Category: The Conversation

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Anna Walker, Senior Arts + Culture Editor, The Conversation

It’s been almost a decade since the #MeToo movement promised to bring abusers in Hollywood to account. I’ve watched with interest as films have interrogated the moment in the years since. In 2020, there was Promising Young Woman, in which Carey Mulligan played a woman hellbent on punishing those who get away with abuse. And in 2023, Women Talking focused on a group of American Mennonite women who meet to discuss their future after discovering a history of rape in the colony.

Sorry Baby, which won awards at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, joins this decade of conversation. The film follows Agnes (played by the film’s writer-director Eva Victor), an English professor at a small American college, in the aftermath of a sexual assault.

The story, based on Victor’s own experiences, is structured in non-linear chapters that encompass the time after, before and during the abuse. This makes for an unflinching yet nuanced depiction of trauma’s aftermath. As our reviewer argues: “Victor portrays her female characters in a broad light, not allowing them to be solely defined by trauma, and in doing so allows something truly authentic to emerge.”

Sorry Baby is in select cinemas now

Another film experimenting with non-linear storytelling this week is The Life of Chuck. It’s an adaptation of a novella by Stephen King. When I told our resident King expert, international affairs editor Jonathan Este, about the film, he was puzzled – surely, he asked, the structure of that story is unfilmable? But somehow, director Mike Flanagan makes it work.

Starring Tom Hiddleston, The Life of Chuck explores the formative moments of Charles “Chuck” Krantz, chronicled in reverse chronological order. But this is no Benjamin Button story. It’s a joyful adaptation that honours the King novella while bringing in nice touches of its own.

As Hiddleston – who gets to show off his dancing skills in the film – told the audience at a recent screening: “I think the most important word in the title of the film is the word ‘life’. This is a film about life.”

The Life of Chuck is in cinemas now

Now open at the Bowhouse in Fife, Making Waves; Breaking Ground brings together the work of 11 artists to explore the natural environments of our modern world. Spanning painting, photography and film, these artists share a commitment to pursuing a more compassionate way of looking and being in a place.

And the works are stunning. Photographs of flowers frozen in time in extreme close-up by Kathrin Linkersdorff. A painting by Susan Derges that at first appears to be the Moon surrounded by clouds, but soon morphs before your eyes to be its shimmering reflection in a scummy river, and then something stranger – the perspective of a creature below the surface. A trout’s-eye view of the night sky.

As our reviewer, art historian Alistair Rider explains, these artists “don’t see themselves as separate from the worlds they depict. Our seeing eyes, they suggest, are made of the same physical substances as the things they see.”

Making Waves; Breaking Ground is a free exhibition running until August 31 at the Bowhouse, St Monans, Fife

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that every arts and culture editor has a secret taste for terrible TV. Mine? Love is Blind. I’ve binged the American show – all eight seasons of it – but my real soft spot is for Love is Blind UK. The couples are a little older, a little less media-savvy and all the more entertaining for it.

What I love about this show is the central premise – testing the idea that two people can fall in love without seeing each other in the flesh. Or, as the show cloyingly puts it, fall in love “sight unseen”. With the second season streaming now, we asked a psychologist to tell us what the research says – is love truly blind?

Love is Blind UK is streaming on Netflix now

While I’m in a confessional mood, here’s another guilty pleasure of mine. In moments of overwhelm, I have been known to turn off my phone, curl up under a blanket and fire up my laptop for a marathon game of The Sims. In that life simulation game, I create mini avatars who decorate their houses, fall in love, make friends and steadily work their way up the career ladder.

Turns out I’m not alone. More and more gamers are spending their time playing virtual jobs over fantasy adventures. The latest offering is Tiny Bookshop, where players spend hours organising shelves, recommending novels and chatting with customers.

Is it a little dystopian to finish work and log straight in for a virtual shift in your favourite video game? Perhaps. But as creative industries expert Owen Brierley argues: “The next time someone questions why you’re wasting time managing a virtual bookshop, remind them you’re not escaping work. You’re experiencing what work could be. Voluntary. Meaningful. Genuinely productive.”

