Category: The Conversation – UK

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Adam Smith, Senior Consultant, Universal Impact, The Conversation

Modern warfare is high-tech, violent and often incomprehensible. It is also widespread with one in eight people globally exposed to conflict last year.

The shocking images which daily fill news reports and social media feeds can leave us feeling confused and helpless. But researchers can at least offer context to help us better understand these turbulent times.

This was the motivation behind a recent series of events organised by the Independent Social Research Foundation (ISRF), which The Conversation UK works with via its subsidiary Universal Impact. And a common theme was the argument that imperialism laid the foundations for many contemporary power struggles.

In these lectures on decolonisation, Martin Thomas, Julia Laite and Adam Hanieh detailed how the world we know today was shaped by the rise of empire.

For centuries, the world’s wealthiest nations forcibly acquired territory and access to natural resources, not least oil.

Adam Hanieh, Professor of Political Economy and Global Development at the University of Exeter, explained how oil propelled the allies to victory in the First and Second World Wars. Not just by fuelling their militaries but also as the raw material behind the petrochemicals essential for developing the atomic bomb.

Indeed, as Hanieh revealed, the biggest individual institutional consumer of oil remains the US military. And yet its emissions were neither counted in the Kyoto Protocol nor the Paris Agreement.

To ensure ongoing control over oil supplies, Hanieh told how the US has forged connections in the Middle East, establishing two pillars of “influence and domination”: Israel on one side and the Gulf States, and particularly Saudi Arabia, on the other.

He said that the Middle East is one of the world’s biggest importers of arms, mainly from the US, so “petrodollar wealth is recirculating into American markets and American war making companies”.

“The centrality of both war making and the ways our lives are run through global finance gives the Middle East a central role in American power globally,” Hanieh said.

“One of the root causes of conflict, of violence, is the kind of deep ways in which global power depends upon the Middle East and controlling and building alliances with those states.”

According to Martin Thomas, this global financial order has thwarted many aspirations of the former colonies which fought for self-determination after the Second World War.

Thomas, Professor of Imperial History at the University of Exeter, explained how many newly independent countries were embroiled in “Cold War rivalries which condemned third world states to subservience to the rich world’s economic demands”.

Thomas views the Soviet Union as “undoubtedly an empire”. He argued that following its fall, Russia’s governing elite was unable to “come to terms with the reality of a decolonising world”. Consequently, it is now waging a “war of imperialism” in Ukraine.

“Central to President Putin’s claims is the fact that in his, or in the Russian leadership’s, world view Ukraine is not an authentic nation state that self-determination could legitimately apply to,” Thomas said.

“I don’t accept that. I don’t think most Western governments accept that. And therefore I do see this as, crudely put, imperial bullying with dreadful human consequences.”

Ukraine’s rare mineral reserves have been at the centre of the war, as a reason for both the Russian invasion, as well as the involvement of the United States as a self-styled peacemaker. Indeed, if there’s a consistent theme running through the history of colonialism it is this struggle over natural resources.

Another example is Newfoundland where, as Julia Laite, Professor of History at Birkbeck, University of London, explained, cod was another prized commodity of empire. This unfashionable but extremely profitable product provided, in its dried salted form, one of the main food sources for enslaved people working on plantations.

Laite revealed how Newfoundland — which became England’s “very first transatlantic colonial possession” in 1583 — was one of the earliest places “to experience the environmental cost of this avarice”.

It was also the site of one of the most “totalising destructions of an indigenous culture in British imperial history” with Laite explaining how indigenous culture of the Beothuk people was destroyed by the “particular brand of negligent extractive colonialism” practised in Newfoundland.

Laite told the story of Shanawdithit, the final known living member of the Beothuk, and how her artwork is the last remaining first-hand account of their history and culture.

“Shanawdithit’s story is also the story of these imperial entanglements, the violence and the greed that underwrote them, and the price that people and the planet paid.

“She single-handedly ensured the survivance – however fragile and slight – of an entire culture of people. She reminds us of what an act of hope it is to tell a story, even at the end of the world.”

The ISRF’s mission is to find new solutions to some of today’s most pressing social issues.

Few things seem more pressing than halting the bloodshed in Ukraine, Palestine and Sudan. But while peace currently seems unimaginable – the end of empire once seemed unimaginable, too.

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Universal Impact offers specialist training, mentoring and research communication services – donating profits back to The Conversation UK, our parent charity. If you’re a researcher or research institution and you’re interested in working together, please get in touch – or subscribe to UI’s weekly newsletter to find out more. Universal Impact is a partner of the ISRF

– ref. From oil to cod – ISRF event explores what yesterday’s empires reveal about today’s wars – https://theconversation.com/from-oil-to-cod-isrf-event-explores-what-yesterdays-empires-reveal-about-todays-wars-263072

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Barbara Cooke, Programme Leader and Senior Lecturer in English, Loughborough University

It’s that time of year again. Flight costs are up, schools are out, and anyone lucky enough to afford a break is heading – literally or metaphorically – for the hills. Some might harbour visions of a beautiful stranger alone in a beach or bar, someone who takes a keen interest in them, gives them the best two weeks of their lives then disappears into the sunset. This is probably what most of us imagine when we think of a holiday romance: something magical and fleeting, but removed from everyday life.

One writer, however, proved in novel after novel that a change of scene can also inspire a lasting change of mind. It might shake the blinkered out of an unhelpful way of seeing the world, or reveal hidden depths in overlooked friends and acquaintances. It can take people away from those who do not appreciate them, and introduce them into new communities in which they thrive.

