tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/pepper-23506/articlesPepper – The Conversation2024-03-25T16:35:08Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2262662024-03-25T16:35:08Z2024-03-25T16:35:08ZWhat makes voatsiperifery the world’s best pepper<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583170/original/file-20240222-22-jhwzut.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=53%2C0%2C6000%2C3952&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Highly sought after for its flavours, voatsiperifery is tricky to harvest. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jérome Queste/Cirad</span>, <span class="license">Fourni par l'auteur</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The triple Michelin-starred chef Anne-Sophie Pic <a href="https://www.facebook.com/100044563800645/posts/10158492682644935/">has long been raving about its</a> “complex, woody, tangy and spicy nose”. It goes particularly well with pigeon, she says, and also with rhubarb and grapefruit.</p>
<p>Endemic to <a href="https://theconversation.com/fr/topics/madagascar-24701">Madagascar</a>, the wild pepper of voatsiperifery became popular some 15 years ago. Nowadays it is considered to be one of the best peppers in the world, with a uniquely subtle taste, more flavour and scent, and less pungency than other peppers. Once dried, its peppercorns give off woody, earthy and fruity aromas. When fresh, its flavours and scents are even more balanced. Voatsiperifery is a perfect illustration of the <a href="https://www.millenniumassessment.org/documents/document.354.aspx.pdf">“cultural ecosystem services”</a> provided by Madagascar’s natural forests and their biodiversity.</p>
<h2>From medicine to gastronomy</h2>
<p>While the pepper does not contribute to food security, <a href="https://doi.org/10.17660/th2017/72.6.1">it is a source of pleasure for gourmets worldwide and, therefore, of income</a> for people living on the fringes of forests. This is particularly the case during during the “hunger gap”, the period between two harvests, in which people have hardly anything to eat as the previous crop has been used up and the next is not yet available.</p>
<p>We look to voatsiperifery as an ambassador for Madagascar. It is the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-022-00732-z">only spice exported from the country</a> that is endemic to the main island. This wild pepper has small round or oval peppercorns that grow in clusters on long lianas in the natural forests of eastern Madagascar, from the coast to the central highlands. <a href="https://doi.org/10.17660/th2017/72.6.1">It is dioecious</a>, meaning that male and female flowers grow on separate plants.</p>
<p>In Malagasy, <em>voatsiperifery</em> is a combination of <em>voa</em> (“fruit”), and <em>tsiperifery</em>, (“which makes wounds disappear”). This name stems from its medicinal use to <a href="https://www.fofifa.mg/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Th%C3%A8seVF_Rharizoly_EDGRND_compressed.pdf">heal wounds</a> and refers to the peppercorns themselves, while <em>tsiperifery</em> refers to the plant. Tsiperifery belongs to the pepper family Piperaceae, which includes black pepper (<em>Piper nigrum</em>) and was once likened to <em>Piper borbonense</em> from the French overseas island of Réunion. However, as of the date of writing, it still does not have a valid scientific name.</p>
<h2>A history that is gathering pace</h2>
<p>The first written references to the tsiperifery vine date back to colonial times. Archives from the 19th and early 20th centuries describe a round pepper used locally for medicinal purposes, to treat venereal diseases and colic and to blacken teeth as part of local rituals. There are still specimens collected by the first European explorers at the <a href="https://www.mnhn.fr/en">Muséum national d’histoire naturelle</a> in Paris.</p>
<p>People living around forests traditionally pick and use tsiperifery for its culinary and medicinal properties, but also in their spiritual practice. The leaves are used in rituals, to protect against lightning and prevent rain from falling. The stems and roots serve as infusions to protect one against evil. In the area of medicine, it is used to <a href="https://doi.org/10.17660/th2017/72.6.1">prevent scarring, and treat respiratory, venereal, skin diseases and sexual problems</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577914/original/file-20240226-18-e3jz30.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Adult tsiperifery climbing up a tree in the forest" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577914/original/file-20240226-18-e3jz30.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577914/original/file-20240226-18-e3jz30.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=942&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577914/original/file-20240226-18-e3jz30.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=942&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577914/original/file-20240226-18-e3jz30.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=942&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577914/original/file-20240226-18-e3jz30.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1184&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577914/original/file-20240226-18-e3jz30.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1184&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577914/original/file-20240226-18-e3jz30.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1184&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tsiperifery is a vine that grows high on trees, making it difficult to harvest the berries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Harizoly Razafimandimby/FOFIFA</span>, <span class="license">Fourni par l'auteur</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Voatsiperifery was “discovered” between 2004 and 2010 by two “spice hunters”, Olivier Roellinger and Gérard Vives. Since 2010, demand has rocketed and triggered a rush toward this wild pepper. Its exploitation relies on existing commercial routes: pickers first go deep into the forest and then sell their harvest to middlemen, who go on to sell them on to other economic players who process, bag and export them. The latter capture the major share of the profits from the value chain.</p>
<p>But the wild pepper is tricky to pick. In natural forests, the vines produce fruit very high up in the canopy. Ripping down the fruiting vine or felling the tree it is growing on is the simplest solution. Voatsiperifery has only recently been discovered but is already under threat of extinction and is contributing to the destruction of its habitat.</p>
<p>In the past 14 years, our French-Malagasay research team has been the knowledge necessary to map out a sustainable tsiperifery export chain. Our multidisciplinary research covers the <a href="https://www.fofifa.mg/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Th%C3%A8seVF_Rharizoly_EDGRND_compressed.pdf">biology and ecology of the vine</a>, its <a href="https://www.forets-biodiv.org/content/download/4770/35531/version/1/file/RAHERINJATOVOARISON+2017+Aire+de+distribution.pdf">distribution area</a>, <a href="https://www.forets-biodiv.org/content/download/4771/35535/version/1/file/Rakotomalala+2017+Filiere+tsiperifery+et+encastrement.pdf">value chain economics</a>, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1051/fruits/2014025">transformation processes</a>, among others. As a result, we have been to hand out <a href="https://www.forets-biodiv.org/productions/ouvrages/guides-de-bonnes-pratiques-tsiperifery">good practice handbooks for tsiperifery commercialisation</a>.</p>
<h2>Growing tsiperifery in natural forests</h2>
<p>Like other non-timber forest products (NTFPs) such as mushrooms, honey or certain barks, the profits from tsiperifery should benefit the people living near forests, who are extremely vulnerable. Such a principle lies behind the Nagoya protocol, which commits its signatories to fair, equitable sharing of research results or financial returns on the exploitation of resources. In practice, however, academics often observe <a href="http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol11/iss2/art20/">trade-offs between locals ability to earn a living from this type of business and forest conservation</a>.</p>
<p>As we already outlined above, picking techniques for tsiperifery tend to be destructive. The fact that <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/1724745">NTFPs are traditionally freely accessible</a> in Malagasy forests also makes them prone to over-exploitation, with prospects of any government regulation from the weak Malagasy State unrealistic. Indeed any initiative to regulate the value chain such as certification soon run up again the legal vacuum around wild forest products.</p>
<p>Our current research aims to find a way out of this paradigm by helping to turn <a href="https://doi.org/10.17660/th2021/76.3.3">tsiperifery from a wild into a domestic species faster</a> – what scientists call the <em>domestication process</em>, following the example set by other <em>Pipers</em>. There is growing evidence that cultivated vines are private property and are therefore better protected than wild foods. <a href="http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol5/iss2/art13/">This plausible promise</a> was the working principle for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1051/cagri/2017059">two research programmes</a> led by French and Malagasy agricultural research institutes, CIRAD and FOFIFA, in consultation with four villages of voatsiperifery growers, Ambodivoangy (south-east of Madagascar, Ambongamarina (central highlands), Rantolava (eastern coast), and Masiaposa (north).</p>
<p>In Rantolava and Masiaposa, competition with other, more lucrative crops – vanilla and passion fruit – led to the attempt at domestication being abandoned. In the other two other villages, the research has served to <a href="https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2023.1362.80">master the first stages of propagation from cuttings and by germination</a>.</p>
<p>The first surveys carried out three years after replanting vines in the forest showed a significant increase in tsiperifery vine density, including in zones beyond the plantations. People living around the forest have therefore stopped ripping off vines, are replanting and monitoring the forest plots that house vines. Tsiperifery has changed status. From a freely accessible wild vine, it has become an argument in favour of forest conservation.</p>
<p>However, the road toward the domestication of this wild pepper is still long. The next step is to look into agronomic aspects such as fertilisation, crop protection and <em>genotype selection</em>, agronomists’ hunt for clones that grow faster, produce more fruits and adapt better to a large spectrum of environments. On a value chain level, local people will not grow tsiperifery unless they are sure of being able to sell their products at an acceptable price. This will undoubtedly require a shift in relations between the upstream and downstream parts of the value chain.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226266/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research has been performed within the Forests & Biodiversity (dP F&B) research platform with support from the European Union, the French Embassy in Madagascar and the SOLINA company. jerome Queste is the current coordinator of the platform.
