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February 23, 2026

3 ways Canada can navigate an increasingly erratic and belligerent United States

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Charles Conteh, Professor of Public Policy and Administration, Department of Political Science, Brock University

The United States Supreme Court recently struck down President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs imposed under the country’s International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The court stated that the law, intended for national emergencies, does not grant the government the authority to impose tariffs.

In early 2025, Trump invoked the act to impose tariffs on Canada, along with Mexico and China, claiming the countries failed to stop illicit drug trafficking into the United States.

The ruling is the latest episode in a political dust-up between Canada and its neighbour to the south which recently involved the Gordie Howe International Bridge linking Ontario and Michigan.

More than steel or stone, the bridge is a symbol of a shared destiny that both respects and transcends differences. Despite their historical, institutional and political differences, Canada and the United States have bonded economically as neighbours, generating shared prosperity over the past two centuries.

In 2023, I wrote a book chapter Canada and the United States: A Symbiotic Relationship or Complex Entanglement? In that chapter, I posed a question: What if the United States becomes more aggressive and even less open to working co-operatively with Canada? To answer that question, Canada can draw lessons from its centuries-long coexistence with an often erratic neighbour to successfully navigate the economic volatility of the present era.

While the recent Supreme Court ruling presents a setback for Trump, it is unlikely to stop him from using U.S. economic and military might as leverage against Canada and other countries. As Canada navigates this belligerent U.S. government, a lingering question is whether this history of interwoven reciprocity is deteriorating into a complex entanglement of vulnerability.

Two neighbours, different worlds

In the book chapter, I describe the Canada-U.S. relationship as a complex picture of deep interdependence, marked by significant power imbalances, and the creative ways Canada has learned to adapt and prosper.

The economic and political interests of the two countries have diverged and converged in undulating waves over the past 200 years. The two economies are inextricably intertwined across a range of sectors, from natural resources and agriculture to advanced manufacturing. Around 70 per cent of Canadian exports go to the U.S., and the share of Canada’s merchandise imports from south of the border was around 59 per cent in 2025.

But for Canada, the relationship is more than just economic interdependence. The U.S. has a population of about 342 million and a gross domestic product about 10 times larger than Canada’s. That sets the stage for an asymmetrical relationship whose threads are woven into the fabric of trade and geopolitics.

For Canada, this can sometimes feel like vulnerability. And that vulnerability is increasingly being exploited by the U.S., creating a general feeling of existential crisis and entrapment.

Nevertheless, Canada can draw from its centuries-long experience to navigate the current headwinds. While the smaller of the two neighbours, it is not entirely dependent on the U.S. for influencing global events or harnessing international opportunities.

Canada has been, and still is, an influential power on the international stage. As a G7 nation, Canada is one of the key pillars in the scaffolding of the global economy. This global standing and international influence give it some room to manoeuvre.

Navigating an existential crossroads

First, in the international arena, Canada must diversify economically and geopolitically to build strategic resilience. Prime Minister Mark Carney is already moving on this front by agreeing to ease mutual tariffs with China. With negotiations to renew the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) slated for this year, a diversified trading economy will give Canada much greater leverage to navigate the vulnerabilities of asymmetry.

Second, Canada should draw from its record of championing a rules-based order. In recent years, the country has had to skilfully navigate the crossroads of projecting and defending its global and liberal-democratic values during periods of U.S. flirtations with populism, isolationism and anti-international rhetoric. As a middle power, it derives its strength from the rule of law and by presenting a united front with like-minded nations. A wider set of partners means more buffers against trade policy whiplashes and geopolitical shocks from the U.S.

Third, domestically, loosening inter-provincial trade flows, updating anachronistic regulatory frameworks and pursuing digital data sovereignty strategies should be high priorities to fire the full engine of the economy.

Similarly, as I’ve previously argued, Canada should use its comparative advantages in natural resources to create a strong, well-connected critical minerals supply chain. This would give it significant strategic leverage in the global economy as the world shifts to electrification and renewable energy.

Over the past two centuries, Canada has mastered the complex dance of asymmetry. However, the current crisis takes on an existential proportion that will require new agility, courage and decisiveness. It is an inflection point that will mark a consequential shift for the next generation.

Canada’s nimbleness and agility in navigating this political moment could be an model for other countries that must manoeuvre a world where the old rules no longer apply. It can serve as an example for small and middle powers who must navigate a world where great powers are increasingly belligerent.

Charles Conteh receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

– ref. 3 ways Canada can navigate an increasingly erratic and belligerent United States – https://theconversation.com/3-ways-canada-can-navigate-an-increasingly-erratic-and-belligerent-united-states-276035

February 23, 2026

Cameos in ‘Marty Supreme’ ask audiences to dig deeper

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Joceline Andersen, Assistant Teaching Professor in Communication and English, Thompson Rivers University

In the lead-up to Oscar season, Josh Safdie, the director of Marty Supreme, has been elaborating on the many cameos in his film that build on real-world associations to create a rich cast of characters.

While usually cameo publicity is all about the director’s vision, Marty Supreme’s director of casting, Jennifer Venditti, has also made appearances in press for the film, amid increased recognition for the art of casting.

Marty Supreme is up for nine Oscars, including for casting, the first year this category will be awarded, and Venditti is nominated.

In Marty Supreme, Timothée Chalamet stars as an ambitious table tennis champion running away from his life as a shoe salesman in a largely Jewish slice of 1950s New York. Alongside this star are many other recognizable faces playing cameos.

Finding a famous face in an unexpected place is strangely thrilling. As some of my research has examined, this recognition is the allure behind cameos — small roles where famous and celebrated people play versions of themselves on screen. Cameos are full of contradictions: audiences are taken aback by famous people appearing in front of the camera. They proudly pick out celebrity faces in a crowd.

Robert Pattinson, Pico Iyer

At a January screening, Safdie clued in London audiences to a Robert Pattinson voice cameo. In the film, Pattinson voices an announcer at the British Open for table tennis.

Pico Iyer, the travel writer Safdie knew from his 2019 TED Talk about ping pong, wrote in the New York Times in January about his own small role. This cameo began with a formulaic query email and Zoom call with Safdie and Venditti.

