Time Of Burran
Gadalung Marool (hot and dry) January - March
The behaviour of the male kangaroos becomes quite aggressive in this season, and it is a sign that the eating of meat is forbidden during this time. This is a health factor; because of the heat of the day meat does not keep, and the likelihood of food poisoning is apparent. The blooming of the Weetjellan (Acacia implexa) is an important sign that fires must not be lit unless they are well away from bushland and on sand only, and that there will be violent storms and heavy rain, so camping near creeks and rivers is not recommended.
Acacia implexa, commonly known as lightwood or hickory wattle, is a fast-growing Australian tree, the timber of which was used for furniture making. The wood is prized for its finish and strength. The foliage was used to make pulp and dye cloth. The Ngunnawal people of the ACT used the bark to make rope, string, medicine and for fish poison, the timber for tools, and the seeds to make flour.
It is widespread in eastern Australia from central coastal Queensland to southern Victoria, with outlying populations on the Atherton Tableland in northern Queensland and Tasmania's King Island. The tree is commonly found on fertile plains and in hilly country it is usually part of open forest communities and grows in shallow drier sandy and clay soils.
Acacia implexa flowers - photo by Donald Hobern.
Ross River Fever In Pittwater: What You Can Do To Beat Those Mosquitoes
Recent damp and humid weather is bringing out the mozzies, LOTS of mozzies - a reminder that Ross River Fever and Barmah Forest virus are now in our area and there are a few tips you can follow to keep you and your family safe:
1. It is important that if you’re spending a lot of time outdoors in these areas, especially close to wetlands and bush land areas at dawn and dusk when mosquitoes are most active, that you take action to reduce the risk of being bitten. Cover up with long sleeved shirts and long pants and apply an insect repellent. Choose a repellent that contains either DEET (diethlytoluamide), picaridin, or oil of lemon eucalyptus. Apply it to all exposed skin to ensure there is a thin even coat – a dab “here and there” doesn’t provide adequate protection.
2. You can also reduce the incidences of mosquitoes breeding by removing any shallow dishes of water or, if you have these out to feed wildlife and birds, regularly change the water so the stagnant water climate for them to breed is removed. Outbreaks can occur when local conditions of rainfall, tides and temperature promote mosquito breeding, so if we have rain followed by a warm day, check any receptacles in your garden and make sure they are emptied of water.
3. It is also a good idea to ensure you're not being bitten while asleep - repair any flyscreens that are damaged, or install them where absent. There are also a range of plants you can incorporate into your garden that repel mosquitoes and attract mosquito eating insects, such as dragonflies, or birds, possums, frogs and bats that will also reduce their numbers by eating them.
4. Similarly, if you're out and about in our wetland areas not chasing off or disturbing the wildlife that lives there, such as turtles or ducks, with ducklings just a few days old known to eat mosquitoes, will help. They eat them - we need this wildlife.
The saltmarsh mosquito, Aedes vigilax, transmits Ross River virus in many coastal regions of Australia. Photo: Mr Stephen Doggett (Medical Entomology, Pathology West - ICPMR Westmead)
Upcoming Activities For Friends Of Narrabeen Lagoon Catchment:
Sun 21 February 2021: 7.30 am Walk & Weed along the Narrabeen Lagoon catchment transverse walk.
Start at Oxford Falls walk for 3 1/2 hours, weed for 30min, continue 30min walk and car pool back to start.
Bring gloves and long handled screwdriver if available.
Walk grade: medium.
Bookings essential. Conny 0432 643 295
https://www.narrabeenlagoon.org.au/
Friends of Narrabeen Lagoon Catchment are pleased to announce the next forum will be held on 22 Feb 2021 at 7 pm .
Presenter: Jayden Walsh
Jayden is a keen observer of nature and has some stunning photographs and information to share.
The focus will be on wildlife that lives near the Narrabeen Lagoon and that, if you are fortunate, you may see when on the Narrabeen Lagoon walkway.
For details on how to book for this event are on the website. At: https://www.narrabeenlagoon.org.au/Forums/forums.htm
Bushcare In Pittwater
Where we work Which day What time
Avalon
Angophora Reserve 3rd Sunday 8:30 - 11:30am
Avalon Dunes 1st Sunday 8:30 - 11:30am
Avalon Golf Course 2nd Wednesday 3 - 5:30pm
Careel Creek 4th Saturday 8:30 - 11:30am
Toongari Reserve 3rd Saturday 9 - 12noon (8 - 11am in summer)
Bangalley Headland 2nd Sunday 9 to 12noon
Bayview
Winnererremy Bay 4th Sunday 9 to 12noon
Bilgola
North Bilgola Beach 3rd Monday 9 - 12noon
Algona Reserve 1st Saturday 9 - 12noon
Plateau Park 1st Friday 8:30 - 11:30am
Church Point
Browns Bay Reserve 1st Tuesday 9 - 12noon
McCarrs Creek Reserve Contact Bushcare Officer To be confirmed
Clareville
Old Wharf Reserve 3rd Saturday 8 - 11am
Elanora
Kundibah Reserve 4th Sunday 8:30 - 11:30am
Mona Vale Mona Vale Beach Basin 1st Saturday 8 - 11am
Mona Vale Dunes 2nd Saturday +3rd Thursday 8:30 - 11:30am
Newport
Bungan Beach 4th Sunday 9 - 12noon
Crescent Reserve 3rd Sunday 9 - 12noon
North Newport Beach 4th Saturday 8:30 - 11:30am
Porter Reserve 2nd Saturday 8 - 11am
North Narrabeen
Irrawong Reserve 2nd Saturday 2 - 5pm
Palm Beach
North Palm Beach Dunes 3rd Saturday 9 - 12noon
Scotland Island
Catherine Park 2nd Sunday 10 - 12:30pm
Elizabeth Park 1st Saturday 9 - 12noon
Pathilda Reserve 3rd Saturday 9 - 12noon
Warriewood
Warriewood Wetlands 1st Sunday 8:30 - 11:30am
Whale Beach
Norma Park 1st Friday 9 - 12noon
Western Foreshores
Coopers Point, Elvina Bay 2nd Sunday 10 - 1pm
Rocky Point, Elvina Bay 1st Monday 9 - 12noon
Gardens And Environment Groups And Organisations In Pittwater
A major coal mine expansion was knocked back today, but where's the line in the sand?
An independent expert panel today rejected a proposal to expand the operations of the Dendrobium coal mine under Sydney’s drinking water catchment. This is a significant and welcome decision. However, flawed environmental laws that enabled the proposal to get so far must be overhauled.
The mine’s proponents had been seeking to extract 78 million additional tonnes of coal out to 2048. The New South Wales Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) had recommended the mine be approved. The backing came despite grave concerns over the mine’s impact on drinking water supplies.
We are experts in environmental regulation and one of us, Pete Dupen, is a former mining manager for the state government agency WaterNSW. Our research shows the damage mining causes to Sydney’s water supplies is unsustainable, and regulation in Australia has largely failed to set firm limits on cumulative damage to the environment.
The problem is rife in both state and federal laws, and must urgently be addressed.
‘Unacceptable’ Damage
NSW’s Independent Planning Commission (IPC) was tasked with assessing the Dendrobium mine proposal due to the high number of objections received.
The multinational company that owns the mine, South32, wanted to extend underground longwall mining at the operation until 2048.
Coal from Dendrobium, located west of Wollongong, is used in steel-making in Australia and overseas. South32 argued the expansion would deliver a net economic benefit of A$2.8 billion.
Read more: Be worried when fossil fuel lobbyists support current environmental laws
The extension would have allowed 78 million tonnes of coal to be extracted from two new areas comprising 21 “long wall” panels, 18 of which would have been more than 300 metres wide.
The panels would have been dug out from beneath a so-called “Special Area” – land where, under law, stored water must be protected and ecological integrity maintained. The area covered by the proposed expansion supplies drinking water to much of Greater Sydney.
In its verdict released on Friday, the IPC said the project would cause “unacceptable” damage and should be refused.
Among the reasons for the decision were:
the risk of significant “subsidence” or sinking of the ground’s surface resulting from the longwall mine design. This would degrade 25 watercourses and swamps
potentially significant surface water losses into the groundwater system, damaging ecological processes and contribute to increased concentrations of metals in drinking water
the impact of past and existing longwall mining in the catchment, including the (as yet unquantified) loss of surface water flows from some sections of rivers and streams
uncertainty around managing mine water inflow (surface waters permanently diverted underground) after mine closure.
No Line In The Sand
Thankfully in this case, the IPC took into account cumulative damage to water supplies when making its decision. But as precedent shows, that consideration is not a given.
Australian laws tend to focus on the impacts of individual projects in isolation. Crucially, they fail to use clear thresholds of unacceptable cumulative environmental impact – a line in the sand, beyond which damage will not be tolerated.
The failing is reflected in the recommendation by NSW planning officials that the Dendrobium extension be approved. If cumulative damage was properly considered earlier, the proposal would have been scuppered years ago.
Climate change and drought have crippled urban water supplies in recent years. Yet underground coal mines have been allowed to eat away at Sydney’s water catchments, Pac-Man like, for decades.
Our research shows existing coal mines in the catchments of Sydney’s “Metropolitan Special Area” have, or will, divert 450 billion litres of drinking water into underground fractures. That’s almost as much water as is contained in Sydney Harbour.
A NSW government-appointed expert panel recently examined the risk mining activities posed to the water quantity in Greater Sydney’s water catchments. Among its recommendations was an interagency taskforce to determine how much water loss due to mining was acceptable.
Yet even as the IPC assessed the Dendrobium proposal, this question had not yet been answered. This is despite the NSW government in April last year accepting all 50 of the panel’s recommendations.
The draft conditions for the expansion, set by DPIE, would not have addressed cumulative impacts before approval was granted.
Several years ago, WaterNSW developed cumulative impact criteria to be applied to mining developments before approval. But the document remains a draft and has not been published, for reasons unknown.
A National Problem
The problems we raise are not isolated to NSW environment law. At a federal level, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act needs an urgent overhaul.
