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April 21, 2026

New plastic film covered in thousands of tiny pillars can tear apart viruses on contact

Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Elena Ivanova, Distinguished Professor, Physics, RMIT University

Transparent acrylic samples coated in the new material. RMIT

Think of how many surfaces you touch every day, from your kitchen bench to the hand rail on the bus or train, your work desk and your phone screen.

A range of nasty viruses and other germs can easily spread via these surfaces. The typical route of infection involves touching a contaminated surface – and then touching your eyes, nose or mouth.

Of course, it’s possible to clean surfaces with chemical products. But these can wear off, harm the environment or contribute to antimicrobial resistance, where germs no longer respond to medicines because of repeated exposure.

In our new study, published in Advanced Science, colleagues and I created a thin plastic surface with tiny nanoscale features, billionths of a metre in size, that mimic the nanotextured surface of insect wings and can physically rupture viruses – specifically human parainfluenza virus type 3 (hPIV-3).

This new material offers a cheap, scalable way to make surfaces such as phones and hospital equipment far less likely to spread disease.

The downsides of disinfectants

Current methods for combating the spread of viruses via surfaces usually involves cleaning to remove dirt and disinfection to remove hidden contaminants.

Disinfectant must remain wet for some time to kill germs. This can be challenging in some real-world settings.

Surfaces can also be recontaminated quickly when other people touch them. And disinfection often involves the use of harsh chemicals which can damage equipment and the environment.

Scientists have previously developed antiviral surface modifications. These strategies often involve incorporating materials such as graphene or tannic acid and other natural agents into personal protective equipment such as masks, gloves, goggles, hard hats, and respirators.

These coatings are efficient. But they can pose a risk to human health. They can also be environmental hazards due to chemical leaching and have declining effectiveness over time as the potency of the active ingredients weakens.

A decade-long journey

Our journey toward a virus-bursting surface started more than a decade ago.

We initially aimed to engineer a surface so smooth that germs would simply slide off. Surprisingly, we discovered the opposite. Bacteria adhere quite readily to nanoscopically smooth surfaces.

Nature offers examples of bacteria-free surfaces. Take the water-repelling wings of cicadas and dragonflies. While these wings are self-cleaning, they act less by repelling bacteria and more as natural bactericides. That is, they kill bacteria. Natural bactericides are nature-derived “agents” that can kill germs, rather than inhibit their growth.

Experiments my colleagues and I did with gold-coated wings confirmed this bacteria-killing effect is not driven by surface chemistry, but rather by topography.

The physical nanostructures on the surface essentially force bacterial cell membranes to stretch and rupture.

Our earlier work showed that nanospike-covered silicon effectively destroys viruses on contact. But its rigid nature restricts its use on complex objects.

A black-and-white image of a small cell on a bed of spikes. — Microscope image of a virus cell being ruptured by the nanotextured surface.
RMIT

A lightweight, flexible and virus-bursting material

In this new study, we addressed this problem by creating a virus-bursting material that was lightweight, cost-effective and flexible.

This material is a thin acrylic film covered in thousands and thousands of ultra fine pillars. The nanotextured materials are smooth to touch. However, these nanopillars grab and stretch a virus’s outer shell until it ruptures. This kills viruses through mechanical force.

Lab tests with hPIV 3, which causes bronchiolitis and pneumonia, found up to 94% of virus particles were ripped apart or fatally damaged within an hour of contact with this material.

We discovered the distance between nanopillars matters far more than their height, with tightly packed pillars about 60 nanometres apart working best.

The mould we used to create this material can be easily scaled to provide wide-ranging industrial opportunities, from food packaging to public transport systems to hospital equipment and office desks.

Nanostructured surfaces are built for durability. But they are susceptible to the same physical, chemical, and environmental stressors as any other material, and will degrade over time.

Much remains to be discovered in the search for germ-free surfaces. But these nanotextured surfaces have enormous potential in the fight against viruses and provide an alternative to traditional, chemical-based methods.

Elena Ivanova 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. New plastic film covered in thousands of tiny pillars can tear apart viruses on contact – https://theconversation.com/new-plastic-film-covered-in-thousands-of-tiny-pillars-can-tear-apart-viruses-on-contact-280919

April 20, 2026

Slanguage: Why AI’s stylistic negation — ‘it’s not X, it’s Y’ — is both annoying and doesn’t work

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Joshua Gonzales, PhD, Management, Lang School of Business and Economics, University of Guelph

If you spend any amount of time on LinkedIn, you’ll have certainly come across this type of phrasing: “This isn’t a job, it’s a calling” or “This isn’t marketing, it’s a movement” or “This isn’t a tool, it’s a paradigm shift.”

This sentence structure is saturating posts on the platform. It’s become one of the most recognizable patterns of AI-generated text: “It’s not X, it’s Y.”

If you’re like me, you find it annoying and scroll past as soon as you read it. Your exasperation is warranted. Negation can be a powerful literary device when used thoughtfully, but when unearned, it feels hollow.

That’s what AI slop — low-quality digital content generated by artificial intelligence, often with little or no human oversight — does: it turns previously useful markers into gobbledygook.

For most AI tropes currently in circulation, it’s enough to just ignore them. The negation form of AI slop, however, isn’t just annoying, it distorts how people process and remember information. Before you get the chance to absorb something meaningful, your attention is already anchored to what is not.

Learning a language is hard, but even native speakers get confused by pronunciation, connotations, definitions and etymology. The lexicon is constantly evolving, especially in the social media era, where new memes, catchphrases, slang, jargon and idioms are introduced at a rapid clip.
The Conversation Canada’s series Slanguage dives into how language shapes the way we see the world and what it reveals about culture, power and belonging. Welcome to the wild and wonderful world of linguistics.

How the brain processes negation

There’s a reason this structure feels off. Cognitive psychologists have known for decades that negation doesn’t work the way speakers intend it to. When someone tells you what something isn’t, your brain doesn’t skip to the alternative. It processes the negated concept first.

This was demonstrated in a 2003 study. After reading negated information, readers’ mental models still retained the negated concept at short processing intervals. Negation didn’t function as an eraser. The concept entered the reader’s mind, and only with additional processing time and contextual support could the reader move past it.

Every time you read “This isn’t marketing,” for example, you process marketing before you can get to whatever the writer claims it actually is.

That would be manageable if it happened once, but that cognitive load compounds with repetition.

‘Don’t think about the white bear’

In a classic 1987 experiment, psychologist Daniel Wegner asked participants not to think about a white bear. They couldn’t.

Those told to suppress the idea mentioned it more than once per minute. Worse, participants who had first tried to suppress the thought later showed a rebound effect, thinking about white bears significantly more than participants who had been free to think about them from the start.

The effort of pushing a concept away made it stick even harder.

When your LinkedIn feed delivers dozens of posts built on the same negation-reframe structure, each one is a new instruction not to think about the thing the writer wanted you to forget.

The consequences go beyond annoyance. In a 2004 social psychology study examining how people encode negated information, researchers explained why some negations fail more than others.

When a negated phrase has an obvious, commonly inferred alternative, readers mentally replace it. For example, they can substitute “not guilty” for “innocent” or “not cold” for “warm.” Without the alternative, the original concept remains active with a negation tag attached, like a mental sticky note reading “not this.”

That sticky note can fall off quite easily. In the study, participants lost it more than a third of the time for concepts without clear alternatives, remembering the affirmed version instead.

Consider what that means for “This isn’t marketing, it’s a movement.” Marketing has no ready-made substitute for our mind to consider. What readers store is “marketing” with a tag that may or may not survive their scroll to the next post.

Scaling a cognitive problem

The problem is scale. A 2024 study on generative AI by economics and strategy researchers found that when people write with AI assistance, their outputs converge. Individual pieces may be more polished, but the collective pool of writing becomes more similar. AI-assisted texts were found to be roughly 10 per cent more alike than those written by humans alone.

Their study examined creative fiction, but the results have obvious implications for other forms of writing. When a rhetorical formula saturates an entire platform, it stops being one person’s stylistic habit and becomes a default frame through which ideas enter public conversation.

