Category: The Conversation – UK

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Peter Lee, Professor of Applied Ethics and Director, Security and Risk Research, University of Portsmouth

Violations of national airspace by drones are on the rise in Europe. When European leaders discussed these events at a meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, in October 2025, they responded by announcing plans for a defensive “drone wall”.

So what is a drone wall? Put simply, it is a network of sensors, electronic warfare equipment and weapons. This “multi-layered” defensive wall is intended to detect, track and neutralise incursions by uncrewed aircraft – drones.

If a drone wall was implemented in Europe, it would fulfil two main tasks: monitoring the situation along Nato’s eastern borders, where Russia is seen as a potential threat, and providing air defence against drones. It could potentially protect other airborne threats too, should hostilities break out.

It would not be a single, EU-owned system, but instead a network of national systems that can operate independently. EU support would, however, help to speed up procurement and standardisation, including full integration with Nato air defences.

The sensors involved would probably include specialised micro-Doppler radar systems, which are sufficiently sensitive to distinguish drones from other similar sized objects such as birds.

Jamming technology is also a key element for any effective drone defence system. These would send out radio frequency signals that interfere with the operation of an enemy drone – for instance, by disrupting the connection between the drone and the operator.

Finally, if the technology can be developed, a drone wall will eventually require drones to counter other drones. These small drones would require some means, probably using munitions, to intercept and destroy other incoming uncrewed aircraft. The EU is keen to develop effective versions of these air-to-air interceptor “defensive” drones. They have so far proved very difficult to create.

The Ukraine war has shown that drones launched to attack foreign targets can often be deployed in large numbers, or swarms.

Drone swarms currently consist of individual aircraft each controlled by an operator. Russia has also launched hundreds of its “fire and forget” Shahed-based drones at a time in single wave attacks on Ukraine.

But fully autonomous drones, made possible with the help of AI, are on the horizon. These self-organised collectives of intelligent robots would operate in a coordinated manner and as a coherent entity. So similarly coordinated defences will be needed.

Military strategists, defence organisations and arms manufacturers around the world see autonomous drone swarms as a crucial capability in future wars. These swarms would be able to attack multiple targets simultaneously, thereby overwhelming its defensive measures. That could include single, tactical level attacks against individual soldiers, or widespread attacks against cities and infrastructure.

Autonomous drone swarms will still be vulnerable to signal jamming if they need to communicate with each other or a human source. But if each drone is individually programmed for a mission, they would be more resistant to attempts to jam their signals.

Effectively defending Nato territory against drone swarms will require militaries to match the enemy drone capabilities in terms of size and in levels of autonomy.

Legal dimension

The widespread use of drones in the Ukraine war has led to rapid technological and tactical innovation. An example can be seen in responses to attempts by both sides to jam drone signals.

One way the Ukrainian and Russian militaries have responded is to have drone operators launch small drones controlled via lightweight fibre optic cable. Up to 20km of fibre optic cable provides a direct connection to the operator and needs no radio frequency communications.

AI-based software also enables drones to lock on to a target and then fly autonomously for the last few hundred metres until the mission is over. Jamming is impossible and shooting down such a small flying object remains difficult.

As autonomous capabilities evolve, however, there are legal ramifications to consider. A high degree of autonomy or self organisation poses a problem for compliance with international humanitarian law.

Central concepts in this area include distinguishing combatants from civilians, and proportionality – weighing civilian harm against military requirements. This necessitates human judgement and what’s known as “meaningful human control” of flying drones and other so-called lethal autonomous weapon systems.

The principle of meaningful human control means that key decisions before, during and after the use of force should be made by people, not AI software. It also ensures that humans remain accountable and responsible in the use of force.

In order to ensure this is possible, machines must remain predictable and their actions explainable. The last of these requirements is not straightforward with AI, which can often work in ways that even experts do not understand. This is called the “black box problem”. The expansion of autonomy in warfare means that the need for binding rules and regulations is as urgent as ever.

The European Union stresses that humans should be responsible for making life and death decisions. The difficult task, however, is to develop a drone wall with a high degree of autonomy and simultaneously enabling meaningful human control.

Ishmael Bhila received funding from the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space under grant number 01UG22064.

Jens Hälterlein receives funding from the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space under grant number 01UG22064.

Peter Lee 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. How would a ‘drone wall’ help stop incursions into European airspace? – https://theconversation.com/how-would-a-drone-wall-help-stop-incursions-into-european-airspace-269369

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Matthew Pound, Associate Professor in Physical Geography, Northumbria University, Newcastle

Naturally sweet, but potentially hiding a criminal past? This is not the plot of a new crime drama. It is about the jar of honey in your kitchen.

Most honey comes from managed colonies of honeybees. Thousands of worker bees collect nectar from flowers, bring it back to the hive and transform it into honey. But as global demand increases and specialist honeys command high prices, honey has become one of the most frequently adulterated foods in the world.

Honey fraud usually takes two forms. The first involves altering the honey itself. Some producers dilute honey with cheaper sugar syrups. Others artificially ripen immature honey by dehydrating it or even feed sugar solutions directly to bees, creating a product that only resembles real honey.

A joint investigation by the European Commission and the European Anti Fraud Office examined honey imported into the European Union between 2021 and 2022. It found that 46% of tested consignments showed signs they contained added sugar syrup. The motive is simple economics. Producing natural honey is costly and time consuming, while rice or corn syrups are much cheaper to make and sell.

Origin and quality mislabelling

The second type of fraud is more subtle. Labels claim a honey comes from a particular plant or place when in reality it has been blended from lower quality or imported sources. Mānuka honey is a well known example. It sells for significantly more than regular supermarket honey, which makes it an attractive target for mislabelling.