Special thanks to Pr. Hirac Gurden (CNRS) who recently began groundbreaking research into how tsiperifery pickers use their sense of smell</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Harizoly Razafimandimby's thesis on the first characterization of the plant (moprhology, genetics and ecology) was supported by FOFIFA, dP F&B and IFS</span></em></p>Endemic to Madagascar, voatsiperifery is one of the secrets of the world’s top chefs. But it has to be grown in a way that preserves its environment and guarantees producers a fair income.Jérôme Queste, Sociologue, CiradHarizoly Razafimandimby, Maître de Recherche Gestion des Ressources Naturelles et Développement, FOFIFALicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2201242024-01-16T13:41:20Z2024-01-16T13:41:20ZWhat social robots can teach America’s students<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568716/original/file-20240110-29-vri22q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some researchers predict social robots will become common in K-12 classrooms.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/elementary-schoolboy-touching-robotic-hand-royalty-free-image/1280407754">selimaksan/E+ Collection/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>How would you feel if your child were being tutored by a robot?</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0921-8890(02)00373-1">Social robots</a> – robots that can talk and mimic and respond to human emotion – have been introduced into <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2021.100388">classrooms around the world</a>. Researchers have used them to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBDI6kjj4nI">read stories</a> to <a href="https://www.imda.gov.sg/resources/blog/blog-articles/archived/2016/04/pepper-spices-up-classroom-learning">preschool students in Singapore</a>, help 12-year-olds in Iran <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654318821286">learn English</a>, <a href="http://www.doi.org/10.1109/HRI.2016.7451758">improve handwriting</a> among young children in Switzerland and teach students with autism in England <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12369-014-0250-2">appropriate physical distance</a> during social interactions.</p>
<p>Some experts believe these robots could become <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.aat5954">“as common as paper, whiteboards and computer tablets”</a> in schools. </p>
<p>Because social robots have a body, humans <a href="https://news.stanford.edu/2023/05/15/respond-social-robots/">react to them differently</a> than we do to a computer screen. Studies have shown that little children sometimes accept social robots as peers. For example, in the <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1109/HRI.2016.7451758">handwriting study</a>, a 5-year-old boy continued to send letters to the robot months after the interactions ended. </p>
<p>As a professor of education, I study the different ways that <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=VCt87SkAAAAJ&hl=en">teachers around the world do their jobs</a>. To understand how social robots could affect teaching, graduate student Raisa Gray and I introduced a 4-foot-tall <a href="https://us.softbankrobotics.com/pepper">humanoid robot called “Pepper”</a> into a public elementary and middle school in the U.S. Our research <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12872">revealed many problems</a> with the current generation of social robots, making it unlikely that social robots will be running classrooms anytime soon.</p>
<h2>Not ready for prime time</h2>
<p>Much of the research on social robots in schools is done in <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12369-010-0069-4">very restricted ways</a>. Children and social robots are not allowed to freely interact with each other without the assistance, or intervention, of researchers. Only a few studies have used social robots in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2021.100388">real-life classroom settings</a>.</p>
<p>Also, robotic researchers often use <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-021-01202-3">“Wizard of Oz” techniques</a> in classroom settings. That means that a person is operating the robot remotely, giving the impression that the robot can <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJHyaD1psMc">really talk to humans</a>. </p>
<h2>Limited social skills</h2>
<p>Robots need quiet.</p>
<p>Any kind of background noise – class-change bells, loudspeaker announcements or other conversations – can disrupt the robot’s ability to follow a conversation. This is one of the major problems facing the integration of robots into schools. </p>
<p>It is extremely difficult for programmers to create software and hardware systems that can achieve what humans do unconsciously. For example, the current generation of social robots cannot interact with a small group and, for example, track multiple people’s facial expressions. If a person is talking to two other people about their favorite football team and one of the listeners frowns or rolls their eyes, a human will likely pick up on that.</p>
<p>A robot will not. </p>
<p>Also, unless a bar code or other identification device is used, today’s social robots cannot recognize individuals. This makes it very unlikely for them to have realistic social interactions. Facial recognition software is difficult to use in a room full of moving, shifting people, and also raises serious ethical questions about keeping students’ personal information safe. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568317/original/file-20240108-19-ynwsuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A child stands in front of Pepper the robot" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568317/original/file-20240108-19-ynwsuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568317/original/file-20240108-19-ynwsuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568317/original/file-20240108-19-ynwsuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568317/original/file-20240108-19-ynwsuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568317/original/file-20240108-19-ynwsuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568317/original/file-20240108-19-ynwsuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568317/original/file-20240108-19-ynwsuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students talked to the ‘Pepper’ robot as if it were a person.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/april-2018-hanover-germany-a-girl-speakng-with-the-robot-news-photo/978204290">Julian Stratenschulte/picture alliance via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Dialogue is preprogrammed</h2>
<p>To get the robot to perform, our students had to master the tutorials that came with the robot. Some students quickly figured out that the robot could respond only to certain basic routines.</p>
<p>For example, Pepper could respond to “How old are you?” but not “What age are you?” Other students kept trying to interact with the robot as if it were a person and got very frustrated with its nonhuman responses.</p>
<p>When a robot <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.12.030">fails to answer a question</a>, or responds in the wrong way, students realize the robot isn’t really understanding them and that the robot’s dialogue is preprogrammed. The robot can’t really make sense of the social context. </p>
<p>In our study, students learned to adapt to the robot.</p>
<p>One group of girls would stand around the robot while one kept petting its head. This caused the robot to do either its “I feel like a cat” or its “I’m ticklish today” routine. This seemed to delight the girls. They appeared content to have one person interact with the robot while others watched.</p>
<h2>Cannot move around classroom with ease</h2>
<p>Students who have seen YouTube videos of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmNaLtC6vkU">robotic dogs</a> that run and jump may be disappointed to realize that most social robots can’t move around a classroom with ease. The teachers in our study were disappointed that Pepper couldn’t bring them coffee. </p>
<p>These problems aren’t limited to school settings.</p>
<p>Service robots in some health care facilities have been programmed to deliver medicine, but this requires special sensors and programming. And while stores and restaurants are experimenting with <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/01/14/giant-food-stores-will-place-robotic-assistants-inside-locations-company-says/">delivery and cleaning robots</a>, when a grocery store in Scotland tried to use Pepper for customer interactions, the robot was <a href="https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/pepper-robot-grocery-store">fired after a week</a>.</p>
<h2>What social robots can teach kids</h2>
<p>While the social robots currently used in schools are finicky and limited in functions, they can still provide useful learning experiences. Students can use them to learn more about robotics, artificial intelligence and the complexity of real human behavior. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.actapress.com/PaperInfo.aspx?paperId=43268">As one researcher wrote</a>, “Robots act as a bridge in enabling students to understand humans.”</p>
<p>Struggling with a robot’s limitations gives students real insights into the complicated nature of human social interaction. The opportunity to work hands-on with a social robot shows students how difficult it is to program robots to mimic human behavior.</p>
<p>Social robots can also provide students with important learning opportunities about artificial intelligence. In Japan, Pepper is being used to <a href="https://www.softbankrobotics.com/jp/product/education/">introduce students to generative AI</a>. Students can link ChatGPT with Pepper’s physical presence to see how much AI improves Pepper’s communication and whether that makes it more lifelike. </p>
<p>As AI becomes a bigger part of our work and lives, educators need to prepare students to think critically about what it means to live and work with social machines. And with a real human teacher’s guidance and oversight, students can explore why we want to talk to robots as if they were people.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220124/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gerald K. LeTendre receives funding from Harry L. Batschelet II Endowed Chair within the College of Education, The Pennsylvania State University</span></em></p>Social robots can be useful tools to help students learn about programming, but here’s why they won’t be replacing classroom teachers anytime soon.Gerald K. LeTendre, Professor of Educational Administration, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2164452023-11-15T02:02:29Z2023-11-15T02:02:29ZWhat is the PanaNatra line of painkillers and can herbal products effectively relieve pain?<p>In an era where <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3201926/#:%7E:text=Globally%2C%20it%20has%20been%20estimated,pain%20each%20year%20%5B1%5D">chronic pain affects millions worldwide</a>, the search for effective and safe pain relief has never been greater. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.pananatra.com.au/products/">PanaNatra</a> is a line of herbal products from <a href="https://www.haleon.com/">Haleon</a>, the makers of Panadol. Haleon <a href="https://www.pananatra.com.au/products/">claims</a> the three PanaNatra’s products, made from plant extracts, help manage and provide relief from mild joint aches, mild muscle pain, and mild pain affecting sleep. </p>
<p>They contain different combinations of four plants:</p>
<ul>
<li><em>Boswellia serrata</em> (contained in the joint and muscle products) </li>
<li><em>Curcuma longa</em> (in the joint and muscle products)</li>
<li><em>Piper nigrum</em> (just in the joint product)</li>
<li><em>Withania somnifera</em> (just in the sleep product).</li>
</ul>
<p>These products are “<a href="https://www.tga.gov.au/products/medicines/non-prescription-medicines/listed-medicines">listed medicines</a>” in Australia. This means the ingredients are considered broadly low risk, have been used in traditional medicine, and are manufactured to a high standard. But the manufacturer has not provided evidence to the government regulator that they work. </p>
<p>So can herbal ingredients effectively and safely relieve different types of pain? </p>
<h2>What does the evidence say?</h2>
<p>Let’s consider the evidence for the four main ingredients.</p>
<p><strong><em>Boswellia serrata</em></strong></p>
<p>Indian Frankincense (<em>Boswellia serrata</em>) has been described in traditional Indian Ayurveda texts since the 1st century AD. Key active compounds derived from the gum resin of the tree called <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27671822/">boswellic acids</a> are thought to have anti-inflammatory effects. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Boswellia serrata" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559173/original/file-20231113-25-2pl3tb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559173/original/file-20231113-25-2pl3tb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559173/original/file-20231113-25-2pl3tb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559173/original/file-20231113-25-2pl3tb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559173/original/file-20231113-25-2pl3tb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559173/original/file-20231113-25-2pl3tb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559173/original/file-20231113-25-2pl3tb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"><em>Boswellia serrata</em> is also known as Indian Frankincense.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/boswellia-serrata-73147612">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <em>Boswellia serrata</em> dry concentrate extract (Rhuleave K) used in the Muscle Pain product contains 50 mg of the herb per tablet, whereas the Joint Pain product includes 33.3 mg as a different formulation (Apresflex).</p>
