need to retread the first film’s thematic ground at all. While the repetition does enable some degree of character development, it’s hard not to wonder what bolder risks could have taken after 22 years.

The film flirts with exploring teenage girls’ relationships with their bodies, including an over-the-top mirror scene where the teens recoil in horror at their older faces (despite Lohan and Curtis looking amazing), though mostly settles for cheap “old lady” gags.

Curtis groans about creaky knees, struggling to get off the floor and constantly needing to pee. These jokes feel out of place when she runs rings around her younger cast members and is undoubtedly the most dynamic presence in this film. At one point, Lily (in Tess’s body) overuses a lip plumper to absurd effect – a moment that hints at satirising beauty standards in the age of Botox and fillers but doesn’t dig much deeper than a surface-level punchline.

Chad Michael Murray returns as Jake for Freakier Friday.

While Freakier Friday has some fun references to contemporary pop culture, from Love Island to The Great British Bake Off with a smattering of gen-Z lingo here and there, it is a self-aware throwback to noughties girlhood. The soundtrack features Britney Spears and the Spice Girls, Curtis rocks Baby Spice pigtails, and Lohan’s pink-tint shades look like they could have teleported straight from 2003.

Even Harper and Lily’s scheme to derail the wedding feels like an intentional nod to Lohan’s childhood film, The Parent Trap (1998) – a nod that’s underscored by a cameo from Elaine Hendrix, who co-starred in the film with Lohan.

Overall, the film delivers satisfying fan service, especially through the return of noughties heartthrob Murray, whose role is pure nostalgia for long-time fans.

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Harriet Fletcher 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. Freakier Friday: nostalgia-soaked sequel explores grief and blended families – https://theconversation.com/freakier-friday-nostalgia-soaked-sequel-explores-grief-and-blended-families-262969

August 11, 2025

Love is Blind returns – but is there truth to the show’s ‘social experiment’? Here’s what the research says

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Martin Graff, Senior Lecturer in Psychology of Relationships, University of South Wales

Love is Blind UK returns to Netflix on August 13. For those who haven’t seen it, the show describes itself as a “social experiment” in which single men and women look for love and some get engaged – all before meeting each other in person.

Participants spend the first ten days of the experiment entering various “pods” – small individual rooms containing a sofa and a shared wall with another pod, through which they talk to – but cannot see – their potential matches. If they feel after a series of dates that they have fallen in love with another participant, they can propose marriage.

If accepted, they can then meet their partner in the flesh. Engaged couples are all sent to a resort for a week in order to become more familiar, before moving in together and deciding whether to get married in the show’s final episode.

Some of the couples who met and married on the show have had success. Bobby and Jasmine, and Benaiah and Nicole from the last season of Love is Blind UK are still happily married. Lauren and Cameron from season one of Love is Blind US are currently expecting their first child. But, for many more couples, the show does not lead to lasting love.

The show’s ultimate test is whether people are able to establish an emotional connection strong enough to propose marriage before they have actually met in person. But is talking alone enough for people to really fall in love? Here’s what the research says.

The trailer for Love is Blind UK season two.

A major component of romantic relationship development is what researchers call “reciprocal self-disclosure”. This basically means gradually revealing information about yourself to your partner, while listening to your partner reveal information about themselves.

Such disclosure initially involves the sharing of superficial information (what’s your favourite colour? Do you have any pets?) and progresses to disclosure of intimate and very intimate information. However, in interactions where we are unable to visually monitor the other person’s nonverbal feedback, we are unaware of subtle cues of approval or disapproval on disclosing information, which can cause misunderstanding.

One of the consequences of this is that an interaction may become more uninhibited. In the security of the Love is Blind pods, people may begin to reveal more intimate information about themselves at a faster rate than normal. Sharing intimate experiences early on in an interaction can actually expedite a degree of intimacy by creating a connection with the other person. But is this really love?

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

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

Whether or not Love is Blind’s cast become engaged or not may depend on their attachment styles. “Attachment style” refers to the way in which we became attached to our primary caregivers in infancy and continue that pattern on to later life, affecting the way we become attached to romantic partners.

The three principal styles of attachment are secure, avoidant or anxious. Participants on Love is Blind who have an anxious attachment style may feel increased pressure to settle for a partner than those more securely attached. When this is coupled with the time limit allowed for finding a partner it may result in some imprudent partner choices.

Furthermore, the lack of visual information afforded to Love is Blind participants means that they have to “fill in the gaps” regarding their date, which leads to a degree of imagining or fantasising.

One parallel to the love experienced by the show’s participants is the love victims report feeling for dating site scammers. Many victims say that they feel a sense of love for the scammer, which is why they part with money – although in reality they are merely experiencing a type of love illusion.

A person’s physical appearance, personality and habits, are never totally apparent until a first meeting. This leads to the possibility that people feel less satisfied than they expect on a first face-to-face encounter. This devaluing effect is caused by daters projecting their idea of their ideal partner on to the person with whom they have been talking. Sometimes they may not live up to expectations on first meeting.

We know from research that men rely mainly on physical appearance when evaluating a potential date more than women. Women are more likely to assess additional factors such as ambition and financial resources and also a willingness to invest in children – information which could potentially be ascertained through talking with dating partners.

Furthermore, women generally take longer to decide whether or not they are attracted to a potential date which is related to what has been termed “error management theory”. In essence it means that making an error in choosing the wrong person can be more costly to women. This is maybe why, in heterosexual couples, men are more likely than women to declare love first.

The modality switch

“Modality switching” is the research term for the moment the Love is Blind participants move from chatting in the pods to meeting face-to-face and it is important to understand what predicts success here.

