Source: The Conversation – UK – By Kathrin Maurer, Professor , Department of Cultural and Linguistic Studies, University of Southern Denmark
All-seeing ‘eye in the sky’: drones make us uneasy because we don’t know who is controlling them.Piotr Piatrouski/Shutterstock
Red and blue lights blink in the Danish sky. Is it a plane, a satellite, or a drone hovering overhead? Over the past few weeks, more and more Danes have been scanning the skies for mysterious flying objects, caught between curiosity and unease as sightings across the country spark fresh concern.
We speak about drones in our coffee breaks, exchanging newly acquired expert knowledge about flight heights and battery power. We talk to our children about “hybrid warfare”. And many of us walk around with a strange and eerie feeling that something in the sky is watching us.
Although Russia’s role in the recent drone incidents remains unconfirmed, the sightings come against a backdrop of escalating tensions between the two countries, and just after Copenhagen announced it would acquire long-range precision weapons, drawing sharp threats from Moscow. Indeed, analysts have suggested the drone flyovers may form part of a wider Russian strategy to sow fear, test Nato’s defences, and erode Danish support for Ukraine.
As a professor of culture and technology, my research focuses on surveillance, drones and how we talk about war. In this sense, surveillance from above is a tale as old as time. Think of that godly “eye in the sky”, mentioned by the Old Egyptians and in the Bible. That celestial all-seeing entity with superhuman powers to decide whether you should live or die, much like the drone itself.
This connection is not only highlighted in popular culture, such as in the title of the 2015 film Eye in the Sky about military drone strikes, but also by the military industry itself.
There is, for example, a US military drone, Gorgon Stare, named after a monstrous figure from Greek mythology, most famously represented by the three sisters Stheno, Euryale and Medusa. The latter is known for turning anyone who looks at her into stone. The Gorgon Stare is equipped with many cameras and armed with Hellfire missiles.
Trailer for 2015 film, Eye in the Sky.
But it’s not only the assumed drone’s power of hypervision that gives us the creeps. It’s also precisely its opposite feature: its invisibility. Although we might see some dots and shadows in the sky, the drone pilot stays invisible. Who steers this Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)? Who controls it – or does it even control itself? It is deeply rooted in our human instincts that when we feel observed by an invisible force, we feel alarm and our nervous system enters defence mode.
In this context, another Greek myth comes to mind: Gyges. The Greek philosopher Plato wrote about the shepherd Gyges, who discovered a magical ring that could make him invisible. Armed with this new power, Gyges became king and ruler over the country. Drones operate in a similar way to Gyges’s strategy, as their pilots also remain hidden in the shadows.
Threatening sky
Humans tend to thrive on eye contact. But drones are not about seeing each other. When it comes to fighting, there is no duel anymore. Drones do not announce themselves. They disregard international treaties, break laws of war, and fly under the radar.
The drone flyovers in Denmark expose our vulnerabilities and erode the sanctity of our airspace. Many have been left wondering if we are prepared for this new type of warfare. Nevertheless, within all this hype about drones, we have to remember that aerial reconnaissance has been around for centuries. Think of kites, hot air balloons and spy planes.
It’s also important to point out that new technologies frequently spark public unease. The first cars were met with great anxiety and fear. Electricity was seen as something supernatural. These examples do not aim to normalise the high levels of drone activity we’ve seen over Denmark, or the feelings of fear and uncertainty these aerial vehicles have induced.
But by looking at how new technologies have been viewed historically, it opens up space for critical and nuanced dialogue about their societal implications and how we navigate their presence in our everyday lives.
The history of surveillance from above shows us that human unease with aerial reconnaissance is nothing new. But in today’s climate of geopolitical tension, drones are more than symbols of technological change – they are markers of the fragile balance between visibility, power, and trust. And right now, that balance feels more precarious than ever.
This article was commissioned with Videnskab.dk as part of a partnership between it and The Conversation.
Kathrin Maurer receives funding from DFF research grant project 2 “Drone Imaginaries and Communities” 2019-2022
Aside from being a delight to watch, flight in birds is regarded by many cultures as a symbol of freedom, and a source of inspiration for humans to build our own flying machines. This makes those birds that have given up flight for a land-based way of life seem all the more intriguing.
In our new study of a 56 million-year-old fossil bird, my colleagues and I show that the distant ancestors of ostriches and other large flightless birds once flew great distances.
Many flightless birds belong to Palaeognathae, a taxonomic group containing ostriches, rheas, emus, cassowaries and kiwi, as well as the tinamous of Central and South America.
Unlike their large flightless relatives, tinamous can fly – but not very far. Spending most of their lives on the ground, they tend to fly only if startled by a predator. If you have ever been on a walk and startled a grouse or pheasant, this type of flight, known scientifically as burst flight, will be familiar to you.
Because they are flightless (or can’t fly far), the fact that palaeognaths are found on many different continents – South America, Africa, Australia and New Zealand – has been difficult for scientists to explain.
When the theory of plate tectonics became widely accepted in the 1960s, an answer seemed within reach. All of the continents were once united as the supercontinent Pangea, which slowly broke apart during the time of the dinosaurs, starting to split around 200 million years ago. Scientists wondered whether different populations of flightless palaeognaths could have just drifted apart from each other along with the continents they lived on.
However, this once-popular theory has since been discredited for two reasons. One is that the flying tinamous are genetically closer to some flightless palaeognaths than they are to others. This means that ostriches, rheas, emus, cassowaries and kiwi did not share a flightless common ancestor. Instead, in a remarkable case of parallel evolution, they all became flightless separately from each other.
The second reason is that genetic research shows palaeognath lineages started to separate many millions of years after Pangea broke up – far too late for the continental drift theory to be true.
This means palaeognaths had to have made it to South America, Africa,
Australia and New Zealand under their own power. Only able to fly in short bursts, a tinamou doesn’t stand a chance of flying across an ocean – but what about palaeognaths from the distant past? Could the ancestors of today’s palaeognaths have made these long journeys?
The collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC include an almost perfectly preserved sternum, or breastbone, belonging to an ancient palaeognath called Lithornis promiscuus that lived 56 million years ago. It was a fairly large bird, about the size of a grey heron.