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

– ref. #MeToo in the movies – what to watch, see and play this week – https://theconversation.com/metoo-in-the-movies-what-to-watch-see-and-play-this-week-263659

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Daniel Kashi, Post-Doctoral Research Officer, Liverpool John Moores University

Most people know they should drink more water, but our new research reveals an unexpected consequence of falling short: it could be making everyday stress significantly harder to handle.

Our study, published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, found that people who drank less than 1.5 litres daily showed dramatically higher levels of cortisol – the body’s primary stress hormone – when faced with stressful situations. The finding suggests that chronic mild dehydration may amplify stress responses in ways we’re only beginning to understand.

We tested healthy young adults by dividing them into two groups based on their usual fluid intake. One group drank less than 1.5 litres daily, while the other exceeded standard recommendations of roughly two litres for women and 2.5 litres for men. After maintaining these patterns for a week, participants faced a laboratory stress test involving public speaking and mental arithmetic.

Both groups felt equally nervous and showed similar heart rate increases. But the low-fluid group experienced a much more pronounced cortisol surge – a response that could prove problematic if repeated daily over months or years. Chronic elevation of cortisol has been linked to increased risks of heart disease, kidney problems and diabetes.

Surprisingly, the under-hydrated participants didn’t report feeling thirstier than their well-hydrated counterparts. Their bodies, however, told a different story. Darker, more concentrated urine revealed their dehydration, demonstrating that thirst isn’t always a reliable indicator of fluid needs.

The mechanism behind this stress amplification involves the body’s sophisticated water management system. When dehydration is detected, the brain releases vasopressin, a hormone that instructs the kidneys to conserve water and maintain blood volume. But vasopressin doesn’t work in isolation, it also influences the brain’s stress-response system, potentially heightening cortisol release during difficult moments.

Double burden

This creates a physiological double burden. Although vasopressin helps preserve precious water, it simultaneously makes the body more reactive to stress. For someone navigating daily pressures – work deadlines, family responsibilities, financial concerns – this heightened reactivity could accumulate into significant health harms over time.

Our findings add hydration to the growing list of lifestyle factors that influence stress resilience. Sleep, exercise, nutrition and social connections all play roles in how we handle life’s challenges. Water now emerges as a potentially underappreciated ally in stress management.

The implications extend beyond individual physiology. In societies where chronic stress is increasingly recognised as a public health crisis, hydration emerges as a surprisingly accessible intervention. Unlike many stress-management strategies that require significant time or resources, drinking adequate water is straightforward and universally available.

However, our research doesn’t suggest that water is a cure-all for stress. The study involved healthy young adults in controlled laboratory conditions, which cannot fully replicate the complex psychological and social stressors people face in everyday life. Hydration alone cannot address all aspects of real-world stress. We need long-term studies to confirm whether maintaining optimal hydration genuinely reduces stress-related health problems over years or decades.

Individual water needs vary considerably based on age, body size, activity levels and climate. Guidelines provide useful targets, but tea, coffee, milk and water-rich foods also contribute to daily fluid intake. The key is consistency rather than perfection.

A simple check involves monitoring urine colour: pale yellow typically indicates adequate hydration, while darker shades suggest increased fluid needs. This practical approach removes guesswork from an essential daily habit.

Good health stems from accumulated daily choices rather than dramatic interventions. Although proper hydration won’t eliminate life’s pressures, it might help ensure your body is better equipped to handle them. In a world where stress feels inevitable, that physiological advantage could prove more valuable than we’ve previously recognised.

Water remains essential for life in ways that extend far beyond basic survival. Our research suggests it may also be essential for managing the psychological demands of modern life, offering a simple but powerful tool for supporting both physical and mental resilience.

Dr Daniel Kashi’s Post-Doctoral salary was paid by Danone Research & Innovation

Prof Neil Walsh received no honoraria for the completion of this work. Liverpool John Moores University received funding for this work from Danone Research & Innovation specifically to cover research staff salaries and costs associated with data collection.

– ref. Hydration may be your best defence against stress, new study shows – https://theconversation.com/hydration-may-be-your-best-defence-against-stress-new-study-shows-263361

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Karen Lander, Senior Lecturer in Experimental Psychology, University of Manchester

The way someone walks, talks, smiles, or gestures gives a clue to who they are. Whether through the flick of an eyebrow, the rhythm of our walk, or the tilt of a head, movement speaks volumes.