Right now, that frame often starts from a deficit. It emphasizes what something fails to be rather than what it offers.

The alternative is straightforward. Say what it is. Say what you built, what you believe, what you offer. It’s a better cognitive strategy.

Readers who encounter “I am a movement builder” store “movement builder.” Readers who encounter “This isn’t marketing” store “marketing” with a sticky note that’s already peeling off.

One formulation gives people something to remember. The other gives them something to forget, and psychology suggests it won’t work.

Joshua Gonzales 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. Slanguage: Why AI’s stylistic negation — ‘it’s not X, it’s Y’ — is both annoying and doesn’t work – https://theconversation.com/slanguage-why-ais-stylistic-negation-its-not-x-its-y-is-both-annoying-and-doesnt-work-278967

April 20, 2026

Don’t just plant trees, plant forests to restore biodiversity for the future

Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By John Parker, Senior Scientist in Community Ecology, Smithsonian Institution

A long-running experiment is testing tree mixes to develop the healthiest forests. Mickey Pullen/Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

Around the world, people plan to plant more than 1 trillion trees this decade in an ambitious effort to slow climate change and reduce biodiversity loss. But if the past is prologue, many of those planted trees won’t survive. And if they do, they could end up as biological deserts that lack the richness and resilience of healthy forests.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

The United Nations declared 2021-2030 the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration to encourage efforts to repair degraded ecosystems. Tree planting has become a centerpiece of that effort, championed by initiatives such as the Bonn Challenge and the Trillion Trees Campaign.

However, many tree-planting commitments have a critical flaw: They rely too heavily on monoculture plantations – vast areas planted with just a single tree species.

Rows of white birch trees with low grasses below and not much else. — A grove of commercially grown poplar trees, planted in lines with not much active beneath them.
Mint Images via Getty Images

Monoculture plantations are generally one-way tickets to producing wood. But these high-yield plantations are high risk and can be surprisingly fragile. When drought, pests, or forest fires strike, entire monoculture plantations can fail at once. In one example, nearly 90% of 11 million saplings planted in Turkey died within three months due to drought and lack of maintenance.

Forests are more than just timber factories. They regulate water, store carbon, provide habitat for wildlife, cool the landscapes around them and even provide human health benefits.

Rather than gambling on a single species and hoping for the best, science now points to a smarter path that captures both ecological and economic benefits while minimizing risk: mixed-species plantings that mirror the biodiversity of a natural forest, ultimately creating forests that grow faster and are more resilient in the face of constant threats.

An artist's rendering of the diversity found in mixed-species plots compared with monoculture shows larger trees, more shade and cooling and more species below. — The long-running BiodiversiTREE study compares forest plots containing several tree species with single-species monocultures. The results, illustrated here, show that mixed-species plots (right) produce 80% larger trees compared with monocultures (left), resulting in denser canopy growth that creates cooler understory microclimates, leading to more abundant and species-rich communities of insects, spiders and birds.
Sergio Ibarra/Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

We are community and landscape ecologists at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. Since 2013, we and our colleagues have been rigorously testing this idea in a large, ecosystem-scale experiment called BiodiversiTREE. The verdict is striking: Trees in mixed forests don’t just survive – they outgrow their monoculture counterparts and support dramatically more biodiversity.

Trees with diverse neighbors grow larger

Thirteen years ago, we teamed up with volunteers to plant nearly 18,000 tree seedlings on 60 acres of fallow fields on the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center campus near the Chesapeake Bay.

We didn’t plant just a single species. We planted 16 different native species from all walks of tree-life. Some species were fast-growing timber species, some were mid-story species, and some were slow-growing species that might not reach full size for a century or more.

Some plots we planted with just a single species – homogenous rows of the same species over and over again. But others were planted with random allotments of four and 12 species, reflecting the middle and upper ends of tree diversity in similar-sized areas of our local forests.

We asked a simple question: What would happen if we tried to mirror nature and plant a mixture of species instead of a monoculture?

A photo of tree plots with dashed lines show the diversity in mixed plots. — A drone image shows some of the BiodiversiTREE plots, including monocultures, outlined in white, and mixture plantings, outlined in green.
Mickey Pullen/Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

The differences over a decade later are striking.

The monoculture plots – those that survived – resemble traditional plantation forestry that historically has dominated rural lands in the Southeast and Pacific Northwest in the U.S. They contain rows of tall, narrow trees with sparse canopies and little life below.

The mixed-species plots, by contrast, are layered, complex and dynamic, with foliage filling the canopy and a diversity of plants and animals thriving underneath.

These visual contrasts reflect real ecological gains. Trees grown in mixtures, including important timber species like poplar and red oak, are up to 80% larger than the same species when grown alone. Mixed plots supported fewer leaf pathogens, more abundant caterpillar communities that provide food for birds, and increased phytochemical diversity in their leaves. We hypothesize that these leaf chemicals, some of which deter animals from eating them, reduced browsing damage from hungry deer, ultimately leading to higher tree growth in the mixed plots.

Plots with several tree species also had much fuller, denser leaf canopies, leading to cooler, shadier conditions that help understory plants flourish and support up to 50% more insects, spiders and birds.

An area that looks like a natural forest, with trees of different sizes, some undergrowth and a canopy of tree cover to keep conditions cooler. — The fuller canopy of 12-species forest plots like the one above supports more insects and birds than the monoculture plots.
John Parker/Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

Trees all of the same species in a line with little canopy to provide shade or cover for birds, insects and other wildlife. — A sycamore monoculture plot at the BiodiversiTREE project provides little canopy cover.
John Parker/Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

This pattern isn’t unique to our site. The BiodiversiTREE project is part of TreeDivNet, a global network of large-scale experiments spanning more than 1.2 million trees and hundreds of species. Across continents and climates, the results are consistent: Forests with a mix of species tend to grow larger, store more carbon and better withstand stress from drought, pests and disease.

So why are monocultures still common?

Despite decades of evidence, mixed-species plantings remain relatively rare in practice. Most commercial forestry operations still rely on monocultures, and these plantations are counted toward international planting campaigns aimed at slowing climate change and reversing biodiversity loss.

The reasons are generally practical: Mixed plantings can be more complex to design, more expensive to establish and harder to manage. Crucially, until recently, there has been limited evidence that they can match or exceed the economic returns of conventional plantations.

A woman holds a tall pole as she walks through a field with trees on one side. — Technician Shelley Bennett uses high-resolution GPS to lay out plots for an experiment at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Maryland.
Regan Todd/Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

A new experiment at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center called “Functional Forests” aims to bridge some of the gaps between science and practice. We’re developing intentionally designed combinations of trees to test whether specific mixtures of species can contribute ecological benefits while also providing timber and other services that humans need to support a thriving, sustainable economy.

Each of the 20 tree species in the Functional Forests project was chosen to provide one or more benefits, including timber, wildlife habitat, food for people, resistance to deer and climate resilience. But no single species provides all of these benefits.

Some of the nearly 200 plots will contain a single species, while others include carefully selected combinations of five species assembled based on the functions they provide. Some plots are protected from deer browsing, while others are left exposed.

A tree with large green fruit. — The Functional Forests project includes trees with edible fruits like the pawpaw (*Asimina triloba*), one of 20 different tree species being planted there.
Jamie Pullen/Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

By comparing these approaches, we can test how different planting strategies perform across a range of goals, from timber production to food production and from biodiversity to climate resilience.

Landowners and communities have different priorities, whether that’s producing wood, supporting wildlife or creating forests that can withstand a changing climate. The idea behind Functional Forests is to design plantings that can deliver these multiple benefits all at once, rather than optimizing for just one, essentially leveraging the positive effects of biodiversity to achieve real-world goals.

Planting 1 trillion trees wisely

The stakes are high. Restoration has become a major global investment, with hundreds of billions of dollars already being spent annually. Getting it wrong means wasted resources and missed opportunities to address some of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time.

If the world is going to plant a trillion trees, we believe it needs to do more than just put seedlings in the ground. It needs to rethink what a forest should be.

The goal isn’t just to grow trees. It’s to grow forests that last.

John Parker receives funding from the National Science Foundation and the United States Department of Agriculture. He is affiliated with TreeDivNet, a global network of tree diversity experiments.

