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October 14, 2025

Almost 75,000 farmed salmon in Scotland escaped into the wild after Storm Amy – why this may cause lasting damage

Source: The Conversation – UK – By William Perry, Postdoctoral Research Associate at the School of Biosciences, Cardiff University

When Storm Amy battered the Scottish Highlands in early October, it tore through a salmon farm’s sea pens, releasing around 75,000 fish into open water in Loch Linnhe. The scale of the escape is alarming. It comes at a time when wild Atlantic salmon – already classified as “endangered” in Great Britain – are in decline.

For an animal so central to the UK’s ecology, culture and economy, the incident has serious implications.

At first glance, it might sound like a rare bit of good news: thousands of fish freed from captivity, perhaps even helping to bolster wild populations. But the reality is far less heartwarming.

These fish are not wild salmon in any meaningful sense. They are highly domesticated animals, selectively bred over decades for traits that make them profitable in captivity but poorly equipped for survival in the wild.

Aquaculture – the farming of fish and other aquatic species – has become one of the fastest-growing forms of food production in the world. The most valuable of all farmed marine species is the Atlantic salmon, which accounted for 18% of global marine aquaculture production value in 2022. The UK is the third largest producer, with almost all production centred around Scotland’s coast.

Modern salmon farming typically involves rearing young fish in freshwater hatcheries before transferring them to sea cages or pens. Each farm may hold six to ten large nets, each containing up to 200,000 fish.

Having salmon nets open to strong tidal currents is key to their design, allowing clean oxygenated water to enter and waste to be removed. However, this also means that they are vulnerable to adverse weather conditions.

To combat this, more sheltered coastal regions are used, like fjords or lochs, but this only offers so much protection. Storm Amy demonstrated that vulnerability all too clearly.

From wild fish to livestock

Atlantic salmon farming began in the 1970s. Since then, the species has undergone intensive selective breeding, much like sheep, dogs or chickens. Fish have been chosen for faster growth, delayed sexual maturity, disease resistance and other commercially desirable traits.

Around 90% of the salmon used in Scottish aquaculture originate from Norwegian stock. After 15 generations of selection, these farmed salmon are now among the most domesticated fish species in the world. They no longer resemble their wild relatives in important ways.

Farmed salmon differ genetically, physiologically and behaviourally. They are often larger, mature differently and feed on pellets instead of hunting live prey. Changes which make them more vulnerable to predators.

Farmed salmon even have traits which will make them less attractive to wild counterparts. Many would struggle to survive for long in the wild.

The problem isn’t just that farmed salmon die when they escape but what happens when some of them don’t. Studies show that in certain Scottish and Norwegian rivers, more than 10% of salmon caught are of farmed origin, with numbers highest near intensive farming areas.

Although these fish are maladapted to wild conditions, a few survive long enough to reach rivers and attempt to spawn.

When they breed with wild salmon, their offspring inherit a mix of traits – neither truly wild nor farmed – leaving them less suited to their natural environment. This process, known as “genetic introgression”, gradually damages the genetic integrity of wild populations.

An underwater portrait of a wild Atlantic salmon — A wild Atlantic salmon.
willjenkins/Shutterstock

Timing makes this latest incident particularly concerning. Wild salmon are now returning to Scottish rivers to spawn. The sudden influx of tens of thousands of farmed escapees increases the chance of interbreeding, and of long-term genetic damage.

The scale of this single escape is extraordinary. Scotland’s total returning wild salmon population is estimated at around 300,000 fish. The release of 75,000 farmed salmon represents roughly a quarter of that number.

Even if only 1% of the escapees survive and breed, that would mean around 750 fish entering rivers and potentially mixing with wild populations. A 2021 Marine Scotland report found that rivers near some fish farms are in “very poor condition”, with evidence of major genetic changes. Worryingly, other nearby rivers previously classed as being in “good condition” could now be at risk too.

Wild Atlantic salmon already face multiple human-driven threats like climate change, habitat loss, pollution and invasive species. Genetic pollution from farmed escapees is yet another blow. It’s one that undermines the species’ resilience to other forms of environmental change.

The release caused by Storm Amy may be one incident, but it’s symptomatic of a wider problem. As storms intensify with a changing climate, the likelihood of future escapes grows. Without tighter regulation, better containment measures and effective genetic monitoring of wild populations, these events could continue to erode what’s left of UK’s wild salmon.

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William Perry 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. Almost 75,000 farmed salmon in Scotland escaped into the wild after Storm Amy – why this may cause lasting damage – https://theconversation.com/almost-75-000-farmed-salmon-in-scotland-escaped-into-the-wild-after-storm-amy-why-this-may-cause-lasting-damage-267354

October 14, 2025

Young people around the world are leading protests against their governments

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Sanwal Hussain, PhD Candidate in the Department of Politics and Society, Aston University

The spate of public demonstrations against unemployment, corruption and low quality of life around the world is striking because of who is leading them. Young people have used social media platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube to spread information and arrange their demonstrations.

While some of these protests have remained peaceful, others – such as the youth-led demonstrations in Indonesia and Nepal – have become violent. Ten people died in Indonesia’s protests in late August, when public anger over the cost of living and social inequality boiled over after police killed a delivery driver.

And 72 people were killed in Nepal, which saw demonstrations against a government social media ban in early September escalate into widespread protests over political instability, elite corruption and economic stagnation. The gen Z groups leading these protests said the movement had been hijacked by “opportunist” infiltrators.

Here are three more places where young people, apparently inspired by the youth-led movements in Indonesia and Nepal, have been demonstrating against their governments in recent weeks.

Peru

Hundreds of young people marched in the Peruvian capital, Lima, in late September against the government’s introduction of pension reforms which require young Peruvians to pay into private pension funds. These protesters were joined a week later by transport workers, who marched towards Congress in the centre of Lima.