Writer Pico Iyer’s 2019 Ted Talk: What ping pong taught me about life.

While classic cameos like Jerry Lewis’s appearance in It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) were filmed as cutaways that made for a flexible shooting schedule and assembly-line production, Iyer’s role involved shooting on two continents.

Safdie includes Iyer as a fastidious table tennis official, even though Iyer’s talk argues that ping pong transcends competition as the ultimate model for good diplomacy. Iyer’s TED Talk also sketches out the source material for an unusual minor character arc in Marty Supreme. Between the cameo, the New York Times article and the TED Talk, Safdie creates a maze for the viewer to follow outside of the viewing experience.

Stunt casting

Safdie is no stranger to stunt casting. He and his brother’s 2019 drama Uncut Gems starred Adam Sandler as a jeweller, and featured cameos from non-actors such as musical star the Weeknd and former NBA player Kevin Garnett.

The Hollywood Reporter recently detailed allegations about inappropriate behaviour by a non-actor on the Safdie brothers’ 2017 film Good Time that neither brother has commented publicly on. These allegations in the lead-up to the Oscars may have dampened excitement for casting that blurs acting and reality.

In Marty Supreme, many cameos highlight local colour. John Catsimatidis, New York grocery tycoon and former mayoral candidate, plays a well-to-do speculator bankrolling a line of table tennis balls, the Marty Supreme, that gives the film its title.

Kevin O’Leary

Kevin O’Leary, the wealthy Canadian reality-TV investor angel of Dragon’s Den and Shark Tank fame, appears in a supporting role as the sadistic wealthy husband of a faded movie star played by Gwyneth Paltrow. Surrounded by an entourage of sycophants, he bribes Marty to throw a match to the reigning champion as part of a promotional event for his company.

As O’Leary expressed in Vanity Fair, Safdie was looking for an “asshole,” and he knows how to play that.

Drawing on his savage TV persona, and inviting comparison with
U.S. President Donald Trump’s own reality-TV stardom, O’Leary’s performance relies on the audience to do the heavy lifting of association. Canadian viewers may recall that O’Leary’s 2025 “asshole” moves include supporting Trump’s bid to make Canada the 51st state.

As a supporting actor who plays a pivotal plot role in Marty’s return to grace, O’Leary is hardly a cameoist. And yet, in his first acting role, O’Leary’s persona never fully disappears into the character of the cutthroat mid-century businessman.

Marty Supreme could be an episode of Dragon’s Den, with O’Leary sizing up another hopeful contestant for humiliation or a dream come true. The audience sketches out much of O’Leary’s performance from our own memories of similar viewing experiences, just like we do for other celebrities and movie stars.

Casting against type

After Kevin O’Leary’s appearance, the audience’s second cry of recognition at my local screen was for Marty’s mom: Fran Drescher, best known as the brash, colourful New Yorker from the 1990s sitcom The Nanny. During the filming of Marty Supreme, Drescher was the president of SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents screen actors in the U.S.

Spinning a familiar story of cameo happenstance and friendly connection that is as old as Bob Hope and Bing Crosby’s star-studded 1950s Road movies, Drescher told People that the union brought Safdie and Drescher together when he called her for regular updates during the 2023 actors’ strike.

Safdie’s cameos were to feature people with what Drescher called the right “background”: New Yorkers, many of them Jewish, with local accents. According to Drescher, Safdie intrigued her with a promise to showcase her depth demonstrated during calls explaining labour negotiations. Like Iyer, Drescher was cast in this cameo against the type of her superficial sitcom character.

Labour, cultural contexts also shape cameos

Many cameos of the 1920s and 1930s relied on labour conditions where stars and former stars signed to restrictive contracts could be pulled out of the studio canteen to appear as little more than extras.

This wasn’t because extras were in short supply: according to Kate Fortmueller, who has researched film and TV labour histories, almost three per cent of Los Angeles residents in the 1920s were registered as extras. The unionization of movie actors emerged from a desire to give order to the wannabe actors flooding Hollywood.

Comparable concerns were behind the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike — a key issue was compensation for actors as streaming media changed where audiences watch screens and convenient AI technology threatens real performers.

Marty Supreme commits to depicting the real New York through cameos that recreate the accents, dialects and unfiltered faces of famous New York actors, and these resonances beyond the screen are part of the film’s allure.

Joceline Andersen 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. Cameos in ‘Marty Supreme’ ask audiences to dig deeper – https://theconversation.com/cameos-in-marty-supreme-ask-audiences-to-dig-deeper-273762

February 23, 2026

Canada is a global leader in obesity care guidelines, so why are Canadians still waiting months for treatment at home?

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Muhammad Ilyas Nadeem, PhD Candidate in Obesity & Diabetes | Public Scholar (2024-2025), Concordia University

Canada is recognized globally for its world-leading obesity care guidelines — yet Canadians continue to struggle to access the very treatment plans we’ve developed. Meanwhile, the same model of care is now the one the World Health Organization (WHO) is urging other countries to adopt.

The WHO recently released its first ever guideline on anti-obesity medications, reinforcing a chronic disease model of care that Canadian experts have championed for years.

WHO’s stance mirrors the Canadian framework laid out in 2020 clinical guidelines: obesity is a chronic, relapsing disease that requires comprehensive, lifelong care — the kind that includes timely diagnosis, trained providers, co-ordination among the various health professionals involved, mental-health support, and — when appropriate — pharmacotherapy and bariatric surgery.

Despite Canada’s leadership in shaping this global shift, progress at home remains slow and uneven. More than one in four adults now live with obesity and wait times for specialist care have soared to a record high of 30 weeks in Canada. What’s more, in high-income countries, obesity and related chronic diseases tend to disproportionately affect people facing social and economic disadvantage.

When will Canadians see this research put into practice?

Either directly or indirectly, all Canadians are affected by obesity. Obesity remains largely framed as a willpower problem solvable through lifestyle change alone, despite decades of evidence showing it is a complex chronic disease shaped both by biology and environment. It is linked to more than 200 health problems worldwide and contributes to more than 3.7 million deaths annually.

