Category: The Conversation – UK

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Carole Haswell, Professor of Astrophysics, The Open University

We live in a very exciting time: answers to some of the oldest questions humanity has conceived are within our grasp. One of these is whether Earth is the only place that harbours life.

In the last 30 years, the question of whether the Sun is unique in hosting a planetary system has been resoundingly answered: we now know of thousands of exoplanets orbiting other stars.

But can we use telescopes to detect whether any of these distant worlds also harbour life? A promising method is to analyse the gases present in the atmospheres of these planets.

We now know of more than 6,000 exoplanets. With so many now catalogued, there are a number of ways to narrow down which worlds are the most promising for biology. Using the planet’s distance from its host star, for example, astronomers can work out its likely temperature.

Earth is the only planet in the Solar System with liquid water oceans on its surface, so mild temperatures are a possible requirement for a habitable planet. Whether a planet has the correct temperature for liquid water is strongly influenced by the presence and nature of the planet’s atmosphere.

Astonishingly, we can identify molecules present in the atmospheres of exoplanets. Quantum mechanics causes each atmospheric chemical to have its own distinct barcode-like pattern, which it leaves on the light passing through it. By collecting starlight that has been filtered through an exoplanet’s atmosphere, telescopes can see the barcodes of the molecules making up that atmosphere.

To take advantage of this, the planet needs to transit – pass in front of – the star from our point of view. This means it only works for a small fraction of known exoplanets.

The strength of the signal depends on the abundance of the molecule in the atmosphere: stronger for the most abundant molecules and gradually weaker as the abundance decreases. This means it is generally easiest to detect the dominant molecules, though this is not always true. Some of the barcodes are intrinsically strong, while others are weak.

For example, Earth’s atmosphere is dominated by diatomic nitrogen (N₂), but this molecule has a feeble barcode compared to the much less abundant diatomic oxygen (O₂), ozone (O₃), carbon dioxide (CO₂) and water (H₂O).

Detecting molecules

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a large space telescope which collects light at infrared wavelengths. It has been used to probe the atmospheres of a variety of exoplanets.

The detection of molecular imprints in the atmosphere of an exoplanet is not completely straightforward. Different teams of workers can derive different results as a consequence of making slightly different choices in the way they handle the same data. But despite these difficulties, reproducible and robust detections of molecules have been made. Simple molecules with strong barcodes such as methane, carbon dioxide and water have been detected.

Planets larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune – so called sub-Neptunes – are the most common type of known exoplanet. It was for one of these planets, K2-18b, that a bold claim of a detection of a biosignature was made in 2025. The analysis detected dimethyl sulphide, with a claimed less-than-once-chance-in-1,000 that this detection was spurious.

On Earth, dimethyl sulphide is produced by phytoplankton in the oceans, but is rapidly broken down in seawater illuminated by sunlight. As K2-18b may be a
planet completely covered by a water ocean, the detection of dimethyl sulphide in its atmosphere could imply an ongoing supply of it from microbial marine life there.

Re-examination of the K2-18b dimethyl sulphide detection by other researchers casts doubt on this claim. Most significant was the 2025 demonstration by Arizona State University’s Luis Welbanks and colleagues that the choice of molecular barcodes to include in the analysis radically affected the results.

They found that numerous alternatives, not explored in the original paper, provided equally good or better fits to the measured data.

For Earth-sized planets which are presumably rocky, it is quite challenging to detect an atmosphere at all with JWST. However, the future is promising, as a number of planned missions will allow us to learn a lot more about planets which may be similar to the Earth.

Upcoming missions

With a planned launch in 2026, the European Space Agency’s Plato telescope will identify planets far more similar to Earth and suitable for transmission spectroscopy than those we currently know of.

Nasa’s Nancy Grace Roman space telescope, which is set to launch in 2029, will pioneer coronagraphic techniques that allow starlight to be cancelled out so the very much dimmer planets orbiting nearby stars can be studied directly.

The European Space Agency’s Ariel telescope, with a planned launch in 2029, is a dedicated transmission spectroscopy mission, designed to have the capabilities to determine the compositions of exoplanet atmospheres.

Nasa’s Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) is currently in the planning stages. This mission will use a coronagraph to study around 25 Earth-like planets, looking for a variety of hallmarks of habitability.

HWO will have broad wavelength coverage from the ultraviolet out to the near-infrared. If a twin of the Earth were orbiting one of HWO’s nearby target stars, the telescope would collect the starlight reflected from the planet. This reflected starlight would include the barcode signatures of diatomic oxygen (O₂) and other gases characteristic of our planet’s atmosphere. It would also reveal a signature of starlight being absorbed by photosynthesising plants: the so-called “vegetation red edge”.

Earth’s surface is divided into land and oceans, which reflect light differently. HWO would be able to reconstruct a low-resolution map of the surface from the changes in the reflected light as continents and oceans rotate in and out of view.

So the future looks very promising. With the spacecraft set to launch in coming years, we might close in on the question of whether Earth is unique in hosting life.

Carole Haswell receives funding from STFC.

– ref. How astronomers plan to detect the signatures of alien life in the atmospheres of distant planets – https://theconversation.com/how-astronomers-plan-to-detect-the-signatures-of-alien-life-in-the-atmospheres-of-distant-planets-272821

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Rahul Sidhu, PhD Candidate, Neuroscience, University of Sheffield

A UK man who is thought to be Britain’s youngest dementia sufferer recently passed away from the disease at only 24 years old. Andre Yarham, from Norfolk in England, was just 22 when he was first diagnosed with dementia.

At the age of 24, most brains are still settling into adulthood. But Yarham’s brain looked decades older — resembling the brain of a 70-year-old, according to the MRI scan that helped diagnose him with the disease.

Yarham initially began exhibiting symptoms of dementia in 2022, with family saying he had become increasingly forgetful and would sometimes have a blank expression on his face.

In the final stages of his life, he lost his speech, could no longer care for himself, behaved “inappropriately” and was bound to his wheelchair.

Dementia is usually associated with old age. However, some forms of dementia can strike astonishingly early and move frighteningly fast. Take frontotemporal dementia, for instance. This was the form of dementia that Yarham was diagnosed with.