Justin Nowakowski receives funding from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Department of Defense, and through Maryland Environmental Service.

– ref. Don’t just plant trees, plant forests to restore biodiversity for the future – https://theconversation.com/dont-just-plant-trees-plant-forests-to-restore-biodiversity-for-the-future-275803

April 20, 2026

Public grocery stores won’t fix Canada’s food affordability crisis

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Michael von Massow, Professor, Food Economics, University of Guelph

Does Canada need public grocery stores? The debate has moved into the mainstream since Avi Lewis became the new leader of the NDP after campaigning on a plan for government-run grocery stores.

The premise is relatively straightforward: governments would build and run grocery stores that offer pricing at levels well below those of traditional stores.

Similar ideas are gaining traction at the municipal level. Toronto city council has advanced a pilot project for four city-run grocery stores, and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has announced plans for five municipal grocery stores.

With food prices still elevated, the proposal for public grocery stores sounds appealing. Lewis and his advisers have suggested that government-run store prices would be 35 to 40 per cent lower than those Canadians are currently paying.

The real question is whether public grocery stores are feasible and, if so, whether they’re the most effective way to deliver relief to consumers. The evidence suggests otherwise.

Scale is everything in grocery retail

Successful food retailing requires significant distribution infrastructure to efficiently bring products to the retail location. Loblaws, Canada’s largest food retailer, has more than 2,400 stores. Empire Group, which includes brands such as Sobeys, has more than 1,600 stores. This scale allows them to achieve significant purchase volumes while lowering distribution costs.

This is also why larger retailers have been purchasing regional grocers such as Longo’s and Farm Boy. It allows the smaller chains to benefit from the purchasing and logistical infrastructure of the purchaser.

Even with those advantages, large retailers achieve relatively low margins. Operating income (revenue minus direct costs and excluding things like taxes and depreciation) generally represents between four and six per cent of total revenue.

A new government-run chain operating without that infrastructure would be starting from behind, and would require substantial subsidies to achieve the promised price reductions.

Some proposals suggest public stores could only carry staples, which would reduce the cost of inventory. While that’s true, this overlooks how grocers cover overhead: by the size of the “basket” of each customer. Basket size is the total value of everything each customer buys.

Basket size is a key metric for grocers, who often price select staples below cost to draw customers into the store. Margins on those staples are already thin, meaning government stores would require greater subsidies to achieve discounts without the benefit of higher-margin secondary products.

Examples come with trade-offs

Supporters of public grocery stores point to examples in Mexico, the United States and Canadian provinces. Upon closer examination, however, these examples highlight the challenges and costs that suggest that this path is not feasible.

Mexico has operated government-run grocery stores for years. The number of stores has declined significantly in the past decade, with only approximately 50 remaining, located predominantly in the Mexico City area.

Price tracking by Profeco, the country’s federal consumer protection office, shows these stores are less than two per cent cheaper than Walmart (the dominant Mexican food retailer) and some private grocers are cheaper still. A significant informal food sector of market stalls offers additional competition. This is nowhere near the 35 to 40 per cent savings being promised in Canada.

The U.S. military commissaries offer groceries that are almost 25 per cent cheaper on average for active service members and veterans. But federal appropriations pay for labour, rent/real estate, distribution costs and other overheads.

The annual subsidy represents approximately 25 to 30 per cent of sales, meaning the U.S. government spends more than consumers actually save, with an ongoing backlog of maintenance also increasing the deficit.

There is some suggestion that the commissaries should be privatized to achieve the efficiencies of larger chains while still providing cheaper options for soldiers’ families and veterans living close to the bases.

Provincial control of alcohol and cannabis retail in Canada is sometimes raised as a parallel. However, these models are not designed to lower prices. Instead, they are designed to collect taxes and control prices. The policy direction runs opposite to what public grocery advocates are proposing, so this comparison is invalid.

What governments are already doing

Food prices are rising for reasons largely out of the control of Canadian governments, including geopolitical events (such as the wars in Ukraine and Iran) and the climate crisis. What governments can do is cushion the impact for those hit hardest.

Canada’s GST/HST rebate program already does some of this, offsetting taxes paid on goods and services to eligible households. Beginning in July, the new Groceries and Essentials Benefit will replace the GST/HST credit. The structure and eligibility rules will remain the same, but payments will increase by 25 per cent for five years.

The program is not in the range of 35 to 40 per cent, but it’s intended to offset much of the increases Canadians have experienced over the past few years. This program provides direct and targeted benefits for those feeling the most pressure from rising food prices.

There is also a federal program in place aimed at reducing the cost of staple items in remote northern communities. Nutrition North subsidizes retailers in places that experience high levels of food insecurity and alongside high transportation costs. Research suggests that the subsidy is, on average, fully passed through to consumers.

Unlike a tax rebate, the program cannot target specific consumers, but it can target certain categories of food. Milk and bread are cheaper for shoppers, for example, but frozen pizzas are not.

The most effective path forward

Building a national chain of public grocery stores would immediately raise a question of equity: how would governments decide which communities get a store and which don’t?

The cost of building thousands of stores would be prohibitive; a few dozen would leave most Canadians without access while costing governments more per transaction that consumers would save. And, because anyone could shop there, it would dilute the benefit for those who need it most.

The money would be much better spent directly supporting the Canadians who need it most. Direct payments remain the most efficient use of taxpayer money. They can be targeted to low-income households and deployed quickly.

Nutrition North-style subsidies work well in specific areas but can’t target individual households. A card or voucher system could combine both approaches by targeting and selecting eligible food products, though the administrative costs would either dilute the benefit to recipients or raise the overall price of the program.

Even so, a well-designed voucher program would almost certainly deliver more value per dollar spent than building and operating retail infrastructure from scratch.

There are ways to make food more affordable for Canadians. Government grocery stores just aren’t one of them.

Michael von Massow 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. Public grocery stores won’t fix Canada’s food affordability crisis – https://theconversation.com/public-grocery-stores-wont-fix-canadas-food-affordability-crisis-279932

April 20, 2026

A historian of Black Canada gives a report card on Ontario’s new mandated Black history education

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Natasha Henry-Dixon, Assistant Professor of African Canadian History, York University, Canada

During Black History Month more than two years ago, in February 2024, the Ontario Conservative government announced it would introduce mandatory curriculum expectations focused on the history of Black Canadians for Grades 7, 8 and 10, with new learning to start in September 2025.

The government then postponed this and other curricular changes.

In February 2026 (during Black History Month), the Ministry of Education released the new curriculum expectations, now to come into effect this coming September.

Decades of advocacy

Despite decades of advocacy, there has never been a singular historical fact that all students in Ontario have had to learn about Black Canadians’ 400-year presence in what is now Canada.

To date, inclusion of Black history has been based on the voluntary efforts of individual educators or some school board equity initiatives.

As highlighted in the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s Dreams Delayed report, the Black community has long criticized the over-emphasis on Black American history and the exclusion of the rich and diverse histories and contributions of Black Canadians.

I have been waiting with bated breath.

I am a historian of Black Canada, an assistant professor and a curriculum consultant specializing in Black Canadian history. I have taught Black Canadian history at the elementary and secondary levels and facilitated professional development for educators on the same subject for more than 20 years.

I’ve also studied the Ontario curriculum pertaining to Black Canadian history since 1999. During the early stages of the development of the new expectations, I was invited to review only initial drafts.

According to the Ontario Ministry of Education, “the 2026 revisions to the Grades 7 and 8 history curriculum were made in collaboration with Black history organizations, academic scholars, subject matter experts, subject division experts, parent and education organizations, and francophone partners,” but only generalized detail is provided about the process.

Questions have been raised about this because of the final output. I’ve examined the released revised history curriculum and present here an assessment.

New expectations

The new mandated expectations pertaining to Black Canadian history were included in a revision of the Grades 7, 8 and 10 history curriculum. These are the grades where students learn Canadian history. The number of expectations regarding Black history is reasonable because there is a lot to cover in the history curriculum overall.