<p>A review of various human clinical trials using a range of formulations of this herb <a href="https://www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.ezproxy.library.sydney.edu.au/pmc/articles/PMC7368679/pdf/12906_2020_Article_2985.pdf">supports its ability</a> to reduce some types of pain and improve function in osteoarthritis. But a key finding of the study was that improvement only begins when <em>Boswellia serrata</em> is used continuously for four weeks and at a dose of at least 100–250 mg per day.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21060724/">clinical trial</a>, 100 mg daily of a <em>Boswellia serrata</em> gum-based product was found to reduce pain and improve physical functions for people with osteoarthritis.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/9-signs-you-have-inflammation-in-your-body-could-an-anti-inflammatory-diet-help-210468">9 signs you have inflammation in your body. Could an anti-inflammatory diet help?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><strong><em>Curcuma longa</em></strong></p>
<p>Turmeric (<em>Curcuma longa</em>) has been used in Chinese and Indian medicine for at least 2,000 years. It contains a well-known chemical called curcumin, a natural compound used for its anti-inflammatory properties, especially for <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8273926/">osteoarthritis</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Turmeric root (Curcuma longa)" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559174/original/file-20231113-17-p914do.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559174/original/file-20231113-17-p914do.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559174/original/file-20231113-17-p914do.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559174/original/file-20231113-17-p914do.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559174/original/file-20231113-17-p914do.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559174/original/file-20231113-17-p914do.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559174/original/file-20231113-17-p914do.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"><em>Curcuma longa</em> is also known as turmeric.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/turmeric-root-curcuma-longaherb-plant-786438259">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Turmeric compounds such as curcumin are <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1759720X221124545">often combined</a> with <em>Boswellia serrata</em> compounds to improve their anti-inflammatory effects to reduce pain. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33511486/">review of 16 different clinical trials</a> found turmeric extracts were effective for knee osteoarthritis. </p>
<p>A similar conclusion was drawn from a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965229921001163">review of 11 clinical trials</a> which examined the use of curcuminoids (of which curcumin is one) for one to four months. It found curcuminoids had similar pain-relieving qualities as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory based drugs. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/these-5-foods-are-claimed-to-improve-our-health-but-the-amount-wed-need-to-consume-to-benefit-is-a-lot-116730">These 5 foods are claimed to improve our health. But the amount we'd need to consume to benefit is... a lot</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><strong><em>Piper nigrum</em></strong></p>
<p>Black pepper (<em>Piper nigrum</em>) contains the chemical <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/9/20/4270">piperine</a>, which has anti-inflammatory properties.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Piper Nigrum (peppercorn)" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559177/original/file-20231113-23-f91rga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559177/original/file-20231113-23-f91rga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559177/original/file-20231113-23-f91rga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559177/original/file-20231113-23-f91rga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559177/original/file-20231113-23-f91rga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559177/original/file-20231113-23-f91rga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559177/original/file-20231113-23-f91rga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"><em>Piper nigrum</em> is also called black pepper.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/pepper-piper-nigrum-peppercorn-common-1158781747">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>Piper nigrum</em> is often added to curcumin products to improve the absorption of curcumin, as is the case with the PanaNatra Joint Pain product.</p>
<p>For musculoskeletal pain, a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32664057/">preliminary human trial</a> that examined the effects of a 1,000 mg daily dose of Rhuleave K (the extract used in PanaNatra) found it was as effective as paracetamol. </p>
<p>But the study was not placebo-controlled and the dose of paracetamol given (1,000 mg per day) was below the recommended daily intake for pain relief.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/knee-pain-heres-why-it-happens-and-how-you-can-fix-it-211858">Knee pain: here’s why it happens and how you can fix it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><strong><em>Withania somnifera</em></strong></p>
<p><em>Withania somnifera</em> (also called Ashwagandha) has been used in <a href="https://medlineplus.gov/druginfo/natural/953.html">traditional Indian Ayurvedic medicine</a> for thousands of years to reduce stress and ease inflammation. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Withania somnifera plant, commonly known as Ashwagandha (winter cherry)" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559178/original/file-20231113-21-zdguhr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559178/original/file-20231113-21-zdguhr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559178/original/file-20231113-21-zdguhr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559178/original/file-20231113-21-zdguhr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559178/original/file-20231113-21-zdguhr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559178/original/file-20231113-21-zdguhr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559178/original/file-20231113-21-zdguhr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ashwagandha, or <em>Withania somnifera</em>, is sometimes called winter cherry.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/withania-somnifera-plant-commonly-known-ashwagandha-2237392831">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One of the key chemicals appears to be <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8705790/">withaferin A</a> which interferes with the inflammatory signalling pathway. </p>
<p>PanaNatra’s Pain and Sleep product contains 300 mg per tablet of a <em>Withania somnifera</em> extract called KSM66.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32818573/">human trial</a> found a daily 600 mg dose of <em>Withania somnifera</em> extract improved sleep quality and helped in managing insomnia.</p>
<p><a href="https://assets.cureus.com/uploads/original_article/pdf/25730/1612429507-1612429503-20210204-18590-tdgx00.pdf">In a separate trial</a>, <em>Withania somnifera</em> was found to improve sleep quality, again when administered at a dose of 600 mg per day.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-ayurveda-to-biomedicine-understanding-the-human-body-85631">From Ayurveda to biomedicine: understanding the human body</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>So what does this mean?</h2>
<p>Whether, and how well, a herbal medicine works is largely dependent on the formulation (how it’s made and the extract used) and the dose provided. The same herb used in one formulation may result in a different outcome than a different formulation containing the same herb. </p>
<p>It’s also important to note that effectiveness for one type of pain does not mean a product will work for other types of pain. </p>
<p>Overall, similar herb extracts to those that have been included in the PanaNatra products do have some evidence that they work for pain and sleep. Whether they work for you will depend on a number of factors including the effectiveness of the PanaNatra formulation, how much you take, and the extent of your pain.</p>
<h2>Are they safe?</h2>
<p>PanaNatra needs to be used carefully by some patients. </p>
<p>Overall, there is insufficient human data to recommend any of these herbal ingredients in pregnancy or lactation. In fact there is some evidence that <em><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2210803321000142">Withania somnifera</a></em> may be unsafe to use in pregnancy, and other than the amounts commonly found in food, turmeric and its compounds are <a href="https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/turmeric">not considered safe</a> to use in pregnancy either. </p>
<p>The herbs may also impact the effectiveness and safety of other medicines. For example, the blood levels of the cancer drug <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00280-023-04504-z">tamoxifen may be reduced</a> when taken concurrently with turmeric supplements. </p>
<p><em>Withania somnifera</em> has been associated with drowsiness and cases of <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/5/3921">liver toxicity</a>.</p>
<p><em>Curcuma longa</em> products, including formulations containing curcumin and piperine, have also been associated with liver toxicity. As such, Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration has proposed <a href="https://consultations.tga.gov.au/medicines-regulation-division/low-neg-risk-2023-2024/user_uploads/tga---low-negligible-risk-annual-consultation-2023-2024---final.pdf">adding warning labels</a> to any products that contain those ingredients. But this discussion is ongoing and a decision won’t be made until next year. </p>
<h2>Bottom line</h2>
<p>While there is a long history of traditional use of the herbs in the PanaNatra products, there is limited high-quality scientific evidence for the effectiveness and safety for these specific products. </p>
<p>Pregnant and breastfeeding women should not take these products, and you should not exceed the daily dose recommended by the manufacturer. </p>
<p>If you have an underlying health condition, or are taking other medication, before you try them, consult your doctor or pharmacist to check if these products are suitable for you.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/do-you-know-whats-in-the-herbal-medicine-youre-taking-72726">Do you know what's in the herbal medicine you're taking?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216445/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nial Wheate in the past has received funding from the ACT Cancer Council, Tenovus Scotland, Medical Research Scotland, Scottish Crucible, and the Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance. He is a Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, a member of the Australasian Pharmaceutical Science Association, and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Nial is the chief scientific officer of Vaihea Skincare LLC, a director of SetDose Pty Ltd a medical device company, and a Standards Australia panel member for sunscreen agents. Nial regularly consults to industry on issues to do with medicine risk assessments, manufacturing, design, and testing.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanna Harnett is an academic University of Sydney’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Pharmacy School where she teaches and conducts research in the field of traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine (TCIM). She has received research funds from universities, organisations, and/or industry for TCIM research and education and received payments for providing expert advice about TCIM to industry, government bodies and/or non-government organisations, and/or spoken at workshops, seminars and/or conferences for which registration, travel and/or accommodation has been paid for by the organisers.
The institutes, centres and universities associated with the authors receive research grants, donations and endowments from foundations, universities, government agencies, individuals, and industry. Sponsors and donors have provided untied funding to advance TCIM education and research. This viewpoint article was not undertaken as part of a contractual relationship with any donor or sponsor.