Unlike Alzheimer’s disease, which tends to affect memory first, frontotemporal dementia attacks the parts of the brain involved in personality, behaviour and language. These regions sit behind the forehead and above the ears in the frontal and temporal lobes.

These areas help us plan, control impulses, understand speech and express ourselves. When they’re damaged, people may change in ways that are deeply distressing for families – becoming withdrawn, impulsive or unable to communicate.

Frontotemporal dementia is a less common form of dementia, thought to account for around one in 20 cases. What makes it especially cruel is that it can appear in young adulthood.

In many cases, frontotemporal dementia has a strong genetic component. Changes in specific genes can disrupt how brain cells handle proteins. Instead of these proteins being broken down and recycled, they clump together inside the neurons (brain cells) – interfering with their ability to function and survive. Over time, affected brain cells stop working and die. As more cells are lost, the brain tissue itself shrinks.

Why this process can sometimes begin so early in life is still not fully understood. However, when a person has a powerful genetic mutation, the disease does not need decades to unfold. Instead, the mutation allows the damage to accelerate and the brain’s usual resilience fails.

Brain scans carried out while Yarham was alive showed striking shrinkage for someone so young. But to compare Yarham’s brain with that of someone in their 70s would be misleading. His brain had not “aged faster” in the usual sense. Instead, large numbers of neurons had been lost in a short period of time because of the disease.

In healthy ageing, the brain changes slowly. Certain regions become a little thinner, but the overall structure remains intact for decades. But in aggressive forms of dementia, whole brain networks collapse at once.

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Read more:
A 19-year-old is the youngest person to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease – the cause is a mystery

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In frontotemporal dementia, the frontal and temporal lobes can shrink dramatically. As these regions deteriorate, people lose the abilities that those areas support – including speech, emotional control and decision-making abilities. This would explain why Yarham lost language so late but so suddenly – and why his need for full-time care escalated so quickly.

Brain donation

Yarham’s family decided to donate his brain to research. This is an extraordinary gift – one that transforms tragedy into hope for others.

Dementia currently has no cure. Once symptoms begin, there’s no way to stop them and treatments which slow symptoms have limited effects. Part of the reason for this is because the brain is vastly complex and still not entirely understood. Every donated brain helps close that gap.

Brains affected by very early dementia are exceptionally rare. Each donated brain allows scientists to study, in fine detail, what went wrong at the level of cells and proteins. Although brain scans can tell us what brain parts have been lost, only donated tissue can reveal why.

Researchers can examine which proteins accumulated, which cell types were most vulnerable and how inflammation and immune responses may have contributed to the damage. That knowledge feeds directly into efforts to develop treatments that slow, stop or even prevent dementia.

The family’s decision to allow scientists to study tissue from such a rare, early-onset case of frontotemporal dementia could help unlock secrets that may guide treatments for generations to come.

As a neuroscientist, I have been asked how something like this can happen to someone so young. The honest answer is that we are only beginning to understand the biology that makes some brains vulnerable from the very start.

Cases like this underline why sustained investment in brain research, and the generosity of people willing to donate tissue, matters so deeply. The 24-year-old’s story is a reminder that dementia is not a single disease, and not a problem confined to old age. Understanding why it happened will be one small step toward making sure it does not happen again.

Rahul Sidhu 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. Dementia at just 24-years-old – how Britain’s youngest sufferer may help researchers understand the disease – https://theconversation.com/dementia-at-just-24-years-old-how-britains-youngest-sufferer-may-help-researchers-understand-the-disease-272972

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Ian Manners, Professor, Department of Political Science, Lund University

European countries, and Denmark in particular, are scrambling to respond to threats from US officials over the future of Greenland.

Having successfully taken out the leadership of Venezuela in a raid on January 3, an emboldened US government is talking about simply taking Greenland for itself.

Various European leaders have expressed their concern but haven’t been able to formulate a coherent response to the betrayal by a supposed ally.

Since the September 11 attacks in 2001, Danish governments have willingly participated in US-led invasions of Afghanistan (2001-2021) and Iraq (2003-2007). The rightward movement across the Danish political spectrum had led to Denmark rejecting some Nordic and EU cooperation in favour of pro-US transatlanticism.

However, the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine led to a rethink of Danish foreign policy. The country joined the EU’s common security and defence policy and tightened cooperation with recent Nato members Finland and Sweden.

And when Trump came to power for the second time, the chaotic rightward swing of US foreign policy left Denmark reaching out for support from its EU colleagues over the challenge to Greenland.

While a member of the European Union, Denmark has placed itself at the bloc’s periphery since copying the UK in opting out of the euro and from cooperation in justice and home affairs. But any US invasion of Greenland is likely to break Denmark’s fixed exchange rate policy with the euro (and before that the deutschmark) that has been in place since 1982. So there are economic implications as well as territorial.

The fallout from the US’s threats, and certainly any US intervention in Greenland, go much further than Denmark. While the EU tried to stay in step with the US in its support of Ukraine during Joe Biden’s presidency, since the re-election of Trump, EU member states have very much fallen out with the US. During 2025, the US and EU clashed over trade and tariffs, social media regulation, environment and agriculture policies.

But the latest developments demonstrate that Trump’s US can no longer be trusted as a long-term ally – to Greenland and Denmark, the EU and Europe.

This is a crisis engulfing many countries and triggered by many drivers. In order to understand this complex situation, we can use four different analytical approaches from academic thinking. These can help us contextualise not just the Greenland case, but also the emerging multipolar world of “might makes right”.

1. Realism

Currently the most popular approach comes from within the conservative tradition of “realism”. This predicts every state will act in their own national interest.

In this framing, Trump’s actions are part of the emergence of a multipolar world, in which the great powers are the US, China, India and Russia. In this world, it makes sense for Russia to invade Ukraine to counter the US, for the US to seize assets in Venezuela and Greenland to counter China, and for China to invade Taiwan to counter the US.

2. The new elites

Many think that to understand the events of the past few years, including Trump’s return and Vladimir Putin’s foreign policies, you need to look beyond conservative or liberal explanations to seek out who holds power and influence in the global superpowers. That means the wealthy families, corporations and oligarchs who exert control over the politics of the ruling elite through media and campaign power and finance.