The Morrison government last week released an independent review of the laws by Professor Graeme Samuel. Among the report’s many scathing criticisms were that “cumulative impacts on the environment are not systematically considered”.
Samuel said Commonwealth environment authorities assess development proposals only when they meet certain criteria.
Read more: A major report excoriated Australia's environment laws. Sussan Ley's response is confused and risky
Even when the Commonwealth does scrutinise a proposal, decisions are made only on a project-by-project basis, rather than as part of an “integrated system of environmental management that ensure cumulative impacts are well managed”, Samuel said.
Weaknesses in Australian federal and state laws, and enforcement, often means cumulative effects are not considered on paper or in practice.
For example, the Victorian Auditor-General recently found measures designed to mitigate the cumulative effect of residential developments on Melbourne’s urban fringe were not being implemented.
Shoring Up Our Drinking Water
Few environmental problems are more pressing than permanent impacts on a major city’s water supply. But protecting water resources from cumulative harm requires the following
well-defined thresholds, set with rational justification and able to be changed as new information arises
robust measurements to assess if thresholds are being approached or exceeded
clear conditions for developers that require concrete actions if thresholds are crossed
transparency and trust in how the decisions are being made.
Clearly, the law and associated planning processes must consider the accumulating damage stressing the natural world. Otherwise, we may reach irreversible tipping points without even realising it.
Read more: World-first mining standard must protect people and hold powerful companies to account 
Pete Dupen, PhD Student, University of Technology Sydney and Rebecca Louise Nelson, Associate Professor in Law, University of Melbourne
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
To fix Australia's environment laws, wildlife experts call for these 4 changes — all are crucial
The independent review of Australia’s main environment law, released last week, provided a sobering but accurate appraisal of a dire situation.
The review was led by Professor Graeme Samuel and involved consultation with scientists, legal experts, industry and conservation organisations. Samuel’s report concluded Australia’s biodiversity is in decline and the law (the EPBC Act) “is not fit for current or future environmental challenges”.
The findings are no surprise to us. As ecologists, we’ve seen first hand how Australia’s nature laws and governance failure have permitted environmental degradation and destruction to the point that species face extinction. Even then, continued damage is routinely permitted.
And the findings aren’t news to many other Australians, who have watched wildlife and iconic places such as Kakadu and Kosciuszko national parks, and the Great Barrier Reef, decline at rates that have only accelerated since the act was introduced in 1999. Even globally recognisable wildlife, such as the platypus, now face a future that’s far from certain.
To reverse Australia’s appalling track record of protecting biodiversity, four major reforms recommended by Samuel must be implemented as a package.
1. Setting Standards
One of the many failings of Australia’s environmental laws is there has never been a point beyond which no further impacts are acceptable.
The government almost never says “enough!”, whether it’s undermining wetlands for a new mine, or clearing woodlands for agriculture. Species continue to suffer death by a thousand cuts.
Read more: Death by 775 cuts: how conservation law is failing the black-throated finch
For example, the original distribution of the endangered southern black-throated finch of southern and central Queensland has shrunk to less than 10% due to land clearing and habitat degradation. Yet, further clearing was approved for coal mines, housing developments and sugar cane farms.
Biodiversity offsets, which aim to compensate for environmental damage by improving nature elsewhere, have for the most part been dreadfully ineffective. Instead they have been a tool to facilitate biodiversity loss.
The centre piece of Samuel’s report are proposed new National Environmental Standards. These would provide clear grounds for drawing a line in the sand on environmental damage.
Legal, rigorous enforcement of these standards could turn around Australia’s centuries-long record of destroying its natural heritage, and curb Australia’s appalling extinction rate — while also providing clarity and certainty for business.
Vital features of the standards Samuel recommends include:
avoiding impacts on the critical habitat of threatened species
avoiding impacts that could reduce the abundance of threatened species with already small and declining populations
no net reduction in the population size of critically endangered and endangered species
cumulative impacts must be explicitly considered for threatened species and communities
offsets can only be used as a last resort, not as a routine part of business like they are at the moment.
Under the proposed National Environmental Standards, any new developments would need to be in places where environmental damage is avoided from the outset, with offsets only available if they’re ecologically feasible and effective.
2. Greater Government Accountability
The federal environment minister can make decisions with little requirement to publicly justify them.
In 2014, then environment minister Greg Hunt controversially approved an exemption to the EPBC Act for Western Australia’s shark cull. This was despite evidence the cull wouldn’t make people safer, would harm threatened species and would degrade marine ecosystems. Hunt could shirk the evidence, deny the impacts and make a politically expedient decision, with no mechanisms in place to call him to account.
Samuel’s report states the minister can make decisions that aren’t consistent with the National Environmental Standards — but only as a “rare exception”. He says these exceptions must be “demonstrably justified in the public interest”, and this justification must be published.
Read more: Why we're opposing Western Australia's shark cull: scientists
We think this epitomises democracy. Ministers can make decisions, but they must be open to public and robust scrutiny and explain how their decisions might affect environments and species.
Improved accountability will be one of the many benefits of Samuel’s proposed independent Environment Assurance Commissioner, which would be backed up by an Office of Compliance and Enforcement. Samuel says these must be free from political interference.
These are absolutely critical aspects of the reforms. Standards that aren’t audited or enforced are as worthless as an unfunded recovery plan.
3. Decent Funding
Samuel urges improved resourcing because to date, funding to protect species and the environment has been grossly inadequate. For example, experts recently concluded up to 11 reptile species are at risk of extinction in the next 50 years in Australia, and limited funding is a key barrier to taking action.
And it has been proven time and again that lack of action due to under-resourcing leads to extinction. The recent extinction of the Christmas Island forest skink, the Christmas Island pipistrelle, and the Bramble Cay melomys were all attributable, in large part, to limited funding, both in the administration of the threatened species listing process, and in delivering urgent on-ground action.
Read more: Vale 'Gump', the last known Christmas Island Forest Skink
We need only look to the COVID pandemic to know when faced with emergencies, the government can rapidly deploy substantial sums of money for urgent interventions. And we are well and truly in an environmental emergency.
Spending to care for the environment is not a cost that delivers no return. It’s an investment that delivers substantial benefits, from creating jobs to cleaner water and healthier people.
4. Increase Ecological Knowledge
Engaging experts is key to achieving Samuel’s long-overdue proposed reforms. He calls for the immediate creation of expert committees on sustainable development, Indigenous participation, conservation science, heritage, and water resources. This will help support the best available data collection to underpin important decisions.
Ultimately, though, much more investment in building ecological knowledge is required.
Australia has more than 1,900 listed threatened species and ecological communities, and most don’t even have active recovery plans. Ecologists will need to collect, analyse and interpret new, up-to-date data to make biodiversity conservation laws operational for most threatened species.
For example, while we know logging and fires threaten greater gliders, there’s still no recovery plan for this iconic forest possum. And recent research suggests there are actually three — not simply one — species of greater glider. Suspected interactions between climate change, fire and logging, and unexplained severe population declines, means significant new effort must be invested to set out a clear plan for their recovery.
Read more: Environment laws have failed to tackle the extinction emergency. Here's the proof
Samuel recommends Regional Recovery Plans be adequately funded to help develop some knowledge. But we suggest substantial new environmental capacity is needed, including new ecological research positions, increased environmental monitoring infrastructure, and appropriate funding of recovery plans, to ensure enough knowledge supports decision making.
Cherry Picking Recommendations Condemns Our Species
Samuel’s report has provided a path forward that could make a substantial difference to Australia’s shocking track record of biodiversity conservation and land stewardship.
But Environment Minister Sussan Ley’s response so far suggests the Morrison government plans to cherry pick from Samuel’s recommendations, and rush through changes without appropriate safeguards.
If the changes we outlined above aren’t implemented as a package, our precious natural heritage will continue to decline.
Read more: A major report excoriated Australia's environment laws. Sussan Ley's response is confused and risky 
Don Driscoll, Professor in Terrestrial Ecology, Deakin University; April Reside, Researcher, Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland; Brendan Wintle, Professor in Conservation Ecology, School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne; Euan Ritchie, Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, and Martine Maron, ARC Future Fellow and Professor of Environmental Management, The University of Queensland
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Humans force wild animals into tight spots, or send them far from home. We calculated just how big the impact is
The COVID pandemic has shown us that disruptions to the way we move around, complete daily activities and interact with each other can shatter our wellbeing.
This doesn’t apply only to humans. Wildlife across the globe find themselves in this situation every day, irrespective of a global pandemic.
Our latest research published today in Nature Ecology and Evolution has, for the first time, quantified the repercussions of logging, pollution, hunting, and other human disturbances, on the movements of a wide range of animal species.
Our findings were eye-opening. We found human disturbances, on average, restricted an animal’s movements by 37%, or increased it by 70%. That’s like needing to travel an extra 11 km to get to work each day (Australia’s average is 16 km).
Disruptions Cascade Through The Ecosystem
The ability to travel is essential to animal survival because it allows animals to find mates, food and shelter, escape predators and competitors, and avoid disturbances and threats.
And because animal movement is linked to many important ecological processes — such as pollination, seed dispersal and soil turnover — disruptions to movement can cascade through ecosystems.
Our study involved analysing published data on changes in animal movement in response to different types of disturbance or habitat modification by humans. This included agriculture, logging, grazing, recreation, hunting, and pollution, amongst others.
All up, we looked at 719 records of animal movement, spanning 208 studies and 167 species of birds, mammals, reptiles, fish, insects and amphibians. The size of the species we studied ranged from the sleepy orange butterfly to the white shark.
What We Found
We found changes in movement are very common, with two-thirds of the 719 cases comprising an increase or decrease in movement of 20% or more. More than one-third of cases changed by 50% or more.
Whether an animal increases or decreases its movement in response to disturbance from humans depends on the situation.
Animals may run away from humans, or move further in search of food and nesting sites. For example, a 2020 study on koalas found their movements were longer and more directed in areas where habitats weren’t well connected, because they had to travel further to reach food patches.
Likewise, the daily movement distances of mountain brushtail possums in central Victoria were 57% higher in remnant bushland along roadsides, compared to large forest areas.