In a clash on September 29 – during a protest organised by a youth collective called Generation Z – crowds threw stones and petrol bombs at the police, who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets, injuring at least 18 protesters.

These protests came a few months after Peru’s president, Dina Boluarte, issued a decree doubling her salary. The move, which came despite Boluarte’s historically low approval rating of only 2%, was declared “outrageous” by many observers on Peruvian social media.

Young people there are facing job insecurity and high unemployment, while many say the government is not doing enough to combat extortion by gangs, corruption and rising insecurity.

Reports of extortion in Peru have increased sixfold over the past five years. Figures released by Peru-based market research company Datum Internacional in 2024 suggest around 38% of Peruvians have reported knowing about cases of extortion in their area.

The recent pension reforms added fuel to existing anger. On October 9, after weeks of calls for Boluarte’s government to resign, lawmakers in Peru voted to remove her from office. New elections are due to be held in April 2026.

Morocco

An anonymous collective of young people called Gen Z 212 – a reference to Morocco’s international dialling code – has been at the centre of protests that have spread across ten Moroccan cities since September 27.

The group has organised and coordinated demonstrations through TikTok and Instagram, as well as the gaming and streaming platform Discord. Membership of Gen Z 212 on Discord grew from fewer than 1,000 members at its launch on September 18 to more than 180,000 by October 8.

This movement began in August after eight women died while receiving maternity care in a public hospital in Agadir, a city on Morocco’s southern coast. This sparked outrage over the state of public services in the country.

World Bank statistics from 2023 suggest there are only 7.8 doctors in Morocco for every 10,000 people – far below the 23 doctors for every 10,000 inhabitants recommended by the World Health Organization.

At the same time, Morocco is spending US$5 billion (£3.7 billion) to build the world’s biggest football stadium, as part of its preparations to co-host the 2030 World Cup with Portugal and Spain. Moroccans see their government as having got its priorities wrong. Crowds have chanted slogans such as “We want hospitals, not football stadiums”.

Police have responded to these protests by arresting hundreds of people, with clashes with protesters becoming violent in some parts of the country. Three people were killed on October 1 in what authorities described as “legitimate defence”, after protesters allegedly tried to storm a police station in the village of Lqliâa, near Agadir.

Morocco’s prime minister, Aziz Akhannouch, has invited Gen Z 212 to participate in dialogue with his government, and the group has shared a list of demands focused on basic needs such as education, healthcare, housing, transportation and jobs. However, the protest movement has continued.

Madagascar

At least 22 people were killed and more than 100 injured in anti-government protests across Madagascar in the first week of October. These protests were coordinated by an online movement known as Gen Z Mada – although labour unions, civil society organisations and several politicians became involved once the protests began.

The movement was sparked by the arrest of two Malagasy politicians, Clémence Raharinirina and Baba Faniry Rakotoarisoa, on September 19. Both politicians had publicly called for citizens to stage peaceful demonstrations in the capital, Antananarivo, against water and power supply problems on the island.

The demonstrations focused initially on shortages of basic necessities, an electricity crisis, unemployment and corruption. But they soon escalated into calls for the Malagasy president, Andry Rajoelina, to resign. Protesters have held him responsible for the problems facing their country.

Rajoelina attempted to satisfy the protesters by dissolving his government and calling for “national dialogue” with Gen Z Mada. In a speech on state broadcaster Televiziona Malagasy, he said: “We acknowledge and apologise if members of the government have not carried out the tasks assigned to them.”

However, this move did not stop the demonstrations. Rajoelina subsequently appointed Ruphin Fortunat Zafisambo, an army general, as his prime minister and imposed a strict curfew in Antananarivo, with a heavy presence of security forces, in a bid to end the protests.

The protesters have vowed to continue their struggle and, at time of writing, some are still waving flags with the words “Rajoelina out”. Rajoelina has now fled the country after factions of the army rallied behind the protesters.

In leading the fight against inequality, young people in developing countries are following a well-trodden path. Youth-led protests in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have both toppled governments in recent years. These movements seem to have encouraged others across the globe to empower themselves and demand more from entrenched elites.

Sanwal Hussain 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. Young people around the world are leading protests against their governments – https://theconversation.com/young-people-around-the-world-are-leading-protests-against-their-governments-266950

October 14, 2025

The medieval folklore of Britain’s endangered wildlife ‘omens’ – from hedgehogs to nightjars

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jessica Lloyd May, PhD Candidate in History, University of Nottingham

A hedgehog illustration from a medieval bestiary (1270) by an unknown illuminator. Courtesy of Getty’s Open Content Program, CC BY-SA

As the seasons turn and the nights draw in, the countryside of the British Isles seems alive with omens: an owl’s screech, or a bat above the hedgerows.

For centuries, such creatures were cast as messengers of fate, straddling the boundary between the natural and the supernatural. Yet today, the omens these animals bring are no longer warnings of ghosts or witchcraft, but of something far more tangible: their own survival.

The very species that once haunted our imagination and foretold ill-fated futures are now haunted by habitat loss, climate change and pressure from urbanisation. In the stories of these creatures, we glimpse both our fear of the wild past and our responsibility for the future. Now is the time to revisit some of Britain’s iconic “omen animals”, tracing their folklore and asking what their fate tells us about our shared environment.

Hedgehogs

Hedgehogs, though voted Britain’s favourite mammal, were previously deemed to be milk thieves.

A medieval illustration of a hedgehog — A hedgehog in the medieval Recueil des Croniques d’Engleterre (1471-1483).
Quirk Books

A widespread folkloric belief of the early modern period, likely exacerbated by the European witch hunts, was that witches would transform into hedgehogs to steal milk from cows’ udders. This belief was so prevalent that a campaign to hunt and eradicate hedgehogs was backed by English parliament, with a bounty of a tuppence placed on the head of each hog.