In the cases of Venezuela and Greenland there are two factors at work – the US rejection of the rule of law and the desire for personal wealth via energy resources. But the timing is also important. The operation in Venezuela has been the only story to eclipse the Epstein files in the news in many months.

3. The decline of the liberal order

Many academic explanations see these recent events in the context of the decline of a “liberal order” dominated by the US, Europe, the “developed world” and the UN. In this view, the actions of Putin and Trump are seen as the last days of international law, the importance of the UN, and what western nations see as a system based on multilateralism.

However, this approach tends to overlook the continued dominance of the global north in these systems. The lack of support for the US and EU’s defence of Ukraine has been repeatedly demonstrated in the unwillingness of many global south countries, including China and India, to condemn the Russian invasion in the UN general assembly. It would be interesting to see how such voting would play out if it related to a US invasion of Greenland.

4. The planetary approach

The final – and most important – view is found in the planetary politics approach. This approach is based on the simple observation that so many planetary crises, such as global heating, mass extinctions of wildlife, climate refugees, rising autocracy and the return of international conflict are deeply interrelated and so can only be understood when considered together.

From this perspective it is Greenland’s sustainability and Greenlanders’ lives that must shape the understanding of Denmark’s and other European responses to Trump’s claims. It is through acknowledging the deep relationship that indigenous people have to their ecology that solutions can be found.

And Greenlanders have already expressed their vision for the future. Living on the frontline of the climate crisis, they want an economy built on resilience – not on ego-driven political drama.

While it’s quick and easy to to judge the events in Venezuela or Greenland in terms of the daily news cycle, the four perspectives set out here force people to think for themselves how best to understand complex international crises.

There is, however, a final observation to emphasise. Only one of these perspectives is likely to bring any way of thinking ourselves out of our planetary political crisis.

Ian Manners has received funding from EU Horizon Europe, Independent Research Fund Denmark, and Riksbankens Jubileumsfond.

– ref. Four ways to understand what’s going on with the US, Denmark and Greenland – https://theconversation.com/four-ways-to-understand-whats-going-on-with-the-us-denmark-and-greenland-272873

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Julia Thomas, Professor of English Literature, Cardiff University

As Hamnet arrives on the big screen, many fans of the book may feel a familiar mix of excitement and trepidation. They may wonder how the film will bring to life Maggie O’Farrell’s intimate portrayal of Shakespeare’s wife, Agnes, and the loss of their son.

There is the thrill of seeing a beloved story imagined on screen. But there is also a quieter fear: that the film will not look like the version already playing in our heads.

For many of us, novels are not just read. They are seen. We carry their worlds in our “mind’s eye”, which is a phrase borrowed, fittingly, from Hamlet itself. When a film adaptation fails to match those private images, disappointment often follows. This is the moment when a viewer may find themselves thinking, or saying aloud, “that’s not how I pictured it”.

The source of this reaction lies in the cognitive process of reading. For most readers, this involves the creation of images in the mind’s eye. We picture scenes, events and characters, however vague or vivid these mental impressions might be. Mental visualisation can form part of the pleasure of reading, immersing the reader in the novel.

We rarely stop to examine these inner images or even notice that we are forming them. Often, we become aware of them only when they are disrupted and when the images on screen fail to align with what we had imagined. It is precisely this gap between mental and material images that may lead to feelings of dissatisfaction, disappointment and even disorientation.

Film adaptations can provoke the “that’s not how I pictured it” reaction, but the complaint itself has a much longer history. It stretches back to the pre-cinematic world of the 19th century, as my research shows. At that time, illustrations – the pictures that appeared in books, magazines and newspapers – were increasingly viewed as a threat to readers’ mental imagery.

The 19th century was the great age of illustration. New printing technology enabled an unprecedented proliferation of images, with texts, from novels to newspapers, adorned with pictures. This expansion brought with it new anxiety about the effects of illustration on readers’ mental visualisation.

When pictures appeared alongside words, as in the case of Charles Dickens’s novels, critics worried that they prevented readers from mentally picturing scenes for themselves. Once a reader had seen illustrator George Cruikshank’s images of Fagin, it was difficult to imagine the character in any other way.

A particular problem arose with works that were first published without illustrations and later re-published in illustrated form. By this point, readers had already mentally visualised the characters and scenes for themselves. Many described feelings of displeasure and disturbance when illustrations failed to coincide with what they had imagined.

A contemporary reviewer of an illustrated novel in 1843 observed that, for readers who had already visualised a novel’s characters, it was very difficult to reconcile themselves to new pictures. Another commented that such illustrations were rarely encountered “without disturbance and discomfort”.

Even the artist Edward Burne-Jones, who illustrated several classic texts, including the works of Chaucer, acknowledged the disappointment that arose when illustrative images failed to coincide with mental ones.

Aphantasia

Yet not everyone responded to illustrations with disappointment. For many readers, illustrated texts were a source of pleasure, especially for those who lacked the capacity to form mental pictures while reading. The term “aphantasia” has only recently been coined to describe the absence of a mind’s eye. It is estimated that around 4% of the global population do not mentally visualise.

Although the word itself was not used in the 19th century, debates about illustrated books frequently acknowledged the value of images for readers who did not mentally picture the words. George du Maurier, himself an illustrator and novelist, argued that illustrators worked primarily for such readers, whom he believed to be the majority.

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Read more:
Aphantasia: ten years since I coined the term for lacking a mind’s eye – the journey so far

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For aphantasic readers and viewers, the problem of visual mismatch does not arise, since no prior images are formed. In the 19th century, such readers could read illustrated books without the discomfort reported by others, just as they can watch contemporary film adaptations without pre-existing visual expectations. In this sense, screen adaptations may be not only less jarring, but also positively liberating, transforming the words on the page into images that the imagination does not supply.