Jane Austen’s heroines are a nomadic bunch, by and large. The author is known for psychological development, but the emotional and educational progress of her romantic plot lines is almost always kick-started by a series of more literal journeys. Movements between home, “seasons” in the city and prolonged visits to family and friends map out narrative progress towards love.

Following the footsteps of one Austen protagonist, Anne Elliot of Persuasion (1817), reveals how the different narrative locations she inhabits present different opportunities for her to grow in confidence and reclaim a love that she thought lost forever. At the same time, they also enable Frederick Wentworth, her erstwhile fiancé, to reconsider his false assumptions about her and see her in a more truthful (not to mention more flattering) light.

It’s something I explore in my soon-to-be-published book, Love and Landscape: Iconic Meeting Places in Classic and Contemporary Literature.

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This article is part of a series commemorating the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth. Despite having published only six books, she is one of the best-known authors in history. These articles explore the legacy and life of this incredible writer.

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When we meet Anne at the beginning of Persuasion, she clearly needs to get out more. She is 26 and unmarried, having been convinced at 19 by her snobbish family to end her engagement to Wentworth.

Now, she is unloved and overlooked by her father and elder sister Elizabeth and, when her family’s profligate spending means they must rent out their home and seek cheaper accommodation, it is a blessing in disguise for Anne.

She goes first to visit her other, married sister in the Somerset village of Uppercross. Mary is as self-centred as Elizabeth and their father, but does at least love and appreciate Anne. Mary’s sisters-in-law, Louisa and Henrietta Musgrove, live nearby with their parents and are fond of her too. Crucially, this kinder branch of Anne’s family is also connected to the now-Captain Wentworth, who has made a good career for himself in the Napoleonic wars and is warmly welcomed into their circle.

Anne’s first move having brought her into better company, she then makes a second journey, with this group, to the coastal town of Lyme Regis. Here, the fresh sea air restores her faded youth, and Wentworth is gratifyingly present when a passing stranger looks at her “with a degree of earnest admiration”.

Anne however is more than a pretty face, and her stay at Lyme also allows her to show off her pragmatism and good judgment when Louisa is knocked unconscious by a bad fall. Wentworth, who blames himself for the accident, benefits directly from Anne’s taking charge of the situation.

Their last move, to Bath, shows the nascent couple carving out small opportunities for intimacy among crowded ballrooms and claustrophobic family gatherings.

When they are finally able confirm their mutual affection, they engineer a retreat to a gravel walk which is only “comparatively quiet and retired”, and count on their fellow walkers being too wrapped up in their own business to pay them much attention.

In Northanger Abbey (1817), Austen’s most satirical novel, it is observed that “if adventures will not befall a young lady in her own village, she must seek them abroad”. In Persuasion, Anne’s particular adventures bring her into a more supportive community, reinvigorate her youth and give her the chance to prove her worth.

In Austen’s footsteps

Over the past two centuries, a huge variety of writers have forged their own romantic plot lines from paths first cut by Anne Elliot, Catherine Morland of Northanger Abbey and Elizabeth Bennet of Pride and Prejudice (1813).

For those whose stories feature marginalised characters, for example, the value of a sympathetic and supportive community becomes even more important. So it is that author Sarah Waters imaginatively reconstructs pockets of Victorian London in Tipping the Velvet (1998) in which queer characters are visible and able to celebrate their love. The South London barbershops and jazz clubs of Open Water (2022) offer a similar respite for Caleb Azumah Nelson’s young Black lovers, who crave spaces in which they can be themselves away from the prejudices and false assumptions of mainstream society.

Jane Austen’s novels perform a kind of romantic alchemy in which travel is the catalyst. From Lyme to Bath, Hertfordshire to the Peak District, her protagonists move through a holiday atmosphere, but the transformations they undergo along the way are anything but fleeting. There might be a depressing uniformity in marriage as the inevitable, final destination, but we are left in no doubt that these are marriages – like Austen’s legacy – are built to last.

This article features references to books that have been included for editorial reasons, and may contain links to bookshop.org. If you click on one of the links and go on to buy something from bookshop.org The Conversation UK may earn a commission.

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Barbara Cooke 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. In Jane Austen’s Persuasion, respite is a key ingredient for romance – https://theconversation.com/in-jane-austens-persuasion-respite-is-a-key-ingredient-for-romance-263070

Source: The Conversation – UK – By James Clark, Professor of Medieval History, University of Exeter

England has entered its fourth heatwave of 2025. Historical comparisons for our current weather situation have seemed to beach at 1976.

Seared into the memory of many Britons over 55, that was the year when temperatures stuck at 30 degrees and there was no rain for nearly 50 days in a row. As a result, the UK government was forced to ration water. But Britain’s longest dry spell of the 20th century was not the worst for the wider continent.

For heat intensity and human cost across Europe we need to return to 2003. Back further, the heat and drought of 1911 easily eclipsed 1976 for European impact and before that 1757. And, above all, 1540, when there was no rainfall for almost the entire year. German chroniclers recorded that it was possible to walk across the Rhine.

Reaching further into the medieval past, the North Atlantic region passed through a climate anomaly between the 10th and 13th centuries. Research temperatures rose to around one degree celsius above the level that was typical at the turn of the 21st century.

Medieval Europeans became accustomed to hot, dry seasons – and they knew how to endure them.

Sadly, their experience cannot set us on a different course but it may have something to teach us about how to survive. Researchers are beginning to recognise that there are lessons for our own sustainability in the middle ages’ management of the environment, agriculture and food production. The same may be true in how they lived and worked under the sun.

Here are six tips from the middle ages to beat the heat:

1. Work flexibly

In June, July and August, start work at the first light of dawn, advised the 14th-century shepherd, Jehan de Brie, author of Le Bon Berger (The Good Shepherd).