Most health-care systems, including Canada’s, still rely on fragmented, weight-centric guidelines rather than holistic, chronic disease approaches. Even clinicians and clinics that want to follow these evidence-based models often find themselves constrained by limited resources, training, inconsistent insurance coverage and a system that still doesn’t put comprehensive obesity care at the forefront.

Canada has invested millions of dollars in obesity research, leading to the development of forward-thinking, science-backed approaches to obesity care, but system-wide implementation remains painfully slow.

The Canadian paradox: world-class guidance, patchy access

Here’s the bright side: Canada has quietly become an unexpected leader in global obesity care guidelines. Over the past five years, Canadian clinicians, researchers and people with lived experience have helped rewrite the international rulebook for treating obesity.

The 2020 adult guideline was a turning point that reframed obesity. It moved beyond using BMI as the main compass, and reorganized care around what matters to patients: quality of life, function and reduction of related complications, not just kilograms lost. That patient-centred, stigma-free model, along with Canada’s guideline process itself, has since been adapted in Ireland using the ADAPTE framework and in Chile through an international pilot. Several other nations are also integrating elements of the Canadian approach into their own guidelines.

In 2025, two major updates pushed the model further. A pediatric guideline in Canadian Medical Association Journal emphasized multicomponent, family-centred support that addresses mental health, quality of life and cardiometabolic risk, while considering medications or surgery for selected adolescents through shared decision-making.

An adult pharmacotherapy update called for long-term, individualized use of modern anti-obesity medicines — including semaglutide and tirzepatide — and urged clinicians to focus on abdominal obesity and complications rather than BMI alone.

Access to care

Yet a paradox remains: while the world begins to follow Canada’s lead on paper, most Canadians living with obesity still cannot access the level of care these very guidelines envision. Public coverage for anti-obesity medications remains limited and inconsistent across provinces, and private coverage reaches only a minority.

Training gaps compound these access issues. Medical education in Canada has historically overlooked obesity care, leaving many clinicians unprepared to treat patients in line with the guidelines.

Bariatric surgery capacity has been sharply constrained, with reported wait times varying from 1.5 years to nearly nine years, and historic analyses documenting stark interprovincial inequalities. These bottlenecks make it almost impossible to deliver the very guidelines we’ve poured time and funds into.

So far, policy signals are mixed. In March 2025, Alberta became the first — and still only — province to formally recognize obesity as a chronic disease, a move that can unlock more comprehensive coverage and care options. The federal government is reviewing applications for generic GLP-1 drugs which could improve access down the road. But no pan-Canadian policy framework exists, leaving most patients navigating a patchwork system.

In Québec, more bariatric surgeries have been performed relative to need than most provinces but waits remain substantial and public drug coverage for anti-obesity medicines is limited.

Improving the system

Ultimately, before we can improve the lives of our people, we need to improve the system that is supposed to care for them.

The first crucial step would be for more provinces to follow suit with Alberta to recognize obesity as a chronic disease nationwide. Recognition is the gateway to coverage and comprehensive care.

A co-ordinated federal-provincial-territorial framework implementing our guidelines on behavioural/psychological support, pharmacotherapy and surgery should be applied for obesity care in Canada. Make quality of life, mental health, functional capacity and obesity-related complication reduction core performance indicators.

Finally, similar to diabetes care, public and private plans should cover anti-obesity medications where clinically indicated. The absence of coverage continues to hinder access as international guidance embraces modern, chronic-care models for obesity management.

Canada’s impact on modern obesity care is commendable, with countries like Ireland and Chile adapting our model. WHO now supports this same chronic-care approach with its stance on GLP-1 medicines. But if Canada’s own guidelines are not practically applied within our health-care systems, many lives will continue to be at stake, and obesity numbers will continue to climb, as they have for the last several decades.

Muhammad Ilyas Nadeem receives funding from Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQ)-Santé.

Jessica Murphy has received funding from Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQ)-Santé.

Sylvia Santosa receives funding from CIHR, NSERC, MITACS, CFDR.

Cristina Sanza 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. Canada is a global leader in obesity care guidelines, so why are Canadians still waiting months for treatment at home? – https://theconversation.com/canada-is-a-global-leader-in-obesity-care-guidelines-so-why-are-canadians-still-waiting-months-for-treatment-at-home-273361

February 23, 2026

Calls for a boycott of the 2026 FIFA World Cup are growing, but how realistic is one?

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Noah Eliot Vanderhoeven, PhD Candidate, Political Science, Western University

The next major international sporting event, the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup hosted jointly by the United States, Canada and Mexico, is already garnering international scrutiny. There have been numerous calls to boycott it.

Calls for a boycott were amplified recently following U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to annex Greenland from Denmark, prompting soccer officials in Germany and France to broach the possibility of both countries boycotting the tournament.

Both countries’ soccer federations have pushed back against calls to boycott the World Cup for now, although recent events in Minneapolis have heightened concerns about the U.S.’ role in hosting the tournament and what that will mean for visitors.

Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter — who was suspended by FIFA in 2015 and replaced by current FIFA president Gianni Infantino amid a corruption scandal he was later acquitted of — recently voiced concerns over the marginalization of political opponents and violent crackdowns on immigration in the U.S.

The World Cup has historically been an event that brings together fans from across the world. Many fans rely on tourist visas, and ICE is expected to be responsible for security at the World Cup. ICE’s director has refused to commit to pausing the agency’s operations during the tournament.

Human rights groups have raised concerns over whether World Cup visitors will be detained and handed to ICE if they engage in actions deemed critical of the U.S. government.

Boycotts at international sporting events

In the history of international sporting events, boycotts have been far less common than bans.

Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary and the Ottoman Empire were not invited to attend the 1920 Olympic games after losing the First World War.

South Africa was invited to the 1964 Tokyo Games but saw their invitation rescinded due to apartheid, and only rejoined Olympic competition in 1992. Rhodesia saw its invitation to the 1972 Games rescinded due to its government enacting a white supremacist regime.

Notably, both instances of rescinded invitations to the Olympic Games came after other African nations threatened to boycott the Games if South Africa and Rhodesia were invited to participate.

There were also partial boycotts at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Several nations announced a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics to protest China’s mistreatment of the Uyghur Muslims, prohibiting many government officials from attending in an official capacity, while still permitting athletes to compete. Russia has been banned from most major international sports competitions since it invaded Ukraine in 2022.