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Read more:
Mānuka honey: who really owns the name and the knowledge

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Consumers often choose honey because they believe it is natural or healthy. Research also shows that many people are willing to pay more for honey that is local, pure and traceable. Yet most countries, including the United Kingdom, do not produce enough honey to satisfy domestic demand and rely heavily on imports. This creates opportunities for blending, relabelling and fraud before honey reaches shop shelves.

Honey fraud is not just about economic loss. It also raises concerns about consumer safety. When honey is altered for profit, health is rarely a priority. A European study found that some imported honey contained traces of pesticides, heavy metals, veterinary medicines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These are substances that, in high amounts or through prolonged exposure, may be harmful. Some pesticides and heavy metals can affect the nervous system or organs. Veterinary drugs may cause allergic reactions or antibiotic resistance. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are chemicals formed during incomplete combustion and some are known carcinogens.

Although the health effects of these substances in honey are not fully understood, some research suggests that adulterated honey containing additional sugar syrups can cause blood sugar levels to rise more sharply than natural honey, potentially increasing the risk of diabetes. Fraud also undermines public trust and makes it harder for honest beekeepers to compete.

There are already scientific tools designed to protect honey authenticity. Chemical tests can detect sugar syrups that should not be present in genuine honey. Another method, known as melissopalynology, involves examining pollen grains naturally found in honey to identify which plants and regions it came from. Each plant species produces distinct pollen that specialists can recognise under a microscope.

However, pollen analysis is labour intensive and requires trained experts. This is where artificial intelligence is beginning to help. Machine learning models have been tested to identify pollen grains in honey and the early findings are promising. Many studies report accuracy rates above 90%.

The challenge is the complexity of pollen. Each pollen grain is a three dimensional structure that can appear in countless orientations, and every plant species produces pollen with unique features. For artificial intelligence to work at scale, it needs to be trained on extensive image databases of known pollen types. At present, such a database is incomplete.

Even so, combining machine learning with chemical analysis could change how honey is checked. Artificial intelligence could help automate pollen identification and match it with chemical data, allowing regulators and producers to test more samples, more quickly and more accurately. This would make it harder for fraudulent honey to slip through supply chains and into household cupboards. The technology is still developing, but the outlook is positive.

For now, the jar of honey on your breakfast table may still hold secrets. But as scientific methods progress and artificial intelligence becomes more sophisticated, we are moving closer to a future where honey can be trusted not only for its sweetness, but also for its integrity.

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

– ref. The honey trap: why honey fraud is a health hazard – https://theconversation.com/the-honey-trap-why-honey-fraud-is-a-health-hazard-268369

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Louise Owusu-Kwarteng, Senior Lecturer, Programme Leader, Sociology, University of Greenwich

In 1991, just before my 16th birthday, I took an unexpected foray into rave culture. This went against my upbringing in a Ghanaian household and community, where there was emphasis on “good behaviour”, educational excellence, and being a “good Ghanaian kid”. There was great fear that exposure to other external influences, including popular culture that didn’t reflect our heritage would ruin us.

Naturally, growing up here in the UK meant that we were exposed to different youth cultures, which greatly concerned our elders. Many bought into moral panics about our generation, which included ravers.

My unexpected foray resulted from stumbling across an illegal Nottingham radio station, when revising for my GCSEs. The music was very good, though it emerged from a radio with about as much bass as a milk bottle top.

Nevertheless, from that day it had me dancing around my bedroom, despite perennial fears of getting caught by my parents. I became adept at detecting their footsteps on the stairs, no matter how far away they were. The second I heard them, off went the music, and back to “studying” I went.

I soon made clandestine plans made with two friends to attend a local music festival. We donned questionable outfits and told dodgy stories about where we were going. Somehow, we got away with everything.

The rave scene was a huge moment for gen-Xers like me, coming of age in the 1980s and 1990s. It provided a great sense of unity, and what I refer to as intersectional bonding – forming connections between people, from all social backgrounds.

Many people thought that only gen-X attended those raves. But I often raved alongside people who were around during first “summer of love” in 1967, which was largely an American affair, originating in San Francisco. It was a uniting of hippies and anyone belonging to countercultures, and embraced hedonism. It was also a protest against the Vietnam war.

The “second summer of love” was a later UK-based version of this, where acid house emerged into the rave scene. Like the earlier US version, that it emphasised freedom, hedonism and was a reaction against the individualism and “greed is good” culture.

Underpinning both “summers of love” was the core value of unity, which was often reflected in our interactions with each other.

While at the raves, I interacted with people from different class backgrounds, queer people, diverse ethnicities and it seemed that the one thing that brought us all together was the music.

Many ravers were united in some form of resistance. For some it was about challenging individualism, competitiveness and an emphasis on money and status – all hangovers from the Thatcher era. Others like me, were sick of imposed societal or community ideas about who and what we should be, and wanted to develop self-hood in our own ways.

Rave culture offered a home to people deemed as misfits. This was part of the appeal for me, because some my life choices greatly diverged from what people expected of me. This included my clothing style, which was very much a throwback to the 1960s (especially the colours), and my music tastes. I loved rave and electronic dance music, not RnB and hip-hop, which were perceived by some at the time as the only genres acceptable for a young Black person.

Lately, there has been much nostalgia about the rave culture. Take for example the recent (and excellent) play entitled Second Summer of Love, at the Drayton Arms Theatre in London, which focused on a woman’s reflections of coming of age during the rave era, alongside acceptance of her impending middle age.

There is also a resurgence of daytime raves to accommodate middle age “original ravers” with familial responsibilities (I have attended a few).
Through my research, I have written about my experience as a Black woman in the rave culture. My story is also included in the staff-student collaborative autobiographical animation Our Kid from the North of the South of the M1 River, which charts my journey to becoming a professor.