</span></em></p>PanaNatra is a line of herbal products from the makers of Panadol. But can herbal ingredients relieve different types of pain?Nial Wheate, Associate Professor of the School of Pharmacy, University of SydneyJoanna Harnett, Lecturer (Complementary Medicines) Sydney Pharmacy School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2143492023-10-10T12:33:15Z2023-10-10T12:33:15ZSpicy food might burn in the moment, but it likely won’t harm your health in the long term<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550760/original/file-20230927-27-e1u3ie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=27%2C0%2C3090%2C2053&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many cultures integrate hot peppers into traditional dishes. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/ChilePepperWar/079ec2e65f37461893f0eefa4f7e9d07/photo?Query=hot%20pepper&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=52&currentItemNo=0">AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan, File</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Everyone has a different tolerance for spicy food — some love the burn, while others can’t take the heat. But the scientific consensus on whether spicy food can have an effect — positive or negative — on your health is pretty mixed. </p>
<p>In September 2023, a 14-year-old boy died after consuming a spicy pepper as part of the viral “<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2023/09/09/14-year-old-dies-after-trying-the-paqui-one-chip-challenge/?sh=2091ee4e4a87">one chip challenge</a>.” The Paqui One Chip Challenge uses Carolina Reaper and Naga Viper peppers, which are among the <a href="https://paqui.com/onechipchallenge/">hottest peppers in the world</a>.</p>
<p>While the boy’s death is still under examination by health officials, it has gotten some of the spicy chips being used in these challenges <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/company-pulls-spicy-chip-challenge-store-shelves-massachusetts-103011095">removed from stores</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550761/original/file-20230927-15-tashar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A cardboard display at a gas station reading 'One Chip Challenge Real Peppers Real Heat' with several bags and boxes of 'Paqui' brand chips." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550761/original/file-20230927-15-tashar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550761/original/file-20230927-15-tashar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550761/original/file-20230927-15-tashar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550761/original/file-20230927-15-tashar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550761/original/file-20230927-15-tashar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=679&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550761/original/file-20230927-15-tashar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=679&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550761/original/file-20230927-15-tashar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=679&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many stores have removed the Paqui One Chip Challenge chips from their shelves.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/TeenDeathSpicyChips/4513cd4c253849e1849e283ad9e9f56d/photo?Query=one%20chip%20challenge&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=3&currentItemNo=2">AP Photo/Steve LeBlanc</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://gsm.utmck.edu/internalmed/faculty/terry.cfm">As an epidemiologist</a>, I’m interested in how spicy food can affect people’s health and potentially worsen symptoms associated with chronic diseases like inflammatory bowel disease. I am also interested in how diet, including spicy foods, can increase or decrease a person’s lifespan.</p>
<h2>The allure of spicy food</h2>
<p>Spicy food can refer to food with plenty of flavor from spices, such as Asian curries, Tex-Mex dishes or Hungarian paprikash. It can also refer to foods with noticeable <a href="https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/1548943">heat from capsaicin</a>, a chemical compound found to varying degrees <a href="https://www.snexplores.org/article/cool-science-hot-peppers">in hot peppers</a>. </p>
<p>As the capsaicin content of a pepper increases, so does its ranking on <a href="https://scovillescale.org/">the Scoville scale</a>, which quantifies the sensation of being hot. </p>
<p>Capsaicin tastes hot because it <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-2021-nobel-prize-for-medicine-helps-unravel-mysteries-about-how-the-body-senses-temperature-and-pressure-169229">activates certain biological pathways</a> in mammals – the same pathways <a href="https://thelasallian.com/2022/12/03/pain-and-pleasure-why-do-some-people-love-spicy-food-and-others-dont/">activated by hot temperatures</a>. The pain produced by spicy food can <a href="https://www.salisbury.edu/administration/student-affairs/dining-services/newsletter/march-1-2022/wordl-of-spices.aspx">provoke the body</a> to release endorphins and dopamine. This release can prompt a sense of relief or even a degree of euphoria. </p>
<p>In the U.S., the U.K. and elsewhere, more people than ever are <a href="https://www.foodbeverageinsider.com/market-trends-analysis/spicy-snacks-remain-popular-as-summer-heats-up#">consuming spicy foods</a>, including extreme pepper varieties.</p>
<p>Hot-pepper-eating contests and similar “spicy food challenges” aren’t new, although spicy food challenges have gotten hotter – in terms of spice level and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/paqui-spicy-chip-challenge-social-media-risks-369f295714ac7f856c815ffe5ad4e961">popularity on social media</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WwBkiyhp3rQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Hot peppers like the Carolina Reaper can induce sweating and make the consumer feel like their mouth is burning.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Short-term health effects</h2>
<p>The short-term effects of consuming extremely spicy foods range from a pleasurable sensation of heat to an <a href="https://www.pfizer.com/news/articles/bodily_functions_explained_spicy_food_reaction">unpleasant burning sensation</a> across the lips, tongue and mouth. These foods can also cause various forms of <a href="https://www.uhhospitals.org/blog/articles/2022/06/spicy-food-challenges-harmful-or-healthy">digestive tract discomfort</a>, <a href="https://health.clevelandclinic.org/health-risks-of-spicy-food/">headaches and vomiting</a>.</p>
<p>If spicy foods are uncomfortable to eat, or cause unpleasant symptoms like migraines, abdominal pain and diarrhea, then it’s probably best to avoid those foods. Spicy food may cause these symptoms in <a href="https://www.mycrohnsandcolitisteam.com/resources/ulcerative-colitis-crohns-and-spicy-food-whats-safe">people with inflammatory bowel diseases</a>, for example.</p>
<p>Spicy food challenges notwithstanding, for many people across the world, consumption of spicy food is part of a long-term lifestyle influenced by <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/food-news/7-countries-that-have-the-spiciest-food-in-the-world/photostory/69219574.cms">geography and culture</a>. </p>
<p>For example, hot peppers grow in hot climates, which may explain why many cultures in these climates <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080%2F23328940.2015.1111289">use spicy foods</a> in their cooking. Some research suggests that spicy foods help <a href="https://lithub.com/how-and-why-did-cultural-tastes-for-spicy-food-develop/">control foodborne illnesses</a>, which may also explain <a href="https://news.cornell.edu/stories/1998/03/food-bacteria-spice-survey-shows-why-some-cultures-it-hot">cultural preferences for spicy foods</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550762/original/file-20230927-21-h5tl2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A plant growing several green chile peppers in a field." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550762/original/file-20230927-21-h5tl2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550762/original/file-20230927-21-h5tl2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550762/original/file-20230927-21-h5tl2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550762/original/file-20230927-21-h5tl2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550762/original/file-20230927-21-h5tl2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550762/original/file-20230927-21-h5tl2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550762/original/file-20230927-21-h5tl2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Chile peppers growing in Mexico.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/COP27ClimateChangeAncestralHome/cdea4ef476844f5ab0bbc7ba681dcacb/photo?Query=peppers%20growing&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=104&currentItemNo=14">AP Photo/Andres Leighton</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Lack of consensus</h2>
<p>Nutritional epidemiologists have been studying the potential risks and benefits of long-term spicy food consumption for many years. Some of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/mnfr.202200167">outcomes examined</a> in relation to spicy food consumption <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14293-4">include obesity</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nut.2023.112062">cardiovascular disease</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyaa275">cancer</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/CM9.0000000000001318">Alzheimer’s disease</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1159/000502542">heartburn and ulcers</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14214508">psychological health</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2019.11.011">pain sensitivity</a> and <a href="https://www.consultant360.com/exclusives/could-chili-peppers-reduce-risk-all-cause-mortality">death from any cause</a> – also called all-cause mortality. </p>
<p>These studies report mixed results, with some outcomes like heartburn more strongly linked to spicy food consumption. As can be expected with an evolving science, some experts are more certain about some of these health effects than others. </p>
<p>For example, some experts state with confidence that spicy food <a href="https://www.uchicagomedicine.org/forefront/health-and-wellness-articles/spicy-foods-healthy-or-dangerous">does not cause stomach ulcers</a>, whereas the <a href="https://oncocare.sg/en/blogs/is-your-love-for-spicy-food-putting-you-at-risk-for-stomach-cancer/">association with stomach cancer</a> isn’t as clear. </p>
<p>When taking heart disease, cancer and all other causes of death in a study population into consideration, does eating spicy food increase or decrease the risk of early death? </p>
<p>Right now, the evidence from large population-based studies suggests that spicy food does not increase the risk of all-cause mortality among a population and <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/frequent-spicy-food-consumption-linked-with-lower-death-risk/">may actually decrease the risk</a>. </p>
<p>However, when considering the results of these studies, keep in mind that what people eat is one part of a larger set of lifestyle factors – such as physical activity, relative body weight and consumption of tobacco and alcohol – that also have health consequences. </p>
<p>It’s not easy for researchers to measure diet and lifestyle factors accurately in a population-based study, at least in part because people don’t always remember or <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/public-health-nutrition/article/bias-in-dietaryreport-instruments-and-its-implications-for-nutritional-epidemiology/F74F7C0AF47FDD40061A3684DA658731">report their exposure</a> accurately. It often takes numerous studies conducted over many years to reach a firm conclusion about how a dietary factor affects a certain aspect of health. </p>
<p>Scientists still don’t entirely know <a href="https://thelasallian.com/2022/12/03/pain-and-pleasure-why-do-some-people-love-spicy-food-and-others-dont/">why so many people enjoy spicy foods</a> while others do not, although there is <a href="https://bigthink.com/life/why-people-like-spicy-foods/">plenty of speculation</a> regarding evolutionary, cultural and geographic factors, as well as <a href="https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/craving-spicy-food#4.-Youre-congested">medical, biological and psychological ones</a>. </p>