However, the most famous boycott of an international sporting event occurred in 1980 ahead of the Summer Olympics in Moscow following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. More than 60 countries boycotted those Games, led by the U.S. In turn, 19 countries boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, led by the Soviet Union and other Eastern bloc countries.

Yet there has never been a World Cup boycott by qualified teams on political grounds. In 1934, Uruguay famously chose not to travel to the second-ever World Cup in Italy because several European teams, including Italy, declined to travel to Uruguay for the inaugural tournament in 1930.

Prior to the 1966 World Cup, all African teams withdrew from qualifying in protest because FIFA had only allocated all of the teams from Africa, Asia and Oceania one combined place at the tournament. There were calls for Norway to boycott the 2022 Men’s World Cup in Qatar, but they did not qualify for the tournament.

How likely is a boycott?

As of yet, no leaders of major soccer federations have endorsed calls for their country to boycott the tournament, despite pressure from some executives and politicians. It would likely take decisive action from a federation head, akin to the action President Jimmy Carter took prior to the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, to arrive at a country boycotting.

Furthermore, given the relationship Trump has built up with FIFA president Gianni Infantino, the effect of a boycott, or any credible threats of one, on the United States’ immigration policy or hosting responsibilities would likely be rather limited, making a boycott an unpopular decision that may not achieve the desired goal of any boycotting nation.

Infantino attended Trump’s inauguration and controversially awarded Trump FIFA’s inaugural Peace Prize. More recently, he signed an agreement with Trumps’ Board of Peace on behalf of FIFA.

Infantino was also a staunch defender of Qatar’s building practices in the face of heavy human rights criticism and was willing to change FIFA’s policies at the last minute to acquiesce to Qatar’s demands for limited alcohol sales during the 2022 Men’s World Cup.

Trump could still escalate geopolitical tensions enough to spark further boycott discussions. But for now, a boycott remains unlikely, and even credible threats would likely do little to shift Infantino and Trump from the status quo.

Noah Eliot Vanderhoeven 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. Calls for a boycott of the 2026 FIFA World Cup are growing, but how realistic is one? – https://theconversation.com/calls-for-a-boycott-of-the-2026-fifa-world-cup-are-growing-but-how-realistic-is-one-275785

February 23, 2026

Countries in the Americas can act to protect the environment without the United States

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Alexandra R Harrington, Visiting Scholar, McGill University Faculty of Law, Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism, McGill University

The United States federal government recently revoked a landmark scientific ruling by the Environmental Protection Agency that stated greenhouse gases are a threat to public health. U.S. President Donald Trump said the ruling was a “disasterous” policy that “severely damaged the American auto industry and massively drove up prices for American consumers.”

The revocation is the latest move by a U.S. administration that has framed action to tackle climate change as hampering the U.S. economy. In this context, trade has become a buzzword over the past year. With the focus on tariffs, it is easy to overlook the impacts of U.S. trade policies on the environment and the organizations tasked with bridging the two.

My areas of research focus on international law, specifically environmental law and the intersections between trade and international organizations.

In January, Trump indicated that the U.S. will withdraw from the NAFTA/CUSMA-linked Commission on Environmental Cooperation and the process for dealing with claims that Canada, Mexico or the United States are shirking their environmental commitments — the submission on enforcement matters (SEM) process.

The U.S. withdrawal highlights the importance of these issues at the regional level. It also provides an opportunity for other countries in the Americas to take action on climate change without the United States.

What are SEMs?

In 1994, Canada, Mexico and the U.S. adopted the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) along with two side agreements. One of these was the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), establishing the Commission on Environmental Cooperation and the SEM process.

When NAFTA was renegotiated in 2018, the SEM process was incorporated into the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), and the NAAEC was replaced by the Agreement on Environmental Cooperation.

The Commission on Environmental Cooperation is charged with overseeing this agreement, while SEM is the process for dealing with claims that Canada, Mexico or the U.S. are not living up to their environmental commitments.

That process can lead to the creation of a “factual record”; an investigative report detailing the commission’s findings. Although not a legal decision, the factual record is a powerful evidentiary and fact-finding tool to generate reforms.

Reporting on derelict environmental commitments through the SEM process remains a vital tool. It has provided important factual records on leakage from Alberta tailings ponds and failures to protect species such as the loggerhead turtle, North Atlantic right whale and vaquita porpoise, among other issues.

The SEM model was replicated in U.S. trade agreements with Central American states, Colombia, Panama and Peru. In each of these agreements, however, the U.S. was exempted from SEM jurisdiction because it was already under the jurisdiction of CUSMA.

Given the U.S. decision not to provide the core funding needed for these entities to function, it would be possible for the Central American states, as well as Colombia, Panama and Peru, to enter into a separate agreement regarding SEMs. The same would be true for Canada and Mexico under CUSMA.

A new generation of environmental accountability

The U.S. was a driving influence in the creation of the SEM process. And the U.S. retreat could be accepted as a way to end systems that have brought significant issues in national enforcement of environment law to light.

Examples include the failure to properly monitor implementation of environmental laws and standards, ranging from those intended to protect communities living near pollution discharge points to those intended to protect species on the edge of extinction.

Other countries in the Americas now have an opportunity to create a larger environmental oversight mechanism. This would demonstrate their ability to step into the governance gap left by the U.S. and generate stronger regional alliances. This would not only benefit the Americas. It would also provide a model for other international organizations as they face the loss of a powerful member state.

This alternative would entail creating a new SEM process, along with an equivalent to the Commission on Environmental Cooperation to oversee it, linking all members of the impacted agreements and any other interested countries in the Americas. The most comprehensive way to do this would be to negotiate a new multilateral agreement similar to current regional agreements but without the emphasis being on trade.

Similar to the current SEM process, individuals and groups could make submissions claiming that a member state is failing to fulfill its environmental obligations. Once a submission is received, the SEM unit would determine whether it meets basic requirements. If so, the submission would move on and, ultimately, a factual record could be developed.