In fact, all three medieval estates – those who worked, prayed and fought – compressed their tasks to the cooler morning hours in the long summer days. Clergy adapted their services to fit a shorter night and longer day and after Corpus Christi (June) their worship year wound down. Knighthood curbed its taste for tournaments. They would never lift a lance in August.

2. Wear the right hat

Although hardly a habit unique to the middle ages, it is only in the past half-century or so that the hat has lost its status as a staple, everyday item.

Hats were worn daily for practical as well as social reasons in European society.

Medieval images, manuscript illuminations, murals and panel paintings, gesture at the endless variety of shaped hats, soft caps and hoods they reached for as a matter of course. For high summer, the half-metre brim of a hat like the Swedish Lappvattnett hat may have been the norm.

3. Eat to lower body temperature

In the unrefrigerated world of the middle ages, food could still be cool. Salad leaves (known then as salat) were preferred because they were palatable and digestable in the heat.

Fish and meat dishes were cooled down for the season by being doused with verjuice (pressed, unripe grapes), vinegar and perhaps even pomegranate juice.

4. Try wild swimming

Swimming was an increasingly common, communal recreation in later medieval Europe. When monasteries allowed their inmates periods of downtime, besides blood-letting, they encouraged river and sea swimming for health, hygiene and general fitness.

In late medieval European cities crowded with tens of thousands, the breadth and depth of the Danube, Rhine, Seine and Tiber were an essential lifeline. The medieval theologian Everard Digby’s manual on the Art of Swimming, first published in 1587, described what may have long been a common sight – leaping and diving through the water “just like the summer’s roach”.

5. Use aftersun

Look after those burns. The monks of Citeaux Abbey were chronicled gathering herbs and roots in summer to salve their “perished skin”.

A 10th-century book of remedies, Bald’s Leechbook , recommended stalks of ivy sauteed in butter to apply to burns. Later, the recommendation was rosewater distilled from the flower’s petals.

Today we would say a bottle of aftersun or aloe gel will do.

6. Flee

When Emperor Charles V (king of Sicily and Naples from 1516 to 1554) found himself in a sweltering Rome with his young children, who were struggling in the rising temperatures, he made the household leave the city. High society generally left city palazzos to go up country and into shadier climes.

The author Giovanni Boccaccio recalled in his Decameron how the “dames of the city fly off” in summer to their country houses. King Richard II
(1377 until 1399) of England built a summer house at Sheen Palace (now Richmond palace) on the banks of the Thames to escape the close climate of the capital.

Even round-the-clock monastic institutions sometimes broke up and decamped to outlying country priories. Of course, it was rarely an option for those beneath them on the social scale.

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Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here.

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James Clark 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. Six tips from the middle ages on how to beat the summer heat – https://theconversation.com/six-tips-from-the-middle-ages-on-how-to-beat-the-summer-heat-263290

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Kartikeya Walia, Lecturer, Department of Engineering, Nottingham Trent University

You might have noticed that humanoid robots are having a bit of a moment. From Tesla’s Optimus to Figure AI’s Figure 02,
these machines are no longer just science fiction – they’re walking, and in some cases, cartwheeling into the real world.

Now China’s Unitree Robotics, best known for its nimble quadruped robots, has unveiled something that’s turning heads: the Unitree R1.

For one thing, it’s a humanoid robot priced at under US$6,000 (£4,400). That’s not pocket change, but it’s orders of magnitude cheaper than most robots in its class, which can run into tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The R1 packs serious mobility, sensors and AI potential into a package that could fit in a university lab, a workspace – or even, if you’re adventurous, your living room.

What can the R1 do?

The Unitree R1 is around 1.2 metres tall and weighs roughly 25kg (similar to a packed suitcase). This makes it compact and relatively easy to move around. It’s equipped with 24 to 26 degrees of freedom (think of these as “joints” that allow it to bend, twist and rotate), giving it a surprisingly human-like range of motion. It can walk, squat, wave, balance, kick and – according to Unitree’s own demos – pull off athletic tricks like cartwheels.

It’s loaded with sensors: cameras to see in 3D, microphones to hear where sounds
are coming from, and wireless connections to talk to other devices. Its built-in
computer can handle both what it sees and hears at the same time, and you can
even give it extra computing power if you buy Nvidia’s Jetson Orin, a high-performance computer often used in AI projects which retails for about £180. It’s like adding a “turbo boost” that lets the robot handle more demanding tasks such as advanced image recognition, real-time decision-making or running complex software like real-time 3D graphics platform Unreal Engine.

Battery life is about an hour, with a quick-release system that lets you swap in a
fresh battery. That’s not a full day’s work, but it’s enough for short bursts of training, testing or demonstration. At least for most research teams, that’s plenty.

Here’s the thing: while the R1’s hardware is impressive, the software is still finding its feet. For example, Unitree’s website says that users need to “understand the limitations” of humanoid robots before making a purchase, reflecting constraints to the robot’s autonomy. This is not unique to Unitree; it’s the state of the humanoid robotics field as a whole. The challenge isn’t just making a robot move; it’s making it understand, adapt and interact safely in unpredictable real-world environments.

Right now, much of what we see in humanoid demos is either scripted routines or
teleoperation (remote control). But in research labs, there’s exciting work happening to bridge that gap – from task-specific AI such as teaching a robot to sort packages, to fundamental skills like maintaining balance, responding to uneven terrain, and fine-tuning finger dexterity for delicate object handling.

Humanoid robots like the R1 provide a platform where all these capabilities can be
tested in one body. The hardware says: “I can do it.” The software still has to figure out how.

Why a humanoid form?