Decreases in movement can occur where animals encounter barriers (such as highways), if they need to shelter from a disturbance, or can’t move as efficiently through altered habitats. In the United States, for example, researchers played a recording of humans talking and found it caused a 34% decrease in the speed that mountain lions move.
On the other hand, some decreases in movement occur where an animal actually benefits from habitat changes. A wide range of animals — including storks, vultures, crows, foxes, mongooses, hyenas and monitor lizards — have shorter movements around garbage dumps because they don’t have to move very far to get the food they need.
Huge Changes In Movement Make Animals Vulnerable
Overall, we found the average increase in animal movement was +70% and the average decrease was -37%, which are substantial changes.
Imagine having to increase the distance you travel to work, the shops and to see family and friends, by 70%. You would spend a lot more time and energy travelling and have less time to rest or do fun things. And if you live in Melbourne, you know what substantial reductions in movement are like due to COVID-related lockdowns.
In addition to greater energy expenditure, increased movements can mean animals need to move through risky areas where they are more vulnerable to predation.
And decreases in movement can be harmful if animals can’t find adequate food or disperse to find mates, or if ecological processes such as seed dispersal are disrupted.
Read more: Predators, prey and moonlight singing: how phases of the Moon affect native wildlife
For example, flightless rails, birds native to New Zealand, are important for dispersing seeds. But research showed birds in areas of high human activity (campgrounds) moved 35–41% shorter distances than birds away from campgrounds. This could limit the population growth of plants if their seeds are not being dispersed as far.
When Disturbances Are Unpredictable
We compared the effects of different disturbance types on animals by splitting them into two categories: human activities (such as hunting, military procedures and recreation like tourism) and habitat modification (such as agriculture and logging).
Both disturbance types can have severe impacts, ranging from a 90% decrease to 1,800% increase in movement for human activities, and a 97% decrease to a 3,300% increase for habitat modifications.
But we found human activities caused much stronger increases in animal movement distances (averaging +35%) than habitat modifications (averaging +12%).
This might be because human activities are more episodic in nature. In other words, animals are more likely to run away from these unpredictable disturbances.
Read more: Be still, my beating wings: hunters kill migrating birds on their 10,000km journey to Australia
For example, military manoeuvres in Norway led to 84% increase in the home range of moose. And when moose in Sweden were exposed to back-country skiers, their movement speed increased 33-fold.
In contrast, habitat modifications like logging generally represent more persistent changes to the environment, which animals can sometimes adapt to over time.
Reducing Harms On Wildlife
To reduce the harms we inflict on wildlife, we must protect habitats in relatively intact sea and landscapes from getting degraded or transformed. This could include establishing and managing new national parks and marine protected areas.
Where ecosystems are already modified, improving the connections between habitats and the availability of resources (food and water) can help animals move more easily and populations persist.
And with regards to human activities, which generally caused stronger increases in movement, better managing disturbances such as hunting, recreation and tourism can help to minimise or avoid impacts on animal movement. This could include, for example, establishing a no-take zone in a marine protected area, or enforcing restrictions to activities during breeding periods.
Tim Doherty, ARC DECRA Fellow, University of Sydney; Don Driscoll, Professor in Terrestrial Ecology, Deakin University, and Graeme Hays, Professor of Marine Science, Deakin University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Greta Thunberg effect: people familiar with young climate activist may be more likely to act
Anandita Sabherwal, London School of Economics and Political Science and Sander van der Linden, University of CambridgeShe was declared Time magazine’s person of the year in the same month that Donald Trump told her to “work on her anger management issues”. Greta Thunberg has attracted international attention since her lone demonstration outside the Swedish Parliament in August 2018. Her “school strike for the climate” has now grown into a global movement that has brought more than 10 million people onto streets worldwide to demand action on climate change.
In the same time that Greta Thunberg has become a household name, public concern about climate change has reached record highs in the US. But what role has Thunberg’s personal influence played in this? Do her speeches appeal to diverse audiences or is she simply preaching to the choir?
Based on a nationally representative survey of over 1,300 US adults, our study found that Americans who report being more familiar with Greta Thunberg also feel more confident that they can help mitigate climate change as part of a collective effort. They are also more willing to take action themselves, by contacting elected officials or giving time and money to campaigns. We call this the Greta Thunberg effect.
Familiarity Breeds Empowerment
Seeing or hearing Greta Thunberg once doesn’t instantly turn someone into a climate activist. Nonetheless, we discovered a potentially important pattern of associations. Those more familiar with Thunberg were more likely to think their actions were effective and meaningful and were more intent on doing something about climate change. Our model seemed to show this might be the case because people who knew Thunberg’s story – how her lonely stand inspired millions around the world to join her – were more likely to recognise the potential for ordinary people to make a difference.
We wanted to know how widespread this effect might be, so we tried to find out which audiences Thunberg most appealed to. In her public appearances, she’s often surrounded by young people and her demands for climate action align most strongly with liberal policy preferences. Since people tend to listen more to those they identify with, we thought that young and left-leaning people would be more strongly influenced by her.
Surprisingly, the Greta Thunberg effect seems to be similar across age groups and the political spectrum for US adults, though it was stronger among liberals than conservatives. We didn’t survey children and teenagers, but we expect them to be most strongly influenced by Thunberg’s school strikes.
‘No One Is Too Small To Make A Difference’
Pope Francis, James Hansen and Jeff Bezos have all tried to spur momentum on climate action using their religious, academic and financial authority. Greta Thunberg lacks any such elite status, so how has she been able to succeed?
Given the prevailing sense of doom about climate change, empowering people to take action requires an ability to convey that change is possible. In her speeches, Thunberg proclaims that “there is still time to change everything around”. Her Fridays for Future campaign is also founded on the empowering message that anyone – even school students – can make a difference.
Most importantly, Thunberg’s actions are consistent with her words. Her fiery demands to world leaders, whether at the United Nations or the US Congress demonstrate that anyone can – and should – challenge powerful institutions and people.
What Does This Mean For Climate Action?
How can we be sure that our findings reflect Greta Thunberg’s own effect and not the influence of climate activism more generally? The short answer is that we can’t. But to help isolate Thunberg’s influence, we asked our study participants to rate their support for climate activism and found that familiarity with Thunberg remained relevant even when controlling for this.
Of course, there are other things that could explain why people may want to take action on climate change, such as their prior support for environmental reform or their having heard about climate change in the news. But much of this is already captured indirectly by political ideology in our model, which is one of the most important predictors of what a person reads and how much they support climate action. So, while there are many reasons people might want to tackle climate change, being familiar with Greta Thunberg appears to have a unique influence on the extent to which they feel empowered to make a difference.
But what if the Greta Thunberg effect is actually operating the other way? Did we instead find that people who are already more likely to act on climate change are just more familiar with Greta Thunberg? We can’t be certain because this type of study can’t prove cause and effect, it can only show associations. But statistical tests showed that this reverse explanation did not explain the data as well as our original one. Of course, reality may be more complex than what our models can capture. A positive feedback loop – where both explanations operate in tandem to inspire climate action – is also possible.
Future research can build on our findings using controlled experiments, but the patterns in our data at least suggest that Greta Thunberg is a particularly inspirational leader in part because she’s a convincing example that sudden, big change is possible. Now, how can activists amplify their own impact? Considering how politicised climate change is, one answer might be appealing to people across the political spectrum by highlighting aspects of their identity that they tend to share with the wider public. The Greta Thunberg effect suggests that calls to action may be able to mobilise broad segments of society, regardless of age or politics.
Anandita Sabherwal, PhD Student in Psychological and Behavioural Science, London School of Economics and Political Science and Sander van der Linden, Professor of Social Psychology in Society and Director, Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab, University of Cambridge
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Shorebird Identification Booklet
The Migratory Shorebird Program has just released the third edition of its hugely popular Shorebird Identification Booklet. The team has thoroughly revised and updated this pocket-sized companion for all shorebird counters and interested birders, with lots of useful information on our most common shorebirds, key identification features, sighting distribution maps and short articles on some of BirdLife’s shorebird activities.
The booklet can be downloaded here in PDF file format: http://www.birdlife.org.au/documents/Shorebird_ID_Booklet_V3.pdf
Paper copies can be ordered as well, see http://www.birdlife.org.au/projects/shorebirds-2020/counter-resources for details.
Download BirdLife Australia's children’s education kit to help them learn more about our wading birdlife
Shorebirds are a group of wading birds that can be found feeding on swamps, tidal mudflats, estuaries, beaches and open country. For many people, shorebirds are just those brown birds feeding a long way out on the mud but they are actually a remarkably diverse collection of birds including stilts, sandpipers, snipe, curlews, godwits, plovers and oystercatchers. Each species is superbly adapted to suit its preferred habitat. The Red-necked Stint is as small as a sparrow, with relatively short legs and bill that it pecks food from the surface of the mud with, whereas the Eastern Curlew is over two feet long with a exceptionally long legs and a massively curved beak that it thrusts deep down into the mud to pull out crabs, worms and other creatures hidden below the surface.
Some shorebirds are fairly drab in plumage, especially when they are visiting Australia in their non-breeding season, but when they migrate to their Arctic nesting grounds, they develop a vibrant flush of bright colours to attract a mate. We have 37 types of shorebirds that annually migrate to Australia on some of the most lengthy and arduous journeys in the animal kingdom, but there are also 18 shorebirds that call Australia home all year round.
What all our shorebirds have in common—be they large or small, seasoned traveller or homebody, brightly coloured or in muted tones—is that each species needs adequate safe areas where they can successfully feed and breed.
The National Shorebird Monitoring Program is managed and supported by BirdLife Australia.
This project is supported by Glenelg Hopkins Catchment Management Authority and Hunter Local Land Services through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program. Funding from Helen Macpherson Smith Trust and Port Phillip Bay Fund is acknowledged.
The National Shorebird Monitoring Program is made possible with the help of over 1,600 volunteers working in coastal and inland habitats all over Australia.
The National Shorebird Monitoring program (started as the Shorebirds 2020 project initiated to re-invigorate monitoring around Australia) is raising awareness of how incredible shorebirds are, and actively engaging the community to participate in gathering information needed to conserve shorebirds.