And my recent paper shows that people may have their own movement fingerprint. This is a style of movement that is characteristic of a person’s identity. So, someone who uses expressive facial gestures might also speak with animated hand movements or walk with a lively gait. These consistencies could form a motion fingerprint that is unique to the individual.

First, let’s explore how faces move and why this matters.

Everyone has their own style of moving their face, for example, how they raise an eyebrow, purse their lips, or squint when laughing. These patterns of movement help us recognise familiar people even when visual quality is poor – such as in low lighting or from a distance. And as a person becomes more familiar to us, we become tuned to the way they move, learning their unique patterns of motion, just like we remember their face or voice.

Human faces are constantly in motion; they blink, smile, grimace and talk, to name a few movements. Researchers categorise facial motion into rigid movements (such as turning or nodding the head) and non-rigid movements (like expressing emotion or speaking). It’s the non-rigid movements that tend to be most personally distinctive.

The way we gesture with our hands, shift our posture and tilt our heads all carry identity information. Gestures are often shaped by personal habits or cultural norms, for example, someone might habitually nod three times when agreeing, or use a distinctive hand wave common in their home country.

Facial movements are synchronised with the way we sound. When we talk our face plays a role in shaping the sound of our voice. For example, if you talk with a wide open mouth, your speech sounds deeper and richer. Studies show that people can match other people’s voices to moving faces more accurately than to static ones. This suggests that dynamic cues to identity are present in the movement of the face and the sound of the voice.

People with face recognition difficulties (those who are “face blind” or prosopagnosic) may be better at recognising moving faces than still ones. Typically, people who are face blind can see faces and the differences between them, but struggle to link the face to a specific person. Here, idiosyncratic information from movement can provide an additional clue to identity.

Gait, a person’s walking style, is one of the most studied body movements. Early research, such as a 2005 study, investigated participants’ recognition of identity from gait using point-light displays. In this case, bright spots (lights) were placed on key areas of a person’s body. All other visual cues were removed. Participants could only see bright spots against a dark background. The study found participants could tell fairly well who someone was from the way the spots moved.

Characteristics such as stride length, limb movement, posture and pace form a consistent motion pattern that is unique and surprisingly difficult to fake, making gait analysis a reliable clue for identifying people.

Movement fingerprints

My review brought together evidence from behavioural and brain imaging studies to consider if such consistencies between different types of motion exist and how we might explore this phenomenon further. The paper proposes that people have an overall style of movement.

More work needs to be done to find direct evidence of movement fingerprints. For example, we still aren’t sure what part of the brain processes these movement-based identity cues.

So far, research shows that the posterior temporal sulcus – an area of the brain located roughly above your ear on each side – responds not just to faces and bodies, but to how someone moves more generally. This area is active when we hear voices or see people speak, suggesting it may help link motion and sound. Also, this region plays a key role in allowing us to understand our social world, interpreting other people’s actions, determining where they are looking, and picking up on social cues such as gestures, facial expressions and changes in gaze direction.

However, it’s probably just one part of a larger brain network involved in recognising others through motion.

Real-world applications

Motion-based identity traits aren’t as stable or specific as fingerprints or DNA. They’re what researchers call soft biometrics: useful but not always accurate.

But as we better understand the link between motion and identity, exciting real-world applications are emerging.

Motion analysis could support contactless identity verification from gait-based authentication at airports to gesture-based identification in smart environments, such as homes that respond to a user’s unique movement patterns. In clinical settings, movement analysis might help support people with social cognition impairments, face recognition or movement issues. For example, helping a doctor identify changes in the way a patient produces non-verbal cues.

But many questions remain. We still aren’t sure how consistent motion fingerprints are as someone gets older and in different contexts. Individual differences in people and environmental factors like lighting, clothing or stress could affect them.

Researchers also aren’t sure how exactly we manage to understand all this movement in everyday life without even thinking about it.

Figuring this out could not only help improve technologies like social robots and develop tools for people with recognition and communication difficulties, but also tell us more about how we process and react to other people.