Other researchers had determined that the sternum is a key piece of the skeleton for determining the flight style of a bird, so this fossil was our best chance to determine what this ancient bird was capable of.
Using a technique called geometric morphometrics, we compared the shape of the Lithornis sternum to those of over 150 living bird species. Our results show that Lithornis was not a burst flier like today’s tinamous. Instead, its sternum is most similar in shape to birds that fly huge distances, such as egrets and herons. This means means that, unlike their living relatives, Lithornis and other ancient palaeognaths would have been capable world travellers, able to establish new populations on different continents.
Why did these birds become flightless over and over again?
No matter how beautiful or inspiring we think flying is, it is also hard. If a bird species finds itself in a situation where it can get all of its food on the ground and doesn’t need to fly to escape predators, it will probably evolve towards being flightless.
Nowadays, these conditions are only met on islands, with the dodo being perhaps the most famous example. The dodo was a flightless bird that roamed Mauritius until it became extinct in the 1600s.
Dodos had no natural predators until humans arrived in the late 1500s (bringing with them other animals including rats). This meant dodos had not evolved a fear response, and there are records of them happily approaching humans.
Back when Lithornis and its relatives were alive, the world was very different. Just a few million years before, the dinosaurs had gone extinct. With no major predators around, birds were safe on the ground on continents as well as islands. And with a specialised bill tip organ as well as a keen sense of smell, Lithornis was well suited for probing for food in the soil, so it had no need to fly up into the trees to feed.
Therefore, ancient palaeognaths were set on a course towards flightlessness or low flight capacity wherever they went around the world. New mammalian predators evolved slowly, over millions of years, giving these flightless birds plenty of time to evolve new ways to escape and defend themselves.
After these long-distance flying ancestors went extinct, we were left with a puzzling distribution of these birds that could only be explained by the fossil record.
Klara Widrig received funding from the Gates Cambridge Trust.
The £2.2 billion plan for a second runway at London’s Gatwick airport has divided opinion over environmental concerns and its ability to kickstart the economic growth the UK so badly needs. Critics have said that the economic benefits are overstated and the environmental harms unavoidable.
These concerns – including from leading economists – are an important part of the debate. But they don’t tell the whole story. Looking at Gatwick’s northern runway proposal in particular, the evidence suggests that expansion can improve safety, reduce waste and deliver real benefits to travellers and the local community. As long as it is managed responsibly, of course.
Gatwick is Europe’s busiest single-runway airport, handling more than 43 million passengers a year and around 260,000 aircraft movements on just one operational runway.
This creates bottlenecks – during peak hours, aircraft go into “holding stacks” (vertical formations of planes that circle until it’s their turn to land). A typical Boeing 737 burns 2.5 to three tonnes of jet fuel per hour, so just 15 minutes of unnecessary holding adds nearly a tonne of CO₂ emissions into the atmosphere.
With an average of 3.24 minutes lost per flight into Gatwick in holding stacks and to other inefficiencies, the waste is significant, both environmentally and economically. Economists call this a “congestion externality”. That is, costs imposed on society with no corresponding benefit. Adding runway capacity directly reduces these inefficiencies.
Critics argue that more flights automatically mean more emissions. Yet the data show that efficiency matters too. Absorbing delays at cruise altitude rather than in low-level holding stacks has been shown to cut waste significantly.
At Gatwick, an arrival management scheme introduced in 2019 was expected to save more than 26,000 minutes of holding per year. If realised, this would translate into around 1,200 tonnes of fuel and 3,800 tonnes of CO₂ avoided annually.
Pairing those measures with the northern runway – which reduces stacking – compounds the savings. In welfare terms, this is a clear case of lowering emissions intensity per movement (a more useful measure than a company’s overall emissions). It should ensure that growth is not just about more traffic but also cleaner, more efficient traffic.
The case for consumers
There are also important consumer benefits. Gatwick competes heavily in the leisure and short-haul market, where families are most sensitive to price. By expanding to two runways, airlines will be able to schedule more services at peak times, bringing down fares.
Research shows that a scarcity of slots adds a premium to air fares. At Europe’s busiest airports – which include Gatwick – it’s estimated that by 2035 congestion will add €10.42 (£9.10) on average to each ticket.
Expansion also supports local and national economies. Gatwick forecasts that the northern runway project could create 14,000 jobs and contribute nearly £1 billion a year to the regional economy.
These jobs span construction, airport operations, tourism and supply chains, directly benefiting communities in the south-east of England. It’s what economists call a distributional gain – the benefits are spread broadly through employment and regional growth, rather than to a narrow group.
Of course, the costs – noise, air quality and climate – cannot be ignored and will have to be managed. Expansion plans retain the strict 11pm-6am night flight quota, implement quieter continuous descent operations (a technique that allows planes to descend more smoothly, creating less noise), and aim to encourage more travellers to arrive at the airport by rail.
Gatwick expansion plans are likely to come up against strong opposition from locals. Dinendra Haria/Shutterstock
With timetable integration and new fare types, Gatwick aims to push the percentage of passengers arriving and leaving by rail well above 50%. This would cut road traffic emissions. It is an attempt to ensure that those who generate environmental costs (airlines and airports) also bear responsibility for reducing them.
The real test is not whether Gatwick grows, but how it grows. With verifiable baselines – such as average stack minutes per arrival, go-around rates (where pilots abandon a landing attempt and circle back), and CO₂ per movement – expansion can be monitored and airport bosses held to account.
If the promised gains are delivered, the net effect could include safer skies, lower emissions intensity, cheaper fares, more jobs and stronger regional growth. Welfare economics teaches us that policy should maximise the wellbeing of the many, not preserve the convenience of a few. By that measure, Gatwick’s northern runway expansion could well be a welfare-enhancing choice.
Marwan Izzeldin 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.
With Spinal Tap II: The End Continues hitting cinemas, now is the perfect moment to revisit its precursor, one of most influential and hilarious comedy films ever made, 1984’s This Is Spinal Tap.