In the short term, the destruction of tidal ecosystems will need to be stopped, and our program is designed to strengthen the case for protecting these important habitats.
In the long term, there will be a need to mitigate against the likely effects of climate change on a species that travels across the entire range of latitudes where impacts are likely.
The identification and protection of critical areas for shorebirds will need to continue in order to guard against the potential threats associated with habitats in close proximity to nearly half the human population.
Here in Australia, the place where these birds grow up and spend most of their lives, continued monitoring is necessary to inform the best management practice to maintain shorebird populations.
BirdLife Australia believe that we can help secure a brighter future for these remarkable birds by educating stakeholders, gathering information on how and why shorebird populations are changing, and working to grow the community of people who care about shorebirds.
To find out more visit: http://www.birdlife.org.au/projects/shorebirds-2020/shorebirds-2020-program
ARTEXPRESS At The Art Gallery Of NSW Opened This Week
Runs: 4 Feb – 5 Apr 2021
Free admission
Location: Major exhibition gallery
ARTEXPRESS 2021
Celebrating Resilience
The Art Gallery of New South Wales is proud to present ARTEXPRESS 2021, celebrating the next generation of Australian artists and showcasing outstanding works of art created by NSW students who overcame many hurdles to complete the Higher School Certificate (HSC) Visual Arts examination in 2020.
The exhibition at the Gallery features 48 artworks selected from 8617 student works submitted for the 2020 HSC, including works by students from government and non-government schools from across metropolitan and regional NSW.
Art Gallery of NSW director Dr Michael Brand said the Gallery is proud to present the 37th annual ARTEXPRESS and commends the Class of 2020 for their perseverance.
“I congratulate all 2020 HSC Visual Arts students on the outstanding accomplishment of creating their body of artwork, during one of the most challenging years on record,” said Brand.
“Creative pursuits can provide great comfort in difficult times and it is our hope that this year’s cohort found solace in their artmaking, as well as a sense of defiance.
“The high standard of work on show is a testament to the tremendous talent and resilience of students and teachers in NSW who adapted to change and overcame challenges – from bushfires to the pandemic – to complete their studies.
“We are delighted to share their work with the thousands of visitors who look forward to this annual exhibition, which has become one of our most popular.”
The exceptional bodies of work represent a broad range of approaches across a range of art forms, including painting, drawing, photo-media, sculpture, ceramics, time-based works, documented form, printmaking, textiles and fibre and graphic design, along with a selection of visual arts process diaries (VAPDs) from exhibiting students in ARTEXPRESS. These offer an insight into the way individual students process and develop ideas for final bodies of work.
The whole ARTEXPRESS 2021 is just brilliant. Well worth a visit when you're next in town. If you can't get there, you can have a look via the pages linked to here - not the same as immersing yourself by being in front and around these works, however, check them out - an amazing array of subjects and employed mediums emerging from these Artists.
Manly's Art Gallery and Museum launches its ArtExpress 2021 showcase on February 18th, details below.
Art Gallery of NSW curator of ARTEXPRESS 2021 Louise Halpin said this year’s exhibition offers an insight into the hearts and minds of young people during a very difficult year.
“ARTEXPRESS 2021 is a showcase of extraordinary bodies of work exploring a range of both global and deeply personal themes – from the environment, urban life and beauty of the natural world to identity, relationships and reflection on the 2020 experience,” said Halpin.
The exhibition began in Sydney in the late 1950s and has been exhibited at the Art Gallery of NSW since 1983. Accomplished artists who have previously been selected for exhibition prestigious include Ben Quilty (1992), David Griggs (1994), McLean Edwards (1990), Melissa Chiu (1990) and Jasper Knight (1996).
Among the Artist works featured this year are those of Beilei Liang of Northern Beaches Secondary College, Mackellar Girls Campus and Shariah Cummings, Northern Beaches Secondary College, Freshwater Senior Campus.
One sample each of their works as part of ARTEXPRESS2021 at the Art Gallery of NSW:
Beilei Liang, Northern Beaches Secondary College, Mackellar Girls Campus
Artwork title: 雾 (wù) – [fog]
Expressive form: Collection of works
Artist’s statement
Exposure to other cultures gradually erases one’s original identity. My body of work represents the effects of air pollution, referencing aerial shots of smog over Beijing in 2015. This smog affected the life of Beijing’s people, including my family, so we chose to leave China. Ironically, due to human activities, the quality of Australia’s atmosphere has also decreased. Using the westernised medium of oil paint and charcoal blended with water to form the effect of a traditional Chinese ink painting, I have created a blurred, abstracted atmosphere, like my fading memory and distance from the life I would have known.
Influencing artists: Adriane Strampp, Yang Yongliang, Xu Bing, Melinda Hunt
Beilei Liang, Northern Beaches Secondary College, Mackellar Girls Campus, © the artist. Photo: Robert Edwards
Shariah Cummings, Northern Beaches Secondary College, Freshwater Senior Campus.
Artwork title: 'Those Who Favour Fire'
Expressive form: Painting
Artist’s statement
My body of work, Those Who Favour Fire, represents the Australian bushfires that plagued the nation during late 2019 to early 2020. It acknowledges the fine line between the destructive nature of the blazes and their tragic beauty. My artistic intent in using acrylics in such a small scale was to explore the sensitive technicality required to create a range of atmospheric landscape paintings.
Influencing artist: Robert Frost
Shariah Cummings, Northern Beaches Secondary College, Freshwater Senior Campus,© the artist. Photo: Robert Edwards
ARTEXPRESS is a joint partnership between the NSW Education Standards Authority and NSW Department of Education in association with the principal venue the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
The Art Gallery of New South Wales is open. They are observing strict physical distancing and hygiene measures to protect the health of visitors and staff and minimise the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus). Read the latest visit information, including hours
Carve Out A Career In Stonemasonry
February 2, 2021
TAFE NSW has responded to industry calls for skilled stonemasons after the trade has experienced a skills shortage for more than six consecutive years.
TAFE NSW Miller is offering a Certificate III in Stonemasonry in 2021 to help students learn the hands-on skills in the highly-specialised and timeless trade.
As the only Registered Training Organisation in NSW to deliver stonemasonry courses, TAFE NSW Miller has attracted students from all over the state to study in the state-of-the-art stonemason and bricklaying facility.
TAFE NSW Head Teacher in Stonemasonry, Michael Landers (pictured below), said now was a great time to become an apprentice with the NSW Government subsidising the cost of training under their Fee Free Apprenticeship Initiative.
Mr Landers started an apprenticeship in the trade in 1989, where he became the only registered stonemason in NSW. He has since worked on major projects including the restoration of St Mary’s Cathedral and a commissioned Coat Of Arms for the Governor General, as well as helped develop the state’s first stonemasonry course.
“There has never been a better time to start a stonemasonry apprenticeship, particularly with industry crying out for skilled workers. I’ve never had a past student tell me they can’t find work,” Mr Landers said.
“Stonemasonry is very much an artisan trade requiring delicate hands-on skills but it has also evolved and become dynamic to incorporate cutting-edge technology as demand for stoneworks increases.”
Mr Landers said stonemasonry is an undying trade that will always be required.
“Whether its restoring old heritage buildings, building a fireplace in a new home or carving out a tombstone in cemeteries, there is always ongoing work making stonemasonry a timeless trade,” Mr Landers said.
To enrol in a stonemasonry course at TAFE NSW, visit www.tafensw.edu.au, or call 131 601
TAFE NSW Miller is a quiet and relaxed campus located on Hoxton Park Road, just off the M7 in Sydney's south west. With facilities designed to simulate real-world situations and working environments, TAFE NSW Miller provides students with the opportunity to apply their skills in a practical way, such as the Building and Construction Faculty, which features beautiful timber panelling, stained glass windows and painted ceiling rosettes that have all been skilfully restored by talented TAFE NSW students.
Picture: TAFE NSW stonemasonry teacher Michael Landers
Can't remember last night? 48% of drinkers have had a blackout by age 19
Alcohol-related blackouts aren’t good for anybody’s health, but they are particularly dangerous for young people.
Our recent research found blackouts are common once young people start drinking. At age 14, nearly one in ten adolescents who drank alcohol in the past year had a blackout.
By age 19, around 48% had experienced a blackout.
We also found around 14% of young Australians in our study had more and more alcohol-related blackouts as they aged through adolescence. Females were three times more likely to experience this increasing number of blackouts than males.
Young people who had this increasing number of blackouts were around 2.5 times more likely to develop severe alcohol problems including alcohol abuse and dependence in early adulthood.
To conduct this research, we recruited 1,821 13-year-olds from year 7 classes in New South Wales, Western Australia, and Tasmania in 2010-11. We asked them to complete surveys each year about their alcohol use.
We used eight years of data to analyse when they started drinking alcohol, if they had alcohol-related blackouts, and if they reported more severe alcohol harms, like alcohol abuse and dependence.
What Is A Blackout?
An alcohol-related blackout happens when someone has blood alcohol concentration of about 0.15 or higher (three times the legal driving limit). Blackouts are more likely to be triggered when someone raises their blood alcohol levels very quickly, for example by “chugging” drinks or drinking on an empty stomach.
Despite the name, someone who’s having an alcohol blackout is not unconscious (although people might become unconscious during or after a blackout). They can continue to do things such as talking and walking, but afterwards they can’t remember what they did while they were drunk. In other words, alcohol can temporarily stop your brain from forming long-term memories.
Most blackouts tend to be “spotty”, where the person might be able to remember some things that happened while drinking but not others. With more severe blackouts, they aren’t able to remember anything at all from when they started to black out, even if someone tries to remind them what happened.
Why Are Blackouts So Dangerous?
Alcohol affects everyone differently, so the number of drinks it takes to trigger a blackout varies from person to person.
Regardless of the number of drinks consumed, when someone has a blackout, it means they’re drinking at a level that affects their memory and behaviour.
Because young peoples’ brains are still developing until they’re about 25, they’re very vulnerable to the damage alcohol causes to the brain. Drinking regularly at amounts leading to blackouts can cause permanent brain damage.