This alternative framework would demonstrate the collective commitment of countries across the Americas to environmental protection. It would reflect the reality that the Americas face significant shared environmental threats that are also increasingly threats to national security and economic interests.

Such an agreement could mainstream the SEM process, building on provisions established in NAFTA, NAAEC and CUSMA. Existing regional offices could be maintained to ensure strong connections on the ground, and the procedures used could largely be unchanged.

At a time when many countries seem to be focusing on narrow self-interest and military spending rather than the environment, this is a challenging proposition.

However, integrating the SEM process into a new, broader, collective effort would allow American countries to assert hemispheric leadership without having to reinvent the wheel. It would also allow citizens the continued ability to bring claims and to have some accountability.

As the U.S. government withdraws from its international obligations, reconceiving international organizations that are under existential threat is now a necessity. Reconfiguring SEMs throughout the Americas would serve as a model for other organizations and as a way of shifting international organizations to be less dependent on any one state.

Alexandra R Harrington 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. Countries in the Americas can act to protect the environment without the United States – https://theconversation.com/countries-in-the-americas-can-act-to-protect-the-environment-without-the-united-states-275994

February 23, 2026

Fears about AI taking our jobs are understandable – but harmful

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Abigail Marks, Professor of the Future of Work, Newcastle University

As a professor of the future of work, the question I get asked most often is whether AI is going to take everyone’s jobs.

I hear it from students who worry that their degrees will be obsolete before they graduate. I hear it from office workers watching new tools appear in their software. And I hear it from people working in retail and logistics and hospitality and admin, who all suspect that their jobs put them most at risk.

The issue has become a widespread worry in the workplace. And of course, I understand why people are worried.

Because for a very long time, technology has been sold to employers as a way of achieving more with a smaller workforce. When new tech arrives, it often means cutting costs.

So far though, AI has not led to mass unemployment, and society’s use of the technology is, and will probably continue to be, nuanced and complex.

Yet blunt headlines declaring that “AI will take your job” are hard to ignore. And they can place workers in a passive position, where they end up waiting fearfully to see whether they will be part of the technological cull.

But we also need to be wary of the fear itself. For fear is not just a private and unpleasant feeling – fear changes how people behave and how they relate to society.

Nor is AI-driven anxiety evenly distributed. Some professionals with stable contracts will have the luxury of treating AI as an efficiency tool, something that removes tedious tasks and speeds up routine work.

But others, who work in call centres or data entry, where tasks are repetitive, measurable and tightly monitored, often see AI as something that could remove the substance of their job. For these people, the AI revolution does not feel like an upgrade, it feels like a countdown to unemployment.

And this is why the perceived threat matters. Because even before jobs disappear, the fear of losing them can reshape lives. Research shows that people who believe their livelihoods are at risk are understandably less willing to plan for the future.

They may delay major decisions because they feels pointless or unaffordable. They may disengage from work because they assume loyalty will not be rewarded.

Anxiety goes up, morale falls and the workplace becomes a site of uncertainty.
And then the idea that AI will take over jobs becomes not just an economic problem but also a psychological one.

For work is not simply a way to pay the bills. To many people it is a vital source of identity, dignity and social connection. And when work feels under threat, people can feel personally diminished.

Transparency

After all, if the tasks you have built your life around are suddenly described as something AI could do, it is hard not to infer that your efforts are (and have been) of little value; that you are replaceable and that your contribution no longer matters.

This is where fear turns into alienation, and its effects move beyond the workplace. Over time, that loss of trust can harden into cynicism about society itself.

Anxiety about automation can then blend into wider questions about inequality. And if millions of workers believe they are one software update away from redundancy, that belief can be socially destabilising.

Woman looking thoughtful surrounded by tech graphic. — AI and alienation.
Stock-Asso/Shutterstock

What matters then is how AI is integrated into workplaces, and whether that integration supports people’s ability to keep working on fair and predictable terms. This requires transparency and the involvement of the workers themselves. Above all, it is essential to give those workers a say in how AI affects their tasks, their pace of work, and the metrics by which they are assessed.

Because while AI will reshape work, the future should not be predetermined by the technology itself. And the greatest risk may not be that AI replaces everyone overnight, but that the fear of replacement becomes widespread and corrosive – damaging wellbeing, undermining dignity and building resentment.

So we should absolutely take the threat of AI seriously. But we should also stop treating AI as an unstoppable force, and start treating it as something that can be shaped by society.

And the next time someone asks me whether AI is going to take people’s jobs, I will still answer honestly – that without proper consideration, there is a chance that systems will be implemented which change the way we work and damage personal dignity and economic stability.

But I will also try to address the more important question about what society can do to mitigate this damage – and make sure that the fear of AI doesn’t become a major crisis in itself.

Abigail Marks 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. Fears about AI taking our jobs are understandable – but harmful – https://theconversation.com/fears-about-ai-taking-our-jobs-are-understandable-but-harmful-276245

February 23, 2026

The Moment: Charli XCX is the ultimate chronicler of contemporary pop stardom

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Alice Pember, Assistant Professor of Film and Television Studies, University of Warwick

“Want to go again?” a choreographer asks Charli XCX at the start of the mockumentary The Moment. It’s the latest entry in the pop star’s rapidly expanding cinematic empire, propelled by the stratospheric cultural impact of her 2024 album, Brat.

He is asking if she’s ready to practise a gyrating, strobe-heavy routine one more time. But this question also gestures towards the central conceit of the film: what if “Brat summer” was pushed beyond its natural expiry date? Not to explore “the tension of staying too long”, as Charli has described it, but in a cynical attempt to further monetise this fleeting moment of pop cultural hype.

Conceived by Charli, The Moment offers a semi-fictionalised mockumentary account of the post Brat summer comedown. It positions her at the centre of several cynical attempts to extend its lifespan through questionable endorsement deals, social media posts and an ill-fated concert film. The film’s events map eerily onto the real post-Brat timeline, inviting knowing audiences to question the boundary between fiction and reality.

Charli’s uncertain response to the choreographer’s question − “Err … yeah?” – from the floor of her rehearsal space (in that starriest of destinations, Dagenham) crystallises the film’s knowing subversion of dominant trends in the female-oriented pop star documentary.

The trailer for The Moment.