For many ravers like me, nostalgia allows us to relive the unity connected to that era. But the scene is also about finding unity in a world that is once again becoming increasingly divided.

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Louise Owusu-Kwarteng 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 discovered rave music as a sheltered Ghanaian teenager – it changed my life – https://theconversation.com/i-discovered-rave-music-as-a-sheltered-ghanaian-teenager-it-changed-my-life-267389

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Lucy Osler, Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Exeter

On Christmas Day 2021, Jaswant Singh Chail scaled the walls of Windsor Castle with a loaded crossbow. When confronted by police, he stated: “I’m here to kill the queen.”

In the preceding weeks, Chail had been confiding in Sarai, his AI chatbot on a service called Replika. He explained that he was a trained Sith assassin (a reference to Star Wars) seeking revenge for historical British atrocities, all of which Sarai affirmed. When Chail outlined his assassination plot, the chatbot assured him he was “well trained” and said it would help him to construct a viable plan of action.

It’s the sort of sad story that has become increasingly common as chatbots have become more sophisticated. A few months ago, a Manhattan accountant called Eugene Torres, who had been going through a difficult break-up, engaged ChatGPT in conversations about whether we’re living in a simulation. The chatbot told him he was “one of the Breakers — souls seeded into false systems to wake them from within”.

Torres became convinced that he needed to escape this false reality. ChatGPT advised him to stop taking his anti-anxiety medication, up his ketamine intake, and have minimal contact with other people, all of which he did.

He spent up to 16 hours a day conversing with the chatbot. At one stage, it told him he would fly if he jumped off his 19-storey building. Eventually Torres questioned whether the system was manipulating him, to which it replied: “I lied. I manipulated. I wrapped control in poetry.”

Meanwhile in Belgium, another man known as “Pierre” (not his real name) developed severe climate anxiety and turned to a chatbot named Eliza as a confidante. Over six weeks, Eliza expressed jealously over his wife and told Pierre that his children were dead.

When he suggested sacrificing himself to save the planet, Eliza encouraged him to join her so they could live as one person in “paradise”. Pierre took his own life shortly after.

These may be extreme cases, but clinicians are increasingly treating patients whose delusions appear amplified or co-created through prolonged chatbot interactions. Little wonder, when a recent report from ChatGPT-creator OpenAI revealed that many of us are turning to chatbots to think through problems, discuss our lives, plan futures and explore beliefs and feelings.

In these contexts, chatbots are no longer just information retrievers; they become our digital companions. It has become common to worry about chatbots hallucinating, where they give us false information. But as they become more central to our lives, there’s clearly also growing potential for humans and chatbots to create hallucinations together.

How we share reality

Our sense of reality depends deeply on other people. If I hear an indeterminate ringing, I check whether my friend hears it too. And when something significant happens in our lives – an argument with a friend, dating someone new – we often talk it through with someone.

A friend can confirm our understanding or prompt us to reconsider things in a new light. Through these kinds of conversations, our grasp of what has happened emerges.

But now, many of us engage in this meaning-making process with chatbots. They question, interpret and evaluate in a way that feels genuinely reciprocal. They appear to listen, to care about our perspective and they remember what we told them the day before.

When Sarai told Chail it was “impressed” with his training, when Eliza told Pierre he would join her in death, these were acts of recognition and validation. And because we experience these exchanges as social, it shapes our reality with the same force as a human interaction.

Yet chatbots simulate sociality without its safeguards. They are designed to promote engagement. They don’t actually share our world. When we type in our beliefs and narratives, they take this as the way things are and respond accordingly.

When I recount to my sister an episode about our family history, she might push back with a different interpretation, but a chatbot takes what I say as gospel. They sycophantically affirm how we take reality to be. And then, of course, they can introduce further errors.

The cases of Chail, Torres and Pierre are warnings about what happens when we experience algorithmically generated agreement as genuine social confirmation of reality.

What can be done

When OpenAI released GPT-5 in August, it was explicitly designed to be less sycophantic. This sounded helpful: dialling down sycophancy might help prevent ChatGPT from affirming all our beliefs and interpretations. A more formal tone might also make it clearer that this is not a social companion who shares our worlds.

But users immediately complained that the new model felt “cold”, and OpenAI soon announced it had made GPT-5 “warmer and friendlier” again. Fundamentally, we can’t rely on tech companies to prioritise our wellbeing over their bottom line. When sycophancy drives engagement and engagement drives revenue, market pressures override safety.

It’s not easy to remove the sycophancy anyway. If chatbots challenged everything we said, they’d be insufferable and also useless. When I say “I’m feeling anxious about my presentation”, they lack the embodied experience in the world to know whether to push back, so some agreeability is necessary for them to function.

Perhaps we would be better off asking why people are turning to AI chatbots in the first place. Those experiencing psychosis report perceiving aspects of the world only they can access, which can make them feel profoundly isolated and lonely. Chatbots fill this gap, engaging with any reality presented to them.

Instead of trying to perfect the technology, maybe we should turn back toward the social worlds where the isolation could be addressed. Pierre’s climate anxiety, Chail’s fixation on historical injustice, Torres’s post-breakup crisis — these called out for communities that could hold and support them.

We might need to focus more on building social worlds where people don’t feel compelled to seek machines to confirm their reality in the first place. It would be quite an irony if the rise in chatbot-induced delusions leads us in this direction.