For those of us who do visualise as we read, however, disappointment at a film adaptation need not signal failure, either of the film or of the imagination. On the contrary, it offers a rare glimpse into the workings of the mind’s eye, revealing just how personal and embodied our engagement with novels really is. Rather than protesting “that’s not how I pictured it”, we might pause to ask why it isn’t, and what that discrepancy reveals about what we see, and what we don’t see, when we read.

Julia Thomas 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. ‘That’s not how I pictured it’ – why book-to-film adaptations so often disappoint – https://theconversation.com/thats-not-how-i-pictured-it-why-book-to-film-adaptations-so-often-disappoint-272960

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Abigail Harrison Moore, Professor of Art History and Museum Studies, School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies, University of Leeds

Watching Waiting for the Out, the BBC’s flagship new drama series, transported me straight back to my classroom in HMP Wakefield in the mid-1990s. This decaying Victorian building at the heart of a challenged city in the north of England is one of the UK’s ten category-A, high-security prisons for men. Many inmates are on life or whole-life sentences.

I was a naive, young graduate from Yorkshire with limited teaching experience, no teaching qualification and certainly no knowledge of prison education. I was looking to fund my part-time PhD – a qualification that was becoming the prerequisite for employment in universities.

Teaching art and the humanities at HMP Wakefield changed my life, making me the educator and campaigner I am today. As the publicity for Waiting for the Out says: “Freedom isn’t always on the outside.”

This refers to the mental health challenges of the main character, Dan (Josh Finan), a philosophy teacher in a category-B prison somewhere in London, and also his students (men both outside and inside the prison walls). But it also speaks directly to what I came to realise about the power of art education.

In an excruciating but true-to-my-experience dinner party scene, Dan is questioned about why he teaches in a prison. He challenges the other guests’ naive assumptions based on the fact he is a “nepo baby” of former prisoners in his family – his father, uncle and brother. The party concludes that all he does is provide a “two-hour holiday in [the inmates’] heads”.

While this might be seen to dismiss the usual rehabilitative justifications for prison teaching, it is the most accurate description I have yet come across. This series is based on the real-life experiences of a prison educator – Andy West’s 2022 memoir The Life Inside – and it shows.

As a woman teaching in Wakefield – a prison that has been the subject of tabloid speculation due to the infamy of some inmates and the nature of the men’s crimes – I was and still am asked to defend my decision to work there. For many of my students, the only freedom to think critically for themselves, and to develop the communication, analytical and life skills needed for release, was in that prison classroom.

What I learned, and what we see in this drama, was the impact of background. I was a “nice middle-class girl”, brought up in a small Yorkshire town and educated at a good comprehensive school. Some of the men I was teaching, like those in the drama, had not had an education at all. They had learned behaviour in their homes and on the streets that contributed to them being in a category-A prison by the age of 18.

This is not to excuse their crimes – we were required to constantly remind ourselves of these as a protection from manipulation and influence – but to acknowledge the potential of lifelong access to education, even for prisoners.

As the dinner party conversation emphasises, educators cannot “save” inmates and will fail if they try. They just need to teach and (as the classroom scenes often show) challenge their students carefully, ask questions and laugh. I learned that humour was a key way to diffuse difficulties and build trust. I was also aware of my role in changing some of my student’s assumptions about women, as is illustrated carefully and thoughtfully in this drama.

The experience of learning how and why we teach art history, art and the humanities in that prison classroom has driven my work ever since. Thirty years on, as a professor of art history who spends much time battling to enable access to my subject, I found Waiting for the Out speaks directly to the importance and power of teaching.

As the series demonstrates, illiteracy levels are incredibly high among the prison population. As the story of Dris (Francis Lovehall) illustrates, to be unable to read is both humiliating and disabling for men wanting to improve themselves and their relationships with their children while inside.

I will never forget the moment when one of the men in my basic skills class was asked by a prison officer why a painting we had been exploring in class was “impressionist”. His historically driven, thought-provoking response clearly demonstrated the power of art history to build confidence in communication, offer different ways of thinking about the world, and generate different types of conversation between guard and inmate.

Jane Featherstone, the executive producer of Waiting for the Out, sent West’s book to the programme writers. She has spoken of investing in [“visionary story tellers”](https://www.sister.net/about/jane-featherstone “) and has campaigned for better arts education in UK schools, describing the lack of culture in the national curriculum in 2017 as “a deprivation of opportunities for children to reach their full potential as human beings”.

This drive to invest in stories about education that makes a difference has also led her to fund Featherstone Fellowships at the University of Leeds, for art teachers from across the UK to do research that demonstrates the power of art education.

With Waiting for the Out, Featherstone has produced a TV drama that focuses deeply on the power of teaching the arts and humanities in prisons. The fact it does this while also exploring mental health, misogyny, gender politics and the impact of family and social contexts shows the importance of the classroom as a space to potentially influence change.

Watching Waiting for the Out brought back memories for me – but it also spoke to the fundamental need to empower teachers and enable education for all. This incredible drama demonstrates why access to arts education matters, even for those who society wants to forget.

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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.

Abigail Harrison Moore has received funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council and Research England. Art Teachers Connect is delivered in partnership with the Paul Mellon Centre.

– ref. I taught art in a high-security prison – Waiting for the Out took me straight back to my classroom – https://theconversation.com/i-taught-art-in-a-high-security-prison-waiting-for-the-out-took-me-straight-back-to-my-classroom-272959

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Dominik Piehlmaier, Visiting Fellow, Cambridge Judge Business School

When people talk about improving financial literacy, the conversation often focuses on teaching practical skills: how to budget, how to save, how to avoid debt. These lessons feel concrete and actionable. But recent research suggests that the most effective way to change your financial behaviour might be something far less obvious: learning in a more abstract, flexible way.

The new year is often a time when people vow to get a grip on their personal finances. My recent study with my colleague Dee Warmath explored why traditional financial education often fails to translate into good habits that leave us better off.

We found that while people generally do need to improve their financial literacy, simply teaching facts and formulas isn’t enough. What really matters is how adaptable your financial knowledge is when life throws you a curveball.

Most financial education programmes, such as those offered to undergraduate students at university, rely on explicit learning. This means teaching rules and definitions, then testing whether you can recall them. That approach works well for exams, but real life rarely looks like a textbook. You might know the importance of saving, but when your car breaks down or a friend invites you on a last-minute trip, those rules can feel distant.