Karen Lander 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. Movement signatures: how we move, gesture and use facial expressions could be as unique as a fingerprint – https://theconversation.com/movement-signatures-how-we-move-gesture-and-use-facial-expressions-could-be-as-unique-as-a-fingerprint-262893

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Andrew Filmer, Senior Lecturer in Theatre and Performance, Aberystwyth University

The relaunching of Glasgow’s famous Citizens Theatre – known locally as the “Citz” – marks the end of a significant seven-year redevelopment project that has seen the people of the city go without a cherished cultural landmark. It also highlights wider trends in how historic theatres are being redeveloped to make them more accessible, socially connected and sustainable while also preserving their heritage.

Extensive work has been done to improve almost all areas of the theatre, from foyer spaces and audience access, to sightlines in the auditorium and technical facilities. The redevelopment makes a feature of the Citizens’ history by revealing previously hidden sandstone walls in the foyer, and restoring its beloved statues of William Shakespeare, Robert Burns and assorted Greek goddesses to their position above the front entrance.

Opened in 1878 as the Royal Princess’s Theatre, the building has been the home of the Citizens Theatre Company since 1945, known for its bold stage productions, its youth and community theatre and participatory arts programmes.

Like many theatres, the Citizens has been continuously adapted over its 147-year history. In 1977 its neoclassical facade was removed following an earlier fire, and in 1989 a new foyer space and studio theatre were added. The current redevelopment, which began in 2018, was undertaken to ensure the building continues to serve the needs of the company and its community in the working-class Gorbals area, south of the river Clyde.

Connection, accessibility, sustainability

The redevelopment and restoration of older theatres such as the Citizens has become important as their social value and anchoring presence in towns and cities has been recognised. And of course it makes better sense environmentally and economically to reimagine and modernise old buildings than construct new ones.

Recent trends in redevelopments such as the Citizens provide insights into our shifting cultural values. Theatres are being renovated and redeveloped to make them more accessible and inclusive, more energy efficient and more flexible, while also keeping their history and heritage at the heart of the project.

Accessibility is a key feature of the redeveloped Citizens, reflecting the importance of the theatre as a place for social connection, community and inclusion. Attention has been focused on connecting the theatre to its urban environment, and improving the physical accessibility of audience spaces through step-free entrances, better circulation and lifts. Audiences will also be able to glimpse views of backstage activities.

Theatres increasingly serve an expanded social role with cafes, bars and spaces for exhibitions, not to mention education and participation programmes. Redesigned foyers signal this spatially, reinvented as public spaces. The Bristol Old Vic, which reopened in 2021, has a substantial new foyer which connects the existing theatre to the street, serves as a social space and can house events and performances.

Energy efficiency measures and lower carbon emissions are another factor in recent redevelopments, reflecting the need to address the climate emergency. According to a 2008 report by the Greater London Authority, around 80% of carbon emissions produced by London’s theatres come from building operation. Lowering energy consumption through energy efficiency measures like insulation, passive ventilation, and lighting controls are increasingly common.

Even relatively modern civic theatres from the late 20th century are hugely inefficient compared with contemporary standards and technologies. Theatr Clwyd in Mold, first opened in 1976 and recently refurbished, has replaced gas heating with air-source heat pumps, solar panels and natural ventilation. The renovated theatre now has “green” walls and roofs and has avoided significant use of concrete in favour of more sustainable materials.

Another feature in redeveloping older theatres is the need to design in flexibility so venues can house multiple types of events and also be adaptable for new art forms and technologies. Regular schedules for maintenance and the gradual upgrade of electrical and mechanical systems are being introduced to avoid less frequent, and more costly, redevelopments.

In July 2022 the Sydney Opera House completed a ten-year renewal programme which has seen significant upgrade of its concert hall. New features including movable wooden acoustic panels, automated systems to change the stage level and sound dampening drapes enable it to better accommodate different musical performances and events.

Theatres play an important role in the social and cultural life of towns and cities. The mix of old and new features in the redeveloped Citizens’ Theatre is a final important aspect which is common to all redevelopment projects. Theatres anchor communities, serving as places of memory and sites for the stories which connect us to each other, to the past and to our possible futures.

The reopening of Glasgow’s most famous theatre reflects how we value accessibility, social connection and sustainability. Theatres are never just performance spaces, but rather places which support our shared cultural life. The decisions we are making in their renewal today reveal a positive vision of the cultural life we want to sustain in the years ahead.