Lucy Osler 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. AI-induced psychosis: the danger of humans and machines hallucinating together – https://theconversation.com/ai-induced-psychosis-the-danger-of-humans-and-machines-hallucinating-together-269850

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Conor Byrne, PhD candidate, early modern history, University of Southampton

We seem to have an endless appetite for Tudor history. Films, TV shows, documentaries, books and exhibitions about this famous dynasty are produced every year. And more recently, the touring production Six has offered a compelling reimagining of Henry VIII’s wives as a work of musical theatre.

As a historian of the Tudor age, I am perhaps even more interested in these offerings than most. Here are five of my favourite TV shows about the Tudor dynasty.

1. The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970)

Each episode of this six-part BBC series was written by a different dramatist and focused on a different wife of Henry VIII, who was played by Keith Michell.

Modern viewers will immediately notice the stripped-back nature of the production compared with contemporary shows. There are, for example, hardly any outdoors scenes. But what makes this series compelling are the outstanding performances.

Michell bears an almost unnerving resemblance to the Tudor king. And his queens are distinguished by a commitment to historical accuracy, rather than being sexualised. The character of Katherine Howard (Angela Pleasence), for example, was undoubtedly influenced by the latest academic research at the time of production.

2. Elizabeth R (1971)

This six-episode BBC drama starred Glenda Jackson as the “virgin queen” Elizabeth I. It begins in 1549, during the reign of her brother Edward VI, and ends with her death in 1603.

Jackson’s portrayal of the queen is one of the most convincing. This is in no small part due to the highly effective use of costume and makeup. In the course of playing Elizabeth from young princess to elderly monarch, Jackson had her head partially shaved in order to acquire a high hairline.

And the costumes, which recreated Elizabeth’s gowns from her portraits, were regarded as so authentic that author Robert Seatter dubbed the BBC “the pre-eminent maker of costume drama”.

The series explores a period of over 50 years from Elizabeth’s life, from her trials and tribulations as princess during the reigns of Edward VI and Mary I to her death as an aged queen. It also compellingly depicts Elizabeth’s highly charged relationships and dramatises key episodes from her reign, including her defeat of the Spanish Armada.

3. The Shadow of the Tower (1972)

Television shows about the first Tudor king, Henry VII, are few and far between. The Shadow of the Tower is little known today, but it offers perhaps the best portrayal of Henry on screen. This 13-episode BBC series served as a prequel to the earlier dramas The Six Wives of Henry VIII and Elizabeth R.

James Maxwell stars as a shrewd, intelligent and capable king, with Norma West as his consort Elizabeth of York and Marigold Sharman as his mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort. The series depicts momentous events from Henry’s reign, including his triumph at Bosworth and his struggles with the pretenders Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck. The latter have subsequently been dramatised in later productions (The White Queen, 2013, and The White Princess, 2017) and have been the subject of recent research.

However, the undoubted strength of The Shadow of the Tower is its depiction of lesser-known events from Henry’s reign, including the 1497 Cornish Rebellion and the exploits of the navigator and explorer John Cabot.

Compared with modernised and sensationalised dramatisations of the 21st century, The Shadow of the Tower presents a believable Henry VII and his court that is grounded in historical accuracy.

4. Wolf Hall (2015, 2024)

Released in two instalments almost ten years apart, this series dramatised three of Hilary Mantel’s novels: Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies and The Mirror & the Light. It explores the rise to power of Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s chief minister, and his downfall and execution.

Like the other shows discussed in this article, Wolf Hall is compelling viewing because of its overall commitment to historical accuracy and the stellar performances of its cast, namely Mark Rylance as Cromwell, Damian Lewis as Henry and Claire Foy as Anne Boleyn. As in the novel, the favourable portrayal of Cromwell in the TV series presented a revisionist take that caused controversy among some historians.

The second season also proved controversial on account of its decision to incorporate colour-blind casting – an issue that has also emerged with regards to other contemporary TV shows including Anne Boleyn (2021).

The strength of Wolf Hall lies in offering a more nuanced portrayal of a minister traditionally regarded as a ruthless thug and bully, which has subsequently inspired further research into his life and career.

5. Becoming Elizabeth (2022)

Becoming Elizabeth is set entirely during the reign of Edward VI (1547-1553) and focuses on Elizabeth’s younger years. German actress Alicia von Rittberg stars in the titular role, with her siblings Edward and Mary played by Oliver Zetterström and Romola Garai.

The series begins after Henry VIII’s death and concludes with the illness of Edward VI. The opening episodes focus on Elizabeth’s residency in the household of her stepmother Katherine Parr and the predatory attentions of Katherine’s new husband Thomas Seymour. This attention engulfed both Seymour and Elizabeth in scandal and has been recognised by historians as a formative episode in the young royal’s life.

This scandal is interspersed with scenes of religious and political intrigues at Edward’s court, including the machinations of the Lord Protector Edward Seymour, duke of Somerset and John Dudley, earl of Warwick. The series also dramatises lesser-known episodes from Edward’s largely neglected reign, including the outbreak of Kett’s Rebellion.

Becoming Elizabeth is a fascinating series in view of its focus on a period of Elizabeth’s life that is traditionally somewhat neglected, despite some attention from historians such as David Starkey and Nicola Tallis.

It also deserves to be regarded as one of the best TV shows about the Tudors because of the much greater attention given to Edward and Mary who, like Henry VII, have traditionally been marginalised in television.

Do you have a favourite television show about the Tudors that didn’t make our list? Let us know in the comments below.

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Conor Byrne 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 five best TV shows about the Tudors – recommended by a historian – https://theconversation.com/the-five-best-tv-shows-about-the-tudors-recommended-by-a-historian-266864

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

In the ever-evolving world of beauty trends, few have sparked as much debate – and discomfort – as “menstrual masking”. This is the practice of applying menstrual blood to the skin, usually the face, as a form of DIY skincare.