<p>One thing experts do know, however, is that humans are one of the only animals that will intentionally eat something spicy enough to cause them pain, <a href="https://bigthink.com/life/why-people-like-spicy-foods/">all for the sake of pleasure</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214349/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul D. Terry does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>After a 14-year-old died doing a viral spicy chip challenge, many parents have called for more awareness about the risks of these challenges.Paul D. Terry, Professor of Epidemiology, University of Tennessee Health Science CenterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1922912022-11-03T22:40:35Z2022-11-03T22:40:35ZWhy some like it hot: The science of spiciness<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492734/original/file-20221101-11-vnpaci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4272%2C2845&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Capsaicin is what makes chilli peppers taste hot.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/why-some-like-it-hot--the-science-of-spiciness" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Spiciness, or its perception, occurs in most cuisines worldwide. The chilli pepper of the genus <em>Capsicum</em> (family <em>Solanaceae</em>) is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/23328940.2015.1133878">one of the world’s most widely used spices</a>, found in thousands of recipes and sometimes eaten as a stand-alone dish. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijgfs.2018.04.002">One in every four people</a> on the planet currently eats chillies on a daily basis. </p>
<p>As a forest eco-physiologist, I study the adaptation traits developed by plant organisms to interact with other living beings and the surrounding environment. </p>
<p>The research on chilli peppers and spiciness represents an outstanding example of multidisciplinary science. Several researchers in the last decades have provided information and curiosities about this most unique and desirable oral sensation. </p>
<h2>A brief history</h2>
<p>Chilli peppers were unknown to much of the world until <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/exploration/christopher-columbus">Christopher Columbus made his way to the New World in 1492</a>. Several origin theories flagged different parts of South America as “the” spot where chillies came from. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/phylogenetics">phylogenetic</a> analysis found that <a href="https://doi.org/10.14237/ebl.4.2013.2">they are native to an area along the Andes of western to northwestern South America</a>. These ancestral wild <em>Capsicum</em> were “<a href="https://cpi.nmsu.edu/chile-info/for-kids-pages/the-story-of-chile-peppers.html">small red, round, berry-like fruits.</a>” </p>
<p>The earliest evidence of domestication dates back to <a href="https://doi.org/10.14237/ebl.4.2013.2">6,000 years ago in Mexico or northern Central America</a>. Chilli peppers were introduced into Europe in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/23328940.2015.1133878">16th century</a>. Currently, there are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780857090393500074">five domesticated chilli peppers species</a>. </p>
<p>The five domesticated species are <em>Capsicum annuum</em>, <em>C. chinense</em>, <em>C. frutescens</em>, <em>C. baccatum</em> and <em>C. pubescens</em>. The species with the most varieties is the <em>C. annuum</em>, which includes the New Mexican jalapeño and the bell pepper. The Habaneros and scotch bonnets instead belong to the <em>C. chinense</em>, while Tabasco peppers are <em>C. frutescens</em>. The South American ajis are <em>C. baccatum</em>, while the Peruvian rocoto and the Mexican Manzano are <em>C. pubescens</em>.</p>
<p>Nowadays, more than three million tons of chilli peppers are produced yearly for a global market that is well over <a href="https://www.tridge.com/market-guides/posts/how-is-the-general-landscape-of-the-chili-pepper-market">US$4 billion</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492773/original/file-20221101-22-5aqn3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="rows of Tabasco hot sauce varieties on a supermarket shelf" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492773/original/file-20221101-22-5aqn3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492773/original/file-20221101-22-5aqn3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492773/original/file-20221101-22-5aqn3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492773/original/file-20221101-22-5aqn3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492773/original/file-20221101-22-5aqn3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492773/original/file-20221101-22-5aqn3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492773/original/file-20221101-22-5aqn3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tabasco Sauce — made from Tabasco, vinegar and salt — is one of the most popular hot sauces.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why chilli burns?</h2>
<p>Spiciness is a burning sensation caused by capsaicin in food. When we eat spicy food, capsaicin stimulates receptors in our mouth called <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/39807">TRPV1 receptors</a> and triggers a reaction. The purpose of TRPV1 receptors is thermoreception — the detection of heat. This means they are supposed to deter us from consuming food that burns. </p>
<p>When TRPV1 receptors are activated by capsaicin, the sensation we experience is linked to the feeling of encountering something hot, near the boiling point of water. However, this pain is nothing more than an illusory side effect of our confused neural receptors — there is nothing actually “hot” about spicy food. </p>
<h2>Not all chillies are equal</h2>
<p>Different degrees of spiciness exist according to the chilli you are eating. In 1912, pharmacist <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24632002">Wilbur Scoville</a> created a <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/the-science-of-hot-chili-peppers/">scale</a> to measure the pungency (spiciness) of chilli peppers. This scale, measured in Scoville Heat Units (SHU), is based on the capsaicinoid sensitivity experienced by people eating hot chillies. </p>
<p>On the standard Scoville heat scale, bell peppers (SHU=0) are on the bottom. Jalapeño peppers can range anywhere from 2,500 to 10,000. By comparison, Tabasco peppers are between 25,000 to 50,000 units, and habanero chilli ranges between 100,000 to 350,000. </p>
<p>The world’s hottest pepper — <a href="https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI13574-18">the Carolina Reaper</a> — goes all the way up to 2.2 million units. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/zoo.1037">Bear spray</a> — two per cent capsaicin — is advertised at 3.3 million units, and pure capsaicin hits 16 million at the top of the Scoville scale.</p>
<h2>Human pleasure</h2>
<p>Psychologist <a href="https://paulbloom.net/">Paul Bloom</a> writes: “Philosophers have often looked for the defining feature of humans — language, rationality, culture and so on. I’d stick with this: <a href="https://wwnorton.co.uk/books/9780393066326-how-pleasure-works">Man is the only animal that likes Tabasco sauce</a>.” </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Nupi_cJRlHY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The YouTube show ‘Hot Ones’ features celebrities being interviewed while eating spicy hot wings.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Bloom was right. There is not a single animal that enjoys hot pepper, but we are not the only animal species eating chillies. Mammals, like mice and squirrels, share the same <a href="https://pharmrev.aspetjournals.org/content/51/2/159.short">spicy food receptors humans have</a>, and they tend to avoid hot peppers as food sources. </p>
<p>Birds eat hot peppers — but they can’t actually feel the heat. Birds have different receptors from humans and are biologically unable to register the effects of capsaicin. </p>
<p>Explaining the reason for the evolution of capsaicin is not that easy. Some argue that it is an adaptation to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/35086653">select birds to eat chilli fruits</a>. Birds don’t chew or digest seeds like rodents, and they transport them far away. </p>
<p>Other studies have suggested that capsaicin is also an effective <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1438-8677.2012.00717.x">deterrent against the attack of parasitic fungi</a>, and the heat sensation in mammals is a side effect. </p>
<p>Some experts argue that humans like chillies because they are good for us. They have some <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2021.1884840">beneficial effects on human health</a>. They <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/nu8050174">reduce blood pressure</a> and may have some <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25235681">antimicrobial effects</a>. The pain of chillies can even overwhelm and help <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ptr.2650020405">manage other pains</a>.</p>
<p>Another hypothesis can be described as benign masochism. Psychologist Paul Rozin suggests that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00995932">there’s a sort of thrill similar to the fun of riding a roller coaster</a>. In an interview, he explained: “Mind over body. My body thinks I’m in trouble, <a href="https://mbird.com/psychology/pain-pleasure-and-pepper/">but I know I’m not</a>.”</p>
<h2>Reducing the burn</h2>
<p>What happens when a food is too hot to handle? The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2019.05.018">ability of several common beverages to put out the fire</a>, or reduce the oral burn from capsaicin, has been tested. </p>
<p>With capsaicin, a glass of water will be ineffective because capsaicin is hydrophobic — the molecule does not bond with water. Although it needs to be thoroughly proven, ethanol in a cold beer might even increase the burn perception. </p>
<p>Beverages with a significant amount of sugar can help because activating the taste of sweetness basically confounds our brain. Too much stimuli to handle will reduce the pungency of chillis.</p>
<p>A glass of milk, a few spoons of yogurt or ice cream will calm the burning sensation. These products are usually sweet, but there’s more: casein — the primary protein in cow’s milk — attracts capsaicin molecules. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2019.05.018">Casein molecules surround the capsaicin molecules and wash them away</a>, in the same way that soap washes away grease. </p>
<p>So the next time you want to try a new hot sauce or spicy dish, do not forget to order a glass of milk.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192291/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roberto Silvestro receives the Merit scholarship for international PhD students (PBEEE) assigned by the Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Nature et Technologies (FRQNT).</span></em></p>Human attraction to spicy food makes us an anomaly amongst mammals. Chilli is one of the most popular spices in our cuisines, but how the affinity for chilli appeared is a mystery.Roberto Silvestro, PhD Candidate, Biology, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1529012021-01-13T16:11:17Z2021-01-13T16:11:17ZSolar panels capture more sunlight with capsaicin - the chemical that makes chili peppers spicy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378252/original/file-20210112-17-1yt5297.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4500%2C2949&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/red-chilli-peppers-pattern-on-pink-1756525391">ViktoriyaFivko/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Here’s some news hot off the press. <a href="https://www.cell.com/joule/fulltext/S2542-4351(20)30608-5">Researchers have found</a> a secret ingredient for making solar panels that absorb the sun’s energy more efficiently. Depending on what you like to eat, there’s a good chance you can find it at home. Capsaicin, the chemical that gives chili peppers their spicy sting, also improves perovskite solar cells – the devices that make up solar panels.</p>