In the short term, someone having a blackout has reached blood-alcohol levels that make them more likely to undertake risky activities such as driving, having unprotected sex, and other behaviours that can lead to injury or death.
Blackouts are also linked to having problems with work, school and social life.
In the long term, young adults who have alcohol blackouts are 1.6-2.6 times as likely to experience alcohol-related injuries two years later and around 1.5 times as likely to have symptoms of alcohol dependence five years later.
Who’s Particularly At Risk?
Having lower bodyweight, drinking faster, and not eating before drinking all increase the chances of having a blackout.
Females are also around 1.8 times more likely to have a blackout when drinking the same amount as males. This is because females are, on average, smaller than males and have less water in their bodies to dilute consumed alcohol, so they absorb alcohol into their blood faster than males.
How Can You Prevent Blackouts?
If you’re going to drink alcohol, these tips can help prevent blackouts:
make sure to eat before and during a drinking session
try to sip your drink rather than taking gulps or chugging
have some water between each alcoholic drink
avoid binge drinking (having four or more drinks in two hours).
One 2018 study showed young people tend to be aware that drinking alcohol on an empty stomach leads to blackouts. But less than one in four of the participants were aware that females are at greater risk because of how their body processes alcohol.
Teachers can help by teaching young people about the factors that increase their chances of having a blackout.
Read more: Three ways to help your teenage kids develop a healthier relationship with alcohol
Parents can also play an important role in helping their children learn to have a healthier relationship with alcohol by doing things like reducing their own binge drinking and not supplying alcohol to anyone under the age of 18.
Regardless of your age, it’s never too late to rethink your relationship with alcohol. If you’ve had a blackout, it’s a very good indicator you’re drinking at a concerning level, regardless of how many drinks led to the blackout.
We wish to acknowledge and thank our research participants for their longstanding contribution to the Australian Parental Supply of Alcohol Longitudinal Study.
If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call the National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline on 1800 250 015.
Wing See Yuen, PhD Candidate, UNSW and Amy Peacock, Senior Research Fellow, UNSW
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
This unique ancient megabeast had perpetually 'bent' elbows
Hazel L. Richards, Monash University; Alistair Evans, Monash University; David Hocking, Monash University; Justin W. Adams, Monash University, and Peter Bishop, Harvard Kennedy SchoolImagine going through life with your arms permanently bent and locked at the elbows. Awkward, right?
Until recently we thought the mega-marsupial Palorchestes azael lived exactly like this. This rare, distant relative of the wombat became extinct (along with much of Australia’s megafauna) about 40,000 years ago.
But our research, published today in the Journal of Anatomy, shows Palorchestes could in fact move its elbows — but only a very tiny amount compared to other mammals.
Thus, we think this enigmatic creature would have had a highly unusual gait, which may provide a clue to why it went extinct.
Read more: Meet the giant wombat relative that scratched out a living in Australia 25 million years ago
A Strange Setup
The humble elbow has been around since the ancestors of all four-limbed animals first hauled themselves out of the water and onto land.
For most mammals, the elbow is a hinge-like joint that connects the humerus (which runs from shoulder to elbow) with the ulna and radius (which run from elbow to wrist).
The elbow allows the bending and straightening of the arm and is essential for four-legged walking. In the wild it’s also useful for tasks such as feeding, fighting, climbing and grooming.
But Palorchestes seemingly gave much of that up. Unlike other large mammals alive or extinct, it kept its arms in a perpetual “push-up” position.
So what would moving around have looked like for Palorchestes? And why might it have evolved such a narrow range of elbow motion in the first place?
Peculiar Palorchestes
Palorchestes was an unusual-looking marsupial. With a slender jaw indicating a long tongue and tiny nasal bones retracted high up in a narrow skull, some palaeontologists have suggested it had a tapir-like trunk (although others think this is unlikely).
Fossils of Palorchestes’s robust bones show evidence of heavily muscled forelimbs with huge, sharp claws suited for clinging and tearing. And we recently found it may have grown to weigh more than a tonne.
Still, for us the most interesting aspect of Palorchestes is its flattened elbow joint surfaces, which seem to indicate its elbows stayed bent at around a 100° angle.
We scanned the fossilised arm bones of Palorchestes and created computer simulations to model the full range of movements possible at its arm joint.
Our results indicate Palorchestes could move its elbows, but only in an off-axis motion that was tiny compared to other clawed mammals with chunky limbs such as wombats, pangolins, aardvarks and bears. Even its closest extinct megafaunal relatives had vastly more elbow function.
This suggests none of these creatures are good templates for understanding how Palorchestes moved.
By adding sliding movement as well as rotations, we used our 3D simulations to calculate the “average” motion in Palorchestes, from fully flexed to fully extended elbow poses. We found the axis of this small movement was skewed, like a “wonky” hinge.
The interactive below shows the maximum elbow motion that would have been theoretically possible for Palorchestes azael.
This skew means Palorchestes probably held its arms sprawled out from its body, allowing what little elbow mobility was possible to contribute to each stride while walking.
Arms Akimbo Make For Awkward Walking
Our findings suggest Palorchestes would have trundled along on crouched forelimbs, with its elbows sprawled out to the sides — a highly inefficient gait compared with the pillar-like limbs and tucked-in elbows of its relatives and large mammals alive today.
We think this posture was a compromise which let it use its strong arms and giant claws to access food in a specialised way, which was probably unique even back then.
While exact details remain a mystery, it could be that Palorchestes clung to tree trunks and hauled itself up onto its back legs to reach higher foliage with its long tongue.
Or it might have used its huge, bulky body to push over tree ferns to access the young nutritious fronds higher up.
Whatever it did, Palorchestes was evidently pretty successful. While its fossils are rare, they’re widely distributed right across eastern Australia.
The Specialisation Trap
The fossils of Palorchestes tell us it was a specialist, highly adapted to a forest landscape.
Large animals have large appetites to match, but Palorchestes’s inefficient walk probably limited its ability to roam widely in search of food.
This would be no problem in times of plenty. But when shifts in Australia’s climate caused sweeping environmental changes across the eastern half of the continent, large specialised megafauna such as Palorchestes were especially vulnerable.
Even small changes in the vegetation mix would have made it difficult to find enough food.
So an adaptation that can be a recipe for success in one environment can lead to a species’ demise in a changing world.
And while there’s nothing like Palorchestes alive today, many unique species now face the same fate due to drastic changes in their habitats.
Read more: Did people or climate kill off the megafauna? Actually, it was both 
Hazel L. Richards, PhD candidate, Monash University; Alistair Evans, Associate Professor, Monash University; David Hocking, Postdoctoral fellow, Monash University; Justin W. Adams, Senior Lecturer, Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Monash University, and Peter Bishop, Postdoctoral research fellow, Harvard Kennedy School
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Millennials are not the only 'burnout generation' (just ask the rest of us)
In her new book, Can’t Even, American journalist Anne Helen Petersen writes of how Millennials have become “the burnout generation”.
[It’s] feeling that you’ve hit the wall exhaustion-wise, but then have to scale the wall and just keep going. There’s no catharsis, no lasting rest, just this background hum of exhaustion.
The book, recently released in Australia, builds on the viral essay Petersen wrote in 2019.
At its heart, the book is a critique about the nature of modern workplaces and the modern economy.
As Petersen recently told Vox,
There’s a feeling of instability that’s the baseline economic condition for many, many millennials, and it’s enhanced by these other components of our lives that make it harder to turn away from.
Petersen argues Millennials, born between the early 1980s and mid-1990s, have come of age in a world where more and more of their time is being demanded by not just work, but by life.
Technology means work follows us everywhere, at all hours, while leisure time happens (or is “performed”) on social media. Meanwhile, homes are turned into Airbnb rentals, cars become rideshare services.
What’s Age Got To Do With It?
Peterson tells real and important stories about the frustration, anxiety, and malaise of herself and her contemporaries. However, she does us all a disservice by framing this as particularly “Millennial problem”.
While Petersen does acknowledge burnout impacts everyone, she assumes Millennials are a concrete group of people whose experience of burnout is exceptional.
The idea of clear generational groups, each possessing defining characteristics seems intuitive. It makes sense a group of contemporaries who had similar experiences in their formative years, would come to have similar attitudes, values, and beliefs.
But many scholars are uncertain that the generational groups as we know them — such as Millennials, Gen X or Baby Boomers — are as real or useful as we might think.
Read more: From Boomers to Xennials: we love talking about our generations, but must recognise their limits
Empirical research to prove generational groupings has produced “highly mixed and contradictory results”. So, many academics aren’t convinced birth-year groups even exist — there are too many variables.
For example, if a 20-year-old today doesn’t follow office etiquette, is this a product of them being Generation Z? Or because this person is new to the workforce?
Read more: Millennials at work don't see themselves as millennials
More broadly, the majority of research about generations have been undertaken across Europe, North America, and Australia/Oceania. Given these three regions combined make up less than 18% of the world’s population, it becomes clear how little we know.
So, while the frustrations of Petersen and her contemporaries are real — it is important to emphasise they are something everyone is facing.
‘Feelings Of Energy Depletion’
Burnout has historically been studied in relation to workplace stress, particularly where employees are in a caring role.
It is defined by World Health Organisation as
(a) feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; (b) increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and (c) reduced professional efficacy.
But medical experts are starting to see burnout as a society-wide issue, particularly as people find themselves overwhelmed and fatigued by COVID-19. Similarly, mental health groups have identified burnout as a product of long-term, or chronic, stress.
That is to say, scientists and support services are coming to understand burnout is not necessarily a product of the workplace specifically — but everything going on in someone’s life — from how much technology they use, to how many commitments they have.
Everyone Is Over It
In 2020, who of us can say they aren’t feeling burned out?
After a summer of bushfires, we had (and still have) a pandemic. For many, the boundaries between work and life have collapsed as we have needed to work, care, and relax at home — sometimes in the same room.
COVID has been accompanied by a seemingly permanent state of angst, as we all found ourselves doomscrolling for the latest updates. Many people have also lost income and job security. And more than 2 million people around the world have lost their lives.