Chart showing 'new curriculum expectations' for grades 7, 8 and 10. — Chart created by author Natasha Henry-Dixon showing new mandated Grades 7, 8 and 10 curriculum expectations on Black Canadian history.
(Natasha Henry-Dixon)

However, unlike all of the other specific expectations in the history curriculum, the “Black-specific expectations” are the only ones that don’t have any supporting topic suggestions or optional topics.

While specific curriculum expectations for Grades 7 and 8 don’t have any framing questions like other ones do, the Grade 10 expectations have two framing questions: “In what ways did the actions of various Black individuals, communities and organizations during this period help shape strategies and initiatives combating anti-Black racism today?” and “How did Black communities contribute to Canada’s identity and heritage during this period?”

The ministry could argue that such open expectations give teachers room to teach what they’d like. But teachers should receive as much informed guidance as possible, particularly because most have not taught any Black history content before.

Black Canadian history topic suggestions

There are Black Canadian historical subjects included as topic suggestions in other specific expectations throughout the history curriculum.

The ministry has maintained all of the topic suggestions from the current (soon-to-be-retired) version. I compared these using my 2016 master’s study, Lend Me Your Ear, where I evaluated the 2013 social studies, history and geography curriculum.

There are also very broad topics in the history curriculum — such as immigration and analyzing the social and political values and significant aspects of life for some different groups and communities. Black Canadian experiences could be included, if a teacher chooses to do so.

Some information excluded

In the revised history curriculum, two topics have been cut from Grade 10. The No. 2 Construction Battalion, the all-Black segregated military unit in the First World War, was removed.

Black and white photo of lines of a posed group of Black soldiers in uniform. — Members of the No. 2 Construction Battalion in Essex County, Ont., in 1918.
(F 2076 Alvin D. McCurdy fonds/Archives of Ontario/Wikimedia)

These soldiers and their descendants received an apology from the federal government in 2022 for the appalling mistreatment they endured in their service to Canada.

Black History Month was suggested as a Canadian commemoration in the soon-to-be former version, but was the second topic cut from the new version.

Portait image of a Black woman in 19th century dress. — Mary Ann Shadd Cary, educator, publisher, lawyer and abolitionist is a topic, but her last name ‘Cary’ isn’t used in Grade 8 expectations.
(National Archives of Canada/C-029977/Wikimedia)

2026 marks 100 years that Black people have commemorated Black history in the month of February and the 30th anniversary since Black History Month has been recognized at the federal level in Canada. Ironically, this elimination was made public during Black History Month.

For some of the topics, their inclusion left out some information. In Grade 7, Black Loyalists in Ontario were not recognized. Mary Ann Shadd Cary’s last name “Cary” was not used in Grade 8. She married Thomas Cary in 1856 and used that last name throughout her life.

The inclusion of the Black Cross Nurses in Grade 10 excludes the main organization they were an auxiliary of: the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA).

More was possible

The ministry missed the opportunity to include a range of new topics to demonstrate more meaningful integration of Black Canadian history.

New topics would provide more explicit examples of the contributions of diverse Black individuals to Canada’s foundation, the obstacles they faced in the pursuit of full citizenship and equality and the many ways they resisted that helped build a more inclusive and prosperous country.

A major omission is the longstanding cultural tradition of Emancipation Day (Aug. 1), which commemorates the abolition of British slavery.

The occasion has been marked for 192 years and was recognized federally in 2021. This treatment maintains the relegation of Black Canadian history to the periphery.

My grade

I give the new expectations a “D,” a marginal pass, only because they were actually implemented.

The revisions instituted two expectations per grade on Black Canadian history that is now part of the official curriculum policy. In this respect, the changes advance the cause long lobbied for by the Black community.

However, the new expectations miss the mark.

They lack substance and leave gaps that can further perpetuate the nonexistent and inconsistent teaching of Black Canadian history.

Given the nature of the content, and because this is the ministry’s first foray into mandating Black history in Canada, the regularly opaque revision process should have been more transparent. One wonders if issues and questions raised could have been avoided if the process was more collaborative. Questions include:

• Was feedback gathered from collaborators really considered or was checking the box that they met with them the total sum of the “collaboration?”

• Who was involved internally and externally? What are their expertise and credentials? Were they involved from beginning to end?

• What feedback was provided and implemented or not? Why?

• What kind of professional development will be provided? Who will deliver it?

• What instructional resources will be provided and who will develop them?

• How will accountability and the impact of the curriculum expectations be measured?

The new expectations establish a standard that needs to be greatly improved upon in the next cycle of revisions. Hopefully this happens in my lifetime and more valuable time isn’t lost. I’ll continue to hold my breath until then.

Natasha Henry-Dixon reviewed early drafts of the curriculum revision.

– ref. A historian of Black Canada gives a report card on Ontario’s new mandated Black history education – https://theconversation.com/a-historian-of-black-canada-gives-a-report-card-on-ontarios-new-mandated-black-history-education-279144

April 20, 2026

Paris has successfully cut noise pollution, but urban birds still can’t sing at their natural pitch

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Dan Mennill, Professor and Associate Dean of Science, University of Windsor

The sounds of cars, airplanes, boats and industrial activities in urban areas produce a steady roar that impacts birds, such as this great tit. (Wikimedia Commons), CC BY-SA

When Rachel Carson wrote the environmental classic Silent Spring in 1962, she warned that unchecked human impacts might create a silent future.

Forty years later, biologists uncovered a striking effect of noise pollution on songbirds. They found that low-pitched traffic noise in European cities forced birds to sing at higher pitches. Songbirds in a noisy park beneath the Eiffel Tower sang at a pitch of 400 Hz higher than those in quiet forests outside Paris.

My new research, published in the scientific journal Ornithological Applications with colleague Hans Slabbekoorn from the University of Leiden, shows that Paris is a success story in the battle to reduce noise pollution.

Yet even as Paris has grown quieter, birds have not returned to their natural song frequencies. Our research shows that great tits in Paris continue to sing at higher pitches than birds in wilderness areas outside the city.

Further noise-reduction efforts are vital, in urban areas throughout the world, to allow wild birds to communicate at their natural sound frequencies.

The devastating impact of noise

Human activity fills the world with noise. The sounds of cars, airplanes, boats and industrial activities produce a steady roar that impacts wild animals, birds and insects. We often overlook noise pollution as a conservation problem, yet it may have devastating effects on wildlife during an era of increasing urbanization.

Road noise interferes with the ability of birds and frogs to attract mates. Boat noise leads to decreased vocal communication in whales. And traffic noise influences predator-prey interactions between moths and bats.

Since the discovery that low-pitched traffic noise in European cities forced birds to sing at higher pitches, this pattern has been demonstrated in diverse bird populations around the world.

Savannah sparrows sing higher-pitched songs near noisy oil pumps on the Canadian Prairies. European robins sing higher-pitched songs in the presence of wind turbine noise. And Australian silvereyes sing higher-pitched songs and calls in loud urban areas compared with rural areas.

These changes diminish birds’ ability to defend breeding territories and attract mates.

Fighting for a quieter city

Paris is one of the largest and most densely populated cities in Europe, yet Parisians have developed novel strategies to fight noise pollution.

The city has converted many roadways into bicycle lanes and installed anti-noise coatings on major roadways.

A black box attached to a lampost, with a picture of a bird on it. Traffic blurred in the background. — An automated digital recorder in the city of Paris.
(Dan Mennill)

Automated noise cameras issue fines to excessively loud vehicles. A regional observatory called Bruitparif now monitors noise throughout the city and oversees noise-reduction efforts.

These noise-reduction efforts in Paris stand to make the city quieter for both people and wildlife. The city’s campaign in the war against noise prompts the question: can we turn down the volume on noise pollution to minimize its impact on birdsong?

Turning down the racket

In 2023, I travelled to Paris to record the songs of the great tit, a familiar European backyard bird closely related to the chickadee.

I used microphones and digital recorders to record birds in the streets, squares and parks throughout the city. I retraced the footsteps of my collaborator, Hans Slabbekoorn, the original biologist who recorded great tits in Paris in 2003.