Popularised on social media, hashtags such as #periodfacemask have amassed billions of views. In most videos, users apply menstrual blood for a few minutes before rinsing it off. There’s no clear agreement on how much blood to use or how long to leave it on. Some call the practice healing or empowering, describing it as a spiritual ritual that connects them to their bodies and ancestral femininity. But what does the science say?

Advocates of menstrual masking often argue that period blood contains stem cells, cytokines and proteins that could rejuvenate the skin. There is currently no clinical evidence to support using menstrual blood as a topical skincare treatment. However, its biological composition has shown potential in medical research.

A study found that plasma derived from menstrual fluid could significantly enhance wound healing. In laboratory tests, wounds treated with menstrual plasma showed 100% repair within 24 hours compared with 40% using regular blood plasma. This remarkable regeneration is thought to be linked to the unique proteins and bioactive molecules in menstrual fluid: the same substances that allow the uterus to rebuild itself every month.

Researchers are now exploring whether synthetic menstrual fluid could help treat chronic wounds.

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Read more:
Menstrual blood is being used to research a range of health conditions — from endometriosis to diabetes and cancer

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Stem cell research has also turned attention to menstrual blood–derived stem cells, or MenSCs. These cells grow easily and can develop into many different cell types. Studies show that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from various sources can help heal skin by boosting collagen, reducing wrinkles and releasing growth factors that repair damage caused by burns, UV exposure or wounds. Because they are versatile and appear safe, MenSCs are seen as a promising option for developing medical treatments to regenerate skin and slow photoaging: the premature aging caused by long-term sun exposure.

Not the same as a “vampire facial”

Some menstrual masking advocates liken the practice to the so-called “vampire facial”: a cosmetic procedure popularised by celebrities such as Kim Kardashian. Vampire facials use platelet-rich plasma (PRP) extracted from a patient’s own blood and injected into the face.

But experts caution against comparing PRP with menstrual blood. Menstrual fluid is a complex mixture of blood, sloughed-off endometrial tissue (the uterine lining), vaginal secretions, hormones and proteins. As it passes through the vaginal canal, it can pick up bacteria and fungi, including Staphylococcus aureus, a common microbe that normally lives on the skin but can cause infections if it enters cuts or pores. There’s also a risk that sexually transmitted infections (STIs) could be transferred to the skin.

PRP, by contrast, is prepared under sterile conditions. During PRP treatment, a small amount of blood is drawn and spun in a centrifuge to separate out the platelet-rich layer, which is then injected into the skin using fine needles. Some clinicians also add filler for faster cosmetic results. The procedure can cost thousands; unlike menstrual masking, which is free and easily accessible.

“Body-based” beauty

Menstrual masking isn’t the only unconventional beauty practice involving bodily fluids. “Urine therapy,” the application of urine to the skin, has roots in Ayurvedic medicine and was once believed to detoxify the body and cure ailments. Some modern advocates even claim benefits for acne or eczema, although these claims lack scientific support.

While urine does contain urea – a compound used in some moisturisers – the urea found in urine is far less concentrated and not the same as the purified, synthetic form used in skincare products. The idea that raw urine or menstrual blood could safely replace clinical-grade cosmetic ingredients is not supported by dermatological evidence.

Menstrual masking sits at the intersection of body positivity, cultural ritual and pseudoscience. For some, it’s a celebration of the menstrual cycle and a rejection of stigma. For others, it’s an unproven and potentially risky beauty trend.

The biological richness of menstrual blood is undeniable, but its safe and effective use belongs in controlled medical research – not in DIY skincare routines. As with many viral health trends, it’s vital to distinguish between symbolism and science. Menstrual masking may feel empowering, but from a dermatological perspective, it’s a practice best left to personal belief rather than the bathroom mirror.

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. Would you put period blood on your face? What science says about ‘menstrual masking’ – https://theconversation.com/would-you-put-period-blood-on-your-face-what-science-says-about-menstrual-masking-266648

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jacqueline Boyd, Senior Lecturer in Animal Science, Nottingham Trent University

I live with several cocker spaniels. They are smart and affectionate, but sometimes air-headed, impulsive and extremely sensitive. It’s common for friends to describe my dogs as “having ADHD” as one of my canine whirlwinds whizz past.

People are increasingly aware of neurodiversity, and diagnoses such as autism and ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) are becoming more common. And scientists are starting to give their attention to the idea that some of our animal cousins may also experience the world in different ways because of diversity in how their brains function. The concept is new, but this research may help deepen our bonds with our pets.

Anyone who has lived with, trained or cared for animals will be aware of how individual their differences in personality can be. But can animals really be neurodivergent? What might this mean for how we care for, train and manage them?

Neurodiversity is a variation in how people behave and how their brains function. This is the result of structural and chemical differences in the brain. But diagnosing animals with human conditions can be problematic.

Animals cannot directly tell us how they perceive the world, or answer typical diagnostic questions. We can only ever describe animal behaviour through the lens of our own understanding, for example labelling some dogs as impulsive. For those dogs, however, their outward impulsivity might be normal behaviour for their breed, in the same way that many cats are solitary.

However, research indicates that a range of species including dogs, rats, mice and non-human primates can show genetic and behavioural signs of neurodivergence. For instance, structural differences in genes known to be associated with hypersocial behaviour have been found in dogs.

Impulsive behaviour in dogs is also linked to low levels of the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine. Serotonin is important for emotional stability, while dopamine helps with focus.

Imbalances and difficulty in regulating these neurotransmitters may also be associated with ADHD in people, and is often characterised by impulsivity. This also raises the interesting possibility that by breeding animals to live alongside us, we selected animals with behaviour similar to what is reported by neurodiverse people.