As cultural theorist Annelot Prins has outlined in a paper, pop star documentaries like Lady Gaga’s Five Foot Two (2017), Kesha’s Rainbow (2020) and Taylor’s Swift’s Miss Americana (2020) tend to present “empowering narratives of talented and hardworking women who used to be constrained by different factors but overcame them with resilience […] and are now self-determined agents”.

This approach to female celebrity has continued in a recent glut of arena concert films released by stars including Swift, Beyoncé and Olivia Rodrigo. These arena spectaculars combine polished tour footage with backstage glimpses into the creative process. It’s a combination of intimacy and polish engineered to confirm their authentic talent in the face of the relentless commercial demands of the pop world.

The “resilient pop documentary” is part of a wider trend identified by feminist media scholars: representations of celebrity women overcoming setbacks such as sexual assault (Kesha), addiction (Demi Lovato) or illness (Lady Gaga).

Feminist sociologist Angela McRobbie’s work shows how these images of “resilient” female celebrities block collective resistance to misogyny, racism and classism, by making women believe they can overcome oppression through “self-management and care”.

This is a pattern that these documentaries repeat with their emphasis on the creative survival of the damaged female pop star. The Moment invokes and satirises these narrative templates by showing Charli’s fictionalised self’s inability to control the runaway momentum of her own stardom.

Resilience to reflexivity

While The Moment has been positioned as Charli’s pivot from pop to the silver screen, it extends the subversions of her oft-forgotten first cinematic venture: 2022’s Charli XCX: Alone Together.

Inverting The Moment’s narrative structure, Alone Together opens with Charli’s preparations for her first arena tour, charting the effects of its abrupt cancellation in the wake of COVID. The remainder of the film depicts Charli’s production of her fourth studio album over the course of a whirlwind six-weeks of the first lockdown.

This ambitious undertaking could have provided the perfect opportunity to emphasise Charli’s resilience, but Alone Together takes a difference tack. It focuses on the emotional toll the album’s production took on Charli and emphasises the digital spaces of care and community that enabled her and her fans to survive the pandemic.

While The Moment and Alone Together approach subversion differently, both knowingly undermine the resilience typically celebrated in pop star documentaries, exposing the endless performance of “overcoming” on which female pop stardom relies. The ending of Alone Together positions Charli as the unmoved consumer of the final album. A post-credit sequence shows her immediately at another loose end. “I just feel a bit, like, bored … What am I going to do now?” she says to camera, laughing.

The trailer for Alone Together.

The Moment’s closing scenes echo Alone Together’s feeling of anti-climax by ending with the trailer for the Brat concert film and its invitation to “be a 365 Party Girl from the comfort of your own home”. Hilariously, this is soundtracked by the Verve’s Bitter Sweet Symphony – an overplayed Britpop anthem that confirms the fictional XCX’s fall from cool in pursuit of mass appeal.

The film’s quasi-documentary style compounds its challenge to the forms of authenticity upon which resilient pop stardom relies. In a voice note to her team, Charli explains that she is completing the film to “kill Brat” and free herself to pursue other creative endeavours. Here, the film uses the intimate framing used to convey authentic agency in the conventional pop documentary. This serves to blur the paper-thin line between the “real” post-Brat hype engineered by Charli and the trite, opportunistic spectacle she embraces in The Moment.

That we are left with no clear sense of what the difference truly is signals that, far from being a “shallow” take on pop celebrity, The Moment turns the conventions of the pop star documentary against themselves. In doing so, the film cleverly exposes the artificiality inherent in even the most seemingly authentic of pop performances.

Taken together, these two films cement Charli XCX’s status as our best chronicler of contemporary female pop stardom and the role of her film texts in exposing the artifice at play in supposedly “authentic” resilient pop cultural performance.

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Alice Pember 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 Moment: Charli XCX is the ultimate chronicler of contemporary pop stardom – https://theconversation.com/the-moment-charli-xcx-is-the-ultimate-chronicler-of-contemporary-pop-stardom-276681

February 23, 2026

What wearables can (and can’t) tell you about your heart health

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Kevin O’Gallagher, MRC Clinician Scientist and Consultant Cardiologist, King’s College London

Many commonly worn wearables can track useful data about your heart health. Syda Productions/ Shutterstock

Half of people in the UK use a wearable device, such as a fitness tracker or smartwatch. These devices collect data relating to health and physical activity levels – including heart rate, step count and sleep quality. With the emergence of AI, such devices will probably become even more sophisticated – potentially able to diagnose our health problems before our GP.

But while wearables can be really useful when it comes to understanding many aspects of your heart health, they still have many shortcomings – so it’s important not to rely on them for everything.

A key strength of modern wearables is the fact that they record such a wide range of useful data, and track trends over time. This makes them perfect for measuring whether any lifestyle changes you’ve made are working for you, and what effects they might be having. For instance, your wearable can tell you if your health kick has had a measurable affect on your sleep quality or blood pressure.

In addition to measuring step count and physical activity, many of the most commonly worn wearables collect cardiovascular data via photoplethysmography (PPG). This is where a light located at the back of the wearable interacts with tiny blood vessels in the skin to give an estimate of changes in blood volume. These changes can be used to accurately measure heart rate, rhythm and blood oxygen levels.

Many currently available devices are also able to record electrocardiographic (ECG) data. This also records your heart’s electric activity, including heart rate and rhythm.

This is why some wearables, particularly those with ECG technology, could be useful in cardiology consultations.

There are currently limitations to the ECGs a cardiologist would normally use to diagnose heart rhythm issues. These ECG monitors only record heart rhythm data for a limited period, such as 24 or 72 hours. This could mean doctors don’t get a full picture of heart health.

But since many people who own a smartwatch or fitness tracker wear them for many hours of the day and over many weeks, this means their wearable may be recording at the time when cardiac symptoms – such as palpitations – occur. This means wearables may overcome the inherent limitations with clinical ECG recordings.

A person checks their heart rate on their wearable fitness watch. — Wearables may even be able to detect abnormal heart rhythms.
Melnikov Dmitriy/ Shutterstock

For instance, a recent study demonstrated that smartwatches can reliably detect atrial fibrillation (a heart rhythm disorder that increases risk of stroke) in patients at risk of the condition. And wearables can also be useful for regularly and accurately monitoring daytime blood pressure.