Why is it necessary to have humanoid robots at all? Why not just make machines purpose-built for specific tasks? The truth is, there’s a strong argument for both approaches. The humanoid form has a big advantage in social acceptance. People are used to seeing other humans, so a machine with two arms, two legs and a head tends to feel more relatable than a box on wheels or an industrial arm.

In settings like elderly care, hospitality or public assistance, a humanoid robot might be easier for people to interact with – especially if it can use gestures, facial cues or natural conversation.

On the practical side, humanoids are designed to operate in environments built for
humans – climbing stairs, opening doors, using tools. In theory, this means you don’t have to rebuild your home, office or factory for these robots to work there.

But are they always the most practical solution? Not necessarily. A robot with wheels can be faster and more energy-efficient on flat surfaces. A specialised arm can be stronger and more precise in a factory. Humanoids often sacrifice peak efficiency for versatility and familiarity. For many applications, that trade off might be worth it. For others, maybe not.

The Unitree R1 isn’t about replacing people – it’s about making humanoid robotics
more accessible. By lowering costs, it opens the door for universities, small
companies and even hobbyists to explore everything from AI vision and balance
control to dexterous hand movements and creative performances.

Imagine students developing a robot that can walk around a care home, carrying out
small helpful tasks. Or a research team teaching it to work alongside humans in a warehouse without needing elaborate safety cages to protect the humans. Or even artists and performers using it to take part in a show.

The whole robotics community is in a golden age of experimentation. Different AI modes are being tested – some focused on single, repetitive tasks;
others on general adaptability. Some robots are learning to squat and maintain
balance under sudden pushes. Others are developing precise finger movements for
tool use. It’s a worldwide collaborative puzzle, and humanoids like the R1 give
researchers a flexible piece to work with.

For now, the R1 is not “the robot that will change everything.” But it’s a signpost
pointing toward a future where robots like it are much more common, much more
capable, and perhaps … a little more human.

Kartikeya Walia 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. A humanoid robot is now on sale for under US$6,000 – what can you do with it? – https://theconversation.com/a-humanoid-robot-is-now-on-sale-for-under-us-6-000-what-can-you-do-with-it-262183

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Nikki Walshe, Associate Professor in Equine Science, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Limerick

Toby, a fun-loving Labrador, was a beloved member of the Murphy household. So, when the family noticed patches of hair loss and red, itchy skin on his paws and legs, they were concerned. Still, they thought: “All dogs get itchy sometimes.” A medicated shampoo and a modified diet seemed to help.

But by the following winter, Toby’s condition worsened. He began losing more hair around his head, dropped weight rapidly and his lymph nodes became swollen. The family sought further veterinary help. Blood tests and tissue samples revealed something unexpected: Leishmania infantum, a parasite typically found in southern Europe, transmitted by the bite of sand flies.

Toby had never left the UK, but his owners had visited the Jalón Valley, Spain just months earlier. Toby hadn’t gone with them, but the possibility arose: could an infected sand fly or contaminated item have made its way back in luggage or belongings? Toby was treated and recovered well.

This is an adapted version of one of just three recorded cases of leishmaniasis in UK dogs since 2019. Canine leishmaniasis causes chronic, sometimes fatal disease in dogs and can infect humans, particularly those with a weakened immune system. Once confined to the Mediterranean basin, it is now spreading northwards through Europe.

The rise of vector-borne diseases

One growing concern in both the veterinary parasitology and public health sector is vector-borne disease (illness spread by arthropods like flies, ticks and mosquitoes). These diseases don’t respect borders; instead, they migrate with changing habitats and climates.

The UK’s island geography has historically offered a degree of natural protection. But global warming, increased international travel and trends like cross-border pet rehoming are eroding that protection. What was once “exotic” is now edging closer to home.

In fact, the international rehoming of animals and routine pet travel are now major contributors to the rise of exotic diseases in domestic animals. In one large group of imported dogs, more than a quarter tested positive for conditions not typically seen in the UK, including heartworm Dirofilaria immitis. Spread by mosquitoes, heartworm damages the heart and lungs of dogs. Once restricted to southern Europe, it is now being reported in central and eastern Europe, with sporadic cases further north and west.

It’s not just dogs. Horses are also vulnerable.

Equine piroplasmosis (EP) – transmitted by ticks – can cause severe illness or death. Once considered a southern European problem, it is now a concern for the UK’s equine industry due to expanding tick habitats, increased animal movement and blood tests showing antibodies to the parasite in some horses in Britain and Ireland – a sign they have been exposed to the disease.

African Horse Sickness, a midge-borne virus, has caused devastating outbreaks, such as in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, in the late 1980s, killing hundreds of horses. While the current risk of the virus spreading in the UK is low, species of midges capable of transmitting it are already found in parts of Europe. Climate and environmental modelling suggest that conditions across the region are becoming increasingly suitable for the virus to establish and spread.

When pets and people share risks

Our close relationships with companion animals mean some parasites can leap from them to us.

Exotic parasites like Echinococcus multilocularis, Leishmania infantum and Dirofilaria immitis can infect humans, sometimes with serious consequences.

Take Echinococcus, for example. Dogs often carry it without symptoms, shedding eggs in their faeces that can contaminate soil, water, or food. Humans may become infected by accidentally ingesting these eggs, such as through contact with infected dogs or unwashed produce.

The two species of greatest concern for zoonotic transmission are Echinococcus granulosus, which causes Cystic echinococcosis, and E. multilocularis, which can cause a more serious, invasive form of the disease affecting the liver and other organs. In the UK, E. granulosus is present at low levels, with isolated cases reported in imported and farm-associated dogs.