Research from 2017 found that there are three key elements when moving from online dating to face-to-face dating. First, perceiving that a potential partner is similar, second overtly expressing this similarity to them and third the amount of information sought from a potential partner, which serves to reduce uncertainty about them on meeting face-to-face. The situation in Love is Blind is similar to an online date in as much as contestants have not yet met in person.

Love has been the subject of literature, poetry and music as well as the focus of psychological and biological research, and yet a conclusive definition and proper understanding of romantic love remains elusive. Some insight offered by psychologist Robert Sternberg’s “Triangular Theory of Love” suggests that true love comprises of intimacy, passion and commitment – all of which develop over time, not ten days in a pod.

Overall, the evidence suggests that though encouraging disclosure and fantasy combined with prompting a sense of urgency in finding a partner the show appears to facilitate romantic love, in most cases real love takes time together to develop.

Martin Graff 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. Love is Blind returns – but is there truth to the show’s ‘social experiment’? Here’s what the research says – https://theconversation.com/love-is-blind-returns-but-is-there-truth-to-the-shows-social-experiment-heres-what-the-research-says-262557

August 11, 2025

How microbes could help solve the world’s plastic pollution crisis

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Julianne Megaw, Lecturer in Microbiology, Queen’s University Belfast

With conventional waste management systems falling short, many scientists are turning to nature for innovative solutions to the issue of plastic waste. One promising avenue is microbial degradation: harnessing the natural abilities of certain bacteria and fungi to break down plastics in ways that current technologies cannot.

These microbes produce specialised enzymes (proteins that carry out chemical reactions) capable of breaking the long, carbon-rich chains of molecules that form the backbones of many plastic polymers. They effectively use plastic as a food source.

Historically, scientists looking for plastic-degrading microbes have focused on plastic-polluted environments such as landfills and contaminated soils. These are logical starting points, as prolonged exposure to synthetic polymers may encourage the growth of organisms that are capable of using these materials as a food source. This trend has also been observed with other environmental pollutants including oil and pesticides.

This approach has led to the discovery of several promising candidate microbes that can degrade plastic. Among the most famous examples is Ideonella sakaiensis, a bacterium identified near a plastic bottle recycling facility in Japan.

It can completely degrade polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the plastic most commonly used in bottles and food packaging. It breaks PET into its (environmentally benign) building blocks. These can then be used as food by I. sakaiensis and other organisms.

But plastic-degrading microbes haven’t evolved this capability in response to plastic pollution. Instead, scientists are discovering and repurposing metabolic functions that already exist in nature. The potential for microbes to break down plastic long predates the invention of plastics themselves.

Many microbes already have the ability to decompose natural polymers such as cellulose (plant fibres), chitin (found in fungi and insects) and cutin (found on the surfaces of leaves). These naturally occurring materials share structural and chemical similarities with synthetic plastics. This overlap allows microbes to repurpose existing enzymes to tackle synthetic substances.

My team’s recent research, published in the journal Polymer Degradation and Stability, supports this idea. From unpolluted environments rich in natural polymers (a peat bog and domestic compost), we identified two bacterial strains, Gordonia and Arthrobacter, that degraded polypropylene and polystyrene by nearly 23% and 19.5%, respectively, in just 28 days. Crucially, this occurred without any pretreatment, which is often required to make plastics more susceptible to microbial attack.

While these numbers may seem modest, they are among the highest biodegradation rates ever recorded for these plastics. This suggests that we don’t have to stick to polluted sites. It’s possible that we could find microbes with excellent plastic-degrading potential anywhere.

This aligns with another fascinating study showing that waxworms (Galleria mellonella) can eat plastic bags, thanks to specific gut microbes. Waxworms do not naturally consume plastic, they are common pests in beehives where they feed on honeycomb. But, structurally, honeycomb is similar to polyethylene, the main component of plastic bags.

Drowning in plastic?

These advances are exciting because they show how nature can offer us tools to deal with the plastic problem we’ve created.

Plastic is one of the most pervasive materials on Earth. Lightweight, durable, cheap to produce and infinitely versatile, it permeates nearly every aspect of modern life. In critical applications such as medical devices and equipment, its presence is not just convenient but essential. Lives often depend on it.

But in the wrong context, the qualities that make plastics so useful and durable become their greatest flaw. Most plastics do not readily biodegrade, instead accumulating in natural environments, gradually fragmenting into microplastics that can persist for centuries. This poses a long-term threat to nature and human health.

Global plastic production now exceeds 460 million tonnes annually. Up to half of this is estimated to be single-use items, often used for only a few moments before being discarded.

While diligent users of recycling facilities might assume that most of our plastic is indeed recycled, the reality is sobering: the global recycling rate for plastics is only 9%.

Around half ends up in landfills, while around one-fifth is incinerated, and another fifth is mismanaged so it’s not recycled, incinerated or securely contained. That means it can end up in rivers, lakes and oceans. The result: a planet drowning in synthetic waste.

As plastic production and disposal continue to outpace our ability to manage it, the need for innovative, sustainable solutions is urgent. Recognising this, the UN’s ongoing negotiations for a global plastics treaty aims to build a more circular economy for plastics and end plastic pollution by 2040.

While challenges remain in enhancing the biodegradation capabilities of microorganisms to make them a viable solution for large-scale waste management and environmental remediation, progress is steadily being made.

Advances in microbial engineering, enzyme discovery and environmental microbiology are paving the way towards more efficient and scalable plastic biodegradation systems. With continued research and investment, what was once a distant possibility is now a realistic and promising component of a broader strategy to combat plastic pollution.

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Julianne Megaw 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. How microbes could help solve the world’s plastic pollution crisis – https://theconversation.com/how-microbes-could-help-solve-the-worlds-plastic-pollution-crisis-262583