Our study argues that knowledge exists on a continuum. At one end is the rigid, factual understanding of things like compound interest and inflation. At the other is flexible knowledge – that is to say, the ability to apply principles in unfamiliar situations. We hypothesised that the more flexible your knowledge, the more likely you are to act on it when circumstances change.

Putting it to the test

To see if this theory held up, we ran a multi-session experiment with undergraduate students, most aged 18-22 and from various degree programmes (excluding finance majors). One group received traditional lessons focused on explicit knowledge of finance: definitions, formulas and quizzes. Another group learned through semi-flexible methods, practising with varying scenarios. A third group engaged in fully flexible learning, tackling hands-on challenges that mirrored real-world dilemmas.

In the fully flexible learning group, participants practised strategic thinking through these hands-on challenges. This included allocating limited resources across competing priorities or working through ambiguous scenarios with no single “right” answer. This encouraged them to weigh trade-offs, anticipate consequences and adapt when conditions change. The goal was to build mental agility, so that they learned how to approach complex choices rather than rely on fixed formulas.

Students chose between two distinct options for how to allocate resources, each with trade-offs between immediate rewards and delayed outcomes. As an example, one choice offered an immediate payment of US$45 (£33) for taking part in the experiment or a delayed payment of US$54 five days later. This represented an annual interest rate of more than 1,000%.

Overall, the results were striking. Students who learned in this more abstract, adaptable way were significantly more likely to adopt positive financial behaviour. This was measured by the likelihood of identifying and choosing the option that would maximise their payoffs. They didn’t just know what to do, they actually did it.

In contrast, those who focused on specific lessons seemed to struggle to apply their knowledge outside the classroom. Our research suggests that abstract learning helps you build mental models that can be reshaped as situations change.

Instead of memorising a rule like “always save 10% of what you earn”, you learn how to think about trade-offs, priorities and long-term goals. That mindset makes it easier to navigate unexpected expenses or tempting splurges.

In other words, teaching people what to think is less powerful than teaching them how to think. Many universities offer free online courses on how to use these flexible tools in the course of your daily life.

If we want financial education to work, programmes need to move beyond rote learning. Here are a few ideas inspired by our study:

1. use scenario-based exercises that mimic real-life challenges
2. encourage reflection so learners connect principles to their own circumstances
3. focus on problem-solving rather than memorising, helping students adapt when rules don’t fit perfectly.

This approach doesn’t just apply to money. Whether you’re teaching healthy living habits, sustainability or digital safety, the same principle holds. Flexible knowledge drives behaviour change.

Improving financial literacy is still important, but it’s not the whole story. The real breakthrough comes when education equips people to handle complexity and uncertainty. Life rarely follows a script, and neither should our learning.

So if you want to improve your finances, don’t just learn the tips and tricks. Seek out experiences that challenge you to think broadly and adapt. It turns out that the most practical skill you can learn might be the ability to apply abstract ideas when reality gets messy.

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

– ref. The surprising way you could improve your finances in 2026, according to research – https://theconversation.com/the-surprising-way-you-could-improve-your-finances-in-2026-according-to-research-272739

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jonathan Este, Senior International Affairs Editor, Associate Editor, The Conversation

This newsletter was first published in The Conversation UK’s World Affairs Briefing email. Sign up to receive weekly analysis of the latest developments in international relations, direct to your inbox.

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Watching Donald Trump and his defence and national security team announcing the US raid on Caracas on Saturday, it was hard not to conclude that while the US president was clearly using a script, there were points at which he seemed to be extemporising. At times he appeared as if he may be inventing US foreign policy as he went along, much to the visible discomfort of his secretary of state, Marco Rubio.

It must be challenging presenting a coherent message about American intentions in the region when the justification for the raid shifts randomly from a law enforcement operation to apprehend a “narco-terrorist”, to regime change to replace an illegitimate leader, to a bid to take control of the world’s largest oil reserves.

All of these have been canvassed in the days since. And, five days after the raid, it’s still not 100% clear what the US plans to do. But even so, it felt like a fairly important inflection point in global geopolitics: the point at which the US president and his senior advisers said out loud – and with particular emphasis – that the Trump administration will do whatever it likes, regardless of what anyone might think.

As the US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, told the assembled reporters and TV audiences around the world: “America can project our will anywhere, anytime.” He added: “This is America first. This is peace through strength. Welcome to 2026.”

Rubio, meanwhile, made sure everyone would be clear that this administration is serious: “I hope what people now understand is that we have a president [who] when he tells you that he’s going to do something, when he tells you he’s going to address a problem, he means it. He actions it.”

So what are we to make of Trump’s repeated assertions that the US plans to take control of Greenland, by fair means or foul? Denmark, of which Greenland is a part, is certainly taking the prospect seriously.

The country’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, warned this week that an aggressive attack on a Nato member by another Nato member would spell an end to the alliance. And on the face of it you’d have to think she’s right: the alliance was set up in 1949 to ensure peace in Europe. Its key clause, article 5, demands that an attack on one member state is considered an attack on the alliance as a whole.

But David Dunn, Mark Webber and Stefan Wolff, international security experts at the University of Birmingham, believe there is no need to panic – at least not yet. Nato has weathered deep disputes between member states before now. It got through Suez in the 1950s and the cod war between the UK and Iceland and the confrontation between Greece and Turkey over Cyprus in the 1970s.

But an aggressive move on Greenland, while not necessarily destroying Nato, would be likely to paralyse the alliance at a time when collective security is of paramount importance. Our three experts counsel caution at this point: US security concerns in the region could be addressed without an outright takeover of Greenland.

And, they write, with the US midterms approaching, the US president could well find himself distracted by more important domestic political concerns – particularly if his Republican party loses control of either or both houses of Congress. In other words, patience, vigilance and caution – for the present – are the advisable course of action for America’s European allies.

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Read more:
US action against Greenland would undermine Nato, but now is not the time to panic

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It’s a measure of how fast-moving the geopolitical situation has become that we spent Saturday worrying about the implications of the kidnapping of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, but by Sunday the future of Greenland was on everyone’s lips.