E. multilocularis has not been detected in the UK and remains under active surveillance. In Ireland, there are no confirmed cases of Echinococcus in dogs, yet a 2019 case involving a woman with no travel history suggests the parasite may already be circulating undetected highlighting the importance of continued surveillance.

And what of exotic parasites that have already entered our domestic animal population? The first recorded UK case of a cyst-forming parasite in donkeys was documented in 2020, the first recorded Irish case was in 2023 and researchers are investigating suspected Onchocerca cervicalis in Connemara ponies. Initially mistaken for “sweet itch” – a common allergic skin condition in horses caused by midge bites – these cases presented with unusual symptoms but responded to deworming.

Protecting the UK

Protecting the UK from emerging vector-borne threats requires a proactive approach:

• screen animals before importation to reduce the risk of bringing parasites into the country

• formally monitor insect vectors – flies, ticks and mosquitoes – to track and predict spread

• test local animal populations to establish a clear disease baseline

• educate vets and owners about the risks of animal movement and encourage responsible practices, especially for dogs and horses.

Most importantly, we need a true One Health approach – a framework that recognises the health of people, animals and the environment are deeply interconnected. This approach brings together veterinary and human health professionals, environmental scientists and policymakers to share data, monitor threats and design coordinated prevention strategies. By acting early, we can limit the spread of parasites before they become established in the UK and Ireland.

If we wait until disease emerges, the horse will have truly bolted and we may discover the infection has already spread to our animals, our communities and, potentially, ourselves

Nikki Walshe is affiliated with ESCCAP (European Scientific Counsel Companion Animal Parasites)

– ref. Emerging parasite threats in the UK and Ireland: the role of climate change and pet travel – https://theconversation.com/emerging-parasite-threats-in-the-uk-and-ireland-the-role-of-climate-change-and-pet-travel-260846

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Bruno Soeiro Vieira, Professor Adjunto, Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA)

Cop30, the UN climate summit scheduled to take place this November in the Brazilian city of Belém, is embroiled in a controversy that has nothing to do with solving the planet’s environmental problems. Currently occupying debate about the conference is what Brazil’s press is calling the “hosting crisis”.

André Corrêa do Lago, president of Cop30, said that countries have been pressurising Brazil to move the UN climate conference from Belém to another city because of the “exorbitant prices” being charged for hotels. Some governments have even considered not taking part in the conference or reducing their delegations. But the Brazilian government has dismissed this possibility.

How did this happen? A very low number of available beds, the raising of room rates to a premium by hotel chains, and historical prejudice have all led to the perfect storm of the current crisis.

At the end of the 17th century, Belém had three times as many inhabitants as São Paulo. The state capital of Pará was also one of the first cities in the country to have public energy, powered by gas. The city was also experiencing the first rubber extraction boom.

But with the subsequent decline of rubber, Belém and other cities in the Amazon lost their prominence. Today Belém is a city of the developing world which, like many others, including Baku in Azerbaijan which hosted the Cop29 summit last year, faces a host of infrastructure problems.

In addition to the obvious lack of urban infrastructure which generates and deepens social inequalities, there are other problems. The hotel network is too small to accommodate a demand for more than 50,000 beds, the amount of people expected for Cop30.

The problem has been cascading, but it all started with the city’s hotel chains. From the start of the year, hotels began to increase the prices of accommodation, and raise prices even higher for the period of the event.

The problems with lack of affordable hotel accommodation and the state of the city’s infrastructure are of great concern. But any public and media discussion of the issues tends to end up belittling the city and the entire Amazon region, revealing an internal colonialism that has always existed in Brazil.

Behind the criticism of infrastructure and hotel prices often lies an enduring and historic prejudice that assumes that an Amazonian city could never host an event of this size and importance.

Possible solutions

It could be argued that there has been a historical inertia, or even lack of oversight on the part of national and state governments for not having foreseen these issues and taking steps to pre-empt them.

In the short term, price regulation is necessary, which the state can’t impose because it lacks the legal authorisation to do so. The consumer secretariat even requested that hotels provide information on room rates. But this request was ignored, with chains claiming that this is a market issue, a view endorsed by the Brazilian Hotel Association.

The federal Brazilian government has responded by bringing two ocean liners to the city, which will provide around 6,000 beds. The government has also created an online accommodation platform which will make 2,500 rooms available.

There are other options available. The UN could, for example, offer a greater subsidy to delegations from developing countries, in order to guarantee a greater number of participants. Accommodating delegates in neighbouring cities is another alternative.

With time running out, there is a risk that the event won’t be attended as well as it is hoped. And the presence of the largest number of countries and delegates at Cop30 is fundamental to legitimise the decisions that will be taken.

The people of Pará are hospitable and enjoy receiving visitors, and the area is rich in culture, architecture and cuisine. This is not a time for greed, but for welcoming people and showing them the city, its way of life and what the Amazon needs. After all, the people who understand the Amazon best are the Amazonians.

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Bruno Soeiro Vieira 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. Cop30: the accommodation crisis plaguing Brazil’s upcoming UN climate summit – https://theconversation.com/cop30-the-accommodation-crisis-plaguing-brazils-upcoming-un-climate-summit-263165

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Rachel Woods, Senior Lecturer in Physiology, University of Lincoln

Holidays should be about relaxing, enjoying yourself and making memories – not obsessing over a “perfect” eating plan. A healthy diet is built over months and years, not in a single week (or two). Instead of restricting what you eat, a better approach is to add healthy extras to your holiday meals. This way, you can nourish your body, support your digestive system and stay hydrated without feeling deprived.

If you usually count every calorie, giving yourself a mental break can be refreshing and well deserved. Recent research even suggests that strict calorie restriction can have a detrimental effect on mental health. Of course, this advice assumes holidays are occasional. If you travel frequently, your approach might need to be different. And if you have health conditions or specific dietary needs, tailored guidance is always best.