<p>Adding capsaicin expands the grains which make up the active material of the solar cell, allowing it to more effectively transport electricity. More importantly, the material goes from having a deficit of electrons to having an excess, changing how the cell operates and allowing more sunlight to be converted to electricity. In essence, adding capsaicin adds electrons, which may or may not be the same effect you experience on your tongue after a particularly spicy biryani.</p>
<p>The capsaicin-laced cells are among some of the most efficient that have been reported. Rather than a gimmick to grab headlines, adding this chemical from chili peppers may actually be a route to improving the performance of solar cells.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378274/original/file-20210112-23-8m23gv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A gloved hand holds up a small solar cell." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378274/original/file-20210112-23-8m23gv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378274/original/file-20210112-23-8m23gv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378274/original/file-20210112-23-8m23gv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378274/original/file-20210112-23-8m23gv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378274/original/file-20210112-23-8m23gv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378274/original/file-20210112-23-8m23gv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378274/original/file-20210112-23-8m23gv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The perovskite solar cells containing capsaicin.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.cell.com/joule/fulltext/S2542-4351(20)30608-5">Jin Yang</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But why would you think to add chili peppers to a solar panel in the first place? Unfortunately, the researchers didn’t share their thought process. But I happen to have form in this area too.</p>
<h2>A light bulb moment</h2>
<p>In 2014, I published <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature13435">a paper</a> demonstrating how a compound called magnesium chloride could dramatically reduce the cost of solar energy, albeit in a different type of solar cell. Haven’t heard of magnesium chloride? Well if you’re vegan, you’ve probably consumed it at one time or another. </p>
<p>It’s a salt not too dissimilar to table salt (sodium chloride) and it can be recovered from sea water. It has many uses, but one of its most popular is in Japanese cooking, where it’s known as <em>nigari</em> and used as the coagulant for thickening tofu. My findings led to some media coverage of “<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/science-environment-28017935">tofu solar</a>”, which was fun, and me getting called tofu boy at academic conferences (less fun). </p>
<p>Does this mean food chemicals transfer particularly well to solar cell research? Not really. The coincidence has more to do with the overlap between food and chemistry and the “what if” approach that guides a lot of material scientists.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-a-new-solar-and-lighting-technology-could-propel-a-renewable-energy-transformation-133658">How a new solar and lighting technology could propel a renewable energy transformation</a>
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<p>You might think that most solar cell research is done by physicists. This is partly true – I’m one myself, after all – but the research approach has little in common with work done by particle physicists at the large hadron collider, or Stephen Hawking-fronted cosmological research. Those fields generally revolve around heavy computation and theory work. In other words, a lot of time staring at blackboards.</p>
<p>Solar cell research is really a matter of materials science, which sits somewhere between physics and chemistry. The development of new solar cell technologies or processes is very labour-intensive, and the typical approach is to spend a great deal of time testing the performance of a large number of comparable but slightly altered cell designs. Solar cells are comprised of stacked layers of different materials, and it’s hard to predict what will happen to the performance of the entire structure by changing one component. </p>
<p>If I add something to layer A and it changes, then layers B, C and D on top of it will probably change as well. Similarly, if I change layer C, will I need to change how I made A or B and what will then happen to D? You can probably get a sense of how hard this would be to predict, and this feeds the curiosity behind much of the innovation in this field. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A cross-section showing the different layers of a solar cell." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378273/original/file-20210112-13-7mtiqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378273/original/file-20210112-13-7mtiqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378273/original/file-20210112-13-7mtiqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378273/original/file-20210112-13-7mtiqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378273/original/file-20210112-13-7mtiqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378273/original/file-20210112-13-7mtiqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378273/original/file-20210112-13-7mtiqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Solar innovation is often a matter of experimenting with the complex composition of cells.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/solar-panel-schematic-3d-illustration-internal-560815132">Iaremenko Sergii/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Think of solar cells like cake. To find out what will happen when you add a novel ingredient, it’s far more reliable to bake it and then sample the final concoction than to try and predict what it will look and taste like before you bake it.</p>
<p>In the end, the food we eat, just like solar cells, is a mix of compounds. While we know capsaicin from chili, it’s really just an organic compound called C₁₈H₂₇NO₃, which, coincidentally, has particular properties that make it suitable for solar cell processing – as well as for spicing up a fajita. </p>
<p>For my own part, I had developed the process of using magnesium chloride and only later found out when I came to write the paper that it was used in tofu. I wasn’t inspired in the vegan food aisle, sadly. So, these approaches are not as weird and wacky as they sound when you first read about them. There is usually some initial logic that’s based on the inherent chemistry of these compounds, and these flights of scientific fancy are often what leads to interesting breakthroughs. </p>
<p>So, if in the near future you read an article about solar cells improved immeasurably by adding nutmeg or something, trust that it’s been done as a result of informed curiosity of the likely effect, rather than boredom and a looming best-before date.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/152901/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jon Major receives funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.</span></em></p>Chemicals found in food and solar cell technology have an interesting history – as my own research shows.Jon Major, Research Fellow, Stephenson Institute for Renewable Energy, University of LiverpoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1355802020-04-13T07:40:06Z2020-04-13T07:40:06ZDebunking 9 popular myths doing the rounds in Africa about the coronavirus<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326510/original/file-20200408-153819-1etgmdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Somali women on a coronavirus awareness campaign</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Abdirazak Hussein/GettyImages</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the second week of March the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared COVID-19 <a href="https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---11-march-2020">a pandemic</a>. By mid-March the disease had spread rapidly in many countries around the world.</p>
<p>Governments are taking drastic steps, including the complete lockdown of cities, as well as extensive health interventions to try and stem the disease which is caused by a new coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2.</p>
<p>There is still a great deal that’s not known about SARS-CoV-2. This limited scientific information has contributed to a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-51710617">slew of myths and misconceptions</a>. Some claims being made are harmless. Others can be potentially dangerous. </p>
<p>We have identified nine misconceptions doing the rounds on social media in Africa and set out to counter them. The purpose of debunking these myths is to provide people with trusted information. And to provide people with valid scientifically backed answers which they can share on social media to counter the misinformation and disinformation out there. </p>
<h2>Myth 1: SARS-CoV-2 does not affect Africans</h2>
<p>Across the continent rumours have been rife that the virus does <a href="https://archive.fo/oioB5">not affect black people</a>. This was fuelled partly by the fact that a Cameroonian student in China, who was among the first people to contract the disease, responded well to treatment.</p>
<p>But there is <a href="https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/mar/10/facebook-posts/melanin-doesnt-protect-against-coronavirus/">no proof</a> that melanin protects black people from the coronavirus. There is also no scientific evidence that African blood composition <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/gauteng/medical-experts-slam-claims-that-black-people-are-immune-to-coronavirus-45735869">prevents</a> Africans from contracting the coronavirus. </p>
<p>This misinformation persisted even after the deaths of high-profile black Africans, such as legendary Cameroonian musician <a href="https://theconversation.com/tribute-to-manu-dibango-cameroonian-jazz-pioneer-loved-across-africa-and-the-world-134673">Manu Dibango</a>, and Zimbabwean media personality <a href="https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/journalist-zororo-makamba-becomes-zimbabwes-first-covid-19-death-20200323">Zororo Makamba</a>. </p>
<p>This myth is not limited to Africa. Twitter has recently been <a href="https://www.okayplayer.com/news/are-black-people-immune-to-coronavirus.html">abuzz with claims</a> of African-Americans being immune to coronavirus</p>
<h2>Myth 2: SARS-CoV-2 cannot survive in Africa’s warm climate</h2>
<p>This myth arose after research, which hadn’t been peer reviewed, pointed to temperature having a role in the survival of the virus. One of the most widely quoted sources was John Nicholls, a pathology professor at Hong Kong university who <a href="https://www.accuweather.com/en/health-wellness/new-study-says-high-temperature-and-high-relative-humidity-significantly-reduce-spread-of-covid-19/703418">said that</a> “in cold environments, there is longer virus survival than warm ones”.</p>
<p>This claim, however, was not based on verified research. It was nevertheless seized on as proof that the virus cannot thrive in Africa’s <a href="https://cityscrollz.com/4002">warm climate</a>.</p>
<p>According to the WHO, the virus can be transmitted to all areas, <a href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/myth-busters">event hot and humid countries</a>. </p>
<p>The only continent that has no cases of COVID-19 is <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/03/24/one-continent-remains-untouched-by-coronavirus-antarctica/">Antarctica</a>. This could change. </p>
<h2>Myth 3: Spray alcohol and chlorine all over your body</h2>
<p>Using hand sanitisers that contain 60% or more of alcohol has been found <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html">to kill the coronavirus</a>. But, there has been a myth that <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/coronavirus-will-consuming-alcohol-protect-you/the-misconceptions/slideshow/74524979.cms">spraying alcohol</a> and chlorine will kill the virus. </p>
<p>Alcohol and chlorine <a href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/myth-busters">will not kill the virus</a> if it has entered the body already. </p>