Directed by Rob Reiner and co-written by Reiner and the stars of the film, Christopher Guest (as Nigel Tufnel), Michael McKean (David St. Hubbins) and Harry Shearer (Derek Smalls), the mockumentary film follows a fictional British heavy metal band on a disastrous tour of the United States.
As audiences dwindle, equipment fails and egos clash, the band’s decline satirises rock’n’roll excess and the absurdities of the music industry.
Widely acknowledged as a cult classic, the film codified the “straight-faced” style of mockumentary that became central to modern comedies such as The Office and Modern Family.
Its dry and absurdist tone, handheld camerawork, faux interview format and largely improvised dialogue were inspirational for many contemporary comedy creators, including Ben Stiller, Mike Schur and Ricky Gervais. It also established a tone and style Guest would return to throughout his filmmaking career, in movies such as Waiting For Guffman (1996), Best In Show (2000) and A Mighty Wind (2003).
The band which could exist
Beyond pure nostalgia and the legacy of the mockumentary style, This Is Spinal Tap remains a cult favourite because of the clever and farcical way it skewers and satirises rock excess.
the best thing about this film is that it could. The music, the staging, the special effects, the backstage feuding and the pseudo-profound philosophizing are right out of a hundred other rock groups and a dozen other documentaries about rock.
In the early 1980s, MTV was on the rise. Rock tour documentaries from bands like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and The Band established new conventions of “rock reality” in films such as The Song Remains The Same (1976), Black and Blue (1980) and The Last Waltz (1978). The culture of excess surrounding some of these artists provided fertile ground for parody.
Ego clashes, overblown stage shows and catastrophic tours were commonplace. Spinal Tap’s deadpan mockumentary style was both a timely satire, and an authentic cultural commentary.
The brilliance of the film goes beyond its ribald satire. Of vital importance is the skilful musicianship of the cast. Even if they are a joke, Spinal Tap can play. The great rock riffs sustain the silliness of the lyrics in songs like Sex Farm and Big Bottom.
In addition, Guest and McKean slyly navigate a bromance at the heart of the film between their characters, Nigel and David.
When David’s girlfriend, Jeanine (June Chadwick) arrives to join the tour, things really go off the rails, leading to an acrimonious breakup between the bandmates.
Their reunion at the film’s conclusion reveals that the film is truly a love story between two vain yet endearing buffoons.
Going to 11
Moments such as Nigel boasting about his amplifier going “to 11”, Derek’s airport security incident, the band getting lost on the way to the stage, and the 18-inch (instead of 18-foot) Stonehenge stage prop have become iconic. But there are so many great gags on the periphery, layered through the largely improvised dialogue.
A personal favourite occurs during an early band interview. Reflecting on a series of strange deaths that have afflicted Spinal Tap’s drummers throughout the years, and acknowledging that their first drummer died in “a bizarre gardening accident”, Tufnel states “the authorities said best leave it unsolved really”.
There are also subtle visual jokes embedded through the film: the sudden emergence of cold sores for each band member in the early stages of the tour (at roughly the same time the band’s groupies enter the frame); the band being second billed behind an Amusement Park Puppet Show as the tour falls apart; Nigel needing to quickly tune the violin he’s using to augment an overblown guitar solo.
Modern audiences would no doubt recognise the film’s style being mimicked in contemporary works such as The Office, Parks and Recreation, Summer Heights High and What We Do in the Shadows.
Its influence has been directly acknowledged in the lead-up to the release of the sequel by creators who owe a debt to its clever format.
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues reunites Tufnel, St. Hubbins and Smalls, now estranged, 41 years after the original film.
They are reluctantly coming back together for one final concert they are legally bound to perform. Documentarian Marty Di Bergi (Reiner) returns to showcase their legacy, modern mishaps and the realities of being an ageing rocker.
It is an apt sequel in a world where legacy bands and artists such as The Rolling Stones, Springsteen and McCartney are still performing in their 70s and 80s.
The sequel is not just a reunion gig. It is a reminder of why the original remains one of the sharpest and most influential comedies ever made – and one well worth a revisit.
Adam Daniel 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.
Renovated with funding from China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the canopy was one of many projects touted by Vučić’s government as evidence of its success in attracting foreign investment. The accident’s 16 deaths, however, served to sharpen questions about corruption, failures of oversight and government accountability.
Student protests gathered momentum through winter and into spring. One demonstration, on March 15, saw more than 300,000 people turn out in Belgrade. Activists have also employed civil disobedience tactics, like staging pop-up roadblocks in Serbian cities, to maintain pressure on the government.
Then on Sept. 20, Vučić staged his own show of strength, with soldiers and tanks taking part in a military parade in Belgrade as Russian-bought MiG-29 fighter planes flew overhead.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić hold a bilateral meeting on Sept. 2, 2025, in Beijing. Getty Images
From reform to repression
Vučić’s reaction to the protests and his cozying up to leaders of Russia and China reveal how the Serbian leader’s politics have changed.
He was once perceived as a pro-European reformer. Indeed, Vučić and his Serbian Progressive Party campaigned on a pro-European Union platform in the 2012 election that brought them to power.
First serving as deputy prime minister before becoming prime minister in 2014, Vučić won plaudits for seeking to resolve long-standing tensions over Kosovo’s status as a sovereign country. At that time, it was Vučić who led his country’s negotiations with the EU over a normalization of relations between Serbia and its former province.
Vučić also showed willingness to improve Serbia’s ties with neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina. Whereas many Serbian citizens still felt primary affinity for the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska, whose armed forces committed genocide at Srebrenica in 1995, Vučić risked domestic censure when, in 2015, he labeled that massacre of Bosniak men and boys by Serbian paramilitaries a “monstrous crime.” Vučić also showed up at Srebrenica to pay his respects to the victims, despite local hostility.
Those diplomatic gestures, along with his success in attracting foreign investment, won Vučić international praise as an effective reformer. Serbian voters, likewise, acknowledged the economic stability and the country’s improved reputation.
Backtracking on record
Those assessments started to change in earnest, however, after Vučić secured election as president in 2017. Critics say that he has leveraged his position to amass power and influence, mimicking methods familiar to those living under authoritarian-leaning governments in Hungary and Russia.