The researcher stands holding out a large black microphone, with the Eiffel Tower behind him. — Dan Mennill uses a microphone to capture birdsong close to the Eiffel Tower.
(Dan Mennill)

When we compared background noise with bird songs, we found that great tits sing higher-pitched songs in noisier environments. By singing at a higher pitch, great tits avoid having their songs masked by the low-frequency noise of traffic sounds.

We also analyzed noise data collected across Paris by Bruitparif. We found that Paris is winning the war on noise pollution and the city has grown quieter in recent years. In fact, Paris today is approximately three decibels quieter than it was 10 years ago. Because the decibel scale is logarithmic, a three-decibel drop represents a major reduction in sound intensity.

Despite this progress, great tits in Paris continue to sing at higher pitches than birds in wilderness areas outside the city.

Birds can revert their tune

However, there is reason for optimism. Research has shown that when cities become quieter, birds in other locations have returned to their natural pitch.

The quiet streets during COVID-19 lockdowns provided a rare opportunity to study birds in a quieter world. Biologists in San Francisco found that the urban soundscape became approximately seven decibels quieter during lockdowns — levels rarely observed since the 1950s.

The quiet airwaves allowed birds to change their tune. White-crowned sparrows in San Francisco responded by singing lower-pitched and quieter songs.

The sound of the great tit singing in spring.

Many species of birds benefited from the quiet soundscape of the lockdown period. In a study of 47 species of songbirds in North America, our research team found that species with broad-frequency songs — sounds that are most immune to the impacts of low-frequency noise — expanded their ranges during this quiet period.

These findings reveal that noise pollution affects diverse birds, even those whose songs seem well-suited to noisy environments.

Listening to the future

Our studies in Paris show that a three-decibel reduction is not sufficient to allow birds to return to their natural song frequencies. Further noise-reduction efforts will be required for us to adequately share the airwaves with our feathered friends.

Paris also provides a hopeful lesson about battling noise pollution. Cities can reduce noise by encouraging cycling and quieter transportation. Public policy also plays an important role, exemplified by Paris’s Bruitparif agency.

If we measure noise pollution, we can strive to reduce it, improve our own well-being and create the space for wild birds to communicate at their natural sound frequencies.

Dan Mennill receives funding from NSERC.

– ref. Paris has successfully cut noise pollution, but urban birds still can’t sing at their natural pitch – https://theconversation.com/paris-has-successfully-cut-noise-pollution-but-urban-birds-still-cant-sing-at-their-natural-pitch-280229

April 20, 2026

El cambio climático favorece el crecimiento de microorganismos patógenos que pueden llegar a nuestros grifos

Source: The Conversation – (in Spanish) – By Ana Pérez Gimeno, Profesor Ayudante Doctor en el Área de Ingeniería Química, Universidad Miguel Hernández

Tras el paso de una fuerte dana en octubre de 2024 se detectaron microorganismos patógenos en el agua de consumo de la Comunidad Valenciana (España). Vicente Sargues/Shutterstock

Cada vez que abrimos el grifo de casa, ni siquiera nos planteamos si el agua que sale es segura. Si la vemos transparente y no huele mal parece que es suficiente. Solo cuando vamos de viaje, dependiendo de cuál sea el destino, nos surgen dudas. La culpa la tienen algunos microorganismos patógenos que pueden vivir y desarrollarse libremente en ella. El problema es que no los vemos a simple vista, pero están ahí.

Después de muchos años trabajando con estos diminutos seres, en mi último estudio he mostrado su impacto en la salud pública debido a su cada vez más frecuente proliferación en el agua de consumo y su relación con los eventos climáticos extremos derivados del cambio climático.

Cuando se rompe el equilibrio

Los microorganismos ocupan extensas regiones de la Tierra debido a su facilidad para adaptarse incluso a las condiciones ambientales más adversas. Su mera presencia en el agua de consumo no indica que sea un riesgo para la salud humana, incluso aunque se encuentren en cantidades muy elevadas.

El problema aparece cuando se multiplican y diseminan sin control y aparecen microorganismos patógenos que deterioran la calidad del agua, dando lugar a olor y sabor desagradables y causando enfermedades que pueden llegar a ser letales.

Bacterias, virus y protozoos son los microorganismos que con más frecuencia se han identificado en las aguas de consumo, junto con las endotoxinas de algunas cianobacterias.

Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Vibrio, Legionella, helmintos (gusanos parásitos), virus causantes de la hepatitis, cianobacterias y un largo etcétera son algunas de estas amenazas invisibles. Y no solo pueden infectar por la ingesta provocando enfermedades gastrointestinales, sino también a través de la piel o en forma de aerosol llegando a nuestros pulmones como es el caso de la Legionella.

Asimismo, las toxinas generadas por las cianobacterias o algas verde-azuladas cada vez son más abundantes en las fuentes de suministro de agua cuya temperatura está por encima de 20 ºC. Esto limita la disponibilidad de agua para consumo humano debido a su dificultad para ser eliminadas en los sistemas de potabilización.

Imagen de satélite que muestra una superficie de agua azul con manchas verdes debido a las algas — Floración de algas verde-azuladas en el lago Erie en Estados Unidos.
NASA Earth Observatory. Landsat 5., CC BY-SA

El reto del cambio climático

El cambio climático supone un auténtico desafío. La temperatura de la Tierra se ha incrementado en más de 1 ºC en las últimas décadas y esa tendencia es cada vez más acusada, tal y como se ve reflejado en los datos de satélite recogidos por la NOAA.

El aumento de la temperatura promueve el crecimiento, la resiliencia y la dispersión de los microorganismos. Pero no solo eso, también es responsable de los fenómenos meteorológicos extremos cada vez más frecuentes.

Las inundaciones provocan la circulación de grandes volúmenes de agua por el terreno, arrastrando nutrientes y contaminando las aguas superficiales. Por su parte, las sequías pueden ocasionar un empeoramiento de las condiciones sanitarias y una alta concentración de nutrientes que pueden llegar hasta las aguas subterráneas.

Todo esto proporciona a los microorganismos las condiciones ideales para multiplicarse y diseminarse. Además, los agentes desinfectantes pierden eficacia ante el aumento de las temperaturas, cada vez más extremo y persistente.

Muchas epidemias derivadas de patógenos en aguas potables tienen lugar después de periodos de inundaciones, como los identificados en el agua de consumo de la Comunidad Valenciana (España) tras el paso de una fuerte dana en octubre de 2024.

Leer más:
Después de la DANA: actuaciones de respuesta desde la salud pública

Microorganismos que se multiplican exponencialmente

Placa de petri con manchas blancas — Crecimiento de colonias azules de *Escherichia coli* en la imagen de arriba y de *Legionella pneumophila* en la de abajo. Ambos casos proceden de muestras de agua de consumo.
Ana Pérez Gimeno

Incluso en los países desarrollados, con estrictos controles y regulaciones, hay muchos puntos críticos, desde el abastecimiento de agua hasta nuestro grifo. Esto hace que, ante situaciones climáticas extremas, los microorganismos se multipliquen exponencialmente y tengan acceso a la red de suministro.

El Centro Europeo de Prevención y Control de Enfermedades (ECDC) hace un seguimiento de los brotes epidemiológicos que periódicamente se dan y busca el origen para poder combatirlos. Son frecuentes las enfermedades gastrointestinales en verano, causadas por la ingesta de agua contaminada por las bacterias Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Vibrio o Campylobacter.

Si se hace un estudio de la evolución de los casos de legionelosis en la Unión Europea, se observa un evidente aumento en los últimos años, siendo los países más afectados Italia, Francia, Alemania y España. Estos países han experimentado veranos muy calurosos, de entre 35-40 ºC, y elevados índices de humedad, proporcionando las óptimas condiciones para el crecimiento y dispersión de la bacteria Legionela.

Gráfica que muestra cómo los casos de legionelosis han aumentado en Europa entre 2005 y 2023 — Evolución de los casos confirmados de legionelosis en Europa entre 2005 y 2023.
Gráfica basada en los datos aportados por el ECDC, CC BY-SA

Cómo afrontar el desafío

La contaminación microbiológica es un reto, tanto en países desarrollados como en vías de desarrollo, agravado por el calentamiento global. La crisis climática nos obliga a mirar el agua potable no solo en términos de cantidad, sino también de calidad.