<p>Spraying alcohol all over your body can be harmful, particularly to your eyes and mouth. Importantly, the alcohol in the sanitiser is not the same as the alcohol that people drink. The latter ranges up to 40% while hand sanitisers need to be 60% and above.</p>
<h2>Myth 4: Drink black tea first thing in the morning</h2>
<p>The media in Kenya have been reporting on false claims that <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-51710617">drinking black tea</a> first thing in the morning is effective against the COVID-19 disease. </p>
<p>This is untrue. There is <a href="https://factcheck.afp.com/no-evidence-drinking-tea-can-cure-or-relieve-symptoms-covid-19-doctors-say">no evidence</a> to suggest that tea can protect a person from the virus. These claims can result in a sense of false security and can be dangerous. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325282/original/file-20200403-74202-i9usct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325282/original/file-20200403-74202-i9usct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325282/original/file-20200403-74202-i9usct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325282/original/file-20200403-74202-i9usct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325282/original/file-20200403-74202-i9usct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325282/original/file-20200403-74202-i9usct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325282/original/file-20200403-74202-i9usct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">World-renowned Cameroonian musician Manu Dibango’s death from coronavirus hasn’t stopped people claiming blacks are immune to it.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EFE-EPA/Daniel Karmann</span></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>Coronavirus can be prevented by maintaining a safe social distance and <a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-washing-our-hands-really-can-help-curb-the-spread-of-coronavirus-132915">washing your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds</a>.</p>
<h2>Myth 5: Pepper soup with lime or lemon flushes out the virus</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.tastecooking.com/recipes/nigerian-pepper-soup/">pepper soup</a> myth has been circulating mostly in <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/tech/coronavirus-hoax-circulating-claims-virus-21615051">Nigeria</a>. </p>
<p>Pepper has anti-oxidant, detoxification and antimicrobial properties. But, there is no evidence that it prevents or kills SARS-CoV-2. It is also a rich source of vitamin C, which helps <a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/cold-and-flu/can-vitamin-c-prevent-a-cold">maintain a good immune system</a>. </p>
<p>Likewise, lemon and lime also contain high amounts of vitamin C. But there is no evidence to support the claim that they flush the virus out of an infected person’s system.</p>
<h2>Myth 6: Steam your face with and inhale neem tree leaves</h2>
<p>There have been claims, <a href="https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Neem-traditional-herbal-practices-can-help-fight-coronavirus-Traditional-Medicine-Practitioners-898801">mostly in Ghana</a>, that steam therapy with neem can prevent COVID-19. What we know is that according to ayurvedic medicine experts, <a href="https://www.dtnext.in/Lifestyle/Wellbeing/2020/03/08084719/1218960/What-Ayurveda-has-to-offer-in-fight-against-coronavirus.vpf">neem can assist</a> in strengthening the immune system and prevent viral infections. </p>
<p>Neem is known to exhibit immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, antihyperglycaemic, anti-oxidant and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15777222">anticarcinogenic properties</a>. But, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has emphasised that there is <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-steam-kills-coronavirus/false-claim-steam-therapy-kills-coronavirus-idUSKBN21H2LK">no clinical evidence</a> to suggest that steaming and inhaling with neem will prevent coronavirus.</p>
<h2>Myth 7: Vitamin C tablets prevent COVID-19</h2>
<p>Vitamin C is a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S8755966886800217">known anti-oxidant</a>. It prevents damage to tissue in the body by neutralising free radicals, which are charged particles that cause damage to cells and tissues and result in inflammation. Vitamin C is also known to protect against pathogens. </p>
<p>But there is <a href="https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-myths.html">no proof</a> that vitamin C can prevent one from contracting COVID-19 though there are trials being undertaken on the use of vitamin C among COVID-19 patient. None has <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/claims-vitamin-c-can-prevent-or-cure-covid-19-unfounded-experts-warn-1.4875757">provided conclusive proof</a>.</p>
<h2>Myth 8: Having had malaria makes one immune</h2>
<p>There have been several social media posts that suggest that <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/covid-19-in-africa-insights-from-our-media-briefing-with-who/">malarial endemic countries have a decreased risk</a> of acquiring new coronavirus cases. </p>
<p>There is <a href="https://www.outlookindia.com/newsscroll/no-evidence-countries-with-malaria-immune-against-covid19/1782217">no evidence to support this</a>.</p>
<p>Malaria – which is caused by a parasite and is transmitted from the bite of an infected <em>Anopheles</em> mosquito to humans – used to be treated with the drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine. These have been used, respectively, as an anti-malarial and as an auto-immune disease drug for inflammation. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/chloroquine-and-hydroxychloroquine-no-proof-these-anti-malarial-drugs-prevent-novel-coronavirus-in-humans-134703">Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine: no proof these anti-malarial drugs prevent novel coronavirus in humans</a>
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<p>The over-hyping of chloroquine has led to worldwide shortages and resulted in people self-medicating. Experts have warned that <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/uppsala-monitoring-centre_covid19-chloroquine-hydroxychloroquine-activity-6650407616814153728-kObk/">high doses of the drug are toxic</a>.</p>
<h2>Myth 9: The flu injection will protect you</h2>
<p>The fact that health practitioners <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/lifestyle/health/in-the-time-of-coronavirus-this-is-why-you-should-get-vaccinated-against-the-flu-44578172">encourage people to vaccinate themselves against the flu</a>, might have led to the mistaken view that the flu shot protects against the new coronavirus.</p>
<p>No, it does not. The flu vaccine is <a href="https://www.livescience.com/getting-flu-shot-help-coronavirus-outbreak.html">only effective against the influenza virus</a> – and even then against only some flu viruses. </p>
<p>Humans have been known to be affected by six coronaviruses, <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-brief-history-of-the-coronavirus-family-including-one-pandemic-we-might-have-missed-134556">four causing the common cold</a>. The other two were the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in 2002 and 2012, respectively. </p>
<p>Now there is a <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-brief-history-of-the-coronavirus-family-including-one-pandemic-we-might-have-missed-134556">seventh</a> coronavirus, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31978945">the SARS-CoV-2</a>. </p>
<p>There is no scientific evidence that a flu shot can protect people against coronaviruses.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/135580/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Some of the false claims about coronavirus may be harmless. But others can be potentially dangerous.Neelaveni Padayachee, Lecturer, Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, University of the WitwatersrandLisa Claire du Toit, Associate Professor, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/631542016-08-09T12:09:35Z2016-08-09T12:09:35ZRobot companions are coming into our homes – so how human should they be?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/133507/original/image-20160809-18030-1526mp2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Shall I take the spare room?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/dl2_lim.mhtml?src=odP6rixVpiIbbeM8J05pSw-1-48&id=329541794&size=medium_jpg">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>What would your ideal robot be like? One that can change nappies and tell bedtime stories to your child? Perhaps you’d prefer a butler that can polish silver and mix the perfect cocktail? Or maybe you’d prefer a companion that just happened to be a robot? Certainly, some see robots as a hypothetical future replacement for human carers. But a question roboticists are asking is: how human should these future robot companions be? </p>
<p>A companion robot is one that is capable of providing useful assistance in a <a href="http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/362/1480/679.short">socially acceptable manner</a>. This means that a robot companion’s first goal is to assist humans. Robot companions are mainly developed to help people with special needs such as older people, autistic children or the disabled. They usually aim to help in a specific environment: a house, a care home or a hospital. </p>
<p>At the beginning of the 20th century, one of the first pieces of technology designed to help in a household environment was the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1515776.stm">vacuum cleaner</a>. Since then, technology has transformed the home. Nowadays, we even have a robot that can cook. The chef robot was developed by <a href="http://www.moley.com/">Moley Robotics</a>, a start-up company that won the 2015 Asia Consumer Electronics Show. The robot is said to be able to cook <a href="http://factor-tech.com/green-energy/23737-elon-musk-is-kicking-off-an-automated-low-carbon-future-with-the-merger-of-tesla-and-solarcity/">2,000 different meals</a>. </p>
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<p>Pepper, the latest robot from <a href="https://www.ald.softbankrobotics.com/en/cool-robots/pepper/find-out-more-about-pepper">Aldebaran Robotics</a>, is a good example of a humanoid robot companion. It can provide assistance in making choices, detect human facial expressions and communicate with people. Pepper can adapt its behaviour depending on its perception of a person’s mood, and in this sense we can say that Pepper cares for people. At the moment, only research institutes and Japanese residents can acquire a Pepper robot. The robot costs around £8,710 for a <a href="http://www.softbank.jp/robot/consumer/price/">Japanese customer</a>.</p>
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<p>Companion robots can take the form of pets, too. <a href="http://www.parorobots.com">Paro</a> is a robotic seal developed to provide comfort to old people. And rather than taking care of you, this robot has to be taken care of. It is how Paro provides emotional support. </p>
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<p>Sometimes people get attached to robots that are not actually made for companionship. Take Roomba, for example, the intelligent vacuum cleaner. In their studies, <a href="http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-540-74853-3_9">Ja-Young Sung and colleagues</a> from the Georgia Institute of Technology found that people wanted to become tidier in order to allow the vacuum cleaner to run smoothly. </p>
<p>Although many of these robots show some form of initiative and encourage people to interact with them, many are responsive rather than active – in other words, the robot waits for a human request before acting. </p>
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<h2>Should robots be more ‘human’?</h2>
<p>Thanks to progress in Artificial Intelligence and technology, we can now develop more intelligent systems that are capable of acting very much like a human. Last year, a few of them were presented to the public, such as <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/03/12/meet-nadine-the-worlds-most-human-like-robot/">Nadine, the robot receptionist</a>, <a href="http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/yangyang-humanoid-robot-that-scarily-resembles-sarah-palin-unveiled-china-1499178">Yangyang, the singer robot</a>, and <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3042316/Toshiba-set-humanoid-robot-assistant-work-Tokyo-department-store.html">Aiko Chihira, the robot that can communicate in sign language</a>. </p>