Though their public image has recovered in recent years, hedgehogs are now classed as “vulnerable” to extinction in the UK. Their key threats are linked with habitat loss and fragmentation. Their natural prey, insects and invertebrates, are also in decline due to increased use of pesticides.

Declines in hedgehogs have been particularly steep in rural habitats, with populations reduced by 30–75% since 2000. Conservation priorities focus on restoring lost habitats for hedgehogs and understanding how best to protect them.

Adders

As the only venomous snake in the UK, it is unsurprising that the adder would attract some negative publicity over the years. The species is increasingly a conservation concern and now locally extinct across much of England due to habitat loss.

An “adder’s fork” was a spell ingredient listed by the witches in Shakespeare’s Macbeth (1606). He invoked them too in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1600) as a way for one character to accuse another of treachery and deceit.

A man fighting a snake — Snakes frequently appear in medieval manuscripts.
British Library Harley MS

Even more sinister, finding an adder on your doorstep was considered a death omen. It is now unlikely for your threshold to be crossed by an adder, as they are now mostly found in small, isolated populations. Even they could be lost by 2032.

Conservation efforts are focusing on the creation, restoration and management of suitable grassland, but are not currently widely implemented. Increasing public awareness and appreciation of the species is a key goal for adder preservation.

Wildcats

Once widespread across Britain, wildcats are now considered our most endangered animal species. They have a long reputation in Scottish folklore for being untameable, serving as the namesake of the Pictish province of Cataibh when it was formed in 800BC. They were often adopted as symbolic emblems or mascots in early clan lore due to their fierce fighting spirit. Their ominous cry is thought to have inspired ghost stories across the ages.

two cats hunting mice in a medieval illustration — Cats hunting mice in a 13th-century manuscript.
British Library, Royal 12 C XIX

Deforestation and persecution, especially by Victorian gamekeepers, eradicated wildcats from England, Wales and much of Scotland. In 2019, experts concluded that breeding with feral domestic cats has compromised their genetic integrity and that the remnant populations are too small, isolated and genetically degraded to have a long-term future.

But some hope does remain for the wildcat. Saving Wildcats, a European partnership project dedicated to wildcat conservation, is leading efforts to breed the species in captivity. As of 2023, a number of wildcats have been into Scotland’s Cairngorm National Park.

Mountain hares

The mountain hare is the UK’s only native member of the hare and rabbit family. Once widespread across Britain, mountain hares are now confined to upland regions of Scotland and the Peak District.

An illustration of a hare hunt — Dogs shown hunting a hare in an illustration from a medieval Bestiary manuscript.
The Medieval Bestiary

Hares have a long history of superstitious and folkloric attachments. They were seen as shape-shifters, or familiars of witches, which would bring doom and misfortune to any person unfortunate enough to have their path crossed. Their shape-shifting abilities were referenced in The Mabinogion, a collection of Welsh stories compiled in the 12th and 13th centuries, across Celtic folklore before. Numerous regional hare-witches were referenced across England.

While fear of wronging a witch historically offered hares some protection, they have faced decline and range reduction from competition with brown hares, hunting pressures and land use change. Recent surveys suggest a 70% crash in the Peak District population over just seven years. Under current rates of decline, the mountain hare will become extinct from the region within five years.

Nightjars

Summer visitors to the UK, nightjars were once thought to drink milk from goats and in doing so poison them and cause their udders to wither away. These birds were also said to snatch up lost souls wandering between worlds with their unearthly call.

illustration of a bird drinking from a goat's udder — A nightjar drinks from a goat’s udder in an illustration from a medieval Bestiary manuscript.
The Medieval Bestiary

Nightjars suffered a catastrophic population decline in excess of 50% and range contraction of around 51% during the latter half of the 20th century. However, surveys conducted in 1992 and 2004 saw welcome population increases of 50% and 36% respectively. Nightjar were recorded making use of new clear-felled and young conifer plantations and benefiting from long-term habitat management projects in their southern strongholds. Although recent recoveries offer hope, nightjars have reclaimed only a fraction of their former range – around 18%.

These species, and far more besides, have been instrumental in the stories people have woven across time. So the next time you hear the screech of an owl outside your bedroom window or glimpse the wings of a bat flapping over your garden, pause to think about the omens of our wild country – and how their stories might yet continue.

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

– ref. The medieval folklore of Britain’s endangered wildlife ‘omens’ – from hedgehogs to nightjars – https://theconversation.com/the-medieval-folklore-of-britains-endangered-wildlife-omens-from-hedgehogs-to-nightjars-267085

October 14, 2025

In defense of ‘surveillance pricing’: Why personalized prices could be an unexpected force for equity

Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Aradhna Krishna, Dwight F. Benton Professor of Marketing, University of Michigan

Surveillance pricing has dominated headlines recently. Delta Air Lines’ announcement that it will use artificial intelligence to set individualized ticket prices has led to widespread concerns about companies using personal data to charge different prices for identical products. As The New York Times reported, this practice involves companies tracking everything from your hotel bookings to your browsing history to determine what you’re willing to pay.

The reaction has been swift. Democratic lawmakers have responded with outrage, with Texas Rep. Greg Casar introducing legislation to ban the practice. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s new chair of the Federal Trade Commission has shut down public comment on the issue, signaling that the regulatory pendulum may swing away from oversight entirely.

What’s missing in this political back-and-forth is a deeper look at the economics. As a business school professor who researches pricing strategy, I think the debate misses important nuances. Opponents of surveillance pricing overlook some potential benefits that could make markets both more efficient and, counterintuitively, more equitable.

What surveillance pricing actually is

Surveillance pricing differs from traditional dynamic pricing, where prices rise for everyone at times of peak demand. Instead, it uses personal data – browsing history, location, purchase patterns, even device type – to charge a unique price based on what algorithms predict you’re willing to pay.