Por tanto, es necesario entender que la salud de nuestras aguas empieza por minimizar los efectos derivados del cambio climático. Hay que establecer una legislación global que regule los protocolos de vigilancia y control y construir infraestructuras resilientes a los fenómenos meteorológicos extremos.

Un ejemplo de la efectividad de este tipo de medidas fue la drástica disminución de los casos notificados de microorganismos en aguas de consumo en 2020, lo que se atribuye a los estrictos controles y protocolos higiénicos derivados de la epidemia mundial de covid-19. Fue un punto de inflexión en el desarrollo de procedimientos de análisis rápidos y precisos para identificar los habitantes invisibles de las aguas y así poder controlarlos y eliminarlos antes de su llegada a nuestro grifo.

Leer más:
Vigilancia del SARS-CoV-2 en aguas residuales: una herramienta de alerta rápida

Ana Pérez Gimeno no recibe salario, ni ejerce labores de consultoría, ni posee acciones, ni recibe financiación de ninguna compañía u organización que pueda obtener beneficio de este artículo, y ha declarado carecer de vínculos relevantes más allá del cargo académico citado.

– ref. El cambio climático favorece el crecimiento de microorganismos patógenos que pueden llegar a nuestros grifos – https://theconversation.com/el-cambio-climatico-favorece-el-crecimiento-de-microorganismos-patogenos-que-pueden-llegar-a-nuestros-grifos-280296

April 20, 2026

El papel oculto de la insulina en el riesgo de cáncer

Source: The Conversation – (in Spanish) – By Lydia Begoña Horndler Gil, Profesor en inmunología y biología del cáncer, Universidad San Jorge

Representación de moléculas de insulina (con forma de flor) y glóbulos rojos en un vaso sanguíneo. UGREEN 3S/Shutterstock

Durante décadas, la obesidad se ha explicado como una diferencia entre las calorías que ingeríamos y las que gastábamos, pero no es tan sencillo. Cada vez hay más pruebas de que el metabolismo es mucho más complejo y que las hormonas desempeñan un papel fundamental.

Y una hormona clave en el metabolismo energético es la insulina, que se encarga de regular los niveles de azúcar. Cuando no funciona de forma “correcta”, aparecen enfermedades como la diabetes o el cáncer.

Pero además de regular el metabolismo de la glucosa, también participa en el metabolismo lipídico, Es decir, promueve el almacenamiento de grasa y reduce la utilización de esta como fuente de energía. En consecuencia, niveles elevados de insulina favorecen la acumulación de grasa corporal y el aumento de peso.

El tejido adiposo se descontrola

Cuando la insulina permanece elevada de forma sostenida en el tiempo hablamos de hiperinsulinemia. Esta situación resulta peligrosa para el organismo, ya que contribuye al aumento del tejido adiposo y al aumento excesivo del tamaño de las células que lo forman: los adipocitos.

Los adipocitos hipertrofiados no solo almacenan más grasa, sino que también cambian su comportamiento. Como resultado, el tejido adiposo sufre alteraciones metabólicas e inmunológicas que favorecen un estado de inflamación crónica. Este fenómeno ha dado lugar a un importante debate entre los cientificos: ¿es la hiperinsulinemia una consecuencia de la obesidad o podría considerarse uno de sus desencadenantes?

Canceres asociados a obesidad.
Centros para el Control y la Prevención de Enfermedades

Algunos estudios recientes sugieren que puede aparecer antes del aumento de peso. Por ejemplo, se ha observado que niños con niveles más altos de insulina presentan una mayor predisposición a desarrollar obesidad en el futuro. Es probable que ambos procesos se refuercen mutuamente, dando lugar a un círculo difícil de romper en esas personas.

Estado de inflamación crónica

Durante mucho tiempo, el tejido graso se consideró simplemente un depósito de energía. Hoy sabemos que es un órgano metabólicamente activo que también participa en la regulación del sistema inmunitario.

En condiciones de hiperinsulinemia, los adipocitos hipertrofiados liberan señales que atraen macrófagos y otras células inmunes hacia ese tejido adiposo. La acumulación de dichas células inmunitarias favorece la producción de moléculas inflamatorias y genera un estado de inflamación crónica de bajo grado, característico de muchas enfermedades metabólicas.

Cantidades adecuadas de insulina son necesarias para la activación normal del sistema inmunitario, pero cuando esos niveles son excesivamente altos, el sistema puede dejar de funcionar correctamente.

Así, se ha observado que la hiperinsulinemia afecta a unas células muy concretas: las T reguladoras, encargadas precisamente de controlar la respuesta inmune. Como resultado, se favorece un entorno más proinflamatorio, que puede facilitar el desarrollo de diversas patologías. Entre ellas, el cáncer.

Insulina y cáncer

Más allá de su función metabólica, la insulina también actúa como un factor mitogénico, es decir, como una señal que puede estimular a las células a dividirse y sobrevivir. Esta característica es relevante en el contexto del cáncer: las células tumorales pueden aprovechar la señalización para favorecer su crecimiento.

Una de las estrategias observadas en distintos tumores es el aumento de la expresión de una forma específica del receptor de insulina conocida como INSR-A. Este receptor tiene una mayor afinidad por la hormona y transmite señales asociadas principalmente con la proliferación y división celular, favoreciendo la progresión tumoral.

Diversos estudios han asociado este contexto metabólico con un mayor riesgo de desarrollar determinados tipos de cáncer:

Cáncer de páncreas: el páncreas está expuesto a concentraciones especialmente altas de insulina debido a la presencia de las células β, responsables de producir esta hormona. En investigaciones con animales , la reducción de los niveles de insulina ha demostrado disminuir la inflamación y la fibrogénesis en lesiones pancreáticas precancerosas. Estos resultados sugieren que podría contribuir directamente a la progresión tumoral y ser una nueva diana a la que atacar.
Cáncer colorrectal: se ha encontrado una asociación entre hiperinsulinemia y mayor riesgo de sufrir esta enfermedad. Los investigadores han observado que muchos tumores de colon presentan una mayor proporción del receptor de insulina INSR-A, lo que podría favorecer la proliferación de las células tumorales y, por tanto, un peor pronóstico.
Cánceres ginecológicos: entre los tumores asociados a alteraciones metabólicas, el cáncer de endometrio y el cáncer de mama presentan una relación especialmente estrecha con la obesidad, la diabetes y la hiperinsulinemia. En estos casos, la insulina puede favorecer el crecimiento tumoral tanto por su efecto mitogénico directo como por su influencia sobre el equilibrio hormonal.

Cuando los niveles de insulina se mantienen elevados de forma crónica, se observa una mayor proporción de estrógeno libre circulante, lo cual puede estimular la proliferación de tejidos sensibles a esas hormonas, como el endometrio o el tejido mamario. A largo plazo, es una situación que puede favorecer el desarrollo de tumores.

En el caso del cáncer de mama, esa relación es especialmente relevante después de la menopausia, cuando el tejido adiposo se convierte en una de las principales fuentes de producción de estrógenos.

La importancia de lo que comemos

Algunos alimentos, especialmente aquellos con un alto índice glucémico, provocan aumentos rápidos de glucosa en sangre. Como respuesta, el organismo libera grandes cantidades de insulina, y la repetición crónica de estos picos de glucosa e insulina puede favorecer el desarrollo de hiperinsulinemia, inflamación metabólica y alteraciones hormonales.

Entre esos alimentos se encuentran productos ricos en carbohidratos refinados y azúcares de rápida absorción como bebidas azucaradas, dulces y bollería, pan blanco y cereales altamente procesados.

Con el tiempo, los procesos citados pueden contribuir tanto al desarrollo de obesidad como al aumento del riesgo de determinados tipos de cáncer. Por ello, además de la cantidad total de energía consumida, la calidad de la dieta y la respuesta metabólica que provocan los alimentos en el organismo son factores clave para reducir el riesgo de esas patologías.