Burnout Is About More Than The Pandemic
But it is not “just 2020”. The past several decades have seen huge changes to the way that we live, and engage with those around us.
For example, social media has had a profound effect — and not always for the better in terms of our mental health.
In the workplace, an “overtime culture” has blossomed. As of 2019, about 13% of Australia’s workforce was working more than 50 hours a week.
The rise in casual employment may have allowed for more flexibility, but it has increased insecurity — with no paid leave, and unstable work schedules.
Here it is important to note, in 2020, those aged 15-24 made up less than 40% of all casual jobs. While the casual workforce is skewed towards younger workers - the casualisation of the workforce impacts all of us.
Read more: Uber might not take over the world, but it is still normalising job insecurity
On top of all of this, we have seen rising levels of student and household debt, skyrocketing house prices, and the increasing effects of climate change.
We all have plenty of reasons to feel bombarded by life.
How Do You Solve Burnout?
So, what do we do? It goes without saying, widespread burnout due to social, economic, and political forces in the middle of a pandemic is a complex problem to solve.
At an individual level, resources do exist to help us address our mental health and support those around us.
Read more: The day is dawning on a four-day work week
However, systemic change is far more complex. Academics and world leaders have suggested reducing the work week might be an important step. Though, as noted by Peterson, it’s no longer just work demanding our time, energy, and attention.
As Peterson points out, one area that may need reimagining is how much and how often we consume information. Scholars in the 1960s were already raising concerns about the impact so much information could have on people, and in turn, society.
We as humans are social and curious creatures, but how much news, connection and information is good for us?
Comparing Generations Is A Trap
As Slate journalist Shannon Palus observes, Petersen deserves credit for identifying big problems about a culture that constantly asks for more access to every aspect of our lives.
However, framing this issue as one belonging to, or uniquely impacting Millennials is a trap. It encourages us to compare different generations to see who is the least or most burned out.
Really, our attention should be devoted to working together to reduce burnout for everyone.
Steven David Hitchcock, Lecturer, University of Sydney
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Wakey wakey: a history of alarm clocks and the mechanics of time
It’s the time of year when we Australians start returning to our normal rhythms. The first beats of the day are often the dreaded beeps of the alarm clock or a digital symphony from a bedside phone.
These modern electronic alarms are just the latest in a long sequence of methods used to wake us from sleep: from the watchmen on ancient city walls waiting for the dawn to more recent clocks on wheels that have to be chased to stop ringing.
The job of waking us up when our body clocks are telling us to sleep is a big ask. When did we first start using alarms, and what did they sound like? What’s changed about the sounds of time, and what hasn’t?
Birdsong
Some of the earliest words we have for time measurement show people’s particular interest in dividing up the different parts of the night.
In the pre-modern world, without electric lights and electric alarms, people paid more attention to the quality of light and the sounds around them. A rich vocabulary emerged in ancient languages for the different parts of the night. One early Latin word for the time before dawn was gallicinium, the time of the cock’s crow. Scientists have since discovered roosters really do know what time that is.
Birdsong remains an important way of experiencing waking up. In Australia, we often evoke birdsong when we think about sleep and waking — from morning caroling magpies, to the versatile currawong or the midnight call of willie wagtails. Less melodic, though equally striking, is another possible bird noise associated with early rising — “sparrow’s fart” — first attested to in the 19th century.
Read more: Birdsong has inspired humans for centuries: is it music?
Human Wake-Up Calls
The human body has developed its own repertoire of alarms.
The Islamic call to prayer, the adhan, sung by men called muezzin, is one of the most sonically striking examples, with various versions marking out differences between traditions and regions. The melismatic chant — where a single syllable is sung over several musical notes — is both a wake up call to prayer (“Prayer is better than sleep”) and a prayer in itself.
Some early-morning calls were combined with weather forecasting systems. In the 15th century the town criers of the port of Sandwich on the south coast of England would call out the wind changes in the night so seafarers would know when favourable (or unfavourable) winds sprang up. Much later, in some parts of the industrial world, professional knocker-uppers might use a pea shooter or stick to tap on windows to wake you up for your shift.
Having humans wake you up would usually mean someone has to stay up all night. But how would that person know when to cry the alarm? Sundials would obviously be useless. This is one reason technologies developed to count the hours of night — ancient and medieval water clocks with markings to show how water flow corresponded to time passing, and later (from around the 14th century) sand glasses in the familiar hourglass shape.
Mechanical Clocks
The Middle Ages saw one of our most amazing inventions — mechanical clocks, originally driven by weights. Gravity pulled suspended weights down to drive the clock mechanism. The weights were periodically wound back up for another cycle.
These clocks began as large objects in churches and town belfries. Some had elaborate automata: the extraordinary 16th-century Strasbourg clock includes a famous cockerel whose cries echo through the cathedral. Its automated rooster was a survival from an earlier clock made in the 14th century, and included as part of the new renaissance clock.
Some large clocks played music on bells before striking the hours. This year is the 700th anniversary of what may be the first such musical clock, installed in a monastery near Rouen in 1321. It played a hymn, Conditor alme siderum (Dear Creator of the Stars), for the season of Advent that starts the Christian year.
Such chimes are our first recorded mechanical music, and a precursor to today’s musical alarms. The technology was probably developed by tech-geek monks as a way of dealing with waking up to sing their prayers in the night — even better if that wake-up call, like the adhan, was a pious prayer itself.
Read more: Acedia: the lost name for the emotion we're all feeling right now
The Modern Alarm Clock
The earliest versions of the clocks we know today were made for large communities, public spaces or courtly elites.
Gradually though, and certainly by the mid to late 15th century, you could find heavy iron wall clocks in private houses (made in places still famous for clockmaking, such as Switzerland). These often had pins that you could place around the clock face to set the bell ringing at a particular time. These house alarm clocks could wake the owner to work and pray.
It was during this period, too, that compact spring mechanisms made smaller and smaller personal watches possible, carried or worn on the body from the 16th century.
The personalisation of time accelerated in the 19th century and gave rise to some wild modern alarm clocks. Among the more striking inventions of the French magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin was a clock that lit a candle after the alarm sounded.
Read more: Morning haze: why it's time to stop hitting the snooze button
Though nothing has reached the sophistication of the breakfast-making Rube-Goldberg-style alarm clocks seen on The Goodies, automaton clock alarms have promised freshly made coffee and toast or even just their aroma. Here the familiar sounds of the kitchen, with their enticing morning smells, soften the rude awakening from sleep.
Today’s alarms, with all their invention, come as a gift (or depending on how much you enjoy waking up, a curse) from the Middle Ages to us today.
Matthew S. Champion, Senior Research Fellow in Medieval Studies, Australian Catholic University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Film review: Wild Things packs passionate climate activism into an overly polite documentary
The content of some films is so close to the heart that it’s difficult to critically evaluate them. If you’re an atheist, The Passion of the Christ is not for you. By the same token, if you’re a denier of anthropogenic global warming, then you’ll hate Wild Things, the latest film from Australian producer-director Sally Ingleton.
A passionate call to action against global warming, Wild Things is documentary at its slickest, even if it is oddly-named (sharing the title with the 1998 risque romp Wild Things).
It seamlessly combines archival footage, camera phone footage, stunningly panoramic aerial photography and beautiful-in-forest images with the whole thing anchored around a group of very likeable environmental activists.
To Every Season, Turn
In keeping with the subtitle — A Year on the Frontline of Environmental Activism — Wild Things follows a group of activists (it’s not clear why they are called “wild things” or by whom) – with each section of the film following a season.
We move from the anti-Adani campaign in Central Queensland led by Andy Paine at Camp Binbee, to Lisa Searle and the campaign to save old-growth forests in Tasmania, to high school students Milou Albrecht and Harriet O’Shea Carre from Castlemaine in regional Victoria as they found their own climate change movement.
The groups often face serious peril — we see a semi-trailer pushing against protesters outside an Adani contractor site — yet continue their passionate fight for ecological justice.
In many respects, this is an optimistic film. We can feel the enthusiasm of Albrecht, and O’Shea Carre as their campaign spreads from 20 to thousands of students. We even travel to New York City with the latter as she watches, starstruck, as her idol Greta Thunberg addresses a rally.
In other ways, the film is deeply sad. We are forced to witness the brutal destruction of Tasmanian forests.
Read more: Friday essay: why we need children's life stories like I Am Greta
Across Time And Place
The old cliche of the dole-bludging treehugger is quickly dispensed with. We follow an organised group of people as they brush up against the systems that began and perpetuate anthropogenic global warming. There isn’t much of a focus on their powerful antagonists, but, one senses, they probably don’t need more opportunities in the spotlight.
We also see the activists’ canny use of social media and new technologies to generate support. As the film points out, these are radically different times from those of the Franklin River Dam protest, when film had to be flown in and out every day.
Specific campaigns are put in the broader context. The film’s style — its balance between types of footage, and across geographical and temporal locations — seems to embody an ecological rationale. Every part (past or present, here or there) is connected to every other part.
And so notable past Australian environmental campaigns are interspersed with coverage of the current year. The Green Bans in Sydney’s Rocks in the 1970s, Bob Brown and the Franklin River Dam protests in the 1970s and 1980s, and the anti-Jabiluka mine protest of 1998 all make an appearance. Some of this involves contemporary interviews with major players, but much of it is meticulously put together from archival footage.
This temporal cross section seems as significant as the geo-spatial one, and this appears to be a key point the film would like to make. Global warming and ecology are about time — like all death, about temporal limitation.
The continuity of these struggles past and present is of prime significance — the victories as well as the defeats.
Read more: Ignoring young people's climate change fears is a recipe for anxiety
Passive Protest
Wild Things may have been conceptually stronger — and more critically coherent — if this point had been made in a more forceful and direct fashion.
Perhaps this is part of its vision — things aren’t neat in this space. Or maybe it’s symptomatic of a more significant criticism: the whole thing seems a little too polite.
Wild Things is a document of people struggling to save the planet — and this is as brutal and existentially charged a battle as you can get, lebensraum (the German concept of “living space” for humans) for the population of the entire globe.
Yet interviewees repeatedly emphasise they are “non-violent” as though constantly apologising, in advance, to some imagined criticism.