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<p>Although the popular and controversial <a href="http://www.psych.utoronto.ca/users/reingold/courses/ai/turing.html">Turing test</a> is used in AI to measure whether a machine is as intelligent as a human, it is a very different thing when it comes to robots, since robots are also expected to act intelligently. There is not yet a standardised test to determinate how human a robot is. It may come in the near future. However, all robotic researchers seem to agree that the robot would have to be able to show some social awareness and personality, and be capable of understanding and recognising people’s speech and expressions. </p>
<p>But do we want robots to have more personality and to be able to take more initiative? Ultimately, to act more like us? Some may argue, yes. If intelligent vacuum cleaners were able to differentiate a sleeping human from objects, for example, at least <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/09/south-korean-womans-hair-eaten-by-robot-vacuum-cleaner-as-she-slept">one unfortunate lady in South Korea</a> wouldn’t have had her hair “eaten” by her new domestic appliance.</p>
<p>But others argue that it is <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3143275/Artificial-intelligence-real-threat-robots-wipe-humanity-ACCIDENT-claims-expert.html">dangerous to give robots too much intelligence</a>. And would it allow them to answer back? We are still at the beginning of research regarding the potential consequences this might have. Indeed, the scientific community is still debating whether a robot can ever have feelings or be self-conscious. Although AI has been able to perform certain tasks extremely skillfully, for example <a href="https://deepmind.com/alpha-go">Alpha Go</a>, the community is still a long way from developing an <a href="http://www.sdtechnocrates.com/ETEBMS2016/html/papers/ETEBMS-2016_ENG-EE7.pdf">AI which closely resembles the human mind</a>.</p>
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<p>At present, robot companions are either focused on companionship or on task-execution. <a href="https://www.jibo.com">Jibo</a>, for example, is a social robot that can talk, order food, remind you of things, or take pictures, while <a href="http://www.irobot.co.uk/.aspx">Roomba</a> is an intelligent, but ultimately functional, vacuum cleaner.</p>
<h2>Who is in charge?</h2>
<p>But it’s about striking the right balance, depending on the job at hand and the person it is working for. Our most recent study, <a href="http://www.tc.columbia.edu/conferences/roman2016/ro-man-2016-program/technical-program-day-2-monday-aug-29/day-2---oral-paper-presentation/">Who is in charge? Sense of control and Robot anxiety in Human Robot Interaction</a>, showed that the more controlling and anxious about robots a person is, the more initiative they expect the robot to show and the more willing they are to delegate tasks to it. The research focused specifically on what level of initiative people preferred their robot companion to have when executing a cleaning task. </p>
<p>Participants could choose between manually turning on the cleaning robot themselves, having their robot companion turn on the cleaning robot remotely when instructed, or having the robot companion turn on the cleaning robot when it noticed that cleaning needed to be done. It was found that most people wanted their robot companion to execute the task without being asked.</p>
<p>This paradoxical result may be explained by the fact that people are now more used to technology – from computers and smartphones to smartwatches and intelligent home appliances – acting semi-autonomously. Smart companion robots are just the next step in the long evolution of our relationship with technology.</p>
<p>In the future, it is likely that we will see more domestic robot companions that can be customised to people’s individual preferences. And we will be able to shop for them as we now shop for vacuum cleaners and phones. Ultimately, it seems, there will be a robot for everyone.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63154/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adeline Chanseau does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Robotics is taking some giant leaps forward.Adeline Chanseau, PhD Researcher in Human Robot Interaction, University of HertfordshireLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/524002015-12-17T12:29:37Z2015-12-17T12:29:37ZHow long until we can build R2-D2 and C-3PO?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/106344/original/image-20151216-30063-pwb6lf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'I am C-3PO, human-cyborg relations. And this is my counterpart R2-D2.'</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/gordontarpley/13442033023/in/photolist-mtPW74-nDRrPo-58K5xz-uomZWj-sqfqte-6G6mGD-23XoW2-242Peh-9ECc7g-cZ1GQh-6u2zci-7WhPQX-jPMZog-fs5yiR-8bKve3-etKkMi-6JmTVf-61S9f8-5JnzJQ-63iqH2-59wUED-59B8iG-59wUuv-59wUpV-bFNQA2-jmwTid-6JhGS6-eeeYej-mQXA9i-8hgiha-6Lpfoy-NcK6g-67xQBE-23WZYg-9HzCF7-9z15wU-evMVhb-9Peqka-5gGtoD-6fwazA-hVte2C-9YH12-5gGtuT-6kXsdN-7nVgp-etNqWy-nFGmau-242V29-bc45Zk-rA6wvt">Gordon Tarpley</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Star Wars universe is full of droids. Everywhere you turn, there are medical droids, exploration droids, labour droids, pilot droids, even battle droids. They carry out clearly defined tasks, often with a degree of independence, without needing to interact with people. In real life, we now have the technology <a>to create</a> many of them ourselves. But what about robots that can also interact with people? When it comes to the likes of R2-D2, C-3PO and Force Awakens newbie BB-8, it’s a much more mixed picture. </p>
<p>The two most famous Star Wars robots are themselves designed to carry out different tasks – R2-D2 is officially an <a href="http://www.starwars.com/databank/astromech-droid">astromech droid</a>, for piloting and servicing starships; C-3PO is a <a href="http://www.starwars.com/databank/protocol-droid">protocol droid</a>, with knowledge of language and etiquette. They look very different from one another – adult-sized humanoid vs small trashcan on wheels. But obviously it is their social intelligence that makes them the fully realised and well loved team members that they are.</p>
<p>When it comes to basic capabilities such as walking, talking, and sensing surroundings, we are getting closer and closer to what would be required. Advanced humanoid robots like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7nLQpWiy1o&feature=youtu.be">Google’s Atlas</a> and <a href="https://youtu.be/yTGSy-79eHc">NASA’s Valkyrie</a> are already good at walking (and even dancing). The state of the art in speech recognition and synthesis is rapidly developing, too: Microsoft recently <a href="http://blogs.skype.com/2015/10/01/skype-translator-unveils-the-magic-to-more-people-around-the-world/">even added</a> speech-to-speech translation to Skype, for example. And sensing technologies such as <a href="http://www.a3automate.org/how-robots-are-gaining-their-sense-of-sight/">computer vision</a>, and even <a href="http://www.wired.com/2015/11/c2sense/">artificial noses</a>, are also becoming increasingly human-like.</p>
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<h2>Talk is not cheap</h2>
<p>Unfortunately, creating the basic technical building blocks for either a humanoid C-3PO or a rolling-around R2-D2 is almost the easy part. The real challenge is putting those components together to enable robots to interact in a socially intelligent way. </p>
<p>To understand why this is so hard, think about what happens when people talk face to face. We use our voices, faces and bodies together in a rich, continuous way. A surprising amount of information is conveyed by non-verbal signals. The meaning of a simple word like “maybe” <a href="http://ubiquity.acm.org/article.cfm?id=2043156">can be</a> dramatically affected by all the other things a speaker is doing. </p>
<p>Real-world communication doesn’t take place in a context-free vacuum either. Other people may be entering and leaving the scene, while the history of the interaction and indeed all previous interactions can also have a large effect. And not only must the robot fully understand all the nuances of human communicative signals, it must also produce understandable and appropriate signals in response. We are talking about an immense challenge. </p>
<p>For this reason, even our most advanced robots generally operate in constrained environments such as a lab. They are capable of a limited amount of communication, and generally can only interact in very specific situations. All these limitations reduce the number of signals that the robot must understand and produce, but at the cost of natural social interaction.</p>
<h2>Bot and sold</h2>
<p>There is clearly a significant consumer appetite for more socially interactive robots, however. Already on the shelves is the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/cruises/cruise-news/12053417/Pepper-the-robot-to-start-work-on-cruise-liner.html">Pepper robot</a>, a life-sized unit produced in Japan that can answer questions, follow instructions and react to feelings and facial expressions. Consumer demand has been so high in its native country that since July 2015, each monthly run of 1,000 units <a href="http://www.softbank.jp/en/corp/group/sbr/news/press/2015/">has sold out</a> in under a minute.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the Jibo robot broke records on the crowdfunding site Indiegogo in July 2014 when it <a href="http://robohub.org/jibo-raises-1m-in-first-week-of-crowdfunding-campaign/">raised $1m (£0.7m)</a> in less than a week as part of a fundraising drive that has <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/aarontilley/2015/12/09/jibo-raises-another-16-million-to-bring-its-family-robot-to-china-and-japan/">now reached $60m</a>. Invented at MIT in the US, the still unreleased robot’s abilities will include talking to and recognising people and remembering their preferences. </p>
<p>These consumer success stories still can’t interact anywhere near as effectively as our favourite Star Wars droids, however. The solution to developing truly socially intelligent robots such as C-3PO, R2-D2 and BB-8 appears to lie in another highly active research area: data science. </p>
<p>Our early attempts at interactive robots were generally based on pre-programmed rules (“If person says X, say Y. Else say Z”). More recently, however, robot developers have switched to machine learning: recording interactions between humans or between humans and robots, then “teaching” the robot how to behave based on what that data shows. This allows the robot to be much more flexible and adaptive.</p>
<p>Within machine learning, we are also seeing big improvements. Robots could previously only “learn” after the recordings had been processed, but newer techniques like <a href="http://deeplearning.net">deep learning</a> are enabling robots to learn how to behave from raw data, making their potential much more <a href="http://www.wired.com/2015/05/remaking-google-facebook-deep-learning-tackles-robotics/">open-ended</a>. These techniques have already profoundly affected speech recognition and computer vision, and Google has recently open-sourced its in-house deep-learning toolkit <a href="https://www.tensorflow.org/">TensorFlow</a>, which should benefit researchers across the world.</p>
<p>In short, there’s still much work to be done before we are able to develop fully socially interactive robots such as R2-D2 and C-3PO. I’m afraid it’s unlikely that we will see a full version of either of them in any of our lifetimes. The good news is that this is a very active area of research, and data-science techniques are rapidly increasing robots’ social intelligence. We should be able to achieve exciting things in the not too distant future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/52400/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mary Ellen receives funding from the European Commission through the Horizon 2020 Programme</span></em></p>No Star Wars movie would be complete without the Universe’s two favourite droids. But now the race is on to turn them into fact.Mary Ellen Foster, Lecturer in Computing Science, University of GlasgowLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.