A few extra holiday calories won’t undo your long-term health – but side effects from overeating like bloating, constipation and fatigue can put a damper on your trip. These tips focus on helping you avoid those issues so you can feel your best and make the most of your time away.

Add, don’t restrict

It’s often easier to add something to your diet than to cut things out, especially on holiday. Rather than having a list of foods to avoid, eat what you fancy and then add nourishing extras.

Where you’re staying will influence how easy this is. At an all-inclusive resort, the variety makes it simple to include more fruit and vegetables. Adding a side salad or extra vegetables to every plate, or piling on chopped fruit at breakfast, keeps your fibre intake up and provides valuable nutrients. If you want to moderate calorie intake, starting meals with salad or fruit can help fill you up before the main course.

If your hotel offers breakfast, use it as a chance to start the day with nourishing foods. A plate with mushrooms, tomatoes, beans, or fresh fruit can set you up well, making it easier to relax about food choices for the rest of the day.

Self-catering or dining out can be trickier, but not impossible. Ordering vegetable sides, buying fresh fruit for your room, and keeping a bag of nuts or seeds handy can all help.

Wherever you are, enjoy the local cuisine. In the Mediterranean, for example, traditional diets are rich in vegetables, olive oil and fresh fish – all linked to heart health and longevity.

If you’re near the coast, make the most of fresh fish, an excellent source of healthy fats. Choosing whole, minimally processed foods as often as possible is generally the healthiest option.

Staying hydrated

Hot climates and busy days make hydration especially important. Keep a water bottle with you, sip regularly, and watch for early signs of dehydration, such as thirst, dark urine, or dizziness. Water and sugar-free drinks are the healthiest choices.

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If alcohol is part of your holiday, balance it with non-alcoholic fluids. From a health perspective, alcohol isn’t good for the body – but it’s understandable to want a glass of wine at dinner or a cold beer by the pool. Enjoy it in ways that minimise the after-effects: alternate with water, dilute with soda or lemonade to make spritzers or shandies, or plan a few drink-free days.

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Cocktails and even mocktails can be surprisingly high in sugar, so save them for when you’ll really enjoy them. Having alcohol with food can soften its effects, but remember it’s dehydrating – so top up with plenty of water.

Eating and drinking on flights

Long flights can be dehydrating and tiring, so what you eat and drink on board can make a big difference to how you feel when you land. Cabin air is extremely dry, so drink water regularly – ideally a glass every hour – and limit alcohol and caffeine, which can worsen dehydration.

If possible, bring your own snacks. Fresh fruit like grapes or apple slices, vegetable sticks, unsalted nuts, and oat-based bars are healthier and often more satisfying than high-salt, high-sugar snacks sold on board. Salty foods can make you more thirsty, and heavy meals may leave you bloated or sluggish in the confined space of an aircraft seat.

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Airline meals can vary in quality, but you can often request a lighter or special option (such as vegetarian or low-salt) when booking. Eating smaller portions and stretching your legs when possible can help keep digestion moving and reduce the risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

Travelling with children

With children, mealtimes can be more challenging, especially when routines are disrupted. Young travellers are more prone to dehydration, stomach upsets and constipation – particularly if their diet changes suddenly. A loose structure of three balanced meals, healthy snacks and regular water breaks can help maintain appetite and keep digestion on track.

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Holidays can also be a great opportunity for children to try new foods. Buffets work well for this, allowing them to explore small, low-pressure portions. In restaurants, sharing a few dishes between the table can encourage tasting without the commitment of a full plate. Offering new flavours alongside familiar favourites – and keeping it low-pressure – may make them more likely to try new foods.

Children can be especially vulnerable to dehydration, as they may not recognise or communicate the symptoms. Make sure they regularly have access to drinks. Some parents mark water levels on a child’s cup to track intake.

Foods with high water content – such as watermelon, cucumber and other fruit and vegetables – also contribute to hydration. Treats such as ice lollies count too, though watch the sugar. Slush drinks are often popular, but many are high in sugar and some contain glycerol, which the Food Standards Agency advises against for children under seven.

Holiday eating isn’t about perfection. Healthy eating is built over months and years, not a week or two. Keeping up your fruit and vegetable intake supports digestion, and regular fluids keep you hydrated. Simple steps to nourish your body mean more energy for exploring, relaxing with family, or simply enjoying a well-earned break.

Rachel Woods 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. From resort buffets to long flights: simple tips for eating well on holiday – https://theconversation.com/from-resort-buffets-to-long-flights-simple-tips-for-eating-well-on-holiday-262965

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Alex Connock, Senior Fellow, Said Business School, University of Oxford

Imagine you had an unlimited budget for individual tutors offering hyper-personalised courses that maximised learners’ productivity and skills development. This summer I previewed this idea – with a ridiculous and solipsistic test.

I asked an AI tutor agent to play the role of me, an Oxford lecturer on media and AI, and teach me a personal master’s course, based entirely on my own work.

I set up the agent via an off-the-shelf ChatGPT tool hosted on the Azure-based Nebula One platform, with a prompt to research and impersonate me, then build personalised material based on what I already think. I didn’t tell the large language model (LLM) what to read or do anything else to enhance its capabilities, such as giving it access to learning materials that aren’t publicly available online.

The agent’s course in media and AI was well structured – a term-long, original six-module journey into my own collected works that I had never devised, but admit I would have liked to.

It was interactive and rapid-fire, demanding mental acuity via regular switches in formats. It was intellectually challenging, like good Oxford tutorials should be. The agent taught with rigour, giving instant responses to anything I asked. It had a powerful understanding of the fast-evolving landscape of AI and media through the same lens as me, but had done more homework.