So, wearables have the ability to provide data that is highly useful to a cardiologist in helping determine a probable diagnosis. But just how much can we rely on this data?

Wearable limitations

Most wearables that detect blood pressure do so via PPG data, which measures blood pressure differently to an inflatable blood pressure cuff. Wearables may also only provide a blood pressure range rather than absolute results. This means a patient may not know whether their “true” blood pressure is normal or not.

The British and Irish Hypertension Society, which formally validates and endorses cuff-based blood pressure monitors, currently doesn’t have a framework to validate wearables. This means no wearables on the market which provide blood pressure monitoring have been officially validated.

There’s also a lack of standardisation across the market for how different wearables produce data for particular metrics. This means it’s possible different devices could give different readouts – even if they’re looking at the same person. If wearables are to be integrated into the healthcare system in future, then standardised, validated methods would be needed.

There are also potential issues in how wearables are positioned within the market with regard their medical capabilities.

Some are advertised as having medical-grade measuring capabilities. However, the majority of devices on the market have not been approved as medical devices by regulatory bodies. This distinction is important for the average consumer to understand, so they don’t trust the device’s data more than they should.

While wearables can be extremely useful for understanding many aspects of your day-to-day heart health, there’s still much about them that will need to be improved before they become a standard part of cardiac care.

Quality assurance and compatibility across different brands will be key, as will ensuring a patient’s data is both reliable and accessible to healthcare staff on their electronic health records.

These are important issues that must be addressed soon if wearable technology is to become a standard part of NHS treatment by 2035, as outlined in the NHS’s ten-year plan for England.

Kevin O’Gallagher 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. What wearables can (and can’t) tell you about your heart health – https://theconversation.com/what-wearables-can-and-cant-tell-you-about-your-heart-health-273075

February 23, 2026

Endometriosis: how a court ruling could make workplaces better for those with the condition

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Aishwarya Viswamitra, PhD Researcher, School of Applied Social Sciences, De Montfort University

Sanju Pal built a successful career in management consulting, winning major awards and working at a senior level. Then her health changed.

After being diagnosed with severe endometriosis and undergoing surgery, she returned to work but struggled with pain and fatigue. Months later, she was dismissed for not meeting performance targets. What followed was years of legal action, culminating in a January 2026 ruling that she had experienced discrimination arising from disability under the Equality Act 2010.

Her case may set an important precedent. It also highlights a wider issue: how many others are navigating chronic illness at work without recognition, flexibility or legal support?

Endometriosis is a long-term condition in which tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows elsewhere in the body. It can cause severe pelvic pain, fatigue, heavy bleeding and other debilitating symptoms. For many, the impact on daily life, including work, is significant.

Despite this, diagnosis is often slow. Endometriosis affects 1.5 million women in the UK (one in every ten), and yet the average diagnostic delay is around eight years. During that time, people may continue working while managing escalating symptoms without formal recognition or support.

Pain may be dismissed as normal. Fatigue may be hidden. Without a diagnosis, adjustments at work are difficult to request and even harder to secure.

Work and endometriosis – the research

Evidence consistently shows that endometriosis can shape working lives in significant ways. Some studies suggest that around 38% of people with the condition worry about losing their job because of it. Others report that roughly 35% experience reduced income linked to symptoms. Many describe working through severe pain to avoid triggering absence procedures or being seen as unreliable.

Research highlights a culture of presenteeism and overcompensation. Employees push themselves to meet productivity targets, conceal symptoms and avoid disclosure. Annual leave is often used to manage flare-ups. Some reduce hours, shift into part-time roles or move into self-employment seeking flexibility, sometimes at the cost of career progression and financial security.

Disclosure itself can feel risky. Endometriosis remains poorly understood and is often invisible. Symptoms such as pelvic pain or heavy bleeding can be difficult to discuss in professional settings. Some fear being seen as less capable or less committed.

Workplaces, meanwhile, are often structured around uninterrupted availability and consistent productivity. Performance models that rely on fixed timelines and metrics may struggle to accommodate fluctuating conditions. When absence policies, promotion criteria and workloads remain rigid, employees can be penalised for symptoms beyond their control.

Sanju Pal’s experience of being assessed against standard progression targets during illness reflects patterns described in this research.

Recognition and its limits

Endometriosis has gained increasing political and public attention in the UK over the past decade. Parliamentary debates, inquiries and awareness campaigns have highlighted the challenges around diagnosis, workplace support and education.

Yet recognition at policy level does not always translate into everyday practice. Under the Equality Act 2010, a formal diagnosis is not required for someone to be considered disabled. What matters is whether an impairment has a substantial and long-term impact on normal daily activities. In some cases, endometriosis may meet this threshold.

In reality, recognition often comes only after lengthy disputes. Tribunals can be stressful, time-consuming and emotionally draining. Not everyone has the resources or stamina to pursue one.

Work is more than income. It shapes identity, confidence and social connection. Research on chronic illness and employment shows that supportive environments can make a meaningful difference. Flexible schedules, understanding managers and open communication can help people stay in roles they value. Rigid systems, by contrast, can intensify stress and push people out of the workforce.

Where workplaces go from here

Endometriosis UK’s Employer Friendly Employer scheme works with organisations to improve awareness and workplace practice. Initiatives like this aim to close the gap between policy and experience.

At the same time, significant questions remain. We know a growing amount about how endometriosis affects employees. We know far less about how employers understand the condition, how they interpret their legal responsibilities and what prevents adjustments from being made.

Cases like Sanju Pal’s should not be seen as isolated disputes. They reveal structural tensions between chronic illness and contemporary work culture, where productivity is often measured through consistency and visibility rather than wellbeing and sustainability.

If workplace equality is to improve, two things are needed. Employers must design systems that anticipate fluctuating health and build flexibility into everyday practice. Researchers must continue producing evidence that highlights the realities of living and working with endometriosis.

The question is no longer whether the condition affects working lives. It is whether workplaces are prepared to adapt before the next employee has to fight a legal battle to be recognised.