Meanwhile, the U.K.’s Brexit vote in 2016, the election of Donald Trump in 2016 and then the global disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic all changed the dynamics of the international community, reducing outside pressure that had advanced democratic norms.
What followed in Serbia was backsliding on democracy. Serbia’s once-vibrant media now operates as government cheerleader. Independent journalism outlets have faced harassment, censorship and lawsuits as part of a state-sponsored campaign of censorship.
Meanwhile, on the diplomatic front, Vučić changed his tune on Kosovo. He now pledges to protect the interests of the breakaway province’s Serbs and portrays Kosovo’s Albanian leader, Albin Kurti, as the obstacle to any normalization deal.
On Bosnia-Herzegovina, Vučić has also backtracked, expressing support for long-time Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik – who has been barred from office by the country’s constitutional court, but defies that ruling.
In all this, Vučiċ has drawn on Kremlin talking points and an authoritarian playbook to distract attention away from his government’s practices. He and his allies cast the current protests not as a movement built on grassroots mobilization, but as the result of meddling by foreign agents.
In taking this authoritarian turn, Vučić invites critics to see parallels with Milošević, under whom the current president served in the 1990s as minister of information. Milošević, who died while on trial for war crimes, did much to inflame Serbian nationalism in the early 1990s and presided over the bloody wars in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo. After Milošević’s ouster in the Bulldozer Revolution of 2000, Vučić spent a decade in opposition before returning to government in 2012.
And while European diplomats were for many years eager to court Vučić, even tolerating hedging tactics that saw Serbia expand ties with Russia and China, that changed amid the president’s response to months of protest.
In March, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen noted on the social platform X that Serbia “needs to deliver on EU reforms, in particular to take decisive steps towards media freedom, the fight against corruption and the electoral reform.”
Marta Kos, European Commissioner for Enlargement, delivered blunter assessment six months later, noting in a European Parliament debate the “wave of violence and continuous use of force against protesters in Serbia.”
Such criticism has seen Vučić turn increasingly to China, Russia and also to the Trump administration, with Donald Trump Jr.’s visit to Serbia in March as emblematic of the warming ties between Washington and Belgrade.
The ‘inat’ of the Serbian people
Vučić has spent over a decade directing a political spectacle in which he presents himself as the one force capable of saving Serbia. And for the better part of the past year, he has attempted to paper over the cracks in his rule through a strategy of imposing increasingly authoritarian measures at home while seeking support from like-minded regimes abroad.
But the fact that this ploy has not extinguished the still ongoing anti-government protests suggests it may be a failing tactic.
And like Milošević in the late 1990s, Vučić seems to have underestimated the force of “inat” of the Serbian people. The Bulldozer Revolution that ousted Milošević was comprised of Serbs from a wide range of backgrounds, all determined to bring down an unpopular autocrat who put his own political survival above the needs of citizens.
They did so through grassroots mobilization and shared recognition that the true obstacle to prosperity was not foreign conspiracy, but Milošević himself. For all his individual stubbornness and spite, Milošević could not match the resilience and determination of Serbia’s citizens.
That same energy appears to be in the streets of Belgrade now, sustained by a new generation of citizens standing firm against the tactic of a different autocratic leader.
Keith Brown receives funding from the Finland Fulbright Foundation, and directs a Center that until recently has received funds from the US Department of State Title VIII program, the US Department of Education Title VI program, and the US Embassy in Yerevan, Armenia.
Hanna Begić 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.
The human-animal bond is evolving, and there is a need to further explore people’s concerns towards their pets(Unsplash/Manuel Meza)
When it comes to caring for pets, some people worry most about physical health, while others are more concerned about financing potential health problems. But what stands out in a recent survey is that many pet guardians are especially focused on their pets’ emotional well-being, with separation anxiety at the top of the list.
The survey involved 600 pet guardians in the United States. Its results align with recent research highlighting shifts in the ways pets are perceived.
As a researcher who specializes in understanding the impact of the human-animal bond on people’s mental health, I am particularly interested in what these findings reveal about how people’s relationships with their pets shape both human well-being and animals’ welfare.
Paying closer attention to pet guardians’ concerns can help us examine how people’s and pets’ well-being are intertwined. It may also inspire policies more sensitive to the realities of pet guardians, supporting both animals and people.
In recent years, some studies have highlighted pet guardians’ growing concerns about pets’ mental health. (Unsplash/Tran Mau Tri Tam)
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
In recent years, some studies have highlighted pet guardians’ growing concerns about pets’ mental health. For example, in one study with almost 45,000 pet guardians, 99 per cent of them described moderate or severe behavioural problems in their dogs, with attachment issues or separation anxiety as the most prevalent issue.
Another study suggests that COVID-19 lockdowns were detrimental to the mental health of some pets, particularly for those who already had symptoms of separation anxiety. During the pandemic, most people spent more time with their dogs, which might have strengthened the bond in some respects, but it also reduced pets’ privacy and safe spaces, which are essential for their emotional regulation.
Many people also decreased dog walks, and in homes with only one pet, these animals no longer had opportunities to socialize with other pets. Also, when pet guardians returned to their regular routines once lockdowns were lifted, the change was a trigger for some pets, and not only for dogs with a history of anxiety-related problems. When animals started to stay home alone again, some had difficulties coping with separation.
Another survey suggests that anxiety has increased significantly in dogs and cats since the pandemic, including fears of strangers, anxiety related to other pets and separation anxiety.
Taken together, these findings highlight the significant impact of the pandemic on pets’ behavioural issues, showing that these changes might have affected pets more than people realized.
Interconnections between people’s and pets’ mental health
While these problems in pets are indeed relevant, it is worth examining why they matter so profoundly for pet guardians, as these concerns may reveal something about the evolving role of the human-animal bond.
Concerns about pets’ mental wellness may reveal something about the evolving role of the human-animal bond. (Unsplash/Eric Ward)
There is evidence that people’s vulnerability to emotional stress may have increased in recent years along with increased rates of anxiety, depression and a sense of loneliness.