This was apparently fed by my entire multimedia output – books, speeches, articles, press interviews, even university lectures I had no idea had even been recorded, let alone used to train GPT-4 or GPT-5.

The course was a great learning experience, even though I supposedly knew it all already. So in the inevitable student survey, I gave the agentic version of me well-deserved, five-star feedback.

For instance, in a section discussing the ethics of non-playing characters (NPCs) in computer games, it asked:

If NPCs are generated by AI, who decides their personalities, backgrounds or morals? Could this lead to bias or stereotyping?

And:

If an AI NPC can learn and adapt, does it blur the line between character and “entity” [independent actor]?

These are great, philosophical questions, which will probably come to the fore when and if Grand Theft Auto 6 comes out next May. I’m psyched that the agentic me came up with them, even if the real me didn’t.

Agentic me also built on what real me does know. In film, it knew about bog-standard Adobe After Effects, which I had covered (it’s used for creating motion graphics and visual effects). But it added Nuke, a professional tool used to combine and manipulate visual effects in Avengers, which (I’m embarrased to say) I had never heard of.

The course reading list

So where did the agent’s knowledge of me come from? My publisher Routledge did a training data deal with Open AI, which I guess could cover my books on media, AI and live experience.

Unlike some authors, I’m up for that. My books guide people through an amazing and fast-moving subject, and I want them in the global conversation, in every format and territory possible (Turkish already out, Korean this month).

That availability has to extend to what is now potentially the most discoverable “language” of all, the one spoken by AI models. The priority for any writer who agrees with this should be AI optimisation: making their work easy for LLMs to find, process and use – much like search engine optimisation, but for AI.

To build on this, I further tested my idea by getting an agent powered by China’s Deep Seek to run a course on my materials. When I found myself less visible in its training corpus, it was hard not to take offence. There is no greater diss in the age of AI than a leading LLM deeming your book about AI irrelevant.

When I experimented with other AIs, they had issues getting their facts straight, which is very 2024. From Google’s Gemini 2.5 Pro I learned hallucinatory biographical details about myself like a role running media company The Runaway Collective.

When I asked Elon Musk’s Grok what my best quote was, it said: “Whatever your question, the answer is AI.” That’s a great line, but Google DeepMind’s Nobel-winning Demis Hassabis said it, not me.

Where we’re heading

This whole, self-absorbed summer diversion was clearly absurd, though not entirely. Agentic self-learning projects are quite possibly what university teaching actually needs: interactive, analytical, insightful and personalised. And there is some emerging research around the value. This German-led study found that AI-generated tuition helped to motivate secondary school students and benefited their exam revision.

It won’t be long before we start to see this kind of real-time AI layer formally incorporated into school and university teaching. Anyone lecturing undergraduates will know that AI is already there. Students use AI transcription to take notes. Lecture content is ripped in seconds from these transcriptions, and will have trained a dozen LLMs within the year. To assist with writing essays, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Deep Seek/Qwen are the sine qua non of Gen Z projects.

But here’s the kicker. As AI becomes ever more central to education, the human teacher becomes more important, not less. They will guide the learning experience, bringing published works to the conceptual framework of a course, and driving in-person student engagement and encouragement. They can extend their value as personal AI tutors – via agents – for each student, based on individual learning needs.

Where do younger teachers fit in, who don’t have a back catalogue to train LLMs? Well, the younger the teacher, the more AI-native they are likely to be. They can use AI to flesh out their own conceptual vision for a course by widening the research beyond their own work, by prompting the agent on what should be included.

In AI, two alternate positions are often simultaneously true. AI is both emotionally intelligent and tone deaf. It is is both a glorified text predictor and a highly creative partner. It is costing jobs, yet creating them. It is dumbing us down, but also powering us up.

So too in teaching. AI threatens the learning space, yet can liberate powerful interaction. A prevailing wisdom is that it will make students dumber. But perhaps AI could actually be unlocking for students the next level of personalisation, challenge and motivation.

Alex Connock 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. I got an AI to impersonate me and teach me my own course – here’s what I learned about the future of education – https://theconversation.com/i-got-an-ai-to-impersonate-me-and-teach-me-my-own-course-heres-what-i-learned-about-the-future-of-education-262734

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Christophe Ley, Associate professor in Mathematics, University of Luxembourg

Sports coaches have always made decisions based on experience, observation and intuition. But they are increasingly relying on hard evidence. Behind the scenes, a quiet revolution is transforming sport – driven not by human skills but by data.

Wearable sensors, video trackers, GPS and health monitors now capture almost everything an athlete does. From their speed and movement to heart rate and positioning, countless data are being recorded.

But how best apply all that data?

I work at the intersection of sports, statistics and artificial intelligence, leading the Modelling, Interdisciplinary, Data, Applied, Statistics (Midas) research team at the University of Luxembourg. Our goal is simple: use data to help athletes and coaches make better decisions.

Whether that’s adjusting tactics pre-match, predicting outcomes or preventing injury, data science is changing the game.

The challenge is to make sense of this plethora of data, which comes from different sources and is of different types. And that is precisely where statistical modelling and machine learning come into play.

By finding patterns in the data – such as why a certain (over-)training has led to reduced performance or even injury, for example – we can provide actionable insights. Indeed, these insights don’t just reveal or explain what has happened, but can also predict what is going to happen – and most importantly why.

To be able to predict as accurately as possible future performances and results and to estimate the risk of injuries, we’ve developed a new approach called statistically enhanced learning (SEL) — a framework that blends statistical modelling with machine learning.