The goal is to discover each customer’s “reservation price” – the most they’ll pay before walking away. Until recently, this was extremely difficult to do, but modern data collection has made it increasingly feasible.

An FTC investigation found that companies track highly personal consumer behaviors to set individualized prices. For example, a new parent searching for “baby thermometers” might find pricier products on the first page of their results than a nonparent would. It’s not surprising that many people think this is unfair.

The unintended progressive tax

But consider this: Surveillance pricing also means that wealthy customers pay more for identical goods, while lower-income customers pay less. That means it could achieve redistribution goals typically pursued through government policy. Pharmaceutical companies already do this globally, charging wealthier countries more for identical drugs to make medications accessible in poorer nations. Surveillance pricing could function as a private-sector progressive tax system.

Economists call it “price discrimination,” but it often helps poorer consumers access goods they might otherwise be unable to afford. And unlike government programs, this type of redistribution requires no taxpayer funding. When Amazon’s algorithm charges me more than a college student for the same laptop, it’s effectively running a means-tested subsidy program – funded by consumers.

PBS NewsHour featured a segment on the Delta Air Lines news.

The two-tier economy problem

In my view, the most legitimate concern about surveillance pricing isn’t that it exists, but how it’s implemented. Online retailers can seamlessly adjust prices in real time, while physical stores remain largely stuck with uniform pricing. Imagine the customer fury if Target’s checkout prices varied by person based on their smartphone data: There could be chaos in the stores. This digital-physical divide could also create unfair advantages for tech-savvy companies while leaving traditional retailers behind. That would raise fairness considerations for consumers as well as retailers.

This is related to another force that could limit how far surveillance pricing can go: arbitrage, or the practice of buying something where it is cheaper and selling it where it is more expensive.

If a system consistently charges wealthy customers $500 for items that cost poor customers $200, it creates opportunities for entrepreneurial intermediaries to exploit these price gaps. Personal shopping services, buying cooperatives or even friends and family networks could arbitrage these differences, providing wealthy customers access to the lower prices while splitting the savings. This means surveillance pricing can’t discriminate too aggressively – market forces will erode excessive price gaps.

That’s why I believe the solution isn’t to ban surveillance pricing entirely, but to monitor how it is put in practice.

The regulatory sweet spot

The current political moment offers a strange opportunity. With Republicans focused on AI innovation and Democrats fixated on bans, there’s space for a more sophisticated position that embraces market-based redistribution while demanding strong consumer protections.

In my view, smart regulation would require companies to disclose when personal data influences pricing, and would prohibit discrimination based on protected characteristics such as race, color or religion – and this list needs to be created extremely carefully. This would preserve the efficiency benefits while preventing abuse.

Surveillance pricing based on desperation or need also raises unique ethical questions. Charging a wealthier customer more for a taxi ride is one thing; charging someone extra solely because their battery is low and they risk being stranded is another.

As I see it, the distinction between ability to pay and urgency of need must become the cornerstone of regulation. While distinguishing the two may seem challenging, it’s far from impossible. It would help if customers were empowered to report exploitative practices, using mechanisms similar to existing price-gouging protections.

A solid regulatory framework must also clarify the difference between dynamic pricing and surveillance-based exploitation. Dynamic pricing has long been standard practice: Airlines charge all last-minute travelers higher fares, regardless of their circumstances. But consider two passengers buying tickets on the same day – one rushing to a funeral, another planning a spontaneous vacation. Right now, airlines can use technology to identify and exploit the funeral attendee’s desperate circumstances.

The policy challenge is precise: Can we design regulations that prevent airlines from exploiting the bereaved while still allowing retailers to offer discounts on laptops to lower-income families? The answer will determine whether surveillance pricing becomes a tool for equity or exploitation.

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

– ref. In defense of ‘surveillance pricing’: Why personalized prices could be an unexpected force for equity – https://theconversation.com/in-defense-of-surveillance-pricing-why-personalized-prices-could-be-an-unexpected-force-for-equity-266293

October 14, 2025

New student loan limits could change who gets to become a professor, doctor or lawyer

Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Rodney Coates, Professor of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Miami University

As millions of student loan borrowers settle into the school year, many are stressed about how they’ll pay for their degrees. These students may find that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the big tax and spending bill that President Donald Trump signed into law over the summer, could limit how much they can borrow.

Until recently, graduate students could take out two types of federal loans: Direct Unsubsidized Loans, which had a lifetime limit of US$138,500, and Grad PLUS loans, which allowed students to borrow up to the full cost of attendance, minus financial aid.

But Grad PLUS loans will be eliminated next summer, with a three-year transitional period for current borrowers. That will leave only the capped loans for new borrowers, and those loans have new lifetime borrowing limits: $200,000 for students pursuing certain professional degrees, and $100,000 for nonprofessional graduate programs.

If you add both undergraduate and graduate loans, there’s a new lifetime limit of $257,500 per person.

That seems modest to me. Consider that the annual average costs for an undergraduate degree range from $24,920 for in-state public universities to $58,000 for private universities. That means we’re looking at up to $224,000 for a bachelor’s degree. If we add three years of law school, we’re looking at an additional $132,000 to $168,000, respectively. Alternatively, completing four years of medical school will set you back another $268,000 to $363,000. It’s not easy to make those numbers add up to less than $257,500.

As I reflect on these numbers and my journey to becoming a college professor, specializing in race and ethnic studies, one thing becomes clear: I would never have been able to earn my bachelor’s degree, two master’s degrees, and Ph.D. under these new rules.

Adjusting for inflation, I took out nearly $300,000 in student loans, and I paid them all off within a decade of starting my college teaching career. For me, the system worked. I wonder how today’s aspiring professionals, especially those from less prosperous backgrounds, will manage.