Looking further, the stigma around mental health issues is decreasing, and people are gradually becoming less uneasy about acknowledging and talking about their emotional struggles.
Poorer mental health in guardians may be associated with more behavioural issues in pets. It is possible that a greater sensitization to mental health issues, combined with a stronger perception of pets as family members and a broader trend toward their humanization, is impacting pet guardians’ concerns about their pets.
Additionally, some studies have shown an association between elevated anxiety in pet guardians and increased fears and anxiety-related behaviours in pets. In this context, these findings might reflect broader changes in how pets are perceived, while also mirroring society’s increasing attention to mental health issues and the interplay between human and pet behaviours.
People’s concerns with pet’s behavioural and emotional problems may also reflect their synchrony with companion animals at a different level. More specifically, the fact that these anxiety-related problems are taken seriously by pet guardians, shows a growing acknowledgement of pets’ emotional needs.
At the same time, many people are willing to seek specialized help, including training, hotels and pet boarding services, which are expanding markets.
Some people have even left their jobs for reasons related to their pets, and 60 per cent would consider doing the same if their job conflicted with their pet-care needs, which may reflect people’s growing motivation to ensure their pets’ well-being.
This finding is aligned with studies showing that the implementation of pet-friendly policies can enhance employees’ well-being and work engagement.
Broader implications for human and animal well-being
some studies have shown an association between elevated anxiety in pet guardians and increased fears and anxiety-related behaviours in pets. (Unsplash/Humberto Arellano)
The human-animal bond is evolving, and there is a need to further explore people’s concerns towards their pets. It is also essential to examine how these concerns may be connected with broader issues of pet guardians and their pets, such as attachment, daily routines and shared well-being.
As outlined in past studies, the relationship with pets may have ups and downs, and sometimes may be a source of stress, which in turn may have negative impacts on the quality of the relationship.
In this regard, chronic stress, along with feelings of insecurity in managing pets’ behavioural issues, may contribute to emotional overload and increased anxiety in pet guardians. Similarly, not responding adequately to pets’ needs can negatively affect their overall welfare.
A deeper understanding of the nature and impacts of pet guardians’ concerns may inform policies designed to support this population. Importantly, recognizing and addressing these concerns is, above all, a way of valuing the pets themselves and the significance of the bond people share with them.
This approach may also support people’s mental health, who may already be exposed to several stressors. In this sense, paying closer attention to pets’ needs may be an essential investment in human mental health and well-being.
Renata Roma does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Misheck Mutize, Post Doctoral Researcher, Graduate School of Business (GSB), University of Cape Town
One of the commitments the South African presidency of the G20 made in its policy priorities document at the beginning of 2025 was to push for fairer, more transparent sovereign credit ratings. And to address the high cost of capital caused by an illusive perception of high risk in developing economies.
South Africa proposed to establish a commission to look into the cost of capital. In particular, to investigate the issues that impair the ability of low- and middle-income countries to access sufficient, affordable and predictable flows of capital to finance their development.
But the window of opportunity for advances to be made on this are narrowing. The South African government and the country’s business community have not used the opportunity provided by the G20 presidency to press for reforms that could reduce Africa’s borrowing costs and strengthen its financial sovereignty.
Why credit ratings matter so much
Credit rating agencies are not neutral observers of financial markets. Their judgements directly shape investor sentiment, access to finance and the interest rates countries pay when issuing bonds.
For developing countries, especially in Africa, ratings determine whether a government spends its scarce resources on debt servicing or on development needs such as schools and hospitals.
The problem is not just the ratings themselves but the inaccuracy and subjectivity of how they are determined.
Developing economies have frequently complained about several rating challenges.
The G20 remains the key global forum where both the major advanced economies and the most influential developing economies sit together. As chair, South Africa has the power to shape the agenda, shape working groups and drive communiqués that influence global discourse.
But so far, the proposed cost of capital commission has not been established. It is fair to assert that South Africa’s G20 presidency has not used this platform to redress the cost of capital issue. Its engagements on credit rating reform have been limited to reiterating talking points. There’s no evidence of structured proposals dedicated to the issue.
This inaction is surprising given that South Africa itself is no stranger to the sharp end of credit rating decisions. In the past eight years, a series of downgrades by the international rating agencies pushed the country’s debt deep into “junk” status. These decisions have raised borrowing costs and dented investor confidence. Pretoria therefore has both experience and legitimacy to lead a reform conversation on sovereign ratings.
In addition, South Africa’s corporate and financial sector – its banks, insurers and institutional investors – have remained largely on the sidelines.
Platforms such as the Cost of Capital Summit, convened by the Business (B20) working group, Standard Bank, Africa Practice and the African Peer Review Mechanism, were useful. But South Africa’s business community has failed to seize its country’s G20 presidency as a lever to press for reforms that would benefit not only domestic firms but also African partners.
Lower sovereign borrowing costs in host countries, for example, would directly reduce macroeconomic risks for South African corporates operating across the continent and expand their investment opportunities.
What could have been done
Three concrete steps could bring the issue of credit rating reform back onto the agenda.
Mainstream credit ratings in the G20 technical task force agenda. Its Communique should clearly reflect that ratings are the gatekeepers of capital by determining borrowing costs, shaping investor sentiments and ultimately determining how much fiscal room governments will have to finance development.
Recognise and champion the Africa Credit Rating Agency (AfCRA) as one of the mechanisms to address cost of capital in Africa. The African Union has already endorsed the establishment of a continental agency to complement global credit rating agencies. South Africa should use the G20 platform to raise the initiative’s profile, attract technical support and encourage global investors to consider its assessments.
According to UNCTAD, developing countries pay interest rates up to three percentage points higher than peers with similar fundamentals, amounting to billions of dollars annually in excess costs.
This “hidden tax” on development has direct human consequences. Fewer resources for infrastructure, climate adaptation, health systems and education. For Africa, where financing needs are immense, more accurate credit ratings could unlock vital fiscal space.
South Africa cannot afford to let its G20 presidency drift into symbolism. The promise of “fairer, more transparent” sovereign credit ratings must be translated into action, through task forces, communiqués and alliances that advance reform.