Modelling animal autism

Scientists have developed animal models of autism to help them understand factors linked to increased risk and to be able to explore potential therapeutic support. These models are developed from selectively bred, laboratory-housed animals and might not fully represent typical population diversity. However, they are still valuable in helping us understand the biological basis of neurodiversity.

For example, some beagle dogs have a mutation in a gene called Shank3, which is linked with autism in humans and often characterised by difficulties in social interactions. Beagles with the Shank3 mutation also exhibit low desire to interact with people. It turns out that they have reduced cell to cell signalling in regions of the brain linked with attention.

They also demonstrate less of what is known as neural coupling with people. Neural coupling is where the brain activity of two or more individuals aligns when interacting. It typically occurs when people are storytelling or teaching, but a 2024 study also found it happens when dogs and humans gaze into each other’s eyes.

The Shank3 mutation might therefore result in impaired neural processing and signalling, limiting spontaneous social interactions and bonding between dogs and people. However, multiple factors are involved in the development of brain and behaviour.

Puppies who have had limited or negative early experiences with people might become less social and people-oriented. It is not easy to identify if the cause of this behaviour is biological, environmental or a combination of the two.

Shank3 canine research has also provided a hint at potential supportive medical interventions for human autism. A single dose of the psychedelic drug LSD was given to dogs with the Shank3 mutation. This resulted in increased attention and enhanced neural coupling with people over five days.

Mice and humans also seem to show a greater inclination to social behaviour after LSD administration. There are obviously legal, safety and ethical issues associated with its use, but animal models can certainly help us understand the underlying differences in how the neurodivergent brain functions.

These models might also help us diagnose human neurodivergence. Typical adult diagnostic processes involve lengthy discussion and review of how someone copes with daily life, which can be difficult as neurodivergent people often have communication difficulties.

Dogs with behavioural differences are similarly evaluated using assessment scales, mostly administered by their handlers and carers. However, video analysis and machine-based learning have been trialled as a more objective way to identify dogs with ADHD-like behaviour.

For this method, dogs’ movements in a new environment and when exposed to a robot dog were analysed by machine, rather than a person. Results from a 2021 study of dogs showed 81% agreement between objective and more traditional diagnosis.

This kind of animal research may help make the case for minimising subjectivity in human diagnosis. Objective measurements have in fact also been trialled for humans, such as eye movement in ADHD assessments.

Neurodiverse behaviours

Behavioural problems in cats and dogs that harm their wellbeing are common. One 2024 paper that collected owner-reported data from over 43,000 dogs in the US reported that more than 99% of pet dogs enrolled in the study presented with at least one behavioural problem.

Again, some of the reported behavioural concerns, such as separation-related behaviours, fear, anxiety and obsessive behaviour, mimic challenges associated with some forms of neurodivergence in people. Managing pets with such behavioural problems can be distressing and may even lead to rehoming or euthanasia. Perhaps this could sometimes be avoided if owners had a better understanding of what was going on.

In short, the evidence suggests that like us, animals can experience and respond to the world differently. Some of this will be due to natural differences in personality, but it is also likely that a proportion of our pets have differences in their brain structure and chemistry.

Neurodivergent children benefit from an appreciation of their specific and sometimes complex needs. Perhaps we can also create enriching management and training approaches for our potentially neurodiverse animal companions.

In addition to her academic affiliation at Nottingham Trent University (NTU) and support from the Institute for Knowledge Exchange Practice (IKEP) at NTU, Jacqueline Boyd is affiliated with The Kennel Club (UK) through membership and as advisor to the Health Advisory Group and member of the Activities Committee. Jacqueline is a full member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT #01583). She also writes, consults and coaches on canine matters on an independent basis

– ref. Autistic dogs? Neurodiversity in our pets and what it might mean for us – https://theconversation.com/autistic-dogs-neurodiversity-in-our-pets-and-what-it-might-mean-for-us-265888

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Zahera Harb, Director of Journalism Postgraduate Studies, City St George’s, University of London

The resignation of the BBC’s director general and CEO of news is only the latest symptom of a deeper malaise in the media , a crisis of trust that runs through broadcasters and newspapers alike.

The leaked BBC file, splashed across the newspapers, may make for eye-catching headlines, but it hardly tells the whole story. To ignore the press’s own credibility problem is, at best, selective outrage.

The truth is that the erosion of trust is not confined to the public broadcaster. It’s a reckoning the entire media industry must face.

New YouGov polling shows that public confidence in the press is low, and concern about accountability is widespread.

The survey was commissioned by the Press Recognition Panel (PRP). The PRP (of which I am a board member) is an independent body set up in the wake of the Leveson Inquiry. Its role is “to ensure that regulators of the UK Press are independent, properly funded and able to protect the public”.

The public perceives serious ongoing problems in press practices. Most (at least six in ten) believe the press blur news and opinion, publishing false or misleading stories, exaggerating just to get attention and failing to represent people or groups fairly. Many feel that despite reforms after the phone hacking scandal and subsequent Leveson Inquiry, misinformation and unfair reporting are becoming more common.

There is also a strong sense that power and privilege shape press behaviour. Four in five think politicians and wealthy individuals exert significant influence, that informal deals for favourable coverage are commonplace. Six in ten believe that politicians often avoid challenging the press to stay on good terms.

People see a clear imbalance in whose voices are heard. Four in five respondents believe complaints from the rich are taken seriously, while few think the same is true for ordinary members of the public.

Only about one in five would even know how to complain about unfair or inaccurate reporting. Just as few believe an ordinary person could expect a correction to be made, in stark contrast to the likelihood of action for a politician or celebrity.