Entonces, ¿qué alimentos debemos consumir para reducir los peligrosos picos de insulina? En general, los productos poco procesados y ricos en fibra favorecen una absorción más lenta de la glucosa y ayudan a mantener niveles de la hormona más estables. Por ello, es recomendable aumentar el consumo de verduras, fruta entera, legumbres, frutos secos y cereales integrales.

También es importante incluir proteínas de calidad y grasas saludables, presentes en alimentos como el pescado, los huevos, el aceite de oliva virgen extra, el aguacate o los frutos secos. Estos nutrientes contribuyen a aumentar la sensación de saciedad y ayudan a evitar fluctuaciones bruscas de glucosa en sangre.

En los últimos años, el aumento de incidencia de cáncer en población joven ha despertado las alarmas sobre el estilo de vida actual, incluyendo la forma en que nos alimentamos. Concretamente, se cree que entre un 30-35 % de los nuevos cánceres pueden asociarse a los malos hábitos nutricionales. Reducir el consumo de alimentos que aumentan ese riesgo y optar por aquellos que nos protegen puede marcar la diferencia.

Lydia Begoña Horndler Gil no recibe salario, ni ejerce labores de consultoría, ni posee acciones, ni recibe financiación de ninguna compañía u organización que pueda obtener beneficio de este artículo, y ha declarado carecer de vínculos relevantes más allá del cargo académico citado.

– ref. El papel oculto de la insulina en el riesgo de cáncer – https://theconversation.com/el-papel-oculto-de-la-insulina-en-el-riesgo-de-cancer-275109

April 20, 2026

‘Blockchain’: la tecnología que podría garantizar la seguridad de nuestras historias clínicas

Source: The Conversation – (in Spanish) – By Jésica Delgado Sáez, Profesora Permanente Laboral de Derecho Civil, Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca

La digitalización ya permea todas las facetas de la vida cotidiana, incluida nuestra salud. Y dentro del ámbito sanitario, las historias clínicas son herramientas especialmente sensibles: ¿se puede garantizar la seguridad de nuestros datos médicos frente fallos y fraudes? A continuación explicaremos cómo lograr una sanidad más eficiente y transparente gracias a la tecnología llamada blockchain.

Historia clínica: datos de salud seguros y bajo control

La historia clínica es el elemento central de los datos de salud del paciente. Recoge de forma cronológica diagnósticos, tratamientos e intervenciones médicas, y permite conocer los antecedentes y evolución clínica.

Durante años, esta forma de registro adolecía de graves deficiencias, ya que la información debía actualizarse manualmente. A menudo, esta resultaba ilegible, incompleta o contradictoria, y no siempre estaba disponible en tiempo real.

Para solucionarlo, en 2006 el Sistema Nacional de Salud de España creó la historia clínica digital. Este sistema permite compartir información médica relevante entre comunidades autónomas, garantizar la calidad asistencial, evitar duplicidades, facilitar el acceso profesional y ciudadano y proteger la privacidad mediante accesos autorizados al Ministerio de Sanidad.

La historia clínica tiene importantes implicaciones jurídicas. Afecta a derechos fundamentales como la intimidad y la protección de información personal. Su regulación se apoya en la Ley 41/2002 y en la normativa de protección de datos, especialmente el Reglamento (UE) 2016/679 y la Ley Orgánica 3/2018. Los datos de salud son categorías especiales y su tratamiento está limitado, aunque permitido con fines asistenciales bajo secreto profesional.

La confidencialidad refuerza la confianza médico-paciente, y la historia clínica contiene información altamente sensible que requiere una protección reforzada. Aquí es donde puede entrar en escena la tecnología blockchain.

¿Cómo funciona la tecnología blockchain?

Blockchain puede entenderse como una especie de libro de registro compartido entre muchas personas y organizaciones. En lugar de estar guardado en un único lugar, ese registro se copia y se mantiene actualizado en múltiples ordenadores conectados entre sí. En él se anotan las transacciones agrupadas en “bloques”, cada uno con una marca de tiempo que indica cuándo se ha creado.

Este sistema funciona sin necesidad de un intermediario central porque todos los participantes comparten la misma información y pueden comprobarla. Para garantizar la seguridad, se apoya en técnicas criptográficas (métodos matemáticos que protegen la información) y en el acuerdo entre los distintos participantes de la red. De este modo, una vez que los datos se registran, no pueden modificarse sin que el resto lo detecte, y todos pueden consultarlos.

Cada uno de los ordenadores conectados –llamados nodos– guarda una copia completa del registro. Esto permite seguir el rastro de cualquier cambio (trazabilidad), evita la pérdida de información si falla algún sistema y facilita detectar posibles manipulaciones. Además, al estar distribuido, el sistema mantiene la coherencia de los datos entre todos los participantes.

La red funciona de forma directa entre los propios participantes, sin un servidor central. Cada nueva transacción se transforma en un código único (similar a la “huella digital”) y se valida mediante el acuerdo de la red antes de añadirse al registro. Este proceso, conocido como “minería”, consiste en verificar y confirmar la información antes de incorporarla definitivamente. Gracias a ello, una vez que los datos se añaden, resulta extremadamente difícil alterarlos posteriormente.

Una red descentralizada

Aplicada a las historias clínicas, la tecnología blockchain permite guardar la información de salud de forma segura y compartida entre distintos centros o profesionales, sin depender de un único sistema central. Es como un registro común al que todos los usuarios autorizados pueden acceder y en el que cada cambio queda anotado, lo que dificulta su manipulación y permite seguir fácilmente quién ha consultado o modificado los datos.

Además, este sistema puede reducir la necesidad de intermediarios y mejorar la trazabilidad, es decir, la capacidad de saber qué ha ocurrido con la información en cada momento. También facilita que el propio paciente tenga un mayor control sobre quién accede a su historia clínica mediante los llamados “contratos inteligentes”, esto es, reglas automáticas que se ejecutan solas cuando se cumplen ciertas condiciones, como autorizar el acceso a un médico concreto.

El modelo pionero de Estonia

Estonia se puede considerar un país “nativo digital” y es un referente mundial en el uso de blockchain. Tras una serie de ciberataques sufridos en 2007, el país desarrolló la cadena de bloques KSI para proteger sus registros y evitar manipulaciones internas. Esta tecnología se integró en su infraestructura pública y, en especial, en el sistema de salud electrónica.

KSI Blockchain garantiza la integridad de los datos, impide reescribir la información y permite demostrar su autenticidad, manteniendo al mismo tiempo la privacidad total. Desde 2020 está acreditada como servicio de confianza bajo el reglamento eIDAS de la UE.

Las autoridades de Estonia crearon registros médicos electrónicos con perfiles completos de cada paciente que reducen la burocracia y facilitan el acceso a información crítica en emergencias. Los proveedores sanitarios están conectados mediante el sistema nacional de información sanitaria, donde los datos se almacenan de forma segura.

Con este sistema, la propiedad de la información recae en el paciente, que dispone de un historial de salud digital protegido mediante una tarjeta de identificación electrónica. Solo profesionales autorizados acceden a esa información y, a la vez, los ciudadanos pueden consultar sus historiales, limitar accesos y conocer quién ha visto sus datos. KSI Blockchain protege tanto los registros como los accesos al sistema.

Dicho acceso se realiza a través de un portal electrónico seguro, donde los datos son obtenidos de distintos proveedores y presentados en un formato único. Así, médicos y pacientes pueden acceder a pruebas, recetas y antecedentes en tiempo real. En España y otros países, donde no se utiliza blockchain, la tecnología es centralizada, lo que hace que sea más vulnerable

Otros ejemplos refuerzan este modelo. En Corea del Sur, la startup Sendsquare desarrolló el sistema eCRF usando blockchain y contratos inteligentes para gestionar datos clínicos con autorización del paciente. También destaca Block M.D., una plataforma implementada en proyectos piloto y sistemas de gestión de datos sanitarios en varias partes del mundo que permite intercambiar información sanitaria de forma segura, colaborativa e inmutable.

En definitiva, la tecnología blockchain ofrece un marco sólido para gestionar la historia clínica en el sistema sanitario. No sustituye a los sistemas actuales, sino que los complementa con seguridad, trazabilidad y transparencia. Permite almacenar y compartir datos de salud de forma distribuida e inalterable, reduciendo riesgos técnicos y organizativos.