This may well be down to a tweet posted on Saturday evening by Republican influencer Katie Miller, the wife of Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff. She posted a picture of Greenland overlaid with the Stars and Stripes and headed with the single word: “soon”. This prompted the Atlantic, in an interview with the US president the following morning, to enquire about the tweet and ask what the Trump administation’s intentions are toward Greenland. And suddenly the news agenda shifted.

Katie Miller is privy to the innermost workings of the administration. Her husband is one of Trump’s closest aides and, many believe, a key ideologue, having been steeped in America First ideology for his entire career. This week in an interview with CNN, Stephen Miller spelled out, in the starkest terms, his boss’s modus operandi: the notion that might is right. Or, as Miller put it: “We’re a superpower. And under President Trump, we are going to conduct ourselves as a superpower.”

Natasha Lindstaedt has traced Stephen Miller’s political evolution, from right-wing schoolboy the right hand of the 47th US president.

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Read more:
Stephen Miller: portrait of Donald Trump’s ideologue-in-chief

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What the ‘Donroe doctrine’ means for Venezuela

We had advance warning of this aggressive foreign policy stance late last year when the US published its national security strategy, in which it reasserted the two centuries-old Monroe doctrine, with its assertion that the US regards the western hemisphere as its exclusive backyard in which it should have carte blanche to impose its will on other nations.

Trump himself referred to this in his press conference to announce Operation Absolute Resolve: “They now call it the ‘Donroe’ document.” Stefan Wolff believes this assertive new stance in America’s backyard is an indication of a shift in the global order over the 12 months of Trump’s second term, in which the US, Russia and China essentially divide the world into three spheres of influence.

If the US can act with impunity in what he regards to be America’s backyard, he warns, what does this mean for Vladmir Putin’s war in Ukraine or Xi Jinping’s ambition to “reunite” Taiwan with mainland China, if necessary by force.

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Read more:
Donald Trump’s raid on Venezuela foreshadows a new ‘great power’ carve-up of the world

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Pablo Uchoa meanwhile – a former BBC journalist now researching Latin American politics at University College London’s Institute of the Americas – believes that Maduro is the guinea pig for Trump’s new aggressive stance.

Uchoa, a biographer of Maduro’s populist predecessor, Hugo Chavez, warns of the US president’s hints about US intentions towards Columbia and Cuba, identifying Venezuela as the “laboratory where Trump has decided to flex America’s geopolitical muscles”.

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Read more:
The ‘Donroe doctrine’: Maduro is the guinea pig for Donald Trump’s new world order

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But how do Venezuelans feel about their president being snatched from his Caracas bunker? Matt Wilde and Harry Rogers, geographers at the University of Leicester, have been interviewing Venezuelans living in Spain, the US and Venezuela and were in Madrid talking to expats when the news of Maduro’s kidnapping broke on Saturday. They noted a range of emotions: much joy at the downfall of a controversial leader who many viewed as a brutal and illegitimate dictator, but also fear about what might happen next in their country.

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Read more:
Venezuelans are reacting to Maduro’s capture with anger, fear, hope and joy

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All about oil

If, as the US president has repeatedly stressed, the US raid on Venezuela was as much about taking control of the country’s oil supplies as anything else, it’s worth taking a look at what this might mean for oil prices.

With the prospect of the opening up of access to Venezuela’s “proven reserves” of more than 300 billion barrels of oil, you’d expect the price to fall – and indeed that has been the initial reaction, especially since Trump vowed to seize up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil.

But Adi Imsirovic, a lecturer in energy systems at the University of Oxford, cautions that the situation is far less clear cut. It is likely to take years for Venezuelan oil production to recover from the long-term decline it has experienced over the past two decades. And the uncertainty caused by geopolitical turmoil tends to send oil prices up, not down.

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Read more:
What the US strike on Venezuela could mean for global oil prices

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It was no doubt with oil on their minds that the Trump administration ordered the boarding of two tankers linked to Venezuela on the grounds they were in breach of sanctions – one of which was sailing under a Russian flag. As they insist: they can do what they like, when they like. It’s down to experts in maritime law, such as Andrew Serdy of the University of Southampton to figure out the legality of the exercise.

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Read more:
US boards a ship sailing under a Russian flag: what we know and don’t know about the legal position

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– ref. Greenland, Venezuela and the ‘Donroe doctrine’ – https://theconversation.com/greenland-venezuela-and-the-donroe-doctrine-273041

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Joe Greenwood-Hau, Youth Poll Lecturer, John Smith Centre, University of Glasgow

The concept of “hard work v privilege”, and what either one says about someone’s social status, is an important one.

Politicians regularly draw dividing lines between “hardworking families” and those receiving “handouts”. Others distinguish between those whose wealth increases while they sleep, and small business owners who work hard for their incomes.

All these points stress the difference between people who have earned their social positions and those who supposedly enjoy “unearned” advantages. In each case, hard work is seen as a good reason to receive rewards, while being gifted them – due to birth, systemic advantage or the “generosity” of the state – is viewed less positively.

So common is this view, that people are often uncomfortable recognising how their backgrounds have helped them in their own lives. They also respond negatively when they feel that their statuses are under threat. This can lead to support for radical political parties as a way to protect their social positions, especially where they feel that others are being unfairly advantaged.

As I show in my new book, people often have different explanations for the statuses of others than for their own status. While they take credit for their own social status on the basis of hard work, they often attribute other people’s statuses to their backgrounds.

In a survey of 1,405 British adults, I asked people to rank a list of brief explanations for their own social positions, including “hard work” and “background” (left open to respondents’ interpretations).

Fifty per cent of them ranked “hard work” as the most important reason, but 7% said it had no part to play. At the same time, 18% of people ranked their “background” as the most important reason for their social position, while a similar percentage said it had no part to play.

I also asked people to rank the same explanations in relation to differences in social positions more generally. In this case, 25% ranked “hard work” as the most important explanation, but 38% say that it has no part to play. Turning to “background,” 41% ranked it as the most important explanation for differences in social position, while fewer than 27% say it has no part to play.