Pretoria also needs its business sector to step up. This is not only a moral imperative. It’s also an economic one.
Lower risk premium and fairer access to capital will expand opportunities across the continent, including for South African investors. The world is watching. If South Africa fails to lead, it will confirm suspicions that rhetoric about reforming the global financial architecture is little more than lip service. If it seizes the moment, however, it could leave a legacy far greater than its own domestic struggles. The beginning of a fairer, more accountable system of sovereign credit ratings for the global south.
Misheck Mutize 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.
Love her or loathe her, it is hard to deny that Helen Zille is one of the most remarkable politicians South Africa’s democracy has yet seen. Remarkable because she has served in so many high-profile public roles – as mayor of Cape Town, premier of the Western Cape province, leader of the opposition, and leader of the Democratic Alliance before later becoming the party’s federal chair, and wielding power behind the scenes.
She has never steered clear of controversy, and indeed, revels in it in a way which discomforts her opponents.
She is both feared and respected for her intelligence, diligence, hard work, determination, competence, courage, integrity – and let’s face it, not a little dose of arrogance, which at times has led her unnecessarily into trouble, as with her infamous “colonialism” tweet, which caused widespread offence.
But this points to another quality she has as a politician: she has a thickness of skin which would make a bull elephant blush. Additional to all this, there has never been any taint of financial scandal about her throughout her long years in public life.
So you can see why her political opponents, and particularly the African National Congress (ANC), are running scared following the announcement by the Democratic Alliance that she will be their candidate for mayor of Johannesburg in the local elections in 2026. At age 74, she ain’t no spring chicken, but she can still do a respectable dance, and intends to waltz her way into the mayoral chair.
However, she may well become the best mayor Johannesburg has never had.
Why she might win
Zille has pitched her running for mayor as a “local gal returning to her roots”, where she grew up, where she worked as a journalist and where, she tells us, she fell in love in a city she has always loved and knows back to front.
And why?
Because she is coming to save it, descending from the clouds of Democratic Alliance heaven in Cape Town – a city it has run since 2009 – to rescue the good citizens of Johannesburg from ANC hell. An ANC, she tells us – and who can deny it? – which has manufactured political instability and municipal collapse. An ANC which has collapsed the most basic of services so that taps in many areas run dry, sewage swamps the pot-holed roads, household waste mounts up, and electricity supply has become erratic. An ANC which has allowed corruption to thrive.
Zille does not lack confidence and she talks a good talk. Local government is not rocket science, she says. It’s common sense, it’s getting down to basics, it’s about political will, it’s about proper management of resources. It’s about having the competence and determination to ensure that water flows through the pipes again, that electricity is restored, roads are repaired, and collection of waste is secured.
And how is this to be done? By streamlining the city’s administration, by rationalising its bureaucracy, cutting back the fat, and increasing the investment in maintenance and infrastructure which the ANC has so lamentably allowed to lapse. No community, no suburb will be ignored.
Nirvana is in prospect – but only if she is given the chance to restore the city to its former glory.
Both have pronounced a verdict that will justify defection from the ANC: Johannesburg is in a crisis brought on by ANC misrule and a vote for Zille will not be a vote for the Democratic Alliance, but a vote for the one person with the character, competence and drive to turn the city around.
Although their heresy may not be enough to convince traditional ANC supporters to break with the past, it may appeal to their children, who are not so bound by their grandparents’ and parents’ loyalties.
Zille had to climb over other Democratic Alliance bodies to win her nomination and has doubtless left some bruised egos in her wake. But this will not stop the DA uniting behind her.
The party smells blood, and it’s coloured the black, green and gold of the ANC. Win control of Joburg, hang on to Cape Town, and the Democratic Alliance will be running South Africa’s two major economic hubs. Turn Joburg around, provide a better life for all its citizens regardless of where they live, and the Democratic Alliance will hope to shed its reputation as the party for whites and the well-off, positioning itself nicely for the next general election. It’s a great scenario for the Democratic Alliance.
But there are obstacles in the way.
Why she might lose
To become mayor, Zille will need the backing of a majority of Johannesburg’s 270 seat council. At the last local election in 2021, the ANC emerged as the largest party with 33% of the vote and 91 seats. The Democratic Alliance came in second with 26% and 71. What followed initially was a Democratic Alliance minority government, before this was collapsed in September 2022 by the Economic Freedom Fighters (29 seats) throwing its lot in with the ANC, which took office as the major party in a coalition.
It all became a messy and disheartening story for Johannesburg’s voters, who saw the politicians scrabbling for power and perks while the city went into decline. But it demonstrates what the Democratic Alliance is up against.
And, as Zille has acknowledged, the mixed-member proportional electoral system used in local elections makes it enormously difficult for any single party to win an absolute majority. Even if the Democratic Alliance emerged as the largest party, it would have to fish for support among other parties to form a viable coalition.
Meanwhile, Zille has ruled out striking any deal with the Economic Freedom Fighters and is equally unlikely to strike any agreement with Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe Party. Perhaps she might be able to do a deal with the ANC in an echo of the government of national unity? Or will the ANC be so averse to joining a council led by Zille that it opts for what the DA terms a “doomsday coalition” with the EFF and/or MK?
Much will depend on the nature of the campaign, and whether Zille can avoid making the gaffes to which she is prone. In her speeches to black audiences she must avoid sounding like Madam condescending to Eve – the two characters in a popular South African cartoon strip.
Furthermore, however irrelevant they may be to local government, she may struggle to sidestep broader political issues, such as whether she is prepared to declare Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
Yet Zille will count on voters wanting to have water in their taps.
The Iron Lady’s last stand?
The DA is risking much in putting Zille forward for mayor in Johannesburg. It knows she antagonises as many voters as she attracts and that she never fails to provoke controversy. But the party clearly sees her as well worth the gamble. She has name recognition far and wide. She will draw attention. She is guaranteed to provoke debate. She will ensure that the party’s existing voters turn out in droves while large swathes of the ANC’s supporters may stay at home.