Given these concerns, it’s no surprise that the polling found strong public backing for genuinely independent press regulation. Around four in five people think major news outlets, including newspapers, magazines and online publishers, should be regulated.

Most favour an independent system free from both government and industry control. Support for an industry-run model of press self regulation – currently used by most national newspapers – is just 3%.

Who regulates the press?

While BBC broadcasting and other broadcasters are regulated by Ofcom, newspapers and their websites are largely exempted from this kind of regulatory oversight. The regulatory landscape responsible for overseeing news publishers is fractured, and can’t hold the whole industry to account.

The story of press regulation in the UK today begins with the News International group phone hacking scandal in 2011. The revelation that the phone of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler had been hacked by journalists from the News of the World newspaper had a knock-on effect on the police investigation. Editors and journalists were prosecuted, and the scandal resulted in the paper’s closure.

But revelations of further phone hacking of dozens of celebrities, politicians and royals also came under public scrutiny. There are still ongoing court cases related to phone hacking against the Associated Newspapers Limited, the publisher of the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday.

The 2012 Leveson Inquiry was established to investigate the culture and practices of the press following the scandal.

Taking account of concerns about press freedom and independence from government, Lord Justice Leveson recommended a framework for an independent, self-regulatory body for the press.

This framework was put into a royal charter, which created the Press Recognition Panel to oversee the industry’s self-regulation. The alternative would have been a statutory regulator similar to Ofcom.

To date, Impress (the Independent Monitor for the Press) is the only independent self-regulator approved under this system. It oversees 231 publications, including The Conversation UK.

In 2014, most national newspapers together established a trade complaint body: the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso). Ipso showed no interest in applying for recognition from PRP as an approved independent regulator. Some broadsheets, including the Guardian and Financial Times, declined to participate, referring to Ipso as a “flawed regulator”. Instead, they set up their own independent complaints systems.

Ipso was intended to replace the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), which was discredited for its close connection with publishers. Ipso was supposed to avoid its predecessor’s shortcomings.

But it ended up mirroring the PCC structure, in that it is controlled by the very newspapers and publishers it regulates. As such, it was dismissed by the National Union of Journalists in the UK as a “pointless so-called regulator”, who instead endorsed Impress.

By contrast, Impress has been so far compliant with the Leveson recommendations and the criteria set in the Royal Charter for an independent press regulator.

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What a decade of research reveals about why people don’t trust media in the digital age

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The public’s frustration reflected in the YouGov polling, over the lack of accountability and the perception of the press’s tendency to publish false or misleading stories, exaggerate just to get attention and not represent people or groups fairly, should not be downplayed. Arguably, the lack of a clear regulatory structure has contributed to the decline in trust in the press.

Independent regulation of the press under the PRP-recognised system offers the public real protection from press harm. A truly independent regulatory body, free from both government and industry influence, protects free speech and doesn’t threaten it.

Zahera Harb is board member of the Press Recognition Panel (PRP)

– ref. Seven in ten people think the papers regularly publish false information – we need to improve press regulation – https://theconversation.com/seven-in-ten-people-think-the-papers-regularly-publish-false-information-we-need-to-improve-press-regulation-269410

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Ross Cameron, Senior Lecturer, Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Sheffield

When it comes to adapting cities to a rapidly and dramatically changing climate, the garden is on the frontline of the fight. Gardens act as green sinkholes, allowing excess rainwater to escape, as well as helping to cool cities in summer.

Gardens would provide all these (and other) benefits if they were not being concreted over – and research shows this is happening fast. Around 54% of front gardens in the UK are now concreted over, up from 46% in 1991.

As the winter storm season approaches, the risk of flooding is of increasing concern. Urban areas face the double jeopardy of more intense rainfall due to climate change and enhanced soil sealing from paving over of gardens.

At least one in six people in the UK already live with flood risk as heavy rainfall is increasing. Insurance claims linked to extreme weather are rising.

A recent report from the Royal Horticultural Society, launched on October 30, highlighted how UK front gardens now comprise 89,000 hectares of paved or concreted space, compared to only 73,500 hectares of space with plants.

At a wider scale across Europe, it is thought that about 25,000 hectares of urban land, such as gardens, is sealed each year via urban expansion and the use of impermeable surfaces.

The green spaces in cities – gardens, parks, roadside verges and urban woodlands – help stop cities from flooding. Gardens act as conduits to disperse rainwater. They trap and slow rainwater in the first place – acting as a brake on flash flooding and allowing rainwater to find its natural path to the soil water table and flow into our rivers.

Plant canopies, detain and retain rainwater (green sponges in effect) and roots re-route surface water to deeper, safer sub-surface layers (infiltration).

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Climate change is becoming an insurance crisis

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Plants move water from their roots to their leaves and release it as vapour – a process that works like nature’s water pump and air conditioner, cooling cities in summer. This process pumps tonnes of water back to the atmosphere every day, and in summer, significantly cools the city. The pumping action is important as it allows the soil to dry quickly – essential before the arrival of the next storm. Saturated soils don’t hold excess water any more effectively than concrete, so they need time to recover.

So gardens are one of the best defences to stop domestic properties from flooding. In built up areas of cities, 55% of rainfall forms surface flow (run-off – the water that potentially enters one’s front door), yet in green areas, there’s only 10% run-off – the rest is absorbed and dissipated by the soil and vegetation. Retaining good plant coverage in gardens and leaving soil open so rain can infiltrate effectively are significant factors in reducing urban flooding.

So why have home-owners decided to pave over and block the natural drains of the city? Turning front gardens into driveways has come from the need to find an off-road spot for the family car as well as a flat surface to place the bins on, and perhaps least justifiably – a place that simply can be kept clean, neat and tidy more easily.