The future of professionals

Professional students already graduate with a lot of debt – often far more than the new loan caps will allow. In 2020, more than a quarter of graduating medical students and nearly 60% of graduating dental students had borrowed more than the new limits would allow, author Mark Kantrowitz, who is an expert on student loans, has found. In 2024, nearly a quarter of medical school graduates left school with more than $300,000 in debt.

The new borrowing limits will likely hit minority students especially hard. While about 61% of all graduate students take out student loans, the share is much higher for Black students compared with white students, 48% to 17%.

While some might be able to supplement their federal loans with private ones – which tend to have much worse terms for borrowers – I fear that many others will be forced to end their educations prematurely.

That, in turn, would worsen the already severe shortage of doctors serving the Black community. As pointed out in a 2023 report of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the shortage of Black primary care physicians is directly related to overall lower population health and ultimately higher mortality rates within the Black community. As of 2023, fewer than 6% of U.S. doctors were Black, versus 14.4% of the population.

Research has suggested that student loan relief would help diversify the medical workforce. Adding new restrictions would likely have the opposite effect, making the profession more homogeneous and significantly undermining Black public health.

Or consider attorneys. Law school costs have risen more than 600% over the past two decades. The average 2020 law school graduate left with $165,000 in student debt.

Black law students face unique challenges, graduating with approximately 8% more debt on average than white students and facing significant wage disparities once they enter the legal workforce. Making it harder for Black students to afford law school could reduce the number of Black attorneys, which has held steady at about 5% of active lawyers over the past 10 years.

Reducing access to federal student loans risks disproportionately affecting women, since they hold roughly two-thirds of all student debt.

What comes next

Supporters of the change say that capping graduate student borrowing will encourage universities to rein in tuition hikes. They also say private student loan providers will step in to help students. I am skeptical, but the true test will come next year.

In the meantime, professional students might want to familiarize themselves with the many scholarship opportunities available. Many organizations offer a range of medical school scholarships, including those targeting women and minorities. The same is true for students interested in law school. A helpful starting point is this list of scholarships with approaching deadlines and these opportunities for women and people of color.

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

– ref. New student loan limits could change who gets to become a professor, doctor or lawyer – https://theconversation.com/new-student-loan-limits-could-change-who-gets-to-become-a-professor-doctor-or-lawyer-262008

October 14, 2025

Starbucks wants you to stay awhile – but shuttering its mobile-only pickup locations could be a risky move

Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Vivek Astvansh, Associate Professor of Quantitative Marketing and Analytics, McGill University

When Starbucks announced that it would phase out its mobile-order pickup-only locations beginning in 2026, it raised a question: Why abandon a format seemingly built for speed and efficiency?

As Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol explained the decision in an earnings call, the pickup-only stores had a “transactional” feel, lacking “the warmth and human connection that defines our brand.”

While Niccol also touted the mobile-order options at its traditional coffee shops, I see Starbucks’ move as an attempt to return to its roots as a “third place” – a destination between home and work where people can gather and connect.

But this sort of pivot comes with trade-offs – and it creates interesting market opportunities for competitors. As a marketing professor and a coffee connoisseur, I’m offering this analysis to go with your morning cup of joe.

The two types of coffee shop patrons

In general, coffee shops attract two distinct customer segments. The first are what I call “stay-and-savor” customers – people who mostly use the site as a place to meet others or work. Their primary interest is in the space, not the mocha or muffins.

The second are “grab-and-go” customers – people who want a consistent product, delivered efficiently. They don’t linger at the store, so the place is less important to them than convenience, speed and product quality. Think of the morning rush at your local coffee joint.

Starbucks’ pickup-only stores, branded as Starbucks PICK UP, cater to grab-and-go customers. If you don’t live in a busy area, you might never have heard of the brand: There are fewer than 100 Starbucks PICK UPs, many in densely packed cities.

In contrast, there are about 17,000 sit-in Starbucks stores across the United States. That means its plan will affect just 0.5% of its locations. That’s not very much.

So why does this change have me a little, well, steamed up?

Back to the third place, whether you like it or not

As I said before, I see this move as part of an effort to emphasize “stay-and-savor” customers over their “grab-and-go” counterparts. Indeed, Niccol’s recent earnings call presentation claimed that Starbucks is “prioritizing warmth, connection and community.” Starbucks also publishes a document stating its “principles for upholding the third place,” and its commitment seems to be more than just rhetorical.

The problem is that coffee shops aren’t like regular restaurants in terms of menu prices and customer spending. “Stay-and-savor” customers are costly to serve for coffee shops, and may generate insufficient revenue, making them less profitable. That could be bad for the bottom line.

The change could also have unintended consequences for workers and customers. For example, pickup-only stores allow employees to focus on food and beverage preparation, with less pressure to engage in small talk in the hopes of generating warmth and tips. Indeed, much academic research has shown that restaurant workers who serve customers report more emotional labor and stress and worse morale and well-being than those who don’t.

In contrast, Starbucks’ rivals, such as Dunkin’ and the Chinese new entrant Luckin Coffee, have embraced the grab-and-go customers. These rivals provide space for seating space, but they don’t elevate their positioning as if their baristas are serving warmth, connection and community.

Starbucks CEO Niccol has described the plan as a “sunsetting.” I’d watch out for Dunkin’ and Luckin Coffee, and of course, Starbucks’ financials in 2026, to determine whether the Starbucks sun sets or rises.

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

– ref. Starbucks wants you to stay awhile – but shuttering its mobile-only pickup locations could be a risky move – https://theconversation.com/starbucks-wants-you-to-stay-awhile-but-shuttering-its-mobile-only-pickup-locations-could-be-a-risky-move-262591

October 14, 2025

Introducing Jane Austen’s Paper Trail – a new podcast from The Conversation

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Anna Walker, Senior Arts + Culture Editor, The Conversation

Most of us think we know something about Jane Austen. As I began research for Jane Austen’s Paper Trail – a new podcast from The Conversation marking 250 years since her birth – I certainly believed I did.