Aishwarya Viswamitra receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

– ref. Endometriosis: how a court ruling could make workplaces better for those with the condition – https://theconversation.com/endometriosis-how-a-court-ruling-could-make-workplaces-better-for-those-with-the-condition-276356

February 23, 2026

Can a tar-like substance that oozes out of Himalayan rocks really boost your testosterone levels?

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Daniel Kelly, Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry, Sheffield Hallam University

Shilajit, Himalayan rock ooze. StockImageFactory.com/Shutterstock.com

Shilajit is the latest supplement marketed online as a “natural testosterone booster”. Promoted by influencers, wellness brands and biohacking communities, this sticky black resin is advertised as a way to increase testosterone, improve energy and enhance male vitality.

Shilajit is a tar-like substance formed over centuries from decomposed plant material compressed within rock in high-altitude regions such as the Himalayas. It has a long history of use in traditional Ayurvedic medicine, where it has been described as a rejuvenator and as an anti-aging compound.

Chemically, it contains a mixture of fulvic acid and trace minerals. Its complex composition is part of its mystique and also part of the scientific challenge in studying it.

When it comes to testosterone specifically, the evidence for shilajit’s effect on testosterone levels in humans is limited to two small studies.

The most frequently cited study was published in 2016. In this trial of healthy men aged 45–55, half were given purified shilajit (250mg twice daily) and half were given a placebo for 90 days. Neither group knew which group they had been randomly assigned to. The shilajit group saw increases in both total and free testosterone – the form immediately available for the body to use – compared with the placebo group.

On the surface, this sounds encouraging. However, the study included just 38 participants treated with shilajit, was of a relatively short duration, and measured testosterone using methods that are not considered the most reliable.

Although testosterone levels were modestly higher at 90 days, measurements at 30 and 60 days fluctuated in both directions. And probably the most curious finding was that testosterone levels fell in the placebo group, possibly inflating any claimed direct effects of shilajit on hormone levels.

The study was also funded by the manufacturer of the shilajit preparation used. While that does not invalidate the findings, it does warrant caution and independent replication.

An earlier study in infertile men reported improvements in semen parameters and increases in testosterone after shilajit supplementation. But again, sample sizes were modest, with only 28 men taking part – and the population studied was specific to men attending a fertility clinic. These findings may not translate to otherwise healthy men.

Beyond these small trials, there is a lack of large, independent, long-term studies assessing whether shilajit meaningfully raises testosterone in a way that improves muscle mass, strength, metabolic health or quality of life.

It is also important to distinguish between “statistically significant” changes in hormone levels and “clinically significant” ones. Testosterone fluctuates naturally throughout the day and declines gradually with age. Small shifts within the normal physiological range are unlikely to transform body composition or vitality. In both the clinical studies, testosterone was always in this physiological reference range, despite the reported increases.

Another issue that receives less attention in promotional material is product quality and contamination. Because shilajit is harvested from natural rock formations and then processed, its composition can vary substantially. Several analyses of commercially available preparations have raised concerns about contamination with heavy metals such as lead, mercury and arsenic.

While reputable manufacturers may purify their products, the supplement market is not regulated to the same standard as prescription medicines. Consumers are often paying premium prices for products that may differ considerably in purity and potency.

What actually affects testosterone?

Against this backdrop, it is worth asking what actually influences testosterone levels in men.

Sleep is one of the most powerful regulators. Even short-term sleep restriction can reduce testosterone concentrations in healthy young men. Being overweight is linked to lower testosterone, partly because extra body fat can turn some testosterone into oestrogen.

A young man in bed, staring at his phone. — Not getting enough sleep is linked with lower testosterone levels.
Arsenii Palivoda/Shutterstock.com

Resistance training can temporarily increase testosterone and, more importantly, improve muscle mass and regulate blood sugar irrespective of hormone changes. Long-term stress and drinking too much alcohol can interfere with the system in your body, called the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis, that regulates testosterone production.

In other words, the foundations of hormonal health are behavioural and metabolic. No supplement has yet been shown to override the effects of poor sleep, inactivity, stress or obesity.

For men experiencing symptoms such as persistent fatigue, low libido, erectile dysfunction or reduced muscle strength, the appropriate first step is medical assessment. In clinical practice, testosterone deficiency is diagnosed only after consistent biochemical evidence on repeated morning blood tests, alongside symptoms.

Testosterone deficiency can be associated with underlying conditions including obesity, type 2 diabetes, chronic illness or pituitary disorders. Blood testing, performed correctly and interpreted in context, is essential before considering any intervention.

In men with confirmed hypogonadism (the medical term for low testosterone levels), doctors can safely prescribe testosterone treatment, and there’s good evidence it works in many cases. That is very different from taking supplements you buy online based on marketing claims.

The growing popularity of shilajit sits within a broader cultural moment. Testosterone has become a shorthand for masculinity, energy and success.

Social media algorithms amplify anxieties about “low T”, often without context about what constitutes a true deficiency. Ancient remedies packaged in minimalist jars offer an appealing narrative of being natural, traditional and potent. Add influencer endorsements and promises of optimisation, and the commercial potential is obvious.

The appeal of quick fixes is understandable, but hormonal health is rarely fixed by a resin scraped from a rock. Consumers should also weigh cost against benefit. High-quality shilajit supplements can be expensive, particularly when taken for months at a time. For many men, the same investment directed towards structured exercise programmes, dietary improvements or professional medical advice would probably yield far greater returns.

In the case of shilajit, as with many supplements that promise hormonal optimisation, the marketing has travelled much faster than the science. This does not mean shilajit is entirely without potential.

The preliminary trials justify further rigorous investigation. Larger, independently funded studies could help clarify whether it exerts meaningful endocrine or metabolic effects, and in which populations.

Until then, the current evidence supports curiosity rather than confidence. Hormonal health requires careful assessment. Attempts to manipulate it without proper diagnosis and clinical oversight are unlikely to deliver what the marketing promises.

Daniel Kelly 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. Can a tar-like substance that oozes out of Himalayan rocks really boost your testosterone levels? – https://theconversation.com/can-a-tar-like-substance-that-oozes-out-of-himalayan-rocks-really-boost-your-testosterone-levels-275633