The Democratic Alliance also knows that Zille’s nomination will ensure that the race in Johannesburg will attract national attention and is banking on it reverberating in its favour nationally. And it also knows that this is very possibly the Iron Lady’s last stand.
If she does become mayor, Zille will be 75 when she gets the job, and if she serves a full term, she will be 80 come the following local election. Many within the DA may be reckoning that, at that point, Zille will conclude that it is time to call it quits and exit the political arena gracefully to join the knitting circle in the retirement home in Cape Town where she lives. Even she will conclude by then that she will be too old to continue.
Surely she would, wouldn’t she? Don’t count on it.
Roger Southall 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.
As we observe National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, it is relevant to remember the late Pope Francis.
As the first Latin Americanand Jesuit Pope, his leadership was marked by efforts to face difficult issues, including those affecting Indigenous Peoples in Canada.
As the actions of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) demonstrated, and as the Pope and many others noted during his visit and since that time, reconciliation is not a single event. It is a long and difficult process requiring sustained action, humility and heart.
The trauma of these events has created a legacy that reverberates through generations as intergenerational trauma. The first such school, the Mohawk Institute, opened its doors in 1831. The last, the Gordon Residential School, closed in 1996.
As the truth emerged, formal apologies began to follow from various denominations: the United Church of Canada in 1986 and again in 1998; the Anglican Church of Canada in 1993, 2019and 2022; and the Presbyterian Church in 1994.
In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada released 94 Calls to Action, which were concrete policy recommendations meant to guide Canada toward reconciliation. Call to Action No. 58 specifically called upon the Pope to issue an apology on Canadian soil to survivors, their families and communities for the Roman Catholic Church’s role in the abuses that took place in residential schools.
Clear action plans?
It was not until July 25, 2022, that Pope Francis formally issued the apology, during a historic visit to Maskwacis, Alberta.
Reactions to the apology have been mixed. For some, it marked a long-overdue acknowledgment, becoming a symbolic step toward healing. For others, it fell short.
Critics noted that Pope Francis spoke of the abuses as being carried out by “members of the church” rather than clearly naming the institutional role of the Roman Catholic Church itself. He also failed to explicitly name all forms of abuse, omitting mention of the sexual and spiritual violence that Survivors so courageously brought to light.
Perhaps most importantly, his apology lacked a clear action plan for justice, reparations or long-term reconciliation.
There have been some signs of progress. For example:
The Canadian Catholic Church launched a $30 million Indigenous Reconciliation Fund, a not-for-profit charity with an independent board and members comprised of Indigenous and non-Indigenous leaders, to support initiatives related to: healing and reconciliation for communities and families; culture and language revitalization; education and community building; and dialogues for promoting Indigenous spirituality and culture.
Some funds have supported Indigenous languages and customs in Catholic services or communities; these point to existing or possible emerging practices of churches with Indigenous members that incorporate Indigenous ceremony.
The Vatican formally repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery in 2023 — an important but symbolic move rejecting the colonial-era justification for land dispossession.
While there has been some progress accessing church records, significant records remain hard to locate. For example, I am still looking for the intake and discharge ledgers for most of the schools that my People attended. In my experience working with different archives across Canada, some archivists are more forthcoming than others about their material and processes — for example, about whether archival finding aids detail restricted material.
Pope Francis took a first step. The path ahead continues to call for sustained honesty, accountability and commitment from Catholic leaders in Canada and in Rome.
Let us hope that work continues to not only build upon Pope Francis’s initial steps, but to have the courage to speak the truth plainly, act with integrity and walk alongside Indigenous Peoples in the ongoing work of meaningful, lasting reconciliation.
This is a commitment that must endure for generations. May this moment be the seed from which true and lasting transformation can continue to grow.
Tiffany Dionne Prete 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.
Your neighborhood is home to all sorts of amazing animals, from racoons, squirrels and skunks to birds, bugs and snails. Even if you don’t see them, most of these creatures are leaving evidence of their activities all around you.
Paw prints in different shapes and sizes are clues to the visitors who pass through. The shapes of tunnels and mounds in your yard carry the mark of their builders.
Even the stuff animals leave behind, whether poop or skeletons, tells you something about the wilder side of the neighborhood.
Tree squirrels can excavate small holes all over a yard to hide seeds and nuts or when searching for them. Ground squirrels also create burrows. Snowmanradio/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY
I’m a zoologist and director of the Hefner Museum of Natural History at Miami University of Ohio, where we work with all kinds of wildlife specimens. With a little practice, you’ll soon notice a lot more evidence of your neighborhood friends when you step outside.
The dog family, including coyotes and foxes, can be differentiated from the cat family by the shape of their palm pads — triangular for dogs, two lobes at the peak for cats.
Canid tracks, left, are roughly rectangular, with the tips of the middle two toes aligned. They often, but don’t always, show claw marks. The pad has an indentation on the back and a projection on the front, with the space between the pad and the toes forming an X. Felid tracks, right, are roughly circular, with the tip of one toe extending slightly farther than all other toes. They seldom show claw marks. The pad has three lobes on the back and an indentation on the front, with the space between the pad and toes forming a curve. Steven Sullivan, CC BY-NC-ND
Both opossums and raccoons leave prints that look like those of a tiny human, but the opossum thumb is held at nearly right angles to the rest of the fingers.
Opossum, left, and raccoon tracks. Like humans, opossums have opposable thumbs. Steven Sullivan
Not all prints are so clear, however.
Invasive rats and native squirrels have prints that often look pretty similar to each other. Water erosion of a skunk print left in mud might connect the toe tips to the palm, making it look more like a raccoon. And prints left in winter slush by the smallest dog in the neighborhood can grow through freezing and thawing to proportions that make people wonder whether wolves have returned to their former haunts.
Often, it’s easiest to figure out which animal left a paw print by correlating its tracks with other evidence.
If what look like squirrel prints lead to a hole in the ground, then it wasn’t a tree squirrel. Stuff a handful of leaves or newspaper in the hole. If it gets pushed out during the day, the hole is probably inhabited by a ground squirrel, such as a chipmunk. But if the plug is pushed out at night, you probably have a rat.