Perhaps, like me, you’ve read her novels or enjoyed one of the many screen adaptations. Maybe you’ve seen her portrait, painted by her sister Cassandra, hanging in the National Portrait Gallery – or gazing serenely from a £10 note. But the more I learned about Austen, the more she seemed to slip away.

The image that adorns countless books, tea towels and souvenirs isn’t actually Cassandra’s painting at all. It’s an embellished copy: a Victorian engraving by William Home Lizars, who took the unfinished original and softened Austen’s features – uncrossing her arms and adjusting what some have called her “sour look”.

Even in her own day, Austen was hard to pin down. One acquaintance recalled her as “fair and handsome”, while her nephew remembered “bright hazel eyes and brown hair”. A niece, however, insisted that her aunt had “long, long black hair down to her knees”.

Accounts of her character differ just as wildly. One older woman who knew Jane in her youth described her as “the prettiest, silliest, most affected, husband-hunting butterfly she ever remembers”. Others said she had a “certain critical aloofness”, and was particularly shy in company.

The difficulty of knowing Jane is made worse by one peculiar act. In 1841, 25 years after Jane’s death, Cassandra Austen crouched by the fireplace and burned nearly all of her sister’s letters. Only 160 survived. Why did she do it? To protect Jane’s privacy? To preserve her image? Or was Jane’s famously sharp pen simply too dangerous for posterity?

That mystery – and many others – drives Jane Austen’s Paper Trail.

Over six episodes, one for each of her novels, we take you on a journey through Austen’s life and times with the help of the UK’s top experts. We’ll head to a scandal-filled tearoom in Bath to ask whether Jane was a gossip, visit a glittering Regency ball to find out whether she was a romantic, and visit her house in Hampshire to find out what she thought about being a writer.

Along the way, we’ll unpack the characters and themes that have made her work so enduring – and uncover the real Jane Austen.

Episode 1 of Jane Austen’s Paper Trail will be published on November 4. If you’re craving more Austen, check out our Jane Austen 250 page for more expert articles celebrating the anniversary.

Jane Austen’s Paper Trail is hosted by Anna Walker with reporting from Jane Wright and Naomi Joseph. Senior producer and sound designer is Eloise Stevens and the executive producer is Gemma Ware. Artwork by Alice Mason.

Listen to The Conversation Weekly via any of the apps listed above, download it directly via our RSS feed or find out how else to listen here.

– ref. Introducing Jane Austen’s Paper Trail – a new podcast from The Conversation – https://theconversation.com/introducing-jane-austens-paper-trail-a-new-podcast-from-the-conversation-266533

October 14, 2025

The 2025 Nobel economics prize honours economic creation and destruction

Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By John Hawkins, Head, Canberra School of Government, University of Canberra

Economists Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion, and Peter Howitt. Ill. Niklas Elmehed © Nobel Prize Outreach

Three economists working in the area of “innovation-driven economic growth” have won this year’s Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

Half of the 11 million Swedish kronor (about A$1.8 million) prize was awarded to Joel Mokyr, a Dutch-born economic historian at Northwestern University.

The other half was jointly awarded to Philippe Aghion, a French economist at Collège de France and INSEAD, and Peter Howitt, a Canadian economist at Brown University.

Collectively, the trio’s work has examined the importance of innovation in driving sustainable economic growth. It has also highlighted that in dynamic economies, old firms die as new firms are being born.

Innovation drives sustainable growth

As noted by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, economic growth has lifted billions of people out of poverty over the past two centuries. While we take this as normal, it is actually very unusual in the broad sweep of history.

The period since around 1800 is the first in human history when there has been sustained economic growth. This warns us we should not be complacent. Poor policy could see economies stagnate again.

One of the Nobel judges gave the example that in Sweden and the United Kingdom there was little improvement in living standards in the four centuries between 1300 and 1700.

Mokyr’s work showed that prior to the Industrial Revolution, innovations were more a matter of trial and error than being based on scientific understanding. He has argued that sustained economic growth would not emerge in:

a world of engineering without mechanics, iron-making without metallurgy, farming without soil science, mining without geology, water-power without hydraulics, dyemaking without organic chemistry, and medical practice without microbiology and immunology.

Mokyr gives the example of sterilising surgical instruments. This had been advocated in the 1840s or earlier. But surgeons were offended by the suggestion they might be transmitting diseases. It was only after the work of Louis Pasteur and Joseph Lister in the 1860s that the role of germs was understood and sterilisation became common.

Mokyr emphasised the importance of society being open to new ideas. As the Nobel committee put it:

practitioners, ready to engage with science, along with a societal climate embracing change, were, according to Mokyr, key reasons why the Industrial Revolution started in Britain.

Winners and losers

This year’s other two laureates, Aghion and Howitt, recognised that innovations create both winning and losing firms. In the US, about 10% of firms enter and 10% leave the market each year. Promoting economic growth requires an understanding of both processes.

Their 1992 article built on earlier work on the concept of “endogenous growth” – the idea that economic growth is
generated by factors inside an economic system, not the result of forces that impinge from outside. This earned a Nobel prize for Paul Romer in 2018.

It also drew on earlier work on “creative destruction” by Joseph Schumpeter.

The model created by Aghion and Howitt implies governments need to be careful how they design subsidies to encourage innovation.

If companies think that any innovation they invest in is just going to be overtaken (meaning they would lose their advantage), they won’t invest as much in innovation.

Their work also supports the idea governments have a role in supporting and retraining those workers who lose their jobs in firms that are displaced by more innovative competitors.

This will build political support for policies that encourage economic growth, as well.

‘Dark clouds’ on the horizon?

The three laureates all favour economic growth, in contrast to growing concerns about the impact of endless growth on the planet.