Taken together, we see that twice as many people ranked “hard work” as the most important reason for their own position, than for differences in social position more generally. By contrast, when considering “background,” twice as many people ranked it as the most important reason for general differences in social position than for their own social position.

These stark differences show the need to measure people’s explanations for their own status separately from their explanations for status in society more widely.

Recognising privilege

People are right to recognise the role of structural factors in driving social inequality in general. Research from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation shows that factors such as family type, access to high-quality education and disability affect poverty rates and inequality.

Social mobility is shaped by your parents’ socioeconomic background. The gender pay gap is slowly declining, but persists. And, while the story varies across different ethnic groups, ethnic inequalities also continue to be important.

But despite the continued importance of structural drivers of inequality, my research suggests that people seek to emphasise a positive story about how they have achieved their own social positions. They appear to be more comfortable recognising the workings of privilege – both as it elevates some and marginalises others – in society than in their own lives.

This is also reflected in how people talk about their statuses. In interviews, when asked to describe their social position, research participants sought to emphasise that they do not have it too easy. Even people who recognised that they are relatively fortunate often qualified the observation:

• “I’ve always been reasonably well off without being, you know, in the, kind of, super tax bracket.”

• “We’re not filthy rich, but it’s not too much of a struggle.”

• “[I had a] solid middle-class upbringing. Not massively wealthy but certainly by no means struggling.”

There is, then, a deep unease with recognising our own privilege, both in terms of the status that we hold and how we gained it. This does not, however, mean that everyone who thinks they worked hard for their position refuses to recognise that unearned privilege exists. It’s just that we are more likely to do it in relation to others, and to save ourselves the emotional discomfort of acknowledging our own advantage or disadvantage.

Joe Greenwood-Hau has received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council and the British Academy. He is affiliated with the John Smith Centre and the University of Glasgow.

– ref. Other people’s backgrounds shape their social position, but I worked hard for mine – the paradox in how we view status – https://theconversation.com/other-peoples-backgrounds-shape-their-social-position-but-i-worked-hard-for-mine-the-paradox-in-how-we-view-status-270730

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Dipa Kamdar, Senior Lecturer in Pharmacy Practice, Kingston University

As families return to school-term routines, sleep difficulties often resurface. For many parents, particularly those raising children with neurodevelopmental conditions, melatonin has become a widely discussed option. Yet its growing use raises important questions about regulation, effectiveness and safety.

Melatonin is a hormone naturally produced by the pineal gland in the brain. It plays a key role in regulating the sleep–wake cycle, the body’s internal clock that helps us feel alert during the day and sleepy at night. Melatonin levels usually rise in response to darkness, signalling that it is time to sleep. The medication sold as melatonin is a synthetic version of this naturally occurring hormone.

In adults, melatonin is commonly used to manage jet lag or sleep disruption linked to shift work fatigue. In recent years, however, its use in children has increased. In England, overall melatonin use has risen sharply, from around two prescriptions per 1,000 people in 2008 to nearly 20 per 1,000 by 2019, representing a tenfold increase.

In the UK, melatonin is available only on prescription. It is licensed for the short-term treatment of insomnia in adults aged 55 and over. There are also limited melatonin preparations licensed for use in children with neurodevelopmental conditions or genetic brain conditions that disrupt normal sleep patterns.

Children with neurodevelopmental disorders commonly experience sleep difficulties. These may include problems falling asleep, irregular sleep–wake patterns, frequent night waking and shorter overall sleep duration.

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Read more:
Can kids overdose on melatonin gummies? Yes, and an online store has suspended sales

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In contrast, in the US melatonin is regulated as a dietary supplement rather than a medicine. It can be purchased in supermarkets and online without medical oversight. This looser regulation has raised concerns. Studies have found that the actual melatonin content in US supplements often differs substantially from what is stated on the label: in one analysis the measured amounts ranged from about 83% less than advertised to up to 478% more.

The scientific evidence for melatonin’s effectiveness in children is mixed, though there is some support for its use in specific groups. A trial involving children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) found that those taking melatonin slept, on average, about 32 minutes longer than those given a placebo, after accounting for other factors that influence sleep. Melatonin also helped children fall asleep around 25 minutes faster.

Similar benefits have been reported in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), where melatonin helped address disruptions to circadian rhythms, the body’s internal timing system, and improved overall sleep. A 2023 review examined children and adolescents with idiopathic chronic insomnia, meaning long-lasting insomnia with no identifiable medical cause.

It found moderate improvements in sleep, alongside an increase in side effects, though no serious adverse effects were reported. The authors recommended that melatonin should be used only when sleep problems persist despite non-pharmacological approaches, regardless of whether a child has ASD or ADHD.

Evidence on long-term benefit remains limited. Most clinical trials last only a few weeks or months. A 2024 UK clinical audit analysed data from more than 4,000 children and adolescents prescribed melatonin. It found wide variation in prescribing practices. While melatonin was usually started appropriately, follow-up was often poor. In many cases, prescriptions were continued without checking whether the medication was still effective or necessary.

Melatonin is often perceived as “natural”, but this does not mean it is risk-free. Its safety profile has been examined in a review of more than 30 clinical trials across different age groups. Daily doses ranged from very small amounts, such as 0.15mg, to higher doses of up to 12mg. Although a few studies followed participants for as long as 29 weeks, most were short-term, typically lasting no more than a month.

Across these trials, side effects were generally uncommon and mild. The most frequently reported included daytime sleepiness, headaches, dizziness, minor sleep disturbances and occasional drops in body temperature.

More serious effects, such as agitation, fatigue, mood changes, nightmares, skin irritation or heart palpitations, were rare. When side effects did occur, they usually resolved within a few days or stopped once melatonin was discontinued. Overall, melatonin appears to be well tolerated for most users, but the quality of evidence is low and robust long-term safety data is lacking.

A separate review focusing on children and adolescents similarly found that side effects were usually mild and non-serious. However, the authors noted mixed evidence suggesting that long-term use might affect pubertal development, highlighting an area where further research is needed.

More recently, a study reported a possible association between long-term melatonin use and heart failure in adults. However, the findings were not conclusive. Taken together, the lack of clear long-term safety evidence across all age groups reinforces the need for cautious prescribing and further high-quality research.