This disclaimer appears frequently towards the beginning of the film, as though thereby allowing it entry into polite discourse. At times the film seems similarly gentle, genteel — even middlebrow — in its approach to global warming.
It is most impressive as a piece of documentary cinema. Its production value is exceptional, and the balance, in terms of style of footage, is excellent. Fly-on-the-wall footage unfolds amid carefully placed interviews and video diaries. The 90-minutes duration passes in a flash.
The score is a little uninspired but also doesn’t distract from the content of the film. A documentary of this scale is not going to be able to afford composer John Williams — but Missy Higgins sings the closing number, The Difference.
Wild Things is definitely not a non-partisan film — but why should it be? It’s on the side of the population of the globe!
Still, a more detailed and engaged analysis of the relationship between past and present would have enriched its ultimate call to action. It is good — it’s emotionally compelling and enjoyable — but one can’t help feeling a more intellectually robust and less sentimental approach may have made it great.
Read more: How the youth climate movement is influencing the green recovery from COVID-19
Wild Things is in cinemas from today.
Ari Mattes, Lecturer in Communications and Media, University of Notre Dame Australia
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Taking care of business: the private sector is waking up to nature's value
For many businesses, climate change is an existential threat. Extreme weather can disrupt operations and supply chains, spelling disaster for both small vendors and global corporations. It also leaves investment firms dangerously exposed.
Businesses increasingly recognise climate change as a significant financial risk. Awareness of nature-related financial risks, such as biodiversity loss, is still emerging.
My work examines the growth of private sector investment in biodiversity and natural capital. I believe now is a good time to consider questions such as: what are businesses doing, and not doing, about climate change and environmental destruction? And what role should government play?
Research clearly shows humanity is severely damaging Earth’s ability to support life. But there is hope, including a change in government in the United States, which has brought new momentum to tackling the world’s environmental problems.
Poisoning The Well
An expert report released last week warned Australia must cut emissions by 50% or more in the next decade if it’s to meet the Paris Agreement goals. Meeting this challenge will require everyone to do their bit.
Climate change is a major threat to Australia’s financial security, and businesses must be among those leading on emissions reduction. Unfortunately, that’s often not the case.
The finance sector, for example, contributes substantially to climate change and biodiversity loss. It does this by providing loans, insurance or investment for business activities that produce greenhouse gas emissions or otherwise harm nature.
In fact, a report last year found Australia’s big four banks loaned A$7 billion to 33 fossil fuel projects in the three years to 2019.
A Pushback For Nature
Promisingly, there’s a growing push from some businesses, including in the finance sector, to protect the climate and nature.
Late last year, Australian banks and insurers published the nation’s first comprehensive climate change reporting framework. And the recently launched Climate League 2030 initiative, representing 17 of Australia’s institutional investors with A$890 billion in combined assets, aims to act on deeper emissions reductions.
Read more: Worried about Earth's future? Well, the outlook is worse than even scientists can grasp
Some companies are starting to put serious money on the table. In August last year, global financial services giant HSBC and climate change advisory firm Pollination announced a joint asset management venture focused on “natural capital”. The venture aims to raise up to A$1 billion for its first fund.
Globally too, investors are starting to wake up to the cost of nature loss. Last month, investors representing US$2.4 trillion (A$3.14 trillion) in assets asked HSBC to set emissions reduction targets in line with the Paris Agreement. And in September last year, investor groups worth over $US103 trillion (A$135 trillion) issued a global call for companies to accurately disclose climate risks in financial reporting.
Climate change is not the only threat to global financial security. Nature loss – the destruction of plants, animals and ecosystems – poses another existential threat. Last year, the World Economic Forum reported more than half of the global economy relies on goods and services nature provides such as pollination, water and disease control.
Efforts by the finance sector to address the risks associated with biodiversity loss are in their infancy, but will benefit from work already done on understanding climate risk
Of course, acknowledging and disclosing climate- and nature-related financial risks is just one step. Substantial action is also needed.
Businesses can merely “greenwash” their image – presenting to the public as environmentally responsible while acting otherwise. For example, a report showed in 2019, many major global banks that pledged action on climate change and biodiversity loss were also investing in activities harmful to biodiversity.
Getting It Right
In the financial sector and beyond, there are risks to consider as the private sector takes a larger role in environmental action.
Investors will increasingly seek to direct capital to projects that help to reduce their exposure to climate- and nature-related risks, such ecosystem restoration and sustainable agriculture.
Many of these projects can help to restore biodiversity, sequester carbon and deliver benefits for local communities. But it’s crucial to remember that private sector investment is motivated, at least in part, by the expectation of a positive financial return.
Projects that are highly risky or slow to mature, such as restoring highly threatened species or ecosystems, might struggle to attract finance. For example, the federal government’s Threatened Species prospectus reportedly attracted little private sector interest.
That means governments and philanthropic donors still have a crucial role in the funding of research and pilot projects.
Read more: A major report excoriated Australia's environment laws. Sussan Ley's response is confused and risky
Governments must also better align policies to improve business and investor confidence. It is nonsensical that various Australian governments send competing signals about whether, say, forests should be cleared or restored. And at the federal level, biodiversity loss and climate change come under separate portfolios, despite the issues being inextricably linked.
Private-sector investment could deliver huge benefits for the environment, but these outcomes must be real and clearly demonstrated. Investors want the benefits measured and reported, but good data is often lacking.
Too-simple metrics, such as the area of land protected, don’t tell the whole story. They may not reflect harm to local and Indigenous communities, or whether the land is well managed.
Finally, as the private sector becomes more aware of nature and climate-related risks, a range of approaches to addressing this will proliferate. But efforts must be harmonised to minimise confusion and complexity in the marketplace. Governments must provide leadership to make this a smooth process.
The Power To Change
Last week, a major report was released highlighting grave failures in Australia’s environmental laws. The government’s response suggested it is not taking the threat seriously.
Businesses and governments hold disproportionate power that can be used to either delay or accelerate transformative change.
And although many businesses wield undue influence on government decisions, it doesn’t have to be this way.
By working together and seizing the many opportunities that present, business and government can help arrest climate change and nature loss, and contribute to a safer, more liveable planet for all.
Read more: You can't talk about disaster risk reduction without talking about inequality 
Megan C Evans, Lecturer and ARC DECRA Fellow, UNSW
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Picnic Day
By Dorothea Mackellar.
For weeks we thirsted for its coming
Childhood's long weeks that, stretch like years ,
Until at last it dawned in glory,
The crowded day of hopes and fears.
Full half the sky teas curtained crimson:
Sleepy, nurse helped us dress: a thrill
We walked through, unfamiliar shadows
Beach wards ; the sun just topped the hill
Old Sam was wailing at the jetty,
Gnarled as a vine-stock, cheery-lipped.
'Fine day mum! 'Mornin', mate'. No hurry —
Go easy till the tucker's shipped!''
Wriggling, we watched those lagging grown-ups
Slow, slow as treacle, stow away
Our picnic baskets in the dinghy —
We wanted to begin the Day.
Small gilded waves came dancing towards us
And slapped the keel, turned beryl-clear
And, made a lovely sunshot shadow;
The rowlocks creaked : our Day was here.
Across a sparkling stretch of harbour,
Diamond-fair in morning light,
Grave as a child himself, Sam rowed us,
Until our white beach came in sight
Round Bradley' s Head. We other children,
Joy rapt, stirred neither foot nor hand;
But we leapt yelling from the dinghy
Before her nose had ploughed the sand,
And up the beach, the dry sand squinching
Beneath our feet, to choose a place
To cast our shoes and stockings from us,
We ran a headlong, desperate race.
Then down to meet the dancing water,
And through it watch our white feet, clad
In shifting golden scales of sunlight,
As bright as ever sea-beast had.
Each rosy wilderness of rockpool
We pored upon, its life to see.
While on the velvet-surfaced ironstone
Our bare feet clung voluptuously.
Pink shells and purple, crabs and starfish.
And lovely nameless mysteries
We gathered, dropping them to tickle
The fruit-like sea-anemones.
The royal day went by like, music,
We never paused, to hear it pass.
Not even as we ate ambrosia.
Sprawled idle on the wiry grass.
Then home at dusk, our fingers trailing
In dark leaves lipped with phosphor fire,
Each sleepy salty head- still humming
With tunes of satisfied desire.
Ah, it was over, over, over,
The longed-for day of our delight:
But, soaked with scents and sounds and colours.
We all possessed the sea that night.
Before our closed eyes flamed the beaches
And jewelled rock-pools all night long
And through our dreams the waves came chanting
Their everlasting marching song.
Picnic Day (1924, January 9). Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), p. 36. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article166152694
Curious Kids: Could Someone Become A Superhero In Real Life?
Could someone become a superhero in real life? – Emma, aged six, Tonbridge, UK
Answered by Sarah Hainsworth, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean and Professor of Materials and Forensic Engineering, Aston University and Michael Fitzpatrick, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Lloyd's Register Foundation Chair in Structural Integrity and Systems Performance, Coventry University - part of the Curious Kids series by The Conversation
Do you know the difference between these two groups of superheroes?
- Dr Strange, Scarlet Witch, Superman.
- Black Panther, Black Widow, Iron Man.
The answer is that the superheroes in the first group all have personal superpowers that means they can do things that no ordinary human can: Dr Strange can teleport from one place to another, for example, and Scarlet Witch can move things with the power of her mind.
On the other hand, the people in the second group are all ordinary humans who use their skills to achieve what most of us would find impossible. In many cases, they also use advanced or secret technologies.
These technologies are made up, and in the main they were invented by comic writers like Stan Lee over 50 years ago. Now we are in the 21st century, the technologies that exist today are catching up with the inventions from the comics of the 1960s – so maybe someone could become a superhero like Black Panther or Iron Man in real life in the future.
Let’s start with Iron Man. He is able to fly using a personal jet pack. The real-life problem is being able to carry enough fuel to go far enough for it to be worthwhile.
In October 2019, a new speed record for flying with a jet pack was set by Richard Browning in the UK. Browning was wearing a suit powered by six gas turbine engines. Like Iron Man, he used his hands to provide the steering, with two small motors on each hand, and then two larger turbines on the back to get him off the ground and keep him in the air.