In an interview after the announcement, however, Aghion called for carbon pricing to make economic growth consistent with reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

He also warned about the gathering “dark clouds” of tariffs; that creating barriers to trade could reduce economic growth.

And he said we need to ensure today’s innovators do not stifle future innovators through anti-competitive practices.

The newest Nobel prize

The economics prize was not one of the five originally nominated in Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel’s will in 1895. It is formally called the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. It was first awarded in 1969.

The awards to Mokyr and Howitt continue the pattern of the economics prize being dominated by researchers working at US universities.

It also continues the pattern of over-representation of men. Only three of the 99 economics laureates have been women.

Arguably, economics professor Rachel Griffith, rather than Mokyr, could have shared the prize with Aghion and Howitt this year. She co-authored the book Competition and Growth with Aghion, and co-wrote an article on competition with both of them.

John Hawkins 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 2025 Nobel economics prize honours economic creation and destruction – https://theconversation.com/the-2025-nobel-economics-prize-honours-economic-creation-and-destruction-267212

October 14, 2025

How we sharpened the James Webb telescope’s vision from a million kilometres away

Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Benjamin Pope, Associate Professor, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Macquarie University

A ‘selfie’ taken during Webb’s testing on Earth. Ball Aerospace

After Christmas dinner in 2021, our family was glued to the television, watching the nail-biting launch of NASA’s US$10 billion (AU$15 billion) James Webb Space Telescope. There had not been such a leap forward in telescope technology since Hubble was launched in 1990.

En route to its deployment, Webb had to successfully navigate 344 potential points of failure. Thankfully, the launch went better than expected, and we could finally breathe again.

Six months later, Webb’s first images were revealed, of the most distant galaxies yet seen. However, for our team in Australia, the work was only beginning.

We would be using Webb’s highest-resolution mode, called the aperture masking interferometer or AMI for short. It’s a tiny piece of precisely machined metal that slots into one of the telescope’s cameras, enhancing its resolution.

Our results on painstakingly testing and enhancing AMI are now released on the open-access archive arXiv in a pair of papers. We can finally present its first successful observations of stars, planets, moons and even black hole jets.

Working with an instrument a million kilometres away

Hubble started its life seeing out of focus – its mirror had been ground precisely, but incorrectly. By looking at known stars and comparing the ideal and measured images (exactly like what optometrists do), it was possible to figure out a “prescription” for this optical error and design a lens to compensate.

The correction required seven astronauts to fly up on the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1993 to install the new optics. Hubble orbits Earth just a few hundred kilometres above the surface, and can be reached by astronauts.

A moody image of the honeycomb-like mirror layout still in a lab with people in protective gear inspecting it. — The primary mirror of the Webb telescope consists of 18 precisely ground hexagonal segments.
NASA/Chris Gunn

By contrast, Webb is roughly 1.5 million kilometres away – we can’t visit and service it, and need to be able to fix issues without changing any hardware.

This is where AMI comes in. This is the only Australian hardware on board, designed by astronomer Peter Tuthill.

It was put on Webb to diagnose and measure any blur in its images. Even nanometres of distortion in Webb’s 18 hexagonal primary mirrors and many internal surfaces will blur the images enough to hinder the study of planets or black holes, where sensitivity and resolution are key.

AMI filters the light with a carefully structured pattern of holes in a simple metal plate, to make it much easier to tell if there are any optical misalignments.

A metal plate with a hexagonal pattern on it, and several hexagon shaped holes. — AMI allows for a precise test pattern that can help correct any issues with JWST’s focus.
Anand Sivaramakrishnan/STScI

Hunting blurry pixels

We wanted to use this mode to observe the birth places of planets, as well as material being sucked into black holes. But before any of this, AMI showed Webb wasn’t working entirely as hoped.

At very fine resolution – at the level of individual pixels – all the images were slightly blurry due to an electronic effect: brighter pixels leaking into their darker neighbours.

This is not a mistake or flaw, but a fundamental feature of infrared cameras that turned out to be unexpectedly serious for Webb.

This was a dealbreaker for seeing distant planets many thousands of times fainter than their stars a few pixels away: my colleagues quickly showed that its limits were more than ten times worse than hoped.

So, we set out to correct it.

How we sharpened Webb’s vision

In a new paper led by University of Sydney PhD student Louis Desdoigts, we looked at stars with AMI to learn and correct the optical and electronic distortions simultaneously.

We built a computer model to simulate AMI’s optical physics, with flexibility about the shapes of the mirrors and apertures and about the colours of the stars.

We connected this to a machine learning model to represent the electronics with an “effective detector model” – where we only care about how well it can reproduce the data, not about why.

After training and validation on some test stars, this setup allowed us to calculate and undo the blur in other data, restoring AMI to full function. It doesn’t change what Webb does in space, but rather corrects the data during processing.

It worked beautifully – the star HD 206893 hosts a faint planet and the reddest-known brown dwarf (an object between a star and a planet). They were known but out of reach with Webb before applying this correction. Now, both little dots popped out clearly in our new maps of the system.

A dark circle on a grey background showing two spots of light labelled B and C. — A map of the HD 206893 system. The colourful spots show the likelihood of there being an object at that position, while B and C show the known positions of the companion planets. The wider blob means the position of C is less precisely measured, as it’s much fainter than B. This is simplified from the full version presented in the paper.
Desdoigts et al., 2025

This correction has opened the door to using AMI to prospect for unknown planets at previously impossible resolutions and sensitivities.

It works not just on dots

In a companion paper by University of Sydney PhD student Max Charles, we applied this to looking not just at dots – even if these dots are planets – but forming complex images at the highest resolution made with Webb. We revisited well-studied targets that push the limits of the telescope, testing its performance.