Regulation plays a major role in how closely melatonin use is monitored. In the UK, where it is only available on prescription, clinicians are expected to review its ongoing need, yet audits suggest this does not consistently happen. In the US, where melatonin is readily available as a supplement, families may understandably turn to it earlier, sometimes before trying behavioural approaches that may be equally or more effective.

Behavioural and environmental strategies remain the first-line approach for childhood sleep difficulties. These include maintaining consistent bedtime routines, limiting screen use in the hour before bed and optimising light exposure by keeping evenings dim and mornings bright. R

egular daytime exercise may help promote sleep, while avoiding sugary foods and caffeine before bedtime can reduce restlessness. Addressing anxiety and sensory sensitivities is particularly important for children with neurodivergence. Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), adapted for children, can also be effective.

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Read more:
Screen time is contributing to chronic sleep deprivation in tweens and teens – a pediatric sleep expert explains how critical sleep is to kids’ mental health

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When these strategies are insufficient and sleep problems significantly affect a child’s wellbeing, melatonin may be considered under medical supervision. It should be used as part of a broader sleep plan rather than as a standalone solution.

The contrast between the UK’s prescription-only system and the US supplement market highlights how uneven the safeguards are. Ultimately, what children need most is support that prioritises strong foundations for healthy sleep.

Dipa Kamdar 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. Melatonin and childhood sleep problems: what parents should know – https://theconversation.com/melatonin-and-childhood-sleep-problems-what-parents-should-know-271665

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Paty Paliokosta, Associate Professor of Special and Inclusive Education, Kingston University

Reading promises so much: better mental health, a sense of wellbeing, cultural and educational enrichment, even greater confidence and eloquence.

It sounds irresistible; yet for many of us, the reality is very different. Half of the adults in the UK don’t read regularly for pleasure, and more than one in ten find reading difficult.

So why does something so rewarding feel so hard to do? For many adults, a disinterest in reading may well start in childhood. In 2025, only about one in three children and young people aged eight to 18 reported enjoying reading in their free time. And then if children do not see their own parents reading, they are unlikely to see being immersed in a book as a good use of leisure time.

The government’s Education Committee has recently launched an inquiry to explore how to keep the joy of reading alive.

In our research, we both (through different angles) explore ways to get people reading for joy.

Different ways of reading

Many people grow up feeling excluded from the joy of reading, and this may linger into adulthood. Research consistently shows that both children and adults with dyslexia or ADHD report lower levels of enjoyment and therefore tend to read less frequently.

This can be exacerbated by systemic school approaches and priorities that associate reading with national and international tests. Reading is reduced to a performance metric, rather than a source of pleasure.

Simple changes, such as altering the physical properties of the titles you read, or choosing graphic novels, can make a big difference. Neurodivergent readers can access books from publishers that specialise in using accessible fonts, layouts and language, for example.

Audiobooks offer another powerful alternative. Despite the relationship between brain representations of information perceived by listening versus reading is unclear, neuroscience research shows the way our brain represents meaning is nearly the same whether we are listening or reading.

Audiobooks can transform stories from something squeezed in between deadlines into travel companions, kitchen buddies, or late-night unwinders. Accessible on phones, tablets, smart speakers and even through library loans, audiobooks fit seamlessly into busy lives. They can be a great way to get into books for those of us with low reading stamina who need frequent breaks.

For people with ADHD, audiobooks allow for physical movement while reading. They also engage young children effortlessly. Children, as young as three giggle through lively audio tales and tackle complex narratives with ease.

One of us (Paty) recalls her daughter proudly saying she could “see” the stories in her head – like her own private cinema – even preferring them to TV shows. What she didn’t know was that every laugh and every imagined scene was quietly building vocabulary and nurturing a love for books.

Read socially

The social dimensions and shared experiences of reading have been repeatedly highlighted. An example of tackling some of the systemic barriers around reading for pleasure in big scale is the KU Big Read project, launched by one of us (Alison Baverstock) in 2015 and which ran until 2024-25.

Before they started their undergraduate course, new students at Kingston University received a free book in the post – along with a letter from the author referring to their feelings just before starting university.

This gave everyone a shared experience, and a book to talk about, before the nerve-wracking first day. The transition to higher education is a momentous step, and the university saw a significant reduction in the dropout rate in its first year of the project.

The book consistently acted as a connector across the university, with staff and students helping to choose the book for the year ahead.

We invite you to put this into practice in your own lives. Look for an in-person or online book group or read-along, and make reading social. The book group that one of us (Paty) attends isn’t about pure literary critique, but about human connection.

Make reading a pleasure, not a chore

The charity Reading Force founded by one of us (Alison Baverstock), which promotes the use of shared reading to keep military families connected, has always encouraged making reading fun rather than a laboured and compulsory process. Families are given special scrapbooks to record their shared experience of reading together and the word “literacy” is never mentioned.

Reading is promoted as a fun activity for families, with colourful resources, free books and events with key authors such as charity patron Sir Michael Morpurgo. For families whose access to books may be limited, this can be a gentle, non-judgemental and exciting pathway. Feedback from this process has shown profound connection, wellbeing and emotional satisfaction.

This emotional satisfaction by reading things they would like to read as opposed to imposed ones is of utmost importance. Pick something that engages you, not the book you think you should be reading.

Representation and reading

Feeling represented in the stories you read – whether through your background, values, or identity – can be a powerful way to build a love for books.

Adults from diverse backgrounds have benefited from joining bilingual groups with their children, creating stories together and engaging with books. The gains are significant, not only in literacy and cultural belonging but also in stronger connections with their community.

When books showcase a variety of cultures and include characters of all abilities as central figures, they become more relatable and inviting for readers from all walks of life. And it is never too late.

Alison Baverstock is the founder and director of the charity Reading Force (1159890) which is funded by grants from organisations, charities and benevolent individuals/institutions.

Paty Paliokosta 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. Want to read more? Two experts give their tips on what you can do – https://theconversation.com/want-to-read-more-two-experts-give-their-tips-on-what-you-can-do-269450