In short, statistical insights can be transformed into features that help predictive algorithms work better. Consider “team strength”. This is an abstract concept we’ve come up with to represent the team’s current playing ability. And we model it out of data from the games teams have previously played.

It isn’t meaningful to use all individual games as input to a predictive algorithm. So we first build a statistical model to estimate team strengths from all these matches (giving more weight to more recent matches), and the estimated team strengths will then be used as input for the predictive algorithm.

Think of it as giving AI smarter inputs, such that it makes smarter predictions. In our studies, this approach consistently improves accuracy and interpretability across different sports.

Working with the Metz women’s handball team, champions of France in 2025, we developed prediction models that achieved over 80% accuracy. In a recent scientific paper, we combine game information (such as day of the week the game takes place, importance of the game) and team’s structure (height, weight, age of players) with the team strengths (which we estimate based on several previous match results) and feed all this into the programme. Without the team strengths, the accuracy would drop by roughly 20%.

Crucially, these models are not black boxes. We use explainable AI techniques so coaches can understand which variables drive the predictions, helping them adjust strategy and prepare more effectively.

Preventing injuries

Another key area is injury prevention. Injuries can derail a season, or even a career. By analysing patterns in performance and workload data, we can identify early warning signs. For example, slight declines in speed, jump height or reaction time may signal that a player is at risk.

Once flagged, coaches and medical staff can step in by adjusting training, adding rest days or tailoring recovery. Instead of reacting after an injury, teams can act proactively to keep athletes healthy.

Clearly our tools do not replace coaches. Rather they enhance their decision-making, be it at the level of tactical preparation or training setup. By turning data into insight, we help teams compete smarter.

Challenges and the future

Of course, this new era brings challenges. Data quality is not always consistent. Not all clubs can afford the same technology. And ethical questions arise around data ownership and athlete privacy. But the direction of travel is clear. Data science is becoming an essential part of sport, not just for top clubs and national teams, but across all levels.

We are also expanding our collaborations. This approach can be used in various sports including football, basketball and rugby. Our aim is to make analytics more accessible, explainable and useful, so that athletes and coaches, not just data scientists, benefit from what we learn.

As fans, we see the goals, the saves, the rallies, the celebrations. What we do not see is the science behind the scenes – the models predicting outcomes, the algorithms flagging risks, the data informing every sprint and substitution.

Sport will always be about passion, talent and human drama. But increasingly, it is also about probability, precision and the quiet power of data. And that might just be one of the most important game changers of all.

Christophe Ley is co-founder of the company GrewIA and President of the Luxembourg Statistical Society.

– ref. Game changer: how data science is revolutionising athlete performance – https://theconversation.com/game-changer-how-data-science-is-revolutionising-athlete-performance-261400

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Paul Glaister, Professor of Mathematics and Mathematics Education, University of Reading

Mathematics at A-level is going from strength to strength. Maths is the most popular subject choice, and further maths, which is a separate A-level course, has seen the most growth in uptake. Despite this, concerns still remain about the mathematical skills of young people who do not choose to study maths after they are 16.

Students in England who have passed GCSE maths at grade four or above, but who are not taking A-level or AS-level maths, are eligible to take a core maths qualification.

Core maths was introduced in 2014-15 to attempt to remedy a lack in mathematics education after 16. But the number of entries remains well short of what they could be. Many students who would benefit from maths after 16 are not taking this subject.

A 2010 report from the Nuffield Foundation found students in the UK lag their peers in other countries in participation in mathematics after the age of 16. Further research from the Royal Society and higher education charity AdvanceHE showed that as a consequence, many were not well prepared for the demands of their university courses or careers. Survey data has also found that over half of UK adults’ maths skills are low.

Many courses at university include mathematical or quantitative elements, but do not require AS or A-level maths for entry. These include psychology, geography, business and management, sociology, health sciences, biology, education and IT. When many students have not studied mathematics since GCSE, this results in a lack of fluency and confidence in using and applying it.

Core maths consolidates and builds on students’ mathematical understanding. The focus is on using and applying mathematics to authentic problems drawn from study, work and life. This includes understanding and using graphs, statistics and tools such as spreadsheets, as well as understanding risk and probability.

Take-up remains low despite incentives – schools receive an additional £900 in funding for each student who studies core maths. In 2025, 15,327 students took core maths – a 20% increase on 12,810 entries in 2024, which is very encouraging. However, research from the Royal Society in 2022 found that fewer than 10% of the number of A-level students who were not taking A-level mathematics had taken core maths, which will not have changed significantly even with the current numbers.

Increasing enrolment

There remains strong commitment from the government for increasing participation in mathematics after 16 in England through core maths. Many schools and colleges have embraced the subject, and universities have expressed support too.

However, a real incentive for teenagers to study this subject would be if it was rewarded in entry to university. Universities can allow students entry to a course with lower A-level grade profiles than normally required if they also passed core maths, for instance. But the number of universities making this kind of offer is low.

Schools and colleges need stronger signals from universities to induce them to offer students the opportunity to study for a core maths qualification, and to encourage their students to do so. Shifting today’s landscape to one where the vast majority of learners aged 16 to 19 in England are studying some form of mathematics which is relevant to their current and future interests and needs will require reform.

The Royal Society’s 2024 report on mathematical and data education sets out several reforms necessary to develop the mass mathematical, quantitative and data skills needed for the careers of the future. These include compulsory maths and data education in some form until 18. Extending the take up of core maths would be an excellent way to begin achieving this.

Paul Glaister 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. Despite A-level popularity, maths education after 16 is still lacking in England – https://theconversation.com/despite-a-level-popularity-maths-education-after-16-is-still-lacking-in-england-263224