A red sphere with four brighter spots clearly visible. — Jupiter’s moon Io, seen by AMI on Webb. Four bright spots are visible; they are volcanoes, exactly where expected, and rotate with Io over the hour-long timelapse.
Max Charles

With the new correction, we brought Jupiter’s moon Io into focus, clearly tracking its volcanoes as it rotates over an hour-long timelapse.

As seen by AMI, the jet launched from the black hole at the centre of the galaxy NGC 1068 closely matched images from much-larger telescopes.

Finally, AMI can sharply resolve a ribbon of dust around a pair of stars called WR 137, a faint cousin of the spectacular Apep system, lining up with theory.

The code built for AMI is a demo for much more complex cameras on Webb and its follow-up, Roman space telescope. These tools demand an optical calibration so fine, it’s just a fraction of a nanometre – beyond the capacity of any known materials.

Our work shows that if we can measure, control, and correct the materials we do have to work with, we can still hope to find Earth-like planets in the far reaches of our galaxy.

Benjamin Pope receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Big Questions Institute.

– ref. How we sharpened the James Webb telescope’s vision from a million kilometres away – https://theconversation.com/how-we-sharpened-the-james-webb-telescopes-vision-from-a-million-kilometres-away-262510

October 14, 2025

Israelis are hailing Trump as Cyrus returned – but who was Cyrus the Great, anyway?

Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Peter Edwell, Associate Professor in Ancient History, Macquarie University

With both parties agreeing to terms, the first stages of a peace plan in Gaza are in motion. US President Donald Trump is credited (especially in Israel and the US) with having played a vital role in this development.

But why have banners appeared in Israel depicting Trump with the caption “Cyrus the Great is alive”?

Who was Cyrus and what is he renowned for?

Founder of the Achaemenid Persian empire

Cyrus the Great was the founder of the Achaemenid Persian empire (550 BCE to 330 BCE).

Under Cyrus and his successors, the Persian empire stretched across a vast array of territories, including Iran, Mesopotamia (which includes parts of modern-day Turkey, Syria and Iraq), Egypt, Asia Minor (which is mostly modern-day Turkey) and Central Asia.

A key moment in this imperial expansion was Cyrus’ capture of Babylon and its surrounding territory, Babylonia, (mostly in modern-day Iraq) in 539 BCE.

The Babylonian king, Nabonidus, controlled large sections of Mesopotamia and northern Arabia. A surviving clay tablet called the Nabonidus chronicle outlines the alienation of his subjects. Unpopular religious reforms and his long absences from Babylon were among the grievances.

Cuneiform tablet with part of the Nabonidus Chronicle (556-530s BC) — A clay tablet called the Nabonidus chronicle describes Nabonidus’ despotic tendencies.
© The Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA

Soon after he defeated Nabonidus, Cyrus issued a decree freeing captive Jews (and others) in Babylon.

A comparatively humane approach to governing

Nebuchadnezzar II, king of the Babylonian empire from 605–562 BCE, had captured the kingdom of Judah (in modern-day Israel and Palestinian territories) in 587 BCE.

Due to rebellions, he ransacked Jerusalem and deported thousands of Jews to Babylon.

When Cyrus freed the Babylonian Jewish exiles almost 50 years later, many returned to Judah.

The biblical book of Ezra records the decree.

Cyrus, according to this version of the story, had been commanded by God to rebuild a temple at Jerusalem that Nebuchadnezzar II had destroyed. The decree released the Jewish exiles from Babylon to return to Jerusalem and rebuild it.

In the Old Testament book of Isaiah, Cyrus was chosen by God to free the Jews of Babylon.

For this reason, Cyrus became (and remains) a legendary figure in Jewish history, though he was not Jewish himself. He was more likely a devotee of Zoroastrianism, which was fervently embraced by his successors, including Darius I (who ruled 522-486 BCE).

An ancient clay tablet from Babylon suggests Cyrus’ occupation of Babylon was peaceful. It confirms the return of exiles, but not specifically Jewish ones. Known today as the “Cyrus cylinder”, it is sometimes referred to as an ancient declaration of human rights. A replica of the tablet is on permanent display at the UN headquarters in New York.

Cyrus was remembered in antiquity for what, at the time, was a comparatively humane approach to governing.

The Greek writer Xenophon, who wrote the Cyropedia (The Education of Cyrus) in about 370 BCE, noted that:

subjects he cared for and cherished as a father might care for his children, and they who came beneath his rule reverenced him like a father.

The benevolent and altruistic reputation of Cyrus was developed in his own reign and later. As one of history’s “winners”, Cyrus would be well-pleased with the propaganda that has continued to develop about his reign.

Conquest and wealth

Cyrus was, of course, a great warrior and strategist. One of his most famous conquests was the kingdom of Lydia (modern southwest Turkey) in about 546 BCE. Its king, Croesus, was known for his incredible wealth.

Cyrus initially ordered Croesus to be burned alive. But when the god Apollo sent a rain storm, Croesus was spared, according to the 5th century BCE Greek historian Herodotus. He then became a trusted advisor of Cyrus, adding to the Persian king’s reputation for benevolence.

Cyrus was also known for large-scale construction projects. The most famous was the palace complex at his capital, Pasargadae (modern southern Iran).

The palace and other buildings were set in the midst of magnificent paradise gardens.

Today, the most intact building at Pasargadae is the tomb of Cyrus. It has become a powerful symbol of Iranian and Persian nationalism. The legacy of Cyrus is still significant in Iran today.

So, the banners comparing Trump to Cyrus appear to be drawing on the story of Cyrus’ role in freeing Jewish captives. In this framing, Gaza is cast as Babylon and Trump as the new Cyrus.

One wonders what Cyrus the Great would think of the comparison.

Peter Edwell receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

– ref. Israelis are hailing Trump as Cyrus returned – but who was Cyrus the Great, anyway? – https://theconversation.com/israelis-are-hailing-trump-as-cyrus-returned-but-who-was-cyrus-the-great-anyway-267312