Además, el paciente gana control sobre su información. Incluso, al eliminar intermediarios, crece la confianza entre profesionales e instituciones. Todo ello favorece servicios sanitarios más eficientes, interoperables y seguros.

Jésica Delgado Sáez recibe fondos de Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades Proyecto PID2022-136964NB-I00 El Derecho ante la Salud Digital, Personalizada y Robótica (SALUDPYR).

– ref. ‘Blockchain’: la tecnología que podría garantizar la seguridad de nuestras historias clínicas – https://theconversation.com/blockchain-la-tecnologia-que-podria-garantizar-la-seguridad-de-nuestras-historias-clinicas-272463

April 20, 2026

El cuello de botella del mundo: quién manda de verdad en el estrecho de Ormuz

Source: The Conversation – (in Spanish) – By Julián Santana Silva, Profesor Asociado del área de Derecho Internacional Público y Relaciones Internacionales, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Vista satelital en 3D del estrecho de Ormuz. FoxPictures/Shutterstock

El estrecho de Ormuz se sitúa geográficamente como la única vía de comunicación marítima entre el golfo Pérsico, al oeste, y el golfo de Omán y el mar Arábigo, al sureste. Este canal de escasa anchura divide la costa septentrional de la República Islámica de Irán de la península arábiga, delimitada particularmente por el territorio fragmentado omaní de Musandam y los Emiratos Árabes Unidos.

Su trascendencia estratégica es innegable al ser cuello de botella por el que transita gran parte del crudo transportado por vía marítima a nivel mundial. Dada la dependencia energética del planeta de los combustibles fósiles, cualquier modificación en su tráfico afecta gravemente la estabilidad económica internacional.

El paso inocente y en tránsito

El meollo del problema jurídico radica en determinar qué derechos asisten a los buques extranjeros durante su travesía por estas aguas. Para ello, es indispensable diferenciar entre el régimen de paso inocente y el de paso en tránsito.

Mientras el primero habilita al Estado ribereño para establecer regulaciones en aras de su seguridad y orden, el derecho de paso en tránsito garantiza libertades de navegación y sobrevuelo más amplias para un tránsito rápido e ininterrumpido que no puede ser suspendido unilateralmente.

La interpretación de ambos conceptos es el centro de las tensiones en esta zona de gran inestabilidad.

La Convención de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Derecho del Mar (CNUDM) es el principal texto jurídico que rige los espacios marinos a escala mundial. Este acuerdo estipula la delimitación de zonas como el mar territorial, la zona económica exclusiva y la plataforma continental, prescribiendo asimismo reglas para la protección del medio marino.

Irán niega el derecho del mar

El valor estratégico del tratado radica en promover la paz y la utilización equitativa de los recursos oceánicos. Aun así, su eficacia se ve condicionada por el hecho de que no todos los Estados lo han ratificado plenamente. Esta falta de adhesión universal, como es el caso de Irán, representa un pilar básico para el análisis de las tensiones marítimas internacionales.

El derecho de paso inocente constituye una de las instituciones más significativas del régimen jurídico de los espacios marinos, pues busca armonizar la libertad de navegación con la seguridad estatal. Según la Convención de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Derecho del Mar, el concepto de paso se define como la navegación por el mar territorial con el propósito de atravesarlo sin penetrar en aguas interiores, o bien para dirigirse hacia ellas o salir de las mismas. Para que dicho tránsito sea legítimo, la norma internacional indica que este debe ser necesariamente rápido e ininterrumpido.

El principio básico que califica la condición de inocencia es que el paso no resulte, bajo ninguna circunstancia, perjudicial para la paz, el buen orden o la seguridad del Estado ribereño. En ejercicio de su soberanía, el Estado costero está capacitado para promulgar leyes y reglamentos que regulen este derecho, especialmente en materias relacionadas con la seguridad marítima, la prevención de infracciones pesqueras y la preservación del medio ambiente.

De igual forma, el ribereño puede exigir a los buques extranjeros el cumplimiento de dispositivos de separación del tráfico o el uso de vías marítimas designadas.

Además, el ordenamiento jurídico faculta al Estado para suspender temporalmente el paso inocente en áreas específicas de su mar territorial cuando dicha medida resulte esencial para proteger su seguridad, como en el caso de ejercicios con armas, siempre que medie una publicación formal previa.

En segundo lugar, el régimen de paso en tránsito constituye la norma fundamental aplicable a los estrechos utilizados para la navegación internacional que comunican una parte de la alta mar o de una zona económica exclusiva con otra área de igual naturaleza.

Este sistema jurídico especial nace como una necesidad imperativa para facilitar y asegurar las comunicaciones globales en puntos geográficos estratégicos. A diferencia del paso inocente, como ya se explicó más arriba, el derecho de paso en tránsito faculta a todos los buques y aeronaves a ejercer las libertades de navegación y sobrevuelo con el fin exclusivo de un tránsito rápido e ininterrumpido.

Una de las particularidades decisivas del régimen iraní es su carácter absoluto, pues la Convención prescribe de forma tajante que no habrá suspensión alguna de este derecho por parte de los Estados ribereños. Esta protección jurídica es considerablemente superior a la del paso inocente ordinario por el mar territorial.

Por lo tanto, el control del Estado ribereño es menor y queda limitado a la promulgación de leyes sobre seguridad de la navegación, prevención de la contaminación y control aduanero que no pueden, bajo ninguna circunstancia, denegar o menoscabar el ejercicio efectivo del tránsito.

En definitiva, este régimen jurídico prioriza la libertad de las comunicaciones internacionales sobre las prerrogativas soberanas de carácter local.

Libertad de navegación

El estrecho de Ormuz se clasifica jurídicamente como un estrecho internacional al conectar el golfo Pérsico con el mar Arábigo. En este contexto, el ordenamiento jurídico aplicable es el derecho de paso en tránsito, caracterizado por libertades de navegación y sobrevuelo que no admiten suspensión.

A pesar de ello, la República Islámica de Irán, al no haber ratificado plenamente la Convención y ser un objetor persistente, defiende en la práctica y en su legislación interna limitaciones similares al paso inocente. Teherán sostiene la facultad de exigir autorizaciones previas, oponiéndose al automatismo del tránsito.

Este choque entre la norma convencional y las pretensiones soberanas origina serias fricciones jurídicas y políticas que comprometen la estabilidad operativa en esta región estratégica. Además, las declaraciones de Donald Trump y las órdenes dirigidas al bloqueo del estrecho por parte de las fuerzas navales de las que dispone en la zona, no contribuyen a rebajar la tensión y ponen de manifiesto el clima de inestabilidad existente.

La problemática en el Estrecho de Ormuz emana de interpretaciones contradictorias y de la falta de ratificación de la CNUDM por actores estratégicos, quienes dan prioridad a derechos soberanos frente al automatismo del tránsito.

El derecho y los estrechos internacionales

En definitiva, la posición del Estado persa no es una simple negación del derecho del mar: acepta las normas consuetudinarias que refuerzan su soberanía, mientras rechaza todas aquellas que limitan su control sobre el estrecho invocando su condición de objetor persistente.

Por otro lado, la comunidad internacional opera de tal forma que el derecho de tránsito en estrechos internacionales es vinculante para todos. La práctica estatal contemporánea revela una posición casi uniforme: los estrechos estratégicos como Ormuz no pueden quedar a discreción unilateral del Estado ribereño.

En esta línea, el derecho internacional trabaja menos como un sistema formal cerrado y más como un acuerdo estratégico que trata de garantizar la continuidad de la navegación global.

Julián Santana Silva no recibe salario, ni ejerce labores de consultoría, ni posee acciones, ni recibe financiación de ninguna compañía u organización que pueda obtener beneficio de este artículo, y ha declarado carecer de vínculos relevantes más allá del cargo académico citado.

– ref. El cuello de botella del mundo: quién manda de verdad en el estrecho de Ormuz – https://theconversation.com/el-cuello-de-botella-del-mundo-quien-manda-de-verdad-en-el-estrecho-de-ormuz-280953