He reached a speed of 85mph (135km/h), flying over the sea in Brighton, UK, (guaranteeing a soft landing if things went wrong). Browning also tested out using the jet pack to rescue people stranded on a mountain. In a practice rescue scenario in the Lake District, Browning was able to reach a casualty in 90 seconds. A normal rescue team would expect to take 25 minutes. Tony Stark would approve.
Superheroes often rely on fictional materials. Black Panther’s suit is made with the element “vibranium”, which absorbs energy and can release it later when desired. In reality, all the elements – the atoms that make up all the materials in the world around us – have been discovered: there aren’t any “super-elements” like vibranium waiting to be found. Scientists have been making new “heavy” elements in particle accelerators by smashing atoms together, but they are unstable and last seconds or less before splitting apart.
But that hasn’t stopped engineers from making innovations in materials using the elements that we already have. Paralympians use “blade” prosthetic legs to ski, run and jump. These blades are made using the element carbon, which is found throughout nature and is amazingly versatile. In different forms it makes diamonds – the hardest substance on Earth – and graphite, which can be used in oils as a lubricant.
In the blades, the carbon is in the form of fibres, woven like cloth and then sealed with a resin that acts as a glue to bind them together. The blades store energy and then return the energy to the athlete. This allows the athletes to run at high speeds, to the extent that Paralympic runners are now faster than the Olympians of the last century.
Other superheroes use technologies to help them manage their powers. In the Incredibles, Baby Jack-Jack can light up on fire, so he needs a suit made of material that won’t burn. We have developed materials like this in real life.
At the Bahrain Grand Prix in November 2020, driver Romain Grosjean crashed into a barrier at 140 mph. His car broke into two pieces and caught fire so fiercely that it appeared to have exploded. Grosjean not only survived the crash but quite literally walked away.
This was because of the energy absorbing properties of the crash protection systems in his car, and because of his racing suit. The suit is made of a fireproof fibre called Nomex. It is engineered so when it is exposed to flames it does not melt, combust, or conduct heat through to the wearer.
So year-on-year, the technologies that set apart the superheroes of the 1960s are becoming the tools of real heroes today. Teleportation, telekinesis, and telepathy remain in the realms of fantasy for now, but there are researchers working on linking our brains directly with computers, so who knows what the future holds?
Curious Kids: why are our top eyelashes longer than our bottom eyelashes?
Why are our top eyelashes longer than our bottom eyelashes? Lilia, aged 7
Thanks for this great question, Lilia.
The upper eyelid is larger, longer and has deeper roots so it can support more luscious lashes.
All mammals have this feature, but why have the eyes developed this way?
The most significant reason is to protect our eyeballs. But having longer top eyelashes can also help us express our feelings and communicate with others.
They Protect You
We have between 90 and 160 eyelashes in each upper lid, each of which grow between 8mm and 12mm long. In each lower lid, we have around 75 lashes which grow 6–9mm long.
Together, your long top and shorter bottom lashes provide a curtain of protection that covers the whole eye socket. This stops dust, insects or sweat getting into your eye and hurting it.
Without eyelashes, your eye would also dry out much quicker, and would be more likely to catch nasty germs. This is why people without eyelashes have to blink much more often.
Read more: Curious Kids: will I go blind if I shut my eyes and face the Sun?
There is actually an “ideal length” for upper eyelashes.
Using eyelash lengths from humans, as well as across a range of animal species, this is one-third the width of the eye. Any shorter and wind gets through too easily. Any longer and the wind starts to become caught under the lashes, with both scenarios causing the eyes to dry out more.
Read more: Curious Kids: Why do tears come out of our eyes when we cry?
Eyelashes Protect Animals Too
Humans are not the only animals that have eyelashes — all mammals have them, including cats, dogs, elephants, and mice. But they differ in length and density depending on where the animal lives. In most cases, other animals also have much longer lashes on the upper lid.
For animals that live in dusty areas, their eyelashes stop them getting specks of dust in their eyes. This is why camels, kangaroos, elephants and giraffes have several rows of long eyelashes, not just one row.
In rodents, such as rats, eyelashes are positioned around the eye and act as sensors. That way, rats can protect their eyes by blinking whenever they sense an unknown object near their eyes.
But it’s not just mammals. Birds have also developed eyelash-like feathers around their upper eyelids.
These feathers protect birds’ eyes from sunlight by casting a shadow on their eye. Compared to mammals, these eyelash-like feathers are long (up to 2cm), thick, and widely spaced out.
Other Ways Eyelashes Are Useful
Our eyelashes are also important for when we meet and talk to other people.
If you are feeling tired, surprised or concerned, your eyelashes can help someone else tell how you are feeling. Also, fluttering your eyelashes at someone might be a way to indicate you really like them. The extra length of the top eyelashes helps to emphasise this.
Read more: Curious Kids: how do eyes grow?
Lash Facts
Unlike most other hairs in our body, eyelashes don’t have the tiny muscles that make the hairs stand on end, giving us goosebumps
eyelashes are usually the darkest-coloured hair in our body, and they never go grey!
the early Egyptians used makeup on their eyelashes, just like many people do today. They lived more than 5,000 years ago
eyelashes vary a lot between people. Different people can have big differences in the number, thickness, curliness, shape or length of their eyelashes
lashes curve outwards from the eye so the top and bottom hairs don’t get tangled up when we blink
if we pull out our eyelashes it takes about eight weeks for them to grow back. So it’s probably best not to!
Read more: Curious Kids: why do our toes and fingers get wrinkly in the bath?
Hello, curious kids! Have you got a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au
Christian Moro, Associate Professor of Science & Medicine, Bond University and Zane Stromberga, PhD candidate, Bond University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
The Secrets Of 3000 Galaxies Laid Bare: Australian Led Research
February 3, 2021
The complex mechanics determining how galaxies spin, grow, cluster and die have been revealed following the release of all the data gathered during a massive seven-year Australian-led astronomy research project.
The scientists observed 13 galaxies at a time, building to a total of 3068, using a custom-built instrument called the Sydney-AAO Multi-Object Integral-Field Spectrograph (SAMI), connected to the 4-metre Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) at Siding Spring Observatory in New South Wales. The telescope is operated by the Australian National University.
Overseen by the ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D), the project used bundles of optical fibres to capture and analyse bands of colours, or spectra, at multiple points in each galaxy.
The results allowed astronomers from around the world to explore how these galaxies interacted with each other, and how they grew, sped up or slowed down over time.
No two galaxies are alike. They have different bulges, haloes, disks and rings. Some are forming new generations of stars, while others haven't done so for billions of years. And there are powerful feedback loops in them fuelled by supermassive black holes.
"The SAMI survey lets us see the actual internal structures of galaxies, and the results have been surprising," said lead author Professor Scott Croom from ASTRO 3D and the University of Sydney.
"The sheer size of the SAMI Survey lets us identify similarities as well as differences, so we can move closer to understanding the forces that affect the fortunes of galaxies over their very long lives."
The survey, which began in 2013, has already formed the basis of dozens of astronomy papers, with several more in preparation. A paper describing the final data release -- including, for the first time, details of 888 galaxies within galaxy clusters -- was published today on the arxiv pre-print server and in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
"The nature of galaxies depends both on how massive they are and their environment," said Professor Croom.
"For example, they can be lonely in voids, or crowded into the dense heart of galactic clusters, or anywhere in between. The SAMI Survey shows how the internal structure of galaxies is related to their mass and environment at the same time, so we can understand how these things influence each other."
Research arising from the survey has already revealed several unexpected outcomes.
One group of astronomers showed that the direction of a galaxy's spin depends on the other galaxies around it, and changes depending on the galaxy's size. Another group showed that the amount of rotation a galaxy has is primarily determined by its mass, with little influence from the surrounding environment. A third looked at galaxies that were winding down star-making, and found that for many the process began only a billion years after they drifted into the dense inner-city regions of clusters.
"The SAMI Survey was set up to help us answer some really broad top-level questions about galaxy evolution," said co-author Dr Matt Owers from Macquarie University in Australia.
"The detailed information we've gathered will help us to understand fundamental questions such as: Why do galaxies look different depending on where they live in the Universe? What processes stop galaxies forming new stars and, conversely, what processes drive the formation of new stars? Why do the stars in some galaxies move in a highly ordered rotating disk, while in other galaxies their orbits are randomly oriented?"
Professor Croom added, "The survey is finished now, but by making it all public we hope that the data will continue to bear fruit from many, many years to come."
Co-author Associate Professor Julia Bryant from ASTRO 3D and the University of Sydney said: "The next steps in this research will make use of a new Australian instrument -- which we've called Hector -- that will start operation in 2021, increasing the detail and number of galaxies that can be observed."
When fully installed in the AAT, Hector will survey 15,000 galaxies.
Materials provided by ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3D (ASTRO 3D).
A/Prof Julia Bryant from the University of Sydney inside the SAMI instrument at the top end of the Anglo Australian Telescope. Image Credit: Scott Croom/University of Sydney
Scott M Croom, Matt S Owers, Nicholas Scott, Henry Poetrodjojo, Brent Groves, Jesse van de Sande, Tania M Barone, Luca Cortese, Francesco D’Eugenio, Joss Bland-Hawthorn, Julia Bryant, Sree Oh, Sarah Brough, James Agostino, Sarah Casura, Barbara Catinella, Matthew Colless, Gerald Cecil, Roger L Davies, Michael J Drinkwater, Simon P Driver, Ignacio Ferreras, Caroline Foster, Amelia Fraser-McKelvie, Jon Lawrence, Sarah K Leslie, Jochen Liske, Ángel R López-Sánchez, Nuria P F Lorente, Rebecca McElroy, Anne M Medling, Danail Obreschkow, Samuel N Richards, Rob Sharp, Sarah M Sweet, Dan S Taranu, Edward N Taylor, Edoardo Tescari, Adam D Thomas, James Tocknell, Sam P Vaughan. The SAMI Galaxy Survey: the third and final data release. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2021; DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stab229