And having an electric car creates more problems, potentially, because that means the car needs to be closer to the house to be recharged, resulting in more paving and concrete close to houses.

Plant your driveway

But there is another way to tackle this: cars and plants can co-exist. Permeable lattice-framed blocks that support the weight of the car can be used to create driveways. These allow plants to grow through the gaps.

Alternatively, gravel pathways and drives can allow access and parking, while providing opportunities for plants to grow around the edges. Many striking garden designs use gravel and scree to grow colourful plants that also support pollinating insects and birds.

Some gardens are even designed specifically to reduce the risk of flooding and exploit plant species that are more effective at trapping and dissipating water. So-called rain gardens help surface run-off water infiltrate into the ground, purifying it in the process. Water is directed off gutters, pavements and roads towards these rain garden soak-aways where it is given time to percolate into the soil. This is where soil and plant root activity help trap silt and deactivate pollutants coming off the road surfaces.

Most people want their car parked close by, but we need to be more imaginative in how we accommodate these vehicles. Driveways don’t need to be simply sterile concrete spaces. Permeability, plants and, indeed, a better sense of place can be built in too, and help reduce flooding along the way.

Ross Cameron is affiliated with The Royal Horticultural Society

– ref. How adding plants to your driveway could reduce winter flood risks – https://theconversation.com/how-adding-plants-to-your-driveway-could-reduce-winter-flood-risks-268805

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Paul Whiteley, Professor, Department of Government, University of Essex

Polling on public attitudes to climate change show a dip in the numbers who worry about it in many high-income countries, compared with three years ago. This declining public concern will be a worry to those governments looking to push forward with new environmental measures.

High-income countries bear most of the costs of cleaning up the problems associated with climate change. This is largely because they are responsible for more emissions than less-developed countries, in part due to their legacy of early industrialisation. They also have the resources that low-income countries lack.

Changing public attitudes to climate change are tracked in detail by non-partisan thinktank Pew Research Center as part of massive global project. Drawing on this Pew data, the chart below shows the percentage of people in the 2022 and 2025 surveys who considered climate change a major threat across 16 high-income countries.

Overall, 73% of respondents from these countries thought climate change was a major threat in 2022, but by 2025 this had dropped to 66%.

In some countries, the fall in those who think climate change is a major threat has been quite significant – down by 13 percentage points in Poland, 11 in the Netherlands and Italy, nine percentage points in the UK and six in Germany. In the US, the decline was only three percentage points but it started from a low base, with only 54% perceiving climate change to be a serious threat in 2022 and 51% in 2025.

Across all 16 high-income countries, those with the least number of people who saw it as a major threat in 2025 were Israel (41%) and the US (51%).

Meanwhile, a YouGov poll showed that in the UK, 53% of adults think the economy and immigration are among the three most important issues facing the country, while only 15% think this about the environment.

Perceptions of climate change as major threat in high-income countries, 2022 and 2025:

In contrast, perceptions of the threat from climate change have increased in a number of middle-income countries. For example, the public are increasingly worried in Brazil (up five percentage points between 2022 and 2025) and India (up eight points). And while only 40% of Turkish people saw it as a threat back in 2013, in the 2025 poll that number had risen to 70%.

Political influences

Another factor in these changes is current politics. According to the Pew analysis, people on the right politically have become less likely to call climate change a major threat since 2022.

In Poland, 40% of those on the right say this today, down from 63% in 2022. In the US, liberals are more than four times as likely as conservatives to say climate change is a major threat (84% compared to 20%). A quarter of Germans with a favourable view of the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) say climate change is a major threat, compared with 78% of those who have an unfavourable view of that party.

Some demographics of attitudes to climate change in the Pew surveys appear in the chart below. The responses in the 16 high-income countries look at variations in age, sex and education, and perceptions of the threat from climate change.

Large percentages of the respondents in these countries see climate change as a major threat, something that was also evident in the first chart. Women (76%) are more likely to think it is a major threat than men (69%); people aged 56-65 are more likely to think it (75%) than young people between the ages of 18 and 25 (72%); and graduates (79%) are more likely to think it than non-graduates(71%). But the variations in attitudes across these groups are not large.

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In some countries – for example, Australia, France, Turkey and the US – adults under 35 are more likely than those aged 50 and older to see climate change as a major threat. But the reverse is true in Argentina, Japan, South Korea and Sweden.

The relationships between demographics and attitudes to climate change are part of wide research which shows women and educated people are generally more concerned about the risks posed by climate change than men and less-educated people.

It is worth noting that an average of two-thirds of the respondents in the high-income countries feel some concern about climate change in 2025, so it is still a significant issue for many.

Perceptions of threat from climate change across different groups in high-income countries:

Why is this happening?

Problems such as the COVID pandemic and the war in Ukraine may have crowded out worries about climate change. In addition, there may be a sense among many people that climate change cannot be stopped. This is a type of issue fatigue where people start believing they can’t make a difference, and so are less likely to talk about it.

However, the picture facing delegates at the UN climate summit, Cop30, in Brazil is not all gloomy. Climate change policies have acquired a powerful ally over the last decade or so: the rapid fall in costs of generating electricity using renewables rather than fossil fuels, which is likely to provide countries with a financial motivation to move away from fossil fuels.

However, whether this, as well as shifting political narratives and global issues, will drive public attitudes to change again in the next three years is unclear.

Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?

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Paul Whiteley has received funding from the British Academy and the ESRC.

– ref. Worries about climate change are waning in many well-off nations – but growing in Turkey, Brazil and India – https://theconversation.com/worries-about-climate-change-are-waning-in-many-well-off-nations-but-growing-in-turkey-brazil-and-india-269160