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

Andrew Filmer 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. Glasgow’s Citizens Theatre reopens: what its seven-year transformation reveals about the future of historic venues – https://theconversation.com/glasgows-citizens-theatre-reopens-what-its-seven-year-transformation-reveals-about-the-future-of-historic-venues-263688

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Graham J Dwyer, Associate Professor of Social Innovation, Trinity College Dublin

The island of Ireland has a moderate climate, with few temperature extremes. Its temperature record is still “only” 33°C – almost every other country has been hotter at some point.

But even somewhere with a relatively pleasant and cool climate isn’t immune to the risks of climate change. Recent severe storms like Floris, Bert, Darragh and Eowyn have brought strong winds, more intense floods and a greater risk of blackouts and eroded coastlines.

It’s too soon to definitively link this extreme weather to climate change, but computer models that simulate the climate decades into the future predict stronger storms and more floods. We are already noticing extreme weather happening at unexpected times of year. The sea level is rising and coastlines are eroding at an alarming rate.

Ireland’s position on the edge of the Atlantic – the very reason for its mild climate – makes it especially vulnerable. Those recent severe storms remind us that climate change is a serious threat to wellbeing and, in the longer-term, survival of human life as we know it.

Environmental threats are economic threats

Around 40% of the Irish population lives within a few miles of the coast. That’s where the ports, airports and other infrastructure Ireland’s small open economy depends on are concentrated. Key industries like tourism, fisheries and aquaculture are particularly exposed to disruption.

Higher seas and stronger storms are particularly economic and social threats, not just environmental threats. As coastal populations grow, risks to homes, businesses and infrastructure will only escalate.

A government opinion tracking initiative has indicated there is no shortage of climate change awareness in Ireland. But awareness alone has not translated into urgent action. Too often, the conversation around climate change gets stuck on the reliability of electric vehicles or whether wind turbines spoil the view. Such debates miss the point and risk fuelling climate scepticism.

Recognising our human selves as the chief perpetrator of climate change is the first step towards real behavioural change. This means moving away from a linear economy of extraction and waste, towards a circular one based on reusing, repurposing and recycling resources wherever possible.

Building resilience

Scientists have an invaluable role to play here. Given the relatively recent recognition that a climate-driven increase in extreme weather is a serious hazard, Ireland now needs a foundation of relevant evidence to ensure it makes the right decisions about living with and adapting to climate change. This must include robust modelling and predictions about what is in store, particularly around storms and rising seas.

Policymakers must translate this into clear strategies for coping with the risk of flooding – from flood defences and storm-resistant infrastructure to better water management during periods of alternating droughts and downpours.

There is some good news, as some communities are showing resilience in action. For instance, a community initiative called the Maharees Conservation Association is leveraging local knowledge to protect the northern peninsula of Dingle in Kerry – one of the first places Atlantic storms slam into. The area is implementing a coastal erosion management plan and the Dingle Hub, a non-profit community enterprise, is working to turn the region into a low carbon society. Also, social entrepreneurs are not only contributing to lower carbon emissions but they are also educating, facilitating and supporting communities in tackling climate change.

The Irish government too has made a statutory commitment to achieve a “climate-neutral” and climate-resilient economy by 2050: a crucial step in a country with one of the larger carbon footprints in the world. Meanwhile local authorities are leading campaigns on circular economies, energy use, and are establishing climate action regional offices to focus on climate change.

Ireland cannot hold back the seas or calm the storms. But it can decide how to respond – through stronger science, smarter policy and, above all, collective responsibility.

As sea levels rise, storms surge and flooding increases there is a need for us all to find ways of being part of climate solutions rather than merely being part of the problem.

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Graham J Dwyer is Co-Director, Trinity Centre for Social Innovation. He receives funding from the Australian Research Council. He is affiliated with the University of Melbourne.

Karen Helen Wiltshire is Professor of Climate Sciences and receives funding from Trinity College Dublin (TCD). She holds the TCD-CRH Chair of Climate Science. She is affiliated with the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Science and the University of Kiel in Germany. She is the Chief Author in the UNEP GEO 07. Chapter 5 Oceans and Coasts.

– ref. Why Ireland’s mild temperatures won’t protect it from the climate crisis – https://theconversation.com/why-irelands-mild-temperatures-wont-protect-it-from-the-climate-crisis-259070