I once noticed a faint trail in the soil near my porch. Using the hole-stuffing method, I determined that something spent most days under the wooden stairs that people constantly, and often loudly, traversed. When I was pretty sure my newly discovered neighbor was home, I used a mirror and flashlight to investigate the opening without exposing myself to a protective resident. Sure enough, there was a cute little skunk staring back at me.
Animals that excavate in search of food or to create shelter leave different types of holes. Gardening Latest.
Skunks, and many other local animals, often leave obvious excavations in lawns.
Lawns are biological deserts where few species can live, but those that can survive there often reach high numbers. Lawn grubs – the milk-white, C-shaped caterpillars of a few beetle species – particularly love the lack of competition found in a carpet of grass. Polka dots of dead thatch are one sign of these grubs, but if you have a biodiverse neighborhood, many animals will consume this high-calorie treat before you ever notice them.
Skunks and raccoons will dig up each grub individually, leaving a small hole that healthy grass can refill quickly. Moles – fist-size insectivores more closely related to bats than rodents – live underground where they virtually swim through soil, leaving slightly raised trails visible in mowed lawns. In spring and fall, moles make volcano-shaped mounds with no visible opening.
Left to right, mole, vole and gopher skulls show clear differences: Moles are insectivores with lots of pointy teeth; voles are rodents the size of mice, and gophers are also rodents but bigger. Steven Sullivan
Gophers, on the other hand, are herbivorous rodents – they eat plants rather than grubs. They also leave tunnels and mounds, but the tunnels are usually very visible and their mounds are crescent-shaped, often with a visible opening.
Voles, not to be confused with moles, are also herbivorous rodents. They’re mouse-size, with tiny, furry ears and short tails. They may dig small holes, but more obviously they leave thatch-lined runways on the surface.
Gophers, top – long-toothed, long-nailed rodents – tunnel and gnaw their way through soil and roots, creating C-shaped mounds that open on the inside of the C. The opening may be big enough for a golf ball or plugged with soil. Moles, bottom – insectivorous, smooth-furred, nearly eyeless and earless – swim through the soil with paddle-shaped forelimbs, occasionally making a volcano-shaped mound with no obvious opening. Steven Sullivan
Even the cicadas singing loudly in the trees in my yard this summer left pinky-size holes in the ground as they emerged 17 years after hatching. The boom-bust cycle of cicadas has brought more moles, squirrels and birds to my neighborhood this year to munch on the nutrient-rich insects.
Think about a dog marking its territory. Sometimes it seems they can’t go for more than a few feet before reading the pee-mail left on every prominent post. Urine, feces and gland oil act like social media posts, conveying each individual’s identity, health, height and reproductive status, the availability and quality of prey, and the extent of their territory.
Different types of animal feces from around the world.
Though most of the smell communication is lost on humans, the contents of the feces can tell a lot about the inhabitants of a neighborhood.
Domestic dog poop is usually just a big, homogeneous lump because they eat processed food, but wild canid feces is often full of bones and fur. Coyote feces is usually lumpy and larger than fox feces, which has pointy ends. Once it has weathered a bit, it’s easy to break open to find identifiable remains such as vole, rat and rabbit. Use care when inspecting feces, since it may transmit parasites.
Depending on time of year, the contents and shape of feces can vary considerably. Raccoon feces lacks the pointy ends and is often filled with seeds, but wild canids may eat lots of seeds, too. Deer feces is usually small, fibrous pellets, but those pellets may form clumps.
If you are lucky, you might find a pellet of bone and fur regurgitated by an owl near the base of a tree. Carefully break it apart and there’s a good chance you’ll find the skull of a vole or rat.
The items inside an owl pellet can tell you something about the smaller animals in the neighborhood, as well as the owls. Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren, CC BY
Look closely at living and dead trees to find evidence of even smaller neighbors. A fine, uniform, granular sawdust pushed from tiny holes in bark can indicate beetle larvae feces, or “frass.” A large mass of frass at the base of a tree likely indicates carpenter ants.
In contrast to dusty frass, aphids slurp sap so rich in sugar that their feces coats surrounding surfaces in, essentially, maple syrup.
All of these insects attract many species of birds. Woodpeckers are hard to miss as they loudly hammer holes into trees. But don’t blame them for tree decline – they eat the things that are killing the tree.
Look for dead trees
Dead trees are a key feature of wildlife habitat, like a bus stop, and host different occupants throughout the day and over the year.
Dead and dying trees are useful for many animals, from woodpeckers that excavate holes to eagles, crows and other birds that build nests in them. This acorn woodpecker creates holes to store acorns. Eric Phelps via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY
For example, a tree buzzing with cicadas in my yard this summer is quite healthy but has one big, dead branch that has been an important way station for wildlife over the past 20 years.
A decayed cavity at the base of the branch is polished smooth with the activity of generations of squirrels, while the tip is a favorite perch of all the neighborhood birds. By night, it is visited by a great horned owl, who, I somewhat sadly note, may be scanning for my porch skunk.
Decomposers: The neighborhood cleaning crew
This brings us to the decomposers. Animal carcasses are evidence of the neighborhood’s wild population, too, but they typically don’t last long. Insects make quick work of dead animals, often consuming the soft parts of a carcass before it is even noticed by humans.
Long after most activity around the carcass has ceased, exoskeletons left behind by the decomposers will remain in the soil. Dermestids, including the carpet beetles often found in our homes, leave fuzzy larval exoskeletons. Fly pupae look like brown pills. And sometimes adult carrion beetles keep a home underneath partially buried bones for years.
Earthworms, feasting on nutrient-soaked soil, may leave a squirt of mud like a string of hot glue, while ants will leave piles of uniformly sorted sand. Snails will visit carcasses periodically to eat the bones, leaving trails that sparkle like thin, impossibly long ribbons in the morning sun.
From snails to skunks, squirrels to cicadas, most of our neighbors are quiet and seldom interact with us, but they play important roles in the world.
As we get to know them better, through their digging, eating and decomposing, and sometimes by watching them in action, we can better understand the animals that make our own lives possible and, maybe, understand ourselves a little better, too.
Steven Sullivan 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.
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